#i did overhear something they said once and they were talking about some creepy girl who tried to (or did?) kiss them

[angryborzois]

how do people keep confusing me for this one person

[cinnamonest]

Albedo idol girl darling thoughts M A N I F E S T E D

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Well, to be entirely honest, he thinks the whole idol thing is a little dumb.

For someone like him, at least. He's a PhD student in his final semester, lots of work to be done and all that. So, you know, he's a responsible, accomplished adult. Not the kind of person who gets into "that stuff," as he calls it in his head.

Nor does he even know how he encountered it... He just takes the occasional break from work to mindlessly open whatever app first pops into his vision and scroll through the feed. He's never watched anything like it in his life, so he's not exactly sure why he gets recommended some idol girl thing, and even less sure why he taps it without really thinking. Probably one of those videos that gets recommended to everyone. Well, can't be that, it doesn't have that many views... Probably loosely connected to some video game he's searched before or something. He's familiar with idols and what they are, and the subculture surrounding them, but he's never really cared about it.

Honestly, it's kinda pathetic that a bunch of grown adult men get so obsessed over these girls, he thinks as he watches. He's seen the type. Lonely, asocial dudes, most definitely virgins whose only female attention in their entire life is their mother, well into adulthood with no real social group to speak of.

...Not that he's much better off, but he hasn't quite sunk down to their level. The only reason he doesn't talk to people much is because they're busy, and he's even busier. He managed to make a few friends in undergrad years. Well, study partners who mooched off his notes since he was one of the top students, but same idea. They were people he spoke to more than once, which is what constitutes a friend, right? And for the record, one time in high school a girl in his class said she liked his hair. He hasn't changed the way he wears it since. Whenever he's sad, he thinks about that compliment from 10+ years ago, and it makes him feel a little better. But now, he's constantly slammed with work and research.

And his acquaintances are also all busy. He sees notifications every now and then from social media he never checks. Everyone is getting married at this stage in life, both friends and even other PhD students in his department. Not that he's ever been invited to a wedding, he just overhears a lot of conversations, sees notifications of posts. And he will too, eventually. He just has to finish up his degree, and then... Meet a girl. Well, that's actually the second step, step one would be finding out how to go about meeting a girl. He's... Never done it before. Probably does not happen sitting in the research lab at 11:30 pm on YouTube. He's talked to one of the other PhD students who's a girl before. And only stutters sometimes. He was even able to look her in the face while he talked to her once. That's a good start.

Ok, so maybe he is a little bit pathetic, but not as bad as... These guys. Reading the comments of the video actually make him feel a little better about himself, because frankly, they're kinda wild. The worship and fawning over girls is one thing, but they even have timestamps referring to various members like "she's super cute here!" Or "you can kinda see her thigh at 3:12!" Etc etc. Yeesh, creepy. And they get into comment fights over who is the best member, as if it even matters. It's fascinating in a human-social-experiment sort of way, the manifestation of a subculture and how humans interact with each other. On and on it goes, hundreds of commenters. He pays more attention to the comments than the actual video, but the song is kinda catchy in that annoying sort of way, and the girls are cute, just kinda... The typical thing he'd expect from idol groups. But the building will close soon, so he taps back to home screen and swipes the app closed.

Unfortunately, the algorithm remembers.

And he's not certain why he clicks the next one either, the following day. The lunch breaks he takes are usually pretty rushed. Not that he has specific class times at his level of academia, but he likes to get his work done. He intentionally eats either a bit later or earlier than the lunch crowd to avoid crowds and interactions. Finds a nice secluded little table tucked away. So when he opens it back up, what do you know, several more videos get recommended. It's absent minded when he taps on one, the kind of numb-brained entertainment every modern person indulges in, videos you wouldn't really be interested in but just watch because they're there.

Ok, this is really creepy. These dudes have made compilation videos of close ups of each specific girl. It's the same group as the video he saw before, same little lewd costumes. Admittedly the girls are kinda cute. He can kinda understand the appeal. But he's not like those guys, he would never become like, obsessed with them.

The song is actually really catchy. The kind of mindlessly addictive, repetitive pop music that's the same four chords over and over, each song is so similar you can't really tell them apart, but it gets stuck in your head anyway. This group has... nine members. Who needs that many singers in one group? It's not like a band or anything, they all just sing and do their little choreography. Guess that's a form of talent, even though he doesn't really get it.

Some of the groups he sees in recommended videos are cute and wholesome, and while this group is cute too, there's a very... Blatantly intentional lewdness to their poses and costumes. A hypersexualized sort of cuteness. Clearly marketed at lonely losers who have nothing better to do with their time than obsess over a girl who will never even know they exist.

He taps another video.

So many compilations, yikes. He has to give the guys credit, they're insanely loyal to the individual member that they decide to fixate on. Oh, and they even make official figurines and posters for these girls, that's... Something.

And a few days later he can kinda recognize the girls. They have color themes, you know, identical costumes except each girl's is a different color. This lead one is red, this main backup is blue, etc etc. Lots of bright colors. Kinda hurts his eyes to be honest.

And he's seen compilations of every girl except... The pink one. The pink one is always kinda off to the side. Well, these groups do have their favoritism, there's apparently one or two lead singers in all of the major idol groups, and the rest are basically backups and dancers. Still, a lot of dudes get super devoted to the non-main girls. So yeah, he's never seen a compilation for the pink one... He can't always exactly remember which one is which but now he's seen enough to know the other girls' names. He's not sure what hers is though. So he googles it and gets the name.

Wonder why she doesn't have as many videos...? Oh, it's because she's the newest member. Only been around a few months. There's... A whole board dedicated to the group, which he's getting this information from. Wow, pathetic. What kind of person spends their free time browsing a forum for an idol group? Well, he's just doing it to find information, not for fun or anything. He was just curious. Now he knows and he can forget about it and never look at anything related to them again... after he types her name and group name into the YouTube search bar and checks the results out, that is.

Oh, so they do have some compilations for her, just not many. "(Name) thigh compilation." Fuck, these people have no limits to how creepy and pathetic they can get, he thinks... as he watches the video. Ok, admittedly there are some good thigh shots there. There's a comment. "At 4:26 you can see her panties." Pathetic. They're not wrong though. Just to be sure, you see, he tapped the timestamp, and you can, in fact, see them. Stripes. Cute.

But he still has to do his work. Can't get too invested in watching mindless videos all day. He's got a thesis to work on.

That makes him curious, though, he thinks as he goes about his research. Do these girls go to school? Do they like, skip college, or do they join some kind of performing arts school or...? So he googles it. He can remember the pink one's name now, so he just finds her Wikipedia page. Oh, so she joined right out of high school and has been in various groups ever since.

Wait, various groups? So she has more groups she's been in? What are those? Before he typed her name into the search along with the group name, but if he just searches her name he gets... A lot more content from earlier years. Huh. Didn't know some of them did group-hopping like that.

Still, no education. Must be all smiles and body and no brains. Guess that's all you really need. Yeah, looking at that whole act they do... All giggly and childish and lewd... She's probably not too bright. At least she's pretty and sings nice. And the thighs are rather good. Smooth looking. They have a sort of jiggle when she jumps up and down on stage. The thigh highs they make those girls wear have that nice little dip where the skin is compressed by the fabric. Like... right there at that closeup. He takes a screenshot.

It's readily available, he's already seen the video and knows the best parts, whereas searching for porn would take time. The sooner he can get the daily stress relief out of the way the sooner he can work on his thesis. So this way is faster. That's why he's jerking off to the thigh video and not taking the time to look for porn. Plus, it makes him cum faster. Which it probably shouldn't since it's just thighs, but... Probably has something to do with the tease of it all maybe. That makes sense.

Or maybe it's that cute little giggle he can hear at some parts. She smiles and jumps and spins and laughs.

...It makes him wonder what she'd look like crying. Scared. Whimpering. Covered in bruises and bite marks. The contrast between that state and the one on the screen. The process and the things he could do to get her from one to the other. Yeah, he realizes, it's that thought, rather than the happy giggling on video or tease aspect, that makes him cum.

He's aware that his... tastes... are a little on the fucked up side, but hey, there's plenty of bastards out there far worse than him.

One day he discovers she has social media platforms. He... Doesn't really have any. He doesn't have Twitter or Instagram or any of that but... He downloads the app and makes an account for each. Just to follow her. Ooh, they even have the option to get a notification every time she posts... That's good. Otherwise he might check too frequently. He sets a special sound effect for notifications for her socials. The first few times, you see, he would get super excited when his phone went off, only to be disappointed when it was just a work email. Thus, he made the separate sounds.

He wouldn't say he has a favorite, that sounds really cringey you know? He just... Likes her more than the others. ...Dammit, that's what a favorite is. Ok, maybe he has a favorite, that's not that bad. He's not obsessed. He hasn't bought any merchandise at all or anything, especially not member-specific merchandise. Which they do have, because he visited the store page for a while and spent all his willpower physically restraining himself from buying something. It's not that he's biased, he just thinks she's objectively better than the rest of the group. Which can be backed up with evidence, anyone with eyes could tell by watching the performances.

As to what specifically draws him to her... he's not certain, to be honest. Maybe it's because she's the least appreciated out of the group, new and all. The less popular one. Or maybe her personality... She seems so sweet, even though he knows it's probably just an act for the fans. Or maybe just those thighs. That's also a valid possibility.

He cracks and buys some of the merchandise. Only about $300 worth. But honestly, he gets more invested into just printing out pictures of you. Pasting them onto the wall above his desktop. It keeps him going when the nights are hard.

But he refrains from ever commenting on anything. Some of these losers are just... so embarrassing, he can't stomach the thought of being associated, even if it's just an anonymous comment online. It's still pretty... Distasteful. He still browses the boards every day. You're his lock screen now. And home screen. And also your solo is his ringtone. He only sets his phone on sound when he's alone at home, though, when he's at work he puts it on vibrate. He... doesn't want anyone hearing that. No offense. He has some appropriate amount of shame, unlike the other bastards.

And the girls probably know that most of their fans are these kind of loser men, right? She'd probably be surprised someone nearly graduating with a chemistry doctorate is sitting around watching these dumb videos. Is that more or less pathetic? He thinks less, hopefully.

In fact, the other fans kind of irritate him. They're really cringy and annoying and it gives him secondhand embarrassment. And something... Deeper. Something about seeing the comments upsets him on a visceral level. It's gross. Sure, he's grateful for the dudes who sit around and make a list of timestamps for upskirt shots and the like, but... It kinda bothers him, feeling like there's some other dude out there sitting around, watching these long videos with his gross eyes and recording the times of shots that get him off. It feels gross. But more like... A violation against you. Sure, your group is very blatantly sexualized and intentionally risque in clothing but... Still, it feels wrong for someone to go through and get to see all of that.

Well, someone else. It's ok for him, since he's not a gross degenerate like the rest of them. He does genuinely see himself as... Above them. You know how like, back in the day, how the nobles used to sit around and watch plays from the far back while the peasants gathered around the stage? It's like that. He's not a gross loser or a NEET or anything like that. He's got a life. Well... Not a social life, but he's doing better than them, at least he has a degree, and soon a higher degree, and a job. He has a lot of things they don't. Basic hygiene. Student loan debt. And uh... Well, he's probably more pleasant to interact with, at least he's not gonna be frothing at the mouth like an animal if he saw you in real life. He would certainly freeze up, but that's preferable, isn't it?

And one day there's a video circulating in the idol community - not that he's a part of it or anything, he just keeps getting the dumb videos and watching them for mindless entertainment - where some girl group had an attempted kidnapping. Not her group, but some other group. The video has gone viral. Some dude tried to rush the stage and pull one of the girls away. Apparently the cops found he had an obsession with her.

What an idiot. If you're gonna kidnap someone, put some effort in, jeez. It's not hard to figure out how to do it right.

If that were him, he wouldn't be that stupid, he'd just look for an interval where she's alone. They have those solo or breakout group songs where some of the girls are backstage, just get her then. Memorize the concert schedule, wear something over your face, chloroform her, and stuff her into something and walk right out. Easy.

....

He catches himself in the thought and realizes that might have been a bit creepy, but he was just thinking in terms of hypotheticals. If he was the kind of crazy to do that, that's what he'd do, that's all.

He's always enjoyed entertaining strategic thoughts, really. He's had a couple fantasies about how he would commit murders of this or that person before, and he's never murdered anyone, so thoughts don't lead to actions. He just... Really doesn't like those people, and the fantasies help him... Deal with it. He just likes to strategize about methods, and how he'd get away with it... Stuff like that. Actually, he's convinced it's a very normal thing, but no one wants to admit it. Everyone has detailed murder fantasies every now and then.

Which is why this is no different. He's just strategizing because it's fun. He has no intentions of doing anything for real. He just plans out the details like a game. And tells himself to just never think about it again.

Until one specific night that he's staring down at his screen. Lying in bed. He should be asleep, he needs to be up early tomorrow but... He's just checking to be sure he's reading this correctly. You're coming to his town? He wouldn't think so, since it's not too big, just your average college town. But still, you'll be right here, right in his general vicinity, not far away at all.

Not that he'd ever actually go to such an event. No way. He hates crowds with a passion. He hates loud environments even more. A concert is like his worst nightmare. Besides, knowing the general audience of your group, it'll be a bunch of sweaty NEET dudes who haven't showered in a month and haven't crawled out of their house in even longer. No thank you.

But.

That's when the thought pops back up. It's been a few months since that night he had that strategizing fantasy, and, well, he tried to forget it but... It kinda lingered in the back of his mind. And now it's back in full force.

He shrugs the idea off. It's crazy. He'd never actually do something like that. It was just a fantasy.

...But he could get away with it if he wanted to.

He's not scared or anything, no, he's confident in his strategizing. He knows he could. Totally. It's foolproof. There's no need to carry it out to know that, besides, what would he even do with you?

Well, he's pretty certain he does know what he would do with you. He's watched that thigh video maybe a hundred times now. And even if he won't admit it, he's jerked off to the exact same fantasy for like, several months.

He doesn't really... Think about it. Just kind of slips into subconscious actions. Autopilot. One click and well, there goes $400 on an amp case. His eyes gaze over the dimensions... And then there's your height on the Wikipedia page... Yeah... That should work. He gets it sent to the address a few doors down just in case, and snatches it from in front of their door, but he finds himself backpedaling. What the hell is he doing? He would never actually go through with this, what a waste of money... But he still opens it. Sets it beside his front door. Tests the wheels to make sure they work.

He knows how to make chloroform. He doesn't need YouTube tutorials (unlike a certain someone else), he knows exactly how to do it, even alternate methods besides the usual acetone and bleach combination - so long as you end up with the same chemical makeup, it's all the same. He just goes with the traditional way though... Doesn't really know why he does it. Just mutters as he stares down at the concoction wondering why he wasted his time... But he pauses before pouring it down the sink, and instead puts it in a container and keeps it on the counter. Your weight is on Wikipedia too. Taking into account your height and weight you would need about... Yeah, a very specific amount to knock you out for about three hours.

The concert day draws closer and closer and he can't sleep very well. His mind keeps running what-ifs. Just, hypothetically, what if he did go through with it? What then? What would he do long term? How would that all work out?

Well, you'd probably hate him for a while, right? But that changes. Stockholm syndrome sets in. He would know, he had to take Psych 101 back in undergrad, and the professor talked about it for a full 10 minutes, so he's basically an expert. It's been like, 7 years since then, but he still kinda remembers it. He remembers that it's supposed to set in at about 2 weeks, and solidify with time. If the captor is nice, that is, which he totally would be. ...Maybe not in bed, but most of the time. He would be nice to you, and you would start to like him. Besides, they said Stockholm syndrome set in faster if the abductor has good qualities, so, he could also reason with you, remind you that you're lucky you got abducted by someone with money - or, well, he will have money once he graduates! - and isn't some ugly gross slob. He's clean and neat. Sorta... He'll clean up all those dishes that have been sitting there a few days now, pick up all those clothes off the floor... Ok, now he's clean and neat. And, uh, what else would girls care about... He's smart. He's pretty sure he can say that with confidence, if nothing else.

Ok, so, it would work. He could... Keep you kinda... Tied up here... If you started complying within that two week period, he could get you up and walking before atrophy set in. You'd probably have to get used to the lifestyle... Right now he's kinda on a budget, but, he can get you things to keep you occupied... And so, yeah, it could work. It's simple, just keep you with him and isolated for a few weeks and uh, you'll transform into some kind of hypersexual obedient cumslut and never want to leave. That's... How Stockholm syndrome works right? Maybe he should have paid more attention in that class... Oh well. He never liked psychology.

So the day draws nearer and nearer and he starts really getting into the right... Headspace. It's a sort of manic state that he's in. Operating without really thinking, all inhibitions removed by simply refusing to think about it. He lets the subconscious take over and do all these little things to prepare, until finally that day is tomorrow. And then he kinda snaps back to full awareness and questions, again, what the hell is he doing? He can't just... Kidnap a person! Normal people don't do that... It's illegal, he'll get caught, it'll ruin his life and....

What life does he really have to ruin?

That's the thought that sort of solidifies the decision. He realizes why he's even on this path in the first place. Sure he's got a lot of academic accomplishments, but his life is... Rather empty. He doesn't really have anyone. Maybe that's why he's slowly become... Consumed by this obsession that yes, he's now willing to admit to himself is indeed an obsession. It's kinda slowly taken over his everyday life without him even noticing it was happening. He's... Kinda miserable. And very lonely. And... If nothing else... This one girl makes him feel kinda happy.

... Which is why he's going to go through with it.

And he slips back into autopilot, ends up standing outside the building. It's every bit as loud and headache-inducing as he knew it would be. Ugh. He can't wait to get out of here. If this doesn't work, well, he'll be forced to turn around. The plan is a very simple one, actually... Act like he's supposed to be there. And he does. Dresses in all black like stage technicians do, dragging his big amp case behind him, holding a bunch of cords from random things he grabbed in his house, and tries not to look nervous, keeps a neutral face and walks straight forward and... He slides right in. The security guards off to the side don't even bat an eye.

And then he has a moment of "well, I didn't expect to get this far." Pauses. So uh... what now? Well, probably should find you first. He memorized the setlist, so he knows when you'll be off... And alone. Right now there should be three of the girls backstage. It's pretty easy to find where you are, but he's paranoid that the amp case is too loud as he's dragging it around. It's necessary, though. And then, finally, he stumbles upon the room... Opens the door, half expecting to be immediately stopped, but... He can just kinda waltz right in here, some open backroom, a person here or there coming through, a lady that looks like a makeup artist doing something over there, and an actual, real tech guy over there... And over to the far back corner... Oh. That's you. He takes a moment to revel in the sight, unable to move or even breathe, and has to mentally prepare himself before moving forward. He's... Not sure exactly what to do at this point... It's kind of perfect, to be honest, there's no one around you, and you're right out of sight, where he could turn the corner and not be seen. But he's not sure how to... Approach? He thinks about it as he walks, but again, autopilot is on in his brain and he's just numbly walking forward. Does he just... Keep walking until he's right at you and just... Or...?

And a miracle happens. You hear someone coming and you turn and smile and ask are you the tech guy here to fix my mic? You point to the little microphone attached to your face. They told you someone would be coming to fix it before your next song. You presume that's him, since he's dressed in all black like all the other stage techs. He hesitates a moment, wide eyed, but then nods. Yeah, that's him, he says. His voice cracks when he says it. It's kinda cute.

You smile at him. It's wide and sweet and genuine and it almost makes him pass out on the spot. He has to swallow for a second before continuing.

But, uh, he can't do it right here he says, because fiddling with it could disrupt the uh, frequencies, cause that really shrill sound you hear sometimes. So, um, come over this way a sec, over in this dark corner of the studio conveniently out of the view of all people and security cameras. You don't know how any of that stuff works, so you trust him, it's his job after all. So you get up and straighten your little skirt out - wow those are even more revealing in person - and walk over it the dark corner where he's waiting and... it's the last thing you remember.

He does a quick look left and right to ensure no one saw you collapse in his arms, but sure enough, this area is empty. You fit into the amp case with ease. Just curl your body up and pop the lid on. Wait, can you... breathe in there? Well, it won't take long to get outside. He just rolls the case right out the door, right past the guards again, and no one stops him, no one suspects a thing. Puts the case in the backseat, opens the lid, does a quick check go make sure you're breathing alright. So he props it open by keeping a book in between the case and lid as he drives home.

Once he does get home, he just does the same thing he did before - close the lid, roll you into the elevator and up the stairs and into his place, looking back over his shoulder over and over. And once he gets you inside he just kinda... falls to his knees. Shivering. Disbelief. Because holy shit he actually did it. He actually went through with it and it worked. He sits there and stares at the case and - oh, fuck, gotta open it again for you to breathe. Actually, he might as well... take you out... when he first shoved you in, he was so high on adrenaline he didn't really process any of it, but now... he almost can't bring himself to take you out. That means he has to, like, touch you. He's gotta take a moment to mentally prepare for that. So he does. Deep breaths. And finally, with trembling hands, pulls you out, carries you on shakey legs over to the bed and sets you down.

You know, you're a lot... Smaller... Than you looked on screen. Sure, he knew your height and weight but... somehow you still seem so much smaller than he expected. That's good. Will make everything a lot easier, since you're easier to restrain. And your thighs. They're... so soft. This is so much better than the video. They're so... fleshy and warm in person. Perfect. And wow, that skirt thing is... scratchy. Actually, up close, that whole outfit thing you wear looks super uncomfortable. It probably is. ...Well, guess he now has a reason to take it off.

The rest of your skin is... also fleshy and soft. Warm. Your face... chest... stomach... everything. Your tits are really cute, too. It occurs to him that all those rabid commenters on all those boards and videos would probably kill to be him right now, pinching and squeezing at your nipples. He's seeing something they will never see. It gives him an ego boost, to be honest, makes him feel proud to get a sort of one-up on them. He gets you naked, but refrains from pulling your legs apart. He probably... wouldn't be able to control himself, and he's aiming for some self-control right now.

So he waits. Breathes deep. Restrains himself with every ounce of willpower he has. It occurs to him he has no fucking clue what he's gonna say to you. Unfortunately, that thought occurs to him as you're starting to twitch and mumble, so, he doesn't have too much time to think. Oh, fuck, you're not restrained... well, he bought some duct tape and handcuffs and blindfolds off of amazon too, so he quickly puts those in place as you're starting to wake up, and then finally, you come to full consciousness -- that telltale jerking at the restraints, the muffled little cry of confusion and fear. It's kinda hot to be honest. Well, fuck, very hot actually. You're so scared. It gives him a rush of power. Said rush goes straight to his dick.

He's got a mixed twist of guilt and arousal at the whole thing, but... he's still trying to have some self control... and if you start begging and pleading and crying, it would be too much. Oh, no, not that it would be too much in terms of guilt, no no, just that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from fucking you if he sees you cry. So he leaves the restraints on for now, so he can't see your face emote.

Then, he does something really, really mean. He knows it's cruel, honestly, it's just... so cute. What that is, is that he does nothing. Says nothing. He goes about his work, typing away, knowing you can hear, but doesn't say a word. He knows you're awake, he just wants to see how long you can sit there scared out of your mind before you finally make another noise to draw his attention. Right now, he thinks, you're probably debating, you're probably questioning whether you should keep quiet and make him think you're still out or make a noise... but eventually you will. He can see you trembling. You're probably thinking so many horrible things right now, wondering what will happen, what he'll do to you... it fills him with a sort of sadistic glee that overrides the guilt it comes along with. Sure, the guilt is there, but fuck, he could almost cum just watching you shiver, and that's more important.

And you finally make a noise. A little whimper. He stops typing, and swears he sees you tense when he does. And when he stands up, walks over to you (making sure to stomp hard and walk slow for extra effect, watching the way you curl in on yourself with each step he takes), and stops right in front of you. Finally, tells you not to scream. He's gonna give you water, ok? You nod. And, surprisingly, you don't make any move to scream or anything, you let him give it to you. You don't move a muscle besides your shaking and sucking the straw and swallowing the water. You must be really scared of him. He knows that's technically not what he should want, but... it feels nice.

He spent that time of silence coming up with what to say to you. He says that for now, you're going to stay right here. Don't ask questions. Don't make any attempt to escape. If you really need something, tap the headboard until he hears. Understand?

You're... Surprisingly receptive. You give a twitchy smile and stammer out an o-okay. He's almost pleased, but quickly realizes what you're doing.

You've been trained for this, you see. This kind of thing is attempted rather frequently in the industry. You received training for this situation - comply, don't fight, prioritize your safety, because in 99% of these cases, the missing idol is found and recovered within 48 hours. So you do what you were told to do -- smile, pretend you're ok with it, don't do anything to anger your captor.

He knows that too. He doesn't do much in that 48 hours, in fact, he even tells you he's waiting to "see what happens." He knows he can't control himself very well, so he stays in his living room for the most part and works on research, it might be pointless if he's in jail a few hours from now, but oh well. Sleeps on his couch. He offers to feed you, but you say you don't feel good. He understands.

See, in his mind, if he gets to fuck you once or twice and then be hauled off to prison and never touch you again, well, that would be actual, literal torture, so much so that never fucking you at all would be more bearable. So that's why he forces himself to wait now. He feels like he can't breathe, he's so nervous, like any moment police are going to come knocking on his door. Every little sound makes him jump. He can't sleep.

But 48 hours pass and... nothing happens.

He breathes a bit easier. Finally dares to go online, which he's been avoiding, and check on your situation... Oh, wow, social media has exploded over your disappearance. But... They have no leads. Nothing. Says she basically vanished out of thin air. Situation is, quote, "looking hopeless." Huh. He did an even better job than he thought he did. There's videos from loved ones begging the captor to let the girl go, offering to give him money even. A lot of money. But, you're more valuable than any monetary measurements could ever conceive. And he's happy. It really worked out. Everything went right, and for once, he has something that really, really makes him happy.

