#but damn getting BLASTED with ads just for tuning into something once is annoying as hell

[risingsunresistance]

twitch giving me FIVE ads in a row im gonna kms

[zyonsay]

Wildfire, Chapter Five MV1

Fem aligned people may read but not f3tishize my work!!

Summary: Max feels unwell, he doesn't know why though.

Reader: Male

Warnings: Idk if i can define it as mental unwellness?

Now playing: 'Waste' by Kxllswxtch

AN: I may or may not return and update this chapter another time. Anyways, a Fun Fact for you: I originally planned six chapters for this fic, now i have circa 11 planned. I am great at planning my stuff, i swear! *falls to knees*

And for the people who haven't seen the SMAU from the last chapter: i chose 26 as Readers driver's number and i do know that it's Kvyats number. Max stole his life, why can't i steal his drivers number?

Comment or dm me to be added to the taglist!

(Here is the previous chapter)

(Here is the next chapter)

Max was deep in thought. The sloping hills and impressive forests raced by the window of the bus. His headphones were blasting a familiar tune, and he was sitting in his seat like a statue, unable to move. His gaze lingered on the landscape, though his thoughts were far away from the lush, green nature.

A bitter, dark feeling had made its way into his gut. He felt sick, like a bad cold had come over him, though he was perfectly healthy. His heart felt heavy. His eyes had the color of a mountain lake and usually held the depth of the ocean, though today they seemed… dull.

Right next to him, you were sleeping in your seat. Your soft lashes threw shadows on your tired face, and you too had earphones on, but their battery had died a few minutes after you’ve fallen asleep. Rhythmic, calm breaths left your figure.

This little team building camp was held near the beginning of the winter break, you still had two races to complete, one of which was Zandvoort. Christian was curious to see if you and Max would behave better after this little nature trip, after all that was the purpose of coming out here.

Max’s hands found their way to the hem of his shirt, messing with the dark blue fabric. His hands tingled and he overall felt uncomfortable. He could not pinpoint what made him feel so weird, but he just knew that something wasn’t right.

The Dutch was startled by a sudden tap sound. He then spotted a rain drop on the glass next to him. Then another one, and another one. A few moments later it was pouring down like crazy. Your eyes fluttered open at the loud splashing sounds against the bus’s window. Eyes trailing towards the window, you were greeted with two blue-greenish ones. Max’s expression was plain and held little to no emotion. You furrowed your eyebrows slightly, something was off. He then avoided your gaze and looked back outside. The bus shook as it was driving over a gravelly path now, waking up many of its passengers. But shortly after that, sleep got the better of you and you sunk back into your seat, huddled up in your sweater.

Max risked a look into your direction. You looked peaceful and contempt. He hoped that you hadn’t noticed whatever was up with him, but he knew damn well you had. As much disdain as he held for you, he had to admit, you seemed like a very empathetic person. Even if you made yourself look like an arrogant jokester to the media.

Someone shook your shoulder, and you woke up gasping, like you had just woken up from a terrible nightmare. Horner’s face greeted you; he was smiling warmly. “Get up y/n, we’re at the airport.” While rubbing your eyes, you got up and pulled your suitcase out of the now empty luggage compartment.

You stretched your legs, they felt wobbly after the long drive. Max exited the bus shortly after you, walking towards the plane while you stood in front of Horner. He noticed the worried expression on your face while your eyes trailed after Max.

The plane soared into the sky, you watched as the airport disappear in the distance, then you were above a sea of clouds. You glanced at the headphones in your lap with an annoyed expression. Not fully charging them beforehand was stupid, you thought to yourself. Once again, Max was sitting next to you, resting his eyes. What you didn’t know was that he struggled to find peace. His eyes were closed, but he couldn’t fall asleep. Sleep was a difficult situation for the past few days, he’d have trouble falling asleep and then would wake up at ungodly hours in the morning. The only thing indicating his messed-up sleep rhythm was the dark shading around his eyes.

The flight was followed by another excruciating bus drive, everybody has had enough by now and wanted to finally get a good portion of sleep.

The wheels of your suitcase made a smooth noise on the Hotel Lobby floor. The lady at the front desk handed you the keys to your room with a big smile, after walking around the corner you heard her whisper-yelling to her coworker who’d she just seen. ‘That was THE y/n l/n! I think I’m sweating Cassie.’

You tiredly rotated the golden keys in the keyhole and were greeted with a luxurious hotel room. The bed looked very inviting, its fresh white sheets beckoning you. There was also a fairly large closet, along with a desk and a vanity table. You were also granted an on-suite bathroom, with a shower which looks like it cost more than your life.

The bed is what your body longed for, but you wandered over to the desk. It had all the utensils you needed, but it was still neat and organized. There was a little box with small, perfectly square pieces of paper, probably for quick notes like a grocery list or a reminder. You grabbed a black pen and one of the colored papers and began scribbling.

A knock erupted at Max’s door, he’d almost ignored it, if it wasn’t for his curiosity. The dutch was very tired and wanted to go to bed as soon as possible. Before opening the door, he spotted a small paper in front of it. Someone must’ve slipped it underneath the door, he thought while picking up the paper. He carefully opened the door, looking down the hallway, trying to find whoever left him the little note. Though not very successful, the hallway was dead silent and there wasn’t a single person around. Strange.

Max then curiously examined the light-yellow object in his hand. The handwriting on it was squiggly and could’ve very well been from a toddler and a doctor at the same time. But the message that was inked on the paper was still very much readable:

‘I know you hate me, but I know something’s off. I hope you feel better soon, lmk if I can help you with anything. -26’

He knew exactly who left him this note. 26 was your driver’s number. A groan escaped his figure as he laid the paper on his bedside table before flopping onto his bed. This was a nice gesture of yours, but he’d rather nobody notice him not doing well. Max then scrambled to get off the bed and over to the desk. He pulled out a light green paper from the small box on his desk and quickly wrote something down. Very quietly, he snuck his way towards your door and let the small paper fly underneath it. What he didn’t know was that you were already knocked out, spread over your bed like a starfish.

‘Thanks, very nice of you. But I’m ok.’

Max was still in a light slumber when the first sun rays made their way through the window of his hotel room. He slowly sat up and stretched his arms, earning a loud pop from one of his joints. Last nights sleep was much better than he had expected. The white sheets were still fluffy as if he hasn't lain in them for a whole night. The dutch felt the need to shower, since he went straight to bed last night.

The marble shower wall looks stunning, he thought while lathering himself up. The water droplets ran down his body, soothing his aching muscles. Max hummed along to the tune coming from his phone on the sink.

He finished up and stepped out of the shower, dripping wet. Max fetched a towel and wrapped it around his waist.

He felt a bit better now. The heavy feeling in his chest had lightened a bit and motivated him to go out and do something. After all he still had a whole day before the practice for the next Grand Prix would start.

A knock on your door woke you up, startling you slightly. "Who's there?", you asked while padding over to the door.

"It's Oscar and Lando, we wanted to ask if you want to hang out?", you recognised Oscars gentle voice, then Lando chimed in "We havent seen you since last week! We miss you y/n!!" You know for sure that Lando was pouting like a child right now. Opening the door, you were greeted with two happy smiles. Before you could do anything though, Lando pulled the three of you into a big hug.

When he finally released you and Oscar, you bid them inside of your room. Oscar sat on the edge of your bed, while Lando spun around in the desk chair. "So, how was the camp? Did you survive Max?" You picked out some clothes from your suitcase. "Yeah, it was alright. Christian made me and Max stay in the same cabin. Obviously he was annoying, but nothing i couldn't deal with." You mumbled, while throwing on a T shirt and some comfortable jeans. You grabbed a tote bag and threw in your wallet, keys and other smaller items.

Lando jumped up from the chair and hurried you and Oscar out of the hotel room. "Let's go!"

______________________________________________________________

taglist: @velunis

[annoyed-galaxy]

Post-Destroy Ending

I bring from the grave of the beyond a fix-it fic serving up fresh angst and some fluff. Mass Effect destroyed my heart and with that major fucking cliffhanger, I just had to write something. But since there's a lot, I decided to break this up into chapters. Well, who knows how many chapters there will be, but just stick around I'm sure you'll have a great time. My writing is still rusty as hell, but I needed to get SOMETHING out. Anyways enjoy this! It's also on AO3 if you want that link.

Go!

It was the last thing she had ordered when she ran off into the jaws of death. He hated watching her go. Hated seeing her run back towards the beam with Harbinger raining down death. Tali had to tear him away from watching her run, dragging him back into the Normandy.

Garrus was on his fourth bottle of alcohol. The other three bottles were littered across Shepard’s nameplate. He ran his fingers across each letter of her name. It had been a couple weeks and Garrus still refused to put her name on the memorial wall. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. And he sure as hell wasn’t letting someone else do it.

They were still grounded on the uncharted world they had crashed into after the blast from the Citadel. While the Normandy was relatively fine, there were still some repairs that had to be made. There was also the issue with EDI. When the blast caused the Normandy to crash, EDI had suddenly collapsed, no longer functioning. Whatever the blast was, it didn’t kill just the Reapers.

The mass relays were destroyed, comm buoys were in pieces, so communication was very limited. Whatever happened back on Earth, whether people had recovered or not, was not making it to the Normandy anytime soon. The Reapers were defeated, but at what cost?

The door to the lounge opened and Liara sat next to Garrus. She grabbed a bottle of wine and began to pour herself a glass. “How are you feeling?” she asked, taking a sip.

Garrus grumbled to himself. He was drunk, his mind fuzzy and numb. “I’m fine,” he mumbled.

Liara nodded, not buying his story, but knew he hadn’t been okay in a while. “Tali has been working on EDI. She also brought Glyph back. In return, Glyph has been helping Tali with bringing EDI back,” Liara explained, hoping some good news would brighten his mood.

He looked at her, his face plates shifting. Part of him was annoyed that she would bring that up, knowing the possibility of Shepard truly being gone was most likely. But he was happy for Joker at the very least. “That’s good,” he mumbled, returning to his drink.

Liara frowned, worry crossing her face. “Garrus...I know you’re hurting, but...” Liara stopped herself. She didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry, Garrus. I know Joker has been talking about trying to make it back to Earth. But with the mass relays out, who knows how long it’ll be until we get there. Communications have been scrambled too.” Liara put a hand on his back. “It’s going to be okay Garrus. I promise.”

He stayed silent. He had nothing to say. He wanted to go back to Earth, back to the Citadel. He wouldn’t put Shepard’s name on the memorial wall until he had seen her cold corpse himself.

After a few minutes of silence, Liara finally decided it would be best to leave the turian to his sulking. She left with comforting parting words.

༻✧༺

“There’s a body over here!”

Her head was pounding. There were noises. Faint. Distant. Her body burned, stung, felt battered and bruised. She was breathing, but it stung. The voices came closer. She could no longer make out words, but she saw blinding lights come into view. She felt a weight lift from her, probably some rubble, and she couldn’t make out any faces. There were just blurred shapes and bright lights.

“Holy shit, it’s Commander Shepard!”

More shapes rushed over to her. Rubble was being dragged off of her. The light began to fade, her breathing slowing. She felt something cover her nose and mouth. Air filled her easily now. Her eyes fluttered shut and the noise faded away.

༻✧༺

“EDI!” Joker cried out as the robot sat up, blinking. He hugged her, tears forming in his eyes.

“Hello, Jeff,” EDI replied, slightly confused. She returned the hug, tentatively patting his back. He moved out of the way, allowing her to stand on her feet. “What happened?” she asked, looking around the room. She was in the AI core, Tali, Liara, and Glyph all stationed behind Joker, watching with held breaths as she was brought back to life.

“The blast from the Citadel took you out,” Joker explained, his arms on her shoulders. “But the Reapers were taken down too. Tali and Glyph have been working day in and day out to bring you back.”

EDI looked back at Tali and Glyph and smiled. “Thank you, you two. I did not realize I had...died.” EDI looked down at her hands, stretching her robotic fingers. “It felt like I had just stopped working. There was no afterlife.”

Joker put a finger under her chin, lifting her eyes to meet his. “It’s okay, you’re here now.” She smiled and took his hand.

“So what did I miss?” she asked, as they left the AI core. Awkward glances were shared between Tali and Liara.

Joker cleared his throat and took EDI to the bridge of the ship, letting her settle back into her usual co-pilot seat. The door to the cockpit closed as Tali and Liara stepped in. “Shepard activated the Crucible,” Joker began to explain. “Whatever it did, it destroyed the Reapers and other synthetic lives including you. But it also destroyed the mass relays and left comm buoys in scrambles. We’ve been stuck on an uncharted world for about a month now, trying to get you working again.”

“We didn’t feel safe, nor comfortable, taking off without you working again,” Liara added, offering a small smile to EDI. “That and the fact that the Normandy is currently offline.”

“You keep the Normandy in full function,” Tali tagged on.

Joker nodded. “Now that you’re back online, we���re hoping to make it back to Earth. The only issue with that is...”

“We don’t know how far away we are, nor how long would it take, or if we could even get there via FTL,” Liara explained, her voice low and sad.

“Is there a specific reason to going back to Earth?” EDI asked, pure innocence and naiveness in her robotic eyes.

Joker looked at Tali and Liara, asking for some backup with his eyes. Tali rubbed her hands together nervously. “We want to try and find Shepard.”

EDI tilted her head. “Is Shepard alive?”

The three of them exchanged looks once more. “We...we don’t know,” Liara sighed. “But Garrus seems determined to find out.”

EDI lowered her head. “Oh. Right. Garrus and Shepard were in a romantic relationship weren’t they?” Everyone nodded. “I will begin to run diagnostics on the ship then, to see what repairs will be required to get us off the ground once more,” EDI said, more optimistic and hopeful. It seemed to work as Joker, Tali, and Liara smiled a little more.

“I’ll let Garrus know,” Liara said before leaving the cockpit. She went to the crew deck, in the lounge looking for Garrus, but he wasn’t there. She went to the other side, the starboard observatory, but he wasn’t there either. She went to the main battery, wondering if he had gone back to calibrating to distract him, but he wasn’t there either. Liara could think of only one other place he would be grieving in.

