#have been having a hard time getting myself together since The Incident but I think we’re gettin there

[theminecraftgay]

Junko! I’ve missed this bitch <3

[justporo]

A Scorching Letter

Brimsterton | A Staevstarion Regency AU

PREVIOUS PART | MASTERLIST | AO3

A/N: Yes hello, I know I haven't posted something I wrote in quite a while. Let's just say I've been busy, but mostly behind the scenes. This however I had written quite a while ago (end of June I think) and I need to get back into the saddle again with posting. So here we are, another trip into Regency AU with @velnna's beloved Staeve (thanks as always for letting me stick him in a costume) and Astarion. Picking off where we left off after the chaise longue incident.

Summary: With a lot mixed feelings after what almost happened between them, a scorching letter is written that reveals genuine truths and brilliant emotions. But the response might not have been what either of them had hoped for...

Pairing: Astarion/Staeve Wordcount: 5,1k Warnings: light implied nsfw

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Hands hastily tore open an envelope. On it, in elegant cursive handwriting that couldn’t be mistaken for anyone but Astarion’s, a name was written, boldly and with gold ink even: Staeve Brimstone.

Shivering fingers took several pages from the torn away paper and unfolded them. Immediately, it was visible that the letter had been written with a plethora of intense emotions: some parts seemed barely readable as if the pen had scarcely made its way across the paper in hesitancy. Others were quite obviously written with such vigour, that the sheets were almost torn and stained with blots of ink from a pen that had been pressed too harshly and hastily onto the paper - way too eager to get out the words.

The hands holding onto the letter kept trembling as the letter was studied. It read:

“My dearly beloved Staeve,

It seems we’ve gotten ourselves in quite the compromising position, haven’t we?Apparently, we do have a knack for this kind of thing, don’t you agree? It is nothing new for either of us, truly. How often have we gotten in trouble for something over the years? Quite frankly it might be a big part of the reason why my parents will finally be sending me off to the continent. I figure they fear what two - now grown - young men could get themselves into. And wouldn’t they be right?

A million times have we conspired together. A million plans. A million times it was us against the world. Together.

To our own surprise we haven’t always been discovered. But then again too often than we would have hoped. And yet we have always gotten out of a cornered situation.

This time it is different though.

I take it your sister hasn’t taken notice of what has happened that night. Or it might be that she doesn’t care - I was never able to read her well. And I do not dare to push her on the matter.

What could have happened had we been discovered in that moment? Truly discovered?

But to be quite frank that isn’t what I am concerned with. Not if I am being honest with myself.

You know I am a man of few regrets, Staeve. But I do regret having left like I did that fateful night. My mind kept whispering malicious things to me while my chest was burning, set ablaze by you and your lips. My heart was prepared to scream it all from the rooftops. But yet my anxious mind had me flee like lest we be found out.

But yet my heart keeps burning, the flames impossible to smother. I promise you I’ve tried. Only to find them flickering higher, brighter, hotter, whenever I tried.

And it has been hard to calm it for even just a moment since that fateful night on that chaise longue.

In the end, it has won over my mind even quicker than I thought as I still feel my chest burn with every single beat of my yearning heart. This is what my mind has been toiling with. This and the enticing idea of what would have happened had we not been disturbed, this impossible game of “what if”.

Would we have lost ourselves within each other, unravelled by our hands and touches. Would we have been void of words with only our bodies to speak the yet unspoken? Would we have gone all the way into oblivion together torn and then reformed together. And all to only be unravelled again and again until there had been nothing left but strings?

Strings we might have been able to have knitted into something new, something thoroughly intertwined?

Only the heavens may know.”

The words at the end of this page were thin; anxiously so. The author’s worries and fears clear already by how the words seemed to trail off at the bottom. In hopes perhaps, that they could just be shaken off the page lest they fall on deaf ears.

The next fresh page though started with bold writing again, even bolder than before. The written words proud, tall and unashamed:

“But I do know this: at night I lay unable to sleep with that blistering desire inside of me, slowly scorching me from the inside out. And when the heat becomes near unbearable, I lay there with nothing but the moon as a witness, touching myself while imagining - hoping - it was you. My hands wandering down over my own body and finding pleasure so easily and quickly - so intense - as they stroke and caress. Simply because it is you in my mind. The thought of you nearly enough to lose myself time and again.

I know I am a sinner for this, for my thoughts and my actions. But could a sin truly feel this heavenly? If this is what hell feels like, I will let it take me, gladly. I would welcome doom with open arms for just my actions, but truly, I’d much rather be doomed together with you, Staeve.

The feeling of your mouth on mine has been imprinted on me. I cannot forget it. I will die with the memory of your soft lips on mine on my mind as the last breath leaves my earthly body.

You've touched me a thousand times - a hug, a tap, a taunt - but not like this. Never like this. Not with that enticing intention, not with that need: giving, pleasing but also taking -  possibly all of me. And if I’m being true and honest to myself: I would give you all of myself - body, mind and soul. You may take it all!

Do you feel the same? Because even writing this letter I feel how restless my fingers are, how they itch to touch you again as well, how they need to feel you again: your lithe body, the skin of your face, your silken hair.

I just want to feel the warmth of you again, enveloping me, your body moving against mine as we fall together, endlessly.

And when your hands know me by heart, I want to feel your mouth all over my skin, tasting me before swallowing my confessions to you directly from my very own lips and tongue.

I want you to know me as deeply as no one has before. I fear no one else could ever understand me like you do anyways. And I hope, dearly, this is what you want too. I surely know it’s what I want with you: knowing you inside and out, better than myself.

Back in that moment it surely felt like that.

But memories are fleeting, fickle little things. Already I am questioning if I really saw the same yearning in your eyes I keep feeling in my very soul. But then again, it's not like this only transpired yesterday, hasn't it? Hasn’t this all been brewing for what feels like an eternity?”

Up until this paragraph the writing had been bold, the elegant cursive letters leaning so far it was easily distinguishable that they had been written without pause. Words that had  been too powerful to not let out.

But those next ones were more hesitant again. The pen had been pressed down to start many a time and then hastily taken off again, judging by how several blots and scratches of ink clouded the first letter of the next sentence.

But in the end even these words had found their way - either way:

“I reckon you know the feeling in the atmosphere before a thunderstorm approaches - when the tension is so dense it makes your hairs rise up. When the whole world seems to hold its breath, awaiting the inevitable.

Aren’t we just like that? Awaiting what deep down we have known for so long?

Aren’t we inevitable?

How long have we been like this? In that terrible limbo of potential and not yet made resolution?

Only for it to unload in but a blink of an eye, lightning hitting us both, scorching us through and through, down to our furthest depths - setting us brightly ablaze where light has never even reached before.

There is no way in which we could ever proceed, pretending as if we both haven’t been changed forever in this moment, changed at our innermost core - wouldn’t you agree?

At times I fear that all it would have taken was that one night. One night of scorching flames to then see the fire smothered. This - us - nothing but a quick intermezzo, a short crescendo that is quickly muffled and not to be heard again.

But whenever I think I’ve forgotten about this, about you, for a just moment, there it is again: the thought of you, impossible to get out of my head.

You are always there with me, Staeve, with every breath and every step.

You didn’t just light a candle inside of me, you started a wildfire.

And I welcome it - with all the heat, all the power, all the destruction it might bring but also the all encompassing warmth it might spend. I welcome it to be consumed by it!”

Before the final words of the letter there was generous space left. Quite obviously the author felt the need to let his final words take up room. The final conclusion to the letter read:

“I am in love with you, Staeve Brimstone.

I am in love with you - and looking back it feels like I have always been in love with you. From the moment I first laid eyes upon you up to the my last moments on this earth.

And even more than that: I need you. I fear I cannot live without you.

And even though it might be selfish - but we both know that I am -: I hope you need me too.

I hope to love you, Staeve, forevermore. And if I’m fortunate enough, that you will love me too.

Forever yours,

Astarion”

As eyes ran over the last page, the hands holding the letter had begun to tremble. They were gripping the paper so hard by now that knuckles showed white.

Then when the end had been reached they were shaking so much no word could have been made out anymore. The grip was crinkling up the paper now. Up until the pages were deliberately being crumpled angrily, pressed into a ball of paper, letters and emotions alike forced into an indiscernible mess.

With a few steps only, the way was made to the lit fireplace and the pages were given to the flames. The fire eagerly licked at the papers, ate it up until there was nothing left of the words and the long suppressed feelings they had finally expressed.

~~~

The Brimstone family had sat down for dinner. Or at least for their approximation of it. Viscount and Viscountess Brimstone were idly enjoying their dinner talking a bit of business, politics and gossip. Meanwhile, their son Staeve was more enticed by the workings of a small golden mechanical beetle his father had brought him as a souvenir from one of his business trips than by the meagre meal of roasted pork and vegetables he’d thrown onto his plate as more of an afterthought. The sleeves of his white linen shirt were rolled up to his elbows as he had discarded his doublet long ago to be able to move better and one of his suspenders threatened to give up on its job as it was dropping off his shoulder in his hunched over position. He had wholly reengineered what dinner time meant for him, much to the grievance of his parents. But dozens of tries to change first the boy’s and then the young man’s behaviour had failed. So at some point they had given up as long as he knew to behave when guests were over and was still honouring the family gathering times.

That usually meant that he was at least present during family dinner times, physically at least. But he’d only eat later, once it had all gotten cold. And then would sneak into the kitchen to grab seconds when he would have realised once more that tinkering around didn’t sate his bodily hunger. At least not enough.

His mother had long given up on trying to teach Staeve manners. When he had been a child she had been sure he would grow out of it. But once she had realised that his quirks had only been growing with him, she’d come to realise that it was for the best to just leave him be and hope for the best.

Only occasionally did she still try to enforce his older sister Nita as a role model to him. It never worked.

So, as Staeve was fumbling with his current project and his parents were lost in conversation, his sister Nita - void of any option to make dinner time pass any faster with her parents talking and her brother with his mind elsewhere - moved around some asparagus on her gold rimmed plate and wished she could’ve found an excuse to go eat with her younger siblings in the kitchen. Even they would have been a more ample entertainment discussing their playtime or perhaps their current tutor lessons.

That was until she thought of a way of hopefully grabbing Staeve’s attention for more than a fleeting moment.

“So, Staeve, have you found something to do yet, something to cope?”

Her brother’s tuft of green hair lifted shortly from where it had been bent over the small, intricately built beetle and some similarly delicate tool with which Staeve meant to dismantle the small object - thereby probably irreparably destroying it.

But the younger Brimstone shortly looked at his sister in irritation. Then his gaze snapped back to his hands and his workings and he began tinkering again.

“What?”

Nita rolled her eyes. “You know you are supposed to use full sentences, right?”

“Whoever has the time for that?”

“Ah see, he does speak in full sentences.”

Staeve grunted at his sister’s sarcasm but didn’t reward her with another glance.

Nita tried again.

“So have you?”

“I don’t think that was a full sentence.”

She was about ready to throw her fork at him, hoping it would drive the audacity right out of him - or at least take an eye. For a moment she debated just letting the silence draw out. But honestly she hadn’t been the one starting to be petty.

“You know, Staeve, I really get why even Astarion has decided to suddenly leave town when you’re being such a prick!” Nita almost shouted. That even had caught her parents’ attention now who immediately scolded her for her unladylike demeanour and choice of words.

She pouted, annoyed at how she had been the one being called out now instead of her brother.

And when she turned her head around again to throw him an angry glare she suddenly found she had finally caught his attention. Maybe even a bit too much of it because Staeve was now staring at her, eyes wide, face void of colour.

“What do you mean Astarion is leaving?”

Nita was about to snap at him again. But something in her brother’s gaze and his sudden stillness made her abandon the thought immediately.

“Didn’t- didn’t he tell you? I thought you always knew everything about each other.”

Immediately hurt flashed through Staeve’s teal eyes, too irritated to even try to hide it.

“Leaving when? Why?” Staeve’s voice was nothing more but a croak. A strand of hair had fallen into his eyes. He didn’t even bother pushing it out of his face.

Suddenly Nita felt unsure of what to do. Unsettled by her brother’s sudden burst of emotions. The only thing she came up with was snapping at him again.

“The Grand Tour, you idiot, what else.”

Staeve’s eyes widened even more. He set the small golden beetle and his tool down with a distinct thud, so hard, it even made their parents become silent and turn to their children in irritation.

“When?” Staeve simply followed up again. His words were terribly silent all of a sudden. Nita didn’t have it in her anymore to try and purposefully try and upset her brother. She threw a glance at the big mechanical clock - one of the few Staeve hadn’t disassembled yet: “I think right about now. They’re probably going to travel all through the night to catch a ship in the morning at one of the great harbours.”

Staeve didn’t wait for Nita to finish her sentence. He jumped up, almost making his chair fall over, staring at the clock. Their parents’ heads swivelled around trying to understand the cause of the commotion. But their son was already storming out of the room, not even sparing their scolding and quizzical looks another thought.

Immediately, Staeve made his way through the manor and down to the stables. As he rushed along servants, through a plethora of rooms and finally got outside, he realised that the weather was about to turn: an early summer evening threatening to bring a foreshadowing of yet far away autumn. The oncoming storm, announcing itself with distant thunder and dramatically darkening clouds, though, only felt like a fitting backdrop for what was brewing inside of him.

Questions filled Staeve’s mind as he made his way, and worries - and memories.

Every moment for the last couple of weeks since that fateful night had he basically been thinking about what happened. It only ever took him a split second to conjure up the scene again in his head: the last couple of breaths in which he had stared into Astarion’s eyes and how it had felt like he could see through them right to the bottom of his friend’s heart, the burning feeling of Astarion’s lips against his own and this desiring ache within him, physically and emotionally, threatening to rip him apart from the inside out.

He had been so sure Astarion had felt the same. And hadn’t his friend been the one looking up at him with such pleading in his crimson eyes, lips already parted in anticipation before they had met halfway?

But maybe Staeve was remembering it all wrong. He certainly must be. Why else would his lifelong companion leave him now unannounced?

Loads of feelings were forming up inside his chest, waiting to burst - like thunder after lightning had struck in the far off distance.

Staeve made his way to the stables to grab Freckle while his mind was somewhere completely else. He didn’t even stop to put a saddle or reins on her. A terrible premonition told him he hadn’t any time to waste. And the mare was used to being ridden like this, after all they were a well-practised team.

The young Brimstone led his horse outside and immediately felt raindrops seeping through his thin linen shirt and trousers. He couldn’t have cared less. Wasting no more time he jumped onto his mare’s back and with a click of his tongue and soft nudge from his boots they were off in a dash, cutting through the oncoming rain.

As Staeve thundered down the small trodden out road from the Brimstone estate towards the Ancuníns’ residence the rain turned from just a trickle to a pour - the kind that would turn grasslands into swamps for a good while after and dust roads into murky rivers. His mind was racing at an even more outrageous speed as the gigantic manor of his friend’s family came into view.

Lifting his head while holding onto Freckle’s mane as the horse felt his owner’s urgency and gave him her all, Staeve searched for the familiar sight of that one particular window with a light on inside, hoping it would betray his sister’s words. The one where Astarion often already had been peeking out of in wait for his companion to come by. The one where they had sat countless of times, talking, laughing, smoking some stolen cigars and choking on the burning smoke when they had been only boys.

But the lights were off.

And Staeve’s fears turned into all encompassing panic as he closed in on the giant building as he didn’t dare to let himself hope anymore. The rain around him had him fully drenched by now, his loose shirt clinging wetly to his body. Already he felt hot tears adding to the uncomfortably cold rain running down his face.

When he finally came around the manor, he found nothing but an ill-fated stable hand rushing through the downpour, perhaps tasked with a few last things before being allowed to flee the bad weather. Not even hesitating Staeve rode up right next to him making the poor boy shriek and stumble back from the horse making the gravel fly with a sliding stop.

“Astarion Ancunín?” he only managed to scream against the rain.

The boy just stared up at him, obviously too startled at the sight of Staeve like this. He probably looked like a madman. And he felt like one: not properly dressed, drenched to the bone on his equally aggregated steed. Even more so the more time he spent chasing down a man in this storm who so obviously tried to get away from him without him knowing.

But he needed to see him, at least a final time. One more try.

“The Duke’s son?” Staeve shouted again at the stable hand. And finally the boy seemed to have recovered from his stupor.

“Left. With his father the Duke, in the fancy carriage,” the answer came back, shouted against another thunder in the distance - the heart of the storm was coming closer.

Staeve’s chest clenched. Freckle became nervous beneath him. Even a well trained horse like her didn’t want to be out longer than needed in this weather. But just a moment more.

“When?” he screamed.

“Dunno exactly, couple of minutes, just when the storm started.”

Staeve needn’t hear more. Time was of the essence now. He spurred on his horse once more and left the befuddled boy behind who even forgot to finally rush inside and instead stared after Staeve racing off again.

The roads were already muddy, an endless amount of puddles strewn across them while Staeve made the decision to go for the hill overlooking the Ancunín lands, the one with the weeping willow. There he’d be able to see how far out they were already on the country road leading away from town.

But when he arrived at the foot of said hill and dashed on with Freckle, his horse slipped and almost took a tumble. And since his or his horse’s broken neck surely wouldn’t make him be any faster, Staeve slid off his mare’s back and continued on foot.

The rain kept pouring onto him as he rushed up the hill, his booted feet sinking into the wet ground. Several times he almost took a tumble when his boots sank in too deep. Illustrious curses that would have made his mother blush and his father scold him, left Staeve’s lips as he ran up the grassy hill as fast as possible, barely able to see anything anymore with the rain slashing his face. He didn’t even notice how the freezing cold crept into his body, his limbs, how his fingers began to become stiff. His whole body was shaking, as much from the cold and the wet, as from the feelings still burning inside his chest - the only thing still spending a bit of warmth.

Staeve reached the top of the hill and the weeping willow atop of it - honouring its name as rain kept dripping generously off its tendrils. Trying to wipe at least some of the rain out of his face and panting heavily from running, Staeve’s eyes flew along the road leading out of town, willing the carriage to be there, so he’d know he could still catch them. Or at least a glimpse, of him. To at least wave a last goodbye. Because he didn’t know when - if - his friend would ever return.

And he spotted the carriage. Right there, at the very end of what Staeve could make out. Just before it disappeared around a final turn of the road - and out of sight.

~~~

Inside the carriage Astarion was craning his neck only a little to see Ancunín manor slowly disappear behind the lazily sloping hills of the countryside as the wagon rattled along the road leading away from town. Now the ancient weeping willow was the last familiar landmark before the road would lead them along faceless fields and forests rushing past them, only there to be forgotten again in an instance. The storm was doing its part to make Astarion’s last impression of his home even more dull: clouds and the rain almost washing all of the colours out of this final sight.

This might very well have been the only time in his life when his heart actually ached at the thought of leaving home - or rather him.

Only a few weeks ago had he hoped to spend an incredible last summer with Staeve, his childhood friend. Especially as he had been sure of something new budding between them, something that could have meant them being more than companions possibly. Something that either might have been honestly terrified to explore. They could have gone down this road together.

But it seemed that instead of choosing this final adventure and what treasures and secrets might have been ahead, Staeve had chosen utter and complete silence. To his letter as much as his departure. Astarion had been unable to figure out what to make of it.

However, wasn’t the absence of an answer a response of its own?

Questions, regrets, fear and hurt were all swirling around inside of Astarion’s chest as he feigned indifference staring out the small window the rain kept drumming on. He was covering most of his face with his hand turned away from the other passenger in hopes it would make him look bored and hide his frown - and more than anything, the tears burning dangerously in the corners of his eyes.

Writing that letter, taking a leap of faith had taken nearly all of his courage.

When that kiss had happened after that invaded soiree, it had been easy. Fueled by the evening, laughter and lots of liquid courage it had been easy to fall into Staeve’s arms. It had been easy to be open about what had been building up inside of him for so long.

