#flip on a switch and everythings fine || queue.

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

This Complicates things...

So, that’s the basic situation at hand.

Akeru, Komaru and Toko’s kid, found out everything we needed in the lab. She also put Yodogawa’s AI out of his misery.

I see...Thanks for the rundown.

I still can’t quite believe this. How could someone do something so...cruel?

Because he’s insane Akamatsu. Plain and simple.

And we will stop him, I swear it.

...

What’s wrong Mii-Yu?

No. It is nothing. I just did not consider that humans find becoming robots painful.

I suppose creatures like me live a different existence that humans cannot take to.

Listen Mii-Yu. This and that are very different.

You may be a robot, but you’ve got all the personality traits, quirks and queues that allow you to be human. If Katagiri was trying to turn people into AI like you, there might not be much of a problem. 

But he’s stripping people of all of that. In that case, they become mindless machines. Drones that can only follow commands. That’s not what YOU are.

He’s right Mii-Yu. You really need to quit selling yourself short, you know?

Affirmative.

*The group arrives at the top floor.

Looks like this floor got cleared out before any of us got here.

By the way Akamatsu...By chance are you the one who our guy called to take out security here.

Uh...I mean, he never said to.

He gave me a location, but we were turned away at the door.

So, as you can imagine, instead of being discreet, Kaede decided to go through the backdoor and bust her way through before I could say anything.

Eehehehe...The reception wasn’t friendly so...Treat people how you want to be treated.

Atta girl.

So, what’s the plan here then?

Hey! We got some unexpected guests here! And I got a few questions to ask you.

Huh...!?

*Kuripa calls up to the platform.

I figured. I wondered why it was taking you so long.

Saihara? Akamatsu? Mii-Yu. This is Agent 404. AKA-

RANTAROO!!?

Wha-!?

Huh-!?

Hahaha...Yeah, that’s about the reaction I expected.

You...YOU’RE Agent 404!?

So THIS is where you’ve been hiding this whole time!?

Well...not the WHOLE time...

It’s true that I’ve been with ERR0RM3SS4GE for a long while now though...Forgive me, I had my reasons for not coming out into the light until now.

...

Hol’ up...I’m still trying to process this shit.

Shuichi and Kaede...You KNOW him?

Y-Yeah...

Yeah...

Yeah, stuff happened and um...

The fuck do you mean “stuff happened?” I...

Grr! Fine! Whatever...I’ll ask about it later.

Have you got that upload on the way?

Depends. Did Maya flip the switch like I asked?

Fucking hell dude, I’m not that dumb.

Good. Then can I ask you to help me install this drive while I talk with these guys? We’ll need to upload the data into the drive in order to use it against Katagiri.

...

...

You’ve got a lot of questions for me I’ll bet.

You have NO idea.

Whatever’s going on right now is clearly more important. And if what Kuripa said about Zen Katagiri is true, then I’ll accept that you’re trying to do something good.

What I want to know is where does your allegiance lie, Rantaro.

My allegiance?

You’re here, helping the Future Foundation, but you already helped our enemies. I’m not sure what side you’re really on.

Would you really treat me as an enemy?

I don’t want to but...If I had to.

...

I can see why they made you Branch Chief. You’re unbiased, even towards your own friends.

But trust me when I say that all I care about is stopping Zetsubou and saving this world. Just like the Future Foundation.

What’s the point of having a world-class hacker organization if there’s no world for it to exist in. Believe me, I had my reasons for aiding Uchui.

...

Fine...I still have my doubts about this but...if Kuripa and the Future Foundation believe in you, then I see no reason not to.

Thank you for your hospitality.

*Rantaro climbs down from the platform and pats Shuichi and Kaede on the shoulders.

And for the record, it’s good to see you...

All...of you...

...

*Rantaro’s eyes suddenly fall on Mii-Yu. Her eyes stare curiously back at him.

You are...

Uh...Oh! Let me introduce you!

*Kaede takes Mii-Yu’s shoulders.

This is M11-YU. I know she might look like Keebo, but she’s not.

Tsumugi was keeping her prisoner in one of Zetsubou’s towers. We freed her and now she’s being looked after by Miu.

Y-Yes. I am Model M11-YU. Please, just call me Mii-Yu though.

This is...Mii-Yu huh?

Well...it’s nice to meet you too.

...Are you ok?

Yeah, you...sound kind of uncomfortable Rantaro. Who flipped the switch on you?

Huh? Oh, no, it’s nothing. It really is nice to meet you, I’ve just...

Got so much on my mind right now.

Yeah...That kind of makes three of us.

...

Kaede? Do you want to say something to him?

...

What’s up Kaede? Is everything ok?

It’s just...I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you again and now that I’m here, I...I don’t really know where to begin.

Now isn’t really the best place to talk, so if you’d like, we can discuss the past later.

Right now, my top priority is dealing with Katagiri, and I’m sorry that I ended up dragging the both of you into it.

You’re right...I’m sorry too about what happened back in the Killing Game...What I did was...unforgivable and if you hate me for it...

Huh? Why would I do that?

...?

Even if you pushed us to the limit on the death road, I accept that you were only trying to act in everyone’s best interests. It’s not like me defecting from the group was the best way to deal with the situation either.

The...death road?

Yeah, the death road. The impossible gauntlet Monokuma ran us through trying to find an exit.

Oh...Yeah, that...Shame on me for that one.

I’m telling you, we’re totally cool on it. You’ve got nothing to feel bad for.

O-Ok.

Hey, Rantaro. Have I done this right?

Let me check!

Sorry, I’ll be right back.

*Rantaro hurries off to help Kuripa.

It appears he has no recollection of Kaede’s shotput ball trap that you mentioned.

Hm...It’s not like he really could have known that Kaede set it off...

Maybe he just blames Tsumugi for what happened, and that’s why he’s with ERR0RM3SS4GE?

...Maybe...

Somehow that just makes me feel even worse. Like I’m keeping some big secret from him...

...I understand how you feel Kaede, but like Rantaro said, he is in the middle of a mission. It’s not like now is an especially good time to bring it up.

Apologize to him later, and explain your side of things. I’m sure he won’t hold it against you.

...Thanks Shuichi.

*Kaede, Shuichi and Mii-Yu rejoin the others.

I didn’t really ask earlier, but what is it you actually plan on doing here Rantaro? Why do you need this drive?

Well, to put simply, Katagiri, our target, is holing himself up in a hidden base at Hyde Park. We need the information from this lab for several reasons.

The first is that if we copy the data from the tech made here, we can trace, and if we scan the park, we can find the point of origin. That will lead us straight to where Katagiri is hiding.

The second is that if we have this info, we can locate the weak point in whatever defense mechanisms he’s got as a backup.

We’re gonna draw him out of his hidey-hole, and when we do...

We rip him a new one...

Exactly. I’ll leave the last step to Kuripa.

...

What do you mean?

Huh? What’s up?

“Rip him a new one” how? Are you...

Are you going to KILL him?

...Something like that.

“Something like that?” Either you ARE or you AREN’T Kuripa.

It’s complicated, ok! It’s...an obligation...And a mercy.

So you ARE planning on killing him once you get to him?

I don’t have a choice this time, ok!? It was as per ERR0RM3SS4GE’s contract!

What...!?

In Kuripa’s defense, the specification WAS that Katagiri would need to die by the end of this mission.

I understand how you both feel. I know this is...difficult for you to accept.

But believe me when I say my organization has a very good reason for this. If Katagiri isn’t executed, he WILL HURT MANY.

Kuripa already told you what he’d done to Yodogawa. To prevent a catastrophe like that, don’t you think it’s worth it?

Kuripa, listen. I don’t know how or why the Future Foundation are following through with this, but it so blatantly breaks the code.

I AM still a Branch Chief, so it’s my duty and obligation to the Foundation to prevent you as a Foundation employee, to stop BREAKING that code.

...That damn “code” again...

I’m not gonna lie to you. I can understand how things are from your perspective, and why you’ve done what you’ve done before this point. In any other given situation, I wouldn’t try to get in your way.

But I have responsibilities now, and if I just overlook this, I won’t be able to live with myself.

...

You’re a good kid Saihara. And mature with how you think about it that way. I’m proud of you.

But...you can rest easy...I’m no longer tied down by the Future Foundation’s code and “obligations” and all the other BS that comes with it...!

Wh-What do you mean...? What...did you do?

...I’ll be blunt.

I’m no longer with the Future Foundation. The Chairwoman personally gave me the boot.

!!!??

N-No...! That can’t be!

See!? THIS is why I was trying to avoid you! There’s a whole ass conspiracy going on here and neither of you have any business getting caught up in it!

I know I’m a fucked up guy, but I’ve only ever LOVED you kids! This is MY problem, and you two have no right to be caught up in this drama!

But I’m telling you this...Don’t get in our way...Because I promise you, you won’t stop what’s coming...

You guys are smart...Hopefully you’re smarter than the others...Surely you can understand what I’m doing here. I’m trying to save your friends. OUR friends.

Kuripa...I get why you think of it this way, but this isn’t right.

...Why not?

I’m happy you’re trying to save Maki, Himiko, and the others, but by taking the lives of other people...Is the sacrifice really WORTH it?

Come on Kuripa...Rantaro...Have a heart...!

No, no, noooo you just don’t understaaaaand...! There’s more at stake here if we don’t put a stop to this evil permanently.

If we don’t kill Katagiri, he might use his own program to make himself immortal, then we’ll have missed our chance to stick a nail in his brain and nip the problem in the bud...!

Not only that, but this is the one chance we’ve had in AGES to finally put a stop to Zetsubou and save our captured allies. Seiko Kimura has been rotting in Zetsubou’s hidden base for almost a year now...Remember?

But-!

Kaede...You don’t want me to make a sacrifice, even if it means we can save many people from Katagiri and Zetsubou...

But doing the reverse means we sacrifice many innocent lives...just to save one guilty one.

In the grand calculus of fate, and the story that I’m paving the way for, this sacrifice means infinitely more than the life of one senile psychopath...

*Kuripa shoots a look at Rantaro.

I’m sorry kid...But I’m just doing my job.

...!

...Fine...Do what you’ve got to do...I know I can’t stop you.

Thank you for understanding. I’m sorry I’ve burdened you with this...

And with that...the upload should be-

HAAGH!

*WHAM!*

GUUGH!

!!!???

!!!???

!!!???

!!!???

*Against everyone’s expectation, Kaede suddenly shoves Rantaro aside and snatches the drive! She grabs Shuichi’s hand makes a break for it!

What are you DOING!?

I’M SORRY ABOUT THIS!

!!!?

*Kaede drags Shuichi out of the room, still holding onto the drive. Mii-Yu hesitates, but then chooses to follow.

I apologize! But I promised BeeZero I would look after Kaede!

*She presses a button on the iron door and closes it behind

...No....No, no, no NO, NOOO!

*Kuripa grabs his sword, takes a run up, and with a kick, breaks the steel door wide open!

AAKAAAMAAATSSUUUUUU!!!

Tch...! Dammit! Maya, do NOT stop that upload!

B-But without the drive-!

We’ll get the drive back!

*Rantaro grabs a pistol from his belt and cocks it.

By FORCE if we must!

//KURIPA KURAFTO AND RANTARO AMAMI VS KAEDE AKAMATSU, SHUICHI SAIHARA AND M11-YU!!//

[searenbound]

Since I couldn’t answer anything last night, here’s something I’ve been trying to convince myself to post for a while as a gift. Also this is heavily inspired by this one ask I got a while back where they were talking about Mina slowly introducing her shy friend to the boys

Warnings: gang bang, swearing, femdom

Pairing: mostly Mina Ashido x reader, Bakusquad x reader

-In all fairness, (Yn) was only bound to end up curious of everything Mina and her friends would get into

-They’ve been the best of friends since the day they met and Mina had never been shy about sharing her bedroom habits with her

-She knew about every date, how it ended, who Mina was thinking about seeing again

-More importantly, she knew that every now and again Mina and her friend group from high school would meet up and catch up

-One time lead to them somehow getting into a messy gang bang of sorts

-And they just decided to keep doing it

-(Yn) Would live for those stories the day after

-Her boys sound like so much fun and they all seemed so nice

-And if she was really honest with herself, she was a little jealous that they got to have and see her best friend in one of the most intimate ways

-Her curiosity got the best of her one day and she just asked if maybe, if it was fine with everyone she could join next time

-Mina was so proud of her for working up the courage to tell her

-Just excitedly pulls her into a hug and makes sure she understands how proud she is that she’s telling her instead of trying to ignore what she wants

-Asks about any past experience she’s had just so she has a better idea of what she likes

-When she nervously explains that she’s only had a few plain vanilla experiences Mina, who you won’t convince me isn’t a switch, would flip into gentle and careful dom mode

-She promises her that she’ll take care of everything and wouldn’t ever let her have a bad experience

-She can tell that they need to take baby steps before she can set up anything bigger

-Find out a few things she likes and doesn’t first and slowly introduce the boys to her

-Definitely offers to try some things out right then and almost doesn’t want to share her after

-She eager to please and try new things and just so cute and so very submissive

-But she did promise to introduce her and she really wants this so she’ll set her selfishness aside for now, but she’s gonna make sure everyone understands that they aren’t allowed to take her away

-She’s hers now and no amount of good dick is changing that

-After setting up some ground rules and explaining the situation, she introduce everyone one at a time

-She doesn’t want her to get overwhelmed and let’s face a certain someone, Bakugou, can get really intense really quickly and it’s probably not the best idea to just throw her in with the wolves so to speak

-Starts with Kaminari because he’s fairly submissive himself

-Mina has no problems giving him instructions on how to take care of (Yn) and he’s so gentle and playful with her

-He’s the one who shows her how amazing toys can be

-When she gets used to this dynamic and is a little more comfortable than they introduce Sero

-He’s bit more dominant over the situation, but he pays attention

-His focus is on teaching her to ask for what she wants and reinforces that with lot’s of praise

-Also introduces her to some very light bondage, which she actually loves

-Like with Kami, one she’s gotten comfortable it’s time to add another boy

-Kiri is a flirt and a tease when he’s comfortable with you and since he has a lot of secondhand information about her he feels comfortable with teasing her already

-Doesn’t really need queues from Mina on what to do, but he takes them anyways

-Figures even though he’s not really having any problems that taking Mina’s advice is the smart thing to do because who knows her better?

-He loves asking teasing questions about how she’s feeling and if the others thinks she likes it when she’s to lust mad to say anything, but cute babbling and cooing

-Once Bakugou is finally introduced to them he’s kinda surprised

-He was expecting some shy little pillow princess by the way the others have been gushing about her and instead is introduced this cutie that’s a little nervous, but handles everything he throws her way well

-Since Sero and Kirishima has pretty much laid the ground work for how she responds to dirty talk and being teased his rougher approach is to it is taken like it’s nothing and she can talk back to him without too much trouble

-Her new found confidence is a little bit of a problem because the boys just eat it up

-She’s adorable and they all kinda catch some feelings for her

-Mina is of course, is not happy about it and reminds them constantly that she’s being nice and sharing her friend and that she’s absolutely off limits outside of this

-They respect it most of the time, but there are some times when the boys start getting competitive over (Yn)

-She’ll put them in their places by making a big show of kissing her on the lips and with tongue

-She’s the only who’s been given permission to do so and it’s the greatest reminder that (Yn) is absolutely hers

-It’s not even a rule, just a known fact

-(Yn) will actively refuse to kiss anyone else, forehead kisses and neck kisses are allowed but never on the lips unless you happen to be Mina

-She’s also the only that can leave any marks and not get complaints about it or have them covered up

[buckyjamess-archive]

Hi Sher! Can I get angst prompt 32 for Sam Wilson? x (i also kinda love you switched back to your seb url)

yes you can, there's not enough love for my man sam!

32. “Because i love you god damnit!”

pairings: sam wilson x reader

warnings: y'know avengers with their violence, blood and stuff. Cursing. fluffy end because can't leave my man hanging.

wordcount: 1.3k+, I will no longer call these things a blurb

❝ all the things i say ❞

it's what cats do, right? hide away when they know they're dying, their ninth life hanging on a thread. Hiding away from potential predators in moments of weakness. 

But you're not on your ninth life and you're not hiding away from potential predators. You only have one life anf it's hanging on a thread and you're hiding from your team, you don't need to be found, it is good, at peace. No need to bring your friends into danger in a desperate attempt to find you.

I had a good life. 

Your ears ring from the immense impact of the explosion mere feet away from you. The flames around you warming your cheeks and causing a trail of destruction. Your head is heavy from hitting it hard and the agonizing pain from your side makes you want to faint. A sharp piece of metal impaling the skin where your ribs end, marking your suit in a dark red stain, like red wine on a white carpet.

This is it, at least you die fighting the bad. 

With the little energy and will power that's left in your body, you drag yourself away from the fight, finding a spot between two flipped cars and nestling yourself in between, you hand never leaving the wound on your side. Your back hitting the cold metal behind you and the sound of a thud when your head meets the car. 

The ringing in your ears fade away but the deafening sound of the gun fight around and muffles the voices coming through your com stay but even if you wanted to say something, you doubted your voice or the lack therefore would let you.

Focus on your breathing if these were your last moments on earth, you're fighting to make it as painless and relaxed as it can be. You knew the day was going to come one way or another. 

as your life flashes before your eyes, the good and the bad projected like an old movie, your mom, your dad, your family, your friends, the sounds around you fade away, vision getting more and more unclear with each sharp inhale. 

It lasts two or maybe three seconds of slowly drifting to another, safer and better place when the cold against your cheeks and the yelling voice far in the distance pulls you back into the real world. 

Through droopy eyelids you're met with the brown eyes, usually filled with joy and sparkle and a faltered smile which could light up a room in better days. Sam wilson, the guy you joked around with and told you 'not to die or I'll kill you' moments before going into battle. 

Goddamnit, he found you.

You don't hear his voice or maybe you just don't want to. The gears shifting in your mind and going miles per hour as you desperately try to form the sentences, get the man, your best friend out of here. He's risking his life.

"Go away, Sam." It takes everything to mumble the words out and swat his heads away from your body. 

Sam refuses, ignoring your poor attempt at pushing him away, pleading him to leave you behind "I'm not leaving you behind!" 

and if looks could kill, sam would be dead by now and with a new found will and power, you push him away, nearly throwing him off his balance. A pained groan leaving your lips and a hand clothing your side "Get. Out. Of. Here!" 

Sam clenches his jaw, confused and sad with anger running through his veins "No!" 

"Why the hell not, you all will be fine without me!" 

it's the tears in your eyes, the crack in your voice and the color slowly draining from your face that tells Sam you're serious but he can't, he can't leave you on your own, not after he promised himself to tell the truth. 

“Because i love you god damnit!” Sam spat, hands now on both sides of your cheeks "have for a while!" 

and if it's the thing you needed to hear, as if it's your queue, a now-i-can-die-happy, you give Sam one of the faintest smiles and your eyes slowly close.

"damnit," Sam mumbles underneath his breath in panic, slapping your color drained cheeks softly in an attempt to keep you awake "could use some help here!" 

"and no heavy lifting, no sports, don't test the waters by forcing your limits and ask for help, let yourself be pampered." The nurse demands "as much as I enjoyed your company, I don't want to see you here again." 

From where you're seated on the edge of the hospital bed, you smile at the elderly nurse in front of you "wasn't planning on coming back, no offense but the food is just not that good." 

"That's because I didn't make it sweetheart." looking over the rim of her glasses, she squints her eyes and copies your smile "take care now." 

"I will." you nod.

The nurse shakes your hand firm, flashes the man behind you a quick smile and leaves the room. 

"Asking for help, you?" 

Unbeknownst to the man behind you, you roll your eyes and bite the inside of your cheeks to keep yourself from speaking. 

You watch the man as he comes into your field of vision, arms crossed in front of his chest and that damn warm smile on his face. 

"I'm going to be a pain in the ass, intentionally." you shoot him a fake smile "going to make you my maid." 

Sam's brows knit together and he watches you through squinted eyes "That's how it's going to be?" 

"Absolutely," 

you smile genuinely this time when he dips down to capture your lips for a kiss "I can live with that." 

"Even going to get you one of those maid skirts-" 

"Okay, alright-" Sam interrupts "get your ass in that wheelchair, we're going home. If that's what you fantasize about, you might want to ask Steve or bucky." 

"Maybe I will." You chuckle back. 

