#he’s already had to grow up and mature so fast that he was able to stay firmly in that purely logical mindset until there was proof that she

[byclairs]

like i can’t imagine being jonathan finding out my whole world aka my little brother is dead and then my mom believing he’s still alive and wishing so badly that i could believe her too but having to fight against that and tell myself that she’s just in denial and i can’t let myself hope at all because someone has to be the rational one

[arlh0e]

Move me, Baby

Rating: Mature, 18+, MDNI (Please, I really really don't want to have to block you, I write fluff too, go look at that.)

Pairing: Andrew Hozier X fem!Reader (not proofread)

Warnings: No use of Y/n because I personally find it unbearable to read, soft dom Andrew, thigh riding, body worship, nipple play (Female receiving) begging if you squint, scent kink also if you squint, Andrew being the sweetest little sweetie pie, heavy on the praise kink, heavy on the teasing, encouragement,I tried really hard to write a plotless smut but it turned into passionate love making, Your honor they’re in love!

Summary:It’s a lazy afternoon, and you’re watching Andrew write music, one of your favorite activities. Usually you let him do his thing, not wanting to disturb him, and today is just like any other, until you happen to hear some of the lyrics he’s written, coming to the realization of what he’s thinking while he’s writing about you (set during the writing process of Wasteland, Baby!, specifically the writing of Movement because I am utterly obsessed with that song, and I have been ITCHING to put this idea into words for WEEKS. I apologize for nothing.)

Word count: 2.5k ish, give or take maybe 100 words

You couldn’t help but stare at him as he sat there, guitar in his lap, plucking away at the strings and quietly whispering a few words that came to mind. He writes down the words that stick in a notebook, which he has used beyond the point of disrepair.

There were pages that were practically falling out, filled with songs and poems, some of which were about you, that much you knew, though he had yet to play any of them for you, claiming it “Ruined the surprise” Of getting to show you the new album once it was finished.

His words were barely able to be heard between his low tone and the distance between the two of you. You could tell tough, that whatever he was writing was going well, he had only been working for a few hours, but he had already come up with over half a page of lyrics. Rarely did you see him work this fast, so whatever it was was either something important to him that he felt needed to be said, or it was something that he felt deeply in the moment.

His voice grows slightly louder as he runs back a few lines to go over what he had written, just barely loud enough that I can make out the words.

“When you move

I can recall somethin’ that’s gone from me

When you move

Honey, I’m put in awe of something so flawed and free”

I smile a bit at the words. He’s the kind of person who could so effortlessly put his thoughts into something so poetic and beautiful. You had been listening to his music for years, long before the two of you met, and yet you found yourself in awe of the things his mind was capable of every time.

“So move me, baby,

Shake like the bough of a willow tree

You do it naturally

Move me, baby”

Oh.

“So move me, baby

Like you’ve nothin’ left to prove

And nothin’ to lose

Move me, baby”

Oh.

You’re taken slightly aback by the words falling so effortlessly from his mouth. The way their meaning, bordering on sacrilegious, sounded as if he were praying to the most sacred deity as it dripped like honey from his mouth.

This was a rarity, even as you had moved in with him, being able to see the entirety of his musical process, you never got to hear any of his music before it was finished, unless something really stumped him and he needed your thoughts on it.

Everything about having heard him felt like an invasion of his privacy, and yet the idea of the thoughts that must have been running through his head for hours while he had been writing set your entire body on fire.

It took everything within you not to run over there and jump his bones on the spot if you were being honest.

Watching his hands pick at the strings, his hold on the neck gentle while his fingers moved from chord to chord, you were in complete awe of him. You wondered for a moment if his hands would be so gentle if you were there, in his lap instead of the instrument.

“Shit, you weren’t supposed to hear that.” Andrew's almost panicked voice broke through your thoughts, pulling you back to reality.

You must have looked absolutely dumbfounded, you had to consciously pick your jaw up from where it was, having gone almost completely slack. It took you a moment to find your voice, whispering as you stood from your place on the bed that the two of you shared, “I’m glad I did though.”

You muster up a smile as you make your way over to the chair he had placed himself in early that morning. It was almost too small to house his large frame, his legs were too long to sit comfortably in most chairs, and at times it made you question why he didn't have a higher chair made so that he could sit comfortably in that same corner while he was writing.

Having made your way over to him, you gently take the guitar from his hands, setting it on its usual stand a few feet away, before taking your place on his lap, facing him.

He giggles a little bit at your antics. “Hey, I was using that.” His tone is playful, placing a kiss on the tip of your nose as his hands move to sit comfortably on your back,lifting his shirt that you were wearing just high enough so that he could touch your skin, his hands spanning far enough to reach just below the waistline of the lacy underwear you were wearing, holding you secure on his one leg that you had placed yourself on top of, straddling just above his knee.

“Where’d you come up with the idea for that song anyways?” You rocked yourself gently on his thigh, just once, lightly enough to pass off as you trying to get comfortable, but you both knew that that was not the goal in what you were doing. You could tell by the slightest of smiles, almost a smirk gracing his lips that he knew exactly what you were trying to do.

Looking at you through hooded eyes, almost daring you to keep going, he moved his just slightly lower, moving underneath the lace that served as the only barrier between your core and his clothed thigh. “Ehm… I was just thinking about you,” he paused momentarily, only to move your hips farther up his thigh, closer to him, his face now a mere centimeters from your neck as he continued speaking. “And the idea came to me.”

His voice was steady while doing so, almost taunting, chuckling lightly as he heard the shift in your breathing. He loved watching you go from that confident state, coming over to take what you wanted, to putty in his hands the second he gave you any kind of attention.

There you were, straddling his thigh after having come over with all the confidence in the world, now shaking, practically a mess, already leaving a wet spot on his pants in your wake and he had barely even touched you. It never ceased to amaze you how quickly he could get you so wound up.

You let out a small whimper, barely even audible as he placed a soft kiss underneath your ear. “Oh, my love how sweetly you sing for me.”

His honeyed words were dripping with lust. As your hips began moving, this time of their own accord, against his thigh. You moved ever so slowly, almost shying away from the way your body reacted to him, as if you were embarrassed by how weak you were to his touch but nevertheless, needy for any friction you could create between the two of you.

After a few moments of this, his eye look up to meet yours, and you can feel the blood pooling in your cheeks the more you look into his eyes, realizing what was going on, realizing how you probably looked.

He had the biggest smile on his face looking at you though. All the love and adoration in the world was held in that stare. “You’re doing so good baby”

He uses his hands to guide you through the motions, pressing you down onto his thigh harder in a way that drives you absolutely crazy, a sentiment that is reflected in the way you almost immediately moan his name.

You’re almost positive that your face is beat red and your hips snap back and forth. You’re nothing short of a moaning mess on his lap, his touch melting you into a puddle of the sounds that escape your lips as you increase the pressure applied by your hips.

Any reservations that you had about not wanting to embarrass yourself had thrown themselves out the window. You were so wrapped up with the pooling heat between your legs that you barely even registered Andrew lifting your shirt over your head and carelessly discarding it somewhere across the room before his hands returned to you, this time starting at your breasts, teasing your nipples between his thumb and forefinger on each hand.

“Andrew, please.” The words come out louder than expected, and needier, between gasps and moans, you weren’t even sure if he could understand you through the string of moans and profanities you were all but screaming.

“You look so pretty, darling, all worked up for me.” His voice was low and his eyes were unwavering, moving all over you, unable to settle on a single part of which he longed to see most.

“Your pretty face, mouth open like that just for me.” He met his lips with your just briefly, moving his lips down your cheek, moving to your jaw, all the way to the base of your throat.

“That beautiful voice of yours, all the sounds it makes for me.” He continues his descent, dipping his head between his hands, kissing the valley between your breasts a few times before moving his hands down to your waist moving his face to place a kiss on your right nipple, then your left.

“This body of yours is nothing short of utterly and absolutely breathtaking.” He continues his descent with his hands, while his mouth returns to your neck, leaving kisses and bites and sucking on the sensitive area, leaving not a single inch of the skin he touches unmarked.

Your pace is relentless at this point, your hips snapping back and forth against him with what can only be described as pure, unbridled desperation. The way his hands roam your body, the way your core rubs against him, it’s the only thing you can focus on for longer than maybe half a second.

Your face finds it way to the crook of his neck, biting not so lightly on a spot smack in the middle of the left side of his neck and the gran he lets out is incredible.

His hands have traveled lower by now, his right hand resting in its former spot, encouraging your hips, all the while his right hand has traveled down your front, and is now resting underneath the thin layer of lace, the only article of clothing still on your body, rubbing painstakingly slow circles around the bundle of nerves between your thighs.

It’s all that you can do not to come unraveled right at the first moment of contact. You push your face further into his neck, not sure if you're trying to dampen the sound of your own moans or if you're making an attempt to suffocate in his scent, either way, you’re doing everything you can to hold the last pieces of yourself together.

“Eyes on me, darling.” His fingers are still moving at that agonizing pace, while your hips continue their movements, silently begging him to pick up the pace. You face stays put, buried deeply in the crook of his neck.

“Come on, my love, let me see that pretty face of yours. I’d like to watch myself become your undoing if it's all the same to you.” This time, you obey, Lifting your head out of its hiding place to meet his eyes. “There’s my pretty girl.” He smiles so brightly at you.

You’re eyes are pleading with him at this point, begging for release as he maintains his slow pace.

“Please, Please, Please, Please,” You repeat the word over and over like a chant, a mantra.

A rather breathy chuckle leaves his lips and he places another small kiss on your lips before asking. “What is it you want sweetheart?”

You throw your head back and groan at his antics, knowing he wont give you the release that you so desperately need until you ask for it. “Please, Andrew, you know what I want.”

He lets out a laugh, not anything mean spirited, just playful, you know all too well that not asking directly is going to get you absolutely nowhere, but to save yourself your last shred of dignity before you just come right out and beg, you do always give it one good try.

“Do enlighten me, love, how am I to know what you want if you haven’t asked for it?” His smile is wicked by this point. He knows he always get what he wants out of you. He knows just how to bend you to his every whim.

“God damn it Andrew, please just let me come” you’re visibly shaking by this point, both with frustration and from the effort you’re putting in not to finish without his permission.

“See? That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” The pace of his hand gradually picks up and your already rather loud moans turn into what borders on screams. You quickly make a mental note to apologize to the neighbors at a later date.

“Three” He begins counting down, again, painfully slow and you feel the ever tightening knot in your abdomen begin to pull so tight it’s almost painful.

“Two” The seconds that it takes him to count down feel like hours, days even, as you do everything you can to prevent that knot from snapping, including screwing your eyes shut, an action that Andrew seems to take personal offense to, based on his tone “Open those pretty little eyes for me or I will start over.” Your eyes shoot open.

“One” you're on your last leg if you're being honest. You need him to say those words, and quickly.

“Come for me, my love.” At his words, you feel all of that pleasure climax and the knot in your abdomen snaps, releasing all of that pressure that’s been building up for however long the two of you have been there.

The world seems to spin, all the while his fingers still slowly circling your clit, making you twitch and squirm, while he whispers in your ear how good you did and how proud he is of you.

By the end of it, you’re completely limp against his chest, panting, twitching and still moaning even though his hands have both moved to the back of your head, smoothing your hair down from its now wild state, sticking to the beads of sweat on your forehead. He kisses your temple a few times and moves you from your position straddling his leg to cradle you in his arms while he waits for you to calm down.

It takes you a few minutes to regain your sanity. “Do you want me to let you go back to writing?” You ask in a whisper, still tucked tightly against his chest.

He laughs at the thought. “Oh no, my love. After that divine scene I just witnessed, no. I’m not quite finished with you yet.”

N E ways,I wrote that all in the span of like 4 hours, everybody clap. I’ll probably post some fluff in a few days, who knows.

[nateofgreat]

it really is frustrating when certain people infantilize the clones. they’re physically and mentally grown adult men. they talk like grown men. they had accelerated growth. they aren’t 10 yr old little boys, it’s not like with boba fett in AOTC. they’re goddamn men? with weapons? blasters? capable of military strategy? they can’t STILL be minors who were forced to grow up too fast. you can say they didn’t have an actual (what little of it) childhood bc they were raised by the kaminoans and came into existence specifically for Sith/war purposes but to say they’re actual “children”?

no and i can’t say they behave like that? these grown ass men can drink alcohol. they could have a space mortgage. but sure? these “literal kids” were soldiers. the situation is already sad…..you don’t have to treat them as if they’re not adults to make it sadder.

what if i were to ridiculously say that grogu is an adult male of whatever species he and yoda are, damn how he is physically and acts mentally, so why isn’t he out here paying space taxes? getting a real stable space job? he’s 50 something yrs old and mooching off his naive father, who is younger than him?

conclusion: doesn’t thinking like this make shipping the clones kinda awkward? y’know codywan, etc?

Yeah, I can't say I'm a fan of treating the Clones like overgrown children when they're never shown to act like that in canon. If someone wants to explore the impact of their accelerated aging that's cool, could be interesting. But they're much shown to be fully mature, able to handle war with intelligence and mental fortitude.

Also I don't get the shipping thing. Like one hand the fandom infantilizes the Clones and on they other they self-ship themselves with them. Their portrayal just doesn't seem to be all that consistent in the fandom and not on account of disagreements within it.

The Clones are an interesting bunch in SW, I like their culture, their tragic story, etc. And I think it works better if they're treated as mature soldiers within it and not children.

For example, in The Bad Batch (I know, I know, probably not popular around here) there were people acting like it was so weird for Omega to have a father-daughter bond with Hunter when she's technically older when she, unlike him, doesn't have accelerated aging and is thus, very much, a child. While Hunter is an adult. Because maturity doesn't simply refer to "years alive" in the case of fiction species.

[rainyamidala]

authors note; if you dont like the "has kids and is pregnant" trope, this is not for you !!!! this is basically a headcanon explaining why jake is so tough on his sons in atwow !!

d/n = daughters name

s/n = sons name.

i didn't want to make up names in case readers would like to do that on their own. personally i imagined the kids in way of water lol

theme; you tell jake he's being too hard on your kids - he tells you why.

pairing; dilf jake sully x reader

warnings; bad ending !! clearly what i need to work on the most. mentions of death and war. intentional lower caps

"Jake." I began, looking at him with that look on my face as he finished lecturing our son. This conversation we were about to have must not be had in front of the kids, as that might make it seem like i don't respect jake when he sets a boundary or makes a decision. if thats what it looked like to our kids they could start not listening to him - which is the last thing i'd want.

but it was getting out of hand, and it made me uncomfortable.

we had three kids, one on the way. two boys, one girl.

i always thought him being much more strict with our sons was because they were older and needed to take more responsibility than our daughter had to - because i agreed with that. he did lecture d/n when he had to (so she wouldn't get a suffocating attitude and behavior as a grown up. parenting !) but with our boys it was very different. he'd lecture them about everything, and being very harsh and closed minded when he did so.

jake caught on, nodding.

"you guys go ahead, your mother and I will be right behind you." he said, patting our oldest sons back twice before they went off, mumbling to each other.

"i told you he'd freak out!"

"shut up, jerk. it was your idea."

"oh, yeah? you're the one who started it!"

i waited until they were out of hearing distance before i began again, turning from their direction and to my mates.

"you are very hard on them." i said as i turned around, gaining a sigh from jake in response.

"we've been over this, y/n. they're teenagers. they can't grow and mature with kisses and hugs."

"but it is more than that. you cannot expect them to make no mistakes." it is hard enough already for them with their father being who he was. but like every other na'vi they wanting to make their father and anyone with his name proud - that wouldn't be such a fight if he didn't have so high and unrealistic expectations.

"i don't." Jake responded fast, sounding over it already. he hated having to explain his reasoning - having to explain and defend himself.

"they think you do. that's whats important - they think you have expectations they will never be able to fulfill."

"they said that?"

"once. but they do not have to. i see it - i feel it." i felt very close to all of my children, like if they were physically hurt, I was too.

"I'm their father - its my job to be hard on them. toughen them up for the real world."

"your daughter is growing up in the same world - you don't treat her the same and they see it, jake." the absolute last thing id ever wish for is for jake to be so tough that it creates a wedge between two sons and a father.

"what do you want me to do, hm? let them run off and break every rule we set for them? that is not the kind of example i want to set for the youngest; that you can do whatever you want, whenever you want with no consequences." as he said the word youngest, he placed a hand on my stomach. ever since i got pregnant, he had gotten even more strict. i thought it was because he didn't want to stress me out with our kids (specifically boys) being wild, doing things they shouldn't be doing, but i'd never asked.

"talk to me, ma jake. why are you like this?" before we had our oldest, s/n, jake was very fun. definitely the wildest man i had ever met, always doing something he shouldn't. he was still like that, but less than before. i knew it was because he had matured massively since then, but i wish he'd seen himself in our sons before being so quick to judge their excitement for the world around them.

"because that's how my father raised me and my brother - i think i turned out alright. that's what i want for them. to turn out alright. more than alright - i want them to be the men they were born to be." he explained, struggling a little to keep the eye contact between us.

Jake was not one to talk about his family or his life before Pandora. i knew about his brother and his warrior background, but his parents weren't a subject he'd heavily touch on unless heavily forced.

"when i was a marine, i could be careless. it's more to the story but in the end, i lost my legs because i wasn' thinking two steps ahead. i didn't have my father to correct and lecture me, so i'm giving it to my kids." Jake was very grateful for this chapter in his life, more thankful for this than anything. being able to wiggle his toes and run in the forest was a gift he did not recognize until it was lost. not being able to do so as a human threw him to the wolves of depression - same affect as losing his brother.

he'd hate for one of his sons to get badly injured or even worse: one losing the other like he had lost his brother many years ago.

i opened my mouth to respond, but he quickly shut me off by continuing.

"my father raised me like this and I will continue raising my sons like this. you might not agree with me on everything, but i know i'm doing the right thing."

In response, i just nodded, looking down. i felt slightly bad for bringing it up, seeing the direction it had gone in. Jake had lost his brother and didn't want our kids to fall in his footsteps of fate.

