#by the end of the first class people r jumping up and sprinting to offer to do their scenes

[iloveyoumorethansoup]

Ok so this week has been crazy busy but also one of my professors was out this week and instead of canceling we had two other professors step in (one for each class) and it was. So much more beneficial. Like incredibly so. My acting class got together and we’re like so like is it just me or do we all wish this guy was permanent?

[dameronology]

love in the time of PTA meetings {marcus moreno} - 1/5

summary: despite what pinterest shows, being in a parent in the twenty first century is hard; especially a single parent. your kid takes up your entire life and the idea of finding a fairy tale is laughable - that is until you finally attend a p.t.a meeting and cross paths with a certain marcus moreno.  {series masterlist}

warnings: i do not have children. i don’t know children work. this written entirely what i have seen them do in the sims 4. also, swearing. 

- jazz

Leaving work early was never a good look.

Leaving work early because your child had managed to set fire to a trash can was...well, it was something else entirely.

After rushing out of a very important meeting and parking your car in a did-you-park-it-or-crash-it manner, you were sprinting across the play ground and towards the front entrance. Having given up half way through, you’d kicked your stupidly high heels off and held them in one hand, trying to organise your slightly disheveled hair as you entered the building. Most parents might have been nervous to collect their kid after a call from the principle, but this was a regular Tuesday for you. Jack was a good kid, perhaps just a little...misguided. In your books, it was impressive that a five year old had managed to discover pyrotechnics, though you sensed the school might have been a little less lenient about it. 

‘Hey!’ You greeted the principle with a smile as you breezed through the doors. 

Jack was in a chair by the front desk, a gleeful look on his face when he saw you. As far as he knew or cared, he got to go home early and watch Paw Patrol for the rest of the day. 

‘Afternoon.’ He replied. ‘You’re lucky it was only a phone call.’

‘I know, I know.’ You grumbled. ‘I’m sorry. He’s...adventurous-’

‘ - he singed off his class mate’s eyebrows!’ The principle cut you off. ‘Given Monday’s biting incident, I see it fit that Jack take the rest of the week off.’

‘Right.’ You sighed. ‘Thank you. And sorry again.’

‘I’ll email you a list of...behavioural specialists.’ He muttered.

‘There’s nothing wrong with my kid. He’s just...curious.’ You insisted. ‘C’mon, buddy. Let’s go home.’

Jack sprung up from the chair, taking your hand in his and skipping out the door beside you. Parenting had been hard enough when you’d been married, and even harder now that his dad was out of the picture. It meant that everything fell on your shoulders; school runs, packed lunches, earning money, staying sane. You barely found the time to sleep, let alone go to soccer matches or take him to extra curricular activities. It meant that the stay-at-home mums - the ones who drove minivans and had specified walking shoes and shared memes about parenting on Facebook - muttered about you. 

I heard Jack’s mum couldn’t make it to the parent-teacher association meeting because there was a divorce hearing. 

Look at the kid’s lunch! Oh the saturated fat, the horror!

What do you MEAN your five year old isn’t vegan?!

Frankly, you wanted to whack them over the head with their own damn vision boards. So what if your kid was a little rough around the edges? He’d discovered fire today! If it had been in the stone ages, that would have been impressive. The kind of thing that would have earned him a McDonald’s, had the fast food chain been around at the dawn of time. With the way things were going, paired with the fact you knew your fridge was empty, it looked like you were heading for a Happy Meal anyway. 

‘So do I get all week off?’ Jack peered up at you, tugging on your arm.

‘Yup, all week.’ You sighed. ‘But it’s not a reward, okay? It’s...’

You stopped in your tracks when you saw Marcus Moreno’s car pull up in the lot. Naturally, it was expensive and electric and perfectly between the white lines. He gave your less-than-stellar parking a frown as he breezed by - not that you noticed. Frankly, you were too busy admiring him. You saw his face more on the news than you did in person, but he was beautiful. Talk, dark, handsome and mysterious, but also...friendly and approachable. He’d held the door open for you once two years ago and that had been it for you. There had been whispers about the fact he was a widow, though you’d tried not to pay attention to them. It wasn’t anyone’s damn business. You knew he was a good dad; you’d had the chance to meet Missy when Jack had got his head stuck between the playground fence and she’d helped pull him out. She was sweet and well-behaved and clearly well brought up. Could you say the same for your own kid? Eh, parenting was all trial and error. 

‘It’s what?’ Your son’s voice dragged you back to reality. ‘Am in trouble?’

‘What?!’ You jumped at the question. ‘No, I just...’

‘Because Principle Eikner said I’d done something bad.’

A small sigh escaped your mouth; placing his backpack on the ground, you knelt down to his height, gently placing your hands on his shoulder. ‘You haven’t done anything wrong, little man. We're just gonna take a few days out to talk about the rules and what it means to do the right thing, okay?’

‘Dad always said not to listen to the rules.’

‘Your dad said a lot of things.’ You reminded him. You stood back up, offering your hand to him. ‘Let’s go home.’

After a few minutes of bartering and the promise of a McDonald’s, you finally made your way back to the car, now with Jack attached to your back. If giving him a piggy back ride meant getting home quicker, it was a price you were willing to pay, especially since the other mums were starting to arrive to pick up their kids. The parking lot was slowly filling up with minivans - compared to your decade-old Honda Civic. It had seen better days, and one too many run ins with other cars and parking lot bollards. Still, it got the job done. 

‘Oh, I’m so glad to see you!’ You froze in your tracks again. This time, it wasn’t because of Marcus Moreno’s otherworldly presence, but rather due to the sound of the resident soccer mum. 

‘Carol.’ You turned around to face her (slowly, given the five year old on your back) with a forced smile on your face. ‘Hi.’

‘I take it you’re here for the parent-teacher’s association meeting?’ She gave you a phoney grin, handing you a leaflet. ‘I know you couldn’t make the last one, because of your...d-i-v-o-r-c-e hearings.’ 

‘I can spell!’ Jack chirped from behind you.

‘It’s okay, buddy.’ You reached up to ruffle his hair, smile not faltering. ‘But yeah, you’re right. And what about it?’

‘Nothing.’ Carol quickly shook her head. ‘So you are coming to this one? It starts in ten minutes.’

Truth be told, you’d no idea there was even a meeting tonight. You usually ignored the damn things until the news letter came out, and then you could read it from the comfort of your sofa with a glass of wine. There was nothing you stopping going tonight, aside from your intense hatred for them. 

‘I wanna get home and watch South Park!’ Jack chirped from behind you.

‘I don’t - I mean...I don’t let my five year old watch South Park.’ You said. ‘He walked in on me watching it one time and...point is, yes, I’m here for the meeting!’

‘No, you’re not-’

‘- Jack, just sssh!’ 

Carol blinked in surprise, but her phoney smile returned a moment later. ‘Excellent! I’ll see you inside.’

You inwardly groaned. Why had you just done that? You fucking despised sitting in a stuffy gym for the better part of an hour, listening to the perfect mums bang on about healthy eating and limiting their kids’ internet time. You already questioned your parenting skills as it was - the meetings only made it worst. You didn’t assimilate into that crowd; they were all married, with big houses out in the ‘burbs and bank accounts that could cover their kids ever-expanding interests and activities. Meanwhile, you were living on one wage and your two-bedroom apartment had a balcony, not a back garden. If Jack wanted to go on a field trip, you usually had to save up for months. You didn’t know if you envied the other mums’ lives, but you certainly weren’t jealous of how they viewed working mums and single parents. 

‘That lady is mean.’ Jack murmured from your shoulders.

‘Yeah buddy, I know.’ You nodded. ‘Guess we’re going back to school.’

--

Lugging the kid and his bag back up the school yard and towards the building was exhausting - at least it was your work out for the week done. By the time you’d reached the gym and placed Jack back on the ground, your shoulders were aching and you were disappointed to see that the refreshments didn’t have any alcohol. Was it too late to sneak out? The fire exit was right there and-

‘- shame this thing doesn’t have any wine, huh?’ A man was stood next to you, arms folded across his chest as he stared at the luke-warm jug of coffee on the table ahead. 

Tall, dark hair, stubble and with a faint hint of expensive aftershave you pretended not to notice? Hello, Marcus Moreno. Goodbye, ability to form coherent sentences.

You blinked in surprise. ‘Yeah. I could do with a glass. Or ten.’

‘So you hate these things too, huh?’ He smiled. 

‘With a passion.’ You returned the gesture. ‘I’m only here because Carol and her Karen Committee kept muttering about me not being at the last one.’

‘Yeah, same here. I was attending an emergency meeting about nuclear arms in Vienna, but I guess this is more important.’

‘I was...’ in court, signing documents to end my marriage, ‘otherwise occupied too.’

Marcus nodded in understanding. ‘Kids alone are a full time job, huh? ‘Specially when you’re the only one who’s running around after them.’

He knew about your situation and in return, figured that you knew about his. He’d heard the whispers about the divorce and presumed that the loss of his wife had been subject to similar gossip. The environment amongst the parents was shockingly similar to high school and things got around pretty quickly. You both hated it, especially given the nature of both your circumstances; death and separation was not something other people should have been talking about. Especially when you all you wanted to do was mind your own business and raise your damn (chaotic) kid.

‘Yeah, tell me about it.’ You replied. ‘My kid is like...a baby crackhead, as well. He’s been sent home twice this week and it’s only Wednesday.’

‘Oh, Jack’s your kid?’

You let out a groan, holding your face in your hands. ‘Yeah. Famously so, apparently.’

‘No, it’s not a bad thing!’ Marcus chuckled, pulling your hands away. ‘He played a brilliant baby Jesus in the Nativity last year.’

‘Aside from when he bit one of the three wise men, yeah.’ You could feel your cheeks heating up. ‘Missy actually helped him once. She seems really...not at all like my child. Which is good.’

‘She told me about the fence incident.’ He nodded. ‘May I ask why he was shoving his head out of the school gates?’

‘He saw an interesting looking slug.’ You replied.

Your conversation was interrupted by Carol, who had now climbed up on stage. She tapped the microphone and cleared her throat, gesturing to everyone to sit down so that the meeting could start. You wanted to curse her. Whatever giddy conversation you were having with Marcus was a thousand times more interesting than the PTA. At least you could revel in the fact he didn’t want to be here either.

‘Shall we?’ Marcus gestured to two empty seats a few rows back.

‘I mean, it’s an aisle seat, which is good for a quick escape if Jack decides to be Jack,’ you nodded in agreement. ‘Hey kid, c’mon!’

Turning away from the other kids, Jack sprinted towards you, hurling himself into your lap as he sat down. You let out an oof! and a groan. He wasn’t as light as he used to be a toddler. He stayed still for a moment, tiny hands clasping yours, before he realised who you were sat next to. The kids’ impression of Marcus was not quite the same as yours - he’d only seen him on TV, with the likes of all the heroes. You couldn’t remember their names (but in your defence, they were kind of ridiculous). 

