#genuinely I thought wow I could listen to this dude for hours he’s so smart and I’m actually attracted to this

[okiankeno]

Oh man I can’t believe smosh and starkid is making my blog gain followers this is so foreign to me to be into something that is current. Like I’m usually just a person that likes to vibe and like things that died in popularity years ago. I can’t wait for all of you to experience me thirsting over an ostensibly single scholar dilf and twink of a guy with purple hair because that’s honestly my branding that I return to periodically. that’s the personality of this blog

[dreamkidddream]

Hello sunshine, would it be possible for you to write me some headcanons for my beloved Chuuya, Dazai and Atsushi? I was thinking about them having a fragil health s/o? Maybe they work an office job in the ada/pm and they somehow fall for the s/o? I hope this is no trouble and you have inspiration to write this. If you don't like this you can just ignore it. Thank you very much :)

Hi anon! Thank you for the request! So I’m assuming that when you say fragile health s/o is that the reader can get sick easily/overall very weak? I hope that I got the interpretation right, and I didn’t please feel free to send it in again so I can do it over for you. Reader is gender neutral, and hope you enjoy!

TW: Suicide (Dazai’s part, nothing heavy is mentioned, and it’s only in one line) and Abuse (Atsushi’s, nothing heavy is mentioned)

Easily Sick/Weak S/O with: Chuuya, Dazai, and Atsushi

Chuuya

Oh man, he hated this feeling. He already hated you even working in the Port Mafia (even though he was there too), but he hated it even more since you were weak physically

Don’t get him wrong, Chuuya knows that you’re a strong person through and through, but it was so easy for you to get hurt or sick working on the field, it honestly made him worried

What also made him worried was how he was falling for you and quickly. He’s an executive! He doesn’t have the time for romance, and what if (really when if because he wants you so bad you have no idea) someone decides to come after you because of your ties with him? It was already so easy for him to lose you now, he didn’t want to chance things and speed up the process

But, you were just...a really great person. You were determined, always kept your head up, didn’t take anything from anyone (you backtalked Mori once and still walked away with your throat intact, so that was a sign), and it didn’t help that you were really easy on the eyes (he couldn’t help it, you were already attractive, and those things were just icing on the cake for him)

Chuuya didn’t know how you could stand being in a stuffy office all day, so he always stopped by to check on some “information” for some “case he’s working on). It started out genuine, but then it became a daily occurrence, even on his rare days off. 

One thing about him is that he’s a true gentleman, he knows how to treat his partner right. Bringing lunch to you, flowers sitting on your desk for no reason with a random note (”Hope you have a good day”, “Saw these when I was out, made me think about you”, “These don’t even compare to how beautiful you are, inside and out”, etc.), driving you home no questions asked, even offering you his favorite bottle of wine to share

He knows that he’s being cheesy but he was pulling out all the stops just for you

He knew it was risky for you to be out all the time, so whenever he did finally ask you on an “official” date (you thought sharing his wine was a date but he said that he wanted to show you off, not just in the office), you guys were either in a fully reserved restaurant or at his place. Seriously the way his place looks was like luxury! Damn you knew his job paid good money but wow! This was better than going out honestly

He confessed when you went over to his house one night. It was a particularly rough day for you both, and you just needed some reassurance which Chuuya was happy to give. It seemed like he went on for hours, but really it wasn’t too long, and you were in tears by the end of it. When he ended it with, “anyone would be beyond lucky to have you (Y/N), and I wish it were me. I wish I would have the chance to show you how much I really do love you, words aren’t enough for me. I’ll take the chance if you let me, and I swear you won’t regret it. Be mine, (Y/N), I’ll treat you like you deserve, and you deserve more than the world.”

You both understood the risks that came with dating you, but he swore that he would protect you with his life. If you did get sick, he couldn’t be there for you during the day because of his work, but he made sure to text you every hour on the hour to check on you and as soon as he got home, it was caretaker mode until you both went to bed

He bought you your medicine, the fluffiest pillows ever known to man, I mean did everything and anything. The dude was loaded, money was not an issue obviously

Chuuya is a great boyfriend, and will honestly do anything it takes to keep you safe and happy. He loves you after all, and he doesn’t mind all the extra work that comes with it (he doesn’t even see it as work, just precautions, which still isn’t a problem)

Dazai

He was not only worried about your health and safety, but also the fact that he was falling for you. Dazai was a very secretive person who didn’t like to show his true feelings, and he was scared of what he’s feeling for you. Him being attached and actually caring about people never paid off for him, as his past would tell you...

But here you were, being a bright, shining light in his cruel, bleak, dark world. He tried to keep his distance at first, but he couldn’t help but be drawn to you. You were so fun to be around, despite your condition! You always helped as much as you could in the office, being the first one to pick up on his work when he was too lazy busy to complete it and having reports ready for any meetings, even on short notice. You looked out for him, both as a coworker and as a caring friend, and he could tell

You even helped him annoy Kunikida sometimes, which just made you even more stunning in his eyes

He felt himself falling for you more and more everyday, finding excuses to stay in the office just to be next to you. “(Y/N), please don’t strain yourself my dear! Let me handle this for you, I would be a terrible suitor if I didn’t.” “Dazai, I just have to staple these- nevermind, thank you my knight wrapped in bandages!” 

Kunikida would of course hate this and drag him out every time, but all that it concluded in was Dazai whining and complaining about how it was so unfair that he was being kept from his “precious (Y/N)” and how they must be so lonely without him. It got to a point where Kunikida made a compromise with him: if he actually does some work and help on the field missions, then he can spend more time with you in the office

I feel like they forget that Dazai is actually crazy smart and most likely already knows the culprits to whatever cases that they are handling, and he was definitely waiting for this outcome. No extra work for him and more time with you. It’s a win-win!

When he does eventually accept that he was in too deep, he started to take his advances in a more serious manner (I mean he was always being serious but he was not going to hold back anymore). He’s a great listener, so anything that said wanted that was said in passing conversation, expect it to be on your desk with a little sticky note. You had a strong craving for something? What do you know, Dazai brought just enough for both of you to share (and he gave you the bigger portion of it). You want to go see the stars? Sounds like the perfect date night for you two!

That’s how he actually confessed to you, right underneath the stars. It was perfect, you guys were away from everyone, having an amazing time just stargazing. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this at peace, and you were to thank for that. He knew that while he was risking his life on a daily basis, but you were constantly fighting for yours. You couldn’t even go on a mission with how easy it was for you to get an injury you couldn’t recover from. But he had faith in you and in himself, that he wouldn’t let another person that he cares for perish in front of him. He made that promise to you, and that he would do everything in his power to keep it. He will not fail you

After that night, your dates were usually held at your place, and it ranged from cooking together to having movie nights. You didn’t have to spend money really, you were both fine in the house in each other’s arms. And if you did get sick, you thought he was clingy before, WHEW did it get more intense

You had to push him off of you too many times to count. What part of NO HUGS did this man not get?! You were already suffering, he didn’t need to either. He did try to make this a double suicide opportunity though, and you were not very happy

Was banned from cuddles for 3 weeks straight, it was pure torture for him

You were Dazai’s distraction from this horrible joke he called a life, and he was welcoming of you. He embraced you, never complained about your weakness or anything. You were someone that he can proudly say that he loves, and that won’t ever change

Atsushi

He was so nervous, so scared. He doesn’t even know how to look everyone in the eye, how was he suppose to admit that he started to like you more than a friend?!

Atsushi was in love with you, I mean he was in deep. He couldn’t help it! You’re just so nice, so easy to talk to, always there to give him a pep talk and just keep him in high spirits. It just wasn’t fair what hand life had dealt you. He wanted to spend time with you outside of the office, but due to your delicate situation, he was so scared to. What if the Port Mafia tried to strike and he wasn’t strong enough or quick enough to protect you? He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if you died because of him. He wouldn’t be able to live-

So he tried (keyword: tried) to spend time with you at work. But with Kunikida on his ass about work, and Dazai being Dazai making his life difficult for his own amusement, made it difficult. Every time he got a chance, before he could even speak a word, someone needed him for something. If he did somehow had the spare time to talk to you, he would either choke or say something that he really meant but chickened out last minute and tried to change it (which was kinda your fault, you like to tease him sometimes too)

“So, um, (Y/N). I remembered that you said you liked that one takeout spot, so if you want I can bring you some back?”

“You would do that for me, Atsushi? Wow, it’s almost like you’re like my boyfriend!”

“Yep, I don’t mind! It makes me happy when you’re hap-w-WAIT HU-“

But besides that, he always checked on your whenever he got back from his missions (even if he was the one injured and bleeding), brought you back small trinkets or food, and always walked you home, not caring if it was out of his way

He hated that you were confined to the office majority of your time working, but he was worried that literally anything could and would happen on his watch, and he didn’t want to risk it. With Kyoka tired of watching him in distress and even Dazai showing a sliver of compassion for him, they helped him set up an inside date

But first, he had to ask you. Dazai wanted him to do some elaborate, over the top, proposal for asking you out (which Atsushi was pretty sure that he just wanted him to panic and embarrass himself) and Kyoka suggested that he gets you tofu (which he was also convinced that she just wanted some again). He decided that he was just going to have to suck it up, and do it himself. He has been through Hell and back, and if he survived that, then he could ask you on a date damn it!

So he finally got some courage, and directly went up to your desk. When you looked up, you flinched back. What was with the intense look in his eyes?! But you realized soon enough when he bowed and asked you to come over for a date. And of course you said yes!

The date was marvelous, and the poor boy was sweating so much you thought he was going to pass out! Whatever Dazai and Kyoka did to the place blew his expectations out of the water. Latern lights strung up along the walls, your favorite meals readied, little messages stuck to the wall made just for you, and the biggest/most comfortable blanket fort that you had ever seen. It sounded so simple, but one look into your eyes and you were overjoyed. He really did mean it that it made him happy that you were happy

He confessed with you snuggled into his side, so anxious yet at ease. Despite everything that he has gone through, you were brave too. You were stuck in that stressful environment, had a body that could quit on you after one bad day, yet you still encouraged him every day, every time you spoke to him after he’s had a bad day, or an encounter with Akutagawa. He was so convinced that he didn’t you, that he didn’t deserve anything good in his life after the abuse he endured at the orphanage. But you didn’t let him believe that for a second, and he’s indebted to you for that

He poured his heart out to you that night, and ever since, he’s been a lot more confident, both in his ability and in himself. You gave him that push in the right direction to trust himself more, and everyone could see the change (Dazai was pretty proud to be honest)

Dates after that were spent at his apartment, relaxing. Once in a blue moon, you guys would go to the arcade where he won you guys matching Tiger phone charms (he was a little embarrassed but he loved you and the charms too much to let it affect him)

If you did become ill, he would panic so bad that you had to bring him back down to Earth while hacking up a lung (not literally but it felt like it). He tries his best, he’s a little shaken because of how distraught he would get due to your fragile body, but he does care for you pretty well. If you need anything, he was too scared to leave you so Kyoka would be his go-to (with the promise of tofu afterwards)

(But don’t worry she’s a little worried for you too)

Atsushi knew he could never forget the horrors that he experienced at the orphanage, but you reminded him of the strength he had to not let it hold him back. He was your hero without a doubt, but you were his in the sense of how strong you really are, and how you didn’t know or believe it when he told you. You became an overall positive influence on his life, and helped him see life a little brighter and more meaningful. He loves you more than you could imagine, and he would continue to prove it to you in everything that he does.

[taetaespeaches]

I remember you once got a question about how the couples handled being separated due to tours, so based on that, what do you think would be the first thing each couple do when the boys return from tour and how would the girls receive them? Btw I loved your last Jimin fic, it was really cute! Have a nice day :)

Hi love! Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the fic <3 I seriously love this question so much, the idea of bts coming home to you after being away for so long is just :(( soft. So I decided to turn this into a bulleted type of reaction thing, I hope you enjoy.

p.s. this is completely unedited so please forgive any errors <3 

Seokjin: 

Probably yells some dorky thing like “Honey, I’m home” when he walks into apartment

Poopsie comes running through the place and jumps into his arms almost knocking him over

She’ll tease him by asking “What did you bring me?” 

And he responds with “My handsome face” followed by a squeaky laugh

As she’s rolling her eyes but laughing because she genuinely loves his lame jokes, he finally he kisses her

She probably has a fuck ton of food prepared for him

But the food has to wait because as she goes into the kitchen to show him everything she made, he’s watching her and realizes how fucking much he’s missed this woman

Ends up hugging her really tightly and silly Jin is gone for a moment

Grateful happy Jin is here and he just wants to show his Poopsie how much he missed her and loves her

Ends up having sex in the kitchen and then eats all the food afterwards... sanitary

Yoongi:

He’s way too excited to see Kid but heaven forbid he let her know that

This honey boy probably tells Kid his flight lands later than it does and tries to sneak inside to surprise her- but in a cool way- but the door is unlocked so he ends up cursing her under his breath “how many times do I have to tell her to lock the fucking door”

She’s in the shower and he finds himself making a bee line to the bathroom

Popping his head inside, he casually scolds her as if he wasn’t gone on tour for MONTHS 

“Did you lock your door once while I was away, Kid?” 

Kid jumps and lets out a small scream of surprise before poking her head out of the shower to see Yoongi standing there with an adorable pout on his lips and fuck she missed that pout

The words “What the fuck are you doing here?” are out of her mouth before she even knows she’s saying them

And he can’t help but flash a gummy grin because it’s such a Kid thing to say 

“The door was unlocked so I thought I’d just let myself in” 

“Shut up and take your clothes off, Min” and Yoongi thinks of making a smart mouthed comment back but instead he just sheds his clothes before making his way to her 

As soon as he reaches the shower their arms are wrapped around each other and she’s kissing all over his face, giving special attention to his lips

So many I missed you’s and I love you’s

Kid probably tells him how happy she is to have him home and he just feels so comfortable and happy and fuck the dude is SO IN LOVE

And they’re naked and in the shower, so might as well fuck I guess 

Hoseok:

He’s letting Petal know the entire trip exactly where he’s at so by the time he arrives home, she’s waiting at the door

As soon as the door opens Petal is throwing herself at him and Hobi is struggling to hold all his bags as she attacks his face in kisses

As they kiss, Petal is bitching Hobi out for leaving like “I missed you so much, you’re never allowed to leave again, do you know how hard it is to be in this apartment without you?” and Hobi is giggling against her lips as he agrees to never go away again

She finally let’s him inside fully inside the apartment and they sit on the couch and Hobi talks about all sorts of stuff from tour

He’s babbling away excitedly because so much happened and all he wants to do is share it all with his favorite person (even though he already told her everything as it was happening)

Petal keeps stealing kisses as he talks and eventually he just says fuck it and pins her down on the couch

Goes from talkative and cute to heavy and sexy real fucking fast

Namjoon:

He steps inside and Daisy’s sitting on the couch reading a book and he’s like ?? that’s rather calm but ok

And she looks over the book and goes “Well hello stranger” 

And he’s like “What are you reading, Babe?” all casual as he sets his bags down at the door

And she’s like “I’m not, I’m just trying to look nonchalant” and then she throws the book over her head and it lands somewhere on the floor and Joon smiles his stunning dimply smile and runs towards her all dorky like- you know the one 

Probably dives on top of her and she’s thinking oh fuck ok dude I know you’re a child trapped in a man’s body but you’re like massive chill but she doesn’t say any of that and instead just laughs and wraps her arms and legs around him like a koala 

So much kissing

And giggling

And they have sex almost immediately 

And then afterwards they cuddle and hold each other and they just stay there for a couple hours because wow they missed each other a lot

Namjoon probably talks and talks and talks about tour and Daisy loves every second of it because he’s so happy

Jimin:

He steps inside the apartment and Dear is waiting at the kitchen island with a bottle of wine and she has a playlist of their favorite songs playing and he almost cries immediately and she’s sitting there trying to hold her own tears back

And she just says “Welcome home, my love” and he smiles at her and that at the same time they hurry toward each other and meet in the middle and they just hug for a really long time

Like one of those massive tight hugs where they’re swaying their bodies and they’re probably both tearing up and confessing how much they love and missed each other

Keep in mind tours bring out some anxiety for them for a good while because of that time Jimin kinda sorta broke up with Dear while he was on tour

Therefore, when they get reunited, it’s emotional

Probably the one couple that doesn’t have sex super soon after he arrives

Instead they do their favorite pastime- drink wine and slow dance around the apartment

He talks about tour and she listens to every word in awe

She talks about what she’s been up to and he acts as though it’s just as exciting as his tour stories because to him it actually is

They’ve both already heard all of the stories but they’re retelling them because why not

He says something like “As much as I love tour and seeing ARMY, being here with you is the best feeling in the world” 

And she’s like ok well I’m madly fucking in love with this guys and she just kisses him so goddamn passionately and then they finally get it in

Taehyung:

Look, Peaches had a plan

She was going to greet him at the door with a lingerie set on and they were going to fuck on every surface of the apartment

But his flight landed a little early and quite frankly she lost track of time anyway

She was probably cleaning and got distracted by an old photo album or some shit- you know how that goes- and all of a sudden her front door opens and she’s like “oh fuck” and looks at the lingerie set sitting on the bed like well shit because she’s just sitting on the floor of her bedroom wearing an old t-shirt from high school and sweatpants 

She calls out for him and he follows her voice and as soon as he sees her he’s just overwhelmed with emotion because PEACHES

He strides across the room as soon as she stands to greet him, he wraps his arm around her waist and kisses her so deeply and passionately that she nearly loses her balance

Pulling away to look at her, his gaze is intense as he observes her features, taking in every detail because fuck he missed her

And she’s just like “Do you know how much I missed you, Dearest?” and that has him smiling as he throws her onto the bed

And that’s when he notices the lingerie and he’s like “oh?” and she apologizes for losing track of time

And that’s when Tae finally smiles so fucking big and chuckles boyishly and her heart melts because goddammit she hasn’t seen that boxy smile or heard that adorable laugh in person in SO LONG and she pulls him into a kiss 

She promises she’ll put the lingerie on for round two and Tae is giggling as he starts taking her lounge clothes off

Because as much as he appreciates the effort and though of the lingerie, he’s just so fucking in love with Peaches and he missed her even more than he realized

Jungkook:

The man gets his damn romance movie kiss ok? ok. 

They have no chill

He texts her to let her know he just pulled up and she runs outside to greet him

As soon as he’s out of the car she’s running at him and he catches her and lifts her and kisses her deeply with her legs wrapped around his waist

Probably sets her on the hood of the car and continues kissing her for a moment

When they finally decide like hey we should go inside and stop making out in front of anyone and everyone, she insists on helping carry his bags and he’s whining about how he doesn’t need help and she’s waving him off

As soon as they’re inside, he has her pinned against the back of the door

“You’re such a brat, I told you I could handle the bags”

And she rolls her eyes and he kisses her deeply

And just as it’s getting heavy, she whispers, “I’m so happy you’re home, baby, I missed you more than I thought was even possible” 

Well shit, now Guk is S O F T and he’s pressing his forehead against hers and tears form in his eyes

They just stay like that for a moment, taking in the feeling of being together again after so long

Jungkook probably decides in that moment that he’s going to marry this woman some day because anyone who makes him feel so welcomed and loved and appreciated and comforted and happy when he gets home from tour has got to be worth spending the rest of his life with

What probably was going to be rough sex turns into the most romantic passionate sex they’ve ever fucking had

Afterwards Holly’s like “fuck, you should go on tour more often” 

and Kookie is giggling like “yeah? well too bad, good luck getting rid of me ever again” 

[harringrovetrashrat]

The Gobbler II: The Witching Hour

Harringrove Big Bang 2021 is here!!! A huge thanks to @harringrovebigbang for organizing this!  Also a huge thanks to my team, @monsdasarah and @catharrington, who did the art and moodboard, respectively.

But without further ado, here we go.  The Gobbler II.  Time to get cracky.

Steve wasn’t counting the days until the full moon. He wasn’t.

Fine, he was. He was thinking about Billy at pretty much every chance he got. Because, while the blow job had been fucking mind blowing, Billy was… Billy had insisted on them hanging out some, going over rules and such, as well as sharing emergency information should anything happen while Billy wasn’t in control. And Billy was funny. He was smart. He was an asshole.

Check, check, check. Each box for Steve’s Horny/Falling Deeply in Love list had been checked and Steve was struggling. He could deal with Billy being hot, a lot of people were hot, and Steve could get over that. Hell, he’d thought Robin was hot until she very kindly turned him down. But the problem was that Billy wasn’t just hot. Steve liked him. Liked him, liked him. Third grade schoolyard liked him. Because while Billy was snarky and rude and a total dick when he wanted to be, Steve could tell he had a good heart. He saw it in the care Billy took with him regarding everything with The Gobbler. Saw it when Billy mentioned his sister and his eyes softened, even if he called her a shitbird. Hell, Steve watched Billy step over an ant hill instead of on it and his knees went weak.

He was fucked and he knew it.

“I still don’t know,” Robin said, brow furrowed with worry. Steve was finishing up the garlands she needed, weaving together the hay and wheat so flowers could be intertwined safely without fear of them falling out. He sighed and set down the garland before stretching out his fingers.

“Robin--”

“I know, I know,” she said, cutting him off with a sigh as she paced back and forth in the living room while he worked. “But I don’t fucking trust him! And while I’m glad you won’t be traversing the woods--” She cut herself off, eyes narrowing. “You’re both staying inside, yeah? You’re not planning on going looking for it are you?” Steve rolled his eyes.

“We aren’t going to look for The Gobbler in the woods. We won’t even look at the woods.” Steve felt bad, just a bit, when Robin visibly calmed from the reaffirmation, though she did continue to pace. He knew she was just worried about him, but still. He did know what he was doing. Mostly. Enough. Steve stood and wiped off his hands before halting her movements by pulling her into a hug. “I know you’re worried,” he mumbled into her hair. He pulled back, giving her a smile. “But seriously. It’s gonna be okay. I know you don’t trust him, but do you trust me?” Robin scoffed, rolling her eyes a little with a small, fond smile. “Actually, don’t answer that.”

“I was gonna say,” she replied with a smirk. “You don’t exactly have the best track record.” She let out a sigh, enough nervous energy finally leaving her body for her to plop onto the couch. “But I get it. I know you won’t let him do anything you don’t like, but I just… Something is… off.” She shook her head as Steve looked away, choosing to go back to finishing the garland instead of responding. Robin was right, and while Steve wasn’t a bad liar by any means, she knew him too well. Robin looked. She listened. She saw his nervous tics and heard the words he didn’t say. So instead, he said nothing and finished the garland as she checked through her notebook and made sure everything was accounted for.

By the time Steve finished, Robin was done packing up the rest of her things.

“Hope tonight goes well,” Steve said, giving her another quick, firm hug as they stood in the doorway. He pulled back, grinning wide. “Say hi to Heather for me,” he said sweetly, getting a shove from Robin as her face turned red.

“Oh my god,” she groaned. “Shut up!” Still, she smiled, and gave Steve a softer, more playful shove. “Have a good night. Don’t stink up the house with your boy fumes.” Steve snorted and shook his head.

“Billy and I both smell great, thank you.” Robin rolled her eyes and headed out, hopping onto her bike and waving one last time as she rode off. Steve waved until he could no longer see her, sighing happily as he went back in the house. It was only a moment however before he kicked it into overdrive. Steve ran to the living room, shoving everything away. He wanted things to be clean and ready, anything breakable moved out of the way. He had no idea how the night was going to pan out, no idea if Billy would even go for him again. How did the curse even work? Would he need a different dick every month? Would their plan even work?

Steve decided that he didn’t care. That they would figure it out. That he would figure this out, no matter what. Billy acted cool and unbothered, but it was obvious that this curse made him… Unhappy wasn’t the right word, but neither was disgusted. Uncomfortable, maybe? Steve could work it out later; right now, he needed to focus on getting the house Gobbler proofed.

Steve was up and out of his seat in record time when he heard the doorbell ring. He had to stop himself in the entryway and take a few deep breaths. It was probably weird how excited he was. How much he wanted this. But, Steve had a crush, a big one, and he was known to have poor judgement when he was into someone. Steve ran his hand through his hair before finally opening the door.

“I was wondering if you were gonna stand there forever or let me in,” Billy joked as he stepped into the house and brushed Steve’s shoulder with his. Steve flushed as he remembered the stained glass window in the front door, where Billy probably saw him run up and stop. He swallowed his embarrassment and followed Billy to the living room. While he had been over a few times, they usually had met up at Billy’s place. Robin’s distrust of Billy made him nervous, put him on edge, so he didn’t like coming to Steve’s often. Which sucked. But today Billy was here. He was here and he was standing in Steve’s living room, looking around with a small smile. “You and Buckley decorate like fucking grandmas,” he said, turning to give Steve a teasing smile, tongue caught between his teeth. It made Steve’s heart stutter.

