#gleeful boys being dumbasses

[autisticlancemcclain]

pt one

———

Hunk’s phone rings. Loudly. Since he is the pinnacle of grace and benevolence, he spares one hand, eyes still trained firmly on the other hand pressing a screwdriver onto a delicate wire joint to hold it steady, to blindly pat about on his workbench until it closes around the device. He jabs a finger on the screen until the ringing ceases.

“Yah,” he says, not bothering with hellos. He’s busy.

“Handle your person,” Shiro hisses, then immediately hangs up.

Hunk snorts. Someone’s nap was disturbed.

He turns back to his project, sighing as he wraps it up. He doesn’t have long. If he can just solder this last wire, get that last connection in, it’ll be way easier to —

Lance kicks open his door, walking in screaming.

“Hello,” Hunk greets idly. And largely sarcastically, he will admit. Lance continues his wordless yell, vocalizing at the very top of his lungs, muffled only when he throws himself on Hunk’s bed and buries himself in Hunk’s pillow. “Shiro tells me you’re terrorizing people.”

“His skull is fucking solid!” Lance screeches.

Hunk does not need to ask to whom Lance is referring. He does, however, pause what he’s doing immediately, spinning around slowly in his chair with his fingertips pressed together like every eighties cartoon villain. His smile can only really be described as gleeful. Perhaps diabolical if he stretches.

He is entirely unapologetic.

“And what happened this time,” Hunk questions, adopting his very best therapy voice. It must work, because Lance shoots up, face bright candy red, wicked snarl pulling on his lips. When he speaks again his voice is carefully controlled and dripping with rage.

“It is beyond hinting, Kealoha. I have practically laid myself at his feet and begged him to ravish me, and he still does not get it. I am going to fucking wring his neck.”

Hunk hums thoughtfully. “Well, that is probably what it’s going to take.” At Lance’s raised eyebrow, he rushes to clarify — “Throwing yourself at his feet, I mean. Don’t strangle him. At least not before I can see it.”

Lance groans loudly. This time when he flops back on Hunk’s mattress he is more miserable than rageful, like a scolded chihuahua. Hunk considers telling him that and then remembers that he’s quite fond of his limbs where they are.

“I know he likes me,” Lance grumbles. “He’s just a dumbass. Like, yesterday he had to go into a healing pod because I did those leg stretches in front of him and he walked into the wall and broke his nose. And last week he said I smelled good and no straight people say stupid shit like that. And when I flirted with that princess on our last mission I was lowkey worried he was gonna jump her, or something. He went all big bad Galra growly and everything.”

Hunk inclines his head. “This is true.”

It is true. Well, he didn’t know the broken nose thing — although that’s hilarious and he will be sharing that information with the class when prudent — and he hasn’t witnessed many of the specific brands of Keith and Lance dumbassery, since they spend so much time on their own, but he, like, has eyes. Keith wants Lance so bad it’s actually embarrassing. Hunk’s not one to generally agree with Lance, since it’s his God-given right to humble him at any opportunity, but that boy is oblivious unlike any other. He understands that Keith is emotionally stunted due to the ordeal of being orphaned, and to Keith he leaves his highest sympathies, but also Jesus Christ, dude. How many times are you going to be wrought with jealousy before you go oh, duh, I might be in love with this goober.

Maybe Shiro hasn’t had the talk with him yet. Hunk makes a mental note to follow up.

“—it’s just that I don’t understand,” Lance laments.

Hunk blinks back to the conversation, where Lance has clearly taken it upon himself to wax poetic and inspire woe upon himself once more.

Hunk stills. An idea wiggles its delightful little way through his brain. He holds up his phone, pointed at Lance’s prone and desolate form.

God, he loves his brain. He loves meddling. He loves love and life, basically.

“I just,” Lance sighs, and to his endless credit he sounds genuinely torn-up, for all his melodrama. “I wish I could just tell him, I guess. In some way. I wish I could get it through his fool head that he is loved by me particularly in such a way that I want to hold hands and kiss and generally be nuisances of the affectionate kind. You know, romance.”

Hunk hums with great understanding. “I see. And say you were not plagued with chronic anxiety and an unfortunate tendency to glow in your face region if someone so much as insinuates in any capacity that they care about you — what would you say to this paramour of yours?”

Lance tilts his head consideringly. His eyes are big and brown and pouty, like a scorned puppy. It’s adorable, in a pathetic kind of way. Hunk cannot help but pat him delicately on the knee.

“I suppose,” he huffs, “that I would just say it outright. Keith Kogane, you magnanimous dumbass, would it kill you to ask me out like a man. Something like that.”

“You could also ask him out like a man,” Hunk points out.

“Choke and die,” Lance responds, predictably. Hunk pays him again.

Hunk stops the recording and tucks his phone back in his pocket. He will decide how to handle the situation shortly.

…After he makes several copies and distributes them to the team. Obviously. Hunk’s excellent advice and matchmaking skills isn’t free, after all.

Lance whines again. “Why is my life so sick and twisted.”

Hunk chooses against reminding Lance that they are in the very beginning of the process of dismantling the worst tyranny the universe has ever seen, and of all the things in his life to be sick and twisted his dweeby romance is probably not one of them. Because that would be a huge buzzkill, obviously. Instead he delicately and a touch condescendingly pats Lance on the head. Lance leans into the touch, because he is a massive sweetheart and dork and nerd, and Hunk can’t help but smile widely.

“All will work out,” he says ominously. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“Blah,” Lance says.

Hunk smiles wider.

[innytoes]

Hello, five (or more, I wouldn't say no) spontaneous headcanons about a willex boarding school au? 👀 (sfw please)

-When Caleb gets a call that his sister left custody over her son to him, a nephew he never even knew he had, he is like: wtf. When he comes to meet with the social worker and sees the long hair, tie-dye crop top, and earring, he’s like: of course I am taking him in. (There’s a reason he hasn’t talked to his family for decades and he will not have them do the same to Willie as they did to him.)

Except being a full-time parent and running the HGC is not a great combination, especially with Willie’s flair for Chaos. So he makes him a deal: he can go to any boarding school in the country, or even the world, if he promises to behave enough not to get kicked out, and in return he can wreak whatever chaos he wants in the summers (within reason).

-Willie chooses the boarding school because they have a great art program, they’re queer-friendly (Caleb called to check), and it’s in the Woods and he 1) always liked the woods and 2) wants to see Bigfoot.

-Alex’ parents sent him to boarding school after he came out. Alex is not sure he understands their reasoning, given that it is an all-boy’s boarding school and that is like the opposite of ‘straightening him out’, but anything is better than the icy silence at home. Alex’ parents do not know the entire stack of Hot Gay Boarding School Romance Novels under his older sister’s bed that Alex may or may not have borrowed.

-Listen Alex likes his roommate Luke and he’s kind of open to the idea of starting a band with him but also he is SO ENERGETIC and he cannot sit still and he’s always humming and it drives Alex insane.

-So he goes to hide out in the library. Not the fancy new one with amazing computers and a 3D printer and shit, the dusty old one nobody uses because the wifi is shit and it‘s always cold and drafty but it looks great on pamphlets for the Old Money crowd. He bundles up in his hoodie and finds a comfy armchair and just gets to Be Still for a moment.

-Except his peace and quiet is interrupted at a gleeful shout and then a maniac on a skateboard comes into view, sliding his board on the fancy brass railings before landing hard and rolling right into Alex and his comfy armchair, sending both of them toppling backward.

-“Oh man you dinged my board” meetcute etc etc.

-Lots of cute sneaking around in the dark holding hands dates. Willie shows him how to get on the roof and it’s so peaceful and pretty there he loves it. They take up a blanket and watch the stars next time, and share their first kiss there.

-Maybe he sends his sister a postcard like: ‘Boarding school is great, I am learning so much, all this nature is so good for me, etc etc platitudes’ along with an abbreviated title of one of their favourite books with the chapter in which the main characters have their first kiss... on a rooftop.

- “I dunno what HGBSRNCH12 means, Mom, I think he was just trying to clean his pen or something, it’s just a random scribble. You know Alex hates when pens aren’t writing smoothly.”

-Soon they form a little group with Bobby (rich parents who travel a lot and don’t want to take him with them) and Reggie (the scholarship kid). Reggie is upset there are no secret societies at this school. He thought maybe none of them just wanted him, but he could still catch one in the act of secret society-ing. But Bobby (a legacy kid) told him there weren’t any.

-Obvs they start a secret society just for the fun of it. Since they can’t play music late at night without getting caught (then it’s not a Secret Society, Luke, you dumbass), their activities include Sneaking, Stealing Snacks, Trying To Find Bigfoot and/or Mothman in the woods, and picnics on the roof. But while wearing dramatic hoods and holding (fake, battery-powered, Alex does not trust these goofballs with fire) candles and stuff.

send me an au and i’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it

[dragonandtiger]

Dreaming To Reality: Oneiromancy Chapter Twenty Nine - 17

Ryo jerked out of his daze and made as if to hurry over to Daisuke and Ken’s side. “No!”

Neemon raised his arms menacingly as he cackled, then crouched in anticipation to strike. “Here we gooooo~!”

He didn’t move.

Neemon yelped in confusion, once more the same bumbling fool he pretended to be for years. He tried to spring forward, but his legs were locked in place. Even his arms refused to move from their awkward positions at his side.

It wasn’t as though he was being held in place - Neemon was familiar enough with Digimon with the power to force someone to a halt with gravity, magic, or even good old-fashioned binding, but this wasn’t it. There was nothing holding him back, but his body wouldn’t move. It refused to move.

His face was the only thing he could move, and even that was the barest twitch of his eyes - his mouth was still frozen in that gleeful twisted smile he wore when readying to strike. He darted his eyes around as much as he could, seeking answers. He saw Ryo reach the distraught Daisuke and Ken just as XV-mon’s egg appeared in front of the Chosen of Tenacity. He watched Daisuke grab the egg, with the stupid boy genius in hysterics over the death of someone that wasn’t even his own damn partner. It was when Ryo turned to face him and gave a start, gawking at Neemon - no, gawking beyond Neemon - that the assassin realized that someone was behind him.

It was then that Neemon could feel the chill of death glaring down at him from behind with absolute fury.

Someone was here. Neemon couldn’t see them, but their presence was suffocating. They could see him. This couldn’t be happening. It shouldn’t be happening. He had been very careful to throw up his obfuscation aura around Ken, and Ryo the moment he arrived. He had even allowed the dumbass goggle boy to enter his aura for the so-called “surprise attack,” otherwise Daisuke and XV-mon would’ve never been able to see what was happening either.

There were countless times when the new Digimon Kaiser came sniffing around to where Ken had been after the fact, always playing catch up as Neemon’s tricks and schemes prevented him from detecting a trace of Ken’s presence until well after Ken was already gone. It was all thanks to the aura that should have been protecting Neemon now. Only Zhuqiaomon, his master and sponsor, was immune to his aura. No one else, least of all some random ass Digimon, should have been able to see what was happening.

Just what the hell was going on!?

[veenxys]

「Being highschool sweethearts with BNHA Boys」

⤷ Bakugou

reaches over to tap on your table or forehead when he sees you dozing off in the middle of the lesson so that you don’t get scolded by the teacher.

he packs your things for you at the end of school day, saying that you look like a sloth .

he really tries to be discreet as he whispers or shows you the answer when the teacher asks you in class.

he pulls one earbud out of his ear and places it in yours when you ask him what he’s listening to during lunch or when the class gets boring.

he playfully calls you a dumbass but also explains the problem when you don’t understand.

⤷ Deku

he likes to play with your hair while studying or when you try to teach him something.

he likes to hold your hand or plays footsies with you under the table during lunch or when he can't pay attention to the class.

he always lets you borrow his stationery when you need it; and he doesn't show it, but het gets sulky if you uses someone else’s.

he cheers for you a lot on sports day, even if you're not on the same team (and you have to remind him of that)

he drags a chair close to your table and sits by your side at recess while laughing together at your friends’ silly antics.

he loves to draw cute little hearts on your hand or arm, and then lets you do the same with him; so that you two have the same tattoos

⤷ Kirishima

he softly kicks your chair from the back when he wants your attention and simply says hi with a gleeful smile when you finally look at him.

he saunters over to your table and claims you as his partner when the teacher says you have to work in pairs

he offers to walk you home after school then drags you to local cafés or arcades where you can have some fun together.

he calls you in the middle of the night just to revise for the finals.

he always shares you his food during lunch and even calls to make sure that you’re eating well on weekends when you can’t meet up.

he sits in your seat whenever he gets to school earlier than you and demands a kiss on the cheek when you ask him to get up.

⤷ Todoroki

he always takes extra notes in case you need them

he always waits for you to go to lunch together.

he calms you down before the test; kissing you on the forehead and telling you it's going to be okay, and that you can do it.

he lets you wear his hoodie when you get cold in class.

he hushes your classmates if they talk over you during group projects.

he always keeps an extra snack for you, even if you don't want it.

⤷ Denki

he loves to gives you high-fives and messes your hair up when he passes by in the hallway.

he runs up to you during p.e to share his water bottle and to remind you to be careful.

he loves sneakily passing you notes in class with bad flirts or jokes; and he keeps the ones from you in a little box at home so that he can read them back.

he claims he doesn’t understand a certain question just to listen to you explain; and you can spend all day teaching him something, he always use the same excuse "can you repeat? i didn't understand very well...."

brings you that day’s notes and silly school gossips to make you laugh when you missed school.

he bribes your best-friend so that he can sit beside you on the bus on school trips

⤷ Tamaki

he waits for you near your house or the bus station everyday so that you can go to school together.

he leaves a milkbox or juicebox on your desk when you’re out of the class with your friends.

he gives you his lucky pen (and a kiss on the forehead) when you’re anxious about an exam.

he glances at you in class to see if you understand when the teacher has explained a difficult concept.

your family adores and treats as their own son; and he always invites you for hangouts and study sessions at his house after school.

⤷ Shinsou

he happily carries your bag or books before and after school.

he messages you cute texts in class and glances to see your reaction and smiles like an idiot for the whole day when he sees you smile or blush.

he still keeps that one pencil you gave him when you started dating in his stationery case.

he always rushes over to you so that he can wish you ‘good luck’ and give a small, encouraging peck on your lips before every test.

he suggests café dates with the excuse to study but he just wants to spend time with you during weekends.

[jangmi-latte]

❝ 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? ❞

➻ content: just the kingscholar family shipping y/n and their second prince

➻ warnings: to the max diabetes²

➻ comments: i've marked my word. here it is. i'm gonna make this pancake extra fluffy.

wow this is 2279 words...

The Afterglow Savanna is known to hold the royal family of the Kingscholars along with having a warm to hot tropical climate. A homeland that has women that are highly respected by men. A place where strength, agility, intelligence, and power are looked up to. 

A palace where crackheads are concerningly suited on the throne.

“Papa!” a little cub of five-years-old came dashing over to the throne room followed by his babysitter. “Papa!” he called again, clinging unto the taller man’s legs who was currently conversing with a servant. Farena looked down at his little replica and chuckled. He scooped up the little boy. “What is it, son?” he grinned letting the servant excuse himself. 

Cheka giggled, wrapping his little arm around his father’s neck before stretching his other arm out to the entrance of the throne room, indicating he wanted to bring him somewhere. With a gleeful proclamation, he bounced, “They’re outside! Uncle Leona went out of his room again! And–”

“He is?!” boomed the king, the regality in his persona now dispersed at the sound of his brother. The cub clapped his hands, laughing loudly as his father carried him outside to peek at the balcony. The royal servants looked at each other in surprise and confusion. It wasn’t a surprise that the king is known to be outgoing and loud, however, for what reason?

Farena peered over at the balcony from the highest area of the palace. His eyes glancing down at the vast savannah below him while Cheka wiggled, being placed down on the balcony railing while being held by the king. “Where are they?” he mumbled. Was he perhaps, hiding?

“There! There they are! Papa, he’s holding her hand!” Cheka pointed out with a little bounce.

“No way. Cheka call your mother.”

“No! I want to see Uncle Leona!”

The king grumbled with a pout. His little replica simply stuck his tongue out before glancing back at where he spotted his uncle. They were quite far from the palace, not far enough to be unseen. It was as clear as day to see that he accompanied a smaller woman beside him. Her attire is similar to those of the royal guards. Was it a rarity to see even Leona wearing something befitting for his title as a prince, maybe? Probably forced to do so but that doesn’t matter. Farena and Cheka are both enjoying watching the little date go on.

“Papa, will I have a little cousin?” pouted Cheka as he fiddled with his little tail. Farena arched his eyebrow, glancing at his son. “What’s with the sudden question?”

With a bigger pout, he looked at his father. “I want a playmate!” he innocently said. His father chuckled, “Why don’t you ask your uncle? He’s the only one who can give you a cousin.”

“But he hasn’t kissed auntie y/n yet! He said he doesn’t want to.” He huffed.

“Be patient, Cheka. Your uncle needs more time. And besides, you’ll have one soon,” Farena booped his son’s nose making the younger lion sigh. “Fine…” he whined.

Down below at the grounds of the savannah, the stalked second prince leaned against the tree while he looked up at the woman climbing with half-lidded eyes. Keeping his green eyes on a lookout for any loose branch that could easily break under her weight. “I don’t get what’s your objective,” he called, seeing as she easily chopped off the stem of an apricot. 

“You could fall.”

“Awww,” you cooed, holding on a branch as you leaned down, “Is the prince looking out for me?” you teased as you bit off the apricot. Leona rolled his eyes, “It’s a loss for the royal guards if anything happened to you. You’re one of the careless batches,” he commented, half teasing as he smirked. You continued to bite from the apricot, sitting on a sturdy batch that’s just above Leona. 

“Hey, I’m perfectly capable of beating you up anytime I want to.”

“Wanna bet?” he challenged as he tilted his head up. His eyes held an attractive lazy look, half-lidded, and lips pressed in a thin line. Kissable.