But writing this letter stone cold sober had been near impossible: opening up about everything that, all his life, he had been taught to keep hidden behind his orderly closed button border, tugged away behind a starched collar closed so firmly it made one choke. Admitting to desires that would make him a wretched sinner in the eyes of his family and society. And finally confessing his feelings to his lifelong friend, risking everything they’ve had. It had been taxing, hard, painful.

And in the end, apparently, he had paid the price.

In front of him, the Duke Ancunín kept talking about their travelling plans while Astarion could feel his heart get torn into pieces the further away from home they travelled. A piece of it begging to be allowed to stay.

“Son, it is a great honour that Monsignore Constantin will take you in for a few extra weeks as his disciple. He is very strict but he is the best,” the Duke repeated his words in a sharper tone when he noticed his son not paying attention. “He will make an upright man out of you, Astarion, I know it.”

“Oh, will he? I can barely wait,” Astarion replied with bitter sarcasm in his voice. His father, in response, was near boiling with anger at his son’s insolent behaviour.

“He has his methods, son, you will see. He will let none of your nonsense slip, I will make sure of it!” The Duke’s words cracked like a whip. But the young man didn’t care, his eyes were still trained on the outside, on the weeping willow becoming smaller in the distance. He didn’t honour his father’s wrath with another response.

The carriage filled with nothing but the sound of drumming rain and thunder rolling ever closer. When the older Ancunín apparently realised his anger would get him nowhere he tried a different route of grasping his son’s attention.

“Hasn’t the young Brimstone come to say his goodbyes to you, my son? Is that why you keep brooding?”

Astarion’s gaze snapped to his father, immediately betraying that he had spoken the truth. He felt how his brows drew together as pain flared up in his chest even more. Trying to get it back under control quickly he looked back outside the window as the carriage shook along the road in worsening conditions.

But his father had cracked right open what had been bothering him and finally Astarion gave up on trying to hide. What did it matter now anyways? The cards had been dealt.

The young Ancunín let his hands fall into his lap but kept looking outside as he felt how the tears in his eyes threatened to become overbearing.

“He hasn’t actually,” Astarion admitted. “In fact, I haven’t seen him in a few weeks. Not since I’ve sent him a letter a while ago,” he continued, voice flat and emotionless.

“A letter? How uncommon for the two of you,” the Duke threw in with a tinge of irony coating his words like bile. In a knee jerk reaction Astarion’s crimson gaze burned in anger at his father’s vile words. But in the end he wasn’t wrong. The young noble resorted to throwing a last glance upon the willow up on the hill.

“Come to think of it though, my son, I do remember seeing the letter,” the Duke rambled on. “And I remember handing it over to the butler so it may get delivered quickly.” Astarion turned away a little further once more from his father as he felt his composure threatening to break fully. “A difference of opinions maybe?,” his father finished.

Astarion didn’t see the slight tilt of the corners of his father’s mouth as he let the words roll off his tongue, not hiding his distaste for the young Brimstone.

The young Ancunín only could feel the final nail being put into the coffin with his father’s final words. His last string of hope he had been holding onto snapped in two just like that.

“Possibly,” Astarion simply replied, kneading his hands in his lap, emotions threatening to overwhelm him fully.

“Maybe even more than that,” he added after a while as he finally let his gaze fall from the last sight of his hometown.

Had he averted his eyes just a moment later he would have made out the figure of a dark-skinned, green-haired young man appearing beneath the weeping willow in the storm. But like this, thunder cracked as the carriage took a turn and Astarion’s home and his lifelong friend went out of sight.

[clarisse0o]

Camp Wiegman-Part 49

Lucy Bronze x Ona Batlle

Alternative Universe : Military School

Words : 5k

Masterlist

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Monday, February 8th; 11:45 AM - In class.

Returning to reality is hard. I'm bored to death with these classes. If Lucy saw me, she'd probably lecture me for slouching over my desk trying to follow this pointless lesson. I wish we could have extended our weekend. It was so much more enjoyable, even with the little incident Feli caused on Saturday night. I keep thinking about it. Lucy was so sweet to me from beginning to end. I was so worried, but now I regret that the weekend was too short. Plus, seeing my brother again was such a joy. It broke my heart when it was time to leave. He didn’t want to let us go, and he even cried. I felt sorry for Hector, who had to stay with him. Luckily, the holidays are coming soon. We have just one more week. I’m eagerly looking forward to it, so much so that I feel like these next few days are going to drag on. It’s well known that excitement tends to slow down time. If all goes well, I'll spend those two weeks with Lucy. The first week is certain, since we'll be going to the Alps with her friends. She told me she'd handle the planning with Ingrid during the day.

- "You seem lost in thought," Alessia murmurs. "Is everything okay?"

- "Yeah," I say, sitting up and giving her a shy smile.

I’ve never felt so good. Of course, I still have problems, but the biggest ones are now resolved. My smile fades for a moment as I recall the events of last week. With everything that happened, I haven't had the chance to speak to my friends since the cafeteria incident. I did check in with Alexia via text, but that was it. I got bombarded with questions this morning. If I had at least had one meal with them, I could have avoided this situation. But I don’t regret eating with Lucy. I was still too shaken to be around other students. Coming back to school this morning reminded me why I wasn't ready for that. The students made me the center of attention. I hated it. My friends told me that a bunch of rumors had spread after the fight. The first was about Korbin getting expelled, but for me, it was a different story. The students thought I was in the hospital, considering the beating I took. The scene in the cafeteria must have been something for them to think that. After hearing all this, I’m not surprised everyone is staring at me. Sure, I still have a few marks, but everything’s healing pretty well, thanks to Lucy’s weekly care.

- "I wanted to apologize," I said.

- "For what?"

- "For being radio silent until today. I shouldn't have worried you. To be honest, I didn't expect you to be so concerned."

- "You're our friend; it's normal to worry."

- "Yeah, but you know, except for Mapi, I was never close to many people. But now that I have you guys, it’s… I don’t know. I’m glad to have you."

- "We’re glad to have you too," she smiles. "Just don’t leave us without news next time. We saw you Thursday morning, so we knew you were okay, but we still wondered why you were absent the next day."

- "I promise, next time I'll let you know."

I return her smile. I've grown closer to them, so I can’t shy away now. I’m relieved when the bell rings right after our conversation. I hope the rest of the week doesn’t pass as slowly as this half-day. I’ll die of boredom otherwise. My only motivation is that I’ll see Lucy every evening since we’ll be sharing her room again this week. She told me she’d be busy these next five days, so I’ll have to make do with our evening classes and nights together. I hope I can manage. She’s been my support these past few days, and I already feel lost without her by my side. In the meantime, I content myself with my friends. Specifically, Alessia. She’s telling me all about what I missed last week, and her stories are pretty funny. I stop laughing, though, when we run into Lucy walking in the opposite direction just as we’re about to leave the building. I step aside to avoid getting in anyone’s way.

- "Hey," I say with a smile, happy to see her.

My smile fades when I realize she’s not looking at me. Her attention is focused on Alessia beside me, and she’s giving her a dirty look before finally turning to me.

- "Hi," she finally responds. "You know we already saw each other this morning, right?" she jokes.

- "Uh, yeah," I say awkwardly, making her smile.

- "I don’t have much time to chat, but we’ll meet after class. I’ll be done with what I have to do by then, so we can work on your assignments."

- "Really? I don’t want to waste your time. If you’re too busy, Alessia can help me."

- "No. I insisted on helping you with your studies, so I’m not going to abandon you," she replies.

I suppress my smile at the tone of her voice. Oh, so she has an issue with Alessia... I didn’t see that coming.

- "Alright. I’ll be there," I simply reply.

- "You better be. You can’t back out now."

- "I wasn’t planning to," I tease.

- "Good," she smiles. "See you later in the classroom."

- "Aren’t you going to eat?"

- "I just finished. I wanted to avoid the crowd and save time."

- "Oh," I say, struggling to hide my disappointment.

She smiles at me, as if she understands how I feel. I wish she could have been there with me. Just seeing her in front of me would have given me courage. She ruffles my hair affectionately before slowly walking away.

- "See you in a few hours," I whisper.

- "See you in a few hours," she repeats.

I sigh as I watch her walk away. I wish I could follow her. I turn back to Alessia, who raises an eyebrow with a small smile.

- "Study session, huh? I guess things are better between you two if you're willing to ditch me."

- "Oh... Uh, yeah. I should’ve told you," I grimace as we head outside to join the others.

They were waiting for us at the exit. We follow them to the cafeteria as they start walking when they see us.

- "I’m really sorry, but because of my terrible grades, Bronze wanted to take charge again."

- "So, things are better between you?"

- "I... Yeah, you could say that."

- "You could say that?" she giggles. "You seemed pretty happy to see her just now," she smiles.

- "You’re exaggerating... It’s just that I didn’t expect to see her. She told me she’d be very busy today."

- "Who, besides you, tries to run into their supervisor?" she teases.

- "Alright... You’re right. Probably no one," I giggle. "I can’t help it if I enjoy spending time with her. She... I don’t know. I need her, that’s all. With what happened last week, she once again proved that to me."

- "Uh-huh..." she smiles.

- "What?"

- "Nothing," she says with a smirk.

- "Oh, come on. I know you well enough by now to know you’re thinking something."

- "No, I’m not saying anything," she says, raising her hands. "You might take it the wrong way again, and I don’t want to risk it."

- "Of course not," I protest.

- "I’m sure you would," she laughs. "Please drop it. I really don’t want you to get upset again."

- "Fine," I sigh.

I don’t insist, knowing that if she doesn’t want to talk about it, she must have a good reason. I don’t want to create any tension between us when we’ve been getting along so well these past few days. I step into the cafeteria hall as she holds the door for me. I barely take a few steps before Alexia half-jumps on me, putting her arm around my shoulders. I wince, holding back a cry of pain to avoid worrying her. Though my injuries are healing, they are far from fully recovered.

- "Classes are so depressing," she groans. "I’m so glad we’re on break!"

- "I totally agree."

- "You guys can’t complain. We only have one week left," Alessia comments.

- "Yeah, Especially the first week. Oh my God, I can’t wait!"

- "I can’t agree more," I say with a knowing smile.

- "What do you mean...?" Ale asks, slowing down. "Wait, don’t tell me—"

She stops completely, making me chuckle. I hadn’t told her the good news yet. This vacation is going to be amazing. I’ll be surrounded by all the people I’m closest to: Lucy, Mapi, and Alexia. Gradually, a smile spreads across Alexia’s face as if she’s just figured it out.

- "No, but wait... Really?"

I shrug, smiling even more. I reply with a wink before continuing with Alessia toward the buffet, who no longer tries to understand our half-spoken conversation. Thankfully. She’s a good analyst, and I don’t want her starting to ask questions.

- "Ona Batlle! What don’t I know about!?"

- "Oh, a lot of things," I giggle. "Let’s talk about it tonight, okay?"

"You have no idea how much I hate you right now for leaving me in suspense!"

I laugh, not saying anything more. I get the feeling Alessia is already asking herself questions, so I don’t want to add fuel to the fire by feeding her curiosity. We finally change the subject as we return to our table.

Monday, February 8; 5:45 PM - Lucy and Ingrid’s Office.

For the fifth time, I try to slide my hand onto Lucy’s thigh, but she stops me again, this time with a grumble. I pout as she furrows her brows once more.

- "You need to stop that."

- "I need to touch you," I groan.

She smiles softly, tilting her head. Coming from me, that might be confusing. I’ve never felt such a primal need before. Lucy has always been the one to offer me affection, and it’s frustrating that she’s denying it now.

- "Since when, huh?"

I shrug, blushing slightly. I missed her today. It was the first day we’ve been apart in four days.

- "Just wait a few more minutes until the building empties. In the meantime, focus. You’re far from done with your exercise."

I slump, resting my head on my hand and letting out a long groan. I’m getting tired of these management exercises. It’s been nearly an hour, and I’m almost back to square one.

- "Um, hello."

I lift my head to see a new presence in the room. Ingrid isn’t here tonight, so I wanted to take the opportunity to get Lucy’s attention, but now I understand why she didn’t want that. We could still be caught at any moment, like now. I squint as I recognize my management teacher, Mr. Tompson.

- "Hello, Mr. Tompson. How can I help you?" Lucy takes the initiative to ask.

- "I didn’t expect you to have company, actually."

- "Oh, Ona isn’t a problem. I help her with her homework every evening, so I doubt there will be other times to discuss privately. I’ll make sure she stays quiet if it’s an important matter."

- "Actually, it concerns her class."

He glances at me with a gentle smile. I don’t return his smile at all. He caught my attention as soon as he arrived. Lucy sort of confirmed for me that he’s interested in her. That makes me even more eager to defend my territory, but of course, I can’t. As if Lucy sensed that I was seething beside her, she gently squeezes my knee.

- "Well?"

I loosen my grip on my pen and look back down at my paper. Maybe my inattention will encourage my teacher to talk, and that’s exactly what happens. He must have realized that I wasn’t going to leave. There’s no way I’m letting him be alone with Lucy.

- "I was thinking of organizing an outing for their class. It would involve seeing how a company operates. I’m just waiting for responses from the companies I’ve selected."

- "Okay…" Lucy responds uncertainly. "And how does that involve me?"

- "I’m looking for chaperones… Three, to be exact."

- "I see."

- "I was hoping you’d be willing to do it," he adds hesitantly after Lucy’s response.

- "Well, why not, but it’s not my decision to make. You’d better discuss this with the principal."

- "Oh yes, of course! That was my intention," he says quickly. "I just wanted to know if you were agreeable before approaching her."

- "Do you already have the other chaperones?"

- "Another teacher who helped organize the outing will be there. I’m still missing the third person."

- "I can ask Engen. I suppose she’d be interested in coming with us. Of course, it will need Wiegman’s approval first."

- "That’s a good idea. I’ll handle that. Anyway, it’s not happening for a few weeks."

- "Alright, then we’ll discuss it again when the time comes."

- "Bronze…?" I murmur. "I’m stuck here."

A smile spreads across her lips as she presses her hand on my knee a little more. She seems to understand my plea for attention.

- "Excuse me, did I interrupt you?" my teacher asks.

- "No problem," Lucy replies.

- "Well then… I’ll leave you to it. Have a good evening."

- "Thank you, you too."

I watch him leave the room with a nasty look. Fortunately for me, he didn’t notice as he had his back turned. He closes the door halfway at Lucy’s request. I sigh with relief at his departure. He was making the atmosphere heavy. Lucy smiles at me almost mockingly.

- "What?"

- "Oh, nothing."

- "Hmm…"

- "So, what’s your problem?"

- "Oh, I didn’t have one. I just wanted him to leave."

She smiles again and goes back to her work. I groan, resting my head on my palm again.

- "Still, I hadn’t realized how insufferable that guy is."

Lucy lets out a laugh she’s probably been holding in for a while, given its intensity.

- "Hey, don’t make fun of me! It’s the truth."

- "I thought you liked him?"

- "Yeah, well, I’ve changed my mind. I like him less now that I know he’s hovering around you."

- "He’s not hovering around me," she rolls her eyes.

- "He likes you and ogles you; it’s all the same to me. Plus, I would’ve preferred to avoid confronting him today, given how much I missed you," I tease her.

She smiles in amusement and surprises me by leaning in to kiss me. I close my eyes, fully enjoying this contact, which I realize has become a necessity for me right now. However, it doesn’t last. I open my eyes to beg for more, which prompts her to respond verbally.

- "I hope you fully enjoyed that little taste to satisfy your needs because that’s going to be my only affectionate gesture in this office tonight. Now get back to work. I want that exercise finished before dinner."

A plaintive whine escapes me. I should’ve expected it, but it’s so frustrating. Knowing that she really means it, I abandon the idea of getting more and change the subject.

- "I can’t do it," I replied.

I’m not sure if I’m talking about the exercise or the affection she’s withholding. She seems to assume it’s the former, judging by her response.

- "I’ve explained it to you three different ways. You can’t tell me you can’t do it. This is clearly a lack of effort on your part, and if you think I’m going to do the exercise for you, you’ve got another thing coming."

I sigh, knowing full well that she’s right about this. In truth, I already understood it the second time she explained it, but I just don’t have the motivation to do it. I still pout, not entirely happy with her attitude. However, I don’t complain to avoid getting scolded for real. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that Lucy won’t act any differently than a supervisor during work hours. With little enthusiasm, I finally dive into my exercise.

Monday, February 8; 8:15 PM - Ona and Alexia’s Room.

- "No way, this can’t be true…" says Alexia, completely shocked. "Why do you always hide so much from me! So, you and Bronze…"

She doesn’t finish her sentence, as if she still can’t believe it enough to say it out loud. I giggle and nod. I just told her we’re a couple. I thought she would’ve guessed when I said everything was settled, but it seems she hadn’t thought that far. She falls back onto the bed across from me. It looks like she’s going to need some time to process this.

- "But like, really?"

- "Yes, Ale," I laugh. "We’re together."

- "B-but, but… How?! We’re talking about Bronze here!"

- "Call her Lucy with me, please," I roll my eyes with a little amused smile.

- "Oh no, no, no. I definitely can’t do that. We’re talking about Bronze!"

I laugh heartily before we look each other in the eye. I wait for her to digest the news. She opens her mouth to speak but then closes it again. She seems to be thinking about what to say before finally speaking.

- "How? I mean, Bronze hates me because I broke the rules by dating Jenni, and she got fired because of me. So how did you get her to break the same rule herself? It’s so unexpected. I mean, of course, I encouraged you, and I hated her for hurting you so much, but… I don’t know. I just never expected her to offer you an intimate relationship, seriously!"

- "Stop it, Lucy doesn’t hate you."

- "Oh yes, yes, yes! She hates me! She made that clear from the start! She’s only become nicer to me since you two started hooking up! And that’s only because we’re friends! Did you say something to her? Oh my God, you must have said something! Otherwise, she wouldn’t be acting so nice to me!"

I chuckle in amusement. The way she’s getting worked up is hilarious. Now she’s standing up, panicking, saying things I can’t even understand anymore because I’m laughing so much.

- "Ale, calm down. I didn’t say anything to her. If she’s doing it for me, I don’t know about it. I can find out If you want.

- Definitely not! Besides… why are you here with me? Don’t you want to go find her?

- Well, you see, I have a friend who pressured me a little to stop by here before heading back to my room. I should hate you for delaying the moment I’ve been waiting for all day, but you’re lucky I like you, I teased.

- Aww, you’re too cute! But go on. I don’t want to keep you. I’ll just try to process this news now that I know.

- No, I think I’ll stay here for a bit. Actually, I need to make Lucy wait. She left me frustrated while I was doing my homework.

Alexia sits back down on her bed, nodding.

- It’s understandable that she’d want to keep things discreet. Her best friend lost her job because of me for the same reason. I doubt she wants to get fired for it too.

- I know… I sighed. I don’t blame her; I get it. Honestly, I just didn’t expect to want to be so touchy-feely with her. I mean, just last week, I could barely stand being touched. Now I’m practically begging her to touch me, even if it’s just once.

- I’ve been saying from the start that you were hooked on her, she teased. But still, I can’t get over it. You two, together? I mean, especially Bronze in a relationship—it’s unimaginable.

- Oh, stop. It’s just because she only shows you the mask she wants you to see. She’s really sweet deep down. I even think she’s hiding her true self, I said with a roll of my eyes.

- What do you mean by that?

- I’m not saying anything. You might never see her the same way again, and I doubt Lucy would appreciate it, I replied with a small, sly smile. I think she likes to keep you on your toes, I chuckled.

- Yeah, well, it’s really not funny, she pouted.

- You know, I can always talk to her if this bothers you that much.

- No, absolutely not! I want to prove to her that I’m a good match for Jenni. I feel like she still doesn’t think so.

- If she doesn’t yet, she will. And I promise I won’t do anything to make that happen.

We exchanged a knowing smile just as there was a knock on the door. A rather timid Lucy entered our room. I raised an eyebrow, not expecting her to show up. I’d seen her after dinner and told her I wouldn’t come by right away.

- Hey, I said. What brings you here?

- I was wondering what was taking you so long.

I raised an eyebrow, noticing it was only twenty past eight. I usually didn’t head back to my room until nine when I stopped by here first.