[easy-revenge]

its been over 2 years since i read volume 9 of chainsaw man and it still apparently has the power to make me sob uncontrollably when i think about it so im going to talk a bit about aki and denji being shown as children during the snowball fight and why it's currently making me wanna rip my hair out :)

aki is already gone during this scene for all intents and purposes, having very little comprehension of the events his body is in and just waiting to be set free. his mind reverting back to the moment he lost his family is not surprising, since that's when his life permanently changed trajectory.

he's not to blame for being stuck in this moment, as it would make sense for any kid his age. however, he didn't put himself on the path towards revenge, which inevitably made him unable to let go. that was makima. she took him by the hand and gave him this "purpose", something she very well knew he was never going to achieve anyway. she trapped him in this predicament and made sure he stayed there till there were no options left for him.

to the very end, aki's life was never his own, but planned for him. aki never left that snowy forest. he wasn't allowed to.

as a result, the essence of aki that remained within the gun fiend after his death materialized as the last genuine version of aki that ever was. a kid playing in front of his house.

moving over to denji, who is the one that got me crying today. his appearance as a child in aki's mind is partly to parallel the bond they shared and the bond between aki and his little brother, whom he lost that day. of course. however i think there's a lot of significance to this choice for denji's character as well.

denji grew up remote and very disconnected from society. he never got the chance to learn how to navigate his feelings and relationships with other people. he had to figure it all out as he went, first with pochita, whom he got attached to and later with aki and power. even with makima.

makima was the first person to ever give him attention and affection, to give him the things he always wanted, but she never treated him like a person. she never helped him get any closer to learning how to be one. he was used, much like aki was, and was given a purpose that was never going to be for his own benefit.

as a result, denji took a while to go through the motions of being surrounded by humans and being taught by them. the first time we saw him face the concept of loss was with pochita, an event that didn't really give him much in terms of experience considering all the implications and how suddenly it changed his life. in its nature, it wasn't a type of loss he would've been able to navigate as a human.

im not going to go into the situation with his father since we saw very explicitly how incapable he was to handle it to the point of blocking it out and having it haunt him till the end of part one. he surely didn't get much data out of that experience either, or the abuse he went through before it.

the first real time he got to see loss occur very close to him was himeno's death. he had no emotional reaction to it, which confused him since he was able to observe its effect on aki and other people around him. he questioned his own humanity for the first time and it upset him, if only momentarily. it gave him a hint of perspective.

sadly, he was going to find out what loss meant the hard way.

with makima still treating him like an animal and the circumstances forcing him to still rely on his instincts, denji's emotional maturity wasn't really prioritized. he did inevitably grow closer to aki and power, without necessarily being able to recognize those feelings for what they were. again he just had to go through the motions.

fast forward to the gun devil arc. he's told by makima on the phone to not think, to just fight aki without thinking about it. we see the progress that's been made in how clearly unable denji is to follow that order, aki being the closest thing to family he's ever had by this point.

he fights his best friend, not even thinking about himself, but of how aki would feel if he were conscious of how much destruction he was causing. still up to this point, denji doesn't know that he loves aki. it hasn't computed to him as a piece of info, only as an experience.

him being shown as a child in the snow, a contrast to the violent reality that his body is in, has as much significance as it does for aki.

denji never really grew up, he never got past his father's death or anything that happened to him before and after that. he was kept from it by his life and makima herself, once again. his ineptitude was weaponized and he was nowhere near being aware of it. he was also stuck.

in that scene, denji experiences real loss. he loses someone he loves and someone who loves him back. someone who thought himself unable to do so but was the first to love him like a human.

he was just a kid, losing his family by his own hand again, only this time he had been loved.

it's highlighted in the next chapter, where he appears unable to grieve and looks kind of numb instead. then we have the ice cream scene, where he thinks the words for the first time and throws up immediately.

his confusion after it happens, him being unable to fathom why his body would have such a reaction, breaks my heart almost more than the entirety of the snowball fight itself, from denji's pov.

im not going to talk about what happens directly after that and its implications bc im gonna end up talking forever, but his behavior throughout the next chapters very much shows how out of his depth he is when it comes to loss and grief and how lost and helpless he is in makima's hands.

my point is, both aki and denji were used, weaponised and kept from growing up while also having to deal with the world and its cruelty at the same time. even the closeness they achieved was planned and used against them both. this is only one of many angles of the snowball fight scene that can be looked at and interpreted in different ways. but it was the one that made me ugly cry today :)

[daisynik7]

Heart on a Sleeve

Pairing: Takashi Mitsuya x Original Female Character

Rating: Mature

Word Count: ~6.3k

cw: explicit language, switching POVs (2nd and 3rd person), established relationship, kissing, suggestive touching, sexual tension

Summary: You and Mitsuya make your budding relationship public and things only continue to grow from there. The Tokyo Manji gang successfully absorbs the Leviathans all thanks to the efforts of new captains Tetta Kisaki and Shuji Hanma. Despite Mikey’s praise for them during this month’s meeting, Mitsuya remains wary of the two. His suspicions only increase when he runs into them while on a date with you. 

Author's Note: This took me so long to write, but I did it and I am proud of it. I thoroughly enjoy writing about the honeymoon phases in a relationship, so this was a fun one for me. Thanks for the love and support on this so far and I hope you like where the story is going so far. Thank you for reading.

Previous Chapter | Masterlist | Next Chapter

Sunday night, still reeling from the glorious high of breakfast with your new boyfriend Takashi Mitsuya, you call your best friends to break the news.

“You’re what?!” Keiko exclaims, her shriek loud through the phone. 

You lower the volume, not wanting to be overheard by your parents downstairs. “I’m dating Takashi Mitsuya,” you repeat. “From homeroom.”

Mei is quiet on the other end while you can practically hear the cogs spinning in overdrive in Keiko’s head. “Takashi Mitsuya, from homeroom?”

Losing patience, and also amused by her reaction, you confirm, “Yes.”

“Mitsuya, who’s in the Tokyo Manji Gang. That Mitsuya?”

“Yes, Keiko, that Mitsuya!”

“He’s in a gang. What is our sweet Hana doing dating a gangster?!”

Defensive now, you reply, “He’s been nothing but kind to me. You know as well as I do that he’s never caused problems for us at school. He’s only ever acted when he knew there was someone he needed to stick up for. I don’t care that he’s in a gang. He’s a good person and I like him.”

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Mei finally speaks. “You’re right, Hana. We know he’s a nice guy. We just don’t want to see you get hurt, that’s all we’re trying to say. Right, Keiko?”

She clears her throat before muttering, “Yeah.”

“Takashi would never hurt me. I feel safe with him.”

At that, they relent, setting their worries aside to discuss the details on how your budding relationship came to be. They had known since the beginning that you were taking sewing lessons from him, though they didn’t have a clue how you truly felt. It started as a tiny crush, a fantasy that you kept secret because you never considered it’d ever become real. Then, when Takashi admitted his feelings towards you, everything happened so fast. It’s only now that you are able to reveal everything to your friends, who are ultimately excited for you. 

The only obstacle left is your parents. You’re sure that they’ll be in for a shock once you tell them since this is your first boyfriend ever. Naturally, they’ll be protective, as any parent would be. You’re confident that once they get to know Takashi, they’ll see him just as you do. 

Monday morning, you do your usual routine of walking to school with your friends. Takashi offers to pick you up, but until you are ready to inform your parents about him, you figure it’d be best to avoid any cause for suspicion, especially since they are already wary of him to begin with. Instead, you part ways with Mei and Keiko to meet him in the parking lot before school, greeting him with a hug. He smiles, placing his hands at your waist to pull you in closer. “Hi.”

You nuzzle your nose to his, beaming. “Hi.”

He kisses you again, his tongue slipping past your lips this time, surprising you. Heat rushes into your cheeks, flustered and excited. You break apart, burying your face into his shoulder, catching your breath while he massages your back tenderly. “Are you okay?”

You nod, still hiding. “Just…getting used to all this.”

He tips your chin up to meet your gaze, smiling softly. “Me too. If I’m moving too fast, just tell me, okay? We’ll go at the pace you’re comfortable with.” He gives you a quick smooch before locking his fingers with yours. “Ready?”

As new and foreign as all this is for you, having Takashi makes it’s much easier to navigate. He leads you through the hallways of your school, unwavering, the grip on your hand confident, despite the prying eyes and hushed whispers from your passing peers. It’s odd being the center of attention for once, but like most high school relationships, the intrigue from others will eventually fade, and all that will matter is how the two of you feel about each other. And in this moment, you’re happy to be by his side.  

Peh-Yan, one of your classmates and Takashi’s close friend from Toman, approaches you with a respectful bow. “Hello, Shimizu.”

You smile, greeting him back by his surname. “Hello, Hayashi.”

Takashi smirks, giving him a light punch on the arm. “No need to be so formal, Peh-Yan.”

He stands up straight. “Right, sorry. Anyways, I have some intel on Kisaki and Hanma infiltrating the Leviathans. Thought I’d pass on the information to you in case you were interested.”

Your boyfriend rolls his eyes, facing you. “Toman stuff. I’ll see you later in class, okay? Let’s eat lunch together.” He gives you a peck on the cheek, letting you go. 

Part of you wants to stay, to listen in, but you know better than to intrude on topics that don’t pertain to you. You wave goodbye, heading to your classroom alone, your skin tingling with his warmth, already missing it.

~~~

Mitsuya never imagined himself to be a doting boyfriend, but he quickly finds himself adapting to that role almost too easily. In their only shared class, he spends too much time staring at the back of her head, admiring how cute she is. The few times she glances back at him to flash him a grin, his heart swells and he’s itching to hold her again as soon as class is dismissed. Usually, he’d eat lunch with Peh-Yan out in the courtyard or alone inside the home economics room while working on his latest sewing project. However, this entire week, he sits with his girlfriend and her friends. Mei and Keiko are nervous around him at first, unsure how to interact with a delinquent. But with Hana’s help and support, he gradually falls into place with them, finding topics to discuss that all of them can connect on. 

They aren’t able to spend much time together after school, not with the both of them being preoccupied with extracurriculars. So, Friday remains a special day for them. It’s their first sewing lesson since everything changed a week ago. Mitsuya is a bit nervous, wondering if he’ll be able to focus on the actual lesson when he gets so easily distracted by her presence. When she meets him inside the home economics room, cradling her helmet, a pleasant smile on her face, all his worries disappear. Even if he does get distracted, who cares? He’s happy to be spending this time with her, alone.

She drops the helmet onto the usual desk, stepping closer to him. “Hi Takashi.”

“Hi Hana,” he responds, closing the distance between them with a kiss. They’ve gotten more comfortable doing this, their lips brushing seamlessly, his hands always finding the plush curves of her body. He loves the way she feels under his touch, on his mouth, against his chest. All the spaces of him that felt empty before are now full, all thanks to her. 

Before they get carried away any further, he pulls off reluctantly, steadying himself before explaining what they’ll be doing today, eyes flitting back to her lips, now slightly swollen from their kisses. It’s happened several occasions so far this week. Their chaste kisses turning into more, both of them chasing their hunger little by little, teasing that fine line inch by inch. Mitsuya has managed to contain his excitement, though it’s getting more and more difficult, especially with her gradually testing the waters. A soft moan against his lips, her fingers toying with the elastic of his pants, her tongue pushing up against his, mouth open for him to explore and enjoy. He’ll continue to stand by, waiting until she’s ready to take the next steps forward. Despite how eager he is, nothing’s more important to him than making her feel safe. 

Their lesson today results in a heart patch sewn onto the sleeve of her jean jacket. She admires it silently as Mitsuya puts away the sewing machine and the rest of his materials into one of the cabinets. When he’s finished, he returns to her side, draping his arm over her shoulders, pressing a smooch to the side of her head. 

“The machine made this way easier than I thought it would be,” she comments.

“It usually does,” he says, running his finger over the stitching. “Before you know it, you’ll be an expert.”

“I doubt it. But that’s okay because I have you. If this patch here ever comes off, I’ll go straight to you.”

He raises a brow at her, teasing, “And who says I’ll help you?”

She tugs at his collar, peering up at him, smiling. “I guess I just assumed, now that we’re boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“You’re right. I’ll always be here to stitch your little heart back on.” He leans in, meeting her lips in a passionate kiss, surrounding her in his arms, the fluttering in his belly growing erratic. The door is closed and all the other students have already left for the day to enjoy the weekend. Mitsuya’s favorite spot is an empty classroom after school, and they happen to have this one all to themselves. As if on cue, his phone vibrates in his pocket, and before he checks it, he knows it’s his mother reminding him that she’s leaving for her shift soon. Disappointed, they break apart, gigging as if they were caught doing something naughty while they gather their belongings, heading towards his bike outside in the parking lot. On their way to his house, her grip is snug on his waist, holding him tightly. He’s reminded how good it feels to ride with her behind him, keeping her safe, keeping him safe. 

They behave themselves in front of his sisters, only exchanging subtle glances and grazes when they’re absolutely in the clear. He’s tempted to skip today’s Toman meeting, hoping to spend the rest of the night by her side, but given Peh-Yan’s news from earlier this week, it’s an important one to attend. Begrudgingly, he says his goodbyes, sneaking a kiss to Hana’s cheek before he leaves for the shrine. 

As usual, Draken is waiting for him at the bottom of the steps, leaning against his Zephyr. He smirks as soon as he sees him, giving him a congratulatory pat on the back. “My man. Did you finally get some tonight?”

Mitsuya rolls his eyes, shrugging him off. “I told you, we’re taking things slow. Besides, we were watching the brats. We couldn’t do it even if we wanted to.”

“Are you telling me that you don’t want to do it with her?” he teases.

“No, I definitely want to do it with her. I mean, make love to her,” he corrects himself, blushing. 

Draken snorts, not one to indulge in euphemisms. “So when do you think the two of you will start fucking then?”

He grimaces at his vulgarity before answering, “I don’t know. It hasn’t even been a week yet. We’re taking it one day at a time. It’ll happen when the time is right.”

Draken digs into his pocket to retrieve a lollipop, unwrapping it to stick into his mouth, sucking on it loudly. “Alright, it’s your dick. I’m just here to offer you some moral support, man-to-man. Dragon-to-dragon.”  

Mitsuya chuckles. “I appreciate it.”

They wait a few more minutes, chatting idly about other topics. Emma seems to be doing well so far in her pregnancy. Draken continues to cook whatever she’s craving at the time, from chicken katsu curry to spaghetti and meatballs. They don’t know the gender yet, though they don’t really seem to care; they’re both just ecstatic to be having this baby in the first place. Mikey remains oblivious to the fact that his sister is with child and that his right-hand-man is about to become a father. According to Draken, he continues to be a recluse, despite their efforts to reach out to him. It seems like forever now that Mitsuya has seen Mikey outside of these Toman meetings. He remembers vividly the tears it Takemitchy’s eyes over a month ago now, worried about their friend, their leader. He’s gone. And I don’t know where to find him. Maybe it’s time they finally made a real effort to bring him back. 

From the corner of his eye, Mitsuya spots Kisaki and Hanma, the newly appointed captains, leading a group of unfamiliar faces up the shrine steps. He assumes it’s members of the rival Leviathan gang. The two must have been successful in their mission to infiltrate and absorb them, which doesn’t change Mitsuya’s opinion about them. Peh-Yan warned him about this earlier in the week and anticipates Mikey’s reaction to this recent development. 

Takemitchy eventually arrives with Chifuyu, the two of them still the best of buddies. They greet the others cheerfully, waiting for Hakkai, who is always the last to arrive, fashionably late with a toothy grin on his face as they all berate him playfully, joking about how he was with yet another chick right before this. Draken, who always has a sixth sense about these things, deems it time to begin, leading his brothers up the shrine steps. Mitsuya always gets a swell in his chest when they’re together like this, nostalgic and proud to be in Toman. If only Mikey were here to join them like he used to.

In their usual formation, the men face Mikey, who’s front and center, Draken standing beside him. His eyes are noticeably heavy from either exhaustion or loss of sleep, maybe both. There’s an unsettling lack of emotion in his expression. He used to burn so bright with passion and intensity, something they all admired about him. It’s what got them to form Toman in the first place. Now, it’s as if the fire has dimmed to the tiniest ember, flickering just enough to barely survive. 

After going over standard housekeeping issues, Mikey moves on to the main topic of tonight’s meeting. “Kisaki, Hanma, come forward,” he announces, beckoning them towards the front. They step towards him, smug grins on both their faces. Mitsuya can’t help but roll his eyes, already annoyed.

“I’d like to recognize these two for successfully following through with their mission. The Leviathan gang is no more. We welcome its past members into Toman as one of our own. Show them the respect they deserve.”

There are loud whispers amongst the crowd, everyone turning to look at the new brothers, who are intimidating in terms of numbers. There’s at least twenty of them, most of them built like brick houses. Mitsuya has always felt odd whenever previous rivals gangs join them. There’s always that initial distrust, considering they were just at each other’s throat prior. But he’s learned to accept it for what it is, trusting Mikey to make the right calls. 

“Anything you’d like to share with us?” Mikey opens the floor to the two captains. 

Kisaki, of course, takes the opportunity to speak, his voice as slimy as ever. “Toman welcomes the Leviathans with open arms. All these men will surely make a great addition to our crew. Not only are they abundant in muscle, they are clever and cunning. Exactly what Toman needs to continue its reign over Tokyo.”

Hanma adds, “It was a real bitch to convince them to join us, but it was all worth it. You’ll see soon enough,” he smirks, licking his lips. 

“I’m sure we will,” Mikey says with a small smile, the slightest spark in his eyes. “As far as I know, you two are the only captains that have stepped up recently. I have nothing but the highest respect for you.”

More grumbling from the crowd, especially from the remaining captains. Draken’s brows are tight, clearly offended by the subtle diss. Chifuyu scoffs quietly, nudging Takemitchy, who looks like he’s near tears. Have their personal lives gotten too much in the way of their duties to Toman? Have they all let Mikey down?

When the meeting ends, they break formation to gather into their smaller circles. Chifuyu is still peeved, complaining to them. “Respect? To those two bastards? Has Mikey lost it?”

“Hey, watch it,” Draken warns. “I’ll admit. I’ve been too busy with the baby.”

“And I’ve been busy preparing for university, I’ve totally neglected Toman!” Takemitchy admits. “I don’t blame Mikey for being annoyed with us.”

Chifuyu throws his arms up, frustrated. “What does he expect us to do? He hasn’t reached out to any of us, doesn’t even talk to us anymore. How are we supposed to do anything if he’s completely ghosting us?”

From his peripheral, Mitsuya notices Mikey walking away from whatever private discussion he’s having with the old Leviathan gang. Before he can go anywhere else, Takemitchy calls out for him, waving enthusiastically. “Mikey!”

Chifuyu shakes his head. “Takemitchy, you idiot,” he mutters.

They all turn to their leader, who stares at them, eyes cold, palms in his pockets. He doesn’t move for a couple of seconds, and Mitsuya thinks that he’ll ignore them completely, which wouldn’t be surprising. But then, he takes slow steps towards them, expression unreadable. When he’s there, none of them are sure what to say, until Takemitchy breaks that ice. “Let’s go to Danny’s tonight! Just like old times!” he suggests, desperate.

Late night dinner at Danny’s was routine for them back when they were young, dumb, and broke. The food was mediocre at best, but the memories they shared there is what kept them coming back. Pancake eating contests, where Mikey would always come out victorious. Flirting with their favorite waitresses to get extra French fries. Loading up on the free refills of soda to compete in burping competitions. It’s more nostalgic than anything. Gradually, as they got older and busier with life, Danny’s become less frequent. Maybe this is what they need to get back into the normal swing of things. 

Mikey doesn’t say much, except for giving them a small nod and muttering a quiet, “Sure,” his hands still buried in his pockets. At least it’s something. 

~~~

It’s past midnight by the time Mitsuya arrives back home. You’re half-asleep on the couch with the TV on in the background. The girls are snoring in their room, tired after playing with you all night. He rouses you awake, caressing your cheek sweetly as he kneels on the floor beside you. “Hey cutie, I’m back.”

The pet name catches you off guard. You beam at him, tugging him by the neck to meeting his lips with yours. He smiles into this kiss. “You like that, huh?”

Nodding, you answer, “Yeah, I do.”

He deepens the kiss, running his fingers through your hair, tongue flicking against yours. Soon, you’re both breathing heavily, lips smacking loudly. Before it gets any further, you break away from him, giggling. “Takashi.” 

Pressing his forehead to yours, swallowing hard, he whispers, “Yeah, I know. I know.”

You grin, sitting up on the couch to make room for him, patting the space beside you. “How was the meeting?”

He sits down, holding your hand, resting his head on your shoulder. “It was good. We went out for a bite after and it was really fun. Mikey joined us and it was just like old times.”

“Mikey?” you ask. You’ve heard that name before, but you barely know anything about Toman, simply because you’re too nervous to ask, embarrassed to be so nosy. 

“He’s Toman’s leader. He’s the reason Toman is what it is. He started it all. Recently, it seems like he’s been distant from us. But tonight, I think we finally got him back.”

You squeeze him tight. “I’m happy to hear that.”

He doesn’t explain any further, enjoying the comfortable silence between you. Eventually, he says, “We should go out on a real date tomorrow. My mom doesn’t work until night, so we can spend the day together. What do you think?”

“I’d love that.”