“Nah,” you refused with a mouth full of apricot. “I prefer to finish my apricot and just lay on this branch while I watch you fall asleep and then leave you.” You threw the fruit’s seed and placed your elbows on your thighs, your face being cupped by your hands as you smiled down at the prince. His eyes were already closed, his tail was gently swishing along with his ears twitching. Nonetheless, the more you stared, the more you were falling for this man. 

“Coward. You wouldn’t want to admit I can easily defeat you with how small you are.” His voice cut off your daydreaming state. Unbeknownst to him, in just a second, his body was now slammed to the ground – with a loud grunt at that – with you on top. Easily pinning him down with both your arms on the sides of his head and your knees at the sides of his waist. “Is that a challenge, Your Highness?” you smirked.

Leona arched an eyebrow, lips staying neutral as he just stared at you. Ah, gorgeous. The confidence and cheekiness in your eyes were attractive. A true guard, courageous and willing to face any challenges. Even going as far as challenging the prince himself. If that wasn’t a turn on, what else. Love is stupid. 

“Maybe.” He lazily placed his arms under his head. “It’s warm. Makes me want to sleep.”

“Leona, you’re no fun.” 

“I can see what’s happening,” Farena sighed as he leaned on his cheek. Cheka glanced over at his papa, “What?”

“And they don’t have a clue.”

“Who?”

Farena pointed at the two lions at the distance who are now walking over to a small lake. The other lazily walking behind the female who was already feet away from him. “They’ll fall in love and here’s the bottom like – our trio’s down to two.” He brought up to fingers while Cheka, who had no idea what his father was talking about, simply let out an ‘oh’.

“Ze sweet caress of twilight.” Cheka giggled at his father’s ridiculousness, “There’s magic everywhere. And will all this romantic atmosphere…” Farena sighed but smiled. “Cheka, my boy, you’ll be having a cousin earlier than I expected. But, don’t tell your uncle I told you.” He winked as Cheka cheered.

Disaster’s in the air.

The waters are still and cool. The sun was dipping and the birds soared the sky as if they’re painting it with an array of warm colours. The deck creaked with every step you took. You lowered yourself, kneeling on the side to scoop up some water to drink. Leona was beside you glancing at both your reflections before his eyes wandered over at yours. Contemplated, was his emotions getting the better of him. No other woman could make him feel...important. Not his brother, not the school, not Cheka, it was a mere royal guard. Someone important to his life in the purpose of protection. You were important to him that way, or was it?  

Can you feel the love tonight? The peace the evening brings The world, for once, in perfect harmony With all its living things

You opened your eyes, calmly sipping the water in your hands. Eyes meeting green ones from the reflection. You smirked, “Hey, Leona,” you called and glanced up. “Since when was the last time you bathe?” you questioned with a little tilt of your head. He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. “Last ni– oi!” he growled upon feeling the water dripped down his face after you threw the water on him. 

Laughing, that’s what echoed throughout the lake. No fear of getting in trouble. No harm is done. Just a wet prince. “Again?! Didn’t hear you!” You jumped. Water splashing across the deck and drenching Leona more. His white shirt now sticking on his skin as you swim up to greet him. “You’re going to do my laundry,” he tsked and glared at your grinning form. 

“And what are you doing just standing at the shallow part of the lake?” He crossed his arms, an arch of an eyebrow mocking you as you looked down at yourself. The water reached your chest and your feet were planted firmly on the soil below. “Can’t reach?” he mocked leaning over you from the deck. You stuck your tongue out and placed your hand to your hips. “So? I can swim.”

“Prove it.”

“Not until you jump in first.”

“I’m perfectly fine staying up here where it’s dry.”

“Maybe it’s you who couldn’t swim,” you taunted and leaned your head on the deck. 

As if on cue, your eyes immediately closed. Feeling the water splash your face when Leona jumped in. Hah, who knew a little taunt could make the lazy prince prove to you who’s the dominant one in this friendship. He can prove himself when he tries. Sure, you’re a strong-willed woman, but you sure do love to play with his strings. He didn’t come back up from the water. 

You knew what was coming.

“Leona–!” 

So many things to tell her But how to make her see The truth about my past? Impossible She’d turn away from me 

Descending underwater and gripping on his arms, you forced yourself to float atop. More training on readying your breathing, yes? You pushed your head up the water and inhaled deeply. “You ass…” you coughed and kept a tight grip on his arm. He ascended from the water and chuckled. “Congrats, you can swim this far.” You looked over your shoulder with wide eyes. You were far from the deck. Made you wonder how fast could Leona swim. “P-Put me back!” you screamed and instinctively wrapped your arms around his neck.

The prince merely laughed at you. A melodious tune anyone would rarely hear coming from him. Only pops out when he’s mocking you. Strong and courageous? You look like a small kitten clinging on him like that. An urge to protect you despite it being your job to protect him. “Leona!” you yelled, “Bring me back it’s deep!” you panicked.

“I’m not going to let you go, dumbass.” His grip around your waist tightened. Just trust him. That’s all he ever wanted. Something he couldn’t give easily and yet he wanted it to be earned. 

You looked at him and back at the water. He can swim. It was effortless. Your little teasing has led you screaming in fear. Leona is someone unpredictable. Yet the grip on your waist had made you relax a little as your ears flattened against your head. “What will I do to you if you drop me?” 

“Stab me if you want, I don’t care. I stay with my word.” He shrugged. You looked at him in surprise. Again, an unpredictable man. Did he really think you’re capable of hurting him? Was he joking? Leona, stop staring.

He’s holding back, he’s hiding But what, I can’t decide Why won’t he be the king I know he is The king I see inside?

“You’re making me suspicious.” You narrowed your eyes at him. “Uh-huh?”

“I’ll stab you if you don’t tell me.”

“You’re confusing me more than I confuse you and I hate it.” He grumbled.

“Tell me.”

“Tell you what?” You could tell, he was getting annoyed the more you spoke. Who cares? If taunting him was the only way to get him to speak, you would. You knew he wouldn’t hurt you.

“Whatever you’re hiding.”

“That I love you?”

Can you feel the love tonight? The peace the evening brings The world, for once, in perfect harmony With all its living things

So blunt, so endearing. His gaze, even, remained neutral with just an eyebrow arched as he just stared at you. Your breaths syncing as you just looked at each other’s eyes. He hated it. He hated your silence. His pride, wrecked, just like that. Your eyes say, what he assumed to be, doubt and surprise. “Let’s go back. I’m tired.”

“You could’ve just told me, you asshat.” you laughed as you adjusted yourself, wrapping your legs around his waist. “And let me speak next time. I hate it when you doubt yourself,” you said and cupped his face. He narrowed his eyes at you before rolling them, “I wasn’t.”

“Haha… very funny, Your Highness.” 

With that, you pressed your lips on his. Requited love sending sparks upon both your lips. A tightened hold on both bodies as the sun shone a silhouette on your form. Tails flicking across the water, the kiss deepening and leaving you breathless. So soft, addicting, just like you said, kissable. A desire to reconnect and devour his hidden affection. That is His Highness, Leona Kingscholar. Not a king, just a prince. No title to behold or rank the amount of love you held for him.

Can you feel the love tonight? You needn’t look too far Stealing through the night’s uncertainties Love is where they are

“And if he falls in love tonight…” sniffled Farena while Cheka patted his tears away. “It can be assumed.” He smiled at his son who pouted. “His carefree days with us are history.”

“What’s carefree?”

“In short: Our pal is doomed!” hollered the king. Cheka looked over his shoulder before back at his father. He doesn’t know what’s going on with his papa or whatever is still coming out of his mouth. All he knows is that he saw the both of you kiss and now he cheered.

“Papa! Mama! I’m gonna have a playmate soon!!!”

[ceoofuwu]

𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐒 ;; 𝘬𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘬𝘪 𝘹 𝘧.𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒: 𝟏.𝟔𝐤

𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒: you may be Bakugo’s sister but, no one in U.A. had ever known about your existence, until you decided to pay a visit... little did you know that Bakugo wasn’t the only familiar person there...

𝐓.𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: cursing (there’s Bakugo here, you shouldn’t expect any less lmao)

«What?! Bakugo has a sister?!» Mina exclaimed as she entered the living room, hardly having heard the rest of the discussion.

She sat herself cheerfully next to Kirishima, who had actually made space for her, quite eager to keep up with the gossip.

Not that she didn’t have every reason to. Bakugo was mysterious, kept things simple and to himself, always maintaining a distant and goal-oriented attitude, which didn’t allow for much personal investment. Therefore, wasn’t it reasonable for any given “friend” of his to be bound by curiosity?

«Oh shut up! As if you should care, raccoon eyes» he retorted coldly, with a casual murderous glare following shortly.

However, with her happy-go-lucky mindset and the habit of ignorantly listening to the merciless insults of the young hero, the pinkette didn’t mind him at all.

«I should, because when I become a pro hero, she might use some rescuing from me!» she announced, pointing to her gleeful self.

«Thanks, but I believe I can manage on my own».

A smooth, velvet voice cut through the room as the tapping of graceful steps reverberated.  A pair of delicate legs strolling confidently, accompanying a perfectly-shaped body giving off waves of tremendous fortitude.

During the time Mina had spent in the Academy, she had never witnessed, not once Bakugo, the Bakugo, expressing his fear. Now, in the face of his sister, he was wearing a mask of exactly that feeling; terror.

«Is that… are you…» she attempted, feeling solely gaps of air leaving her mouth in stupefaction.

You ceased your pacing, offering everyone a friendly smile, escorted with a gentle wave of your hand.

«Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Y/n».

«…you can also call her dumbass» Bakugo mumbled between clenched teeth, intending to make an impression of dominance but also wishing to hide from the tyrant of a woman opposite of him.

«Shut your hole boom-boom idiot!»

An array of giggles filled the air, lighting up the ambiance and therefore breaking the ice, before you noticed a black-haired boy observing you in what seemed to be… dread?

«So she’s also taken after your terribly unhealthy anger issues, huh?» his eyes shifted to your smirking brother while he spoke in a modest and careful voice, as if he had selected his words with extreme cautiousness, one by one.

Another polite smile tugged at your lips, despite feeling quite displeased by your first impression. «I’m nothing like this walking temper tantrum», your gaze travelled around the room, inspecting it and gradually getting used to the surroundings, «…so you are his class… mates…»  your voice slowly faded away as you met with one specific, too familiar person in the room.

It couldn’t be… he couldn’t be here… or, could he? As far as you’re concerned you’re completely sane, which only means that you weren’t hallucinating. A lump had suddenly emerged in your throat and you’d swear your heart had skipped several beats upon realizing what was happening.

«Why the hell are you staring at dunce face?!» Bakugo yelled, fury steeping his features as the urge to protect you took over.

«Dunce… what?»

Denki slightly rolled his eyes, although he seemed to have gotten accustomed to his nickname, and sighed as he struggled to appear collected and unbothered.  «Me».

You scoffed and immediately covered your mouth with your hand, to prevent an inappropriate laughter from coming out. You didn’t really enjoy making fun of others, especially people like him who stood so close to you, but… this just sounded too fitting.

Denki blushed and immediately looked away, in his miserable attempt to be “discreet”.

«Do you guys know each other?» a familiar-looking redhead boy enquired, pointing between you and Denki. Your acquaintance had his mouth half-hanging open, as if he was about to say something, until he met with the frightful message in your look.

No.

You were quick to turn and face the redhead, with calmness written in your features and say: «Not at all, I mean… I hardly know any of you… um… Kirishima, isn’t it?»

The boy’s crimson eyes widened in surprise by the mention of his name.

Seems like I got it right.

«My brother tends to mention you a lot at home…» yet another wave of surprise washing over him, «…mostly how shitty your hair is…» you paused and pondered a little on your words, «…although I beg to differ» you beamed.

Kirishima’s face resembled a mixture of contentedness and dejection. You supposed and hoped that the former was on you.

Even so, for some odd reason, Bakugo was still keeping an eye on Denki. Not that the latter was acting with any prudence whatsoever, what with his nervously avoiding everyone’s eyes in the room.

«So… um… is there a bathroom… somewhere around here..?» you asked timidly, feeling the need to freshen yourself up and relieve some of the tension of this fairly messed up situation.

Soon after, thanks to your brother’s interference, you arrested yourself in that longed-for bathroom, taking a breather in silence and clearing your mind.

Before arriving at U.A. you weren’t really sure how to feel. On the one hand, you genuinely anticipated finally meeting all those amazing, gifted teens that had got themselves involved into so many scandalous episodes. On the other hand, you were doubting your social capabilities of interaction and trembled at the mere thought of stumbling over your words, or making a mess of something as simple a task as that, in general. In fact, an array of worst case scenarios was bombarding your head, even until the second you stepped your foot in that room.

However, discovering that Denki, your Denki, was actually one of the renowned class 1-A students?

That seemed nearly inconceivable to you.

Indeed, you had been dating with the guy for several months now, yet, without neither of you realizing, the hero studies topic had never been brought up; at least not in terms of specification.

So… Denki was a basically a hero… someone capable of coming to your rescue at any given moment… a hero…

«I hope you’re lost in your thoughts about me» an all too familiar voice was heard from the door.

Speak of the devil and the devil will come.

«Denki, what the hell?! How-- why did you come here?!» you called frantically, all the while taking alarming looks around to make sure your privacy was guaranteed.

«Don’t panic. We’re alone. Besides, my dorm is nearby~» he chimed, taking small steps closer to you simultaneously.

«So you used your dorm as an excuse to…?»

«Don’t play dumb, Y/n… you know better than anyone why I’m here…» your boyfriend whispered while slipping his arms around your waist and pulling you flush against his slim body.

You felt the temperature rising in your cheeks and your mind suddenly going blank, as though a fuzzy mist had been blurring everything. You had decided to come here merely to relax before proceeding to make new acquaintances. You couldn’t figure out whether this was happening due to Denki being one hell of a horny pervert or his being a complete and utter idiot. Come to think of it, both statements were suitable at the moment.

In the meantime, Denki was ranting about his plans, his dorm and many other stuff that you didn’t care too much to pay attention to.

«You are a dunce face» you giggled, trying not to focus too much on his golden gaze, which almost pierced holes through your own eyes.

«What did you say?» his face was beginning to distort into a suggestive expression, his lips gradually stretching into a devilish smile.

«You… are… a dunce face» you repeated teasingly and more confidently this time, despite feeling the embarrassment crawling up on you on the inside.

«A dunce face…» he hummed after you, before pushing you gently against a wall, with you hardly realizing, «I wonder where you picked that up from…» he teased, his fingertips sliding underneath your shirt grazing your back, sending minor waves of electricity down your spine with every brush whilst eliciting slight gasps.

Your lust-blown eyes remained locked the entire time, forming some kind of connection, as your breaths were little by little merging into one and the space between you was getting smaller by every second passing. You couldn’t hold your urgencies back anymore; your arms glided on his shoulders, eventually getting wrapped around his neck, as your head titled to the side allowing to the blonde to lean in and touch his lips on yours.  

The subtle electroshocks being produced on your back combined with the feeling of soft lips dancing with even softer ones, wasn’t aiding you at all to restrain that low, throaty moan that escaped from your vocals.

The kiss was slow and yet, steeped with passion, dripping with all these raw emotions that were generated every time you’d encounter one another. Denki had you melting, desperately hanging on to him, as if he was your life line. As he nibbled on your bottom lip, you broke apart, both panting, your lungs burning for air, prior to your foreheads touching intimately, trying to calm your rapidly beating hearts.

«You should lock that doo—«

«GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF HER, DUNCE FACE!»

Before you even had the time to process what had just happened, Denki had done a runner, sprinting as fast as he could as he was being chased down by an infuriated Bakugo. It’s a pity you were marooned like this but, oh well, he was the one who had left the door unclosed….

Hope you enjoyed! Leave a heart, comment, reblog! 💕

[obeyme-kaidii-writes]

Hot Pepper Challenge

Mammon x poly gn!MC x Leviathan

Words - 2626

Content warnings - humor, some mild language, polyamorous relationship

Prompt/Inspiration - Mammon and Levi engage in a hot sauce battle/hot pepper challenge

Summary - Levi challenges Mammon to a Hot Pepper Challenge and things go about as well as one might expect.

AO3

You weren’t quite sure why you let them talk you into this. Normally, you did a pretty good job of keeping their combined idiocy in check. But for whatever reason, when Mammon and Levi had both come to you, eyes sparkling, full of excitement, you just couldn’t say no.

Levi had heard about a viral trend from the human world whereby you record yourself eating an extremely hot pepper and post it online. And of course, being Levi, he wanted to take things up a notch and make this a contest of sorts between him and Mammon. The prize being a date with you.

How bad could things be? you had thought to yourself. Surely demons were better suited to hot peppers than your average human, right? You would have been correct had Levi been simply intending to ingest human realm varieties. But since he cannot do anything in half measures, he upped the ante by acquiring several varieties of Devildom peppers unbeknownst to you. In fact, it wasn’t until you had started setting up the kitchen with large glasses of milk, with some containers of softened ice cream on standby in the freezer, that you noticed the peculiar peppers Levi was spreading out on the counter.

Not only were they varieties you did not recognize, there were far more of them than you had imagined necessary. It was clear he wasn’t planning on eating just one or two, and you started to have second thoughts about encouraging this activity.

“Um Levi?”

“Yeah?”

“How many peppers are you planning on eating…?”

“As many as I can get Mammon to eat,” he said with a mischievous grin. While he did love the idea of winning an extra date with you, his motives weren’t altogether pure. What he really wanted was to make a viral video for DevilTube...and seeing Mammon suffer because he would be too stubborn to back down from a challenge and admit when he’s had enough? That was icing on the cake.

It was then you realized that there was a good chance Mammon had no idea exactly what he had agreed to, and you knew your sweet, precious idiot wouldn’t be able to stop while he was ahead even after he did. You heaved a frustrated sigh, rolling your eyes at Levi, as you took up your position on the barstool opposite of where he and Mammon were to be sitting. Maybe you could send a text to Mammon, to give him a heads up at least? But no sooner had the thought crossed your mind, than Mammon strode through the kitchen doors, brimming with confidence and smiling broadly.

