#anyways why did the writing randomly get good for the last maybe seven minutes

[googledocsdyke]

the THING is that when aziraphale says “i forgive you” he means “having been utterly re-brainwashed by the supreme and intoxicating force of Approval from a Higher Heavenly Authority to validate my prior life as Good and Righteous and True, i, wracked with newly-reborn self-loathing about ever having turned my back on heaven, forgive you, whom i love and must therefore surely be good and worthy of forgiveness, for rebuking the chance to ascend righteously into heaven with me” and when crowley hears “i forgive you” he hears “crowley i forgive you for the crime and moral lapse of desiring me, of wanting, of kissing me, of giving me love that i cannot possibly respond to nor reciprocate, of being who you are which is someone who is not only a demon but, much worse, wants me.” If you even care. (And for the record you shouldn’t)

[archived-kin]

caught in a twin courtship

note from kin: i’m going to be honest i only really wrote this because the title is fun to say, so it isn’t as cohesive as i normally would have wanted to make it

(this is an au where the twins aren’t separated by the unknown god! instead, just their world-hopping powers were stolen, and that’s why they’re journeying to find said god - to get their powers back so that they can go home. i’ve also excluded paimon since i kind of forgot about her while writing this haha)

(this doesn’t follow canon at all since reader and the twins just kind of start wandering about after the dvalin incident rather than heading straight for liyue oops)

fandom: genshin impact

character(s): gn!reader, lumine, aether, diluc, venti, jean

pairing(s): aether/reader/lumine

warning(s): i don’t think so??

genre: fluff with a little bit sprinkling of angst

you first meet the twins in the aftermath of the stormterror battle. it isn’t a glamorous introduction by any means - it’s pretty unflattering, actually - but it definitely makes a powerful first impression.

the group - aether, lumine, venti, diluc, and jean - are on their way back to mondstadt city, making small talk here and there, but mostly just walking in silence.

then they hear a yell in the distance.

jean and lumine both drop into a battle stances, venti leaps to hide behind aether with a very unmanly squeak of fear… but diluc, who arguably should have been the most alerted by this occurrence, just gives a resigned sigh and pauses.

a split second later, a figure comes speeding up to the group. you barrel up to diluc and immediately punch him square in the stomach, yelling “why didn’t you tell me you were going after stormterror?!”

aether and venti both give matching gasps of horror at the blatant disrespect, but diluc only shakes his head and catches your fist as it goes for another blow, this one aimed at his chest, and chastises, “calm down, i left a note.”

“i left a note,” you mimic, an absolutely awful impression that has you sounding more like a mosquito than the darknight hero, “fat lot of use that is when you aren’t even telling me where you’re going!”

diluc evades another jab at his arm and firmly sets his hands on both your shoulders, effectively anchoring you to the ground. you contemplate swinging your feet at his knees and knocking him over, or maybe shocking him with your electro vision, but ultimately decide that you might as well try to preserve what little dignity you have left in front of those three people you’ve never met before

so you stop with a defeated sigh and turn to face said three people to introduce yourself

it turns out that you’re diluc’s cousin and he’s been having to baby-sit you for the last few years after your own parents left on a ‘business trip’ to snezhnaya that they’re still not back from

you’re pretty sure they’re dead, killed by the fatui, and you say as much during your introduction without even the slightest sign of distress, which is a little unsettling

lumine’s first thought is that you’re quite the interesting character, what with the casual way you treat diluc, and how you don’t seem to question whatever situation lead you to meet in the first place

aether’s first thought is holy shit, they’re cute

one twin greets you in return with a lot more enthusiasm than the other, and venti the bard wastes no time in asking whether you have access to good master diluc’s wine storage

(you’d be shocked by the audacity if you weren’t just as bad as him when it came to shamelessness)

strangely enough, the fact that aether likes you so much actually makes lumine more wary of you than she was initially

aether trusts too easily, and from experience, that usually leads to disaster - and your flippancy regarding your parents’ apparent probable deaths rather inclines her to think that you might be a very dangerous person indeed

the three of you don’t see each other for a couple of days after that - you and diluc leave for dawn winery together, while the twins depart with venti to wrap their whole situation up, and jean returns to her duties in mondstadt city

all this time, apparently unbeknownst to even himself, aether keeps finding ways to bring you up in the middle of conversation

you’d only spoken to him for a few minutes and somehow that as enough to get him absolutely fascinated

lumine would be lying if she said she wasn’t still curious about you as well, but it gets annoying after aether somehow manages to mention how ‘mysterious’ your black cloak is in the middle of a conversation about why mitachurls are able to randomly set their axes on fire

luckily for these two, they happen to run into you the very next day!

you’re in the middle of taking out a ruin guard stomping around the thousand winds temple -  a ruin guard that the twins had been meaning to take down themselves, which is why they’re here in the first place

at first they move to help you, only to stop short and watch in awe as you plunge down at the ruin guard from atop one of the enormous pillars, your polearm held steady in your grasp as your entire body seems to spark and glow with a deep purple electro energy

the sharp blade of your polearm goes clean through the top of the ruin guard’s head and shatters its core, and it sinks to the ground with a massive thud that echoes around the temple ruins, massive wooden limbs twitching and jerking as the last of your vision’s energy disperses from it

aether and lumine are basically star-struck

from there you spot them and call them over for a conversation, show them how to take apart a ruin guard’s circuits to get at the good parts, and somehow end up agreeing to journey with them across teyvat in their search for an unknown god who stole their abilities to hop from world to world as well as their apparent true power that allows them to wield all seven elements at once

the details are a little lost on you, but what you’re hearing is that you get to go on a cool adventure with a cool gal and a cool lad, so you’re pretty much all for it

diluc isn’t too happy about you up and leaving without so much as two week’s notice (partially because he has literally no friends apart from you and he’d get lonely without his little cousin bothering him all the time) but you simply tell him to deal with it and go anyway

(you do give him a big hug and promise to visit, you’re not heartless)

from then on you, aether and lumine become a dynamic trio like no other

it’s actually pretty damn spooky how well the three of you end of working together

aether and lumine had long since formed a style of fighting that meant they made up for each other’s weak spots and could attack in perfect sync, but then you come along and somehow manage to make their already pretty flawless formation even better

is it witchcraft? they honestly don’t know

considering you fit so well into their battle strategies, it follows that you’d also slot perfectly into their every day life

lumine is cautious at first, wondering if your presence would disrupt her and her brother’s long since pre-established routines, but you fit in so naturally that it’s as if you were there all long

maybe it it’s this that makes both twins slowly start falling for you - the comfort of being beside you and the familiarity that you bring are things that they struggled to find, being trapped in a world far from their own with no way to get out, and they unknowingly latch onto you like drowning men clutching lifebuoys

aether is the most obvious about his feelings - he starts waking up earlier just because he knows you do, sitting beside you as you stoke a campfire and keep watch for any approaching monsters, making quiet conversation as lumine continues sleeping. he tells you stories about his adventures in other worlds, including an encounter with a rather bigoted individual who is the reason that he keeps his hair so long while lumine’s has been cut short

he even starts taking his hair out of its braid before he goes to sleep so that he can ask you to braid it for him when he wakes up

lumine is a lot more subtle

she finds excuses to stand closer to you when, deliberately brushing her fingers against yours when handing you something. she listens far more attentively to you when you speak than anyone else, and she smiles far more in your presence, hanging onto your every word and gazing at you so intensely that it’s almost unsettling

of course, the twins notice each other’s feelings pretty easily

at first neither acknowledges it - it’d be far too messy for both to accept that they’d both fallen in love with the same person, let alone actually admit this to each other

but it gets to the point where it just isn’t ignorable anymore, and finally the twins decide to talk

it’s about as civil and sensible as they could hope for with the subject at hand, and they eventually decide to talk to you about it

and so, we come to an ultimatum. what will your choice be?

if you reject both, it’ll be hard to continue adventuring with twins who can’t look in your direction. neither resent you, of course, but the atmosphere has become so stifling that they can’t even make eye contact

it’s as if an enormous gap has opened up between the three of you. the twins are avoiding each other as well, unsure of how to handle the fact that they’re both in love with the same person and have now both been rejected by that same person. if anything, they should be becoming closer out of solidarity, but it seems that they can’t stand to be in each other’s presence as much as they can’t stand to be in yours.

the three of you still work together as seamlessly in battle as you did before, but once the final monster has been cut down and your weapons are sheathed, that connection seems to disappear again.

it’s aether who finally breaks the stalemate. he starts trying to start conversations as the three of you sit awkwardly apart from each other around a fire, and while the first few attempts end in stony silence and an awkward cough on his part, eventually you begin replying with some semblance of the humour you used to

from there things only improve - the three of you come to a silent mutual agreement to leave this behind you, and soon you’re all laughing and joking as you used to

lumine and aether both know that they cannot force you to love either of them, and they respect your choice. if anything, they’re the ones in the wrong for springing something like this on you so suddenly, and they start to feel a little guilty that they were essentially pressuring you into making a choice that you were never obligated to make

so they return to treating you as a dear friend, just as before. things are different now, of course, but they can only be grateful that you continue to travel with them and stay by their side; this situation doesn’t make them love you any less, even if you don’t love them in the same way.

if you choose lumine, aether will be understanding. the twins have been each other’s only support for longer than they can remember, and as the older brother, he’s well used to giving things up for his sister.

he’ll still be friendly and amicable, but he won’t seek you out as much as he did before. he starts braiding his hair by himself again, and stays in bed as late as he can every morning so that he doesn’t have to be face to face with you. just because he’s accepted this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt.

sometimes, when the sky grows dark and you and lumine have long since fallen asleep beside each other, he wonders to himself - why is it that he has to give everything to his sister? he’s given away so much, so why couldn’t the universe let him have this one thing?

but he knows, deep down, that this is nothing to do with the universe - you simply fell in love with someone that wasn’t him, his sister at that, and he’s struggling to come to terms with it.

he wants to hate you, hate lumine, hate the relationship that the two of you have formed, but he just can’t. he loves the both of you in different ways that are just as important as each other, and he can’t stand to lose either of you. he’d rather throw himself off of starsnatch cliff.

so he’ll smile and bear it, even if it’s a battle to keep himself from breaking down every time he sees the two of you lace your hands together, off in your own little word, so near and yet so far from him.

if you choose aether, lumine will become cold. at first, that is. she’s never been as empathetic as her brother, always holding grudges and developing dislike much more easily. it had taken a lot for her to open up to you in the first place, and now that you’ve rejected her, it’s going to take a while for her to return to the same camaderie with you that she had before.

lumine does not begrudge aether for being the one you chose. if anything, she’s glad - aether is always putting her first and himself second, and she’s happy that he has someone like you, who lights his eyes up in a way that she’s never seen before.

but our hearts often betray our mind, after all, and lumine can’t help but scowl and turn away every time she sees her brother wrap his arms around your waist or press a kiss to your cheek. despite her best efforts, all she can think is why? why did you have to choose him?

she can’t bring herself to hate you, though. as much as it feels like her heart is threatening to split down the middle when she sees you smile and is reminded of something that she cannot have, there is an equal joy in the fact that her brother can be with the person that he loves so dearly. if anything, the two of you deserve to be happy together.

lumine would never do anything that could take that away, and so she forces herself to accept it. it takes several days of tentative conversation and barely held back tears, but eventually the two of you seem to return to the way you were before - all friendly jabs and light-hearted banter and little jokes exchanged over crossed blades.

but lumine knows that your friendship can never be quite the same as it was before. she’ll forever be holding you at arm’s length, terrified to let you get too close lest you see how much your presence affects her. she can’t let you know how much she loves you because she will never be the one who links hands with you as you walk down a long, winding path, or the one who holds you close under a darkening sky filled with stars - because that person is aether, and she would sooner die before she takes her brother’s happiness away.

if you refuse to choose, the twins will be at a loss at what to do. they hadn’t considered this scenario - that you had somehow come to love both of them.

the confusion becomes joy soon enough, though. they realise what this means - they both love you, and you love both of them! isn’t this perfect?

neither are particularly thrilled at the concept of ‘sharing’ you with the other, so to speak, but in the end they both equally want each other to be happy as they want you to be, so the logical conclusion is that they both become your partners.

they’re not too sure how this should work, nor what sort of label to put on it, but they come to you tentatively with the idea anyway

to their joyous surprise, you agree!

and from then marks the point of no return…

aether is definitely the clingier of the two. once he realises that he’s allowed to show affection and be close to you for no particular reason, he won’t stop - it’s as if he absolutely has to be holding your hand or be standing or sitting  as close to you as physically possible. he’s always buying you souvenirs at every place you stop by, scaling trees to pick apples for you when you mention a craving for fruit, presenting you little treasures that he’s found with all the pride of a golden retriever.

lumine is a more subdued kind of partner, preferring to demonstrate her feelings with little things like making your favourite food for dinner or bringing you sprigs of flowers that she’s secretly been collecting in order to present you with them. of course, that doesn’t mean she isn’t physically affectionate at all - she presses perhaps even closer to you than aether when you sleep beside her, and somehow her hand finds yours at every opportunity she has.

the twins clash every now and then, as siblings often do, except that you’re usually caught in the middle. their arguments are little more than playful squabbles, though - things like play-fighting over who gets to hug you first after a well-fought battle, or who gets to hold your hand on the way to the next village (you have to step in and remind them that you do, in fact, have two hands)

in conclusion: why choose one when you can have both and prevent the unchosen from having endless amounts of angst?

[marveloussupernerd]

Okay. So I just watched the Hunger Games and was wondering what the RFA+V+Searans reaction would be to MC having to fight in the games? That would be so scary and sad.

I LOVE THIS REQUEST also I’m adding Vanderwood too oops

You Get Picked for the Hunger Games - RFA + Minor Trio

Important Note: if you’d like any of these written in a more in-depth one or two shot I’m begging you to request it I love this prompt so much. That’s why I didn’t write about the actual games happening :) hoping maybe someone may want a pt2 of any of these

Warnings: mentions of death, killing, a lil angst

Zen

You were in District 7, the lumber district

You and Zen had been together for years

You liked to spend time in the forests together, getting a little peace from the real world

More aptly out, you liked to climb the trees together and spend the day in them; you would all day if you didn’t have to go home to help with your younger siblings

“I’m so sick of the games,” you grumbled. The reaping was today, where the tributes would be picked. “At least its our last year in the poll to be picked.”

“Thank goodness.” He agreed, leaning forward to place a kiss on your lips. “Then we can finally get married and start a family.”

You giggled. “We have to take care of my siblings too”

He shrugged. He’d do anything for you

When they picked you, your heart stopped

Nobody volunteered; they usually didn’t in 7

As the lady went to pick for the boys, you scanned the crowd for Zen

Shaking your head vigorously. He couldn’t volunteer

You felt like you were going to cry or die of anticipation

He understood

It killed him inside but he didn’t volunteer

You got to meet with him to say goodbye before you were off to the Capitol

“Zen,” you whimpered. He pulled you in for a tight hug

“Take care of my siblings. Okay?”

He nodded. He was at a loss of words for the first time ever

Then he inhaled deeply, fishing in his pockets and pulling out a small copper band

“Put this on and we’re married. I don’t care if that’s not how it works. I can’t have you leave without marrying you first.”

You took it wordlessly

“Your family is mine now. I’ll take care of them. You focus on coming back home.”

You wanted to cry. “Don’t... don’t let them watch me die, Zen.”

“You’re not going to.” He was crying now too, despite the confidence in his words

“Promise me though. If I’m going to die don’t let them watch.”

He sighed. He didn’t want to even consider that

“I won’t.”

Yoosung

You were in district 11, the agriculture district

Yoosung’s family lived on the farm next to yours

You had been close friends your whole lives

When they picked you

Well, you had put your name in a few extra times to get more food for your family

It shouldn’t have been a surprise

Nobody volunteered. They never do.

They made you sit in a room while you waited for the train

Your family could come say goodbye if they wanted

You were surprised to see Yoosung

“This wasn’t supposed to happen” was all he could say

You frowned

You weren’t confident in your chances

“I- everything was supposed to be different. I was going to tell you I loved you,” he whispered, his voice so low you had to take a minute to process what he had said

“You do?” You asked

“I do. First Rika and now you? I- I can’t...”

Rika had been picked two games ago and was killed

“I’ll just have to win then,” you said, more determined than before

“You- oh?”

“I love you too Yoosung. I’ll just have to win for you. So you don’t have to lose us both.”

He wrapped you into a hug

“I’m holding you to that. You promise me you’ll come back to my arms safely.”

You chuckled. “Okay. I promise.”

Jaehee

You lived in district 6, the transportation district

It was no secret to those in your district that you and Jaehee loved each other, as more than friends

It was nice that you lived in such a progressive district that they understood that

Volunteering wasn’t normal in district 6

But when you heard them call Jaehee’s name...

You wouldn’t let her die in the games

“I volunteer as Tribute.”

The crowd was silent

They all knew

The Peacekeepers pushed Jaehee back into the crowds, escorting you to the stage

She was sobbing

And then she passed out

“A volunteer! How exciting. Why did you volunteer for that girl?” The lady asked you

“Because I’m in love with her.”

“Oh!”

The Capitol would eat that up

You didn’t even get to say goodbye to her

The Capitol wanted a show. And the show was better if you didn’t get to say goodbye

“So you have to win then. Win and go back to her and steal her heart. Her hero. Her savior,” Caesar had said in his interview with you

You’d have to win then

Jumin

Being from district 3, the electronics district, meant that you and your families were much better off than most other districts

Jumin came from one of the wealthiest families in the district

He probably was even more wealthy than some of the people in the Capitol

He could buy anything, right?

But he couldn’t buy you a ticket out of the games

“Listen to me.” He sat down across from you, as he met with you before you had to leave to head to the Capitol for the games. “You’ll win.”

“I- how?”

He had the smallest curve of a smile on his face. He was confident.

“I’ll sponsor you. Anything you need, you just say it. I’ll buy it and send it your way.”

It was true that district members could sponsor, they just usually didnt

But this time, he was invested

“I have a list of all the things I can send you. Food, water, medicine, bandages, weapons, rope, anything you want. I can even send you a teddy bear.”

“Please don’t send me a teddy bear. Only important things. Those are expensive.”

“I have money.” He cupped your cheek. “I’m going to make sure you win. I will do anything in my power to do so. If I go broke, okay. You’re so much more important than money.”

“I’ll try my best to make sure I don’t need to ask you for things.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re so stubborn. Let me help you. Don’t get into fights intentionally. Just outlive the others. I’ll send you food every day for weeks if it’s what it takes.”

It was time for you to go

He pulled you into a quick, heated kiss. “Anything, My Love. I promise.”

707

You were from district 5, the power district

The games were not big in your district. You had a few victors but people mostly dreaded them

So it wasn’t surprising that when you were picked nobody volunteered

There was no way you could win

You were weak. You had seen the other tributes picked in district 1 and 2 today

You were lucky if you’d survive the first day

You had zoned out the rest of the Reaping ceremony

Until...

“I volunteer as tribute!”

He didn’t.

But he had

Once you both got on the train, you were ready to confront him

“Seven!” You yelled. “Why! Why?” You were hitting his chest. You were so mad at him. “Why would you do this?”

You were breaking down

He just pulled you close, hugging you

“I’m going to make sure you survive”

There could only be one victor

He knew that though. Didn’t he?

“My home life sucks anyways. Sacrificing my life for you is the best thing I could ever wish for.”

You were sobbing. He seemed oddly okay.

He would make sure you’d survive

V

You were from district 8, the textile district

V’s work with the textiles and art was so good that once he had passed the age where he would have been pulled for the hunger games, he was invited to the Capitol to be a stylist

You thought you’d never see him again

Until you were picked

And then there he was

With his hair dyed bright blue to fit in with the people at the Capitol

A stupid smile on his face as he got scissors to start shaping your hair for the event tonight

“You seem awfully happy,” you said smugly. You were going to die and he was grinning. He had become a stupid member of the Capitol after all

“I get to see you again.”

“I’m going to die,” you said simply

He shrugged.

Just shrugged.

“I actually have a plan.”

Oh?

He leaned close to you to whisper in your ear

If anyone found out, they’d have him killed

“I have a way for everyone to think you died in the games, but for you to stay living”

It was a big risk

But you wouldn’t say no to the chance of staying alive

Of course he wasn’t upset

He had a plan.

Saeran

You were from district 2, the weaponry district

District 2 was a part of a group called the careers in the hunger games

Basically districts 1, 2, and 4 trained their teenagers to enter the games and win

They were unstoppable

You had trained as well, of course

But you weren’t like some of your crazy classmates who wanted to enter the games

They wanted to enter, until they heard about the twist for this year’s games

Every 25 years there was a special twist to make it more interesting

Every 3 hours a tribute would be randomly killed off

More aptly out, they put a bomb mechanism inside you and you explode

You couldn’t train to beat that

So it was no surprise that nobody volunteered to take your place once your name was picked

Saeran was fuming when he met with you

He had been training to become one of the Capitol’s soldiers, a Peacekeeper, as most men in 2 did

But he had lost all respect for them and the game

“This is stupid and unfair. What’s the point of them randomly killing people off? It’s supposed to be a fight to the death. This is just random chance.”

“I agree with you. But there’s nothing we can do. I’ll just try to kill people as quick as possible before they even get to explode someone.”

“No.”

“No?” You questioned

“This is bullshit.” He grabbed you by the chin to look up at him. “I’m taking down the Capitol. They can’t do this to you?”

“Saeran, don’t.”

He had an evil grin

“I already have a group to do it with.”

Vanderwood

You were from district 12, the coal mining district

Vanderwood was always a sort of enigma to you

That’s why you were so interested in him

And he was absolutely infatuated with you

Nobody had ever volunteered in 12 before

So when you got picked, you were stuck

Vanderwood didn’t volunteer. Why would he? Why would he get himself killed like that?

You almost though he wasn’t going to visit you, that all your time together was just him messing around

And then he busted in

“Hurry Babe”

“Hurry what?” You questioned

He grabbed your arm and pulled you to follow him, running through the halls. Where were the peacekeepers?

“I’m getting you out of here. We’re running away”

“To where?”

He laughed, still running. “The woods. We’ll figure it out. We’re not following those bullshit rules.”

“If we get caught, we’ll be killed.” You were afraid to defy the Capitol

“If you stay there, you’re as good as dread. We’ve had one victor from here, yknow? Your chances aren’t good. Let’s run.”

[misterewrites]

Intro to Jaime 101 and a Half

Hey everyone! E here hoping you are all good. It's time for a new chapter of Mirror's Edge! Haha been a while huh? I was actually writing a mini arc for welcome to an Underground cuz it felt right you know? Better to get all that put together and squared away. And now that that's done, here we are.

Umm the next thing I write will either be another's Mirror's Edge chapter, the last intro chapter before I get into actual story arcs or maybe some fandom stuff I haven't decided. 

Anyway, I hope you are all safe, sound, keeping your loved ones safe too, wear a mask, wash your hands, vaccinate yourself if you can, push to release the vaccines world wide and be careful. Have an amazing week and see you soon with a new chapter and or story! feel free to leave likes, reblog, comments and recommend this to your friends! I appreciate it, enjoy!!

Here’s the chapter over at a03 if you wanted have an easier time reading cuz tumblr hates me!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30599756/chapters/80953405

Here’s the story from the beginning if you’re curious what’s it all about

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30599756/chapters/75486005

And here’s a link to all my stories 

https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrE42/pseuds/MrE42

Summary:  Jaime, adoptive sister of Finnrick and fiancée of Casey, is late to work. The Grimoire, magical library and hub of all knowledges is her workplace and she has thrown herself into it completely for whatever reason. Still with Casey lingering on her mind, she can't help but feel torn between her love of books and the love of her life.

-----

As Jaime hurried away from Willow’s Rook and Casey, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed in herself. She told herself under no circumstances she would see her fiancée but one glance towards his office and Jaime was knocking on his door without a second thought. A ten minute conversation later and now she was late to work.

She sighed, glancing downward towards the engagement ring snugly wrapped around her finger.

Jaime’s heart raced beyond her control as her fingers tingled with the warmth Casey’s cheek. She could still feel the pulsing of their hearts beating in time with one another, love and longing palpable in that moment.

“Jaime, why do you do this to yourself?” she murmured sadly “You said don’t see him. You said don’t visit him. You said you could handle this whole break and now we’re late.”

Jaime picked up her pace, power walking in hopes somehow that could shave off the seconds she desperately needed to avoid being reprimanded: The Grimoire may have been a library but it had a strict late policy both on books and personal.

-----

The Grimoire was as elegant as it was ancient: The library was one of the oldest buildings in Newton Haven, constructed when the city was little more than a mile of stacked bricks among swampland. Faded red stone archways and columns did nothing to belittle the power and importance of the Grimoire. Even the mundane folk could feel the magical force that radiated from within, a fantastic world beyond the threshold.

Of course there was a fantastic world hidden inside: The library was one of the major hubs for the magical community and it wasn’t uncommon to see various races searching the many bookshelves for whatever subject tickled their fancy.

The interior was elegant and timeless: The walls and floors were soothing shades of brown with furniture pulled from all eras of human history. Three stories of endless knowledge about countless subjects. Translucent spirits hurried back and forth, humming happily in death as they did in life while they performed their duties to the Grimoire. In the center, amid the hustle and bustle, stood a spiraling staircase that disappeared beyond the ceiling to the Librarian’s office.

There, just past the entrance and to the side, was a security desk with a figure lazily sitting upon it: He was humanoid, muscular and impossibly large, easily seven feet tall. His skin was gray as storm clouds and his eyes shone with an electric blue shade. His hair and beard were frosted white like he dove face first into snow. His uniform consisted of a dark blue buttoned up collared shirt that was one flex from tearing in two and old rugged jeans. His black combat boots were immaculately cleaned as he placed them on the surface of the desk.

He clicked his tongue as he slowly turned the page on the latest romance novel he had been enthralled by.

“Sinclair, you’re late.” He spoke softly but even a whisper couldn’t stop his voice from reverberating throughout the hall.

Passerby’s shot confused glances at one another but no one stopped at Dusty’s declaration

The storm giant sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly “Sinclair, you’re not fooling anyone.”

Silence and more quizzical glances.

Dusty shook his head, disappointed as he snapped his finger.

The air smelled of fresh rain while a source-less thunder boomed overhead. Nearby, a person, previously invisible, flickered into existence. Their previously camouflaged self changed into a rainbow of colorful hues before bursting into a flurry of sea green sparks and revealing a sheepish Jaime, her hands raised in defeat.

“Sinclair.” Dusty’s voice was dry yet amused.

Jaime clasped her hands together as she made her way over to the storm giant’s desk “Dusty! I...”

“Am late.” he finished for her, a gentle chuckle escaping his throat “Remington again?”

“Whaaaaaa?” Jaime’s face scrunched into a false sense of surprise “No, no. Come on. Me and Casey are….well you see…..it’s frankly none of your business.”

Dusty nodded wisely “True. It is none of my business. Go on before I sic the ghosts on you.”

Jaime gave a quick curtsy before running as quickly as she could. Dusty rolled his eyes before returning to his romance novel he was previously captivated with.

-----

Everyone who worked in the Grimoire had their own personal office tucked away somewhere to ensure privacy for personal studies. Jaime’s office was in the back of the library, hidden behind the alchemy section. It was one of the wider offices, more akin to a school class room. True to her wizard background, it was messy: Piles of folders, books left open and hastily scribbled papers were sprawled about. A fairly sized cauldron sat ontop of her desk, currently not in use. Sticky notes littered randomly across the walls. And like any true wizard, a magical circle was engraved directly into the center of the room for varying purposes.

Despite the appearance of her lair, she was actually one of the more organized of wizards. Even her prodigal brother Finn’s lair wasn’t as well maintained and cataloged as her. Though, to be fair, she did have help most wizards didn’t.

Jaime placed her bag by the door, eyes searching about for her helper.

“Bartholomew! Bartholomew Ringtail, you here?”

A moment past before the sound of rustling papers and scuttling paws could be heard. Jaime reached into her pack and pulled out a bag of popcorn just in time for Bartholomew reach out for the treat.

Bartholomew Ringtail, like his name suggested, was raccoon. Light gray fur, little black mask over his snout and tiny adorable paws. However, unlike most of his kind, wore a small cap upon his head and that made him cuter than the average raccoon.

Well that and the fact he was magical.

While her brother was a master practitioner of powerful protective wizardry, Jaime’s skills lay elsewhere as a conjurer. Her strength came in summoning powerful familiars to further her goals.

