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mypoisonedvine · 4 years

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It’s Always The Quiet Ones... | college AU dark!Peter Parker x (slightly)naive!reader

for @nsfwsebbie‘s dream fic challenge, I was assigned to write something for @harryspet which was vv exciting bc I love her stuff ;-; no pressure right? lol (also thank you to @evnscvll for being my proofreader, sounding board, and partner for some very strange texting for the purpose of screenshots!)

Here is the prompt I got: peter is a dork and is weird and quiet, and the readers friends dared her to sleep with him. turns out he was really kinky and is really good at sex. can be dark. And hoo boy, did I run with that. I hope you like it!!

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings: smut (it’s consensual but with dubcon undertones, manipulation, and implied coercion/dubcon at the end), stalking, blackmail, voyeurism, and general creepiness. Oh yeah and there’s some degradation and dacryphilia in there for good measure.

You and your friends were in the middle of your daily cafeteria lunch, chatting about the same sorts of small talk you always did.

“Oh god, it’s that weird guy from class!” Jackie blurted out suddenly around a mouthful of fries, pulling you out of the conversation you’d been having. Everyone at the table whipped around and your eyes went wide.

“Come on, don’t look all at once,” you hissed.

“Who is this guy?” Cody asked, looking around with confusion.

“The guy in the blue hoodie over there,” Jackie answered, motioning toward him with her head. It was Peter, setting down his tray of food and opening up his laptop, putting earbuds in. He was pretty much always on his laptop, it seemed like. He took a bite of his pizza before getting back to whatever he was working on.

“He looks normal, or normal-ish,” Mia shrugged.

“No, no, you don’t get it,” you shook your head. “We have him in Computational Physics on Tuesdays and Thursdays--”

“Plus Friday lab,” Jackie interjected.

“--and he’s… kinda…”

“Creepy,” Jackie concluded.

“No,” you denied, “not creepy. He’s just… a bit awkward, I guess.”

“And he stares at you, like, the entire time we’re in class. But won’t even talk to you.”

“Oh, that’s weird,” Mia agreed with a shudder.

“I don’t know,” you shrugged, “it’s kinda… sweet, maybe? I mean, he’s just shy, right?”

“Oh my god you are such a slag!” Jackie teased, shoving you on the shoulder. “You’re into him, aren’t you?”

“No!” you denied with wide eyes.

“You’re just into the attention,” Cody rolled his eyes.

“I mean, it’s kind of flattering, isn’t it?” you admitted. Jackie laughed.

“You should go over there and talk to him,” she decided.

“Nooooooooo, no way,” you shake your head.

“I kinda wanna see this,” Cody smirks.

“Literally just go over there and flirt with him, his head would explode,” Jackie suggested excitedly.

“I don’t even know how to flirt,” you chuckled.

“So you’re considering it!” Mia accused.

“I didn’t say that!” you squeaked.

“Pleeeeeease,” Jackie whined playfully. “It’ll be funny.”

“I don’t usually sleep with people for comedic effect.”

“I’ll chip in $20 if you do it,” she offered immediately. She turned to the rest of the table, “come on guys, we need to pool together and make her do it.”

“I’ve only got a ten,” Cody mumbled, pulling it out slowly before Jackie snatched it away.

“Okay, $30, who can make it $50?”

“Jackie, calm down,” you hissed.

“You’re telling me you wouldn’t sleep with him for $50? He’s cute!”

“I have $35 and 67 cents,” Mia counted, shuffling through her wallet.

“Oh my god,” you groaned, your head falling into your hands.

“Just do it, for me,” Jackie said, suddenly sounding oddly serious. You didn’t understand why it mattered so much, but you decided it couldn’t be that bad if you just did it.

“Fine, fine, just shut up and don’t stare at us,” you instructed, getting up to a ruckus of cheers. You didn’t even take the money.

You walked across the cafeteria, messenger bag slung over your shoulder, and hoped you wouldn’t totally make an idiot of yourself. If you hadn’t already just by talking to a guy over a dare.

He didn’t seem to notice you when you stood by his table, still focusing on his computer.

“Um, hey,” you waved, and Peter looked up at you as he took out his earbuds.

“Hi,” he replied quickly.

“What… what are you working on?” you asked, motioning to the laptop. He didn’t stop looking at you, and he didn’t say anything. “I… we have comp together? You know who I am, right?”

“O-of course I do!” he suddenly perked up. “Yeah, I just…” he trailed off and turned to his laptop. “I was just working on this model.”

“Can I take a look?”

He smiled a little, and moved his backpack out of the seat next to him. “Go ahead!”

You sat down and leaned in to look at his screen.

“It’s-- it’s not finished but, basically I just put the kinetic energy of an object on the x-axis, the potential energy on the y-axis--”

You used the laptop’s touch screen to move the model around, impressed with his work. “And the z-axis is the conservation of energy for work done on an object,” you finished.

“Uh, yeah, exactly,” he nodded.

“It’s beautiful!” you realized, appreciating the variety of colors as each data point was suspended in the graph.

“Do you do any modeling?” he asked you, and for a hot second it felt like a line.

“Um,” you laughed, “no, not much at least. Nothing extracurricular.”

“Oh.”

“I’m more into abstract math, if I’m being honest.”

He smiled. “Oh, you’re one of those.”

You laughed, shoving him on the shoulder playfully, but regretting it as you saw his smile drop a bit. “People are so judgmental about abstract math, as if it isn’t the study of the founding principles of mathematics.”

“So you think adding a pineapple and a banana is the foundation of mathematics?” he quirked an eyebrow.

“Okay, there’s so much more to abstract mathematics than weird variables,” you frowned. “Like basic functions on matrices! Don’t act like it isn’t dope as fuck to add, subtract, multiply and divide matrices. If you saw my whiteboard in my dorm you would understand.”

“If I had a whiteboard now I could prove to you that abstract math is overrated,” he countered.

“I’d love to see you try,” you scoffed. You hadn’t really meant it literally.

“I don’t have anything for the rest of the day,” he shrugged. It took you a moment to realize he was suggesting to actually come to your room and talk about math. You weren’t sure if that was even what would happen if you went back to your dorm…

You opened your mouth to say that you were busy, that you couldn’t, that you shouldn’t, so you were a little surprised when you heard yourself say “sure” instead.

And that was how you ended up sitting on your kitchen counter with Peter Parker between your legs, kissing you like you’d never been kissed before.

It sort of happened all at once. He just grabbed you and you were confused but went with it, because life is short and he was cute and his hands felt unexpectedly wonderful as they gripped your back.

You gasped a bit when he started to pull your shirt over your head but he didn’t slow down, quickly removing his own-- oh, hello there six-pack, nice to meet you-- kissing you again as he wrapped his hands around your waist and slid you off the counter, guiding your legs to wrap around his hips. He carried you to the bedroom with unexpected grace; he was so much stronger than he looked. And he looked different than he ever had before as he tossed you down onto your bed and started to kiss his way down your abdomen while his fingers slipped under the waistband of your shorts.

“Oh god, Peter!” you yelped as he kissed along your thighs, pulling down your shorts and underwear and tossing them to the side.

“Say my name again,” he demanded before instantly latching onto your clit, sucking and licking directly onto the bundle of nerves.

And you really had no choice in the matter, his name pouring from your lips over and over, accentuated with a yelp as he shoved two fingers into you, finding and massaging your g-spot before you could even process everything you were feeling.

“Oh my god, fuck, Peter!” you hissed, your head falling back onto the mattress so hard it bounced a little.

You were barreling towards an orgasm faster than you probably ever had before. This was nothing like the few other hook-ups you’d had since starting college-- it wasn’t even like the times you’d been alone with your hand or a vibrator. This was like an assault on the senses, so powerful that you couldn’t even really keep track of the sounds you were making or anything that wasn’t his mouth on you and his fingers in you.

“I’m gonna come, oh my god, I’m gonna come don’t stop please--” you moaned as your words turned into mostly incoherent nonsense. How could you be expected to form a sentence in these conditions?

Thankfully, he didn’t stop. He kept lapping at your clit as if he hadn’t even noticed your pleading, his fingers twisting inside you even as your walls clenched so tightly around them that it became difficult to keep up the pace. Your hips involuntarily bucked against his face, your legs quivered as he refused to give you any reprieve from the sensation, but he kept going.

“Oh fuck, fuckfuckfuck Peter I can’t-- it’s too much-- oh god,” you babbled, but it fell on deaf ears. A small part of your brain was confused why he wouldn’t stop-- you hadn’t told him outright to stop but it was kind of implied, right? Wasn’t it some amount of not okay that he was still going? It made your gut sink in a way that was equal parts disturbing and erotic.

You were trying to pull away but his arms wrapped around your thighs and held you down. God, he was strong. He looked kind of skinny in those hoodies he was usually wearing, but now that he was actually exerting some force he was clearly muscular. You felt helpless and it, oddly enough, turned you on.

“Peter, please, oh my god, slow down I-- I can’t take any more,” you whimpered; your voice came out all high-pitched and squeaky and it would’ve been embarrassing if you had enough brainpower left to care.

He groaned against your skin but said nothing, using his teeth to lightly graze your clit. Your whole body jerked at that, a sob tearing from your lips suddenly. It felt like you were past the point of orgasm now and just lost in some sort of aggressively intense world of pleasure-- it neared pain, really. You had never been pushed to your limits like this; you hadn’t even realized that there were limits which one could be pushed to this way! It was exhilarating and exhausting and overwhelming. You fought tears from forming because it would be so embarrassing to cry right now, and he would probably freak out and think you were hurt or something… maybe you were hurt, you couldn’t even tell at this point. But at this point, it was unstoppable. You were fucking crying from the overstimulation and he hadn’t even put his cock in you yet. Your face was so hot that your own tears felt cool as they poured down your cheeks.

Finally, he stopped when he heard your sobs. But instead of concern or fear or confusion, his expression was simply joy.

“Oh, you look so cute when you cry,” he cooed, sliding back up your body to kiss your tears away as they fell. Then he kissed your mouth, open and sloppy and aggressive, and the taste of yourself on his tongue made your head spin.

Before you could collect your thoughts, he pulled back and made quick work of his jeans and boxers-- fuck, he was big.

“You’re too kind,” he grinned, discarding the clothes and stroking his cock a few times.

You hadn’t realized you had said it out loud, and you felt a little nervous but then he was on you again, kissing you roughly and forcing his tongue into your mouth. You felt him reaching down, gripping his cock and rubbing it through your folds. You were soaked, and swollen, and nearly sore. Every time the tip slid over your clit, you jumped a little.

He pushed into you ever so slightly, moving the head of his cock inside you and nothing more. You whined with confusion and anticipation, but he continued on teasing you.

“Please,” you whimpered into his kiss.

He pulled back and looked down at you, his eyes blown so wide that they looked like they’d gone black. “What was that?” he asked, and you sighed because you knew he could hear you the first time.

“Please, Peter,” you repeated, louder, “I need more.”

“More…?”

You sobbed with frustration, and desire. “Fuck me, please.”

He thrusted forward and you groaned as his cock stretched you open. It was like night and day, how he went from slowly teasing you to slamming into your eager walls. You cried out and gripped at his arms, just trying to steady yourself and maybe stop your skull from whacking the headboard if possible.

“You love it, don’t you? You love my cock,” he growled. His voice was lower, gravelly. He sounded like an entirely different person.

“Yes,” you replied weakly.

“Say it,” he demanded.

No one had ever talked to you like this before and it made your cheeks burn. “I-- I love your cock,” you stammered.

He smiled and you hoped you’d done it right, and that he wasn’t smiling at your obvious nervousness or lack of experience. You didn’t understand how this was normally supposed to go, because you didn’t normally hook up with people so casually-- you had just never really been interested in it. But now that he was fucking you so hard you could barely breathe, you were starting to get the appeal. God, your last boyfriend hadn’t even made you come in five months of dating, meanwhile five minutes with Peter had made you a sobbing mess. Even now you were biting your lip to hold back your tears from the sheer intensity of the sensations you were experiencing.

“Oh, you poor thing,” he pouted condescendingly. “You don’t wanna cry but you can’t help it, huh? You’re my dumb little crybaby aren’t you?”

You tried not to react to that but you knew he felt your walls clench suddenly.

“You like that? You like being my stupid whore?”

“S-stop,” you begged weakly, feeling beyond humiliated.

“But you like it, angel, I can tell. Don’t lie to me.”

He reached down to swirl his thumb over your clit, laughing at the way you tensed up and tried to squirm away.

“Is it too much princess?” he asked, but the nickname read less sweet and more mocking. “Isn’t this what you wanted? You asked me to fuck you. Begged me. Now you act like you can’t take it, like you’re this delicate little flower and not the dirty fucking whore I know you are.”

“I-- I’m not a whore,” you denied even as you struggled to suppress your obvious arousal from the derogatory nature of his words. You felt a little guilty for being into it, and slightly insulted, but fuck if it didn’t make your back arch and your throat dry and your pussy so excessively wet.

“Oh, don’t play dumb,” he scoffed. “But, maybe you’re not playing. You really are dumb, aren’t you?”

You logically knew that it was too late to deny anything he said, but you still clung onto your dignity as best you could. “N-no!”

“Not all the time, just when you’re wet. Isn’t that right? You get so desperate for cock and you don’t wanna be smart, you just wanna be somebody’s brainless fuckdoll.”

That sounded so appealing in some forbidden, filthy way and all of a sudden you were going to come again, any second now.

“Yes!” you nearly screamed, falling into your pleasure.

“Come on my cock, baby,” he encouraged, “come for me.”

You didn’t even sound like yourself with the noises you made, or maybe it was just that you’d never had the chance to make noises like that before. Either way, your orgasm crashed through you and nearly punched the air out of your lungs. Your toes went numb. You didn’t even know that could happen. And most important of all, your walls tensed and fluttered so hard that he began moaning into your ear.

“Fuck, ‘m gonna come inside you.” You couldn’t tell if it was a warning, like he was asking permission, or if he was just informing you of his intentions which you would be powerless to stop even if you told him not to. You didn’t have to find out because you were on the pill, but it made you realize all too suddenly that you should’ve had him put on a condom-- how could you have forgotten?

His moans turned hoarse and with a growl and a tightened grip on your hips, he spilled deep in you, coating your walls as his length flexed and twitched inside you. For a moment you were just stuck like that, his weight holding you down as he caught his breath, and finally he rolled to the side and you could breathe cool air again.

“That was…” he began but trailed off, pulling you closer and kissing your shoulder. “You’re amazing.”

It was quite the shift from how he had been talking before. It was comforting, but you were still a little confused. “Really?”

He laughed softly. “Did you not notice? God, I’ve wanted you for so long…”

You were curious about where he was going with that, but then he suddenly sat up.

“Do you want some water?” he offered.

“Uh, yeah,” you smiled. “The cups are in the cabinet just to the left of the microwave.”

He nodded and gave you a quick peck on the cheek before sliding out of the bed, slipping his boxers on over his still-hard cock which was now coated in your come and his, and dashing out of the room.

You were mostly content to just lay there, although you felt uncharacteristically sore between your legs, and quite… sticky. You glanced over to your whiteboard and realized he never had any intentions of talking with you about abstract math. Was this just a one-time thing, or was he going to come back and ask you out? Were you boyfriend and girlfriend now? Or were you just a clueless romantic who thought that sleeping together meant more than it really did?

You rolled over and saw Peter’s phone resting on the bedside table. He must have set it there when he was stripping quickly while you two had been making out-- or that’s what you were pretty sure the order of events had been, it had all happened so fast…

At that exact moment, the screen lit up with a notification. You were about to roll back and not look at all, until you got a glimpse of the words.

PHYS 507, row 3, seat 14

You furrowed your brow. It looked like an alert for an upcoming class, except that this was your class, the one you had with him, and it wasn’t until tomorrow. No assignments due today, either. And what was with the row/seat thing? Peter didn’t sit in the third row… you did.

You picked up the phone just enough to angle it to see the rest of the notification. It wasn’t a calendar alert; it was a text message. “PHYS 507, row 3, seat 14” was the contact name. You could only get a preview of the message…

okay, it’s done isn’t it? can you please delete those pic….

You were curious, or maybe just concerned. Was the seat number supposed to be the person texting him? How were you supposed to keep track of who sat where to know who it was?

It had to be somebody from your row, but it was just you, Jackie, and a bunch of random dudes that Peter had never seemed to have any interaction with.

You assumed you wouldn’t be able to unlock the phone to even try to snoop, which you didn’t want to do anyways, but when you slid your thumb over the screen, you gasped when it opened straight to the conversation. Who didn’t put a password on their phone?

okay, it’s done isn’t it? can you please delete those pictures now? I did what you asked. I won’t tell anyone. just send me proof that the photos are gone, please.

You felt a little sick. You had no idea what this meant but it scared you. You saw the conversation from before but it didn’t make any sense. You scrolled back up to try to figure out what they were talking about and gasped when you saw a picture Peter had sent to the contact.

It was Jackie. But she wasn’t alone. She was on her knees in the lab room, and you gagged when you realized what she was doing-- or really, who she was doing it to.

She’d told you she had a casual thing with a new guy but refused to say who it was. You realized why now. She was fucking your professor, and you just knew she was doing it to get a better grade. You had been trying to figure out how she was earning higher marks than you but never seemed to be able to discuss the class material. It all made sense now, but it wasn’t a comforting feeling.

You scrolled down a bit to see the conversation after the photo, and your blood went cold as you read it.

You saw several more messages but you couldn’t bring yourself to read any of it. You knew everything you needed to know.

You weren’t sure what inspired you to open his camera roll… of course you wouldn’t find anything comforting there. But you had to see for yourself.

It was just a list of folders, so many you could keep scrolling for ages. Each had a label and a thumbnail image.

The thumbnail of Jackie on her knees jumped out first. PHYS 507, row 3, seat 14. 45 images.

A girl in a lacy bra posing for the camera. PHYS 509, row 1, seat 8. 12 images.

Two girls making out in a crowded room, holding red solo cups. ENGL 104, row 12, seat 5. 6 images.

A nude selfie in front of a mirror. PHIL 108, row 2, seat 2. 14 images.

And then the one that made your heart stop. It was a picture of you in a bikini, taken by a friend on spring break. PHYS 507, row 3, seat 13. 1 image.

The second you jumped up, dropping the phone, he was there with your promised glass of water in hand.

“What’s wrong?” he asked innocently. Just a second of silence was enough for him to pick up his phone from the floor and realize what had happened with a grin. “Oh, that,” he sighed, slipping it into his pocket after looking down at it with a sort of loving look, like he was proud of his work. “I suppose it’s my fault for leaving my phone right there, without a password, knowing I would get a text from Jackie any minute.”

“You wanted me to see it,” you grimaced, “you wanted me to see what you did to my friend. What you did to all those girls.”

“I didn’t do anything. They do all the heavy lifting, I just hack them and get pictures of it. Or, in your friend’s case, I hack them, find out they’re fucking the professor, and follow them to their next rendezvous.”

“You’re fucking sick,” you spat, and he just shrugged. “You’d better delete those photos of Jackie.”

“I will, don’t worry,” he soothed. “It’s a shame though, she was pretty prolific. You, on the other hand, you’re a good girl. You even had pretty good security, I respect that. Here’s a tip: your ISP creates the intranet that your wireless webcam uses to connect to your laptop. It’s password protected, but it defaults to your phone number, and most people never change it. Including yourself.”

You shivered. “You watched me with it, didn’t you?”

“Well, I had to since you didn’t have any good photos of yourself. And you do a decent job of erasing your porn history… but not a perfect job. You watch some interesting stuff. And you look so hot with your hand stuffed in your panties, rubbing yourself to whatever nasty shit you’re watching...”

“Shut up,” you demanded, covering your ears, “stop, please. This is so fucked up.”

He laughed a little. “You look better in person though. A webcam could never capture how perfect you look when you come.”

“Please just stop,” you sobbed.

“Stop what? I’m just telling you the truth.”

“I should’ve listened to my friends. You’re a freak.”

“Hmm, you seemed to like it before.”

“Just delete those pictures of Jackie… and let me go…” you seethed.

“I will,” he promised. “But, I need something to make up for the loss of some great spank bank material.”

You felt sick. But what else was new?

“I need to finally get some good pictures of you. Come on, isn’t it sad that your folder is so empty?” he pouted, pulling the phone back out from his pocket. “I could ruin a lot of lives with these folders. Just let me take a few photos and you can spare them all the humiliation. Nothing I haven’t seen you do before.”

You really really wanted to just deck him, but you knew he could probably release those photos with just one push of a button. He was prepared.

“Don’t post them,” you pleaded.

“You’ll be good?”

You clenched your jaw. “I’ll be good,” you answered through your teeth.

“Oh, look at you,” he cooed, “such a sweet girl you are. Helping out your friend even after she threw you into the lion’s den to protect her secret.”

You hadn’t thought about it that way. A pit formed in your stomach.

“Now come over here and get on your knees,” he grinned, turning on the camera.

#peter parker x reader #tom holland x reader #dark!peter parker #dom peter parker x sub reader #dark!peter parker x reader #dom!peter parker #dom!peter parker x sub reader #spiderman x reader #night monkey x reader #lmao #peter parker smut #tom holland smut #tom holland x y/n #peter parker x y/n #sabs dream fic challenge

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yinses · 4 years

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B R A N D E D

| he would make sure that everyone knew who you belonged to |

tattoo artist! sukuna ryomen

rating: t

a/n: this is going to be a three part series. it got too long because i couldn’t shut up. thank you to @teoran for beta reading !!

you should have never informed yuuji that you were thinking about getting a tattoo, because of course his first response would be hey, sukuna owns a shop. why don’t you stop there. as if you didn’t already known that. your other friend, unfortunately had not known how to be subtle about it.

its when you go to hand off your card that they gasp audibly, drawing the attention of both yourself and the woman behind the counter.

“you’re not going to ask for a discount? i mean you know the owner, right?”

she jumps back quick enough to dodge the errant elbow you throw her way.

you knew you would regret telling her.

the woman is undeterred as she take your card, looking bored with the news. “so you know sukuna, huh?” the way she said it implied that it wasn’t the first time it had been made known to her.

you had known the man long enough to know where her thoughts were going with that assumption. sukuna wasn’t only popular for his art. a shudder rolled through your body at the idea of being categorized as one of his flings.

it wasn’t as though you were intentionally shaming the women. but it was sukuna. the same guy who locked you and his younger brother out on the patio whenever he was meant to keep an eye on you. and then blamed you for hiding from him when the responsible adults got home.

in hindsight, maybe you should have chosen another location. but now your card has been charged.

you scribbled your signature on the receipt, “uh yeah, awhile now. im not requesting him or anything.”

“his appointment book is full anyway. he doesn’t take walk ins.” its not said snidely, just matter of fact. as if she was seasoned with dealing with these kind of customers.

the man of topic strides in then, carrying a few bags of take-out that he drops carelessly onto the counter. he doesn’t m look unlike any other day, a loose white sleeveless shirt with a low hanging v-neck that just invited attention to his skin. the swirls of black ink made permanent by his hand only. though that was the advantage of this field and owning your own business on top of it.

sukuna was prepared to ignore the clientele planted at front desk, until he did a double take. those vermilion eyes took you in, morphing from speculation, to shock, a pinch of awe, then back to postulation.

“what are you doing here?”

a small frown mars you face. you didn’t actually consider that perhaps sukuna wouldn’t want you here. it was one thing to know the guy, but whether you wanted to accept it or not, you weren’t just another customer. so you unsurely respond with, “getting a tattoo?”

the snort he gives isn't one of annoyance. in fact its almost comforting to see the minuscule curl of his lips until they start to part, “yeah, missing something aren’t you?”

you realize with a frown that he’s referring to his brother.

“i have other friends.”

that slow smile wides as he gives your friend a brief look of appreciation. suddenly all those years of witnessing him cart his flings around rise to the forefront of your mind. really nothing rarely changed. “ i can see that.”

his gaze cuts back to you, “what are you getting? your boyfriends name?”

you cant tell if he’s teasing, fishing or a combination of them both.

he turns to lean over the counter, arms flexing at the action and pinches the fresh design still hot from the printer. you resist the urge to shuffle in place as he inspects the image with more interest than there were lines. it was hardly all that complex, just as you intended.

sukuna finally voices his opinion, to no surprise of your own. “yeah? kind of small isn’t it?”

“its my first sukuna,” you drawl.

you realize too late that the wording isnt best around him.

“no kidding.”

he tugs a styrofoam box free from the plastic bag before gesturing to you with a tilt of his head.

“alright, lets knock it out.”

you look to the woman expecting her to complain about his pending appointments but she only returns it with a pointed look. when it came down to it, what the boss wanted goes.

right then.

turning, you address your friend who seemed more invested in watching sukuna’s departure. “are you coming?”

her gaze snaps to you and she doesn’t even bother to pretend. she shrugs, “you may not be squeamish about needles but i am.” her hand waves vaguely towards the lounge area near the coffee station and stack of assorted snacks. “i’ll come running if you scream though,” she teases as you turn down the hall.

sukuna’s voice carries from the right in guidance where you find him setting his food off to the side. the room is neat. though you don’t know what you were expecting given the health expectations lining his work. then again, you’d spent the better part of the decade watching him cart week old pizza boxes out of his room so it was hardly a baseless assumption.

aside from the desk of tools and variety of inks the only other defining feature was the wall at the back. there was no rhyme or direction to the madness. the once white wall was littered with varying penmanships and messages. almost like an autograph book. some derogatory, others genuinely thankful for his work - you think you see a few numbers too.

the cushion of the seat protests under his weight as he rolls to the center of the room. he has the stencil of your chosen art held up in expectation.

“where is this pretty little thing going?”

“oh my rib- here on the right.” you think nothing of bringing up the hem of your shirt to expose the skin just under the curve of your breast.

he almost looks impressed, though there is some doubt. he wheels closer and gives no warning as his hand palpates the area. “over the bone? that’s daring for your first tattoo, princess.”

the name was nothing new, an accompaniment to yuuji’s ‘brat’.

part of you actually grateful that its sukuna. the entire shop had good reviews but it was best known for his talent. besides, the charge was already sitting on your card.

“i can handle it.”

he’s still squinting at your side, fingers tickling at your skin.

“yeah?” he answers absently. nimble digits you didn't think had any taste for delicacy carefully peel the plastic from the stencil. he doesn’t second guess himself in the slightest before pressing it to your skin.

when he pulls away, the chair follows him as he collects a hand mirror from his desk to reflect the design back to you.

“double sure?” he’s still rallying your resolve, but there is a hint of warning to his voice as professionalism seeps in.

with a firm nod you seal the deal,” yeah.”

“aright, pin up your shirt out of the way. tuck it into your bra if you want.”

you were expecting this already, given the location you’d decided on. with sukuna that action comes effortlessly without thought. it was no different than the times he’d seen you in your bathing suit, your brain reasoned. at least you still had your pants this time.

sukuna rests back into a lean against his small desk. absently you note that his eyes haven't left you once since you’d entered the room.