‘Are you a superhero?’ He reached up, poking Marcus in the cheek. 

‘Jack!’ You hissed. ‘You can’t-’

‘- yeah, buddy.’ Marcus ruffled his hair. ‘But it’s my day off today, so I’m doing all this boring stuff instead.’

‘Can you fly? Do you know Miracle Guy? Have you fought aliens? Do you have a super suit? Do you know Iron Man? Wait! Can I be a superhero?!’

‘No, yes, yes, no, no and maybe when you’re older.’ He counted the questions off on his fingers. ‘But for now we have to keep quiet for the meeting. That would make you a superhero.’

--

You wanted to marry Marcus Moreno.

Seriously, you wanted to marry him.

His little comment had kept Jack quiet the entire meeting. And it was a long fucking meeting indeed. The last time he’d shut up for that long was...probably before he learnt to talk. You loved he was full of curiosity and questions, but he didn’t always understand that there was a time and a place. At least now you knew what would shut him up. 

‘How does Miracle Guy fly? Is Batman real? Are you rich? Do you know Wonder Woman? How does her lasso of truth work?’

‘Jack.’ You groaned. 

You were walking out of the school now and down towards the car park. Missy was in tow, tapping away on her phone, whilst Jack trotted alongside you and Marcus. He’d been spewing questions at the poor man pretty much since the meeting had ended - and yet, he seemed happy to answer them. Excited, even. It was clear that he loved his job.

‘You gotta give Mr Moreno a break, little man.’ You said.

‘Hey, just Marcus is fine.’ He replied. 

‘Hey Just Marcus, I’m dad.’ Missy chimed from beside you, not even looking up from her phone. It was...impressive, actually.

‘I already regret buying her that.’ Marcus murmured. 

The two of you eventually reached your cars. The Civic was still terribly parked across two spaces - you were a good driver, you’d just been in a rush. The dents and scrapes all over the doors and bumper implied other wise but hey, we move. You had a thousand and one other things to save up before a new car. Putting down the deposit on a house - one you could actually own, maybe a little further out from the city - was your number one concern. Paying off your divorce attorney came after that. 

‘It was nice to meet you properly.’ You pulled your keys out your back, tugging four empty packets of crisps and three bags of gummy worms with it. 

‘I’m not done asking questions-’

‘- you gotta let Marcus go, JJ.’ You peered down at Jack. ‘Sorry. He’s a little obsessed with the Heroics, but I guess you’ve worked that one out.’

‘Can I visit your base?’ He continued, ignoring you. 

Marcus knelt down to his height, a grin on his face. ‘I’ve got a free window tomorrow afternoon. You wanna come by? Your mum tells me you’re off school for the rest of the week.’ 

‘Really?’ You blinked in surprise. ‘I mean, I’m sure he would love that but I’m at work and he’s gotta go to my mum’s.’

Your mother also doubled up as your baby-sitter. In an ideal world, you would have been able to afford a professional, but this was very much the opposite of an ideal world. It was the real world, and you were constantly juggling a thousand things at once. Never in a million years would you have changed it but there were days when you wanted to cry. When it was 9PM and Jack suddenly chimed in that he had a science project due the next day, or when he refused to eat his dinner because his chicken nuggets weren’t shaped like dinosaurs and fed them to the dog. 

Marcus looked, on the surface at least, like he had his shit together. He worked in a public facing job and he always looked put together. His car wasn’t covered in bumps and bruises and the inside probably wasn’t covered in yoghurt like yours. He seemed as though he got more than five hours sleep a night and his child was well-behaved. 

‘I’m sure we can work something out.’ He said. ‘If you give me your number, I’ll give you a call.’

‘Uh, yeah! Of course.’ He’d asked for your number. No big deal. 

You switched phones - naturally, his was much more high-tech than yours - and entered in your respective numbers. The whole thing made you admire Marcus even more; he didn’t have to have your tyrannical son over to his office, yet he offered to. He’d clearly seen how excited he’d gotten and it seemed like he’d found it endearing. 

‘Are you okay?’ Marcus asked quietly, suddenly putting his hand on your shoulder. ‘You suddenly zoned out.’

‘Yeah, sorry.’ You rubbed your eyes. ‘I got about three hours sleep last night. I would blame it on the terrible twos but I guess it’s the...fucking awful fives?’

He quickly turned his attention to Jack, opening the car door for him. ‘You wanna hop in? I’m just gonna talk to your mom about you visiting, yeah?’

'There’s Cheetos in the centre console!’ You called after him.

Once Marcus had shut the door, he turned around to face you. There was silence for a minute, and he just kind of...stared at you. You couldn’t read his expression or quite figure it out, but he had an eyebrow quirked and a look of...concern? Sympathy?

‘I recognise that look. It’s the help! I’m suddenly a single parent to a five year old and it feels like the world is eating me alive look.’ He said. ‘It’s the exact same one I had six years ago. Missy was about Jack’s age when...when it became just me and her.’

You softly smiled. ‘It’s not been easy.’

‘You’re doing a good job, okay?’ He gave your shoulder a light squeeze. ‘And if you ever need him off your hands for a few hours, I’ll gladly give him a tour of our headquarters.’

‘Thank you. So much, for both of those things.’ Your eyes fell to the ground. ‘It’s a refreshing change from Carol and her Pinterest boards and half-assed invitations to potlucks.’

‘God, I can’t stand all that.’ Marcus chuckled. 

‘I gotta get back now because I can see that Jack is about smush Cheetos over my break pedals but I’ll...’ you trailed off, forcing yourself to look at him and smile. ‘I’ll call you.’

‘I look forward to it.’ 

[lovelivingmydreams]

A story by heroes and villains

Roman Castile: Passion and duty

Roman finds that his different passions seem to get in each other's way for now. But one day, he will find a balance.

“Ugh! I am done!” Roman exclaimed relieved, barely hearing the hissed warning from the librarian. Homework had been draining. Sure they’d had fun. Especially when it came to teasing Virgil about his pronunciation when they worked on Spanish.

Still Roman was ready to do literally anything else.

“Give me a sec, I have to finish this thing for English,” Virgil muttered absentmindedly. Roman knew that Virgil had rewritten that particular assignment two times already.

“Want me to read it trough for you?” Roman offered. Maybe hearing someone say that it was good would be enough to stop him from second guessing himself again.

“You don’t…”  Virgil started, somehow looking guilty.

“We’re here to help each other Virgil. If I didn’t want to help you I wouldn’t offer. I thrive on being of help to my friends. It’s no trouble,” he assured him. Virgil offered him a small smile and a nod in response. “Alright. You can read it when I’m done,” he allowed.

Roman took peace with that and opened his notebook to start doodling.

He had a few ideas for some more shirt designs. He’d enjoyed making his ‘coming out’ shirt. Then there was the Halloween party and every other social event this year has to offer where he had to slay. Junior year was a year to be noticed. Nothing wrong with putting down some ideas in advance. He just might come across the perfect outfit.

“Seems I’m not the only one who can draw up some clothes,” Virgil noted and Roman nearly fell of his chair when he jumped at his sudden proximity.

“Will you stop that!?” A thing about Virgil Roman had learned over the last week. He always seemed to pop up out of nowhere. One minute he’s gushing over the latest Disney trailer with André and suddenly Virgil stands next to him giving his two cents. It was terrifying.

“Not a chance,” Virgil chuckled as he picked up Roman’s sketches.

“This looks good though… You ever thought of becoming a fashion designer?”

Roman’s eyes widened. Making amazing outfits for a living? He could make a whole ‘wear your pride’ line and… Oh… Oh…!

“You are a genius!” Roman exclaimed. He’d had no idea what he wanted to do with his future, aside from hero work, but now the idea was brought up he wanted nothing else. Fashion designer, superhero, actor, maybe also Mr. Castile-Anker. That was a future he could look forward to!

Virgil chuckled. “It’s the least I can do. I sent in the designs like you said… I’m kind of excited.”

Roman beamed at him. “I’m sure next time you see DreamPrince on the news he’ll be wearing your design.” He was. He’d been shown some alternative designs by Manifestor and found Virgil’s drawing among them and immediately declared that that was the one.

As he’d told Roman, he’d changed a few things. He’d shown him on Wednesday to get his stamp of approval. Roman had gushed unapologetically, because he knew he’d have to tone it back a bit in front of the team.

Which had been hard.

Tonight he’d be taking it for a test run and he’d make sure to be seen by people and cameras.

“We’ll see,” Virgil smiled as he pushed his laptop with his assignment towards Roman.

Roman read it, dropping the subject without problem.

Virgil was easy to be friends with and he’d quickly learned to read his moods.

During lunch Virgil usually sat himself a little bit away from the group when he felt the need to just focus on his music and sketch a little before heading back to class. He was sarcastic, witty and could dish it out about as well as he could take it.

He was also very guarded emotionally, which Roman could understand, but whenever they were just the two  of them, Virgil opened up some more. He’d learned about Virgil’s soon to be stepdad and the admittedly adorable meet cute he’d been a part of.

He knew that Virgil’s dad had found them a new home and they’d moved in just that week.

He learned that Virgil was mature and his dad’s only wingman which they both agreed was super awkward but also hilarious.

Roman had joked that Virgil might end up being his father’s best man. But apparently there was a family friend ‘uncle Thomas’ who might get that position.

Virgil had gone out with another girl that week. Anna, who’d had English with him last year or something. Virgil had listened patiently, but relatively unaffected to her asking him out and arranged another semi-date at the music store for the next evening. Luckily nothing came from it again. Roman asked him why he kept saying yes to people he barely knew. Virgil explained that he had missed out on enough chances to befriend others. So the way he saw it he’d at the very least get a friend out of it. Roman kind of took comfort in that. It didn’t sound like Virgil was trying to get a girlfriend or a boyfriend right now. Just trying to socialize. Roman had reminded Virgil to watch his boundaries though. He wouldn’t want him to push himself out of fear he’d be missing out.

One more thing he learned about Virgil: he was overly critical of himself.

“Well, I think you can hand this in with confidence Virge,” Roman concluded as he returned Virgil’s laptop to him.

“So… I recall something about pizza? I’m starving!” he grinned.

Virgil chuckled and lead the way. Soon they were sat at a table with their orders and they were talking about everything and nothing. It was great. And Roman was so close to asking Virgil out but…

“So… Um… There’s this… Shoot wait a minute,” Roman got up and picked up his phone.

“Si mama…?” he asked curiously after seeing the caller ID.

“Darling. I know you are out with your friend. But I wanted you to know we’re headed to the university now,” his mother informed him. The university… Wait. “Que?” Roman looked at his watch incredulously. He was going to be late. Unless he left right now that is.

“Perdona! I’ll be there soon.” He hung up and dug through his wallet for some money.

“So sorry Virge! Time got away from us I’m afraid. I swear I intended to give you that ride… Can you call your dad… You know what? Just use the change to take the bus or something alright? My treat! I’ll call you later!” he promised as he tossed down a few bills that should more than cover the tab and the tip before rushing away.

