#but i can totally see him being smug until he sees your lips wobble

[keanureevesisbae]

sugar sugar - the planning 2.0

Summary: It’s a new year and the engaged couple are moving forward with their wedding planning.

Sugar Daddy!Henry Cavill x Becky Kim (asian OFC)

Warnings: Smut (like vibrator(s), slight anal play, squirting, slight punishment)

Wordcount: 3.8k

Masterlist // Sugar Sugar Masterlist // Sugar Sugar the wedding Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

January 6th 5 p.m.

The entirety that is left of December I’ve been a slightly emotional mess. Okay, remove slightly, because I’m an emotional mess. Period. I don’t know what caused it. Maybe it’s the fact that we have our invitations ready. Maybe it’s because Christmas spend as an engaged couple was a little overwhelming. Maybe spending New Years together in a club with my friends and my fiancé was too much of a change after spending them in pretty much solitude for many years.

So, it doesn’t surprise me at all that I have been bawling non stop for one of my final fittings for my wedding dress. It’s absolutely gorgeous. It hugs me in all the right places and I feel like such a bride in it.

When I walk into Henry’s office, I see he is alone with some paperwork. Henry looks up from his desk and smiles widely when he notices it’s me. ‘Hi sweetheart. How was the dress fitting?’

Oh goodness, there are the tears again. ‘Oh no, I’m sorry.’

He perks up in his seat, immediately alert because of the tears. ‘Was it no good?’ he asks me, ushering me over.

‘No, honey, it was amazing. The dress is so beautiful.’ I sit on his desk after he cleaned it up for me and I let out a deep sigh. ‘It’s just one step closer to becoming a bride.’

He nods with a smile. ‘It sure is. I can’t wait to marry you.’ Henry examines my face and he asks: ‘Are you sure you’re alright?’

‘Yeah, I’m totally okay. It’s just that I’ve been super duper emotional these passed few weeks. It’s just me being idiotic, so please just indulge me.’

‘I don’t think it’s idiotic,’ he says. ‘But when my future wife isn’t feeling well, I might as well make sure she feels better. Is there something I can do, baby girl?’

‘It’s fine, it’s fine,’ I chuckle. ‘Just silly old me being overly emotional, so let’s forget it. On another note, how are you doing? You have a lot of work to do?’

He nods. ‘Yeah, but I can take it home with me. The walls are closing me in, so to speak.’

‘How about,’ I say, ‘you and I go have something to eat? I’m starving.’

Henry agrees to that a little too quickly. In lightening speed, he packed his suitcase and holds me hand as we walk towards the elevator. People in the company slowly began to notice that I was dating the boss and they have all been very supportive.

To our faces, but I think they mean it.

Once Henry and I got in his car, he doesn’t start it up immediately. I want to ask him what’s wrong, but he gives me a desperate kiss on my lips. ‘Are you alright?’ I ask him.

‘I just missed you a lot,’ he says. ‘Might’ve had some never ending phone calls. I’m glad to finally see you. I might be a little obsessed with you.’

I blush. ‘I’m such a lucky woman,’ I admit.

Henry now does start the car and as he drives through the busy New York streets, he asks me where I want to eat. I simply shrug, telling him he can decide. He gets this slightly smug grin on his lips, but it’s not new to me.

Ever since our little conversation, where I just called it as it is (he is pretty much a dom and I’m probably the biggest sub he’ll ever encounter), he has been actively enjoying it a lot more. Every time I say he can decide, every time I ask him to make a phone call for me, every time I ask his opinion on some clothing, it kinda feeds his ego.

Of course it’s not exactly like they describe it online, but with the way we do it, it feels so natural with him. It’s exactly the way I like it.

We stop at one of my favorite places to eat and when Henry and I walk in, the waiter seems to recognize us. He even asks us if we want the usual, which we both want. Henry and I are seated next to each other and we stare at the aquarium.

Henry has his arm wrapped around my shoulders, as he sighs deeply in content. We’re sitting pretty secluded, just the way Henry likes it. Privacy is a big deal to him and I don’t disagree with it. When my friends and I go out to the clubs he can get us into, he makes sure there is a safe spot for us to sit, lots of privacy and sometimes it comes with a bouncer, making sure no unwanted guests are joining us.

‘You’re tired,’ I note, my eyes following the clownfish that is swimming around. ‘Can I help you with something?’

‘No, no, baby, don’t you worry about me,’ he says. He presses a kiss on my forehead, before whispering in my ear: ‘Daddy’s alright, baby girl.’

My friends know about us, about me calling him daddy every now and then, but they had yet to catch us. Until a few days ago, where I forgot they were around and I mindlessly let it slip when he was preparing some breakfast for us. The audible gasp both Genevieve and Viola let out, caused me to actually wanting to die of shame and they haven’t let it go ever since.

But hearing him refer to himself as daddy, makes me forget all about that mortifying moment, and simply lets me appreciate what we have.

Henry and I enjoy our food, sip on our drinks as we share some simple stories of today. ‘What are your plans for later today?’ he asks me. ‘Or tomorrow?’

‘Not much, since the boss isn’t allowing me to “overwork” myself.’

He chuckles. ‘I heard the weather is gonna be killing tomorrow. I already told the other employees they can work from home.’

‘Oh,’ I say, ‘so, you’re staying home too?’

‘I am. I was thinking about maybe starting on our guest list?’

‘Starting?’ I ask him. ‘You probably forgot about Genevieve being involved. We already have a guest list. We can maybe go look for the perfect wedding rings. Oh my, we could do that.’

‘Sounds good to me.’ He takes my hand in his, admiring the engagement ring. ‘We could go for something similar to each other, but yours much more dainty.’

‘You checked rings already?’

‘I might’ve,’ he admits. ‘Just want the best for you.’

‘I love you,’ I whisper, as my heart swells with love and adoration. ‘I love you so much.’

February 14th 9 p.m.

It’s that time again. It’s that time where Henry decided to use the vibrator again with remote control. The catch this time? We’re not in our penthouse, not at his office totally shut off for other people to come in. We’re at a restaurant celebrating my birthday.

He does this from time to time, simply because he seems to enjoy me suffering, however this is the first time we’re actually in public. We’re sitting next to one another, staring over the city at night, as my leg is moving up and down nervously. The vibrations come and go and each time I’m so close, he must sense it, because he turns it off completely.

‘Baby girl,’ he says in a dangerous tone, ‘careful with your lips, now. Don’t chew on them.’

I let out a sigh, followed by a pout. ‘You’re torturing me,’ I whimper.

Almost like he was waiting on me admitting it, because the vibrations slowly come back to life. ‘I am?’

I nod. ‘Please, let’s just get out of here. I already finished my dessert.’

‘But I haven’t.’ He leans back and takes a sip of his drink. ‘Have I told you you look absolutely stunning tonight?’

I look down my silver dress, that is pretty flashy, but in this restaurant everyone looks showy here. Compared to them, I look pretty modest. ‘Yes, you did,’ I say.

Henry gently leans down, giving me a kiss on my forehead. ‘I love you, you’re doing so well.’ I receive another kiss on the tip of my nose and he descends to my lips.

I whimper against him, as I push my legs together, desperate for some friction, some touch. Anything. ‘Daddy,’ I mumble against his lips.

‘You want to go home, baby?’

‘Yes, please.’

He smiles. ‘Okay, let me help you in your coat,’ he says, finally taking a bit of pity on me. ‘Baby girl, you’re doing so well.’

I stand up on wobbly legs and he helps me in my coat. I zip it up and the two of us walk out of this place. Henry holds my purse in his hand, while the other is securely placed on the small of my back. He tells the limo chauffeur to drive towards home and we get in the back.

As the limo starts to drive, Henry unzips my coat and smiles. ‘Let’s take this all off.’

‘All of it? I can’t. I have to get from the limo back to the apartment, remember?’

‘That is why you’re wearing a longer coat, baby girl,’ he retorts. ‘Take it off.’

I do as he tells me to. I take off the coat, before I push the straps of my dress down. Since this isn’t a dress that requires a bra, I’m left in nothing but my flimsy thongs. He orders me to give them to him and like usual, they end up in his pocket. He actually takes the damn time to neatly fold my dress so he can put it in my purse.

Besides my heels, I’m totally naked in the back of the limo. I think it’s good that Henry owns this limo and pays this driver a lot of money. I wonder if the driver knows what is up—especially since this isn’t the first time we’ve had some sexual escapades in the back—but there isn’t a lot of time to think about it, as Henry pulls me on his lap. His lips wrap around my hardened nipple, his teeth softly sinking into it. He turns on the vibrator, as his bulge pressing against my clit. His hands are kneading the flesh of my behind. It’s so messy. We’re so messy, but that is what I love about him. No matter how dirty it gets, he always wants more. More of me. More of us.

He spreads my asscheeks apart, before on of his fingers gently touches my puckered hole, before letting it slip passed the tight muscle. ‘One day,’ he whispers, ‘it’ll be a lot more than just my finger, baby.’

The moan that’s caused because of all that, is a lot louder than I originally intended and he gives me a firm and loud smack on my behind.

The driver definitely knows now what we’re doing.

‘Quiet, baby girl,’ he grunts, ‘otherwise this pretty ass of yours is gonna be very red and very painful for you to sit on.’

I nod, as I resit on his lap a little, causing the vibrator to shift a bit and it hits the exact right spot. Keeping it quiet is nearly impossible, especially because he has been teasing me the entire night. His hand lands on my ass again and again and again. ‘What did I just say?’

‘Sorry, daddy, it’s just that… I’m so close.’ I am already clenching around the toy and Henry kisses me to stop me from making to much noise. It’s barely working, as I ride out my high on his lap. He turns off the vibrator with a smile and his finger exits from my tight hole. He helps me in my coat and says: ‘I believe we’re almost home.’

With nothing but a very short coat on and the vibrator still buried deep inside of me, the two of us get out of the limo. I avoid eye contact with the driver, who despite his own best efforts,  can’t hide the fact that he knows exactly what happened back there. After Henry gave him a ridiculously large tip, we walk towards the entrance of our building. It’s freezing cold and it’s not helping that the insides of my thighs are still a bit wet.

We step into the elevator and Henry stands behind me, his hand on my side, as a group of business men and women also step in. They are loud, meaning that Henry could easily turn on the vibrator and no one would notice.

Great minds must think alike, because he turns it on. I somehow manage to keep it sort of together, but it’s hard, especially with the way I feel my hardened nipples rub against the inside of my coat and Henry’s noticeable bulge pressed against my butt.

The carpet all of the sudden has all my attention.

The group steps off on the second floor and that leaves just the two of us. Henry steps in front of me, blocking the entrance as his hands slips underneath the hem of the coat. He pats my bare bottom a few times. ‘Good girl,’ he whispers.

‘Daddy,’ I whimper, ‘I’m close again.’

‘You better hold it.’

With the vibrator still on, I manage to wobble to the door of our apartment. The second the door closes, Henry nearly rips off my coat and cages me in between his arms and the wall. ‘Fuck, how did I get so lucky? You did well, baby girl. Daddy is so proud of you.’

‘Please,’ I beg, nearly in tears, ‘can I cum now?’

He gives me a soft peck on my lips, a sweet gesture compared to what he has been doing all night. ‘Of course.’

My legs start to shake, as I wrap my arms around his neck to keep me standing up. My eyes roll back, as the familiar feeling washes over me. ‘Oh daddy,’ I moan out, as I feel my juices squirt passed the vibrating egg, down my legs onto the floor. It’s all becoming too much, so I reach down to grab the string and pull it out.

As I’m panting, Henry seizes my wrist. ‘What did you do?’ he asks, turning the vibrator off. ‘Tell me, what did you do?’

Oh shit, I think something bad. ‘I couldn’t take it anymore, daddy.’

‘Then why didn’t you safe word?’

Why didn’t I? ‘I don’t know,’ I say, but when he cocks his eyebrow, I realize that won’t do. ‘It wasn’t necessary.’

He tsks, a sound he barely makes. ‘I’m disappointed in you, baby girl.’ He drags me with him to the bedroom and pushes me on the bed. Not gonna lie, this is turning me on way more than I originally expected. He holds my chin in between his fingers, as he forces me to look up. ‘If you don’t like something anymore,’ he says in a dangerously low tone, ‘then you safe word. But never ever take matters into your own hands like that.’

Fuck, this alone nearly causes my next orgasm. ‘I’m sorry, daddy.’

‘You’re damn right you’re sorry.’ He unbuttons his shirt, revealing his broad chest that over the course of the last few weeks only got broader and stronger. ‘And I’m gonna teach you a little lesson, baby girl.’

✤ ✤ ✤

After I don’t know how many orgasms with the vibrators (yes, plural), he turns them both off as I try to catch my breath. Him plunging my beloved vibrator deep inside of me. Him pressing the other one onto my super sensitive clit. He was torturing me, making me cum over and over and over again. Trying to teach me a lesson. The wet covers of the bed are the evidence of how many times I already came. He was slightly pissed at me, but also continued to whisper that I could safe word whenever I needed to.

Henry sits in between my legs and without much teasing or preparation enters me, burying himself deep inside of me. A gasp escapes my lips, as his girth is a world apart from the vibrator. He pushes his heavy chest onto mine, grabbing my hands and holding them with just one of his above my head.

Henry has never done such thing. Never took he this much control, never was he like this. But then again, never did I do something that would disappoint him. His lips are dangerously close and he says: ‘Tell me baby girl, whose pussy is this?’

What a question, but I know the answer. ‘Yours,’ I whisper. ‘Daddy, I’m so sorry.’

‘If you can’t take it anymore,’ he continues, ‘now or in the future, then you safe word. Promise me that.’

‘Yes, yes, yes, I promise.’

Henry gives me a kiss. It’s such a gentle move after the insane orgasm overstimulation act he just preformed on me. The throbbing pain is overruled by the sheer pleasure I feel of his thick length deep inside of me. ‘Are you gonna be a good girl for daddy?’

‘I will, I will. Always.’

His thrusts are slow, allowing me to take him all in and get used to his length. With every thrust, he brushes against my extremely sensitive clit, earning him soft whimper like moans. His lips press attentive kisses on my lips. ‘Good girl,’ he praises me, ‘such a good girl.’

My mind is so cloudy and foggy, but his lovely words still make an impact. ‘I love you.’

Henry smiles. ‘I love you too, baby girl. Fuck, I love you so much.’

He slowly speeds up his thrusts, only for him to become a lot rougher too. The room is filled with indecent and vulgar sounds, but that doesn’t stop him. No, it even encourages him more. Henry doesn’t stop, not even as I turn into a crying and sobbing mess underneath him.

I know what to do when it gets too much and while it definitely feels like too much, I love how he uses me like this. He is the only one that I’ll ever allow to do this. He is the only one who can have this much control over me.

My legs start to quiver and I don’t even have to tell him that I’m close. My vision turns completely white for a few moments, as I cry out. ‘Fuck!’

‘I know baby, I know. I’m close.’ The sound he makes as he bottoms out, painting me from the inside, is probably the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard. He crashes on top of me, making sure he doesn’t crush me under his weight. ‘You did well,’ he says with a proud smile. ‘Are you okay? I was’t too rough on you, was I?’

I try to catch my breath, but I shake my head. ‘No, no, you weren’t. Don’t you worry. I’m so sorry,’ I sniffle.

He pushes some hairs out of my face and gives me a kiss. ‘It’s okay.’

‘You’re not mad at me?’ I place my hand in the back of his neck. ‘I didn’t mean to.’

‘Baby, baby, baby,’ he says, ‘I know you didn’t. Just know that whenever you don’t feel good, it’s becoming too much for you, you safe word. I need you to safe word, baby. Do it for daddy, okay?’

‘Of course, I will,’ I say, swallowing hard. ‘You’re really not mad at me?’

‘Hey, hey, it’s all good,’ he says. ‘I’m not mad at you, never was. Stop worrying about it, okay? Please, baby girl.’

‘I just love you a lot and I hate to disappoint you.’

‘I know you do,’ he says with a smile. ‘I love you a lot as well. And because I’m your boss, I’m willing to give you a day off tomorrow.’

I start to laugh. ‘Oh, how gracious of you.’

‘Want a bath, darling? Or you want to go to the sauna?’

‘Maybe a sauna is nice, and a bath afterwards?’

Henry nods and pulls out, causing me to slightly shiver on the bed. ‘Sit still, okay? I’ll be right out.’

As I am relaxing on the bed, regaining some strength in my legs, Henry walks around, preparing the sauna and I hear he is actually turning on the jacuzzi as well for after the sauna. He carries me out of the bed and whispers he’ll clean the bed later on. He sits on one of the wooden benches, tucking me securely on his lap. I was already sweaty, but despite that, it’s nice to be hugged by the warm air provided by the sauna. I wrap my arms around his shoulders, giving him a kiss in his neck.

His fingertips run up and down my spine. ‘Baby girl, can you tell me why you didn’t safe word?’

‘I don’t know,’ I whisper.

‘You didn’t feel safe enough to do it?’

‘It kinda slipped my mind.’

Henry nods, pressing his lips on my hair line. ‘I only want what’s best for you,’ he says. ‘And if you’re overwhelmed, tell me, okay?’

I nod. ‘I will. I promise.’

✤ ✤ ✤

It’s late by the time the two of us get in bed. Since it’s winter after all, I dressed myself in one of his long sleeved shirts, while my personal heater is in nothing but some boxers. I place my head on his chest and his hand finds mine. He holds my fingers, as his thumb runs over the engagement ring.

‘Honey,’ I say, ‘want to hear about a dream I had the other day?’

‘Always.’

‘I dreamed about having kids last night with you.’

‘Really?’ he asks me. ‘Color me intrigued. What happened in that dream?’

‘Nothing much. Just you and me sitting on a porch, looking over the yard and seeing our kids run around, maybe even a dog.’

‘I keep thinking about that as well,’ he chuckles. ‘The whole idea of having kids with you makes me realize how fortunate I am that you’re gonna be my wife. When do you want to start trying?’

‘Maybe a few months after our wedding? I know that I probably won’t get pregnant straight away after I stopped taking the pill, but I’d like to enjoy a few more months of you and I as a married couple.’

He nods. ‘I agree. It’s just that I can’t wait for you and I to start a family. To spoil you and the children rotten.’

‘But we still have to keep them humble,’ I say. ‘I’m serious, Henry.’

‘Of course, of course,’ he quickly says. ‘They should never take anything for granted.’

I close my eyes, placing my leg over his. ‘Do you think we should move places?’

He nods. ‘Totally, because I want to make that dream of yours come true. I want a yard, so we can build treehouses, have toys scattered all around and what not.’

I smile. It’s like he is reading my mind. ‘When are we gonna start looking for a place?’

‘After the wedding?’ he suggests.

I nod. ‘After the wedding.’

[hermannsthumb]

Maria. *Grabs your face* MARIA. I would LOVE to see 15 bobbing for apples from the autumn fic meme written by you. Nothing would delight me more!

Anonymous asked: Halloween prompt #15 please!!... "Bobbing for apples but we meet accidentally underwater lady and the tramp style." OR "I thought we'd have fun bobbing for apples but you actually hate it and are really mad now"

15. Bobbing For Apples

from autumn fic prompts here

KATE ❤️__ ❤️for you id write anything... and anon the lady and the tramp scenario is so fucking funny/good

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

It’s a really good thing that Hermann has Newt, because if Newt’s being honest, he has no damn clue what the poor dude would do without him. Work himself to death, probably. Or spend every Saturday night alone in his bunk. So depressing. Newt considers it his big charitable act of—well, of all time—to force Hermann into social functions, whether it's fun nights out at the bar (with Newt!), or down the hall a few feet for awesome movie marathons in Newt’s quarters (with Newt!), or something like tonight, which is a super awesome and fun Halloween party that, like, everyone on the base was invited to (including Newt!).

Hermann was all set to spend another night alone (probably changing the batteries in all his calculators or rearranging the hangers in his closet) when Newt dragged him out, more or less by the collar of his argyle sweater, with multiple threats to make his life a living hell the following week in the lab if he didn't comply immediately. "Seriously, dude," Newt had said, ominously, while Hermann looked at him like a furious cat ready to take a swipe, "you're gonna put in those vampire fangs and get drunk with me, or you're gonna regret it. I mean it." Newt was not opposed to blasting the shittiest depths of his Spotify account over his bluetooth speakers or using Hermann's favorite coffee mug to hold his dissection tools. Luckily for both of them, Hermann decided the risk wasn't worth it.

Newt knows Hermann is bound to recognize how selfless Newt is being and thank him for it eventually. Probably. Maybe a few years from now. For now, Newt is enjoying the warm and fuzzy feeling of having done a good deed, and also of drinking a considerable amount of spiked punch.

Hermann is not enjoying either.

"I did, in fact, have plans for tonight," he tells Newt, sipping his ginger ale and observing Newt with a fierce scowl. He flat-out refused the booze Newt tried to push on him. It's fine, whatever—it's enough for Newt, right now anyway, that he actually came. They'll work up to bigger stuff like that later.

"Like what?" Newt says. "Doing a crossword puzzle and watching the second half of that boring-ass documentary you put on last weekend?"

Newt considers it an affront to the very concept of movie nights that Hermann used his pick on a documentary, and one about the jaeger program that didn't even bother interviewing him, no less. Newt loves a good documentary, don't get him wrong, but movie nights are for escapist shit. You don't see him switching on Godzilla. Plus, having to watch stock footage of Dr. Gottlieb Sr. blabbing his mouth about how smart he was while you were debating making a move on his son (who was currently in you bed, looking super cute in your sweatpants, because he'd forgotten to pack pj's) was kind of a mood-killer. "It wasn't boring," Hermann sniffs, which tells Newt that his guess was dead-on. "It was...interesting. And anyway, just because they aren't your idea of plans..."

"Okay, whatever," Newt says. "Let's just have fun. That's the point of a party."

He throws an arm around Hermann's shoulder and drags him closer, until their heads knock together painfully. He hears Hermann growl low in his throat. Newt doesn't say, soon, we won't have the time to do stupid shit like this anymore, so we should enjoy it while we can, even though he wants to. It's better to not make fun stuff depressing. Plus, Hermann might decide to take that as an invitation to bail and put on his documentary. Instead he reaches up across Hermann and flicks his chin. Hermann's whole body stiffens. "I can't believe I got you into this super awesome party and you're not even pretending to be thankful," Newt says.

With no great deal of difficulty, Hermann pushes Newt off of him. Newt lands heavily back in his chair, making the whole thing wobble, and he laughs as he just manages to catch himself from falling off the other side. "You got me in?" Hermann says. "Newton, I was invited three weeks ago."

Newt stops laughing. "You were?"

"Yes," Hermann says. The corner of his lip twitches up, with a smugness so powerful Newt can feel it radiating off of him in waves. Bastard. "I took it upon myself to ask if you might be permitted to come, too." He adds, sarcastically, "Out of the kindness of my heart. I know how terribly put out you get when you aren't included in these sorts of things."

Newt considers this new information, and then discards it, because it really doesn't fit the image of himself he's been cultivating as the cool, hip friend to Hermann's uncool, unhip nerd. Like, come on, between the two of them, Newt is obviously the one you'd want at your party. Hermann's gotta be kidding. Probably. Maybe. "It's a lame party anyway," Newt mumbles.

He tries to put his arm around Hermann's shoulder again, remembers that Hermann really didn't like that the first time, and then drops it back down at his side instead. "Totally lame," he continues. Newt recalls the Halloween parties of his youth with a warm, fond glow: elaborate costumes, tacky decorations, passing around bowls of peeled grapes in the dark, carving jack-o-lanterns while his dad hovered protectively over him to make sure he didn't take a finger off with the knife. This is none of that. Barely anyone even dressed up! The lack of Halloween spirit is tragic. "There aren't even any party games."

"Yes there are," Hermann says, mildly.

He points across the room at a large metal tub that Newt somehow missed before. It looks like it's filled with water, and...

"Dude," Newt says.

He doesn't wait to ask before he's hopping to his feet and dragging Hermann along after him by his blazer cuff. Hermann swats at his heels a few times with his cane, but eventually—like he does with most of Newt's ideas—gives in. "I'm a fuckin' champ at bobbing for apples," Newt boasts. "I used to—oops, excuse me," (he runs into two guys who are, like, twice his height, upsetting their drinks, and he hears Hermann groan as something purple spills on his sweater), "I used to always win it at the fall fest when my dad would take me." And then when he went back as an adult by himself, but it was less impressive a win when you were up against a bunch of ten-year-olds.

"You do have an exceptionally large mouth," Hermann says, rubbing at his stained shoulder. "I suppose that helps." As Newt bends to investigate the iron tub, he says, "Oh, Newton, don't, it's been out all night. Who knows what sorts of germs are in there?"

Newt gets to his knees and rolls up the sleeves of his PPDC-issued labcoat. He's a mad scientist to Hermann's vampire (vampire librarian?) tonight. Yeah, it's kind of a lazy costume, but it was free—he already had everything he needed in the lab. "I can get it in five seconds, max," he declares. His record is one second, but he's the first to admit he's a little rusty, and he'd rather impress Hermann by beating his estimate. "Will you hold my headlamp?"

Grumbling, Hermann takes it. Newt sets his glasses on the ground. "You're going to get yourself bloody soaking," Hermann says, and then he complains about something else, too, but Newt is screwing his eyes shut and ducking his head into the tub, which makes it difficult to hear him. One second—two seconds—two and a half—Newt emerges victorious from the tub, teeth clenched down firmly on an apple, and accidentally splatters a large amount of water on Hermann's shoes. He pulls the apple out of his mouth with a grin and waves it at Hermann. "See. I'm a fucking pro."

He tucks his glasses back on his face to discover that Hermann is staring at him with a very strange expression on his face. Newt can't decide if it's the blacklight bulbs overhead that are washing him out and making him look so flushed, or something else entirely. Then, in a second, he's grumpy and scowling and tsking over his wet shoes. "A pro," he echoes. "Hardly. It can't be that complicated."

Newt gestures grandly at the tub and takes a bite out of his apple. Hermann can always be relied upon to never turn down a challenge, especially when it means making Newt look—potentially—stupid. Newt uses it to his advantage often. Whatever it takes to help the guy have a good time. "It's all yours, dude."

Hermann grumbles something again about Newt being too arrogant for his own good, and something else about showing Newt how to do it without making a mess of everything, then gets down to his knees with a quiet hiss of discomfort. He shoves his cane, and Newt's headlamp, at Newt, though bewilderingly leaves his blazer on. "I'll be just a moment," he says, and dunks his head into the tub.

He splashes back up no more than five seconds later. Apple-less. "Bugger," he coughs, and then coughs some more. The entire front of his sweater is soaked. "I didn't—I didn't start out right. Let me—"

Newt watches Hermann try to drown himself a few more times in mild interest before he finally intercedes. "Need a hand?" he says, getting to his knees next to Hermann.

"No," Hermann splutters.

Newt takes his glasses off again. "Yeah, you do. Okay, now watch me—"

He emerges with another apple in seconds.

Hermann grits his teeth. "Newton—"

"One more?" Newt says, his grin widening.

Back under. Another apple. He winks at Hermann when he goes in for a fourth time, and this time, he feels the water of the tank being upset as Hermann (refusing to be outdone once again) splashes in alongside him. God, Newt loves riling Hermann up like this—he gets so funny, and kinda cute, when he's mad about something. Red in the face, and scowling, and sometimes (when he's real mad) speaking in a dangerously low and rough sort of voice with his r's rolling that makes Newt shiver, just a little. Like, Newton, you worthless, pathetic little man, cease this immediately, or else I'll... He actually said that to Newt once. It made Newt feel a little warm under his collar. Hermann's probably going to say something similar to him this time, and Newt can't wait.

Ten seconds in. Newt has been cutting Hermann a little slack at first, just to see if he can catch up, but finally decides to just go for the apple that's been bobbing steadily against his mouth this whole time. (He loves beating Hermann at stuff.)

And, well, apparently Hermann goes for it too.

They both miss the apple. Newt's mouth is up against Hermann's for another five seconds before he realizes what's happening (that that is definitely not an apple, that that is definitely a mouth, that that mouth is wide and weird another to belong to only one person Newt knows, that that mouth is parting in surprise, oh my God) and then he pulls away so quickly that he breathes in what feels like half the tub of water. He falls back on his ass, coughing furiously, and it's not until he shoves his glasses back on with a shaking hand that he realizes that Hermann has done the same. "I," Hermann says. His eyes are wide. "I'm sor—"

"It's fine," Newt squeaks.

"It was—"

"I know!"

Newt and Hermann's mouths were touching for five whole seconds. Underwater, while apples bobbed against their foreheads, but their mouths still touched. Oh my God. In elementary school, Newt thinks dizzily, that would be enough to catch cooties. This was so not how he wanted his awesome eventual seduction of Hermann to go down. For one thing, it wasn't even a seduction.

"I'm gonna get a towel," Newt says.

Hermann nods. He looks strangely adorable with water droplets on his nose and his hair plastered to his head like that. Newt has to get out of here before he does something stupid, like take Hermann's pointy cheeks between his hands and put their mouths together on purpose. He doesn't think Hermann would respond to that very well right now.

"I'll get you one too," Newt says, and it takes a lot of effort to force himself to his feet.

Hermann nods again.

"Okay," Newt says, and stumbles away. Out of the corner of his eye, he just catches Hermann raising a hand to his mouth.

[blkgojo]

Two Superheroes, One Bed | Carol Danvers x Reader

In which, you and Carol hate each other, but have to share a bed. 

Request: Anonymous

Despite popular misconception being a former terrorist does not make people like you. If anything, it makes them hate you. Despise you. Question you incessently with things such as, "Why did you do this? What is wrong with you? How could you have justified those acts?" And to be honest, your answer was less than satisfying. There was no tragic backstory. No great villain speech. Just you and your hatred for the government.