Likewise, the 48 hours are even more torturous for you. You start out telling yourself it'll be fine. Hopeful. But that hope in your chest slowly, gradually dies out as you realize you've hit the 48-hour mark. Even for a normal missing person, you've always heard that if they don't find them within 48 hours... the chances of ever finding them goes down significantly. But, that's because they're usually dead, right? And this guy won't kill you, so, your chances are better, right...?

He comes back after that 48 hours and finally, for the first time since you woke up, crawls onto the bed, touches you, grabs your hips with his hands. Tells you that, well, they haven't found anything yet and it looks like they aren't going to, so you're officially his now, and he's no longer worried. You should accept it. It'll make things easier for both of you if you do. You'll get adjusted in no time, you'll see.

Unsurprisingly, you're a bit less compliant than you were when you had hope. You whimper and and struggle, but it's really weak. So much so it's cute. You ask who he is. No one important, he says. Just... A fan of yours. You can hear clothes shuffling. He doesn't waste time, he's already waited two whole days suffering, so he gets his dick in you pretty quickly. Manages to make you cum. It horrifies you and kinda surprises him too to be honest. You must kinda like pain, huh. Well, that works out well.

As time goes on, what hope you had left dies completely. Weeks pass. You realize they're not coming for you. In an attempt to get you to accept it, he even shows you that you've been replaced. They're rather quick to fix the absence. They have a new girl in your spot by the end of the month. He quickly realizes maybe he shouldn't have told you, from the way your face falls and you get all hysterical. Sorry. It's the way the industry is. Don't worry. She's not even half as cute as you.

He shows you the announcement when they close the investigation, too. This also earns a rather hysterical response, but he thinks it's important you see it, so you can finally come to terms with your fate, the way things were always meant to turn out. He gets a bit frustrated. Just accept it. It's not that hard. The sooner you do, the happier you'll be. It's for your own good that you accept it.

And you do. Try as you might. You begin to make conversation. He's the only source of interaction you have. You learn about him and his life. You become invested in it. You start to cum more easily. When he's sitting on the opposite side of the bed typing away, you find yourself slowly wiggling your way over and pressing yourself against the warmth, and he certainly doesn't mind. You ask him about his research just to hear a voice talk.

And sometimes you sing. It's absent minded, soft and quiet, when you have nothing else to do. He likes that a lot. You get sweeter. Nicer. Fight less. It does take a bit longer than two weeks to set in fully. But it does in the end.

He can't be with you 24/7, as much as he would like to be, so sometimes he has to tell you to just hang on a little while. Be good and sit still for just a bit. He'll be back soon. Just give him an hour. You're just really distracting and, well, his progress report is due tomorrow morning.

And you keep getting upset over the new member, bring it up a lot... It must have really bothered you, huh. Well, don't feel bad about being replaced. To him, nothing could ever replace you... you're still his favorite.

[mint-yooxgi]

Rumours - Yandere!Fuckboi!Lucas X Reader

Yandere AU

Genre: Mature, Horror, Angst, Smut (Masturbation, this one is pretty sexual)

Pairing: Lucas X Reader

Words: 14,505

Warnings: This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

A/n: Heyyo! After months of nothing I present... something!!! I know it’s not exactly the ficmas I promised, but here’s one of the fics I had planned for it! I’m pretty happy with the way this one turned out, he’s definitely not as intense as some of my other yanderes on my blog, but I like it. This one definitely turned out longer than I expected, so I really hope you all enjoy! As always, feedback is greatly appreciated!

There are always three rules he tells them before they fuck.

Number one: no leaving marks on his skin. He hates having to try and cover them up in front of you, or try and explain that they don’t mean anything to him. You never believe him, and the last thing he wants to do is to push you away any further than you already seem. Besides, the only one that he wants to mark his skin like that is you.

Number two: never say his name. It sounds wrong coming off of anyone else’s lips that aren’t yours in these situations. He usually pictures you the whole time anyways, and their voice just takes the fun out of everything. Besides, it only manages to pull him back to the reality that it’s not you with him. Yet.

Number three: do not fake anything. He doesn’t need them to pretend to be enjoying things in order to stroke his ego. No. He wants to know that he’s actually good at what he’s doing. That way he can do, and be, his best when he’s finally able to be with you. Knowing how to properly please someone and recognize their reactions is the first step, otherwise it would become annoying with how many times people would attempt to exaggerate their noises and reactions. He needs to know that when he finally gets to be with you after all of these others, that it will leave you breathless, desperate, and craving his touch.

Currently, he finds himself in one of these situations. One hand tangled in the hair of some girl who’s name he can’t remember as he fucks her from behind. He can feel her meeting his every thrust, and he can hear the whimpers she lets out into the pillow that her face is pressed into. He can tell she’ll never forget this, as he’s been the best fuck she’s had, she told him so herself.

For a fleeting moment, he allows himself to close his eyes. Picturing the same thing he does every time he finds himself in these situations. He envisions that you’re with him right now, and not some random girl he picked up at a party that night. He almost lets a groan slip passed his lips, but he bites them in order to contain it. 

He always makes sure to keep as quiet as he can during these times, as he believes that you’re the only one deserving of hearing his sounds. Occasionally, a few do slip past his lips if he allows himself to fantasize about you for too long, but he’s gotten better at containing them around others for the time being.

With a loud cry of his name, he can feel her coming around him.

Immediately, he’s ripped out of his fantasy with you, stopping any and all of his movements. It’s deadly quiet in the room now, the only sounds coming from their deep breaths.

“What did I tell you?” His is voice low, full of frustration as he gets denied right before his own release.

“Fuck-“ she pants, “I’m sorry, I don’t know wh-“

He cuts her off, “get out.”

“What-“ her eyes widen as she pushes herself up onto her hands, feeling him pull out of her from behind.

“I said, get out!” His brows are furrowed in distaste as his voice echoes around the room.

Hurriedly, she scrambles off of the bed and grabs her clothes. She can tell he’s fuming as he stands there watching her flee after throwing her clothes on, dick still painfully hard and throbbing for release.

Hearing the click of his front door falling shut, he lets out a sigh. Running his fingers through his hair, Lucas tilts his head back and lets out a frustrated ‘fuck’. He was this close to finishing, and she had to go and break one of his rules, and while he was thinking of you, no less.

Stomping through his apartment, he quickly locks the front door, ensuring he has complete privacy, while also making sure that she can’t come storming back in. Not that she would, but he’d rather be safe. He’s had a few others do that even after they’ve broken his rules and he’s kicked them out, and he doesn’t want a repeat of those times.

Making it back to his room, he walks immediately into his adjacent bathroom to have a shower. He wants to wash this girl’s touch off of him, and besides, he does still want to finish.

Turning the water on, he waits for it to heat up slightly, and grabs a small bottle from underneath his sink. Stepping into the shower once the water is a decent temperature, he places the bottle he’s grabbed to the side, letting out another sigh as he allows the water to fall over his back. Running his fingers through his now wet hair, he lets out another sigh.

The first thing he does is grab the bottle he’s brought into the shower with him, opening it and allowing its familiar floral scent to fill his nostrils. It’s the same soap that you use, and he knows it’ll be able to comfort him right now.

He got lucky. One day in class he overheard you talking to your friend, Jordan, about this new soap you got from the store. Ever since, he’s noticed that that’s the scent you use, or at least, that’s what it smells like each time he manages to get close enough to you that he can faintly breath it in. Thus, the next time he went out, he made sure to grab a bottle. This way, he could use the soap for times like these, when he wants to be wrapped in your scent and feel a comfort only you can provide for him. It isn’t much, but it’s something.

How he wishes it could be you instead. You, who managed to captivate him the moment he first laid eyes upon you in first year. He managed to trip over his own two feet, making a fool of himself in front of you. However, instead of laughing like everyone else did, you came over to make sure he was okay. Granted, you did let out a few chuckles when he clumsily introduced himself, but he heard you call him cute, which only caused his ears to turn a vibrant shade of red in embarrassment.

If only Eunji hadn’t chosen that moment to come up to him and ask him about the night they shared over the weekend, and if anything was going to come out of it. He’s pretty sure he looked like a deer in headlights as she stood there looking expectantly at him, you shuffling from foot to foot awkwardly the whole while.

Unfortunately, your friend soon came running up to you to steer you clear of him. Jordan knew all too well about his building reputation around campus, having had another friend who had experienced it themselves. He had to sit through class overhearing Jordan tell you how bad he is, and how he’ll just fuck you and leave you hanging, because that’s what he does. Little did any of you know that he’d come to realize that he’d never do that to you. No, never you.

Since that day, he's tried to get closer to you to ask you out on a proper date, but circumstances never worked out in his favour. You would either be dragged away by Jordan, or whichever friend you’re with, or he would be interrupted again by someone else wanting to be more than just a one night stand to him. The worst few times were when he finally did manage to talk to you without interruption, only for you to point out the hickies that had been left on his neck. That caused him to start the no marking rule shortly after that incident.

Clenching his jaw, he lets the water wash the soap from his skin. This was supposed to be relaxing, but instead, thinking about all of his failed attempts at asking you out is only serving to make him more tense. He needs to distract himself, and fast.

Now, instead of focussing on the negative memories he has with you, he focusses on the positives. Like how just the other day, you met his gaze, only for your eyes to widen with the cutest expression on your face. Or how he overheard your laughter in the food court yesterday, your expression screaming nothing but pure joy. At that, he manages to crack a small smile, his heart warming in his chest at the thought of him being able to make you laugh and smile like that for him someday.

Fuck, how he just wants to kiss you. So badly he wishes you were here with him now, so he could press you up against the wall and make you see stars. He wants to know what your skin feels like beneath his fingertips, what your hands feel like gripping his hair, but especially, he wants to know what his name sounds like as you scream it for all to hear in ecstasy, letting everyone know that you’re his, and that only he can make you feel this good.

His thoughts, along with the smell of you that’s surrounding him during this time is enough to send him over the edge. He comes with a low moan of your name, eyes closed in bliss as he allows himself to indulge in his fantasies. At least he manages to come with a smile on his face, though he would have preferred opening his eyes to see you, instead of the grimy tiles of his shower once more.

Cleaning himself up quickly, he turns off the water. Grabbing a towel, he dries himself off before wrapping it around his waist and heading back out to his room. Checking his phone, he notices that it’s just past three in the morning. 

Letting out another sigh as he pulls on some loose sweats, he hops back into bed. He’ll worry about changing the sheets tomorrow. After all, he does have work later, and he’s already been late the past two times in a row.

Later that day, he groggily makes his way into work. He just manages to make it on time so as not to get reamed out by his manager again, greeting his coworkers with a small wave. Although it isn’t much working at the coffee place on campus, he enjoys it, especially when he gets to work with his best friend, Jongin.

“Late night?” Jongin quirks a knowing eyebrow at Lucas as they both tie their aprons around their waists.

“You know it,” Lucas jokes, smirk evident on his face.

“Damn, another one?” Jongin teases.

“Had to kick her out,” Lucas shrugs.

“You really are heartless, man,” Jongin shakes his head, grin still on his lips as he moves over to take orders.

Lucas says nothing as he moves over to start making drinks for the customers. He notices a few regulars sitting in their usual places inside, and soon he’s busy preparing himself for the rush they usually get just after classes get let out in a few minutes. A few people come in just to see him, and everyone at the café knows it. He has this unique charisma with the clientele, especially the ladies, whom he enjoys casually flirting with. He guesses that’s also what adds on to his reputation, but he just thinks of it as practice for when he gets to finally make you shy from his flirtations towards you. To him, they all mean nothing when compared to you.

Occasionally, during rush, Lucas will loose himself in his work, humming along lowly to whatever song is playing as he calls out name after name. There have been a few times where people will purposely graze his hand as he hands them their drink, but he’s gotten used to it by now that he pays no mind. Again, it means nothing to him, though he wishes people would stop, and notice that he’s not interested.

He’s just finished making two iced caramel macchiatos when he finally takes notice of the name on the cups. Sure enough, looking up, he meets gazes with Jordan, though you’re nowhere in immediate sight. He notices their eyes narrow at him as he hands them the two drinks, thanking him curtly. Normally wherever Jordan is, you’re not far behind.

Eyes follow Jordan out of the café, Lucas now distracted as he attempts to find you. Sure enough, you’re standing just outside the door, waiting for Jordan as they approach you with your drinks. The smile he sees you wear after grabbing your drink makes his heart warm, for there’s a part of him that knows that you smiled because of him. 

A small cry of pain escapes his lips as he drops the cup he’s holding. He clutches his now scalding hand in his free one, gritting his teeth as he moves to pick up the dropped cup. In his dazed state, he managed to pour steamed milk onto his hand, too distracted by watching you just through the window.

“Woah, Lucas, you okay, man?” His one coworker asks him, helping him clean up the mess.

“I’m good,” he gets out, tossing the now ruined drink into the garbage.

His coworker only shoots him another concerned glance before they get back to work, nothing but the faint sting of the burn on his hand serving as a reminder that you were smiling because of him only minutes ago. If only he could see you again, but you’re gone as soon as he looks back over to the spot which you were standing in before he spilt the drink.

The rest of his shift passes by slowly, the fatigue from the previous night catching up to him the more he has to deal with each rush that comes in. All he wants is to see you again, and spend more time with you, but he can’t.

The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that Jordan probably told you to wait outside for them while they got your drinks. Jordan is purposely making you avoid him, so he wouldn’t put it past them to do something like that. If only he would be so lucky as to serve you himself.

His eyes widen slightly as realization crosses his features. He now knows a drink order that you like. In all his months working at the café, you’ve rarely come in while he’s been working, so he’s never been able to flirt with you while making you a drink. Now that he knows you like iced caramel macchiatos, he can bring you some during class. Maybe that will show you how serious he is about you. Either way, he knows that the next time the two of you have class together, he’s bringing you a drink. Maybe he’ll even slip you his number if he gets a chance. Perhaps he’ll even write it on the cup.

A small grin tugs at the corner of his lips as he continues working. This plan is perfect. It most definitely can’t go wrong! He’ll show you, even in the most subtle a way as this, that he can take care of you. He can, and will, always provide for you anything you may ever want or need.

That evening once he gets home, he sets to cleaning his apartment. He’s decided that before anything else, he’s going to make his apartment look and smell nice. Who knows what might happen in the coming weeks, and if by chance you happen upon his home while it’s a mess, he’s be so embarrassed. All he wants to do is impress you, even in the most basic of ways.

He falls asleep that night to fresh sheets on his bad, clutching his pillow tightly to his chest and picturing that it’s you that he’s holding. He indulges in his fantasies as he tends to do with you, and imagines running his fingers through your hair as you fall asleep in his arms. In every sense, he wants you: to love, to cherish, to hold. Nothing could ever change that. He only wishes you were actually here.

Two days later, he prepares himself for what he’s about to do. Taking a deep breath, he clutches the cool drink tighter in his hand, allowing the feeling to ground him as he walks up to where you’re currently sitting before class starts with Jordan beside you.

“Hey, (Y/n),” he greets with a lopsided grin, “how’d you make out with the document analysis that was due yesterday?”

“Not too bad, I think,” you smile politely back at him as Jordan squeezes your thigh lightly underneath the table. “How’d you find it?”

He knows you’re probably just being polite at this point, since a few people have turned to stare, wanting to know if you’re going to fall for his ‘game’ or not. He nearly rolls his eyes at the thought. With you, it’s never a game, and it never would be. Jordan, on the other hand, might beg to differ.

“Glad I just got it done on time,” he shrugs casually. 

Truth be told, he’s actually a fairly decent student, and this is his favourite class for two reasons. One, you’re in it, and he can sit close by to you for two hours every week. Two, he actually likes the material of the course. In fact, it’s one of his highest grades right now.

“Is there something we can help you with, Wong?” Jordan’s voice cuts in before he can get in another word.

“Actually, yeah,” Lucas smirks, eyes shining as he notices Jordan’s eyes shift suspiciously to the drink he’s been holding in his hand. Looking directly into your eyes, his expression softens into a smile, “I got this for you.”

Your own eyes widen as he places the coffee on the table beside your notes. Your heart warms at the gesture, but your words seem stuck in your throat for the time being. However, the longer you go just looking at Lucas with those wide eyes, the less confident he becomes.

Did he do the right thing? What if you don’t actually like this drink? Why do you keep staring at him with those eyes? Fuck, if his heart wasn’t racing before, it sure is hammering away in his chest now.

The whole time, questions race through your head as well. Jordan has told you countless times that he doesn’t care for anyone but himself, refusing to do anything for anyone. Jordan has you convinced that Lucas isn’t the kind of guy to just do something out of the goodness of his heart, for they’re sure he doesn’t have one. However, now, you’re not so sure if everything that Jordan has told you about him is true. Maybe he’s not so bad of a guy after all. Maybe he’s just misunderstood.

“I mean, uh-“ he stammers before your voice pulls him back to earth.

“Thanks, Lucas, that’s really sweet of you,” you smile at him, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt.

His heart skips a beat as he sees that genuine look of happiness on your face, finally directed at him. He feels as if his whole world has stopped, and it’s just the two of you now in the classroom. Nothing could pull him out of this feeling right now, and he can feel a small heat rising up his neck.

“It was nothing,” he tries to play it off cooly, and he just manages not to stutter over his words.

You’re about to say something else, until Jordan beats you to it, and he feels his momentary bliss shattering around him.

“Nice try, dickwad, but it’s not going to work,” they spit, and you watch his expression fall briefly before turning into one of annoyance. “She can’t be bought.”

Before Lucas can retaliate, the professor is walking into the classroom, preparing to begin the lecture. Instead, he ops to shoot a glare at Jordan, letting out an annoyed sigh as he moves to take his seat two rows behind the two of you. He can faintly hear the two of you arguing about him now, and he chooses to tune into that instead of whatever the professor is going to be drawling on about today.

“Jordan, I can’t believe you would say that, he’s just trying to be nice,” you scold, reaching for the drink before they smack your hand away.

“He just wants to get in your pants, (Y/n), and he’ll do whatever he can to seduce you in order to succeed,” they retort.

“I don’t know, this seemed pretty genuine to me,” you mumble as Jordan reaches for the drink instead.

“Think about it, hun,” they continue. “It’s a little creepy how not even two days ago I got us this exact drink at the school café, of which he was working at, and now he shows up to our only shared class with the same drink. Is that not suspicious to you?”

“Why can’t you just give him the benefit of the doubt,” you sigh. “Maybe he’s just trying to impress me?”

He smirks at this. You couldn’t have been more accurate if you tried.

“Well, if so, then do you think he remembered to use lactose free milk?” They counter. “If he cares that much, he should have remembered that one of the drinks was made with lactose free milk, considering he made them. It would have been a fifty-fifty chance on who would have needed that, so to be safe, if he was observant, he should have gotten it for you with that in mind.”

His expression falls. He didn’t even think of that. He was so out of it that day that he doesn’t even remember which milk he used for each. Lucas was too caught up in the thought of seeing you, and then actually catching you smiling, that he forgot all about that. Clenching his jaw, he curses himself.

“If he didn’t, it’s an honest mistake,” you say.

“I don’t know why you’re so intent on defending him, he’s not a good guy, (Y/n),” Jordan shakes their head as you frown slightly.

“I still feel bad,” you whisper. “He did get me a drink, and I don’t want it to go to waste.”

Just as you’re about to reach for it again, they smack your hand once more, “oh, no you don’t. You’ll literally die if you drink that.”

“Well, I don’t want it to go to waste,” you reiterate, frown more prominent now.

“Fine,” they sigh. “I’ll drink it then.”

“Okay,” you nod slowly, a small frown on your face as you watch as Jordan slides the cup closer to themselves.

The whole time, Lucas is fuming. Not only is he mad at himself for not remembering something as significant as making your drink properly, but he’s furious that your drink is now being consumed by Jordan. Though, he’s more upset around the circumstances that led to this, than you not actually drinking the coffee. The last thing he wants to do is be the reason for your discomfort in any situation.

He’s also upset about the fact that Jordan only seems to be pushing you away from him. From the sounds of things, you do want to give him a chance, and fuck, if the way you looked at him earlier was any indication how you felt towards him, he’d be right there to sweep you off of your feet in an instance. Maybe him and all his subtleties towards you are actually working. No matter, the next time he’ll just have to make sure to get your drink right, and make sure Jordan isn’t around to ruin things for him.

Except, he’s not expecting the rumour that arises within the next week, and once he hears Jongin telling him about it at work one day, he nearly drops his phone in the break room.

“What?” His voice comes out rushed, eyes wide as his lips part slightly in shock.

“Yeah! Apparently what’s been going around campus is that you’re trying to get in Jordan’s pants,” Jongin reiterates.

“How the fuck?” He trails off.

“I don’t know man, but rumour has it you bought them coffee last week,” Jongin shrugs.

“I didn’t buy them coffee,” he mutters, only causing Jongin to quirk a brow.

“Word on campus is that Jordan came in to the café last week, you stared at them the whole time while they left, longingly, apparently,” Jongin goes on to say, “and then showed up to your class two days later with that same drink they ordered for themselves.”

“Fuck me,” Lucas sighs. “The drink wasn’t meant for them, it was for (Y/n).”

Jongin frowns slightly until realization flashes in his eyes, “you mean that girl you’ve had a thing for since first year?”

A small nod is all the confirmation he gives.

“Welp,” Jongin stands up, clapping Lucas on the shoulder as he passes, “good luck, dude.”

Another sigh escapes Lucas’ lips as Jongin exits the break room. He’s not sure how exactly this rumour could have started, or who started it for this matter. However, it’s only going to serve as another obstacle for him to be with you. Hopefully, it doesn’t put too much of a damper on his plans.

Easier said than done.

The next two weeks is spent being conscious of his every move. He notices the way some people have been watching him around campus, especially when Jordan is around. It’s usually old flings of his, jealous that they mean nothing more to him than a one night stand. They’ll never mean anything more than a one night stand, either. During those times, he makes sure to never look their way. Only when you’re around does he dare a glance in their direction, but even then, he doesn’t hide the fact that it’s you that he’s looking at. 

Part of him hopes a new rumour will spread that it’s actually you he’s interested in. At least then there’d be some truth to it, and he would be able to use it to his advantage. He can’t count the number of times he’s pictured you confronting him about his feelings in some secluded space, only for him to confess and the two of you end up kissing in the heat of the moment. His mind always wanders further, imagining pressing you up against the wall and taking you right then and there. He wants you, badly, and he’d be more than happily claim you as his own whenever, or wherever you wanted him to.

Resting his head in his hand, he zones out to the lecture. His gaze remains transfixed on your back as his mind plays one of these scenarios in his head. Oh, how you’d grip his hair and call out his name as he thrusts into you, his fingers digging into the skin of your thighs. How he’d claim your lips, over and over again, amongst other, more intimate parts of your body.

He licks his lips, getting lost in his haze of desire for you, and what could be. So much so, that when he shifts slightly in his seat, he can feel his semi-erect cock pressing against the material of his jeans. Letting out a low breath, he attempts to calm himself down. Thank goodness the break is starting now, so he can focus on fixing his problem, and not sit through the rest of class with a hard-on. The last thing he needs, or wants for that matter, is for someone to notice.

Rubbing at his face with his hands, he lets out a deep sigh. Shifting in his seat, he angles himself in a way that no one would be able to see what’s happening to him. Thank fuck he decided to sit beside the wall today. Not to mention he’s got the perfect angle of you, two rows down, as usual.

He’s pulled out of his thoughts when he hears you let out a small squeal, successfully drawing the attention of those around you as well.

“Oh my god, Jordan, look,” you grin, smacking their arm lightly repeatedly.

“What is it? Geez,” they rub at the side of their head, “you’re gonna blow my brains out.”

“Sorry,” you reply sheepishly, before the grin is back on your face, “but look! Ten has silver hair this comeback!”

“Yeah, so?” They yawn, clearly disinterested in your rambling.

“So?” You scoff. “You know I have a thing for silver hair, it just looks so sexy. Especially on him.”

Jordan just chuckles in amusement, “I know, boo, I was just teasing you. I know you love light coloured hairstyles.”

“I do indeed,” you nod once, and that’s all the confirmation Lucas needs to start looking at hairdressers in the area to get his hair dyed.

He’s never given much thought to the colour of his hair before, always sticking with his natural hue over anything he might deem too risqué. However, he’d more than willingly make an exception just for you. If this means you seeing him in a more desirable light, he’ll do it in a heart beat. Besides, a change might do him some good.

Now, to look up this ‘Ten’ guy who has you practically drooling at your computer screen. 

A quick search of this guy’s name pulls up quite a few pictures that have a frown pulling at Lucas’ features. What does this guy have that he doesn’t? Well, except for the fact that he’s an idol, and apparently has silver hair now.

The rest of class is spent with Lucas pouting slightly while looking up facts about this Ten guy that you apparently like so much. Maybe he can alter himself to be more desirable to you through some of this guy’s behaviours. First things first, he’ll start with his hair and see how it goes from there.

He can hardly believe he’s getting jealous over some idol whom you don’t even know. Lucas knows he has more of a chance with you than this Ten guy, but he can’t help but worry. What if his plan doesn’t work, and the two of you don’t actually end up together.

Immediately, he shakes his head to clear his thought. No. He doesn’t even want to think about the possibility of you not ending up with him. He can’t see himself being happier with anyone else other than you, and he knows he can make you so happy, if you’d just let him. He’d do anything for you. Absolutely anything.