How was it so late already?

He sprinted around a few corners and found a spot to get changed. BS had explained about the sciency stuff behind his costume change, but all Roman really cared about was that he basically had a magical boy transformation. Sure he could sit there and let the tech do its thing, but it was much more fun to make up a cool transformation sequence.

First, hair. He retrieved a lip balm like object and applied the substance to his hairline. He tucked the balm away and with one smooth movement of his hand he styled and recolored his hair. Instead of parted in the middle with regal waves it was flicked to the back, save for a single rebellious strand dangling down his forehead. Instead of a deep ash brown it was warm chestnut in color.

Then he took a tini metallic bead from a ring on his finger and tapped it against his temple, before he swiped his hand in front of his eyes as his mask placed itself securely on his face, changing his eye color in the process. He tapped his wrists together in front of his chest and brought them down with force, feeling his blazer and shirt get replaced by the skintight suit. He tapped his right heal against his left before taking another power position and finishing his costume change.

How cool was his life?!

He created a platform to lift himself to the roof and sprinted towards the university. The GTH was in it’s basement. As he made his way there he started to think over asking Virgil out again.

Maybe, now wasn’t the time. Virgil was clearly still upset about the whole Janus thing. He didn’t say it but Roman could tell. And he didn’t want Virgil to think for even a second that Roman’s crush was anything less than genuine, he had noticed that Virgil still had trouble believing their friendship was real at times. Not to mention that starting a relationship with someone while he was still figuring out how to balance out superhero and civilian life was clearly a bad idea. He couldn’t even ask him out without being interrupted by his other life.

So, he'd wait until he had his life in order and he was sure Virgil was ready. There was definitely some kind of connection between them. And Roman was willing to wait until the time was right…

He knew he was being a coward, but his friendship with Virgil was so fragile.

He entered the basement campus with little hassle and dropped of his bag in his personal locker, making sure to lock it. If anyone with ill intent got in here they could easily find out his identity with it's contents and Roman didn’t want his name out like that. Not yet at least.

He hurried to the training hall, threw open the doors and slid inside.

“Your prince has returned!” he exclaimed, doing a pretty good job at pretending he hadn't just sprinted the whole way there.

“Has he now?” BS asked, apparently in a bad mood today.

“Oh come now big S, the boy is just excited for his present! I would be too if I got a new costume made for me by a secret admirer,” Sweets offered with a calming hand on BS' shoulder. Sweets was an empath. He could share his emotions and those of others, perfect match for someone who wants or needs to keep his calm.

But what sweets said made Roman rather flustered. “I don't think DreamPrince has had enough appearances to already gain such attentions. Whoever did this just couldn't stand to look at this any longer.” Roman gestured to his current costume.

“Speaking of which…” he held out his hand bouncing on his feet in excitement. He was supposed to meet the chief of police today and he wanted to look presentable.

Manifestor chuckled from his spot on the desk. “Give the boy his stuff. He's been looking forward to this day for the past four years.”

BS sighed and handed Roman a small box, which the young hero snatched up before rushing to the dressing room.

He turned his suit off and took off the containment units. He opened the box and switched the old units for the new ones. The bracelets were more comfortable and adjusted to his skin tone, the metal bead was replaced with two skin colored stickers he applied to his temples.

“Let’s do this,” Roman smirked excitedly.

“To adventure!” he called out as he crossed his arms and tapped at his temples while simultaneously clicking his wrists together. At the same time he tapped his right toe behind his left heel and brought his ankles together. He struck a power pose, facing the full length mirror and grinned excitedly. Virgil had added an insignia on his cape and golden trimming in the final design. There'd been a few options for his emblem and Roman had chosen the shield with a castle by the sea with the sun shining down on him. He looked quite dashing.

He left the dressing room and handed the box back to BS with an elegant gesture.

BS wasn't amused. Sweets and Manifestor on the other found it hilarious.

“So? What do you think?” Roman asked as he turned around to show off the end result.

A loud ‘bing' announced a message from his family watching from the observation room.

“Gaaaaaaay!” Roman rolled his eyes good naturedly. Remus was a fan.

“Stay away from Planes!” the next one read. Roman chuckled. He had asked Virgil about the cape, considering he’d expected someone as cautious as him to heed Edna Mode's advice.

Apparently Virgil had intended the Cape to be an addition for official events. So ‘Prince’ would look good on camera. He'd also pointed out that it would look badass for the prince to un-claps his Cape before a fight. He'd had a point and Roman actually loved it.

“You look very handsome darling.”

“Thanks mom!” Roman called out.

Then two beeps came from a device on BS wrist. He looked down and relaxed, tapping away at a holographic screen, turning up the intensity of his shadow. “The chief is here,” he announced.

Roman raised an eyebrow, that was not what BS had been so tense about. Something in his private life maybe? If that was the case he'd never find out.

Roman had no time to worry about that though. The door opened and in walked the police chief. A small but commanding African American woman. It was something in the way she walked that made Roman want to stand at attention. And so he did. He wasn't the only one.

“DreamPrince, at your service ma’am,” Roman introduced himself respectfully.

“So you are what all the fuss is about?” she asked as she looked Roman up and down.

Chief Davies pursed her lips before nodding to herself. “I’ve read your file, you’re quite the prodigy aren’t you?” she asked.

Roman chuckled a little awkwardly. “I’ve just been training from a young age, that’s all.” Most gifted didn’t realize their talent until they were well in their teens.

“Good answer. I have no time to stroke an adolescent ego. We’ve got work to do.”

Chief Davies turned to Manifestor. “You got the files I sent?”

Manifestor nodded hurriedly. “Yes. I had no time to review them though.”

“I’ll walk you through it,” she announced dismissively. The leader of Roman’s training team nodded and tapped at something on his wrist. The screen that had shown the messages from Roman’s family earlier was now filled with mugshots.

The men looked dangerous. Roman shifted nervously. “You… you want my help apprehending these men?” he asked, trying not to show how frightening it seemed.

“God No!” Roman hid his relieve. “These men are all in jail already, with iron clad cases keeping them there for a long time. You think I’m going to send some rookie after hardcore criminals? No offense, but you are still a baby,” Roman blushed at that and focused back on the pictures.

Wait a minute. “I know that guy! Remember at the end of my first week? I spotted some tugs bothering that kid and tossed a rock at them?”

“And by some miracle you weren’t found when said tugs came looking for you,” BS added through gritted teeth. Still upset at Roman's initial recklessness.

“I wasn’t the only one they were looking for,” Roman insisted. He’d been so sure he hadn’t been alone that night. But BS claimed the would have known if anyone else had been there.

He never went after the tugs after they left the alley. BS insisting he was done with back alleys for the night.

And now those guys were apparently behind bars?

“Next slide please!” Davies called out.

A picture of a ziplock bag with pictures, a USB stick and a note of cut out letters that said ‘your turn’.

“For almost a year now we’ve been getting mysterious packages like this. Pictures, audio and video recordings. Every last one had one of these men incriminating themselves. It’s like whoever delivers these stands right next to them, but never gets caught taking pictures or carrying a wire. I have a small task force on the case who have dubbed them ‘The Phantom’. We are keeping this as in house as we can. Once the public hears about the Phantom, we’ll lose the most valuable asset we’ve ever had. Plus until now we weren’t sure if they were a sensible vigilante or a mobster who was taking out competition in a very clever way. Given what you just said I’d be inclined towards the former. They might have some sort of gift that hides them well enough to get away with spying. But right now, they are putting themselves in danger.” Davies turned towards Roman.

“Keep an eye out, see if you can spot him during your patrol this evening. And if you do, get him on board with the program.”

“Prince did not go through all that training to be your recruitment poster boy!” BS snapped to Roman's surprise. That was the most emotional response he's seen from BS ever. Aside from when he scolded Roman on his reckless behavior.

Davies glared at BS, looking quite intimidating, despite barely reaching to his chest.

“Now don't go all noble on me BrainStorm. What? Did your heart grow three sizes while I wasn't looking? Is there suddenly room for more than one other person there?”

Roman knew that this was a threat. Davies knew BS’ true identity, where he worked, who he cared for. She could ruin whatever he had built in an instant.

Roman often wondered what kind of life BS had outside the facility. Did he have a partner? A family? Did they know about his past at all.

A few seconds ticked by with no one daring to do so much as breathe.

Then Davies relaxed and stepped back. “I'm no monster BrainStorm. I wouldn't ask some rookie to deal with this if I hadn’t tried everything else already. I send in my agents and even called in other gifted. All we got out of that was this,” she gestured and Manifestor showed the next image. A note in the same style as the previous one that said ‘no babysit!’

“Our profiler thinks they are young. So maybe your prince won't seem as threatening. They might've had his back once before already. If this Phantom were someone you cared for, would you rather we left them be, or would you drag their noble behind here yourself to give them proper gear and back up?”

The question hung in the air for a moment, BS had nothing to counter with. Roman imagined Phantom being one of his friends, or even Janus and the answer remained the same.

“I will do what I can,” he vowed before lifting his chin and facing the fierce chief head on. “But ma'am, I don't appreciate you threatening my mentor like that.”

BS had stood up for him, it was only right for him to return the favor.

Davies chuckled. “Just when I started to worry you were only brawn and a pretty face. You can be smart too huh? And you’ve got guts. You just might have what it takes kid. Now. I have places to be. Keep me updated, and don't lose this.” Roman accepted the watch he was handed with a confused frown.

“My people will call if we need you. Please use that brain and return the favor?”

With that she left. Well… that was intense.

Roman put on the watch and saw that it had a frequency displayed on it instead of time. He also spotted two buttons. One blue and one red. It didn't take much to realize that one was a panic button and the other was to make it so the cops could hear him. He wondered if it would connect to the nearest patrol car or to Davies directly.

He hoped he’d never have to find out.

“Well… time to show the city their hero is ready for action.”

 It had been a pleasant evening so far. He'd stopped a few shoplifters, broke up a fight or two and dodged a few reporters, though he let them snap a good picture of his new outfit.

Now the sun was down however and he was making his way to the back alleys.

“Looking for a fight is foolish Prince!” BS growled through his earpiece.

But Roman wasn't looking for a fight. He was looking for someone who'd gotten him out of at least one pickle.

He ignored BS as he landed on a roof, overlooking the city using his sight. He didn’t know what he was looking for exactly, but it was his only plan.

Suddenly he spotted something strange and unusual. There was an energy, a few blocks ahead. But it was impossible for him to really see it. Like he was looking at it trough glasses with strong prescriptions.

He rushed towards it and found a gang of criminals with violently swirling auras. He knew what this meant. They were going to hurt someone.

“Send back up to my location,” he instructed before turning the receiver off. He needed to focus.

“I say we attack now! They are week! We can take them down easily.” A shorter guy with energy like glass shards insisted.