You let Sam help you, knowing all too well that your body will raise red flags with the smallest movements you make on your own. 

"Alright," Sam groans when he tosses the duffel bag over his shoulder "let's go home." 

within minutes you're outside, white walls, sterile rooms and bad food long forgotten and fresh air filling your lungs. Freedom. Something you craved after two months in this god forsaken place, bed bound. 

Sam's car is parked nearby and unlocks it, light flashing a couple of times. He stops the wheelchair a few steps away and opens the passenger side where he carefully helps you in. Handling you like a fragile package. 

"I can do that myself." You laugh when he reaches for your seatbelt. 

"Alright." Sam says, hands raised in the air in defense "if you say so." 

Sam presses a quick kiss to your forehead and stands back straight and closes the door. Making his way to the back where he opens the trunk and pushes your duffel bag. 

You watch the man, you've learned to love so much throughout the years, push the now empty wheelchair back into the building, a quick pep in his step when he returns back. That beautiful smile on his face when he seats himself next to you. 

"Alright, let's go home." 

"Quickly if you don't mind." You mumble back "worst hotel I've ever been in." 

Sam laughs and without another word he starts the engine and drives away from the place you called home for the time being.

The drive back to the compound is a blissful silence but the way Sam grabs your hand whenever he can and kisses the back of it, makes your stomach knot and you know that with Sam by your side, it's going to be a wild ride. 

[border-spam]

Leech Lord - Dumbass

Seifa

8 loss streak at cards with Ven and Eli

EIGHT.

Couldn’t cope, went from talking cocky bullshit and swanning around their table to grab her favourite spot against the wall, to swearing under her breath and stink eyeing Ven when he won for the 4th time.

How. She was good at poker. She was made for poker, this wasn't luck anymore - he was clearly cheating. Took no time accusing him of this either, brandishing a shaky lipstick tube at him like a switch blade, snarling that it wasn't funny anymore and to stop using his jank-ass future bullshit to WIN.

Got smirked at lovingly, he wasn't! Swore on his damn life, a laughing Eli joined in and tried to help convince her. Ven wasn't doin’ nothing, she was just losing! This shit happens Sei, calm down!

Absolutely refused to, got more worked up as the drinks kept coming, the wins kept stacking against her, and whatever little injoke the brothers were enjoying apparently kept getting funnier.

Tried to storm out but only managed a half way confident wobble after way too many tequilas, swore up a storm that she'd never come back, they weren't worth her time, bled her dry and cheated. Eli had called after her that they'd see her for a rematch tomorrow.

They did, and she kept losing.

This went on over a week, her intense stubbornness refusing to acknowledge they were just better at poker. I mean they couldn't be, she'd been reading tells since she was FIVE. Her pride wouldn’t let her call it quits - she kept her coming back nightly, and her wallet kept getting slimmer.

It eventually all made sense on the final night when she was ready to flip their goddamn table and Eli was on the verge of needing an oxygen mask with how hard he was pushing his lungs laughing at her red-faced little egotistical shithead tantrums.

He managed to catch it all on E-Time with Troy, the exact moment she finished another volley of slurs and turned to grab her coat, catching her filthy glare in the wall mirror as she did.

The mirror she'd been sitting in front of... every night.

Tyreen and Troy - Early COV

Some of the bandit clans like Troy better. It doesn't upset her, people think it would but it doesn't, it makes sense. Her brother and her are very different, there have always been the groups who shrink away from her and side-eye him in awe, just like there were ones who'd carve their own skin off to offer her praise and not even notice her brother.

The brute clans, the muscle, those always seem to swarm to the God Queen. The Slabs, the Rippers, the cannibal hoards covered in gore and screaming for glory, but the others always flock to her brother. The schemers and the more technically orientated like the Tink-Tanks and Bloodshots... then there's the Rats.. but she doesn't like to think about those.

She prefers not accompanying him when he's visiting a compound she knows he'll get all the attention in, I mean, what would be the point in the end? She'd rather just stay home and wallow in priest's adoration, but he was harder to convince.

He was meant to have left hours ago but was still prowling around the cloister, muttering and complaining to himself as he rushed to try and organise content. If he goes, who's going to cover the editing? They've 4 uploads ready for posting but he's not scheduled them yet, who's going to organise it? What about the media tags, there's a merch push that has to be released 2.5 hours prior and blah blah blah blah.

She told him to shut the hell up and leave it to her. She'd got this, bro! Stop worrying, it's no problem, everything would be fine. She could manage this without breaking a sweat, just fucking shut up and leave already, the escort caravan was hours overdue.

He'd narrowed suspicious eyes at her and asked if she was SURE about this, they had sponsor contracts for the upload times, shit had to go up when it was due to or they'd breach serious deals, and she'd groaned sarcastically at him. Just go. This stuff is easy. Of course she can do it. If he can, she can. Duh.

Troy had gone silent for a moment, glaring daggers as he hissed out controlled breaths, then turned and stalked out of the cloister - the crackling atmosphere dragging behind him like a stormcloud.

Idiot. She had everything sorted that hour. Queued the whole list at staggered intervals, date and times scheduled and planned exactly as he'd left notes for. Easy, just like she'd said.

Tyreen woke up to an e-dev on the verge of crashing and Troy's contact alerts covering the homescreen in flashing warning panels that made her eyes swim.

What the fuck did you DO. WHERE ARE THE UPLOADS?? 6 hours late, 3 flays missing, one product review, ALL THE SPONSOR MERCH DROPS. FUCKING MORON, WHERE ARE THEY.

Her stomach dropped as she checked the queue. Empty. Gone. Nothing. Where were they... she'd.. scheduled everything?? It was done, she'd triple checked before bed she'd... when she noticed the date in the screens corner, time froze around her.

It was the 1st. She'd scheduled for the 30th... and last month had 29 days. System error, queue wiped, content gone.

All his media team's work, his editing, she.. she hadn't backed up the files, why would she have? It was done it was all done she.. she..

She couldn't handle replying. Knew it was just making things worse but couldn't do it. Felt her guts turn inside out at the thought, so climbed under her duvet to wait in dread. Easier to block things out right now than face what was coming. Easier to pretend.

He said nothing when he got back. No contact, straight into Sanctum and at work placating enraged sponsor contacts, organising his team to botch together replacements from cuts, covering the COV's ass silently and efficiently as always.

Said nothing, till she got a ping later that night -

I'll be controlling content management fully from this point on, keep out of my way and stick with whatever the fuck kind of things YOU have talent in... if any.

I mean hell, having an IQ high enough to know how to count days clearly ain't one of them is it, you IDIOT.

Doesn't matter that she knew she deserved it, or that she'd been such a tool to him while insisting she had it covered, that stuck with them after. He'd been too blunt, and she was never able to shake the confirmation that her brother really did think she was stupid.

Ven and Eli belong to the amazing @hieroglyphix​

[etherealwaifgoddess]

One In A Million - Chpt.1

Summary: Project Traveler is ready for its first test subject and you volunteer for the position, unwilling to risk any of the other brilliant minds who have been working on the project from the beginning. 

Word Count: 1.6k

Author’s Note: Hello lovelies! Who’s ready to get this started!? I’ve been sitting on this fic a while now and I finally feel like it’s ready to be out in the world. I’m so excited to share it with you all. Hope you enjoy! XOXO - Ash

Chapter One

“Send me.” you offer, causing the room full of scientists and PhD’s to turn and stare at you. “I mean it.” you continue, “You guys need someone you can trust who knows the science behind this if it goes wrong. The only one who will miss me is my cactus.” 

Chelton, the head of SHIELD’s Traveler project, looks at you thoughtfully. You’re young, still working towards your PhD after completing your masters a few years ago. It’s hard for him to believe you have nothing tying you to the world, but thinking back he can’t remember you ever talking about family or friends or anything personal. He assumed you were just taciturn by nature but he realizes now it was more than that. “You realize this is test number one?” he asks you, “We’re pretty sure it’s ready to go but if we’re wrong....”

You waive him off, “I know, I know. Death, dismemberment, permanent brain damage, yada, yada, yada. I’ve watched you guys work on this for two years now, it’s as ready as it’s ever gonna be. And someone needs to be the guinea pig, so it might as well be me. I’m still learning, if you lose me there’s still enough brains to keep things going and try again. If we lose one of you the project could end permanently.” You know it’s calloused but you made up your mind as soon as you had seen them putting the finishing touches on the transporter a week ago. 

“Don’t discredit yourself, Y/N.” Chelton admonishes, “You're a valued member of this team. I want you to take the weekend and really think about this. Make preparations if you’re still serious after thinking it over. When you come in on Monday if you’ve changed your mind, no one will think any less of you.” 

You give him a soft smile, knowing you need to assuage his concern, “Okay, thanks Chelton. I’ll think about it. Now, who’s ready to get out of here?” You pick up your files, ready to pack up for the day. It’s been a long week and you’re suddenly eager to get home, this will be your last weekend in the twenty-first century for a while. 

Your apartment is a small studio over top a corner shop and it’s just big enough that you’re not constantly bumping into your furniture. Definitely an upgrade from the shoe box you lived in at college with two roommates. When you had moved to the city to work on the project recreating Tony Stark’s time machine it felt like a luxury just to have a place of your own. You water the little cactus who sits on the window sill in your living room, and settle in with your laptop to pay a few bills online. If things go as planned and you come back, it will be important to still have a roof over your head. 

Your evenings are quiet with none of your friends living in the city. You email a few of them to let them know you’ll be away on a work trip and that you miss them. The picture of your parents sitting on the bookshelf makes your heart ache for a moment. You wonder if they would be proud of you if they were still alive. They’ve been gone for a decade now but it doesn’t do much to dull the pain of their loss. 

Your stomach rumbles, reminding you that you haven’t eaten since breakfast. Normally you’d just scrounge up something from your cupboards, whatever you had leftover from earlier in the week. But a sense of fatalism hits and you realize that if you don’t make it back in one piece on Monday it doesn’t really matter if you blow a day’s worth of pay on a five star restaurant or not. And you have been dying to go to Peter Luger Steak House since you moved to Brooklyn. You put on your nicest looking dress, dark blue silk that accents your curves without making you look lumpy, and throw on a little make up for the hell of it. This might be your last weekend alive and you’re going to make the most of it.

xxXxx

Monday comes far too quickly and you’re a little ashamed to admit you’re not feeling your best. You’ve decided it’s easier to accept the idea that you’re not walking away from the test run so that you’re not devastated if and when something goes awry. You spent the entire weekend doing all the things you usually put off for more practical endeavors. The queue on your Hulu and Netflix accounts are clear and you’ve eaten a lifetime of fancy foods. You also learned what good, twenty year old scotch tastes like and it was worth every cent. You probably didn’t need to finish off the whole bottle over the course of three days though. 

You drop your bag into your bottom desk drawer and hand Chelton an envelope when he comes over to greet you. “This is everything,” you tell him, “Passwords, account information, a list of people to contact. If things go sideways I know I can trust you to take care of things for me.”

The older man accepts the envelope but pulls you in for a brisk, uncharacteristic hug. “I’m so proud of you.” he says roughly. 

“Oh come on, pull it together old man.” you tease, “I’ll be back in all of a minute if we’ve done our jobs right.” 

“That’s right, and you’ll have some wild stories for us I’m sure.” 

You join the rest of the research group, letting them know test number one for project Traveler is a go. The room erupts into happy chaos, everyone working at their stations getting the machine up and running. You run through the processes, double checking it for full functionality, and for the first time you start to feel genuine excitement that you might actually be about to go back in time. 

Harris, one of the other original scientists on the project, gives you a run down for a second time, as if you didn’t assist with creating the protocols yourself. “You will have three jump points back to our time once you get there. One month, six months, one year. If for whatever reason you can’t get back on the first jump you still have two more shots to find your way back to us. You have to set up these three devices in the basement of the Strategic Scientific Reserve headquarters when you arrive to keep the link open for the jump points. You cannot lose this brooch or you’ll have nothing to pull you through. When you get there write down the exact time and date so you can ensure you’re at the jump points in time, it’ll be down to the second so be sure you do that first thing.” 

“I know. I’ll be just fine.” you assure him while straightening out the neckline of your smart looking dove grey suit. The team had rustled up a vintage suit for you so that you didn’t stick out like a sore thumb when you got back to 1940. You fasten the antique looking brooch to the breast of it, knowing you’ll need to carry it on you always to ensure you have a way back. The team had decided against wristbands due to how obvious they would be in another time period and had settled on a tie tack or a brooch depending if it were a man or woman going back. 

Harris nodded but carried on, “When you get there ask for Agent Wilson right away. Show him this card and he’ll get you access to one of the SSR aliases and bank accounts. You’ll be set up for as long as you need to be there. But remember, if you make any drastic changes to the past you’ll be forming a split in realities and creating a new timeline. We don’t know what kind of effects that could have. You need to stay under the radar and keep your head down.”  

“Will do. It’ll be okay. I’ll be back in a minute, maybe six if I’m having a good time. You just worry about where you’re taking us all for dinner to celebrate tonight.” 

Harris nods and lets you past him to take your place on the transporter. It’s been five years of tireless work for most of the people in the room trying to recreate and improve upon the machine Tony Stark and Bruce Banner used to send the Avengers back for the infinity stones. You learned so much in the past two years since you joined them. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and you are so grateful to have been given it.

“Okay guys, this is it. Nobody better eat my yogurt in the fridge before I get back.” you say with a wry smile, getting into position in the middle of the machine. 

A few of the guys chuckle while they begin flipping switches on the control panel, readying the transporter.

Chelton returns your smile despite deep worry lines creasing at the side of his eyes, “We’ll see you in a minute.” he says and then he presses the final set of command keys.

You don’t close your eyes, not willing to miss a moment if they’re your last. Everyone’s faces are broadcasting varying mixes of fear, excitement, and hope as you look around your team. It starts out slow, a faint tingling of the hairs on your arms. Like you had rubbed a balloon along them and static electricity had built up. The tingling increases until your whole body is thrumming with a buzzing energy and then the world goes white.

[detroitbydark]

Crossed Connections: Part IV

Characters: Tech x Togruta!Reader

Warnings: None

Summary: Selling his vods is looking like a really good idea at this point.

Previous Parts and Interludes can be found on my Masterlist HERE

From: Tech-Vod

To: Grutababy

I'm going to say this one time only. 

You are not a bad friend. 

You may be one of my only friends. I have my brothers but you are different. You chose to talk to me and each time you do it is a bright point in my day. You are important to me. 

 I imagine your job is stressful. Is there anyone you can talk to? A co-worker maybe. If not, have you thought about finding someone to talk to in addition to me? Find someone who looks friendly. Maybe a stranger in the lunch room. Walk up and say 'hello'. I can't imagine someone would ever turn down a chance at your company.    

Bear with me? Work is crazy. Big assignments coming up. Killer deadlines. I am going to try my to write back as soon as I can. If you do not hear from me for a time, know that it is not you. Work just has me a system away. I want to share with you. Please believe me. I will start sharing things with you. What I do is... hard to explain.  

------

“Tech. finish up the love letter. We've got work to do" Hunter growls. Tech quickly hits send as the ship enter atmo. He maneuvers through noxious black clouds, the Marauder jostling with the occasional updraft of superheated air. Tech lets his focus shift from Y/N to the task at hand.

“Will your lady love be waiting on the tarmac when we get home.” Crosshair’s voice echos through the comms. Tech taps the controls and the ship banks left, hard and fast. The sniper tumbles into Wrecker's gonk. 

“I think It’s gonna be a rough landing.” Tech quips grinning “It seems now would be a good time to buckle in.”

Wrecker laughs.

Crosshair runs a hand over his helmet as he unfolds himself. “You don't say?” 

“Enough fellas” Hunter eyes shift from Tech to Crosshair. The sniper is slowly climbing to his feet, adjusting his armor. Wrecker holds his hands up.

“I didn’t say anything, Sarge .”

With a deep breath Hunter brings himself back to center. Sometimes, it was like dealing with younglings.

The Marauder drips suddenly finding a pocket of dead air. They lose 15ft of altitude in a matter of seconds before its decent stops. In unspoken synchronization, each clone tightens their safety belts. The smell of the rotten sulfuric smoke that hung in the air was already permeating the ship and they hadn’t even popped the doors yet.

“Remember” Hunter begins “This is recon only. We are NOT to initiate contact. Do you hear me Wrecker.” The big man rolls his shoulders and grumbles lowly.

“I got you Sarge.”

“Good. I need you on point. Cross?” The sniper looks up from last minute check of his rifle. The ship lands with a soft jostle, the heat already rising as its switches into standby. “I want you up top somewhere. Eyes in the sky.”

“Roger that Sarge”

“Tech you’re with me, need you to do a little slicing”

Techs eyes wrinkle in delight before he flips his visor down, “As always, you speak my language.”

“Alright boys, easy does it” the four clones queue up at the door “following Wrecker in three... two... one...”

The mission goes belly up in under an hour, less than two klicks from the ship they run into Seperatist forces.

———

“Y/N!”

“Sir?” You look up from where you’ve been tasked with counting supplies. Boxes of bacta and dressings lay scattered at your feet. You haven't gotten nearly as much done as you'd hoped. I message from you Galaxymance match has had you distracted all day.

 Kix motions for you. You drop everything and jog over.

“I've got the Bad Batch coming in hot” he begins before you've even come to a stop at his side “their birds banged up and they’ve been through the ringer”. You nod as the clone continues to explain the situation. “I need you to lead up the exam. They did well with you last time.”

“Sir?” You question. Though you’d worked with the Batch one other time  a week back you weren’t sure you were the right one to take over their rotation. 

“That’s an order.” He clarifies “if it looks like it more than you can handle or anyone comes off that ship missing a limb you call in back up. Is that understood?”

“Yes sir.” You needed to clear a bay and find a med droid ASAP.

You’ve only just got everything ready when your patients all stumble into the room. Crossfire is propped between Wrecker and Hunter. Tech hobbles in behind. The Med droid, 2-1B, hums to life as you point to the table.

“I need him there.”

“I’m fine” the sniper grumbles as Wrecker unceremoniously dumps him onto the table. His skin looks paler than the last time you’d seen him and his eyes struggle to focus as you flash each with a light. He looks like shit.

“Try that one again later. Ok?” You glance around to the teams engineer still standing near the door and point to another exam table. “You. There. Helmet off.” He stares in your direction, stupid visor still flipped down obscuring whatever look he was giving you. “I said now, Trooper” irritation flares in your chest as he hesitates. 

Wrecker laughs as he leans up against the wall, you glance his way as 2-1B begins scanning Crosshair.

“Easy Ik’aad. He took back to back blasts. It might take him a minute”

“Ik’aad?” You hear Tech make a noise across the room and Crossfire, still dazed, barks out a weak laugh.

“Just a term of endearment for our favorite medic, Ik’aad” the sniper warbles.

“Would you children let her work” Hunter interrupts, voice like gravel. You nod thankfully. Tech is pulling his helmet off as you round on him. He pushes back on to the exam table, sitting straight up as you begin your once over.

“That’s better. Now let me get a good look at you.” You start with a simple scan, no internal injuries. Vital signs are satisfactory even if his heart rate is up a little bit.

“Easy Tech. I’m not gonna hurt you.” You try to soothe quietly. He doesn’t move as you reach up and slip his goggles off his face. He’s so stiff sitting there in front of you so you try to lighten the mood as you check his pupillary response. His skin is cool as you cup his cheek to hold him still. “Anyone ever told you, you’ve got pretty eyes?”

Crosshair makes a choking sound and you round on him only to see the Loth cat-like grin crossing his face. “We’ve all got the same eyes. Clones remember?”

“Well maybe you’ve all got pretty eyes than?”

Wrecker laughs. “I like you.”

“I can die happy now” you grumble. Hunter bites back what sounds to be a chuckle. You switch spots with 2-1B.

“The clone’s scan has shown no injuries requiring further treatment at this time, though a concussion can not be ruled out without further medical studies.”

“Thanks Too-Bee.” You give Hunter a questioning look and he seems to read your mind. What the kriff happened?

“The Seps got the jump on us, they laid out two concussives before we were able to do anything about it. Cross took the worst of it. Tech got part of the second one going to give him back up.”

“It’s ok, Ik'aad" That name again, coming from Wrecker “Got rid of every last clanker I could get my hands on." His chest puffs up proudly and you reach up to pat it as you skirt by.