All too soon, class in ending, and he’s watching as you pack up your things before heading out of the classroom with Jordan in tow, the two of you still talking about this upcoming comeback. He makes sure to keep his distance while trailing behind the two of you, making sure he looks inconspicuous as he heads to his next class. He wants to hear as much as he can before leaving you for today, wanting to get a better gage on your interest in this Ten guy.

A sour expression resides on his face for the rest of the day. He doesn’t like the fact that this idol is getting all of you attention, and not him. Why can’t you ever focus on him?

Oh, that’s right. Jordan.

If it weren’t for that friend of yours, the two of you could have already been in a happy relationship. He huffs, now heading to the parking lot to head home after sitting through his last class of the day. Once he makes it to his car, he hops in and starts the engine, looking at his reflection in the rearview mirror. In a few day’s time, he has his hair appointment, and hopefully by then, he’ll have thought of a way to get Jordan out of your life so that he can finally have you all to himself.

The rest of the week passes by fairly normally for him, and he’s happy with the way his hair has turned out. He got it cut, too, and it feels even softer to the touch. At least, that’s what his fling from last night told him.

The stress of the week caught up to him, and he had to relieve it somehow, so he felt it best to take out his frustrations on someone else. Needless to say, he was the best they’ve ever had, and they didn’t break any of his rules. He doesn’t think he’s ever went as hard as he did last night, picturing you the whole time. He couldn’t help himself, letting the events of the week affect him more than he wanted.

Again, he ended up kicking the girl out of his apartment before she could stay the night. Usually, he won’t let them, since he doesn’t want to deal with them when he wakes up. This gives him more time to think about you, and picture you wrapped in his arms instead of someone else who might want to talk about their feelings for him or some other shit like that. That’s a huge no for him. Again, unless it was actually you.

Making it into work the next day, he sighs. Saturdays on campus can usually be pretty slow, so he’s not looking forward to working all that much. In fact, the day ends up being so slow that a few people get sent home early, but unfortunately for him, he’s stuck here until close. Even Jongin heads out early, leaving Lucas to work with two of his other coworkers he doesn’t really talk to. At least he can hang out in the break room if it gets too slow.

About an hour before close, he’s stuck behind the counter by himself for a bit while his one coworker takes out the trash and the other is on their break. He knows he can call them out if he needs them, but he doubts they’ll get a rush this late in the evening.

A small sigh escapes his lips as he hears the door to the café swing open. His back is turned to the register as he finishes grabbing down a bag of coffee beans to refill the pot for the morning. As soon as he’s closed the cupboard and turned back around, he nearly drops the bag of coffee beans in his hands.

There you stand, in one of your oversized hoodies, with a friendly smile on your face. Most importantly, you’re alone.

The two of you stare at each other for a moment, him blinking a few times in disbelief and managing to get out a measly little ‘hey’. Of which, he curses himself immediately afterwards. Is that really all he can get out when he’s finally alone in front of you?

“Hey there,” you giggle, and he swears it’s the cutest damn sound he’s ever heard, “you’ve changed your hair.”

“Uh, yeah,” he swallows, nervous all of a sudden about what you think about it.

“I like it,” you smile softly. “Looks nice.”

He freezes for a moment, nearly forgetting how to breathe as he stares at you. Changing his hair was a success after all, and he loves knowing that you like what he did for you.

“Thanks,” he smiles back, before clearing his throat, and putting the bag down on the counter. “What can I get for you?”

You start telling him your order, but he’s already started punching it in. Luckily, it goes unnoticed by you, especially since he undercharges you for the change in milk. Again, no matter how subtle, he wants you to know that he’s always looking out for you, and will provide for you whenever and wherever he can.

After you pay, you move over to the end counter where you wait for your drink to be made. He takes this opportunity to talk to you, considering it’s just you and him right now, and he doesn’t know when he’ll ever get another opportunity like this again.

“So, how’ve you been?” He asks casually as he starts preparing your drink.

“Not too bad, midterms are kicking my ass, though,” you reply, tucking your phone into your pocket. “I’m definitely way too stressed for anything right now.”

“Tell me about it,” he chuckles. “I feel like we’ve just started and we’re already halfway through the semester.”

“Right?” You voice, incredulously. “I feel like I hardly have time to relax anymore, and with our midterm that’s worth forty percent on Tuesday, I’m kinda freaking out.”

“I feel you,” he nods in agreement, now just waiting for the shot to brew to add to your drink. He has to stop himself from biting his lip. He knows a few ways to help you relax, but he doubts you’d let him try anything. Yet. “I’m sure you’ll do fine though, you’re really smart.”

You laugh slightly, “my intelligence is an illusion that hangs by a thin string attached to late night study session, and fuelled by coffee.”

He laughs at this, pouring the freshly brewed shot into the cup, “I take it that’s why you’re here so late on campus on a Saturday night?”

“Guilty,” you joke, reaching out to grab your now finished drink. “What about you? I didn’t take you for one to be working on a Saturday, let alone in the evening.”

Ever so slowly, he watches your fingers gently brush over the skin of his own, and he swears it’s like a jolt of electricity goes through him. Your touch is addictive, and now that he’s had a taste, he’s not sure if he could ever get enough.

He chuckles, “to be honest I enjoy spending most evenings in rather than going out.”

“I see,” you nod slightly with a small hum.

Sure that may have been a little white lie, but you don’t need to know. Besides, if he’s going to counter that image of him you have because of Jordan, he’ll do anything he has to to make you believe he’s actually good for you like he knows he is.

“Well, don’t wear yourself out,” he shoots you a smile, doing his best to contain the bliss filled look that wants to spread itself across his features at this interaction you’ve have together.

“Same goes for you,” you lift your drink in a mock ‘cheers’ motion. “Don’t overwork yourself.”

“I won’t,” he promises, smiling at the way you swirl your drink slightly to mix it before taking a sip. “You like it?”

“This is amazing,” you hum, “just what I needed.”

“Glad to be of service,” he grins, giving you a small salute with two of his fingers, causing you to giggle again. God, he could never grow tired of that sound. “So, do you have any plans for the evening?”

By now, he’s leaning against the counter, for you have yet to move and he wants to be as close as possible to you for as long as he possibly can, without being obvious of course. Besides, he’s enjoying talking with you, and he doesn’t want you to leave just yet.

“Well, that chair over there,” you motion to a chair in the corner of the café, “is calling my name for the next,” you hum, checking your phone for the time, “forty minutes or so until you guys close, so…”

A small smile rests on his lips as he nods in understanding, “if you need anything, just call me over. I’d be happy to make you another one.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” you tell him, smile back on your lips as you move over to the aforementioned chair.

Lucas watches as you place your drink onto the small table that rests in front of the chair, taking off your hoodie before sitting down and pulling out a book to read. He smiles to himself as he moves back over to the forgotten bag of coffee beans to continue where he left off. 

Knowing you’re mere feet away from him makes him so unbelievably happy. He has to keep glancing up to check if you’re still there, and not some figment of his imagination. Even his coworkers have noticed a slight shift in his attitude when they both get back onto the floor, noting he looks more awake than before. He certainly seems happier, that’s for sure.

All too soon, it’s closing time, and he’s just finishing up wiping down the counters when his one coworker goes to let you know. Lucas bites his lip, noting that you appear to be dozing off in the chair anyways. His heart races in his chest, and holy fuck, could you get any cuter? He only wishes he could have been the one to walk you out of the café.

Some part of his brain wishes and hopes that by some miracle, you decided to wait for him to finish closing so he can walk with you to the bus stop. If he’s lucky, he could even offer to drive you home, one hand resting teasingly on your thigh while the other grips the steering wheel.

“Oh, it looks like she left her sweater here,” the voice of his coworker pulls him out of his thoughts.

He watches as his coworker quickly pops their head out of the door, seeing if they can spot you in the distance, but it looks like you’ve already left.

“Damn, that sucks,” they say, turning to look at Lucas. “You know her, right? Why don’t you give her back her hoodie the next time you see her in class or something?”

Without waiting for a response, his coworker throws him your hoodie, and fuck, does it ever smell like you. Clutching it to his chest, he nods slowly, the words finally registering in his brain.

His eyes widen slightly at what this means. He knows for a fact that he shouldn’t give you back your hoodie while in class, there’s way too many watchful eyes around. People might get the wrong idea. On the other hand, he has seen you wear this hoodie around a lot, meaning it’s probably important to you, so if he shows up with it, you might think of him as your Prince Charming coming to your rescues. On the other other hand, he now has a piece of you with him, no matter how insignificant it may be. One that he can keep all to himself.

No, he shouldn’t be thinking like this. If he wants to make you see him in a good light, the right thing to do would be give you back your hoodie as soon as possible. Setting his mind, he determines that he’ll give it back to you when he sees you on Tuesday for class. The sooner the better, and hey, maybe Jordan might stop insisting he’s a horrible person if he does this. 

Soon enough, he finishes closing up shop with his coworkers for the evening and heads back home. Stepping through his door, he lets out a sigh. After clicking the locks into place, he’s kicking off his shoes and heading straight to his bedroom. He tosses your hoodie on his bed, figuring he’ll put it aside once he’s had a quick shower for the evening.

Once again, he finds himself using the same soap you use. Considering the evening he’s had, he thinks it fitting that he smell like you. He wishes nothing more than for you to be waiting for him in his bedroom in nothing but that hoodie when he comes out of the shower, but he knows that’s a fantasy too far away to even hope for at the moment. Still, his mind cannot help but wander to that vivid image as he dries himself off.

Shaking his head, he slips on some sweats, entering back into his room to see your hoodie exactly where he left it on his bed. He licks his lips, imagining your bare legs peaking out from beneath the hem, spread out on his bed and just begging for him to be between them.

This time, he blinks to clear the vision of you from his mind. Grabbing your hoodie, he tosses it to the side of his room where his desk chair sits, hearing it make contact and seeing it hanging off the edge in the next second. Turning off the lights, he hops into bed.

Turning on his phone, he decides to scroll through instagram to see if there’s been anything important he’s missed. His heart nearly skips a beat when he comes across a newly posted photo of yours, showing off your drink from that evening along with the book you were reading. The caption reads, ‘howdy stranger’ with a little heart attached at the end, and he can’t help but read more into this than you probably intended.

To anyone else, that caption might be referring to the book, of which you may not have read in a while, or even the drink. However, to him, it’s reminiscent of your conversation, and how the two of you might still be considered strangers to some. It’s a flirtatious callback to how you two know each other, but rarely talk. Tonight was that exception, where the two of you actually had a somewhat decent conversation without anyone interrupting or pulling you away from him. The fact that you included the drink he made for you in the photo only confirms that this post was about him, and him alone.

He bites his lip, immediately liking the photo to let you know that he’s seen it; he’s gotten your message and he’s more than willing to let you know that if you only say the word, the two of you wouldn’t have to be strangers for much longer. Briefly, his eyes dart to your sweater, of which he can fairly make out the outline of hanging off of his chair where he tossed it.

Lucas decides to scroll through the rest of your instagram, just lurking on your page so he can see you in every and any photo you have of yourself. He makes the executive decision to turn on your post notifications in that moment, not wanting to miss any more of your posts, especially when they’re about him.

He freezes. Maybe he should do this for all of your social media accounts he follows. The last thing he wants to do is miss a post that could be an indicator of your true feelings towards him. What if all this time you’ve been in love with him, too, and your only way of communicating this to him is through your posts?

Grabbing his one pillow, he shifts so that it’s now clutched in his arms, him squeezing it as a rush travels through his body. What if that’s it? Maybe, there’s a small chance that you feel the same, and all of his past things never meant anything to you, and you just act the way you do cause Jordan is always with you, watching your every move around him. Of course, you’d want him, how could you not?

Smiling to himself at this new revelation, his eyes flick over to your hoodie once more. He can practically hear it calling his name, for him to hold as if it were your own body. Without waiting another moment, he gets up, snatching the item of clothing from his chair before laying back down, arms now wrapped securely around the hoodie instead of his pillow.

Burying his nose into the fabric, he takes a deep breath. Fuck, it smells so good. You smell so good, that his eyes nearly roll into the back of his head from this alone. The added scent from the soap he’s used just makes this all the more intense, and he really feels like you could be there with him.

Except, something’s still missing. Even as he continues to cradle your hoodie in his arms, it doesn’t seem quite right. That is, until his cheeks are flaring at the solution he comes up with.

Without thinking too much of it, or before he can change his mind, he’s sitting up quickly, and grabbing his previously discarded pillow. Moving the hoodie slightly, he puts it on the pillow, having it act as your torso for the time being. There, at least now there’s something more substantial to hold onto.

A smile tugs at his features as he clutches the pillow, which is now wearing your hoodie, to his chest. He can feel his naked torso burning wherever his skin makes contact with the fabric, imagining it’s really your touch there. He’s even gone so far as to toss the one sleeve over his side to act as your arm, as if you were really there holding him just as he is holding you.

Burying his face into the side of the shoulder, he takes another deep breath, grip tightening around your ‘torso’ as he lets out a low groan. His fingers fist the back of your hoodie, whole body curling around the pillow as he clings to it for dear life. Why can’t you just be here with him, right here, right now?

Would you run your fingers through his hair just like how he so badly wants to do to you? Would you teasingly litter kisses along his bare chest and neck, only to pull away and giggle at the reactions he gives you? Would you pull him closer as he cups your face and kisses you with all the passion he can muster, letting you know how much he loves and cherishes you? He bets his name would sound even sweeter than he could ever imagine falling from your lips, especially as he trails kisses down your own torso, leaving marks all the way so everyone can know that you’re his.

He bites his lip as he feels his cock throb in his pants, pure desire for you coursing through his veins as he lets his imagination run wild, and now that he has your sweater to hold onto, it’s like you’re really there with him.

Before he knows it, he finds himself grinding into the pillow, imagining it’s you, and that you’re grinding right back, desperate for his touch. Fuck, the way you would mewl with his hands all over your body, head thrown back as he gives you uninterrupted pleasure in every way he knows how.

Thoughts continue running through his head as he brings his one hand down to stroke himself over his sweats. Are you actually more on the quiet side? Are you more shy when you’re in bed? Would he be able to fluster you like he knows you could fluster him? Would you be loud for him if he asked?

A small huff of air escapes him as he turns on his back, finally sticking his hand down his pants to grasp his firm cock, stroking lightly all the while picturing it’s you doing this to him. No matter, he’d make you loud for him. He’d make sure you’ll scream from the pleasure he’s giving you. After all, his job wouldn’t be done until the only thing you remember is his name.

Licking his lips, he gently teases the head of his cock, spreading his precome with his thumb as his hand continues to stroke the rest of him, alternating his grip all the while. Throwing his head back, he lets out a low moan, followed by a curse. Your name sounds like heaven falling from his lips, and he only wishes you were around to hear just how good the mere thought of you is making him feel.

Closing his eyes, he lets images of you sucking him off fill his head. The way your lips would wrap around his cock, taking all of him into your mouth as he encourages you and holds your hair in his hand, ever so subtly guiding your movements. Fuck, the way you would hum around him, wanting to make him feel as good as he makes you feel.

He builds himself up slowly, wanting to take his time tonight and just live in his fantasies. Being able to hold your sweater in his hands is just the icing on top, letting him feel like it’s actually you there with him. After edging himself three times, he decides it’s finally time for him to come, and he knows exactly how he wants to do so.

Kicking off his pants, he shifts his body so that his pillow with your sweater on it is beneath his chest. He licks his lips, inhaling deeply with his eyes closed, allowing your image and your scent to fill his mind. One arm is wrapped around the torso of the sweater while he begins to fuck his opposite hand, starting slowly, just like how he would with you once he’s finally inside you.

For your first time together, he’d take it slow, making love to your gorgeous body all night long. He wants you to know that you’re more than just a fuck, and that he would never even think about doing something as intimate as this with another. Only you get this type of intimacy. Only you get the whispers of ‘I love you’ and the breathless moans of your name from his lips. Only you get all of him: mind, body, and soul.

Holding the pillow tighter, he begins to pick up his pace, rolling his hips into his hand as he pictures your legs wrapped around his waist. Every second that passes brings him closer to the edge, and he can feel his hips stuttering as his orgasm approaches. 

Sitting back on his knees, he releases the pillow, stroking himself intensely all the while. With a low moan, he’s coming, your name falling from his lips like a mantra as he releases all over your sweater, claiming it as his own, just as he so badly wants to claim you.

For a whole minute, he just kneels there, eyes closed and head thrown back in ecstasy. He bites his lip, bringing his free hand up to brush his hair out of his face. Opening his eyes, he looks down to see the mess he��s made of your sweater.

Cursing lowly to himself, his eyes go wide. Well, now there’s no way he’s going to give you back your sweater with it looking like this. He’ll have to wash it before giving it back, if he even decides to do that. Now that he knows what he can do with it, it’s like having his very own body pillow of you, and he doesn’t want to give that up so easily.

Moving off his bed, he cleans up quickly before sliding on a fresh pair of sweats. Once he’s finished, he slides back into bed, scrolling through his phone with his arm around the sweater, the pillow tucked to his chest. He has to find a way to be with you soon, and maybe next time, he’ll make this dream of his a reality.

That night, he falls asleep with a smile on his face, head filled with images of you and what he dreams your future relationship to be like once you’re together. He cannot wait for the day he can finally call you his in front of the whole world, and hopefully it’s soon; he just wants you so badly.

Midterms come and go in the blink of an eye, and before anyone knows it, the professor is assigning the final project. Lucas lets out a small sigh as the prof drawls on about the details during class, gaze zoned in on you once more until a certain phrase catches his ear.

“You’ll be working in partners-“ a chatter breaks out around the lecture hall before the prof grabs everyone’s attention once more. “As I was saying, you’ll be working in partners for the final assignment, but no you will not be working with a partner you choose. You will be receiving an email by the end of the day with your partner’s details for the upcoming project. I expect everyone to work diligently and thoroughly. Class dismissed.”

With that there’s an explosion of chatter and movement throughout as people begin to gather their things to leave the room. Lucas’ heart pounds in his chest the whole while, and he knows he won’t be so lucky as to get you, but he can only hope that’s the case. He just hopes that whoever he gets stuck with isn’t one of his past flings. That would be awkward as hell.

Again, he sticks close by you as you exit the hall with Jordan, discussing the possibilities of the project. He busies himself with checking his phone to make himself look occupied and not like he’s eavesdropping on your conversation.

“Who do you hope you get to work with?” Jordan asks you.

“I’m not sure, I know I probably won’t be as lucky as to get to work with you, but I hope there’s still a chance!” You reply, lip tugging upwards. “If not, the only other person I really know in the class is Lucas, so I guess he wouldn’t be so bad.”

His heart nearly stops when he hears you say those words. Maybe there’s a possibility that you really want to work with him, too.

“Ew, why do you want to work with that fuckwad?” Jordan scrunches their face in disgust.

“He doesn’t seem so bad,” you frown slightly. “Besides, I think he does well in this class, whenever I see him he’s always intently looking at his computer, taking notes.”

You’ve looked for him while in class before? His heart skips a beat. How has he never noticed?

“(Y/n), how many times have I told you to stay away from him? He’s bad news,” Jordan sighs.

“I know, Jor, I know,” you echo their sigh. “I just, don’t see what you mean. He’s only ever been nothing but decent to me.”

“Have you ever thought that there was a reason for that?” They quirk a brow.

Yeah, he’s in love with you, and he’d shout it from the rooftops if he ever got the opportunity.

“Well, regardless, he hasn’t given me a reason to be suspicious of him,” you retort.

“(Y/n), he literally has, or well, had, a Hitlist for this school. Almost every girl, and some guys have slept with him,” they tell you.

“Who he sleeps with, or has slept with is none of my business,” you glance at them out of the corner of your eyes. “I don’t care, and neither should you.”

“Listen, I really don’t care for him, or how many people he sleeps with,” they begin, “it’s the way he goes about it and treats them afterwards that has me peeved.”

“Again, that’s his business,” you say, and in the next moment a teasing smirk crosses your features. “Besides, sounds to me that someone is a bit jealous that they’re not one of his ‘hits’ as you’ve so put it.”

At this, they splutter, “what! That’s insane, I do not even like him!”

“Well, rumour has it that he likes you,” you continue with your teasing, wiggling your eyebrows suggestively at them.

“Rumours are just rumours,” they counter with a grumble, and you hum.

“Fair enough-“ 

That’s all he can hear until the two of you are too far away from him to comprehend what you’re saying. Letting out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, he leans against the wall. The biggest thing he takes away from this conversation is that you would, in fact, enjoy being his partner for this project, and he’ll make that happen no matter what. It’s a good thing your professor has office hours immediately after class, and it’s a good thing that Lucas just so happens to be his favourite student in that class.

Four hours later and he’s pacing in his room, just waiting for his phone to ping with the email notification. It’s already ten minutes passed when the professor told him that he’d have all the emails sent out by in order to contact the project members. What if the prof went back on his word?

A ping is what pulls Lucas out of his thoughts, him literally jumping onto his bed to grab his phone as he sees the email notification pop up with the subject discussing the partners for the project. His heart pounds as he opens the email, seeing that the prof came through and indeed put the two of you together like he asked. Who knew pleading his case to really support his ‘friend’ would have worked as well as it did.

All he’s gotten is your school email address, and he wants to send you an email to discuss the project right away, but he also doesn’t want to seem too eager. Should he wait for you to respond first? Maybe he should just take the initiative and send you his number so you two can start talking right away. However, before he can even open up a new draft, his inbox pings once more with a new email.

From: (Y/n)

Subject: Project

Hey Lucas!

I’m so glad to be partnered with you, it’s nice to be able to work with someone I know. Anyways, here’s my number, text me anytime and we can discuss the project in detail, I’m more active through text than email. I look forward to working with you!

(Xxx)-xxx-xxxx

(Y/n) :)

His head is reeling, and he has to read over your email several times to make sure that it’s real. You’re glad to be his partner. He can’t help his heart from racing the way it does as he saves your contact information, opening a new message thread and preparing to text you. 

Staring at the blinking cursor in the message bar, he freezes. What should he say? Probably something simple, he doesn’t want to make himself sound too eager. Plus, he wants you to think he’s cool, but also smart, but also available, but not desperate. God, what should he say?

After contemplating for a good five minutes, he settles on, “Hey (Y/n), it’s Lucas. I look forward to working with you, too :)”.

Surprisingly, you get back to him pretty quickly, and the two of you start talking about the project and some ideas you’ve had so far. Before you know it, the two of you are having a pretty decent conversation about your likes and dislikes, things along those lines. 

Lucas could not be happier than he is in this moment. He’s even brought your sweater back out for this occasion, holding it close to his chest as he reads over your entire conversation. You went to sleep a little while ago since it did end up getting quite late, but he can’t believe this has happened. Everything is falling into place, and soon, he’ll be able to make his move.

The next day, he has the closing shift at work with one of his co-workers that he closed with on Saturday. Again, it’s about an hour before close, and quiet, so he sets to cleaning the machines.

“Did you manage to give your friend back her sweater?” The question catches him off guard, causing him to freeze slightly before continuing to wipe down the machines. Maybe this question is a blessing in disguise, for he can put his plan that he’s been thinking about into motion finally.

“No, actually,” he turns to meet his co-worker’s eyes. “I ran into her friend Jordan and gave it to them to give to her.”

“Ah, I see,” they nod, going over to grab more cups from the backroom. Once they come back out, they turn to Lucas once more, “do you mind taking out the trash?”

“Sure,” he nods. He’s got nothing better to do anyways.

It takes him about ten minutes to run the garbage, and an extra five to dismiss an old fling of his who had spotted him walking back to the café. By the time he gets back, he’s slightly tense from the whole ordeal, and he can’t wait to get home so he can ask you about your day. He’s made it his goal to at least message you one small thing per day that he thinks will make you smile. He wants to show you that he cares, and that he’ll always be there for you, whenever you need him.

“Oh, hey, you just missed your friend,” his co-worker tells him once he gets back behind the counter. “She came by asking about her sweater and also asked about you. I told her you gave it to that other friend of hers.”

“Oh,” his eyes widen ever so slightly, nodding in understanding.

Besides being upset at the fact that he missed you stopping by, the fact that you asked about him sets his heart soaring. This is good! This is indeed very good for him. This means you’re thinking about him, even when he’s not around, something he could have only hoped for.

That night, he sends you a text when he gets home, heart beating nervously as he waits for your response. Once he hears that familiar ping, he’s smiling to himself, happy at how quickly you respond to him. You don’t keep him waiting long, just as he would never intentionally do so to you.

Lucas: Hey, heard I just missed you at the café this evening.

You: Yeah! I just wanted to pop in and say hi, and also ask about my sweater. I seemed to have misplaced it, and when I went to check the lost and found on campus they said they hadn’t had anyone drop it off so I’ve been retracing my steps lol

Lucas: Damn, now I’m really sorry I missed you, I could have told you that I gave it to Jordan for safe keeping

You: Yeah, that’s what your coworker told me, but they haven’t given it back to me yet. Sucks cause it’s my favourite sweater

Lucas: Damn, yeah, that does suck. Hopefully they return it soon

He looks over to the hoodie resting on his bed, still wrapped around his pillow. He really should wash it soon, he got another stain on it recently. 

His eyes widen as he thinks up a small safety measure just incase you’re over one day and find your sweater. Good thing it’s oversized.

Lucas: I have one that’s pretty similar, so if you aren’t able to get yours back you can always borrow mine lol

You: Lmaoo thanks, I’ll keep that in mind

Letting out a sigh, he shakes his head. He doesn’t particularly like the fact that he’s technically breaking your trust right now, and he has no clue what you’d do if you ever found out he lied to you, but he’s doing what he has to to ensure Jordan’s out of your life and that they can no longer keep you and him apart.

