#but live and let live y’know usually I shrug at it and move on and it vacates my brain space

[tabithatwo]

Because I’ve been feeling brave lately (maybe TOO brave time will tell) I’m gonna ask an earnest question like I am truly curious where this comes from…does anyone understand the frequent jackie body shames shauna trope in yj fic? I am not coming for anyone okay I just can’t figure it out for the life of me, like I am 99.99% certain the only time we see jackie discuss shauna’s body is with boob dress and that’s like…her wanting shauna to show more skin. And then she backs down immediately when shauna gets upset. It’s very much an indicator that she loves her body to me. So I can absolutely see where a hyperawareness or her body around jackie just based on like her Body Being Perceived exists!! Or shauna wondering if jackie was judging her in a negative way in the other clothes or whatever!! I just…body shaming is such a really very cruel thing and I’m very confused by where the explicit and extreme verbal body shaming thing comes from, like is there a moment where people infer it cause I’m at such a LOSS on this one. Like obviously characterization is largely based on how you read a text I fully get that!! And that’s okay!! All of this is creative prerogative!! I’m just constantly confused by how frequently people write jackie just tearing into shauna’s body because it’s so specific and so next level mean.

[nottsangel]

the blackest day nsfw with rafe? thought about reader buying some sexy costumes online but rafe’s the one who opens the package🫢

“what’s this?” rafe asked as you sprinted into the living room after getting a notification that your package had arrived, but you quickly came to a halt as you saw rafe holding the new purchase you had ordered in his hands, one eyebrow raised as he examined it with curiosity. you cursed at yourself for not opening the door and accepting the package faster than him, since you wanted to surprise him, but he clearly hasn’t quite figured out yet that he’s holding a maid costume, looking at it with his brows knitted together.

“nothing important, baby. just some clothes i ordered online.” you explained in an attempt to stop him from looking, but it just piqued his interest more. “oh come on. you usually always order clothes with my credit card. i just wanna see what my girl bought for herself, alright?” a smirk crept on his face as he realised now that you wanted him to put it down, although he didn’t quite get why. he now fully took the costume out of the packaging and held it up in front of him to take a good look at it. “let’s see what- oh? oh!” his eyes widened briefly as he scanned it up and down, gulping while his pants tightened, not expecting to see a sexy maid costume in his hands.

“so this is why you didn’t want me to see, huh? you dirty girl.” he let out a chuckle before he glanced at you. your cheeks heat up in embarrassment but he quickly gripped your arm and pulled you towards him, pressing the costume into your hands. he brought his other hand to the shelf next to him and swept his finger over it, before moving it towards you to show the dust as he whispered into your ear, “hmm, looks pretty dirty, doesn’t it? this place could use some cleaning, y’know. better get to work fast.” he shrugged, fully getting into the role already before winking at you as you turned to go change in the bedroom. he gave you a rough slap on your ass, causing you to squeal at the unexpected feeling. “i don’t wanna see any dirty spots, or you’re getting punished. got it?”

join my 11k celebration! // celebration masterlist

[multifandom-pleasures]

Can I have sonic/silver/shadow/scourge (separately)with a reader who was sold off for most of their life and really only knew that world. so when they were working together and stuff got stressful reader 'offered' themselves to the boys as an outlet for their stress while trying to make them feel better

A/N: loved this request sm !! i swear i could write even more for each one of them; but i did just little blurbs. i hope i did it well !!

sonic

you’d never seen sonic stressed like this before. he was pacing around his home, more restless than usual; and you observed him from your spot on the couch, sprawled out and certainly more relaxed than the blue hedgehog. you’ve lived with him for a time. he had saved you from a little trafficking ring where you’d spent a better part of your life in - it had taken you a while to grow accustomed to life without begging for scraps in unpleasant ways, and then being tossed into random strangers arms for hours on end.

you owed your life to him. so you could feel your own anxiousness building the more you focused on his little nervous ticks. the pacing back and forth, shoes thumping on the ground, his ears giving little twitches and his tail lowered. you didn’t know how to help him, he never spoke about anything that bothered him. he always brushed it off with a smile and wink, insisting he was alright. you knew better than to believe him.

you slinked off of the couch, making your way over to him. he jerked as you wrapped your arms around him from behind, tucking your chin against his shoulder. he laughed; it sounded nervous and forced.

“ hey - whatcha doin’ back there? didn’t even hear you. “ you hummed softly, fingers beginning to trace against his chest. you saw his ear flick as he tried to crane his neck to look at you, “ you alright? “

“ are you? “ you asked instead, looking up at him. you frowned as he gave you a cheeky smile and shrug.

“ always am! y’know I can get ansty sometimes when there’s nothing to do. “ but you could feel the tension in his body as you held him, shoulders drawn tight and his breathing was slightly labored. your fingers began to trail down his torso, and he instinctively grasped onto your wrist.

“ h-hey, cmon, what’s up? “

“ lemme take care of you. “ you mumbled, lips pressing to his shoulder, and he tensed further, “ you don’t have to tell me why you’re stressed, but at least let me help relieve some of it.. “ your other hand moved instead, drawing dangerously close to his crotch. he yanked himself away and held his hands in front of him as he faced you.

“ no, no, none of that. “ sonic said sharply, on instinct. he hated the thought of using you in such a way after what you’d been through. he sighed and retried, “ no, it’s okay.. don’t ever think you need to do that for me. “ he grasped onto your hands, and you stared up at him with a bit of guilt and anxiousness.

“ I just.. “ he chewed his lip for a moment as he thought, “ things have been piling up for me.. sure I have the others but - people rely on me. and it can be a lot sometimes. I worry I might not be enough. I worry I won’t be able to save people when I’m needed most. “ he bowed his head with another heaved breath, and his arms wrapped around you.

he pulled you into a hug instead, burying his face into the crook of your neck. you slinked your arms around his shoulders and after a moment of hesitation, brushed your hand over his quills. he melted into your embrace at the touch. his voice was muffled as he spoke again.

“ this.. this is better. “ he squeezed you gently, “ can you just hold me like this a while longer? “

“ of course, sonic.. “

silver

it was late, and silver should be well asleep by now beside you; but he wasn’t. you keep from your shared room to the living room, where he sat down with his head in his hands, staring down at what seemed to be a map of the city while illuminated by candlelight. being a protector of a fallen planet was not easy work, worrying for so many people.

you were one of the lucky ones he had managed to find and save. a fallen planet was not easy to those who lived on it either; desperate people will do anything to those of perceived to have less power than them. with the smoke that covered the sky, you had lost track of how many years you’d spent being taken advantage of.

you made your way over and sat down beside him, pressing a gentle kiss to his temple.

“ you should be asleep. “ silver spoke softly, as he always did. his tone was what had lulled you into security when he found you.

“ so should you. “ you countered, looking down to the map before him. unintelligible scribbles and plans written over it, all the inner workings of his mind put onto paper. you knew he wouldn’t sleep on his own, not while overthinking like this.

you rested a hand on his knee, and he lifted his head to look over at you. he gave a small smile and pressed a kiss to your forehead.

“ get some sleep, I’ll be there soon, I promise. “ you gave a small shake of your head, your hand sliding further up his leg.

“ ‘m not tired.. “ you replied softly, lips pressing against his cheek, and then his jaw. he shuddered and melted into it; until your hand brushed over his crotch, where he jolted and took your hands. his muzzle was flushed and his breath was quick and trembling.

“ what are you doing? “ silver’s voice was quiet, unsure.

“ trying to help you. “ you replied, trying to work your wrist from his grip, “ you’re too worked up to sleep.. I can help you waste some of that energy; I’m good at it. “ his lips twitched into a frown, more out of sadness than anything as his mind caught up to what you were trying to do.

“ (y/n).. “ he sighed, his hand coming up to cradle your face, and you leaned into it, “ that’s not.. I don’t want to use you in that way. my stresses are my issue to take care of, not yours. and not in that way. “ his thumb stroked your cheek, “ I think to highly of you to do that. “

you frowned, shameful as you looked down at your lap. he crooned as he kissed your head, “ come on, love.. you’re right, we should both get some sleep. “ he waved off the candlelight he was using and rose from his spot. he helped you up along with him.

“ I adore you, (y/n). “ silver spoke as you made your way to the bedroom, “ know that. what would help me more than anything is having you by my side. that’s all I’ll ever need to get through this. “

“ okay. “ you whispered, settling into bed with the hedgehog, “ I love you. “

“ and I you. “

shadow

you jumped as you heard the door slam shut, knowing well shadow had come home. he didn’t usually come home upset but when he did, you knew it was because G.U.N was being unreasonable and while he could stand his ground against them; even he couldn’t deny certain missions. not when one had led him to you, where he had found you and saved you from the unfortunate life you had. you witnessed firsthand the rage in which he held.

you peeked from the doorway to watch him as he grumbled, tossing his gun down onto the table by the doorway, his quills bristled in frustration. you desperately wanted to help him, relax him somehow. you didn’t like seeing him upset. you inched your way out of the room, calling out to him with your voice light; not wanting to startle him.

“ shadow? are you okay? did something happen at work? “ you jumped as his head snapped in your direction, his expression alone making you shut your mouth. he was definitely not in the mood. he snarled as he made his way over.

“ what are you doing awake? can’t handle being alone for a moment too long? you always have to pester me with your useless questions; does it look like I’m okay? I get you may not have had much education where you were from but you can’t be stupid. “

you wished you could cave into yourself, make yourself smaller. he always said such harsh things when he was mad, directed at whatever or whoever was in the general direction of his view. you should have known better than to try and provoke that. you tried to keep your lip from wobbling as you dropped to your knees before him, and his look of anger flickered into confusion.

“ ‘m sorry, please don’t be mad at me. “ your fingers inched up his legs, and his eyes desperately flitted from your hands and your face, unsure of just what it was you were doing. you’d never done this sort of thing to him before. he winced as your fingers brushed at his thighs and he stepped away, your hands dropping to your lap.

“ no. “ shadow replied firmly, annoyance settling onto his face. he’d caught on, finally, “ get up. don’t be ridiculous; why would I want that from you? “

“ ‘m sorry. “ you sniffed, balling your hands on your lap, “ it’s.. it’s all I know to do. I don’t want you mad at me; I wanted to just make it up to you. please don’t hate me. “ you bowed your head, tears slipping down your face. you could hear him heave a sigh and he knelt before you. he tried to lift your face and you weakly fought against it, and the second time he was successful. he frowned at your tear-filled eyes.

he was clearly trying to determine how to fix this. emotions weren’t his strong suit, other than anger and pride. and he couldn’t even begin to imagine how your life was before he had found you; how complex it must be to still have those instincts engraved into your being.

“ I’m not mad at you. “ he decided to say, wiping your tears with the back of his fingers, “ my frustrations were.. misdirected. I shouldn’t have yelled at you, or.. insulted you. I should know better. “ you sniffled and nodded, to which he snorted softly; and then composed himself, “ I was offended on your behalf. I didn’t want you to think of me in that way, that I would use you for my own sake. “

he rose to his feet, helping you up gingerly, “ I helped you leave that place; I’ve heard what you’ve been through. it would be the last thing I would ask of you. not unless.. you decide for yourself. “ he averted his gaze for a moment and then focused, “ I apologize. “

“ it’s okay. “ you laughed tearfully, wiping off the rest of your tears onto your shoulder, “ are you hungry? I have your plate saved in the kitchen. “

“ I could eat. “ he nodded, “ care to keep me company? “ you smiled and tugged his hand to lead him to the kitchen.

scourge

“ fuckers! “ you heard scourge hiss from where you sat on his throne, entertaining yourself on your phone. you looked up to watch him stomping his way over, and you quickly got off to make room for him. he sat himself down and motioned for you to sit on his lap; he always insisted the weight of you on him relaxed him. you obeyed and looked up at him with a small pout.

“ what’s wrong? “ he groaned at the question and lolled his head back, as if remembering everything all over again; which only infuriated him more.

“ ungrateful citizens, that’s what! ya lead ‘em, ya let ‘em cause whatever chaos they want; and they still bitch and complain! “ you listened with little nods, letting him ramble on. it was the least you could do. you didn’t agree with all that he did; but after he ran into you you being sold off on a corner, stopping you before you climbed into the car of your next customer. once he’d found out what it was that was going on, he went on a rampage. he nearly beat your seller and the customer to a bloody pulp, and insisted you stayed with him - so he could keep an eye on you.

you both knew by now he’d taken a liking to you, whether he admitted to it or not. you jumped as he slammed his hand down onto the arm of his thrown, lip curled in a snarl as he threw his crown off across the room.

“ I should teach ‘em all a fuckin’ lesson! I’m the goddamn king! I deserve respect! “ he leered down at you, his frown curling into a smile, “ dontcha think? they should all be like you; all nice and obedient. never talk back a word. “

you shivered lightly, a cold, unsettled feeling building in your chest. you still nodded. this had to mean something, did it? he wanted you to do something. with trembling fingers, you shifted on his lap to face him. he blinked and watched you curiously, startled by the sudden movement. your hands slid down his chest and torso, creeping closer to his crotch. it took a moment for it to process, but his face flushed and his hands came to take yours; stopping them just before they’d reached their destination.

“ h-hey! “ he laughed nervously, “ almost went a little low there, babe. what’s up with ya? “ your nervous look cause his smile to falter slightly, and he sat up a bit, “ hey, what happened? c’mon, y’can tell me. “

“ i thought.. I thought you wanted me to do something. “ you replied quietly, fingers twitching anxiously, “ to help you calm down.. y’know? “ he blinked as the words proceeded, and he frowned.

“ what? no - never. d’you think I’d make ya do that? after what ya went through? I know ‘m a shitty guy, babe, but I ain’t a monster. “ he huffed, bringing your hands to his lips, and you flushed as he kissed over your knuckles, “ nah. I just like bein’ pissy and go on complainin’. I was only complimentin’ ya with what I said before. “

“ yer nice, and quiet, and you let me go on and on when someone’s got me riled up. I didn’ word it right. that was my fault, doll. “ he hooked his arm under your legs to shift you back into your original position, and coaxed you to lay your head against his chest, “ never gonna be a thing I ask of ya, alright? ya been through enough already. “

you nodded against him, relaxing into his hold with a sigh. you felt his hand smoothing over your head, and down to your and to give it a squeeze, “ yer alright here, doll. “ you closed your eyes with a smile, listening to him as he picked up his ramble again.

“ but those anti-mobian’s; ‘m tellin’ ya doll. they’re nothin’ but a mess, gotta just go down there and.. “

[txjis]

no thoughts just choso being a lap dog :333

yummy yummy….

cw: Choso x Fem!Reader , pretty much fluff, sum suggestiveness towards the end. i love my bby.

wc: 588

no smut but minors still need to leave teehee

ty 2 my perfect beta reader @cyphercheol & the loml @loverboyko for convincing me to actually post it

you tried your best to focus on the paperwork that was assigned to you to work at once you got home, some kind of destruction of a building during a curse attack. but it was nearly impossible with choso draped over you.

"baby i need to get this done." you grumbled, attempting to shrug him off again. "it’s important, nanami will kill me if it’s late."

choso whined petulantly and tightened his grip around your shoulders. his breath tickled the back of your neck as he nuzzled his face deeper into the crook of your neck.

"angel, i haven't seen you all day," he protested in a whiny tone he knew you had a weakness for. "i’ve missed you so much."

with a roll of your eyes and an exasperated huff, you finally abandoned the paperwork and turned to face your brooding boyfriend. choso's eyes were wide and imploring, his lips stuck out in an exaggerated pout. like this, he looked more fragile than the strong-willed ‘family man’ he usually put off.

"we live in the same house and wake up to each other every day, big baby." you chided, pressing your finger to the tip of his nose. he scrunched it, and shook his head. "you went off on some mission, and left me here. you ran away from me." you pointed out with a small giggle, watching your boyfriends face contort while trying to think of a reply.

"does it really matter who had to leave?!" choso lamented, moving to fully place his whole body on your lap now. you huffed at the new weight as he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you against his frame.

you tried (failed) to suppress a small smile as choso placed sloppy kisses along your jawline. while his clinginess could be a bit overwhelming at times, you had to admit there was something charming about the way he seemed so whipped for any attention from you.

"you’re ridiculous, y’know that?" you huffed, combing your fingers through his black hair that was still damp from a previous shower. he hummed, nuzzling into your touch.

"sorry, just missed you." he murmured against your neck. his breath fanned against your skin as he spoke. "always thinkin’ about you, stuck in my head no matter what."

his words were punctuated by a light graze of teeth. despite his stand-offish demeanor, choso occasionally would switch on that intense clingy personality.

"i will never be able to get enough of you," he growled, shifting so he was straddling your hips effectively pinning you against the couch. His deft fingers moved along the edge of your shirt while he leaned in to steal a searing kiss. "i crave you, like a dying man craves water when lost in the desert. you’re my oasis, angel. one of my few reasons for living."

"well aren’t you a sweet-talker," you managed to breathe out. as he broke away, you attempted to chase his mouth for another heated kiss.

choso huffed out a soft chuckle, eyes sparkling mischievously. "let me show you just how deliriously devoted i am to you."

the time that the paperwork was meant to be turned had passed. a few missed calls and texts from nanami chimed into an empty livingroom. papers had been scattered across the floor where choso has wrestled you out of the livingroom and into the shared bedroom. yeah, his needy infatuation could be a bit much, and even exhausting at times.

but you wouldn’t have your boyfriend any other way.

ask/requests: OPEN

[a-distantdreamer]

Only Us

daniel ricciardo x ofc

word count: 5222

thank you to the lovely @leclerc-stan for always being there and @strawberrysainz and @forteafy for convincing me to post this 🫶🏻 i haven’t posted any of my writing in a while but with some encouragement and support i have built up the courage again. i hope this is okay. 🤍

tw: nausea, vomiting, pregnancy tests

Sienna felt like shit.

Her hands trembled as she dragged her suitcase up the front path, trying to ignore the sweat beading on her hairline. As expected for the Australian summertime, it was as hot as hell, but she had been sweating and nauseous even in the depths of the air conditioned airport and the taxi.

Daniel had, of course, offered to come and collect her from the airport, but she refused, knowing that they were hosting his parents for lunch that afternoon. She wouldn’t deny Daniel the rare, quality time with his Mum and Dad for anything, no matter how much she wished he was there to give her a cuddle when she’d first got out of the airport.

As Sienna fished through her bag for her keys, her stomach knotted again, and she inhaled slowly through her nose, bracing the palm of her hand on the wood of the door. Mentally, she noted that there was a perfectly good hedge next to their front door that could be vomited into, if needed.

Eventually, the churning of her stomach eased a little, and Sienna managed to unlock the front door, pulling herself and her case into the entryway. She set her backpack and suitcase by the foot of the stairs before beginning the search through the house for her family.

Rounding the corner into the open-plan living space, she smiled at the sight of Daniel standing at the kitchen countertop, chopping salad and bopping along to the summery music of one of his many playlists. He was clad in a pair of navy shorts and a bright blue, noisily patterned shirt. His feet were bare. She was home.

Slowly, Sienna walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his narrow waist. She felt him tense for a moment and giggled when he swore under his breath, before he looked down at her hands, which curled over his tummy.