He walked right over to you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders before pressing a quick kiss to your temple. He knew he had this in the bag, and had already bought tickets to a concert he was positive you would enjoy. His smile started to falter however, when he caught sight of the lineup of peppers on display. He glanced down at you, and you just gave him a weak smile, not bothering to explain what he clearly knew.

“Uhh, Levi? Whatsup with these peppers?”

“They’re what we are using, of course,” Levi replied, smirking. This was going to be epic.

“Umm, are you crazy?! We agreed to the human realm challenge. Like that video ya showed me.”

“What’s wrong Mammon? Scared?” You glared at Levi who was looking absolutely gleeful at how things were unfolding. You loved him to bits, but he could be outright devious sometimes.

“I ain’t scared!” Mammon snapped, swallowing thickly, “Just makin’ sure we are doin’ things right is all.”

“LOL ok. Then let’s get started.”

“ Fine.”

“Well, let’s get this over with,” you mumbled to yourself, as you positioned your DDD on the mini tripod Levi had provided you. Mammon and Levi took their seats, with Mammon doing his best to keep a straight face. He hadn’t even touched the peppers yet, and was already sweating bullets.

“You know, you guys really don’t have to do this. I can just go on separate dates with…”

“NO!” They both replied, in sync. Despite the fact that Mammon looked like he was about to cry, he was still staunchly determined to win and somehow impress you. And Levi, of course, was not about to let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

You sighed again. These two were going to be the death of you, you were sure.

“Fine, ready when you are,” you said as you began recording.

Levi started with his standard DevilTuber introduction, before introducing Mammon, and thanking you for assisting. At least the color was returning to Mammon’s face and he didn’t look quite so terrified now that everything had begun and he slipped into the same headspace he used when working his modeling gigs.

Just gotta put on a performance. It didn’t really matter how hot the peppers were, there was no way Levi was going to be able to handle them. All he had to do was outlast Levi, he thought, trying to reassure himself.

“Now for the rules! We will be starting with the mildest pepper here, rated at 2,000,000 SHU all the way up to the hottest variety at 16,000,000 SHU. First one to drink the milk, loses.

Ready?”

Mammon nodded.

“Go!”

And without any further ado, the loves of your life took massive bites out of the first peppers.

And you waited.

And you watched.

Levi was the first to start squirming, his face becoming progressively more red. He immediately regret his decision to wear his usual outfit and quickly removed his jacket, tossing it to the side.

Mammon on the other hand, was nibbling on what remained of his first pepper. He was relieved that this was the variety they started with, because it was the same one used to flavor his beloved Hell Sauce Noodles. And judging by the look on Levi’s face, he wasn’t going to be lasting much longer.

“What’s the matter, Levi? Too hot for ya?” he taunted.

“Shut up. I’m just getting started.”

It may have appeared that Levi had overlooked Mammon’s love of spicy things, but this was all part of his Master Plan to lull him into a false sense of security. At least that’s what he was telling himself. In reality, he had completely forgotten about it and hadn’t thought to check the ingredients for the cup noodles he knew Mammon was so fond of. But there was no way he was going to admit to that.

“Ready?” asked Levi, as he grabbed the next pepper in the lineup.

“Yup.”

This one wasn’t much hotter than the first, so Mammon quickly polished it off, licking any stray juices off his fingers. If things kept up at this rate, he was going to have this in the bag. He just had to hope that Levi gave up long before they reached the final pepper that Mammon knew for a fact was way too hot for something anyone had any business eating.

Levi kept stealing nervous glances at the nearby glass of milk, and you briefly considered offering it to him but decided that would only egg his competitive nature on and have the opposite intended effect. So instead, you continued on in your role as a silent observer and camera operator. At least Mammon was handling things well, so far, which allowed you to relax some.

“Next,” Levi choked out. This third variety was the one he personally had to stop at in his practice runs. He didn’t know what he was going to do if Mammon was able to take it as well as the previous two. “Ruri-chan help me,” he whispered under his breath.

Mammon confidently picked up the third pepper, taking a large bite from it as he had done with the others, flashing you a brilliant smile in the process. But after a few moments, you noticed the heat start to rise to his cheeks as he quickly shuffled off his jacket. It seemed this variety was a good leap up on the heat scale, one Mammon was absolutely not expecting.

Even though Levi was on the brink of tears, it did not escape his notice when Mammon had started showing a reaction. He fist pumped internally, sitting up a little bit taller, having regained some of his confidence from earlier. Just a bit more, he thought, one more was all he needed to break Mammon. He just had to tough it out a tiny bit longer.

“Next.”

This time Mammon was a bit more hesitant, but he wasn’t about to back down now. Not after he had come this far.

So he took his first bite, and the reaction was almost immediate. Tears welled up in his eyes, sweat started pouring down his face, and he could even feel his nose start to run. He sniffled, trying to maintain his composure, not wanting to let on just how badly he was being affected, and shot a sideways glance to Levi.

Levi was sobbing at this point, not even bothering to conceal the pain he was in as the tears streamed down his cheeks. He knew he needed to swallow, to get the pepper out of his mouth, but his body was fighting against him and refusing to let it happen. So instead he simply sat there, as more and more heat gathered on his tongue. He swore he could feel a hole starting to form in his mouth, the longer he kept the pepper there, but finally he managed to gag/cough in such a way he was able to choke it down.

Dumbasses. That’s what they are. Dumbasses.

“Ready to give up, Levi?” Mammon taunted.

“HA! As if. This is nothing,” but his tear stained face was telling quite a different story.

“Next pepper.”

“Right. Next pepper.”

“Yep.”

“Yep.”

The boys stared at the next variety before them, neither eager to take another bite. They kept stealing glances at the other, daring one another to reach for the milk. Both were regretting their life choices at this point, and Mammon was saying a small prayer, to whoever listened to demons, that if they just let him win this challenge, he’d walk the straight and narrow and stop stealing from his brothers. Except Levi. Levi deserved everything he had coming to him.

“...are we stopping here…?” you asked. It had been a good five minutes now of them just staring at their peppers and occasionally looking at one another. They both jumped at the sound of your voice, having forgotten completely about you and the fact this was all being recorded.

“Nope!” was all Levi said as he grabbed the next pepper, and brought it to his lips, Mammon following suit. With one final glance at the other, they took a bite.

Mammon was crying now, his nose running, and his whole face and neck flushed. This had to be the worst decision he had ever made, and that included all the shit he had pulled that had resulted in him strung up by the rafters for days on end. Why? Why had he decided this was a good idea? It wasn’t like you didn’t go on enough dates with him already. You spent plenty of time together. He should have just been content with what he had. Now he was going to die for sure before he ever got to take you anywhere again.

At some point Levi had removed his shirt and was now sitting bare chested, bracing himself against the counter top. His upper body was so red he honestly looked more like a tomato than a demon. He was breathing heavily, as he struggled against every fiber of his being that was urging him to just admit defeat like the loser he was and chug the damn milk. But he couldn’t. It would be more humiliation than he could bare if you had to see him give up after he was the one that started this whole thing and had been so smug and confident about it.

Involuntarily, Mammon reached out and grabbed the glass of milk. It felt so cool on his palm. When he realized what he had done, he tried to let go, but his self preservation instincts had reached their limits and were not about to let that happen.

Levi noticed Mammon’s movements, and he couldn’t help but smile. Well, he tried to smile. It looked more like one of those “please pity me” smiles as he psychically begged Mammon to take the first sip. His eyes were blurry with tears, and before he even knew what he was doing, Levi had wiped the sweat and tears away from them.

The moments that followed were pure and absolute chaos.

Levi stared at his hand in absolute horror. What had he done?! Without hesitation, he grabbed the glass of milk and dumped it on his face.

“HA!” Mammon called out, before quickly chugging down his own glass of milk.

“I DIDNT DRINK IT!” Levi whined, scrambling to the freezer so he could start on the ice cream.

“LIKE HELL YOU DIDNT!”

“YOU LOST!”

“FUCK YOU!”

“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU STUPID IDIOT! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO STOP SOONER!”

“YOURE THE ONE WHO STARTED THIS, DUMBASS!”

You watched on as Mammon and Levi took turns crying and yelling, hurling insults at each other, through gulps of milk and mouthfuls of ice cream. There wasn’t much else you could do really besides sit there and make sure they didn’t fling anything on your DDD, wondering exactly how long they were going to keep this up for.

As their wailing continued, Lucifer popped his head in to see what all the fuss was about, ready to lay into Mammon. But when he saw him writhing in pain on the floor, shoving hunks of bread into his overstuffed mouth, he realized there wasn’t anything he could do to punish him more thoroughly than how he was suffering right now. He also caught sight of Levi, who was now laying on his stomach, cheek flushed to the floor while he spread out his limbs to get as much contact with the cool surface as possible.

Even though the pain in his mouth had subsided, (whether because he managed to clear out of all traces of the peppers, or because his nerve endings had simply been burnt away, he didn’t know) his body was impossibly hot and at some point he had also removed his pants, leaving him in nothing but his Azuki-tan boxers. He knew he should be embarrassed to be in such a state of undress not only in front of you, but in a public place like the kitchen, but he didn’t care. The only thing that kept him from jumping into Henry’s fish tank was the exhaustion that was weighing down his limbs, and the thought of how much work it would be to access the top of the tank.

A smug smile spread across Lucifer’s face, satisfied with his brother's joint misery. When he turned to look at you, he briefly felt something akin to pity, but you were as much to blame for this as they were, as far as he was concerned. You had chosen them, after all, for reasons that Lucifer couldn’t quite fathom, and you knew exactly what you had been getting yourself into when you had done so.

So, with a wave of his hand Lucifer wished you “Good luck” as he left the kitchen and headed towards his study to relax to one of his favorite records. One that he felt would harmonize perfectly with the sounds of their suffering.

[korra-the-red-lion]

Conflict.

Here’s a super random fic I wrote for Legends of Tomorrow! The pairing is Astra x Behrad x Spooner. This literally comes from me and my friend @sapphictv saying that Astra has two hands haha. I hope you enjoy!

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Astra, former queen of hell, badass sorcerer-in-training, killer of men and women alike, was very frustrated that she was unable to come up with a solution to this problem on hand. And what, you might be asking yourself, is that problem exactly?

In fact, it was two problems.

The first problem came in the form of Behrad Tarazi. The idiotic stoner who took nearly as long as his insipid sister in the shower slowly worked his way into her life with his charming smile and easy out look on life. Not mention, he looked damned fine in a suit. Astra would never admit it out loud, but she probably would have jumped him that day hadn’t she had amazing self-control. After her slip up of showing a sliver of interest in him that time, he only took that as a means of encouragement, something Astra would have never done intentionally.

The next problem was that of Esperanza “Spooner” Cruz. The frustrating little gremlin first sparked something inside of her when she was the first to support her after she had been tricked by that bastard Crowley. Then of course there was that hug they shared during the Galactic Bowling Match. Astra found herself constantly amused by the tiny woman’s feisty nature and even meaner tongue, unless it was directed at her of course. Even then, however, caused something warm to stir inside her chest at the thought of being the center of focus for Spooner.

So, needless to say, Astra was very angry. And nobody liked when Astra was angry.

So far, she had broken the coffee pot, told Nate to stop talking about Indiana Jones, punched the wall (though that had been an accident, mostly), and set fire to Gary (that had been intentional). Right now, she was seething alone in her room as she flipped through her books to see if there was a spell to help her remove her feelings for the two idiots on board the Waverider.

“Ugh, there’s nothing here!” she raged as she threw the book across the room.

Ava poked her head into the room with a small frown on her face. “Uh…hey, Astra? Is there something that’s bothering you? You just seem to be in a mood today.”

Astra rolled her eyes with an annoyed sigh. “Why would you think that? I’m obviously fine.”

“Hm, okay.” Ava took one look around the room when she noticed the spell book near her feet. She picked it up and took a quick look through it as Astra grabbed another one to get angry about. “’A spell to help you get rid of human emotions. Warning, side effect may include death,’” Ava read aloud. “What’s this about?”

“Exactly what it sounds like,” sneered Astra.

Ava frowned again as she nodded. “Right. Are you sure there’s nothing bothering you?”

Astra was just about to tell Ava to do something very vulgar when she sighed in defeat. “Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

Ava crossed her fingers over her heart.

Astra fell back into her pillows with a dramatic huff. “I believe that I may have…developed a crush on Behrad.”

“Oh that’s-”

“And Spooner,” Astra cut in.

Ava’s eyebrows shot up into her hair line. “Oh. OH. Okay, wow. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“How did this happen?” Astra grabbed a pillow and buried her face in it. “I’m suppose to be the bitch on board, and now I’ve been reduced to a wallowing puddle of misery.”

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing, Astra,” said Ava. “Maybe you could talk to them about it?”

“Absolutely not!”

“Oookay,” Ava twisted her mouth as she thought what to suggest next. Seeing as her only real relationship came in the form of one Sara Lance, she probably wasn’t the best person to help with this. However, Ava was a thinker, and she figured that there was a logical solution to Astra’s problem. When the idea popped into her head, Ava couldn’t believe how intelligent she was.

“I have an idea,” she said with a grin.

“Does it involve killing both of them and pretending that these feelings never existed?” Astra asked, with one eye peeking out from under the pillow.

“Even better.”

Astra doubted that there was something better than murder, but she decided to go along with it for now.

God, how she was probably going to regret this.

XXX

Astra decided that she was going to kill Ava once this was all done.

Her idiotic master idea was awful. Ava figured that if one of them made the move first, then that would be the one she should date. Simple enough, except in involved them being dumped in Star City to go on a ‘mission’ that Ava created specifically for them. When Zari got word that her brother was leaving without her, she got all annoyed and followed after them, so already the plan was falling apart. Oh, and she brought Sara with her.

Just kill her now.

Spooner scowled as she kicked an empty can away from the trio. “Why are we here again? I don’t sense any aliens nearby. Are we sure Ava got the details right?”

Behrad gave her an easy smile as he pulled out a joint. “Dude, just trust in Ava. She hasn’t really led us astray yet. Besides, it’s nice to get away from the Waverider every now and then.”

Spooner rolled her eyes. “I was enjoying my evening, but whatever. I’m going to grab something to drink,” she indicated the convenience store with a jerk of her head. “Y’all want something?”

Astra realized that this was her chance to be alone with either of them, but since it seemed Behrad was more concerned with his weed at the moment, it meant that she had a better shot with Spooner. With a heavy swallow of her pride, Astra flashed a smile at Spooner.

“I’ll go with you.”

Spooner shrugged but didn’t argue, so the two women walked into the brightly lit germ palace together. It took nearly all her willpower to not sneer nor gag at the sight of the pimply teenager behind the counter. His eyes most certainly went to look at her breasts, and Astra started to raise her hand to turn him inside out when Spooner grabbed it, interlocking their fingers together. Astra’s mind went blank as she started at their hands as her heart thumped uncomfortably in her chest.

“Please don’t try and kill the child,” said Spooner softly as she led them over to the cold shelves. “We’re here for a mission, remember? Besides, teenage boys are stupid, so it’s not worth getting all upset about.”

Astra had barely listened to a word she had said, as she was too focused on the hands. Were hands always this warm? Were you always able to feel a pulse in someone’s hand? Was her hand sweaty?! A million other thoughts zoomed through her head like a NASCAR. It wasn’t until Spooner snapped her fingers in her face that Astra joined reality again.

“Sorry?” she asked with a couple blinks of her eyes.

Spooner’s mouth quirked upwards in amusement as she pointed to the doors. “I asked what drink you wanted, carino?”

Astra didn’t speak a lick of Spanish, so she wasn’t sure what that last part was supposed to mean. Although she was curious, she didn’t ask. Instead, she reached for the can of iced tea silently. Spooner watched her with a thoughtful look on her face as she grabbed her own can of Coca Cola. She grabbed something at random for Behrad and together they went to the counter. The pimply monstrosity rung everything up and told the price with an obnoxious voice crack. Astra spared a glance at Spooner to see if it was okay to at least turn him into an opossum or something, but a quick shake of the head told her no. How disappointing.

It wasn’t until they left the store that Astra realized that they were still holding hands. She felt a surge of panic as they approached Behrad, but luckily Spooner left got just as they got there. She handed him the can of Dr. Pepper, which he took gratefully.

Over the comms Astra could hear Sara saying, “No, she hasn’t made a move yet. I’m getting really bored of waiting.” Stupid Sara.

Behrad cracked up the sugary drink with a gleeful look on his face. “Thanks Spoons! How’d you know Dr. P was my go-to soda?”

Spooner rolled her eyes, but her smile gave away her amusement. “Because I’ve lived with you for awhile now, dumbass.”

Astra watched this exchange with interest. Suddenly she was nervous. What if the two of them liked each? What if this was all for nothing? What if in her own self-absorption, she never realized the two of them had romantic feelings for each other? Now Astra was upset. She disguised her sigh of unhappiness with a grunt as she stalked further ahead. She could hear the two of them talking behind her, but she chose to ignore it.

Eventually, they made it to the area where Ava was going to send Gary to attack. Astra sat down moodily as Spooner did a perimeter search for safety. Behrad sat down next to her and nudge her with his shoulder.

“What’s eating you, Astra?” he asked kindly.

Astra glanced at him, which was a mistake. He looked so gorgeous under the streetlight. She turned away, disgusted by the blush she could feel on her face as she mumbled, “Nothing.”

“Doesn’t sound like nothing.” Behrad scratched at his chin thoughtfully. “But I’m not going to push you to talk about. I just think you should know that I’m always here if you need a shoulder to lean on.”

Oh, how tempting was the offer to rest her head on his broad shoulders. Astra wished with everything in her heart that she could do that. She settled for a nod of acknowledgement instead. She frowned in thought as she turned to him.

“Behrad, can I ask you something, actually?”