About two weeks pass by and Lucas notices that there seems to be a wedge driven between Jordan and you. The two of you no longer joke around as much as before when you’re together, and it’s as if there’s a sort of tension in the air whenever you’re around one another. For this, he couldn’t be more glad, his plan is working, though he’s surprised at how well it is. There must have been some other underlying factors causing this rift between the two of you other than the sweater incident, as you’ve now decided to call it.

On the other hand, you and Lucas have been getting even closer to one another. At least, over text messages. You do come to visit him every now and then during his night shifts, but it’s usually around closing time after you’ve finished working in the library. Even so, he’s grateful for every moment he gets to spend with you.

The due date to your assignment is getting closer every day, and the two of you have decided to finish it at his apartment this Saturday, which just so happens to be tomorrow evening. That means there’s less than a day left in the week before he’ll be able to make his final move, and make you his, once and for all.

He’s just at work refilling the coffee beans when he hears the bell chime above the door. Once again, he’s the only one on the floor, and he’s glad for it, for you walk in and manage to take his breath away like you always do. However, instead of wearing your usual calm expression, you seem more tense, and slightly frustrated.

“Hey,” he greets, putting the bag of coffee beans down so he can start your order, “the usual, I presume?”

“Yeah, please,” your reply is short as you go to reach for your wallet.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on the house,” he says. “You look like you could use a pick-me-up.”

“Thanks,” comes your blunt response, forcing a smile that pains his heart.

“Is everything okay? I don’t mean to pry…” he trails off as he starts making your drink. 

Anyone would be able to tell that you’re not your usual self and that something is bothering you. He only wants you to know that he’s here for you, no matter what. He will always listen to whatever you have to say and do his best to support you in whatever way he can.

You let out a sigh, chewing on your bottom lip slightly, nervously. Lucas can tell that you’re contemplating on whether or not you should tell him what’s bothering you. Luckily for him, it looks like you trust him enough now to share your worries with him, a fact that warms his heart.

“It’s just Jordan,” you say, causing him to quirks a brow at you in response, waiting for you to continue. “They keep telling me that they don’t have my sweater and that you never gave it to them. This isn’t the first time they’ve kept something of mine and not given it back after saying they never had it in the first place.”

You pause momentarily, and he has to stop the surprised look that wants to spread across his features from breaking out onto his face. This plan of his is working out even better than he could have ever imagined. So, he decides it’s time to put his high school drama classes to use.

“That’s strange, considering I did give it to them,” he frowns. “Though, now that I think about it, they were acting kind of strange when I gave it to them.”

“What do you mean?” You question, brow furrowed as you watch his hands as they pour the shot into your drink.

“Well, they kind of snatched the hoodie from my hands and flung it over their arm like it was bothering them. It almost seemed like they were annoyed that I asked them to do this. Though I mean, I’ve heard they don’t like me very much,” he chuckles slightly, handing you your now finished drink, fingers brushing ever so slightly. “Though I found it strange that they wanted to talk with me in private.”

“They did?” You ask. “That is strange.”

“Yeah,” he nods subtly.

“What did they want to talk about, if you don’t mind me asking?” There’s curiosity in your eyes, but also, suspicion. Towards him or Jordan, he cannot be too sure, but he hopes he’ll be in the clear after this.

“Uh, well, I was quite shocked but they confronted me about supposedly,” he adds air quotes to his next words for emphasis, “playing with their feelings and leading them on.”

“What?” Your jaw drops.

“I swear, I was just as surprised as you are,” he goes on to say. “They told me that my little ‘game’ I was playing with them wasn’t funny any more and that I should just ‘be honest’ with my feelings for them and stop trying to make them ‘jealous’.”

“That’s ridiculous, oh my god,” you shake your head. “I don’t want to believe they would do something like that, let alone say it. From what I know, and - no offence - Jordan hates your guts.”

“That’s what I thought, too!” He replies, almost incredulously. “But I also know they like spreading rumours about people.”

You scoff, “you could say that again.”

“I mean, I don’t mean to stir anything even more, but wasn’t there also a rumour going around that I was supposedly trying to get with them or something?” Lucas leans one hand on the counter, the other resting at his side.

“Yeah, there was,” you nod. “It was cause of that coffee you brought me that one day in class, people thought it was for them cause-“ you pause, looking slightly embarrassed, “cause they were the one who drank it.”

“Oh,” he feigns a slight pout at learning this. “Did they- did they think I forgot to use lactose free milk or something?”

“Yeah, actually,” you meet his gaze, suspicion lingering in your eyes.

“I did, in case you’re wondering, just to be on the safe side,” he adds. “I knew one of them was and I didn’t want to take a chance if the one who needed it was you. Now I know I made the right call.”

“That’s actually really considerate of you,” you flash him a small smile before shaking your head. “Anyways, that’s not the point.”

“Exactly,” he agrees. “What if they were the one who started this rumour and used that as the catalyst.”

“They were pretty adamant about me not drinking it,” you recall, one hand coming to rest on your chin in thought, eyes widening as you realize something. “Holy fuck, maybe that’s why they’ve been-“ you inhale sharply, effectively cutting yourself off, “sorry to run off like this, but I’ve got to go. Thanks again for the drink, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Without another word, you storm out of the café, a fire now burning behind your eyes. Lucas is left there, stunned, heart racing as he can’t believe that this has actually worked. His plan is almost complete, and depending on how your talk goes with Jordan, of which he’s assuming is going to happen soon based on how you cut yourself off and stormed out of here, his plan might be complete by tomorrow evening.

A large smile breaks out across his face as he finishes wiping down all of the tables for the evening, his coworker finally coming out of the back to help him close the café. His whole body warms at the fact that tomorrow, he’ll finally be able to have you in his apartment, alone. Not to mention the fact that Jordan might finally be out of your life for good, eliminating that obstacle to your relationship before it can continue to sabotage him further than they already have. All he has to do now, is wait.

The whole afternoon the next day is spent cleaning his apartment and making sure it’s spotless for you. He makes sure he has food, drinks, anything you could possibly want for when you come over. Nothing is too much when it comes to you, and he wants to make sure he has everything he may need to make sure you’re happy and comfortable with him. This is his chance to impress you, and destroy any last remnants of him being a fuckboy from your mind. He’ll treat you right, forever and always.

Sure enough, seven o’clock rolls around and he hears a faint knock on his door. His heart nearly skips a beat in his chest, palms sweaty, as he walks over to open the door for you. 

Greeting you with a small smile, he notices you seem extremely tense. As soon as you enter his apartment, you’re kicking off your shoes with a sigh as he shuts his door once more.

“Hey, let’s finish this project, yeah?” You turn to him, and he can tell that you’re drained, both physically and emotionally.

“Sure,” he nods, motioning to his living room for you to lead the way. “Uh, can I get you anything?”

“Water, please,” your response is short as you move to sit on the couch, pulling out your laptop to work on the project.

He walks back into the room a minute later with two glasses of water to see you just sitting there on his couch staring blankly at your computer screen. Placing the glass on the table in front of you, he gently takes a seat beside you, ”is everything alright?”

“Honestly?” You sigh once more, shutting your laptop and turning to look at him. “No.”

“What’s wrong?” He asks, brow furrowed in concern.

“Remember our conversation yesterday?” He nods, waiting for you to continue. “Well, I decided to confront Jordan about everything, cause everything was just a little too convenient for them, if you know what I’m saying.” Again, he nods. “We ended up getting into a huge fight, and now we’re not talking to each other. I just can’t believe they would lie to me like this.”

“What happened?” Escapes him before he can stop himself, wanting to know exactly what they told you incase he needs to cover his own ass. He’s gotten this far, and he can see the light at the end of the tunnel, there’s no way he’s slipping up now.

“Well, I told them everything we talked about, and they basically called me stupid for believing you and not them, and then said that they can’t believe I think that they stole my sweater, or that they started that rumour,” you tell him, and he listens intently to every word you have to say, reacting appropriately each time. “They kept bashing you, and honestly, that made me really upset cause you’ve been nothing but kind to me. They just keep lying, and it only looks bad on their end cause they can’t explain themselves to me properly, which I told them, then they called me stupid again, and said that I’m too gullible for my own good. Basically, they were treating me like a kid, and I couldn’t take it anymore. Like fuck, they always have something to say about everything I do, and they’re so fucking controlling, I just blew up. Then they said some things and it just spiralled out of control. I don’t need that negativity in my life.”

His eyes are wide in shock. His plan worked. It actually worked! 

“I’m so sorry that this has happened to you, and that someone whom you thought was your friend would treat you like that,” he places a gentle hand on your knee for comfort and you glance down at it before looking up at him, concern written all over his features. “You don’t deserve that, and I apologize if I was the one who got you into this mess. I feel like if I wasn’t involved things wouldn’t have ended like this. I should have just given the sweater back to you.”

“No, no, it’s not your fault,” you shake your head, rubbing at your eyes lightly to clear your vision. “Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. I’m just sorry you had to get involved like this.” You let out a frustrated grunt. “I feel like there’s just too much going on right now, and now we have to work on that fucking project cause it’s due at midnight.”

“Well, I have some news that may cheer you up,” he squeezes your knee slightly, causing you to look at his face once more in question. “I already finished our project last night. Well, it was like, three in the morning, but I figured you could use a relaxing evening given the conversation we had yesterday”

“You did?” You look at him with eyes shining with gratitude and wonder, and fuck does he ever just want to lean in and kiss you.

“I did,” he confirms with a small smile.

“Lucas, I can’t thank you enough,” he can visibly see you relax, as if a weight has been lifted off of your shoulders just from this one act alone.

“I can order us a pizza or something and we can just relax tonight and watch movies if you want,” he’s hoping you say yes and don’t just decide to leave after learning you don’t need to finish your assignment.

“Sounds good to me,” you agree. “I could use some relaxation time, if you know what I mean.”

The wink you send him has his body tensing slightly, heart skipping a beat in his chest. Are you hinting at something else? Something more? Whatever it is, he’ll be happy to oblige.

“Oh, I hear you,” he smirks.

“Anyways, what movie would you like to watch?” You ask, putting your laptop down and leaning further into the couch, getting comfortable.

You spend the next twenty minutes deciding on what movie to watch, the two of you laughing and cracking jokes the whole time. He’s noticed you’ve relaxed even more now the more time that passed, and for that, he couldn’t be more grateful. If he allows himself to indulge in his fantasies, he envisions this as your first date night of many. 

By the time the second movie starts, he’s ordered the both of you a pizza, of which now rests on the table in front of you. About halfway through the movie, he notices you shiver slightly.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” you mumble, “just a bit cold.”

Fuck, the only blanket he has is on his bed and it’s the one thing he didn’t wash today.

“You can borrow one of my sweaters if you’d like,” he offers, eyes flashing with something you don’t quite catch.

“Damn, at least ask me on a date first before letting me borrow your clothes,” you joke, giggling as you move to stand up.

Butterflies erupt in his stomach, a feeling he’s only rarely felt before, but a feeling he wants to feel again, with you.

“Fine then,” he notices you tense slightly at his words as he leans forwards slightly to stare at you intently, “would you like to go out with me sometime?”

You chuckle nervously, your own heart skipping a beat in your chest. You won’t deny, you’ve always thought Lucas was attractive, you just never thought you were his type. As far as you know, he doesn’t ask anyone out, so why you? Why now?

“I was kidding,” you try and brush his question off, not thinking he’s being serious.

“I’m not,” comes his immediate reply, and you notice how intently he’s staring at you, making your breath hitch in your throat.

Fuck it, “sure, why not?”

The smile you send him sends him over the moon. His plan actually worked! He nearly has to pinch himself, for this is like a dream come true, and soon, you’ll be all his, and his alone.

“So, uh, which room is it?” Your question has a million thoughts running through his head, causing him to nearly lose his composure until he realizes you’re just asking where you can find his sweaters.

“Down the hall on the right, in the closet,” he replies, willing his heart rate to calm down. “Take your pick.”

“Sweet, thanks,” you smile, heading off in the direction he’s told you.

Once you’ve arrived at his room, you slowly open the door, noting how clean and tidy his room is. The faint scent of jasmine lingers in the air as you walk towards his closet, opening the door and looking over the array of hoodies he has. As you’re riffling through them, a familiar looking one catches your eye. Immediately, you’re tearing it off the hanger, confusion written all over your face.

In your hands, you hold your missing sweater, or at least, you think it’s your hoodie. Same size, shape, make, everything. You’re about to question it further when you remember Lucas telling you that he had a similar hoodie to the one you lost. This must be the one he’s talking about.

Immediately, your shoulders relax, breathing out a sigh of relief. There’s no way he would have lied to you about everything, now, would he? You trust him enough not to linger on these thoughts for too long, instead, slipping the hoodie over your body and smiling at the familiar warmth it brings you. You only wish you could get your own back soon.

Walking back into the living room, Lucas swears he stops breathing as soon as he sees you. Luckily for him, you miss the brief panic that flashes through his eyes.

“You know, when you said you had a similar hoodie, I didn’t think you meant you had the exact same one,” you joke, sitting back down beside him on the couch. “How come I’ve never seen you wear it.”

He laughs, “I only use it for special occasions.”

“I see,” you nod.

“It looks good on you,” he says, and he’s thanking every star he decided to wash it today.

“Thanks,” you giggle, and just like every time, it’s like music to his ears.

A silence settles back over the two of you as you continue to watch the second movie. He’s already made a promise to himself not to let you leave tonight; he finally has you, and he’s not letting you go so easily. However, with the way that your head lulls onto his shoulder near the end of the movie, he doesn’t think he’ll need to work too hard to make you stay.

He looks down at your sleeping form, hand coming up to carefully stroke the side of your cheek. Shifting slightly so that you’ll be more comfortable, he wraps an arm around you, pulling you even closer into him and hearing you hum in content. This time, it’s your turn to shift, and he freezes, thinking he’s woken you up. Instead, you bury your head deeper into his side, one hand coming to rest on his chest while your one leg tangles with his own, your thigh dangerously close to his hips.

Exhaling shakily, he wills himself to calm down, not wanting to ruin this moment, and revelling in it while it lasts. All he knows, is that he’s in for one long night.

[sleepysnk]

Hi!!! Can I request a Levi x Fem! Reader one shot where the Reader is Levi's Assistant and he wanted to confess to her but doesn't know how. During lunch the 104th female cadets were asking the reader about her thoughts and advice when it comes to love. Which Levi overhear and uses those advices to confess to the reader.

Lots of fluff please

I love your writing style sooo muchhhh

aw! this is so cute 🥺 i really loved writing this one! thank you for your kind words anon! it means a lot 🖤. i hope you enjoy :)

Levi x Fem!Reader: Assistant

Warnings: None

(Y/N) was a great cadet. She impressed her peers with her skills, her knowledge, and many other unique things. She was quite a stellar cadet, and she even impressed the Commander of all people.

Now people with great abilities deserve to have some kind of reward. One day, she was called into Erwin's office. He discussed with her that he think she deserves a great reward for everything she has worked hard for, and being honest the girl was shocked at first.

He offered her a squad leader position, or to become an assistant. Now, he explained that both came with huge responsibilities. She was a bit under pressure on what to do, if she became squad leader, she would pick people to be apart of her squad. She'd get her own office, room, and she basically became a higher-up.

She also could become an assistant. He explained it's somewhat what Moblit is to Hanji. The thing was, the only assistant option was Levi.

(Y/N) didn't have the best relationship with him. They never really spoke, she was always intimidated by him. She decided to save the stress and go with the assistant position.

When Erwin told Levi about it, he was a bit confused. Why would (Y/N) want to assist him? He was also mad that Erwin didn't mention it a lot earlier, but he had to go with it anyway. He didn't mind having one, it would help him get things done a lot faster.

The first few days were a bit rough for her. Levi totally had her running around HQ like a maniac, he'd make her get him tea, or even to clean his office. She was always tired by the end of the day, and he always worked her out.

Over time, they started to talk a bit more. She got out of her shell, and talked to Levi about a lot of things. Levi would speak to her more, even if it was just a one word answer.

Thing was, over those months she was his assistant, Levi fell hard for her. They shared so many stories together, and having her around was something he genuinely enjoyed. He wasn't sure how to tell her though, she was his assistant, and what if she thought it was weird or creepy?

(Y/N) though, had no idea about this. She just assumed Levi was an unavailable person, because of how cold and stoic he was. He did treat her a bit differently from everyone else, he always spoke to her, and he could be nice sometimes.

It was obvious to Erwin and Hanji though. They knew that Levi had something for her, it's just how obvious he makes it. He mentions her a lot to them, and they always told him the same thing.

Go. For. It.

Unfortunately, the raven-haired male would never listen to them. He assumed he couldn't ever tell her without her rejecting him. Of course, Hanji tried to tell him to give it a shot, and that (Y/N) isn't the type to reject him. Levi was just telling himself that.

He never really knew how she felt about love either. She never mentioned it, and he assumed it was because she wasn't looking for it. Unless she was, but just not with him.

One day, he decided to just say fuck it and do it. Thing was, he didn't know how to. He didn't know what she liked, how she felt about him, etc. The man was loosing it trying to figure out what to do.

During lunch, he watched as (Y/N) sat down with her friends. She was such a beauty to him, and he always admired her.

"How was training?" Mikasa asked and looked around at everyone.

(Y/N) sighed. "Honestly, my legs are gonna fall off" she replied and ate some of her bread.

Sasha sat down and seemed a little upset. "Everything alright Sasha?" Krista asked and nodded.

She sighed. "I don't know how to get Connie to like me back! I try and hint it, but he's so blind!" she replied and huffed.

(Y/N) nodded. "Girl, you have to show it. You can't push him and expect it to happen" she said and smiled a bit.

"(Y/N), you've never really talked about love before. How do you even feel about it?" Ymir asked and crossed her arms.

Levi looked up as Ymir asked that question. He wants to pay attention to what she has to say, maybe it could help him?

She sighed. "Well being honest, I've always wanted to fall in love with the right person. Love is so cool, well at least from what I've heard" she replied.

Mikasa took a sip of her water. "Got any advice for Sasha here?" she asked.

"Sasha, you have to go for it. If I were Connie, I'd want you to confess to me. Maybe be passionate about it! I would like someone to confess to me under the stars, and kiss me under the moonlight not gonna lie" she replied.

Sasha looked at her. "But that's so cheesy (Y/N)!" she said and started to eat.

She laughed a little. "Yeah it might be cheesy, but being honest, it's really cute. I'd also want that person to be 100% honest, like tell me how you feel about me. You know?" she said and nodded her head.

Levi knew instantly what he had to do to get (Y/N) to be his girlfriend. He planned to do what she suggested during the night, he knew it would be a cloud free sky.

Hours went by after lunch, and Levi was expecting (Y/N) to come to his office soon. She had dish duty, and was told to head to his office once she was done. He left a note in his office for her to meet him outside, he needed help with 'odm gear'.

(Y/N) finished her duties and headed to Levi's office. It was kind of late, it was around 10 p.m. the sun was down, and she was pretty tired. She hoped that Levi wouldn't work her too hard, if he did she wouldn't forgive him for that.

She got to his office door and knocked.

Silence.

"Captain?" she said and opened the door to his office.

He wasn't there, which confused her. Maybe he was sleeping or showering? She listened for the shower, but it was still quiet. She walked over to his desk and saw a note on his desk with her name on it.

Y/N,

I apologize for not telling you sooner, but I need you to meet me outside. I need some help with the ODM Gear, please head there as soon as possible.

-Levi.

She nodded and shrugged. Nothing she can't handle. (Y/N) made her way towards the ODM Gear area, she wasn't exactly sure what she had to do, but she hoped it wasn't much. She noticed how pretty the sky was. The moon shined over the landscape as the stars danced across the sky. The air was warm, since it was summer time.

Levi saw her approaching. This was the moment of truth, he wasn't going to go back now, and he sure as hell wasn't going to waste the opportunity to confess.

"Captain?" she said and walked into the room.

He revealed himself. "You finally got here, I was waiting for you" he said and crossed his arms.

She nodded. "My apologies sir, I wasn't sure where you were. That's all" she replied and looked at him.

Levi sighed. "Come with me please" he said and walked outside.

The girl was confused at where he was going. "Um.. Levi? Where are you going?" she asked and nodded.

"Just come with me" he replied and looked back at her.

(Y/N) without any other choice, just followed him. She was a bit confused at where he was taking her. She didn't want to question him though, Levi being angry would be a bad sight.

He stopped at this field. She looked around at the wind blew a little. "Why are we here?" she asked and looked at him.

Levi turned around and looked at her. "(Y/N)... there is something I want to talk to you about" he said.

She nodded. "Well what is it?" she asked and looked up at him.

He sighed. "(Y/N)... you being my assistant for so long has made me realize that you aren't just an assistant to me. Yeah you can be weird, but being honest, you made me realize so much about myself. I may never speak on my feelings, but I want to tell you honestly how I feel" he said.

She blinked for a moment. "What are you trying to say?" she asked.

He ran a hand through his hair, and grabbed her hand. "What I'm saying to you is that I have strong feelings for you. I didn't want to tell you, but being around you has made me a better person. I'm not great with words or emotions, but I know the feelings I have for you are true" he replied.

(Y/N) stood there for a second. She was shocked that Levi out of all people had feelings for her. She didn't really know what to say, it was a beautiful moment in her mind.

"Levi I... I can't believe that you have feelings for me. This is a lot being honest" she said and looked at him.

He nodded. "It's alright if you don't feel the same, but I can't hold in my feelings anymore" he replied.

She smiled a bit. "I'm not saying I don't feel the same at all, but I want to take it slow. I will admit, I have some feelings for you as well" she said.

His eyes widened at the words. She felt the same way? "You do?" he asked.

She giggled a bit. "Yes Levi! I do. You're the only guy that has shown me something so passionate, and I'd love to head into something serious with you" she replied.

Levi felt a smile grow onto his lips. "If that's the case, then I would love to take things slow" he said.

She smiled. "I would love that" she replied and looked into his eyes.

He pulled her into a hug. He couldn't believe she didn't reject him. After some time, they headed inside. Levi was a very happy guy in the end.

[stellar-imagines]

SCENARIO REQUEST: ❝a silent voice.❞

[ Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia ] [ Characters: Bakugou Katsuki ] 

「Scenario of Bakugou, Midoriya and Reader who were childhood friends and one day, Bakugo loses his temper and sets off a loud explosion causing Reader to lose her hearing. Years later they meet at UA and Bakugo didn’t know about the hearing loss before she introduced herself in class.」

BAKUGOU KATSUKI

“I’m deaf.” those were the words you wrote when it came to your turn to introduce yourself to Class 1-A

Bakugou had thought you looked oddly familiar. Standing in front of his classroom, fiddling with your UA uniform with a few other people he don't recognize, lined up next to you. Aizawa went ahead and introduced the Support Course students who will be working with the Hero Course students for a special assignment. The ash blonde didn't seem that excited to be working with someone he barely knew. Heck, he never liked group projects to begin with anyway. When the pairs were being announced, the ash blonde kind of waited until he heard your name to be called because he wanted to know if you were someone he knew before.

"Bakugou Katsuki and [Last Name] [First Name]."

Now that he heard your name, he recalled being in the same class as you were back in the first year of Middle School. Bakugou couldn't remember properly because it was such a long time ago but he recalled that you, along with Midoriya were childhood friends. You had to move to Osaka because of your father's company moving headquarters or something along those lines. Since the end of first year in Middle School, he hasn't seen you nor contacted you. He remembered you at the girl who stuck by his side like glue, admiring his quirk just like Midoriya.

When you approached Bakugou, you gave him a nervous smile, offering a handshake. The guy grunts and looks away as Aizawa and Power Loader went on to explain the assignment involving the two classes. It was a fairly simple assignment, the Support Course students were to design an support item for their assigned student whereas the Hero Course students have to utilitize the support item in their battle with other students. It's nothing too difficult as Support Course students often made their own items during their free time. Just after the class was dismissed, Bakugou watched as you gave him a small wave and walked away.

"[Nickname]! It's been a long time." Midoriya had approached you, much to Bakugou's surprise.

"[Nickname]?" Bakugou muttered to himself. It didn't take long for him to actually remember that you were one of his so-called childhood friends, someone who tagged along with him back when he was much younger.

He knew you but at the same time he didn’t. You weren’t the meek quirkless girl back then who didn’t have friends to hang out with except for him and Midoriya. Bakugou finds your behavior a bit weird and creepy. You refused to speak to him whenever you see him and when it comes to discussion, you’d both just text each other. How you got his number was surprising but he soon learned that you had asked his classmates. It would’ve been much faster if you asked him directly. He did mention that to you but you relied with overhearing that he didn’t like giving away his contact number to just anyone. You had a point there but this was different.

Working with you wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be. You were very open to new ideas and had no trouble telling him outright that there were things that you couldn't do or things that just can't work. Bakugou was on his way to your workshop when you told him that you finished a prototype for him to try out in the training gym. You wanted to record a few things along with his feedback. On his way, he spotted Midoriya and you talking but from his perspective, it seemed like Midoriya was the one doing most of the talking. From a distance he could see Midoriya speaking while making hand gestures. It didn’t seem like you were talking that much though but it was a given since you’re deaf.

It so happens that Bakugou was supposed to pass through this very hallway to get to your workshop. You waved a goodbye to the green haired boy before jogging towards your workshop. 

”Why the fuck are you gesturing your hands so much you nerd? It’s not like she’s a fucking kid.” Bakugou grumbled when you were finally out of sight.

”K-Kacchan!?” Midoriya jumped slightly, surprised at the ash blonde’s sudden appearance.

”Damn girl. Who the fuck does she think she is? Does she think I’m going to learn sign language for her sake? How did she even end up like that to begin with?” Bakugou wondered out loud.