As she suspected, the door to Shepard’s cabin was open, a somber tune of a piano playing through the speakers as she stepped out of the elevator. Laying on the bed was Garrus, a picture in his hand. Liara could tell it was the picture of the Normandy crew they had taken back on the Citadel. “Good news, Garrus,” Liara greeted, standing next to the fish tank. He looked up at her, his mandibles parting in curiosity. “EDI is back online. She is going to run a systems check and see what it will take to get us back to Earth.”

Garrus sat up, putting the picture on one of the bedside tables. “That’s what everyone wants to do?” he asked, not looking at her, still looking at the picture.

Liara moved closer, sitting on the end of the bed. “Garrus, you’re not the only one who wants to find Shepard. I, for one, do not want to see her name on that wall either. I want to at least see her body if she is...gone.”

Garrus snorted. “Weren’t you the one who recovered her body last time? After the Normandy’s first destruction?”

Liara nodded. “I was. Until I found her, I never lost hope. Even when I recovered her body, I still didn’t lose hope, especially since Cerberus planned to bring her back. I thought it was crazy, but they did it.” Liara smirked. “Death and Shepard are not good friends. She defies him at every turn.”

“I just...I don’t want to put her name on that damned wall. Because if I do, then it may be as well saying she’s gone. I...can’t accept that.” Garrus’s voice faltered, weak and strained. Liara couldn’t hear his sub-vocal very well, but she knew it was worse than his regular voice. She knew the pain of losing Shepard would be hard on him.

“Then let’s hope we can make it to Earth soon,” Liara comforted, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

He silently nodded as she left the cabin.

༻✧༺

Another month had passed by, the Normandy was still grounded, but basic functions were online. Power kept the basic necessities alive, powering Liara’s room where she spent most of her time, using her Shadow Broker resources trying to gauge the aftermath of the Reaper War. No matter how much she tried to get any information, with comm buoys out of commission and them being on an uncharted world, anything she received was scarce at best. She still had received no status about the Citadel, Earth, or what state the galactic civilization was in. The only information she could glean, was what everyone already knew; the Reapers were dead and the mass relays were broken.

Voices were raised in concern about food supplies. There was still plenty of food for everyone, including Tali and Garrus, but supplies would run out soon if they didn’t restock. James, Cortez, Tali, Garrus, and Javik all decided to explore the uncharted world in hopes to find some food. Tali had a scanner in her suit that could identify whether something was poisonous and dextro-friendly or not. The only thing they had managed to find was some berries for everyone except the quarian and turian.

“Great, we’re going to be living off berries,” James groaned, picking the bright red fruits from the bush Tali had just scanned.

“Be lucky we found anything at all,” Tali retorted. “Garrus and I still have to find food that we can eat.”

��To be fair, you guys are the only dextros on board so you’re not going through your supply as fast,” Cortez pointed out.

“Hopefully we won’t run out in general,” Garrus said, looking aimlessly at the horizon. The system’s sun was equal to the sun, Sol, providing the same warmth and light on this world’s surface.

“If we do run out of food, we can just eat one another,” Javik suggested. Everyone turned and looked at the Prothean.

“Of course the Prothean would say that,” James cackled. “Talking about salarian soup and shit.”

“Let’s try to avoid that outcome,” Cortez suggested.

The idle conversation continued as the group continued looking for more food.

“Liara.” EDI stepped into the Shadow Broker’s cabin, her arms behind her back as she waited patiently for the asari to notice her.

“What is it EDI?” Liara looked up from her computer screen, frustration painted on her face.

“I found something. Upon doing an internal scan of the Normandy, I discovered a signal that was sent about two months ago. A distress signal,” EDI explained.

Liara looked at EDI in curious surprise. “Oh?”

EDI motioned for Liara to follow back up to the bridge of the Normandy. Joker was sitting in his pilot’s seat, the seat turned to face the door of the cockpit. His hands were templed together and worry was bright across his face. “Jeff and I have already listened to the signal. I had to clear it up in order to understand it since the signal was so ruined.” EDI explained as she stood next to Joker.

“Keep in mind, it’s two months old,” Joker grumbled as EDI used her omni-tool to play the signal.

There was a lot of crackling in the beginning and then a cough. “Help...” Liara strained to listen to the static in the voice. “This is...Com...mander...Shep...ard. I’m...still alive...Please help...” The signal cut off then with one more cough from the sender.

Liara’s eyes widened as EDI and Joker looked up at her to gauge her reaction. “Don’t get your hopes up. The signal is two months old,” Joker repeated.

“Do you...do you know if this signal was received by anyone else?” Liara asked, her voice soft and quiet. It was hard to determine what her reaction was.

“No. As I said, I just received this signal when I was doing diagnostics on the Normandy,” EDI answered. “I cannot determine if the signal was sent to any available ships or if it was sent to the Normandy specifically.”

Liara crossed her arms, bringing a hand to her chin, stroking it thoughtfully. There was a reason Joker reiterated the fact that the signal was two months old. With no knowledge of whether or not the signal was received by anyone else, there was no guaranteeing Shepard was alive. Liara sighed. “There’s nothing we can do about it. But whatever you do, don’t show it to Garrus. Unless we can find out whether or not the signal was received by someone else, there is no reason to bank our hopes on this.”

Joker nodded. “I agree. And honestly, Liara? As much as I want to hope...I don’t think she made it.”

Liara smiled sadly. “We can only hope she did, Jeff.”

༻✧༺

Not sure if turian heaven is the same as yours, but if this thing goes sideways and we both end up there...meet me at the bar.

She was standing in the forest. There was no child there this time. No copy of herself. She was alone. There were voices surrounding her. She looked around. Her body didn’t hurt. She couldn’t feel anything. There was a bar on the opposite end of the forest. She could have sworn she saw a turian sitting on one of the stools, a bottle in its hand.

Her legs began moving, but like all the other dreams, she moved slowly, felt weighed down by a crushing force of gravity, moving impossibly slow.

Shepard.

She heard his voice again. All around the forest. She reached out towards the turian sitting at the bar. She wanted to call out for him, but her throat tightened and no sound escaped. Fire started to form around the turian and the bar.

Not again. Please. Not again.

Come back alive. It’d be an awfully empty galaxy without you.

The flames consumed the bar and the turian, just as his head turned to look at her; the blue eyes, the blue colony marking across his face, his visor, his mandibles parting at the sight of her.

We’re in this until the end.

She tried crying out, but the flames consumed him and the noise of the Reapers echoed all around her. A bright flash of red came into her view. She felt sluggish as she brought her arms up in a futile attempt to block the beam from disintegrating her. But the pain never hit.

༻✧༺

Six months had passed since the Reaper War ended. Food supplies had started to run short, even for the dextros on the Normandy. Despite all the exploring the adventuring party had done, they still found nothing more except for berries for everyone else. However, progress on getting the Normandy back online was going well. EDI had predicted that the Normandy would be airborne within the week.

The mood on the ship was tense. Everyone was excited to be airborne again. Garrus still kept Shepard’s nameplate close to him. People stopped talking about the possibilities of Shepard’s fate, not wanting to further upset the turian and the rest of her close friends. Games of poker were used to distract crew members from the low running food supplies and the restlessness of being grounded for so long on an uncharted world.

“Man I can’t wait to get the hell off this planet,” James chattered, fixing himself a plate of berry flavored scrap food. “We’re pretty much out of food and have been surviving off of berries and MREs for six goddamn months. We haven’t been getting nearly enough proteins we need in a daily meal.” He sat down at the lunch table where the other crew members sat. Tali and Garrus looked at him pointedly. He lifted his shoulders. “What? You guys still have food.”

Tali scoffed. “Barely. There wasn’t that much dextro-food compared to your guys’ food. So we started running out around the same time you guys did.”

Cortez smiled, offering some hope around the table. “It’s okay guys. EDI said we should be taking off here soon.”

“Yes, but how long until we get to a known system?” James countered. “The mass relays are still screwed and we haven’t even received communications in forever.”

“Not to worry,” piped the synthetic voice of EDI who had just rounded the corner of the mess room. Liara stood next to her, a small smile on her face. “Communications have been reestablished.”

Liara sighed softly. “The only problem is that the communications we do receive are delayed. Say, if something was sent four months ago, we would just be receiving it now, or later. So any news we do get is going to be late.”

“Fantastic,” Garrus mumbled, looking down at his plate. He had barely touched his food and Tali was half-tempted to snag what he didn’t eat.

“Getting communications up at all is a start,” EDI admitted. “As I said, it shouldn’t be long before I can get the Normandy back into full motion.”

“Please hurry,” James begged, leaning back in his chair. “I’m sick and tired of this planet. If we had more resources, I wouldn’t mind living here. But I’m gonna lose it if I managed to survive the Reapers just to die to starvation six months later.”

Cortez raised a glass towards James. “Cheers to that.”

Liara rolled her eyes just as Specialist Traynor rushed around the corner. “Everyone! Come quick! I just received a message from Admiral Hackett!”

Everyone perked up a bit at that statement. Most of the communications they received were garbage or were so insignificant that Liara had immediately deleted them. But a message from Admiral Hackett? This had to be good.

Everyone rushed to the elevator, cramming inside of it before stepping out into the CIC. Traynor rushed over to her computer and pulled up the message. “I haven’t listened to it yet, I just saw who it was from and decided to call everyone up.” Joker was leaning on the opposite side of Traynor, by Shepard’s personal computer. There was a glint of hope in his eyes at the news of the message from Hackett.

Admiral Hackett played a huge part in the Reaper War, commanding the forces that brought the Crucible to the Citadel. If he was sending a message directly to the Normandy, then hopefully it was good news. Or news in general.

The message came up, but the frequency was all scrambled, too much static to even hear words. A few tweaks later and the old man’s voice finally came through.

“Normandy. This is Admiral Hackett. With the comm buoys in disarray and mass relays destroyed, I don’t know if and when this message will reach you, but you need to come back to Earth as soon as possible. Do whatever the hell you have to to make it back.” There was a pause in the message as everyone looked at each other. Then the voice spoke again and the words that came out struck everyone.

“We found Commander Shepard. She’s alive.”

[insaneasgardian]

We’re Not Friends! ~ Thor Odinson

Summary: “We’re not friends”, something the Avengers have grown accustomed to hearing from Thor and Y/N, but this simply worded phrase doesn’t mean the pair are enemies either.

Ship: Thor x Reader maybe a platonic Natasha x Reader

A/N: This is a request by @jennie22feona​. I AM SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! I really do apologize and I cannot even give you a good reason as to why this was stretched, but it’s out now, and I hope you like it! It’s not even that funny or good, oof, I feel so disappointed, I’m sorry!

Y/H/C = Your Hair Color

Y/F/S = Your Favorite Show

I AM SO DISAPPOINTED IN MYSELF

.

.

.

“Can you two NOT argue for an hour?!” Steve Rogers exclaimed exasperatedly, throwing his hands in the air. Thor and Y/N looked at each other with a little smirk that none of the other Avengers could quite read. “We’re not arguing,” the blonde and muscular Asgardian reasoned, “it’s just some playful teasing!”. 

Steve shook his head, “Yes, well whatever it is, it’s the reason you two don’t work well on missions when paired together”. The others nodded, but Loki piped up, “Um- no actually, the reason they don’t work well when paired together is because they’re always making heart eyes at each other, they’re actua-” the trickster was cut off by Natasha who refused to hear the theory that her best friend who she treated like a little sister actually had the hots for the god of thunder.

“Why can’t you two just be friends?” she asked quietly. “WE’RE NOT FRIENDS!” the pair instantaneously yelled, startling poor Clint who sat right in between them. “Of course you’re not” Natasha mumbled, seemingly annoyed, but she was glad. She would rather prefer that Y/N rather not be Thor’s friend than be his lover, she was protective over the girl that way.

---

“I told you that you shouldn’t draw attention to our hiding spot...” Y/N told Thor as she shot another of the enemy down. The mission was meant to be a stealthy one, but Thor had ‘accidentally’ summoned some lightning and alerted the many HYDRA agents of their presence. Thor struck an entire group of them with Stormbreaker before answering his colleague, “At least I’m getting this mission finished quicker”. The young woman rolled her eyes before taking out a batch of the enemy with nothing but a pocket knife.

“Learn to embrace your mistakes darling” Y/N said smugly

“Okay, come here so I can give you a hug” Thor retorted

And thus it began once again...

Tony turned to Sam temporarily retracting his ironman mask, “I’m telling you man, it’s not some basic playful teasing between those two, it’s full on sexual tension”. Agent Wilson stared at the bickering pair and nodded his head slowly, “I ship it” he announced to his mission partner. Tony chuckled, “Yea, well don’t let Nat hear ya saying that, you know how she secretly hopes Y/N remains eternally virgin and only makes time for her”.

With this little quip at the redheaded assassin, the falcon and ironman took to the skies, keeping close watch on the two lovebirds down below.

---

“Thorrrrr, must you always make it rain?” groaned a very exasperated Y/N from the couch in the Avengers tower penthouse, staring gloomily outside the floor to ceiling windows.

“Y/NNNNNN, must you always complain?” The god of thunder retaliated, he stopped pacing and spun on his heel to look at the girl. “I can’t control the rain my love” he informed her. “That’s a lie” muttered Loki from his place next to the addressed woman. 

Natasha huffed, “She’s not your love’ Thor” a slightly jealous and protective tone in her voice was evident. Loki opened his mouth to say something and Thor and Y/N glanced at each other, but they all stopped their actions when Pietro burst in through the door, “I agree, she is MY love!” he announced. Nat expressed her distaste for this very vividly.

Whilst the redhead tuned Pietro out, angry thunder clouds gathered in the sky and stormed so violently that the entire tower started to shudder. Bruce and Tony stumbled into the room through the elevator, “Take it easy Thor, I think I might lose it any moment now” The brunette doctor said through gritted teeth. The billionaire nodded avidly, “I don’t want to make another tower, I like this one!” he added. Thor promptly apologized and willed himself to calm down, but not before shooting Pietro a dirty look nobody could quite understand the reason behind.

---

Natasha Romanoff and Wanda Maximoff stood on the second floor of the training room, onlooking Thor and Y/N who were sparring with each other. “You know some of the guys are saying their friendly jabs at each other may be something more,” Wanda expressed, pausing to take a sip of water, “like sexual tension” she ended.