He sits up, grinning at you. “Want to just stay the night?”

You laugh. “I don’t think my parents would like that, considering they have no idea we’re officially dating yet.”

“Then maybe we should tell them soon, over dinner. I really want them to like me.”

“I’m sure they already like you!” you answer, half-heartedly. In all honestly, you have no idea how they feel about him, except for that short conversation you had previously over dinner. You wonder how they will react when you tell them he’s your boyfriend, that you even have a boyfriend. You’d be lying to yourself if you say you aren’t anxious about it. “Let me talk to them first and we can arrange something, okay?”

He smiles brightly, pinching your cheek. “Don’t be nervous! I’ll work my charm on them, you’ll see.”

Mitsuya drives you home after a few more snuggles on the couch. Your parents are asleep by the time you walk through the door, quietly slipping out of your shoes and sneaking up the stairs into your bedroom. You don’t fall asleep right away, staring blankly at the ceiling, excited for tomorrow’s date with your boyfriend. He plans to pick you up at eleven in the morning but doesn’t elaborate on any more details. You wonder what he has in store for the two of you. 

The next morning, you eat breakfast before getting ready for the day ahead of you. You make the brave decision to inform your parents about where you’ll be off to today. Clearing your throat, you brace yourself, confessing, “I’m going on a date today. With Takashi Mitsuya.”

It’s the most jarring silence for the next ten seconds. Your mother gawks at you, dropping her fork onto her plate with a harsh clink. Your father’s face is twisted in an expression akin to him witnessing some sort of apparition or horrible monster. Given their reactions, you almost regret being so honest with them, though a small weight has been lifted off your shoulders.

Your mom is the first to speak, tone unnaturally high-pitched when she responds, “Oh! Is this a study date perhaps? Are you preparing for an upcoming exam?”

You shake your head. “No. We’re just hanging out.”

“Hanging out,” she repeats, slightly breathless now. “You’re hanging out with a boy?”

“Yes,” you answer plainly, maintaining your patience as the cogs in her head start spinning faster, finally understanding. 

“Oh. Okay,” you mother says, at a loss for words. Your dad remains speechless, clearly flabbergasted by the mere idea of you spending time with someone other than them or Keiko and Mei.

Before they can begin a full-fledged interrogation, you quickly scarf down the rest of your breakfast on the plate, standing up and announcing, “I’m going to change now, bye!”, sprinting up the stairs without any further explanation. For now, it seems you’ve dodged a bullet.

For today’s date, you decide to wear a floral sundress that ends just above your knees, something you’re comfortable and confident in. You keep your hair the same, unsure what else to do with it. You stare at your reflection in the mirror a while longer than usual, nervous though you know you shouldn’t be. Takashi has been nothing but kind to you, so you have no reason to believe he’d care so much about your appearance. Still, you want to make a good impression on him, especially since this is your first official date. 

When he texts you that he’s waiting outside, you give yourself one last glance in the mirror, rushing out of your room to slip into your nicest pair of sandals by the doorway. Your mother and father both appear beside you, watching. “Be careful,” your mother comments, crossing her arms over her chest. Your father hums, still incapable of forming words as a response. 

Turning the knob to leave, you smile at them. “I will.” 

To your surprise, Takashi stands on the other side of the door, flashing that signature grin, waving politely. “Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Shimizu.” He has a backpack slung over his shoulders and you notice that his Impulse is nowhere to be seen, so you assume he walked here. 

Your mother returns his smile as best as she can, though she’s obviously still wary about the whole situation. “Hello, Mitsuya. What are your plans today with our daughter?”

Your cheeks get hot, embarrassed by her nosiness, but Takashi takes it in stride. “We’re going to have a picnic at the park. I made sandwiches for our lunch. Then, we’re taking the train to Shibuya to play at the arcade. I’ll have Hana home before dinnertime, since I’ll be babysitting my sisters tonight.” 

Impressed by his answer, you study your mom’s reaction, mentally breathing a sigh of relief when her smiles grows wider, seemingly pleased. “That sounds like a fun time.” She nudges your dad. “Doesn’t that sound like a fun time, sweetheart?”

Your father’s eyes narrow, glaring at your poor boyfriend. “I suppose,” he mutters.

Takashi doesn’t waver, maintaining that easy-going expression while he bows to them. “Thank you for allowing me the honor of spending time with your daughter.”

The two of you manage to leave for your date unscathed. From the doorway, your parents watch you and Takashi walk towards the park, keeping your distance from each other until you’re out of their sight. With the coast clear, Takashi laces his fingers with yours, laughing. “Well, that was scary.”

“You were scared? You were completely cool in front of them,” you reply, surprised by his comment.

“I’m glad it came off that way because I was this close to shitting myself, especially when your dad starting staring daggers at me,” he chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. 

“I’m so sorry about that! He’s been acting weird all morning since I told him I’m going on a date with you.”

“You told them that?” 

“Well, I didn’t want to lie to them,” you explain. “I think they were just shocked at first. I’ve never been out with a boy before, so naturally, they are concerned.”

He nods. “I get that. It’s nice to have parents that are always worried about you,” he muses, a glint of sadness in his eyes. “I love my mom, don’t get me wrong. But she’s always working, so she relies on me a lot to be the man of the house. Nobody ever really worries about me, y’know?”

Your chest swells with emotion, empathizing with him. It can’t be easy being forced to grow up too fast. You squeeze him affectionately. “Well, you have me now. I’ll be here to worry about you and take care of you whenever you need it.”

He pauses in his tracks, staring at you. “You mean it?”

You smile reassuringly at him. “Of course I mean it.”

He gazes at you, pulling you in close to kiss you on the lips. You melt into him, letting his tongue slip inside your mouth, deep and passionate, full of unspoken gratitude for your commitment to him. “Thank you, Hana. I – ” he pauses, swallowing whatever he’s about to admit, instead repeating, “Thank you.” You pretend not to notice it, forcing your mind to forget about it completely. 

A few minutes later, you arrive at the park, finding a good spot to settle in. It’s a beautiful day, perfect for a picnic like this. Bright sun, blue skies, and the ideal breeze. People are gathered all around you, walking along the pathway, jumping on the playground, throwing a ball in a game of fetch with their dogs. Takashi swings his bag towards his front, retrieving a big throw blanket that you lay out on the grass. He unloads his pack, displaying the sandwiches and variety of snacks he prepared, including some of your favorites. You’re dazzled by how charming this all is, how charming he is. Every day you’re together, you grow more and more fond of him. 

The two of you dig in and everything is, of course, delicious. What makes it more special is the company. It’s easy being with Takashi. Conversation flows naturally and you never have to think about occupying any spaces of awkward silence. Even when it is, it’s comfortable, the two of you basking in each other’s presence, marveling at the sights and sounds surrounding you. Children’s laughter ringing from the nearby swings, dogs barking, the gentle wind blowing through the trees. When a leaf falls in your hair, Takashi picks it off, lingering a bit longer to twirl your soft strands between his fingers. After you’ve digested enough, you both lie down, staring up at the sky, pointing out clouds shaped like cotton balls, marshmallows, and bunnies. His hand never leaves yours, always interlaced, his fingers filling in the spaces between yours seamlessly. Time both stops and passes too quickly whenever you’re with him. You’re lost in the moment, savoring each second and before you know it, it’s already time to move on to the next. “We should head to the arcade now,” he suggests, brushing a strand of hair behind your ear, cupping your cheek. 

You nuzzle into his palm, relishing his gentle touch. He gives you a smooch on the forehead. “I could lay here for hours with you. But I want to impress you with all my skills at the arcade so that you think I’m cool,” he teases.

You giggle, sitting up to help him pack. “I already think you’re cool; you don’t have to prove anything to me.”

With everything put away, the two of you take the train towards one of the more popular arcades in Shibuya. It’s teeming with kids and teenagers, typical for a Saturday. You spot several of your classmates here, who greet you with a polite wave. At one of the cashiers, Mitsuya redeems two play cards to last you enough games for the next hour. 

As expected, he suggests starting with a racing game, one where you’re propped on top of a fake motorcycle, riding through the streets of Tokyo. Seems all too fitting for him. What he doesn’t expect is for you to win, whizzing past him at the very last second before crossing the finish line. He’s thoroughly impressed, rewarding you with a proud kiss on the cheek. 

You go through a variety of games, from classics like skee-ball and basketball, to new ones you haven’t tried before, like a zombie invasion simulation that had you screaming at the top of your lungs to your boyfriend’s delight. Eventually, you make your way to the claw machines, where Mitsuya manages to win a Hello Kitty plushie after five tries and you somehow score a squishy shark in only one. You exchange your prizes with each other, both of you cherishing them as your first gifts as a couple.

Time flies as it always does with him. Eventually, you run out of tokens to continue playing, only left now with points to redeem for prizes. On the way to the prize room, you notice Mitsuya staring off into the distance. You find out who he’s looking at; there are a group of boys in the signature Toman jackets gathered on one side of the arcade where the shooting games are located. Most of them are burly and it’s hard for you to believe that they’re your age, maybe even younger. There’s a shorter boy amongst them, blonde hair and glasses that gleam against the bright lights of the arcade. You’ve never seen him before, though something about him gives you an unexplainable chill.

“Are those your friends? Do you want to say hi to them?” you suggest.

Takashi snaps out of it, surprised that you caught him. “No, that’s okay. It’s our day today, remember? No need to drag you into any Toman business.”

You’re tempted to argue with him, not at all minding being introduced to this part of his life. However, he seems determined not to do that in this moment, so you let it be. 

You take your time perusing, making note of what you can afford with the total number of points the two of you managed to accumulate throughout the day. It’s clear that he’s distracted now, not nearly as chatty as he was earlier, the most subtle glint of worry on his face. Halfway through, he announces, “I’m going to use the bathroom. Just stay right here, okay? I’ll be back.” He walks out briskly, leaving you alone. You sigh to yourself, already lonely without him. You dawdle even more as you admire the big prizes on display, contemplating saving your points to redeem one of them someday in the future. 

“Got enough for that?”

The unfamiliar voice startles you. You turn to whoever is speaking, surprised to find a tall, lanky boy standing beside you, grinning. His hair is black, though he’s got a blonde stripe down the middle. A long, golden earring dangles on his left lobe. He’s wearing the recognizable Toman jacket. 

You swallow, suddenly nervous under his gaze. “What?”

“I asked if you have enough points for that.” He points at the giant Pikachu plushie you were just admiring. “Because if you don’t, I can definitely lend you some.”

“That’s very nice of you, but I don’t think my boyfriend would appreciate me accepting things from strangers.”

His smile grows bigger, showing his teeth, amused by your response. He holds his hand out. “Shuji Hanma.”

Hesitant, you end up taking it, introducing yourself. “Hana Shimizu.”