Yeah, he was royally fucked. This was probably the worst idea he’d ever had.

He was still gonna do it.

“You should do an open mic, really, with all those zingers,” Steve replied. Billy cackled and Steve smirked back. “C’mon. We can come back down here to order pizza and put on something, but I, uh,” he faltered, turning a little red. “I figure you can put your bag in my room?” His nerves made it sound like a question, but he wasn’t the only one feeling a little funny about it, since Billy also went red. He blushed down his neck and Steve wondered how far down it went. To his collarbone? His nips? Steve cleared his throat and gestured to the stairs, leading Billy up silently.

“It’s a nice house,” Billy said quietly, breaking through the tension. “Grandma accents aside.” Steve snorted and opened the door to his room, suddenly anxious for Billy to like it. He had plants on plants, pots on every shelf, every nook, every cranny. Herbs lined his window sill, along with a few succulents. Steve loved plants. Loved the energy they brought. His parents had hated how he had loved to be in the dirt, to feel the magic of earth and nurse it, keep it thriving and strong. They were white magic users, full of spectacle and grace. Steve, well, wasn’t.

The rest of his room was somewhat bland, lots of greens and blues, the wood of his bed frame and desk a nice light brown. Billy looked around, eyes a little wide, setting his bag on Steve’s made bed. His room was cluttered, but organized, and Billy seemed amused at all the little knick knacks Steve had.

“Wow,” Billy breathed. “I don’t know why but I expected more plaid.”

“I don’t know whether to take offense to that or not,” Steve replied with a grin. Billy shrugged, his smile easy going.

“Your choice.” Billy went to the window, looking out at the garden in the backyard. “I’m gonna assume you’re the one who did the garden too?” Steve joined him by the window, looking down.

“Kind of. I do a lot of the gardening, but Robin helps a lot. We like to have native species of plants, and I hate nettles, so she’s the one who deals with them.” It was nice, talking to Billy. He seemed genuinely curious to know Steve and he hadn’t had anyone this interested in him since school, when he still reaped the benefits that came from his last name.

“Native species?” Billy asked, turning to Steve.

“Oh, I could go on for hours, you don’t want--” Steve began, face flushing.

“Dude,” Billy said, huffing slightly as he turned to face Steve more. “I like hearing what you have to say, okay? You don’t gotta censor yourself for me.” And there it was. The soft nougaty bit of Billy Hargrove that made Steve feel soft and squishy and seen.

“Well, why don’t we order the pizza and then we can talk?” Steve asked. He wanted to get out of his room before he shoved Billy onto the bed here and now. Steve had an inkling that Billy felt the same, but he was incredibly nervous that he was just reading too much into the situation. So instead of facing his feelings like an adult, Steve turned and headed downstairs, hearing Billy’s heavier footsteps behind him. He grabbed the phone out of the cradle, punching in the phone number for the best pizza place in town. “What do you like on your pizza?”

“Pineapple and onion. I can do ham or no ham.” Billy said it casually, like he hadn’t just spouted out the most disgusting combo Steve had ever heard.

“Oh, dude, I dunno. That’s crossing a damn line--” Steve began, aghast at the idea of pineapple on pizza, much less paired with onion.

“It’s good!” Billy protested with a pout. “Listen, order a medium one and then whatever your dainty tastebuds want. You’re gonna try it and I know you’re gonna like it.” Steve gave him a blank look, unimpressed and unconvinced. Billy just crossed his arms and raised a brow, tilting his head. Steve sighed and when Benny picked up the phone, he ordered.

When the pizzas arrived (pineapple and onion for Billy, while Steve got the olives and green peppers), Billy sat Steve down on the couch, handed him a slice, and sat on the coffee table, staring intently. Steve eyed the pizza, then Billy, then the pizza again.

“Trust me,” Billy said. “It’s good.” Steve sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically before daintily going in for a bite. “That’s a fucking nibble, get some of all of it, asshole.” Steve shot Billy an exasperated look, but he did take a real bite. And… Fuck. That smug asshole was right. The acidity and tart sweetness of the pineapple paired well with the sweet onion and the acidity of the tomato sauce. It was savory and sweet, with some good crunch, and Steve couldn’t help his surprised groan, staring at the pizza in shock. Billy made a choked noise and Steve looked at him, eyes wide.

“It is good,” Steve replied, taking another bite. Billy’s face was flushed, but Steve didn’t pay much attention, snarfing up his slice quickly.

“Told you,” Billy said, grin wide and proud. “It’s good shit. I know my food, dude.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Steve said through his mouthful of pizza. “You win this one, Blue.” At that, Billy paused, giving Steve a confused but curious look.

“Blue?” Steve blushed and realized he’d never actually said that nickname out loud before. Not in real life, at least.

“Yeah, uh, like your uh, your eyes,” Steve stammered out. Billy looked at him, silent, looking torn about something. Finally, his face settled and he snorted, shaking his head.

“Should I call you Brown?” Billy asked, snatching up a slice for himself. Steve fake gagged.

“Oh god no, please don’t.”

“Sure thing, Brown Eyes.”

“Billy, I literally said--”

“You said not to call you Brown. This is different.” Steve groaned while Billy smirked around the string of cheese connecting his lips to the pizza. They continued to joke around while they ate, Billy flinging the olives off his slices, like they had personally offended him. Eventually though, it was starting to get dark. Steve could see the tension and stress building inside Billy as the night went forward, inching closer and closer to the peak of the moon.

“Do you know when it’ll happen?” Steve asked. The pizza boxes had been broken down and put into the compost bin, all the leftovers wrapped in foil and put away. The sun had set and the only light in the house was from the multiple lamps Steve had. Billy had been subdued for the last hour, getting lost in his head. Steve knew because he did the same thing. “Just, like, is it a set time or does it depend on the season?”

“9 PM,” Billy replied softly, his earlier mirth replaced with concern and anxiety. “You don’t have to do this. You really don’t.” They’d had this talk multiple times, but Steve could see the weight on Billy’s shoulders. He knew how it felt to feel like a burden, so he reached out and took Billy’s hand.

“Maybe we met in some weird ways, but you’re my friend.” Billy looked at him, eyes shining a bit. “I wanna help you with this, and if we have a way to keep you inside and distracted all night? Why wouldn’t we?”

“But--”

“You aren’t forcing me into anything, Billy. This is a choice I am making. Clear headed and sure.” Billy visibly relaxed, sagging a little. Steve kept hold of Billy’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “You wanna go up to my room?” Billy went red at that, flushing down his neck again.

“Yeah.” They walked up in relative silence, tension creeping again, but this time it was different. Steve felt electricity on his skin, felt heat curl in his belly. Billy sat on the edge of Steve’s bed, already looking out of it. “You can strip and leave your clothes on the dresser if you want,” Steve suggested. Billy just nodded, standing up. He stripped slowly, turning his back to Steve like they weren’t about to have sex. Still, Steve let Billy have his privacy. He did catch a glimpse of Billy’s ass, toned and tight, and he licked his lips, mouth suddenly dry and sticky.

“Thank you,” Billy whispered, and if it hadn’t been so quiet in the room, Steve wasn’t sure he would have heard him. Steve nodded, reaching behind him to find Billy’s hand and squeeze. There was a sharp intake of breath and a squeeze back. Looking back at the clock on his nightstand it said 8:59. Steve very suddenly was hit with the vivid memory of his torn jeans last time, and he scrambled to get out of his clothes.

“Shit!” Steve hissed. “God damn it!” He was nearly tripping out of his pants when he heard a low growl start from behind him. He paused, hairs standing on end in anticipation. He knew it was Billy but there was something so different about the timber of the noise. Steve turned to look behind him and Billy was standing there, head hung, hair gone limp, staring at Steve from under his brow. It sent a shiver through Steve, right to his dick. “Hey there,” he said, voice shaky. The Gobbler staggered forward, looking out of depth in these surroundings.

“Schm...eat…?” Steve let out a puff of breath, nervous laughter bubbling in his throat.

“Schmeat,” Steve replied with a nod. It was like flipping a switch. One moment, he was Billy, nervous and and ansty, the next, he was The Gobbler. It showed in the way he seemed to have a singular drive, a singular purpose. The way he heard Steve’s confirmation and everything else seemed to leave The Gobbler’s mind except getting Steve laid out. Strong arms hoisted him up and Steve let out a small squeak of air. “The bed! Put me on the bed!” He said, since The Gobbler was eyeing the window. He landed on the mattress with an oof, looking up as The Gobbler crawled on top of him. It was quick, a blink and he was above Steve.

“Schmeat. Hole.” Steve’s brows shot up.

“Hole? I thought you just sucked?” Did Billy-- The Gobbler wanna fuck him? Like, he definitely wasn’t against that, but he thought Billy had mentioned it was more an oral craving that anything else. The Gobbler growled again, moving down to nose at Steve’s balls. “Oh, shit,” Steve gasped. That was fast. He could feel drool dripping onto his groin and, while he was already getting hard, the process went a little quicker at the feeling.

“Hole,” The Gobbler repeated, more insistent this time.

“Okay?” Steve replied, because he really didn’t--

And then he was suddenly flipped over, face down, ass up, with his cheeks spread, saliva dripping down his crack.

“Oh,” Steve gasped. That’s what he meant. The warm spit cooled in the air of the room, sending a shudder up Steve’s spine. He grunted, arching his back a little. “Fuck yeah,” he breathed out. It ended in a choked off stutter when he felt a wet, hot tongue drag itself over his hole. He could feel the rumble as The Gobbler growled once again, this one less aggressive and more lustful. “That all big guy?” Steve teased, honestly a little desperate to feel more. “C’mon, go at--” Steve cried out when he felt lips against his hole, sucking the skin. “Ohmygodohmygod,” Steve chanted, suddenly painfully erect. He hadn’t been expecting that at all and holy shit did it feel good.

Steve’s reactions were paid no mind as The Gobbler pressed his face into Steve’s ass, a low moan rumbling from his chest. He was salivating, spit already dribbling down Steve’s taint to his balls. He sucked at Steve’s hole, leaving a hickey just to the right of it. Steve keened, dick already starting to leak. Apparently, they weren’t wasting any time today. The Gobbler slurped up his drool, lapping at Steve’s hole, which was already starting to look red and puffy. Steve gripped the sheets, holding on for the ride as The Gobbler’s tongue started making long broad strokes up his crack. Each lick was hot and wet and left Steve shaking. He could feel sweat beading at his temples and on his back. There was a grunt and Steve’s hips were shifted, ass tilted up more. The sting of the burn from the mustache grazing across his skin paired so perfectly with the soft velvet of the tongue soothing over it. Steve’s mind was already fogging over, eyes going a little hazy.

“Shit,” he murmured into his pillow, each stroke of the tongue pulling tiny gasps and moans from him. The sounds alone drove him wild and Steve wished he could grab his dick and stroke, but honestly he had no idea if he would be allowed. Wondered too if he could cum just from this. It was looking quite likely. Especially as The Gobbler started wiggling his tongue inside him, licking into his hole desperately. Steve was loosening up, but apparently it wasn’t enough, seeing as there was a whine from behind him and a nose pushing even harder into his crack. The wiggling was teasing and light, a steady pressure that was driving Steve a little mad. He pushed back, a whimper escaping his lips and fuck, there. He could feel the tongue wiggle in just a little farther as he pushed back, getting another moan from behind him. “Yeah, yeah, fuck,” Steve moaned, starting to steadily roll his hips back against The Gobbler’s face. The hands on his cheeks gripped a little tighter, maybe even enough to bruise. Steve selfishly hoped so.

The Gobbler began to fuck Steve with his tongue, each thrust opening Steve up more and more. He could feel spit dribbling down his crack, down his balls, dripping onto the sheets. His dick was hard, so fucking hard, and Steve tilted his head to look down. There were tiny globs and strings of pre coming from his cock, leaving a small growing stain on the sheets as well. Steve was definitely gonna have to do some laundry after this.

With harsh, heavy breaths, The Gobbler finally pulled back. Already Steve had a poor sense of time, and with his brain steadily melting into a pile of warm, blissed out goo, he had no idea how long The Gobbler had been eating his ass. Like it was his last meal and he was a starving man. Steve couldn’t help the desperate whine that escaped his throat, or the way his ass pushed back, seeking that hot tongue. He jerked when there was cool air blown onto his hole. The Gobbler switched between blowing on the cooling spit dripping down Steve’s taint and his now red and loose asshole. It made Steve shake, made his thighs tremble as sounds were pulled out from deep inside his chest ah, ah, ah. It had him gritting his teeth and clutching the sheets so tightly his knuckles were white. Teeth grazed along the meat of his ass, gently nipping at the skin and making Steve jerk forward with each light sting of teeth. The Gobbler started to suck, marking up Steve’s ass with his mouth like he didn’t know any other way to do it.

Not that Steve was complaining. Like, at all. His ass was probably gonna give him plenty of trouble tomorrow, but he couldn’t find the energy to care. Not when this felt so good. He gasped, sweat dripping down his face and onto the pillow below him as The Gobbler dove in again. Steve’s hands twisted in the sheets, moans practically leaking from his throat at the tongue wiggling it’s way into his asshole again. He was so loose, and just from his tongue. Even the thought made him shudder as more precome leaked from his dick, adding to the stain already spreading on the sheets. When The Gobbler pulled away for air, Steve could feel his asshole flutter, desperate for something to fill it again. He actually yelled when suddenly there was a finger pushing into him. It paused, hesitant, and Steve pushed back against it, hips moving as he fucked himself. A glob of spit slid down his crack and the finger pushed it inside him.

“Oh god,” Steve cried out, feeling his balls start to tighten. “Oh god, oh god, oh god--” And suddenly a hand clamped around the base of his dick, keeping him from cumming. Steve whined, loud and long, starting to turn over and push himself up.

“Mine!” The Gobbler snarled and pressed against his back, pushing him down into the mattress. Steve inhaled sharply as his finger shoved in farther, curling it up as he pulled it out.

“Fuck!” Steve screamed, unable to cum but feeling so fucking desperate. “B-Billy! Please!” He didn’t even really register that he’d called him Billy. Didn’t feel the desperation in the way the second finger pushed in, a little early. But Steve just made a low sound of pleasure, relishing in the burn of the stretch. It was the perfect amount to accentuate the pleasure without overpowering it.

The Gobbler panted into Steve’s ear and he could feel the drool dripping down onto the junction of his neck and shoulder. It shouldn’t have been so hot. Steve shuddered, feeling The Gobbler’s erection grazing against his ass cheek. He wanted it at least between his cheeks if it wasn’t gonna go inside. But The Gobbler didn’t even seem concerned with his own erection, just with touching Steve. He mouthed at Steve’s neck and between his shoulder blades, fingering Steve slowly. The tenderness of the kisses and the changed pace altered the feeling completely, and suddenly it was intimate. The pads of The Gobbler’s fingers massaged his prostate and Steve’s back arched. His hair was nearly wet with sweat, the whole room reeking of musk and sex. Goosebumps pebbled his skin as a shock went through him, the world focused to the sheets below him and Billy, The Gobbler, pressed up close behind him. The Gobbler took his fingers out slowly, pulling back. Steve whined, arm reaching out behind him. But instead, hands grabbed his hips and helped turn him over.

Hair splayed out around him, sheets mussed and wrinkled from being twisted and wrenched tight in his fists, Steve lay there, gazing up at The Gobbler. He hovered above him, hair draping down and shadowing his face. Still, his eyes shone bright, staring into Steve’s so intensely it made his dick leak. It was angry and red, throbbing as it bobbed, nothing giving him enough satisfaction to come. The Gobbler grinned, ducking down to suck one of Steve’s nipples into his mouth. Steve arched into it, hand gripping the back of his head. The Gobbler groaned, low and rumbling, hips rolling and his hard cock smeared pre along the vee of Steve’s hips. Steve was mush. Utter mush. His face was flushed and his eyes were glazed as The Gobbler went down, down, down and finally took Steve’s aching dick into his mouth. With one hard, wet suck, The Gobbler’s head bobbing only one time, Steve came with a shout that stuttered into silence. He came so hard his vision went white for a second. The Gobbler swallowed around him, drool mixed with jizz leaking from the corners of his mouth as he humped the sheets, fast and ruthless. Steve’s toes curled and his legs spasmed, knees tightening around The Gobbler’s ribs.

There was a loud slurp and a smack as The Gobbler pulled off Steve’s dick, letting it flop onto his groin, wet, shiny and softening. He swallowed audibly, letting out a moan as he came into the sheets, damp with sweat and drool. Steve watched him through half lidded eyes, watching as Billy blinked away the remains of The Gobbler. Steve smiled as his favorite pair of blue eyes turned to him, staring at him in awe. He wasn’t sure what other emotions he was seeing; he was too tired to discern much.

“You have got one hell of a tongue,” Steve slurred out. Billy continued to stare at him, eyes wide.

“You… You said my name,” he stammered out. Steve blinked at him, honestly drained and finding it hard to figure out just what Billy meant. And then, as sleep overtook him, it clicked. Fuck.

Steve woke up with a jolt and a sharp inhale. He blinked, looking out his window where the sky was still dark. He sat up, already starting to feel how sore his ass was. Billy must have gone ham on the biting and stubble rubbing, because he felt kinda raw. A good raw though, something that made him smile a bit at each tiny twing.

Then Steve remembered that he had actually shown his whole ass by moaning Billy’s name and a chill went down his spine. Billy wasn’t in the room, wasn’t on the bed, but Steve saw that his jeans were still on the floor, and it made him relax a bit. He got up, tossing on an old shirt and some sweats, before making his way downstairs quietly. The clock read 4:45, so Steve had definitely conked out deeply after he came. Billy wasn’t in the kitchen, but when Steve went into the living room, he saw Billy sitting by the window in the large armchair. He was resting his chin on his fist, just staring at the forest behind the house, lost in his thoughts. He had a glass of water on the table next to him, and didn’t look upset, so Steve took that as a good sign to start. He was quiet as he walked closer, pausing when Billy sighed heavily.

“I can hear you thinking from there, Steve,” Billy said quietly, without any heat.

“Sorry,” Steve replied on reflex. He sat down on the couch, watching as Billy continued to gaze out the window. “I--”

“Why did you say my name,” Billy asked, voice quiet and unsure. Steve looked down at his hands, pulling and tugging at each other as he wrung them together. He didn’t know quite what to say. It would have been weird to call out Gobbler, but he knew what Billy meant. In fact, was kinda shocked he even remembered.

“I… I mean, it won’t change my answer either way, and I don’t mean it as like-- Fuck,” Steve grumbled, rubbing his forehead with his hand. “How do you remember that? I thought--”

“I get… Bits. Not everything. I’m able to remember small things and feelings and small clips, but mostly it’s hazy. I can’t piece it all together. But,” Billy took a breath, deep and bracing. “I didn’t imagine that part, did I?” His voice was calm and unannoyed, but Steve still felt his stomach wriggling around inside him.

“No. You didn’t. I… Billy, I’m selfish,” Steve began, words coming out on a shaky breath. But this needed to be said. And he needed to apologize. “The first time this happened I mean… I hadn’t gotten laid in ages and you were hot and so it worked out. But this… time I--”

“Steve--” Billy said, voice laced with hurt and curiosity.

“Please,” Steve got out, cutting Billy off. “Let me. Let me say it all and then we can. We can talk.” Steve sniffed, rubbing his sweaty palms on his thighs. “This past month getting to know you has been so incredible. You’re a smart guy, just enough of an asshole, and you… You listen to me. And you care. The first thing you were concerned about last month was me, even though you’re under a spell forced to do a bunch of weird shit! Me! You were concerned about me!” Steve could feel Billy watching him, but eye contact would make his throat close up and maybe make him vomit, so he kept them at the table. “I know we don’t know each other super well -- I mean, it’s only been a month -- but I… You’re an interesting person and I fucking like you. I like you so much, Billy. All of you. Seriously.” Steve let out a long breath, closing his eyes to focus on getting the lump in his throat small enough that he could talk. “You need someone to help you and I… I’m too selfish to say no, even though I should because you--”

“Fucking christ, Steve,” Billy said, voice closer than it should be. Steve’s head snapped up and Billy was across the coffee table, leaning forward and bracing himself as he gazed at Steve. He didn’t look mad, didn’t look annoyed. Looked more fond than anything else and Steve felt his stomach do flips that were more along the neutral vein than flips that felt like he was about to start weeping. “You gotta let me get a word in.” Steve looked away again, apology ready to tumble from his lips, but Billy’s hand came and tilted his chin up, making him lose all ability to form thoughts, much less words. “Just to, yanno, condense all that, you said my name because you… you wanted it to be me?” Steve nodded, feeling his cheeks heat up. But when Billy smiled, relieved and excited and hopeful… It was so bright and overwhelming, Steve’s heart started fluttering, all of his insides squirming in joy and delight. “I’ve been so fucking worried. Because I really thought you were just… Humoring me. That this was you feeling like you maybe had to, or just to get some dick while you could--”

“I would never--” Steve began, horrified at the idea of using this against Billy.

“I know,” Billy replied gently, brushing his thumb over Steve’s cheekbone. “I know. It’s happened enough before I was worried I was being swayed into some false sense of security, but,” Billy let out a huffy laugh, smile going soft, “But this is just you. You’re just like this.”

“Like what?” Steve asked, unable to raise his voice above a whisper as he looked at Billy. Took in everything about him in the soft light of the moon. There was a shift in the air, something beautiful and new coming into fruition. Magic fluttered around them, Steve could feel it, bright and eager. It made the house feel warmer, feel fuller, and Steve’s breaths started coming in a little heavier. It took more energy to pull it in, but it was filling and exciting, making his skin tingle and thrum. His fingers itched to run over Billy’s skin. Which, come to think of it, he could do.

“Kind. Good. Silly.” Billy listed, pupils dilating as he moved around the coffee table, hand never leaving Steve’s face. Steve was grateful, unsure he could handle the feeling of loss if Billy had stopped touching him. As Billy sat, Steve’s hand came to settle at the small of Billy’s back, fire sparking in his gut and heart as their skin touched. Billy’s breath came in shaky, stuttering, and Steve leaned closer, their foreheads touching. “When you’re as hot as I am,” and some of the tensions eased at that, a snort escaping Steve before he could stop it, the magic shifting from something waiting for a spark to something more grounded. The feeling of hearth and home. “Yeah yeah,” Billy replied with a grin, “I know, I know. But really. People… Don’t see the person behind the abs.” It was silly, but Steve understood what he meant. Understood the struggle of people not just being blind to the person inside the body, but refusing to look beyond what they saw. “So thank you. For not being like everyone else.” Billy kissed him then and--

Steve was a witch, had been born into magic and felt it thrumming inside him. He’d been open to magic all his life, had felt the shift in magic during the change of the seasons, had done spells that had filled the room with power. Steve had seen amazing feats and more, but this kiss sent something through him. Something strong and vibrant and like nothing he’d ever felt. A crashing wave of signals and comments from the Earth and the magic within. He was overwhelmed with everything that coursed through him from the chaste kiss, hand pressing Billy closer as he tilted his head, mouth opening slowly. The kiss wasn’t hurried. It wasn’t hot and heavy. But it made Steve’s skin prickle with goosebumps, made his heart race and his lungs squeeze. He pressed closer, feeling Billy’s hand drop from his cheek to his shoulder, thumb brushing over his collar bone. It was a languid kiss, drawn out between a drag of the tongue, a light bite, the shared breaths between them.

When Billy finally pulled back, Steve knew his cheeks were flushed and he was panting just a little. It would have been embarrassing if Billy wasn’t also blushing, all the way down to his chest.

“I think,” Steve said, trying to catch his breath. “I think that we should go on a real date.” Billy’s laugh was bright in response, his head falling to rest at the junction of Steve’s neck and shoulder.

“Of course,” he breathed out. “Of course that’s what you’d say first.” Before Steve could even pretend to be offended, Billy kissed his neck, soft and sweet, his mustache dragging along Steve’s skin just a bit. “I’d love that. I’d love that a lot. But maybe we should get some sleep first, Brown Eyes.” Steve could feel the energy draining out of Billy now that the air had been cleared, and sleep started to tug at him as well. Even as he rolled his eyes at Billy’s simple nickname. However, he would have been lying had he said it didn’t thrill him and make his insides flutter.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Steve said in agreement. They moved together, hands still grabbing gently at each other, both of them unable to separate for long, if at all. It was like the truth had magnetized them and they just couldn’t fight the need to connect. They fell into the bed, smiling and warm and excited, ready for what this change would do for them.

As much as Steve wanted a languid morning filled with slow kisses and gentle touches in the lazy morning sun, Billy had places to be. Specifically, helping his sister Max.

“She’s moving in with her boyfriend, finally,” Billy replied when Steve asked, mouth full of egg and toast. It should have been gross, but Steve only found it endearing. “I won’t say I think it’s their best idea, but they’re at least keeping separate rooms. I know Max needs her own space.” Steve nodded, using the corner of his toast to burst the yolk of his fried egg.