Normally a wizard would have to spend time preparing the ritual, collecting the materials related to whatever being they were trying to bring onto this plane. Demons, angels, fey, constructs of strange and alien machinery from beyond human understanding. Anything could be summoned if you had the proper knowledge and power.

Normally such rituals would take hours if not days to perform: Time to gather magical energies, to search the planes of reality for your being of choice and of course drag it kicking and screaming to you. Also summons were temporary as beings not native to the plane could only be sustained by whatever magic brought them. Much like a timer, the magic would slowly fade and once empty any being summoned are forcibly returned from whence they came.

Jaime was much faster and more persuasive in her summoning spell casting. She could do it in a matter of minutes as opposed to days though it still required a massive amount of magical energy, Unlike other wizards, conjurer summons did not decay over time. Whatever they brought into this world stayed in this world unlike magic could no longer maintain their form, usually from being attacked over and over.

Bartholomew was one such creature. In fact Bartholomew was Jaime’s first summon back when she was a fledgling wizard being trained by her brother. She wasn’t hundred percent where exactly he came from but she was grateful for her longtime companion and friend.

Bartholomew popped open the popcorn bag and hurriedly began to stuff handful of the tasty snack into his waiting maw.

Jaime smiled brightly before glancing about room, quietly complementing which project to continue.

A wizard’s magic was as much studying as it was practice.

Finnrick once described the difference between wizards and other casters as using a phonebook. The others were given a phonebook by some higher power. The numbers were already written down and set. However, they could only use those numbers and each different caster had different numbers for different purposes.

Wizards, on the other hand, no such phonebook. They have work hard, study and call each number to understand what the number did. Aside from being tutored by other wizards or spellbooks or other sources of knowledge, the wizard must discovered and write down the numbers on their own, creating their own phone book. Of course that meant wizards weren’t as limited as the other casters and were free to discover a possible infinite amount of spells.

Jaime took a step forward when a voice called out to her.

“Hey sis!”

Jaime whirled around to find the smiling face of her brother Finnrick, fedora in one hand and a friendly wave in the other.

“FINNY!” Jaime cheered, racing forward and wrapping her brother in a tight hug.

Finnrick laughed before returning the gesture “Hey Jai, how you doing?”

“Good” Jaime broke away “Great even! I was just about to practice my spells. I’m still having trouble.”

“Sis.” Finnrick’s voice became firm “It’s visual as much as it is feeling.”

“I know, I know” Jaime shifted uneasily under his gaze “It’s just I usually just bring in heavy hitters, not be one.”

“Any wizard can stick to their strengths. Great wizards are well versed in all forms magic. Spar?”

Jaime gave a crooked smile “Loser buys lunch.”

“And dinner” he cockily added.

Jaime motioned to the circle but Finnrick was already on it. Clasping his hands, Finnrick murmured something too softly for her to hear then pushed his arms outward. A blue dome formed over the two, encasing them in a makeshift arena.

Jaime took her place opposite of her brother “Ready?”

“Sisters first.”

Jaime closed her eyes. She imagined a flame in the palm of her hand. She imagined the heat from the flame. She imagined how it shifted back and forth with a gentle breeze. She saw it clearly in her mind’s eye and then she willed it into reality

“Inferus!” Jaime shouted, her hands glowing with a sea green glow. The flame burst into existence, just as she created. She pulled her arm back and lobbed it with as much force as towards her brother.

Finnrick didn’t budge an inch while flame sailed his way. He rose his hand calmly and with a mighty swing, backhanded and sent the flame skittering across the floor.

Finnrick didn’t waste any time in his counter attack. His finger tips gleamed with blue magical energy and with a flick forward, unleashing a barrage of icicles.

Jaime outstretched her hand forward, sea green glyph forming in the air. A thin matching barrier appeared in front of her in time to catch the first of the icy attack but as the rest collided, cracks began to widen and spread with each successive blow.

“Don’t fight like me Jaime!” Finnrick scolded, sending another wave of icy daggers.

The barrier hadn’t lasted under the second barrage: The moment an icicle collided with her shield, it broke, scattering and fading out of existence.

Jaime, however, was prepared. She ducked and weaved under the attack, pivoting her heels like a graceful dancer while moving her way out of the line of fire.

Jaime twirled about, gathering the magic in her hands before sending outward. Long streams of flames began to swirl about like tendrils reaching for prey as she spun about.

Finnrick gestured at her with a finger gun and clicked his tongue, bringing down his thumb like a hammer of a gun. Jaime’s eyes widened with surprise as she felt some foreign entity began to shift and make her spell uneven. She tried to maintain it but Finnrick’s surge of magic was too much for her. The magic she held exploded, the flames vanishing as the force of the spell breaking sent her sprawling to the floor.

Finnrick was already on the move, arching his arm backwards before throwing forward a bolt of lightning.

Jaime sprung to her feet, leaning as far back as she could to narrowly avoid attack. The lightning bolt struck the dome but before she could react, it bounced and struck her directly from behind.

Luckily it was a training session and only gave a her a light shove forward. Jaime flapped about wildly before she manged to get her balance steady.

“Game, set and match!” Finnrick beamed with a grin.

Jaime rolled her eyes “Big surprise my genius brother won. The dome’s so small I barely had room to move!”

“Exactly!”

Jaime shot her brother suspicious glare.

Finnrick rose his hands “Hey, never let your opponent dictate the field of battle if you can manage it.”

“Yeah, I should’ve seen that coming” Jaime sighed.

Finnrick made his way over and wrapped his sister in a loving one armed hug “Remember sis, real life has no rules.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jaime nudged Finnrick’s ribs playfully “Whatever you say cheater.”

Finnrick ruffled his sister’s hair playfully “Life lessons are important to share to your siblings. Need help with anything?”

���Oh you better be spending time with me. After that thrashing you gave me, you owe me big.”

Finnrick stood up straight, hand raised in a lax salute.

Jaime responded by poking his stomach.

“Oww, I give I give!” Finnrick chuckled “Why must you resort to violence?”

“Family upbringing I guess.”

The two siblings fell into a peaceful quiet as they began shifting and searching through Jaime’s notes.

“Jaime?”

“Hmm?”

“Question.”

“Answer.”

“Any word on the big move?”

Jaime stopped, her hands hovering over a book.

“No” Jaime murmured weakly “No word yet. They’re still debating I guess.”

“Mhm” Finnrick replied without much else.

Jaime turned to her brother “Finn, I…”

Finnrick rose a hand to stop her “It’s your life. Your choice. If this is what you want, then I will be happy for you.”

“But?” Jaime added in.

Finnrick pursed his lips, running his finger down the spine of a nearby book “I want you to be content as well. I know you…..I mean….you’re still wearing the ring.”

Jaime glance down to her engagement ring. She could still feel Casey’s warmth underneath her fingertips, his heart beating rapidly in time with hers.

“Think about it” Finnrick said with a hint of finality “Life’s too random to live with regrets.”

“So” Jaime cleared her throat, desperate to change the subject “Any news on your angel?”

Silence.

“Finn?”

She found him fidgeting with his fingers, his cheeks blazing a bright red as he averted his gaze.

“Finn! You found her?! And you didn't tell me?!”

Finnrick gave a shy nod, biting his lips nervous.

Jaime lunged at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him in a loving embrace “That’s great bro! When am I meeting her?”

Finnrick turned to her, unsure what she meant “What?”

“When am I meeting her” she repeated.

“Umm….why?”

“To interrogate her of course!”

“Jaime!”

“What? Just cause you like her doesn’t mean I do.”

“Jaime, don’t you dare!”

“Try and stop me!”

Finnrick dove for her but Jaime saw it coming a mile away. She pivoted on her toes, twirling out of the way of Finnrick’s attack. As her brother began to chase her around the office, Jaime quietly enjoyed this moment between siblings.

She was going to miss this when she left Newton Haven behind.

[robodaydreamer]

RadioHusk Week - #2 To Love A Dumbass

I meant to write a drabble and my hand slipped.

I’m sorry.

[ EDITED 4/5/20 ]

I want to do a drawing for every fic, it just takes my dumb butt forever to do anything. Forewarning, this was done at 2 am, so it might be a bit jumbled? I edited what I could to fix it. I hope you all enjoy!

To hell’s general population or the few who knew of him, Husk was a lot of things. Temperamental, apathetic, tired of everyone’s shit... the list could go on, but he liked to think he was a pretty simple guy.

Uncomplicated and easy to understand. You leave him alone, he’ll leave you alone. You get on his nerves, he’ll probably claw your eyes out. Maybe. If he actually had the energy for it. A fair trade if you asked him.

And he didn’t ask for much. To most, he didn’t like to be bothered, he enjoyed card games, he depended on alcohol to get him through the day, and he had a fondness for magic tricks.

That last one was a little-known fact to their small group of misfits. The hotel’s residents didn’t need to know about it. The only reason any of them had even found out was because of Angel Dust challenging him to a card game.

He was more than a little drunk at the time. Hah, he’d been fucking plastered.

Kicking that fluffy arachnoids ass was just a bonus. While he never doubted his own hand, being that uncoordinated never usually ended well for him. He tended to keep to himself when he was at his worst.

He was surprised he even agreed to do anything at all instead of telling that perverted walking stick to shove off! Even more surprising was as trashed as he’d been, he was still apparently unbeatable.

Husk wondered if he had an ace up his sleeve… and he didn’t even have sleeves… or wear clothes.

Yikes. Did bow ties and tophats count?

Hmmmm… wait. No. He wasn’t doing this to himself again. It was hard enough accepting he was an overgrown catbird. He’d leave this complicated crap alone. Besides, trying to wear clothes over fur was a pain in the ass. Not to mention extremely uncomfortable...

Lucky streak aside, Husk won whatever bet they’d made. He couldn’t quite remember what it was since he’d been blackout drunk, but he knew Vaggie had enough blackmail on Angel to get about a week’s worth of good behavior out of him.

That alone had made this whole thing an even bigger victory. The only problem was that with his drinking, while his gambling was on point, his mouth… wasn’t. 

Plenty of sinners gave away personal information when they were drunk. People did it while they were alive, so it wasn’t an uncommon thing down in hell. The only problem was where it ended up… or who it ended up with.

Long story short, he’d apparently let Angel Dust in on his appreciation for magic and had even shown him a trick or two with his cards while they were playing. He couldn’t remember jack shit, but it was possible.

How else would Angel have found out? The only other demons who’d know would be Alastor or Niffty and he doubted Alastor would randomly share something as insignificant as this. He may have a thing for pushing Husk’s buttons, but he didn’t think the other would just throw that out into the open without any context.

Actually, he probably would.

Either that or Niffty spilled the beans… she liked his coin behind the ear trick. She made for a great audience, even when she had to stop him to sweep up his stray feathers or dust the furniture in his room. He wasn’t a total slob, but he was rarely in his hotel room to begin with, so it wasn’t really his top priority.

Like right now. He could clean up the broken glass next to the bed, but he wasn’t going to. He drank often enough, so hangovers rarely bothered him, but sometimes even he overdid it.

His tolerance was absolutely phenomenal. A blessing and a curse. On the one hand, he could enjoy his booze and watch his drinking buddies fall over after a few shots of the hard stuff. On the other hand, it was tougher to get buzzed or even just flat out drunk if he wanted a quick way to escape his own mind.

Last night had been one of those times and he absolutely went overboard. The hangover he was nursing could definitely attest to that. If the pounding in his head grew any worse he’d probably die. Again.

With a sigh, Husk shifted into a more comfortable position, trying to keep his wings in mind. He didn’t need any other problems right now.

Speaking of problems, he hoped he didn’t do anything too stupid. How did he get back to his room, anyway? He tried to wrack his brain for answers, but all he got was a flash of white-hot pain radiating throughout his skull for his trouble.

This was the beauty of alcohol. It made you forget, even if it was only for a short time. He’d already made that mistake twice in one fucking day… One with Angel Dust, and the other with-

A knock at the door made him tense, the sound not at all helping his headache. Who was bothering him at this hour? Wait, what time was it? Shit… was he late for work? Most likely. He didn’t actually give too much of a shit, seeing as to how he worked seven days a week. 

The only one it would actually bother was-

//BANG//

The sound of the door slamming open and ramming into the wall made him jump so hard his teeth clacked together. 

A loud boisterous voice filled the quiet of his room moments later, “Ohhhhh Husker! Wakey wakey, my darling kitty cat! Your shift started hours ago, and our sour sinners are hankering for your testy temper. And quite possibly a beverage or two, but that is no concern of mine. Hahah!”

Husk groaned, curling into a ball. Maybe if he hid in his wings, the bastard would take the hint and leave. He was too exhausted to deal with this shit.

Of course, he wasn’t that lucky. Give him a deck of cards and you’d see him win the whole pot! But a radio demon that he just so happened to be in a relationship with? Not so much.

Hold on a damn minute… Was it a relationship? It was probably the closest thing to one. They never agreed on an actual title, but Alastor had been pretty pushy about them trying this… whatever it was out.

In fact, if he thought back to it, he hadn’t believed the guy at first, having been pining over said demon for years. Why would he come waltzing over to Husk, demanding him to be his significant other?

He’ll fucking tell you why. His own mouth betrayed him. With Angel Dust, he’d been very loose tongued thanks to his over drinking.

Alastor had come over to watch their game of cards, and by the end of it, had decided to poke fun at his old pal Husker. 

He’d given Husk a round of applause for his card tricks, but it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that he’d won the game and left Angel Dust flipping the table in despair. None of it mattered because it hadn’t been enough to fill Alastor’s endless need to be entertained.

He just so happened to believe that ‘drunk Husk’ was an absolute riot. He’d told him as much in the past. 

Although, instead of the usual banter or wobbly cat behavior he would have normally provided, Husk decided to share an even more personal secret than his fucking magic tricks.

He’d told the cannibalistic serial killer he was in love with him.

And it didn’t end there. To make it worse, since he’d been three sheets to the wind, he ended up forgetting everything that happened.

Angel Dust finding out about him being a magician was fine.

Alastor finding out about his undying love for him?

Husk would sooner have jumped in front of an Angel on extermination day than to have revealed his feelings to Alastor.

When he’d found out about what he’d done, because of course the insufferable jackass had to bring up his mistake as soon as he was sober, he may or may not have tried to jump out of the nearest window.

That was a tough feat to accomplish considering his bar was on the first floor. Had he done it anyway? Well, he tried to, but the other put a stop to his attempt so he hadn’t gotten very far.

In the end, Alastor had told him he should’ve confessed sooner because they could’ve been spending quality time together. He may have spaced out after that due to his brain short-circuiting.

It was almost too good to be true.

Husk agreed to Alastor’s demands, feeling like he would’ve been an idiot to refuse an opportunity to spend more time with the demon that held his heart in the palm of his hand.

Should he have paid more attention to what those demands were? Hell yes. His impulsive decision left him with more questions than answers.

After all, making deals with demons was a dangerous game.

The lowlifes he used to play poker with regularly would’ve told him to suck it up and take the offer for what it was worth. Taking chances was their shtick. 

Jerry, the cheating piece of shit, would have asked, “Why look a gift horse in the mouth?”

This was why. He had so many regrets. 

Husk heard the tapping of hooved shoes making their way toward him and scowled from beneath his feathery shelter. If Al did what he knew he was absolutely going to freakin’ do, he’d give him the silent treatment for the next three days.

He’d say a week, but Husk would cave long before Alastor… He may like his space, but he liked Alastor more. The guy had a way of making him crave for his attention, even if the radio demon himself didn’t always want it in return.

Hell, Alastor rarely showed any interest in him to begin with. And no, having an interest in causing him constant aggravation did not fucking count. He was busy with the hotel and all of the ragtag tenants he got a sick pleasure tormenting. 

It was hilarious. Honestly, it was, but he wanted more… It was selfish, especially since he fell in love with Alastor for who he was and not for some warped soap opera version of himself that he was sure plenty of demons daydreamed about.

Eugh...

Husk was guilty of daydreaming. He daydreamed plenty when it came to his ‘partner.’ Husk would be the first to admit he was a hopeless romantic… well. Maybe not out loud. 

He liked the thought of tender touches, passionate kisses, and appreciative glances. Did he need them? No. Did the thought of them make his heart race? Fucking Christ, yes they did.

He knew Alastor wasn’t interested in any of that. It wasn’t who he was and Husk could accept that, selfish desires be damned. He just wished someone would give him a hint as to what exactly Alastor was playing at. 

Was this something he actually wanted? What was he getting out of it? Why would he even bother with something he usually thought was so ‘tedious?’ He’d said so plenty of times to Angel and Charlie.

It’s already been a few weeks since they’d made this little agreement. Now that he was thinking back on it, it's almost been a month! You’d think he’d know the answers to all of these questions by now, but he was left in the dark when it came to Alastor’s intentions. 

He was torn from his thoughts when a hand gripped his furry ankle and dragged him to the end of the bed. 

Husk let out a warning growl to try and ward off the other from his oncoming attack, but it was useless.

Alastor only chortled in response and Husk felt the hand wrapped around his ankle tighten briefly before moving away. He knew better than to believe that was it. This was only the beginning.

He was proven right when his wings were forcefully pried apart, revealing him to his attacker who looked way too smug for his own good. “My Dearest Husker, why must you hide from me? You know, while I do love your volatile personality, I’m only here to help!”

Holy shit… 

Had he actually fallen in love with this dumbass?

Husk sneered, the stabbing pain in his head only growing worse as he locked eyes with Alastor. “Help? How is this helping?”

He watched Alastor’s brows furrow for a split second before his grin stretched impossibly wider. “Why, of course it is! You would have missed your shift, otherwise. After all, your job is crucial! You’re the first face our lovely residents see!”

Sitting up, Husk felt his wings fluff up. This was getting ridiculous. He was hungover and more than a little unstable in the feelings department. Alastor was only making things worse, seeing as to how he was the main cause of his emotional turmoil. 

He could start yelling and throwing a tantrum, but that would only amuse the bastard and leave him with an even bigger headache. 

No. He had to catch him off guard.

Maybe he’d try something new… he had nothing to lose except his dignity and he’d lost that years ago.. 

Fuck it.

“I want a divorce.”

He felt a swell of pride at Alastor’s blank stare. So that actually shut him up, eh? Sure, this didn’t at all make any sense, but if he had to deal with Alastor’s bullshit, then the idiot was going to get bullshit thrown right back into his stupidly handsome face.

“Pardon?”

“I want a divorce.”

Alastor’s smile waned as his brows went back into a furrow, his head tilting to the side. “Husker, my good man… we aren’t married.”

Husk felt himself relax. Al’s voice had quieted immensely from his earlier shouting. He always had to project his voice, no matter where he went. This was a hell of a lot better for his head. He could already feel the pain lessen.

With a distracted nod, Husk huffed out, “I know. I still want a divorce.” He watched as Alastor’s grin strained, eyes narrowing as he studied him. He felt a shiver travel up his spine at the others searching stare.

Unsatisfied with what he seemed to not be able to find, Alastor released the firm grip he had on his feathers only to move those deft clawed hands behind his back. Husk was sure he was clenching them tight with frustration. 

He couldn’t tell if this was funny or sad. He didn’t want to piss off his ‘steady,’ but he also wasn’t in the mood to be pissed off himself.

Looking at Alastor, he had to admit it was actually pretty damn comical.

“No.”

Husk blinked, feathered brows raising high in confusion. “What?”

Alastor’s expression morphed into a sharp smile, his glowing red eye’s staring unwavering into Husk’s. He seemed to radiate extreme disapproval. “No. We aren’t getting a divorce, Dearest.” His smile gave an irritated twitch.

Holy shit. This was unexpected. He hadn’t actually thought something like this would upset the overlord so much. This should be funny. He should be laughing…

It wasn’t funny. He loved Alastor too much to keep this up, but he also didn’t understand. Why was Al taking this so seriously? The radio host would usually have laughed something like this off or made an even bigger joke out of it… so why wasn’t he doing that now?

He really needed to get answers. If they were going to be anything they needed to start by finding common ground.

Mind made up, Husk stretched. If he was going to do this, he might as well be comfortable. He let out a pleased hum at every pop or crack he worked out of his spine. That felt so much better…

He glanced back up at his uninvited guest, only to pause. Alastor’s previous expression was gone. Husk wasn’t sure if he could put a name to it… but it was softer. Not a word he was used to using when it came to this particular demon. He looked downright distracted as his eyes traveled along the length of Husk’s body…

There was absolutely no fucking way this was happening right now.

He felt hope well into his chest, but he buried it down deep, he had some questions that needed answering. “Okay. We won’t get a divorce… we can still be friend-married or whatever. I didn’t think you’d take what I said so seriously...”

Alastor seemed to tune back in at the sound of his voice, his smile taking on a more satisfied curl. “I’m glad you’ve changed your mind! A divorce, hah! How silly…-” He stilled, a record scratching sound following his abrupt pause as one of his brows raised in question. “Friend-married?” 

He grimaced, “I do believe we have taken the next step in our relationship to a status higher than mere friends. Though I suppose that wouldn’t take away our actual friendship, I was hoping for a more committed type of companionship.”

Husk felt his jaw drop in shock. Hold the fucking phone, what? 

Alastor didn’t seem to notice his surprise, carrying on with a look of distaste. “Honestly, Husker… friend-married? Is that a word young folk are using these days? Taking two separate terms and mashing them together?” 

He let out an exasperated sigh, shaking his head at the thought. “I miss the days where words were used more appropriately.” Another twitch of his wide grin. “Besides, why crush words together when you can crush skulls?”

Husk gave a hard blink, his tail thumping on the sheets behind him. Holding up a clawed paw, he cut off the other’s rambling. “You… Do you seriously want to be in a relationship with me? You’re not just pulling my leg for a laugh?” If he was, he’d kill him. He’d probably be the one killed, but he would die trying.

Alastor’s confusion was palpable at this point as he tilted his head for a second time. “... I do believe I asked this of you before we began our partnership, yes. Besides, I may have just literally pulled your leg a short while ago, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I would spend so much time doing all of this just to cure my boredom..."

Husk felt like he was going to pass out. His heart was hammering so hard he thought it was going to beat right out of his chest. 

He was serious. Alastor wasn’t doing this for a laugh. He was actually interested in some form of relationship with him that wasn’t just friendly or work-based. 

Holy fucking shit what the fuck?

Husk’s ears were swiveling about, his fur was bristling, his tail was curling, and his wings were poofing out. He wasn’t sure what kind of fucking response his body was having to this unexpected situation. 

Was he confused? Was he flustered? Was he offended? He had no clue because he was feeling too much at once to comprehend a single thing.

He was able to stutter out a rushed, “Me? You want to be with me? Of all the demons in hell, you chose me?” 

Alastor gave a slow nod, regarding him with a curious gaze. “Why waste my time lavishing affection on just anyone when I can focus my attention on one demon in particular?” 

His hand rose from behind his back, cautiously reaching out towards Husk only to let it hover in the air between them as if he were worried about spooking him. He continued, “And who better than one whose company I enjoy… and one who I am so very fond of?”

Husk couldn’t fucking believe this. Alastor liked him. Alastor liked him to the point of wanting to be with him. Not just to terrorize him to get a reaction out of him. This whole time. This whole god damned time he could have been getting to know this crazy sonofabitch and here he was, wasting his only chance to do exactly what he’s wanted to for fucking years because he couldn’t just get over himself.

Husk shrunk in on himself with a horrified gasp, “Oh no. I’m the dumbass.” Before Alastor could question him, he ran his paw down his face, groaning out, “This whole time I thought you were just doing this because you were bored. You like pissing me off to the point of me ripping my own fur out!” 

His wings moved to cover him back up, he couldn’t bear to look at the demon in front of him anymore. This was too embarrassing. “I’m a fucking dumbass.” he muttered dejectedly.

The room was quiet for a few moments. Hell, Alastor could have vanished and he wouldn’t have been able to tell from beneath his feathery cocoon. This was amazing and awful all at once. He was an idiot, but he was a happy idiot.

He jumped at the feeling of gentle hands resting against his wings. He felt them hesitate before they began to caress him, palms moving in long even strokes. When Husk didn’t move to pull away or stop him, Alastor began to alternate between petting and running his claws soothingly through his feathers.

It felt nice… 

Husk felt himself begin to relax, not at all realizing how wound up he’d actually been. This was ridiculous. He needed to get a hold of himself… well. Maybe after a few more minutes of Alastor touching him like this... Alastor was comforting him. Would this ever happen again?

He really hoped so.

“Husk?” He felt his eyes snap open at the other’s hushed voice. He’s never heard Alastor so quiet before. They’d known each other for decades and not once has Alastor gotten even close to speaking in a volume this low that wasn’t a sinister threat. This was a soft plea for his attention.

Well, if he hadn’t had it before, he certainly had it now. He mentally prepared himself as best as he could before he shifted, immediately mourning the loss of the other’s hands as they retreated from his wings to give him space. 

Crossing his arms, he sat up and allowed his wings to part open, folding them down to rest over his legs and along the bedspread. Seeing as to how he’d let them drag across the floor plenty of times in the past, letting them hang off of the bed wouldn’t hurt them.

He glanced up toward Alastor, taking in his surprisingly patient smile and couldn’t help returning it with a smile of his own. Husk’s smile only widened as he grumbled, “You’re stuck with a dumbass for a partner. Hope you’re happy, ya wiseguy.”

Blinking owlishly, Alastor took on a more bemused grin. “Well… while there are several names I could call you, that one definitely wouldn’t have been my first choice. I prefer goofball!” He leaned down to get into Husk’s space, their faces only a few inches apart. “You’re a goofball, my Dear! But you’re my goofball.” 

Husk was glad he had fur because he felt his whole body heat up at just how close their faces were. It was harder to deal with his feelings when he was able to see Alastor up close. And this was really fucking close.

Alastor took notice of the change and seemed to study him, though he’d probably been doing that the whole damned time with how stupid Husk had been acting. Embarrassing. Absolutely humiliating. He was going to pretend this never happened. 

He was hungover. That was his excuse and... why was Alastor giving him that look?

Said overlord was giving him a large smirk, eyes lidded and teeth glinting from the minuscule light coming in from under his hotel’s door. His expression was one that told him he was about to get on Husk’s last nerve… he wanted to kiss that look right off his face.

Alastor closed the gap between them, purposely bumping their noses together. “My Dear sweet Husker. There’s no need to be shy! I had no idea you were so insecure. I’ll make sure to be more considerate of your feelings in the future.”

That little shit. He was teasing him! He had some fucking nerve.

Husk wasn’t about to let Alastor make fun of him. He was purposely trying to rile him up because he went all googly-eyed over him. It wasn’t his fault he fell in love with the guy! What right did he have to take advantage of that?

He made sure to give Alastor the stink eye and a very displeased noise that was definitely threatening and not at all pathetic. Okay, it was kind of pathetic. He was flustered, okay? It was tough to control his body when his instincts had a mind of their own!

Alastor beat him to the punch, making any thought of retaliation fly right out the window by gently nudging their noses together. “My Darling, don’t look so cross. I’m only teasing you!” 

Hah, Husk fucking knew it! The bastard.

The radio demon moved to press his face into Husk’s neck, his shoulders shaking with his laughter. 

Husk would have throttled him if he wasn’t currently trying not to combust. He was used to Alastor touching him, but this felt different. They were dating. It felt intimate when it really wasn’t. Was it? Oh shit… 

Normally he’d push him away, but it suddenly felt like the wrong thing to do. As if this was a moment he shouldn’t… couldn’t ruin. 

It was getting increasingly hard to not do anything, especially when the huffing breath against his neck was making him twitch. He was ticklish, and if Alastor ever found out he’d be screwed.

Okay, he had to move. He didn’t have to stop touching him, but he did have to stop chuckling into his neck. “Al, buddy. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you gotta stop.” He leaned back, arms moving behind him to support his weight. 

Alastor let him go, laughter dying out as soon as Husk had distanced himself. “Oh? Have I gone too far? Did I offend you?” 

Husk shook his head, “Nah, not that you’d give two shits about offending anybody. Too far is never far enough for you. I’m just gonna have to get used to all of this…” He quickly cut the other off when he saw his mouth open to question him. “I’m not used to all this touchy-feely crap!”

Alastor gave him a wide-eyed stare. “I’m quite certain I touch you very often, my fine feathered feline. I’ve always been very affectionate with you. What is making this so difficult for you?” 