At that, his eyes widen and his grip on you becomes tighter. “I guess we’re not strangers anymore.”

~~~

He should have ignored them completely, Mitsuya knows that. He also definitely shouldn’t have left Hana alone. But seeing Kisaki all buddy-buddy with the old Leviathan gang members gives him an uneasiness that he can’t shake. So, he pretends to need the bathroom to excuse himself, just for a few moments to get some intel on what they might be up to. It’s for the good of Toman, that’s his justification for it. 

Luckily he’s in casual clothes today and not in his Toman jacket, so he blends in with the crowd easily as he maneuvers through the arcade towards Kisaki. Eventually, he finds a spot behind one of the arcade games that gives him coverage to remain hidden while within earshot of the group. 

They watch as one of the bigger guys shoots his toy gun towards the screen, an intense look on his face, the other boys surrounding him cheering him on in the process. Kisaki’s expression remains neutral, as always. They remain like this for a while longer, and Mitsuya starts to believe his efforts are useless. About ready to return to his girlfriend, he pauses when he hears something that piques his interest. 

“I bet Kisaki can’t wait to pull the trigger on Mikey, am I right?” One of the Leviathans nudges him playfully, pointing at the gun. 

Kisaki shoves him away aggressively, glaring at him. “Shut up. Don’t say such stupid things out in public.”

“Hey, there’s no one here but us, man! Chill!”

He grabs him by the scruff, fingers clenched tightly to his collar. “Oh? Is that what you think, you fucking imbecile? For your information, Hanma is greeting a fellow Toman brother right now.”

Struggling to speak with Kisaki’s knuckles against his throat, he croaks, “Who?”

“Takashi Mitsuya.”

At his name, Mitsuya leaves his spot, sprinting back to the prize room in a panic. He’s an absolute idiot to think that they didn’t notice him earlier. An even bigger idiot for leaving Hana alone, vulnerable to Hanma. But he has no idea who she is, right? There’s no way he could know. He vividly recalls the meeting from a few weeks ago. I guess I’ll just have to find out who Shimizu is myself. The subtle threat from his sleazy mouth. What could that asshole possibly want with her? Mitsuya is too afraid to find out. 

On his way, he catches Hanma exiting the prize room with that signature smug smirk. “Little Taka, fancy meeting you here.”

Mitsuya glares at him. “Hanma.”

He points his thumb behind him, over his shoulder. “Finally got a chance to meet your precious Shimizu. I can see why you’ve been hiding her from us. She’s a really good girl.”

Mitsuya’s fists are unbearably tight at his sides, trembling with anger. He’s on the verge of swinging, wanting to see his ugly mug all scrunched up from his fist. However, he manages to control himself. Through gritted teeth, he growls, “Leave her alone.”

Hanma holds both hands up to him in false surrender. “Hey, I was just being polite. Saw you earlier, enjoying your cute date, thought I’d say hello. Oh, and Kisaki sends his warm regards.”

The urge to inflict violence upon the man in front of him is getting more and more difficult to suppress with each slimy word that comes out of his mouth. He’s incapable of formulating a coherent response, body shaking with rage. He always planned to keep Toman away from her as much as possible, thinking that’d be her safest option. Now, she’s become acquainted to it and in the worst way possible. 

Hanma forces a chuckle. “You better get back to sweet Hana, now. Wouldn’t want to keep her waiting any longer or someone else might just come along and take her.” He shoves past him, hitting his shoulder hard with his own.

Before he can walk away, Mitsuya grabs him by the collar, tugging him close, voice low and threatening. “Don’t fucking talk about her. Don’t fucking look at her. Don’t even fucking think about her. Got it?”

Hanma laughs maniacally, clearly enjoying this side of Little Taka. “If you mind your business, we’ll mind ours.”

Mitsuya releases him, watching him disappear into the crowd of people without exchanging anymore words. He’s attempts to collect himself, returning to Hana, who stands at one of the corners, still inspecting the prizes. When she sees him, she smiles, seemingly unfazed. “Everything okay?”

For a moment, Mitsuya believes that all of it was a bluff. He slides his hand around her waist, pulling her in close. “Yeah. You?”

She rests her head on his shoulder. “Yeah. I met one of your Toman brothers. Shuji Hanma. He seems…nice.” There it is. The falter in her voice. The hesitation. The lie. 

Deciding that now is not the time to discuss it, Mitsuya nods, not saying anything else. 

[nono-uwu]

First oc post i am shaking crying throwing up for multiple reasons and also anxious as hell- anyways, meet the man, the failure disaster gay, the forever doomed ginger(derogatory/lh)

I forgot to add his birthday omg, it's march 13th

Lore utc (i wrote a lot lmao), the uh post ch 134 stuff will be elaborated on later (or if asked. Actually, ask me anything about him. And my other oc's once they're posted. Please. I will answer in great detail. I also need a distraction. Pls.)

So basically, among the first few vampires (a 4th progenitor to be percise) turned by Shikama was a woman who showed great potential for spells and magic. She had a loving husband and child which she tragically lost in an accident. Upon turning into a vampire, her family was still the only thing on her mind. She accepted to help Shikama in his endeavors to revive Mikaela since she hoped she could revive her own family in the proccess. Unfortunately it didn't work. Disillusioned, she abandoned vampire kind and started searching for the possible reincarnation of her beloved husband, whom she may be able to have a child with and have family again.

Fast forward a a lot, and I mean a lot, of years and she arrived in 60s japan. None of the people she had hope for turned out to be the reincarnation of her late husband until that fateful day. She encountered a (rather pathetic may I add) man in his late 20s and it was like a miracle. The woman cornered the man in disbelief and from this awkward first meeting blossomed true love. Then everything went to shit lmaooo

The first problem was that the mans family didn't approve of the woman. Tough this didn't stop their love. Next was the issue of bearing a child, something that a vampire simply can't do. Well, an ordinary one but this woman was anything but ordinary. By some impossible miracle she bore a child. A biological child. (GIRL HOW?? We will never know and frankly, i don't want to think about it💀)

The child was, as expected tbh, kind of a disaster. Already born with pointy ears and sharp fangs. The child needed both human food and blood to properly sustain themselves. Drinking blood outside of their family would permanently stop their aging. Despite this, the couple was overjoyed. (And then named their child "mistake" bc that would help /s.) They named him "Machigai". Why tho?? I dunno man something along the lines of "a mistake but the best mistake of their life" bruh

So after Machigai was old enough to walk, but not old enough to remember, the mother diappeared, leaving father and child behind. The father did his best to raise such an... extraordinary child but it was understandably kind of impossible. Machigai grew up alone and isolated from his peers. He was always wearing a hood of some kind and rarley opened his mouth to talk. In high school, he met a girl who he became good friends with but she is another oc I'll post about sometime adlf,wpl.

Anyways! Come Machigai's high school graduation and 18th birthday, his father... disappeared. All he left was a note saying, that Machigai now owned the apartment and that there is enough blood in the fridge to sustain Machigai's thrist while he could grow and mature. To an already depressed and disillusioned Machigai this obviously didn't help. Throughout the next years he became a shut in, who only left the house if absolutely necessary. All he did all day was play video games, watch tv and later be on the internet. Once he ran out of his fathers blood was when things changed. He had to go out and actually find a new source of blood. Welp, sorry to unlucky bastards who went into dark alleyways at night bc these types of people became Machigai's source of blood. (That's when he stopped aging)

On one of these nightly escapades, Machigai was greeted by a large man in a neat black suit who called himself "Saito". Saito claimed to have known Machigai's mother and offered a deal: Machigai would offer up his unique constitution to the Hyakuya sect's research and in turn get a well paying job and a guaranteed source of blood. He agreed. "Welcome to the Hyakuya sect. I look forward to your performance"

Machigai was practically a lab rat for the development of cursed gear. Thanks to his half-n-half physiology he could tank wounds from cursed gear/magic n shit while still providing useful data to how effective it is. During this time Machigai aquired knowledge of vampire culture(?), became familiar with magic and it's quirks and learned how to perform simple spells and whatnot.

Around 2011, when the internet was already fairly well used, Machigai came across a forum dedicated to paranormal sightings. Various users claimed that a secluded spot in Kyoto was home to vampires. (Ferid was the one spreading these rumors btw) Most would have dissmissed this as someone wanting attention, yet Machigai was intrigued. He was well aware that vampires existed across the world but he mever knew how to actually contact them. Perhaps out of morbid curiosity, perhaps out of a genuine want for connection with people like him, he went to check out the spot. There, he met none other than the eccentric Ferid Bathory who specifically manufactured the rumor to meet Machigai (extra much?). He was well aware of Machigai's work for Rígr "Saito" Stafford and was trying to one up his father by stealing his most prized lab-rat. Machigai declined, not trusting a single thing out of that vampires mouth. Ferid left, already proclaiming that one day Machigai would be working for him.

Machigai stuck around that area as it was already well into the night and public transport wouldn't start up until the early morning. There he met another vampire: Crowley Eusford. Their meeting wasn't planned or meticulously calculated, it was actually rather awkward. Their chat was meaningless and short but in the end leagues above whatever Ferid likes to plan. Crolwey has already unwillingly heard about this curious being from Ferid and seeing Machigai himself left him wanting to learn more about him. Machigai was left a little hopeful, that perhaps it's not too late for him to look for connections.

So the apocalypse rolls around-

Machigai makes a deal with Saito that in exchange for his freedom (*eagle screech*) he would keep his mouth shut about anything the Hyakuya sect discovered while Machigai was there.

Machigai seeks out the Demon Army where he successfully keeps his half vampire identity a secert until someone on his squad gets blackmailed into revealing it. Before that, he gets a cursed weapon, a pair of daggers. And lo and behold, the demon possessing the daggers is his own mother. Unfortunately since the now demonic mother didn't witness Machigai growing up, she falsey believes to be able to still shape Machiagi to her will. After getting locked up by the army, Machigai completley gives up, only wishing for his miserable existence to end (spoiler: It won't! Ever. :) ). He ultimately loses any and all trust he has in humanity or just anything in general.

After about half a year of grueling torture and some experimentation, Machigai gets freed (kidnapped) by Ferid and promptly brought to Kyoto Sangiuem. Krul Tepes, finding Machigai to be useful in her fake-ish war against humanity and whatever she's planning with Yuu and Mika, lets him be part of the japanese vampires under Ferids faction. Ferid found himself unwilling to deal with the often uncooperative and irritated new "recruit" so he did what he does best and made it Crowley's problem.

After a rather agressive and disrespectful first impression, Machigai was officially a... coworker? of Crowley and thus also Chess and Horn in Nagoya. The three got the additional task by Ferid to somehow domesticate this feral and angry stray animal and get him to open up. At least that's how Ferids orders were phrased. Shenanigans, Drama and FeelingsTM ensue.

(How did I write so much??)

[juceynightmare]

pink carnations part 2 - cody rhodes x reader

my masterlist

pink carnations masterlist

pairing(s): cody rhodes x reader, cody rhodes x brandi rhodes, austin theory x reader

warning(s): hanahaki, swearing, smut implied (comment if i should write a separate smut post for this part), mentions of death, vomiting

genre(s): fluff, heavy angst

<< previous part || next part >>

if this is what heaven was, then y/n wished to never be alive again. she was stood at the entrance to the designated women's locker room backstage at ohio valley wrestling, facing a much younger, more youthful cody rhodes with a bouquet of pink carnations in his hand and a nervous smile on his face.

“cody? who are these for?” she heard herself asking. the experience was odd for her. y/n already knew who the flowers for as she’s already experienced this, however, it felt as if she was reliving the memory all over again: word by word, detail by detail.

“i, well, they’re for you actually. i know we’re already planning to go get some tacos tonight but how about we call it a date this time?” cody asked, the nerves in his voice as obvious as the blush that fell across the both of their cheeks.

y/n reached for the bouquet, holding it in one arm as she wrapped her other arm around cody’s neck. “i thought you’d never ask, codes.” she whispered, feeling the warmth on her cheeks become increasingly hotter.

he laughed, and let out what she could only assume to be a sigh of relief as he melted into her embrace. “sorry it took me so long. i will admit, though, it did take some jealousy for me to finally grow a pair to ask you out on a proper date. the assholes in the locker room just wouldn’t shut up about you after finding out that we weren’t even talking in that way… yet.” cody apologized to her, placing a kiss on the side of her head as he has always done.

y/n could feel the warmth of his arms as they wrapped around her. she could smell the hint of cologne under the smell of his sweat as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, unable to contain the wide smile that had graced her lips. she felt him pull away from her embrace, and for a moment disappointment settled in her stomach. however, the disappointment disappeared just as fast as it formed, as she felt his hand tilt her chin up.

she closed her eyes as he leaned in, placing a gentle kiss on her lips as if to test how far he could go while still being respectful. y/n could still taste him on her lips, feel the way his hands had fallen to rest on her hips and pull her close to his body as she deepened the kiss.

the memory seemed to have fast-forwarded for the mentally-matured y/n that was reliving the entire situation. somehow between y/n deepening the kiss with cody and the backstage area being the setting, when y/n pulled away from the kiss and opened her eyes, she found herself being pushed down and landing on what she remembers to be cody’s bed.

she stared up at cody who was in the process of pulling off his shirt and felt a blush rise to her cheeks. y/n wanted to laugh at the smell of tacos that filled the room, remembering how the two of them hadn’t been able to keep their hands off of the other and settled for taking the tacos home. of course, the tacos would be forgotten until the morning after.

“c’mere beautiful, i’ve waited long enough to have you like this. now, be a good girl and let me take care of you.” y/n heard him mumble as he leaned down on top of her to capture her lips in a kiss.

the immersion in her memory broke all too quickly when she tasted something like water on her lips, and the smell of cody had faded into the smell of austin.

“hey, drink up, y/n.” austin said to her, reaching for her hand and bringing it up to the water bottle so she could hold it instead.

y/n didn’t recognize the area austin had brought her to. they were surrounded by stage equipment and now that she’s conscious, she realized she wasn’t even sitting on a proper chair. austin had hoisted her up to sit atop a random crate of stage equipment and stood in front of her between her legs.

she downed the water bottle without even realizing it, it was only when austin pulled the empty water bottle away from her and placed it beside her legs that she realized she was finished. austin took a step away, realizing the position they were in and how inappropriate it would have looked to any outsiders. especially after he felt cody shooting him a death stare until they were finally out of his sight. austin felt a chill creep down his spine at the recent interaction.

“he was outside when i carried you away. he saw us but i have no idea what he thinks happened in the bathroom between us.” austin told her, pushing himself up and shuffling around slightly so he could sit beside the woman.

“you’re fucking lying to me right now. he saw me like that? did he see the flowers?” she questioned him, seemingly so full of energy in that moment. y/n had turned her head to look at austin, her eyes wide with fear. cody would know the flowers were for him - they were the same flowers he gave to her after all.

“y/n, i’m willing to bet money that cody has probably seen you in less favorable conditions. but no, he didn’t see the flowers. i managed to flush it all down the toilet before i took you out.” austin reassured her, meeting the girl’s gaze and flashing her a small smile to reassure her.

y/n found it odd to be comforted by austin’s words. before this, the two were acquaintances, and now austin had heard y/n’s entire cody rhodes rant all while the girl coughed up flowers on to his chest.

she shifted her body so she was facing more towards austin, and leaned forward until she felt her head hit the man’s chest. although she was certain that she didn’t have the energy to cry anymore, she could feel the tears pool in her eyes.

“you know, i had it too. hanahaki, i mean. not a crush on cody.” austin found himself admitting to y/n, shocking even himself. the woman hadn’t responded besides a small laugh at the mention of cody, and austin took that as the okay to continue. he wrapped his arm back around y/n, rubbing her back as he continued telling her his experience.

“i guess a similar situation to yours. she was my childhood best friend, been friends since diapers and even used to take baths together when we were really young. our moms are best friends, even to this day. i remember having to sit through every guy that she went through, and then, she ended up getting pregnant by her fiance at the time.” austin took a moment to pause, feeling you shift in his arms. he loosened his grip around you, looking down at you as you lifted your head and made eye contact with him.

“and then? clearly you’re fine now. are you and her together?” y/n asked, unable to hide the hint of hope and excitement that had crept into her voice. perhaps it’d go that way with her and cody… maybe.

“it’s been a little over a year since i got the surgery.” austin admitted, not liking the way y/n had deflated after the fact. he took the chance to bring the woman back in his arms, pulling her back into his chest so he could hold her. he knew what he was about to say next could potentially make or break the situation.

“we’re not friends anymore. i can’t even tell you how i used to feel about her because it’s just not there anymore. i knew the risk of the surgery, the way they said that it’d remove all emotions towards the person but… you know, i never thought about the implications. the fact of the matter is, even though we tried to remain friends, i couldn’t even feel an ounce of that happiness or connection that friendship gives with her specifically.” austin sighed, feeling his heart drop in his chest. “it’s weird, if i’m honest. i know at one point i knew what love felt like and i know that it was once directed towards her. but now, i can’t even think of her as a friend because there’s nothing there.”

“but you told her. you told her that you were in love with her?” y/n questioned, to which austin answered with a slight hum. she could feel how heavy her heart had become, how the tightness in her chest had returned. y/n fought back a cough as she asked her next question, “but you can still fall in love, right austin?”

surgery. y/n knew how precious life was and how unlikely it’d be for cody to return her feelings. however, would life be worth it if she forgot the feeling of falling in love and being in love with cody? would life be worth living if she would not even be able to continue a friendship with cody? would she even be able to fall in love again after the fact?

and for austin, he hadn’t ever thought of the answer to that question before. it wasn’t like he was actively searching for love again. sure, he loves his job, he loves his family but he wasn’t in love with anyone. but a little voice in the back of his head would whisper that if he were to pursue someone like that again, he’d imagine that it’d be directed towards the woman that he had pressed against his chest and that he’d have the same thought of “protect her” as he does in that moment.

so, he would settle for an “i don’t know” as an answer.

just as austin was about to answer the woman, he heard the sounds of someone making their way through the other crates of stage equipment. he could only assume that it was cody who was making such a ruckus, after all, who else would be rushing through an area that was practically hidden away if it wasn’t for stage equipment or to find someone.

and eventually, cody finds them, although he’s certain they do not know that he sees them. he takes note of the way austin had you in his arms before pulling away and getting off of the crate and standing in front of you almost protectively. before y/n can even ask what austin was doing, cody made himself known.

“hey, settle down guard dog. it’s just me.” cody said, stepping in between two larger crates that had been used to block off the area to reach the two. his comment didn’t seem to sit nice with austin, who only clicked his tongue in acknowledgement.

y/n perked up at cody’s voice, her eyes widened at the sight of cody. she could only remember seeing the photo of brandi in her mind, and she bit back another cough. she jumped down from the crate and landed on her feet, taking a step towards cody. “cody it’s not what it looks like.” y/n found herself saying, although she didn’t know why she felt the need to defend her and austin being in an area together alone.

cody cocked a brow at her words. now he certainly believes its exactly what it looks like. he was certain everyone already knew that y/n was his girl, well, technically she was no longer his girl but cody would just push that thought aside. and he certainly was not going to let austin theory be the man to think he can even try with getting with y/n. after all, he knew y/n and everything she liked and wanted in a relationship: austin would never meet those standards.

“if its not what it looks like then why was your roided-up german shepherd carrying you out of the men’s restroom and bringing you back here?” cody questioned, beginning to make his way towards y/n and reaching out his arm as if to grab her hand and pull her away.

austin immediately stood in front of y/n, staring down cody. “look, it’s seriously not what it looks like, rhodes. y/n and i are friends. and if anything, i should be asking you what your wife thinks about you kissing another woman on the forehead and always being so touchy with her. especially in such a public are where all of your coworkers can see.” austin practically spat at cody.

y/n’s eyes widened at the altercation that could potentially grow into something more. “austin it’s okay i-“ y/n tried to say before being cut off by cody.

“listen here, theory. i am completely in love with my wife and have been married to her for years now. in fact, we are about to start a family so for your information, my wife clearly doesn’t see y/n as a threat because she trusts me. and you don’t know a damn thing about y/n and i’s friendship. she and i have always been and forever will be only friends. never have i felt an emotion beyond friendship for her. now let me have a talk with my- y/n?” cody’s tone had turned harsh, not liking how austin had seemed to “protect” you from cody. it was as if austin had taken his spot in y/n’s life from right under his nose and in such a short time. however, he had been cut short by the sound of y/n falling to her knees and dry heaving.

it hurt. that’s all y/n could remember thinking of in that moment as she listened to cody. each sentence had felt like the man had personally took a knife and repeatedly stabbed her. her chest tightened, her throat burned, and she struggled to breathe. y/n wasn’t even aware that she had fallen to her knees, and she certainly didn’t feel the two men quickly falling to their knees on either side of her.

y/n could feel as if her lungs were splitting in her chest, as with one cough a pink carnation flower emerged from her mouth. she continued coughing, collapsing in the two men’s arms as a seemingly endless rope of pink carnations continued spewing out of her mouth with every cough she let out.

before she fell unconscious, she could only wish to forget the look of realization, hurt, and unspoken apologies that appeared on cody’s face as austin yelled for an ambulance to be called.

|| next part >>

[takingchences]

ultraviolet pt. 8 - BAKUGOU

A descendant of a legendary quirk longs to separate herself from her family name, but first she'll have to confront villains, ghosts from the past, and her growing attraction for Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight.

Pairing: Katsuki Bakugou x OP!fem!oc

Warnings: mature language

series masterlist + face claim

Bakugou and Kirishima fought back to back. More villains had continued to pour into the faux office building as they'd fought their way down floor by floor. The blonde grimaced, firing blast after blast. The room was loud and full of sound, but all he could hear was a girl screaming, reaching out for someone to save her.