“It’s good of you to help out,” Steve said, dipping his toast into the yolk as he cut through the egg with the edge of his fork.

“More like it’s required because I missed helping her move into her last place. Not like I was fucking sick or anything.” He set down his fork, plate already clean, before downing the coffee in the mug before him. “Sorry to eat and go, I would really rather stay here and--”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Steve said with a chuckle. He was also eager to talk more about them, but promises made were promises kept. “We have plenty of time, yeah? I mean, you can always come back here later,” Steve purred, thrilling a bit when Billy’s cheeks flushed.

“Don’t tempt me or I won’t leave,” Billy said, standing and leaning down to cup Steve’s cheek, kissing him lightly.

“That a promise?” They were distracted by the door opening, separating slowly. Robin came in as Billy was leaving the kitchen, both of them awkwardly giving the other space while pretending they weren’t doing just that. “How’d it go?”

“We’ll see this winter,” Robin replied, snatching the last bit of his egg between her fingers and quickly shoving it into her mouth.

“Hey!”

“Snooze you lose, dingus,” she said with a grin. “Last night go...okay? Anything happen?” She searched his eyes for any hint of deception and, for once, Steve wasn’t really worried about what she’d find.

“Kind of?” Steve said, mouth tugging into a smile. Robin furrowed her brow. “Nothing bad, seriously, all good things.”

“Steve?” Billy asked, knocking on the door frame. Steve stood and went over, leaning in close. “I gotta head out, but I’ll text you later, okay?”

“Sounds good, Blue,” Steve replied. Billy just smiled, eyes darting to Robin for a moment before he ducked in for a kiss.

“Catch ya later, Brown Eyes,” Billy replied as he headed out the door. Steve rolle dhis eyes, but really couldn’t help the smile on his face. Billy left with a wave and wink, disappearing into his car, and leaving Steve feeling smitten on the doorstep. He watched Billy’s car go, jumping when Robin’s voice came from right behind him.

“So that’s what happened, huh?” She asked, voice lightly amused. Steve blushed and shut the door, turning to give her a sheepish look.

“I did say it wasn’t bad.” When Robin didn’t reply with a quip, Steve paused, smile freezing on his face. “Rob?”

“I’m happy for you, Steve, really, I am,” she said, and Steve could hear the ‘but…’ coming from a mile away. “But I still think you need to be careful.”

“Robin, please--”

“It’s not about me trusting him this time.” Steve looked up at that, curious. “It’s because… Steve. I’ve only seen you this smitten with one other person in my life, and that was Nancy.” That. That made Steve freeze. He’d loved Nancy fiercely, too fiercely, and had been utterly smashed when she’d broken it off. Had been depressed for months. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Oh.” Steve wasn’t sure how to respond. Because he didn’t think he was that attached yet. Even if the idea of never talking to Billy again made it hard to breathe and made his lungs tighten and made his eyes water--

Oh fuck, Steve thought.

[delos-mio]

First Thing To Go - DAY 1

DAY 1

Around dinner time and with a complimentary drink in hand, you took the elevator to the top floor. The Oceanfront Suite at the Four Seasons Maui awaited you and Kendra- two full weeks of what was supposed to be romance and relaxation. Now it seemed you wouldn’t be experiencing either. You made it to the grand white double doors of the suite and let yourselves in. 

The suite was enormous with a living and dining room, doors off to the side that led to a master bedroom with a canopied California king bed. The en suite had a jacuzzi with crisp, white his and her robes hanging beside it. Your mouth downturned and you quickly spun on your heel, eager to look at anything else. 

“Holy shit,” Kendra said with a whistle. “You guys were really gonna ball out.”

“Were,” you muttered and tossed your bag aside. 

“Sorry.” Her eyes were down before she turned to investigate the suite further. You shouldn’t have been so defensive, especially toward the one person who dropped everything to be there for you. But you couldn’t help the turning of the knife in your chest every time you were reminded of why you were originally supposed to be here. 

The room was ridiculous. There was a chilled bottle of Dom Perignon waiting for you with a card from the hotel. You flipped it open and read the obnoxious calligraphy inside:

Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Langford! From, your friends at the Four Seasons

Great. You really should have seen it coming by now. The hotel was under the impression this was your honeymoon, after all. 

“This balcony is sick!” You looked up and saw Kendra leaning on the glass wall, face turned up to the sun. You tossed the stupid card in the trash can on your way to join her. She was right- the view was absolutely breathtaking. There was pristine sand and cerulean ocean as far as the eye could see, the smell of salt and tropical flowers heavy in the air. You took a deep breath and stood next to Kendra. 

“I’m sorry for being shitty to you,” you said softly. 

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I get it.” She nudged you with her shoulder. “But I hope you do realize I’m not going to let you mope while we’re somewhere this fucking beautiful.”

You laughed and nodded in silent acquiescence. 

“Can I make a suggestion for our first order of business?” you asked with a playful turn of your lips. Kendra looked over with a raised eyebrow, urging you to go on. “I brought my medical card. Find a dispensary and order room service?”

“Ugh, so brilliant. Such a smart and thoughtful woman,” Kendra said, flashing you a devilish grin. 

—-

It hadn’t taken much work to find a provisioning center near the hotel. You and Kendra made quick work of the trip and returned to the suite, ordering enough food to clean out the kitchen. The sun was long since down and you were laid out in the sun loungers on the balcony, pleasantly high with a belly full of food, just looking up at the sky with Kendra. 

“It’s nice to see them for once,” you said. 

“Hmm?”

“The stars. Don’t really get to see much of them back home. Only if you go out over the lake.”

“Yeah, it’s really relaxing,” she agreed before letting out a long yawn. “I’m sleepy. I’m gonna go lay down- you staying out here?”

“Just for a little bit longer.” Kendra looked at you as she stood up, biting her lip with uncertainty. “I’m not going to jump if that’s what you’re worried about.”

She laughed as she leaned down and kissed your forehead. “Just making sure. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Night.” And with that, Kendra shut the balcony doors behind her, leaving you alone with the ocean breeze and half a blunt. 

The world was quiet out here- nothing like the constant roar of the city. Lake View was a wonderful neighborhood and one you loved dearly. But there was something about only being able to listen to the breeze rustling palm leaves that put you at ease. You didn’t really consider yourself a beach kind of gal, but perhaps you could see yourself becoming one. After the last 72 or so hours, a little quiet felt pretty good. Serene, even. Maybe Kendra really was onto something when she begged you to come out here. 

You lit the end and took another deep hit before closing your eyes and exhaling. 

“Ah, one of my favorite smells.” Your eyes snapped open and you gasped, totally unaware that anyone else was anywhere near you. You clumsily tried to snuff out the blunt, knocking over the ashtray onto the marble floor with a loud crack. “Oh shit,” you coughed and looked around trying to find the voice that had just spoken. 

“No need to stop on my accord.” The voice was deep and smooth, sultry even. There was a good chance you just made a total fool out of yourself while fumbling around in your inebriated state. You were still anxiously looking about when he added “On your left, darling.”

You spun and finally saw a feline smile on the face of a tall, undeniably gorgeous man standing on the balcony next to yours. He was tall and lean, all dark hair, beard, and eyes. Truthfully, he was textbook ‘your type’. But the minute that thought ran through your brain, you were already mentally berating yourself for even finding another person attractive just a day into what was supposed to be your honeymoon. He took a swig from a rocks glass and cocked an eyebrow. 

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t think about the smell traveling,” you said sheepishly. 

“Like I said, one of my favorite smells.” Like a good neighbor, you walked to the railing closest to him and offered out the blunt to him. “Sorry,” he said, raising a hand. Fuck, even his fingers were beautiful. “I’m down to only liquid vices these days, I’m afraid,” shaking around the ice in his glass for emphasis. 

“Ok…” You weren’t entirely sure what that meant, but didn’t think it was appropriate to press a stranger for details. 

“I’m Logan, nice to meet you,” he said and stuck out his hand far enough that you could just barely brush the tips of your fingers against his as you introduced yourself. It was a completely awkward gesture, which seemed to greatly amuse Logan. 

“Likewise.” You put your feet back on solid ground and looked at Logan again. 

“So, are you here in a suite by yourself or is there a mister or missus with you?”

“Real smooth,” you laughed. 

“It’s just a question,” he said, tone laced with faux innocence. 

You stopped short and considered dumping everything that happened on him right then. “I’m here with my best friend, actually,” you said tersely. 

Logan narrowed his gaze as he looked you over. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“I literally don’t know you, so yeah,” you laughed, trying hard to keep it casual. 

“Maybe that’s true,” he shrugged, “But it’s written all over your face. It’s ok if you don’t want to tell me.” He took another drink. “I’ll tell you why I’m here.”

“Ok, lay it on me,” you said, almost baiting Logan, and leaned on the railing with your chin resting in your palm. 

“I checked out of a rehab in Malibu last night. My shrink told me it’d be better for me if I slowly worked my way back into the real world and suggested I take a little to myself before getting back to work and my family. Life in general, I guess,” he shrugged. 

You didn’t know the man, that was certain, but you didn’t expect him to say that. Or to be so honest. You were really starting to feel bad for getting high right next door to him. “Wow, I...I’m so sorry for smoking next to you.”

Logan just laughed and waved you off. “You have nothing to apologize for, darling. Besides, you literally didn’t know me, right?”

You rolled your eyes at him quoting your own words  back at you. “Very funny.” You looked down for a minute before taking a long breath and exhaling. “And how’s the ‘time for yourself’ thing going? Is it scary,” you asked. 

“So far, so good,” Logan said, clearly considering how it was actually going. “I’ve been clean for 94 days now, so my cravings aren’t as strong. I mean, I still want to use, don’t get me wrong. But it’s nowhere near as intense. And what’s not to like about being in paradise?” He was grinning, despite the weight of what he just told you. It was admirable, you thought. 

“This was supposed to be my honeymoon,” you said abruptly. Why you decided to tell this stranger, you didn’t really know. But it felt like it would be ok to share it with Logan. Besides, you’d probably never see the dude again- who cares if he knew?

“Pardon me?”

“This,” you gestured broadly at your balcony and room, “I’m supposed to be enjoying my honeymoon right now. But as I already told you, I’m here with my best friend. Like, my actual best friend. Not the ‘oh I’m so glad I’m marrying my best friend’ best friend. And not a husband. Don’t have one of those.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that,” he said with a small frown. 

“He packed up all his things, told me there was someone else, and left me two days before our wedding.” You let out a sad chuckle, using all your might to fight back the tears you knew wanted to form in your eyes. “So, yeah. Guess we’re both kind of bummers, huh?”

“For what it’s worth,” Logan started, leaning in closer over his ledge, “I think the guy’s a fucking douche bag for leaving you. I know we don’t know each other very well, but you seem delightful. Not to mention you’re fucking gorgeous.” 

“You’re seriously going to hit on me when I just told you I was supposed to get married yesterday?” you scoffed. 

“What am I supposed to say?” he asked, raising a perfect eyebrow and checking you out from head to toe. “If I see a beautiful woman, I think it’s my duty to share that with her.” 

“You’re shameless,” you smiled and shook your head. It should have disgusted you. It should have turned you off and made you think Logan was a pig. But you couldn’t help but be just the smallest bit charmed. He was a flirt, and there was a little piece of you that was genuinely flattered. 

“I’ve been called worse,” he laughed. 

“Well, thanks, I guess,” you said before looking back out over the ocean, hoping to hide the heat that was rising in your cheeks. 

“My pleasure,” Logan said with a smile. “So, the asshole left you high and dry and you went on your honeymoon with your best friend anyways?”

“To be fair, it was her idea.” You tugged at the ends of your hair, suddenly nervous that Logan would judge you. 

“I like her style.” He finished off his drink. “I can’t imagine there’s anyone else who deserves to be stoned in Hawaii more than you,” Logan grinned. 

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” you groaned. “So fucking embarrassing.”

“Nah. It’s cute. You’re cute.” His voice was low and gravely, but playful. You felt a stirring in your stomach and knew you had to cut the conversation short while you were still ahead. 

“It’s late, I should probably go to bed before Kendra thinks I’ve done something stupid.” You meant for it to be a joke, but you realized you really didn’t want to worry her more than you knew she already did. 

“Wouldn’t want that,” he nodded. 

“It was nice talking to you. Thanks for letting me dump all my baggage on you,” you said, a tiny smile forming on your lips. 

“Any time, darling.” 

“Maybe I’ll see you around?” As you said it, you realized you really hoped you would. 

“I sure hope so,” he said with a smirk.

“Goodnight, Logan.” You bit gently on your bottom lip and finally pushed away from the railing. 

“Sweet dreams.” 

You let yourself back inside and quickly got ready for bed. Talking to someone removed from the whole ordeal felt nice- someone who didn’t ask a million questions so you could just process what happened in its simplest terms. And Logan had proven to be thoughtful and a good listener. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Logan was ungodly hot. No, you scolded yourself. No thinking about Logan or anyone else like that for a long, long time. Once you’d crawled under the covers, you couldn’t stop the weight of sleep tugging at your eyelids, bringing with it dreams of a dark eyed prince. 

TAGGED: @fific7 @abroadcastofthemind @suchatinyinfinity

[writethelifeyouwant]

Dive Bar, Ch. 1/?

Pairing: Dean x OFC (Dany) x Sam (brief), Dean x Sam (eventually)  Rating: 18+ Prompt/Summary: @spnkinkbingo square - Gay Panic (eventually, I don’t know how to write short things, so the gay panic comes later). Dany and Dean hit it off at a bar and Dean is confident it’s a sure thing. But Dean doesn’t know that Dany’s has a dare to complete, and he definitely didn’t imagine his night would end with his pull inviting his little brother to come home with them too.  WC: 3278 Tags: alcohol, cheesy flirting, tags will change next chapter 😉😏🍆 A/N: Okay, let’s be real. Anyone who knows me by now, knows I can’t fucking cut to the chase. Welcome to part one of who knows how many. If you want the smut quickly, I encourage begging 🤣(and so does Sam 😏) Ambience: Really want to set the mood? Welcome to a dive bar in Nowheresville, USA: Playlist and Ambience 

***

Sam told Dean he was crazy for even trying but Dean had a sense about these things; Sam didn’t. He was too considerate. Sam thought the fact she was out with her girlfriends meant she wasn’t interested, she wouldn’t want to be bothered, but Dean knew better. The ones who went up to get the next rounds were the ones who were looking to be bothered. They were separating themselves from the pack on purpose, to give guys the opportunity to pick them up and show them a good time. They wanted to prove to their friends that they were desirable. It wasn’t a bad confidence boost either, even if the guys that came on to them weren’t what they were after. 

So, when the girl with the flirty eyelashes that had been staring over at Sam and Dean’s table for the past half-hour spun off her stool and went to lean against the unpleasantly sticky bar, Dean knew his window had opened. 

“Watch and learn Sammy,” Dean smirked and slapped Sam’s shoulder as he sauntered over to his target, fixing his best smoulder in place. 

The girl felt movement behind her when Dean slid up and motioned to the bartender that he was after another round, and she turned with a coy but almost predatory twitch to her smile. She knew exactly who was behind her. 

“Hi there,” Dean was almost leering at the girl. 

*

Across the room, Sam was resisting the urge to put his head in his hands and pretend he’d never met his brother. This was gonna be a train wreck. At the very least, Dean was about to end up with one of those margaritas the bartender was laying down in front of her thrown in his face. 

Deciding to spare himself the second-hand embarrassment of watching Dean crash and burn with the coed he’d been eyeing since they arrived, Sam let his eyes wander the rest of the bar absentmindedly. He was nursing his second beer of the evening, after pounding back his first one with Dean in their stupid post-hunt ritual. 

It was new, their whole ‘who can down their beer the quickest’ routine. Before Stanford, Sam was lucky if his dad let him split a beer with them after a hunt, let alone chug one. But ever since he and Dean had been back on the road, it was like Dean was trying to make up for a bit of lost time, and things that absolutely smacked of immaturity were becoming part of how they lived their lives. Like how now, after a successful hunt, they always raced to the bottom of the first beer bottle, leaving the loser to buy the rounds for the rest of the night. 

When Dean started it, it was because he figured he obviously had the upper hand. He had years more drinking experience than Sammy, and there was no way the little geek had drunk that much at college.

What Dean didn’t know is that, for a while there, Sam and his friends had gone through a bit of a mental breakdown that manifested itself in endless parties, borderline alcoholism, and a very brief experimentation with some drugs on the ‘gateway’ end of the spectrum. Really, it was Sam’s best friend Brady pushing all of that, but with how he had grown up, Sam felt he was due some kind of breakdown, and it had felt good to let go for a little while. So, when Sam beat Dean in that first chugging contest, it became a whole different ball game. Now every time they did it, Dean was defending his honor. And he defended it about half the time but that night, Sam had won. 

Exhaling quietly in amusement at the absurdity of their routine, Sam spared a glance back towards Dean at the bar. He quickly ducked his head down when he realised Dean and the girl were looking over at him, like Dean was talking about him. Why would you spend time telling the girl you’re trying to bang about your weird kid brother? Maybe she had asked who Dean was there with, just making small talk. 

Yeah, that must be it, Sam thought to himself as he took another swig and realised he’d finished it on the sip before.

Torn between wanting another drink and not wanting to walk into the middle of a Dean Winchester flirt fest, Sam tried to quietly observe his brother again, hoping he would have struck out by now and it would be safe to approach. Peeking out from behind his hair Sam could see them leaning against the high wooden bar quite cozily, and laughing all nice and friendly-like. 

Damn. It looked like Dean was gonna be right about this chick; she was into him. Really, she shouldn’t be surprised. Everyone’s into Dean. And now he was gonna have to sleep in the Impala tonight. For once he’d like to just have a drink with his brother and go home (to the motel) and sleep in his own (motel) bed. Just perfect. 

*

When Dany turned around to acknowledge Dean, who had just sidled up behind her at the bar, she was very pleased with herself. 

Guys are just too simple, she mused. 

“Hi there,” Dean smiled down at her (he was considerably taller, despite her heels), charm turned on full blast. 

“Hey yourself,” she smiled back. She was friendly, but careful not to be too forward. Dean was the kind of guy that felt proud of winning the chase, she could just tell. And considering how forward she was planning on being after she made sure this guy wasn’t an axe-murderer, she figured playing coy for a little wouldn’t hurt. 

“So, this is kind of embarrassing,” Dean leaned down conspiratorially but still had to speak quite loudly to be heard above the noise of the bar. “My brother over there is a little shy.” Dean jerked his head behind him, to indicate where he had left Sam a moment before. 

Taken by surprise, Dany leaned back to look at Sam sitting alone at his high-top, who happened to look over at the two of them at the same time. Sam quickly ducked behind his bangs, trying very hard not to make eye contact. Dany giggled to herself. She had figured this guy was about to chat her up but he was over here asking for his brother who, based on his reaction a second ago, definitely was shy. How cute. 

“And,” Dean continued speaking and pulled Dany back from her thoughts of his shy and cute younger brother, “he wanted me to ask you for your number, so he knows how to get a hold of me tomorrow morning.” 

It took a second, but when the penny dropped Dany burst out laughing. Dean beamed, proud of his choice in pick-up lines, and let Dany get the giggles out of her system. “I know, I’m adorable.” Dean shrugged as if to say ‘what can you do?’ and leant back against the bar, bringing himself closer to Dany’s level. “I’m Dean.” He held out his hand and she took it, still stifling the last of her laughter. 

“Well, let me congratulate you on your originality Dean. I genuinely have not heard that one before.”

“Do I get a prize?” Dean’s eyebrows arched cheekily. 

“I don’t know,” Dany shrugged. “What do I get out of this deal?”

“Sweetheart, you get whatever you want.” 

“How about we start with a drink?” 

“Sure your friends won’t mind me taking up all your time?” 

Dany looked behind her to where she’d left her friends. They were all giggling and looking at her and Dean at the bar but trying to look like they weren’t paying attention to them at all. She shook her head despairingly at how unsubtle they were. Her friends were the worst. But she supposed they had more of a vested interest in how her night went than usual. Tonight was her dare night. 

“I think they can live without me for a little while.” 

*

“Wow, you’re really putting ‘em back sweetheart,” Dean laughed as Dany drained another beer. She was matching him round for round. 

“Well, I came out to have a good time tonight,” Dany shrugged, smiling mischievously. 

“How’s that working out for ya’ so far?”

“I’d say, so far so good, Dean.” 

Dean made finger guns at the empty glasses. “Get you another?” 

“Yeah, thanks,” she grinned as tucked her hair behind her ear. 

Dean rocked up to the bar and motioned to the haggard looking student behind it that he was after refills. When something brushed against his shoulder he jumped, reaching under his jacket until he realised it was just Sam. 

“Hey,” Dean drew out the ‘y’ on the end of his word. “Ma’ man Sam.” Dean smacked Sam’s shoulder and his brother tried to tamp down his bemused grimace. 

“How buzzed are you, dude?”

“Just the right amount Sammy,” Dean grinned wolfishly as he accepted the new beers from the bartender. The kid tried to take Sam’s order but Sam brushed him off. “Woah, you’re not tapping out?” Dean’s concern was almost comical. 

“Yeah, I’m just gonna go back to the motel. Grab some shut eye.” Sam tried to sound sage, like he was making this move because it was the smart, responsible thing to do, and not let on that it was his loneliness driving him home too early for Dean’s approval. 

“No, come on man, I’m not letting you be a sap tonight.” Dean waved over to the bartender for another beer, over Sam's objections. “N- listen. You’re gonna take this beer, bring it over to my table with Dany, and we’re gonna pick you out one of her friends.” Again, Sam tried to protest but there was a cold glass sloshing into his hand and a commanding grip on his shoulder and… he was always gonna follow Dean. “They’re all college chicks Sam. One of them has gotta be geeky enough for you.” 

When Sam got dragged to the edge of the table where Dean had left Dany a moment ago, something felt off. Sure he felt a little awkward becoming the third wheel while Dean sealed the deal on his sleeping arrangements for that evening but that wasn’t what he noticed the most. Dany looked far too happy to have the extra company at the table. Most girls with Dean in their tractor beams didn’t want anyone interfering, he’d been on that end of the stick one too many times to forget how it felt. But Dany was relaxed and smiling, beaming even, when Dean pushed Sam into a chair between them. 

Sam tried to settle into the easy conversation that Dany and Dean were having but he’s too preoccupied trying to suss Dany out to contribute much, despite Dany’s attempts to bring him into the discussion. 

“So Sam, Dean said you were the college goer in your family, what did you study?” Dany sipped her beer with her eyes trained on Sam. 

“Uh, pre-law,” Sam’s answer turned up at the end like a question. He wasn’t questioning what he studied at Stanford but he was questioning Dany’s motives in talking to him. Why wasn’t she just ignoring him and flirting with Dean? 

“Ah, smart guy. Interesting.” 

“What are you studying?” 

“Media and communications. I want to go into news or television.” 

“Well you definitely have the face for it,” Dean cut in smoothly. Dany flushed but she didn’t look embarrassed. She knew what she looked like. 

“Okay captain obvious,” Dany laughed. “You usually try this hard to get girls?”

Sam snorted into his beer, highly amused someone was calling Dean on his shit besides him. 

“Well I’m sitting here drinking with a beautiful woman. I don’t see any reason to pull punches,” Dean grinned. “Speaking of,” he leant forward craftily, “you got any other beautiful friends we can hook him up with?” Dean jerked his thumb towards his little brother. “I feel bad leaving him high and dry for the night.” 

“Dean!” Sam objected loudly, rolling his eyes. Dany just giggled. 

“Yeah I think I can help with that.” She drained her remaining drink and stood up. “Let me grab us one more round.” 

“Sounds great sweetheart,” Dean swatted at her ass as she passed him on the way back to the bar, ignoring Sam’s further objections to Dean’s new-found mission to get him laid. 

“Dude what are you doing?” 

“Helping you!”

“I don’t want your help!”

“Well trust me, you need it.”

“Do not!”

Sam’s objections were cut short when Dany returned with three beers and three shots on a tray; one clear and two amber. Dean reached for the drinks to help her unload. “What are we celebrating sweetheart?” He nodded to the shots. 

“We’ll find out soon,” Dany hedged, without giving up any more details. “So Sam, what’s your type?” 

Sam nearly choked on his beer. “Look Dany, ignore Dean please, I don’t need-” 

“No, come on, I’m invested now. What are you into? Boobs? Ass? Both?” Dany’s questions were curious but clinical. None of the teasing that Dean usually injected into the conversation when he tried to get Sam to open up about his sex life. Something in her tone was compelling. 

“Are we actually having this conversation?” Sam glanced between Dean and Dany astonishedly. “Did you slip something in my drink?” 

Dany laughed at Sam’s attempts to deflect but she could also see something in his face twitch, like his brows tugged up the corners of his lips. Something in him wanted to answer the question, wanted to open up to her. So she pushed. 