Well, he had a point. “Okay, look. I know nothings actually changed. It just feels different now that we’re together. I don’t know how else to explain it… Like I said. I just have to get over it.”

“Hmmmmm… Righto! Then I suppose we’ll just have to get you used to it!” Alastor leaned forward, his knee coming up to rest on the mattress between Husk's legs. The mattress dipped at the added weight, bringing Husk up slightly.

Husk blanched, too startled to question what Alastor was doing as the overlord wrapped an arm around his waist. “Stay still, my Dear. We’ll solve this little dilemma of yours in no time at all!” As he spoke, his head came down to nuzzle his face into Husk’s chest fur. 

This resulted in Husk arching his back to better accommodate for the body suddenly clinging to him.

Why was this happening to him? Was he being blessed or punished? 

This felt an awful lot like a fucking punishment. 

Is this what he got for being a dumbass?

Alastor's free hand moved to rest on top of his own. “Husker, my Darling… your heart is beating very fast.”  He could practically hear the smug smirk in his sweetheart's tone.

He could live with it...

[i-am-a-closet-fanfic-fiend]

Sexiled (Part 23/23) ~ Steve Rogers x Reader ~ College!AU

A/N: Hello my lovelies! Happy Friday! I hope you all had a good week and are staying safe and healthy. This is it. The last part of this story. It’s been a joy writing and sharing with you. I hope you enjoy this final part. A big shout out to @captainscanadian​ for listening to all of my rambles as I tried to finish this fic. Love you! 

Summary: You and Steve finally go on your first date! 

Characters/Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader, Brief -  Bucky, Wanda, Sam, Tony

Rating: T 

Warnings: Language, some mild suggestiveness maybe,

Word Count: 2492

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist

After keeping you thoroughly focused on him and making up for the lack of quality time over the past few weeks, Steve finally dragged himself out of your bed around six, which left you with just an hour to get ready for your date.

Relief over being done with the semester and the excitement of going public with Steve had you giddy. You turned on your favorite feel good playlist and danced around as you got dressed and did your hair and makeup.

You grinned at your reflection as you made sure your lipstick was perfect. Doing a quick turn in the long mirror, you adjusted the bright blue lace sleeves of your dress so they were even just below your elbows. And you made sure that your skirt was fluffed properly, falling just above your knees. You’d even opted for your favorite black heeled booties that had bows on the back. While they weren’t your trusty converse, they were the most comfortable fancy shoes you owned, and you were more than willing to put up with any minor discomfort to complete the look.  

At seven o’clock on the dot, Steve knocked on your door, and you raced to open it.

Steve’s eyes went wide as he took you in.

“Wow,” he breathed. “You are stunning, sweetness.”

“Not so bad yourself.”

In truth Steve looked amazing. Black suit and a dark blue button up. He’d forgone a tie and you momentarily lamented the fact you couldn’t yank him down by it, but his lapels would have to do.

“Whatcha hiding there?” you asked peering around him when you noticed that he had his hands behind his back.

“Oh,” he produced a bouquet of red roses from behind his back. “These are for you.”

“They’re beautiful. Thank you,” you pecked him on the cheek

He went to kiss you properly, but you’d already ducked out of his arms to find something to put the flowers in.

“Tall and narrow,” you muttered to yourself, eyeing the container you kept your sharpies in.

“What? No kiss?” he pouted.

“Steven Grant Rogers, expecting a kiss before you even take me out to dinner. I am appalled. What would your mother say?

You dumped out the markers and filled it halfway from your water bottle and dropped the flowers in before turning to him with a faux shocked look.

Steve quirked an eyebrow, but you held his challenge. You were about to give up the game when he spoke.

“You’re right, sweetness. Ma would kill me. It’s probably for the best anyway. Wouldn’t want to mess up that pretty lipstick before we get to dinner.”

You shivered slightly at the implication, making him smirk and you couldn’t hold his gaze.

The charged moment quickly passed, and he cupped your chin to lift it. You saw that his smirk softened into a genuine smile.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered brushing his fingers along your cheek.

““You’re not so bad yourself, handsome.”

“Are you ready to go? I haven’t stopped thinking about this since you said yes.”

“Me neither. I’ve been looking forward to it all week.”  

Steve helped you on with your coat, and once you had double checked your purse, offered you his arm. If you hadn’t been wearing heels you probably would have skipped along next to him.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

You both froze when Tony’s voice drifted lazily out of the common room.

“Should we make a run for it?” Steve whispered.

You glanced down at your heels in answer.

“I’ll carry you,” he laughed.

“You know we can hear you right?”

Tony and Bucky were now grinning at you from the doorway and you decided it was best to humor him. You reluctantly backtracked a few steps. Bucky opened his arms for a hug, which you happily gave him.

“Hey, doll. Sorry about sexiling ya last night.”

“It’s okay, Buck. I’ll just bill you for the chiropractor.”

He rolled his eyes and went to ruffle your hair but your glare warned him off.

Wanda snickered before cooing at you from her seat on Sam’s lap.

“Aww you both look nice.”  

“Thanks, Wan.”

“Where are you two off to?” Sam asked as Bucky plopped down on one of the chairs, swinging his legs over the side.

“Just going out to celebrate the end of the semester,” Steve shrugged.

“And you didn’t invite us,” Tony shook his head.

“Well, we’d love to stay and chat…”

“But we’ve got a reservation. So we’ll see you later,” You finished for Steve.

“Wait are you coming to brunch tomorrow?” Sam yelled.

“Yes!” you agreed poking your head back in the room.

Steve led you towards the elevator laughing silently at the not quiet comments your friends were making.

“Is it just me or did they actually get their heads out of their asses?” Sam asked.

“Nah, Nat said they’re still being dumb,” Tony argued.

“Tonight sounds pretty romantic,” Wanda countered.

“It does,” Bucky agreed.

“Are you two still standing by your bets? There’s still time to change them,” Tony comment.

“Absolutely,” Wanda said with confidence.

“I’m good as I am,” Bucky announced.

“It’s your cash.”

“We get a cut when Bucky wins right?” you giggled as the elevator shut.

“Oh definitely,” Steve nodded.

The T was crowded with everyone out celebrating the holidays, so Steve held onto the pole while you held onto him. He would kiss you on the forehead randomly and you’d kiss him on the cheek.  And he held you tighter when you wobbled in your heels.

It was only a five minute walk from the T to the restaurant in the North End Steve had picked out, and you happily walked hand in hand, ignoring the cold. But you were early for your reservation and had to wait outside. Steve quickly pulled you close, letting you steal his body heat.

“Sorry, sweetness.”

“Don’t be. I really don’t mind snuggling with my boyfriend for warmth.”

He grinned down at you, somehow tugging you even closer.

It was only a few minutes until the hostess called Steve’s name and led you to a table in the corner. You could feel the heat from the wood stove, and it helped take the chill off.

“This place is so cute,” you gushed once the waitress had taken your drink orders.

“I thought you’d like it.”

“How’d you find it?”

“Well I had made a list. But Bucky recommended this one when he found me staring at an excel sheet,” he admitted with a chuckle.

“You made an excel sheet of restaurants in the North End?”

Steve went pink to the tips of his ears.

“Well… I technically made one for all of the restaurants in Boston that I thought you’d like.”

“Was it color coded?” you grinned.

He pointedly read his menu.

“Oh my god it is, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” he sighed, looking at you. “Among other organizational systems.”

“If I wasn’t already in love with you, I would be now.”

He chuckled and shook his head, but his smile was bright, blue eyes sparkling.

“That’s because you’re a nerd.”

“And proud of it,” you assured him, raising your nose into the air. “I have it on good authority that nerds are cool now.”

“Well whoever told you that definitely has a crush on you.”

You tilted your head curiously.

“You think Tony has a crush on me?”

This time Steve laughed outright.

“You are ridiculous. And I love you.”

“I love you too.” You squeezed his hand, holding on to it as you perused the menu. “I do hope you kept the excel though. It’ll make picking date night spots for the next three years a lot easier.”

“Three years,” he repeated softly, goofy grin crossing his face.

“For starters,” you added.

His grin only got wider. 

Dinner was delicious - filled with stolen bites and giggles. After a quick stop into Mike’s Pastry to get treats for brunch the next morning, you walked to Faneuil Hall arm threaded through Steve’s and your hand resting on his bicep. You popped into a few stores, finishing up some Christmas shopping.

“So are you still full from dinner or are you ready for something sweet?” Steve asked as you were leaving the candle store.

“I’m always ready for something sweet. What did you have in mind?”

“Ghirardelli is open. We could get some hot chocolate before we keep walking around?”

“Perfect.”

Warm from the hot chocolate, Steve led you towards the far end of the marketplace, checking his watch.

“Are we heading home now?” You couldn’t hide your disappointment.

“Not yet. Come on let’s sit for a few minutes.”

You eyed the cold wood warily, but Steve sat on the bench, patting his leg for you to sit in his lap.  

“Are you ready?” he whispered once you were settled.  

“For what?”

He tilted his head towards the rest of the marketplace.

“Watch.”

Moments later the lights that lined the tress began flashing in time with the music now playing over the speakers. You watched in wonder at the beautiful display, Steve’s arms wrapped around your waist. It was magical.

“Tonight was perfect,” you murmured as you walked back to your room.

“I’m glad, sweetness.”

Steve stopped you outside your door.  You tilted your head, confused.

When he kissed you on the cheek, whispering, “I had a really good time tonight. I hope we can do it again soon.” You realized what he was getting at, and stifled a laugh.

“Me too. In fact, I don’t know that I’m ready for the night to end,” you flirted. “Why don’t you come in for a little while?”

“I don’t think it would be proper, Y/n. It’s only our first date.”

You pouted and shrugged, “That’s too bad. Have a good night, Steve. Thanks for a great date.”

You pecked him on the cheek before sauntering into your room, closing the door behind you.

You giggled and waited ten seconds before opening the door to a grinning Steve who was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

“Date officially over?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Good. Get in here.”

He crossed the little hallway with a step and half and you in his arms in an instant.

“That was fun,” he chuckled as he twirled you into the room, kicking the door shut.

“Yes, it was.” You kissed him once. Twice. Three times, as you gazed up at him. “Thank you for making tonight so special.”

“You’re welcome, sweetness. You deserve to feel special. I’m so glad we get to do these things now.”

“Me too. Speaking of which, I think it’s time for that post.”  

“Do you know which pictures you want to use?”

“Mhmm,” you used his shoulder to balance as you slid off your heels, groaning in relief.

You sat on the bed and after shrugging out of his suit jacket and rolling up his sleeves (which wasn’t distracting at all) Steve pulled your feet into his lap and started massaging while you made the post.

First you added a selfie the two of you took that afternoon while you’d stuffed your faces. Frankly, you looked like gremlins in it but you loved it. The second photo was Steve kissing your temple as you smiled serenely in front of the Christmas tree. And the third was you and Steve kissing in Times Square, taken by Becca during Thanksgiving.

You quickly added the caption.

Three versions of celebrations.

1.       The end of finals

2.       Our First Date/2 Months (Yes both can be true)

3.       1 month of dating (PC: @BeccaBarnes) (Did I mention I loved NYC?)

Which is your favorite? @SteveRogers Happy two months, handsome! I love you.

When you were happy with the pictures and the caption you showed it to Steve who grinned and kissed you.

“Perfect.”

You hit post and squeaked in excitement. “It’s done.”

“How long do you think it will take for them to see it?���

“Four minutes?” you guessed, though that was probably an overestimation.

“Probably. Well, I have something for you in the meantime.”

You couldn’t help but perk up.  

“Really? I actually have something for you too.”

You reached into your top desk drawer and produced the neatly wrapped package while Steve retrieved his jacket and pulled something out of the breast pocket.

“Happy two months, sweetness.”

“Happy two months, Steve. You go first,” you encouraged bouncing on your knees.  

Steve happily tore off the paper, before looking to you wide-eyed. You hoped that was a good sign.  

“This is too much. You shouldn’t have.”

He ran his fingers over the gold lettering of his name embossed on the dark blue moleskin journal.

“I wanted you to have something a little bit special, and I know you mostly have bigger sketchpads, so I thought it would be nice for you to have something to carry around.”

“It’s perfect. And it’s a lot special. Thank you,” He kissed you tenderly. “Now open yours.”

“Okay.”

You carefully undid the paper and lifted the lid of the lavender box. Inside lay a silver ID bracelet that was engraved on both sides.

“I love you,” you read aloud as you examined it before you turned it over.

“More than yesterday and less than tomorrow,” Steve recited with you.

You couldn’t hold back the tears.

“Oh, Steve.” You shot forward, throwing your arms around him. “It’s so beautiful. And perfect.”

“Just a little something for the days when I’m not beside you to remind you.”

“I’m never going to take it off. I love you so much,” you sniffled.

“I love you too, sweetness.”

Leaning back on your heels, you held out the bracelet to him so he could clasp it. He pressed a kiss to your pulse point before began to trace his way up your arm.

However, violent vibrations drew your attention from each other.  

“I think they saw the post,” he chuckled.

“I think so. Should we face the music?” you asked as you retrieved your phone.

He plucked the device out of your hand and silenced it. After doing the same with his own, he placed them both on the desk.

“They can wait. I have much more important things to attend to.”

Steve reached out to cradle your cheeks, keeping you still as he leaned up to kiss you. He hesitated for just a hair’s breadth away from your lips. For a moment you thought he was going to ask if he could kiss you, like he did that night in October. But before you could say anything his lips met yours, and you melted into the kiss. The wash of contentment that rushed over you was similar but somehow even deeper than the first kiss you’d shared. You were certain it was because you loved each other more than you did then. And the thought of how much love you would feel in your future kisses had you smiling against Steve’s lips.

A/N: So that’s it for this story! I have loved writing for them and I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this story. Thank you so much for all of your support and patience. It means the world to me. On to the next project! 

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[ohshit-itsyagorl]

Four Dipshits and a Michelle

Part 7

Part 1, Writing Masterlist

Read on AO3 HERE

Summary: Michelle never believed in soulmates. But what happens when she turns seventeen and gets her mark? What happens when she inevitably finds the person with the matching tattoo? And what is she supposed to do with Peter Parker. Her best friend in the whole world. Her crush. Someone she feels drawn to for some inexplicable reason.

The next day was the first day of senior year, which meant Michelle had to get up at the ass-crack of dawn. She practically fell out of bed and trudged to the bathroom, dragging her feet with every step, and when she looked in the mirror, she cursed quietly under her breath. She looked like death. To be fair, she hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. A few hours after Spider-man left, Peter had decided to take a shower, and his mark had flared again. She couldn’t really blame him—he did a pretty good job controlling it for the most part, and to be fair, it still happened to her, too.

She brushed her teeth and ran her fingers through her hair, deciding she would just leave it loose today. Throwing her clothes on, she went out into the kitchen and made herself a bowl of cereal.

She greeted Betty and Cindy when she got to home room. Home rooms were split by gender: girls in some rooms, boys in others, so there was never a chance that Peter or Ned would be in her home room. Thankfully, that also meant that there was no chance that Flash would be in her home room either.

Ms. Winninski handed out schedules to all the students, and MJ looked down at hers.

“What classes are you guys taking?” Cindy asked. She was already opening her messages to the group chat, furiously typing away under her desk as phones were not permitted in home room.

“Creative writing—I think Ned is in that class,” Betty said, blushing furiously. “AP Calculus is second period, which will be rough, but then I have theatre, so at least there’s a break. I opted to take dance/health instead of gym/health, and then I have lunch—god, I really don’t want to eat cafeteria food for the next nine months. After lunch I have French, then AP environmental science—oof, those are on opposite sides of the building—and I finish off with AP Econ.” She looked up from her schedule.

Cindy rattled off her schedule next. Then, they were both looking at MJ expectantly.

“Peter and I have AP Chemistry first period.” MJ looked up to find Betty waggling her eyebrows. “Shut up,” she said. “Then I have AP Calc with you and Cindy. AP great books, gym/health—I usually just read in that class anyway—then lunch, Spanish, art, and AP Psych.”

Cindy looked up from her phone and gave the report: “We actually have a few classes with Ned and Peter this year, not just PCB like in years past.”

MJ wanted to look and see but it was too risky with Ms. Winninski prowling around the classroom answering questions and confiscating phones. She sighed and pulled out her sketchbook.

Home room ended a few minutes later and soon Michelle was off to AP chemistry. She smiled at Peter when she saw him, then she remembered what he had done last night and her face reddened.

They sat down at the same lab table and sat in awkward silence, each not really sure what to say to the other.

On days like this, when they were just a bit out of sync, MJ just wanted everything to go back to normal.

Normal—what was normal these days? Michelle wasn’t really sure she knew anymore.

That entire day was exactly like every other first day of school, with teachers taking attendance, going over the syllabus, playing name games (seriously, they weren’t in kindergarten anymore),  and every teacher assigning the same getting-to-know-you packet for homework, which meant that MJ had to talk about herself seven times.

She guessed that part was normal, but everything else? She was part of the 0.02% of the population that had a true mate, she knew who he was, he didn’t know who she was, she loved him, he didn’t love her, they both had this annoying habit of getting aroused at the worst times, and neither of them could shower in peace ever again.

When she got home, she quietly opened the door in case her mom was sleeping in the sitting room. The light filtered in through the windows in a way that basked the room in a golden glow, she thought maybe she would paint it sometime.

Her mom was, in fact, asleep on the couch. MJ tiptoed past and flopped onto her bed. She groaned thinking about all the homework she had—none of it even remotely knowledge-related. She knew she should get started, but she really didn’t want to.

She pulled her bag toward herself anyway.

——————————————————————

Two hours later, Michelle was done with all the getting-to-know-you questionnaires and was perusing her bookshelf. She had quite a few new books checked out from the library, she just didn’t know which one she wanted to read next.

Tap tap tap.

Her head whipped toward the window. There was a masked face hanging upside down outside, red hand tapping on the glass.

MJ rolled her eyes, walking over to the window and opening the latch. She heaved the frame up enough for Spider-man to crawl in and drop onto the floor in a crouch. He stood up. “Fancy seeing you here, Michelle.”

“Hmm, I wonder why that would be,” she quipped. “What do you want this time?” She went back to looking at her bookshelf, running her fingers along the spines until she grabbed one randomly.

“I read The Assistant,” he blurted, reaching a hand up to run his fingers through hair that wasn’t there.

Michelle raised her eyebrows. “What did you think?” She hadn’t much liked the book, to be perfectly honest, only reading it because it was a critically acclaimed story about a jewish deli.

Spider-man shrugged. “I don’t know. It was okay, I guess. I had a really hard time getting behind Frank. There isn’t a sequel, but if there was I don’t think I would read it.”

She looked at him. “You’re a superhero.”

There was a long pause. “…Uh, yeah?”

“And a high schooler.”

“That is also true,” he said tilting his head to the side. “Are we making observations now? Because if we are, that shirt looks good on you.”

MJ rolled her eyes. He was either a shameless flirt in general or the mask made him cocky. Either way, she wasn’t interested. She thought of the way Peter’s cheeks dimpled when he smiled—no, she was definitely not interested. “How do you have time to get through these books when you’re always off saving people—helping the little guy, or whatever the fuck you call it.”

He shrugged. “I read them between ‘helping the little guy’” he said, waving his arms dramatically. “On rooftops and billboards and stuff. Or at school when I’m bored.”

She hummed. “Well, I need to choose another book. Want to help?”

He nodded vigorously, and practically tripped over himself trying to get to where she stood by the bookshelf. For a superhero, he wasn’t very graceful. She smiled to herself, shaking her head, and turned to look at the pile of new books again.  

He pointed at a thick, grey one and said, “This one looks cool.” MJ pulled it from the shelf and read the title Six of Crows followed by the description on the back. His white eyes narrowed at her. “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a fantasy reader.”

“Yeah, I’m trying to branch out a bit,” she muttered, cheeks glowing red. She didn’t know why she was embarrassed—she had no reason to be embarrassed—but something about him threw her off. For some reason, she wanted to impress him, and somehow reading a young adult fantasy novel, highly rated or not, seemed like a weak choice after A Secret History or The Assistant.

His eyes followed the blush down to the top of her chest, then flicked back up to her face, which only made her flush more deeply. “Sounds like a great read,” was all he said. “I’ll check it out from the library.”

She looked down at her bare feet, flexing her toes against the soft carpet. When she looked back up, Spider-man was looking around her room. “Nice room. Lots of books.”

She felt herself flush again. God, what was going on with her today? “Yeah, it’s my safe space. You know, I don’t actually let anyone in here—you’re the first person besides my mom or me to set foot in here in years." There was a long pause, then, "What does your room look like?”

“Oh, you know,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “just another normal room. Bed, desk, closet, bathroom—the works.”

“What side of the bed do you sleep on?” Michelle asked. She didn’t know what made her say it, but for some reason she wanted to know—maybe it was a way to make him seem more human, less… other.

“The left, why?” He glanced over to her bed which she realized, somewhat belatedly, wasn’t made and had a lacy bra strewn across it.

“No reason,” she muttered. Then, “I sleep on the left too. So does my best friend, but when I sleep over I kick him to the right side.” She chuckled. “His side of the bed smells like him.”

Spider-man coughed, and rocked onto the heels of his feet. He tilted his head to the side. “I have to go,” he said, moving to raise the window again. He slipped out and crawled out of sight.

MJ looked at her bed again, at that black lace bra, and cursed under her breath.

[mx-milo]

Parlez-vous or something like that

[千紬/ChikaTsumu]

It's the end of Chikatsumu Week. I don't play A3! often, I'm not active in the fandom, I barely even write fanfics. But the power of these two have compelled me, and since AO3 won't be giving me an account until the next week, so it'll be here first.