Living in the Avenger facility did little to change that.

See, the thing about Carol Danvers was that she wasn't an "Earth" hero. Logically speaking, there should've been no reason you disliked eachother as much as you did. You didn't work for the Kree. You had no squabble with saving refugees from colonial rule. On paper, you two were two peas in a pod. Both looking after people who didn't have others to help them, but you hated her the moment you laid eyes on her. Carol Danvers with the huge ass ego. Carol Danvers who somehow was fighting an intergalactic empire, but saw no problem with the way the US military conducted business. She hated you because honestly, who likes a murderer. Redemption arc be damned. You know how it goes.

"I just feel like I've done nothing to deserve this."

"You've killed hundreds of people."

"In total, the Avengers have killed like 2000 so, I don't really see how that's relevant."

Natasha sighs. Steve steps forward and when you cut your eyes at him, he raises his hands in plea.

"Half the universe's population is gone. The US government just needs a win."

You nod slowly. "And sending me across the fucking galaxy with-" You gesture vaguely to the blonde who until that point had decided to be quiet. "- is somehow a win."

"I hate to say this, but I agree," Carol interjects. "I work better alone. Y/N will just hold me back."

"We just need someone to go back to the planet where the infinity stores were destroyed. Make sure there are no remnants."

"It'd be quicker if I did it by myself."

"Y/N is the only one with the ability to replicate organic life," Steve retorts. "If there's a possibility she can locate some particle of infinity stone and replicate that, we need to take that chance."

"It'd be good publicity for her image and it'd bring us one step closer to bringing them back," Natasha continues.

"The world needs you to put aside your differences for the mission."

That was another thing you regretted about joining the Avengers. Steve had no shortage of motivating speeches under his belt. The good thing about villains was that they weren't much for conversation - there was no need to give motivating speeches when the odds were in your favor.

But, people were gone. Wanda, the only one you remotely liked, was gone. Snapped. Looking at Carol now, it looks like she must've lost someone, too. Her unpleasant face looks somehow more restrained than it usually did.

You sigh and fold your arms. "Fine."

All Carol does is nod.

--

It would take two earth days to reach his planet. Two. There'd been complications with the engine and so, it would take not the twenty four hours you expected, you know the time span that was customary for light travel, but it would take two days. Between that and the ship having to lower the heat to maintain proper oxygen levels, it wasn't fun.

"I could fly us there," Carol offers.

"Are you forgetting I can't breathe in space?"

Carol shrugs. "You replicate organic life right? Just replicate yourself a new pair of lungs."

"Fuck you."

She smirks, takes the only other available chair next to you. At first, she seems content to annoy you by tapping her fingers against the dashboard. Then, she grows bored. Worse, she tries to talk to you.

"Isn't all of this stuff automated?"

"Yes."

"So," she begins, stretching out the word. "You don't actually need to be here monitoring it. You can get on the cot." She shrugs. "Take a nap."

"I'd rather keep watch."

You think that'll be it and she'll be done, but she continues. You never would've pegged her as the type to not like silence. But, maybe that's not even it. Maybe, she just wanted to squeeze information out of you. God knows you weren't exactly open with the other Avengers when Fury made you join.

"You ever been to outer space?"

You shake your head. "When you're flagged as a global liability they tend to prefer you on the ground."

"A global liability? Is that what terrorists call themselves?"

"At least, we don't give ourselves cutesy nicknames like Black Widow or Captain Marvel."

She scoffs. "No. You guys just blow up innocent civilians."

"Yeah, I guess accidentally killing them is way better." You smile thinly. "For the greater good and all, you know?"

She stares at you long enough that you don't think she'll actually speak. Finally, she looks away and out to the empty abyss in front of you. "I don't pretend to know what the Avengers did while I was off-world. I see them now and they're good people."

You don't respond and she continues. "You must agree. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here."

"Fury said it was either this or experimentation."

"Fury didn't say that."

You laugh bitterly. "He didn't, but he didn't need to. The governments experiment on all mutants - that's how we got Steve and Wanda - they just don't talk about it anymore." You spare her a glance. There's nothing in her expression that would tell you what she's thinking. "So, I chose the Avengers. And here we are."

"You could've escaped."

"Where?" You lean forward in your seat and prop your elbow on the dash. "Please tell me. Where can someone who's wanted internationally hide?"

She squints her eyes. "I'd help, but unfortunately, my knowledge of ideal vacation spots is pretty limited."

Carol's lips seem to be trapped in a permanent smirk - the corner always tilted up in vaguely hidden amusement. Even now. Her snark never stops. You feel your own anger dissipate as quick as it came. There was no point being angry with her. She loved it. Fed off it like a parasite or leech.

"It's almost like you're trying to piss me off."

She places her elbow on the console, leaning forward to shrink the gap between you two.

"Would it make you more angry if I was?"

One time, you and the raccoon had a bet. Whose eyes were more blue: Captain America or Captain Marvel? Like this, you'd have to say Carol. Her eyes had their own halo wrapped around the rim, highlighting the blue and making it fluorescent.

You rub your lips together and lean back in your seat, turning away from her to once again, look at the controls.

The ship breaks down when you reach his planet. You and Carol spend the first ten minutes after landing, arguing back and forth, blaming eachother. The next fifteen, Carol leaves you. Fucks off like a glow stick and searches the planet. When she returns, you haven't moved. Haven't left. You opted instead to lie down in the flowers. It was a beautiful planet. Perfect for retirement. The air was pure, almost light enough to get high in.

"I found his cabin."

"Great." You jump up. The blood rushing to your head and spotting your vision briefly, almost enough to cause you to wobble. "Let's go."

She steps in front of you, quick. You stop just short of bumping into her. Your faces are inches apart. That same infuriating smirk on her lips. Your eyes dart down, down to her chest - she was quite muscular, you could see that even through her clothes-  down enough that she has to clear her throat.

"It's too far by foot." When your eyes meet, she's trying to not look smug.

You arch a brow. "Well, we can't fly."

"I'll have to carry you."

You groan.

"Believe me. I'd be more than willing to do anything else."

"Fine. Do it."

You step back and gesture at her to turn around. She rolls her eyes and in a breathe you didn't know you were holding, throws your arm around her shoulders, wraps her arms around your waist, and jumps. You scream. Through the rush of wind, you think you hear her laughing or perhaps, that's a lie and it's you. Laughing hysterically. No. You are screaming. Hitting her chest. And she's laughing. Fuck Natasha. Fuck Steve. When this is over, you're quitting.

When your feet touch the ground, you bend down and kiss it. Pray to it.

"Anyone ever tell you you're dramatic?" She asks.

"Anyone ever teach you about consent?"  

"You told me to do it."

"I don't care!"

The two of you spend hours looking for remnants of the stones before you finally give it up and return to the ship. You were careful not to drift too close to his cabin. The Avengers never recovered the body. The rot of Thanos was thick, enough to gag over if you got too close. This planet wasn't used to death, not the harsh meat of Thanos. It had been months and he was still there, newly rotting as if it had been a week or two.

"I'll look again tomorrow before we leave." Carol pops a chip in her mouth, her feet kicked on the co-pilot chair while you lounged on the cot. "For now, you should get your rest."

"Don't you need to sleep, too?"

"I have been." She gestures to the chair.

You stare. Frown. The chairs were nowhere near comfortable.

"We can switch. I'll just take the blanket," you offer reluctantly. The nights here were cold anyways. Much colder than space. You involuntarily shiver.

"I prefer to sleep sitting up."

"Is that a military thing?"

To your surprise, she laughs. "Why?"

You shrug the blanket higher - the thin layer providing little comfort. "Cap likes to do that too."

As the sky gets darker, the cold filters in the cracks of the ship and between the layers of your comforter. You snuggle tighter within yourself, curl your knees up to your chest, burrow your hands underneath your pits. When that doesn't work, you shift again. It was always something. The blanket doesn't cover your feet here. You're uncomfortable there.

"You still up?"

You peek up to glance at Carol. She's leaned back in the chair, her head propped back against the headrest. When you shift, she pops one eye open.

"It's cold," you respond. "Are you cold?"

She shakes her head. "Temperature stops being a concern when you get superpowers like mine."

"Oh, yeah. Forgot you're a glow stick."

She snorts. "You talk a lot of shit for someone whose close to being an icicle."

"Bravado under pressure. It's my best quality."

You think she's gonna retort with another snort, but she stays silent. You make a move to stand, but she stops you.

"It's colder over here. See." She breathes out and you can see the cloud of her breathe. You frown.

"I can't sleep like this."

You think she's gonna do something like procure a blanket or throw you her jacket. You even think she might use her powers to heat the ship. It would make sense. Now, that you thought about it - she could've flew your ship to Thanos's exact location. You open your mouth to say as much, maybe, even yell at her as well, but she surprises you by standing.

Her head tilts to the side. Her mouth opening and closing again as if she's mulling over her next words carefully. If it were brighter, you might say this is the closest to nervous you've ever seen her get.

"I could lay down next to you." You blink. "My body generates a certain amount of heat due to -"

"Your powers. Yeah, I get it."

Slowly, you scoot over in the small cot. There wouldn't be enough room. You'd be touching regardless, but if you didn't turn over, it'd be okay. You could pretend instead of Carol, it was some space heater next to you.

"Come," you order.

You feel her weight in the cot, the warmth of her sinking in and spreading across the fabric. It hasn't even been a minute and already the cold has been dissipated. You could sleep if you wanted to. But, you don't. No matter how much you had wanted to pretend she was just some space heater, she was Carol. She felt stiff like a board and she was unbearably loud in her stiffness, her unwillingness to move.

"You can relax you know," you mumble.

"I sleep on my side."

You wonder now if she's smirking.

"No one's stopping you from doing that."

She moves and you know without looking that she's facing you. Her breathe tickles the hair on the back of your neck. You wouldn't be able to sleep like this. She's thinking so loud that whatever thoughts she's having are sure to interrupt your dreams. You turn over towards her - your faces are a hair apart. She's not smirking. Her lips are parted and her eyebrows raised, her expression torn between surprise and delight.

"You're making it difficult to sleep," you say simply.

"Am I?" She retorts. There it is. She's grinning. "That sounds like a personal problem."

You don't take the bait. "You know why you're making it difficult?"

She shifts her head slightly to imply 'no'.

"You're too far away. I'm still cold," you say.

She arches one brow. "This is too far away for you?"

You nod.

She shifts closer. Close enough that there's no room for you to glance at her lips. There's only her eyes staring into yours.

"This good enough?" She whispers.

"No."

"You're proving difficult to please, Y/N." And you can tell she's trying to be smooth, but right now, you just want her to shut up.

You barely have time to open your mouth to say as much before she's kissing you. Pressing her soft lips to yours, her hand finding its way to your hip and resting there. She tugs you closer to her until your bodies are flush against one another. The soft pecks growing longer. Light sparks from her fingertips, burning the trim of your jacket. She fists it as she presses you into her. Her touch still gentle if demanding.

You pull away slowly to breathe. To catch air. You forget why when your lips stop touching.

"Been wanting to do that for awhile," she says with a smile.

"I didn't know I wanted to do it honestly," you respond because it's true. All you knew was that Carol was infuriating. Still is. Only now you want to kiss her, too.

"Really?" Carol asks. "You didn't know you wanted me?"

"You find that hard to believe?"

"I do," she grins. "You know the raccoon and Groot have a running bet on which one of us would crack first. Groot bet on me."

"Groot lost, then." You mean to kiss her, but she pulls back.

"You're the one who invited me into bed with you."

"Because you offered your services."

"Because you complained about being cold."

You groan, snuggle into her chest so you don't feel the need to respond to her. Thankfully, she stops. Her spare hand strokes your back and slowly, you drift into sleep.

[kurutabaa]

Mistletoe Headcanons!

Including Akira/Ren, Ryuji, Ann, Haru, and Futaba!

MERRRY CHRISTMASSS~!

Or Hanukkah~!!!

I hope all of you had a good year and celebrate Christmas/Hanukkah this year. As a toast, I’ll happily write Mistletoe Headcanons for (Majority) of the Phantom Thieves! I really hope you can see the extra effort I tried to put into this, I hope you enjoy🎄🌸🌸

(This may have turned into kissing headcanons while writing, but it’s a win-win either way.)

Akira Kurusu

He is incredibly suave when it comes to kisses, so be prepared for your heart to absolutely melt because of him.

He normally wouldn’t care much about mistletoes, but with you? It’s a whole different story.

It doesn’t really matter wether or not you’re in public, he doesn’t care what other people think (To some extent) and will show his love for you anywhere you feel comfortable.

If his stats are maxed out, he will ABSOLUTELY ask you to dance.

“Would you like to dance, Treasure?”

As he interwines his hand with yours, he’ll gently spin you around and perfectly land you both under the mistletoe without missing a beat.

“Ah, it seems like we’re both under the mistletoe. Would you like to share a kiss~?”

He cups your face and presses a firm yet heartwarming kiss against your lips.

This was all in front of the Phantom Thieves, if you were wondering.

Buuuuuut never mind that! It depends if he’s feeling snarky or greedy that day, because he’ll either continue to pepper you with kisses as your face is beet red or just... Walks away, and the bastard absolutely knows you’ll come up to him wanting more.

“You’re being quite greedy, Treasure. Do you want me to shower you with some affection?”

If you’re both in his room relaxing, he’ll lean in reaaaaally close into your face and hang a mistletoe above the two of you. He likes to wait a few seconds before kissing you to see your reaction.

Making him flustered with a mistletoe usually depends on his mood! If you want to make him go weak in his knees, the best time to do it is when your initiating cuddling with him or whispering reassurance into his ear.

He’ll pull you back into the kiss, muttering sweet words as he pulls back for air.

“I love you, Treasure... I love you so much...”

“You’re the only thing I want this year...”

If you sneakily walk up to him and hang a mistletoe between you two, he’ll smirk and give you a teasing remark before giving you your well deserved kiss.

“You’re so cute, Y/N.”

The two of you can be caught off guard if Futaba randomly hangs a mistletoe above you two while chatting.

“Heeey, what are you two waiting for? Kiss, kiss!”

Akira silently cups your face with his hands and kisses you. Ah, what a charming young man~

Ryuji Sakamoto

He gets flustered just at the mention of a mistletoe. He also thinks the general idea is stupid.

“What’s the point of a mistletoe? Isn’t it just some weird thing to get people to kiss?”

But when it comes to you he reaaallly wants to score a kiss from you under the mistletoe.

Of course he wants to kiss you! But with everyone watching you two like that? Too embarrassing.

Which means you or one of the Phantom Thieves have to initiate it. Oh boy.

If you silently hold up a mistletoe above you two, he’ll stare at you confused until he looks up.

“W-What the heck are you doing with that thing?”

“I wanna kiss you, bonehead.”

“Jeez! If you wanna kiss me, you don’t have to use a stupid mistletoe.”

You found it adorable that he was so shy about kissing you, either because it was in public or that he was caught off guard. Either way, you enjoyed it~

He’s also very oblivious, you two can be standing under a mistletoe and he’ll just continue talking. In situations like that, you just have to kiss him without warning. It gives a cuter reaction, so it’s a win win!

If you keep nagging him with a mistletoe, he’ll slowly get used to it and take advantage of the fact he’ll get kisses~

“..Are you really not gonna stop bothering me with that thing?”

“Nope! Not until Christmas is over.”

“Alright, alright. Come here.”

His kisses are very cute but short! You gotta pull him back in for a longer kiss.

“Are you happy n- MMPH?!”

“Now I’m happy~”

He’s really cute when he gets upset if someone hangs a mistletoe above you two. He has a noticeable blush on his cheeks and he’ll try to avoid eye contact with you.

Who was the culprit? Futaba, of course. It’s always Futaba, heheh~

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Ryuji—“

“S-Shut up!”

After the holidays are over, he’s glad he won’t have to be pestered with a mistletoe. But he will miss the copious amounts of kisses he got from you.

Ann Takamaki

She’s confused about the concept of a mistletoe, but being a fan of romance, is totally down for it.

She’ll usually initiate to get you two under the mistletoe! Either by dragging you under one or casually lifting it up above your heads.

Since she doesn’t care wether or not people see you two being intimate, she’ll do it whenever the time calls.

You find it amusing at how smug and eager she acts whenever you’re under a mistletoe because of her.

“Oh wow, what a surprise! Looks like we’re under the mistletoe.”

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

On the other hand, she gets rather flustered if you initiate it. She’ll struggle a bit to look at you in the eye but will gladly kiss you back.

“A mistletoe..?”

“Come here, you dork.”

“Hey, can we do that one more time?”

She loves kissing you, so be prepared to be regulary swept under the mistletoe. The absolute joy on her face is so precious, please cherish her and she’ll do the same back!

If you’re both in private, she’ll be more intimate with you physically and verbally. Lingering kisses that last a few seconds longer, caressing eachothers cheeks, somber words in eachothers ears, she’s so cute~

“Mm, I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you, too.”

“I’m so lucky, you know that? If you weren’t mine, I’d want you for Christmas! Hehe!”

You can tell how much she adores you just from her kisses. Take good care of her!

She has a big smile on her face and giggles whenever you pull her back in for another kiss.

Ann enjoys to pepper you with kisses afterwards! She loves giving you affection and won’t be afraid to do so.

If you two are both surprised by a mistletoe, wether it be Akira or Futaba, she won’t have any shame and kiss you like usual.

“Ah?! You scared me! What are you doing with that?”

“What do you think I’m doing?”

Out of all of the Phantom Thieves, Akira and Ann have the best kisses.

Haru Okumura

Besides Futaba, she gets easily flustered by the thought of kissing you. But further into the relationship, she became more intimate and initiated kisses with you. Although she does still get a bit shy!

She’s such a hopeless romantic, so she would absolutely melt at the thought of you two kissing under a mistletoe!

She never knew how to bring it up to you, so she, shyly, hung a mistletoe between you two. Sometimes she’ll ask someone else to do it for her, but it’s rare.

“Oh, my. Would you look at that. I guess that means we should kiss, right?”

The shy smile she had on her face made your heart melt, to be honest.

And the way she leans in to kiss you?? It’s so adorable oh my god. Her face is so cute when she puckers her lips and closes her eyes!!

She’s a bit caught off guard when you do kiss her, even if she was expecting it. The quiet yelp makes you smile a bit.

If you two are in public, she’ll pull away after a few seconds and glance around shyly to see if anyone saw that. It’s not like she cares about her image, but someone seeing you two kiss makes her flustered.

But! In private she’s going to be a lot for intimate! She almost seems desperate at times. If you let go, she’ll immediately hug you and kiss you deeply again.

She likes feeling your body, so she’ll run her hands in your hair or caress your cheeks.

Her face is flushed when she pulls back, but she smiles at you and mutters a small “I love you.”

“You’re something money never could buy, dear.”

Being surprised with a mistletoe makes her weak in the knees. The lovesick look on her face can make any man or woman’s heart to ache.

“A mistletoe? Ah, that means..”

Haru always feels energized after you kiss her, so hearing her angelic laugh is usual.

“Hehehe! Thank you for the kiss, Y/N.”

Although she’s happy, she can’t stop feeling so flustered and embarrassed!! Haru usually has a big smile on her face while she embarrasingly covers her face with her hands.

Your heart is absolutely melted at this point, who wouldn’t want to pepper her with kisses and cuddle her afterwards??

Futaba Sakura

Although she enjoys pestering on other peoples love lifes, she has no idea what to do in her own. Heck, she’d never even knew she’d be dating someone as amazing as you. (She loves you a lot by the way, she’s just too shy to say it..)

She totally loves the idea of kissing under a mistletoe, shes seen it in anime all the time. It wouldn’t be too hard, right? Thanks to her being easily embarrassed, she’d be weong.

No way is she going to initiate it, so she’s counting on you to do it for her!

Fourtunatley, she’s easy to read. You can see her staring at the mistletoe nearby or her face flushing whenever she spots a couple kiss under it.

“Eh? What are you doing?”

“You’ll see~”

She immediately notices your dragging her ot the mistletoe and she becomes a stuttering, blushy mess.

“W-W-Wait!! Hold on! I’m not ready! W-What if I mess up and—“

“Shhhh, It’s just a kiss, dork.”

She’ll calm down if you hold her close and caress her cheeks. She always feels so calm when you give her affection.

Futaba still feels extremely embarrassed, but leans in and expects you to close the gap. It’s your choice wether you want to kiss her hard to surprise her or give her a gentle kiss.

You can almost feel her body trembling when your lips both touch. Not that she’s anxious, but oh my goodness she loves you so much that she doesn’t know how to deal with it. Anything you do to her that can be taken romantically makes her knees wobble and her cheeks flush red.

If you’re a bit taller than Futaba, you find it adorable when she leans up on her tippy toes to kiss you.

Futaba still feels embarrassed when you pull back, but loosens up immediately. Returning back to her childish attitude.

“W-Wow! That felt amazing, I-It was like I was the protagonist of a romance anime..”

“Hey, c-can we maybe do that one more time..?”

She had the dumbest smile on her face, totally lovestruck. If Akira saw her like this, she’d know she would be in for a lot of teasing. Touche.

Although she’s still flustered, she regains her fun personality and sometimes hangs up a mistletoe between you two in a teasing manner.

She expects that this time you’ll be embarrassed and she can get some sort of payback for making her so embarrassed, but it’s up to you on how you’ll react.

Futaba is still flustered even in private, but the intimacy in the kiss is very noticeable.

Dear god, start french kissing her and she’ll probably pass out. If you want to be a big tease to her, suddenly deepen the kiss and french kiss her.

She wakes up from her shock pretty fast, and begins punching you in the chest while scolding you.

“W-W-What was that for?! D-Did you really have to do that?!”

She’d rather be dead then admit this, but she liked it a lot when you did that~

Dies from embarrassment if Akira hangs a mistletoe above the both of you. She loathes that shit eating grin he has on his face, must’ve been payback for all the times shes teased him about his flowy pants.

“A-A m-mistletoe?!”

“What a coincidence, you and Y/N are both underneath it.”

“Don’t act so innocent, Akira!”

You had to chuckle at that, who wouldn’t? Besides, getting to see an upset Futaba was adorable.

As she argues with Akira, this is the perfect chance to catch her off guard and kiss her. You’ll have to thank Akira for this later.

“A-Ah.. Wait, I shouldn’t be grateful! Don’t do that again, Akira!”

As flustered she can get, she adores your kisses and would suffer through anything to get them~

Dec 25 - Happy Holidays from Susumu 🌸

[writing-gifts]

both sides of the viewfinder ch. 2

adult film star!bruno x afab!reader  (they are also gn)

18+ content

chapter 1 || chapter 2 || chapter 3 || chapter 4

-----

A/N:  okay so this story is actually 4 chapters long now, the 2nd chapter was way longer than i would have liked (and taking too long to edit all at once) so i split it in half 

um ig that's it, there’s a cheating scenario porn being filmed this chapter, like its literally the beginning of this chapter so warning for that 

other than that i hope you like the chapter!

-----

You hold back the laugh in your chest and try your best to keep a relaxed face. But you didn't have great control when it came to stuff like this and realized quickly in life that you probably wouldn't make it as an actor. However the director still thought it was fine to put you in as an extra with speaking parts.

He said your acting didn't need to be believable or good just that you need to say the lines. That was objectively true--it was porn--but if you cracked a smile people would definitely notice.

You were playing the oblivious person having a conversation with your "best friend". And said friend was getting railed in the shower by your boyfriend who was being played by Bruno. Why you were trying to have a serious conversation while she was showering was completely lost on you. But it didn't have to make sense.

You stare at yourself in the mirror above the sinks. The way the restroom was set up had the shower and toilet in its own separate, little room. So it wasn't completely easy to tell what your friend was really up to.

"My boyfriend's been acting strange recently," you say. You try to sound down but come off more inconvenienced.

"What do you mean?"

The door to the shower room was open so you could hear your friend well even with the water running. So of course you notice her voice wobble at the end. You can't tell if she added that intentionally or if Bruno found a particularly good spot. You ignore it though since you weren't actually supposed to notice anything just yet.

"He doesn't seem very interested in me anymore? Like he doesn't want to have sex with me. And it's kinda weird since he always wanted to before!"

"Ah--!"

“Huh?” you reply, genuinely confused. That wasn't on the script but you knew pretending you didn't hear it would be worse.

“Ahhh, maybe something has been upsetting him recently?” she suggests.

"Oh...perhaps you're right." You move to pull out your phone from your pocket. "It's been bothering me so much so maybe I'll call him right now--"

"D-Don't stop!"

You turn towards the shower room. "What? Are you good? You sound like you're exercising in there."

"Yes yES--I'm good! Just hot in here…"

That sounded so real and it has you wondering what the hell Bruno's doing.

You pause for a split second too long and almost forget to say your next line. "Uh so you...don't want me to call him?"

"No, don't call him. You should s-speak to him in person!" Your friend seemed to finally get her voice under control.

"Oh! That's definitely a better idea." You put your phone away. "I think I'll head home now actually and wait for him. Thanks for hearing me out!"

With that you exit the bathroom set and breathe a sigh of relief. Now all that was left to do was wait for filming to finish and then you could head home for the day.

You join the crew and from where you're standing you can easily watch the two actors go. It was actually kind of nice to watch.

While you stare, Bruno seems to glance in your direction. You raise a brow, wondering why he looked over here and turn around to look behind you, but there's nothing of note there.

-----

"You're not going home yet?"

You turn in your chair. Bruno stands at the door watching you with crossed arms.

"Nope. I'm finishing this up for one of the editors--they weren't feeling well--and I don't want to take it home with me."

"I see," he says. He then walks in the room and pulls up a chair next to you which catches you off guard.

"You don't have to stick around! I'm probably gonna be here up until midnight."

"That's okay. I don't want to leave you here all alone. What are you editing anyways?"

"Well I'm working on one of your porns. The one you did last week."

Bruno leans forward, getting in your space, to see the screen.

"Ah, the one with Leone! That one was really nice, but I always enjoy working with him."

"Yea the two of you have great chemistry."

Abbacchio was a grumpy bitch but somehow the two of them got along pretty well. Bruno seemed to get along with most people easily though.

The man places his elbow on the desk and rests his head in his hand.

"So did you like it?"

"Like what?" you ask.

"The film."

The look in his eye was one that was quite familiar but why it was there, you weren't completely sure.

You feel your heart skip a beat. "I mean...I did."

Bruno smiles and you immediately feel yourself getting hot.

"What did you like about it? If you don't mind me asking."

A small smile comes to your lips. "W-Well you're in it, that's one. I like when I can tell the actors are genuinely having a good time. And both you and Abbacchio are attractive. Your m-moans were pretty nice too."

"They sound better when they come naturally hm?"

"Can't disagree with that!"

You turn your attention back to the screen. As much as you'd like entertaining Bruno you still need to get this done.

"You seem less reserved in person compared to when we message on Twitter."

"Really? It's usually the opposite for people…" you say.

"I know that's why I find it interesting." The man pauses for a moment before talking again. "Remember when you said you watched some of my work?"

You nod.

"For fun?"

You raise a brow but still answer. "I like to judge the camerawork, but sometimes I do for fun.”

Even though you were kind of over porn, there were the few times that you used it to help get off. And when you did you usually found yourself seeking out media involving Bruno.

Bruno lets out a laugh. "That's good to know."

You purse your lips at his smug expression. The man is definitely trying to mess with you. Of course you didn't mind some teasing but being the only one receiving wasn't your forte. Also you didn't want to be here all night.

"I need to finish this. You can stay but you can't keep distracting me like that..."

"Of course."

You look at him warily before getting back to work. Even though Bruno didn't really seem it, he definitely had a mischievous side.

The man watches the screen (and sometimes you), keeping you company with more innocent chat while you work. It actually makes time pass by faster.

You end up finishing earlier than you expect and thank Bruno for staying with you. The man offers to drive you home but you decline and take the bus instead.

The moment you're in your bedroom, your body hits the bed--no night routine or clothes change. You'd just have to deal with it in the morning.

It barely feels like you've been asleep before you hear your alarm go off. You grab your phone and shut it off.

Sighing, you risk closing your eyes for a few more seconds. You weren't ready to go back to work but after a minute you force yourself out of bed and stretch.

You head straight to the bathroom to start your day by brushing your teeth and multi-task with your phone--checking your work email and replying to any missed messages that you didn't get to last night. Other than that your morning starts off pretty uneventful.

While you're eating breakfast you get a message on Twitter.

Bruno: Morning.

You reply with your own good morning. The message surprised you but it was a pleasant one.

Bruno: How are you feeling? Not too tired I hope.

You: i'm okay now that i've had some coffee

You: how's your day going so far?

Bruno: The usual. I'm walking over to a restaurant nearby to get something to eat.

You: ooo sounds yummy 😋

You: what ya gonna get?

Bruno: I'm not sure yet but I'll send a picture when I do.

you: noo i'll be jealous, i'm literally eating cereal right now. but also please do send it

Bruno: I can bring you a to-go box if you want.

Your spoon stops halfway to your mouth.

You: i mean it's still good cereal so you don't have to

Bruno: It's fine. I like feeding people, at least that's how one of my friends phrased it!

You: well…..okay 👉👈

You: thanks ❤

Bruno: You're welcome.

Bruno: ❤

-----

"Off day today?" you ask.

Bruno drags his fingers through his hair and sighs. Other than that, he doesn't show any frustration.

"I planned for today to be short, then I could head home but as you can see it's not really going as planned. And all these lights…." He looks at you. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you're tired too."

"No, no it's okay. It’s totally my fault! We can take a break if you want?"