Her spy companion rolled her eyes, “Those guys are idiots, there’s no way Thor and Y/N like each other, they’re always arguing” she firmly said, “Almost like an old married couple...” the Scarlett Witch truthfully stated, observing her two friends on the ground floor try to pin each other down.

Nat stayed silent, expressing no emotion perfectly just as she was trained to. However, young Miss Maximoff saw several different thoughts running through her head... literally. “Maybe it’s time to just accept they were meant for each other” she whispered softly.

The other woman clenched her jaw as she watched Thor pin his opponent down, only to be flipped over and onto his back by her. “No” she said, before turning and walking swiftly out the training room.

---

“They’re actually not arguing for once” Bucky whispered to Clint. “And they’re actually getting along” he observed. Both of them were sitting at Tony’s bar area watching the god of thunder and the pretty Y/H/C haired agent watching Y/F/S together and laughing.

“About time” the voice of a certain witch remarked, Bucky and Clint turned to find the rest of their team watching the display in the common room. “What are you guys doing here?” the archer questioned and Vision was the one to respond, “We wanted to watch the rare event unfold,” he glanced nervously at Natasha, “and of course insure that it’s kept ‘PG’“. Loki shuffled nervously before speaking, “Perhaps now would be the appropriate time to tell you that-”

“Shhhh!” the group collectively shushed the god of mischief as they viewed Thor saying something inaudible to Y/N that caused her to turn a deep shade of pink. “What did he say?” Bruce asked, and Sam shrugged, “Complimented her hair or something?”. 

Tony was about to suggest something else that wouldn’t be considered very child-friendly but just then, Pietro uttered out a choked and horrified gasp and directed everybody’s attention back to the two team members on the couch. Sitting there with the TV volume on full blast in the background, Y/N and Thor were kissing each other

Agent Romanoff of course would have none of it. “GET AWAY FROM EACH OTHER RIGHT THIS INSTANT!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, causing the Avengers around her to flinch, and the couple on the couch to break apart. Everybody froze, Nat looked like she actually wanted to cry, Thor and Y/N looked confused, and everybody else just stood there awkwardly.

Finally, Loki broke the silence and cleared his throat before stepping forward. He spoke again, but this time nobody interrupted him because they were glad for the awkward silence to fade. “This is what I wanted to tell you... these two have been a couple for 6 months”. Disbelieving gasps and sounds of shock echoed from the throats of the audience.

“Wait, did you guys not know? It’s not like we tried to hide it.” Y/N asked from her place on Thor’s lap. Everybody save for herself, her boyfriend and his brother shook their heads. “Oh” was all the young lady could manage. Silence settled over once again and this time Captain Rogers broke it.

“So all that arguing...” “Playful couple teasing” Thor clarified, everybody nodded in understanding now as they looked around at each other. The entire team then proceeded to look at the black widow, whom they expected to look extremely devastated. She did, but much to their surprise, she sighed and went to envelope Y/N in a big hug.

“That was unexpected” Pietro commented, “What, finding out Thor and Y/N are a thing or seeing Nat be seemingly okay with this?” Wanda asked him. The speedster scratched the back of his neck, “Uhhh... both?” his sister nodded in approval, “Both is good”.

Natasha pulled away from the hug, “I never thought the day would come, and honestly I wish it never did, but if your happy, I’m happy” she said, causing everybody to let out a loud ‘awww’. “You’re acting like my mom” her best friend giggled, smiling up at her. 

“I just love you that much,” she responded before looking at Thor, “hurt her, and you’ll wish you stayed in Asgard for eternity. The Asgardian gulped, and looked terrified but nodded in understanding.

Then there was that damn silence... AGAIN

“So...” Y/N started, “Anyone else wanna make threats and hug me or are we done here?”

[yeet-man]

One's Rebirth (Chapter 2)

A/N: I might upload a chapter every week from now on. I don’t know, depends on if I get any requests to keep me busy or not. With that said, I hope y’all enjoy chapter 2 of One’s Rebirth!

By the time Mr. Aizawa had entered the classroom J’me was in a world of his own thinking about everything he could do with his quirk. 

“Good morning class I am your homeroom teacher Shouta Aizawa.”

“Good morning Mr. Aizawa!” Everyone said in unison except for J’me who was still distracted in his own world.

Mr. Aizawa saw that J’me was distracted and called out to him. “Young man do you think you will be a hero if you just sit and daydream all the time?” He said this loud enough to snap J’me back into reality.

“Hm?” He said looking at Mr. Aizawa before noticing he was talking to him. “Oh my bad EraserHead, I don’t think daydreaming will turn me into a superhero. I've just been distracted lately. My apologies.” 

Shouta Aizawa was surprised that he already knew exactly who he was. “Hmm...you’re fine, just pay attention more alright.”

He responded with a small nod so he wouldn’t take anymore of his time.

He coughed to get the room’s attention on him again. “Now then today we will be doing a quirk apprehension test to test the limits of your quirks and the potential of them.”

“Wait what!?” Everyone said in unison again except for J’me. He was wondering what kind of changes were made when he stepped foot into this new world.

“That’s right, we will be having a quirk apprehension test now hurry up and get ready. After that meet outside to start the test.” 

J”me sighed, even though his blood was pumping and adrenaline started to flow throughout his body he didn’t feel that excited surprisingly.

Mr. Aizawa had left the classroom by this point and everyone was mainly talking with each other except for J'me, he was actually getting ready for the test. He would be at least till someone walked up and started to talk to him.

“H-hello my name is Izuku Midoriya and I was wondering how you knew that Mr. Aizawa was EraserHead.” 

J’me turned around to face the real protagonist in the series. “It’s simple really Midoriya, when you do alot of research on things you tend to find out about other things. It’s really simple actually.”

Midoriya was nervous and muttered to himself as usual which pissed J’me off. When he was in conversations he wanted it to be back and forth not waiting for one hundred years for an answer.

“Look Midoriya if you won’t say anything else I’ma go ahead and get ready.” J’me started to turn around and head out the door to get ready for the test.

“Wait!” Midoriya called out before J’me had left the area. “W-what is your quirk if you don’t mind telling me.”

J’me turned his head around to face the green haired boy. “You’ll find out when we do the test, also the name’s J’me Falcon.” With that he finally left the room to get ready for the test and got ready to beat Midoriya and Bakugo.

By the time J’me got outside and to the spot they were going to take the test at, everyone was already there and proceeded to look at him.

“Y’all got a fucking problem with me being late?” He was getting annoyed that everyone was looking at him.

“Everyone pay attention!” Mr. Aizawa spoke up so everyone would look away from J’me while he settled into the crowd around him and watched Mr. Aizawa.

He went over the rules and stuff for the quirk assessment test and had Bakugo go first as an example just like the normal timeline.

Bakugo had gotten into a baseball pitching like stance. He brought the ball back behind his head with his right hand. Bakugo then bought it forward and threw it, adding explosions to the throw. It made little 'o' shaped circles of smoke as he went up into the air and came crashing back down into the dirt.

705.2 meters. That was the distance the device read when Mr. Aizawa pointed the said device at the ball when it stopped rolling. 

Everyone was in shock seeing Bakugo's score, whispers started to break out from the crowd before Mr. Aizawa shut them up.

"One more thing before we start the quirk assessment test, the one who comes in last place will be expelled from U.A." 

"What!? That's unfair it's only the first day of school!" A girl from the crowd called out. She stepped forward and looked at Mr. Aizawa. She was Uraraka Ochako which J'me remembered her for having a huge crush on Midoriya later on.

"Are disasters fair? Are tsunamis, hurricanes, and tornadoes fair? No they aren't and neither will life."

Uraraka showed a frown on her face and disappeared back into the crowd while Mr. Aizawa continued.

"Now then let's begin, Midoriya you're up next."

Now this is where a little bit of the timeline changes. Instead of Midoriya needing two tries to transfer All for One into his finger he only needs one.

Midoriya stepped into the white circle with the ball in his hand. He got into the same baseball pitching like stance Bakugo did, bringing his right hand behind his head. He then launched the ball forward using All for One but only at his finger, the last contact with the ball.  

The ball flew through the air at amazing speeds. A couple seconds passed before the ball landed on the ground, reaching a total of 705.3 meters. Everyone was shocked except J'me.

Bakugo walked out from the crowd and started yelling at Midoriya. "WHAT THE HELL YOU QUIRK LESS NERD! WHEN DID YOU GET A QUIRK!" He was furious that Deku had beat him even if it was by a single decimal of a meter.

A sudden explosion could be heard, it was Bakugo using this quirk to go after Deku. Before he reached him Mr. Aizawa and J'me acted. J'me got in between the two rivals while Mr. Aizawa used his quirk to tie Bakugo in place. 

"Bakugo! None of this nonsense you are an adult and not a mere child now act like one."

Bakugo struggled against the special kind of rope that was holding him back. "You...why are you trying to protect Deku! He's a weak, quirk less bastard!" He said, still trying to break free.

"One reason Bakugo it's because I. Hate. Your. Fucking. Guts. Also you are a pretty big cunt." 

His eyes widened and he became even more furious and attempted to escape but ultimately failed in doing so. "I'LL KILL YOU DAMN IT!" He kept screaming these words at J'me till he just tuned out Bakugo.

J'me turned his attention to the green haired boy and began to walk over to him. "You are alright Midoriya?" 

Midoriya was shocked to see someone stand up to Bakugo like that. "Y-yeah I'm f-fine...uh J'me how are you able to stand up to Kacchan like that?" 

"That's something you best not worry about." He smiled at Midoriya and turned to Aizawa. "I'm guessing that this is done here? If so, may I go next." 

Mr. Aizawa nodded and J'me stepped into the white circle while Midoriya went back into the crowd. Bakugo still struggled but was let go soon enough after he had calmed a little.

J'me looked in front of him and took a deep breath. "I can't make handsigns in front of everyone, that would be extremely embarrassing...maybe I can do this..." He muttered, having a plan in mind that was worth trying. He exhaled and tossed the ball up.

For J'me it felt like everything started to move at a slower rate but that was just his mind. He pulled his right arm back while his left arm stayed at his side. His fingers closed only leaving his palm the only thing that was open on his hand. As the ball was falling J'me muttered something to himself. "Wind Style...Gale Palm..." This was the name of the jutsu he wanted to use.

The wind style gale palm was a jutsu that when used would send a huge blast from the user's palm and to their opponent. The blast could be dangerous depending on how much chakra was put into it. J'me put enough for it to just go further than Bakugo's score.

J'me went into a baseball pitching position but left his other arm at his side. His right arm was at neck level and behind it a little. As the ball fell in front of his eyes that's when he trusted his arm forward in hopes his plan would work.

For a split second, nothing seemed to happen, all of a sudden an enormous blast of wind came from J'me's palm. Since the ball was small and had little weight it blasted into the open field. The area around J'me was a little destroyed, dirt was sent everywhere and to some people in the crowd could feel the wind from where they were.

Since J'me was not expecting that kind of blast he fell on his ass. While the ball was flying through the air everyone made a 'o' face. 

The ball flew through the air at incredible speeds. When Mr. Aizawa checked it to see the distance it showed 1,732.9 meters.

Everyone gasped at the score J'me had gotten, even Aizawa showed a small smile.

J'me looked down at his hands and noticed something new that wasn't there before. Injuries on his arms? There were cuts going all up his arms that weren't there beforehand. Maybe it was from using his quirk for the first time? He didn't understand why something like that would happen. Nonetheless it probably wouldn't be the best to question it right now.

He stood up and put his hands inside his pockets to hopefully avoid questioning. He made his way back to the crowd, once there Midoriya walked up to him.

"J'me your quirk is so amazing! The way you sent the ball through the air was cool!"

He gave a little smile before speaking. "It was nothing besides that's not even the base of what I'm able to do with my quirk."

Midoriya gave a smile and nodded before he walked back to where he was standing. He was excited to say the least about J'me's quirk.

The quirk assessment test had ended as if it was five minutes not over an hour.

Mr. Aizawa pulled the list of everyone's score and place. "Instead of going over individual score's just look at the board to figure out where you landed."

J'me looked up at the board to see that he earned a nice third place while Midoriya ended up last.

"I was lying, no one is going home, I lied just so you would give it your all on the test." Mr. Aizawa had surprised everyone with his lie except J'me and Momo.

The class was dismissed soon after. On the way home Kirishima started to run after J'me so they could speak.

"Hey! Wait up!" Kirishima yelled, running to catch up with J'me.

"Hm...?" He turned around to see the red headed figure running to him.

"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you but I wanted to get to know you better. You seem like a really cool person." He spoke slowly to catch his breath.

"I see...what all do you want to know about me?" He turned around, started walking at a pace Kirishima could keep up with.

"Well I just want to know everything about you. In my opinion you were amazing in the quirk assessment test." He said following behind J'me to the train station.

J'me chuckled as he was walking. "Naw I wasn't amazing. I just did the best like everyone else."

Kirishima chuckled as well. "I thought you were tho, I mean the way you threw the ball looked really amazing!"

"Thanks Kirishima I appreciate it man." He offered a fist bump and Kirishima accepted.

"So how do you know my name?" He was curious to know how J'me was able to figure it out quickly.

"Oh uh I happened to know someone who was able to get me the roster and what everyone looked like in 1-A." He made up a lie on the spot wanting Kirishima to believe it.

"Oh I see!" He fell for the lie as if it was the truth.

They soon arrived at the train station. They exchanged numbers and went there separate ways.

On the train ride home J'me looked at the window and started thinking. "Why was I put here? What do I have to do in order to head home?" All these questions ran through his head like an endless loop.

An hour goes by and the train comes to a stop. J'me stood up and left the train, heading in the direction of home. 

By the time he got home he realized something else. His brother nor sister were here only his mother.

In the real world J'me had an older brother and an older sister. He did hate them sometimes but they were family so he couldn't hate for too long.

The house was big as if four people lived here but it was only two. He walked directly to his room and threw his stuff on the bed.

"Why the hell is all this happening? Let's see how did my last day go before I got here? It started off as a normal day, I woke up at five in the morning to get ready for school. The bus ride was also normal, sat by myself and listened to music." He kept thinking out loud to figure out how he got there.