“eager little thing aren't you?”

but its sukuna.

you shrug.“ i guess. kind of been saving up for this one.”

the noise he makes is non-committal as he nods to the angled chair.

without your shirt there was no barrier between yourself and the leather. you expected the cold chill but the lack of stickiness kind of surprised you. once again you were reminded of the indisputable list of reviews at your fingertips.

sukuna goes about collecting the materials to disinfect your skin, angling the bottle and cotton over the trash can to catch the excess drops. satisfied with the saturation, he slides back.

you try to absorb the brief shock you feel when he applies the alcohol to your skin. it was hardly a substitute for actual bracing to come but it was good practice. when you look up, you catch his gaze again.

he’d been more observant in these last few minutes than you could ever recall sukuna caring before. maybe it was the job. though the thought of him excelling at customer service has you fighting a snort.

“cold,” you supply and he gives another grunt.

he chucks the cotton ball into the trash with all the efficiency of a man who has made a sport out of it and probably keeps score.

deciding on a solid color eliminated the need for him to break away to change shades, eliminating any surplus time keeping you in this chair.

a gloved hand braces your side, pinching the skin, while the other holding the gun rests against your sternum. when the motor starts you take a careful breath in. sukuna’s eyes raise at the sound.

“not nervous?”

you blink, expecting him to just get to it.

“uh, not really? i’ve never really been afraid of needles.”

he pauses. just when you part your lips to ask what wrong the buzzing starts.

its impossible not to tense at the first bite of the needle. but you fight the urge to jerk. it stings. the vibration of the motor is uncomfortable against your ribcage but it's not unbearable. you certainly wouldn't cry.

sukuna seems to notice it as well.

“not going to lie thought you’d be more of a cry baby? weren't you the one sobbing after you stubbed your toe.”

you latch onto the idle chatter even if it's a jibe.

“i was eleven and i sprained that toe.”

he gives you a quick glance. “sure, princess. completely called for the waterworks.”

you snort. “yeah well it made me stronger. im barely affected today.”

your words are followed by a shift of his hand as it turns to follow a line, the movement pressing firmly against the underside of your breast. you're too attentive to the needle pinching at your skin to take notice.

but sukuna does, eyes narrowing without your awareness.

“yeah, i can see that.”

rather than closing your eyes to block out the pain, you find a more comforting distraction in tracing the lines of his tattoos with your gaze. you can hardly make out the first tattoo he’d gotten at the age of seventeen after forging his parents signature.

the abstract design had now branched out, interlocking with new styles to map out the formation of a sleeve. it was almost like his own branded language. a dialect of bold shapes and bands. you’d never thought to actually ask what his tattoos meant. nor did you expect an honest answer.

sukuna works rather quickly and efficiently while your mind wandered. even if he hadn’t squeezed you in during his lunch break this felt like the usual pace for him. he looked so in the zone as he followed the pre-made lines to perfection.

you weren’t the model customer, still having your brief moments of weakness but he rolled with the interruptions better than you expected. sukuna was brash growing up and didn’t tolerate nonsensical people. you’d had your fair share of opportunities to be chewed out by him.

and earned a reasonable amount of them, though your returning attitude said otherwise.

but this sukuna was softer, if you could put it like that. he knew the right time to give you breaks but didn’t let your nerves settle too much. when he wasn’t adding a layer to permanency to your skin, an errant finger would smooth over the swelling flesh.

more than once you heard him throw out a quiet good girl. that you knew was meant to be encouraging but it came with additional implications that tickled your skin.

he tells you that you should be grateful that the artwork doesn’t need any shading. that it was never a good fit for beginners.

your chest expands the furthest it had in the last half hour when he finally rolls back.

“alright, princess, go ahead and take a look.”

you take the offered mirror again and angle it to take in the fresh piece. the reflection you get back is- amazing. you’d been so concentrated?? on micromanaging the pain that you failed to take in the little details he’d added along with the original design.

as if reading your thoughts, he snorts. “it's not my art if i don't leave my mark. you can tell me it looks good you know.”

if you didn't know any better, you’d say he was authentic in his attempt to bait your approval.

and you had no reason not to provide.

your legs are a little shaky but you manage to balance yourself before brining the eldest itadori into a hug. sukuna goes stiff for a moment before returning the embrace and doesn’t resist when you press your face into his shoulder. there’s an awkward pat before they release each other from the hold.

sukuna .. before he’s shrugging you off.

“god, what a noob. at least let me cover it up. you’re going to irritate the skin.”

when he turns back to rummage through his desk you note the hint of a flush creeping up his nape. you know better than to mention it, instead just smiling at his back.

there is a scowl on his face as he applies the cotton square to your skin and tapes it in place.

“please do not itch this shit. i don’t care if you feel like your skin is going to fall off.”

he presses a small tube of antibiotic into your hand.

“and apply this daily. you don't need it drying out. “

you’re grateful for the little slip of printed instructions that follow. you were able to remember the sensible directions but it couldn't hurt to have additional guidance when you started to question the progress.

“oh and no sex.”

that was definitely not on the list.

sukuna raises a brow in all seriousness. “what? if you get your blood pumping too much.”

you call him on his bullshit,” this small? hardly. “

he raises his hands in mock surrender. “alright, try it yourself if you want. i charge for touch ups though.”

the two of you size each other up. just like old times.

with a sigh you relent, “fine, no sex.”

“good, see me in two weeks.”

his words stop you short. it wasn’t as if you needed anything added and he wasn’t a physician checking on your progress. if anything, you would only revisit your artist if there was a problem.

“what for?”

the dawning grin would follow you for the next fourteen days.

“to make sure you didn’t have sex.”

#sukuna x reader #sukuna ryomen x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen #sukuna blessings #sukuna ryomen

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soobadnoonecanstopher · 4 years

Text

Touch it for Real, Part 9

Genre: Humor / Fluff / Angst / (Eventual) Smut 18+

Warnings: OMG they were roommates / slice of life / slow burn / mutual pining / crude humor / cursing / virgin!baek / idiots to lovers / unresolved sexual tension

Characters: Baekhyun X You/Female Reader

Description: You teach Baekhyun how to date. (Basically the Get You Alone M/V)

A/N: DO NOT YELL AT ME! It is going to be okay.

Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8 , Part 9 , Part 10

You had a secret.

For such an abstract and shapeless thing you could sure feel it sitting in there.

It was pulsing.

Your secret felt like a splinter lodged just under a single taste bud that sat in the center of your tongue. You could feel your white blood cells attacking it, trying their best to push it up and push it out, but still it clung tight with its sharp barbs lodged within your cell walls. You brushed your tongue against your teeth.

The secret did not budge.

What you knew about them though, was that secrets did not like to stay hidden forever.

Your fork slipped and clanked noisily against the ceramic plate and the bright orange carrot ball rolled across the smooth white surface nearly sliding over the edge onto the white linen. Whoever decided that your steamed vegetables needed to be shaped into spheres simply for aesthetics should be forced to come out here and explain how you were supposed to spear one of these things while also avoiding the risk of it shooting across the table and hitting your date in the face.

Ben turned out to be very nice. If you were into tall, handsome, clean-looking, and responsible guys who drove their own cars and also had things like health insurance and retirement plans. When you first saw him, you were struck by the firmness you felt when he shook your hand and smiled brightly at you. He had all of his teeth and a head full of hair. He was definitely walking around on his real legs too. He looked like the kind of guy who didn’t let the clean laundry sit in the dryer for longer than a day and changed out his toothbrush every three months. You couldn't see a single fault.

You were trying your best to make a good first impression.

Really, you were.

Well, while also keeping an eye on Baekhyun who sat beside you with his focus down on his plate as he sliced his food into bite sized bits. His control of the fork and knife felt so careful and so exacting, it neared obsession. He had not ordered the steamed vegetables. None of his food rolled.

Across from him, looking just as cute in person as her online dating profile pictures conveyed, was Mia.

Mia was fine.

She was fine.

You didn't want to get into it.

Her clothes were fine. They were exactly the kinds of clothes you had expected she would wear.

Her hair was fine.

She actually had a hairstyle that reminded you of one of the characters in an anime you watched with Baekhyun once and you wondered about the upkeep costs of that particular shade of blue that streaked through her hair. You wondered if she had to switch to blue towels and blue pillow cases or if everything in her house was just stained forever.

Baekhyun’s cheeks blushed when he shook her hand and his smile was bashful, if not a bit tight when she complimented his glasses. Your mind briefly considered the plush, expensive white towels you both owned at home and a flash of horror overcame you for a split second when you imagined those towels streaked with a blue stain from the shower.

He bought those glasses at a store. Anyone can go to the store and buy glasses. Did such a superficial compliment really warrant such a deep shade of pink on his cheeks?

You took a sip of your glass of wine and the sweet, cool liquid had a tart aftertaste that lingered on your taste buds long after you swallowed and you stabbed roughly at the runaway carrot again, impaling it with the prongs of your fork.

Finally.

“I got it,” you said out loud to yourself with a wide smile and you held your prize up in front of your face for a second. Long enough for your eyes to drift across your table to meet Ben’s and you caught the soft amused chuckle that puffed from his nose.

You’d already gotten through the backstory. Starting with the curious question from Mia about how you and Baekhyun got to know each other and you took a quick glance toward Ben as Baekhyun explained that you and he had been roommates for a couple of years. You caught the slight smile on Ben’s lips as he looked down into his water glass and you wondered if he was pleased that he already knew the answer to this question as you had been quick to tell him this important detail about your life as you chatted with him during the last week or so.

Mia on the other hand simply let her eyes drift over from Baekhyun’s face to land on yours for a moment and you offered a disarming smile by way of explanation. Not that either of you had any explaining to do. You could live with whoever you wanted to live with. It took her ten seconds to return your smile, although you didn't quite believe it, or believe that she was done with her curiosities about this topic.

You couldn't really blame her although you’d given her nothing to be suspicious about. Not in the last 20 minutes since you’d all arrived and nibbled on shared appetizers, at least.

Hell, you hadn’t even touched him all day. From before you both arrived at this fancy restaurant and just relinquished your coats to some stranger simply because she held a hand out and sported a severe enough hairdo and manic look in her eyes that was too frightening to question. From the morning when you woke up and wandered into your kitchen to make toast for one and you ignored the sound of his feet shuffling in, half-asleep to grab a yogurt from the fridge. You hadn’t even helped him style his hair; which looked stunning, by the way, with the waves and the faded brown color that absolutely looked like something the perfect boyfriend would let you play with as he laid on your lap. He hadn’t even asked for your help picking out his outfit. He’d simply done it all on his own and waited for you by the front door wearing those jeans and smelling like that familiar scent that he bought for your date with him weeks back.

When had this all become so awkward? You’d never been afraid to touch Baekhyun before but now, well, the touches hadn’t ever concealed quite so much meaning before.

By the time the entrees arrived the conversations had moved on to hobbies and interests.

Ben was a movie buff, and his favorites were mostly mainstream blockbusters of the Marvel Superhero variety. He enjoyed many of the genres of films you’d mostly seen just the previews of. His top ten contained a bit more horror than you were comfortable with. One in particular, a prolific film based on a Steven King novel, had been the kind of psychologically terrifying film that made your chest rattle and you had spent most of the second half of that movie with your face buried in Baekhyun’s arm begging him to just describe to you what was happening and to tell you when the scary parts were over.

When he asked you what your favorite movie was you hesitated for a moment before pulling the movie Forrest Gump out of basically thin air. Yes you had enjoyed the movie. Yes it was something you’d seen more than once and if it was on television right now you would sit down and watch it from start to finish and you would enjoy it. It was a respectable favorite to have. It was the kind of favorite movie you would not be embarrassed to show to your grandmother.

But it wasn’t actually your favorite and you could feel the burden of Baekhyun’s eyes as he turned his head to look at your face when you said it.

Something about naming, out loud with your own lips — the light and fun, mindless guilty pleasure of the film that was actually your favorite movie that you’d watched hundreds of times and returned to watch again and again every time you felt even a little bit upset; something about saying it out loud to this table of people with countless of hours of media consumption under their belts and opinions about things like prolific directors, production companies, hefty CGI budgets, and overused, tired tropes that absolutely should be dropped in 2021, well it just felt too vulnerable for you to say out loud.

You swallowed a sip of your wine and refused to turn your head to look at Baekhyun until you heard the sound of his throat swallowing the ice water he sipped.

When Mia changed the topic to Anime you felt Baekhyun come alive beside you and Ben slinked back in his seat a little as the two of them got to talking about something that was highly anticipated and was slated to be released next year. Rumors about artists and directors with names you could not know flew easily from their lips and Mia mentioned the name of one previous work that you recognized.

In fact you had watched the entire thing last year with Baekhyun and you remembered talking excitedly about it with Mia during one of your early text conversations.

Your face lit up and you happily joined in, excited to finally know what in the world they were talking about when you accidentally let something slip when you reminded her of what she had said about the anime before. Luckily you stopped yourself before you could admit that you had actually been the one she had been chatting with at the time.

Still, she caught it. She was very quick and sharp and you watched her face as she registered that you’d referenced something that only Baekhyun should know about. Had you just fucked up?

“Ahh, we,” you raised your index finger and waved it lightly toward where Baekhyun had stiffened up in his seat beside you, “he told me about what you said.”

There was a moment when her eyes widened and she looked at Baekhyun briefly before returning her focus to you.

“He...told you about me?” She lifted a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, straightened her back and leaned forward with her forearms rested in front of her plate on the table. Her off-the-shoulders number dipped when she leaned in and you caught a bit of black lace and the bunch up of her impressive bosom.

She smiled a coy smile aimed across the table.

You followed the smile and your eyes reached Baekhyun. He’d been hit with the smile and had been too stunned to return it. Instead, he lifted a hand and rubbed it over the back of his neck twice before reaching the same hand forward to grab the ice water he’d been sipping all night as he pulled in a mouthful and puffed his cheeks before covering his lips with his flattened palm and swallowing noisily.

“I also mentioned you to my friend,” Mia said not quietly enough for it to be just for him and you dropped your eyes down to the half finished chicken on your plate.

She was fine. Mia was fine. She’d done absolutely nothing wrong. She was nice and she was probably a good person, but you kind of wanted her to die.

“So,” Ben interjected suddenly and you looked across the table at him as you tried to conceal the surprise on your face to find him sitting there.

You noticed he was done with his food and his plate had already been cleared away by the super attentive waitstaff.

The negligence of your own date weighed heavily on you and you angled your chest forward to face him directly for whatever questions he had for you.

He was pointing toward Baekhyun and Mia with his extended finger and raised eyebrows.

“You two work in computers?” It was a work question. He’d gathered this much from the brief introductions everyone had given and while you had failed to offer any insight as to what you did for a living, Baekhyun and Mia had both mentioned computers.

“He’s a software engineer, and I’m a programmer. Similar but not the same,” Mia explained. You weren't sure of any of the details or of how they were different. You hadn’t really put much thought into it. You knew Baekhyun worked the magic with the keyboard and could fix anything that you happened to break.

“I’m in advertising. Just got scouted by Comma Entertainment and I’ve accepted.” Ben had a hand raised to his chest and his eyebrows were up. This seemed important to him and you let your lips form into an impressed O shape as you raised your eyebrows. His tone and the way he said the name of his new employer seemed to warrant the excited reaction.

You weren't familiar at all with his industry but you knew how to react like you knew what he was talking about. He certainly seemed impressed by himself. Who were you to discourage his enthusiasm.

“You’ve heard of it?” You sold it too well. Baekhyun had leaned close to you and whispered an aside question and you shot him a tense look with your eyes as a warning, but you quickly pushed your smile wide for Ben who was, deservedly, very excited about his new position.

“Of course, who doesn’t know Comma for advertising. That’s a very big deal. Is that why you were so busy last week? We hardly got to talk.”

Your subject change was so slick. If you hadn’t been the one to do it, you’d have been impressed by it. The disappointed pout on your face sold it well.

“Actually I was at the bank a lot last week. It was so weird. I had a few accounts that seemed to be hacked but then it turned out to be nothing. Had to change all my passwords though, so that was annoying.”

“That sucks. They didn't take anything did they?” Mia spoke up from beside Ben; concern written all over her face.

“No. Whoever did it just seemed to access purchase histories mostly. Some loser of a hacker. Didn't even get any money.” Ben’s lips pulled wide and he was laughing with his head thrown back at his perceived victory over the hacker that had been messing around in his bank records.

“You can learn a remarkable amount of information about a person’s bad habits from their bank history, Ben. Sure utilities and rent; that’s boring. You can find out how often someone gets hammered at bars. How many of those bars are also strip clubs. How many maxed out credit cards they make minimum payments on each month just to keep their head above water. Their gambling losses and the motel rooms they book in the bad part of town…”

Baekhyun was speaking up beside you. You turned and you looked at his profile as he spoke so candidly and with what you could only describe as a certain smugness on his voice.

The only reason he’d stopped talking was to catch his breath. It was the most he had spoken all night and you honestly felt taken aback by the suddenness of his words and more, the topic he spoke on. It felt weirdly pointed. It just felt so detailed; almost accusatory.

“What?” You hissed the question; focused it hard and as under your breath as possible to the man seated beside you.

His lips closed up before his eyes turned to look at you and you caught a quick blink of his eyes that preceded a softening of his features that had no business looking that confrontational in the first place.

“I’m not saying any of that stuff applies to Ben.” Baekhyun lifted a slim dismissive hand to wave toward your date. “It’s just an example. For all we know Ben’s only weakness is eating fried chicken every day.”

Ben’s lips were pulled into a thin line on his face and his jaw unclenched when you looked back at him. Then he was smiling at you and it was bright and convincing. You smiled back at him and shook your head at your wacky roommate’s antics.

“Actually it’s pizza. You caught me buddy, I’m a hardcore pizza addict. Every night.”

“Well, not tonight.” Baekhyun shrugged with an odd smile landing on his lips.

Ben’s tight smile flattened and the two men seemed to be staring at each other for longer than you thought was polite for a shared first double-date.

“So what is it that you do?” It was Mia who ultimately broke the tension and you looked across the table into her eyes. She had a pleasant smile on her face and was still chewing on a piece of bread, clearly unbothered by the strange standoff that had just been going on between the two men at this table.

Surely you weren't the only one to notice how odd it had been. Had you just imagined the tightness in Baekhyun’s fist that laid over his thigh and the hard glare in Ben’s eyes?

With Mia’s question though, you felt your own lips pull closed and your eyes danced around the table to the other curious parties who also were now looking at you to answer the question.

You’d prepared well for this date. You’d made sure Baekhyun had the detailed first date topics, questions and answers for perfect small talk, even the section on table etiquette. You’d made sure he knew you’d be here to steer the conversations toward topics he was comfortable discussing and you’d even set up a safety signal he would use if he wanted to bail and just go home.

You’d planned it all out, down to the detailed progression of the evening and how at the end someone might even suggest going together for drinks. And should one of the dates wish to split off, it would be completely okay as long as the corresponding person felt comfortable. You’d even promised that under no circumstances would you abandon Baekhyun to do this on his own if he didn't want to. Not even at the behest of Ben, your date.

They were looking at you and you'd gone quiet. You’d been so busy preparing for this date that it never occurred to you that you were also actively involved and that someone might possibly ask a question about you and your work.

Your work. Well…

“Uhh...I don't really do anything worth mentioning.”

You felt it. It was a warmth that had pooled in the skin around your nose. Your cheeks felt warm and you felt just insignificant enough for it to take your undeserved confidence and throw it out the window.

Ben and Mia were watching you. You pulled your bottom lip in between your teeth and bit down on the dry chapped skin on the surface.

“Nothing?” Ben said and his eyes were wide with a look of confusion on his face.

“Well, not nothing.” You were not completely unemployed. You had been quite impressive before. You’d been working with the best publicists of an entertainment company and had been in charge of crafting and perfecting the asset sheets of many of your company's highest profile artists. You’d been the best at it and at one time had been highly sought out for your expertise. You had a way with it. You could work some real magic. You could make a dud of a raw potato sound like a five star course in a Michelin star restaurant. Losing your position in the spring of 2020 had really been a huge blow to your confidence. You looked back at how far you had fallen. Boring data entry jobs to make ends meet. Taking on weird side gigs so you could afford tiny luxuries like your favorite scented lotion or the name brand tampons instead of the store brand.

“I do have a job.” You added lamely. “It’s just not at all interesting.”

Ben dropped his eyes from yours and Mia shrugged her shoulders and stabbed a carrot ball expertly on the first try.

“Yeah but what is it?” Mia said as she chewed daintily. The heat in your cheeks spread and you let your eyes wander away from hers over the various dinner items that covered this table.

Beside you, Baekhyun’s movement caught your eye and you turned to see him place an elbow on the table in front of him and he leaned forward.

“She’s a dating coach. She’s really good at it, but much too modest when she talks about herself.”

Oh no. He wasn't about to spill the beans was he? This was definitely not something in the approved list of first date dinner topics. Wasn't this topic too incriminating? Wouldn't Mia put two and two together and figure out that you had been coaching Baekhyun all along? Also, wasn't this new profession of yours too brand new to start talking about so freely like this? What the hell was he doing?

“A dating coach? What’s that?”

Strangely, Mia didn't seem to be looking at Baekhyun with wheels turning and sirens blaring. She was looking at you with her mouth empty and hung open with a look of genuine interest in her eyes.

“Do you like, feed them what to say in an earpiece?” Ben was speaking up from the other side of Mia and you laughed at the absurdity of such a silly rom-com movie cliche.

“Well no. I’m not a pickup artist. I am a dating coach. Think about it like a sports coach. I am teaching my clients the skills to play the game. Skills to overcome dating anxiety, or I’m teaching them to identity and move away from self-sabotaging behaviors, limiting beliefs, or preconceptions that are detrimental to a healthy relationship.

I have clients that don't even know where to begin. My goal is to strategize with them and place them effectively within the dating scene so they stand the best chance. It’s incredibly hard to be objective about your own love life, but I provide an outside viewpoint. I step in and intervene when I see something that isn't in line with their relationship goals or the vision they have for dating.

I’m not teaching manipulation or just telling them what to say. There are no love spells to make someone fall in love with you. I’m changing the way they believe in themselves so they can present themselves to someone else in the absolute best way to begin a real relationship with someone.”

You’d been leaning in as you spoke animatedly with your hands. You felt the genuine excitement building with your words. You were surprised at how much of your previous profession’s language applied to this new exciting endeavor you were embarking on, but there really were tons of overlapping similarities between the two fields. The explanations just poured out of you.

You hadn’t said any of this out loud before to anyone but the more you talked about it, the more elated you felt about what you were doing with your life. With how much you had been helping Baekhyun and how much progress you had seen in just one day of helping your clients — Baekhyun’s friends Minseok and Sehun. Sehun had finally, finally sent you his first selfie that wasn’t taken from his lap after you’d sent him many examples of good selfies taken from different angles. Minseok was already halfway through the materials you’d sent him to study and had been working hard on identifying and changing the self-defeating language he’d used in his rough draft dating profile.

“She has an app.” Baekhyun piped up from beside you. He’d leaned back in his chair as you spoke.

Both Ben and Mia’s faces mirrored each other’s. Their eyes were wide and their mouths hung in amazement and you quickly closed up your own mouth and grabbed anxiously at your wine glass, feeling a little bit embarrassed about having talked so much. You couldn't resist the chance to smash their misconceptions about what your goals actually were with helping your clients. None of these people were unlovable. They were all worthy of finding someone and you were going to give it your all to help them see their own value.

“Not at all interesting?” Mia spoke up, “that’s super interesting. That’s really, really cool. Can—Can I have your contact info? I have a friend that would be interested in your services.”

“You have an app too? This is something we could advertise online. It would do extremely well on certain kinds of reddit forums and definitely in most online gaming communities.” Even Ben sounded excited, if not a bit overly judgmental, and you heard a quiet, but hostile scoff next to you.

You ticked your head toward the sound but did not turn to look at him. You knew that scoff well enough to hear the annoyance in his voice at whatever he thought Ben might be insinuating about online gamers and the connection to the incels that haunted the forums of reddit.

“I think it’s a bit premature to think about online advertising. I’m still only one person.”

Ben smiled and shrugged off your quick dismissal of his idea to partner up and advertise your business to the desperately lonely and pathetic gamers of the world. Hell, the more you thought about it, the less inappropriate Baekhyun’s annoyance was. Ben could use some coaching on choosing less insulting words.

Thankfully the dinner was over and the check had been taken care of. You looked away from the palpable awkwardness that slapped you across the face when Baekhyun waved away Ben’s card and paid for the entire bill with his own.

“You can get me next time, buddy.” He definitely said this word sarcastically. It was out of line and you simply could not find the right moment to pinch his leg under the table to get him to behave himself in a discrete enough way that would not get you caught by the other two people at this table.

You let it slide simply because you had no way to stop it. He was ignoring the way you waved your finger frantically at him down by your calf. You knew he could see you in his peripherals.

No, Baekhyun. Stop that. Be nice. Your hand was saying. He wouldn't even look at it.

The dinner was over and the movie was starting soon. You’d picked a restaurant that was close enough to the theatre that you could walk.

You paired off. It was far from natural. You actually caught Baekhyun’s eyes as you stepped quickly and walked ahead of him, falling into step beside Ben and you left behind Baekhyun and Mia to bring up the rear. It took every ounce of self control not to turn around and look behind you to see how closely they walked to each other. To see if Baekhyun kept his hands shoved securely in his pockets or if he swung his arms at his side as he walked, inching a hand closer and closer to Mia’s swinging hand in the hopes of a back of the hand brush of his warm skin against hers.

Your steps must have stalled. You’d reached the theatre and you looked up to locate Ben, only to find him at the box office purchasing four tickets for the movie you’d all agreed to watch days ago. For the life of you, you couldn't remember what you were seeing. You merely followed where you were led and found yourself seated in a center row of a movie house sandwiched between Ben and Baekhyun. You noticed the center armrests had been lifted when you arrived and simply did not bother to lower them since everyone was too full from dinner for any movie snacks or drinks.

The house was mostly empty and then lights dimmed as the movie began. You searched your brain and nearly pulled out your phone to check your chat logs for the name of the film but decided against shining a tiny bright light in a dark room.

The movie began and you were quickly drawn into the narrative. It was a dark film and as the soundtrack began to take on more sinister sounding tones you recognized that your heart was racing and you were feeling the tension all over your body. It was not a gorey horror film, but it was leaning more toward the psychological suspense thriller genre. Not really something you watched much of.

To your left, Ben sat completely still; focused only on the movie screen. He looked so calm and nearly unaffected by the terrifying things happening on the screen. He occasionally shifted in his seat but did not react to the jump scare that flashed before your eyes and made you flinch hard in your seat. You’d reached the point in the film when the main characters were in genuine danger and you began to wonder if anyone would make it out of this movie alive. Was this one of those films where everyone was doomed?