The studio had been dabbling with more amateur work lately so the director had left you and Jocelyn to handle this, and Jocelyn had decided it would be fine if you were on your own for this film. You weren't sure why you agreed since you had only been here about a month at this point and didn't feel completely comfortable. But you did and it was proving to be very nerve wracking. It affected your work and dragged this out longer than necessary.

“And honestly, I should probably take one too," you add.

Bruno agrees and you grab the man's robe and place it on his shoulders. While He slips back on his briefs you turn to the small crew.

“Guys lets take a 15 minute break.”

Everyone gives their okays and most of the crew leaves the room while a few check the equipment or their phones.

You tell Bruno where you're going and head outside to get some fresh air.

You try to use the time to relax but instead end up walking back and forth, worrying about the film and Bruno. The man was still able to act the part but you stopping and going so often was definitely affecting his performance. And you really didn't want him to have to act out every motion.

You stop walking and lean against the wall of the building. While waiting for the break to end you see someone approaching from the parking lot. The editor you helped before when they weren't feeling well.

You push yourself off the walls and meet them part way with a greeting.

"Hey Eli."

"What's up ____...You good? You look kinda stressed."

"I guess I am. Sorry for asking so suddenly but could you do me a favor?"

"What type of favor?"

"I'm supposed to film this amateur video of Bruno masturbating, and I've been having a hard time for some reason. I don't want to keep Bruno trapped here all day for something like this. But I don't know if my shots are usable...Do you think you can check for me?"

They hum in thought. “____ I'm going to be honest with you. It sounds like you're overthinking this. I mean, it’s called amateur for a reason. It doesn't need to be super high quality or “perfect” shots! That's probably why they let you direct it on your own."

At that moment everything clicked.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way though!"

"No, you're right. Thanks!"

You leave before they can respond and head back to the set room. On your way there, you go find a different camera. Something smaller and less complicated that will still capture good quality shots--perfect for what you were about to do.

When everyone returns from their break you have most of the lights brought down and let the whole crew go.

"Bruno I know you do videos on your own. So we're pretty much gonna do it like that now. Except that I'm here...uh.” You laugh. “You know what I mean."

Bruno smiles at the camera in a way you could only describe as cute.

"I understand. I’m ready to go whenever you are."

You nod and give the signal.

Right away, his light smile transforms into something more alluring. He leans back on the multiple soft pillows set against the headboard and lets out a relaxed sigh.

You give Bruno a moment to prepare himself and when you see the outline of his cock already hardening through his briefs, you internally breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's been awhile since I've last done this."

He props a arm atop the pillows. "Now that it's happening, I just realized I've missed it."

You want to ask what he means but bite your lip instead. Maybe it was some type of roleplay.

He drags a hand up his thigh before stopping at the bulge between his legs, and you can't help the thought of running your own hands against those legs.

He hums. "You know, I have a hard time keeping you out of my mind at night."

Your stomach flips but you make sure to keep your breathing controlled.

His thumbs hook under the band of his briefs and you lean a bit forward without thinking, anticipating what you had seen many times before. But for the first time in a long time you feel yourself slipping from your work frame of mind. Maybe it was inappropriate but you were sure Bruno wouldn't mind.

After teasing you for way longer than you would like, the corners of Bruno's lips quirk upward and he finally pulls down the band to reveal himself.

Bruno's cock stands erect and his brow furrows. "Look what you're doing to me..." His head lolls to the side to rest against the pillows and his breath hitches when he begins to stroke himself.

You focus on his handsome face for a moment. His blue eyes are piercing and it feels like he's looking past the camera and straight at you at you.

Your fingers twitch on the camera. You'd never wanted to touch someone so bad in your life.

-----

Bruno: Can I get your advice on something?

You: yea, what is it?

Bruno: I want to post some photos on my OnlyFans but idk which one to use on Twitter though. Can you help me decide?

You: ooo of course!

He sends 3 pictures of him wearing different elaborate lingerie. They must have been new since you're sure you'd never seen them before. Anyways, you're a millimeter away from sending a photo of a cartoon character with their jaw on the floor.

You: idk if i can decide! any of them would be enough to get me on your onlyfans...

Bruno: Thank you but you still have to pick one.

You scroll back and forth looking through them. The pictures were teasing, hinting at what was to come and they were all very sexy. But after staring for too long you finally make a choice.

You: the third one!

Bruno: Why?

You: ….it shows your tiddies the most 💁

Bruno: I thought you were going to say something about the framing or lighting...

You: LOL

You: i can look at them again?

Bruno: No it's okay. I'll use the tiddy picture.

Bruno: Thank you.

You: no problem!

You: soooo when are you posting the full set?

Bruno: Trust me, I'll let you know right beforehand. 😏

You: 😳

-----

You walk down the hallway slightly annoyed. Jocelyn just informed you that you would be covering for one of your coworkers last minute. It was inconvenient but not that big of a deal. That is until you found out that Melone was one of the actors.

When you first met him, he seemed to keep to himself for the most part. But recently he had become fixated on you. Every break in filming he’d approach you.

At first it wasn't so bad and you thought he was trying to be friendly, but it didn't take long for you to start feeling uncomfortable. Some of the questions he asked made you feel weird--it wasn't anything you weren't used to but the way he asked them... And when you tried to steer the conversation into a different direction he didn't take the hint. On top of all this, you didn't see him do this with anybody else.

You walk into the breakroom and find Bruno snacking. He greets you but quickly realizes something's up.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

The leather couch that you hate creaks when you fall back on it.

“Well I have to unexpectedly help with more camera work today. And Melone's going to be there so he's definitely going to be talking my ear off.”

You try to sound indifferent about it but Bruno says something you don't expect.

"I can talk to Jocelyn and get you out of it."

"Huh? No, no you don't need to do that. That's a silly reason to try to skip out."

"Well, how about I say it like this? I'm done for today and I would like to take you out to eat with me."

You smile. "That does sound nice..."

"Okay, it's settled then. I'll go talk to her and then we can go."

Once Bruno comes back the both of you walk to his car.

"Eating mostly oatmeal and vegetables for the last 2 days hasn't been very satisfying," he says as he opens the passenger door for you.

You get in and wait for him to walk around to get in the driver side.

"It sucks but at least you can eat whatever now. Where are we eating by the way?"

"Bertolino's--it's nearby. I'm craving pizza. Or pasta."

You feel your stomach grumble pleased with the thought.

"You could do both, kinda like macaroni pizza."

Bruno glances at you. "That sounds...unpleasant."

"Oh so you've tried it?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

You watch him try to wrack his brain for a rebuttal and fail.

"...It still sounds bad though," he says.

"Try it first then we can talk."

You reach out and poke the man's cheek. He immediately shoos your hand away and throws a miffed look at you.

"Hey, I'm trying to drive."

You grin but leave him alone. This was the first time you'd get to spend time with Bruno outside of work so you were a little restless and couldn't help messing with him.

"This is probably the most excited I've seen you," he says.

"Yea--just happy to be outside of work!"

"Is Melone that much of a problem?"

"No...well he can be a lot but it's not really a big issue. I'm just happy to get to spend time with you is what I meant."

Bruno's doesn't respond right away and you wonder if you said something wrong.

"If he's bothering you I can handle it," he finally says.

You let out a laugh. "Are you going to beat him up?"

"If necessary."

You stop smiling when you realize he isn't joking and conclude that he doesn't like Melone. You wonder what the man could have done to get on Bruno's bad side though since he seemed to get along with everyone.

"I feel the same by the way," Bruno says.

"Huh?"

"About getting to spend time together."

You and Bruno spend the next hour and a half sharing a pizza and talking. And the two of you learn a few things about the other that didn't involve work. Like that he wears glasses to read and that he had a dyeing "accident" with his hair recently.

Afterwards you didn't really feel like going back to work so Bruno drives you home.

You unbuckle your seatbelt. "Thanks for the meal and ride."

Bruno smiles. His mood seems better now that he's eaten. "You're welcome. We should do this again sometime."

"Yeah, I'd like that." And instead of saying goodbye and getting out of the car, you sit there expecting--expecting something.

The both of you stare at one another until Bruno leans towards you. His lips meet yours and for some reason his breath smells like mint.

Before you can worry about your own breath, Bruno's hand is on your thigh and sliding up. His tongue presses against your lips, coaxing you to part them.

The beating in your chest feels so hard and your hands clinch next to your thighs. You want to reach out for Bruno and make a mess out of him, but you feel like you're running out of breath way too quickly.

You pull away.

Bruno immediately moves his hand off your leg. "What's wrong?"

You weren't really sure yourself. You just knew something was bothering you. Or maybe that was just the food you ate trying to digest. Either way it was preventing you from fully enjoying this.

"I'm not sure but I think it's best if we stop for now."

He nods but you worry he might be a little disappointed.

"That's fine," he says.

"It's not because I'm not interested! It's just something's off. Please dont think I'm not attracted to you."

"I'm not upset ____." He smiles. "I want you to be comfortable."

"Whew, okay.."

"Do you want me to walk you to your apartment?" he asks.

"That's okay. Thanks though."

You brush a misplaced hair behind his ear and press a quick kiss to his lips. Once you pull back, you open the car door and step out.

"Stay safe," he says.

"You too. I'll message you later."

[k-llama-llama]

Ballet Boy

Stray Kids AU: 9th member

Tori x Stray Kids

Chan tires to butt in on Tori’s ballet practice

A/N: Sorry it was a little later than usual but please enjoy! Please check out my PATREON (patreon.com/kllamallama) for exclusive posts you can’t get anywhere else, as well as lots of other cool benefits!

Requests are OPEN and your feedback is still greatly appreciated!

Masterlist and other Follow Me links in bio!

“I should’ve known I’d find you here.”

Tori looked up from her stretching. “I literally just got here, so you’re lucky you caught me.”

“I’m lucky, am I?” Chan sauntered over, smiling as he took her in. “Can I have a kiss?”

Tori peeked towards the door. There was no one to be seen, so she leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Fine. But you can’t distract me, I’m here to practice.”

“Ballet?” Chan asked, taking a seat on the bench, still holding her hand in his. “You’re in your ballet stuff.”

Tori looked down at her outfit. She was wearing a black leotard and tights, with a little pink practice skirt overtop. Truth be told, she was trying to brush up on her ballet skills because she’d had an idea on how to incorporate it into the choreography of the song she was working on. But seeing as how she hadn’t told any of the boys about her song....

“It’s been forever since I practiced it.” She told him. “I’ve missed it.”

Chan played with her fingers. “Then you should practice it more.”

Tori smiled. “You aren’t going to tell me that I should be avoiding any practice that isn’t dedicated to the group?”

He grinned. “Of course not. It makes you happy, so it makes me happy.”

Tori beamed, leaning down to press another kiss to his lips. “You earned that one.”

“I thought I did.” He smiled. “But since I’m here, can I see a little bit?”

Tori sighed. “I haven’t really practiced in months. I’m not going to be that good.”

“I don’t care. I want to see.” He insisted, letting go of her hands.

Tori went over to where she was setting up the music. She’d decided to brush up on her skills by practicing a choreography from Giselle, which was one of her favourites. 

“Don’t you need those tip-toe shoes?” Chan asked.

Tori shook her head. “I enjoy all of my toes being intact, thank you. I’m not jumping back en pointe without properly strengthening my legs first.”

“It can’t be that hard, right?”

Tori rolled her eyes. “Okay, hot shot. Come here.” She crossed her arms.

Sensing the challenge, Chan rose from the bench, dropping his hat on the ground. “Let’s go. I’m about to become a ballerina.”

“Sure you are.” Tori stood next to him. “Let’s go, one foot.”

She stood on one foot, waiting until Chan did the same. He grinned at her, looking smug at his success.

“Now hop forward.” She hopped forward twice, watching as he followed.

“Easy.” He crossed his arms. “I thought you said this was going to be hard.”

Tori tilted her head. “If it’s so easy, follow me.”

She hopped again, this time rising onto her tip toes and tapping her other foot against her knee. It was a poor imitation of the move from Giselle, which was done on pointe and to music and just generally looked better than this, but as she hopped across the room Tori didn’t think she was doing a terrible job. 

She stopped and turned to face Chan. “Your turn.”

He pressed up onto his tiptoes, already wobbling slightly, and started hopping. He went to tap his other foot on his knee once, and barely managed to move it before struggling to regain his balance. On his second hop, he kicked it too hard and kicked himself in his knee.

“Ow, ow!” He dropped back to both feet. “How did you make that look so easy?”

Tori flipped her hair. “Years of practice, Christopher. Years of practice.”

Chan sighed, walking over to her. “Fine, you proved your point.”

“Which was?”

“Hmmm,” He wrapped one arm around her waist, trying to pull her closer. Tori just looked stubbornly in the other direction.  “That ballet is really hard and impressive?”

“Not quite.”

“That I’m an idiot?”

“Closer.”

“That...” He pressed a finger to her nose, forcing her to look at him. “That my girlfriend is a total badass?”

Tori smiled. “Bingo.”

“Seriously.” He smiled as she settled into the embrace. “I don’t know how you made that look so easy. And graceful. You sure you need to practice?”

“Yeah, if I want to be ready for-” She caught herself. “If I want to stay in shape.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” He insisted. “You look great.”

“Thank you. But I won’t if my boyfriend keeps distracting me.”

Chan bit back a smirk. “Fine, fine. I can take a hint. I’ll leave you alone now.”

He pulled back from the hug.

“I’ll miss you.” Tori blew him a kiss with a laugh.

“Yeah, whatever.” He shook his head, picking his hat up off the floor. “I’ll be back in two hours to take you out for smoothies.”

Tori held her hands to her heart. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“I don’t know. Have fun breaking your toes.” He opened the door to the studio. “Love you.”

“Love you too!”

[rosa-berberifolia]

The Party|Mortal Kombat|Kombatants x Reader

A/N: This was just an idea I had sitting in my head for a while. I know its shit, no one needs to point it out okay. I know the ending sucks, lets not be dicks about it.

Warning: attempted date rape, general asshattery and crassness

Word Count: 3600 ish

---

The party was in full swing when you arrived. You didn't really like parties, but Sonya and Johnny had just re-kindled their relationship and signed nuptials again and had a big party to celebrate. Why they picked the bar that the Black Dragon frequented was beyond you, but you were really good friends with Sonya, Johnny, and Cassie, so you felt obligated to come. 

You were wary of the Black Dragon members present; it seemed like some kind of truce was made between them and everyone else, because none of the SF members seemed to give a damn the some of the most wanted men were at the bar with them. You shrugged. Whatever, not your problem. You weren’t a fighter or anything. You were the archivist, cataloging and recording all of the mission reports that were brought in. You read every single one to know where to place it. This meant that you knew almost everything there was to know about SF intel. You usually had someone with you while you were on base to protect you, and a bracelet that when the bead on it was pressed, help would come for you, just in case someone tried to kidnap you and force you to give information. 

You went to the bar to get a drink. You didn't really like parties. Too many people behaving like idiots at once. You made sure to tuck away some cab money in your bra to make sure you wouldn't accidentally spend it on the booze you would most certainly need to make it through the evening. 

“Rum and coke.” You said to the bar tender. He started to make your drink and you started to pull some money out of your pocket.

“Put the pretty lady’s drink on my tab.” A smooth Texan accent said from down the bar. You looked to find the one and only Erron Black eyeing you from a few seats away. You scoffed. You thought that he was only doing this to try to woo you and give away some information.

“The lady can buy her own drinks, thanks.” You said trading the bar tender some money for your drink.

“I like a woman that can take care of herself.” Black said in a low voice that you would never admit made your pussy quake just a little. You just shook your head and went over to where your friends were.

“Y/N!” Johnny said a little too loudly at your approach. Sonya turned around and bounced excitedly. She took steps toward you and met you with a big hug. Your eyes widened in surprise.

“How much have you guys had to drink?” You asked noticing the very open behavior that was very unlike Sonya. 

“Almost the whole bar.” said a familiar voice. You turned to find Kenshi sitting at a nearby table. You laughed quietly to yourself. You let Johnny and Sonya mingle while you went to sit at the table with Kenshi.

///

You sat with Kenshi and caught up with him about things for a while, just trying to relax and enjoy your drink. As you finished it you felt yourself relax a bit. Kung Jin and Takeda came and joined you not long after you sat down. It was nice that there were people close to your age there.

“Where are Jacqui and Cassie?” You asked. Takeda sighed and thumbed over to the small stage that was in the bar. You saw the two girls standing up there, clearly three sheets to the wind, singing their heart out at the karaoke machine. You laughed and shook your head at their antics. You knew that when they saw you there they would ask you to sing with them. You’d bet money it. 

All of a sudden your attention was redirected to a server that came to the table and placed what looked like another rum and coke down in front of you.

“Oh, what service! Thank you!” You said reaching in your pocket for some money before the server stopped you.

“Oh no, this drink is already paid for.” She said. The look of concern and confusion that happened on your face made the server giggle.

“By whom?’ You asked.

“The glowing red man at my seven.” She said. Your already furrowed brow creased deeper. You found yourself looking at Kenshi and then behind the server to see that it was Kano that had bought you the drink. No one had ever bought you and drink and sent it with a server before. You figured that the bar tender  made it and then the server brought it over, so it was probably fine. You watched Kano and he nodded at you and tipped his glass in your direction. 

You had never met Kano before, but you had read about him in plenty of mission reports. You knew he was a bad guy, but the scene from Wreck It Ralph appeared in your head: “Just because you are bad guy doesn’t mean that you are bad guy.” Kano smiled at you charmingly and you found yourself nodding back and mouthing thank you to him. You picked up the glass and were bringing it to your lips when a voice sounded in your head making you freeze.

“Don’t drink that!” Kenshi said to you telepathically. You looked at him to see a look of fright and distress on his face. “He’s put something in it.” He warned.

Anger ripped through you like a chainsaw. Who the fuck does this asshole think he is trying to roofie you? You immediately came up with a plan. You got up from your seat, bringing your drink with you. You walked over to where Kano was sitting with Kabal. You nodded politely to him as he looked amused that you came over, wondering what was about to go down.

You sat down next to Kano, a sweet smile gracing your face.

“Thank you for the drink.” You said kindly.

“Anything for pretty lady like yourself.” Kano said smoothly. You couldn’t help but notice Erron still at the bar watching in complete befuddlement at the interaction unfolding before him. It made you laugh to yourself.

“I’m sorry to be so forward,” you started, leaning in and placing a gentle hand on Kano’s arm that was on the table. “But what is your endgame here?” You did your best to give him your bedroom eyes. He leaned in as well to give you his reply.

“I’d like to show you a good time tonight, sheila.” He admitted. You leaned back quickly.

“Okay.” You said shocking Erron and Kabal, who threw his head back in astonishment. “But I have two conditions.” You added quickly.

“Anything, doll.” Kano said.

“One, we don’t leave until the end of the night.” You set your first condition. Kano nodded. “Two, you have to drink this whole drink.” You pushed the drink he had bought for you towards him. He looked from you to the drink, and worried expression flashed on his face for a second. Then, deciding that he could take it, he turned smug as he looked back up to you, took the drink and pounded it back in just a couple of sips.

“I’m gonna show you the time of your life.” He promised. You just smiled at him.

“Tell me what you’re going to do.” You leaned back in and asked in your most seductive voice.

“Oh, i’m gonna merblmentab...” He started to say but already started to mumble his words. You looked at him questioningly, surprised that whatever was in that drink was affecting him so quickly. Kano started to sway. Kabal and Erron watched with amused smiles on their faces as Kano wobbled in his chair before his head fell to the table with a hard thud. 

“You got a pen?” You asked looking over to Kabal. He reached into his jacket and showed you a marker. “May I?” You asked as you went to grab it. He nodded and you took it, opening it, and then pushed Kano’s head to the side so that you could clearly see his face. You started to write on his forehead and then on his cheek. You stepped away and admired your drawing before handing the marker back to Kabal. He laughed as you left the table leaving Kano with a penis drawn on his cheek and the words, “I suck monster dick” scrawled on his forehead.

///

Later, after you had finished another drink, and slowly nursed a third, Cassie and Jacqui found you at the table with the boys. 

“Oh Y/n, you just have to sing a song with us!” Cassie asked as he hugged onto you from the side. You laughed. You were on your way to being drunk, and a little voice in your head (not Kenshi) said, ‘You can totally sing!’ But you knew you weren’t drunk enough to do it.

“Kay, but after you buy me a couple of shots.” You said almost kidding.

“Deal!” Cassie said excitedly before giving you a tight squeeze and a kiss on your cheek, and then running off to the bar to get you your juice. 

Then you noticed two new men come into the bar. Two men that you had read about numerous times but never had the honor of meeting. Two men that you knew to be honorable and good, and never thought that they would come to a bar. Hanzo Hasashi and Kuai Liang stopped just inside the doorway and looked around very unimpressed with the scene in front of them.

‘Holy hell that guy is hot.’ You thought to yourself, and you hear Kenshi laugh.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you think that.” He said to you. You looked at him with derision before you smiled and said:

“I thought that about you.” You said cockily before your gaze went back to the man in blue. The two men looked around and then smiled when they came up to Johnny and Sonya, talking to them about who knows what.

“Okay, here we go!” Cassie said happily as she and Jacqui set down six shots of something something brown.

“What is it?” You asked suspiciously.

“It’s called Four Horsemen. It’s delicious.” Jacqui said picking up one and Cassie followed suit. You sighed and then shrugged, picking up one of the shots.

“To my mom and dad!” Cassie all but shouted and everyone at the table cheers and you shot back the alcohol. It hit you like bus, but it left a rather pleasant after taste. You looked surprised.

“Right?! It’s good!” Cassie said before picking up the other shot. You did the same. 

“To being some bad ass bitches!” Jacqui said and the three of your cheersed and the drank the shots. You exhaled slowly allowing the drink to settle into your system.

“Alright,” You said, starting to feel that perfect buzz. “Lets go make fools of ourselves.”

///

It took you a while to find a song that you were willing to do. But after finishing your third drink that you had from a while ago, you were feeling pretty pumped to sing anything.

“I got it! I got it!” You said over zealously pointing to a song on the list.

“Fuck yes!” Cassie said.

///

You were on stage ready to sing your part to the song, watching Kuai Liang with lust filled eyes. He had not noticed you yet. He only talked to Johnny or Hanzo at the table they sat at near the exit as he slowly sipped what looked like plain water.

Your part came up and you were killing it. But your focus wavered when you said a particular line that seemed to capture Kuai’s attention and his head turned to watch you suddenly. You did your best to keep singing.

“ I got one girl, I got two wheels She a big girl, that ain't a big deal I like a big girl, I like 'em sassy Going down the backstreet listening to Blackstreet Running around the whole town Neighbors yelling at me like, you need to slow down Going thirty-eight, Dan, chill the fuck out Mow your damn lawn and sit the hell down”

It seemed that everyone in the bar turned to watch you sing. Even Erron watched you with lustful amusement as he sent a whistle out for you. You couldn't help the smile plastered to your face. A surge of confidence ran through you as you finished your part.

Then you, Cassie, and Jacqui all sang together at the end of the song, each of you bouncing to the music. You had the rest of the bar singing along with you.

“DOWNTOWN!” Everyone sang and you laughed, taking in the incredible high that you were riding.

The song finished and the bar clapped for the three of you. You left the stage to have people patting you on the back. You immediately went back to your table which now had Johnny, Hanzo, and Kuai at it. 

“Never pegged you for a singer, Y/n.” Johnny teased. 

“Meh, I’m not much of a pegger.” You joked back making Takeda, Kung Jin, and Kenshi almost spit up their drinks. You laughed and winked at Johnny. You looked over to Hanzo and Kuai, letting your gaze linger on the cryomancer. “Who are your friends?” You asked.

“I am Hanzo Hasashi, Grandmaster of the Shirai Ryu.” Greeted Hanzo.

“And I am Kuai Liang, Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei.” Greeted Kuai. You nodded politely to both of them but couldn’t help but keep your focus on Kuai. 

“Is something the matter?” Kuai asked awkwardly after a moment of you staring.

“Oh,” You shook your head in embarrassment. “Sorry. I was distracted, you have a bit of cute on your face.” You launched your terrible pick up line. Johnny looked like a proud parent, but everyone else just shook their heads, embarrassed for you. But Kuai just looked concerned and picked up a napkin and started to wipe his face. You tilted your head, taken aback with what you were witnessing. Did he not know that it was a pick up line? You laughed at how adorable he was being. 

“Do you find me amusing?” Kuai asked, not sure why you were laughing at him.

“Don’t worry, I find you amusing in the best R rated way.” You said and winked at him, still feeling the confidence from your performance.

“Jesus.” Johnny’s voice was barely audible over the din of the bar. Even he thought that that line was a stretch. But Kuai, seemingly completely unfazed by the line, just turned back to his water and started up a conversation with Hanzo. 

You frowned in disappointment. Actually saddened by Kuai’s reaction you got up and found Cassie and Jacqui again. “Ladies.” You addressed them with a sad look on your face.

“What’s wrong?” They asked.

“The guy I’m into doesn’t like me back.” You conceded bitterly. 

“His loss, lets get you shit faced!” Cassie said.

“That’s the best damn idea I’ve heard all week!” You shouted before going back to the bar.

Erron still sat there watching you. You eyed him quietly as you waited at the bar to place your order. Then, still feeling the acute heart ache, you thought to yourself, ‘Fuck it.’ And turned to talk to him.

“Too late for that drink?” You asked. Normally you wouldn’t go for a guy like Erron. You never liked the idea of a guy with zero sense of loyalty who was likely to be a ‘one and done’ kind of dude. But you felt like you just needed some lovin’, and Erron was hot as balls, so you decided to go for it. 

“Never too late, darlin’.” He said smiling at you. He signaled the bar tender and pointed to you, showing that he wanted to get you a drink.

“What’ll you have?” Erron asked. 

“Something strong as hell that I can’t taste the alcohol in.” You declared. Erron looked shocked but ultimately smiled and chuckled at you. The bartender concocted some pink drink for you. You thanked him and then thanked Erron. 

///

You sat at a table with Erron sitting across from you. 

“Okay, so you have to start with your hands on the table. You have to do an action every time. You can either shield yourself, load your guns, or shoot. But in order to shoot you have to load your gun. If we both shoot at the same time its a draw. If I shoot you while you’re loading then I get a point. If you shoot me while I’m loading then you get a point. If you get shot, you have to take a shot. Person with the most points after ten moves wins. Understand?” Erron explained the rules of the game to you. You nodded that you got the rules.

“Okay, lets go.” You said eager to play the game. You played a few rounds and found yourself actually having a really good time with Erron. You had to remind yourself often though that he was a ‘wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am’ sort of fella. Your gaze kept going to Kuai, who you sometimes found was already looking at you when you went to look at him. Why was he so interested in you all of a sudden? You couldn’t help but feel the disapproval emanating off of him. Did he not want to see you with someone else? What was his problem?

You must have been stewing on about it for too long because you suddenly felt breath on your neck and Erron’s voice in your ear. “I can make you forget about him.” He reminded you. And damn it was getting harder and harder to deny him. You knew in your mind that Erron was only trying to use you to get information about SF, but your heart still burned from Kuai’s apparent rejection. You were sore about it, and it was starting to anger you. If he didn’t want you, then why the fuck does he seem to care so much about what you were doing?

There were still two shots left on the table for the game you and Erron were playing. You took them both in hand and pounded them both down, one after the other. Then, gathering all the courage the alcohol had given you, you walked up to Kuai.

“What’s you’re fucking problem?” You asserted your question. He looked startled. He fumbled with his words, trying to answer you, but unable to find the ones he wanted to say. “Why are you watching me? You made it clear before that you weren’t interested, so why are you constantly eyeing me up?” You all but yelled.

Kuai looked at you sternly. “You should not associate yourself with the likes of the Black Dragon.”

You gave him your best, “Excuse you.” look. “Who the fuck do you think you are to tell me who I should and shouldn’t hang out with?”

“Someone who has your best interest in mind!” Kuai shouted, now getting upset with you.

“Why do you care?!” You shouted angrily.

He looked at you then at the ground. By now, almost everyone in the bar was watching you. You could feel all of the eyes on you, but you didn’t care. You just kept your glare on Kuai. Then a voice entered your head. It was Kenshi again.

“Because he likes you, Y/n. You’re even more blind than me.” He told you. You looked shocked at Kenshi, then back at Kuai. All of a sudden it added up. You felt stupid for not realizing it before, but man, you had an art degree for a reason, you were really bad at math. 

“I-” you tried to speak again, but it was your turn to be at a lose for words. “I’m sorry.” You said, now feeling ashamed by your behavior. You noticed Kuai looking at Kenshi. You knew that they were having a telepathic conversation. You sighed, feeling like you blew any chance of being with Kuai out the window. “I’m sorry.” You said again quickly before turning around to go back to Erron.

“I would like it if you would join me for tea sometime.” Kuai said rather fast out of nervousness, but you still managed to catch it. You stopped in your tracks, surprised by what he just said. 

Erron came up to him and glared at him. “Sorry partner, I’m afraid this filly is otherwise accounted for.”

You turned and looked at them both. Before your outburst and Kuai’s admission, you had every point of going home with Erron, one-night-stand or not. But now, upon hearing that Kuai liked you back, despite being a drunken mess this whole time, you weren’t sure. You knew that Kuai was more the type of man that you wanted. Someone who would be faithful to you. Who would be in it for the long haul. That was who you wanted.

“Did you just compare me to a horse?” You asked in a tone laced with annoyance. Erron looked at you, eyebrows furrowed.

“I-” He started to explain but you interrupted him.

“This filly is prancing in a different direction.” You said arms crossed around your chest. Erron sighed defeated. He tipped his hat in your direction before glowering at Kuai and turning around and leaving the bar.  

You looked at Kuai. “Perhaps sometime when I haven’t consumed my weight in alcohol.” You said playfully.

