#huh this story turned into 30k words gotta get it done

[minici]

Idk I might actually be addicted to writing...

[sterekloving]

If you’re new to the fandom or just want something new to read or even reread an old classic, here’s the most popular and iconic fics in the fandom!

(Those with a * are my all time favourites - if you want me to do a personal fave ficrec, let me know!)

Alpha Spikes* -  thestarbeast - 70k+ - Explicit

AU. Alphas are like royalty and are offered their choice of any age eighteen-and-up virgin Omega for each heat season, as a 'thank-you' for all they've done throughout the year. Derek is an Alpha and...yeah, Stiles. Stiles is an Omega. And still a virgin. In every way. And he's just turned eighteen. This...is not his day.

Bones Straining Under the Weight* -  weathervaanes - 15k - Explicit

One of Stiles' favorite things about life is Derek Hale's food blog. He never expects to meet the man in person.

“Derek,” he says again, and the name feels very strange on his tongue.

“You don’t mean Derek Hale.”

His professor’s eyebrows reach up, eyes widening. “You read his blog?”

"Uh. Worship. Would be a better more descriptive word. That is Derek Hale?"

Jimmy chuckles. "Good-looking guy, huh?"

"You mean to tell me the Food Network hasn't snatched him up to dethrone everyone else from daytime TV."

Jimmy smiles a small private smile. "I don't think TV is his medium."

Stiles raises an eyebrow. "Shy?"

The man laughs heartily at that. "No, I wouldn't say that. He just has particular forms of expression, like eyebrows and chili powder."

By Any Other Name -  entanglednow - 33k - Explicit

He doesn't know his name, he doesn't know who he is, and neither does the werewolf he's on the run with. But he's pretty sure they hunt monsters, because they seem to be really good at it.

Can’t Be Hateful, Gotta Be Grateful -  HalfFizzbin - 6k - Teen

"Be cool, Dad, we've decided to con Grandma." (Or, the one where the Stilinski men drag Derek to Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's and she gets the right wrong idea.)

Cornerstone* -  Vendelin - 83k - Explicit

Suffering from PTSD, ex-Marine Derek Hale moves back to Beacon Hills to open a bookshop and find a calmer life. That’s where he meets Stiles, completely by accident. Stiles is talkative, charming and curious. Somehow, despite the fact that he’s blind, he’s able to read Derek like no one else.

Cupboard Love -  mklutz - 30k+ - General

He’s carefully balancing the sandwiches and the two biggest tupperware containers he could find that both had functioning lids when the front door opens and he almost drops everything right there in front of the stupid fountain. If that’s Derek Hale, he’s definitely not a mountain man.

Dating Backwards* - RemainNameless - 85k - Explicit

Pornstars Derek and Stiles work for the same company. Derek only shoots with werewolves and Stiles only shoots with humans. That's not going to change after they meet. It's really not. (It might.)

DILF* -  twentysomething - 30k+ - Explicit

"Today is Scott's first day of kindergarten and Derek is terrified."

Divided We Stand* -  KouriArashi - 100k+ - Mature

Derek is being pressured by his family to pick a mate, and somehow stumbles into a choice that they didn't expect and aren't sure they approve of....

Don’t Savage The Messenger* -  exclamation - 172k - Explicit

There is an uneasy truce between the werewolves in the woods and the humans who live in Beacon Hills, protected by a magical boundary that gives warning any time a werewolf crosses it. Then the sheriff is taken by the werewolves and his son offers himself in exchange.

Stiles promises to serve the werewolf pack, not knowing what horrible use they might have for him. But it turns out his most useful skill is the ability to cross the boundary line between humans and werewolves. Life with the werewolves is nothing like he feared and the werewolves themselves are nothing like the hunters' stories would have him believe.

Don’t Worry Baby -  kalpurna - 20k - Explicit

"You know you're allowed to ask for vanilla sex, right?" he says, afterwards. "We can do whatever you want. That's kind of the point." Derek doesn't respond.