It happened again, another jump, another loud shocking sound and another noise startled you and you dove to your right, hiding your face in the warm shoulder of the man sitting beside you.

The realization was instantaneous. The second you felt the warmth of his arm, and the smell of him hit your nose, you pulled your head up and you straightened out your spine, mumbling a quiet apology to Baekhyun for using his arm to hide behind as you removed any and all contact points you had with his body. You angled your hips and your knees away from him and even went so far as to stick your hands well under your own thighs and keep them there so you didn't grab for him again. You had been doing so well by not touching him at all today. Why did it have to be a scary movie?

Things grew more frantic on the screen. You held your breath and tried your best to keep from reacting as much as you could. How long was this movie? How much longer did you have to endure this? You should have paid more attention to the details of this part of the date. This was your own fault. You were acting like a big baby because you couldn't handle a little frightening scenes in a movie.

It was coming again. You could feel it building. You closed your eyes and terrible sounds were erupting all over. You would just not look. You could make it through if you just didn't look. With your eyes closed the sounds felt louder than ever and when you thought you couldn't take it anymore you considered committing the enormous sin of getting up during the climax of the movie to use the bathroom just so you didn't have to sit through this anymore.

There was a shift beside you then. You felt warm fingers inching down your forearm, traveling the path your hand took that led below your thigh and someone was reaching for your hand and pulling it out from where you’d been sitting on it. Someone to your right was gripping your hand with his own warm hand and you opened your eyes to look down between the hidden space between your hip and Baekhyun’s hip. There, you saw the grip of his hand that wrapped securely around yours.

He squeezed down once and you followed the length of him up to catch a glimpse of the side of his face. He was looking up at the screen. His eyes were open and he did not flinch at all. He was so still aside from the occasional movement of his lips when he moistened them with his tongue.

You could handle this if he lent you a little bit of his strength like this. Your eyes returned to the screen but your mind wandered back down to the secure comfort you felt in his hand.

You felt your own secret throb.

It made you flinch just a little bit and Baekhyun’s hand shifted then. He moved, lifting the tight grip for a moment and you wondered if he was done, would he take his hand back and leave you cold and afraid again? The lift was for the shift of his fingers and you felt the push of each digit between yours. He pushed his fingers between yours; interlocking your hands together with his and his thumb moved lightly over your own thumb, brushing comforting strokes again and again through the loud and scary and shocking scenes that played over that screen.

This time the racing you felt in your chest had nothing to do with the scary movie. He was touching you. He was holding your hand in secret. It felt forbidden with his date sitting right beside him like she was and with your date seated right beside you like he was. All of your attention was down on the slow pressure you felt from his thumb as it traced the shape of your own thumb down from the very bottom up to the tip, around again. The simple up and down had a slow and sensual rhythm to it. When he lifted his hand his thumb moved and you held your breath to feel that same very slow touching trace the outline of the palm of your hand again and again. He drew absentminded shapes into your skin with the pointed tip of his thumb and your eyes drifted closed as the longing grew within you. He followed the paths of the creases in your skin like a palm reader. He did not even need light to see them, he simply felt them and traced along the paths.

You let him.

You felt bewitched.

You loved him.

The credits rolled on the screen and the lights switched on. The change was abrupt. You were taken by surprise and shocked by it like you were from the jump scares in the film.

His warmth left you. His wandering light touch, his deliberate and careful exploration of the lines that made up the palm of your hand vanished.

Everyone was standing and everyone was walking out of the theatre house and your mind felt clouded and dazed but you followed where their steps led and you found yourself standing outside of the exit doors with the three other people who you entered with.

Baekhyun stood beside Mia and Ben occupied the space of the sidewalk square that you also stood inside.

It was the end of a night. You felt an overwhelming urge for this evening to be done so you could go home and shower and maybe eat something sweet and distracting and maybe made out of chocolate.

“Well this was fun,” it was your own voice that ultimately called it.

Mia had been looking at Baekhyun who had been looking down at his own feet as he lightly tapped his foot on the concrete below. Three taps.

Tap, tap, tap.

You felt a jolt of realization. Baekhyun had just tapped his foot thrice on the floor below him well within your sight and you recognized what that meant. He was feeling done. He was done with all of this exhausting socializing and being out in public with so many people around and he wanted to go home now. This was him asking you for help now as he wasn't sure how to end the date but wanted it to be over.

“What about...grabbing some drinks, maybe...” Mia was talking only to Baekhyun as she looked at him, “if you aren't too tired.”

“Hey Baek, isn’t your grandmother coming over early tomorrow? Do you still have to get ready for that?” You interjected suddenly and Baekhyun looked up into your face with his mouth open and you watched his eyes move slowly over your face as he recognized what you were doing. You were giving him an out. Mia had asked him to go for drinks and you were giving him an excuse, should he need it.

You both knew his grandma came every other Sunday. You both vividly remembered the wonderful visit you had at the beginning of the week with her and she wasn’t due to arrive again until next Sunday.

He could simply correct you if he really did want to go with her. He could call you a dummy and tell you that you had the wrong week again and playfully tap you on the head to jog your brain back into functioning the right way as he often did when you got something mixed up.

“Oh, yeah she is,” Baekhyun grabbed your convenient reminder from the air and smiled a rueful smile directed at Mia. His smile widened with the wince on his face, “that’s too bad.” He added and Mia took it well.

She smiled and nodded her head and there were well wishes for a safe trip home all around as you all parted ways.

Ben said he would text you later. Baekhyun told Mia the same and you waited until they both walked away to follow Baekhyun back to his car for the quiet ride home.

The silence was heavy, but it was comfortable.

Baekhyun didn't speak at all and you could tell by the way he carried himself that he was tired. He wasn’t normally an extroverted person and found it very draining to carry on a full conversation with friends he knew well. Strangers like he had been with tonight, well, you could see the fatigue in his movements and you knew he needed something warm to drink and maybe some comfort with a familiar favorite tv show to zone out in front of.

You handled it better. You were used to having to go out of your home occasionally and you even enjoyed socializing with your coworkers on the few days you went in to the office for work. You felt a bit drained but mostly you were preoccupied with watching how he was handling it and you were also burning with curiosity to know how Baekhyun felt about the whole thing.

He’d wandered into the living room and he found the sofa. You followed him close behind and grabbed the remote, flipping to a familiar and funny cartoon that you often saw him playing in the background as he worked on things. He didn't usually watch it that closely but it was comforting enough to stay on and keep his mind occupied for a while.

You didn't speak. Everything you had to ask him could wait. Even the scolding you had for him about how he acted toward Ben could also wait. You’d let the man breathe a little first.

You busied yourself in the kitchen making two cups of hot tea and when you returned you found his head leaning against the back of the couch with his eyes still glued to the screen. He had a passive smile on his face and he reacted positively to the wacky scenarios the characters found themselves in. He would occasionally speak out loud, speaking along with a funny line he knew by heart and you found it impossible to resist saying the follow up joke. You knew this show as well as he did.

He accepted the tea with a smile and had a few sips and you set your mug on the coffee table in favorable of the comfortable side of the sofa, the side with the pillows that allowed you to rest your head comfortably as you watched the big tv.

You were feeling pretty good. Baekhyun had now officially gone on his first date with a real girl who wasn’t you and he’d had a nice time. You could see from where you laid your head down how relaxed his face was as he giggled at the show.

You stretched and you felt his warm thigh with your foot. This sofa was long enough for you to stretch out completely and you only barely reached where he sat at the other side. You wiggled your toes, unable to resist the light messing with him that you often gave in to and his hand reached down to grab ahold of your foot, which he held in place as he paid attention to the tv.

Your phone buzzed in your pocket and you sat up a little bit to pull it out.

You saw a text message from Ben.

From the preview you got the idea of what kind of text message the man would be sending you an hour after your first, and apparently your last date with him.

-Hey you seem like a super cool girl, but...

The preview showed you enough to know that he was dumping you before you’d even gotten anything started with him.

You opened the text. Your curiosity outweighed your sense of self preservation.

-...but whatever’s going on between you and your roommate, well it doesn’t really seem like there’s much room for me. I just don't think I can start something knowing I’ve already lost. Thanks for inviting me tonight. The movie was fun. Good luck with everything. - Ben

You felt the sting.

You couldn't help it. You’d spent all evening watching Baekhyun interact with Mia with every ounce of your self control devoted to not letting your jealousy show at all. At one point you’d been so damn engrossed in them that you forgot Ben was even there. What an unfair and shitty situation to have put him in. You quickly keyed out an apology for your crappy date etiquette and thanked him for going out with you tonight.

You couldn't even blame him for anything. He had been sweet and he had tried his best to be the perfect gentleman. What had you expected?

You sent the last message you would ever send to Ben and tossed your phone roughly toward the coffee table. It bounced but landed in the middle.

The racket called Baekhyun’s attention and he turned to look at you with his eyebrows raised in question.

“Ben just rejected me.”

Somehow saying this out loud to Baekhyun felt better than hiding it from him. It felt less miserable than keeping it inside of yourself and letting yourself suffer the sting of the rejection alone.

Baekhyun’s lips pulled into a small frown and he took out his cell phone from his pocket and tossed it roughly on the coffee table beside yours. It took a similar bounce and your eyes widened in surprise at the sudden gesture.

“No way, not Mia too,” you said in genuine fear and Baekhyun shook his head with his shrug still well in place.

“Nah, I just can't lay down with my phone in my pocket,” he said as he wiggled on the sofa trying to get comfortable, “though in hindsight I can see how you would think that, sorry. Mia hasn’t texted yet.”

He was wiggling, finding no comfort in all the positions he tried and you caught his wandering eyes for a second as you lightly tapped a hand over your belly.

This…

This would be fine. This was something you both did sometimes. Baekhyun said your belly was warm and comfy and made the best noises and he liked to use you as a pillow when he was just too tired to go to his own bed.

He moved right away at your invitation and you let your legs part around his chest as he laid his head down right on top of you. He turned his head to face the tv and didn't even squirm too much before he sighed out loud. His arms laid on either side of your waist and you felt the constriction as he lightly squeezed around you.

You really hadn’t gotten to touch him all day. Your fingers found their way into his hair and you felt a low moan from the back of his throat travel though your body as you raked your nails down the back of his head to his nape.

“Peanut,” you said softly, feeling every little bit of the annoying little tickle of that stupid secret sitting inside of you.

You could feel the heaviness of his body as he gave in and relaxed his muscles on you. You felt every breath he took and they seemed to be changing as you played with his hair and he gave in to the relaxing comfort you offered him.

“Hmm?” He replied after a long while. You angled your face and could see that his eyes were closed.

“How was the date? Was it nice?”

You had so many hopes for him. You were trying your best to ignore the pangs of your own selfish jealousy and get past it all to get to something good for him. Something that would make him understand how incredible he was. How beautiful he was inside and out and how precious of a human being he was.

“Mhmm, I liked it.” He said softly and he shifted and you felt him tighten his hold around your waist briefly before he relaxed again.

“Did you really? Do you think you liked Mia?” You kept your voice strong. You did not allow your fears to overcome your voice. You were okay with this if he was okay.

He did not answer right away. You’d stopped playing with his hair and you kept your hand rested over his head. He was so warm. He was so lovely.

“Do you want me to like Mia?”

No.

Mia would be so good to him.

You did not answer. Your answer would have been no. It would have been selfish. You’d just been dumped by your date, how dare his date have gone so well. You’d both been on the same date. You could still see the way she looked at him. She found him just as lovely as you did.

You felt a thickness at the back of your throat and you swallowed it down.

“I’m trying, Bug. She’s very nice to talk to. Do you think I should like her?”

Was this because of his mistrust of people? Was this his shyness about letting someone he didn't know very well in close?

You couldn't respond. You did not trust yourself to do the right thing.

“You should go rest if you’re sleepy,” you said, you know, like a coward.

It took him a few minutes of laying on top of you before he realized that you were right and he would be much more comfortable in his own bed. He nodded and pushed up with his arms, and his eyes stayed closed and his head stayed hung down as his feet shuffled and he made his way into his bedroom, leaving his door open you merely heard the loud sound of him plopping down on his bed.

You were stuck where he left you.

Stuck in about as crappy a mood as you’d ever found yourself.

You hated everything about this. You hated how much you loved him and you hated how receptive he was to the idea of dating Mia. You hated how she looked at him and giggled at his small jokes and you hated HATED the way his cheeks blushed and the shy smiles he gave her when she talked to him.

You laid there and you stewed in your mood for longer than was good for you and the only thing that made your it up was the simultaneous buzzing that brought both of your cell phones to life on the coffee table.

You reached for yours. It’s as your dating coach app. Baekhyun had received a new message from Mia. The feelings that surged through you were taking over your sense of what was good and what was right and what was proper behavior for someone like you to participate in.

You swiped to read the message.

-Hi Baekhyun. Sorry I couldn't wait until tomorrow to text you. I had an amazing time tonight and I was wondering if you would like to meet up tomorrow after your Grandmother’s visit for coffee? I have something I’d like to ask you.

You felt as if your body was on fire.

You could feel it deep inside your chest, deeper still inside your belly where his head had been resting moments before. You felt it in the palm of your hand where his thumb had traced the patterns of lines there. You felt it in your lips that he had kissed and in your tongue ached inside of your mouth from your stupid secret.

You reached for your phone. You opened the app for the power he’d given only to you and you responded to her message as if you were Baekhyun.

-Hi, Yeah, that sounds fine. I’ll meet you at 1pm.

Your hands moved on their own. You moved to the internal commands of your app and you deleted both of the messages from the chat history. When you picked up his phone you saw the notification for Mia’s message vanish before your eyes and when you unlocked it and accessed his chat log, there was no sign of the unimaginable and unforgivable sin you had just committed against him.

Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8 , Part 9 , Part 10

Tag list: @j-pping @blahblahblah-boo @his-mochi-cheeks @amyeonzing@littleflowercrown13 @baekinmylife @insta1010 @nana-banana @f4ncyvelvet@bbhbeth @totallynerdstuff @byunbabybaek @maijinki @bbyunz@theclawofaraven @kingkushdealer @uhobob @baekswifey @punchmebaekhyun @xlxbaekhyuneex

#baekhyun #baekhyun fanfic #exo #exo fanfic #exo fic #baekhyun fic #baekhyun ff #exo ff #baekhyun scenario #baekhyun chaptered #baekhyun fluff #baekhyun angst #baekhyun smut

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nugnthopkns · 3 years

Text

hold me like that

word count: 1.6k

warnings: explicit!fem reader, soft wedding vibes

recommended listening: it's all coming back to me now | celine dion

a/n: guess i go here now. got inspired by that video where the avs sing their go-to karaoke songs and tbarrie does not disappoint

Tyson has always had this magnetism about him.

You felt it the first time you met him. It was a sleepy Thursday night in Denver, and your friends had convinced you to join them for a few drinks to celebrate the long weekend you’d all found yourself faced with. You weren’t huge on going out on weekdays, but you did have Friday off because the building that held your office was undergoing construction. Instead of forcing everyone to work from home the company decided to create a long weekend, and you were incredibly grateful. It had been a hard couple of weeks with project deadline after deadline, but that was behind you now and you could kick back and relax. Plus, your friends offered to foot your bill, so how could you say no?

The dive bar you had found yourself crowded into was hosting a karaoke night. It seemed like every patron was scrambling to get a turn at the mic, but you sat at a table off to the side and just cheered them on. Your friends did their best to convince you to do a rendition of ‘Wannabe’ with them but you refused, staying in your seat while they made fools of themselves in front of hundreds of people. Somehow, Sarah had gotten the crowd to join in, and it turned into a giant sing-along. Laughter tumbled from your lips as you watched, and once they finished you whistled loudly, clapping along with the rest of the crowd. The four of them took dramatic bows before they exited stage left. They tumbled back to the table as the emcee called for the next participant.

“Tyson? You’re up next!”

Chants of his name erupted from a group of men across the bar, and one of them peeled off to hop onto the stage. He smiled brightly at the crowd and gave a timid wave before turning to his friends and flipping them off. Their laughter echoed off the walls and you joined in. However, your laughter was less in good spirit and more of the awestruck variety. The man in front of you had kind eyes and gently tousled waves that just suited him. His smile made you want to get to know him better, and you found yourself drawn to him. The opening piano notes of a ballad fluttered through the speakers as you watched intently.

“There were nights when the wind was so cold,” he crooned, and the pitch of his voice surprised you. It took a few more lines for you to realize he was imitating Céline Dion, though rather poorly. Everyone in the bar was enthralled by the performance he was giving, and you spotted more than a few girls near the stage who were trying desperately to get his attention.

The group he came with continued to shout their support, but it was hard to understand them due to just how much they laughed. Prepared to go all out for the chorus, Tyson ripped the microphone from its stand and walked to the edge of the stage. “When you touch me like this, and you hold me like that,” he sang, and turned in the direction of your table. Boldly, the stranger pointed directly at you as he continued in the ridiculous accent. “I just have to admit that it’s all coming back to me.” At the end of the sentence, with his arm still extended, Tyson winked at you.

He continued to sing and the rest of the crowd joined him, but you were too shocked to form the words. You sat there dumbfounded until the end of the song, when you came to your wits just enough to join the applause. Tyson took it all in stride and gave the same wave he offered at the beginning of the performance before he shuffled off the stage. Instead of rejoining the festivities at his friends’ table, the brunette made his way through the crowd towards you. He stuck out at hand once he stopped in front of you, and spoke with the softest demeanour you had ever encountered.

“I couldn’t help but notice you from up there. I’m Tyson.”

Your insides melted at the sound of his voice, and you choked out a reply as you tried to figure out a way to stay close to him forever.

☼☼☼☼

He’s the same way now, a handful of years later. No matter what room you're in or how many people are between the two of you, one soft smile from Tyson has you slinking across the space and into his side. Friends and family laugh at how you’re always found close to one another, but they truly don’t mind because the love between you is palpable. It took you both an incredibly long time to find the happiness each other brings and no one is going to try and take it away from you.

It’s late in the evening, the sun having dipped behind the mountains hours ago, but somehow you’re still stuck repeating the same thank you spiel to wedding guests as you walk around. Tyson is nowhere in sight, but you’re sure he’s doing the same thing. No one informed you how much time you’d actually spend separated from your newly minted husband on your wedding night – if you had known you would have cut the guest list down dramatically.

You slip from the conversation you found yourself in with Tyson’s aunt and grandmother and head to the balcony of the rustic ski lodge you rented for the ceremony and reception. The fresh air greets you like a welcome friend, but it’s chillier than you expected. Wordlessly you pull your husband’s suit jacket tighter around your shoulders and stare at the idyllic landscape in front of you. Though you no longer live in Colorado, Tyson’s job landing you in Edmonton via a short stint in Toronto, you knew you had to get married here. It was your home for so long and your closest friends still reside in the state. Besides, it has that low-key feeling that is an exact replica of your relationship. Everything is easy in Colorado, just like it’s easy with Tyson.

There’s a rustling behind you that signals someone else has appeared on the balcony, and you don’t have to turn around to know it’s Tyson. The air around you has warmed up significantly and there’s a prickle of electricity at the base of your neck that flickers whenever he’s around. A pair of strong arms wrap around your waist, and you lean back into the body they belong to.

“Hey there stranger,” Tyson says softly, tilting your head gently to press a delicate kiss to your lips.

“Long time no see,” you hum in response. “I didn’t know I’d never get to see you once we were married.”

He throws his head back in laughter at your grovelling, and you swear you’d be content if that was the only sound you heard for the rest of your life. “We have a lifetime ahead of us baby, I think we can let your nieces have a few dances with me.”

You know he’s right, but you’ll never admit it. Time doesn’t feel quite as fulfilling when it’s spent apart from Tyson. A comfortable silence engulfs the little bubble you’ve found yourself in, and Tyson says pressed to you as you point out the various constellations littering the night sky. Astronomy was a hobby you picked up one season to keep the loneliness at bay while Tyson was away, but it stuck and he listens to you ramble about the stars as often as he can. The silence is so peaceful, filled with so much love, that you think about never returning to the reception area.

“Do you remember the first night we met?” you whisper, nervous about disturbing the tranquil atmosphere.

“How could I forget? You were the most beautiful girl in the room.” It’s your turn to laugh, but Tyson insists. “I’m serious babe. Gabe had pointed you out when we walked in, but I was too much of a chicken to do anything. I kept waiting, hoping you’d go up and sing a song so I’d have a reason to come talk to you, but you never did. The guys gauded me into doing that ridiculous Céline Dion impression, and I only did it to catch your attention.”

Surprise laces your features. “Why have I never heard this version of events?”

“Because it’s stupid.”

You turn in his grip as gently as possible, looking him in the eyes. “I don’t think anything you do could be considered stupid Tys.”

“Even that one time at Worlds where I cut myself wrestling with Simmer?”

The sparkle in your eyes only intensifies as you giggle. “Maybe that,” you sigh, “But nothing else.”

Out of things to say, probably because he knows that was an incredibly stupid moment, Tyson leans down to close the distance between your lips. The kiss isn’t unlike the ones you’ve shared all day – sweet and full of so much love the grinch would snuff up his nose. However, it’s also different. It manages to convey a thousand words Tyson would never be able to vocalize about how thankful he is for you, and you revel in the feeling. You’ve never loved someone as much as you love him and it’s clear he’s in the same boat.

Eventually you pull away, a bright smile taking up much of your face as you rest your head on Tyson’s shoulder. When Tyson came out to find you he didn’t shut the sliding door properly, and the piano melody that started it all makes its way to your ears. Tyson’s laugh rumbles in his chest and you feel it against like a sunshine beam on your cheek. Wordlessly he begins to sway in time with the music, and you follow his lead.

“I love you,” he says with the same amount of conviction a judge does when giving a sentence.

Your response is automatic, and the easiest thing you’ve ever done. “Forever and ever.”

#i think this man is going to start making regular appearances here #but i'm not mad about it #tyson barrie imagine #tyson barrie x reader #edmontion oilers imagine #nhl imagine #nhl fic #hockey imagine #hockey fic #cwrites

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slither-in-gryffindor · 3 years

Text

Mystery Lover

Square Fill: Free Square

Warning/s: None

Word Count: 1,790

Summary: Darcy Lewis posted videos that the world cooed over, Natasha Romanoff being in love.

A/N: This fic was made cause I couldn't get the song out of my head 😂 and I also had an excuse to write a socmed au. It started out as a karaoke prompt and it just went from there 💁🏻‍♀️

Ao3

The team didn’t really plan anything that night. Everyone was in the common room lounging while the world is peaceful. Tony and Bruce was puzzling over an equation in a hologram. Thor, Steve, and Sam were exchanging stories at the couch. Clint and Natasha were rapidly exchanging knives while sitting at opposite ends of the room. And Pepper and Maria were signing documents at the coffee table.

“I am now here and the party has started! Up up up people, we’re going out!” Darcy’s voice echoed cheerfully as she sashayed into the room.

The brunette moved towards Maria, “Tall, dark, and handsome Director Hill. I would like to propose an outing that we all clearly need. It’s a Friday and we’re boring!”

“That’s your argument?” Maria asks amused.

“Well, I already have a bar in mind. It’s good but kind of hidden too and I already talked to the owner so we’re going to be the only one there. I also agreed that they could have pictures with you guys, but only if they post it after we leave.”

Maria chuckles. “You really thought this through. Okay.”

“I know it’s - wait okay? I just made you agree with me this is the best day of my life.” Darcy clutched at her chest and faked swooning. Jane just shook her head fondly at her friend’s antics.

The three women fondly watched Darcy as she puttered around and started gathering the others. “We’re going karaoke! Avengers Assemble!”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

It hasn't even been an hour, but the video was already viral. Hours after the Avengers left the bar, Darcy posted a video of them singing karaoke. Naturally, anything related to the Avengers goes viral, but the difference is that this is the first time the Black Widow made her appearance. And what an entrance she did.

The people had always been curious about the mysterious Avenger. They know who she is, and sees her attend events like the others, but pictures and interactions are scarce. So when they saw a video of her singing, and a love song at that, it blew up. Gossip blogs already have their choice of romantic interest, and even news feeds deemed her performance as news worthy.

The video started with a panoramic shot of the bar, and a rowdy applause came from the boys when a redhead swaggered to the stage. Natasha Romanoff looked at someone behind the camera and roguishly winked.

Whoops were heard when the familiar fast-paced notes sounded in the air. Her grip on the mic was confident and she let her body playfully move.

She bobbed her head. Eyes closed and feeling playful.

Making my way downtown Walking fast paces pass And I’m homebound

The redhead’s mischievous gaze suddenly focused behind the camera.

Staring blankly ahead Just makin’ my way I’m makin’ a way through the crowd

And I need you. Natasha stretched her right arm forward.

And I miss you. She blew a kiss.

And now I wonder. The camera caught a hand darting forward and catching it. Just as Natasha smiled widely.

Darcy could be heard whispering an amazed, “oh my Thor they’re so cute!” and she swiveled the camera to take the others' reactions. Similar state of happiness and delight were seen as they cheer for their normally reserved friends.

An utterly soft smile was on Natasha’s face and everyone was just pushing and cheering because it’s the first time they saw that smile. Normally the couple would refrain from public displays of affection but they weren’t complaining. It was cute how the couple acts.

If I could fall into the sky Do you think time would pass me by Cause you know I’d walk a thousand miles If I could just see you… tonight.

The last line ended and everyone was still reeling, but the thundering hoots and applause followed immediately. Natasha bowed and smirked before strutting off the stage. The video cut, but not before catching the redhead smiling warmly at someone that the camera unfortunately didn't catch.

‘Cause you know I’d walk a thousand miles If I could just see you… tonight.

@darcygodtaser: If you’re as romantic as @n_romanoff, you can date me. But I think I’ll be waiting for a long time.

@muff_in: @n_romanoff oh my goddd what the fuck, I never thought someone's voice could make me melt into a puddle.

@bwcanrailme: can we talk about how @n_romanoff was totally singing for someone??? Can we have a hint who she's singing for @darcygodtaser

@redavengerlover: badass, avenger, and singer. Is there something @n_romanoff can't do?

@arrowbird: @redavengerlover @n_romanoff can't walk into corridors without bumping into walls when they smile at her.

@ironman3000: @redavengerlover @n_romanoff can't lift weights without dropping it on her foot because she saw them doing pull ups without a shirt.

@stevieamerica: @redavengerlover @n_romanoff can't walk properly on heels because she saw them in a tailored suit and tie.

@drgreen: @redavengerlover @n_romanoff can't stop smiling whenever she gets a good luck text from them

@thornir: @redavengerlover @n_romanoff THE LADY SPIDER SAW THEM IN ASGARDIAN ARMOR AND CANNOT SPEAK FOR 5 MINUTES

@itsbitsypuppy: I love how the avengers just exposed @n_romanoff that she's just like the rest of us mortals and gay panics too

@n_romanoff: Well I don't.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Another video was posted by Darcy and this one was even more viral than the previous one. And this time, everyone had absolutely gone wild. The speculations to whom the illustrious Black Widow was dating had finally been put to rest.

