#i could make it a little robotic and very on the aloof side

[honey-milk-depresso]

Hey Honey it's me again! I was wondering if could a Pomefiore and Diasomnia Headcannons with a Yor Forger! SO

I MEAN- WHO DOESN'T LOVE HER??? SKJDHSJDHDK I'm so sorry that I only did up to Pomefiore, but I'll try doing your other requests. ;-;;;;

You seem to lack social skills and initially come across as a somewhat aloof and sticking with the minimal with interacting, interacting, short and straightforward with a seemingly robotic and mechanical way of talking to others.

You are remarkably calm and collected in the face of danger, and you're incredibly polite… although sometimes you're rather blunt in compliments. Despite your front, you are actually a very kind and have a strong maternal instinct and as you grow closer with your peers, you're more expressive, and you have no problems with going to extreme measures to protect the ones you love.

However, you're usually insecure about your abilities, and you worry that you're not capable to be a good friend or more. Surely, they would see something more in you than you know it…

TWST The Aloof, but kind and motherly (and a bit violent) s/o (Yor Forger)

Vil Schoenheit

He doesn't really mind you being aloof, in fact, he prefers you being "straight to the point". You keep your answers sweet, short and relevant for anyone to understand, which he appreciates.

Vil values your politeness and courtesy, perhaps that's why he was charmed by you. Needless to say, when you got into a relationship, he realized that that calm nature of yours is to hide a very easy to fluster, sweet person.

In a way, it amuses him how someone who seems so calm gets their cheeks flushed when their lover simply gives them a simple kiss on the forehead. Who knew you were actually this adorable, potato?

Furthermore, you get more and more emotional the closer you are with him and your peers, which he blinks at a bit surprised to see you grin and chuckle, cry and whine. Oddly, however, you do seem to also... take "action" a bit too much when he's in trouble.

For example, one time a fan of his was being very pushy on Halloween, clearly neglecting his personal space and the number of times he tried to politely shoo them off, but to no avail. As he was wondering what to do with a slightly irritated look, you swiftly cut through the thick air to chop down a pole right next to that fan.

"He. Said. Personal. Space." Needless to say, that fan finally listened. Wow, how unexpected. Again-

What an odd lover he has. <3

Rook Hunt

To be honest, isn't Rook similar to you? He appears very kind (a little dramatic, pretty weird too with his shooting and stuff), but he has quite a backstory and... are those photos of students on his wall???

Anyways, like Vil, Rook doesn't mind your aloof nature. He thinks it's rather endearing to see you very polite as well as keeping most of your conversations short. So, he was a bit surprised by your change in attitude after you became his s/o, because the transformation was completely in contrast to your known nature.

You were more kind, more expressive, very sweet and easy to fluster. Oh my! How adorable! Beaute! He thinks it's lovely, absolutely lovely to see this adorable side to you. This dynamic between you too would be very interesting, nonetheless...

Rook does seem to know of you being "a bit" violent when it comes to protecting the ones you hold dear... like himself! (Oh god-)

When Rook found himself in a fair bit of trouble with the ghost, you swiftly used a pebble of some sort and threw it hard into the tree, which pierced through its trunk and flew to the other side. Seeing the intimidating and darkened look on your face, leaving the ghosts too stunned and they ran off in a frenzy. They can't even get hit...

Alas, he still thinks you're his beloved! You two sure make an interesting couple. <33

Epel Felmier

He didn't think much of it, but you are being aloof has him a bit awkward on his end. With your quick, short replies and mostly being quiet, he doesn't know how else to continue on with any conversation with you.

Somewhere and somehow down the road, he managed to get into a relationship with you, and to him, he has won the lottery of a romantic life.

The way you get so flustered easily, with your sweet and kindhearted attitude chiseled out of your usual calm composure is something real cute to him. On top of that, you called him "a real man" when he chased off those ghosts during that cursed wedding (quite literally cursed-)! He's ecstatic!

Furthermore... when did you learnt to fight??? He saw you punch the wall when a Savanaclaw student was making fun of his petite body, as you glared intensely into the soul of that now victim student.

"Leave. Him. Alone." Of course, he shrieked and backed off, the delinquent fleeing the scene without wanting to be the one your fist touched. Epel thinks you're so cool, and he wants to learn from you!

Well, he's trying his best. <3

Reblogs help! ^^

[dreamii-krybaby]

Hey so this might be a weird ask but this is something that's been plaguing me for a while.

I was wondering if you could give any writing tips for Yeva to me?

I'm currently writing a fic and it's at the prequel phase which obviously means I gotta include Yeva in it, already have, but I'm not really sure how to write her.

I'd also love to go more in depth with her husband and how she interacts with, both pre and post planet explosion.

Sorry if you can't really answer this ask, just figured I'd ask the #1 Yeva fan for ideas about it.

Also while I'm here, thank you for discovering that site 48 paper. I saw some stuff on that bulletin board I wanted to check out but I just couldn't read it so in a theory video I made I asked if anyone could look at it, obviously with only like 200 views no one did but I'm glad you checked it out. Super intriguing to me and something I def want to expand on in my fic.

Anyways, thanks for checking this out and keep doing what you're doing, someone's gotta be the #1 fan of my second favorite traumatized Russian robot and I'd say you're doing a damn good job.

*cracks necks and knuckles*

You came to the right place buddy.

Also, nice! Great seeing someone who likes Yeva a lot :3

Anyways now you gotta keep in mind this what I’ve gathered from Yeva, is a mix of my interpretation of what is shown off her in canon and my HCs

Yeva is also a character that can have many different interpretations which most of them IMO are valid and make sense

Now I assume you want me to help you developing her personality wise, correct?

I think Yeva is definitely someone that is the opposite of Nori, perhaps even a reflection of Nori.

Just like Uzi is a reflection of Doll, I’ve mentioned in one of my posts that each member of the Doorman’s and each member of Doll’s family could actually mirror to eachother!

So i think it’s pretty obvious that Yeva is a rather perhaps, a cold person. Doesn’t express much or isn’t the one to usually smile or be happy go lucky or interact with people all the time, that’s Nori’s thing

Doll could actually show off some characteristics she inherited from her mom apart from the looks and the AS

Probably she is aloof, brooding, speaks very little and only necessarily, her voice rarely showing much emotion. She isn’t the kind to approach or make the first move unless it is absolutely necessary, she is the kind of person to hang out by someone’s side, rather than taking the spotlight.

Of course that doesn’t mean she is devoid of emotion, she is just isn’t a very expressive and open person, normally.

Or maybe she does likes to sometimes show off some skills she has, maybe to make some of her colleagues to back off during her time at the labs/camps used her AS.

Her EP7 teaser appearance tbh screams to me “Idgaf about ur annoying ass” energy, like she will stare at you and judge everything wrong with you, I can see her definitely being snarky when she has too

Of EP4 and EP6 show that she is still able to feel intense emotions and express them even if it isn’t her thing. After all she is going through very traumatic situations in both EPs.

Maybe you could play with then idea of her showing different sides of her depending on who she interacts. Maybe she more emotional and slightly more open towards her husband and doll, and with nori (pre-core collapse) she is a bit more reserved but still somewhat sassy and snarky, like in a bestie way.

Now some people see her basically as an anxious wet cat and a bit paranoid. Which I can also see that, mostly due to the AS and after witnessing the horrors after the core collapse, I personally think she is aware on how dangerous the AS is, mostly by possibility witnessing Nori’s possession and she herself getting momentarily possessed causing the site-48 incident

She is clearly a traumatized woman who knows how badly the AS can be, and has probably developed certain coping mechanisms like other characters, maybe some of her stand-off-ish characteristics are a way for her to “shield” herself or to not feel so much pain.

She may be someone who is stuck in the past, or is having a hard time to moving on, which tbh I cannot blame her. This is mostly an inference from the fact she kept the exact same outfit she had at CFL, unlike Nori possibly.

I can also see her having a progressive change of character/personality the more shit she has to deal with, going from a cold, snarky, resting bitch face girlboss to an anxious, traumatized, low socializing woman.

Or again, these are different sides she shows in different moments or characters, maybe she sometimes “cracks” and shows how truly she subconsciously feels sometimes.

Its also worth mentioning that my theory, her dying outside possibly looking for answers or a cure for the AS or something that could stop the AS’s plans by going back to the labs truly shows she was willing to take the risk of death for the sake of her family and maybe the other WD’s.

I feel like she wanted to give Doll everything that she never had, giving her the best life, she could also be a sort of slightly reserved mom but like still cares for her kid.

I can also see her teaching her early on how to handle herself on her own and survive. Definitely see her as someone who taught Doll to keep herself as 1st priority.

[stellar-snz]

OC: Asami

I posted this here before but deleted it for some reason I can't remember, but here's one of my OCs. All of my friends say that she acts and looks like a dommy mommy but in reality, she's a huge girlfailure

Name: Asami Nickname: She can be called Asa, Mimi, Sami, or Ami, but special people can call her “Salami”, “Pastrami” or “Nori” Age: 23 Eye color: Red Hair color: Silvery Blonde Pronouns: She/Her Sexual and Romantic orientation: Graysexual Demiromantic Relationships: Asami is in a polyamorous relationship with both RD and Ruolan

(snz stuff) ✦ Asami has a pollen intolerance. ✦ She hides, holds back or stifles her sneezes because she thinks it's one of her many glitches. ✦ RD and Ruolan scold her for stifling or holding back because in all honesty, it just makes her sneeze more. ✦ Speaking of glitches, one of her glitches is her faulty battery. It could appear to be at a high percentage, but she'd end up suddenly shutting down at a random place. ✦ Her sneezes, as described by Ruolan are high pitched" and "girly" ✦ Her sneezes end in "-iew!" sounds (example: hiH'schIEW!!) ✦ Since she sees most patrons in the library do it, it's always been a habit of hers to cover whenever she sneezes. ✦ She always brings around a handkerchief to sneeze into. She prefers them anyways since they feel much softer than tissues.

(Backstory) Asami was a prototype made by a company named Obscura. She was originally designed to be a robomaid for those of the elite class, having no purpose other than to just be shown off, pick up after, and fetch items for their master. However, due to her disposition, she was scrapped and abandoned after the scientists deemed her to be a failure.

She was out of comission for quite some time, but was rescued by a girl named Ruolan and a fellow bot named RD when they accidentally discovered her despite their initial plan to practice their craft by spray painting the walls. Because of looters, she had to be brought into parts-and-services to get replacements for the parts she was missing.

After getting back up on her feet again, Asami found a job at a local library and assists the sweet old woman there with returning books to their shelves, helping people find books, cataloguing the library's resources, and brewing tea for the old lady

(Appearance) Asami is a robot that stands at 5 feet and 4 inches. She has a pale complexion but enhances it with red-colored cosmetics. Most notably overly dramatic eye-shadow that reaches up and spreads towards her temples. She also has a little heart shaped mole on her right breast.

(Personality) Since she lacks friends and is unwilling to go to places outside of Ruolan's apartment and the library she works at, she's socially inept and comes across as someone who is uptight, cold, and aloof. She also retains her original quick-tempered personality from her creation and is rather opinionated, unable to hold her tongue when someone makes rude or lewd remarks towards her or her loved ones.

However, Asami also has an insecure side to her, herself, believing that her worth is based on how much people like her. She also believes that her mismatched and "scary" appearance is unsightly and gets reasonably upset and refuses to talk when someone points out a flaw or makes fun of her. When it comes to relationships, Asami instantly latches onto the first person to treat her nicely, hence why she is very protective of Ruolan and RD. She doesn't have too much friends either, so she gets upset if the two blow off her invitations to go out, giving into jealousy and paranoiac thoughts easily.

When it comes to her likes, Asami is very much into fashion and make up, often spending her free time watching tutorials and practicing on either herself or Ruolan. She also likes to recreate outfits she sees online by looking for and purchasing clothing with similar styles and colors at the thrift store. Due to her love of this stuff, RD has dubbed her the "fashionista" of the their group.

In terms of dislikes, she doesn't like crowds, tight spaces, rain, loud sounds, and the goose in the park that keeps trying to bite her or steal her leg.

(heehee pics of my lil robot daughter) FRONT, BACK, SIDES

CLOSEUP ON THE FRONT AND BACK

HAIRSTYLES (She usually wears her hair down, but ties it up into a ponytail or bun if she really wants to)

BATTERY (Blue means "optimal" (100%-60%), yellow means "satisfactory" (59% to 16%) and red means "low battery" (15% and lower)

Credits HERE because I still can't draw for shit and I ain't using AI

[fantasy-fields-bitty-center]

Fnaf bitty: Baxter

Fnaf bitty Baxter Afton (O/Organic)

Version: OG(Headcanoned version)

Size: 7 - 10 inches tall(Mini) 1'8 - 2'10 feet tall(Fullsized)

Personality: Goofy, loud, sorta aloof,

Likes: Henry bitties, William bitties, Evan bitties, Michael bitties, Elizabeth bitties, Baxter bitties, Justin bitties, Clara bitties, Sarah bitties, (all preferably Chaos au), robotic fanf bitties,

Dislikes: Canon William types, aggressive bitties, being bored, not being around their family(if one is formed),

Compatibility: They can end up looking a little creepy, but they don't mean to be! They just have a really big grin/smile and their face can move a little odd, something they share with their Dad(William)! Though unlike their sibling types, they just picked it up! So not all of them have the wide smile! But most of them do!

They have 0 filter and will say the most off the wall things at random, but you never have to worry about them hiding things from you! Since they can't really lie very well-

Things rarely bother them, and the only time it does is when someone they care about is being bullied/picked on! And since they find it hard to tell the difference between being playful and being mean(at first a least, they'll get used to it after they get to know the person/bitty well) it means they can get a little huffy with people sometimes, but they'll always listen to explinations!

They can be a little clingy once they get to know and care about someone, but if the other person/bitty wants to be left alone all they have to do is say so! Though they can often wonder what they did wrong but also have a bit of a habit of not asking if they did something wrong or not and internalizing it,

They are known for hanging around Henry bitties, William bitties(non canon ones), Michael bitties, Elizabeth bitties, Evan bitties, and Justin bitties, and often refuse to be adopted without their family if they formed one!

Additional info: They love being around (only Chaos au versions of)William and Henry bitties and their siblings(Michael, Elizabeth, Evan, and Justin) and will often form families of these bitties at the shop!

Feeding habits: They aren't picky at all and will eat just about anything, and i mean anything- even moldy food, much to Henry and William bitty's dismays,

In Universe: They are seen as loud, brash, and weird,

Difficulty: Basic

Features: med length brown(almost always dyed blonde) hair in a mullet, 'tan' skin(burned man- but it's from the sun), gray-blue eyes, normally on the skinner side but is somehow super strong,

AU info(This is only for the au type they are! Info may change in other au bios!):

BC Dave(I dont support them so i stole their characters! they're ofc different(hence the different names and everything)honestly Baxter is more of an oc at this point buuut he did start out as BC Dave and a lot of his backstory was ofc taken from the fake backstory of BC Dave so it doesnt feel right to call him an oc properly lmfao)

his dads are William and Henry and his moms are Clara and Sarah! Baxter was adopted when Henry was visiting his parents, and Henry just kinda took him with him(he had a hole in his head and was walking on the side of the road in a daze lmao Henry wasnt gonna leave him!)

He looks like he could be Williams twin/kid(and doesn't really resemble Benjamin at all) so is easily mistaken for William's brother or bio kid, not that he minds about the bio kid part-

Southern as fuck

worked in the fields after his bio dad lost his foot in the war and he got a lot of sunburns, so he looks older than he actually is

He's dating Phillip(who he's like a year younger than)

He got into robotics after watching William and Henry making/fixing/keeping maintenance on the animatronics,

[nothing-more-than-hot-leaf-juice]

Ok modern zuko would be an expert at breakdancing and sokka would be the guy who just bi-panicks whenever he does

(whoops, my hand slipped and I accidentally wrote a modern au headcanon turned zukka karate au one-shot) 

Okay but consider this instead: Zuko doesn’t know how to dance for shit and has horrible rhythm, but he is a GOD at martial arts. He’s been doing some type of style since he was a kid and is a full black belt by the time he hits high school. Martial arts was always something he excelled at, but it was also something that made him feel more secure. It was something he could work on to help him protect himself from his home life, even if it wasn’t enough most times. He specifically excels in weapons forms (I’m thinking twin sais) and you DO NOT want to spar with him. Because he may be skinny and shorter, but he’s quick and can hit hard at just the right spots. 

When he was younger he was obsessed mainly because he felt that belt rankings and trophies from competitions were a way to prove himself to his dad, but when he moved in with Iroh (who encouraged him to keep it up and was so proud of how talented and passionate he was about it), he basically used it in place of talking about his feelings. He didn’t talk about his home life or the shit Ozai did, instead, he put all his energy into his black belt levels, learning new weapons forms, and eventually into teaching new students as a junior instructor. 

At school, he’s awkward and asocial and just doesn’t have the energy for people. Zuko has little patience for asshole classmates who ask intrusive questions about his scar or spread rumors about where he got it. He eats lunch in his English classroom and would be a complete shut-in if Iroh didn’t get him to work part-time at the Jasmine Dragon. But in the dojo, he’s focused and is able to direct his energy into improving his forms and teaching younger teens. 

One of his newer students transferred from a different dojo after moving from a different state. He’s actually a freshman at Zuko’s high school but it’s not as if Zuko really interacted that much with him. This kid, Aang, is as talented and dedicated as he is, but has a long way to go to learn all the new katas. Zuko’s been dubbed the ‘scary’ trainer at the dojo. He’s the serious one who will yell if someone is goofing off and everyone’s seen that he has no problem using full force in a demonstration (little kids love him and he’s super nice to them, but he teaches the 12-15 age range). Plus there’s that scar, which doesn’t make him the most initially welcoming person. But this new kid Aang just latches onto Zuko immediately. He says hi to Zuko in the halls at school and works on his katas outside of regular practice times. At first Zuko thinks this sickeningly positive kid is annoying as crap, but warms up to him. He likes that Aang cares about martial arts and isn’t nice as a show, he’s just genuinely nice. 

And maybe he sees Aang hanging around school with a sophomore girl and her brother who just might be in Zuko’s calc class and English class. 

And maybe Zuko thinks this guy is insanely attractive and somehow incredibly funny even though most of his humor consists of the worst puns imaginable. 

But obviously, Zuko hasn’t attempted to ever actually talk to this guy. The most that he could classify as ‘talking’ to the cute, funny guy on the robotics club is the one day in English class when he had to respond to someone’s dumbass comment about Macbeth with what ended up being a ten minute spoken essay about obvious motifs and symbolism. To which Mr. Puns and Ponytail was very obviously paying great attention to and even gave Zuko a smile and thumbs up for. 

Zuko knows it’s pointless to engage. After all, he’s a senior and he doesn’t have any friends anyway. There’s no point in making any this year. Crushing on this guy from the comfortable position of the other side of the room is totally good enough for him. Totally. This is fine. He’s fine.  

Besides, he’s got competitions and if he doesn’t secure the regional championships this year he’s never going to get the chance after he goes to college. And he’s got his kids to train. Aang in particular is gearing up for his first debut into this area’s tournament. 

The tournament’s in October and usually, Zuko focuses on his own matches and performances, but Aang really wanted him to watch his set. So on this day, he stands on the sides of Aang’s zone instead of obsessively going through his katas in a corner.He’s not going to be able to watch the whole set because it overlaps with his own weapons portion, but he stands on the side and gives Aang a reassuring look that, ‘don’t worry, you’ll do great, you’re a talented kid,’ when his student looks over to him nervously. 

And wouldn’t you know it? Aang brought some friends to come watch. And one of them is Mr. Zuko’s Big Gay Crush. 

“Oh, hey Zuko,” are the words that come out of this guy's mouth that give Zuko a near-stroke. And damn if this guy’s eyes aren’t blue and pretty and he usually wears his hair in a ponytail at school, but now he’s wearing it down and Zuko wishes he could take screenshots with his brain because holy moly. 

“Hey.” Is the best that Zuko can get out of his dumb mouth. “You’re Sokka.” 

“Aang invited us to come watch,” Sokka nudges his head to indicate the ‘us’ includes his younger sister, who Zuko doesn’t know the name of. “How do you guys not get heatstroke during these things? It’s like a million degrees in here.” 

“Oh the gi’s pretty cold, I mean, it’s got air and stuff.” 

Zuko decided right there that he would be completely fine with being struck by lightning. Of course, that’s what his stupid brain would come up with. Of course, that’d be the thing he’d say in front of one of the smartest guys in his class. 

They watch Aang perform his set for the judges. Zuko recognizes that Aang took his advice when he said that he wasn’t putting enough force into his hits. He’s never seen Aang be as, well, aggressive isn’t the right word, but he’s definitely putting more power into his form. Zuko wouldn’t admit it, though, but only part of his attention was for Aang at the moment. The other part was for Sokka, who was smiling bright and pumping his fists when Aang completed a row of kicks. 

The small part of Zuko’s brain that wasn’t being taken up by watching Aang or trying to act normal around his crush noticed the clock on the wall indicating that the weapons portion would be starting in five minutes.  

“I’ve got to go do a thing so I’ll just, um, go do that now.” 

“Are you competing too?” Sokka asked. 

To this question Zuko just holds up his sais and raises his eyebrow as if to say ‘it’s a tournament, what do you think?’ Because yeah, he knows Sokka’s super smart, he’s seen him churn out calc answers at the speed of light and noticed his name on the robotics club awards update on the school’s website, but he’d also seen Sokka eat 5 packs of fundip at once on a dare and unironically wear a ‘women want me, fish fear me’ t-shirt for most of junior year. Somehow he had managed to fall for the smartest dumbass on earth. 

“Oh yeah, right.” Sokka eyes the sais and then looks right at Zuko’s face, “Aang says you’re really good.” 

Zuko decides that thinking about Aang talking to Sokka about him was something he didn’t need distracting him during his set. That was something he could anxious about later. 

“Hopefully good enough for those five assholes,” Zuko replies, gesturing to the panel of judges in the weapons section of the gymnasium. To his shock, Sokka laughs. It’s a nice laugh, too. And Zuko really hoped he could blame the blush that was one-hundred-percent creeping up his face on the lack of AC. 

“You know, you’re pretty funny man,” Sokka tells him. Zuko has no clue how to take that compliment, but he really does need to go. 

