#because who wants to go against the guy who just kicked a cannonball shot into the air AS it was being fired???

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

do you think jack was hurt when the crew chose to stay with stede and no one wanted to come with him, the most fun guy?

Probably not. I actually saw a take from an Izzy Stan once that I low key agreed with but I didn't reblog it because obviously, but it is relevant here so I'll repeat it.

Jack and Ed have a similar response or a crowd turning against them, probably because they came up in piracy similarly, but they have that response for vastly different reasons, and in different ways.

When a crowd turns against Ed he takes it personally and tries to kill everybody. When a crowd turns against Jack he doesn't take it personally and tries to kill everybody. I hope this makes sense (using episodes 5, 8, and 10 as evidence) somewhere along the line they both learned that the correct reaction to a crowd turning against you is to try to get rid of as many of them as you can, which makes sense, if you're a pirate captain and a crew turns against you it's mutiny o'clock. And Ed and Jack are the two pirate captains ever so...

Now I could see an argument for the Jack doesn't take it personally assertion because he does in fact say the line "well when tie an anchor around your leg and toss you overboard it feels pretty personal." And Ed has the line "I know he comes on a bit strong at first but he's insecure". I tend to think he could be insecure without taking that specific scene with Karl personally given that it's repeatedly established that the crew aren't very serious pirates, which I think Jack gives wayyyyy less of a fuck about than Izzy so long as they're drinking with him, but could still probably use to mend a bruised ego. so whether he takes things like this personal hinges on the tossing you overboard line, which he may or may not have been lying about. We have no solid evidence either way. So I tend to waffle based on what's funniest. I've been on a he's lying kick recently because he's my garbage little dirtbag meowmeow. But sometimes I think about him surviving three separate mutinies and having to agree to this plan because he's broke now and I think about the fact that he showed up in a dinghy and I'm like... Meow meow is also having a midlife crisis and he can't die and that is very funny to me. So that statement about him not taking it personally might not be true and as much as I think the line about pirates not needing friends was pure gass to try to hurt Ed for leaving, which he absolutely would have cried about later if the cannonball hadn't immediately given him much bigger problems, he is pretty fucking blaze about the whole thing the next day. And he was planning on leaving with just Ed.

Now what I want you to consider is imagine he has been mutinied three times. I didn't think about this til right now but I want us to think more about why he does say "whose with me in" this scene. If enough of those fuckers agree to leave with him, Stede is no longer the fucker with the boat, Jack can leave Stede and Buttons on the beach of blind man's cove for the British to find the next day, take his crew, and fuck off to go be Bonnie and Clyde core evil boyfriends with Ed again. That was never ever ever gonna happen but I feel like Jack doesn't quite know how astronomically long of a shot that is. I haven't thought about why he would faument mutiny against Stede other than "he's a douchebag and trying to take a shot as he leaves" until now but there is a reason. Like any more opportunist less tightly knit pirate crew would be like "sorry about your bird Buttons but Blackbeard and Calico Jack know what they're doing we can make more money if we go with them"

Jack doesn't know how deep these emotional ties run is what I'm saying. He doesn't know they're fambly. He doesn't know that Ed is madly in love with the guy who he's been hanging out with for *checks notes* these past few weeks/one moon cycle. How would he know that? He showed up yesterday and spent all of it drunk.

I think too much about this man.

Anyway TL;DR: nah he seems way to chill about it the next day and I think his intention was always to leave with Just Ed he just wanted to see if he could get more bang for his buck and when he couldn't ... Well... "Later losers."

[brainyxbat]

Chapter 26: That Looks Gator-Ish! Luffy, Run to the Royal Tomb!

(episode 123)

As Luffy continued to struggle against Crocodile, Robin and Cobra arrived at the Mortuary Temple, west of the palace. They stopped at the ascending, stone staircase. "So this is the Royal Tomb," She remarked, "Where the bodies of generations of kings sleep." She turned to Cobra. "Where's the Poneglyph?" Without a word, he approached a statue featuring a cat-fish hybrid, and pushed it aside to face the path; a rectangular section of the ground rose up, revealing a staircase going under the ground. "Hidden stairs!" They headed down, with her walking ahead of him.

"The Poneglyph is deep underground. Normally, people aren't even aware of Poneglyphs' existence."

"What's happening behind the scenes is deep," Robin cut him off, "Even if countries belong to the World Government, it doesn't mean their kings know everything. You aren't to be blamed; since you probably didn't know there was someone in this world who can decipher them."

"You can read Poneglyphs?" Cobra asked with surprise.

"Yes. That's why Crocodile and I teamed up. Because of that, he can't kill me." She suddenly stopped walking. "It's likely that the Poneglyph in this country tells where Pluton is." She turned to Cobra with a piercing stare. "Isn't that right?"

"Alabasta's royal family has been obligated for generations to protect it. That's all it is to us."

"Protect?! Don't make me laugh!" After he tensed up, they continued their trek. "What an impressive-looking place," She remarked after they reached the tomb.

"It's behind the doors in the back."

Now eager, she opened the large doors, and walked deeper inside, while Cobra stayed back. "Indeed..."

-

Meanwhile, Usopp and Zoro were still searching for the cannoneer. Or at least, Zoro was; Usopp seemed to be taking a different approach. He seemed to be imitating Crocodile, down to his laugh, and a gold piece on his right hand. "You small fry!" He mocked.

Zoro swung a hard punch to his head. "What the heck are you doing?!"

"What am I doing?!" Usopp glared. "I'm trying to put myself in Crocodile's shoes! Like if I were him, where would I shoot a cannon from?"

"Forget it! Just look for the cannoneer! We've got less than five minutes!"

'Five more minutes!' Chopper ran through the streets in Walk Point with Nami. 'A million lives will be blown up in five minutes! We gotta hurry; we gotta hurry up, and find the cannoneer!'

"Chopper!" She turned to him. "Can't you find the guy using your nose?"

"I can't. The smell of gunpowder is all over the town!"

"Then... listen; find the smell of "a cannoneer who may be aiming at the center of the Square"."

"What kind of smell is that?"

"How should I know?! Try your best!"

"What?!"

Elsewhere, Sanji was dashing like mad, carrying a slower Venus on his back. 'A cannonball that can blow up a 5k diameter,' He thought, before screeching to a sudden stop. "Wait; then it must be big."

"What're we stopping for?!" Venus exclaimed, but he was too deep in his analysis.

"If it is to be shot from a cannon, it won't travel very far. Then it should be closer to the Square after all?!" He went to run back the way they came, but stopped himself. "Ahh! We don't time to go around!" He fussed, and to Venus' surprise, he kicked a hole into a building close by. "We'll take a shortcut!"

"Good thinking!" Venus beamed, keeping her grip firm.

"How is it from the sky, Pell?!" Vivi called out.

"I searched every corner of the rooftops of the buildings near the Square, but I saw no preparation for a cannon anywhere."

"Then... it might be from somewhere inside a building."

"I'll search all of them!"

"Okay!"

-

In the Royal Tomb, as four minutes until the cannonball would be shot in the Square, Cobra watched from sitting by the doors, as Robin looked over the stone Poneglyph before her silently. "Did it tell you what you wanted to know?" He didn't receive an answer, as she still read it over.

"Aren't there any others?! Is this all this country is hiding?"

"You're not satisfied? I kept my promise."

"Yes..."

Just then, someone else entered: Crocodile! "Just as you'd expect from a national secret; no matter how desperately you search, it can't be found unless you know where it is. So this is the Poneglyph, huh, Nico Robin?"

"That didn't take long," She remarked.

"It's strange, or how should I put it... we you able to decipher it?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now read the so-called Poneglyph."

She turned back to the stone block, and read aloud. "Kahira conquered Alabasta... in Sky Ephemeris Year 239. In 260, Taymer ruled the Bitain Dynasty. In 306, the Taff Cathedral was completed in Erumalu. In 325, the hero Mamdin of Oltia-"

The impatient Crocodile stopped her reading. "Hey, hey, wait, wait! Is that what we wanna know?! Who cares about the history of this country? Just tell me the location of the world's most disastrous "military power" that is sleeping in this country! Where is the Pluton?!"

After a moment of silence, Robin turned back to him. "It's not written here."

"What?!"

"History is the only thing written here."

"Is that true?!"

"Pluton; I didn't see that word mentioned even once."

More silence followed, as Crocodile took her words in. "Well, I see; that's unfortunate. You've been an excellent partner to me, but..." His gaze on her darkened. "I think I'll kill you here."

"Wha-?!" She stepped back in shock.

"The agreement we made four years ago has been achieved here. This is what you said then; if I take you to where the Poneglyph is, you'd turn over the information on the weapon to me. Your work in Baroque Works these past four years was excellent, both in terms of brainpower, and command ability. That's enough for me; to say that you were a useful woman. But... you broke your word at the end!" He thrusted his hook at her, and her white cowgirl hat flew off. "The Poneglyph in this country doesn't even show a clue on the Pluton. Or is it that you weren't planning to tell me from the start, even if you found out?" She was scared, but kept her composure; he had her there. "However, I don't feel any anger against you. You know why, Nico Robin?"

She smirked at him. "How silly; we were a team for four years. I knew you'd pull something like this."

She pulled a vial out of her coat, and threw it in his direction. A hand grew out of his back, and caught it by his head. "Water?!"

"If you get wet, a knife can stick in you, right?!" Wielding a knife, she ran straight for him, but he disappeared in a cloud of sand before he could get doused in water. "He dodged it! Where'd he-?"

He appeared behind her: and stabbed his hook in her upper back, through her chest! "I'll forgive you for everything... Nico Robin." He thrusted it out, and let her fall limp to the floor. "Because I've never trusted anyone from the beginning." He looked down at the unconscious woman. "I now know from Cobra's reaction that Pluton really exists. I don't have to depend on the Poneglyph; I'll find it on my own. Once this country becomes mine, it's just a matter of time." He stopped when the tomb began rumbling like there was an earthquake. "Hm?! What's going on?! It's still too early for the attack on the Square!" He turned to the silent Cobra. "it must be you. What'd you do?!"

"Well, nothing major. This underground sacred temple is built so that pulling just one small column out cause the entire balance to be disrupted, and destroy the temple. You two will die in here with me; as the 12th king of the Nefertari Family, I can't give this sand kingdom to someone like you."

-

Outside, Vivi was still running, when her sandals gave out, and she fell to the ground. She held back her tears, as she held her bleeding knee. Where is it? Three minutes left... A cannon big enough to blow up a 5k diameter; there can't be many places where such a thing would fit. Why can't we find it when we search this much? An open space where a cannon would fit.

Behind her, Usopp leaped away when a bullet was astray from the armies' ongoing battle. "A stray bullet!"

Vivi suddenly perked up. "An open space... that's right." She recalled finding Koza's hiding place in their childhood. "That place can..."

"That's dangerous, you bastard!" Usopp reprimanded. "Smoke Star!"

"It doesn't attract people's attention, and it's a big space."

"Idiot! Ahh!" Usopp ran away from the fight, chased by a royal soldier. "I'm not from the Rebel Army! Usopp Hammer! Usopp's Rubberband of Doom! Did that teach you, you bastard! Geez; who do they think I am?" He confronted the armies again. "Don't be surprised when I tell you this. No, be surprised! I am that famous Captain U-" He was cut off by Vivi grabbing his nose to avert his attention. "What? O-oh, it's you, Vivi. Did you find the cannoneer?!"

"I figured it out! It's gotta be there!"

"What?! Really?! Okay, then! I'll signal them!" He dug his slingshot back out, and aimed it to the sky. "In any case, I'll call everyone! You're sure about it, right?"

"Yes!" She nodded with determination.

"Special Attack: Red Serpent Star!" He sent a red smoke trail above all the buildings.

"Ahh?!" Chopper spotted it while in Heavy Point, stopping Nami from running.

"Oh?!" Sanji saw it from where he stood, alongside Venus and Pell.

"Usopp's signal!" She beamed.

Zoro, amazingly, wound up in a jungle completely separate from the city, and missed the signal. Luffy, who was sleeping off his injuries outside the tomb, missed it as well. He did wake up, however, and sat himself up. "Boy, I slept well. Huh-? Oh, that's right; my body suddenly became incapable of moving, so I decided to risk it, and take a nap since it couldn't be helped. And now I feel fine, so... oh yeah!" He punched his palm after remembering his mission, and shot to his feet. "Gator! I'll beat him up!" He ran like mad, before screeching to a stop, and noticing the strange staircase. "That hole..." He panted, "It looks gator-ish."

-

"Whoa, you're a model king," Crocodile commended Cobra through the quaking, "Are you trying to be buried alive, taking me with you, for the country?! But you can't kill me."

"Hm?"

"I can change all the bedrocks into sand, and escape from here," He laughed mockingly, "You'll die in vain, Cobra." He turned to the ceiling. "It's now less than three minutes; with the collapse of this sacred temple, and the big explosion of the Square, everyone in my way will be blown up in an instant!" He turned back to Cobra. "In that moment, this land will become my country." The trembling seemed to increase, as his evil laughter rang throughout the temple.

Through it all, Luffy was sprinting down the staircases, furious. 'Crocodile!! Where are you?!'

[theladyofdeath]

I’ll Be Seeing You {1}

Nesta x Cassian, 1940′s AU

Collaboration with @snelbz​

Summary: After Cassian gets injured in the war, he’s taken to a war camp to be cared for until he gains enough strength to return to his battalion. While he’s there, he falls for a nurse that couldn’t care less about his title and doesn’t put up with his bullshit. Once he’s healed and the years pass by, he finds that there’s only one thing he wants to remember from the war, and she’s only a letter away. 

Trigger Warnings: war

A/N: FINALLY. Shelby and I have been writing away (both at this one, and the one she will begin posting later this week). We’ve been so excited to share, and hope you all like it.

Chapters will be posted every Monday. 

Word Count: 3745

IBSY Masterlist

Shelby’s Masterlist 

Tara’s Masterlist  

September 1940, The Winter Court

It was cold.

It was cold and Cassian couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten a full night’s sleep. He was bleary eyed in the midday sun, which did little to warm the frigid air as he walked, one hand braced on the gun hanging from his shoulder.

He idly wondered where Rhys and Az had been deployed to, if they’d ended up in one of the milder courts, or if they were as unlucky as he was, patrolling the borders of Winter.

If they were in one of the warmer courts, he hated them.

Loved them, missed them, hoped they were safe.

But he hated them, nonetheless.

Alongside his fellow soldiers, Cassian continued on, marching through the snow from the night before. It had been a wicked storm, one Cassian wasn’t certain they wouldn’t make it through. But they did, through some miracle their fires remained burning all night long, snow and all.

“Perk up, Nazari,” the soldier beside him grinned. “At least it’s above freezing today.”

“It’s at least ten below freezing,” Cassian said, snorting. 

The soldier's grin just widened and he kept marching on. At least someone was happy to be there.

He’d stopped learning anything aside from his fellow soldiers' names after the first couple of months. After losing someone he’d grown close to for what felt like the hundredth time, it was easier that way.

Andras, the golden haired man, continued on. “We’ve only got another ten miles before we meet up with the seventeenth battalion. Rumor has it they got a resupply in rations last month.”

There was too much to unpack in that statement for Cassian to waste his energy and warmth responding.

Only another ten miles made him want to wring Andras’s neck. They’d been moving since dawn and had only covered seven miles. At the rate they were moving now, they’d likely have to make camp again in volatile unclaimed territory.

He also knew a resupply of rations was unlikely. He hadn’t heard of any of the courts sending out any aid, because none had any to spare. So it was likely that rumors were all Andras had heard, and rumors they would stay. And if they somehow were true, Cassian was sure that the seventeenth battalion had probably gone through them themselves, not concerned with any forces coming to meet up with them.

He knew his legion wouldn’t have cared.

But this was war. Every man for himself, even if f they were fighting for a common goal.

Peace.

Peace seemed far away as the sound of rapid gunshots went off in the distance.

Someone screamed, and then an explosion went off up ahead, sending smoke and bodies flying into the air.

At first, Cassian’s body locked up but then his training kicked in. He fell into formation.

As he hurried behind Andras, Cassian took pity on one of the younger guys. He couldn’t have been more than eighteen, and this was most likely his first attack. He looked terrified, completely frozen.

“Move!” Cassian yelled, and the kid’s eyes connected with his, then he was finally moving, fumbling for his gun.

Cassian wished him the best but didn’t think about it long. He couldn’t. This was war. He had to remain focused.

The sound of the canon roared and before they had time to think, the cannonball landed just up ahead. Close enough for Cassian’s ears to ring.

He looked around, trying to locate the enemy.

He raised his gun.

His ears we’re still ringing and he couldn’t place where the shots were coming from, just saw man after man in his battalion go down. But Andras surged ahead and Cassian followed behind, trusting the instincts of his fellow soldier.

“Into the trees,” he called, knowing they wouldn’t offer much cover, but they wouldn’t be as exposed as they were on the open road.

Andras’s quick nod was his only reply and they pushed, but not before white hot pain shot down Cassian’s arm.

He cried out, still barely able to hear himself over the high-pitched ringing in his head, but he didn’t go down. He knew the only thing that awaited him if he did was death.

They’d been split up, separated and disoriented, just like the enemy had wanted them.

Cassian pressed a hand to his arm, hoping he’d just been grazed, but when he looked down, he knew that wasn’t the case. He was lucky he was still able to use his arm, with how much blood was pouring from the wound. He leaned against a tree as they made it deep into the cover.

“Fuck, man, you’re hit,” Andras muttered, not even pausing to consider before tearing into his own small med kit and tying a tourniquet above the wound on Cassian’s arm.

It took every ounce of willpower in him not to snap something like “No shit,” back at the man, but knew it would be a waste of energy.

“This should hold you over,” Andras yelled, above the screaming, the gunshots, the sound of the cannon. “You good?”

“I’m good,” Cassian promised, even though he wasn’t sure it was the truth. He was certain that he was running off adrenaline. There was a bullet in him, after all.

Bullet and all, he raised his gun and looked toward the hillside.

He could see the enemy, dressed in black. They looked like ants, being so far away, but Cassian took his aim, nonetheless. 

He aimed.

He fired.

He repeated the process.

The others near him did the same.

The battle was in full force.

Gunshots echoed and the men around Cassian went down. It was no use, really. The enemy was stronger, and far more confident. 

“Fuck,” Cassian muttered when he ran out of bullets. As he was reloading, a scream echoed from beside him, and Cassian looked down. “Andras? Andras!” He fell to his knees and took the soldier’s face into his hands. “Hey. Hey! Stay with me.” A crimson stain appeared on his uniform, just over his chest. 

The man coughed, blood spraying his chin and Cassian knew death lingered around them.

Granted, it was a constant shadow over all of Prythian.

He watched the light leave the man’s usually bright, laughing eyes, watched as they dimmed and stared unseeing to the canopy of trees above.

He didn’t have time for sadness, didn’t have time for grief. He picked up Andras’s gun, slinging it over his shoulder and grabbed his ammunition.

“We’ve got to move,” Cassian called back to the soldiers around him. “Deeper into the trees and head south. Try to get to the Autumn border.”

He held rank above the men, but not by much. Enough that they listened to his orders and did as they were told.

If they could just get to Autumn, they’d be back in friendly territory. He dared a look back as they retreated.

The number of bodies left bleeding in the snow made him sick to his stomach. How many men were still breathing and how many had passed on into the darkness?

A blanket of white, splattered with red. 

Cassian tried not to panic, but they were outnumbered. “Move!” he yelled, but with every second that passed, another body fell. He pushed down that panic, and moved forward.

He had only taken a few steps before a searing pain hit his back, just below his shoulder. Cassian landed facedown in the snow, and this time, he was unable to move. 

A burning sensation began to spread, and that panic that he had pushed down began to resurface. 

He heard someone yell for him, heard someone call his name, but it sounded far away, too far away. Someone was holding him, but Cassian felt nothing, nothing but that burning in his back. Darkness clouded his vision, and as much as he told his feet to keep moving, as much as he told himself to get back up and keep going, he couldn’t move. 

Time moved slowly. 

Cassian felt like this is what it was like to die.

And, surprisingly, once that panic began to fade, he was no longer afraid.

An explosion sounded nearby, and Cassian’s body was thrown.

In the snow, in the heart of the Winter Court, the darkness took over, and Cassian was gone.

*

There had been an ambush.

That was all that they were told as bloodied and battered men were hauled into the med camp just over the Autumn border.

Nesta Archeron’s eyes were wide as she took in some of the injuries.

Blood. There was so much blood.

She’d had to tend to a few of the men as they passed through, but most of the fighting had been deeper into the territory. She hadn’t seen the violence of all out bloodshed.

The screaming of a man whose arm was hanging in tattered ribbons broke her from the haze she’d settled in. She looked around the tent at the dozens of men and wondered if the other nurses tents were filling as quickly as hers.

“Madja,” she breathed, surprised to find her voice gravely. “Who should I—?”

“Anyone,” the head nurse snapped, pressing a wad of bandages to a wound in a man’s chest. “Just pick one.”

She nodded and tied her hair back, hurrying across the tent.

The bloody man was unconscious, covered in burns and mud, but the young soldier who brought him in still stood beside him. She asked, “What are his injuries?”

The young man was a stammering mess. “He— He took at least two shots to the ba-back, one to the arm.” She was about to reach for him, to turn him over and inspect his back but he added, “And then we tripped a land mine on the trek over.” Nesta went still. “He wasn’t in the direct path of the explosion but he was in the radius. I think— I think he was thrown, but I’m not sure. I helped carry him in after that.”

Nesta only hesitated for a moment before nodding, tight lipped. “Thank you. Help me turn him over.”

The young soldier nodded, helping Nesta flip him onto his stomach. She could see where he had been shot. Crimson stains coated his uniform. Without another word, Nesta began to cut the fabric.

First things first: remove the bullets.

Nesta cleansed his wounds, then went to work. They had very limited surgical equipment, but Nesta had gotten used to using what they had since she arrived in the recent weeks. The young soldier remained as Nesta removed the bullets from her patient’s back and arm, and once that was complete, she checked his vitals.

His pulse was steady enough, although it was slower than it should have been. He had a fever, most likely due to infection of the bullet wounds. Considering he was out, there was no way to check for any sort of head injury, but if he had been thrown due to an explosion, Nesta had no doubt that he did.

She could only hope that he would wake up soon so that she could examine him further.

“What’s his name?” Nesta asked the young soldier that continued to stand by his bedside.

“Corporal Cassian Nazari, ma’am,” he answered. 

Nesta nodded. “Thank you.” She wrote his name on the sheet of paper on the clipboard hanging from his bed. 

“Should I— What should I do?” He asked, swallowing hard. “Do I help or—?”

She looked at him, nearly shaking in the medical tent. “What’s your name?”

“Isaac, ma’am. Private Isaac Hale,” he replied, and it was the first thing he’d said that he sounded confident in.

“Do you have any medical training, Private Hale?” She asked, firmly, but not unkindly.

“No, ma’am,” he admitted.

She nodded. “Then go be with your men. Your presence is appreciated, but we need the space to work.”

He accepted the dismissal, nodding, and hurried out of the tent.

Nesta looked back down at her patient and reached for one of the damp rags. She needed to get him cleaned up so she could fully assess his injuries. He was still out cold, so she whispered, “Sorry, Corporal Nazari, but this is probably going to hurt.”

After re-drenching the rag in alcohol, Nesta was cleaning the gunshot wounds, carefully but quickly. At one point, Corporal Nazari stirred, which she assumed was due to the horrid stinging of the alcohol against an open wound, but Nesta took it as a good sign.

He was responsive.

He was alive. 

Once his wounds were cleaned, she flipped him back onto his back and checked his pulse, once again.

Slow, but steady. 

She had stitched and bandaged him up, so the blood loss had been minimized. Nesta made a note to check on him in half an hour and wiped her hands on her apron, continuing on.

Cassian Nazari was not the only soldier that had gotten caught in an explosion. In fact, there were men far worse off than him. Madja was assisting a man who had his leg nearly blown off, and although Nesta had a tolerance for such things, she looked away.

War on the frontlines was not easy.

But being a nurse, seeing what the frontlines did to soldiers, was not easy, either.

It was nearly two hours later, the sun beginning to set and lamps being lit inside the med tent, before Nesta made her way back to check on the corporal. One of her fellow nurses had cleaned him off as much as they could and underneath all the mud and gore, she found that his face, despite being battered and burnt and bruised, was…handsome. Ignoring that handsome face, she gave him a full once over, finding burns on his entire left side, four cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a broken bone in his forearm. He was also probably concussed, but until he woke up, that couldn’t be confirmed.

Not the worst injuries he could have gotten by far, but the number of them would keep him down for a while. He was lucky he hadn’t been closer to the blast when the mine had gone off.

Quickly, but efficiently, she set the bones in his arm, and popped his shoulder back into place, before wrapping his arm and slinging it around his neck.

The injury to his back worried her. One of those bullets had been very close and she wasn’t sure if any damage had been done to his spine. Again, they’d have to wait until he was awake to see just how bad it was, but until then, she elected to check for response in one of the few ways she knew how.

Carefully tugging off one of his boots, she ran a finger along the inside of his foot, tickling gently. His knee jerked slightly and she breathed a sigh of relief at the quick response and movement.