“You mean.....y-you don’t know?” the shorter boy’s expression was a mix of surprise and confusion.

”Know what now?”

He felt guilt twisting the insides of his stomach when Midoriya spilled everything to him. He didn't realize that loud explosion had caused you to go deaf. At that time, he was super pissed at Midoriya for standing up to him and acting like a know-it-all. He recalled you jumping between the two males to stop the dispute but alas Bakugou had let out a loud explosion and rang in our ears so horribly that caused you to collapse onto your knees. He assumed that you were overreacting when you cried and held your ears, calling you both weak and a waste of time before leaving the two of you alone. It was the end of his first year in middle school and you had moved before he knew what happened with you.

“[Nickname] lost her hearing before she moved. When you used your quirk last time, it completely damaged her ear.”

"Oi." Bakugou spotted you walking in the hallway, carrying a box filled with his equipment in it. Now that he's standing right in front of you, he couldn't faintly make our the burn mark by your ear that was undoubtedly his doing. You tilted your head, wondering what he wanted from you. The guy motioned you to hand over you items which roused more confusion.

"Hand it over." he said. You blinked a few times, wondering what's with the sudden change of heart. You weren't sure what to do when he just took the box out of your hands and began walking. You stood there in silence, opening your mouth to speak but stopping midway. You can no longer remember how your voice even sounded like and had a feeling Bakugou will mock you for it so you stayed quiet.

He stopped all of a sudden when he didn’t see you follow him. Bakugou turned around and make a gesture, telling you to come over. You followed without any hesitation and stood by his side. He grabbed your hand, causing you to jolt in surprise before gazing up at him as if to see what he was trying to do.

”I don’t know if you can hear me or not but I won’t fucking let go because I won’t know if you disappeared or something.” he muttered. You blinked a few times as Bakugou began dragging you towards the direction of Gym Gamma.

Looking at your joined hands, you found yourself reminiscing the times you said his hands were special as it was the source of his quirk. It was warm, big and calloused from training. Even though he may be the reason why you don’t have the confidence to speak and proper hearing, he’s still someone you looked up to. Bakugou was not a bad person and this just proves it right. Even after this whole project ended, the two of you still keep in touch with one another. 

You bumped to him in the hallways quite often and you would give him a small smile and wave at him. Bakugou would respond in his own way, giving you a glance and nodding his head. This time round, the two of you were with our own respective friends. You waved at them but it was meant for Bakugou. The other guys, Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero waved back and said hello to you while Bakugou did the usual. Your own friends greeted the group of boys with a brief good morning. Once you were about to walk away, Bakugou stopped right in front of you which caused you to do the same.

Bakugou briefly signed a goodbye to you which was quite surprising because you never knew that he learned sign language. Then again, the two of you never actually talked besides through texting. You find yourself smiling and signing the same thing before jogging over to your friends. Bakugou finds himself avoiding your gaze as he signs something again. The guy left right after you wave a small nod of acknowledgement.

”Whatcha signing over there with [Last Name]?”

”Is it some secret code or something?”

”Hah? We’re not 10 year olds, you idiot.” Bakugou scoffed.

”Since when did you and that Bakugou guy get so friendly with each other?”

In response, you shrugged and hid your blushing cheeks from your friends.

Go out with me on Saturday.

Was what Bakugou had signed before you two went your separate ways.

Total: 1566 words Published: 05.05.2020

Thank you for requesting! ｡٩(ˊᗜˋ)و*｡ Hello people, it’s the third week of online classes and I feel like it’s been a decade. ― author Lou

Thank you for requesting! We’re both suckers for Silent Voice? But we can’t do something as amazing at that.― author Natsuki

Requests are closed for now! Matchups are closed!

Please do not mind the grammar mistakes and typos.

[angellbarnes]

Moonlight

summary: Steve can’t help but draw you whenever he can. You’re both oblivious to each other’s feelings but it’s funny how things can work out.

pairing: Steve Rogers x reader

words: 1.7k

warnings: some language but just a load of flufff

A/N: my first Steve x reader! I had this idea and thought it was cute? Let me know what you all think🤍

The chilled breeze of the evening pricks at your skin as you lean on the upstairs balcony of the compound. You admire the stars and the feeling of fresh air against your flushed face, after stepping out of another of Tony’s parties. As fun as they are, they could get a little much for you. 

So as you stared out into the evening, you didn’t take much notice to the others around you, stood or standing, on the balcony. Especially not one certain super soldier, who held a sketchbook and pencil, admiring you and capturing your beauty within its pages. He watched you as you got lost in your thoughts, with the wind rippling through your dress and the way your eyes held the glow of the moon.

He finished his sketch with the last stroke of your hair and looked over the drawing once more. He’d picked up quite the habit of drawing you when you weren’t looking, whether it was sitting in the common room or whilst training or even on the jet to and from missions. His favourite was the one he’d done the other evening, when you were sat on a stool in the kitchen, with a cup of hot chocolate in your hand as you read your favourite book. Your hair was in a messy up do and you were wearing an oversized jumper; he thought you looked adorable and he couldn’t help but capture that moment.

He quickly snaps his book shut as he notices you walking over to him.

“Hey, Steve, beautiful view, isn’t it?” You say and your soothing voice almost sent Steve into a complete daze. He swears he could just listen to your voice for hours.

“Oh, uh, yeah. It really is.” He rubs at the back of his neck whilst sporting a sheepish smile.

“Can I see?” You ask, gesturing down to his book.

“See my drawings?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve always wanted to look at them but I’ve just never got around to asking.”

“Oh, you don’t want to see these. They’re not even proper drawings, just little things here and there.” He replies anxiously. He doesn’t know what he’d do if you saw those drawings, whether you’d run straight in the other direction and never speak to him again, or actually appreciate it. He didn't want to take that chance, though. 

“Okay, well, you don’t have to show me if you don't want to. Maybe one day, though.” Your sweet tone almost makes Steve melt and when you place your hand on his shoulder before leaving, he knows he’s done for.

He’s been harbouring a crush from you for months, slowly falling more and more for you each passing day. Only Sam and Bucky know, though. At least, they’re the only people he’s told. What he doesn't know, though, is that you’d taken a liking to him the first day of joining the team. Since then, you’ve hidden your feelings quite well by not telling anyone and pretending your feelings don't exist. The only flaw in that plan is that the more you act like they aren't there, the more evident they become.

~~~

The next morning you make your way through the halls of the compound, heading to the kitchen for some food. As you turn a corner, you overhear Sam talking to Steve, before they’ve realised you’re there.

“Come on, man. You’ve got to tell her sooner or later. I’m telling you there’s no way she doesn’t feel the same. I’ve seen how she looks at you when she thinks no one’s paying attention. I’m willing to bet on it.”

There’s no way he could’ve been talking about you though, right?

“You should listen to the birdie over here, Steve. Tell her. Whoever she is is a lucky girl.” You comment as you stride in, showing as much confidence as you can muster. You grab a bowl from the cupboard and place it on the island the two are sat at, before taking a spoon from the drawer.

“How- uh, how much of that did you hear?” Steve asks timidly.

“Just the end. So... who is it?” You ask eagerly, though you can feel your heart unwillingly begin to race.

“Oh, you don’t need to worry. Just someone.” He adds a nervous laugh and you eye him and Sam dubiously.

“Cut the bullshit, Cap, just tell her who it is!” Sam nudges Steve and you lean forwards on the counter, wiggling your eyebrows and grinning. You pray for the answer you’re looking for, and it seems more and more possible as he looks at you, deep into your eyes. Your smile softens and he still hasn’t said a word.

“Come on Rogers,” you say as a final push, “just get it out in the open-”

“It’s Sharon.” His reply is blunt. Straight to the point. No hesitation. You abruptly stand back up straight and clear your throat, mentally cursing yourself for actually getting your hopes up.

“Oh.” Is all you can say, trying not to sound disappointed. It hurt, you can’t lie. You wanted him to say your name and he didn’t. Sharon. The word sounded like poison to your ears. “Well, she does seem very nice. On second thought, I’m going to go out for breakfast. I’ll see you two later.” You say as brightly as possible before rushing out of the room.

Steve lets out the breath he didn’t realise he was holding and turns to face his very unimpressed looking friend.

“Seriously?” Sam deadpans.

“I panicked.”

“Yeah, well, good job, Mr I like this girl but I just told her I like someone completely different-”

“Sam, don’t you think I realise what I did? I was the one who said it.” Steve replies, exasperated.

“Nuh uh, I’m not finished. And now she won’t know how I feel because I’m a dumbass and ruined my chance of finding out whether she likes me back.”

Steve replies with a groan, covering his face with his hand.

~~~

When you return from your breakfast out, you head straight to your room. You’d had some time to think about everything that had happened. You concluded that it made sense for Steve to like Sharon over you, seeing as they’ve spent more time together and knew each other way before you did. It was stupid to think Steve could possibly feel the way you do about him because-

“Shit, sorry!” A male voice rings out. You were too in your head to notice the tall blonde walking in your opposite direction.

“Oh my god, Steve, I wasn’t paying attention, I’m so sorry!” You stumble over your words slightly and you look up to Steve, with an amused grin on his face.

“Me too, I should’ve been looking where I was going.”

“No, I had my head in the clouds as usual.” You avert your eyes from him, sheepishly looking to the ground when you notice his sketchbook that he must’ve dropped. You bend down to pick it up for him, noticing it had opened up when it fell.

“Oh, here’s your...” Your voice trails off as your eyes scan over the led covered pages. It’s beautiful you think, letting your gaze wander over every hard and soft line that marks it. 

“I’m so sorry, you weren’t meant to see those. It’s just- it’s-”

“Me.” You finish, breathlessly. You finally tear yourself away from the artwork and back to him. You smile, confused, as you hand it back to him. You would think that he’s suddenly lost the ability to speak as his mouth hangs open, looking for anything he could say to explain himself.

“They’re gorgeous.” You admit, and his adams apple bobs as his mouth closes. “I mean, it’s strange to say, seeing as they’re drawings of me but, Steve, you’re so talented.” You continue, flashing a reassuring smile and giggling slightly.

“You- you like them? You don’t think it’s creepy? Strange?” He asks quietly, fiddling with the corner of the leather binding.

“No, I think it’s sweet.” You reassure and you can see him visibly relax, releasing the tension in his shoulders and letting out a laugh of relief. You take your hand and place it over his. His eyes meet yours briefly but they quickly fall back to where your hand lies atop his.

“Maybe I could see the rest? In your room?” You pose.

“Sure, yeah.” He smiles brighter and leads you to his room silently.

When you hear the clicking of the door behind you, you spin around to say something, though your words disappear into the feeling of another mouth on yours. His lips are soft, delicate, held back, even. It’s short but sweet when he pulls away but his face is still close enough to yours that you can feel his breath fan over yours.

“I’m sorry. It’s just... I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.” He admits.

“Me too.” You whisper, biting your lip, and he takes that as a signal to lean down again. This time the kiss is deeper and you sigh into it. He pulls you right into his body and you let him snake his tongue into your mouth. Breathlessly, you both pull away, letting the moment linger in the air a little longer.

“I don’t like Sharon, I never did. I said it because I panicked and didn’t think you felt the same way. I’m an idiot.” Steve lets out, gazing intently at you.

“Yeah, you are,” you giggle, “but we’re here now. That doesn’t matter anymore.” You smile at him and he mirrors it.

Slowly, you draw the notebook from his hand and take a seat on his bed, letting him come over in his own time. You flick through more of it, commenting on how amazing they are each time you turn a page, earning a shy ‘thank you’ each time. You reach the last drawing; you on the balcony last night and let out a small gasp.

“Steve, it’s wonderful. This is what you were drawing when I came over to you? This is why you wouldn’t show me?” You marvel over the way the pencil strokes looked so effortlessly placed on the paper, then reading where he’d written ‘Moonlight’ underneath. Each sketch had a word or a few to go along with it, something to do with the moment he had drawn them.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to show you in case you would run away or something and never want to speak to me again.” You place the sketchbook down, cupping his face in both of your hands.

“I will never run away from you, only towards.”

[not-close-to-straight]

Lost and Found (Two)

Welcome back to the story! We officially meet James in this chapter and I don’t think any TW apply but since he is sort of WS!Bucky he is sort of... creepy. Robotic. I love him. I’ve never really written post WS!Bucky without Steve there to help with healing so this was interesting to try.

Enjoy!

MASTERLIST HERE

*************

It was bright outside the diner and James blinked once, twice to let his eyes adjust before following the stranger-- Tony-- out onto the sidewalk. 

It was bright and James clocked six people wearing sunglasses as they hurried from place to place and one wearing sunglasses on top their head so they wouldn’t disrupt a professionally done hairstyle. One woman on the phone wearing blue jeans, pink shirt, teal purse, cheap jewelry and layered on make up. One man in a suit that had seen better days, worn patches at the elbows but a new tie. A couple fresh out of an argument, the boy walked hostile and the girl walked afraid. 

The subway roaring in the background, the stench of traffic, the smell of soup--white bean and sausage. James knew because they’d served the same thing at the shelter last night which meant the person with hunched shoulders and furtive eyes had also been at the shelter and click click click James’s mind snapped to the third bed from the wall last night, the one with a faded backpack and brand new key chains and a woman named--

“I lost you for a minute there, didn’t I? What were you looking at?” 

The stranger-- Tony-- Tony’s voice broke into his thoughts and James switched gears immediately, blinked out of the habit of surveillance mode and down into dark eyes, mentally backtracking to remember the question. 

“You saw everything, didn’t you?” Tony almost sounded amused as he glanced between James and the busy street. “I do that too. Notice everything about everyone in a half second and try to remember it all? I mean, I don’t do it in the intense broody way you do, but it’s a lot right?”

Tony made a motion at his temple. “It’s a lot to process. I get it. Need another minute?” 

Yes. 

No. 

It wouldn’t do any good to explain how he knew to watch everything and precisely catalogue what he saw, it didn’t matter to anyone but James that he couldn’t even inhale without the instinct to hold his breath and clear his mind before pulling a trigger. 

James didn’t remember ever pulling a trigger in his life, but the instinct to freeze was still there and it won out now, his breath catching and mind specifically blanking before he answered, “I’m fine.” 

He wasn’t fine, though. 

It was bright outside, bright and busy and when James had come to the diner for a cup of coffee it had been dark and empty. He remembered choosing a corner booth-- always a corner booth-- and nursing one-two-three cups of coffee as the sun rose and he remembered watching every customer that came through the door including the one Tony who had shown up and offered to change his life right alongside a smile that did funny things to James’s heart. 

He remembered all that but he didn’t remember it getting bright outside. 

How long was I in the diner this time? 

Usually a waitress would come by the table and remind him that it was lunch or that he’d been there since lunch and now it was dinner but today they hadn’t said anything, or maybe James had been so lost he just hadn’t heard them. 

...how long? 

Time escaped James these days. He saw everything and everyone but time was always just out of his reach. Had it been hours or half a day since he’d sat down for a cup of coffee? Weeks or months that he’d been staying off and on at the shelter and sweeping floors in exchange for a bed? A year since he’d come to beneath that bridge with no recollection of what had happened to his arm? Two years? Three? 

…. Seconds or minutes since Tony had asked him another question and James had faded out into the confusion of time and feeling stuck while the entire world moved around him. 

How long was I in the diner this time? 

“Malibu or New York?” Tony was asking conversationally, easily, no sign of irritation or stress in his eyes or posture so it must not have been too long between questions while James was thinking. “Do you want sky scrapers or the beach cos I can do either. I have a better set up in Malibu if you’re okay with plane ride,s, but we could just drive to Manhattan and my facility there. What do you think?” 

Breathe in, clear your mind, pull the trigger speak. 

“I think I’m okay with planes.” James said slowly, clearly. “Feel like I don’t love trains all that much though.” 

“I don’t love trains much either.” Tony pulled out the fanciest phone James had ever seen and tapped at the screen a few times before putting it to his ear. “Malibu it is, you’ll love the-- Pepper. Hey. Yeah I’m fine. Nope, don’t do that. Pep-- Pep--” 

Tony stepped away so James wouldn’t have to overhear what was apparently an argument, and James exhaled and watched, breathed and cataloged and filed away everything he saw. 

Fancy suit, fancy shoes, fancy accessories, messy hair. Straight posture, well groomed, assured and self confident. Fast talking, quick thinking, lying through his teeth. 

Tony was lying, smile forced and forehead creasing even though he kept assuring the person on the other end that everything was fine. He rubbed at his chest, then played with his tie as a distraction. Scuffed his shoes into the dirt and didn’t blink, but scowled down at a still red pin prick at the tip of his finger. 

“I said I’m fine.” Lying through his teeth. “The car is already on its way. No, I didn’t do anything drastic. Well, not drastic for me.” 

Tony was hiding from the woman on the phone, hiding whatever at his chest was hurting him and James didn’t like that. Red flag. People were always one thing or another-- benign or a threat. Honest or lying. Harmful or harmless. Target or collateral damage. Mission or neutral. Asleep or activated. 

Activated made his head hurt, brought on the same swift migraine it always did and James blinked once, twice, breathed and forced himself not to react to the sudden pain. 

Hiding. Blank. Lost. 

“Sorry about that.” Tony was back, and his smile for James was more real than his smile at the phone had been. “Car should be here in a minute. Do you have any belongings we need to get? An apartment to clear out or anything like that? Job to quit?” 

James thought about the extra set of clothing he kept in the locker at the shelter, the box of cleaning and maintenance supplies with his name on it, and the few blankets he had rolled up beneath his semi-permanent bed. 

“No.” he decided. There were others around that could use the clothes and blankets more than he could at this point. “No. I don’t have anything I need to get.” 

“Oh.” Tony’s mouth opened, then closed again, curiosity and something almost like grief flickering in his eyes. “Got it. We’ll get back to my hotel so I can get my stuff, if you want to shower you can shower and I’ll get you some clothes ordered and then we can leave. Do you know your size right off the top of your head?” 

James lowered his brows negatively and Tony nodded that he understood. “Never mind, I can take care of that too. Here’s the car, are you ready?” 

Ready, soldier? 

“I’m ready.” 

A sleek black car pulled to the curb and Tony opened the door for James, motioning him inside and onto the leather seats. “Do you have any preference for what you want to wear? Jeans? Not jeans? Are you more of a long sleeve guy or do you prefer short sleeves so they are easier to--” Tony’s gaze dropped to the empty sleeve. “-- pin up.” 

“I’ve got money to buy my own clothes.” James settled onto the plush seat and muffled a groan. Sleeping on a cot at the shelter hadn’t bothered him but now that he was on something actually soft, James realized he was sore clear down to his bones. “Thanks all the same.” 

“I’m not saying you don’t have money, I’m saying I have more money.” Tony was tapping at his phone again, but paused and grimaced apologetically. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to come across as an asshole there.” 

James only shrugged, too focused on ignoring the sharpening migraine and quietly loving the seats to worry how someone sounded and whether or not there was anything remotely normal about this interaction. 

Time had passed him by. He had ingrained habits and instincts that lent credence to some sort of horrifying past. There were nightmares he didn’t understand filled with red stars and freezing cold and losing his arm. Days stretched endless and when dark fell sometimes James didn’t know if he wanted to try and see another sunrise. 

But Tony’s entire attitude towards him was both understanding and somehow hopeful, the underlying pain in the dark eyes overshadowed by wonder when James said yes to his proposition and even now as Tony got back on the phone and lied to Pepper about how he was just fine and everything was under control, the smile he sent James was brilliant and honest and beautiful. 

Tony might be lying to everyone about whatever was going on, but he wasn’t lying to James. 

That was enough for right now. 

And if it wasn’t, James didn’t have anything to lose anyway. 

******************

******************

“Yeah hey, I need some clothes sent up.” Tony was still on the phone when they arrived at the hotel, switching from one call to the other as he herded James into the elevator and sent it rocketing towards the penthouse suite. “No not a suit, I think it’s too early for that. Jeans and some basic shirts, maybe a jacket.” 

The concierge on the other end chattered on for a minute and Tony looked James over faux seriously. “Ummm size? Beefy. Beefy sized.” 

James looked away and tried not to smile, but Tony elbowed him lightly and winked in the mirrored walls. “Intimate apparel? Yes…?” he hesitated and James gave a short nod. “Yes. Size? Well he’s bigger than me, that’s for damn sure. Am I nosy enough to ask? You know what, it turns out I am.” 

Tony put a hand over the speaker and pointed to James’s waist. “What size is your belt?” 

“Dunno.” James shrugged and Tony flinched in sympathy when the left shoulder barely moved. “Just fits, I guess.” 

“Can I check?” Tony took a step away from James before asking to get close, one hand held up peacefully so the soldier wouldn’t shy away. “Just the tag?” 

He never used to ask about this sort of thing. Most people touched him without pausing to check in first. Doctors were the worst, but so were politicians and anyone else who wanted a chance for a photo op with Tony Stark. Paparazzi who needed a picture, fans who ranged from wanting to smell his cologne to actually trying to steal his clothes. Pepper who just grabbed his hand and directed him places, Rhodey who had more than once slung a too drunk Tony over his shoulder and carried him away. 

People just touched Tony and in turn, Tony had learned to just touch people. Who needed to ask for permission when everyone wanted a piece of him? 

...but then Obadiah had paralyzed him, rendered him completely helpless and loomed over the couch horrifying and big, tore Tony’s heart out right from his chest and smiled about it and now-- now the thought of being touched without permission made Tony sick to his stomach. 

So he paused to ask, “Can I check?” and James went oddly still for a split second, thinking. 

And oh Tony recognized that look, that look that wondered ‘am I allowed to say no’ and he was already backing up another step before James answered, already planning on just dropping it and guessing at beefy sizes but then James muttered, “Sure.” and motioned him back in. 

“Yeah?” Tony checked again, just one more time and once James nodded, he tugged at the back of the belt to read the number. “Thank you.” 

And back on the phone-- “Waist size thirty four, seventy two or three inches tall, and probably twice as wide as me in the shoulders. Yeah, we need some extra give there. Nothing uh-- nothing that wrinkles. Easy movement, no buttons. Colors?” 

He glanced over at James, who shook his head. “Shades of blue and give me something in dark red.” 

“Blue and dark red, huh?” James asked as the elevator slowed. “Why those colors?” 

“Cos I think you’d look good in--” Tony stopped before he blurted out something awkward. “Cos everyone feels comfortable in blue and obnoxious shades of red are my go to color of choice.” 

“Seems fair.” the edge of Russian to James’s words made them sound clipped, almost disapproving. “Nice room.” 

“It’s um--” Tony looked around the over sized suite, at the floor to ceiling windows and overly plush furniture, the double doors that led to one of the two bedrooms and private bathrooms, then back at the almost definitely homeless soldier. “It’s unnecessary and pretentious.” he finally finished. “And I didn’t realize how over the top it was till just now.” 

The corner of James’s mouth tipped up in a knowing smile and Tony relaxed again. No judgment there. “You can use my shower since I think Pepper wouldn’t understand a strange man in her bathroom.” he pointed towards the far bedroom. “Take your time and use whatever soap or shampoo or random toiletries they got in there. I got charged enough for this room, someone should use all the included in price stuff. Oh and you can…” 

Tony tilted his head and narrowed his eyes when he saw just how slowly James reached for the bedroom doorknob. “It’s screwed on pretty tight, James. Pretty sure you aren’t going to break it.” 

“I know.” James said almost shortly. “Just being careful anyway.” 

“Ooookay.” Tony watched for another few seconds as James carefully carefully opened the door, then seemed to breathe a sigh of relief once it opened without any damage. Interesting. “Anyway. Take your time. I should have some extra clothes for you by the time you get out.” 

“Thank you.” James’s eyes widened briefly when he saw the massive bed taking up most of the bedroom. “Be out soon.” 

“Sure.” Tony waited until the door clicked shut, then waited longer to make sure the shower had started before getting back on his phone and accessing his mainframe back in Malibu. 

“Yes sir?” JARVIS intoned. “Aren’t you supposed to be in a senate hearing at this very moment?” 

“Yeah, I stopped for lunch.” Tony could almost feel the disapproval from his AI right through the phone. “Send out a ‘to do’ list for the housekeeper, I need one of the guest rooms opened up and aired out, I’m bringing someone home with me.” 

“An overnight guest, sir? Should I enact the usual Taking Out The Trash Protocol?” 

“Not this time, but I’m going to tell Pepper you named that protocol after how she treats my hook ups and you’re going to be in trouble.” 

“I wish you wouldn’t, sir.” 

“Too late, done and done.” Tony looked over his shoulder at the closed bathroom door. “Order in double our usual amount of groceries and prep a diagnostic program in the lab. I want up to date specs on that arm piece I abandoned a couple weeks ago and a generic run of the first steps to convert it into something less Iron Man and more normal man.” 

“You want to turn your multi million dollar piece of Iron Man armor tech into a prosthesis, sir?” 

“That’s right.” 

“Very well, anything else?” 

“How is our facial recognition software?” 

“Still better than the governments, sir.” 

“Eh, that doesn’t mean much. Beef it up for me, please. I’ll need it right away when I get home.” 

“Yes sir.” 

“See you soon, J.” 

Tony disconnected the call and kicked off his shoes, opened the door to Pepper’s bedroom and climbed right onto her bed to bury his face in strawberry shampoo scented pillows. 

He was exhausted. Nineteen percent and Senate hearing bull shit and the surprisingly emotional toll of meeting James had left him exhausted. He just needed to sleep and maybe Pepper wouldn’t mind if he just drifted off for a little bit…

...just a little bit...

***********

***********

The first time James had snapped a doorknob off in his hand, he chalked it up to a shitty installation and sub par construction in a less than ideal part of town. 