“Right,” he grins nervously and shifts his left foot around to bounce away, “well I have to go do my thing.” 

“Good luck!” 

That’s where Zuko thinks the beginning and end of his interaction with Sokka would be. 

The weapons portion thankfully goes by age. And since Zuko’s one of the youngest competitions, he gets to go first for his sai katas. This is what literal years of training have prepared him for. At regionals last year, the second advanced kata got him placed high enough to qualify for states. This is what he’s good at. He tells himself that a thousand times before starting his set. 

There’s not a thought in his head as Zuko goes through the form. The sais glide through his fingertips with every jab, block, and hook. The imaginary opponent doesn’t stand a chance. He’s cool and competent and graceful. It’s therapeutic in a sense. There’s enough adrenaline to make Zuko feel like he’s worth something, but more importantly, he knows he’s nailing this. Whatever the judges say about it, he knows that he’s perfected this form after practicing it at least a thousand times over three years. 

The judges agree with him. He’s the first competitor of the weapons portion but there isn’t really a doubt in their minds about who’s going to place. 

Zuko zones back in to the gym after bowing to the panel. He walks off, feeling lighter and letting a satisfactory smile take over his face. 

He expects the hug from Uncle and the proud smile from Sensei Piandao, but what he doesn’t expect is to see Sokka, eyes wide as globes, staring at him from the other side of the mat. 

Because what Zuko doesn’t know is that the second he turned his wrists in his first form during his hooks, Sokka’s brain went into Full Bi Panic Mode. 

And Zuko thinks the one conversation where he couldn’t talk like a human and wanted to die for most of it would be the only time Sokka would decide to willingly talk to him. Zuko is dead wrong. Sokka, in fact, has decided that this, this is the guy his Disaster Bi Brain has decided to latch onto. Sokka’s brain and all his squishy feelings have apparently decided to attach to this aloof kid with the scar who reserved his voice for eloquent, impassioned speeches about dramas and was apparently an actual god with weapons. Sokka decides that Zuko could roundhouse kick him in the side and he’d thank him. And right now Zuko’s looking at him with a dumbfounded expression, prompting Sokka to remember how to function so he can go over to congratulate Zuko and maybe ask if his dojo provides a free trial. 

So yeah, that one conversation ends up decisively not being the end of anything. 

[writefightandflightclub]

Wicked Game (Nathan Bateman x reader)

Summary: Interning for an eccentric billionaire certainly makes for some unusual moments. On this occasion, you are woken by Nathan blasting Wicked Game (listen to the song for the vibe) in the middle of the night. You’re just doing your best, honestly, not to fall in love with him. It should be an easy task, but there’s something about this sexy, robot-fucking oddball giving you a dancing lesson that has you wanting to go all-in. 

Author’s note: this is a very quick one inspired by an ask from @spider-starry​ about Nathan teaching reader to dance. I went for mildly creepy rather than cute vibes, idk (Nathan is odd but captivating, after all). But I wanted to (try and) recapture just a little of the vibe from the original dance scene. 

Warnings: TEEN. Potential spoiler from the movie. Blood, injury, mention of prior wound and scars, swearing, mentions of alcohol. Mild sex reference. Shirtless Nathan is a warning. Nathan is a warning in himself. Dancing. 

GIF: @cracked​

The noise. That god awful noise. What is it?

Your hand reaches out from beneath your duvet to flick on the lamp, and you peel one eye open at a time, groaning softly beneath the blanket before peeling that down from your eyes too.

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you It's strange what desire will make foolish people do

Is it...? No, it can’t be.

You had learned to expect the unexpected, while interning with Nathan, but this? This takes the biscuit.

Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game is blaring through the speakers in your bedroom at the ungodly hour of - you squint at your phone by your bedside- 2 am.

No, I don't wanna fall in love (this world is only gonna break your heart) No, I don't wanna fall in love (this world is only gonna break your heart)

You peel the blanket down a little further and slam your fists down to your sides in aggravation, the assault on your senses an unwelcome departure from slumber.

“Nathan fucking Bateman,” you curse under your breath, lying there huffing and sighing, your body as stiff and tense as a board as you let the song play out.

It finally ends and you burrow back into your pillow, and yet, Chris Isaak seems to have other ideas; the song just starts up all over again.

You listen to it three times through. Text him “Nathan!” three times to no avail. And then, you finally chuck off the duvet and track out through the darkness, as intrepid as you are angry,  into the main living space.

He’s probably drunk again, but honestly, you brace yourself because you never quite know what you’re going to walk in on where Nathan is concerned.

The sight which befalls you is surreal, and a little creepy, to say the least.

Nathan is arm-in-arm with Kyoko, shirtless and barefoot. The robot is dressed in a little slip set. At first, your reaction is to shield your eyes, in case he’s banging her - or, about to.

At second glance, you realise that he’s... dancing?!

This is some next-level aloof billionaire eccentricity, right here. 

Nathan is sweeping Kyoko around the floor, in an oddly impressive display of grace and footwork, his strong arms and muscled torso poised and proud as he easily manipulates her around the floor. The whole “dance floor” is bathed in a red, softly pulsing light, which only emphasises the contours of him. 

What a wicked game you play, to make me feel this way What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you

You fully intend to interrupt so that you can simply get him to turn it down and clamber back to bed, and yet, you are somewhat captivated. By the bizarreness of the situation, as well as the movement of him, lithe and powerful and -dare you say it- majestic. By the intensity in his dark, focused stare. The way he moves is seductive, sensual, enthralling, and you can’t help but watch him from the shadows. 

“Wanna dance?” he says with his back to you, meaning he already saw you a good minute ago and didn’t let on. What’s more, he says it so casually, as if any of this could be considered normal. (The billionaire you live with in an underground house has perfected an AI / human dance routine to Wicked Game, and he’s asking you to join him at 2 am? Yes, exactly what you expected from your summer, naturally) .

Clearly, Nathan saw you standing there ogling. Oh, brilliant. Like you needed to provide him with any further evidence that you’re attracted to him.

You shake those thoughts out of your head as Nathan dips Kyoko with one arm, in a move that looks far too well-rehearsed, and try to remember why you’re stood there in your pajamas in the first place.

All you can muster is to flap your hands next to your ears and yell “the noise!” over the music, as the song loops all over again.

“Sorry. Not used to having people around. Forgot the speakers hook up to your room.”

That’s an unlikely oversight for a man so detail oriented, you reckon. 

“Wanna dance?” he asks again, with far too much normalcy. “Tear up the dance floor with me?”

“Why?” you ask, realising he has already succeeded in distracting you -miraculously quickly- and that you’re longer on track to berate him for the noise.

“Kyoko’s too good. You’ll make mistakes,” Nathan says plainly, releasing Kyoko’s grip and rubbing her arm, whispering to her to step aside. Then, he extends the frame of his arms in your direction, as if he might cradle you against his shirtless body next. 

In case you were wondering how you differ from Kyoko, the blood pumping around your body at the sight of him like that certainly serves as a reminder, that you are very much human, and that his body can affect yours it ways it never can hers. 

What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you 

Maybe this is a dream. You certainly feel like you’re sleepwalking, as your feet travel towards him of their own accord, and the red light and the deep, slurring croon of the music give everything an other-worldly feel. 

“Are you drunk?” you ask as his arms slot around you.

“No more than usual,” he answers, positioning you closer to him, tucking you into him and his arms forming a perfect, sturdy frame around you. You’ve never been this close to him, and quite frankly, it’s a little more intoxicating than you bargained for. “Are you?” he asks as you practically swoon against him, losing your footing already.

“No,” you say bashfully. “I just can’t dance.”

He ticks up a satisfied eyebrow, beginning to sway you gently against him to help you feel the rhythm. “Good. Routine’s getting a little samey with Kyoko. I like new variables in the equation.”

The proximity is making you nervous, but you wouldn’t move away from him for the life of you. Plus, despite his eccentricities, and somewhat intimidating, cool demeanor, Nathan somehow manages to put you at ease. Perhaps the surrealism of the situation helps with that too. You can almost pretend it isn’t happening. 

“So, when the chorus kicks in, you shimmy your hips like this,” he says, gyrating his hips expertly against you.

And I don't wanna fall in love (this world is only gonna break your heart)

“Oops,” you apologise, stepping on his toes already and fumbling your footwork. You are tripping over your own thoughts as well as your feet, and to be honest, you think you can be forgiven, as this hot man presses up against you. 

“That’s okay,” he smiles - not softly, but like a hyena-  an improvident glint in his eyes. “Then you spin...” he says, coaching you through the moves... “and... pose.”

You move through the steps with trepidation, and when you’ve rotated through the spin, twirling beneath the fingers of his raised hand he tugs you back into his chest. 

No, I don't wanna fall in love (this world is only gonna break your heart)

“How’s this?” you ask, self-consciously winding your hips in time, as his hand slips subtly further down your back. 

“Good, honey,” Nathan praises, and you think you might burst into flames. 

With you

You can’t help but trace your gaze languidly over his chest. Over his muscles. Over his smoothness. Over the deep, ridged scar where -or so you hear- one of his AIs stabbed him in the chest last year. You have to resist reaching out to smooth your fingers over it. In fact, you have to resist reaching out with your lips to kiss it better, so help you.

This song, this atmosphere, his body heat, are making it difficult for you to keep your... urges in check. 

His bare skin is warm and solid beneath your hand. His eyes are intense and boring into you, all long lashes and deep dark brown beneath his glasses. His eyes are the colour of earth, and there is more than you can fathom buried in their depths. The way he’s looking at you makes you want to dig. To get to the bottom of him, but you feel like you could fall so deep into the pit of him and still never solve him. 

Even in this moment, you fall a little deeper. Deep enough that you might not be able to clamber back out. 

It's strange what desire will make foolish people do

Then, he dips you, like he did Kyoko, his broad hand firmly supporting the arch of your back as your arm clings to his neck, his other arm tugging up your thigh to wrap around his waist. His lips hover just inches from yours, that hot, muscled body over you leaving you breathless. You can feel the latent potential of him as his muscles ripple to hold you in position.

You gulp and look up at him, completely helpless in the face of your desire now. Your desire is as red as the glow cast throughout the room. If he kissed you now, you’d be done for. Hell, you already feel done for. The bare flesh of your thigh is pressed against him, skin-on-skin, and he’s warm and taut and feels powerful up against you.

“You always look so cute ‘n’ smell so good when you go to bed?” Nathan asks casually as he holds you, and the realisation that you’re sexy-ballroom-dancing with your shirtless, robot-fucker of a boss while wearing skimpy sleepwear suddenly dawns on you. (Yes; more of Exactly How You Imagined Your Summer Going.). 

Your lips part and you expel a small, involuntary whimper. Of desire, of tension, of nervousness. 

The scenario appears to dawn on Nathan around the same time too, his throat bobbing around a hard swallow as that little noise you just made registers, his lips parting and his pink tongue skimming out to whet his plush lips.

“Different to dancing with a robot?” you ask, trying desperately to puncture the sexual tension before you fall all the way into his eyes, and, instead, your voice comes out far more fucking wanton and husky than you’ve ever heard it. You are nothing but breath and lust in his arms as his eyes tell you that yes, you’re different. That you make him feel... different.

But you both hold back, even though Nathan’s eyes are practically teeth, devouring you. 

I never dreamed that I'd love somebody like you And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you

In a final attempt to re-calibrate and hoist yourself out of this pit, you launch your body to standing of your own volition, and your face collides spectacularly with Nathan’s.

“Ow,” you each say at the same time, your forehead having smashed against Nathan’s nose and lip as you rose up a little too eagerly. 

Red appears. 

Well, that’s one way to divert attention away from your burgeoning desire, you suppose.

“Shit! Nathan, I’m so sorry!” you exclaim, your hands flying to your face in regret. “Are you okay?” you fuss, but he simply looks down at his hand in surprise -no, more like... neutral interest- when it comes away from his face red. And then he... smiles.

“You’re bleeding,” you say in shock, wondering if he still hasn’t registered that fact properly, but Nathan simply grins more widely at you, like a hyena after a kill. 

He grins at you with red-stained teeth, and he’s at once grotesque and captivating.

“Shit. They tell me robots are dangerous,” he says, pinching the bridge of his nose, “ and here I am ballroom dancing with a human and bleeding all over the fucking floor.” 

He’s still smiling, and for some bizarre reason, you begin to smile along with him. As if any of this is normal. 

“What’s so fucking funny?” you ask him, searching his intriguing eyes. 

You never did like normal anyway. 

He simply smiles lopsidedly, blood still coating his lips. “Kyoko’s never done that.”

Something tells you he likes the new variable in his equation. 

(This world is only gonna break your heart)

Nobody loves no one.

Nathan grabs your hand, and you think he might about to ask you another question.

He opens his red mouth and sucks in a breath.   

[solalunar-eclipse]

Scars You Can’t See - Chapter 11

Chapter title: Improvements

Word count: about 3400 words

Author’s Note: Wow...the fact that this fic has only two chapters left is crazy to think about. It’s going to be finished within the next month or so...whoa.

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...

Rouge cringed as bright sunlight stung her slowly opening eyes, dragging her forcefully out of what had honestly been a pretty great sleeping session. Suddenly, though, she shot upright, remembering-

Wait- G.U.N. had found them- Shadow and Omega--

Oh, right.

The bat rubbed at her eyes to try and get rid of the spots still dancing in them, before looking around and taking in the clearing surrounding her. She was truly safe now and on Angel Island.

Rouge just...needed a minute to remind herself of that.

She figured that she also owed Team Sonic at least a year’s worth of favors for busting them out of that awful situation. Chaos, she’d thought they were all done for at first, even with Omega’s best efforts. 

Speaking of that team, she suddenly felt a rush of wind at her side and turned to see Sonic himself kneeling next to her, looking worried. “You good there, Rouge?” he asked, resting a hand on her shoulder in concern.

“I’ll live.” she said warmly, grateful for his attention. “Doing better than yesterday, that’s for sure.” 

Sonic’s expression changed into a hopeful grin at that, his shoulders sinking slightly in relief. Rouge knew that he really tended to worry about the people he cared for when they weren’t doing well, so she was pleased to see some of the stress leave him now.

“How’s Shadow? And Omega?” the bat asked quickly, wanting to make sure her team was alright.

“Okay, well, Omega’s over there sucking the life out of Tails’s portable generator,” Sonic said, and Rouge followed his gaze to see exactly that. Her robot friend gave a thumbs up when he noticed her attention, before lifting the generator and walking over to greet her.

“This power is strong for such a small device. Much better than that pathetic excuse for voltage the rooms provided.” he said, by way of a greeting. Rouge grinned in response. Omega had never really seen the need for pleasantries with his friends when he could just get to the point instead. (They already knew that he cared about them anyway.)

“How do you feel?” he asked, sitting down and staring at her. The robot clearly wasn’t going to take an “I’m fine” for an answer, so she sighed. “Tired, mostly. Are we sure we’re totally safe out here?”

Omega looked like he was ready to smirk, if he could. “You missed the fun earlier when the blue hedgehog discovered that we are in the middle of the largest ocean on the planet. He was not happy about our isolation.”

Rouge had to restrain a cackle at that when she turned back to the (suddenly several shades paler) hero in question. “Water…” he groaned. “So much...water…”

“You’ll be okay, hon,” she said, a little bit of sympathy softening her tone. “There’s still plenty of room up here to go running around.”

Sonic’s eyes widened. “Oh right! I didn’t tell you about Shads!” His ears drooped slightly after that. “He’s...he’s still asleep near the Master Emerald.”

Omega cut in there. “His vital signs are completely stable. He is merely exhausted.”

Rouge sighed, frowning slightly. Was telling him to do that Chaos Control really-

“You made the best decision you could under the circumstances.” the robot said insistently. “Stop questioning yourself or I will have to make you comply with force.”

Rouge stuck out her tongue at him, before getting up to go walk over to the altar and see her other friend. She hadn’t taken more than a couple of steps, though, when she found that her head had begun to ache horribly- leftover effects from the stress, she knew. There was always a price to pay for missions. 

She was vaguely aware of Sonic darting to her side, but she straightened up, ignoring the pain for now. If there was one thing she had to do, it was to check on Shadow.

The hybrid was still on the altar, barely having moved from his original position. Someone had folded up a blanket and put it beneath his head, at least. Knuckles was pacing around and around the Master Emerald, clearly driving himself to distraction considering all the possible ways in which Angel Island could be threatened at this very moment.

Rouge sat down next to Shadow for a moment, checking to make sure he was alright before rubbing one of his ears slightly. The hybrid purred a little in his sleep, making Rouge smile and Sonic mask a squeal with his hand. “Awwwww…” he whispered, staring down at Shadow with wide eyes.

Meanwhile, Rouge got up and walked over to lean on the giant Emerald, smirking as Knuckles completed another circuit around the altar- only to bump right into her and look up, startled. “Rouge! You’re awake!” he exclaimed, before pulling her into a tight hug that squeezed all the air out of her lungs.

“Babe,” she wheezed, trying to adjust. “Honey, I missed you too, but I kind of need to breathe to live? So if you wouldn’t mind…”

“Oh- right- sorry,” he said, loosening up and clearly embarrassed. “I’m just so glad you’re alright.”

Sonic gave him a look from over the top of the giant gem. “Says the guy who didn’t want to head off to Central City at first.”

“Come on, man, give me a break! You know how much G.U.N. wants to get their hands on these artifacts!” Knuckles exclaimed, sounding irritated. He glanced back at Rouge nervously, though, clearly more than a little embarrassed about his hesitance.

She wasn’t going to hold it against him, though- he’d been trained since day one to practically worship the island and all that it held, and putting it in harm’s way must have taken a lot out of him. “It’s okay, just remember to try and keep from being uptight all the time, alright?” Rouge asked gently, wrapping an arm around his waist and leaning into him. 

Knuckles blushed as red as his spines. “Thanks, Rouge...I’ll try.” he said, pointedly ignoring his friend’s knowing grin.

“Awww, Knux, aren’t ya gonna kiss your giiiiirlfriend?” Sonic taunted, knowing just how to frustrate the echidna (and fluster him more).

“Shut up!” he bellowed. “It’s none of your business what we do or don’t--”

Rouge had kissed him on the cheek, and his voice immediately seemed to fail at that, breaking off into absolute silence. She snickered quietly. Knuckles’s shock whenever she did this never stopped being fun.

A low groan sounded behind them. “Urgh...Chaos, is this what I hafta wake up to? Move y’r PDA somewhere else, Rouge.” 

Shadow’s words were slurred with exhaustion, but nobody seemed to care. Rouge dashed over to his side faster than Sonic (not too surprisingly- the hedgehog seemed to have frozen the second Shadow started speaking).

“How do you feel, hon?” she asked him gently, all the while monitoring him for any sort of abnormalities. 

“Feels like I’ve been run over by a truck ‘n launched out of a catapult into the side of a mountain.” he grumbled. “Everything’s aching…I’m so tired. Let’s...let’s not take out any more military bases for a while, ‘kay?”

Rouge grinned at him. “Sounds good to me, hon.” She began to pull him up into a reclined position so that he could see better. The bat could also hear Omega’s steps in the background as he hurried over (which for most people was a speed-walking pace, but he was doing his best).

“Just relax for now, Shadow. You and Sonic brought us somewhere safe, so we can just rest, alright?” she added, and felt him do so almost immediately. 

Omega arrived and put a hand on Shadow’s shoulder, his giant metal fingers nearly engulfing half of the hybrid’s arm. “Hey, Omega.” he said wearily, smiling faintly up at the robot. 

“You are safe now. I will make sure that nothing bad happens to you or Rouge so long as we are here.” he said, sounding determined and just a little bit violent. 

“You did a pretty good job of that back in the field.” Shadow said, apparently far too tired to hold up his usual aloof attitude.

Omega stood up and assumed a slight power pose. “Of course I did. I am awesome.”

Sonic took the robot’s place quickly, taking Shadow’s hand in his own. “If anyone comes anywhere near this island, I’ll help Omega take them out. You’ve done more than enough, Shads.”

The hybrid tried to maintain a cool, calm expression, but it quickly softened into gratitude. He struggled with his words for a moment, clearly uncertain about how to react to Sonic’s determined kindness. Eventually, though, he settled for a simple “Thank you, Sonic.”

Rouge didn’t miss the way Sonic’s smile became wider and more genuine at that, nor how he squeezed Shadow’s hand briefly before releasing it. “Anytime, nerd. Anytime.”

Shadow mock-scowled at the hero before settling back against Omega, who had sat down behind him. Rouge noticed how he struggled to keep his eyes open, so she settled down next to him and made shooing motions with her hands. “Alright, alright, let the guy rest! You said yourself he doesn’t have to work anymore, Sonic.” 

The hedgehog in question walked off reluctantly with his friends to the first tier of the altar, looking back at Shadow once before giving the team some space.

Rouge sighed, settling back against Omega and trying to find a position that didn’t leave metal poking into her back. He could be comfortable if she sat right- especially since he was warm- but she had to work a little to find the right spot. Her own eyes closed a little, and she leaned against Shadow as the faint buzz of stress and her exhaustion battled it out inside her head.

She suspected that her instincts would give her trouble for a while, but it would probably be manageable now that they were safe. Things were looking up now for real, and that was great.

And then Sonic’s phone rang.

“Wha- huh- you have your phone on??” Shadow yelped, sitting upright immediately. “Why didn’t you turn it off?”

“I had to keep up with everything!” Sonic exclaimed, his eyes wide. He held the phone as far away from his body as he could, as though it might burst into flames at any moment.

“Alright, alright, everybody calm down!” Rouge shouted, directing all attention to herself and bringing complete silence to the clearing.

This role was what she was used to.

“Alright, first off. Sonic, do you recognize that number?” she asked, as everyone gathered back around.

He frowned, looking at the ‘missed calls’ screen now that the ringing had stopped. “N...no…..wait, actually, I think I do! But who…..”

The hero’s eyes widened. “Oh. Wait. What’s the president want with me now?”

“Wait, is it really her?” Tails gasped.

Omega glowered at the phone. “She probably wishes to know if we are with you.”

Everybody jumped again when the phone started ringing once more. 

“Well….I guess I’ll just answer and tell her I don’t know where you are?” Sonic asked, moving to tap the green button.

“No!” three separate people yelled at once, making him drop the phone in surprise. 