“Boss says we have a truce until the rat is found,” a giant of a man stated calmly, though his energy betrayed how much he wanted to go with the first guy's plan.

Were they talking about Phantom?

“What rat!? Those idiots just bragged to the wrong crowd.” The first voice shot back. Phantom was becoming a bit of a ghost story it seemed. Some who believed, judging by the shudder that went through the other men's auras at the mere mention of them. But clearly not everyone was convinced.

“Oh and they gave out pictures as well? Did a little livestream? We're not safe until this rat is lynched,” the tall man pointed out tensely. He was a believer. And he wanted Phantom dead. Not good.

Roman studied the tugs and to his relief he spotted they were all armed. Weird thing to be happy about. But it meant he had probable cause to interfere.

He jumped down, slowing his descent just so that he didn't hurt himself on the landing without sacrificing the cool factor.

“Do you gentlemen have permits for those weapons?” he asked as he rose up to his full length facing them fearlessly.

“what the…?”

“It's that Prince clown!” Rude.

The tall guy, the leader probably, silenced the group with a gesture and smiled, his anxious energy almost completely disappearing. He'd found something to vent on. “Sure kid. Got mine right here.”

Roman flung his cape in front of him and manifested a gelatinous shield around himself as the leader pulled out his gun and fired several rounds at him. The tugs wouldn't see it. But it was there, and it caught the bullets slowing them down until they were harmless, making them fall to the ground when they met with the fabric.

“Well now you just pissed me off. This is brand new!” he complained as he dropped both cape and shield.

“I suppose you won't surrender peacefully?” he deduced. The criminals all readied their weapons. Seriously? Did they not get that he was essentially bulletproof?

He sighed as he took off his cape and hung it on a water pipe that ran down the side of the building.

“Fine,” he sighed and then he amped up his speed a bit while shielding himself from the rain of bullets heading his way. He used the gelatin shield because he didn't want to risk the bullets ricocheting and injuring someone. Especially the gifted he was sure was still watching the whole thing.

It wasn't hard to disarm the criminals. He even managed to knock a few to the ground. But there were at least two who'd gone down without him even touching them. And he would’ve sworn he saw a figure move between him and a tug once or twice to block a blow. He couldn't really see the other hero. It was an odd sensation. But he could feel his presence better and better and soon he was adapting his moves to those of the Phantom. Together they took out the whole group. Though to the villains it would seem like he'd done it by himself. He stood victorious over the leader, a pile of disassembled guns behind him and sirens lighting up the alley.

He twisted his foot to show off his white boot with gold accents. “So… how does it feel to get your butt kicked by a guy in heels?” he wondered playfully before looking up towards the presence and winking in acknowledgment.

“Good job Dream Prince. We've got it from here.” Roman turned to the cops and bowed to them

“It's my pleasure to be of assistance to the police of this fine city.” Then, while turning around, he made a gesture that could be taken as a ‘goodbye’, or as a ‘follow me’.

He was glad to notice that the presence seemed to follow him. He found a fire escape and floated himself to the roof it led to.

He turned to face his hopefully soon to be partner in crime fighting.

He could hear the clanging of someone climbing the metal fire escape. And while he still couldn't quite make out the figure that reached the roof he saw his reflection in a pool of water left behind by the rain earlier that day.

An unfortunate weakness, but so long as no one knew, no one would be looking for it. In order to be a hero, no one could know Phantom really existed. Was that why the authorities were kept at a distance? Why Phantom never made introductions despite having crossed paths at least once before?

He stepped forward with a bow. “Greetings Phantom. I must thank you for the assistance. Both just now and three months ago. I am Dream Prince, he/him if you please. A pleasure to officially meet you.”

A distorted chuckle made him look up. He could see Phantom much better now. He was dressed in Male coded clothes, though that was no guarantee. The hero outfit was simple. A black t-shirt, boots and denims, paired with a black coat that reached down to his calves and had the collar popped up. He looked really cool… but Roman couldn't make sense of his head. He was looking right at him he could see it, but his brain couldn't identify a thing.

It was so weird.

“Phantom huh?” His voice was a strange deep echoing sound. The distortion was pretty spooky if he was honest, but he wasn't afraid. Phantom was on his side.

“Sure you can call me that. He/him… mind telling me what that was about? I thought you officials weren't let of your leash unless you could be responsible enough to not get yourself killed?”

Roman cocked his brow. “Says the guy who has half the criminal underworld out for his blood,” he reminded him. Phantom looked away. Clearly he knew Roman had a point.

“Do you have something against the program?” His tone had been oddly bitter.

“No I…”  Phantom took in a deep breath. “Sorry, I’m just pissed at the cops for sending you, I guess.” He sure sounded upset. And Roman could understand that. Here Phantom was, doing his part and all the cops could do in return was bother him At least as far as the young vigilante could tell. But then why…?

“Yet you chose to follow me up here?” Roman pressed. That didn’t make any sense. Phantom had shaken off his ‘babysits’ before. What made Roman special?

“Um… Well… I just…” Phantom stammered. Roman wondered why. Was he bad with confrontation? Social interaction in general? Or had Roman said something that hit a nerve somehow?

“You interrupted my stake out!” Phantom blurted out all of a sudden.

“Do you know how long it takes to work my way up the ranks? First I have to find a low level runner, then I follow him to his boss, that guy to his and so up the ladder I go. I was getting real close to the big guy of this group. And now…” Oh… Well Roman could understand how that would be frustrating.

“I apologize,” he said sincerely with a small bow. “I merely intended to help. They were talking about killing you.” Surely he could understand that he could not stand by after hearing that.

“And now there is a price on your head! The leader of that little club is like two steps away from the big boss. They won’t be happy with you taking him in.”

Well… He had a point. But Roman had back up. It would be rather stupid of the mob to come after a hero with government sanctioning. And these guys would go behind bars for a long time right? “You got dirt on them?” he asked. If the guns weren’t enough then surely whatever Phantom  had gleaned from his stakeouts would be sufficient. Right?

“Yes… But that’s not the point. They have no clue about me. Not really. But you are out in the open. This is not your kind of mission Royal pain.” Oh, he had nicknames huh? It was an insult, but Roman didn’t mind witty banter. Especially if it came from a place of care. And Roman was starting to think it did.

“And now that you are out, you can’t expect me to hold your hand any longer…”

Roman crossed his arms and smirked catching the implications of what Phantom just said.

“You’ve been looking out for me all summer huh?” he guessed.

Phantom scoffed and probably rolled his eyes. While Roman still couldn’t quite see it, he would bet his entire Disney collection on it.

“It’s not like I came looking for you.” Phantom snapped. And Roman believed him.

“Still… Thank you…” he was going to say more but then he heard a beep in his ear followed by a loud voice. “Prince! Answer this instant!”

“Ow!” Roman exclaimed annoyed, reflexively reaching for his ear though it wouldn’t help much. He pressed the button to talk to BS. “One. Loud. Two. Rude! I am in the middle of something! And did you seriously remotely reactivate my com?”

He would demand a new com that couldn’t do that or he’d refuse to wear one period. What if he needed to concentrate right now? What if he was in the middle of tense negotiations or being told delicate information. As a matter of fact. This situation right here was delicate. One wrong move and Phantom might bolt. And he might not come along next time he found him. And even if he couldn’t get him to join the program, he wanted Phantom to know he had an ally in him. Someone to talk to, confide in, count on if he didn’t have anyone else.

“You do not turn off your com while going into a gunfight! It’s moronic to go in alone!”

Roman rolled his eyes. “I am fine, not a scratch on me.” He wasn’t going to mention that he wasn’t alone exactly. Phantom had never consented to BS and the rest of his team knowing.

“I’ll call you when I’m done here.” And this time he took the com out of his ear. BS could yell at him later.

“Sorry,” he sighed. “My mentor is… intense at times.” In a cold and distant way.

“Mentor?” Phantom asked.

“One of the people helping me practice my powers, test my limits. Comes with the program. It’s not just a babysit and a nice suit,” he joked casually.

“Oh…” Phantom’s tone was odd. It made Roman want to come closer and offer comfort. He didn’t though. They weren’t at that point yet. Not by a long shot.

“Listen, I admit I was sent by the chief. But I didn’t come here to recruit you. I wanted to thank you and tell you… If you ever need someone to talk to, to help you figure something out… I’d be more than happy to oblige. No need to tell me your name or anything about yourself,” he vowed as he reached out his hand. Phantom hesitated for a few moments before bridging the distance and offering his own.

Roman grinned and grabbed it for a firm shake. “I’ll see you next time,” he assured his fellow hero before letting go and turning around to finish his patrol.

Progress was made. Not much, but still.

He just might’ve made a new friend.

@cirishere @hestianerd1 @moonlightshow00 @naturallyunstablegamer @alias290 @meowthefluffy @frida0043 @angelic-cali @selenechris @theblackveilinreverse

End of this part meet Virgil and read his story.

Masterlist

[lonelypond]

Love Is For Losers

NicoMaki, Love Live, 1.7K, 1/2

Summary: Yazawa Nico and Nishikino Maki are both key players on the Otonokizaka University Tennis Team. But now Nico has decided to "improve" Maki's social media and tennis game.

Love Is For Losers

Not the most flattering picture of herself, racquet ready, waiting for the return of a serve, but Maki Nishikino really liked her look of concentration. So she hit “Post.”. And the hearts and reactions and fire emojis piled on. Wait, what was that comment, from @NicoNi? “With squinty eyes like that, how can you see the ball?”

WTF?!?!?!? Junior and top tennis singles player Nico Yazawa was notorious for living on social media. Since practice started in September, she’d been leading weekly social media best practice training sessions for the Otonokizaka University team that freshman Maki had proudly never attended. And now she was trolling Maki? Was that a social media best practice?

Maki never replied to a comment, but to let the smug Nico Ni have the last word would grate across every nerve Maki had.

To quickly type, “Who’s in the top 10 national standings again? Can you see that?” seemed almost an illicit thrill. To get an instant reply of eye emojis, plus a sweatdrop made Maki laugh out loud. Quickly scoping out the coffeeshop to check if she’d drawn any attention to herself, Maki clicked through to NicoNi’s home page, Nico’s last post was a bikini shot with an obscene amount of hearts and various emoji combinations in an endless comment scroll. Maki snorted, too obvious an attention grab. Maki would ignore it and stick to tennis, which she knew very well. Ah, there was a pic of Nico rushing the net, one of her favorite ways to use her sprint speed. Maki had an in.

“Spend less time looking at my pics and more time on your approach shots.”

Another instant reply. Another sweat drop. “Nico knows. But you’re so pretty. See you at media training ; )”

Did Nico think she was going to get Maki into one of her stupid sessions like that? Maki dropped her phone on the table, sipping her espresso with a frown.

###

Maki’s phone pinged explosively. A series of messages from her self proclaimed bestie and doubles partner, Hoshizora Rin.