Kuai held a small smile for you as he nodded. Your face erupted in a giant smile that made Kuai’s heart flutter.

[inupibaldspot]

Saviour : Chapter 22

Emilia sat on her bed and looked at her sword, a silver sword with a few blue orbs on the handle.

It was still surprising that Zack gave her such an important item to her.

*Knock knock *

"Emilia~ I'm coming in." Zack said as he then pushed the door open. He looked at the girl, who was no longer the tiny brat he first saw. She was growing taller and often teased him about catching up to him, and between you and Zack he was scared that she will grow taller than him. She also lost most of her baby fats. But one thing which always remained same was...

"Your hair is still a chaos isn't it?" Zack laughed making Emilia pout.

The girl brought her hands on her hair and glared. "Its not my fault that my hair is super wavy at the ends."

"Hahahahha" Zack laughed, crossing his arms on his chest. "I'm sure if the Devil Fruit users touch your hair it'll make them weak since it reminds them of waves."

Emilia placed the sword on her bed and she stood up as she continued glaring, hands made into a fist. "Claire told me my hair is pretty." She fought back.

"That because Claire always had a bad taste." The older main continued to tease the young girl, who was slowly turning red in frustration.

Hearing that Emilia smirked. "I can see that." She huffed,placing her hands on her hips. "Especially since she choose you as her fianceé."

Even though Zack growled, inside he was quite happy. It still made his heart beat faster with joy knowing he would marry Claire. After much hesitation and pushes from Emilia, he finally proposed. You have no idea how much he cried when she said 'yes'.

"Anyways.." the girl said. "Did you come in my room to tease me?" She questioned,smiling softly.

"No..." Zack said as she walked towards her and sat on her bed. "Its finally tomorrow...your test."

"Yes." Emilia nodded. "I may end up with you guys or Vice Admiral Tsuru's team."

"Oh yeahhh.." Zack sweat dropped. Vice-Admiral Tsuru's team always consisted of women plus the older women showed interest in Emilia when she previously came on the ship to have a talk with Garp. "But I hope you will join us"

"Oya! Emilia exclaimed." Are you getting sentimental now?" Emilia teased. Before she smiled softly.

"But I guess.. I hope that too."

....

"You will under go only two tests"  The instructor said.

Emilia looked around. There were probably around 100 people on the field but undoubtedly she was the youngest.

People around her sneered and others smirked in confidence when she saw her. Why was this tiny girl who didnt even look like she was in her teens doing here. Emilia didnt like this at all. She clenched her fist keeping her emotions in check. I'll show them.

"The first test involves running. You will be running around this field 5 time which totals up to 15 kilometres." The instructor said as he pointed at the field behind him. "Within 45 minutes. Failure to do accomplish that will lead to direct elimination."

This made people gasp. This task was totally close to impossible! But that the same time who ones who do complete it show that they are not normal.

"Second round is simply to check your strength. Here people will fight against each other until only one person remains."  In other words,its just like a tournament. "There are two reasons for this. One is to simply eliminate people who are fast but have no strength even though usually people who are also fast are also strong. Other is to see where you will be placed. The First half of Grand Line or  The New World."

"Is there any questions?"  The instructor asked. "If not we will begin shortly."

"Excuse me!"  A voice started making all the examines including Emilia turn towards the voice. There stood a middle aged man,on hand in the air. "Are small kids even allowed to enter the test?"

Emilia's eyes twitched as the man turned towards her , lips pulled into a smirk.

The examiner understanding what the examinee was implying turned his head towards Emilia and nodded in assurances. "As long as the examinee is 13 or older, its fine. Personally I believe in the end age still doesn't matter much as long as you have the strength,skill or intelligence."

"But~ " The examinee continued,in a singing voice. "That girl doesn't even look like she is 10. I mean look at how small she is!" The comments made people around him laugh,some even adding remarks of their own.

Having enough Emilia turned towards the man with a glare. The examinee still smirking "Oh is the baby mad? Are you going to cry? Make sure you-"

"Enough!"  The examiner interrupted. "If you continue with this useless talk we may ask you to leave. If that is clear we will begin. You now may go towards there." He pointed towards the corner of the fields where a white line was drawn on the ground.

"Ready?" Another examine shouted in a loud voice. "GO!"

Emilia ran and she did not mess around. Covering her legs in haki she sprinted and leaving all other examinee to dust and with no surprise ended up completing the task first, will 30 minutes more to spare.

And as petty as it may sound she sat near the finish line, giving a smug smile at the examinee who made fun of her.

Soon the other examinee crossed the line one by one and completed trail. Of 100 examines now only 32 remained.

After that everyone was separated into a duo, each match examined by one examiner marine.

"Remember we won't intervene unless one of the participants say "give up" or unless we see injuries which might kill you. We are here to select only the strong, be it physically or mentally."

All of Emilia's match was short, all those training in Goa Kingdom plus the hard training of Garp's and Bogard's for the past 4 years made her strong than she already was.

"I give up!"

Emilia stood up, leaving the man below her on the ground and then looked towards the man who made fun of her earlier. The man was mercilessly kicking and stomping the guy who was given no chance to utter the  words 'give up'.

And this made Emilia frown.

....

"Okay! The last two remaining are Kusota" Emilia finally knew that bastard's name " and Emilia.Now...Start!"

Immediately Emilia jumped back making sure there was a distance between them. "Before we actually start fighting, I have a question." Emilia said carefully assessing the man's movements so that he would not be able to do any surprise attacks.

"What is it?" The man smirked,hands brought up placing on his hips. He was underestimating her!

"Your previous opponents." Emilia started. "Why were you making them suffer so much? You made sure they could not talk by breaking their jaws so they could not surrender. Then you proceeded to beat them up until you got bored."

Emilia then hardened her arms and legs using haki as the man walked towards her in a slow pace. "I can't imagine a guy like you being a marine."

And at once the man sped up, surprising Emilia and punched at her directing at her face. Fortunately the girl brought her hand up blocking with with her haki.

"Because if you are a marine you got power." The man whispered so that the conversation could only be heard by the two of them. "When power you are able to do anything. And with my strength I'm pretty confident I will be achieve a high rank."

Emilia felt uncomfortable, very uncomfortable with how the man in front of her was. He seemed to ooze out evil and malice.

"And when that happens, I'll be rich and have any woman I want. Of course not because of my pay but rather other things...you know" The man smirked. "Through kidnapping, human trafficking and ra-"

Emilia threw a punch but then Kusota dodged it. Then man continued to speak. "And you know I'll never be arrested. Why? Because I'll have the power and can call off any search and silence any suspicions."

Emilia ran in front of him swiftly and before be could react she jumped and kicked his face.

The blow made the man fly making the people watching gasps.

"You little shit!" The man shouted as he propped himself up. His nose was bleeding, it probably broke. "You know what?! I'll start by beating you to pulp" he shouted, as wobbled standing up.

His ego was definitely hurt.

"And when this is all over. I'll go after the people you care about next." Kusota said,hand wiping the blood of his nose. "And do all those things to them and make sure you will never see or hear from them again." He hissed.

People I care about?  Emilia thought. He mind immediately went to Luffy ,Ace, Makino, Dadan, Claire and Zack.

To those people who have nothing but kind to her.

Her eyes narrowed. And seeing the girl react to his taunts, the man started laughing. "HAHAHA How you like that now?! You-"

But before he could even finish his sentence Emilia was literally in front of him.

"Wha-"

Emilia then directly brought her hands up and punched him on his jaws making him fall down from the impact. "If I remember correctly that's how you dislocated the jaws right?" The girl spoke coldly.

"Strup oup!!!" The man tried speaking but words weren't coming out correct confirming that his jaws were indeed dislocated.

Emilia walked towards the fallen man and kicked him on his stomach making the man throw up blood. She tilted her head. "Huh? I thought you were going to beat me to pulp"

"I'll kirl you!!" The man continued dispute his injury. "I'll marke sure do kirll evryon asroticated wirth you tdo!!!"

Emilia mind went to Sabo. Her precious friend was killed. And now if she let go of this man here, he might do the same to others.... to Luffy and Ace. This man was strong, even Blue Jam didn't seem much of a threat compared to him.

This man had the power to kill Luffy and Ace.

And she might not be there by their saide to protect them due to her marine duties.

Emilia's eyes narrowed furthered and walked towards him.  This ...this man is  a threat,that means she should kill him right now !

" Candidate Emilia" The marine watching shouted. "The match is over. Candidate Kusota might die if you continue."

"Shut up..." Emilia said in a soft voice. And immediately after that other candidates and also some examinee immediately fell down. The girl used conquers haki!

Standing near the man, Emilia kick him making him now lie on his stomach. She won't let Sabo's incident repeat! She wont let any of the people precious to her get killed, even if it means killing other people.

Sitting near the guy, she held the man's hand and pulled it backwards immediately making a breaking sound.

"Ahhhh!" The man shouted in pain. "please..please.. please stop! I'll do anything-" The man stopped.

Emilia then held his other hand. "Huh? But that wasn't what you said to me earlier"

"Candidate Emilia. I repeat! Stop immediately. Forget passing the test you will be placed behind bars!" An examiner who was on the ground shouted,still a bit too weak to stand up.

Emilia did hear him but choose to ignore him. She grabbed his hands ,with intentions of breaking them , when suddenly a presence came near her immediately and held her hand.

Emilia stopped immediately. Not because she wanted to but because she could sense the level in between the person and her were far too wide.

"Admiral Akainu!"

"Medics!" The examiner called and a group of people in marine uniform came rushing in directly towards Kusota. Emilia simply stood up and gave space for the medic. In front for great power she had no choice but to be docile.

One of the examiner stood up and walked towards Akainu and saluted. "What brings the Admiral here?"

Akainu turned his head and looked at Emilia making her eyes widened in recognition. This man...this man is the one who will be killing Ace..!

" I came here to recruit her on the team." Akainu simply said. Emilia stood there in shock. She could attack him right her, right now!... but then it wont be of any use since she is far too weak.

"I apologize." The examiner said. "But seeing what had happened in front of us, we wont be able to pass candidate Emilia.She ignored all of our warnings and almost killed a candidate"

"She knocked out almost every one here and right now she is simply a child." Akainu said. "She has the potential to get stronger and will be a wonderful asset to the marine in the future. I say we should pass her."

The examiner clenched his fist. This girl is far too dangerous "But-"

"I said." Akainu's voice thundered as everything went silent. "We will pass her. Make sure she is assigned to my team."

With that the man turn and walked away.

....

Emilia walked back to Garp's ship ,head held down. Even though she didn't look , she could feel the people of the ship stare at her return. There was no doubt they were informed of Emilia's action.

"Emilia-" Garp said faking a smile, noticing the girls angered expression. He could lecture her later because right now the girl didn't look like she would want to deal with any of that.

"I'm sorry, Garp-san." The girl said in a low voice and bowed towards Garp in apology. "I want to be alone for a bit." With that she walked away towards her room.

No one spoke for a whole before Zack started walking towards Emilia's room. "I'll talk with her,Vice admiral."

Zack stood in front of her room and took in a deep inhale,knocked and walked inside. He looked at the girl who still had her head down and then closed the door behind him.

"The man you attacked-" Zack said. The girl in front noticeably stiffened uncomfortably. "He didn't die. But then on of his arms will no longer be functional. He might also not be able to talk properly ever again." Zack explained, looking at Emilia with a sad expression.

She must be feeling guilty. Zack's thoughts were immediately stopped when he saw the girls shoulder shake. She was crying  "Emilia calm down-"

"Hahahhaha" the girl laughed. "That's what he deserves.."

Zack took a step back. "What do you mean...The man almost died because of you."

Emilia finally raised her head. "That man was evil...He had no right to be a marine."

"But you were about to be the same thing... You would have killed someone if Admiral Akainu didn't intervene." Zack repeated his point again.

"Maybe he shouldn't have intervened."

When Emilia said those words,something within Zack finally snapped. " We are talking about a human life here, Emilia!"

Emilia's eyes widened. This was the first time she had seen Zack shout.

"You can't take life for granted. And if you do kill a person, even if that person is evil, or you belong in the marine, where we have to serve justice... Once you kill someone you are simply a murderer !  You're hands will forever be dyed red."

"Then what was I supposed to do?!" The young girl shouted back. "Was I simply going to accept that man. That man who was already telling his motives of human trafficking! Rape! And corruption?!"

"Should I have just let that happen...? " Emilia let out an shaky exhale. "He threatened to kill people...people who are precious to me..."

Zack watched as Emilia's eyes filled with tears. This girl...She..

"He threatened that he would kill Ace...Luffy and Grandpa ... Dadan and Makino..." Zack didn't know most of the names being said but he guessed those were the people she cared for.

"He threatened to kill Claire." Emilia noticed that she now started crying. "And you, Zack!!  I couldn't let that pass.. I don't want to lose anyone precious to me anymore..!"

Anymore... Zack registered those words , his head hanging low.

Zack walked slowly towards the girl. She was scared..  She was afraid and didn't know how to deal with the situation... She just didn't want to lose anyone..

Zack then kneeled down and pulled Emilia into a hug. "Its fine... No one will hurt anyone of us now..I'm fine...it's fine.."

Zack continued to hug Emilia, The girl slowly lifted her hands then on his shirt then slowly holding it tightly as sobs slowly started turning into wailing.

She was just scared...and confused.

[certifiedskywalker]

Best Friend’s Brother - Klaus Hargreeves

You work for a PI (private investigation) firm and are in charge of managing informants. One informant in particular is quite good at his job and you both grow quite close. If he was in a different line of work, he might even consider you to be his best friend. However, one day, Diego Hargreeves gives you a tip that changes everything.

“You’re sure this is the right address?” You ask quietly, slipping the now folded piece of paper into your jacket pocket. Once you’re certain it’s secure, you scan the growing crowd of people gathering in the park. Mothers walking with strollers and gaggles of children nipping at their heels passed by joggers running alongside dogs on leashes. All normal, or so it seemed.

“Have I ever let you down before? Huh?” The question pulls your eyes to the man sitting beside you. A smug grin his spread across his smooth features, brown eyes glinting with confidence. When you first met Diego Hargreeves, you thought said confidence was arrogance but over time, he proved to be an invaluable ally and an even better friend.

“Don’t get cocky,” you retort with a raised brow. “You know that this important. It could be a big bust if the target is there.”

“Ooh,” Diego hums, “I love it when you talk investigator to me.” You scoff, rolling your eyes at his teasing.

“Not an investigator,” you grumble before standing on wobbly legs from the park bench you had been sitting on. Diego mirrors your action, linking your arm in his as he begins to walk. You cave into his play and fall into step beside him.

“Not an investigator, yet,” he corrects with a sly smirk. “You know you could come work with me, Y/N. You wouldn’t have to work through the ranks then, could be out in the field, in the action.” You kept your eyes forward, focusing on each step you took for you knew that the moment you looked at Diego he would see how you longed for what he described.

“It would also be illegal,” you pointed out and a chuckle from Diego allowed you to slip your arm from his. “I quite like my job, Diego. Plus, if we worked together, would we still be friends?”

“You think I would get tired of you? Never,” he teased, giving you a wink as you walked backwards away from him.

“You’re right,” you said, shouting a little now as the distance between the two of you grew. “But I would get tired of you, knife-boy!” You hear Diego laugh when you turn your back to him. The sound echoes in your ear as you walk back to the complex your PI firm works out of. It was small, bricks cracked and a few rats skittering about. Despite the lackluster exterior, it housed the job you loved. There were downsides to it, but you knew that if you stuck around, it would pay off. You had already met your best friend who, when you looked past the outwards machismo, was a good man. Diego trusted you and you him. What more could you ask for?

The address Diego had given lead you and the other investigators you worked with to a dingey looking alleyway the next day. While you weren’t active in the raid that took place, you did have the pleasure of watching the perpetrators being cuffed. It was a satisfying sight to behold. The client who had enlisted your firm’s aid was soon called and you watched as a Rolls Royce drove up to the scene.

“Jonathan!” A woman with a head of  large, blonde hair screeched the name as she stepped out of the vehicle. You were clambering out of your car as well, hoping to catch up with her. Working as the PI firm’s secretary came with the wonderfully dreadful obligation to deal with rather vocal clients. You remembered this one, her lips stained an obnoxious ruby red when she had filed for investigation on her son.

“Mrs. Warmberg! Wait,” you shouted, and the woman spun around on her deadly looking heels. Her icy blue eyes were alight with fury, her face screwed up in a vile scowl.

“Wait?! You caught my son!” Panting slightly, you hurried up to her halted form. “I’m here to punish him for his...his..dastardly deeds!” As you catch your breath, you began to explain.

“We did, yes. Now the police have been notified and he will be detained. You can speak with him then,” you clarify. Mrs. Warmberg didn’t seem to like the logic as she continued her charge towards her son. You groaned and followed close behind her. “Mrs. Warmberg!”

“Ma’am,” another investigator intervened, holding her back. “The police are on their way to pick up your son and his dealers.”

“I’m not a dealer! Just an innocent bystander!” Shouted one of the men cuffed alongside Mrs. Warmberg’s son. This one was slim, with heavy eye makeup giving him an even more sickly appearance. He did have charming features though, complete with a smile that was wide with the hopes of conveying his self-proclaimed innocence. You let out a chuckle and the men’s eyes flitted towards you. Before the man could speak, you overheard the other investigator mumble something while Mrs. Warmberg continued to whine.

“Y/N, can you watch them while I,” he gestured to Mrs. Warmberg and you nodded quickly, overjoyed to be relieved from Mrs. Warmberg’s presence. As you walked up to the three men cuffed against the brick wall of the alley, the one that had shouted moments before looked you up and down. You felt your cheeks warm under his prying eyes.

“You don’t look like a detective,” he mused, his voice ladened with amusement. “Too...too pretty.”

“You look like a junkie,” you counter and the man grins. If he weren’t cuffed or at odds with you, you would have dared to describe his smile as handsome.

“Touche,” he purred, “but really. You look too nice to get your rocks off from fighting wheezing smokers and trust fund babies.” You roll your eyes to try to distract from the blush nipping at your cheeks. The other two men, the dealer and Jonathan, glanced at each other then back to the two of you.

“You’re not just smokers,” you bite back, but your tone isn’t as cold as you hoped it would be. What you said didn’t matter at this point, but anything you could gleam from the man now could be used against him.

“How do you know?” The man shot back, the smile on his lips spreading a bit wider. You opened your mouth, ready to fire a retort but nothing came to mind. “You don’t even know our names. Maybe that’s why you’re not a detective.”

Now your face was burning. Red clouded your vision, blotting out the charming expression the man wore. If it weren’t for his sparkling green eyes staring at you, you would have stayed silent. Something about him enticed you, coaxed the words you were dying to say out from your mouth. You simply had to know.

“Then what is your name?” Your question seems to shock him, his smile faltering when your voice reaches his ears. The dealer chuckled and nudged Jonathan smugly.

“Look at ‘im! He’s all quiet now!” Jonathan laughed too and the nameless man’s cheeks dusted pink. Jonathan was beginning to tease him when Mrs. Warmberg spoke up.

“Not a word, Jonathan! You’re in deep trouble!” The young man’s mouth slammed shut in embarrassment and the man you were talking to seemed to come back to his senses.

“Klaus,” he answers, finally. His green eyes peering up at you, all curious and waiting. Waiting for you to tell him your name you realize.

“Last name?” You press him further, wanting to be able to search his name in a database later. The man, Klaus, curled his lips together, mentally debating whether to answer.

“Ha-Hargreeves,” he mutters, barely audible above the racket around you all. The name rings a bell, pulls a face up from your memory until the connection becomes clear. Diego, it was Diego Hargreeves that echoed in your mind. The thread between you and Klaus.

“Hargreeves?” You simply can not quantify how much weight that last name holds for your heart. Could this Klaus be related to Diego, your best friend?

“Y-yeah,” Klaus replied, “does it mean something to you?” He squints at you, trying to get a read on your expression but you hide it by speaking once more.

“I’m Y/N,” you say quickly and Klaus’ intrigue on your features seems deterred.

“That’s quite the name,” he coos smoothly, “I like it.” You’re about to question him, his motives, his family when three of New York’s finest begins to make their way towards you all.

“Damn it man,” the dealer grumbled, “your momma is a crazy lady! You busted all of us!” Jonathan frowns and keeps his face turned to the ground. Klaus follows the dealer’s line of sight and sees the officers approaching.

“Well, Y/N, it seems our date has been cut short.” You stifle a scoff as the policemen and women pull the three men to their feet. “You’re always welcomed to pay me a visit in the slammer,” Klaus drawls, sending you a wink as well. “There’s always room in my cell for you.”

“I’m sure there is,” you joke back, but there is little humor in your voice. Klaus seems to detect your lapse of interest because, just as he is forced into the patrol car, he spares a glance in your direction. His bright green eyes meet your gaze and you feel your heart skip a beat; but then he’s gone and you’re left with your thoughts again.

“Two visits in one week? Business must be taking off,” Diego teases, nudging your shoulder with his own. Immediately after the drug bust, you had texted Diego about meeting up. You had been vague with the details about the meet up but your goal was to ask about Klaus.

“You could say that,” you sighed, falling on the seat of the bench beside him. “I actually have some questions about your last tip. There were more people than we thought.”

“You called me here because I did my job too well? Wow, this is a first,” he chuckled before taking a sip of his coffee. It had become a friend tradition to meet a cafe on official business before walking to the nearby park. You almost opted to forego the coffee but didn’t want to catch Diego totally unawares. You wanted to get the truth from him rather than the firm’s criminal database.

“Did you know there would be other people besides the boy and the dealer?” Diego met your eyes and you quickly realized he knew you weren’t just on official PI business.

“I did,” he confirmed, “but I don’t see why this is a point of interest. You guys got paid just the same.” You nodded and traced your thumb around the lip of your untouched tea. The travel mug had long since absorbed the heat and your palms felt the sting.

“It isn’t the concern of the firm’s,” you explained, with a shaking breath, “it’s a concern of mine.” Diego raised an eyebrow at you, brown eyes squinted with interest.

“Why is that?” His voice was chilled but not yet as bitter as your ignored tea.

“Because,” you began, meeting his eyes, “you’re my best friend, Diego.” His mouth fell open for a moment but he quickly closed it. Being his closest friend, you knew that he did his best to keep his walls up. It had taken you nearly a year of working with him to get him to open up as much as he had with you.

“O-okay,” he stuttered out, “ask y-your questions then.” You gave him a grateful smile and took a deep breath before continuing.

“Did you know who else would be there? Like, specifically who?” You held Diego’s eyes with your own, ready to search his face for any sign of recognition. A wave of understanding washed over his features and you sighed. “You did.”

“Listen,” Diego was beginning to explain, but you were already retreating to your thoughts. “I knew if someone could set him on the right path it would be you, Y/N. He just...he needed to get off the streets for a while.”

“He’s your brother,” you murmur softly, shaking your head. “You wanted me to arrest your brother instead of reaching out to him yourself.” Diego grumbled something under his breath and rubbed a hand over his face.

“Our family...it’s complicated, Y/N. I just needed to know he was safe.”

“He’s still in a cell!” Your voice, louder than before, managed to catch the attention of a few passersby. Quietly, you added, “he’s waiting for someone to help him out, Diego.”

“I can’t,” he said, holding your gaze intensely. “If I could, I would, but Klaus...he...he won’t listen. Not to me.” You scoff and cross your arms over your chest indignantly.

“You don’t have to be so stubborn,” you chastise, “he’s your brother!”

“Adopted,” Diego adds with a timid half-smile. You only glare in response. “Y/N, you know that I...I don’t like to connect often with people. I haven’t connected with my family in years. Can you see why I wanted you to do it?” You huff in thought, not meeting his gaze.

“I can,” you answer, “but that doesn’t mean I’ll do it.” Diego nods silently, but surprises you when he grabs your hand. You look up at him to find a pleading expression.

“As my best friend-”

“Only friend,” you correct. Diego chuckles but continues anyway.

“As my best and only friend, I need you to do this for me. Please.” His gaze doesn’t break from yours once and you know he means what he says. You squeeze his hand gently and, finally, nod.

“I’ll take care of him,” you sigh and Diego smiles. “Is there anything I should know about him?” And then Diego’s smile fades.

“Y/N! Ah, my knight in shining armor!” Klaus’ voice rings in your ear the moment you step foot inside the jail. The police officer leading you give you a look and you nod.

“This one?” He gestures to Klaus, who is pressed eagerly against the bars, with his thumb. Klaus is beaming at you, batting his eyes like a star-struck girl. You can’t tell if he’s being over dramatic or if he’s truly glad to see you.

“That’s the one,” you sigh and the officer shrugs to himself before unlocking the cell. Klaus tumbles out of the cell and right into you. Just as he stumbles and nearly knocks his head against yours, you catch his shoulders.

“Ah, truly my savor,” he coos and you roll your eyes. Diego had failed to mention his charming flirtations when he recited a list of character flaws to you. Perhaps because it wasn’t that much of a flaw in the first place.

“All the paperwork is done,” the officer grumbled, “just like you said it would be.” You smile at him and nod. “Keep him out of trouble.”

“I’ll try my best,” you reply before striding out of the small cell-block. Klaus follows quickly behind you, laughing when the dealer from the bust questions him about his escape.

“I have friends in high places,” Klaus jeers and sends the man a wink. You try not to pay attention to the way Klaus says ‘friends’. It doesn’t hold the same weight it does when Diego says it. ‘Friends’ feels lighter in Klaus’ voice, almost like it is a sticker that could be easily removed and replaced with another.

You lead the lanky man out of the police headquarters and out to the bustling streets of the city. Klaus smiles at the sight of sunshine, stretching his arms up as if to embrace it. A pleased, relieved sigh escapes his lips as he stretches and you let yourself take in his form. The long coat he is wearing seems much too warm for the present climate, but the attire beneath it, a short cropped shirt and loose shorts, is better suited to the heat. Diego had warned you about his brother’s strange fashion sense.

“Thanks for busting me outta there,” Klaus chimed, breaking you from your observations. “Really, I can’t thank you enough.” Then, as if his words held no value at all, Klaus spun on his heels and began to walk away from you.

“Whoa, hey,” you exclaimed, running after him. He stopped mid stride and lifted his green eyes to your gaze with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes?”

“You’re coming home with me,” you blurted in a rush. Your cheeks burned when you realized how that had sounded. Klaus was only grinning.

“Oh really? I didn’t know that-”

“Not like that,” you bark, even if the idea of it made you heart twinge. Klaus furrowed his brow and stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. “You’re going to get clean.”

“What?!” His entire demeanor changed all at once. His hunched back straightened like an arrow and his face drew blank.

“I convinced the officers that arrested you to negate your fines and sentence on the promise you would get clean.” It was a lie, a well rehearsed line. Diego had paid for Klaus’ bail with what money he had saved as long as you promised to watch him.

“That wasn’t...why...you can’t…” Klaus’ hands went to his head with his fingers entangling in his dark hair. It was then you noticed just how soft it looked.

“You were right,” you interrupt and Klaus looks at you with slight panic in his eyes. “I’m not really a detective, but I am someone who keeps their promises. Now, are you going to come willingly or do I have to get help from inside.” You gesture the the police department doors with your head and Klaus groans.

“No,” he mutters before standing at your side. “Lead the way.”

Much to your surprise, Klaus was quiet for the duration of the walk to your apartment. Not a single sound passed over his lips, which was more alarming than his shameless flirting. Every so often, your hand would brush against Klaus’ and you would force yourself to keep staring forwards. It was so tempting to look down, see your hands in the same space together and wonder what holding them together would feel like. As soon as such a thought entered your mind you would shake it away. You couldn’t, just couldn’t. Or maybe you wouldn’t, because of Diego. Doubts assaulted your brain as you lead Klaus up the stairs to your apartment.

“I know it isn’t much,” you said, unlocking the door and pushed it open. “It will have to do until...ya know.” Klaus stepped inside, eyes wandering around the only home you had known since moving to the city.

“It’s more of a home than any other place I’ve lived in,” Klaus said and you were relieved to hear his voice once more. He turned to face you then, his features heavy with some unreadable emotion. “So...we’re roomies now?”

“Yeah,” you said with a smile, “we’re roomies.” Klaus picks up on your smile, the corner of his mouth turning upwards in a slight grin. “There’s a small guest room down the hall so you can get settled in there if you want.”

“Sounds good,” Klaus says, already heading towards the hallway. He stops suddenly, his hand gripping the corner before turning to look at you. “Thank you, Y/N.”

“You’re welcome, Klaus,” you reply and he walks towards his room. You watch him saunter down the hall, the tapping of his sneakers against the floor a new sound to the apartment’s history of silence. Perhaps living with Klaus would turn out better than you thought. All you had to do was make sure your best friend’s brother stayed sober.

“I don’t see why you insist on Peking Garden when The Golden Dragon is far superior.” All you could do was sigh heavily as Klaus spoke through his mouth full of egg roll. “Like, I’m eating this, but I’m not happy about it.”

“Uh-huh, sure you’re not,” you tease, pulling out another take out box from the large paper bag in front of you. Klaus’ green eyes widened at the sight and stopped chewing.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“If ‘what you think it is’ is General Tso’s Chicken, you’re right,” you chime. Before you can even open to show him the contents of the container, Klaus has snatched it from your grasp and retreated to the couch. You had grown used to his habit of eating anywhere that wasn’t actually the kitchen table or counter. It was one of the many quirks you had started to admire.

Klaus was so unique and you had gotten a sense of the extent of that over the two months you had lived together. It was rough the first few weeks. The withdrawal symptoms had taken their toll on Klaus and yourself. Long nights of him moaning and groaning in pain on the bathroom floor. Sweating despite the air conditioning and the snappy attitude. Somehow, you both made it through alive. Although, every now and then, a few symptoms would show up again; a reminder that staying sober was a constant choice and struggle.