“Well, what should I do then? Just, like, ignore her?” the hero said, exasperated.

Tails shook his head patiently. “You remember that app I put on your phone, Sonic? The one that hides your signal location?”

“Ohhhhh,” Sonic said, clearly realizing why it would be a very good idea to use said app. “Right! Let me turn that on.”

“And don’t forget to use the super-scrambler I made for you!” Tails reminded him, sounding an awful lot like the real older brother of the two at the moment.

“Fine, yeah, I remember what you said,” Sonic muttered, sounding a little irritated. He cringed a moment later, though, looking up his friends. All three of them were clearly tense once again- not ideal when they were in the safest place they could possibly be. “Sorry, I know this is important and all. Sorry.”

“It’s alright, hon.” Rouge said soothingly. “You have it all up now?”

“Yeah, I-” Sonic was cut off yet again by his ringtone. 

He took one deep breath before pressing the button.

Everybody else remained absolutely silent. The wind rustled through the trees as his phone connected to the other end of the signal.

“Uh….hey there.” the hero said, his voice sounding far more wary now. “What’s up?”

Shadow facepalmed silently beside Rouge, who clamped a hand over her mouth to stop any potential laughter.

Sonic quickly switched the call to speakerphone so that everybody could hear the president talk.

“Hello, Sonic.” she said politely, her voice warmer and more friendly than any of them had expected. “Are...any of the members of Team Dark there? I’m not asking for G.U.N., I promise.” 

Rouge gave the phone a skeptical look. Not asking for G.U.N.? Doubtful.

“Nah, not here.” Sonic said easily. “Whatcha want with them?”

The bat could hear the faintest hint of harshness in his tone, hiding beneath the cool front he put up. Apparently the hero hadn’t quite gotten all of his frustration out just yet.

Clearly, the president could hear it too, because she sounded a little awkward when she next spoke. “Oh. I...I actually just wanted to tell them something important. Is there any way for me to get in touch with them?”

Sonic glowered at the phone. “I can tell them whatever it is you wanna say.” He was practically growling by this point, clearly working hard to keep his emotions under control.

Rouge cringed at that- now everyone would know that Sonic had a direct link to her team. Not good.

“Alright then...” Strangely enough, the woman on the call still sounded stressed. Shouldn’t she be pleased that she’d gotten some sort of a lead instead? That was what this was for, right?

“Can you tell them, then...just let them know that I’ve signed off on an order temporarily shutting down all of G.U.N.’s operations, okay? And that the commander has agreed to comply with it? Will they get to hear that?”

Rouge, Shadow and Omega all stared at one another.

What?

“Yeah- yeah, they’ll hear the news.” Sonic said, his eyes as wide as they could get. “Uhhh, why exactly did you do that?”

Now it was the president’s turn to sound irritated. “What do you mean, why? Not only are there protests and riots in the streets, but I’m horrified by what they’ve done, as I’m sure you are too! The leaders in both houses of government and I have completely agreed that G.U.N. needs to be closed down until we figure out what to do with it. 

“I’ll be putting my voice in for total reform, and a consideration of permanent closure, but there are those who’ll argue with me, of course. I’m still going to do what I can for Team Dark and for those who’ve been hurt by G.U.N., though.”

“Wow.” Sonic said softly, stunned. “That’s...that’s impressive.”

“No.” the president said decisively. “It’s the least I can do to make things right. And, if you see Shadow…”

“Yeah?”

“Can you tell him that I personally apologize for everything that happened on Space Colony ARK? I had no knowledge of it until that video was released...but still. I wish there was something I could do to let him know how horrified I am by what he was forced to endure.”

Shadow stared at Rouge, who honestly couldn’t do much more than stare back, her thoughts racing by at a pace to rival her friend’s speed. G.U.N. wasn’t chasing them anymore? They weren’t even allowed to hunt them down? It almost sounded too good, too easy to be true.

“I’ll tell him. I promise.” Sonic said, his voice just a little shaky.

“Thank you, Sonic. Take care.” she replied, before ending the call.

“...whoa.” he breathed.

“What just happened?” Shadow ran his hands through his quills, as though he hoped it would help him sort out the events that had just taken place.

“Is this even real?” Knuckles asked skeptically. “It could be a prank…” They all knew he’d been the target of too many falsehoods to trust most people by now.

“Voice patterns match previous speeches given by the current president.” Omega said, making everyone’s surprise grow even more.

“So what...they’re just shutting down?” Tails looked confused.

“Most of them, yes.” Rouge said, taking a deep breath and beginning to work through her own swirling thoughts. “There’ll be some agents who don’t agree with what’s going on, but that’s to be expected. The commander is a big fan of rules, so he won’t ignore an order directly from the government. G.U.N. should be shut down...so the question is how safe the United Federation is for us right now.”

“So? Is it safe?” Sonic asked, looking hopeful.

The three members of Team Dark locked eyes. Rouge sighed. “Not quite. G.U.N. hasn’t actually been fixed yet and there’s going to be plenty of agents who are less than happy about this development...especially when it comes to us escaping.”

“There’s still a chance they could use their various connections to order some sort of attack on us that couldn’t be traced back to them...it’s unlikely that the commander would go for it, but others might. None of us need any potential assassins sneaking into Club Rouge in the middle of the night.” Shadow muttered, staring down at the grass.

All three members of Team Sonic cringed at Shadow’s wording. But then, Sonic sat down next to him and put an arm about the hybrid’s shoulders gently, giving him the option to push it off if he needed. “Don’t worry, Shads, you can stay here as long as you like.”

Knuckles glared at him. “This is my island, Sonic! I get to decide who stays for how long!”

Rouge raised a brow at that. “And do we get to stay, then?”

“...yes.” the echidna grumbled defeatedly.

Sonic’s answering smirk got him chased all around the clearing and the surrounding woods as punishment...if you could call it punishment when he was laughing and dancing and skipping over boulders all the way.

Rouge looked over to see Shadow leaning back against Omega again, looking tired but surprisingly calm and...was that a smile she saw?

“Feeling good there, hon?” she asked gently, leaning on him (and purposefully making their height difference obvious).

He rolled his eyes but still leaned into her shoulder, bringing a smile to her face as well. “Better than the last time we did this, that’s for sure.”

Rouge felt Omega’s arms tighten around them and looked up to see his eyes dim slightly in thought. After a moment, though, they brightened again, and he spoke.

“Original objective: make Shadow feel better. Status update: partially completed. Notes: cortisol levels lowering but still above recommended levels. Remaining irregular behavior due to exhaustion. And...outcome regarding G.U.N appears to be positive so far. This mission appears to be an overall success.”

He pulled them both a little closer, clearly not planning on allowing the two to escape his hold any time soon.

“Awww…” Rouge said gently, but Shadow was already falling asleep.

“Ngh. Stop making fun ‘f me.” He nudged her shoulder with his head, completely failing to do anything other than make the bat's smile grow warmer.

Within moments, he was completely passed out, and Rouge and Omega shared a look. “Do you regret any of the difficulties that this mission has created?” the robot asked, seeming curious more than anything.

Rouge looked over at the sleeping hedgehog next to her, a small smile spread across his face as he rested safely with his closest friends and family. There wasn’t any pain waiting for him in his unconscious now, and while there might be in the future, it could be handled with care and time.

She grinned up at Omega then, her smile wide and genuine.

“I don’t regret it at all.”

[blindedbypluto]

BLACK PINK’S VENUS SIGNS.

k.js (venus in scorpio) :

intense. you wouldn’t catch them messing around all day. commitment is a must.

loyal. venus in scorpio are arguably THE most loyal people you’ll ever come across. cheating or dishonesty in a relationship is a huge deal breaker.

magnetic. when she walks into a room, all the heads turn her way. there’s something irresistible about her. she might even find herself having many suitors. not many will make the final cut though. she has high standards. she knows what she deserves. won’t settle for less.

control freak. i know this is a huge stereotype when it comes to scorpio placements in general but combined with her capricorn sun, she’d HATE to not be in control. this could also make her extremely possessive. 

emotional. very in tune with her emotions. her love is raw and beautiful. poetic, really. she’s someone who prioritizes her lover’s emotional well being over everything. misery loves company. she’ll keep you close and kiss the tears away.

chaser. once she sets her eyes on someone, she’ll be like “idc, they’re mine.” it takes a lot to catch her eye and after that, she’ll do everything in her will power to pursue you.

IDEAL TYPE : someone in a very powerful position (or someone who has a powerful/heavy presence). you need to have depth. poets, writers or artists are very attractive to her. she likes to yearn for you. slow burn into a relationship. she might also be into emotionally unavailable people or people who already have other partners. 

k. jn (venus in pisces) :

kind. she’s naturally an empath and a healer. could be a sister figure to people. someone very reliable and caring.

unconditionally loving. she couldn’t care less about how much money you make or your past. she looks right through it and wants to love you. the real you. she is very non judgmental and accepting.

naive. tends to give people more chances than they deserve. however, she is not emotionally weak. once she decides you are not worthy of her love, you’ll never see her again.

childlike/innocent. fantasizes about having a dreamy, disney-like romance with her partner. her aura is very cute. she likes to be taken care of. probably is touched by the smallest gestures.

sappy. she loves the same old chivalry. holding a door open for her. long cuddles. candle lit dinners. matching rings. all these make her weak.

IDEAL TYPE : someone older. or at least, someone super mature for their age. the typical knight in shining armor and damsel in distress tropes reoccur in her love life a lot. she needs her partner to be her safe place. somewhere she can relax and be at ease. needs a secure relationship where there is equal give and take. someone who’ll help them step out of their bubble and explore. someone who’ll bring out a different side in her.

l.mm (venus in aries) :

playful. unlike jennie, lisa tends to be more immature and fun-loving. she’s someone who always lightens up the mood in a room. she might find it difficult to stay serious for a long time.

leader. she’ll instinctively take control. her presence is loud. she might attract people without even trying to. 

spontaneous. i do find it true that it’s hard to pin an aries venus down. they love adventures and want something new and fresh every day. they love to learn and challenge themselves.

flirtatious. they’re natural people pleasers. their way of putting things straight or not beating around the bush is attractive. they are enthusiastic people who’ll flirt a LOT. their social skills are beyond compare.

insensitive. she finds it hard to adapt to people’s emotions well. combined with her virgo mars, she might struggle to read the room. subtlety is not an option. however, in a relationship, she tries to match her partner’s emotional needs. her pep talks can feel a little robotic at first tho :(

IDEAL TYPE : someone who is funny and witty. someone who can’t be defined with just a word and someone who constantly improves themselves. someone unpredictable yet stable. intelligence is very attractive and if you can blow her mind, then she can blow your-

p.cy (venus in aquarius) :

best friend. loving her feels like loving your best friend. you can talk to her about anything under the sky and she’ll have an opinion on it. she’s very reliable and trust worthy.

accepting. you’ll never find someone so accepting and loving like fellow aquarians. they’re humanitarians by nature. they love making people feel comfortable in their own skin. they just care. A LOT.

committed. they’re airheads and tend to come off as detached or aloof but in reality, they love deeply and are scared of getting hurt. they also won’t date around just for the sake of dating. they want the real deal. 

intellectual. some of the SMARTEST people you’ll come around. they’re very chatty. it’s because their mind goes a mile a minute. it’ll be hard to keep pace with their train of thought. 10/10 keeps you up at night to discuss human rights.

inclusive. once she starts loving you, she HAS to include you in her daily life. she’ll introduce her friends to you. life is really just incorporating you in her everyday routine.

IDEAL TYPE : someone unconventional. attracted to loners or really quiet people. you need to have a lot of common interests or you’ll lose her. secure relationships are the best. she dislikes super clingy people. she has to have a lot of freedom and breathing space.

[lilikags]

epiphany- a moment when you suddenly become conscious of something that is very important to you

ೃ⁀➷ It was unreasonably cold on our first date. We went out to a café in the city. It was cozy; soft lights glowed with warm auras, soft, green plants lined the windows, the aroma of coffee imbued the atmosphere. But the date itself was cold. Both parties seemed aloof to one another, an awkward silence hung over the table for most of it. The coffee I ordered came in warm, but it seemed more tepid to me. I would've thought the coffee was great, if it wasn't so cold in the bubble around our table. Even the employees could see it; their expressions showed a hint of pity, their eyes displaying a tint of sympathy.

ೃ⁀➷ Flurries happened the next day. We saw each other again; we were partners for our next project. Uneasy smiles were our greetings to each other, and we worked in an awkward silence. Somehow, it didn't feel freezing that day, though the temperatures dipped below zero that night. It felt completely different than our date the day before; the silence was more comfortable than awkward, more tepid than cold. I felt we could get the project done effectively and quickly; even when it looked like there was a wall of ice between us, made of the lack of communication despite being across from each other, the wall was clear. We could see exactly our intentions from the other side, and miscommunication had been frozen by the wall.

ೃ⁀➷ Christmas parties bring people together, they say. Despite being in the same friend group, we had barely talked to each other. It was the first time we saw each others' smiles, heard each others' laughs, felt each others' emotions. For the duration of the party, we showed that we had a human side, something that had been hidden earlier. Earlier, we were merely robots atop a snowy mountain, with frost on our metal panels and ice at our toes. But while we talked for the first time, we had gone into a cave, set up a fire, and the ice had started to melt.

ೃ⁀➷ Playing in the snow is something kids love to do. Despite it being cold, the children can still laugh at each other, throw snowballs at each other, and bury each other in the snow. It's a warm snow, a snow that tickles your skin and cushions your fall. We saw kids playing at the park the next winter. We were taking a walk, a day after our first anniversary. I picked up the snow barehanded, but it didn't sting. We made a snowman, piling up the snow, but our hearts were light.

ೃ⁀➷ We had hot chocolate on New Year's that year. There were flurries outside, just like when we were working on our group project. I had two marshmallows floating atop the drink, right next to each other. The hot chocolate was exactly the right temperature, the sweetness just right. The movie on the TV was supposed to be a thriller, but we laughed at it instead. If only those times lasted longer.

ೃ ⁀➷ A snow globe was one of the gifts I received for Christmas that year.  I set it beside a photo frame, with a photo of us on our first anniversary, on my bed stand. In it were snowmen, snowflakes, and a cute little person. I treasured it as my most prized possession. I love watching the snow fall slowly within the snow globe, as they landed on the person inside. Little did I know that the person inside would be me the following year, and that the snow did not mean what I really thought it meant.

 ೃ⁀➷ Icicles can be weapons. They're sharp. They can fall on your heart if you're not careful, if you don't see them above. They're crystal clear, when you see them. You almost don't believe they're there. I didn't see it- and the words hit me like an icicle.

ೃ⁀➷ The holidays came around again, but I felt empty. I tried to spend it the same, but it wasn't the same. There was something missing; my heart felt cold. The sweater I wore last year went missing, but I didn't bother to find it. I didn't bother to buy another one either. I just missed that warmth. Something in heart tried to make it myself, but it only glowed.

ೃ⁀➷ A new decade, a new year. It'd been years since then. I was ready to turn over a new leaf, a new me, a new job. I was going to make my life worth it, something I wouldn't regret when I'd die. I was going to start the year off with a "bang!"- until we met again. It was at the new workplace I had applied to. We were assigned to the same team.

ೃ⁀➷ A blizzard happened outside the office when we worked on our first project together.  We were probably the ones who caused it. The only thing we could call this was a mess; everyone's minds were all over the place, no one could focus, and we got in trouble. It was no surprise that we didn't like each other off the bat. We were still hung up on the past, though we shouldn't have. It'd been years of no contact. The fact that we still had each other's contacts saved in our phones was a mystery, something we thought we would've deleted.

ೃ⁀➷ Matching socks and gingerbread cookies happened the next Christmas. We never thought it would happen, ever. I had never thought that I would find the blanket again, nonetheless welcome it back. It came back different, yet I still liked it. I baked gingerbread cookies, something we both loved and the frosting was just something a little extra, to celebrate the moment. We built a gingerbread house, with a little gingerbread couple. We imagined a perfect lifestyle for them, something of the future. Our socks kept our feet warm, wrapping them up and letting us forget about them to enjoy the moment.

ೃ⁀➷ White, sparkling snow piled up. Some parts sparkled more than others, some spots had a bit of dirt on it, but it was mostly white, sparkly snow. There were some sticks in it too, which fell from trees. Some parts were still cold, others nearing warmer temperatures. Some of it had melted away, gone into the drainage forever- to be forgotten. I could still see much of the snow, and I treasured that.

ೃ⁀➷ Diamonds, like snow. It's been years since then, since we first started. All of it, it started on that very first winter day, and here we are, on the same day of the year. It's remarkably warm today, the day that the diamond ring meets my finger.

ׂׂׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ׂׂׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ׂׂׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ׂׂׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ׂׂׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ׂׂׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ׂׂׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ׂׂׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ׂׂׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ׂׂׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ׂׂׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ׂׂׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ׂׂׂׂૢ་༘

taglist ; @ssat0ris​

[nyxxon]

Persodroids (Asui Tsuyu and Hatsume Mei)

Request:

@Genos — Quotev

Anything specific to include: One Day, a young rich girl is taken to an Android store by her servant to buy some friends for Y/N while the mother was away. Y/N decides on Tsuyu and Mei, whom are on sale (Both have speakers for mouths and are in their hero outfits). Once home, and Y/N's mother leaves, Y/N turns the two on, having lots of fun with them over the next week. One night, while Y/N and the two cuddle together, Y/N wishes she could be like them, going to sleep snuggled between the two androids.

» Changed it up more to be more of a basic introduction. Possible part 2 with the end as you had described. Hope that is okay.

———

The drive to the large and extravagant store hadn't taken long since, before you knew it, your driver—Sero Hanta—pulled up to the store with you and your maid, Uraraka Ochako, sitting in the back seat.

     Remaining inside the car, you knitted your brows as you looked out the window at the large store with what appeared to be humanoid robots on display..? You weren't sure if that was the proper term, but it'd have to do for now.

     You knew you and Uraraka were going shopping for the day even though you hadn't wanted to. But she and even your mother had insisted you come with Uraraka to where she was going for some reason or another; however, that was all the info you had managed to gather from her during the little ride.

     As you were looking out the window and trying to figure out the reason behind it, it didn't take long for your view to soon change as Uraraka had since exited from the car and made it to your side of the door, opening it.

     Hesitantly you came out of the car before turning to look at Uraraka, "What are we doing here..?"

     "Hmm. You'll see!" She replied almost excitedly as she shut the door of the black car before she began walking towards the store, you following behind her.

     Upon entering, you both were greeted by even more of the humanoid robots all dressed in different and bizarre outfits while all also looking completely different from one another. But they all had speaker-like areas for mouths which was, admittedly, a bit offsetting.

     "Your mother asked me to bring you here to choose out two 'Persodroids' of your own."

     "Uh, 'Persodroids'..?" You blinked at her.

     Uraraka nodded, "It's like a friend of sorts, except it's an android." She stated, "They're quite popular actually."

     "I see . . ."

     Well, that explained why she and your mother wanted you to come to the store.

     "You can choose whichever two you like." Uraraka stated, "I'll wait for you here as you look around."

      You hummed, "What if I don't find one?"

     "I'm sure you will."

     You sighed, "I guess I'll look around then."

     With that, you started off in a random direction to look at all the "Persodroids" that were hanging in display boxes or sitting in human-like positions and whatnot. Each android had a little paper beside them describing them.

     Walking towards one of the androids, one with blonde hair that had a black lightning bolt in his hair, you read the paper: Kaminari Denki is a friendly, social, and energetic boy who likes to hang out with people. He is rather casual when interacting with others although he's also not above petty complaining or overreacting if feeling annoyed or shocked enough. Kaminari may come off as blunt and reckless at times but is always well-meaning. He is also very flirtatious.

      Frowning, you went to the next one beside him. It was a pink-skinned-and-haired alien-looking android of sorts. You read her description paper: Ashido Mina is a cheerful and easygoing girl who displays a smile on her face most of the time. Highly social and excitable, she loves to hang out with her friends and is shown to become very upset when denied an opportunity to be at a gathering.

     She possesses a strong fashion sense and likes to go shopping. Due to her athleticism and energy, Ashido enjoys and is very skilled at dancing. Her demeanor becomes more strict and perfectionistic when teaching others how to dance, in direct contrast to her usual happy-go-lucky nature.

     It seemed they each had their own personalities along with likes and dislikes . . . so it appeared you'd need to look at each card to find your best match.

     With a sigh, you began reading each and every card of the majority of the Persodroids . . .

 

 

After what felt like a few hours, you had read just about every single card for each Persodroid. However, even so, you hadn't managed to find anyone you liked—not that you had expected any different since you honestly didn't have much interest in doing so.

     "Unable to find one you like?" A voice sounded from behind you.

     You jumped a little as you turned around, instantly being greeted by the sight of a rather tall curvaceous woman in a white blouse and tight black pencil skirt with spiky dark purple hair with a pair of striking blue eyes.

     You blinked at her, "Who are you?"

     "Oh, dear. Excuse my rudeness." She started, "I'm Kayama Nemuri, the owner of the Persodroid Store . . . but as I was saying, you appear to be having trouble."

     "I guess."

     She hummed as she looked you up and down, "Come with me." She turned and started walking.

     Blinking at her as she began getting farther and farther, you reluctantly followed her as she began leading you past all the androids you had already read about, opening a door that appeared to lead into a back room of sorts before leading you to a pair of female androids who sat against the wall—alone.

     One had long dark green hair and a skin-tight green and black bodysuit with tan-colored gloves that had buckles around each wrist while also somewhat resembling a frog in a way—possessing larger than average hands.

     The other was a girl with salmon-colored hair styled in thick dreadlocks while wearing a plain black tank top with workshop coveralls tied casually around her waist—a pair of red and gold steampunk goggles on top of her head.

     But both had the basic speaker-like mouth that all the other Persodroids appeared to sport.

     Though with that said, were they messed up?

     "I have a feeling these two may be to your liking." Kayama stated as she handed you two pieces of paper, snapping you from your staring at the two androids.

     You stared down at the papers in her hand before reluctantly taking them and reading over them, reading the one that had "Asui Tsuyu" on the top: Tsuyu is a straightforward and aloof individual who always speaks bluntly from her mind and what she thinks about others. Tsuyu prefers to be called "Tsu," but only by people that she views as friends. She commonly refers to everyone with the honorific "-chan"—save for authority figures.