Dude, Werewolves -  mysecretashes - 29k - Explicit

Stiles gets partnered with Cora for a history project, and they become bros. Also, he kind of falls in love with her older brother, Derek.

Electricity In the Contact -  ladyblahblah - 27k - Explicit

In which Derek has been invited to the Greater Pacific Northwest Alpha Symposium (that's not what it's called, Stiles, stop saying that), and showing up unattached would mean an arranged marriage. When the rest of the pack objects, he agrees to let Stiles come along to pose as his mate. Derek is reasonably sure that he's not going to make it out of this weekend alive.

Enemy Lines* -  qhuinn - 149k - Explicit

This is the story of werewolf Derek Hale and human Stiles Stilinski: two people who grew up in the same town but completely different worlds, their realities split by the war between men and wolves.

Years later when Derek returns to Beacon Hills, he does it as Alpha of a military pack on a mission to capture those responsible for the region’s resistance. With his main objective, Sheriff Stilinski, out of sight, he settles for the next best thing: his son, Stiles.

Neither of them suspects they’ll need to trust each other if they want to make it out this alive.

Every Step You Take -  Nokomis - 49k - Mature

Stiles accidentally ends up magically bound to Derek. It’s super.

Fireman Derek’s Crazy Pie (Cheeseburger Baby) -  owlpostagain - 17k - Teen

“He can't blame me for the fact that I live in a building full of people united in the singular effort to ogle Hot Fireman as often as humanly possible." Laura laughs, loud and echoing in the empty restaurant.

"Hot firemen can make a girl do crazy things," she agrees, nodding towards her brother's name on the menu. "Derek won't let me date anyone from his company, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the eye candy."

"Send them my way," Stiles suggests, finally loading up a forkful of pie. "Apparently I'm incompetent enough that I need to be babysat at all times, because it would be cheaper than dispatching a truck every time I try to use a kitchen appliance."

Gravity’s Got Nothing on You* -  zosofi - 83k - Explicit

“Three weeks,” Derek says.

“Still don’t want to,” Stiles says.

“I’ll pay you,” Derek says, and that… that has Stiles interested. Alf’s Antique’s may be a great job, but it’s not a high-paying job, and half of Stiles’s tuition is coming from financial aid, so… “How much,” Stiles asks, “are we talking here? Because I know your family, dude. And it’ll be kind of awkward after.“

“My family thinks you’re some sort of fucking gift to the world,” Derek seethes, like he’s jealous, “they’ll probably be pissed at me when we break it off, so don’t worry about that. Five hundred bucks.”

“A thousand,” Stiles says, because screw ethics. Also, the Hale family is loaded. Derek can deal.

Hemingway Can Suck It -  KuriKuri - 10k - Teen

“For those of you who just transferred into this class or simply decided that day one wasn’t important enough to attend, I’m Professor Hale. Welcome to English 346, The American Novel.”

Stiles is pretty sure his mouth is hanging open right now and that his eyes are wide with shock, because holy fuck, he thinks he knows why his students transferred. Hell, if he was still an undergrad, he probably would have transferred, too.

(Or: In which Stiles is a Biology professor and Derek thinks he's a student.)

Integral to Survival -  asocialfauxpas - 8k - Mature

Derek is in the cell for about ten minutes before the lone door opens and a new body is tossed in. The person hits the floor with a grunt, rolls, and stands as the door is clanging shut. “That’s really not the way to treat a guest!”

Just Act Normal -  zosofi - 70k+ - Explicit

If someone had told Stiles back in high school that he would be an Oscar winning actor by the time he turned 25, he would’ve probably told Scott to punch them. The thing is, though…they would’ve been right. Which makes returning to Beacon Hills, center of all that is supernatural and better left avoided, all the more awkward.