Summary: "Chikage has never spoken a word of French before in his life, but that didn't stop him from helping out Tsumugi for one of his tutees. Hilarity ensues."

~~~

Chikage was a reliable source for guidance and knowledge for the students of the Mankai Company. Although there were a myriad of adults who have their own areas of expertise, it usually ended up with either him or Tsumugi, especially when it came to linguistic subjects: Classical Japanese, English, and the rare foreign language elective.

His sessions with Tenma or Taichi were a welcome break from whatever he had been doing on his PC for the last god knows how many hours. At least he could perceive the output of his hardwork with the wide smiles of a teenager who just finally understood why verbs didn't always end with -ed.

That's not to say, it wasn't challenging. Not especially when a curveball was thrown in his way. "Chikage-san, I was wondering if you could help me. A student asked me if I knew some French, and I said I'd do my best." Chikage wasn't much of baseball anyway. He'd rather play cricket.

He looked up at Tsumugi, removing his glasses and polishing them again in the process. "French? Well, I did spend a few months there for as liasion for my company. I learned how to speak so I could negotiate well for my superiors." He noticed Tsumugi was looking at him intently. It wasn't new for him, since it was like he was being psycho-analyzed by the master tutor whenever he spoke. Most times, he felt it was harmless, Tsumugi wouldn't even want to know where to begin with his psyche and conscience, but now felt different. He was concerned, even a little bit, that he might just call his bluff.

He lied after all. He barely knows the language. He didn't lie about the the time he spent there, but he was obviously being vague about being liasion, the higher-ups at the Organization, and the meaning of "negotiation." He didn't have time to see the sights and speak their tongue.

But it was not a big deal. It's not like it's too different from the other Latin languages, right? It's like Spanish but some of the letters are different, and they barely pronounce any of them. 'I may be a liar, but I make up for it by improvising.' he thought to himself, as he waiting for Tsumugi to respond.

"Could I ask you to visit me by the balcony later? We might be in for a long night."

Chikage let out a small smile, and gave a small nod. "That's a date then."

"Thank you, Chikage-san."

Tsumugi left briefly, sounding pleased at the prospect of extra help. For his part, Chikage couldn't help but shake his head. 'What have I gotten myself into?' He knew he had to brush up on his French, even if it was from the bare minimum on a Wikipedia page.

He usually wouldn't stick his head out for something as small as this, but this was Tsumugi he was talking about. Somehow the psych major has outwitted him in a battle of the minds. Or was it of the hearts?

~

Sometime ago, Chikage started calling their late-night trial-and-error teaching sessions "dates", partly because he thought it was funny to compare something so mundane to something romantic, and partly to watch Tsumugi blush whenever he said it. There was some satisfying about the way his cheeks would barely tinge red at the utterance of anything romantic, only for him to totally ignore it after.

'You can't escape me Tsukioka-san. I have tricks up my sleeve too.' he thought to himself, as he ambled through the halls of the Mankai Dorm. It was almost midnight, so the usually boisterous building only emanated a soft hum of energy.

'Of course, it wasn't for the sake of mischief.'

"Chikage-san, let's begin?"

"My pleasure, Tsumugi."

'There's always a reason for mischief after all.'

The specific lesson Tsumugi's student had was the worst one they could possibly deal with: conjugation. All Romance languages had their three, five, seven different verb endings depending on whether you were eating your bread now, ordering someone to eat it on Monday, or to have thrown it in the trash three days ago.

'And let's not get started with pronunciation.'

Everytime Tsumugi encountered a new word, he would run it through Translate to hear how it would be pronounced, and then ask Chikage if he said it correctly. All he'd do is nod and repeat it best he can, then Tsumugi would again, and they'd just accept that was the best they could do.

"Par-lez vu? Wait. No. That isn't it."

"It's like 'par-ley vu'. Parlez-vous, or something like that."

"'Per-ley vu?'"

"I guess that's close enough for someone born in Japan."

Tsumugi snickered at his comment. Chikage could only look on and wonder what he was thinking. His head was tilted ever so slightly, his green locks swaying in the light midsummer night breeze, while his rounded glasses were slightly askew on his nose.

"You know, some of the best theater was written in French. It wouldn't hurt for me to learn in case Tsuzuru sets one of our plays in France."

Chikage looked down and sighed with a smile on his face. "Even when we're suffering with a foreign language, you're still a strong theater nerd, aren't you?"

Tsumugi, sitting inches away from him, lightly pushed Chikage's arm with his in jest. "You know theater nerd is a compliment, right?"

"Tsuzuru told me that once. But you're all the same, so hyperfocused and passionate."

"Well, you're one of us now, so I guess that applies to you too."

Chikage raise his hands in fake shock, exaggerating his movements. "Oh no, I've become what I feared the most. A nerd" he said in an almost mocking tone.

Tsumugi couldn't help but burst out in laughter as he tried stopping Chikage, who started spouting out Shakespeare, eerily like Arisugawa would. "Stop, stop, I get it already." At this point he already took his arm, since he started mimeing holding a skull like Hamlet.

"You're going for so much trouble for this. Why'd you take up your student's elective anyway?" Chikage wouldn't dare notice how Tsumugi's arm was linked on his.

Tsumugi shrugged. "I just thought it would help me brush up on a foreign language for a change. I knew I could rely on you anyway." It was at that moment he realized how close they've gotten.

That didn't stop him from unlinking their arms. That didn't stop Chikage from just gawking at the situation. That didn't stop Tsumugi from blushing at the thought of what was happening.

"Ah, Chikage-san, our arms are..."

"I can see that."

Immediately, Tsumugi pulled back his arm back to his side and turned ever so slightly away. Chikage stayed where he was, still dumbfounded at what just happened. They let the air of tension hang for a few more moments before Tsumugi turned back and suggested they finally try dealing with the two different ways to say "be."

"'Av-awa?' 'Atu-ra?' Why does French have to be so hard?"

"I mean Japanese changes their endings, but never this much. It doesn't have to be."

'This doesn't have to be hard.' Chikage thought to himself in affirmation, but clearly for a different think entirely.

~

Tsumugi woke up after something bright shone into his eyes. After yawning and rubbing his eyes, he took a look at his phone, confusing the volume buttons for the locks. 'What time is it already?'

On his screen was a picture of Zabi, himself, and his grandmother, and a clock happily informing Tsumugi it's already quarter to six in the morning. He was promptly sent into a panic. He looked out the glass-paned door to the balcony and saw that the sun was already peeking through the horizon, the source of the enlightenment that stirred Tsumugi.

He looked around him and saw that the corridors were still empty, a sight uncommon to him, seeing as he was probably the latest to rise of all the people he knew. To his right however, one person was already awake, looking at him intently, though still plastered onto the couch cushion.

"Good morning, Tsumugi."

"Chikage-san, you're up too."

"Well, I was always a light sleeper, and you started squirming around maybe five, ten minutes ago."

Chikage wasn't wearing his glasses; it was on the coffee table along with Tsumugi's laptop and Homare's draft of a book full of his poems. Tsumugi always commented that without his glasses, he looked much more severe and mischievous, but also 'maybe more exposed and solemn.' Chikage laughed at the fact the last time he said it but now it was undoubtedly true, especially since he just woke up after sleeping beside him through the night.

'I just woke up beside him after sleeping through the night.' Chikage thought to himself at that very moment. Rarely would he ever lose his guard so much as to randomly fall asleep, and on Tsumugi's shoulder, no less. Luckily, he didn't wake up to see Chikage in that position, which would have been much worse for the both of them.

They were still wearing yesterday's clothes, the air around them smelled like both of their perfumes, and their area was a mess of strewn papers and uncapped pens. Yet, for all the apparent chaos, both of them were at peace in the moment, seated side-by-side. At their most vulnerable, yes, but they found no reason to take advantage of it, rather relish in each other's company. All the while Tsumugi had a light blush on his face, and so did Chikage. It was probably the gentle cold of a summer's morning, if not the residual warmth from their sharing sleep together.

"I'm lucky you're not a vampire, Chikage-san."

"Why do you say that?"

"You could've drawn blood from me and made me one of your kind." Tsumugi languidly pointed to his neck. Apparently, he surmised where Chikage fell asleep.

"Well, I were a vampire, I'd only have to fear you, wouldn't I?"

"Yes Chikage-san, I'd spike your curry with all the garlic I could possibly muster." Tsumugi smiled as widely as he could through the laziness much to Chikage's dismay.

He instantly fell back on Tsumugi's shoulder, taking the blue-haired tutor with him, and toppling onto the other side of the decrepit sofa. "Well then, I hope you won't do that to my food while I'm asleep."

"How can I do that when you're still on me then?"

Chikage yawned as he slowly moved from his shoulder, to his chest, and ultimately resting on his lap. "I can never be too sure."

Tsumugi rested a hand on Chikage's head, toying playfully with the stray strands of his hair before neatly setting it to the back of his head.. "If that's the case, bonne nuit, Chikage-san."

He slid his hands under Chikage's head and raised it as high as he can, to the point where they were within his reach to plant a gentle kiss on his forehead. Chikage returned in kind taking Tsumugi's hand and touching his lips on its somewhat calloused yet also milky soft back.

"Bonne nuit, cherie."

Elsewhere in the Mankai Dorms, Tsumugi could hear music playing from one of the rooms.

"Vampires never have to complain of living a dull circumstance."

It being a rock ballad, it was probably from one of the younger actors, probably Masumi-kun. The easy melody matched the beat of his heart and soon the rise and fall of his breath as he slowly fell back asleep.

"And it would be fine, to spend my whole life with you together."

"Parlez-vous, or something like that."

[strikearose]

It’s all about connections (SasuNaru) (Part 1)

Finally, here’s the very first part of the !YoutubeSasuNaru story - the idea’s quite silly but I had fun writing it so hope you guys enjoy it! (English is not my first language so please don’t be too much of a grammar nazi Summary : Sasuke has had that massive crush on a youtuber for years when Rasengan randomly starts going to his class. You can also read it on ff.net and ao3.  Part 1 (here), Part 2 (clic), Part 3 (clic), Part 4 (clic)

Poc.

The ball of paper missed its trajectory and crashed into the corner of the wall, barely half an inch away from the waste basket that originally intended. The student didn’t mind, though - he was far too busy trying to finish his economics presentation that was due for the next day.

Despite the fact that many of his classmates insisted on seeing him as a relentless hardworking student, Sasuke Uchiha was very much like any other normal twenty-one year old boy : a procrastinator at heart. So it was precisely on the night before the big day that he finally decided to finish it, even though he had had all of his vacation time to do so. Well - it would be a lie to say that it would take a superhuman effort to accomplish that task, but unfortunately the young man had another flaw: he was a perfectionist.

Even if he had to pull an all-nighter or give nothing back at all, Sasuke had always refused to be average -  because before (and in addition of) setting high standards for others, he would always set himself very high standards.

The black-haired man frowned as he read what he had written on the previous line and, impulsively, he ended up tearing up the entire page of his notebook and threw it on the floor.

However, the paper pellet did not make a Poc - as he had, this time, managed to reach the bin, it made a Ting instead : he had just received a notification.

His mind being elsewhere, the student rummaged around on his desk, looking for his phone. It wasn’t a text message, but a Youtube alert. One of his Subscriptions had just uploaded a new video. Sasuke took a quick look at the time (1:03 am) and let a loud sight when he saw how long the video was: fifty-seven minutes.

Of course, it has to be Rasengan.

He was the only one there who could publish a barely edited gaming review at such odd hours. One hour of uncut video was too much, even if it was to discuss the New Zelda. ‘That moron clearly don’t understand how the logistics of youtube work,’ the young man thought while stretching his legs under the table in order to get into a more comfortable position.

Because even though Sasuke might found the Youtuber’s marketing choices quite stupid and questionable - he was still his favorite. The only one he was following so.. assiduously.

And if he was really going to pull an all-nighter in order to finish his presentation on time, he might as well relax a little on the go

**

The coffee machine finally agreed (even though it sure had taken its’ sweet time) to give him his change money, but it still wasn’t not enough to lift Sasuke’s spirit. He really had spent his entire night working on the presentation. Well - he even had to give up his usual fifteen minutes of hot morning shower for just three minutes of shampoo-rinse-toothbrush altogether to make sure that everything was perfect.

But at last - there he was ! His eyelids stung horribly and he could feel the dark circles hollowing out his eyes, but everything was finally ready to make sure he would receive his usual congratulations for the seriousness and thoroughness of his work.

An amused grin escaped his lips when he looked into the face of Kiba Inuzuka, one of his classmates - a gamer and procrastinator emeritus who unfortunately didn’t have enough wits to back it up. With some luck, they would be called in alphabetical order for once and it would save Inuzuka the embarrassment of going Sasuke’s presentation.

Or maybe not.

Sasuke left the cafeteria just as the legendary lack of luck of the dog-loving student seemed to catch up with him:

« FOR FUCK’S SAKE NARUTO DON’T PUT YOUR DR PEPPER ON TOP OF MY COMPUTER ! »

**

« Hey Sasuke, did you also get Ichiraku’s mail about the internship? »

Shikamaru Nara calmly called out the black-haired young man as he sat down.

« Yes, I got it. And my documents have been signed and validated by the office earlier today.

- Cool, mine too, Shikamaru sighed. ‘t'was about time. »

He nodded his head knowingly: all the steps of searching, finding and getting the official documents concerning the internship signed were an unspeakable mess. Luckily, though, his partner this time was not a nutcase of Zaku Abumi’s caliber.

The Nara was placidly calm (Sasuke wouldn’t dream of seeing him threatening the Dean of blowing up the uni if he were to fail the exams) and quite intelligent: in short, he was one of his peers. And their little discussions were not too unpleasant.

« Well, we’ll talk later about carpooling?

- Yeah. And also dividing the task.

- Yeah, no problems, Shikamaru sighed as he turned away - tired in advance of the amount of work ahead. Ah, good luck with your presentation by the way. »

Pfft.

He didn’t even bother to answer.

Wishing him luck ? Sasuke gladly left ‘good luck’ to losers such as Inuzuka or Sarutobi who were very likely to be sending prayers at that very moment to every heavenly spirit existing, Jashin included, to have the course delayed.

Good luck ?

Sasuke definitely didn’t need it.

He was brilliant, meticulous and confident: talking in front of sixty or more people didn’t bother him at all - unlike the younger Hyuuga who getting more and more on the verge of fainting as she practiced her speech. More than that, it was even something he enjoyed. Knowing every aspect of a subject - mastering it ; defending it tooth and nail, tearing apart every remark made by his opponents until they surrender..

Some malicious people would say that Sasuke liked to boast on stage, that he was too arrogant. That he was far too pleased to thwart the traps set by his teachers, to answer the questions of his classmates with a smirk. A smirk just visible enough to make them understand how foolish he thought their interventions were. Or worse, that he had precisely expected for a moron to make that remark, thus allowing him to assert his assistance with a dutifully prepared response.

Saying that Sasuke Uchiha sometimes behaved like a complete asshole would be quite slanderous - indeed.

Because, no he did not.

He was brilliant, meticulous, confident… and humble on top of that.

« Hurry up, Kiba, I think it’s already started!

- You should have eat your lunch quicker ! »

The two latecomers were forced to take the front row seats of the auditorium while Sasuke finished to prepare. The slide show was on, the cable was connected - he was simply waiting for Mr. Hatake’s approval to start.

**

« And to finish with and anticipate some questions you may have, I’d like to add that while the data I used regarding market flows may be from two thousand and four, other studies that I have provided in the appendix tend to show that all exchanges concerning telephony have been profitable thanks to the takeover of the company by its competitor three years ago. »

Click.

He couldn’t have done better.

The teacher scribbled an umpteenth inscription on his rating form with a discreet approving wink and Uchiha smiled smugly.

Perfect - everything had gone on smoothly.

His onyx eyes wandered around the room: not surprisingly, half the auditorium hadn’t listen a word to what he had said, too focused on themselves (and the realization of their own projects).

Pfft.

The other half, however, completed his little moment of glory: some of them shook the head in bitterness, disappointed in what they had done in comparison, others gave him an admiring look. In the distance, Shikamaru nodded his head slowly while the Egyptian fury sited beside him, more belligerent, pretended to stifle a yawn.

But Sasuke quickly looked away, his mouth pinched, as he saw the thumb up that Lee Rock had kindly addressed to his attention. Lee was overall quite a nice fellow - Sasuke himself had to recognize it, - but no.

Just no.

« Well, if no one has any question, because I don’t have one either, let’s move on to the next presentation, Kakashi Hatake thought for a moment as he watched over the assembly. Inuzuka, you, in the front row? Well, that’s great, now’s your turn. »

Sasuke, quite disdainfully elated, was about to come down from the stage when a voice stopped him dead in his tracks:

« Oops, you’re in deep shit, Kiba! »

That particular tone was familiar to him.

Strangely familiar.

« Heyyyyy everybody! I know, I know, sorry! I promised to upload more often… But sometimes I just completely forget to turn the cam on. Or to remove the lens cover ahah! Anyway, today…- »

…

Come to think of it, Sasuke knows that he should have, at least, tried to make it look like it wasn’t that big of a deal. He should have try to tighten his jaw, clench his teeth or even hold his breath until he could return to his seat but of course - he didn’t.

That damn brain of his really had to go on mental-break down as he looked over to the lips from which those sweet, sweet words had just escaped.

He literally froze on the spot.

HOLY FREAKING FUCKING FUCK.

Why the hell did Rasengan have to show up in his class on the very-day he looked like utter shit?!

**

Sasuke let himself fell on a chair of the uni library. The research room, fortunately, was still quite empty - this haven of peace was the only place where, he was ready to stake his life on it, this stupid Inuzuka had not and would never set foot in.

Yes - Sasuke Uchiha had simply run away : with clenched fists, he had spent the forty-two minutes separating him from the end of the class to scrutinize meticulously the auditorium clock’s second hand. He had tried everything: scrolling down his twitter feed, pretending to be interested in what was happening downstairs, humming softly a bit of that stupid Latin-sounding song that his brother Itachi kept playing in the car, but nothing helped. That same frightening moment was played again and again in his mind:

Meeting certain cerulean eyes had literally made him go speechless. If he had for a long time now suspected the blond guy of drowning his instagram pictures with saturated filters, he was now forced to admit that this guy had the bluest eyes he had ever seen.

And by blue, Sasuke wasn’t talking about that pale, bland cyan that Ino Yamanaka, a high school ‘friend’ he often saw in the cafeteria, boasted about - no, Rasengan’s pupils were of a deep, bright, intense blue. It wasn’t a grey that stretched to be too light or green; his eyes were neither grayish nor turquoise: they were blue. Irrevocably blue.

Wonderfully blue.

The more he thought about it, the less Uchiha was willing to accept it: there was no way a guy who spent at least twelve hours a day on screens could have such marvelous eyes. He probably wore contact lenses, yeah, there was no other explanation.

All Sasuke could remember was meeting that seing that blue and then - nothing. His foot had stayed up in the air, his breathing hastened and he had stood there like an idiot - staring at the video maker who hadn’t pay the slightest attention to him, his mouth wide open.

How long had he been frozen there, like a fucking fangirl oozing hormones and sebum?

…

Thank’s God - an unfortunate accident had come to his rescue : Kiba Inuzuka and his legendary clumsiness who, probably not expecting Sasuke to suddenly freeze on the spot, had stumbled over the stairs.

PAF.

He had cracked his forehead open and the fit of hilarity (well - they didn’t need much at eight o'clock in the morning) in the auditorium had instantly brought Sasuke out of his enamored trance. He had quickly taken his attention away from the blond young man hurried back to his place, his heart beating fast.

Shit - what the hell was Rasengan doing in his college?

And why did he have do pull an all-nighter on the day before?

Sasuke looked around him and hesitated for a moment before putting his phone in selfie mode in order to inspect the extent of the damages.

Ouch.

He had rarely looked so bad. His eyes were red because of the entire night spent on a computer screen, his skin was tugging at him and - what the hell was that old scale on the edge of his eyelid ? But despair truly overcame him as he looked at the state of his hair - thank God it was still pretty clean, but there was absolutely no volume left. Nasty, long (too long) strands of hair were stuck to his temples and fell back a little on his forehead.

Shit - it was as if he was unpleasantly reviving his teenage years when - even though he still adamantly claimed to that day he had never turned emo, he had tried numerous dubious kind of hairstyles.

The Uchiha turned pale when it really came down to him : this was indeed the very first impression he ever had make on Rasengan.

**

When Sasuke set foot on campus the next day, curious glances were exchanged. While his complexion was as fresh and glowing as ever (he had gulped down five liters of water the night before), his hair was…-

Well - he rather gave the impression that he had swallowed five litres of gel. That observation made the usually impassive Shikamaru raised an eyebrow - for a moment he thought that he too had returned to his high school years. The Nara genius finally shrugged it off, plunged back into his textbook - well everyone had bad hair day every now and then.

**

Fourth day of the week - Sasuke grumbled as he put his computer back on his bag.

Of course, Rasengan had to disappear completely off the face of the earth as soon as he had decided to rock his best outfits to go to class.

It was as if Rasengan’s divine appearance had to be provoked by Sasuke losing some of his splendor.

…

The next day, Sasuke had the impudence of wearing a T-shirt… with a hole on it (an old accident involving a hook and his brother-in-law, a fisherman), but still - nothing happened.

There was not the slightest sign of the handsome blond with eyes too blue to be true. In a bad mood, Uchiha decided after lunch to put the Ralph Lauren sweater, which he’d slipped into his bag in the morning just in case, in top of his crappy shirt.

The following Monday came quickly but - no, Sasuke wasn’t expecting anything.

His decision to resume his daily abdominal sessions hadn’t been motivated by any hope of meeting a certain blond again.

He was doing it for himself - and for himself alone.

Although it was true that he didn’t even need it.

The coffee machine forgot inadvertently to give him a stirrer - Sasuke sighed. Great, the day was starting out just fine : how the hell was he supposed to retrieve the sugar that had fallen to the bottom of the cup and drink his coffee now?

« Ahah, I can’t believe it, I didn’t even finish my presentation and Hatake gave me the passmark ! »

Sasuke’s ears tensed imperceptibly as he recognized the voice of the injured-Inuzuka who had just entered the cafeteria.

« He felt sorry you had a concussion Kiba, Shikamaru was there too.

- Whatever, man ! I’m definitely going to pass that semester ! We got to go celebrate. »

Celebrate?

Like in a bar or club where Rasengan might also go to ?

Sasuke suddenly found his cup too heavy to carry around and chose to sit down at the table next to the one the two friends had chosen, any worry of lost-stirrer long forgotten.

« Mhhh. Shikamaru sighed and rummaged through his wallet, seeking enough change to buy himself a hot drink. The delicious scent of Sasuke’s coffee was tempting him. You know what I think about your improvised parties.

- Pfff, anyway, you hardly go out anymore now than you got hitched.

- It's not like that, Shikamaru sighed again. Tem and I simply go to different places. »

Sasuke rolled his eyes out, bored. He wasn’t there to hear about other people’s marital relationships: why didn’t they discuss Rasengan’s appearance AND disappearance instead?

The black-haired man had spend the weekend trying to figure something out, but nothing helped. Not a new video on Youtube (well, there was nothing that strange about that, Rasengan’s upload schedule had always been rather dubious), not a single clue on twitter or insta.

Nothing.

« …- never thought you’d actually manage to hook up with her. By the way…-, Kiba’s sentence was left hanging in the air. Oh, here he is. It’s about time! »

Sasuke’s pulse suddenly accelerated. Damn it.

He hadn’t expected Rasengan to pop up out of the blue, though.

Wasn’t his presence so close to his group of friends too suspicious?

Was he going to get busted that easily ?

He needed a pretext - quickly.

« Hey Shino. You’re here just in time, let’s go! »

Eyes glued to the poster for dark-metal band, Uchiha struggled to conceal his disappointment. 

Shino Aburame - of course.

Always where he wasn’t expected.

Jaw clenched, Sasuke pretended to take a closer look at the tour dates on the wall while the three companions got up to go to class. The disappointed student was about to do the same when a voice called out to him:

« I didn’t know you liked this kind of music, Sasuke.

- Uh… yeah.

- We’re performing next month at the bar around the corner, Shino let out a rare smile as he reached into his pocket to hand him something. Here, I’ve got plenty more.

- … Thanks ? »

Uchiha arched an eyebrow as he received a Radioactive Worms sticker.

…

Well.

It took all sorts to make a world.

**

Wednesday, nine o'clock - Sasuke sighed as he realized that his computer was already out of battery. He pulled the charger out of its’ case before giving a nasty glance to a student who was cackling a little too loudly a few rows away.

Inuzuka.

Again.

He was getting on his nerves more and more.

For how long has he been getting along like pigs in a blanket with Rasengan? And was he, as Sasuke strongly suspected, responsible of his mysterious disappearance?

It was all so damn confusing.

« Um, yeah? »

The microphone sizzled and Sasuke turned his attention back ont he lecturer who he had almost forgotten.

When he saw who standing next to him, he almost fainted.

Rasengan.

[ushitrash]

what could have been

pairing: daichi x fem!reader

genre: angst, high school/college au

warnings: none :3

word count: 5.3k+

a/n: i wanted to write an angst that would’ve ended all angsts, but it’s been a while since i wrote one, so it’s a bit shabby. yoroshiku onegai~!

I sometimes wonder if following you around back then was worth it. By going up to you whenever I had the chance, to make my feelings a tiny bit more obvious. Maybe if I did things differently would we be better now? Worse? I can’t say for sure. Neither will you. But since when did wondering about the past make the present better, right?

-

You let out a laugh. It’s been years since everything happened. Strange for you to suddenly think about this, to talk to him in your head even though you knew he couldn’t hear you.

Was it the candle burning in the kitchen? Or the dinner you had thirty minutes ago.. No, it must have been the song that randomly queued on Spotify while you were folding your clothes.

Whatever it was, it brought you back years. Whether you liked it or not, the memories of him hit you one by one.

-

Your family moved into a new neighborhood. You weren’t particularly shy, but you weren’t obnoxiously loud, either. You were very curious, but not enough to be rude. You were trying to find the box with your plush bunnies and froggies, but you couldn’t. What could a five year old do with a taped box anyway, even if she did find it?

So you decided to ask your mom or dad, but they were outside talking to the people helping you move in. You didn’t want to bother them, so you plopped down onto the grass, eyes pointed at the sky. You heard a voice.

“What’s your name?”

You weren’t sure if they were talking to you, but you turned your head around anyway.

“Y/N.”

“Oh really? I’m Daichi. Wanna play with us?”

He pointed to two boys behind him.

You weren’t sure, but then one of them spoke up.

“We’re not scary! In fact, you’re probably stronger than Asahi.”

The last boy tried to deny it, but all that came out was stutters.

“See?,” the second boy said proudly, “Join us! We’ll show you how to build the best Lego castle ever.”

Daichi bent his knees and reached out his hand. “Wanna come?”

You nodded and grabbed his hand. He pulled you up and led you to his house, which was right next to yours.

After sitting down and drinking some juice, the loud one introduced himself.

“I’m Koushi! Koushi Sugawara. You can call me Koushi or Suga for short. Either works.”

You nod. 

“And I’m Asahi. But don’t try to scare me on purpose, because although I don’t want to admit it, I get scared easily like Suga said.”

Suga beamed. 

Daichi added, “We’re seven years old. How old are you?”

“I’m five.”

“Nice! Okay, do you like blue or red? For the first layer of the castle? You can do that first. I wanna make the bridge.”

“Suga, I think we should let her choose what she wants to do-”

You didn’t mind. You were happy, actually. 

“I’ll do the first layer! Thank you Daichi Onii-chan, Suga Onii-chan, Asahi Onii-chan hehe”

You were too busy picking out the blue Legos to notice that their faces turned red.

And well, everything was history from there.

-

Uhh..not really.

You guys grew up together. You followed the trio around everywhere you could. If you thought you were being annoying in the slightest, however, you knew to leave them alone. But that didn’t hide the fact that you were crushing on Daichi. There was no specific moment when you realized, and no moment of denial about it. It was natural for you to like him, essentially. You didn’t tell anyone, though, because he was actually pretty popular in school. Girls went up to you asking what his type was, or if you could pass on a note or snack to him for them. You didn’t mind. You guys were best friends, after all.

-

You were hoping for something different when high school started, though. Who wouldn’t? The new uniforms, bigger campus, and the cherry blossoms falling on everyone would even make a rock want to romanticize everything. So you made a promise to yourself. If he didn’t like anyone by the time he graduated, you’d confess. Maybe. Actually, you weren’t too sure for it to be a promise, but it was a start. 

-

As school started, each day was the same, yet so different. Seeing him was a routine. A regular routine might have been boring for anyone else. But for you, it wasn’t. If you were panicking about the textbook you left at home, he’d ask someone for you and place it in your locker. If he saw you looking at the vending machine disappointingly, he’d open your hand and place a few quarters on it so you can buy the juice box. If you were running to the cafeteria with your friends, and accidentally trip on your own feet, he’d catch that too. He’d give you a bandage and ask if your knee is alright before class would start.

-

You knew that he knows you best. You knew that he always looks out for you. Because you’re his younger sister. So you forced it down. Don’t think about it in that way. He’d also act that way towards Suga and Asahi if they were girls. 

But you noticed him and his surroundings, too. You saw the girl who asked if she could meet him outside after school because she had something to say. You saw another girl purposely trying to get his attention by faking a headache. And you saw that girl slipping a note in his locker with a hopeful look on her face. You wouldn’t mind if it stopped at that. But it’s Daichi we’re talking about here. Patient, kind, and generous. He gave all of those girls the time and attention they were seeking. Because he’s nice. 

-

The first semester was a few weeks short of being finished, and it was almost time for finals. You had a habit of tugging a piece of hair whenever you were stressed, and yes, you were doing that habit of yours while reading your notebook in the empty classroom. You heard a knock on the open door, so you looked up.

