#duke is interesting im actually leaning towards breathe

[jasontoddsreanimatedcorpse]

trying to assign a crawlers song to dick so i can write a fic for him and either im projecting or this man has too many issues bc bruh i cannot decide

[ukulelecal]

Biggest Fan pt. 4

In which you’re a famous singer and Calum is a fan of your music.

Warnings: maybe like one swear, but other than that not really

Pairing: Calum Hood x Reader

Requested By: Anonymous originally

“hi can you do a blurb on calum where you’re also famous and u find out he’s interested in you and low key loves your music? shebjdjsj idk jus make it fluffy and ill love u forever”

A/N: another obnoxiously long wait, another part!!!! finally!! we got some cute calum all up in this bitch YEESS im in love with him. sorry its short (well like not super short but shorter than part 3), i wasn’t sure what else could happen without making it extensive for just one part. but give me some feedback, tell me what you thought!! also, do you guys want more parts? i could probably end it here if yall are done with this, but i also have some ideas for some more things that could happen!!! aka i could kill yall with some cuteness!! or make you cry with some angst!! what do you guys think???

Requests are OPEN!

*Gif not mine*

Series Masterlist

Your head was pounding. Your stomach was churning. All the telltale signs of a hangover.

A groan fell from your lips, bringing your hand up to rub your eyes. After they adjusted to the light coming in from the windows, you glanced at the bed next to yours; Cara and Sam were still sleeping soundly. Your eyes then fell on the clock, squinting to see clearly. 12:34 PM. You hadn’t even realized you slept that late.

The occurrences of the previous night were one massive blur. You remembered getting ready to leave and meeting up with Calum and Mali, having a couple shots, but after that? Not much came back to you.

It wasn’t until you picked up your phone, seeing a text from Calum, that perhaps the most significant event of the night finally popped into your head.

You admitted your feelings to Calum. You kissed him.

You weren’t sure if you wanted to smile or punch yourself in the face.

Sure, you had been wanting something like that to happen. But, in a club and being totally wasted wasn’t exactly how you imagined it happening. You couldn’t really complain, though. He liked you back.

He liked you back.

Yeah, you had to smile.

You glanced down at your phone again, actually reading the text that Calum sent you.

Calum: I have to get back on the road later today. I really need to see you again before I go.

You bit your lip softly, typing out a reply.

Y/N: Definitely. Where should we meet up?

You set your phone back down on the nightstand to wait for a reply, and kicked the blankets off of you. Might as well start getting ready if you were going to meet up with Calum. You quietly padded to the bathroom, trying not to wake up Cara and Sam, and glanced in the mirror. Oh, yikes. You had managed to change out of your clothes before crashing in bed, apparently, but neglected to remove your makeup. Your eye makeup was smudged everywhere, and your lipstick was smeared a bit.

Well, that probably wasn’t entirely from sleeping.

You grabbed a makeup wipe and cleaned everything off, then thoroughly washed your face. From outside the bathroom, you heard your phone vibrate, and you quickly scurried out to check. There was another text from Calum.

Calum: You can come to my hotel, if that’s okay. I’ll take you back to yours on my way to the airport after.

Y/N: Sounds good, Cal

He proceeded to send you the name of the hotel and his room number, and you scurried over to your suitcase to get some clothes. You decided on something cute but casual, just for a meet up. A pair of mom jeans, and a simple white t-shirt tucked in.

As you went about your morning routine, you pondered exactly what you and Calum were going to talk about. The night before was inevitably going to come up, but that conversation could go in many different directions. You weren’t sure exactly how it would turn out.

Still, you meant every word you had said. You liked him a lot. Although your time together in person was limited, you texted and Skyped him a lot and got to know him very well. You fell for him from miles away.

After you finished getting ready, making yourself look as presentable as possible being quite hungover, you shook Cara and Sam awake, earning tired groans in response.

“You can go back to sleep if you want,” you chuckled. “Just wanted to let you know I’m going to go see Calum for a bit. I shouldn’t be too long.”

Cara grumbled something incoherent and buried her head deeper into the pillows. Rolling your eyes, you reached for the pad of paper and pen that hotels provided, and wrote out a quick note. Chances were, neither of them were going to remember a thing you said, if they even heard you at all.

You slipped on some shoes, grabbed your phone and room key, and headed out the door.

On the way down to the lobby, you put the address to Calum’s hotel into your phone to see how far it was. Turns out, it wasn’t far at all, only a couple blocks away. You decided against calling an Uber; you could walk.

You turned left out of your hotel and started your walk. It went by quickly and uneventfully, and you soon found yourself in the lobby of the hotel Calum was staying at. You headed towards the elevators and went up to the sixth floor, where he had said his room was. You then followed the signs to room 659.

Taking a deep breath, you gently rapped on the door. It opened a couple moments later to reveal Calum dressed in black joggers and a green hoodie with the word “empathy” printed across the front.

“Hey,” he said, a sleepy grin resting on his face. You could tell by the dark circles under his eyes and the disastrous state of his hair, that he was feeling the effects of a hangover as well.

“Hi,” you replied, and he stepped to the side to let you in. Letting the door fall shut behind you, he gestured to the bed, sheets wrinkled and messy from a night of sleep, for you to sit. You gingerly plopped yourself down on the edge, and Calum did the same next to you.

“So, um, have you seen the pictures?” Calum asked, scratching the back of his head as he turned to look at you, face slightly scrunched up. You furrowed your eyebrows at the question.

“What pictures?” You asked, confused. The only thing you had done on your phone was text Calum, not check social media. He sighed and grabbed his phone that was resting on his pile of pillows, and unlocked it; you didn’t want to be nosy, but you couldn’t help but notice that his lockscreen was a photo of his dog, Duke. He had shown you pictures of him when you were in Paris. You smiled a little. Hopefully you’d get to meet the little guy.

Then the familiar blue of Twitter appeared on his screen, and Calum used his thumb to scroll until he found what he was looking for. He clicked on a picture and handed you his phone to see.