R: hahaha Maki Ma you really need to be here

R: Nico’s going through your TWIG account as her “what not to do on social media” slideshow

R: it’s so funny, Maki

R: (*≧艸≦)(*≧艸≦)(*≧艸≦)

R: you missed out Check out Nico’s LIVE.

Maki stared at her phone. Nico’s Live, that happened when you went to someone’s TWIG profile and clicked on their pic, right? Maki did, grimacing as she clicked on Nico’s face. Nico was in front of a whiteboard, drawing pictures of tennis rackets, disgustingly cute tennis rackets. She leaned forward, checking her phone, then grinned like someone who’d just served a winning ace.

“And @Nishikinoshot has just joined the fans watching Nico on TWIG Live…”

Maki heard Rin yell “Hi Maki!!!” in the background as Nico continued, “One of the best ways to learn how to properly conduct and promote yourself on social media is to find an influencer you respect and build a relationship with them. @Nishikinoshot has chosen @NicoNi, the smartest move she…

“I have not.” Maki shouted at her phone and then felt silly when she realized there was no way for Nico to see or hear her, or was there? TWIG kept floating an “ask to join the Live” teaser, so Maki thumbed it. Nico paused, obviously her notifications were on, another one of those winning serve grins and suddenly Maki was sharing Nico’s screen.

“Jumping into the Live. Good initiative, Nishikino..”

“Maki.”

“So why’d you pick your TWIG handle?”

What kind of a question was that?

“Nishikino shot...you know...because of tennis...the Nishikino shot always scores.” Also worked with photography, a hobby Maki wanted more time for.

“Nishikino announces her prowess off and on the court.” Nico giggled, Maki glared.

“What are you saying? That’s not right.”

“Ah, so you admit it is confusing. Make a note of that, class, it’s always best to have a tag that doesn’t confuse people.” Staring right at Maki, ruby eyes twinkling, Nico made an elaborately surprised, amused face, raising a hand to cover her mouth. “We were reading it as Nishikino’s hot, ‘cause you are.”

Maki flushed. And fumbled with her phone to end the live, not even registering what other garbage Nico was saying. And then her phone pinged again.

R: Are you all right, Maki? Nico was just having a little fun.

M: I don’t want to talk about Nico.

R: Okay.

M: That was your fault.

R: Hey, I thought you’d want to know.

M; Yeah...but tomorrow, after practice, you’re on clean up.

R: Maaaaaki (⁎˃ᆺ˂)’

###

Grunting, Maki swung through at full velocity, then grimaced as yet another practice serve skipped out of bounds. She leaned over to pick up another couple of balls. Both buckets were empty. Tempted to throw her racket, instead she shook her head, tucked her racquet under her arm, grabbed a bucket and went to the other side of the court to pick up the balls.

“Hey, let me help you,” chirped an unfamiliar voice. Maki turned. Nico Yazawa had grabbed the other buckets and was hustling for the net. Nico was always hustling, all lean muscle and speed. Her sable hair, usually put up in twin tails, was loose, still wet from the shower. She’d changed from her usual practice uniform to casual pink and black striped biker shorts and an oversized pink t-shirt shirt that slid off her shoulder and read “Killer Cute.” “Coach ended practice an hour ago.”

Maki shrugged, starting with the balls as far away as possible from the spot Nico had chosen.

“You’re always out here.”

“I take tennis seriously.”

Nico hesitated, hands on her hips, watching Maki curiously over mirror sunglasses perched halfway down her nose, “Nico sees that. But you can get trapped in patterns if no one points them out.”

“I’m fine. I win.”

“Don’t you want to win better?”

“Win better? That’s not a thing.” Maki tapped her racquet against her leg, fidgety.

“Accuracy matters.” Nico picked up a tennis ball, tossed it into Maki’s bucket, and winked, “Crush your opponents with finesse, not raw power. Fewer wasted serves.”

Maki’s hasty rush of anger changed to curiosity. Nico led the team in aces, with amazing power for someone so short. “Coach hasn’t said anything.”

“Like you said, you get the job done. And Coach has other problems...like keeping Honoka from exhausting herself in the first few volleys.”

They both chuckled at how eager Honoka Kosaka was to chase down every ball, until she hit empty. As a joke, after their last practice, Rin had her girlfriend, Hanayo Koizumi, the team manager, post a photoshopped pic of a golden retriever playing next to Honoka’s double’s partner, Umi Sonoda. Honoka had laughed longer than anyone.

Nico was right, Maki realized. Coach had been spending a lot of time on the players with more basic problems. And their assistant spend most of the time on opponent research, editing video footage.

“Nico uses a platform stance, but Maki could get away with a pin-point stance. Watch my feet.” Nico grabbed a ball, tossing it up, swinging at it with a pretend racquet. Instead of her feet remaining the same distance apart, her back foot shifted closer to the front one and then she pushed off up into the serve. “You’ve already got natural explosive power, you don’t need a nitro boost.”

Maki considered, moving her feet through the change Nico suggested. It felt comfortable, offering more control. She nodded, then jumped back when Nico clapped her on the upper arm.

“You’re a quick learner. Hang on. Nico will hop over there and you can try it out. It’s more fun with an opponent.”

“I’ll win. You’ll be crushed.” Maki winked.

Nico laughed and it echoed. “Nico didn’t teach you everything Nico knows.”

###

“So you’re a local too.” Nico was scooping salad into Maki’s bowl. They’d decided to stop for dinner.

“Yeah. My family owns a medical center so I couldn’t just go off anywhere.”

Nico paused, eyebrow raised. “Why not?”

“I’ve been working there since…” Maki tried to remember her first job at the hospital, how old was she? She remembered sitting at her father’s desk, coloring in specially made anatomy chart pages in elementary school. Did that count as a job? “Forever.”

“Ah. Nico had to stick close for family too. Three sibs.” Nico flashed a smile and three fingers. “They’re the best, but they rely on Nico.”

“Your parents work a lot?” Maki understood that.

“Yeah, my mom does. My dad died when I was little.”

Maki paled, what did you say to that. “I’m sorry” came out as a mumble.

A sigh, weary, as Nico pushed Maki’s filled bowl in her direction, “Me too. But we survived. He taught me tennis. And…” Nico put on a sparkling smile, bounced her hands up to her temple, rock hands gesture, and her voice became brighter. “Nico Nico Ni.” Then she relaxed back to normal, “He said it could cheer up the whole world..”

Maki remembered something. “Nico Nico is the ideophone for smile.”

Nico leaned forward, “So the Nishikino isn’t just for show.”

Maki shook her head, “We have a hospital in Tokyo too. I’ve spent a lot of summers there.”

“Wow, a doc and a jet setter. So why tennis?”

“I liked it better than golf. My parents said piano didn’t count as a networking activity.”

“Piano? Classic stuff.” Nico created a melody on an air keyboard.

“Some. And jazz. I get to take a couple of music classes, at least this year.”

Nico wondered if Maki realized how robotic she sounded, and how laced through with sadness her mood was as she talked about her family.

“Hey, Nishikino…”

“Maki.”

“Maki. Play for Nico sometime. Nico loves singing. My dad always said I should go on American Idol.”

“Sorry.” Maki twisted a curl of hair, “I don’t play those kind of songs.”

Maki obviously just needed to know more about Nico, which was Nico’s favorite topic. “Nico is multifaceted. We can do Ella and Count Basie, if you want. With the time you save not practicing your serve.”

Nico winked, her multifaceted ruby eyes cheerful pulls as she hummed. Maki found herself intrigued. “I’ll think about it.”

“Nico will be your personal tennis coach to make sure you improve.”

“Not necessary.” Maki leaned back to signal the waiter. Time to start the main course.

A/N: Another AU Yeah August entry, college rivals was requested and the Olympics put me in a sports mood. Planning another chapter.

Still taking requests.

[cornacopicimagines]

listen up loser!

not my gif

pairing ; peter parker x vigilante!reader

words ; 2k

warnings ; violence, fluff?

request ; Hi! Is it okay to request a peter parker x reader where the reader is peters classmate and also a vigilate and spider man they kinda flirt(awkwardly) while kicking ass and like the reader goes like 'as i always say...' And spiderman finds out shes his classmate bc she also have said it to peter at class?? Thank you!

masterlist

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ 

y/n stared at the large purple bruise on her forearm. it was clear she hadn't gotten it from a fall like she had been telling everyone. why did she go on patrol last night, it was supposed to be his night. now look at her, she was littered with bruises. luckily for her most of them were hidden underneath her shirt and long jeans, it was only the stupid ones that peaked out from under her sleeve and appeared on her neck.

"y/n!" a voice called out. jumping in her own skin, y/n slammed her locker shut and quickly tried to conceal her bruises. ned and peter came into view, ned was smiling brightly as he skipped his way over to her while peter was trailing slowly behind but still just as happy to see one of his favourite classmates. "did you hear that karma was on the streets last night," ned almost squealed like a fangirl. y/n smiled softly as she swallowed a large hit of pain.

"and how do you know that," y/n chuckled as she slung her bag over her back, trying her hardest not to cringe in hurt.

"i saw her in all her glory," ned spoke confidently as he pulled out his phone and showed y/n a poorly photographed picture of the vigilante. y/n wanted to grab ned's phone and throw it all way across queens but instead, she gave him a weak smile and coughed loudly. here eyes travelled towards peter and spotted that he was staring straight at the bruises that were covering her arms and neck. blushing hard and trying her best to conceal her marks.

"we have to get to class," y/n blurted out as she quickly snatched peter's hand and pulled him down the hall to try and avoid ned's pestering questions about her alter ego.

peter and y/n zipped down the busy halls, quickly passing people with agility before the pair made it to the busy tight corridor.

"i never thought you could run that fast," peter exclaimed softly as he stared at her with wide eyes. y/n felt her cheeks get hot and butterflies swarm her stomach. she needed to get this crush under control, every time peter even shot her a smile she would just combust. he could say the most simple compliment towards her and y/n would almost choke. this wasn't the first time she had found attraction, little does all her classmates know, she would throw flirts and sexual lines back and forth with spiderman himself.

before y/n could utter some form of a sentence a long arm wrapped around her bruises next making her winch loudly. she peered up and saw flash smirking down at her with a hint of lust in his eyes. "how's my favourite girl doing," he winked at her.

anger filled her body as she thought she had given him a nudge in his lower abdomen with her elbow, but flash was almost on the floor groaning in agony. peter stared in amazement at y/n's sudden outburst of strength. y/n held her hand out to help flash from him position of the cold concrete before almost sprinting into the classroom to avoid the stares.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ 

peter sat in utter adoration as he stared at y/n while she was furrowing her perfectly plucked brows. it was no surprise that peter had developed strong feelings for y/n, i mean every guy who she even looked at fell for her. all of her friends never understood why she was still single.

peter was always confused as to why she was friends with him and need. she had never-ending offers to sits amongst the most popular students, nearly every girl wanted to become friends with her and every guy had at least tried once to ask her out. peter just couldn't decipher it. 

there was something about y/n that perked his interest though. he had picked up something she was subconsciously setting down for him. he noticed the bags under her sparkling e/c eyes. he spotted that she was wearing long sweaters and jeans on ungodly hot days and she sometimes came to school with sunglasses to hide something on her eyes. did he need to mention that she could run impossible laps of the gym without even losing her breath or that she was strong, extremely strong, she had successfully taken down one of the school's strongest bullies like he was a rag doll. it didn't add to him.

peter was snapped out of his thoughts as y/n waved her manicured hand infront of his face to bring him back to reality. peter shook his previous thoughts out of his head and now focus more on what y/n said and not on y/n's outside life. 