“Well, hey there, cutie,” he murmured.

Sienna sighed contentedly, turning her head to rest her cheek between his shoulder blades as his voice settled over her like smooth caramel, “hi, baby.”

Daniel took hold of her hands to loosen her grip on him enough that he could turn to face her. She rested her hands on his hips, as his came up to cup her face. His stubble had grown a little since she had left, and one unruly curl of hair was hanging over his forehead. She reached up to smooth it back into place, with little effect.

“I fucking missed you,” he admitted, his gorgeous brown eyes scanning her face as he spoke.

Sienna nodded and leant up on her tiptoes to kiss him, “I missed you too.”

He smiled against her mouth until she lowered back to the flat of her feet. The motion alone made her head spin and she let out a groan, leaning forward to rest her head against his chest.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his large hands running up and down her spine.

She shrugged, “I’ve felt awful for the whole journey home.”

“In what way?” Daniel probed, his concern growing.

“Nauseous, dizzy, hot even in the air conditioning. I haven’t managed to eat anything today,” Sienna listed.

“Still?” Daniel queried in confusion, “you were feeling sick before you left for Sydney too.”

“Must’ve just been the start of it. The nausea feels the same,” Sienna admitted, “although I feel like I’m running more of a temperature now.”

Daniel shook his head and lifted his hand to press the back of it to her forehead, “you don’t feel warm, you’re just a little…damp. With the sweat, y’know?”

Sienna snorted out a laugh at his choice of words, “probably because it’s hot as hell here, as usual. Who’s bright idea was it again to move out to a farm in The-Arse-End-of-Perth, Australia, again?”

“Oh I do wonder,” Daniel teased in return.

They knew full well that both he and Sienna had painstakingly searched for a house just like the one they were standing in for years, and were equally enthusiastic when the farm had come on the market. The day they had moved into the house, 4 years into their relationship, had been one of the happiest of Sienna’s life so far. It was their home, and any time that they had spare from Daniel’s hectic racing calendar in the year since they’d bought it was spent there.

Sienna tilted her head back to peer up at his handsome face, her fingertips gripping at the silkiness of his shirt, “are your mum and dad here yet?”

Part of her hoped he’d say no, so that they could cuddle, and she could nap, even though she was desperate to see Grace and Joe again too. She adored Daniel’s family.

Daniel nodded, “they’re outside. But if you’re not feeling well enough to come out now, you can go lay down for a bit. They’ll understand.”

“No way,” Sienna shook her head, even though she was dying to crawl into her own bed and just sleep, “I want to see them.”

The Ricciardos were out on the patio, looking as put together and gorgeous as ever. Grace was holding a glass of red wine, watching Joe heating the grill with a beer in hand. Daniel came out, holding the large bowl of salad he’d prepared in one hand, and leading Sienna out with the other.

“There’s our girl!” Joe cheered at the sight of her, abandoning the grill to rush over as Daniel let go of her to put down the food.

Sienna never had to force a smile around Daniel’s family. They were always so incredibly welcoming to her.

“Hey, Joe,” she greeted, as he engulfed her in a tight hug. Grace had also made her way over in that time, greeting Sienna with a hug and a kiss on the cheek once Joe let go of her.

“How was your journey, darling?” Grace queried softly, cupping her cheek.

Sienna managed a weak smile, “it was a little rough. I don’t feel all that well.”

“Oh, sweetie, go and rest if you need to!” Grace exclaimed, her hands resting on Sienna’s shoulders, “don’t mind us one bit.”

Sienna shook her head, “I’ll be okay. I think I just need some food and fresh air. I haven’t managed to eat yet today either, so that probably explains it.”

Grace still looked uncertain, but let it go, taking her seat back at the table with Sienna beside her as Daniel went to assist Joe with the food again. Grace and Sienna chatted about her work trip to Sydney and other current affairs, occasionally looking up to laugh at the banter between Daniel and his dad over the barbecue, or the ridiculous way Daniel was shaking his hips to the music. They talked about her and Daniel’s plans for the rest of the summer break, including their upcoming trip to Southern Italy.

Throughout, Grace knew that Sienna still wasn’t herself. She was awfully pale, and Grace noticed how Sienna’s hands were trembling a little whenever she went to take a tentative sip of water. She also noticed how Daniel would glance back over at Sienna regularly to check on her, the small crease between his eyebrows showing concern.

In the distance beyond the patio, Sienna spotted their flock of sheep migrating over the red-dirt hills towards their pen. She made a mental note to go down and visit them first thing in the morning, along with her horses. She had missed them so much in the four days that she was away. Having enough space to own animals had always been a dream of hers, and she felt blessed that she and Daniel were in a position to do so.

Suddenly, a slight breeze blew across the patio, carrying the scent of the cooking meat on the barbecue across the table. Sienna’s nose scrunched as the rich scent of steak and seasoned chicken engulfed her, and her stomach lurched. She slapped her hand ove no r her mouth and pushed out from the table as bile rose in her throat.

Daniel could only watch in confusion as Sienna raced back inside the house. He quickly handed the spatula back over to his dad and took off his apron, not wanting to risk anything that was making Sienna feel more sick getting close to her.

“Poor thing,” he heard his mum saying sympathetically as he followed Sienna inside, “she really isn’t well at all.”

The door to the downstairs bathroom was flung wide open, and Sienna hadn’t even bothered to turn the lights on before falling to her knees in front of the toilet. There was no relief that came with actually vomiting though, and now she had started she feared she wouldn’t be able to stop. Already, there was little more than stomach acid coming up, burning at her nose and throat and only making the nausea worse.

“Oh, Peach,” Daniel sighed, crouching down beside Sienna’s exhausted-looking form. He carded his fingers through her sweat-dampened hair, ensuring it was all pulled away from her face before he kissed the crown of her head.

“I’m here, baby,” he soothed as she continued to vomit.

One of her hands shakily reached for him to steady herself, her clammy palm gripping onto his thigh where his shorts had ridden up a little to expose the tanned and tattooed skin.

Sienna let out a tired little sigh once her stomach finally stopped heaving, and she turned her head to rest her rosy cheek on Daniel’s thigh. She felt completely drained, and didn’t even try to open her eyes.

“All done?” Daniel asked softly, not wanting to speak too loudly and make her feel worse.

Weakly, she nodded, and Daniel shifted her until they were both sitting on the floor. Sienna was cradled in his lap as he smoothed his hand over her hair.

After a few moments, Daniel spoke quietly, “I’m going to put you in bed for a little while. If you’re feeling better later, you can come sit out with me and mum and dad again, yeah?”

Sienna didn’t even have the energy to object or explain how embarrassed she felt about getting sick in front of Daniel’s parents, so instead she just nodded. Daniel gently slid Sienna off his lap and onto the floor, before getting to his feet and bending down to lift her. He hooked an arm beneath her knees and the other behind her back, encouraging Sienna to curl into his chest.

“I’ve gotcha sweetheart,” he murmured when she let out a quiet groan of discomfort. Even the slight movement of him starting to walk up the stairs was making her feel sick again.

By the time Daniel had reached their bedroom, Sienna was fast asleep against his chest. He pulled back the covers with one hand and lay her down on the mattress gently. He made sure the air conditioning was set just as she liked it, that she had her childhood Snuggle Cat close by and a cold glass of water on the bedside table. He took a moment to perch on the mattress next to her, noting the tension in her forehead and the little crease of her skin between her brows, even in her sleep. Something was definitely off.

Of course they’d seen each other sick in the last 6 years, even suffering through a rough bout of Covid-19 during the pandemic. Daniel couldn’t remember ever seeing Sienna so unwell before. Usually she would still manage to soldier through any symptoms, and simply curl up on the sofa under a blanket to watch trashy TV, but this time, she seemed completely drained.

Daniel gently kissed between Sienna’s brows, before smoothing over the spot with his thumb, encouraging her to relax, shushing her softly. She let out a little groan, arching into his touch before she snuggled further into the pillows.

Joe and Grace had finished off cooking the meat and veggies on the barbecue by the time Daniel wandered back out onto the patio. They’d even set the outside table and brought out the side dishes from the kitchen.

“How’s our girl?” Joe asked, as Daniel raked a hand through his hair, sinking into a chair opposite his mum and dad.

“Uh, she’s sleeping,” he said, reaching for the bowl of salad, “she’s totally wiped.”

“I could tell something wasn’t right as soon as she got back,” Grace admitted, spooning a few baby potatoes onto her plate, “we can save her some of the plainer food in case she’s hungry later, Bub.”

Daniel nodded in agreement, “thanks mum. She’s not been feeling well for a while, even before she left for Sydney. It might just be a bit of a nasty virus or something.”

Grace set down the dish she was holding and stared at her son, “she left on Tuesday?”

Daniel, still not looking up from where he was loading food onto his plate, nodded again, “yeah, she was away for 4 days.”

“Might even be worth seeing the doctor if she’s still not feeling great after 4 days,” Joe suggested, pushing his chair out from the table, “I’m gonna grab a beer. Want one, Dan?”

Daniel shook his head, “nah, thanks. I’d better not in case Sienna needs me later.”

Joe nodded, grabbing his son’s shoulder on his way past him back into the house. Once Joe was fully out of earshot, Grace leant across the table towards Daniel.

“Danny…I think you need to go and buy a pregnancy test,” She said.

Daniel’s brow furrowed, “what? For Sienna?”

“No. For you,” Grace joked, before she shook her head, “obviously for Sienna.”

He felt his stomach clench a little at the suggestion, “you think…?”

“It all adds up, Bubs. I was so sick when I was pregnant with you that I was convinced I had stomach flu for two weeks. I was just like Sienna is now - couldn’t stand the smell of any food, I was vomiting, I had nausea and headaches,” Grace explained, ticking off the symptoms on her fingers.

Daniel let out a little laugh of disbelief, “holy shit.”

Grace shook her head quickly, seeing Daniel’s excitement at the prospect growing, “it might not be, but she’s got the symptoms. Might just be worth checking.”

“She should have had her period by now,” Daniel noted.

He couldn’t remember the last time Sienna had put sanitary products into their basket while shopping, curled up with a hot water bottle pressed to her belly or taken one of her ‘magical’ Epsom salt baths for her cramping.

It had been a while.

Grace nodded slowly, giving her son time to process his thoughts, “why don’t you run to the store now while she’s asleep? Your dad and I can stay here with her. I won’t say anything to Dad.”

Daniel’s eyes flitted to his mum, who gave him a reassuring smile. He nervously raked a hand through his hair, at which his mum leant forward, offering her hand to him across the table.

He took it and she gave it a squeeze.

“It’s gonna be okay, Dan. You don’t need to be scared,” she whispered.

Daniel stood, staring blankly at the shelves in the tiny convenience store. He didn’t think it was possible to have so many different variations of the same product. Surely they all just did the same thing, right?

He snapped a photo of the shelves and sent it to his mum, followed by one word. ‘Help.’

While he waited for her response, he started at one end of the small aisle, eyes scanning across the various boxes to see if any of the tests stood out to him. There were early result ones, ‘dip’ ones - whatever the fuck that meant - and a plethora of digital ones. They boasted the highest accuracy percentage, and Daniel trusted statistics, so he began picking a digital test from each brand off the shelf and dropping them into the basket at his feet.

His phone pinged, and Grace had replied; ‘digital is better. ClearBlue is what Mich used.’

Daniel nodded and slipped his phone back into his pocket, continuing his journey down the aisle. His mind kept drifting back to Sienna, who was laying in bed back at their house, unbelievably sick and potentially pregnant with their child. The thought of her carrying their baby was almost too exciting for Daniel to bear. He knew he had to get home to her quickly.

A dip in the mattress made Sienna stir from her deep sleep. She yawned and stretched, accidently shoving Snuggle Cat onto the floor before she opened her eyes.

Daniel was perched beside her, his large hand settled on the curve of her hip beneath the comforter, “hey, Peach. How are you feeling?”

Sienna smiled sleepily at the nickname, which made Daniel relax a little. She finally seemed a bit more like herself.

“Um, not as sick, I think?” Sienna answered tentatively, scrunching her nose as she gauged whether she was at an immediate risk of throwing up on Daniel. After a second, she decided that they’d be safe for the moment.

Daniel nodded, “good. That’s…good.”

Sienna then noticed the plastic grocery store bag in his lap, “what have you got, Dan?”

He looked down at his lap, and then back at her, “I went to the store while you were asleep. Mum suggested it.”

“Oh?” Sienna asked, rubbing at her eyes with a closed fist, not caring if she was smudging her already ruined mascara even more.

Daniel reached into the bag and pulled out one of the boxes, setting it on top of the quilt between them. It took Sienna a moment to register what she was looking at, but as soon as she did, she felt her mouth go dry.

“What-?”

“Mum said it might be worth taking a test,” Daniel said softly, hoping he hadn’t overstepped the mark, “that she was so sick when she was first pregnant with me, just like you have been, and I just thought-”

Sienna just blinked at him, her hand coming up to rest on her pale cheek, “I-I could be. I just don’t know.”

“You don’t have to,” Daniel insisted, reaching forward to take hold of her hand, “I know I’ve just sprung this on you which is pretty shitty of me considering how unwell you’re feeling. I’m sorry.”

Sienna shook her head, looking up at him from beneath her lashes, “do you want me to take one?”

Daniel didn’t really know how to answer. Of course he wanted to know if they were going to be parents, but for her, he’d wait to make sure she was comfortable. After all, she hadn’t had much time to process the idea.

“Only if you want to,” Daniel said softly.

Sienna took a shuddering breath, “I’m scared.”

“It’s okay,” Daniel replied, “I’ll be here the whole time.

True to his word, Daniel accompanied Sienna to the bathroom, leaning back against the countertop as she peed on as many of the tests as she could manage. After each one, she’d pass them over to Daniel, who dutifully lay them out in a neat line across the counter.

“Jesus, Si, keep ‘em coming,” he teased, quite impressed by the amount of pee she was managing to produce.

“Shut up, Dan,” she grumbled, her cheeks flushing a bit at his words as she clicked the cap onto the 6th and final test and stretched her hand out towards him. He smiled at her and took it, turning his back only to allow her the privacy to clean up and flush.

“How long do we wait?” he asked, as Sienna perused one of the many test boxes stacked up on the countertop after washing her hands.

“They take around 2 minutes apparently,” She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself.

Daniel was staring down at the line of tests intently, as if his gaze alone was enough to give them a result. She knew he was trying to stay composed for her, but she could spot his excitement a mile off. In that moment, she knew exactly what she wanted, and the real fear came from not being able to give Daniel that either.

“Danny,” she croaked, her eyes brimming with tears.

He turned to look at her and crossed the short distance to where she stood. As soon as he got to her, she crumbled, her arms wrapping around his neck and her face nuzzling into his shoulder to dampen his shirt.

“Hey,” he whispered, his hands running up and down her back, “it’s going to be okay, baby. Talk to me.”

She shook her head against him, and he gently squeezed her hips enough to hoist her up so she was sat on the counter. His hands cradled her face gently, those big brown eyes peering into hers.

“I love you,” he said quietly.

Sienna's eyes brimmed with tears again, “I love you.”

“What’s going on?” He probed, his thumbs stroking the fresh tears from her cheeks. The way she was trembling and crying was breaking his heart.

“I’m scared that you’ll be disappointed,” Sienna admitted, the words alone causing more tears to fall from her eyes.

“Disappointed?” Daniel’s eyebrows furrowed, “how could I be disappointed, sweetheart? If those tests are positive, I’ll be absolutely elated, and if they’re not, sure it’ll sting, but I know that one day when we do get a positive, it’ll be the best day of my life.”

Sienna felt her heart burst with love for the man standing in front of her, and she leant forward to allow their foreheads to meet. Daniel pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose.

“Do you want them to be positive?” he asked against her skin.

Sienna closed her eyes, and without a second thought, nodded emphatically, chewing at her bottom lip, “more than anything.”

Daniel let out a sigh, finally understanding why she was so anxious, “listen, if they aren’t positive, and you do have some shitty virus, then as soon as you’re feeling better, we’ll get on board the baby-making train.”

Sienna peered up at him, “really?”

“Really,” Daniel said decisively.

Suddenly she let out a giggle and rolled her eyes, “I can’t believe you just called it ‘the baby making train’.”

“Is that not what everyone calls it?” Daniel teased, laughing at his own joke as always. Sienna adored him for it.

“I don’t think so, honey,” she sniffled, bringing her arms to loop behind his neck so that she could run her fingertips through the soft curls on the back of his head.

“I think this might be the longest two minutes of my life,” Daniel admitted, turning his head to look at the row of tests again.

Just as he did, the first test began to beep quietly, the small light on the front flashing as if anyone who had taken one of those tests wouldn’t already be watching it like a hawk.

Sienna looked at him, letting a slow breath fall from between her lips. Daniel turned back to her and kissed her softly, silently reassuring as his hands gently took hold of her waist to ease her off the counter.

“I don’t know if I can look,” Sienna admitted quietly, her hands starting to tremble as the second timer beeped too.

Daniel’s hands ran up and down her ribs, “tell me what you want me to do.”

Sienna peered up at him, her vision blurring through her tears again as she saw the excited little smile playing on Daniel’s lips. She knew how much this moment meant to him, so she let him have it.

“Go look,” she urged.

Daniel kissed the top of her head before padding the short distance to the other side of the sink, where the tests were all lined up and waiting. For a moment, Daniel was frozen, his hands pressed to the counter on either side of the tests and his head bowed as he surveyed each of them carefully. It was the quietest Sienna had ever heard him be and the stillest she’d ever seen him.

After a few seconds of just listening to his steady breathing, Sienna mustered the courage to stand alongside him, staring at the side of his handsome face to try and gauge his reaction.

“Dan…what do they say?” Her voice was shaking, and she gripped onto the fabric of his shirt like a lifeline, too petrified to look down at the tests.

Daniel exhaled, turning round to face her, and it was then that she saw the tears on his cheeks. Only once he had her in his arms, did he nod, and let a beaming smile spread across his face. His hands came up to cradle her face, and he looked at her, grinning like a fool.

“Daniel…” Sienna warned shakily, as he continued to stay silent, “what-?”

“You’re pregnant.”

Immediately, Sienna buried her face into his chest and began to sob, as his hands wrapped around her tightly, one curling against the back of her head to hold her against him as she cried. He gently pulled back, pressing kisses all over her face even as she giggled and cried, completely overwhelmed.

“Oh my god,” she whimpered, leaning round Daniel enough to pick up the first test off the counter.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, but she just needed to see it for herself. Sure enough, the little display screen showed a plus sign, followed by the word ‘pregnant’.

The next 5 tests each said the same.

Sienna clutched them all in her hands, Daniel laughing joyously at the sight of her holding them all with a look of pure amazement on her face.

“Holy shit,” she breathed, “Danny…”

“I know,” he laughed again, raking his fingers through his curls, “I can’t believe this.”

“Me neither,” Sienna admitted, setting the tests down on the counter gently, “we’re going to have a baby.”

Daniel laughed, more tears falling down his cheeks as he reached for her. She stepped into his grasp again, her arms resting easily around his waist as her chin dropped to settle on his sternum, allowing her to stare up at him.