A raspy voice whispered, “That’s the strangest version of foreplay I’ve ever seen, but I’m open to trying anything once.”

Nesta’s eyes were immediately on his face and one of his was barely cracked open and trained on her. The other was swollen shut.

She hurried to the head of the small bed he laid in. “Corporal Nazari, how are you feeling?”

“Who are you?” He asked, and even though his voice was quiet, it sounded like the man had been gargling gravel.

“Nesta Archeron, sir,” she breathed. “You’re in the med camp of the twenty-sixth legion.”

His eye fell shut again and he rasped, “Autumn?”

She nodded, but then voiced her words. “Yes. There was an ambush—.” She paused, realizing she didn’t have much information for him. He had been there. He probably knew better than she did. 

He sighed, grimly. “How many of us were brought in?”

Nesta looked around. Nearly all of the beds were full. “About twenty of you so far. Your men are still scoping the valley now that the ambush has cleared.” 

He stayed quiet for a moment. “Casualties?”

Nesta cleared her throat. “I’ve yet to hear an update.”

His eyes remained shut as he said, “Okay. Thank you.” 

“Can I get you anything?” she asked.

“How long until I’m on my feet again?” he asked, in answer.

Nesta looked over his body, wondering if he’d make another snide, inappropriate remark. “Now that you’re awake, I’d like to examine you further.”

Cassian nodded, and tried to sit himself up, but hissed the moment his palms hit the cot, and he put pressure on them. 

“Your ulna is broken, don’t put pressure on it,” she explained. He probably hadn’t even noticed that it was wrapped, considering his eyes could hardly open and he hadn’t really taken a moment to take in his surroundings. She assumed that the entirety of his body hurt. “You also have four cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and some severe third degree burns. The bullet wounds have been cleansed, but…” 

Cassian looked at her. “But?” 

“A bullet just missed your spine.”

“Okay,” he said, slowly. “And that means?”

“That means that I need to see how your body has reacted,” she said, simply, and helped him into a sitting position. At this point, she had learned to ignore the horrid smells that came from soldiers. She wondered when the last time he’d been given the luxury to shower. She made a mental note to offer to help clean him up when she was finished with her examination. “First, we’ll check for a concussion.” 

He nodded, slowly.

“Do you have a headache?” she asked.

Cassian looked at her, and blinked. “Seriously? Look at me. Every inch of my body aches.” 

Her lips thinned but she gave him a curt nod. “What about nausea? Dizziness?” She lit a candle and held it up. “Sensitive to light?”

His eyes, already barely open to slits, closed further as he tried to turn away. “Let’s say yes to all of the above.”

She nodded, leaving the candle burning, but setting it down atop the small table beside the infirmary bed. “You’re going to to rest for the remainder of the day, after we get you cleaned up. Tomorrow, we’ll further look at your back, make a plan based on that, and go from there.”

She could tell he wanted to argue, to say they needed to begin treatment now, but his eyes were so weary. They were still glazed.

“I can get you something for the pain,” she offered.

He didn’t answer her, just asked a question of his own. “What’s your name?”

Nesta pursed her lips to suppress her laughter. “You’ve already asked me that, corporal.” 

Cassian looked up at her. “No, I didn’t.”

Nesta didn’t bother to correct him as she subtly shook her head. Concussion, indeed. “My name is Nesta Archeron. I’m a nurse.”

“I’d hope so,” he grumbled. “If you’re not a nurse, I’m afraid for my health.”

“Rest assured, I’m a nurse,” she promised. “I’ve got the certificate to prove it.”

“Were you a nurse before the war?” Cassian asked.

A lot of nurses were volunteers, with very limited training. They were tossed into battle with as little experience as the soldiers.

“I was in school for it,” she answered, simply. “Only in my second year.”

“And you stopped going to school?” He pushed. “To come here?”

“You ask a lot of questions, Corporal.”

She was ringing out the rag in a warm-ish bowl of water on the table when he spoke.

“Just trying to figure out why someone as beautiful as an angel would be willing to be dropped into pure hell with people like us.”

Nesta froze from where she’d been about to wipe down his neck and shoulder. She didn’t look at his face as she began to carefully clean the bits of burned skin. “I’m just trying to do my duty. To protect my village, and to keep my sisters from getting it into their heads that they need to join the war.”

“You must be the oldest,” he replied, hissing as she cleaned out a wound.

“I am. One of my sisters is twenty-one and the other just turned eighteen.”

“My brothers are somewhere on a battlefield.” His words were quiet, eyes distant, even as they didn’t look at her. “But I have no clue where.”

She needed to stop talking, needed to stop telling this soldier about herself and her family. He was just as likely to heal under her care and go back out and get blown up as he was to die from infection in these festering camps. “I’ll be right back, corporal.”

She tossed the rag back into the bowl, the blood staining the water pink and hurried to the large cabinet where the medications were stored. She poured water into a mug from one of the clean pitchers and mixed in a healthy dose of the powder indicated for pain relief. Carrying it back to his bed, she helped him prop up slightly. “Drink this, please.”

He did as he was told and she watched as the powder took hold.

“Trying to knock me out so I stop asking questions?” He asked, as he drank from the glass.

“Just trying to ease the pain,” she answered, simply, and helped him lay back down.

Putting that wet cloth back in the bowl, she dabbed it on Cassian’s brow, cleaning off the dried blood.

“It will do you well to get some sleep,” Nesta said. “When you wake up, I’ll get you something to eat. A new shipment should arrive soon from our neighboring camp.” 

In response, Cassian’s stomach rumbled and he was grateful for the news. “Can I ask you just one more question?”

Nesta hesitated, but nodded as she continued to wipe off the blood.

“Will you always be the one tending to me?” He asked, with a yawn.

Nesta took the emptied glass from him and said, “We are a team here, but you are in my section. We typically divide to stay organized, unless there is an emergency we will work together to save the life, to do what we can. As for rotational check ups, I will most likely be your primary caregiver, yes.”

She looked down at him and his eyes were closed, his breathing even. She shook her head, already being able to tell this corporal was a handful. 

After dropping the rag in the bowl, she began to walk away, but before she could go she heard him say, “Good.” 

[scarlct-vvitch]

angat prompt: "you're bleeding." - superbat 👀

The idea Bruce had proposed to Clark had been pretty simple: camp out on the highest stack of shipping crates they can find (or on top of the crane used to move them, if needed), wait until the targets showed up to make their trade (maybe twenty-five of them), and take them out. Gotham doesn’t need any more weapons.

It was supposed to be simple. It was supposed to be guns in the crates, with bullets that would bounce right off of Superman’s invulnerable chest. It was supposed to be no trouble for Metropolis’ favorite hero.

The crates weren’t supposed to be full of kryptonite.

The crates were full of kryptonite.

Bruce realizes it too late; he had sent the signal for Clark to fly down the second the crate was unlocked, hadn’t seen the eerie green glow until half a second too late.

He watches as Clark realizes, freezes, tries to fly the other direction, but it’s too late. Bruce watches as he falters mid-air before he crashes to the ground and struggles back up to his knees as the smugglers realize they’re not alone. Bruce tries to will gravity to move faster as he leaps down.

It’s chaos from the second his feet hit the concrete.

He takes down the first goon he reaches by grabbing the back of his head and slamming it into his armored knee; the man crumples. From there, it’s more shouting, more movement as the goons can’t decide if they want to scatter or fight. 

In the end, only about six or seven leave, which leaves Bruce with nearly twenty to deal with largely by himself. He risks a glance at Clark as he ducks under a punch. Clark’s on his feet, but barely, and three of the goons surround him with guns.

“Get the shit from the crate!” one of them shouts.

Bruce swears and lands his next punch hard, send the guy flat on his back. He turns to try and make his way to Clark, but five more block his path, all pointing weapons at him.

Bruce takes a moment, steadies himself. He will get to Clark before it’s too late--there is no other option.

He breathes, flexes his fingers, and dives in.

The first shot, he dodges easily, feigning left and knocking the gun out of the guy’s grip and sending it clattering to the floor before he punches him in the throat. He ducks under the next and sends out a kick to sweep his attacker’s legs out from under him. Two down.

He sends a batarang whistling through the air at the next, hearing it make a wet sound as it sticks in his bicep. The fourth he crowds, giving a quick one-two into his gut before he finishes him off with a blow to the nose. He turns to face the last when he hears Clark make a pained noise behind him.

Bruce whirls to see Clark doing his best to fend off the woman wielding an unnaturally green dagger. But hand-to-hand isn’t Clark’s strong suit, and he knows it; he’s the cannonball to Bruce’s sniper shot.

Bruce whirls just in time to see the woman dodge his punch and send the knife straight into his ribs.

Clark’s face twists in pain--dully, Bruce wonders if he’s ever been stabbed before--and he uses the little strength he has left to slam his arm into hers, and Bruce sees the bone snap before she screams.

Bruce’s world narrows until all he can see is Clark, crumpling to the ground, pressing his hand over the wound as best he can.

In an act of desperation, he grabs every smoke bomb, flash grenade, every distracting thing he has on his belt, and sets them off all at once. The air fills with smoke and light, and Bruce runs straight through it as the goons try and cover their eyes. He gets to Clark, scrapes him off the ground as best he can, and makes a run for it.

Clark grunts in his arms but manages to try and hold onto him. There’s shouting behind them as the smoke starts to clear. Bruce runs faster, just barely makes it out of sight before they get their vision back.

He crouches behind a crate and slaps a hand over Clark’s mouth to keep him quiet. He keeps them pressed into the shadows as best he can. He’s almost certain they’re going to be caught.

By some miracle, a minute passes. Two.

They must have decided the shipment was worth more than Superman’s head.

Bruce lets himself breathe a bit, turns so he can get a better look at Clark, who’s gone pale. It makes Bruce’s blood run cold. He gently peels Clark’s hand away from the wound.

“You’re bleeding,” Bruce says dumbly. As if they didn’t know.

“Really?” Clark retorts, but his voice is thin.

“Shut up,” Bruce snaps. “How do I help you?”

Clark tries to shift positions and winces. “Not much we can do. It’s dark out.”

“What are you, a plant?” Bruce quips. He yanks a piece of gauze out of his belt and starts pressing it into the wound. Clark winces, again.

“Maybe,” Clark says. He watches as Bruce briefly pulls out his phone and presses his panic button, the one that tells Alfred to send someone to him, fast. 

They’re both quiet for a moment, Bruce trying to assess their next move and Clark trying to not bleed out. Bruce breaks it with a sigh.

“I’m sorry. I should have waited before I sent you in.”

Clark makes a sad attempt at a shrug. “’s fine. I’ll live. Probably.”

“You’ll live, Clark,” Bruce says firmly. “It’s not fine. I should have--I should have known better.”

“It’s okay, Br--Batman,” Clark corrects, because even when he’s dying, he refuses to say his name on a mission, even if Bruce just did it to him.

“I should have waited. There’s no excuse for--Clark? Clark,” Bruce says, because Clark’s eyes have started to flutter closed. Bruce shakes him, not caring if it hurts. “Clark.”

Clark struggles to stay awake. “Shit, sorry,” he says, words slurring a bit.

“Stay awake,” Bruce says, because he can’t lose Clark, he won’t lose Clark. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Yeah, sure,” Clark says loftily. His eyes are closing again.

“No,” Bruce says desperately. “No, Clark, Clark--you have to stay awake.”

He presses harder on the gauze, hopes with every inch of his being that someone can show up and save him. Save Clark.

Clark’s eyes are closing. He needs to keep Clark awake with something. Anything. 

“Clark, please,” he tries. Nothing. “Clark, wake up.”

Nothing. Bruce is going to lose him.

If he is going to lose someone else, it is not going to be until he has done everything he possibly can to save them.

In one final act of desperation, Bruce hooks his fingers into Clark’s costume and hauls him up, smashing their lips together.

He feels Clark jolt beneath him, feels him being yanked back to consciousness. He puts everything he has into the kiss, willing Clark to stay alive with teeth and tongue. It’s messy and tastes vaguely of gunpowder and blood.

The kiss ends after who-knows-how-long, tilting his forehead against Clark’s. “You’re not allowed to die, Clark.”

He hears clanking behind him, something crashing into metal. He turns just in time to see Diana land next to him so hard the concrete cracks. The breath he lets out is so full of relief he almost passes out.

She moves immediately to Clark, scooping him up from under Bruce. She takes a flying leap and they’re gone, off somewhere sunny, Bruce is sure. He glances down at his bloody hands.

Clark is going to be okay. Clark is going to be okay. He’s alive. He will continue to do so. It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay.

He’s definitely going to ask him about the kiss, Bruce realizes.

Maybe not completely okay, then. But Bruce will take it.

[goldenslumbersfanfiction]

i’m not sure if you want to keep going back to the little green verse but would you consider doing a one shot of dani, jamie, and luna visiting karen? i absolutely adore their dynamic in that verse and always go back to that fic :)

Read it here on AO3

It’s the summer after Luna turns five years old, and your mother invites you to Iowa. She had moved to a new house in an over 55 community at the beginning of the year, and she just finished redecorating. She has a guest room and a pull out couch, and she tells you that she’d love to have you visit. 

You delay as much as you can, because even though your relationship with her had honestly become something unrecognizable in it’s goodness over the last several years, you have not been back to Iowa since you returned to sell your house and all your things as quickly as you could. You delay until you can’t anymore, until Karen gets Luna on the phone one day and is chatting away with her and your daughter comes running into your room to tell you that grandma invited you all to visit, and that she has a swimming pool, and Luna will not shut up about it for weeks, and now you’re a bad mother if you hold her hostage from the promised fun it.

So you book your tickets, and you push down that feeling of unease about it, because Luna keeps zooming around your living room with her arms stretched wide like an airplane, and you'll probably have a good time. It’s only five days, but it’ll still be the longest stretch of time you’ll have spent with your mother in years, and Jamie will be there beside you the whole time, and she’s always been steady for you. And, you always did love to swim.

Jamie has strangely won Karen’s affection over time, and you only really know this because your mother had stopped making those high pitched humming noises like she’s judging you for your relationship when you would give updates on her over the phone, and more and more over the last five years whenever she calls and Jamie answers, she keeps her on the line for a while before asking for you. 

But even though you have Jamie’s hand in yours now, or maybe precisely because you have Jamie’s hand in yours, it’s strange to be back. 

Your mom picks you up from the airport, and on the car ride to her house Luna will not stop asking you questions about everything she’s seeing outside the window in the back with Jamie, and it’s so lovely, to hear the low hum of Jamie’s laugh mingled with yours when Luna shouts when she’s horses in a field that you pass and tries to count them as best as she can (accidentally skipping eleven, which you correct) before the car zooms away.

You pass your high school that still looks exactly the same, you drive along the road where you failed your drivers test on the first try, you pass the church you used to go to when you were little before your mom decided it wasn’t for you guys anymore, and there isn’t a single ounce of nostalgia in you for any of this. If anything, there’s just a vague resentment, a small creeping under your skin like the very atoms of you recognize that you do not belong. 

But Jamie is here with you, and your little girl is rattling off colors she sees and is telling your mother about how she met the pilot of the airplane, and honestly, you don’t care that you don’t belong here, because you belong with them, and that’s what matters.

//

Your mother’s house is wonderful. 

You don’t realize, until you’re unpacked and the stress of travel has left your system, until you see how much more relaxed in this place your mother is, that maybe you and her really did understand each other more than you ever even knew. 

You never really thought about her being unhappy in a space she forced herself to be in, in a life she thought she should have wanted, until she flicks the radio on and you see her walking around her kitchen and cutting up some apple slices for Luna, who she’s lifted up to sit on the counter beside her.

You never thought of it this way, that maybe your mother was just stuck, too. Maybe when you left, she only tried to drag you back as much as she could because she never considered what unhappiness actually felt like, couldn’t understand how you were able to identify it and refuse it, never considered she was living with it laced in everything she did all this time.

You don’t see it at all, here. You just see her tapping hand along to a tune, her jewelry clinking against the granite countertop, and you think of the joy and the freedom you felt when you finally settled into your first apartment with Jamie. How you finally felt like four walls with a lock and a key were created to keep you safe, not keep you trapped. 

You never considered this about your mother, but now, as she sings along in her terrible voice to the radio, and puts the cutting board into the sink, you think that everyone deserves to feel like they are the beating heart of a home.

//

It’s not that you aren’t having a good time, because you are. You are enjoying yourself, and you aren’t trying to convince yourself of that, it’s actually the truth. You are happy, you are so in love with Jamie, and Luna has never swam so much in her life. Your mother has been great, and you haven’t argued over a single thing since you arrived, haven’t even felt any hostile energy from her. Only openness. Only love.

She’s in the pool with Luna right now, and you’re sitting on a towel you have stretched out on the edge of the water, your feet dipping in just a bit, and you were surprised how readily and enthusiastically your mother said yes earlier when Luna asked if she could go in the pool with her. 

You’re kind of in a trance, as you watch this simple scene before you. Your daughter, swimming with all of the effort and coordination of a little girl with one year of YMCA swim lessons under her belt, kicking her feet absolutely everywhere, her eyes bugged out and foggy behind her little goggles that look like fish. Your mother, laughing and encouraging, telling her she’s doing such a great job, as she keeps walking farther back in the pool to test just how much more Luna can swim to her on her own, her arms outstretched and open for her. Luna, eventually grabbing hold of her as she flails and splashes in the water.

Luna screams over to you, pure elation and pride in her voice as she’s held on your mothers hip in the water, her goggles now hanging around her neck, and asks if you saw how far she swam, and you tell her you did, you saw it all, that she’s such a good swimmer, and your mother is pushing wet strands of hair from her face, is holding her close.

“Come in the pool, mommy!”

“Yeah, come in the pool, mommy.” 

You turn your head when you hear Jamie’s voice, and she’s gotten her bathing suit on and she’s smiling at you so big, she tosses her sunglasses onto your lap, but she pauses a bit.

“You alright?”

You hadn’t considered you weren’t actually, but you suppose you are, because you’re having a good time, so you smile and nod, and it seems to be good enough for Jamie, because she grins and then without warning, runs and cannonballs into the water and it splashes you and Luna is cheering and swimming over to her. Jamie lifts her up high and throws her back into the water, and it’s so fun, and it’s so good, and so pure, and there is so much simple love here, right now. You can see it all in front of you, so why do you feel like you are apart from it?

You thought you were alright, you wanted to be, but until Jamie asked you, you hadn't considered that you aren’t. And you see your mother swimming under water and grabbing at Luna’s feet. You see the pile of pool toys she took Luna to buy at Toys R Us yesterday, you see her putting Luna on her shoulders, and teaching her how to float on her back in the water, and suddenly, you can not get a full breath into your lungs.

You feel like there is static crawling up your neck, and you feel lightheaded, and you’re standing up and going back into the house because maybe if it’s quieter, maybe if you get out of the sun, maybe if you just have a glass of ice water or lock yourself in your room, the darkness and stillness will calm you down.

But the more you take in shaking breaths, the farther you feel from sanity, the farther you feel from stability, and you close the door to the guest room behind you and prop your back up against the hard, cold wood, and you will yourself to calm down. You close your stinging eyes, breathe, in and out, and you try to get your body under control, but all you can hear is buzzing in your ears and you gasping for breath because it’s never enough air, you can’t get nearly enough inside of you, all you can feel is pressure building under your skin, and when you exhale, you are sobbing. 

You clasp your hand over your mouth, close your eyes, because you feel so loud, you feel too much, like you are screaming, like you are an earthquake, but you can still hear your mother, and Luna and her delightful laugh just outside, so you must just be invisible. 

There’s a gentle knock on the door, a shake of the handle, and you hear Jamie say it’s her, so you unlock it and step away as she opens it. She comes inside, a towel pulled around her shoulders, her hair still a bit drippy, her brows pulled together as she shuts the door behind her.

You hear her say, “Hey, hey, it’s okay,” over your shaking sobs and desperate breaths, and her hand is wiping away tears from your cheeks you hadn’t even known were falling. “What’s going on? What happened?”

You cross your arms, like if you just hold your muscles tight enough, everything will stop feeling like it’s caving in on you, and you don’t know what’s going on, you don’t know, you don’t know…

“I don't know. I was just...I was just sitting there and I…I don’t know why I’m like this, god, why am I like this?” You still can’t stop crying, you still feel like you can not breathe.

“Okay, come here.” Jamie pulls you in so tight, and you wrap your arms around her back and hold on to her, because she is the only thing that is real, she is the only thing that is solid and steady and her skin is cool from the water and salty with your tears and she’s telling you to breathe in time with her while she holds you, so you try as best as you can. You focus on her, on the press of her against you, on the chlorine scent on her skin, on her hands on your back keeping you tethered while the rest of your reality swirls and thrashes around in your skull. 

It takes a few minutes, but you get a few deep breaths in and your head feels less like it’s a hurricane of static electricity, more heavy and cloudy and tired, but Jamie is still holding you.

She pulls back slightly, wipes the tears from your cheeks again, even though you haven’t really stopped crying. “You alright?” 

You nod, even though you aren’t really, but you feel like you’re through the worst of it. 

“You want to tell me what happened?”

You don’t reply right away, you’re still sort of in a daze, but you step back from her and go to sit on the edge of your bed, and you shrug, because you still really aren’t sure what happened, all you know is...

“She’s just...she’s so good with her, you know?” Fresh tears tumble down your face and you wipe them away. Jamie just nods. You let out another sob, a wet, sad thing, and your voice is so small when you ask, “Why didn’t I get that?”

“Oh, love.” She’s beside you now, her towel safely under her as she sits down on the comforter, and she pulls you in again, and when you sink into her this time it’s less about a swirling storm around you, it’s more about leaning on her because you feel heavy and worn down and Jamie has always been a safe place to land. Jamie has always kept you afloat. 

You cry into the crook of her neck, and her hands are gentle against your back. She whispers things into your hair that you don’t quite catch, but you don’t really think it matters so much, the exact words that she’s saying. You feel it all the same. It’s soothing, and it calms you, and you aren’t crying anymore, but you still feel wrung.

“Look, I know it’s...corny, or whatever. But...people change. Christ, if you met me even two years before you did, I’d have been the last person you’d volunteer to raise a kid with, let alone hitch your life to, I can promise you that.”

A burst of laughter escapes you, and you press a kiss into the patch of skin closest to your lips, because Jamie has always been this for you, and every time you think you can’t love her more for it, she gives you another reason to.

“And I’m not saying that takes away the bad things, you know? Not saying you shouldn’t demand peace from it. But...the woman she is now wouldn’t do that to you, if she could make those choices again. Problem with time, really, what’s done is done. For better or worse.”

You nod. And Jamie tells you that you should talk to Karen about it, if you want to. Not on this trip maybe, but at some point. 

You think you won’t, you think that’s a bad idea, that she would be reactive and make you second guess everything. That all may be true, but after you take a nap, after you spend the rest of the day in the pool, and go grocery shopping with her, after you cook dinner together and she passes you a bowl of popcorn when you all settle down to watch a movie together, you think it might not be such a bad idea. And you aren’t really worried she will stop speaking to you anymore. You aren't worried she will be cruel to you in the way that she was when you were a teenager. You think, maybe, she might actually try to help you get the answers you don’t have. You think if you ever did tell her, she might feel upset by it all, but not from defensiveness, but because you are in pain, and she didn’t know.

It’s not a conversation for now, and that’s okay. You learn that even though you are still, always, healing, that you can still enjoy her, that you can still love her fully, that you can sit beside her and watch the VHS tape of Matilda that Luna snuck into her suitcase that you found when you unpacked her clothes, and it can still all be good.

//

You and Jamie have taken the guest room, and Luna has been sleeping on the pullout couch. She’s still so small that she doesn’t even really need to use the pullout, could just sleep right on the couch cushions, but she has a lot of fun setting up the bed every night, so you don’t mind. Jamie lets her think that she’s so strong that she pulls it out all on her own, but really Jamie’s got her hand along the side of it helping her along, and the way Jamie’s muscles strain and pop when she does this as you watch from off to the side definitely doesn’t hurt.

You help get the blankets and pillows set up for her, and usually she’s out pretty quickly. It’s the same tonight. A full day of fun in the pool and dinner in town means she’ll be sleeping soundly through the night.

But it’s around midnight when you hear her start crying. You are still up, Jamie slipping into sleep beside you, and you still have the TV on a low hum in the background, but you hear her, you always can. 

Before you can even make your way out of bed, though, she’s knocking on your door, and you open it to find her, holding her stuffed whale and her blanket, tears streaming down her face, her little lip trembling, and absolutely distraught. 

You get on your knees so you’re level with her, and you pull her in and she fits right there in you. Between hiccuping sobs, you manage to get that she had a nightmare, and she’s scared, and she wants to sleep with you tonight. Jamie is awake now and sitting up in bed behind you now, pulling down the covers so Luna can settle in between you.

You keep the TV on, because you know when Luna is like this it doesn’t help her to plunge her back into complete darkness, even if you are beside her.

She woke your mother up, though. You can tell because the crack under your door brightens when the hall light turns on and you can see her footsteps shuffling past your door, and you don’t expect her to knock, thought maybe she was just taking the awoken opportunity to use the bathroom, but a few minutes later, she does. 

The door creaks open, and she sticks her head in, and asks if everything is okay in a whisper. You nod, tell her she can go back to sleep, but she pushes the door open just a little bit further, and you see she’s carrying a small mug in her hand.