“Well?” 

Sam chuckled once ruefully, more to himself. Cracked his neck and settled back in his chair. Dany could tell he’d made up his mind, he was playing now. 

“Both,” Sam smirked. He was invested now too, and he wanted to see where Dany was taking this. Plus, it had been ages since he’d gotten any. 

“Okay,” Dany nodded and processed the information, deciding how that affected her line of questioning. Dean was keeping to himself in his corner, but he was having trouble hiding his grin behind his beer. This was already more than he’d ever been able to tease out of Sam. 

“Okay, so, not specific about body type, what about attitude? Feisty and forward?” Dany leant forward and trailed her finger down Sam’s arm. He smirked. “Or shy, and sweet?” She withdrew her hand, and ducked behind her hair. 

“Okay, why do I feel like I’m getting shut out here?” Dean laughed from his over his drink, not sounding as cocky as he hoped he did. 

“Don’t worry Dean, I’m not letting you go anywhere,” Dany smirked. “I’m just doing what you asked, making sure Sam here is sorted out for the night too.” Dany turned her smile back to Sam. “So which one? You like feeling in charge? Or you like getting a little roughed up like Dean over here?”

Now it was Dean’s turn to choke on his beer. “Excuse me sweetheart, what makes you think-”  

“Come on Dean,” Dany batted her eyes back in his direction. “I know what you’re after. I know you’re a boob man, that’s why you picked me. Your pick up lines and bravado, they’re looking for validation. You’re looking after your little brother, trying to make sure he’s happy, taken care of… you want someone to do the same thing for you.” 

Sam and Dean were both a little speechless. Dany reached past her empty beer and grabbed the shot glass with the clear liquor. 

“You sure you don’t actually study psychology or something?” Sam drained the last of his beer, impressed. 

“I’m not a shrink,” Dany smiled and shrugged. “I’ve just spent some time with some people, I know what to look out for.” 

“So, who are you picking out for me then?” Sam leant forward, now profoundly interested in what Dany may have deduced about what he wants in the bedroom. 

“Come clean time,” Dany knocked back her shot with a grimace and let the courage that came from lower inhibitions bubble up. “My friends and me, we play a game most weeks, pick a dare out of a hat. This week mine… was ‘have a threesome.’” Dany peeked up from behind her hair to look at Dean, who looked like he had just won the lottery. Sam’s expression was cautious. 

“Okay, so who else we taking home with us sweetheart?” Dean rubbed his hands together and turned to look back at Dany’s group of friends.  

“Sam.” Dany answered simply. 

“Which one’s Sam?” Dean was still scanning the group of coeds. 

“Uh Dean, I think she means me…” 

“My dare was a threesome with two guys.” For the first time that evening, Dany’s grin was a little sheepish. “Look I uh- I’m not just doing this because of the dare, it’s not coercion or anything. I wouldn’t be asking you both back if I didn’t want it.” 

Dean hadn’t found his voice yet. He was just staring at Dany, mind clearly running a mile a minute, and resolutely not looking at Sam. Sam, on the other hand, couldn’t take his eyes off Dean. The only recognisable emotion on Sam’s face was the tinge of fear in his eyes, like he was waiting for the bomb to go off, and getting more and more anxious by the second the longer it didn’t. 

“Why don’t I give you guys a minute to talk,” Dany stood up and pushed the shots she had bought towards them, “and I’ll go grab my purse and meet you by the door?” 

“And by ‘you’, you’re speaking in the strictly plural sense?” Sam checked, fingering the whisky in front of him. 

“That’s up to you guys,” Dany smiled and rounded the table, dragging her fingers over Dean’s shoulders on her way back to her friends. That seemed to be enough to jumpstart Dean back into speaking.

“Dude what the hell?” Dean’s voice was so, so close to a squeak, Sam really had to hold in his laughter. 

“What?” Sam was good at poking the bear. 

“What do you mean what? What the fuck?” 

“Yeah, I think that’s what she wants Dean. She wants to fuck.” 

“Yeah with me and my little brother!” Sam could tell Dean wanted to be shouting but he was keeping his voice to a hiss as best he could. 

“Yeah, so?”

“So?!” 

God Dean was so easy to wind up, Sam grinned. “Dean, have you never had a threesome before?” 

“Uh, yeah, of course.” 

“You’re lying,” Sam was astonished. He figured of course Dean would have done this kind of thing before. “You’ve never done one before?” Sam had to double check. 

“What, like you have?” Dean defended angrily. 

“Uh, yeah,” Sam’s grin was an unusual combination of sheepish but proud. “I um- I have actually, yeah.” Sam reached back and rubbed his neck, at a loss of what to do with his hands right now. 

“What the fuck did you do at that college?” 

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me Dean.” 

“Okay, so what, you’re saying you’re okay with this?” 

“I’m saying, there’s a real pretty girl over there by the door that wants to have sex. And she wants it so much, she wants two dicks in the equation.” Sam fixed Dean with a firm, decided stare. And he was pretty sure that Dean’s uncertainty was about to evaporate. Dean finally met Sam’s eyes and Sam saw the fight melt out of him. 

“Son of a bitch,” Dean breathed, then downed his shot.

***

Tags: @negans-lucille-tblr @hawkerz12​ @akshi8278​ @babybrotherandthedemon​ @dylansbabygirl24​ @mineshinamary​ @popsensationnicole23​ @spn-problems​ @donthateme454​  @doyouknowsamw​ @peridottea91​ @delightfulbakeryaliendeputy​ @fictionallemons​

I tagged everyone who liked my ‘announcement’ post. If you want to be tagged or you want me to take you off tags, just lmk!  

[planetjisungie]

lucky charms- h.rj

characters; ravenclaw! renjun x hufflepuff! reader ft. gryffindor! mark and gryffindor! jeno (sigh)

summary; with the exams coming up, you need a little help with your charms. well you dont, you just needed an excuse to talk to your long time crush, huang renjun

an; i literally changed this on the spot 🤡 plot holes here i come- (also id like to think jeno is more of a hufflepuff but idk man)

sigh okay this is a long boi

end of year exams were in just a few weeks

yay, your absolute favourite !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sarcasm

now, charms

in room 99, classroom 2E in the south tower

i did my research

you were pretty good at charms, not nearly as good as you were in the care of magical creatures and herbology though

still above averagely good

you know who else was good at charms?

huang renjun

the star ravenclaw prince boy, the pride of the house and a very beautiful boy

best boi renjun

if jeno was being quite honest he was SICK AND TIRED of hearing you two pine over eachother

jeno met you in first year, and you quickly became best friends and even ended up in the same house as eachother

despite having different friend groups (your friend group consisted of you and eunji), you stayed best friends until now aka 5th year

just go with it okay

so as he was saying before i digressed, jeno physically is pained as he watched the longing glances both you and renjun throw when the other isnt looking

but it isnt his business to meddle with your lack of relationship problems

best boi part 2

BUT! but! he will give you both a tiny! eensy! little! minuscule! nudge

that nudge being forming a plan with you

you were slightly reluctant when jenos very enthusiastic face greeted you at the table saying he had ‘a totally brilliant, spectacular, show stopping, wonderful, flawless plan’

this was jeno we were talking about

the same boy who planned the failed midnight snack run a few weeks before

and as soon as he mentioned renjun your eyes narrowed

"proceed."

the plan was for jeno to ask renjun to tutor his friend who was falling behind in charms

said friend was you

and you were ahead of the class

bUT!! you agreed because he wasnt in your class, so there was no way he could know that right?

wrong.

who was in your class?

mark lee. one of renjuns best friends.

also the boyfriend of eunji and the reason you wanted to gauge your eyeballs out everytime you turned around to talk to them

thats right eunji ditched you to sit next to her little markie. bitch.

nonetheless, you agreed because your dumb, spontaneous ass forgot that renjun even knew mark, because if someone said ‘whos mark?’ you would go ‘eunjis boyfriend’

so of course, when all the students were making their way to their class, jeno caught up with renjun seeing as they both had muggle studdies

"hey man, i have a favour to ask"

stage one of operation: stop the oblivious fuckers from pining over eachother (that name may need some revamping) was a-go

"depends what said favour is"

smart boi™️

"is it possible to tutor one of my friends in charms for the upcoming OWLs?"

oh? this piqued china pretty boys interest

"i mean, sure, i could do with some revision too. tell them to meet me at the library after school"

and so jeno walked away with a smug smirk, victorious

and when jeno told you he had agreed later in potions, you were yet you werent surprised

so of you trotted after last period, kinda nervous because youre about to be in the literal breathing proximity of renjun

like obviously youve talked to him before but this time it was just you and him

alone

no get those thoughts out of your head

n e ways u perv

renjun sat at the back table, textbooks and notebooks with his neat writing in both chinese and korean all over the pages

smart boi part 2

so seeing him not looking at you

attention whore

wow why am i so mean today

you sat down and cleared your throat, placing your blank notebooks on the table so the boy wouldnt get suspicious

you had to pray to whatever gods were listening for your cheeks not to flare up the colour of the strawberries you had for breakfast

healthy girl™️

and the gods apparently answered your prayers

because as soon as renjun looked up and into your eyes you swore you were too distracted for your blood cells to even think about moving towards your face

and renjun nearly had a heart attack (by aoa)

poor boy

jeno had NOT told him that he would be tutoring you

he was going to be choked later

"sorry im late"

renjun was nearly offended that you would even apologise to him for being late by

2 minutes and 48 seconds

"no no its okay i havent been here long"

that was a lie he had study period last and has been sat in the same goddamn chair for an hour already but your presence made his ass cheeks ache less

so he started teaching you, but ???

you seemed to fully grasp the concepts

confused boi

excuse me ma’am/sir/señor/señorita whatever you prefer to go by-

you need to brush up on your acting skills dude

appalling smh your drama teacher back from your muggle school would be completely distraught

so for the next hour renjun ‘tutored’ you

things you already knew but this was a dream-

and actually he was a funny guy

he was also muggle born, so you could both relate over things you experienced as a kid

this lead to a raging debate over dora the explorer

that bitch was shaded in said debate, fully annihilated

hola soy dora your asshole

but,, it was fun. because jeno was pureblood and grew up knowing about all his magicky stuff so he was kinda boring sometimes

no tea no shade

but you ended the session with smiles on both your faces, cheeks literally aching with how hard youd been laughing and smiling

so lads

the next day at breakfast renjun was all happy, plonking himself next to mark at the gryffindor table because

man does not give a SHIT about the looks he was getting. he is huang renjun.

"why are you so smiley this morning? and why didn’t you come to my common room last night"

the gryffindor common room was the dreamie hang out

no one dared tell THE mark lee to go somewhere else with his friends

"sorry, last night i was tutoring y/n in charms" smiley boy still

mark seagull eyebrows: activated

excuse him?? charms?? you?? the one who got an outstanding in your report card??

something smells fishy here

"renjun... y/n got an outstanding on her charms"

eunji who had magically appeared next to mark basically said what he was just thinking

confused boi part ??

"wait what?"

but later on he didnt question you about it

he silently observed you

he told himself that anyway

quite honestly if you were spending time with him he was not about to complain

he was staring at you, simply put

my leng bby (thats you, youre my leng bby)

so for the next 2 weeks every day after school you would meet up to ‘catch up’ on your charms

that being said it literally always, every time, ended up with you two talking about something unrelated

like the 5th day you had a conversation about which series of power rangers was better

"SPD, obviously"

AM I THAT OLD?? on god i hate it here

"no, y/n, we all know that dino force is better"

i agree with y/n on this one pal

on the 7th day you talked about muggle sports that you both enjoyed

"i played a lot of cricket"

"cricket? okay tory"

"i am NOT a tory"

on the last day when you should have been, you know, LEARNING

you were having a lovely old chinwag about the x factor

"simon cowell is a king"

"i agree"

legend behaviour if you ask me

wait does chinwag exist in other countries??? translation: chat

so of course the exams came up

but you were dreading them for a different reason

this meant the end of tutoring with renjun

this was super bittersweet, you wanted to spend more time with eachother

you literally could it wasn’t that deep both of you are so dumb smh aint nothing stopping you

jeno agrees with me too, mans pulling out his hair still as you had somehow not gotten together yet

it was like watching snails race, incredibly frustrating but you know that there is the finish line somwhere over the horizon

so you took your exams and both of you passed with flying colours, obviously

smart kids

and you ran right to renjun to celebrate

seeing as he had

not really helped you but you thought that he thought he helped you

oh no honey he knew that you didnt need help

but he didnt know whether to confront you about it?

rip your guilty conscience

so after a long discussion with mark, our china boy decided to ask why the heck you wanted his help when you were absolutely fully capable

unlike mark

and when you saw him approach you first in the halls your heart went

NYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

that was the sound of a fast motorbike

"hi y/n"

‘damn renjun, couldnt have thought of anything better than that?’

"uhh hi renjun"

awkward silence by stray kids

"i just wanted to know why you asked for my help"

okay where is the nearest shovel and what is the most efficient way to dig a large hole-

as if renjun sensed your panic radiating off you in waves

which he did

"not that it was an issue! i enjoyed spending time with you, it was just, you didnt really need help"

he was a pure boy

so you puffed your cheeks and decided to just come clean

somewhere, jeno felt his senses tingling

"genuinely i just wanted to spend some time with you because i really like you"

renjun froze and wanted to smack his head into a wall

bruh

you noticed his expression and panicked yet again

stop panicking man its okay i gotchu

"it was jenos idea"

blame jeno is always a fool-proof plan b

unless you get pregnant, that would not be a good idea

so i guess its not fool proof

BUT I DIGRESS

renjun face palms and groans

"youre kidding me! all this time we wasted doing boringass charms work when we couldve gone on dates"

confusion™️

but?? you felt hopeful??

"i dont think im on the same wavelength"

"i like you too dumbass"

oH so YOURE the dumbass??

yes, yes you are renjun is best boi, accept the L which is really a W bc renjun likes you back

jeno who had found his way to you, listening from around the corner sighed in happiness

"fucking finally!!"

[peter-parcoeur]

“When you’re gone” - part 3

Post Thanos snap, Peter has to live in a world where Tony Stark is gone. But what happens when Tony’s daughter enters his life...?

Summary + Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Going back to school felt weird.

Though Peter always seemed to struggle to find a balance between his ordinary teenager life and being an Avenger, this time, the wake-up call was hitting harder. His body was definitely walking across the High-School Hall, but his head was somewhere else.

All around him were familiar faces, some looked obviously different after what they all called “the blip” but most of his school seemed back to normal, which was harder to digest as he felt like nothing would ever be the same now that his mentor was gone.

How could he live in a world without Tony Stark?

Luckily, his best-friend was there to show some support and bring random chit-chats back into his routine. Even MJ had given him a hug as she seemed genuinely happy to see him back, but when it should have been the most amazing, unexpected moment of his day, Peter had felt nothing but comfort from catching up with a friend. No tingles at the pit of his stomach, no burning red cheeks, not the usual stiffness down his abdomen. Nothing.

It was like a part of him had died too.

They were all sat in history class when Ned tapped him on the shoulder from behind, his voice filled with some unusual excitement.

“Wow mate, check out the new girl!”

Peter had to roll his eyes and smile at his friend’s typical enthusiasm over the opposite gender. Every time a remotely ‘hot’ girl walked by, Ned turned into a little kid on Christmas Day with a massive sugar rush.

His smile faded as soon as he locked eyes with the girl sitting at the back of the class.

“God” Ned moaned “I would gladly let her step on my face, who’s she?”

“That’s Y/N Stark.” Peter stated as she looked away as soon as their eyes met.

“What do you mean--- Stark? As in...?

-         As in Tony’s only daughter.”

Ned was left gobsmacked at this new revelation, quite oblivious to his friend’s sudden change of attitude. Peter looked like he had seen a ghost, writhing on his seat with complete nervousness. He could tell her anger was still running through her blood from the way she avoided his look, but for some obscure reason, he also felt relieved. Now that they had to spend an entire year in the same room, maybe they would get to talk at some point.

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

When the bell rang, Peter wisely waited for Y/N to exit the room before he made any move. It had been the longest hour of his entire school experience and he had been sat in chemistry before, listening to Mr. Wyatt spreading bullshits about things Peter himself could teach better.

“You should talk to her” Ned said after being quiet for longer than anyone would expect him.

“I’m not sure she wants me to…

-         When was the last time you spoke?

-         Her dad’s funeral?

-         Yeahhhh…. Ned winced, maybe not the perfect time to have a chat?

-         I know, but she seemed so upset

-         Dude, her father died, you think she’s gonna give you a lapdance?”

Peter rolled his eyes at Ned’s obvious answer. He couldn’t quite process how he felt about Y/N. Part of him wanted to avoid her at all costs to save himself the embarrassment, but mostly, he wanted to walk down the hallway as confident as possible and just… talk to her. There was this weird attraction between them that made it seems like, somehow, this reunion was meant to be.

“Alright, I’m gonna talk to her” Peter sighed as he caught a glimpse of Y/N grabbing a few books from her locker across the hallway.

His palms were sweaty as he tried his best to brush them to the sides of his pants, air caught in his throat like he was about to give an inspiring speech to a bored audience. Nobody had ever made him feel this way, not even his high-school crush, MJ.

“Hi, Y/N!”

Y/N turned around to see Peter standing there awkwardly, both his hands buried in his pockets.

For a second, it seems like she was about to speak, her eyes daunting him from head to toes. As he stood closer to her face, Peter realized just how much she looked like Tony. She had his eyes, his cocky expression but her slim nose and perky lips were definitely Pepper’s. Her long brown hair was tamed on a sid braid and her ankle boots made her seem taller than him, which was embarrassing enough if she had chosen not to talk to him.

But with the snap of her locker door, she simply turned her back and walked away, leaving him speechless and embarrassed once again.

“Well done, Don Juan!” MJ teased as she walked past him.

On the other side of the corridor, Peter saw Ned biting his lip so he wouldn’t laugh at his misery.

Things were going to be tougher than he had thought.

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

Economics was the worst.

Peter and Ned usually discussed any other topic that didn’t involve money and budget throughout the whole course, but today, Peter was just lost in his own daydream, looking out the window with his chin buried into his palm. It was a nice autumnal day, the kind that brought him back to better times where he and his Aunt would start decorating their apartment with Halloween/spooky stuff, their favorite time of the year. It was hard to think that life would go on after the blip but Peter was willing to be an optimistic. Happier days would come.

“Alright, today’s class will be sorely about your final assignment… I want you to pay close attention because this will be half of your grade for the exam.” Mr. Andersen spoke louder so the distracted students could hear.

At least half of the class moaned in complete despair. Mr. Andersen’s assignments were known as chaotic and frankly awful. This one was no exception.

“You will be working as a pair”

Ned smiled brightly at Peter, knowing they would definitely team-up, as usual.

At least it would make it less horrible to be working as a team.

“But don’t get too excited” Mr. Andersen added abruptly as he watched his students stare at each other, building up the usual team partners. “I have written half of the class’s names on papers. These papers I have folded and put in this box so the rest of you can draw”.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me” Ned burped out.

“Mr. Leeds, since you seem so pleased, we’ll start with you!”

Mr. Andersen walked closer to Ned and offered him a chance to pick a name inside the tiny white box he was holding. Ned reluctantly picked a piece of paper and pulled a worried face.

“Betty Brant…”

Sitting at the front of the class, Betty Brant looked over her shoulder and gave him an unenthusiastic thumbs up. At least, she was smart, but her good looks would definitely make it hard for Ned to focus on their homework. Shivers ran down his spine at the thought of having a girl in his bedroom, his temple, the architectural equivalent of a Jedi farting the Game of Thrones theme song, aka the shameful natural habitat of the biggest geek.

Things went on as everyone picked a team partner with more or less enthusiasm and soon enough, it was Y/N’s time to draw a name into the box.

She quite obviously hesitated before she composed herself and spoke.

“Mr. Andersen, is there any way I can switch partner?”

“Well, Ms. Stark, what would be the point if anyone just decided who they’d like to collaborate with? I’m sorry you didn’t pick your crush’s name but I’m afraid things are what it is. Now, would you be kind enough to share your designated partner?”

There was a silence before she spoke again, her hand fiddling with the piece of paper.

“Peter Parker”

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

“Dude, what are the odds???” Ned squealed as he sat next to Peter at the cafeteria.

It was lunch time and the whole room was buzzing with chatty students and cutlery grazes.

“Yeah, wow, I’m the luckiest guy in the world, am I?” Peter mumbled, still baffled at the complete humiliation he had been given in front of the entire class. The second one that day.

“Now she has no other option than talk to you, think positive!”

“Amazing, it must be as pleasant as being held at gunpoint somehow, I mean… did you hear what she said?” he sighed “Mr. Andersen, can I switch partners?” Peter was mimicking her disgusted tone when Ned gave him the big eyes, nodding towards a point behind him.

“Brilliant, why wasting your time here when you could have a one-man show?” Y/N bluntly stated. Her arms were crossed against her chest, her eyes glued to his face like she was trying to read his soul for some reason.

“Shit, Y/N, I’m sorry I didn’t mean—it’s just—

-         Let’s spare us both this conversation, alright? It seems like we’ll have to do this assignment, so… your place or mine?”

Ned couldn’t help but chuckle at the ambiguous comment, but as Peter gave him the dead eye, it was definitely too late to take his nervous laughter back.

“What are you, 12?” Y/N pulled an unimpressed look, eyeballing Ned until he went slightly red. This time, it was Peter’s turn to contain his laugh. Her attitude and comebacks definitely reminded him of the great Tony Stark. In a weird way, it was comforting, like wrapping yourself into a warm blanket in a cold morning. She irradiated with that famous Spark Confidence.

“Whatever suits you best” Peter finally said after what seemed like an eternity of quietness.

“What suits me best is to not be doing this with you but it seems like this isn’t an option, so…”

“Okay, my place then? Peter blurted out all of a sudden

-         What time?

-         Six thirty

-         Good” she turned to Ned “You got a pen?”

Ned fiddled with his backpack and handed her a black ballpoint pen.

“Text me your address” she simply said, writing down her number on a napkin.

She walked away without further word, leaving both Ned and Peter speechless for a while. Peter watched her sit at a table with a bunch of fellow classmates and for a minute, it felt like his brain had stopped to frame-freeze the scene in front of him. Everyone around her seemed captivated, whatever she was talking about. She had inherited that charisma from her father, that ability to catch everyone’s attention in the blink of an eye.

As he stared at her for a couple more minutes, Peter realized this weird, tingly feeling was back at the pit of his stomach.

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

@eternaleviee

[dershloopmain]

End Of Everything - Chapter 1

‘’Hey, Donnie! What’s the big idea, I was watching that!’’ Raph yelled as his brother clicked the remote, changing the channel from a cartoon he was watching to the news.

‘’Stop whining Raph, apparently, something big is going up there. April thinks we should check it out.’’ Donnie replied, rolling his eyes.

‘’Then go topside and have a look! It was just getting interesting too,’’ Raph took a dive for the remote, attempting to rip it out of his hand, failing miserably.

‘’Hey stop it you big baby,’’ Donnie said pushing Raph back with his foot, ‘’I’m trying to listen. You can watch whatever you want in a minute.’’

‘’Whatever,’’ Raph said defeatedly, slumping back in the chair and folding his arms.

‘’Oh my god…’’ Donnie said, causing his brother to look up confused. Then, he saw it.

‘’Leo, Mikey get in here!’’ Raph yelled, unable to take his eyes off of the news anchor.

‘’What’s the matter Ra-’’ Leo stopped, mouth open as he too became transfixed on the news report.

‘’What are you doing dude? Why are you just standing there like a-’’ Mikey was the last to realise.

Raph felt a pit open in his stomach. He wasn’t sure if he was going to hurl or cry as he listened to what the lady said.

‘’News just in: Over 1000 people have contracted the parasite, with the numbers rapidly rising. The people in the zombie-like state cannot hear you but have incredible eyesight so stay hidden at all costs. Do not try to interact with them, as even just a minor scratch could cause you to contract it and turn into one of those things. If you’re out on the streets, we here at CNN implore you to immediately seek shelter. There are emergency bunkers if you can not return home quick enough and if you can arrive home, lock the doors, border the windows and do not answer the door to anyone outside of your household. We will keep you updated.’’

‘’Oh my God,’’ Donnie repeated, his shoulder sinking and his leg bucked, causing Raph to fall onto the floor. Though he didn’t shout. Didn’t curse. Didn’t get angry. He stayed silent, besides a small ‘oof’ as he hit the floor, jamming his shoulder.

‘’I- What are we going to do?’’ Leo said quietly, walking over and sinking down next to Donnie.

Raph felt a pit open in the base of his stomach. What were they going to do? What about in 10 years? 20 years? 30 years? Did it even matter? Would they even survive? So many unanswered questions swirled around in his mind, a feeling of nausea overcoming his senses.