     She is noticeably calm and collected, being able to stay levelheaded and focused even during the most stressful situations. An honor student since middle school, Tsuyu has great judgment, can communicate her intentions easily, and is rarely moved by emotion, making her an incredibly dependable friend.

     You then proceeded to the one that read "Hatsume Mei" on top: Hatsume Mei shows no fear when it comes to failing, seeing it as an opportunity to learn and do better next time, which is why she does not mind when her inventions fail. She can be seen as self-centered due to putting her love of inventions and gadgets above others, but this selfishness is not a negative as it is out of motivation to improve herself.

     She does seem to be a little bit absent-minded as she is easily distracted and can sometimes be completely unaware of her surroundings. She can also be a bit manipulative at times. Furthermore, she seems inept at reading body language and social cues.

     Admittedly, these two androids did mildly pique your interest—more so than the other ones who had been out in the open. However, you were curious as to why these two were in the practically empty backroom.

     "The green one is Tsuyu and the pink one is Hatsume." Kayama stated.

     "Why are they back here?"

     She hummed, "They are too good just for anyone."

     You raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

     "They're special."

     "Special?"

     A smirk played at her lips, "If you buy them, you shall see."

     You looked at her for a moment then back at the two girl androids. This seemed like the most basic of "buy this" convincing you had ever seen. However . . . you were a bit curious about these Persodroids.

     Perhaps this had been what Yaoyorozu Momo, one of your friends, had been talking about and described one of her maids to be when you two had talked over some tea when you had gone to her place though you didn't pay too much attention to her rambling.

     "So what do you say? Kayama eventually asked.

     "Fine. I will take these two."

     Her smirk widened, "Very well."

     With that, she had soon gotten a few of her workers to prep them to be packed up and placed in your car out front while she led you back to the front desk to ring you up—Uraraka handling the payment once you had told her you had found two you were interested in.

     After Uraraka had paid for the two androids, you both were soon escorted out with the two workers who helped you load the two androids into the trunk of the car before you soon entered it instantly followed by Uraraka.

     After you both had gotten settled, the car was soon off and heading back home. On the way, Uraraka was happy you had found two you wanted as she asked many questions about them.

     Not really wanting to partake in any conversation, you simply handed her the pieces of paper with their descriptions on them as she gladly read it though she did ask which was which with you telling her before she began talking about one thing or another on the way back home as you ignored her—your mind filled with curiosity of the androids you had just bout and, that if what Kayama said was true, what was so special about them.

     Once you had gotten home, the two androids stayed in the car as they waited to be unloaded by two of your own personally helpers around your home who had started towards the car right as you headed inside to see your mother.

     Right as you walked inside, it didn't take long for your eyes to land on your mother as it appeared she was off to head off, a suitcase in hand—being the CEO of one of the biggest companies of Musutafu, so she usually had to attend long meetings which usually had you being alone most of the time.

     As she walked towards youz you began to speak, "Mom–"

     "Oh, (First Name), you're back!" She interrupted, "Did you find two Persodroids you like?"

     "Ah, yes, I did."

     "Wonderful!"

     "But why di–"

     "I have to go, I'm going to be late for my flight if I don't head out now." She stated, "I'll be back in a week."

     "Oh . . ." You had almost forgotten she had a week-long meeting to handle and that her flight left today.

     She placed her hand on the top of your head, "Love you, have fun with your new toys." With those words, she soon left you to your own as you watched as she walked through the door right as the two guys bringing in the boxed androids made their way inside.

     "Where do you want these?"

     You glanced at both of the men carrying the large boxes, appearing to be internally struggling though not saying anything, "You can put them down in the living room."

     The two men nodded as they headed into the living room. After a few seconds, they soon came back into the lobby before heading back out to handle what they had originally been doing before your arrival.

     Making sure you were alone and seeing as Uraraka had left to handle her regular maid duties for the time being, you soon made your way into the living room. Spotting the two large boxes on the ground, you walked towards them before stopping once you had gotten in front of one of them. Bending down, you opened both of the boxes, revealing the two androids.

     As you looked at them, you wondered how you turned them on . . .

     Looking around, you soon found a piece of paper inside one of the boxes. Grabbing it, it was obvious directions on how to turn them on. It appeared you'd have to press the little button on their necks—simple really.

     Hesitantly, you pressed the button on both of their necks. At first, it did nothing so you were about to press it again since you thought that maybe you hadn't pressed it hard or long enough for it to process your actions; however, the one dubbed Tsuyu's eyes snapped open followed by Hatsume's before they slowly began to rise up from the boxes.

     The sudden action of them sitting up caused you to scoot back as you stared at them with somewhat wide eyes. It was a little off-putting with how realistic they looked aside from their mouths, of course.

     You continued to stare over at them silently with your eyes still a bit wide and a bead of sweat on your cheek, taking notice of their eyes appearing to glow with a "processing" symbol. Though their eyes soon reverted to more normal-looking ones—Hatsume's still a bit odd-looking though—after a few more seconds as they began to scan the room, soon stopping on your form.

     Tsuyu was the first one to speak—her voice perfectly human even with the odd speaker mouth, "I'm Tsuyu Asui. But you can call me Tsu."

     "I am Hatsume Mei!" Hatsume said directly after, her voice relatively normal as well, "Who are you?"

     "Uh . . ." You paused for a moment, "(L-Last Name) (First Name)."

     Both of their eyes seemed to turn into the "processing" symbol before reverting back to the more regular eyes.

     "It's a pleasure to meet you, (Last Name)-chan. We are your Personal Androids or 'Persodroids' for short." They said in unison though Hatsume's was a bit more excited sounding, "Basically, we are your android friends."

     "Android friends?"

     "Yes!" Hatsume started. If she had a normal mouth, you were sure she'd have a smile on her face, "We will do anything and everything with you!"

     "As long as you keep us charged that is." Tsuyu came in, her voice not as enthused as Hatsume's, as she placed an oversized finger to her speaker mouth.

     "Our batteries last for three days on average while running on a full charge." Hatsume stated, "We can also function while being charged!"

     "I see."

     "You don't talk much, do you?" She asked.

     "She doesn't seem like the type." Tsuyu answered for you as she studied you.

     "I–"

     "You have such a nice house, (Last Name)!" Hatsume said as she glanced around the living room, her eyes switching to that of computer-animated 8-bit sparkles.

     "Yes, it'd really nice." Today agreed.

     "Are you rich or something?!" Hatsume turned her gaze back to you.

     "Uh, you could say that."

     "Wow, that's so cool!"

     "I agree." Tsuyu came in as she began to gaze about the lavishly furnished living room herself, "It must be nice having such a lot of money."

     You frowned, "I guess."

     As you silently stared at the two "Persodroids" who looked at your house in complete amazement (Hatsume more so), you couldn't pinpoint what was exactly so "special" about them. They looked exactly like all the other androids that littered that store, and you were sure they function the same as the others as well.

     You wondered if there was a way to shut them off, you were sure there was. After all, you didn't care too much about them and had only got them because of what had been said to you as well as Uraraka being very adamant about you getting one . . .

     But at the same time, you were still quite curious about these "Persodroids" as well as curious if they'd eventually show you how special they truly were or if what Mrs. Kayama had told you had been a bunch of bull just to get you to buy them.

     So for the time being, you'd allow these "Persodroids" to continue to run—you watching them closely to see if what the owner of the store had said to you was actually true or not through the passing week. And who knows, maybe they may actually grow on you though you highly doubted that.

     However, with the days to come with the passing week, you weren't expecting the two androids to slowly do just that. In the end, a small friendship between the three of you was destined to begin in that short amount of time . . .

[vicecityhq]

██████████████]99% LOADING...SUSPECT INTO THE APD DATABASE...

WITNESS(ES) SAY HE REMINDS THEM OF: flickering neon lights, the sound of static, retro video games. With a slight resemblance to HAN JISUNG of/the STRAY KIDS.

CLICK BELOW TO VIEW ENTIRE FILE.

FULL FILE:

Last Name, First Name: Nam Jaejin ALIAS: Crypto Realm of birth(if earth, nationality): Earth Age: 21 Date of Birth: January 31st, 2000 Gender: Male Preferred Pronouns: He/him, they/them Species: Cyborg Occupation: Bookkeeper of the Howlers, university student, hacker Sexual Orientation: Pansexual

VISUAL FILE:

Skin Color: Tan Eye color: Brown, with a blue/purple tint at times   Scars: Surgery scars where his enhancements have been added; in his right arm and chest area. Piercings: Right eyebrow, both earlobes Tattoos: When he is not actively using his enhancements, the mechanical arm silhouette on his right arm resembles a tattoo. (x) Hair color: Currently black with white highlights. Abnormalities: Added technological right arm and metallic elements to the right side of his chest. these enhancements affect most of his body/internal system as well (namely his lungs). he has human brains, but they are affected by the technorganic physiology as well. Horns/ wings/ etc: none Transformed form: His technological arm mostly looks like a tattoo to someone who doesn’t know any better. While actively using his abilities, his right arm and chest begin to glow with a blue/purple light and resemble more of a robotic arm/chest. This glow might affect his eyes as well.

PERSONAL FILE:

RELIGIOUS BELIEF:  Raised Catholic, later turned atheist SINS:  greed  /  gluttony  /  sloth  / lust  /  pride  /  envy  /  wrath VIRTUES: chastity  /  charity  /  diligence  /  humility /  kindness /  patience /  justice KNOWN LANGUAGES: Korean (native, dialectal at times), English (mostly fluent), Latin (basics) SECRETS: He has been behind a lot of major hackings towards the government/other significant parties during the last few years. Jaejin will usually attempt to blend in with “normal” humans and civilians, trying to hide both his cyborg-ness as well as his gang affiliation.   SAVVIES: Technology, computer science, hacking, mathematics, video games, planning Powers & Abilities: Technorganic physiology, technology manipulation Traits: + quick-witted - aloof Aesthetics: Flickering neon lights, the sound of static, retro video games

BACKGROUND CHECK:

Date of Birth: January 31st, 2000

Date of Death: -

Crime Record: Multiple hackings against many different significant figures/parties, as well as countless smaller hackings. Involvement in gang activities, mostly relating to fundings. He hasn’t been found guilty for any of these crimes yet, but he is also aware that his record might not stay clean forever.  

Background/Biography:

Born to a wealthy upper-class family in Busan during a cold January, Jaejin was, at first, anything like most kids. He had a younger sister. He had loving parents (albeit ones who had their expectations raised sky-high from the very beginning). And he had a few people around him he could even call friends. The kid was a little shy, a little nerdy, but nothing short of pure and kind towards the ones he cared about. His childhood was a little uneventful, but a happy one regardless.

Jaejin was nearing the age of ten when the unfortunate accident occurred. It was a dark October evening, heavy rain making it nearly impossible to see clearly. Jaejin was returning home from a friend’s house, hurrying down the street as the rain continued to increase.  The kid decided to cross the street, thinking of the Nintendo Gameboy console waiting for him at home. The sound of brakes screeching against the wet asphalt made him halt where he stood. It was all blinding light and the loud howling of a truck’s horn before everything went black.  

Jaejin barely survived the hit, perhaps by some miracle. What didn’t survive was the majority of his right arm. Most of his chest was looking quite vile too, having endured a hit that no human tissue really could. Some of his organs, namely his lungs, were damaged nearly beyond repair. He was barely breathing, only making it with the help of the beeping machines of the hospital. Jaejin’s parents, shocked and shaken up by the whole thing, quickly began to pull strings and search for methods for him to make it. It was a question of any means at that point. A decision that they would perhaps come to regret later.

The boy was taken to a private clinic that specialized in cybernetic surgeries. It was supposed to be just about repairing the parts of him that no longer worked as well as life required. But Jaejin’s surgeon was a charismatic man of science, and was able to convince the higher class family that some small enhancements to his body wouldn’t hurt. The Nam family was eminently very unaware of the lengths that some cybernetic surgeons went in the name of science and test-runs. So when Jaejin awoke some twenty hours later, he was no longer the same boy at all.  

It wasn’t evident, at first. But over the years it became apparent that something had shifted after the surgery. The once very warm boy became aloof, often struggling to empathize with people. In turn he became intelligent in a way he necessarily wasn’t before. Jaejin's emotions weren’t completely shut-off by any means. He felt things, sometimes even strongly, but not always in the way others expected him to. And the boy was ashamed and alone with his thoughts. It wasn’t until years later, during his high school years, that Jaejin discovered the things that he was actually capable of.  Accessing and controlling different technological components became something Jaejin got kicks out of, a different kind of excitement filling him for the first time after the enhancement surgery. And so what if hacking things was illegal? It enabled Jaejin to have control and power. It enabled him to have pride in himself.

After high school, once Jaejin had already enrolled in university to study computer engineering, an acquaintance approached him after a mathematics class. Even at first glance the young man could tell that the things he was about to be told were not something he could tell anyone else. He was asked to follow the man to a place he would later know to be the Howler’s headquarters. His skills and savvies were something they took interest in. And though Jaejin was nothing short of unsure about the offer, he figured he could stay around for a while. Even if only to help the gang with their poor money management skills out of pure curiosity.  

So that was what Jaejin became – a gifted, witty student by day, and a hacker and gang member by night. He had gone by the codename Crypto even before affiliating himself with the Howlers, so it was natural that he also used that alias in his gang endeavors. Jaejin, having taken distance from his family a long time ago, was surprisingly willing to be included in a gang of all things. Maybe it was the things the gang did and provided him with that gave him a sort of thrill and excitement otherwise lacking in his life. Or maybe being a part of a group made him feel a little bit more human again.

INTERVIEW QUESTION (para sample): “Just run us through what happened that night”. - Officer

Jaejin was, for the lack of a better word, in quite a robotic state.

Again, it wasn’t that the man didn't feel anything at the question. Sure he did: he felt annoyance at the fact that he had to be sitting there, in the police station, when he could be tackling his microcomputer architecture project due in a few days. But Jin also knew that it wasn’t really the typical emotion to be feeling while being questioned by an officer. Especially not if you were innocent (and he was, technically speaking).  

“It all happened so fast”, he said instead. He was trying to summon some feelings of shock and maybe even sorrow. Jaejin knew those to be the typical feelings of a civilian witnessing a gunfight, after all. Except in this case it was more of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time, not so much the fact that he hadn’t seen it before. It had been people from the Howlers, though; a fight against some other gang members (for reasons the man frankly didn’t know). And Jaejin had just happened to be there as the police cars arrived with sirens howling.  

He wasn’t going to say any of that though. Jaejin wasn’t about to snitch on his gang members, not if he had nothing to fear. And as far as he knew, none of the scouts involved had actually been caught. The police had nothing on the situation. So he continued to speak in a manner that, in hindsight, was probably too calm for someone who didn’t know anything.  This might come and bite him back at some point. “All I know that there were people in black, many of them. I didn’t really see their faces, probably a gang or something. Suddenly there was a loud noise of gunfire and that’s the part where I ran to the back of the warehouse.” Out of nowhere, Jaejin felt actual emotions surging to the surface. “I was... afraid”, he whispers in a small voice, “I didn’t want to get hurt. To die.”  

Except it wasn’t really his own life he was afraid for. Jaejin found himself back in the situation, the same emotions rushing through him. He was afraid for them. For his own gang members. For better or for worse, the people who accepted him when no one else had. For the first time in a long time, Jaejin was afraid of losing someone (not that he would admit it out loud, though).

[randombtsprincessa]

Achilles Heart || 3

All Rights Reserved.

Author: Randombtsprincessa

Characters: Jeon Jungkook x Reader (2nd POV) x Kim Taehyung | Other Characters

Chapters: Prologue  01  02

Warnings: Heavy angst, insecurity, mixed lines, micommunication but a sweet little smut scene to ease things up. Not too explicit this time,sorry.

A/N: There you go, a nice 7k whopper after so much time. This has been a long time coming. Taehyung doesn’t come up in this chapter but he’ll show up morein the chapters ahead. Also, I adore Yoongi.

Do leave some feedback please!

A Week Later

The sound and smell of coffee filtering, with the crinkles of sugar falling into it lit up your conscious. You had been staring hard at a mountain of papers that required your focus and you had been setting it out for later and later for days. Now, however, you needed to shut up, sit down and do some serious work.

Your workplace was situated in a day in day out building. You had bought out the place, refurbished it and set it up as your office. It had taken a better part of the three years after college but now, you were proud of the joint. You were proud of your work neighbors and while the few other colleagues that you did have in the event business mostly comprised of actual décor work, you weren’t complaining.

You loved the solace to plan and prepare. You enjoyed the lack of obstruction and could laze about the office with no one to tell you anything. Part of why you weren’t hiring an assistant.

Now, though, staring at the sheaf of papers, you wondered if you should start looking for someone appropriate. You hadn’t been completely truthful to Yoongi.

The event business rarely ever dried out. Your clientele was mostly the rich and the powerful, all of whom enjoyed having their luxury and money be flaunted. A nice bit of it went in your pocket and in return they didn’t have to worry about a single damn thing for their lavish parties, galas, balls and what not’s.

You had been especially busy the last week, seeing as your own…troubles had made your vision go astray. You had to staunchly remind yourself that you were a career woman first.

You had stepped into the office on a bright Monday, with your head straight and sat behind your office desk, turned the chair so you wouldn’t be tempted to look out the window and set to work.

You wrote a jam packed schedule out, dreading the way your body was going to hurt when you ended the day but it had somehow worked out. Nothing that a good soak wouldn’t cure…

Maybe you should book a spa day with a friend.

When you started arriving to the business places, it started a string of phone calls with questions, negotiations, offers, and you had to stretch out on the office couch with your head down – unable to keep sitting in one position for nearly four hours.

After calls, you had to check locations.

While you loved the cavernous halls, concert stadiums, and twirling about in the grassy plots, it was usually also filled with a lot of talk about maintenance, damage control, security, issues that might come up with a nasty guest, staffing. These were the times you remembered that anything that was that beautiful would usually come with a lot of work and worry.

Thankfully, your clients had more than enough money to skate over such matters.

More often than not, these events also needed you to show up, sometimes decked head to toe, looking like a star on a red carpet or understated for the more sober charity programs, offering your own support for the ones you saw doing halfway good in the world.

These events were also useful in securing your position in the world, making your current clients come back due to your stability and attract new ones. The mingling, the giggling, the smart conversations and importantly pretense that you knew what you were up to had helped you frame yourself and put you in the workings of the powerful and mighty.

You didn’t always love it, the strain of appearances taking a toll more often than not. But you knew you were important, and in this day and pace, you knew you needed it.

Of course, this week you had worked yourself to a thread. You came in early, went home at ridiculous hours and even then, you took your work back home, finishing and prepping because you had been slipping.

Slipping in your relationship, didn’t mean you had to fail what you had worked so hard for.

“I did it. I…released a statement, one that said I was not committed and single. I was going to have to someday and management was pressuring me way too much. Namjoon helped me do it today. It’ll probably be up in the news by tomorrow.”

Jungkook’s words flooded from his abused lips; the plumper lower one trembling as he fixed his eyes straight at you, hands drawing closer till he was fidgeting with his hemline. Not once did his eyes waver.

You stayed still, letting his words wash over you.

Sometime during his words, the glow of the afternoon party had worn off.

“Oh,” you mustered finally, turning away slowly, heading further into the house.

For once, you did not hear Jungkook call after you.

The house seemed to tunnel, throwing long shadows as you walked through it. You stopped near the door to slip off your shoes, curling and uncurling your toes. There was a slight coolness around the edges of your soles, most likely from where the watered grass had soaked into the shoes.

The kitchen light stayed on, noiseless but somehow the weight of his presence followed you around. You didn’t want to read too much into it.

He was probably just giving you space again. He knew sometimes you needed a minute or two to yourself to sort your thoughts out. It didn’t have to mean that he was scared or was hiding something more from you.

You had to be reading too much into it. You had already briefly wondered if maybe your harsh aloofness and jerky avoidances were the reason why he was acting so jittery.

Of course, now we know he was just stressing about telling you about the announcement.

Your arms felt robotic, going through the motions of unzipping the dress, letting it pool onto the floor around you. At a point, there had been times when Jungkook solely took responsibility of unzipping your dresses, simply because he loved the domestic intimacy of it. Now, he stayed in one part of the house, with you and your heart cornered in another.

You stepped into the shower, hot and pulsating upon your skin and all the while you could hear your heartbeats echo the drips of the water. You exhaled deeply, counting.

One…two…three…water washed down your back, flooding down the drain.

Four…five…six…the thuds that beat on your head and deafened your ears were merciful, blinding you and robbing away your thought processes from the onslaught of heat and relief.

Seven…eight…nine…he was a single man…no longer attached to you…

You shuddered, the number ten falling from your lips out loud and you close your eyes, resting your head against the fogged glass surface.

There was so much you wanted to do.

You wanted to scream, at yourself for putting you in this situation, at him for thinking it was okay to do so. And now that he had accepted your stupid proposal, what now? What was going to happen now?

You also wanted clarification. Did he mean it when he said that you could’ve forgotten everything about that one wretched date and moved on with no repercussions?

You didn’t know, maybe you just doubted it. You doubted it that you could’ve walked out of that restaurant after he had spit out his company’s demands at you, holding hands and giggling.

You knew you couldn’t have walked away that easily. Those demands would’ve come back sooner or later. Even if Jungkook handled it himself, he would have to succumb to those demands. Where would that have left you then?

Nowhere nice, you decided. It was going to end up on the negative either way.

Your hand shot out to shut off the shower, the ends of your hair allowing you a few more seconds of reprieve before you had to step out of the haze.

Drying off and getting dressed in a numb daze; you were met again with another decision. But you made that one in a hurry, not wanting it to weigh on your conscience as well.

The pink rabbit pajama set had been a joke, because ever since Jungkook and you had moved in together, you had only worn an old ratty t-shirt of his to bed, till the holes had become, well, indecent.

Wearing that set must’ve sent a message, you thought, because when Jungkook finally entered your bedroom, meek and folded into himself, something had clouded his eyebrow further but you only closed your eyes, mumbling out a goodnight that he may or may not have heard.

Jungkook changed in that same awful silence that had filled the apartment since you’d entered it.

You stayed turned on your side, eyes firmly closed but your hair stood on end, hyper aware of every movement he made. You knew when his shirt came off and he put on another one, you heard the light push and pull of the dresser drawer and then the sound of running water as he brushed his teeth.