“I love you,” she said softly, as his shoulders heaved with another sob.

“I love you too,” he whispered, leaning down enough to press a gentle kiss to her lips.

The pair stood like that for what felt like an eternity, sharing kisses and tears in each other’s arms. Suddenly, Daniel pushed away from her gently, enough to drop his gaze down between their bodies.

“What are you doing?” Sienna laughed, as his hand came down to rest on her flat tummy.

He continued to stare at her body intently, brows furrowed, “just trying to imagine what it’ll be like when you can’t see your toes anymore.”

Sienna snorted and shook her head, “well for me, it’ll be ridiculously uncomfortable. For you, it’ll be like standing beside a beached whale.

Daniel shook his head adamantly, lifting his head again to look at her, “no way. You’re going to be the cutest pregnant woman of all time.”

“Oh really?” Sienna asked, as his hand stroked across her belly. He nodded and kissed her forehead in confirmation, completely overwhelmed at the thought of watching Sienna’s body change and grow over the coming months.

He couldn’t wait to experience it all with her: the scans, deciding on decoration for the nursery, helping her tie her laces when she couldn’t bend down anymore, feeling their baby kicking for the first time. It was all so exciting.

“Really,” Daniel affirmed, leaning his forehead against hers, “I think this is the happiest moment of my life.”

Sienna’s eyes watered at his words, “oh Dan…”

“I’ve always wanted this with you Si,” Daniel continued softly, “we’re going to have the cutest babies.”

Sienna sniffled and laughed, nodding, “we are.”

Daniel grinned, each of his pearly teeth on show as a hand drifted to stroke across her flat tummy, “do you think it’s a boy or a girl?”

“I have no idea,” Sienna laughed, shaking her head, “what do you think? Do you mind?”

“I don’t mind,” Daniel shrugged, “I mean my parents had one of each, your parents had one of each, you can’t get more statistically even than that right?”

“I guess so,” Sienna smiled, leaning forward to nudge the tip of her nose against his.

Daniel lifted his gaze to look at her, and she pressed her lips against his. They kissed for a moment, soft and sweet and gentle, before parting. Sienna whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Daniel murmured, pecking her lips twice more before his eyes lit up, “how do you feel about telling my parents they’re going to be grandparents again?”

Sienna giggled and nodded, as Daniel grabbed one of the many positive tests from the countertop, “let’s do it.”

Daniel grasped her hand, and gave her a little tug to follow him out of the bathroom. Sienna followed, one hand interlaced with his while the other grasped at his tattooed forearm. Just as he turned the corner and reached for their closed bedroom door, Sienna squeezed him, squeaking out an urgent, “wait.”

He stopped in his tracks as suddenly as she had, turning to eye her up questioningly, his eyebrow quirking worriedly, “you’re not gonna puke again are ya?”

Sienna bit her lip and shook her head, tears welling in her eyes again, “Danny, I…”

He let go of the handle and turned to face her, giving her hand a comforting squeeze, “yeah?”

“This is our last moment of only us knowing about the baby,” she whispered, tears threatening to fall more with every passing second.

The more she imagined the tiny little life growing inside her, the more her stomach churned with nerves and excitement.

Daniel nodded and took another step closer, “do you want to wait to tell them? We can wait if you’re not ready, although I’ll have to come up with something to tell Ma.”

“No,” Sienna insisted, shaking her head before giving him a shy smile, “I just want a minute longer to really remember this feeling, before it’s not only us anymore.

With that, she looked him up and down, taking in his luscious dark curls, his warm honey-toned gaze and gorgeous nose. She admired the way his boisterous party shirt hung off his frame and the glimpse of his thigh tattoo peeking from beneath the hem of his almost-too-short shorts.

When her eyes met his again, he was beaming from ear to ear, each of his pearly white teeth showing in the way that made her heart flutter unconditionally. She knew she’d remember him in that moment, and the way he looked at her knowing she was carrying their first child, for the rest of her life.

“I fucking love you,” she hiccuped, trying to compose herself, even as tears fell down her flushed cheeks.

Daniel snorted a laugh and pulled her close, pressing his lips against hers firmly, “I fucking love you too, darling.”

Sienna pecked his lips twice more, before pulling back to look at him, her gaze still soft and watery, “I think I’m ready.”

Daniel smirked and nodded, “then let’s do this.”

[princessbrunette]

shy!reader who study medicine and spider!jj always goes there when he's hurt for care 🥺

˚ ༘ 🕷️⋆🩷｡˚

answering the door at 4am, there’s only one person it could be. the blonde listens to you unlatching your door before you’re revealed in all your sleepy glory, rubbing at one eye in the cutest little pyjamas.

he’s pretty banged up this time — a busted lip and his suit is ripped at his rib cage, nothing he couldn’t fix but the gash beneath it was definitely something you were going to have to stitch up. your brows knit together, eyeing him over.

“you should see the other guy, cupcake.” he jokes, despite being in clear pain. you huff out your nose, tugging him inside.

“why are you using the front door? did anyone see you?” you stress, leading him by the hand to your quaint little living room. it wasn’t much, rather shabby if anything — but living in the city wasn’t cheap and it was the best you could do.

“ah, i used the fire escape. this asshole spared me some brain cells when he was kicking my shit in. you really think i’d just walk up in here?” he scoffs, dropping down comfortably on the couch as you frantically make space on the coffee table, spreading out your first aid kit.

“you’re gonna give me a heart attack one of these days, jayj.” you pout, beginning to dig for the antiseptic.

“oh but then who will patch me up everytime i get my ass beat?” he tilts his head and his messy blonde hair flops with it, grinning lopsidedly in the dim light of the room, the cut on his lip glistening with it. you hate how your stomach stirs with butterflies for your best friend. your face gets all hot, averting your eyes and you feel him grinning harder — he always did love how bashful you got.

things get quiet when you start to wipe up his rib injury, aside from his dramatic winces and curse words tumbling from his mouth.

“you’re going to wake my neighbours.” you giggle, after a particularly loud ‘fuck’ from him.

“hey, maybe they’ll think you’re gettin’ some.” he teases, wiggling his eyebrows. as you reach for another cotton pad, your mouth moves on autopilot.

“i wish.” you remark, straying from your usual shy ways. his brows instantly jump up with intrigue, and you avoid his eyes, pressing your lips together as you busy yourself. you’d always been shy, since he’d met you — that’s why he’d taken you under his wing. he was dorky where it counted sure, but also boyish and confident in a way a lot of guys your age lacked. it made sense that he was spiderman, the unexpected amounts of unbridled swagger mixed with the scrappy awkwardness you’d expect from your best friend. he was drawn to your shyness because of how different you were, and because he knew deep down there was a freak just waiting for him to break it free.

“you know, if you ever wanna set up a — uh, lil payment plan, if you will — i could show you a real good time, mama.” he lays it on thick, too thick — incase you reject him, and then he can play it off as a joke. the problem is his tone is so teasing, you don’t know if he’s joking. your eyes flicker up to him from your knelt position, all doe-like and sweet in the way that makes him wish his spider suit wasn’t so tight as to not reveal his excitement.

“huh?”

“nah nothing. unless…you really get desperate. can totally step in and help you out. y’know in the…sex department.” he shrugs, tonguing at his lip cut and internally cussing himself out for being such a weirdo.

you blink a couple times, shifting to sit on your feet.

“are you concussed?” you speak after the pause.

“am i conc— no, okay it was a — an offer. but i feel like i kinda made it weird so that’s my bad let’s just pretend that didn’t happen and we can—”

“i wouldn’t mind.” you suddenly but quietly break through his ramble. he blinks a couple of times, lips parted in surprise.

“you wouldn’t mind — like… pretending this didn’t happen? or… the other thing?”

“the other thing.” you’re reduced down to a whisper now, eyes locked. he sits up slowly, leaning forward on the seat with his elbows on his knees so that your faces were close. in the low light, your pupils are all blown out, searching his eyes.

“you mean that?” he smirks, almost like he doesn’t believe you. you swallow and nod, not trusting your voice. something about it being 4am made you braver, and you’d completely forgotten about tending to his injuries. “well alright then. how ‘bout when i’m not bleeding out on your couch? gotta be in top condition when i put the moves on you.”

just like that, you’re brought back to reality — this time with the whisper of a promise that the two of you could be something more. you could be more than a late night emergency patch up.

˚ ༘ 🕷️⋆🩷｡˚

[just-here-with-my-thoughts]

"Just when were you planning on telling us that?"

@summer-of-bad-batch week 10 alt prompt

Fandom: The Bad Batch Characters: Wrecker, Hunter Set after season 3 when everyone is living happily on Pabu Word Count: ~1060 Read Here on AO3

Synopsis: Wrecker discovers that Hunter has been learning a new skill.

“Hunter? That you up there?”

Wrecker crested the rise of the hill, breathing slightly laboured from the climb in the Pabu sun. His stamina hadn’t been the same, not since the quick succession of injuries during their assault on Tantiss… but that was long ago now, wounds healed to silvery scars, and only the occasional tightness in his chest to act as a lingering reminder of the trauma his body had been through.

Hunter was sitting on a small promontory, and Wrecker was immediately suspicious of the flustered look oh his brother’s face, the way his arms were folded defensively across his chest.

“Yeah. It’s me. Why? Do you need me for something?”

The clipped sentences only added to the sense that Hunter was being disturbed from his lonely vigil, and Wrecker’s face creased with concern.

“No. Thought I heard music.”

Now Hunter’s cheeks coloured, and he quickly turned his face away so that only his tattooed profile showed, the dark ink on his skin hiding the effect somewhat. The afternoon breeze picked up the ends of his long hair, stirring it about his shoulders, which moved in a shrug.

“Must be mistaken. You get tinnitus sometimes. Maybe it was that.”

“Yeaah,” said Wrecker slowly, disbelievingly. “But tinnitus don’t usually sound so melodic, y’know?”

He ventured across the small distance that separated him from his brother. Hunter shifted in response, moving his body deliberately as though to block Wrecker’s path… or perhaps his view.

“What’re you hidin’, Hunter?”

“Nothing,” said Hunter fiercely, but his scowl was too petulant to be taken seriously. “Just… enjoying some time to myself. What do you want, Wrecker?”

“I definitely heard music,” Wrecker deadpanned, mirroring Hunter’s folded arms and letting the weight of his gaze settle on his squirming brother. “An’ singing.”

“I wasn’t–” came the beginnings of Hunter’s defensive reply, before he met his brother’s gaze and deflated somewhat. “–singing that loudly,” he finished, his brows twisting in a small, embarrassed frown.

“Hah!” A delighted crow escaped Wrecker as he dumped his weight next to his brother, landing a friendly if too-hard punch on his shoulder which made Hunter wince. “Knew I heard something! Where was the music comin’ from? You got a recording?”

He was leaning to look past Hunter now, not difficult with their height difference, although Hunter still made a valiant effort to block his view.

“No. Just… drop it, Wrecker.” Hunter’s voice was even gruffer than usual, the words muttered sullenly.

“Is that a guitar?”

“No!” A blatant refutation of the truth.

“You’re learnin’ to play guitar? Jus’ when were you plannin’ on telling us that?”

“Wrecker!” The sharp note of command entered Hunter’s voice, admonishing, and despite himself it had Wrecker straightening to attention.

Hunter glared for a moment more, than sighed and reached behind him, carefully lifting the small guitar and passing it to his brother.

Wrecker turned the instrument reverently, placing his large fingers on the strings and giving it an experimental strum. Then he extended it back to Hunter, beaming.

“Play for me.”

That drew an immediate scoff. “No way.”

“C’mon Hunter! Please? I heard it whilst I was passin’ down below. I climbed all the way up here to see what it was.”

Hunter’s sullen blush was firmly back, lips pursed in a thin line as he looked away from Wrecker’s scrutiny.

“I’m not very good.”

Wrecker nudged their shoulders together, swaying them both.

“Yer only gonna get better with practice.”

“I…” Hunter’s hesitation ended in a long, bitter exhale. “It’s a waste of time. It’s not a skill I can use. It’s no use to anyone on the island.”

“But?” prompted Wrecker gently, when the silence between them had lingered too long.

Hunter reached out slowly and took the guitar back, fingering the strings and then tweaking the tuning of one of them to his liking.

“But I like how it sounds.” It was a confession in a small voice, whispered in confidence to the wind and the sky and his waiting brother.

“Who’s been teachin’ you?” asked Wrecker, but Hunter shook his head.

“No-one. I’ve just been figuring it out myself.”

“Play for me,” Wrecker asked again, but this time his voice was gentle and he ducked his head to peer into his brother’s face. “Please?”

With a reluctant frown, Hunter carefully positioned his hands and picked out a slow tune. The melody lilted, a little erratic as he paused to consider where he was moving his fingers, but every note a beautiful harmony with the next.

Wrecker was beaming from ear to ear. “Hunter, you’re good,” he said, softening the brash edge of his enthusiasm to something tender and encouraging. “An’ you sing as well?”

Grimacing, but before needing to be prompted, Hunter added a low, crooning accompaniment to his playing. He sung almost under his breath, his always smoky voice rough and unpolished yet forming a perfect accompaniment for his hesitant but melodious guitar tune.

When he finished, he quickly discarded the guitar and pulled his knees up to his chest, hooking his elbows over them and gazing out distantly over the island which dropped away from their elevated position.

“Don’t tell anyone,” he said, a gruff plea.

“Why not?” asked Wrecker, bemused. “Hunter, y’know it’s okay to… to learn a skill that doesn’t feed people or put a roof over their heads, right?”

Hunter merely shrugged.

Wrecker carefully examined the tense line of his brother’s shoulders, then draped his arm around him and pulled him into a one-armed hug.

“Thanks for playing for me.”

Hunter’s exhale was shaky with nerves. “That’s okay,” he muttered, leaning carefully into Wrecker’s side.

The brothers sat together in silence for a time, watching the seabirds wheel against the cloud-strewn sky.

“You could play at the solstice festival,” he suggested after a while.

Hunter snorted a soft laugh. “What part of ‘don’t tell anyone’ did you not understand?”

“Will you at least play for me and Omega? At home?”

Hunter tucked himself sulkily under Wrecker’s arm. “I’ll think about it.”

Wrecker tilted his head, resting his cheek on Hunter’s hair

“You’re smart. And skilled. At more than jus’ war.”

He felt the shudder of Hunter’s body as he sighed out some of his tension, body uncoiling just a little.

“Thanks, Wrecker,” he said, voice low and heartfelt. “You’re the best.”

[steviewashere]

Misplaced Emotion

Rating: General CW: None Apply To This One! Tags: Established Relationship, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, And Gets One, Emotionally Hurt Steve Harrington, Emotionally Hurt Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Cuddling, Arguing, Making Up, Hurt/Comfort

For the @steddielovemonth prompt: "Love is being able to say your sorry and mean it."

💕—————💕

Robin’s leaving for college this morning, Eddie knows this. He said his goodbyes yesterday. But Steve is saying his goodbyes today.

What this means, though, is that he needs to be prepared for Steve to come home. He knows already that he’s going to be an emotional mess. Will probably have some things that need to be said. Will probably put his sadness in the wrong place. Eddie’s well aware of how Steve functions in his emotions; it’s not always the prettiest thing to behold. It’s going to be a chilling September afternoon.

Though, when Steve does walk through their apartment, he’s oddly silent. Barely makes a noise with taking his jacket off or stacking his shoes on the rack. Doesn’t puff or groan or growl, like Eddie thought he would. No, he just slides into the living room with a completely glazed-over sheen to his face, limbs tense and awkward as he moves around the coffee table, completely silent when he sits down.

Eddie hesitates, “How’d it go, sweetheart?”

Steve doesn’t look over at him. His eyes set on his hands. Fingers picking at one another. He chews on his lips and shrugs. “I don’t really want to talk about it,” he states. His voice is far away and quiet. Almost lost in the air between them. He collapses back into the couch, moving to tuck himself into a little ball on his side, head pillowed on the arm of the sofa.

“Hm,” Eddie hums. “Y’know, you got back earlier than I thought you would. Thought that she didn’t have to leave until four?” He looks at his watch very briefly. “It’s only two,” he points out.

“Eds,” Steve sighs. “I just said I don’t want to talk about it. Need…Silence, I think.” His eyes are so far away, Eddie nearly fears the distance they’ve travelled to. What happened, he wants to ask, but knows better than to attempt it.

Though, “Are you sure, Stevie? I can turn on a movie or something or maybe make—“

“Eddie!” Steve snaps. Eddie startles in his cushion, face immediately souring at Steve’s tone. He crosses his arms over his chest, broadening his shoulders in the face of Steve’s sharp glare. There’s some clearance in his eyes now. Eddie’s not very pleased with how they’re on him, though. “I don’t want to talk! Just—I just need some time to think!”

“What—Steve,” Eddie growls. If Steve’s going to be pissy, then Eddie can shoot it right back. “Why are you getting angry at me? I’m just trying to make sure you’re okay! This isn’t how you are normally and—“

Instead of listening anymore, Steve abruptly shifts on the couch. Sitting up ramrod straight. Face away from Eddie. Huffing as he stands up. And then he leaves the room entirely, shuffling down the hallway. He slams their bedroom door hard enough that it ricochets the wall behind Eddie.

On any other day, Eddie would dignify Steve’s anger by letting him have his space. But this isn’t a normal day. And this isn’t how Steve even voices his anger, usually. Typically, he’s the type to immediately go sit in their room, contemplating what happened, only reappearing some time later to explain what’s going on in his head. This isn’t him. And something is wrong. And Eddie knows it.

He goes to the farthest door in the hallway. Shuffling absently in front of it, raising a hand to land on the doorknob. And that’s when he hears Steve…crying. Nothing soft or sniffling or quiet, which is typical Steve behavior. No, this is almost wailing. It’s clawing out of him, nails raised at his tender skin, breaking through with blood and bones. The kind that sounds like it hurts to even travel through his throat.

Eddie opens the door. Gently, softly as to not bring attention to himself. He sidelines the bed completely, instead crossing into their attached bathroom. It’s odd to pretend that he’s using the bathroom, just to make sure he doesn’t upset Steve anymore.

But also, if he’s honest with himself, he’s sort of feeling like a massive piece of shit. On one hand, for pushing and prodding at information that Steve doesn’t have or won’t give. And on the other, for not taking care of Steve when he needed it. Why couldn’t I just shut up, he begs to wonder. Because that’s part of it, right? He pissed Steve off by not silencing his yapping. Always one to aggravate the dragon.

When he goes back into their room, he settles tensely on the edge of their mattress. Strips out of his pants, turns on the bedside lamp, sets his alarm for a few hours later, and settles on top as if going to sleep. Steve’s next to him still. Whimpering into his palm. Laying on his side, curled into himself, hands tucked under his chin. He jostles the bed with every small sob that escapes him, but he attempts to bite it back. As if he doesn’t want Eddie to hear. Which, that’s pretty usual for him, but it still makes Eddie ache in a terribly painful way.

He shuts his eyes and breathes deeply, feigning to pretend. Just imagine the room silent and dark. That he’s actually tired and wants to take a nap. Miraculously, it works. He drifts off, still aching and yearning to soothe Steve, still listening in on the cries and the sniffles and the gross wet coughs. But he falls asleep.