Kaleidoscope* -  Vendelin - 50k+ - Explicit 

Stiles spends a year before college working at the all-night coffee shop in town. It's nice and quiet, until one dark and brooding Derek starts coming in every morning, ordering coffee so strong that it should not be fit for human consumption. Ever. Stiles tries not to be affected by the mystery guy, but it's not like anything else happens around here, so really, what did you expect? And when he's already in too deep, he realises he might even be in way over his head...

Little Wild Animal* - DiscontentedWinter - 61k - Explicit

Derek Hale finds a feral human on his pack's property. Humans are supposed to be extinct. But then, Stiles is full of surprises.

Lock All The Doors Behind You -  entanglednow - 25k+ - Mature

He has no idea what you're supposed to say when you find one of your...werewolf acquaintances, completely out of their mind, growling like they're about to see what your insides taste like. There's no handbook for this. Stiles is thinking that if he survives he might write one.

Losers -  stilinskisparkles - 30k+ - Explicit

Where Derek is new to college, eager to spend his time learning, and Stiles is everything he didn't want in a room mate. He's loud, he's into sports, and he keeps trying to make Derek do things. Or, the one where Derek falls for a jock, Erica will cut you if you disturb her studying, and Jackson is a closeted romantic who pretends to hate everything.

Move a Mountain* -  ZainClaw - 69k - Explicit

Stiles goes camping with his friends in New Mexico after graduation where they befriend a biker gang led by Derek: a guy whom Stiles can’t decide if he will be either relieved or devastated to never see again once their week is up.

No Homo* -  RemainNameless - 80k+ - Explicit

Stiles' sophomore year starts something like this: 3 FourLokos + 1 peer-pressuring cat - 1 best bro to end all best bros = 1 Craigslist ad headline that reads "str8 dude - m4m - strictly platonic". Derek is the fool who replies.

Our Lives Are Changing Lanes* -  grimm - 47k - Explicit

There's a lot of screaming going on inside the first house Stiles visits. He isn't really worried, because it sounds like kids, but then the door opens and hi, says his dick, because the dude in front of him is gorgeous, built like a god with a face like thunder. Stiles wants to lick that solid jaw line. Hold the fuck on, says his cop brain, because the dude's got kids hanging all over him; one's on his back, skinny legs looped around his waist, and another two hanging off one arm, toes barely brushing the ground. There's a tubby toddler clinging to his leg like a koala, and he's got a baby tucked into the crook of the one arm that doesn’t have kids hanging off it. Stiles' mouth drops open.

"How many of those kids did you kidnap?" he asks before he can wrangle his brain into submission.

The man gives him a look that says what the fuck is wrong with you and snaps, "You think I'd subject myself to this on purpose?"

"Oooh," says one of the kids hanging off his arm. "I'm telling Mom."

Permanent Fixture* -  linksofmemories - 80k+ = Explicit

Derek is Scott's older brother. Stiles is Scott's best friend. Derek is falling in love with Stiles. This is a bit of a problem.

Practice Makes Perfect -  blacktofade - 21k - Explicit

In his sophomore year, Stiles gets dragged to lacrosse tryouts by Scott and ends up practising alongside the senior captain, Derek Hale. Stiles just wants to live long enough to become a junior.

Prince Among Wolves* -  tylerfucklin - 100k - Explicit

Looking for full day/evening sitter. 2 twin boys age 4. Must have exp. w/werewolves. Must be human. No pedophiles. No teenage girls. Pay negotiable.

Salty Sweet - secondstar - 40k+ - Explicit

Derek works at a porn store. One day, Stiles comes in asking all sorts of TMI questions about different toys. That's where it all starts.

Sideways and Slantways and Longways and Backways -  hologramophone - 7k - Teen

“I called you a slave-driver!” Stiles cried hysterically. “I called you an ogre! I stole all the blue paperclips!” Derek raised an eyebrow at him. “That’s company property!” he shouted, waving his arms madly in distress. Derek ran a hand over his face. “It’s not theft if the vice president of the company gives you permission.” (Otherwise known as the Elevator AU)

The Company I Keep* -  secondstar - 67k - Explicit

Stiles has a favorite table at the library. Then some asshole comes along and steals it from him.