The revelation had sent everyone reeling. News feeds reported the event, and social media sites crashed due to the high amount of online traffic.

The video started with a beautiful view of a flower field. Purple, yellow, red, blue, you name it— there were 30 varieties of blooming tulips that filled the area. Behind the multitude of colors in the field is the extraordinarily green pine trees, and even farther is the snow-capped mountain — Mount Cheam.

An impressed whistle pierced the silent showcasing, and the camera flipped to show Darcy wearing a gray overcoat paired with a blue scarf.

“Beautiful right? But that’s not actually what we’re here for. We’re in Canada!”

“I don’t know where exactly but we were invited by our favorite blue-eyed commander because —” Darcy trailed off, lips pursing as she tried to remember.

Looking around, the brunette walked over to Steve, “Steve! Why are we here again? I can’t remember why.”

He scratched his head, “Pepper didn’t really give a reason. She just told us that Maria wanted us here.”

A voice off-camera caught their attention and Darcy looked straight at the lens, “Alright guys, that’s Pepper calling us.”

The team shuffled and stood at a distance, watching as Clint lead a blindfolded Natasha to the center of the field. He joined the rest and just sushed them when they saw Maria walking towards Natasha.

Excited murmurs came from the other Avengers.

“I think this is it.”

“You mean?”

“I think so.”

“Will we hear them?”

“Yeah, we set up a drone don’t worry about it. ”

A tall lean woman came into view and tapped Natasha on the shoulder, “Hey sweetheart, you can remove the blindfold now.”

Natasha looked around and the woman caught her hand to turn the redhead towards her, “Maria, our anniversary isn’t for a few months yet.”

Maria chuckled, and exhaled shakily, “I know. But that’s not why I’m doing this.”

She entwined the redhead’s hand in hers, “Nat. The first time we went here, we were just dating for a few months but I already knew we would last. Because when I look at you, I see a future with you by my side.”

Taking a deep breath, she put their entwined hands on her chest. Letting Natasha feel how fast her heart was beating. From the equally breathless look on the redhead's face, it looked like she already has an idea where this is going.

“Years have passed but it only cemented the fact that I want that future. So I’m standing here, in a field full of tulips because I’m deeply in love with you, Nat. And if you would let me, I’d like to love you for the rest of my life.”

“So…” Maria took out a jewelry box and got down on one knee, “Natasha Romanoff, will you marry me?”

Natasha was speechless. Staring wide-eyed at the kneeling woman.

Everybody held their breath, clutching each other in anticipation. Darcy was holding on to the phone so tight it shook.

An amazed, “Yes.”

“Yes?” Delight coated Maria’s voice.

Natasha let out a teary laugh, “Yes! Of course Masha!”

The video was no longer focused because Darcy jumped and hugged the others. Excited squeals and cheers erupted. Maria raised her hand to call them over. They ran towards the couple, hugging in celebration.

“This calls for a party!”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Accompanying the video is a group photo of the team with the newly engaged couple. Clint, Tony, Steve, Thor and Bruce was at Natasha’s right, beaming proudly like brothers. On Maria’s left is Pepper, Darcy, and Jane looking at the camera with broad smiles. As for Natasha and Maria, they were smiling so widely their eyes were sparkling.

@darcygodtaser: Congratulations to our beloved spider @n_romanoff and commander @off_hill ! They’re perfect for each other. They’ve got to be the most romantic people I know. Trust me, I’ve dated before.

@tap_me: OH MY GOD @n_romanoff is getting hitched!!! And to a woman! I think I’m in wonderland. Her fiancée @off_hill is so romantic, and fucking gorgeous even from afar.

@gaymer: The gays win!!!! Fuck the people who told us @n_romanoff was dating a man. @off_hill and @n_romanoff are lucky to have each other. Congratulations!

@spiderlover: Who’s taking which surname? Natasha Hill? Maria Romanoff? Romanoff-Hill? Hill-Romanoff. I HAVE TO KNOW @n_romanoff @off_hill

@n_romanoff: @off_hill I think Mrs. Maria Romanoff-Hill has a nice ring to it.

@off_hill: @n_romanoff As long as you marry me I don’t care what surname you pick.

Laying on their bed and content, Natasha nipped Maria’s jaw, “Damn it Hill, I thought you’d argue with me.”

Maria looked down with a raised brow, “Do you want me to argue with you?”

She shrugged, “Not really, but this is why I’m marrying you, you keep me on my toes.”

“Of course I keep you on your toes, how would you kiss me otherwise.” Maria giggled at her own joke.

Maria’s laughter stopped Natasha from retaliating. She gazed at the commander and couldn’t help but smile. She’s going to marry this amazing woman. She couldn’t wait.

#blackhillbingo21 #BHB21 #blackhill #natasha romanoff #maria hill #marvel women #marvel

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obeyme-kaidii-writes · 4 years

Text

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.”

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.

#gn!mc #poly mc #obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me mammon #obey me levi #mammon x mc x levi #levi x poly mc #mammon x poly mc #obey me fanfic #mammon fanfic #levi fanfic #obey me crack #levi crack #mammon crack

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ramblinganthropologist · 3 years

Text

MER Week 6 - Pets

Summary: Saren is the cutest little hamster in the world if you ask his owner. However, he is also territorial as fuck and he WILL bite. Grunt’s about to learn that one the hard way. Rule for the wise kid: don’t stick your finger in a hamster’s face.

---

“Shepard.”

“Grunt… hello there.”

Ok… he’d bite. Who brought Grunt up?

Honestly, Alistair was more than a little confused right then. He had expected once they got back to the shuttle that he and the young krogan wouldn’t see much of each other. After all, he was pretty sure he bored Grunt – except for that first time with the gun. Yet there he was, standing in the entrance to his quarters, looking rather uncomfortable.

Was he being punked?

“Still in the elevator, Grunt.”

Bo’s voice called from over his shoulder. Much like a good son would, he shuffled to the side to allow her entrance. Even as large as she was, she was a little on the small side compared to the krogan. That didn’t matter of course – she was well versed in taking them down. It was why she had gone 25-0 in the ring back on Omega.

Well, at least that answered who let him up. Still didn’t answer anything else, mind you. Alistair was left watching as Bo sidled past her son and entered into his quarters. Luckily for him, his sister was direct: whatever was on her mind, he’d hear about it soon enough.

She looked around the room for a second. “Surprised Mandibles isn’t up here. Aren’t you two planning to- “

“He had calibrations to run.” Alistair’s cheeks flushed as he rushed to cut her off. Grunt snickered behind her – asshole. “Anyway, what’s brought you two up here? Everything alright after Tuchanka?”

Nothing like a krogan puberty ritual to get the blood pumping after all. Alistair was going to be having nightmares about that thresher maw for weeks, and that was if he was lucky. On the bright side, he was pretty sure it counted as exposure therapy. That was fine by him; he hadn’t done his therapy homework yet and with his workload he doubted it would happen at all. His therapist was understanding, but she was also a stickler. At least he had something to turn in the next time he saw her.

Much to his surprise, Grunt looked uncomfortable. He shifted from foot to foot, eyes darting around. Dare he say it, but to him he almost looked embarrassed. Apparently, krogan could do that as well as anyone else.

“I could have just looked on the extranet, Shepard…”

Bo shook her head, clearly amused by this. “What’s better than a real-world example? You asked about him anyway.”

She turned back to Alistair. “Grunt wanted to meet Saren after hearing you talk so much about him. Is the little guy awake or do we have to come back later?”

…

“You want to meet Saren?”

His gaze slid from the embarrassed krogan teenager to the wall on the far left. Even before he looked, Alistair had known. He knew the sound of bedding shifting anywhere, practically heard it in his sleep. That alone made him get up and take the trip to what at one time had been an aquarium.

Good thing for him he hated fish – it was perfect to make a hamster enclosure out of.

The theme that month was jungle. Among the scattered green bedding and wood chews, he found a little ball of white sitting next to his food dish, digging through the contents. At the sound of his footsteps, two red eyes focused straight on him, and some food went right into well-adapted cheek pouches.

Saren was a practical hamster like that.

“Hey, little guy.” Alistair smiled as he opened the enclosure and put his hands flat. A few moments later, the hamster was climbing up to rest between his palms, just like they had trained to do. Then he was out, held close as the Spectre returned to his desk. “Someone wants to meet you if that’s ok.”

Saren of course didn’t answer – much as breeding had improved, sentience wasn’t on the list of traits – but his eyes were bright and he seemed calm enough as he sat there, chewing at a seed from his pouch. These were good hamster introduction traits, especially considering who the interested party was.

Grunt didn’t look too impressed though. He gave the hamster a rather blunt look, then glanced over at Bo. When he didn’t get the reaction, he might have been hoping for, it went from pink to red Shepard.

Talk about being in the hot seat.

“Is it supposed to be so small?”

Alistair chuckled as he stroked Saren’s tiny head with his thumb. “Well, the European wild varieties back on earth are much bigger, but they max out at about a foot long. Saren’s a Syrian male, so he’s a fairly decent size all things considered.”

Grunt probably didn’t care about most of that – it wasn’t exactly new. However, his eyes never left the hamster. Saren either hadn’t noticed or didn’t care; he was too busy on chewing away at his seed to pay attention to the krogan. It was a feeling Alistair knew well.

He loved the little guy, but sometimes he ran hot and cold with affection.

“If you want to see him up close, come over slowly. Hamsters are prey animals, so he’s easily spooked.”

Much to his surprise, Grunt listened. He approached the desk slowly, eyes never leaving the small ball of fur in his commanding officer’s hands. He was interested, even if he wasn’t showing it on his face. No surprises there – kids loved hamsters, didn’t matter the species or the fact they were born fully grown and ready to kill. They just did.

“Why did you name it Saren?”

Now Alistair was chuckling again as he watched the hamster continue to chew. “You’re going to have to ask Bo about that, she’s the one who got him for me.”

Bo’s answer came quickly as she observed the introduction. “They said he was a biter and ate a cage mate. Made me think of the real Saren.”

Well, made sense he supposed…

“They eat each other?” Grunt’s tone was definitely more interested with that. Now they were getting somewhere. “That means they fight.”

Alistair nodded as he made sure Saren stayed in his hands. “Yep. They’re fiercely territorial. It’s why you have to house them separately. Hamsters kept together can fight, sometimes to the death even. This little guy had some healed scars when I got him, so he’s been through it. I guess Omega and the Citadel gift shop share husbandry tendencies…”

His voice trailed off. Grunt hadn’t taken his eyes off Saren the entire time he had been talking. There was curiosity there and a raw interest. That made the Spectre smile as he slowly brought his hands within range, eyeing his hamster’s body language the entire time.

“You can say hello if you want, he’s pretty calm right now.”

To his credit, the krogan didn’t retreat. However, there was some definite anxiety there. He briefly glanced back at Bo, and then he returned to keeping his eyes on Saren. Finally, he managed a brief nod and came a little closer.

“Do I just stick my hand out?” A finger got a little too close to Saren. Before Alistair could warn him, the hamster eyed it and did what he always did when someone got into his space without proper caused. Tiny teeth were soon chomped down hard in the classic signs of hamster bite.

It probably wouldn’t hurt a krogan, mind you. They were tough.

“Grunt, don’t pull your hand away. He’ll go with you and he’ll fall.”

The krogan shot Saren a dirty look as he watched the hamster bite down. “That does nothing to me, rodent.”

Saren, naturally, didn’t care. Alistair’s hands were part of his territory. More importantly, Grunt was big and round. Honestly, he wouldn’t have been surprised if the hamster thought he was an overgrown member of his species. Add a little fur, and he could honestly see it. He’d never say that of course – Wrex would hate it.

“He’s just defending what’s his. All he has is his teeth.” Alistair kept his voice level as he gently rubbed the hamster’s head with his thumb. “Come on, buddy, he’s not going to hurt you. You can let go now.”

After a few more moments, Saren let go. He went back to his abandoned seed, but his eyes never left the krogan. Grunt was in a similar mood, eyeing up the hamster with a rather brutal gaze. At least he had the good sense to take his hand back, the offended digit tucked away.

Bo’s voice carried over the chaos. “So… what did you learn, Grunt?”

“Don’t stick my finger in an animal’s face…”

There was a definite sulk to his tone. It was strangely cute, in a weird sort of way. Meanwhile, Alistair was just glad he hadn’t pulled back. Saren may have trusted him, but he would’ve gone for a ride. Then he would’ve had to eject Grunt out the airlock if anything happened.

Was he biased towards his hamster? Absolutely.

“It’s his way of making sure his space is safe. I used to get bit a lot when we were establishing ground rules.” He stood, crossing the room to return Saren to his enclosure in case he was overwhelmed. Much to his surprise, Saren didn’t burrow under the substrate as he often did to hide his food. Instead, he stayed on top, eyeing Grunt. “Huh… how about that.”

Grunt gave Saren the exact same look. “Your hamster’s hungry for battle.”

In another surprise, the krogan smirked. “Shepard was right, Saren is appropriate for a warship.”

Well… there was a stamp of approval he hadn’t seen coming. Maybe pigs would start flying…

Alistair at least managed a nod. “He’s territorial, it’s part of the breed.”

“Don’t sell the little guy short, he took a krogan on full force.” Bo was definitely amused as she surveyed Grunt’s finger. There was a definite scuff there – Saren had left his mark. “Damn, little guy bit down hard. The hell are you feeding him, concrete?”

Oh… just lab block, some seeds, extra protein if the mix didn’t come up right…

“He’s got a nasty bite; I’ll give him that.” And he was also done with the room – Saren was soon digging back under the substrate. “He’ll be out for a while; he has food to hide and some sleep to catch up on.”

His gaze found Grunt soon after. “Well, I hope he lived up to your expectations. If you want to come visit again, just let me know.”

“As long as you don’t try to convert him to the gospel of hamster.”

He made no promises there. Anyone who could be swayed, he would sway. That’s what it meant to have a hamster as cute as Saren.

Still, at least Grunt didn’t seem too upset about the bite as he nodded. Maybe it had taught him not to fuck with small animals -a win in his book. At any rate, it felt as though things were ending.

“I might.” And then he was heading to the door. Soon he was gone, leaving Bo and Alistair alone. As soon as he was out of hearing range, the larger of the two Shepards slumped down on his cough, doing her best not to laugh.

She did alright, but he failed miserably.

“God, that was fucking adorable.” Alistair wiped a tear from his eye as he chuckled. “I mean, apart from when I thought Grunt was going to toss my hamster.”

Bo nodded, snickering a little. “Yeah, he’s been wanting to come up for a while but he couldn’t figure out how to ask you. I agreed to be a buffer after it took him a half hour to spit it out. You might have just converted him to the dark side.”

Apparently, he was a sith now. Just because his face glowed red…

But still. Alistair nodded as he glanced back at the enclosure. He could see Saren’s tail from a gap in the bedding – he was pressed against the glass, no doubt making himself comfortable for a long nap. He’d had a long day after all – he’d just taken on a krogan.

“I think if he’s a little slower next time, they’ll get along just fine. Maybe I’ll give him a couple seeds to try.”

Baby steps, after all. Rome wasn’t built in a day and becoming friends with a hamster was just as detailed and complex. If Grunt put the effort in, he could see them getting along great. Hell, he might even get a new Saren sitter out of it.

He needed one of those. His normal ones went on missions went with him half the time.

“Thanks for letting him try. I knew Saren would be tough enough to handle him, little dude’s from Omega after all.”

Terminus system, born and bred – it was in his DNA. He’d never be as sweet as some hamsters, but that was part of his charm. It made their moments together even more special in his mind, honestly. He’d managed to get an Omega resident to let him pet him – that was a win in his book.

“Just let me know the next time he wants to come up.” Alistair returned to his desk – he still had work to do. “Now, unless you want to work on these reports…”

And just like that, he was alone as Bo beat a quick retreat out the door. He shook his head, chuckling once more as he went back to his reports. Still, he kept an eye on the glass enclosure across from him. Somewhere inside, the toughest hamster Omega ever bred was enjoying his rest. Maybe he was dreaming of fighting krogan, who knew?

One thing was for sure – they had definitely started on Grunt’s conversion to the dark side. Excellent. He had wanted an apprentice one day.

#ramblinganthropologist's writing #merweek2021 #Alistair Shepard #Bo Peep Shepard #grunt mass effect #Saren the space hamster

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clumsyclifford · 3 years

Note

you said i should say less about new ace content in general and i immediately understood that as say more so please gimme some ace stuff and please make it fluffy. i don't particularly care about the pairing but i'm always down for lashton and/or malum but any atl ship works for me as well so like just do your thing i guess wow that was a useless sentence this messy ask is further proof that i should go to sleep so bye love you!! -fiancee

well i ran with ace lashton in an interesting way i hope you enjoy it this is not based on real life but maybe it could be. in a better world it is. that’s all i’ll say about that, i hope you like it

read here on ao3

Luke likes going to the movies. He likes staying home and having a home-cooked meal. He likes quiet, simple, intimate activities.

He does not like parades.

“But it’s Pride,” Ashton wheedles. “D.C. Pride! One of the biggest pride events in the country!”

“You made that up, and I don’t care,” says Luke. “I don’t want to go. I don’t like parades.”

“It’s not really a parade.”

“Also not true.”

“Okay, but it’s not about the parade, it’s about the gathering,” Ashton says, gently shaking Luke. “It’s about a bunch of queer people all coming together and uniting in one space. Celebrating our differences and our similarities. Celebrating community.”

“That’s beautiful,” Luke says. Ashton looks hopeful. “Still no.”

Ashton huffs. “I don’t wanna go alone.”

“Go with Michael and Calum,” Luke suggests. “I’m sure they’d love for you to tag along.”

“And third-wheel all day? No thanks.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” Luke says, and carries on setting the table for dinner. If his mum comes home to a half-set table, the blame will fall on Luke, of course. Ashton takes the cue and begins laying out plates.

It’s quiet for a moment. Luke can tell Ashton is trying to come up with a way to convince him to go to Pride, but it won’t work. Luke’s avoided Pride for seventeen years. He doesn’t intend to start now. Staying at home with his boyfriend and watching Rent is about as much as Luke cares to celebrate Pride Month. Maybe they’ll make out a little. Standards are low.

“Okay, how about this,” Ashton says, and Luke sighs deeply. “No, hear me out. And keep an open mind, okay? Think about compromise.”

“I’m listening.”

“What if we go before the parade starts?”

Luke frowns. “Then what would be the point?”

“There will still be people there,” Ashton says. “But it won’t be nearly as many people, and the festivities won’t really be happening yet, so we can still say we went to Pride but we won’t get caught up in the whole big thing.”

“But I thought you wanted the whole big thing.”

“Ah, whatever,” Ashton says, waving him off. “I’d rather go with you than see the parade alone.”

Luke feels bad. It’s obviously important to Ashton, or else he’d have given up already on trying to make Luke go. And as much as Luke knows he shouldn’t feel obliged to prioritize Ashton’s wishes over his own comfort, this makes him want to.

Compromise. “Okay,” Luke says. “Fine.”

Ashton blinks. “Really?”

“Did you think that wouldn’t work?”

“I—” Ashton’s face breaks into a smile. “I don’t know, not really, to be honest. Really? You’ll come?”

“Yes,” Luke says, and the delight in Ashton’s face makes up for the dread pooling in Luke’s stomach.

Ashton shuffles around the table and presses a warm kiss to Luke’s cheek. “Thank you,” he says, warmth also bleeding into his voice. “I’m excited. You’re gonna like it.”

Probably not, but Luke keeps that thought to himself. He doesn’t need to rain on any more of Ashton’s parades.

Luke and Ashton are excited about Dupont Circle for different reasons. Ashton is basically vibrating out of his seat on the Metro as they approach their stop, where the parade is slated to begin at half past noon. It’s only eleven now, but that doesn’t seem to matter to Ashton. He seems confident that there will be enough Pride to satisfy his excitement without overwhelming Luke.

Luke’s just looking forward to the Krispy Kreme at the station.

They take the escalator out, and sure enough, there’s Krispy Kreme to the left. Luke grabs Ashton’s hand and yanks him towards the shop.

“Seriously? We’re at D.C. Pride and your priority is donuts?” Ashton says, but he allows Luke to tug him along until they’re at the door.

Luke turns to him and very seriously says, “Ashton, my priority is always donuts.”

“Yeah, that’s fair, I walked into that one,” Ashton mutters as they enter the store.

Five minutes and two donuts later, both of them exit, Luke munching contentedly on a strawberry-frosted donut (with sprinkles, of course) and Ashton carefully biting into his jelly-filled one.

“Okay, starting now, we’re at Pride, and you can’t be a Negative Nancy,” Ashton declares.

“I promise not to be a Negative Nancy,” Luke vows. “I swear on this donut.”

Ashton beams. “Yay! Okay let’s go explore.”

You’d think this was Ashton’s first Pride for how excited he gets over everything. He stops at almost every stand, even though they’re all selling different versions of the same thing, and somehow manages to spark up conversation with any passing person who looks queer and interesting. Luke loves this about Ashton, how charming and outgoing he is, how he could befriend a vaguely human-shaped plant. People are drawn to him; Luke’s no exception. Ashton is very much the main character, even more so because he doesn’t seem to know it. He's just Ashton, and Luke loves him for it. Even when it means the halo of Ashton’s spotlight draws attention to Luke by extension.

Luke is not a charming, outgoing person. Luke is quiet and reserved. He’s never cared for the spotlight. Sometimes it’s a good thing that he has Ashton to pull him out of his shell a little. Sometimes he wilts under the scrutiny. It's a toss-up, but Luke appreciates that Ashton never stops trying.

Most of the tables selling merch boast shirts, hats, flags — the kind of thing you’d wear or own if you wanted to be loud and proud about your identity. Luke’s not really that kind of person. Luke’s way of coming out is to subtly slip into the conversation the fact that he has a boyfriend. Before he had a boyfriend, it pretty much never came up. Big, colorful flags have never been his cup of tea.

And anyway, that’s only half of his identity. The other half never comes up, and Luke’s okay with that. It’s not like being ace is the kind of thing you can casually mention. It has to be a whole thing, every time, and Luke doesn’t want to deal with the whole thing, so he just doesn’t bother. Most of the time it doesn’t really matter. As much as Luke is able to fly under the radar, that’s what he intends to do.

“Hey, pins!”

Ashton is not like that.

“Luke, you like pins, right?”

The table they’ve stopped at is covered end-to-end with pins. Enamel or plastic, every single pride flag Luke has ever seen in his life is represented here, in a variety of shapes and sizes. The kaleidoscopic display is fun to look at, at least. There’s nobody behind the table at the moment, which means in theory it would be pretty easy to steal one, but Luke’s not like that, and even if he was he wouldn’t feel good stealing a pride pin from a small-business owner.

“I don’t really have an opinion,” says Luke.

“Ha,” Ashton says. “O-pin-ion. Haha.”

“I’m leaving you,” Luke says, turning away with a wry grin.

“No, come back.” Ashton grabs his wrist and pulls him closer, so Luke wraps an arm around his waist and rests his head on Ashton’s shoulder instead. “I like pins. They’re a very understated way of coming out.”

“Having a boyfriend is an understated way of coming out,” Luke replies.

"I resent you calling me understated," Ashton says in faux-indignance. Luke giggles.

“I’m so sorry, I had to run and grab some water,” says a voice, as a person bustles around them to stand behind the table. Their pink fringe is pushed back by a bandana and they’re wearing a jean jacket with so many pins and patches that the fabric is practically invisible. A sticker on the front pocket of the jacket introduces them as Alex, he/they :). “Can I help you with anything?”

“Just admiring the collection,” Ashton says brightly. “I love your jacket.”

“Thank you very much,” says Alex. “It’s been accumulating pins for about five years now.”

“Damn,” Ashton says, wolf-whistling. “That’s a good collection. I don’t have a good jacket for pins.”

“Wish I could tell you where I got mine, but it was a gift from my boyfriend,” Alex says. “I’ve heard thrifting is a good way to go.”

“You wanna go thrifting, Luke?” Ashton says, nudging Luke, who shrugs.

“Sure,” he says. He reaches for one of the asexual flag pins, a small enamel rectangle, and smoothes his thumb over the surface. “These are pretty nice.”

“You should buy it,” Ashton says. “Start a cool jacket. Then we could be matching.”

“You don’t have a cool jacket yet.”

“I know, but we could.”

“But neither of us have a cool jacket. So it’s not even—”

“Fine, ruin my fun,” Ashton harrumphs. To Alex, who’s watching them with amusement, Ashton says, “So how long have you and your boyfriend been together?”

“Oh, uh…” Alex’s gaze diverts to the air like he’s counting invisible numbers. “Six years? Almost? I think it’s gonna be six years in July.”

“Six years,” Ashton repeats in mild awe. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah, high school sweethearts, blah blah blah,” Alex says, smiling. They shrug. “Everyone thought we’d break up when we went to college, but when you know, you know. You know?”

Luke swallows. Ashton says, “Good for you. That’s impressive.”

“I like to think so,” Alex says. “What about you? Are you guys together?” He winces. “Should I not have asked that? I’m sorry, to be honest this is Jack’s business, I’m just running the stand because he wanted to go look around a little before the parade started. My boyfriend Jack, I mean. Sorry.”

“No, no, it’s all good,” Ashton says. He hip-checks Luke gently, which Luke takes to mean something like is it cool if I tell him? It’s nice that Ashton is asking, but Luke had kind of figured everyone would assume they were together because, you know, Pride, so he doesn’t really care.

“Yeah,” he says. “For, what, eight months?”

“Eight months,” Ashton confirms.

Alex grins. “That’s great, I love it. What are your names?”

“Ashton,” says Ashton. “He/him.”

“Luke. Also he/him.”

“It’s nice to meet you guys,” Alex says. “I’m Alex. He/they.”

“Yeah, your thing says,” Luke says, pointing.

Alex laughs. “You’d be surprised how many people don’t see it. Or they see it and think it’s just another decorative pin.”

“Do people wear pronoun pins as decorations?” Luke wonders. “That seems strange to me.”

“People are ineffable,” Alex says solemnly. Then he grins. Luke likes Alex. In fact, little though Luke’s actually spoken today, he likes most of the people whom Ashton has stopped to chat up. Queer people are so friendly, is what Luke is learning. It almost makes him happy to be here.

Except now Alex’s words are ringing in Luke’s head, and he can’t stop hearing them. Everyone thought we’d break up when we went to college, but when you know, you know.

Ashton’s going to college this fall. Luke’s managed to forget about that fact because it’s only June, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Ashton’s leaving and Luke’s going to finish his senior year alone and what if something happens to them? What if they’re fooling themselves thinking they can do the long-distance thing? What if they’re doomed already and this summer is just prolonging the inevitable?