“Wasn’t sure if you did this with her, but...always worked for you.”

You sit up and take the warm cup into your hands, it’s light and soothing aroma sending you back into a collection of memories of your mother you had completely forgotten about. 

“What’s this?” Jamie’s voice grumbles beside you.

“Whenever Dani had a nightmare or couldn’t sleep, this always helped. Warm milk with some honey.”

“I forgot about this.”

“You were always such a nervous kid. Had me going through an extra gallon of milk a week just to get you to sleep through the night.”

“Yeah, I...thank you.”

She nods, her hand brushing your shoulder and she presses a light kiss to your head, wishes you goodnight, and then she’s gone, closing the door softly behind her and switching off the hall light.

Luna drinks the milk, and you can feel her nerves smoothing over, the heavy limbed lull of sleep creeping back into her little body.

She settles in between you and Jamie, and you turn off the TV, and she asks you if you can tickle her back, and that always helps to soothe her. You run your hand along the sun-warmed skin under her favorite Princess Jasmine nightgown and you feel her breath even and deep under your palm as she drifts into a peaceful sleep, safe and snug between the two of you.

Jamie’s hand reaches for yours after you pull Luna’s nightgown back down over her body, and she holds it close to her. Your eyes are adjusted to the dark just enough to see her sleepy expression, to see how beautiful she looks when she’s looking at you in moments like this. These soft, quiet, in-between moments that you love so much. 

You fall asleep like this, with your arm draped over Luna, with your hand safely threaded through Jamie’s and pressed against her chest, the three of you the beating heart of your own little home.

[annab-nana]

House Party - Colby Brock

To celebrate the Trap House 2.0, the boys throw a pool party with all of their friends. Kat brings her friend, y/n, and Colby can’t seem to keep his eyes off her.

@sncnetwork project with: @lonely-xplr @sunnynsoft @reddesertcolbs @goddess-of-time-and-magic @xolbyz @reinad-snc @mariadotcom @cartiercolby @colbylover99

Warnings: some curse words

Word Count: 2.4k+

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

“Can you help tie me?” I ask Kat as I hold the blue strings together behind my neck for her to grab. She nods before gripping onto the bikini top strings and tying them together. Once she is done, I step back to look at myself in the mirror as she sneaks a peek as well.

“Dude, blue is your color. It looks so good on you,” Katrina tells me as her eyes watch me through the mirror in front us. I roll my eyes and a chuckle escapes my lips.

“Says the literal queen of blue,” I say, pointing up at her blue locks. The girl literally has blue hair and rocks it on the daily, then has the audacity to say that it is my color. Um, no Kat, it’s yours.

“Well then you ought to believe me, considering it’s coming from the queen,” She tries to speak in a royal sounding accent and waves her hand in the air, showing me her queen wave. She stops for a second before we look at each other and bust out laughing.

“Okay your majesty, we need to hurry up getting ready for this party you’re dragging me to,” I inform her as I pull up my black shorts before running to her closet to steal a shirt from her. After searching for a little bit, I decide to where her white shirt that says, “I think she wants to be me” and tie it in a knot in the front.

“What do we think?” I ask Kat as I turn around and show her the fit. She turns around, still blending her eyeshadow, and smiles.

“Beautiful as always. Are you wearing your white vans? Those would be cute with that outfit,” She tells me as she turns back around, concentrating on blending.

“Katrina, when do I not wear my white vans?” I scoff as I slip them on.

“Oh, I know. They are barely even white anymore,” She jokes, moving on from eyeshadow to mascara.

“Hey, I will have you know that I cleaned them just for this party that you have been talking about all week long.” She rolls her own eyes at me before continuing on her makeup. I plop down onto her bed and watch her as she perfects her already gorgeous face with a little bit of highlighter and then completes her look with a touch of lipstick.

“I thought you said this was a pool party so why are you putting on makeup? I mean I have on waterproof liner and mascara and a little bit of lip gloss, but this will stay on in the water for the most part,” I tell her as she goes to her drawer to pick out the perfect bathing suit.

“Well, I don’t plan on actually swimming, like diving my head underwater and stuff. I’m just going to keep my head above the water because I didn’t do all this for it to wash away,” She says as she gestures towards her face. I chuckle at her before speaking again.

“But didn’t you say Sam is roommates with a bunch of goofballs? You’re definitely going to get splashed or something,” I inform her, and she shakes her head before pulling out a bathing suit and putting it on. She slips on some clothes to go over it and grabs her keys.

“Ready to go?” She looks at me. I stand up, sliding my phone into my back pocket, and nod before walking behind her to her car. After a car ride full of loud singing and cringy dance moves, we pull up to Sam’s new house.

“Woah,” I say as my eyes gander upon the huge house. With all the palm trees and the beachy vibe the place gives off, no wonder Sam keeps saying he’s “moving to Hawaii”.

“Wait til we get to the back. It is so pretty back there,” Kat tells me as she puts her car in park. There are a good amount of cars here, but not too many. We get out of the car and I follow Kat through the house and out to the back.

“Kat!” a small brunette girl with two blonde streaks in her hair yells as she runs up to Katrina. The two embrace before Kat steps back and pulls me in front of her.

“Tara, this is my friend, y/n.” Tara turns to smile at me and grabs my hand before pulling to another group of girls. Kat follows behind us with a huge grin on her face. I just roll my eyes and let the little woman pull me to wherever she desires.

“Guys, this is Kat’s friend, y/n. Y/n, this is Devyn, Cassie, and Xepher,” the small girl says as she gestures towards each girl as she says their name. They each give me a wave and say hi.

“Well y/n, we were about to hop in the pool if you want to join us,” Cassie suggests, and I smile and nod at her.

“We are going to go put our clothes in Sam’s room and then we will be right out with you girls, okay?” Kat spoke as the girls nod their heads and walk towards the tropical looking pool. Their whole backyard looks like a straight paradise. I follow Katrina back into the house as she takes me to a room.

“This is Sam’s room by the way,” Kat informs me before stripping off her clothes and setting them down on the bed. I do the same, folding my shorts and Kat’s shirt and placing them at the end of Sam’s bed. Kat flips her head over, throwing her hair up into a cute messy bun.

“I will never understand how you do that so effortlessly,” I say as she finishes doing her hair by pulling out little hairs to frame her face. She gives me a grin before we leave to go back outside.

“Oh wait, there’s Sam. You have to meet the roommates,” Katrina tells me as I follow her to the group of guys standing near what looks like a tiki hut thing.

“Hey y/n! I’m glad you could make it. I haven’t seen you in a while,” Sam greets me as he pulls me in for a hug. It’s nice to see a familiar face. Besides Kat, he’s the only one here that I know.

“Hey Samuel,” I say softly as I wrap my arms around his torso. I’ve always liked Sam, as friends of course. I love how he treats Kat and he is honestly such a nice guy. We pull away from each other before he introduces me to the guys around him.

“Guys, this is y/n. Y/n, this is Corey, Jake, and Colby,” Sam tells me, gesturing to each of his friends similar to how Tara did earlier when introducing me to her friends. Just as Devyn, Cassie, and Xepher, each of Sam’s buddies gave me a wave accompanied by a smile.

“We are going to head to the pool with the girls, but we will see you guys later,” Kat tells the group and then leads me over to the pool. We walk over to the girls who were sitting on the underwater stools that surrounded the rock table, talking. We join them and talk for a little while.

“I’m going to actually swim for a bit, okay?” I say to Kat as I nudge her to get her attention. She nods at me before joining back into the conversation.

I lean backwards before floating on my back. My ears are underwater so that I can’t hear anything clearly and I shut my eyes, letting the water take me wherever it pleases. Being in that state felt so calming. My eyes flutter open and I gaze up at the night sky, focusing on the tiniest of stars in the darkness above me.

Once more, I shut my eyes and kick my feet lightly to propel myself further, but my head hits something. I open my eyes to see one of the guys that Sam introduced me to earlier, but I can’t remember his name. I go back to standing up and turn around to face him.

“Oh sorry, didn’t see you there,” I awkwardly chuckle. Damn y/n, why do you have to be so weird? I’ve never been the best with new people, so that could be the reason.

“It’s no problem. You are Kat’s friend, right?” He asks me as he flashes a smile. Not gonna lie, this guy is really cute. I nod at him in response to his question before he continues to ask me another one. “How’d you get to know her?”

“Well, we both sing, but our managers linked us up and we’ve done a few songs together. But you know Kat, she’s literally impossible to not fall in love with. We just clicked as friends,” I tell him as he leans against the pool wall.

“Yeah, she’s really cool. I think I have heard some of your songs from her. You’re pretty good.” I blush at the compliment and shake my head.

“I don’t know,” I let out another awkward chuckle before continuing, “Tell me a little about yourself.”

“Well, I’m Colby. I post videos on YouTube with my roommates and I like to-“ His sentence gets cut off by someone behind me. I turn to see one of the roommates standing on top of the rocks on the edge, about to jump in.

“CANNONBALL!” The boy with grayish platinum hair with black tips yells before hopping off the stone wall. I turn into Colby to shield myself from water that splashes in every direction. He wraps his arms around me in reaction to me going towards him. I look up at him into his gorgeous blue eyes that I didn’t notice before. After staring for a little longer than I intended to, I back away from him.

“Sorry,” I whisper before looking over to where Kat was and the sight I saw was quite funny if you ask me. She was covered in water from the enormous splash that the guy made. I can’t help but bust out laughing. I told her earlier that something like this would happen.

“I like your laugh. It’s cute,” I hear Colby say. Again, I feel my cheeks warm from the blush that rises to them.

“Stoooop,” I say as an awkward giggle escapes my lips. He smiles hugely.

“Do you play basketball? We’ve got a hoop over there if you’d like to play,” He informs me as he gestures towards the basketball hoop.

“I’m no good at it, but I’ll go over there with you and maybe try a little if I feel like embarrassing myself even more than I already have.” He chuckles lightly before leading the way to the basketball court after we dry off a bit. He grabs the ball and hands it to me.

“Show me what you got, y/n,” He jokes before standing back, watching my attempt at a shot. I get into a stance and place one hand on the side of it, the other under it. Trying my absolute best, I throw the ball and it hits the rim but comes bouncing back towards Colby.

“See? I told you. I am ass at this,” I sigh in defeat as I turn to face him. He laughs at me before shooting the ball towards the hoop, making it perfectly.

“How do you do that?” I ask, my mouth wide open in amazement. He grabs the ball before walking over to me.

“First, close that pretty little thing before you catch a fly or something,” He says, using his finger to push my chin up and close my mouth.

“Second, would you like me to show you how?” I nod my head and Colby grabs my hand to lead me to where he was previously standing. He hands me the ball before standing in front of me.

“Okay so first we have to hold the ball correctly. This hand goes here…” He trails off, placing my left hand on side of the ball. He then grabs my other hand placing it slightly underneath it.

“Next, we need to fix your arms.” Colby lifts my right elbow and pushes it inward so that it is straight in line with my hand.

“Then, your stance…” He is so focused on making sure this is all correct and it is super cute to watch. He grips my shoulders and pushes me down a little so that my knees bend slightly. He steps back to get a good look at his work and gives me a proud smile before walking behind me, placing his hands back on my shoulders.

“Okay now focus on your target and then shoot by straightening your legs with a jump and use your right hand to push the ball. Don’t forget to follow through with your hand as well,” He says right into my ear before patting my shoulders and backing up. Doing exactly as he said and giving it my all, I push off the ground and use all my strength to push the ball, letting it roll off my fingertips and fly towards the hoop. Surprisingly, the basketball went through the hoop and fell into the net.

“Way to go!” I hear Colby cheer me on as I looked at him wide-eyed.

“That is the first time I have ever made a shot before. Do you know how many times my brother has tried to show me how to do that? Oh my God! I fucking made it. Thanks, Colby!” I shout as the feeling of excitement washes over me and I run over to him to give him a hug. In the moment of it all, I pull away from the embrace just a tad, but our faces are still very much close. A smirk falls upon his face and a smile plays onto my own.

“Want me to show you something else?” He whispers seductively into the small space between us.

“And what would that be?” I ask, returning the same sexual energy he was giving off. I guess making that shot was giving me some newfound confidence and I didn’t mind it.

“Well, it would start with this…” He lets his words fade as the space between us does as well. His lips press against my own, but before we can get any farther, he pulls away from me. A pout replaces what was a smile on my face and he chuckles.

“Get us out of here, Colby, and show me what you were talking about.”

[willow-salix]

Day 2 of Isolation on Tracy Island 2.0 (Fluffember prompt : sky)

Day 2 of Isolation 2.0 on Tracy Island and...well I'll be honest, it's not been too bad yet. Everyone seems a lot more civilised than they were the first time, maybe because it's not as bad globally as it was back in… March was it? What year is this, do I still have my youth or have they sucked it out of me? 

Anyway, yes, they are better behaved than the first time, I guess because the shock's over with and it's been so long in a kind of half limbo that we're pretty used to it now. They spent the night trying to convince me that they had dragged me from my little witch cave for my benefit rather than theirs, they lie. 

Either way, they are slightly less rowdy, according to Jeff, slightly tidier, according to Grandma but still not at all self sufficient, according to John. 

I'd decided that, as I had little choice in the matter, I'd make the best of it. I strolled into the empty lounge, dropped my three bags on the floor, raised my arms and yelled at the top of my voice, "Honey, I'm home!" 

I don't know what I expected, maybe to be greeted enthusiastically, to have various family members run in from all directions, so happy and grateful to see me, I mean, I was pretty open to any display of affection, truth be told. 

But no, not one of them bothered to come and say hello. 

"I might as well go back home," I grumbled to Scott who had finished the post flight checks of One and ambled in after me. "I even brought snacks and I'm being ignored." 

"Snacks?" his hand was in the bag I indicated by kicking it with my toe before I'd even finished speaking. 

"Well, now I know why I was wanted," I sniffed. "Let me guess, food standards have slipped now that you've all eaten through the meals I left in the freezers last time I was here?" 

"That has nothing to do with why we wanted you," he assured me, flopping down on one of the couches with his pilfered bounty bar. He unwrapped the chocolate and bit into it, humming happily. "You always bring the best chocolate with you."

"Well, I don't like that American stuff you get," I dropped down beside him and stole the other half of the bar. 

"There's nothing wrong with American things," he argued. "Quality products from there."

My eyes slid sideways to look at him. "Dude, are you counting yourself as a quality product?" 

"Maybe," he didn't bother denying it. 

There wasn't much I could say to that really so I shifted the conversation. 

"Where are the other idiots?" 

He shrugged. 

"That's helpful, thanks." I sighed, resting my head back against the sofa. It was weird but this time really did feel so different, almost like it had been inevitable, we were just waiting for it to come.

"I'm not doing all the work this time," I warned him, "like, you guys are gonna have to step up, I refuse to be your maid and run around after you all like I did last time. New lockdown, new rules."

"We don't need a maid," he argued. "Is it so hard to believe that we just want you here so we're all together?" 

I shrugged, still feeling a bit like I'd been both blindsided and guilt tripped into it, not to mention feeling rather damp and itchy from the decontamination chamber Brains has forced me into. I told him that I'd been extra careful, that I'd been following the social distancing, yet he hadn't listened and still insisted that I needed to be blasted. 

"Here's the thing," he poked me to make sure I was listening. "Last time you were here to help us get through it. We were all feeling a bit helpless and frustrated and without you here distracting us and bossing us around, things would have been a lot worse. This time is different, this time it would be you stuck at home, we're still able to go out and do our jobs now, even though we're still getting fewer calls than normal and some countries aren't allowing entry, but because of that, as soon as your lockdown came in you would have been alone for a month."

"I think I could have handled that."

"Do you though, do you really?" 

I glanced at him, not detecting the teasing tone I had been expecting. Could I have handled it? So many people were stuck alone, unable to see their loved ones, their friends and family or to even go to work again. All the little things that make life more bearable and they had been taken away again. I like peace and quiet, but I knew he was right, being locked away, on my own for another month, maybe longer, it wouldn't actually be good for me.

"Admit it, you love us, you'd miss us."

"I admit nothing," but he was right, I would. I hadn't really thought about it, I guess that's what everyone is doing, trying not to think about it all too much but, while the thought of having a month at home, in peace and quiet sounded like a dream, I wouldn't actually want it. 

"You're back!" Alan yelled, cannonballing onto the sofa from parts unknown. 

"I guess so," I conceded, trying not to melt when he squished up beside me and stole the chocolate I'd been eating. 

"Do you mind?" I asked, purely because I felt I had to, not for any real need to tell him off. 

"Nope," he grinned, popping the bounty in his mouth. 

"Wait, that's…coconut," I trailed off as he gagged, looking for somewhere to spit it out. I handed him a tissue from my bag and he gratefully emptied his mouth. 

"This is going to be hell, isn't it?" I asked no one in particular. 

"Probably," Scott agreed, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "But at least we'll all be together."

"Joy," I muttered but I did hug him back. 

"Are you going to keep a diary this time, too?" Alan asked, having recovered a bit. 

"I might," I hedged, not telling him that I'd started yesterday. "But I'm not doing it alone this time, you're all going to help me. Deal?" 

"Deal," he agreed. 

Gradually a few more wandered in, mostly to pick through my luggage like the vulture that they are, knowing that this time I had been wise enough to bring the contents of my fridge and half my cupboards with me. 

Gordon yoinked my pringles, Alan took my milkshake, Virgil helped himself to my chocolate chip cookies. 

"Hi," the normally beloved voice said behind me. 

I didn't turn around. "I blame you for the fact that I'm here again, you know that, right?" 

"Yep," John dropped down beside me on the couch, lifting his arm for me to snuggle under. 

"Cuddles will not make up for this betrayal," I warned him, not that it stopped me from taking advantage of it. Any Tracy in a storm and all that, plus this one might be the best, though I am slightly biased. 

"We appreciate your sacrifice," he told me solemnly. "And to show our appreciation, we organised a little something."

"You did?" Did I sound sceptical? I believe I did. 

"We did!" Alan joined in. "We did some research and found that it's traditional to eat baked potatoes and chilli tonight."

"It is?" I frowned, wracking my brains as to what the heck he was talking about. I was also slightly worried about who had done the cooking. 

"Yes," John got up, dragging me to my feet and propelled me towards the windows. He nodded to Virgil, who messaged Brains, saying something I couldn't hear. 

As one, all the other idiots surrounded us, all looking up, heads tipped back expectantly, like baby birds awaiting food. 

"What are we doing?" I asked, completely confused. 

"It's November 5th," Scott answered. "Remember, remember the 5th of November." 

Oooooh. I didn't have time to answer as the first rocket shot up into the air, exploding in a burst of colour and sound, lighting up the dark night sky... 

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

Their Hero Academia – Chapter 65: Hit the Beach!

Presenting the next installment of my on-going, nextgen, MHA fic! Earlier chapters can be found here

Okay, maybe having rich friends wasn’t such a bad thing.  And since everyone had come along, Isamu didn’t feel like too much of a moocher.   Well, maybe a little.  Even with the seventeen members of Class 1-A, Izumi’s parents, and the butleriest butler to ever butler, there’d been plenty of space on the private jet.  He’d really underestimated Izumi’s family’s wealth.  That wasn’t how the upper half lived.  It was some kind of upper percentage that involved a lot of zeroes after the decimal point.

But laying on a tropical beach?   Yeah, he could get used to this.   Maybe if he got really successful as a Pro-Hero someday he could make enough money to do this kind of thing sometimes.  Mom and Dad would probably appreciate a real vacation too.  

After getting checked into the resort (Owning your own resort on your own island must be nice. They had an entire floor to themselves.), Class 1-A had done a bit of scattering to take advantage of the amenities. Aoyama had begged off going to the beach—understandable with how his Quirk absorbed light—and had instead decided to hit the spa, for which Izumi, Koda, and Tokoyami joined him (Izumi had practically insisted Tokoyami joint them, saying they had a specialist in spa treatments for people with feathers on staff).

Isamu’s gaze drifted out to the water, where several of his classmates were already horsing around.   The water looked extremely inviting, as clear as anything he had ever seen, gentling lapping onto the white sand shote.  Somehow, Sero (wearing the loudest swim trunks Isamu had ever seen in his life and which no-doubt were deliberately picked for how they clashed with his pink skin) had convinced Kocho to fly him out over the water.  Her wings were flapping hard and she was hovering probably a good six feet above the water.

“Okay, okay,” Sero said. “Now let me go!  Let me go!”

“I don’t know about this…” Kocho said.

“Look, you can either let me go, or I’ll squirm out on my own.”

Kocho just sighed. “Your funeral,” she said, and let him go.  She flapped hard and shot straight up, even as he shot straight down.

Sero tucked himself into a ball as he fell.  “CANNONBALL!”

SPLASH

Sero hit the water hard, sending water flying everywhere and utterly soaking Sato, who was filming the whole thing, as well as Ojiro and Tensei Iida, who’d been in the water too. Ojiro was wearing one of those long-sleeved uv protective swimsuits, in bright neon green, which she’d said was for “visibility.”   Which he supposed made sense.  If she was wearing less, it’d be hard to spot her if something went wrong.  She also had a flower in her hair and was wearing large, bright yellow sunglasses, which gave some general definition to where her face was.

Sero popped up out of the water with a laugh and grin.  He fired off a double thumbs’ up. “Did you catch that, viewers?  You’re just been Sero-Bombed!  Boom!”

“TAKUMA!” Ojiro screamed, arms flailing wildly.  “Did you have to do it so close?!  Look what you’ve done to my hair!”

“Aw, c’mon, Kimmie,” Sero said.  “It’s not anybody’s going to be able to tell.”

There was a moment of silence, the air thick with tension.  That had definitely been the wrong thing to say.  As if guided by some kind of primal instinct, Sato and Iida were backing away slowly.  And then Ojiro set herself upon Sero, fists flailing and hitting him upon the arms and shoulders again and again.

“WHY WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT, TAKUMA!  YOU KNOW THAT’S NOT NICE!  WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO SCREW AROUND LIKE THAT?!”

“Ow!  Ow!  Kimmie, you know my weaknesses is being smacked!  Ow, ow!  Just not the face, okay?  Please, not the face!”

“Don’t worry,” Sato called out.  “I’m getting this all on film!  Kick his butt, Kimmie!”

“I really must protest this assault on my boyfriend,” Iida piped in.  “No matter how misguided his actions were, violence is not the proper response!”

“Guys, I am so sorry,” Kocho called out circling around above.  “I had no idea it was going to be that big!”

Isamu looked over to his left, where Midoriya was occupying another one of the beach chairs. “Should… should we be stopping this?” Ojiro’s outbursts usually ran themselves out fairly quickly, but still…

Midoriya shrugged.  “They’re not hurting anybody, except maybe Sero. And it’s my vacation. I’m off duty and I say let them blow off some steam.”

Well, that was a different answer than he’d been expecting.  Maybe Midoriya was taking Aizawa’s admonishment to have the rest of the class to rely on him less to heart.  Of course, Aizawa had also told him that he needed to step up his own leadership game and that thought was just terrifying.

So he was going to file all of that under things he wasn’t going to think about right now.

Kocho, meanwhile, had flown away from the chaos and landed next to them.  She wore a backless black one piece swimsuit and had explained that while she liked the beach, she couldn’t really get her wings too wet or she’d be unable to fly.  

“Definitely time for a strategic retreat,” she said.  She gave her wings a flick, causing some stray drops of water to fly off, before folding them behind her.  Her antenna flicked up for a moment before settling.  “Sorry I set that off.”

Isamu laughed.  “Trust me,” he said, “that would have happened sooner or later no matter what.  That’s just who they are.”

“Definitely getting that,” Kocho said.  

“Besides,” Midoriya added, “Sero is extremely persuasive.  He even managed to talk me into standing on the ceiling once for some kind of “upside down room” video.”

Okay, Isamu made a mental note to see if that was somewhere on Sero’s Viewtube channel.  Because that sounded hilarious.

“Ooooh, boys,” a sing-song voice called out from somewhere behind them.  Isamu felt a chill go down his spine as he realized it was Mineta.  

***

Despite his words to Haimawari, Toshi’s roles as “Team Dad” and class representative were hard to completely shake, so he did keep an eye on Ojiro and Sero, even as Sato and Tensei tried to pry them apart.

Mineta’s call, however, distracted him from anything else.  He’d head that particular tone of voice often enough over the years, usually when she was feeling particularly attention-starved and was going to hit on someone.  

“Should we look?” Haimawari asked, sounding a bit panicked.  

“She’s just going to keep making noise until we do,” Toshi told him.  

“I take it this happens a lot?” Kocho asked.

“You have no idea,” Haimawari said.

“You all better turn around!” Mineta called out, proving his point.  “I mean, you’re going to want to feast your eyes on me anyway, but Midoriya’s really going to want to see this.”

Oh, that couldn’t possibly be good.

Reluctantly and with sinking dread, Toshi turned to look.  He could hear both Haimawari and Kocho suck in a sharp breath and it wasn’t hard to understand why.  There was Mineta.  And there was a lot of Mineta on display. There was also a cow-print bikini, of which there was not a lot.  Kaminari was standing next to her, wearing a considerably more modest one-piece in yellow and black, and looking vaguely embarrassed.  

“She cannot possibly be real,” he heard Kocho say.