Finally when he came to the bed, he hesitated for a split second before getting in and there was another pause.

Your eyes opened, wondering if he was going to try and pull you close to him again but he only sighed lightly, and then the light flicked off.

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

Your eyes stayed open for a good few hours of the night, dozing off when starlight faded from the window panes. There were only a few inches of space between the two sleeping bodies, but the fissures that had cracked and opened stretched as long as the silence.

You had been right in thinking that the news of Jungkook’s singleness would spread like wildfire.

When you opened your laptop the very next day, the first thing you were greeted with was a large picture of Jungkook, looking dazzling in an all black suit and with an intense look on that heartbreaking face splashed all over your news feed.

You took a moment to slide further into the couch, just looking at the picture.

It was taken at an up and coming red carpet, you remembered because you had went over the finalized arrangements, as part of your contract with Bighit as an event manager. You had went over the event with a fine toothed comb, a precision that had made many people nervous and work harder for the show to be perfect.

It was one of Jungkook’s first ever appearances, and he had been an absolute gem. The suit, fit him like a glove, emphasizing his assets and you had personally went over his hair, simply because you had had the means and opportunity.

It had been a fun conversation at home of course. The scalpel sharp focus that you had awarded this one show was enough to make Jungkook start joking about how you were biased and how other people would be jealous of how much attention he was getting. He’d tickled you on the couch and you had blurted out that he was right.

Of course, to him it seemed like you had just relented to get out of his hold but it wasn’t much of a lie.

You wanted Jungkook to be a success, you would’ve staked anything for him to hit it big. You had put your own job to use so he would shine like the star he was.

You had been grateful it worked. So, so grateful that you had gladly refuted various jobs just to accommodate Bighit. They were amazing ones too.

You sighed, removing your eyes from the picture that reminded you of when things had been simpler. Then you decided to scroll further, to cement what your boyfriend had already told you.

Idol Jungkook confirms ‘Single’ status

Among many rumors and gossip that has surrounded the world of entertainment; one that has been impenetrable was the relationship status of the young Mr. Jeon Jungkook. Known as the ‘Golden Child’ and protected fiercely by his company, he is one of Big hit’s priceless jewels, always popping up alone.

Rumors about the young idol started going haywire after his big break with the song ‘Begin’ and have continued to grow online. Is he gay? Does he have a secret girlfriend? All these questions then snowballed till it was rumored Mr. Jeon was married and had seven children.

However, Dispatch media had taken it upon themselves to uncover the secret life of Jungkook, to show the Idol in his full glory. Their idea is if he hasn’t got anything to hide, then why not come forward and say it.

Well, this just in, Bighit has launched an official response against Dispatch’s claims stating the Idol is very much single. According to the Idol himself, he feels right now, is the time to focus on his expanding career and build his brand name.

“I recognize that fans are curious and want to know more about me. Honestly, though, I’m really not interesting,” The Idol claims, to a flurry of laughter.

“I’m really concentrating on my work right now. So, I’m too busy to think much about anything in the relationship department. I don’t want to put a partner into that kind of situation where she has to keep waiting for me. Anyway, I’m not going to just get in any serious thing right now, right? I’m too young for that kind of commitment. This is the time for people at my age to date around, get to know more and exciting people.”

Well, the Idol seems to have his life planned. Who are we to stand in the way of such talent?

Stay tuned for more news!

Your eyes stopped at the last paragraph, reading through his words again and again.

“I’m not going to just get in any serious thing right now, right? I’m too young for that kind of commitment. This is the time for people at my age to date around, get to know more and exciting people.”

His own words, words that he had spoken out loud, to that damn press conference.

When had Dispatch put a trace on him? Why hadn’t he said anything? Why hadn’t the company?

The only answer you could come up with was the company had started seeing you as a liability. You were being much more open when Jungkook had to be more careful; careful that a girlfriend would take away his fans, his reputation, and his clout.

So they put Jungkook in that position, they had asked him to choose between his relationship and his career.

And you knew what his answer had been…

You shook your head, closing out of that news article, refusing to put up with it. It was just a damn announcement. He was still there. He had agreed to your proposal, hadn’t he? He had done so to keep you. He had asked you to forget about what he’d said.

He had kept it from you…

You opened twitter, against your better judgment, but that was human nature wasn’t it? The need to dig and burrow into an injury because it provided a strange, a bitter catharsis; the need to validate yourself, not in your might, but in your flaws, it was human nature, a powerful one.

And you had never been one to fight impulse much…

Twitter was still somewhat safe, most of your follows were of work related accounts, you followed the entertainment sector of course, you knew them, were friends with them, worked with them but none of them were a good peek into the fandom culture.

So you searched. You put down the necessary keywords and began to drive the proverbial knife into your chest.

Well, that’s a relief. Boy needs to play the field.

Bullshit, he probably has a girl stashed somewhere.

No need to lie sweetie, we see the way you look at Kim Namjoon.

I think it’s shitty that Dispatch put him on the spot like that. He’s just a kid; he doesn’t owe you hoes anything.

Some people don’t care about talent, just gossip.

Imagine him coming up and saying he’s dating some bitch loll

I’m glad he has sense; any girl who dates him would only be doing it for the fame and money

You delusional fans, he’s never going to date you so shut up

How long do you think before Dispatch releases proof that he’s got a chick?

Dispatch sucks anyway

Jungkook can’t possibly be with anyone seriously. It would just be a fling.

I think it’s better he dates idols anyway, he deserved the world

Well, not all of it was bad…but not all of it was nice.

You knew the hazards that came with being Jungkook’s girlfriend. If anything both he and you actively tried to keep your feeds free of the negativity but Jungkook was young, and gorgeous. It was obvious many fans would lose their attraction to his talent if his appeal was compromised in anyway.

You glanced at a few of the comments again before shutting the laptop completely.

You had expected to work, but now nothing seemed to pass through the cloud of cold hopelessness that had seeped within you. Something told you Jungkook wouldn’t be too happy if he realized you had gone sniffing through tabloids and let yourself get this way but you had no choice.

You had no one to go to now. You couldn’t talk to Jungkook about this if all he was going to do was pepper you with adoring reassurances and promise to fix things when they were already getting out of hand.

You went back to your brazen dates outside, where you’d spent more money on keeping the staff quiet than on the meal, simply to enjoy a date like a normal couple.

It was crushing, the feeling of powerlessness. You could do nothing against it; in fact you’d helped to chip away at your own relationship.

But you would be damned if you let them win. If Jungkook didn’t outright want to leave you, no one could make him.

You cracked your knuckles, steeling yourself. You had to keep fighting, no matter what they threw at you.

Only question was; was Jungkook as willing as you?

The wood of your foyer was cool when you undid your shoes, slipping them neatly into their rightful places in the shoe cabinet. Slinging it shut, you picked up your bags of itineraries, printed schedules, location brochures and other paperwork dealing with your trade. You were relieved that you had invested in a heavy gurney bag, aside from the environmental healthy proceedings, you were sure that a simple plastic or paper bag would’ve ripped easily under such weight.

You had had to drop the bags twice in the elevator and to the way to your car, but you finally managed to lug it till the living room armchair before giving up, heaving a tired if not burdened sigh.

Yet another batch of work to do, yet another week to not have to think about anything but who was celebrating what, why, where and when…

You dropped into the armchair, almost at the brink of chuckling at your current state.

You used to be an individual of philosophies to balance work and personal life. No business interfered when you were taking you time and vice versa but now, it seemed like your personal life had been reduced to a void. Work had taken over you completely yet you weren’t regretful.

Home used to be something that you enjoyed, but now being here only made that strange crushing weight crash down on you, squeezing your lungs till you couldn’t breathe. You were drowning in helplessness and working to an end, at least gave you the illusion that you still held power in some aspect of your life.

“Y/N?”

You looked up, somewhat blearily. The film of haze that covered your eyes blurred the figure standing in the hallway of the apartment and you blinked rapidly clearing your line of sight.

Jungkook stood there, an apron tied to his front, a metal spoon in his hand as he looked back at you, curious.

“Hi,” you mumbled.

“Are you ok?”

You nodded, sitting up and rubbing at your eyes with the base of your palms. The sudden appearance of Jungkook had set you upright, a defense mechanism to protect against any form of shock that could be thrown at you.

“What are you doing here?”

The question came out harsher than you meant for it to be. You had only meant to ask why he wasn’t at the studio but it sounded as if you didn’t want him in your home and by the flinch you saw cross his face, bravely covered by the twitch of his nose, you knew he had taken it as an accusation.

“You’ve been coming home late every day, Y/N. I got worried so I came to check on you.” Jungkook approached slowly, as if cautious of your reaction to his proximity. Gently, he lifted the metal spoon, “I even made you some dinner. We can eat…together.” He offered.

You looked from the utensil then back to him. Those big doe eyes of his were colored in hope, glittering brown almost melting at you to indulge him. It was your weakness, and the beaming smile that lit up his face when you nodded in adherence was enough to make you falter in your icy composure.

Jeon Jungkook was entirely your weakness and no matter how cold you held yourself, every nuanced action, thawed it out. Nothing, however, could evaporate that dark abyss of despair, though. Not with him so close, not when you knew he knew that he was young, gorgeous…that he needed to play the field.

So you ate with him, in silence. He insisted to serve you at the kitchen table, setting out plates of fried rice and grilled meat that was his specialty. You internally keened at the glazed sauce he stripped the protein in, but a thin smile was all that slipped out, eyes downcast even as Jungkook made an overly elaborate show of bending over to check your expression.

He seemed mollified by the show of emotion because he resumed his place in front of you, lifting his spoon.

“So, tell me all about your work. You’ve been spending so much time back at the office; it must be something big right? I was starting to feel that I should just move in there with you.”

You paused in your motion of spooning rice into your mouth.

In the past year when you had cemented this relationship and all of the months before that had gone into the both of you courting each other, the point of moving in together had only ever been brought up as a joke. Of course, he spent almost all his time here, rarely ever going back to his – admittedly much more luxurious home. There had only been a handful of times when you and he had not gone to bed together. One of them had been when he was giving you ‘space’ after that one date.

You knew that eventually you would have to move in together fully. Your own place was no joke, it was a pretty shiny expenditure on your part and he had contributed more in this place than he had stepped foot in his own home but now…

Well, now you were barely making week’s string together to last through this painful phase of your relationship. All your hopes, as to a future…they were gone. They had disappeared the moment you had slid the piece of paper written with your rules over to Jungkook.

It was so easy for him to bring up that joke, while you were sinking, while you could no longer taste the dinner he had so obviously cooked for you.

You stared down at the decorated plate. He had actually brought out the nice dinner plates for this dinner.

“Beautiful?”

You looked back up at the man opposite to you, the pet name so easy to fall from his lips, so familiar for you to react to as if it were your own name.

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

You shifted uncomfortably. “I…I, don’t feel so good. I don’t think I can eat.”

Jungkook stopped mid-bite. His eyes flashed to the plateful of food that you had only just made a dent in. “You haven’t eaten even a single bite. What’s wrong? Do you need a doctor?” He made to stand but you had already gotten to your feet, carrying away the plate to cover it and put into the fridge.

“No, I don’t. It’s probably the late hours. I think I just need to take it easy.”

Jungkook looked at you as if he was trying to peek through to your soul, trying to unravel what was actually wrong with you. “Um,” he looked at his own plate. “Fine, how about we…watch the TV a bit? I’m done eating anyway.”

“No, Jungkook, you should finish.” You immediately began and thankfully, Jungkook listened. He lifted up his plate, quietly following you to the living room where you quickly deposited yourself in the armchair. Jungkook didn’t seem to process the move, as he sat back on the couch, eating as you flicked through the channels.

When he was done, he tried to make conversation, picking up where you’d left off – on your work.

You muttered about the places, about the people, about the calls when you noticed his eyes drift from you to the TV. You slowed in your tirade, stopping abruptly.

There it was again, that feeling of breathlessness again. Tears threatened at the back of your eye, but you weren’t crying, it was mostly a reflex.

What you were saying wasn’t interesting. You weren’t interesting. He should be dating people like him, people that garnered his attention and held it because he was passionate about what was being discussed.

The people on twitter had been right after all.

You swallowed loudly.

“Babe, you were saying?” Jungkook called suddenly; making you jump, turn to him in surprise.

“What?”

“You were saying you had to make some calls but then you stopped.” He grinned teasingly. “The movie’s not even that interesting. I’m not holding your attention tonight?”

You mouthed unheard words, wide-eyed and not answering.

Your own thoughts, turned at you, fickle and mocking, but with none of the gravity that threatened to sweep you down with it.

“I…” you stuttered, catching Jungkook’s grin flicker, eyebrow creasing. “That’s it. Your turn now; what are you working on?”

Jungkook hesitated. “Nothing really special,” he said offhandedly.

You stared at him for a while, his gaze still confused and concerned. You couldn’t find it in yourself to soothe him though. So you did what you did best.

“I’m going to get to bed now. I’ve to be at work early.”

Late at night, when Jungkook joined you after cleaning up, you felt him press up against you, despite you trying your level best to appear asleep.

“I love you, Y/N.”

You only took an exaggerated inhale.

It wasn’t usually that your best friend would leave the sanctity of his recording house and grace your office with his presence and the alluring scent of your favorite Chinese takeout.

“I didn’t know if I should get burgers and fries and those huge shakes you love or not. Figured Chinese was the best deal,” He grunted in the face of your shit eating grin.

“Aw, Yoongles just admit it. You missed me.” You cooed at him, his ears burning red even as he scoffed back at you, placing the food containers neatly at your desk and taking a seat.

“I didn’t miss you, you big pain in my butt.” He watched you as he flicked the container of his steamed dumplings open, grabbing for chopsticks. “I was just checking up on you.”

“Checking up on me,” You laughed. “What for, I’m fine.”

Yoongi hummed, digging into the cardboard box. You eyed him, reaching for some of the chowmein and waiting. Yoongi, being a man of few words himself, knew when to wait people out. He had been using that same method for years now and you had become adept as keeping yourself away from his sly tricks.

So when he finally let out an irritated exhale, you had to muffle a snicker.

“Y/N,” he snapped before his eyes softened, “I saw the article.” He said, slowly, inching towards the subject as if you were going to jump across the table and throttle him.

You prided yourself on your poker face, even thought you had never once won a game, having never bothered to actually learn the game. “What article?”

“You know which article.”

It was official, even as you pretended to be struggling with your chopsticks. “Oh, that one,” you shrugged. “Me too,”

Yoongi lowered the dumpling from his mouth.

“And you’re still fine then,”

Another shrug from you, “What were you expecting? The article wasn’t a shock, given Jungkook’s status. Besides the photo they picked was good, right?”

Your best friend nodded. “It was indeed, I remember it being one of yours.”

You nodded, still looking into your food. “Yep, one of my best ones too,”

Yoongi huffed. “He should’ve been more considerate.”

You rolled your eyes at the comment. “Come on, Yoongi, you and I both know that he had nothing to do with the editing process.”

“Y/N, in an ideal situation, he would have nothing to do with any of this at all.” Yoongi picked up the dumpling again, going quiet. “You have a choice in the matter too, you know.” He said quietly.

You stopped fiddling with the food, simply staring at the noodles. Each long strand of deliciously glazed strand, curling around diced veggies and meat and pepper.

“Maybe, but I really, really, don’t see a way out of this right now.”

“Well, you’re never going to feel otherwise if you keep bottling shit in.” Yoongi placed at the container on the table and got to his feet, rounding the table to you. He grabbed your food and put it on the table as well, leaning against it with his arms crossed.

If anyone had swung by, they’d think you were getting scolded from the frown on his face.

“Have you even talked to him about it? Has he asked or talked about it with you?”

You sighed, rubbing at your eyes again. “No, I don’t think he even knows I’ve read it. He was…so sweet, Yoongi. He is actually trying and…I’m just making things worse.”

“Y/N, at a point when you two should’ve announced your relationship to the world, or maybe kept it hidden still, no one cares, you let him go about announcing he was single. Hell, you basically cut him loose! If anything, he should be making this effort if he wants to keep you.” Yoongi told you severely.

You looked away.

“Y/N, communication works both ways.”

You finally looked at him, meeting his eyes head on to see sympathy, concern but most importantly solidarity in them. You smiled, nodding.

“I’ll talk to him. I promise.”

You went home early that evening. It was odd, after having put in a new schedule, going back to the old one but you did. You put your work papers neatly into their correct drawers and folders. You set out a schedule for the next day, logged out of your computer and after a glance around, locked your office and left, only your purse in hand.

The apartment was empty when you got home, thankfully. The last time you’d been there hoping to put in some effort for Jungkook, he’d thrown you with some shock but you were going to not think about that, decidedly. After all, you had promised Yoongi you would talk to Jungkook and even if you hadn’t…

Well, you knew this was coming, didn’t you?

Just because you’d shaken some rules in his face didn’t mean you both would magically know how to navigate through this maze life had dropped you into. No, this was necessary and after the way you’d behaved when he’d tried to make some attempts at rekindling, you knew this was long overdue.

So, the moment you were in and your shoes were off, you changed into something comfy and began serious work in the kitchen.

You roasted some potatoes and baked the chicken you’d purchased on your way home.  Squeezing lemons and frying greens into the skillets, you tasted and seasoned, hoping that the taste would add to the apology you were going to make.

To say that you were overly nervous when you’d finally set out the food on the coffee table in front of the TV and heard the door unlock with his keys, then his boots padding onto the wooden foyer was an understatement.

You paused, listening as he stopped there, the rummaging with the cabinet before he appeared, a tongue poking in his cheek, looking around. He didn’t spot you first thing, and you watched on fondly as he popped his tongue out and then yawned, scratching a hand through his thick dark head.

He turned then and you froze like a deer in headlight.

For his part, Jungkook handled his reaction superbly.

His eyes widened at first, eyelashes fluttering as he took in the appearance of you in home clothes and the carefully arranged food on the table. Then he swallowed twice and let out a wide smile.

“Baby, you’re home.” He walked over, taking a deep whiff of the steaming food platters before he was wrapping his arms around you, naturally, instinctively. “This smells great.”

In the not so distant past, this normal act would’ve set you off, bringing up questions and insecurities and while something still nagged, you quelled it fiercely, basking in his embrace as he bent to take a sniff at your hair. “Mm, you smell better.”

You laughed, pushing him away unsuccessfully. “I haven’t even taken a shower. I just changed and started cooking.”

“Yeah but,” another sniff, “you smell like my favorite cheese.”

“Ok, that’s just gross.”

“Not at all, I’m just…cheesy.” Jungkook dropped an exaggerated wink on you and you huffed, managing to wiggle away.

“Let’s just eat before it gets cold.” You said, dishing out copious amounts of the chicken and potatoes onto the same plates he’d used – the extra fancy ones.

It was quiet in the room, the only sounds comprising of clattering spoons and low sounds of chewing, the ones that indicate that the food is scrumptious.

“Well,” Jungkook grinned hugely, after the plates had been washed and dried, after the leftovers were wrapped and put away. “That was an amazing dinner. I missed this.”

The last part was said in a much lower tone but you caught it anyway, a fresh new wave of guilt coming down on you, along with the reminder of the promise you’d made to Yoongi.

“Jungkook,” you called and he stopped, turning around to you, a smile still lingering on his pretty lips.

You leaned against the island you were clearing, palms flat on the tile. “I came back early today, because…um, I – I know I’ve been kind of…out of it, lately. I haven’t been giving you much time and when we were together, I was really…I just want to say sorry.” You mumbled out, making yourself meet his eye.

Jungkook’s smile softened, a frown joining it. “Baby, that’s fine. I know you’ve been busy this week. I saw those huge files.”

“No, that’s just it. I wasn’t that busy. All the paper you saw, I could’ve easily dealt with back at the office. I just…I kept bringing back work that I had already finished. I told myself it was because I wanted to review them so everything would be perfect but…it’s just, I guess all I was doing was hiding.”

Jungkook had moved closer to the island as you spoke. “Hiding…from what exactly…?” He prompted.

You just gave him a look. “I think you know. Jog your mind a bit.” You said.

It was gold, watching his pupils shake, contemplating the various things that would’ve resulted into you pulling away. You could literally see the moment a light bulb went off.

“The article; you found it…you read It.” he said softly, eyes still distant in realization. “Wait,” his eyes snapped in focus. “Why didn’t you tell me you read it?”

You snickered. “That’s what you’re focusing on?”

“No, but - so, that’s why you were ‘hiding’? You were all withdrawn and shit because of that one hyperlink page of bad journalism?”

You straightened when his voice started to rise. “Why are you getting worked up? You spoke in that reporting didn’t you? How did you think that I wasn’t going to find it? Did you expect me to roll my eyes and leave it unread?”

“I…I guess I was hoping that you would come discuss it with me.”

“Discuss – discuss what exactly, the article was pretty all-inclusive.” You snapped finally. You could still see them, the words, cutting through you now just as they had been emblazoned in your head ever still you’d roved your eyes over them.

“Exactly – Y/N – that report…that interview, it was all closely watched, it was scripted, that dude who took it had his questions edited by my manager. Namjoon Hyung was with me all the time, to see that that the man doesn’t try to slip in anymore questions. He had to ask what we told him, just as much as I had to say what I was told.”

Jungkook sighed. “That is exactly why I was hoping you would come to me. I had to say some…pretty shitty things in that interview. It was disrespectful to you and our relationship. I hated saying those things, I even told Namjoon,”

“Not that he would stop anything like this from happening,” you muttered.

“Y/N,” Jungkook stressed, he walked around the corner to stand in front of you, too close that you couldn’t look anywhere else.

“You know it hurts me too, as much as it hurts you – maybe more, but I can’t do anything about it. You sacrificed something from our relationship and if I just act like a coward and back out now…it’s all for nothing.”

Back out now…back out now from being for all intents and purposes, single? So, he deemed it cowardly to get back into a proper exclusive relationship with you all for the sake of you ‘sacrificing something’.

You looked into his eyes again, and he broke off. You could tell he was comparing right now to that date, just as he had seemingly discussed his future that wouldn’t have you, with you brazenly, he thought he was being pacifying.

He would leave. He would leave and think that it was noble of him.

And you would be alone…

“I don’t want to think about that.” You said out loud and Jungkook responded, slowly taking your hands in his.