“My oh my, look who it is. Ain’t it Queen of Pulling All My Hair Out Before a Test Y/N.”

You rolled your eyes.

“Suga, maybe you can’t see with those terrible eyes of yours, but I’m clearly trying to study here.”

He laughed.

“I know you hate me for saying this, but I will never stop even when I die. You need to chill sometimes.”

“Then don’t say it!”

“Ok well, I wasn’t going to stay long anyways, because I have to go to volleyball practice.”

“Have fun. Imma go to your house, take your place, and stuff myself at dinner.”

He stuck a tongue out at you.

“Wait, before I leave. I have something else to say.”

“Go ahead.”

“Suck it up and tell Daichi already.”

You tried to play it off by asking what he was talking about.

“Oh, I know. So don’t act like you don’t have a soft spot for him. We only have one semester left before we leave, and with all these girls flocking towards him, it’ll be a matter of time before he says yes to one of them.”

You didn’t try to deny it. If Daichi was the caring one, Suga was the all-knowing, teasing one. 

“But you know he doesn’t see me in that way.”

“You never know. Daichi and I don’t share every single little thought we have, you know. Do you want to see him spend his time with a random girl we’ve never talked to? You don’t. I don’t either. I’d rather have you next to him way more than someone else.”

You just looked down at your notebook, not realizing you underlined the definition of an acid base redox reaction a countless number of times. 

“Maybe,” you whispered.

“I can’t hear you. The Y/N I know does not give up on things she wants.”

“Alright, alright. Hurry up and go to volleyball.”

He smiled and walked out of the classroom.

You let out a breath. You didn’t know what to do. But you knew Suga was right. You had to do something.

-

Finals were over and winter break started. You tried to make your feelings more obvious to him. The four of you went hiking on a snowy mountain. You packed him an extra hand warmer. The boys practiced volleyball while you watched. You gave only him a towel. There were also anime nights at your place, but Asahi would always be the first one to fall asleep so those nights ended quickly. But you still bid good night to Daichi a bit sweeter than to the other two. He was very attentive to you, but not to the extent of noticing those details,

The new semester started, and things were pretty much the same. Daichi got confessions every week, while you just watched. He still took time out of his day to make sure you were alright, and if you needed anything. You honestly thought your efforts weren’t making a difference, but you still tried. You made sure to go to all of their volleyball games. When he hugged you after each one, you made sure to hug him back an extra bit harder. On Valentine’s Day, you made him brownies, while you gave the other two store-bought chocolate. You hoped the other two didn’t notice. But in fact they did. Daichi was the only one who didn’t.

-

Weeks passed. Then it was the day you were dreading the most. Their graduation day. You sat among the audience, biting your lip from the nervousness. Even throughout the ceremony, you couldn’t pay attention, because you were thinking of all the reactions he could ever give you to your confession. You were shaking your leg so hard that your mom sitting next to you put her hand on it to make it stop. It seemed only five minutes passed, but all of a sudden the ceremony was over. You stood up to go outside and to wait for the graduates to go to their families.

You were pacing back and forth, tugging a piece of your hair, and biting your lip when you felt a hand on your shoulder. You jump from the surprise, and you hear a laugh from behind you.

“I’m sorry for scaring you. Is something on your mind? I could see you pacing even from inside the building.”

You knew it was him. The hand gave him away. The gentle, yet sturdy feeling that comforted you immediately. You turned around.

“Congrats Daichi! I’m so proud of you. Don’t forget all of us when you’re at college, okay?”

He laughs. “I’ve never said this, but I miss you calling me Onii-chan. Why don’t you do that anymore?”

“It’s weird and embarrassing to say that in high school,” you say with a blush.

He smiles at you again.

There was a pause. Which was strange because there were no pauses ever between you two. 

He cleared his throat.

The both of you said something at the same time. But being the gentleman he was, he insisted you go first.

But you were scared. This was foreign. You guys were never awkward, so that pause scared you.

“No, you go first. We’re celebrating you today, so it’s rude for me to interrupt you.”

“Haha alright. Well..We still have the summer, but I’ll miss you a lot when I leave, Y/N.”

You nod.

“Please be honest. Have you ever thought of me as more than.. friends?”

You were speechless. Never in a million years did you expect him to bring this topic up first.

You hesitated. You didn’t know why. You knew you had to say something, but words wouldn’t form.

“If not, then forget me asking. I don’t know what came over me-”

“Wait-”

“DAICHI~~! WE’RE GOING TO TAKE A FAMILY PICTURE!”

He looked back to his family, and turned back to you.

“Talk to you later?”

You nodded slowly, and he left.

You sat down on the grass dumbfounded.

Why didn’t you say anything? It seemed like there was something there. A sliver of hope in his voice when he asked you. But now it just seemed like he was the fool for asking. No. You needed to tell him how you felt, so you stood up and jogged to where he was. But of course. You’re too late, like always. Girls surrounded him, giving him flowers, candy, etc. You stood from afar, watching him thank them.

-

You went back home after the day was over. It was quite hectic, because of all of the picture taking and the dinner afterwards. You were actually so tired that you would’ve slept right away once you went to your room, but you heard someone call you as you were taking your shoes off at the front door.

“Y/N?”

Your head turned to the voice.

“I’m sorry we were interrupted earlier. Do you have time now?”

There he was. Still in his dress shirt and pants. You smiled at him. “Of course.”

You guys walked to the park five minutes away from your houses and sat on the nearest bench.

There was another pause.

“Um,” you say first. It seemed like he was intending for you to speak before he did.

So you continued.

“I don’t know what you think, Daichi. Despite you being the easiest man to read, I still can’t read you. Even though I’ve known you the longest, besides Suga and Asahi, I get confused every day. But however you respond, I want to tell you this before you leave.”

You took a deep breath.

“I like you. I’ve always liked you. Ever since that day you pulled me up so we could make that Lego castle. I liked you even more when you helped me find my plush toys I thought I lost. I liked you even when you left for middle school while I was still in 5th grade. You still helped me with my homework even though it was obvious other boys wanted you to play volleyball with them. I still liked you even when girls would come up to me asking what your ideal type was. I still liked you even though you spent hours day in and out at volleyball, not knowing when you’d finish. I wanted to make every single thing you did for me special. Even though I knew that I’m just a little sister to you.”

You were trying so hard not to see his reaction. You didn’t even know what to expect from him. Shock? Disappointment? Regret? Or maybe something else?

“So I tried to do something about it. Because I know if I didn’t, then I’ll regret not doing anything. I don’t know if you noticed or not, but all those little things I did just for you were to show you my feelings.”

You felt a hand on your head. You turned to him and he has a look on his face you’ve never seen before. A look you couldn’t decipher even though you knew him for 10+ years.

“I did notice, Y/N.”

He noticed.

“How could I not? You were always greedy with the hand warmers, and you said you didn’t like approaching guys who were sweaty. You would also be the next one to fall asleep after Asahi at your house, but you would be wide awake even after the anime was done. You only baked brownies for your parents, and once in three years for us. So when I saw that Suga and Asahi got chocolate, how could I not notice?”

You looked down at your hands that were picking at the hem of your skirt.

“But I’m sorry.”

You couldn’t help but lift your head to face him.

“I’m afraid I can’t return your feelings.”

Tears you held for who knows how long slipped down your face.

“I’m being a jerk just by saying this, but could you wait for me?” You were confused. He was never a jerk, and he will never be one.

“What do you mean?” “I don’t want to make a promise that will eventually hurt both of us. But could you wait for me until after you graduate high school?”

You understood, so you nodded.

He squeezed your hand. “Good girl.”

He always called you that whenever you did something right. When you aced your tests, or finally understood a concept you were struggling with for weeks. When you bragged that you did your laundry early this week instead of dragging it on until you had no clothes left. When you helped pick up the volleyballs whenever the trio would practice at the park by themselves. 

But what was so right about pushing your feelings down yet again? He stood up and said one last thing before suggesting going back home.

“You’ll always be the one for me, you know that Y/N?”

Of course. His sister, his friend. Someone who’d listen to everything on his mind, no matter how random and small it was.

“I was always happy when you started school with us. But we’d leave after one year, and you’d be alone again. That part made me sad, but we still hung out often, right?”

Right. But would he know that those two years in elementary and middle school, and now high school, were harder on you?

“But now we’re leaving you again. I’m sorry. That we were born two years apart.”

The tears kept streaming down.

“But it’s different now,” you managed to mutter.

He bent down before you and wiped your tears away.

“I know.. But I’ll come home every summer and winter break, so I’ll make sure to bother you then. Bother you so much that you’d want me to move permanently back to Tokyo.”

He somehow knew how to make you laugh, and you did. And as you guys were leaving the park and heading home, you forgot the past conversation and acted like nothing happened.

“I’d never say that to you.”

“Oh, but you definitely would to Suga and Asahi.”

“I wouldn’t to Asahi! He’s so nice to me.”

“Haha, I’m telling Suga.”

“Ugh, he’s going to give me the silent treatment for years.”

And you both laughed, because that’s who you guys were. Friends who made each other feel better.

-

Five years later.

Another graduation. Except it was in Tokyo. This one was bigger, louder, and longer. And this time, you changed. It wasn’t a day full of being nervous and anxious. Despite the loud environment, you were calm and composed. When Daichi’s name was called, you cheered for him, but not how you would’ve five years ago. You still loved him, but not in that way anymore. You were different, and he was too.

-

You were researching colleges to apply to in your senior year. You weren’t sure which ones, because there were too many that all looked the same to you. Part of you wanted to stay home, because that was safe and comfortable to you. Another part wanted you to leave. Tokyo? Kyoto? Maybe even somewhere else entirely? But then Daichi called you, asking how school was going, and he suggested you visit his college and see how it was. Five year old you would’ve had no hesitation. 18 year old you did. But you said yes anyway, because you were curious about the school, and him.

-

You pull your suitcase out from the trunk of the taxi, and you see him jogging towards you.

“Y/N,” he said as he hugged you.

“Daichi-”

“Give me the suitcase. I’ll take it.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you.”

“Did you grow taller?”

“I think like 5 cm? Not that much haha”

“I knew it. You look like you’re doing well.”

“You too.”

His hair was a bit longer. He wore clothes he didn’t usually before. It’s been a while since you saw him, so it was obvious he looked different.

“I told my kouhai to meet us at the front of the college entrance. She’s pretty excited to meet you.”

“Oh, that’s nice. I hope I’m not bothering her by staying at her place.”

“Don’t worry about that at all. She doesn’t mind in the slightest.”

There was something else that changed about him that you didn’t want to admit.

You should’ve realized when he said he couldn’t come back for winter break that year. And the summer break after that. And the winter break after that. He was busy, he said. And you believed him, because the Daichi you knew never lied. 

But you admit now that he’s changed, and the look on his face when he talked about that girl was new. He never looked like that when you saw him getting chocolates from other girls. Heck, he never even talked to you like that before. 

But you reminded yourself that the main reason why you agreed to go was to see the school. And if this kouhai was someone reliable who could answer any question you had about the school, then so be it. 

You met her at the college entrance as promised, and she was indeed happy to see you. 

She was pretty, kind, and generous. Characteristics mirrored in Daichi. You couldn’t hate her or be jealous of her. She made sure you had answers to every question you had, food that you really enjoyed, and a place to call home for the next few days. After the first day of touring around, you both went to the dorm and got ready to sleep.

“How was everything today?”

“It was fun! It’s not like I didn’t have any expectations, but I understand why Daichi chose here and how happy he is.”

“Right? It’s so nice here. You’re so lucky to have known Daichi-san for a long time.”

“Haha, yeah, he’s a really great person.”

“He is! He’s really popular, too. You can tell by the crowd of girls waiting outside of his classroom so they can talk to him.”

Oh wow, I guess girls are the same everywhere you go.

“How did you guys meet?”

“Oh, I wasn’t sure what to major at the time, but my friend’s boyfriend is a friend of his, so he helped me find what I wanted to do. We became friends after that.”

But you could tell that in her eyes that she wanted him to be more than that.

“If Daichi is so popular, why isn’t he dating anyone?”

You knew him well, but you still wanted to prod.

“He always laughs it off whenever someone asks him, saying he’s not wanting anything like that.”

You nod. 

“Also, the only girl he actually talks most about is you.”

You were pulling out your skincare products from your suitcase but stopped mid-motion.

“Me? Why?”

“Oh, he’s so proud of you. All of his friends know about you, because he shares all your achievements with us. Anyone can tell he adores you a lot.”

You were guilty. It was obvious he liked her, and she liked him, but you were the one in between because of what you said two years ago.

“Haha, it’s nothing. I’m just a little sister he never had. That’s weird and gross if people misunderstand things between us,” you said as you fake laughed it off.

You said you’re going to the bathroom and shut the door. You weren’t sure how to feel, and you didn’t like the uncertainty. After a few minutes, you made your mind that you were going to talk to him about this tomorrow.

-

You pulled Daichi away from the crowd and sat him on a chair.

“What’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”

“No. Well kinda, but not in the way you’re thinking.”

He had a confused look on his face.

You sat next to him.

“You like her, don’t you.”

If you didn’t know him well, you wouldn’t have noticed the blush on his cheeks. But you did.

“No, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

You sighed out of frustration and said, “She likes you, too.”

“What?”

“If you’re trying to ignore your true feelings because of what we said two years ago, you can forget the past conversation.”

“What do you mean-”

You stood up and faced him. You were getting a bit angry at him, which was a first.

“I don’t want to be the one blocking you from doing what you want to do. Okay? Who am I to make you stuck in the past even though you never even saw me in that way? Are you doing this to hold your reputation? That you’re Daichi and you have to keep promises because that’s who you are? Don’t. Because I don’t like you anymore. And I will never ever like someone who is so fixated on the past even though they didn’t mean what they said. And get it right. The only reason I came here was to see the school, not you. I was too selfish and annoying my first year of high school, and if I had the chance, I would’ve never said those things to you. Never would I have made you brownies if I knew you were like this now. But I can’t regret anything, because there’s no use in that. So just tell her you like her already, because I can’t stand being in the middle of you guys.”

He was hurt. You knew that look. That look whenever he lost a volleyball game. That look whenever he lost something important to him. You knew at that moment he lost you. That whatever he was thinking and feeling before this was gone. Because of what you said. The things you spat out that you didn’t mean. 

He stood up.

“I’m sorry you felt that way. And for breaking the promise I made to you that day. Whatever happens, I still care for you a ton, Y/N. You know that you’ll always be number one to me. No matter what happens, if you call, I’ll run to you first. Okay?”

Lies. You knew they were lies. Since when did he get so good at lying?

But you nodded, because that’s what he wanted you to hear. 

So you turned around and left first. You continued the next few days without him, exploring the campus, and meeting new people. It was a really good school, but you decided it wasn’t for you.

After the trip, you were unpacking your suitcase when you found a bag with your name on it.

You opened it, and there was a candle. A note on it said, “I admire your candle collection. I hope you can use this one next?”

Then there was a gift card to a restaurant you tried in Tokyo when you were 10 that you really liked. “I heard that you liked their food. When you visit me, call me, so we can eat together.”

Then there was a CD. “Your favorite singer came to sing live on campus, so I thought I’d buy you the recording. I hope we can listen to it together soon.”

And one last note fluttered out of the bag when you shook it.

“I was planning to give these to you when you graduated, but I think I was looking too far ahead. I know these aren’t much, but it’d be a lie saying that I wasn’t looking forward to what could’ve been. I know I didn’t give you a direct answer that day, but I guess I’ll write it down here. I liked you, too. And more than just friends. I didn’t say anything because you deserve the world, if not more. When you confessed, I felt like the world was on my side, but not completely, because I was leaving for Tokyo soon then. I also couldn’t say anything because I knew you’d be hurting alone without me next to you. I was surprised when you told me that I like her. Because I was sure that I liked you. I’m sorry that you were the one to point it out to me. And it’s true I was fixated on the past, because that’s where you were to me. But I can move on now. I’m glad you moved on before I did. And, what I said earlier is true. You’ll always be first to me. If you’re sick, I’ll run to Miyagi even if I have to. Because that’s who you are in my life. Let’s keep in touch, okay?

Love, Daichi.”

Your eyes blurred. Of course, he’d do this. He always brought you back souvenirs from his vacations before. Why did you think he wouldn’t this time?

What you said to him a few days ago were all lies. You still liked him, and you did want to visit the school to see him. Even if he wasn’t nice to you all those years, you still would’ve made him brownies and listened to everything he had to say. You would never regret liking him ever. But you knew it was over. You couldn’t go back on your words even if your life depended on it, because it would hurt him.

-

You were sandwiched between Suga and Asahi during the graduation ceremony. Suga was being loud as always, so your right ear was getting busted. You were pleading to Asahi quietly to switch seats with you, but for some reason, he just wouldn’t make eye contact with you. 

Anyway, the ceremony ended so everyone was leaving. You guys decided to meet Daichi outside the venue near the grass area. He came after a few minutes.

“Guys!”

You were happy to see him. He was happy and content. Even more so that you’ve seen him before. But then you saw someone else behind him.

It was her, and they were holding hands. And there was a ring on her finger. You thought you were over it. You believed the lie you told yourself until you saw them. But you knew you couldn’t cry. It was their day, not yours. After talking for a bit, you excused yourself to the bathroom when you couldn’t see them anymore.

You stare at the mirror.

Why her? Not you? You were always there for him, yet he chose someone he only knew for one year. And now they’re already engaged. You felt dumb for liking your childhood friend. Out of all the possibilities, you were the side character of a movie.

After washing your face with water, you left the bathroom.

“Y/N.”

And of course Suga was waiting for you.

“Hey, did you need to use the bathroom, too?”

“Why are you acting so tough? Especially in front of me?”

“You know I have to be. Or else Daichi..”

“Whatever he feels, it’s not his responsibility to worry about you now.”

That hurt you.

You mustered up a smile and said, “Can we go get food? Just the three of us? Daichi probably wants to spend time with her more than us.”

He laughed. “Do you still have that gift card for that restaurant you were constantly raving about since you were 10? I, Koushi Sugawara, need to know what it was that made Y/N fall in love.”

“Hey, it’s my gift card, not yours!”

“Well, it’s ours now.”

You roll your eyes. At least you still had them two. 

-

You realized you turned on the TV, but you weren’t watching any of it. You stood up and blew out the candle and turned off the song. Of course there were days, in fact years, when you reminisced about what could have been if it weren’t for what you said to him that day in Tokyo. But you knew he was happy now. Whenever you visited them, they were happy. His children were happy. But you couldn’t help and wonder what would have happened if you did something differently. You couldn’t help but ask yourself “What could have been?” 

[centhands]

Truth or Dare - Noah Centineo Smut

AN: OK YA’LL, SO I haven’t written a fic or one shot in about, oh god I don’t know, SEVEN FUCKING YEARS?!?!?!?!? I was all about hazza back in the day but tbh there is some SERIOUS DIRE NEED for NOAH FUCKING CENTINEO SMUT on here and I cannot believe I wrote one?? Just spent the last 3 hours on it, instead of sleeping. It might be bad but idk it’s at least ONE MORE NOAH SMUT SHOT?? Idk :///// lemme know what you think!! It’s super long pls bear with me I TEND TO ALWAYS WRITE NOVELS OH GEE LOOK AT THIS LONG AF AN!!

TLDR: you’re about to play truth or dare (kind of?????) with Noah fucking Centineo. PLEASE SIT DOWN BC FILTHY SMUT IS ON THE WAY!!!!
Hope you enjoy, let me know if you do!! (Pls message me I need friends and followers on tik tok, jk, only jking about tik tok, I really need friends

…………………………………………………………………….

You gazed at the clock once again, for the what was actually the thousandth time that night. 11:00PM on the dot. To make matters worse, it was a Friday. Not only could you not fall asleep for shit, but the daunting thought of being home alone on a Friday night, only made your insomnia worse.

You sighed as you rolled out of bed and walked lazily to your living room. As you plopped down on your couch, you decided to open up Instagram. While scrolling through your feed, you happened to notice you had a message notification. You clicked on it and instantly a smile lit up your face. A photo of your best friend, and roommate, Noah, with a sad, puppy dog face and a pair of nerdy 3D glasses. The simple message is what really did you in. “Wish you were here. Xo.”

You and Noah had been best friends for the last five years and have been living together for two. You’ve loved him since you met him. His gorgeous eyes, his toned body, his adorable, dorky smile, his hearty laugh. It all made you melt.

You were completely in love with him and he had no fucking clue.

It was absolutely frustrating, to be quite honest. At times, you get so fed up that you just want to pack up, leave, and go start over somewhere else, hoping you’ll forget all about Noah Centineo. Forget all the times he hugged you tightly and wiped your tears away as you cried. Forget all the movie and dinner dates you had gone on, one of the best parts being your spitball fights. Forget all those times he’d tell you he could never sleep, and he’d ask you to just lay with him until he dozed off, saying he just needed a quick cuddle before bed. Forget all of the little, most adorable, seemingly insignificant (but actually meant the whole world to you) moments you both had shared together.
But you knew there was no way that could or would ever happen. You were absolutely smitten.

You noticed he had sent that message over two hours ago. His guy friends had declared it their “Boys Night Out” and decided to go see a thriller 3D film. He looked so cute in those glasses..

You felt your phone buzz and noticed Noah had just texted you.

“Hey, you up? Be home in five. Let’s hangoutttttttttttt! :) Movie sucked. Should have just stayed home with you and watched Clueless for the 18th time. That bad.” He wrote.

You scoffed and instantly replied, “How dare you insult Clueless. Not sure if I can hangout with assholes who insult classic chick flicks.”

“I’ll have you know I’m well versed in chick flick classics. If you can honestly call that a classic….. yikes.”

You laughed, as you typed your response. “You’re evicted. Goodnight.”

“The lease is in my name, love. Let me in little bo peep, I’m outside.”

“We don’t take our keys anymore, now?” You inquired, as he strutted through the door, popping his collar to perfect his extra sassy entrance.

“Nope,” he said, popping the P, “I have them. Just wanted to annoy you and get greeted by your lovely face.” He said, wearing his proud smirk.

“Well, that trip from the couch to the front door made me tired. I’m going to bed,” You jokingly said, turning around to play into it.

“Noooooooo,” he whined, running over to you, wrapping his arms around your waist from behind you, “Be nice to me!”

You felt yourself getting weak in the knees, your head spinning and your stomach churning. You didn’t know how much longer you could possibly put off kissing this boy. Especially when he put on his cute act like this. He could be so sarcastic one minute and so fucking cute the next. How were you supposed to control yourself?

“Okay, okay,” you said laughing, collecting yourself after what felt like an hour but had only been a few seconds. “What should we do?”

“I think it’s been quite a while since a proper game of “Truth or Dare”, wouldn’t you say, (Y/L/N)?” He asked, winking at you. Oh, this fucking boy.

“Of all things to do on a Friday night at 11:15, you want to play Truth or Dare?” You asked, giving him only slight fake tude, crossing your arms over your chest while smiling at him.

He grinned. “As a matter of fact, I do. Sit down. I’ll start.” He finished, patting the spot next to him on the couch.

You rolled your eyes but listened anyway, getting comfy next to him while you waited for him to start.

“Y/N, truth or dare?” Noah asked, staring at you intently.

“Truth.”

“Do you still sleep with your nightlight?”

“Um, DUH! You know it gets way too dark in our apartment with these dark ass curtains you picked! I refuse to be tortured because you like to sleep in and not know the sun has risen!”

“That was obviously a touchy subject. My girl thinks the curtains are too dark. Noted.” He laughed as he spoke, obviously getting a kick out of you. He always did.

He would randomly throw in the, “My girl,” comment whenever you would get a bit snarky with him. He always pointed out how you two were already like a married couple. The playful banter would sometimes solicit him making those couply jokes, and as much as they made you melt, you would also realize it didn’t mean what it did to you, to him.

“Hello! Earth to, Y/N! It’s my turn!”

“Sorry. Uh, tr-Truth or dare, Noah?”

“Dare.”

“I dare you to go ding dong ditch someone on the 5th floor.” You said, looking down at the ground.

“Y/N, you’re so boring. And I’m way too cozy to be getting up for something so childish right now,” he smirked. “I might as well give myself a dare.”

“Well, why don’t you go on then, Mr. Too Cool For Lame Dares?” You chuckled, looking at him now.

He suddenly got a little more serious, which you knew meant business. He was always lighthearted and happy go lucky. Of course when situations called for it, he was an absolute rock. He gave the best advice, best pep talks and words of encouragement, and you always felt like you had someone on your side. Something must have been weighing on him.

He licked his lips before he spoke. He started slow, “Alright then,” he said, letting out a small nervous, and slightly unsure laugh. “I…. I Dare myself to kiss you, Y/N.”

“You.. what?” Had you heard him right?

“I dare.. I fucking dare myself to fucking kiss you. It’s all I’ve been wanting and needing. This has literally been on my mind for way too long now and it’s driving me crazy. You’re driving me crazy,” he rambled on, his eyes fixated on you for your reaction. “I can’t keep pretending like every time I see you, or every time we hug that I don’t just wanna hold your face and kiss the fuck outta you,” he finished.

You were stunned, mouth open. Speechless, really.

He cleared his throat, his voice sounding much raspier, and sexier, as he reinstated, “So, as long as you’re okay with it and maybe want that too, I dare myself to kiss you.”

“Noah.. I-Uh.. okay,” you silently answered, looking at him with big eyes. You didn’t know how to react, you were worried it was some kind of joke. It didn’t seem real. This handsome, amazing guy, wanting you just as much as you wanted him?

“Okay,” he breathed out a laugh; his breath had hitched as he answered.

He kept his eyes on you as you both slowly leaned in. You closed your eyes and the instant you did that you felt his lips on yours and honestly, you could have cried. Everything felt so right and everything was hazy. You felt yourself get more comfortable and more into the kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck. His hands found your face, as he pulled away from you for a second, eliciting a quiet whimper from you.

“I cannot begin to express how long I’ve wanted this for. And I really cannot explain how beautiful I think you are. Everything about you, Y/N. You’re all I think about. All I thought about while watching that dumb movie was how small and delicate your hands are, how good your hair smells, how your smile literally lights up my day.” He then dropped the contact from your eyes to your neck as he dipped low and kissed your sweet spot. “How badly I want to be with you,” he continued on, sucking your neck a little bit this time. “How badly I need you.”

“Oh Noah,” you moaned, “I want you too. I want you to be mine. I want to be yours. I need you. I really fucking need you.” You were panting at this point, as he was still sucking your neck. You weren’t sure how but you realized at this point your fingers were wrapped between his curls and his breath was shaky against your skin.

“Fuck love. Are you sure you want this? I promise I do, I just want to be sure this is what you want too. I just want you happy, Y/N. I’ve been in love with you from the moment I met you, and I’ve been so nervous to fuck this up. I can’t lose you,” he said, looking back into your eyes, searching to make sure you were okay with what was about to happen.

His words had reassured you, and you finally felt a weight lifted off your shoulders. You gently kissed him, and felt him get into it, lips lightly caressing yours, tongue skimming your bottom lip. You pulled away to say, “I’ve never been so sure, Noah. I’m in love with you too. Always have been. Pretty sure I always will be. Kinda hoping that’s not too honest, but I’m just trying to keep it real,” you laughed a bit.

Noah laughed too, and replied, “You silly, silly girl. You think that honesty of yours isn’t one of the main reasons why I’m so head over heels for you? You’d have thought that in the five years you would have picked up a clue on one of my many obvious signs. Dork,” he teased.

Before you had a moment to retaliate, his hands wandered to your hips and he pulled you in for the most passionate kiss you’ve ever received. He kissed you so gently, yet so fervently, you felt your body turning to mush. He slightly tugged the tips of your hair and you moaned into mouth, allowing him access to slip his tongue in. His warm tongue glided over yours and softly caressed yours. He made you feel so fucking sexy by just kissing, you couldn’t imagine how he could make you feel kissing other parts of you or doing other things with other parts.

You’d only hoped you’d ever be able to find this out. It was your lucky fucking day.

You shifted your body to lay more into him and rested your hand in his lap, only to hear him let out a guttural moan. You’d been so into the heated kiss you hadn’t realized you were a bit further into his lap than you thought and you’d been grazing his dick.

This time, you smirked at him, and went right back in for the kiss, slightly palming him through his jeans, feeling him getting harder with each second that passed by.

“Fuck, Y/N, you make me fucking crazy. You make me feel so good,” he half whimpered, his voice, and his cock, straining.

“C’mere,” he muttered, easily picking you up and shifting you onto his lap. “That’s better,” he grinned cheekily, his hands now resting on your ass.

He put his hand behind your head and pulled you in for another hot kiss. He had one hand resting on your ass, and his other was used to tangle your hair around his fingers. He deepened the kiss by adding his tongue, and you felt your panties absolutely pooling. You needed friction and you were quite sure he definitely wouldn’t mind some.

You stood up, having to break the kiss and having Noah pout at you, to take off your pants. You went to get back on Noah, but he grabbed you gently to stop you. “Tsk, tsk,” he tutted at you. “I believe you’re still wearing too much clothing down there,” he said, pointing to your panties.

“Well, don’t you think the person who has a problem with them, should be the one removing them?” You quizzed, your voice sounding extra sultry and turning Noah on even more so if possible.

“That’s definitely,” he started, getting on his knees in front of you, his head right below your waist, “Not a problem.”