“…Pretty sure she is,” Haimawari squeaked.  As both a frequent target for Mineta’s flirtations and having had some accidental if direct contact with her during the Sports Festival, he was qualified to weigh in on this.  Mineta had a way of getting into people’s heads like that.  

And, well, Toshi had eyes. And he was a guy.  He’d be lying if he said that between her bikini and her b…ody proportions, that Mineta didn’t have an effect on him.  He felt more than a little flustered just looking at her.

“Like my bikini?” Mineta asked, posing so that she thrust her chest out and also somehow emphasized her rear as well.  “I bought it special for this vacation!”

“I still can’t believe you have that,” Kaminari said.  “You’re almost naked.  Hell, you’d probably show less if you were.  Your parents can’t possibly know you have that.”

“Just because you’re lifetime president of the itty-bitty committee, Chi, is no reason to get snippy,” Mineta replied, turning so rapidly that it set parts of her swaying in ways that he felt he probably shouldn’t be watching.

“The hell did you just say?!”  Kaminari’s Cords snapped up, crackling with electricity.  “Say that again, Mika.  Say that again and we’ll see how much fat conducts electricity!”

“Oooh, kinky!”

There was also, Toshi realized, a familiar head of blue-black hair behind the two of them. Sora was taller than Mineta, but between Mineta’s horns and the fact that there was a lot of Mineta competing for attention, he hadn’t noticed her at first. He heard a soft cough.

“Oh!  Right!” Mineta said, switching gears with such suddenness that Toshi was sure he heard the clutch pop.  “I almost forgot the real reason I wanted your attention.”

She made a dramatic gesture with her arms.  “Presenting… the tall, the brainy, the hot, the runner up for best boobs in the class… Sora Iida!”

Mika took a few steps to the side and Toshi got his first look at his girlfriend since they’d split up to their rooms.  He’d asked if she’d wanted him to wait, but had somehow been overruled by Mineta, who’d said she needed to talk to Sora first.  

In retrospect, that really should have been a warning sign.

“Hello, Toshi,” Sora said. She was smiling, but he immediately noticed that it was nervous and uneasy.  Her posture was more hesitant and awkward than usual and in stark contrast to Mineta’s confidence.  “Do you like what you see?”

Sora was wearing a bikini. It wasn’t as small as Mineta’s, but it was definitely a bikini.

Toshi was not a blind man. He was aware that his very tall girlfriend was also very busty.  In reasons why he liked her, this fact ranked very, very low.  Which wasn’t to say he hadn’t thought about that, in late night moments, or when she hugged him tightly and pressed up against him.

“…Why are all the girls in this class so hot?” Kocho said.  “Oh, no, I said that out loud…”

“Not looking at my friend’s girl, not looking at my friend’s girl, I’ve got a girlfriend” Haimawari said, quietly and quickly.  He continued repeating the phrase.

He became very aware that he hadn’t said anything in a while.

“Toshi?” Sora asked, concerned, her own nervousness seemingly forgotten for a moment.  “Are you all right?”  She waved her hands to try and attract his vision.

“See?” Kaminari said, throwing her hands in the air.  “You broke him!  I could have told you he’s too innocent for this!”

“Well, excuse me for trying to help spice up their relationship!”

“No one asked you to!”

“I’m okay!” Toshi yelled, more loudly and quickly than he intended.  He felt his face go red. Either that or he was on fire.  It was hard to say at this point.  “You… you look amazing, Sora,” he said.  

“Mineta said you would like it,” she said, approaching him. He tried very hard to keep eye contact and only failed a couple of times.  Mineta and Kaminari were still fighting, but he tuned them out.  He was also pretty sure he heard Haimawari and Kocho high-tailing it out of there.  “May I?”   Sora gestured to the beach chair Haimawari had vacated.

Toshi gulped and nodded, trying hard not so stare as he she went by.  

“She said that girlfriends “dress sexy” for their boyfriends and that I would be a good girlfriend if I did this for you,” Sora went on.  “She said she wanted to help and had several bikinis prepared for me to try on.”

Toshi buried his face in his hands.  Eventually, he brought his head up.  “Sora, what’s rule one when dealing with anything Mineta claims?”

Sora thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers.  “The same for scientific studies!  Always corroborate with a second source!  Preferably Tokoyami if available.”

He smiled.  “Right,” he said.  “She probably just wanted to see you in a bikini and to give me a heart attack.”   He scooted his chair closer to hers and put an arm around her shoulders, mindful of her Jetpack pipes.  He’d learned the hard way that the skin around them could be quite sensitive. That particular discovery had left him red in the face for quite a while.

“Besides,” he said, “you don’t have to do anything different or special for me.  I mean, unless you want to.”  He added that last part hastily, realizing the gap in what he’d said. Both Sora and her brother sometimes needed extra explanations about proper social conventions.  It was why Mika had been able to fool her so easily. “I like you,” he said.  “I like you in your uniform, in your costume, in your regular clothes.  And I do like you in this.  But do you like you in this?”

Sora frowned. “Undetermined,” she said.  “I am not used to wearing so little.  It seems very impractical.”

“Yeah, there is that,” he agreed.  

“But I am happy that you like what you see,” she added thoughtfully.  “I suspect more evidence is needed.”

Deciding to be bold, he leaned over and kissed her cheek softly.

“Whatever you want, that’s your decision.  I’m not going to tell you how to dress.”

Sora nodded, seemingly satisfied with that.  “I am still learning how to be a good girlfriend, Toshi.  I do not want to get this wrong.  I do not really know what boys want.”

“Hey,” he said.  “I said it before, we’re learning together, okay?”

“Okay.”

And it was.

“Though I did notice you were definitely staring at Mineta…”

***

“Oh, this feels so good,” Mika said, as she slid low into the hot spring, purple hair floating around her head.   She made a very distracting moan.  “I swear, Todoroki, this place really does have everything.”

Chihiro shot her a look. “Do you and the spring need a few moments alone?”   It was a sharper barb that she really should have made, but she was still annoyed at Mika for the “itty-bitty” comment earlier.  It wasn’t her fault she took after Mom or that most of the rest of the girls in the class were more… shapely than her!  And compared to Mika or Iida, everybody looked small.

The look Chihiro had shot her was nothing compared to the look Kirishima-Bakugo gave her.  “If you’re going to be gross,” she said, lips curled back in a snarl, “you’ve got a room.”

“Relax,” Mika said, not looking at her.  “I’m just really enjoying this.”

“When the Yaoyorozu family designed this resort, they wanted to make sure that every luxury was available to the guests and to themselves,” Izumi said, sinking a little lower in the water herself.  Already, her pale skin was beginning to flush from the heat.  “They worked with a geokinetic and a hydrokinetic to craft it according to very exact specifications.”

“Geeze,” Kocho said, “just how rich is your family?”   She was sitting the farthest back, wings kept above the waterline.  “Sorry, that was probably rude.”

It was, honestly, a common reaction when hanging out with Izumi.

“You know that old kid’s manga?  About the kid who could turn stuff to gold and it made his family like, mega rich?” Chihiro said.  

“That would not work,” Iida said.  She’d slid low in the water too.  Apparently her Jetpack pipes were self-sealing.  “It would drive down the value of gold and ultimately make it worthless. Furthermore, any Quirk like that would be highly monitored by the government for misuse…”

“Just go with it,” Chihiro said, trying to avoid a lengthy discussion.  Iida could get too caught up in the facts and miss the actual point fairly easily sometimes.

“Oh yeah, I remember that one,” Kocho said.

“Good,” Chihiro replied. “Triple that.  At least.”

Kocho’s dark eyes went wide and her antenna snapped straight up.  “Ah. Got it.”

“That is,” Izumi began, raising a hand as though to object.  She paused, as if unsure.  She did like magna, Chihiro recalled, but couldn’t remember if she’d read that one. Izumi looked over to Kirishima-Bakugo, who gave her a shrug.   “Not entirely inaccurate.”

“So Kocho,” Ojiro began. She was wearing flowers in her hair again, the only other indication other than a slight ripple in the water around her body, of where she was.  “As the newest member of the class, we have a lot of questions.  Like, are you seeing anybody?  The gossip mill demands to know!”

“Perhaps give her a little space before interrogating her, Ojiro?” Koda suggested.   “Or at least on asking something so personal?”

“It’s fine,” Kocho said, waving a hand.  “I’m single, Ojiro.  Not really looking either.”

“Okay, so that’s means it’s just me, Iida, and Mineta who have boyfriends?” Ojiro asked.  “How is this possible?  Are none of you interested in guys?!”

Ugh, no, she really did not need to hear this.  Chihiro wondered if she could hold her breath and go underwater long enough for Ojiro to stop talking.  She already had spent way too much time thinking about the fact that Monoma had kissed her.  Not that any of the rest of the girls knew, but she really didn’t need Ojiro finding out about it.  She’d never hear the end of it.  She absolutely did not need the invisible girl “shipping” her with Monoma. She didn’t like him, even if she’d ended up feeling sorry for him, and he didn’t like her, and yet…

She hadn’t exactly hated it either.

So of course running away to a tropical vacation had been the perfect way to avoid having to talk to him about it.  

“You do get there’s more than just being interested in boys, don’t you, Ghosty?” Kirishima-Bakugo growled.  

“She’s right,” Mika said, rising up out of the water enough to count on her fingers.   “Wow.  There’s something I never thought I’d say.  There’s also being interested in girls.  And non-binary people.  And non-gender identifying people and…”

“Not the point I was making, Horse-Girl.”

“But she’s right!” Ojiro said.  “I’m open to the gossip mill of all relationships!  I do not discriminate gossip on the basis of sexuality!”  There was a slight shift in the water, as though she was leaning forward.  “So you all better tell me if you get into a relationship!  Not like that relationship hiding hunk Shoji!”

Wait, what?  Like just about anyone attracted to male and possessing a pulse, Chihiro admitted that Shoji was obscenely attractive.   Muscles for days, surprisingly soft features, great hair…  But he kept to himself and she hadn’t had any idea about this!

“What?!” Mika shouted, her eyes wide.   “Nooooo! I was slowly wearing down his resistance!  By graduation, I’d have been all over the Shoji train!”

“No, you weren’t” Chihiro snapped.  Some days, Mika was just flat out exhausting.  She was absolutely her best friend in the world, but sometimes…  “And you already have a giant boyfriend!  You don’t need two!”

Mika laughed as she leaned back in the water.  “Oh, I’m definitely too much woman for just one partner.”   Chihiro didn’t dignify that with a response.

“He does!”  Ojiro said, clapping happily.  “Her name’s Emiko and she’s really cute!”

“He does enjoy his privacy,” Tokoyami said.  Frog Shadow was bobbing contentedly in the water next to her.  “But I am happy for him.”   She didn’t sound entirely convincing to Chihiro’s ears.

“You’re just sad it wasn’t you!” Frog-Shadow offered, eyes snapping open.

“I am not…” Tokoyami started, her voice warbling. The feathers on her head were starting to stand up and Chihiro could swear she saw a little blush under them.  Her hands flew to her beak. “Qui… quiet you!”

“You can’t silence me when I’m right!” Frog-Shadow declared, before Tokoyami shoved her under the water.  She kicked and fought and bubbles churned, but Tokoyami didn’t let her back up until she’d calmed down.

Koda tapped a rocky hand on her chin, a faraway look in her eyes.  “Good for him,” she said softly.  “Shoji is a kind soul and deserves the happiness.”  Mika had said she was having some body image and confidence issues lately.   Of course, Mika had also said she’s had a plan to rectify that.  As someone who’d let herself be talked into more than one harebrained scheme, she had a pretty dim view of Mika’s plans.

It was only then that she noticed Kirishima-Bakugo had her eyes closed and her hands over her ears. Slowly, she pulled her hands back. “Are they done talking yet, Iz?  I can’t tell.”

“I am uncertain,” Izumi said.  She turned back to the group and asked, diplomatically.  “Will this be going on much longer?”  A smile tugged at her lips, obviously amused by, if not particularly invested in the discussion.

“Maybe?” Mika said. “All in favor of talking about Shoji more?”

Even Izumi started to raise a hand at that.   Kirishima-Bakugo gave her a wide eyed stare of betrayal.

“What?” Izumi said. “Even if I am not interested in him romantically or sexually, he is very aesthetically pleasing.”

Kirishima-Bakugo crossed her arms and closed her eyes again.  “…Yeah, okay, he is.”

“…did she just admit to an interesting in something other than violence?” Ojiro asked.  “Isn’t that a sign of the apocalypse?”

“I’m on vacation, so pretend I growled at you and threated you with explosive death,” Kirishima-Bakugo said.

No, Chihiro was still pretty sure that the sign of the apocalypse had been Monoma kissing her, but weren’t signs supposed to come in threes…?

“Okay,” Ojiro said, “we’re all agreed.  Everybody’s attracted to Shoji.  But since he’s off the table, who else are we crushing on?  What about you, Kaminari?  Any guys got your eye?”

“Definitely not Monoma!” she said quickly.  She needed to dispel any idea about that as quickly and loudly as possible.

“We… didn’t mention Monoma,” Ojiro said.

…crap.

***

“Chihiro, you open this door this minute!” Mika shouted, pounding heavily on the door of her friend’s hotel room with her first.

“Go away, Mika!” Chihiro snapped from within.  

“I can wait all day, Chi.” Mika crossed her arms.  “You bolted out of there like you were on fire.”  After mentioning Shiro.   Which was kind of her fault.  And by kind of, she meant completely.   She’d messed that one up by several degrees of magnitude.  But Chi hadn’t said anything about it to her, so she’d hoped it would all die down and she could go back to trying to convince Shiro to date Akaya instead.  

Not that she didn’t want the best for Chihiro of course.  She was her best friend.  And she knew Shiro better than just about anyone; he really was a good guy under some of that bluster.  Probably her best friend after Chihiro, come to think of it, on top of being her ex.

“Look, you want to talk about it?” she asked.  “Or I can get Akaya or Torodoki or, I dunno, Tokoyami?”  …Probably not Akaya, actually.  That conversation might lead down roads she did not want to travel.

No answer this time. Also not a good sign.

Mika pounded on the door one more time.  “Chi… can we talk?  Please. This is actually important.  About Shiro.”

The door opened a crack, revealing a glaring Chihiro.  Sparks danced on the ends of her Cords.  Not a good sign.   But she stepped back enough to let Mika in, then flopped down on the bed.

“I know, I know, I made a total idiot out of myself back there,” she wailed, staring up at the ceiling. “I just let everybody know I maybe kind of have some kind of crush thing going on for Monoma.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Mika said.

“Of course it is! He’s… he’s such a…” Chihiro made gestures in the air, which were copied by her Cords.  “He’s Monoma!  The guy who thinks he’s our hated rival! With that stupid smug face and perfect hair! And now that Ojiro knows it, the whole world probably already knows!”

“She said she wouldn’t,” Mika assured her, coming to stand near the bed.  “I think she was too stunned to make much sense of it anyway. And it’s not like anybody knows he kissed you.”

Chihiro sat up so fast Mika was pretty sure she’d broken the sound barrier.  “How do you know about that?”

Oops.

“Well, you see,” Mika began.

Before she could get any further, Chihiro interrupted her.  “I swear, if the next words out of your mouth are “I can explain,” I will tase the shit out of you.  Because I have been trying to make sense of this ever since it happened and if I find out you had something to do it with…”

Well, that would definitely explain the moodiness and irritability.  She’d been ready to blame it on something else entirely.   “Can I at least sit down?” she asked.

Chihiro shrugged and scooted over on the edge of the bed to make room.  Mika took the seat, but gave her a bit of space.  “Okay, so I can explain—don’ttaseme!”   She flinched, but all Chihiro did was give her an eyeroll.

“So after the Internships, Shiro was feeling pretty depressed.  He was going to quit, as soon as exams were over.  Big blow to his confidence, but not really my story to spill.”

“Yeah, he told me that,” Chihiro said.  

“And you remember Akaya was feeling pretty depressed too, after some of the stuff that happened during her Iinternship, with those mutant-prejudiced assholes.”

“Dumbasses.”

Mika nodded her agreement. People could be real asses sometimes. And somebody as sweet and innocent as Akaya definitely didn’t deserve that kind of treatment.   “But anyway, she was feeling real down about herself and her appearance.  So I had a couple of friends who were both feeling depressed and I ended up working on a plan with Anime that would help both of them…”

Chihiro buried her face in her hands.  “Mika, Fukidashi is the one person the planet with worse plans than you!  I’m not sure she can actually tell the difference between fiction and reality.”

It didn’t look like Chihiro had put all the pieces together yet.   Crap.  That meant she’d have to explain more.

“Sooo,” she went on, “I sent him a text after the exams saying a ‘mutual acquaintance’ was feeling down and maybe he’d like to come by and cheer her up.”   She sucked in a breath.  Chi may have doubted her own intelligence at times, but this wasn’t going to take much to figure out.

Chihiro frowned.  “And there I was when he showed up, depressed as hell because I nearly caused us to flunk.  I thought he was acting funny! Even for him!  No wonder!  He probably thought you meant me!”

Before Mika could blink, Chihiro’s Cords shot out, less than a couple centimeters from her face.  No sparks, thankfully, but that could change in an instant.  “Did. You. Tell.  Him.  To. Kiss.  Her?!”

“Absolutely not,” Mika said.   “He came up with that on his own.  I think you really gave him a breakthrough, Chi.”

Chihiro sagged, her Cords drooping, letting go of some of that agitation.  “What am I going to do, Mika?”

“Well, he did say he was maybe going to ask you out…”

“What?”  Chihiro’s head snapped back up again.

“Give him a shot,” Mika said.  “He’s really not nearly as bad a guy as most people think he is.  He’s just… a lot.”  She gestured at her chest.  “But he liked me even before these came in, so he’s obviously not just in it for the physical stuff.”

She opted not to mention that there’d been an intermediate phase where Shiro had been hung up on Kirishima-Bakugo.  Like Granny always said, sometimes, maybe don’t kick the rattler’s den.

“Ugh, but he’s so… him!  With his stupid blue eyes and stupid fancy hair and stupid little smile…”

Yeah, okay, Chihiro had it bad.

“Look,” Mika said, “date him. Or don’t.  That’s your decision.  But you gotta stop worrying about what people will think about it.  You think I worry about stuff like that?”

That, at last, got a laugh. “No, but you’re shameless.”

“One of my many talents.”

Chihiro shook her head. “Yeah, well… maybe I’ll wait and see what he does.”

“Bonus, if you do date him, I can tell you alllll kinds of secrets.”

“You two were tweens when you dated!  How do you have secrets on him?”

“Because he’s still one of my friends and I still know how to get him flustered.”

She shook her head again. “Going to need you to be straight with me, Mika.”

“I think you and I both know how much I cannot do that, Chi.”

That got an actual smile out of her friend, which meant it had worked.  “Not what I meant and you know it, Mika,” Chihiro said.  “You’d really be okay with me dating your ex?”

It was a good question. They were two of her best friends. But she didn’t harbor any particular plans to get back together with Shiro.  Being “just friends” with a guy was actually kind of nice.  Not that she’d admit that to anyone.  And not that she’d object if he wanted to get back together or even just get a little frisky, of course…

“Look,” Mika said, “I’ve got a buffet table out there.  And one of the most gorgeous hunks of man on the planet.  So if you wanna shack up with Shiro, be my guest.”

Chihiro went red. “Look, just because you’re that fast..!”

Mika laughed.  “Relax, Chi.  But be my guest.  Sounds like you guys kind of connected.  I’m happy for you, if it works out.”

Chi smiled at that, and Mika finally felt a little relief.  “Thanks, Mika.”

Of course, now she needed a new plan to help Akaya.  Maybe she could just bite the bullet and shove her and Aoyama in a closet until Frenchie expressed his super-obvious feelings…

Chihiro poked her with a Cord.  “You’ve plotting again.  Stop that.”

“No.”

“We were having a nice moment and now you’re back to being impossible.  Why are you like this?”

“Just lucky, I guess.”

***

The sun was low in the sky when Class 1-A returned to the beach, this time gathering around a bonfire. Todoroki had volunteered to simply start it with her Quirk, but Kirishima-Bakugo had declared that “cheating” and had proceeded to start one by hand.  For someone who was so angry with everyone else, she was surprisingly soft when it came to Todoroki.  Koharu wondered if there was some kind of history or something there.  At the hot spring, Todoroki had basically said she wasn’t interested in romance or sex, so it probably wasn’t anything like that, but…

Together, they made a big ring around the fire, the flames crackling red-orange in the darkening sky.  She liked twilight, when the day gave way to the night, starting to bring things to a close.  Koharu’s Moth Quirk actually have her excellent night vision, though she didn’t have the problems with bright lights that some of her family did. She had a cousin that was pretty much blind for anywhere up to a half hour after somebody turned on the lights.

The others were already starting to sit together in what she was learning were some of the usual pairs and groups, most of them talking animatedly.  Midoriya was sitting with his girlfriend, Sora Iida.  Next to them were Shinso, Tokoyami and Frog-Shadow, and Shoji.  Then there was Todoroki and Kirishima-Bakugo, Shoji, Aoyama, and Koda, and Mineta and Kaminari.  After that, there was Ojiro, Sero, and Sato.  She took a seat next to them, with Haimawari on her left completing the circle.

“Having fun?” Haimawari asked.  

She nodded.  “I am.  I was a little nervous about coming along.  I mean, I’ve only known Ojiro and her friends for a few weeks, and you and Midoriya for a little less than that, so I don’t really know if I feel like I belong here yet…  But everybody’s been really nice and welcoming.”

Haimawari smiled and nodded. “Yeah,” he agreed.  “They’re like that.  I was the same way, you know, when we started.  They all knew each other, and there I was, the new guy moving into the dorms and being in class with them.  But Midoriya reached out to me and made sure I was included.  Him, Tokoyami, Izumi, and Shinso.  The first friends I had here.”

For a moment, Koharu’s thoughts drifted back to her General Education classmates, especially her best friends, Mogura and Tokuda.  She wouldn’t be living with them anymore and would have different classes.  It would make it harder to find time to get together, though not impossible.  But she definitely didn’t want them to drift apart.  They’d surely understand the differing demands of the Hero Course, but she knew they’d be hurt if they thought she was forgetting about them.

Maybe she ought to try and do something to bring her old class and new class together.

“Trust me,” Haimawari assured her.  “Before you know it, it’ll be like you’ve been here since day one.”

“I sure hope so,” she said.

“You will,” he said. “Trust me.  They’ve got history.  But now that you’re here with us?  You’ve got future.  And that’ll turn into history.”

He made a good point, she had to admit.  

“Hey, look, Kocho,” Sero said, leaning over to show her his phone. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a pattern that made her eyes hurt just to look at.  His phone was open to a Viewtube page, showing Sato’s earlier recording of his cannonball and subsequent Ojiro-induced smacking.  It had been titled “Cannon-Fail.”

“Eighty thousand hits and counting!” Sero told her, grinning.  

“So you dropping out of the sky and Ojiro beating the stuffing out of you is hit worthy?” she asked.

“Oh yeah!  Kimiko yelling and hitting things rates really high with our subscribers.  Hope nobody’s getting off on it though…”

Koharu blinked slowly. “I do not get internet fame.”

Sero just laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m an expert at this. Stick with us, we’ll make you a star!”

Before she could make a counter argument to that, Shinso piped up.  “Oh!  Oh! Kaminari!  Are you going to play?  Are you?”  The short boy was practically bouncing with excitement.  “Pleeeeeaaasseee?”

Kaminari had indeed brought a case of some kind with her, what looked like some kind of small, guitar-ish instrument.  She opened it up and Koharu realized it was a ukulele.  She knew the electric girl’s mother was a musician on top of being a Hero, but hadn’t realized that she played too.  She still had a lot to learn about her new classmates!

“Only because you asked so nice, Shinso,” Kaminari said.  She strummed a few chords and made a few minor adjustments to the instrument before she started to play.  “So this one goes out to all of us, for passing our exams, for surviving our Internships, for making it through the first term.  To our Sports Festival winners.  To old friends and new friends.  And to our hero academia.”

“Hero too, I am a hero too

My heart is set and I won't back down

Hero too, strength doesn’t make a hero

True heroes stand up for what they believe

So wait and see

So wait and see…”

[recentanimenews]

The 42 Greatest Anime Moments of Monkey D. Luffy

  May 5 is the birthday of One Piece's main character Monkey D. Luffy, and over the past couple of decades of his existence, he's given us some moments that will stay in our minds forever. And so I've decided to chronicle 42 of his best ones, antics that will hopefully remind you how much you love the free-spirited, determined, ridiculous Birthday Best Boy. One note, though — while this list does contain some of those sweet, sweet fight scenes, I've already written a list that ranked his 20 greatest knockouts against bad guys. So, in order to not repeat that list entirely, I've tried to mix it up a little bit. 

  1. Luffy Wakes Up From A Great Nap

I can't think of a better anime debut for Monkey D. Luffy than "wakes up in the barrel that he miraculously survived a whirlpool in and immediately knocks out some pirates by accident." It's everything fun about the dude rolled into one.

2. Luffy Gets Coby To Hit Him

    One thing that doesn't get mentioned enough about Luffy is his haphazard, yet skillful ingenuity. He knows that Koby will never get to join the Marines if he's associated with pirates, so Luffy, his one brain cell working overtime, gets Koby to punch him in order to prove that they're not friends because would friends brawl on the floor of a restaurant? 