‘’I’m not sure,’’ Donnie replied softly, still unable to pry his eyes from the TV screen, ‘’We could leave the city? The farmhouse should be still available.’’

‘’I don’t know. Too risky.’’ Raph said from the floor.

‘’Riskier than staying here? New York is a huge city, Raph there are millions of people here. If they see us then there’ll just be more hysteria.’’ Leo said solemnly, a strange look on his face. A look Raph had never seen on his brother before. It was fear. Genuine, pure fear. It contorted his facial features in such a strange way it nearly scared him too. But he wasn’t scared. He couldn’t feel anything, it was disturbing. Sure, the situation was strange and he was mildly uncomfortable with Leo’s facial expression but… he wasn’t scared. Just nauseous. His head was pounding, which didn't help either.

‘’I don’t know I’m just thinking of the long term. Millions of people means millions of stores right?’’

‘’Yeah and millions of infected and millions of raiders. They’ll be nothing to raid. From the looks of things, people are already panic buying. Sure, they can get more stock but long term that’ll just mean more people hitting the stores for supplied when this whole thing gets out of hand.’’ Donnie chipped in, looking down at his T-phone, quickly tapping out messages to god knows who.

‘’Don, you’re great and smart and all but why the hell are you playing with your phone at a time like this?’’ Leo said sternly, looking over at his younger brother who was still looking down at his phone.

‘’First of all, thank you and second of all if you hadn’t noticed there’s a zombie virus currently taking over new york and assumably the world. I’m asking April and Casey if they and their families are ok.’’ Donnie said smugly. Raph smirked. At least one of them was coping well with this.

‘’I don’t know… I agree with Raph. It’s not like the farmhouse has a whole lot that we don’t. Besides, we’re pretty safe down here. Even then we could make some kind of topside stakeout. Like, convert a store or something. Then we can have a ton of supplies AND multiple backup plans,’’ Mikey said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

‘’Wow Mikey that’s… actually really smart,’’ Donnie said with a grin. Raph and Leo nodded in agreement, smiling at him too. Mikey smiled back, rubbing the back of his head bashfully.

‘’I don’t know guys it’s not that smart,.’’

‘’It is though! Only April, Casey and a few mutants know we exist so it’s not like we have a high chance of infection. We also have plenty of food and resources down here and miles of sewers to hide in if needs be. Then, when we run out of supplies here in New York we can just go to the farmhouse. There’s that little store that had the weird dream book right? I doubt anyone will hit that. Even then we have chickens there and miles of woods. Food won’t be that hard to come by right?’’ Donnie elaborated, smiling proudly at Mikey.

‘’See little brother?’’ Raph chipped in, ‘’You aren’t a total screw up!’’ Mikey rolled his eyes. ‘’Thanks for the backhanded compliment bro.’’

‘’Any time.’’

‘’So… what do we do now?’’ Leo said, his eyes shifting around to every possible exit or entrance.

‘’I don’t know. Casey said his dad and sister were on their way to the hospital while the outbreak was happening. Turns out she was bit and uh… turned on his dad during the car ride. April said her dad was getting groceries and hasn’t heard from him in nearly 24 hours so she’s not exactly in a good state either. Should we pick them up and bring them back here?’’ Donnie said sadly, looking down at his phone. Evidently, no matter what anyone said he would bring them back to the lair so they all agreed.

‘’More heads may equal more mouths to feel but it also means more hands for supplies so yeah, why not,’’ Leo said with a shrug. Raph was unable to shake the eerie feeling Leo was giving him.

‘’Uh and they’re our best friends? Cold much Leo?’’ He said angrily. Even during the apocalypse he was still so… he wasn't sure but it was nothing good.

‘’Sorry for trying to think logically about the situation Raph. God even during the apocalypse you still won’t let anything I say slide will you?’’

‘’Nope,’’ Raph smiled sweetly.

‘’Good to know. On that note, you can go with Donnie to fetch April and Casey. Mikey and I will stay here to start prep the lair and try to figure out what food and supplies we need.’’ Raph rolled his eyes but nodded, standing to get ready to leave, when he heard a noise.

‘’Raph!’’ Donnie was shouting at him. Why did he keep shouting his name?

‘’What?’’ He responded, confused as to why he was even shouting. He was right next to him?

‘’Raph!’’ He shouted again, louder this time.

His eyes opened and Donnie stood over him, glaring. Great. Another stupid dream.

‘’What?’’ He said groggily, sitting up and stretching out his limbs, chasing away any fleeting relaxation sleep brought.

‘’Leo told me to wake you up. It’s your turn to do the supply run.’’

‘’It was my turn to do the supply run last week’’ Donnie shrugged. Raph sighed and got out of bed, grabbing his sai and bandana, wrapping it tightly around his eyes. The more he thought about it all, the worse he’d feel so, as per usual, he pushed it to the back of his mind and got ready to leave. Pulling his knee and arm pads on he took a deep breath, getting ready to face his older brother.

Slipping through the door, making sure his gear was all secure, he glanced at the large, decaying armchair Leo was sitting in, looking down on him. Nothing miraculous had happened overnight, he hadn’t changed. Raph wasn't sure what he’d expected to be honest. Nothing had changed over the last 6 months so why would it now? Leo’s eyes settled on him. Raph let out a small breath, praying Leo hadn’t heard it.

‘’Raphael, I trust Donatello has told you you’re duties for today?’’ Leo said flatly, his face unchanging.

‘’Duties? He told me about the supply run but nothing else.’’ Raph said, trying to keep the air of annoyance out of his voice but, as per usual, failing.

‘’Your duties are not only your supply run, but there’s a break in our defences. I want you to take Casey with you to check it out and make sure there’s no infected inside the barricade. Then fix it.’’

‘’That’s a four-man job, Casey and me can’t do that alone I-’’ Leo cut him off with a stern glance. He knew what would happen if he continued like this, so he shut his mouth, ‘’Fine.’’ Clenching his fists, he walked out, making sure to not slam anything. He knew what would happen if he did, and he didn’t feel like facing that punishment again.

Raph walked to Caseys room and poked his head around the hung blanket that served as a door.

‘’Case? You up?’’ Raph said, stepping into his friend’s room.

‘’I am now. What’s up?’’ Casey said with a yawn stretching his arms out.

‘’I gotta go on a supply run and Leo wants you to help me fix some ‘hole in our defences, ’’’ Raph said mockingly.

‘’So you want me on your run too?’’

‘’Possibly.’’

‘’Shoulda just said so bestie!’’ Casey said, jumping up from his mattress on the floor. Raph groaned and rolled his eyes.

‘’Stop it. We gotta go soon or Leo will throw a tantrum,’’ Casey winced. He knew what Leo could be like if he got mad and didn’t want to be on the receiving end of another ‘’tantrum’’ as Raph put it. Raph saw Casey’s calm and fun demeanor deflate before his eyes and he felt his own disappear too. That's what happens when your older brother is a tyrant he supposed.

‘’You got it,’’ He replied, beginning to pull on his own protective gear over his muddied and bloodied clothes.

Once they got to the surface, they breathed in the fresh air. Raph had to admit, a zombie apocalypse wasn’t ideal, but the pollution levels were lower than ever. The air smelt so… clean and that’s one thing he never thought he’d say that in New York.

It’d been 6 months since the world had been overrun by the infected, and 3 since the hierarchy had been ‘established’. By established, he meant enforced. Leo was at the top, then Donnie and April, then it was Mikey and Casey. Last but most certainly least it was him. Something had changed in Leo in the last 6 months and Raph didn’t like it, not only because it meant he was the one having to risk his life for the rest of them, but also because he just wanted his big brother back. The big brother that could take a joke and care about him, even if he was a complete ass sometimes. The big brother that had his back, no matter what. The big brother he once had once known though, was gone. He let out a sigh, one that didn’t go unnoticed by Casey.

‘’What’s on your mind man?’’ Casey said, slinging his splintering bat over his shoulder.

‘’I don’t know. Just fuckin’... Leo man. He’s so up himself but I’m genuinely worried. This entire thing is getting to his head seriously. You’ve seen how he’s been? On top of that, he’s been such an ass to me. It’s always me doing supply runs and me risking my shell just to get some more stuff for everyone. It’s not even like we need it! We have plenty in the sewer. Besides, I don’t think he even cares that much. He’s so cold I just… I miss my brother ya know man?’’ Raph lowered his head, refusing to let this moment of emotion overtake him.

‘’I know dude,’’ Casey said, looking away too, ‘’I just… it’s hard. I don’t even know if my sister is still alive. Well to an extent. What if someone… you know. Same with my dad. Gotta admit, this whole zombie apocalypse thing totally blows a lot more than the movies and tv shows made it look.’’ He wiped his gloved hand over his eyes, sniffing slightly. Raph looked over, his face falling.

‘’Hey man, c’mon,’’ He said softly, wrapping his arm around his friend’s shoulder, ‘’I’m sure they’re fine. We’ll find them and save them, no matter what. Donnie’s working night and day on the cure and has been for months, it can’t be long now until he has it working!’’ Raph said encouragingly, shaking Casey a little. He let out a small, less enthusiastic laugh.

‘’Yeah I hope so,’’ He looked up and smiled at Raph, something behind him catching his attention, ‘’Hey we’re here,’’ he said, pointing over his shoulder to the small corner store. They were surprised it hadn’t been hit initially, considering how open and obvious it was, but to be honest, they weren’t complaining.

‘’What do we even need anyway?’’ Casey said, pushing open the door.

‘’Shit if I know. I think we’re running low on some first aid stuff so we could just grab some of that. We could also grab some more luxury stuff like candy or something.’’

‘’Ooo yeah sure. Sounds good. April was saying she was getting bored, I’ll see if they have any stationary stuff. Then D was saying he needed more coffee so I’ll get that too. Anything you want me to grab you Raph?’’ Raph thought for a second before replying.

‘’Nah I’m good. I was gonna get Mikey some gummy bears or something so I’ll see if they have anything good.’’

‘’Suit yourself,’’ Casey said, crossing his arms behind his head and scanning the shelves with his eyes, looking for what he wanted.

Raph walked over to the register and looked behind it, his eyes wandering to a jar full of gummy animals. Mikey would love that. He walked behind the register and snagged it from the shelf, tucking it safely into the bag slung over his shoulder.

Suddenly, a noise came from the backroom. Something… falling? He looked over at Casey to see if he’d heard it too. The panicked look on his face told him everything. Raph motioned for him to be quiet as he pulled his sai from their position at his waist and slowly walked towards the closed wooden door. Twisting the handle ever so slowly, he peeked in, scanning the darkroom for signs of movement. Raph smirked and turned out, looking at Casey.

‘’All clear. I think we’re going stir-’’ Raph was cut off as he was yanked back into the darkness, only able to let out a small yelp before he came crashing to the ground.

‘’Raph!’’ Casey yelled, taking a running jump and throwing himself over the counter towards the door, pulling it open all the way.

‘’Get off me you freak!’’ Raph yelled, pushing the infected away with all his might, but it was persistent, snapping and lurching towards him. Casey swung his bat in a downward arch, pushing it further towards Raph.

‘’Dude! Away from me! Not towards you dumbass!’’ Raph screamed, pushing the creature back off him as it clawed and lurched forward again, taking him by surprise. He let out a yelp as he pushed it back again.

‘’Sorry man!’’ Casey shouted back, this time using his bat to scoop the thing off his friend, throwing it into a corner and beginning to bash its already decaying head in.

‘’You ok Raph?’’ Casey asked, looking over his friend before taking his hand and helping him back to his feet.

‘’Yeah,’’ He said, gulping air down, ‘’I’m alright.’’

‘’You didn’t get bit or scratched or anything?’’ Casey said cautiously, his eyes scanning Raph cautiously, taking a couple steps back.

‘’Not that I know of. He had a good go at it though, I’ll give him that.’’ Casey snorted, slinging his bat back into his backpack.

‘’Let’s just get what we need and get out of here. Probably attracted more with your girly screaming.’’

‘’Who are you calling girly Jones? You screamed way more than I did,’’ Raph said, punching Casey on the shoulder.

‘’We’ll call it even.’’

‘’Shit! The gummies! I hope I didn’t smash the jar when I fell back. Mikey’d love those,’’ Raph said, pulling his backpack around his body and opening it, checking the jar was fine.

‘’I just gotta grab Red something. I’ve got the coffee and stuff so we should be good to go.’’

‘’Yeah. I’ll probably grab some chocolate or something. See if Leo wants any.’’ Raph walked over to the chocolate selection on the counter. Though sparse, there were some decent choices. Grabbing a couple of crunchie bars and snickers, he stashed them away in his bag and checked he had everything. Only his sai where missing. He must’ve dropped them when he was attacked. Jumping the counter, he swung the door open again and saw them in the middle of the floor, the once cleanly wrapped handles decaying, the perfect shiny metal scuffed and marked, on the verge of rusting. He sighed and picked them up, looking back over at the zombie that lay on the floor, its brain splattered on the tiles. The grey-green skin was eerie but… so human. Raph wondered if he had been the owner of the store before all this. Most of his lower body was gone, it seemed to cut off just above his pelvis. It was nearly disturbing… but after 6 months of this, you get desensitised to the excessive violence.

‘’You ok man?’’ Casey said behind him, startling him out of his thoughts.

‘’Yeah. I'm good. Lets… just go home.’’ 

[bnhascribbles]

Competition

Shinso x Teacher!Reader

Fluff & Humor; Just a couple of ridiculously sarcastic teachers figuring out their relationship and navigating an (intentional) misunderstanding

Words: 3.3K

Warnings: Very mild swearing

Sometimes, you really believed that full-time heroes had it easy.  Sure, they had to risk their lives daily, but then again, so did you.  As a teacher at U.A., you were all-too-familiar with the fact that danger was a part of the curriculum.  After all, when a hero-in-training screwed up, it was your job to yank them out of whatever situation they found themselves in.  You had a collection of scars stemming from misfired quirks, shrapnel from training-ground explosions, and the occasional struggle to pull apart brawling students.  That wasn’t even the worst part of teaching.  It was the fact that if you failed your “mission,” if you failed these kids, you weren’t just ruining their lives, you were putting the entire country at risk–it would be like filling barrels with gunpowder and just watching them roll into a burning building.

Naturally, this meant that your workdays seldom actually ended with the ring of the final bell.  There was always stuff to do after classes ended–papers to grade, exercises to plan, troublemakers to scold.  Your most recent project involved planning summer training camp for the second years.  The students this year had a diverse combination of quirks, so it was up to you and the teacher from 2-A to devise a program that would incorporate several different training regimens.  Picking the location, creating individualized plans for each student, recruiting pros to act as stand-ins in the moments where the two of you were off making sure everything ran like clockwork–most of the time, you were swamped, working well past dark.  On those nights, coffee and sugar were your lifelines.  You’d set up shop in a 24-hour donut shop and pray that you’d manage to leave before the 3 AM drunks began to pour in through the doors.  This had been your reality for the past three weeks, four days, and seven hours.

Tonight marked the end of all that–after you double-checked all of the arrangements, you were free.  Knowing that the planning was done and that you could finally relax should’ve been a reason for celebration.  Well, it wasn’t.  Not because you were a sucker for suffering and certainly not because two hours of sleep was the perfect amount you needed in order to teach a class full of hormonal teenagers.  No, it was because, despite the long hours and constant stress of the whole process, you actually enjoyed spending time with the grumpy teacher of 2-A.

Shinso and you weren’t friends in the traditional sense of the word—you only ever interacted at school and in these little meetings.  Even so, your banter was famous at U.A.  In the halls, the classrooms, the training grounds–everywhere you met, the two of you were at each other’s throats.  Sure, it might’ve had something to do with your drastically different teaching styles–he was way more of a disciplinarian than you were–but the truth was, it probably because Shinso was the only person you knew with a wit sharp enough to match your own.

“I thought I saw you crack a smile at the sports festival.  Congratulations, I didn’t know ‘Shinso-sensei’ was capable of experiencing actual human emotion.”

“Clever, clever.  Maybe if you directed a fraction of the energy you spend insulting me into actually teaching your class, then it’d be half-competent.”

However hostile the exchanges seemed, all of it was done in good fun–most of the time, you were snickering before you even got through your next comeback.  Still, it was easy to see why some people might get the wrong idea.  In your first month of teaching, both of you were called in individually for a meeting with the principal.  Apparently, however playful you knew your bickering to be, other teachers had a difficult time grasping the...intricacies of your humor.  They thought that you and Shinso genuinely wanted to murder each other.  Even after explaining the situation to Principal Nezu, however, he was adamant that the two of you put an end to the insults.

So naturally, the two of you acted like the smartasses you were and shot off to the opposite end of the spectrum.  If you were gonna have to be nice, you were gonna do it your way, dammit.

“Wasn’t gonna stop by, but after seeing those class rankings, I just had to.  You should be SO proud.  One student in the top thirty?  Wow, what an improvement.”

“Thanks, Shinso.  I really appreciate you walking all the way to my classroom to tell me that.  God, I’m sorry for getting distracted, but can’t help asking: How much sleep did you get last night?  Because I am LIVING for those dark circles.”

You can’t be sure when exactly you started anticipating your little encounters, when it was that hearing the sound of his voice became the highlight of your day.  You don’t know when realized you liked him–beyond the whole “friendship” or “professional admiration” sort of stuff.  Sure, the man was fatalistic, arrogant, and liked to pretend that he was apathetic towards just about everything, but there was more to him than that.  You saw the way he worried over his students–how he’d spent nearly the entire provisional license exam clenching onto the edge of his seat, his knuckles white.  Then, there was his talent for committing the tiniest things to memory.  Trivial things, like how your favorite color was purple.  After you’d mentioned it offhandedly in one of your little “arguments,” you found that every written reminder from him (“Turn in this form today” or “Midterms happening next month”) came on a distinctive, lilac-tinted sticky-note.  He was paying attention.  Maybe it was wishful thinking on your part, but that was the first sign you noticed that, maybe, he liked you too.  

So as you sat in that cheap old donut shop, wrapping up your last “planning night” together, you decided to take the leap.

“If you aren’t too busy scheming up new ways to crush your students’ spirits, then we should meet up again tomorrow.”

“Why, did we forget something?”  Shinso groans, flipping through his papers.  “Cots?  Food?”  He takes another swig of his coffee.  “The students are old enough to figure it out.  A couple days of roughing it won’t kill them.”

“Harsh.  But no, that’s not it.  I’m completely over work; I was imagining something a little more casual.”  You swallow hard, willing yourself to follow through.  You’ve thought about this for way too long to chicken out now.  “Something more date-like.”

Shinso peeks up at you out of the corner of his eye.  He stares for a moment, then he leans back in his chair, fiddling with the plastic tab on the lid of his drink.  

“I might have to pass on that.  I’ve got a girl waiting up for me back home, and the longer I’m out, the pissier she gets.”

You can feel the red-hot flush as it creeps across your face, coloring every inch of your skin.  God, you probably looked like some sort of overripe tomato.  In a frantic attempt to hide, you take a large gulp from your cup and hold it up against the bottom half of your face, even when you’re done.  Your hot chocolate doesn’t taste sweet anymore–it’s bitter and leaves a chalky, burning feeling in your throat.  Then again, that could be embarrassment setting in.

“Oh.” It’s a struggle to keep your voice level–a struggle that you lose.  Diffusing the situation with humor isn’t even an option–you were smart dammit, but you couldn’t focus for long enough to say something even remotely thought-out.“I had no idea...I didn’t mean–”

“It’s alright.”  Thankfully, he cuts off your stammering before you make an even bigger fool of yourself.  “Not many people know about her; She’s not so good with strangers.”  He places his coffee down on the tabletop.

“That’s awesome.”  You mumble through a pathetic, fake smile.

Stop it, that little voice in your head warns.

“Not the, uh, stranger part.  That’s unfortunate.”

Please shut up.  For God’s sake, you still have to WORK with this dude.

“It’s cool that you’ve got someone.”

Just get up and leave while you still can.  Fake a phone call.  A heart attack.  ANYTHING.

“More than some people can say, haha.”

Awesome.  If he didn’t already think you were desperate, he sure does now.

You finally listen, stopping yourself before any more word-vomit can escape your lips.  The damage has already been done, though.  Men cackle boisterously at a table to your right.  A barista drones through a generic list of house specials for a customer.  The espresso machine hisses and bubbles angrily.  But you and Shinso sit in complete silence.  You pretend to be utterly fascinated by the lip of your cup, folding the edge up and down.  Really, you just needed something to stare at.  Something that wasn’t him.

“Want to meet her?”  

The air gets caught in your throat as you inhale, and you let out an incredibly obvious, choked cough.  “Excuse me?”  Hiding your shock is off the table now.  Then again, you’d already managed to make a fool of yourself–how much worse could it really get?

“Do you want to meet my kitten?”  He speaks slowly, stressing each individual word, but you’re still at a loss.  “I actually think she might like you.”

Things were getting really weird, really fast.  Surely, he had to know that the proposition was absolutely insane.  As it stood, all you wanted to do was go home and curl up on your sofa–pretend you’d never bumped into him and drown your humiliation with a bottle of cheap grocery store wine and a pint of ice cream.  If you were lucky, you’d sleep through your alarm.  At least then you wouldn’t have to see those indigo eyes tomorrow morning, wouldn’t have to pass him in the halls pretend everything was fine.  The two of you would squabble, as always.  He’d leave his sticky notes, as always.  Maybe, if you were lucky, they’d still be purple.  Hell, it wasn’t like the color actually meant anything, after all.

The more you think about it, the more the self-pity festers, becoming something else.  Frustration.  Was the moron possessed?  What on earth would make him even entertain the thought that you’d want to meet his “kitten” (even thinking about the pet-name made you want to gag)?  He’d rejected you.  That should’ve been the end of it; He should’ve just let you skulk off and ponder past sins–the reasons why the universe saw fit punish you with the curse of boldness and bad timing.  

Of course, Shinso hadn’t said no to you outright.  Still, he’d made it very clear that he was taken.  He had a girlfriend.  

...except, he’d never really said that any of that.  You’d just filled in the blanks.  After all, that was the only possible–

“How are you with fur?”  He cuts off your thought with another question.

And it clicks.  The absurd, ridiculous, impossible idea that you hadn’t even noticed percolating at the back of your mind suddenly becomes plausible–logical even.  You forget about your assumption, opting instead to act on what you know.  Verbatim.

His girl.

His kitten.

“Hitoshi Shinso.”  No, it couldn’t be true.  You were just being insane.  Wishful.

“Yes?”  It’s drawn out, teasing.  He knows exactly what he’s doing.

“I know you’re not talking about your actual cat.  Because if you are, so help me god, I will end you.”

He cocks up an eyebrow, smirking.  “Promise?”

The bastard.

You bury your face in your hands, dumbfounded.  You don’t know whether you should get angry or laugh or just breathe.  When you peek through your fingers at Shinso, he at least has the decency to look a little guilty–emphasis on a little.

“In my defense, I thought you’d figure it out quicker than that.”

“In my defense, I’ve never heard a man use his pet as an excuse not to go on a date.”

There’s another silence, but it’s a different sort from the first.  Less uncomfortable–still a bit awkward, but more pensive than before.  Shinso stretches against the back of his chair, staring at the ceiling.  You shift in your seat and peer out the window.

Shinso is the first to speak.  

“I’m free all day Sunday.”

You turn towards him, shaking your head, incredulous.  But when you look up, his expression isn’t mocking or cocky.  He’s using his palm to almost completely cover the bottom half of his face–you can’t even see his mouth behind it.  His other arm is curled tight around his stomach, like he’s trying to protect himself from some imaginary punch to the gut.  The posture was all-too-recognizable.  The man was nervous.  Just like you’d been when you’d asked him.

Part of you was thrilled that everything had managed to work out, even if it’d taken longer than you’d expected to reach this point.  But then, there’s also an ounce of bitterness left in that petty, petty heart of yours.  Not enough to leave Shinso sitting in agony for too long, but certainly enough to draw out his suffering the slightest bit.  You weren’t going to make things easy for him after he’d tortured you with his little joke.

You fold your arms across your chest and let your jaw shift to one side.  “I don’t know, is your cat really gonna be okay with that?  Wouldn’t want her getting jealous or anything.”

“I’ll get her permission tonight.”  A quick response.  Even if the words seem playful, his voice is brittle, on edge.  “So?”

You suck in air over your teeth, resting your elbows on the tabletop and resting your thumbs beneath your chin.  “Well, I’ve never been the best at sharing.”

Shinso catches onto your act, letting the hand fall away from his mouth.  He breathes in a long, deep breath through his nose.  The corner of his lip twitches and twists upward.

“I’m afraid my little girl and I are a package deal.”  He slides his papers to the side and leans forward, mimicking your posture.

“Can I at least know the name of my competition?”  You ask with an upward lilt on the final word.

“Bean.”