“I love you, Y/N. I do.” He swore and this time you didn’t have to look into his eyes to know that he was being sincere.

“Then show me,” you whispered.

“What?”

“Show me,” you said, louder, “please.”

Jungkook left no room for hesitation. He took time to drop your hands, instead wrapping his arms around your waist, drawing you closer to him. He felt solid against you, permanent, comforting. You reached up to entwine your fingers through the strands of his hair, drawing further in, the heat of his breath tantalizing when he kissed you, slow and deep.

It was all encompassing, his touch. Even though his hands remained tight to your hips, you could feel him everywhere. He coaxed your mouth open, his hands now cupping your face. It was like he was putting his all into this one kiss; as if he was showing exactly what you meant to him.

And you soaked it up; each brush of his fingers, every squeeze of his grip and the small pops when your lips pulled and pushed against each other.

Jungkook angled your head back, gaining access as he nibbled over your jawbone, moving across your throat and then latching onto the collarbones, working the skin.

His name slipped out of you, eyes unfocused even as he looked up to you, asking for the next direction. This was about showing that he was all for you and you appreciated it.

“Bedroom,” you mumbled, knowing if Jungkook could, he would have no problems taking you right here in the kitchen. But you wanted this to be intimate; you wanted him on top of you, driving out your insecurities.

Jungkook complied; bending down to easily lift you up into his arms. His steps were quick, almost like he couldn’t wait and you didn’t blame him. It had had been a bit too long.

You were dropped almost unceremoniously onto the mattress, the material bobbing under your weight as you moved back to the headboard, Jungkook following on his hands and knees.

He took your lips again, pressing a hard, deep kiss on them, his tongue mingling with yours in a very familiar dance, one that you both enjoyed participating in. It was a prologue to where his hands would wander, lifting the ratty home clothes you’d donned, tossing them to the floor. Your hands would follow, mirroring his actions.

Very soon Jungkook was naked and warm, on top of you, his mouth, and hands, everywhere. They sent a tingle from your hairline to the tips of your toes, curling them around his calves. You could feel his arousal against your hip, already hard.

He was taking care to not move much, saving the friction, maybe even drawing out the pleasure by torturing himself. But this wasn’t about the torture; it was about the both of you taking comfort from your physical connection. So you reached down, circling his length even as your boyfriend was blissfully unaware, content with kissing you breathless.

The first touch of your hand against his member made his jerk over you, breaking the kiss away to look at you with wide eyes.

“I don’t want you to hold back, baby. Don’t hold anything back.” You explained, his eyes falling at the soothing tone of your voice, lips tucked between his teeth as he rocked with your hands – fucking into your hand in pace.

He was gorgeous, you thought. The way his face scrunched just so, lips flushing from the abuse of his two front teeth, the big nose twitching slightly and the soft lines of his forehead that deepened only when he scowled. Your other hand traced said features, trailing them down his chest.

Jungkook shifted, a hand going to part your legs further to accommodate his body better. He tugged your hand away, lifting it over your head and pinning it by the wrist.

“You want me to show you how much I love you beautiful?” He asked, curling one leg to trap your ankle in place, leaving you no space to wiggle away. He cupped a breast, lowering his head to suckle at a peaking nipple. A hand trailed down your side, stroking through your folds, tapping at the clit.

“Yes,” you sighed.

“How,” the fingers pressed into your entrance, distracting you easily even as your hips moved to slip his fingers in. “How, baby, tell me how?” Jungkook insisted.

“Want you, please,”

One and then two fingers dipped into you, curling and uncurling into your spot as he went, grinning as the sudden jolt had your nipple falling from his mouth.

He loved this, you knew. He loved playing, and you would’ve complained when he pulled away from your pussy but the sight of him engulfing his fingers coated in your arousal in his mouth more than made up for it.

You loved watching him enjoy you more.

Jungkook was holding his cock now, running the swollen head through your glistening folds. His eyes focused on your frame as he pushed in, slow and precise to that one area that had you staring at stars.

He relished the way your body arched for him, prompting him to wrap an arm under you, holding you up at the angle. One elbow supported his weight and he nuzzled into your neck, his lips finding place at your ears.

Each drive of his hips into yours was accompanied with an ‘I love you’ grunted deep where only you could hear him, his presence surrounding you as you held him to you, your nails leaving crescents on his back.

He fucked you through your orgasm, maintaining the deep but slow pace, only quickening when he was reaching his own end. He pulled his arm from under you, your body falling to the mattress as he brushed back your hair.

“Tell me you love me too, baby.” He said, eyes looking for yours to meet him.

You gave him a tired smile. “Of course, I love you. Always have.”

Jungkook grinned sloppily, teeth visibly gritting as he emptied himself within you even as you spoke the words, dropping on top of you, and forehead against yours. His hard panting mixed with yours, sealing a moment.

This wasn’t something you could replace. This, right here was something you’d have forever.

With Jungkook pressed right up against you, arms over you and head nuzzled into your neck, you close your eyes again, taking comfort.

[deathduty]

Fae Just Wanna Have Fun || Deirdre & Solomon

TIMING: “current” LOCATION: The Outskirts PARTIES: @shroomsbysolomon & @deathduty SUMMARY: Deirdre and Solomon meet. Sundew is horny.

The fae community of White Crest was interesting. Deirdre was familiar with the antics of the insular fae of Ireland, but Ireland did not have banshees that thought they were human, or fae raised to kill other fae, or whatever Sundew the pixie was. “Sundew,” she sighed, “please stop that, you’re going to run into something.” But Sundew, filled with seemingly limitless energy, would not listen. She fluttered around with envious speed, squealing in delight as she zipped around the forest. She darted around trees, leaving Deirdre where she sat for stretches of time before she could come howling back and then out again. “Don’t you want to do something fun?” She implored the pixie, “go to a party? I hear there’s several.” Sundew zipped back only to shake her head and return to her flying. “You’re going to hit something.” And hit something she did. Or rather, someone. For a moment, panic fluttered in Deirdre’s body, no normal human ever came to these parts. But just as quickly as she panicked, a chill shot down her spine and she was soothed by its familiarity. This person was fae, and she had nothing to fear. And, perhaps, some more fun to be had than watching Sundew. “Hello there,” she drawled, dipping into the riches of her Irish accent, “what’s a fae like you doing out here?” If there was a tree near her to lean on, she just might’ve. 

Whatever time was not spent at the garden working or napping on a bed of moss was spent walking, always walking, with no real destination. Solomon was fond of his forest, which was to say that he’d found it suitable enough to settle in some five hundred years ago, though he’d only come down from the mountains recently. So this area, this town and all its oddities, were quite new to him. He would never be bored of exploring, and sometimes his patience would pay off with an interesting encounter. Hearing voices in the distance, the Leshy hid his true appearance before approaching, uncertain what might lay ahead. Listening curiously, he heard something about parties, and a word of warning—and then something terribly small was colliding with him, causing him to falter in his forward march and look down, brows raised. His dark gaze flitted from the little pixie to the one who was speaking, a look of mild shock crossing his features before mellowing back out into his typical calm. “Oh… nothing, really,” he said truthfully, glancing upward to the treetops. “Yourself?” His attention slipped back over to the pixie, watching her dart in and out of the underbrush with a soft, amused smile. 

Most fae, when met with a new friend of their own kind, had more to say than three measly words. Deirdre thought it was curious, and then rude, and then boring. She cocked her head to the side and eyes the man, waiting for him to say more. A hello maybe. A so happy to meet another fae, how are you hopefully. She got neither. But Deirdre, ever charming, would not be deterred. Sundew was poor company, and she wanted better. “I’m Deirdre!” She offered, hand thrust between them. “Banshee. That’s Sundew; pixie. She’s not on mushrooms or anything, she’s just like that, actually.” As if to prove her point, Sundew zipped over head. Then paused, and zipped right back up to the new stranger. 

“Oh, you’re cute,” Sundew whistled, “how’s about you and I have a little fun?” She winked, which was always a terrible sight on a pixie. Deirdre swatted her away. 

“Ignore her,” she hissed, “you and I can have some fun instead.” Deirdre paused, “no, not like that. I mean regular fun.” 

No one ever said Solomon was particularly interesting. Being alive for so long, there wasn’t much that surprised him at this point, and so his reactions to things had become increasingly subdued over the decades. And frankly, his social skills were extremely lacking in the first place, so it never occurred to him that he might come across as aloof, or disinterested. He was interested. Lifting a brow, Solomon glanced down to the hand that’d been offered, taking it slowly and giving it a firm shake, like he’d seen others do. “Solomon,” he copied her introductory format, his gaze flitting from Deirdre to Sundew. “I’m… uh. Well, me.” He didn’t rightly know what he was, only what he’d been compelled to do ever since he was old enough to think for himself. Giving Deirdre an apologetic shrug, his attention shifted back to Sundew, and a smirk graced his features. He didn’t have time to respond to the remark before the banshee was shooing the pixie away, his head cocked slightly to the side in confusion. That expression only settled further on his face when Deirdre piped up, then corrected herself. “Not like what?” he asked, entirely clueless. “I like fun.”

Why was it that getting to know certain fae around here was like pulling teeth? Deirdre kept her smile, thin and polite, but her mind screamed. Of course he was him, what kind of answer was that? She said she was a banshee, now it was his turn to confess. But, composed and cordial, she spoke as though she wasn’t talking to wet cardboard. “Okay, but what kind of fae are you? Spriggan? Nix? Don’t tell me you don’t know. I can’t deal with another one of those.” One Regan was more than enough. “Not like---” She swallowed. Do not yell at the new friend, do not yell at the new--- “Like sex,” she tried not to look too annoyance at his confusion. “Like hanky-panky. What do you want me to call it? I’m trying to tell you that I don’t want to fuck you.” Deirdre paused. “Not that--Not in an insulting way. You’re very attracti--I mean, it’s just. I’m just trying to--I have a girlfriend, I’m not interested in other--” The banshee reddened. “Look, I mean like a party or something. Good fun! Real fun!” Sundew groaned, trying to right herself. Deirdre swatted her again before she could speak. “You like fun; I like fun! We have so much in common.” Making friends was easier in Ireland.

The names she listed off were unfamiliar to Solomon—wait, no, he’d heard Spriggan before. He’d met a few of those, about fifty years ago, farther south. But they were different to him, so he was pretty sure that wasn’t it. No clue what a nix was, though. “Sorry to say, but I don’t know. Don’t have a name for it, anyway. Never met another one.” Watching the way her features stiffened and her jaw tightened, Solomon could tell she was irritated with him. Of course this is how it usually went, with the exception of a few people. No one seemed to want him around, which he felt was pretty justifiable. He didn’t quite grasp what made most of the folks he encountered tick, nor could he really be bothered to put forth the effort to learn. Raising a brow as she went on, Solomon was surprised to see her getting worked up like she was, and some small part of him found it rather amusing. “I see,” he said slowly, intrigued by how this conversation was unfolding, “It’s just as well, because I don’t want you to fuck me, either.” A small smirk tugged at his lips despite his discomfort surrounding the subject, which came mostly from a lack of understanding. He still wasn’t really sure what fucking was, exactly, but the way people talked about it, it sounded like something he’d be just fine never experiencing. “A party? Never been to a party. What’s that like? Do you know where they have them?” Clearly, the whole socializing scene was painfully alien to him, but his curiosity seemed to have been piqued.

Deirdre’s eye twitched. A scream raged silently in her head. She curled her hand into a fist and smiled a little wider, a little tighter. “You…” she breathed, “...don’t know?” The twitch transferred from her eye to the corner of her mouth. “There’s a name for it. There’s always a name for it.” And she’d just about had it with the fae in this town. How did he not know? How could he not know? 

“Yeah the name for it is sexy,” Sundew purred. Deirdre reached out and snatched the pixie out of the air, tight in her grip. 

“This is a pixie.” She waved her around, “I’m a banshee. There’s always a name for it! There’s hundreds of types of fae! How have you not met another one like you? How—“ She took a big breath in and tried to calm herself. Do not yell at the new friend. Do not yell at the new friend. “W-what do you mean you’ve never been to a party?” She blinked. “How old are you? How have you never been to a party?” He didn’t know what he was, he hadn’t partied before...it was like Deirdre’s luck was cursed. Of all the fae to run into here, it was the horny pixie and the robotic...whatever he was. “They have parties all over. The fae, like us, almost always have them in the forests. Can’t miss them.” Like at all. Even the most clueless fae eventually stumbled into a fairy ring and danced at some point. “I guess I’m taking you to a party then, any objections?”

Solomon’s eyes narrowed at his new acquaintance the longer she went on, eyes fixing on the pixie as she was gripped tightly in Dierdre’s fist and shaken about. “I’ve spent all my life alone, up in the mountains,” Solomon explained, reaching out to remove Sundew from the banshee’s grip. “You should be kinder to her,” he muttered gently, keeping his own palm open and flat for her to perch on, if she liked. “Old,” was all he responded with in regards to her second question, and addressing the third, Solomon lifted a brow at her. “Fairy rings? Oh, sure, I’ve seen those. Mostly tried to keep my distance, except one time… went bad. Killed a lot of humans. Try to just avoid them, these days.” At her announcement that she’d be taking him to a party, he seemed to brighten. “None from me!” Truth be told, he had felt disconnected from the rest of the fae community, no matter where he traveled… it was mostly because of his own solitary nature, and he’d never been particularly bothered by it, but the idea of meeting a bunch of them all at once had his thirst for adventure sparking to life.

“Oh, she’s fine. I’ve seen her fly right into trees before.” Deirdre waved Solomon’s concerns about the pixie aside. “I mean she’s—“ Deirdre paused, absorbing his words. All his life. On the mountains. “Oh,” she blinked, “you’re one of those fae.” The reclusive kind, always more common than they thought. Fae should have the freedom to live anyway they pleased, but she didn’t understand it much. She thought she might just go insane without another fae nearby, another person like her. The humans could be so droll. “Most fae would call killing a lot of humans a successful day at the fairy ring,” she laughed and waved her hand in the air again, “it’s fine. Who hasn’t gotten high and went on a murder spree? I have. Sundew has. It’s like a rite of passage in itself.” The pixie, though disoriented, nodded. What Deirdre hadn’t been expecting, though she adored the surprise, was Solomon’s enthusiasm at the prospect of a party. She grinned and circled around him, clasping her hand on his back and urging him forward. “Perfect!” She beamed. “A party it is! You and I, Solomon, we’re going to be good friends. I can feel it.” 

“What do you mean, one of those fae?” Solomon repeated her words, looking puzzled. Was there something wrong with him? He’d be the last one to know, surely, if the rest of his life was anything to go by. And just like that, one little spot of self doubt was spreading into a broader stain, one that made him wonder if he’d had it wrong all this time. Deirdre’s confidence was throwing him, and he was inclined to believe everything she said. Naïveté was at the root of it all, and having such limited exposure to people who didn’t treat him like something to be feared. “It is? I never felt great about it… never felt great about a lot of the people I killed, but… they had it coming, I suppose.” He hadn’t done so in a while, now—ten years, give or take. It had been a peaceful little second of his lifespan, and he was hoping that it might continue, but that was looking more and more dodgy by the day. Particularly if he kept company such as this… but his conscience was quiet and his delight in getting along with someone effortlessly won out. A grin spread over his features, gaze darting to follow Deirdre as she moved until she was out of sight. He was easily moved by her hand, stepping along with a newfound sense of purpose. Friends! He didn’t have many of those—maybe only one, if he really got down to thinking about it. Another friend would be great! And a fae friend, at that! “How do we find one…?” He was full of questions, but there never seemed to be a hint of hesitation in his tone, to his credit.

“There are some fae that live like the ancient ones; secluded, reclusive, happy on their own.” Deirdre shrugged. The more she thought about living on her own like that, the more appealing it came to be. Yes, she didn’t understand it and yes she thought she might go insane—but that was the part of her that thought duty and mischief were paramount. The pieces of her that wanted an idyllic life, somewhere gentle with the woman she loved, thought it wouldn’t be so bad to leave the world behind. “Humans always have it coming; it’s in their nature. They take what isn’t theirs, claim land they don’t belong in, think they matter to this world more than any rabbit or bird.” She shrugged again, “what’s a little murder, anyway?” She gestured for Solomon to follow her as she started walking. “Sundew knows—pixies always know where parties are.” Sundew, upon hearing her name, aping to life and whistled past them, carving a path for them to follow. “Why’d you come down from the mountains?” She asked him suddenly. “It seems like it’d be nice there...all alone, without a soul to bother you….or did you get lonely?” 

“Oh.” That sounded an awful lot like him. “What… what do you consider ancient? I was alone and happier for it for the better part of a thousand years,” Solomon shrugged, drawing up an eyebrow at her. The longer she spoke, the more he found that he agreed with her, and that little nugget of distaste and distrust of the humans was growing a size larger. “They are a bit like a plague…” he sighed, mostly to himself. Watching curiously as Sundew took off, the leshy could only grin and shake his head. “Hm?” he muttered, falling back to the present at Deirdre’s question. “Oh, it was nice,” he said with a nod, a wistful look coming over him. “Lonely…?” He’d never thought about that, he supposed. The forest never felt lonely when it was so full of wildlife. “I’m not… sure. Perhaps. It had been several hundred years since I last tried to…” His voice trailed, words faltering. What was he doing, after all? What was the point of him trying to understand humans better? “Suppose I might have gotten a bit bored, is all.” It was the best explanation he could come up with without getting into things he didn’t wish to discuss. “What about you? Why do you… stay?”

Deirdre nodded solemnly. There were only a few fae that lived that long, and Deirdre knew what they were called. Solomon, for a reason that was becoming increasingly clear, did not. She wondered if she ought to tell him, or if one revelation at a time was enough. She decided on sparing him. Another time. “Yeah, I’d say a thousand years is pretty ancient. I’ll live for five hundred—more, Fates willing—but I’m only in my thirties now, I can’t fathom a time that long just yet.” A fact that filled her mouth with a bitter taste, but Solomon had something of a calming nature. And with it, she trusted him. Oddly, perhaps foolishly, she trusted him. She nodded as he continued, picturing him up on the mountains, making his slow descent after years of watching in stillness. Must have been nice, to be so detached from the world. “Bored?” As she questioned him, they rounded a tree, coming face to face with a vibrant party of fae of all sizes. Music magically swelled as they stepped into the clearing, greeting pixies, leprechauns, gnomes and nymphs. The fae looked to them with bright smiles, loud hellos, even louder decrees to come join in their dancing. “Well,” Deirdre turned to Solomon, “you won’t be bored anymore, I can almost promise it.” And as for why she stayed, her smile grew fond, sentimental. “I stay for this.” 

The fae reached for Solomon, eager to know him. He was fae, and he would be loved.

[finding-fallen-stars]

YGO Questionnaire Part 2 Electric Boogaloo

So, my gf/bf @howaboutalittlehelpneos tagged me to do this again a... good long while ago, and I had wanted to wait until I'd finished my GX rewatch before trying this again. But ouch oof I accidentally also got through all of 5Ds again before getting to this lol

But the 5Ds rewatch definitely reshaped a lot of my thoughts, so... cracks knuckles. This won't be spoiler free, fair warning~

Favorite Series: ugh the formatting killed my original essay on this but okay GX and 5Ds are pretty tied in my book, now-- I love them equally, but in different ways! GX fulfills my love for subversive coming-of-age stories with a heartwarming, humorous, and also soulcrushing touch, and I love how each season brings a new story and new characters-- it's like reading installments of a novel series, and I think the formatting works wonders for it as a whole. It has some absolutely phenomenal character writing, too-- even the characters I dislike are ones I can appreciate for what they introduce to the story! And honestly, not enough people give the first two seasons of GX the credit it deserves: they're half the charm, really. How are you going to feel the full impact of the heartbreaking content in seasons 3 and 4 if you aren't properly attached to the characters?

But on 5Ds's side of things... it fulfills my love for stories with time loops, found family, human nature, and of course, love and death and how they intertwine. I love how the leading characters are just a bunch of broken kids from broken circumstances who all find a home with each other, and of course, how it highlights class disparity and how fucked up the prison/"justice" systems are. Yea, sure, maybe it underwent executive meddling and all, but I genuinely love it for what it is and I wish more people appreciated it... my only problem with 5Ds is the untwist with Z-ONE and then the ending s m h I adore it overall and I could go off for a long while on it. Overall, these are my two instinctive recommendations for anyone getting into Yugioh!

(look at these boys they're so important) Favorite Protagonist: Oh, believe me, absolutely nothing has changed here-- Yusei Fudo is and always will be my favorite protagonist, and my rewatch only solidified that.

I just... love him so much? He's seen so much hell in his life and carries so much guilt on his shoulders, but he still has room in his heart to believe in others and to believe that anyone can defy fate and find hope even at rock bottom. I love that he's initially introduced as this quiet, brooding figure when he really just turns out to be a huge softie who wears his heart on his sleeve half the time and wants to bring about change for Satellite and its people. Plus I just really love that his greatest flaw is something that would ordinarily be a positive trait-- he's Overly self-sacrificial, to the point where he's basically setting himself on fire to keep others warm, and that's not really framed as something Heroic

Just... he makes me so happy. I have two Yusei charms that I ordinarily keep on my keys (one was a gift from Zenzen) and they're a constant source of serotonin for me. He's Peak comfort character for me. Best protag in my book Favorite Rival: Same deal here-- still Manjoume!

look at him he's so important

While he spends a lot of the anime getting the good old damsel in distress treatment (getting suckered into a cult, getting knocked into a coma, becoming a zombie, getting fucking Killed, etc), I still think his character arc is really well-written overall and I only appreciated it even more when I watched GX again. I love the fact that he's got a soft heart he buries beneath the edgy facade, and that he's simultaneously really sharp and also kind of dense lol. He's just a fun character and watching how he evolves from episode one to episode one hundred eighty is such a satisfying journey.