There is a Brotherhood* -  minusoneday - 21k - Explicit

So far, college has taught Stiles three things:

1) Eight am classes are cruel and unusual and should be avoided at all costs, even if it means having to enroll in something truly hideous instead, like Econ 101.

2) Dorm security is just as tight as Stiles’ orientation leader had promised it would be, and the dude guarding Scott’s dorm in particular does not respond well to bribes.

3) Mrs. McCall clearly had no clue what she was talking about when she’d insisted that Scott and Stiles needed to branch out and room with strangers, so it’s all her fault that Scott ended up with a total dick of a roommate and Stiles got stuck all the way across campus with some guy who has a girlfriend two towns over and is thus never around.

Or, the one where pledge brothers Stiles and Scott start a prank war with Derek Hale's fraternity.

There’s Monsters At Home -  calrissian18 - 80k+ - Explicit

“How did you get past the wards?” Derek had put them up, with Peter’s grudging assistance, after the Alpha pack had made themselves at home a few times too many. The guy pulled a face. “You mean the wards a five-year-old girl with the mental ability of a goldfish could deconstruct?” He blinked wide eyes at Derek. “Gee, I don’t know. It’s bound to go down as one of life’s great mysteries.” Derek despised him.

Tiny Houses* -  ohmyjetsabel - 77k - Explicit

"So this is what Stiles does. He lies in Scott’s bed and waits for Melissa to say she’s found someone to get it out of him, to cure him of the wrongness and the bad, and he dreams.

God, he dreams.

He dreams of fire and swollen bellies and that scene in Alien, of giving birth to jackals through his urethra, the whole horrific nine yards. His head is a terrible place to be, he can’t imagine his stomach is much better, why anyone would want to put a thing inside of it."

Versus* -  secondstar - 90k+ - Explicit

At age nineteen, Stiles Stilinski was the next big thing, according to The Guardian. It was surreal, not being able to turn on Sky Sports without hearing his name mentioned along with the names of players he grew up idolizing. Stiles couldn’t believe that this was his life.

Windows* -  dr_girlfriend - 83k - Explicit

Derek has a new neighbor who won't stop looking. 

Excerpt: “You’re blind,” Derek said flatly, the anger draining from him so suddenly he felt almost woozy. His vision cleared, his claws sliding back into blunt fingernails. 

“Thanks for the memo, genius,” the kid said acidly. “I can still fucking defend myself, so don’t take another damn step.” 

“Fuck, I...I’m sorry,” Derek stuttered. 

“What?!” The kid’s brow crinkled. “I mean — what?! You’re fucking sorry!?” His lips thinned into a harsh line. “What, is this some kinda Hallmark movie where you’re discovering the error of your ways because you don’t want to rob a blind person?! That’s fucking condescending, man. I’ll have you know that —” 

“Just, wait.” Derek interrupted what was apparently the start of a convincing argument as to why he should rob the kid after all, feeling his head start to spin. “This is — it’s a misunderstanding. I’m — I’m not robbing you. You’re — you’re safe, okay? I’m taking three steps back. Just — just let me explain.” 

“Explain why you came busting into my apartment? Yeah, go right ahead, man, I can’t wait to hear this epic tale.”

What I Did On My Summer Vacation -  grimm - 118k - Explicit

There's something weird about Beacon Hills that Stiles can't quite put his finger on. The way everyone in town knows his name the day he arrives. The way they insist the melancholic howling that echoes through the forest every night is just a dog. The way his dad denies getting a dog, even though Stiles comes home to find one sprawled across his bed, some big black thing whose eyes gleam red in the right light. The way that massive oak tree out in the woods vibrates under his touch, pulsing with sickly life. There's something weird going on in this town, and Stiles is determined to get to the bottom of it.