You laugh out loud, despite your best efforts to seem serious and seductive.  Bean.  Never in a thousand years would you ever even consider that a little fur-ball named Bean would cause you so much trouble.

“And you’re sure you’re not down to negotiate?”

“No.  This is an all-or-nothing sort of deal.”

“Ouch.  With baggage like that, it’s no wonder you’re still single, Shinso.”  You try not to get distracted by the closeness of your faces.  It’s difficult considering the fact that your forearms are practically pressed against each other.  The tiny size of the café table is beginning to show.  “Do people usually pack up and leave once you’ve stated your terms?”

There’s a pause as his gaze flits between each of your eyes.  “I wouldn’t know, none of them have ever made it this far.”

Oh.  You can’t tell if he’s being serious, or if he’s just that smooth.  Either way, your pulse quickens.  It doesn’t help that your faces are mere inches apart.  You can count each of his eyelashes, smell the coffee on his breath, feel the warmth radiating off his skin.  He has you completely intoxicated by his presence; It makes you reckless.

“So I’m special.”  Not a question–an observation.

He purses his lips, then smiles.  “I guess you are.”

That’s it.  Something about the way he says the words–without a hint of sarcasm or insincerity–shakes you to your very core.  You feel the heat in your neck first, feeling it sear your skin as it creeps up to your cheeks and ears.  Then comes the buzzing in your skull, the frantic thudding of your heart in your chest.  

“So?”  He says it softly, like he’s afraid to actually hear your response.  For all the reluctance in his voice, Shinso himself is bold.  Before you even know what’s happening, he’s reaching across the almost-nonexistent space between the two of you, his hand hovering beside the place where your fingers rest on your cheek.

“ ‘So,’ what?  You didn’t ask a question.”  You’re hyper-aware of everything–the temperature of the air, the subtle tremble in his arm, your own shallow breathing.

“You understood what I meant, though.”

His hand inches in closer, and when finally feel it dust over the side of your palm–experience the jolt of pure electricity that sparks through you where his skin meets yours–you almost forget to draw things draw things out.  Almost.

“If you were hoping I’d agree to go out with you, then prepare for disappointment.”  When his fingers edge in beneath your own, gently coaxing your palm away from your cheek, your breathing hitches involuntarily.  You press on anyway.  “My houseplant doesn’t like it when I spend time with other guys.”

He huffs, and you can tell he’s trying not to smile.  “Come on.  I’m being serious now.”  

He drags your hand down to the table, laying it palm up.  His fingers start at your wrist, tracing over the shallow creases in your palm.  Slowly, deliberately–like he’s trying to commit each line to memory.  When you look up at his face, it really does look like he’s studying; His eyebrows are furrowed in concentration, his lips pulled off to one side of his face.  A strand of hair floats down in front of his eyes, but he ignores it.  It’d be easy to believe he thought there was nothing more important at that moment than the shape of your hand beneath his fingers.

Your heart is done being petty.  You cut straight to the part where you stop playing hard-to-get and actually say what you want.

“You are single, right?”  You curl your fingers and catch his hand, putting an end to its exploring.  “I mean, besides the live-in-home cat-girlfriend.”

He lifts his eyes up from the table, laughing.  “Yeah, I am.”

You exhale, relieved.  “Good, I just had to make sure.”  You don’t even consider prying your hand away from his.  Instead, you remove your other one from your cheek and gesture outwards towards Shinso.  “Give me your phone.”

He doesn’t hesitate to obey, reaching into his pocket (notably, with his free hand) and practically tossing his phone into your outstretched palm.  You begin entering your number.

“Seriously, though, the next time you scare me like that, I’ll sic my class on you.”

He scoffs, rolling his eyes.  “Right, because I’m absolutely terrified of class 2-B.”

“You should be.”  You check the newly-entered contact and hand him back his device.  “They’re crazy strong, and they actually like me.  Not like those 2-A thralls you train.”

“One of your students was sent to the clinic last week for getting his arm stuck in a locker.  Not even two days later, another one gave herself a concussion because she tried to jump in the conveyer belt for lunch trays.”  He leans forward, going to slide his phone back into his pocket.  “Like I said: I’m terrified.”

You pretend to be annoyed at the jab, but really, you’re too over-the-moon to be even a little convincing.  Really, you could’ve gone back and forth with him all night.  You could’ve insisted that your class was superior–that they were intelligent and creative and street-smart, but Shinso probably already knew that; This was all just another act meant to get a rise out of you.  It might’ve worked any other day, but tonight, you’re too willing to let him get away with more than usual.

When you get home that night, you get a text from an unregistered number.  It’s a photo message–an image of a puny calico kitten lounging on top of a sofa, staring intently into the camera.  The next text comes in about thirty seconds later.  It was less than ten words long, but it made you burst into a fit of giggles all the same.  

As you can see, you’ve got some stiff competition.

[yungfuckfacemcgee]

After many many months I FINALLY finished this Westallen fanfic that has now morphed into a 74,500 word behemoth

It’s called Everything in Existence. It’s a no powers, meet-cute AU that is basically just the novelized movie I’m waiting for Netflix to cast Candice Patton in. Here is the first chapter (I’m gonna post it on AO3) I hope you like it because I like it and this is the first big, real-ish thing I’ve written and I am proud.

Chapter 1

“…so, I guess, what I’m trying to say is it’s not you, it’s me. And I know people say this all the time, but, I really hope we can stay friends.” 

“Are you serious, Iris?” 

Okay, so maybe she shouldn’t have done this while they were lying in bed together after another night of sub-par sex. But Iris West couldn’t take it anymore: every second of their “relationship” felt like a knife scraping a dinner plate. At the time, she thought it made sense to finally agree to be exclusive with Scott after a month of casual post-work hookups. Their relationship made sense on paper. They were the two hot, young, Black reporters in the office. He was good looking, smart, nice, and he was almost as good at his job as she was at hers. It was logical. But the longer they stayed together, the clearer her image of Scott became. What she initially thought was kindness turned out to be charm; she could see it in the way he would suck up to their editors or all of his patronizing interactions with the new hires. On more than one occasion she caught him checking himself out in the mirror; looking back on it Scott never looked at her with the same appreciation. And she could’ve set all of that aside, she really could’ve, if he hadn’t fucked with her at work. He took her idea for a new feature to their misogynistic, asshole of a boss. Scott got his ticket to the office's inner circle and left Iris behind writing listicles with 21-year-old interns fresh out of undergrad. 

He was staring at her expectantly, apparently waiting for an answer. 

“Yeah I am, Scott,” she said. “This isn’t working for me anymore.” 

“Wow” he scoffed, offended. He started getting out of bed and redressing, angrily pulling on his raw denim jeans. 

“You know everyone at the office always said you were kind of a bitch but I saw past that.” “Excuse me?” Iris asked, her eyebrows shooting up in shock. Any semblance of Scott’s nice guy act evaporated as soon as his feet hit the floor. She sat up in her bed, watching as he collected the few belongings he had in her apartment, stuffing them into his monogrammed leather overnight bag. Even though they’d been together for nearly half a year Scott never left more than a stick of deodorant or an extra pair of socks at her place. Truthfully, Iris never wanted him to.

“Wasted all my time giving you this ‘exclusive’ shit,” he muttered to himself as he took his watch from the nightstand. “You’re not the only hot girl who wanted me, you know. I had so many opportunities, sweetheart. Okay? I could’ve been sleeping with white women.” Who even says that? “Get the fuck out of my apartment, Scott!” Iris yelled as he flung open her bedroom door. She got up to follow him through the living room, “and you know what? I take it back! I DON’T want to stay friends!” And with that she slammed the door.

“Morning sunshine.” “Fuck!” Iris grabbed her chest. She hadn’t noticed her roommate, Linda, sitting in the kitchen while she was chasing Scott out. 

“So I take it you finally gave Scott ‘the talk’?” Linda asked over her morning paper. 

The two girls had met Linda’s first night living in the city, through a mutual friend who invited a group of them out to a bar with fifty cent jello shots. Iris left early without saying goodbye, feeling a blackout coming on. At 4 a.m. a wasted Linda was pounding on her door, saying “I wanted to make sure you made it home” before pushing past her, into her shoebox of an apartment, throwing up blue into her toilet, and passing out on her bed. They’d been best friends ever since. 

“Mmmhhhh,” Iris moaned in the affirmative as she flopped face first on to their old couch. “Sorry, honey. At least you don’t have to deal with that dickhead anymore. You know I never liked him.” For as long as they’d known each other, it felt as though Linda was constantly saying I told you so. It occasionally ignited standoffs that never lasted more than a couple days, and more often than not got resolved with apology tequila and kitchen karaoke. 

Iris peeled herself off the couch and straightened out her disheveled hair. 

“You’re right. He’s a dick. And I’m glad to be done with him.” She sat for a second, mulling it over before forcefully flopping back down. “But now I have to see him at work on Mondayyyyy. Lindaaaaa. What am I gonna do?” “Hon,” Linda said, sitting on the couch. Iris went boneless, half her body slid to the floor. “Iris, listen to me” Linda grabbed her by the shoulders, “you’re gonna go into your room. You’re gonna clean yourself up and get dressed.” Iris leaned into her friend, starting to feel comforted as Linda smoothed down her hair. “And then you and I are gonna go to trap-yoga.” “What?!” Iris pulled away to look at the traitor. “Exercise is not what I need right now, Lin! My heart is broken! I need to wallow and eat junk food and stay on the couch.” She shot puppy dog eyes at her friend. “No bitch. You didn’t even like Scott!” Linda exclaimed. Iris cringed at that, but she knew that Linda was right. Screaming at him now was the most emotion she ever felt in that relationship. Go figure. “Iris, you need to get up and move. You wasted five and a half months on that jerk for what? Some mediocre sex?” 

“It wasn’t that bad” Iris said. “Girl. I share a wall with you. All I ever heard was Scott grunting and hyping himself up.” “Dude!”

“What was the longest it ever lasted? Five minutes?”

“I–” Iris started but shut her mouth, having to agree with Linda, and no longer feeling the need to defend Scott.

“That’s what I thought. So go get your little yoga pants on, we’re leaving in 20.”

——

Two hours later, Iris was splayed out on the floor of a dance studio in Midtown, trying to catch her breath while the rest of the class went on with their Saturdays. She tries to make it to the gym a couple times a week (if she were being honest with herself it was more like a couple times a month) but that was just absurd. She could barely touch her toes on a good day, how could she be expected to add dancing to that? At least the music was good. 

“What…the…fuck” Iris panted to Linda as she came to sit beside her with two bottles of water and a towel. Linda, of course, had barely broken a sweat so the towel was for Iris. 

“A couple times there Mari and I thought you were gonna throw up,” she replied, pulling Iris up into a sitting position.

Their mutual friend, Mariana taught the class. Mari (as her friends called her) was  a curvy woman with a blonde afro. Part time trainer, part time back up dancer, she had aspirations of becoming the next Rosie Perez. Linda met her a while back taking one of her other dance/exercise classes and decided the three of them had to be friends. The decision was cemented the first time the trio went out and all ended up dancing on tables and laughing until they couldn’t breathe. 

Mari finished talking to one of her clients (a middle aged white woman in a coordinated Lululemon outfit) with a fake smile that immediately dropped as she came to sit with the girls. 

“Ay díos, this woman always wanting to talk to me about some new diet and her son’s gluten intolerance. Christ!” she sat with a huff. “Lin, you looked great. Iris…at least you didn’t throw up.” She flashed a sympathetic smile. 

“Okay,” Linda said redirecting the conversation, “phase one of Mission: Iris Reclaims Her Time in which she sweats out her anger and does her annual workout—” 

“Hey!”

“—complete. On to phase two: we’re all going out tonight.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that guys.” It was only 2pm and Iris was already sweaty and exhausted, she was pretty much done for the day.

“Iris, mama, we’re taking you out!” Mari interrupted, in an aggressively friendly tone. “And not to one of our usual places, we’re getting on the train and we are going downtown–”

Iris let out a groan. 

“ –and you have absolutely no say in the matter” Linda finished.

“But—” Iris tried.

“Dude, you need to go celebrate your freedom! It’s been half a year! Haven’t you already wasted enough of your time doing nothing?” Linda and Mari watched as she contemplated their words.

If it were anyone else Iris would have told them to fuck off and leave her alone, but these were her girls; she trusted their judgment the majority of the time. Besides she knew from experience that they wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Okay fine.” She gave in. “But you two are buying my drinks all night.” 

“Yes!” Linda rejoiced, “This is going to be the best night ever!” 

——

  “This is the worst night ever” Linda sighed. 

Linda and Iris met up with Mari at some swanky club on the Lower East Side after a pregame at their apartment. Apparently, Mari met a couple guys in line who gave her a few pulls from their flask. When they finally managed to get to the front she was a shade past too drunk, falling off her ridiculously tall heels she exclusively wore for clubbing. Iris and Linda loved the girl, but this wasn’t the first time (and it certainly wouldn’t be the last) that they would have to play party mom. They’d hold it against her but every time it happened she was genuinely remorseful — besides she did her fair share of emotionally/physically/spiritually-responsible friend duties so no one was in debt to anyone as far as they could see. They consoled Mari, assuring her that she hadn’t ruined the night, and put her in a cab across the bridge back to her roommate who, by this point, knew the drill. 

It started to rain by the time they successfully got her in the car and tipped the driver extra to make sure she got home safely. Rather than waiting in line for another hour, the two decided to leave. They walked around the unfamiliar neighborhood, searching the block for someplace dry to figure out plan b. They happened upon a grimy, all-night pizza place first and made a break for it.  Each ordered a slice — pepperoni for Iris, plain cheese for Linda — and they claimed a table by the window away from the groups of loud, underage college kids, completely soaked from the rain and obviously wasted on cheap liquor. 

“Really, Lin, it’s fine. You guys still got me out of the house for the night” Iris tried to assure her friend that the outing wasn’t a total flop. 

“No, it’s not fine. Look at us! We look hot! I’m not letting this go to waste.” An idea dawned on her face making Iris nervous. She abandoned her slice on its paper plate and reached into her bag. “Here.” Linda pulled two lollipops from her clutch. She offered one to Iris. “Lauren gave these to me last week. Welcome to phase 3 of Mission: Iris Reclaims Her Time, baby.” 

Now, Linda and Iris weren’t stoners by any stretch of the imagination. But they were two young women living in a big city, paying rent that was way too high, working stressful jobs that paid them way too little, and taking anxiety inducing public transit every goddamn day. Once in a while booze just didn’t cut it.

“Weirdo, stoner Lauren who lives down the hall?” Iris asked, somewhat shocked though not entirely surprised. Lauren was an aloof, surfer-looking girl who lived in their building and who, against all logic, Linda had a huge crush on. Iris imagined that Lauren got lost on the way to the beach one day and wandered around until she somehow found herself living in the city, miles from the ocean and selling drugs out of a loft that her parents paid for. She had long, wavy hair the color of sand, and always greeted Iris with a zen smile. 

“Yup,” Linda responded nonchalantly.

Iris took a lollipop from her “And why were you with weirdo stoner Lauren who lives down the hall?”

“Oh…you know…” Linda squirmed on the receiving end of Iris’ growing smirk and finally gave up trying to think up some half-assed excuse. “Just shut up and eat it.”

They unwrapped their edibles and held them in a toast. “Cheers,” Linda began, “to my best friend who finally vagged up…” Iris cringed as Linda only got louder. “…who finally VAGGED up, dumped that loser Scott and got her life back. In Beyoncé’s name we pray, Amen.”

“Amen,” Iris agreed. “How long until these kick in anyway?” “A couple of hours I think.” The college kids were getting rowdier. They were like drunk toddlers – screaming, laughing, falling down and blurting out the most random things. Iris watched them, jealous of the hangover free mornings they would have the next day, and suddenly felt too old to stay any longer. “Hey, why don’t we check out that bar across the street? I’ve seen three groups of hot guys go in since we got here.” “I like where your head’s at, West! Let’s go.” Linda grabbed Iris’ hand, forgetting their half-eaten slices, and pulled her across the street, nearly getting them killed by an oncoming cab. 

——

Linda was off with a tall finance bro with a cute butt and Iris was figuring out a way to get out of a dry conversation with some guy about the app he developed. Every time she tried to interrupt him, he cut her off with a new question that he would just answer for himself. 

“Well, this has been really gre– ”, Iris tried. Again. 

“What’s your favorite TV show? Mine’s definitely Narcos, I just think the story structure is so sophisticated, you know? It really transcends language, I think, you know? I just feel like…” 

Iris zoned out. She started looking around the bar for Linda to shoot her the please come pretend to be my overprotective girlfriend so we can go home look, but she couldn’t find her in the crowd of twenty somethings. As she looked around she took in the atmosphere of the place. She noticed how the bar was decorated like a library with beat-up leather arm chairs scattered around, an illuminated globe sitting on the floor by the bathrooms, and a bookshelf on the wall behind the counter — half-filled with drinks, half-filled with actual books. The place was crowed, but no more so than any other Lower East Side bar on a Saturday night.

She started to turn her attention back to app boy, Tom? Or maybe he said Todd?   Iris had no idea what he was talking about at this point. She was about to try, yet again, to escape when the bartender leaned over. 

“Excuse me, miss?” She looked up at him. He was a white guy with floppy brown hair and a little bit of scruff. He had on a worn-out flannel over a Led Zeppelin t-shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows like it was 2010. 

“Miss?” He said again. She met his eyes and focused on what he was saying. “Hi, sorry to interrupt, but there was a problem with your card. I need you to come to the register at the other end of the bar so we can sort it out.”

“My card?” She asked confused, “but I didn’t…” Iris trailed off as she saw him widening his eyes at her, looking between her and Tom/dd. 

“Oh! Right! My card!” She turned back towards Mr. Talksalot, “I’m so sorry, but I have to go deal with this. Have a lovely night.” “I can wait for you to figure it out.” 

“Don’t!” Iris yelled a little too eagerly over her shoulder as she followed her flannel-ed white knight to the opposite end of the bar. He was lean, with broad shoulders, like a swimmer. 

“That guy wouldn’t stop talking! Why do guys like that always think they’re the most interesting thing in the world? Thank you so much…” Iris trailed off, realizing she didn’t know his name. 

“Barry. And because guys like that are douchebags. So, what are you drinking tonight…?”

“Iris, I’m Iris. Um, whiskey, neat.” She answered. He pushed at his sleeves even though they hadn’t slipped from their fixed position on his forearms.

“Iris the badass,” he said with smirk. Her stomach fluttered at that. She noticed him pause for a second, his eyes fixed to the counter. 

“Um,” he faltered then regained his composure, taking out a tumbler and filling it with the well drink, “yeah I saw you get that look on your face.” He slid Iris her glass. 

“What look?” she asked taking a sip.   

“That look. The one that says this guy can’t take a hint and I can’t find my friends anywhere.” He smiled a little and she looked down at the drink, her fingers fiddling with the glass. 

“So you were watching me?” She hadn’t intended for it to sound that flirty but once it was out of her mouth she decided to roll with it. 

The question clearly surprised him. He looked at her, flustered for a moment, before shaking it off and clearing discarded pint glasses off the bar. She tried not to let that hurt her pride too much and finished off her drink. 

Barry turned back to her, looking like he was about to say something until he noticed her empty glass. 

“Wow.” He stated. “Rough night?”

Starting to loosen up and feel that familiar warm buzz that came with finishing her second drink she responded, “I’m supposed to be here with my best friend celebrating, as a matter of fact.”

“Oh, congratulations. What are we celebrating?” he asked, leaning on the bar. His arms looked strong.

“We are celebrating my break-up!” She announced. 

“Oh. I’m sorry, Iris,” he said as he stood up straighter. Her name sounded good coming out of his mouth. 

“You’re sweet, but really I’m okay. He was just some asshole I work with.” A stupid, vain, asshole who ironed his jeans. Who does that?

“Where do you work?”

“I write for that website Snub,” she said begrudgingly. Admittedly it wasn’t a bad job, but Iris started there so young — it was the only real, paid writing gig she ever had. After Scott screwed her over she started thinking maybe she’d been there a few years too long. 

“Very cool.” Barry said. She couldn’t gauge by his reaction if he knew what Snub was. She kind of hoped he didn’t. “Wait a second,” he bent down and brought up two 

glasses, “if we’re going to make this a proper celebration we need shots.” 

At the mention of shots Iris raised her hands in protest. 

“That sounds nice, but my wallet can’t handle $17 drinks.” Living in the city Iris and Linda figured they could either order shots when they went out or pay their rent, but not both. A couple times the drinks won.

“No worries,” he told her as he poured the tequila and slid a glass to her, “these are on the house.”

“That’s really, really nice, but I can’t let you do that. Wouldn’t your manager or the owner or whatever be pissed?”

“Nah. I mean he’s a major asshole but I don’t think he’d mind giving some congratulatory shots to a beautiful woman.” 

Normally a line like that from some dude in a bar would come off as skeezy and insincere and Iris would blow him off. But coming from him it felt genuine, like he honestly thought she was beautiful. For the first time in a while Iris wasn’t quite sure how to react. 

“Ehrm,” he interrupted her stupor, grabbing the back of his neck with one hand and raising his glass with the other. “Here’s to… here’s to…” 

“The future?” She offered questioningly.

“Yeah. Here’s to the future. May this be the first drink of many towards forgetting your ex.”

“I’ll drink to that.” 

They clinked their glasses and knocked back their shots, Barry wincing after his while desperately reaching for a slice of lime. 

“Punk,” Iris teased. 

He smiled back at her and for a moment the din of the crowed bar faded to the background. She looked at his face, dusted with freckles. Only his left cheek had a dimple which she had the strange urge to poke.

“There you are!” She felt Linda’s hand on her shoulder. Just like that her moment with the cute bartender was over and she was thrown back into reality. 

“I’ve been looking for you forever!” Linda shouted a bit too loudly to Iris. 

“Yeah right, Lin!” She shouted back. She turned to introduce her new friend but he was already gone. For a second she wondered if it was even real. She couldn’t lie, she was a little disappointed.

“How are you feeling?” Linda grabbed Iris’ face and studied her eyes. “Has it hit you yet?”

“I don’t think so,” she replied through her smushed cheeks. Truth be told Iris had completely forgotten they took edibles earlier, otherwise she definitely would have turned down those shots. 

“How ‘bout you?” She asked, though as Linda began to separate the individual strands of Iris’ hair she was certain of the answer. 

“Alright, pretty girl, time to go home.”

“Whattt, noooooo. I feel great, Iris. Have I ever told you how soft your hair is, dude?”

“Okay let’s go.” Iris responded. 

She thought about leaving her number for Barry as she closed out her tab but then Linda started to touch other people’s hair so she rushed to get her out of there. 

Just as Iris began to think her’s must have been a dud, the high hit her. It was like being frozen in a giant jello mold; it seemed like the entire world slowed down while her brain raced at a million miles a minute. One second she was washing her face and the next she was thinking about how the faucet was like a teeny tiny waterfall, making her feel like a giant. The minute a 5’4” girl starts calling herself a giant, it’s a wrap. 

She fell asleep that night feeling like a rowboat on the ocean caught in a whirlpool. She dreamt vividly of pepperoni pizza and bartenders with green eyes and floppy hair. 

——

The next morning Iris woke up in Linda’s bed, the TV still on, reheated Chinese leftovers, and, now, very melted ice cream surrounding them. She grabbed her phone from the night stand, checking the time and making sure she didn’t send any regrettable texts — as she’d been known to do on more than one occasion. She saw a text from Mari:

Mari 9:43am

> Sorry I ruined the mission :( 

> I don’t know what happened! Those guys were really hot!

> AND THEY WERE DOMINICAN. You KNOW I don’t act right around Dominican men!!

> Buy you and sleeping beauty brunch to make it up???

Iris 10:46am

> You didn’t ruin anything! I’m just happy you got home safe 

> Girl you were MESSED UP

>But I’ll never say no to free brunch. Let me try to wake up the monster give me an hour

She put her phone aside and rolled over to face Linda who had a puddle of drool on her pillow. 

“Gross,” Iris whispered. She cleared her throat, “wakey, wakey”. She started gently poking Linda’s face. 

“Ughhhh,” Linda groaned as she came to, “What?” 

“It’s almost 11 and Mari’s buying us brunch. Time to get up.”

“Five more minutes, mom,” Linda bargained.

“Sorry, kiddo, but the bottomless mimosas are calling your name. Listen: ‘Lindaaa, Lindaa, come drink us Lindaaa’,” Iris whispered into her friend’s face as Linda half-heartedly attempted to swat her away. 

“Coffeee,” Linda whined as Iris got out of bed and began to clear away the remnants of their late-night feast. 

“There’s coffee at brunch, so get your ass up,” she emphasized as she smacked her through the thick layer of blankets, “and let’s go!”

“You’re so mean to me!” Linda called out as Iris left her bedroom, but she could hear the covers drawing back and Linda’s feet hitting the wood floor. 