- Hmm… We were just talking, but I can come back with you if that’s what you want.

- Oh no, it’s just that… she started before cutting herself off. Never mind.

Lucy shifted her gaze from me to my roommate. She raised an eyebrow, making me look at Alexia in turn. Alexia’s cheeks were clearly flushed with embarrassment, probably from staring at her. Lucy sighed, running a hand through her hair.

- She knows, I guess?

- Of course. Don’t think I was going to keep it from her.

- I didn’t say anything, she smiled softly. Well… are you done, or should I leave without you?

- I think we’re done…

- Yeah, sure, Alexia confirmed.

- So, see you tomorrow morning? I asked.

- Yeah, she smiled, getting up to hug me. See you tomorrow morning.

- Good night, I said, before joining Lucy, who had been waiting by the door since the beginning.

Lucy wished her a good night as well before letting me go ahead to leave. We walked through the buildings, taking her shortcut to make the trip quicker.

- You thought I wasn’t coming back? I teased. I usually get back to your room later than this.

- No. Let’s just say I didn’t expect you to take so long. You told me you’d only be fifteen minutes.

- Hmm… And what would have happened if I’d stayed longer, huh?

- It would have meant that I couldn’t enjoy you the way I wanted, she murmured as she opened her bedroom door.

- Well, I started, immediately searching for my things in my suitcase. You didn’t want me to enjoy you in your office either, I replied in a slightly reproachful tone.

- You’re not really mad about that, are you? she teased.

- You don’t know me very well if you think otherwise, I replied with a wink.

She tried to steal a kiss as we moved, but I ignored her and slammed the bathroom door in her face. I heard her groan behind it, which made me stifle a laugh. I expected her to give up—at least, that’s what I would’ve done in her place—but instead, she came into the bathroom just as I was taking off my shirt.

- Luce, get out of here.

- No, she said, blocking me against the sink.

- What’s gotten into you? I sighed, slightly unsettled by her sudden change in behavior.

- You should know that I don't reject you in my office for fun, she replied. I told you that I'd remain your supervisor at school and your girlfriend in private. I thought you understood that. Let's not start taking jabs at each other over this.

Her response made me realize she took my words seriously. Sure, I was a little upset with her for making me wait with just one kiss, but I was mostly joking.

- Sorry, I... It’s just that... Today was hard. I really missed you. I didn’t expect it to be this much. Plus, it was tough dealing with all those rumors and students without you by my side.

Lucy sighed as she pulled me into her arms. I relaxed into her embrace, enjoying the long-awaited hug. She kissed my forehead.

- It was only the first day... You'll have to hold on for three more months because I’m not planning to change my stance on professionalism. Don’t forget that I’m working here.

- I know, I mumbled.

- We’ll have all the time in the world to be together in the evenings, OK?

- Yeah, and after the holidays, huh? I won’t be here in the evenings, remember?

- Well, we’ll have the weekends, she arched an eyebrow. You're not going to get all depressed on me, are you? I didn’t think you were this needy for affection, she teased.

- Well, you’re the one who made me like this.

She laughed and stole a quick kiss from me.

- Now, go take a quick shower and come join me. You’re not the only one who’s been waiting for this moment all day. I just hide it better than you.

I smiled as I watched her leave. She really does hide it better than I do because I hadn’t noticed. I hurried to wash up and get ready for bed before joining her. She was already waiting in bed with the next Harry Potter movie queued up on her laptop. I quickly joined her, snuggling into her arms. She held me tight and kissed me passionately, showing me just how much she had missed me too.

- So, how was your day otherwise? she asked as she started the movie.

- Long and boring, I sighed. It’s really unbearable. I’m just glad Alessia and the others were there to distract me.

- Alessia, huh?

- What? I asked, smiling slightly, already knowing where this conversation was going.

- You two have gotten close pretty quickly. Is she still into you?

I smiled mischievously. I vaguely mentioned this to her because of what happened on New Year’s Eve. I seriously need to stop talking to her about these things.

- I don’t think so. At least, she knows I’m interested in someone else.

- Really?

- Yeah… But she’s starting to have questions about us, so if you ask me, you might want to save those looks for someone else next time.

I bit my lip and looked up. The scene from this morning was unforgettable. I saw her give Alessia a disapproving look, and I doubt it was accidental. I caught her rolling her eyes before she turned them back to me.

- Why? She’s asking questions?

- I think she suspects that you’re the one I’m interested in. So yeah, I guess she’s asking questions. This morning, she didn’t want to continue a conversation about it, fearing I’d get upset…

- I see, she murmured. I’ll try to control myself. You try to do the same with your management professor, she teased.

- At least I didn’t stare him down!

- Maybe not, but you weren’t exactly pleasant either, she giggled.

- That’s not true.

- Yes, it is, she laughed. It was cute.

I blushed, sinking deeper into her. I turned my attention to the movie that had been playing. Lucy kissed my head, making me smile. It’s funny how easily we express our feelings now when we hid them for weeks before.

- So… I can’t talk to Alessia about us, right? I broke the silence, making Lucy sigh.

- Why do you ask? Do you want to tell her?

- No, but I’m afraid she’ll find out…

- If you ask me, from what you’ve told me, she already suspects. It’s up to us to prove her wrong, which is why we need to stay professional here, especially during work hours.

- You’re right, I murmured.

- I’d love for you to be able to talk to her, but the fewer people who know, the less chance we have of compromising my end of the year. I’d rather we don’t talk about it, no matter how much you trust Alessia or anyone else.

I nodded. It’s definitely too risky. It might be our last year, but I’m not going to risk anything happening in the short time we have left here.

- I won’t say anything.

- So… Do you really like her since you’ve gotten close to her?

I swallowed a smile. She’s really cute when she’s playing jealous.

- She was a good support while you were away… I misjudged her, to be honest.

- You know, if you asked me a question like that, I would have reassured you…

I frowned, worried that I might be misunderstanding the tone of her voice. I looked up to see her smiling softly at me.

- Yes, I’m jealous of her, baby. Unlike me, you could have been open with her in front of your friends.

- I was open with you in Barcelona and even in front of my mom. That was the first time that ever happened. Well, I did it with Mapi in front of our friends, but definitely not as quickly.

- Really…? she murmured.

- Yes.

I propped myself up on my elbows to get a better look at her. She suddenly seemed deep in thought. Her hand gently caressed my back.

- What’s on your mind? I whispered.

- I don’t want to rush you into things too quickly. You know that, right?

- Of course. I wouldn’t do anything I didn’t want to do. Honestly… I expected this weekend to be a disaster because of my fears, but I ended up loving it… You made me feel comfortable, as you always do. Everything feels so natural between us, and that’s exactly what I need.

She smiled softly before kissing me.

- I’m glad to hear you say that. Don’t hesitate to tell me if anything bothers you, okay?

- Nothing bothers me… But I’ll tell you if something does, I promise. Can we finally watch the movie now?

- Of course, she giggled. Sorry. Come here.

She lifted her arm, and I didn’t hesitate to snuggle as close to her as possible. I love when she holds me in her arms. I used to be afraid of starting a new relationship because I didn’t like physical contact anymore, but now I crave the opposite with Lucy. I buried my head in her neck, thinking about this. I can’t imagine being without her anymore. We’ll need to balance our time during the day and our private moments. I have no doubt she’ll help me with that, even though it will be challenging for both of us, from what I can tell. Lucy is clearly better at hiding it than I am. I hope I can do the same in the coming days, and then the holidays will finally be ours.

[valorant-drabbles]

Hallo! I'm the one who requested the iso x reader from last time （＾ｖ＾）

I was wondering if you could make a part two showing how they slowly progressed with each other if it's alright since I really loved the first part and I'm brain rotting hard about Iso

PS - I'll go by ♠️spade anon from now on

Not me accidentally creating a multi-part slow burn Iso fic!! Oh boy

Could be seen as platonic or romantic… but if people want a part 3, it’ll definitely be more romantic.

Gender neutral reader!

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: Mild Cursing, Spoiler for Part 1 of this fic

Cold Shoulder

Reader x Iso

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

It had been about three weeks since the incident; since you and Iso had your little quarrel, and inevitably having started to understand one another. It was definitely a challenge for you, since you’d struggled for years when it came to getting along with people outside of work hours. Thankfully, Iso was proving to be extremely patient and courteous towards you and your growth. That wasn’t to say he didn’t get irritated every so often if he noticed you slipping back into your old, cold habits…

But you were making a genuine effort. What more could he ask for?

Despite it only having been a few weeks, you and Iso had started getting along quite quickly. He’d made it clear that you were always welcome to join him if you were feeling lonely- and considering your friend quantity in the Protocol was quite low, you were finding yourself ‘lonely’ often. It was strange- last month, you were completely fine being on your own. And now, if you went a few days without a casual conversation with somebody… you felt an odd emptiness inside your chest. A yearning for connection that you’d thought you’d severed long ago.

There were many days where Iso would return to his room after training to find you sat on his bed, listening to the playlist he’d shared with you. Usually you were reading, or watching movies on your laptop… passing the time until he’d return and possibly join you. Iso knew you had a bit of trouble asking to spend time together, so when you were in his room- it was kind of obvious why you were there. Once he’d shower and change clothes, he’d settle into bed and join you in whatever you were doing.

Overtime, this became routine. On days neither of you had a mission, you’d spend time together in the comfort of Iso’s room… quietly bonding, occasionally starting conversations- though usually it was Iso initiating. After all, even after all this time, he still found you to be absolutely fascinating, and desired to learn more about you.

“What do you think we learn from fighting ourselves?” Iso’s voice cut through the current silence filling the bedroom, causing you to look up from your book, eyebrow raised curiously at the sudden query.

“… what?”

“Ah- sorry. That came from nowhere.” Iso apologized quietly, his gaze sheepishly moving away from where you were watching him. “I was just… thinking about our mirror selves. From Omega Earth. How they look and act almost exactly like us- and our teammates as well.”

“Mhm. What about them, though?” You questioned further, noticing Iso shift in his seat.

“I’ve… had this question on my mind ever since I saw myself on the other team. ‘What do we learn from fighting ourselves?’… I’ve asked a few of the others, but… honestly, none of them had an answer I was looking for.” Iso grimaced softly at the memory of him asking Phoenix this question, only for the Brit to cockily answer ‘How much better I am compared to that fake me!’.

You took a moment to ponder his question. This was something you genuinely appreciated about spending time with Iso- he posed questions that made you think. Nothing too philosophical, usually… but it kept conversations interesting, and additionally helped the two of you learn more about how the other thinks.

“I guess… we learn our weaknesses.” You answer after about a minute of silence. “Though it’s not ideal… there’s certain circumstances where our double will be better than us at something. It’ll reveal a weak point in our abilities… and give us something to work towards improving. Alternatively, we learn the weakness of our double, and how to potentially exploit it if need be.” Your shoulders shrugged slightly, as you bit gently at the end of the pen in your hand. “It can also help us to… uh…”

Your hesitance to speak further piques Iso’s curiosity, and his gaze moves to you. He can’t help but notice your cheeks glowing a faint shade of red. You seldom showed emotion like this… allowing yourself to be embarrassed or even revealing a moment of weakness. Despite his desire to urge you into finishing your thought, he knew pushing you to answer would just make you uncomfortable. And, there was the possibility it could cause you to throw out your walls again, giving him the cold shoulder again- he couldn’t risk that. So, he waited.

As much as you wanted to change the topic or just… leave the thought unfinished, Iso’s eyes on you made it clear that he really wanted to know what you were thinking.

“Y/N?” Iso called out quietly. A sigh escaped you reluctantly, as you turned your body to face away from him slightly- only so that he would have trouble seeing how flushed your face had become.

“It… it also helps us to… see what we couldn’t see before. In our own teammates.” You finally continue, deciding to occupy your twitching hands with twirling your pen between your fingers. “How much our team would do to… to protect us. In the face of danger. The threat of death is always so real when you know the enemy won’t hesitate to kill you… sometimes you forget how dangerous it can be. How quickly you can lose somebody. And… how… if a teammate dies, you might go about the rest of your life… regretting that you never got to know them better. Or you might die with the same regret…” You swallow.

You thought back on the day you nearly died at Pearl almost every day. It all felt so surreal… the rush of emotion you felt when you saw Iso in danger? The searing pain from the bullets that had pierced your body?… the last thing you see being Iso using your Operator to take down the approaching threats…

His words echoing constantly in your mind.

“Don’t you dare die on me, Y/N.”

You’d always been so cold towards him… never giving him any reason to like your company. And yet… Iso risked his own life to save yours. With no hesitation.

“Y/N.” It was only after feeling Iso’s hand on your own that you realized he’d been calling your name. His voice was gentle, worry lacing the elegance he spoke your name with. His gaze on you was equally as concerned. It was only in that moment, seeing your own reflection in his eyes, where you notice you’d started crying.

“Shit.” You pull your hand away from Iso’s, and quickly moved to wipe your face of any tears that may had fallen. This was… new. You never let such fragile emotions show in front of the other agents… you only ever let out your piled up emotions behind closed doors, where nobody could see. Where nobody could know. “Sorry, I don’t… know why I’m crying. Can you just forget I said any of that?” You requested, though your voice wavered as you spoke, making you cringe internally. Were you truly so emotional when you thought back on that day…?

Without another word, you found yourself being pulled into Iso’s lap, his arms wrapped around you comfortingly, yet not intrusively. Physical contact wasn’t something you were used to either, but… in that moment? It felt… incredible. You needed this… so badly. For how long you’d needed it for, you didn’t know. You just knew you never wanted this moment to end- as soft as that sounded.

“I’m… not going to let either of us die with that regret.” Iso promised ever so softly, with his head resting comfortably against your shoulder. “And believe me, I don’t intend on dying anytime soon. So you don’t have to worry to much about missed opportunities to… get to know each other. And stuff.”

You kept your face hidden away from Iso; thankful he wasn’t making an effort to look regardless. You felt incredibly vulnerable in that moment… so you truly appreciated that Iso was making the effort to give you some level of privacy. At least as you attempted to pull yourself together again.

“I… I’m glad that… you didn’t give up on me.” You mumble gently against his chest. “… even though I was kind of an asshole to you.”

“Oh, no. You were a total asshole.” Iso chimed. You could just hear the grin on his face through his voice. It made you want to strangle him… not to death, per se.

“… besides. There’s no way I’d give up on someone as… incredible as you.”

Iso’s hand managed to find yours once again, and slowly, gently, you found your fingers intertwining with his without even thinking about it. The previously jarring silence in the room had been replaced with an air of comfortable quiet, as the two of you sat in each other’s company.

You never thought you’d have this thought towards another agent… but…

You really did enjoy Iso’s company. To what extent?… You were unsure.

Yet you enjoyed it regardless.

[wolfjackle-creates]

Ghost!Robin Part 13

THE DINNER ENDS!!!!!! Dear god, I need to write something that has less than seven characters present in the currently-being-written scene. This segment will be a bit longer than most previous ones simply because I was so close to the end.

Story Summary: Danny was invited to dinner at Wayne Manor to meet Jazz's boyfriend and his family for the first time. He worked hard to make sure no ghost business would interrupt the evening. But when he arrived, all he could focus on was the ghost of the dead Robin that seemed to haunt Jason. Looks like he was breaking his promise.

First, Previous

Word Count: 1.9k

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“Look, I’ve faced both an evil future version of me and have had to deal with mind control.” He looked to Bruce and, serious now, said, “As soon as the Anti-Ecto Acts are repealed and the Guys in White disbanded, I will help you write those plans myself.”

Bruce gave a single nod. “Do you know what caused you to turn evil in the alternate time stream?”

Danny sighed and nodded. “Believe it or not, I cheated on a standardized exam.”

“Okay, what?” asked Tim, incredulous. “What sort of 2000s PSA life do you live? How did that lead you down the path to evil?”

Danny frowned. “I got caught, my teacher met with Jazz, my partners, and my parents at a local restaurant to discuss it. There was an explosion and the entire place blew up killing every single person I was close to. I was then sent to live with Vlad where things got worse.”

Duke let out a low whistle. “Damn. I think I’d go evil, too, under that pressure.”

Robin flew over to him and draped himself over Danny’s back, hugging him as tightly as he could. Jazz reached over and gripped his hand. He gave her a smile and squeezed back.

Bruce nodded. “But it sounds like a future that is unlikely to happen again.”

“Grandpa says the same thing. And since he’s the Ghost of Time, I try to believe him.”

Tim made a noise of agreement. “Be glad you have that assurance. I’ve an evil future self as well. He’s such an asshole.”

Danny forced a laugh, recognizing the attempt at levity. “I’m sure. How’d you get yours to go away?”

He shrugged. “The obvious way. Threatened to kill myself so I could never grow up into him.”

Dick spluttered from his spot next to Damian. “I’m sorry, you did what? Tim! How could you?”

Tim shrugged. “Better than having an evil, gun-using Batman running around.”

Bruce was now sitting with his head in his hands. The rest of the table also started yelling at Tim, the references and names making no sense to Danny who looked over to Jazz. She just shrugged at him.

Leaning over, he whispered in her ear, “At least your in-laws won’t be too freaked out when weird things happen around you.”

She laughed. “Yeah. Honestly, I’m glad this is how the evening ended. It means no more secrets between Jason and me.”

“Guys, enough!” shouted Tim. “Look, I’m fine. This happened ages ago. But I promise I’ll update my incident report so you can all snoop on it later. Now, if you’ve all forgotten, we have guests. And ones who can help us with our League troubles. Danny, you had questions about the Lazarus pits?”

“Yeah, uh, you said it can be used to heal people? How does that work?” To Jason, he added, “And how did you interact with it?”

“I was dunked in it,” said Jason with a shrug. “After I’d been revived. I wasn’t in my right mind and Damian’s mom thought it might help.”

Robin nodded and signed something.

Dick translated for the ghost. “Baby Jason says the pit tied him and Big Jason together, but also prevented them from actually combining into one person again.”

Danny looked between them. “You were submerged in a pool of bubbling ectoplasm? How the hell did that not kill you? That shouldn’t be possible for a human. I doubt it’d be good for a ghost!” No wonder his future brother-in-law was split in two. That was probably the best that could be expected.

Danny hadn’t even realized how hard he was projecting concern until Robin trilled back at him to calm him down. Danny took a deep breath and pulled in his aura. “Sorry, Robin. I do think I’d like to get you both in to see my doctor as soon as possible, though.”

Jazz cleared her throat. “We can discuss that at home.”

Bruce stared at him. “Do you think they can help Jason?”

Danny shrugged. “He knows the most about ghost-human hybrids of anyone. If anything can be done, he’ll know.”

“I will go with you,” Bruce said.

Danny immediately shook his head. “Nope. I won’t bring anyone from Earth into the Realms until the Anti-Ecto acts are repealed. And only Jason can invite people to his private medical check up.”

Steph pouted. “But Jason is from Earth. Sure, he’s got some weird thing going on, but why does he get to go exploring other dimensions?”

“Cause he’s dead. He belongs to the Infinite Realms just as much as he belongs to Earth. I’m not gonna block someone from accessing their home.”

“I’m not dead!” yelled Jason. “I’m alive.”

Danny winced. He’d have to talk to Jazz about that. Death wasn’t really a thing that could be recovered from. Not fully. But it wasn’t his place to tell Jason he was still dead if he wasn’t ready to hear that. Jazz or Frostbite could have that conversation. “Of course you’re alive. And Earth is your home, too. But you’ve got one in the Realms if you ever need or want it. Think of it like dual citizenship.”

“I don’t want it.”

Danny sighed. “Look, then the part of you that is manifesting as Robin has a place there and you two can’t be separated so you’re allowed to follow him. It’s the only way I’ll be able to get you in to see the best doctor to help you out.”

“Jason,” Jazz spoke gently and rested her hand on his forearm, “you’re still alive. Nothing about your situation has changed. You just have some more information and more help. Which is a good thing.”

Jason frowned and didn’t answer, choosing instead to glare at his dinner plate.