Your heart dropped in your stomach a bit as you swiped through the many.

The pictures were all of you and Calum at the club. You were used to having your picture taken when you were just trying to do normal things or have fun, but these weren’t exactly the same. There were a couple of you and him dancing, but the majority were of you and him kissing.

It was those that made you slightly uncomfortable. Calum had you pinned against the wall, hands gripping your hips and your arms thrown around his neck, having a sloppy makeout session. That wasn’t the type of picture you wanted of yourself getting spread around the Internet.

“Oh,” you breathed out softly. Wordlessly, you handed Calum his phone back, gently taking your bottom lip between your teeth.

“I know,” he sighed, tossing the electronic back on the pillows. “I wish they would just leave us alone, you know?”

“Yeah.” It was normal for you to be scrolling through Twitter and suddenly find a picture of yourself walking down the street, getting into your car, having lunch with a friend. It definitely did get pretty annoying. “What are people saying about them?”

Calum sighed again, fiddling with the rings on his fingers.

“Similar things to what they said about the Paris pictures,” he began. “There were more of them that weren’t so nice, I guess.”

“Of course,” you grumbled under your breath, more to yourself rather than Calum. Another thing you were, unfortunately, used to was hate on the Internet. You had seen it all; jabs at your music, your appearance, your clothes, your personality. Most of the time, you tried not to even read it, ignore it the best you could, but curiosity got the best of you every once in a while. Nonetheless, you tried not to let it bother you. “What are we going to do, then?”

Calum hesitated before answering.

“I’m not sure what there is to do. Just don’t acknowledge it, I guess.”

You weren’t sure why you felt a wave of disappointment wash over you.

“And, about last night…” Calum continued, voice trailing off. Your eyes widened a bit.

This had been what you really wanted to talk about. You knew what you were hoping for him to say, but there was always the possibility that he could take it back. Tell you he was drunk and it didn’t mean anything. That you should just keep being friends.

“Did you mean what you said?” He asked, voice soft, and you could hear the slightest shake in his voice. A small smile graced your features.

“Of course I meant it,” you replied, just above a whisper. “I really do like you, a lot.”

Calum smiled, and your smile grew to match his.

“Did you?” You questioned, letting your head fall daintily to the side. Calum chuckled.

“Every word.”

He suddenly stood up, reaching his hand out. You gingerly grabbed it, letting him pull you to your feet and close to him. Looking up to meet his gaze, you found his brown eyes boring into you, and you felt your heart flutter.

Those damn eyes got you every time.

“I don’t think we had a very proper kiss last night,” he mused, running his thumb over your hands that were held between the two of you. “C-Can I kiss you again?”

Calum was mentally cursing himself for stuttering, but you were nodding and smiling fondly up at him, already starting to slowly lean in. He moved his hands to cup your cheeks, closing the distance between you.

This was more like the romantic first kiss you had imagined.

Your hands found his shoulders, letting them rest there.

Your heart was pounding. You were weak in the knees. You were wrapped around his finger.

He felt the same. Ever since he met you in Chicago, he knew you were special. It was a leap of faith for him to tweet you that day, so long ago, and he about died when you replied. He couldn’t be more glad.

The kiss eventually broke, and you stayed with your foreheads resting against each other, dazed smiles on both of your faces. Before either of you had the chance to say anything, Calum’s phone rang from where it sat on the bed. Of course, something had to ruin the moment.

He sighed heavily, mumbling out an apology before reaching for it.

After he hit decline to whoever was calling him, he tossed it down and reached for your hands again.

“I have to leave for my flight,” he sighed, almost sounding upset that he had to go. As much as you wanted to have more time with him, more than just these few minutes, you knew he had a tour to get back to.

“Okay,” you replied, giving his hands a light squeeze. “I can walk back to my hotel.”

“Are you sure? I can ask my driver to drop you off on the way.” You shook your head. “No, don’t worry about it. I’m only a couple blocks away.”

He nodded, pulling you in for a hug. You breathed out deeply as you wrapped your arms around his torso, taking in his scent. You knew it would be a while before you saw each other again, maybe not even until after he finished the North American leg of his tour, which was the last one.

You just didn’t want to leave him.

“Text me later, okay?” You mumbled into his chest, eyes unintentionally falling shut.

“Definitely.”

You pulled away from the hug, looking up at him with a grin.

“Bye, Calum.”

“Bye, Y/N.”

Hesitantly, you removed yourselves from each other grasps, and Calum walked you to the door.

Just as you stepped foot into the hallway, Calum grabbed your wrist and spun you around.

“One more,” he breathed out, pulling you in for another kiss. You melted into it. How was a simple kiss so heavenly?

“Now I’m good,” he chuckled when he pulled away, and you couldn’t help but laugh a little as well. You bid your final goodbyes, and before you knew it, you were on your way back to your hotel.

…

After you returned and relayed every single detail of what happened onto the finally awake Cara and Sam, you decided to spend the day relaxing by the pool.

You were laying out on your chair, catching some California sun, when the thought came to you; you and Calum for sure liked each other, but nothing ever became official. What were you?

You wanted to wait, didn’t want to seem desperate, but it was nagging you. Did shared feelings and a few kisses mean you were together? Official? Unofficial?

Letting out a deep breath, you reached for your phone, typing a simple, straightforward text out to Calum.

Y/N: Cal? What are we?

You weren’t expecting a reply right away, assuming he was probably on the plane, but much to your surprise, you got one just a few minutes later.

Calum: I mean, I kind of wanted to ask you this in person, but that depends on how you answer this question

The typing bubbles appeared, signalling he was still typing. You bit your lip as your heart pounded in your chest. The next text couldn’t come soon enough.

Calum: Would you like to be my girlfriend, Y/N?

And everything suddenly seemed like it fell into place.