Behrad had his can of soda halfway to his lips when he nodded. “Go for it.”

Astra wished her heart wasn’t racing as quickly as it was. Her throat felt dry as she asked, “Is there anyone on the Waverider that you have a crush on?”

The look on his face matched that of a deer in headlights. Slowly, he nodded as he looked her way. “Yeah, I do. But don’t tell Zari, okay? She’ll never let me live it down.”

Astra nodded. “Can I ask who it is?”

Behrad looked nervous as he ran a hand through his hair. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before finally settling on a nod. As he worked on the courage to tell her who it was, Astra could feel the blood pounding in her ears as her hands shook with anticipation. But just before the words could come out, there was a shout of surprise as Spooner ran over.

“Guys, the trouble is here!”

Dammit, thought Astra angrily. She thought that she had a couple more minutes before the arrival of that buffoon. With a huff, she stood to her feet to help get rid of the nuisance when she saw with wide eyes that a large grotesque demon stood in front of them. This was not part of the plan. It turned its fiery red eyes in her direction and bellowed.

“ASTRA, I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME!!”

Now, Astra had done a lot of really terrible things while she was the queen of hell. It’s not like she remembered every single one. That was the case with ugly over there. She didn’t recognize him at all, but he clearly knew who she was.

Spooner pulled out a massive ray gun and fire several bullets at the beast. Behrad hopped into action by activating his totem and blasting sharp gusts of wind. Astra wasted no time in shouting out an incantation, summoning an army of shadow monsters to fight under her command.

While it wasn’t easy, eventually the demon got sent back to hell. Astra felt very wobbly on her feet as the draining effect of magic took a hold of her. The last thing she was aware of was the two of them calling her name as she crashed to the ground.

XXX

When Astra came to, she was lying in the med bay. That wasn’t too surprising. What was surprising was her two guests.

Spooner and Behrad were both sitting next to the bed/resting spot/pod/whatever the hell you wanted to call this thing. Behrad was sleeping, his head lolled to the side as drool trailed down onto his shoulder. Spooner had been cleaning her knife when she realized that Astra woke up. She stomped on Behrad’s foot and instantly reached for her hand.

“Astra, are you feeling okay?” she asked tenderly.

Astra nodded, because she was pretty sure her voice wasn’t going to work at the moment.

Relief flooded both their eyes as Behrad scooted his chair closer. “Man, I’m so glad to hear that. The way you used magic was so badass, but when you feel I totally freaked out.”

Astra’s eyes flickered between the two of them and the conflict she felt instantly came back full throttle. How was she ever going to chose between the two of them? There was just no possible way. Astra in this very moment decided that she was going to never date either of them and just life the rest of her life out miserably.

She gently pulled her hand out of Spooner’s. Astra stared at the wall, not looking at either of them. Spooner and Behrad shared a look before Spooner poked Astra in the face. Hard.

“Ow!” Her hand went for her cheek. “What the hell was that for?”

“What’s going on?” Spooner’s tone left no room for argument.

“Nothin-” the look on both of their face shut her up.

“You can’t lie forever, Astra,” said Behrad calmly. “We aren’t leaving this room until you tell us what’s up.”

“I refuse,” she sneered.

“You made me do this,” said Spooner seriously. “Gideon, play ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ please.”

“As you wish, Ms. Cruz,” said Gideon’s voice over the intercoms. The Bonnie Taylor classic started blasting in the med bay. Worst of all, the two of them started to sing along to the torture. Astra only lasted 30 seconds before she begged them to stop, promising to tell them what they wanted to hear. The music shut off, leaving only heavy silence in its wake.

Astra clutched the arms of the chair and sent a prayer to her mother as she worked up her courage. “I…I like both of you.”

Behrad beamed. “Aw, I like both of you too!”

“Not like that!” snapped Astra. She sucked in a deep breath. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. I meant I like both of you in a romantic way. Ava had planned this meeting so I could decide which one I wanted to date, but I now realize that it impossible. I’m sorry for putting us in danger.”

Astra was afraid to even look over, but she forced herself to do so. Spooner was watching her with a thoughtful expression while Behrad was still smiling. Astra was confused as to why he was until he reached for her other hand and grabbed Spooner’s too.

“Well, I know it’s a big commitment, but I’d be do down if all three of us dated,” he said cheerfully.

“HUH?” Astra was beyond confused. When she grew up, couples were just that: a couple. How did a relationship between three people even work? Was Behrad high?

But when Spooner gave an easy shrug and said, “I’d be willing to try if y’all are,” Astra was at a complete loss.

“Is…is that even allowed?” she hated how quiet her voice was.

“Yeah,” Behrad grinned. “I mean, polyamory is a thing, after all. If we all put in the work and promise to be honest with each other, I don’t see why we can’t make it work.”

Astra started at the two people who she adored more than nearly anything in the world in shock. They both were willing to do that for her? She leaned over and kissed Spooner first, not at all surprised to discover that her lips were chapped and dried. When she kissed Behrad, his lips were moister and softer. While both kisses were different on her lips, the excited jolt she felt from both of them was the same. Astra couldn’t believe her luck. She even giggled when the two of them kissed in front her.

Was this what love really felt like? Astra wasn’t entirely sure, and even though she was very nervous about it still, she was ready to see where this went.

[wizardessheart-sideb]

“Fancy meeting you here,” he said nonchalantly, as if we were in town and not in a forest on a hard to reach peninsula. For a moment, I wondered if I was hallucinating. But no, Zett was really here, right in front of me.

“What are you doing here?!” I demanded. “You’re not a student, are you?”

“No, I’m here doing some freelance security,” he replied. He looked weirdly proud of himself, smirking and folding his arms against his puffed-up chest.

“‘Freelance security?’” I wanted to sigh. What was he doing now? This was seriously the weirdest dude I’d ever met.

“Yeah. I’m just making sure the Academy’s secure so no weirdos get in,” he told me.

“Well, you already failed. You’re here.” I couldn’t stop myself from letting the words slip out of my mouth. But instead of getting mad, he just grinned at me.

“Oh, I’m allowed here,” he said. I really doubt it, I wanted to say, but pissing off a guy in the middle of the forest seemed like a really bad idea. “All right, I make sure my secret entrance is secure, but really, I watch out for creeps,” he added with a shrug.

“Is that a problem?” I asked. All right. I could bite for a moment.

“Well, yeah. You got a private school full of privileged rich kids and a lot of them either come from real old money or their parents are celebrities. And also, you know the kind of parents that send their kids to private school,” he said with accusatory eyes and a bitter note in his voice. I wouldn’t lie, that stung a bit.

“No, I wouldn’t, actually. I was home-schooled until now, and I’m an orphan” I told him. I wanted to add, “Are you happy now?” but the smirk slid off his face in an instant and there was something… strange in his eyes. Was that worry?

“Shit, are you also a part of that whack job cult – I mean, are you a part of Kristina’s church?” Zett quickly caught himself. I raised an eyebrow.

“Kristina? The waitress?” I searched my mind for the night we met. She had a brother here, doesn’t she? I don’t think I’ve met him. “Uh, no, I don’t know Kristina or her brother at all.” Zett’s body relaxed and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Geez, you scared me. I was worried you were a part of their cult or something. Zacharias – her twin – was home-schooled too until a year ago. It’s kind of their thing.” He straightened up, that cocky grin returned to his face. “Well, I’m glad you’re not getting religious trauma.”

“… Thank you?” What the hell was I supposed to say to that? Like, I guess I’m glad, too? “But really. Why and how are you here? Don’t you need an Academy emblem to get in?” I asked. When in doubt, change the subject.

“I got a fake. It works just fine and I’m free to come and go as I please.”

“To do your ‘freelance security?’”

“That and bring people things they need.”

...

“Wait… you’re an errand boy?!”

“Sometimes. For my good friends. And you, if you want to hire me,” he added with a wink.

“So you just avoided my question for like, five minutes to avoid telling me you’re just an errand boy?” What was up with this guy? I didn’t know whether to laugh or be irritated.

“You know I like my secrets,” he said. “But seriously, what are youdoing out here looking for a lantern?”

“I’m being hazed,” I replied. That wiped the grin off his face. “What’s with the seriousness?” I asked as he started walking deeper into the forest. Not knowing what to do, I followed him. As we walked, he rummaged through his bag and brought out

“I know what you’re looking for. I helped design it,” he told me. “When you find it, don’t touch it. If you do, it’ll start projecting ghosts and shit.”

“I, uh… Thank you? But why are you helping me?” I inquired.

“Why not?” he replied. There was a moment of silence and he turned back to me, shrugging. “You look like you’re in a bad mood. I doubt you wanna deal with the lantern.”

“I mean, you’re not wrong.” I kept my eyes peeled for the lantern or any kind of animal I can ask. Zett and I were silent as we walked through the forest. I tried to stay on my guard too, just in case. I really should invest in pepper spray or a knife.

We turned a corner on the trail and I spotted an owl on a branch, looking regal as it surveyed its surroundings. Yay! Now I canget to work.

“Excuse me, Mr. Owl,” I called out, approaching the bird. It looked down at me. “Hi, I’m looking for a lantern. It looks like a golden sphere. Have you seen anything like that around here?”

“I don’t know what it looked like, but I did see something glowing over yonder.” The owl stretched his wing off the trail, towards a large oak tree.

“Great! Thank you so much!” Carefully, I stepped over some bushes and went off the path.

“Uh, what was that?” Zett hurried after me, gracefully stepping over the bushes and getting to me in no time. Huh. I wouldn’t have thought he could move so elegantly, but here we were.

“I can speak to animals. I figured they’d know where the lantern is. Or at least, they’d have a clue,” I told him.

“Impressive.” Again, a silence fell between us as we made our way towards the big tree.

“So, who are you doing errands for? Or is that confidential?” I added teasingly. He laughed.

“Maybe.” He flashed me a grin. “Nah, I can tell you. My best friend Isabelle asked me to get her a makeup collection that released earlier today, so I’m going to go give it to her.”

“Isabelle? Super short, purple hair?” I asked.

“You know her?”

“Yeah, I met her earlier,” I said. It was probably for the best I didn’t mention we lived in the same suite. “Do you know everyone in the Night Class?”

“Mm, probably not. But I know a lot of them.” We reached the large oak tree. From behind it, there was a faint, golden glow. I hurried towards it. “Hey, remember not to touch it!” Zett called after me. I peeked around the tree and sure enough, there it was, casting star-shaped rays of light onto the ground. Honestly, it was a very pretty lantern. Maybe Zett could make me a real lantern that looked like this. And speak of the devil, he walked right on by me, getting of his knees and fishing what looked like a screwdriver out of his back pocket. He carefully stuck it into the lantern and after fiddling with it for a few seconds, the lantern flickered and smoke poured out of the holes. The acrid stench made me cough, but soon the thick black smoke turned to gray wisps. Zett picked it up and handed it to me.

“There you go. It should be safe now,” he said. I couldn’t see anything written on his face that would tell me if he was lying or not. He seemed to be telling the truth. Not to mention this looked broken now. Tentatively, I grabbed it and held onto it tight. It was still pretty warm and nothing happened.

“Thanks again for helping me,” I told him.

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t know what’s up with you, but I hope you feel better. Really.” He paused. “When you give that back to whoever, tell them it was smoking when you found it and you had to douse it with water, all right? Don’t tell them I was here.”

“Okay…” And again, with the shady stuff. “Uh, I guess I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah. You ever need me, tell Isabelle and she’ll call me. I’ll see you later, baby.” It was good he left because otherwise I would have hit him. Geez. How was I going to handle him? If he ran errands for the other students, I was bound to run into him again. I didn’t mind him he was nice, but man, he was really capable of leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

I hurried back to the trail and back to Zeus. As soon as he realized the lantern was off, that gleeful smile on his face disappeared.

“What the hell?! Why isn’t the lantern lit?!” he demanded, storming over to me. He wrenched the lantern out of my hands.

“I found it because it was smoking. I couldn’t really figure out the mechanics, but I think something’s busted in it,” I lied.

“Damn it! I’m going to have to have my friend look at it,” he groaned. I wondered if he meant Zett. “Well… Good job, I guess.” There was a distinct bitter note in his voice.

“Cool, I’m going back to the dorms now.” I didn’t wait for an answer, heading back to the mausoleum and back to my room. As I neared our suite, I could smell something spicy and fragrant in the air. My nose twitched. I slipped into our suite and peeked into the kitchen. Dorian was stirring something in a large pot, Aika beside him slathering melted butter onto some rolls.

“That smells really good,” I commented. Aika flinched a little and the two turned back to face me. Dorian gave me a stern look and immediately my stomach dropped.

“Can you go tell Isabelle to get her ass in here? I told her dinner was ready ten minutes ago,” he demanded. I just nodded and hurried out of the room. Isabelle’s door was propped open just a smidgen and I poked my head in. Isabelle was on the floor, a huge cardboard box with an intricate pattern printed on it sitting in front of her. It was full of assorted makeup items. I knocked and she looked up.

“Come on in! You’re just in time! I just got this delivered!” she told me. I opened the door and ventured in a step.

“Dinner’s ready and Dorian doesn’t seem happy with you,” I told her quietly. She just laughed and stood up, leaving the box in place.

“Oh, Dorian’s always big mad,” she said. Together, we walked back to the kitchen. “So, how did the first day go?” Isabelle asked as she plucked a roll off a plate.

“It was fine. Hard, but fine,” I told her.

“How did Zeus’ dumbass hazing go?” Aika asked.

“How do you know about that?”

“Tsukasa came in here in a panic and told us about it,” Dorian replied. “He wanted us to do something about it.” And you didn’t? I made a mental note not to trust them in an emergency.

“Poor thing was hysterical. His heart’s too big for him,” Isabelle commented, taking a seat. I quickly got my own food and sat down across from her. “He’s too nice for the Night Class, if you ask me.”

“I don’t know, he’s pretty stubborn,”Aika commented.

“He and Fandamilia seem really nice,” I added. Isabelle’s lips pursed into a fine line. Dorian snorted.

“I wouldn’t mention her if I were you. Isabelle hates her,” he told me.

“What? Why?” Once again, words I shouldn’t have said slipped out. I really need to work on my filter.

“Because she likes Zeus and keeps trying to justify his shitty behavior,” Isabelle said tensely. “I just don’t think you should try and make excuses or ignore people’s shitty behavior.”

“I mean… Yeah…” Aika said, looking a little uncomfortable. “No one’s perfect and you can’t bleach red flags. Not acknowledging bad behavior isn’t great. … But she’s in love, you know? She just wants him to love her back.”

“Explains it, but it’s not an excuse,” Isabelle added.

“I’m stopping this before it becomes a fight,” Dorian spoke up. “We’re moving on.” I wondered if Isabelle excused the bad things Zett did. Or maybe she didn’t know about him being a weird and lowkey creepy flirt. But then again, he didn’t have to derail his job to go help me with the lantern. Speaking of, Isabelle had that makeup package, so he must’ve already come through here. Did he see my name on the nameplate next to my door? Did Isabelle mention me to him? Was I going to run into him again? Something told me that even if I wasn’t suitemates with Isabelle, I’d be seeing more of him.

[obx-snippets]

Chapter 2 ∫ ≈ Ocean’s Siren at the Kegger ≈

Summary: Reina goes to her first kegger in the obx and it’s a lot more than she bargained for.

Warning: Cursing, panic attack, mentions of aquaphobia, drowning.                  S L O W B U R N

Word count: 3.2k

Pairing: JJ Maybank x female!oc

Masterlist

a/n: thank you to those who are showing interest in the series so far! Hope you stick around till the end!  

After long-wearing hours of searching for a suitable outfit, Reina gave herself a pep-talk in the mirror as she sat on the floor, staring deep within herself. If it weren't for Mina and Chris being at work so late, they would diagnose her to be clinically insane.

"It's a party, quit being a pussy."

"It's near water, why the hell would you even go?"

"I mean....you were invited, so it's sort of rude if you don't."

"I don't even drink anymore, so I could bring my own Gatorade."

"Why would you say 'yeah, I know where the boneyard is.' Fucking dumbass, you just moved here yesterday."

"Where are my pills?"

The setting sun was seated on an orange and pink horizon that it claimed as its throne. The breeze carried the ocean's salty scent in the air, tousling Reina's hair that she fought to keep tucked behind her ear. Her flip flops slapped against the hard cement, moving her bike by her side, not yet having the courage to step in the sand as she walked alongside the beach. She could hear the faint sound of pounding music, and as she neared the supposed kegger, the hollering a cheering of teens became clear as day. The lights of burning torches danced across her brown as she stopped just at the beach's edge, her toes only inches from the golden sand. A familiar sensation bloomed in her stomach like a flower that was hidden from the sun for too long. Excitement? Thrill?

A feeling that she hasn't experienced since that night. There was a smaller crowd of teens surrounding a small area of a particular part of the beach, and Reina had to squint her eyes to make out John B holding up a blonde boy by his ankles as he performed the infamous game, the keg stand. Pride tugged at her heart, knowing her past self would have stood up to the challenge of lasting longer. But she stayed put, hugging her body over the soft material of her white oversized sweater that covered a portion of her blue tennis skirt.

Her jaw instantly clenched, and eyes screwed shut upon hearing the water so close. The waves were mocking, tormenting enough to make her breathing ragged and uneven.

A gleeful cheer brought Reina to open her eyes to see John B patting his blonde friend on the back after he successfully lasted thirty seconds on the keg stand. Cheap beer dripped down his contoured chin, his laugh traveling to where Reina stood. She guessed he was one of the other boys in John B's van but wasn't sure what his name was.

Was he Pope or JJ?

His cerulean eyes shimmered under the torch lights, his toothy grin surprisingly contagious. Reina hadn't even noticed she was smiling until a pair of blue eyes latched onto hers, heat quickly radiating up her ivory cheeks. Her lips parted as if to say something but realized how far he was and quickly closed her mouth. It seemed the blonde surfer discerned what she attempted and opted to pass her a nod before stalking away with his arm draped over John B's shoulder.