As he finished his sentence, you were a bit confused, but that only lasted a second. He made his way to the elastic band of your panties and locked his teeth into it, pulling them completely off, and pulling you back onto his lap, in one slow, seductive yet swift move.

“That’s better,” he sexily smirked, once again resting his hands on your, now bare, ass.

You decided to be the bold one, and begin to move on him, wrapping your arms around his neck. Slowly grinding down on his hardened cock over his jeans, the pressure feeling absolutely out of this world on your clit. You could tell Noah was into it too. Besides his hooded eyes resting directly on your face and his soft moans, his hands were pushing your ass back and forth on him and slightly down a bit, so it felt better for both of you.

You started slow, yes, but fuck, Noah was fucking packing and you couldn’t help but pick up the pace. You started grinding your hips faster, and that still wasn’t enough. Noah felt that you needed more so he pressed down a bit harder and pushed you a bit quicker back and forth over his cock. You couldn’t help but stare down at where your clit was rubbing his jeans and notice the big wet spot pooled on his pants. It felt so dirty, so raw, so fucking hot. Noah’s hands travelled to your tits, as he started to squeeze while you kept your fast rhythm, humping your bare pussy over his jeans.

“Fuck, Y/N.. I feel- I feel you through my jeans. You’re soaking. I need your shirt off. Now. Fuck,” he strained, his voice so raspy and needy.

He removed your shirt quickly, and proceeded to finally remove all of his clothes in one take. You took to your new found favorite place, yet again, on his lap and slowly lowered yourself onto him. You started grinding on his cock again, teasingly slow. The instant your dripping pussy touched his tip, he let out a moan from his belly, a long, dragged out, “Fuuuuuuuuuck.”

He flipped you over so you were beneath him on the couch. Both of you were silently thanking yourselves for deciding to purchase the couch from Ikea that turns into a flat sofa, big enough to be a bed.

He brought a finger to your mouth, in which you happily obliged and allowed him to put his finger tip in and you began to suck on it. He watched you from above, his mouth in a slight “o” shape, precum leaking from his dick from being so fucking goddamn turned on by you.

He removed his finger from your mouth and brought it between your legs and toyed with your slit, expertly gathering up your juices, and slowly bringing his fingers to your clit to rub circles.

“Noah, just like that. Right there. Feels so— yeah, feels so fucking good, Daddy,” you said, trying to wind him up. You had called him it as a joke previously one day during another playful fight, and he tensed up for a bit and shortly went to his room after. You now had a slight hunch as to why.

“Oh my god, Y/N. What are you doing to me?” He moaned, slipping a finger between your folds and then slowly entering your warm, wet, pussy. “You’re so fucking tight. God, I can’t wait to feel my girl wrapped around me. You’re gonna feel so good, love. I’m gonna make you feel so. Fucking. Good.” As he finished his sentence he gave you a couple of nice pumps with his fingers, as he added another one in somewhere along the way and it only heightened your pleasure.

You were a moaning mess and needed him. You weren’t beneath begging. In fact, it turned you on. You wanted Noah to have his absolute fucking way with you.

“Please, I need you Noah. I need you,” you whimpered, feeling his dick now pressed between your folds, slowly grinding up and down on your swollen clit.

“Mmmm, my girl is so polite right now, isn’t she?” He toyed, moving his head down to suck your nipple whilst staring at your eyes.

“Please, Noah. I need to feel your big dick inside me. I need you to fuck me so good that I can’t fucking walk after. I need you to be so deep inside me that all I know is you and your name. I need you to cum for me. Please,” you begged, whimpering as he was still sucking, and now moaning, on your tender nipples.

“You don’t have to fucking ask twice. Especially when you sound so sexy begging for me, love.” He stated, bringing his lips closer to your ear, “I’m going to be the best fuck you’ve ever had. You won’t remember anyone before me, and there certainly will be no one after me, I’ll make fucking sure, love. Grab my shoulders, babe. Or pull my hair. Your call,” he whispered, sucking your ear lobe at the end of his cocky speech. It only made you that much more soaked. You were dripping on his thigh that had been pressed between your legs during the duration. He also noticed this, as he said, “Mmmm, I love feeling you on my thigh. You’re fucking drenched.”

“All for you,” you whispered, totally out of breath at this point. How the fuck did you end up here, naked, under your best friend who you’ve been in love with for all these years, whose also naked and has just professed his love for you, as well? Um, WHO FUCKING CARES, WE GOT HERE!

He slipped a condom on and positioned himself at your entrance. “Like I said, let your hands roam wherever they choose. I’m gonna take you on the ride of your fucking life, princess.”

He slowly entered you, neither of you being able to contain the moans that erupted in your bellies. “Shit,” Noah whimpers, as one of his hands grabs onto the end of the couch, the other around your waist, “You feel so amazing. So warm, so wet. So. Fucking. Tight.”

He was all the way inside you, balls fucking deep. He slowly slipped back out and all the way back in, his cock caressing your insides and making you feel as though you could already cum all over him. You had your head in his neck as he continued pumping himself in and out of you, and you started sucking on his neck.

“Yeah, fuck, that feels so good. You feel so good. Fuck. I can’t believe we waited this long. I love you so much, Y/N. My god, fuck. You’re so fucking tight for me.” Noah said, panting after every other word.

“Oh, I love you too. So much. Shit, yeah Noah! Oh my god, right fucking there, Daddy! You feel so fucking good. Your big cock all the way inside my pussy, you get so fucking deep. My god, go faster. Yeah. Please, please keep fucking going,” you moaned, your voice definitely raising an octave.

“Fuck,” Noah whimpered, pumping faster to keep up with your demands, as he locks eyes with you, his mouth completely open as he slams in and out of you while keeping his fast pace. The couch is shaking and it’s only elevating the sex appeal of the entire situation.

Noah can tell you’re getting close, and he’s feeling like he could bust at any second, so he brings his fingers down to rub fast, hard circles on your clit, while he pumps quickly in and out of you.

“Fuck, Noah, yes. Oh my god, yessssssss! Keep fucking going, just like that,” you yell, turning Noah on more and more with each second that passes. He feels as though he can combust just fucking watching you. You’re absolutely perfect.

“Yeah, you like when I’m fucking you so hard and playing with that pretty pussy of yours? You like when I take care of you huh, my girl? I want you to let me know how fucking good you feel. Let everyone in the building know who’s making you feel this good, love. Cum on my cock, Y/N,” he panted and moaned, sounding just as close to his release as you were.

“Yeah Noah, you make my pussy feel so fucking good. Right there, you’re hitting my spot fuck. I’m gonna cum all over you, fuck. Oh fuck, yeah please, oh my god I’m cumming, Noah!” You yelled, definitely loud enough for all of the neighbors on the 7th floor to know exactly what you’re doing and whose doing it to you. You released all over him, your ears ringing and legs shaking. Your body felt ignited in a way you’ve never experienced before. You wanted him to cum so bad. You needed to see him cum. Ultimately, you needed to be the reason he had to cum. “Fuck, Noah, please cum for me. I need to watch you fall apart on top of me. I need you to show me how good I make you feel. Let me know how much you love my pussy,” you panted, pushing him to his release and his thrusts getting sloppier.

“Fuck, you’re so filthy. My feisty, dirty girl. Who knew you had such a filthy mouth? You’re gonna make me cum, Y/N. Oh fuck, yeah love, fuck I love you. Oh, yeah, shit,” Noah moaned, voice literally raspier than ever as he slammed his hand down on the end of the couch, gripping it for dear life. You felt his cock twitch inside you and his face scrunched up while he moaned inaudible words and chanted your name and he released into the condom, still inside of you, locking eyes with you just as he had cum but he had to close his eyes from the pleasure being so intense.

His body collapsed onto yours, and you wrapped your arms around him, as you both came down from your highs. He was silently tracing shapes on your arm while his head was resting in the crook of you neck, planting small kisses to the spots he had sucked on earlier.

As you both finally caught your breaths, he lifted his head and caught your eyes. He raised his hand to brush away a piece of hair that clung to your sweaty face, as he sweetly and softly laughed.

“I can’t believe I went to that dumb fucking movie and came home to tell you how in love with you I am,” he said, smiling down at you.

“All thanks to a solid game of truth and dare that hardly took off,” you chuckled, staring right back into his gorgeous, sweet eyes.

“Shit,” he said, realizing you hardly got through the game. He smirked, “Y/N, truth or dare?” He asked, as he grabbed your hand.

“I’m too tired for another one of your kind of dares.. Truth,” you said, snorting as you laughed.

He kissed you gently before placing his lips at your ear and whispered, “Will you be my girlfriend?”

[queeenpersephone]

Hey, could you please write an Ironwidow fic with this prompt? Prompt: Natasha has always been the best at everything since her days at the red room, only... feelings are not her thing. So when she starts to notice that she's developing feelings for Tony she tries to show him in ways that make everyone in the tower think that she's acting really weird and confuses Tony about her constant presence and increased closeness and physical contact.

Omggg anon so I love this prompt sorry it’s taken me so long! I’m graduating university in a month and so I’ve been losing my mind haha.

-

“Sir, Agent Romanoff is here to see you.”

Tony jerks awake, immediately trying to catch all the various wretches and bolts that his arms had knocked off the table. The lab is dark, and he knows he must’ve fallen asleep against his will, not for the first time and certainly not for the last.

“Should I allow her entrance?”

Tony waves a hand at the ceiling, rubbing his eyes and stretching. “Yeah, J, why not?” The door slides open. “It’s not like she’d leave me alone if I said no,” he says loudly, laying his head back on the table.

Very characteristically, he doesn’t hear Natasha until she is right next to him. After a long two minutes of her not saying anything, he raises his head, trying to focus on her with bleary eyes.

When he does, he stands so quickly that his stool falls over. “What is it?” He asks urgently. Because Natasha, in all honesty, looks extremely freaked out.

Oh, it’s not that it’s obvious. Her expression is stoic, her eyebrows raised, and her posture relaxed. But Tony has been living with this woman upwards of seven months now, and he can tell by the look in her eye that something has her very off-balance. It’s not a feeling or understanding that he can explain without admitting to himself that he watches her. A lot. More than is appropriate.

Natasha stares back at him, obviously warring with herself on what to say. When she does speak, there is nothing of the usual Natasha in it - smooth and careful, with a soft smirk that makes them all uncertain that she’s saying what she means.

“You’re out of shape.”

The words are abrupt, delivered with little to no emotion.

“Meet me in the training room tomorrow,” she adds, her arms crossed tightly across her chest.

Tony just gapes at her. “I-“ he tries, but Natasha has already turned to leave.

Just as her hair flashes to disappear around the corner, she lobs something at him. He catches it against his chest as a reflex.

“Don’t order pizza tonight,” she calls, and he hears the elevator doors close behind her.

Tony holds out the item she threw in front of him. It is a brown paper bag, and inside is a neatly prepared salad.

What the actual fuck?

-

2 months later

“Cap, you gotta help me.”

Steve looks up from his book on the Vietnam War, uncrossing his legs and sitting up. “What can I do for you, Tony?”

Tony paces back and forth in front of Steve, who is patiently waiting for him to speak in a wholesome way only Captain America can. He doesn’t particularly want to break Natasha’s confidence, and he’s honestly enjoying spending more time with her. But she’s been killing him in the gym, leaving him healthy snacks and downloading wellness apps into JARVIS’ system, and refusing any attempt from him to reciprocate her gifts. He doesn’t think he’s ever been so confused in his life.

“Okay, I’m just gonna get straight to it,” Tony replies, ignoring Steve’s raised eyebrow clearly saying ‘when do you not?’. “Nat’s really freaking me out.”

Steve looks up at him, bemused. “Sit down, Tony,” he says, waiting for Tony to settle himself on the couch. He is still twitching, unable to sit still. “Now, explain.”

Tony does, detailing early morning workouts and careful pats of encouragement on the shoulder, salads and almonds randomly appearing in his lab, the lights shutting out at 1am - obviously Natasha and JARVIS conspiring.

When he finishes, Steve waits for a long moment before responding. “Yeah, we’ve noticed that Nat’s been working with you - and before now, I honestly wouldn’t have thought it bothered you. What else is up?”

Tony furrows his brow. “Okay, hold up Cap, you’re observant and everything but-“ then, he winces, looking up at the vents. “Okay, Legolas, game’s up,” he says, not even raising his voice a little, and Clint drops from the ceiling with a shrug.

Steve, on the other hand, looks sheepish. “Look, I was… concerned about you and Romanoff. After HYDRA and the Mandarin - I wanted to make sure it wasn’t some-“

Tony cuts him off. “Wasn’t some what? We’re just friends! Not even that some days - she’s just making sure I don’t die or, y’know, disappoint the team with my slow reactions.”

Clint snorts. “Yeah? Then why did you buy her front row seats to the opera?”

Tony turns red. “I - she’s been working with me, even if she hates it- and I just really wanted to do something for her. I mean, we were talking during training and she’s been through a lot.”

Clint is unfazed. “Yeah, okay, makes sense. Friends do that. Now, why did you buy her a house upstate?”

Steve whips his head to look at Tony so quickly that he nearly falls off the couch. “You bought her a what?”

Tony puts his hands up, refusing to meet their eyes. “Look, she needs a safe place! This is my house, and the rest of her places are for covers. I just- I wanted her to have a place that belonged just to her.” Steve just gapes at him, but Clint can’t help the smile forming across his face. “It doesn’t matter anyways,” he admits, leaning back against the couch. “She told me she didn’t want it.” He rubs his eyes, leaving his hand there to block whatever their expressions have become. “She’s giving me a lot, y’know? She’s helped me with nightmares and I feel stronger - and I shouldn’t even tell you guys this but… I like her, okay? I really like her. And she’s just being a good teammate.”

He takes his hand off his eyes and immediately registers the looks of horror on both their faces. “Oh Jesus,” he groans, “why are you guys upset? Is this an age-thing? She’s only ten years younger than me! And it’s never gonna happen, it’s not feas-“

A soft voice interrupts him from the door. “Tony,” it says, surprised and maybe - nervous?

Steve and Clint shoot to their feet, and Tony realizes they hadn’t been horrified at his feelings, but at him accidentally revealing them while Natasha stood silently behind him.

Oh god, just kill him now.

“We’re gonna go,” Clint says, grabbing Steve by the arm and almost dragging him out of the room. Natasha and Tony watch them go, making sure the door is shut before she turns back to him.

“Any chance we can just - forget I said any of that and go back to normal?” Tony tries.

“I like normal,” Natasha says slowly. “But I’m not sure I can forget,” she admits.

Tony puts his head in his hands, leaning over. He feels like he’s going to be sick. “You can go, Romanoff. I know you want to.” Everyone does, he doesn’t add; it’s not fair to her.

He hears a sigh, then he feels her crouch down in front of him, laying a hand on his knee. “In the Red Room,” she begins, hesitant. “We weren’t allowed to show emotions. We didn’t know what love was.” He takes a hand from his head to squeeze hers, unwilling to leave her without comfort yet still unwilling to look at her. “I know how to seduce men,” she admits, and he flinches. “I don’t say that to hurt you,” she adds quickly. “I just mean - making sure you stay alive and healthy, I can do that. I knew how to do that.”

Tony isn’t stupid, and her words cause hope to unfurl in his chest. “My gifts…”

Natasha is quick to respond. “I didn’t want you to think I was doing it for favors. That’s all it’s ever been for me, and I wanted this to be different.”

“But you actually do-“

“Yeah,” Natasha interrupts. “I do. Tony, could you look at me?”

He gathers his courage and meets her eyes, surprised and thrilled to see them shining. “You know,” he drawls. “You could’ve just held my hand instead of kicking my ass every morning.”

She nods to their joined hands. “The ass kicking isn’t going to stop, no matter what,” she warns him, and he laughs, sliding a hand around her waist and the other in her hair, pulling her up to press their foreheads together.

“I’m not going to another ass-kicking session unless I get a kiss,” he teases, freezing when he feels her tense in his arms. “Oh, I mean, unless I’ve read this completely wrong in which case, feel free to kick my ass Nat, I’m sorry-“

Natasha unfreezes at his rambling, smiling so wide that he nearly doesn’t recognize her. “I’m not,” she says blithely, pulling herself up to straddle his lap and pressing her lips to his.

-

Clint and Steve sit in the kitchen, waiting to find out whether they need to break out the champagne or the ice cream. When neither Tony nor Natasha come out of the lounge, they relax; everything must be going well.

Clint laughs. “You know, Nat’s not well versed in relationships, but I thought she’d be able to woo Tony better than this.”

Steve smirks at him. “I might’ve told her that Tony appreciates someone taking care of him… and likes a woman who can overpower him physically.”

Clint gapes at Steve. “Dude, I underestimated you.” He pauses for a long minute. “Although I think it backfired if your intent was to fuck with them.”

Steve shrugs. “Who says that was my intent? Tony wasn’t doing too well after the Mandarin, and he’s always liked Nat more than he admits. Nat needs someone to call home, and Tony’s exactly her type. I think they needed each other.”

Clint’s eyes widen even further. “Damn, Cap, you’re like a mastermind.”

Steve winks at him. “Well, I am the leader of the Avengers.”

“Captain Rogers, as per usual, Mr. Stark would like me to remind you that you are correct, but without him, and I quote ‘none of you would look cool’.” JARVIS pauses. “Actually, Captain, Mr. Stark wishes for me to tell you, for a full 24 hours, you may be the leader of the Avengers unconditionally. He reminds you to enjoy it.”

Steve laughs. “I got you together - I can break you apart!” He shouts to the lounge.

Natasha steps out, pulling Tony by the hand to the elevator. She throw a wink to the boys as Tony rushes to catch her, slinging an arm around her waist. “Get your own smoking hot assassin, Cap. This one’s mine.”

[beans-shadow]

looking for the truth (pt 6)

Fandom: Naruto

Relationship: Kakasaku

Characters: Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura

read on ao3: here

part one / two / three / four / five / six / seven / eight / nine / ten / eleven / twelve / thirteen

Sakura surmised what Kakashi wanted from her, so after the old shinobi passed out, she gently took his hand, palm up. It was so large compared to hers, so rough and calloused from years of service. It had been through more than she could imagine, and yet she still handled it with the utmost care as if it would break with the slightest pressure.

Taking out a kunai knife, Sakura pressed down on his forefinger, releasing a small flow of dark red. Unfolding the scroll Kakashi had given her, she deftly stained the parchment with Kakashi's blood. Scroll in hand, she recalled the proper hand signs as she walked out of the bedroom. Once in the living space, she whispered, "Summoning jutsu!"

Slapping her hand on the floor, the seal appeared, and with a puff of smoke, Pakkun was sitting on the ground, looking up at Sakura in confusion.

"Will Kakashi not be joining us?"

Turning away, Sakura shook her head. "Not this time," she explained, leaving to grab her tools from a kitchen cabinet. "It's just you, me, and this village at night."

"Sounds like fun. Let's go."

After shedding her usual red blazer for a more night-appropriate outfit, the dog and the ninja set off to investigate the village grounds. Sakura was sure people would question her walking around late at night without her partner, so she decided to stick to the shadows to start off.

Pakkun was content to let her take the lead at first, which both excited and frightened Sakura. She'd never ranked highest on a mission unless it was in the hospital. But she wouldn't let Pakkun down; she wouldn't let Kakashi down.

Her first destination was the palace. Thanks to Kakashi, she knew where the security cameras were placed, and how frail the guard detail was in the royal grounds. Infiltration would be easy, especially with such a minimal group.

Expeditiously, the pair reached the main palace walls. Two guards walked the perimeter here, so Pakkun and Sakura waited in the bushes nearby until their shift was over.

Apparently the dog thought they were out of earshot, since he struck up conversation.

"How has it been working for Kakashi-kun?"

Keeping an eye on the two guards, Sakura responded, "Interesting so far, I suppose. He hasn't changed that much in regards to wanting to work mostly by himself, even if he always preaches about teamwork." A guard sneezed.

"Ah, yes," the dog agreed. "That is one of his faults. He sees the value in sharing, but finds it hard to do so himself." Pakkun scratched the back of his ear. "But he tries."

"I know," Sakura found herself saying, only half-paying attention to the words streaming from her mouth. "I guess I do know that. He did mention he wished he could be here now… but with the circumstances, I thought that unwise."

The dog almost replied back but was withheld with a hand from Sakura. The guards were about to move. She rose from her crouch, and the second the guards turned the corner, she was off. Summoning chakra to her feet, she scaled the vertical wall with ease, leapt over the barrier, and landed without a sound on the other side. Pakkun followed suit a mere second later.

After a quick awareness, Sakura concluded they were near the bathing quarters of the palace. "Come on," she whispered. "Follow me, I know a safe route to the residential area. But let me know if you scent anyone approaching."

The dog woofed back, signaling his understanding.

The darkness of the night blanketed the palace grounds, the small sliver of the moon offering little relief. But the fireworks were scheduled to start soon, so Sakura wasn't concerned about visibility. However with better sight came a higher probability of discovery. A ninja's life was full of win-lose scenarios.

Step by step, Sakura stayed in the shadows, using chakra to muffle her movements. They avoided cameras, guard patterns, and any other resident that was found roaming the area. Eventually they made their way past the dining area, and reached the residential suites.

Perched on a roof, Sakura knelt down next to Pakkun. "This is where I think we would find something, if anything," Sakura claimed. "Here." She removed a piece of cloth from a front pocket. "I took this from Futoshi a little while back, but hopefully some scent will remain. He should be close to the Daimyo's quarters. Want to have a go?"

The dog padded forward and sniffed the fabric. With a nod, he was off.

The path to Futoshi's bedroom was convoluted, as the son seemed to get around. But eventually, they reached a living space that Pakkun was certain was Futoshi's.

"His scent is most concentrated here, it must be where he sleeps. Nothing else would smell like this," Pakkun explained.

"Great. Let's go." Sakura slid down the side of the building, landing just outside of the front entrance.

"Father! The fireworks are going to start any minute!" Futoshi's voice came from inside.

"Calm down, Futoshi," a disgruntled Daimyo said. "I know. Let me just finish writing this… ring for your servant."

The sound of a bell emanated from the room, and Sakura in a rush Pakkun behind a brush, quickly using a jutsu to hide their presence. A tired-looking servant exited a room connected to Futoshi's quarters and walked from across the way to Futoshi's area.

"How may I be of service, my Lord?" The servant asked from the doorway.

"Let's take this outside," the Daimyo responded. Sakura eyed Pakkun who returned the same curious gaze.

The Daimyo exited, looking extravagant as always. But he didn't seem to care about the festivities planned for the night, he was worrying with a scroll in his hands.

"Take this to the perimeter with speed. They'll know what to do. Be back before Futoshi does later tonight." He handed over the small scroll.

The servant bowed, and moved to depart.

"That was weird. One of us should follow," Pakkun noted quietly.

"I agree, but how will we know where or when to meet up?" Sakura asked, feeling antsy. That exchange was definitely something to investigate further, but they couldn't give up a chance to search Futoshi's things on such an opportune night.

"I'll go, and if something is happening, I'll summon you."

"What? You'll summon me?" Sakura broke her concentration of watching the Daimyo to look at the small pug. "You can do that?"

"I may be Kakashi's summon and it may have been Kakashi's blood, but it was your chakra that summoned me earlier. Which gives me one summon myself. A summon for a summon. This is a two-way deal, Sakura," the pug explained. "But I'll lose his scent if I wait any longer. See you soon." The dog shimmied from her arms and scurried after the servant, leaving Sakura alone.

Well, alright, Sakura thought. Maybe that was why Kakashi was always late; he had to come back from wherever his dogs had summoned him randomly. But that didn't seem likely. She hoped her former sensei was doing okay, and not choking on his own vomit. With that mask, it would be hard not to suffocate. Perhaps she should have taken it off, snuck a peak under the guise. It would have been for his own good, so what if she got something out of the deal?...

No. Why was she daydreaming of what Kakashi looked like under his mysterious mask? She needed to focus. He wasn't daydreaming material anyways. Wasn't he like a billion years old? Although he certainly didn't show it. In fact, despite his lazy demeanor, he was much more in shape than other ninjas just becoming chunin now. And then she remembered the soft kiss on her forehead; the way he had clung to her before she left him…

No! Sakura slapped herself to kick out of it.

"Hello?"

Futoshi and Daimyo had descended the steps from Futoshi's room, and the two were looking around for the source of the sound. "Is someone there?" The Daimyo called out.

Shit. Shit shit shit. Sakura fell to the ground, making herself flat. She couldn't be the reason this mission fell apart; she would not be the cause of their cover being blown. Back on Team 7, she never felt useful. She'd always get knocked out quickly, or Sasuke had to rescue her. Well, this time, neither of those things would happen. She'd gained Kakashi's confidence, finally, after years, and she wasn't about to lose it tonight.

"Hello?" Futoshi repeated as the Daimyo started walking around. The footsteps grew closer and closer, until —"Father, I don't think anyone is here. Let's just go."

The father examined his son, stoic as a statue. Crossing his hands in front of his body, he said, "If you wish, son." Sakura shivered at the disapproving tone, but the Daimyo listened to his child and returned by his side. "Let's go enjoy the show."

Sakura waited a few minutes more after she stopped hearing their footfalls, and then pushed up to her own feet.

"Okay, Futoshi. Let's see what you got."

Apparently, it wasn't much.

Even after what felt like half an hour of rummaging through Futoshi's artifacts, Sakura was still coming up short. She'd found a few notes here and there describing preparations for the festival, some lists of diplomat's likes and dislikes, but nothing incriminating.

Mostly, Futoshi's room was littered in doodles.

Drawings of plants, animals and people lined his walls, were crumbled into balls on his desk, and layered in stacks in his drawers. It seemed they had a potential artist in the family, or at least someone who was more interested in that than ruling a Land. Sakura actually felt a little bad for Futoshi. His passion surely was not being received well by his father.

With a last sweep, including using a jutsu designed to reveal any hidden locks, Sakura figured there wasn't much to see here.

She decided she should try her chances at the Daimyo's quarters, even if it was riskier. She scurried around the area until she found a house heavily guarded. There was no sneaking into this area. Should she use genjutsu? No, if they found out alarms would be signaled. That was too risky. Maybe...

Sakura used a few hand signs. "Transformation jutsu!"

With a poof, she changed into a chambermaid, arms full of new sheets. She walked around, until she discovered a sleeping quarters about twice the size of Futoshi's, with three times the number of guards. Mustering up confidence, she trotted up the steps, not paying any attention to the soldiers.

Just as her foot hovered above the first set of stairs, a guard caught her shoulder. "Halt! Who are you, and what do you want?"

Acting as if the man was a complete idiot (it wasn't hard, she just pretended he was Naruto), Sakura cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't it obvious? I need to change the Lord's bedding."

The guard looked disturbed, catching the eye of a fellow guard. "Didn't he already get his room cleaned earlier today?"

Now, Sakura huffed. "He likes them changed twice a day, of course. You know how he is. Now, if you are refusing me, who do I talk to to let the Daimyo know his personal guard is responsible for his sleeping in dirty sheets tonight?"

Immediately the guard paled and backed away, signaling the okay to the others. "No one, no one, miss. Please, go in."

Bowing in thanks, Sakura continued.

In complete contrast to Futoshi's room, the Daimyo's was spotless. Sakura wasn't too far off in her ruse in claiming the Daimyo liked things clean; no wonder her act had worked so well. In fact, it seemed he hardly kept any personal affairs besides a single photograph of his family while his wife was still alive.

There was no way Sakura doubted her shishou, but perhaps the Land of Mountain Streams really wasn't planning anything nefarious.

And then Sakura felt her whole body lurch.

She thought her diaphragm stopped working, and her world went white. She tried to chakra scan herself, but her hands weren't responding; now she couldn't think, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't—

"Oof!"

With a hard thud, Sakura landed flat on the ground. Her face planted into some mud, splattering across her hair.

But she could breathe.

Reaching out, she clutched grass under her hands, and let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, it takes a little getting used to."

Angling her head awkwardly, Sakura saw Pakkun sitting right in front of her on his hind legs, looking down a bit smugly. "Once you've gone through the process a few times, you get more elegant at landing on your feet."

"That's what being summoned feels like?" Sakura grumbled. The dog nodded.

"Now, get up on your feet, I found something interesting." In the process of getting onto his own feet, Pakkun kicked more mud onto Sakura's face. With a violent exhale, Sakura hefted herself up and scurried after the swift dog. As she caught up with him, she took the time to gather her surroundings. It seemed they were now beyond the outer walls of the village, near the fields that supplied the people with food.

Pakkun took the trees, and Sakura summoned chakra to her feet for silent climbing. As the fireworks cackled above them, workers in the paddies continued the farming dutifully. Sakura knew people needed to eat, even during times of celebration, but why were there so many? Especially this late at night? It didn't seem right.

A few minutes into the journey through the trees, Pakkun stopped where they had a good view of a particularly odd patch of workers. He nodded his head to the people below. "Look down there. What do you see them planting?"

Narrowing her eyes, Sakura tried to determine what the men and women on the ground were doing. But even with the flashes of light the fireworks offered, she couldn't make out anything.

She shook her head. "No clue."

Pakkun growled. "Well, I can't see, but I can smell it. It's certainly not anything edible, nor something meant to be eaten. Why waste resources?"

Crouching on the branch, Sakura agreed. "Especially in a village so small, they don't have a huge availability of land to cultivate. I'm going to get closer."

"Sakura, no—"

But before Pakkun could finish his objection, Sakura hopped down from the security of the branch. Passed the tree line, there was no cover. Regardless, Sakura treaded away from her partner.

Diligent as always, no one noticed a black blob move slowly from the bushes.

She moved just a few feet away, trying to get closer to the hoed fields. The patch next to her was already sprouting, but nothing was identifiable about the plant.

"Did you see this?"

Sakura stilled as a worker about twenty yards away walked up to a fellow farmer, something in his hand.

"New instructions. We need to try and harvest more quickly."

The man receiving the orders bristled, slapping his gloves together to remove dirt. "How? We are growing as fast as we can." He tore open the scroll, reading it quickly.

The messenger shrugged. "The details are in here, I guess. Take a look for yourself. But my wife is waiting at home, and I'd like to enjoy the fireworks with my family, even if it's just for a little bit."