“Well, personally I would love to buy a pin,” Ashton says. “Luke, choose one.”

“What?” Luke says, blinking himself out of his spiral. “Why?”

“I’m buying you one,” Ashton says.

“I don’t—” Luke bites his lip. He’s still fidgeting with the ace flag pin, and he kind of likes it. Maybe he can subtly come out in different ways. Maybe he can just wear it, and wait for someone to ask. Then it’s way less of a big deal because it’s not like Luke has brought it up.

There’s enough shame in the world. Luke doesn’t need to add to it.

“Okay,” he says instead. He holds up the ace flag. “This one.”

“Great choice,” Ashton says, digging out a five to give to Alex. He hesitates, then pulls out a ten instead. “Actually, maybe I’ll also get one. Then we can actually match.”

“Right, with our matching jackets that don’t exist yet.”

“You know what, fine, we don’t have to match.” Ashton makes a face at Luke. “You can put your pin on whatever you want. It’ll go great with your all-black closet.”

“Shut up,” Luke grumbles. Ashton laughs.

“Hey, don’t knock the all-black,” Alex says. “Black is the new black. It’s fashion forward.”

“Not in eighty-degree June it’s not,” Ashton says.

“It’s seventy-five,” Luke protests. “And Alex is wearing a jacket!”

“Yes, but Alex is not my boyfriend, and we only just met,” Ashton says, grinning. “Also, their jacket is sick as fuck.”

“It is sick as fuck,” Alex agrees. “But I’m still siding with Luke here. You can’t go wrong with all-black.” For the first time, he seems to register Luke’s shirt, and his eyes light up. “Hey, Green Day! I fucking love Green Day!”

“You should be my best friend,” Luke says seriously, and Alex nods equally seriously.

“Hey,” Ashton complains. “I like Green Day.”

“Thank you for the pin,” Luke tells Alex. “Good luck with the, uh, you know, selling more of them.”

“Of course, anytime,” Alex says. “I’m pretty sure there’s a website on these business cards if you ever want to, I don’t know, browse?” They shrug one shoulder. “This is why I’m not a small business owner.”

“Cool,” Luke says, taking the card. He probably won’t use it, but you never know.

“Nice to meet you, Alex,” Ashton says, as he and Luke start to walk away, fingers interlaced between them. “Good luck! Happy Pride!”

“You too! Enjoy the parade!” Alex says, waving.

Luke doesn't bother to inform him they're not staying that long; he and Ashton turn away and continue walking, Luke with his new pin clutched in his fist.

“They were cool,” Ashton says enthusiastically. “There are so many fucking interesting people here. God, I love Pride.”

Luke grips the pin tighter. The pointy back starts to hurt where it’s pressing into his palm. “Yeah.”

“Thanks for letting me get you something,” Ashton says. “I know it’s not really your thing, but I don’t know. I felt like we should buy something after we stood there for so long.”

“No, yeah, I agree.”

“On the bright side, they’re pretty cool pins.” Ashton holds his out like he’s assessing what he’ll do with it. “Maybe Michael has an extra jean jacket he never wears. I could ask him.”

Luke hums. Ashton glances over at him, eyebrows drawn together. “Are you okay?”

Luke's not supposed to say anything like this. He’s supposed to be positive because he promised he wouldn’t be a “Negative Nancy” and the sky is so blue that Luke would hate to be the reason for rain, but if he doesn’t say it then it’ll just keep ringing around his head until he can’t think about anything else.

“You’re not scared we’re gonna break up when you go to college?” he blurts out.

Ashton stops short and their hands break apart so Luke’s falls to his side. “Where’d that come from?”

“You heard Alex,” Luke says. “Everyone thought he and his boyfriend would break up when they went to college.”

“But they didn’t,” Ashton says.

“But that’s obviously unusual,” Luke counters. He swallows hard. “I’m just saying…aren’t you worried?”

Ashton tilts his head. “Do you want me to be worried?”

And yeah, a little part of Luke does. Only because if Ashton’s worried, it means he values their relationship enough that it would hurt him to lose it. But Luke knows that’s not really fair, and he knows Ashton loves him, even if he doesn’t seem worried at all.

“No, I don’t know. I just— I don’t know.”

“Are you?”

“I don’t know,” Luke says again. “I had pretty successfully managed to avoid thinking about it, but now…I don’t know.”

Ashton gently pries open Luke’s fist and runs his thumb over the red imprint the pin has left. Sheepish, Luke puts the pin in his pocket. As soon as his hand is free again, Ashton takes it, holding both of Luke’s hands in both of his own.

“I’m not worried,” he says quietly. His eyes are so sincere and his hands are so soft and Luke loves him and likes him and knows that to lose him would be a fate worse than death. “You must have missed the other half of Alex’s sentence. Remember? When you know, you know.”

Luke’s breath catches a little. “Yeah, but…”

“But what?” Ashton lifts a shoulder. “I already know, Luke. I’m in it for the long haul. So unless you meet some other guy who’s even awesomer than me and makes better puns, you have nothing to worry about. I’m not letting you get away that easy.”

Luke gazes at Ashton until the rest of the world falls away. “Oh,” he breathes.

“Okay?” Ashton quirks a smile.

Luke surges forward and kisses Ashton for as long as he can manage without passing out. It’s clumsy and sweet and Ashton’s hands tighten around Luke’s waist and Luke wraps his arms around Ashton’s shoulders and nothing else in the known universe matters except this.

When they finally break apart, Luke cracks a smile. “Okay.”

Ashton beams. He offers his hand to Luke again, and this time Luke takes it and doesn’t let go.

#luke hemmings #ashton irwin #lashton #lashton fic #5sos #5sos fic #fic #my fic #idk when im gonna post this but at the time of drafting it i am So Fucking Tired #i cant imagine that will be less true when i finally post it lol #i feel like im constantly tired lmao #but right now its 1am and i wanted to be asleep or like getting ready to sleep like.......an hour ago #and then i made a cup of tea instead #it's july 23rd (it's july 22nd but it's past midnight so. 23rd)#and i want sleep!#after i save this post to my drafts tho im gonna go start getting ready for bed #maaaaaaaaaan im tired #night yall #oh i hope you like this fiancee it occurred to me while writing that its hard to write an Ace Fic unless its about the Being Ace #which is not something i care to write about #usually characters just........are ace #so this fic plot was borne (born?) of that dilemma #ask #anonymous #fiancee anon #ETA i just woke up twelve minutes ago but fiancee said now so you get this now

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a-dorin · 4 years

Text

it takes two to tango

pairing: professor!obi-wan kenobi x female reader

word count: 1.5k

warnings: professor/student relationship, unprofessionalism, flirting, cursing, age gap, love triangle(maybe?), allusions to sex, mentions of oral

a/n: hellooooo! this is a little blurb or oneshot based off my ardor au, featuring professor!maul as well as other characters in college! for some context, this idea stemmed from this post linked here! i hope you guys enjoy! :))

read the first chapter of ardor here!

“welcome to writing foundations. i am professor kenobi, but i go by an array of names. you can refer to me as obi-wan, obi, or ben. if you’d like, you can just keep the professor kenobi. it makes things a little easier and maintains the professionalism.”

letting out a quiet sigh, you fidgeted in your seat, chin resting in one hand, the other absentmindedly brushing over the keys of your laptop. your phone rested on your lap, vibrating every few minutes or so with a variety of notifications.

however, one notification in particular caught your attention, pulling your focus away from the professor.

it was a text from your boyfriend, flashing across the face of your apple watch.

i miss seeing your gorgeous face in class. :’( maybe i should’ve failed you so you were forced to retake the course. just kidding! or am i? ;)

upon reading the message the corner of your lips tugged into a shy grin, hands flying to your phone to respond.

“am i really that boring? or, is that text too important for you to focus?”

the inquiry was laced with scorn, your cheeks flushing as your eyes traveled upwards, focusing on the front of the classroom. professor kenobi arched a brow, his arms folded across his chest, a frown etched across his features.

“well?”

giggles erupted from several of the freshmen, the sound bouncing off the walls. reluctantly, you set your phone face down on the desk, “sorry.”

“i expect your undivided attention for the rest of the period,” he retorted, “i do not tolerate any disrespect directed towards my time in lecture. that does include texting, snapping, and sleeping in class. i will not hesitate to take your phone either.”

“i said i was sorry,” you gritted your teeth, your jaw clenching as the laughter continued, “you can proceed, professor kenobi.”

“i’m glad we’re both on the same page,” he rolled his eyes, plucking a marker off the tray, “now i’m going to write down my contacts on the whiteboard here. feel free to utilize my email at your leisure. i am aware of how some professors feel about giving out their numbers, but i have the utmost confidence that you all won’t abuse your texting privileges. well, maybe not all of you.”

fiddling with your laptop, you pulled up a new document for some notes. although you sure that professor kenobi wasn’t going to dive straight into lecture, who knew what his next move entailed.

already, you understood why maul was not fond of the professor. his aura was cold yet witty, and a bit pretentious. well, he was warm and kind, spitting out a few jokes here and there. that was until he caught you typing out a text. maybe that was just one of his pet peeves.

or maybe he was just an asshole, like maul said.

to your right, there were a couple of twi’leks scribbling away on the syllabus, copying what was written on the board. although you were a seat away, you could make out a few breathy giggles and hushed murmurs.

“maker he is so hot.”

at the comment, your eyes shifted towards the english professor. for the first day of class, he was donned in a tweed jacket, the color a darker, more chocolate brown, with beige patches on the elbows. the jacket was paired with a pair of khaki slacks, the glitter of a chain dangling from his pocket. it was more than likely a pocket watch.

he was average in stature, with a pale complexion. from your guess, he was a younger professor, somewhere in his late thirties, early forties. sure, although he was older, he had a handsome face. and the auburn beard only enhanced his features, complementing the icy blue hue of his eyes.

that was one of the first noticeable aspects of professor kenobi. his eyes were a brilliant color, bursting with emotion and shining with warmth as he welcomed you into the classroom.

yet, his first impression was nowhere near maul’s.

“i wish he would yell at me in class like he did with that girl.”

“be quiet or she’ll hear you!”

“now,” professor kenobi cleared his throat, smoothing out his coat, “i want to take the last twenty-five minutes to discuss your first assignment. don’t worry, it’ll only take me a few minutes to explain it then you’ll have the rest of the time to work. for your assignment, i want you to write about someone important in your life. i would like to hear what you find admirable about them, along with a few of their quirks. it can be anyone: a relative, friend, or significant other. the paper should be three paragraphs: an introduction of your chosen person, a body with an explanation of why you admire them, and then a conclusion. how you craft the conclusion is up to you.”

a hand shot up in the air, prompting a question. professor kenobi’s brow furrowed, “yes?”

the twi’lek to your right cleared her throat, “can it be a member of the faculty on campus?”

“it can be anyone of your choice. it can be a celebrity for all i care,” he chuckled, “the assignment is an assessment of your writing capabilities. it’s so that i can see where everyone is at.”

another student raised their hand, professor kenobi’s voice drowning in your ears. clicking on the title tab, you began to formulate a title for your paper, biting your lip as your mind buzzed.

who would you write your paper about? well, your mind was gravitating towards one individual. a crimson zabrak.

but would that jeopardize everything? would kenobi be able to read in between the lines? surely not. they were professors in vastly different departments. surely they rarely crossed paths.

“are you going to write about professor maul?” the twi’lek’s friend teased her, “if you do, you better hope that his girlfriend never finds it!”

“he has a girlfriend?” her companion snorted, “i was in his class this morning and he never mentioned any girlfriend.”

“there’s rumors going on all over campus. he has a girlfriend, but he won’t give anyone her name or even a picture. the only picture anyone knows about is the wallpaper on his macbook. i guess it’s just really private to him.”

the blush in your cheeks only deepened by their comments, your heart fluttering. was the entire campus really creating rumors about maul? and why did everyone care so much?

yet, the sound of his voice ringing across the class ceased your eavesdropping.

“now, i am sure this is the statement you all have been waiting for: class is dismissed. i will be sticking around for a few minutes if any of you have any questions.”

with no hesitations, students sprang to their feet, a flurry of chatter swirling all around you as they filed out of the classroom. plucking your laptop off the table, you placed it into the its case, shoving it in your book-bag. the twi’leks next to you flashed you a meek smile, shouldering past your seat.

“you know, you’re quite distracting.”

your lips pursed as your head swiveled towards the front of the class, “excuse me?”

“i’m not going to repeat myself,” professor kenobi shuffled some papers together, filing them into his satchel, “by the way, you need to watch your tone. i don’t like brats in my classoom.”

your breath hitched in your throat, “w-what? i’m not a brat.”

“yes you are,” kenobi fired back, “blatantly disrespecting your professor like that? i’m afraid that’s bratty behavior, love, and i don’t like it.”

“well i’m afraid it’s not going to happen again.”

you nearly couldn’t process what was happening. although he was putting up a tough exterior, the words stern, his tone said otherwise. it was light, laced with a tease.

was he flirting with you?

“good,” he nodded, “because i have a tendency to punish bratty students.”

“i--” your throat tightened, “oh my--”

“by the way,” he crossed over to the table where you were situated, a smirk plastered across his features, “you have gorgeous eyes, (y/n). i never noticed until now, but your sweater complements them. now, you should head out. you have other classes, don’t you? i look forward to seeing you in lecture tomorrow. oh, and you better watch that pretty little mouth of yours.”

within seconds, he was out the door, leaving you stunned in your chair.

the confrontation had your cheeks burning, your mouth dry.

not only did you happen to capture the attention of one professor on the first day of class, but you managed to do it twice.

yet, what professor kenobi didn’t know was that there was a certain zabrak in his office, awaiting your arrival in a matter of minutes.

and what professor kenobi didn’t seem to grasp was one singular aspect about a relationship.

it always takes two to tango.

at the moment, he was the only one expressing interest.

tomorrow though, who knew what he would do or say.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

tagged: @shannon-odonovan @maulieber @snips-n-skyguy0501 @calamity-queen @anakinswhore @justalittlecloud @pascalz @hounding-around @sasurah @laorme34 @littlevodika

#ardor: a professor maul au #professor!maul #professor!kenobi #ardor #star wars au #obi wan #obi wan kenobi

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itawonka-creates · 4 years

Text

This Jewelry Will End Up Killing Me - Chapter 3

[Prologue] [Ch2] [Ch 4]

Damian didn’t know what mask he should put on. Servants rushed behind him, answering every request and whim that the residents of the manor threw at them. If this was a business dinner, he’d normally stay quiet and ignore the jargon thrown about the room. If this was a dinner with the titans, he’d do much of the same to avoid a headache and only talk when addressed. In both cases, even if he was cold they wouldn’t be able to kick him out.

Looking around, he found an odd mix of both cases. Lord Bourgeois had his own guest, sitting at the far end of the long table discussing taxes and laws. Papers were scattered around their dishes as they ate and talked to each other. However, on his end, it was more so reminiscent of the tower. Alya and Nino were clearly becoming somewhat inebriated by the wine. Marinette and Adrien were doing their best to keep them under control. Chloe was sitting in the middle, not appearing to be part of either world.

He wanted to make a good impression if only to lengthen his stay while he figures out his next step. Damian wasn’t the personable type, but staying quiet would likely sour his image with the family. While trying to decide which group was easiest to approach, he overheard Lord Bourgeois. “-ising the taxes would be beneficial to the growth of the economy.” Considering the bakery had a fair amount of customers when they dropped off their clothes, he couldn’t imagine that the debt came from lack of business.

“Sir, with all due respect the people are restless with the taxes as it is.”

“The people have to understand that the Demon King’s terrorism costs the city thousands in repair costs. Adventurers and travelers only bring in so much income. What we need is-”

“Have you tried looking at the current budget?”

Both men looked up at Damian who simply shrugged, “Perhaps looking at the current budget would shine some light on current liable expenses.”

The man looked at Lord Bourgeois and pointed at Damian, “Who’s this?”

Bourgeois narrowed his eyes, “As far as we know, a young lord from a land called Gotham.”

“Never heard of it.”

Damian sighed and set down his fork, “Do you have a copy of your town’s current expenses? I can help look them over.”

The man looked at Bourgeois for permission and Bourgeois nodded, “Go ahead, Roger.” Roger gathered the papers and handed them over to Damian. Damian shuffled through them, looking at its contents and humming. Roger chuckled, “It can be complex. You know, you can hand those back t-”

“It’s true that travelers and adventures, the number of places they could spend their money is severely limited. There are only one or two blacksmiths and weapons dealers. You have a grand market of clothing and food, that’s not enough to make a sustainable profit. You need an attraction or a larger variety of goods. If you choose the second option, then you’d need to make sure there are fair prices on all wares, but you can allow higher prices on rare goods you can only find within the city or surrounding area.”

Damian seemed almost bored as he continued to shuffle through the reports, “Expenses on the city’s infrastructure is significantly high. Someone is skimming revenue from the taxes meant for rebuilding. This amount of Tikki should be enough to sustain a village, so you’re overtaxing your people and being scammed.” Damian handed Roger back the papers and waved his hand dismissively, “Just look at your city’s council members and see if any of them have recently made any big purchases. You’ll catch them.”

Both men simply blinked, disbelief written on their faces as Roger looked over at Lord Bourgeois. “What do you think?”

Bourgeois seemed to be embarrassed at the whole thing as he forcefully coughed in a feeble attempt to clear the tension. “Yes, well, Roger see to it that you investigate this matter at once. If anyone is taking advantage of the people’s hard work they must be severely punished.”

Roger wiped the corners of his mouth and saluted, “Right. Thank you for the dinner, sir.”

Roger scurried off and Lord Bourgeois narrowed his eyes at Damian, “So where did you-”

“My family has trained me to be proficient in various skills and trades. Economics is child’s play.”

Bourgeois hummed, seemingly satisfied with the answer before resuming eating. “Well, thank you for your input, Damian.”

Damian shrugged and finished the last bite of his meal, “It was nothing.”

Chloe scoffed and mumbled, “Sure it wasn’t.”

Adrien took notice of Chloe’s cold shoulder and peeled himself away from Nino, “Hey, Chloe-”

Chloe shied away from his reach and she sighed, “I’m exhausted. I’m going to my room.” Chloe looked up at a nearby servant and grabbed his arm, “Make sure our guests are treated well.” The servant nodded and she excused herself. Lord Bourgeois tried to call his daughter over for a kiss goodnight but was ignored as she left the dining hall.

Adrien went back to Nino and positioned himself where he could stabilize Nino as he stood up. “I think we’re all done with dinner for tonight. It was lovely.” He grunted as Nino pushed all his weight onto his friend, chuckling and slurring his little comments. “Yeah, I know Nino. You’re going to hate yourself tomorrow.”

“Damian? A little help?” He looked over and watched as Marinette struggled to stand up straight with Alya leaning on her. Damian rolled his eyes and threw Alya’s arms over his shoulder. Marinette smiled in relief and looked to Adrien, “Where are we putting them? Alya will probably just fall asleep.”

Adrien motioned for them to follow as he led them out of the dining room with a quick thank to Lord Bourgeois. Adrien walked down a few corridors and up some stairs, much to their friends’ dismay. Damian noted how antique everything seemed to be and how quiet it seemed. Adrien stopped in front of a door and opened it, “We can leave them here.” Marinette and Damian nodded as they unceremoniously dropped Alya onto the bed. Adrien brought next over and laid him down next to her before bringing up a blanket. “Why does it always end up like this?”

“Because they’re Alya and Nino.” The comment must’ve slipped out her mouth because Marinette froze and looked up to gauge Adrien’s reaction. Adrien laughed, putting a hand over his mouth to muffle the noise, and Marinette relaxed.

Damian rolled his eyes and headed towards the door, “Where are we sleeping?”

“Right!” Adrien ran over and out of the room, Marinette close behind. Adrien looked around the hall and walked over to another door. “This room can be Marinette’s and the room next door can be Damian’s. The restroom is down has a silver knob at the end of the hall.” Adrien unlocked both doors and smiled, “Breakfast will be waiting for us in the morning. Chloe and I sleep in the other wing. If you need anything, ask one of the servants.”

Damian didn’t hesitate to head into his room. He was too tired to watch Marinette try to say goodnight to the guy. Instead, he sat on his bed and looked around. An average size room with a large bed and dresser. The window had a small balcony that overlooked the courtyard. Damian stretched and laid down. “Tikki?”

The small goddess came out from within one of his belt’s compartments and hovered over him. “Yes?”

“What’s my next move? My weapons work against the creatures of this world. Even without magic, I was able to destroy those frogs.”

“You need to find my wielder.”

“Right. Is it Chloe?”

Tikki hummed and landed on his chest, “She has strong spiritual energy, but I’m still hesitant to say it’s her. My wielder is here though.”

“Alright then. Tomorrow I can convince them to go and capture more frogs. We can take the earrings for a test run.”

“Damian, you can’t just hand out the earrings to everyone. We have to be careful about this. If the public finds out that a goddess is not only among them but handing out power would cause too much of a commotion.” Tikki patted Damian’s chest, “I’m sure they’re here, though.”

Damian thought for a moment before asking, “Is that what happened with Nooroo?”

Tikki sighed, “He was too sweet, too generous. I believe he was tricked into his servitude.”

“What about the other deities?”

“The only other god to come and directly interfere with this world was Plagg.”

Damian looked down at the little creature and realized it looked vaguely like a ladybug. He absent-mindedly reached out to her and pet her head. Tikki didn’t seem too bothered. “Plagg?”

Tikki scowled, “Yes. I am considered the goddess of creation, he is the god of destruction.”

“Ah.”

“Plagg should’ve been the one to greet you. I took his post after he was reprimanded for causing too much mischief in your world.”

“Like?”

“Leaning Tower of Pizza. The lost city of Atlantis. Dinosaurs.”

“You’re joking.”

Tikki groaned, “I wish I was. We voted to temporarily relieve him of his post but he never returned.” Tikki’s face morphed from frustration to concern, “I don’t think he’s in any trouble but when he didn’t come back I worried. He’s not known for laying low for so long.”

Damian paused for a moment before saying, “You are a lot more human than I thought.”

Tikki was about to say something before perking up and looking around. Damian wanted to ask a question, but Tikki darted to the window. “Damian, come over here.” Damian got up and walked over to the window. He noticed that all the windows had small balconies, it was very uniform, but what stood out was a bright green light that moved through the trees.

Looking closer, he noticed that the green light actually looked more like a pair of eyes. Damian asked Tikki, “Is that normal?”

Tikki shook her head, “No. It’s not. It may be magic, but those eyes are too abnormal.” Damian sighed and walked around to the drawer, “Damian?”

“They haven’t finished washing my things yet. They have my weapons.” Damian roughly shut the dresser and looked around, “If someone is lurking around the grounds of a wealthy family then either they’re here to steal or here to kill.” His eyes landed on the nearby vanity and he grabbed the letter opener, “This will have to do.”

“Damian, that’s not even sharp.”

“It doesn’t need to be sharp for me to hurt someone with it.” It was shiny, new, pointed end but that was about all. It was too light. He wouldn’t be able to do much with it, but there were a few options. Damian looked back out the window and noticed the eyes coming closer. The little red fairy’s gaze only grew in intensity, “Tikki-”

“I know this energy.” Tikki fluttered about, trying to figure out the best course of action, before going back to the same spot, “I know this energy!”

“That’s good?”

“Depends.”

“On?”

“The person.” The two watched as a figure lurked out of the shadows and into the moon’s spotlight. It was cat-like and much too modern, reminding him of Selina’s costume back home.

Home. He wondered what his father was doing now.

“Tikki, that looks like a uniform from my world.”

Tikki nodded before turning to him, “Do you have the earrings?”

“I couldn’t exactly let the staff take them with all my other gear.”

“No! No, I’m not chastising you.” She looked at the man strutting through the courtyard and shook her head, “In fact, I’d be happy for you to try them out. All you have to do is say spots on.”

Damian was taken aback, Tikki always insisted that the only person using the earring should be the chosen descendent. If she was asking him to try them on now, this could mean trouble. “Let’s be sure we know what we’re up against before we jump to our last resort.”

Tikki nodded, but before she could respond she retreated behind Damian. He looked out the window and noticed the man use a staff that extended to an unnatural length, bringing him up to the window next door. “Shit.” Tikki latched onto Damian’s collar as Damian stormed out of the room. Damian was quiet for a moment, tuning his ear to any little noises he could hear through the door. He heard a light tapping and, despite her better judgment, he heard footsteps. Damian mumbled to himself, “She has no sense of self-preservation, does she?”

Muffled voices could be heard, but nothing he could make out. Tikki flew forward and through the wood. Damian heard a soft click, but with the sudden silence in the room, he’s sure the man heard it too. Damian stood back and Tikki flew behind him. Damian was about to ask a question when the door swung open. Marinette rubbed her eyes, “Damian?”

Damian hid the letter opener and peered over her shoulder, “I heard something-”

Marinette yawned, “What? Is this a full moon or something? First Cat Noir-”

“Cat Noir?”

The green eyes suddenly came into view and he stepped out of the shadows and into the hall’s light. The mop of blond hair was a stark contrast against the black leather and he smirked. Crossing his arms and motioning to Damian, Cat Noir said, “At your service. So, princess, I thought I was your only dark knight. Who’s this?”

Marinette was not amused, “Damian, meet Cat Noir. Cat Noir, meet Damian Wayne.”

Damian didn’t know what to make of him, but Marinette’s calm demeanor threw him off. Damian held out his free hand, “Nice to meet you.”

Cat Noir took it and the ring on his finger glistened, “Likewise. How do you know Marinette?”

“We only recently met.”

“Really? And yet you were about to barge into her room unannounced at night?”

Damian’s eye twitched, “I wouldn’t have felt the need to check up on her if someone wasn’t stalking the grounds.”

Cat Noir wrapped his arms around Marinette’s shoulders, “I was not stalking. I was checking in on Marinette. It’s been a while.”

“A while? You were gone for several weeks.” Marinette shook herself free of his grip and stepped towards Damian, “Cat Noir, couldn’t you visit me in the day time?”

“Now where’s the fun in that?”

Damian couldn’t keep his eye off the ring, “Where’d you get that?”

Cat Noir looked at the ring skeptically, “A gift. Why?”

“I’ve never seen a ring glow like that before. Is it enchanted or something?”

Cat Noir drew his hand back, “It’s one of a kind.”

“Right.”

Marinette frowned as she looked between the two, “Is this some weird dominance thing or-” Her sentence trailed off as she stared at something behind Damian’s shoulder. He turned and noticed Tikki poking her head out. Tikki’s eyes were trained on the ring, she didn’t even realize she was caught. Damian looked back at the two and noted their reactions; Cat Noir seemed frozen while Marinette was ready to shriek.

Damian quickly covered her mouth and shushed her, “Stop. Stop. Calm down.”