The next time Eddie wakes, it’s to his alarm blaring on the table. He clumsily reaches out a hand and silences it. Groaning, running a hand down his face, grimacing at the drool on his fingertips. He’s rolled onto his side at one point and shifts onto his back once more. But as soon as his bleary eyes focus on the space around him, he yelps, freaked out.

Above him, staring at him with the saddest eyes in the world, is Steve. His face is swollen and his eyes are wet, bloodshot, absolutely devastating. Steve’s breath is stuttering hot and cold over Eddie’s face. There are tear tracks sizzled into his skin. A shiny spot of snot at the edge of his nostril. Like he just finished crying.

“Christ,” Eddie breathes. “Hi, baby. Scared me.” He wrestles one of his hands from under the comforter, running it up the length of Steve’s spine, resting his fingers at the nape of his neck, and toys with his hair. “Give a guy a warn—“

“I’m sorry,” Steve cries out. He hiccups a sigh and coughs on the sob at the end of his breath. “I’m so sorry.”

“Hey,” Eddie whispers. He carefully sits up, hand still in place, Steve moves with him. His other palm goes to Steve’s left bicep, squeezing with subtle soothe. “Hey, honey, it’s okay. You’re okay.”

“But I was so mean and awful and I didn’t—“ Steve coughs again, gagging with it. His breath shudders in his chest. Face going splotchy red all over again. “—I didn’t—I’m sorry, Eddie. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry.”

Eddie tentatively wraps his arms around Steve, tugging him into his chest, cushioning his head under his chin. Steve turns into his shirt, sobbing loud and jagged right where his heart is. It hurts, hurts, hurts. He shushes the best he can, fingers splayed over his warm back, running in soothing stripes up and down his spine. “I know, baby. It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it,” he assures. Because that’s true. Steve acted on impulse, matching where his emotion was already high strung and set. “I’m sorry, too,” Eddie whispers, “I shouldn’t have pushed.”

Steve only cries harder at that.

They sway lightly from side to side. Eddie’s torso is cramping from his twisted position and knows with how cramped up Steve is, he isn’t faring any better. But still, they rock and sway. He hums and takes deep breaths, just so that Steve has something to follow, to come back to from however far away he is.

And when Steve only hiccups, his little breaths short and forced from his nose, does Eddie stop moving them. “You with me again, sweetheart?” He asks.

A nod against his chest. The silence stretching between them, sans Steve’s breathing. Eddie briefly wonders if this is it. If this is the only thing he’s going to get out of Steve. And knows, that though it’s not the best thing in the world, he’ll take barely anything over nothing.

But then, “She left already,” Steve mutters.

Eddie hums in question.

In tentative, slow movements, Steve pulls away from him. His head is tilted down. Hair hanging limp in his face. Eddie brings a palm to his hairline, guiding it back to the crest of his skull, holding his hand there. It’s weight hot and grounding against Steve’s scalp. With the hair out of the way, Eddie can see the sad, yet contemplative look on Steve’s face.

“Robin,” Steve murmurs, “she left for college already. I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

“What?” Eddie squeaks. Because that can’t be true.

Steve nods solemnly. “Yeah,” he whispers, “hard to believe, isn’t it?”

“Why didn’t she say she was leaving early? That’s—“ Eddie huffs, now is not the time for him to angry. “I’m sorry, love bug.”

“Drove all the way out there at the ass crack of dawn. Got to her house just in time, or so I thought. But when I knocked on her door?” He asks rhetorically. Eddie nods, though he doesn’t think Steve actually sees him. Steve huffs. “Her mom answered. Saying that Robin already left. Said that she had to leave early to make it to her flight.” He shrugs. “Nothing I can do about it now.”

Eddie brings his other palm up and rests it on the side of Steve’s face, cupping his jaw, thumb sweeping over his soft cheek. Steve nuzzles into the hold, eyes closing, sighing from his nose. A stray tear drips down onto the tip of Eddie’s thumb. He wants to crumble at the sight.

“She’ll call,” he tells Steve. “She’ll apologize and find a way to make it up to you.”

“What if—“ Steve chews on his lip. His voice is raspy with emotion when he speaks again. “—What if she just got tired of me?”

Eddie squishes Steve’s cheek, holding him steadfast. “No way,” he rushes to say. Heated with it. “No, Steve, she didn’t. Baby, she was a sobbing mess yesterday about how much she’s going to miss you. All it was was poor planning, that’s all.” He pets Steve’s hair again, smoothing it flatter to his head, tickling his ear with the dry skin of his palm. “That’s all it was, baby. She loves you so much. She’ll call, I promise.”

“Are you sure?” Steve asks, small.

“Yes, Steve,” he assures. “She has our phone number. Robin will call.”

Steve nods in Eddie’s hold. He’s practically boneless, exhausted. He swallows hard. “I really am sorry about how I acted,” he murmurs, “that wasn’t fair of me to put the target on you.”

“Forgiven,” Eddie whispers. He pulls Steve back in, tucking him safely and securely into his body heat. Melding them together. “I love you too much to be angry about something like that. You’re okay.”

With that, Steve shakes again in his embrace. Wetting the skin on Eddie’s neck. He swallows and tilts his eyes to the ceiling. He’ll cry later, now is not the time. He holds to Steve tighter. Doesn’t want to let him go again.

💕—————💕

[f9clementine]

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enchanted to meet you ⋙ 15. i wish i knew

⋙ written part included 『••✎••』

You could hear the front door open, perking up from where you sat on your bed, waiting for Minho to let you know you could come out.

You felt anxious, twisting and untwisting your blanket in your grip as you thought through the nights events in your mind for the umpteenth time.

There was a sudden knock at the door, causing you to jump and let out a small squeak. Placing a hand over your racing heart, you took a small second to recollect yourself. “Minho?”

“Yeah it’s me. Chan and the rest are here. Do you want to come out?” He asked through the door, slightly muffled. You paused, suddenly feeling the urge to further hide in your room, burrowing under your blankets and pretending that everything didn’t feel wrong. “You don’t have to,” Minho followed up as if he could read your mind.

“No, I’ll come out.” You replied, shaking your head even though he couldn’t see it. This was your apartment, after all. You needed to face this.

When you opened the door, you were surprised to see Minho still on the other side.

“Before you go out, I just-“ he hesitated, his eyes shifting to the side suddenly. “I just wanted to see if you were okay. I know you were really freaked out and-“

You reached out, putting a hand on his arm to get his attention. “Minho, I’m okay. You and I aren’t hurt. It’ll be fine.” When he finally turned his eyes back to you, you smiled. “I’m okay.” You repeated.

“Okay…” he nodded, giving you a small smile back before turning and heading to the front entrance of the apartment where you could hear the rest of his coven quietly talking.

You followed, coming out into the main living room where Chan stood leaning against a wall while Hyunjin and Jeongin sat on the couch, the duo uncharacteristically serious.

Chan looked up as you both entered and flashed you his usual grin with a little wave, "Hey Y/n."

You give your own little wave back, “Hey guys. Sorry it’s so early in the morning.”

“Don’t worry about it. How’re you doing?” Innie asks, turning on the couch to face you.

“I’m okay. Just a little freaked out, y’know? I’ve never had something like that happen before.” You shrug as Hyunjin leans over the back of the couch.

“What happened?”

"I... it feels kinda silly, like maybe I'm blowing this out of proportion. But I got up to get a drink of water, and I could hear a weird scratching noise from the front door. And then I could see a shadow moving under the door. But I didn't start to freak out until the door handle started to move." You explained, feeling a little embarrassed as all four stared at you. "T-then Minho came out and I went to my room."

The coven all exchanged nervous looks and you frowned, looking between them all. "What? What's going on?"

Chan hesitated, then sighed. "That scratching sound you heard was someone carving an opening spell into your front door."

Before you could react, you felt a warm hand on the small of your back. "But it didn't work, for whatever reason." Minho reassured you.

You nodded slowly, "But why? Who would want to break into my apartment with magic? I don't even have that nice of a TV to make breaking in worth it."

Chan shrugged, "I really don't know. It could just be a would be robber with some magical talent. But just in case, we'll go ahead and cast a protection spell on the apartment. Is that okay?"

"No, yeah, I'm fine with that. Actually, I'd like that a lot." You agree, feeling a weight lift off your shoulders you weren't aware was there.

"Here, noona, come sit and we'll take care of it." Innie jumped up from the couch, moving to stand near Chan.

You took a seat and watched as the four crowded around Chan who was holding what you assumed was his spell book in his hands, talking quietly as they flipped through the pages. After a few minutes, they seemingly decided on which one to use.

Taking a pen out of his pocket, Chan quickly drew patterns on each of the coven's palms of their right hands, a whirling design that made your eyes hurt if you looked at it for too long. Once that was done, you watched as the four starting quietly reading aloud from the book, the pattern on their upturned palms slowly beginning to glow, getting brighter and brighter before-

"What?" Hyunjin exclaimed as suddenly the glowing ceased, turning back into the plain black it was. He shook his hand, as if to restart it, and you all watched as the design suddenly crumbled, falling off his hand like dirt.

"... I take it that's not supposed to have happened?" You asked after a second.

"Definitely not." Chan replied, frowning. "This was a simple enough spell, it should've worked easily enough with the four of us." He mumbled, starting to flip through his book.

Minho sighed, walking over to the couch before taking a seat next to you. "What is it with your apartment and repelling magic?" He asked and you groaned, dropping your head in your hands.

"I wish I knew."

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Tag list: @mal-lunar-28, @kpopsstuffs, @cassidymb121, @brooklynie, @owotalks, @honey-pop, @hanniemylovelyquokka, @chlodavids, @abbiestearsricochet, @maexc, @seungmyynie, @brinnalaine, @kalopsian-thoughts, @jiisungllvr, @asherthehimbo, @pinxeajin, @vampcharxter, @jluvselandabs, @bettybeako, @borahae-reads, @raehawthorne, @yongbbokkie, @skzhoes, @lauraliisa, @meloncremesoda, @cutiespaghetti, @beaann

*red means I can't tag you D:*

[kyojurismo]

★ — spider-man!bakugo part 2 !

character : katsuki bakugo

tags : spider-man!au, fem!reader, 2.9k words (yeah i got carried away), this is a continuation of a series of hc i posted a while ago, bit of angst, injuries, mention of getting shot, kissing, happy ending i guess? both r & katsuki are 18 by the way, half proofread so don’t look at it too closely.

part one

notes : hi guys !! okay so i finally finished writing it, i was way better in my mind but i wanted to post it anyway since spider-man!bkg is bringing me loads of comfort — idk if i’ll post more about him, for now that’s all i guess >_< so anyway, i hope you’ll enjoy it. plus, i take this opportunity to thank you those who showed love for the part 1, it means the world to me <3

“katsuki!” you rushed to his side as he finished putting some books into his locker. he turned his head to look at you. “what is it?” he tried to hide his nervousness, the look on your face seemed that of someone who discovered something big. “i know who’s behind spider-man!” you said excitedly, but not that loud to let the whole school hear you.

bakugo’s heart skipped a beat and he had to fight for his expression to remain calm. “ah? r-really?” he chuckled as he closed his locker, gulping down. “tell me everything.”

“it’s a student. i wasn’t too sure about this before, but i watched a couple of videos and he had a backpack with a pin from our school! isn’t it cool?” you explained while walking beside him. bakugo sighed in relief in his mind, grateful you had no real information about spider-man.

wait… a backpack?

he was grateful you didn’t seem to notice but he mentally noted that he must change backpack as soon as possible.

“you don’t seem so interested in spider-man, huh? you don’t like him?” you then looked at his face, noticing that he seemed rather distracted. “no no! uh, i just… i’m not a big fan of superheroes, y’know? i trust the police and the government,” he explained offering a small smile before looking away. “hm.” you seemed to be thinking too much about his answer so he changed subject. “today at 4? mine or your place?” he pulled your attention over homework. “i live closer to school, so…” you shrugged and he nodded, before you two entered your classroom.

─────────────────────

“welcome, katsuki!” your mother greeted your friend with a huge smile, happy to see him. he seemed to be liked by your mother a bit too much in your opinion. “hello,” he smiled timidly. you grabbed his hand and pulled you with him towards your room. “keep the door open a little bit!” your father shouted from the living room. you rolled your eyes and stepped into your room, followed by an amused katsuki.

“i’m not a kid anymore, for god’s sake,” you murmured and closed the door anyway. katsuki sat by your desk, as usual, and followed you moving around the room before grabbing your notebooks. “alright, can you help me with this math exercise before we start with biology?” you pleaded, showing him the reason behind your distress. “yeah, sure. it’s nothing too impossible,” he comforted you with a smile.

after hours of studying your mother came and offered katsuki to stay for dinner but he politely refused, saying that his mother was waiting for him as his father was out of town for a couple of weeks due to work. “oh, you don’t have to add more. i totally understand! maybe next time, okay?” you hid your face behind your palms in embarrassment as she left.

“she’s sweet,” he commented, chuckling at your status. you groaned in response and hit his chest playfully. “just with you,” you said and watched him pack his things.

a couple of pins attached to his backpack caught your attention, resembling a bunch of superheroes and a group band. you remembered katsuki told you that he wasn’t too fond of superheroes, so it confused you a bit.

“hey, ‘tsuki… what do you think about that superhero who helped spider-man last week?” you try to sound casual, playing with your pen. “uh, he was cool,” he answered while shrugging. “i saw him on the news, i don’t know if he actually is,” he was quick to add, laughing. he gulped down and finished to put his books away when you threw your pen at him and he caught it without even turning around.

you gasped and quickly got up to your feet as katsuki groaned and turned to meet your face, your hands covering your lips as you tried to process what just happened.

“l-listen…” he tried to think of something to justify his reflexes but you were quick to start throwing small objects at him, to see him do that again.

“why aren’t you catching them? you’re doing it on purpose?” you tilted your head to the side, your tone showing a bit of annoyance. “no, it’s just that the way you’re throwing them is not gonna hurt me so… fuck,” he groaned and sat down at the edge of your bed. “forget it, please. it’s just a thing my father taught me, it doesn’t mean anything,” he lied straight to your face.

did he not trust you enough?

“you’re spider-man, right? it-it just makes sense! god i’m so stupid!” you started pacing around the room, connecting the dots. “when you got hurt, that one time you came here… the next day you couldn’t play basket because you said you fell or something. it was because the wound would open up right? and when you showed up with a big bruise under your eye, it was because of that criminal hitting you with… whatever that thing was,” you spoke fast, your hands shaking slightly as you kept explaining all the things that gave him away — they didn’t, actually. you caught him just because he stopped the point of your pen from hitting his nape a bit too hard.

“[y/n], take a deep breath and sit down for a moment, hm?” he moved closer and grabbed your hands making you sit down on the bed. “you’re spider-man,” you squeaked, covering your mouth once again. “spider-man kissed me, so you kissed me…” you added and katsuki sighed at the memory, regretting it not because he didn’t like it but because it was extremely dumb for him to do something like that.

“you idiot!” you then hit his chest, for real now. he looked at you in confusion. “what was that for?” he asked, stopping you from hitting him again. “you nerdy coward! why would you kiss me as spider-man?” you asked in an angry tone.

katsuki let go of your hands and simply shook his head before going to grab his backpack and reaching the door. you swiftly reached him and planted yourself against the door so he wouldn’t open it. “you can’t just walk away as if it’s nothing, you know? why didn’t you tell me? we grew so close since the last year… don’t you trust me?” you didn’t seem angry in that moment, you seemed… hurt?

he took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling for a moment before glancing at you, his hand timidly took yours and his thumb started caressing your palm. “it’s not exactly something you shout when entering a room, y’know… plus, no one knows it.”

you were the only one?

“be serious,” you gasped, not expecting to be the only one to know his secret. “i am!” he swore, not breaking eye contact not even for a second. “oh ‘tsuki…” your eyes filled with tears as you suddenly hugged him, holding him tightly. he looked confused as you held him, his eyes staring at the door in silence. “it must have been so hard… but now you have me! i’ll help you, like a sidekick or something!” you smiled enthusiastically at him. katsuki’s face darkened at your statement and pushed you away as gently as he could in that moment, you frowned.

“help me,” he spat, walking to your window instead. “you can’t help me without getting involved or worse, killed. i can’t allow it, so forget about your silly discovery,” he shook his head, his voice was firm as he said all that. you tried to move closer to him but he turned and glared at you with a cold look, you froze in place at that. “forget about it. i think it’s better if i distance myself from you.”

those were his last words and they hurt you deeply. you could only watch him exit your room through your window and swing away, leaving you standing there in silence.

─────────────────────

for the following month, katsuki kept his word. he barely waved at you in class, you didn’t meet up to study anymore. he became something similar to a stranger. your friends noticed how you two became distant and you shrugged it off with a simple ‘we had a fight and he never apologised so i don’t wanna be friends with someone like him.’

your own words hurt. katsuki heard them too, but he thought it was for the best so he was okay with what you told your friends.

this whole situation worked until spider-man was attacked by a strong group of criminals and got shot. you heard the news about how he helped capturing them but no one heard about what happened to spider-man after that. what scared you even more was that he was missing school, something that was unusual for someone like him.

after three days you decided to go to his house, using the notes from the lessons he missed as an excuse.

you rang the doorbell and waited patiently, an anxious feeling biting at your heart. when the door opened you noticed that you were actually holding your breath. “hello!” katsuki’s mom, mitsuki, offered you a warm smile. “h-hello, i um… i brought the notes from the lessons katsuki missed in the past days,” you explained, gripping your bag tightly.

“oh, thank you! come inside,” mitsuki nodded and let you enter inside. you followed her and quietly glanced around, it was the second time you visited his house after all. “i can make you some tea?” she asked while entering the kitchen, glancing at you. “uh, no. no, thanks. i’m fine,” you shook your head before smiling politely. she nodded and sighed, losing herself in her thoughts for a moment. “katsuki is upstairs, first door on the right” she turned and smiled at you. “got it,” you thanked her and reached the stairs.

now you could feel your heart racing in your chest, wondering how could you initiate an actual conversation with him. you bit your lips and knocked on his door, waiting to hear his voice. “i told you i’m not hungry!” he shouted from the other side, making you realise he didn’t know you were there. you sighed and decided to open the door anyway.

he was sitting by his desk, his headphones were covering his ears. you closed the door and slowly reached him, jumping when he suddenly turned ready to shout to get out of his room. he was about to say something before deciding to keep his mouth shut as he took the headphones off.

you noticed the bandage on his right temple and the bruise on his cheek, his rest of his body seemed alright but you were sure he was hiding other bruises and minor injuries. you felt a sense of relief fill your chest, as you realised he was alright after all.

“t-tsuki, i…” you glanced at the floor and gripped your bag nervously, trying to find the right words. “i uh… well,” you bit your lips before simply pulling out the extra notes you took for him and putting them on his desk. his eyes followed your actions before he glanced up at your face, your eyes not meeting his.

“i-i’m glad you’re okay, i just came here to make sure… so i’m leaving, alright,” you spoke after a couple of moments of silence, turning around and walking towards the door. before you could open it, his hand planted itself on its surface and his shadow towered over you. you gulped down and held the doorknob nervously.

the silence was suffocating, you felt more and more anxious as you didn’t know his intentions.