Reina couldn't comprehend what she felt once she made eye contact with the boy. His ocean eyes. His handsome, chiseled features. That toothy smile that spread to her own lips. That gray muscle tee that made her mind wander. Her bottom lip was tucked between her teeth as she watched Kiara punch another boy on the arm for tossing his red solo cup on the sand.

The one who ordered the sprite.

John B was leaning forward as he sat on a fallen tree trunk, his finger prodding the blonde's side before gesturing toward a gorgeous blonde girl dancing provocatively in a small crowd. It seemed like she was the bait for the night, but Reina wasn't impressed.

"Hot, isn't he?"

Reina let a yelp slip her lip as she jolted away from the smirking girl standing next to her. She was casually drinking her beer; her dyed hair pulled up into a bun with bobby pins holding back stray hairs. She had seen her at the Wreck along with the other rowdy teenagers that occupied too much of her time for just a couple of drinks.

"W-what?" Reina cleared her throat, playing dumb as she wrung her hands to let her sweater's sleeves cover her hands.

The girl glanced at her from the corner of her dark hazel eyes as she gave her a pointed look. "The one you were ogling is JJ." she stated, pointing one of her fingers that held her red solo cup toward the blonde who was currently staying still so Kiara could pluck something out of his eye. "The sweetheart who ordered the sprite is Pope, and you met the rest--oh, and I'm Harlow. Westwick."

Harlow held out a hand, and Reina glanced down at her black painted fingers before shaking it gently.

“Reina Lynch.”

Harlow made a face, “Reina. I like it.”

Reina was surprised when she felt a smile pull at the corner of her mouth. She looked back up at Harlow, a kind expression of her own on her face.

“Thanks,” she replied.

Harlow took a large gulp of her drink, blinking wildly when some of it splashed into her eye, “So,” she started, clearing her throat, “how long you been in the OBX?”

Reina let out a sigh, carding her hand through her hair before tugging her sleeve back over her hand, “not long,” she answered, “definitely still adjusting.”

Harlow nodded her head, shivering from a gust of wind before brushing some of her baby hairs from her eyes, “Yeah, it takes a while,” Harlow laughed, “where are you from?“

“Cali.”

Harlow gaped quickly with a laugh, “Oooh! California, I like it. That’s totally rad, dude.”

Reina let out a laugh, a real laugh. “Nobody talks like that in California, you know?”

Harlow’s pink lips parted, ready to reply to her when the song switched, causing a gasp to slip from her mouth, “I love this song!” she exclaimed, turning in small circles to find a place to set her cup down, “dance with me!”

Reina clammed up immediately, the smile slipping from her face as her eyes darted to the crowd of drunk dancing teenagers. “Oh, no, I-“

“Come on!” Harlow cried over the blaring music and shouting, her dainty hand wrapping around her wrist, “please! nobody else likes to dance to this song with me!”

Reina pondered for a moment, letting Harlow shake her limp arm, chewing on her bottom lip. Worry pooled her eyes, wondering how it would feel to jump back into the party life so soon. She hasn't had a drink, so as long she steered clear of any and all alcohol consumption, one dance didn't seem like the worst thing. Besides, her blue Gatorade was tucked safely on her bike, where she had parked it by a palm tree.  

“Okay,” Reina sighed, itching a random spot on her neck before she touched her regrettable scars and coiled her hand away, a smile touching her lips once she met Harlow's eyes, “one dance.”

She didn't seem like it at first, but Harlow Westwick was a firecracker who's adrenaline had boosted to a hundred by the time she started dancing. Reina couldn't help but laugh anytime the girl poorly busted a dance move that, in her opinion, was killer. Instead of trying to mirror anyone else's movent, Reina gradually let her body sway to the heavy pumping music, her eye getting lost in the darkness and focusing on the song's base. Soon enough, the two had been dancing for an hour, disregarding Reina's 'one dance' policy.

Reina followed the tipsy girl around the boneyard, not bothering to tell her to ease up on the drinking as she didn't see it as her place to tell her what to do. She had caught Kira glancing toward her and passed her a small smile before quickly grabbing Harlow's waist when she nearly fell face-first on the sand. Too occupied with keeping Harlow upright as she marched down the beach, Reina overlooked JJ, John B, and Pope staring at her from where they sat around a bomb fire.

“So,” JJ started, downing the last of his beer, “what do we think of the new girl?”

John B casted his eyes over to Reina, who was dancing with their friend, more trying to hold her up than anything, “She seems cool,” he replied with a shrug.

Pope nodded along, his eyes still on Reina and Harlow down the beach, “She sounded nice, and she’s currently babysitting Harlow, so seems like she could hang.”

JJ tapped his ring clad finger against his plastic cup, his eyes dancing side to side, “Think I could bag her?”

His question sent the other two boys into a groan, Pope rolling his head back and John B tossing a nearby empty solo cup at him,

“Jesus, man! Do you think about anything other than sleeping with girls?”

JJ looked up, pondering, “Weed,” he answered, “spend a lot of time thinking about weed.”

“Yeah, we know,” Pope said, rolling his eyes.

“She could be gay,” John B suggested.

“What makes you think she’s gay?” JJ asked, face scrunched in confusion.

“What makes you think she’s straight?” Pope rebutted.

“Touché, Pope,” JJ tipped his empty cup at him, “touché.”

The wind was nipping at Reina's skin once the music suddenly died down. She had been following Harlow for so long that she just realized how different the sand felt under her sandals. The ground was a bit more firm but squishy at the same time, unlike the dry sand she had been wondering just hours prior. Reina stopped dead in her tracks when the sound of waves broke her from her trance. She inhaled sharply, her smile dropping, and her eyes widening in mild horror. The smell of salt became like a toxin in her lungs, and she stumbled back, her hands balling into a fist. If she knew Harlow would lead her this close to the water, she wouldn't have taken up the offer to dance. The dark sky made the water look like a raging god, calling her to step into its deadly grasp.

Despite the influx of cold wind, Reina found herself sweating under her sweater as she created more distance between herself and the ocean. A flash of a flowy green dress came across her eye when she saw Harlow drunken figure dancing toward the water. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest, seeing her tread dangerously closer to the shallow part of the ocean. The girl couldn't even keep herself balanced on the sand, and the waves would devour her immediately if she got any closer.

"Um, Harlow," Reina's tone was scarcely over a shout, not wanting to scare the girl. "could we maybe head back to the party?"

Harlow flimsily whipped her body around, her pale cheeks flushed with heat as a grin played on her lips. "There's not a pool at the party, Reina!" Harlow stated, her hand's failing to properly set on her hips as they kept slipping off.

"This isn't a fucking pool, it's the ocean. Now could you please--Harlow!

The giggling mess of a teenager took another tantalizing step into the water until she was knee-deep. The waves roughly slapped onto the back of her legs, her body bucking forward, bringing Reina to gasp. Any person with sense would have marched to Harlow and dragged her away from the water to prevent her from drowning. But Reina stayed glued in place, watching the tipsy teen splash water about. Maybe if she called her enough times, Harlow would listen.

Reina bounced on one of her legs, her pleading eyes desperately trying to spot one of her friends in the crowd that seems small considering how far they had traveled. Another loud splash brought Reina to look back at Harlow. Water must have got in her eyes, and she was brutally rubbing her knuckles over her eyelids to cease the burning. Reina's heart stopped upon seeing a wave hurtling toward Harlow, but as her words got stuck in her throat, the water slammed into her back, her body lurching forward face-first into the icy sea.

"Harlow!" Reina cried, taking a hesitant step forward. Her ears keened in on the waves, her eyes adjusting to the darkness to try and spot Harlow but nothing. She prayed that her head would appear above the waves, smiling and breathing. But nothing again. It's as if the ocean had eaten her alive and didn't think twice to bother apologizing.

Reina's breathing became uneven once she realized Harlow wasn't resurfacing as long as she stood there doing nothing. "Fuck me.." she huffed and shook her head.

Without a second thought, Reina was dashing forward down the small hill that led to the water, kicking off her sandals. Her mind was so hellbent on saving Harlow that she didn't focus on how the water felt on her torso, how it tugged on her figure to swim deeper. She knew if she let her mind find out that she was indeed in the ocean, she would surely drown, and both girls would be lost at sea.  

Reina's hair was now wet as she was forced to dive under and let the salt burn her vision as he tried to make out Harlow's silhouette in the darkness. She kicked around, her hands roaming the area until she felt her hand swipe across a clothing material. She instantly heaved the girl's body up until Harlow's face was above water. She was completely unresponsive, and a sting of guilt tugged at her chest. If she hadn't hesitated, Harlow would still be breathing.

She pulled Harlow to the shore with all her strength, letting her body lay on the wet sand. Reina brushed her damp hair from her face and tucked it behind her ears to better examine the girl. "Harlow," Reina called to her urgently, cupping her face in her hand to try and shake her awake.

She had never performed CPR, but this was a life or death situation. Reina pressed both hands on Harlow's chest and began pumping up to thirty. Reina gripped her jaw and plugged her nose to pry her mouth open and started breathing air into her lungs. She repeated the action a couple of times, and just when she lost hope, Harlow's body began jerking violently until she was coughing up water to the side along with some of the cheap beer that she let screw with her mind.

Reina's heartbeat eased as she let out a sigh of relief and sat back on her heels, looking up and letting her eyes flutter shut. Harlow wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before sitting up, her eyes wide with her mouth agape as she stared ahead at the ocean that nearly killed her. Silence loomed over the two girls, both trying to process what had just happened. The only sound was their heaving breathing, the taunting ocean, and the party that was likely to go on until the sun rose.

"We shared our first kiss," Harlow giggled after fleeting silence, resulting in Reina snapping her neck toward the girl.

"W-what?" she muttered, her face reddening as confusion pulled at her brows.

Harlow was beaming, and the wink she sent to Reina made her squirm in place as she stared at the girl stunned.

"Harlow!"

Both girls looked back to see Kiara, JJ, John B, and Pope rushing toward them.

“Holy shit!” Pope examined the girl's soaked state and shivering bodies, “what happened?”

“Had a near-death experience, P man,” Harlow answered as her feet wiggled in the sand, “but God herself over here saved me.”

“Are you seriously cracking jokes right now?” Kie shouted, her features stitched into an angry frown, “you almost died!”

"That's an exaggeration," Harlow quipped with a quirked brow. With shaky hands, Reina helped Harlow to her feet. She looked among the girl’s group of friends, averting her eyes from the ocean beside them.

"I had to perform CPR," Reina mumbled quietly to her statement. But it seemed Kiara and Pope caught on as they're eyes bulged from their sockets.

“Dude, for real, are you okay?” JJ asked, his eyes bouncing between Harlow and Reina.

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” Harlow sputtered with a shrug as she held her body to find warmth, “never almost drowned before, so I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel.”

“What is wrong with you? You could have died! You can’t just go out into the ocean drunk as shit!” Kie lectured.

“Yeah, Kie, I get it, alright!”

The two girls' voices started to rise as they argued, John B and Pope hurried to step between them, trying to mediate. Reina stood a few steps away from them, biting through the skin of her lip until her mouth filled with the taste of iron. Without knowing what she was doing, her feet started to move her away from the group, unaware JJ had his eyes on her the entire time.

________________________________≈Ω≈___________________________________

Reina's hands were trembling as she unlocked the door to her house, her face blank when she entered the cold living room. The driveway was vacant of any cars, meaning she was completely alone. Alone with her thoughts.

Her worst enemy.

When she took another step across the cold wood floorboard, she nearly slipped. A gasp sounded through her lungs, and her mind found an opening. A door that had been locked for so long that she never dared be this close. But with her soaked hair making a puddle on her feet and her wet sweater weighing her down, the tears that began streaming down her cheeks were inevitable.

Reina tossed the keys toward a wooden table near the door and fled to her bedroom. She had to use the wall as support as she pressed her hand against her chest, trying to even out her breathing. But it was too ragged, and she felt like collapsing. Though her room was large in width, she could feel the walls closing in on her. Like her nightmares had finally cornered her.

A sob racked her throat, and she began to tear off her skirt along with her underwear. She didn't want to feel anything related to tonight's events. She regretted going at all.

Reina finally stripped out of everything until she was bare. Her legs gave under her, and she fell to her knees and shuffled back until her spine made contact with her bed. If ripping her wet hair out was an option, she would do it immediately. From the air conditioning blowing down on her, she knew a stuffy nose was guaranteed, but she didn't want to feel anything.

With her jaw wobbling uncontrollably and her body shaking, she held her legs close to her chest and rocked back and forth.

You're not in the water anymore.

Reina threw her head back, scraping the side of her neck along the pattern of her scars. The tune of the windchime seemed so distant, but yet it was enough.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed.

Her heart steadied, the warm tears continuing to flow like a blanket trying to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, dad."

@pogueszn @mdlyncline @bricksatanakinswindow @ponyboys-sunsets @kaitieskidmore1 @casper17 @moonshinerbynight @cordeliascrown @acvross-the-universe 

[mysterylover123]

My Top 10 (current) Villain Crushes (male)

#10. Greed/Ling Yao from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

OK Greed is about as nice a character as you can get and still technically be a villain. But hey, still part of the Homunculi, still kidnapped Alphonse. Definitely the sexiest and coolest of the Humunculi. Arguably the best character in FMA, and that’s no mean feat. Especially when he’s possessing Ling, who is already a hot anti-hero.

#9. Obito Uchiha from Naruto

Naruto is chock full of pretty boy villains. Like, literally every single one of them. But Obito really takes the cake for both pretty and tragic/lovable. He’s the perfect villainous foil to the protagonist, and also super shippable with Best Boy Kakashi due to the whole “used to be his friend” thing.

#8. Norman Bates from Psycho (1960)

My first ever villain crush - actually my first movie character crush in general. Interestingly, Hitchcock deliberately made sure audiences would have this reaction by casting handsome rom com leading man Anthony Perkins to give the performance of a lifetime as the broken serial killer.

#7. Harvey Dent/Two Face from Batman

Batman villains definitely have a massive following for their sex appeal. Harvey/Two Face has always been my personal crush out of the group. I’m actually really partial to both Comics!Harvey and 1990s Animated Series Harvey, though Dark Knight Harvey is certainly handsome too. I love me some half-faced, conflicted split personality villains.

#6. Spike (and Angelus) from Buffy

Buffy has some of the sexiest villains ever, both male and female. Angel is mostly a hero throughout the series, and his villain counterpart is hot but also really evil. Spike is a bit more redeemable, dumbass writing choices in Season 6 aside. Spike is another villain who is just made by the actor’s performance. James Marsters (who also plays crush-able villains as Brainiac and even live-action Piccolo in that terrible movie) just makes him.

#5. The Phantom of the Opera/Erik

Yes, I too had a Phantom Phase. Most (straight) girls do. And I think we can all connect to being isolated organists dwelling in the Opera basement these days. I’ve seen every Phantom film and three different actor performances of the stage play. I’d say the appeal rankings are something like this: Phantom ’98, Phantom ’89, Phantom ’04, Phantom of the Paradise, Phantom ’25, Phantom ’43, Phantom ’62 (hammer), Michael Crawford, Ramin Karimloo

#4. Dabi/(SPOILERS) Toya Todoroki from My Hero Academia

I mean, I always noticed he was hot, but I didn’t develop a hardcore crush on him until these recent chapters. But hey, come in swinging with a gleeful dance as you reveal you’re secretly the tragic long lost brother of Human Cinnamon Roll Shoto? Spilling your whole tragic backstory while shirtless over the air? Pleading for understanding while showing us all your cute baby pictures? Yeah, that’ll do it.

#3. Loki  from MCU

Yep, every (straight) girl also has a Loki phase. Specifically of course Tom Hiddleston’s Loki from the MCU. Doesn’t need much explanation. The good looks, swagger, badassery, and for me especially the dorky hilarious comedy (I love me some funny trickster villains); the eventually redeemable nature. The guy’s just a magnetic, impossible to hate and inherently lovable baddie.

#2. Zuko from ATLA

Duh. Though admittedly Zuko is a lot sexier when he redeems himself and goes all adorably dorky in Season 3. Though Part 1 Season 3 is Zuko at his most evil and antagonistic and also at his second most sexy, so they count. The lovable, best redemption arc ever having, tragically sympathetic and victimized Deuteragonist of ATLA is a big part of the reason why ATLA works as well as it does. Great character and irresistibly hot.

Hon mentions: Ulquiorra Cifer from Bleach (he might make the official list once I get to know him better), Sylar from Heroes (trashy show but almost worth it for Sylar), Amon/Noatak from Korra (the reason I started watching LOK), the Once Ler  (yes I was one of those) Luke Castellan from Percy Jackson (best homme fatale) , Sasori from Naruto (not terribly complex but sexy as hell), the Count of Monte Cristo (best villain protagonist), Michael Myers (the prettiest slasher villain)

#1. Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z

There might some day be a sexier villain that Vegeta. It’s conceivable. But I doubt it. The Saiyan prince turned servant of Frieza, the truly unstoppable villain of the first arc of DBZ; the best redemption arc in the series (aside maybe Android 18), the future DBZ  Best Boy who goes from caring only about power to fighting to protect wife and kids to the death…and of course the deep, throaty voice, skintight spandex, Saiyan physique and cocky smirk don’t hurt him any.

[thegreatestofheck]

Simple Melancholy pt. 2 ❣ Kelce ❣

for my full masterlist and the first part, click here! If you want to be added to the taglist for this fic or any of my other works, just let me know!

word count - 4.4k warnings - Brief mentions of past abuse, underage drinking, swearing synopsis - Jemma “Little J” Maybank finds herself a little over her head when she accidentally falls for a boy from Figure Eight. Between her overly protective brother and Kelce’s incredibly rude friends, neither of them are sure how they’re going to make it, but they’re determined to.  tagging - @diverrdown, @yourlocalauthor, @outrebanx, @starkeystyles, @simonsbluee, @parkerpetertingle,  a/n - I’m sorry it took me so long to update this, but I hope you enjoy this part! I love you all. Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay the grooviest. 