Marinette looked frantically at Damian for answers he didn’t have. Cat Noir snapped out of it and grabbed Damian’s arm, “Hands off!”

Marinette jumped away, “Bug! Mouse? Bug mouse!”

“It’s not a ‘bug mouse’! It’s a-”

“Kwami.”

Tikki finally seemed to snap out of it and glared at Cat Noir, “How do you know that word? Humans should not know that word!”

Cat Noir stepped away and grabbed his staff, taking a defensive stance. He looked over at Damian and Marinette and nodded his head, “Marinette, get behind me!”

“What?”

The look in Cat Noir’s eye was desperate, panicked, full of anger and pain. Take out the fear and it would’ve been eerily similar to the way Damian looked at his enemies after Rah’s al Gul died. Vengeance, fear, and a hint of sorrow; a dangerous combination. “Can’t you see he’s dangerous?! Only the Demon King has a kwami! He must be working for them!”

Marinette shook her head, “What are you talking about, Cat Noir?”

Cat Noir shook his head, “I’m not letting this happen again!” He extended his staff and swung it around. Objects and decorations shattered and Damian grabbed Marinette before throwing them against the ground.

Damian looked up, “Are you insane?!” His staff retreated into itself, going back to normal size before he tried to smack it down on Damian. Damian rolled himself and Marinette out of the way before grabbing her arm and pulling her onto her feet. “C’mon!”

“Wait, but Cat Noir-”

“Is trying to hurt us! Move!” He pushed Marinette’s head down as they ducked under another attack. Damian pulled them both out of the room and quickly shoved her into his own. He locked the door behind him. He looked around for any exit routes and noticed the window. He cursed under his breath and pulled Marinette to his chest as he turned around. He took the brunt of the impact when Cat Noir busted through the window. The glass shattered around them and the action knocked them both down. He wasn’t even able to take in the damage when he was suddenly pulled off of Marinette.

Damian was thrown against the wall and grunted as Cat Noir held him up by his collar. The strength was unnatural. “I’m not going to let you hurt her!”

Damian glared at the cat, “You’re the only one doing damage!” He lifted his legs and wrapped them around Cat Noir’s arm before twisting his body and throwing them both to the floor. “Calm down!”

Cat Noir grit his teeth as he struggled against Damian. Cat Noir managed to break free and elbowed Damian in the stomach. With the wind knocked out of him, he wasn’t able to react fast enough. Cat Noir was on top of him, “Cataclysm!” Suddenly a surge of dark energy surrounded his palm as he held it overhead. “You won’t hurt my friends!”

Damian struggled against his grip, “Tikki!”

Cat Noir brought his hand down and Damian braced for the impact. However, it never came. He looked up and noticed Marinette holding a now corroding vase. The vase’s ashes scattered over Damian and there was a sudden beeping coming from his ring. Marinette’s hands shook once the vase was completely gone and she pushed Cat Noir off of Damian.

“Marinette-”

“Stop!” Marinette’s voice flattered, but her conviction was clear, “Just stop.”

Damian sat up and looked at Cat Noir to gauge his reaction. It was shock, “He’s a threat!”

“You’re the only threat here, Cat Noir!”

“He has a kwami!”

“And so do you!” The red goddess flew up to his face and her gaze was unwavering, “De-transform.”

“What?”

“De-transform now!” Looked down at the ring as it beeped and another piece of the paw print disappeared. “Three minutes. I’ll have my chosen follow you. I will see him either way. De-transform.”

Cat Noir looked behind the red goddess and noted how much of Marinette’s attention was on Damian as she helped him up. She wasn’t even looking at him. Cat Noir shook his head, “Not unless she leaves.”

“What?”

“Not unless-”

“I’m staying right here!” Marinette wrapped her arm underneath Damian’s and stabilized him. She looked back up at Cat Noir and stood her ground, “I’m staying here. I was going to find out sooner or later. Just do it.”

Damian looked between the two before settling on Cat Noir. He watched all of Cat Noir’s resolve die out as his ally stood against him. Cat Noir’s ears drooped and he gulped, “Cla-Claws in.” A green light enveloped him and once their eyes adjusted Marinette gasped loudly.

Adrien shuffled his feet and looked to the ground as a cat creature flew beside him. Tikki didn’t react at first, but the cat was clearly at her mercy. It chuckled nervously, “H-Hey, sugar cube.”

Tikki blinked before asking Damian a question. Her monotone voice made it all the more intimidating, “Where are the earrings?”

With the threat gone Damian could only ask, “Why?”

“Either you put me in the earrings or I kill this cat!” She charged at the other creature and gave chase. Anything that wasn’t knocked over was suddenly smashed on the floor as the two flew around the room.

However, in the wake of the destruction, none of the humans moved. Adrien kept his head down, he was shaking his head and mumbling to himself. He seemed to be in a bit of shock himself as he fidgeted. Marinette, on the other hand, was ridged. Damian was the first to reach out, “Adrien-”

“Hello!” The new voice caught all of them off guard. Damian shoved Adrien behind the bed and ran to the door. He opened it a crack, noticing one of the manor’s servants about to knock. “Oh!”

“Can I help you?”

“There seems to be a commotion-”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“But, sir, the crashes-”

“Your greeting was the only thing that woke me up tonight.”

The servant grew flustered, “I’m sorry. I’ll check on the miss next door.”

“No need!” Marinette ducked under Damian’s arm and looked up at the man. “I’m right here. I didn’t hear anything either.” Marinette smiled, although it was clearly forced.

The servant looked between the two and flushed, “Oh! Oh. Well, I’m sure you two didn’t hear a thing. I’ll be sure to let the staff know to give you two privacy.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing! Nothing! Have a good night!” The servant quickly left their sight.

Damian closed the door once the man was out of earshot and sighed, “Well, not the best excuse but it’ll give us some privacy.”

“What do you mean?”

Damian shook his head and guided her back towards the center of the room, “I’m not having this conversation with you. Let’s focus on one thing right now.”

Marinette looked at the bit of blond hair poking out from behind the bed, “Right.”

Tikki flew back over to Damian’s side, dragging her cat counterpart by the ear beside her. “Remember the old god of your world?”

“Plagg?”

She shoved the cat in front of her, “The one and only.”

Plagg rubbed his ears, “I expected a warmer welcome!”

“I expected you to return to your post! Where have you been?”

Plagg rolled his eyes and flew over to Adrien, “I found my chosen. It seems that the Demon King made this boy an orphan. He was still young when he survived the attack, but he wants to take the Demon King down. He’s a good kid!”

Tikki growled, “You did this without consulting anyone!”

“You’re down here too!”

“Yes, but I didn’t leave my post! You have been missing for well over three years!”

Plagg waved his hand nonchalantly, “That’s like a day for us up there.”

Tikki growled and looked as though she was about to charge when Damian stepped in, “Woah! Woah! We don’t need two of you fighting here. Adrien stand up.” Adrien nodded and left his little hiding space, “Adrien, look up.” Adrien hesitated but did so. Damian looked him over and shook his head, “What are you getting yourself into?”

“Plagg came to me a few years ago. I’ve been moonlighting as Cat Noir since. Gathering information, fighting monsters. Getting stronger.” Adrien’s voice cracked, “I’m sorry, I just-”

Damian closed the gap between them and placed a hand on Adrien’s shoulder, “Adrien, I’m going to tell you something my father told me. Justice, not vengeance. If Marinette didn’t step in, you would’ve taken it too far.”

Adrien opened his mouth to say something but instead shook his head and covered his face. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Marinette bit her lip and stepped up. She cautiously reached out before running her fingers through his hair. She frowned and licked her lips, “Hey kitty, it’s okay. It’s okay now.” She gently shushed him as his shoulders shook, “It’s okay. We’re all okay.” Marinette looked up at Damian as if to ask if things really were okay. He didn’t give an answer. Instead, Damian looked back at Adrien and stepped forward to rub his back. Marinette took it as permission to get closer and pull Adrien into a hug. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Tikki stopped berating Plagg when she heard a soft sob rack through the chosen’s body. Plagg looked on with pity as Adrien worked through the guilt of almost killing someone. Damian bit his lip and looked around the room, it was a wreck and Marinette’s was even worse. Still, at least his bed was clear.

It felt like putting a kid to sleep, the two guided Adrien to bed and sat by him as Adrien let everything out. Marinette looked at Damian, surely full of questions that would have to wait until tomorrow. Even the gods sat by their side, quiet and calm. Tonight the five simply sat together, comforting their own as they worked through the destruction.

As the night went on, the room only got darker. Damian looked around and thought about his next steps. His train of thought only broken by a soft voice, “Are you awake?”

Damian looked over at Marinette. Adrien had fallen asleep beside her. Damian helped her lay him down without waking him. Marinette pushed some hair out of his face and whispered, “I don’t know what to think right now.”

Damian was almost surprised at the gesture. Hours ago she would’ve fainted at the thought of him being so close. Now, she was acting so familiar. “What’s going through your head?”

She shrugged, “I’ve known Cat Noir for a few years now. He’s someone I can count on.”

“So this is a shock.”

“That’s one way to put it.” Damian watched as she ran her fingers through his hair, putting him at ease and making her smile. “So we have gods among us?”

“Yes.”

“I have so many questions.”

“I expect you to, but it’d be best if we got a bit of sleep.” She nodded and laid onto her side. She continued playing with Adrien’s hair in the same way he would play with Ace’s back home. As he laid down on Adrien’s other side, he wondered how all of his pets were doing. Did they know he was dead?

Marinette looked over at Damian, “I’ve never seen him like this; as Adrien or Cat Noir.”

“Trauma can do that to you.”

“Trauma?” She hummed, “People always talk about the Demon King, but I’ve never had to deal with him.” She shook her head, “I don’t know anything, do I?”

Damian shrugged, “You’ve been sheltered. I’m not surprised.”

Marinette bit her lip, “I don’t want to be anymore. I want to fight. My friends shouldn’t have to deal with this.”

Damian turned onto his back and looked around the bed. He noticed Tikki and Plagg already asleep. He felt something poke him and remembered the earrings still with him. He looked back to Marinette, “You want to fight with me?” Marinette nodded and he handed her the earrings, “Put these on. We’ll train tomorrow.”

Marinette reached out tentatively, but quickly put them on once they were in her hands. She turned back to Damian, “Is it bad that I’m terrified? Especially after tonight?”

Damian sighed, “It’d be bad if you weren’t.”

“Aren’t you?”

Damian closed his eyes, “No.”

*******************************************************************************************

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mrsalwayswritex · 4 years

Text

Hazy Blazy Days

A/N: Image is not mine, if its yours tell me and ill slap some credit but until then, thanks photo owner! I have been working on this baby for weeks guys. I hope you like it, its literally like The Dream for me, so dont judge me too harshly, I just wanna smoke with my boys! Anyways, Happy 420 to my fellow smokers, I wish you all a good day during this lockdown. Stay safe and I love you all!

Pairing: Ben Hardy x Reader

Word Count: 6.6k

Warnings: Swearing, Illegal activities [recreational marijuana use]

Songs used: Idolize Stay Afloat Free Your Mind All three of these songs are Immortal Paradox, linked to Spotify. These songs are explicit*

When she woke up she knew it was a hibernate day, shuffling to the kitchen quickly, filling her arms with the things she deemed important. Bottles of water, granola bars and a bag of chocolate chips, various snack cakes, and a large to-go mug of coffee all tucked in her arms as she tried to hurry back to her room.

“Y/n?” Joe called from their shared living room. “Where are you running off to?” She could hear his footsteps getting closer. Joe let out a loud laugh at the sight he was met with.

Y/n stood with her hands full of her haul, smiling as best as she could with the bag of chocolate chips between her teeth. Joe leaned forward and grabbed the bag as she dropped it. “Thanks! It's a hibernating day, would you like to join me?” She chirped happily, smiling at him.

Joe’s face broke into a wide grin and he nodded his head quickly, “I will grab the blanket and be in momentarily!” He spun on his heels, taking off towards his own room. Y/n skipped back to her room, depositing the pile of snacks on her small wheeled coffee table. Quickly making her bed, minus her giant fleece comforter, moving things around when Joe slid into the room. “I even changed for maximum comfort!” He spun around quickly, flashing her a dramatic smile at the end.

“Impressive, Mazzello.” Y/n clapped her hands just as dramatically. “Pull that over and let's get this thing going!” She climbed onto the bed, pulling her blanket close around her. Following her orders, Joe pulled the small table over until it was against the bed, climbing on top and curling himself inside his own blanket beside her. “Alright, Mazzello, pick your fighter.” Y/n waved her hands around, wiggling her fingers as she reached to the floor pulling up a medium sized wooden box covered in stickers and marker drawings.

Joe smiled at the box, reaching over and pulling it closer to him. Opening it carefully, laughing loudly. “You know, this box reeks of pot.” He chuckled, Y/n stuck her tongue out at him.

“You know, I think that may be a requirement for a pot box, Joseph.” She rolled her eyes at him playfully, reaching into the box and pulling out the bag of the sweet smelling greenery. “If you don't pick, I will.” Y/n warned him, Joe putting his hands up in defense before digging into the box’s contents. His choice was a small but thick bong, swirled with blues and yellows. Joe presented his choice to her proudly and she nodded her head. “Daisy,” She cooed, taking it from his hands, “Good choice!”

Once it was packed, Y/n pointed at a bottle of water, Joe handing it to her blindly as he scrolled through Hulu on her TV. Pouring in some of the water, she handed it to Joe along with a lighter. Joe cleared his throat, straightening his back out causing Y/n to chuckle and he glared at her. Covering her mouth with her hands, she directed her attention to the TV, taking over for Joe as she heard the bubbling sound of Joe hitting the bong.

For as long as Y/n could remember, she and Joe had been close friends. Finding each other quickly on their first day of high school, being the first two to be busted smoking marijuana behind the building and making fast friends in detention. She fondly thought back to that day so many years ago.

“Mr. Mazzello and Miss Taylor.” The science teacher grunted out, shoving the slip onto the desk. “Smoking on school property.” He turned around and glared at the two, both of them stifled a laugh. The grumpy man shook his head as he walked out mumbling something about ‘these damn teenagers’.

“Caught smoking on the first day?” The detention teacher looked at them disapprovingly over her glasses.

The two glanced at each other and both started laughing, Joe reaching his hand across the aisle. “Joe Mazzello.” He gave her a smile, she reached out taking his hand and shaking it with an awkward laugh, “Y/n Taylor.”

Once the final bell rang, Y/n stood up, stretching her legs, kicking Joes chair and making his jump awake quickly. “Sorry, Joey.” She yawned, stretching her arms high. “Time to get outta here,” She smiled at him, swinging her backpack over her shoulder. “Walk me home?”

Joe smiled at the girl sleepily. “You got it, babe.” Joe winked at her and she barked out a laugh.

“Save it, Romeo.” She winked back at him and Joe trailed out the door after her.

Joe lived on the other side of town, but he knew in that moment, he would follow Y/n anywhere, as long as she would have him.

They spent most afternoons at a park by the school, waiting until dark before finally heading home, Joe always walking her home before going himself.

One evening, senior year, the two laid in the grass in Joe’s backyard passing a joint back and forth and staring at the sky. “You gonna ditch me in college when you get a girlfriend, Joey?” Y/n asked, putting her arms behind her head.

“I promise to stick with you forever, y/n.” Joe passed the joint over to her, “The best buds stick together, remember?”

The two were absolutely inseparable through the years, even choosing the same college, which they rented an apartment together.

Y/n smiled at him, here they were, almost 13 years later, still the best of friends. Joe was staring at her, she shook her head clear of the memory. “Y/n? You still there?” He waved the bong in front of her face and laughed. “Where did you go?” He chuckled, as she took the bong from his hand.

“High school, actually.” She nudged him with her shoulder, Joe bumping her right back. “Detention that first day. How you made me a promise senior year to always stick with me, and here we are, over ten years later. Still hibernating and watching tv for the day.” Y/n hit the bong, coughing lightly before waving a hand in front of her face.

“Calm down, I'm here cause you always have the best weed, alright? Don't get all mushy on me.” Joe snatched the piece away from her, “It's been ten years, I don't have time to find another weed connection.”

“You love me and you know it, Mazzello.” She stuck her tongue out at him, swatting his chest and making him cough loudly.

“You wish, Taylor.” Joe made a kissy face at his best friend and she returned the gesture mockingly, both of them laughing deeply.

Three episodes of American Dad later, the pair of them sat atop Y/n’s bed laughing lazily, Joe munching away on a fudge round. Y/n flopped around, restlessly moving across the bed. Joe laughed at her, “Just open the window, it'll be alright.” He laughed louder as she scrambled off the bed and over to the window quickly, shooting him a bright smile.

Opening the window and taking a deep breath of the crisp air, sitting on the window seat and pulling her legs to her chest tightly. Y/n pulled out a pack of Newports and fished around the seat for a lighter, Joe tossing one to her from the bed and lighting the tip. She blew the smoke out the window but it just blew right back inside, looking back to Joe with a shrug.

“I'm gonna pack this up again, ‘kay?” Joe pointed to the bong and Y/n nodded her head slowly, the smoke curling up around her trying to make a smoke ring. Joe chuckled as he watched her, knowing that after all these years, she was bound to get one eventually, though she had failed this far. As soon as Y/n threw the cigarette out the window and made her way back to the bed, Joe’s phone started ringing a familiar tone. Joe’s face lit up like a kid on christmas as recognition passed over his face. “Ben!” He shouted into the phone, a deep laugh coming through the other end.

“Hey buddy,” Ben's accent came loudly through the speaker. “What’s going on?”

“Having a hibernation day with y/n,” Joe replied, Y/n shouting a happy hello. “What are you doing?” He handed the bong to the girl and she took it happily.

“Are you really hitting a bong while on the phone?” Ben whispered, chuckling softly. “I've got nothing planned, you wanna get together?” Ben was obviously asking Joe, so Y/n stayed quiet, picking at her nails when Joe tapped her leg and gave her a questioning look. “Joe?” Ben asked again, Y/n nodded at Joe with an exaggerated sigh and a smile.

“Sorry, was just waiting for confirmation from the boss, do you want to come hibernate with us?” Joe asked hopefully, even though he had seen Ben since he was in town, Joe was always desperate to see his best friend.

“What does that entail, exactly?” Ben chuckled lightly, a car door could be heard closing and starting.

“Well it starts by you stopping at the store and grabbing provisions, first of all.” Y/n piped up, Joe cracking a smile, before she continued, “Second, you must wear something of the cotton variety, there is no denim allowed in hibernation. Last but certainly not least, you must be prepared for copious amounts of marijuana consumption.” Y/n laughed out, counting on her fingers though only Joe could see. “That’s it, that’s all there is to it!”

“You in, buddy?” Joe asked tauntingly, staring at his phone intently like he could change Ben’s mind through the phone.

“Text me a list of things you need, and give me a half hour.” Even if neither of them could see his face, they could hear the smile in his voice. “Let you know when I'm on the way to you.” The line clicked off and Joe and Y/n smiled, rearranging the room once more to accommodate another.

Forty five minutes later, Ben texted back saying that he was leaving the store, headed to them, five minutes at most. “Stretch break until Ben gets here?” Y/n asked, already kicking her legs out from her blanket, stretching her arms over her head. Joe groaned as he stood, squatting over and over. As the both shuffled towards the door, they could hear a soft knock. “You get him, I'm gonna go find him a big blanket so he can probably hibernate.” She chuckled, tapping Joe on the back lightly as they seperated down opposite sides of the hallway.

Y/n could hear the two boys talking excitedly to each other as she poked her head out to the living room. “Got the last blanket from the closet, Joe you better check to make sure he's following the rules!” She hollered out as she walked back to her room.

“Sweat pants, no denim!” Joe called back, grabbing a bag from Ben’s hands. “Come on back, man!” Joe ushered his grandly down the hall, his best friend following with a chuckle.

When Ben walked into Y/n’s room, he looked around, “I would expect nothing less from you, Y/n.” He chuckled, fingers playing with the strings of fairy lights on the wall. “Smells like pot in here.” Joe chuckled, picking the bong up from the side table and waving it around, Y/n gestured to it grandly.

“If it didn't, Joe and I shouldn't be allowed to smoke anymore, cause we are doing it wrong.” Y/n giggled, patting the bottom portion of her bed. “Pop a squat, Benjamin, we gonna get you stoned.” She grinned up at him, pulling the blanket closer around her shoulders, snuggling inside. “I even brought you a cuddle blanket!” Her voice was muffled from the fluff around her face but she kicked a leg out and pushed the blanket around.

Ben chuckled at her, kicking off his shoes and dove onto the bed, making Y/n squeal and Joe lift the bong high in the air. “I cannot believe that I am a 29 year old man,” He started, burying his face into the soft blanket, “that has a designated ‘cuddle blanket’.” Chuckling and reaching his hand under the pile to poke at her leg.

“You simply cannot hibernate without a pile of blankets, man.” Joe added, leaning into the middle of them holding the bong out. “Who lives next door?” He asked, and when both of their hands shot up at the same time, he pointed to his ear.

“Neighbor!” They shouted in unison, causing Joe to laugh loudly and shove the piece into Ben’s hands. “Ha!” Ben stuck his tongue out at Y/n and she snatched the lighter out of Joe’s hand.

“Ha, that!” She wrapped her blanket over her face and squealed loudly when, after handing the bong back to Joe with an eyeroll, Ben jumped onto her pile, tickling and poking all over until an arm reached out of the top, waving a lighter in defeat. Ben snatched the lighter up and dug his hands into the pile once more, earning a giggle before he sat back on his knees and took the bong back from Joe.

“You two are nauseating, you know that?” Joe commented, and once Y/n emerged from her hiding spot, hair a mess, Joe grabbed at her and pulled her over until she was laying with her torso on his, and wrapped her in his large arms. Y/n flailed a little but ultimately accepted the affection, returning it as best as she could in her blanket prison. “Just remember Ben, she was mine first.” Joe kissed the top of her head.

“She’s still yours, mate.” Ben choked on the smoke, eyes wide.

Joe rolled his eyes at him, looking down at Y/n who had gone still against his chest. “You are both idiots if you think that I don't know.” The two of them looked at each other, the blush apparent on both of their faces. “Oh so we are pretending this isn't happening?” Joe raised his hands in defense, snatching the bong from Ben’s hands. “Whatever you guys want to do.”

Hours later, after a decision to switch to horror movies, the three of them were piled on top of each other. Joe was resting against the headboard, Y/n laying her head on his chest and Ben with his head resting on Y/n thighs. As soon as the credits rolled on screen, Ben rolled himself over, completely trapping Y/n’s legs and groaned loudly.

“What’s up, Benny?” Y/n yawned, her hand finding his head and running her fingers through his blond curls, earning a grumble of satisfaction from the man.

He stretched his arms out, wrapping them around her legs tightly, leaning his head father back into her hand. “Well I was going to suggest going for a ride,” He mumbled into her thigh, “but I may not be able to function if you keep that up, love.” His eyes closed and Y/n switched to running her nails along his scalp, pulling another happy groan from him.

Joe looked down at the two of them, shaking his head lightly. Y/n saw the gesture and smacked her other hand down onto his chest, Joe making an oof sound and laughing when she pulled herself off of him. “A ride actually sounds fantastic, as long as I don't have to drive and” She raised her finger to both boys, “I ride shotgun.” As soon as the words left her lips, Joe and Ben both sat up, voices raised in argument but Y/n just covered her hands over her ears smiling wildly.

“You can have shotgun, only if you roll on demand!” Ben offered, sticking his hand out in her direction, Y/n cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at him.

“You’ve got a deal, Jones.” She slapped her hand to his and they shook vigorously, both laughing. Joe picked that moment to stick a freshly packed bowl in between them. Y/n cooed happily, taking the offered piece from him. “Oh, Joseph, what would I do without you.” She leaned back and kissed his cheek.

“You would perish, surely.” Joe smiled down at the girl, booping his finger on the tip of her nose.

“My hero.” She swooned dramatically against her pillows.

“And you said we are nauseating.” Ben mocked them, rolling his eyes. He smacked his hand gently on Y/n’s calf and she yelped in surprise. “Hit that, get it rolling so we can get rolling.” Ben stood, stretching his arms high in the air, Y/n totally did not notice the way his shirt rode up just a bit with the action.

Passing the bowl back and forth, the three of them slowly gathered all of the items needed for the ride and by the time the bowl was empty. Y/n pushed them out of the room and changed into shorts and then they were ready to walk out the door. “I'll drive, if it can be Ben’s car.” Joe raised a hand in the air and Ben shot him a glare. “Hey man, I'm offering to drive.” Ben growled at him playfully, digging his keys from his pocket and tossing them to Joe.

“I can't believe I’ve got to ride in the backseat of my own car.” Ben grumbled, reaching for the door handle. Y/n stuck her tongue out at him, sliding into the front seat. “Oh stop at the station on the way, we didn't bring our provisions with us.” He leaned forward between the front seats as Joe pulled out of the driveway, nodding his head in acknowledgement. Y/n pulled the aux cord to the back seat and offered it to Ben with a smile.

“You can at least have music choice, since you gotta ride bitch.” She winked and Ben rolled his eyes, plugging his phone in and hitting shuffle before tossing it up to her. “You better have good burn run music, Jones.” Y/n playfully warned him.

Joe pulled up to a gas pump, offering to fill Ben’s tank fully for this ride if he went in to pay. Ben agreed happily and Y/n offered to go with him, getting Joe’s order of gummy bears and a Pepsi as she skipped to catch up to him. “I've got tiny legs, Ben, move slower!” She shouted and he turned around with a laugh. He crouched down ever so slightly but Y/n understood.

“Hop up, small fry.” Ben chuckled, grunting softly when she launched herself at his back, wrapping his hands under her thighs and bouncing her up higher. She wrapped her arms around his neck loosely and planted a loud kiss to his temple. Ben shook his head with a smile. “You are spoiled, you know that right?” He glanced up at her and she grinned back down at him, nodding happily.

Ben and Y/n were in and out of the store quickly, Ben chasing a squealing Y/n as they crossed the parking lot. He collided with her when they reached the car, Ben trapping her squirming form by locking her in place with a hand on the car on either side of her, leaning his head down to her ear. “Got you.” He breathed and she shivered, but playfully pushed against his chest. Ben backed away with a smirk on his face.

“Get in the damn car, lovebirds.” Joe whined, leaning in the roof of the car. Y/n shot him the finger before turning her back to Ben to get into the car. “Seriously are you guys just fucking with me or are you both seriously that niave?” Joe chuckled dryly, leaning down to get into the driver's seat. Once all three of them were inside, Joe grinned wickedly and looked to Y/n. “Get ready to roll, babe, we taking the scenic route.” He winked and patted her thigh.

Y/n kicked off her shoes and pulled her legs onto the seat under her, smacking a hand on her legs. “I'm ready, boss.” She smiled back at him, holding a hand out expectedly. “You know the drill, gimme the bag for the ride.” She turned her head back to Ben. “If you got any, give it to me, Benny.” Ben barked out a laugh and shook his head, Y/n looking at him strangely. He winked at her and Joe shook his head with a sigh. “You wish.” She rolled her eyes.