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

Slow down! - chapter 2

@colourfulheroes I PROMISE I DIDN’T GIVE UP ON THAT FIC YOU CHALLENGED ME TO WRITE, HERE’S SOME MORE :D

AO3

“So lemme get this right,” said Nath, sitting at his homework desk with Kim beside him and an open laptop in front of him. “Max challenged you to write a 30k slow burn fic about you and Alix, as a way to kickstart a friendship, and you don’t want to do it so you’re commissioning me to secretly write it all for you.”

Kim nodded, sure he hadn’t heard Nath speak so much in his entire life. “It’s stupid, I know, but I’ve got some pocket money so like I can totally afford to pay you for it…”

Nath just stared for a few seconds. Then he burst into laughter.

“So are you gonna help me or not?” Kim asked. This was bizarre – he was pretty certain he had never heard Nath laugh before, and it was a little unsettling.

“Oh – that’s hilarious…” Nath wiped a few tears out of his eyes, catching his breath. “I’m sorry, it’s just… what was Max thinking?! He must have a lot of faith in you…”

“Of course he does. I’m his best friend.”

“And you’re just going to betray him by hiring me to do your challenge for you. Excellent. Listen – I’ll do it for free.”

Kim blinked. “What?”

“I know, I know, I hate it when people don’t pay me for art or writing. But this? This is the funniest thing I’ve had the opportunity to write in a long time, like a breath of fresh air! A slow burn fic about the only two kids in our class who don’t know the meaning of the word slow…”

“Of course I do!” said Kim. “It’s the opposite of fast.”

“I meant it symbolically, Kim.”

“Symbol… what?”

Nath sighed. “Well your brain certainly seems to be a bit on the slow side, even if the rest of you isn’t… I’ll have to factor this lack of vocabulary into my writing style…”

“Anyway,” Kim said quickly, suspecting that Nath might have been insulting him, “what’s the plot gonna be and stuff? I have to meet up with the little pink monster once a week and show her the story progress so far, so I at least gotta know what it’s about.”

“Let’s brainstorm together. That way you won’t be 100% cheating. Right, so common slow burn tropes, let’s see… there’s always the good old coffee shop AU?”

“I would never buy coffee from her, she’d probably try to poison me,” Kim muttered, folding his arms.

“Alright then, not that one. I can’t imagine either of you successfully getting hired to work in a coffee shop anyway. Or anywhere else, for that matter. Right, what else…”

This was no fun. Kim got the distinct feeling that Nath was mocking him somehow, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Why were quiet people always so good at making you feel like an idiot compared to them? It was so annoying!

“Soulmate AU?” Nath suggested next.

“Ew, no. That’s out of the question. The only way she’s my soulmate is if she’s my enemy-soulmate, you know, like Link and Ganon. Next idea please.”

Nath grinned, an evil little grin that looked very out of place on him. “What about a fake dating AU? Pretending to have a relationship for whatever reason, and somewhere along the line it turns into a real relationship. Perfect for slow burn, and especially for people who – uh – would otherwise refuse to get past their differences in a civil manner.”

Kim was rather having enough of Nath’s little jabs at him – “quick burns”, perhaps – so he just said, “Fine, we’ll go with that. Now get on with the first chapter and send it to me when it’s done. And make sure you make me really cool in the story, way cooler than her.”

“Don’t worry, I will,” said Nath. “After all, this story’s supposed to be written by you, right? I’ll have to make it seem more self-centred than my usual impartial style.”

Self-centred?!

“Bye,” Kim snapped, picking up his bag and walking out of the door. He could have sworn he heard Nath giggling away behind him. Stupid emo art nerd.

Almost at the same time, Alix and Lila were in a very similar situation, though much more amicable.

“This is going to be so much fun!” Lila said, flipping her long hair over her shoulder and opening her laptop. “I love writing stories! And don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you’re cheating on this – I’m very good at lying.”

Obviously. Everyone knew that by now. It was always hard to tell whether Lila was actually telling the truth or not.

“So, got any ideas?” she continued, clacking her long nails on the table while she waited for her laptop to turn on.