In a hurry, Sakura retreated back into the trees just before the man started walking towards her, pulling off his dirtied overshirt and removing his gloves. Pakkun soon arrived next to her.

"Well? Learn anything?"

Sakura held up a finger. "Wait here just a second." She kept an eye on the worker who received the scroll, who upon finishing up readint the message let out an annoyed growl. Rolling it back haphazardly, he shoved it into his back pocket, exposing the scroll to the world.

Perfect.

Not letting her eyes leave the disgruntled worker, Sakura climbed down the trees once more, crawling from her hiding place. Bit by bit, she tiptoed closer and closer to the worker, who had resumed planting more seeds in an aggravated manner. She closed the distance between her and the worker, who bent at his waist, displaying his butt in the air.

Just… a little more… Sakura stretched out her hand as far as it could go. Her fingers brushed the top of the scroll… yes! She grasped it.

"Huh?"

The man turned around to see nothing. Scratching the back of his head, he went back to work.

Sakura panted on the branch, back to the trunk. Pakkun crawled onto her legs, shaking his head. "That was too close."

Smiling through her inhales, Sakura laughed. "Don't underestimate the speed at which I can use the flicker technique, Pakkun. But here, now we have this." She opened the scroll so both of them could see it.

It meant nothing to Sakura. The lines made sounds, syllables were strung together, but it didn't have any meaning.

"It's encoded," Pakkun voiced what both had assumed.

Trying to contain her disappointment, Sakura moved Pakkun from her legs. "Then we'll just have to try and decipher it." Brushing off her boots, she stood up. "For now, I think we've done enough. I should get back to Kakashi and make sure he didn't die."

"I'll go back with you. You fancy a walk under a nice fireworks display?"

"Sure," Sakura smiled down at the dog. The two took off through the trees.

Turns out, the main square of the village was were everyone went to view the fireworks, so Pakkun and Sakura had the entire streets to their own. Feeling free, the dog talked without reservation.

"...and then he threw Gai into the river, complaining how he should know better then to borrow one of his Itcha Itcha without asking!"

Sakura held back a loud chortle, clutching at her stomach. "I knew Kakashi was crazy about his disgusting books, but really?! Poor Gai Sensei!"

"I know, I know. He felt bad afterwards, and let Gai win the next three challenges," Pakkun admitted with a laugh.

The two fell into amicable silence, walking side by side. Sakura shifted the scroll in his hands, considering her next words carefully. She knew how loyal dogs could be from hanging out with Kiba. And these ninken were bonded to Kakashi on a whole different level. But she could still try. So, timidly, she asked, "Kakashi says I know him better than most… but I still wonder a lot about him."

The soft click of Pakkun's nails on the cobblestone slowed down. "There is a lot to wonder about," the dog agreed. "Young Hatake has had a hard life, and is not quick to share his struggles." He paused, taking in Sakura. She looked at the scroll, but her mind was distant.

Perhaps Kakashi would not approve of certain boundaries to be overstepped, but the dog didn't fear any repercussions. He took care of Kakashi as if he were his own pup after Sakumo passed away. How was this any different?

After taking a deep inhale, the dog captured Sakura's attention. "But he wasn't talking about knowing him in the past, he was talking about how you know him now." Sakura's eyes widened. "You've absorbed his tendencies, balanced out his flaws. In time, you will also understand his past." I would bet Bull's collar on it, the dog thought.

The pink-haired ninja nodded, determination and excitement that flashing behind her emerald eyes that gave the dog validation for revealing insight of his master. "I hope so. But is there anything you can offer me? Just a little bone, perhaps?

Pakkun almost-smiled at the pun. But what he said did not offer any joy. "All I can say is that Kakashi has lost almost everyone, and now is very careful letting anyone else in. His hard demeanor isn't a way to push people away, it is a way to protect his own heart. Reticence came as a necessity, not a choice."

Sakura pulled the scroll closer to her chest, following behind step of her companion. "Oh. That's awful."

"Indeed," the dog agreed, taking the lead just as they arrived at their motel. Turning his head, he looked back at Sakura with a warm gaze. "But I'm hopeful his future will not be as gloomy."

Leaving Sakura without further explanation, he pawed open the door and went to find Kakashi.

Kakashi woke up with a hangover. That had never happened before.

It took many minutes for Kakashi to pry his eyes open, and even more for them to focus on anything in the room. His head pounded, his mind was blurry, and he was utterly and completely embarrassed. Last night seemed like a distant memory of an unworthy breakfast; he remembered that he'd eaten, he remembered where he'd eaten, but he couldn't remember how the breakfast felt upon being eaten.

Maybe it wasn't the best analogy. Give him a break, he was exhausted.

Grousing, Kakashi sat up in bed, covering his mouth when some bile rose in his throat. His heart froze. He patted at his face, then relaxed with a sigh. His mask was still in place.

Blowing onto his hand, Kakashi sniffed his palm.

"Ugh!" He twisted away, disgusted at his own breath. Shuffling out of bed, he stumbled into the bathroom. The mirror unveiled what a mess he looked like: his gray hair stuck up about a foot into the air, his eyes were puffy, and his mask, although up just as his physical examination concluded, was wonky.

With a groan, Kakashi pushed the sink handle, which spouted water much more loudly than was necessary. He pulled down his mask and started brushing his teeth.

The man in the mirror gave him a deplorable look, two gray eyes marked with resentment and regret. How could he have allowed this? He'd gone too far, gotten too comfortable with Sakura. At a time like this, it put the entire mission at jeopardy.

Not anymore. Once they were back at the village, he could act normal. But for now…

Grasping at both sides of the sink, Kakashi spit in resolution. He looked up, eyes narrowed.

He pulled up his mask. For now, he'd retreat. Back into himself, back to who he was before.

For the sake of the mission.

Right?

There was a rustle at the door, and Kakashi's nerves spiked. Not caring to check his physical status, he ran to the living room, hands together prepared for the worst.

The handle turned, and Kakashi breathed in, readying his chakra. "Does this mean that Katsuyu can summon me whenever she wants?" He heard through the wood as the door turned.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Kakashi slumped. Pakkun walked through the small crack first, looking back at Sakura. "I guess so." The dog then noticed Kakashi, eyes widening. Kakashi quickly fixed himself up, standing strong when Sakura walked in.

"Ugh, so gross… snails…" she didn't realize Kakashi was waiting for her as she turned to close the door. Removing her gloves, she shivered. "Well, let's go check on our sleepy man, shall we?"

"That won't be necessary," Kakashi announced. With a yelp, Sakura jumped around. There Kakashi stood, hands tucked into his pockets with his eyes lidded as usual.

She clapped and rushed to his side. "Kakashi! You're awake! It hasn't been that long. Are you okay?" She inspected his eyes, and outright stood on her tiptoes to smell his breath.

Daintily, Kakashi pushed her away with one finger on her forehead seal. "I'm quite alright."

"Okay," Sakura said, dubious. Pulling a scroll from a pocket, Sakura waved it front of his face. "There is so much to tell you! I think we might have a lead!"

Her disclosure did not surprise Kakashi, despite the fact a burst of pride filled his chest. But he kept his face serene, trying to hold himself together. Back to his blasé ways, he said, "Alright. Let's go over what you know."

Half-dismissing her, he walked to the small table in the kitchen and sat down unceremoniously. Sakura paused, trying to evaluate how to respond. Shaking her head, she joined him across the table.

In just a few minutes, she recounted everything she found, including the Daimyo's odd interaction with his son and the messenger and the events that transpired outside the confines of the village.

"But the scroll was decoded when I opened it," she explained, now removing it from its protected container. With a swing of her hand, it unwinds across the table. The familiar-looking, but unrecognizable lettering balked at her once more.

Kakashi leaned forward, hand on his chin. "Hmm. Good work. I'm glad it wasn't too much to handle."

He felt Sakura bristle at the small jibe, but she quickly let it go. "So can you decode?" She asked instead.

Closing his eye and reclining in his chair, Kakashi shrugged. "Of course. I was in ANBU, after all. We only communicated in code."

"You were in ANBU?" Sakura asked.

"So let's see what we have here…" Kakashi picked up the scroll, holding it close. He almost tried summoning chakra to his Sharingan, but caught himself before the mistake.

They spent the rest of the night looking over the scroll. Sakura tried to offer input, but this was far away from her area of expertise. Kakashi had much more experience with this subject, leaving Sakura to kick back in her chair and watch Kakashi at work.

Hours passed with the two of them across the table from one another. Kakashi covered the scroll with his upper body, elbows perched to hold himself up as he stared at the scroll. Sakura rested her head on the table top. "Do you remember the day Team Kakashi was made? After Naruto and I snagged your dumb bells?" She picked at the wood, flicking a splinter into the air.

"You mean when you lied to me, claiming to know the end of my novel?" Kakashi responded, not taking his eyes off of the scroll.

Eyes squinting, Sakura frowned. "There are no rules in the bell test. Besides, don't try to change the subject. Do you remember what you said?" She sat up in her chair attempting to command Kakashi's attention, but the man remained fixed to the scroll, finger grazing the letterings as he put a few more words together. Sakura plowed on. "You said the days of sensei and student are past. That we were now all leaf shinobi, on equal ground."

Now Kakashi paused his movement, eyes flickering up to Sakura. "What about that?"

She stared into his soul, piercing his exterior. Those emerald eyes might as well have been a new type of dojutsu. Kakashi felt as though she could see everything: his insecurity, his shame, his shunted protection. It took all of his strength not to waver.

"That's still true, right?"

Meticulously, Kakashi assayed Sakura, looking her up and down in that chair. She leaned over the table, both arms holding all of her weight lacking any pusillanimousness she once possessed as a genin. She'd done amazing tonight, gathering good intel and finding quite a promising lead. With complete certainty, Kakashi answered, "Now more than ever."

Those eyes widened, exposing Kakashi to more of her beauty, and before he got lost he retreated to his scroll, clearing his throat to regain his concentration.

Sakura believed Kakashi meant what he said, but she felt something change from before. Heading Pakkun's advice, she tried to pry into the man across the table, peeling back his layers of solitude. But every inquiry ended with a short answer, disallowing any follow up. She tried to remind herself what Pakkun said, that Kakashi is defensive out of protection, not disregard for other's feelings.

But it couldn't help but feel personal. She thought she had reached something within him, just as he fell asleep in front of her mere hours ago.

Eventually she gave up, falling asleep at the chair with Pakkun in her lap.

Kakashi watched her after she fell into a deep slumber. He could tell she was trying to gauge his actions, his responses. She was digging rather obviously. He was right; he'd gotten too open with her. And while he wanted to get closer, that wasn't what the mission was about. After the mission, he told himself. After the mission, everything will be fine.

His gaze fell on Pakkun, who sat curled up in her lap, a content smile on the small pug's face. Pakkun never sought out human contact, but obviously Sakura had done something to earn the little dog's love. Although so much older now, Sakura regained her youth in her sleep. Her hard lines from the battlefield disappeared, and she looked like the innocent girl Kakashi taught all of those years ago. But underneath, she was powerful, resolute, and strong. She was truly an amazing woman.

Pakkun looked so peaceful, head resting on Sakura's arm, face squished up against her pale skin. What Kakashi wouldn't give for that to be him, to be able to freely touch Sakura…

Wait, was he really jealous of a dog?

Anger made Kakashi stare back down at the scroll. He'd only gotten a few letters unscrambled. He had a lot of work to do.

author's note: sorry for the long wait, i was trying to do Sakura's POV justice. Hope it's good! And thanks for all of the reviews, it means a lot :)

[elounorfluff-blog]

Talk to Me (SECOND HALF)

A/N: If you are looking for a five-minute distraction from all the current drama, that’s filled with Elounor sass, I finally finished the rest of this damn story! 

The link to part one is right here if you missed it or just want to read it all at once.

Okay, that’s all...send me one-shot requests anytime, and brace yourselves for at least one Christmas one. 

Eleanor narrowed her eyes in warning. Louis smiled and tilted his head to the side charmingly.

“This should be interesting,” Liam said to Sophia with a side glance.

“Eleanor left her suitcase on the tour bus and she was so concerned with having it because everything she needed was in there.”

El knitted her eyebrows in frustration. There were casual jokes about sex, and then there were actual details pertaining to her sex life, and she was not fond of the latter being spread around to anyone, including the band, especially in her presence.

“Anyway I managed to convince her she could live without it for one night, that was of course until she was looking adorable in her skivvies at one in the morning, and we all know where that leads, so I had to go get her bag in the middle of the night because the bus was being moved to a different lot at seven and she refused to not have her pill available at exactly eight o’clock in the morning. Good thing she has me.” He sat up straighter, smirking.

El slammed her fist on the table and got up to go get some air. Soph leaned over the table in the middle of eating her salad, “Louis. She can murder you without ever talking. And I have a feeling she is seriously considering it.”

Louis put his elbows on the table and leaned his chin on his hands, “I’d be happy to talk it out if she’s up for it. Just tell her to shout my name and I’ll come running.” He raised his shoulders and grinned.

Harry and Zayn looked at each other before Zayn had some perfectly good excuse to leave. “I promised my girlfriend I would call her, as lovely as all this drama is.” He got up and left to find El, hoping Louis wasn’t on to him.

El turned around to Zayn jogging towards her. “Oh great, what do you want? Here to make fun of me after that story?”

Zayn laughed, “El, I really hate to be the one to tell you this, but I hear plenty about your sex life from your boyfriend when you aren’t there. In much further detail.”

“I’m going to bloody murder him,” El announced under her breath.

“No, you’re going to bloody win this game, Lou needs a shot of humility. And you are smart enough to win.” They stopped and leaned against a railing outside.

“Alright, fine. If I’m so smart, how do I win?” El threw her hands up in exasperation.

Zayn grinned, “Simple, you use his weaknesses against him.”

“His weaknesses? He doesn’t really have a lot of those to be exploited.”

Zayn crossed his arms, “He’s afraid of losing you.”

El pondered this, “So what, I should cheat on him? That’s insane.”

“No, of course not.” He looked at El’s face, contorted in misunderstanding. “Okay, it’ simple, first you make sure that you are on his radar, that he is watching your every move”, Zayn gestured emphatically.

“How do I do that?” El slumped against the railing and tilted her head skeptically.

“Get out of your comfort zone. Be touchy-feely with everyone else. Hugs, piggyback rides, stuff like that. Smile a lot and act like it doesn’t bother you at all that you can’t talk to him.” They began walking back toward the doors

“And if that doesn’t work?”

Zayn thought for a moment as he pushed open the door “If that doesn’t work then I suggest getting lost.”

Eleanor wasn’t paying much attention as she finally looked up, “What do you mean by get…”, Zayn was gone, disappeared behind one of the many doors in the hallway. Apparently, this was one riddle she would have to figure out on her own.

Louis was busy with his own plans, wracking Niall’s brain for ideas. “Maybe you could just, ya know, try being less of yourself”, he suggested.

Louis tilted his head, “…less of me-self? How do I do that? And why would it help?”

“I’m not sure it will help you win, but she knows exactly how you behave. What makes you angry, upset, frustrated…. If you respond that way, she’s going to win just by pissing you off”, Niall shrugged as if this were a known fact.

“That’s not true, I’m not just going to shout something randomly if she does something like that!”

“Tommo, you’re yelling at me, and all I did was give you advice”, Niall slapped his friend on the shoulder as they stopped in front of the stage door.

Louis sighed, “Fine, I won’t be me-self. Any advice on getting her to talk?”

“Well frustrating her by being yourself didn’t work out very well. Maybe try not pissing her off to start.” Niall was starting to think he had bet on the wrong team. He forgot that self-control could win you a lot of points when it came to doing something just for a reaction, and Eleanor’s responses to everything tended to be far more thought out than Louis’.

He pushed the door open to the stage where they found Harry, Zayn, and Liam sitting on the floor in the middle going through the set list, which had changed slightly since the last show. They went and joined them, getting about halfway through, when Soph and El walked back in. Well more like ran back on.

“Eleanor Calder give me back my heels!” Sophia chased Eleanor around the auditorium seats as the other girl flitted between rows, grinning as she carried Soph’s Stilettos.

She ran up on stage and handed them to Liam, “Hold these for me, would you?” She asked politely, before running off again as Soph caught up. Liam looked baffled as his girlfriend stood there out of breath.

“You alright, babe?” He asked as she inhaled deeply.

Soph smiled with rage in her eyes, “Fine, Love. Just have to take care of something.” She looked over at El a hundred feet away, smiling mischievously. She caught her second wind as she ran off, chasing El around the stage and finally catching up to her and pinning her to the ground.

“Sophia, what are you doing? No-you can’t have my t-shirt as revenge for taking your heels, that’s not fair!” El wondered how the other girl had even taken her top so quickly, granted it was on the looser side. She was left in her black lacy bra. She considered freaking out before she remembered Zayn’s advice. Louis probably didn’t want her running around without her top, but it certainly wasn’t illegal. Especially knowing Soph, who would probably give her shirt back after ten minutes of having her shoes back.

She stood up and casually shoved Soph, “Fine, enjoy your revenge. Just remember your boyfriend gets to see all this!” She gestured to her chest. The boys were all staring at them until the girls looked over, at which point they all pretended to look down at their set sheets and converse casually.

El wandered over and sat down in the circle, leaning her head against Harry.

“You alright there El?” He laughed, avoiding looking at anything but her face, “Your boyfriend is the one in the skinny jeans with the weird tattoos over there if you’re looking for him to use as a pillow.”

El grinned, “No, I’m fine.”

Louis clenched his fists and bit his tongue as he looked at the set list, “Well the rest of it looks the same, I think we went over all the differences.” Normally in this situation, not that this situation would ever happen on a normal day, he would’ve yelled something at Harry and El and then El would have pulled him off somewhere to argue with him, which probably would have ended with her winning and him kissing her. Nope, he wasn’t even going to let her see he was upset, although he was starting to wonder if he had any way to make her talk in the next four and a half hours. Maybe he should just pray she didn’t win and settle for a cruise, he thought to himself.

El was having fun making cutesy faces at Louis. She fake pouted as she leaned her head against Harry, but Lou was ignoring her apparently. They got up to leave for dinner shortly after and she told Liam he owed her a shoulder ride because his girlfriend stole her shirt. That logic made no sense, of course, because El had stolen Sophia’s shoes first, but Soph was too entertained to protest. She simply laughed and walked beside her boyfriend while he carried El, still shirtless, on his shoulders.

Louis turned his head toward them and rolled his eyes, “Haven’t you got your own girlfriend to carry around there, Liam?”

Liam shrugged as best he could with El on his shoulders. “She isn’t protesting, and honestly, it’s a little bit scary to say no to either of them, especially when they agree on something.” He nodded towards Sophia. It didn’t matter who he had originally bet on because Sophia and Eleanor were a force to be reckoned with. Truthfully, he had no idea if Sophia had even told the truth about betting on Louis or how she knew what everyone else had bet on. They all used a system of deciding a wager and then writing down who you were betting on, on slips of paper folded up and put in a bowl of some sort.  Everyone knew the amount of money being put in, but not who other people were betting for. He had told her that he bet on Louis, but how she had figured out the rest was beyond him.

Security stopped them at the door and eyed El suspiciously, “…I’m afraid you need a shirt beyond this point, Ma’am.” He tilted his head up at her in confusion. Sophia threw her shirt up to her and she pulled it on.

“Am I good now?” She sat up straighter and leaned her head to the side, smiling.

The guard just nodded and waved them through. Louis kind of wanted to strangle someone. Not anyone in particular, he was just frustrated. With her…with Liam…with not having won yet. He glared at her briefly on the car ride to dinner, to which her response was to put her hands on her cheeks and make puppy dogs eyes at him.

This continued back and forth while they ate. El would make an offhand comment or straighten her shoulders and tilt her head back to thank the waiter, making her chest more apparent than normal. He would pretend he didn’t hear or notice anything she was doing, as she smirked at him from across the table. By the time they were done eating and hanging out at the restaurant, he’d given up completely on beating her. He still wasn’t going to let her make him talk though. If he was going to lose, she was going to lose with him.

Eleanor was feeling slightly discouraged by the end of dinner. Louis seemed to just be ignoring her completely, although he did look slightly pissed off at her.

They left the restaurant with Louis on one side of the group and Eleanor on the other. They were in a busier part of town and with sweatshirt hoods up, they blended in well enough to walk around for ten minutes. The streets were full of vendors selling random souvenirs and things, and people were shouting everywhere. Louis looked at his phone flashing eight thirty PM and figured if he could just make it through the next half hour, at least this would be a lose-lose situation that ended in a cruise.

Eleanor fell a step behind Zayn and Harry as they walked. She was out of ideas. She had frustrated the living hell out of her boyfriend, but it hadn’t made him talk to her. Apparently, he had garnered enough self-control not to react to all her acting. Maybe they would both lose, so much for Zayn’s advice. What had he said to do if this didn’t work, again?

…. Get lost. It sounded like he was saying to just give up on her relationship, but then the meaning of his words hit her. He had meant it literally.

El fell one more pace behind them. And then another, and another until finally she just shuffled off to the side and leaned against a railing as the boys kept walking. They walked until she couldn’t even see them anymore. She went to take out her phone and realized she had given it to Harry to carry since she had no purse with her.

Louis looked over to Harry and Zayn, double checking on El, even though he knew she was perfectly fine, walking on the other side with Harry…except she wasn’t. Zayn turned to say something to her as well and pulled his head back as he noticed her lack of presence, “Guys…where’s Eleanor?”

Louis was worried now, “What do you mean ‘where’s Eleanor?’, she was right next to you!”

Zayn and Harry looked around them as Liam and Niall searched the crowd of people behind them. Liam shook his head, “I don’t see her anywhere mate.

Sophia looked worried too, “Are you sure she left with us? Text her.”

“That won’t do you any good”, Harry told them, “She handed me her phone to hold on to because she didn’t have her bag with her.”

“You lot went and lost my bloody girlfriend?!” Louis asked frustrated before he was shaking his head and fighting his way back through the crowd, the rest of them in tow behind him.

“Eleanor!” he shouted her name, “Eleanor, where are you?” He looked everywhere but didn’t see her. Finally, he spotted her looking around a bit frantically as she leaned against a railing. He breathed a sigh a relief. 

“Eleanor!” Louis ran up and threw his arms around her, “Are you okay? You just went missing! Scared the bloody hell of out me!”

El waited a beat to calculate what he had just said before she returned the hug. Because he had said it to her. “I’m okay, just got lost in the crowd and Harry had my phone…can I see it for a moment please, Haz?”

Louis was confused, she seemed pretty calm for having lost track of the whole group.

El took her phone and turned it around to show the time to Louis, “By the way…. it’s 8:43. I win.”

Louis’ jaw dropped. “That…what? That has nothing to with this… that can’t count!”

Harry laughed, “I think that definitely counts! Nice job, El!” He high fived her.

Sophia double high fived her. “I knew there was a reason I bet on you.”

El looked confused, “What do you mean? You bet on Louis….”

Soph laughed, “Yeah right, I just told you that to piss you off. Like I wouldn’t bet on my own best friend.” She rolled her eyes.

“So, what were the real bets, then?” Lou interjected.

“El”, Harry and Zayn said at the same time.

“I bet on Louis, he’s always got me back”, Niall announced.

“I bet on Tommo”, Liam added.

“So, Soph had it all right except her own vote?” El asked.

“Yep…You going to ask what we bet?” Sophia smirked.

“We don’t want to know,” Louis told her, not really feeling like knowing what wager had been placed on their success.

El intervened, “Excuse you, I’d like to know!” She leaned against Lou.

Harry pulled out a slip of paper that they had written the wager on and handed it to her.

El burst out laughing, “You idiots bet £500 each on one of us talking to the other?”

“It worked out for me!” Zayn told her, high fiving Harry.

“I can’t believe this shit…” Louis shook his head at them. El stuck her lip out in defense.

“I thought you would be proud of me”, she said with an exaggerated frown.

Louis gave in completely, “I’m always proud of you… and you owe me a new shirt!” He wrapped his arm around her, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t owe you anything after that story you told at lunch! Pretty sure you owe me something! I’m the one who won the bet”, she pulled her head to the side to look at him. They were all walking now, wandering the streets. They would have to head back to the hotel soon, and El had to leave tomorrow.

“And what it is what you want so badly anyway?” Lou asked her.

El pretended to be deep in thought as she pursed her lips, looking around. They passed an arcade that was closing, and she jumped on Louis’ back, “Look inside there!”

Harry glanced over at her like she had lost it, “…What about it?” They had all paused their step.

“Look, there’s a giant stuffed Lion! Louis I want one of those.” She told him leaning down.

“That’s lovely darling, but they’re closed…and you have to win them.” He tried to look up at her to communicate this clearly.

“Then I guess you’ll have to win me one. Tomorrow. That’s what I want.” She said it very matter-of-factly.

“Why would I do that?” Louis stopped and set her down.

“Because you promised to get me anything I wanted if I won…I never said it was going to be something you could buy!”

Zayn laughed, punctuating their conversation. “And you thought the work was over, Lou!” The rest of them were chuckling as well.

Louis shook his head and sighed. “You are impossible. Guess we’re going to an arcade tomorrow, then.”

Eleanor emerged from a shower in her pajama shorts and a tank top, falling on the hotel bed next to Louis in his sweatpants.

“Do you have your boarding pass for tomorrow?” Lou asked her, drawing patterns on the back of her hand.

“Of course… are you okay?” She asked tilting her chin and raising an eyebrow.

Louis hesitated before answering. “Just missed you is all.”

El laughed, “I wasn’t aware I had gone anywhere?”

“I couldn’t talk to you though! And you were being all…flirty with everyone.” Louis was clearly thrown off guard by that, El thought.

“Sorry, Babe. Wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings, promise”, she said dramatically as she sat up and swung a leg over his body. She leaned down and kissed him, his hands coming up to hold her waist.

Louis mumbled random thoughts in between kisses. “Love you…sorry for telling that story…hate that you’re leaving…can we…”

El braced her hands against his bare chest, “Louis. I love you but stop talking.” She grinned and pulled her tank top off. Louis returned her smile as he pulled her back down to him and flipped them over. He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and let a deep breath out. El smirked, “See? And you thought you needed words to talk to me.”

Louis laughed and kissed her neck, “I need them to say my three favorite ones, I love you.”

El wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you more”, She told him, locking her ankles around his waist. They let their bodies do the talking for the rest of the night.

A/N: Remember when I said I felt like there needed to be a story behind the tweet about him winning a giant stuffed lion for her? Now there is one (: 

[bethhxrmon]

All I Ask of You Pt. 2

“A girl, it’s a girl! How the hell? Is that even legal?” - “Watch What Happens” from Newsies

Pairing: Peter Parker x Original Female Character

Word Count: 3,570

Warnings: Cussing, mentions of sexual assault

Summary: The one that would probably have an inspiring showtune made out of it.

A/N: Wow, I actually kept up with updating once a week. Let me know your thoughts!!!

MASTERLIST

          With winter being on the horizon, the days were shorter and it wasn’t long until Annie was in the dark with her suit on. It was just silver leggings with a hoodie and mask, but it had more meaning behind it than the homemade look gave off. There were so many fond memories and Annie could even smell the last remnants of Seattle in the fabric.

           She could almost remember the whir of Harper’s sewing machine. It had been their idea, running with the name Annie had randomly come up with. Annie loved the outcome with Harper adding white, fairly intricate wings that connected the arms to the body. Although, it had been beaten up over time, the suit still hid her identity just fine. The last thing she needed was some pissed off evil dude tailing her at school. As long as the now off-white hoodie was able to keep her warm, she was going to be fine.

           For being New York City, there wasn’t anything too crazy happening. There were a couple pot dealers, but she didn’t see the point in going after them. Unless they were about to kill someone, she didn’t see the harm that they could do. It was just a calm, chilly night, which felt wrong for being in such a huge city.

           Of course, that was until Annie heard shouting. She tiptoed to the alley and was about to steal some electricity from a street light before going at the robbers when a bright red and blue figure jumped down from the top of a building. Obviously, it was Spider-Man, and of course he would steal her thunder. A part of her wanted to insist that he was overrated, maybe he was, but Annie couldn’t bring herself to be bitter. He was better prepared and had a nicer suit.

           Instead of fighting robbers and doing neat things with her powers, Annie did small things. Though, she could see Spider-Man swinging his way through the city. Maybe she would meet him someday. Hell, she could have even passed him on the street. It was a big city, so she didn’t dismiss the possibility. There was no way to know.

           The first day of school had Annie feeling small knots in her stomach, but she wasn’t as anxious as she had thought. It was only thanks to Peter and Ned, but she was excited either way. They had even gone to Manhattan the day before to see Times Square. Mainly because Annie apparently needed to see all the touristy places, but it was really because the boys wanted to go to the Hershey’s store.

           That little bakery they had met at became their meeting place because Annie was positive she would get lost on her own, even with using a GPS to get there. After their first meeting, Peter and Ned didn’t doubt it. They were more than happy to help her get to school. The trio walked to school through the traffic, horns honking all over the place. Rush hour was just beginning and it was only seven in the morning.

           “This place is way too clogged, I mean, people aren’t even honking at anything,” Annie said, looking around at the busy streets.

           “I don’t even notice it anymore,” Ned replied with a shrug.

           Annie shook her head, her eyes still trying to take in the vehicles along with the tall buildings, “I don’t think I could get used to all this.”

           Classes were a bit awkward with some teachers introducing her. Given the choice, Annie would rather pretend she had been there the whole time. She already had friends in the school, and she wasn’t sure that she wanted more than two. All she wanted was people she could talk to, she didn’t want to become te popular new girl. Though it was pretty easy to just blend in, taking notes and listening to the music on her phone if she wasn’t talking to Ned or Peter. English was the first class she didn’t know anyone in.