"My classes were normal and so was the bus ride home. After I got home I just fell asleep since I was tired only to wake up in this world." What J'me didn't know was the thing that happened when he was out cold 

He sat down on the bed and started thinking about the new girl since he couldn't figure out how he got here. "I wonder how she got here...Mari was her name right?" He had only remembered this because when Mr. Aizawa called her name she stepped forward. 

He laid down and closed his eyes thinking of how they got here. He fell asleep and started dreaming of many things at once.

He woke up at midnight because someone was blowing up his phone. He sighed, turned to his right and grabbed his phone only to see it was Kirishima.

"What the fuck does he want at this time at night?" He thought to himself.

He texted him back so he would stop blowing his phone up. "Kirishima, it's midnight man what do you want?"

"J'me! Hey man you think we could meet up somewhere? I need to talk to you and it can't wait till tomorrow."

"You want me to sneak with the chance of getting caught just to meet up so we can talk?"

"Well when you put it like that it sounds bad..."

"You better be glad we became friends Kirishima. I'll see at the corner store near my house and get there as fast as you can." He gave Kirishima the address and took off.

Walking through the dark streets of Tokyo, Japan J'me found it looked astonishing. He enjoyed the five minute walk that took him to the corner store. Once he got there he sat down and waited for Kirishima.

It wasn't until thirty minutes later that Kirishima had finally made his appearance. "I'm sorry I took so long man." He spoke quietly as he sat down next to J'me.

"It's alright, now what do you want? Why did you make me sneak out so we could talk?" He was confused by how Kirishima had done this and whatever it was had to have been a good reason.

Kirishima sighed and put a serious expression on his face. "I know you were lying about how you know class 1-A. When I got home I did some research and found out that the list of the roster had never been leaked. Tell me the truth on how you know us J'me."

His heart began to race as Kirishima spoke. How did he figure that out? How much time did he spend on research? He took a deep breath and exhaled. It felt like hours before J'me spoke up. "Fine you want the truth...I'll give it to you. I'm originally not from this world, you see where I'm from this place is a show called My Hero Academia. I don't know if I'm supposed to be here or not and I'm trying to figure out how I got here. That's how I know y'all but since I got here the timeline is starting to take effect. You see there was one student that I didn't know and it was Mari...I better stop speaking before I completely fuck everything up."

Kirishima gasped in complete shock at how J'me knew them. "What! That's so cool! You gotta tell me everything!"

"No! Kirishima I can't or else everything I change now please forget I said this." He slowly stood up and began to walk home. Before he completely left he tilted his chin to Kirishima. "I'll see you at school tomorrow Kirishima!" He waved goodbye and walked home.

J'me easily got back inside without being caught. He went into his room and laid down. "Hopefully Kirishima shuts his mouth..." He repeated this a couple times before passing out.

The next day would truly be the start of his new life in My Hero Academia.

[rj019]

Title : Genius, YouTuber, Artist, Musician and Spider-Man

Fandom : MCU

Pairing : Starker(tony stark x peter parker)

Rating : Mature (NSFW, Sexual Content) but it'll be in the later part of the story not in few chapters of starting.

Prompt : Social Media

Read on ao3 here. And Ch 0 here.

Chapter summary:

Avengers finding out things about Spider-Man.

Here's 1st chapter! Enjoy!!!

_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_

CHAPTER 1

Peter went home and just go to sleep after cleaning up and eating something. He doesn't want to worry about anything right now he's really tired. He knows that now probably all eyes are going to be on Spider-Man. He just needs to lay low for a while and people and media will forget about it soon. As for shield he doesn't want to think right now so he went to sleep.

But before he got too deep into sleep his eyes went wide open as he got an idea to take care of shield issue once and for all. He finally relexed and went to sleep happily.

 

____________________________________________

 

The day after ferry incident at Avengers 

 

The Avengers were in the common room area watching news while having breakfast for last day at the tower since tonight the things were gonna moved to the compound. And they were leaving tomorrow morning.

The news was about Spider-Man and the ferry incident that happened yesterday. Suddenly some news reporter said that they got exclusive footage of the ferry incident. Now everyone was curious about it and wanted to see what actually happened there.

Then the footage played. It was shot from the port. They sees as the some guy with metal wings was fighting with Spider-Man. He was trying to escape from his web. It wasn't so clear as it was in distance. Suddenly an energy blast happened and the ferry was split in half.

Everyone was shocked as to what was that blast. Now even Tony was more interested.

The ferry was sinking but it suddenly stopped. Spider-Man had connected both sides strong points with his web.

Bruce said, " How strong are his web to hold that much of weight together?"

Suddenly webs broke and ferry again started sinking. 

Everyone gasps.

But then again it stopped. Spider-Man was holding it together.

"Jesus Christ! How strong is this guy?", Tony said.

But it didn't look like Spider-Man could hold on for a long time but suddenly some bots were seen flying towards the ferry. Some bots were on the left side, some were on the right side of the ferry. They started pushing ferry togather. But some bots were still in the air. As the ferry got together, the bots in the air started mending it together. The clip ended.

Everyone was shocked as to what just happened. Tony asked Friday to get the clip and play it at the bots part. Tony started analysing it. His thoughts were confirmed that the bots were using arc reactor technology. Tony was in speechless for a while. 

"Who is this spider guy? How does he have my arc reactor technology and all this bots and stuff. Does he even have AI in his suit? It looks like it which will explain how he called the neno bots there." said Tony.

"May  be he had figured out your reactor. Crom the look of it he looks like a genius if he is one who made all those neno bots and AI." Bruce replied.

Tony tells him, "If he had figured it out then how does he not showed it the world. He could have sold it and got so much money. He would have made fortune."

"May be he does not want attention on him and wants to keep it to himself. As for why he didn't sell it, it can be that he knows how much danger it can be if it's in wrong hand. The guy can be genuinely good. After all if he had bad intentions, he would have shown it till now. He is out there for years. Even before NY battle. I saw some of his videos where he is helping people from aftermath of the battle on YouTube." said Pepper.

Nat and Clint were silent. 

Steve spoke up, " Not only that his strength stronger than me or Bucky combined. Why is this guy out there on street and not in Avengers team?"

"Shield is trying to get in contact with him from even before Avengers formed. He has been out there for almost 7 years. We don't know anything about him at all. Not who is or what his powers are or if they are biological or not. Everytime anyone goes after him he somehow knows someone is following as lose them. He was on Fury's list to get on the Avengers. He was on the top spots. But he never got to interact with him. Sheild is still trying to find out about him. The guy is good at cover his trials." Nat explained.

Everyone was blown away by that.

" I don't think so after this all Fury will get him away after this. He can be a big threat if he has this much power in his hand and ever gets on the other side." Clint adds.

" We need to find out who he is. If he is smart enough to figure out my arc reactor and make those techs, I need to have him work for my company and on our team." said Tony as he stood up.

" Wanna help Brucie? And all of you?"

Everyone nods. They all wants to find out who he was. They were bunch of curious heads. 

They tried all afternoon but got nothing and Tony was annoyed.

They decided to take break. Nat, Pepper and Wanda were watching some video on YouTube with others when he and Bruce entered the common room. Looks like the video just started. 

Pepper called them to watch it with them and played from the start.

There was a guy with mask who was playing a tune on guitar and started singing. The song was about Avengers. His voice was so pleasant to hear. There was so much details in lyrics. It continued for 2 minutes. After that video got cut. And the guy appeared again and said 'hey guys it's me again your cinnamon. Oh it's embarrassing to say this name now that I'm much older. I can't believe it's been so many years since we started this channel. I was like 6 when my aunt made my first video. Well it was my new song about the Avengers. Hope you guys liked it. Now let's go to today's video. I'm going to paint a portrait of all of the Avangers' whole team, everyone, new and old members in 15 minutes today while answering some of you guy's questions.' video cuts again.

Wanda paused the video. 'The song is so good. The lyrics are really detailed.' she said as others agreed. She played video again.

The guy appeared again but this time in a different place with canvas colours and all things to paint with. He starts working on canvas fluently and fast but neatly like he's been doing this for years like a professional artist. There was a woman with same mask as him sitting on chair beside him. He turned to her and said 'As you all know she is my Aunt and she will be reading the questions. You can start.' 

The woman smiles to camera and started cheerfully, 'Hey everyone once again! Let's get started with questions. So the 1st one from @user01 how much is your IQ? Your experiments are damn awesome and thing you make is just wow.' 

The boy smiles to the camera but go back to painting as he replies, 'I don't know I have never took an IQ test. I don't want to scare people away ' he gave a quick wink at the camera then goes back to painting. He is already done with base and outlines.

The lady starts to laugh and asks other question. ' this one is from @user02, are you still studying? ' the lady gave camera a weird look which said seriously?

The laugh can be heard from behind the camera. But the guy ssh them down. And replied 'Well you can say I am since I'm working to get my 4th PhD. Next question.'

' @user46 asks who is your favourite avanger? Look like this is a new to you videos. '

Everyone was paying attention now. Eager to know who was it.

The guy continues to paint as he smile and said, ' welcome to see our madness. My favourite avanger is Iron Man. He has been my favourite even before the Avengers were formed since he started. Tony stark has been my idol and crush from when I was 12. You can imagine how I must have felt when I found out he was Iron Man. If you wanna know there is a reaction video on my channel from 6 years ago.'

The lady asks next question ' @user8502 here wants to ask why can't I hack into you account to find out who you are? ' The lady and the camera guy and the guy himself starts laughing but his hands not stopping.He was half done and it was already looking great. 

When they calm down, the guy starts speaking ' you atually tried. Well it's good I made my account unhackable all those years ago cause I didn't want anyone to know who I'm and I still don't. Atleast for now. ' 

They continued with next question, '@user18qq how old are you?'

'I'm 19 and going to turn 20 in 5 or so months.'

'@userttl do you sell your art works?'

'No I'm sorry but I don't sell my work. I have a entire room filled with my all work since my childhood to now in my house.'  He smiles fondly.

'@user77kl what's your sexuality? Are you in relationship? '

This time the aunt continues to speak up, 'not that I know of. Are you cinnamon? '

The guy blush and shakes his head ' No I'm not in any relationship and I'm Bi. Come one aunt let get to next question I'm almost done' he blushes harder.

The aunt coos but ask the next question ' so @user63 wants to know what is your plan for future? '

' I haven't thought yet. I will probably applying for jobs in some famous companies. I'll stark industry too. Who knows if I get the job there and meet my crush. ' the guy smiles. He is almost finished he is just adding details everywhere. The portrait look awesome and he is still adding so much details. It's on professional level good and it not even done in even 15 minutes its only been 12 minute 47 seconds.

'ok looks like you're almost done so last question from @user3945 do you write your songs lyrics? They are so deep and detailed. I've heard all of your songs. You have some ones for individual songs too for Avengers. ' the aunt read.

'Thank you so much for listening to my songs. Yes, I myself write lyrics and compose all my songs.' he replied.

The guy adds some last details and finishing touches. ' So that was the last question for today and my painting is done.' he look behind camera ' how much time it took? '

The camera guy replied, 'it's been 13 minutes 53 seconds' 

' well looks like it took less then 15 minutes. Tada!!! ' he motions to portrait painting.

It was outstanding. It didn't look nothing like it was done in less then 15 min. The video cuts. Then it back again the boy and his aunt is standing togather smiling at camera.

The guy spoke, ' Thank you everyone who watched my video. Please like, share and comment. And if you are new and liked my video you can subscribe my channel. And as always guys if you wanna know how the portrait looks after drying, I'll be posting a pic of it at my Instagram. Check that out. Bye guys see you in next video. Till then take care.' 

Everyone stare at screen as the video finishes.

Rhodey speaks up, " It's a second genius we found in one day. Jesus 4th PhD at 19. Seriously? "

Wanda butts in " The video is 8 months old"

Scott joined in, "Is it only me who is all of a sudden feeling dumb? "

Pietro replied, " you were always dumb."

" If he gets in applies for job at SI we'll find out who he is, unlike some spider." Tony said.

" The guys is telented. Did you see his painting? It was awesome and so detailed and he made it in less than 15 minutes. I was on a professional level good may be better. I can't imagine if the guy did take his time to make something, it will definitely be a master piece. " Steve said.

" No one's gonna talk about the boy's crush on Stark?" Strange said.

Everyone looked at him startled.

"When did you come?"

" I'm here since the song part. You guys didn't noticed. " He replied smugly.

"Tony has been his idol and crush for eight years now. Woah! Even before you become Iron Man." said Clint.

" That mortal did look like there'll be a cute face beneath that mask, what do you think son of stark? " Thor asks.

" Yeah he was cute and had nice voice and all but I'm not gonna date any fanboy if you guys are implementing on that. " Tony sternly replied.

They were talking about the boy when FRIDAY spoke up. " Boss you are having a call from Happy."

"Connect the call Baby girl."

" Hey Happy"

" Boss the plane has took off. Everything is in order."

" Okk Hap. Thanks. "

The call disconnected.

" Looks like we're moving tomorrow as planned."

 

 

 

Not even half hour later Happy's call came again.

"Hey Hap. Everything fine?

" Boss! The plane has crashed at the Coney Island Beach."

Everyone's face turned to horror. They all stood up and went to suit up.

"What the hell Happy. I thought you said everything was in order."

" I'm sorry boss but everything was. The police is already at the scene. They said there was some guy webbed up there with a note from Spider-Man that he was trying to steal the stuff from plane. Some guy called 'flying valture guy'. I'm already on my way to the scene. "

" We'll be there soon too. " 

The line cuts off.

 

Avengers reached at the scene. It looked like disaster. Happy came to them.

"Boss everything is safe. Spider-Man had removed the carrier boxes from the fire before it could damage and the guy who wanted to steal it was webbed up to it. Sheild agents took him to the jail. He is the same guy from the ferry incident yesterday. He was selling some illegal weapons which were mixed with alien tech, they were after him for a long time."

Avengers let out the sighs. 

" It's good nothing's stolen or damaged. Get the stuff to the compound. This time we all will be going with it." Tony said as he motion to the others.