Grabbing the holopad off the wall you begin charting your findings and filing the medical report. The sniper had a concussion, you didn’t need “further studies” to tell you that and the way Tech was moving he likely had a sprained ankle-

“This Clone appears to have torn a peroneal tendon” 2-1B drones

So a torn tendon it was. You glance up at Tech and catch him watching you. The soft way his eyes follow your movements makes your heart flutter and than the look is gone and he’s tapping away at the pad in his vambrace leaving you confused at the momentary feeling. Moving around the room you search a pair of drawers, finally pulling out what you were looking for.

“Looks like you boys have earned some bacta shots and a few days rest.”

———

“Ik’aad? Ik’aad?!” Tech is seething, voice coming out in a hiss as he glares ahead of him. Crosshair chuckles tiredly at his side.

He adjusts his goggles, taking a moment to squeeze the bridge of his nose between two fingers. The sensation of your skin, warm and alive against his is burned into his memory. The way you’d tried to soothe him when you thought he was scared was sweet. If only you’d known the truth. This was getting out of hand fast. The warning look Hunter had given him before he and Wrecker had excused themselves let him know, the Sargent agreed.

The pair continues to shuffle slowly down the empty corridor towards the barracks. Tech’s got a headache rapidly growing and his ankle hurts like hell. He leans into his vod for support, refusing to look his way as he continues to grumble in disgust. The sniper can’t leave well enough alone.

“Should we have called her Grutababy?”

Tech wonders if Hunter would care if his sniper turned up dead.

Taglist: @skdubbs @pastelbunny1501​

If you'd like to be added to the TagList drop me a line and let me know.

[werezmastarbucks]

Whitmore Guy - the light switch

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five

Part Six

Kai Parker x fem!Reader slowburn

word count: 3696 + 358

warnings: mentions of suicide. this one is big and there’s a lot of chatting, sorry!

music: blink-182 - shut up

“Best songs about escaping the law. Go!”

Mal was a natural. Or seemed like one. He took up the maintenance guy, Flip, who volunteered to help them decorate the gathering hall for the party. It was almost the thirty-first, and, thanks to hard work and Mal’s disgust for sleep, they were done with the playlist. Not that it was very difficult. Caroline had said, nostalgia flick. Well, they knew exactly what people would feel nostalgic to. And even if they didn’t, who cares. They had the filthiest of Bloodhound Gang and a sick lamp that changed flickering from orange to blue.

Currently he was guiding Flip through Styx’s discography, explaining why it was literally the best rock band of the middle of seventies. Every little thing Mal enjoyed was literally the best for him. He had a mind of a twelve year old teenager, and a scary look of a snake. Ever since Y/N learned why he’s the way he was, she saw everything he did in a much more ominous way. Yet, he seemed friendly enough, turning his back to her, which meant he trusted her. Just in case she has to take him out. After the gaping hole grew in her over the winter and spring, she felt there wasn’t a single thing she wasn’t capable of.

Y/N was opening boxes with plastic cups and napkins, tons of waste five hours after the party. Caroline arrived exactly at noon, just like she’d promised, and started helping her.

“Is that him?” she asked quietly, eyeing Mal from the other side of the hall. Y/N stood up and nodded. The two girls were watching as he and Flip unfolded a big knot of wiring.

“He’s cute”.

“Uh-huh”.

“And you said he was… odd?”

Y/N nodded.

“I’m quite fine with that, though. I found the reason for it. I’m not sure he’s completely honest about everything, but earlier I thought he was like a demon, or a vampire undercover”.

Caroline looked at him closely, putting away her curly strands of hair to hear better.

“And what’s the reason?”

“Caroline, you’re lifting two boxed with the projectors. Put them down”, Y/N hissed, grabbing her by the hands. The blonde vampire formed an O with her mouth and grimaced awkwardly.

“Gee, I just wanna do it all as quick as possible. Sorry. You were saying?”

“Well, he has… some… he’s like…”

On the one hand, a bit of sociopathic energy won’t surprise anyone here. But then again, this stuff is personal.

She leaned to Caroline and whispered into her ear, really quietly.

“Oh! Has he killed anybody yet?”

“I thought the same!”

Her shriek made the boys turn their heads. Mal waved his hand at Forbes, and she nodded.

“About that, by the way…” Caroline followed him with her eyes, and then looked back at her friend.

“Those bodies at Stefan’s house”, Y/N always wondered at how all the people in the town are divided between the two Salvatore brothers. “Damon found their heads. You will not believe where they were”.

Y/N rubbed her palms. Please, don’t let it be too spooky.

“They were all packed under Damon’s bed. He couldn’t sniff them out right away because of all the smell on the lawn and inside... ”.

“What was it like, exactly?”

“They were just outside the house. Butchered”. Caroline shivered under her silk blouse.

“So, that was about Damon”.

“For sure”, Caroline shook her head lightly, letting her bangs swing. Y/N noticed a clear trace of indignation in her voice. “I wonder what he has done this time to piss Rebekah this time”.

“Rebekah? You already know she did it?”

The dead weight clutching her heart and lungs for three days let go. She thought it would be something way more evil, or threatening.

“I mean, who else has such a cracked up mind to do such a thing? And a grudge against Damon? She really outdid herself this time though”.

“Right, she’s bitchy, but not completely insane, for sure?”

Forbes just shrugged, her eyes big and blue.

“Don’t stop unpacking, Y/N. Yeah, and plus, that’s a lot of work”.

“This is atrocious. We gotta find out for sure”.

Y/N was unable to work, puzzled. A sudden burst of music, bashing with the sound of drums, exploded the silence in the hall, and she jumped, nearly screaming. Mal rushed to his laptop.

“My bad!” he waved his hand, smiling.

Caroline let out a tired sighed. So, Mal conquered her, too, without even talking to her.

“When did she do it? I can’t seem to make up the time line”.

“I’ve no idea. Maybe while Damon was napping”.

“Ridiculous”.

“Look, I don’t know. Klaus is talking to her, but she’s being all defensive… she denies everything”.

“Why are you so sure it was her though? I mean, they’ve slept a thousand years ago, and then I don’t remember them contacting afterwards”.

Caroline sat on the box and started to unpack the shuffling packs of packs of napkins. She lifted her sky-blue eyes to Y/N with the expression of sorrow.

“Y/N, honey… he… they’ve been in and out, for months. He just doesn’t tell you because he knows you’re still kind of into him”.

That made her wonder.

“Weird. I fell out of love with him years ago. You guys still think there’s something?”

Caroline shrugged impassively.

“I don’t know. It better be over. Damon is not the man of your dreams, I bet”.

“Well, he used to be”.

“Ladies”, Mal appeared out of thin air like a freaking ghost, startling her yet again. Even Caroline looked at him, surprised, her hands stopping for a second.

“We’re ready for the sound check. You wanna put in a song? Care, can I call you Care? Y/N’s been talking about you lots, I feel like I’ve known you for years”.

Caroline was dead silent, looking at him like she was about to hit him. Y/N felt an urge to put her arm on the guy’s shoulder and shield him from all the world and everything he didn’t get about it.

“You’re the boss here, right? Or is it Y/N? Um, anyway, she mentioned you wanted to see the transitions?”

Forbes stood up, still unimpressed, but put on a polite face.

“Oh. Sure. You’re Mal, right?”

She outstretched her hand in a challenging gesture. Mal shook it like it didn’t matter, and Caroline was seemingly left satisfied.

“Right. Mal Osbourne”.

“Mal’s short for…”

He tilted his head.

“Mal”.

“Oh. That’s the full name?”

“Yeah, it’s very short. Just like my patience”, he smiled widely, showing teeth. His eyes stayed the usual frozen navy color. “So, you wanna check it out? I’ll wrap the equipment until Friday and won’t get it out, so all the tech stuff should be checked beforehand. Y/N’s completely useless in it. The other day she failed to upgrade AdBlock, I was pissed”, he let out a laugh. Caroline gave Y/N a stunned look, not about her impotence in computers, which never surprised anyone who knew her. Y/N nodded, and the two of them walked to Mal’s laptop. He started explaining to Caroline the queue of songs and how they all formed patterns. This seemed to finally get to her, as she saw the organizational side to the whole mess that was happening. Y/N returned to her boxes.

When the lion share of preparations was done for the day, Mal suggested they grabbed a beer at the closest bar, to reward themselves.

“She’s a bit slow, eh, Caroline? I thought you said she was brilliant”.

“She is, and that’s mean. You just talk very much, and all my friends need to acclimatize to you at first”.

“Didn’t seem to have those problems with the others at Whitmore”, he thought out loud.

“Well, these ones are Mystic Falls people”, Y/N said. “Ric still avoids you, doesn’t he?”

“Big time”.

“They’re more cautious. You see the kind of shit happening with us”.

“Oh, right”.

They left the building, and headed for Y/N’s car. Mail never drove and usually walked from college to his place which was around ten minutes away. Sometimes Y/N gave him a lift on her way home as it was the same direction. The road from the campus to her house on the Oak street normally took not more than twenty minutes.

“Does that happen often? I read about all these ‘animal attacks’. What’s up with that? What kind of animal kills people and leaves them in the parking lot?”

“Wolves”.

“They’re that hungry?”

“In the cold season, yeah”, Y/N marveled at the amount of bullshit the normal folk had to consume here on a daily basis.

“And you’re all fine with that. And they’re gonna tell that pile of bodies was wolves as well? Is that true that they didn’t have heads?”

“How did you even know about it?”

“Twitter”.

Y/N shook her head. They got into the car, and she started the engine. Mal never put on seatbelt, no matter how many times she’s asked him to. The car itself seemed to have given up because now it didn’t beep when Mal was inside.

“I don’t know what kind of animal does that”, she confessed. She still wasn’t sure Rebekah was to blame for that. But she wished it was her, very much.

“Aren’t you scared?”

“Let me tell you a story”.

“Oh, story”, Mal gasped excitedly, turning his whole body to her. He loved stories.

“One morning I wake up and the body of my dad lies there on my carpet. His upper half was in my room, and his legs were in the corridor. His throat was cut and there was a big, black pool of blood under him, soaking into the wood. Awful. I couldn’t move for about five minutes. I was afraid he would get up and attack me. And I was asking myself, who would’ve done it, why they never hurt me, how come I didn’t hear anything, and why they positioned him that way”.

Mal listened with his pretty mouth slightly agape, eyes flickering. To him, it was a retelling of a movie, a piece of fiction he loved so much.

“You think there was something special about the way they left him?”

“It looked like when a cat drags you a dead rat”.

He smirked.

“You don’t seem too upset the whole thing”.

“My father was an awful man”.

“What about the whole family talk you gave me the other day?”

“First, I don’t know Martha’s folks. I only heard your side of story. Second, we never found out who killed my father. So I can’t tell how I feel about that human”.

“Human?” Mal caught her off guards. “Why did you say ‘human’?”

She imagined banging her head on the steering wheel. Because someone got inside her house in the night without being invited, and never bit him, that’s why. It was important while they were trying to figure out the murderer, that he was human. It was a habit.

“I… don’t know”, she offered, without trying too much. “Anyway, I have little to no feelings about that. The picture of his body, though, lying there, waiting for me to wake up and discover him, still haunts me sometimes”.

“Okay, imagine you found who did this. Imagine you met that human”.

Y/N didn’t like the way Mal said that word.

“Imagine you knew the motive”.

“Which would be..?”

“Well, what do you mean when you say he was awful?”

“Ah, okay. You think they killed him to rid me of him”.

“Something like that, maybe. Imagine you met him. What would you say?”

“I wouldn’t like to meet him. He’s clearly crazy”.

Mal chewed on his lower lip. They drove up to The Craze and left the car.

“You’re driving me home in the evening”, she announced, throwing Mal the keys. He managed to catch them at the last moment. “I need to drink”.

_____________________________________________________________

“Tell me”, Mal frowned with a hidden smile, “why do we always have to make everybody listen to your millennial pop rock playlist?”

“You love it”.

“I do”, he confirmed and made himself comfortable in his chair. “But I just wonder about the reason you’re so hooked up on it”.

“I don’t think about it much”.

There was the song he put in to the DJ, who actually approved it, probably due to Mal’s natural charm. Being wrapped in the music she chose herself, and organized in a way she enjoyed, made her feel comfortable in the times of distress. Maybe now was the time like this, because she physically needed it.

Shut the fuck up, she said,

I’m going fucking deaf

“Let it be the snippet of the party then”, Mal agreed. People at the bar were swinging their heads, sniffing the familiar lyrics they probably last heard ten years ago, or even more.

They said cheers and started getting wasted.

“You remember you promised me something?” Mal cooed conspiratorially, pierced her with a look, and made her forget all about Martha for a second. She swallowed hard.

“What?”

“A sad story in exchange for mine. Or was it a trick to make me talk?”

Y/N went silent, amazed at the fact he remembered.

“You forgot, right? So typical of you. You’re ultra irresponsible. Sometimes I feel like you’re the one without any conscience”.

“Ugh”.

He drank his beer and licked his lips.

“You’ve seen my tattoo on the forearm?”

“It’s big, hard not to see. I reckoned, Alex is dead?”

She nodded. She looked at Mal’s forearms with the grey sleeves of his hoodie rolled up.

“It’s been five years now. He was my childhood friend. He taught me everything my bastard of the father was meant to teach me. Riding a bike, watching movies, making jokes, LEGO assembling, crashing my knees as we were rollerblading”.

“Did you have a crush on him?”

“At one point, when I was ten, maybe. It wasn’t serious. He was always like a big brother to me”.

“What happened?”

She tasted her bitten lip with the tip of her tongue. It was salty and rough.

“When we grew up, he lost interest in me. We went different ways, I guess. I haven’t talked to him since I was sixteen. I mean, sometimes I messaged him, I tried to see him, but he moved on far away, and he wasn’t really interested. Like none of what we did when we were children mattered. Made me feel it didn’t count. What am I supposed to do with all the memories now? He was the only friend I had growing up, and when a person feels insecure, they touch their past and it makes them feel good. But when I remember the happiest days, Alex is in all of them. And at the same time, there was another Alex, who just forgot about me, like, people just… I mean, Mal, everybody had a childhood, right? We are not born adults”.

“My childhood sucked”.

“Yeah, I know. But it still existed”.

“Unfortunately”.

“He pretended I meant nothing to him. He had a new life, moved away from Washington, and – the funniest part – nothing had actually happened, there wasn’t a clear reason. That’s just how it happens sometimes. But then, couple of years after, his fiancée called and said he had hanged himself”.

Mal was thinking, playing with the bottle cap.

“And you still got his name tattooed”.

“He still taught me how to ride a bike. No matter what else he’s done, you can’t take it away now. You can’t erase my memory”.

Mal’s face went hard. That was his judging look. He didn’t say anything, but only sipped on his beer. The waitress brought his cheese fingers, and he attacked them like a hungry bear. Y/N marveled yet again at his teen-like appetite for bad stuff. It’s amazing he was lean, and his skin was so clear, given every time she saw him eat, it was complete trash.

“Alright, but I think I win”, he said after a pause.

“You mean the saddest story?”

“Yeah. Martha’s still alive, which means I get to be rejected for the second time”.

“You think she’ll reject you? It’s kinda sweet you’re being such a creep about her”.

“You’re a specific type of chick, Y/N. She’s more normal than you. She’ll think I’m a horrible person”.

“Do you think you’re a horrible person?”

He grinned to himself.

“I used to, but not anymore. I’m on my own in this world, and the only person that ever cared about me for real doesn’t know I’m feet away from her. There’s no use beating yourself about your qualities when you’re my age”.

“You’re like, a year older than me”.

Mal smiled at her like at a child that’s talking nonsense, but you gotta be nice because one day they’ll figure it out.

“You want some?” he always shared his food with her.

“No, thanks”.

“Oh, you know what else was bugging me?”

Y/N raised her brows.

“Something bugs you, sweet boy?”

Mal giggled charismatically.

“What are the Salvatores like? I saw one of them the other day, Steven? With Prof Saltzman. They seem to be good buddies, but he looks strange”.

“Stefan. Yeah, well, we all went to the same school. Ric, too. He used to be our history teacher”.

“So, you know them well? You keep mentioning the second one”.

“Go on”.

Mal pursed his lips, concentrating really hard.

“Go on, remember”.

“I can’t, you know I can’t. I don’t remember names. Be thankful I call you right”.

“Go on”, she nudged him, entertained. It was a thing about him, Mal, not considering others important enough to remember people’s names.

“Da- Dan?”

“Nope”.

Mal crossed his arms on his chest, his eyes wondering all over Y/N’s face like the answer was there.

“Daniel. Dasher. Denmark. Dunder Mifflin”.

She laughed.

“Go on. Mars’ moons”.

“Deimos. Damon!”

Y/N felt amused when he was around. She felt entertained, light, he was taking away the weight from her. The tilt of his head, the stupid quote from Gordon Flash, and she felt like she was a different kind of person. A memory would come back to her, that she wasn’t born here. That she didn’t belong to Mystic Falls and could actually go if she decided, one day. That, in theory, she was free.

Mal watched her.

“You like him?”

“How come?”

“Your face does that thing when you talk about him”.

“What thing?”

“Like now. Like you’re missing something”.

“I don’t get why everybody thinks I still have a crush on him. I used to love him back when I was at school”.

“Whoa, love?”

“Yes. It’s that thing when you want to be with somebody, you know that”, she pressed. She still was looking for an opportunity to test just how much Mal actually felt about Martha. That he cared about her, was not a question – but how did it actually work, with his brain? Did he desire to possess her? Or felt incomplete without her? Did she make him better, more human?

“And what happened to that?”

“I grew up”.

“And?”

“You’re pushing me”.

“I’m being curious”, Mal was chewing again, “how does it die? You say you loved him. I only really loved one person in my life – and that’s rich for me to say that. Given, you know”, he motioned with his hand, “But I really think I love her. Like, when I look at her, my eyes melt. You ever get that? And my heart goes ba-dum, and sometimes I forget and think, oh no, I’m finally having a stroke”.

Y/N couldn’t hold back a chuckle.

“And when I think about her, sometimes it feels like I’m dying”, Mal said, and suddenly, it wasn’t as funny anymore.

“Oh, my poor boy Mal”, Y/N held out her hand and touched his wrist in an instinctive gesture.

“What are you doing?” he asked curiously.

“I’m comforting you”.

“Ah. Thanks. And so, I used to wait for it to go away, but it didn’t, so I decided, if I can’t get over her, I’ll just get her back. You know?”

“That actually makes perfect logical sense”.

“So, how do you fall out of love? If it’s real?”

“Maybe with Damon, it wasn’t real. But it sure felt that at some point. Boy, the things we did together back then”, Y/N snickered, raising Mal’s eyebrows high.

“What?”

“We…”

She realized she couldn’t tell Mal about one of the coolest things that ever happened to her in her life. The one person she really wanted to share, because she knew exactly the kind of reaction she would get, and it would be perfect. And yet, to tell him how she, a sixteen year old, was a bait for a bunch of vampires and how Damon ripped a heart out one of them in front of her? How he was standing there, all soaked in rain, with his black hair and silver eyes, tall and strong, like a statue, holding a bleeding heart in his palm, like an epitome of safety.

“We had the maddest parties. I was big on vodka when I was a teenager”, she lied. “We would gather all school at their huge house and party all night. And get into all kinds of trouble”.

“How old is he, exactly?” Mal asked, suspicious.

“He’s seven years older than Stefan”.

“So, you partied with that man while being underage. And you let him get into your pants?”

A wave of frozen air hit her in the face. Y/N was taken aback, at the same time feeling blood flush to her eyes and cheeks. Mal’s severity sometimes blew her off.

“I- no. Not that it’s any of your business, man, Jesus. He never liked me back”.

“Damien sounds like trash”, Mal concluded gravely, looking away. “No wonder someone’s threatening him. Is he a criminal?”

“Not that I know of. Mal, stop it”.

“What?” he shook his shoulders, as if brushing off all the thoughts of Damon.

“You’re freaking me out a little”.

“You’ve had one bottle, weakling”, he smiled warmly. It didn’t work. His eyes were worse than weapons sometimes.

“Moorning!” Mal announced loudly as he stopped the car, with a swing, on her driveway. Y/N had almost fallen asleep while looking at the window. When he turned off the music, silence rang in the car for a moment.

“You still walking?”

“How are you not drunk?” she demanded slowly, getting out of her car and pushing the door a little bit too hard.