No one else spoke up until Alfred cleared his throat. “Well, I believe that we should wrap the conversation up here. We’ve all received quite a lot of information and will need some time to review it and consider our next steps.”

Danny nodded. “Yeah, I think— Wait, um, before we end this, would you have a sample of the Lazarus Water I could take to Frostbite?” At the confused looks he was given, he added, “The doctor I mentioned. I think it’d help him figure out how best to help Jason and Robin.”

Bruce exchanged looks Danny couldn’t interpret with Damian and Tim before speaking. “We’ll have to discuss it. Would we be able to give you our answer in two days? At the very least, we’d like to have the report from your friend first.”

Danny shrugged. “Sure. The sooner the better, though. I’ll call Tucker on the way to Jazz and Jason’s. We’ll put something together for you tonight. I’m not sure exactly how long it’ll take, though. Depends on how much sleep Tuck’s running on.”

Bruce merely nodded.

Dick laughed and got to his feet. “Well, it’s been an absolute pleasure getting to know you. Welcome to the craziness of the Wayne family. It sounds like Jazz and you will fit right in. Let me walk you out.”

His words seemed to be a signal to the rest of the family. Most of whom also rushed over to try and insist on walking them out.

Until Jason shouted, “Enough! We don’t need a crowd to follow us to Jazz’s car. You can say goodbye from here just as easily.”

Dick pouted but acquiesced. Only after pulling Jason into a hug, though. Jason forced Dick to let him go only for Robin to rush in and take his place to Dick’s delight. After separating, they signed something to each other that had Jason blushing and scowling.

And then Dick moved on to hug Jazz, then Danny. “Come back anytime,” he told Danny. “Whether or not those two are with you. B meant it when he said you would have a room here.”

But then Steph was pushing Dick to the side to give Danny a hug as well. “What’s your phone number? I so want whatever blackmail you get on Jason. And I’ll share some of what I have.”

Danny laughed, but did agree to exchange numbers before the Duke was in front of him.

“Dude, you have to come by more often. It’s so annoying being the only meta around here.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Danny promised.

When Tim came over, he insisted on adding both Danny and Jazz to some of the family group chats. “If you give me your sister’s number, I’ll add her in, too.”

Jazz shook her head. “We’ll have to confirm she wants to be added in first. And ask her if she’d like an introduction to Superboy.”

“His name’s Kon. Kon-El. I’ll message him tonight, too. I’m sure he’d love to meet her.”

“Dani will say yes,” said Danny, “but she doesn’t always reply right away. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear from her.”

Then Tim was being pushed aside by Barbara who wanted to make sure he knew how to send them the information about ghosts and the Realms. And Cass was waving goodbye.

Bruce was the last of the group to approach them. “Remember, if you ever need a place to stay or want to lay low, you can come here any time. Even if you just want a warm meal. Your sister as well.”

“Thanks, Bruce,” said Jazz. “We do really appreciate that. You don’t have to offer it.”

“But I want to. Jason…” he trailed off before trying again. “I would like it if you kept me informed with any updates to your condition.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Right, because you want to know how much of a liability I am.”

If anything, Bruce’s face became more closed off at those words. “That’s not… Hn.”

Robin rolled his eyes, somehow visible despite his mask, and flew over to hug Bruce around the waist. Danny couldn’t make sense of the expression Bruce wore as he looked down at the ghost and though his arms twitched, he didn’t return the hug.

Alfred smoothly stepped forward before anyone could say anything. “Well, now that the goodbyes have all been said, I will walk you four out.”

Jason shook his head. “You don’t have to, Alfie. I know the way.”

“Of course you do, Master Jason. But I insist. We’ll stop by the kitchens and I’ll send you home with leftovers.”

Danny tried to hide his smile as Jason merely turned and walked in the direction of the kitchens. It seemed no one argued against Alfred. Once in the kitchens, they were given so much food to take home it required all three to carry it, then Alfred was leading them out a side door which brought them to the drive where Jazz’s car was parked.

Jazz nudged him and nodded her head towards the car. Danny nodded and followed her in while Jason, Alfred, and Robin remained outside to talk for a minute.

Danny took the back seat and met Jazz’s eyes in the rear-view mirror.

She gave him a wry smile and said, “What a night, huh?”

Danny snickered before bursting out into full-on laughter, Jazz joining a breath behind him.

-----

Next

Tim totally spilled the beans about Gun Batman to get people distracted from Danny. He's just being a good new friend.

I'm thinking I'll put this on a temporary hiatus as I work through how I want arc two to go. I know the story beats, but the pacing will absolutely have to change. Not gonna spend 16k words on a single evening again! (Did you guys realize it was that long? I certainly did. XP) In the meantime, I'll keep working on Bring Me Home and rewriting the Wrong Number AU.

Bonus points to anyone who can guess my favorite line from this segment!

And sorry for not replying to comments on the post from two weeks ago. I got caught up in irl stuff and wasn't able to get around to it.

Tag List Part 1

@addie-lover-of-stories, @justwannabecat, @gin2212, @amercurio, @regonold, @overtherose, @readerzj, @sjrose1216, @echoednonny, @deeterzz, @blu-lilac, @number-one-jew, @rowanaway-fromthisbs, @vythika96, @tired-yet-awaken, @themirrorghost, @emeraldcorpral, @all-mights-asscheeks, @darkhinauniverse, @blep-23, @phandomhyperfixationblog, @larkcoe1, @thegatorsgoose, @job-ross-the-second, @britcision, @lenacraft, @bubblemixer, @androgynouslordofescapism, @purefrickingspite, @leftmiraclechaos, @lizisipancardo, @starlight-sparks, @miraculousandmore, @gildedphoenix, @sometimesthingsfallapart, @letmesayfuxk, @phoenixcatch7, @skulld3mort-1fan, @abaowo, @dhampir-princess, @idkmrpianoman, @sarina-elais, @ballzfrog-blog, @undead-essence, @spookytragedyshark, @flyingpansaurus, @akintoabitch, @marivictal, @8-29pm, @justreadingthefanfics, @happybear135, @kisatamao, @spoopyspoony, @adorablechaos, @sara0055, @screamingtofillthevoid

[myemotionalsupportcharacters]

Somebody I Used to Know

Abby Anderson X Reader (Y/N)

Warnings: smut, trauma, implied PTSD

Friends to Enemies to Lovers Arc

A/n: did this turn out three times longer than I meant it to be? Yes. Is it edited? Barely. Enjoy!

It had been years now since Salt Lake, but some things hadn’t changed.

Abby still avoided you in the halls, had you assigned to patrols she didn’t want to go on, glared you down in the canteen as you made your way to their table. Having a sworn enemy is hard when you share the same friend group.

You had been thick as thieves growing up. Abby’s dad had become yours when you turned up at the hospital running from a group of bad guys that had managed to kill your parents before you slipped away. You had begun to show signs of starvation, bloody and bruised, clutching a large knife with both hands as soldiers had to subdue you to get you inside.

When you woke up, she was there: changing the wash cloth on your head, all but forcing a glass of water down you as they tried to break your fever. Inseparable since that moment, you did everything together. You found his body together.

She wouldn’t let you go when they dragged you out of the room and onto a truck. Sobbing, pounding her fists into your back as you helped them drag her away.

In the back of the truck, red rimmed eyes and a firm scowl, she looked up at you.

“I’m going to kill him. I’m going to find him, and I’m going to make him pay.” Your throat constricted, chest burned, and all you could do was nod and clutch her tightly to your chest.

It was a few days later when she brought it up again. Laying in sleeping bags on a hard concrete floor, she rolled over to you.

“Y/N, you awake?” You rolled over to face her, barely illuminated by the moonlight breaking through the rotting roof panels. “I was serious. I’m going to track him down, and I’m going to kill him. You’ll come with me, right?”

“Abby, I miss him so much.” Tears filled your eyes, tipping over the edge and trailing at an awkward angle down your face. “I don’t know if I could do that. I don’t think he would want that for you…” she rolled over in her bag before you could finish, face hardened.

“Fine. I’ll do it myself.”

She didn’t talk to you again, betrayed by her closest confidant. How could you not see that this was her only option? Her only way to heal, to honour him?

For the first year, you approached her in the halls, included her in conversation, and was always met with cold silence and a flat glare. She slipped even further away when she started dating Owen. You had always known they would end up together at some point, but you couldn’t have imagined how insufferable he would become when they did.

Every opportunity he had his hands on her, poking and teasing, whispering in her ear. You watched as she swooned and giggled like a little girl, turning away from the sight and doing your best to ignore them. The resentment grew. It wasn’t just him anymore, it was her too. She had replaced you, with him.

Then came the Bonfire Incident (as it was known in the group). You had been buzzing about it for a month. Isaac had finally given the go ahead for a small celebration for the patrol squads after the new territory was secured. You would christen the new ground with a good ol’ fashioned bonfire, complete with barbecue and bootleg liquor.

The best part, Lexi was going. You had a small crush on her, and had heard through a mutual friend that she thought you were pretty. You had high hopes. All hopes were confirmed when she dragged you off to a dark section of trees, toting a bottle of smuggled whiskey she found on patrol. You drank, flirted and eventually, she had you pinned against a tree, tongue in your mouth and a hand down your pants.

“Fuck, yes, there.” You panted, leaning your head back against the tree as she dug two fingers into just the right spot and ground the heel of her hand against your throbbing clit. “Shit, so close.” Her lips dragged across your collarbone, and up your neck. A rustle caught your attention, and you tipped your head to the side, catching Abby sneaking between the trees. She stopped, holding your eye contact, expression switching quickly from caught to determined. Her jaw tightened and twitched, thick arms folding across her chest as she watched the scene unfold.

You held her gaze, letting out one final moan as you contracted around Lexi’s fingers, cumming so hard it took your breath away and made your toes tingle. Abby never looked away. Lexi moaned into your neck.

“So fuckin tight, doll. Bet you taste as sweet as you sound.” You looked around as she gently pulled her fingers from you, leaving you empty and pulsing. She brought her fingers up to your mouth, and your jaw dropped open. She placed them gently on your tongue, and you lapped up your own juices. “You’re so fucking hot.” She pulled her fingers away and pressed a quick hot kiss to your lips.

“What do you say we finish this later?” You asked, pulling away.

“Whatever you say, hun. You coming?” She pulled the whiskey back up to her lips, taking a swig.

“Just gonna straighten myself out.” Lexi winked, walking away. Once she was far enough, you turned to face Abby still leaning against the tree.

Abby stepped back out from the tree she had taken cover behind.

“The fuck was that?”

“Aw, Abby, Owen not taking care of you?” Abby let out a mocking laugh.

“I meant your choice in partner. Seriously? Lexi?”

“What’s wrong with Lexi?” You defended, folding your own arms over your chest.

“Nothing, nothing.” Abby held her hands up. “Just thought you had better taste than that.”

“Since when did my taste in women have anything to do with you, Anderson? Especially considering your own clear lack of judgement.” Abby’s face hardened.

“Fuck you.”

“You wish you could, Anderson. I’m just not sure you could keep up.” You pushed off the tree, reaching down to zip up your pants as you stalked back to the fire, leaving her in the dark.

You only found out the next morning that Owen had broken things off three days prior.

You felt awful, but pushed it down. She had spent the past couple years treating you like shit, and the one time you returned the favour, you suddenly felt guilty?

You shook it off, and returned to the normal routine. Until today.

You headed to the armoury, opening your locker and pulling out a slightly battered sniper rifle, a 9mm, and restocking your pockets with ammo. Pulling on your pack, you headed out back and hopped onto your assigned truck. You pulled a small book out your sack, and waited as everyone got loaded on.

It was tradition by now, everyone had learned you didn’t partake in the pre-shit show banter and chatter. You read, you shot, and then you chilled.

“The fuck is this?” You didn’t look up when you heard her voice. “No, Manny she shouldn’t be here.” You heard shuffling as Manny pulled Abby aside and talked her down. A couple minutes later she hopped onto the back of the truck and sat as far down the bench as possible.

“Apparently I’m covering your ass today.” Abby grunted, and you flipped to the next page. Tony chuffed, and looked over at Abby.

“She doesn’t talk before runs. Or during actually.”

“The fuck…” You tuned out Abby grumbling, zoning into your book until you felt Manny clap you on the shoulder.

“It’s time.” You nodded, stowing your book and standing. You followed him into the building, ignoring the gunshots that covered your entrance. You made your way to rooftop, Abby moving silently in your wake. Busting the door open, you quickly made your way to the edge, and began setting up the rifle. Abby stuck by the door, and you let out a chuff of your own.

“Heights.” You remembered. “Are you going to be able to do this?” You called to her.

“I’m fine. Worry about yourself.” Abby turns her back, focusing on the doorway.

Half an hour later and the street below was littered with corpses of runners and Scars alike. The Scars had come first, pushed out of hiding by the runners, all part of Isaac’s brilliant plan. The silencer on sniper mostly concealed your location, Abby had been stationed just incase any managed to slip through the building clearing or the first defence line. You had spent the whole time with your eye to the scope, all other sounds or distractions tuned out.

“All clear, fuck!” Manny came to a halt at the doorway. You hauled yourself up from the ground, disassembling the rifle, and packing it back up. You turned to see the pile of bodies Abby had left. Three scar, one much larger than the others, and five clickers. Abby was sat leaning against an air duct, rewrapping the bandages around her knuckles and wrist, a deep gouge oozing blood down the left side of her face.

“You’re welcome.” She grunts in your direction, standing and grabbing her rucksack.

“Thanks.” You returned, straight faced.

Abby stares at you for a moment, then laughs and stalks away. Manny looks between you, before following Abby.

The truck was silent on the ride back, two people lighter than on the way out. You sat, staring at the floor, ignoring Abby’s eyes on you. She had seen it when she got to the ground floor. The devastation you had left in your wake. At least four times the amount of her own kills. You had seen the way she looked at you as you got onto the truck. She hadn’t realised what living at WLF had turned you into, she hadn’t been paying attention. She’d never seen the look in your eyes after a run, hollow and empty. Hadn’t thought about why you didn’t want to talk about what went down on runs with the group, why everyone but your friend group tended to eye you as you walked down the halls. They’d fashioned you into a killer, and stollen the light that used to shine in your eyes. They’d done the same thing to her.

The showers were running hot that day, the fog they created obscuring her vision slightly as she watched you. You stood under the hot water, head tipped back, eyes shut as tears camouflaged with the water. Behind you eyes, a movie of your killing spree played out like pantomime. You saw each of them go down, saw their lives up until that point play out until the moment your bullet found them. Then you scrubbed it all away, and drifted back to your room with raw skin, and blurry eyes.

The knock came not long after.

“I know you probably don’t want to talk, but…please let me in.” You paused, hand over the handle, before you opened the door and walked away. You sat on the small couch and gestured to the coffee table. Abby sat, legs spread wide, leaning forward on her knees.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, and you pulled your knees to your chest, suddenly feeling vulnerable in your pj shorts and sports bra. “I’m sorry for ignoring you, I’m sorry for leaving you alone, I’m sorry for putting you on the shit patrol runs. I’m sorry for everything, fuck, Y/N.” She runs her hands over her face, finally looking up to see your vacant eyes staring back. “I’m sorry for scaring all those girls off when they tried to talk to you. I’m sorry I didn’t protect you. All of it, I fucked it all up… Somewhere in her rambling, your eyes hardened, became piercing. She watched you reassemble yourself, piece by piece, shut down and toughen into something else.

“You should go.” You cut her off. Her breath caught, noticed the way your fingers tightened around your calves, your breath became stilted. Suddenly you shot off the couch, moving towards the door. “Get out. Now!” You were on the edge, about to slip and the last thing you needed was Abby fucking Anderson witnessing you crumble. She stood, walking over to you. A breath wheezed in your chest, hands shaking, you recoiled away from her.

“Y/n…”

“Please. Leave.” The gasp that left you seemed to puncture the bubble around you, as your knees gave way and she caught you. She shoved the door closed, and pulled you into her lap, feeling you shake and gasp. Her arms coiled around your back, hands rubbing soothingly up and down your spine, letting you bury your head in her shoulder. “I hate you.” You whimpered into her, arms in a vice grip around her shoulders, nails digging into her shoulder blades.

“I know, I don’t blame you.” She sighs, pushing her head into your neck, rocking you back and forth. Slowly, your breathing returned to normal, body becoming limp. You pulled back, moving a hand to the side of her face as you looked down into big blue eyes almost as wet as your own.

“Don’t leave me again.”

“Never.” Abby sucked in a quick breath before pushing her lips to yours. It was gentle, tender as she waited to see how you reacted. She expected a slap, for you to crawl away, hurl the lamp at her. Instead you pressed yourself closer, hand moving to the back of her neck, tilting her head up and slanting so you fit together perfectly.

It got messy quickly, panted breaths and wet tongues. Somewhere between kisses her hands dropped to your hips, gripping and pulling. She groaned when she felt your hips roll against her, bucking up to press closer. The second time she did it, you let out a whimper that almost made her heart stop.

“Fuck, you make such pretty sounds.” She groaned, dropping her lips to your neck, down to your collar bone. You pulled back, tugging off the sports bra, and watching as she quickly wrapped her lips around a nipple. A hazy mix of tongue and teeth had your eyes rolling back.

“I want you so bad.”

“You’ve got me, I’m right here.” Abby shifted, laying you gently on the floor and trailing hot lips down your torso. She had your pjs and panties pulled down around your ankles before you could process the cold air that goose bumped your skin. She pushed your knees apart and up, latching to the soft skin of your inner thigh, teasing her tongue around the very edges of you. She teased until your hips were bucking up and your groans turned to whimpers before she ran her tongue over you.

“Fuck, you do taste sweet.” She groaned, delving back in to part your lips with her tongue before wrapping around your clit, licking and sucking until you were keening and begging for more. She teased a finger at your entrance, feeling the way you tried to suck her in, looking up to see watery eyes looking back at her. As your mouth parted to beg, she slipped a finger in gently, your head dropped back and hands shot to her head.

With hands full of her braid you pulled her closer, feeling her finger curl inside you, triggering a pulse so tight it rippled up through your abdomen. Her finger moved gently as she sucked your clit harshly into her mouth, flicking her tongue over the sensitive bud until your whimpers turned back into full out moans.

“So close, Abs.” You cried, hips wriggling as you tried to find the right spot to tip you over the edge. Abby slipped another finger inside, curling up again and speeding up slightly. She flattened her tongue, and the added pressure launched you over. “Fuck!” Your back arched almost painfully as your legs shook beside her head, she slowed, letting you ride out your high, hips jolting slightly.

Once she was sure you were done, she gently eased out and away from you, running her hands up your sides, and picking you up from the hard floor. She cradled you in her arms, placing a kiss on your forehead before settling you on your bed.

You were still floating as she tucked you under the covers, pulling her pants off and getting in beside you. She pulled you to her, and you nuzzled into her chest.

“I’m never leaving you again.” She placed another tender kiss onto your hairline, stoking your hair as you drifted off to sleep, a soft smile curling your lips.

[mayajadewrites]

Sweet Secret (Levi Ackerman x Reader)

Pairing: Levi Ackerman x F! Reader CEO Levi Ackerman coming in hot. I've been wanting to write a CEO Levi/Sugar daddy Levi story for a hot minute. Enjoy! Story Summary: You needed a job. Ackerman Inc was hiring for an in house assistant for none other than the CEO: Levi Ackerman. He's known to be essentially the worst to work with, you decide to take the job and take on the challenge that is Levi Ackerman. Will your relationship remain professional, or will their be monetary value added to the stakes? Or possibly even... love? ao3 Chapter Fourteen: Tinted

It's 8 PM when you arrive at the bar. You hear the voices of Hange and Eren, who are presumably drunk already and singing a song together. Mikasa was a few feet away from them, shaking her head. Erwin was busy typing away on his phone next to Hange. You spot the rest of the crew - Sasha, Connie, Jean, Petra and Armin who were chatting away in a heated debate.