3. Luffy Gets The Straw Hat

A moment from the first chapter of the manga that was delayed until Episode 4 of the anime, Luffy getting the straw hat from Shanks is iconic. It sets in motion his entire journey and creates a symbol that represents freedom, adventure, and destiny.

4. Luffy Gives Nami The Straw Hat

  Luffy giving Nami his straw hat is more than just a simple, comforting gesture. It's Luffy telling Nami that if she wants, she'll be a Straw Hat now and for the rest of her life. Nami may have problems, but she'll never have to deal with them alone ever again.

5. Luffy Gets His First Bounty

    By gaining a bounty when he takes down Arlong, Luffy is introduced to the wider world of pirating, the World Government, and eventually the Grand Line. Though Buggy's reveal that he knew Shanks and Mihawk's appearance hinted at a wider world, this is Luffy's first real step into it.

  6. Luffy Smiles At Death

    Luffy obviously doesn't want to die. But as he smiles at the crowd and his crew while Buggy brings a sword down onto his neck, he grins. Because he didn't die in vain. He never became Pirate King and he never found the One Piece, but he did live his life exactly the way that he wanted to. And that's more important than any title or treasure. I'm glad he didn't die, though. They never would've found the Grand Line if Zoro had ascended to the role of Captain. They'd probably still be arguing in the Loguetown harbor.

7. Luffy Holds Up Hiriluk's Flag

   Wapol wanted to destroy Hiriluk's flag and thus eliminate his legacy. But Luffy — smoking due to being recently shot by a cannon and holding up the flag — proved that's not something you can just do. As long as someone is there to fight for it, a flag is forever.

  8. Luffy Disagrees With Vivi

   Vivi, frustrated, enraged, and embarrassed about the treatment of her country, was more than ready to sacrifice herself for it ... and only herself. But Luffy wasn't hearing it. If she was going down, they were all going down. It wasn't just Vivi's fight anymore. The Straw Hats had reached Ride or Die status.

  9. Luffy Beats Crocodile

  I did a list of Luffy's best knockouts so I'm not gonna list every major punch here. However, the ones that are especially meaningful deserve recognition. And this one, where, after two defeats, Luffy battered Crocodile up through the streets of Alubarna, is inarguably one of the most memorable. It's a triumph that's a long time coming, equal parts brutal and satisfying.

  10. Luffy Lets Himself Get Beat Up And Meets Blackbeard

  Mirroring Shanks' restraint when he let himself get harassed by the Mountain Bandits, here we see Luffy decide not to fight Bellamy and instead he listens to Bellamy's foolish proclamations about why dreams suck and why you shouldn't have them and why Mylo Xyloto is the best Coldplay album, probably. However, even if he didn't need the pick-me-up, Blackbeard meets him outside to reaffirm that dreams never die. It would be a super nice remark ... if anyone but Blackbeard was saying it.

  11. Luffy Is Immune To Enel

  Until this point, Enel is borderline unstoppable, able to strike down anyone in his path and — with the help of his "mantra" —  barely takes any damage in the process. And it's made him pretty cocky. But to see Enel's face distort in cartoonish disbelief when he realizes that Luffy is a Rubber Type Pokemon and that he's impervious to Electric Types is so joyously satisfying.

  12. Luffy Decides To Get Rid Of The Going Merry

    With the Going Merry slowly becoming unusable and actually becoming a handicap to the crew, Luffy figures that it's time to find a new ship. It's a sad moment, but you can't help but see Luffy's side. A good pirate crew needs a good pirate ship. And if the Going Merry suddenly sinks, Luffy is dead. Like very, very dead.

  13. Luffy Faces Usopp

  Usopp relates to the Going Merry, fearing that its "weakness" and "inadequacy" represents his own. And so when Luffy decides to get rid of the ship, Usopp lashes out, causing Luffy to have to "put down" Usopp. It's a difficult decision, but it shows that Luffy isn't all laughs and "I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" declarations.

14. Luffy Does Not Recognize Sogeking

    And then, after the most heartfelt showdown in the series, Luffy doesn't even recognize Usopp's Sogeking disguise, despite the fact that he has most of Usopp's traits, most of Usopp's weapons, and showed up only a little while after Usopp left. Oh, Luffy. Never stop being you.

  15. Luffy Goes Second Gear

  Power-ups are pretty common in anime. But Luffy saying that he needs to take his skills up another level so that he won't lose his friends still feels pretty special. And then the music kicks in and Luffy beats Blueno to a pulp and it's one of the most hype scenes in the entire series.

  16. Luffy Declares War On The World

   He'll always have a target on his back, he'll never be able to rest easy again, and the World Government will pursue him as long as he draws breath. Luffy knows this, but when the time comes to save Robin from CP9 in Enies Lobby, he doesn't hesitate to take on the whole world. It's just what friends do.

  17. Luffy Refuses To Fall

  When Luffy and Lucci fight, it isn't a quick contest. They go to absolute war on one another. And when Lucci thinks he's won, having left Luffy spitting up blood on the floor, we see that ... no. Luffy will not leave his feet. He has too much pride, too much grit, and too much determination. Defeat is not an option here. He will stop fighting to retrieve Robin when he's dead.

  18. Luffy Is Reunited With Garp

  For a long time, Luffy's actual flesh and blood family was a mystery. Shanks is kind of a cool uncle and Ace is someone that Luffy considers his brother, but where did Luffy, ya know, come from? As it turns out, his grandpa is the cannonball-throwing Marine Vice Admiral Garp, who is not only just as goofy as Luffy, but also really, really, really strong for being 76. What's his secret? Low carbs? Eiichiro Oda, please let me know.

  19. Luffy Punches The Celestial Dragon

  Luffy can't stand bullies or anyone that relishes the misery of others. So when a Celestial Dragon shoots Hatchan in the auctioneering house, Luffy walks right up to him and turns his face into a catcher's mitt.

  20. Luffy Loses His Crew

   Luffy's darkest hour (so far) comes when, in a fight with Kuma, Kizaru and the Pacifistas, his whole crew eventually gets wiped out and spread across the world. All the while, Luffy is powerless to stop it — his Gum Gum skills no match for Kuma's abilities. It's a truly pitiable thing to see Luffy beat his fists on the ground in futility, something entirely unlike any scene in the series before.

  21. Luffy Covers Sandersonia

   Back in Little Garden, Luffy agreed it wasn't necessary to actually have a reason for the fight between the giants. They were having an honorable contest between warriors. That was enough. Later when Sandersonia's scars were about to be revealed after a battle, Luffy covered them up. He had no interest in killing them or exposing their secrets. That is not what the battle was for. The contest was simply one that he wanted to win so he'd eventually get back to his crew.

  22. Luffy Decides To Save His Brother Before Reuniting With His Crew

   When Luffy learns that Ace is to be put to death, he must make a choice: Get the gang back together or dive into the depths of Impel Down and try to rescue his brother. He ends up choosing the latter, which shows a great deal of trust and respect for his crewmates. He knows they're strong enough to be OK without him for now.

23. Luffy Embraces Mr. 2

    This is just plain wholesome. Luffy's love for his friends is might be the best thing about him.

24.Luffy Falls From The Sky

    Luffy's story isn't just about his quest to find the One Piece, but the formation of a legend. And when Luffy and the other Impel Down escapees plummet from the sky into the Marineford war, you can practically see that legend being written.

  25. Luffy Faces The Admirals

  Yes, Luffy's attempts to kick a frozen log at them goes nowhere. And yes, Luffy is almost immediately knocked down by Kizaru when he tries to rush past him. But the guts in that kid! Facing down three of the most powerful men in the One Piece universe and demanding they give Ace back to him. That is moxie, my dudes.

  26. Luffy Goes Comatose

  Ace is dead. The mission has failed. A brother is lost. And all Luffy can do is go numb and lifeless. He has no words or actions to explain or react. A chunk of his soul has been ripped away.

  27. Luffy Realizes He Still Has His Friends

    Yes, his attempt to save Ace was a bust. But in the most hopeless of times, Jimbei asks him what he still has. And Luffy remembers he still has his friends — friends he has been there for in the past and who will most certainly be there for him later. They are still there. And because they are still there, Luffy's existence has worth.

  28. Luffy Gets An Upgrade

  Reuniting with his crew in Sabaody, it doesn't take too long for Luffy to find a way to show off the results of two years of training. He's been doing some grinding, so his skill tree has some new branches. He's unlocked some new abilities, and he's reached his evolved form. When a Pacifista comes at the Monster Trio (Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji,) they beat the bear out of it.

29. Luffy Decides To Make Fish-Man Island His Territory

    For the most part, Luffy doesn't really care about the dominance sought by other powerful characters. But after he's gotten to know the citizens of Fish-Man Island and he sees the terror caused by Big Mom, he tells her straight-up he's gonna defeat her and take Fish-Man Island under his protection. It's the closest that Luffy has ever gotten to being a character in Goodfellas.

  30. Luffy Allies With Law

  And then, shortly after talking trash to Big Mom, Luffy teams up with Trafalgar Law in a plot to overthrow Kaido, another Emperor of the Sea. It's a real leap forward for Luffy. One day, you're just a kid from East Blue punching everyone that seems mean. The next, you're taking an active role in changing the power structure of the entire world. That's just how it is sometimes, though. As Logic once said, "Who can relate?"

  31. Luffy Has Been "Picking Fights All Along"

    Luffy knows he doesn't just tumble from one situation to another. He isn't just a poor guy caught up in the gambits of powerful evil forces. No, Luffy has definitely chosen to live a life where he will interfere with your best-laid plans if he feels inclined to. And if that includes a lot of fighting, well, so be it.

  32. Luffy Reunites With Sabo

  It's been pretty much non-stop action since the beginning of the Post Time Skip era, and that hasn't really allowed for a ton of emotional moments for Luffy. But when he reunites with Sabo in the coliseum and his scream comes out as a mix of happiness, confusion, and surprise, he finally gets one. Cry it out, buddy. We love ya.

  33. Luffy And His Allies Head For Doflamingo

  From orchestrating a breakout in Impel Down to creating a charge toward Doflamingo with all the allies he met in the tournament to win the Flame-Flame Fruit, Luffy has slowly gone from being the captain of a small crew on a ship with an animal head on the front to being the full-on leader of a Pirate Alliance. Luffy 2020 is what I say.

  34. Luffy Goes Fourth Gear

  Years after the reveal of Second and Third Gear, we get Fourth Gear, a power-up that even more freakishly transforms Luffy's body. It's not graceful, nor is it particularly beautiful to behold, but it gets the job done.

  35. Luffy Beats Doflamingo

  Doflamingo — a man that's been a thorn in the side of nearly everyone in the world for about 15 years of anime history — finally gets taken down. And still, it's only a stepping stone to Wano. Somehow, Eiichiro Oda creates these moments that seem like the biggest events in history, and yet, they're only just the beginning.

  36. Luffy Refuses To Fight Sanji

  Luffy knows Sanji is conflicted and not really a bad guy. And he's also aware of the fact that he'll be creating an even bigger issue if he fights back against his chef. So he just takes the kicks, hoping Sanji sees there's another way out of this. Sadly, it'll be a few episodes before he realizes that.

  37. Luffy Waits For Sanji — And Then Punches — Sanji

    Sanji finding Luffy because his captain's stomach is grumbling super loud is so cartoonish and lovely — because what is Sanji's role if not to feed his captain? Of course, Luffy enjoys Sanji's rain-soaked cookin' and then he punches Sanji for still being a twerp that won't admit what he really feels.

38. Luffy Clashes With Big Mom

    Luffy stood beside Whitebeard, but this is his first real showdown with a Yonko. And it doesn't go very well. Big Mom is easily able to block him, which shows that, while Luffy has come a long way, he's still got a bit farther to go.

  39. Luffy Places The Hat On Katakuri

  Much like the previous covering of Sandersonia's shame, Luffy covers Katakuri's mouth with his hat after their duel. The two combatants fought and earned each other's respect. And so Luffy leaves Katakuri with his pride.

  40. Luffy Knows He's Arrived In Wano Due To The Swords

    That giant baboon is using a sword? Obviously this must be Wano, the land of samurai. That's Luffy logic at its most pure. 

  41. Luffy Promises Tama She Will Not Be Hungry Again

  For the most part, heading to Wano seemed like a pretty impersonal act. The only reason he thought about going there in the first place was because Law seemed pretty confident it was a solid idea. But then he meets Tama and learns that she — along with most of the country — is starving. So his journey to take down Kaido gets some personal stakes. He's now shouldering the hopes of an entire group of people.

  42. Luffy Is Beaten By Kaido

  OK, so Round 1 didn't go so well. Luffy pummeled Kaido with everything he had and Kaido one-shotted him with a melee weapon attack. Luffy has to rethink his strategy and expand his move-set and maybe, with some luck, Round 2 will be a tad more even. I can't wait to see what Luffy moments we have in store when One Piece returns!

  What is your favorite Luffy moment? Do any on this list stand out to you? Let me know in the comments!

      Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

  By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[brooklynislandgirl]

This One || -

1. Who slowly eases into the pool while complaining about the temperature of the water and who takes a full-force no regrets flying cannonball into the water:

Sometimes Marion runs the dogs out along the creeks, down in the hollows of the bayous, cypress trees overhung with moss. The sounds of crickets and frogs and mosquitoes, a long list of local denizens. Sometimes, she follows along in human skin, keeping Marion company, with a running conversation, questions about the area, what it is like to live here alone, so far away from people, though she knows more about that than she cares to admit. Sometimes Beth follows along in feathers, completely indistinguishable from other birds except that she knows how and where to fly that she isn’t easy prey. Sometimes as a deer, sometimes as a gator. These are silent sojourns are company in her own way. They don’t last nearly as long; while her magick lets her wear whatever skin she wants so long as it is a living thing, too much time spent in an altered form starts to steal away her humanity, and causes her pattern to leak. 

This time, she spends too much time as a hummingbird and can only dart out and over the water without warning. Knees tucked to her chest, arms wrapped around her shins, she hits the water’s surface like a boulder. The splash covers the dogs, the long reeds, and eventually Marion. When she comes up sputtering, she grins, covering her bareness with skin and the swamp water. She grins at the other woman sheepishly. “So. Can I...ah...borrow ya plaid, til I get somewhere wi’ clothes?”

2. Who can easily comfort the other when they’re sick and who sprays everything down with Lysol and wears an antimicrobial mask and pats the former with a broom to comfort them when they get sick?

Beth thinks she is going to die. Every smell, every whisper of sound, every touch only makes the nausea worse. Without the covers, she’s too cold. With them, she’s too hot. It’s so bad that even her hair follicles hurt. Not only that but her nose is red and chapped, her sinus passages and her eyes swollen, red, itchy. Her head is pounding, her body aches, she can’t even find a few moments of peace. She doesn’t even understand how people live like this. 

And while Zarek is in town picking up supplies because she can’t, Marion is keeping an eye on her. And there’s kind of a curl of her lip and an eye roll that Beth is familiar with, she’s seen it on her brother’s face a half a million times. But for really real this time, she’s dying.

"S'jus' a lil' cold, sha" Reproachfully, Beth glances in the other woman’s direction. And spends the next thirty seconds sneezing.  “Need. T’make. Living will.” She’s absolutely sure that next time instead of just a spritz of Lysol in her direction, Marion will feed her the entire can.

3.  Who’s the amazing cook and who almost burns the house down trying to microwave a pop tart?

Marion glances over to Beth, a sneer of disdain on her face. Reflected in the dainty Hawai’ian’s demeanour too. They can certainly blame one another for playing a bit of grab-ass with each other. The pan is no longer on fire though the lingering smell of burnt ...whatever... was still thick and heavy, almost more powerful than the smoke drifting out toward the windows. There is only one thing they can do. In unison, their voices rise. “RILEY!” “PANDA!”

He peels himself from the lean against the side of the place, and field strips his cigarette butt into the ashtray. It was like he could see this coming.  Heading to his truck, he’s already got the grill loaded up with charcoal, and the cooler he just knew to bring along. 4. Who immediately goes for the can of Raid when they see a bug and who picks it up like “no wait don’t kill it I wanna keep it”?

It’s instinct, Beth can see it in the start of the muscle twitch as Marion’s hand goes to to smack it right off her arm, like she would a mosquito or some other kind of ‘critter’. Thankfully, she is just quick enough to lean in and cup her hands around it. Plucks it free of Marion’s sleeve and pulls her hands apart just enough to peak into the dark space and murmur something unintelligible to it. “...’s jus’ one...da kine. Ya know... make big-big web? Like...Charlotte. Or...” She doesn’t know any other book characters based on Orb-weavers. This one is a particular beauty, green and white and about the size of a dime.

She offers Marion a brilliant smile, all sharp pointed teeth and soft, full lips. “No everybody evah see da beauty in nature, but is always dere, even undah da surface.” She excuses herself and makes her way toward the treeline to set her tiny captive free.

5. Who likes to lean over railings to get a better view and who freaks out and tries to pull the former back away from the rail screaming about how they might fall?

“Jus’ jump, sha.”

Beth squeezes her eyes shut and shakes her head vehemently.

“..s’only twelve feet.” But it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like the space between the branch and the ground is a million miles. Worse, she doesn’t know how she even got up here. She doesn’t know how she’s going to get down. “Gotta trust me. I’ll catch ya.” Not if her heart gives out before she makes it. And she stays there, arms wrapped around the tree bark for the better part of the hour, no matter how Marion threatens or cajoles. But she can’t hold on forever. At some point she’s either going to slip or she’s going to have to jump and neither option seems so great. Marion is...six feet. She’s five. That’s almost twelve, right? Carefully she sits down, still holding the trunk for dear life. “K-den. But...don’t drop me....au’rite?” 6. Who acts like they’re brave and fearless but actually gets terrified 15 minutes into a horror movie and who is usually the huge scaredy cat but isn’t fazed at all by most horror movies?

Beth tries to become one with the couch and when that fails, she builds a small wall of pillows and blankets around her. Lifts her forearms up defensively to block sight of the screen. But that doesn’t stave off her other senses. Beth can still hear the screaming. The slick, gushy sounds that are so very realistic she can all but taste the blood on the back of her tongue. The way that one guy is slicing skin off that kid’s face...

She knows it all too well from the ER. And even though she knows it’s movie-magic it still she can’t get over the feel of it all. She buries her face into Marion’s side and wishes it all away.

7. Who constantly criticizes the latter’s wardrobe and who dresses even more outrageously to further annoy the former?

She doesn’t have a thing that would fit Marion, who is a foot taller than she is, and though whip-cord lean, is still a few dress sizes larger too. And for all that she has money and influence, she can’t take Marion to the gala in jeans and a tee shirt, maybe some flannel if she’s dressing up. 

She translates what Marion says as “I ain’t wearing this.” though, technically it could have actually been ‘Fight sweater debris,’ just like it sounded. Beth doesn’t know why she hates the sheer black top and the leather skirt. Okay, so maybe she wouldn’t be let out of the house like that, but with Marion’s pale skin and long limbs...it would look stunning. “Okay. How about... black sequin kine dat look like it shot t’rough wi’ lava?”

8.Who likes total darkness when they sleep and who needs a night light?

Despite the rain, despite the fact that Beth was exhausted from the hunt and trying to keep just out of the Rougarou’s reach, despite the fact that she was too slowly for comfort healing up from the jagged chunks of her body having been ripped muscle from bone, she tosses and turns in the moonless dark of Marion’s bed.

She whimpers. Writhes. None of it is alluring when it is paired with the thick scent of frothing-at-the-mouth terror. That she attempts to keep moving, feet kicking under the cool sheets. Sweat soaking into her hair. Goes on for hours until Marion, in her wisdom, sets a candle out. The light falls on Beth, and she starts to calm, her breathing returning to normal.

In the morning, Beth doesn’t talk about it. But over her coffee, she hoarsely whispers, “mahalo f’ dat.”

9. Who loves kids and who scowls at the mere sight of them?

She disappears from everything for more than nine months; it’s more like a year and some. Three months after the birth of the child she finally emerges from her cabin, from out behind her husband, from everything she’s used to put space and silence between them. Has the gall to act like nothing is wrong, that nothing happened.  And to make matters worse, she brings the baby with her. He has her skin tone and her eyelashes. Almost takes up all of her available arm space because she’s not that big. A little tuft of black hair, black eyes when he flutters them open. She says his name is Styxx.  Like the river of the dead and damned. And though she doesn’t look any different than she did before, except maybe going up a cup-size, there’s something stiff in the way she walks. The ginger way she sits, and tries to cover the wince with a coo at the drowsing baby. She doesn’t see the scowl on Marion’s lips, or the shadow that passes behind her blue, blue eyes. If she had, she’d seen a flicker of pain and annoyance and how much Marion missed her.  Misses her still, because the woman sitting on her porch isn’t exactly Beth any more, is she? 10. Who plays games competitively and sucks at them and who plays games casually and is actually really heckin good?

Marion doesn’t care how many rounds of rummy she wins. Or when she insists on the checkers or chess or half a dozen other stupid board games that come out of her bag, all of which seem to have the same goal; time wasting and aggravation.  What she likes is how innocent Beth is even when the fires of competition seem to burn bright in her eyes. The little stories she tells about the game pieces, how she’d learned to play, which ones are her favourite.  It’s Trivial Pursuit, and the only person who can beat her, she says, is her brother.

There’s the way she dances in place and tosses popcorn at Marion when she actually loses a turn, followed by the trill of her laugh. The games don’t matter, but getting a spark of starlight to keep you company? That’s the miracle, isn’t it? 11. Who can handle spicy foods perfectly and who chugs an entire gallon of milk after accidentally eating one jalapeño?

It starts with a little ground black pepper. Then red pepper flake. There’s pepper sauce, a variety of chillies that would eat through most cooking pots if left long enough. Brewed for three days, if that’s what you want to call it, others would say it was fermented in the Devil’s nut-sack. Either way, it gets strained and heated, then cooled to room temperature before its put into the fridge. Beth swears by her brother’s hot-sauce. She tends to put it on most things, but then, how tasteful can vegetables and even some fruits be? Marion once told her that vegans, like her, tasted better. The meat sweeter, less stringy, less fatty, a whole laundry list of things, will inside the Rougarou made plans on what it would devour first when it finally got teeth into the little witch. It’s experimentation really, what combination of foods brings out the best in her. Marion doesn’t say maybe it’s honey, maybe its just her.

But she doesn’t want to crush Beth’s enthusiasm for the project.

[penpatronuswhump]

Whumptober :: Untitled Story Where Natasha Accidentally Hurts Tony

Whumptober No. 5

Theme: Gunpoint  

Fandom: Avengers

Whumpee(s): Tony Stark

Caregiver(s): Natasha Romanoff

 Untitled Story Where Natasha Accidentally Hurts Tony

PenPatronus

 “Now inch your way backwards,” Natasha instructed while holding a fake gun three feet away from Tony’s back.

 “I’m sorry, you want me to go towards the weapon that’ll kill me?”

 It was a Sunday afternoon at Avengers Tower, and Nat and Tony were working out in the gym. He wanted to box, she wanted to do Tai Chi, so they compromised by coming up with a third option which had, more often than not, included Nat kicking his ass. She was trying—emphasis trying—to teach him self-defense for the times when he wasn’t in the Iron Man armor. For a genius, he was having a hard time understanding some of the most basic concepts. Natasha had threatened him more than once.

 “Don’t look in the mirrors. You won’t have mirrors when you’re robbed in a back alley for Pepper’s jewelry.”

 Stark lowered his palms-out, “I surrender” hands. “You know I have a bodyguard when we go out, don’t you?”

 Nat rolled her eyes. “Stark, Happy is a good guy but do you really think he could defend you from someone like me?”

 “I thought we were pretending that it was just some random meth head in a back alley?”

 “Well, now we’re pretending that it’s a sexy assassin trying to take you hostage. Now, back up towards the gun.”

 “Why—”

 “Stark, just do it!”

 “Fine! Sheesh.”

 “And stop looking in the mirrors. There won’t be mirrors.”

 “There could be mirrors.”

 “There won’t be mirrors!”

 Obediently, Tony took a step backwards, closer to the gun. “Like this?”

 “Well, that was as subtle as a cannonball but at least you’re getting the picture.” Nat switched the gun to her opposite hand and shoved it hard against Tony’s spine. “No, don’t flinch away.”

 A frustrated Tony made two fists. “How can I not flinch when there’s a gun pointed at me?”

 “Do you want to learn this or not?”

 “Starting to think Barton would be a better teacher,” Tony mumbled almost out of earshot.

 “Clint would’ve shot you by now—for real.” Natasha, who caught Tony looking in the mirrors that surrounded the gym again, winked at him playfully before returning her attention to the lesson. “Now, what you’re going to do is suddenly whirl around in a wide arc and grab the gun.”

 “Whirl around?”

 “Quick as you can. That’s the last thing the bad guy will expect. You’ll do it wide enough that if he shoots, you’ll avoid it, and quick enough that you’ll be able to wrestle him for the gun.”

 “This is gonna get me killed, if you ask me.”

 “Nobody asked you, Stark, now twirl.”

 “Twirl?”

 “Twirl, whirl, turn, pivot—I don’t care what you want to call it, just do it!”