"were you even listening to a word i said pete?" y/n asked him with annoyance lacing her tone. 

peter rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "could you tell me again." 

"the teacher handed out our assignment and said we are supposed to do it in pairs," y/n smiled brightly at him, waiting for him to give her the exact same response. peter instead cocked his eyebrow in confusion. "i want to work with you idiot," y/n sighed loudly at peter's innocent ignorance. 

"are you sure," peter questioned her. 

"and why wouldn't i" y/n exclaimed crossing her arms over her chest. 

"maybe because you have a certain suitor asking for your hand," peter scoffed as he pointed towards to flash who was flexing and blowing kisses towards y/n's directions. 

y/n laughed loudly, "oh god no, what a nightmare that would be," y/n chuckled as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear something that left peter flustered. "besides, why can't i work with my best friend and the smartest guy in the room," y/n smiled softly. 

"are you 100% sure, because i don't want to be ditched like ned did to me so he could work with michelle," peter rambled on before y/n placed her hand on the edges of his broad shoulders and shut him up instantly. 

"listen up loser," y/n almost yelled at him, "i want to work with you even if you weren't even in this class!" y/n told him proudly trying to calm his nerves. peter couldn't help but let his anxiety slip away as soon as her famous catchphrase left her lips. she had been saying ever since they started high school, if peter cold identify her, for one thing, it would be that sentence. 

"okay okay, i believe you," peter rushed out, trying to calm her down now. beaming widely, y/n squealed and clapped her hands in excitement.

  ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ 

peter sat on one of queens' many buildings, his suit hugged tightly and his adrenaline was pumping, he was ready for patrol. although waiting for his partner was less than thrilling. peter had recently just met this vigilante named karma, she looked about his age and seemed fine with him, so he asked if she would like to partner up and she happily agreed. 

"you look lonely lover boy," a feminine voice spoke behind him, peter swivelled around and saw karma making her way next to him. she was wearing her normal uniform which was latex pants, a black spaghetti top and a black leather jacket to tie the outfit together. she definitely reminded him of someone. 

"i was," peter toyed back with her. "that was until you showed up," he nudged her side slightly. karma gave him a small smile behind her black lipstick. 

"what have i missed spidey," karma asked him with his nickname almost rolling off her lips. peter didn't respond right away, he hesitated asked karen to ran a face scan on her. karma stopped him though because her masked eyes squinted in suspicion. peter coughed, "nothing at all, it's not boring for my liking."

"really," karma cocked her eyebrow, "would you like to make some trouble mr. spiderman," karma got up close to him, he could feel her hot breath on face under his mask. before he could give her a quick one-liner, there was an explosion in a nearby bank. both heroes became attracted to the sudden outburst of violence. peter spotted a gang full of armed robbers and what seemed like a metahuman in the middle.

"you take the front, i'll take the back," karma ordered, peter thought otherwise since he could make absolutely no noise but before he could protest karma had already fled their resting spot and carefully pranced down a tight alleyway. peter sighed in annoyance as he swung off to face the villains head on. 

  ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ 

karma had arrived just before peter did, both terribly wounded. she had a large gash on the back of her leg, peter, on the other hand, had bullet wound deep in his left shoulder and a cut on his abdomen. karma knew she could easily overcome her wounds, she silently prayed that one of her powers was fast healing but she knew peter would surely die from his. he was bleeding out fast. 

karma went to rip some fabric off her t-shirt and ran to peter's side as he fell to the ground in pain. she started to patch his wound, trying desperately to stop the excessive bleeding. peter tried to stop her seeing her blood stain her pants and trickle to her feet. 

"karma please, you need it more than i do," peter pleaded, "i will be fine," he tried once more, this time he placed his hand on her wrist in an attempt to halt her actions, "please, i will get through this patch yourself up first before me," he spoke again this time with concern in his voice. karma halted for a moment, peter finally thought she was going to do as he was telling her to do. instead, she peered up at him with a fire in her eyes.

"listen up loser," karma yelled at him, "i am doing this for you whether you like it or not," she told him off, peter almost thought he saw small tears. peter shut his mouth and let karma patch him up while he contemplated how stupid he had been,

karma is y/n. y/n is karma. it explained everything, the bruises and cuts from fights. her strength and stamina for her nightly patrols. now that he realised who she was he could see the resemblance as clear as day. what he was going to do next was probably the riskiest thing he has ever done. 

"thank you y/n," peter spoke softly waiting for her reaction. karma looked at his with utter shock in her eyes. 

"what did you just say," karma exclaimed with her voice faulting slightly, her eyes not leaving peter's masked face. 

peter's slowly pulled the mask off his face exposing his secret identity to her. karma's almost gasped before she did the same slipping the mask off her face. 

"how did you even know, you didn't stalk me right," y/n asked him reluctantly. 

"no," peter laughed quietly, "that stupid catchphrase that you live by," peter responded to her rolling his eyes at the memories. y/n rubbed her forehead and sighed loudly. 

"i thought i was safe with that," y/n sighed with a tinge of laughter. "i'm glad it was you," y/n told him.

i feel the same, finally someone who understands the constant struggle," peter responded, he was truly happy that person who was fighting by his side was also walking next to him in the hallway and the same person that he trusted everything with. y/n showed her trademark beaming smile before she softly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a warm embrace. feeling finally free, like a weight has been lifted off his chest, he snaked his own arms around y/n's waist and returned the tight hug. 

    ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ 

a/n the ending is so shit wowie  

[lena-went]

La Vita è Dolore

R: I arrived at CDG after a 9 hour long flight, which thanks to Frederick’s insistence and my late purchase of the ticket was a first class ride. I slept remarkably well and had a wonderful vegan pasta prepared by an in flight chef. This was all too fancy for me and I felt bad enjoying myself so much when I knew other people were packed in the rest of the plane like sardines. I took my phone off airplane mode as I walked through the airport to baggage claim. I picked up the suitcase I had borrowed from Frederick with a heavy huff. I had packed far too much and Frederick had encouraged me to take one of his. He had five dark leather suitcases each bigger than the last. I looked down at my phone to see I had 9 missed calls from Alana Bloom and four from Greg. I initially thought that something had happened in her new relationship with Hannibal but she wouldn't call that many times over something so trivial.

Jesus what if it was Frederick? My heart sank to my stomach and I felt a wave of nausea over come me. I hit return call and pressed the phones speaker to my ear hurrying to find a more quiet place so I could hear the trilling of the other line.

“Y/N?!” Alana answered. Oh thank god.

“Alana whats wrong? You called 9 times!”

“Where are you Y/N?”

“I’m in Paris, Alana tell me whats happening!” Her voice choked over the line and I heard her begin to cry.

“I’m so sorry…I’m so sorry Y/N.”

“Don’t say things like that Alana, talk to me. Where is Frederick?” My voice was demanding but I felt my lungs begin to fill with a sob. I heard her pass the phone to someone as her crying became more distant.

“Y/N. Its Greg. Fredericks here at the hospital.”

“Oh my God, is he ok?”

“He was shot…they’re prepping him for surgery now.”

“Shot?? How…who?”

“Please just come home as soon as possible. Y/N. Its…its not looking good.”

I fell to the ground then my eyes wide as if trying to make room for the tears that blurred my vision. Home. I had to get home. I picked my self up and wiped my face and at a near sprint I moved to the arrival and departure screen at the center of the massive room. There was a return flight leaving in 30 minutes. I was getting on that flight and there was not a soul in heaven or hell that could prevent me from running to him the moment that plane touched down.

9 HOURS LATER...

R: Nothing could have prepared me for the sight of an unconscious Frederick handcuffed to a hospital bed with bandages covering 80% of his head. A breathing tube protruded from my angel’s lips and connected to a series of monitoring machines all around him. I moved to enter the room but the police officer at the door widened his stance and glared at me refusing to let me pass. I stared up at him and my nostrils flared as the fire in my throat burned hotter and higher into my mouth. I moved again and he blocked me. Alana put a hand on my shoulder and I shoved it off before ramming the officer with all the strength I had causing him to topple slightly to his right. I dove into the room making it a few feet before the officer caught me by my wrists and pulled me backwards. I snapped around and beat at his chest with my small fists and he let out a chuckle as tears fell from my eyes.

“Let her go.” A strong voice echoed from behind me.

I whipped around, my hair sticking to the wet of my cheeks and open mouth only to see Jack Crawford standing tall next to Alana. Alana was weeping silently where she stood obviously upset by the scene before her.

The officer spoke next, “But sir he—“

“LET HER GO.” Jacks voice echoed through my sternum and the officer released his hold on me.

I made rapid hurried strides to Frederick’s bedside where I grasped his hand tightly. I leaned my body on the bed and pressed my lips to his exposed ear.

“I’m here baby, I’m here. I love you so much. You’re so brave baby. I love you.”

I felt my tears drop onto the very limited portion of skin not covered by bandages. I moved to pull his hand to my lips but felt and heard the resistance of metal. I felt anger fill my body and light my bones as I never had before. I turned, sure that the devil himself was in my eyes and glared at Jack who now stood regretfully at the end of Frederick's bed.

“What the FUCK is this?” I shouted feeling my every word reverberate off of the walls of the small room.

Jack’s eyes widened in shock and for a second I swore I saw fear in them.

“Officer Bishop remove Dr. Chilton’s restraints.” The officer jumped and did as Jack asked without question.

I rubbed Frederick’s wrist where the metal had been and kissed at his life line before placing another kiss on the center of his palm. Jack gave me another few moments of quiet before speaking.

“Its my fault. I jumped to a conclusion that the evidence pointed me to.”

I raised my head from its place next to Frederick's.

“What the hell are you talking about Jack?” My voice was watery but cold.

“When I confronted him I knew it had all been a set up. The look in his eyes. I’ve sat across from psychopaths and murderers for 30 years and they all have the same look, the same lack of light. But when I looked in his eyes, I knew it couldn't have been him.”

Jack had continued on as if in a daze not acknowledging my question. So I repeated it. He turned to me then with a great heaviness in his eyes. He pulled a chair from the side of the room to face across of me where I sat.

“I’m sure Frederick has told you about how he consulted with us for the Ripper case…” An hour passed and then another only to be followed by more. Jack told me everything, even things I was certain he was prohibited by law from revealing to a civilian.