The water beat against Jemma, her surfboard flying over her head. She tried to push herself to the surface, but another wave crashed into her before she could. The force of the water pushed her into the hard sand, but the pain didn’t register. All Jemma could think about was getting a breath of air. 

It wasn’t until the waves pushed her onto the shore that she could finally breathe. Coughing up water and gasping for air, Jemma crawled away from the water. 

“That was a nasty wipeout, Little J!” John B said, laughing as he and the others ran over to her. 

“Jemma, are you okay?” JJ asked. He dropped to the sand and put a hand on her back as he brushed wet and matted hair out of her face. Nodding, Jemma coughed again. “Come on.” 

JJ ducked under her arm and helped her to her feet, moving her farther away from the water. John B, Kie, and Pope followed, dropping their surfboards into the sand. JJ lowered his sister back onto the ground as she continued to suck in deep breaths. 

“That...was...sick,” she said, gasping with each word. And then she smiled up at her brother. He shook his head, wrapped his arm around her neck, and tugged her in for a side hug. 

“It was pretty cool,” JJ said with a grin. “That’s going in the pogue hall of fails, Little J.” 

“Anyone get a picture?” She teased. Kie and Pope, who were still standing with worried looks on their faces, glanced between each other. John B walked over to the cooler they had brought for surfing day and pulled out a beer bottle. When he came back, he handed it off to Jemma and JJ didn’t even protest. 

Once she could breathe steadily enough, Jemma popped open the beer and took a short drink. John B sat down beside her with a beer of his own. He grinned at Jemma and JJ narrowed his eyes slowly. 

“Don’t be looking at my sister like that,” JJ said. Jemma and John B looked at him with raised eyebrows. 

“Get your head out of your ass, bubba,” John B said, taking another sip. JJ looked like he was about to beat his friend into the sand, but Jemma reached out and put a hand over her brother’s. 

“Would you chill?” She asked him, a twinge of irritation in her voice. JJ huffed and dropped his hands into the sand. Jemma shook her head and took another swig of beer. She wouldn’t lie and say she would be mad if John B looked at her the way her brother always accused him of. She’d practically grown up with him, been there for him through some of his worst moments and he had been there for her in hers. Thinking about macking her brother’s best friend wasn’t the worst crime Jemma had ever committed. It was, however, the only crime that would probably get her killed. 

In an attempt to shake the thoughts away, Jemma pushed herself onto her feet, teetering ever so slightly as she did so. She felt lightheaded, her vision going dark for a second. 

“Where are you going?” Kie asked, putting a hand out to steady her friend. 

“Gotta go get my board,” Jemma replied. 

“I’ll come.” John B started to push himself upward, but not before JJ tackled him back to the sand. 

“No way in hell!” His words seemed harsh, but there was a laugh in his voice. Jemma scoffed and rolled her eyes as the boys rolled around, kicking up sand. 

“Dude!” Kie protested, trying to jump out of the way of their flailing legs. 

“I’ll come with you,” Pope said but Jemma shook her head. 

“I don’t need an escort,” she told him with a laugh. 

“I’ll come anyway.” 

Jemma shrugged and took another sip of beer. If she had felt more attached to her personal items, Jemma might have been upset that her board wasn’t currently on her person. But she had gotten used to disappointment. Losing it would just be losing another thing. From her experience, nothing stayed long, why would a surfboard? 

But, losing it would be a potential reason for her dad to get angry. Jemma’s first reaction to her dad being angry with her for losing her board was fear, but the second was bitterness. Let him hate her, let him hit her, let him throw everything he had at her. She could take it. 

“Are you even looking?” Pope asked as Jemma stared existentially out into the ocean. 

“Huh?” She turned to look at him and he raised his eyebrows. “Right.” 

Taking a long drink of beer, she narrowed her eyes and scanned the surface of the water. Waves still crashed against the shore, but there was no sign of her sunset orange board. 

“JJ said you got a tutoring gig,” Pope said, shoving his hands into his pockets. Jemma felt herself grimace. 

“Yup.” She took a drink. 

“Didn’t go well?” 

“No, it went perfectly fine. Guy’s a dickhead though.” 

“I’m sorry, Little J.”

“Don’t sweat it.” Jemma smiled behind a sip. “At least I’m making money.”

Jemma wasn’t sure why she was so quick to call Kelce a dickhead. He really hadn’t been that terrible any of the times she had come over. After their first mini fight, it seemed like everything became less tense. She helped him write his essays and study for his tests and he didn’t complain nearly as much as JJ did. He tried to ask her questions about her personal life, but she avoided them at all costs. There was no reason for him to get to know her. They weren’t friends. They were supposed to hate each other. 

But Jemma couldn’t help but feel like he tried so hard to get to know her because he wanted a real connection with someone that wasn’t just it in for his money. Then again, maybe she was just projecting. Truth be told, he was actually really sweet. And funny. And adorable. And- 

“There!” Pope put one hand on her shoulder and pointed with his other. 

“Where?”

“There, dumbass!” 

Then she saw it, floating by itself just beyond the crashing waves. A smile spread across Jemma’s face. She shoved her beer bottle into Pope’s hands and started for the water. 

“Little J, wait!” His attempts to hold her back failed, but his shouting got JJ’s attention. 

Jemma dove underneath the first wave she came in contact with. All of her senses came to life. When she was away from the water, it always felt like there was a part of her that was dead, or at least not alive. Even when the ocean tried its hardest to kill her, she always found herself yearning to be right back in it to feel that last bit of life she so deeply desired. 

Which was why, even though she had yet to completely catch her breath after her beat down, she didn’t hesitate to dive in headfirst. 

“Jemma!” She heard JJ yell over the thundering waves, but she wouldn’t listen. Even after her feet could no longer touch the ground below, Jemma didn’t slow. She maneuvered through the waves until she reached her board. 

“Reunited,” she whispered, breathless, a gleeful smile on her face. Before she clambered on top of it, she pressed a kiss against the deck. She rode the waves back to shore, her smile never once fading. But JJ was fired up all over again which was almost enough to put her back in a sour mood as she ran over with the surfboard under her arm. 

“You almost died and you just run back into the water like a maniac?” He asked. Jemma shrugged. 

“Had to get my board.” 

“I could have gotten it for you.” 

“I don’t need you to do everything for me. I’m not a baby, J.” 

“I know you’re not, but-” 

“But nothing.” Jemma tried to keep her smile. “Can I have my beer back?” 

Pope, not wanting to get between Jemma and JJ, handed the beer back to her before running back to stand next to Kie. She was waiting patiently to deescalate any situation that arose, John B laughing silently to himself to the side. Not breaking eye contact with her brother, Jemma took a long drink of her beer. He narrowed his eyes but said nothing. The wind blew and a sudden, sharp pain made Jemma gasp. 

Looking down, she saw a sand rash marred the skin around her hip bone. JJ’s eyes followed hers and he rolled his eyes. 

“That’s what you get for being a dumbass,” he said, but then he stepped forward and took the beer can from her. “We should get this cleaned out.” 

“It’s a burn, not a bullet hole,” Jemma said with a roll of her eyes. 

“It looks pretty bad, Little J,” John B said, walking over to her and JJ. She looked up at met his concerned look. “We should get you home

“Okay,” she said, her voice cracking. 

“Okay,” JJ mocked her voice. Jemma slapped her hand against his shoulder. “Ow! What the hell!” 

“You’re a douche,” Jemma snapped. JJ sneered. 

“Well, you’re stuck with me.” 

“I’ll help you to the car,” John B interrupted. 

“No!” Jemma and JJ both shouted at the same time. 

“I can walk perfectly fine,” Jemma tried to say in a calmer voice, offering John B an apologetic smile. 

“You’re not touching my sister with a ten foot pole,” JJ warned, pointing a finger at his best friend. 

“Would you knock it off?” Jemma shoved her brother back. JJ was about to retaliate when Pope and Kie stepped in. 

“Alright, you two,” Kie said, putting her hands on Jemma’s shoulders and pulling her backward. It wasn’t a rare occurrence for Jemma and JJ to fight, in fact, it happened almost every time they hung out with the Pogues. It was just life with the Maybank twins. 

By the time John B’s van rattled to a stop at the Chateau, the argument between Jemma and JJ was completely forgotten. They were chatting back and forth about whatever dumb movie they had stolen from the abandoned Blockbuster even as the entire group clambered out of the car. 

“I gotta go get this cleaned up,” Jemma said, covering her sand rash to keep the wind off of it. She wasn’t a pussy, but sand rashes hurt like a bitch. 

“You got to tutor today?” JJ asked as she headed off toward the house. 

“Yup. In about an hour.” 

“Your nails aren’t done.” 

Jemma felt herself smile. Ever since their stupid argument about nail polish, JJ had knicked a few bottles from the Kook cougars he worked for to give to her. It was an olive branch gesture, one that made Jemma smile just thinking about.  

“Don’t have time for it today,” she told him. JJ shrugged his shoulders, trying to seem like he didn’t care. “But I’ll paint them tonight when I get back, yeah? That blue color was really nice.”

He perked his head up and a hint of a smile crossed his face. The others weren’t entirely sure what was going on, but they knew it to be a Maybank Moment. These moments usually followed a fight, so they weren’t really surprised. 

Trotting up the porch steps and into the house, Jemma couldn’t help her smile. There was a small part of her that was giddy. Even though it was only her fifth time going over to Kelce’s to help him study, she found herself looking forward to it. Maybe it was because she could almost convince herself that she was living like Kook for three hours. Maybe it was because when Kelce looked at her, he didn’t see the damaged goods from the cut that she saw in the mirror. 

After cleaning her sand rash, Jemma threw on a new outfit, something a little nicer than before that covered up the beating her body took from the ocean. Saying a quick goodbye to her friends, she took off toward Figure Eight. 

She wasn’t even the least bit nervous knocking on Kelce’s door that night. It was later than she usually went over, but he had texted her the day before asking to change the times a bit. Jemma was more than happy to comply. It just meant that she could spend the rest of the day with her friends. 

When he opened the front door, he was smiling. God, she loved his smile. 

“Hi,” he said, leaning his hand against the door. Jemma couldn’t help the stupid grin on her face. 

“Hi.” 

He just watched her for a moment as she tapped her fingers against the back of her hand. Then he suddenly cleared his throat and opened the door even more. 

“Come in.” 

Jemma stepped inside, immediately kicking off her shoes and setting her bag on the counter. 

“So, what are we studying to-”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” 

A shout from another room in the house startled Jemma. She jumped, turning her concerned gaze toward Kelce, who grimaced. 

“A few of the boys are over,” he explained slowly, tucking his hands into his pockets. Jemma raised her eyebrows as her pulse started to slow back down to normal.

“Is this why you pushed the time back?” 

Kelce stepped toward her in a hurried attempt to cover for himself. 

“You’ve been helping me out so much I just wanted to give you a break in return for all your help,” he said. Jemma almost laughed. 

“Kelce, your parents literally pay me to be here. I don’t need you to do anything else for me,” she told him. For a brief second, there was almost something like hurt behind his eyes, as if wondering whether or not she would still come if the money stopped flowing into her bank account. 

“I just want you to meet my friends.” 

“I know your friends. We don’t get along.” 

“It’s just a few guys. They’ll be cool, I swear!” 

Jemma eyed him carefully, but she heard the desperation behind his words. She wasn’t sure what came over her that made her finally nod her head with a sigh. It didn’t matter which of Kelce’s friends were over, there was no way this was going to end well. 

He gestured toward the living room and Jemma let him lead her there. 

“Fuck you!” the same voice from before screamed. Jemma saw the TV and the game that was on before she saw who was watching. Clearly, the game was not going in their favor. But then she saw Rafe Cameron and Topper Thornton sitting on Kelce’s couch. Fear immediately rose in her stomach at the sight of them, her eyes going wide. 

“Shit, shit, shit!” She seethed, moving out of the doorway and behind a wall. With a scowl on his face, Kelce followed after her. 

“Jemma, what-”

“You didn’t say your friends were Topper and Rafe,” she whispered, her chest heaving. 

“I said a few guys.” Jemma shut her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. “What’s going on?” 

Jemma tried to steady her breathing before answering. She popped one eye open only to see Kelce watching her with a worried look on his face. She let out a deep sigh and pulled him farther away from the living room. 

“You have to swear to never repeat to anyone what I’m about to tell you,” she said, her voice low. Kelce nodded his head. 

“What happens in the house stays in the house,” he said, repeating one of Jemma’s rules. Jemma swallowed a hard lump in her throat, cringing as she tried to build up the courage to say what she was about to say. 

“Okay.” She put her shaking hands up and took a deep breath in through her nose. “Don’t be mad at me.” 

“Why would I be mad?” 

“Because I’m about to tell you something that might ruin your perception of me.” 

“Nothing could do that.” 

Jemma ignored the way her heart spiked. She heaved out a sigh, tapping her head against the wall again. There was no easy way to say what she was about to say. 

“JJ and I got into an argument once a few months back. A bad one,” she started, peering back at the entrance to the living room as if waiting for someone to walk right through. “He wouldn’t let me run off with this touron I met at a party. I was angry as hell and horny as hell and drunk as hell, so I did something I knew would royally piss him off.” 

Kelce scowled, still not really understanding. Jemma was hoping that she could get him to understand without spelling it out completely, but it didn’t appear to be working. 

“I found the one guy I knew would make my brother the angriest and I…” She trialed off, gesturing with her hand until Kelce got the picture. She watched him press his lips into a fine line. “Not my proudest moment, but-” 

“Who was the guy?” Kelce asked, his voice as quiet as hers was. Jemma swore quietly to herself. He was really going to make her say it, wasn’t he? She bounced a few times before blurting the name out as quickly as she could. 

“Rafe.” 

“Oh, my god, Jemma!” 

“Shh!” She hissed desperately, pressing her hand to Kelce’s mouth and turning to make sure no one heard. “I told you not to be mad!” 

Kelce swatted her hand off of his mouth. 

“I’m not mad...I’m just….” Kelce put a hand on his head before dropping it back to his side. Jemma grimaced at the expression on his face. “You’re a fucking minor, Jemma. And he’s-” 

“I know!” Jemma wrapped her arms around her stomach. “It was a mistake.” 

“A one time mistake?” 

Jemma set her jaw, starting to bounce again. She got bouncy when she was nervous. 

“A multiple time mistake.” 

“Oh, god.” 

“So, now you know why I can’t go in there, right?” She was begging him to understand, to just let her walk away. She hadn’t seen, let alone spoken to, Rafe since their last hook up a month or so ago. She wasn’t really intended on tonight being that night. Kelce turned away from her, his hands on his hips. He was reacting almost as badly as she expected JJ too. She wasn’t sure why he was so upset by it. At least, she told herself she didn’t. 

“I thought you hated him,” Kelce said, turning back to look at her. Jemma chewed on her lip, holding her arms tighter. 

“I hate his guts, but….” She trailed off, letting out an embarrassed breath. Her words grew quieter. “I also have a bad habit of letting him rearrange my guts.” 

Kelce scoffed and Jemma grimaced. That was the worst possible way she could have said it. It seemed like every time she opened her mouth, she was just making things worse. If only she could just dig a hole and bury herself deep inside. She would rather be literally anywhere other than where she was now. 

“It’s not like I actually like him, or anything.” She was still trying to defend her actions for whatever reason. She just couldn’t bear to have Kelce thinking that she was easy like everyone else did. The thought forced tears into her eyes. “It was just-”

Kelce lifted his hand and Jemma swallowed her words. His eyes were closed, pinched shut. She waited for him to explode, to scream at her, call her a whore, maybe even shove her around. It was what she expected from men. She messed up and they came for her, tooth and nail. 

But Kelce never even curled his hands into fists. He waited to talk until his breathing was steady, until the confusion and anger were gone from his face. Then he opened his eyes slowly to look at her. 

Jemma hadn’t realized how tense she was, waiting for an attack, until Kelce lifted his hand to rest on her shoulder and she flinched. He pulled his hand back, a concerned look on his face as he leaned away from her. 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, his eyebrows pinching together. 

“I...I should go.” Jemma took a few steps to the side before starting for the front door. 

“Jem...wait.” Kelce caught her by the wrist, his grip gentle. Still, she spun around ready for the attack that she still expected to come. Her eyes were wide, her breathing heavy. “You wanna get out of here? Go somewhere quieter?” 

Jemma’s body relaxed out of surprise and she scowled. 

“What?” 

“I’m not mad at you, Jemma. You’re entitled to live your own life. I was just shocked is all.” 

Jemma kept her scowl for a few more moments even as he dropped his hand from her wrist. She was trying to figure out what his angle was. There had to be a reason he was doing this, saying the things he was saying. There had to be a reason he was talking so softly, so gently. 

Her dad used to do it a lot when she was younger. Pretend he wasn’t mad just so he could explode later. Get her crying in his arms before throwing her to the floor. Make her think she was safe and then….

She couldn’t help but wonder if Kelce was doing the same thing now. It took her a few pondering moments to decide that he wasn’t. 

Stepping out of her defensive stance, she kept a small scowl on her face, just in case. 

“Sure.” 

At her acceptance of his offer, Kelce smiled. It wasn’t the same, wide smile as before, but he was happy to hear her response. He walked her back to the front door, sending one last look back toward his friends. 

“Will they miss you?” Jemma asked as she stepped into Kelce’s car, her legs still shaking ever so slightly. Kelce shrugged and shut her door for her. 

“Not likely.” 

Jemma rolled down the window, hoping that the cool evening air would be enough to calm her nerves. 

“So,” Kelce said, one hand resting lazily on the wheel and his other hanging out his open window. “Rafe.” 

Jemma scoffed and rolled her eyes, a small, cringing smile on her lips. 

“I ended it,” she said, refusing to look at him as she watched the rich people houses dash by in a blur. “It felt wrong, lying to my brother all the time.”

“I thought you did it to piss him off.” 