 Tony spun. He shouted “Ha!” when he successfully grabbed the gun and stopped there, assuming that particular phase of the lesson was over. Instead, Natasha had decided to take that moment to show him what would happen if he didn’t actually wrestle the gun out of her hands. Mouse-quick, she slammed her boot into the side of Stark’s knee, bringing him to the floor, then pulled him by the shirt and twisted him around, launching him behind her. Unfortunately, for them both, she’d forgotten how close she was to the mirrors. The entire 4’ by 7’ pane shattered from the force of Tony’s forehead.

 “Oh, God,” Natasha gasped. She turned to see Tony roll onto his back and start clawing wildly at his face. “Stark, stop! Tony, freeze!”

 “Is there glass in my eye? Is there glass in my eye?”

 “No, God, but hold still!” Nat bolted to the first aid kit hanging on the wall beside the gym entrance. She’d already taken tweezers and gauze out by the time she raced back to him. Tony was on his back. He’d shoved his hands under his ass to keep himself from accidentally imbedding the glass further into his face while trying to pull it out. “Hold still,” Nat instructed.

 “Ow!” Tony bellowed when she plucked out the largest shard, which was less than an inch from his right eye. “Dammit, Romanoff, why’d you do that?”

 “You know I didn’t mean for this to happen,” she said. Tony could tell that was as close to an apology as he was going to get. “Now turn your face towards me. Let me see the other side of—Oh, God.”

 Tony’s eyes widened. “What?”

 “Um…”

 Streaks of blood rolled down Tony’s skin. “Romanoff!” He started to sit up to look at himself in the next mirror over.

 “Tony, don’t move! There’s a piece deep in your temple.” She added her weight to his chest. “It might be deep—maybe to your skull. JARVIS?”

 “There’s an ambulance on its way, Miss Romanoff,” the AI crisply replied.

 “I’m sorry,” Nat suddenly whispered. Surprised by that, Tony froze and looked up at her. Tears were in her eyes, he realized, surprised again. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve been more careful. Especially with you.”

 Tony sighed. “Because without my armor I’m the weakest link in the team?”

 A single, half-hearted laugh left Nat’s chest. “Tony Stark, you are many things, but “weak” isn’t one of them.” He lowered his eyes. They both heard the approaching sirens in the distance. She dabbed at the blood. “Tony you’re… precious. To all of us. More than you know.”

 He gave her a soft, grateful smile. “You’re precious to me, too, Natasha,” he said, using her first name for the first time. “More than you know.”

 The End

 ***Check out my Avengers stories on FanFiction.net (PenPatronus) or Archive Of Our Own (PenPatronusAooO)***

[schlemptime]

Lily pad eyes (2018)

Warm sunlight struck my bare chest as soon as I got rid of my shirt. I struggled with the stringy straps, getting caught around my neck some. But I had never been outside topless before, outside at least. other than as a kid. I guess it felt the same as being clothed, just without the way bodies carry garments. as if it is heavy. I did not think a shirt could be so heavy until I took it off.

Our bikes were deserted in the corner of my eye as I kicked off my sneakers. And slid off my pants. We dropped them there as soon as we found the clearing. The bikes were natural there, undertaken to become part of the grass and brush and weeds that draped over the wheels. I swore enough time had passed to rust the gears, overgrow them.

I undressed too fast. Rev was just getting to his belt.

I turned to the right and squinted into the sun. Spots of light buzzed around all the corners of my eyesight until everything was so, so white that I was okay with going blind.

“You’ll go blind,” Rev said. I looked over my shoulder at him, glaring. “You know, if you look at the sun too long.” I rolled my eyes. He shrugged his shoulders and removed his pants.

“Wow,” I said. Rev stood all casual, all serious in Iron Man boxers. The super-suit’s chest piece was printed right over where his dick was. Suddenly, I felt that giggle worm out of my body, one of those stomachy laughs that run loose in my body. “Wow! wow. I don’t even know what to say about that, I—”

“Please, just,” Rev giggled, “do me the favor of not saying anything.” So I didn’t. For a long time. It wasn’t like he made me mad or there wasn’t anything to say; there was plenty to talk about. The nature just said everything for us.

There was something godly about the world around me that I couldn’t put my finger on it. Maybe it was the fact that it was godly. But it’s impossible to put my finger on god, to touch god. Leaves blockaded any of the sky building a dome around us, resting on our heads like a tiara. The tree limbs grew farther above in real time, and everything was sparkly from the rain that morning. The saturated greenery was beautiful to a point of overwhelming. Underneath my bare feet, the ground pushed back at my soles to help me walk.

Rev motioned me towards the water with his chin in the way guys do. I turned to face the water. The tall marsh grass lining the baby pond was just so green that I nearly cried. Each blade was so individual and separated, that when they rippled in the breeze I kept thinking they were alive. And the water was asleep, black and motionless. It looked as though it would open its mouth and eat me whole.

The grass pushed me forward, and I closed the gap between me and the pond. Trying to tip-toe over the marsh, I toppled over on the slippery bottom. I hit the water without realizing, already a bit above ankle deep. cmm,mvdvvvvvvvdouaeroigjaI! Bottom of the pond was marsh-grassy or a basket or nest of sorts. I was an egg.

But it wasn’t deep at all, so I sat up as fast as I had hit the water. It was a baptism.

“You good, Joe?” Rev asked as he offered his hand. I laughed it off. “How deep?”

I stood up with my arms reaching out, the water reaching right above my waist. “Like, four feet,” I replied. He stepped right through the grass and winced when his foot touched the bottom. Water trickled from the tips of my hair onto my shoulders in inky, black orbs.

“It’s so much warmer than I thought it’d be,” Rev said. I hummed in response; we were doing that thing where we weren’t looking at each other in the face, because we were half naked.

“I just wanted to let you know that, like, I don’t like you in a crush way,” I blurted out. It was stupid to even think to say that. The embarrassment made me cold.

He laughed, “yeah, I know. And I don’t like you in general.”

“Ha, ha. Smart-ass.”

We finally made eye contact. Thank god.

Something swam over my feet.

“What the fuck?!” I screamed, jumping back. My feet landed on a fleshy mass. It jerked underneath my weight until it threw me off balance and I stumbled onto the grassy shore. Black ripples tore across the surface like waves, even for such a small struggle. Rev made his way to me through the water walking on tight rope along the edge.

“What the hell was that?” he asked, wading through the lily pads.

“Probably just a fish, but it was, like, huge.”

We stared out at the cloudy water as if it was far away. Every drop of water that ran down my body felt like hot sweat compared to the late-year air, and Rev sat down in the shallow, his legs outstretched and diving into the cloudy deep. Tadpoles bit at his toes.

Rev’s leg twitched. “Fuckin’ fish touched me, too, Joe!”

“I think it’s swarmed with those nasties.”

“Wanna get out of here?”

“Not really. I don’t know why I freaked out so much,” I laughed.

“Okay.” He laid out onto the muddy grass. “I’m glowing like a vampire,” he said. Droplets of water that laid on his pale chest made him slimmer, and some drops veered and slid off his stomach when he breathed in. One of the fish made a splash on the other side of the pond. We watched as another splash was made, this time closer to the middle. And then another, a few feet away from Rev’s toes.

“Wanna go smoke?” I asked him.

“God, of course.” Reaching out his arms, I pulled him up to his feet.

“I’ll get my bag,” I mumbled, and we danced to the bikes and grabbed my mini backpack. I pulled my shirt back over my head. it stuck to patches of wet skin. Rev laid on the grass, lounging on his side, and I slid down a weak tree that had all its bark rubbed off. maybe from kids before me who slumped against it.

And suddenly, from the middle of the pond, the water erupted as if a man had cannonballed into it just as I lit the lighter. Waves trampled the marsh grass and even almost reached us. We were at the ocean.

“Big fish?”  Rev asked, staring at the water behind him. I grimaced and lit up again.

“Big deal,” I responded tightly, a joint wedged between my lips. It was a big deal. The pond terrorized me. or its contents did. The bare tree rubbed against my back and felt slick from nervous sweat. But nothing else was said about it, and Rev and I spiraled smoke up to the crown of leaves where it dissipated.

We lounged sprawled out under the summer sun until the pond suddenly seemed alluring again. Our bodies were layered in sweat like it was a sweater. I didn’t bother undressing this time before we wandered over, wading into it less cautiously than earlier. After diving underneath to soak myself, I floated on top of the inky surface. Ears under the surface, everything sounded muffled. like I was underground. I closed my eyes and imagined sinking but in a good way.

I lurched out of the water, something wrapping around my entire ankle. Underwater I tried to shake it off, but when I realized that was useless, I battled to pull it out of the water. It was a hand, Rev’s hand, knuckles red and skin white shooting out of the black, all I could see of him.

“REV!” I screamed, taking a hold of his wrist to haul him out of the water.

He responded by grasping me back, but I never saw further than his elbow before whatever was tugging him pulled me in, too. I shot under into the black headfirst, entangling in fish and marsh grass and what I stepped on earlier in the pond. the same thick, warm body.

I hated the slickness of the giant fish or snake or man, the way it encircled our bodies. wound tighter. And so I hated when I wormed one arm above my head and then bit down on the monster. Its skin fell straight off like cooked meat into my mouth and mixed with the cloudy water I began choking. The thing vibrated and unraveled for just enough time to hoist myself and Rev’s limp body out of its constrict.

I began running through the water, tripping over this monster’s legs or tail or whatever it was made of, the water tugged back at me and seemed to deepen the closer I got to shore. The bright forest that I had awed at before melted into overwhelming blotches of color, and the marsh grass become more of a barrier than a gateway to get out. The monster seized my legs and I fell forward, striking my head on the shore. knocked the wind out of me for a second. But I grabbed the marsh grass to drag myself further onto land.

A shadow grew from the pond and kept growing and growing until the trees near our bikes were hiding behind the monster. I momentarily released the grass to push Rev fully out of the water, and the monster quickly flipped me over and slowly encircled me once again. I finally saw its face, as black as the water and slathered in a layer of what resembled almost an embryo. It had no limbs like a snake and the snout of an alligator, but three large breasts lined vertically on its chest. As it lowered me under the surface, I stared directly into its lily pad eyes, with lilies as pupils. but I think maybe that only covered his real eyes. I didn’t want to see those. And then I saw nothing, dipped into the ink like a fountain pen. I wondered what it would write with me.

until I envisioned Rev marooned on the shore, out of breath and dead.

I woke up a little later I guess. I sat up and rested on my elbows on the shore of a clear pond with a grassy bottom. It was cold like mountain water, and I was getting sunburnt.

A loud smell made me turn my head, and I saw Rev with a red, soggy, puffy face behind a facade of smoke. He coughed and cried simultaneously. I got on my knees and shuffled over, leaned back on the barkless tree and Rev’s shoulder. He passed his joint.

“Never going fishing there,” he said. I laughed once and then pulled my shirt over my head. My stomach bulged over my panty line and my breasts laid flat and sagged on my chest. But it was comfy to not be dead. Imagine the cramp from sleeping on your back so long.

I kept dozing off in the lowering sun, but the time and our physical conditions pointed to heading home. So I stood up expecting Rev to follow (he did), and we pulled ourselves onto our bikes and rode home. The trip seemed to take forever, but the sun had only just set once we got to Rev’s little house on the outskirts of town.

“Can I bum a cig?” I asked him as he jumped off his bike.

“Sure thang.” He reached into his shirt pocket and opened the box. There was one left. “Dude, I can’t believe we went through this whole pack today. This? was full when we left class.”

I laughed too hard and then plucked the last cigarette like a flower. When I lit it, the orange warmth of the flame echoed into the now darkness.

[enygma0710]

Drabble Tag Challenge

If you’re tagged on this, you’ve been challenged to write a 100 words or more drabble of Jonerys!

You then earn the right to tag 3 people on your drabble and challenge them to do it as well. Not mandatory, but this is a fun and easy way to encourage creators and spread more fan content!  

Pick from the dialogue prompts -OR- Free choice drabble.

Tagged by @thescarletgarden1990 thanks for challenging me ;-D and I am challenging @xxthewolvenstormxx  @freshhexes  and @starkgaryen4life 

If you’ve been tagged, my feelings wont be hurt if it’s ignored. So before I drop this drabble, I feel I need to give a disclaimer, LOL

Drabbles are my Kryptonite, like legit every story I write I have to build up these extensive ass backstories for the universe and the characters and how they will react to a situation and function in the universe i’m either playing in or modifying. So that being said, this drabble takes place in my unreleased, modern AU Jonerys fic; Once in a Lifetime. Thats where my mindset is right now, I wrote two others in the traditional Westeros but it just didn’t work. 2nd disclaimer; this is a really random af drabble, I write some random shit but this is more than usual. See Authors note at bottom for explanation. 

I will probably put this on A03 once I get the main fic on there, but at a much later date.  

My prompt: “ Have you lost your damn mind?” and 

“I think I’m in love with you and I’m terrified” -slightly modified

Robb and Jon whooped and clapped, as they watched the larger man, dressed in bright blue spandex, swing his opponents like a rag doll as his power ball bounced off the rim, missing the basket. “I can’t believe your brother recorded these.” Robb elbowed Jon to pass the chips. Jon begrudgingly passed the bowl over to Robb.

Daenerys plopped down on the couch behind them. “Rhae loved Westerosi Gladiators growing up. My father got tired of Rhae recording over his westerns, so for his birthday he gave him a case of VHS tapes and let him go to town.” Dany reached for the bowl, snatching it away from Robb. “He recorded everything; Gladiators, Old WWF and EWF matches, cartoons, movies, music videos. He only stopped because my father refused to buy him another case of tapes.”

Jon turned away from the action of Atlasphere on the screen, to look at his friend. “These are classics, they don’t show the reruns anymore.” Robb cheered loudly, bringing Jon’s attention back to the show.

“They show them all the time in Naath,” Missy chimed in as she sat down next to Dany on the couch. “This is an early season, Storm’s not in it.”

“I like The Mountain, I heard he’s the only gladiator that no one has knocked off on ‘Human Cannonball’”

“Makes sense, you see the size of that guy?” Jon asked, as he grabbed his drink. “I like Nitro and Gemini, I wouldn’t want to go against either of them in Powerball.”

“Oh, I love Storm, Zap is my favorite.” Dany was bouncing up and down. Jon looked back and laughed at how excited she was getting. “Oh, they are about to do Joust! Watch Zap!”

They focused back on the TV and watched as the blond gladiator pummeled her opponent off her platform into the mat below. “Ohhhhhh! That was brutal, I wonder if they’ll do Hang Tough this episode.”

“You know we could do that.”

“Do what?” Jon asked.

“Hang Tough, there are rings at the playground down the street.” Robb turned to Jon. “Feel up to the challenge?”

Jon smirked, setting down his drink. “I’m game if your game, Stark.”

Robb jumped up. “Let’s go.”

Daenerys stood next to Missy, watching the two ‘brothers’ warm up before their match of makeshift Hang Tough. She left Missy walking over towards Jon, shaking her head. “Have you lost your damn mind?”

“Never knew you to be one that cursed, Dany.” Jon grinned, rolling his shoulders. Robb next to him doing push-ups.  Both of them had just gotten off punishment after pulling another stunt they tried, after watching an old EWF match. Mrs. Stark walked in on Jon and Robb doing a body slam with a stunner while Arya and Bran cheered on.

“Oh, shut it,” Dany rolled her eyes. “You two are bigger idiots than I thought, the only idiot missing is Theon.”

“You rang?” Theon sauntered over, giving Robb a high five.

“Oh Gods,” Missy muttered.

Theon grinned, “I stopped by and Sansa told me, you guys were here, but for what? I thought we were watching Gladiators.”

“I challenged Jon to Hang Tough.”

“Snow?” Theon’s face split into a shit eating grin, clapping his hands. “Oh, this I got to see.”

Jon and Robb stood at opposite sides of the small ring course.

“Ready, set, GO!”

Robb and Jon launched themselves onto the rings, swinging towards each other. Jon was the quickest and met Robb first. They both started kicking at each other, laughing trying to knock the other off the rings. Dany watched with some trepidation as the brothers tried to take the other down.  Theon kept jumping up and down egging Robb on to take Jon down and would switch when Jon got the advantage, causing Robb to yell “Who’s friend are you?”. Missy stood behind Dany, alternating between cheering on Jon and muttering “Gods this is stupid”. Daenerys kept silent and didn’t cheer on either but was the first to notice the gleam in Robbs eye change from determined to mischievous. Robb kicked away from Jon, swinging his legs behind him, gaining fast momentum and before Jon could react, Robb swung his leg forward, wrapping his legs around Jon’s waist, simultaneously letting go of his rings. The force of Robb colliding with Jon, ripped the rings from Jon’s grip sending them both hurtling towards the ground and landing with a crash.

“Oh SHITE!!!” Dany yelled as they hit the ground, she ran over to the tangled limbs of Robb and Jon.

Robb’s eyes were closed, he winced holding his head. “Oh Gods,”

“Are you alright?”

“Told you this was stupid.”

Robb nodded and tried to move but Jon was sprawled on top of his legs.

“Jon?”

Jon didn’t answer, his arm laid at an odd angle.

“Oh, shite did you break it.”

“I don’t think so.”

Jon tried to push himself up but faltered, landing hard on Robbs legs, “Shite.”

“It’s dislocated,” Dany stated as she squatted down next to Jon.

“How the hell do you know this?”

“My Father has a bad shoulder, it dislocates occasionally. It needs to be reset Jon.”

Jon gingerly rolled off Robbs legs. “No, I’ll be fine.” He used his good arm to stand up.

“That fall did more than dislocate your shoulder, it rattled your brain as well. Let me reset it.”

“Can’t you bang it against the wall or something?”

“No, Theon and shut up, Jon I can set it for you.”

“No,” Jon winced. “I’ll just ask Uncle Benjen, he’s visiting today, he’ll know what to do.”

“No,” Robb rasped as he stood up and limped. “You know Father is out of town and if he finds out we got injured from rough housing again- “

“We’re Fucked.”

Jon turned hesitantly towards Dany, his shoulder was throbbing and his fingers were growing numb.

“Do you trust me?”

He locked his gaze on hers and saw the determination and resolve reflected in them. He nodded. Dany tightly gripped his right hand with her left and placed her right hand over his right shoulder. “Its going to hurt but only for a minute, ready?”

“Just do it.” He gritted out.

“On the count of three, one-two-three,” Dany swiftly jerked his arm up and towards her, Jon yelled over the audible pop of his shoulder going back in its socket. He was sore, his fingers were still numb but she was right the pain was brief. “Thanks.” He panted.

Daenerys let go of his hand, giving a shiny grin. “Anytime Snow.”

Later, they found themselves slowing making their way back towards the Starks residence. In front of them, Theon was helping a limping Robb. Daenerys and Missy walking beside him. “Well we’ll see you guys later.”

“You aren’t coming with us? What about the tapes?”

“No, I’m going to walk Missy home and Rhae won’t mind.” Daenerys smiled and reached over, chuffing him on the side of his head.

“What was that for?” Jon winced.

“That’s for not listening to me and being an idiot.” She smirked, her lavender eyes bright. “Bye Snow,” she waved and turned away from him, walking towards Missy.

Jon stood on the sidewalk, quietly observing Dany and Missy. A warm, tingling sensation clawing at his chest,  

“Oi, you alright?” Theon voice snapped Jon from his thoughts.

The smile gone and replaced with a scowl. No, I don’t think so, far from it.

Theon and Robb, now stood beside him. Both looking back and forth between Jon and the duo walking away.

“Why do you look like you swallowed a bit of bitter?”

What the hell is wrong with me? “Nothing, just worried about getting caught by your Mother.”

Theon nodded in understanding, but Robb just stared, giving a disbelieving look. Jon cough, rubbing his neck. “Let’s just get home and come up with a story that won’t get us both grounded for a week.”

The boys continued on their way, devising a story to keep the suspicion low on their injuries. As for Jon his thoughts drifted off, away from the Theon and Robb, but to his silver hair friend and the curious new feeling she caused, Shite I think I���m in love and I’m terrified.

Author Notes: So this drabble is damn near a one-shot. I tend to write alot, LOL. I got inspiration while cleaning and came across several episodes we recorded as kids of Double Dare, GUTS, Legends of the Hidden Temple and American Gladiators. Hooked up probably the last working VCR and watched for nostalgia. So that’s how American Gladiators came to Westeros LOL

[mf-despair-queen]

Curiosity Killed The Cat - Stiles Stilinski

Author: @mf-despair-queen​

Characters: Stiles Stilinski/Reader

Word Count: 6,437

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, Oral (Both Receiving), Mentions of Public Sex, 69, Orgasm Denial, Masturbation, Multiple Orgasms, Fingering, A LOT OF FILTH

Notes: This is 100000000% for my precious Camile, @minhosmeanhoe because she wanted something involving Stiles and masturbation because this is all we ever talk about (we are horny fuckers lol). But, even better, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMILE. You are one of my bestest friends I am glad I am able to talk to you daily. I don’t know what I would do without you. I LOVE YOU!!!!❤️

You jumped out of the jeep, stretching your stiff limbs. You looked up at Lydia’s lake house, a grin spreading onto your face. You heard the driver side door of the jeep slam shut, Stiles appearing at your side holding both of your bags.

“Can you believe we are finally here, Stiles?” You grinned at him, seeing him roll his eyes, a smile on his face.

“Yeah. We would have been here a lot earlier if you didn’t take so long to get out the door this morning. Everyone else got here two hours ago,” he retorted, heading towards the door. You huffed at him, running to keep up with his pace.

“It’s not my fault! I had to make sure I had everything packed for the weekend!” You told him, following him inside.

“Y/N, you tried to pack your entire closet. We are just here for the holiday weekend. It’s just some swimming, barbequing, games with friends, and some fireworks. We aren’t even heading back to town until the end of the weekend, so you didn’t need your wardrobe!” Stiles retorted, kicking the door shut to the lake house and dropping your bags onto the couch along the wall. “Now, let’s just head out back, alright? Scott already fired up the grill. We can swim for a while, and just try to relax. That’s why we came. Relaxation for once, alright?”

You stuck your tongue out at him, heading out the back door. You faintly heard Stiles sigh, following not far behind. You saw Scott flipping some burgers on the grill, wearing just his swim trunks. Lydia was lounging on a chair, obviously trying to tan, wearing a tight, hot pink bikini. Malia and Kira were splashing around in the lake, Liam floating on his back feet away.

Kira and Malia noticed you walk out, motioning you to join them. You grinned, kicking off your flip flops, tugging your shirt over your head and sliding your jean shorts off your silky legs. You didn’t notice Stiles standing in the doorway, watching you closely. You adjusted the top of the new bikini you had bought with Lydia days before the trip, making sure your tits wouldn’t fall from them the second you jumped into the water. You adjusted the bottoms, making sure they were not riding up your ass from sitting so long in Roscoe. Once you were sure you were ready, you did a cannonball into the lake.

Stiles shuffled in the doorway, biting slightly at his lip. He couldn’t break away from the sight of you adjusting your bikini, the light blue complementing your skin perfectly. He licked his lips, his mind focused on the way the bikini clung to your body, showing off the perfect curvature of your ass, highlighting your plump breasts. He looked at you in the water with Malia and Kira, seeing the water dripping from your hair and face onto your chest, running down the valley of your breasts. He shifted uncomfortably, his cock twitching in his dark blue swim trunks, the white shark on his left thigh shifting in its position every time his cock moved. He let out a small groan, rubbing his face.

Scott looked over at Stiles, making a face. “What has you all hot and bothered, Stiles? I can smell your heightened arousal from here.” Stiles fidgeted, trying to make coherent sentences at his friend. Scott closed the grill, dragging Stiles inside. “Is it because of your crush on Y/N?”

Stiles’ eyes widened, staring at Scott. “What?! I-I don’t…I don’t have a…” He paused, seeing the look on Scott’s face. “Am I that obvious?”

Scott laughed, looking out at you in the water. “To her? Hell no. Remember when Jackson used to flirt with her? She never knew until Lydia mentioned after he moved. She is the densest person when it comes to someone liking her.” He paused, turning back to Stiles. “But to me? Yes. I can smell your desire, remember? And it’s only towards her or when she is around. It is ten times worse today though. Is it because of her in that swim suit?”

Stiles nodded slowly, glancing out the window at his friends. “I didn’t think someone could be that beautiful. She’s even more beautiful than Lydia.”

Scott smiled, watching Stiles smile as he watched you in the lake. “I never thought you would get over Lydia. You should ask her out, you know. I’m sure she would say yes.”

Stiles shook his head vehemently. “No. I will not risk my friendship. She doesn’t see me like that.”

Scott laughed at the red face of his best friend. “Whatever you say Stiles. But, before you head back outside, you may want to take care of something.” Stiles saw Scott glance down, looking down at the obvious tent in the dark blue material. Stiles groaned, covering his face. “Dude, you’re a guy. It’s normal to get a boner. Just go get one off really quick upstairs. No one will even notice you are gone. There are two empty rooms left. Just pick one and let loose a bit.”

Stiles nodded, grabbing his bag from the couch and jogging up the stairs to find an empty room. He dropped the bag onto the floor in the corner, lazily kicking the door behind him. It remained cracked, Stiles not caring at the current moment. Everyone is outside, he told himself, pulling his white shirt over his head. He dropped onto the plush mattress, tugging at the string and velcro that held his shorts up.