“Thank you, Y/N for getting me my favorite food,” you mocked Klaus’ voice teasingly, “I will do the dishes for the next two weeks to show you just how much I appreciate it.” You grabbed your own food and made your way over to the couch to join him. Klaus was already half-way through the chicken when you sat down.

“I can show you in other ways you know,” Klaus fired back, trying on his best seductive voice and wiggling his eyebrows. You stared at him with a straight face until Klaus frowned. “Someone is a wittle cranky,” he said in a childish voice, “are you cranky?”

He reached for your face and squished your cheeks together so your lips resembled that of a cartoon fish’s mouth. Klaus laughed at the sight and you pushed his hand away. You did your best to suppress the smile that threatened to show along your lips and the blush that rose to your cheeks. One thing you hadn’t gotten entirely used to was Klaus’ shows of affection and his endless flirting. It had been one of the first things you noticed about him and you figured it would die down as you lived together longer; but it hadn’t.

It had persisted to the point where you had asked Diego about it. You met up with him on official business one day and ended up talking about Klaus. Now, it felt like all you talked to anyone about was Klaus. Your friends swore that the two of you were dating and your colleagues at the firm often teased you about your plans to ‘reform the junkie’. Diego was no different, joking around about how Klaus doesn’t flirt with just anyone.

“Stop it,” you had pleaded, “I’m serious!”

“So am I!” Diego beamed then, “Klaus has a type and you’re it.”

You often forget or cut the memory of Diego’s words from your mind. Klaus was in condition to think about you, or anyone else for that matter, romantically. At least, that’s what you thought. So you ignored the times when you had caught him staring at you a bit longer than normal or threw an arm over your shoulders in public. Friendly touches were just Klaus’ thing. It was just Klaus.

“Do you want me to do the dishes?” Klaus’ question broke you from your reverie.

“I would like you to,” you reply, “I’ve told you to do them since Monday.” Klaus smiled sheepishly and nodded.

“I guess I just forgot.” You let out a huff, shaking your head.

“You must have a selective memory because I’ve told you more than once.” A chuckle passed through Klaus, one so powerful you could feel it rumble against the couch cushions.

“Perhaps I do,” he beamed, “but we’ll never know for sure because my memory is shit!” Klaus stuffed the last few bites of food in his mouth, a happy hum slipping from his lips.

“You’re easy to please,” you remark with a smirk. Klaus swallows his food and stacks the empty containers on the coffee table before him on top of each other.

“That’s right,” Klaus cheered, “all I need is food and someone who loves me enough to order me more.” He leans over and pecks your cheek softly, though the figurative impact sent your mind reeling. You spared a glance at him, one that conveyed your shock simply with wide eyes, only to find Klaus smiling at you contently.

Before you could speak up, call his actions and words into question, Klaus stood from the couch. He stretched and sighed loudly as he picked up the take out boxes. Watching as he threw the containers in the trash, you wondered if Klaus had truly meant anything with what he said. He had used the word ‘love’, said it in a way he hadn’t before.

‘Love’ was a word Klaus seemed to apply to things and people liberally. Just last week he ‘loved’ the cheese used Diana’s Pizza place and said that he ‘loved’ the refreshing take of a character on a weekly, late-night soap opera. Klaus ‘loved’ Queen and The Cure and cookies; was it possible that he could love you in the present tense? The idea was outlandish to you, but you would be lying to yourself if you said you hadn’t entertained hypotheticals.

“Y/N?” Klaus’ sing-song voice pulled your attention back to the moment and out of your own mind. You turned to look at him, a pink flush on your cheeks.

“Yes? What?” Klaus smiled, resting his hands on his hips in a sassy pose. He leaned forward as if he were peering into your soul. Under his eyes, you felt such an intensity you had to tear your gaze from his.

“I was asking if you wanted to see a flick? Go to the movies maybe?” His tone reminded you of a child, weary but wishful.

“I, if you want to go you can go yourself,” you suggest, clearing your throat. You sneak a tentative peek at Klaus, gauging his reaction. To your astonishment, he is frowning. Disappointment is clear on his features, but you don’t look too long before he peers back up at you with curiosity.

“Do you have work or something?” You met his eyes for a moment and shake your head.

“No,” you reply nonchalantly, “why do you ask?” You turn your attention back to your food, pushing it around on the plate you had piled it on.

“I mean, it would be...you could come to the movies with me.” You smile to yourself and glance at him. It felt like just yesterday he was pleading for you to let him outside by himself when you knew all too well that he was searching for the means to get high. Now he didn’t want to go out alone.

“If you want me to, I can go,” you respond quietly, “I just figured that you would want to go by yourself. Independence and all that.” Klaus lets out a short, breathy laugh and shakes his head. You can’t help but smile at the sound.

“Are you kidding? I don’t want to be that creep that sits alone in a theater watching some sad dog movie.” You quirk a brow at him and Klaus’ smile widens. “We’re gonna see a sad dog movie by the way.” You let out a groan and sink deeper into the couch.

“I may have to rethink my offer.”

“This is the last time you pick the movie we see,” you sniffle as you wipe the corner of your eye. Klaus is quiet, dabbing at his own tears quite dramatically as you step out of the theater. A whimper from him and you take the sound as an agreement.

“I didn’t think it would be that...that sad,” Klaus exclaimed. He reached for the door and held it open for you. The blue skies had turned to a crisp black dotted with stars. “An honest mistake, Y/N, really.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that I get to choose next time,” you fire back and Klaus nods, giving in. You begin to walk home, the chill of night nipping at your face. A shiver shakes through you and you wrap your arms around yourself as you walk.

“Cold?” Klaus laughs when he sees your arms and, shocking you, he wraps an arm around your waist. Soon, you coated in the warmth emanating from his body. Silence falls between you and you don’t mind it. You relish in it, a stolen moment with just you and Klaus without ‘what ifs’ clouding your mind.

You both walk like that, shared quiet, shared warmth, all the way to your shared home. The thought made you smile to yourself, unable to fathom how you had gotten to where you were. However, the moment you spared a glance up at Klaus as you both walked, the need to understand ceased to be. You didn’t need understanding, you just needed Klaus. That fact terrified and excited you at the same time.

“You’re cute when you cry,” Klaus murmurs suddenly. You crane your neck and study his face with a furrowed brow.

“You get your jollies from watching me cry?” You can’t help but laugh at your own words, the sound mingling with Klaus’ own chuckle.

“I don’t jollies from anything! What even is a jollie?” The moment the question passes over his lips, you are both standing in front of the entrance to the apartment complex. Fumbling with your keys, you unlock the door and you both begin to ascend the stairs.

“You know,” you trail off, letting the term remain vague. You hear Klaus scoff from behind you as you continue to climb the steps.

“I don’t,” he retorts, “that’s why I’m asking.” You sigh heavily but you don’t reply. You turn on the first landing and down the hall to the door to your apartment. “Y/N!”

“What-” Before you could finish, your back is pressed up against the door to your apartment. Klaus looms over you, green eyes darker than you’ve ever seen them. All you could see was Klaus and you didn’t mind that one bit.

“You talk about sex like an old man,” he whispered teasingly. If it weren’t for the fact that his hand was suddenly wrapped around yours, you would have replied with a clever comeback. With his skin on yours, your mind drew a blank. “Jollies,” he smiled, “you’re cute.”

Heat rises to your face and you open your mouth to speak, yet not a word comes out. Instead, Klaus’ fingers work your hand open and plucks the keys from your grip. A new type of tension rests between you and Klaus, only to evaporate when he opens the door behind you. You nearly tumble backwards into your apartment, but Klaus reacts quickly. A warm hand slips around your back and holds you steady.

“Th-thanks,” you quickly free yourself from Klaus’ hold. The arm that had been wrapped around your waist falls slack at his side. With practiced ease, Klaus tosses the keys in the dish beside the door as you make your way to your bedroom.

“Goodnight,” Klaus calls out. You look over your shoulder and give him a quick smile.

“N-Night,” you reply, mentally cursing your nervous stutters. Your mind is whirling as you dress for bed and crawl under the covers. You had to be up early tomorrow to meet Diego. There was no time to entertain ‘should-have-done’ thoughts. Embarrassment steamed from your limbs as you boiled in your own emotional sauna. At least you would be warm as you drifted off to sleep.

Despite the intrusive thoughts, sleep came unusually easy. Memories of your dream was vague. It was all cream colored and soft, like lamb’s wool. The scent of smoke, nicotine permeated the wondrous texture but wasn’t harsh enough to taint the dream itself. Some lucid part of you wanted to cling to the imagery, the warmth forever. It seemed reality had other plans.

The average person would say that waking up to screaming would be terrifying. For you, it was a din you had grown accustomed to. Since the first weeks of Klaus living with you, when withdrawal was at its peak, night terrors replaced the drugs flitting through his mind. Often, those beginning days, you would be scared awake by Klaus’ screeching.

So it was instinct by now, to throw your legs over the side of your bed and crept down the hall to Klaus’ room. The cries only seem to grow louder as you approached. Whatever demons where haunting him tonight were truly vile. Cracking open his door, you caught sight of Klaus thrashing about under his covers. His eyes were screwed shut, his hands grasping at the sheets below him and at his hair.

“Klaus,” you said softly, tiptoeing over to the side of his bed, “Klaus, wake up.” Your hands reached for his shoulders, pressing down lightly. The pressure was enough to still him but he was still yelling. “Hey, hey, you’re alright.”

“Y/N,” he gasped, his hands flying up to your forearms. With your hands still on his shoulders, Klaus was able to wrap his long fingers around your wrists.

“Yeah, it’s me,” you soothe, “you’re alright.” Klaus’ green eyes are bright, sparkling with the fear he felt moments before. The sight breaks your heart.

“I-I...I’m sorry. I didn’t-”

“It’s alright,” you said, giving him a gentle smile. Before you can calm him, tell him you weren’t really sleeping, a yawn forced its way to your face.

“I woke you up,” Klaus whispers, his fingers tracing shapes in the tender skin of your inner wrist. “Y/N, I can just-”

“Quiet,” you interrupt, “now scoot over.” Klaus moves to the side as you let go of his shoulders. Easily, you slip in beside him, resting on your side with your head hitting his pillow. This wasn’t what an entirely awake, clear-headed Y/N would do; but you were so tired and still dizzy from all of Klaus’ flirting during the day that you didn’t care. Klaus didn’t seem to mind either.

“Thank you, Y/N,” he whispers, turning to his side to face you. You give him a lazily, sleep-ridden smile.

“You’re welcome, Klaus.” You try to keep your eyes open but sleep claws you back into its depths. In that haze of falling, you’re still awake enough to know that Klaus’s eyes were still trained on you. With that in mind, you drifted off into darkness.

Morning light would normally greet you when you found enough willpower to open your eyes. However, Klaus’ room was interior and lacked a window. Instead of the sun warming your skin, the warmth came from elsewhere. Slowly, you peeled your eyes wide only to be greeted by Klaus’ face a mere three or so inches from your own. His eyes were downcast, attention focused on his side that was tracing nonsense into a patch of skin your sleep shirt had left exposed during the night.

Klaus had not yet noticed you were awake, let alone staring at him. You couldn’t help but marvel at the way his lashes fanned out, kissing the soft skin of his cheek when he blinked. His pink lips were parted slightly with steady breaths, the very antithesis of his erratic gasping the night before, slipping past the flesh. A few dark wisps of his hair were pressed against his forehead. Nothing you could have done would have quelled the urge to brush them from his face. When your fingertips pushed the hairs to the side, Klaus shifted into the touch.

“Hi,” he said softly, almost like if he spoke any louder your eardrum might burst. Klaus was timid, for the first time in a long time. The hand that was resting, tickling your skin now retracted and found a new spot in the space between your bodies.

“Did you get some sleep?” You hold Klaus’ gaze, reading him for the truth.

“I think so,” he murmurs, “I think I got more hours that I usually do.”

“Good,” you reply, your voice suddenly shy. “That’s good.”

“It is,” Klaus hums, “thanks to you.” Heat rises to your cheeks instantly and you press the side of your face further into the plush pillow.

“What do you mean?” Klaus smiles at you with slightly hooded eyes.

“You know what I mean, Y/N,” he points out, “we’re just both too comfortable to do anything about it.” You swallow thickly and, seeming to notice your unease, Klaus reaches for your hand. “You don’t have to say anything. We don’t have to do anything.”

“No,” you gush, “it’s not that. I just...you’re right. We’re comfortable and I don’t want that to change.” Klaus nods against his own pillow with his fingers playing with your own. His green eyes are trained on your joined hands, plush lips slightly downturned. “Does that make you sad?”

“Not at all,” Klaus whispers, pulling his eyes up to meet yours. “But...if I kiss you, would that be uncomfortable?” Your mouth opens and goes dry all at once. Klaus leans up on his elbow, the covers slipping down his exposed chest. “I mean, I don’t want to push it.”

“I think that would be fine,” you reply, trying to regain your composure. Klaus smiles softly down at you, biting his lower lip as he searches your eyes. You know that he’s looking for more permission, he wants you to want him in the same way he yearns for you. So instead of waiting, you reach a hand up to his face, holding his chin.

The tip of your thumb traces the curve of his lips, brushing against the coarse hairs of his chin. He hadn’t shaved in a few days and his jaw was looking sharper for it. It was a good look for him you muse as you study his features before closing the gap between you. You didn’t know what you expected Klaus’ lips to feel like against your own.

Smoke maybe, the one habit he hadn’t been able to break; perhaps of the spearmint toothpaste he used every night before bed. As Klaus’ lips melded with yours, all hypotheses fell null and void. You felt his right hand grasp at your waist, pulling you closer until your chest was pressed against his own. Trailing down then, his hand gripping your thigh and tugged over his own. The movement, the heat gathering was tantalizing.

Before you had the chance to deepen the kiss, Klaus began to pepper kisses against your jaw. “I’ve wanted this since the day you got me arrested,” Klaus mumbles before breaking out into a chuckle. You begin to laugh as well.

“Really? Wow,” you managed to say. Klaus pressed his face into the crook of your neck, the cold tip of his nose tickling the sensitive skin there. “That’s the most unromantic thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“Hm, I thought it was nice,” Klaus whispered teasingly, pressing a soft kiss to the skin below your ear. “Guess I’ll just have to practice, huh?” Klaus dipped his head down then, capturing your lips in another kiss. This one was more heated than the last, your fingers reaching to tangle into his hair. Klaus was tugging your body on top of his, parting your mouth with his tongue when a high-pitched beeping sounded from somewhere else in the apartment.

“Shit!” You quickly stumble out of Klaus’ bed, much to the man’s disappointment.

“That bad?” Klaus tuts and you shake your head as you straighten out your sleepwear.

“No,” you huff, “I’m going to be late.” Klaus smiles as you scurry out his room and into your own across the hall. In record time, you dress and get ready in the bathroom.

You’re putting the finishing touches to your hair, just so it looks presentable, when you notice Klaus leaning against the day frame. There’s a lazy smile on his full, kiss-swollen lips, as his bright eyes blaze trails up and down your figure. His arms are crossed over his still bare chest and you force yourself to tear your eyes away. When you’re satisfied with your work, you step towards him with a raised brow.

“What?”

“You’re stunning,” he says softly and you feel your heart melt in your chest. You reach up and hold his chin, only to pull his lips to yours. This kiss is softer, not rushed despite the internal panic of being late still coursing through your body.

“I’ll be back later,” you mumble against Klaus’ lips as you pull away. Klaus nods and presses a lingering kiss to your cheek.

“And I’ll be here.” You give him a smile before making your way towards the apartment door. You’re still smiling as you descend the steps. With a clear mind, unhindered from thoughts or worries, you come to the conclusion that you could get used to goodbyes like that.

“You’re late,” Diego says flatly, but you don’t miss the grin plastered on his features. “I had to get my coffee all by myself.”

“Like a big boy,” you fire back as you plop down on the bench beside him. “Do you have the name of-”

“Yes, here,” Diego interrupts, extending a slip of paper to you between two of his fingers. You pluck it from his hand and tuck it into your pocket. It is then, and only then, you allow yourself to catch your breath. “So….”

“So?” You repeat, looking over at Diego as he stirs his still-steaming java.

“You slept with my brother yet?” The bluntness of his question cause you to choke on the air you had begun to inhale. You sit up, coughing and Diego chuckles. “You have!”

“No,” you begin, “no I...not really.” Diego quirks a brow at you, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Not really? But you have slept, like, next to him then?” You find it hard to meet your best friend’s eyes, so you distract yourself with a couple walking a small dog.

“Y-Yeah,” you stammer, “it wasn’t really the plan…”

“Nothing is planned with Klaus,” Diego hums grimly, but when you look at him, he isn’t outright disappointed.

“You’re not mad, are you?” Diego give you a half-smile, a signature look from him before he shakes his head.

“I just hope we don’t have a family reunion anytime soon.” A sigh of relief escapes your lungs, followed by a laugh. Diego doesn’t chuckle along with you. He means what he says, for reasons still unknown to you; but you’ll know soon enough.

[incoherentbabblings]

Take Back the Cake, Burn the Shoes, and Boil the Rice (8/11)

Within two months there have been two murders of Gotham newlyweds moments after the ceremony. The only connecting factor was both brides wore the same designer’s work. Needing to establish who exactly is behind the crimes, Bruce enlists Tim and Stephanie to have the biggest wedding Gotham high society has seen in decades, putting a target on their heads not just for the killer, but Gotham society too. It goes about as well as you’d expect.

Ao3 Link Here!

“Tim? Open up.”

It was Steph, calling for him to get out of his slumber, but sleep still beckoned, so he rolled onto his back, breathing heavily. Her hand rose to hold his cheek, and the slight shake he felt as she did it made him open his eyes.

She was leaning over him, giving off enough heat to be a furnace, blonde hair creating a golden curtain around them. She was smiling, so Tim smiled back.

“Feeling better?” He asked.

“Yup. You have a way with words.”

“I meant your leg.”

“Oh. Nah, that hurts. Head too. I’ll live though.” She shifted, resting one hand next to his ear on the pillow, and then she moved down, placing her head on his chest. For a solid three minutes, they lay in silence, Stephanie draped across Tim, listening to his pulse. She sighed happily. To her, Tim’s heartbeat and it’s solid thumping was instantly calming.

“Yesterday was difficult.” She said, eyes shut.

“We all have them.”

“Yeah but –”

“I swear Stephanie Brown if you apologise one more time…” His voice was threatening, but only in a way that served to make her laugh.

“What will you do?”

“I haven’t thought of it yet. Too early in the morning.” He shifted, still too comfortable to rise. “Actions speak louder than words and all that…”

“I'll be better. I am better.” Stephanie murmured. She wiped at his eyes, displacing any crusty sleep that had formed. The thumb movement turned to her stroking his cheek, and she moved up, until their noses were touching. Tim went a little cross eyed and swallowed, and Stephanie laughed at his expression. Cheeks feeling warm, she asked,

“You still want me to come today? With you to work?”

“Always.”

Bashful all of a sudden, both Tim and Stephanie’s cheeks blushed pink, and to find a way out, Tim glanced at the clock, seeing it had gone eight am.

“Ah. Better get ready now.”

It was Stephanie’s turn to gulp. He kissed her forehead, then got out of bed.

“Can you stand? I guess I should have checked that first.”

Stephanie swung one leg out of bed, and then the left followed, much more stiffly than the other. She hoisted herself up, wincing a little. Biting her lip, she gave a soft curse, but then placed both feet firmly on the floor.

“Stand? Yes. Stand for long? Questionable.” She laid a hand on the bedside table. “Tell me what to wear. Are you wearing a suit?”

“God, no. It’s just a kids club. Jeans and t-shirt will be fine, Steph.”

She chewed her lip, a little uncertainty returning. “Okay,” She stated. “But I’m gonna curl my hair.”

Tim sat, quite content to just watch, as Steph perched herself on the lip of the bathtub, curling and pinning her hair just so, desperate to make a good impression.

 There was something genuinely impressive about watching Tim do something as banal as giving a little speech and unveiling a plaque, but Stephanie was a little in awe regardless. She spent much of the event a little smug at the thought that this handsome guy loved her. When the plaque was unveiled to much polite laughter and clapping (his dorky jokes were horrendous and she found herself smiling at every single one), Stephanie wobbled over to a younger group of kids whilst Tim and the adults spoke. They were sat in a semi-circle, a few with their parents. She collapsed with a slight grunt, ensuing her hurt leg stayed straight, and tried to smile brightly. A few gave polite smiles back, whilst one or two looked unsure of what she wanted from them. Stephanie recognized one of the mothers from Leslie’s clinic down the road. Half a bodyguard, half a receptionist. She was an actual hoot, and familiar enough of a face that Steph could at least find a way to break the ice with the parents and their children.

“Hi!” Stephanie chirped, directed at everyone.            

A young girl blinked, then scrambled upwards, yoinking on her mother’s hair.

“Mommy! She gave me candy last month!”

The mother winced, trying delicately to remove the sticky grip of a six-year-old from her hair. She looked to Stephanie the very definition of tired.

“I doubt it honey.” She soothed.

“Oh?” Steph asked, “At Amusement Mile? You were with your dad?”

“Yes! Cotton candy bigger than my head!”

“Yes!” Stephanie laughed. “Wow, what a memory you have!”

The girl preened at the compliment, whilst the mom’s shrew look turned a little softer. Leslie’s receptionist leaned over with a side hug. She was a large woman, both in height and weight, and it was in total contrast to her little boy, who was the very definition of a wall flower.

“You didn’t mention you were coming!” Stephanie was rocked from side to side, and she grew bashful.

“I know, I know. It was last minute.”

The little girl demanded attention back on her, and wriggled her way right into Steph’s face. “You’re getting married soon my mom says.”

“I am. A week and a half to go.”

The little girl giggled. “Are you wearing a tiara?”

“Flowers.”

“No! You’d look better in a tiara!” Then the girl, brazenly but also impressively, began to tug Stephanie’s curls. Her mother looked mortified, but her little girl just seemed exuberant. Stephanie let her be, besides, she wasn’t hurting anyone.

“I have a pretty big dress, we thought it might be too much…”

Another little girl gasped and began to crowd round Stephanie. She built a little audience as she talked, but the boys were uninterested in weddings, so did not engage.

Leslie’s receptionist grew a little sober as Stephanie indulged the children, “But you’re still going for the cathedral?”

“Yes.” Stephanie by that point had a girl clambering on her back. She tugged the girl upwards, trying to ignore the pain in her head. “The Dean thought it would be good, to show whoever did it that we’re not frightened.”

“Any idea of who did shoot?”

Stephanie only shook her head. “It’s supposed to be a happy moment, right? Think our stubbornness has kicked in.”

“You did well,” One mother cut in tentatively, “Sitting with Bishop Sherborne.”

Stephanie swallowed dryly, unsure of how to respond. “It shouldn’t have happened.” She adjusted the little girl on her back, holding her up higher. “So, you guys all go to the school round the corner, right?”

“Right!” Chirped Stephanie’s clingy monkey. “Mommy works a lot. At the hospital!”

“My mom does too!”

The three hours passed quickly enough, Tim doing a lot of talking with adults and Steph spending most her time with the kids and their parents. For the first time in a while, she felt comfortable. She could tell photos were being taken, but there was something reassuring about the validation of children. This part of his job Tim loved, and Stephanie could only agree. These were the people they were fighting to protect, not their own ego, and this was a good reminder. She understood why Tim had thrown himself into this job as much as he had Red Robin. If he was worried about forgetting himself, she hoped this job would have sufficed as a reminder.

A reminder of why he was allowing himself to forget.

Steph sighed, growing a little melancholy, as she hoisted herself off a chair, wobbling over to Tim. He was chatting to a man and a lady, one with a notepad, the other with a recorder.

She stood, off to the side, feeling awkward and unwilling to interrupt. She watched Tim for what felt like a long while. She watched his sharp eyes flitter from person to person, flashing with sardonic humour at every silly question, and how seriously he listened to people when they spoke to him. Tim was a good listener. Very non-judgmental. Even though she sometimes wondered…

His gaze caught hers, and with a tilt of his jaw, he beckoned her over. When she reached him, he gave her his arm to help her balance, and he supported her against every micro-aggressive comment that was thrown their way. It was only when Tim’s phone rang – Bruce on the line – that they had to bring the event (or at least their attendance) to an end.

When Stephanie waved goodbye, a member of staff approached.

“I’m so sorry, if this is presumptive…”

“No? No, can I help?”

“Just, if you have spare time…” Spare time was something Stephanie was having increasingly less of in recent days, although this leg injury had certainly opened her evenings for the next week. No doubt it would be taken up with catching up with college, which she had blatantly been skipping.

“I would love to come back. I can…” She looked around the space, “play with the kids or…”

“You volunteer at Leslie’s?”

“Yeah.”

“You can do some simple first aid stuff with them?”

Her first instinct was to laugh at the idea of showing a five-year-old how to do CPR, but then Steph remembered what kinds of homes these kids came from, and the idea of teaching them how to look after themselves and others suddenly made sense. She nodded her confirmation.

“Sounds good. I’ll see if Leslie has anything for kids that I could work on.”

“Just come in whenever you like to discuss further – one of us will always be about.”

Tim mouthed a thank you and off the couple went. As they left the building, Alfred was waiting for them with a car. Tim huffed. He had wanted to check on how Steph had felt coming with him, but Bruce had called and asked them to come to the manor. Stephanie, who for her part, was becoming a little unsteady on her feet, grimaced at the sight of the car.

“Where we going?” She asked.

Alfred’s moustache twitched imperceptibly. “Having seen your condition Miss Brown, back to bed for you.”

“I’m alright.”

Tim snorted, and Stephanie looked back to him, affronted. “I am! Honest.”

As if God had heard her, her leg gave way, with Alfred and Tim reaching to catch her. She made a weird noise as Tim tugged her back up, and she stood on one foot, the weaker tilted off to the side above the ground.

“I think, Steph, Bruce wants to speak to me privately anyway.”

“Oh.”

Alfred held out his arm for Stephanie to take. “I will drive you back down the road and get you in bed, then I’m afraid we’re off to the Manor.”

Gritting her teeth in a tense grimace, she took Alfred’s arm, and hopped down to the car. She looked back at Tim before she got in, and gave him as bright a smile as she could manage, trying to thank him.

When Alfred returned for Tim, the mood distinctly shifted without Stephanie there to lighten everyone up. Maybe Alfred shared Bruce’s opinion. For some reason Tim felt like he was being driven into a prison for death row inmates. A one-way trip.

Tim knew where this conversation with Bruce was going to go, but only if he let it. Tim had something else on his mind, one that had been a growing thought ever since Bishop Sherborne had died.

Bruce was downstairs, only half in costume, when Tim loudly trod down the steps. Damian was nowhere to be found, so Tim could only assume Dick had taken custody of him that day.

Whatever programme Bruce had been working on at the computer, he closed before Tim get could get a good look. Tim reached the control panel and waited for Bruce to acknowledge him. Bruce seemed to be deep in thought, for once not pretending to work on something else to occupy his time.

Tim waited.

“How is Stephanie today?” Bruce finally asked. A gentle question. Tim started, again taken aback by how openly Bruce cared for her. Ever since Bruce had seen Steph step into Batgirl, he’d been almost enamoured with her. No, not the right word. But Tim saw how he was trying to make up for past mistakes, and Steph, soft hearted no matter how much she would deny it, had allowed Bruce to do so.

“She’s better. I took her to the Park Row Community Centre this morning. They’ve asked her back to help with the kids. She liked it… I think.”

“Good. And her injuries?”

“She was tired at the end. Alfred took her back home.”

Something in Bruce’s face twitched at Tim’s casual statement of his apartment being Stephanie’s home.

“Do you understand what you did wrong yesterday?”

Tim turned away, seeing the pleasantries were over. “I told you once. This is me, for better or worse.”

“I don’t know if I believe that.”

Jesus, he was sounding just like Stephanie.

Dick had once said that people were not their worst moments. How he believed that whilst knowing Bruce for twenty years Tim didn’t know. Bruce was defined by his worst moments, and Tim supposed this was a growing similarity that he and Bruce shared.

Tim cracked his fingers, trying to keep his temper in check. His chest felt frozen, and his feet too heavy to shuffle.

“Do you really think I’m going to kill somebody one day?”

Bruce said nothing, only looked at Tim. Tim, in his jeans and t-shirt and messy hair. Tim, who was looking more well rested than he had in months, but who still looked so out of place within the manor and confused at his position within the family. He looked like someone who had just turned twenty and didn’t know what to do with themselves. Such a contrast to when he was thirteen and had forced his way into Bruce and Dick’s lives.

Tim seemed to take Bruce’s silence as confirmation, rather than the uncertainty it was. Suddenly he moved closer to Bruce, hands out imploringly.

“I know I’ve been… off… for months now. But I… I’m trying to get back on track.”

“Are you?”

Tim blinked, lowering his hands.

“What do you mean?”

“Tell me what’s been ‘off’ with you. And what you’re doing ‘to get back on track’.” Bruce glared like he knew Tim was just trying to weasel his way out of taking any responsibility for himself. Tim truly didn’t think he was doing wrong, so ignoring the flash of very hot anger he saw in Tim, Bruce tried a different tact.

“Did Stephanie say anything about last night? Does she know about Har—”

“Don’t.” Tim interrupted tersely. He was sneering now to which Bruce stared at Tim hard in response.

“Don’t what?” He wanted a specific answer, but what it was, Tim didn’t know. “If you’ve done nothing wrong then she should know. Right?”

Bruce was mocking him.