You walk in front of Levi, careful not to let your feelings be shown. You've been eyeing him ever since you got in the car - the fringe of his jet black hair covering part of his face. His shoulders filled out the top he was wearing perfectly along with his biceps. Your gaze then went to his large hands, which are veiny and calloused. 

"You guys made it!" Hange broke away from Eren to hug you. "You're late, me and Eren are already tipsy!"

"Looks like we made it here right on time." Levi's voice spoke behind you. "Four eyes please behave yourself. We don't need an incident like last years holiday party." 

"What was this incident?" You whip your head around to Hange.

"Well... I may more may not have spilled wine on some very important people... and I may or may not have spilled some on their white carpet." 

"Red or white..."

"Red." Hange winced. "BUT we're at a bar this time! There's no rugs!"

Levi put his hands in his pockets as he walked up to the bar, ordering a round of drinks for everyone. You watched his stature as he leaned against the countertop - your mind wandering.

"I see why Levi says you have a staring problem." Erwin chuckled as he took a sip of his beer. "You sure this is just a simple arrangement?"

"I-Yes. Yes it is." You turn away from where your gaze previously was. "What about you? Do you have anyone special?

"Not as of now." Erwin sat on a barstool. "It's hard when people like Levi and myself are so busy. Personal relationships aren't easy to come by."

"I get that." You nod as Levi hands you a glass of white wine. You nod to say thank you as he tells the rest of the crew that the drinks are ready. "Any woman would be so lucky to have you, Erwin. I hope you know that." 

"That means a lot." His index finger taps the side of the beer bottle. "Levi found a great woman so easily, hope it's that way for me."

"What?" You stare at him for a moment, raising your eyebrow.

"Nothing. I think Hange is calling me!" 

As the night goes on, everyone starts to get a bit looser. You move your hips to the beat of the music surrounded by your coworkers. The music is blaring through the speakers and you can barely hear anything that's going on. Your eyes search for Levi, when you find him he's sitting back on a barstool next to Erwin, but he's staring at you. His eyes are half-lidded and sultry as he sips his whiskey. You watch as the liquid coats his lips and you wish you could taste the liquor from his lips.

"Hey!" Jean pulled on your wrist gently. "Wanna dance?" 

Your heart started to beat faster from the anxiety of it all. You and Levi both agreed this is an arrangement, a simple transaction where you both get something good out of it.

Jean is cute.

Levi is not yours. If he wanted to dance with Petra, he could. You couldn't say anything about it. 

"Sure." You nod, taking Jean's hand. You wrap your arms around his neck loosely as you moved to the beat, your ass facing Levi. Jean's face is pressed against your cheek as he whispers, "You look stunning tonight." 

"Thank you." You smile, pulling away just a bit. "You don't look bad yourself."

Jean's hand wandered to the small of your back to pull you closer to him. Your stomach felt like it was doing flips. Falling from the top of the Empire State Building.

Connie and Sasha were dancing next to you, cracking jokes and being silly like always. "No Sasha! THIS is how you do the running man." 

"Connie, you look so stupid." Sasha shook her head and crossed her arms. You and Jean laughed, but all laughter stopped.

"Hey, boss!" Jean waved.

"It's still Mr. Ackerman outside of work." Levi's tone was flat. "I need her for a second, I just got an urgent message from a client and she has the answer in her notes."

"Okay!" Jean quickly let go of you. He smiled at you as you walked behind Levi to go outside to his car. You pull out your phone to scroll through the notes you have from the previous meeting. 

When you walk outside, it's raining. You watch the raindrops fall onto Levi's skin, falling over his lips. He opened the door for you to get in the car and went around to the drivers side.

"What did they ask? I have all my notes right here-"

"They didn't call me." Levi ran his fingers through the front of his hair. 

"So... why did you make me come out here?"

Levi was quiet for a moment, like he was searching for the right thing to say. 

"I guess I just wanted you away from Kirstein." 

"We were just dancing."

"He was touching you."

"You sort of have to touch when you dance with someone." 

"I didn't like it." 

"I'm not sure what to say." You bit down on your bottom lip. "I'm allowed to let someone else touch me. You said if I wanted to sleep with someone else-"

"I didn't say you're not allowed." Levi interrupted your sentence. "I said I didn't like it."

"Okay..." You raised your eyebrow and looked at his face. His expression was stern, his charcoal grey eyes the same color as the sky. The rain beat down on the car, the sound of the drops hitting the outer shell getting louder and louder.

"Is that all?" You reach your hand to the inner handle of your door. Levi grabs your wrist gently, pulling you closer to him. Your noses were almost touching with how close he pulled you. Your elbow reseted on the center console as you leaned toward him.

"Levi, we're in public." You analyze his face. He looks so beautiful in this light. His skin is a bit damp from the rain and pieces of his hair are stuck to his forehead.

"The car is tinted." He leaned into you just a bit more and let his lips ghost yours. You could feel the arousal in your core as the scent of his cologne filled your nostrils.

"We're in a car." You let out a shaky breath, wanting to attach your lips to his. Levi's hand caressed your cheek gently as you spoke. 

"I'm not blind." 

"Well you are crazy." 

Levi pushed the lever to pull the seat back, while simultaneously pulling you on top of his lap. Your thighs pressed against the top of his legs are he pulled you into a kiss. His fingers got lost in your hair as he pulled you roughly into him. He was being desperate and possessive and his kisses reflected that. His tongue slid into your mouth without warning, leaving you almost breathless. 

You felt his hard erection against your core as you kissed him. You leaned down to press your chest onto his and straddled his lap, letting your skirt pool at your hips. 

"Were you jealous, Mr. Ackerman?" You tilted your head to the side, kissing his neck gently as you spoke. His skin felt hot as your lips danced around the area.

"No." He said sternly. 

"Mhm." You mumble against his skin, giving the spot a small bite. A moan left Levi's lips as you began to kiss, bite, and suck. His hands trailed from your shoulders down to your ass, giving it a loud slap. You giggle as his hand leaves your ass cheek. 

"You like that, don't you?" 

You are feeling particularly bold from the alcohol. You sit up and grab Levi's hand, bringing it under your skirt to the front of your underwear - which was soaked. His fingertips grazed the moist fabric. "Do you think I do?" 

Levi bit his bottom lip and slipped two fingers past your underwear to your throbbing pussy. Your legs tighten around his waist as he thrusts his digits in and out of you, curling them as he goes. His thumb softly rubs your clit, automatically getting a reaction from you. 

"You're such a brat, you know that?" His lips attached to your ear, nibbling on the lobe. 

"I've been told." You throw your head back as his fingers move at a quicker pace. He felt your gummy walls pulsate around his digits as he bit your shoulder.

"What am I gonna do about that mouth of yours? You should be punished." Levi stopped moving for a moment, letting you come to the realization that he stopped.

"Levi." You whine.

"You can't come until I say so." 

"You're the worst." Levi's fingers enter you again and it takes everything in you not to come. His thumb rubs soft circles on your clit which only add to the overstimulation. "Levi, baby please-" You moan. "Please let me come." 

His fingers thrusted in and out of you faster, the entire length of his fingers disappearing inside of you. When he curled his fingers the last time, you almost lost it. 

"This isn't- this isn't fair." Your breathing gets shaky. "Can I come, please." The outer rim of your vision turns white.

"Yes." Levi said and you let everything go. He kept finger-fucking you through your orgasm, letting you ride out the euphoria. Warm liquid dripped down to his fingers. "I bet you didn't even know you could do that." He kissed you as he rubbed your clit, coating it with a mix of your arousal and liquid.

Once you came back to earth, your hands messed with his belt, quickly pulling his pants down. His hard cock slapped his stomach as it was freed.

"I don't have a condom." He said almost painfully.

"We're past that, Levi." You position yourself on top of him, the tip of his cock grazing your slit. His hands were planted on your thick thighs, squeezing them gently. The way he looked up at you was like he's seen an angel. You slowly bring your body down on top of his cock, your pussy stretching from his side.

"Fuck." He moaned, guiding your hips up and down his cock. "You're so wet, but so tight for me." 

You bounced your ass on top of him, letting your chest press against his. You put your arm back to grab his dick from behind, slowly guiding it into your pussy. His eyes are almost glued shut as you engulf his length. He moans your name while thrusting into you as you ride him. 

Your hands are on his shoulders as you grind your hips to his, listening to the squelching sounds of Levi's cock entering you. 

"You feel so fucking good. I could fuck you forever." Levi moaned your name. "I'm gonna come. Are you close, princess?"

You nod as you close your eyes and let the euphoria take over. Levi's nails dig into your plush ass as his thrusts become more messy, signaling that he's about to come.

Your walls pulsate around his cock and you moan his name loudly. "Levi," 

That was it for Levi. He pressed his entire length into you as he bottomed out, filling your insides with his cum. He groaned as he released, kissing your shoulder gently. You begin to breath heavily as you look out the window, only to see steam from the temperature of both your bodies.

Levi took a deep breath as he pulled his underwear and pants back on, helping you with your skirt. He gazed into your eyes as your heart rate came down. His index finger moved a stray hair behind your ear. Your face is red, your skin. is bruised, and your hair probably looks nothing like it did when you went in. You turn around while still on Levi's lap to look at yourself in the rearview mirror.

"Let me not look like I just had my insides rearranged." You ran your fingers through your hair while fanning your face.

"You look beautiful." Levi's lips kissed your cheek as his hands wandered down your waist to your thighs, gripping them tightly.

This is not just an arrangement, is it? 

[oliver-quick-ens-my-pulse]

I Needed This

Sebastian x f!reader

Summary - Request for “Hey! Can you do Sebastian and mc age up and on the run from being sent to azkaban and it's getting dangerous but mc just wants to forever be with him through it all no matter what (I don't mind if you add smut here ☺)”

Word Count - 2,120

Warnings - 18+, angst, dark themes, dark!sebastian if you squint?

A/N - I really enjoyed this concept tbh

You had bailed from Hogwarts with Sebastian just short of finishing your 7th year. After everything that happened with his uncle Solomon, Anne and Ominis response to it all, things had been safe for a little while. Everyone kept their mouths closed, including you, and although all of you were broken, things were manageable.

However, since you had been on edge and taking extra precautions, you found out that they had decided to be generous enough to let Sebastian put all this work into school just to take him quietly after the fact, to keep the school's name out of it. Somehow the ministry found out and that had been their plan.

You were ready to risk it all for Sebastian, whether that was in your best interest or not. So you two had developed a nomadic lifestyle. Somedays it wasn't too bad, it was actually incredible to be seeing so many sights and doing it all with the person you loved.

Other days it was scary. The reality was that you were being hunted. It seemed like the ministry knew about the dark magic Sebastian had been invested in and that was their chief concern with him, it wasn't as if he used the killing curse on a random whim one day.

For now the two of you had a small camp set up in Northern Ireland. It seemed safer than staying so close to headquarters and Hogwarts. You sat at the edge your tent, examining a map and thinking about your next move.

Sebastian sat near the fire, cooking for you two. Some local vegetables and meat that had been easy enough to get without drawing attention.

It had been 2 years since the incident with Solomon. And now 2 years you had been running together. The stakes couldn't have been higher, but really you couldn't imagine anyone would even recognize Sebstian.

He had long ago dropped the finer clothing he used to wear. In place he had tall, worn boots; pants that were sturdy, but had seen better days; shirts layered to covered the tatters of the one beneath.

Everything fit him like a glove and it was hard not to admire. He had grown tall, just short of 6 feet. He was big and broad, but full of muscle from the arduous days of your travel. His neck was thick, but hidden by a layer of wiry red hair. His freckles had blossomed even more, you decided, by the days you spent in the sun. His hair had done the same with faint lightened streaks throughout.

He wasn't the carefree boy he was when you met, he was a man hardened with his own guilt and poor choices. He wouldn't ever be the same as is, but that's why you knew you couldn't let Azkaban have him. He wouldn't survive.

"I can feel you staring," he commented, "I'd tell you to take a photograph, but I don't think I'm going anywhere without you anytime soon."

You gave him a twisted smile, shaking your head at how he had at all manage to retain this bits of his old self he brought out on occasion.

"Who knows, traveling for one is much lighter than the both of us." You traced circles in the dirt beside you as you put the map away, many choices of where to go going through your head.

He is face settled in a flat, hollowed expression, "I wouldn't like to be out here alone. I would just as soon turn myself in than leave you stranded."

There it was. You never could quite tell it if was a sentiment from his heart or his way to keep you with him. Did he know you would never abandon him? Did he know that from the first time he snuck you into the library to the tragedies that seemed to follow him you couldn't tear yourself away? Did he know you were infatuated with his charm, his jokes, his looks as much as you were with his safety and happiness?

You gestured towards the fire he was cooking with, "Think it'll be a while on that? For it to be any good anyways?"

He shrugged, leaning back with his palms flat to the ground, "Always does."

"Is there anything you think we need to do in the meantime?" You were hoping the answer was no. You really just wanted to rest with your thoughts for a while.

A strange look showed up on his face, you couldn't quite make out what was going through his head.

"Nothing that is mandatory."

Your brows creased in confusion as you stared at him.

"Okay... is there something else?"

He chewed his lower lip in thought before meeting your gaze, brown eyes boring into yours.

"It's been a long time we've been doing this; moving every week; forced into solitude. I'm not who I used to be. I'm starting to wonder how much longer I can control myself. As a man."

You sat there for a few moments, trying to wrap your brain around what he just said and what the meaning was. He couldn't possibly be insinuating what you thought he was. It's not like he was a wild animal.

You drank in his figure once again, attention on the way his arms bulged at the seams of his sleeves and how his calves did the same. You felt vulgar looking him up and down, but couldn't miss the unmistakable tightness that was now in the front of his trousers..

The corners of his lips curled up in a smug expression as he could tell he got you thinking. He stood up and moved to stand over you were you sat partially inside of the tent.

He squatted down in front of you and reached a hand forward to your cheek, you couldn't stop yourself from leaning into his rough palm.

"You've stayed with me this whole time. You're not doing it for yourself, you're doing it for me. If you're here for me," his thumb ran across your lip, spreading some of the wetness across them, "I need more."

He tightened his grip on you and yanked your head forward, crushing his lips to yours. It was sloppy and harsh as he shifted his position to where he was hovering over you, you kissed him back desperately.

You felt the hot air of him chuckling softly over your lips as he placed a knee between your legs. He carefully, but roughly brought it up to your cunt and you whined embarrassingly.

"That's what I thought," he muttered, releasing your face which forced you down to the tent floor as his weight was on top of you, "take these clothes off. I want to see everything. Please." His voice was a growl and it was clear he wasn't really asking.

You couldn't deny the heat that had built between your legs from his sudden actions. You had longed to be with him, even if this isn't how you expected it to be.

He hardly gave you the chance to do it yourself before he started peeling off your jacket, unbuttoning your blouse, and unhooking the tattered camisole underneath it all that hardly covered your bust.

He groaned as he pressed his face into your chest, putting an arm behind your back to force it into an arch.

" ' so fuckin' beautiful. So soft and perfect."

He held you firmly, listening to your noises of approval while he kissed the tender flesh, using his other hand to squeeze where his mouth wasn't. You gasped an clung to him when he started to bite into your flesh, it was painful but felt incredible all at the same time.

"Sebastian," you whimpered.

"I'm going to ruin you," his word were muffled a he moved his assault up to your neck, leaving a trail of markings on you as he went. You could feel his excitement up against your thigh and you rutted against his body desperately.

He tugged on your ear lobe with his teeth, "Be careful with what you ask for."

Your desire, your want, your need didn't need to be spoken for as he felt how you reacted to such small touch. He couldn't wait to hear you screaming for him, begging for more before begging him to stop because it's so intense.

He sat back and hoisted your body into the tent all the way, allowing the flaps closed and casting a wandless silencio. He didn't need this to be the reason he got caught, no, not as much as he was going to need you after this.

He shrugged out of his layers as quickly as possible, you not hesitating to touch every inch of him. You traced the planes of his muscles, running your fingers over his collar bones and down to hardened nipples.

He hissed at your touch, struggling to get his boots off followed by his pants and underwear off quickly enough. There he was, completely exposed to you. His cock was red and dripping. As you trailed your eyes up his body, you could see the hunger in his eyes.

He tossed your shoes to the side and tugged your pants and undergarments down to your ankles. Now that you were exposed to him, you felt embarrassment as he gazed down at you, as much as you felt lust.

He took a few moments to drink you in before he started heated kisses with you again, exploring your mouth with his tongue while your raked your nails over his taught skin.

"Fuck, Y/N, I've been thinking about this everyday," he slid a hand up your thigh, over your sopping lips to spread the liquid around before harshly shoving a finger inside of you.

He let out a dark laugh at the way you clenched and writhed beneath him with so little inside of you.

"This pussy's so tight and it's all mine. My cock is a lot bigger than this so I hope your ready to be full." He added another finger as he emphasized each word and it took your breath away. It was something you hadn't realized you'd been missing, but with every touch of his you craved more.

The tent filled with wet sloshing as he fucked you with his fingers, painfully slow and hard. You tried to keep your mouth on his to quiet your sounds, but he refused to let you hide them.

He sat back on his heels to watch how your face contorted and breasts bounced with every movement he made. He stroked himself with his free hand, a smirk on his face when he added his thumb to your clit.

"Nobody's ever touched you like this have they? You waited for me, but I can't go easy on you."

You begged him to be inside of you, tortured listening to his soft groans between his words. You wanted to be the one making him feel good.

"Please Sebastian. I want you, I want your cock." You cried out at the sudden loss of contact when he took his digits away, he watched you move your hips toward the air for a few moments, taking in how badly you needed him.

He positioned himself between your legs, a bruising grip on your things as he spreads your leg further, taking in the sight to line his cock up with your entrance.

He slid into you slowly, torturing you both while he sat back on his knees before losing control of himself. He pounded into you, hands and mouth all over your body, he needed to taste and touch every inch of you. When you reached between your bodies to touch your own clit, he grabbed your wrist and pinned it above your head.

"You want to cum, too, don't you, you slut. You're all mine, so I'll let you cum just for me."

He put more of his weight on you now with one hand holding yours down and the other rubbing aggressive circles on your sensitive button. He fucked you raw, sweaty bodies clinging together, partial kisses on each other's lips and necks, while you both felt your orgasm's coming up fast.

You wrapped your legs around him, pinning him to you and he felt the tight feeling he'd harbored for so long explode as he painted your thighs with his seed. You were right behind him as he collapsed against you, you must have been cutting his back open with your grip. His hands hung limply against your soft, wet skin as you lay there trying to catch your breath.

"I wanted to do that for so long," he whispered against your neck.

[solar-wing]

⚣ Pizza Or TV Dinner? 🔪

⚣🔪 A/N → This was a request from my other account that is still currently shadowbanned and restricted. So re-posting it over here. My message on the original post stills stands as well. I'd absolutely melt like butter on a pan...is it still sad? Maybe. Do I still not care? absolutely. And thank you💛 I’m glad you enjoy them😊

⚣🔪 Summary → You're cooking dinner for you and Conner when you make a small slip-up. But, don't worry, your Kryptonian boyfriend has just the key to make you feel better, at the cost of your special dinner.

⚣���� Words → 933

REBLOGS and replies are greatly appreciated, please! 💛

⚣ ENJOY 🔪

“Fuck!”

Now, you understood why your parents never allowed you within 10 feet of any sharp object. Well, really anything. 

You always somehow found a way to hurt yourself. 

As a joke, they’d call you Danger Prone-Daphne’s cousin, a nickname that to your extreme annoyance, your entire family had decided to brand you with.

“Babe!” You heard Conner, your boyfriend, shout from down the hall.

The Kryptonian was staying at your house, taking advantage of your parents being out of town so you two could have some alone time together. It was hard to come by since when both of you were at the Cave, someone was always around. And even if you two went to his room, someone would come by and disturb you.

Especially M’Gann with her jealous and needy ass. 

So when you’re parents announced they were leaving for the next couple of days on an anniversary cruise, you decided to invite your boyfriend to stay at your place for the extent of their vacation because, let’s face it; your pops would actually try to murder the dark brown-haired boy if he found out he was sleeping in your bed with you. 