Someone that wasn't him.

The unwelcome thought fed his anger, his attacks rising to a new level of ferocity. "Die, you bastards!" He growled, his vermillion eyes narrowed. I saved her ass how many times, and she looks to that Icy Hot bastard for help?!

A flash of silver caught his eye. "Watch it, Shitty Hair!" He yelled. The rock-skinned boy turned just in time, successfully blocking the attack and quickly disarming the villain.

"Thanks, man!" He sent him a sharp-toothed grin. Bakugou blocked an oncoming kick with his arm, palming the villain's face with his other hand and exploding it. He released a battle cry as two others tried to ambush him from either side. With a quick uppercut and swift kick to the temple, the two villains joined the growing pile of limp bodies on the ground.

They kept attacking relentlessly until, finally, the heroes-in-training were the last two standing.

"Let's hurry and find the rest of our class." Kirishima panted, wiping at the sweat dripping down his face. "If we're both still in the USJ, then everyone else probably is, too. And not all of them have the offensive skills we do. We gotta make sure they're safe. Especially since we screwed things up when we got in the way earlier." He stared down at the ground, his fists clenched so tightly by his sides that the knuckles turned white.

"If Thirteen had been able to suck up that villain, then we never would've been separated like that." Disappointment, anger, and self-loathing deepened his voice. He turned to face the ash blonde. "Sana could be in a lot of trouble right now. We have to help her and make it up to the others!"

"You wanna track everyone down and be her knight-in-shining-armor, have fun. But I'm gonna go destroy that warpy bastard." Bakugou flexed his fingers, shaking out his arms. The muscles were beginning to cramp and ache from overuse of his quirk. He'd have to act fast before they completely stiffened.

Kirishima placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Our physical attacks didn't hurt that guy." Bakugou shrugged him off, moving towards the exit.

"C'mon," the redhead called after him. "Don't be an idiot, man."

"SHUT UP!" Bakugou glared over his shoulder. "I'm gonna take him down because he's their way in and out. If I cut off their escape route, they'll be stuck here."

A lizard villain appeared just behind the blonde. "Hope you had fun chit‐chatting. Too bad you let your guard down‐" he cut himself off with a girlish shriek. He fell to the ground unconscious, his face covered in scorch marks.

Bakugou continued talking as if that didn't just happen. "Anyway. If all these villains are small fries like these guys were, then our classmates can handle them." That idiot can take care of herself. If her wannabe assassins were this shitty, then she'll already be headed towards the main plaza.

Kirishima stood there, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. "Since when do you act so calm and rational? Usually you're all like 'DIE! DIE! DIE!'"

"I'm always calm and rational, you red‐haired loser!" Bakugou argued, making Kirishima laugh. The blonde grunted. "Go find the others if you want to." He turned on his heel and continued walking.

"Wait, hold up!" Kirishima ran after him. "I think what you're really saying is that you believe in our classmates. And that's thinkin' like a man, Bakugou." The redhead smiled, punching his hardened fists together. Bakugou groaned, stomping away as the rocky redhead chased after him.

¸☾⋆*･ﾟ¸☾⋆*･ﾟ¸☾⋆*

Ojiro raced through the burning mock city, every breath burning his lungs. His heart was pounding as fear and adrenaline raced through his veins.

"Damn it! He's too fast!" A villain cursed from behind.

"I see him. Up there!" Another voice called out from his left. He could barely hear their footsteps over the roaring of the flames.

I have to help the others, the boy chanted to himself like a mantra. I have to help-

Up ahead, between the destroyed buildings, he could see bursts of blinding light. Distant screams could be heard with each flare. Is that... Sakano?

He hesitated for a moment before moving towards the flashing lights. It could be nothing, but I have to check and see. The warp villain said she was a target. Of all our classmates, she's probably in the most danger right now.

The lights pulsed once more before fading out.

Ojiro pushed himself to run faster, unsure if the sudden ending was a good or bad sign. He was only about a block or two away at this point. Rounding the final corner, he skid to a stop. The blonde boy was unable to comprehend the sight before him.

Dozens of villains were scattered across the burning landscape, some moving... and some not. Wails of agony could be heard as many of them lay clutching their bodies in pain, the stench of burnt flesh making his stomach roll. Ash fell down like snow around them, staining their broken bodies with soot. Ojiro turned away from the scene with a deep grimace, covering his nose and mouth in both disgust and horror.

Sana was nowhere to be found.

¸☾⋆*･ﾟ¸☾⋆*･ﾟ¸☾⋆*

Most of class 1-A had witnessed the display of power in the fire zone from their own battlefields, had felt the force behind it, and it made them fight harder against their own horde of enemies.

But like Ojiro, they weren't sure if the display was a message to them, and if so, what? Was it a cry for help... or a reassurance that she was fine?

Kirishima had been the first of the duo to notice, quickly grabbing Bakugou and pointing behind them towards the blinding beams of light. "There she is!" He made to retreat back towards where they'd come from, only for Bakugou to pull him back.

"We don't know it's her," he glared into the distance, eyes narrowed on the blasts of energy. He could feel the heat coming off of them from hundreds of kilometers away. "It could be a trick to lure us over."

Kirishima frowned, his gaze jumping between the ash blonde and the lights. "But what if-"

"Flashlight can handle herself." He begrudgingly faced forward and continued to walk towards he plaza. "What happened to that 'believing in our classmates' crap?"

Kirishima sighed, lingering a moment before following after the blonde.

The duo made it to the plaza just in time. Todoroki and Midoriya were already there, the rest of their class nowhere in sight. Bakugou crouched on the ground, his hand wrapped around the warp gate's neck armor. "Guess I found your body that time, you smoky bastard!" He snarled, a feral smile on his face. Keeping a heated grip on the metal plate, his eyes continuously swept the area for a glimpse of strawberry blonde hair.

Where the hell is she?

All Might was still locked in battle with the monsterous Nomu. "Kurogiri," the lanky bluenette scolded. " How could you let this brat get the best of you? You've gotten us into a real jam here."

Bakugou scoffed. "You got careless, you dumb villain. It wasn't hard to figure you out. Only certain parts of you turn into that smoking warp gate. You used that mist to hide your actual body as a kind of distraction, thinking that made you safe. That's why we missed."

"You live up to your school's reputation." The portal's low voice rumbled underneath his hand.

"But if you didn't have a body, you wouldn't be wearing this neck armor, right? You're not immune to physical attacks if they're well aimed." Crackling filled the air as Kurogiri tried to break out of his hold. The villain groaned. "Don't. Move." the explosive blonde warned. "You try anything funny, and I'll blow your ass up right now, ya got it?" He scowled down at the smoky figure. "They'll be cleaning you up for weeks."

"That doesn't sound very heroic." Kirishima chided from a few feet away.

Shigaraki scratched his neck. "They escaped uninjured and captured my two strongest men. Kids these days really are amazing." The scratching intensified. "They make the League of Villains look like amateurs. Can't have that," he tutted, dropping his arm back down. "Nomu."

The purple, bird-like being screeched, breaking free from Todoroki's ice. They watched in horror as the creature's missing limbs regenerated in seconds.

"How is that thing still moving?"

"Stay back, everybody!" All Might warned. "What is this? I thought you said his power was shock absorption?"

The man's facial expression was covered by one of many hands he wore, but his crazed delight was audible as he spoke. "...I didn't say that was his only Quirk. He also has super‐regeneration." He held out his arms. "Nomu has been modified to take you on even at 100% of your power. He's basically a highly efficient punching bag that hits back."

He turned his head towards Bakugou."First, we need to free our method of escape." The boys gasp, knowing what was about to happen, but unable to do anything to prevent it in time. "Get him, Nomu."

The creature was a blur as he moved towards the ash blonde. A powerful wind blew past, stirring up smoke and dust. There was a streak of blinding light and the deafening sound of impact.

"Kacchan!" Midoriya screamed. Once the debris cleared, they noticed that where Bakugou had once stood was a feminine figure encased in golden light.

"Sana," the three boys sighed in relief.

Sana reinforced the dome of solid energy she'd thrown up against the Nomu. The monster shrieked and pounded against the barrier with solid fists. The girl held firm, pushing back against the creature until the sizzling of its purple-black flesh filled the air as the heat of her quirk intensified. The Nomu howled in pain, but did not relent. All Might quickly intercepted the beast, driving it away so that she and Bakugou could get to safety.

The ash blonde grabbed her by the waist and blasted them away from the fight. Sana pushed herself away from his grasp as soon as they reached the others. "Don't touch me." She breathed, her words coming out a bit slurred.

Bakugou bared his teeth in a silent snarl.

The girl didn't look like her usual self. She seemed disoriented and just overall, not all there. Her usually tan skin was pale, cheeks flushed, and the hair around her face was damp with sweat. Her eyes were foggy and uncomprehending, the pupils so dilated that only a sliver of color was visible. She staggered as she put distance between them, swaying from side to side as though she might collapse at any moment. Her every breath was a labored gasp.

"Sana." Shoto stepped forward. His tone was a blend of caution and concern.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kirishima joined him, arms outstretched and ready to catch her.

She didn't seem to hear them. "It's too much," she panted, her voice a soft whine. She closed her eyes, her hands grasping the hair around her temples, clutching it between her fingers tightly. "Too hot."

Shoto took another step forward, reaching out to her with his right hand, while keeping the others back with his left. "Sana," he spoke in a hushed voice, trying to catch her eye. "Sana, look at me."

"Too hot," she repeated, her feverish gaze wild. 'S too hot." Her chest rose and fell rapidly. The glow of her eyes was intense, the thin irises resembling supernovas. The air around her seemed to hum and crackle with energy.

Shoto threw his arm forward, fully encasing her in layers of thick ice. It instantly cracked and hissed upon contact.

The other three boys, having witnessed the entire thing, were very confused and outraged. "The fuck did you just do?" Bakugou yanked him closer by the collar of his costume.

"What gives, man? She-"

"You don't know her like I do," the white-and-red haired boy replied lowly. Broken blocks of ice chipped away, shattering like glass as they hit the ground, revealing an unconscious Sana. "The shock of the sudden temperature change knocked her out. She'll be fine."

Her body lurched forward as if she were boneless. Her former best friend caught her before she could hit the ground, careful to only touch her with his ice side. Steam rose from where her feverish body met with the layers of frost he'd coated himself with. She didn't stir throughout All Might's final showdown with the Nomu, nor when the other Pros arrived to help.

Bakugou and Kirishima watched from a distance as their dual-haired classmate handed their friend off to the paramedics, who flinched upon touching her. They quickly wrapped her in an insulated blanket before loading her onto a gurney and escorting her to Recovery Girl's office.

Villains were brought out in chains of quirk-canceling gear and lined up next to police vehicles. Bakugou overheard the officers whispering among each other about the critical condition they'd found the villains from the fire zone in. Most of them had to seek medical attention for second and third degree burns all across their bodies. The criminals blathered on, half-mad, about a girl with glowing eyes as they were loaded into the prison vans.

Mina and the rest of the girls had come running up to them once they were outside, peppering the boys with questions about Sana's condition. All the while, Bakugou glared at the back of Todoroki's skull.

"Don't touch me," she'd said, pushing him away. The bastard's words still rang in his head. "You don't know her like I do."

Bakugou wasn't an idiot. He'd noticed during the two months they'd been in school that there was something strange going on between the two. One could always be spotted staring at the other when they weren't looking. The stolen glances and longing, sorrowful looks made him curious about their relationship. The only time he'd actually seen them interact was during the combat training exercise weeks ago.

When she'd given him that stupid speech about putting his feelings aside, had she just been looking out for him as she'd claimed, or had she also needed a reminder?

"You don't know her like I do."

The blonde tched. Smug bastard.

¸☾⋆*･ﾟ¸☾⋆*･ﾟ¸☾⋆*

Sana blinked slowly, her eyelids heavy from exhaustion. She felt someone squeeze her fingers, pulling her attention to the side of her bed. Shoto sat there in his school uniform, his hand gently holding her's.

"Hey," she greeted, her voice scratchy with sleep.

Shoto nodded in greeting, removing his hand from her's. Sana instantly missed the contact. She was lying in a bed with a thin blanket draped across her. The room was noticeably chilly, yet she felt fine. "You overdid it." He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "You almost lost control. I had to knock you out."

"Thank God," she closed her eyes, relief flooding her system. She hadn't hurt anyone. The memories of what happened after she'd landed in the fire zone were foggy. She remembered the smoke, the heat, and fighting off villains... but not much after that.

"Even when you weren't in the right state of mind, you still managed to save Bakugou." He told her. "You held off that Nomu, too. I don't know how you did it."

Me either. Sana was still trying to process everything that had happened. She'd only fully lost control of her quirk once, when she was younger. She'd woken up a week later distraught and confused, with no recollection of what she'd done during that time.

"I hoped I'd never have to see you like that again." Shoto's hands were balled in his lap, and Sana wished more than anything that she could reach over and grasp his hand in her's. "I swore to myself that I wouldn't let it get that far."

"I know," she said softly. "I know you did your best to help me. Thank you," she mustered up the courage to place her hand on his fist. "I mean it, Sho. Thank you."

The Todoroki boy held her gaze. "Just because I'm mad at you, it doesn't mean that I stopped caring about you. If anything, it makes your betrayal worse."

"Shoto," Sana's voice cracked, tears trailing down her cheeks. "What are yo-"

Her former friend pulled his hand away, standing from his seat and shouldering his backpack. "Now that I know you're awake, I can go." He made for the door, but stopped. "Be careful when you get home." He warned. "The USJ attack is all over the news."

He walked out the door, and Sana pressed a hand against her mouth to contain a sob.

¸☾⋆*･ﾟ¸☾⋆*･ﾟ¸☾⋆*

Sana was checked over by Recovery Girl one more time before she was allowed to leave. She changed out of her costume and took a quick shower in the locker room, forcefully scrubbing the layers of sweat and grime off her skin.

The sky was a dark blue when she stepped out of the school. A black towncar idled by the street outside the gates, waiting for her. Taking a deep, calming breath, she opened the backdoor and slid inside. Across from her, a pair of glasses glinted in the dim light.

"I warned you about this Hero nonsense."

[prisoner-000]

MILGRAM, Growing Up & Maturity

Recently, I've been thinking about MILGRAM and its prisoners connections to the concept of age and growing up - not every prisoner has a connection to this theme, but I think it's worth talking about!

Haruka - Haruka still sees himself as a child (his age is listed as 17, so he technically is) though in his MVs, he's often shown as a very young child, which makes sense considering his story centers around his relationship with his mother (and likely his life in the school system/being mistreated as a disabled child). Haruka represents being stuck growing up forever, never being supported enough to grow into an adult.

Yuno - Yuno's young age was often used as a point of skepticism by the audience during T1. She was told she was just too immature to know what she was doing/was barely an adult etc. Yuno spoke out against this view in Tear Drop, which represents her as a mature adult, despite her young age. She mirrors Haruka in this aspect. She grew up as fast as she liked, her decisions were her own. She was allowed to become an adult exactly when she wanted to.

Fuuta - Fuuta, even being 20 years old, still acts very much like a teenage bully - or at least, that's the act he puts up. He goes along with the crowd and doesn't really know his own place in the world just yet. He's not even able to realize the harm he's doing to his online victims until his 'murder'. When he's voted guilty in T1, this bully attitude is finally stripped away and he seems more like a confused young boy than a confident college student. Fuuta hasn't quite reached the point where he can call himself a grown adult yet.

Muu - This one is a little harder to properly pinpoint. Muu has been pampered by her rich parents all her life and has never had to make many decisions or work for herself (assuming she was actually a queen bee bully type). The first decision in her life that's actually hers is, tragically enough, her murder. She seems to see herself as someone who can boss around adults already when she clearly still has a lot of growing up to do.

Shidou - Shidou seems like the most mature prisoner of all. He had a family, a wife, kids - though that's been taken away from him, he still retains a wiseness that the other characters don't seem to have. Shidou is an adult who would rather be taken apart by piece by piece than see others be hurt. He often talks about his childhood in his extra material, almost seemingly longing to be a child again, where he had to experience no loss and no growing up.

Mahiru - Mahiru, as contrasted by Shidou, is very lacking in experiencing what she values most in life - love. She's in college when she finally gets what she wants, and she doesn't understand what being in a relationship truly means. In her 2nd MV, her view of her relationship is almost childishly whimsical. There's a carousel, sweets, a party just for her. This is to symbolize her still needing to grow and see the real world for what it is, also linked to maturity.

Kazui - With the next pair, this motif is a lot easier to see. Kazui is the oldest prisoner in all of MILGRAM, but he is still immature at heart. He often talks almost like he resents being an adult, wishing to be irresponsible again. This may sound similar to Shidou at first, but the difference between Kazui and Shidou is the fact that Shidou doesn't seem to mind being affected by societal norms (having a family, a good job, wife and kids...) as much as Kazui. Kazui wants nothing more than to be as free as he used to be before his relationship (either because he doesn't want to have just 1 relationship or because he hates the norms being forced on him). This might just be disproven in like 1 month but.. we'll see?

Amane - I feel like Amane is almost too obvious for me to write anything about her. First off, she's a child. Obviously she's still growing up and learning - but she's a child trope flipped on her head, she's only twelve, but she's obsessed with being a mature adult (assumedly to be respected by her elders in the cult). Often showcased in the Minigram comics is her childish nature surfacing in calm moments, but it never lasts. She's been forced to grow up too fast and there's no undoing it for her.

I feel like I can't really connect this theme to Mikoto and Kotoko, honestly. We just don't know enough about them yet - So maybe I'll expand on this once their T2 MVs come out? Feel free to add on if you'd like, though. :) Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!

[quohotos]

Thoughts about bonds/bonding

This was something I was already planning to write up but then the latest return to regalia episode opened the flood gates and filled in some missing pieces for me. What follows is my own educated guesses and headcannon, very little of this is explicitly in the text of the books. Understand that much of this is my own headcannon, though I'll try my best to justify it with the text.

(also note that since I was an audio book kid I don't actually know if it's spelled flyer or flier and I'm going to get it wrong more than once and you're just going to have to live with that)

Luxa says that it wasn't normal for her to bond with Aurora so early, but that an exception was made as almost a form of therapy after the death of her parents. The same exception was made for Hazard and Thalia. We aren't explicitly told how old Henry was when he bonded with Ares, but I'm assuming it was before adulthood given how all four of them (Luxa, Henry, Ares, and Arora) have a storied history before the events of the first book. Henry had to be younger than 16 when they bonded (16 being the age of legal maturity in the underland, will amend if I'm misremembering), which isn't surprising given that he's Henry and he's never played by the rules. This raises the question of the bats' ages... we aren't ever told that. I would assume that the bats are of similar ages to their bonds, but I have no evidence to back that up.

In the Marks of Secret Ripred explains that rats grow up incredibly fast and reach full maturity in about a year, and that humans are uncommon in how long they take to grow up. It's not clear how long the bats take to grow up. Would Thalia have become an adult while Hazard was still a little kid, or would they have grown up concurrently? I can't say either way. One thing I can say with more confidence is that regardless of their ages, Aurora and Ares probably see their respective bonds like younger siblings. Obviously, being bonded to someone is a completely different relationship that we can't exactly map onto what we have in the overland, but I think that's a close approximation.

So Why and How do regular people get bonded?

The most surefire way to get bonded would be to join the military (something you can do from a very young age... I mean they have armor on hand for 12 year olds and we see seven year olds doing military drills in the Prophecy of Bane... yaaaaay). In the military you will be assigned to mixed species units and it's just sort of assumed that they'll all end up pairing up and bonding.

For civilians there are likely special yearly festivals that the two kingdoms share with the express purpose of giving people a chance to find bonds. My guess would be right around the time of the harvest when there's plentiful food to go around. After a hard year a bunch of flyers come to regalia and everyone has a big party to celebrate. There are probably specially organized games of whatever sport Gregor walked in on back in the first book. While specific flyers are probably scouted for sports and more importantly the military there's still plenty of opportunities for common Regalian and flyers to interact and meet.

What does bonding do for a flyer?

We see so much of the Underland Chronicles from the point of view of royal humans. To them, the benefits are obvious. Humans can't fly, bonding gives them access to someone who can. But why would a flier seek out a human bond? That just sounds like an obligation, right?

The Regalians have incredibly advanced medical technology. I've roasted them before for their metalworking, but their chemistry/biotech is unparalleled. They're able to produce antibiotics, as well as synthesize plagues and their cures. They have ways of treating illnesses that the overland doctors (allegedly) cannot. We also see that they have incredibly reliable and safe oral administered sedatives. Anesthesiology is such and advanced and risky field, and they seem to have cracked it to the point where people can safely be sedated for trivial maters without anyone batting an eye.

The arrival of humans (as permanent residents, native people made limited journeys to there before the arrival of Sandwich) in the Underland definitely raised everyone's average life expectancy by decades... before lowering it immediately afterwards through endless wars. In Curse of the Warmbloods someone steals the pain killers and Gregor realizes that the rats couldn't even use it if they wanted to because they don't have hands to open the bottle. Much of the Regalian's medical technology still requires a human to administer it. You need humans to carve splints and set them, you need humans to administer injections, you need humans to cut hair and perform surgery. Spinners can do some things to stop bleeding, but any significantly complex medical procedure is going to need human hands involved. Think about things like glasses and prosthetics, things we don't normally associate as medicine but would still kinda are. Humans probably manufacture and prescribe bat-glasses.