Y/N: I would love to be your girlfriend, Calum. And I would love for you to be my boyfriend

Calum: You’re fucking adorable. I wish I was there to kiss you right now

You giggled a little, covering your mouth with your hand.

Y/N: Can’t wait until I see you again so we can do boyfriend-girlfriend things like kissing xo

Calum: Soon, just a few weeks left. I’m boarding now, I’ll call you later, ok?

Y/N: Ok. Have a safe flight!

His response was a few heart emojis, and you locked your phone. There was no way in hell you could wipe the smile off your face.

It was official. Boyfriend-girlfriend official.

“What’s got you smiling like that?” Cara asked, returning with Sam from the bar where they had been getting drinks. You giggled, covering your face with your hands.

“He asked me out,” you mumbled from behind your hands, earning excited squeals from your friends.

“Now we can like, go on double dates and stuff!”

You laughed at the comment from Sam, finally removing your hands from your face.

It was surreal, but it was happening. After he tweeted you never thought you’d end up dating. After Chicago, it was a thought in your mind. After Paris, you wanted it. Now, here you were.

[takingcourage]

The Start of Forever - Part 5

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Pairing: Drake x MC

Word Count: 2,387

Series Summary: The wedding has passed and the Duke and Duchess of Valtoria are free to begin their lives together away from the constraints of court. While honeymooning in Texas, they’re confronted with questions from their past that raise implications about their future. (Slight AU)

Chapter Summary: Drake and Jena spend some time alone after a difficult conversation with his mother. 

Author’s Note: Whew! Apologies for the unexpected hiatus on this story. Now that I have some free time again, I should be able to finish posting this story. I appreciate your patience through the long delay!

Tagging: @andy-loves-corgis, @carabeth, @speedyoperarascalparty

All things considered, Karen Walker had been rather more understanding than she’d expected. As Jena loaded her cereal bowl into the dishwasher, she thought back over the painstaking conversation that had ended less than an hour before.

Drake had not underestimated the effect that their news would have on his mother. On learning that her son had been given a duchy, color had drained slowly from the older woman’s face until a dull white shell was all that remained. In spite of her polite responses, the visceral reactions had been painful for all three of them.

Shortly after their previous discussion had finished, Karen had pulled Drake aside for a private word. After what she'd seen over the past eighteen hours, Jena could only hope that the woman was doing him no further damage.

She tried to convince herself that she’d done nothing but hurry along the inevitable, but guilt assailed her all the same. This certainly wasn’t the way she’d envisioned this day going. At this point, so much of their morning had been consumed by unpleasant conversation that she wondered if Drake would want to leave early for their night back in Dallas. She glanced a the stovetop clock, trying not to get her hopes up.

The quiet intonations from down the hall were at least somewhat reassuring. There had been no yelling -- of that was certain. If she was venturing to guess, she didn’t think she’d heard anything that sounded like crying either. Both seemed like signs in favor of productive conversation between mother and son.

Jena found a rag draped across the head of the faucet, dampened it, and set about clearing crumbs from the table. As she finished the final swipe across the width, she sensed a presence coming toward her.

“You don’t have to do that, Wittman.” The soft-spoken words startled out of her thoughts, despite her intuition.

“I know. But I needed something to do.” She cupped her hand underneath the cloth and shook the contents into a nearby trash can. “You doing okay?” Having rinsed the rag, she returned it to its former spot and rubbed her hands down the front of her jeans.

“Fine.” His brown eyes were trained on her, and she raised a quizzical brow as he opened and shut his mouth. Eventually, the words ventured forth. “Would you be interested in going riding? I was hoping to get the chance to show you around the ranch…”

“I’d like that a lot, actually,” she assured, still taking in his appearance.

Drake looked tired. It was evident in the exaggerated slackness of the skin around his eyes. A pang of guilt plagued her as she contrasted this with their time at the cabin. He’d been so peaceful there. After all of the stress she’d seen on that face in the past months, it sickened her to think that she’d been the cause of more.

“Good. We may as well get over to the stables. Have you ever actually saddled a horse, Wittman?” He raised his brow in challenge.

“No, but I think I’m about to learn how.” 

“Just as long as you don’t go scaring the horses. I don’t want to have to reenact that rescue from the derby.”

Jena scoffed at the slight, shaking her head in disbelief as she followed him out the front door. “You know that’s not how it happened, Walker.”

“Of course not,” he acquiesced, treating her to a half smile. She rolled her eyes and fell into step at his side, slipping her fingers into his. 

Jena had only ridden horses a few times during childhood, but she’d adjusted to the practice fairly quickly after coming to Cordonia. When she wasn’t taking day-long treks for foxhunting, she found that she actually enjoyed it very much -- especially when she was fortunate enough to have her husband’s company.

Riding around his family’s property spawned memories of exploring Valtoria with him on horseback, and she felt a pang of longing for their home. There was so much waiting for them when they returned. As much as she had enjoyed the honeymoon, some part of her was giddy at the thought of starting real life together.

Today, however, she was focused on Drake’s wellbeing. Other than the extremely thorough instructions as he’d guided her through the process of saddling the horses, he’d been fairly quiet since coming to find her in the kitchen. Jena's mind overflowed with words that could fill the silence, but nothing felt right. She breathed a grateful sigh when he chose to speak instead.

“I was pretty upset with you this morning, Wittman. I was sitting there drinking coffee and thinking that you were being unreasonable -- that you’d judged my mom too harshly. I’m not so sure anymore.”

The uncertainty in his voice halted her instinctive response. Jena breathed out slowly through her nose, biding her time in case there was more he wanted to say.

“I’ve never felt so angry with her before. She can doubt me all she wants, but doubting you -- I never thought she’d go that far. That’s a line she shouldn’t have crossed. I feel like I don’t even know her anymore...”

“For the record, I didn’t want to be right,” Jena admitted softly, grateful that they kept their horses at a relaxed pace so that she could meet his gaze. Her heart clenched at the distance in his deep brown eyes. “I just know what it’s like to defend someone who doesn’t deserve it. Finding out they’re not who you thought they were...it’s a hard pill to swallow.” She fiddled with the leather reins between her fingers, hoping that she was treading lightly enough to cause no offense.