Outside, you climbed out of the lake, grabbing a towel from the table near Lydia, wrapping it around your body. You glanced around, noting the absence of Stiles from the group. You walked over to Scott, sitting next to him on his lounge chair.

“Scotty, where is Stiles?” You asked him, seeing him glance at you with a sly smile.

“He wasn’t feeling great after driving for so long, so he headed upstairs to get out of the heat. You know the A/C in Roscoe is fucked up, so he was a little overheated is all. You can go see him if you want.”

You nodded, heading inside. You walked up the steps, trying to figure out which room he was in. You saw one door that was slightly ajar, heading there first. You went to knock, not wanting to barge in, when you heard his low groans from inside the room. You blinked, furrowing your eyebrows. You pushed the door open slightly, peeking inside the room.

Stiles laid atop the bed, his head pressed deeply into the pillows. His trunks were around his ankles, his hand grasped firmly around his cock. He jerked it in his enclosed fist, stroking his hardened length rhythmically. He let out small gasps of pleasure, arching his body against the bed occasionally.

You rubbed your legs together, feeling your pussy aching at the sight of him. Was it wrong to be watching one of your best friends getting off in the privacy of his own room? Yes, it kind of was. Did you regret watching? Not really. Something inside of you was fascinated with watching him masturbate, his hand wrapped around himself, fisting his large cock. You stared at the cock in his hands, realizing how big he was.

Fuck, why didn’t I realize he was huge? He can please any girl with that in their pussy.

Your bikini bottoms were soaked, and not by the water from the lake you climbed out of. You were dripping from watching Stiles jerk his cock, your arousal pooling between your legs. You tightened your hold on the towel around you, one hand sliding down to your clothed heat. Your eyes focused on his hand pumping himself, sometimes glancing at his face to see it contort in happiness, letting out small moans of pleasure. You had to bite your lip to keep from moaning along with him, feeling your fingers playing with your pussy through your bottoms.

You saw his body tightening, figuring he was growing closer to his orgasm. His breathing sped up, his hand jerking himself faster, clenching himself harder. His other hand scooped up his balls, playing with them between his fingers, giving them gentle squeezes. You stared in awe, watching him driving himself over the edge, trying to make out the words he was muttering under his breath.

Strings of his cum shot from his tip, covering his chest and stomach, his body lurching at his intense orgasm. He let out a decently loud moan, moaning one thing in his gaspy breath. “Fuck, Y/N. Just like that.”

You stared in shock, backing away from the door. He was thinking about me? You thought, biting you lip. The idea that he was jerking off to you made your body hotter, your core tightening slightly. You didn’t know you could be so aroused at that idea. You rushed off to the bathroom, closing the door quietly so Stiles wouldn’t hear you. Pressing your back against the door, you slid to the floor. You heard his door shut, his footsteps passing the bathroom and heading down the stairs. You took a few deep breaths, your mind wandering back to the image of his large cock in his hand, your pussy aching again. You stood up, leaving the bathroom in search of your room.

Downstairs, Stiles headed outside, sitting next to Scott who was eating a burger. Scott gave him a look, Stiles giving him a confused look in return. “What? What’s that look for?” Stiles asked, stealing a sip of Scott’s coke.

Scott shrugged, the smile plastered on his face, setting his plate down. “Did you have a good time upstairs?”

Stiles opened his mouth, closing it immediately after. He felt like there was something else Scott was implying, but he wasn’t sure what. “Well, yeah. You knew what I was doing Scott. You told me to do it.” Scott laughed, leaning back in the chair. Stiles glanced around, noticing one less body than there should be. “Hey. Where’s Y/N? Wasn’t she out here when I went inside?”

Scott’s smile dropped, his own look of confusion now on him. “Well, she went inside earlier looking for you. Did…did she now find you?”

Stiles thought for a second, processing what he was hearing. “What do you mean she came inside earlier? There was no one inside when I came downstairs. And she never came to my room.” Stiles paused, thinking about how Scott talked earlier. “Did you send her inside on purpose? Did you think she helped me or something? I was alone in my room jacking off, Scott. She wasn’t there.”

Scott looked bewildered, not understanding. “But I watched her go upstairs. How could she not find you? I told her you were there. Knowing her, she would have checked every room to find you, considering I told her you weren’t feeling well.”

Stiles’ face paled, remembering how his door wasn’t shut all the way. “Oh shit, Scott. How likely do you think it is that she…” He swallowed thickly, afraid to say what he thought happened. “Do you think she saw me masturbating?” Scott stayed silent, and Stiles knew Scott agreed with his theory. “Fuck. I am so fucked. I moaned her name. She was all I could think about. I just pictured her being on top of me, riding me. I came at the thought of her, moaning for her. Fuck.”

Scott frowned. “Maybe she didn’t hear anything. Maybe she left once she saw you. She hasn’t come back out, so she’s got to be inside still. Go find her and check on her.”

Stiles nodded, stealing the rest of Scott’s coke as he headed inside. He checked everywhere downstairs, seeing no sign of you. Your bag was still on the couch where he had left it, so he grabbed it and headed upstairs. He checked a few rooms, finding them empty and stuff sprawled out on the beds, telling him that the rooms were occupied. He got to the door next to his, reaching for the doorknob when he heard a muffled moan. He glanced at the door, twisting the knob and pushing the door open slightly.

You sat on the bed, back against the pillows that were propped up on the headboard. One hand was under your bikini top, obviously rubbing at your breast from the way your hand moved. The other hand was tucked inside your bottoms, Stiles only imagining what your fingers were doing. He licked his lips, hearing you moan again.

You pushed the bikini top up, Stiles staring at the hardened nub between it was clenched by your fingers. “Fuck Stiles,” you mumbled, head falling back slightly when you tugged at the nipple. Stiles felt his cock harden, hearing his name coming from your lips. You continued to mutter his name, mumbling different things you wanted him to do. Stiles bit his lip, picturing everything you want him to do.

Suck your nipples, eat your pussy, fuck you hard.

He glanced lower, trying to figure out what your hand was doing. It appeared you were rubbing your clit, but he couldn’t be too sure. He wished he could see more, cursing the bikini bottoms that clung to our ass so perfectly. He could see your hand dip further in, assuming your fingers were headed to your pussy. The pussy that his cock was always buried in while he dreamed at night. He saw the outline of your fingers more prevalent, the small bulge from your fingers disappearing as your fingers slipped inside your core. You moaned louder than before. “Holy shit, Stiles!”

His fingers scraped at the wall, his hand dipping into his trunks to stroke his cock. He was rock hard, probably harder than he was when he was masturbating earlier. He carefully jerked himself, watching you fingering yourself and massaging your breast between your fingers. He quietly sighed, wishing he was the one pleasing you.

He adjusted himself in his trunks, pulling his hand from them. He leaned closer on the door, trying to get a better look at what you doing. What he didn’t expect was his clumsy self to somehow trip on the carpet, falling head first into the room with a yelp. You let out a small scream at the sight of Stiles falling into the room, pulling your hand from your bottoms and adjusting your bikini top to hide your breasts.

“Stiles? What the hell are you doing?” You asked him, desperately trying to hide the blush on your face. “Why aren’t you outside with the others right now?”

Stiles stood up, trying to hide the bulge in his trunks. “Well I went outside and you weren’t around. Scott said you came inside earlier looking for me. I was worried when I couldn’t find you.” He paused, silence befalling you both. “Why were you inside earlier anyway? When I came inside you were in the lake with Kira and Malia.”

You couldn’t fight the blush any longer, biting at your lip. “Well, I got out and couldn’t find you. Scott said you were inside because you had overheated from the drive. I came to find you and…” You trailed off, seeing Stiles narrow his eyes at you.

“You what?”

You looked away, avoiding his gaze. “I couldn’t find you so I came to lay down.” Stiles rolled his eyes, knowing you were lying. Having known you for as long as he did, he knew what your tells were when you lied.

“That’s such a lie, Y/N,” he muttered, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Did you know you avoid eye contact when you lie? You’ve done that since I met you because you did it one time when I asked you if you spilled your soda on my notebook.” He got no response, making him sigh. “What did you see exactly when you came to find me?”

You slowly looked at him, feeling like you just dry swallowed a large pill. You debated telling him what you saw, afraid it would ruin your friendship if he knew you watched him masturbate while moaning your name. You were afraid even more if he learned that you were turned on by it. “I…I didn’t see anything, Stiles. Just drop it, alright?”

He groaned, pushing you back on the bed, his arms on either side of you. His face was close to yours, slightly huffing in annoyance. “Don’t lie to me. You watched me jack off, didn’t you?” You hesitated, nodding slowly at him. “Fuck. I knew it.” He pulled back, getting off the bed. His hand ran through his hair, pacing the room. “How much did you hear?”

You looked down at the bed, twisting the comforter between your fingers. “A good portion of it. You were already doing it when I got up here. I watched until the end. I watched you cum. You um…you moaned my name, Stiles.”

He froze, rubbing his face with both his hands. “Fuck. I’m fucked. I knew it. This is going to ruin everything.”

You got off the bed, grabbing both his hands in yours. “How is it going to ruin everything?” He stayed silent, obviously anxious since he couldn’t stay still. “Stiles, you were obviously watching me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have fallen into the room the way you did. So, you heard me, right?” Silence still. “I moaned your name Stiles. Because guess what. I watched you masturbate and I got horny from it!”

Stiles finally looked at you, feeling your fingers rub his hands softly. “You got horny from watching me? From hearing me moan your name?”

You blushed at him, looking away. “You make it sound so unreal. Why else would I come in here right after you finished? Watching you turned me on way more than I thought was possible. But honestly, what girl wouldn’t be horny after watching you?” He laughed, squeezing your hands tightly. You just rolled your eyes, pulling him into a hug. “You’re a jerk, Stiles.”

You pulled away, sitting back on the bed. Stiles stood awkwardly in front of you, feeling the silence that formed between you. He shuffled slightly, trailing his eyes over your body. “Fuck it, man.”

He leaned forward, smashing his lips with yours. He should have been surprised when your lips pushed back against his with the same intensity, but he was too focused on your soft lips against his. Your hands gripped at his biceps, nails digging into his skin in desperation. Stiles groaned, crawling on top of you quickly, pressing his lips harder against yours.

You sat up, your hands moving up to tangle in his silky, brown hair. Stiles grunted, feeling you clawing at his scalp, tugging at his roots. His fingers danced on your sides, sliding up to chest, kneading your breasts between his fingers. You let out a small gasp when his cold fingers brushed against the exposed skin of your chest, Stiles taking the opportunity to slip his tongue inside your mouth. His tongue massaged yours, holding you tightly against him.

His fingers tugged at the tie to your bikini top, feeling the fabric fall between you guys. You smiled into the kiss, taking his hands and pressing them against your breasts. Stiles broke the kiss abruptly, groaning loudly. He didn’t dare look down, your hands helping him squeeze your breasts between his fingers.

“Fuck. Am I really touching your tits right now?” He slowly looked down, his moth falling open when he stopped breathing. “Holy shit I am. I am touching your tits.” He rubbed them softly, licking his lips. “They’re softer than Malia’s…”

You frowned slightly, pushing his hands off and covering your chest. “Did you really just compare my tits to your ex’s? Are you serious, Stiles?” He could tell you were perturbed with his comment, a frown befalling his face.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. It just kind of slipped out. All I know is hers to be honest…” he trailed off, looking away. “I can go now if I bothered you that much.”

You shook your head, using one hand to lift his chin, his eyes meeting yours. “I don’t want you to go away. I just don’t want to be compared to your ex. It makes me feel less special.”

Stiles chuckled, pushing some hair behind your ear. “Fuck, Y/N. You are more than special to me. I wouldn’t have masturbated so many times to the thought of you if you weren’t.” He paused, realizing what he said. “I totally just told you I have jacked off to you more than once. You…you didn’t hear any of that, alright?”

You giggled, taking his hands and putting them back on your chest. “How about this. I will forget you said that if you show me a good time. I’m kind of curious what you imagine when you masturbate.”

He smiled, leaning in to kiss you. “Is that why you stayed to watch? Curious about what I was doing and what I was thinking? Curious about what my cock looks like under my clothes? Curious what kind of face I make when I cum with you on my mind?” You blushed, feeling his lips skim yours. “You know, they say curiosity killed the cat.”

You smirked slightly, leaning into him. “Well, good thing I’m not a cat. I’m just a plain ol’ human like you. So maybe we need to a proverb. How about…Curiosity gets you fucked by the guy you like?”

Stiles let out a drawn-out groan, pushing you back on the bed, crawling forward to hover over you. “I like that idea.” He skipped kissing your lips, leaning down to latch onto your nipple. Your back arched, grabbing at his hair instantly. Your nails scraped at his scalp, Stiles groaning against your hardened nub. He sucked at your nipple, tongue swirling around the nub. His hand groped your other breast, fondling it between his fingers. You moaned happily, squealing loudly when he took your nipple between his teeth, tugging at it lightly.

“Shit, Stiles,” you moaned, feeling his lips peppering their way to your other breast. “Who knew you were so good with your mouth?”

He chuckled, his hot breath fanning over your nipple. “You think this is good? Just you wait, baby.” His mouth latched onto your other nipple, sucking harsher than before, flicking his tongue over it this time. He didn’t repeat any of the same actions from before, pleasure rolling through your body at all the different things he was doing.

He pulled back with a pop, kissing his way down your stomach, tugging your bikini bottoms down in one quick motion. His fingers swiped over your wet core, probing the entrance with his middle finger. You mewled happily, Stiles smirking in your direction.

“So, I never did find out what you were doing before I fell in the door. Were you playing with your clit?” His thumb pressed against your clit, rubbing rough, slow circles on the engorged bud. Your body was shaking, electricity running through your veins. “Or, were you fingering yourself?” His thumb pulled away from your clit, two fingers sliding inside your wet pussy. They pumped slowly, taunting you, low whimpers coming from your mouth. “Were you thinking about what my fingers could do to you? What my cock could do to you? I’m sure you thought about how much better I could be compared to your little digits.”

You nodded your head vehemently, Stiles grinning at your response. His fingers speed up, thrusting quickly into your pussy. You twisted your hands in the comforter of the bed, head pressing deep into the pillows. Stiles curled his fingers, brushing against the sensitive spot on your walls, his fingertips tapping your g-spot consistently. He listened to you moan, relishing in hearing you moan his name.

His mouth attached to your clit, his tongue tracing his name on the nub. Your back arched against the bed, feeling the coil in your abdomen beginning to unwind. Your breathing increased, ready for release.

Until stiles pulled away, his fingers leaving you feeling empty. You stared at him in shock, watching him lick his fingers clean. “You…you just denied me my orgasm. This is so not fair. You’re gotten to cum today. Why can’t I cum?”

Stiles laughed, positioning himself next to you. “Well, maybe I want you to have some fun too.” You looked over at him, turning around on the bed. You tugged his swim trunks off his legs, discarding them somewhere in the room. His cock sprung free, slapping his stomach. You gaped, finally seeing it up close. The tip was red, precum dripping from the swollen head. He was larger than you thought, slightly wondering how he would fit in your pussy.

Your hand gripped him firmly, stroking his cock slowly. Stiles groaned, watching you jerk his cock in your hand. You glanced back at him, smirking. He cocked his head, watching you straddle him, your pussy in his line of sight. “I please you if you please me, Stiles.”

He grunted, pulling you back until his lips were on your core, his tongue delving deep into your pussy. You moaned, shifting so you could wrap your lips around his cock, your tongue passing over the tip. His salty sweet precum stuck to your tongue, your mouth watering at the taste. It wasn’t your first time doing something like this, but none of the guys before tasted good like Stiles did. Your hand wrapped around his base, pumping what couldn’t fit in your mouth, matching the pace of your sucking.

Stiles groaned, his tongue rotating around in your pussy, lapping at any juices you released. His finger found its way to your clit, rubbing at it vigorously. You felt you moan against his cock, your mouth hollowing in response. You cupped his balls, Stiles moaning against your pussy. His moan sent a vibration through your body, your fluids flowing before you knew what was happening. The second your orgasm hit, you gave a harsh suck of his cock. The combination of the suck on his cock and your fluids on his tongue caused his own release, streams of hot, white cum shooting down your throat.

He pulled away from your pussy, licking his lips clean of your juices that coated them. He felt your lips still on his cock, lapping at the tip for any last drops. When you finally pulled away and looked at him, he gave you a shocked look. “Did you swallow my cum?” You nodded, Stiles shifting slightly on the bed. “Fuck, that’s really hot.”

You leaned in, placing a hard kiss to his lips, your tongue bypassing his lips instantly. He tasted himself on your tongue, as you tasted yourself on his. His hands grabbed at your waist, rolling you over so you were under him. He broke the kiss, feeling his cock pressing against your pussy. He stopped, looking up at you. “I um…I don’t have any…”

“It’s ok. There are some in Lydia’s bathroom,” you told him. Stiles looked at you confused, and you knew what he was asking. “I was with her when she bought them because she used to sneak out here with Aiden to fuck. Because Aiden…you know…they’ve been unused in her bathroom cabinet. You should go grab the box.”

He got up, rushing to the door. Stopping for a second, he looked back. “The box? Why the whole box?”

You grinned. “You think one time is enough for me, Stiles? We have all weekend.”

He ran from the room without another word, coming back a minute later with the box of condoms in his hand. He dumped the contents on the table, tearing one open with his teeth as soon as he could. You watched him slide the rubber on his cock, licking your lips. “Did you know you have a nice dick, Stiles?”

He looked at you, glancing down at it. “Really?”

You nodded, pulling him by the arm on top of you. “Yes, really. Now, show me what it can do. I need to prove myself right that you can please a girl with that in their pussy.”

He let out a straggled groan, aligning himself with your pussy. He rubbed himself along your folds a few times before sliding inside carefully, your moans echoing around the room simultaneously. Stiles gave you a moment to adjust, pulling out slowly before he thrust himself back in. His moves started slow, building up his speed quickly. Your hands found his shoulders, your nails raking across the skin of his back at his fast, deep thrusts.

Stiles leaned back, wrapping one of your legs around his waist, digging himself in deeper than before. He grunted, pounding you into the mattress relentlessly. Your body was hot, your walls contracting around him in violent spasms. His large cock brushed against all your most sensitive spots with each thrust, prodding at your g-spot with his tip.

He grabbed your other leg, wrapping it around his waist as well, his fingers pressing deep into your thighs. He thrust sloppily into you, his breathing becoming heavier, turning into pants. “Fuck, Y/N. You are so tight. I don’t know how much longer I will last.”

You moaned his name, stretching your arms behind you, your breasts bouncing freely. Stiles watched them bounce with every thrust, his cock twitching at your noises. He watched your back arch, feeling your toes curl into his back. The look on your face was one of pure pleasure, your eyes closed tightly. “Fuck, Stiles. I’m going to cum.”

Stiles grunted, rubbing your clit. A few quick strokes of his warm fingers on your bud was all it took send you overboard, your juices splattering your walls around his cock, soaking the condom he wore. It did nothing to keep the heat from our pussy away from him, his seed spilling into the rubber around him. A shudder ran through his body, his cock sputtering as he emptied his load.

He pulled from inside of you, tying the condom and throwing it into the trash by the bed. Your arms wrapped around his neck from behind, placing a kiss to his cheek. “I’m not done yet.”

Stiles didn’t have time to process what you said, his back hitting the bed. You grabbed one of the condoms from the table, tearing it open and rolling it onto his cock. “Ok, you need to marry me already. You literally are the hottest, most perfect girl in the world,” Stiles muttered, watching you with the condom. He was surprised he was still hard to it.

“Take me on a date first before we talk about marriage,” you giggled, turning around to straddle him, back facing him. You aligned his cock to your pussy, sliding on it easily. Stiles propped himself on his elbows, one hand grabbed at your ass as he moaned. You glanced over your shoulder at him, leaning forward to roll your hips against his. The angle was new for him, but he couldn’t argue that is felt amazing. He watched the way his cock slid inside of you, your ass perfectly positioned in his sight. The way you moved was amazing, your hips rolling against his as you leaned forward, his cock slipping out of your pussy, coated in your juices already. When you leaned back, his cock would push completely into you, buried to the hilt, a loud moan falling from your lips. You were tighter than before, your walls hugging his cock tightly.

He grabbed your arms, making you lean back against him, your hands pressing against his chest. You shifted to stand on the balls of your feet, feeling Stiles jerk his hips upward, rhythmically thrusting into your pussy. His feet planted on the bed, speedily thrusting into your pussy. The sound of slapping skin filled the room, your breasts jiggled at his rapid thrusts, his balls bouncing as his hips jolted against you. Your moans turned into screams, Stiles’ name echoing through the entire lake house.

“Fuck, baby. I can’t last much longer,” Stiles whispered, gasping for air. Your whined, your body shaking furiously. Your walls clenched, your juices seeping out around his cock for the second time that afternoon, his seed exploding into the condom at the feeling on your tight pussy. You both moaned lowly, his thrusts slowing steadily until he had stopped completely, pulling from your pussy.

You collapsed on the bed, Stiles tying the condom and tossing it with the first one. He tugged you onto his chest, running a hand through your hair. “We should take a quick nap. I’m tired now.”

You nodded, leaning up to kiss his lips. “I agree. We can continue this later.”

And later, you did of course. All weekend, you found yourself sneaking off in some way, finding new places to fuck. You had done it in the lake, your legs wrapped around his waist while he thrust into you. You had done it in the kitchen, his cock buried in you from behind while he leaned you over the counter. Luckily, he fed you Cocoa Krispies while he fucked you, though they were hard to eat between your moans. You had done it in the shower once, your back pressed against the shiny marble wall. You did it on the couch, laying on your sides while watching some cheesy movie on Netflix.

The others were either supportive of your constant fucking, or too oblivious to notice when you had disappeared to moan his name. You weren’t completely arguing. You were enjoying your time with Stiles. The only thing bugging you now was that you were mindlessly fucking, no label attached. You were curious where you stood with him.

It was the final night, everyone gathered outside at sunset to light some fireworks for the holiday weekend. Scott and Malia oversaw the fireworks show, Kira and Lydia lounging in a hammock to watch the show. Liam was sitting in a chair, videotaping the whole thing for “pack memories”. You were curled up with Stiles under a blanket.

You rest your head on his shoulder, his fingers tracing miscellaneous shapes on your thigh. He slowly trailed them higher, unbuttoning your jean shorts and slipping inside to your clit. Your head shot up, giving him a look. “Really, Stiles? Right now, in front of everyone?”

He laughed, rubbing your clit slowly. “It’s fine. I’m not going to bury my cock inside you right now. But that doesn’t mean I can’t finger you a little” His fingers slid down, his finger sliding inside your moist pussy. You bit your lip, slipping your hand in his athletic shorts, grasping his cock in your hand, stroking it casually. He let out a low groan, covering it with a cough when Scott looked over.

You blushed slightly, feeling a second finger slip inside of you, spreading your opening and scissoring it. You buried your head into his neck, biting at his skin to muffle your moan. Your strokes got faster, your fingers tracing the pulsing vein on the underside of his cock. His face buried in your hair, breathing deeply, taking in the scent of vanilla from your shampoo.

“Alright!” Scott announced, Stiles pulling his fingers from your pussy quickly, licking them clean. You slowly pulled your hand from his shorts, looking over at the young alpha. “We are just about ready. Make your last-minute preparations!”

You pushed the blanket off your lap, rushing inside before anyone could say a word. You got to the kitchen, leaning on the counter, taking deep breathes.

“Y/N? Are you alright?” Your heart nearly stopped, the one person you didn’t want to follow you standing feet behind you. Stiles stared at you, worry written all over his face. “Did I do something wrong?”

You clawed at the counter with your nails, feeling your heart pound against your ribs. “Stiles, what are we? Or what do you want us to be? Are we just…friends with extremely good benefits? Friends who watch each other masturbate, mutually masturbate, then fuck? Or...” You trailed off, trying not to cry. “Are we something more?”

Stiles scratched the back of his head, slowly making his way to you. “Well, I was going to ask you out tonight during the fireworks show. I already talked to Scott about it. But I guess you kind of ruined that.” He leaned on the counter next to you, taking your hand in his. “I also was meaning to ask you something. The first day we were here, the proverb you said before we…did it. You said something about curiosity getting you fucked by the guy you like. I kind of assumed when I decided to act on my own emotions, but did you mean me? Do you like me? I mean, it would be totally awesome if you did, but I can understand if you didn’t. I’m not cool like Scott or other guys. I’m just Stiles Stilinski. I’m a loser human that-“

You cut him off with you lips, kissing him softly. When you pulled away, you smiled at him, rubbing your thumb on the back of his hand. “You have a bad habit of rambling. Yes, I like you, Stiles. You weren’t just a good lay for the weekend.” You paused, blinking. “Wait, you liked me?”

Stiles burst out laughing. “Holy shit, Scott was right. You are dense when it comes to people liking you.” You pouted at him, Stiles pulling you into a hug. “It’s cute. You’re so amazing.” He kissed your forehead, grinning like a maniac. “So, will you be my girlfriend? Will you let me take you on that date when we get back so I can marry the perfect girl of my dreams?”