Plus, props to him for being such a versatile duelist-- 50 wins in a row is HARD as is, let alone with a deck full of cards he just found laying around in the Arctic. Three ace monsters, three different archetypes... he's a really good duelist and I'm proud of him for it

Oh, but honestly, I don't really dislike any of the rivals-- I'm neutral towards Revolver and Reiji, but the remaining four (Kaiba, Manjoume, Jack, and Shark) compel me. yes I accidentally wound up liking Jack Atlas shhh Favorite BFF: Honestly, I really like most of the characters who fit this archetype-- Joey, Crow, Gongenzaka, Soulburner... I still lean a little bit more towards Joey, but I really appreciate all four of them. I'm gonna say Joey again, just because I find his evolution as a character the most compelling, but I appreciate the other three a lot. Soulburner has the best design though Favorite GFF: Oh absolutely still Aki, but I honestly... really love most female Yugioh characters? I'm assuming this is lead girls only, but like. I'm dumb and gay and I love Girls so this is naturally the most difficult one for me to answer lol

Aki just resonates with me the most because she's the prime example of how trauma doesn't always manifest in palatable ways-- when we first meet her, she's angry and lashes out at anyone and anything just because she wants the world to suffer in the same ways she's suffered, and then... we get to watch her grow from that, once she's free from Divine and able to heal the way she needs to heal. I know the second half of 5Ds didn't give her character the attention it deserved, but I'm still proud of her for winding up on the path she did-- seeing her channel her power and energy into wanting to heal and help others was just so good and was one of the few things I really Loved about the 5Ds ending.

oh, but like. Asuka Tenjoin and Aoi Zaizen are very close seconds for me!!! Aki just has a vice grip on my heart Favorite Villain: Okay, it's still technically Vector-- I think he's the most entertaining, well-written, and effective villain out of all of the ones we've seen so far, but... I also want to add Takuma Saiou and then all of Yliaster as honorable mentions?

As someone fond of tarot myself, I was naturally pretty intrigued by Saiou the first time I watched GX, but my attachment to him only grew the second time around where I actually got the chance to understand his character better. Plus, like... the visuals with him are fucking astounding and he's always so interesting to watch.

As for Yliaster, I just... really love how the big bad of 5Ds turned out to just essentially be a broken man desperate to save anyone and anything and three robotic reconstructions of the friends he'd lost. I still think the untwist with Z-ONE was stupid and I much prefer the idea of him and Yusei being the same person, but I'm still compelled by the other three-- well. Paradox less so, because we don't get a lot of Paradox lore, but. Aporia and Antinomy for sure.

ugh Yugioh has some damn good villains

Favorite Card: now that I actually play the TCG game...

Stardust is always going to be my favorite of all cards because it checks every box for me (my favorite YGO character's ace monster, space theme, what more could I want), but Aromaseraphy Rosemary has really become one of my aces in my best TCG deck! I'm still mastering irl plays, but I'm happy with my progress and I love my plant gang...

Favorite Episode: alright, here's where there's actually been a Lot of change, so...

Season 0: Episode 16: "Turnabout by a Hair's Breadth - The White-Robed Crisis" -- The more I think about this one, the more I love it; there's a... lot of corruption in the medical industry, and I've seen a lot of it firsthand, so just. Seeing a corrupt doctor get what he deserved at the end was cathartic, in a way? Plus, a Jounouchi-centric episode is always a good time.

Duel Monsters: Episodes 96-97: "Darkness vs. Darkness/One Turn Kill" -- this hasn't changed, I still love seeing Marik and Bakura bitch at each other for two whole episodes LMAO

GX: Episode 152: "Activate Super-Fusion! Rainbow Neos" -- This one hasn't changed and it likely never will-- I take so much pride in seeing Judai push forward, past the fear and guilt he's carrying, all to save Johan... it's cathartic and I never get sick of watching it.

5Ds: sweats. still all of Crash Town, but also episodes 137-147-- the Ark Cradle is one of my favorite parts of 5Ds and one of my favorite YGO arcs period, and even though each duel is a fucking gut punch, I love the emotional intensity and weight in each episode... It hurts but in a mostly good way

Zexal: Episode 143: "The Aloof Duelist 'Nasch': The Destined Final Duel" -- this one hasn't changed! Still hurts, still love it, I still weep over Ryouga Shark Kamishiro on a daily basis

Arc-V: Episodes 81-82: "Our Respective Battlefields/The Ultimate Falcon VS The Black-Feathered Thunder" -- Okay, honestly, this was hard because I... genuinely. really don't like Arc-V very much at all lol (it's just not my cup of tea, but more power to those who do like it!), but I thought this duel was a lot of fun! Shun is my absolute favorite from Arc-V and I really like the friendship he struck up with Crow a lot, so here we are

VRAINS (so far): Episode 25-26: "Virus Deck Operation/Three Draws Leading to Hope" -- honestly I am so biased because I just really love Blue Angel and I loved seeing her get a well-deserved victory like this lol. I'm not done with VRAINS, so this is probably gonna change, but anytime Blue Angel or Soulburner are on screen, I'm happy

Favorite Decks to Use: Aromages will always have my heart, but I adore Cyber Angels too! I'm building my Trickstar deck, my Synchron/Stardust deck (just waiting on Dawn of Majesty...), and my Magician Girls deck, too! Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, XYZ, Pendulum, or Link?: Synchros my beloved... but also Ritual Years in fandom: I've been here for just a little over one year now! and I wuv it... I'm never looking back Who am I tagging: no one I'm too shy

[thebibliomancer]

Song of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 2

Song of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because Rian is finally in these books, I can’t stop now!

Last time in book: Kylan and Naia reached Stone-in-the-Wood at the end of last book. They hiked out into the Wood of Stone-in-the-Wood to meet Rian but have to save him from a darkened creature. After that’s dealt with, Kylan decides to dreamfast with Rian to spare Naia the burden.

Chapter 2

Rian and Kylan do a dreamfast to catch each other up. Dreamfasting is such a convenient way to deliver exposition. I love it.

Dreamfasting was like diving into a pool of water without knowing its depth or what might wait below. Kylan remained at the surface at first, sensing Rian’s memories and knowing at the same time Rian could peek into his. It was often disorienting in the beginning, to dreamfast with someone for the first time. Even when they had agreed to dreamfast, there were still so many thoughts and visions, protective barriers and waves of wariness.

It just now occurred to me, because the peaks of my Dark Crystal enthusiasm haven’t coincided with the peak of my Pacific Rim enthusiasm, but Gelfling would make amazing Jaeger pilots.

Dreamfasting gets them prepared for something like the neural link and they can even practice without being in the giant robots.

Actually, they don’t even need the neural link. They just need to pilot a giant robot while holding hands. Which I, for one, would be delighted by.

I’m just saying, where’s the Pacific Rim AU where Gelflings fight giant Skeksis?

Rian starts sharing his memories including incredibly detailed layouts of the castle.

Another good use for dreamfasting? Have one person scout a location out and then share the layout. Gelfling heist story!

Ugh, I’m having so many good ideas right now!

Anyway, Rian narrates his memories noting that Gelfling were going missing in the castle one by one but that the Skeksis paid no heed. Then the Skeksis called for Mira.

Aw geez we know where this is going.

Kylan saw a flash of a Gelfling girl, all winks and tall tales. Rian walked with her, back to the castle after an evening patrolling the wood that bordered the grounds. In Rian’s hand, hidden in his uniform cloak, was a glowing bellflower. He would give it to Mira when they saw good night. He would tell her that even though they had been on duty, he had enjoyed their time together, and perhaps they could enjoy time together some other evening...

Aww, Rian’s a big ol’ romantic! A big ol’ sappy romantic!

Actually, look at this cute picture from right off the publisher’s website.

Look at Blue-Streak Rian smoothly giving Mira a flower.

The pictures in these books are so good!

Also, that description of Mira “all winks and tall tales” is really good. Well, it also reminds me of a character of my own coincidentally also called Mira. But I’m consistently impressed how much personality Mira has when she gets very little screentime. If they do more of the Age of Resistance comics, they should definitely devote an issue or more on Mira.

Anyway, the Scientist and Chamberlain tell Rian to gtfo and for Mira to come with them. Having a bad feeling about this, Rian secretly follows and witnesses Mira being drained.

Here the dreamfast actually weakens because Rian’s focus lapses due to the emotion of the memory. Good boy Kylan tells Rian that he doesn’t need to relive this but Rian insists.

So the memory plays on with Mira withering up as she’s drained. No exploding though. And in fairness, the books were started before the show came out and I guess it wasn’t decided that draining Gelflings would make them explode. We don’t see that in the movie after all! Kira’s partial draining seems to work similar to the Podling draining.

Maybe in the show-movie continuity, the Scientist eventually works out the kinks by the time they have to start draining Podlings.

Rian also sees the Scientist take a sip of Mira’s essence and become visibly revitalized.

Kylan takes over the dreamfast to share his and Naia’s side of the plot. The parts he learned in dreamfast from Naia he has to narrate because you can’t dreamfast a dreamfast. Dreamfasting is convenient but that’d be too convenient.

Kylan remembered the day Naia had come to his village, knowing that as he called up the memory, Rian would see it too. He remembered Naia’s aloof appeal, and how reluctant she had been to make friends, but Kylan had liked that about her. He had seen his own outsiderness reflected in her. It might not have meant much to her, but for Kylan, it had been the beginning of the journey that had eventually brought him here, to share in this dreamfast with Rian, and to fight against the Skeksis.

Fun insight into Kylan’s first impressions of Naia. She’s the Sal Dumbingofage of Gelfling apparently.

Last post, I mentioned that Kylan volunteered to dreamfast with Rian because otherwise he’d sit around watching someone else dreamfast and as a POV character that wouldn’t fly.

I’m freshly amused because Kylan dreamfasts to Rian his experience of sitting around and watching Naia dreamfast with a tree.

I know its an important part of what they got up to in the previous book but I’m just amazed here.

Rian asks for clarification on what happened to Gurjin and Kylan shows him the memory of the Hunter hunting them through the Dark Wood. That’s all he saw and all he can show. But I think that kind of sums it up. He got Mal’d.

The dreamfast ends there.

“Gurjin died proud as ever,” Rian said. “We won’t waste his effort. Nor Tavra’s, nor Mira’s. The Skeksis will pay for what they’ve done. I’ll see to it single-handedly if I have to.”

“You won’t. Gurjin is - was - my brother,” Naia said. “If anyone will teach the Skeksis what Gurjin’s sacrifice meant, it will be me.”

And then, not making this up, Rian and Naia get into a fight about who is going to single-handedly show the Skeksis whats what. They’re both protagonisting pretty hard here. This Is Something I Have To Do Myself.

They don’t even realize that Kylan is the protagonist today.

Mythra even mocks Rian a bit for always trying to do things on his own and asks him how that’s working out for him. Savage.

Mythra finished the peach-berry and threw the pit at her brother, who deftly avoided it.

Now that’s some premium little sister energy right there.

She tells Rian that mom Shoni wants him to come to dinner and Rian is like ‘i’m a traitor tho’

“Mother says it’s important for you to come home. She left early this morning to go digging for your favorite merkeeps. She wants to thank Naia and Kylan for believing in you. Joining us is the least you could do to show some gratitude, since you don’t seem very interesting in thanking them yourself.”

Rian flinched.

Savage. A. F.

He argues that he just doesn’t want anyone else to get hurt and advises that Naia and Kylan should try to lay low in case the Skeksis have branded them criminals as well.

Mythra snorted. She hopped down from her perch and headed up the path, back toward Stone-in-the-Wood.

“Just be home in time for supper.”

Mythra is too powerful.

[weartirondad]

Chaos, Yet Harmony

Summary: 3 times Peter made Tony watch Star Wars and the 1 time it was Tony's idea.Or: Peter Parker is unapologetically a geek and Tony quickly realizes that there's nothing he wouldn't do for him.

A/N: this is part of the @irondadsecretsanta and is my gift for @aslanscompass. It was a ton of fun & I wish you all a wonderful Christmas <3

Check out all the other AMAZING fics HERE !

FF.net I ao3

--

i.

Tony was wary when he answered the call at 10 past eleven at night.

He had learned early on that late night calls from teenage vigilantes were never a good sign and that, really, a call at any time from a teenager was a rarity and should always raise a red flag. So, yeah, he was wary but he felt like he was entitled to.

Next to him his fiancée was curled around the dark green plush blanket like a cat and regarded him, staring at the lit up screen of his phone, in amusement. “Don’t yell too much.”

He rolled his eyes and accepted the call, “No promises.”

“Mr. Stark?” came the breathless voice of none other than Peter Parker through the speakers and already he could feel his blood pressure rise and tried to breathe out deliberately slowly.

Calm, Stark, you’re calm.

“The one and only,” he answered and was almost proud of how calm and collected he sounded. Oh how deceiving voices could be.

“Oh!” The kid sounded actually surprised and paused for a second in which Tony could only hear the telling thwip thwip thwip of hectic webbing.

Not the best sign but he was calm. So very calm.

He was also already on the way to the nearest window, two steps from calling a suit. Pepper behind him was now openly laughing but he didn’t look back because –

“Great! I might need a little help here. Something.” Thwip. “Something came up.” Thwip. “Sorta.”

“Sorta?” Calm.

“I mean.” Thwip. “It definitely came up. Yup.” Thwip. “Definitely. How far are you from Queens?” Thwip.

“Three minutes,” he sighed, giving up on the act of sounding completely aloof, half waving to Pepper before turning around, stepping into his suit and jumping out of the window. There went the nice, cozy night he had planned.

“Kid? You still there?”

There was a long moment of no rambling and no thwiping and it was unsettling. If Tony knew that getting late night calls was a bad sign, he was sure as heck that random pauses in late night calls where close to the calling of the apocalypse.

“Huh? Yeah. Just, uh.” Thwip. “Try’na avoid getting hit.”

Jesus.

If anyone was going to test his body’s ability to handle stress it wasn’t his own superhero gig or some spandex wearing traitor, it was a goody-two-shoes kid dressed up as a spider.

“Okay, great. You keep doing that and tell me what’s going on.”

Just keep talking, kid, tell me you’re alive.

Peter started talking and while he sounded a little too excited for his taste he let the familiar sound calm him down. As long as Peter was talking, Tony could convince himself that he didn’t have to panic just yet.

He could already see Spider-Man flipping towards another building when a message from Pepper blinked up on his HUD.

Get home safe. Both of you. I’m heading to bed. Love you.

..

“That was wild, Mr. Stark! Like, super wild. Super mega wild. Super-duper mega –“

“Wild?” Tony suggested in mock seriousness, setting down on the landing pad and watched Spider-Man land gracefully behind him. The second the kid had solid ground under his feet he ripped off his mask and took in a big gulp of air. His hair was mussed, cheeks red and his usually light brown eyes dark, pupils dilated so much not much of the iris was left to be seen.

Typical signs of an active sympathetic nervous system, his mind supplied unsolicited.

“Steady,” he ordered roughly when a bony shoulder bumped into his arm but there was no real force behind it when he reached out to wrap an arm around him to do the steadying himself. As soon as he had him under control he led them to the kitchen to get one of the nutrition bars he had started keeping in stock for Peter’s mutant metabolism.

“S’rry.” The kid grinned up at him sheepishly, rubbing at the mess of curls on his forehead in a poor attempt to tame them. “What’re we gonna do now?”

He raised an eyebrow in silent amusement. “It’s midnight, buddy. You should probably get to bed sometime soon if you wanna make first period.”

“But –“ Peter looked disoriented for a moment, eyes flying back and forth between the clock and Tony felt for him when his searching gaze fell on him. He looked so hopeful, as if he was lost and Tony his compass and he was so certain that he would lead him back home. The genuine trust in his eyes pierced through him and immediately he felt lacking. Thank goodness that deflection was his second nature.

Shoving two granola bars into Peter’s hand, he took a step back to give himself some space to reorient.

“You’re too excited to sleep?”

There was a vigorous nod that had crumbs falling everywhere.

“Figures,” he sighed, “The aftereffects of adrenaline are never fun.” He watched the teenager devour the second bar in mere seconds, mind whirling with doubt. “Do you want me to stay with you until you are tired enough to go to bed?”

Wide eyes found his and, mouth still full, Peter gave a timid nod, uncertain question marks clear in the twinkle of his eyes and the way he cocked his head to the side slightly.

“Okay, let’s make some tea and put on a movie. What do you wanna watch? Frozen?” He turned around to start rummaging through the kitchen for herbal tea.

That must’ve been enough for Peter to finally swallow his food and get his bearings. “How do you even know about Frozen, Mr. Stark? Are you a fan?” he quipped.

He half-turned, kettle in hand, grinning when Peter plopped down on the couch and immediately tucked himself into the blanket Pepper had neatly folded and stashed on the arm rest before she had gone to sleep. “Have you been outside last year? Show me someone who doesn’t know about Frozen.”

“Fair point,” Peter agreed easily, mind obviously already a step further. “What’s your favorite Star Wars?”

“Uh,” Tony put the kettle on the stove, “I have seen about as many Star Wars movies as I’ve seen Frozen movies.”

“You –“ The way Peter turned must put a painful strain on his neck but he looked too scandalized to notice. “What?”

The kettle whistled and he put in two bags of Pepper’s herbal tea before replying, “I have never watched Star Wars.”

“Oh my –“ For the second time that evening Peter looked utterly confused which, for a kid that smart, was especially amusing. “What rock have you been living under? I thought everyone knew Star Wars. Especially old people.”

“Hey!” He admonished but had to admit that it lost much of its brunt when he put down two steaming glasses of tea and started tugging at the blanket to cover Peter’s foot fully. “Be nice to me.”

“I’m being super nice, Mr. Stark. ‘Cause I’m gonna introduce you to a galaxy far, far away. The best galaxy.”

Tony watched in amusement as Peter ordered F.R.I.D.A.Y. to put on Episode IV and then looked eagerly back at him. “You’re gonna love it.”

“This is supposed to make you tired, squirt,” he reminded him, tapping his knee gently.

“It will,” he promised, “Star Wars always calms me down.”

The way he said it made Tony pause, made his heart ache with the harsh reality this kid had had to face and how bright he still was despite of it. Instead of an answer he pushed the glass of tea into his hands and made sure he was all tucked in before starting the movie.

Surprisingly enough Peter wasn’t lying. Halfway through the movie his breathing had evened out so much that Tony thought he was already asleep, cheek mushed into one of the big pillows, curled in on himself.

When the movie was over he stirred, slurring “G’nna watch the rest t’morrow?”

“Maybe let’s split it up a little, whataya say?” He reached out to brush some of his curls from his forehead, surprised by the gentleness of the gesture. “But we can watch them together if you want to.”

“Promise?”

“Pinky promise, kiddo.”

--

ii.

With Peter it wasn’t exactly hard to notice when something was off.

Even Tony, who admittedly was often too caught up in his own world to be fine-tuned into other people’s feelings and was much more comfortable fixing a cranky robot than moody human, could see it from a mile away. Or maybe that was a new kind of sense that began and ended with Peter Parker’s wellbeing. Oh well, he tried not to dwell on that.

The thing about Peter was that, when he was fine, his entire being radiated contentment, his voice tripped with excitement and his eyes shone with laughter. On a good day he was the picture perfect golden retriever puppy and similarly receptive to hugs and hair ruffles.

Today, though, his usual exuberance had visibly deflated and when he came to the workshop he punched in his code and then continued to scuff towards his workstation with only a passing hello. That was not the Peter Tony knew and, frankly, it was worrying to see someone normally so eager and lively so … lacking of life for lack of a better word.

The thing about Tony was that he was, by his own standing, probably the least equipped to deal with someone having a bad day. Heck, his own bad days usually ended in working through every meal, chugging coffee by the gallon and seeing no sun light for hours on end and even he knew that wasn’t healthy.

So he kept quiet at first and let Peter work in hopes of it calming him down because what did he know about healthily dealing with teenage angst on a Wednesday?

He kept a close eye on him, though, because for how much Tony didn’t think he was equipped to handle Peter’s bad days he also wanted to chase the shadows from his face and the hardness from his stance however cliché that sounded.

He wanted to help, he did. He just didn’t know how. So he watched from afar and contemplated.

When Peter dropped the screw driver a third time and was getting more and more agitated with the web shooter he was working on, Tony decided to stage an intervention ‘cause what the heck. He hated seeing the kid so down.

Rolling his chair over to the teenager’s work bench he picked up the tool before Peter could. “You wanna tell me what’s up, squirt?”

Peter glared, which was about as intimidating as a golden retriever puppy glaring, “Nothing,” and reached for the screw driver. Which Tony pulled out of reach at the last moment.  Which made him look even more like a puppy. It was all in the big brown eyes, he decided then.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“I have a secret identity.”

“Which I found out about in like a day.” He leaned back with a grin and started throwing the screwdriver in the air and effortlessly catching it.

“You’re Tony Stark,” the kid gave back with an eye roll, catching the tool before Tony had the chance to. “But I’m fine, honestly.”

“I mean,” he crossed his arms and watched him turn back to his web shooter rather listlessly, “considering that you not being fine usually means you’re bleeding out in an alleyway I’m not entirely reassured.”

“I’ve never bled out in an alleyway.”

“Yeah, because I flew in to get you before you could.”

“Why do you even care?” Peter snapped at him, a flicker of teenage annoyance dancing in his eyes before vanishing in the time it took Tony to ponder the fact that even this seemingly perfect kid could be annoyed. Finally. “Sorry,” he sighed, proving yet again how much better he was than literally anyone else, “I’m just annoyed.”

If that wasn’t a break-through, than he didn’t know what was. Silently patting himself on the back, Tony reached out to turn Peter’s chair so he was facing him and gently took the screw driver from his hands, putting him down on the work bench before giving the kid his full intention.

“What are you annoyed about?”

He shrugged indifferently, not meeting his eyes, “I don’t know. I just... Ned and I got into an argument and he was being so… so stubborn about it. Like, it wasn’t even that bad but he just wouldn’t budge.”

“Oh no, a stubborn teenager. Someone call the zoo we’ve found an endangered species,” he deadpanned.

Peter glared again but Tony could also see him bite down on his lower lip to keep it from curling upwards.

“Sorry, sorry. What did you and Ned fight about?”

“It wasn’t a fight… not really,” he corrected, “And it was dumb. Like, really ridiculous to be so annoyed about it. It’s not… it’s just stupid.”

Cocking his head to the side ever so slightly he raised an eyebrow and repeated calmly, “What did you argue about? I mean, if you don’t wanna talk about it that’s fine but if it’s got you so up in arms about it maybe you should is all I’m saying.”

“You’re gonna think it’s stupid,” Peter pouted.

“Maybe,” Tony shrugged, “But it’s still okay to be angry about something stupid sometimes. You don’t wanna know about half the things Rhodey and I fought about back in the days. Still do, actually.”