“say something!” you finally snapped, shutting your eyes closed. “thanks for the notes,” was all he said, his deep voice making you shiver. “not about that,” you turned to look at his face, visibly upset. katsuki tilted his head to the side, looking at you in a way that made you feel small. “what do you want me to say then?” he asked, his voice was low now.

“y-you got shot, katsuki!” you screamed as low as you could, not wanting his mother to hear. “you could have died a-and all you can say is thanks?!” your eyes started filling with tears, making it hard for you to keep eye contact. katsuki felt his heart clench at the sight, knowing that he was the reason you were feeling like that.

“but i’m not, so it’s fine,” he shrugged, sighing. “don’t look down on me, i know what i’m doing,” he then added, clenching his fist. “oh? then explain this!” you pointed at his head and he caught your wrist before you could even touch him, making you flinch. “i got distracted, it happens you know?” he said while gritting his teeth.

you shook your head and turned around, trying to open the door. “you’re so self-centred you don’t even acknowledge the feelings of those around you,” you muttered coldly and were about to walk out before he grabbed your arm and made you turn around, surprising you. katsuki cupped your cheeks and pulled you in for a kiss.

it took you a couple of moments to reciprocate it, your hands grabbing hold of his shoulders as you closed your eyes. katsuki pulled you even closer as he moved one of his hand down to your waist, pulling you inside his room and closing the door. your back was pushed against it as he kept kissing you with more desperation now, his hands holding you more firmly. you had to push him away to catch some air, your cheeks warmed up now as he looked at you.

you were the one being silence now and he started to grow nervous as you simply rested your hands on his shoulders. “oi, say something, dammit.”

“it was definitely better than the first one,” you murmured before chuckling. katsuki rolled his eyes before kissing your forehead, his warm hands caressing your cheeks. “i missed you. keeping you away was the hardest shit i’ve ever done in my life,” he confessed and pulled you to his chest, resting his chin on your head. you silently cried into his t-shirt, holding him even tighter. “i’m so sorry.”

“don’t push me away again,” you pleaded, sniffing. he smiled and held you even tighter. “how can i push my little sidekick away?” he chuckled and you gasped, pulling away to meet his eyes. “sidekick?” your face lit up and katsuki was quick to pull you back to reality. “my sidekick that keeps her butt at home and stays in contact with me,” he clarified, making you pout like a little girl. “that’s not a real sidekick, ‘tsuki.”

“i gotta make sure you’re not getting hurt,” his voice was dead serious, he was promising to protect you. “hm. ‘kay,” you nodded before kissing his bruised cheek softly.

“i’m dating spider-man,” you jumped a little while smiling happily as you reached his desk. katsuki chuckled at your reaction and smiled while looking at you, his eyes shining.

tags : [ since multiple ppl were interested in reading more, i thought it would be okay to tag you guys in the second part… if you want to be removed just lemme know !! ] @doumadono @reyathens @ohwhale-exo @its-claude-time @nikoruropesu @selfindulgenthoe @sigmaswaist @archer-fb

[netegf]

violet chemistry (ii)

pairing: aged up!ao'nung x f!metkayina reader

plot: you and ao'nung attempt to regain control in your lives by fake-dating. the irony is… this is fated.

word count: 2.7k

a/n: the next instalment in my fake-dating!, friends to lovers!, best friend’s brother!au - once again, this takes place roughly 10 years after atwow - some pining + flirting, made-up rituals, attempts at comedy, & angst (WILL be resolved)! i really hope you enjoy part 2 🥹💖

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In all honesty, Ao’nung has been trying his hardest to avoid you. Only, that impulse is very quickly thwarted when he considers how many clan gatherings and rituals courting Na’vi couples attend together. Sitting before you and the azure clay bowl of paint you hold in your hand, for the first time in a long time, Ao’nung has a single thought. He really hadn’t thought this through.

“Stop moving.” You hum, brows pinched together in concentration as you swirl the coal-coloured paint with a brush much like the baleen of a whale’s mouth. Sitting with the feelings he’s been having, a part of him wonders what it might be like to be suspended in water and consumed entirely into the jaws of a sea beast. He listens almost immediately, then realizes that’s slightly out of character for him, resorting to a slight narrow of the eye that makes him look younger than he is.  

“You’re strangely quiet.” Your eyes bore holes into him, but he has a gift for escaping confrontation – staring somewhere off in the distance until his vision blurs.

Ao’nung hopes he looks nonchalant when he shrugs, but knows you. Knows that your keen. He doesn’t know how many times he’s come to communal dinner with a face he thought he’d fixed, but you'd been able to tell there was something off. A mediator of energy; you might as well have been able to smell it off him. But this wasn’t something he could let go of. He might’ve saved his favourite kills for you during the hunt in childhood, but this was profound. Pandora spins on a different axis. Everything looks like it’s in a different colour. How long had he loved his friend?

“Yeah.” He admits, chewing on his bottom lip. “Just worried you’re gonna, y’know… ruin my face for life?”

You roll your eyes with emphasis.

The ritual he refers to is one in which courting Metkayina couples draw facial tattoos for each other in paint, emulating what might one day be permanent. Unfortunately, Ao’nung has known you long enough to know that artistry has not been one of your most obvious gifts, and you pinch your eyes at him as the smug words leave his mouth.

“Shut up.” You hiss. “Or I’ll draw Lo’ak on your cheek.”

“Ambitious goal for an amateur.” He punches back, then nearly recoils.

Ao’nung can feel himself being mean – meaner than usual – and it casts a cloud of shame over him. He really thought he’d passed that point in his life where he masqueraded around his feelings and hacked them up alone until his throat bled. Childish, it felt. Something that gave him grief and gratitude – annoyed at his immaturity, but a strange sense of happiness at the fact that he could afford it. Still, you deserved better, and that pained him.

You grant him a small scoff then continue your ministrations.

Naturally, his eyes come to focus on your eyebrows knitted together, your tongue darting out of your mouth ever so slightly as the artistic vision you have in your mind comes to fruition, the subtle tremor of your careful hands. Instinctively, one of his hands comes up to stabilize yours, gripping the joint of your wrist.

Breath hitching just slightly, you quirk a brow. “You know… if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you look like you’re enjoying this.”

“Gotta get you to my mom.” He mumbles, hand dropping to his side like a dead fly. “Get your eyes checked.”

After a few more strokes of the brush, and a couple dozen eyerolls, the design is finished.

“Done.” You say happily, fingers holding Ao’nung’s chin as you admire your handy work.

The pattern isn’t particularly complex or striking, but it decorates the high points of his face, each dark shape a representation of his achievement and growth as a hunter, as future Olo'eyktan, and your favourite – boy that loves the water.

Ao’nung’s eyes widen when he takes in his reflection.

“It’s, uh… more subtle than I thought it would be.” He says finally, clearing his throat, heat colouring his cheeks a new kind of colour.

He had to admit, it was pretty. He must have imagined what this would feel like a thousand times in his life. That one day, he’d rise to his rank, wear his adornments, and feel completely different. Feel like he was worthy of his position in the clan. To his surprise, time moved fast, but he very rarely did. All Ao’nung felt over the years was a lot of sameness – but today, wearing your tattoos on his face, he felt a sense of pride pang in his chest. He looked the part, and maybe that meant something.

“Well, we can’t have the clan forgetting you’re handsome. However would they stand your prickly temperament?”

Ao’nung feels prepared to roll his eyes at the diss, but then he catches himself. Better yet, he catches you, saying something you hadn’t exactly meant to reveal, but knew to be true nonetheless. He looks at you cautiously.

“You think I’m handsome?”

Chewing your bottom lip, you contemplate for a moment. Was there really anything wrong with admitting it? Just about everyone on the reef thought so, he had to have known that.

“Everyone thinks you’re handsome, Ao.” You try to soothe over the slip-up. “People line up to see you when you come back from the hunt, I think someone fainted when you tamed tsurak, this information can’t be surpris-,”

“But you.” He says quickly, eyes excruciatingly earnest. “You think I’m handsome?”

“Yes…I do.”

Ao’nung supposes he shouldn’t be surprised, and yet he is. He wasn’t a stranger to be being praised for his looks, but this was uncharted territory – a line that had never been crossed, and maybe intentionally so. Since when did you think so? Since when did a compliment for him fall so easily off your pretty lips and tongue like you were the only one he was meant to receive such words from?

You must have noticed his slow blinks and slightly gaping mouth as he thinks through it all, because then you’re saying something that has him absolutely reeling.

“Eywa, if that blows your mind, how are you going to react to the fact that I had a crush on you half my life?”

There’s a hint of humour in your tone, but Ao’nung is having a hard time understanding why it’s so funny – eyes nearly bulging out and erratic breaths practically choking him.

“Had?” He stammers, past-tense poking a hole in his heart. “When?”

“When?” You snort. “Like, forever. Well, until I grew out of it.”

He must look insane, brain jumping from thought to thought, zoning in on words that illuminate a fire in his gut, and others that just as quickly put the fire out in a wade of water that he, for once, does not welcome. A revelation, and the revocation of it. A sparkling jewel in his palm mere seconds before it disintegrates, leaving no trace of what once was, as if it were merely a tantalizing mirage and nothing more.  

“When the Sully’s arrived?”

“Yup.” You say too casually for his liking, popping the ‘p’. “And before… and after.”

“But I was so mean.”

He bites his tongue almost bitterly, almost incredulous. He had admirers over the years, sure – but those were souls that knew him from great distance, and there was comfort in that. But you… you knew him. Not just the great triumphs, but the pitfalls which were equal in magnitude and not for the faint hearted. He had to admit, his concept of love was more superficial. In fact, he wasn’t sure he’d ever feel it, at least not in the way his parents did – in his eyes, they got lucky, and his future partnership was bound to be more political than it was anything else. And maybe that was his crutch, the lack of feeling. Maybe that was the reason he’d never crossed this line, never entertained having you as his.

Because that would be all-consuming. That would be the truest thing he’d ever felt – really a fish out of water like everyone pegged him to be. Painfully new, and painfully beautiful, and completely unrecoverable if it ended up not working out.

Though at this moment, he hates himself for that careful distance between you – the way this is a wound you’ve presumably healed from, while he bleeds out right before your eyes.  

“What can I say?” You smile, teasing him in the way you do, the way he loves. “I like a challenge.”

“Right.” He manages, breath still shaky, but the corners of his mouth slowly lifting.

The tide was changing and he needed to find a way to make it stop.

Apparently, his father was right. All those years spent build levees would finally coming to good use.

The night’s festivities are an especially generous feast and a series of dance rituals that you, while hesitant to admit it, know like the back of your hand.

Ao’nung sits with his father and other seasoned hunters in the clan, nodding absentmindedly to their spirited conversation about tracking game, which he admittedly knew very little about.

Really, he smiled when they smiled, stroked his chin when they seemed to debate something, and when he really hadn’t a clue what Tonowari was saying, gave a pretend laugh followed by a silent prayer to the great mother that he wasn’t being informed about someone’s death.

He had more important matters to mull over. Like you, sitting across the fire pit, engrossed in a conversation with his sister.

Entirely too receptive to his gaze, you momentarily stall from your speech to meet his eyes, lips curving into a small smile and hands giving a tentative wave. Ao’nung opts out of waving back but holds his piercing stare, convinced that the rounds of your eyes are more illuminating than the fire – and unlike its embers, your luminosity will stay.

“My son,” Tonowari’s voice booms over the overlapping chatter. “What are your thoughts on the matter?”  

Ao’nung nearly chokes, the tips of his ears turning an endearing shade of purple as he realizes he’s been gawking for far too long, and the last topic he recalls listening to was three conversations ago.

“I think, uh… everyone has made some important points.” He mumbles, while you and Tsireya snicker at him from across the fire.

Tonowari quirks an eyebrow at him, but luckily, chooses not to harp on it. He slaps a hand over Ao’nung’s back as if to excuse him from the conversation – not that he was contributing much anyways.

Ao’nung smiles gratefully and quickly makes his way over to you, scratching the back of his neck.

“Was that as embarrassing as I think it was?”

“Even more.” You laugh, scrunching your nose in a teasing kind of sympathy. “But it’s okay, we still love you.”

The ease to which the word ‘love’ falls out of your mouth makes him wince a little – this wasn’t the kind of love he’d found himself craving from you as of late, tossing and turning in his marui when he’s meant to be sleeping, very much aware that he’s awake behind those closed eyelids. He turns to Tsireya.

“Can I borrow her?” He asks as his sister’s eyes swell with intrigue. He feels the need to explain. “For a dance.”

Tsireya nods, a small smirk on her face before she dismisses herself.

“Duty calls?” You ask, shivering as his hands find their place on your hips, the pair of you slowly swaying back and forth to the beat of ceremonial drums. This is a practice for all courting Na’vi couples – they surround you at all sides, clumsily moving their bodies and giggling together, their love almost something physical in the air.

“Something like that.” He mumbles, eyes sheepishly raking over you. “You look nice.”

“I don’t have any extra food, Ao.”

“What? I don’t want your food.” He erupts. “I’m being serious.”

“Oh, okay. In that case, thanks. You look nice, too.”

Ao’nung’s ears perk up, toothy canines peeking out from under his lips in a sideways smile. He hopes the budding violet colour on your cheeks means what he thinks it does.

“So, what have you been up to?”

“Since I saw you this morning?” You repeat, eyebrow slightly raised.

“Yes. I mean, no.” He breathes shakily, rubbing his face in dismay. “Or, you know, in general.”

“Nothing too crazy.” You say softly, a certain lamenting in your voice. “I kind of live in a box, remember?”

Ao’nung nods. He bites the inside of his cheek, thinking for a moment, the heels of his feet burning as he tries to think up a way to make that sad look in your eye disappear.

“But I’m here.” He offers.

“Yeah. You’re here.”

The way your eyes soften as you say words has his heart soaring. He leans in a little closer, the rhythmic buzzing of the percussion reaching a peak. Your mouth parts slightly. It feels like it means something.

But you’re soon interrupted when the music stops and all the couples come to a halt, just the painful empty air of what could’ve been filling the space between you.

Ronal appears from just across the fire-pit as she pulls her son in for a conversation he’s sure he won’t listen to. He mouths a gentle ‘sorry’ before disappearing, leaving you with your thoughts and Tsireya, who takes a seat on the log next to you.

“You two look friendly. Or should I say, more than friendly?” Her grin looks like it could reach her ears it’s so wide.

“It’s pretend.” You remind her dejectedly. “Just because you and Lo’ak are going strong, doesn’t mean you can bring your loved-up vibes over here.”

Tsireya scrunches her nose in displeasure at the English word. It didn’t mean much when Lo’ak used it in conversation, and it didn’t mean much now.  

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but my brother pretends very poorly.”

Your gaze shifts to where Ao’nung is standing, eyes trained on his mother with a far-away look in his eyes – you have to force yourself to bite back a laugh.

“He doesn’t see me that way, Reya. He never has.” You sigh, chewing on your bottom lip. “And besides, even if he did… I can’t be the mate he needs.”

“You love him, do you not?” She asks, clearly puzzled.

You look at Ao’nung again, now speaking in a small circle of Na’vi.

One member in particular makes your tender heart ache. A young Metkayina woman. She’s a skilled weaver and even better huntress. Beautiful, reliable, eager for leadership and responsibility. Not weighed down by strangeness. Not heavy with unbridled emotion. Strong and loving, in the way he needs – more palatable.

“Maybe love just isn’t enough sometimes.”

“Maybe,” Tsireya’s voice breaks through your spiral. “You are scared.”

Perhaps Tsireya has a point, or perhaps she doesn’t. Regardless, the constricting in your chest is hard to shake off. Even when she softly cups your cheek before walking away. Even when Ao’nung finds a way to escape whatever boring topic of discussion that has it’s claws digging into his sides, and his lips, yearning for yours, again. Small smile teasing at his mouth, he tugs at your hand.

“Hey, maybe we can get them to play a little more? Have another dance?”

“Ao… I think we need to stop. I-I don’t want to do this anymore.”

More than the words, it’s the pain in your eyes that punches him hard in the gut, leaving his lungs gasping for mouthfuls of air that don’t seem to dull the stinging. Your breaths do something similar, chest heaving, fighting every instinct in your body that tells you this is wrong because protecting him feels more important. It’s in that moment that Ao’nung realizes he doesn’t like comparing you to fire. It’s born to die. Warm and hungry, but it’s not for touching and it’s not forever.

His hand leaps forward to catch your shoulder, but you’re bolting before he can follow-through – fingers flinching back from the heat on your skin.

a/n: reblogs + tags are always appreciated 🪐🩷🫶🏼 i hope you enjoyed! how do we feel about part 3? 🤭

[thatgirlstrawberry]

Sick Surprise pt. 10 - The Granparents

In which Y/N’s parents invite everyone to lunch and formally meet Spencer and spend time with Eloise

Warnings: Tension but not full angst, cursing, kissing, a sassy toddler (as always), and flufffff, lmk if I missed anything!

Spencer Reid x fem!reader

So, Spencer bought Y/N a ring. Even though she told him she didn’t need one, that night when both of the girls were asleep, he went and bought a ring.

And he couldn’t sleep because his mind was on hyper mode so he stayed up all night and surprised her with it the next morning at breakfast. It was two weeks later when Y/N asked Spencer to move in with her and Eloise.

Y/N and Spencer were watching Eloise dance around the living room along with the music from her TV show. She found it hard to take her eyes off of her daughter after the kidnapping even in her own home.

Anyway, Y/N glanced between Spencer and Eloise and saw how he was chuckling at all of her little twirls and jumps.

She rested her chin on her fist and bit her lip, looking at her fiancé. “Spencer?” She hummed. He looked over at her with a smile. “I- I know we like just got engaged— which this ring is really fucking big by the way—“ She put her hand in front of her face observing the ring he’d bought her. “And I know people usually do this like— after they get married but I… Will you Um… move in with me and Eloise?”

“Y/N—“

“I mean you’re barely ever at your apartment and like— what’s the point of paying rent if you sleep here when you’re not on cases?”

“Baby—“

“You know, I think you actually bought groceries for your house but then you brought them here and just—“ He cut her off with a kiss.

She smiled when he pulled away and placed his hands on the side of her face to keep her close. “I don’t want anything more than to move in with you and Eloise.” He shook his head.

Y/N smirked. “What about marrying me?” She teased. Spencer rolled his eyes and kissed her once again.

Spencer moved in the next week. It was perfect because his lease was up. So, they sat in bed talking about random things, Y/N talking about wedding stuff and Spencer giving her statistics.

“I don’t know enough people for it to be big wedding.” She shook her head.

Spencer chuckled. “Correction: you don’t like enough people to have a big wedding.” He nodded. Y/N rolled her eyes with a smile and shook her head. “But that’s okay! Liking people is not required to get married, you just have to like me.” He shrugged.

Y/N squinted. “Do I like you?” She teased. She squealed when Spencer grabbed her and pulled her on top of his lap.

“Yes, you do like me ‘cause you’re marrying me.” His fingers ghosted her hips and she shivered, smiling at him. She leaned in and kissed him before humming.