But then he’d turned the water on and ripped the faucet apart, stumbled back into a wall and fell right through when the over hard mass of his left shoulder broke the plaster and sent it crumbling.

James had over corrected and fallen again, smacked his nose on the twist of pipes and spilled blood everywhere— blood that stopped dripping from a fully healed nose in a matter of seconds. 

He’d obsessed about it for a while afterwards. Broken his knuckles just to see them heal. Tore a door off its hinges with nothing more than a shift of his weight and a quick jerk. Took off running through the back streets and alleys and stopped after six hours because he was bored, not winded. Went to a bar to get drunk and never managed even tipsy, joined a brawl just to test his reflexes and caught a bottle coming from behind his back with out even looking. 

James had obsessed about it, tapped his limited memory over and over trying to find a hint, a clue, just a tiny piece of anything to explain something about himself but all he accomplished was nose bleeding migraines and nightmares that grew increasingly violent night after restless, anxious night.

He didn’t sleep-- couldn’t sleep-- and after weeks had gone by and the days bled together and James couldn’t face another night without rest, he had given up looking for answers and settled for just breathing. 

In and out. Measured breaths. Careful with his strength. Focused and slow with his reflexes. Purposeful movements and deliberate words. In and out. Breathe. 

Breathe. 

The hotel shower was too hot on James’s skin, almost scalding as he shook his tangled hair free of the tie back and let it loose along his shoulders. It was uncomfortably long these days but a hair cut wasn’t an option. Barber chairs with arm rests and foot bars made him anxious for some reason, buzzers too close to his temple made him want to scream, and the first time James had forced himself to sit still through the panic attack, he’d nearly broken the hair stylists hand as he tried to escape. 

No haircuts. Lots of shampoo instead. James emptied the complimentary shampoo bottle washing his hair twice, used every drop of conditioner and the entire thing of body wash, tore the plastic cover off a new toothbrush and used most of the travel sized toothpaste as well. 

The shower was too hot but James stayed under the spray until his skin went red and the lather had washed away and only then did he reluctantly step out of the basin and onto the soft rug, grabbing at the thickest towel he’d ever seen to pat himself dry. 

It was a nice shower and a nice room and a far cry from a cot and communal locker room at the shelter, a far cry from the misery James had called life for a year-- had it really only been a year?-- now. 

“Tony?” Clothes were nowhere to be found in the bedroom and James had a fleeting, panicked second of not knowing how much time had passed again before he tightened the towel around his waist and went looking for answers. “Tony? Are you still here?” 

“Hey, still here.” Tony emerged from the other bedroom rubbing sleep from his eyes, hair hilariously rumpled and suit wrinkled beyond repair. “Hey how was your….shower…” 

The words trailed off to nothing, Tony’s head tipped far to the side and his mouth a little slack, eyes going wide. “How was your shower?” 

James instinctively took a step away from the stare, tried to angle his body sideways to hide the mass of scars and mottled skin at his left shoulder, grimaced and curled in a little so Tony wouldn’t see the empty where his arm used to be. 

He hated this, hated when people looked at him on the street or at the shelter. Those people never even wanted to see him, they didn’t want to see homeless and they didn’t want to see hurt but they looked and they stared and they gawked at his injury and it bothered James more than he expected to have Tony looking and staring and gawking too.

“The shower was fine.” he said shortly, brusquely. “Where are my clothes?”  

“Clothes… right… that’s a thing.” Tony kept looking and just when James was ready to shout about it--

--Tony blinked, then blinked again and wet his lips and oh. 

Oh, well that was different then. 

People didn’t want to see homeless or hurt but they had stared at James because he was different and damaged. But Tony was looking like he liked what he saw, biting at his lip and eyes glazing over and then it was a whole other set of instincts that had James straightening up and tipping his chin, rolling his shoulders and clearing his throat so Tony would know he knew. 

He knew what that look meant but before James could wonder why he knew or whether he’d used those particular instincts before or not the door to the suite banged open and the moment was broken in spectacular fashion. 

“Anthony Edward Stark! You have got some explaining to do!” The stranger was tall and gorgeous in the way all powerful women were and James knew just looking at her that this dame got what she wanted and wouldn’t hear argument over it. 

He was proved right when the newcomer spun around on incredibly high heels and pointed a finger right at his chest, neither put off by his lack of clothing nor intimidated by his size. “And you! I don’t know who you are, but you are not leaving this room until I’ve vetted you properly, so stay put.” 

“I don’t know what the hell this is.” she was practically hissing yet Tony looked like maybe he was going to laugh any second. “And I know you know I’m fine with-- with--” a vague motion over James’s near nakedness. “-- but you cannot just take a strange man up to the hotel room without informing me first! You said you were fine and hadn’t done anything drastic, Tony!” 

“Oh come on.” Tony rolled his eyes. “Even if this was what you think it is-- and by the way, it isn’t? Even if it was, be honest. This isn’t even close to the worst thing you’ve caught me doing.” 

“Tony.” Pepper pinched at the bridge of her nose and visibly grappled for calm."I just had to field half a dozen calls from various gossip rags wondering who the rent boy was accompanying you to your suite! Honestly, Tony! Just a little discretion! Just a tiny bit!” 

“Pepper.” Tony really did have a beautiful smile even when it was strained around the edges, and James kept one eye on the volatile redhead and one eye on the way Tony’s dark eyes dimmed in sadness even as his smile stretched bigger. “Give me a little credit. I’d sneak rent boys through the back elevator.” 

“Ohhhh my god, I need a drink.” Pepper marched towards the bar and started rummaging around for a glass. “You know, It’s bad enough you were so terrible at the hearings today. But then to just bolt out of the car in the middle of traffic--” 

“--aspirin.” Tony tossed her a bottle and she caught it one handed. “And I was hungry.” 

“--and I had no idea where you were for hours. Only to find out you’ve been yukking it up--” 

“--yukking it up? Seriously?” 

“--with admittedly the hottest guy I’ve seen in ages.” Pepper tossed back a handful of headache medication and downed it with a measure of scotch. “Couldn’t you have called me? A text. Just one. One where you actually used real words to say what was going on, not meaningless platitudes and your ‘everything is fine’ bull shit. Just tell me truth so I know you aren’t off doing something incredibly dangerous like taking the suit--” 

She paused, narrowed her eyes back at James. “--suitcase out and making a scene.” 

“I wasn’t doing anything with the suit case.” Tony stole one more look at James. “And I wasn’t doing anything with James either, except getting him some new clothes and seeing how the new prosthesis I have in Malibu will fit on his shoulder.” 

“New prosthesis, is that what you’re calling it?” Pepper’s attitude shifted only minutely, but James picked up on it immediately. Prosthesis and suitcase-- they were talking about something else all together, something he wasn’t allowed to know yet. “I see. How… interesting.” 

Yeah, this was interesting alright. 

“You’ll have to forgive me.” Pepper was suddenly calm smiles and professional demeanor, a light switch change that told James she’d gone from stressed out to in front of cameras plenty of times. “I was so worried about Tony I forgot this sort of scene can be awkward for newcomers.” 

“What Pepper means is, ignore my crazy and her Smother Henning, all things considered this isn’t even a very weird Tuesday for us.” Tony’s smile was a little more forced than it had been just a few minutes ago. “Uh Pep, this is James. I met him in the diner and decided he would be an excellent recipient for the prosthesis I’ve been working on. James this is Pepper Potts, my executive assistant and doer of all things--” he waved his hand vaguely. “--necessary.” 

“Don’t let Tony full you, he would utterly fall to pieces without me there to keep him upright.” Pepper extended a slim hand and benign smile towards James. “Fortunately we love each other dearly so Smother Henning or not--” Tony snorted a laugh. “-- and despite what you just witnessed, we usually work very well together.”

“So long as I’m not scandalizing the press and making the company look bad, right Pep?” Tony was clearly only half joking, and Pepper was clearly half sad when she murmured, “There’s more important things than scandalizing the press, Tony. I’m just trying to make sure you’re okay.” 

“Everything’s fine.” Tony was lying, but James didn’t say anything about it. “Hows the plane coming?” 

“I’ll call ahead and let them know to expect another passenger.” There was a knock at the door and Pepper went to answer it, calling over her shoulder, “But we have to leave soon, Tony! If you aren’t staying for the hearings tomorrow we have meetings in Malibu to attend!” 

“Sure we do.” Tony turned back to James with an apologetic smile. “Sorry about all that. Pepper really is my everything. She answers the phones and fields weird questions and keeps the press off my back. It’s only because of her the tabloids don’t know how bad I am.”  

“What does that mean?” 

“It means I’m at least three times as reckless and twice as obnoxious as they think.” Tony took a bag of clothes from Pepper when she returned, blew her a kiss as she hurried away again, then pushed the bag into James’s hand. “Pepper makes me look good, which makes her a bonafide miracle worker. Don’t let the high heels and terrifying power suits scare you, she’s about as sweet as they come.” 

“Huh.” James peeked into the bag, then back up at Tony. “You love her.” 

“I--” Tony blinked in surprise. “Well. Yes. I adore her.” 

“Huh.” James said again, and left it at that, keeping his other observations to himself. “Guess I’ll go get dressed.” 

“You do that.” There was none of that look in Tony’s eyes this time as he turned away, none of the blatant interest or lingering lust that had sparked so bright before Pepper had interrupted. “When was the last time you were on a plane? Ever been on a jet?” 

“Not that I remember.” James went back to the bedroom to change again. “Is that a problem?” 

“Nope.” Tony’s voice was muffled behind the door. “Not a problem at all. We’ll figure it out.” 

**************

**************

The jet was over the top just like the hotel room had been, stuffed plush chairs and thick carpet, a full size couch and a fully stocked bar, stewardesses in matching uniforms with a Stark logo emblazoned on their lapel. One asked James if he was ready for a drink before he’d even gotten buckled in, another came by with a hot towel for some reason and a third slipped a menu into his hand in case he was hungry. 

Pepper ignored everything except for the drink and settled in at one of the chairs closest to the front of the plane with a pile of paperwork and her phone. Tony ignored even the drinks and sat down across from James as the plane readied for take off, gazed out the window at the disappearing runway with a grim expression and a hand over his heart like he didn’t even realize he was doing it. 

James tried to watch out the window too but the height made his stomach swoop, so he went back to checking out the interior cabin, noting the different stewardesses and how each acted around Pepper and around Tony, watching Pepper’s brow wrinkle in thought as she typed at her phone and finally, inevitably, watching Tony watching the clouds outside. 

“You’re staring.” Time had gotten away from James again and he jumped when Tony spoke, had no idea how long he’d been zoned out.

“What?” he refocused, recalibrated, drew his concentration in tight until he could hear every word. “What did you say?” 

“You’re staring.” Tony repeated, no censure in the words but no smile either. “What did I do, sprout two heads or something?” 

“Nah, sugar, you’re real good looking.” The words came easy, too easy for how foreign they were on his tongue, too easy for the way Tony’s eyes flew open wide and up ahead of them Pepper choked on her drink and coughed over loud. 

When did he learn how to flirt? 

And for a moment James thought he’d said the wrong thing. He’d sure as hell said something unintended but it had slipped out without thinking, had been almost natural especially after the way Tony had looked at him in the hotel room. 

But then again, James could have read the look wrong, could be Tony hadn’t been thinking what James thought he’d been thinking and if that was the case then they probably were crossing signals all over the place and that probably meant Malibu wasn't a good idea--. 

--“Well, you’re real good looking too.” Tony finally said, eyes soft and sort of surprised, his posture uncertain and the way he pressed over his heart anxious. 

But his smile was real, hopeful and even a little shy so maybe-- maybe James hadn’t read that look wrong after all. 

Maybe Malibu would be better than he thought. 

...maybe this would be the first step towards James not being so lost anymore. 

***********

SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE CHAPTER!

PS: I tagged everyone who reblogged Chapter One but if you’d like to be added to the list ASK HERE

***********

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[golden-riot]

Robin(Dick Grayson) x Oc

Tw: Metions of Rape and Kidnapping

(If you find any more triggering stuff please tell me.)

A Date with Destiny 

Chapter One

It is the start of the prom. Robin had to take Kitten so the bridge wouldn’t be destroyed. Robin roles up to the ship in his tux on his motorcycle. Robin gets off of his bike and fixes his jacket.

“I’m ready hoping she doesn’t show,” Robin says in an annoyed tone. 

Someone taps Robin on the shoulder. He turns to see Starfire wearing a beautiful purple dress. “Starfire?” Robin asks, confused.

 “On such occasions, I believe it is customary to wear a dead plant?” Starfire says in her normal happy voice as she places the boutonniere on his jacket. 

“Star, you’re supposed to be helping the others track down Killer Moth!” 

Robin says, surprised that she wasn’t helping.

 “Your orders were to investigate the girl. I intend to investigate her thoroughly. Besides, you may require saying. This Kitten is perhaps is some form of ooze monster in disguise. She is certainly ugly like a monster, yes?” Starfire says while now looking at the sunset. 

They hear a horn knock and they see a pink limo roll-up. Kitten opens the door and steps out. Kitten is wearing a  pink strip-less dress. “Yoo-hoo! Robbie-poo!” She says as she waves. “Your Kitten has arrived! Meow!” 

 “Second thought, maybe I will need saving,” Robin says with his head hung low as he walks over to Kitten.

 “Oh, Robin! My date! Robin!” Kitten yells as she attaches herself to Robin’s chest. “Don’t you look handsome? Kitten says while grabbing Robin’s chin. “Compliment me on my dress” She whispers in Robin’s eye in a mean tone. 

“No,” Robins says in his mean tone.

 “Do it or else.” She says still in her mean tone. 

“Nice dress,” Robin responds in an annoyed voice.

 “Ah! Oh, Robin, you’re such a gentleman not at all like my worthless ex-boyfriend, Fang!’ Kitten yells so everyone can hear. “Now take my arm, lead me in. And would it kill you to smile?” 

Robin gives his best creepy smile. “Maybe” Robin walks Kitten in while Starfire snarls in hatred for Kitten. She grunts and punches the hood of Kitten’s limo. 

Everyone is having a nice time while Kitten and Robin sit at a table. Robin rocking back and forth in his chair making it squeak. “Ask me to dance!” Kitten says in a mean tone. 

“I don’t dance” Robin returns. “Come on Robbie-poo.” Kitten says getting up and walks over to Robin and starts to pull on his arms, trying to get him up.“You’ve never, ever danced before?” 

"Tried it once, didn’t like it,” Robin says in his bored tone.

 “Fine! Then I can have the whole city destroyed or we can just skip straight to the kissing.” Kitten says.

 “Wanna dance?” Robin asks not wanting to dance or kiss. Kitten pulls Robin onto the dance floor.

 “Oh, Robin! Of course, I’d love to dance with you!” Kitten says as she pulls Robin all over the dance floor. Meanwhile, Starfire is over by the punch bowl filled with rage at seeing Robin and Kitten dance. Robin decides to end the dance. “Okay, that’s over,” Robin says, letting go and walking away from Kitten. 

Kitten gasps “Oh, goodie! Another slow dance.” she says and pulls Robin back. “Yeah,” Robin says. They sign around in circles. “From now on, Robbie-poo, this will always be our song!” Robin pulls out his communicator and talks into it. 

“Please tell me you guys have found Killer Moth.” 

“Not yet, but we tracked down your girlfriend’s home address,” Cyborg says back. 

“She’s not my..” Robin was cut off when Beast Boy let out a startled scream when he touched something that opened up a secret passageway. “Wow!” Beast Boy says.

 “Well, that’s not suspicious,” Raven says, coming closer to the passageway. They start walking down the stairs into the dark basement. Beast Boy turns the light on and they find tanks full of moth creatures. They all speak to the communicator 

“Found him.” they all say at the same time. “Yes, you found me but you’ll soon be wishing you hadn’t,” Killer Moth says as he attacks the Titans.

Meanwhile back with Robin and Kitten. “Kiss me. Ma.” Kitten says as she leans in for a kiss. “Sorry, I don’t like you that way. Matter of fact, I just don’t like you.”

 “Yes,” Starfire says, overhearing their conversation. 

“What” Kitten yells. 

“Killer Moth’s being taken down as we speak. We’re done here.” Robin says with a smile. 

“No, we are not! Daddy’s not calling the shots tonight, Robbie-poo! I am.” Kitten says in anger as she puts her finger over a button.

 “Daddy?” Robin asks. 

“And unless you want me to let those nasty bugs out for a late-night snack…” She says and she grabs Robin by the caller. “... you better pucker up!” Kitten still holding Robin’s collar leans in for a kiss while making kissing noises.

 Robin presses a finger to her lips and pushes her away. “Not even if you paid me!” Robin says with anger in his voice as he grabs the controller out of her hands. 

There was yelling and screaming coming from the people around them. Not because of what they were doing but from seeing a flying creature in the sky. A police boat comes to the side of the boat and aims a net scooter at the creature. Robin looks up because of the yelling and recognizes the creature as someone he knew from his Batman days. Before he can stop it the police scoot the net at the creature, catching it and making it fall on the deck of the ship. Robin runs towards it and pulls the net to see the girl he knew curled up in a ball with her wings wrapped tightly around her body so you only see her wings and tail. Starfire runs over to Robin. “Do you know this creature?” Starfire asks Robin. 

“She is not a creature Star, she’s my friend. I’ll get her to calm down, maybe she can help.” Robins says as he reaches out to touch your wing. The girl flinches at his touch. Kitten walks over to them and kicks the girl in the back. The girl groans in pain. 

“I wouldn't do that if I were you. Morgan can be very angry when she’s in her half form. Morgan shifts into a full Night Fury and jumps on top of Kitten and roars in her face

. “Morgan, Morgan, calm down. It’s me. It’s Robin.” He says in a calm voice. Robin rips off his suit to reveal his Robin costume. Morgan looks and Robin and her eyes soften. She gets off of Kitten and tackles Robin into a hug. Rolling until Robin was safely in Morgan’s wings and when he is Morgan shifts back into half form. Starfire runs over to the dragon holding her friend. She tries to pry open Morgan’s wings but Morgan holds Robin tighter. 

“Robin, don’t worry I’ll get you out,” Star says, still trying to get Morgan’s wings open.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. You go take care of Kitten.”

Starfire flys over to where Kitten is and they start fighting. As they were fighting, Kitten gasped and said “Fang” in a happy voice. 

“That’s your boyfriend?” Starfire is surprised to see a man with a spider for a head. 

“Get your hands off my girl!” Fang says as he walks closer to Starfire and Kitten. Kitten tells Fang to open Morgan’s wings so she could get the controller from Robin. When Fang tries to open Morgan’s wings Starfire tries to shoot him but he dodges and she ends up shooting Morgan’s wing. Morgan roars out of pain. 

“I’m so very the sorry!” Starfire says and hits Fang with a blast. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robin 

After Morgan had wrapped me safely in her wing she began to explain what happened to her. She told me that she left only a month after I did. She found an apartment and moved in. She wanted to wait until after she was settled in to find me. I had left in such a hurry, I didn’t say goodbye. She was worried that I didn’t love her anymore. She is the real reason Batman kicked me out. He didn’t like the fact that we were dating, he thought I should be working on training and getting better instead of sleeping together. Morgan made all of the weapons we used and most of the bat vehicles, including the Bat-mobile. She also told me Slade had kidnapped her and used her as a breeding slave. When she was able to get away. She decided to come to find me but some people thought she was a villain and started to attack her. She needs a place to stay so she is going to move into the tower no matter what the others say. I don’t know if she still likes me but I know I still love her. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about her. I always wanted to reach out and make sure she knows I still love her, even if she doesn’t like me anymore.  All of a sudden Fang’s spider-legs try to pry open Morgan’s wings. I can hear Starfire getting ready to blast Fang but she missed and hit Morgan. I forgot how loud Morgan can roar when she’s in pain. “I am so very the sorry.” I hear Starfire yell from outside. 

“Morgan, I have to help Starfire take them down. I will come back. I promise. Here take this to make sure no one gets it. If we need your help, will you help me?” I say as I hand Morgan the controller. Morgan nods her head. “And you still remember the signal,” I said cupping her cheek. She nods her head again. She opens up her wings enough for me to slip out and she closes them again.

When I join the fight Kitten jumps on me and I fall to the ground with a thud. She starts patting me down looking for the controller. When she doesn’t find it she tries to go after Morgan. I yell “MORGAN NOW.” At my command black strings of power lift Kitten in the air. Fang is also lifted into the air and away from Starfire. “Good job Morgan,” I say as I walk over to Starfire. “I want Morgan to stay in the tower. I need to see if she has any things at her apartment before I take her there. Tell the other titans, we may have a new member." 

"Joyist, what should I tell them about her?" 

"All they need to know is that she has been through a lot and she will need time to trust people." I walk away from Starfire and towards Morgan. I have her lower the villains down so we can handcuff them. As Kitten and Fang were being taken away, I got a call from the other Titans, they told me that Killer Moth was taken down and brought to jail. I told them I was going to be back later than they were. I told them, I would tell them back at the tower.

 “Robin, Are we taking this one too?” one of the guards asked me pointing to Morgan with his gun. 

“No, she’s an old friend. She won’t hurt anyone.” 

“Unless you hurt her or someone she cares about.” I hear a familiar voice say.

 “Alfred? What are you doing here?” I ask. 

“I saw the fight on the news and wanted to know why my goddaughter didn’t keep contact as she promised, I was worried,” Alfred said in a worried tone. 

“Well, it’s a long story, according to Morgan,” I say as I kneel to stroke Morgans’ wing. “Did you hear that? Alfred’s here and he’s worried about you. You can stay with me at Titans tower if you want. Let's go to your apartment and get some things.” I say to Morgan still stroking her wings. I hear a faint okay and Morgan gets up with her wings closed around her. She opens them just enough so she can see. Alfred leads Morgan to his car, while I get on my bike.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Morgan 

Once I get into Alfred's car, I pull my wings into the back. "You're so tiny. You must be hungry." Alfred says when he sees my small frame. “Yeah,” I say not making eye contact with Alfred. 

Alfred starts to drive with Robin close behind us. Once we were in front of the apartment building, I didn’t bother to take my wings out. Robin pulled up behind Alfred's car. When I saw the look on Robins’ face, I couldn’t look him in the eyes. There were tears in my eyes when I felt two strong arms around me. He lifted my chin so my eyes would meet his. He put his hands on the sides of my face and he wiped my tears. He put his forehead to mine. 

“I missed you, Morgan,” Robin said. Behind us, Alfred coughed to get our attention. 

“Wrap this up. Now. Before someone sees you.” Robin lets go of my face and walks towards Alfred. “Come on, let's get you packed to go to the tower,” Robin says holding out his hand for me to take. I run over and take his hand. We walk into the lobby and Robin pushes the button to the elevator. We walked into the elevator, I looked into Robin's eyes and I read his mind. “If Alfred wasn’t here, oh you would be getting it right now.” I turned away from his eyes and blushed at what he said. He must have forgotten that I read minds when looking into someones’ eyes. The elevator door opened to my floor. We got to my door and reached for the hide-a-key under the doormat. When I came back up, I started to feel lightheaded. I dropped the key and fainted. When I woke up, I wasn't in the hallway anymore. I was in a dark hospital room but I didn't have one of the wristbands. "Where am I?" I wondered. Morgan tried to sit up but something was holding her down. I realized that a person was lying next to her. I started to freak out, only to notice it was Robin. Morgan started to calm down and snuggled closer to Robin. I missed the feeling of arms around my waist, Slade was never the type for aftercare. He just fucks you, leaves, and hopes you get pregnant. But he doesn’t know that with my dragon DNA, I can reject sperm, so he was never going to get me pregnant. When I fell back to sleep, I dreamed of what my life would be like with Robin. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Third

“Honey, I’m back,” Robin called while setting his keys on the entry table. “How was the villain catching?” Morgan asked, walking into the living room with a small bump and a baby boy on her hip. “It was good but tiring. I miss fighting crime with you and living at the tower.” Robin says sadly while dragging his feet to the couch. “I know it makes it harder to fight crime but we have a family now and the tower gets attacked a lot and is no place for little kids. I’ve told you you can stay at the tower as long as you check-in and tell me about your day.” Morgan says sitting down next to Robin. Morgan hands the baby to Robin for his after-work snuggles. “ If our kids were older and you weren’t pregnant I would but I need you. I can’t talk about the other Titans around the other Titans.” Robin holds the baby closer to his chest. “I want to be around you for everything during your pregnancy, I missed you so much with this little guy. I’m not missing anything this time.” Robin says while reaching his hand over to rub Morgan's belly. Morgan puts her hand over his. “You won’t.” “You promise?” He asked “Yes” Morgan returns, intertwining her fingers with his. “I love you,” Robin says, kissing Morgan’s temple. “I love you too, Dick,” Morgan says, kissing Robin on the lips. Morgan grabs onto Robin’s shoulder feeling dizzy. “Are you okay?” Robin asks, panicked. “I’m fine Dick. Just a little lightheaded.” “We should go to the hospital.” “No, the doctor said it was normal.” “Still just to make sure.” “Fine,” Morgan says, taking the baby from Robin. Robin packs the diaper bag and gets the car ready. He takes the baby and stands Morgan up. Once in the car, Robin calls the other Titans to meet them at the hospital. Robin holds Morgan’s hand the whole ride. When you arrive there the Titans are there waiting for them. Raven walks to the car and takes the baby while Robin and Beast boy helps Morgan get out of the car. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robin

When I woke up Morgan was snuggled closer to me. Not that I don’t mind. I love her snuggles but her hand was tightly gripping my shirt. I know this means she was having a nightmare. I know I had to wake her because she never has nightmares but when she does they are never good. I shook her until she woke up. Morgan wakes up in a daze. “Whats..happening?” She was confused about what was going on. “Hi, Morgan,” I say to get her attention. "How are ya doing?" "Where are we?" Morgan asked, rubbing her eyes. 