His hand found its way to her shoulder blade. Mal seemed to move like a cat, and her being completely wasted didn’t add to her circumspection.

“I have high tolerance”, he responded. “You need a tea or whatever? Are you gonna puke?”

Y/N stood up and looked at her house. It swayed just a little.

“Nah, I’m fine”.

Together, they walked to the porch. Y/N decided to be double careful and thought of luring him inside for a minute without inviting him, just to be sure.

“Actually, would be cool if you helped me, uh, find the switch”.

Mal got slightly surprised but said nothing. Y/N opened the door, and he held it with his hand, as she stepped inside. She stood in the dark for a moment, looking at him, just outside the doorframe. The streetlights were out, again. The faint moonlight made his face look waxy. He studied her with curious look.

“You want me to come in?”

She wouldn’t budge.

Mal put his palm on the door jamb and took a step, letting himself in the house. Y/N exhaled, blood thumping inside her head, like an empty gunshot.

“There it is”, he outstretched his hand and flickered the lights, getting the switch unmistakably. How did he know? Y/N closed her eyes for two seconds and opened them again. Light was burning her eyeballs.

Mal stepped up to her, and took her head with his hands. He promptly kissed her on the forehead, his lips warm and quick.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll call a taxi”, he said nonchalantly, an amused smirk, like he was playing with her, stretched his mouth. He left the house without saying goodbye, and closed the door after himself.

How did he know where the switch was?

[izuocha-love]

Hungry

Decided to write another Izuocha fic based on dumb stuff I was doing earlier. Got steamier than intended, and it’s cheesy lol

Deku catches Ochako doing stupid stuff

Ochako tossed and turned in her bed, wrapped up in the warmth her green comforter provided her.

She yawns, eyes peering open and staring up at her astronomy poster with an out of focus gaze.

She groggily reached over to her nightstand, fumbling around to grasp at her phone in the dark.

She felt something that matched its shape and took it from it's place.

Ochako flips it open, immediately regretting it as the light from her flip phone blinded her. She groans lightly, squinting at the phone to gain any sort of clarity.

"2:37AM"  

As she grimaced at the early time, she felt her stomach grumble. She moved a hand over her stomach to silence it's complaints, flipping her phone closed and placing it back on the nightstand.

But her stomach wasn't having any of it.

She was so nice and cozy and warm. Why of all times did her body decide that now was the time she needed sustenance?

"But I don't wanna get upppp.." she mumbled to herself. Almost as if on queue, her stomach voiced another growl. Much louder than the previous times.

"Ugh, fine." She grumbled out, throwing her covers off of herself and planting her feet and standing up. Feeling her head dizzy at the quick action and attempting to stabilize herself.

Trudging over to the other side of her room, she flipped the light switch on. She opened her closet door, eyes scanning over the dry goods she kept to herself.

"Ramen sounds good, I guess." She said, grabbing one of the instant ramen bowls she'd bought at the convenience store a few days ago. She was accustomed to eating them often. They were tasty, quick and easy to make and most importantly, cheap.

She slipped on her house slippers and gently opened her door, careful not to wake any of her classmates. Normally, Aizawa would scold them for being out this early.

However, it was the weekend. They still needed to train and do their best, even on their days off. But Aizawa was more lax when classes weren't going to be held the next day.

She'd been caught more than a few times sneaking into the kitchen late at night. Aizawa was quite strict with curfew rules, so the few times he'd catch her sneaking in he would scold her for being up so late. The most he would let anyone do is grab something to drink and tell them to hurry back to bed.

But he definitely wouldn't mind if she got up to fix herself something to eat, right?

At least, that's what she hoped.

Ochako rounded the corner of the dorm hallway, peering left and right to make sure no one was in sight. She gently walked over to the elevator, pressing the 'up' button. Gently tapping her slippered foot as she awaited its arrival.

"I wonder if anyone else is up right now.." She pondered to herself. Surely, there had to be a few. If she had to make a guess, Tokoyami was definitely one of them. Possibly Jirou, maybe Shouji.

As gentle ding snapped her out of her thoughts, seeing that her metal carriage had arrived.

She walked forward, gently pressing the 'down' button. She leans back against the wall of the elevator, taking in the sounds of pulleys moving her toward her destination.

The door opens, and she peers out, searching for any sight of their teacher. Not seeing anyone, she tiptoes her way into the kitchen.

She flicks the lights on, a buzz resounding in the room. She walks toward the sink and tears the lid off her soon-to-be meal, filling it with water and throwing it into the microwave for three minutes.

She absentmindedly stares at her bowl, spinning around as more thoughts fill her mind. Feeling a little more awake now that she walked down here.

She closes her eyes, enjoying the silence in the dorm. She could swear she could make out the light sounds of a guitar strumming. Maybe Jirou was up, after all. "Maybe I'll pay her a visit if I can't get back to sleep tonight.." She says, to no one in particular.

Ochako stares up at the ceiling, leaning against the kitchen counter.

Her mind recalls the previous week and all the work they've done. They were practicing their basic forms as well as improving their quirks. Everyone was told to try to find a fighting style they felt worked well with their quirk. Some of the less combat-oriented students were a bit lost on what to do about their forms. She looked into other moves she could use to improve her technique, though she found the martial arts Gunhead taught her to be a good match for her.

Looking around the kitchen and making sure no one was around, she decided to practice her moves while waiting on her food.

She pivots her foot behind her, balling her fists together and gives the air a punch. The air whistling past her fist.

She punches the air once more, quickly holding her forearms together afterward to block.

Her mind quickly imagines up a pretend opponent, and she puts up a pretty good fight against them.

After about 20 seconds, she realizes how silly she must look. Practicing her form in the kitchen, in fuzzy pink pajama's close to 3 am. She giggles to herself, and gives the air another punch but in a much more comical manner.

She shuffles her feet around in a goofy manner, pretending to practice kung fu. She kicks high up into the air, mumbling a "wa-tah!"

Soon she's chopping the air in random places, mumbling a high-pitched "hi-ya!" each time she does so.

She continues to shuffle around, side chopping the air. Her movements completely devoid of any skill. She makes more little silly noises, completely lost in her own goofiness.

"Yeah, that's right. You better run away." She whispers out in a silly tone.

She pivots on one foot and turns around to chop another opponent.

She freezes, her eyes meeting a pair of emerald green ones a few feet in front of her.

Deku is standing a few feet away, hand covering his mouth in an attempt to stifle his laughter.

She's frozen in her goofy position, an awkward smile still plastered on her face. The microwave goes off with a resounding 'beep'.

Her face goes beet red, "H-how much did you see..?" She manages to squeak out.

He wheezes and bends over in laughter, unable to stifle it. She throws her hands up to her face, feeling the heat radiating off of it.

And also felt herself float up to the ceiling, wishing it didn't exist so she could float off into the stratosphere.

"Sorry, I came downstairs to grab a bottle of water, and happened to see you practicing your form." He says as he catches his breath. He couldn't help but watch his friend. She looked so determined and poised. Like she was ready to take on anyone. But then she started being silly, and he couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. She was being a goober in the kitchen at 3 am, how was he supposed to not laugh?

That, and...he couldn't help but admire how cute she looked.

Ignoring the heat flooding into his cheeks, he approaches her, reaching for her arm to pull her down from the ceiling.

"But I guess you're a kung-fu master now, huh?" He says, laughing heartily.

Ochako peers through her fingers to send him a glare, but is completely unable to in that moment.

He's looking up at her, laughing and smiling up at her. Giving her the purest, brightest smile she had ever seen.

She can't but love the sound of his laugh. Had she ever heard him laugh before..? She didn't think so.

Ochako feels him pulling her down, and she floats down awkwardly. Still in a daze, she can't look away from him. Wonder filling her doey eyes as his own finally open to meet hers.

It feels like everything slows down for a moment. A comforting warmth spreads through her as she peers into his eyes.

Why cant she look away? Not that she wanted to. She could stay here forever and swim in the sea of emerald that was his eyes.

Izuku had stopped laughing as he noticed her looking into his eyes. He's completely mesmerized by her.

She's floating above him upside down, at face level with him. Her deep brown eyes are boring into his soul, looking at him with wonder.

He feels himself become lost in them. Lost in her.

Her chestnut brown hair floats gently around her face, locks of it rippling through the air.

"She's so beautiful.." He hears himself think. Subsequently snapping him out of his daze just enough to realize what was happening.

Her face was just a little too close to his own.

"U-Uraraka..?" He stutters out, his face crimson.

"..Huh..?" She says dreamily, her dazed eyes beginning to fill with clarity.

Oh. OH. Right.

"R-Release.." She says as she spins back into place, her feet falling to the floor once more.

Both of them stand there for a moment, completely silent and red all over.

"Ur....Ur-Uraraka..?" Izuku starts, unsure if he should speak at all with how bad he's stuttering. He clears his throat in an attempt to quell his own nervousness. "Was there..something you wanted to ask me..?"

"Huh..?" She says, glancing over to him. He's looking down at the floor, with a hand on the back of his neck.

Oh..right. She did look pretty deep into his soul just a moment ago. In that moment, it probably did look like she wanted to ask him something.

"Oh, no actually. You just caught me off guard a little." Ochako says, twiddling her thumbs.

Izuku turns to look at her, an eyebrow cocked upwards in confusion. "What do you mean..?"

She walks off to the side a bit, opening the microwave and getting her bowl before her food gets too cold.

"I think..that was the first time I've ever heard you laugh." She says, closing the microwave door with her elbow. If she was honest with herself, she never wanted to quit hearing that laugh.

"R-really?" Izuku says, his head tilted to the side a bit. His face had a hint of surprise written on it.

Sure, he wasn't as silly as the others had been. But had she really never heard him laugh before?

Mirio was right. He did need to learn how to have a sense of humor.

"Yup..It stunned me a little" Ochako said with a nervous giggle, not daring to look into his eyes. "Besides, it was really cute!" She said, beaming at him with a grin full of sunshine.

Izuku could've died just then. His heart was beating so fast he feared going into cardiac arrest.

"Cute. CUTE. Him?!? She called him CUTE?!?"  Deku screamed internally, stuttering complete nonsense and fidgeting. His skin feeling so hot it could rival Todoroki's flame. His mind too far gone to understand she only called his laugh cute.

Ochako watched him fall apart with a grin. She loved making him nervous and teasing him. It was just too easy.

"Well then," She says, resuming her silly stance in crane formation. "You wanna take me on?" She asks, giving a playful jab to his gut.

He stumbles back and out of his stupor, giggling a bit at her playful gesture. "Oh, it's on." He says with whimsical determination, taking on a silly stance of his own.

What ensued was a series of goofy slap fighting and stupid cheesy 'karate' sounds.

She starts giggling uncontrollably through the entire thing, and he's beaming at her. Her laugh was something he never wanted to stop hearing.

She manages to get behind him and put him in an arm hold. Causing him to lean back into her shoulder.

He can feel her soft cheek against his, and he feels like he could stay in that arm hold forever. Was he dead? Was he in heaven? He sure hoped so.

They stay like that for a few seconds. Izuku's body relaxes against her and she becomes quite aware of their position when he does.

She loosens her hold on him, just enough for him to break free and knock her off her feet by swinging his leg just hard enough behind her knees. Catching her before she has the chance to hit the ground.

"I win." He says with a cheeky grin, before opening his eyes.

They both light up crimson for the hundredth time that night. Izuku audibly gulps at the sight before him.

He's holding her, standing above her and slightly crouched down. One hand on the back of her head, nested in her unbelievably soft hair. The other on the small of her back.

"D-Deku-Kun..?" She says in a light whisper. She's mystified at the feeling of being in his arms. The warmth of his hands on her, and his eyes looking into her own. Clearly filled with surprise, but there's something else there she continues to search for.

Without thinking, he leans down ever so slightly more to hear her. His eyes land on her lips once the whispered words leave them. "Y-Yeah..?" He stutters out, his voice cracking a bit. He's lost once more in his beautiful friend resting in his arms.

Ochako continues to stare into his eyes, searching for an answer. An answer to all of her questions about him.

Was this wrong, what they were doing?

Was it longing she saw in his deep green eyes?

How is she supposed to keep her feelings for him hidden when he's holding her and looking at her like this?

Izuku looks on into her eyes, seeing them shift down as if she's in deep thought. He begins to feel a little worried until her eyes fully meet his again.

"H-Have I ever told you.." She says, raising a hand up to cup his face, careful not to make him float. She places her other hand on the curve of his neck. His eyes soften that much more when she does. "-That your eyes are beautiful..?" She finishes, watching his eyes widen.

Izuku feels a surge of confidence, deciding to lean closer to her. His forehead meeting her own. She inhales sharply at the feeling. She felt like she was floating in a sea of warmth and love. She moves a hand into his hair and pulls him slightly closer, their noses brushing.

"Have I ever told you that you're beautiful?" He says, not missing a beat. His voice sends shivers down her spine. He was a completely different person apart from the flustered Deku she saw a few moments ago. His eyes are hazed over with a look of wanting, and need.

In that moment, she couldn't stand hiding her feelings for him anymore. She needed to feel his lips against hers.

She leans up just slightly, her lips brushing gently against his. He let out a low groan at the feeling. He couldn't think anymore, his mind blanked entirely upon feeling her lips just barely graze his.

"Have I ever told you that I love you?"

She whispered against his lips.

And that did it in for him.

He pressed his lips into hers fully, both mewling in mutual pleasure. Both of their lips warm and wet. The sound of moans and lips meeting and separating bounced off the walls of the once empty kitchen. He presses her against the kitchen counter, running his tongue against her bottom lip. Barely feeling her own touch his. They melted into each other, her hands dug into his fluffy dark green hair. Their kiss becoming more heated as the seconds pass by. Izuku widens their kiss so their tongues can meet, writhing against each other in a passionate dance.

They kissed for what felt like hours, but it lasted only a few minutes.

Izuku is the first to pull away, he places both palms on her cheeks, running his thumb across the tears that ran down them.

"I love you, Ochako." He says, with a smile filled with adoration. He hid his feelings for his best friend for so long, pushing them down as a means to keep focusing on working towards being the symbol of peace.

They leaned against each other, holding each other and staring into each others eyes. Swaying back and forth slowly to the sound of silence. Nothing could ruin this night for them.

"Ahem."  

Both of them jumped, being knocked out of their dreamland. They separated a bit to see who was standing behind them.

Shit.

Aizawa was standing there, his eyes glowing a deep red. "Both of you." He began, annoyance clear in his voice. "Are coming with me." He says, annoyance prevalent in his deep voice.

They both know what's coming.

Aizawa takes hold of his scarf and grabs both of them, dragging them down the hall on the way to his office.

Both of them are dying of utter embarrassment, stained red as their classmate's file out of their rooms one by one to see what's going on.

They're both given a week of house arrest, plus being tasked with cleaning the outer grounds of their dormitory. Ochako's ramen went cold that night, and neither one of them slept.

As both of them sweat from the amount of work they've been tasked, they can't help but feel left out of the loop from the rest of their class.

It sucks, but they didn't regret it.

[kayteewritessteve]

If Only You Knew - 15/19

Description: You arrive home one day to find a wedding invite for two of your best friends from high school. You knew this day was going to come eventually, but even with that said, you weren’t prepared to return home. At least not after 7 years of avoiding Buckhannon, West Virginia. Or rather, avoiding him; your ex-best friend and the secret love of your life. But maybe it was finally time to face your past, to face him, and everything else that happened on that horrible night. Who would have knew that your prom would end up being a total disaster, and the very last night you’d spend in Buckhannon for the next 7 years? you certainly didn’t. That’s for sure.

Catch up HERE.

Word Count: 5,210 ish.

Pairing: Modern!Steve Rogers x Reader.

Rating: 18+

Warnings: Violence. Drinking. Bad and offensive jokes. Possible triggering thoughts, feelings and emotions. Moments of bullying and harsh name calling. Lots of curse words. And a very sloooow burn.

A/N: I sadly don’t own any of these characters. And no beta reader, so I do proudly own all the errors and this story, so there’s that.

July 2018 - Present.

You stand in your room, giving yourself a final once over. Tonight was Nat and Bucky’s Bachelor/Bachelorette party. They had both opted to leave it to the last minute so you could be apart of it. And as Buckhannon really wasn’t that big, they’d also decided to just have a joint party as well. Make it one big, final hurrah to the unmarried life for them both.

You glance at the clock on the wall quickly, checking to see just how much time you had left before Hilde, Nat and Wanda arrived to pick you up. 15 minutes. You walk over to your desk and grab your lipstick, it was your favourite shade and you never went anywhere without it. You stand back in front of the full length mirror and apply it, that being the final touch you needed. Then you pick up your clutch off the bed and put the lipstick inside before closing it and heading downstairs to wait for them.

Your heels click on the floor as you make your way into the kitchen, where your dad is sitting at the island counter. Paperwork spread out in front of him, clearly working on the shop’s accounts. If his mumbled curse words and dramatic sighs are anything to go off of. He hated, with every fibre of this being, having to deal with all the background stuff to do with the shop. All he really wanted to do was work on cars, but he was far too stubborn for his own good.

“You know,” you start off slowly, “there are these wonderful things called ‘assistants’. All you have to do is hire them, pay and treat them well, and they will actually handle most—if not all—of the background stuff.” You finish just as you come to stand in front of him.

He scoffs, “please. I don’t need an assistant, they’d have nothing to do.”

“They’d have a ton to do, if you’d just stop being a control freak and delegate tasks off to them.” You shrug, but can’t contain the cheeky grin.

“I am not a control freak,” he laughs, “I just like things done a certain way.”

“Yup,” you pop the p, “that is exactly what a control freak would say.”

He goes to talk then notices your outfit, “you look beautiful, kiddo. Do you have a ride home from High Life?”

“Good conversation change,” you shake your head, fondly, “and I’ll just cab back.” You glance down at your outfit, “think it’s too casual?”

“No, not at all,” he shakes his head, “but you’re taking a jacket though, right?”

“Dad, it’s the middle of July, in Virginia. I’ll be fine without one.”

He shrugs, “it’s my job as a dad to worry about you getting cold.” He pauses, “so you’re taking a jacket, yeah?”

You laugh, “fine, fine.” And walk over to the entry closet, pulling out a lightweight cream bomber jacket, then head back into the kitchen. Showing the jacket to your ridiculous dad once you get there, “happy?”

He hums his approval and nods. “So, when are the ladies getting here?”

And as if on queue, your phone buzzes and you take it out of your clutch to quickly check the message. Seeing ‘We’re outside, sexy.’ From Hilde. You laugh to yourself then walk towards your dad, “now,” you say as you give him a quick side hug and a kiss on the cheek, then head towards the front door. “I’ll see you later.”

“Be safe, and text me if you need anything!” He calls from his place in the kitchen.

“Will do!” You say back as you do a quick check of your clutch, making sure you have everything then head out to the car.

“Get in loser,” Nat says from the passenger seat, “we’re going to the bar!” Then she bursts out laughing at her own joke.

“A Mean Girls reference, really?” You laugh and shake your head, then pull open the back door, and climb in. “I’m guessing Nat is already into the sauce?”

Wanda and Hilde laugh, as the latter pulls away from the curb, glancing in the rear view mirror at you quickly while she says, “try damn near bathing in it.”

“Oh God,” you mumble, “she’s gonna be fall down drunk in no time.”

“You do know I’m sitting right here, correct?” Nat glances back at you with a raised eyebrow.

You pat her head affectionately from your spot behind her, “of course we do, silly. We just don’t care.” Then you, Hilde and Wanda burst out laughing.

“Bitches,” Nat mumbles and swats your hand away. “I need new friends.”

“Oh please, you love us,” Wanda scoffs and shakes her head, disbelievingly.

“We just have to pick Rebecca up then we can head to High Life,” Hilde says as she shoulder checks and switches lanes.

“Sounds good,” you reply.

You all chat and joke the whole way to Clint’s house—where Rebecca, Barney and James Jr are currently staying—to scoop Rebecca and then onwards to the bar.

Once Hilde is parked you all hop out and head in, finding a large table near the back and ordering appies and drinks. You learned the boys hadn’t arrived yet as they were pre-drinking at Steve’s place and would be heading over shortly. They’d wanted to give the girls a little bit on their own. To chat, gossip and catch up. Which is exactly what you all do. Emphasis on ‘gossip’.