“Yes, I am marrying you. And I’m the happiest person because of it.”

“Oh yeah?” Spencer nodded, finally holding her by the waist. Y/N leaned forward again and kissed him deeper this time.

She pulled away, leaning down to kiss his jawline. “Let’s see… Eloise wakes up in about thirty minutes.” She whispered, still pressing kisses against his cheek and jawline.

Spencer raised his brows as he tilted his head back wanting her lips lower. “Oh? What do you suppose we could do in thirty minutes?”

She giggled against his skin and pulled away, her body heating up. “Oh y’know… you could put your di-“

Her phone rang.

She groaned loudly and whimpered, letting her head fall into the crook of his neck. She felt him reach over and grab her phone. He handed it to her and she pulled her head up, sighing when she saw her mother’s name on the screen.

She pressed the answer button. “Hi, mom!” She feigned excitement.

“Hi, honey! I haven’t spoken to you in a while!”

Y/N inhaled deeply, glancing at Spencer. “Yeah, since Eloise’s birthday.” She nodded, her hand coming up to play with the pocket on Spencer’s shirt.

“Yeah. Well, speaking of Eloise, I was wondering if you guys would like to come to brunch with your father and I this Saturday.”

Y/N pressed her tongue into her teeth. “Uh, y’know, mom, Saturday isn’t really good for us—“ Spencer furrowed his brows.

“We can do Saturday then, sweetheart. Y-you can even bring that lovely boy— uh… Spencer! Yes, that’s right, Spencer.”

Y/N’s eyebrows popped up. “Uh, I’m sure Spencer is busy on—“

“I’m not busy Mrs. L/N!” He called. Y/N shushed him and slapped her hand over his mouth.

“Is that Spencer i hear?”

Y/N bit her lip when Spencer looked at her with those big puppy dog eyes he liked to pull when he really wanted something. She sighed and gave him a threatening smile. “How’s Saturday at 11?”

They made a plan to meat at this outdoor brunch place and Y/N was annoyed. She didn’t want to eat with her mother. She hadn’t done that since the age of 17. She didn’t want to subject Spencer to that kind of judgment. Or herself to that kind of judgment.

Spencer noticed that she was off when she hung up the phone. “Y/N…” He drew out.

She crawled off of his lap and realized that he might have over stepped. She sat on the edge of the bed facing away from him. He watched her place her face into her palms. He scooted forward silent and settled next to her. “Y/N, I’m— are you okay?”

She sighed heavily and glanced at him. “Yeah, I’m okay.” She nodded, picking at her cuticles.

Spencer tilted his head. “No, you’re not. You forget that I can tell when you lie.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. “You can tell when everyone lies.”

He sighed and placed his hand on her knee. “Come on, Y/N. Tell me what’s wrong.”

She inhaled deeply and tried to avoid looking at him. “I don’t want to go eat with my parents and you just signed us up. Once she makes plans, they’re impossible to get out of.” Y/N turned her head away from him completely when her voice wavered.

“Baby, we don’t have to go. I’m sorry, I just thought it would be nice to really meet your parents.” He tried to get her to turn to him. “But we won’t go.”

She shook her head. “It’s just— she dropped me when I got pregnant and now that you’re here and Eloise is older, she wants to be around now? I wonder If they want something…”

Spencer bit his lip. “Y/N, you can call your mother back and I will tell her myself that we’re not gonna go. I am really sorry—“

“They think I’m a mess. That’s it.” She nodded, standing up. Spencer furrowed his eyebrows and stood up after her.

“Y/N what—“

She spun around facing him. “They think I’m a mess and the second they set that I actually am one, they’re gonna lecture me about how I should have given my baby up—“ She stopped to breathe. “So, we’re gonna go and we’re gonna sho my parents that I’m not a mess.”

Spencer opened his mouth. “Baby, I’m sure—“

“Don’t say ‘I’m sure they don’t think you’re a mess.’ Because I know they do.” She nodded sadly. “But that’s okay. I know that we’re doing just fine and we’re gonna show them that.” She hummed and stuck her left hand in front of her face, showing off her engagement ring.

.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.

Saturday morning came all too quickly.

Y/N stood in the mirror behind Eloise combing she hair. “Mommy, why we has to go out t’day?”

She sighed. “Remember grandma and grandpa from your birthday?” She asked, faking a smile. Eloise seemed to nod with her entire body. “Well they invited us to go eat with them! Doesn’t that sound fun?”

She thought for a moment. “Will der be a play place?” She asked.

Y/N pressed her lips together. “I don’t think so, babe.”

She frowned. “Then I not gonna have no fun.”

The mother smiled and kissed her cheek. “Me either, kiddo. Me either.”

“Eloisey’s bag is packed.” Spencer’s voice was heard from down the hallway. He stepped into the bathroom and pecked both girls on the cheek.

“Thanks, honey.” She smiled.

Eloise giggled. “You put my st’berry puffy’s in there?” She asked. Spencer bent so he was at eye level with her.

“You bet i did, Eloisey.” He held his large hand in front of her and she slapped it with her tiny one.

Y/N chuckled and finished her daughter’s hair. “Well, I guess we’re ready to go.” She shrugged.

Spencer leaned down and kissed his fiancé. “It’s gonna be okay, baby.” He said when he pulled away.

Y/N smiled and nodded. “Okay. Yeah. We’re gonna be fine.”

.•.•.•.••.•.•.•.•.

“We are not gonna be fine.” Y/N was gripping the armrest anxiously, staring at the restaurant in front of them.

Spencer knew better than to try and coax her out of her nervous state because she would just get worse. “Why don’t we take this one step at a time.” He nodded, grabbing her hand and pulling it from the armrest watching her knuckles return to their natural color.

Y/N bit her lip and let out a breath. “Okay.”

Spencer glanced back at Eloise who was playing with her stuffed bird in her car seat. “Do you wanna get Eloisey out or should I?”

“I will.” She nodded.

He smiled and nodded, getting out of the car. He walked around to the other side before Y/N could get out and opened the door for her. She smiled sweetly and got out.

She walked around to Eloise’s door and made a silly face. “Are you ready to eat!?” She asked, opening the door.

“I’m gonna get some waffles an’ eggs an’ bacon an’/-“

Y/N giggled as she picked her up and hiked her on her hip. “Can you put all that in your tummy?”

Eloise nodded quickly. “I so hungry i tould eat wike— four horses!”

Y/N laughed loudly and kissed her cheek. “Well you better make Grandma and Grandpa’s pockets hurt!”

Spencer gasped. “Baby!”

She looked back at him and shrugged. “What? It’s their treat, mom said!”

Her fiancé shook his head with a chuckle. “Go inside.” He smiled.

Y/N rolled her eyes and popped her eyebrows up with a shrug and walked towards the building.

.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.

Más soon as they sat down, Eloise was being spoiled by her parents.

“Do you want this?” “How about this?” “Y/N, why don’t you let her have this?”

By the time they got their food, Y/N’s parents were bombarding Spencer with questions.

“So, Spencer, where did you graduate from?” Her mother asked her fiftieth question then.

He nodded gracefully. “Caltech.”

Her mother’s eyebrows raised. “Wow, okay!” She smiled and nodded. Y/N could sense the judgment but why?

“Something wrong, mom?” Y/N asked, tilting her before swallowing a bite of her food. She felt Spencer’s fingers graze her thigh telling her that it was okay but she shook her head.

Her mother took a breath. “I just think—“ she stopped and smiled, looking at Spencer. “That’s a wonderful school, Spencer.”

Y/N started talking before Spencer had a chance to speak. “And Spencer graduated when he was— why was it honey? 16?”

Spencer swallowed nervously. “Y-yeah. But we don’t have to talk about—“

“16!?” Her father almost shouted. “Well damn, Spencer you might as well be the smartest person in the world.”

Y/N giggled. “He is.” She wrapped her hand around his bicep and handed Eloise an apple slice off of her plate.

He cleared his throat and smiled down at her. “Y/N, did you want another coffee?” He asked, trying to deter her from the subject of him.

“No, I’m okay. Thank you though.” She smiled. She looked back at her mom and began to speak but the older woman gasped. “Mom, what’s wrong?”

She shut her eyes before looking down at Y/N’s left hand that was laid on the table. “I-is that a ring— an engagement ring!?”

Y/N paused her movements completely, almost choking on air. “O-oh uh…” she looked at Spencer who seemed more nervous than he did before.

“Honey, look at her hand!” Her mother spat.

The two looked at each other and then at Eloise who was stuffing her face with French Toast and whipped cream with a giddy smile.

“Uh… Mr. and Mrs. L/N…” Spencer swallowed. “I asked Y/N to marry me b-because I love your daughter so much a-and! I love Eloise a-as my own.”

Both of her parents sat there with their jaws slack. “Uh— uh that’s… great but, do you really think you could handle…” Her mother glanced between her daughter and Eloise. “This?”

Y/N tilted her head, her breath hitching. “W-what does that mean, mom?”

Spencer heard the tone in her voice change to defense mode. “Y/N, just wait a minute—“

“No, Spence. I’m tired of— of them acting like I haven’t been taking care of myself and Eloise for years.” She might have been angry but she let her voice fall quiet so her daughter didn’t know that’s she was. She looked at her mother. “You would no that if you didn’t disown me the second I told you I was pregnant.”

She regretted the words as soon as they left her but that didn’t change the truth behind them. She bit her lip and watched their faces fall. “Y/N, we just thought—“

Spencer shook his head. “With all due respect/-“ Her head snapped over to her fiancé. “Y/N is an amazing mother and the fact that you two didn’t even stick around to see that is— a major loss on your behalf’s.” He paused and glanced at Eloise. “And Eloise is such a great kid. Even after her kidnapping, she remained the same sunshiny soul and you would know that she’s the same if you took the time to get to know her.”

Y/N had tears in her eyes by the time he ended his little speech. She swallowed pressed her lips into a thin line. “I just wanted you guys to see that I wasn’t a mess.” She looked between her parents. “But, now that I see your opinion hasn’t changed, I think we can be done here.” She nodded, looking at her fiance.

“Honey,” Her father started. “We don’t think you’re a mess.” He shook his head. “You’ve grown so much since college and we just— haven’t been around to see it.” He told her.

Y/N looked at her mother who opened her mouth. “And that is our fault. We stayed away because we didn’t like the idea of you having a child without a husband but I see now that we should have been with you while you waited to meet yours.” She smiled and looked at Spencer.

Her father chuckled and shook his head. “I’m sorry we left you, honey. We should have stayed with you through it all.”

She bit her lip. “Thank you, Dad.” She hummed.

Her mother smiled. “I’m sorry too, baby. I never wanted to hurt you.”

Y/N sniffled and wiped her cheek. “Thank you guys.” She smiled through her tears.

Eloise squealed. “Mommy! Tan I get another smoovie?” They all laughed quietly at her sudden outburst.

She looked at her mother and raised her eyebrows. “Of course you can, sweetie!”

.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.

At home, Eloise was passed out on the play mat in the living room as reruns of SpongeBob played quietly on the TV. Y/N and Spencer had snuck off into their room when she was fully out.

“So what did you think of brunch today?” Spencer’s quiet voice sent shivers down her spine. His nails were dragging slowly up and down her arm.

Y/N inhaled deeply and squeezing him a little. “I think… it went better than I expected it to.” She hummed.

Spencer smiled. “Good, baby. I’m glad.” They stayed silent for a moment. “D-do you think your parents like me?” He asked.

Y/N giggled quietly. “I wouldn’t care even if they didn’t like you.” She whispered. “But yes, I think they like you. Even after you yelled at them.” She joked.

Spencer gasped. “I-I I didn’t yell at them! Did I!? Do they think I yelled at them!?”

The woman sat up, laughing and crawled over the top of him to straddle his lap. “Shhhh!” She pressed a finger to his lips. “I was just kidding, baby.”

He sighed in relief. “Good.” He nodded, his word coming out jumbled because of her finger over his lips.

She moved her finger and replaced it with her own lips. “I think it was sexy.” She whispered.

Spencer raised his eyebrows let a breath escape him. “Really?”

Y/N nodded. “Oh yeah.”

.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.••.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.

YUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHH

Chapter 10! This was so cute 🥰

Let me know if you have any other ideas for next parts!!!

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[yansimstorythatiwillnotworkon]

#15

Friday

__

Ayano’s day started off with speaking to Kashiko, the first gyaru she ran into. She seemed about as relaxed as usual, typing on her phone in the hallway- about as productive as usual. That was, until Kashiko spotted Ayano. “Hey, Yan-Chan!” She called, walking over to the girl immediately.

Before Ayano could even greet her back, Kashiko beams. “Musume said you were gonna do some favors for the girls and me! Are you free?” She asks immediately, raising a hand to puff her ponytail, making sure it’s still straight. While Ayano had technically never agreed to such a thing, it was good that these girls had a reason to bring tasks Ayano’s way. It was much less work for her, at the very least.

“..yes, I am. What do you need?” Ayano asks, crossing her arms. It was probably better if they got straight to the point, anyway. That would quicken the entire process, after all.

“Coolness! So, I’ve sorta got something I wanted you to tell someone, but…” Kashiko pauses, realizing that she was speaking far too vaguely. She looks around briefly at the other passing students before taking Ayano’s wrist. “Actually, let’s go talk somewhere else. You know rumors spread like wildfire here.” She claims.

Ayano doesn’t bother commenting on who’s fault that is as Kashiko brings her up to one of the upstairs bathrooms. She leaves Ayano to stand in the middle of the bathroom and turns to look in the mirror. “So, Tokuko. She’s crashing with me for now, something about her ma smoking or something? I don’t know, but that’s a really good reason. If you smoke enough, you can end up looking 70 at 30, did you know that?” She asks Ayano, taking out her ponytail briefly.

“Yes, I did. What about Tokuko?” Ayano inquires, trying her best to keep the conversation in one place for the sake of saving time.

Kashiko removes all of the bead accessories from her hair and pulls out a spray bottle from her bag. As she sprays all over her hair with it, she continues her story. “Right, so she’s crashing with me, and that’s all well and good, but, like… Do you know how expensive rent is these days?” She rolls her eyes with a scoff, “The only reason I agreed with Tokuko living there is because I only have myself to provide for, but now I have her y’know?”

Ayano nods. “I get it. So you’re providing for yourself?” She questions, watching as Kashiko pulls out a somewhat intimidating looking brush with an obnoxious head of bristles.

“That I do. My ma’s getting old, so I took the cheapest apartment I could find and moved my stuff there recently to get out of her hair. I work at that big hair salon place, Koibito Cuts, so I’m paid enough to support myself. But I’m not sure about Tokuko.” Kashiko says again, shrugging with a frown.

Pulling out a small jar of gel or something of the sort, Kashiko proceeds to comb through her hair with it on her fingers, giving it a somewhat shiny look. “Hmm…” She hums in thought, looking doubtful as she pulls her hair back into a lower ponytail with her hands.

“If Tokuko had a job, then she could probably help you pay for rent.” Ayano suddenly suggests.

Kashiko gives her a somewhat surprised look in the mirror. Not at the suggestion, but likely at the fact that she had to say so little to make Ayano come to that suggestion. “That’s actually such a good idea, Ayano! I didn’t realize there were any other geniuses in school.” She jokes, letting her hair spring back out momentarily. She frowns just as suddenly and groans, “Ugh, I dunno if I could ask her, though. I’d feel super guilty if I did. She’s going through a lot with her mom right now, you know.” Kashiko says, suddenly changing her voice to sound sympathetic.

Ayano lowers her gaze in disinterest but smiles, trying her best to look up-beat or more flattering to Kashiko. “I could always ask her. Or, I guess, suggest it to her. I think she’ll understand.” She reassures Kashiko, although based on the purple-themed girl’s sudden spring of joy, she didn’t really need much reassurance at all.

“Ugh, you’re literally such a doll, Yan-Chan.” Kashiko says, taking a comb headband out of her bag and sliding it on carefully. She puffs her hair up a bit, shaking her head a little before turning to Ayano and raising her hands. “Thoughts?”

Ayano looks the hairstyle up and down. It was different from her usual ponytail, but not so much so that it made her look too different. Not many of the students came to school with varying hairstyles like Hashiko did, so this was nothing out of the ordinary for her anyway. “It looks good. I like it. It’ll definitely draw some stares.” She claims with a nod.

“Thought so!” Kashiko huffs, proud of herself for putting something together so quickly. She puts all of her items back in her bag and zips it close. “Alright, I’m gonna air all this out. Toodles!” She waves briefly, exiting the bathroom. Immediately after she left, Ayano could make out a compliment made to Kashiko. She did always have a way at wowing her peers with her hair styles.

__

Tokuko blinks at Ayano, tilting her head in question. “Did Kashiko tell you that?” She asked, frowning. Ayano had just asked Tokuko about her living situation with Kashiko. It looked like she wasn't supposed to know.

“Yes.” Ayano replies casually, leaning against the stage as Tokuko sat on top. Her voice had been getting better thanks to Ayano’s advice, so she was back to practicing with her clubmates. “She kept saying how nice it was to have a housemate since she stopped living with her mother.”

“Hm.” Tokuko takes a long drink of her water bottle, before sighing and wiping her lip a bit. “I guess it’s fine if you know since you sort of helped out. It’s just… I don’t really want people to know how… I guess- unreliable my mom has been. Y’know?” She asks, looking at Ayano hesitantly.

Ayano nods. “I get it. ‘I live with Kashiko now’ would eventually lead to questions as to why. And answering honestly might give people bad views of your mother.” She explains for her.

Tokuko exhales briefly. “Yeah, that’s it. I’m glad you understand so well. Really. I know my mother isn’t… I mean she’s obviously not perfect, but… I don’t want others to think bad things about her.” She murmurs, sheepishly pulling the water bottle back up to her lips. “But anyway, yeah, I’m crashing with Kashiko now. Why do you ask?”

With a hesitant hum, Ayano lifts a hand up to her face thoughtfully. “I ask because.. I was thinking of moving into a friend’s living space as well. Or… I mean, moving someone into my house. A friend that I trust for… company.” She claims.

It wasn’t common knowledge, but enough people did know that she currently lived alone. It would make sense that someone living alone would want company, right? Especially if it was a friend from school. “I just wanted to know how you and Kashiko were going to handle the whole thing. Like, if it’s her place then do you pay her? I feel like that’d be really important. Depending on the situation.”

Tokuko frowns with a short hum. “Well, I did ask her about it, but she was all like ‘no, don’t worry about it!’ Which is genuinely what I’d expect to hear.” She gives Ayano a troubled look. “I’m sure that she was just trying to be nice, but I do think it’d only be right to pay her. Chores are one thing, but the fact that she owns the apartment and pays rent with her own money is another.”

“I agree.” Ayano agrees with a nod. “But wouldn’t you have to have a job in order to do that? I thought your schedule was filled with voice practices and whatnot?” She points out, lifting a hand to her chin in thought.

With a nod, Tokuko folds her arms. “Yeah, mostly. I might have to quit my voice lessons or something in order to make time for a job. I’ll… see. Honestly, not attending voice lessons might even save me some money to help Kashiko out more.” She decides. “I’ll talk to her about it after school.”