“Your dad?” he asked simply.

Nodding, she met his eyes. The distant look gave way to a tenderness that mirrored her own worry for him, and she was struck by just how broken both of their families had been. “I wasted a lot of years making excuses for him, Drake. When I finally forgave him, it wasn’t because he’d done anything to deserve it. I just needed closure.” Drake stretched out a hand and she took it gratefully before continuing. “I don’t want you to have to go through all of that with your mom. I hope you’re able to figure things out and find a way to start over, but please don’t beat yourself up about it if you’re not.”

Her husband sighed, taking his time to respond as he turned his gaze to the horizon. “I sort of have to. I mean, dad’s not around any more. She doesn’t exactly have anyone else.”

Jena shook her head in an attempt to clear the conflicting emotions. She’d realized long ago that his protective instinct would have a propensity for getting them in trouble. She just hadn’t expected the trouble to take this form. “You always want to defend the people you care about, Drake. It’s one of the first things I noticed about you -- one of the things I love most about you too. But sometimes you have to think about protecting yourself. Sometimes that may even mean letting others protect you.”

“I don’t like to have people worrying about me.”

“We’ve been over this before…”

“I know. And sometimes having you around to worry about me is a good thing. I wouldn’t have come clean with my mom if it hadn’t been for you.”

“I hope it was the right decision.” She’d spent the past several hours second guessing her encouragement from the night before. “Did things...go okay?”

“Heh.”

She waited several moments, but he elaborated no further. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she ventured finally.

“Just that I think it’s going to take some time for her to adjust to the idea that I’m a noble and that I’m staying in Cordonia for good. But I think some part of her is proud too. Maybe someday she’ll come around to the idea that I’m not just wasting my life over there.”

“Does she really think that?” The words felt strangled as Jena worked them out of her throat. So many of her early interactions with Drake became clearer as she considered Karen’s likely influence.

He clicked his tongue to encourage the horse, but her question remained unanswered. Several paces later, he came to a sudden stop. Jena pulled the reins gently and dismounted to stand beside him in the tall grass.

“We’ll let the horses graze for a bit.”

She stroked the mare’s bony cheek and dropped the reins, putting her hands in her pockets instead. Squinting against the mid-morning sun, she followed Drake to a line of fencing nearby. Green stretched before them on every side, the light wind stirring long blades of grass into mesmerizing waves. She wondered vaguely if this was the sight that had enticed Karen to come back from Cordonia. Out here, in the warmth of late spring, it wasn’t hard to imagine the appeal that this land must have held.

Drake leaned against the nearest post, a wrinkle forming between his brows. With ease, Jena mounted the fence beside him, steadying herself with a certain hand.

Did I cross a line? Why hasn’t he answered my question? Jena hated the thought that her carelessness might have caused such distress. A week ago, she wouldn’t have been so bothered by the thought. Now, as this man’s wife, she felt some measure of responsibility to read his mind. The notion was ridiculous, but present nonetheless. Just as she was clearing her throat, he spoke.

“I’m not sure what my mother thinks anymore. She didn’t take it very well when I moved back to Cordonia. Wanted me to forge my own path instead of running back to the palace.”

“Do you ever regret it?”

“Going back?” At her nod, he continued. “I had a lot of questions at the time, but in a way, mom’s right. I’d been following Liam around for so long that it was easier to just settle back into that when I came back from the States. It took me a while to find where I belonged in all of it.  But no, I don’t regret it. Cordonia is home.”

“You’ve found your way now. And with or without the courtly graces, you’re still Drake Walker,” she beamed encouragingly. “I just wish your mom had taken the chance to get to who that man is.” A fresh sting of remorse accompanied the words, and she looped her fingers around the hand that rested beside her on the fence.

Drake interlocked his fingers with her own and lifted his face tentatively. “I think I’d like for her to get the chance to.”

Her pulse quickened at the meaning that underpinned his words. Biting her tongue, she shifted her weight toward him and took in his pensive expression.

“I don’t want to do anything you’re not comfortable with.” He hiked a hand through his hair. “But I’m not sure I’d ever forgive myself if I cut the relationship off completely. I’d always wonder if things could have been different. I’m not saying that I want to come out here for Christmases or anything, but--” preoccupied, he ceased speaking as she squeezed his hand. 

“I’ll support whatever you choose, Drake. I can’t say I have a very good first impression of her, but I respect how much she means to you. If I had any hope of my dad changing for the better, I’d probably make the same choice.” Her tone grew wistful at the impossible notion. “But I think we’re going to have to find a compromise. I don’t want you bending over backward to make her a part of our lives if she won’t even meet you halfway. You can’t do that to yourself, Drake.”

“Agreed.”

“So she’s going to have to understand that there are boundaries she can’t cross. It’s going to take some time for us to establish trust again.”

“Sounds fair to me,” he considered, stroking her knuckles with his thumb as he looked to her face. “She’s been through a lot, Jena. I don’t want to put her through more than she deserves.”

“I know,” she responded quickly to the flash of pain in his eyes. “But if she puts you through more than you deserve, she’ll have me to contend with.” Although her tone was light, they both knew that the threat was genuine.

He hoisted himself onto the fence beside her, dropping his hands to his sides. “I never thought I’d be so happy to get back to Valtoria, but I’m really looking forward to it.”

She offered a wry smile. “I am too. I know we’re going to try to work things out here, but I can’t wait to get back to Dallas and then home.”

“It’s the last night of our trip, Wittman. How do you want to spend it?”

“Seeing as it’s the last night of our honeymoon,” she emphasized, “I was thinking room service, hot tub, and…some drinks.”

“Now that’s a plan I can get behind.”

“I’m not going overboard though. We’ve got a day full of traveling tomorrow.”