“So what the hell is this Madeleine and Tony bullshit?” You ask the question that has been bouncing around in your mind since the bridal party, as you glance around at the 3 ladies.

“Oh God,” Wanda groans, “where do we even start?” She looks over at Nat and Hilde.

“Now I’m not sure if this is true or not,” Nat starts, “but from what I’ve heard from Bucky it started out as a fling. They were both at some function together. Liquor was involved, obviously, and they,” she cringes, “slept together. And then things just sort of went from there.”

“Yeah, my guess is he was the closest she could get to Steve, so she took it,” Hilde adds with a cringe of her own.

“I also heard Tony always liked her, and that she is only with him for his money,” Rebecca says as she takes a sip of her drink.

“I see Buckhannon’s drama has reached New York now,” you laugh.

Rebecca winks at you, “only because I’m friends with Penelope’s little sister.”

“Oh shit, that’s right! How is Lizzy?” You ask her.

She shrugs, “good. Married now.”

“Damn,” you turn to glance around the table at the others. “Looks like I’m a dying breed now. The only single one left in the group,” you pause, then mumble, “maybe even the whole damn town.”

“No, not the only one,” Nat looks at you with a cheeky as fuck expression on her face, and you know the next words out of her mouth are going to be fucking hilarious—note the sarcasm. She takes a smug sip of her drink, which you didn’t even know was possible to do, then she adds with a wink, “Steve’s still very single.”

You gape at her for just a moment, because you didn’t expect those words to leave her mouth—wait, who are you kidding? You knew damn well she was going to say something involving Steve, because it’s Nat. Let’s be real, she never misses a chance to try to push Steve on you. It’s rather frustrating because you’d honestly love nothing more then to have Steve entirely to yourself. But the reality is, he sees you as just a friend, maybe even still like a little sister? Who even knows anymore, honestly.

Now don’t get this wrong, you know you’re a pretty woman, you aren’t blind to the attention you get now. But you also aren’t stupid, you know that it’s really damn hard to get out of the friends zone. Shit, you are like the Queen of the damn friend zone. You’ve only been in Steve’s friend zone for like 9 years, no big deal or anything.

You snort at Nat’s words, “yeah, okay, but that doesn’t really help me,” you gesture to yourself, then a thought crosses your mind, “what I don’t get is why?”

“Why?” Hilde asks, confused.

“Sorry, I should have clarified. I meant why the hell is someone like Steve still single?” You look around at the women in front of you, “I don’t get why no one has snatched him up yet. It makes no sense.”

The girls all share a strange look, as if having a non verbal conversation about something. Something you clearly aren’t in the loop for, which is odd. You’re always in the loop with these girls, even with living 11 hours away for the last 7 years.

Wanda is the first to break the weird awkward silence, when she looks to you and says, “he’s just been waiting for the right one.”

You nod, slowly, “that makes sense, I guess.” And it does, sort of—“But how does he expect to find ‘the right one’ if he isn’t even looking?”

Hilde speaks up this time, “because he already knows exactly what he wants, so now he just needs to lock that down.”

Okay, this whole conversation is confusing as hell. Everything they are saying sounds like a double meaning. Which is fucking weird. “What does that even mean?” You mumble then a realization hits you. “Wait, are you saying there is a woman in town that he likes? One he wants to actually be with?”

And wait, why the hell does saying those words hurt so much? I mean, yeah, when you thought Steve was engaged to Madi you may have flipped out a little—okay, that’s a lie, you flipped out a lot—but you assumed that was because it was Madi. Because you feared he would be forever tied to that she-witch. And you desperately want him to be happy in life, that is the honest to God truth.

But then why do you feel this odd feeling? Like your heart is constricting, yet your blood is boiling. Are you fucking jealous right now? Oh girl, you have no right to be jealous. Seriously. You don’t even really have a right to ask about his love life. Let alone be upset by the fact he actually has one. You were the one who left him behind all those years ago. You were the one who stripped your rights to know and be privy to his life. Give your damn head a shake, woman. Ridiculous.

“I wouldn’t say ‘likes’, it’s a little more than that,” Nat says, and you swear she’s eyeing you, carefully? “But yeah, there is.”

Okay yup, yeah, that was for sure the feeling of jealousy. Now you know that for sure. You feel your heart break just a little, and you’re sure your lips twitched into a frown before you could correct it and force a smile on your face. “Well, I’m ah, I’m happy for him,” you nod once as if to trick them into believing your words are true. “I hope he doesn’t wait around too long though. He might miss out on her.”

Nat scoffs, and you just barely hear her mumble what sounds a lot like a very sarcastic, “‘now’s not really a good time.’”

Wanda lightly elbows Nat’s side under the table, and you assume she didn’t want anyone to notice, but you saw it. You furrow your brows at that but decide to just leave it there, you really want to enjoy this night and if you have to be subjected to anymore ‘Steve’s in love with someone’ talk, you know for a fact your mood will be ruined for the night. And there won’t be any hope of salvaging it.

But before anyone can fix the now awkward tension lingering in the air around you all, Wanda adds, “we all hope so to. They’d honestly be perfect for each other.”

And yup, hearing that sucked. A lot. But you’ll live. Mostly.

And then Hilde—that beautiful fucking woman, who you could honestly kiss in this very moment—swiftly changes the subject, “I say we do some shots!”

Amazing idea, Hilde! And this is exactly why she’s your favourite.

“I second that!” You cheerfully say as you flag the waitress down to order a round of shots.

You all then just continue to drink and catch up, talking about life and work for a while, and ordering a few more rounds of drinks as you do.

About 45 minutes after you’d all arrive at the bar Nat mumbles, “well fuck,” out of nowhere as she stares at something behind you. “Okay, now don’t all look at once, but guess who just fucking walked in.”

Completely disregarding her warning you all look, at the same time, “I said not all at once!” She hisses. But it’s too late. Your eyes land on Brock walking into the bar with Johann and Baron. You quickly spin back around, hoping he hadn’t seen you.

“Fuck,” you murmur and take a long swig of your drink, finishing it off, “of all the fucking people.”

“Are you gunna be okay, Y/N?” Wanda leans in to ask you quietly.

“We can go somewhere else if you want?” Hilde offers.

Then Nat adds, “yeah, it’s really no bother to us. We’d just have to give the guys a heads up that there is a change in plans.”

You wave them off, “no, no. I’ll be fine. I’m sure he won’t even notice us.”

“Okay,” Wanda says reluctantly, “if you’re sure.”

“I am,” you nod. Buuuuut it’s a lie, you just don’t want to inconvenience everyone by forcing them to relocate because of your past drama. Plus there isn’t really anywhere else in town to go, besides a few small lounges and a seedy, roadside truck stop. Where you’d all probably end up in a far worst situation. Nope, no, we will stay right here. It’s been 7 fucking years, time to get over the past. Once and for all.

The girls all nod then pick up their conversations again, however just seeing him drags up old memories and you find yourself zoning out. Remembering the last time Brock unexpectedly showed up at a party you were at…

July 2011 - 7 years ago.

It was Independence Day and Steve’s 18th birthday party, and Clint’s house was freaking PACKED with damn near the whole school—And yes, you said Clint’s house. Sam had started planning Steve’s party like always, and then quickly learned that Clint’s parents would actually be away over that weekend, so he commandeered Clint’s place. That’s a lie, he did get Barney’s permission first, so I guess that’s not so much commandeering but more like borrowing? Can one even actually borrow a house? Who knows.

But either way, here you were, surrounded by your whole damn school. And honestly you didn’t think it was even possible to fit this many people into one house. But then again, the Barton house wasn’t exactly a normal sized home. There was a reason it was called The Barton Estate. The place was freaking massive.

You’d arrived with the usual suspects, the birthday boy included—shocker, I know!—but within minutes of arriving Steve had been dragged off by his football buddies to play beer pong. As per usual.

You kept tabs on where Steve was, which was also ‘as per usual’, but let him just have time with his teammates. Mainly because trying to prevent a whole damn football team from stealing your best friend was actually impossible. You knew that. Plus he had promised to come find you ‘all’ later, though you knew he’d directed that comment mainly at you.

But regardless of that you had been having a wonderful night with the rest of your friends, so far. That is, until Nat elbowed you gently and subtly nodded her head towards the front door. You turned and watched as Madi, Penelope and Kiara all entered the home.

You cringed then quickly turned back to your friends, “who the fuck invited them?” You pointedly glared at Sam.

Who, in turn, put his hands up defensively, “don’t look at me! This isn’t my house and I didn’t invite her.”

You narrowed your eyes at him for a few more seconds then shifted your heated glare towards Clint, who also put his hands up in defence, “I didn’t invite her either.”

“She probably just heard about the party from someone else. Seeing as the whole damn school is here, after all,” Bucky mumbled and also shot a glare pointedly at Sam. Buck was never a fan of large crowds.

“I can’t help it if everyone loves Steve,” Sam shakes his head. “You try telling people they can’t come to his party. They get all pouty and shit, man. And I don’t know how to handle pouty people!” He throws his hands up in defeat, “they always just look so damn sad, like little lost puppies and it breaks my heart! Okay! I’m sorry!”

“Sammy, it’s fine,” Hilde says through a laugh. “No one’s mad at you.”

“Ah,” you pipe up and raise a finger in the air, “I am.” But your barely contained smirk gives away that you’re joking.

“That’s fine, you’re always mad. So that’s nothing new,” Sam shrugs but then bursts out laughing, “shit, I tried to keep a straight face there. But I just couldn’t.”

“So rude!” You pout.

“Way to go, asshole,” Bucky pats him on the back, but it’s not in comfort.

“Oh shit!” Sam says as he lunges for you and pulls you into a bear hug. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I was only joking! You’re never really mad,” he pauses, “it’s actually kinda weird,” he notes as he trails off.

“You totally do have a weakness to the pout!” You laugh loudly, “I need to remember this for the future.”

He pulls back from the hug and gasps, “you tricked me?!” You nod enthusiastically and he releases you fully, “now that was rude!”

“Oh you’ll live!” You giggle but it quickly dies in your throat as you watch Madi approach Steve on the other side of the room. Your stomach is instantly in knots as she whispers something in his ear and he nods then leads her out of the room.

“The fuck,” you mumble and everyone turns to see them exiting the room together.

“Where the hell are they going?” Nat says from beside you.

“What could they possibly have to talk about?” Hilde adds.

You swallow down the bile climbing up your throat and attempt a nonchalant shrug, which probably didn’t come off as that, at all. Considering you were freaking the fuck out on the inside. “Beats me,”

you say as you peel your eyes away from the door they had just walked through, and notice everyone now staring at you. “What?” You ask and they all mumble a, “nothing,” in unison.

They all continue talking about Steve and Madi going off together, alone, but you do your best to ignore the conversation. As just listening to it is making it worse for you. So you decide to people watch instead. At least it’s better then just standing there in stunned silence, staring at the door, waiting for them to walk back through it.

Once your friends move on to a different topic, you tune back in, slightly. Enough to add in here and there at least, and to keep them from noticing your complete change in demeanour. Though you figured they’d probably all noticed it anyways, but being the amazing friends they were, none of them mentioned it.

After what felt like days, but was probably only 15 minutes, they still hadn’t come back. And your gut was in even more knots with every passing minute. Where the fuck are they? “I’m gonna go get another drink,” you abruptly say and then walk off before anyone can say a word.

You look around the whole way to the kitchen, searching for that giant everywhere. But then you reach the kitchen, without so much as a glimpse of him, anywhere. And now you are even more worried and upset. You numbly make a drink and then chug it. Only to then make another drink. But before you can chug that one you feel a tap on your shoulder and you swing around, hoping it’s Steve.

However, the second you see who it actually is, your heart drops more. It’s not that you’re upset to see Brock standing there, it’s just that you were hoping it was your favourite giant, more.

“Hey,” he smiles.

“Hey,” you return the gesture as best you can.

“How’s your night going?” He asks as he takes a sip of his drink.

“Good. Good. Fine,” you say quickly and nod, causing him to laugh. “You?”

“Better now,” he gives you a wink and a once over, and it’s strange for you to have a guy seemingly interested in you. But you’re not gonna lie, it’s a nice feeling.

“Ah,” you pause, “you excited for prom?” Really? That’s you making small talk?! You internally facepalm at how awkward you are around guys.

“It’s funny you should ask, as I was just coming over here to see if you had a date to prom?”

“Me?” You question, slightly caught off guard. He nods and you shake your head, “ah, nope. No. No date to prom yet.”

“Well, what would you say to me taking you?”

“You?” You gape, now utterly caught off guard.

He laughs, “yeah, me.”

“Ah,” you pause, you’d secretly been hoping Steve would ask you, even just as a friend, as he’d yet to ask anyone and he’d made such a big deal out of you being his date for the winter formal. But with prom being 2 weeks away now, you were assuming if he was going to ask, that he’d ask soon. Hopefully.

“Can I get back to you on that?” You ask then kick yourself internally. How rude was that! You quickly add, “not that I wouldn’t like going with you, I just wasn’t really planning on going and ah,” you search for an excuse, “I don’t have a dress for it.” Horrible excuse. Do better. “Plus, I’d have to talk to my dad,” you pause. This isn’t going well. At all. “About going, I mean. Make sure he’s okay with it,” you say as you finally clamp your mouth shut. Wow, way to go, Y/N. Cause that wasn’t awkward as fuck. Damnit.

He just stares at you for a moment, then a smirk graces his lips, “that’s fine. Ask your dad and get back to me.”

“Yup. Will do.”

“Well, have a fun night, Y/N. I hope to hear from you soon,” he winks and then walks away. Leaving you standing there like a fish out of water. What the fuck just happened?! You shake your head and take a few giant gulps of your drink before topping it up and heading back to your friends.

“Where’d you run off to?” Nat questions, with a smirk on her face. You swear she can read body language like a damn spy. Though you’d bet you look like you’d just seen a freaking ghost.

“Ah, just went to get a drink,” you reply.

“Was that Brock we saw chatting with you?” Wanda asks.

“Just now?”

“No, Y/N, last week,” Hilde says sarcastically as she rolls her eyes, “yes, just now.”

“Ah, yup. Mhmm,” you hum, “he ah, he asked me to prom.”

“What?!” They all exclaim at the same time then glance around at each other, as if they all know something you don’t before turning back to you.

“What did you say back?!” Nat damn near yells.

“How did he ask?!” Wanda questions.

“Did you accept?!” Bucky says at the same time.

“Are you going with him?!” Hilde says directly after. Clint and Sam both don’t say a word, and instead they just gape at you, like you’d just told them superheroes were real.

“Jesus, guys. One at a time,” you shake your head. “I didn’t accept yet,” you pause. Shit, you can’t exactly tell them the reason behind why you didn’t accept. Sooo looks like you’re going to reuse excuses here. “I have to talk to my dad first. Plus I don’t even have a dress.”

“Do you want to go with him?” Sam asks after a moment, when no one else has even so much as uttered a word.

You shrug, “I duno, I don’t exactly have suitors lining up at my door. He will probably be the only person to ask me, and I guess going with him is better then going to prom alone. So yeah, maybe I do want to go with him.”

“But it’s Brock,” Bucky mumbles and receives an elbow to the side from Nat. They share a weird look between them and then Nat turns to you and smiles as she says, “well, if you want to go with him, then I say do it.”

You nod, “I’m going to get back to him later, ah, after I talk to my dad. Brock said that was fine.”

Everyone nods, but mostly all stay quiet. It’s fucking awkward as hell, and for the first time since joining this group of friends, you feel utterly lost and completely left out. They all seem to know something you don’t and that bugs the hell out of you. “What am I missing?” You question them all as you glance between them.

“Nothing,” they all say in unison, again.

“I’m gonna go make another drink,” Bucky says abruptly, which causes you to narrow your eyes at him. Like you didn’t know what that action meant. Shit, you’d just pulled the same move on them not even 20 minutes ago. He was hiding something. Now you knew it for sure.

“I’ll join you,” Nat adds, Hilde and Sam nod that they will as well, and then they all head off towards the kitchen. Leaving you even more confused, and skeptical that it isn’t just ‘nothing’ like they all claimed.

You turn to Wanda and Clint, with a ‘the fuck was that?’ look and they both just shrug. You can’t shake this weird gut feeling, and it puts you on edge.

You glance around the room and finally catch a glimpse of Steve, and instantly you start to feel a little better.

That is, until you then notice Madi directly beside him. They were standing side by side, and Madi keeps putting her hands all over Steve, and that was the final straw for you. Without a word you turned and headed for the front door, chugging the last of your drink as you go then placing your empty cup on a side table along the way.

Fuck this party, you just want to go home. So without even telling anyone, you leave. If they can all keep shit from you, then you can too. And by the time you made it out the front door you were pissed off, hurt and utterly over this stupid night. You ended up walking the whole way home as you needed the fresh air to help clear your head. It didn’t work, but it was worth a shot.

Once home, you got into PJ’s and checked your phone. You had a bunch of missed texts and calls from everyone, except Steve. All of them were basically just your friends wondering where you went. You texted Wanda saying you were fine and had just gone home, then texted Steve to wish him a happy birthday one last time, and to say goodnight. As was your thing. And even though you were upset at him, you couldn’t not. It was his birthday, after all.

You woke up the next morning to more messages from your friends, but still nothing from Steve. Which was odd as he always texted you to say goodnight. No matter what. Even if he was halfway around the world, or had only just dropped you off 20 minutes before, he’d still always text you. It wasn’t like him to not text. Nor was it like him to not thank someone for birthday wishes. He was always polite, sometimes to a ridiculous level. But to not even say anything back?! That wasn’t like him at all.

But you’d learn just how much he’d changed that night soon enough.

Present - July 2018.

“Shit, incoming,” Nat whispers loudly, pulling you back to the present. And you didn’t even need to turn to know what she meant by that.

You stand abruptly, “I’m gonna go get a drink.” Then you damn near run to the bar, in the hopes you could avoid an encounter with Brock and his gang of friends.

Once you reached the bar, and ordered a drink, you glance over your shoulder and see them still standing by your table talking to the girls. Looks like they hadn’t noticed you, or if they did, they hadn’t followed you, which is all you could have hoped for. Honestly.

The bartender puts the drink on the counter and you turn back to accept it. You decide to hang at the bar till they leave your table and head back to their own. Shouldn’t take long with Hilde there, she’d tell them to fuck off shortly.

You keep your back to them and sip your drink, glancing behind you every few minutes to see if they were gone yet.

“Long time no see,” you hear a nasty voice coo behind you. A voice that would forever be etched into your mind, no matter how hard you tried to forget it.

You cringe then turn around, “not long enough though.”

His eyes drag down then back up your body, until they reach yours and then he smirks that vile smirk you also remember, completely. “Oh, don’t be like that,” he takes a step closer to you, “especially not when you look this fucking good. Damn, Y/N, you grew up nicely.”

He places his hand on the bar beside you, effectively caging you in between him, the bar and a stool. Not really giving you an escape route, which triggers flashbacks of prom to begin running through your head, and then your blood runs cold. Causing a chill to rip down your spin and the hairs on the back of your neck to stand tall.

You attempt to push the stool back to gain some distance from him, but it only moves about an inch. Basically until it bumps in to the stool beside it and then refuses to go any further. Which doesn’t really give you anymore room to work with. “Can you back the fuck up.”

“You’re more feisty then I remember,” he leans in a bit to whisper, “I like em feisty.”

You freeze, completely lost for words and, and, and, the fucking nerve on this guy. How fucking dare he! You were just about to slap him—or something, you hadn’t quite figured that part out just yet—for his vile comments, when a growled voice behind him both startles you and calms you.

“I believe she asked you to step away from her.”

Steve. It was Steve.

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

@hopefulmoonobject @caps-lockdown @itsstillnotwhatyouthink @tessvillegas @boxofteenageideas @wangdeasang @giggleberts @casuallydarktiger @theonelittleone @agentbadbitch @ratwrites @starrystellars @bandsandanimefreak @rockyroadthepastryarchy @lovvliies @cuffski @icesoccerer @alwaysright4 @lilsthethrills @imdiegohargreeves @zombiepotterfour @mu-mu-rs @ledandan1244 @straightforwardly @badassbeckettswan @denzmallows @xremember-me-notx @gwynethjodie @lollipopdomination @capstopavenger @jemimah-b99 @rcvenqers @justkending @marvel13princess @alagalaska @silent-loucidity

[yeet-nhl]

there’s a reason {a.kempe}

A/N: finally, something new eh? this is longer than i originally intended but i had an idea so i just rolled with it where ever it took me. also i used google translate for the swedish so if it doesn’t translate correctly i apologize :/

requested: yes / no

word count: 2.4k

title song: there’s a reason by wet

warnings: none

“Remind me again why you decided to drag me out this early, and why you have me bringing clothes?” you sighed as you walked up to meet Adrian outside your apartment building.