“As for your general question, I admit I’ve.. never lived with anyone other than my mother. So, I can’t say I know much about the whole situation just yet. I’m just following Kashiko’s lead.” Tokuko explains, twirling the ends of one of her drills around her finger. “Anyway, if you have any questions later I might be able to tell you how our situation’s going.”

“Right. I get it. Thanks.” Ayano nods. “I think I’ll go ask Hashiko about that now since she seems to know more.” She bows her head briefly. “See you.”

“Mhm.” Tokuko nods back, returning to her break.

__

Ayano decided that completing each girl’s task and then speaking to them after school when they usually hang out in the bathroom would be a pretty efficient plan. At least more so than looking for each girl after completing their task. As Ayano looked around for Hana, someone suddenly slammed their hands against her back.

“Boo! Are you looking for me?!” Hana cheered with a mischievous grin. Ayano had heard her feet approach her, so she wasn’t much surprised by Hana’s sudden “appearance”. More so by how hard her hands slammed into her back.

“..yes. How’d you know?” Ayano asks, although she assumes that Hana was just told by her fellow chatty gyarus.

Hana frowned at the fact that Ayano didn’t show much reaction to her little scare attempt. Still, she smiled as she began explaining herself. “So, I was heading to the bathroom, cuz, I mean it’s obviously the best place to not get harassed by teachers and student council and whatever.” She huffs, but continues. “And while I was in there Musume comes in like ‘girl, did you see that prank on Horuda? it was sooooo funny!’ and whatever. And then Scilla comes in with, like, twelve different photos of it because apparently he was there to take the picture with you and Hoshiko. And then she tells me that you were gonna do favors like that for the rest of us girls so I was like ‘oh my god i can’t fucking wait!’ because there’s this thing I’ve been wanting to do for a while, right? But I can’t do it myself becaus…”

Ayano waves her arms quickly, silently slowing Hana’s rant down. “I– ahem, you said something about your task?” She asked, trying her best to immediately cut off Hana’s extra rambling and just get to the point. “What was it you wanted me to do again?” “Oh, weeeell…” Hana seemed to immediately forget what she was saying and continued with Ayano’s question. She held up her nails with a sheepish expression, looking at them, around the hall just in case, to Ayano, and then back to her nails. “..can you, like… tell Kokona something for me? About Riku..” She asked, puckering her lips in a faux casual expression.

“Sure, I can. What exactly?” Ayano nods confidently, placing a hand on her hip.

Hana twirled a piece of hair around her finger with a thoughtful smile. “Weeell… You didn’t hear this from me, but I heard that Riku was seeing someone outside of school. Like, daily. In fact- don’t tell Kokona I said this, but I’ve seen them with my own eyes!”

“Are you sure she’ll believe that?” Ayano asks, lifting an eyebrow at Hana. Kokona seemed like a pretty reasonable person, albeit overwhelmed due to the recent events.

“Duh!” Hana rolled her eyes. “Have you seen her? She’s practically leeching off of Riku. She’s all like ‘Oh, I can’t take your money, Riku, that would be so embarrassing because I need to make my own money!’ but if he offers again she’s like, ‘Oh, well, if you insist! Gee, I’m sure glad my tits solve all my problems for me!’ A complete skank, that woman.” Hana clears her throat before smiling sweetly. “But again, you didn’t hear that from me.”

Ayano averted her gaze. Kokona wasn’t at all as Hana had described her, which was obvious for most of the school. But still, Ayano had to wonder what her last mocking comment of Kokona meant. She was sure that if Hana had known about Kokona’s secret- especially considering she seems to hate Kokona so much- then she would have spilled that secret already.

“...well, yeah, I can gossip a bit to Kokona.” Ayano eventually agrees, nodding.

“Perfect! She should be on the rooftop or something. Riku’s practicing with his club right now so he shouldn’t hear a thing!” Hana says in a matter-of-fact tone. So much so that if Ayano cared at all, she’d ask her how she knew both of their positions at this very moment. Still, she nodded as a farewell and began her walk up to the rooftop.

__

When Ayano got to the rooftop, she only had to walk around for a few minutes before finding Kokona. She was sitting on the rooftop alone with what looked like a photobook in hand. Scattered across the ground were several photos including her, several friends, her dad, and so on.

“Hey, Ayano.” Kokona smiled up at her, pulling her legs beneath her to appear more proper.

“Kokona.” Ayano greeted quietly. “What are you doing?” She asked, looking down at the photos surrounding Kokona. A closer look showed that most of the photos were that of Saki and Riku. Some more including Kizana and the general club, as well as some younger photos of her and her father.

Kokona scratched her cheek with a flustered smile. “Well, I guess I’m just… reminiscing? I was looking through my phone’s old photos and they all just felt really nostalgic to me. Like… look, Saki used to have just straight pigtails back in middle school, but she thought that drills at the end would look cuter. And I think they do!” She beamed, holding up a picture of what looked like Saki and Kokona’s last day in middle school.

“That’s cute.” Ayano says quietly with a brief smile. “How many of these do you have?” She asks, sitting down near her.

“A lot, actually, hehe. I asked Fureddo to get them printed so that I could put them in a book like this.” As Kokona explains this, she pushes a few more over to Ayano for her to see. One of them included what Ayano could assume was Riku and Kokona’s first date. This was a perfect time to start on the Riku rumors, not that Ayano thought about it.

“That reminds me..” Ayano pulls a hand up to her chin in thought. “...so, you said you and Riku aren’t officially dating?” She asks, leaning against the railing with a curious expression.

Kokona seems to hesitate, confused as to why Ayano was even asking that. “Well, yes, technically speaking. And- you know why, so why do you ask?”

Ayano frowns, humming a bit with an uncomfortable expression. “It’s just… I’ve been hearing a lot of chatter recently about Riku seeing some other girl specifically on the days that you aren’t with him after school.” Before Kokona can react, Ayano quickly continues. “I don’t really believe it because I’ve never seen it myself, and you know rumors spread like wildfire here. But it had me wondering if you two had some sort of… agreement, or something..?”

“...I- um, well, no, we haven’t ever talked about it. But, as far as I’m concerned, during the time we’ve known each other we haven’t really been attracted to anyone else, so it’s… the subject never came up, I guess.” Kokona frowns deeply, looking troubled at Ayano’s line of questioning. “...I’ve really never thought of it before.”

“Do you think Riku would be seeing someone?” Ayano wonders, tilting her head to the side. She gave Kokona the best innocent question-asking expression that she could manage and awaited the taller girl’s answer.

Kokona thinks for a couple of minutes, clearly struggling to come up with a certain answer. “I- uh, w-well, maybe not without telling me..? But… we aren’t officially dating, so it might not really be any of my business… I’m…” She blinks rapidly, trying to keep herself from crying again. “..I mean, it’s not like I’m exactly being ‘loyal’ either, I guess. That’s why I refused to date him, but…”

Ayano offers Kokona a pat on the back, which always seems to help somewhat, regardless of how little. The purple-haired girl continues, her voice low and quiet. “...he could be, but I don’t think he’d go out of his way to hide it from me. He’s an honest person. A really good, honest person, so I feel like… the only way he wouldn’t tell me is if he thought that it wasn’t important or any of my business. Which I don’t think is… entirely bad? Still, I… I’m just…” She shakes her head and lets out a long, heavy sigh. “..I’m overthinking this. I’ll just talk to him about it.”

Ayano nods, “I see. That seems like the best course of action. Talking usually solves the problem one way or another, right?”

“Right.” Kokona offered a small smile, although she still looked troubled. “Thanks for telling me, Ayano. I’ll talk to him when the time comes.”

With a light bow of her head, Ayano stands up. “Alright, good to hear. I’m going to head back downstairs. Good luck with your book.”

As Ayano leaves, Kokona frowns down at the pictures, looking sadly at the ones including Riku.

__

“Oh, is it my turn now?” Kokoro asks, turning off her phone and tapping it against her lip instead. She and Bea were in the announcement room, which served as their usual hang-out place.

“Turn for what?” Bea asks, spinning around in one of the available chairs lazily. She stopped the chair and blinked to tone down the dizziness. Once her vision settled, she nodded at Ayano. “Oh, hey Yan-Chan.”

Ayano nods back and Kokoro turns to Bea to explain what the deal was. “Musume says she’s doing favors for us one at a time.”

“Aw, a little errand girl!” Bea giggles. “How adorbs.” She flips her hair over her shoulder with a light huff. “I take it Musume never mentioned a favor for me, then, huh?”

“You’re a part of the group, too…” Kokoro mumbles, tapping her fingers together hesitantly. Bea lifts an eyebrow her way and she adds, “...technically.”

“I’m open to doing a task for you as well, Bea.” Ayano says, but Bea simply waves off her offer.

Instead, she returns to spinning around in her chair. “Nah, don’t you worry about me. I’ll nag you and blackmail you into helping me whenever I need it.” Bea claims, her voice fading in and out because of the spinning.

“..right. So, is there anything you need as of right now, Kokoro?” Ayano asks, gaining the pink-themed girl’s attention again.

“O-Oh, right. Um…” Kokoro hummed in her usual, soft voice. She lifts a finger up to her chin again in thought. She shyly, brings her sleeve up to her mouth and averts her gaze. “..well, I… heard something about Akane from last year.” She blushes, looking ashamed to bring forth a rumor, despite doing it so often.

After a second of mental preparation, Kokoro mumbles. “...she might…on…one..?”

“Pardon?” Ayano raises her eyebrows, not having heard the girl clearly.

“Speak up, Momo.” Bea kicks Kokoro’s shin, nodding to Ayano to show her that Ayano hadn’t heard her.

With a long sigh, Kokoro says, “I heard that she might have a crush on someone..” Bea laughs at that, but Kokoro continues. “I-I don’t really know for sure, obviously, but, I-I just thought that some… or, uh… all…? Of the boys might want to hear about it, maaaaybeeee?” She stretches out the last word, clearly nervous to be exposing this.

“So… Do you want me to follow her around for a little while and see if she has any sort of… unique reaction to any of the guys in school?” Ayano wonders, to which Kokoro nods immediately.

“Yeah! Oh, but, like, not in a creepy way or something… obviously. Just, um… walk to each club room. She’ll… probably be there since that’s where she usually wanders… right?” Kokoro turns to Bea for affirmation, but only getting a languid shrug. “Bea…”

Ayano nods to Kokoro briefly. “I’ll see what I can do.” She says. Kokoro gives her a quiet ‘thank you’ as Ayano leaves the announcement room. __

Akane, despite her sweet, almost ditzy persona, seemed unnaturally sharp-eyed whenever Ayano was around. So, in order to make this seem like Ayano’s nth time rounding the clubs, she chatted with some of the club members again.

Ajia, Seiyo and Shoku still didn’t come to school, so all Ayano did was chat briefly with Kenko. Nothing significant, although Himari was sitting with him in the cooking club and chatting with him.

In the drama club, Kizana was obnoxiously whining about Tokuko possibly using her makeup. Tsuruzo seemed busy keeping them from clawing at each other, so Ayano just waved and left. Akane seemed slightly concerned, but continued when she saw that Tsuruzo ‘had it handled’.

Daku was in the club room as per usual, but for some reason still didn’t seem willing to speak to Ayano at all. This time, Chojo took up the chatting, and Ayano had to take it upon herself to sneak away as Akane left while he was turned to Daku. Akane didn’t spare much of a glance at either of them.

In the art club, Enpitsu started whining about how horrible her hair looked today specifically. He was likely making a point somewhere, but both he and she lost it during his blabbing. Akane seemed just as irritated as Ayano to hear Enpitsu’s whining.

Miyuji asked Ayano about her favorite instruments, which she wasn’t really able to answer due to her lack of experience. Her first thought went to a piano, so Miyuji tried to bribe her into the club with the promise of their next big purchase being a keyboard. Ayano’s answer remained as ambiguous as usual. Akane seemed quick to leave the light music club, likely so she wouldn’t get caught up in a conversation with any of the members.

Budo was far too happy to start up a conversation with Ayano. During the conversation, she realized that, despite the fact that the members of the martial arts club were generally nice people, none of them went out of their way to converse with her like Budo did. In that case he really was unique from his club. Akane simply peeked into the martial arts club and continued on. Maybe she felt that the club wasn’t one that needed much monitoring, Ayano thought.

The Gaming Club was a room Akane didn’t bother with since it wasn’t an official club. Ayano visited very briefly so it didn’t look like she was following Akane, but couldn’t stay long due to having to keep an eye on her. So, Ayano poked her head in, asked where one of the missing members was and got a half-assed response from Gema. This worked perfectly for her, of course.

Horo was busy, but was able to ask a random question Ayano had asked about Maka. Thankfully, since he prioritized her in terms of questioning, he was willing to answer. Speaking of Horo, when he went to continue on with his task, he nearly bumped into Akane on his way out. This warranted her to send him a look that likely would have been a glare if her eyes weren’t closed. That was the most unique reaction Akane had had to any of the club members thus far.

The Photography Club was the last room that needed to be visited inside of the building. Just as briefly, Akane walked inside, peeked through the curtains for a moment, nodded to the club members as a greeting, and continued on her way. Ayano was going to go to the Sport’s Club just to seem less suspicious, but was surprised to see that Akane was heading the same way.

Rather than looking into the only club that had all males, and likely would have given Ayano some form of gossip to give Kokoro, she only stopped to speak to Shiromi, who was heading the opposite way. Ayano pretended to get some sort of notification on her phone and listened to the two’s conversation.

“Shiromi, dear. Have you checked on the delinquents?” Akane asks, swaying back and forth as per usual with her typical smile.

“‘Checked on them’?” Shiromi tilts her head to the side. Akane’s smile falters as Shiromi continues. “I… looked at them? Am I supposed to check ‘em for contraband or something..? They seem like pretty cool dudes.” The white-haired girl shrugged, causing Akane to stifle a sigh of disappointment.

Akane shakes her head. “Never mind. Just… walk with me for a moment, will you?” She asks, holding her hand out to motion to the path that led to the incinerator.

Shiromi nods, and follows the taller girl that way. Ayano’s notification suddenly became less interesting as the two girls walked off. After a brief look at the track, Ayano tailed them, a bit farther behind.

Akane and Shiromi walked by, chatting about something likely not very important. The delinquents quieted down as they passed, which Ayano learned that they did whenever a student council member passed them by.

Outside of brief glares their way, neither party showed much of a reaction. That is, until Ayano caught Akane looking their way subtly. Rather than looking as uptight as she did near Ayano, she opened her eyes a bit to study the delinquents a bit. It wasn’t often that Akane bothered opening her eyes, unless it was in a serious situation.

Something that caught Ayano’s attention, though, was Hokuto. The delinquent, who usually wore purple, briefly looked Akane’s way as she opened her eyes. He smirked slyly at Akane with a quick wink, before returning to pretending to brood like his other fellow delinquents.

This seemed to cause some form of sigh to exit Akane, and with a tired look, she parted ways with Shiromi. Guys flirting wasn’t too rare, and Akane’s reaction didn’t exactly hint at anything romantic, but it was the most tame reaction she’d had with anyone. Especially considering she seemed more relaxed in reaction to whatever it was Hokuto had done, and less so with Horo, who was a rule-abiding student.

It likely wasn’t as romantic as Kokoro was hoping, but it certainly was something that she could use to form some sort of rumor. When it came to the student council, each conversation and reaction mattered for people as gossip-obsessed as the gyarus.

__

Classes had started before Ayano could reach Hoshiko, so the time was now 1pm. When Ayano had reached Hoshiko, she was just walking out of the changing rooms in her bathing suit. She immediately spotted Ayano and smiled. “Ah, the famous Yan-Chan. I’ve heard a lot about you.” She chuckles lightheartedly, although her smile doesn’t exactly portray the same.

“Um.. yes.” Ayano nods, folding her hands in front of her. “If I can interrupt… is there any particular task you want me to help you with at the moment?” She asks, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Hm…” Hoshiko hummed in thought, lifting up her hands to undo her ponytail. This allowed her hair to fall down to her elbows as she hummed in thought. “..well, since you’re asking… I can think of one thing that I’ve been struggling with as of recently…” She reaches a hand back to allow her curled hair to loosen up.

Languidly, Hoshiko flicks a piece of hair back behind her and raises a hand to her chin in thought. “It’s something I’ve been struggling with a lot. You see, there’s this girl. She’s not very well known around the school because she’s scared of being harassed.” She frowns, a sympathetic look on her face. “I’d like to learn a bit more about her, maybe help her socialize more, but she’s always hiding somewhere.”

“Who is she?” Ayano asks, folding her arms, “I can look for her if you want.”

Hoshiko grins, “Perfect! I was hoping you’d say that.” She holds up her phone, with a picture that looks to be already prepared on the screen. The girl she showed was Horuda Puresu, which was somewhat expected. If not her, it was likely going to be Kuu, Homu, or one of the girls from the occult club. Just based on the information that they’re usually alone.

The picture itself was a curious one. She looked nervous- more nervous than usual. More pale, more sweaty than usual, but she still had that same smile on her face. The picture seemed to be taken in the bathroom based on the wall texture and the stall peeking out from the corner of the picture.

“Horuda. I know of her.” Ayano says. “I’ll search for her and tell you if I find her.”

“Much appreciated, Ayano. And.. to help eliminate some places…” Hoshiko holds up her hand, counting with each thing she names. “I can never find her in any of the bathrooms, the rooftop, or the spare rooms of the school. …and by spare rooms I mean outside of the club rooms and classrooms.”

Ayano nods. “I’ve got it. I’ll search… outside, then, I suppose.” She decides, looking around the space.

“Perfect. Tell me once you’ve found her!” Hoshiko flashes a charming smile Ayano’s way before walking past her to head to the pool area to sunbathe. __

Truth be told, Ayano had no idea where Horuda could be. After she’d parted ways with Hoshiko, her first thought was to check behind the auditorium, although she found no one but a regularly sulking Lorelai. Based on his irritated glare, it was wise of her to flee while she had the chance.

Afterwards, she checked the gardening club and found nothing. She checked inside the gymnasium, the zen gardens, and even in the pump room. Still, Horuda remained hidden. While she was looking, she happened to run across Amise. She’d nearly bumped into her, and likely would have had Amise herself not stopped in her tracks.

“Ayano. You look like you’re looking for something.” She says, frowning and crossing her arms suspiciously.

Ayano wasn’t entirely sure what had changed recently, but Amise’s attitude towards her had become a bit more stale. Rather than being as charming and charismatic as usual, she’d completely changed to not putting up an act at all around Ayano. Ayano wasn’t quite sure if this was her being more honest about her personality or her being more cold towards Ayano.

“I’m looking for Horuda.” Ayano replies, turning to Amise. “You two are friends, right? Where can I find her?” She asks, tilting her head to the side a bit.

Amise furrowed her eyebrows. “That’s something I’m not willing to tell you.” Before Ayano could ask why, Amise continued. “Before you ask, there are certain things I'm allowed to refuse. Even if I am your labeled ally according to Info-Chan, I’m not bound to whatever it is you order.” She sighs, “Although, I suppose that would feel quite nice compared to listening to Info-Chan’s every wish.”