“The Tower. Do you remember what happened?” 

“No, not really. Did something happen?” she asked, sitting up. 

“You fainted. We ran some tests. Do you remember when the last time you ate was?” “No… Slade didn’t feed me that often. He said I would get more food when he was sure I had his child.” 

“That’s horrible. I promise that he will pay for all the times he has done to you.” 

“Okay. What time is it?”  

“Uhh… 10:30.” 

“Okay, can we eat something? My tummy hurts.”

 “What do you want to have?”

 “Anything, please.” 

“Okay, well let’s see what we have. Come on.” Morgan tries to stand up but doubles over in pain. 

“You know what, I’ll make something for breakfast. You stay here.” 

“Okay.” I helped her back into the bed. “I will be right back with food.”

     I walk out of the room and take a breath. I could tell already that she was not the same as when I left. What did Slade do to her? I walk to the kitchen and meet Raven on the way. “Hey, I was just coming to wake you up. Is she awake?” Raven asked me looking up from her book.  “Yeah, I’m just getting her food. Apearlinly Slade didn’t feed her often.” 

“That would explain a lot about her current health.” 

“She is in a lot of pain. When she tried to stand she doubled over. Something is not right. I think we need to run more tests.” 

“For what?” 

“Anything, that might give us an answer to why she is in so much pain.” 

Entering the kitchen, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire were all talking about how Morgan and I know each other. I started to make Morgan her food and the others except for Raven asked questions about Morgan and how we know each other. By the time I had told them what I know, I had finished making Morgan breakfast. I said my goodbyes to everyone and started to head off to Morgan. The t.v. lit up with Slade’s face. “ I see you Titans have found my pet.” 

“What pet?” Starfire asked.

“Morgan, of course. Who else would it be?” 

“What do you want?” I ask measly. 

“I know why, my pet is in so much pain.” 

“Why? What did you do to her?” 

“I put a small simple device in her uterus. It will shock her, preventing her from ever having a child that isn’t mine. If you return here I will shut it off. Good luck getting it out without having it removed. It will shock her every 30 minutes until she is returned.” Slade said, smirking. “Bring her to the docks when you want to get rid of her.” 

The t.v turned off and Slade disappeared. “How are we going to tell Morgan,” I asked. “And how are we going to get it out,” Cyborg asks, rubbing his eyes.  

“Tell me what and how to get what out?” Morgan asked, limping around the corner. 

“Morgan what are you doing out of bed,” I ask running over to help her walk. 

“You were taking too long to get food,” Morgan says, whining. “Now please answer my questions.” 

    “Slade put something in your uterus that will shock you every 30 minutes unless we remove it or bring you back to him. That’s what has been making your stomach hurt.” I said, helping Morgan sit down.

    “You’re going to take me back?” Morgan asks looking up at Robin. 

    “No, of course not. I am not going to let anything happen to you.” I said. “We will get it out of you.”

    “Can I take a bath? I smell like shit and they cum in my hair?” 

    “Yeah, let me help you but after you have to eat. Okay?” 

    “Fine.” 

I help Morgan up the stairs and into the bathroom. Morgan had stomach pains the whole way. I sat her on the ground while I started the tub. I turned it off when the tub was full and left the room so Morgan could get undressed and climb in. I cracked the door a little, just in case she needed my help. 

    “Dick?�� she calls. She was one of the only people who were allowed to call me my real name. 

    “Yeah?” I say turning to face the door. 

    “Will you help me wash my hair?” 

    “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

    “Come on, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before. I've just lost a little weight.” 

    I slowly opened the door to see Morgan laying in the tub. I shut the door behind me and walked over to her. 

    “A little?” I say looking at her body. 

    “Okay, maybe more than a little. Other than that, nothing you have ever seen before.” 

    And she was right. She looked the same as I remembered, except for her not being as big as before of course. She was still the girl I had fallen in love with. 

    “Dick,” she said, waking me up from my daydream. 

    ‘Huh?” 

    “You’re starring.” 

    “Sorry, it’s just been so long,” I say, taking off my gloves. 

    “ I know. Now about what you were thinking in the elevator yesterday.” 

    “Ugh, I forgot you could read minds,” I said now putting shampoo in my hands 

    “So?” She asked leaning forward so I could start rubbing the shampoo in her hair.

    “So, what?” 

    “Did you mean it?” 

    “Only if you wanted it,” I say, taking my hands and forming a cup so I could rinse her hair.

    “Okay” 

    “Why?” 

    “Just wanted to know if you felt the same.” 

    “So? Would you like to try us again?”

    “I’d like that.” 

    “Wow! You really do need to redye your hair.” I say running my hands through her hair getting the soap out. 

“Ugh,” She sighs, laying back. “I know. I was planning on doing it before I got kidnapped.” 

    “Well okay,” I say standing up. “I better get back to the others. We have to make a plan about getting that thing out of you.” 

    “Okay, see you after I’m done.” Morgan waves goodbye as I walk out the door. 

Morgan

Robin walks out the door and I groan in pain. See, the reason I was in pain was that I already had a plan. I was slowly opening my cervix so I could push the shocker thing out. It didn’t take too long for my cervix to be open enough to push it out. So I did. Once it was out I scoop the thing out of the water. I finish taking a bath then walk back to the kitchen. 

    “Hey, Morgan. Are you feeling better?” Robin asks.

    “Yeah. I feel better.” 

    “So we were thinking about using a magnet to get the shocker out of you.” 

    “I already got it out,” I say, showing Robin the small, round, device. 

    “What? How?” Robin asked, shocked. 

    “Did you forget? I can open and close the cervix allowing or not allowing things to pass through.” 

    “I’m an idiot,” Robin says, smacking his forehead.

    “I know,” I say, hugging him. 

“So? We have some questions. Is this a good time to ask them?” Beast boy said.  

“After, I have food. Then you guys can ask your questions.” I say letting go of Robin. 

Robin reheated the food he made me. The other Titans made a list of all the questions with space under each one for the answers. After I finished eating, they started asking questions. 

“So how long have you known Robin?” Starfire asked

      “Since Batman. I’m his butler goddaughter. So I lived with Batman until a week after Robin left.” 

    “How did you two meet?” Cyborg askes. 

    “Batman found me, brought me back with him, and Morgan already lived there so they introduced us,” Robin told him. 

    “I remember thinking you were weird. With your big, round, glasses. Until we started hanging out more.” I said laughing. “I have pictures of you when you first started going on missions. Have you see pictures from when he first started.” 

    “No, he won’t tell us anything about when he was with Batman.” Beast boy said. “We didn’t know you existed until Robin brought you here.” 

    “So you really told them nothing? Why?” I asked Robin. 

    “It still hurt. I had only been gone a few days when we all met. I wasn’t ready to talk about it. I never had the same triggers as you.” 

“Triggers,” Raven asked.

    “Batman wasn’t always the greatest. He would get angry-”

    “And he would hit us sometimes. Morgan got hit more than I did.” Robin said, finishing the sentence and looking at no one's face. “We both have different levels of PTSD.” 

    “Yeah, but we both got through it together. 

    “I’m sorry I left without trying to take you with me. I had a plan to come and get you once I got settled in but I found the Titans instead.” 

    “It’s okay, I managed to get out a week after you did. This got dark fast. Any more questions?”

    “Are you Batgirl?” Beast Boy asked happily.

    “Um…” 

    “Beast Boy! I thought we agreed that we were going to ask her that.” Cyborg said.

    “But you’ve seen his face when he talks about Batgirl. The same face when he was telling us about Morgan. They have to be the same person.” Beast Boy argued. 

On the other side of the room, a blue portal started to open. I stood up and put her watch on, turning it into a blaster. Dianna Prince walks through. 

    “Don’t shoot me,” Dianna said. 

    “Why not,” I said. “You know I’m retired.” 

    “I need your help.” 

    “Bruce send you?” I said walking closer to Dianna. 

    “No. He didn’t. He still thinks you're dead.” 

    “Then why are you here?” I say lowering the blaster. 

    “There is an alien invasion coming. We are assembling a team.” 

    “I’m not fighting in another war.” 

    “You don’t have to. I just need you to help me with one of the recruits.”

    “Who?” 

    “Victor Stone. I can’t get through to him, but maybe you can.” 

    “Victor’s alive?” 

    “Morgan, who is Victor Stone?” Robin asked.

    “An old friend.” 

    “I’m meeting him tomorrow night. I want you to come with me.”

    “Okay, fine. I will come out of retirement. See you tomorrow.” 

The portal reopened and Dianna left. I sit back down on the couch. 

    “Who was that?” Starfire asked.

    “Wonder Woman from another dimension. Ugh… I have to dig things out of boxes and redye my hair. Okay,” I say getting up and opening a portal to my apartment. I come back with a couple of boxes of red hair dye and a bag of clothes. 

    “Okay, I’m back. Robin will you help me.” 

    “Sure” 

We walked to the bathroom, we put towels on the floor so we wouldn’t ruin the floor. Robin sections my hair while I mix the breach for my roots. Robin starts putting the breach on the back of my head and I start putting the dye on the front of my head. 20 minutes later my roots were covered in breach. I put a bag on my head and wanting 45 minutes then wash it out. After we washed it out we took and a break for dinner then start to put the red dye in. By the time we were done everyone had gone to bed and we were still in the bathroom. 

“I missed your red hair,” Robin says. 

“I missed it too.” 

“You know it’s been a long time and I have a lot of energy. If you catch my drift.” 

“Yeah,” I say looking down.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to. I don’t want to make you uncomfy.” 

“You could never, I still want a baby,” I say looking into his eyes. 

“Then why don’t we try again.” 

“I’m scared,” I say with tears in my eyes. 

“Of what.” 

“Losing another one.” 

“That was an accident. There’s no Batman to push you down the stairs this time. I promise that I will protect you.” 

“Okay, fine. Just this be gentle. Slade was never the gentle type. We need to be quiet to not wake up the others.” 

Robin gently kisses my lip slightly pushing me up against the sink as I kiss back. He pinches my butt to make me gasp, he takes that opportunity to stick his tongue in my mouth. He picks me up and brings me to his room. He almost hits my head on the corner. When we get to his room he throws me on the bed. Robin tells me to strip, so I do. While my back was turned Robin started to strip himself, first taking off his mask to show his blue eyes. I turned around just in time to see Robin pulling down his boxers. I see his fierce boner pop out of his boxers. I look away and get more into the middle of the bed. I sit on my feet, put my hands in my lap, and look straight at the bed. 

(Kinda like this but looking down not up.)

“Morgan, why are you sitting like that?” Robin asked. 

“Slade makes me.” 

“Morgan, you don’t have to sit like that, you're with me now. You're safe with me.” Robin says getting climbing on the bed.  

“How do you want me to sit?” I say looking up at him.

“You remember how we used to do it, right,” he asked.

“Yeah.” 

“Wanna do it that way?”

I nod

“Okay,” Robin says. He lets me lay down. He climbed on top of me with his hands by my head. Robin started to kiss my body up until my boobs. He sucks and leaves hickeys all over my boobs. He starts sucking on my nipples. I close my eyes and whimper expecting a hand on my throat. But Robin’s hands stay next to my head. One hand leaves to start stroking Robins’ dick. I saw the angry red tip and knew he hadn’t had much pleasure yet, so I reached my hand down there and start helping him. He moans on my nipples. It sure had been a while since I heard someone moan. All Slade did was tell me how much of a whore I was. I hadn’t been paying attention when Robin came in my hand. I only noticed when Robin collapsed on top of me panting. I started to fall asleep while Robin was catching his breath. 

“Hey, baby. Don’t fall asleep yet. You haven’t got your pleasure yet.”

“That doesn’t matter, only your pleasure does.”

“Did Slade tell you that?” 

“Yeah.”

“Well that not true. Your pleasure matters too. Come on, I help you.” 

“You don’t have to.” 

“I want to. Now get on all fours, please.” 

“Okay.” 

Robin gets off me and I got on all fours. He kneels behind me and lines up his dick up with my hole. He slowly pushes in stopping every couple of inches to let me adjust. He pushed all the way in hitting my cervix. When he’s fully in he waits until I pull my hips forward and push them back to start thrusting. It had been so long since I had come so I hadn’t noticed when my orgasm washed over me. Slade never let me cum, it was always only about his pleasure. Soon enough Robin was cumming in my pussy. He kept thrusting to make sure the cum was fucked into my womb. He slowly pulled out and I collapsed onto the bed. I don’t remember much after but I woke up in Robins nightshirt and cleaned up. I was wrapped in Robins’s arms.

[babybottlepop96]

Kakashi x Reader

A/N: this is SFW, unless y'all want a NSFW part 2, then I'll be glad to give y'all some of the nasty! Lol this ended up being like a mystery Guy type kinda thing, not at all what I intended but that's how it ended up. I just didn't realize that I didn't say the guys name till the end of the story and felt too lazy to go and add it in. Lol, so sorry! Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you want a part two!

Ever been a young kid with a crush on an older boy? An older boy from another village? Granted, I'm twenty one years old and he is in his early thirties now, but you just KNOW he would never think of you the same way because one) he is older than you, two) he is literally the hottest guy around and could have ANY girl he wanted, and three) you would never even have the chance because you also happen to be the sister of the one tailed host? Not to mention that my fraternal twin brother has magical puppets that could kill you just from being fucking creepy. Yeah… that's me. Always admiring from afar. Always wondering what could be and what it be like to actually have someone like you back. 

"(Y/n), you're spacing again." Temari spoke as we ate our ramen. She was sitting next to her boyfriend, Shikamaru. She was so lucky. 

"Aug this is such a drag. Just talk to him." Shikamaru chimed in.

"And have my soul leave my body? Yeah, no thanks! I'd rather just think of the "what could be's" instead." I spoke, just barely above the whisper so the  person wouldn't overhear. "Besides, it's not like they like me back." I rested my chin in my hand and picked up noodles with my chopsticks just to let them fall back into the bowl.

"Come on now, this is just getting ridiculous. Just tell him! The worst he could do is say no." Temari tried again but I huffed, feeling thankful these were the only two in the whole world who knew about my secret crush.

"And then feel foolish and heartbroken? To feel like I could never show my face in the Hidden Leaf again? Once again, no thank you." The couple sighed but didn't press any farther. Finally, they gave up.' I sighed to myself before trying to finish my bowl of ramen.

The three of us finished our food and set about wandering the village. Not like we haven't been here tons of times. I'm not really sure why I tag along with Temari when she comes to visit Shika. Maybe it's because I just want to get out of Suna, get away from all the sand. Or maybe it's because I just want to see his face and torture myself with something I could never have. 

Temari and Shika were a few places ahead of me, talking and Temari giggling at something her lazy ass boyfriend said, a small smile gracing over his face as he looked at my sister. I couldn't help but space off and stare at them for a moment. They were so in love even if they didn't realize that they were yet. Out of all the guys my sister dated, he was definitely my favorite.

"Oh! Fuck!" I shouted as I bumped into something hard and fell backwards, landing hard on my ass. A small shriek leaving my lips as I fell. 

"Oh! I'm sorry." That voice… oh fuck that voice. I looked up to see a worried expression written all over his face. "I wasn't paying attention!" He stuck out his hand for me to grab and as I did so, a small blush graced my cheeks.

"O-oh, it's okay. I wasn't paying, um, I wasn't paying attention." I laughed nervously. A small smile and an expression of relief flooded his face.

"Neither was I. Sorry if I hurt you." 

"Nah, it's all good." I said, my head looking down, hands behind my back, kicking an invisible pebble away. The two of us didn't say anything for a moment, just kinda… awkward?  Yeah… awkward.

"Well, I should go. I'm meeting my team for training. Uh… see you." And he took off. I starred until he was no longer a speck in my sight of vision.

"That was so fucking painful, (y/n)." Temari groaned as she and Shikamaru walked over to me.

"Aug! I know! I just…. WHAT DO I DO?!" I Groaned, feeling so weird that I, a great sand ninja, can't even talk to the guy I like without sounding like a complete nerd. 

"Just talk to him." Shikarmu said, his voice bored with a hint of "I'm so done with this shit" tone in his voice. 

No one said anything after that, they knew I wouldn't talk to him. So, we continued on our merry way around the village. At the end of the day, Termaro decided she was going to stay at Shikamaru's place instead of the inn. With our goodbyes said, I headed towards the inn to silently cry to myself and maybe self pity eat more ramen. But as soon as the inn was in sight, I heard someone calling my name. Not just any voice though, his voice. That smooth, rough voice that could only be his. 

I turned around and there he was, in all his handsome glory. Perfect hair, contagious grin, beautiful eyes… amazing body. "(Y/n)!" He breathed out heavily. "I… I need your help!" I smiled at him.

"Sure! What's the problem?" I asked, keeping the blush that threatened to invade my face at bay.

"You see, there's this girl. She is super smart and really fucking gorgeous and I was wondering…. Could you please tell me what you would think would be the best way to ask her out?" He spoke, a stupid smile on his face and a small blush also dusting his perfectly sculpted cheek bones. My heart dropped to my stomach. He didn't like me. I fucking knew it! But that didn't stop the tears slowly making their way to my eyes. I blinked and took a deep breath.

"Well," I began, "I always imagined a guy coming up to me, holding a single purple flower. He would be all nervous and shy about it. He would just smile and say he liked me and wanted to take me out." I spoke honestly. Yeah, a bit cheesy, but it's cute! Fight me! He nodded in response and smiled.

"Thank you so much!" With that he took off. I turned and hurriedly went to my room. I literally just told the guy I liked how to ask a girl he liked how to ask her out the way I dreamed he would ask me out.. I should've just given him my dream wedding plans while I was at it! I flopped on the bed and gave a loud groan. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I should've just told him I liked him a while ago and MAYBE that would be me he was asking on a date.

I decided to get a shower, the long three day journey here and walking around all day left grimy and disgusting. I stripped off my clothes layer by sweaty layer and hopped in the shower. The water felt great running over my skin, I scrubbed away the dirt and washed my hair. I stepped out just in time to hear a knock on the door. I wrapped a towel around me, thinking it was Temari forgetting something. I walked to the door and opened it, only to see HIM standing there, holding a small purple flower. My eyes widened and I think my heart stopped beating for a moment.

"K...Kakashi?!" I squealed. He didn't say anything, his only visible eye wide as he looked at me. I looked down, forgetting for a moment that I was only in a fucking towel. I quickly closed the door just enough to hide behind it. "Wh-what are you doing here?" I asked, trying to keep my nerves at bay.

"What? Oh! Um.. well…" he just handed out the small purple flower towards me and I swear I would have fainted right then and there. "This is… um… well… um…." He stumbled over his words and I swear my face was a dark crimson. "Would you maybe wanna go out to eat tomorrow?" He asked looking away. 

"Yes." I wasn't even sure if I spoke it or said it, I was so in shock this happened. Was I dreaming?

"Cool, well...bill see you tomorrow then!" He turned quickly and left before I got the chance to do anything else. I looked at the flower he gave me as I closed the door. 

After so long, I finally got the chance to go out with Kakashi! Temari would be happy and Shikamaru would finally get the chance to say I told you so. Only one more problem to be handled….. Kankauro and Gaara. 

[kureis-writing-hell]

AU Date

In which Kai didn't become Overhaul. He's looking after Eri, living in the compound. Nao is here as his "babysitter", a hero hired by Pops to monitor Kai because Kai is getting worryingly violent. They already know each other for bit now but it's first time they're trully alone.

It's fully for myself, Kai's POV, first kiss and first time hinted at the end. I may write something in this AU again in the future, I love all the stuff where Kai takes care of Eri!

*

“A date?” Kurono was looking at him… differently. Not in a way he let himself look at him when there were other people around. Kai readjusted his gloves, hiding his nervousness under a regular gesture.

“Yes. Could you look after Eri for the afternoon?”

“Of course I could.” Kurono wasn't wearing his mask and there was a smirk dancing around his lips. He knew Kai the best out of the whole Shie Hassaikai after all. “Can I ask who you decided to go out with? Why? I thought you’re not into dating.”

“Well. It’s Nao. He asked and I… didn’t feel revolted about the idea.”

For a moment Kurono looked at him surprised. Then laughed, covered his mouth and shook his head with a smile still visible in his eyes.

“You’re going on a date with your babysitter Nao? Really?”

“He’s not-” Kai sighed and readjusted his tie, in a more visibly nervous gesture. “I just hope it won’t be a disaster.”

“I’m sure it won’t.” For once Kurono smiled sincerely and turned his face back toward the documents he was reading. “I’ll watch over Eri, don’t worry. I know what to do in case of disaster. And we’ll stay up only an hour longer than she’s allowed.”

“Be sure she gets rest,” worried Kai. He knew that lack of sleep could worsen her condition and tried to avoid it at any cost. Then, seeing a smirk on his face, Kai realized Kurono was teasing him again. He huffed a quick “thanks” and turned to leave the room.

“Be back before ten!”

Kai left, grumbling swears towards Kurono.

…

Nao was dressed… at least better than usual. Kai couldn’t complain, he himself looked just like always. His white sneakers, black pants and shirt and a tie, a new one he never wore before. It was bottle green with a dark, orange flower pattern and Kai didn’t have an occasion to wear it before. And, of course, his favourite jacket. Nao had red sneakers, jeans and hawaiian shirt opened low enough to flash his chest.

Kai made sure to not stare too much. Usually Nao dressed in turtlenecks, jackets and anything that covered as much of his skin as possible. Usually Kai couldn't even see his collarbones and now he felt like he couldn't turn his gaze away.

It was where Nao took him that was somehow a problem for Kai.

“...street food.”

Nao stopped his obvious struggles with reading a menu, standing in front of one of the many stalls on the street. It was busy, loud and dirty all around them. He looked at Kai.

“You don’t like street food?” There was worry in Nao’s voice but he kept smiling in his creepy way. It used to be one of many things that Kai was irritated about - a stupid, weird smile that made everyone around Nao uneasy - but lately he started to find it… amusing.

“It’s not that I don’t like it,” sighed Kai, not wanting to sound rude for once. “I’m just wary of the way food is prepared. Street doesn’t speak… sanitary to me.”

Nao made an “oooh” face. He looked like a dumbass and Kai held back an amused huff. He turned all the way toward him, showing a more nervous expression.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think. We can go somewhere more comfortable for you.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just…” Kai looked around the stall they were standing by. The seats inside were all taken, only one or two tables outside seemed free. They looked greasy. “It’s going to be a challenge.”

Nao laughed, looked at the stall they were standing by and then down the street.

“What would you want to eat then?”

“Yakitori.”

Nao nodded and pointed to one of the stalls.

“There’s a grill over there, let’s see. Maybe they have Shioyaki too!”

This time Kai nodded and they went to check the place.

…

Actually it was more like a regular night out with the men from Shie Hassaikai than a date. Minus the loud discussion. Kai didn’t usually take part in those outings, but when he did they went through basically the same. Some grilled food, beer, a loose discussion. He didn’t really understand why they had to call this one a date. And so he voiced his concern.

“Well, I thought about taking you to a fancy restaurant but then I thought it would be more fun to just have a walk around. And, uh, I always found fancy places a bit awkward.”

“Awkward?”

“Yeah… I’m not used to places like that. I feel like I have to behave because everyone is watching me. Here I can have an open discussion with you, without worrying if someone could overhear us.”

“Oh. That’s why you wanted us to meet outside of the compound?”

“Yeah.” Nao laughed and bit the head of a fish he held on a stick in his hand. He continued with a full mouth, to Kai’s exasperation. To his dread he was starting to get used to the messy way Nao ate by now. “Kurono and Eri are always around you when I come in. And if they’re not then the others are. I wanted to have you just for myself for a while now.”

“What do you want to talk about, if they shouldn’t overhear it?” Kai took a mouthful of his beer, ignoring Nao’s last sentence. Nao, with a smirk, followed him before answering.

“Did you ever had sex?”

Chisaki choked, coughed and covered his mouth with his forearm. After calming his throat he looked at Nao, taken aback.

“Do you usually ask people about that on your first date?” he asked incredulously.

“It depends if I want to fuck them afterwards.” Nao laughed, seeing Kai’s expression. “I’m joking, don’t worry. We have known each other for a while now. I just wonder. You don’t have to answer if you feel uncomfortable about it, though.”

Nao grabbed another shioyaki to busy himself with something. Kai bit his lip, then licked over it. A group of teenagers passed them, laughing loudly.

“Actually, I didn’t,” he said, looking at Nao. He expected the other man to laugh or comment. Nao looked back at him, in the middle of a bite on the fish’s tail, chomped it off and swallowed it.

“Can I ask why? Like, was it your choice or did you just have no occasion?”

“I-” Chisaki was a little surprised. He readjusted his gloves, knowing Nao noticed and understood the tik. “You know. I’m not a fan of meeting new people. And getting intimate… let’s say I decided to wait for someone special.”

Kai grimaced only after saying that. He realized how pathetic it sounded, especially from someone like him. But Nao, again, didn’t laugh or ridicule him.

“That’s nice,” he said instead.

“...nice?”

“Yeah.” Nao took another bite and sipped his beer. “You got to experience your first time with someone you get to trust. It’s always better than fucking with the first person you’ve met and felt mildly attracted to as a teen.”

“If you say so.” For the first time in a while Kai actually showed his embarrassment. He tactically covered his flushed face, drinking his beer.

“No, I mean it!”

“Did you have sex then?”

This time Nao chuckled and blushed by himself.

“Yeah, a few times… first with a girl I met as a teen.”

Chisaki snorted and covered his lower face with surprise. He looked at Nao and the way the other man was looking back at him made him blush more.

As if he was a piece of art.