“Yeah, actually,” Alix said. “I always kinda wondered why Max didn’t just dare me and Kim to be nice to each other – it would’ve worked on an idiot like him, you know it would.”

Lila chuckled. “And it would have worked on you, too!”

“Well… yeah… I don’t like losing challenges to him, so…”

“This sounds like a great start to the story. Max challenges you two to be nice, you begin doing that, somewhere along the line the compliments become more and more sincere as you realize each other’s good points, and the friendship becomes real, and it blossoms into–”

“And don’t make it too mushy,” Alix said quickly. “For starters I can’t stand stuff like that, and also no one would believe I actually wrote it if you made it overly sappy or something stupid like that.”

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll make sure to write in your style! I’m pretty good at impersonation. This one time, I wrote such a cleverly written story that everyone believed it was an academic text, can you believe?”

Yes, for once she really could believe it. People were very gullible sometimes. Lila had fooled plenty of people before, and she’d do it again.

“Thanks for agreeing to help me,” Alix said.

“No problem at all,” Lila said, winking. “It’s an honour. I’ll write the first chapter as soon as possible and send it to you once it’s done. When do you need it by?”

“Not sure, I’ll have to see when me and Kim are gonna have the first meetup…”

Alix pulled her phone out of her pocket and, rather reluctantly, sent a text to Kim.

If Max is making us meet up every week then I’m always free on Saturday afternoons. In the library, please, so no one there will recognize me and ask me why I’m hanging out with a loser like you.

Okay, maybe that hadn’t been very polite. But so what? He was never polite to her, so why should she be? His reply arrived quicker than she expected.

Fine, whatever.

“The meetup is on Saturday afternoon,” she said to Lila.

“Nice! The first chapter will definitely be done by then, don’t you worry. In fact, I’m going to get started right now!”

Cracking her knuckles, Lila began typing away on the laptop. Alix peered over her shoulder to have a quick look.

Max stood before his two friends, looking rather grumpy. “I’ve had it with your stupid rivalry! It’s time to end this once and for all. I have a challenge for you and you’re not going to like it, but you’ll have to do it.”

That was eerily similar to how things had actually happened. Was Lila just that good at reading people? Well, that was a good thing. It meant that Alix had a chance at winning this challenge after all.

The first meeting did indeed take place on Saturday afternoon in the library. Kim had only ever been here before with Max so he felt a little lost. Everyone else in here was such a nerd! What was he supposed to do? Where was he supposed to go? Libraries were an entirely different world to him.

It was almost a relief when he spotted that familiar mess of pink hair sitting in a corner, waiting for him – at least Alix was someone he knew, even if she was an annoying pesky midget most of the time.

“I don’t want to waste my time so just read it and go,” Alix said, shoving an open laptop at him as he came to sit down.

“Yeah, let’s just get this over with.” He opened up his own laptop and loaded the document that Nath had sent him. He’d had a read through it earlier and it seemed pretty good. Nath really was a good writer.

The two of them read through each other’s stories in a frosty silence. Kim couldn’t help thinking that Alix’s story was rather well-written – it seemed like something that could easily have happened in real life. It wasn’t perfect, though.

“No offence but this plot is stupid,” Alix said having finished first. “And by no offence, I mean full offence.”

“Shush, I’m still reading!”

“Jeez, you’re slow. Get a move on.”

Kim had never been a quick reader, especially when people were telling him to hurry up. It was one of the few things in life that he was slow at, and he hated it.

“Alright, I’m done,” he said a minute later.

“Good. Now listen. First off, why the hell would I fist-fight you in a lift? I could just do it in public where everyone could watch me beat you up. Secondly, pretending we were on a date to avoid getting into trouble when caught having said fist-fight is also stupid, though I guess that’s why you’re the one who suggested it in the story–”

“Well I had to think of something!” Kim snapped. “And what about your story, huh? Max challenging us to be nice to each other? This is unrealistic because you’d lose straightaway.”