“We’ll sleep it off on the plane.”

“Maybe you will," she joked, hopping down from the fence. “I’ll be awake for it all.”

“Even if I keep you up all night?”

Jena threw him a look over her shoulder. "That didn’t exactly work for the trip out here." He extended a hand toward her and she settled into the space between his legs, running her palms against toned thighs that were stretched taut from his heels pressing into the lower rail.

"I’ll take that as a challenge.” The glint in his eyes sent tendrils of heat through her core.

“Just keeping you on your toes, Walker.” 

Drake shook his head at her accompanying wink. 

“Ready when you are,” she announced, rising to the tips of her toes. Drake cradled her cheek in his hand and leaned into the kiss. His lips were soft and warm, heated by the morning sun. She snaked her arms around his waist and melted into him with pleasure. When she finally pulled away, it took several moments for her head to clear.

The kiss told her all she needed to know. They would make it through this.  Together. 

[maple-keenes]

of drunk kisses and superpowers

[HEY GUYS, I’M PUTTING IT AT THE TOP THAT THIS IS A REMUS X DECEIT FIC. PLEASE, DO NOT READ IF THIS MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE.]

summary: deceit (damien) is a mostly-normal journalism student who managed, somehow, to only make friends with superheroes and supervillains. he's in his final year of college, got an amazing best friend who's only a semi-murderous supervillain and he's landed an internship at the new york times. problem is, they keep making him report on all the superhero vs supervillain fights around the city - which means he's seen roman and remus fight against each other a million and a half times. the only issue with that is that he's starting to watch these fights more intensely and notice a hell of more about how good remus's costume looks on him. soon, damien's juggling his job, his schoolwork, and the growing feeling that he might want a little bit more than friendship with remus.

pairing: dukeceit, logicality, remile if you squint 

tw: remus, deceit, cursing, alcohol, getting drunk, more cursing

wc: 4293

a/n: ...i’m not ashamed of what i’ve done here 

read it on ao3

general:

@analogical-chaos @theflatpancake @ilovemygaydad @alltimevirgilant @virgiliananxiety @romanticsanders @theincediblesulk @wroammin @creativity-killed-thekitten @bitchyybabyy400 @wooflesthatwoof @lyditist @heck-im-lost @max-is-tired @demurphart @thelowlysatsuma @land-of-dragons-and-frogs @theeternalspace @magicallygrimmwiccan @weirdsthenewnormal @romansleftshoulderpad

--

Damien May was a fairly normal college student. He was a bit of an asshole, tended to not do his homework, but deep down he was a decent person. He lived in an apartment with a friend of his, Logan, and he was majoring in journalism. 

He was not a superhero. 

Actually, Damien was fairly certain he was the only one in his extended friend group that wasn’t a superhero or villain. Logan, his roommate was also known as Logic (he wasn’t the most creative), Remus was The Duke, his twin brother, Roman, was The Prince, (Damien was ticking these off on his fingers as he went), Logan’s boyfriend was Empath, Damien’s kind-of-friend from Composition was known as Dark Magic, and Damien's cousin Remy was also some sort of superhero. Thank god Remy's husband was just a therapist, or Dami would have gone batshit. 

None of his friends knew that he knew who they all were except Logan. It was something that was hard to hide from your roommate, especially when said roommate is a seasoned professional in persuasion and observation. And Logan tells Patton everything and Damien tells Logan everything and vice-versa, so the whole-Patton-is-Empath thing was kind of out in the open from the beginning. And Virgil, aka Dark Magic, had told him off the bat too.

So really, it was just Roman and Remus. 

Overall, he was generally content to stick with his normal life, with his not-so-normal friends, and continue pissing off Roman's main gang of friends with Remus. 

This worked fine for him until his internship at the Times decided that he needed to cover a fight between The Duke and The Prince that had broken out, and Damien just sighed and grabbed his notebook. Tonight was gonna be great. 

So he sat in a car, watching the twin brothers fly around yelling weird insults at each other. Since he lived and worked in New York, this was not the first or last fight he'd ever have to cover, so Damien just scribbled down an account of what had happened the last four times (the Arellano twins were pretty consistent) they had fought. He pulled out his phone and texted Logan an update. 

The Best Person To Ever Exist (Me) 5:43 PM

they're not even fighting anymore, just yelling weirdly personal insults at each other

The Best Person To Ever Exist (Me) 5:43 PM

"GREEN ISN'T YOUR COLOR" "IT BRINGS OUT MY EYES YOU BITCH" 

Spooky Mind Control Dude 5:44 PM

Oh, hell. Well, that sounds like them. I'll see you later, Dami.

The Best Person To Ever Exist (Me) 5:45 PM

i hate it when you call me that. 

Spooky Mind Control Dude 5:45 PM

Okay, Dami.

Damien groaned and banged his head against the dashboard of his car, not even noticing the fountain explode next to him as Roman and Remus flew over top of the car. 

“This is dumb, my life is dumb, I want to go home,” he muttered to himself as the battle raged on. “Go Remus, go Remus.” 

It dragged on for another hour or so, and Damien found himself napping the backseat and dreaming about… something not to be discussed. 

He woke up when someone tapped on his window and he mumbled “mrmph” and sat up. He quickly rolled down the window and stuck his head out, immediately waking up fully when he realized he was staring right at Remus and Roman. “Oh, hello sirs, I’m with the Times, do you think I could get a statement from you two on what we can expect from you next?”

“Hi, Damien. How long have you been reporting on us?” Roman asked, hands on his hips. 

“I’m not allowed to tell you that. Now, what can we expect -” 

“Damien,” Remus interrupted. “We know you know it’s us.” 

He jerked up, smiling. “Oh, hi Remus, didn’t see you there.” 

“I’m here too! Don’t think you can ignore me just cause you’re gay for my brother or some shit -” Roman said. 