____________________________________________

 

Next day at the compound in the meeting room

 

 

Nick Fury and the Avengers were having the meeting.

" You all know about yesterday's incident was handled by Spider-Man. The plane which was crashed at the beach was not supposed to crash there. I want you guys to look at this video clip which our satellite captured." Fury said as he played the clip.

Spider Man and the Vulture was fight on the top of the plane. Valture broke on of the wings and plane started to crash towards the city and the buildings. 

Spider Man webbed the othe wing and changed the direction of the crash. The clip ended.

"You must have got enough idea how strong this guy is from this and the ferry incident. He is got so much power and advanced technology in his hand. If he is to ever turn on the other side. He can be a great threat. But he isn't showing any signs of that happening since it's been years since he is doing this superhero stuff and looking out for little guy. He had defeated many supervillain like green goblin, lizard, doc oct, electro, sandman etc. I think he will be a great asset to the team. I want you guys to find out who he is and convince him to join the team. Shield has been trying for years but he always got was without any traces. I'm giving you this mission. Hope guys can do it. "

Before anyone could speak up there was a cough heard which was non of there's. As the looks around the didn't saw anyone. They got into a fighting position. 

_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_

Cliffhanger!! Hope you guys liked it.

(人*´∀｀)｡*ﾟ+

(Peter has finished the 4th PhD mentioned in the video in this chapter. Cause the video Avengers are watching are eight months old. He even finished this fifth PhD in chemical engineering too but now he doesn't want to do anymore studying for now so he isn't working on any and is atually thinking about starting to find a job.

And Howard and Maria lives at Malibu mansion.)

[saltandburn-ilovesamwinchester]

Salem Nights

Dean x Reader

Warnings: fluff, smut

A/N: I really enjoyed this! Hang in there folks!

The tapping sound of keyboards and swishing of papers filled the bunker's library. There had been zero cases in over a month and now that it was October, your were sure to find something. The scary movies weren't cutting it anymore, now you needed something real.

"I've got nothing," Dean huffed and threw the news papers onto the table. Sam's expression the same. "Maybe there isn't..."

You threw your hands in the air shushing the room. "I think I found something," your excitement boiling. You giggled and showed the computer screen to Sam and Dean. "Supposedly, there was a siting of a witch in... wait for it.. Salem Massachusetts. Every year, two weeks before Halloween, some young girl goes missing an' you wanna know what everyone says about all the victims, they were last seen walking past the main cemetary after visiting the local historic sites."

"Wait a minute," Sam laughed. "This could be any story someone made up and Salem is known for it's 'spooky witch stories'. Why does this excite you so much?"

"Sam," you squeaked and looked at Dean for help, but finding the same confused brow raise. "This is Salem we're talking about! Have you never seen Hocus Pocus? Come on dude, I know the two of you are getting restless just as much as I am. I don't ever complain about going on the cases that you guys choose. Please let me have this one!"

Dean rubbed his hands across his face before a smile spread across his lips. "The kid's got a point," he said and looked towards you, your eyes looking at the table after hearing the nickname. He only used it because it annoyed you. You put your feelings to the side for a minute and looked up to find those beautiful green eyes on you. "All of us will go crazy if we sit here any longer. I'm sure we can find some activities to enjoy while we are working."

You couldn't hide your excitement any longer, jumping up and walking up the library steps. "I'm going to pack my bags," you laughed and raced to your room. "This is going to be amazing," you screamed over your shoulder.

"We leave at three," you heard Dean's voice echo.

...

The next morning you woke up to Baby's engine purring. "Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," Dean said and caught your tired eyes in the mirror. "I was starting to wonder if you were going to sleep the whole way. This is your trip after all."

You laughed and sat up further in your seat looking between the boys. "Ya know, Dean, you could just wake me and tell me to get in the car. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you like carrying me when I am still asleep." You smiled your best smile, running your hands through his short hair.

"Yeah, yeah," Dean blushed and fiddled with the radio, trying to distract himself from your touch. He finally found his classic rock station and the last advertisement was going off, followed by the tune of a familiar Halloween song.

"Oh no," Sam and Dean groaned. They knew you would be singing in a heart beat. "This must be some special playlist or something they are doing," Sam sighed and sat further into his seat.

You couldn't help but giggle and started to sing the first verse. "I put a spell on you," you leaned into Sam bumping his shoulder. "Because you're mine," you slid your ams arcoss their seat now nudging Dean. For a split second he found your face, his tongue slipping past his lips to wet them, until his wondering eyes found the road again. The fall colors outside the Impala windows made his eyes and face seem brighter. He was showing his age in the yellow and orange light and you shivered.

Sam looked at the two of you like you had went crazy. "Wh.. what Sam? Can't keep up," Dean cleared his throat trying to adjust his stiff jeans the best he could. "I put a spell on you," Dean hummed quietly.

"This is going to be a long trip," Sam rolled his eyes and looked out his window.

...

The Impala rolled into town as the sun was setting. You couldn't believe how beautiful this place was. The old buildings from left to right. You couldn't hear the conversation from the back seat, but you could have sworn Sam said he had seen the word 'witch' at least five times already.

Dean pulled into the first hotel as soon as you got into Salem. "Maybe once we get settled we can start one of our tours," Dean looked at you as you made your way to the front office. "Two rooms, please," he smiled at the clerk. The girl behind the counter typed something into her computer and handed Dean the keys, one for you and the other for him and Sam. Oh, how you wanted to be sharing that room with Dean.

You were happy to find that your room wasn't but two doors down and not across the hotel from the guys. A blast of warm air comforts you when you step through the door frame. There was nothing special about the room, but you did smile at the fall colors that decorated the room. Maybe you weren't the only one who thought Salem would look weird without them.

Once you threw you things down on the table the small room had to offer, you checked you hair and makeup you did on the ride there. "As good as it's going to get," you smiled and twirled your ponytail. You jumped when the sudden knock at the door pulled you from your thoughts.

"Coming," you sang and bolted for the door. Before you, the two Winchesters stood. "Ready," you asked and stepped outside.

"Hey, I spotted this shop right as we came in. I figured we could check it out first," Dean smiled at you and your knees almost buckled. Did he really see the store and think about you?

...

The three of you stopped just outside the shop door and looked in different directions of the store. The wood on the building was stained from years of weather, hex bags hung on the shutters and small signs were tapped on the windows. "On sale. Cast a spell on any friendship jewelry," Dean read and laughed. "Hey, what if I buy you something and you buy me something and we see what the 'spell caster' has to say about us?"

"Great," muttered Sam. "I'm going to find us something warm to drink. You two go and geek out."

"You're on Winchester," you giggled at his offer and walked through the tiny room before waving goodbye to Sam. The smell of sage hitting you fast, sending you and Dean into coughing fits. It was almost too funny. "I'll take this isles," you pointed at the men's jewelry. "An' you take that one. We meet at the palm reader's table and then our first tour," you ordered.

It didn't take much convincing Dean and you hummed to yourself looking at the beaded jewelry. You were admiring a beautiful hand crafted watch when you read the note at the bottom of it's box. Watch your soulmate fall for you. "Sounds cheesy. What the hell," you laughed and put the cover over the box.

When you found your way to the palm reader's table, you spotted that familiar leather jacket and a calmness in those beautiful green eyes. Apparently Dean didn't want you to see what he picked out for you because his box was closed too.

"Next," you heard the gypsy behind the booth say. You and Dean slid in across from her and smiled at the older lady. "Oh, I know just the spell for you two," she smiled and her dimples showed for a split second.

Dean made a nervous glance towards you and you saw his hands shake. You bumped into his shoulder playfully like you had in the car, his smile reaching his eyes. You hadn't heard her spell end and the small lady cleared her throat for your attention. "That'll be seven fifty, doll face," she said and Dean fumbled for the change. "One more thing," she added. "Before the sun completely sets, before you wear your jewelry, you must pass the old Witch House or the spell doesn't work."

With a quick goodbye you and Dean made your way out the door, finding Sam outside with three cups of cider. The blast of cold air hit your nose and cheeks in a matter of seconds. “Damn it, it’s cold,” Sam mumbled before taking a sip of his apple cider. “The two of you can have this. I’m going back to the hotel to research.”

You and Dean giggled as you watched the baby brother scoot between tourists on the busy street. His head ducking every sign that hung low and his ‘I’m sorry’ to everyone he bumped into on the small sidewalk. “Hey, maybe we should hit that witch house first like the lady said,” his eyes finding yours again and he reached for your free hand with his. “In case we see someone or something trying to get you,” he smirked when your eyebrows raised at his touch.

“I like the sound of that, Winchester.” You smiled and gave his fingers a light squeeze before wondering further down the busy street. Leaves were falling and swaying in the cool breeze all around you, and the bright shade of the sun made the small town glow with its orange and yellow beams. Your eyes caught sight of the witch house tour sign outside a iron gate covered in the thickest of vines and leaves. “Well this is it. It’s more beautiful than what I was expecting,” you let out a deep sign and turned to Dean. You were a little shocked to find his gaze on you instead of this house.

“Mmhmm.. I have to agree,” he smiled and brushed a stray strand of your hair behind your ear.

You were caught in each other’s stares and blushes when a small woman with a slim figure walked up to you. “Will the two of you be joining the tour tonight,” her voice chirping when she spoke and you nodded yes, not trusting your own voice to speak. “Right this way, then.” She smiled and gestured towards the larger crowd. You looked at Dean one last time and nodded at the group to join them.

“Before we go in there,” Dean smirked. “Do you think we can exchange our gifts now,” he asked and his face lit up even more.You had never seen the hunter before you so happy about something so small.

“Okay, Dean. Close your eyes.” You watched his eyes flutter and adjust to the movement before you pulled the small box from your bag and took the top off. The glass clock shining in the sun light. “Alright, open.”

There was so many emotions that crossed Dean’s face in that moment, you couldn’t tell if he liked it until he gave you his best ‘ Dean Winchester’ smile. “This is beautiful handwork, Y/N! I love it, thank you,” he licked his lips and gave you his wrist to wrap the band of the watch around it. You smiled when a thought about dressing Dean Winchester crossed your mind.

“My turn,” you giggled and put your hands over your eyes like a little kid.

“Okay, open,” Dean’s voice almost a whisper. You put your hands down at your sides and then they came to your face, covering your mouth. The dainty necklace swinging from Dean’s fingers. “I know you love fall so much, I wanted you to have something to remember tonight by. And I know you like the color red..” he trailed off when he caught your blush, staring at the little red pumpkin on the small chain.

“Dean this is the sweetest thing. I love it so much.” You turned from him and pulled your hair over your shoulders, waiting for him to drape the necklace in its place. He turned you around to face him when he was through. “Come on, let’s not keep them waiting.

There was more to the tour than history and the chill in the house. There was a small tension that lingered throughout the group, gasping and humming to the neat information that went through one ear and out the other. You stopped in the large hallway of that old house, the floors creaking beneath your feet when you swayed back and forth. “Dean, did you find something,” you turned to him and his face lit up before pulling you closer to him.

“Yea, I think I did,” his eyes reflecting from the glow of the sun through the large window in the room. “An’ she’s been beside me this whole time,” he said before his lips met yours. His fingers drew slow circles into your cheeks, his tongue licking your bottom lip just before exploring your mouth. Dean’s lips were so soft and smooth and all you could do was feel. Feel him all around you. His weight shifting on each foot before breaking the kiss.

“The spell,” you said in realization before kissing him again. His hands roamed freely around your waist, up your back, and through your hair. You squeezed your legs together, trying to fight that sensation there and losing. All you wanted was Dean. When you stepped back again you saw the many faces from the crowd you were with and they started whistling and clapping for the two of you. You flashed a smile towards them and back at Dean. “Let’s get back to the room, handsome,” you whispered before leaving a kiss on his pink nose.

The walk back to your room was pure torture and when you slipped through the bedroom door and heard the door slam shut behind you Dean had you pushed onto the bed. The warmth of his body over yours all too real. His breath tickling your neck from the light kisses he left there. Dean’s fingers grazed down your thighs and to your shoes, removing them from your feet then his as well. When he crawled up your body again you were pushing each other out of every layer of clothing until his naked body hovered over yours. He looked into your eyes before leaning in close to your lips again. “Y/N, are you sure you want this,” he asked brushing your hair behind your ear like earlier that day, trying to find any hidden discomfort.

“Dean,” you pleaded and ran your fingers through his hair and down the center of his neck. You watched him lean into the touch there. “There has never been a day where I didn’t want this.” You watched the small smile spread across his face. Dean found your lips again, his teeth pulling your bottom lip and letting it pop back. His hand held your wrists above your head and his other hand spread your legs further between the two of you. You knew Dean was tall and strong but you never guessed he was this soft and sweet. His lips never breaking from yours. Your breathing faltered when you felt his fingers move in circles over your clit. The pressure building there. “Dean,” you moaned into his mouth and arched you back off the bed.

Dean’s fingers slowly made his way to your dripping heat and he teased you there with a bitter sweet back and forth motion.He took his time and watched you adjust to him. You had watched his hands for years on the job, wondering what they were capable of. Now you were in the middle of closing yourself around them taking in two knuckles at the same time. “You’re so wet and ready for me, sweetheart,” his voice sounded so hot, and his fingers still pumped in and out of you causing you to scream out and hit your high. He let you ride his hand until you came down, leaving small kisses from your shoulder to your lips, dropping your hands.

Running your hands down his chest and past his waist, you felt his breath hitch when your fingers began to wrap around him. You gave him a few pumps before smearing the precome on his tip down his member and over the vein that ran on the underside of him. “Do you liked that baby,” you cooed in his ear when you felt him come down from spilling in your slick fingers.

You felt Dean tease your folds again before his tip eased through you. The stretch was sinfully sweet and the breath the two of you let out in unison turned you on even more. This seemed so right with him. The twitch between your legs pulled you from your thoughts and made you gasp out loud, leaving that comment and the case you were there for behind.