“Hey, I can be plenty nice!”

“No you can’t!”

“Yes I can!”

“No you–”

“Anyway,” she said a little too loudly for a library, “I do actually have some constructive criticism if you want. I don’t want my character being butchered into some inaccurate nonsense, okay?”

“Fine, just tell me…”

She scrolled up to the relevant part and highlighted it with the mouse. “I’m actually 4’8, not 4’7.”

“Yeah, that’s real helpful, thanks.”

“Shut up. Also I keep my pocket watch wrapped in protective bubble-wrap these days so I wouldn’t even need to bother putting it aside before beating the crap out of you.”

“Super duper.”

“And I don’t have pigtails. My hair is only tied up on one side. You’d know this if you actually paid attention to anything besides yourself, ever.”

What?! How could Nath have missed that? Kim looked down at this stupid munchkin to see that her hair really was only tied up on one side, and he’d never even noticed. Did Nath know that somehow? Damn, that guy was smart.

“Now do you have any constructive criticism for me?” Alix continued.

“Uh yeah, totally,” Kim said, his brain scrambling to think of something that sounded vaguely smart. “Well like… Max doesn’t actually do my homework for me, so there! I’m smarter than I look and you can jot that down!”

“Okay,” she said, getting out a little pencil and notepad and writing something on it.

“Wait, are you… are you actually jotting that down?”

“Duh.” She glared at him. “I want to win, don’t I? My story’s gotta be as realistic as possible. So yeah, fine, you do your own homework and you’re not a 100% idiot. What else?”

“Oh, um…”

He hadn’t realized she was going to take anything he said seriously, or even listen to him at all. Did she have a small amount of respect for him then? At least enough not to just dismiss him outright, it seemed.

“Me and Ivan are actually kinda neutral towards each other now,” he said. “I don’t make fun of him anymore, so you can jot that down too.”

“That’s a relief to hear. Ivan is one of the few people in this class who isn’t scared of me.”

“I’m not scared of you either!”

“Then why would you be insecure enough to fight me in a lift? Why not in public, like all your other challenges?”

Ouch. Why was everyone ripping into him so much lately? And just when he’d been starting to respect her back, too. Of course he wasn’t scared of her. Okay, so she was a tiny bit intimidating. And she had the most murderous death glare ever. And was far stronger and faster than she looked. And seemed like the kind of person to hang around in dodgy alleyways, taking people’s money. And then there was her akuma form…

But he wasn’t scared of her. Nope.

“I would fight you in a lift because I wouldn’t want you to be humiliated in front of loads of people when you lose,” he said finally.

“And you think fighting someone my size is a fair fight?”

“Well yeah, I mean… you’re like…”

How to put this? If he told her she was strong, that would sound like a compliment! Though judging by the sudden grin on her face, she seemed to be taking it as a compliment anyway…

“Yeah, I’m tougher than a bed of nails,” she said. “Anyway, is that all? Because I’ve got better things to be doing with my time than talking to you. Like, you know, doing literally anything else. So if that’s all then I’ll be off now.”

“Yeah, that’s it.” He wasn’t keen on talking to her for much longer either, and anyway, he had run out of things to complain about from her story. It really was very good.

“Nice. See you next week, I guess.”

She took her laptop away with her when she left. Kim could see a couple of nearby nerds giving him rather unimpressed looks. Whoops, perhaps their conversation had been a little loud. Kim knew he didn’t exactly have an indoor voice.

Right. What now? He had to call Nath and tell him about the amendments that needed to be made to the story. 4’8, bubble-wrap, not-pigtails. Huh, maybe he could get some of that stuff into the next chapter too. It would be cool. And making his story more realistic was the number one way to winning Max’s challenge.

And seriously… Alix had a small amount of respect for him after all? That had been a pleasant surprise. Well, they were just class rivals, not warring empires or anything. It made sense she wouldn’t think the complete worst of him. And he was pretty cool, he knew that. Of course she respected him. Good.