For a flyer, traveling long distances without a human bond is incredibly risky. If something bad happens, even if you have other flyers with you, you could die from what would otherwise be preventable causes. Bitten by mites? Who's going to apply the the ointment? Wing dislocated, who's going to pop it back into place (this one literally happened to Aurora). There are also probably some foods that can't safely be eaten raw, but a human could prepare. Heck, a human can boil water to purify it, or place traps that catch pray that otherwise wouldn't be hunt-able. Humans can catch fish that live too deep in the water for a flyer to peruse. Humans are adaptable. Your bond is your Swiss army knife, adaptable and versatile even if sometimes fragile.

Any flier trying to pursue and education needs to be bonded. You wanna go to bat-college? You gotta bring a human. You'll need one to transcribe all your essays and help you read books. The fliers definitely have a rich oral history that they all maintain, but there are some things that you just need a human to access. The average flier probably doesn't have a bond, but the higher in status definitely do for the educational purposes alone. While the queen herself doesn't have a bond, in fact it seems almost frowned upon in the royal family (Nike doesn't have one despite getting very close to a human who would like to bond with her in the later books), you bet your ass that every middle manager and local bat official has a bond who takes care of paperwork and accounting.

It's a funny parallel how flyers of low status like Ares can suddenly be whisked into royalty by being bonded to Henry, the same thing probably happens to humans. You could be Joe Shmo nobody (or I guess this is the underland so Joeth Shmavetus) who would probably live out their whole life carving stone jars, but you do numbers good so the bat-secretary of bat-state bonds with you and now you're really important.

That means that there are probably lots of places within the flyers lands that are built specifically to house humans long term. We see a little bit of that in the first book, but there's probably a lot more out of sight. Special areas where an important fliers' bonds can live and do their taxes and whatnot.

Bonding is usually an egalitarian process. It seems like both sides and both factions have to consent to it. When Gregor insinuates that one side owns the other he gets massive push-back. With that being said, I'm almost certain that Ares had little control in the matter over bonding with Henry. I think there's kind of an unstated rule that the royal families are going to bond with whoever they please, and that turning down a bond of high status would be a massive faux pas. Ares probably didn't feel like saying no was even on the table.

What about non-flyer bonds?

Oh yeah, code of claw spoilers beyond this point. Now that everyone's doing the reread and we're probably bringing a few first time readers into the fold I'm going to spoiler mark this part just in case since I'll be discussing things that happen in the last installment

Luxa and Ripred bond to usher in peace. This is treated as something that has never happened before but that the rules don't explicitly forbid. Henry jokes about people bonding to the crawlers, but in a way that portrays it as stupid and pathetic rather than impossible. In doing so she also symbolically brings the Gnawer into the spiritual fold that the flyers and humans already share.

Humans and Gnawers would then be allowed to bond with each-other. It might take generations for that to happen in earnest, sicne both sides have so much trauma and resentment built up, but maybe decades in the future the younger generations will find it in themselves to do so.

The fact that Luxa bonding with Ripred doesn't break her bond with Aurora sets the precident that you can bond with as many people as you want so long as you never have two of one species. I do not think Aurora is that happy about that, and I doubt she sees Ripred as her own bond. It's possible though, that in the future you could have big groups of underlanders who are all united by one bond. A whole bad batch rogues gallery of a flyer, a gnawer, a human, and a nibbler who each bring something special to the group.

Though never explicitly stated, I think it probably goes without saying that Hamnet and Frill were bonds. It definitely wasn't done the proper way, probably just informally in the jungle with nobody else observing, but still. A bond is a bond.

[snippychicke]

For the Sake of a Smile (V.2) Chapter Sixteen

Title: For the Sake of a Smile (Revised)

Overall Rating: Mature (18+)

Chapter Rating: M for Mature. We've begun the 18+ content

Trigger warnings: Nothing beyond the child abuse hinted in the series, though we do explore the consequences a bit more.

Main Pairing: Balam Shichiro/Reader

Summary: Hell on earth was your motto for your job. Granted, you were pretty sure earth really was hell, considering the shit you had seen in your life. And the fact your coworker was a child. 

A child named Suzuki Iruma, in fact. A kid who’s life was decidedly worse than yours, but yet he smiled despite everything. It wasn’t long after meeting him that you decided you’d do a lot for his smile. Including summoning a literal demon and signing your soul away.

But as it turns out, hell (The Netherworld, actually) was a lot better than living on earth. Demons were more humane than a lot of humans you knew.

And Iruma’s smile wasn’t the only one that would change your life.

Masterlist | Ao3| Mairimashitai! Simps Discord

"...and then Purson started talking, and he didn't quit," Iruma explained in between bites of food. "He went from not saying a word to talking more with one breath than I thought was possible."

You recalled the lavender-haired child that you frequently saw tagging along with the rest of the Misfit class; he was quiet with an unusual apathetic expression on his face. Yet every time you went to ask if he was okay, he'd disappear into literal thin air.

Now, hearing Iruma's story, it made far more sense than the 'apparition haunting the library' like you had been leaning to believe. 

"And then it turns out he's the Pixie! You know, the mysterious trumpet player?"

You, Sullivan, and even Opera nodded. Everyone at Babyls knew about the trumpet player that announced the end of the school day with their vibrant and usually quick-tempo pieces.

"He has to be part of our musical!" Iruma continued with firm conviction. "Not just because he and Elizabetta need to rank up two ranks, but because he deserves the recognition!" 

His determined expression and conviction was heartwarming and inspiring. However, it was also partially ruined by his cheeks puffed with food, reminding you strongly of a hamster hoarding its food.

Well, maybe not not ruined. But the adorable picture Iruma created definitely outshone his words. 

"Why don't you focus on eating now, and plan later," You offered, biting back a smile while Opera pushed the tray laden full of desserts closer to him. Iruma eagerly accepted the idea and helped himself to some of his favorite pudding.

"What about you?" Sullivan asked, turning towards with an innocent smile. "Anything interesting happened today?"

You stared at your food acutely aware of everyone's attention now focused on you, full of expectation. You had heard the rumors that had circulated when Shichiro was late for his class, which had been the Misfits of all classes. 

You knew that this confrontation was inevitable, but you had yet to figure out how to deal with it. Your instinct was to deny, deny, deny, but… you knew that wouldn't work.

Besides, Shichiro was nothing to be embarrassed about. In fact, just thinking about him fills you with a sense of warmth and happiness.

You just… didn't want to share how far your relationship had progressed over the lunch hour. Even if you replayed it repeatedly in your head all afternoon. And had plans recalling every detail when you had time to yourself tonight.

"I mean, I already told you guys we started courting," You said as you stabbed at the eel-like meat. "So of course we're going to spend time together when we can. We just… kinda lost track of time."  

"My baby girl is growing up so fast!" Sullivan cried happily, as if completely oblivious to how not-so-innocent your words sounded. Or, perhaps, oddly delighted considering his next statement. "Soon, I'll be able to hear the little click-clack of tiny clawed feet running around! And my beloved grandson will be a big brother!"

"Dad!" You protested, feeling yourself turn red at the implication. 

You forced that thought away and glanced over to Iruma, a little worried about his reaction to Sullivan's words. After all, he finally had a family he deserved - and you could completely understand if the thought of having to share his family would cause some… issues. 

You could easily imagine being in his place, and the thought of having to share your newfound family would make you very jealous and even angry. 

Except the boy was grinning excitedly, obviously not at all bothered by the idea. Part of you relaxed as you realized he wasn't hiding any pain or anger at the thought.

But still… "We just started courting! Literally yesterday!" You protested as you turned back to your adoptive father. "It's far too soon to think about… about…" 

Children. Babies. With Shichiro.

Taking his huge girth in a different way. 

"Big brother?" Iruma asked, still obviously excited though there was a slight hint of confusion in his eyes. (And thankfully derailing your thoughts, preventing them from going much farther). 

"Look, Shichiro and I haven't had any kind of discussion about this," You stated softly yet firmly, hoping to end the conversation. "And I really think it's too early to start daydreaming about any kids."

Iruma was persistent as he slowly made his way to your side. "But, if you do… I'll be their big brother?"

You gave him a slight frown, confused by his question. Wasn't it obvious? "Well, yeah? Of course."

You soon ended up being tackled by Iruma as well as Sullivan. You squawked in an undignified manner, feeling rather squished between the two.

And then Opera draped themself over your shoulders; a picture in their hand to show you.

It was a photo of a young boy with white fluffy hair smiling at the camera while holding a small lizard creature towards the photographer. You could barely see long, large, too big for his body chick-feet - which made the picture even more adorable. It took you a moment to realize it was a very young Shichiro before whatever caused his scar.

A small squee escaped your throat despite your best efforts as your maternal instincts reared its head, temporarily overcoming your common sense.

He was just so cute!!! It causes your heart to squeeze unexpectedly, lost in those wide dark eyes both so similar and different from present-day Shichiro.

For a brief moment, you could easily see yourself mothering a few mini-Shichiros; those big feet and fluffy hair and that adorable smile, and then Iruma happily helping out and playing with his younger siblings - because he would be an amazing big brother. He'd be so kind and attentive as an older brother, showing interest in whatever they were playing with and carefully teaching them life lessons....

Oh. Devi. They had successfully corrupted you.

"Now dear, you need to cinch the deal and offer him something in return," Sullivan explained as he finally pulled back, a glint in his eye as if he knew your thoughts. "Show him you're just as serious about being in a committed relationship by giving him an Offering of your own." 

"Wait, what?!" 

--+--

Hours later found you no longer floating on cloud nine, but clutching to a plushie as you hid in a blanket fort that you and Iruma had built in your room.

Ever since Iruma's confession about missing the good part of the old days, you had made sure to set time aside at least a few nights a week for just you and him to spend time together. Which sometimes meant building a blanket fort in either his room or yours, and hiding away with plenty of tea, cookies, and occasionally one of the video game consoles to play.

Tonight though, it was just a flashlight keeping the fort lit and a small army of plushies as you brainstormed on the information Sullivan had dumped on you. 

"I have no idea what to get him!" You admitted with a whine as you buried your face in the pink monster plush, feeling less like a mother at the moment and more like a big sister. But, you didn't exactly have anyone else to talk to, and Iruma seemed unbothered by the topic of conversation.

In fact, he had a thoughtful expression on his face as he mulled over your words, squishing his own green frog-like plush. "I think he'll love whatever you get him, really."

"Maybe," You agreed reluctantly. "But… I really want to, you know, impress him." 

You looked at the bracelet on your wrist, which had mostly returned to its normal state. Shichiro had admitted that it had been an impulsive gift, but you loved the uniqueness of it.

You had to reciprocate. 

To your surprise, Iruma giggled. "Mom, I think you're stressing over nothing."

"They're customs are different!" You argued. "What if I fail some sort of standard? What if I do something that’ll make him hate me? Give him something that's rude, or inappropriate, or--"

"Mom, it's Balam," He calmed you, nudging you slightly and stopping your downward spiral. "He knows we're human. And really, it may be a bit different, but I hardly think it's that different. We've made it this far without any issues!"

You huffed, part of you admitting he had a valid point, but at the same time some intrinsic part of you was defiant and insisting that you were going to screw everything up.

"... have you ever dated before?" Iruma offered after a moment, striking at one of the core issues. You hadn't. You had never really been in a position where you felt comfortable to open yourself to another person like this. Sure there were one night stands and casual hook ups, but none that you had wanted to have a long, actual relationship with. 

Which was a big thing that still terrified you on some level. 

Your silence was proof enough for Iruma. The boy sighed, "And all I know are from books and manga…"

You smiled despite yourself. How have you been blessed with such a sweet boy? "Well, we've both had rather hellish lives until…"

"We were adopted by a demon lord and started living in the Netherworld?" Iruma finished with an amused tone.

"Exactly."

Iruma perked up, "Hey! Why don't you give him something from Earth?"

"How? We have no way of getting back." Though the idea was tempting. Knowing Shichiro, he would be elated with anything from Earth. Even if it was a handful of weeds or something like an ant farm.

"Did you bring anything with you?" Iruma asked, awakening an old memory. You did have your purse with you when Sullivan brought you here. So many months had passed since then, however, you honestly had no idea what might be in there.

You scrambled out of the blanket fort and made a bee-line for your closet. You dug to the back of the walk-in where your earth items were stored in a simple box, with your old shirt and pants lay on top. Opera initially wanted to burn them because of the blood and ink from your Summoning ritual - along with the other various stains - but you had protested enough that they had relented.

It… had been one of your best outfits before. Now, you could understand why Opera wanted to trash it as you looked at it. The outfits you wore when you helped with chores looked ten-times nicer. You wouldn't even want to wear the outfit to muck the nightmares' stable.

It was a stark reminder how much your life had improved.

Iruma reached you after you found your purse and was digging through it. But all that was in there were some cheap sunglasses, feminine supplies (which you no longer needed, thanks to the miracle of magic potions to quell your cycle), a few stray bills and coins (the remains of your savings, now absolutely useless), an old tattered book you had bought at a second hand store (well loved and showing the wear and tear of being shoved into your bag), a couple of rocks you had seen and thought they were neat, a thick keyring full of keys you needed for work, some very dried out bubblegum, and half-used lip balm.

Nothing that struck you as something worthy of a gift. In fact, they felt more like harsh reminders of a time when all of these items meant so much to you. So much so that you had to carry them everywhere. 

Now they seemed so utterly trivial and useless.

You sighed in defeat, slumping against the wall and allowing Iruma to sort through the items. What you wouldn't give for something like a biology book. Or a plant of any kind, even a dandelion or tuft of grass.

Would - could - Sullivan allow you to return just to grab something from your old home? Surely there would be something there Shichiro would love….

"I think the books and rocks would be good," Iruma said, holding the items up. "He would like those."

An argument sat on your tongue, looking at the book-- a cute romance story to be sure, but it certainly  wasn't anything really thrilling. And the three rocks were barely bigger than pebbles but caught the light and sparkled faintly, which is why they had caught your attention.

But, you really didn't have any better ideas. And they were from Earth. Would that be enough?

"...if I can't find anything else," You agreed with a sigh, and hoped Shichiro would feel like the meaning of the gesture meant more than the gifts themselves. 

--+--

By the next morning you hadn't thought of a better idea - let alone find something you thought would be more impressive to give to Shichiro as an offering.

So you tucked the book and stones in a small box, then hid them away in your bag as you waited for Shichiro's lunch period. While the morning was filled with helping various first-year classes prepare for the music festival, it still seemed to drag on as you kept worrying about his reaction.

Would he appreciate the gesture? Or would he find it anticlimactic?

Lunch approached, and you went to the cafeteria to pick-up a meal you knew Shichiro enjoyed before making your way to his Prep Room.

Despite your nerves, his office still felt like a safe and cozy space to you. You set down the tray on the coffee table before heading towards one of the many bookshelves to keep yourself distracted while you waited.

If there was a reason behind his own arrangement, it was beyond you. But to be fair, many of the books here were beyond those in the library as well, focusing on advanced subjects in biology--both for creatures as well as botany.

Though in the Netherworld, the line between the two was far more blurred than with earthly plants and animals.

A small chirp caught your attention. You looked up to the mass of vines covering the ceiling, and saw a pair of yellow spiraled eyes looking down at you. 

"Hey baby," You coo'd up at Nigyul, currently the size of a large housecat, smiling softly as you recalled Shichiro's words from the day before. "Are you standing guard up there while papa's out?"

Nigyul chirped again, and before you knew it; he jumped from the vines, apparently trusting you would catch him. Which you did - as well as have a heart attack while you instinctively clutched him to your chest, the breath knocked from your lungs at the sudden weight.

His wide yellow eyes peered up at you, quite calm and maybe happy as he settled in your arms. "You little devil," You sighed after a moment, letting out a breath you didn't realize you had been holding. "Giving me a heart attack. I am not your papa, I am not used to things like that, okay?"

He merely blinked at you, causing you to sigh once more as you shifted to scratch his head. "You're lucky you're so cute, you know? I would say something about looking like an overgrown weed, but you actually are, so…" He gave another chirp - as if he was agreeing with you, making you grin and give into the impulse to nuzzle your nose against his snout.

"Yes, you're a very adorable overgrown weed. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who's told you that. Knowing Shichiro, he's told you plenty of times as well." 

"I have, actually," Shichiro agreed, making you freeze. You slowly looked over your shoulder to where the demon was leaning against the bookcase; rather amused, judging by the crinkled corners of his eyes.

"How long have you been there?" You squeaked, almost sounding like Nigyul.

"I saw him jump down," He offered, making you blush.

"So… you heard all of that?"

"I did," He confirmed, sounding rather pleased. He shifted and walked towards you, easily wrapping his arms around you to look over your shoulder down at the dragon before he murmured quietly, "I…I really like hearing you call me Shichiro."

Your heart seemed to do a series of flips as he focused on the wooden-dragon. "And you need to behave. No giving our lady heart attacks, okay?"

Nigyul chirped again, leaning into Shichiro's hand when the demon stroked the long wild mane as you struggled with your heart pounding between his admission, the term 'our lady' along with his arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you close to him.

"I, uh, brought lunch?" You offered, your voice still a squeak. "I also kinda-got-you-a-gift." The words came out as a rush as you buried your face in Nigyul's mane, breathing in the musty scent of a forest after a heavy rain in an attempt to calm yourself.

"A gift?" He asked, tone full of surprised happiness.

"Mmhmm," You hummed without moving away from Nigyul. "Um, I guess it's customary from what Dad told me?"

His arm tightened fractionally around you, his voice dropping slightly in a way that sent pleasant shivers down your spine. "An offering?"

"Yeah?"

Nigyul moved suddenly, jumping out of your arms and onto the bookcase before climbing up to the thicket of vines. You had no time to react as Shichiro picked you up a split-second later, easily shifting you in his arms so your legs straddled his waist as you were suddenly eye-level with him.

"You have an offering. For me," He repeated, disbelieving as you automatically gripped his shoulders. 

"Was… I not supposed to?" You swore that was what Sullivan had said, but maybe you misunderstood him?

"No - I mean, yes, that is traditional, I just… I wasn't expecting anything," He explained, flustered. You could see pink creeping into his cheeks above his mask.

"It may not be as grand as you're thinking," You warned, fingers mindlessly striking the feathers covering his shoulders as you avoided his gaze. "I didn't know what to get, and well - Iruma convinced me that giving you something from Earth would be a good idea, but all I have was, well, you'll see…"

Shichiro said your name with such tenderness as his gloved fingers touched your cheek. "No matter what it is, I will cherish it. It's the fact that you are giving me something that means the most to me."

You could see the signs of a smile around his eyes, and hesitated only for a moment before reaching up to unlatch his mask; fingers easily finding the small clasps. You could feel him freeze, holding his breath as you pulled the metal away carefully.

"I-I like your smile," You admitted. "I wanted to be able to see it properly."

The surprised look on his face shifted into a smile you barely saw a hint of before he buried his face in the space between your neck and shoulder.

"Are you…embarrassed?" You said as he continued to hide his face.

"Maybe?" He mumbled against your skin, sending goosebumps traveling down your spine. "No one's said that before."

You softened and played with his hair, knowing he enjoyed that, though maybe not as much as during his molt. "I do," You confessed. "I love it when you smile, and I like being able to see it even more."

Shichiro looked up, his nose brushing yours as he rested his forehead against yours. "Devi, you're so perfect. And whatever you brought is perfect as well."

You rolled your eyes despite the smile on your face and the warmth in your chest, "Shichiro, open it first before calling it perfect. You don't even know what it is."

He shifted you in his arms to carry you instead of setting you down, causing giggles to erupt as he made his way to where the simple black box sat next to the food (that was growing cold, easily forgotten yet again). It was apparent that if you thought his skin-ship habit was intense before, you had been sorely mistaken. He made it obvious he wasn't letting go as he settled on the couch before the coffee table and perched you on his lap.

He handled the box gently, carefully opening the lid to reveal the book and three stones nestled inside. Seeing the simple objects made you feel even more awkward. He was going to realize how stupid and silly your offering was, and…

"Amazing," He breathed as he tenderly took the items out. "An actual human manuscript! And rocks! From earth!"

"It's a romance story," You supplied pessimistically, "And they're little more than pebbles."

"I forgot - you can read this, can't you?" He asked as he flipped through the yellowed pages, which surprised you before remembering Sullivan's spell when you first arrived.

"I forgot that you couldn't," You replied honestly, feeling foolish. Iruma had explained that was the basis of how his and Ameri's friendship started--her fascination with 'the forbidden texts' that she couldn't read.

Which was also a cute romance story, now that you thought about it.

Shichiro was quiet, his eyebrows furrowed as he thought. You enjoyed the serious expression, because it was rather cute and also tended to lead in interesting conversations. "Do humans have more than one language--and I don't mean different regional dialects, but a different language."

"Oh yeah," You answered off-handedly, rather thankful for the topic change. "There's easily hundreds - maybe thousands - of different languages. And there's different alphabets and such too, some of which look completely different from the others."

"But if your world is more peaceful, why use so many?"

You sighed, leaning into him a little more, "That… is a very heavy and philosophical question. But honestly, it's not as peaceful as you dream it to be. We may not have the same threats as the Netherworld does, but it's far from a utopia."

Shichiro was quiet as he rolled the stones in one hand, the clacks echoing through the room.

"Do you wish to return?"

You shifted in his lap, able to see the worried expression on his face so clearly with his mask missing. You remembered the conversation from before, of when you thought about how everything would be better if you did. Not for yourself, but for Iruma and everyone else. 

But now….