“We want some rap or some rock?” Ben asked, changing the subject quickly and plugging his phone back into the aux cord. “I found this new rapper that I’ve been really enjoying lately.” Y/n nodded her head enthusiastically as he pressed play. “His name is Immortal Paradox, he's pretty good!” He grinned from the backseat as the rapper started talking softly over the speaker.

“You kids gotta find somebody better to Idolize..”

“Did he just say Drug Abuse?” Joe cocked his head to the side with a chuckle.

“It's a key element of the song, Joe.” Ben smiled back at his friend. He leaned his head back and sang along to the song with a grin. “Please oh please don't Idolize me, I'm a egoistic narcissist who lacks empathy, a judgemental bastard with insecurities, imma free spirit who's never been free. Long days longer nights in a mental cage, and I bottle massive amounts of rage, never meant to be a leader on the stage cause my lyrics seem lethal when they hit the page.”

“Wow Ben, this song really speaks to you doesn't it?” Y/n stuck her tongue out at him but bobbed her head along to the beat. “It's pretty good, you pass this test.” She winked and turned herself back around and pulled out Joe’s bag and began breaking it up and sprinkling it into the folded paper. Ben scooted himself over in the back seat so he could watch her fingers work over the green bud, rolling it into the paper gently. He leaned forward, sticking his head between the front seats. Y/n caught the movement and smiled softly before licking the edge of the paper.

“Anyone ever tell you that you look absolutely lovely rolling a joint, Y/n dear.” Ben sighed dreamily, eyes not leaving hers. Before she could respond, Joe’s arm was flying towards her and the car was being tanked back into the other lane. Y/n and Ben both gasped slightly, Y/n gripping tightly onto the still open bag in her lap,

“Joe!” She screeched as her drink rolled onto the floor.

“I'm sorry! We’re good!” Joe gave her a weak smile, straightening out the car easily. “I just got a little distracted is all.” He reached over and laid his hand on her leg, squeezing comfortingly.

“Don't wreck my car, mate.” Ben grumbled from the backseat. Joe raised his hand from Y/n’s leg in defense before dropping it back to her leg. Ben watched the movement carefully, seeing the two best friends share a smile and Joe squeezing her leg again before they both changed their attention, Joe’s on driving and Y/n’s on the almost finished joint. Ben leaned back in the seat and smiled at the scene. He really lucked out in the friend department when he met Joe, and with Joe came Y/n and he couldn’t have asked for better people.

“Fire in the hole!” Y/n shouted happily and both boys joined in on her cheering. She put the joint up to her lips and fished a lighter out of her pocket, lighting the tip and inhaling softly as she spun the joint around gently. Once she was satisfied it was burning evenly, she passed it back to Ben who took it with an approving nod. Y/n watched him close his eyes and took turns hitting the joint and mouthing along to the lyrics.

“How ‘bout you, what’s your vice? Let me know, do you have any advice? Drink and Smoke help me stay afloat. Not a single fuckin thing gonna sink by boat.” Ben sang as he leaned forward and passed the joint to Joe over his shoulder, continuing the song as he nodded his head along to the beat and shooting Y/n a smirk when he caught her eye.

It was about forty-five minutes later when Joe swerved back into the left lane again, Y/n shot him a glare. “Joseph, if you kill me right now I will be so mad at you.” She raised a finger and poked him in the shoulder. “Maybe it’s time for Ben to drive.”

Ben nodded his head happily, tapping Joe on the shoulder quickly. “Yes, let’s do that. You’ve probably raised my insurance in the last hour.” Joe gave another squeeze to Y/n’s leg before pulling into the first parking lot he came across. “Let’s get some fresh air and stretch a little before we head back out yeah?” All agreeing, Joe went to turn the car off when Ben stopped him. “Leave it, we will just turn up the music, it's not like anyone is around here to complain.” He gestured around the empty church parking lot, not seeing another building in the area.

The three of them found themselves all laying on the trunk of Ben’s car, Y/n sandwiched between the two of them. “Why aren’t we smoking right now?” Joe piped up on Y/n’s left and both she and Ben turned their heads towards him. “Like here we are, just laying here and staring at the dark sky. We should be smoking.” He spoke with one hand behind his head and the other wildly gesturing around. Sitting up quickly and sliding off the car easily. “I shall return.” He bowed deeply, pulling laughs from the other two who settled back into staring up when he sat in the passenger seat, pulling the bag and papers from the center console.

“Turn it up!” Ben shouted as he heard the song change. When the music got louder, Ben started singing along, y/n turning her head to look at him. His eyes were closed, lips moving quickly to keep up with the lyrics. “If you flirt with me I'll be nervous but never hesitate, I'm so in love with you and life and that is always relevant.” His eyes stayed closed, but y/n watched his eyes crinkle up in a smile, turning his head towards her as he kept going, “hypothetically if we both got amnesia, I’d ask you for those digits when our spirits meet up.” When he finished, he opened his eyes and his cheeks heated when he saw that Y/n was staring at him with a soft admiring smile on her face.

“Thanks for inviting me today, love.” Ben used the hand that wasn't under his head to reach down and pat her knee that she had pulled up on the trunk. “I would have just ended up smoking by myself and probably falling asleep on the couch watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” He laughed and she turned her head to face him, looking at him seriously.

“You are welcome any time to join us, Ben, you know that.” She gave him a genuine smile and he grinned back. “I'm serious, you're at our place almost as much as we are, plus you make a perfect third for Joe and I.” Y/n patted his chest a few times before settling back into her position.

“That sounds..” Ben laughed deeply and shook his head, “..very raunchy.”

“In a perfect world, maybe.” She winked at his shocked face, “But alas, you both suck too much.”

“Who is sucking what?” Joe popped up beside the trunk with an eyebrow raised, presenting the fat rolled joint to Y/n.

“You, if you ask nicely.” Ben blew a kiss to his friend and Joe winked back. Y/n snorted loudly, reaching a hand out to Joe, who helped pull her into a sitting position. Ben looked at the window where Y/n was sitting. “Hell of a time for me to decide to get out of the back seat.” He waggled his eyebrows at Joe who laughed and pointed at Ben with a nod.

“You are both gross.” She lit the joint and crossed her arms, letting the joint hang from her lips. “I hope I leave an ass print on the window and then you can't see out of it.” Y/n ended the sentence with both her middle fingers up, causing both men to chuckle.

“I will happily give up my line of sight for your ass print to be on my window, love.” Ben elbowed her in the side and dropped his head onto her shoulder. “You should know that would be my choice.”

“He’s right, you should know that he would choose your ass over just about anything by this point, right buddy?” Joe extended his fist towards Ben who responded by bumping his own fist against it and nodding his blond head quickly.

“You are correct, good sir.”

“I hate you both.” Y/n grumbled, rolling her eyes and blowing the smoke out harshly, handing the joint to Joe. “Honest.”

Ben and Joe stared at each other for a second before they turned to her, both leaning towards her in sync. “No you don’t.” Ben whispered close to her face and Joe was close behind him, inching towards her face.

“You love us.” Joe laughed and the two of them alternated tickling and peppering little kisses all over her cheeks. Y/n squealed and wiggled, but neither man let up.

“Honestly, I cannot stand either of you.” She squirmed, flailing her arms and legs as much as she could without actually injuring them. “You are both awful humans.” Y/n finally huffed out, pushing them away and crossed her arms again, blowing a few stray strands of hair on her face from the struggle.

“Yes,” Joe agreed, “But we are awful and you love us anyways.” He reached forward and ruffled her already messy hair.

“Can we just get back on the road? You are both awful company.” She huffed out, shooting Ben a small smile when she noticed him staring at her.

“Yes, your highness,” Ben sighed dramatically and looked at her expectantly. Joe barked out a loud laugh and Y/n dropped her head to her chest.

“That was awful.” Joe shook his head and swatted at Ben.

“Truly awful.” Y/n agreed, using Joe’s outstretched hand to pull herself off the trunk. “I'm thinking I'll roll one more and we take the super long way home.” She grabbed the joint back from Ben and placed it between her lips as she adjusted her shorts and pulled her hair tie out, flipping her long hair over and pulling it back up quickly. When she stood up, both boys were looking at her with lazy smiles. “What are you looking at?”

“Just you, babe.” Joe reached for her, wrapped her in his arms as she accepted the hug right away. “I'm glad you're my best friend.” He smiled at her as she wrapped her arms around his torso.

“Oi, what about me?” Ben put his hand to his chest in mock offense. “Am I chopped liver now?”

Joe threw one hand out and grabbed Ben’s sweatshirt and pulled him into the embrace. Y/n yelped as she was once again sandwiched between them. “Both of you. I'm glad you're both my best friend.” Joe mumbled into the pile. Y/n pushed her hands against Joe’s chest and her back against Ben’s chest to break up the weird hug.

“Great, now we are all nauseating.” Y/n playfully jabbed at the two of them before she raised her hand in the air, circling it around. “Let’s wrap this up, I'm getting cold and my blanket is calling me.” She pumped her fist in the air and stomped over to the passenger side door.

“You heard the boss.” Joe clapped his hand on Ben’s shoulder as he rounded the back of the car. Ben smiled at them both before opening the driver door and slid inside, adjusting the seat with a glare at Joe. “Not my fault you're shorter than me.” He shrugged and Ben flipped him off.

Once they were back on the road, the joint burnt down to a stub, Y/n threw it out the window and pulled her legs up to begin rolling the last one. “Left, Right, or Straight.” Ben would ask randomly, turning in whichever direction was chosen. Y/n and Joe took turns answering him until they were happily lost. Ben kept fidgeting with his right hand, moving it back and forth between the shifter and his lap before Y/n grabbed his hand and set it on her leg. He smiled at the girl and she grinned back at him.

“It helps Joe drive calmer,” She shrugged and turned up the music, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the seat. Ben caught Joe’s smile in the rearview and looked away quickly. Ben relaxed in the seat a little more, holding the steering wheel loosely in one hand and the other hand tracing small circles where his hand touched Y/n.

Another 20 minutes of driving and Ben smacked his hand on the steering wheel happily, “I know where we are, maybe 35 minutes out.” He tapped Y/n’s leg lightly and she lifted her head sleepily. “Are you ready to smoke one more before you get to go to bed, lovey?”

“I'm ready.” She yawned and Ben smiled fondly at her. Pulling the joint from behind her ear, and lit the tip. Sighing contentedly as she let the smoke curl out of her mouth. “I am also ready for bed.” She stifled another yawn, and hit the joint once more before handing it back to Joe. Weaving her arm under Ben’s, she rested her hand on his leg too. “This ok?”

Ben looked at her hand and back at her face quickly, “It’s perfect.” He smiled at her and the way she smiled back, Ben could have died happily right then and there. She bobbed her head to the music and the rest of the joint was passed between them without words. Ben tapped his elbow on the center console, “Smokes in there, could you light me one?” Y/n nodded, tossing the roach out of the window and grabbing the pack. Soon they were back in Joe and Y/n’s neighborhood.

“You should probably just crash at our place, buddy. Better than you falling asleep on the ride home.” Joe offered, covering his own yawn. “My couch is your couch.” Y/n nodded her head in agreement, gathering the supplies and shoving them in her pockets. “‘Cause I know I'm beat.”

“I will take you up on that offer, I think.” Joe chuckled as Ben fought his own yawn back.

All three of them slid out of the car and shuffled back to the apartment. Y/n went straight to the kitchen, putting on a kettle for tea before going back to her room and changing back into her leggings. Walking over to the window seat again, she pulled a cigarette out from her pack, a soft knock on her door pulling her attention back to earth. “Can I grab my cuddle blanket real quick?” Ben’s soft voice floated through the barely opened door.

“Yeah, come on in. Hey I'm making tea, if your british self would like some before bed.” Y/n grinned at him, and he smiled brightly back at her with a nod. “I'm glad you are our third.” she added after a minute. Spending a lazy day with Ben, she realized, was one of her best days in a while.

“Yeah, I am too.” Ben grabbed his blanket up and wrapped it around his shoulders. Instead of leaving like she expected him to, he sat across from her and snatched the cigarette out of her hand. His leg bounced lightly and he looked anywhere but at her. “Was Joe right earlier?” He breathed out with a cloud of smoke.

“What do you mean?”

“Are we just being naive?” Hitting the cigarette again and handing it back, blowing the smoke out in a huff and looking back at her. “Are we not seeing what's going on here?”

“What’s exactly is going on here, Ben?” Y/n tilted her head to the side with a small smirk. Could he be serious? Y/n hoped that Ben wouldn't be able to hear her heart pounding wildly in her chest. She kept his gaze as she brought the cigarette to her lips, tilting it to the other side when Ben smiled and looked away and back quickly.

“Well I don't know about you,” He started, grabbing the cigarette from her again. Blowing out the smoke slowly, like he was trying to calm his own heartbeat. “But I spend a lot of time thinking about kissing you.” His eyes flicked to hers and he sucked in a deep breath and held it as he studied her face.

Y/n’s cheeks flushed and she chuckled. “Is that so?” Nodding her head softly. “Now what would you say if I told you, that I spend a lot of time thinking about kissing you as well?”

Ben’s smile was so wide that Y/n couldn't hold back a soft giggle. Hitting the cigarette once more, Ben crushed it out in the ashtray and within seconds he had one hand cupping her chin, brushing his lips over hers gently. Y/n responded instantly, bringing a hand up to the back of Ben’s neck and sinking her fingers into the soft curls, both of them letting out happy sounds at the contact.

“I would say that this is going to happen a lot more often now.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek and she leaned into the touch, eyes fluttering closed. “But right now, your couch calls my name.” He kissed her forehead quickly before standing up and pulling his blanket closer. “And the water is calling yours. Let’s go have some tea before bed.” He held his hand out to her and when she took it, he interlaced their fingers and traced circles with his thumb.

While y/n busied herself in the kitchen, the boys settled into the living room, and when she walked back into the room she noticed her favorite spot open, the center of the couch, right between her two favorite humans. Three cups of tea and one final bowl packed and passed between them as they relaxed on the couch. Y/n smiled at the two boys, her two best friends. “Alright boys, I think that this is it for me.” Draining her tea cup and standing with a groan, Y/n walked behind Joe and grabbed his face with both hands, planting a kiss to his forehead while Joe wrapped an arm around her tightly. When she walked over to Ben, she repeated the gesture of grabbing his face with both hands but she pressed a kiss on his lips instead. “I'm off to bed, love you guys.” She yawned once more and gave a small wave as she disappeared for the hallway. Both boys muttering their goodnights before Joe swatted Ben’s arm playfully.

“It’s about damn time.” Joe threw his hands in the air happily.

“You may have been right.” Ben huffed out a laugh but smiled anyways. “But I’ll never tell you that.”

#ben hardy x reader #ben hardy #ben hardy fanfiction #ben hardy fanfic #joe mazzello #joe mazzello fanfiction #joe mazzello fanfic #stoner fic #HAPPY 420 GUYS #recreational drug use #pot smoking #my writing

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chasseurdeloup-retired · 4 years

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I Moose-t Tell You Something || Morgan and Kaden

LOCATION: Moose Caboose PARTIES: @mor-beck-more-problems and @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: Morgan tries to be honest with Kaden. They are swiftly punished by the great Mime-Moose.

Exhausted didn’t even begin to cover how Kaden felt after this week. Hell, after this month. He was pretty sure this outing with Morgan wasn’t going to be nice and light hearted or any sort of reprieve, despite the location. God, he was so tired. There wasn’t enough coffee in the world to help the bags under his eyes. Didn’t mean he wasn’t trying as he sat there and waited for her in one of the booths. But coffee wasn’t going to fix this; the frustration he felt at everyone around him holding something back. Morgan, Regan, Blanche, Nadia, for all he knew Alain and Evelyn, too; he could feel all of them keeping something from him all while acting like they trusted him. At least saying they did. That he was a good guy. Sure. Just not good enough. Which alright, that might be true. He could think of plenty of reasons for them not to trust him, but he still fucking hated feeling like this. Whatever this was. He’d just drown it all in coffee and nicotine. It’d be fine. He saw her walk in and waved her over. “See you found the place. Hopefully you didn’t bring any fucking mimes with you.” Looking at her, he wondered which of the two of them looked more exhausted and weary. He still didn’t know what happened but no doubt it wasn’t anything good. “How’ve you been?”

Stars, Morgan missed the variety of human food. Brains were fine, now, but it was like having tuna salad as your favorite food, and then deciding to never have anything else for the rest of your life. She found the pretense of cooking depressing, some sad form of denial that hurt more than it helped. Going out to another White Crest diner was a whole other level. But what could she do? Call Kaden over to the house and tell him, hey, wanna see the shed where I came back from the dead? And while we’re at it, guess from all the taxidermy what our girlfriends have in common? So she pulled herself into one of her cleaner sets of ‘I just died and can’t be bothered’ loungewear and drove to meet him in the afternoon. She found Kaden easily, he couldn’t have brooded harder if he was on the cover of a Batman poster, and plopped down in the seat opposite.

“I’m peachy with a side of keen,” she deadpanned. “Just like you’re walking on sunshine over there.” She was being flippant, but he really did look worse for wear. The part of Morgan that knew better, that cared for Kaden despite the inconvenience, felt guilty over it. She sighed and asked, “You uh, wanna vent about anything first?” I have literally all the time in the world, she silently added.

“Oh yeah. It’s been a wonderful week. Full of mimes and splendor.” Kaden went to take another sip of his coffee only to realize it was already gone. Putain. He ran his hand through his hair instead. Did he have anything to vent? Shit, he had a mountain of things to vent. He could be here all day and maybe the next if he started on all of that. That wasn’t why he was here, though. Still, might as well dump some of it. “Did I mention I got attacked by a mime that looked just like me? Twice. That was fun.” His foot ached at the thought. Thank god for hunter healing but he wasn’t about to go running again any time soon. “Regan ran away from me in the middle of dinner because the ghost of my mother decided to show up and say ‘boo.’ More or less.” It felt like he was being crushed under the weight of this fucking town. He wasn’t aware he could feel this much stress at one time before he moved here. He’d dealt with a lot but nothing like this. Maybe it was that whole caring bullshit. Is this what it did to you? This? God, there really was a reason he was avoiding it all this time. “Enough about me. You wanted to tell me something.”

“Oh, shit.” Was all Morgan could say at first. Maybe she should have postponed this meeting for a better day, one where there was enough of her outside of the pit to give Kaden some comfort. A pat on the shoulder or something kind and smart about how to take these things in stride. She knew all about breaking under the weight of too much suffering. “That’s...a lot, bud. And I…” Shit, this had all been a terrible idea. But what else could she do? She was already here. “I don’t have anything to make it better. Don’t you, um…” She hesitated. He was a hunter, right? Was he just too stressed to feel the dead on her? “Are your spidey senses going off by any chance?” Or maybe that was the wrong tack to start with. “Just, you know, curious. But anyway, you didn’t fuck up the bowl because it’s just a bowl. I wanted to make you fess up to your feelings out loud. Well, I wanted to talk you out of giving Vera your money too. But also the first thing. I thought it would help you. Harmlessly.”

It was odd, she wasn’t picking at his emotions like normal. Maybe she was just giving him some breathing room before digging in. Her first question threw him for a loop and Kaden’s brow furrowed. “Uh, no.” Why was she asking about his hunter senses? Did… did she get bitten by a werewolf? Was that what she was afraid to tell him? He paused and tried to pay closer attention to those senses, see if he got that feeling, the chill down his spine. No. No sixth sense. “Are they supposed to?” Strange she’d ask. He looked down into mug, watching the few grinds left swish around and was about to start concentrating on what he could hear, see if he was missing something, when she mentioned the fucking bowl. “Wait, what?” His head shot up to meet her eyes. “You-- It didn’t--? It wasn’t--?” His mouth pulled into a thin line and his eyes narrowed at her. “Great. Thanks for that. I-- I made Regan think--” He could get up and leave right now. Just leave some cash on the table and book it. He let out a strained sigh and stayed seated instead. “Why would you want me to do that, anyway? Fucking with me is one thing but you fucked with Regan, too.” He wanted to take the salt shaker and chuck it across the room. He settled for gripping the mug to the point it made his knuckles white instead. He felt like such an idiot for buying into that shit. And even worse for giving Regan false hope like that.

“Yeah, well, Regan wouldn’t listen to the actual truth, so a little witchy mind trick on you to get her to do the same fucking thing and actually take care of herself seemed like a fair bargain,” Morgan replied dully. “There was nothing wrong with the amulet, but you guys really wanted to think there was so I stepped in and made y’all feel better about it for a hot second. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, but I wasn’t very good at seeing the big picture either. I did a lot of stupid things.” She fiddled her hands in her lap, painfully aware that this was not the sort of confession Kaden really deserved. She should be explaining, somehow, that she’d been genuinely touched by his willingness, and she hadn’t expected him to listen to her in the first place, only then it was a little too late. She should explain that she did, somehow, want him to be okay. But she didn’t know where those words were. They were buried somewhere in the pit that sat at the bottom of her chest. She looked back up at him, frowning and guilty and mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

Something was wrong. Kaden’s nose scrunched as his brows knit further together listening to her speak. He didn’t know Morgan all that well and she was far from happy to see him in the past, but this was off. Defensive. Sullen. Not snippy in the way she’d been in the past. It was harsher, blunter, in a way he couldn't quite place a finger on. It made it hard for him to hold on to his anger. Putain, when the fuck did worry and concern become his default fucking state of being? He felt like that's all he ever was now. Like he forgot how to turn off the switch once it flipped back on. “Look, I don’t even know what the amulet does. I didn’t think it was broken. I just wanted to help her, alright?” He tried to soften his tone some but exhaustion didn’t exactly let him. “Morgan, what the fuck is wrong? Why’d you have to tell me that in person?” It wasn’t that bad. He was still bristling a little, sure, but it was more for Regan than himself. It was a grudge he couldn’t be fucked to hold onto right now, not with whatever strange tension he felt coming off of Morgan sitting across from him. Still it felt too silly to be the sole reason she was here. In the moment of silence, he tried to listen closer, see if there was anything he could pick up but it was no use. Even at an off time with less people, the place was still too noisy for him to focus on much of anything. All he could hear was the shuffling of feet from the servers, muffled conversations, the clinking of knives and forks against plates, the little bell on the door as someone walked in. His hunter senses still didn’t go off but he got the feeling something was off all the same.

Morgan spread her arms in an impression of that shrug emoji Blanche liked to send her when she was at her wit’s end. “It’s the nice thing to do, or something, maybe. And I thought I’d get all the bad news out in one go where there’d be plenty of witnesses,” she said. “Cause the other thing is, I’m dead. Like super dead. There was this cute little pole that went through here,” she traced a circle over the spot with her finger, “And I bled out on the pavement. And then I came back. Not in the fangs way, but the brains way. Which, gotta say, has just been the worst for all kinds of reasons you probably wouldn’t think of at first.” Her voice grew heavier as she went on, no longer glib and deadpan but weighted with the pull of the death-pit inside her. She turned away from him to look out the window. Only a few days ago she’d been riding high from her Beltane night with Deirdre. She’d made dinner. She’d picked up flowers to press. And then something had given out, she couldn’t even remember what, but zoning out at the ceiling had slid suddenly into hiding in bed. Now she was here, and she couldn’t grasp why she had believed anything would turn around for her for long, curse or no curse. Morgan searched the middle distance for an answer, but found nothing. Nothing that is, except for-- “You gotta be fucking kidding me.” She whirled back to Kaden, pointing out the window. “I thought you said mime-moose weren’t real!”

All Kaden could do was blink at her for a moment as his mouth fell slowly open. That was a lot to process. All at once. Very bluntly. Dead. She died. And she was talking. And then brains. Which meant. “Putain.” He rubbed his face with his hands. Shit. This… shit. It-- Nope. He couldn’t process this. He couldn’t take one more fucking shitty thing. Obviously he knew that people turned into zombies and vampires and werewolves. That’s how they spread. That was the problem at its core. But he’d never met anyone who had turned. Why would he? His entire circle was full of hunters. Anyone who could turn didn’t let themselves. With his eyes closed and his fingers pressed into the bridge of his nose he concentrated and tried desperately to hear her heartbeat, like maybe she was lying and he could will it to be different if he just listened hard enough. He didn’t get to listen for very long. His eyes shot open and he turned to face the window just in time to see a fucking black and white striped moose. With. A. Fucking. Beret. “Putain!” This fucking town. There was a crash and glass shattered as the antlers came charging through into the restaurant. With a grumble, Kaden reached into his pocket to pull out a knife and stomped over towards the fucking mime moose. He’d normally charge in but his enthusiasm was a little curbed. “Animal control, everyone out!” he shouted as people scattered, hoping it’d clear the room faster so he could stab this monster without witnesses. At least not live fucking witnesses.

Morgan still couldn’t believe what she was looking at. Moose didn’t wear berets. Evil pulpy mime-doubles were one thing, but a moose with a beret and stripes running through is fur, charging the diner in complete, raging silence--that was a level Morgan had hoped White Crest wouldn’t think to seek to. Glass splattered into the diner. Morgan shielded her face and threw herself out of the booth and onto the ground. When the rain of glass ceased, she picked herself up, checking for signs of the moose. A creature like that should be huffing, wheezing, growling. But she heard nothing. She lifted her gaze and saw its large black-and-white snout. Its black eyes, dotted white around the lids, were not the blank, stupid animal shade of black. Morgan had stared into the eyes of enough deer and rabbits to know that look by now. This creature was something else, something furious. “You heard the guy!” She shouted to the room, not breaking eye contact. Slowly, she staggered to her feet. “Are you bookin’ it or--” Without warning the moose swatted her body across the room. Morgan’s spine bent like a rubber noodle over the bar counter. Her arm, stretched into the air useless to catch itself, crumpled in on itself. “...Ow,” she whined. She braced herself up with a sturdy hand and staggered, as best she would, while her body reset itself. She waved her mangled arm in the general direction she thought Kaden to be. Blood bloomed up from somewhere in her shoulder and soaked her torn sweater sleeve. A shard of glass she could barely perceive jutted out from the apple of her cheek, wiggling as she offered a weak ‘I’m good!’ smile.

Knife in hand, Kaden braced himself as the moose charged forward at him. He reached out and caught a chunk of flesh but ducked and rolled as a striped antler threatened to impale him. He scrambled to right himself, just in time to see Morgan facing off with the moose. Shit. He pushed off the ground but he wasn’t in time to do a damn thing before she went flying halfway across the room. He winced watching her body bend and break like a ragdoll being tossed away. He stopped dead, stunned to watch it. And then she spoke and got up. Putain. She really was dead. And that-- Shit. No time to be horrified. He hopped onto a table and leapt across a few to reach the moose. The beast turned to him and started another charge. Kaden waited as it got closer. Closer. And right as he could practically feel its silent breath he pushed off to the next table and threw himself around to catch the back of the moose with his knife. He pushed down hard as he could, black tar like substance oozing and bubbling up from its black and white fur. Ought to slow it down. He hoped.