Remus spun around to face his brother. “Now listen here, Ro -”

Damien sank back into his chair, hoping that he could just drive away and possibly hit both of them when he did. He had to deal with their bickering constantly at home, dealing with it at work as well was something he’d definitely had nightmares about. Eventually he gave up and turned back to the window, raising his voice to be heard over the twins’ arguing and said, “Hey! You two! Shut up!” 

They both looked at him, startled. “Damien?” Remus raised an eyebrow. “You okay?”

“Okay, you two aren’t subtle. I’ve known you guys are the Duke and Prince since I met you because anyone who knows you in real life knows it’s ridiculously obvious.” He took a deep breath. “And - and - I have to report on you guys because it’s my job. It’s not a personal thing and no, Roman, it’s not because I’m gay for your brother, it’s not like I want to report on you two doing the same thing every time!” Damien chastised. “So, please, stop it.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.” 

Damien sighed. “Thank you. Remus, I’ll see you later?” 

He nodded. “8 PM?” 

“Sounds good.” 

With that, Damien figured the conversation over and drove off, wishing that it was possible to just scream as loudly as possible on the highway and hope that no one heard him. Ugh. If Remus and Roman knew he knew who they were, that meant he couldn’t report on them unbiased anymore, and that was just great. 

When he got back to his and Logan’s apartment, he didn’t even bother to go to his room before he collapsed on the couch and started screaming into the pillow. 

Logan poked his head out of his room. “Damien, what are you doing?”

“Suffocating myself,” he said, voice muffled by the pillow. “Roman and Remus found out.” 

“About what? The superhero thing or the other thing?” 

Damien sat up and glared at him. “What other thing? There’s only one thing!” 

“I just meant…” Logan trailed off, giving him a curious look. “You don’t realize? Oh, that’s interesting. Anyway, I’m sorry about that. Are you sure they’ll act strange now that they realize it’s you that’s been reporting on them?”

“Yes! It’s what happened with you!” He groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Especially Remus. He’ll be super weird if he knows it’s me watching. Probably hurt Roman less. Which’ll especially suck because that’s like, the most enjoyable part of my job.” 

Logan shook his head. “You are really oblivious, you know that?” 

“I do, actually,” he replied, glancing at the time. “I’m leaving at 7:30, walking over to Remus’s place to hang out for a bit and awkwardly talk about what happened today before we get blackout drunk.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” 

He grinned. “Isn’t that the whole point, Logan?”

Damien lounged around the apartment for a bit, typing up the rest of his report and trying to figure out why the hell everyone was acting so weird about him and Remus lately. Logan was even doing that thing that Damien had told him when they moved in together he was Not Allowed To Do - which was to give him that look like “I know something you don’t.'' The rule was wholeheartedly ignored because Damien did it all the time, but it was just really annoying this time. 

Come 7:30, he grabbed his jacket and opened the door, only to be greeted with a smiling Patton. 

“Oh, hey Damien! I’m just -” 

“Hey, Patton, nice to see you too. I’ll be back around… eventually, don’t do it in my room.” 

He laughed and nodded, and Damien waved goodbye as he walked down the hallway towards the stairs. It was a long walk to Roman and Remus’s place, but he enjoyed the calm of it all once in a while, even if he’d never admit it.

When he reached their apartment, he knocked on the door and Roman opened it begrudgingly, and Damien went straight upstairs (stupid rich superheroes) to Remus’s bedroom. He threw his jacket on the chair and flopped down on the bed next to his best friend. “It has been too long of a day for anything other than your best wine, man.”

“I have, like, tequila and vodka too, you know,” he said, leaning back against the wall. 

“I have standards, Remus.” 

He laughed a bit. “Nothing is ever good enough for Damien May.” 

Damien pouted. “Not true. You’re good enough for me, why do you think I let you stick around?” 

“My impeccable fashion sense and weird sense of humor,” came Remus’s response, muffled by the fact that he was now halfway through a bottle of beer. 

“And your ass.” 

“I’m blushing.” This was meant to distract from the fact that he was, indeed, blushing. 

Damien rolled over and made himself comfortable in Remus’s lap, staring up at the ceiling. “So… are you mad that I knew that you and Roman were superheroes this whole time?”

“Number one rule of my bedroom is that my brother’s name does not enter this room. That stupid bitch ruins my whole vibe,” Remus said, eliciting a laugh from Damien. “Secondly, I’m not mad. I understand that it’s a problem and a conflict of interest or whatever and I’d rather you keep your internship.”

He reached up and patted Remus’s cheek. “So selfless. Ugh, I could kiss you. You’re the best.” 

“Mmm.”

Four glasses of wine later and Damien was practically straddling Remus as they talked about… something. Both boys were pretty damn drunk at this point so talking was pretty much off the table unless it was something that required few sounds and even less thinking. 

“Have I ever told you how hot you are, Remus?” 

“That’s the wine talking, Dami,” he responded quietly. 

Damien flopped backward onto the bed, taking his legs off Remus’s hips. “I would say that even if I wasn’t drunk. I already said I’d kiss you.” 

“Mmph. You were kidding.” 

He looked at Remus, aghast. “I have never told a lie in my life.”

“You lie all the time.” 

“Ah, wait, no, that’s right,” Damien said, giggling. “I wasn’t lying about wanting to kiss you though.” 

Remus sighed and crossed his legs. “Yeah, okay.”

“I’ll prove it.” He sat up straight, as sober as someone five glasses of Chardonnay in could be. “C’mere.”

“I’m not going to - “ his sentence was cut off by Damien grabbing the front of his shirt and kissing him hard. God damn, this felt good. It wasn’t the best kiss Damien had ever had, because it was sloppy and messy and Remus was messing up his hair as he played with it but the best part for some reason was that he was kissing his best friend. 

His hands were on Remus’s face, on his waist, and then he was straddling him and they were still kissing and - 

“Holy shit, you two are making out,” came Roman’s voice. “Oh my god, I so regret opening this door.”

Remus broke the kiss and threw a nearby plastic cup at his brother. “Why, oh why, are you here?”