He finished with a solid and slow, “I am sorry.”

I shook my head and adjusted my hand around Frederick’s cold one that I had refused to release even as nurses came in and out of the room during Jacks confessional.

“That won’t help him now Jack.”

“I know.”

And with that we sat in silence, my eyes never leaving Frederick’s concealed face as the time ticked by. Jack fell asleep in the chair and was soon snoring in soft rumbles. I guessed he feared the Ripper returning to finish the job he had started. I hadn't slept in 24 hours yet I had never felt more awake. Let him try. I would rip the son of a bitch limb from limb with my bare hands before I let him lay a finger on Frederick. I whispered sweet nothings into Frederick’s ear while laying little kisses along the shell around it. I felt a presence and turned to see Alana standing in the doorway.

“It wasn't him Alana.” I spoke firmly.

“I know. I know.” Her voice was quiet and she kept her eyes low not wanting to look at me or Frederick.

“Jack told me the bullet almost hit you. I’m so glad it didn’t.” Her eyes lifted at that and she shook her head slowly.

“I’m so sorry Y/N…I should have listened to him.” I beckoned for her to come closer and I took her hand in mine with a firm squeeze.

“Jack explained. I’m just happy you're here.” I gave her a sad smile before releasing her hand.

“Can I get you something from home? Do you need anything?” She offered and I could sense the guilt in her voice.

“I have everything I need in my suitcase, but thank you…thank you so much Alana.” She nodded and returned to her seat in the hall leaving me alone with Frederick.

Morning came and Jack left with Alana who had stayed outside the room all night with the police officer. I changed out of my outfit I had been wearing for two days without taking my eyes off Frederick. I put on a loose worn sweater before pulling on some sleep shorts and traded my sports socks for obnoxiously fuzzy ones Frederick liked to rub my feet through. I stayed by his bed as the shadows in the room shifted each hour passing with no change. Doctors and nurses were in and out never once removing his bandages. When night returned again I lifted my eyes from Frederick for a moment to see if anyone was around. Noting the lack of presence I climbed up onto the side of Frederick’s bed and pressed myself against him. He was so cold. I desperately tried to warm him by gathering hospital blankets around us with small sounds of effort. I placed a hand on his chest and felt it rise and fall with the beep of a machine. Everything within me screamed and cried but my face remained emotionless. I curled myself into him as I had done many times before and closed my eyes.

F: I heard a shot and then the shattering of glass. Silence, darkness and then her voice. “I’m here baby, I’m here. I love you so much. You’re so brave baby. I love you.” Her words sounded so close yet so distant. I pulled at them but it was like climbing a rope with wet hands. I fell further into darkness each time. After an eternity I felt her.

I could feel my body, I had a body.

Oh God I can’t breathe, God I’m choking.

I jolted into consciousness with a violent jerk as repeated gasps and strangled sounds emulated from my mouth. I couldn't move my head. My eyes darted violently back and forth searching for a sign to tell me where I was.

“Frederick baby, stay calm, you're in the hospital. Its ok baby, I’m here, just listen to my voice, I’m here.” Her voice soothed my panic but my throat muscles wouldn't relax and god my face, it ached.

My face…I couldn't see.

I attempted to raise a hand to my face but she grasped my wrist and brought it to her mouth instead.

“Just hold still baby, its ok…its ok.”

I could hear rushed footsteps enter the room and unfamiliar voices shouting.

“I’m fine I’m not leaving. I said I’m not leaving.”

She argued with a male voice and I gripped her hand tightly.

“I’m right here Frederick. I’m right here.”

[saythename17scenarios]

A new Request! Hey KIMBAB ADMIN❤ I miss u already. Hehe You're in the same class with svt! All of them. What are they doing in the class, what kind of student are they and r they friendly to you?. Thank you 💕

S.Coups: Seungcheol is class president, but he doesn’t do anything. People just voted for him because everyone loves him and he “looks” responsible. He’s team captain of the school’s basketball team, and a team member of other sports teams as well. He gets in trouble a lot for not doing the class president tasks and leaving it to Jihoon, so sometimes, he has to stay after school to finish class reports.

That’s how you officially met Seungcheol.

After your club activities, you’re on your way back to the classroom to pick up your backpack. The door is open and you enter class, and that’s where you see Seungcheol sitting on his desk with his hands on the sides of his head. You call out his name, but he doesn’t answer. You approach him and place a hand on his shoulder and shake it, and his head just slams onto the desk. He opens his eyes and looks up at you, and you realize he fell asleep. You resist slapping your forehead.

He asks what time it is, and when you answer, his eyes go wide. He screams, “I’M GOING TO BE LATE FOR BASKETBALL PRACTICE.” He’s about to stand up, but looks down at the blank piece of paper on his desk, screaming, “I can’t leave without finishing the report though! What am I going to do?!” You feel bad so you offer to do it for him just this once. You’re done your club activities anyway, and you’re in no rush to go home.

He thanks you and speeds off, promising to make it up to you. The next day, you find a little box with a bunch of candies and chocolates inside, and you know exactly who it’s from. He starts talking to you a bit more, and even if they’re just hello’s and goodbye’s, it puts a smile on your face.

Jeonghan: Jeonghan is almost always surrounded by girls. He’s really popular and gets confessions very often, but he sadly rejects all of them. He’s an angel in front of the teacher, but goes back to being a demon when they’re gone. By demon, I mean he silently sabotages those on his bad side, cheats at school sports events; he never gets caught though because he’s slick.

You talk to Jeonghan for the first time at a school sports event.

After hearing about the amazing first prize, you sign up for the obstacle race. It has to be done in teams, so all participants have to pick a name in a hat. You get Jeonghan, and you’re honestly kind of scared because all the girls are glaring daggers at you. When you turn to him, he just grins, “Don’t worry about them. Just focus on the race. We’re winning first place, alright?”

You nod your head and get ready to run. After the countdown, you and Jeonghan sprint, focused on winning first place. Your teamwork is great; you guys are like two pieces in a puzzle. You both actually do end up winning first place fair and square, and it’s amazing because for the first time ever, Jeonghan didn’t cheat.

When you’re handed the prize, you offer to split it in half, but he just says, “No, it’s all right. Take it; I’ve won too many times already anyway.” Then he just walks off, and you scoff at his cocky reply. In class, you bet he goes to your desk sometimes just to say hi.

You end up being paired with him at every sports events, and you know he did something to the draw just to be with you. You don’t complain though.

Joshua: Jisoo is the nice guy of the class, and everyone loves him. He does a lot of volunteering, he sings and plays the guitar at school talent shows, and he’s an active member of the student council. He gets amazing grades, and doesn’t mind tutoring people if they don’t understand what the teacher just taught. He’s pretty popular with the girls, and some of them even pretend not to understand just so they could be tutored by him.

Then there’s you, who’s actually struggling to understand the class work.

You have an exam coming up, but you have no clue what your teacher just taught. You skipped your club activities just to stay in the classroom to study and hopefully teach yourself the work. The door suddenly opens, and when you look up, you see Jisoo at the door.

After a quick hello, you get back to your work and you’re internally crying about how you’re going to fail your exam. Jisoo senses your panic, and walks up to you. He asks, “Are you all right?” With a fake smile, you nod and tell him how you’re just doing a few numbers as practice for the upcoming exam. He takes a quick look at your paper, then says, “…I’m sorry to say this, but you’ve got everything wrong.”

The color drains from your face, and you openly admit that you don’t understand anything. Jisoo then takes a nearby chair and sits in front you. With a smile, he says, “I’ll help you study, then. Our chapters build up from one another, so if you don’t get this now, you’re not going to understand the next chapters.”

He ends up tutoring you every day until the exam. When you get your mark back, you stop yourself from jumping up and screaming because you got 93%. You thank Jisoo afterwards, and he humbly tells you that it’s nothing. You guys start talking a little more afterwards, and you even support him at school talent shows.

Jun: Junhui is known as the school’s player when in reality, he’s never even dated anyone. He just likes to flirt and fool around, but because of this, no one takes him seriously. He sleeps in class all the time and gets sent out of class often for doing so, but he still manages to get one of the best grades in the class. He’s just naturally smart and really good at studying, and despite this, he remains humble.

Junhui takes an interest in you when he realizes you’re the only girl not swooning over him.

You always pass by him with an uninterested look on your face, and sometimes he overhears you scoffing at his pick-up lines while he’s flirting with other girls. He immediately takes a liking to you and makes it his goal to get you flustered at least once.

No matter where you are, he’s always trying to flirt with you, but it never works. You always have a comeback to his pick-up lines or you always cut him off before he could finish. “You must be tired—” “Yeah, tired of you.”

One day, after a particularly difficult exam, Junhui got 96%; the best grade of the class. He even beat Jihoon, who got 95%. People started spreading rumors that he cheated or stole the exam, and even though he looks like he doesn’t care, you just know he does.

On your way to class the next day, you overhear a group of people talking about Junhui. You can sense their envy, and they’re even planning on spreading another rumor, but you raise your voice at them. “Junhui did not cheat,” you say. “He’s always had the best grades in the class, and you all know that. Don’t spread rumors about other people because you’re jealous.”

Junhui actually overhears the conversation, and he smiles to himself, thankful that you defended him. He keeps flirting with you, and sometimes he even sits with you to have a surprisingly normal conversation. He gets annoying and clingy at times, but you know you’d miss him if he stopped.

Hoshi: Soonyoung is a class clown, and one third of the class’ gag trio. He can get away with anything; no one knows how he does it. He always joins school talent shows, and everyone knows him as that kid that could dance amazingly well. Weirdly, he isn’t part of the school’s dance club. He asks the teacher unnecessary questions and makes unnecessary comments all the time, but they’re funny, so no one’s particularly annoyed.

Soonyoung slams the door to your clubroom open, looking like he just ran a marathon.

You’re all by yourself because you wanted to stay behind to finish up some work while the other club members left for home. He interrupted you when he suddenly slammed the door open, asking, “I’m sorry, but can I use your clubroom as a practice room just for a few minutes?”

Apparently, the dance room is booked all week, he’s been kicked out of a bunch of classrooms already because he’s too noisy, and there’s just no room at home. Your clubroom is in a moderately good location, so he’s begging for you to let him practice there.

You tell him you have a lot of work to do and this is the only place you can work in silence, but he tells you he won’t take long. You sigh and let him practice, and it really doesn’t take long. It does distract you, however; you’re so amazed by his dancing that you’ve slowed down on working.

After his practice, Soonyoung thanks you for letting him use the room. Now he knows he’ll be ready for the talent show, and he couldn’t have done it without you. You laugh at his exaggeration, but he just grins at you widely.

The day of the talent show finally comes around, and you’re sitting in the front seat.

Wonwoo: Wonwoo is known for being “tall, dark and handsome”, but he’s actually a shy sweetheart. During class, people think he’s really studious and attentive because he always looks fully concentrated while reading his textbook, but he’s actually reading a manhwa or fictional book behind it. He’s always borrowing books from the school library; he probably read half of them already.