Morgan winced as her body reconstructed its old shape. Nothing hurt, not the way it should, but the sight was more than she could bear just yet. When she could stand upright and use both her arms, she scrambled to the other side of the bar, looking for a weapon, anything to fight back with. She tore open every drawer, one after another, until she found a nice pair of butcher knives. She held one out, hilt offered to Kaden. “Need another?” She mouthed silently. The moose opened its mouth as if to roar. The silence wasn’t as comforting on her ears as it should have been and Morgan gave Kaden a look that said he really should consider the big foodie blade and slid across the bar closer to him as she crept towards the moose with her own.

Kaden looked back to see Morgan’s body repairing itself from behind the bar and sliding him a butcher’s knife. He blinked back the image of her bones piecing themselves back together, he’d save the mental gymnastics on that one for another time, and took the knife, looked it over. It’d be a shame to waste a good cooking knife on a monster. Luckily, this wasn’t a good cooking knife. He wasn’t sure what she planned on doing with her own knife exactly but at least he didn’t have to worry about her getting killed. He stood his ground as the animal let out a silent bellow. It ran, he moved to the side, took one of the tables, and shoved it in front of the moose’s path. The mime stumbled, barely, but it was enough of an opportunity for Kaden to launch himself at the animal, a knife in each hand. They sunk into the side of its flesh, more black goo oozing out. The antlers swung as the moose tossed its head and thrashed in pain. Kaden clung to the knives with all his might and tried to hold on.

Morgan leapt at the mime-moose as soon as Kaden pinned it in the aisle of the diner. She dug her hands into the wooly fur of the critter and dug in tight. He was not happy to have a dead weight flopped on its back and thrashed violently, snarling, and huffing without even the whisper of a breath. Morgan flailed to keep her balance, kicking Kaden’s hand in the process. Clawing up its body, muscles straining, even in undeath, she worked her way to its neck. She jabbed the knife into its throat, stabbing awkwardly over and over until she was thrown off again, crashing into the bar stools. The black and white moose stumbled on its feet, straining to stay upright, and finally collapsed. It didn’t even make a sound as it fell to the ground. Morgan was only sure it was dead because of the way its beret fell to the ground, swallowed at once by black, tar-like blood. “Stars. You don’t see that every day,” she mumbled.

Kaden’s hand was kicked away and he lost his grip on the knives. Before he could fall away, an antler clipped his side and sent him reeling across the room. Fucking mimes. Couldn’t catch a fucking break. He peeled himself up off the floor and saw the creature collapse, more of that black crap bubbling out of it. He watched as it faded away into a puff of striped smoke and let out a sigh. Hopefully that meant it was fucking gone. Wait. Fuck, so was his knife. Putain. Like this could get any worse. He pushed himself up off the floor, wincing as he felt the full hit of that mime-moose’s attack. He walked over and held a hand out to help her and then it hit him all over again like a wave of confusion. Shit. Morgan was a zombie. She-- but that. He considered pulling his hand back. But didn’t. “When did it happen?” He knew the answer if he thought about it long enough but he needed something to say.

Morgan jerked back to reality, away from the melting mime-moose. Right. She’d told Kaden she was a zombie and now he had a whole body horror show of proof. She staggered to her feet, her shoes slipping on the black goo that came out of the creature as she tiptoed over. “That big accident on Main Street. Got my foot caught on some stupid banner. You wanna know how it feels to get a metal rod stuck through you, or car parts on your legs?” She looked up at him, meeting him square in the eye despite her fear. There were no witnesses now. No one to help her if he decided to take out one of those knives and run her through with it. “You wanna know what it feels like to die, Kaden?” She asked.

Kaden steeled his gaze as he watched her, putting his hand slowly back down at his side when she ignored it. This wasn’t the woman he’d met before. It was but, it wasn’t just her body that had changed. She was different. Harsher, maybe. “Not particularly, no. Gotten close, though.” Resentful. That was the word. He watched her, kept his eyes fixed on hers, looking for the person he knew. Was it just anger, a reaction, or was it something worse? She’d invited him here. She’d acted like she still cared before. The drawing she’d asked for. The stupid shitty drawing. He couldn’t believe she was gone. Not after that. He kept his face stoic but god he hoped she’d give him some sign that person was still there. Even if she had fucking tricked him into sharing his stupid feelings with a shitty bowl.

“It’s, um, it’s actually not that bad,” Morgan said, folding her arms over her chest. “About to die, sure, completely, but…” She shrugged, sniffing stiffly to keep her composure. The sleep had been fine. And stars, she missed being able to go to sleep some nights. “Anyways, I didn’t want you to find out some other way. And I can’t do anything magic for you, not that I managed to do much in the first place, before. But you should know I can’t. Not good for much besides staying up all night these days.” She stepped closer to him, holding his gaze, searching for some read on what he was thinking, how he was seeing her. “Am I still a person to you, Kaden?” She asked quietly, lip quivering. “I don’t have a grave or anything for you to go to. It’s just me. This. Am I a monster to you now?”

He watched her, kept watching as she spoke, tried to take in what she was saying, how she was saying it. Tried to process it. Kaden saw her resolve start to crumble, something beyond the anger and apathy she’d been displaying the whole time. It made it harder. Harder to figure out how to handle this. Zombies were bad. There was nothing right about dying and coming back in that sort of half life she was doubtlessly existing in. The fact that they could lose control-- that she could lose control and spread her condition like a plague, how could he let that stand? And a few months ago and this would have been an easy fuckin answer. He couldn’t and he wouldn’t. But standing in front of her now, it was harder. A lot harder. Every instinct in him was screaming yes, that was a monster. She fucking came back from the dead. He’d watched her limbs break and put themselves back together. What else did he need to know? But looking in her eyes, it still looked suspiciously like the woman who he bartered for some magic over waffles. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe both.”

Morgan didn’t know what she’d expected from a hunter. It was just like the humans back home; everything was fine until it wasn’t. Until they knew something they didn’t like. And in this case, Morgan wasn’t sure how much she disagreed. She didn’t feel like a monster, she hadn’t hurt anyone she hadn’t meant to. But there was the hunger, the thing that made her groan and fall down on her knees before a battered corpse. The thing that she feared enough to stop her mouth sometimes. And she didn’t feel like she was all herself most times. She kept trying to tell everyone there was less than there used to be. She frowned and backed away from him, “Does ‘I don’t know’ mean you’re gonna try to hurt me now, Kaden?” She asked, sniffling. “I wasn’t a perfect human, or anything. I was just cursed and miserable and for a couple months I thought things were gonna get better, and then it all fell apart and I died, so.” She gave him a sad, bitter smile. “Haven’t eaten anyone yet. It’s honestly not that hard to keep up with. I don’t even need three square meals a day to stay full, which is kind of sad, so I eat more anyway. I can’t burn your skin off anymore or pay you in laundry lent counterfeit, but if you hurt Deirdre or Ricky, I’ll bite you. Whatever I am now, I care about my friends. You know, when I get off the floor and stuff. And you were kind of a friend too, so I figured, what’s a little reckless endangerment with a guy you cheated with a bowl?” She shrugged helplessly. “So how stupid was I, Kaden? Telling you what happened to me?

Kaden didn’t expect the sting he felt when she backed away. Somehow it was like daggers, poking at him, reminding him that he was dangerous and that people couldn’t be close to him. Shouldn’t be. He knew that. Well, he had, before coming here. Not letting anyone in was his rule of thumb. He still wasn’t sure how he fucked it up so badly in White Crest but clearly he fucking did and it was causing some major complications. Like the one standing right in front of him. “It means you’re asking me to tell you something that I don’t know if I can yet.” He sighed and looked away a moment, trying to piece together how he felt. It was hard to do when he didn’t know. “You can’t say you’re not a monster. At least a little. You know that. You have to feel it. You died. And came back. Telling me to ignore that completely, it’s-- I can’t. I won’t.” His words weren’t meant to be harsh, just the truth. Just how it was. He was sure some of her friends were trying to ignore it, tell her it was fine and she was the same. She wasn’t. Still, her excuses kept coming. He didn’t need to hear them, didn’t want the standard lines he’d heard before but from people he’d never known. “But I’m not going to kill you.” He couldn’t, was what he wanted to add. Something couldn’t bring himself to even really consider it. Which made him want to vomit. He should be a better hunter than this. He knew better. “I--” His throat tightened a moment. “I’m going to miss who you were, though.” He wasn’t sure what to make of this, whoever he was dealing with now, how he felt about her, if he could-- So it was all he could find to say. “Even if you were a pain in the ass liar who tricked me with a fucking bowl made of dirt.”

A sad, sobbing laughter bubbled out of Morgan at the hunter’s last words. “You know, you’re the first person to say that to me since I died,” she said, checking her face for tears. Just a few, nothing too embarrassing. “I miss her too, so you know. It’s not great so far being who I am now, at least most of the time. And that alive-me, she was kinda pathetic and lonely, but she...I did my best, when I was that person. I didn’t let go of people, even when they let go of me. I screwed up, but I tried to keep things in balance, and I did…not all that much, but I didn’t give up about it.” She didn’t accomplish even half of what she wanted. She’d thought she was just getting started and there might be a whole other soft world waiting for her on the other side of the curse. “But whoever I am now, Kaden, however much of me death ends up keeping, I’m not a fucking monster. Monsters are the ones who see people as things. And I think you’re a good enough person to know that.” She gave him a hard look through her grief and stormed out the door.

#writing #chatzy #i mooset tell you something #morgan #morbeckmoreproblems

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kauladoeswriting · 4 years

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Life Will Change, Prologue

What you see here is possibly my weirdest passion project, and frankly I’m a little terrified to share it. But what the hell, I might as well get it over with. If I keep tweaking it it’ll never get posted. No beta we die like men. Yell at me if there’s any weird continuity errors.

While knowledge of neither series is necessarily needed, it will probably make it more enjoyable. Fandom: Rockman.EXE/Persona 5 Fusion Wordcount: 1764

AO3

Next Chapter

November 18th, 2016

After School...

"After him!"

The night sky glittered through the windows as Joker ran by, moving along the sills of the window with grace born in practice and time.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were intentionally leading them on," Nurse commented in his ear.

"Psh, nah. You know how no nonsense he is! He wouldn't do that!" Ribbon responded. Despite her words, her tone revealed she was as joking as Nurse.

"He's going to get caught if he doesn't stop," Rock scolded. "There's an air vent to your left, Joker. Take it."

"Lighten up, Rock!" crooned Light. "You and Nurse worry way too much!"

"Worry? You misunderstand me, Light. Joker's just an idiot." They could almost imagine Nurse tapping her foot without even seeing it.

"I think none of you are taking this with appropriate seriousness." Soldier jumped in. "The only ones even trying seem to be myself, Rock, and Popup." No one could see Soldier, as he was off by himself, but they could hear his frown loudly over the comms.

"Because we should act like a dog?" Light asked, immediately followed by a yelp as someone smacked him. If Joker had to guess, it was Ribbon or Popup.

"How about you're all a distraction and really need to be quiet?" Joker asked, grinning all the same. He had taken Rock's advice, pulling himself up into the vents and let himself out into maintenance hallways, avoiding the guards chasing him for now.

With a quick look around to make sure he really alone, he crept down the hallway, leaping from shadow to shadow. He ducked behind a plush chair as a pair of guards ran by, hoping to catch any one of the nine thieves currently running about the building. They ran by the leader, but of course, they didn’t notice him.

They never did.

Climbing through the building had led Joker to the upper floors. Okay, going up made things a little tougher, but he had accepted that escaping from down below was hopeless on foot. “HALT!”

Oh, wonderful. He was found again. How were they tracking him so fast, exactly?

“There’s no way around! Joker, you’ll have to fight your way through!” Rock’s voice echoed in his ear, the navigator trying his hardest to manage all of the escapes at once. (He really didn’t envy the navigator’s job.)

Drawing his sword from his sheath, he took a wide slash, striking both of the blob like security guards and causing them to dissolve. In a moment, they were more solid demons, something he could actually fight. Have to finish this quickly! Joker grabbed his mask, summing a figure with long flowing hair next to him. “Let’s do this in one shot.” The figure readied it’s blade, wreathed in dark energy.

“EIGAON!” The swordsman next to him drew his sword back, and then in one fluid movement, tore straight through the opposing shadow. Not waiting a moment longer, Joker drove his sword straight through the chest of the shadow’s friend, drawing his pistol quickly and shooting it for good measure.

“And that’s that.” He said, pleased, tucking his weapons back into their respective holsters. “Good one Joker! Now get going!” Rock encouraged.

“Watching him fight is fun, can we look for more things to- OW! Will you stop that?” Light complained, more shuffling as he evidently swung back this time. “Are you trying to get us in trouble?” Ribbon asked.

Shaking his head, Joker took off down the hall way, continuing his hunt for a safe way out. Whatever map he was using, apparently Rock was unable to give him more useful directions.

He was at the top of the building now, looking for a way out when the guards found him a second time. He could fight his way out, or he could do the fun thing…. How much did he feel like channeling Light?

With guards on both sides, and a 5 on 1 match seeming unlikely, even with his skill and variety, Joker decided that channeling Light was in fact the best option here. Pivoting on his heel, Joker faced the huge window directly to his left, and with a few steps back, launched himself straight into it, guarding his face with his arms. For the briefest of seconds, Joker let himself fly through the air, before shifting to head down and land on his feet. For a precious few seconds, Joker thought he might have actually made it outside safely, and that he’d escape from the building unharmed.

And then all at once, the world in front of him lit up with the spotlights of SWAT officers. Oh. Oh hell. Pivoting on his heel, Joker jumped up to grab the fire escape ladder, encouraged by the chanting of his teammates in his ears. He climbed as quickly as he could.

In the back of his mind, he could feel everyone yelling at him, warning of incoming danger. Not just his teammates either. Officers greeted him at the top of the ladder. Even though he knew they were coming, Joker couldn’t help looking surprised. Even more so, when they stomped on his hands, forcing him to let go and sending him spiraling back to the ground.

This time, Joker wasn’t able to control his plummet.

The following was a flurry of motion and noise, as his comm link was torn away and he lost contact with his teammates, amid their worried commentary. “So young, huh?” Commented one officer, grabbing Joker’s face and roughly examining it, as if to get an idea who he was behind his mask. “To think that an actual kid has been committing this string of crimes…” Joker hoped the glare came across the way he wanted it to. With his arms pinned with an adult’s full bodyweight to his back, there’s not much else he can do. “You were sold out, you know.” Another officer, this one far more arrogant sounding, knelt down next to Joker. “You can thank your teammates for this.”

And then Joker’s world went dark.

========

When Joker came to, it was not to the same beautiful building he had fallen asleep in. Rather, it was in a concrete room he had never seen before, with two officers staring him down. He blinked slowly, trying to process the world around him.

His face was bare. His mask was missing. And looking down revealed that he wasn’t wearing a a tuxedo of any kind, or any kind of weapons; just his day clothes.

“Assault, Murder, Grand Larceny, Obstruction of Justice, Property Damage, and more.” The officer was reading his charges. “Quite an impressive rap list for someone who is like, 17 years old?” He asks. Joker glared, not willing to respond to them. If they expect him to cooperate with them, they had another thing coming.

Apparently, the officer with the clipboard had the same idea. “Now, kid. You can make this easy, or you can make it hard. We have a confession prepped for you. All you have to do is sign.” Still not willing to open his mouth, Joker shook his head no, trying as much to shake the worry of his teammate’s safety as he is trying to push away the orders of the officer. He needed to hold his ground. They knew the plan, he had to trust they carried it out.

The officer didn’t agree with Joker’s vow of silence, shoved the chair over, throwing the teen to the ground. “Think you can be a real smart guy, eh? We’ll get your name, one way or another, kid.”

Blue eyes wandered to the camera in the back corner, behind the officer. The officer turned to see what Joker was looking at, and then laughed. “Are you hoping for the camera to save you kid? That someone will see this and come to your rescue? Let me burst your bubble; They don’t come to save criminals like you.” The clipboard is roughly shoved in Joker’s face again, as someone realized they should probably release his hands if they expected him to write. “Don’t even think about lying kid. You’ll just be caught immediately.” He chuckled, as if it were funny. “Not that you could anyways.” Deciding to cooperate to avoid another harsh hit like that, even though he was confused by the statement, Joker raised his hand to write his name on the clip board.

Ijuuin Enzan

The officers looked at the name for a moment. “Isn’t it that kid of that CEO…?” Asked one.

“The one who got in trouble over assaulting a politician?” The other officer confirmed it with a nod.

“You’re going away for a long time kid.” The one that had shoved the clipboard in his face kicked him again, almost completely for ‘good measure’ at this point.

And then he was alone.

=======

Enzan finally climbs to his feet and at least rights hs chair. He was stuck in this room for the foreseeable future. He was waiting for a certain someone, but that person had to actually show up… and a part of him couldn’t help but worry that all their planning was for naught.

Those worries were assuaged when a woman with her hair in a ponytail, wearing a clean pink suit with a blue tie. If anyone could make that look professional… “Ijuuin-kun. I apologize, but we’ll need to make this as quick as you can manage.” She got right to work, setting the folder in her arms down and spreading them across the table. “I have had some time bought for me by my superior, but unfortunately they seem insistent you don’t get a fair shot.” Enzan couldn’t say he was surprised. With a rap sheet like his, he can’t imagine anyone wanted to see him walk free. If only they knew….

“We have been told...things about how you committed your crimes.” Manabe began slowly. “However, the explanations are… spotty at best.”

Enzan nodded. They sounded unbelievable to him even know, and he had been at this for the better part of a year.

“They say you steal hearts, and fittingly, all those your target have make a complete 180 in their behavior. Ijuuin-kun, I need you to tell me everything so I can make an effective defense. I know their… methods, may make talking a little hard, but I need you to try.” Her nose crinkled a little bit at the comment. “You have to try.” “From the beginning?” Enzan spoke finally.

“From the beginning.” Manabe agreed.

“Well. It started in early April ...”

#megaman battle network #rockman.exe #mmbn #persona 5 #fanfic #life will change

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blurry-fics · 5 years

Text

Chapter Twelve

Realize That It’s Gone | Series Masterlist

Warnings: Angst

Word Count: 1963

Author’s Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter! :) (picture credit)

The movie on the TV started to roll through the credits, but I was no longer paying attention; I had lost interest halfway through. It seemed my mind would much rather run through all the possibilities of what Y/N and Josh were doing on their date right now.

The sun was quickly getting lower in the sky, painting it all different shades of pink and orange. Y/N would probably be sitting on her deck and watching it right now, if she was even home. Josh had said that he didn’t know how long he was going to be gone when he was leaving and I hadn’t gotten a single text from him since then. That was probably a bad sign.

Well, a bad sign for me.

The credits were already halfway over by the time I finally got out of my own head and decided to attend to the TV. I had put on some bad movie that Josh and I had in our collection in hopes that I would find some humor in the terrible acting - something that usually cheered me up - but that hadn’t been the case today. With a sigh, I grabbed the remote and shut the movie off.

A car honked outside as I got off the couch and shuffled towards the kitchen to grab a drink. My dishes from dinner were still sitting unwashed in the sink, so I decided to clean those up before Josh came home. He was always getting after me about leaving dishes around the apartment. Not to mention that I wasn’t so sure I would be able to stop myself from escalating an argument if he started one.

Keys jingled outside the door just as I grabbed a drink from the fridge. Shortly after, Josh walked inside. He was smiling to himself as he kicked off his shoes and hung up his keys by the door. I stopped my walk back to the living room and instead turned to face him, leaning one hip against the kitchen counter.

“Hey, how are you?” he asked.

“I’m ok. How was your date?”

His smile grew even more, putting that familiar discomfort into the pit of my stomach.

“It was really fun,” he nodded. “Y/N is super cool and that was honestly the best first date I’ve been on in a while.”

Of course it was, it was a date with Y/N.

“What did you guys do?”

“Um, I picked her up, then I took her to that milkshake place that I really like and we spent almost ten minutes debating what kind of milkshake we should get,” Josh laughed. “And then we just walked along the river for a couple hours talking and stuff. I took her home kinda early because I didn’t want to give her parents the wrong impression or anything, you know, since it was a first date.”

“Sounds like you nailed it, dude,” I said, forcing a smile. It wasn’t a lie, Josh had somehow managed to take Y/N on essentially what was her dream first date. It was impressive, considering they hadn’t known each other for very long. “Is there going to be a second date anytime soon?”

“I hope so. Y/N said that she might want to go on another date too, but I’m going to give it a couple days before I go asking her out again. You know, see how much we talk and all that.”

“That sounds like a good plan.”

That also gave me time to talk to Y/N and figure out how she was feeling about all of this.

“Yeah. How was everything here?”

“Great. I just had some pizza and watched a movie, nothing too special.”

“Did you write at all?”

I shook my head, “Not tonight.”

“That’s alright.”

“Yeah.”

“Anyway, I’m exhausted so I’m going to head to bed and watch a movie or something.”

“Goodnight.”

“Night.”

I watched as Josh walked down the hallway and disappeared into his room. My chest felt hollow as I stood in the middle of the kitchen, unable to tear my eyes away from where Josh’s door had just closed. The thought of Y/N and Josh together made my jaw clench. Tears started to form in my eyes as I slammed my drink down on the counter and pushed my palms deep into my eyes.

You lost her, Tyler. You brought this on yourself. You had your chance and you didn’t take it.

“Are you ok, Tyler?” Josh called through his bedroom door. He must have heard the commotion.

“Yeah! Just dropped the remote,” I lied. My voice didn’t sound right

“Ok.”

I swiped my drink from the counter and shuffled towards my room. At least Josh wouldn’t be able to see how much of a mess I was over this whole situation when I was behind a locked door.

Why hadn’t I just told her that I was uncomfortable with them going on a date?

My phone buzzed next to me as I was reaching for my drink. With my free hand, I flipped it over so that I could read the notification. It was a text.

From Y/N.

Confused, I picked my phone up and opened the message, only to realize that she was responding to one I had sent nearly half an hour ago. I didn’t even remember messaging her in the first place.

Y/N: Hey! Sorry, you texted me right as I got home and then a million things came up all at once. I just got into comfy clothes and now I’m finally sitting on the back porch.

I smiled at the thought as I typed out my response.

Tyler: No worries, I didn’t mean to interrupt your date or anything. I just got bored and you were the first person my mind went to

It was partially true.

Y/N: Did you want me to call?

I thought about saying yes, but I knew we would inevitably end up talking about her date and I wasn’t so sure that I would be able to keep my voice steady.

Tyler: Not tonight. I’m in the middle of watching a movie

Y/N: Ok, texting it is then :)

Tyler: How was your date, by the way?

The text was sent before I even gave myself a chance to think about if I wanted to hear the answer or not. Deep down, I knew that I shouldn’t have asked, but curiosity always seemed to get the best of me.

Y/N: It was really good! :)

Tyler: That’s it? Just really good?

Y/N: I thought you would have gotten all the nitty-gritty details from Josh by now

Tyler: He just gave me the basic rundown and went to bed

Y/N: Lame :P but, um, it was really good, yeah! He asked me a lot of questions and I asked him a lot of questions and we just had really nice conversation. I also almost got milkshake all over him at one point… so uh, yeah

Y/N’s message made me chuckle, but it wasn’t enough to get rid of the hollowness that was still residing in my chest.

Tyler: And how did you manage to do that?

She didn’t start typing immediately like she had been, so I set my phone down and walked towards my dresser to grab my laptop and headphones. Maybe another movie would help me, now that my mind wasn’t running wild with all the possibilities of what was happening on their date.

My phone vibrated again as I was scrolling through Netflix, looking for something good to watch.

Y/N: Well, he was doing the cliche movie thing where we drink from straws at the same time and he was so close and his face was just right there and my mind started to wander so I got overwhelmed… but he was still drinking when I pulled away so it got all over his face

A chill ran down my spine. What had she been thinking about?

Tyler: Was everything ok?

Y/N: With the milkshake? Yeah, we just laughed about it :P

Tyler: No, I mean with you

She took a moment to start typing again. I continued to scroll through movies, looking for something that caught my interest.

Y/N: Yeah, it’s just something dumb, I guess. But you know me, letting dumb things have an effect on me, even when I know they’re dumb

I closed my laptop and rolled onto my back, determined to give Y/N my full attention if she needed it. For the time being, all my own worries were forgotten.

Tyler: Do you want to talk about it?

Y/N: It’s ok, I’m texting Carter about it right now

I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that Y/N didn’t want to confide in me. There were very few things that she didn’t tell me - having to admit her feelings for me during truth or dare pretty much threw all other boundaries out the window - meaning that whatever she was worried about was serious.

Tyler: I’ll be here if you change your mind

Y/N: Thanks, Ty :)

Tyler: Of course :)

Y/N: So what did you spend your night doing?

I thought about telling her what my night was like: staring out the window while my mind ran wild with possibilities of what they were doing, the stomachache that wouldn’t go away no matter what I did, and the way that my hands started to shake as I thought of Josh wrapping an arm around her waist and holding her close. My fingers started to fly across the screen, but I ultimately decided it wasn’t worth potentially ruining her night over. Instead, I settled for a simple answer.

Tyler: Watched a movie. Ate pizza. Typical Tuesday night for me.

I set my phone down on my chest and stared up at the ceiling. There was still a bit of sunlight streaming in, casting long shadows. I wondered what the sunset looked like on Y/N’s back porch.

Y/N: Sounds like fun :)

Tyler: Yeah, but it isn’t my preferred way to spend time

I stared at the message for a few seconds before I hit send, knowing exactly where this conversation was going to lead. And if I told her what I really wanted to say… well, that was a dangerous game I was playing.

Y/N: And what is your preferred way to spend time, Ty?

My fingers tapped nervously against the edge of my phone. What did I have to lose?

Tyler: With you :)

I immediately locked my phone and tossed it onto the floor, out of arm’s reach. What did I think I was doing? Y/N had moved on, yet here I was still shamelessly flirting with her the same night that she had been on a date with my best friend. Did I think that was going to somehow win her back?

My phone vibrated on the floor, just barely audible through the headphones I was wearing. My stomach lurched as a variety of potential messages - mostly negative - played out in my mind. Even though I was hesitant to see what she said, reading the actual message was better than endlessly worrying about its contents.

Y/N: Thanks, Ty. I like spending time with you too, you know

My mouth curled up into a smile. Sure, it wasn’t the declaration of love that I had been hoping for, but it was certainly better than her getting angry with me. I reread the message a few times, using it as a reminder that one date with Josh wasn’t enough to erase all the history between us.

Maybe things weren’t over for me, after all.

* * * * *

Taglist

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