As she was getting ready she thought about the bartender again. Iris thought about his stupid brown hair and, really, who has that many freckles? He was pretty cute and he made her laugh. He was definitely flirting with her, right? Or had she just projected on to him in her cross-faded haze? And why was she still thinking about him? She usually didn’t get hung up on pale white guys, especially ones that looked like they were in Mumford & Sons. She shook it off, telling herself to forget about Barry, and that she’d probably never see him again. 

——

They met at their secret Sunday brunch spot, the only place without a line out the door. To the average person it was a nondescript, touristy diner, but Jitters had the best bottomless brunch, the best coffee, and, not to mention, the best prices in the entire city. They met there whenever they needed to catch up or when they needed the best hangover breakfast any of them had ever had. 

They slid into their usual booth towards the back. Mari immediately began rattling off her apologies while Linda, sunglasses still on, laid her head on the table until their coffee cups were filled. After Iris assured Mari no one was upset, and Linda had two cups of coffee, they filled the others in on their nights. 

Mari talked about her Dominicans who gave her a flask of rum. Linda reported back on her finance bro. It turns out while Iris was marooned with Tom/Todd (“Can we just call him T Money”, Linda offered), Linda was making out with Bro, getting familiar with his butt, until they got into a fight about fetishizing Asian women. 

“And then he said he’d been waiting for a hot Asian chick like me to show up the entire night.”

“Gross,” “Yikes,” Iris and Mari said simultaneously. 

“Then he had the audacity to say I was being too sensitive when I called him on it,” Linda spat out with disgust, then immediately clutched her head with a wince at her volume.

“That motherfucker,” Mari responded, pounding her balled fist on the table. 

“Why the hell do people think that’s okay? Like, seriously, don’t they see how patronizing it is?” Iris said. 

“Exactly! So I spilled the rest of the drink he bought in his lap before I found our girl sitting alone at the bar.” 

“Alone?” Mari asked, turning her attention from Linda to Iris.

“Actually, the bartender kind of saved me from the dude who wouldn’t let me leave.” 

Mari and Linda exchanged a brief look before turning their attention to Iris with matching smirks on their faces. 

“What!?” Iris asked from behind her coffee mug.

“Would this bartender happen to be good looking?” Linda asked while lightly nudging her arm. 

Iris looked down at her eggs, pushing them around with her fork.

“I mean, he wasn’t ugly.” 

“Oooh, girl. Did you guys talk?” Mari asked. 

“I thanked him for getting me away from–“ 

“–T money,” Mari interrupted.

“…from T money…and then I told him I was there with Linda celebrating a break-up and he kinda bought me a drink.”

Mari and Linda looked at each other in disbelief. 

“BIIIITTTTTCCCCHHHHHH!” A startled busboy turned around at Linda’s deep exclamation.

“Oh my god, Linda there are children here.”

“That’s not my problem. You’re telling me you sat here and listened to me whine about some racist asshole and you weren’t even going to mention this fucking superhero you met last night?” Linda was practically bouncing up and down in her seat.

“I don’t know about superhero, he was just a good dude.”

“What’s the difference, babe?” Mari chimed in.

“Either way, we didn’t exchange numbers and I doubt I’ll see him again.”

“Wait, what was the name of the bar you guys ended up at?” Mari asked. 

“Um…” Iris said.

“Dude I couldn’t even remember my name this morning” Linda added.

“Christ.”

“Well, there wasn’t a lot of time to notice with Linda almost getting us killed crossing the street!” Iris said. 

“What!?” Mari asked.

“Are we alive? Yes. So everything’s fine and Iris is being dramatic.”

“Mhmm,” Iris rolled her eyes at Linda.

They finished their food and eventually reached the bottom of those mimosas. After a short yet loud argument, Iris and Linda convinced Mari to let them pay their parts of the check. When Iris went into her wallet to get her card she realized it was missing. 

“Fuck me,” she exclaimed, exasperated. 

“Language, dear!” Linda joked. “What’s wrong?”

“My credit card’s gone!”

“Where was the last place you used it? Retrace your steps,” Mari offered. 

“Well, Lin and I took the train back, and I used cash for the pizza,” Iris rattled off. 

“Wait, didn’t we use your card to open the tab when we got to the bar?” Linda asked, hardly trying to keep the excitement out of her voice. 

“We don’t even know the name of the bar!” Iris protested. 

“It’s Sunday, we have all day to retrace our steps and reunite you with your hero. Commencing phase 4 of Mission: Iris Gets Rebound Dick.” 

“What happened to Iris Reclaims Her Time?”

“Plans change, just go with it,” Mari said, the two of them already rushing out the door.

Iris rolled her eyes but if she had to be honest with herself, she couldn’t deny that she was a little bit thrilled at the idea of seeing Barry again.

“Wait you guys! We still have to pay!” Iris yelled after them.

[w0wers]

Chapter XIX (The adventures of 話題のトピック high)

Emiko left the room getting the brownies letting them thaw out a bit out. Alex gazed around her room a bit looking at the college of Polaroid photos taped to her wall. He cringed a bit looking at the scene hairstyle he had last year. It seemed like only yesterday when they formed their band and kicked out Logan Paul. He saw photos of when they performed last year at the flower festival as an opening act, that's when Jason and Dark Pit were dating.

Alex sighed. Why did Jason have to go for Emiko? Why couldn't he just keep liking his ex or something? He knew he was being selfish, but still...He knows that he still likes his ex, Habit said that he tried to ask Dark Pit to go to the festival together but got rejected. He had genuinely liked her way longer.

Alex crossed his arms. He needed to tell Emiko that she was being played. He pulled out his phone and searched for the pictures. It's better for her to know, there's no way he shared it with her.

Emiko walked back in, the shatter brownies in her hand. "Yo."

"Hey, there's something...I should have told you about..." He says.

"What?"

He was about to say it when he got a phone call.

"Hello?" He answered.

"We don't have band practice today, Dark Pit cancelled"  Eddie explained.

"Oh really?" Alex came to a realization, Jason would most likely assume it's him. But if it was right before the competition it'd seem like they released the information "I was wondering if you could help me plan out the music video idea I had?" He asked looking up at her.

"I'd love to" Emiko answered smiling, sitting on her bed with him. They both took a bit, perhaps slightly more than they should of.

Soon in like half an hour, they were absolutely fucked up. "Is the S in scent silent? Or is it the C?" Alex asked looking at Emiko both of them now being on the floor.

"Idfk, aren't you like the smart one? Lmao" she replies smiling.

"No, I'm the hipster emo hybrid" Alex explains.

"what about everyone else?"

"Well Dark Pit is the intense emo, Jason is a Tumblr grunge, Habit is...him, Eddie is sushi crippling depression.

Or something like that." Alex explains.

"Weren't you a scene kid like last year along with Logan?" She asks smiling.

"Ugh...yeah, we were..." Alex answers cringing.

"I honestly really loved the scene look tbh," Emiko asked.

"Wait actually?" Alex asked with a slight laugh.

"Yes, I don't know why but I just have this love and appreciation for the scene fashion"

"I never knew that," Alex said.

Emiko yawned. "Man I'm getting tired...wanna call it a day?"

"We did barely anything," She says laughing slightly. "You wanna stay here?"

"Sure." He smiled.

"DUDE SHE TRIED TO KILL ME!" Jason screamed. But nobody listened. Dark Pit grabbed both Angie and Jason and dragged them inside.

Jason tried to get away, but couldn't surprisingly. Dark Pit let go of them and closed the door. "I'll get you guys some drinks. What do you want?" Dark Pit asked.

"My usual!" Angie giggled.

"do you have scotch?" Jason asked.

"You know it." Dark Pit walked into the kitchen. As soon as he left, Angie scooted close to Jason and handed him a flyer about Atua. "Change religions?" She whispered.

Jason read over the flyer "I'm okay, thanks"

"Oh." She scooted away.

Jason sat there awkwardly.

Dark Pit came back with a fruit smoothie and a glass of scotch. "Here you are." He handed the drinks over and sat down, pulling out his phone. Jason thanked him chugging it just wanting to get fucked up.

Dark Pit didn't even notice. He was texting with Pit. Angie had already downed her smoothie and scooted to Jason again, but didn't say anything. He sat there feeling really uncomfortable.

"Psst." Angie poked him.

"Yes?" he asks.

"Wanna be friends?" Angie asked.

"Sure," He says.

Angie smiled and pressed against him. "Yay!"

Dark Pit looked up at them. "Huh? What's going on?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"Well, Angie just squealed, so.." Dark Pit looked back down at his phone.

"We're friends! Atua is so happy!" Angie says smiling.

"That's nice." Dark Pit murmured.

Angie huffed and stood up, then walked over and snatched Dark Pit's phone.

Jason whispered an oof softly.

Angie then ran away. "I'M GONNA LOOK THROUGH IT!!!!"

Dark Pit jumped up. "NO!"

Jason decided that he shouldn't intervene, DP threw him out if the house when he was running for a girl who threatened to kill him so Dark Pit doesn't deserve help.

Angie locked herself in the downstairs bathroom and Dark Pit banged on the door. "OPEN UP YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

She laughed looking through, Jason chuckled slightly.

"WOW, THOSE ARE SOME SPICY NUDES! ATUA THINKS YOU'VE BEEN DIIIIIRTY!" Angie yelled, laughing.

Jason covered his face looking down laughing a little bit.

Dark Pit kicked the door. "OPEN UP! OR I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Angie giggled. "No. I'd rather look at your texts to your boyfriend."

She went really far up seeing that DP said some mean stuff about Jason like 5 months ago.

"Oh my! Jason, look at this!" Angie yelled.

Jason's phone went off. Dark Pit's phone had sent him some pictures.

Jason read it over the screenshots, Dark Pit was talking shit about him when they were still together.

Dark Pit finally knocked down the door and grabbed his phone. "Fuck you, Angie." He growled.

Jason felt enraged "I can't believe you!" Jason shouted standing up.

Dark Pit looked confused. "What?"

Angie began to crawl away, but Dark Pit grabbed her and held her down. He wanted her to stay so he could slap her when Jason left.

"I can't believe you thought and said these things behind my back when we were dating!!!" Jason yells going up to him.

Dark Pit sighed. "Those are old. I was probably wasted when I wrote those. I'm sorry, but just let it go man."

"are you serious!? It's shitty of you to do it as a friend, but a boyfriend?"Jason clearly wasn't going to let this go right away.

Dark Pit stood up and dragged Angie up with him. "Look, I apologized. What more do you want? It was a long time ago, and we're both dating other people. It's in the past."

"You call that an apology? You didn't even sound genuine!"

Dark Pit shrugged. "Honestly. Don't dwell in the past. I've moved on. I've apologized. What else do you want? You sound like you can't move on." Dark Pit eyed him suspiciously. "Are you still hung up over our relationship?"

"Wow, of course, you'd say that. I'm upset that you were acting like a dick and saying horrible things behind my back so that must mean I wanna fuck you still. God, I feel so bad for Pit that he has to deal with your sorry ass!" Jason yelled.

Dark Pit narrowed his eyes. Jason had hit a nerve. "Huh. Guess I feel bad for Emiko too. I hope she never has to see how horrendously small your dick is. After all, I had the misfortune of seeing it."

"You're one to talk on that subject, you're acting so immature because you know I'm right! You're such a stuck up pretentious prick you know that? Pit seems pretty decent but you're such a Bitch!"

"He's a fucking sweetheart. That's why he needs to be protected. And that's why I'm the guy to do it. But honestly, poor Emiko. She must have been desperate to ask you. After all...I was desperate when I asked you out." Dark Pit looked furious.

"You're the one to do it? Even though it was actually you who got mugged at 711 by a fucking child??? I think it's so funny that you say things like "I can't believe Emiko asked you out, and that I did too" but in all honesty she actually knows basic human decency and who to actually be a respectful person something you're not too educated on!" Jason yelled back while Angie was filming.

And with that Dark Pit punched Jason. He then kneed DPs ribs,

Angie cheered. "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

They kept throwing punches and kicks, but then Jason grabbed a glass bottle smashing it on his head knocking him out.

Jason dropped the remains of the bottle realizing what he's just done.

[friendlycybird]

1X06 - Dipper vs Manliness - Rewatch

Me: Up next, Dipper vs Manliness!

My Partner: Dipper vs Manliness? 

Me: Yep. This one has minotaurs in it! 

Partner: Mini-taurs? 

Me: Man-a-taurs. Get it? 

Partner: Oh.

Me: At least, I assume that’s the pun Gravity Falls was going with here. 

Let’s get started!

Stan trying to pass broken glass off as crystals and getting called on it makes me giggle. 

They literally just locked him in the gift shop. I wonder how long it took him to notice. 

huh. Fiddleford seems to really like coffee. 

You know, it kinda blew by me, but my partner just asked if Stan was really just trying to feed them dressings and...huh. Of course, that’s kinda Stan’s relationship with money in a nutshell isn’t it? 

Also it’s kinda sweet that Dipper initially wants to try the manliness test to get Mabel some pancakes. 

Dippers entire crisis here stems from being laughed at. Okay, yes, he’s shown signs of having insecurities before but this seems like the first time it’s directly connected to his masculinity. Previously it’s just been coolness or ability to fit in, but a lot of the phrasing and specific points of ridicule make it specifically manliness he becomes obsessed with here. 

Also I...I’m not sure what exactly Manly Dan thought he was doing trying the manliness test right after a literal twelve year old failed at it. Seems kinda like a dick move. 

You know what? I completely forgot the whole Stan and Susan thing started with Stan having a crush on her. Although I find it slightly suspect that he was fine when he first walked in and she took his order but then when she actually brings him food he gets all flustered. I’m not sure what it makes me suspicious of, exactly, but it’s certainly interesting. 

“Nothing is stronger then the power of...”

“love?”

“Mabel.” 

The cops running around in the broken hydrant spray is hilarious and adorable. 

The whole Mailman/Male Man joke feels like a little bit of a stretch though...

Okay but Dipper’s been shown already to be stronger then the lifting the stick bit suggests. Like, I’m pretty sure gnomes are heavier then that stick.

And I think I missed something. Where exactly did Dipper get that jerky? 

Also I have another Society of the Blind Eye question. Dan saw the Minotaur, but we can assume he got his memory of it erased. Dan saw Dipper while he was running away. Did this just not come up when the memory was being erased? Did he deliberately not tell the society about Dipper because, you know, they probably kidnapped him? Or did that detail just get lost in the shuffle? I’m overthinking again. The whole existence of the society does that to me. 

The Minotaur does that “huh, uh-huh, uh-huh” thing while Dipper is talking that supposedly shows someone is “really listening” but honestly always drives me nuts and makes me feel completely un-listened to? He quite literally sniffed out Dipper’s emotional issues and invited him to talk but I wonder what creator intent was there with those reactions? 

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Mabel’s scrapbook, is it? I think it’s the first time she’s actually mentioned scrapbooking out loud. I could be wrong. 

Also. Soos: “I’m soft, like a woman.” ...I love Soos. I love him so much. Absolutely no crisis of masculinity going on there. 

Also I paused to type this and the look on Stan’s face walking up to Soos for this little role-play...he looks so scared. Like. Not, you know, bad things are happening terrified. Just. Like. *whimper* ...it’s kinda adorable. 

You know, ironically, Dipper getting the Minotaurs to train him is an example of how Dipper’s specialty isn’t the physical but the mental. He’s smart yes but better then that, he’s clever. I mean sure, it’s a pretty obvious ploy, but he was so quick to think of it and it actually works.

Oh hey, the Pain Hole. They talk about this on the Nightmare Fuel page of TVtropes for Gravity Falls. ...yikes. 

I...so...the training montage. I want to have thoughts about the training montage. I want desperately to have thoughts about the training montage. I just don’t. The training montage killed my brain. It’s done. I’m just gonna skip over what I’m sure was a lot of important, or at least hilarious, clips, and move on. 

49 trials in a few hours though. That’s pretty impressive. 

Dipper has a bigger reaction to this guy pulling a bone spear out of his chest then to him literally eating a dude ten seconds ago. Like...on one hand I almost get it? ‘cause I think that the pulling out the spear might be our goriest moment yet in the show (to of course be surpassed in subsequent episodes) but like. He literally ATE a dude. And nobody reacted. ...the fuck? 

...and much like the jerky, where exactly did the Babba CD come from? Why was Dipper just carrying that with him? 

Wow the multibear really lives out of the way, doesn’t he? 

You know what? I feel really bad for Stan with this whole attempt to “fix” him. Mabel 100% has good intentions but like. This absoloutly can not have been good for the mans self esteem. 

Dipper may not be that strong, but he’s fucking FAST. Always has been really. 

Also multibear is adorable. And sad. Why was he so willing to just accept death? Why did he say it was “for the best”? What’s going on with the poor multibear? His bonding with Dipper is really sweet too. 

lol “top 40 hits are in the top 40 for a REASON.” ...I don’t know why, but this quote reminds me of Glee. Specifically Blaine. I guess that’s just how old obsessions can bleed into new obsessions talking...

“Then I guess I’ll never be a man.” ...the subtle change of Dipper’s expression right after he says that is everything. There’s just...the tiniest moment of oh god...I really just said that didn’t I? But it’s not...alarm. It’s acceptance. It’s not just his stubbornness talking, but genuine conviction. 

Honestly, Susan was so easily convinced to give Stan her number, I wonder if she didn’t also like him a little bit all along too? Y’know, it’s really too bad the show basically sinks this ship in a couple episodes. It could’ve been cute. 

You know what I just realized? This is the first time we’ve seen a non-human and not gotten a journal page about them. Low key clue there are other journals? ...nah.  

Okay so, Stan initially rejects Dippers story of hanging out with the Minotaurs, but I mean that had to have alarmed him at least a little bit, right? And he limits his rejection of it to “Here we go.” That’s the extent of his denial of the weird. ...I’m developing a theory that Stan developed a reflex to cover genuine concern with skepticism. 

And then, maybe the best part of the whole episode, Stan telling Dipper that standing up for what was right when nobody wanted him to was “pretty manly”. That’s so incredibly sweet. And important. ...also it’s vaguely weird to me that Stan is summarizing the message of the entire episode. 

...and then Stan literally rips his shirt open to make the kids laugh. I love him so much. 

Also forget what I said about them sinking the Stan/Susan ship in a couple episodes. It’s sunk in the stinger. 

[lamptracker]

FIC: I Hate Christmas Parties

Yeah, yeah, Tea Shop Girl part 12 and whatnot. 

But, okay. I love the song I based this fic on. And there is a serious lack of Jacob Batalon fanfic. So.

FIC: I Hate Christmas Parties

Pairing: Jacob Batalon/Reader, unrequited Jacob Batalon/Laura Harrier

Summary: At Zendaya’s annual Christmas party, Jacob decides to tell Laura he’s in love with her. His night is ruined when she shows up with another man - until he meets someone that’s as miserable at he is.

Warnings: None really. Drunk British idiots, maybe? Yes. Drunk British idiots. Well, one drunk British idiot. It’s Tom.

Notes: Loosely based on I Hate Christmas Parties by Relient K. 

Also, this is dedicated to @arachnid-kid because I love her.

Jacob Batalon smiled as he looked out the window of his Uber. He was heading to Zendaya’s annual Christmas party, and to say he was excited about it was an understatement.

A bunch of her industry friends were going to be there. Her assistant Darnell, who was chill and fun to talk to; her choreographer friend Deja, who was hilarious. Most of the Spider-Man cast was going to be there; Tom, Harrison, and Tom’s younger twin brothers Sam and Harry were flying in from England.

Oh, and lest he forget: Laura Harrier.

Jacob fell in love with Laura the minute he first laid eyes on her. She was sweet, and had a wicked sense of humor, and was absolutely gorgeous.

He’d never quite worked up the courage to ask her out. Instead, he was content to admire her from afar.

But he’d made up his mind: Tonight, he was going to tell her how he felt.

Jacob was holding court at the cookie tray, talking with Tony Revolori about their latest projects. He’d just finished wrapping a movie called Blood Fest with some of the people from Rooster Teeth; Tony was a big fan and was asking him a million questions.

“Is Barbara Dunkleman as pretty in person?” Tony asked him.

“Prettier.” Jacob stuffed a cookie into his mouth. “How about you? What’ve you been up to lately?”

Tony excitedly started telling him about this road-trip comedy he’d just wrapped on; Jacob looked up for a moment and saw her:

Laura.

His face lit up, but then immediately fell again when he saw another man following her in..

Well, maybe he’s just walking in at the same time as her, he thought.

But the kiss she planted on the other man’s lips confirmed otherwise.

Jacob felt his heart drop through the bottoms of his feet.

“But yeah, I got to meet Ron Livingston. He’s super cool.” Tony grabbed another cookie. “What’s with...oh,” he said as he noticed Laura and her date.

“Yeah.” Jacob sighed.

“I’m so sorry, dude.” Tony clapped a hand onto Jacob’s shoulder. “Do you need anything?”

“Just to be left alone for a bit.”

“Okay. I’ll be around if you feel like talking.” Tony walked off, spotting Darnell in the corner.

Jacob couldn’t believe what was happening. The girl he loved showed up to the party he’d been looking forward to for weeks, and she was with another man. On the night that he was supposed to tell her he loved her.

Jacob was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Laura walking up to him.

“Hi, Jacob!” She said brightly. “It’s so good to see you!” She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a hug; he returned the embrace half-heartedly.

“Yeah. It’s good to see you too.” That wasn’t a lie.

“How’ve you been?” She asked.

“Oh, pretty good.”

That was a lie.

Jacob sighed. “Busy with work and stuff. Feeling a little down, honestly.”

“Yeah, I get that. Sometimes the holidays are tough. Do you want some punch or something?”

Jacob shrugged. “Nah, I’m good. Listen, Laura, it was great to see you again.” He smiled at her warmly, walking into the kitchen.

“Um...okay. Bye, Jacob.”

Jacob propped his elbows onto the kitchen counter, resting his head in his hands as he sighed. He caught a glimpse of Laura and her date in the corner, kissing.

He already didn’t really care for Christmas parties. Just a bunch of people who don’t hang out all year pretending they care about each other. Sure the people he truly cared about were there, but what about all these other people?

Just when he thought this party couldn’t get any worse…

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a glass bottle sliding across the counter; he looked up and there was a beer in front of him that had appeared as if by magic.

“Hi,” said a girl who also seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. “You look like you could use one of these and someone to talk to. Truthfully, it’s me that needs one of these and someone to talk to. But I suppose I should introduce myself first. I’m (y/n), I’m a friend of Zendaya’s. We go way back.”

“I’m Jacob. Z and I did Spider-Man together.”

(y/n) smiled. “Oh, yeah. Ned, right? Tom was super in that but you stole the show, my man. I quote your line all the time - the ‘I’m looking at porn’ one?”

Jacob laughed. “I improvised that, actually.”

“Really! That’s awesome.” She smiled again.

Jacob looked at her for a moment. She seemed really nice. Pretty cute, to boot. But he couldn’t help but notice the sadness behind her eyes.

“So,” he said after a moment, “you needed someone to talk to?”

(y/n) sighed. “Yeah. Um, you see that guy over there?” She pointed to him.

Jacob’s jaw dropped. The guy she was pointing to? Laura’s date.

“I’ve been in love with him for two years,” (y/n) said. “I was going to finally tell him tonight. But then he shows up with Laura, the absolute goddess. There’s no way he’ll go out with me now.” She sighed again. “Now, what’s with you?”

“You are never going to believe this,” Jacob started, “but I’ve been in love with Laura for a year and I was going to tell her tonight.”

“Really!”

“Really.”

(y/n) chuckled ruefully. “Well, at least we can wallow together.”

Jacob smiled, an actual genuine smile. “Yeah.”

“By the way,” she said, “I really hate Christmas parties. They’re too...festive. Nothing wrong with Christmas, and nothing wrong with parties. I just… I don’t know, put the two together and….blah.”

“I feel you,” Jacob replied. “Bah, humbug.”

“Bah, humbug indeed.” They clinked beer bottles and laughed.

Several hours later, the party was winding down. Laura and her date had long since left. A drunk Tom Holland was walking around with a piece of mistletoe tucked into his waistband, and walking up to girls trying to get them to “kiss me under the mistletoe, baby, c’mon.” Zendaya was just shaking her head at him, saying, “This is why I don’t drink.”

Jacob and (y/n) never left the kitchen; they’d stayed at the counter all night, talking.

This girl was interesting, Jacob thought to himself. Sweet, and funny, and super smart. They had a ton in common. He wondered if...nah. Surely she wouldn’t want to go out with him after tonight. Would she?

“Hey.” She gently nudged his leg with her foot. “I was just thinking. And honestly, I’m never this forward with guys, so I implore you to be nice to me since this is new territory. Um… do you want to go out with me sometime? Like, on a date?”

“Um… yeah!” Jacob exclaimed, all at once surprised (that she wanted to see him again) and awed (by her bravado). “Sure, that sounds great. Can I call you tomorrow?”