“I was going to tell you that I ordered pizza and you two assholes could have some, but apparently you guys are getting sexy up here so -” 

“I’m going to throw you out a window.” 

Roman stuck his tongue out at him. “Do it, I dare you.” 

He shut the door behind him after that, and Remus smiled sheepishly and sidled back up to Damien. “Should we pick up where we left off?”

There were a few seconds where all Damien wanted to do was grab Remus by the front of his stupid green shirt and kiss him senseless, but his fight or flight instinct kicked in and he pushed Remus away from him. “I - I’m sorry, I shouldn’t - I can’t -” he stuttered, getting off the bed and grabbing his jacket. “I shouldn’t have done this. I have to go.” 

“Holy hell, Dami, what are you doing -” 

“I’m leaving, Remus,” he said, running down the stairs as his best friend ran after him. 

Remus huffed. “You’re kidding.” 

“I don’t know what came over me, I - I’ve never felt like that around you before and I guess I was just drunk -” 

“Get out of my house, you fucking asshole!” he cried, tears in his eyes. He turned around and slammed his door, and Roman gave Damien the dirtiest look in his repertoire.

And so for the second time that day, Damien walked through the gardens on the way between his apartment and Remus’s. However, this time, his eyes stung with tears and he could only think about Remus, Remus, Remus…

He didn’t stop to say hello to Logan and Patton, who were watching a movie on the couch, as he stormed into his room and laid facedown on the pillow. He sobbed quietly, trying to make himself feel like his world didn’t just come crashing down on top of him and he didn’t just ruin the best thing in his whole life. 

Patton sat down on the edge of Damien’s bed. “Hey, kiddo, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“I fucked it up,” he mumbled into his pillow. 

“Fucked what up?” Logan asked. 

Damien sat up, wiping his eyes. “So… we got drunk, as usual, and then we were flirting a bit, and I was probably straddling him, and then we started making out and when we stopped… I freaked out. I had never thought about Remus like that, and it felt like I was taking advantage of him. I just… I know I don’t like him…” he trailed off, creasing his eyebrows as Logan stifled a laugh behind his hand. “What?”

Patton patted his leg affectionately. “You seem a little lost, kiddo.”

“I’m older than you.”

“Congratulations, Dami, you’re officially the last person to know that you, oh magnificent journalist, are totally into Remus,” Logan deadpanned. 

Damien laughed, still wiping away tears. “I’m not.” 

He nodded. “Yeah, you are.” 

“I am not!” 

“You are!” Patton exclaimed. “You’ve seen every single one of his fights.” 

“It’s a work thing.”

Logan groaned. “If it was a work thing, you would have talked to them about it by now.”

“That’s true,” he agreed, “I can feel it, Damien. It’s one of those things that’s always buzzing in the background behind you, like right now, it’s right under the fact that you’re super angry with me -”

He threw his hands in the air. “Fine! So I like him a little. But now I’ve gone and screwed it up so it doesn’t even matter, and I’m here rambling to you two.”

“He likes you, Damien. He does. You need to apologize for freaking out.”

“I doubt Roman will even let me in the house.” Damien flopped back onto his bed. “I appreciate you two, but right now I want to sit here and cry about lost love until I have to go to Composition tomorrow.”

Patton and Logan relented and left him alone, and Damien laid back down and cried to his heart’s content (not that he would ever tell anyone that). 

The next day in Composition, Damien slid into the chair next to his kind-of-friend and slammed his head down on the table, groaning. 

Virgil chewed on the back of their pencil. “What’s up, Damien?” 

“Mrph,” was his response. 

“Dude, are you hungover or something?” 

He sighed, picking himself up off the table. “I wish I was just hungover. That would make my life so much easier right now.”

Virgil tilted their head, concerned. “Is something wrong?”

“You ever make out with your best friend, then freak out on him and run out, then only later when you’re talking to your roommate’s boyfriend figure out that you’re probably in love with him and now he won’t talk to you and his brother is probably about to kill you, which he can do because he has super strength?” 

They chewed on their pencil some more. “No, but are you talking about Prince and Duke? Cause lemme tell you, they are massive pains in my ass,” Virgil said. 

“I don’t think I can tell you that,” Damien responded, laughing. “Anyways, now I can’t even talk to him.” 

“Mm. Did you analyze the essay from last week?” 

The rest of his day passed by like a blur until the gods at the Times decided it was time to punish Damien for his crimes. 

Boss Man Holt Dude 4:36 PM

Hello, Damien. We need you cover a battle that’s broken out between Empath and The Duke on 39th street. Final report due on my desk by this time tomorrow. Thanks, Charles Holt. 

Damien leaned back in the seat of his car and flip off the sky through his sunroof. “You see that, O God Who Hates Me? Fuck you.” 

He gripped the steering wheel and sighed long and hard, trying to exhale out all of his stress. Still mentally hitting his head against the wheel as hard as possible, he drove over to 39th and parked right next to where Patton was standing off against Remus. He tried to hide his car best as possible so he wouldn’t be noticed. 

It didn’t end up making a difference, because after about fifteen minutes of Patton fighting Remus, he noticed that Damien was parked a few meters away and after a bit of an argument with Patton, stormed off and left Patton to fix the mess he’d made by manipulating reality. Damien was half tempted to drive off, but since he’d missed most of the fight he was going to need to take Patton’s statement. 

He rolled down his window as his roommate’s boyfriend walked over. “Hello, Empath, I’m with the Times, could I take your statement on the fight today?” 

“Hi, sir, of course.” (Thank god at least one of his friends knew how to properly conduct themselves.) “The Duke was set on warping the reality of this neighborhood for no other reason than to cause chaos, and I was contacted by the police to slow him down. Luckily, he got spooked when he noticed that the guy he’s in love with that also crushed him completely was watching.” 

(He rescinds his earlier statement.)

“Patton!” 