“Yeah, I did, but I didn’t want to get Rafe murdered because I was being petty.” 

To Jemma’s surprise, Kelce actually laughed. It was a nice sound, like the waves against the shore. No, something softer than that but just as powerful. 

“And,” Jemma continued, though she didn’t know why. “It made me feel like...like the things people said about me were all true.” 

“What things?” 

It was Jemma’s turn to laugh, but hers was bitter, accompanied by a roll of her eyes. 

“You know.” Kelce glanced over at her and gave his head a little shake. “That I’m easy. That I’ve got daddy issues and that means I’ll let anyone in my pants. That my dad….” She paused. “Whore, slut, homewrecker, the whole nine yards. You’re telling me that you’ve never heard anyone say that about me?” 

Kelce shrugged his shoulders, but Jemma knew he was lying. She let out a heavy breath. 

“Fine,” Kelce said. “I’ve heard it all. But I never believed it.” 

Jemma raised her eyebrows, leaning back against her seat and looking at him as she propped a foot up onto the dashboard. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah.” Kelce fixed his eyes on the road. “Most decent guys don’t believe it when someone says stuff like that about a girl.” 

“Most decent guys wouldn’t touch me with a ten foot pole.” 

Jemma’s mind went back to the beach, to John B’s offer to help her, to JJ telling him off by saying the same thing. She scrunched up her nose and looked down at her hands. Never before had any of these words ever left her mouth before, to anyone, not even her closest friends, her family. How was it that Kelce had managed to pry it out of her after only knowing her for a few weeks? 

“I haven’t seen my parents in two months,” Kelce said suddenly. He didn’t tear his gaze from the road even as Jemma looked up at him. “They’ve been contacting you from somewhere in Europe.” 

“Kelce, you don’t have to-” 

“No, you bore your soul to me. I just want you to know that you can trust me with these things.” He looked over at her finally. “So, I’m trusting you. My parents pay so little attention to me, the only reason they know that my grades were as low as they were was because I told them.” 

Jemma felt her jaw tense, her throat starting to swell. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Comforting people wasn’t her strong suit. 

“It’s been this way all my life.” He shrugged. “Do you trust me yet?” 

Jemma felt a smile pull at the edges of her lips, but she tried to hold it back. 

“We’re getting there.” 

“Friends?” 

Jemma narrowed her eyes, pulling at her lip with her teeth as she mulled the idea over. 

“Friends have nicknames for each other,” she said finally, crossing her arms. “I’ll call you Kellie.” 

Kelce laughed. 

“No way in hell!” 

“I thought you wanted to be friends.” 

“I do!” Jemma cocked an eyebrow. “Fine. You can call me Kellie. As long as I can call you Jem.” 

Jemma felt her heart freeze in her chest. The only person who ever called her Jem was her mom. Jemma swore to never let anyone else call her that in case her mom ever came back and laid claim on the name once again. But her mom was gone. She was gone and she wasn’t coming back. Jemma had to realize it eventually. 

“Deal.” Jemma finally let herself smile. “So, Kellie, where are you taking me?” 

He gave her a mischievous grin before settling his gaze back on the road. 

“I guess you’re just going to have to wait and see, Jem.” 

“It better be good.”

“Oh, trust me, I’m sure you’ll love it.”

Jemma’s smile grew wider. 

[ceresoktavia]

Showtime …

Taking a last deep breath to steady herself, Marlianken stepped out of the building, approaching their baffled guests.

“My sincerest apologies your imperial majesty. We didn’t knew when to exactly expect you.”

All eyes where instantly glued on her and the demoness felt the creeping sensation of unease crawl up her spine. Last time she had felt this way was when she had held a presentation in front of an audience of historians like herself, presenting her research. That had been back in her old life.

Luckily, Yuri jumped to her aid, or so it felt. “May I introduce you to our supreme Lady. This is Marlianken de Lafitte, the beloved sister of our gracious Lord Ainz Ooal Gown.”

Adopted … Yuri you forgot the adopted …

As gracefully as she was able to muster, Marlianken made a slight curtesy. “It is a pleasure to meet you your imperial majesty, Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix. Again, I apologise on behalf of my brother. Our preparations to properly welcome you within Nazarick are not complete.”  

“No please … a beautiful Lady such as you shouldn’t feel the need to apologize for my lack of foresight. I should have sent a messenger to tell you when to expect me.”

Urgs …

Marlianken managed to restrain her urge to throw up. This boy flirting with her not even 2 Minutes after meeting her had her stomach turn. She hated such men with passion, always had been.

“But apparently you didn’t completely miscalculate my arrival.” The emperor opened his arms in a friendly gesture, smiled a flirtatious smile and again the succubus had to swallow her urge to throw up back down.

“We had some sort of messenger of our own.” She raised her arm and with an audible screech, a ghostly falcon landed on the back of her hand. The second she brought her arm, and therefore the falcon, down to her face, the bird already nudged its head against her cheek, begging for cuddles.  

Gleeful, maniacal laughter had her almost lose composure and roll her eyes. Internally sighing, she turned to the source of the unpleasant noise. “Fluder Paradyne, I presume? So the rumours about your … heightened interest in magic unknown to you is true.”

“Yes … YES … Lady de Lafitte, this is remarkable! Such beauty! Such …”

“FLUDER! … Please excuse him.”

It was relieving to see how much the sorcerer’s behaviour seemed to embarrass the people he was with. Not that it stopped the old man from acting like a drooling creep. While the emperor tried to get his sorcerer supreme back in check, Marlianken scratched the ghostly bird beneath its beak.

‘Mistress, I’ve found something of interest to you.’

‘Where?’

‘Third carriage. Several young women, all scared beyond point.’

‘Good boy. Go report to my brother, then you can rest.’

‘As you wish. Thank you Mistress.’

The ghost on her hand hopped up and took flight, vanishing into Nazarick’s entrance. Not that their visitors seemed to notice, as they were still busy trying to get Paradyne to behave like decent human being again.

“My, how disgraceful. Do you wish for me to punish them for their disgrace towards you my Lady?”

“Not necessary Yuri. Proceed as planned, please.”

Yuri simply bowed her head, then turned to their visitors. Marlianken didn’t recognize much of it, continuously spacing out. Mindless blabbering about the wonders of things perfectly normal for Nazarick didn’t interest her anyways. She just did her job, playing the friendly smiling host of the waiting party.

“May I ask you something personal Lady de Lafitte?”

She came back to her senses, smiling gently at the emperor, who had directly addressed her. “As long as it isn’t improper.”

“I’d never dream to.” Again she flashed her that flirtatious smile that made her want to throw up. “I was wondering. You and your brother aren’t humans, are you?”

She slightly tilted her head, still smiling friendly. “What brings you to your conclusion?”

“Please do excuse me. Your ears … they speak of elven heritage, don’t they?”

Marlianken chuckled. You just can’t see more, dumbass. “Your imperial majesty is right, neither I nor my brother are humans.”

“Ah I see. I presume that’s also the reason why Fluder can’t see your Aura.”

“As flattering as this assumption is, the reason Sir Paradyne is unable to see the presence of my magic is something entirely different.”

[bakugoukatsuki-rising]

Huehuehue your wish is my command ________________________________________

The effects would last about an hour, and in that time he couldn’t lie about anything. Whether it be a question about the kinds of foods he liked, or something more serious like his feelings toward someone or a situation. No matter how he tried to stop himself, it would be in vain. It was a quirk that quite literally forced the truth out of someone, their minds unable to process an attempt to block it before the words came out.

So when it happened, Katsuki did everything in his power to avoid everyone. Though he was confident in the fact he had no real secrets to keep, there were some feelings he didn’t need exposed to the world. 

Of course, his attempts to stay hidden didn’t work for long, and Kirishima was the first to find him sulking away in one of the far ends of the dorm. For some reason in his panic, it didn’t dawn on him to just go to his bedroom where he could have just waited out the effects of the quirk.  The gleeful red head bound over to the desperate blond, who was still struggling to keep himself hidden despite already being found, doing his best to simply ignore Kirishima as the nosy teen leaned in with a curious cocked head at Katsuki’s behavior.  “Whatcha doin’, Bakugo? You good?”  “No I’m not fucking good I’m stuck in a truth quirk and I’m freaking the fuck out.” 

Slapping his hands over his mouth, crimson eyes wide, he stared at Kirishima in terror before narrowing them, the look meaning to threaten the other boy into silence, but it had him looking more like a scared puppy than anything. 

Kirishima blinked and took in the information before glancing back at the group of kids behind him.  “Hey guys, Bakugo needs some help with something so we’ll be back in a bit.”  Waving off their curious looks and questions of what was up, Kirishima pulled Katsuki away and to his room to give them both privacy. 

Once settled, Kirishima sat cross legged on his bed, motioning for the other to follow suit; and he eventually, though reluctantly, did.  “So you can only tell the truth?” “Yeah that’s how it works dumbass.”  “Well I see it didn’t change your personality at all, that’s good.” 

Kirishima gave a sheepish smile as he stretched his arms up with a tired groan, unaware of the wandering eyes that watched his every move. 

“So how long you gonna be like that?” “An hour.”  “Gotcha. So we can just chill here until it goes away, I won’t ask anything so don’t worry bout’ it.” 

There was a slight ping of something in his chest, an odd sensation he wasn’t used to. It stood out to him for a while as he sat there in silence, simply watching his friend flip through old comic book pages. This was an opportunity he realized he wouldn’t have again. A way for him to express himself to the fullest without getting held back by his pride or ego. Realizing this was his only chance, he cleared his throat and averted his gaze while speaking.

“Shitty hair, if you got something you wanna ask, just fuckin’ do it already.” 

The breeze from the pages that fanned his face came to a halt as he turned his gaze to Katsuki, whose reddened cheeks were just barely hidden under his mess of blond hair, his head facing the ground in an attempt to further hide his embarrassment. Closing the comic and setting it off to the side, he scooted himself a bit closed to Katsuki, tilting his head to try and see what was being kept from him.

“Hey, Bakugo, look at me.” 

The sudden seriousness in Kirishima’s tone caught him off guard and his gaze shifted to meet the other teens without time to think about it. By the time he realized his mistake, he was already stuck in those sharp eyes. 

“Do you like me, Bakugo?” Right to the point. Something in Katsuki’s brain fizzled and the ping in his chest seemed to multiply until it felt like there were dozens of little buzzers going off inside of him. His mouth hung open for but a moment before he spoke, trying to silence the answer he knew there was no chance of preventing. 

“Yeah.”

What neither of them knew was that the quirk had already been in play for nearly an hour by the time Kirishima found him, and as he asked that question, the quirk had worn off, leaving Katsuki to answer completely of his own free will. 

___________________________________

@vestsfriends SO I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS I HAD FUN WRITING IT!!!!! :D

[1a-imagines]

could I request a scenario with bakugo and female reader, in which bakugo overhears the girls talking about your guys’ relationship and how hard it must be and he hears reader giggling and saying that “falling for/loving him was the easiest thing” she has done and that she feels so lucky to have someone like him. cue bakugo later at night sneaking into her dorm room cuddling and telling her that he loves her and that he is the lucky one to have someone like reader by his side Thank u u r amazing

A/n: So I noticed this ask was sent in twice but slightly different wording? Idk if it was the same person or a spoopy coincidence o_0 but even so- I’ve got'chu I’m going to give you a part two where he sneaks into your room the night after to give you some loving. Just for you💕~  Enjoy~

Part one:

~*~

You let yourself release a gleeful sigh when your body came into contact with your bed. The warm sheets embracing every curve of your body, finally helped your aching muscles to relax. It was the night after your sleepover, and since you and the girls had barely gotten any sleep last night, tonight’s sleep was happily welcomed. You felt a small giggle erupt from your throat as you remembered all the things you and the girls had gotten up to last night, pulling pranks on the boys, eating a bunch of junk food in your pyjamas. Watching movies, as well as gossiping about anything and everything. It was perfect, to say the least. You almost wished it would have lasted forever.

Though, it did take a while to get off the topic of crushes. Mina did not want to let it go, but since the conversation topic didn’t include you and you weren’t the one getting pressured by her to spill your secrets, you were able to sit back and watch in amusement.

As you looked back on the, newly made, fond memories You felt your eyelids drooping as your body sank further into your mattress.

Had your bed always felt this good? Maybe it was because of your sleep deprivation? But right now, you felt like you were laying on a fluffy cloud. It was made all the more better than your sheets had been freshly cleaned and they smelt so good! The soft cotton caressed your body and with one final yawn, you were eventually lulled into a deep slumber.

You weren’t sure how long you had been asleep for but, before you knew it, you were woken up again from the movement of your bed dipping down. Which was closely followed by the feeling of strong arms wrapping around your waist from behind. You were so startled from the sudden intrusion, you almost jumped out of bed, ready to use your quirk on the intruder, but their arms kept you in place. Though you couldn’t see who it was, the protective hold on you was all too familiar, along with the faint smell of smoke. It reminded you of a burnt out bonfire and it never failed to make you want to go camp out in a forest.

“Relax dumbass, It’s just me.” His raspy voice entered your ears. You relaxed in his hold, coming to terms with the fact it was just your boyfriend.

You gave him a small slap on his wrist for scaring you as you tried to crane your neck to look at him. His legs curled up into yours so he could spoon you. As nice as it was, you would like to be able to see him, maybe even give him a few kisses. It wasn’t every day he would sneak into your bed to cuddle you. You had to take full advantage of this opportunity.

“What the hell?! Don’t scare me like that!” You scolded him but your tone lacked any real bite. You shuffled closer to him, getting comfortable as your back pressed into his chest. As usual, he was like a damn heater. You couldn’t recall a time he’s ever felt cold when you’ve cuddled him. That was probably because of his quirk, though, it meant during the winter you would never have to waste money on heating and extra blankets. You could just get some reluctant cuddles from your boyfriend to stay nice and toasty.

“Shut up, just let me hold you.” He quietly groaned from behind you. This wasn’t the first time he had snuck in here after curfew to cuddle you and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, but it was still a rare moment, and you couldn’t help but wonder why he was being so affectionate right now.

“What’s all this affection for?” You asked after a while of comfortable silence. His larger hands had begun to slowly caress your frame, admiring every dip and curve of your beautiful body. It’s not like he didn’t ever cuddle you but the affection was still surprising. Then again, he had been acting a lot more affectionate all day. He was constantly reaching for your hand and clinging to your side. Even when you two were apart he would send you sweet messages, telling you he loved you. As much as you adored all his love and attention, it was a bit out of character for him. Especially these surprise cuddles.

He was holding you like you were the most precious treasure in the world. Usually, his cuddles were strong and tight, almost suffocating, depending on the type of day he was having. Which was a lot different from what you were receiving right now. He was gently running his fingertips along your smooth skin as his other hand stayed wrapped around your waist, securing you to his body. You could feel his breath tickling your ear lobe which sent shivers down your spine. The two of you couldn’t be pressed closer together if you tried, you could feel every inch of him.

“Do I need a fucking reason? You’re my girlfriend!” He scoffed.

“I know, I know! I was just curious.” You gave in with a sigh as your arms wrapped around his. You wished he would let you turn to face him but he seemed adamant about spooning you right now. So you had to make do with only being able to play with his hands as he cuddled you.

You felt him bury his face into the back of your neck, the tip of his nose softly caressing your skin. You relished in the feeling of his whole body embracing yours, it only got better when his lips brushed against your skin in an attempt to litter your neck with soft kisses.

“You know; I heard what you said last night, right?” He said in between kisses, his words slightly muffled as his face was pressed into your neck. Your hair was softly tickling his nose but he didn’t care because the smell of your shampoo was greatly comforting to him. In fact, your whole body was intoxicating and he would always, gladly, push his pride down if it meant getting to hold you close.

‘Ah, So that’s what this is about?’ You let out a small hum and reached a hand back to gently pet his hair. Surprisingly, he let you! You slowly ran your fingertips through his unbelievably soft hair, a smile creeping onto your face when you felt his head lean into your hand, wanting more of your touch.

“I know, sorry, I didn’t mean to say those embarrassing things to the girls.”

“That’s not it…” He muttered softly as his thumb drew circles into your stomach just above your belly button. Most of his gentle touches were tickling you and you were struggling to suppress your giggles. You knew if you let them out he would carry on to mercilessly tickle you and you really didn’t want to ruin this perfect moment.

“Hearing you say that stuff, about how falling in love with me was the easiest thing you’ve ever done, made me really happy, I-…” He paused for a moment, he still wasn’t used to being so open about all his romantic feelings for you. It was hard to say it out loud because he felt like an idiot whenever he tried to do so, but nothing, not even his pride, was going to stop him from telling you how much you mean to him.

“-I feel so lucky to have you. I still can’t believe someone like you, is mine. You make me so happy, you know that? I know I don’t say it enough, but I really do love you. So. Damn. Much.”

Your heart felt like it could burst from happiness at any moment.

This is what you had been telling the girls about, the softer side of him. The side of him only you got to see, Despite what everyone else may think, you’re so incredibly lucky to have him as yours. It doesn’t matter if he refused to be outwardly romantic, or if he refused to hug or kiss you in public because these were the moments you lived for.

He finally let you turn in his arms, the first thing you noticed upon seeing his face was his pink tinted cheeks. You cupped them in your hands, gently rubbing the pad of your thumb under his eye, causing him to squint. You chuckled at how cute he was being, it melted your heart seeing him staring at you with such soft, loving eyes. You pressed a small kiss to his lips, then his nose and then his forehead.

“I love you too, you big softy.” You let out a small giggle before tightly wrapping your arms around his waist in return. As much as you wanted to stay in this moment forever, kissing his pink cheeks and brushing your hand through his hair, sleep was calling your name. Bakugo noticed your eyes drooping close and pulled your face into his neck, “Get some sleep, kitten.”

You nodded happily, feeling too sleepy to protest. As you began to lose consciousness again you felt Bakugo’s hand sweep some hair from your face before pressing a tender, loving kiss to your forehead.