When he got there, you decided you wanted to be romantic and cutesy and cook a delicious meal for you both. And everything was going fine until your finger had gotten too close to the knife while you were cutting the meat into smaller pieces.

Conner was in the living room, watching TV when he heard you shout with his super hearing. You didn’t scream that loud, at least you don’t think you did. He ran into the kitchen, his face full of panic as he saw you holding your bloody finger.

“I’m fine. I accidentally cut myself with the knife while cutting this steak into smaller pieces.” You affirmed, moving to the sink to stick your finger under cold water. You winced at the sting, watching the blood wash down the drain. Is it a bloody steak if it doesn’t have a little blood in it?

Your Kryptonian came over to examine your finger, rubbing his fingers over your wrist in a calming manner while placing his other arm around your waist, hugging you to his body.

“What were you even doing? I thought your parents said you weren’t allowed to touch sharp objects. Even Batman banned you from it after that incident with Robin’s Batarang.” He brought up, also highly to your annoyance.

“Okay, that wasn’t my fault! You shouldn’t have been sparring without your shirt cause you know that distracts me. And Wally shouldn’t have been standing so close.” You responded with an eye roll, crossing one of your arms over your chest in annoyance.

“I’m sorry my body is such a distraction to you.” He joked, chuckling at your childish behavior.

You let out a ‘hmph,’ not appreciating him laughing at you. He rubbed at your back, silently waiting for you to answer his question.

“I wanted to cook you dinner.” You whined, feeling your finger starting to feel like it was freezing from the cold water, but the blood was still running from the cut.

Conner’s heart swelled at your admittance, once again questioning how he ended up with someone so devastatingly handsome and adorable at the same time.

“I appreciate it, baby. But we could’ve just ordered some food. I’d rather that or even put one of those frozen TV dinners in the microwave than you getting hurt.” He voiced, moving his finger under the cold stream of water to rub at your sore finger.

“That’s not as special.” You replied with a whining voice still.

“Anything from you is special to me,” He remarked, kissing your head.

He held you against his body, now fully holding your hands in his, and then you felt your body vibrating, hearing a purring sound against your ear that pressed to his body.

Ever since you discovered that Kryptonians purr with their loved ones in any situation where they feel safe and loved, you found it so satisfying and reassuring whenever your boyfriend did it with you. It was like you were literally getting to hear his love for you without him having to speak words.

Whenever you two cuddled together after a long day, or when Conner was helping you take care of some of your harsher bruises or injuries, he’d start purring since it was also known to help speed up the healing process. Not by much, but it also helped dull any soreness and pain.

You tucked your head into his chest, loving the sound of his purr and his firm, calloused hand holding yours, which reminded you…

Add hand lotion to your shopping list.

Conner and the others made fun of you for it, but you were very serious when you said you’d rather see Joker in a bikini before letting your hands get dry and calloused. Besides, you knew he liked how soft and smooth your hands were. It helped you that you wore gloves whenever on missions as well.

You both sat silent for a while, not realizing how Conner’s purring was actually starting to vibrate the whole room, causing things on the counter to shake. You were jolted from your comfortable stances when you heard the sound of a loud crash, looking to see the cutting board with the meat lying flat on the ground.

“Welp, pizza or TV dinner?” You asked, looking up at your Kryptonian boyfriend.

“You choose.” He answered with a kiss on your lips.

“You know I hate it when you do that, right?”

☀️ | Conner Kent/Superboy | ☀️

☀️ | Masterlists | ☀️

[hesawifebeaterdanusethegun]

The Scientific Method

Part 1 Part 2

Part 3 Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

A few weeks had passed since he spent the night at Kat’s apartment, and since then he’d walked her to and from work each day, insisting on it when she’d told him she felt guilty to be putting him out so much lately. She didn’t argue too vehemently to begin with and quickly acquiesced, appreciating the safety that came with not walking alone, something she’d had increasing trouble with since the incident. She also enjoyed her time with Daniel and appreciated the side of him she got to see outside of work. As the days went on the two only grew fonder of each other.

He had decided that today he’d tell her everything. He’d anguished over it for weeks, when was the right time? Was there a right time? They walked to work quietly. She could tell something was bothering him but wasn’t sure how to ask what it was. Their silence still wasn’t uncomfortable all things considered. Daniel had always made her feel comfortable, and it was hard for her to believe that his presence often had the opposite effect on people. She felt sorry for them that they never got to know the man she was getting to know.

“Kat, could you cancel all my appointments for today? I have something very important I need to take care of.”

“Of course, I’ll take care of it as soon as we get inside.” He thanked her.

They had arrived at their destination and were heading through the lobby to the lone elevator in the center of the far wall. They greeted the operator as they got in, heading as always to the third floor. When they arrived, Kat headed straight for her desk to take care of the doctor’s appointments for the day, wondering what could be so important. About an hour later he emerged from his lab. What she didn’t know was that he’d sat motionless at his own desk for the last hour, panicking over how he was going to tell her all he needed to tell her, to make her understand, and to make her believe him. He knew what he had to say sounded crazy, and that most people would think he needed to be locked up if he told them his story, but Kat was different. She understood him in a way no one else did, she knew he wouldn’t lie to her or play a joke on her like this. It was now or never. He approached her desk.

“Kat, would you mind joining me in the lab?” he asked timidly.

“Sure. Is everything okay, Daniel?” she eyed him curiously.

“No, it’s not, but I hope it will be,” he answered quietly. If he hadn’t been looking at her, she would have thought he was talking to himself. She rose and came around her desk to face him. She took his hand and he flinched. She dropped it immediately.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no need to be sorry. I didn’t mean to… I’m just stressed. I apologize for not being myself this morning.” They walked together to the lab door, Daniel holding it open for her to enter. He moved to the coffee pot he kept near his desk without asking if she’d like some, pouring two cups, preparing hers with one cream, two sugars, just how she liked it.

“Please, sit,” he said, handing Kat her cup of coffee. She complied, taking a sip slowly to gauge its temperature, smiling a little at the taste of the cream and sugar. Daniel knew her very well.

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and began. She listened quietly, her coffee growing cold as she absorbed everything he told her: the Strangers, the City, his role in it all. He answered her questions as they came, choosing his words carefully, his heart hammering as he spoke. When he finished, he felt nothing but relief for a few moments. Now that he had told someone, anyone, it was as if a weight had been lifted from him. He’d never known how much it all weighed on him until he’d found something better. He finally wanted something more than just mere survival, and the thought of ruining it scared him more than the Strangers ever could.

When he’d completed his tale and answered all of her questions, they sat in silence for a while, his mind racing with thoughts of losing the only person he cared for in the hell he lived in, hers struggling to understand and believe everything he’d just told her.

“I think I need some time to think about all this,” she told him, more calmly than either of them felt.

“I understand,” he told her, his voice tinged with sadness. He’d known she would probably react like this. He was actually surprised at how calm she’d stayed while he told her that her entire past wasn’t actually hers, wasn’t real at all. He wondered if he’d ever see her again after this. He hoped beyond hope that he would. Daniel knew he would wait as long as it took, for her he’d wait forever if he had to.

She left the office quickly, all fear of walking alone on the streets of the City forgotten for the moment.

Empty coffee cups littered the apartment. Kat had been up for so many hours she couldn’t tell up from down anymore. Thoughts of these Strangers Daniel had told her about plagued her. She thought of her childhood, of her parents, and of losing them. She so vividly remembered some of it, it was hard to believe that it wasn’t real. Somehow she was able to view it with a certain detachment, as if she’d known it wasn’t real all along and just needed someone to open her eyes to it. And then there was Daniel. She hadn’t been in to work the last three nights, the longest she’d gone without seeing him since they’d met.

She missed him. But could she trust him? Pieces of their last conversation came back to her. He’d explained that they weren’t human, but piloted human remains like puppets in order to blend in, in case they were ever seen. He’d told of all he’d done for them, all he still did for them, with shame in his eyes.

“And you do this every night?”

“Not every night, no. A few times a week, usually. A few people each night.”

“And you’ve done this to me?”

“Not since you were brought here with the rest of us. And I never will, I swear to you.” The desperation in his voice was evident to her. He needed her to believe this, even if she believed nothing else. Needed her to believe that he would never hurt her.

He’d reached across the desk to take her hand, but thought better of it and lowered it back to his lap when he saw the fear in her eyes at what she’d learned. He longed to comfort her. She’d left soon after that and hadn’t come back. He’d driven himself mad since then with thoughts of how he could’ve handled it better, how he could have made her stay.

Daniel paced his apartment even as Kat paced hers, her thoughts focused on him. She believed him, she found, after days of thinking about it. She trusted him more than she trusted her own memories. Kat thought of how alone he must have felt all this time, the only one who knew the truth, unable to tell anyone his secret, working under the threat of (more) pain and even death. He must have been terrified. And he’d risked all that for her. Risked everything to tell her the truth. That’s how much she meant to him, and she realized he meant just as much to her in that moment. She needed to go to the office tomorrow.

 The mess of his living space was a clear reflection of his mental state, he thought. He hadn’t bothered with neatness since she’d left, it wasn’t like she’d ever see the inside of his home anyway with how he’d ruined everything, his normally fastidious nature overshadowed by a deep depression. She was probably disgusted just being close to someone who’d done the things he’d done. He didn’t know what to do with himself, he hadn’t seen her in three nights. The thought of her never coming back made him almost physically ill. He retreated to his bedroom, the only clean corner of the apartment, to try to get some sleep. Maybe he wouldn’t dream about her tonight.

The next night, his work with the Strangers went on as usual, their experiments with his fellow City inhabitants yielding nothing useful to them, but going on nonetheless. He continued to mix and match the memories of the inhabitants of the City according to some unfathomable plan of the Strangers, and re-imprinting a few citizens as well, as he had for the last three years of his life. Until tonight. Tonight, something had happened. A man, John Murdoch, had awakened during imprinting.

And tonight, Kat came back. It was after the last imprinting of the night had been completed and Daniel had returned to his lab. He had been holding Archibald, stroking the rat’s soft fur. He hadn’t been wearing his lab coat, he was in a blue vest with a striped dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to the elbow, and a small red bowtie. He paced the room slowly. He thought of perhaps reading one of the many books lining the walls of the lab by the greenish glow of the overhead light to pass the night, anything to keep his mind off of her.

Kat was all he’d thought about since he’d seen her last. Not even coherent thoughts, just her her her. He spent his time remembering everything about her, every interaction they’d ever had, wishing he could see her again just one time.

“I bet you miss her almost as much as I do,��� he said to the rat. “I wish I’d at least told her I-” he was interrupted by Archibald’s familiar squeak.

He turned to see Kat at the door of the lab, as he knew he would at Archie’s outburst. She looked tired. Daniel had never felt relief like this. He carefully put the rat back into his hutch and turned to face her. His hands were shaking slightly and he was unsure whether to approach her. He still wasn’t sure how she felt about him, about everything he’d told her. He didn’t have to wonder long before she approached him. She looked into his eyes for a moment. She must have seen whatever she was looking for in them, because before he knew it her arms were thrown around him and her face buried in his shoulder. She was crying.

“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left, I know you’re just as much a victim as the rest of us, I was just scared, and I know you were just as scared. I shouldn’t have left you,” she spoke into his vest and her tears dampened his sleeve.

“It’s okay,” he held her gently while she cried. When she’d calmed a bit he offered her his handkerchief. She took it gratefully, drying her eyes and sniffling. “It’s going to be okay.”

He told her of the events of the night.

“Has that never happened before? Someone waking up during?” she asked. He nodded.

“It’s happened before but never like this.” He explained that while others had woken up during imprinting, this was the first time he was tossed across the room by one of them without being touched. This man could manipulate reality, just as the Strangers did to rearrange the City and its people. They called it “tuning,” he explained.

“After I left, I called him in the hotel room. I tried to explain it to him the way I explained it to you, but I didn’t have time before he dropped the phone and I lost contact with him,” he said.

“What does this mean, Daniel?” she asked him.

“It means this man might be able to destroy them, if we help him,” he answered.

Part 7

[c-o-t-o]

would you be able to do nsfw 21 mixed with nsfw 8, where denji walks in on m!reader jerking off and realises he wants in on it (kinda like him liking dudes suddenly clicks for him)

The Onsen Incident

Author: c-o-t-o

Character: Denji x male reader

CW: 18+ only, sexual content/smut, character aged up, explicit language, sexual frustration, masterbation.

Misc: ~3.9k words. Requested by anon (Denji walking in on you masterbating, realizing he likes guys). Okay I got REALLY into this fic! I could have kept going, but needed to stop myself at a certain point lol. If you'd like a continuation just let me know!

About: Aki takes you and Denji on an Onsen trip, and you can't help but keep trying to play with yourself while you're there.

*Do not remove info or credit from posts when reblogging or sharing!*

You had been living with the Hayakawas for a while now, once you joined their team. But since Aki’s place wasn't too big, you shared a room with Denji. You two clicked right away and ended up spending more and more time together just hanging out or doing random things.

So it was only natural that, by now, you couldn't help but develop a crush on Denji. Since the two of you were friends, you got to see him for who he really is; The person he can be one on one with someone. The two of you were nearly inseparable.

Now that it's finally warm out, Aki took you and Denji to an onsen as a treat to relax after all the work you've been doing. Power didn't want to go alone (since the men and women have to be separated), so it was a guys’ weekend trip. Once again, you and Denji roomed together while Aki had a room to himself (he wanted his own room because, of course, he brought work to do with him on vacation).

You were so thrilled to finally get away and hang out with Denji. Excited… and so, so nervous.

It's not like you haven't seen Denji naked before, or vice versa, being two guys who share a room together. But it's not like you ever leisurely sat next to him for a prolonged period of time while naked. The idea of a hot spring with both of them is somewhat nerve wracking, but you try hard to just be casual about it all, like it doesn't bother you.

The first night, all three of you head out to the water. Since it's pretty late by now, there's really nobody else outside. It's nice to have the privacy and not have to share a space with strangers.

It was surprisingly not awkward. You think Aki being there helped take your mind off of things, which it did. The three of you got to relax and soak and talk about random nonsense.

By the time you all came back inside and changed, you were all exhausted. Aki had gone straight to sleep, leaving just you and Denji awake now.

“Heh, look! They gave us yukata to wear! Just like in anime. I didn't think that was true." Denji laughed, pleased with the fact that he got to wear a yukata. You watched him take his shorts and t-shirt off to change into the yukata. He had his underwear on, but for some reason, it still flustered you to watch him undress. He finishes changing and notices you kind of staring at him.

“Hey, you okay? Your face is all red." Denji asks, bending over to look in your face, hands on his hips.

“Oh y-yeah I'm fine! I think it's just a little hot in here." You come up with an excuse quickly.

Denji squints at you for a second, thinks, and then nods his head.

“Yeah… it's… kinda hot in here now that you mention it. Feels like summer is coming soon. Hmm…” Denji walks over to the sliding doors and opens them, revealing a small private space with a mini garden and personal onsen.

"Wooaahh! I didn't know we had our own! Let's go in here tomorrow night!" Denji says excitedly as he points his hand outside. “We can keep the doors open for a little breeze tonight."

You're sitting down on your futon, holding the cotton robe in your hands, thinking this might actually be better to wear to stay cool. It was hot, that wasn't exactly a lie. You get up to change, bashfully turning your back to Denji while you do it. He plops down next to you and before you even know it, starts snoring all sprawled out on his futon.

“Jeez, that was fast." You retort out loud to yourself. With Denji's arms and legs out to the sides, the yukata had pulled open a bit. You see his bare chest, the opening stopping right above his chainsaw pull. You stare at it intently, a warm longing beginning to ache in your chest. The fabric falls to the sides of his legs as well, letting the fabric of his boxer briefs peek out from underneath.

You shake your head to rid yourself of the encroaching thoughts, and turn off the lights. You lay down next to Denji, heart racing.

For a while you lay there with your eyes closed, expecting to just fall asleep. But you can't. You turn to look outside. The moon hangs hazily in the clouds, stars scattered about randomly. The gentle breeze rolls in, bringing with it the gentle twinkling of the windchime hanging right outside the door. It's such a beautiful night… yet for some reason it only makes your heart ache more.

You turn your head to look over at Denji. By now he's moved to a normal sleeping position. He's laying on his side facing you, hands under his pillow, hair slightly fallen down over his eyes. You want nothing more than to just lean over and kiss him.

The thought of that, along with staring at his cute sleeping face, is enough to get you going.

“Nooo… not now… not here…” you whimper under your breath, trying to push yourself down. You glance over at Denji again, seeing that he's fast asleep.

Hand still on your underwear, you subconsciously start rubbing your hardened self. You close your eyes and sigh, hoping that maybe doing this might tire you out enough to just fall asleep like it does sometimes.

A few minutes go by, and you've really gotten into it, when suddenly, Denji shifts in his sleep. You push yourself down and freeze, eyes closed. After a minute, after you make sure Denji is still asleep, you continue.

However, this playing with yourself on and off has gone on for far too long. Every time Denji moves or makes a sound, you get nervous and stop. It's no use. You're never gonna be able to get off with him laying there next to you. Eventually the exhaustion overcomes you and you pass out.

The next morning when you wake up, Denji isn't in his bed. You look around for a moment when you suddenly realize your hand is down your underwear. It’s pretty clear that it's there because your blanket has been pushed down slightly. ‘Oh god, please tell me Denji didn't see that when he got up,’ you think to yourself. Having barely slept last night, you don't feel great. All you're looking forward to already is being able to sleep tonight, hopefully.

Just as you get up and straighten yourself out, Denji comes into the room to get you for breakfast. You sit with him and Aki in the main room to eat.

“Didn't wanna wake you earlier, you looked real comfy.” Denji days while shoveling food in his mouth. Aki yells at him to eat normally, Denji being snarky back. All the while you can only think about the fact that Denji had to have seen you if he said you looked comfortable.

You and Denji spend the day hanging out and playing games that the resort has to offer. At one point though, Denji notices how tired you are and offers to relax in the hot spring before bed. Once the night starts winding down, the two of you get ready for the onsen again. But once you get outside, there are actually a lot of guys out there.

“Umm…” Denji looks down, face beet red." Can we… go back to our room? And use the private pool? There's too many people here." Denji has a fistful of his towel in his hand, squeezing it tightly in embarrassment. You didn't think he would get this embarrassed, but you agree to go back. It was kind of crowded, anyway.

You and Denji sit side by side in the private hot spring outside your room. Aki was called away for a work meeting and said he would be back the next day, so it was just you and Denji alone now. You think back to how much Denji was blushing earlier, and… well, actually you're trying not to think about it. Because there's nothing here to hide you if you start getting hard again.

After a few moments of silence, you speak up to tell Denji it was okay for him to not want to be around all those people before. To try and ease his embarrassment. It seems he has a similar idea, because at the same time, Denji speaks out as well, the two of you overlapping.

“I’m sorry… I saw you this morning!” Denji blurts out.

“You don't have to be embarrassed about coming back here," you say at the same time.

You both exchange a “what?"

Your face starts burning and you can feel your peripherals blackening. ‘He saw me, Denji saw me with my hand down my underwear this morning…” is all you can think, before Denji elbows you playfully.

"Ahh don't worry about it. Do you know how many times I've woken up with my hand down my pants?” Denji smirks and laughs. “Sometimes I don't even know when it got there!”

You're relieved to hear Denji not making a big deal out of it, but you notice his cheeks reddening a bit. Maybe from the hot water.

“But, uhh, I wasn't embarrassed earlier.” Denji rubs the back of his neck, and looks around as if trying to find the right words to say. “There were too many old dudes there. I wanted us to just to be alone and thought maybe it would be empty like it was last night.” Denji smiles, leaning back and putting his clasped hands behind his head.

‘Alone? Just us? But why?’ you wonder to yourself. You glance over at Denji and can't help but see his thin, pale body under the water. Even though it was dark, there were still ambient lights outside so that people could still see and use the onsen at night.