“Don’t use her to punish me! Just stop that with her. I don’t care if you think I did wrong or that I lost my temper. That’s my issue. And she shouldn’t hear about it from you to make me feel guilty.” Finally, Tim opened the floodgates, and he launched into a frantic and scattered rant. “I’m not the one who should be feeling guilty! You said you would solve this case and two months later you have nothing to show for it! Bishop Sherborne is dead, three couples are dead, Stephanie got hurt because of a mission assigned by you that is stressing her out and I’m the one trying to pick up the pieces! What the hell are you even doing? Why haven’t you caught this guy yet?”

“That’s not what we’re talking about, Tim.”

“Well I’m asking you! I’m telling you, hurry up!”

Bruce finally stood. Even with Tim’s late teen growth spurt Bruce still towered over him, and Tim couldn’t help but want to increase the distance between the two.

“Take a breath.” Bruce said. “Try to calm down.”

Tim jolted, suddenly aware of his stinging eyes and wobbly breath. Fuck. He grunted, and backed away, pressing his palms to his cheeks, hoping the pressure would cool him down. Bruce looked on, concerned. Tim was knee deep in denial and frightening him wasn’t going to make him see reason. Out of resentment of being told what to do, Tim’s chest continued to rattle with wet deep breaths.

“I’m not using Stephanie.” Bruce said.

“Yes… you are. And don’t…act like she’s not your golden girl right now and I’m…”

“You’re my kid, who I’m worried about.”

Tim snorted then sniffed, expression crumpling. Bruce watched and waited. Tim bit his lip, not sure what to say. Shuffling his feet, he moved to the desk and sat down on the surface, wringing his hands nervously.

“I’m sorry. For yesterday. I don’t want you to worry about me.” Bruce sat next to Tim, seeing they were getting somewhere. It wasn’t a proper apology, not for his actions, only their effects, but it was a start. “Steph and I spoke after. She said she worries sometimes too.”

“You don’t think we’re right to?”

Tim frowned, looking at nothing. He gulped, trying to get his thoughts in order, but Bruce was pushing every single one of his buttons, and his mind was frantic and flustered.

Remember how much you didn’t want to be Bruce but how much of him you admired and imitated, remember that Batman with a gun and how he made points you agreed with, remember trying to rationalise murder and how vindictive you felt holding Harkness’s life in your hands, remember how many times you lost your temper when Stephanie or her memory where threatened.

Remember telling Cassandra that you didn’t enjoy hurting people, remember the relief and joy you felt being hugged by Bart, Conner and Cassie when you called for their help after so long, remember train surfing with Dick and the pure joy it brought after the first time he called you little brother.

Remember sitting on Steph’s front porch, telling her you feared where Bruce was forcing your mind to go, cruel suspicious places that doubted the people closest to you. Remember her listening, eyebrows furrowed, as you told her you were quitting. Remember quietly asking if that meant she wouldn’t want you anymore, only for her to laugh in response at the ridiculousness of the question.

“My feelings about you aren’t based on the Robin suit.” She’d said.

You’d told her you were frightened, but you were getting back in the suit. She had passed no judgement, only very quietly nodded and said that she knew.

Tim lowered his head into his hands, not sure what to do. What to say.

“I’m miserable.” Tumbled out.

He couldn’t see it, but he felt and heard Bruce’s breathing stumble.

 Stephanie meanwhile had endured a very boring afternoon. After a long period of time on the sofa, leg elevated in the air, she stared through to the kitchen. Tim had a sad looking fruit bowl, filled with browning bananas and a slightly wrinkly bunch of grapes. She hoisted herself up, college papers falling to the floor, and toddled over, intent on munching on whatever she could get her hands on to stave off the boredom for a bit.

When Tim returned, she was wondering if the kitchen had a loaf tin so she could make banana bread. She smiled at him politely as he walked down the steps to the main living and kitchen area, a little oblivious to his mood.

“I really enjoyed this morning, you know? You have to take me along to other stuff like that. And your speech was so good! You are one charismatic guy, not to boost your ego… But it was just nice Tim! So nice!”

Tim had stopped near a side table, a good distance from her, as she praised him. He tried to smile, but he caught the panic in her expression as a response. Oh, he must have looked bad.

“Tim? What is it?” She pushed off the kitchen counter to give herself momentum. “What did Bruce say?”

Tim shook his head as Steph got close. She clung to his forearms, using him to hold herself up. “Tim? Tell me. Can I help?”

He was looking pale again, sad and withdrawn. “I messed up last night.”

“If you did that it was my fault first. You said it yourself, last night was difficult. No pity parties.”

“I was going to kill that man.”

“You… you wouldn’t have.” She pulled herself closer, trying to make Tim hold her. With one hand she reached up, the pads of her fingers touching his chin and lower lip. “You couldn’t Tim.”

He stared at her despairingly. “How do you know? You keep saying that you know me. Ever since we were kids you’ve said that. But I… I don’t. You don’t know what I…”

“Ssshhh.” She murmured, trying to calm him down. Her fingers moved from his lips to her own, then back again. Tim did not miss the kiss it implied, and his heart broke a little at the tender affection. “Oh Tim… You’re just going to have to trust me on that.”

“Easier said than done with you.”

“Rude.” She teased, but then her mood abruptly sobered, thinking of the past few weeks. “I think Tim, that the world really wants us to suffer sometimes.”

“Oh, I believe that.”

“But you help me. That’s what you do. Let me do the same?”

Stephanie leaned forward to rest her chin on Tim’s shoulder. It quickly turned into an embrace, Tim finally wrapping his arms around her and burying his face into her hair. They rocked from side to side for a while. Tim stared over Steph, looking straight at the piano sat next to the fish tank. Another memory came to mind, and things started to click into place.

“We help each other.” He said distantly.

Another soft laugh. “Well, we can try. Deal?”

“Deal.”

Stephanie pulled back, just a little, so that their noses were touching. There was something she had wanted from Tim last night, but, ever the gentleman, he had said no. Maybe he thought she was too loopy on painkillers, maybe he thought she wouldn’t want it in the morning, or maybe he thought she hadn’t taken their conversation to heart.

All Tim had done was show her how invested he was. She wanted to pay him back.

“Is it okay now?” She whispered.

“Huh?”

“To kiss you. For real?”

Tim narrowed his eyes a little suspiciously. “Don’t do something because you feel you have to. You don’t have to do anything, if you don’t want to.”

“With you in this space right now, Tim, I do want to… Do you?”

A shared breath passed, then Tim surged forward. God, how he’d wanted. The force of the kiss made Steph back up, tailbone smacking against the kitchen counter, but she squealed with delight, wrapping her arms around Tim, blatantly groping his shoulder muscles. He meanwhile had moved to holding her neck with one hand and an arm wrapped around her waist. That hand travelled down, down, down, to the thigh of her good leg. He hiked her up, so she could rest on the counter, legs spreading to let him get closer.

He then kissed her cheeks, her nose, and her mouth again, all the while Stephanie smiled in a way she hadn’t for what felt like a very long time. They kissed once more, open mouthed this time, and the movements got slower and heavier. When Tim moved away, down to her neck, she shivered, then pushed very gently at him to stop for a moment. If they kept going, they were about to start necking. Although she used to thoroughly enjoy Tim’s attentions when he was in the right mood, she didn’t feel ready to return to that stage with him, regardless of how good the whole thing currently made her feel.

He looked at her, pupils swollen and inky, and she shuddered.

“Just… just a kiss Tim.”

As if on demand, his pupils shrank back down to normal, and his breathing returned to steady after he gulped.

“Yeah. Sorry.”

Her hand was in his hair then, scratching the base of his neck. She smiled widely, her eyes curving up into crescents. There it was, there she was, and Tim grinned back, causing her to giggle and pull him into another hug.

  The following days were increasingly hectic, to the point where Tim and Stephanie’s self-image issues had fallen to the side in favour of permanently being on the phone with Mrs Van Rijk, whose voice steadily went up an octave each conversation.

“I really have to protest Mr Pennyworth’s involvement.” She twittered. “I understand that there are rules for the manor regarding such receptions but to not have… and the weather forecast does not look good! It must move inside.”

Stephanie chewed her tongue. “I mean, he is the manager of the estate. What he says goes…”

Stephanie, who was being sewn into her dress for her next fitting, looked down at Rebecca, who was politely pretending to look focused on her work.

“Perhaps but he has to see that this is my area of expertise and I resent the roadblocks is he has placed. I understand the cathedral resisting the birds but you have paid for them so I need somewhere for them to fly that isn’t a torrential downpour.”

Rebecca sniggered. Stephanie stared out the window, desperate for the conversation to end.

“I think you’re better speaking to Tim about this Mrs van Rijk… he’s more likely to have an impact on Alfred than me.”

“But he is in a meeting!”

“…Can’t it wait a little?”

“No! I need certainty regarding the –”

Rebecca watched the comical look of distress on Stephanie’s features.

“Mrs van Rijk I am so sorry I need to… Yes. Yes, no I do think you are doing an absolute brilliant job… I just…Well… Yes. Yes. Please, I can call you… Okay. Sure. Whatever you think is best. Okay. Yes! No, I think the cake is perfect I am sure of it. And yes, the flowers. I’m sure the menu is… Good talk. Bye.”

Rebecca snorted again. “Problems in paradise?” She asked. Stephanie tried not to raise an eyebrow at how bitter she sounded. Tossing the phone onto her pile of clothes, she resented the tone of the question, and defended her wedding planner.

“She’s a gem, actually.”

Rebecca humphed, backing off. After a brief moment of inspection, she sighed, and got back on her knees.

“We’re nearly there. Hemming and tidying up edges, plus some detailing. But you wanna see yourself?”

Stephanie ran her fingers down her front, feeling the texture of the lace and the volume of the skirt. It was up there as the grandest thing she had ever worn, and that was counting her photoshoot gowns and the one she had for the pre-wedding dinner in a couple of days. Alfred had been fretting about that. It had been a while since the formal dining room had received any level of usage, and an army of catering staff had been called in for what felt like the biggest lie Gotham society had ever seen.

She tried to tell herself the food would at least be worth it. And Tim.

Stephanie sighed, thinking of him. Of how to help him.

“Stephanie?” Rebecca nudged, and Stephanie flinched, realising she hadn’t responded.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry. Yes. Let’s see.”

She listened as Rebecca fumbled around with a trio of mirrors, continuing to stare out the window, failing to pay attention to anything during this appointment. Rebecca had failed to ask after her and Tim in the aftermath of the shooting. Stephanie had asked about how she was coping, and Rebecca dodged the question and changed the topic. Stephanie could have written it off as her wanting to stay focused on the job in front of her. Stephanie was a client, not a friend, after all. And yet Stephanie had endured endless questions about herself and Tim, about the wedding and everything in between, as if it actually mattered to Rebecca, which Stephanie had all by now given up in believing to be true.

She was trying to be civil, the woman was still innocent until proven guilty, but every now and then the woman would be overly sharp, or snippy, or judgmental, and Stephanie’s temper would flare in response. She still had that gut instinct against patronising or dismissive tones.

“Okay, turn around, tell me what you think.”

Stephanie, who had put her hair up in a bun in the shape of an oversized doughnut peeked over her shoulder, at first trying to see the damage that was visible on her back. She tried very hard not to make a face at the sight of the lightening scars that ran up her spine. Leftover from electric shocks given because she apparently writhed and screamed in interesting ways. At least her waist looked tiny. And the skirt was luscious in its length and volume. A frothing river of fabric.

“You received your veil yet?” Rebecca asked, seeing how Stephanie was staring, nonetheless.

“There’s one, that’s been passed down through Bruce’s family, think we’re going with that one.”

“And your shoes?”

“Little mesh ones… with a bow. They’re cute.”

If Rebecca approved, she did not say. She gestured for Stephanie to turn around, so she could see the front.

Stephanie didn’t know what to say, think, or feel, looking at her reflection. The dress was beautiful, because of course it was (the cynical part of her hoped so at the price Bruce was paying for it). She could even admit to herself that she looked good in it. More than good. When her hair was done, makeup on, veil, jewellery… the whole thing, she had the feeling it might actually make people watching cry.

But it wasn’t what she wanted.

She could lie, she told herself. She was competent enough for that.

Besides, she truly did look beautiful in it.

So, she nodded, a little wet eyed, and smiled.

“Perfect.”

“Not quite.” Rebecca stepped up to be on the same level at Stephanie, dangerously close to invading her personal space. “I’m not sure how to say this…”

Stephanie laughed, trying to lighten the sudden oppressive mood. “Oh god, you’re going to make me lose weight, aren’t you?”

“I don’t think you want to get married.”

Stephanie blinked, not comprehending someone being that brash with her. Trying to keep her voice low, she murmured,

“You’d think I’d put myself through all this if I didn’t really love Tim?”

There was no falsehood in her statement.

Rebecca smiled, though it was pityingly. “I don’t doubt that. Haven’t met the boy so can’t speak for his side…”

Bitch.

“But yes, I think you love Timothy Drake.” She looked down to her right, musing aloud, “Love’s not enough sometimes.”

She struck a nerve, and Stephanie got sharp.

“What’s your point? Testing if I’ve got cold feet? If I want to spend the rest of my life with the first boy who ever…” She suddenly got so welled up that she choked. “Oooooo!” She bunched up the skirt fabric in her frustration, shaking it. “I can give this dress back if you’d prefer! I can get some fabric from Joann’s and make a little white dress and Tim and I can go to the local registry office. Is that what you want to hear? I’d marry him even if the entire world told us no. I’d marry him even if I knew Gotham was going to blow up tomorrow with all of us in it. And I know Tim would to. Because love is enough.”

It had to be, it had to be. That thought was the only thing holding her fragile ego together at that time.

A tense stare off ensued, until finally, Rebecca cracked and gave a sharp laugh.

“Good! Good! I like to test some brides, make sure they’re sure.”

Stephanie continued to stare, eyes wide, nostrils flared, as Rebecca tried to downplay and lighten the mood. After a bought of nervous laughter, Rebecca was saved by the ringing of her phone. As she turned away, Stephanie felt like ripping her way out of the dress. She stayed still though and tried to calm down. The words she had vomited out settled in to her mind, and she realised she had not exaggerated or lied any part of her speech. Come hell or high water, she wanted to be with Tim. And honestly, screw every single person who thought otherwise.

Guilt and pity turned to self righteous spite, and Stephanie smiled a little to herself, rocking on her heels.

That was a much more familiar and comforting feeling she was used to and thrived within. A solid and determined screw you buddy that motivated her every step. It was a little weird, but it got the job done on her day to day (and night to night) life.

Her shoulders feeling much lighter, she looked back in the mirror, dissatisfied with one aspect the most… She’d really wanted to wear her hair down.

Oh well. Maybe next time.

The thought came so naturally that Stephanie couldn’t help her startled laugh. Twisting her left hand to see the sparkles of the ring, she mused for a moment would she have liked instead for a wedding. A smaller engagement ring certainly. And a dress with much less of a skirt.

Still, this dress was on another level for most people of the world. She rocked back and forth and around in circles, enjoying the swishy noises that the skirt fabric made. Her movements grew exaggerated to make to the rustling louder and more sweeping, and her smile grew. She realised that she had almost forbidden herself from enjoying any part of this.

Like, okay, yes, the wealth on display was mind boggling and unnecessary, and yes she still felt supremely out of place at points, and yes the circumstances leading to her being here where messy and confusing and dangerous, but at the same time… the shallow part of her trembled with delight at how pretty the dress was. That inner ten-year-old who had stared at the Barbies for sale in the supermarkets, only for her mom to drag her away and deny her, had hit the metaphorical roof with joy at the chance to dress up.

She’d never had a dress made for her before. She’d had a go at pieces herself here and there, not counting the Spoiler suits, and she’d worn nice dresses in recent years, but this was honestly on another level.

Such lovely dresses and yet such ugly circumstances.

She glared holes at the door Rebecca had gone though in order to have another disruptive conversation.

Stephanie didn’t understand. Surely, Bruce would have caught the bad guy by now? It had been three months since the first set of murders. Whoever this person was, surely if they were that skilled of a killer, Batman would be dealing with higher profile deaths than random couples across the States. The only reason Bruce had taken an interest was Rebecca was a Gotham based designer, otherwise it would have fallen to the FBI or CIA or whomever to investigate. Bruce was the World’s Greatest Detective, right? Surely, he had it figured out by now?

Rebecca got off the phone and returned to the room, the tenseness now unbearable.

“I think I have everything I need today from you Stephanie. We have the last fitting the day before, bring the veil and shoes so we can see how it looks all together. I’ll make any last changes that night, then I’ll bring it round in the morning to Wayne Manor. Does that work?”

“Yeah… sounds good. The dress is truly beautiful Rebecca.”

Rebecca smiled and went around the back, lowering the little zip from Stephanie’s waist to her hips, allowing her to step out and get back in her shorts and sweater. Reverently, Rebecca moved the swathes of white fabric to a large tidy workspace. She wheeled over a mannequin and slipped the dress into place.

“A beautiful dress for a beautiful girl.” She said, indulgently. Steph sat on the floor to get her shoes laced on and tried not to look bashful.

“Thank you.”

“You are welcome. I’ll see you in a few days. The countdown begins huh?”

Putting on her backpack, Stephanie reached for the door handle.

“Sure does.”

[hermannsthumb]

Halloween party, cold, and bonfire?

Anonymous said: Bonfire

from autumn fic meme here: 8. Halloween Party + 37. Cold + 23. Bonfire

for this i was thinking that college au might be fun, especially bc ive had this art on the mind for a week....hehe

—————————————————————

“Well, well, well,” a short Godzilla says across the cider bowl from Hermann, his hands—well, claws—on his hips. “What’s a guy like you doing somewhere like this, Gottlieb?”

Hermann freezes, ladle in hand. “I’m sorry,” he says, “do I know you?” Hermann does not generally make a habit of associating with people who attend parties in obnoxious felt Godzilla costumes. Clearly homemade ones, at that. 

The Godzilla struggles with his mask for a few seconds before finally ripping it off with a triumphant crow. And, of course—the red-faced, sweaty, messy-haired boy beneath it is none other than Newton Geiszler, who is exactly the sort of person who would attend a party in an obnoxious felt Godzilla costume, and who Hermann, begrudgingly, associates with, on account of being his assigned lab partner. “Oh,” Hermann says. His mouth twists down automatically. His fingers tighten on the ladle. “Hello, Newton.” He didn’t know Newton would be coming. In fairness—Hermann didn’t know that he himself would be coming, either, until about forty-five minutes ago. 

Newton adjusts his fogged-up glasses and grins. “Seriously, what are you doing here?” he says.

“I was invited,” Hermann says, spooning cider into his cup and determined to keep a level head: most of his interactions with Newton tend to erupt in violent arguments. Usually through no fault of Hermann’s own. Usually. He’d rather that not happen in the home of a complete stranger, and well past midnight, at that. “I don’t know if I can say the same for you—”

“Ha-ha,” Newton says. “That’s not what I—wait, hand me the ladle, don’t be a dick—not what I meant. I thought you hated this kind of shit. Loud music, and people, and socializing—”

Hermann narrows his eyes and takes a sip of his hot cider; immediately, he starts coughing it back up. He expected it to be spiked, but not spiked this much. It tastes as if there’s an entire bottle of butterscotch schnapps in there. There probably is. “That’s strong,” he wheezes.

“It sure it,” Newton says, and grins wider. After a brief struggle with the cider (because, as Hermann imagines, it’s difficult to do anything with the moronic gloves he’s wearing) downs all of his glass and goes back in for another. “I made it myself. Who invited you to a party?”

Apparently the conversation isn’t over yet. “Tendo Choi,” Hermann says, still wheezing, “from, ah, computer science.”

“No shit!” Newton crows. “You know Tendo?” Hermann nods. “We were in a band together, you know, freshman year, with some other guys. And a little bit of junior year. And this past summer.” He coughs. “We had an, uh, hard time sticking together as a group. Musicians, you know, very—temperamental.”

“Mm,” Hermann says, sure it has nothing whatsoever to do with Newton’s personality, nor the quality of the band itself, which Hermann can’t help but assume was very, very low. He’s not surprised of its existence, at least; Newton is the sort who walks around campus with his guitar slung over his back, just waiting for the excuse to whip it out and torture innocent bystanders with half a dozen Violent Femmes covers. “Well, Newton, if that’s all—”

Hermann ducks around the table to make his way to the glass slider. Beyond it lies the expansive backyard, decorated with strings of skeleton garland and paper ghosts from oak tree to oak tree, illuminated only by orange and purple lanterns, and promising a bonfire with significantly fewer people than there are crammed into this basement. Most importantly, it promises freedom: no Newton Geiszler. Hermann will put up with the October chill if it means no Newton Geiszler.

Newton (perpetually unable to take a hint) trails after him anyway. “What’s your costume supposed to be?” he says.

“I’m Alan Turing,” Hermann offers, weakly, because it was a very last minute costume and the only thing he’d been able to think of.

“You’re so lame,” Newton says, “you totally—” and then proceeds to get his tail caught in the slider. He jerks backwards; his drink sloshes to the patio. “Fuck!”

Hermann can’t contain his snort. “King of the Monsters indeed.”

“Yeah, okay, funny,” Newton says. He gives a fruitless wobble. “You’re a regular comedian. Shut up and help me, jackass.”

Still snickering under his breath, Hermann tucks his cane under his arm and gives a great tug on the front of the Godzilla costume. Newton stumbles forward. “Thanks,” he says, and resumes waddling at Hermann’s side, to Hermann’s disappointment. “Anyway—lame. You totally just pulled that out of your closet. I’ve seen you wear that sweater three times this month.”

“You must pay very close attention to me to have noticed that,” Hermann says. “One might even say you’re obsessed with me.”

“As if,” Newton scoffs. “I just can’t help it, you know, everything you wear is just so ugly. Total eyesore. It’s all permanently seared into my retinas. Jesus,” he waddles faster, tail flopping comically behind him, leaves crunching loudly under his giant costume boots, “slow down, will you? I can’t move in this thing.” He huffs out a breath. “Sweating like a bitch, too. It smells like a fucking locker room in here.”

Hermann wrinkles his nose; Newton is so endlessly charming. “Are you going to follow me around all night?” he says.

“I might,” Newton says. “I don’t have any friends—”

“No surprise there.”

“—here. I don’t have any friends here, and you’re better than nothing,” Newton corrects. He sticks his tongue out. “You’re such a jerk, Gottlieb.”

Privately, Hermann wonders why Newton bothered coming to a party he knew none of his friends would attend in the first place, but he supposes it’s hypocritical of him. He doesn’t have any friends here either, after all. He doesn’t even know the host. Tendo Choi invited him—strong-armed him into attending, really, into relaxing for a single night—and yet Hermann hasn’t seen a single perfectly-coiffed hair of his head all night. “Just promise me you won’t be a nuisance,” Hermann says. It’s better than nothing, as Newton said.

Newton is a nuisance. They find a small bench in a deserted corner of the bonfire, and Newton—after a little trouble fitting onto it, with his ridiculous costume tail—talks to Hermann incessantly about every single thought that crosses his mind: where he bought the cider, how much he hates the music blasting through the speakers in the house, how long it took to make his costume, the weather, whether or not Hermann has Halloween plans. “I kinda miss trick-or-treating,” Newton says. “Why is it so weird for adults to do it, anyway? It’s free candy. You don’t just stop liking candy once you finish puberty.”

“Mm,” Hermann says.

“I bet if I wore this everyone would think I’m a kid,” Newton says. “I could get as much free candy as I wanted. One of my neighbors used to actually give out toothbrushes when I was, like, twelve, can you believe it? I thought that only happened in dumb books. I don’t know why he did it, that shit was probably way more expensive than a bag of fucking candy corn. He wasn’t even a dentist.”

“Mm,” Hermann says again. The loud snap of one of the logs in the bonfire finally cracking in half; a chilly breeze rustles the red-orange-yellow leaves of the oak trees, the garland, the ends of Hermann’s hair, and, instinctively, Hermann shrinks in on himself with a shiver. He wishes he hadn’t forgone his warm parka for the sake of his costume.

Newton’s eyebrows knit together with concern. “Are you okay?” he says.

“Yes,” Hermann says. He does up the two buttons of his blazer and wraps his hands around his cup of cider, which, though well beyond lukewarm, is managing to give off just a bit of heat. Enough to keep Hermann’s fingers from stiffening up. “Er—just cold.”

“I have a sweatshirt inside, if you wanna borrow—”

“No,” Hermann says quickly. “It’s fine. Really.” 

Newton stares at him. Then, without warning, he’s suddenly closing the wide gap between them and flinging an arm (soft, thanks to his fuzzy costume, warm, strong) around Hermann’s shoulders. Hermann’s shivering stops at once; his ears go hot; his body goes rigid. “Newton,” he stammers. “You—ah—you don’t have to—”

“Shut up,” Newton says. His breath smells like apple cider, the schnapps he spiked it with, candy he undoubtedly grabbed in handfuls from the cheap plastic pumpkin head on the buffet table. This close, even in the low flicker of the fire, Hermann can see that his nose and cheeks are dusted with freckles he’s never noticed before. (He’s never been this close to Newton before.) “And just—take that stick out of your ass a little. I don’t have cooties.”

There’d been a small bubble of warmth building in Hermann’s chest, just below his sternum, threatening to rise and burst from Hermann’s mouth in the form of something mortifying like I only pretend to hate you because I’m very, very fond of you, but Newton manages to successfully squash it and grind it under his heel into the dirt with that single jab. Hermann scowls. “And I don’t have a stick up my arse,” he snaps.

“Arse,” Newton parrots back in the worst faux-posh English accent Hermann has ever heard. “You know that’s the least sexy word ever, right?”

“I’m not trying to be sexy.”

“Oh, and you’re succeeding,” Newton says, “with flying colors.”

“I can’t stand you,” Hermann growls, and then he kisses Newton.

He does it mostly to shut Newton up—and, yes, he’s been gazing at those soft lips all night and wondering what it would be like, because Newton can’t seem to stop biting and licking them every bloody second, yes, he’s been wanting to take Newton’s smug, gorgeous little face in his hands and knock him down a peg since the very first lab they had to work together—but after Newton’s muffled exclamation of surprise becomes a very enthusiastic hum, after his mouth parts open eagerly, Hermann keeps going. He can taste the cider, the candy. He can feel Newton’s fingers sliding through his hair—

Newton’s claws sliding through his hair. “Newton,” Hermann says, making a face as he pulls away. “Are you still wearing your gloves?”

“Oops,” Newton says, dazed, wide-eyed, glasses dangling off his nose. “Am I?” He is: he looks between his hands, just as dazed, as if he’s forgotten that he’s wearing a costume and doesn’t typically have large green monster paws, and then he breaks out into giggles. “I am. Wow. Sorry. I—you kissed me!”

“I did,” Hermann says. He plucks at one of the gloves. “Now take these off. I don’t want you clawing my scalp up.” They’re truthfully nowhere near sharp enough to, but Hermann can’t say he enjoys the sensation of them regardless. Newton has strong hands with strong fingers he’d much rather feel.

“What,” Newton says, and grins and waggles the claws of one hand, “you don’t want to pretend you’re macking on some sexy monster?”

"Newton,” Hermann says, “if you want to ever kiss me again, you will take those damned things off now.”

“Fine. Grumpy.”

[ravenforce]

Hot Hydra 2.0

Prompt: This is part two of Hot Hydra as requested by some of you. There’s really no prompt, except for it to be fluffy.

Pairing: Carol Danvers x Reader, Natasha Romanoff x Reader, Carol Danvers x Reader x Natasha Romanoff

Word Count: 3168

Warning/s: FLUFF.

A/N: You liked it, you asked for it, I wrote it. Brush your teeth after you read it. If there are mistakes that escapes me, I apologize. Hope you guys like it. If you haven’t read Hot Hydra yet, you can find it here.

***

After defeating Thanos and Apocalypse with the combined forces of the Avengers and the Mutant Underground, it took quite a while before you saw Carol and Natasha again. You’re out having dinner with the Strucker kids when you did. While it’s currently winter you’re seated on the outdoor eating area of the restaurant when recently resurrected Wanda saw you from across the street. She looked so satisfied having been able to drag Carol, Natasha, and Agent Hill to the mall.

“Hey (Y/N)! Hey Lauren! Andy!” she greeted cheerfully. You guess if you’re erased from existence, you’d probably be obnoxiously chirpy as well after being revived. The Strucker kids smiled and wave back at the Avengers. Even though you’ve worked with them before, certain awe still remains that the Earth’s mightiest heroes acknowledge your presence.

“Retail therapy?” you teased Wanda but looking directly to Carol and Natasha.

“Yes! Best therapy ever!” Wanda exclaimed you chuckled. You would guess from their faces that Carol and Nat would rather be elsewhere than the mall but they couldn’t begrudge the others.

“What about you guys? What brought you out and about at this weather?” Agent Hill asked.

“Oh! We’re run off before Thunderbird can kick (Y/N) ass for flying all the way to Atlantic City to get tacos,” Andy explained. Everyone laughed.

“Tacos you requested,” you said rolling your eyes before laughing with everyone else.

You’re the hottest HYDRA experiment I’ve ever seen.

Wanda choked on her water and successfully spraying Agent Hill in the process, which earned more laughter from the group. Maria quickly wiped her face, while you patted down Wanda’s back.

“Are you okay?” you asked. Wanda just nodded and hurriedly made an excuse about Vision needing her. She walked away, dragging Agent Hill with her. Carol and Natasha hanged back for a few seconds.

“It’s really nice seeing you today (Y/N). Totally highlight of our day,” Carol said. Natasha nodded.

“Maybe when you’re not busy we can get tacos too,” Natasha said. You smiled at both of them who looks uncharacteristically nervous.