“We’re doing some bonding, come on Alex and Marty are already in the car.”

“I’m sorry what?”

“Just trust me, you’re gonna have fun.” He said, grabbing your hand and guiding you toward Alex’s car. Alex was in the passenger seat and Alec in the drivers. It was a weird friend group in all honesty, but they were the ones that Adrian had introduced you to when you first moved to LA.

You climbed in the back seat with Adrian as the other two said a quick hello to you. The time for conversation was short lived as Alec hit play on his phone and you turned onto the road, taking you who knows where. It would sound sketchy if it weren’t for the fact that off the ice all three of the men you were with were huge softies. In all honesty you trusted them more than most other people in the world.

A song you didn’t know continued to play over the speakers in the car as you watched out the window, trying to get an idea for what the others had planned. You were heading away from the city and going towards more urban areas. Adrian didn’t seem to be paying attention as he obnoxiously sang with Alex. You watched him with a small smile as he nodded his head in time with the song, his hair flopping all over the place. He noticed you watching and directed his singing towards you, taking your hands and moving them along to the beat. You rolled your eyes and started dancing along with him as well.

As the song ended Adrian dropped your hands and grabbed Alec’s phone to queue some more songs. From what you saw they would be mostly in swedish and you would only understand a little, as would Alex and Alec. The first notes of the next song started and Adrian leaned back into the seat and just seemed to be enjoying the music that only made sense to him in the moment. The LA sun was beating through the window and onto him, small strands of hair covering parts of his face as he mouthed the words to whatever was playing.

Oh no.

You quickly turned away, facing the window again. You couldn’t be thinking this way now. He was one of your best friends, you couldn’t be catching feelings right? It was perfectly understandable to think he was good looking, since after all he was. You’ve had this suspicion for a while that you might have wanted something more but you had just kept pushing it off. It wasn’t something that could ever happen, you didn’t want to risk ruining your closest friendship. Deciding this time would be no different, you ignored your gut and willed the thought away.

Being completely lost in your thoughts for a moment, you totally missed the conversation that had been happening.

“Kan du vara mer uppenbar?” Alec said from the front seat with an eye roll. You hadn’t even began to process that somehow Alec knew swedish before Adrian shot back a reply.

“Vem sa att jag skulle bli subtil! hon vet när tiden är rätt.” The true swede said as he grabbed the phone once more, switching back to english music.

“Did I miss something here? Alec since when can you speak swedish.” You questioned, sitting up a little straighter.

“Dunno, picked some up from the other guys over time I guess. Shouldn’t you be asking where we’re going instead?” It was a clear effort to change the topic but you really did want to know where you were headed.

“Fine, where are we going?” You had been driving awhile and honestly had no clue where you were.

“I’m glad you asked, we’re going camping!”

“Alec are you serious? This has to have been Alex’s idea…”

“Hey!” Alex butted in quickly.

“I’m serious. We have a cabin by the lake so we figured it would be fun to go hang out there for a bit. Some of the other guys and their girlfriends are coming tomorrow too, so you won’t just be stuck with us all weekend.” Alec said, disregarding Alex’s comment.

“Alright that does sound kinda fun, how much longer till we’re there?”

“25 minutes or so, not too much longer.” He said, flipping through some more music.

You turned your attention back to Adrian, who had a slight smirk on his face as he watched you try and figure out how you agreed to spend the weekend with these fools. “You could have at least told me that was the plan” you said with a smack on his arm, “I would have brought cuter clothes for the occasion.”

He laughed as you fell back into the seat once more, leaning against him and decided on scrolling through your phone for the remainder of the drive. It wasn’t an unusual behavior for you two to be touchy, so when he wrapped his arm around you and rested his head on yours it didn’t phase you like you expected. You forced your earlier thoughts to the back of your mind once more, knowing it was just what you wished it could be.

Alex turned slightly, catching a glimpse of the two of you and giving you a look as if he knew something you didn’t. You gave him a confused glare as he shrugged and turned back to his conversation with Alec.

A short time later, the car stopped and you sat up to see where you were. There was a large cabin with a patio and a view of a nearby lake, surrounded by trees. It looked like beyond the patio there was a pool and a balcony coming off of the top floor. The sight of it alone made any doubts you had of this weekend go away as you took in the scenery around you. It was beautiful and you shared a smile with Adrian as he took your hand to exit the car.

“Alec this is stunning! How’d you find this place?”

“I didn’t, he did.” Alex said as he pointed toward Adrian, who was standing next to you with an even goofier smile than he had be giving before. He gave a small shrug as he grabbed some of the bags they had brought and headed towards the front door. Going to grab your own, you realized he already had it with him and you followed him up to the door.

The inside of the cabin was equally as amazing. There was a large kitchen and sitting area with a door leading out to the patio, a large window facing the lake, and a second floor that included all the bedrooms and another smaller sitting area in the center. You wandered up to the second floor, trying to decide on the room that you would pick for the night. Adrian trailed behind you with your bag.

“Which one do you want? I’ll let you have first pick before the other two bitch about it.” Adrian said as he held up your stuff.

The room by the back with cute nature decorations caught your eye, “that one.”

He went in and set your stuff down and walked back out, stopping to stand in front of you. Something was up, you didn’t realize it until now but something was definitely up with him. Before you had the chance to ask anything, Alex came in to ask Adrian to help with the rest of the stuff. They had been more prepared for this little weekend trip than you realized, which was surprising since they usually never had a plan.

Something was definitely up.

Adrian went back downstairs as you leaned over the railing of the second floor to watch the boys move everything out of the trunk of the car and into the cabin. You decided to go and see what else the cabin had to offer and noticed a fireplace downstairs, a grill on the patio, and a gaming counsel set up by the TV that the others most definitely had set up themselves. They were done moving everything in by now so you joined them in the kitchen, taking a seat next to Adrian who was sitting at the island in the middle. From what you could tell, they were talking about the plans for the night and who else would be coming the following day.

Eventually you all decided to make some food first and then go from there. Alex went out to the patio to use the grill and Alec was attempting to make something else at the kitchen counter. You wanted to go for a walk since the surrounding area was so gorgeous, but you didn’t want to go alone.

“Adrian, wanna come with me?” You questioned as he looked up from his phone and gave a quick nod and walking over to you. The two of of you left to go towards the nearest hiking trail that you had spotted when you first arrived. Looping your arm through Adrian’s, you two walked side by side, making idle conversation as you walked among the trees.

You could still tell something was off, but you didn’t want to address it just yet. He had been saying very little besides the short answers to whatever you had been saying. But as you headed back the shift in him become even more evident.

Having walked the trail and back, you stood outside the cabin once more. The thoughts once again crept back into your mind as you looked at Adrian in the fading sunlight, eyes meeting for only a second before you walked back in to meet Alex and Alec for dinner.

Surprisingly, Alex was an amazing cook. He had grilled some fancy fish-based dish you had never heard of and it was delicious. You all shared stories of past camping experiences, including Alec’s dramatic retelling of an encounter with a bear that he was surely making up, but the whole time you kept catching Adrian sneaking glances at you. Somehow as you cleaned up the dishes your mind kept wandering back to that, and you knew you had to address it.

After a couple more hours of discussion and watching the boys play video games, you all decided to sleep at a timely 1am. Each of you headed to your respective rooms and as you turned out the small light on your night stand and were about to put your headphones in, you heard a small knock at the door.

Adrian walked in, shutting the door behind him quietly as to not disturb the others and he walked over to sit at the edge of your bed. He had changed into some sweatpants and a tight fitting grey shirt, doing nothing but increase how attractive you found him.

“Hi.” He spoke softly, looking a bit uncomfortable.

“Hey? What’s so predominantly on your mind at 2am that you had to come share?”

“I need to tell you something.”

Your heart jumped in your chest as he spoke. Surely there was no way he could tell you were hiding feelings for him, at least you thought that was the case. “Alright, what is it?”

He took a deep breath and finally met your eyes, “Look, this might damage our friendship if you don’t feel the same way but I can’t help but think we could be something more. I don’t know what it is about you, but I think you’re beautiful in every way. I want to know just how deep that beauty goes and you’re the only one who can make me smile the way I do, make me laugh the way you make me laugh, the only one who can look so ridiculously kissable while staring out a window in a car filled with dårar the way that you do.”

You laughed a bit at the last part as you began to process his words. It sank in that it wasn’t as crazy as you previously thought that this beautiful swede could be yours and that you really could have something. You took in his features once more as a smile found it’s way to your face. “God, I thought I was crazy for thinking we could ever be something. Of course I feel the same way Adrian.”

He breathed a sigh of relief as he crawled up closer to you in the bed, pulling you into his arms. He felt like safety, nothing in the world could touch this moment as the man you had be hiding feelings for for a long while held you close to his chest and landed a gentle kiss on your head.

You tilted up to face him and ran your thumb over his bottom lip, so stupidly happy. He finally took the initiative and brought his lips to your own as his hand found your waist. He deepened the kiss as you shifted to move on top of him, one leg on either side of his torso. Sitting up now, he moved his hand along the side of your body and sat up so you two were eye level. You broke away only for a moment to just look at each other and admire what you now had.

“Look at the stars, my love.” He rolled you two over lazily to reach over your body and point out the window and into the night sky as your gaze followed his finger. “Every night that would go by without me telling you how much I cared for you I would look at the sky. That’s the reason I wanted to be here when I told you, so you could see them just as clear as I’ve gotten to. I hope you’ll get to see them with me a lot more now.”

You nearly cried as he spoke, his voice so raw and honest. Curling up into his chest a little more, you took a moment to truly take in the sight as well as your surroundings. The sounds of the woods could be heard in the distance, the stars being slightly reflected in the lakes clear water, and Adrian’s gentle breaths. You traced along the tattoos of the arm he had wrapped around you as he kissed your cheek.

“I think we’re gonna share many nights like this together Adrian, there’s nothing I would want more.”

[wolfie-rood]

Worlds Apart 2 - Revali x Reader Oneshot

Hey Ya'll! This is part two of Worlds Apart! Just thought you'd like the heads up.

~~

"Good, but faster next time."

You glanced at the arrow on the ground that nearly shot you before smirking towards the Rito Champion. "Oh, is that what you tell all the ladies?"

Revali scoffed. "Honestly, you Yiga members really do live under a rock somewhere." He adjusted his scarf before reloading another arrow into his bow. "That is what women tell me." He let his arrow fly toward you.

You laughed and jumped to the side gracefully; turning your arm just slightly to help maneuver through the air. This time faster than before; just as he demanded. "Big talk coming from a giant cuccoo." You teased while picking up his arrow and tossing it back at him. "Even though I've been here for quite some time, not a single girl has swooned over you. Strange, wouldn't you say?" You wondered with a smirk.

"Oh, please. You obviously haven't been paying attention." Not many would be able to see it, but you could tell just how bad Revali was stumbling over his words. Yeah, you thought with a smirk. Keep making excuses for yourself.

"Whatever. Now, are you gonna teach me how to disarm an archer, or what?" You questioned. This was certainly something you'd been dying to learn. Bows are a Yiga's weakness since an arrow can shoot them down before they can pull a disappearing act, so this information could be crucial.

The warrior waved you over to him. "When disarming a long-ranged weapon, staying out of aim is key. You cannot take my bow if I shoot you dead before you can even get over here." He pulled the string back as if he were preparing to shoot you. "You're going to want to aim the bow downward as quickly as possible. Then, you're going to grab the arm not holding the string and rip it from the bow. Once that's done, flip me onto the ground."

"... onto the ground." I repeated skeptically. Was this bird really gonna let me do that?

He sighed. "Most people who use long-ranged weapons tend to have less strength and smaller body mass." He paused before adding. "Just don't scratch my face."

"Yeah, whatever." Such an ego.

You ran to Revali at full speed; strafing back and forth to stay out of his aim. Once you got to him, you swiftly grabbed his left wrist and pulled the bow downward. Finally, you used all your strength to pick him up over your shoulder and slammed his back into the grass. By the end of it, you were holding onto his precious bow.

With a deep breath, you asked, "How was that?"

He groaned slightly in pain before smirking. "A bit slow on the uptake if you ask me. Could have thrown me a bit harder, too."

"Shut up!" You giggled and fell down beside him; your blue cloak bunching up around you.

~~

"Almost. But, don't be afraid to hurt me when you flip me, okay?"

"(Name), we've been at this for hours! Can't we just take a break"

You got off the dirt ground and sighed. "No, Kona. We're going to cut off a caravan tomorrow morning! You need to get this right, or someone's gonna shoot your head off!" You walked over to your friend and put your hands on her shoulders. "I will not let you get shot between the eyes tomorrow. Now, let's go again."

"... Where did you even learn to do that anyway?" Kona asked.

Your throat became dry at the mention of your training. "I... I don't want to talk about it..." I mumbled quietly.

Kona groaned and put her arm around you. "Lemme guess; you learned this during your mysterious time at Hyrule Castle?" She then got serious as she squeezed your arm. "You never want to talk about it, but I can tell it's eating you up inside. Just know you can talk to me whenever." She assured you. "We might be trying to destroy Hyrule, but we're not assholes."

"I know, it's just..." You looked up a bit more determined. "It's nothing. C'mon, let's go again."

~~

During the night, you and Kona headed out toward the Nima Plains in the Ridgeland Region. After waiting for daylight, the caravan holding unknown contents finally arrived in the morning. You gave Kona the signal, and you both jumped in front of the large wagons to make them stop. On queue, a few archers jumped out of the caravans and began shooting. The two of you took care of them as swiftly as possible. Once they were out of the way, you took care of everyone else. Soon, there was nobody left who was conscious.

Kona looked around the area before glancing at you. "Okay, is it just me or was that too easy?"

She was right; the knights were usually much stronger than this. It felt as though they walked right into a trap. The only question was what kind of trap? Before you could figure it out for yourself, another voice answered for you. "Is it just me, or is the Yiga Clan losing its touch?" You looked up on one of the wagons to see a certain Rito Champion sitting there comfortably. "You didn't even check your surroundings thoroughly." He scolded.

Awesome.

'Go.' You signed to Kona with your hands. 'I've got this covered.'

She sighed and jumped backward; getting ready to use her warping ability. 'He's gonna kill you.' She replied with her hands before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Telling your friend to leave? What a shame; I was looking forward to getting rid of both of you. Though, one will do, I suppose." Revali sighed while jumping onto the dirt path. Did his snark ever have an off switch?

Revali shot an arrow, and you dodged it much like how you did during your practice sessions. You're positive that your unique movements tipped him off, and you mentally cursed at yourself. If he finds out your identity, you're sure he'll kill you without a second thought.

You saw the fire in his emerald eyes and time stopped. He couldn't see your face, but he could tell you were staring. Such an arrogant and determined look in his eyes would make any girl melt. You didn't melt, but you were certainly mesmerized. You realized just how much you missed that look.

You quickly snapped back to reality as your feet landed in a patch of grass. Damn it all! If I don't get moving, he'll kill me for sure!

With a shaky breath, your swiftly ran towards Revali; strafing side to side so he wouldn't shoot you. He seemed shocked when you got close and grabbed him before flipping him over onto the soft grass.

Instead of getting up for round two, he stayed there and laughed; almost relieved. "I've been looking for you for quite some time, (Name). A bit rude that you'd make me search high and low like this, but I suppose it was worth the effort." He chuckled. You stayed silent as tears welled up in your eyes. Dammit, Revali. "You haven't the slightest clue, do you? How much I yearn to hate you. How much it pains me to simply think of you. And as much as I want to throw your corpse into death mountain after letting a horde of silver bokoblins eat you alive," Revali sat up and stared you down with that everlasting smirk of his. "I simply cannot."

You hesitated; wondering if you should just leave and regroup with Kona. But instead, you bent down and pulled your mask off. Hair was stuck to your face from sweat and tears, but you still managed a goofy smile. "Well, what's not to love?" You joked.

"Well, that ridiculous bun your hair is in, for starters." He replied.

You scoffed. "Oh, right. Because you can do better."

"Well, as a matter of fact, I--"

As fast as lightning, a knife was held up to Revali's throat. Behind him was a thin Yiga with her mask still on. "Kona!" You yelled angrily.

"(Name), what the hell are you doing?" She screamed. Strangely, Revali was calm, even a bit bored, during the whole ordeal.

You took a breath to calm yourself. You needed to stay level-headed if you wanted Kona to listen. "Kona," you started slowly. "Let him go."

Kona was breathing heavily with the adrenaline coursing through her veins. "Why? Why are you talking to this Champion like he's your friend? And why in Calamity should I let him live?"

You were slowly beginning to panic; Kona wasn't hearing a word you said, and Revali was going to die if you couldn't make her listen. Your lungs started to ache from all the heavy breaths you took in. But you saw them; those calm, green eyes. They shined with affection that made your heartbeat even out. He trusted you to fix this. Even after all the hell you put him through, Revali still trusted you. His calm demeanor helped you slow your breaths and relax.

Your newfound determination urged you to stand up and glower down at Kona; something the princess taught you. It was very effective for scolding, even though you never actually saw her do it. Your voice dripped with authoritative anger as you began lecturing Kona. "I am your superior, Kona. You will listen to me right this second: Let. Him. Go." Her grip loosened on the knife, but not because she was listening. She was simply shocked by the way you sounded. Thankfully, it was just enough for Revali to grab her arm and flip her. The impact on her head was enough to make her pass out, but she'd be okay otherwise.

"See?" Revali said while standing and dusting himself off. "It works on knife-wielders, too." He walked over to you, and you instantly remembered the height difference between you two. "So I can only assume you're going to refuse to come with me."

You sung your arms loosely while looking down. "You see how she is; Kona is dead without me." Your eyes wandered to stare at anything besides the Rito in front of you. "I can't go back... not after everything I've done."

"Would it be considered kidnap if you're technically the enemy?" He wondered.

You laughed. "Um, yes. I think it would still be kidnap."

"Fine... you do understand that I will make it my personal goal to meet you like this as many times as possible. At least until you agree to come with me." Revali said in a serious tone.

"I don't think I'll mind that too much."

"As long as you keep that one away from me." He said while pointing down at Kona.

You laughed. "What? No way; she's completely harmless... when she's asleep."

"Yes, well, I don't feel like repeating this little knife incident." He stared at you as silence fell between you.

So much raced through your mind at once. Why was he still here? Why was he so adamant on bringing you with him? Why did he care so much?

Why couldn't you just stop thinking about him?

Suddenly, Revali stepped toward you; wrapping his feathery arms around you. The wind had stopped, and you were able to feel his gentle breathing in your ear. The deafening silence allowed you to hear his rapid heartbeat. You could only assume he was able to hear yours, as well. "This is your fault." He whispered. "If you hadn't tried to kill the princess that night, I'm positive I wouldn't be completely infatuated right now..."

You could only let out a shaky sigh in response. You almost completely lost your composure when he started tracing circles on your arm with his thumb. Before he could allow things to escalate any further, he stepped away.

Finally, you found your voice. "I suppose I'll be seeing you around, then..."

"Well you certainly don't have a choice."

I smirked and rubbed my nose. "Well, I would say goodbye, but I'd actually have to care I was leaving first." I joked. Quickly, I threw Kona over my shoulder and took a few steps back. Before warping away, I smiled sadly. "Goodbye, Revali."

~~

Later in the afternoon, Kona began to stir in her bed. She'd been unconscious, and you had been sitting at her bedside until now. Your friend groggily sat up and rubbed her head in pain. "Hey there, Kona. How's your head?" You questioned.

"Oh you mean besides it pounding to the point of exploding?" She asked sarcastically. "Just fantastic."

You sighed and pinched the bridge of your nose. "I did tell you to leave. You were the one who came back and got your ass handed to you..."

"Yeah, I guess..." The room fell silent as you recounted the events of this morning. "That Champion; you knew him, didn't you?" Kona questioned quietly while staring down at her hands.