You looked up at him, placing a simple kiss to his lips. “Yes, and hell yes. But first, fireworks.” You began dragging him outside, stopping at the door. “This time, no fingering me around the others. Save that for later tonight.” Stiles chuckled, leading you outside. He gave Scott a thumbs-up, sitting back in the seat you were sharing.

“Maybe we need another new proverb,” he mentioned, his arm wrapping around your waist. “Something like ‘curiosity gets you the person of your dreams.’”

You laughed, leaning into him. “I like that. And to think, this was all because I was curious about why you were masturbating. Maybe I should watch you again sometime.”

He kissed your forehead. “Anything you want, babe.”

[prettyyoungtragedy]

Nothing like Home: Chapter 12 (Steve x Reader)

Chapter 12 (Nothing Like Home)

Steve x Reader x (Angsty Steve Rogers!)

Summary: Steve has found Bucky, but the relationship between the reader and Steve has gone sideways. There isn’t a happy ending here.  Steve and the reader have a tumultuous relationship. There is so much working against them at this point, yet somehow hey always end up back at square one with each other.  

 A/N: Relationships get a little blurred and indecisive. I tried to normalize life for the characters a little. I like writing them as normal as possible.

 Word Count: 3202

 Warnings: Smut (Sorry guys it gets a little smutty!) *unapologetic though*

6 Months later.

 You had grown accustomed to your prosthesis over the last few months, and had begun training regularly again. The prosthetic arm didn’t feel any different than a normal arm at this point and you had gone back to hand-to-hand combat training and as Tony had said, you bounced back harder and faster than ever, even besting Bucky a few times in training. Your prosthetic leg turned out to be a better weapon than any other, the force behind each kick was enough to shatter even metal, and you ran faster than the average person easily. Sam had lost bet after bet when he tried racing you every day, and it was becoming a thrill to win against your fellow Avengers.

Steve stayed with you through every physical therapy session, and anything you needed he was there to help you, no questions asked. Steve even went with you to your psychiatrist sessions, of course you made him wait outside but he did so, without complaining. Bucky helped more than anything, he woke early every day to help you train when your physical therapy was completed. He trained hard with you, bringing you back to the physical shape you were before your accident and you would be forever thankful to him for it. Sometimes it was so easy to blur the lines between friendship and feeling something else with Steve, you had spoken about it and agreed to be friends. The past had to be left alone as everything was different now. There were moments when you found yourself pining after those old feeling, the feelings of companionship and love but you would immediately pull them into check.

The last thing you needed was to complicate your already complicated life some more, with a relationship. To make matters worse, your emotions began to betray you around Bucky as well. The lines of friendship were beginning to blur with his flirting and charming conversations.

               ____________________________________________

 “Cannonball!” Peter yelled,

You were laying on the pool lounger under the warm summer sun, it had been a while since you had any time off, when Peter came barreling across the pool almost landing on top of you. You were sprayed with water the second he hit the water.

“Parker!” you yell at him,

“I’m sorry,” he laughed but didn’t look one bit sorry.

“Asshole, you’re a little asshole.” You say and then slip off the lounger into the cool water and swim to the edge, getting out.

Tony and Pepper sat nearby, lounging around for once. It had been a quiet Saturday morning around the compound. Sam, Steve and Bucky were downstairs, enjoying their much-needed time off from avenging, by watching Netflix. Sam helping Steve and Bucky as usual catch up to this century, Natasha had left the compound for the weekend, she had probably gone to see Clint, Wanda and Vision were somewhere off in the building minding their own business as they did.

Peter would come over every now and again just to ‘Hangout’, as he put it, but you knew he just wanted to be around Tony. The kid was star struck, it was kind of funny for you to watch sometimes, he would eagerly listen to everything Tony said and try to copy him. It was like Tony had a son he wasn’t aware of.

“Parker, stop torturing Y/N,” Tony called out, “She could probably kick your ass.”

Peter looked at your metal arm and leg and laughed then ducked beneath the surface of the water.

You grabbed a towel off the rack, drying yourself off, you see Steve come up the stairs and your eyes almost popped out of your head. He was shirtless and wearing boardshorts, his muscles practically rippling as he walked towards you, you had forgotten just how handsome Steve was, his blonde hair falling into his blue eyes, he had a smile on his face when he saw you. In the warm morning sun, he looked like the actual definition of a super soldier.

When you think about the face that Steve is almost a hundred years old, you can’t help but laugh out loud. “What’s so funny?” He asks coming over to where you are standing, he has a dazzling smile on his face which makes your heart thunder and you begin to wrestle those feelings again.

“Nothing, you’re just old as fuck.” You say, tossing your towel playfully at him.

“Where is that coming from?” he chuckled, grabbing your towel, his eyes strayed over your barely clad body.

Suddenly you felt self-conscious in your two-piece, and regret not covering yourself up with a towel. “You going to swim?” you ask Steve, trying to distract him

“I was thinking about it,” he replied, “Alternatively we could go get a drink?” he suggests

You look back at Peter who was now sitting by Tony and Pepper, obviously talking their ears off. the couple seemed content to just listen to him, rarely adding to the conversation.

“Yeah, Uhh let’s go get a drink,” You agree, not wanting to be a part of whatever topic of conversation Peter had chosen to subject Tony and Pepper to.

The two of you make your way downstairs, to the bar. You didn’t bother to put any clothes on as it was way too hot in the summer heat to do. It appeared Steve had the same thoughts, as you arrive at the bar in the living room, Bucky and Sam are sitting on the couching arguing over what Netflix show to watch next.

“Mind-Hunters sounds better!” Sam said matter-of-factly,

“The title is Mind Hunters?! How good of a show could it be?” Bucky argued,

“Listen Bud, you’re ancient. I am not taking Netflix advice from an old man.” Sam shot back,

“An old man who could still kick your ass Pal,” Bucky retorted,

Sam and Bucky were always arguing about something, you knew they were both vying for the position of being Steve’s best friend. Not that it mattered to Steve because he was equally fond of both.

They both stopped talking and turned to you and Steve when you walked into the room, “Mind Hunters or Rick and Morty?” Sam asked you,

“Oh, Rick and Morty for sure,” you respond without hesitation,

“I told you!” Bucky exclaimed,

“Cap?” Sam looked at Steve confidently,

“I don’t care enough for either,” He replied walking up to the bar, he took two glasses and filled them with ice.

“Steve man, you suck.” Sam said throwing a couch pillow at Steve,

Steve shrugged smiling, he picked up a bottle of Gin and began making a drink for the two of you.

Bucky looked between you and Steve, “What are you two doing?” he asked curiously,

“Getting a drink? Isn’t it obvious.” You say,

“Uh huh,” Sam said sarcastically, “fifty bucks says they hook up tonight,” he turned to Bucky,

“Sam what the hell!” You exclaim, almost laughing

Steve handed you a drink, seemingly ignoring Sam’s remarks, “If you ignore him, he will stop” he says to you, Bucky shook Sam’s hand “I will take that bet,” he grinned.

You look between Steve and the two of them, “Is this actually a thing right now? Are we going to pretend that Sam didn’t just bet on us having sex today?”

Steve shrugged again, “Sam has not won a bet against either of us since last year, the odds are never in his favor” Steve said smiling, “So I wouldn’t worry too much,”

“Okay first no you two always bet on dumbass things” he says pointing at Steve and Bucky, “Secondly, we are watching Mind Hunters and I still hate you” he then says to Bucky,

“Ohhkay, I do not want any part of this narrative, therefore I am going to excuse myself” You say, standing up from your seat drink in hand,

“I’ll join you.” Said Steve following you toward the door,

As you walk out you hear Bucky and Sam cat calling, and making rude noises. You flip them off before walking out, sometimes it was easy to forget they were all just human. After everything you had all been through, it was nice to have a moment to act stupid and childish.

Drinks in hand, you and Steve walked towards his room, it was unintentional. You had been talking for a good few minutes before you realized you were standing outside his bedroom door. Steve was so busy talking he hadn’t realized it yet, he opened the door and walked in, you followed him in knowing this was a terrible idea.

“Singing in the rain or Lord of the rings trilogy?” Steve asked, flipping through the DVR. The two of you were sat on his bed for the last hour, arguing over what movie to watch and you still hadn’t picked on.

“You can’t do that!” you exclaim, throwing a pillow at his head, “Those two movies aren’t even in the same category, God, you’re the worst at this!”

“Can you just pick one?” Steve said exasperated, “We have been going back and forth for an hour now.”

“Fine, Lord of the Rings,” you say, but from the look on Steve’s face you knew that was not going to happen.

“Shall we just flip a coin?” he said, by this point you were so over choosing a movie, you fell face first into the pillows on the bed, annoyed.

“I need another drink,” You say to him, Steve tosses you the remote and stood up, for a moment you thought he was going to get the two of you more drinks, but he walked over to the bookshelf and pressed something on the wall and the bookshelf turned around revealing a fully stocked bar.

“Holy shit, you have a fucking bar in your room?!” you exclaim jumping up excitedly off the bed, “Hey wait, why don’t I have one of these?”

Steve chuckled, “Tony had this put in, I have never used it.”

“Are you actually serious? Is it because you’re Captain America that’s why you get all the cool stuff?” You say, walking over to the bar, all the alcohol was expensive. Tony had gone to the extent of even getting a bottle of whatever Thor brought from Asgard for Steve, put in the bar.

You get busy making drinks, while Steve stands next to you watching you. You are attempting to make martinis with cherries and it isn’t going so well. When you’re done you hand Steve his concoction to which you have added the outer space liquor, and then take yours.

“Cheers Buddy,” you raise and clink your glass with his, the second you take a sip you immediately spat it out so did Steve,

“That is disgusting I’m sorry” laughed Steve setting his glass on the counter, “I can’t drink that,”

“Oh god, neither can I, I butchered this drink” you agree, but then decide to down it anyway your throat burning a little from the amount of alcohol that was in the drink. You put the glass back down on the bar trying not to throw up, and look at Steve. He had a shocked look on his face and then burst out laughing. The two of you were overcome with a fit of laughter at this whole situation, you were also a little tipsy by now.

Suddenly, Steve moved a little closer to you, and brought his hand up to your face. He wiped the corner of your mouth with his thumb.

Your heart started pounding in your chest when you looked at him, with all his shirtless glory, Steve stood well over 6 feet a stark comparison to your 5 ft 4 inches. You move closer to him and look into his sky-blue eyes, you didn’t know what was happening, but you didn’t want to ruin it by saying anything either.

Steve unexpectedly pulls you toward him and kisses you, it was soft at first and you immediately lean into the kiss. Your mind saying this is a bad idea repeatedly, but you didn’t stop, neither of you did. You link your arms around his neck and pull his body against yours, his arm circled around your waist locking you against him. Steve lifted you easily, and with two sure strides you were at the foot of the bed and he laid you down on the bed, breaking the kiss.

“What are we doing?” you said breathlessly when you and Steve tumble onto the bed,

“Being young and reckless?” He replies, kissing you again. You pull away, and laugh at his comment

“Could you be more cliché?” You laugh as he kisses your neck and shoulders, “Also you’re the furthest thing from being young.”

“Shhhh” he said placing his lips on yours, but now you had started talking and you had a burning question you had to get out the way before you did this.

“Steve?” you say softly pulling away, “Can I ask you a question?”

He looks at you, waiting for the question, “Is this the first time you are doing this since 1945?”

“Y/N can you shut up, you’re ruining the moment,” Steve says looking at you, his blue eyes playful, “And no, this is not the first time since 1945 okay.”  

You went back to kissing Steve, shutting your mind up you just enjoyed the comfort of having Steve so close to you. His hands roamed your body, he began to untie your bikini top, and you felt him hesitate. You couldn’t wait any longer, you pulled off your two-piece and look at him, his gaze falling across your naked body before him. He pulls you towards him again crushing his lips against yours, and the two of you fall into euphoric coitus. You never expected Steve to be so amazing in bed, the two of you fell into a rhythm easily and you lost yourself in the passion of Steve’s lovemaking, forgetting everything else for a while.

                                       _________________________________________________

By the third time, you were both completely out of breath. Steve’s super soldier stamina kept him going for hours, not that you were complaining. It was the most sex you’d had in years. You both collapse into the messy bedsheets, out of breath, you felt sweaty and your hair was a mess.

Steve lay next to you, a light sweaty glow across his torso, he turned to you “That was the most fun I’ve had since 1945,” he remarked,

You laughed, “likewise Rogers,” you raise your hand for a high-five which he surprisingly obliges you with,

Steve gets up and goes into the bathroom for a minute then emerges wearing a pair of grey sweatpants, “We have a problem,” he announced,

“What?”

“Sam wins the bet,” he groans,

You burst out laughing, you had completely forgotten the bet Sam and Bucky had made a few hours earlier. “Ah fuck, maybe we should just keep this between us?” you say,

Steve agrees, “I don’t want to be out 100 dollars,”

“So,” you said getting off the bed and pulling the bedsheet around you, to cover yourself up, “I am going to go to my room and possibly contemplate the pros and cons of what just happened here, but I will see you later for dinner. Which I am telling you we are having later, by the way.”

A surprised look flit across Steve’s face, “Oh, you don’t want to stay a little longer?”

“I’ll see you later Steve, I need to go get cleaned up,” You replied, he looked disappointed and you felt kind of bad, so you walked up to him and kissed his cheek, “Dinner, later, you and me. Okay?”

He nods and watches you slip quietly out of his room. Your walk of shame back to your roomwas cut short when you bumped into Peter, he was looking at his phone intently when you both turned the corner and walked smack into each other.

“Oh shit, Y/N, I’m sorry I didn’t see you…” he trailed off when he looked at you once over, you were still wrapped in the sheet from Steve’s bed and your hair was a mess, it was obvious what you had just come from doing and you knew Peter had immediately guessed it when he looked passed you at Steve’s room door.

“Are those hickeys?” He asked, trying not to laugh,

“Parker, I swear to God, if you say anything to anyone,” You threaten him,

“Is this really the time to be threatening me?” he laughs, he lifted his phone up and you heard the shutter of the camera go off,

“Peter!” you exclaimed “Delete that! Now!” and reached for his phone but he dodged out of your way laughing,

“This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me in this building,” Peter said skipping away from you,

You attempt to run after him, but your legs get tangled in the sheet and you stumbled almost falling over.

“I’m keeping this photo for the next time you threaten to beat me up or call me a child,” Peter called out walking away from you with a big grin,

“You little shit!” You yelled after him, but didn’t bother running after him, you would cause and even bigger scene if anyone else saw you like this, so you rush off to your room, hoping you don’t bump into anyone else.

You walk into your room, and immediately shut the door behind you. You are barely make it to the bathroom before your mind starts panicking, you drop the sheet to the floor and look at it in horror. What the hell did I just do, you thought, a bubble of panic rising in your chest. You don’t know why you are in such a panicked state, it was just sex, but you knew it was going to end up being more than that at some point. You and Steve had crossed a line which you had vowed to yourself you never would cross with him. You pace naked across your bedroom floor, your heart hammering in your chest and suddenly you felt like you couldn’t breathe, you began to get dizzy and your knees buckle, you fall to the floor.

“Miss Y/L/N,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. says over the intercom in your room, “I believe you are having a panic attack, would you like me to alert Captain Rogers?”

“No! NO!” you gasp, “Don’t call him, I’m fine. Just open the windows please.”, F.R.I.D.A.Y. obliges and the windows to your room slid open the cool late afternoon air breezing in.

You squeeze your eyes shut, trying to steady your dizzying head. You had to get out of the compound, away from Steve and away from what you had done. You didn’t know why your first instinct was always to run away from your problems, but you didn’t care at this point. You grabbed underwear and pulled them on hurriedly then pulled on a pair of shorts, you barely had your t-shirt over your head when you were pulling the bedroom door open and standing at the door, with a raised hand about to knock was Bucky Barnes, with his impeccable timing for showing up at the worst times.

TAGS: @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @elaacreditava @seargantbcky @wildefire (Please let me know if you would like to be added to the tag list) :)

[evenstevensranked]

#19: Season 3, Episode 15 - “The Big Splash”

Louis surprises everyone by joining the diving team, but then surprises no one by only doing cannonballs. This eventually leads to Louis reevaluating the future he envisions for himself. Should he remain a class clown forever? Or should he start taking life more seriously? Meanwhile, Ren’s on a mission to win “Best Smile” in the yearbook.

We start our episode with Tawny, Twitty and Tom (oh wow I just realized that all of Louis’ friends names start with the letter T lol) sitting in the stands at a school dive meet. Louis told them to go, yet he’s suspiciously nowhere to be found. Until a mysterious hooded guy walks out with LJH’s team, dramatically takes off the hood and… yeah. It’s Louis. Louis is apparently good at diving according to Twitty and Coach Tugnut (“Stevens, you don’t stink so bad!”) but he decides to squander his talent for laughs instead by doing cannonballs. It’s so cringy. Not only because doing cannonballs at a dive meet and soaking the entire audience & judges is beyond immature -- but, because his cannonballs are so fake lol. There’s the initial surface splash, and then an immediate second one that looks like a freaking nuclear bomb. Unless we’re all watching this from the perspective of Shallow Hal and Louis is actually 600 pounds, it makes no sense. I know it’s just for the lulz... but still. The gang gets a kick out of it.

We cut to the subplot where we see Ruby rushing around and tallying people’s votes for yearbook superlatives. Ren finds out that she’s a lock for “The Big Three” -- Most Likely to Succeed, Most Intelligent, and Best Personality. Is it just me, or is Best Personality a little debatable? (No offense, Ren.) Monique asks who’s in the lead for Best Smile and Ren gets salty when she finds out it’s some random chick Kelly Kerwin. Sooo, now Ren is determined to beat Kelly for Best Smile, as if she doesn’t currently hold the title for literally everything else. Seriously, girl. Let some other people get their time to shine. Dang. 

After school, Ren lets the cat out of the bag to Steve and Eileen about Louis joining the diving team. Steve is beyond excited and tells Louis he’ll try to make it to the next meet. Clearly, Louis does not want his family to attend and witness his latest goofball stunt. 

Next, we get a time-lapse of Ren being her own personal dentist in the bathroom before school because god forbid she doesn’t win Best Smile. It then cuts to Ren having a smile showdown at school with Kelly. This is the second time in the series where we get that annoying sepia, cowboy standoff thing. This cliché never works for me, ever. This goes on for 1 minute and 14 seconds which might seem like a short amount of time, but my god does this scene crawl by. Definitely the lowest point.

Steve decides to attend Louis’ next dive meet and brings his boss, Mr. Kupchack, along with him. Oh, boy. Tugnut compliments Kupchack’s fancy blazer and he responds “Thank you. It’s the finest Italian suede” and all Tugnut can say is “.........too bad.” HAHA. Of course, Louis gets up there and does another massive cannonball, completely soaking the audience... Including Mr. Kupchack and his fancy Italian blazer. Steve is livid and rightfully so. 

Louis’ guilt is starting to sink in... 

At home that night, Steve has a serious talk with Louis. He tells him that he was incredibly proud before the meet, (hence why he brought Kupchack along) only to be disappointed yet again. Louis tries to brush off his immature decisions by saying “I’m a kid. That’s what I do. I have fun.” But, Steve poses the question “It may be fun now… But where are you gonna be 10 years from now?” This really resonates with Louis. It cuts to a dramatic shot of him looking at a crap ton of “Class Clown” trophies later that night. Uh… When did Louis get all those trophies?! Where does he keep them? They don’t really let us see lol. It seems like they have their own private display room! Do schools even give out trophies for prestigious accomplishments such as “Seventh Grade Class Clown”? That’s the real question here. Anyway. This fades into a daydream Louis has of a 10 Year Lawrence Jr. High reunion.

As a kid, I always thought 10 years was too small of a time jump. Especially because Louis imagines Tom married with two kids and another on the way. But, 2017 marked the 10 year anniversary of my own middle school graduation. Now I'm 24 and a recent college graduate. Not to mention a lot of my friends are already getting married, having kids and starting their careers of course. So… Looking back at this as an adult, it's actually pretty accurate.

I love how since Twitty is a musician, they had to give him a ponytail down to his freaking butt.

I’d also like to point out that Tawny is a fashion designer, wearing rope lights as part of her outfit, and talks about spending time in Rome. Was Disney Channel under the assumption that clothes featuring rope lights are a high fashion ~Rome~ thing? Exhibit B:

Louis’ daydream is so depressing... but I absolutely love it. He basically imagines himself as a total screwup man-child. He can’t relate to his accomplished adult friends because he never grew out of being his middle school jokester self. It’s too real. You just cringe the entire time because everyone is trying to have a mature conversation and Louis is literally incapable of doing so. One by one, they all become annoyed by Louis’ antics and make up an excuse to leave. Twitty’s the only one left in the end and asks for Louis’ email to keep in touch. We reach the final straw when Louis says: “It’s kommanderpoopypants@laughsat.net..... With a K.” OHHHH GODDDDDD IT’S SO BAAAAADDDDD. I just wanna die of embarrassment. Twitty is fed up at this point too and peaces out. Louis snaps out of the daydream and whispers “No...” to himself -- clearly deciding against a future like that. 

The moment Twitty lost all hope. 

That whole sequence is definitely the standout moment of the episode for me. Not because of how funny it is (like you might imagine a standout Even Stevens moment to be), but because of how not funny it is. It’s something we’ve never really seen on the show before. I think taking a peek into Louis’ potential pathetic future was so great. It’s almost like they expanded on what they started in Uncle Chuck. This profound moment segues back into the pointless Best Smile drama. I think it’s kinda interesting how Louis’ plot is very existential here and Ren’s is very superficial. I wonder if that was intentional or not. 

Since Ren was so desperate to win and forced herself to smile non-stop, her facial muscles end up getting stuck in a rather disturbing grin lol oops. She’s scheduled to sing the school song at the dive meet in 5 minutes. This somehow leads to Ruby giving Ren a makeover to “distract from the mouth.” She also gives Ren the brilliant advice to cut through the steam room on her way to the pool. The end result is the long lost sister of Pennywise. Ren, The Singing Clown: 

Hiya, Georgie!! (No, but really. She looks terrifying.) 

Even though he wishes Louis would take it seriously, Steve still goes to the meet to show support. Kupchack also makes another appearance because his first-grader son (Played by Hayden Panettiere’s little brother) wants to see “The Cannonball Kid!”

Louis has built up a name for himself apparently. There’s a massive crowd there to see him! I would imagine these are the same kind of people who stand right next to the log flume ride at amusement parks just to get soaked while fully clothed for whatever unimaginable reason. 

You can see that Louis is under a lot of pressure to either give in to the weirdos in the crowd and give them the cannonball they want -- or to take the first step towards seriousness and do an actual dive. In the end, his decision to do a real dive is so admirable!!! I love it so much. But, naturally, when he emerges from the pool and declares “You know what? From this day forward... Let it be known: I am not a clown” we see that he’s standing there as naked as the day he was born. 

I was going to ask why Louis is the only team member who wears trunks instead of a speedo... but I guess this is the reason why, haha. He needed to wear something flimsy so it could fly right off of him later I guess? lol. I’d also like to point out Tawny’s freaking FACE: 

Um... okay, gurl. I always thought it was weird how she (along with, like.. 50 other people) saw her future boyfriend naked in public like that.

Anyway, Louis scurries off embarrassed and that’s it! The “final minute” bit is Ren coming home from school with a copy of the yearbook already??? She won The Big Three... and the last minute honor of “Best Class Clown.” It’s like Louis and Ren swapped stories in the end. THAT’S WHAT YOU GET, REN! That’s what you get!!! This is also the second time we see Ren wanting to achieve perfection in the yearbook and having it totally blow up in her face. 

I love this episode. It was actually the one I was most excited to rewatch while I was organizing my list. Since Louis is my favorite character, this one obviously gets a lot of “personal favorite” points for me. As I mentioned, it isn't even necessarily funny. As soon as Louis does his first cannonball, I get kinda depressed actually lol. The reason I'm ranking this one higher is because I just really love the plot-line and this more serious side of Louis which is seldom seen this prominently. In contrast to Uncle Chuck though, this episode spins the depressing factor into a positive and leaves you feeling optimistic about Louis’ future. You get the sense that he’s actually going to finally make an effort moving forward.

This episode would be even more effective if they actually aired it in production order!! “The Big Splash” is #320 in production. “Model Principal” is #319 — Ya know, the episode where Louis acts like an actual clown and singlehandedly turns the entire school into a circus??? Yeah. They decided to place that episode 3 episodes after this one. If “Model Principal” aired the episode before “The Big Splash” — LIKE IT WAS MEANT TO — it would’ve been so much better. We would’ve seen the height of Louis’ ridiculousness followed by the sobering episode where he decides to knock it off. The episodes leading up to “The Big Splash” in production order are all next-level zany Louis stuff. The few episodes that follow don’t include too much over the top stuff from him, so it would all make total sense. Instead, we get a really solid episode for Louis’ character development, later followed by a total regression of that development. Curse Disney’s f’d up schedule! WHYYYY?!?!?!

Thanks for reading!!

Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope you all had a nice holiday. I took a break for Christmas, so yeah. I was actually so mad that the Christmas/Hanukkah episode wasn’t next on the list. It would’ve been perfect timing to review it last week. Oh, well. That episode is really good and deserves even higher than #19 ;) 

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