“Now I kinda do,” Peter grinned, then paused. “We argued about the Jedi code.”

“You… argued about the Jedi code,” Tony repeated dumbly, “Like… The Star Wars guys running around in wardrobes? They have a code?”

Big brown eyes flew up to meet his, full of indignation “Of course they have a code! There’s actually a couple different versions of it which is what we were arguing about because he said –,“ Peter stopped speaking midsentence, mouth slamming shut audibly. “It doesn’t matter… You don’t… you don’t have to listen to this, honestly, Mr. Stark.”

He made sure to school his expression and started speaking deliberately slowly, “Peter. I know I don’t have to listen to this. And, as you’ve pointed out before I am Tony Stark and you know I rarely do anything I don’t want to but, kid, you gotta know at this point that I like having you around and I like talking to you. That doesn’t just hold true when you’re your usual bubbly self but also, and especially when you’re not. This is clearly important to you. And if it’s important to you, I’m interested.”

He waited until Peter gave him a nod of understanding, timid as it may be, and leaned back in his chair again, “So tell me about this discourse in the Star Wars fandom.”

The kid didn’t have to be told twice and Tony felt his soul settle when he watched him perk up and dive into what must’ve obviously been weighing him down.

“Okay, so the Jedi code most commonly used goes like: There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge etcetera which, you know, it’s mostly meant to be used as a mantra for meditation to, like, get to a place where you don’t let your emotions overtake you and stuff. And I get that, I do.”

When Tony gave an earnest nod to show he was listening, Peter continued. “But it wasn’t always like that. It used to be: Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge, and so on. And I like that one better because it acknowledges the fact that Jedi do have emotions like everyone else, too, right? I think that’s important! And this whole black-and-white view of ‘There’s no emotion whatsoever’ makes me so mad!”

He was gesticulating wildly, cheeks reddening with fervor as he spoke.

“Putting aside how hypocritical the whole thing sounds, you can’t make people think that having emotions will put them on a direct path to the Dark side when so much of the goodness of the Good side comes from how much they care. It’s all about controlling those emotions enough to not make bad decisions based on them but – Why can’t there be peace with emotion? By giving their Padawans the feeling that they’re in the wrong for being… well, for being people they just make it so much easier for them to fall to the Dark side!”

“It just – it makes me mad how black-and-white they want to make the world seem. And by doing that they start lying to themselves and to their students and what good does a code do when it’s impossible to hold yourself to it? You can’t just go around telling people there’s no Death but the Force when that is, objectively, a lie. Whereas Death, yet the Force acknowledges that people die but gives you the closure of knowing where you’ll find them again and the belief that they’re still with you, somehow. I think … I think that’s beautiful.” Once he was done he slumped together on his chair.

“Feeling better now?” Tony asked, reaching out to pat the top of his head.

“Yeah, a little,” he sighed, “I’m annoyed that we even argued about it but I also don’t like how he wouldn’t even listen to my point of view, ya know?”

“Well, did you listen to his side?”

“I mean,” Peter blinked up at him sheepishly, “Kinda?” The corners of his lips tugged upwards and he gave a shrug, “Maybe not as much as I should have,” he admitted with a sigh. They fell silent for a moment, Tony giving Peter the time to work through the wall his mind had built up.

“Guess I’m gonna text him an apology for not listening and that it’s okay that we have different opinions.”

“Atta boy!” Tony grinned at him and while he knew none of Peter’s maturity was his doing, his heart still swelled with pride of how good Peter was.

“Can we watch Star Wars now?”

“You got your homework done?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

“Hungry?”

He laughed, exasperated, “Nothing some popcorn couldn’t fix.”

Tony smiled, then sobered and gave him a once over. “You okay?”

Peter nodded, a lone strand of curl bobbing back and forth, smile soft and true. “Yeah.”

Well, that settled it. He clapped his hands once and got up from his chair in a swift motion. “Then let’s watch... What comes after Episode six?”

“Episode one!” Peter jumped up, grabbing his wrist like a child pulling their parent towards a candy store, “You’ll finally meet Anakin. And honestly that’s exactly my point! Maybe if they hadn’t told him that all emotion is bad –“

He let himself be dragged upstairs and listened to him rambling over the Jedi code and he realized, in that instant, that he was truly, irrevocably happy.

--

iii.

“I cannot believe I let you put me into this,” he complained, his voice breathy and rough.

Peter pulled on his white robe and fastened his light saber in its holder for the umpteenth time. “To be fair, you were the one who wanted a mask. I wanted you to go as Obi Wan.”

“He is blond, Peter,” he shot back like he had the last hundred times they’d had this conversation. He looked around through the dark lenses of his mask, the HUD he had installed blinking up to scour the crowd for possible threads, and sighed, “I miss the days where I was oblivious to Star Wars and didn’t have an annoying teenager dragging me to these things.”

“No, you don’t.”

He was glad the mask hid his smile at the easy banter. It was bad enough Peter knew exactly how wrapped around his little finger he was, he didn’t have to show it time and time again.

“Okay, I don’t. But you still owe me one.”

“But Mr. Sta-a-ark,” he said, dragging his last name for at least two more syllables than it had and looking as pitiful as if he’d actually just lost his hand, “I’m already being punished enough. We’re going to MOMA next semester.”

Despite himself, Tony could feel the fondness shine through as he chuckled, “Excuse me, are you actually voicing dislike in something? Are you actually my Peter Parker or have you officially become a rebel now?”

The kid giggled, honest to god giggled, and shrugged, “Guess there’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, Mr. Stark. I do dislike things!”

“Really? Name three.” He raised an unimpressed eyebrow, leveling Peter with a glare before realizing that the gesture was completely lost in his costume. Not even the tone translated. He really needed to figure something out for that next time. He couldn’t have his natural charm get lost in the Dark side.

The thought made him stop dead in his tracks – thankfully still unseen by the Jedi next to him. Next time? He hated this costume with a passion why would he consider wearing it again?

Unbeknownst to the inner whirlwind that were his thoughts, Peter actually answered his question after floundering for a bit.

“Well, I don’t like bad people. And hurricanes. And MOMA. Even though, MOMA really never did anything to me, I’d just rather go somewhere else y’know. I mean, it’ll probably be kinda nice anyway? So yeah, maybe I don’t not like MOMA. But – I still don’t like, uh, racists?”

Ah, yeah, that was why he was actually thinking about a next time in this ridiculous outfit. Because of Peter freaking Parker.

“Those are all very good things to dislike, Mr. Parker, but I was actually hoping that all people with a little decency and common sense disliked those things,” he teased. “Just admit that you do not have a single mean bone in your body and that it’s physically impossible for you to dislike anything.”

“That’s not –“

“I love your cosplay, man!” some guy in a badly made Yoda costume whose ears were precariously close to falling off the side of his head and were only held in place by a few strands of grey fuzz interrupted him and the disturbance would have annoyed Tony had Peter’s face not started positively lighting up at the compliment.

“Thank you!” he replied easily with a face splitting grin, “I love yours, too. What’d you use to make the ears?”

“Just papier-mâché”, Yoda replied, obviously taken aback by the interest in his own costume by someone with an obviously home-made light saber. He seemed excited, though, and started rambling about something until he let his eyes wander to the side and took in Tony’s appearance for the first time.

“Oh my god,” he gasped, yes, gasped, and gaped at him like a fish pulled out of water, “That is the best father and son costume ever! Can I take a picture of the two of you?”

And before Tony could so much as utter a word, Peter had already nodded his consent and leaned against him with a huge grin on his face and the other kid was fumbling for his phone and started snapping pictures of them. And then a selfie, because of course.

“Is this real life?” he breathed out almost silently.

“It might just be fantasy,” his sassy AI replied instantly, earning him another gasp and round of big, wide eyes from Yoda.

“Did your mask just reply to you? And did the eyes light up? How did you do that?”

“It’s just a, uh,” very high-tech AI system that was talking back to him, “it’s like Google glasses.” He cringed internally and could feel more than see Peter snicker against his side.

“Oh, like the ones Tony Stark always wears?”

By now Peter was having to work so hard on holding back his laughter that he had gone almost rigid, grinning from ear to ear and happily answering for him. “Yes, yes, Tony Stark is totally wearing Google glasses.”

“Ah, well, I think yours are cooler anyway. I mean you’d never find Tony Stark at the Star Wars midnight premiere.”

Oh, don’t I wish, he thought, ruefully imagining how comfortable he could be on his own couch right now.

Peter, though, Peter was loving this which made him reconsider his earlier statement about the mean bones in his body.  

“Yeah, you’re way cooler than Tony Stark. Right, dad?”

Oh for goodness sake. That sassy dad should not do the things to his heart that it was currently doing. That could not be healthy.

“Sure,” he cleared his throat to get rid of the pesky emotions in there, “I mean, Tony Stark is a pretty cool guy but, uh, yeah, so much cooler.”

And, as if someone had heard his prayers, the doors to the movie theater were opened and a reverent murmur went through the crowd before people – droids and aliens, Jedi and Sith alike – started wandering in and taking their places and finally, finally the thing they were actually here to see could begin.

Tony would complain about that day to anyone who would listen (and to some, like Pepper, who wouldn’t) but when Peter sent him one of the pictures the Yoda guy had taken, he framed it and put it up next to the picture of him and Rhodey proudly presenting Dum-E in his lab.

Until, of course, when he broke it in a moment of uncontrollable grief because looking at all he used to have just hurt too dang much.

--

iv.

“You coming, kiddo?”

The voice came out of nowhere, startling him so much he almost toppled over the front porch’s wooden railing he was leaning against.

“Wha-“ he whirled around and his heart simultaneously sang and sank, “Oh, it’s just you.”  

“Yeah, just me. Sorry to disappoint.” The quip fell from his lips easily but his mentor’s dark eyes shone with concern. Somehow that made the lump in his stomach grow even heavier.

“That’s not – I mean, uh, I’m not –“ he stumbled over his words, cringing at how high-pitched his voice sounded even to his own ears, “Sorry. I’m –“

He stopped midsentence when he realized that he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say and just shrugged, coupled with a small smile that was definitely fake and evidently did not convince Mr. Stark of anything.

He was still coming closer, slowly and careful of the shiny prosthetic that sat where his arm used to be.

The image made Peter sick and he tried to focus on his face instead. There were a few more wrinkles than he remembered, especially around his eyes and mouth – from laughing no doubt. He was sporting more grey hair, too, and he looked comfortable in his dark blue cardigan where he used to wear suits or band shirts. He looked exactly like someone who lived happily in a lake house.

“You okay, squirt?”

He snapped out of his spiraling thoughts and, on reflex, started nodding.

“See,” he stopped when he was next to him and leaned against the railing, too, facing Peter who turned to face the small boat that was moving ever so slightly with the lake’s small ripples. “I don’t believe you.”

Huh.

“You’re not okay.” It was a statement, leaving no room for him to argue.

“But –“ He was cut off and a part of him was glad for it because what was he going to say anyway? He was a bad liar and Mr. Stark good at reading him. That, at least, was something that hadn’t changed.

“None of us are really okay and that’s okay,” Mr. Stark said and turned to watch the lake now, too. “Or so I’ve been told repeatedly. But, as I’ve also been reliably informed, we have to talk to each other to get better.”

He shrugged and crossed his arms in front of his chest, tugging both hands under his arm-pits to keep them from shaking.

“No talking, I take it?”

He shrugged again.

“Would you let me hug you?”

His head snapped up instantly. The question came as a surprise but sounded honest and hesitant and attentive and it made his head spin. But, when he took a moment to think about it, he ended up nodding. He didn’t think there was a whole lot he would refuse the man for a while.

Almost immediately he was being wrapped into a strong healthy arm and pulled close until Mr. Stark could bury his face in his hair and take in a deep breath. He couldn’t help but notice how heavily his mentor was leaning against the railing while holding him but he also noticed how his entire body seemed to loosen as the hug went on, how tension and worry slowly sept out of his stance.

Peter noticed the same for himself, too, and somehow that made him want to cry.

The arm around him was steady and it held him together when everything had seemed to fall apart and his head was spinning and he felt his eyes tear up and his heart beat speed up and he suddenly wished that he could stay here forever.

Which was ridiculous. Mr. Stark just wanted to give him a quick hug and go on with his day. He couldn’t know how liberating his touch felt, how cared for and valued and loved Peter felt just by being in his arms and he couldn’t just tell him. He couldn’t –

But it felt so nice.

“Hey, hey, bud,” Mr. Stark sounded worried and it felt like he wanted to pull away and Peter’s breaths started coming in quicker at the thought. There was a sound somewhere in the back of his throat and Mr. Stark stopped pulling away but still loosened his grip.

“It’s okay, kiddo,” he shushed him and Peter had to swallow down a sob because this was getting ridiculous but it felt so nice, “It’s gonna be okay, I promise. It’s gonna be okay.”

After a moment he had caught himself enough to not start breaking down and gave a nod. “I’m –“ he sniffed and whispered, “Thank … Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

For a moment it seemed like his mentor wasn’t going to say anything but then he gave a small smile and pulled him into his side instead. “Anytime, kiddo. Now let’s watch Rogue One. The Force is telling me it’s time for a high stakes-tragedy-comfort movie.”

Despite himself, Peter let out a wet giggle. “There’s never a wrong time for Star Wars, Mr. Stark.”

“I know, I know. It’s tradition. Or so you keep telling me,” he said and the fondness in his voice almost made Peter cry again.

He didn’t, though.

They went back into the empty lake house – May, Pepper and Morgan were having a girls day apparently – made themselves comfortable on the big couch and put on the movie as if they had never done anything else. They moved like a well-oiled machine, like a team that had been working together forever.

Peter was curled into Mr. Stark’s side and his thumb was constantly caressing his knee and it felt wonderful. It felt like home.

The lump in his throat never left.

Somehow it kept growing with every passing minute and with it the loneliness and while he felt right at home it also felt like he shouldn’t. His body felt out of place, as if all the pieces of him had never truly reintegrated, leaving him with holes in his being that he wasn’t sure how to fill.

He watched Chirrut Îmwe blindly walk across battlefields and single-handedly eliminate an entire garrison, trusting the Force to keep him safe and the blazing desire for that kind of certainty hit him unaware.

Maybe that was the whole problem, he realized slowly, as he watched Galen’s message to his daughter and that was when the first tear fell, silent and painful.

Ever since he had come back barely anything had seemed certain anymore. There had been things he had believed to be unchangeable but then a mad Titan had snapped his fingers and his beliefs had turned into dust alongside his body and half the universe and then he had come back and everything had been different and even things that appeared to be the same just weren’t.

May had been gone, too. They still loved each other the same way they always had. Unconditionally. Unquestioningly. Easy. She never had to miss him, never faced a world without him in it. She was the only constant he could claim but everything else –

He couldn’t understand how it had been five years and Mr. Stark had a wife and a kid and a lake house and how he could have still missed him with all that. How he could’ve even had the time. Why would he miss Peter of all people? And, and…

Mr. Stark’s affection was different now. Fiercer, gentler, more… more parental. Or maybe it wasn’t different but he was more open with it. He looked at him the way he looked at Morgan and he couldn’t make sense of that. He couldn’t.

Why would anyone miss me?

He kept circling back to the same question.

Whywhywhywhy- Why me?

He didn’t notice he started full on crying until suddenly the screen in front of him was blurry and his cheeks were wet and his breaths came in rough. He tried to breathe through it, to keep his body calm and steady so Mr. Stark wouldn’t notice but it made his lungs feel like they were on fire trying to keep it all in.

As if he had read his thoughts Mr. Stark’s hand moved up from where it had been resting on his knee and started rubbing slow circles into his scalp. He didn’t move otherwise, made no attempt to pull away and when he spoke his voice was barely more than a whisper.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Did he? He knew if he started talking, he’d start spiraling and he’d lose the last ounce of self-control he was clinging to. He didn’t want that.

He shook his head, but his body started shaking more violently anyway when he couldn’t breathe through the sobs anymore.

“Shh, that’s okay, buddy, that’s fine,” Mr. Stark murmured, “But stop trying to bite down on your tears. I know how much that hurts. It’s okay. Let it out. I’m here.”

He kept talking – quietly, soothingly, calmly – and at some point Peter’s body decided to listen and he stopped trying to keep quiet and when the first sob broke through his lips he buried his head in Mr. Stark’s stomach and let himself cry.

It hurt and more often than not Mr. Stark had to remind him to slow down his breathing so the oxygen could reach his brain and it didn’t seem to ever stop. But it was also freeing.

Every sob that tore through him gave voice to a pain he had buried inside like needles in his soul that he was pulling out one after the other. For the first time since he had come back he felt like he could breathe again.

His lungs were finally uncurling fully, the weight that had been sitting on his ribcage was gone. He could breathe and at first he gulped in the air like someone pulled from certain death through drowning. He felt like he had been suffocating for weeks and this was the first time someone had pulled his head above water again.

“Slowly, squirt, slowly. Breathe nice and slowly, the air’s not going anywhere, I promise.”

And if Mr. Stark promised to keep his head above water it must be right. After all, Mr. Stark always kept his promises.

They didn’t exchange anything other than those small reassurances and soothings until the end of the movie. And Peter shed a few tears when the inevitable happened but he was tired and cried out and so emotionally drained he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to feel again.

Still, when Princess Leia appeared on the screen he felt the same flutter of hope in his chest that he always felt when he watched it and his soul settled.

“Hope,” she said on screen and the single syllable word echoed through his body, spreading like a bonfire and melting places that had been numb for days.  

Everything was going to be okay.

When the credits started rolling, that’s when Mr. Stark started talking again starting with a cough to clear his throat that sounded like he had been crying, too.

“I know you may not want to talk about it, Pete, but I feel like we should.” He sighed and he sounded sad and strong at the same time. More importantly, though, he never stopped running his fingers through his hair. “You may not have heard but I’m a responsible adult now. Someone who makes kids talk about their problems.”

Peter snorted and Mr. Stark gave a chuckle.

“Granted, Morgan’s tears are usually about whether or not we’re letting her have that second juice pop but we do talk about that.”

“You give her the juice pop, don’t you?” His voice was scratchy but Mr. Stark didn’t comment on that. He laughed quietly.

“It depends, honestly. On whether or not Pepper is around when the tantrum starts.”

“You’re a great dad to her,” he whispered in reply and if he had thought he had calmed down just half a minute earlier then his heart felt like splitting open again now. He couldn’t put the finger on it, didn’t want to admit to himself that it was jealousy of the time they had that he would never get. He hated himself for thinking about it. If anyone deserved a family it was Mr. Stark and Morgan was the sweetest child. It was just –

Morgan belonged with her family, she was a Stark through and through – stubbornness and smarts and all. And Mr. Stark belonged with Pepper and his daughter, too. He knew that. He wanted that for them.

He just – he had thought that he had kind of belonged with Mr. Stark, too, but how could he now that he had been gone for five years? How could he ever belong anywhere ever again?

“As they say; practice makes perfect,” Mr. Stark spoke, completely oblivious to Peter’s thoughts, “Guess it gets easier the second time around.”

For a moment he forgot to spiral into self-doubt and angst and stopped. A Second… Second time? Huh?

As if he sensed the wordless question, his mentor pulled him closer and buried his face in his hair again. It seemed to soothe him as much as it calmed Peter. He seemed comfortable this close. Happy, at home.

“See, squirt, I know that I didn’t raise you. I would never take that honor and privilege from May and your Uncle Ben and your parents. They made you in the person you were when I met you and that person was already better than anything I could have ever hoped to achieve. But then,” he paused as if unsure how to continue, “We did meet and I did get the honor of being in your life, of mentoring you, of caring for you. I made a lot of mistakes at first and – My biggest mistake was trying to keep you at arm’s length.”

“I don’t – I don’t understand,” Peter whispered, pushing himself up far enough to meet his mentor’s eyes that were glistening with unshed tears. His gaze softened even more when he saw his own tear stained cheeks and red rimmed eyes and there was a shadow of anguish and a spark of love in them.

“I know,” he sighed, never breaking eye contact but shifting them into a more comfortable position, “You can’t understand because I never told you. Not really. But, Peter, you have to know, that you’re my kid. You are as much my kid as Morgan is. You made me want to be a dad, made me want to prove that I could because I wanted to be one to you and I didn’t want to fail you. And –“ he stopped and a shudder went through his body, “And then I did. I failed you and I – I never forgave myself for that. And I never stopped missing you. God, I missed you so much, Pete.”

But … “Why would you… Why me?”

“Because, Peter. Because you’re my boy and I love you and the world was so much darker without you in it and because every awful moment would’ve been less awful with you and every good moment would’ve been perfect. I – I kept going, I went on because I had to. Because there were Pepper and Rhodey and then Morgan. I had to keep going but that doesn’t mean I didn’t miss you every single second of every single day.”

“I’m scared that I don’t belong anymore. That I don’t belong anywhere anymore,” he admitted finally. The shameful confession uttered so quietly that the words almost got lost in his mentor’s heavy breaths on his cheeks.

“Oh,” Mr. Stark looked at him stunned, like he had grown a second head for a good moment before leaning forward and pulling him back in, holding him tighter than he had ever held him. Both arms folding across his back with the prosthetic cutting into his skin but it didn’t matter, it didn’t. Because he felt held together in place, in a place where he belonged and where he was wanted. He was being anchored and kept from drifting off into the infinite vastness of space and he was so incredibly grateful.

“You belong here, kiddo,” he took in the fierce words in his ear, let them run down his back and warm him like a hot shower after a cold day. “You belong with me and you belong with May. You belong in Queens and you belong here, in this lake house that has been planned with your bedroom in mind. You belong with your family and, for as long as you let me, I will never let you go ever again.”

He cried some more after that – cried himself to sleep that night in fact – but Mr. Stark was there the whole time, holding him, whispering reassurances and tickling a wet smile out of him eventually. The next day was a little bit better. The self- doubt didn’t evaporate, didn’t leave right away.

Some days were worse than others, some were better. Some the voices in his head had him going mad with why’s and what-if’s and some days he couldn’t even hear them over Morgan’s giggles and May’s bad jokes and Mr. Stark lecturing Dum-E.

Coming back wasn’t easy by any means and it did take a while but a couple of weeks later, he jumped out of Happy’s new SUV, running up to the front porch and flying into Mr. Stark’s waiting arms, and his thoughts hummed happily with only one thought.

I’m home.