You nodded sadly. "Where do you think all that kickass combat training came from?" You paused for a moment. "He said he's... he's infatuated." You mumbled. That's when you realized the wetness in your eyes.

"With you?" You nodded again; more hesitantly. "Shit."

"No kidding..."

Kona was reluctant, but continued with her little interrogation. "What about you? What do you feel?" She wondered. Kona moved over a bit to let you sit on the bed with her. "It's okay."

With those words of consolation, the tears came pouring down your face. You wiped one away only for two more to take its place. Kona held you close to her as you cried your eyes out. She didn't understand everything you said, but you still made an effort to speak. "I-I-I... I don't know anymore. I Th-th-thought it would b-be easy to leave, but h-he makes it so h-h-hard!" You took a few minutes to let every emotion out until you were just a snotty mess. Once your stutter was lost, you clung to your friend; physically and emotionally exhausted. "... I love him. I love him, and I hate him for making me love him." You finally admitted to yourself. You'd been ignoring it for months, but you couldn't keep running; especially when Revali said himself that he'd chase after you. And now, you couldn't stop yourself from believing you were just as infatuated. You just wish you didn't say goodbye. Because saying goodbye meant you cared...

You didn't want the courage to say goodbye.

~~

I. Am. An asshole.

I've been gone for the longest time with no explination. And honestly, I don't have one. I mean, I guess school, but that's just lame. I'm sorry for being a douche. I'll try to be more active.

[chromemuffin]

Quan Zhi Gao Shou / The King’s Avatar Manhua (Chapters 0-5)

What I really enjoyed right from the start of the animation was the realistic nature of the game and characters. I only play games sporadically myself, and usually handhelds at that, but even I could relate to Ye Xiu’s journey to the top of the new server. I mean, usually you just take for granted that the main character is aiming for the top of something, but it’s difficult to relate to saving the world or leading a gang of misfits across the land fighting monsters. Climbing to the top in a game, however? We’ve probably all tried it in some way or another, even if we failed along the way (I still haven’t completed the National Pokedex in any Pokemon game, ok).

This also could have been stated at the beginning of a review for the whole series, but this is a long one, the novel translations aren’t even complete yet. So it’s here now as a preface.

And now it’s time for my far less composed liveblogging! This is not going to be as detailed as my Shoukoku no Altair one by a long shot, I think I’d collapse of exhaustion before I finished.

Chapter 0: Cause

It is both unnerving and relaxing to not obsess about language nuance like I do when I read Japanese stuff. On the other hand, it feels weird being back to the state of not understanding more than a few words here and there...

Colored panels are the best. The color (cold tones) to black & white to color (warm tones) back to black & white is a neat contrast.

I’m honestly really excited to get all these names and teams straight. I watched several groups’ subs for the early episodes and all the names were translated differently, leading me to have no clue who anyone was or which team they belonged to except the currently teamless Ye Xiu lol.

Chapter 1: As we drink, the lute signals to go to war

Look at that smug smirk. Ye Xiu’s relationship with Su Mucheng is just really nice with how supportive they are of each other.

Damn it, I said I wasn’t going to go panel-by-panel! But I like the contrast between these two shots. One is as he is turning away, after having reassured Su Mucheng that he will be returning and it really is fine that his old team literally kicked him to the curb. The other is once he is turned away. He seems fine in the first shot, sort of indifferent, while the dark shadow over his eyes in the next panel suggests differently. But he’s not one to complain.

Unexpected comedy shot lol. I appreciate the life in the internet cafe, everyone excited about Glory and the new server haha. In the animation, it was very quiet when he walked in, and they had to 3D animate it.

“As a female Launcher player, Mucheng never stopped smiling even when she blew up her opponent to pieces... It’s actually quite scary when you think about it.”

haha. He’s more expressive in the manhua. It lets you have these cute little musings in between scenes that the animations never have time for.

lol he just goes and hijacks her account. who does that. “the battle started already so I finished it for you. but don’t worry, I won!” that. isn’t the point.

Hi scary demon Ye Xiu! Side note: they’re doing a good job giving the background characters different features.

Also, thanks to not looking at the characters for their names, I keep getting Ye Xiu and Ye Qiu mixed up. I...really need to go find out how it’s written.

Not going to feature all of Chen Guo’s fun expressions, but so far there have been a lot of them and they’re great. (edit for Chen Guo’s name which I derped on and forgot at the time of writing this post. lol the manga doesn’t mention her whole name - Chen Guo - until a few chapters later. I think the other patrons call her ‘Sister Chen’ and the reader finds out her given name when Ye Xiu does. but in the novel, I think the narrative switches over to her at some point, so you find out her full name before Ye Xiu does...)

I love sayings, and how they are so weird when translated literally - Japanese ones are like this, too, because a lot of them are Chinese in origin. My favorite is probably 亀毛兎角.

I hope this is a translation thing because damn, what a way to sugar-coat the truth.

Chapter 2: Since ancient times, how many have returned from war?

I wish I knew the references to classical Chinese poetry/literature, it makes the series 10x more fun when you know the origin of some of their usernames and such.

Ok, overdoing it much, Sun Xiang’s posse? You don’t need to be extra nasty about it to his face.

I always really liked this expression of his reluctance, this human emotion from a guy who looks rather calm and composed (or sheepish, occasionally) most of the time. He takes things in stride, but here you definitely get the bitterness of his situation.

And now he has to laugh it off with a smile! He does a good job of keeping it together throughout this whole deal though.

lol what kind of expression is that. “I like working nights!” why the cat face/ears. why. that was such a quick interview lol.

“Actually, we aren’t lacking people, the advert you saw was from a long time ago.”

That’s...actually, interesting. So Chen Guo is hiring him anyways? Or am I missing something in the translation?

You are a surprisingly funny man, Ye Xiu.

This is me. (it says ‘Verify faster!’)

lol Ye Xiu looking at the beginner’s guide. I never read the instructions though, even for a complicated games I’m new to, I just sort of jump in and hope I don’t die in the first few stages. Pretty sure the only game I had to actually read the instructions for was Final Fantasy Type-0? It’s difficult getting into a good rhythm without reading the in-game tips for that game...plus, some of the more advanced techniques are hard to pull off.

Chapter 3: Don’t laugh at those who lie drunk on the battlefield

If I had time, I’d totally make edits, buuut I do not and photoshop is on my other computer. but when did he get those noodles...?

lol and he just outs himself right on the spot.

That is one dark expression, I love it. The retirement thing is definitely a sore spot for him.

“you’re a professional. but also an amateur.” lol must be so weird to be Ye Xiu

“Don’t fake it, actually you’re not even retired. You didn’t get a spot and got kicked out, right?”

Ouch. Hit it where it hurts, why don’t you. Though she isn’t aware of who he actually is yet. He did indeed get kicked out, and it’s probably worse because he did have a spot previously, he was at the top even.

Starting avatar! I love the character designs in this series, across the animation and manhua.

“Suddenly I miss those games that let people pass through each other!”

HOW COULD THEY WITH SO MANY PEOPLE PLAYING. It reminds me of the Sims flailing their arms because you stuck a cabinet in the wrong spot and they can’t get through.

“Such a civilized way to kill monsters, I’m not used to it.”

“This only happens when a new server opens, you’ll definitely wish you can queue again in the future.”

I really like the side comments. I don’t play multiplayer games, but the comments definitely breathe some life into it.

LOL. “How to endure the shame? I was once known as Glory’s textbook level expert and now I have to use a beginner’s guide to do beginner’s quests.” You can feel his soul dying little by little in these panels...

I love how many titles he earned...”Does no commercials”.

And, of course, him trying to reveal who he actually is, only for her not to believe him.

lol this comment: “It’s so hard to play in first person view!” That’s actually how I feel, I dunno, I mostly play handhelds and older games. I flipped out when I tried to play Final Fantasy: Dirge of Cerberus in first person, before I figured out there was actually a third person view...I’m just really lame when it comes to games, ok.

Ooh, it’s here! The umbrella! What an odd choice of weapon, usually they’re the joke weapons. Well, it’s better than the bus stop sign from Persona 3.

I’ve read spoilers about who this guy standing behind him is, and I am not ready to actually come across that part in the novel.

Side note: I like the avatar’s design better here than in the animation. Wonder if he changes outfit later on...

Chapter 4: Green Forest’s Sleeping Moon

“Let me help you, I’ll give you the drops as well.” “I’m [a] male.” Lol. I really do love these little dialogues.

I also love the usernames, I really am hopeless with it comes to naming things myself.

Hello, Sleeping Moon! I remember you! Sort of.

I love how Ye Xiu totally has a plan going into this, and his thought process is written out. It’s a mundane detail, but I like it. (I’m the type of person who doesn’t read the instructions provided by the game, but will go look everything up online because regardless if I played the game before or not, I like having a Plan when I go into it...I’m impatient, Shadow of the Colossus is the only game I actually take time to explore.)

The two modes of communication for Glory also make it interesting...Both text and audio. It’s fun having both.

haha these drawings have so much life in them

Including these.

Way to look awesome and dramatic with your umbrella in hand.

lol “You planning to advance into a Cleric? Why don’t you just be our caretaker for good?” dying inside, I tell you, dying inside

Knowing the spoilers like I do, THIS ISN’T OKAY. no sad flashback scene so early on. c’mon.

I like how Sleeping Moon keeps talking to him like he’s a newbie, too. It’s pretty funny.

Chapter 5: You reap what you sow

Finally, a chapter title I’m familiar with!

The naaames: Sleeping Moon, Just a Passerby, Not Just Cannon Fodder, Lord Grim, and Fallen Sun

I like ‘Just a Passerby’.

Hey, you even get to say some last words after your HP hits 0 haha.

“Don’t you know that if you die in a dungeon in Glory, you can’t come back?!” lol I’m side-eyeing all the other ‘if you die in the game you die in real life’ stories...

They gave Sleeping Moon some really awesome expressions, gotta say.

“But your acting isn’t at all convincing.” Actually, this is vaguely terrifying.

Also, I appreciate how Ye Xiu is calling him out on this whole plan and how he meant to cheat everyone while Ye Xiu is basically doing the same. haha

I’m not going to screencap it all, but the sequence of the boss slowly killing Sleeping Moon like the cat it is, and Ye Xiu’s reactions, are gold.

The umbrella is also really cool of course.

And here starts the drama on the 10th server! It’s honestly great, and quite true to real life haha. Well, real life can probably be weirder than even fiction...

AAAND that’s finally it! 5 chapters + the 0 chapter done! Oh geez that took forever...Anyway, I love all the little details the manhua can fit in that the animation can’t and I look forward to reading the novel version of these chapters sometime soon.

onward →

[xellandria]

I switched to demon hunter when BfA came out because my guild needed to bring the 5% magic damage debuff and I was struggling to find a class/spec I actually enjoyed playing after they removed ranged survival and didn’t give any sort of second-best substitute.  It’s now been sixteen months and I’m beginning to get incredibly frustrated with my DH—I like her as an alt, but I feel incredibly constrained by her aesthetically because the pool of warglaive or warglaive-like appearances is so tiny (and isn’t likely to grow very much any time soon).  It’s dumb that that’s the kind of thing that can tilt me as hard as it’s been tilting me, but I’ve basically exhausted the appearance pool at this point.

Anyway I told my raid leader that I’d give him a concrete decision on what I was doing for 8.3 by the end of the year, which means I have to figure out what, if anything, I’m going to main switch to.  The big problem is that getting raid-ready at this point takes significantly more time and effort than it ought to at this point in the expansion, because there are no catch-up mechanics for the 8.2 Azerite Essences, and 8.3 isn’t actually going to help with that as far as I can tell (it’s lowering the rep requirement for two of the essences, but isn’t lowering the time or specialized currency requirements for most of the others).  Artifact knowledge helps with unlocking the slots and the 3% stamina bonuses and that’s in a good position, but unfortunately that means nothing when you’ve got nothing to put into those slots in the first place.

So I need to go through and figure out what I’m doing, and since I’m going in circles in my head about it I figured I ought to actually go long form on this MFer.  This is... going to be long, probably.  I don’t know if it’ll even help.  Let’s find out, I guess.

Shaman (elemental focus): + Hybrid (melee, ranged, healer) + One-spec hybrid (no expectation of having to know, gear up, and play both DPS specs the way a mage would) + Mentioned specifically as a thing we could use (ele) + Decent transmog pool (+KT heritage if race changed) - Still has a lot of baggage from when she was my main TBC-MoP - Resto not a fun or intuitive offspec - Condensed Life Force and Blood of the Enemy essentially required (multi-week raid + battlegrounds PvP) for ele - Turret caster (not my preferred playstyle)

Druid (all four specs viable to varying degrees): + Hybrid (melee, ranged, tank, healer) + Best possible offspecs (resto druid has a long history of being good to me in 5-man content, guardian makes sense and meshes well) + Long history and great library of fantastic transmog options with matchable weapons (both 1h and 2h) + Could also be a KT if I really wanted to give up shadowmeld (which is a v tall ask, but y’know) + Currently actually has my name on Skywall (no more having to stop and think before calling something out bc my character name isn’t the name I go by nonsense) - Balance is incredibly unintuitive to play and makes me feel real dumb real fast - Feral is also really not super great (and is melee, and severely limits mog options due to the way the legion artifact cat skins works) - We already have four in raid (one feral, two balance, one resto); would be very obvious very quickly that I’m the weakest link + Vision of Perfection isn’t as good as CLF for balance but only just barely and would at least be an acceptable stopgap while the incredibly long CLF acquisition period happened

Warlock: - Pure DPS (queues and group finder for catch-up, leveling, or maintenance going to be long with no option to play something less fun for less time investment) + Survivable in solo content (ty voidwalker) + Versatile(ish) playstyle with three specs to choose from - ... but that sort of implies that you have to know and play at least 2/3 (if not all 3) - Affliction is the ultimate multi-dot tracking spec and I’ve never found a good way to do that for me + Affliction is as mobile as casters get these days (and as close as you can get to ranged survival in the current game, fuck you blizzard) +/- Unexciting transmog options (but at least since I’ve never mained a clothie it’s all essentially new; on the flip side it also means I don’t own a lot of it already so I’d have to go out farming) - Wands are still A Thing™ - Destruction and Demonology are turret casters - CLF and Blood of the Enemy both incredibly strong (VoP is almost equal to CLF for destro)

Rogue: - Pure DPS - Not solo survivable at low gear levels (never played at high gear levels to know if that changes significantly) - Poisons (only a problem for assassination right now but they’re coming back in shadowlands bc blizzard is stupid so (: love that) - Transmog options limited by weapon type for 2/3 specs - Melee - Honestly why am I even putting them on the list I like Sylenna but I hate everything rogues stand for and would never want to main one lmao

Demon Hunter (havoc focus): + Hybrid (melee/tank) - Melee

- Incredibly limited transmog options (exclusively due to personal brain stuff since they can actually use swords and axes and fist weapons, I just don’t want to.  Also because some of the DH looks look real bad with the dark skin tone my DH uses and I refuse to spend 300g to whitewash her) - RC Loot Council still thinks they can use daggers and it hurts my soul every time - New weapon mog requires multiple bonus rolls over several weeks due to literally nobody else in the raid being eligible for the drops (and praying that extensions don’t happen or you’ll get fucked like in Dazar’alor) + Vengeance is pretty okay in casual dungeon environments (even if it never feels like I have a button to press for emergencies) + Essences are not an issue (b/c she’s already put the time in)

Mage: - Pure DPS - Incredibly not-survivable in solo content at low item levels.  I have never once felt safe in open world content on my mages once they hit max level. - Sharing a class with Cider strikes me as incredibly dangerous to my sanity (since he’s so tryhard about his damage) +/- Unexciting transmog options + I do have the mage MoP CM armor tho! - Wands + Best class mount by leaps and bounds + Ranged + Fire/Frost at least have some mobility options + Being in control of AI and hero so we don’t have to call for them fifty times a pull sounds real nice (except when I want to be the one not paying attention)

Priest (shadow focus): + Hybrid (ranged/healer/healer) + Disc is the only non-druid healing spec I feel at least slightly comfortable in in casual dungeons (though not anything actually challenging) - Shadow is a multidot spec and multitarget multidot is hard to keep track of - Also we have two already (including the guild leader) +/- Unexciting transmog options (exacerbated by shadowform) - Wands + Ranged

Death Knight: + Hybrid (melee/melee/tank) - Melee +/- Unexciting transmog options + Blood doesn’t seem bad as far as tanking specs go - I haven’t touched Unholy since Wrath and supposedly its top dog atm - Let’s just skip over DK for now, honestly—it doesn’t bring anything to the Xella Table that warrior doesn’t also do (except blood > prot)

Warrior: + Hybrid (melee/melee/tank) + Brings a semi-unique buff (Battle Shout for when Irken isn’t around) - Melee +/- Unexciting transmog options + Capable of stealing almost everyone else’s weapon mog, tho—v exciting! - Naha will probably crack jokes about how bad a tank I am and/or how bad my DPS is if I main a warrior again, and regardless of whether it was true or is true, it will quietly tilt me off the face of the planet. - Would need a facelift; current look works fine for an alt but isn’t versatile enough for a main (would also benefit from a name change at the same time, honestly)

Hunter: - Pure DPS + Incredibly survivable in solo content at low item levels - Only has two specs (fuck you blizzard) + Great mog options, both for default look and enough variants to keep me satisfied + Also has quiver options in at least one spec - Not as mobile as it should be + Still more mobile than pretty much any other ranged + Sporey + Ranged + BOWS

- (: - I’d probably tilt myself off the face of the planet within six months anyway, just bc I’d be constantly reminded that ranged survival doesn’t exist anymore which is why I’m playing the inferior spec(s). - Honestly I keep coming up with excuses not to go back to the hunter but I really don’t think it’d be good for me - But I really want to play her or my druid hrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh

Paladin: + Hybrid (melee/tank/healer) + Good offspec (protadin used to be better but is still entertaining, holy is a mystery tho) - Melee + We don’t have one + Utility (blessings and whatnot) - Unintuitive “rotation” - Very expensive to main (don’t have a paladin on Skywall, only 120 paladin at all atm is Horde)

Monk: + Hybrid (melee/tank/healer) - Offspecs are both dodgy (ha, brewmaster pun) - Melee - WW isn’t especially fun to play +/- Brings a unique (de)buff, but we already have two monks in our roster so it’s less an issue of never sitting/never getting to sit than the DH is. - Very expensive to main (the other class I don’t have on Skywall atm)

[onlypreciousloves]

Sweetest Mint

Pairing: Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin / Martin “Rekkles” Larsson

Characters: Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin, Martin “Rekkles” Larsson, Bora “YellOwStaR Kim, Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten, Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon

Yeujin’s laziness takes his friendship with Martin one step further

“Next episode, guys?” Bora asked while slipping through the doorway that led to the dark kitchen. Martin shielded his eyes from the light that blinded him when the oldest of them all flipped the switch. “Do you guys want something to drink? Food, maybe?”

“Water, please!” Fabian called out while laughing as Seunghoon started jabbing at his sensitive sides. He flailed, sometimes even hitting the youngest of the team in the face, but it wasn’t enough to stop the young trickster who just smiled and continued on. “Stop, Huni. Stop it!”

 “Seunghoon,” the way the Korean Top laner withdrew from his Mid laner at the reprimanding tone proved how Bora held all the authoritative power over everyone as both the oldest and the most experienced among them. Seunghoon raised his shoulders in a shrug, comedically raising his hands as if he hadn’t done anything to receive such a tone.

 “Uhm,” Seunghoon tapped his chin as if deep in thought, before he turned around from his spot on the couch and hollered at the oldest. “Can you get soda, chips, popcorn, hamburger, candy, lots ‘n lots candy!”

 “Seunghoon…” Martin couldn’t help but stifle a laugh in response to the disapproving tone in Bora’s voice.

 It was a Thursday evening, a week or two into the Summer split, and both Luis and Oliver had stepped out of the gaming house for the night. Perhaps it was a meeting, or a business dinner, but it didn’t really matter. It didn’t affect Martin personally, so he didn’t find it in himself to care much about why their manager and coach had stepped out of the house for the evening. What did matter to Martin was that Fnatic still had the same air of a family, despite the newcomers, and he could see it in their movie night – or, TV show binge-watching – after a long day of scrimmages and Solo Queue practice.