You bump into Wonwoo at the library.

You’re sitting at one of the tables reading a book, and from the corner of your eye, you notice Wonwoo circle the library about five times now. He’s looking up and down every shelf, probably looking for a book. After watching him go around hopelessly, you get up from your spot and approach him.

You tell him you’ve seen him go around the library over five times, and you ask him why. “I’m looking for a book. The librarian said that no one borrowed it yet, so it must be here. I can’t seem to find it though,” he tells you. You ask him what the title of the book is, and after he tells you, your eyes trail down to the book in your hand.

After a laugh and an apology, you hand him the book. His face lights up and he thanks you endlessly, and you can’t help but think that he looks handsome when he smiles. But then he stops cheering, and looks down at the book. With a small smile, he hands it back to you, saying, “Just give it to me when you’re done reading. You got it first, after all.”

You tell him it’s all right, but he insists. You take it with a nod, and promise to give it back to him when you’re done.

When you finish reading, you give it to him in class, and he smiles as he takes it. Whenever you borrow from the library, you’re just hoping you borrow the book Wonwoo’s going to want to read after.

Woozi: Jihoon isn’t class president, but he’s the one doing all the work and tasks the class president should be doing. People ask for him more than they ask for Seungcheol. He gets the best grades in the class, and everyone admires him for being so hard-working. He gets mistaken for being cold and arrogant, but he’s just quiet.

You see Jihoon sitting in the classroom all by himself one day after school.

You were walking past your class after your club meeting, stopping right after catching a glimpse of someone inside. You backtrack and peek your head inside to find Jihoon sitting at his desk, filling up some paperwork. You look at the time and feel bad because it’s already fairly late out, and he’s still inside finishing up some work.

You knock on the door, and Jihoon looks up to face you. He has on his usual blank expression, and you’re somewhat intimidated by his gaze. “Do you need something as well?” he asks. You’re about to say no, but you stop yourself after realizing he said “as well”.

You walk into the class and stand next to his desk, peering down at his paper to see that he’s finishing up the class reports. You tell him that he should finish it up tomorrow instead so that he can get some rest. The teacher shouldn’t mind; it’s Seungcheol’s job to do it anyway.

Jihoon brushes it off, saying that it’s completely fine and that he’s almost done anyway. But you don’t give up, and continue telling him to get some rest. He gets annoyed because you don’t stop, and ends up yelling at you to shut up. Upset, you’re just about to leave, when he quietly says, “…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m just… so tired.”

You’ve always known he was hard-working, but you never thought that it was this much of a burden on him. He doesn’t say anything after, and just continues writing the report. You don’t want to leave him alone again, so you grab a nearby chair and help him complete the work.

When you both finish, Jihoon says thank you, and you smile because he isn’t as “cold” as people say.

DK: Seokmin is another class clown, and another member of the class’ gag trio. He’s always so loud and energetic, but everyone loves him because he’s so nice and funny. While he may be goofy, he studies hard and always gives in his work on time. He’s always seen with a smile on his face, and he talks to everyone in class so that no one feels lonely. Because of his kindness, people tend to take advantage of him. Classmates always ask him if he could take their place for cleaning because they know he’s unable to say no.

That’s how you find yourself cleaning up with Seokmin after school.

You and another classmate of yours were scheduled to clean that afternoon, but you overhear them ask Seokmin to take their place because they have “to be somewhere after class”. As usual, he says yes and grins at the classmate before watching them run off. You see him sigh and his smile fades slightly, but he doesn’t say a word and starts cleaning up.

He starts a conversation with you and smiles so widely, you’re almost fooled into thinking he’s fine staying after school to do someone else’s job. You cut him off in the middle of his sentence, asking him why he’s so nice. “I don’t really understand your question?” he says.

You tell him that he’s always doing things for everyone, and that it must be tiring. He has other things to do, just like everyone else. When you look up, you’re surprised to see Seokmin, who’s always smiling, with a shocked expression on his face. “Thank you,” is all he says. But you know he’s saying thank you for being worried, thank you for being able to see past his smiles.

He still continues to say yes to whoever asks him to clean, but only when he knows you’re going to be cleaning too.

Mingyu: Mingyu is the boy that every girl is after, but he’s completely unaware. He’s always eating in class and making really bad jokes, but the girls still love him anyway because he’s so handsome. He laughs at his own horrible joke while the rest of the class just groans. He’s not very active in school activities because he has work right after class.

You stumble upon the café that Mingyu works at after school.

It’s a really hot day, and you’re looking for a nice place that sells iced coffee. You’re on your way to the convenience store, but you give up and enter the nearest café because it’s just so hot. When you walk past the door, you hear your classmate’s familiar voice exclaim, “Order for Samuel!”

You look up to see Mingyu in a uniform giving a smoothie to a young boy. You walk up to the counter to order, and he points at you. “Oh! You’re in my class, right?” he asks. You nod your head and say, “I didn’t know you worked here.”

You guys talk at the counter for some time, and that’s when you realize this is the first time you’ve ever actually spoken to Mingyu. He really is handsome and kind; now you understand why he’s so popular with the girls.

You eventually order an iced coffee, and Mingyu’s the one to make it for you. When he finishes making it, he calls out your name and passes it to you with a grin. “See you in class!” he exclaims before getting back to work.

You haven’t gone to the convenience store after this; the café became your first choice.

The8: Minghao is that cool guy who distracts the teacher before they could take attendance so that any late students can sneak into the classroom. He’s known for taking the best notes; they’re clean, legible and amazingly detailed. It’s like he wrote down what the teacher said word for word. People even offered him money for a photocopy of his notes. He’s fairly quiet in class, and he dashes out the door the second class is over.

You discover that Minghao is an active member of the school’s dance club.

You’ve always wondered why he’s always in such a hurry to leave class. You always thought that it was so that he wouldn’t drown in the sea of people begging for his notes. Shrugging, you walk out of the classroom and walk to the vending machine to get a drink.

While there, you overhear two classmates talking to Minghao about the class notes. That day’s lesson was difficult to understand, so it’s no surprise that people would want them. You hear Minghao say no to them politely, and they just nod respectfully and leave.

Minghao then turns around and starts walking away—in the opposite direction of the school exit. After grabbing your drink, you quietly follow him, wanting to know where he’s headed.

You follow him all the way to the school’s dance practice room, and you see him enter. He accidentally leaves the door slightly ajar, so you walk all the way there to see what he’s doing behind the room. When you peek inside, you see him place his phone on the ground, and a song blasts from it. Minghao suddenly starts dancing and you accidentally gasp loudly when you see just how talented he is.

He hears your gasp, and immediately stops. “Is anyone out there?” he asks. You open the door to reveal yourself, apologizing for invading his privacy. You then begin complimenting him, and he shyly thanks you. You eventually leave after remembering you had an errand to run, but not before telling him one last time how talented he is. You look down at the drink in your hand before holding it out for him, telling him it’s for his hard work.

The next day, you grin when you see him run out of class. And you grin wider when he flashes you a smile before he’s out of sight.

Seungkwan: Seungkwan is another class clown, and the last member of the class’ gag trio. He’s known for being the most energetic out of the three, and he can make anyone smile and talk because he’s so friendly. He’s the king of class presentations. He explains well, he’s funny, he’s charming; everyone’s always looking forward to his presentations. They all call him MC Boo because it’s like they’re watching a variety show while watching him present.

You’re placed in the same team as Seungkwan for a class project.

The project is supposed to be done in pairs, and the teacher chose you to be with him. You’re really intimidated because you know how he is, and you don’t think that you could live up to his expectations. You’re afraid of disappointing him and the class because you aren’t as talented in public speaking.

While splitting up the parts, Seungkwan notices that you look really nervous. “Are you all right?” he asks. Instead of lying to him, you tell him everything, not leaving a single detail. You tell him you’re afraid of lowering his grade, and he cuts you off before you could finish. “I don’t really care about that. I mean, I know grades are important, but I’d rather we both have fun doing this project.”

He helps you practice for the presentation and you get hypnotized or something because you were afraid just seconds ago, and now… you’re not afraid at all. Seungkwan really can make anyone smile and feel comfortable. He gave you confidence.

You guys are the first to present, and once it’s done, everyone compliments you both. You’ve never felt this proud of yourself after a presentation, and you turn to thank Seungkwan for helping you out. He grins and gives you a thumbs up.

He starts talking to you more often during class, and whenever the teacher says they’re going to be picking the teams, you always hope you get placed with him again.

Vernon: Hansol is that one student who always gets called out in class to take his hat/beanie off. He’s always five minutes late to class, but he gets away with it thanks to Minghao. He always has headphones around his neck and dozes off during class, but he still gets decent grades, so the teacher never really says anything.

You learn that you and Hansol listen to the same type of music.

During lunch period, you’re quietly eating your lunch while reviewing for an upcoming exam when you suddenly hear muffled music coming from behind you. When you turn around, you see Hansol with his headphones on listening to music. You can hear a bit of the song he’s listening to, but you don’t really pay attention to it, until you hear it.

He’s listening to your favorite song.

You whip your head around, and display the most shocked expression. Hansol looks up at you in confusion, and you exclaim, “No way! You listen to them too?!” He takes his headphones off and asks you to repeat because he didn’t hear you. After you do, his eyes light up and he nods his head. “Of course I do!” he grins.

You both end up talking about that group, and Hansol even shows you his music library. You find out that he likes many of your favorite songs, and you both end up sharing music most lunch periods.

Dino: Chan is the teacher’s pet, but he doesn’t even realize it. He’s always asking relevant questions and offering to help them carry half of the notebooks to the teacher’s lounge after class. No one calls him out for being one though because he’s so sweet and innocent, and they all love him. He always forgets to put his phone on silent, so a Michael Jackson ringtone sometimes rings in the middle of class.

Chan takes a liking to you when you help him out.

As always, Chan offers to help the teacher bring the notebooks to the teacher’s lounge. However, that teacher has a very important meeting to get to, so he asks him to carry them all to the lounge. Chan picks up the huge pile of heavy notebooks and carefully walks out the door.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” you say to yourself before getting up and rushing out the door after him. You take two steps out the door to find Chan on the floor, along with all the notebooks. He’s picking them up, and you kneel down to help him.

“I’ll help you carry half,” you tell him. He tells you that it’s completely fine, but you just smile and pick up half the notebooks. You both walk to the teacher’s lounge together and drop it off, and Chan doesn’t stop thanking you. You tell him it’s no problem, and he offers to walk you back to class before he leaves for the day.

After this, whenever the teacher leaves for an important meeting, it becomes an unspoken tradition for you and Chan to drop the notebooks off together.

AWW I’VE MISSED YOU TOO MY DUMPLING. this ended up being super long because i was so inspired and it didn’t help that i was listening to mansae when i came across your ask LOL thank you for your request!! ^^