"No," You stated firmly, cupping his cheek. "I am so much happier here. My life… Iruma was my only joy back on Earth to the point I gave up everything to find him when he went missing. But here��� he's not the only thing that makes me happy. Even if, for some impossible reason, he wanted to return to Earth, I would stay here."

His shoulders slumped with relief, and you realized he must have been worrying about that possibility. You leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips to try and reassure him more.

He accepted and returned the gesture with a surprising amount of desire. Your hands ran from his cheek, down his neck before bracing against his broad shoulders while his hands settled almost hesitantly - touch feather-light. You were a moment away from reaching his hand to press it more firmly to your curves - desperate for the heavy weight of his large hands - when the scream of the class bell broke the silence.

Ah. Right. You reluctantly pulled away from his lips, though remained close enough your breath mingled with his. "I suppose you have class…"

"I do," He sighed, playing with your hair. "Unfortunately. However, my class is just next door…"

"Shichiro!" You laughed, about to argue his implication before he silenced you with a kiss. His fingers gripping you firmly as you shifted, holding you in place.

"Five more minutes," He stated - or maybe plead - between kisses. And well, you really couldn't argue with that.

Although…. "If you end up late to class again, you know we're never going to hear the end of it." 

--+-- Su-Ki-Ma--+--

"Hey Clara, what's it like having younger siblings?"

The green-haired demon blinked at Iruma's question before grinning.

"It's super-duper fun! Granted, when they're itty-bitty they like to cry a lot, but when they get older you get to play all sorts of games with them! And you can teach them all sorts of things! Like when I taught my brothers how to do the Char-Char dance!" She jumped up to show the other two the dance, though it wasn't anything like the choreography that Kerori was trying to teach them. It was wild and chaotic such that would only befit a fast-pace tempo.

"Why are you wondering about younger siblings, Master Iruma?" Asmodeus asked after politely applauding Valac's dance (though he would refrain from ever calling it that.)

The boy flushed as he scratched his neck. "Just, uh, the conversation the other day at home. I realized that someday, I might become a big brother." His usual smile faded slightly as he looked up at the sky through the canopy of the tree they were lounging under. "I've never had siblings before, and I haven't spent a lot of time around little kids either. So, as exciting as the idea is, I'm kinda nervous about it."

"Oh! Iruma-kins can come over to my house!" Clara eagerly offered. "You know my baby sibs! You can have plenty of practice there!"

"I-I have younger cousins that live with me," Asmodeus quickly interjected, not wanting to miss out on the opportunity. "They would be great practice as well! Not that you would need much, Master Iruma! You've already proven that you'll be great with younger demons."

Iruma turned red as he smiled shyly. "Do you think so?"

"Absolutely!" Both demons exclaimed at the same time.

"No matter what, any demon that has you for an older brother will be highly honored," Asmodeus continued.

"Yeah! And they'll also have me and Az-Az!" Clara clapped. "And we can be their big sister and brother too!"

The thought made Iruma relax into a grin. He wouldn't have to figure out what it meant to be a big brother by himself; he'd have his friends by his side. He'd have you, too. After all - before you had officially adopted him, he had seen you as a big sister.

Along with Grandpa, Opera, and everyone else really. Both Sabnock and Kerori had younger siblings, while Jazz and Lied had older siblings. Surely - between them - he'd figure out how to be a good brother.

[codealiaswave]

Let me opine on ship wars for a moment. The last X-Couple I shipped ended in a flaming ship war 🛥️🔥. I mean, the fans literally tore them apart before turning on themselves and questioning home country loyalty. (Seriously - there were phrases like “unpatriotic traitor” being thrown around.) When I say we beat a dead horse 🐴 and flogged a dolphin 🐬, I’m not kidding.

In the aftermath, I was told by a friend that it all didn’t matter because the only X-OTP was:

💜Gambit & Rogue💚

Despite being devastated that the good times & memories over my previous X-OTP were over, I was able to slowly transition over to Gambit and Rogue because I had already kinda shipped them as a kid with the original XTAS cartoon. And while I initially balked at some of their interactions because I was still hung up on my original X-OTP, I grew to absolutely love Romy and only Romy.

I slowly agonized ❤️‍🔥 over the times when Gambit couldn’t touch Rogue and wished for an inhibitor collar or some other mechanism just so he could kiss her one time.

I desperately wished 💫 for them to just get over their hang ups and become a real couple instead of the meaningless flirty game they played for so long.

I actively begged 🙏 Marvel to please just let them get married and be the new X-Couple with a happy ever after.

I perked up 🫦 every time Disney said they had valuable assets in the X-Men and when they would introduce beloved characters into the MCU.

And over 20 years, I watched their relationship grow and mature into a loving couple 💗💖💘.

Fast forward to present day and after 31 years, not only am I reliving my first X-OTP ship war, I’m seeing the current “authorized” content creators actively destroy 💣 both characters, not to mention their relationship. I’m seeing gatekeeper fanboys 🧌 invalidate decades of history just because it doesn’t fit “their comic standards”. I’m hearing misogynistic toxic masculinity 🔪 hate on anything those poisonous trolls will never be, with women they’ll never get by hating on characters who epitomize what they’re not. Never mind the ship wasn’t written for them, but to draw in female readership. And even if there was a problem with the ship (which there isn’t), I’m witnessing a debonair Bond type anti-hero 🍸 devolving into a pansy drunken slob who exists solely to hang off the coattails of his (now) bitchy, cold, unfeeling/uncaring wife 🧊. In just 5 years, Gambit and Rogue have been transformed into caricatures of themselves and resemble nothing of their previous 26 years of plots and profile development.

Yeah, I’m a little upset to see my primary form of escapism ✨ be turned into something driving anxiety 😓. And I am starting to despair that the next ship war and X-OTP explosive breakup 🤯 is just around the corner. And I just don’t have the energy to fight that again.

So if this somehow gets to Disney or Marvel: please stop fucking with Gambit & Rogue. Please return them to the sweet couple they were in X-Men Gold #30. And please put a good version of each in the MCU. ☺️

[ratkingssillyboy]

So I’ve been wanting to read the rest of the royal ranger series and figured I’d reread the main series first as it’s been around six years since I first found them, after reading the first book I’m just so glad that it holds up to how fantastic it was the first time and I have ALOT to say.

-The way that Will and Horace grow so much in just the first book, I mean we have Will whose main defence is running and finding a hiding spot but is still witty and a fast thinker to a brave resourceful determined young man. The training my boy is put through is ROUGH but he doesn’t even think of trying to get out of it or wishing he wasn’t a rangers apprentice, we get to see as he matures and simply grows into himself just…the steadiness he has in him by the end of the book, he has a long way to go but we get a glimpse at the man he’ll become.

Horace has an even greater arc, we see him as a simple minded bully (which he absolutely is in those early chapters) but then we see that he’s a natural swordsman who has his own insecurities. We then watch as he’s confronted with the trio of bullies and still unsure of the traditions and usual ways of battle school we see as he soldiers through taking their shit and STILL managing to keep up to a degree, the way that it still affects his school work and social life was perfectly depicted like on harvest day where he lashed out at those he cares about was brilliant but also him not keeping up with school work which when the issue is taken care of becomes much easier for him. But through it all we get to see as he matures, now he isn’t that bully we saw at the start he is a talented loyal friend who is willing to try and take down a boar to keep someone he’s been awful to safe and then witnessing Will do the same for him, making a promise that he soon fulfils regardless of his own injuries

Just watching Will and Horace, these two boys going from school yard enemies to the mature young men who would absolutely die for the other by the end of the book was fantastic, there was no force behind it like it felt so natural and easy once they were able to actually see the other and how far they both had come since the choosing, and it isn’t perfect there’s still tension but they’re friends

- speaking of the boar attack, when Will shoved his face into halts chest and cried? I sobbed as well, absolute puddle of a mess because of course Will would cling to halt after such a terrifying ordeal, and halt just?? Comforting him??? Like the heart attack this man must of had watching his son apprentice facing down a massive boar with a bow and two knives, that hug absolutely healed something in halt John told me so himself.

- I remember originally reading the books at age 12-14 and not comprehending why Will asking so many questions annoyed halt but now at the age of 20? I get it, I finally understand this poor tired middle aged man. Though the absolute dead pan wit this Halt gives Will with each interaction made me wheeze.

- Can I just say, Will meeting Tug? Like he has no idea that he's just met one of his most loyal dedicated companions, just them meeting and growing such a strong bond so quickly I mean the way Will was TERRIFIED when Tug came to his defence during the boat attack and Will could only think of the injuries Tug could get, Tug would not have been Wills horse for long at that point maybe a few months at most and already Will is so attached.

- Gilan, it's wild to think about the fact I'm now around his age? Like he's actually so young????? I just love his dynamic with halt, the respect he shows him while also being the little shit he is is perfect, and the big brotherly way he is around will I just know he's so proud and impressed by this little 15 year old, he absolutely has asked himself if he was ever that silly as halts apprentice (the answer is yes)

-Old bob is a national treasure, I know that man has hit halt on the upside of his head at least once, feel it in my bones

- JUST WILL CHOOSING HALT OVER HIS LIFELONG DREAM I know Halt was holdin tears l just know it, like everyone knew just how much Will wanted to be a knight and yet when offered HE DECLINED because he loves his dad

Thank you for coming to my ted talk

[underratedandoverit]

You Wanna Wish Away Your Sins (2/3)

After losing to Best Friends at Arcade Anarchy, Kip undergoes shoulder surgery. One person reaching out to him afterwards sends Kip spiraling, turning all the pain and suffering in him into… Flowers? Flowers growing in his lungs?

Kip Sabian/Chuck Taylor. Hanahaki disease. Angst. Hurt/comfort. Emotional hurt/comfort. One-sided attraction. Also tagged this from now on with manipulative Kip.

Marked Mature on AO3 for general content. Warnings for mentions of hospitals, surgery, medical stuff. Described feelings for choking and vomiting.

Other characters on-screen include Penelope Ford. Rest of Best Friends are mentioned. Background ship of Penelope/Kris is heavily implied, but never specifically shown.

part 1 || part 3

On AO3

I really didn't mean to write this for a month but hey mental illness be damned lmao. This is more of a setup for the final act than anything else, I hope it's not super repetitive, I tried to minimize things during editing.

Also this chapter is 7,1k words long I am SO sorry.

@midnightpretenders0 @stormbornpirate @ss-trashboat

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

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes Kip walked into the living room, not being even slightly surprised to see Penelope already standing there. He hadn’t woken up when she had arrived and Penelope didn’t announce her arrival very loudly, which was just fine with him. She had acted more or less as his caretaker since he was discharged from the hospital, both of them knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to take care of himself entirely on his own. Which became very obvious very fast after the first night when Kip had called her in pain after the painkillers had worn off.

“Good morning.”

Penelope perked up a little, eyes shooting over her shoulder towards him, clearly a little surprised as she hadn’t heard him walk into the room. She offered him a smile though. “Morning. Did you sleep well?”

“Better,” Kip shrugged, walking past her towards the kitchen. “It still fucking hurts though.”

“Of course it does,” Penelope stated, leaving the items she was shuffling through on the coffee table, walking after him into the kitchen. “You were literally cut up and sewn back together barely a week ago. It’s not going to pass that fast.”

Kip just nodded absentmindedly, grabbing a cup from the sink before walking over to the coffee maker. Penelope had arranged everything ready for him, learning from the mornings before that food was somehow the first thing in Kip’s mind when he rolled out of bed. He was very grateful for all the work she did for him, knowing that he would most likely barely actually get out of bed if it wasn’t for Penelope to make the early recovery days even somewhat bearable.

After pouring himself a cup of coffee Kip took a seat on one of the stools by the kitchen island, watching as Penelope sat on another seat from across him after sliding a plateful of breakfast items in front of him, observing the Brit as Kip took a sip of his coffee, nodding his head a little as if to give his approval of the quality of it. He averted Penelope’s eyes, her look almost a bit too expecting for him, almost as if she was waiting for him to strike a conversation with her that he didn’t want to have right there and then.

Instead Kip coughed a little, feeling the by now way too familiar scratching in his throat.

Oh god, not now.

“You’ve been coughing so much lately,” Penelope muttered, watching as Kip tried to hide his mouth behind his hand as he hastily set the coffee cup down, having maybe finally learned that he couldn’t use the other to cover his face anymore. Without Penelope noticing – he was fairly sure she didn’t, she would have without a doubt said something – Kip managed to get the few petals out of his lungs, hiding them in his hand before he returned to his coffee, drinking it down in hopes that it would help with the burning in his throat. “Ever since you got back from the hospital. You better not be sick with something.”

“It’s fine,” Kip assured her, his voice hoarse as he cleared his throat a little, still feeling something stuck in there. Penelope just shook her head at him, pushing herself up from her seat, preparing to get back into cleaning the living room like she had been.

“Just make sure I don’t catch it. I have no time to be sick.”

Kip watched as she walked away, letting out a quiet sigh as he glanced at the few purple tinted rose petals in his hand.

“Yeah, I’m sure you won’t be catching this.”

It had been a week, and Kip still didn’t have a solid explanation to any of this. He had tried his absolute best to work it out after the initial freak out in the hospital, but so far there were no answers. When he had coughed the petals up the first time, the nurse that came to his aid after hearing his horrified screams in the hospital room was convinced that the petals were just dropped from the freshly brought set of roses that sat on the nightstand next to the bed and Kip in his tired, painkiller amplified state just didn’t notice neither the flowers nor the petals before. She didn’t take him seriously, only gave him some sedatives to put him in a sleepless slumber so he would stop freaking out.

Ever since then Kip hadn’t told anyone about the petals. Most of the time he managed to keep the coughing to a minimum around other people, like he did around Penelope just now, keeping the petals down in his throat or in the worst case scenario hidden in his mouth until he was alone to get rid of them. The coughing fits came and went, mostly at random and he had little to no control over them, their timing or the intensity, always starting with scratching in his throat until it became unbearable, making it hard to breath, ending with Kip coughing out at least a handful of purple tinted rose petals.

He had thought about telling Penelope about it, but without having close to no idea himself why all this was happening, Kip had decided against it. Penelope was the levelheaded one out of the two of them and she put up with a lot of Kip’s nonsense already, but this might have been above even her understanding. And if Kip couldn’t explain it to even himself, well…

He wasn’t going to risk it with Penelope.

Finishing his plate while pondering through all of this before getting up to get more coffee, Kip poured the petals from his hand into the trash, sighing a little. He had tried researching the phenomena he was experiencing to the best of his ability, but every source he could find was either fictional or made little to no sense to him while he was reading it. The only connecting thread he could find in all of this was the few sets of words that seemed to come up in everything he found, no matter how grounded in reality it was.

Unrequited love.

Flowers growing in his lungs.

Be loved, get surgery… Or die.

Chewing on his lower lip, Kip sat back down to the stool he had stood up from, sipping on a fresh cup of coffee as he dwelt in his thoughts. He wasn’t really sure what it all meant, but he sure had noticed that as time passed with him coughing the petals, it seemed like the throat scratching got worse over time and he had a harder time catching proper amounts of air into his lungs. At first Kip had just put it down as the fault of the medication, but the more he looked into this whole thing, it seemed like this was definitely a lot worse than just medication messing with his body or the short time he had been in bed rest already messing him up physically.

There was something else, as another coughing fit reminded him of, making a few petals drop onto the counter of the kitchen island. Kip stared at them for a moment, slowly wiping them to the floor. Watching them gently float down until they were out of his view Kip sighed.

How did something so beautiful make him hurt so much on the inside? And maybe even more importantly, why?

“…Are you even listening?”

Kip’s eyes shot up, meeting Penelope’s gaze as she leaned against the door frame at the kitchen entrance, arms crossed over her chest. By her reaction Kip was thinking she hadn’t actually seen the petals still, but he had been too deep in his own thoughts the past few moments to notice her talking to him from the living room.

Kip shook his head slowly. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

Penelope sighed, but her features clearly softened as he finally replied to her. “I was just asking if you needed me around today for anything. Or if it’s okay if I leave.”

Kip sipped his coffee, eyeing Penelope for a moment. She had done so much for him that he never asked for, just because they were friends and she lived close by, and was one of the people he trusted the most, knowing their shared background and the work they’d done together and everything. Penelope had been the first person Kip had called when he heard his shoulder required surgery, she was the one that made sure he got in and out of the hospital with this whole ordeal, and now she was here, caring for him when he had asked for none of it.

He finally shook his head again. “I think I can handle myself for a day. I don’t feel worse than before today.”

“Which reminds me,” Penelope spoke up, walking back into the living room for a moment. Kip raised a brow at her as she re-emerged into the kitchen, but his face twisted into a little smile as he watched Penelope slide his pillbox across the kitchen island towards him. “Your meds. Remember to take them.”

Lowering the coffee cup from his hand Kip pulled the pillbox closer, struggling a little to open the correct container with one hand, eventually managing it on his own. He could feel Penelope’s eyes burning holes to the top of his head as she watched him wrestle with the small box, but it was obvious that she wasn’t going to step in before Kip asked her to. She knew he was slowly learning to do things like this on his own, and that she just needed to give him time with them.

“What would I do without you,” Kip sighed with a smile tucking in the corner of his lips as he finally observed the pill he managed to free from its plastic prison, popping it into his mouth, drinking it down with the coffee he had at hand. Penelope just rolled her eyes at him a little, but couldn’t help but to smile. “Well, today you have to figure it out. I’m heading out with Kris.”

Kip nodded, hand reaching for the pillbox again as he snapped the lid of the container shut, handing it back to Penelope. She knew where to store it and how to fill it better than he did, though Kip would eventually have to learn that as well.

“Shopping trip with the girls?”

Penelope grabbed the pillbox from him, Kip being sure he saw a soft blush crossing her cheeks as she giggled a little. “More like A Date with The Girl.”

Her enthusiasm was so obvious with the emphasis she put on her words that Kip couldn’t help but to smile at her, watching Penelope twirl a coil of her hair around her finger as she proceeded to leave the kitchen again to handle her business with the pillbox. His happiness for her was short lived unfortunately, as Kip could feel the by now way too familiar scratching on his throat again all of a sudden, only this time even stronger than at any point this morning so far. It almost felt like something was trying to make its way forcefully out of him, like sharp nails scraping against the walls of his lungs, ripping them to pieces.

And then the doorbell rang.

Penelope quickly showed back up to the doorway, Kip trying to hide the sudden struggle to breathe as she beamed at him, obviously very happy about her upcoming day.

“That’s probably Kris. I’ll see you later, text me if you need anything, I can stop by when I’m heading back home.”

Kip just nodded back at her with a small thumbs up, trying to keep on a false smile as he tried to hold the coughs back. He watched Penelope leave the doorway, disappearing from his view again, and as soon as she did, Kip sprung up on his feet, almost throwing himself to the sink as a wave of petals forcefully made its way out of him through his mouth. Gasping for air between a few small waves of rose petals exiting him, he leaned against the kitchen sink, barely keeping himself up on his feet, feeling like the air had been completely punched out of him.

Wiping a shaky hand over his face, Kip tried to take a deep breath as he closed his eyes, the burning worse than it had been since the first time he had vomited the petals out that night in the hospital. He could feel the sweat on his forehead and tears stinging in the corners of his eyes, reminding himself much of the worst hangovers of some of his younger years. And yet, somehow, this was nothing like that and far worse than anything he had ever experienced at the same time.

“Kip?”

He slowly straightened up, holding himself up against the sink with one hand, turning around to lean back against it. Opening his eyes Kip looked across the room back at Penelope, the worry and confusion clearly written on her face, though Kip was definitely quick to reflect that same emotion back at her, having thought that she had already left.

“Are, are you okay?”

Kip just waved his hand a little, offering her a weak smile. It probably wasn’t very convincing, but it was the best he could do at the moment, to give her a small amount of peace of mind if nothing else.

“I… I don’t think the painkillers are still sitting very well with me today.” He inhaled deeply, finally getting some air into his lungs that didn’t burn, surprisingly enough considering how different the situation had just been mere seconds ago. “But I thought you left.”

“Well, yeah, Kris is outside.” Kip’s eyes narrowed a little, brows furrowing in confusion. “But, uh, there is… Someone here to see you.”

Before Kip could ask, Penelope stepped a bit deeper into the kitchen, leaving the doorway open for a brief moment before another figure stepped through it. Upon seeing the man enter the kitchen, his kitchen in his house, Kip could feel something tightening in his chest as his fingers grasped onto the edge of the sink behind him just a little bit tighter. No, this time it certainly wasn’t his lungs filling up with rose petals to the point of nearly bursting out of him.

This ache was coming straight from his heart upon seeing the slightly awkward Chuck Taylor standing just a few feet away from him.

Kip didn’t register his greeting, only saw Chuck slightly wave his hand at him. Kip’s eyes shot over to Penelope, clearly begging for help as he wasn’t sure at all how to handle the situation that had suddenly evolved around him, which she thankfully understood as she walked up to him, Kip mentally letting out a sigh of relief watching her walk around the kitchen island to the side where she couldn’t possibly see the content in the kitchen sink. The last thing he wanted to do right now was to explain to her why he had gotten sick with odd colored rose petals.

“What is he doing here?” Kip whispered, eyes darting between Penelope and Chuck, despite knowing how awfully clear it made it in this situation that the other man in the room was the topic of their secretive conversation. Chuck just avoided eye contact, almost pretending that he wasn’t there as the two blonds continued their whispering, just looking around the kitchen walls as if he found them extremely interesting.

“Kris drove him here. He said he wanted to see you, insisted even. Talked about some apology or something.”