…

That’s all for now, y’all! Please let me know what y’all think! All mistakes are mine. Like, share your little hearts out! Annnn Happy Halloween! ❤️💋

@waywardbaby @imperiusimpala @leatherandapplepies @idreamofplaid @plaid-lover-bay25 @waywardnerd67 @maddiepants @sammyimpala-67 @oldfreakything @idabbleincrazy @the-magic-rabbit-99 @tumbler-tidbits @shatteredabby @destielhoneybee @cosicas-cuquis @heycasbutt @flamencodiva @coffee-obsessed-writer

https://saltandburn-ilovesamwinchester.tumblr.com/tagged/my-masterlist

[rainystripe]

[fic] when you see stars chp.2 B-virus.

pairing: Jughead Jones/Betty Cooper fandom: Riverdale 5,898 words Summary/excerpt: Images of Betty brushing past him, acting as if he didn’t exist pollute his brain until the moment he sits down on the worn red seats of the diner, and Jughead feels just as cold as the rain that’d just soaked him to the bone. He finds himself staring at the glass encased sugar. He had missed Pop calling out to him and missed when a hot cup of coffee was placed right in front of him.

AO3

the long awaited second chapter is here! huge thanks to @daisy-chain-gardens & @electromagnetic-waves for helping me out with this!!💞

--

When night comes, Jughead is laying in bed; attempting to rest. Of course, that simple task proves to be impossible. Laying in the small twin bed, he shuffles in place for the hundredth time that evening since deciding to call it a night. It’s not easy for sleep to consume him, if anything his mind is actively fighting it off like a virus against his central nervous system.

Okay Jughead, one more time. He thinks, dark brows knit together in concentration. Just let go and fall asleep, dammit.

It’s barely seven in the night, and just like luck would have it, Sunnyside doesn’t sleep until at least two in the morning. Neighbors are still wide awake, blasting old Rock-N-Roll tunes from a car somewhere to his left, right where his window is located. It’s loud and the thin glass of his window shakes at the vibrations produced by the music. There’s a faint smell of cooked meat in the air, which somehow managed to make its way through the tiny cracks of the riggity trailer. Jughead’s lips purse together, his mind now thinking of pieces of the steak that his neighbors are enjoying. As if on cue, the rumbling from his stomach let’s out in a long whine.

A sigh.

“Go to sleep, stupid brain.” He mutters, annoyed that the sandman refuses to visit. Shuffling again, Jughead relaxes his shoulders, releases the tension in his clenched jaw, and curls his bare toes beneath the old maroon blanket, earning a satisfying crack in return. The fumes from the outdoor grill get stronger by the minute, and Jughead mentally kicks himself for choosing to opt out from eating dinner. Eating was the last thing that he had to be worried about. Although, having a piece of whatever was being cooked outside made his stomach rumble twice more. Food is quickly thrown out the window the minute that a blonde head morphs behind his closed eyes.

Go away, Betty. Jughead thinks. But imaginary Betty doesn’t listen, she successfully turns around in a slow, elegant twist to face him. The golden ponytail swaying gently behind her. A smile forming the moment that she makes eye contact with him.

Thump, thump.

Jughead’s eyes snap open, cool blue eyes staring holes into the brown ceiling. His heart is racing, and the heat from earlier in the day returns once again. A stiff hand uncurls from the blanket and drifts to lay right above his heart. A heart that could rival the motor of F.P’s truck.

“Goddammit.” He curses into the darkened room. His body on fire once again.

--

After the events that afternoon, things had gone quiet. Their game of footsies calmed down when Betty and Jughead got into a tie of 4-4. Both teens sat in silence, a silence so eerie that Jughead couldn’t decide what to do next, should he say something? Did he even want to talk? At some point, one of them broke away from their cuddle. Betty was up first, grabbing her phone from her flowered backpack to check her phone (‘Making sure Mother doesn’t think I’ve run away.’ She deadpanned then.)  The raven-haired boy, however, silently crept to the bathroom.

Being careful to shut the door behind him, he stood in front of the mirror. Jughead leaned down against the tiny sink. His palms digging painfully into the aged marble while his head dropped forward, beanie back in its rightful place up top his dark curls.

What the hell had just gone down?

It’s an easy enough question, but for Jughead, it’s the most difficult thing to answer for himself. Instead of lingering in his thoughts, he cranks the tap open to splash his face with the chilled water. With fall just around the outskirts of the sleepy town, the water is especially cold, freezing enough to send a chill down his spine to his toes.

When he wipes his face down and steps back out into the living room. Betty is nowhere to be seen. Instead, his phone chirps as he rushes out to look for her. Upon checking the phone though, there’s a message from the blonde.

Sorry, I called an Uber. Mom needs me ASAP.

Oh, he thinks. He pauses to stare at the glowing screen for a few moments.

Well, that was that.

Swallowing, Jughead looks out the opened door and out into the street where a silver car is pulling away, a blonde head clearly visible from the back window. As he stands there, Jughead feels his nose quickly growing cold and his breath soon becoming visible. Clearly in a state of shock and utter confusion, everything begins to dissipate around him. The only thing he can focus on in the taillights of the getaway car. The car in which Betty ran away from him with. A few seconds pass and the car is gone from sight, having made a turn away from Sunnyside…….

And just like that, Betty Cooper was gone.

There’s a ball that rolls across the makeshift lawn and two bundled up boys chase after it, causing Jughead to blink and shut his hanging mouth. The boys yell at each other, mad that one missed their intended makeshift goal using a tin trash can. Jughead blinks at the boys. He’s been brought back to reality and he sniffles, slowly creeping back into the trailer.

Once inside, Jughead leans against the cold door and the wall has never been more interesting. The day’s events keep replaying in his mind and he can feel his ears going pink again. Swallowing once, baby blue eyes travel down the spot between his legs. Just moments ago, a blonde head had been nestled in between them, pleasuring Jughead Jones. The halo that was Betty Cooper's neat golden pony tail suddenly manifesting before him and Jughead’s breath hitches.

Wha-

But Betty is gone when he blinks again. Sucking in deep breaths and with shaking hands, he manages to push away from the door flipping around to make sure that every possible lock that his father installed was doing its job in keeping anyone away.

Even the likes of Elizabeth Cooper.

So, when he’s lying in bed later that night, all he can think about is the girl who he shared a couch with earlier. Also, the girl whom he made sure he locked all doors and windows for. Like a mouse hiding from the feral cat, Jughead was terrified. So terrified in fact that when his phone alerts him of a new message, his heart would attempt to travel up to his throat. Jughead wasn’t one to think he could ever reach maximum anxiety, but damn it was he feeling it.

Thinking back, it’s hard to pinpoint the moment that Betty took it way further than she had intended. She claims that he agreed and maybe did, but still- he can’t remember. That aside, her request before they’d arrived at the trailer seemed innocent enough. A text during Biology with a simple phrase- well; question.

Help me? At exactly 8:16 AM.

Confused, the beanie clad boy turned ever so slowly to the back of the room where the messenger sat with Kevin Keller. He’d arched a brow in confusion and mouthed a ‘what?’ in her direction. Betty only mentioned to her phone. Doing as she mentioned, he stared down at the phone and just a few seconds after looking at Betty did the screen light up again.

I have a HUGE favor to ask. -8:18 AM. Betty added, along with a set of clasped hands. She was really into her emojis. If he scrolled up their chat history, there’d be little yellow faces and other objects littering her blue bubbled messages. Unlike him, Jughead got straight to the point and rarely (if ever) opened up the other keyboard.

Like…? -8:19 AM.

His reply goes through and he turns back around to look at her. Betty blinks at her screen and goes back to texting away furiously.

What could she want? She was never this serious and now he was curious. It seemed important enough, considering that her next text is ambiguous as hell.

Meet me in the library during study hall. -8:19 AM. And of course, like her last text, it’s topped off with another emoji, this time of a little blonde emote bending over for a favor.

Jughead tries to brush her shady texts away, and while it doesn’t work for about five minutes, the moment that the lab assignment for the day is announced, the thought is long forgotten when his redheaded friend shuffles to sit next to him.

“Bro, dad’s gonna be out tonight. Was thinking of playing some Overwatch?”

Jughead snorts and nods. “Sure man. There better be pizza involved though.”

“Oh yeah man, that’s for sure.”

--

By the time that study hall rolls along, Jughead nearly slips away from the back entrance of the school’s halls. Not being one for staying trapped within the suffocating prison that was school, he makes it a point to ditch his last ‘class’. As soon as the clock struck 2:05, the boy would be en route to Pop’s.

Except this time, when Betty messages him to remind him of their scheduled meetup.

Oh yeah, what did she want again? He frowns at the phone.

Sighing, his hand let’s go of the handle, allowing the heavy wooden door to shut. Jughead glances around the empty hallway, turns on his heels and marches his way up the stairs and around the corner, peeking into the opened library on the second floor. It’s relatively empty with two other students typing away on the school’s ancient desktops facing the windows, the librarian sat at her own desk; scrolling through her phone. Like a ghost, no one notices him. The older woman on her phone pays him no mind when brushing past her.

When he spots Betty, she’s sitting in one of the two-person tables tucked away in a corner by the ancient civilizations section. Her signature pony swaying gently as her feet bounce unnervingly. He notices that her baby blue shoulders rise and sag a few times. Was she nervous? Her actions alone have him questioning agreeing to meet her.

“Bad news, Betts?” he muses, sliding across from her onto the wooden chair.  At the mere sounds of his hushed voice, the blonde jumps. Clearly spooked, Betty’s hand launches to rest against her chest.

“You scared me.”  She mumbles back, green eyes wide as they could get.

“Sorry.” Jughead mumbles back and slings the strap of his bag off his shoulders, dropping the messenger back onto the desk. “You called?”

She spares him a quick glance then.

“…I did.” Betty nods once and Jughead notices her pink lip being sucked in between her lips: a nervous tick. He nods slowly and leans back against the chair. “Uh…huh.” Crossing his arms, they sit in silence for a few moments. Betty chews at her lip while fumbling with her fingers. Her green eyes are unfocused and dart back and forth between his general direction and her twiddling thumbs.

More silence.

Uhh.

They sit in the silence of the library with the only noise filling the air coming from the keyboard from across the room. Cleaning his throat, Jughead leans forward, wringing both hands together. With an awkward chuckle, he tilts his head before questioning their current situation. Seeing Betty nervous made him nervous in return. What had happened? Was it that important that she was afraid to talk?

“You’re making me nervous, Betty. Is everything okay?” The magic words snap her out of her reverie and she shakes her head. “Oh yeah! Everything is fine. I just…” trailing off, Betty chews at her lip once more and nods to herself. Finding the courage to talk is harder than it seems. Furrowed blonde brows knit and un-knit, jaw clenches and softens. The boy from across the table takes notice and becomes increasingly nervous as her.

An inhale.

“I want to know if you can help me out with an…issue.” Betty finishes her sentence all while staring at wood surface of the table. Avoiding those blue eyes is harder than it seems, especially when her heart can’t stay still. But of course, there’s no point in being rude while simultaneously burning holes into the ancient table. She did summon Jughead for a reason. Puffing her cheeks with air, the blonde finally snaps her head in the direction of the beanie clad boy before her. Jughead tilts his head, a curious look on his face.

“Issue.” He repeats and Betty nods. The boy’s darker brows raise slowly, urging her on. There’s a sudden heat that travels through her veins, all of which decides to boil on the apples of her cheeks.

Elizabeth Cooper sucks in a deep breath, lowering her head and piercing green gaze. It was now or never and Alice Cooper did not raise a wimp. Betty’s finger meets the wooden surface.

“I need to you to let me kiss you and you cannot say no.” she whispers loud enough for them both to communicate.

Jughead swore he’d stopped breathing then.

--

“Kiss.”

Kiss. A kiss. One kiss. When Betty had dropped the bomb on him, Jughead struggled to keep his composure. The fact that his childhood friend had just demanded something so outlandish from him was beyond words and by the time that he could open his mouth, all he could do was stutter.

Stunned, Jughead blinked and struggled to form a sentence but Betty was giving him the eyes. Eyes so determined, so Cooper and powerful that Jughead stayed silent. His icy eyes were blown wide and his mouth hung open. Betty on the other hand, leaned down against the table, watching him. Like Sheriff Keller on the day of the arson, Betty brought a justice powerful enough that he wanted his Miranda rights to be given to him for some strange reason. With blazing jade eyes and pursed cherry lips, one brow shot up impossibly high, giving a predatory look to her usual angelic persona.

Betty would make a great cop.

So when Jughead fails to give her as answer, silence is all that she needs as his response. It’s after a few minutes that she shoots up in her seat and claps her hands together. ��Great! I’ll text you the info later.” While still in a daze, Betty proceeds to collect her Geometry book and pastel yellow cardigan from the seat next to her. When she stands, all he can do is stare at a spot on the table. There’s a string of curses that’ve been written and carved into the ancient table. One particular drawing choosing to mock him then.

Haha! Loser! Is scrawled in big graffiti styled text. The old faded marker masterpiece is scratched up and and missing a huge chunk of the L (probably from an attempted erase with a magic sponge). In fact, there’s more that decides to insult him then. A large cartoon penis is etched to his left, blue marker accentuating the droplets spitting out of it like a fountain. There are three childish looking middle fingers right across from the phallic doodle; all three directed at him.

Mocking him for being a big baby, so large and stupid that he couldn’t find the strength to say ‘no’, Jughead closes his eyes and leans back against the chair, Betty’s hand coming down to rest against his shoulder as a goodbye.

“Thanks, Juggie.” she whispers hotly in his ear before rushing out.

He misses the tremble hidden in her words so all he does in return is nod way after she’s gone from his immediate radius.

“Uh-huh.”

--

The day’s events replay in his mind like a broken record. Over and over again, flashes of his childhood friend flash behind open and closed eyes. No matter what he does, Jughead can’t stop thinking about her. No matter how hard he tries, he just can't block her out of his mind. It’s as if she’s glued to him, from behind his eyelids to the base of his skull; Betty is everywhere.

Suddenly aware of the youngest Cooper, he can all of a sudden smell her, the sweet, warm scent of coconut fills his lungs. The calming and motherly voice is in his ears, shushing him like an invisible hand running through his dark locks. Except for the fact that he can’t actually calm down and rest like fake-Betty is beckoning him to. All he can think about was how good he felt earlier. His body begins to tingle again and Jughead loses track of how many time’s he’s resisted the urge to stuff his hand beneath his sweat pants. Betty is the impossible virus that not even the world's smartest computer can’t get rid of. Like an evolving germ resistant to medical advances, Betty is a tick stuck to his skin, sucking away at his blood and no matter how much he tries to pluck her away from him; she’s lodged her way in too deep to the point of return.