“Sweet dreams, baby.”

[blackaquokat]

I SAW THE LIGHTNING THIEF MUSICAL ON SUNDAY

Okay, so first off, the stuff that stood out to me, and then after the highlights, THE STORY OF A LIFETIME INVOLVING A CAST MEMBER THAT HAPPENED BEFORE THE SHOW EVEN STARTED 

This is going to be very long, strap in.

***Spoilers Under the Cut***

--Chris McCarrell, indeed, slides out to the edge of the stage and sits like, “Paint me like one of your French Girls, audience” for a full moment before singing.

--For a cast of SEVEN people, all of their voices fill that stage SO WELL.

--I’d only ever heard the soundtrack, but in the show (this time, anyway) Percy says he stopped Nancy Bobofit from “setting the first graders on fire” instead of preventing wedgies and it was just as if not more hilarious because his delivery was just totally stiff terror in the face of Mrs. Dodds.

--HE ACTED SO DEVASTATED WHEN HE THOUGHT MR BRUNNER THOUGHT HE WAS TROUBLE AFTER HE GOT EXPELLED, LIKE, HE LOOKED LIKE HE WAS ABOUT TO CRY, HIS VOICE SHOOK, MY BOOOOOII

--When Smelly Gabe appears, Percy not only covers his face with his shirt but also SPRAYS ACTUAL AIR FRESHENER behind the bastard’s back, I was on the FLOOR

--Chris mimics the body language of an awkward twelve year old so well. Fiddling with his jacket, looking down, awkward motions with his hands, he nailed it.

--SALLY IS STILL THE BEST MOM EVER AND THE MUSICAL CAPTURES HER STRENGTH AND LOVE AND AGENCY SO WELL, SHE TOTALLY GETS GABE TO BACK OFF OF PERCY AND IT’S GLORIOUS

--”Percy was attacked by a fury!” “What? Grover, YOU’RE THE FURRY!”

--Just before his mom is “crushed” by the Minotaur, Percy said, “Mom?” shakily and I was freaking SHOOK, MY FEELINGS

--During the first Dream Sequence, Poseidon comes down with the GOOFIEST grin and hands off the seashell. There’s this long, hilarious silence before he says. “It’s a seashell.” The audience couldn’t stop laughing up until Percy said, several beats later, “Like I said. Weird.”

--MR. D SHARPENING A PENCIL IN KATIE GARDNER’S FACE AFTER HER RANT ABOUT TREE RIGHTS

--During the entirety of Another Terrible Day, Percy is just standing in the back, slack-jawed, in a “What the Hell have I walked into” look

--Chiron does this hilarious dancy step with his feet to mimic the clip-clopping of horse steps and every time it got a laugh. 

--In the books, Luke is described as the Hot Boy of the Camp, that half the demigods are in love with him, and honestly, it’s one of the reasons I think James Hayden Rodriguez is perfect because you take one look at him and you’re like, “Yeah, I can see everyone falling in love with this guy in no time flat,” because aside from being REALLY attractive (like, damn boi, you’ve got amazing arms and face and just a LOT going for you) he’s so damn sweet and you want to trust and I DON’T THINK I EVER WANTED CANON TO CHANGE SO BADLY FOR HIM UNTIL THE MUSICAL CAME OUT

--Okay, so seeing Luke portrayed in this show made me care SO MUCH MORE about him than I did reading the books, which is a very strange feeling for me, ngl. His adorable interactions with Percy and Annabeth made me SO EMOTIONAL I MEAN

--Like, when Annabeth acts all suspicious about Percy, Luke is there to validate her skills and tease her and she teases him right back, like, you can definitely see she “likes” him and it could be interpreted that he feels something for her too, and he had such chemistry with Percy too, was endlessly supportive up until, you know, the end (I...may or may not be on board with this Tragic OT3, FRICK)

--OH ON THAT NOTE, when Grover finds Percy after the Minotaur, he’s all, “I’m sorry, Percy, I’m the worst Satyr Guardian ever” and Percy just HUGS HIM, “GROVER, I’m SO GLAD YOU’RE HERE” LIKE MY TWO BOIS I MISSED THEM

--”Grover, are you ever going to wear pants again?” followed by a gleeful “NOPE!!”

--Clarisse’s first two entrances involved this loud fighting yell before her song started

--Percy’s first time with his sword in Camp and he freaking made lightsaber noises when he swung, I read about it but I was NOT PREPARED, it was the cutest damn thing

--I was equally unprepared when Annabeth walked up behind him and when he turned and saw her and yelled out, “MY DREAM GIRL!!” Long beat of silence while the audience laughs their asses off, and he follows it up with, “I mean...you were the girl...in my dream...earlier...”

--When Percy says, “I love girls,” when Annabeth calls him out on assuming her dad was where she got her Godly heritage, Luke gives him the BIGGEST side-eye, it was adorable and Percy did his best to recover, but alas, he is but an awkward noodle.

--”Luke, Hermes kids are fast--” “Actually, that’s a stereotype--” I MEAN

--Percy sitting on the toilet and rolling it across the stage with his feet after the fight sequence, my God, what a visual.

--CHAPTER TITLE DROP, LUKE CALLS PERCY THE SUPREME LORD OF THE BATHROOM

--The Campfire Song was just amazing, everyone’s familiar body language with each other, Luke and Annabeth, Luke and Percy, Grover’s adorable little dance during his bit, everyone comforting him when he starts crying, everyone agreeing that “Chiron wins” in the shitty dad department, everyone’s sympathetic horror with every bad story they all tell,

--after Silena’s bit about how her mom “steals her mascara and all of her dates” she says to Katie, “She’s why I cry,” my sister and I can’t stop talking about how much we related to that moment (not about our mom, but more about our other relatives)

--When Percy is claimed, you can see the horror on everyone’s faces, but he doesn’t, and he’s like, “I’m...the son of the Sea God. That is so COOOOOL!!!” Then he realizes he just squealed like an anime girl and tries to recover by posing and saying to Luke next to him, “Hey,” in a very Miles Morales-from-Spiderverse kind of voice. 

--The dread on Luke’s face whenever he interacts with Percy from here on out, by the way, hurts me so much. You can tell every time he talks with Percy that he really doesn’t want to manipulate him, doesn’t want to do this, but he does, and even before the reveal, you can see how unsure and guilty he feels, even if Percy is totally clueless, like even when Percy agrees to go to the Underworld you see he’s THIS CLOSE to maybe trying to talk Percy out of it again and when Grover hops in to join the quest, there’s another layer of Luke going, “Oh no, not Grover too, shit, no!” and I SWEAR, JAMES HAYDEN RODRIGUEZ, IF THIS TURNS INTO A SHOW, YOU’RE THE ONLY LUKE I WANT

-- Mr. D: “WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT SOME TIN FOIL PROP THAT YOU’D FIND IN A BROADWAY MUSICAL”

--Percy yells for Mr. D to eat his pants in Latin. It’s amazing.

--Chiron: ”You must talk to” *everyone looks at the ceiling* “Our mummy.” Percy: “...when you say ‘mummy,’ you mean old-person slang for Mom, right?”

--Percy, in the most ‘I am so done’ voice ever: ”You’re expelling me? Again?!”

--This is turning into an appreciation post for Rodriguez, but for real, after Good Kid (which gave me ALL THE FEELS just like when I first heard it on the soundtrack), Luke goes to him with this nervous but genuine grin and laugh, like, “Hey, so when you’re the son of the Sea God, and you want to be left alone, maybe don’t go to the lake? It’s the first place anyone will look.” And they have this real sweet moment where Percy confides in Luke, and Luke validates his anger with the gods and says, “I’m not saying you owe them anything BUT” and if you’ve read the books or already listened to the show, you KNOW how this turns out but you see how SINCERE Luke is about Percy’s pain and his own pain and how much he obviously is already regretting that he has to manipulate Percy into going to the Underworld and DAMN IT CANON

-- Clarisse: ”Don’t get eaten by monsters!” Chiron: *claps hand over Clarisse’s mouth* “Have a great quest!”

--The immediate Squad Energy that Percy, Annabeth, and Grover embody right before the act break, what LEGENDS

--Act II opens up in the middle of Mrs. Dodds attacking the bus. Percy: “I LIKED YOU BETTER AS A MATH TEACHTER!!”

--Mrs. Dodds: ”PREPARE FOR ETERNAL SUFFERING!!” Percy: “I’M SUFFERING NOW!!”

--Cheerful Stoner Stranger from the bus just before the bus explodes into confetti: “Not my weirdest experience on a Greyhound!”

--I knew the show was low-budget going in, but I at least thought the squirrel would be a puppet not a freaking figurine that Sarah Beth Pfeifer sat next to in plain sight to voice, I was dying

--On that note, Annabeth visibly holds back laughter at Percy’s “that’s kinda nuts” joke, these idiot CUTIES

--Grover is the only one who catches onto Medusa, who is played by Chiron’s actor in DRAG, but not even in a funny way, it’s played straight (not that Medusa wasn’t hilarious, but that fact that it was a drag role wasn’t mocked at all)

--Annabeth starting to explain why Medusa hates her and muffling her words by drinking her bottle while Percy and Grover are NOT impressed

--Annabeth teaching Percy how to hold a sword better because this adorable dumbass just twirled the damn thing into his shoulder because he forgot it was sharp

--MY GRAND PLAN, MY GOD and intersecting it with Annabeth saying, “When boys screw up, Percy, they get a second chance” Like, this show pulled no punches, and then afterwards when he’s sending Medusa’s head to Olympus and signs Annabeth’s name next to his and she’s like, “WAIT NO STOP” and the “Impertinent” interaction that not only is in the books but also comes back at the end of the show HELL YEAH

--DRIVE. WAS AMAZING. It was my mom’s favorite on the soundtrack and it still is (although now Bring on the Monsters competes as her favorite)

--YOU CAN HEAR LUKE AGAIN WITH HIS HESITATION ABOUT SACRIFICING PERCY DURING THE STRANGEST DREAM REPRISE

--Grover: “Percy, you almost woke everyone up. Well, not Annabeth.” Annabeth, in her sleep: “Mom...you remembered my birthday...”  WILL THESE DEADBEAT GODS VISIT THEIR KIDS, I SWEAR---

--OKAY SO TREE ON THE HILL, LEMME TELL YOU

--On the second level, you see Annabeth, Luke, and Thalia re-enacting the scene while Grover narrates at the bottom and not only does Jorrel Javier look SERIOUSLY emotional and on the verge of tears for the whole thing, but at the top when Thalia is re-enacting her death, LUKE GOES TO REACH FOR THALIA TO SAVE HER AND ANNABETH PULLS HIM BACK AND THEN THEY JUST HUG EACH OTHER SO TIGHTLY BECAUSE THEY DON’T WANT TO WATCH THALIA DIE AND THEN THEY STAND BEHIND THALIA AND REACH OUT THEIR ARMS TO SYMBOLIZE HER TURNING INTO THE TREE AND YA’LL I SHIT YOU NOT I ALMOST BURST INTO REALLY LOUD SOBBING I WAS NOT OKAY

--They did the Bathtub Story from the book. Every second that passed I was more in love with the show.

--Charon: ”Ya’ll wanna hear my song?” *choruses of refusals* “SORRY I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THIS SWEET ASS RIFF!!”

--DOA is just as much of a bop in person as it is on the soundtrack.

--OKAY SO, Percy is almost yanked into Tartarus with his winged shoes and the mood is like, SUPER SERIOUS, as they all realize he almost fell into the pit and when Annabeth says, “I think that’s Tartarus,” Percy says, in this confused but still scared and serious soft voice, “You mean like the fish sauce?” and just. Annabeth and Grover both. Annabeth looks at him like, “THIS is the idiot I’m going to fall in love with over the next four books,” while Grover just Facepalms so much he shoves his glasses up his forehead and shakes his head, another RELATABLE MOMENT that my sister and I won’t shut up about

--Hades. I just...there’s nothing else I can say, but Ryan Knowles, Sarah Beth Pfeifer, Jorrel Javier, Jalynn Steele, and James Hayden Rodriguez deserve about fifty Tonys for all the roles they do in this show, for real

--SON OF POSEIDON, WHAT A HYPE SONG, AND ALL THE TOILET PAPER DURING THE LAST NOTE IT WAS GLORIOUS IT COVERED HALF THE FLOOR AUDIENCE

--My Poseidon and Sally feels have returned with a vengeance. That Miles Morales moment with Percy that I mentioned earlier? Poseidon does the same thing when he sees Sally, and the two of them are just Vibing it up while Percy is between them like, “THIS IS SO WEIRD”

--As Poseidon leaves, he turns away from Sally and makes this fist bump gesture like, “Hell yeah, best time of my life was this woman right here”

--Percy, after Poseidon exits: “So that’s my dad?” Sally, in a very horny tone: “THAT’S your dad.” Like, GET IT, Sally

--Sally: “Oh, what is this package, Percy?” Percy, with a shit-eating grin: “Oh, it’s a...DIY Statue Kit” *Sally goes to open it* “WAIT NO DON’T IT’S MEDUSA’S HEAD!!” and the Grossed Out Look on her face as she exits the stage. Priceless.

--Luke is Very Obviously avoiding Percy when they return to camp. More on this later because My. Feels.

--Annabeth: “Hey Clarisse! We met your dad! He’s not as tough as you are!” Clarisse: “Hey, get back here! You saw my dad!” *slightly vulnerable voice* “Did he ask about me?”  YOU DUMBASS GODS, TALK TO YOUR DAMN KIDS WILL YOU???

--Annabeth and Percy grinning like idiots over Sally’s Medusified statue of Gabe, what cuties, I love that their romance wasn’t forced in the show, it was handled so gracefully because they are Twelve and in the Very Early Stages of their Undying Love for each other (and Luke, I promise you guys, all three of these idiots are in love with each other and it hurts me so much)

--OKAY SO PERCY RUNS UP TO LUKE CLEARLY EXPECTING TO BE COMFORTED AND TO SLIP INTO THEIR SWEET AND SUPPORTIVE DYNAMIC BUT THEN PLOT AND PAIN AND LAST DAY OF SUMMER HIT ME THE HARDEST ON THE SOUNDTRACK BESIDES TREE ON THE HILL AND IT DIDN’T DISAPPOINT

--And the hardest part? The way Rodriguez plays Luke, you really CAN’T be angry with him. I mean, there’s no justifying his actions because it’s freaking KRONOS, but given that we’ve been given the time to see what a great guy he was, how much he cared about the campers, how many he must have seen never come back from quests the Gods gave them, who feel abandoned by their parents, Luke’s own quest, how he watched Thalia die with little to no intervention from the Gods, how he must hate to see Annabeth killing herself to prove her worth to the Gods for a quest that could get her killed, and then Percy coming in after losing his mom and sympathizing with his justifiable bitterness towards the Gods, the show doesn’t shy away from the fact that the Gods are effed up and you just can’t blame Luke at ALL for how he feels about the Gods, but it makes everything hurt all the more.

--The Most Millenial/Gen Z ending ever, “We didn’t ask for this, we shouldn’t be the ones fighting this war, but if we don’t, we all die, so fine, we don’t want to do this, but no one else will, so here we are, ready to fight” and then Bring on the Monsters which is one of the best closing numbers to a show ever, I swear.

--All in all, the critics can suck it, this show has more heart and love and hilarity and depth than half the stuff on Broadway and the fact that it’s going to have such a short run is a Crime.

--I sincerely hope they can do another one, if at all possible. I would go watch it too if it’s made by the same creative team and the same actors (maybe even more actors).

OKAY NOW FOR MY STORY!!!!!!

So I had paid leave to use up, hence our trip to NYC last weekend, and we stayed in a hotel really close to the theatre. My sister and I, having been fans of the books for half our lives, were wearing Camp Half-Blood t-shirts. Anyway, we were so excited that we got there an hour and ten minutes early, and they weren’t letting anyone in for another half hour, so we decided to take a few pictures and go get a snack.

While we’re taking pictures, suddenly behind us my sister and I hear “TAKE ANOTHER ONE!!” so I turn around thinking What the hell and then have the biggest Brain Glitch of my life because it’s CHRIS FREAKING MCCARRELL WITH A COFFEE/SMOOTHIE THING AND A MUFFIN STANDING BEHIND US AS IF HE WAS JUST LA-DEE-DA-ING ALONG TO THE THEATRE AND DECIDED HE WANTED TO GIVE AN INNOCENT FAN A HEART ATTACK, because he could have just gone in and we wouldn’t have even noticed but NOPE HE CAME RIGHT UP TO US, AND I’M STILL IN SHOCK, NGL.

My gut reaction was to hug him and then I apologized because I hadn’t asked his permission and didn’t want to be That Person who didn’t respect boundaries (I am a very tactile, hugging kind of person and have to remind myself that not everyone is the same way, especially with performers) and he said I was fine and not to worry. My sister and I got a few pictures together with him and he asked if we were seeing the show that night, and we were, and he looked so pumped, and I got to tell him that I read Percy Jackson before Harry Potter and that it was my favorite book series and when he asked if I had listened to the soundtrack, My mom said yes, multiple times, but fondly, and he looked so excited that we were so excited to go that night.

So yeah. That happened.

And then after the show, we managed to catch Kristen Stokes on her way out, but we waited until she got to talk with and sign playbills for kids (there were so many kids in the theatre, it was adorable, even if the ones behind us kept crinkling their snack wrappers consistently during THE WHOLE SHOW which got annoying, ngl). My sister and I took a few with her and I got to tell her, also, that this was my favorite book series growing up and that she played Annabeth, a big role model for me, absolutely perfectly and she looked so touched. 

(Also, she was much shorter than me. I forget that even if I’m one of the shorter members of my family, I’m still pretty tall by usual standards.)

Anyway, WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE, PJO FANS, AM I RIGHT????

...I wanna see the show again, but idk what the chances of that happening are. If you haven’t seen it and have the ability to, I must encourage you to GO. PLEASE. GO SEE IT.