“Sure, you got my number,” you said before they turned and jog towards Wanda and Maria. When they reached the two they have a giant smile on their faces, while Wanda’s sporting a deep scowl.

“Glad to know you had your priorities in order while we were dead,” Agent Hill said. Carol and Nat looked baffled.

“You’re both buying me a drink, maybe five, to wash away the image of both of you ravaging (Y/N) at the medical bay in my head,” Wanda said. Agent Hill laughed so hard, they had to stop at the side of the street. Carol and Nat beet red in embarrassment.

***

A week after your encounter with Carol and Natasha, both of them asked you to meet at the compound. Agent Hill met you and ushered you to their private runway where Natasha is waiting for you at the mouth of an engine-ready quinjet.

“24 hours Romanoff. Also if Nick finds out, I’ll tell him you threatened me,” Agent Hill told Natasha seriously but with a trace of a smirk on her lips. Nat just nodded at her.

“Have fun (Y/N),” Agent Hill said before walking away.

Natasha led you inside and closed the door of the quinjet. Carol is in-charge of flying you tonight, to where they just wouldn’t tell. The conversation was light and easy between the three of you; Carol told the story of her time with the Kree, Nat told you about her life as a Russian spy, and you told them the little things you can remember of your life before Apocalypse turned you into the Archangel.

Four hours later, the three of you are alighting the quinjet. When Natasha opened the cargo door, you were greeted by a Japanese man wearing SHIELD uniform.

“Welcome to Tokyo, Agent Romanoff,” he greeted politely. “Captain Danvers,” he continued before looking at you. He smiled politely at you.

“(Y/N),” you introduced yourself.

He shook your hand, “of course, welcome to Tokyo Archangel,” he said.

Natasha walked ahead of you and Carol to speak to the man. You took the opportunity to turn towards Carol, you didn’t have to ask the question. Carol can read right through you.

“You’ll see,” she assured you with a mischievous smile on her face.

Just before you can say anything, a grey Maserati Quattro Forte idled next to you. When the window rolled down, Natasha spoke, “get your beautiful butts in. I’m hungry!”

Natasha drove expertly around the street of Tokyo to a hotel called Trunk Hotel to check in on the Dining Suite and park the car. Natasha informed you that you’ll be going around Shibuya by foot from there onwards. You surmised this is not Natasha’s first time in Tokyo as she happily points out landmarks. She stopped in front of a shop called Ichiban, there’s a short line ahead but Natasha assured you it’s worth the wait.

“We went to Tokyo to eat Ramen?” you asked flabbergasted.

“Yes, we heard from a certain Strucker that it’s your favorite,” Carol explained.

“So we decided where better to have our first date,” Natasha blurted out. When she realized what she just said a look of panic crossed her face. Carol is stock still and eerily silent next to you.

“Well, Fury will definitely have both your asses if he finds out you took the quinjet to take me on a date,” you said laughing. Both woman visibly relaxes at that and started laughing with you.

Carol feeling bold and bored wrapped her arm around your neck conveniently as you stand in front of her. She caught you off guard causing you to wobble on the step you’re standing on a little, thankfully Natasha held your hand. You tried to hide your blush but by the smug look on Nat’s face, you’re pretty sure you’re failing spectacularly.

The ramen was divine but more than anything sitting there next to Natasha and Carol made it all the more special. After eating ramen, Carol and Natasha insisted on walking around Shibuya and Shinjuku where you were able to buy cute keychains for the Mutant Underground kids. The three of you are back in New York not more than 18 hours after.

“Thank you for an amazing first date,” you said giving them both a kiss on the cheek when they dropped you off at the Mutant Underground HQ. Dates became frequent after that.

***

Three months after you got back from your date in Tokyo, you have already moved out of the HQ and into your own apartment downtown. In the span of three months, you’ve gone out with both Carol and Natasha more than you can count. You were never really bothered by the lack of label between the three of you; you like them, they like you and that was enough until Andy asked if both of them are your girlfriend now and you didn’t know how to answer.

“Do you know if they’re seeing other people?” Andy asked, earning an elbow from his sister.

You gaped at them. You never really considered the thought, which actually makes sense since they’re not officially your girlfriends it means they can see other people. It bothered you all morning, so when you sat at the table where Carol and Natasha were waiting for you for lunch with a deep frown and furrowed brow they were worried. They tried to ask what’s wrong but you were adamant that nothing is amiss. You were fairly quiet over lunch as well, which worries both of them further; you’re one of the best conversationalists they’ve ever met.

“Okay enough, tell us what’s wrong? Did we do something to upset you?” Natasha asked while waiting for the bill. She held your eyes while Carol silently chewed on her bottom lip, which is very distracting to be honest.

“Am I your girlfriend?” you blurted out. You figured it’s best to rip the bandage sooner than later.

“What?” both of them asked.

“Are you two seeing anyone else?” you continued without answering either of them. Thank goodness your table is in the outdoor dining area at the back of the restaurant because you can’t sit still. You stood up and started pacing in front of your table.

“Which is totally okay if you are, I just want to know where I stand in whatever this is we're doing,” you continued. When you look back at them, they’re both sporting a soft look on their face.

"I think we should discuss this in private,” Carol said before she’s practically dragging you to your apartment, Natasha hot on your heel.

When you arrived at your apartment, Carol pushed you against Natasha who’s standing behind you and is kissing you before you can even fathom what’s happening. Natasha wiped your hair on one side and is planting soft kisses on your shoulder. Before things can get out of hand, Carol pulled away and leaned her forehead against you.

“There’s no one else I want in this universe than both of you,” Carol confessed sincerely.

Natasha held you against her tighter. “If that still didn’t answer your question, then yes, you’re our girlfriend silly,” she said teasingly against your shoulder. You turned your head so she can kiss you, and she did.

***

Six months after your date in Tokyo, Carol and Natasha are basically living in your apartment too. You’re definitely not complaining, no; you love having them both with you. You love walking in at the end of the day with both of them trying to make dinner. You love having a long soak at your expansive tub, which Natasha insisted you need, after a long day of saving the world. You love quiet dinner of takeouts and Netflix and most of all, you love waking up next to both of them.

But your apartment isn’t built for three people, especially your walk-in closet. You decided to breach the topic to your girlfriends at dinner. When you came home after spending the day with Thunderbird and Blink you found both of them huddled in front of Natasha’s computer. When you came close enough to see the screen, you saw what they’re looking at.

“What’s wrong with my apartment?” you asked suddenly.

Sneaking up at your super-powered, and super badass agent girlfriends’ a really bad idea. Carol and Natasha whipped around so fast, you only had a second to retract you wings for cover before Natasha is throwing her ninja stars at you. When they realized it was you, they just rolled their eyes before sitting on the couch. Carol patted the space next to her for you to cuddle in, which you instantly obliged while Natasha continued searching the internet.

“Nothing is wrong with your place but it’s really not built for three people, don’t you think?” Carol asked after planting a kiss to your cheeks.

“You’re right. We need one big room as our walk-in closet, our bedroom, living room, kitchen, and maybe a gym,” you said.

“A gym? You don’t like working out,” Natasha said looking up from her internet search. You laughed because it’s true. Being a mutant has its perks.

“I don’t but you two do and I like watching you two work out,” you said suggestively wiggling your eyebrows before standing and walking to the shower. Carol and Natasha watched you walk away.

“What a goof,” Natasha said.

“Our goof,” Carol answered before leaning in closer to Nat to continue searching for your new home.

***

Eight months after your date in Tokyo, you officially moved in at your cozy new place at Christopher Street in the West Village. You just walked the Struckers’ out when you found both your girlfriends standing in the middle of your living room taking it in. You stood right next to Natasha.

“This is our home,” Nat said in no one in particular.

That night you were the last one to fall asleep after you made love to both of them in your new bedroom. Carol and Natasha looked absolutely beautiful and peaceful sleeping on both sides of you. First, you traced the outline of Carol’s spine as she lay flat on her chest, you scooted a little closer and gave her shoulder a kiss.

“I love you, Carol,” you whispered before tugging the sheet to cover her back. Then you turned towards Natasha. You traced your fingers lightly at the bridge of her nose down to her lips before you pressed a soft kiss on her chin.

“I love you, Nat,” you whispered before getting comfortable between them and finally falling asleep. You were out like a light soon after, that’s why you didn’t see both your girlfriends opening their eyes and smiling at you.

***

Twelve months after your date in Tokyo, Natasha and Carol have successfully enlisted you as a SHIELD agent as well. You have settled in nicely and has already developed a routine. Your girlfriends wake up every day without fail at exactly 5 in the morning. Usually, they’d go for a run around the neighborhood for an hour, and bring home some bear claws from the bakeshop around the corner to wake you up or if they’re feeling like it they would cook pancakes. You both agreed that showers should be done separately in the mornings or else you will all be late for work every day.

Then Natasha would drive all three of you in your shared 2018 Black Jeep Wrangler Rubicon to work. You’ll give them kisses before you exit the car because all of you has a badass reputation to uphold. Sometimes you really don’t see your girlfriends at work because Fury mostly gives you separate missions. Today though Fury told you he’ll be sending you, Carol, and Natasha on a mission to Tokyo. You didn’t think too much of it, international travel has been common for you after you become an agent.

The mission was fairly easy especially with the three of you working together. When you reported back to Fury, he asked you to stay put as the Japanese team performed a maintenance check on the quinjet. Natasha and Carol didn’t really mind.

“At least, we have time to unwind,” Carol said.

“Let’s go to an arcade,” you suggested. Carol perked up at the mention of an arcade. Natasha rolled her eyes playfully at both of you. Sometimes she swears she’s the eldest between the three of you.

“Fine but Ichiban after,” she agreed. There’s no protest from both you and Carol.

Finding an arcade in Shibuya isn’t a problem. Natasha joined in playing a few arcade games even. On the way to Ichiban, you found a working photo booth where Carol and Natasha happily indulged you to take a few pictures together. You’re skipping towards the restaurant ahead of your girlfriends, clearly distracted by the photos. When you looked back they’re standing a few feet away from you.

“What?” you asked.

“Marry us,” Carol said.

“What?!” you exclaimed, gaining some looks from the other customers waiting in line with you.

“Marry us,” Natasha repeated. Both of them crossing the gap between you in long strides. You would have laughed if not for the very serious face they’re both sportings. Shit, they’re serious, you thought.

“How?” you asked clearly confuse how they plan to pull this off.

“We don’t need a wedding. Natasha and I are ready to commit to spending the rest of our lives and fighting bad guys with you,” Carol said holding your hand. You looked at Natasha who looks at you earnestly.

“We love you (Y/N). We want no one else to adventure with than you,” Nat confirmed.

You tugged both of them in a hug while chanting yes against their hair. They pulled away and gave you both a kiss on the cheeks.

“I love you both of you too,” you said.  

“So do we get rings or that’s cliche?” you teased after having your ramen dinner.

“I have an idea,” Natasha said.

***

When you landed back in New York, Maria was waiting for the three of you at the tarmac.

“How’s the anniversary?” Maria asked before giving you a hug.

“Best anniversary so far,” you answered beaming from ear to ear.

“Good. Now meet me at my office for debriefing after you get change,” Fury said as he approached.

You were the last to meet with Fury when you walked in at the living room of the compound most of the team is arguing what movie to watch. Carol and Natasha turned towards you when you entered the room but made no move to leave the conversation they’re having with Steve and Tony. So you decided to head to the kitchen and get yourself a drink instead.

You greeted Peter who stops mid-conversation with Wanda when he notices you.

“Hey (Y/N), nice tattoo,” he said, noticing the single red line tattoo that goes all the way around your right pinky finger.

“Hey, Carol and Natasha had the same tattoo,” Wanda said.

Yes because they’re my wives, you thought loud enough for Wanda to pick up on before walking out of the kitchen and towards your wives.

“Holy shit!” Wanda exclaimed loud enough for everyone to hear.

***

Note: Since I’m feeling extra today, here’s check the following links for visual inspo.

Imagined New Shared Place | 2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon | Red String of Fate Tattoo

[vickypoochoices]

Hold My Girl.

Author's Note: I've been gone forever! This was meant to be a short fic, because I hated the whole break up scenario and I also didn't think the London scene was realistic. I don't think you'd be able to forgive and forget in five seconds flat after a break up like that. So I've taken some of the dialogue from that chapter and done a little tweaking. Except now, I think I might have to do a part two with Big Ben. If people would want to read that?

Tagging: @zigortega4life @emerald-bijou @littlegreenmoo @krsnlove @sarzkh31

Let me know if you want to be added/removed to the tag list.

[MASTERLIST.]

Damn Abbie and her stupid phone! Damn social media! Damn Zig and his perfect smile that she missed so much! Nothing good ever came out of a little stalking session online did it? Sure, she was pretty pleased to see that gorgeous face of his again. But then she remembered, she didn’t know if she’d ever get to see that gorgeous face again. Touch that gorgeous face again. Kiss that gorgeous face again. At the very least she was relieved to see no new girlfriends or random girls. If anything, she was a little smug to see her face cropping up over and over again in older posts. Until she realised that’s exactly what they were. Old posts that meant nothing now.

Clammy fingertips slapped at her forehead in frustration, the sound vibrating off the bare walls. Launching her phone at the front door, a strangled scream of frustration followed, before the tinny echo of the radio started up. Damn it. You pick your moments. Her phone was well loved, and a little battered and bruised, constantly malfunctioning. But maybe a little music would lighten the mood?

Leaving the phone, instead she pottered into the kitchen, flicking on the kettle and humming softly in time with the pop song blaring from the floor. Steam billowed upwards as the kettle rumbled to a stop minutes later. Once the bubbling vibrations subsided, she noted the sudden change in music. I Miss You by Clean Bandit had replaced the upbeat pop song, her pulse quickening as the lyrics washed over her. Stop! “Hey Google, change stations.” Silence rang out, before the chorus of Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith jolted to life. Her fingertips flexed at her side, as her free hand concentrated on dousing the teabag in boiling water. “Hey Google, change stations.” Third times a charm right? Her phone contemplated the command, a series of vibrations buzzing against the hard floor before suddenly whirring to life once again. This time her chin wobbled and her hands clutched at the kitchen work top in a desperate bid to keep herself from collapsing, a tsunami of emotion crashing over her. Not this song. Anything but this song. Please. “Hey Google, stop. Google…Google. Heyyyy. Stop. Please.” Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol continued, taunting her as she struggled to swallow down fresh tears. She’d done so well up until this point to keep them at bay, but if anything was going to tip her over the edge, it was this song. Their song.

Hot tears trickled down her face, dripping off the tip of her nose and collecting in the crevice of her dry lips, her body racked with sobs, whimpers diminishing in defeat. An inexplicable numbness surrounded her, the lyrics seeming to penetrate through her skin and infiltrate every last one of her thoughts. Thoughts she hadn’t allowed herself to have up until now. Thoughts of Zig.

Her head jerked violently, her body still swaying to an absent song, her phone having long stopped playing. A loud, urgent knock was now insistently rapping out on the front door. Her brows knitted together closely as she wearily placed one foot in front of the other. Mentally running over all the possible people at work that had her home address she came up short, shaking her head dismissively, knowing she hadn’t struck up any real friendships in her time in London.

Using the door as a shield once she pulled it back, her head peered round the corner, only one eye daring to open and come face to face with her killer. She sagged against the frame in relief, suffering a momentary lapse of memory, before realisation set in. With his feet awkwardly shuffling over the gleaming floor of the communal hallway, and his fingertips drumming against his thigh nervously, Zig stood in the doorway, a faint, uncertain ghost of a smile fixed into place.

Her mouth flapped open and shut as she gawked at him for a full minute. “I… Uhh… Hey. What are you doing here?” She cringed inwardly at her fumbled choice of greeting. There were a million and one things she could have said, yet that was all she managed to come up with on the spot.

“I’m here for you. I can’t do this any more.”

The desperation dripped off of every single word he spoke, garnering her full attention. His wavy hair had grown in the time they’d spent apart, making her wonder if she had any influence over that decision, having always preferred it on the longer side. Or maybe this was his new style? That would explain the sudden growth of facial hair. That needs to stay! Feeling the full weight of his relentless staring, she finally caved, eyes fully locking with his. They widened in surprise at the darkened circles underneath and pools of water gathering in the corner of his eyes.

Zig’s voice wobbled, grappling with the surge of emotions stirring at the sight of her. “Can I come in?”

A rush of hot hair escaped in a brief moment of hesitancy, before she finally stood aside to let Zig in. He’d barely taken two steps before stopping in his tracks, his boot clunking against her phone and sending it skidding further along the floor.

“Shit. Sorry.” He scurried across the room, stooping to pick up the phone. As his fingers curled around it, the screen lit up revealing her background photo. A photo of them both together, complete with their cat Bella, and their dog Trix. A happy family. His eyes hurriedly met hers, a surprised look spreading over his features.

Heat rushed to her face, turning her back on him and taking a few seconds to compose herself under the guise of closing the door.

“Can I get you a drink?” Her voice took on an overly cheery tone as she pushed past the embarrassment at being caught red handed. She’d done well at hiding her feelings and pretending everything was fine, but some days she’d lose count of the amount of times she’d pull her phone out just to catch a glimpse of him. Of them. Together.

“Sure. Whatever you’re having.” Zig paused, surveying his surroundings as she flicked the kettle on once more. “Is this it then? Is it just you?” He queried, sweeping his arm around the air gesturing towards the flat.

“And my super hot room mate Jack.”

A crestfallen look slipped into place as he managed a low gasp, barely audible even to himself. “Oh.”

“Sorry. Sorry. Why am I like this? I was kidding Zig!”

“Did you really just make up a fake roomie on the spot like that?”

“Oh Jack’s a real person.” She replied flatly, head down as she seemed to handle the kettle with unnecessary caution.

“But he doesn’t live with you?”

“Not anymore.”

“What happened?”

She rubbed at the back of her head sheepishly. “Ohh that. Nothing.”

Crossing his arms across his chest and leaning his weight onto one leg, he quirked an eyebrow questioningly.

“Okay fine. He said I was a nightmare to live with, can you believe that?”

Zig’s shoulders gently shook as he struggled to contain his laughter, his teeth sinking into his bottom lip.

“Hey!” Her eyes flashed warningly.

“Alright, sorry. What was it then? The hair down the plughole? Putting the toilet roll on the holder the wrong way? Or the toothpaste you always seem to leave in the bottom of the sink?”

Her jaw slackened, her features turning stony as she looked at him aghast. “All of the above.”

“At least he didn’t notice the weird, and completely incorrect way you stack everything in the dishwasher.” Zig chuckled light heartedly, stopping himself seconds later as she pushed her lips out into an over exaggerated pout.

“That was the last thing he said to me. ZIG! Why didn’t you tell me I’m a nightmare?”

His body tensed, taking a step back and running a finger along an oak floating shelf absent-mindedly. She slowly closed the gap a moment later, shuffling forward with two steaming mugs, holding one out at arms length for Zig.

“Zig?”

“I…I don’t think you want to hear what I have to say.”

“I’m wounded enough as it is. Come on, just kick me when I’m down why don’t you, I’m giving you a free pass here!” She looked over her shoulder to give him a playful grin as she made her way over to the plush sofa, Zig trailing behind uncertainly like a lost puppy. She slowly slinked backwards, curling her legs up underneath her, carefully setting her mug down on the glass coffee table. After a few seconds Zig followed suit.

“No that’s not it. It’s just, well, I don’t think you are a nightmare to live with really.”

“Oh please. You’ve just listed off all my terrible habits!”

“And yet i’ve lived with you for how long now without mentioning them once? Because…”

She wrapped her arms around herself instinctively, hand resting on her elbow and rubbing distractedly as Zig stopped himself, both of them aware of the words he’d just swallowed down.

He let out a low whistle as his eyes wandered once more around her rented flat. “This place is nice and all but it’s so…”

“Boring.” She finished for him, noticing his reluctance to finish what he started.

The corner of his mouth tugged upwards in a wry smile. “Yep. Totally.”

“Pretty to look at, but would it kill them to add a splash of colour? Or you know, just fill it with some…stuff? Anything really! Apparently it’s in the contract that I signed that I won’t change a thing and…Eurgh I’m sorry! You didn’t just fly like four thousand miles to hear me complain about how boring my flat is.”

“If it matters to you, it matters to me.”

Reaching out for her tea, her eyes dropped to the pale liquid, suddenly engrossed as her mind raced over the potential responses she could give him now.

“Zig don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Do that.”

One eyebrow raised in indication for her to continue.

Her free hand scrubbed harshly at her face, a long drawn out breath following. “That thing where you’re cute, caring and just all around great.”

Zig’s chuckle was gentle and light. “That’s not a thing, that’s just me.”

“Stop, you’re killing me! I forgot how perfect you are. No wait, what am I saying? Of course I didn’t!” With the mug back in place, she cradled her head in her hands, a stretched out sigh simultaneously morphing into a string of giggles. “God, sorry Zig! Lucky escape huh?”

With an unreadable expression etched onto his face as he studied her, Zig found his body slowly edging closer to hers, their eyes fixed on each other. “You know that’s not what I think.”

A flicker of hesitation rippled through him, before his hands took control, taking her small hands in his, adding a gentle squeeze of reassurance. Her pulse quickened, confliction overpowering her senses, surprising herself at the feeling of her thumb brushing against Zig’s. Deep breath in, deep breath out.

An easy silence stretched out for a few minutes, both drinking in the other’s eyes with continued strokes to the hand, revelling in the feeling of being back where they belong. But the elephant in the room was only getting harder to ignore.

“What are we doing Zig?” She managed to choke out, her throat suddenly dry.

He looked up from where he’d been contently watching her thumb stroke idle circles around his own. “I know I screwed up. We should have talked about our plans for graduation months before now. In hindsight, I realise you tried to bring it up, but I assumed things would just work out because we loved each other.”

She reeled backwards, unprepared for his sudden admission, Zig’s grip only tightening around her hands. “What are you saying?”

“Why don’t we have that talk now? And this time I’ll listen. Please give me another chance.”

She found herself nodding eagerly, the ability to speak having escaped her.

“I love you and I made a huge mistake.” A shiver trailed down her spine as the words left his mouth. Zig noticed, shrugging his denim jacket off and gently laying it over her shoulders, his face stretching as he offered her a warm smile. His smell engulfed her, her eyes fluttering shut for a split second as warmth surrounded her. She wiggled a little closer to Zig on the sofa.

“I know we agreed parting ways was the best choice for both of us, that we needed to follow our own dreams. But my dreams are nothing without you.” Zig sighed, his fingers now tangling with hers, knitting and kneading together repetitively as he worked up the courage to continue. Wiggling even further, goosebumps began to surface at the sudden close proximity. Too close. There was no going back from here. She’d already made her decision, she realised.

“They need me in Tokyo by the end of August, but instead of being excited I just feel empty. I thought I wanted an adventure, but without you, Japan feels about as exciting as a trip to the dentist. I love you baby. I love you and I miss you. Please take me back.”

Salty tears spilled down her face as her mouth flailed open and shut uselessly. Pressing his forehead against hers and dipping down to her level, they swayed for a beat, the comfortable silence cut short a minute later.

"If it’s an adventure you want, you’ve come to the right place.”

Zig’s chin inclined upwards as his head quirked questioningly.

“We could go for a butchers round Camden Lock, you’d probably fit right in there. Leather is very in around those parts.”

Zig chuckled, lacing his fingers through hers once more. “I’m not sure I can even pretend to know what half of that just meant. But I’ve moved on from leather.”

“Luckily for you, denim is pretty popular round those parts too.”

His eyes softened, warmth spreading over his features as he gave a tiny nod, gesturing for her to continue.

“We could go to a pie and mash shop, complete with jellied eels of course. Or i’ll race you down the steps in Covent Garden, there’s a spiral staircase with 193 steps. We could follow the Pearly Kings and Queens and get an awesome selfie with them. Or maybe you’d prefer the standard monarchy, with a trip to The Tower Of London or…”

She flinched as a pair of lips silenced her. Soft, warm, confident lips. Lips that felt like home. She hesitated for the briefest of seconds, before melting against him.

“I don’t care what we do today, as long as I’m with you…doing this.” He swooped down for another swift kiss, catching her bottom lip between his teeth and tugging.

Her body stilled, stunned into a ramrod straight, rigid posture. Her chest heaved upwards, breathing a laborious chore all of a sudden. A warm, pink tinge coloured her cheeks and her tongue traced along the grooves of her bottom lip. She savoured the taste, a powerful concoction that was so undeniably Zig. A hint of cigarette smoke. He must have been nervous, or stressed. The only two reasons he’d ever reach for the packet of smokes. Coffee. Jetlag is a bitch right? And an underlying taste of mint. Gum, candy, toothpaste. She didn’t know which, and frankly she didn’t care either.

The sudden assault on her senses pulled down the final barrier, fully exposing her as an influx of memories catapulted towards her head on.

The first kiss. Morning kisses. Goodnight kisses. Happy kisses. Lingering kisses. Sloppy kisses. Over the top and annoyingly in your face kisses - The kind that always made Zack say ‘Okay, you two are adorable, we get it!’. Tipsy kisses. Angry kisses. Goodbye kisses. The last kiss. Except it wasn’t. Not now. Not ever. Not if she could help it.

“I can’t believe you came all this way and you haven’t made any plans at all. The Zig I know would be desperate to get out and explore and go on an adventure. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Her tongue poked out slightly as she made light of the situation, the continuous loud thud in her ear of her heartbeat a constant reminder of the true affect Zig was having on her. That he’d always had on her.

“It’s not that I don’t have any plans. I was just kind of hoping you’d want to join me for them.

Edging backwards on the sofa, her eyes peered back at him with some skepticism as she assessed Zig. "Ah ha! I knew it. Well Ortega, that depends. I’ve been here a while now and I’ve done a lot of the touristy things already. What have you got up your sleeve that can convince me to let you take me out for the night?”

A dopey grin spread across his face, his eyes glistening eagerly. “Have you ever been inside Big Ben at night?”

[taronfanfic]

Rewind

Masterlist

Chapter 16

You’d actually done it. Befriended, dated and now slept with the man who was once known as ‘the cute guy’, and it turned out there was a whole lot more to him than just being very good looking. As you lay in bed blissfully, with his arm still draped around your shoulders, you struggled to believe your own luck. Your body was heavy and tired from the earlier action and yet your mind was still running at one hundred miles an hour. The slow rise and fall of Taron’s chest was helping to calm it but you still wished you could trade places with him. He looked so comfortable, peaceful and content. He looked like he belonged too. Thoughts of a future with him started to play out in your mind. It wasn’t like you hadn’t imagined them before, but now you actually knew him and how he behaved when he was around you everything felt that bit more realistic and attainable. You found yourself placing a soft kiss to his skin, almost like you were checking that he was actually real. Taron’s hand gently squeezed the top of your arm at the feel of your lips on his skin again.

“Go to sleep.” He whispered softly before pulling his arm out from under you and turning onto his side. You turned with him and took up the offer of a spoon, happily closing your eyes as he tucked himself in behind you and let his hand rest on your outer thigh.

***

“Oh, is that a sign of life?” You heard him before you’d even opened your eyes and the tingling rush that flew around your body instantly erased your morning grogginess.

“Mmm, hello.” You replied sleepily as you turned onto your back and tried to prepare yourself for the sight of his naked body all over again.

“I made you a mug of tea but it’s probably nearing the cold side by now.” The feel of Taron leaning over you gave you your moment and you opened your eyes to see his white t-shirt covering his chest. It was slightly disappointing but as he smiled down at you and handed you your mug you weren’t in any position to be complaining.

“You been awake for long?” You sat up and took a sip of your tea, too used to it being too hot to drink, so pleasantly surprised to find it at the perfect temperature. “Thanks for this.”

“You’re welcome, and no not too long. I thought I might have woken you up from rummaging around in your kitchen but you were still sound asleep when I got back.”

“Last night was tiring.” The smirk fell naturally to your face so you hid behind your mug.

“Stop it.” Taron giggled. “I’m fully aware that you’re still naked under there so I do not need to be tempted any more than I already am.” You pulled the covers up and away from your chest so you could look down your own body, causing Taron to reach out and push your hand straight back down again. A pout of intrigue should have told Taron your next move but he didn’t seem to follow. You reached out to his side of the bed and pulled the covers down to reveal he’d already put his boxers back on.

“Well you’re no fun.” You joked as you flung the duvet back over him.

“If I had the time I would definitely be down for some morning sex, so don’t you go thinking otherwise!”

“You can’t stay?”

“Afraid not. Places to be, people to see…” He kept it vague. “But I had a really good time last night, and hopefully you did too.”

“Yeah, I did. Really good.”

“Good.” He smiled. “It made for a nice change.”

“It did.” You felt your nerves and awkwardness creeping back up to the surface but there was nothing you could do to stop them. The morning after the night before was usually a speedy exit with little chat so the longer this lingered on the less you knew what to say. You could only sit and watch as Taron got dressed into last night’s clothes again; clothes he’d clearly collected and brought back in here along with yours whilst he waited for the kettle to boil. “So, ermm.” You started to speak without knowing what you were going to say.

“One last kiss before I go?” Taron asked and you nodded simply, waiting as he knelt on the side of the bed and leant across to meet you. It was a simple touching of lips to start with but you couldn’t resist asking him for more, teasing your tongue against his lower lip and then feeling him smile. He opened up for you and let you kiss him properly, taking his sweet time before pulling away and backing off the bed without taking his eyes off you.

“Have a good day.” You spoke softly

“Yeah, I’ll see you around.” His smile lingered for a few seconds before he finally turned and left you, closing the door behind him gently on his way out.

“Have a fucking good day!” You mocked yourself out loud with a shake of your head. The dregs of your tea swirled gently around your mug as you placed it down and picked up your phone instead.