The burn and teasing tingles that comes from the center in between his thighs intensify enough to force Jughead to snap his eyes open and yank the pillow from beneath his head. Taking the cushion to smother his face, he let’s out an insufferable yell into the night.

Outside of his window, a dirty white trotting sheep dog looks up and howls along with him into the darkness.

--

Two days pass and Jughead is back on school grounds. Having missed Archie’s proposed weekend gaming date and pizza, the blue eyed teen spent the entirety of the weekend holed up in the tiny trailer. Any contact from Betty was a staggering zero when he’d check his phone. There was a lot of confusion and doubt, especially directed at reality itself. Had the events from three days ago...actually happened?

Saturday morning was spent sleepless. The aches and pains of an erection that would come and go, an erection that was never properly tended to. When he did try to relieve himself, it was just that; a try. It failed horribly the moment the covers were kicked away and hand lowered into his sweats. His hands just didn’t feel the same and so he stopped as soon as he began.

It was weird and Jughead felt disgusted in himself. His own hardness blew him away and boy did it hurt. The only thing that would make it go away was reciting Geometric formulas and thinking of the smell that would come from Archie’s gym shoes while they gamed.

Thoughts of Betty and her sinful mouth plagued him day and night and if he had to guess how many hours he’d actually slept, it’d be under seven during the span of three days.

So, to say that he was beat, was an understatement. Jughead was exhausted, frustrated, annoyed; ready to chug endless amounts of cheap coffee. He couldn’t write or think properly. For the first time since his mother walked out on the Jones’ men, he was terrified to step through the school’s wooden doors. Betty would be in his first class of the morning: Biology. The thought alone sent a chill down his spine, as if it already wasn’t close to snowing out.

“Fuck,” he muttered to himself, headphones planted snuggly over the old beanie. As the hallways cluttered with students rushing to grab their belongings from their lockers, Jughead weaved through the crowd. Having chosen to arrive at the latest time possible, it was as crowded as ever, and it was part of the game plan; Avoid Betty Cooper. Although, in retrospect, it wasn’t the smartest thing to do considering Betty always rushed in near the end after her volunteer position in the admissions office. So of course fate decides to screw him over again.

“Ompf-” comes the feminine grunt. Jughead staggers for a split second, smacking shoulder first onto the door frame. It doesn’t take guessing to figure who’d just run into him, the blonde halo on Betty’s head gave her away instantly. He straightens, reaching towards the girls pink fleece covered arms in an attempt to steady her but something happens then. With not so much as an apology, Betty looks past his shoulder, pulling away and adjust her books, brushing past Jughead. The action alone leaves him stunned, blue eyes staring at the green board where she’d just be standing in front of. The usual murmurs of students suddenly become louder, in particular Kevin Keller’s laugh.

It’s strange, being dissed is something that he’s used to. After all, no one really likes Jughead Jones, so being ignored wasn’t new.

But being ignored by Betty is new.

Jughead blinks twice and lowers his gaze to the marble floors. A wave of sadness washes over him then, and his throat recoils, a large lump clogging his airways. There was no worse feeling than being pushed away, rejected. First his mother, then his father, Fred Andrews and now Betty Cooper. It was only one week ago that Fred made it clear that he didn’t want to foster Jughead, and that had broken him. He wouldn’t admit it, he’d shrugged and continued to play video games with Archie the following day. Inside, however; he was crushed. It was already bad having to feel unwanted, but the fact that Betty was inducing the pain just did it for him. Betty wasn’t mean, she didn’t have a mean bone in her body.

“Jughead, take your seat please.” A frenzied voice breaks him from his thought when the Biology teacher rushes past him, white lab coat already on. Watching as the teacher drops his leather bag onto the desk to roll down the projector down the board, the blurry view shocks him. Turning to the side closest to the door, Jughead clears his throat and blinks rapidly, batting the tears away.

What the hell?

The day prior had some meaning, whether Betty chose to ignore it or not and Jughead was positive that something had been sparked then.

“Jughead, the lights!” It’s 8:09 am when Jughead shuts the classroom lights off. The projector whirls to life as it hangs from the ceiling. Large white numbers display the time on the blue screen which are then adorned by a tall shadow as he makes his way towards his usual seat next to Ginger Lopez in the second row. Before sitting down however, Jughead glances towards the back of the classroom out of burning curiosity.

Betty is slouched over the desk, chin propped up against her palm. She’s also looking his way when they make eye contact but then deflects his gaze by turning towards Kevin and away from Jughead. The act alone makes his chest burn, and he begrudgingly sits down, his body slack against the seat. Blue eyes stare at the reflection cast against the shiny faucet on the dark desk.

Being ignored...what else was new? Disappointment and sadness envelop him like a hug from the aunt you don’t like. He tries to push the emotions away but it’s impossible. So he sits there, staring holes in the table. The voices begin to drown out and are replaced by the roaring sound of water. Today’s movie is about the amphibian life cycle and Jughead doesn’t give a single shit.

Like the night before, Betty continues to invade his very being. Thoughts of her face and voice, her touch drive him crazy. The movie is nothing but a blur and by the time that he looks up at the screen, the tadpole is already growing limbs.

Ginger Lopez won’t stop texting and giggling. To his left Moose won’t stop snickering and pointing at the screen. In front of him, two students are probably asleep with their heads tucked into their folded arms and behind him, he can hear Cheryl Blossom tapping her nails against the granite desk. And if he listens closely, Kevin is snickering at something while she shushes him.

“Oh my god!” Kevin blurts out, to which Betty loudly excuses him for being so loud. Not the anyone cares, the professor is passed out in his seat. Jughead can hear the pair of best friends whispering in the background and he can’t help but wonder what exactly has Kevin so riled up. The boy was already dramatic enough as it was, and he knew the duo were always giggling at something. A thought pops into his head then and a chill runs over his entire being, freezing him on the spot.

Surely Betty hadn’t said anything...right? Best friends talk about everything, don’t they?

Panic sets in then, followed by a deafening ringing in his ears. Jughead feels his heart speed up as thoughts of Betty’s cherry lips wrapped tightly against his cock come back. Her wide, innocent green eyes flash in his head, and his heart skips a beat. Heat pools deep in his belly suddenly, the sensation curling around his intensities enough to rile up a reaction. Startled, he shoots up from his seat, the chair scraping loudly against the floor. The noise is loud enough to spook the sleeping students in front of him. Grabbing his bag, Jughead squeezes behind Ginger and zooms out the classroom.

“Hey! Watch it, weirdo!” shouts a clearly annoyed Ginger.

In the back, an alert Betty blinks and watches as Jughead disappears for the rest of the day.

—

Betty was a strange creature. She was overly nice and extremely smart. She knew how to hold a conversation and have it end in her favor. Funny enough, when asking for favors, she always got her way. Jughead was no exception. If she needed his help, Jughead would always come through and for the times that he couldn’t, he’d make sure to try and make it possible to help her achieve whatever it was that she needed his help for.

When she asks to kiss him, for the sake of ‘practice’ Jughead dumbly agrees to her request. The agreement doesn’t register until he’s sitting in the old couch in his living room. Betty is sitting next to him, both of her palms playing flat against his thigh. The contact burns his skin and his breathing hitches when her lips brush over his. It’s a ghost of a kiss, and he can tell that she’s nervous as well.

It was their first kiss both between them and in general.

Jughead was convinced that he didn’t like anyone. The thought of having any sort of romantic feelings for the opposite sex made him shudder. The fact that he’d have to dedicate time for someone else besides himself and his writing was blasphemous, so when Betty kisses him, it changes everything.

If he had to name someone who he could have romantic feelings for it would be Little Debby, but only for her delicious brownies and overall repertoire of baked goods. The females in his family didn’t count. Sure, deep down in the feelings of his heart, he still loved his mother. Jellybean was an obvious keeper and he would do anything for the kid, but someone else? Jughead didn’t have crushes and by far less did he do romance. Yet, ever since the day prior, thoughts of the blonde would cause his heart to race. It was a strange sensation that he wasn’t used to. If it had to be compared to something, it would be the to the rush before getting caught for doing something bad and the closest was the fire that he started. Sheriff Keller hunting him down and tugging at the handcuffs while shouting for him to stop from running still plays clearly in his mind.

Just as Betty’s kisses linger on his lips.

When she had leaned over to kiss him, Jughead gulped a few too many times until his mouth felt dry. He wondered if his breath stunk but Betty didn’t seem to mind if it did. Betty inched closer and planted her lips against his own, her blonde ponytail swinging when tilting her head. Jughead felt her nose graze over his cheek and he blinked rapidly. Betty had long gone closed her eyes and he watched with horror as she smiled into the kiss. It was then when his own heart decided to smack hard across his chest. The pair of hands against his thigh sent electric bolts throughout his body and his stomach clenched on itself.

He closed his eyes then. Betty took the opportunity to pull away for the slightest of seconds before tilting her head the other way for another kiss. They were pecks, nothing too serious, but the feel of sweet smelling lips filtered through his nostrils and into his lungs. Betty smelled amazing and suddenly Jughead was resisting the urge to grab on her collar, pulling her in for more of the warm smell.

The kissing continued. The blonde would give experimental kisses and Jughead found himself puckering his own lips for more. When he felt the absence of lips, he opened his eyes to find Betty biting her bottom lip. Her hand was still on his thigh and he was suddenly grateful that she hadn’t pulled them off. Confusion grazed his face and Betty batted her eyelashes in bashful silence.

“Would you mind...if—“ she began after a moment. Jughead, with his heart in his ears, struggled to make out what she was saying.

“If?”

“I— well, I know I said just a few smooches for today, but—” Had she? How bad had he zoned out when she’d initially asked him for the favor? His heart kept again at the concept of being kissed more than just once a day.

“How do you feel about, um, french kissing?” The innocence in her tone and large doe eyes have him nodding dumbly as soon as she finishes asking him. It’s impossible to know what exactly is controlling him, but Jughead wants more of Betty Cooper. The idea is strange, to be with someone so intimately had never crossed his mind. He was positive he wasn’t attracted to anyone, or would ever be. But now, something's changed, and all thanks to a small request.

“Really?” Betty is as stunned as he is at himself. She retracts her hands and wrings her fingers together, her bottom lip once again trapped under pearly whites. He watches as she drops her gaze towards his knee, deep in thought. Was she regretting asking? Her eyes had been wide when he nodded, shock evident in her face.

“Betty…” Jughead’s voice is raspy and Betty whips her head in his direction. Her cheeks have been tinted a deep scarlet, and her eyes are shining like never before. Sucking in a ragged breath and before he can even blink, Betty is leaning over his lap.

“Thank you, Juggie.” She whispers into his open mouth before claiming it as her own. Betty’s mossy eyes and pupils expand, her irises becoming blown in a breathtaking showcase of human bodily functions. Jughead has only ever read about the event online and from twitter posts, but now, to see it up close; it was something else.

Sucking in a breath, Jughead prepares for the next stage of her request, trying to focus on breathing just as something wet comes in contact with his tongue.

Oh, shit.

—

It’s close to lunch when Jughead slips out from the library. His last class for the day is study hall, and he can leave if he wants and he does. Avoiding Betty all day was key, and it made his insides feel like he was shutting down. His eyes burned from the constant rubbing but he was proud to announce that the tears didn’t go past the edge. It’s not that he cried over Betty Cooper, but the overall thought of abandonment and rejection all suddenly collided with him when he sat down in the quiet space of the library.

His dad was a drunk loser who is never home. His mother was an equal basket case that ditched her family and cut all contact with her son. No one in town likes Jughead. Okay, so that’s an exaggeration, but for the most part, he’s a ghost. Fred tolerated him until the city asked to possibly foster Jughead. Cheryl and her goonies always have something to say. The football jocks make sure to pick and prod at him during gym and Archie has been busy turning into a certified jock. To top it all off, Betty Cooper is now giving him the cold shoulder.

To make things even worse, the forecast lies to him. Drops of rain begin to sprinkle the permanently overcast town of Riverdale. The large trees that tower over the sidewalks of the cemetery protect Jughead who sighs in defeat. Gripping at his satchel, Jughead turns around and forms a plan to avoid the rain as much as possible. He could sprint across the street where the trees cover a majority of the sidewalk until he hits the main street. He could also keep walking and get drenched, but he can also hide under a coffee shops outdoor umbrella.

It was either, get wet sooner or avoid it for a bit and stop getting drenched.

Jughead feels overwhelmed suddenly. The frustrations of picking out a way to not get wet pisses him off. The feeling is surprisingly strong and the tears prick at his eyes like needles. Why did he have to live so far? Why hadn’t he carried an umbrella? This was Riverdale, for fucks sake! It always rained no matter if the forecast promised sunlight. There could be flames engulfing the town and somehow it would still rain.

An angry intake of breath courses through his lungs and Jughead stomps on the broken concrete sidewalk in anger. “Dammit!” His eyes burn and the the rain only intensifies, pelting down in heavy streams of freezing water. The tree above him can no longer offer protection and his jacket becomes soaked. Jughead grabs his book bag and stuffs it inside his jacket, not wanting to damage his laptop. Sucking in a deep breath, he tugs the crown beanie closer into his head before dashing out across the street and into the rain. Jughead jogs along the empty road towards the coffee shop, but stop when he notices the outdoor umbrella is gone. In fact, the coffee shop is closed.

“Great. Just great!” Jughead shouts in anger. His body is soaked and glaring at the coffee shop isn’t helping. Another wave of emotion washes over him and the tears spill, mixing in with the rain running down his face. Jughead turns around and sprints towards the place he knows would keep him from the rain until it died down enough to head home: Pops Chock’lit Shoppe, his home away from home.

Images of Betty brushing past him, acting as if he didn’t exist pollute his brain until the moment he sits down on the worn red seats of the diner, and Jughead feels just as cold as the rain that’d just soaked him to the bone. He finds himself staring at the glass encased sugar. He had missed Pop calling out to him and missed when a hot cup of coffee was placed right in front of him.