Kip’s brain was reeling, putting the pieces together slowly. He hadn’t heard anything back from Chuck since he had gotten back from the hospital and replied to the other man’s initial message, having just been left on read. Kip honestly hadn’t expected anything more out of that offer, just assuming in the moment of Chuck hearing that he was going into surgery and holding himself responsible for it, he crumbled and sent the message.

This was the last thing Kip would have expected him to do, and even less so Chuck being the one doing it, especially without Kip asking for that help he was offering.

“Do you want me to chase him out?”

Kip’s widened eyes finally landed back onto Penelope, it dawning on him that he never actually told her that Chuck had reached out to him about the surgery. Maybe it was given, considering how Kip had ended up there and how basically everyone had messaged him about it around that time, so it wouldn’t be as odd to think that Chuck did it too.

Maybe Kip was the only one making it odd and awkward by thinking that it was.

Especially as in the moment he also realized that he never told Penelope that he might have real feelings for Chuck, either.

“Kip?” He blinked at her, but didn’t respond. “I really gotta go, Kris is waiting outside. Just a word and I’ll drag him out with me.”

Kip slowly shook his head, his mind still spinning as he was trying to put the whole situation together. He wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, to keep Chuck at arms reach like this especially if they were going to be alone with just the two of them, but at the same time something was telling Kip that he needed to do this. For the sake of his own sanity, if nothing else.

For the sake of… Whatever this thing was that was wrong with him, as he couldn’t shake off the feeling that all of this was related somehow. And this was as good of an opportunity as any, at least in his mind right then, to try to get at least a little bit closer to some answers. And Chuck himself, for that matter.

“It’s… It’s fine,” Kip finally spoke up, eyes traveling from Penelope to Chuck, who still tried to look interested in anything else in the kitchen than the two of them. A small smile tucked the corner of Kip’s lips, Penelope without a doubt noticing it too as she remained silent, but her eyes surrounded by the perfectly done makeup narrowed slightly. “I’ll see what he wants. I think I can handle it.”

“…Are you sure?” Kip turned back towards her, seeing a real flash of worry in Penelope’s eyes. “After what happened and he… You know.”

Kip watched Penelope motion towards his arm hanging on the sling, the girl biting her lip a little as she was trying to be careful about choosing her next words correctly. “After all of this, are you sure you want to be alone with him?”

He wanted to laugh, but held the sound back, just smiling at Penelope a little, hoping it would melt off at least some of her concerns. They were valid points, Kip admitted that, even if Penelope already knew that what had happened to Kip wasn’t Chuck’s fault in the slightest.

“It’s Chuck Taylor. He wouldn’t hurt an already injured man. It’s all good.”

Penelope clearly wasn’t still entirely convinced of this, but she knew better than to stall the inevitable and continue to debate this with Kip, so instead she just gave a little pat on his healthy arm, offering him a smile. “Just… If he tries anything or you need help, just let me know, okay? I’ll –”

“It’s okay. You go enjoy the day with Kris. Don’t worry about me.”

She honestly wanted to fight him on it, but the smile Kip returned to her made Penelope drop the topic. With a sigh she turned on her heels, eyes landing on Chuck as she approached him on her way out of the kitchen, nudging him closer by tucking the sleeve of his shirt, whispering something to him that Kip couldn’t hear. He could have sworn he saw a quick flash of almost fear in Chuck’s eyes though, making it fairly obvious what sort of words Penelope was giving to him. Chuck just nodded before Penelope let him go, the blonde sending Kip a quick look and a nod before she exited the kitchen, leaving the two men awkwardly standing there as Chuck slowly looked at Kip from across the kitchen island as they both could hear the front door of the house being closed.

“Uh… Hi?”

Chuck waved an awkward hand at him again, Kip forcing a small smile on his lips as he shook his head a little. He honestly felt a little bad for lying to Penelope, as he had no actual idea what it would be like when they were left alone together with just the two of them with Chuck, Kip just assumed that the other man was as well-behaved as he had convinced to himself that Chuck was. After all, there was never an actual intention to hurt Kip, the way things had happened was just an unfortunate coincidence.

“Would you like some coffee?” Kip tried to offer him a smile, motioning towards the coffee maker on the counter next to him with his free hand. Chuck glanced over at it, nodding his head a little, though he was clearly hesitant. Kip returned the gesture, turning on his heels to reach for a coffee cup on the dish drying rack next to the sink before walking over to the coffee maker. Only then it seemed to click in Chuck’s mind that he was basically asking a one armed man for some awkward hospitality, even if it was in his own house, making him quickly round the kitchen island to the coffee maker.

“I got it, I got it,” Kip just smiled at him, Chuck stopping next to him to observe as Kip poured coffee into the cup, easily sliding the coffee pot back into its original place afterwards. “Just because I’m one arm short doesn’t mean I’m completely incapable.”

“I-I know, I was just--”

“Don’t worry about it.” Kip shook his head, trying to keep the smile on his face despite the awkward feel of the moment. He couldn’t get on Chuck’s nerves now, Kip had to remind himself that Chuck was just here to help. To apologize. He was here to make peace, and Kip didn’t need to treat him like the villain of this story that he definitely even wasn’t.

Pushing the thoughts aside from his mind, Kip reached over to the kitchen island, picking the coffee cup he used before into his hand, finishing the coffee in it before pouring himself a new cup. At this point it was more of a formality to keep his hands occupied and hopefully to make Chuck feel a little less awkward than he would be if he was the only one around enjoying a drink, than Kip actually needing another cup of caffeine to get him started on the day.

With Kip taking the charge, he led the two of them out of the kitchen and into the living room, motioning Chuck to take a seat on the couch. Kip wasn’t sure how long he had planned this visit to last, as Penelope had only mentioned that Chuck was here to present him with an apology of some sort. Kip already had a pretty good idea what he was about, the texts he had received from Chuck on the day of his surgery were permanently burned into his mind, and they hadn’t talked about it since Kip had sent him an acknowledging response a day later.

“So how are things?”

Kip looked at Chuck, shrugging a little as he sipped on his coffee.

“You don’t look terrible,” Chuck continued before the silence could linger around them for longer, making anything he said sound desperate and more awkward than it already was. “I mean. For someone who had surgery only like a week ago. Sorry.”

Kip shook his head with a soft chuckle. “Don’t worry, that’s still nicer than anything Penelope has told me all week.”

Chuck hummed a little in response before focusing more on his coffee, but Kip was certain he could see a little smile twitching in the corner of his lips before they disappeared behind the cup. Which was a relief to him, knowing that at least his little quip was funny enough to ease some of the clear tension in the living room. He was getting a good grade in being a good host today.

“Speaking of Penelope.” Kip raised a brow at the sudden direction the conversation was taking, him having not expected it, especially being told earlier what Chuck was here for. “She spends a lot of time here these days, huh?”

Kip’s eyes narrowed a little, him not really liking the tone that such a question was presented to him with, as usually people asking about the relationship between him and Penelope thought there was something more than genuine friendship going on there. Kip would have thought especially Chuck would know better than to ask such questions, him being friends with Kris and all who could have easily told him the true nature of things.

Besides, Kip absolutely did not want Chuck to have the wrong idea about the things that were going on with him and Penelope.

“She’s the one friend that lives close enough to help me out, with, you know, all of this.” Kip motioned at his arm hanging on the sling, watching Chuck nod back to him. “…And you do know she’s dating Kris, right? You’re friends with her, if someone should know, it should be you.”

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Chuck muttered, taking another sip of his coffee. “Just… Looking out for her, you know?”

Kip was really hoping that wasn’t actually all Chuck was trying to achieve with that line of questioning, but he remained quiet, both men just focusing on their coffee as the silence finally fell into the living room. Probably with anyone else Kip would have found the silence comfortable, but with Chuck around like this all of a sudden, with minimal explanation on what he was actually doing here after everything, it was just making Kip a bit uneasy. He wasn’t going to push the issue at least immediately, in hopes that he wouldn’t annoy Chuck too much.

Kip finally had some alone time with him. He hadn’t seen Chuck in person for a week and a half, and before that they didn’t spend time together outside of a few rare occasions when they were somewhere with a group of other people. And now he was here, sitting on his couch, drinking his coffee out of one of his coffee mugs, observing his decor in his living room. It was more than Kip had ever asked for, more than he had ever hoped for, and quite honestly with how things had been going the past week, it was something Kip desperately needed.

Having Chuck Taylor in such a close proximity as this was the chance Kip needed in hopes of trying to make all of this right. To make all of this make sense.

“But really though,” Chuck’s voice finally broke the silence again after a moment, almost startling Kip out of his thoughts. “How are you doing? It can’t be easy to deal with everything with one arm.”

“No, not really. Especially when it’s your non-dominant arm.”

Chuck winced a little at the mere thought, Kip just carefully shrugging one shoulder. “Yeah, it sucks, but what can you do. It could be worse, I could have no arms.”

“That would really be the worst case possible, huh?”

Kip chuckled at him, humming a little as he sipped on his coffee again. This seemed to be going well now, at least by his standards. Being able to just joke around like this with someone other than Penelope despite his current condition was refreshing, usually Kip had to deal with people wanting to talk about this topic more seriously than he did. Sure, it was a rather serious situation, he wouldn’t have required surgery otherwise, but that didn’t mean he needed to be all grave and gloom about it at all times. And at least Chuck was throwing that mentality back at him even a little bit, which Kip just found kind of nice.

“I’d imagine you get bored easily, dealing with all of this. Not really being able to do anything and all.”

“Sometimes,” Kip muttered, eyes almost on instinct landing on the tv remote on the coffee table. “Especially if I don’t have any company. You can’t really play games or something with just one hand, so I just end up watching a lot of things. I can’t tell you the amount of shows I’ve binged in the past week alone compared to maybe the rest of my entire life.”

Chuck nodded, silently pondering over his words, Kip picking it up as a sign to continue. “You just kind of realize how used you are to having two functional arms and how much easier even simple household activities are. Cooking is so much easier when you can lift a pot full of water with both hands. Showering feels incredible when you don’t have to be extra careful about your cuts and stitches. Being awake without having to take painkillers, let alone sleeping through the entire night without waking up to excruciating pain… You know what I mean.”

“Yeah…” Chuck’s voice drifted off, Kip stealing a curious glance towards him. Chuck was staring at the bottom of his coffee cup, clearly contemplating on something, and Kip was slightly worried about being able to decipher a look of distress on his face. Kip almost wanted to ask him about it, but thought better of it, not wanting to derail this relatively relaxed conversation to whatever else was in Chuck’s mind. Unfortunately for him, Chuck had other thoughts, as he slowly shook his head, inhaling sharply, Kip’s eyes shooting towards him almost a little bit too quickly.

“Listen, I…” His voice was quiet, Chuck stopping to think again for a moment, not bearing to look back at Kip who he most definitely felt staring at him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… I never meant to hurt you like that. I’m so sorry about everything that happened.”

His words registered pretty fast, but it still took a moment in Kip’s mind to connect everything together. Biting his lip his eyes shot away from the other man, mentally beating himself up for whatever he said that brought up this topic so suddenly. Kip had wanted to avoid talking about this for as long as possible, of course the moment Penelope had said that Chuck wanted to apologize for something Kip knew this was eventually going to be talked about, but they were having such a nice time just moments before. They were just having a regular conversation, a thing that they rarely ever did together, and it all just felt so nice at least to Kip.

Most importantly right now though, Kip needed to tell him the truth. Chuck still clearly lived with the belief that he had caused all of this, that Kip’s injury was his fault and that it all happened because of the bump he had initiated, even if it was under mutual understanding and agreement. Kip hadn’t talked about it with him so far, having avoided saying anything about it, in texts or in person, kind of just hoping that it wasn’t being brought up. When Chuck had said in the initial text messages that he was sorry, Kip had honestly thought that that was it, especially since they didn’t talk about it after that in the past week at all. Well, they hadn’t talked at all in the past few days to be honest, but that had just solidified it in Kip’s mind that this conversation was over before it even happened to begin with.

Unfortunately for him, he was wrong about it. And now Kip needed to deal with it, and probably face the consequences of not telling Chuck the truth immediately, having left him to live with the regret of causing this much pain and suffering to Kip up until this point. All he needed was to tell Chuck the truth, to be honest about it, to just say it wasn’t his fault. That’s all Kip needed to do.

“It’s…”

Tell him the truth.

“It’s fine. Accidents happen.”

Fuck.

Chuck nodded, somehow looking even more discouraged than he did before. Kip knew exactly why, but he couldn’t bring himself to correct his words.

The only thought in his mind was that if he told Chuck the truth, he would just walk away from him. Just like how he had left Kip on read for a week after reaching out to him when Kip had told him that surgery went well and everything was okay, Kip was afraid that Chuck would leave him now if he knew this wasn’t actually his fault.

It was just a little white lie, and if it was giving Kip a chance to spend time with Chuck, to maybe fix this entire thing, it was worth it all to him.

Almost on cue at the thought, Kip felt a familiar scratching in his throat. Almost as if it was mocking him, making fun of Kip for not being able to tell Chuck what was really going on. The shame gnawing on him on the inside, Kip tried his best to push the feeling aside, letting out a quiet cough, hoping it would help with the growing burning in his lungs.

“It could have happened to anyone. It’s the risk we take.”

Chuck didn’t reply back to him, but he was in deep thought, processing Kip’s words. Kip tried to hold himself back from explaining any further, not wanting to make things sound any worse than they probably already were in Chuck’s mind, him thinking that all this really was his fault. It could lead into something in this scenario that Kip didn’t want, expose his lies or drag him down deeper than he wanted to go with this whole thing, at least for the time being. Maybe eventually he was ready to tell Chuck the truth, if it even mattered at that point anymore.

The honest truth right now was that the less Chuck knew, the better chances Kip had at keeping him close by. And the closer Chuck was to him, the easier it was for Kip to try to decipher this riddle he was living with that included rose petals coming out of his lungs every now and then, but especially when Kip was thinking about the man sitting next to him on the couch just a little bit too long.

He coughed again, watching from the corner of his eye as Chuck shot a quick look that almost resembled worry towards him.

“I’m fine,” Kip smiled a little at him, coughing again. It was getting worse, he could feel it, so Kip quickly pushed himself up on his feet. He could never quite predict when or how forcefully the petals would be pushing out of him, so the sooner he got out of sight before it happened, the better. “I’m just going to get some water. Do you need anything from the kitchen?”

Chuck shook his head slowly, watching as Kip spun around on his heels, making his hurried exit from the living room and into the kitchen. He was barely able to make it back to the sink as he coughed again, loudly and almost violently as the purple tinted petals he was so used to by now appeared again, landing to the bottom of the kitchen sink where the previous pile was still waiting to be cleaned up. Kip tried to keep the noises down, not wanting to draw attention to himself and his condition, knowing how difficult it would be to explain. He struggled with it himself, he had not told Penelope about it, Chuck was the last person Kip wanted to know anything. Especially if this was all caused by him, indirectly or not, as Kip had thought all this occurred.

Kip straightened himself up against the sink, glancing over his shoulder towards the doorway, being quietly thankful that he found it empty. He was worried that Chuck would follow him, especially after the wretched noises Kip was making, just to check on him, but apparently he wasn’t loud enough. That, or Chuck just didn’t care about them, which was a thought Kip immediately pushed away as he could feel it causing more burning in his throat, not wanting to deal with another wave of petals.

He ran the faucet, waiting for the water to turn cold, watching as the flowing water grabbed some of the petals from the sink to play around with. Kip found it odd that every time they got out of him, the petals were almost in near perfect condition – he had never seen one that was torn up, they were almost all identical and symmetrical to one another as far as he had compared, and every time they were almost like freshly plucked straight from a flower. Kip never threw up anything else when the petals exited his body, it was almost like they came from a completely different source than anything else a normal human being would be throwing up.

And as they swirled around in the sink while Kip reached his coffee cup underneath the running water, he thought that in all this time he had never seen one wither away no matter how much time passed. He still had some in the trash from earlier in the week and they still looked exactly the same, hell he kept one petal to examine it later from the first night he threw them up in the hospital, and it remained unchanged since then.

Pulling the coffee cup back to himself, now filled with water, Kip took a sip from it, feeling it make him feel slightly better. The back of his throat was still burning, he could feel the scratching somewhere in his chest, but after ejecting some of the petals again the feeling was milder than before. That’s how it always went, Kip had learned that much. It was one of the two things he could count on, the other one being that somehow whenever his mind wandered off to Chuck, these things started to happen. He understood the connection from what he had been able to discover about this condition, but it still baffled Kip that this could happen in the first place.

Finishing the cup of water Kip poured himself another one, returning to the living room. Before he could get there though, he stopped in the doorway, hearing Chuck talking to someone. Staying out of sight on the side of the kitchen, Kip peeped into the living room carefully, hoping Chuck wasn’t able to see him, spotting the brunet still sitting on the couch, now with his phone pressed against his ear.

“Yeah man, I think I have to stay here for a while.”

Kip’s brows furrowed but he remained silent, his heart doing an extra lap as he realized Chuck’s words. Him? Stay? Here?

“Listen, I don’t really like it either, but… I kinda did promise him that if he needed something, I would be there, since… You know.”

Kip leaned against the door frame, pulling his head back into the kitchen, just sipping on his water and listening. Chuck was right, he had promised that after all. Kip hadn’t said anything about needing help or company today, but apparently Chuck had decided that he needed it. Which Kip was thankful for, more ways than he could express or actually say out loud, honestly.

“Just for today. Look-- Trent, let me finish. I’m just gonna keep him company today, okay? We can do stuff tomorrow. I promise.”

Kip nodded to himself, pushing himself off from the door frame before he inhaled deeply, walking back into the living room as if nothing had happened and he hadn’t heard anything just now. He just smiled at Chuck, who quickly got off the phone as the Brit arrived back, taking a seat on the couch. Kip sipped on his water, not wanting to directly jump into asking Chuck about the call to expose himself as a filthy eavesdropper, but at the same time Kip didn’t really know where to take the conversation from here.

“So uh.” Kip glanced at Chuck, watching the man just shrug a little as his hand reached for the remote on the coffee table, Kip raising a questioning brow at him. “Would you like to… I dunno, hang out or something? Since Penelope isn’t here, so you don’t get bored or whatever.”

Kip took another sip of his water, almost pretending to ponder over the question for a while as Chuck turned the television on without waiting for his answer, surfing through the channels to try to find something interesting enough for both of them to busy themselves with. Of course Kip wanted him around, it had been the only thing he had been thinking about since Chuck showed up unannounced earlier. He was the key to all of this after all, and even if he wasn’t, Kip would be lying if he said that he didn’t want this chance to be around Chuck today. Or any chance that ever presented itself for them to hang out, really.

“Since you’re already here, why not.” Kip kicked himself mentally for trying to sound almost too nonchalant about it. The last thing he needed was to give Chuck the wrong idea about how much he actually wanted him to be there. He had to find the perfect balance, just enough to make sure Chuck knew Kip wanted him, but also that Chuck didn’t know that Kip wanted him. He needed to make that connection, but not ruin it with his over enthusiasm so he wouldn’t preemptively ruin it all. “I also have some games I think you might be interested in.”

Chuck nodded, watching Kip lower the coffee cup from his hand before motioning towards the tv stand and the cabinets underneath it to emphasize his point. As Chuck stood from the couch to check out the selection Kip spoke about, the Brit allowed himself to sink into his own thoughts for a brief moment, trying to convince himself that this was a good idea.

This was what he needed. This was the breakthrough he had been looking for. Chuck Taylor was right there, within his grasp, and all Kip needed to do from this point forward was to make sure that Chuck fell madly in love with him.

[arcadiabaytornado]

Some Things I Want To Talk About In The Life Is Strange Comic: Waves and Strings

A: It makes so much sense Rachel would be an influencer if she lived. So much sense. Also, I love the Amberprice in this already! 

B: While I do think Chloe communicating better likely comes from Rachel, I also think it has some to do with Joyce and David being far from her. They aren’t there to cut her down whenever she speaks, and she can finally express herself without fear of retaliation. 

C: I like the difference between Chloe letting Max go for her sake but being unwilling to let Rachel leave at first. I think that’s telling of her maturity levels in the different timelines. She had to grow up fast after the storm and it shows.

More Undercut

D: I guess powers can be activated by doing whatever you need to in a dangerous situation? For Max she was able to rewind when Nathan shot Chloe because all she wanted to do was save her. For Tristian he disappeared when his friend was shot since he didn’t want to be involved in the situation. 

E: It devastates me that our Rachel never got a chance to get clean like she is in the comics. Watching her talk about how easily she could’ve been her in regards to Callie’s overdose made me very upset. 

F: I have thoughts about Max letting dangerous men lure her away after what she endured with Jefferson. They aren’t good thoughts. 

G: I also don’t love what they did with Rachel’s character. She’s almost to perfect and all of her interesting flaws from Before The Storm and Life Is Strange aren’t there. Alternative universe Rachel that saw Max and Chloe hold hands was more interesting then everybody lives timeline Rachel. That’s explained by the comic as her making different choices, but I feel like she still could’ve lived and had more personality. 

H: The comics are pretty decent so far! They aren’t my favorite thing ever, but they aren’t terrible and I’m glad to have read them! There’s three more left, so maybe I’ll enjoy these last few more!