“Are there no certain deals that I can crack with you, then?” Ayano asks, folding her arms.

“Not in this situation. …what do you need with Horuda, anyway?” Amise returns Ayano’s question immediately with one of her own.

Stubbornly, Ayano replies. “I’d be willing to swap that information with Horuda’s location.”

“Touche.” Amise doesn’t seemed too bothered by Ayano’s lack of willingness to reply. If anything, she feels relieved that Ayano accepts that she won’t be giving her information.

Unfortunately for Amise, her phone vibrates. Considering the sour expression that crosses Amise’s face briefly, followed by an irritated sigh, she was just unpleasantly visited by their least favorite informant. “...she’s in the hedge maze.” She folds her arms.

“Did… Info-Chan make you say that?” Ayano asked.

Amise nods, her expression still one of irritation. Frankly, Ayano wasn’t under the impression that Amise was able to be forced by Info-Chan to do anything. That just meant that she likely had some sort of blackmail held against Amise. Getting a hold of that could do Ayano wonders…

“I can’t hold Info-Chan accountable for her BS, so I’ll hold you accountable instead.” Amise wags a finger at Amise. “Horuda Puresu is off of your list of victims, do you hear me?” She gives Ayano a nasty look. “Let me find one plucked hair from her head by your hand and I will not be happy.”

Ayano averts her gaze. “She shouldn’t get in the way, anyway.” She rationalizes, mainly to herself. She nods briefly. “I get it.” She says, not allowing Amise to add anything to that deal before she heads to the hedge maze, at least to check.

After Ayano checked to make sure that Amise’s statement was true, she went to class. The gyaru’s were likely busy keeping up their tan, and lunchtime was nearly finished, so she decided to inform them of their completed tasks later.

__

One by one, Ayano listed off what her searches had led to for each girl. “Hashiko, Tokuko said that she was going to talk to you about paying you for her stay. Hana, Kokona seems to still trust Riku, but she is very hesitant about their relationship now. Kokoro, the most unique reaction I saw from Akane to any male was Hokuto, one of the delinquents, after he winked at her. And, Hoshiko, I learned that Horuda hangs out in the hedge maze during lunchtime.” She exhales, putting her hands on her hips. “I… hope this is satisfactory.”

“Hell yeah, it is!” Hana slammed her hand onto Ayano’s back, shocking her a bit.

Kokoro blushes, putting her hands to her cheeks. “Hokuto… So does a student council member have… a relationship with a delinquent..?”

Musume gaped, pulling out her phone immediately. “That is it! That’s exactly the kind of gossip I want!!” She nearly squealed.

As the other four gyarus continue chatting up a storm, Hoshiko pats Ayano on the shoulder, nodding her head towards the exit of the bathroom.

“Good job completing all of our favors! I guess I owe you a favor or two after this, huh?” Hoshiko grinned, giggling lightly. “I actually have something to offer right now. I’m not sure if you like gossip as much as we do, but here’s a little piece of gossip I got a hold of recently.”

Hoshiko pulls out her phone and sends Ayano a message instead of saying it out loud. Ayano reads the message.

Hoshiko: You can get away with acting out if you blame it on the delinquents! :O

Ayano raises her eyebrows in interest and Hoshiko only giggles. She pulls a finger over her lips with a wink and says. “The guidance counselor has history with those boys, so keep that in mind if you ever get in trouble!”

“...I’ll keep this in mind. Thank you, Hoshiko.” Ayano nods to her, her gaze wandering back down to the text message.

“Mhm. Consider that a beta favor for now.” Hoshiko winks again. “If you ever need something else we can provide, make sure to get in contact. Mwa!” Hoshiko sends her an air kiss and trots back into the bathroom to the other chit-chattering young ladies.

Info-Chan wasn’t currently nagging Ayano, but part of what she said was right. The connection with the gyarus may prove to be incredibly beneficial. Of course, time will tell, but that’s a time Ayano finds herself willing to wait for, if in the end, the gyarus’ information can get her out of serious trouble.

[frankenjoly]

I'll rest assured

2x1 in atsulucy aka a couple drabbles i made for a fanweek on twt that got poofed out of existence

“unrequited” feelings

“Huh… can I ask you about something?” Lucy started out, almost stuttering, and it seemed crystal clear what her question was about. At least for Yosano.

There was no way it was about a medical issue, since her last shot had been just taken care of barely a couple of minutes ago, and the doctor had barely let the girl’s arm go so she could apply pressure over the spot by herself. In fact, the small bit of cotton used for it had been on her hand instead of Lucy’s only a second ago. So, unless there was something she hadn’t deemed appropriate to bring up beforehand, which was unlikely… it could only be one thing.

Crushes troubles.

“Of course, shoot.” Yosano lost no time in answering, discarding the needle she had just used while talking.

“It’s about… well, Atsushi.” And, there it was. “Do you think… he likes me? Like, y’know, like me like that.”

“Fearing it might be unrequited, aren’t you?” Once the needle was properly secured and thrown away, the doctor also got rid of the disposable gloves she had been using and made them follow the same fate said needle had met.

“Basically, yeah.” 

Her snorting at the affirmative response wasn’t meant to mock Lucy, but to show how unlikely Akiko found the mere idea. And fortunately, it seemed the younger of the two picked it up instantly. Good thing, really. Someone had to be the perceptive one in that relationship, and despite loving the kid quite a bit, she knew very well that might not be Atsushi. Not yet, at least.

“Ah, don’t worry about that.” Now in the middle of changing into the usual pair of gloves she used to wear just as accessories, Yosano waved as a way to try and wipe Lucy’s fears away. “It’s just that, as our dear Ranpo-san said once, he still needs to get a bit of… speed, when it comes to noticing this kinda stuff.”

“Really?”

“I mean, have you seen him?” Such a comment made the redhead laugh, and she couldn’t help but smirk triumphantly. Of course it was all going to be okay, and the doctor had no doubt it would be proven true sooner rather than later.

(Also on ao3.)

marks

“Penny for your thoughts?” 

“I’d rather have that in yen, y’know.” When Atsushi’s eyes met Lucy, she was already sticking her tongue out at him as an answer to that comment. Deserved, though.

“Very funny.” She even rolled her eyes and, had they been physically closer to each other, something was telling him Lucy would have also pinched him. Not like he would complain, anyway. “Now to the point, what’s on your mind?”

“Alright, alright. You ever thought about getting tattoos? ‘Cause I sometimes do.”

Lucy then moved from her previous position, from laying in bed to sitting cross-legged over it, face resting between her palms and staring at him with more than evident curiosity. There was no need for her to say more, since Atsushi instantly picked up how she was asking him to elaborate.

“I mean, it’s not like I’ve given too much thought to what it would be, but… I’m pretty sure when it comes to the place?” He shrugged, pointing at the burnt scars on his side. “It’s gonna take time, and money I don’t have yet, and all that stuff. But, y’know…”

“It could look cool, yeah.” Lucy patted the spot right beside her, with yet another wordless request Atsushi instantly obliged too.

Offering her a smile, he returned to the bed, letting himself fall over it with not too much force, and taking position on the aforementioned spot while placing his head on her lap.

“I accept ideas, by the way.”

“Ah, that makes two of us.” She giggled, poking Atsushi’s nose. “Y’know, ‘cause I think I might do that too.” Her hand then moved up, running through his hair. “Like, maybe they won’t get completely covered and so. But you can definitely do pretty neat stuff.”

“Like with our lives.” Atsushi smiled again, both at the thought and Lucy’s gestures.

“Like with our lives.” She repeated, nodding along with those words.

(Also on ao3.)

[asterkiss]

I initially wrote this for one of the prompts in my inbox before realising there was an additional request which makes this one wrong lol. So have an extra thing written by accident with Wendy and Bill hanging out together (sort of) where Wendy is the voice of reason (mostly).

-HOBBIES

'Why are you hiding behind the counter?’

‘I’m not hiding.’

Wendy stared at the former-demon-turned-kinda-good seated behind the shop till with a wild look in his eye. Then again, he usually had a wild look of some sort. She’d had enough dealings with him by now to know this kind of expression was a different one than usual but that was it.

‘...Uh huh,’ she replied flatly. ‘Well scoot, you’re in my spot. Unless you plan on taking this shift?’ Hm, might be funny to watch him trying to work in the Shack shop. Sure, it would lose them business and get Stan riled up but it’d be hilarious.

He made a face but eventually obliged. In the beginning he’d tried messing with her like he did with everyone, but when she refused to bite any bait he offered the guy eventually got bored and left her alone most of the time. If only Dipper could learn to do the same.

Peering around the cashier desk, he looked across the room with wariness before eventually standing and shifting aside. Wendy moved forward and sat down on the chair, pulling out her magazine and some bubble gum to pass the time.

Bill remained standing there, eyes focused on the door leading into the living room of the Shack.

Turning a page, she spoke. ‘She went out.’

‘Huh?’

‘Mabel,’ she clarified, without missing a beat. ‘She headed into town ten minutes ago to meet her pals.’

There was silence for a moment, before he responded. ‘So what? I don’t care.’

A shrug. ‘I didn’t say you did, dude.’

He grunted, but didn’t leave. Jeez. She didn’t want to engage with him but the redhead felt he wasn’t gonna leave until she did. It was hard to relax when there was a sulking nuisance next to you tapping his foot. He reminded her of her brothers when they were throwing a tantrum.

‘Mabel’s mad at you, huh?’ she asked dryly, finally letting her gaze shift towards him.

His head snapped around at that, body tensing. After a moment his face twisted. ‘She’s annoying, is what she is,’ he spat. ‘Don’t be fooled by the stickers and smiles, beneath it lays a brat!’ He threw his arms in the air in exaggeration, looking annoyed.

‘So, you did something, huh?’

‘Of course not!’

Wendy continued to stare at him as she began to blow a bubble. They kept eye contact as the pink, gooey orb grew larger and larger between them.

Eventually, it popped.

And so did he.

‘Okay, fine!’ he spat. ‘I might have called her friends some unpleasant names and called her selfish and stupid, but that’s it! She’s the one who kicked me in the leg and dumped pasta on my head!’ Huh, so that’s what she could see remnants of in his hair. Funny.

The older girl snorted. ‘Dude, I know Mabel isn’t your normal everyday girl but even with her you gotta have more tact than that. Quit being a raging jealous asshole already and give her some space.’

He glared at her. It had no effect.

She leaned closer, jabbing a finger in his direction. ‘You need to stop clinging to her so much. Mabel doesn’t have to hang out with only you, y’know? She has other friends and things going on in her life.’

His face soured, lips pressing tightly into a grimace.

‘I get it, you think she’s gonna stop chilling with you to go hang out with other people instead — I know I would. But, Mabel’s built different and seems to like you for some weird reason so just trust her, alright? If you keep suffocating her she’s gonna get mad for real and then she will end up leaving your ass.’

She raised an eyebrow pointedly as she finished her lecture. Wow, it really did feel like she was scolding one of her kid brothers here. Bill even had the same sulky face as he averted his gaze, looking as if he’d tasted something unpleasant.

Satisfied she’d done her part, the redhead returned to her magazine, trying to read the latest tips of hot flannel fashion. She can’t have read more than a paragraph of the article however when he spoke up.

‘So, what am I supposed to do instead?’

She raised her head, to find him staring at her expectantly. ‘What?’

‘If I’m meant to leave Shooting Star alone, what else is there to do in this stupid hick town?’ A pause and he looked away in consideration. ‘I suppose I could prank Pine Tree, although everyone mad when I took it too far last time. How was I supposed to know bleach was lethal for humans in those doses?’ The smirk he was failing to hide said he did know. Asshole.

‘Do you seriously not know what to do when Mabel’s away? What do you normally do when she’s out of the house?’

A shrug. ‘Wait for her to come back.’

‘That’s sad and cringey. Go find a hobby.’

‘My hobbies are rather vindictive in nature and involve screaming.’

Wendy stared at him for several seconds. 'Seriously, how does she deal with you? I don’t get it.’

Then again, Wendy had seen them interact and it was obvious he acted slightly different around her. More mellowed out. Still annoying though.

In that moment, her phone buzzed off. Yanking it out of her jeans, Wendy found the group chat going off.

NATE: principal ratted me out to parents over my prank and in the shits with them now :/ NATE: cant hang this weekend LEE: bro wtf TAMBRY: classic LEE: god i hate that dude LEE: we should just steal his car at night and wreck it!! TAMBRY: right. that’s totally gonna end well for you...

Wendy rolled her eyes at their antics. As if. Who’d be gutsy enough to actually steal the principal’s car?

....

Wait a second.

Wendy turned in her seat, cast Bill a glance as she regarded him in a new light. ‘Hey, if you want to give Mabel some space, how bout you come hang out with my group tonight?’

He immediately made a face. ‘I would rather be covered in shit and eaten alive by cockroaches.'

‘You get to steal a car and drive it into a lake.’

The demon paused at that. He regarded her with scrutiny for a moment, trying to figure out if she was messing with him. Then, eventually:

‘For real?’

‘Super real.’

His face stretched into a slow grin. ‘Count me in, Red.’

And that's how Wendy and Bill ended up hanging out for the first time.

Also, how they ended up being arrested.

[roseworth]

“I think… everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves.” for the prompt list with Tim and Jason? (Of course including anyone else you want!)

send me a prompt \o/

(side note this takes place in my fantasy world where Teen Titans #29 never happened xoxo)

--

In all honesty, Tim should’ve seen this coming.

He had known that Jason was alive again, but he didn’t think that he would ever run into him. Jason didn’t even know Tim before he died, so he (hopefully) wouldn’t have an issue with him. 

Tim’s current philosophy was “stay out of his hair and maybe he won’t think too hard about how you replaced him,” and it was working pretty well so far. 

Of course, nothing ever goes right for long.

He should’ve known that the Red Hood would be working on the kidnapping case in Crime Alley, should’ve realized that they would both quickly come to the same conclusions. They were trained by the same detective, after all.

Tim had traced the kidnappings back to one location and ended up at a headquarters full of goons, just the way things usually go in his profession. He had already started to jump down to attack when he heard a thump on the other side of the room.

And looked over to see Red Hood drop down.

In the second before he landed, he weighed the pros and cons of grappling back up and running away, letting Hood handle it. But he was already there, and leaving now wouldn’t help anyone.

As soon as he landed, Jason’s head snapped over to look at him. “Robin.”

“Hey.”

Not the most eloquent first words to his predecessor, but the goons were starting to yell and attack them, so they didn’t exactly have time for pleasantries. “Stay nonlethal, Hood,” Tim told him.

“Stay nonlethal, Hood,” Jason mimicked in a high-pitched voice, shooting a goon in the face. Tim winced. 

As much as he hated it, he couldn’t fight Jason and the goons, not to mention the fact that Jason was twice his size and probably knew most of his moves. So, he left the fight for another day, and tried to knock down as many goons as he could on his own so Hood would have less to kill.

They worked strangely well together. They had both gone through Robin training, so they could each predict each other’s moves as they made them. And Tim would never tell him, but he couldn’t help but notice that Jason fought a lot like Batman. Just much more lethal. 

Tim breathed heavily as he took his last goon down, and watched as Jason hit his last one in the back of the head with his gun to knock him out. 

Jason holstered his gun without looking back at Tim. Tim took it as a victory that Jason didn’t start attacking him, then chose to push on.

He cleared his throat. “Hi. I’m Tim,” he greeted, dragging his hand down his shirt to wipe some of the blood off, then sticking it forward for a handshake. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Jason stared at his hand for a moment, not making any effort to reciprocate. “Okay.”

“It’s, uh, it’s crazy that you’re… alive. That’s pretty sweet.”

Jason didn’t respond. Tim shifted uncomfortably. 

“So, how’s… um... crime?”

Jason stared at him for another second. “We don’t need to small talk, Tim.”

“I know, I just… you know.”

“No, I don’t think I do.”

Tim ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. “I mean, I used to see Batman and Robin in the papers all the time,” he said. “And, y’know, I’ve met Nightwing, and I guess I’m Robin myself now, but I just… it’s cool to meet you.”

Honestly, Tim had gotten used to his place in Jason’s shadow. When he first started training, it was always about what Jason would do, and whether or not he should’ve done it. He had lost count of the number of times Bruce had called him Jason’s name when he first put on the costume.

Tim used to feel like Bruce loved Jason so much that after he died, Bruce didn’t know how to love anyone anymore. He had clearly been trying to keep Tim at a distance for a while. It wasn’t until over a year into training that he really felt like Bruce cared about him as anything more than a sidekick. 

So he lived up to the expectations that were never there before, and tried to continue Jason’s legacy while not failing the way he had.

In a way, he wanted to get Jason’s stamp of approval. He would never say it out loud, but if Jason would tell him he did it, that he carried on the name well, it was all he needed. But with the way Jason is now… well, he didn’t think he was going to get that gold star anytime soon.

“Alright, Robin,” Jason said, folding his arms. “Let me ask you something: What do you know about me?”

It was a trap. Tim could see that from a mile away. He just wasn’t exactly sure what the trap was.

“Um… you were Robin. And you died.”

“What else?”

“You, uh, you rushed in early, and Joker… you know.” Tim made a half-hearted swinging motion with his hand, then immediately regretted it and pulled his hand down as fast as he could with an apologetic cringe. 

“Uh-huh,” Jason responded. “You know what’s funny? I don’t regret anything I did that day. I was helping someone in danger, and I did everything right, and still got killed. That’s the part that Bruce doesn’t want to talk about.”

“That’s part of the job, I guess. It’s not doing something wrong that kills you, it’s doing what’s right,” Tim said with a slight shrug. “I mean, look at Green Arrow and Superman. They were saving the world, and still died because of it.”

“So, I didn’t save the world, I just tried and failed to save one person,” he challenged. “Does that mean I did it wrong?”

“No–”

“I died, I came back, but I wasn’t still a hero. So I’m not a lot like Green Arrow or Superman, right?”

Tim frowned. “You can still be a hero if you wanted to.”

“But I don’t want to. Does that make you better than me?”

This time Jason wasn’t even trying to hide the trap. It was the verbal equivalent of a giant red X painted on the ground with an anvil hanging overhead. Tim wasn’t going to walk into it. 

“I think... everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves,” he said.

“And?”

“And no one is ever just good or bad, it’s about the opportunities they’re given.”

“I had plenty of ‘opportunities’ to be good,” Jason replied. “I was in your pixie boots a few years ago, and now I’m not. What do you think it says about me?”

“It means there’s good in you,” he answered earnestly.

Jason just snorted. “Cute,” he said, unfolding his arms. “Now, a little moral conundrum, if you will. Do you think that Joker isn’t good or bad? Was it just about his opportunities?”

“That’s not our choice to make.”

Jason gave a full-bodied laugh to that. “You’re like a mini Batman, aren’t you?”

Tim frowned. “I’m not as much like him as you think.”

“And yet, you keep reciting his mantras,” Jason said, walking toward the door. “You’re a good Robin, Timmy. Keep that ‘sir, yes sir’ thing going and you might even live ‘til college.”

Jason left, and Tim watched as he went. “I’m not Batman,” Tim grumbled to himself, looking at the unconscious bodies lying amongst the dead ones. “I’m not.”