Betty Cooper had just broken his heart.

—

[vrepit-sals]

During Training..  Pidge: Nice work Tailor Lance: Thank you, thank you very much Keith: wait what Hunk: It's a nickname Lance got his first year of flight school Lance: Yeah because of how I thread the needle Keith:  Keith: *intense Garrison crush flashbacks* Shiro: *uproarious laughter*

(I wrote this in two forms and couldn’t decide which I liked better, so there’s a full fic under the cut)

Lance laughs as the Green Lion balances the ball on the edge of its nose for a moment, before sending it towards the Black Lion with a flick.

His vision is tinged with blue, and he can hear Blue's enjoyment rumbling underneath him. He knows in theory that he's blindfolded, but it doesn't feel that way. With Blue's visual enhancements giving him an eagle eye and her targeting computer focusing his mind, he's never felt more aware of the world around him.

Allura wasn't kidding when she said this would be a fun training session.

He catches the ball with all the gracefulness that Blue provides, and sends it flying to Red, who moves underneath it and passes it on with a flick of her tail.

Show off.

The trajectory of the ball is damn near perfect too, sailing towards the Yellow Lion, bang between the eyes.

It isn't such a surprise, with his Lion's preference for bulk over flexibility, that this drill is more difficult for Hunk than any of the rest of them.

As such, when Yellow lines up perfectly, but isn't quite quick enough to hit the ball back to Green, Lance is already half ready to dive. Hunk must have seen it coming too, because he tries to correct for the trajectory, but it isn't enough.

The ball is sailing over one of the rock formations, and Blue is already chasing it, before Red or Black have even thought to move.

The angle is high, and Lance knows he should go up and over the formation to retrieve it. It'll hit the ground before he gets there, and they'll have to start the count over, but it's not his fault anyway, and it's the most sensible option.

Lance spots a small opening in the formation. It's an even split whether Blue would even fit, and if she didn't he could bring the whole formation on top of himself.

Since when has Lance ever been called sensible?

He's under and through it before he can even question his decision. Blue is a purr in the back of his mind and a guiding hand on the controls, making the smallest of tweaks to his technique to ensure the smoothest ride.

And there's the ball, falling fast, but without the momentum he'd need to hit it all the way back.

He freezes it with an ice blast to give it some added weight, and smacks it from beneath in a wide arc.

It's short work to get back to the others as Keith uses Red's flame mid-air to defrost the ball back.

Lance can't help the grin on his face at Pidge's laughter.

"Nice work Tailor!" She all but screams at him.

"Thank you, thank you very much."

He doesn't notice Keith's fumble, but it must have happened. Because the ball is suddenly gone, fallen into one of the crevices of the valley they're currently in.

So much for that record.

"What was that?" Comes Keith's voice through the coms.

"It's a nickname Lance got his first year of  flight school," Hunk says, already dropping down into the valley to look for the ball.

"Yeah, because of how I thread the needle" Lance adds, wiggling his eyebrows to an audience of no one. He feels like it adds something to his inflection nonetheless.

He expects Keith to bite back a retort. Expects derision or poorly constructed sarcasm.

The Red Lion's coms are silent.

"Someone else will need to go down there, it got lodged in a crevice too small for Yellow or Black," Hunk says as the Yellow Lion rises up from the depths.

Pidge offers to go, and is pointing her nose downward, when a strange sound causes them all to pause.

Starting soft, and growing louder by the second, is a sound almost unnerving for all it is uncommon.

Shiro is laughing.

And laughing.

And laughing some more.

Lance isn't sure the exact tone he hears, but it makes him convinced that there are currently tears streaming down their leader's cheeks.

Still laughing.

Honestly Lance is starting to get a little worried.

"Shiro what the hell," is heard over the speakers in Keith's growl.

If anything this seems to just set him off more.

Lance is happy for the guy, he really is. Shiro barely smiles as it is, so such an expression of unbridled joy is a cause for celebration.

Heaven knows what's so funny though.

The minutes pass. Hunk and Pidge start up a conversation about their latest project. Lance  pulls off his training helmet and rubs his eyes.

Shiro's laughter slowly begins to subside.

"Sorry about that everyone, I'm ok," he says, with a few errant chuckles.

Lance, paragon of leadership he is, is just about to do the responsible thing for once and suggest they get back to training, when there's the muffled sound of talking from Shiro's com and he's off again.

"Who was…" Pidge says, before her tone snaps into annoyed, "Matt, are you hanging out in the Black lion during training again?"

Lance all but tunes out the familiar argument, leaning back and pillowing his arms behind his head.

"Do you have any idea how boring the castle is Katie?"

"We're kind of trying to save the universe here Matt, this isn't a trip to the Bahamas!"

"I've been locked in a Galra prison for 18 months, if I want to pretend this alien ship is the Bahamas I damn well will!"

All punctuated by Shiro's cackles.

Lance asks Blue how she's finding training, and basks in the warmth she sends through their bond.

Hunk is interjecting into their argument occasionally, trying and failing to get the team back on track.

The red paladin is silent. Lance can almost see Keith crossing his arms with a pout.

If he shuts his eyes he can imagine he's back on Veradera beach, basking in the sun.

Not listening to Matt and Pidge's sibling fight, or Shiro losing it over nothing.

Just the warmth of the sand behind his back, the gentle breeze and the gentle lapping of waves soothing his eyes closed.

…What was Shiro laughing at anyway?

He thinks back over the conversation, his amazing move, Pidge's compliment.

Wait.

No.

Lance jolts up, and his tone must give away something about the brick in his stomach because at his words the coms fall silent.

"Wait, Shiro are you laughing at me?"

He's not laughing anymore.

The silence lasts a beat too long.

"No Lance it's not-"

He can't hear Shiro's protestations over the buzzing in his ears.

His stomach drops through the floor as the thoughts he usually keeps at bay swarm in. Thoughts that only manage to rattle him on bad nights; thoughts which Pidge's hugs and Shiro's praise and Keith's smiles and Hunk's mere existence are the only things that can dispel.

He forces himself to chuckle.

"Doesn't matter," he says, voice wavering so minutely he doesn't think anyone else would have caught it, "Blue should be able to fit into the fissure."

Then he pushes the Blue Lion straight into top speed.

He breathes a sigh of relief when no one else follows.

"Shiro, were you laughing at him?"

Lance can hear the anger seeping into Hunk's voice. Sweetest Hunk, light of Lance's life and the best friend a boy could ask for.

He flicks him coms off before he has to listen to Shiro's explanation.

The rest of training is fine. Lance doesn't try any more stunts, and no one expects him to.

He keeps his coms off, and if anyone has a problem with that, they aren't able to voice their concerns anyway.  They continue to play the game, all focussed more than ever, but somehow less successful. Lance hums and taps his feet and talks to Blue just to fill the silence.

Eventually, the Black Lion catches the ball in its mouth and hangs on.  The Green Lion pauses by him and gestures its head towards the castle, and waits for Blue to nod back before they all head in.

Lance isn't sure whether or not the other paladins will come and try to give him comfort, or hang back and give him space. He decides he's allowed to be offended for another hour or two before he'll have to put it aside for the sake of the universe, for the sake of his new family. Then he'll listen to Shiro apologise, and accept it with a smile.

But for now he all but runs out of Blue as soon as she sets down. Turns one corner and another, trying to stay as silent as possible.

He gets to his room, and, although he knows it's not the sneakiest of hiding spots, it is the one place in the Castle he's allowed to bar others access. He puts his room into sleep mode and grabs his pyjamas, before heading into the bathroom for some well-earned pampering.

A long, warm bath, a face mask and two run throughs of the playlist Pidge made him later, he's back to feeling almost human, and about as ready to face the team again as he's ever going to be.

It's still half an hour or so until dinner, but he decides to spend the time stretching his legs. Maybe see what Hunk's working on, or help Pidge test Rover 2 for a little while.

Outside his door, though, sitting innocuously on the floor, is a note.

I need to talk to you.

- Keith

The Red paladin couldn't even be bothered to wait apparently.

Lance crumples it up and puts it in his pocket with a sigh. He turns left instead of right, and stops to knock on Keith's door.

No answer.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" He mutters to himself as he traces the familiar path to the training room.

Likely this is all an elaborate setup to make him talk to Shiro or something, not that he wasn't going to anyway. But then part of him also reminds himself that it isn't really that much of a stretch to believe that Keith would be unaware enough of social norms to leave him a note and then just vanish.

Sure enough, when he gets to the training room and sees who's inside, he wants to put his head in his hands, but can't stop a fond smile spreading across his face.

Keith is fighting the Gladiator, blocking stroke after stroke, completely oblivious to any social obligation he might have given himself.

Lance leans against the frame and decides to just wait it out. It's not like he's in a rush to anywhere concrete, and Keith has improved so much since they were pulled into space that watching him fight is almost relaxing. His movements are swift and graceful, moving though his footwork in almost a dance.

Especially now, when he's not fighting for his life, when his scowl of concentration breaks to let a small grin through whenever he makes a particularly good hit or block.

It took Lance a few months to realise that Keith isn't just a stick in the mud, but actually finds training genuinely enjoyable. He still doesn't understand it, but he's come to accept Keith's slightly off-centre hobby. And really, he can't talk, not after Keith has spent an afternoon helping him track down some rare Altean part so Coran could reconfigure the textile synthesiser to make knitting wool.

There's a particularly loud clang from across the room, and Keith wipes his brow as the Gladiator disappears.

"You wanted to talk to me mullet?" Lance asks, grinning as Keith starts.

Keith doesn't seem to relax when the shock passes. If anything his shoulders tense more as he picks up a water pouch and takes a sip.

"Yeah I did," he says, gazing across the floor.

"Well?" Lance steps forward and makes himself as comfy as possible on the training room floor, "here I am."

He raises an eyebrow at Keith and he lets out a chuckle, which only sounds 40% forced.

Keith moves towards him, and crouches down. After a few minutes, and a look from Lance, he sits down, still sipping water as he thinks.

"Shiro wasn't laughing at you" he blurts out, after about 30 seconds of silence.

Lance sighs. He should have known this was coming.

"Keith, I get it. You want me to forgive Shiro. It's fine, I stopped caring an hour ago."

"No-" Keith almost cuts him off in a rush to get the words out, but as soon as he does he pauses, like he isn't actually sure what he wants to say.

Lance waits.

"He wasn't laughing at you. He was laughing at me."

Lance almost laughs. Oh Keith. Sweet Keith, the worst liar Lance has ever met.

"Keith you don't have to lie, it's fine," and it almost is. The fact that Keith would lie is both annoying for all that he knows it's only to defend Shiro, and sweet for all he hopes that some of it might be Keith trying to protect his feelings.

Keith groans.

"I'm serious."

"And I don't believe you."

Keith rolls his eyes and buries his face in his hands. He sits just like that, stock still, whispering something that sounds like curses, before he sits back and looks at Lance with tired eyes.

"Ok, how about this…"

Keith sighs. Lance is just about to interrupt.

"Back at the Garrison there was this boy I had a huge crush on, alright?"

Lance starts, for just a moment, because what a change of topic.

"Okay…?"

"He was…" Keith's face makes a strangled expression before he forces himself to continue, "he was loud. Sometimes I felt like I didn’t understand most of what he was saying, he used to make fun of the instructors and he wasn't the best in the simulator but he acted like he was anyway, and he hated me for reasons I'll never know."

Lance's frown pulls down, and he tells himself it's not jealousy.

"He was kind. He encouraged us all to do better. When the teachers tried to pit us against each other, for the good grades and promises of graduate jobs, he helped everyone relax and work together. You could feel the tension lift whenever he entered a room."

Lance's stomach drops out at the fond look on Keith's face. He could count the number of times he's seen it on one hand, on one finger the number of times it's been directed at him. He couldn't count on all the stars how many times he's wanted it to be flashed his way.

"Sounds like you really liked him," Lance says, trying to ensure no bitterness seeps into his tone.

Keith's face turns to him, and the smile softens even further.

"I never stopped."

And isn't that just great. Lance has spent years following in Keith's footsteps, shouting and yelling and begging for attention which was never going to be his, because it already belonged to some other cadet who probably never appreciated it.

"Shiro used to tease me by how often I talked about him. I wrote this terrible poem about him when I was 14 or so, which of course Shiro found and memorised. He was…"

Keith stops, and takes a deep, shuttering breath. Lance is about to cut him off, tell him it's fine because he wants to hear about Keith's crush about as much as Keith wants to tell him, but he stops when he realises just how red Keith's face has gotten.

"Shiro was laughing at me because I didn't know this boy very well, and so when I met him in my first year of flight school I thought his name was Taylor."

Lance's brain screeches to a halt.

He can't mean…

"Those months living in the desert I kind of just repressed everything from the Garrison. So when you rushed in while I was saving Shiro, I didn't know who you were."

Lance sits and stares.

"But then it didn't matter because you held my hand and said we were a good team, and I feel for you again anyway," Keith says, not looking at him.

This isn't real.

But Keith is sitting in front of him, his smile slowly seeping from his face as Lance takes the time to process the best news he's received since their whole space adventure began.

Lance reaches out a hand, takes Keith's palm in his, partly because he's worried Keith will run away before he has a chance to answer, partly because this is what he's wanted to do for years.

"Keith, most of what I said to you at the Garrison made no sense. I just wanted to you look at me."

Keith's slowly developing frown burns away, and suddenly he's all but beaming.

"I really like you, Lance" he says, holding his hand tighter.

Lance's heart sings.

"I really like you too"

Lance pauses for a moment, sees the smile on Keith's face, and decides to just go for it.

He leans forward, slowly, giving Keith plenty of time to back away. But before he can close the gap, Keith is already there, kissing him softly, taking his other hand and running his thumb across Lance's knuckles.

They stay there for longer than they have. Longer than they should. The time passes far too quickly.

When they enter the dining hall, everyone else is already there.

Hunk shoots Lance a grin and a thumbs up when he sees their linked hands. Pidge smiles at them and digs into her food goo.

Lance looks Shiro straight in the eye.

"Taylor is in the house!" he exclaims, smiling when Keith chuckles and grips his hand tighter.

Shiro throws his head back and laughs.