You immediately become hard, trying to casually place your hands over your growing excitement. Looking around in a panic, you see the towels you both left before getting in the water. You stand up abruptly and get out of the water, turning quickly to hide yourself from him. You wrap the towel around your waist, pretending to struggle with tying the front so that you can hold it outwards a bit.

“You leavin?" Denji turns around and grips the sides of the onsen with his chin resting on his knuckles like a puppy. Why does he have to be so fucking cute right now? You can barely contain yourself.

“Yeah, I think the hot water was making me dizzy. I'm gonna…” your voice trails off when the idea hits you. "I'm gonna go lay down and get ready for bed. No rush, you can stay out here for a bit if you want.” You stare Denji in the eyes, hoping that he'll buy your lie. You search his eyes for an answer, but he looks away as if thinking about something.

"Hmm… yeah, okay. I'll uh, stay out here for a little longer. You go rest." Denji says, looking away from you to lean his head back in his hands again, closing his eyes. You hope he wasn't annoyed or upset by you leaving, but you just couldn't risk being there with him anymore, being hard as a rock.

With Aki gone and Denji outside for a little longer, you can finally relieve yourself. You don't think it'll even take long, it felt like a ticking time bomb after getting close all night last night and stopping a million times.

You put your yukata on and shut the lights to make it believable that you've gone to sleep. Before your head can even hit the pillow, you've opened the bottom of your yukata and started touching yourself. You didn't even bother putting underwear on, it would only slow you down. However, being so comfortable now and relaxed from the hot water, you're also fighting off sleep.

Your hand around your bare cock feels so good that you start throbbing. All you can think about how Denji is just outside, naked. You think back to how slim and wet his body was. Thinking of how the steam from the onsen made his face glisten and the ends of his wet hair hang down over his eyes. So fucking hot. You wanted nothing more than to just turn to him, hands on his hard, sleek chest, and ravage him.

Getting so turned on by the idea of Denji being right there makes precum start pooling at your tip. You swipe your thumb over it and moan at the bit of slipperiness it gives you. Your thoughts start straying as you go in and out of sleep, wondering what would happen if you playfully pulled on Denji's chainsaw starter a little bit. Would it tease him? Would it feel good to him? The ideas keep coming as you feel like you could finish soon, as long as you can stay awake.

However, you are blissfully unaware of how much time has already passed from nodding off here and there, because you hear the patio door slide open. In a panic you pull the yukata back over yourself, pull the blanket up over you, and close your eyes. ‘DAMN IT.’ you curse in your mind, not wanting a repeat of last night. You wouldn't be able to hold back after how much you just played with yourself. Only seconds after you get yourself in order does the bedroom door slide open abruptly. You slam your eyelids closed, not even sure if your hard on is visible or not under the heavy blanket. You hear Denji's towel fall, followed by him putting his yukata on and turning off the light. He lays down next to you again, falling asleep on his back.

You'll have to make due, you'll have to keep trying to finish because you can't hold back anymore. There's no chance of getting up to go to another room to finish, because if you accidentally wake Denji he'll see how unbelievably stiff you are.

You're still so incredibly hard that it even surprises you. After a few minutes you start pumping your hand up and down your length again, stopping every time Denji moves.

At this point, you feel so pent up and frustrated that you feel like you're going to explode. Your hands fall to your sides and, without thinking, sigh out loud. Almost whimpering in frustration.

It must have been loud enough though, because Denji starts moving around again. You slam your eyes closed out of habit, waiting for him to fall asleep again. But it's almost too quiet. You keep waiting to hear his sleepy breathing or snoring, but it never comes. Suddenly, you hear shuffling, and then warm air on your ear. It startles you so much that you can't help but gasp out loud.

“Let me help you with that." Denji whispers into your ear, warm breath tumbling down onto your neck. You feel his warm hand navigate under your blanket, down your stomach, finally resting over yours.

Your eyes shoot open and realize Denji is leaning on his arm at your side, face still at your ear.

“I know you've been trying to jerk off all night. Last night, too. It usually doesn't take you this long, what's the matter?" Denji’s nose grazes the outside of your ear, giving you chills. Your heart starts palpitating hearing him say he knows how long it usually takes you. Does he always know when you're jerking off? You two do share a room, but you could have sworn he was always asleep. Your thoughts are interrupted when Denji moans into your ear.

“I'm not dumb, man. I know you were hard in the water outside, I saw it before you wrapped yourself up. Why do you think I wanted to come back to our private onsen instead of staying at the big one?" Denji asks quietly while slowly grabbing your hand, making you move up and down. "I was actually gonna play with you in the water, but then you left. I figured you came back here to do this, but… god I couldn't stop thinking about it. You got so hard I wanted to see what it felt like to touch you. Do you know how hard it always is to pretend to be asleep with you laying next to me playing with yourself all the time? At first it was kinda awkward, but… after hearing your heavy breathing and moans all the time… I don't know. It started getting to me. It started… making me feel good, too.”

Your head starts spinning with pleasure. His touch is soft but firm, pumping you slowly… teasingly… deliberately trying to toy with you. You moan in response and you hear him chuckle in your ear.

“Do you do it like this?" He asks, voice sending chills down your body. All you can do is swallow hard and nod. You can't believe this is happening and you can barely even get any words out.

Denji pulls the blanket back, exposing you now. Between the heat from outside and the heat between the two of you, you both start sweating and panting. It's almost intoxicating. It makes everything more sensual and exhilarating.

Denji is kneeling over your legs now. He takes your hand away and swallows hard like he's bracing himself. He grabs you with both his hands and starts pumping. His face is so blushed it makes him look so fucking hot, between that and his face starting to glisten from sweat. His hands are so strong, but he takes such care to not hurt you. Even feeling his hands on you is enough to make your head fall back with pleasure.

You can feel Denji hardening as well, realizing now that he had been kneeling on your leg. You feel him stiffen and you reach down without thinking to grab him. Denji lets out a loud moan, not expecting it.

“Fuck, why does this feel so good…” Denji's voice trails off as his eyes close in ecstasy. He grabs your hand and pulls it off though, asking you to wait a second.

Denji slides up your legs to your hips, pushing his cock against yours, causing you both to moan. You feel Denji grab both of you with his hands forming one big circle so that he can pump you both at the same time.

“Fuck, it does feel good," Denji says with an air of surprise. “I saw some dudes doing this online and wondered what it felt like. And…” he pauses to catch his breath. "I kept thinking how I wanted to try with you. It feels good enough to play with myself but I always wondered if if felt better with another guy rubbing up against me.”

You can't believe this is even happening. You're trying SO hard to not fall asleep from being utterly exhausted. You also realize you're right at the edge now, but don't want to quite finish yet. You wanted to enjoy Denji touching you longer.

"Denji… wait…" you say between panting. Denji slows to a stop and looks up at you worried.

“What's wrong? Is this not okay?" Denji's face is so red. His eyebrows are narrowed with desperation. You feel him start squirming in place in response to stopping.

“I just… I'm so close. I don't want to finish yet.” You admit. You put your arm over your eyes in embarrassment. But you're glad to have just come out and said it. You feel Denji let go and sit straight up. Before you even know what's happening, you feel his hands under your arms lifting you into a seated position, both of your legs entangled together. Sitting so close, your dicks still pressed up against each other. Denji grabs your face and starts kissing you.

You both need to periodically break away to gasp for air, kissing so intensely. Denji tries hard to not bite down on your lips too hard with his sharp teeth.

“Why," he pants, “why does this feel so good?" Denji asks between kisses, forehead resting on yours.

"Do you like it?” You ask Denji, trying to catch your breath. He nods his head and laughs between his heavy panting. You suddenly feel Denji push you down on your back, grabbing both of you and pumping again. You moan out loud in surprise.

“I'm getting close, too. Let's cum together." Denji closes his eyes hard and pants out loud. You see the tips of his sharp teeth as he breathes.

Denji's cock is so hot and hard against yours. His skilled hands moving up and down faster now. You feel him growing harder, more engorged, pressing against you. You look up at Denji who has his eyes squeezed shut. It turns you on to see him trying so hard to bring you both over the edge.

Denji's body starts twitching as he says he's getting close. Now is your chance. You reach up to Denji's chest, fingertips circling the opening where his chainsaw starter comes out. His eyes flash open to look at you, skin reddening on his cheeks even more. You start rubbing around his chest and feel Denji now so close to cumming that he starts thrusting himself against you and in his hand. Feeling him thrust against you turns you on so much that you feel that coil inside you snap.

Just as you're about to say you're cumming, Denji's free hand comes down hard on your chest as he grunts.

“I'm cumming," Denji cries, thrusting so hard in and out of his hand against you.” Hearing him say that, you feel it start shooting out of you, too. You both moan out loud, panting, twitching.

Since you're lying down, the hot fluid from both of you shot all over your chest.

Once Denji catches his breath, he stares down at the white all over you, swallowing hard.

“Denji… Denji you don't have to ea-” you can't even finish your sentence before Denji leans down and presses his tongue to the soft skin on your stomach. Your back arches as he makes his way from splatter to splatter with his hot tongue lapping up every last bit of both of you. He swallows and wipes his mouth with the back of his fist. You forgot that Denji will eat anything that can be eaten. It only worries you for a second before thinking how incredibly hot it was to watch him do that.

Feeling how much you responded to that, Denji finishes by moving up and licking your hardened nipple for a moment before falling down at your side.

You both lay there, chests rising and falling quickly, panting with lust. Denji chuckles softly and looks at you, face still blush.

“I hope that was okay, I uh… never did that before. But I've watched enough videos to figure it out.” He runs his fingers through his drenched hair.

"it was unbelievable. Really, really good.” You manage to get out between catching your breath.

Slowly, little by little, both of your breaths return to normal. You're about to fall asleep when Denji turns to you, thumb grazing across your bottom lip.

"Can we go in the private onsen tomorrow morning before Aki comes back home?” He says with his face turning a deep red again. You nod sleepily, not being able to help being lulled to sleep with relief. Denji smiles and chuckles, almost deviously. “Good. I wanna try playing with you in the water and see how that feels before we leave."

[eyesore-boi]

You think that you're alone but

We are waiting for you every night...

You're mine.

Close ups and other stuff below!

...so....10 years, huh?

I cannot understate how much FNaF means to me in my life, and yeah...know that sounds a b i t much considering it's the funny har har bear games, but lemme explain-

Truth is, i was actually terrified of FNaF when it first came out! I remember my first introduction to it was when i was having a sleepover at my friend's place and he was both playing and watching other people play the first game, and when i was watching it with him, i got scared and tried to avoid the game as much as i could, even claiming to hate the game despite just knowing the first game. I was young and was prone to sheltering myself from stuff i didn't understand, and that being the first scary game i've ever seen caused that reaction, but over time...that changed.

It happened when i was watching YT and clicked on a comic dub i never seen before, thinking it was an AU for a fandom i was in (probably Undertale i dunno), but lo and behold, it was actually a fandub/animatic for the missing kids incident, and that...peaked my interest. I got curious on how this scary game actually had an interesting story to it and not just some game that goes boo. So, soon after that, i decided to look up simply "FNaF Story", found the Game Theory videos, and...the rest is history.

I was amazed and hooked, got invested in how the games explained the story in ways i've never seen before, got excited when i saw everything click together in real time, and pair that with how i got into the series r i g h t when Sister Location came out, arguably when the lore really started to kick off, i knew there was no going back now. I stuck with the series since. I watched all the animatics and dubs, listened to all the songs, tried drawing the characters, made OC's, and even talked to other people about this franchise.

And now look- Not gonna pretened this whole time it's been sunshine and (Chica's) rainbows, especially in recent times. The drop off SB caused, the lore getting more and more complicated and convoluted, the divide between older and newer fans, being the founder of Mascot Horror (for every Poppy Playtime there i s a Garten of Ban Ban) and course the IRL drama, but in all seriousness...i still wouldn't trade it for anything.

FNaF, this series, is my very first experience connecting me with a community like this, both good and bad, helping me understand how to properly enjoy media and even learn/take things from it, and i think without it i wouldn't be in the fandoms i'd be in now. The scary, horror ones, the niche, hard to find ones, story driven, character rich, and of course...more importantly...getting me into Markiplier, which further influenced the "outside the box" kind of thinking cause my g o d for these two stories you need too-

And speaking of, because of those two stories, it lead to me branching out more creativily and even creating my own webcomic for an AU combining both of them, so regardless on how that'll go, i'm just glad this series has influenced me enough to create something for others to see, since that's all i ever want to give.

But really, this franchise will forever be with me, and though i don't always agree with all of it (i haven't read any of the books in y e a r s and i refuse to do so), it only makes some of the stuff it does do right completely worth it (like the movie, peak cinema), and for where ever this bear shaped train is going next, well, i'll be here for the ride for all of it. No matter how many burning buildings it goes through.

...oh and um- Right yeah. The actual art piece. Uh....it crashed multiple times when drawing it. It's even a miracle i was able to export it. I can't even open it up anymore. So even if i wanted to change anything about it, i c a n 't -

But still pretty happy with how it came together! Was run drawing these robos, some being kinda redraws from the past, while other's i've n e v e r drawn before, so that was interesting! But still, tried to draw the "main character" so to say from each of the main FNaF games, and just kinda be...walking along through the series, nothing too deep or complex, but still interesting enough! ....unlike the fnaf storyline cause g o d how many restaurants wERE THEIR S C O T T -

But for real this is going long enough, so ima head out and do my own FNaF related things thay you don't need to worry about shush *commits arson*

HAPPY 10TH FNAF BIRTHDAY EVERYBODY!! >:DD

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for not taking my cat with me when I eventually move?

For some context, I(f,22) live in an apartment that connects to the house of my parents through the garden and the basement. I have lived here since I was 17, pay rent, utilities and all my groceries so I basically live alone, just that I can visit my family basically whenever. Our family has a small dog and 3 cats, all of the animals can move freely through the entire house and also go outside if they want (I know outside cats are a problem, it was not my decision nor can I change the situation bc these are not only my cats).

My boyfriend (m,23) and me are planning on moving out next year-ish and I was not planning on taking the cat that is technically mine. She was adopted from a farm when I was around 16, I was really depressed, self-harming, had an ed blah blah, so my mom actually agreed that I could get a kitten. My cat has helped me immensely through really tough times but she is a little bit... wild. When she wants to play she can bite and scratch quite hard, she scares the other cats and the dog and sometimes pees on rugs and other stuff. She is also an absolute sweetheart and super cuddly and funny, I have zero problems with her behaviors myself because I know when she is getting frustrated I have to give her some space, I never scream at her when she does accidentally hurt me while playing, she never pees in my apartment, I only scold her when she attacks the other cats (she only wants to play but the other cats are older and dont want to). I feel like if I write it down like that she does sound kind of like a nightmare but bad incidents happen very rarely and she has gotten a lot calmer with her age. So the problem is now that my mom wants me to take her with me when I move, which I would totally get if she wouldn't have said the exact opposite before. My mom always said that I shouldn't take my cat with me when I move because she needs to stay in her home, she has got the other cats (even tho they don't really like each other but sometimes they hang out or play), the garden and a forest, a really quiet neighborhood with no cars and a big house where there is always somebody home. If I would take her with me she would be in a relatively small apartment, probably couldn't go outside (I would move from a small town to the city), no other cats and so on. I feel like my mom just wants to punish me and my cat for some reason. For her/ my family it's not much more work and they have been feeding and caring for her since we got her (together with me of course) because even though she is technically mine she was more of a family cat from the beginning. I also would pay for everything vet, food, toys whatever. I don't even really understand why she seems to hate her so suddenly, I get it's super frustrating and gross when she pees somewhere but it's also an animal you can't make them understand reason and it doesn't happen frequently, also she is not the only cat that pees sometimes so I don't get why with her it seems to be such a problem. I know she is my responsibility and if it is really such an issue I will take her with me and try to make her the best life possible but I feel like it is so unnecessary. When I got her I was only 16 and not mature enough to realize what it means to have a pet, I also feel like my mom knew that i was not in the right mind to make decisions like that, i could barely take care of myself and was definitely not thinking even 2 years ahead. I always felt like it was an unspoken agreement that my cat was like all the other family cats just a little more mine. And it wasn't even really unspoken because she literally has said that I shouldn't take her with me because it would make my cat depressed. My mom also tells me to move out so she can rent out the apartment at a higher price, so it's not her way of making me stay at home. I also want to mention that my family treats all of the animals really well and my cat would not be in any danger if I would leave her home.

What are these acronyms?

[salty-jade]

Steps: Hand Holding

Pairing: Tom!Peter Parker x Fem! Reader

Theme: Fluff, just fluff.

Summary: Peter wants to hold hand with you, but how are you going to do that without exlpoding every single time he touches you?

Note: Okay, I'm back at it again. I think... Tbh this is sort of based on my own what if of myself once I have that special someone. also, I did this all in one go, so no edits whatsoever :D. If there is something triggering in this pls let me know!

Everyone in you circle of friends knew you had the biggest crush on Peter Parker. Obviously they didn’t know why since he was sort of a nerd and a geek at the same time. Well for you, that wasn’t a deal breaker since you liked him because he was just him. Loving, caring, sweet and if you look closely, actually handsome. Nevertheless, your friends were supportive and tried everything to get you two together.

So it came to no surprise for them that you two ended up together. Though, it was really because you discovered his secret identity by accident when you were taking out the trash at the same alley way where Peter would change into his super suit. Plus point for you since you saw his bare torso, which you swore justified your case on how handsome he was.

Still, because of that incident, you two became closer, and bloomed into something more. So now your friends are gushing over the possible things you and Peter would do as a new couple. Eat lunch together, walk to class together, talk about each other to other people, hold hands.

Wait.

Hold hands?

As in you and Peter’s fingers locking together while swinging your arms as you both cross a field of daisies???

Nope. Nope. and NOPE!

If Peter had a big secret to keep from the whole world, you had one too. Well, it’s not as huge as Peter’s but still something that you don’t want other people to know about. Peter’s your first boyfriend, therefore you’ve never really been physical with a guy before. The only people you could tolerate physical touch was the men in your family.

“Oh, don’t forget protection ok?! tell him to wrap his junior before sticking it in”

“Also, consent is important for both you and him okay girl? also…”

While your friends kept giving you tips on how to essentially ‘turn on’ your boyfriend and please him, all you could think in your head was about how you were going to even hold hands with him when he asks. forget sex, you could die just from holding hands!

So far, Peter hasn’t really touched you in anyway whatsoever. Heck, when you both confessed, Peter couldn’t event try and land a kiss on you because suddenly his senses alerted him of a villain so he had to drop you off somewhere safe before going out to battle.

The moment he wrapped his arms around your waist to hoist him up, your stomach was doing flips, face becoming different shades of red, and your brain turned into mush. You had to dunk your head into the bathtub to cool yourself from the heat of your face. You thought something was wrong with you. You thought it was weird for someone to be overstimulated with just a few touches with your partner. The romcoms you watch in your laptop certainly made it seem so. It made it seem like an amazing experience where you and your partner could share sweet moments together and just enjoy each other’s presence and act like it was only you two in the entire world. Well, both your heart and mind could not handle that much intimacy.

Was it because you’ve never date anyone before? or was it because you just have high expectations so your afraid of underperforming. Regardless of the reason, it was better to come clean to Peter rather than just keeping it to yourself.

Just as you made your self-declaration, you felt and hand on your arm, pulling you closer to another person’s body.

“Hey there Y/N!” your body, as if it was on auto-pilot, jumped at his touch and voice and instinctively backed a bit to hard unto your locker. Causing it to temporarily shake both the locker and somewhat your body due to the shock. Peter, being the lovely boyfriend he was, felt bad since he thought it was his fault for startling you and tried to hold you to help soothe the pain. Before he could do that though, you again backed away from him and kept a safe distance from him so he couldn’t touch you so you wouldn’t turn to mush.

“Hey! Hey Peter! umm how’s it going?” the fact that you tried to deescalate the situation to make it seem less awkward, just made the situation more awkward. Peter could only raise a brow at you and replied to your question.