 Enrique and Lauri had both left Fnatic when he had, and he thought that they would’ve taken the fun and lovable Fnatic with them. The jokes, the smiles and laughter, the teasing he hated yet loved at the same time. Sure, it wasn’t the same – not the same sense of humor, not the same laughs – but Martin wasn’t even sure if he wanted it to be the same. He liked the current Fnatic. The Fnatic where he wasn’t the youngest anymore. The Fnatic with two dads and a team of brothers to mess around with. The Fnatic that showed him that taking a break to spend the day outside wouldn’t hurt his gameplay.

 He had been warmly welcomed home with open arms, which was something he couldn’t have imagined receiving just a few weeks ago. Especially not after he left so haughtily only to come crawling back to the organization.

 Furthermore, Martin had this feeling, the moment he stepped into the gaming house, that this was where he belonged. This was home, and playing on Elements for one split proved that – to himself more than anyone else. It wasn’t that he didn’t get along with his teammates there. It was just that Elements didn’t give him what he really wanted: a family.

 There was laughter, there were smiles, but the atmosphere of the team didn’t give him the unspoken support that Fnatic had. While they shared playful moments in their everyday routines, Elements had an atmosphere that made everything seem like strictly business. It was all about playing hard and improving gameplay. There were no team bonding outdoor activities, no going out to eat, no ordering takeout or movie nights. Days off were more about practicing in Solo Queue or locking himself in his room to read and listen to music alone.

 He’d always believed that change was good. This belief had encouraged him to move to Elements for a change in his environment. It had been good for him, he had only learned good things from the experience. The change within Fnatic was also good, at least that’s how it seemed to him so far. New coach, new manager, and three new teammates. Though, he was quite thankful for the one familiar face that kept him grounded – his faithful teammate and responsible older brother, Bora.

 Out of his three new teammates, the first one to catch his eye had been the Jungler. Maybe it was the bright red hair, or the wide-framed, thick-rimmed glasses, or even his fluent English that had the slight tinge of a Korean accent. Whatever it was, Martin found his eyes drawn to the older boy every so often.

 He would be in the middle of a Solo Queue game and he’d find himself glancing down the long table at the thin, Korean boy whose eyes were trained intensely on his monitor. The team would be eating dinner, either at the table or on the couches, and he’d find himself staring at the boy poking around at the few bites left on his plate. On the early mornings where Luis and Oliver would rouse the team for a group workout, his eyes would find themselves stuck on his Jungler when he shuffled out of his room with tousled hair, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

 Even now, Martin found his eyes drawn to the boy who had fallen asleep in the middle of the previous episode with his head in his lap. His fingers gently threaded through the faded red hair, playing with the soft locks as he traced his eyes over the boy’s features.

 Tall nose. Long eyelashes. Soft jawline. Full lips.

 Those lips were so pretty. They looked soft, unlike his own chapped ones.

 This wasn’t the first time he’s found himself staring at them a little longer than he should. Yet, he couldn’t help but wonder how they would feel against his own. He was sure that someone as beautiful as Yeujin would’ve had many girlfriends.

 Besides, Martin was a guy. He wouldn’t dare to risk their current friendship because of his own selfish desire to kiss him. He’d learned that just because a guy was touchy and cuddly, it didn’t mean that he liked him in any romantic sense. He’d learned that the hard way with one of his sisters’ friends.

 Emma had introduced Martin to her college buddies during a rough time of heartbreak from the one he’d consider his first love. He didn’t have anyone to share his disappointment and anger with. Despite being so close to his sisters, he feared their judgement for not being “normal,” since his first wasn’t a cute, blue-eyed, blonde girl from his class like they’d always imagined. He didn’t want them to look at him any differently, he didn’t want the love he felt each time they hugged him and snuggled under a mountain of blankets during a movie to disappear. So, he’d kept it all to himself; trapped away in a glass box somewhere in his mind. Where he could see those secrets, only to remind himself that no one can know about any of it.

 It had been suffocating, but he simply told himself – over and over – that this was life and there wasn’t anything for him to do other than to keep on walking and say everything was fine. He’d let desperation and heartbreak trip him into another romantic mishap.  

 The second mistake was one of the friends Emma introduced him to: Aaren.

 He wasn’t someone anyone could easily forget.

 Luscious midnight black curls cropped short in a mid-fade. Deep green eyes with flecks of blue. A strong, tall athletic build.

 Martin had always wanted to run his hands through those locks to see if they were as soft as they looked. He could stare at those clear eyes for hours without end. His scrawny self always wished to be held by those strong arms of a man who was only a few inches taller than him.

 Aaren was the kind of man that anyone would want for a long-term relationship. Yet, at the same time, he had the kind of attractiveness that turned heads and roused whispers from those who wished to spend a not-so-innocent night with him. As a part of the college circle – despite his age – Martin heard countless rumors that stirred his curiosity. From one, he heard Aaren preferred to tease and drive his one-night partners crazy before giving in to their desires. From another, he heard the older male was sweet with a side of gentle that would make anyone want another night. Martin’s favorite rumor by far was the possessive whispers and marks left behind that sent tingles down one’s spine from simply remembering the feeling of being needed.

 The thing that made him even more interested was the fact that among those rumors, not a single one of them could mark him as a jerk who snuck around and took advantage of unsuspecting souls.

 He was a pure gentleman – the type of person that all parents loved and wanted their daughters to marry. Martin admired how Aaren always put others before himself just as much as how studious he was despite being on two sports teams while having a schedule full of advanced classes.  

 Martin adamantly believed that it wasn’t Aaren’s fault that they grew distant. How could the college boy have possibly known that Martin liked him as more than just a friend? If he hadn’t been so stupidly forward, perhaps they’d still be good friends.

 It was a Friday night, and someone’s birthday. Emma had dragged Martin out to the club, teasing him for always being stuck at his monitor and never leaving the house. After a few drinks too many, Aaren showed up – late to the party due to some activity that Martin couldn’t completely recall – lifting the mixture of coke and vodka out of his hand, whilst scolding him for having too much.

 He didn’t remember much from that night, but what he couldn’t forget wasn’t the kiss they shared under the thrumming bass.

 It was the look in his eyes.

 It wasn’t the disgust Martin was so fearful of. It wasn’t the anger that Martin had expected after throwing his thin arms around the taller man. Yet, it most definitely hadn’t been the happiness he had been hoping to the heavens for.

 Martin had been so confused to see a look of apology. He couldn’t remember what it was that Aaren had said that night. The words had been drowned out by the music that grew in volume while his senses remained dull from one too many drinks. Afterwards, nothing was the same. The older male distanced himself, with that same apologetic look each time he moved away. Martin couldn’t understand, and still didn’t. Perhaps, he didn’t want to understand. But he hadn’t seen Aaren in a long time, especially now that he spends a large majority of his months in Germany now. The older always had some sort of excuse whenever Martin wanted to meet up when he was home. They still texted occasionally, but Martin knew it would never be the same as how it was before.

 For whatever reason, Aaren never told Emma about the moment they shared. He felt thankful that the older male had kept it a thing between the two of them. However, as much as he didn’t want to, the entire incident ended there. Simple as a secret with no reason to ever be told and no reason to ever talk it out.

 The biggest lesson the young Swede took from the experience: liquid courage doesn’t exist – or rather, if it did, it would screw everything up.

 With that said, it should come as no surprise that Martin was more than just a little afraid to kiss Yeujin. Perhaps he’d try for a kiss if the team ever went out drinking. This time, he’d make sure he wasn’t the drunk one and if anything went wrong, he could just blame it on the alcohol. But after a few weeks with the team, he realized that would be unlikely considering how Luis highly prioritized health and sobriety during the season.

 He’d just have to settle for staring and playing with his hair.

 “Febi, can you pass me a mint?” Martin motioned to the bag of green starlight mints sitting in the pile of snacks already on the coffee table, as Seunghoon jumped off the couch when Bora called for him to help. After tossing him a piece, Fabian stood up and slipped into the kitchen with the rest of the team.

 He must’ve jostled Yeujin awake by accident when he leaned forward to toss the mint wrapper back onto the low table, because he snuggled his face into Martin’s stomach for a few moments before stretching his arms above his head.

 Yeujin let out a long yawn, and Martin couldn’t help thinking how cute he looked. Like a small child waking up after a long nap, despite him being older than Martin.

 “Good morning,” he let out a low chuckle, when Yeujin looked up at him in confusion, light eyebrows furrowed.

 Slowly, the Korean boy sat up, covering his mouth this time when he yawned. “What’d I miss?”

 “Nothing much, just an episode or two,” his own playful sarcasm bringing a bright smile to his lips. Out of habit, Martin rolled the mint around in his mouth, letting the piece of candy click against his teeth. He wasn’t trying to be subtle, but even a sleepy Yeujin took notice.

 “What’s in your mouth?”

 Martin shrugged, keeping his smile to himself. “Nothing.”

 Yeujin gave him a skeptical look when the sound of the candy hitting the insides of his teeth resounded in the empty room since the show on the TV was on pause.

 He rolled his eyes, slightly sticking his tongue out at the corner of his lips. “A mint.”

 “Gimme,” Yeujin spoke in a light tone, a gentle pout on his full lips as he rubbed his eyes with one hand and poked at Martin’s shoulder with the other.

 Such a kid…

 The young Swede raised a hand to gently pull away the hand rubbing its knuckles against the older Korean’s eyes. “Don’t do that, it’s bad for your eyes, y’know.”

 He received a small roll of his eyes for his words. “Why are you such a mom?”

 Martin stared into Yeujin dark-colored eyes for a moment before bursting into laughter. A mom? Was that what he sounded like? The thought was simply ridiculous, considering that Yeujin was almost a year older than him. If anything, Yeujin should’ve been the mom. The older, the more responsible, the one who shouldn’t be rubbing his eyes.

 “What’s so funny?” the Jungler whined, pursing his lips in what seemed to be disappointment.

 That pout. My god, I just wanna… no. Don’t do it, Martin. Don’t.

 Martin bit down on his bottom lip, trying not to make it too obvious when he looked away just to avoid staring at Yeujin’s oh-so-kissable lips.

 Fuck, no one’s here and he’s so close.

 He couldn’t just push him away out of nowhere, with no context, with no words. But he also didn’t want to accidentally lean a little too far forward and unintentionally press their lips together. Not that it was even the current issue, with his wild imagination telling him how sweet Yeujin’s mouth might taste. He settled for turning his head slightly to his right, eyes floating up to stare at the dark ceiling as if it would distract him from how close the two of them were at that moment. Martin could feel Yeujin’s warm hand on top of his left thigh, which propped the boy up so that they were almost leveled on the couch, making up for their difference in height.

 The Korean boy definitely noticed how Martin awkwardly avoided his gaze. There was a heavy pressure on the top of Martin’s thigh, telling him that Yeujin was shifting his weight. Something so small, so simple, with no intention to lead him on, made him forcibly swallow the urge to turn and face the boy to crash their lips together.

 Life would be so much easier if everyone was at least bi…

 No use dwelling on nonsensible thoughts. He just had to breathe and think of something else. Anything else. Just anything to get his mind off of how attractive Yeujin was, how badly he wanted to kiss him.

 When gentle fingers brushed against his heated cheeks, Martin could’ve sworn that his heart stopped. That voice in the back of his mind screamed in panic. If Yeujin did anything else, anything more, he was going to take it “the wrong way.” He was going to want to steal kisses when the rest of the team wasn’t looking. He was going to want to cuddle late at night while talking about something that wasn’t related to their profession. He would expect more from Yeujin than the boy was probably willing to give. He would expect a relationship more than simple, close friendship.

 Instinct told him to shove the Jungler away, yet his body remained frozen.

 There was nothing Martin could do when Yeujin’s fingers gently turned his head so that he couldn’t avoid his eyes without it being blatantly obvious. Not that he wasn’t already doing that.

 His eyes ran through Yeujin’s face, lit up by a bluish light. Those dark eyelashes, that straight nose, his smooth jawline. Martin could see the other boy’s lips moving, but his mind didn’t register the words, just their movements. Small and gentle. He couldn’t help imagining how soft they might feel against his own.

 “Martin?”

 The young Swede blinked his eyes a few times to clear his thoughts since his head was caught between the other’s long fingers. “Huh?”

 “Give me.”

 Martin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Give him what?

 He wasn’t even given any time to comprehend what Yeujin meant. There wasn’t much space in between them and the Jungler leaning forward into his face was driving him crazy.

 Fucking hell, Martin. You’re so easy.

 “Or else I’ll do it.”

 The AD Carry tried to laugh his nervousness off, leaning back into the couch cushion just a little to try to put some space between them. “Or… or else – do what?” he swallowed again, as if it would help him calm his nerves. He hated stuttering, but there wasn’t much he could do with his lovely Jungler leaning in so close every time he tried to move away.

 A playful smirk lightly danced on the edge of Yeujin’s lips as he leaned even further forward. So forward that Martin felt as though his teammate was lying on top of him. There was a mischievous glint in Yeujin’s eyes when Martin caught them glancing between his lips and his eyes.

 He wouldn’t.

 “I said I’ll take it from you.”

 The fuck. How the hell– No. Please, no.

 Martin’s jaw tightened, leaning as far into the couch as he could, wishing he could just disappear. Was he really this easy to tease? Was he that obvious? Did he seem desperate?  He was so weak, and he hated it.

 He opened and closed his mouth a few times, wetting his lips and trying to piece together a coherent English sentence. He tripped over his tongue, words stumbling out of his mouth. “Go…There… Get one over… get it yourself.”

 “It’s so far though,” The childish pout that formed on Yeujin’s lips almost made Martin throw his head back and groan in frustration. He gave in to his temptations way too easily, but he wasn’t going to let it happen this time.

 It is fucking not. Stop it, please.

 He wasn’t going to mess their relationship up. He wasn’t going to ruin their team synergy. He wasn’t going to bring his emotions into the mess of who he already was. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake of falling for a guy who could never feel the same way. He wasn’t going to take all of these soft touches to heart. He wasn’t going to let his heart get broken and tossed aside. Not again. Not this time.

 But Kim fucking Yeujin was making this so damn hard.

 So close. He was so close. And Martin was close to shoving him away. The voice in his mind rattled on incoherently in panic, but no amount of whatever said voice was trying to say would make him move his arms. His tense muscles shook and the pounding in his chest was growing more unbearable by the second.

 His hand clenched into a tight fist on the cushion. Sharp fingernails dug deeply into his palm, sending a shocking pain through his arm, but still nothing. And no matter how much his mind kept telling Yeujin to stop whatever this was he was doing, the words never left his throat.

 By now, Yeujin was so close to his face that he could feel the warm breath brushing against his heated cheeks and trembling lips. He found himself staring a little too long at Yeujin’s lips.

 They moved again, but he couldn’t hear the words they spoke this time. Of course, Yeujin was just teasing, right? There was no way he would actually go through with it. But when would he move away?

  Martin felt as though he were suffocating.

 If only he didn’t get so attached so easily. If only he didn’t fall so quickly. If only he didn’t like guys the way he did… Things would be so much less complicated.

 It took the Swedish boy a moment to realize it wasn’t just the warmth of the Korean boy’s breath against his, but rather his lips. A little more chapped than he imagined, but soft all the same.

 The chatter from their teammates in the kitchen faded to nothing, leaving Martin in the silence of his mind.

 The warmth of the body hovering over his, the hand on his thigh, the other one on his shoulder, loosened his tense limbs, coaxing him to simply relax.

 The sweet scent of a recent shower and… why does he smell like honey…?

 It took Martin a moment before he started moving his lips slowly. He wanted to take everything in. Memorize it all. Lock this moment away for safekeeping.

 Because, this was just a joke, right?

 He felt fingers threading through his overgrown hair and felt himself sinking further into the kiss with lips parting to an eager tongue. He raised his left arm so that he could pull the older boy’s body closer to his own. With his eyes closed, he felt Yeujin stumble a little, left hand landing on the back of the couch to keep himself upright.

 Whether it was a joke or not, Martin couldn’t care less.

 With his eyes closed and mouth moving hungrily against Yeujin’s, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest as if desperately wanting to break free from his ribcage. Although hesitant at first, his hands started to move, letting one make itself at home in Yeujin’s auburn hair. The other made its way to the hem of the older boy’s T-shirt, playing with the edge as if unsure whether or not it would be acceptable for him to slip it underneath, touch unchartered territory, unseen skin.

 When Yeujin started to pull away from him, Martin’s unsure hand instinctually clutched onto his bare hip, underneath his t-shirt. He didn’t want him to leave, he couldn’t. Not after kissing him like that. He wished this moment would never end, because who knew if he would ever get to kiss him again. Martin certainly didn’t believe he would.

 Because, it was a joke. It had to be.

 His nails dug into Yeujin’s pale skin, unconsciously latching on so that the Korean boy wouldn’t leave him, couldn’t leave him. Not like all the others. He couldn’t bear it if Yeujin brushed him off like all the others.

 The older boy pulled back with all his strength, pressing his forehead rather forcefully against the Swede’s as if to keep him from pushing forward to devour his lips again. “Mar…Martin.”

 The fingers in his locks loosened, and the younger almost let out a soft whimper of disappointment.

 Please, please don’t go…

 “It…you’re hurting me…” Yeujin spoke in broken breaths, trying his best to catch it, but desperately wanting to get the words out. The hand on the couch trembled as it made its way to Martin’s hand on his hip.

 His eyes widened in a mix of shock and embarrassment as he threw his hand off of the boy above him as if he had just touched lava. Martin dropped his head over the back of the couch, cursing his weak heart as he could feel the tears gathering in his eyes.

 Fuck, he hates me. I mean, I would hate me…

 “Hey, hey,” Yeujin had finally caught his breath and he brought both hands to Martin’s face, lifting his head gently so that he could face him. “Don’t–”

 “I’m sorry, Yeujin. I am so, so sorry. It’s… It’s okay. I get it. I… I am really, really sorry. I shouldn’t have–”

 The Korean boy cut him off with a soft press of his lips on the corner of the Swede’s. He could’ve sworn that his heart stopped, again, for a moment. What did this mean? Did it…did it mean what Martin wanted it to mean…?

 “Don’t be,” he whispered when he pulled back just far enough so that he could look into his eyes. “I–”

 Seunghoon’s boisterous laughter broke the two of them out of whatever moment they were having. Martin stiffened in fear.

 How they got the way they were, he wasn’t quite so sure, but Yeujin was straddling his legs, one hand entangled in his overgrown hair, and the other, now on his shoulder. What would their teammates think if they saw Yeujin and him in such an intimate position?

 Apparently, he wasn’t the only one with those thoughts, seeing how the Korean boy clumsily stumbled away from him just as Martin’s hands moved to push him off on instinct.

 “Ah! Hyeong, you’re awake,” Seunghoon gave that goofy smile of his as he entered the room with his arms full of snacks that Martin didn’t even know their cupboards housed. Trailing behind, Bora and Fabian both held cups full of what Martin assumed was ice and water.

 The young Top laner plopped down beside Yeujin who had magically dashed to the couch across from where Martin now sat with disheveled hair and a racing heart.

 As Seunghoon rattled off in Korean to their Jungler, Martin was busy trying to decipher what had just happened between them. He didn’t get very far though, since Fabian plopped down beside him, just as Seunghoon had to Yeujin, saying something that didn’t quite make it to the AD Carry’s ear.

 When the Mid laner took notice that he wasn’t getting heard, he shook Martin’s arm, desperately wanting an answer to whatever he had said. “Yeah, yeah. What?”

 Martin would just have to think about it later…

 Halfway through the next episode, Martin felt his phone on the couch beside him vibrate with a message. Fabian had fallen asleep with his head on Martin’s shoulder, feet propped up on the low coffee table, and one arm latched onto the older boy’s. With his free hand, he reached over to grab his phone, careful not to wake the sleeping Dutch.

When he read the name of the sender, his eyes glanced up to meet his Jungler’s, whose soft jawline was lit up by the blue light of his own cellphone. He caught the faint wink in the darkness before he looked back down at his phone at the message.

 “Thanks for the mint. It was very sweet (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧”

A/N: sorry, I've been living in my own little hole for the past two months-ish...

I got a request that asked for a lighter, fluffier rekkover fic aside from mitt hjärta and this was what came into being. Honestly, this was an idea I had sitting around in my computer for a while and when I got the request I found the motivation to completely write it out. ^~^

Thank you for being patient with me ;;~;; and I hope you enjoyed this!!

and shout out, big thank you to @aeonwing always editing and always being there ^~^