“I’d be upset if you didn’t.” She handed him her phone so he could program his number into it; he did the same with his. “Awesome. I have really enjoyed talking to you tonight, Jacob. You seem really cool.”

“Thanks. So do you.” He grinned at her; she smiled a soft smile back at him.

“Great. So… I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’ll give you a call.” He held out his hand for a handshake; she pulled him in for a hug instead.

“Looking forward to it.”

They walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

“Oh, there you are, Jacob.” Zendaya smiled. “You missed the ‘Tom Holland Gets Drunk and Passes Out On the Toilet’ show.”

“I can kind of figure out how that one went, Z.” Jacob laughed. Then, something caught his eye. “Um...what is that?” He asked, pointing to the ceiling.

Zendaya groaned. “We took Tom’s mistletoe away from him and stuck it into the ceiling. He’s short, he can’t reach it up there.” She sighed. “I should go check on him. Talk to you later?”

“Yeah.” He looked up again, then looked at (y/n).

“Well,” (y/n) said, “you know what they say about mistletoe.”

“Right. Tradition and whatnot.”

(Y/n) smiled. “Well, I’d hate to break tradition. Can I...can we…?”

“Of course.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and cupped her cheek with his hand as her arms circled his waist. He bent down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

When they pulled away, she was smiling. “Say,” she said, “forget tomorrow. Do you want to go have a beer with me right now?”

“You bet I do.” He glanced up and grinned at her slyly. “But, you know. We’re still under this mistletoe. It’d be a shame if we…”

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him again. This kiss was a little deeper than the first, but still languid and warm.

“Aww! How come it worked for them?!” A now awake and still drunk Tom hollered from across the room; Jacob and (y/n) broke a part with a giggle. “Nobody kissed me all night. Someone needs to, I’m not leaving until-”

An also drunk and thoroughly annoyed Harrison grabbed Tom’s face and planted a short, firm kiss onto his lips. “There. Y’happy now?”

Tom blinked, stunned. “Wow, Harrison. You have very soft lips. Come back here, eh?”

Harrison groaned. “What have I done?”

Jacob and (y/n) burst out laughing.

“I’ll call us an Uber,” (y/n) said. “I know this great place that’s right by my apartment, it’s got an arcade in the basement.”

“That sounds dope.” They walked outside, waving goodbye to Zendaya and the drunk Brits.

As they waited for their ride, (y/n) wrapped her arms around Jacob’s waist, resting her head on his shoulder. She looked up at him and smiled happily.

Maybe Christmas parties aren’t so bad after all, Jacob thought to himself as he folded her into his arms. 

[asflowersfade]

Ficlet: Living the Good Life

A MacGyver ficlet. Jack meets his old nemesis, Jimmy Leroy, at the Oklahoma City Airport again. How he wishes he could just punch the cockroach in the face! Missing scene from episode 213. Jack’s POV.

Jack walks out of the little shop by the Oklahoma City Airport with a smile on his face and a little blue box in his hand. The perfect gift!

He feels bad that Mac lost his little red knife. He knows that Mac doesn’t blame him, they’re still learning how to work around the big hole that Cage’s, hopefully temporary, departure left in their team - over the past few months, they got used to having another pair of hands at their disposal - so it really wasn’t his fault that a damn monkey stole the detonator - seriously, who could’ve taken a monkey into account! - still… Jack feels really bad. Because he knows that it wasn’t just some Swiss Army knife. It was a gift from Mac’s grandfather.

And so, when Jack saw an almost identical knife - just maybe with some more… doohickeys - in the window of the little shop, he simply went in and bought the thing. Sure, Jack’s not Mac’s grandfather but--

“Dalton? Hey, Jack, what are you doing here, pal?” a voice calls after him. A very familiar, unpleasantly so, voice.

Jack closes his eyes and groans silently. Then he takes a deep breath and turns around to greet... James Leroy, Jimmy the Cheater. The cockroach who stole Jack’s crown. Pox on the guy!

“Hey, Jimmy!” Jack calls back, his smile so fake it must be obvious to everyone watching, including Jimmy the Big Ol’ Liar!

Apparently not because Jimmy rushes towards him with his paw outstretched, and grabbing Jack’s hand, he pumps it really hard as if they haven’t just seen each other mere hours ago. 

“Hey, hey, hey! Long time no see!” Jimmy guffaws amicably and punches Jack in the shoulder.

Oh, if only Jack could punch him back, right in the kisser. “What are you doing here?”

Jimmy waves his hand airily. “Oh, you know, our charity organization plans to expand its US based activities, so we’re contemplating setting up something or other in the tornado region around here… But what about you? I thought you were on an urgent ‘bathroom tile business’?” He nudges Jack with his elbow and winks.

Keep calm, keep calm, keep calm, Jack urges himself, though his smile turns even more strained. “Yeah, well, it brought me to Oklahoma City.”

“That’s so great, dude!” Jimmy exclaims, all bright eyes and bouncy attitude. “Come, let’s have a drink together!”

As if! “Sorry, Jimmy, I--”

But Jimmy isn’t listening. He grabs Jack around the shoulders with one arm and shakes him excitedly. “Come on! It’ll be fun! Unless you have a flight to catch--”

“Well, no--” Jack has to admit.

Jimmy whoops with delight. “Then it’s settled! Let’s go!”

Jack can only groan again. Well, he could punch the jackass right in the nose but Matty probably wouldn’t approve if he started a brawl in the airport. That’s why Jack resigns himself to this torture and goes along with it.

“So, tell me about yourself, Jackie Boy!” Jimmy demands as they settle into the plush burgundy chairs of the brightly lit airport bar - seriously, no self-respecting bar would be this brightly lit.

Jack sips his beer. “I told you everything,” he replies, shrugging.

“No, no, no,” Jimmy says, “I told you everything. About my career and wife and kids... You told me you were a spy. Ah, always the class joker.” He shakes his head fondly.

Gritting his teeth, Jack takes another sip. He would prefer something stronger but it’s better to stay sober. Especially in this situation. Definitely.

“Come on, Jack!” Jimmy prompts. “Wife? Kids? Mistress?” He winks again.

What? “No, no wife, Jimmy,” Jack says finally. And he’s about to continue and add “no kids either” but his eyes land on the little blue box that he bought for Mac and that’s now lying on the small glass topped table in front of him. And then he thinks, Why the hell not?

“But I do have two kids,” Jack says, looking straight at Jimmy with a new-found confidence. Because this is the absolute, God honest truth. “I took them under my wing some time back and I watch out for them and I couldn’t love them more even if they were biologically mine.”

Jimmy falters a little, his bright smile dimming. “Oh?”

Jack nods. “Yeah, a boy and a girl. She’s a computer wizard, he’s ex-military, like me, and they both work for one of those government funded think tanks? ‘Cause they are smart, dude, like so smart! And I’m so proud of them!”

“Oh,” Jimmy mumbles again, his smile dimming some more.

Yeah, Jack thinks. You didn’t expect that, did you, Jimmy Boy? Not a complete loser, am I?

The moment that thought pops up in his head, something… changes in Jack. Because it’s the truth. He’s not a loser. He’s… not. He has a great life, fantastic even, and a great family, a bunch of friends that would die for him, who would follow him to hell and back if only he just asked. And that’s more than he thought he would ever have, that he could’ve ever wished for. He’s actually a really lucky guy. Wow.

“That sounds, uh, great,” Jimmy mutters.

Jack grins at him, genuinely happy. “It does, doesn’t it? I mean, sure, my life turned out differently than I expected, I didn’t become a football star or anything, obviously, but I can’t complain. I travel all over the world on the job, I work with my kids on their projects, I have a great place back in LA… I’m-I’m happy, man.”

Jimmy opens his mouth and closes it again, obviously not knowing what to say. “I… ah, I’m glad to, uh, hear that, man.”

Nodding, Jack keeps grinning almost manically because he feels almost giddy now, as if huge weight dropped off his chest and he can finally breathe freely. What was he so anxious about in the first place?

Before either of them can say more, Jack’s cell phone beeps, announcing the arrival of a text message. He checks it and says, “Sorry, man, gotta go. My jet’s ready for takeoff.”

Jimmy blinks. “You have a… jet?”

“My company does,” Jack explains and drains his glass, then he leans closer and winks at his old rival. “You know, the bathroom tile business is booming. We need to keep on top of it.”

Getting up, Jack makes sure his little blue box is stashed safely in his pocket. Then he grabs Jimmy’s slack hand and pumps it hard. “See ya, old man. And don’t be a stranger.”

And then he turns and walks out, whistling. He can’t wait to get home.

[qqueenofhades]

Prompt alert: Lucifer getting used to flying again and ends up taking Chloe for a flight

“Wait,” Ella says. “Are you serious? He has wings? Wingy-wings?”

“Yeah.” Chloe rubs the bridge of her nose. “I know I sound a little cracked, but… I kind of figured that you were the only person I could talk to who might get it.”

“Aw, man. That is so sweet. But.” Ella is not going to be distracted. “He has, you know – ” She does an improvised Funky Chicken in the middle of the forensics lab. “Can he fly? Because I’m sorry, that would be awesome.”

Chloe eyes her narrowly. “You’re taking this surprisingly well.”

“Why not?” Ella shrugs. “I’ve always known there was something different about him. Weird. I mean, not weird – well, yes, weird, a lot weird, but more than just that. Him being an angel, I can’t say I’m all that shocked, you know? It’s not like it’s something that I think can’t happen. I believe in a book where it happens a lot. Hey, has he announced anything? Like the two of you are meant to be and having a miracle baby?”

Chloe’s look turns cold. “No.”

“Darn.” Ella sighs. “Anyway. Wow. I have so many questions. I’m not gonna ask them, because  he’ll do that thing where he spooks and runs away like a startled turtle. If turtles ran, but you know what I mean. Is he here?”

“Yeah. In the break room.” At the other woman’s look of barely restrained curiosity, Chloe sighs and decides that since the cat, or rather the angel, is out of the bag, they might as well at least allow Ella a chance to peek. Not that Lucifer is going to be strutting around the station with his wings (or any other part of him, hopefully) hanging out, but still. “Fine. Come on.”

They leave Ella’s lab and start down the corridor to the break room. Just before they enter, however, they hear a familiar voice complaining, “Lucifer, did you eat my pudding again?”

“I did not.”

“It was right there!” Trust Dan’s dessert-related tribulations to be ongoing. “Look, I might not mind letting you have it if you asked, but you can’t just grab it and – ”

“Fine, if it’s that big of a deal, I’ll just fly down to the corner store and act as your personal messenger angel, shall I? More of Gabby’s gig than mine, but if you insist – ”

“Lucifer, can you not say crazy shit for two seconds and just – how’d you fly, anyway – ”

“Oh for goodness’ sake, Daniel! WITH THESE!”

There is a rush of air, a whoosh, a sudden light that does not come from the dismal fluorescents, and papers swirl off down the hall in a miniature cyclone. Chloe stops, stares, and then rushes forward, Ella on her heels, to wrench the door open and find Dan flattened across the far wall looking as if he is about to have a heart attack. This is understandable, due to the fact that Lucifer is standing with wings unfolded, bursting from the back of his usual smart suit jacket, tips almost touching the workplace safety poster on one wall and the coffee machine on the other. At the sight of her, he folds them tidily against his shoulders and smiles brightly. “Ah! Detective!”

“Lucif – ” Chloe shakes her head almost in slow motion. “What are you doing –?”

“I’m trying to get better about being honest about myself, what’s it look like?” Lucifer regards Dan critically. “Though that might have been a bit much, I admit.”

“Have you always had those?” Dan keeps staring, then whirls on Chloe, wild-eyed, as she is obviously more familiar with Lucifer’s bits and bobs than he is. “Has he always had those?”

“I was born with them, yes,” Lucifer says, rather impatiently. “However, they are a recent and unfortunate re-acquisition, so no. I haven’t always had them.”

“Dude!” Ella exclaims. “Those are awesome!”

Lucifer looks slightly mollified – and also touched, even if he glances down quickly to hide it. “Terrible bother, trust me. And Daniel, I didn’t eat your pudding, but as I said, I’ll flap off and get some more if it’ll help.” He seems suddenly uncertain. “Daniel, say something.”

“What the hell.” Dan wipes his forehead with the back of his hand. “I knew you were weird, but I didn’t know that involved feathers.”

Lucifer flashes a small, slightly strained smile. “Oh yes. Fuzzy handcuffs, too.”

“I do not need to know about your kinks, man.”

With that, some of the tension eases, and everyone seems to draw a breath as the wings fold out of the visible plane with a soft flutter – which, after all, is quite a remarkable thing to be happening in a suburban police station. Chloe hopes nobody is watching the break room cameras right now. Nobody seems entirely certain what to say, until Ella steps over and – clearly to Lucifer’s shock – hugs him. “Yeah. Be your true self, buddy. We gotcha.”

Lucifer swallows visibly, eyes rather bright, as he puts a hand on Ella’s shoulder and gingerly disentangles her. “Well,” he says, and coughs. “Thank you, Miss Lopez.”

“And here I always thought you were a method actor.” Ella shakes her head. “This is way cooler.”

————–

Chloe still is not entirely sure how she is processing this. It’s been a few weeks since the wing bombshell, and she and Lucifer have tried to go back to their usual work, but all the unanswered questions hang thickly in the air. He’s been parceling out bits of information, dribs and drabs, but he still avoids coming clean in any great rush, and she can tell he’s still on edge and distracted about the whole situation, about what it means for them, about how they can possibly be anything like what they were before. It’s hard, admittedly, to go about your day-to-day life, to question suspects and fill out paperwork, knowing that the guy next to you is – well, who he is. It hasn’t changed anything, really. He’s still Lucifer. But yet it has, and neither of them are entirely sure how or why. Lucifer seems, if such a thing is possible, shy.

As Chloe is leaving the station that evening, having sent their latest case on to the prosecutor’s office and hoping she can get home, take a long bath, and drink a lot of wine, she finds Lucifer leaning against the Corvette in the staff parking lot, having a pensive smoke and listening to the distant sound of traffic. He glances up at the sound of her footsteps. “Detective.”

“Lucifer.” It sounds awkward, almost formal. “So… just. Flashing the station now, huh?”

It’s a mark of how off his footing he is these days that he doesn’t go for the golden opportunity to make some crack about the other kind of flashing he could do, if she’s interested. He blows out a meditative cloud of smoke. “Daniel will probably recover from the shock.”

“Probably, but…” Chloe hesitates. “All this secrecy and evasion, and now you’re just… okay with everyone knowing?”

“It’s not everyone,” Lucifer points out, with some asperity. “You, Daniel, and Miss Lopez. Oh, and Dr. Linda. I showed her at our session this morning.”

“So you’re seeing her again?” Chloe nods encouragingly. “That’s good.”

Lucifer sucks the last drag out of his cigarette and tosses the butt in the air, where it vanishes with a small puff. Chloe has never seen him like this in any number of ways, with this casual and unconscious use of what must be considerable power, and she wonders if she still affects him in the same way. He’s always said she makes him vulnerable, that he’s more human when she’s around, susceptible to injury, but as she can’t cancel out something that’s physically part of him, that does not seem to include the wings. Furthermore, as is evident by their very presence, the rules are changing, and she wonders suddenly if that’s played into some of his standoffishness around her. At least they more or less knew how it worked when he was Lucifer Morningstar, her eccentric but lovable coworker. Trying to navigate the dangerous waters of Lucifer Morningstar, apparently no-longer-fallen-angel and Devil in the flesh, is… different.

“If you’re here to have a go at me for showing them,” Lucifer says after a moment, tiredly, “then why not just get it over with?”

“No. I mean, they’re your wings, it’s your choice who you show them to.” Chloe sucks in a breath, attempting to steady herself. “I just… was going to say that I… well, that I miss you.”

He glances up, startled and wary. “I’ve been back, Detective. Haven’t I?”

“Yes, but… things have just been off with us for a long time, and I understand why they have been, and I know both of us are working through some things, but…” Now that she’s said it, it’s hard to hold back the emotions bubbling beneath the surface. She can’t quite look at his face, just in case. “I miss you, all right? I miss how we used to be, and… I don’t know who this new Lucifer is either. But I wouldn’t mind having my Lucifer back for a bit.”

Both of them catch that, how easily it slipped out – my Lucifer – and it remains hanging in the air for an uncomfortable moment. They cough, neither of them certain if they should acknowledge or ignore it. Then Lucifer blows out a slow sigh. “Come by Lux later,” he says. “Maybe we’ll see what we can sort out.”

“Okay.” Chloe smiles at him, small but genuine, and heads for her car. Drives home, makes dinner, asks if Maze would mind staying home with Trixie tonight (the demon doth protest too much, usually, as she is clearly content to sit and play whatever Trixe thinks up) and then wonders if Lucifer meant something special, or just, you know, drinks with friends. Chloe changes out of her usual jacket and jeans, lets her hair down, but doesn’t want to overdo it. Once it is late enough that most of the rush hour traffic has subsided (though this is L.A., so of course there is still some traffic), she gets back in the car and drives to Hollywood Boulevard.

She parks and goes inside the club. It’s a fairly quiet weekday night, no major events or parties, and the place is only about half-full, mellow jazz, low conversation. Lucifer is sitting by his piano, looking as if he’s spent the last several hours questioning his better judgment (though that would imply that he had better judgment), but he stands up nervously when he sees her. “Ah. Detective.”

“Hey.” Chloe smiles awkwardly, ducking her head, as she follows him to the elevator and up to the penthouse. He isn’t acting like he’s intending to swoop her away (in any sense of the word) and ravish her, though an admittedly thirsty part of her might not mind if he was. But they reach the apartment and step out, and Lucifer hesitates, then pulls off his jacket, leaving Chloe suddenly wondering if a hot night is on the agenda after all. She might have spent more time on her hair if so. “Lucifer – ”

He turns around – white shirt, suspenders, suit slacks, shined shoes. His usual ensemble.Then, with the soft rustle and faint glow that announces their arrival, the wings. It’s somewhat less shocking each time, a bit more normal, as much as this could ever be. He stands there, clearly hideously uncomfortable, as if he’s a museum artifact on display. “I… ah. There they are. If you had, well. Questions.”

Chloe has many, probably more than Ella, but she also doesn’t want to stand there and just interrogate him. What comes to mind is, “Why don’t they tear your clothes?”

“I’m not the Incredible Hulk, Detective.” Lucifer raises an eyebrow. “And besides, they’re angel wings. They don’t obey the laws of human physics.”

Chloe moves closer, circling around behind to look. She can’t help brushing her fingers lightly over them, and sees him shudder. “Do they weigh much?”

“No. Nothing, really.” Lucifer attempts a shrug. “Or perhaps I was just used to them before. They do seem heavier now.”

Chloe makes a small noise in her throat, still unable to believe that anything could be so soft. The question she really wants to know, of course, is the same as Ella’s. “Have you flown yet?”

“I tried. The other night.”

“Did it …  not work?”

“Oh no. It worked.” Lucifer’s expression is odd. “But I’m not sure it’s a wise idea to get into the habit. The bloody things appeared, they could disappear again. Besides, I’m still planning to hack them off again myself if not.”

Chloe does not in the least believe him, but decides not to say so. She can tell that Lucifer is refusing to get into the habit again because he misses it too much to let himself think that he could have it on a consistent basis, or what it would mean to accept the wings rather than rejecting them again. She doesn’t get half of it, but there’s plenty mixed up with them, something that Lucifer cannot take without reservations, or possibly even at all. But be that all as it may, she will kick herself forever if she doesn’t ask at least once. Before she can stop herself, she blurts out, “Can you fly me?”

Lucifer looks as startled as if she just turned blue. “Fl – ?”

“Not for long,” Chloe says, feeling herself blush like a volcano. “Just, you know. Around the block or something.”

Lucifer continues to look stunned.

“I’m sorry, is that a huge angel faux pas or something?”

“I – no. It’s just, I… don’t think I’ve ever done that before. Certainly not to a human. Maybe a very long time ago, when I was a wee young devil, but – ”

Chloe takes a moment to consider the totally adorable mental image of a bunch of baby angels having piggyback races around heaven, and has to cough hard. “I’m sorry. You can forget I asked. I just – ”

“I mean.” Lucifer seems rather taken aback. “I suppose I could try. It will likely be horrible and cold and disappointing, though.”

“I’ll get over the shock.” Chloe musters up a smile, trying not to show how much she wants it. Even if, nothing else, just to touch him properly. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Lucifer mutters something under his breath, then strides to the balcony and steps out, as Chloe hesitates, then follows him. He holds out his arms, and she steps over, linking her own arms around his neck, as he takes a firm grip on her waist. It feels a bit like Tarzan and Jane, really, but they make it work. Then he takes a deep breath, clearly cannot believe he is doing this, and says, “Ready, Detective?”

“Yeah. Don’t, uh. Don’t drop me.”

Lucifer gives her an indignant look, as it is clearly a personal insult to think he would ever be so clumsy. Then he backs up, takes a running start, and hurtles at the edge of the balcony, as Chloe has just enough time to think that she really hopes he’s practiced more than once. She does not particularly feel like being Failed Test Run #2.

The railing rushes toward them, Chloe squeals despite herself, and then they launch upwards in a whirl of white feathers, twenty stories above the ground. The small glowing dots of cars beetle past below, as they gain altitude with a few quick, effortless strokes, rising upward as Chloe likewise hopes that no helicopters are passing through. Her hair whips to every side, her eyes watering, as she tightens her death grip on him and tries not to look down. They are high. She doesn’t know how high, exactly, and probably would prefer not to. It’s definitely high. Very, very high. “Okay,” she squeaks, hoping her dangling shoe won’t fall off. “Got it!”

He glances at her with a distinctly devilish aspect. “Not afraid of heights, are you, Detective?”

“No, not really, just – ” She did, after all, ask for this. The view is also, to say the least, stupendous. Dark mountains to one side, dark sea to the other, and the endless, glittering city that is Southern California between. “But Lucifffff — ahhh!”

The reason for her sudden exercise in new high octaves is due to him plunging headfirst into a nearby fogbank like a kamikaze pilot. However fast she thought angels could go – she wasn’t sure – it is clearly much faster, and she gives an excellent full-throated scream, fingers going numb as she clings onto him for all her life is worth, as he barrel-races through it and emerges higher on the other side, as Chloe thinks she can practically reach up and snatch a star from the sky like a fat jewel. She has never seen the stars in Los Angeles before, and, it goes without saying, certainly never like this. She and Lucifer, damp from the mist and shivering in the wind, hug each other close, her feet dangling several thousand feet above I-10. The wings are still unearthly warm, and Lucifer spreads them to ride an updraft like a hawk, not flapping, just gliding. Chloe is never going to forget this moment as long as she lives.

Neither of them say anything, lost in a trance, as they lazily bank and soar. Chloe hitches her legs up around his waist, clinging to him like a sloth to a log, as he wraps his arms with reassuring firmness around her back. She is still half convinced that he’ll fake-drop her just to be a dick, but the only person more horrified than her at the possibility is him. And she does. Trust him.

After a few more broad swoops, as Lucifer can clearly hear her teeth starting to chatter like a nutcracker, he turns back and propels them the way they came. It is astounding how much power is in even half a beat of the wings, how far it sends them, as they glide through the dark air and back under the fog to the glow of L.A. Chloe is sure she sees someone goggling at them out the window of an office building, and then Lucifer’s own balcony is rushing up at them, he decelerates hard, and comes to an only slightly skidding landing. “Well, Detective?” he says, breathless but pleased with himself. “How was that?”

“That was – ” Chloe is still catching her own breath, which may take several years. “That. Was. Okay. Okay, then. I. Well. Wow. Okay.”

It takes them a moment to work out how to let go of each other, which they do with a slight cough. Her hands linger on him, as do his on her, until he reaches up to tidy a strand of wet hair out of her face. “I’m,” he says, and hesitates, oddly diffident. “I’m glad you liked it, Chloe.”

She has never been so close as she is then to leaning up on her tiptoes and kissing him, kissing him properly, the way she wants to and then some. They seem drawn to each other by some strange gravity nonetheless, leaning in, foreheads touching. In that moment, in that stillness, everything seems restored again. Not the way they were before, not quite, because it cannot be. But something new. And it is then, so simply, that Chloe realizes – not that she’s falling in love, as that would imply that it was half-done, that it could be reversed. No. That she already is. Long since, and long gone. That he is her world and heart and soul.

Rattled, she pulls back. “I – thanks, Lucifer. It’s late, I should get going.”

His eyes hold hers for a moment. If he senses what she just understood, he doesn’t say. Then he nods once, and steps away. “Good night, Detective,” he says. “You’re welcome.”

Barely catching her breath, knowing it’s cowardly, that she’s doing what he does, that she can hardly stand the magnitude of what is rising in her, the heat that is not from the wings – she runs.