          With Peter and Ned, she’d had a class with at least one of the pair. It was their self-proclaimed jobs to ensure that Annie didn’t spontaneously combust from anxiety. She didn’t have the heart to explain that she was extroverted most of the time. Meeting new people wasn’t what she minded, it was suddenly being forced to meet too many people at once. All the unfamiliar faces were a bit weird for her, but it would just take some getting used to.

          The teacher placed her next to someone named Michelle since that was where an empty desk was. English was probably one of Annie’s easiest subjects, only because her dad took some of his college literature essays back home to grade. Growing up around someone who was constantly correcting students made it easy for Annie to make different mistakes instead. Though Annie ended up being quiet during the class discussion since she didn’t have a copy of The Great Gatsby on her. Instead, she noticed that Michelle wasn’t talking at all and didn’t seem to have a reason to be on the outside of the talk like Annie did.

           “You seem new,” Michelle said bluntly.

           Annie shrugged, “And you seem like you didn’t read the book that the class is talking about.”

           “Yeah, The Great Gatsby is overrated,” Michelle replied.

           Annie shook her head, “But it’s not, and besides, I’ve read it before. I’ll tell you what to say if you help me find my next class.”

           Both would have helped each other anyways. Annie liked having the chance to truly meet new people, while Michelle saw Annie’s class was just down the hall. Despite disagreeing on virtually everything, they couldn’t stop talking to each other when they were supposed to be getting through some symbolism worksheet. Maybe it was because they were both so levelheaded and knew what they were talking about. Being able to talk to someone who didn’t agree with Annie, but wasn’t a jerk about it was refreshing to say the least.

           “So why are you here?” asked Michelle, pretending to write something down.

           Annie frowned, “Like in a spiritual way or…”

           “No,” Michelle laughed, “why did your parents move here?”

           Annie sighed, shaking her head as she scribbled some nonsense onto the paper, “That was dumb… my dad’s teaching literature at Colombia.”

           “Holy shit, really?! That’s insane!” Michelle nearly exclaimed, quickly earning a scolding look from the teacher.

           By the time the class was over, Annie had another friend. Classes went by as they normally could for a first day at a new school. Lunch ended up being one of the least dreaded events of the day thanks to now having three friends.

           She sat across from Ned and Peter, Michelle was at the other end of the table, pretending to ignore them. Though Michelle would jump in with something to say every once in awhile. It felt like Annie had been there for the whole school year. Blending in with her new friends was simple, especially when they were all so nice. Well, Annie figured that Michelle would say otherwise, but that hardly mattered. The calm vibe that was at the table quickly shifted when another male approached the table.

           “Penis Parker, I see you found the newbie,” the guy jeered, a smirk on his face.

           “Flash, quit being a dick,” Ned replied, glaring.

           Flash rolled his eyes, “Whatever, I just came to tell the new girl she could get a friend upgrade.”

           “Um… the new girl has a name,” Annie muttered, continuing to eat her food.

           “Well what is it?” Flash asked, leaning against the lunch table.

           Annie smirked, “Knulla Dig, people call me Knulla though. But I’d say I found some pretty neat people, so I won’t take you up on that offer.”

           “You’ll change your mind, Knulla,” Flash replied before walking away, shaking his head.

           There was a long, awkward pause as they thought about what was just said. Annie shrugged a bit, going to her food. Being able to act tended to leave Annie being pretty good with lying to people.

           Ned broke the silence, “Dude, why?”

           “I didn’t like him, so I told him fuck you in Swedish,” Annie said, shrugging again.

           “Wait a minute, you know Swedish?” Peter questioned.

           “Oh no, I only know a couple cuss words in it. I’m not that cool, my mom knows a bit,” Annie responded.

           The group continued to eat in silence. As classes resumed, Annie didn’t have anything terribly eventful happen. It was just an average first day. She had homework and if she was behind, she would have to eventually catch up. Though her main issue was definitely physics class.

           It had always been a main flaw of hers, and it was easily her most ironic one. Ever since Annie was eleven she had her powers. She was a human physics equation, and that was why the subject always left her frustrated. Of all people, she should have been a genius when it came to physics, but she just couldn’t wrap her head around the subject.

           When the school day ended, Annie left her physics class to go home. She was stuck on her own. Peter, Ned, and even Michelle had clubs to go to after school. So Annie put in her headphones and walked back to her apartment.

           Walking back to her apartment, Annie didn’t get lost, but that was only because of the GPS on her phone. A part of her was tempted to explore the city on her own. What stopped her was her lack of money. She left it all at home. Besides, she didn’t have a job so she needed to save what she had.

           “How was your day, sweetie?” her mom asked as she entered the apartment.

           Annie shrugged, “It was alright, I think I’ll be okay there. I mean, I already have some friends.”

           “That’s good. Oh, the moving van showed up, so I need you to unpack your stuff,” her mom replied.

           Annie nodded, picking up her boxes from the ground, “Alright, I’ll get some of it done.”

           Though Annie really wanted to go out and see the city again. Maybe this time Spider-Man wouldn’t steal her thunder. She had to show that she mattered even while being new. Regardless of whether or not he had a cooler suit than her, she wanted to prove that she could be just as good as him.

           Annie unpacked most of her clothes and blankets, but she couldn’t stop staring out her window. It had always been difficult, making excuses to be out of the house. She had gotten in trouble for it too, since she would rarely be where she claimed. Of course, that beat the idea of telling her parents that she was actually a superhero.

           Upon finishing, Annie laid on her finally made bed. The evening was very uneventful, having gotten done with nearly all her homework, so she asked to leave to go study. Maybe she could find a way to prove herself.

           “Hey, can I maybe go study at one of my friends’ houses tonight?” she asked when she walked into the living room.

           “With whom?” her dad asked, looking up from what appeared to be some papers.

           “With this one girl, Michelle, she wants to help me with physics,” Annie said, hopeful, making sure to add, “You are the one who wanted me to focus on science.”

           With a little bit more convincing, Annie finally got to leave. Constantly lying did leave a bad taste in the brunette’s mouth, but it was necessary. She knew that her parents would never let her glide along in a makeshift costume fighting robbers and the occasional villain. It was insanely dangerous, but she felt like she was wasting her time if she didn’t use her powers.

           Things were turning out to be quite a bit crazier than the previous night. As Annie glided from building to building, energy catching in the makeshift wings, she saw something. It appeared almost as though someone was being beaten up in an alleyway. It was her chance to show what she could really do. Well, mainly a chance to help someone get out of a tough situation.

           Quickly, she glided down, simply absorbing the energy into herself, “Let her go,” Annie demanded.

           “Or what, you’ll kill me?” a scraggly man slurred.

           Of course the guy was drunk! Still, Annie wasn’t scared, quite the opposite, actually. She channeled some electricity from the street light near her and used some of the electricity on the man. Not much, just enough to give him a slight shock. Enough to make him realize she wasn’t some loon in a dumb costume.

           It was enough for the girl to get free, though the girl seemed to fall down. The girl was injured, but Annie had to make sure this guy didn’t just get away. It was too dark for Annie to see what she looked like. He tried to run away, but Annie quickly set up a barrier of energy around him. Now the man was unable to leave, she looked over at the girl.

           “Hey, are you alright? I can call for help if you need,” Annie said.

           The lady shook her head, “I don’t need that, you should really let him go, he’s just drunk.”

           “No, he wasn’t ‘just drunk’, he hurt you. I can’t let him go like that,” Annie replied sternly.

           “But he’s a customer… if I don’t… it’s not gonna end up well for me. Just let me do my job,” she explained with an anguished tone, rubbing her ankle.

           Shit, Annie thought, it almost sounds like a trafficking ring. Getting a better look at the lady, she appeared to be a girl. It was possible that she was around Annie’s age. Leave it to her to find a potentially huge network of organized crime before she could even memorize her way home. This wasn’t the sort of thing she dealt with in Seattle, and she was left staring blankly. Thank the lord for her mask otherwise she would have looked like such an idiot.

           Annie frowned, “So you have to do this? Like, against your will?”

           “Well, I don’t mind. If I do well at this then Dar- my pimp treats me very well,” the girl responded.

           Seeing that the drunk man had passed out, Annie let down the barrier so she could get to the girl. She sat next to her, and Annie saw that the girl couldn’t possibly be much older than herself. The girl’s short, curly dark hair seemed to be stuck to her face from sweating.

           “I’m gonna get you out of this, it’s not right that you’re hurt. We need to get you to a hospital,” Annie said, noticing what seemed to be signs of injection on the other girl’s arms.

           The girl shook her head, “No, I don’t need some girl in a silly costume helping me.”

           “But you obviously do, and I’m going to regardless,” Annie replied, though she was definitely not going to admit that she had no clue what to do.

           There wasn’t anyone to talk to, or a way to figure out how to help this girl. Unless she physically hid this girl in her room, which was impossible, there was no way for Annie to take care of this on her own. Though as she thought, she could hear some footsteps and looked up to see what was going on.

           “Why the hell aren’t you working, whore? And who the fuck is this?” asked a rather large, clearly sober man.

           “I’m a customer,” Annie replied drily.

           “The fuck you are, and what the fuck are you doing with my whore?!” the man yelled.

           The man kept getting closer and closer. Annie could smell the cigarette breath off of the guy, and she could tell just how much taller he was than her. It wasn’t like she couldn’t handle this guy. He was just a regular man and she had powers. She absorbed the energy that she could feel through the streets and shoved him back into the wall.

           He tried to struggle against the barrier Annie held up, a blue green hue appearing the more force she put into keeping the man against the wall. This had to have been the guy that the girl had been talking about.

           “Hey, wait… what?” Annie heard another voice as well as light footsteps.

           Annie turned to see Spider-Man. It felt insane to actually see the guy so close up. Still, this was her chance to show just what she could do. She shoved the man back again, only making him angrier. Just as Annie stole more electricity from a different street lamp, Spider-Man wrapped the guy in webbing against the wall.

           “I so had that!” Annie exclaimed, crossing her arms, the barrier of energy going away.

           “Who’re you?” Spider-Man asked before Annie could complain anymore.

           Giving a sarcastic curtsey, Annie said, “White Swan, at your service.”

           “Um… what the hell’s happening? I can’t get up because my leg’s fucked, and you just… webbed my pimp,” the girl commented, sounding rather distressed.

           Annie gave a nod, “Right, erm… we’re gonna help you out.”

           “You said something like that already,” the girl retorted.

           Spider-Man seemed to give what Annie could only guess was a confused look, “Don’t we just take her to a hospital?”

           “No! That’s where they’ll look first. You guys shouldn’t have done anything,” the girl trailed off.

           “Alright, alright, I’m thinking… do you have anywhere to go? I mean there’s gotta be a place that can help you,” Annie rambled, “What’s your name anyways?”

           “It’s Tina, and, look, I can help myself.” Tina insisted, attempting to stand up as she used the wall as a crutch.

           “You’re in pain and can’t even walk. You need help,” Spider-Man replied, concern etched in his voice.

           “How do you-” Tina was cut off.

           “Spidey senses, I know when things are happening and how people are feeling,” he explained.

           Annie sighed impatiently, “Or you could’ve just noticed that she’s limping around. We need to focus, Spidey, find somewhere for Tina to go. Like a church or a convent or a homeless shelter… a place that could take care of her.”

           Spider-Man nodded, picking up Tina, “Yep, also, I saw a church with a homeless shelter a few blocks away… sorry, I should’ve asked if I could pick you up, I-I meant to, but I don’t know you could get anywhere easily without… well without falling.”

           They ended up walking, and that was when it all truly hit Annie: she was walking with Spider-Man. She had actually spoken to Spider-Man. Harper was going to completely flip. Especially if she brought up the fact that the guy kind of sounded like a dork. It was true, though, he sounded just as confused as she did.

When they finally got to the church, Tina insisted on going in herself, using the wall as a crutch. Though Annie wasn’t about to leave until she was positive that Tina was going to be staying in the building. Then both heroes left to go back to the spot. Wanting to make sure that they could arrest the piece of garbage that Spider-Man webbed to the wall

           The only problem was that when they got back the guy was gone. It looked like something had cut through the webbing. Something told Annie that wasn’t how things were supposed to work. Of course, she didn’t know how webbing was supposed to work in the first place, but the narrowed eyes on Spider-Man’s costume concerned her a bit.

           “You know this means there are more of them, sex slaves and pimps, I mean,” Annie said.

           Spider-Man nodded, “Yeah, I know. It’ll get sorted out though, you have nothing to worry about.”

           “Exactly, because I’ll be taking care of it,” Annie insisted.

           Spider-Man paused, “You don’t need to, you’re obviously new.”

           “I’ve done this for long enough. Besides, you sound like a fetus,” Annie retorted as she crossed her arms.

           “Um… excuse you. Fine, we can work together on it,” Spider-Man replied, sighing a bit, “Mr. Stark is gonna freak if I tell him you’re doing this.”

           “Well then just don’t tell him. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve gotta get home before my parents flip,” Annie said, running off so she could remember how to get home. The last thing she wanted was for Spider-Man to know that she was so new that she couldn’t even remember how to get back home.

           When Annie got home that night, she called up Harper, her heart racing with excitement, “You’re never gonna guess what happened!”

           “You saw a roadkill pigeon?” Harper mused, sketching audible in the background.

           Annie rolled her dark brown eyes, as she worked on some trigonometry homework “No, and ew… I met Spider-Man!”

           “Wait… no shit? I feel like you’re lying to me… so you seriously met him?!” Harper asked, the sketching sound stopped.

           The dark-haired girl laughed, “Yes, I did, now let me tell you everything.”

           “Well then stop with all the lead-ins and tell me about Spider-Man already!” they exclaimed, and Annie had to take the phone away from her ear because of how loud Harper yelled.

           After laughing, Annie started to retell all the crazy events of that night.

Tag list: @flushings-here / @upsidedownparker / @gaypanda (just ask to be added to the tag list)

[felinehypocritical]

dearest (though you’re the nearest to my heart) - chapter 3

Chapter Summary: “It’s juh-huh-hust so w-w-weird,” Bill said, his voice strained and absently confused. “He hasn’t tuh-t-talked to me in wuh-w-weeks.” He tossed the baseball he was holding up into the air behind him once, catching it in his mitt behind his back before tossing it right into the waiting Mike’s glove. 

“I dunno, man, he seems pretty normal to me, just a little sad.” Mike raised an eyebrow. “Maybe just let him come to you?”

Bill frowned deeper, the advice getting deeper under his skin every time it was given to him. “I’ve truh-truh-tr-t-truh- F-F-F-FUCK!” He closed his eyes, fingers running to cover his ears and grasping in his hair as he took deep breaths and tried to compose himself.

Composure didn't come easy in Derry, Maine.

Words: 3110

available on ao3

Two weeks week, four days, and fifteen hours.

That’s how long it had been since Bill Denbrough had last hung out with his best friend.

He’d last seen him when Bill had (stupidly) made a move after a rousing game of monopoly. He’d last seen him before Eddie had dropped Bill’s hand and run away, fear and a sort of warped disgust in his eyes. He’d last seen him when he’d said he’d felt sick, and started to walk home. And not since.

Bill had started out making excuses- it was flu season, so Eddie might be sick, or afraid of the Losers getting him sick. Eddie’s mom might be keeping him home right after school to do winter cleaning, or something ridiculous. Eddie was just taking a little bit of a break from the Losers as a group, because it was stressing them out. He was fighting with Richie. Anything.

Well, it had almost been two fucking weeks, and the kid wasn’t back to Bill yet. Something was up. And it was driving Bill nuts.

Bill was used to seeing Eddie every day- to being able to talk to him about anything at anytime, to be able to check up on him. To see how nice he looked that day. And now he couldn’t. Because Eddie was avoiding him.

They talked a little, sure- it was hard to ignore the guy who sits next to you in every class- but it was as little as possible. And when they did talk, Eddie always looked like he had early onset lockjaw. He looked so stressed and little and scared. So Bill dropped it- he told himself Eddie would just come when he was ready. He wanted to be mad at Eddie for brushing him off- he wanted to be angry that Eddie was giving him the cold shoulder and randomly up and leaving him. But he couldn’t be.

Because he was major, super in love with Eddie Kaspbrak.

Not just a little, no, not a crush. Not an infatuation. He LOVED Eddie. He thought about him day and night. Daydreamed about him. Thought about him every two minutes. If Richie knew, he’d make a joke about how teenagers think about sex every ten seconds in relation to Bill thinking about Eddie every seven seconds. It was BAD. So no, he wasn’t mad at Eddie for this- he was borderline heartbroken. He wanted his best friend back.

Bill loved his other friends, sure- they were all great. But Eddie was his BEST friend. He was different. He laughed at all Bill’s jokes, even if they were bad, he was always patient with Bill’s stutter. He waited for Bill after school. He let Bill copy his health homework, because he knew how Bill hated the teacher and spent the periods writing and doodling. He fussed over Bill until the redhead was almost laughing hysterically. He made the shrewdest observation in the group besides Stan’s. He was Eddie Kaspbrak.

And now he was ignoring his own best friend.

“It’s juh-huh-hust so w-w-weird,” Bill said, his voice strained and absently confused. “He hasn’t tuh-t-talked to me in wuh-w-weeks.” He tossed the baseball he was holding up into the air behind him once, catching it in his mitt behind his back before tossing it right into the waiting Mike’s glove. The ball made a satisfying swish and thunk as it landed, and Mike threw it up above his head, back up to catch it before going back to toe the line.

“I dunno, man, he seems pretty normal to me, just a little sad.” Mike raised an eyebrow. He was used to his friends over-hyping their drama with each other, but Bill never did that, and the furrow of his brow really seemed sincere. “Maybe just let him come to you?”

Bill frowned deeper, the advice getting deeper under his skin every time it was given to him, and he caught the ball again, putting his mitt more forward than it usually would be so he’d feel the impact more, before throwing it back twice as hard as he’d caught it. “I’ve truh-truh-tr-t-truh- F-F-F-FUCK!” Bill threw the ball down, and he took his mitt off as well, dropping it down next to the ball. He closed his eyes, fingers running to cover his ears and grasping in his hair as he took deep breaths and tried to compose himself. Mike simply watched, waiting for his friend to collect himself. Bill was quick and prone to anger, but it never lasted longer than a few minutes. Bill thought of how you say it in French- /en essayant/- and he tried again.

“I’ve truh-tried that f-for the last few weeks,” Bill explained. “Hasn’t w-wuh-worked.” He threw the ball again, this time a high arc, and Mike caught it expertly, eyes still on Bill. They only flicked to the ball for a moment. The redhead fixed his hair again, pushing it to the side, and his expression was almost pained. “H-he ignores m-muh-me in cuh-lass, Mike. W-w-we sit next t-to eachother, and h-he ign-nores me.”

Bill’s voice was teetering on the edge of breaking, and Mike made a noise of understanding before he walked over to Bill and slung an arm around his shoulder. “Hey, Bill, it’s okay, you know?” Mike said reassuringly. “He can’t do it forever, he loves you, man. He’ll get over it soon. He looks so sad nowadays when he hang out.” Mike raised an eyebrow as if he expected an epiphany..

Bill raised an eyebrow right back, not understanding what he was supposed to think of Mike’s vague statement. “Uh huh...”

“Ever since, well, I’d say two or three weeks ago,” Mike hinted again, smiling hopefully.

The meaning dawned on Bill all at once, and he playfully pushed Mike off. “Shuh-shut up,” Bill grumbled, “ih-it’s not to d-d-do with me, idiot.”

“Bill, are you /kidding/? Mike said incredulously. “Eddie looked at you like you were the fucking stars in the sky! He hung off of every word you said! He never did anything without you! I mean, he loved you, man, really /loved/ you!”

The other teen tried to hide his dopey grin behind his hand, beginning to pick up their equipment (Mike was a substitute catcher on the Derry High baseball team when he was free from football, so they’d been practicing catching pitches and stopping people from coming home) and shielding his face behind his burning red curls. “D-does not,” he said softly, but the softness didn’t seem like it was from shyness; rather, it seemed to come from a place of a flustered teenager in love with a voice thick and small from love and quiet thoughts. “I doubt h-he even luh-l-looked at me half the time.”

He knew Eddie did, though, he looked two halves of the time, and maybe that was why he was so sad that Eddie was gone. There was no one to stare and clap for and admire Bill. Was that conceited? To want someone there to encourage you? Of course Bill loved Eddie too- he loved everything about the blond boy. But the feeling of having a constant presence there with him was so comforting, he missed it more than anything.

Mike rolled his eyes. “You’re an idiot, Bill,” he said, smiling a smile that flashed his brilliant white teeth, before slinging an arm around the tall, nervous, lovesick Bill Denbrough and starting to walk towards the street. They walked home together in the dying light.

--

On that same night, Eddie Kaspbrak awoke with fleeting feeling of warmth and dizziness in his head. He didn’t gasp, didn’t sit up- he only snapped open his eyes and felt the reality of where he was sink in as the barely-memorable dream faded away. Gasping and sitting up was for movie actresses, not teenage boys with breathing issues. God only knows how that might cramp his lungs, sitting up so fast like that.

He looked over at the clock- 3:40. Of course. Why would Eddie wake up from a dream at a normal person time?

He tried not to focus on that, though, and he got up to brush his teeth, despite knowing it would simply wake him up further. The cold water, the mint taste, the feeling of a substance in his mouth that felt kind of like it might be food, he knew it’d all wake him up, and he wouldn’t be able to sleep.

But, upon getting back into bed, he started to realize he wouldn’t have gotten back to sleep anyways.

Okay, so maybe he’d had a dream about Bill.

A not-so-platonic dream about Bill.

A kissing-touching-moaning-sinning dream about Bill.

He put his hands over his eyes, and he sighed. He’d been so good- he hadn’t let Bill distract him from his Path. He hadn’t talked to Bill in weeks, even, not about anything important, anyways. He didn’t hang out with him, think about him, do /anything/ with Bill… So why had this even happened?

Eddie let himself fall onto his back, hands still over his eyes, and let out another sigh. He was still mortified, disappointed, and angry with himself, but when he thought about the dream his stomach did this thing where it sank and felt like it was dissolving in a burst of heat that seemed hot enough to be causing the flare in Eddie’s cheeks.

‘Forget it already,’ Eddie was telling himself. ‘You’ve gotten this far, it’ll get easier if you just push through.’

Eddie’s hand slid down the length of his cheek and he cupped his own face, how Bill had in that terrible

(wonderful)

dream. He tried to think of something else, anything else, but he couldn’t. Eddie bit the inside of his cheek and let out a breath. “Just once,” he mumbled into the pitch black of his bedroom. “I’ll forget it tomorrow.”

Eddie began racking his brain for every last detail of the dream, almost desperately. He didn’t remember where he and Bill were, but they were sitting on a couch, or maybe it was a bed; it didn’t matter.

Bill had been looking at Eddie. Not in the normal, friendly way, either. His intentions were so obvious, as Eddie reflected, but in the dream he’d been so nervous he hadn’t been able to decipher what that look meant.

He remembered Bill putting his hand on Eddie’s thigh as they spoke and that they had gotten dangerously close. They’d been in similar situations in real life before (although nowhere to this extent), but instead of Eddie panicking and moving away from Bill, he stayed. Even when Bill leaned forward and crashed their lips together, Eddie didn’t move. He didn’t want to.

Eddie was waiting for Bill to pull away quickly, maybe yell at Eddie for being such a freak and letting him do that, but Bill didn’t pull away. He only kissed harder and moved closer to Eddie, so that Eddie was leaning so far back he was close to falling. Eddie felt Bill’s tongue slip into his mouth and gasped. Bill seemed to take Eddie’s opened mouth as an opportunity to kiss him more, while Eddie opened and closed his mouth clumsily around Bill’s lips. Eddie shivered when he remembered this, starting to trace his lips with his knuckle.

Bill had finally pulled away, smiling. “Wha-Wh-What’s wrong E-Eh-Eddie?” he teased, and buried his hand in Eddie’s curls. Eddie whined, eyes wide and fearful. He had no idea what was going on or what had gotten into Bill, but…

“Do y-yuh-you like ih-it?” Bill continued. Eddie nodded and squirmed a little, still in the position where he was nearly falling.

“S-Sure, Big Bill,” he said dumbly. “Could you, um, move a little, I’m—“ Bill moved quickly and pushed Eddie down onto his back fully. He put his hands on Eddie’s hips, and Eddie squirmed again. “I didn’t… I meant…” Eddie stammered. He gazed up at Bill and knew his face had to be red, he could feel himself burning up. The way Bill was looking at him and touching him and being on top of him like that was something so new, and it felt so good, even though it was so wrong.

Eddie turned his head to the side in embarrassment, but Bill remained undeterred. Instead, he started kissing up Eddie’s neck and throat, his hands making slow circles in Eddie’s hips as he did so. Eddie gasped again and reached for Bill, clawing down his back and making a small, drawn out noise.

“Ohh…” he breathed. “Oh, Bill.” Bill went back up to Eddie’s lips and started kissing him heavily again. Eddie froze up, still stiff and clumsy in his movements, but Bill didn’t seem to mind. Bill was doing most of the work, anyway.

Bill sucked gently on Eddie’s lip as he pulled away. “I like th-th-th-those n-nuh-oises.”

“What noises, Bi—mmmn…” Eddie’s speech tumbled to a halt when Bill started feverishly kissing Eddie’s neck again. He couldn’t think very well, his mind was so fuzzy. He just clutched Bill for dear life as he tried to keep himself under control.

“I thuh-th-think you nuh-know,” Bill said teasingly. His hands moved slowly, painfully slowly, from Eddie’s chest to his waist, and he smiled into Eddie’s neck as he felt the smaller boy sigh and his hips stutter. He took the action even farther, and he used  the opportunity to slide his hands down to the fly of Eddie’s pants.

Eddie’s eyes suddenly snapped shut, and he felt his mind go blank. He couldn’t even speak- he just let himself keen up into Bill’s waiting hands. Eddie let out a whine, letting Bill fidget with his zipper. The tiniest bit of friction that came from that was enough to force Eddie to bite his lip.

Eddie looked up into Bill’s eager face before looking back down at where Bill’s hand was. With full force he realized what Bill—both of them—were doing. He made a half-hearted attempt at a protest, reaching for Bill’s hand, but he didn’t push it away. He couldn’t bring himself to. God, he really did want this so bad.

“D-do you want me t-t-to go fuh-farther?” This dream-version of Bill asked, his big blue eyes turned to Eddie’s green ones as he fiddled with Eddie’s fly. Eddie nodded breathlessly, practically pulling Bill’s hand to his waistband, and he felt his heart quicken at the thought of Bill touching him where no one, not even Eddie himself, had touched him before.

“Yes, please,” Eddie said, and he felt himself start to float away from what was happening in this dream. “I love you, Bill,” he continued desperately. He was begging this dream not to end, even as his entire body and mind was screaming it him to stop. Only the Leper was encouraging him on.

As quickly as he remembered the dream, Eddie was brought back to reality. He’d drifted off as he remembered it, and when he glanced at the clock, it was around 5. He could hear the few over-achieving birds chirping outside the window, but in the dark, March morning, they were the only sound. Eddie was alone with the birds Stan would bring Eddie to watch later and his own uneven breathing.

Absentmindedly, he touched his cheek; his fingers were freezing, but his cheeks were burning. And wet. The silent tears he’d been crying- crying over his own sin, his own helplessness against the voices inside of him, his awful weakness to everything and everyone- turned into hitching silent sobs, and he buried his face in his pillow. ‘Maybe I’d asphyxiate if I do it long enough’, he thought dimly. ‘I’ll have an asthma attack and I can just hold my face against the pillow and it will all be over. Mom would be so mad.’ That last thought was with satisfaction. How he hated his mother for making him weak, making him so frail and vulnerable and scared of the world. He’d love to show her he had control over his life; when it ended or went on, that would be the greatest prize to control.

‘But Eddie,’ said another voice. ‘God wants you at His own time. Would you really take yourself before He takes you? Isn’t that selfish?’

Eddie turned that thought over in his mind as he lay there, in his too-comfy bed in his too-warm house with his too-stuffed pillow pressing into his mouth. Maybe God did want him to wait- offing yourself was a sin, wasn’t it?- but his mind had been wrong before. And maybe God was giving him a sign- maybe it was his time. And it’s not like he was disfiguring himself or anything. He’d do it cleanly, if he did it at all, wouldn't he? No messy slitting his wrists or shooting himself in the head business. Just quick and fast and clean, so he could be buried and look nice in his sunday suit one more time.

‘And anyway’, Eddie thought back, ‘it’s not selfish, really. No one wants me here. I don’t even want me here. Richie and Stan are best friends, and Beverly and Ben, and Bill and Mike- there’s no room for me, and no one else wants me. Why stay?’

‘Oh, but Bill wants you, Eddie.’ A voice from the very back of Eddie’s head purred itself back into the foreground. ‘Bill wants you everywhere. In his mouth, on his chest, in his throat- everywhere. He wants you on his cock, too, you know it. Give him what he wants, Eddie, it might be your only chance to do that for someone.’

That was the last straw. Large, hiccuping, snot-filled sobs started as Eddie’s shivering, small body sunk lower and lower into the mattress. He was so fucking weak, he didn’t even have his mind to himself. He had to share it like rental space with anyone who wanted to be there, it was ridiculous. It was awful. He wished he could die just so this would all stop.

The crying petered out as the sun came up, until the only remnants of it were in his puffy red eyes and his damp shirt. He got up, switching the unneeded alarm off on his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth for the second time that day.

Looking in the bathroom mirror, he promised himself something. His eyes were solemn and dark as he looked himself in the eyes over the rim of his sink.

The leper would not win, no matter what.

The leper wouldn’t win.

Hopefully, Eddie Kaspbrak knew what he was getting into when he made a promise.