“Everything’s good. yeah. I just wanted to see if you would want to walk to AP calculus together…” He said. The sound of guilt and confusion lingered in his voice as every time he raised his hand even slightly you would sort of jerk away from his touch.

“sure sure. we can do that, I just need to…” you looked around your surroundings to find a place where you could cool down for a bit before getting to class. Luckily, you found a bathroom.

“go to the bathroom real quick that’s all! So wait for me okay?! great!” before he could even reply, you dashed across the hall and into the bathroom to spare you the embarrassment.

One of your friends just patted Peter in the back to help reassure him that that was just who you were. “don’t worry, she LOVES you to death. she’s just shy that’s all.” and with that, your friend group had dispersed, each going to their own classes for today.

While you were in the bathroom checking the mirror to see if your face was still red from being touched by Peter. It wasn’t that Peter was not allowed to touch you. In fact, you really wanted to hold hands with him, but your body just reacts in the weirdest ways and your brain perceives it as you being overstimulated.

Before going out again, you took out a few books from your bag and carried them instead, just so could occupy them and avoid holding hands with Peter.

Peter saw you coming out of the bathroom, and he gave you his honest smile and walked up to you.

“I can carry those books for you if you wa-”

“NO!” ok that response was too fast, let’s try that again.

“I mean, no need. It’s ok! besides, you wouldn’t want people to know about the ‘thing you have right’?” you let out a dry chuckle, knowing that your excuse was the dumbest thing Peter might have heard in his entire life.

The whole walk towards class was weird in general. Peter kept wanting to try and find an opening to at least hold your shoulder or at least offer to carry your stuff so he could hold your hand, but something tells him that you were intentionally avoiding that opportunity for him. In the end, when you both made it to your seats in class, you both just exchanged notes while you tried to send him cute doodles so that he didn’t feel too bummed out about not being able to hold your hand.

You knew he didn’t deserve this treatment. He should be able to hold his girlfriend, kiss her whenever he wanted to. But, you just couldn’t handle the overload of affection from him. He was like the sun, while you were the midnight sky shying away from everything.

You both went on with your days as if you were just friends. Peter still tried to find an opening to at least graze your hand but, nothing. He sensed there must be something wrong with you. Maybe he was imagining things when you actually confessed that you liked him? was he reading the signals wrong? whatever it was, even Peter couldn’t solve this with only his intuition only. It was best that he asked you directly instead.

As soon as you both stepped out of the school, where a good few inches of empty space were between you and Peter, peter turned to you before you had the chance to escape the awkward situation.

“Can we talk?” he said. Your instincts were telling you that he probably wanted to talk about what happened this morning and your over all behavior today. I mean who could blame him, the whole day you’ve been avoiding his touches and advances the best you could so that you wouldn’t explode from an overload.

“y-yeah sure…”

Peter and you agreed it be better to talk about it back at his place since May wouldn’t be around the apartment. Though, it didn’t help you calm your worries since this is more about how are you going to explain it to Peter rather than having to go through May’s constant teasing of the two of you.

And now here you were, in his apartment.

alone.

together.

on the couch.

.

.

.

NOPE NOPE NOPE! even if there was no contact between you two, for some reason this situation alone was enough to make you overload. Even a blind person could tell you were nervous about this whole situation. You were as stiff as a tree, you wouldn’t even let yourself relax into the couch and sat in an upright position with your legs shut close together, while your hands were a=placed on top of them in the form of fist. Where even your knuckles started to turn white. Ok, now is a good as time as any for Peter to bring it up.

Peter sat back down on the couch after he grabbed you both something cool to drink. For some reason, he knew this conversation was going to make you burn up.

“Okay, umm… did I do something wrong?” your head shot up to look at him the instant he said those words.

“WHAT?! NO! I-I mean…. no… well, I mean there is something wrong but it’s not you per say… rather,” and there you go, falling a part as soon as you opened your mouth. God, you wish you could just crawl into a hole and die rather than explain the weirdest thing about you. But as you looked into his eyes. his warm brown eyes, you knew he deserved to know. So, you took a deep breath and tried to carefully construct the next few sentences in your head so that Peter can understand you.

“just so were on the same page, you noticed I’ve been trying to avoid… touching you right?”

All Peter could do was nod at your statement. He decided it was best if he added some words to it as well.

“Yeah, and I mean I get it if you don’t want us to be physical because if that’s your preference then by all means go-” You waved your hands in the air to tell him to shut up for a bit.

“No, no that’s not what I meant…I guess you could say I’m the weird one” Peter was sure he wasn’t following what you were saying just now. How could you be weird?

“Look, I don’t know why I’m like this, but… I’ve never had a boyfriend before and the thought of being in a relationship is new to me. What’s also new to me is the fact that I get to be physical with someone that I have really like and…” you looked back again at his face to see if he was following you along before continuing.

“The thought of even just holding hands with someone, especially you, just overwhelms me. I feel warm and fuzzy of course when I’m with you, like my heart just wants to jump around the room. But at the same time it feels like it might just burst and I feel like a PC that just short-circuits due to the heat. I guess you could say I get overstimulated? I’m not sure what to call it, but that’s just how I am…”

You didn’t realize that you were curling up into a ball on his couch when you finished your explanation. it did make a nice place to burry your head into so that you could calm yourself down for a bit before hearing Peter’s reply to what you just said.

Peter felt, giddy? like as if he saw the most cutest plush bear in the world and wanted to hug it so tight cause it was so cute. That was how he felt after your whole explanation. Your reason was totally valid, but on the other hand it also make Peter want to hold you close and see your face get red in the cutest way possible. Though, that might just make things worse.

You heard rustling from the other side of the couch and watch Peter hold up one of his fingers to you. Your brows furrowed at his sudden act.

“Let’s try something. I hold up one of my finger, and you just touch mine with your. how bout that?”

You swore this whole situation felt like something a pre-school teacher would do to a kid to get to know them.

“come on just humor me. Besides, think of it as a training exercise for yourself” and so you did.

You held out your index finger and connected the two together. You felt like Peter was E.T and you were the young boy in the movie.

“Are we recreating E.T here?!”

“I don’t know, maybe~” you giggled at his response.

“Ok, how bout we try this now,” Peter held out all his other fingers, signaling you to do the same with your hands. You showed signs of hesitance but you wanted to try even for a bit.

You unraveled your hands and brought both of your fingertips together slowly. First the thumbs, then the middle finger, the ring finger and finally your pinky. Your stomach felt like it was fluttering, along with you heartbeat starting to pick up the pace.

Peter could tell you were starting to “short-circuit” as you described. So he let you know it was ok if you didn’t want to continue. “We can stop if you want.”

you shook your head while keeping your hand steady in the air with his. Both of your fingertips were still touching, not once have you flinched away from his.

“I-it’s okay, I really wanna try holding your hand” the last bit of the sentence you dialed it down a bit so that Peter couldn’t hear it. Though, we all know he could hear it.

As if you were an astronaut taking your first step on a planet, you slowly brought you palm closer to Peter’s. Peter has not moved an inch from his position, so all of this was your own doing. Then slowly, but surely, your hands were clasped together. Now you could feel your face starting to burn, and your heart was pumping faster. This was only just hands touching, imagine if you did some of the things your friends kept telling you about.

Peter felt proud of you, even though he could see your face turn into different shades of red, but proud. Now, he felt like doing something bold, maybe you weren’t ready for it, but he wanted to at least try and see your reaction.

“I’m gonna do something so, be prepared ok”

“what?”

“Trust me” trust me. Never would you think those were the words from Peter that would make you turn into mush.

Peter then did the unthinkable, well at least for you. He shifted his hand a bit and slowly intertwined his hands with yours. Now, your fingers were interlaced with each other. You were both now holding hands. Something Peter wanted to do for the whole day. His hold on you was firm, not to the point where it hurts, but firm in a way that says he would never let go of you.

Your eyes widened, your instincts are telling you to pull away and stick your head into the bathtub filled with cold water. are your hands starting to sweat? you think it does. Are you sweating? maybe? God you are! What’s happening? can you still see Peter? Yes, but right now you really don’t want to turn into a tomato in front of him so you look to the side so that your hair is covering your face and avoid looking at him. But despite all that, your hand was still holding his. Never letting go.

Peter thought enough was enough so he tried to pull a way so that you could at least breath. Surprisingly, you were the one that held on.

“I- I don’t want my efforts to go to waste, or yours. So… is it okay if we stay like this for a bit” you were still looking away from Peter, but you lowered your hands so that it was comfortably resting on the couch.

“My heart is like beating a thousand miles per second right now I think, but I-I’m okay…” You finally looked at Peter. Your cheeks were flushed with shades of red, and your eyes seemed more like a doe to Peter now. God, he really wanted to hold you close now.

He shuffled a bit in the couch, trying to close the distance between you little by little.

“Is this okay?” Peter asked. He was still an arms length far from you, but closer nonetheless. You nodded. He then shifted closer, asking the same thing, and you replied the same. After going back and forth a bit, Peter was now only a few inches away from your body. You both still kept some form of distance, but the proximity between you two was closer than you could ever imagine. Peter asked one last time.

“How about this? Is this too close for you?” He said, almost like a whisper. Your heart had reached it’s breaking point, your brain was already in the process of turning into goop, your body was overheating as if gas was leaking out of your skin. Yeah, this was your limit for now Peter thought.

He backed a few inches away from you so you could compose yourself, while his eyes were still watching your every move. You finally let go of his hand and fanned yourself to cool your face.

You gave him a sheepish smile as you’re still embarrassed about the whole thing you just did with him, at the same time you were happy he tried to help you. Though, you don’t know how much your heart can take it if he keeps doing these things.

“How bout we just stick to hand holding for now?” you said.

Peter gave you his signature smile and grabbed your hand to hold it on his own. Though, he wasn’t done teasing you just yet, as once he grabbed your hand, he brought the back of your hand to his lips and kissed it as if he was a prince in a fairy tale giving the princess a greeting.

yeah, it was then and there you fainted.

[deathbystero]

'cause we're just kids who grew up way too fast

in which Ponyboy struggles to come to terms with everything. a/n - here's the full chapter y'all. lemme know if it's worth carrying on with and if you have any ideas on what I can do to extend the plot, feel free to request or give me some ideas

It’s only been a few weeks since that night—coming on three, to be exact. I don’t think things will ever go back to how they were; how could they? With Johnny and Dallas gone, everything feels off-kilter in some way. Like a loose thread just waiting to be pulled, ready to fall away and leave nothing but a gaping hole in its place. 

Home doesn’t feel like home anymore. Not really—not in the same way it was before. Things are a lot quieter. A lot emptier. I don’t think Darry minds all that much; an empty house is a peaceful house, even under all the unsettling tension. 

The gang feels a lot closer now, too. I suppose that’s one good thing about all of this, but nobody is quite themselves anymore. There isn’t as much energy in the air; there aren’t many laughs around anymore, and nobody smiles as often as they used to. It's like everyone is carrying around a weighty cloud on their shoulders, or maybe they’re just trying to keep their minds busy with something else. But we never talk about those days anymore; no one does. The topic makes us uncomfortable, like a wound that can never be healed. 

Maybe it’s just me who can’t get used to living without them. 

The nightmares still come every once in a while, more now than they used to. Sometimes they’re pretty bad—Johnny and Dallas making frequent appearances, their faces blurred, their voices distorted. Sometimes, I realise that I’m starting to forget the little things about them: the way Johnny would tilt his head a little to the left (or maybe it was to the right) when he was talking; the way Dallas would bite his lip when concentrating hard on something, even if he didn't seem to notice himself doing it. Everything seems to be slipping through my fingers faster than I can grasp, trying desperately to hold onto the memories, begging them not to fade away into the background. 

Maybe that’s why they haunt me so often: because I'm afraid—afraid that someday I won't remember them at all. 

Darry slept on the floor in my bedroom for a little while after that night, too scared to leave me alone after everything. He’s been doing that a lot lately, constantly checking up on me, even when I'm only in the next room over. Sodapop says it's because he's scared I’ll disappear again, which is ridiculous; I’ve got nowhere to run to, and even if I did, I doubt I’d want to anyway. Without Johnny to keep me company, I might as well be right here in Tulsa forever. 

There was never anything in the papers about Johnny and Dallas—at least not anything good. They don’t write editorials for “murderers” and hoodlums. Nobody would read them anyway. It would be a waste of ink, a waste of print, and a waste of paper. It’d just be another story about another couple of kids from the east side who wound up dead. No one would care. No one would even know what happened to them, not until somebody started asking questions, and even then, the truth would be twisted. Nobody knows what happened. Nobody but me. They can try to understand, just like Sodapop, Two-Bit,  Steve, and Darry have tried, but they won’t ever see it the same. Not like I do. 

For a long time after the incident, I tried convincing myself that Johnny wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be; you don’t just lose your closest buddy in one night. That doesn’t just happen. And yet, it had happened to me. 

To be truthful, I still don’t really believe that Johnny is dead. It’s stupid, irrational, and childish, but I can’t help but cling to that notion like my life depends on it. Maybe I'm losing it a bit, growing a little delusional. Darry seems to think so. Not a day goes by where he isn't telling me to “get my damn head out of the clouds” or to “get my act together."

I’m trying, really, I am, but sometimes it gets hard. The truth hurts too much. So I decided it was better to just pretend that it hadn’t happened. Pretend the entire mess never went down. That’s easier than confronting reality, even though I know there are some aspects of Johnny and Dallas’ deaths that are very, very real. Too real to be ignored. And it’s not like I can ignore it, can I? It’s part of me—a piece of me—a piece of my memory that I can never fully forget. I’ll just have to live with it.

That’s easier said than done, though.

[linkspooky]

Hi there, I was rereading your Maki Zenin fanfic (Tyler Durden and the Culling Game piece). I must say when I read it the first time reading it, the way you depict her mentality, emotion, and actions. It was so emotionally draining and at the same time cathartic as it reminded me of myself back then and now still (well minus mass murdering all lotta people). But also surprised me, cause I have never this depiction of her after Shibuya Incident. But over time as I look at your analysis on various characters and paid attention to her upbringing by rereading the manga chapters focused on her, I realized the way she behaves in the Culling Games after what happen to her throughout her life. She is kind of stable??? Regardless, even though she is already my all-time favorite character. Your depictions of her makes me love her character even more as I actually relate to her more and felt those similar feelings. But I'm glad she is alive and is doing ok near the end of the manga, so I wanna ask. What do you think about her character now since JJK is VERY close to its end? And how do you feel about where she is right now as of Chapter 269. Sorry for the long ramble, I might ask more lol.

Thank you so much for your ask! That reminds me I need to start updating my culling games fic again sometime soon. For anyone curious the ask is about THIS YUTAMAKI FIC HERE.

Maki's kind of a hard character to talk about because even though Maki is clearly one of my favorite characters to explore in fic, and I love to dive deep into her motivations and inner struggles in the fanfics I write every time I criticize her writing in canon a little bit her fans jump me.

So instead I'm going to share one recent Maki scene I really liked, and one little tweak I think would have made both Yuta and Maki's character endings perfect.

You're right, for a lifelong abuse victim who just murdered her family Maki seems oddly stable all throughout the culling games. I no longer think this is a Maki specific problem, but rather a Jujutsu Kaisen problem. Basically, post Shibuya most of the character conflicts in between characters are dropped so everyone can work seamlessly together as a part of one big team.

This is a storytelling choice on Gege's so he could eventually set up for the Shinjuku Showdown fight, it'd be impossible for everyone to keep jumping in and out of the fight if people kept stopping to argue and have interpersonal conflicts in the middle of it.

If your name wasn't Megumi or Yuji, then basically all your personal hangups, your self-reflection, all got dropped. Which now it kind of makes sense why the audience was yelling at Megumi for not being able to immediately get over his sister's death, like in comparison none of the other characters spend any time at all dwelling on personal issues because Gege needs them to move to the next fight.

I'm not complaining, I'm just saying this is how Gege chose to write his characters post Shibuya, most personal conflicts got dropped for story reasons.

However, there was one moment that made me really get on board with Maki's writing again, and it was a... you guessed it moment of personal conflict.

This moment where Yuta is bringing up the idea of body swapping with Gojo before the group, and Maki despite being firmly against it is unable to do or say anything substantive to stop Yuta.

It's the first time I've seen that yeah, Maki is still in fact reeling from the loss of Mai. It doesn't really show most of the time on the surface, but Maki's always been like that - like an island able to stand strong without the support of anyone else. It is her strength, and also her greatest weakness.

Remember, the last time someone she loved walked away from her and decided to sacrifice their body and autonomy so they could become a weapon for the greater good Maki wasn't able to say or do anything to convince Mai to stay with her and stay by her side too.

There's the parallel with Maki and Sukuna, that Sukuna chose to devour his own twin in the womb in order to survive and therefore gained a body perfect for sorcerery. When Mai died, Maki gained a body just like Toji's.

Maki carved everything away in order to become a true void, but unlike Sukuna she didn't do it by choice.

We know she wouldn't willingly sacrifice Mai. She begged Mai to stay. Yet, she kind of did choose to sacrifice Mai with every choice she made before that. Maki chose being a Jujutsu Sorcerer over Mai every single time, to the point where when it counted she couldn't do anything to convince Mai to stay.

Maki consumed her twin and became a monster like Sukuna, a true void. She didn't choose to do it per se, but every choice she made leading up to that point indicated to Mai that Maki would rather be strong on her own then weak together with Mai. That Maki is someone like Gojo, and like Sukuna meant to stand strong all alone. Maki is an island and that is her greatest strength and her greatest flaw.

As when it happens again and someone she loves is about to become a monster, she can't find the words to convince Yuta to stay with her on the beach instead of walking into the ocean the same way she couldn't find the words to stop Mai. After all, Maki is someone who chose to become a monster like Toji after losing everything else, what right does she have to stop Yuta from becoming a monster too?

How could she possibly stop him from walking the path she walked? I think it's telling to thde depths of her love that Maki who values being a sorcerer above everything else, would have rather had both Mai and Yuta stay human and stay with her, but also telling of her complete inability to express that love.

It's "You're too important to us" because the words "You're too important to me," doesn't occur to Maki in both cases with Yuta and Mai, because Maki is an island. She can keep going on even after Mai and Yuta are gone even if she doesn't want to.

So here is the one change I would make the Maki's endgame to make her and Yuta's character arcs perfect. I would just have Yuta not be able to come back from Gojo's body. Otherwise, Yuta being magically fixed after the fact makes that whole plot twist kind of inconsequential and as much as I love Yuta in Gojo's body it kind of just seems to exist for shock-value now considering how easily it was resolved.

Yuta not coming back would provide a consequence for Yuta defiling Gojo's body, and also in general give the perfect bittersweet ending to both him and Maki's arcs. They both chose to become monsters in the end to defeat Sukuna, and as a result Maki is standing alone at the strongest. It would also provide the perfect parallel to this scene with Geto and Gojo. You could even have Maki musing on how she was left behind again. There's a pretty big parallel to Maki and Gojo both being people who seemingly don't need anyone because they're so strong and self-sufficient and yet they crumble at the idea of the one person they've always been relying on walking away from them.

It would also parallel Megumi and Itadori as well, because the reason that itadori is eventually able to reach Megumi is specifically because unlike everyone else he refused to give up his humanity to defeat Sukuna.

You could have a really heartbreaking parallel of three generations of friendships broken apart by the Jujutsu World. Satosugu, and YutaMaki aren't able to reach each other and stay together, but finally by never giving up on reaching out towards one another Megumi and Itadori are both able to find each other again after the world and Sukuna pulled them apart.

I do enjoy this scene a lot - especially the parts where Maki seems borderline arrogant by insisting she could have done things all on her own and if they went with her plan instead of Yuta's then they would have suffered far less losses. Especially since Maki's not genuinely trying to chew Yuta out here, she just knows no other way to express her worry over him besides being hyper aggressive and confrontational.

It still shows that Maki's personality problems are all still there, she loves people a lot but she loves people from afar and can't admit to needing them but like I'm just saying we could have had THE UTLIMATE DOOMED LOVERS ending for YutaMaki.