First one to call me gets all the details ;)

You knew it would reignite the group chat and leave two of them with an agonising wait, but their speculation would only add to your enjoyment. It was less than 30 seconds before your phone started to ring with Rosie’s name appearing in the centre of your screen. You swiped in her call and put her on speaker so you could lie back down in bed and get comfy again.

“Spill!” She didn’t even start with hello.

“So, erm… he’s literally just left mine.”

“Ahh, he stayed for a sleepover!” She squealed back in delight, still using your teenage code for sex.

“… or two.”

“Two! Y/N!”

“I know.” There was no hiding your smugness.

“You need to tell me your secret, how to stop them from falling asleep straight after.”

“Make sure number 1 doesn’t happen in the bedroom.” Rosie gasped before firing out her next question.

“Where?”

“Sofa.” You bit your lower lip as you waited nervously for her reply.

“Remind me not to sit there next time I’m at yours.” You both laughed. “So come on, was he any good?”

“Urgh, so good. He was a bit nervous to start with but it just made him even more irresistible. Round 2 was all him though and… wow. Even just thinking about it again is doing good things to my insides.”

“Why do you think he was nervous?”

“He had a bit of a wobble during the date, thought he was going to fuck it up somehow. I don’t know, I think the pressure of the first date setting just caught up to him. It was sweet though. Showed that he cared about what I thought.”

“Oh god, he’s adorable and hot!”

“I know, right.” You sighed.

“And you’re totally smitten, I can tell just from your voice!”

“I can’t even deny it.” Nothing was going to stop the smile on your face from fading.

“Y/N, this is amazing. So nerves aside how was he on the date? Was he saying the right things?” The barrage of questions continued.

“He was perfect. A gentleman, flirty, funny, cute… God, Rosie. I already want him to be back here with me.”

“I know you do, but promise me you won’t act on it.” You stayed quiet. “Y/N, please?”

“How do I not though?”

“You’ve got to give him time to miss you. You can’t bombard him with messages else he’ll get overwhelmed and back off. You need to keep up the resistance and tension if you want to make this work.” You could only groan back in pain as you knew Rosie’s advice was spot on. “Every time you want to message him, send it to me instead.”

“But what if he’s doing the same and waiting for me to message him first?”

“I’m not saying ghost him! Just leave it at least 24 hours.”

“What if he texts me first?”

“Then it’s game on, but don’t get your hopes up on that one!”

“He might surprise you.”

“How did you leave things this morning?”

“With a very nice kiss, a longing look and tempting thoughts of morning sex.”

“Hummmmm.” Rosie replied.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Maybe he’s more into you than I first thought.” Rosie thought aloud. “I mean, he’s obviously into you… but you’re pretty much head over heels and it would be unlikely for him to be feeling the same. But I’ve only got one side of the story to judge it from so it’s hard to know.”

“Well how about, after a few days, I try and organise something casual for next weekend with our lot and his group of friends. It’s something he’s already suggested before, but that way you can see how we are together and then tell me, honestly, if I’m being blinkered by his charm.”

“Plan! Hopefully some of his friends will be fit as well.”

“Leave it with me.”

“24 hours though, Y/N. Trust me.”

“Okay, okay!”

“I’ve got to go, but fill the other two in before they start hounding me instead.” You said your goodbyes and ended the call with Rosie. 24 hours wasn’t that long to wait, you could keep yourself busy and you’d be at work tomorrow morning. You just had to make it until your lunch break.

Tag List: @egerton-sweetie @amanda-tallmadge @lizziespidiepridie​ @leanimal90@anantheminmyheart22@aynsleywalker@bohemianrhapsody86@butterfliesslugswormsandothershi @manners-maketh-taron@livingincompletesilence@marvelmakeuplover@ohsosmutty@misspygmypie @manners-maketh-a-kingsman@courtmr@baileythepenguin@thomaslefteyebrow@witchymarvelspacecase

[thinkyoureholy]

Dissonants [7]

.

.

.

[WARNING : Heavy mentions of blood and lots of violence. If at any time you feel uncomfortable please stop reading.]

Pairing : Byun Baekhyun / Reader

Genre : Angst, Violence, Mature Language, Future Fluff, Future Smut, Gang!AU

Word : 4.1k 

Pt 1. Pt 2. Pt 3. Pt 4. Pt 5. Pt 6. Pt 7. Pt 8. Pt 9. Pt 10. Pt 11. Pt 12. Pt 13. Pt 14.

-Y/N’s P.O.V-

I looked down at the charms on my wrists, smiling fondly at them. I had a charm for every member of the group, current and past members included. On one there was a book for Haise who loved to read, a pen for Hyera who loved to write, a pair of safety goggles for Saiko who loved playing around with chemicals, a small gun for Urie who spent the majority of his time at the shooting range, and finally a pair of headphones for Ji who loved his music more than anything. I felt my eyes well up with tears as I delicately rolled the miniature set of headphones between my fingers. As I rolled the small charm between my fingers I was suddenly bombarded by memories, knowing there was nothing I could do to get him back. Anything I did from this point on wouldn’t change the fact that he was gone and I think that’s what hurt the most. The one time he needed me I wasn’t there, I was powerless.

“What are you thinking about?”

I raised my head to see Baekhyun walk into the room, the smile that he had on his face immediately falling at seeing the tears in my eyes. I quickly looked away from him, wiping at the few tears that managed to escape. I let out a small chuckle, embarrassed to have him see me like this.

“Nothing.” I told him with a small smile.

He didn’t looked convinced, sitting down in the chair across from me. In the past few days we’ve gotten more and more comfortable around each other. Of course neither of us brought up the kiss, partially because we were too busy planning the mission.

“I always wanted to ask you what those charms were for…” He said, breaking me out of my thoughts as he looked down at my wrists.

I looked down at my bracelets as well, lifting my wrists slightly before letting them fall back down to my lap, “They’re for my members.”

“But there’s ten charms…”

“I started out with ten members, including myself there were eleven of us total.” I told him, a tight lipped smile on my face, “Even though those other five betrayed me or sold me out...they were still family.”

“But you still got rid of them…”

“I had to. The moment they chose to betray me they became a threat to the rest of my people. If I had to get my hands dirty and kill off the ones that posed a threat to the others then so be it. I would do it again if I had to.” I said, my voice firm, “But it doesn’t mean it hurts any less.”

Baekhyun stayed quiet for a moment, the things I told him sinking in. Maybe with this new information he’d see I wasn’t the cold hearted bitch everyone thought I was. For some odd reason I didn’t want Baekhyun to see me that way. And for the most part he’s given me the benefit of the doubt, something I’m grateful for. If you were to tell me that I’d be having a nice chat with the jerk that kept getting in my way all those months ago I’d laugh in your face.

I could tell he wanted to say something but he was holding back. I waved my hand, redirecting his gaze that seemed glued to the ring on my finger up to my face. He blinked a couple times before lifting up his gaze to look me in the eyes. He had this soft look in his eyes, a look that set my insides ablaze.

“L.H.S.” Was all he said, reading out the initials on my ring.

I snapped out of the trace he had me in, looking down at my ring with a sad smile on my lips, “Lee Hyun Soo.”

I’m sure Baekhyun could hear the sadness in my voice, my voice dropping down to a whisper at saying his name. I was thankful that he decided not to question me any further. This was a story I haven’t been able to tell anyone yet, not even Haise. It’d been years but the pain I felt that day was still very much there and no matter how hard I tried to forget I was never able to. I didn’t want to forget him completely, I will forever cherish the moments we had together but that one terrible memory always seemed to overshadow the others. That day still haunted my dreams, though I was better at hiding it as time went by. My heart never fully recovered.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I felt him slide his hand into mine, his fingers intertwining with my own. Soon enough I felt his hand cup the side of my face, his thumb wiping away at any stray tears. I said nothing as I watched the look in his eyes intensify. His gaze flickered from my eyes to my lips as he leaned in ever so slightly. I stayed still, my heart racing as I held my breath, waiting to see what he would do even though I had an idea. The closer he got the fast my heart rate got, his lips now only mere centimeters away from mine. Just as he was about to place a kiss on my lips someone knocked on the door before opening it, causing the two of us to pull away from each other.

I looked over to see Haise and Chanyeol walk in. Chanyeol had a smug smirk on his face as his gaze flickered between Baekhyun and I. Haise on the other hand was looking at a folder that was in his hands, only just looking up. His eyes immediately hardened at seeing Baekhyun in the room but as soon as his gaze landed on me that hardness vanished almost as if it wasn’t there.

“This better be good.” Baekhyun said firmly, Chanyeol snickering at his irritation.

Haise set his jaw before speaking to me, giving his back to Baekhyun, “Urie found him.”

At that I sat up quickly, giving Haise my full attention. I signalled for him to continue, my plan changing slightly because of his location. Urie found out Kyungsoo was hiding out in an old abandoned house a few miles out of the city. It was hard for him to find it since he was looking for building in Kyungsoo’s name but would always come up empty, that is until he used Heejin’s name. With the location now being an old two story house it'd be a little more that difficult to get all of them in there without Kyungsoo knowing about it. If it was a warehouse then it would've easier for them to sneak in undetected.

“This means I really do have to go in alone.” I said to myself, forgetting that they were in the room.

“Like hell you are.” Both Haise and Baekhyun let out in protest.

I sighed heavily, “I’m not having anyone die for me.”

“And who said anything about anyone dying?” Baekhyun countered, his eyes letting me now he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“If you can come up with an idea to get all our people in there without Kyungsoo knowing then fine, we do it your way. But if you can’t and Kyungsoo has his men lined up waiting for us then I’m going in alone. I can keep him busy long enough for you to fight your way in.”

“And if you die?” Baekhyun asked.

“Then I die and-”

“And that's it, huh? I’m not letting you do this fucking suicide mission on your own.” Haise said sternly, cutting me off, “If we do this we’re doing this together.”

“What the hell did I tell you about disobeying my orders? It is my life and you will follow my orders. You swore you would-”

“I didn’t sign up to watch you kill yourself!”

“I’m doing this to protect you! All of you!” I shouted, getting up abruptly, “I won't--I won’t have any more of you die, I can’t. I’ve lost too many to lose you too.”

“Just like you lost Hyunsoo?! You lost him because of the same mistake your about to do now. You thought you were the only one sacrificing yourself to save someone? What the hell do you think Hyunsoo did?!” He shot back.

My jaw went slack at hearing Hyunsoo’s name come out of Haise’s mouth. Haise must’ve seen how taken aback I was, his gaze softening a bit.

“Who do you think sent me to you? You really thought I just randomly found you? I promised Hyun that I would protect you-”

“Get out.” I said harshly, cutting him off as a dangerous glint appeared in my eyes, “Sasaki Haise, I swear if you’re not out of my sight within the next five seconds you’ll regret everything that just came out of that fucking mouth of yours.”

He set his jaw at my words, knowing they weren’t just hollow threats. He’s known me long enough to know that I was a woman of my word. He said nothing as he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, slamming the door roughly behind him.

“Do you have anything else to add?” I asked Baekhyun through gritted teeth as I turned around to face him.

Baekhyun only smiled softly before speaking, “Nope. Now tell me more about this plan of yours, after all you are the one in charge here.”

-

“Everyone fan out, surround the house. Kill anyone that gets in your way.” I told them, Haise and Baekhyun having gone on ahead to scout the area.

This left me in charge of the others. I knew Saiko, Urie, Junmyeon, and Chanyeol would give me no problems but the others? I’m not sure if they’d follow so easily. Surprisingly they gave little resistance to my orders as they nodded in agreement before taking off into their designated groups. I had Urie with me while Saiko went off with Chanyeol. I could see the different groups through the tree, letting me know we were in the right formation to strike perfectly. Once through the clearing however, I could tell just how outnumbered we really were. I could see the one I remembered to be called Jongdae standing at the front. At seeing him I pulled out my knives and ran straight towards him. I was only a few feet away from him when I brought my ringed finger up to my lips before swinging at him.

He was quick, managing to jump out of the way of my attack. He dug his heel into the dirt before pivoting out of the way when I ran at him again. This time he managed to get behind me, his leg kicking out at my own leg and causing me to stumble. My knee wobbled slightly, causing me to kneel suddenly as my knee gave out. I could see Urie running over to help me but I brought a hand up to stop him, silently telling him that Jongdae was mine.

“Oh? I see why everyone’s weary of you.” Jongdae said, a smirk worming its way onto his face, “You have no fear. An admirable trait but a stupid one as well.”

With that he swung his leg out once more. I let a smirk of my own spread across my face at seeing him do so. In the split second that his leg was in the air I flipped my knives so the blades were facing my body instead of the other way around. I swung my arm up, slicing at his calf before rolling away from him. I let a shit eating grin spread across my face at the look of pain and surprise in his eyes. I could see the blood from his newly opened wound start to pool at his feet as he leaned on his right leg, his left becoming useless. He cursed under his breath as he pulled out a knife of his own. Since his left leg was taken out of the equation this made him slower, becoming an easier target for me.

He wasted no time in swinging his own knife at me, managing to knick my arm slightly. I ground my teeth together as I weaved out of the way of his second swing, successfully slicing at his abdomen with both my knives. This led him to immediately kneel, giving me the chance to slice at his back as I spun around him. I heard his knife fall to the floor as I stood behind him breathless. He was giving me more trouble than I expected but I wasn’t going to let him keep at it for long.

I turned on my heel slowly and faced him, my chest heaving up and down from the exertion. He had his head hanging limply forward, it was a mystery how he even kept himself upright. I panted heavily as I reached forward and grabbed a fistful of his hair, lifting his head. I could hear him let out a few curse words under his breath. I leaned down, my lips mere inches from his ear.

“On any other occasion I would’ve loved to spar with you.” I let out softly, slowly bringing up my knife to his throat, “But today I can’t afford going easy on anyone.”

I held onto the knife tightly, and just as I was about to slice at his throat someone yelled out for me to stop. I froze at hearing the desperation in his voice, my head snapping up to meet the eyes of Kim Jongin. I ground my teeth together before I dug the tip of the knife into Jongdae’s neck, stopping once more at hearing him yell out for me to stop.

“Please...you--you don’t have to kill him. Please, just this once...let him go.”

I could feel my heart reach out to Jongin, the pleading tone in his voice causing me to let go of Jongdae. Jongdae fell forward, hitting the floor with a thud, Jongin giving me a grateful smile. I didn’t have time for this, turning on my heel and heading straight for the house. As I was running I was made aware of the fact that I haven’t seen Haise or Baekhyun around, wondering if they were off fighting on the other side of the house. My questions were answered the second I opened the door to the house, Haise and Baekhyun both tied up to chairs as Kyungsoo stood in between them.

As soon as those two laid eyes on me they started struggling against their restraints, their yells muffled by the gags in their mouths. Before I could even curse at Kyungsoo I felt as if there were other people besides them in the house and I was right. Kyungsoo had two people hiding behind the walls as they attacked as soon as he gave them the signal. I barely managed to dodge a punch from one of them but the other was able to kick my feet out from under me. I could feel the air leave my lungs at the impact, the man not giving me enough time to recover as he kicked at my side. When he pulled his leg back for another kick, this time I did manage to roll out of the way. The woman that kicked my legs out from under me reached down and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, lifting me off the ground. I brought my arms up and broke out of her grasp, slicing at her torso with my knives rapidly, too fast for her to react. I felt the man reach out to grab at my shoulder. I planted my heel firmly into the ground before spinning out of his grip, facing him. Before he had the chance to do anything I brought my knife up, stabbing him through his chin upwards, twisting it when I felt it was lodged up his head far enough. I let his lifeless body fall to the floor, turning quickly to stab the woman as she came running at me. And like the man before I twisted the blade in her stomach, knowing she wasn’t going to survive the damage. I pushed her away from me, leaving the knife embedded in her stomach.

I crumbled to my knees, exhausted from the fighting. I brought my hand up to my side, seeing it come away with blood. One of them must’ve had a knife on them, I thought to myself as I raised my gaze up to glare at Kyungsoo. He had a wicked smirk on his face as he suddenly started to clap slowly. At seeing the look on his face I ground my teeth back and forth, pulling out a gun and rising to my feet.

“Kyungsoo you deranged bastard. You’ve had your fun now let them go. Its me you want.” I said as I pointed my gun straight at him.

He didn’t even flinch, the smirk still on his face, “And that’s where you’re wrong. You took what was most precious to me, now I’m going to take away what’s most precious to you.”

With that he brought out a knife, bringing it down into Haise’s thigh before I even had the chance to blink. Haise bit his tongue, the only thing letting me know how much pain he was in was the way his leg shook and how tightly he held onto the armchair. I cocked my gun, giving Kyungsoo one last warning. Kyungsoo simply grinned.

“What do you think? Should I cut into Haise like I did with Ji? Or should I break Baekhyun here mentally before giving him a few broken bones just like I did with Hye?” He asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes, “You care about them don’t you? Question is which one do you care about more?”

As soon as he finished I couldn’t help but let out a laugh, something in me snapping. I doubled over, clutching my stomach as I was thrown into a violent fit of laughter. I leaned against the wall, wiping at the tears coming out of my eyes due to how hard I was laughing. I had to place my hands over my knees to try and regain my breath, straightening out to see Kyungsoo looking at me with what I could only describe as terror in his eyes.

“You really think I want to save them...because I care about them?” I let out, trying to hold back another fit of laughter threatening to come out, “Now that’s rich.”

And before he could say anything I raised my gun up but instead of pointing it at him I pointed it at Haise. Without wasting another second I fired, the bullet from my gun lodging itself into Haise’s side. He let out a loud groan, his grip on the chair tightening significantly. It didn’t take long for him to pass out, the pain and blood loss getting to him. I gave Kyungsoo a devious grin, watching him stumble back.

Baekhyun somehow managed to free himself, running over to me, “Y/N, snap out of it!”

I said nothing as I pushed him away from me, bringing my arm up and shooting a bullet into his leg. I watched him crumbled to the floor, clutching his leg. I kicked my foot out harshly, hearing something crack but that didn’t stop me. I leant down and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling my arm back. For a moment there I froze, something flashing in Baekhyun’s eyes causing me to stop. I shook my head before bringing my arm down, hitting him harshly in the face with the hard metal of the gun. I repeated this over and over and over again, until his face was completely covered in blood. Surprisingly enough he was still conscious so I let him go before standing over him again. And like Haise I aimed the gun at his stomach before firing.

I stood over Baekhyun’s motionless body, panting heavily before a crazed laugh fell from my lips. I brought the hand I had the gun in to rest against my head, swaying on my feet. I pointed the gun at Kyungsoo lazily, watching him look at me with pure and utter terror in his eyes.

“You really thought...I cared about them? Just how soft do you think I am?” I asked with a chuckle, “Let me tell you something. The only reason I wanted to save them...is because I didn’t want their blood on my hands. But now look at what you’ve made me do…”

I sighed heavily, raising my arms in exasperation, gesturing to the blood filled room before letting them fall back to my side. Kyungsoo took a step back when I took one towards him.

“Now who’s gonna clean up this mess?”

“You’re insane.” He let out under his breath, slowly reaching for something behind him.

I sighed once again at seeing him do so. Quickly and without warning I fired off two shots, one at each knee. He crumbled to the floor in a heap, a string of curse words coming out of his mouth. I walked over to him slowly, stopping when I was standing directly over him. I placed my foot on his chest, his gaze piercing holes into my eyes.

“You should’ve acted like I never existed. If you weren’t so damn hell bent on revenge-”

“You killed my girlfriend!”

“I killed her because you were stupid enough to keep sending her back to me! What the hell else did you think I would do to her when I found out, huh?! Did you think I would let her go on her merry way?!” I yelled out as I crouched down to be closer to him.

I didn’t give him a chance to say anything as I wrapped my hands around his throat, “You think I’m a monster, huh? Well guess who the hell made me this way.”

I loosened my grip in his throat, pulled my arm back before bringing it back down and punching him square in the face. I don't know how long I was sat on top of him as I just kept hitting him. The more I hit him the more he stopped struggling in my grip. I felt the skin on my knuckles begin to rip open the longer I hit him, the blood from my knuckles mixing with his own blood. Kyungsoo lay motionless underneath me, his breathing shallow as his face was almost unrecognizable. Still, even after all that he managed to smirk, the way his lips curled angering me.

In anger and frustration I picked up the gun that I had laid on the floor before resting the barrel against his forehead, “This is for Jinho and Hyera.”

And with that I fired, seeing the blood immediately start to pool around his head. I stood up on trembling legs, looking around at the scene I had created. Once the haze finally cleared from my mind I crumbled to the floor. I looked down at my hands and clothes, seeing them covered in blood. There was so much blood I didn’t even know who it belonged to. I brought my knees up to my chest, covering my ears with my hands as I heard the others run into the house at that moment.

“Y/N...what--what did you do?” I heard Urie ask, his voice low.

I shook my head, keeping my hands over my ears but I was forced to look at him when he grabbed my wrists in his hands forcefully. I couldn’t look him in the eye for long but he wasn’t having it, shaking me roughly and forcing me to look at him. I shook my head vigorously, managing to removing my wrists from his grip. I pulled my knees in closer to my body as I felt myself start to tremble quite violently. I started rocking myself back and forth as I weaved my shaking hands through my hair, pulling at the roots roughly.

“I t-told him it was a bad idea. I-I didn’t want to do it but he--he made me. I-I’m sorry.” I whispered out.

I kept repeating apologies over and over again as I hid my face behind my hands, feeling the tears start to come out. Before I knew it sobs were all that was heard coming out of my mouth, the guilt already start to set in and eat away at me. I could hear the others yelling but I clamped my hands over my ears, wanting to just claw away at them so I wouldn’t have to hear anything. But no matter how hard I tried keeping their words out there was one sentence that echoed and bounced off the walls of my head

“What the hell did you do?!”

[vaderssidechick]

FIC Snippet: A Little Fire  (From The Chronicles of House Vader Verse)

A little snippet of total Piett Domestic Kink.

Ship: Pielissa (Piett and OFC Palissa)

Palissa turned the corner to her right. Piett followed her into the long, gleaming galley kitchen of polished durasteel and black granite counters. The smell of the roasted meat in the oven enveloped him as he stepped in. Covered side dishes warmed on heated slabs. His eyes set on a decadent choco and cream dessert on the counter. His mouth watered-- he hadn’t seen food like this in ages. “You cooked all this yourself?”

Palissa set her glass down on the counter. “Mmm hmm.”

“No droid to help you?”

She smirked at him. “You Navy berks, with all your droids and tech.” She grasped a handle hanging from the ceiling, pulling it down. A UV-lit pallet emerged, bursting with green leaves and living vegetables of all colors.

“Hydroponics,” he exhaled. “Well. I’m impressed.”

She picked fresh greens and bulbs out of the decanters. “Don’t you have hydroponics in the officers’ mess?”

“No, not at all. Our meals are all prepackaged, balanced with only the essential proteins, carbohydrates, and k-cals required. Served with a delicious side of chloro-phyto nutrient capsules for dessert.”

Palissa grimaced. “Yuck.”

“It’s not all that terrible. Some of it is rather good. Considering our meals are all prepared by droids, they’re quite palatable. And much better than the grub we got on the anti-pirate ships around Axxila.” He indulged in another sip of champagne.

“No wonder you officers are all so thin,” Palissa quipped as she carried an armful of fresh vegetables over to the counter.

Piett chuckled. “We must maintain regulation body mass. If we ate like this every night, we’d all be the size of Hutts.”

“Can you imagine that? A crew of Hutts?” She snatched a large chef’s blade from a magnetic strip above her head. “Most of their days would be spent just getting from one place to another! Nothing would ever get done!”

“Exactly.” He raised the glass to his lips again. Already, he could feel the champagne’s infamous effects soothing out the ridges in his neck. “However does the Baroness stay so slim eating like this?”

Palissa hiccupped a laugh. “I’ve never seen anyone eat the way Lylla…” she winced a little before she continued, “the Baroness does. I think she could put any Hutt to shame with her appetite.”

Piett cocked his head. “You call her by her first name.”

“In private, yes.”

“Hmm.” He wasn’t sure why he was so surprised by this, as he and Veers were also on a first-name basis in private. Then again, Veers was not the betrothed of the Dark Lord of the Sith. He found himself wondering again about her relationship with the formidable Baroness until he shook it off. “How can I assist you, Lissy?”

“By staying over there and keeping me company while I cut this up.” He watched her set the head of green leaves and assorted colorful bulbs on the counter. Then, with astonishing speed and almost inhuman precision, Palissa shred through the vegetables with the knife. His mouth dropped as she sliced and cut, her hands almost a blur, and flipped the blade over her hand, catching it in the air, then sliced some more, then miraculously bounced the handle off the counter and caught it in her other hand without even looking at it.

“Do that again!” he exclaimed.

She glanced over her shoulder. “Do what again?”

“That, what you just did with the knife.” He indicated it with a nod.

“Firmus,” she giggled, suddenly self-conscious.

“Do it again,” he repeated, this time softly. “Please?”

An expression that could almost be described as smug cross her face. “Alright. You might want to step back.” Piett grinned, obviously intrigued, and obliged her. Palissa took the knife again and twirled it through her fingers, constantly keeping the blade in check. She bounced the handle off the counter again, caught it, then actually flipped it behind her back up over her shoulder, caught it again. Piett watched in utter amazement as she twirled it over, around, and through her hands. Her eyes never left the blade as she tossed it about, faster and faster, until she caught it one more time, spun to her side, and threw it. The blade sliced through the air,  just centimeters from Piett’s nose, down the long galley until it sank into far wall with a resounding thunk, the handle still wobbling from the impact.

The Captain gawked at the knife, then back to Palissa. “By the Force, Lissy,” he exhaled.

Palissa merely simpered and shrugged. “I told you I was pretty good with a vibroblade.”

“Pretty good? You’re a regular assassin with that thing.” He saw her smile fade and her eyes darken at the remark. He furrowed his brow at her reaction. “Is that who taught you? An assassin?”

“A… friend,” she said quietly as she strode past him to retrieve the knife from the wall.

“Oh.” He watched her wrench the handle out of the wall and come back to finish making the salad. The hesitation in her answer did not escape his notice. “A male friend?”

Palissa stopped for a moment, and her back stiffened. “Yes.” She tapped the sonic hand-cleaner installed over the counter on and ran her hands under it.

“A lover?” he asked, an odd heat rising on his neck.

Again she stilled, pursing her lips, before she scooped the cut greens evenly onto two small plates. She picked the plates up and, when she turned to face him, he saw a quiet anger smolder in her eyes. “Yes Firmus. A male assassin lover friend. If that is any of your business, which it isn’t,” she said, her softness in volume doing nothing to disguise her irritation. “And salad is served.” She brushed past him back into the dining area.  

Piett winced. He turned around and followed her. She set the plates down on the table with a bit more force than needed. “Lissy,” he murmured. She straightened, but didn’t turn around. He drew a breath. “You’re right, it’s none of my business. I… don’t know what came over me.”

“I haven’t been a virgin for a while, so I don’t need you judging me--.”

“I never expected you to be, Lissy,” he said, confused.

“I’ve only been with three people my whole life, including you, Firmus--”

“Lissy,” he soothed, stepping toward her, concerned by her heated, almost panicked outburst.  “Forgive me. It’s been… a very long time since I’ve been involved with anyone. I got jealous.” He huffed an embarrassed breath as he looked into his glass again. “It’s silly, really.”

“Oh,” she said, very softly. She turned over her shoulder. “I thought you were insinuating…that I was… promiscuous.”

“Stars, no,” he breathed, coming to the table and setting his glass down. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “And even if you were, it’s still no business of mine now, is it?” He sighed. “I am married. I have no right to judge you that way.”

Palissa exhaled, and set her hands on his waist. She drew her lips in. “I see the way they look at me. The men. The officers.” She looked up at him. “If any of them say they’ve been with me, they’re lying, Firmus--”

“I know they are,” he murmured, stroking her cheek, trying to calm her unease and his own rising anger. The men’s indecent attitudes toward her didn’t just anger her. “They frighten you, don’t they?” He felt her hands shaking on his sides, and covered them with his own. “Lissy, they wouldn’t dare touch you. And if anyone is foolish enough to even try, Vader is the LAST person they should fear.”

Palissa looked up at him, surprised by the ferocity in his voice, no matter how quiet it was. “Firmus, you can’t...you mustn't...please, don’t endanger your position because of me--”

“My duty above all others,” Piett murmured, gently cutting her off, “is to ensure the safety of every being aboard this vessel.” He stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “It is my duty to protect you, Lissy.” His gut clenched at his own words. In avoiding or dismissing himself from his fellow officers’ lewd conversations about her, that was the last thing he was doing.

Palissa noticed his jaw work and his eyes darken. “Firmus, what is it?”

“Lissy, do you carry a vibroblade on you?”

“Only when I’m planetside with the Baroness,” she answered.

“Start carrying one on the ship, at all times. Even when you’re with the Baroness. And don’t conceal it. Carry it openly.”

She blinked a few times. “All right.”

“And don’t hesitate to practice in public. Especially in front of the officers.” The intensity in his face cracked a little when he smirked. “Show them what you can do with that thing. Especially where their bullocks are concerned.”

“Firmus!” Palissa exclaimed in an incredulous laugh. “These are your own men you’re talking about!”

“Damn right they are. And it’s about damn time they started conducting themselves like Imperial officers.” He gently pulled her into an embrace, set his chin on her head. And sighed. “That includes me as well.”

Palissa nestled her cheek into his chest. “What do you mean, Firmus?”

“Never mind.” The growl in his stomach led to a welcome change of subject. He planted a kiss atop her head and looked down at her. “May we start?”

NOTE: Yes, I totally cast Juno Temple as Palissa.