He shrugged. "I'm not saying put it in your report, I'm just telling you that's what happened." 

"I came all the way here and now I'm being attacked by my roommate's boyfriend," Damien grumbled. 

Patton's face softened even more, if that was possible. "You can call me your friend, you know." 

Damien felt his face heat up. "Yeah, thanks." 

"You're welcome. Anyways, I'm all done here," he said with a snap of his fingers, clearing up the mess, "so you can go home and write up your report. Oh, and also you should apologize to Remus." 

He shot Patton an annoyed glare. "I'm going to." 

"When?" 

As it turns out, the answer to that question was a week later when Logan got sick of him moping around their apartment and kicked him out until he was able to talk to Logan with some inflection in his voice again. This led to him moping in the park. 

Thankfully (not for him, but for his friends and such that were so done with the moping) his cousin texted him at the point Damien was about to turn around and beg Logan to let him back into the apartment. The universe, it turns out, is also done with his moping. 

The Gay Cousin 10:27 PM

hey girl, do you have grandma’s phone number

Actual Mistake (Me) 10:28 PM

life is a curse. why do i exist 

Actual Mistake (Me) 10:28 PM

also yeah it’s [a totally real phone number]

The Gay Cousin 10:29 PM

u okay dami?

Actual Mistake (Me) 10:29 PM

no i’m having boy troubles 

The Gay Cousin 10:30 PM

well you came to the right cousin!!!! what seems to be the issue??

Damien recounted the events of last week to Remy, who was supportive, but also willing to call him out on his bullshit, which is the best balance a person can have. 

 The Gay Cousin 10:35 PM

you need to talk to him, dami. this isn’t something you can ignore and hope that it goes away after a while. if you really like this guy you need to set the record straight. 

 The Gay Cousin 10:35 PM

*gay

Actual Mistake (Me) 10:36 PM

i... yeah. i guess so. i’ll text you later, okay?

Damien turned off his phone and took a deep breath, standing up and steeling his nerves. “Guess I gotta get this over with,” he mumbled to himself. 

He knocked on the door of Remus’s apartment a couple times, only to be greeted with an irate Roman. “Damien, why are you here? It is 11 pm and I have class in the morning - “

“I need to talk to your brother.” 

Roman mouthed “oh” and folded his arms across his chest. “Well, I was told you weren’t allowed in here. Remus wants you to, and I quote, ‘go jump up your own ass.’” 

“I get it, I fucked up, but I need to see him!” He rolled his eyes and looked down at the ground. “I wanted to apologize for leading him on or whatever.” 

“Really?” Roman asked, raising an eyebrow. “Alright, well, as much as my brain is struggling between the desire to torment my brother and the hope that he’ll find someone that makes him happy someday, you can come in. I’ll go get Remus.” 

Damien bounced his leg up and down as he waited for Remus to come down the stairs. He knew he screwed up - he had been doing that a lot recently - but he was kind of certain that he might like Remus a little bit and that was messing with his whole thing. 

He heard footsteps coming downstairs and his head shot up, glancing at the stairs. The second Remus saw Damien waiting for him, he turned and went back upstairs, and Roman’s annoyed sigh was probably loud enough to hear all the way back in Damien and Logan’s apartment. 

Damien sat back down, putting his head in his hands. “Jesus, I am never going to fix this.”

Roman sighed and plopped down on the couch next to him. “I know I give you guys a lot of shit, but I’m rooting for you two. I want that weird little psychopath to be happy.” 

“You’re a good person, Roman,” he said. “This is really hard for me to say, but I’m really thankful you’re doing this.” 

“Mm.” He nodded thoughtfully. “Now come on, just go sit outside of his door and talk to him. He’s been so depressed lately, and I know he’s liked you for a long time. If Remus knows you’re sorry… he’s going to forgive you.” 

Damien gave him a half-smile. “Thanks, Ro.”

He followed Roman’s advice, slowly walking up the stairs and sitting down in front of his best friend’s door. “Hey, Remus. Your brother told me I could come up here. I’m sorry I’m here right now, instead of the day after. I should have come right away.” He took a deep breath and exhaled, picking at his fingernails. “I think I do like you. I think I might love you, even. And I think that’s the most honest thing I’ve ever said. I’m sorry I freaked out on you, you deserve better than that. I’m sorry I blamed it all on the alcohol because yeah, I was drunk but kissing you was the soberest I’d been that whole night. It’s been a hell of a week without my best friend, Remus. And… you don’t have to love me, or even like me, but I at least want you to forgive me,” Damien said. “I just want you to know that I never meant to make you feel used, and I’m sorry I did. It was awful of me.”

There was a small thump against the door, and Damien whipped around to face it. “Remus? You there?”

“I - yeah. I’m here.” 

“Will you talk to me?”

The door creaked open. “I’ll talk to you,” he whispered. 

“I’m really sorry, Remus.”

“I know you are.” He sighed. “I just… I dunno. Something felt right but then you got into my head about it being just ‘cause we were drunk and then I was just angry as all hell with you.” 

Damien nodded. “And I deserve that.”

He bit his lip, which Damien only noticed because it was just adorable. “You drive me crazy, Dami. But it’s your best quality, how close you are to your friends. And if I could have just a little bit of that attention I think I’d be set for life.”

“Remus, I promise you’ve got all of it.” 

Remus smiled, turning to face Damien. “Then I forgive you.”  

He stopped his nervous fidgeting and glanced up at Remus. “You do?”

“Yes, I do, you dumb snake, it’s not like you killed my brother - though I think I’d forgive you for that too.” 

He giggled. “God, you’re amazing.” 

“Here, my turn,” Remus said, grabbing the front of Damien’s shirt and kissing him hard. 

Something switched on inside of him at that moment and Damien pushed him back into the room and slammed the door behind them. These kisses weren’t the fervent, messy ones they had shared when they were drunk, but they were slower, softer, and there was the knowledge behind them that this meant more than a makeout session, and that was good enough for both of them.