…

When they finished and went down the street, to have a walk, Kai refused to take off his mask again. It covered most of his embarrassed expression and he would like to leave it like that. Nao whined a little about it but then accepted his choice and led the way. It was getting less crowded the longer they walked till, finally, there were no people around but them. They entered some quiet neighborhood and didn't stop there, walking down the deserted street. The chill of the night was calming.

"Did you tell anyone about our date?" asked Nao suddenly

"Only Kurono." Kai reached to readjust his mask for one more time tonight and stopped himself in the middle of the movement. To keep his hands busy he brushed off his sleeves. "Oh. And Eri knows I went out with you. She probably spread it to everyone."

"So the whole Shie knows?" Nao laughed. "Hope it doesn't mean I have to marry you now."

"Why, it's a good arrangement, you'd get a position in Shie."

“I would?”

“Of course. You’d marry into the family. We may not be as powerful as we used to but we’re still respected.”

"Oh if you say it like that."

Chisaki playfully hit Nao in the side. He didn’t feel perfectly comfortable talking about it, because in the back of his head he had Pops and financial problems and everything, but he liked the loose atmosphere. Nao laughed and looked at Kai with a soft expression.

"I like when you're like that."

"What do you mean?"

"Relaxed. No need to be a big, scary yakuza gun. Just me, you and your pretty smile." Suddenly Nao stepped into Kai’s personal space, making him stop and cover his mask. He did that a lot. "Come on, show it to me."

"I don't smile."

"Oh you do!" Nao’s own, creepy smile spread over his face. "Well, maybe you don't but you can. I know it's gonna be the cutest thing!"

Kai stepped back, feeling how his face was getting warm. Nao kept looking at him and it was way too persistent. Just when Kai was getting fed up Nao stepped back, shaking his head.

"I'll get that smile out of you at some point."

"Sure."

And Kai had to actually hold himself back from making a small smile. He knew Nao wouldn't see it anyway but it was a thing of pride for him.

They arrived in a small park close to the neighborhood. It had trees and an outdoor gym, along with some stuff for kids to use, but at this hour it was obviously deserted. Nao sat on a bench, spreading his arms on the backrest. He looked expectantly at Kai, so Kai rolled his eyes and sat by Nao’s side. He also leaned back, relaxing on the bench.

"Did you ever kiss anyone?"

In a second Kai tensed, looking at Nao with surprise.

"What kind of question is that? You sound like a creep."

Nao laughed. He moved his arm closer to Kai but he made it look like an accident. Kai didn't get fooled, he knew Nao was touchy a lot, but he let it slide.

"You're avoiding the answer." Nao smiled smugly. "Do you also keep your first kiss for someone special?"

"Do you have a problem with that?" Kai couldn't help but get defensive. He knew Nao was teasing him, it was really obvious, but he still took it personally.

"I don't, if anything it would make you even more adorable."

As always Nao knew what to say to turn Kai’s mood upside down. Kai immediately forgot what he was being defensive about.

"I'm not!"

"Not adorable? Prove it."

"I-" For a moment Kai wasn't sure what he was supposed to answer with. "I killed people!"

"I used to do so as well… you don't think I'm adorable?" Nao gasped theatrically.

"That's not- ugh, shut up."

Nao laughed openly, grabbing Kai’s shoulder to keep him from moving away. Kai grumbled something before leaning back against the bench again. He crossed arms over his chest, on purpose not looking toward Nao.

"I could kill you right now."

"Aw, but you would bring me back anyway."

"I'm debating that."

"We both know you'd miss me!" Nao kept laughing some more.

Reluctantly, Kai had to admit to himself that he, indeed, would bring Nao back. There were a few whys to that, too. In the first place, it was his boss that hired Nao. Eri, as well as some of his own men, liked Nao. Nao was a goddamn hero, Kai couldn't risk killing one of those and bring too much attention to Shie Hassaikai. And, finally, Nao was fine. First time in years Kai met someone he didn't feel like dying while talking to. Nao was annoying, could be an asshole and a weirdo, his quirk was horrible and he sweated like a pig because of it, but for some reason Kai was willing to leave his house with him. Have a walk around the city. Eat goddamn street food.

So, yeah, Kai would bring him back. More importantly he wouldn't even overhaul him in the first place. And, frankly, it scared the shit out of him.

"So?"

Kai wrinkled his nose.

"I kissed. Before." He made the mistake of looking at Nao. He saw big, sparkly eyes, making the other man look like a puppy. He shook his head, looking away. "With Kurono. I'm not a fan."

The silence worried him so Kai looked at Nao again, cautiously. And he had to hold back a surprised flinch. If his smile was creepy then his serious, angry even expression could be terrifying. It was pretty obvious Nao was jealous.

"It was in high school," he explained, knowing well he didn't have to explain anything. "I didn't want anything to do with other people but everyone kept talking about kissing, dating and other shit so-" Kai brushed the back of his head. "I wasn't repulsed about Kurono back then. He did it because I told him so and uh. It was just weird."

"So the only time you ever kissed was because you were curious and you had someone to use?"

"Yeah. But what's the difference? It's just a kiss."

Both of them looked at each other and Kai felt like he shouldn't have said that.

"Take the mask off. I'll show you the difference."

Nao still looked jealous. Kai had no idea what it was about Kurono that worked him up like that but he knew it was dangerous. For example right now. He held his mask protectively.

"We ate."

"Is that the only but you have about this?"

Kai frowned, wanted to argue that he didn't say "but", tell Nao that he just wasn't into it at all. Yet he nodded, led by some kind of curiosity. Nao looked like he was plotting something and, while Kai knew he wouldn't like it, he wanted to see what it was.

And maybe he actually wanted to try kissing him.

Without a word Nao got up and grabbed Kai’s hand. He led him out of the park, to the street and into a konbini, the only place there that seemed to be people around here. Observed by Kai’s golden eyes, Nao bought two toothbrushes, two water bottles and a small tube of paste, the one that people use for traveling. Already knowing what Nao’s plan was, Kai only kept rolling his eyes.

So damn cheesy.

Back in the park, Nao took the pink toothbrush and handed Kai the blue one. With amusement, Kai looked it over and then back at Nao.

"Now you don't have any buts." Nao put the toothpaste over his brush and handed it to Kai. Kai took it, prepared his own toothbrush and had Nao splash it with water.

"I guess you're right."

Kai tugged his mask down and began brushing his teeth. He observed how Nao did it at the same time. First the upper right, then left, then the same on the lower jaw. He quite enjoyed looking at it, considering how messy and disordered Nao was it was quite surprising to see him wash his mouth like that.

The toothbrushes landed in trash after they were done and then Nao looked at Kai. And Kai felt nervousness swelling in his abdomen.

"I'm going to touch you," said Nao.

"Where?"

"On the neck. And jaw."

Kai licked his lips, bit the lower one and nodded.

Nao stepped closer, as always invading his personal space. They were almost the same height so none of them had to lean down, they just looked each other in the eyes. Then Nao lifted his hand and placed it on Kai’s neck, with the thumb over his adam's apple. Kai flinched just slightly but stayed in his place. He saw how Nao was getting even closer, panicked just slightly and shut down his eyes.

There was a second hand on his neck, on the other side, making him feel excited and guiding his head. Then a touch on his lips, rough, making his skin itch but somehow not in a bad way. He sighed, getting some of the tension out of his body, trying hard to not think about what was happening right now. Not about kissing but the contact and everything else. He wanted it and he didn't want his head to interrupt them.

Softly, Nao deepened the kiss, making Kai jump a little. There was a pause but after a second Nao continued. In no time his tongue was touching Kai’s and it was the weirdest feeling ever. Kai felt his hands slide more to the back of his head, tangle into his hair, touch his ears and he relaxed even more. It felt good. So good actually. How could it feel so good? It was just a kiss after all.

Then Nao did something unexpected. He moved his body, sticking it against Kai’s. Kai wanted to stop him, that wasn't the amount of touch he agreed to, but before he could he felt a friction between his legs and gasped into Nao’s mouth. Nao turned his body in a way that made Kai feel amazing and suddenly he felt stupid for just standing there.

Warily, Kai put his arms around Nao’s shoulders, making sure his hands didn't touch him. He didn't want to. He was too worried his quirk would act up.

That obviously made Nao excited. The pace suddenly changed and he deepened the kiss even more. His teeth clicked against Kai’s and Kai felt like he had to pay back for it. From a soft, long kiss they immediately went for a wild, aggressive one, body brushing against body, hands on the small of his back-

Wait-

"Mnhao." Kai felt the warm leather on his skin on the back, under his shirt. He didn't even notice when Nao got his shirt out of his pants.

The kiss stopped but Nao didn't move back even a little.

"Do you want to stop?"

He looked… good. Too good. Breathless, flushed and hungry. And it did things to Kai. He wanted more. He wanted to see Nao… do more.

"I don't," sighed Kai. He was entering a field he knew nothing about and it was making him uneasy. But he felt enchanted.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm not."

Nao was about to say something again but Kai interrupted him. He smashed his lips against Nao’s, trying to mimic what Nao did a moment ago. It made the older man chuckle but follow him slowly, giving Kai time to adjust.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" After they stopped the second kiss Nao moved one of his hands from Kai’s back and touched his neck again. Kai shivered.

"Where?"

"My place?"

Kai made a quick, jerky nod, worried he would change his mind if he waited even a little bit of time.

…

"Look at that, the young boss is coming back from his date the next day and in the same clothes."

Kai would do anything to slip by the welcoming committee and into his room, to at least change his clothes, but they were faster. Kurono, standing in the door, was smiling smugly. Eri was trying and failing to make a similar expression.

"Don't call me that."

"Where's your tie?"

Kai touched his chest and grimaced under the mask. He left his new, never used before tie ruined back at Nao’s place. Nao promised he would save it, though.

"I didn't have a tie." Kai could see how hard Kurono was holding himself back from laughing. He looked down at Eri. "And you?"

Eri blinked, looked at Kurono, looked down and murmured something but Kai couldn't hear her. He looked at Krono questioningly.

"What was that, Eri?" Kurono prompted her to speak louder.

"Why didn't you take me to the sleepover, uncle?" she said, this time loud enough. Kai felt a blush rising in his cheeks and was glad for his mask. He looked at Kurono and immediately realized he wouldn't be much of help, he was snickering into his hand.

"I didn't plan it. If I knew I'm going to stay over at Nao’s then maybe I would take you too."

Eri's eyes glimmered just slightly.

"Then! Can, can I go with you next time? For a planned sleepover?"

Kai gave himself an inner slap. He walked into that himself and had to come out with something now. So he crouched, observed by amused Kurono.

"How about the next time we invite Nao here?"

Eri's big eyes glimmered even more now. She nodded enthusiastically before Kai took a hold on her and lifted her up. She was fully clothed, she even wore her gloves, which she started doing more willingly after meeting Nao. Another good outcome of his existence.

Right after straightening Kai handed the girl to Kurono. He felt his back and hips protesting. And Kurono obviously noticed that something was off.

"Just make sure the exercises aren't too difficult once he stays for the night. We don't want to be woken up by you two."

"Exercise? Why would you exercise on a sleepover?"

Kai looked at Kurono tiredly and then at Eri. He entered the house.

"That's what adults do during sleepovers."

"Exercise?" She seemed offended. "That's boring."

"If he comes we're going to do what you want, okay?" Eri nodded with relief. It was almost funny, to be honest. "Did you have breakfast?"

Kai took off his shoes and entered the house. Kurono, holding Eri, moved after him.

"We didn't, she wanted to eat with you."

"I need to change first," sighed Kai. "Go to the kitchen, I'll join you."

Kurono smiled and put Eri down. She looked at him.

"I need to talk with your uncle about work, go first. You can prepare the table." Eri nodded and ran toward the kitchen. Kai looked after her, exasperated, then at Kurono, honestly expecting anything. "How was it? I assume good, since you're back in the morning?"

Kai readjusted his gloves, walking toward his room. He made sure they're intact before looking at Kurono again. He couldn't get rid of the memories from the night, how nice it was, how unexpectedly good it felt. And Kurono obviously noticed how he drifted away for a moment there.

"Was it that good?"

"I guess."

"Did you really have sex on your first date?"

"I- what? Where did you come out with that?" Was it really that obvious? Of course he ached here and there and his clothes were crinkled but-

"Did you miss the whole conversation we just had?" laughed Kurono.

"You didn't have to bring that up though."

"Maybe. But I need to know if we should celebrate or not." Kurono joked but at the same time took a cautious step away from Kai. Chisaki frowned, clenching his fists.

"You should celebrate being alive," he grumbled. Kurono was getting ahead of himself and Kai didn’t like that. "Go make some use of himself and make breakfast."

"Oh, didn't Nao treat you to-"

Kai shut the door to his room right in front of Kurono’s face.

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

7. Things Went Wrong

Things. Went. Wrong.

Well, technically speaking, things went wrong a long time ago, but she had finally made things right, for some of her kids, for herself some nights. But, not tonight. Tonight was all white hot tears and bloodstains. 

Mistakes. Were. Made. 

Why did she have to be so arrogant? Why did she have to let the former Apex stewards know that it was them? She wanted them scared. She wanted them paranoid. She wanted them to take their prey turned predators seriously. 

Not. Like. This.

.

A white stretch limousine with gold decorum. Interior like a red carpet. A man with a nice smile and a big flashy ring on his pinky finger. Shoes that she knew were expensive, even though she had never seen them before. A woman on either side of him, dressed in all black, both of them, with white masks with blue flames on the sides of the eyes. They were scary, but the man held open his hand and offered her a piece of candy. She went to sleep shortly after she ate it.

Not. Like. This...

All Grace could see was blood, everywhere. She heard the voice, “Don’t touch him!” in her mind. Was she just supposed to leave him like that? She was pulled out of the house. She saw the pink hair flowing in front of her. Xander, running. She had to run!! Survival kicked in and gunshots continued. She jumped into the van, and it was fired upon. They got away... but so did the X. The X would live, but... “Do you think he’s dead?” she asked, it was so low she could have been talking to herself.

“I know he is,” Xander said. He burned rubber, angrily pushing on the pedal and punched the steering wheel several times, cursing.

Not like this...

.

A warehouse. There were children everywhere. They looked pretty intimidating. The ones coming in where she was coming in were different though. They looked just as scared as she felt. She looked around for the nice man with the fancy ring and expensive shoes. He was nowhere to be found. Only the women with the creepy masks. She dared to touch one of them and they looked at her with blue eyes, shadowed by black paint beneath the mask. “Where am I?” Grace wondered. The woman didn’t answer. Grace tried asking in other languages. Maybe the woman didn’t understand her… She paused and stared at Grace, then took her by the hand and led her elsewhere. 

She had no idea that she was expensive. That she could earn a ransom. A ransom that could help someone else to get away from this warehouse. Unfortunately, had she actually been allowed to go home, someone else wouldn’t have gotten away with the money she earned faking a return. So, a steward finessed her flight away and returned the girl right where she was going to be for a long time. “The best that I can do for you is to advise you to tell them what you can do. You speak 4 languages.”

“7.”

“Even better. They might see you as a better asset. You’re very pretty, but with 7 languages, you won’t just be a body.” She took off the mask and handed it to Grace. Underneath, as Grace presumed, black face paint, still shielding who she was. She left her in that room, running away with a large bag of money that Grace didn’t know was that until years later whenever she heard the story of how they tried to get her back.

But, the steward was right. 7 Languages made her valuable. She could spy, especially if she kept up with knowing them. They got her some books and stuff, to keep her brushed up. She would be sent to perform a dance, maybe other favors, and overhear things that a little girl might not necessarily know what it means, but could easily repeat, as children did things like that. 

The steward that found her tied up with a mask in her hand was ready to kill her. He had seen her in the news and she was far too famous of a lost child. He would cut his losses and get rid of her. “I can speak 7 languages,” she told him, then repeated it in Mandarin, Spanish, French, Arabic, Hindi and Bengali. “And I’ve been learning more of them,” she repeated in less fluent, a bit stammering and unsure if the words were exact in Italian, Russian, Japanese, and Portuguese. “My father is a physician whose worked all over the world and a foreign ambassador, currently. My mother…”

“You can shut up. I know who you were. Can’t believe they’d bring somebody like you in here. You’re gonna be nothing but trouble for us whenever the police start looking, or worse, somebody competent.”

“The lady with the mask said to tell you I’m a better asset than just a body.”

“Yeah…” he untied her and brought her to the bunks. “I found 148,” she heard him say. It was the first time she heard it and she didn’t realize that was supposed to be her. 

They put a number stamp in her hand, pulled her hair up into a ponytail and got her changed into a pair of pajamas that looked like little scrubs. He showed her a bunk bed with no covers and no pillow and she climbed in, tired from days of being tied up and moved around. She fell to sleep to the sound of 152 crying all night. He was a few years younger and scared shitless. 

She watched out for stewards, then went over to his bed and rubbed his belly. Her nanny did that sometimes when she wasn’t feeling well. It was the quietest and least conspicuous thing that she could think to do. The boy looked at her for the first time with big brown eyes, full of tears, but he’d stopped crying and she went back to bed. Of course, he started again, but eventually, he looked over at her, sleeping and he didn’t want to wake up the nice girl, so he tried to be a big boy.

The next day, they were all woken up, taken to a room where they were given jobs. Grace didn’t know how to do anything with her hands, so 152 was tasked with making sure she learned things. He was younger, but he seemed to be good with his hands, at least. She was a quick learner, so watching him do things helped her to learn to do them, but he still always said what he was doing. Matching the task to the action for her visually and by name. 

She would get called away sometimes, to go be nice to someone - maybe a Russian man, maybe a Cuban man… someone who might say things around her, unaware that she could understand. Every time she came back and told her steward everything that she could remember hearing, he’d be disappointed. It rarely yielded useful results… In a way, she was still just a body, in that her knowledge never seemed to help… and whenever she was dismissed back to the bunks, she would be sad and crying. She didn’t like having to be nice to those men, especially if it never helped her steward. 152 would always pick her a flower. It would be waiting in her bunk after those missions. He didn’t know what they made her do, but he knew that sometimes kids didn’t come back from going to be nice to a friend of the warehouse.

“One day, I’ll look over, and you wouldn’t have come back. The flower will just wither there, and I’ll have to try to convince myself that you escaped. But, there is no escape, is there?”

Grace sniffled, wiped her eyes and asked, “What’s your name?”

“152. You know that.”

“My name is Grace,” she said. “What’s yours?”

He frowned. “You’re not supposed to do that.”

“You’re not supposed to grow flowers on the side of the warehouse, but I’ve seen you sneak away to water them.” He gasped. “One of my functions is to pay attention to everything and report. I never tell on you, though. You try to help me out. I think… you’re a friend here. So, what’s your name? And it isn’t 152, because people don’t name their children stuff like that. That’s your asset label.”

“Heath. That’s what my parents named me. But, they’re dead, of course.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why? All of our parents are dead.”

“Not mine.”

“Then… why are you here?”

“I left, and I haven’t been able to escape… but there is an escape, Heath. There has to be. Before I came here, I lived in a very big mansion. I travelled and slept in fancy places with blankets and pillows and warm milk and honey… It’s still out there, or something else is, and we’re gonna get there, Heath. If I make it out, I’m gonna get you out too. If you make it out… just… be sure to leave me a flower.”

“Why not get you out too?”

“I don’t know if I’d be able to escape… without thinking about them…” They looked at some of the smaller kids. 214, 227… they were practically babies, some of them. “How old are you?”

“Six.”

“I’m ten. 214 is 2, 227 is 3... I can’t leave them behind, but you wouldn’t be able to take them with you. So, remember. Save yourself. If you can, save yourself.”

“That feels wrong.”

“Everything is wrong. We aren’t meant to be here...”

.

The van pulled into the shipping yard and Grace leapt out of it to open her storage so that they could put the van inside, but Jalicia jumped out and wondered, “What happened to Heath? Why did we leave him??”

“Heath’s gone.” Xander said and drove the van into the space. 

“Gone? What do you mean gone?” She wondered.

“DID YOU NOT HEAR THE FUCKING GUNFIRE? IS THAT WHY YOU DIDN’T START THE GODDAMN VAN?” He yelled at her as he got out of the van.

“XAN!” Grace called. Xander kicked the door shut and repeatedly kicked it in, finally starting to cry. 

Jalicia shook her head, “No. He had to have gotten out of there and just went another way. He’ll regroup with us.” her lip was trembling. “He’s okay. He’s gotta be okay...”

“He’s dead, J.” He pointed to blood and something textured, some flesh on his neck and the side of his face, “This came from his head.” She backed away, losing her balance, but Grace caught her and she leaned on her to cry on her shoulder. Xander ran a hand through his hair and he put a hand on Jalicia’s back. “I’m gonna avenge him...”

“Avenge him? THAT’S why he’s dead in the first place! The two of you and your constant need for vengeance! Heath was a good person. A sweet guy who loved flowers and puppies!” She whimpered, “And me...” Xander reached for her, but she swatted his hand away. 

“J, we have to form our alibi. Especially you. You’ll be the first stop that the police make once they identify him..” She stormed off towards her car and peeled off. “She’s going to jeopardize this entire operation!”

“Xan... We lost Heath tonight. Has that not set in?”

“That’s EXACTLY why we can’t just give up. We can’t have lost Heath for nothing!” She closed the storage and she and Xander left in complete silence, save for a few sniffles and soft sobs. Grace didn’t trust Xander to be by himself, though she wouldn’t say as much. They got cleaned up, she got him into bed, and she put their clothes away to be buried. Xander fell asleep as she covered her Date Night wall with the canvas and called Simon. 

“Hello?” he answered, groggily. 

“Hey... are you busy?”

“I was asleep..”

“Sorry-”

“But I’m awake now! What do you need?”

“Do... you want to come over for tea?”

“Tonight?”

“Yeah.”

“I’d love to.”

“Xan’s here. He’s crashing in my room. But, the couch pulls out... it’s kinda late...”

“Yeah. Okay..”

She went to put the disposable items into her trunk and not too long after, Simon  was there. She opened the door and hugged herself. “Hey. Thanks for coming over. I know that I haven’t been that available lately.”

“It’s okay.” He came inside and they had tea and talked about how his urban writing project was going, how she had been lately and such. At some point, Xander came into the room, paused and stared at Simon. 

“Hey. You fell asleep kinda early, so Simon and I have been having tea for a while.” Grace batted her eyes innocently at Xander and Simon wondered if that had the same effect on the younger guy as it did on him. He grabbed a mug, poured some tea, sat at the table and got his vape. “Simon, would you say that you’ve been here maybe since around.. 8 or so?”

“I definitely left my place around Midnight,’ Simon said, casually. Xander narrowed his eyes at him. Simon smirked and turned to Grace, “But, I suppose I could say that I’ve been here since 8. Who would be asking?”

“Cops, maybe. But... we didn’t do anything wrong. There was just a misunderstanding...” Grace said, sweetly. 

“I wish we would have talked about this first,” Xander said.

Simon placed a hand on Grace’s and both she and Xander froze, staring at the small gesture. He hardly noticed as he reassured her, “We’re friends. If you need me, it doesn’t matter what for.”

She withdrew her hand and used both to collect her tea mug. Xander’s eyes were fixed on Simon. Not fondly. Something wasn’t right about him, Xander didn’t know what, but he didn’t like it and he’d already lost one of his loved ones tonight... and now he couldn’t even properly mourn, with this freaky weirdo here. Simon gathered his mug too and smiled at Xander. Xander didn’t return the gesture.

.

A lot of the youngest ones got sold off quick. Kids 214’s age - a toddler… he didn’t stand to be an asset except for being sold to someone. But, his face was plastered all over the news. He had to be hidden for a while, if not killed. Grace collected the toddler every day and changed his cloth diapers. She didn’t know how to teach potty training, but tried her best. He was like her. They were too notable by media to ever be able to go that far from the warehouse. So, she was raising him, she guessed. More and more kids came in over the next couple of years. At 4, 214 was one of the youngest, as he had been the last little that had been brought to the warehouse, because of the trouble it caused. By that time, she had a pretty solid group of friends, which were mostly younger kids that looked up to her, but when she was 12 was when she met 747. 

747 was dysfunctional from the start. He was a runaway at 9 (not that much younger than when she had runaway and not that much older than Heath was currently), but he was running from something much darker. Someone brought him there in exchange for a little cash, and he hadn’t been much help at all. In fact… he scared some of the other kids. 

He played with knives that nobody ever seemed to find whenever they went to check him and killed small animals that wondered in. Plus, he bucked against the stewards. After an exceptional beating, he spent a couple of days in his bunk, with the other kids trying to cover for him. Heath brought him flowers. He slapped Heath in the face with them and Grace stepped in.

She grabbed his wrists and pinned him to the bed, “Look. You’re pissed. I get it. I’ve been here 2 years… I think. I don’t even know. But I know this - the stewards don’t give a shit about you. All we’ve got is each other. 152 was trying to be nice to you. You owe him an apology, or I’m going to make you wish you never met us.”

She wasn’t sure if he just saw in her eyes that she meant it, or that he knew that the stewards’ violence was simply how they worked, but hers might be impassioned, or if he was simply wooed by the fact that one of the other children actually was bigger and badder than him, but he apologized to Heath and they never had a problem with him again.

That’s to say that he began to assimilate to warehouse life, mostly listening to advice from Grace and looking after the kids that seemed to matter to her. She was one of the oldest kids in the bunks and definitely the one that the steward called upon the most. 

The day that things changed, she had been dressed up to look nice. Xander and Heath were both staring at her, in lipstick and with her hair pulled up as tightly as the steward could manage. “You might as well say goodbye to her now,” the steward said. “No way that they’ll give her back looking like this…” His eyes traced her form and she shivered. Even with the mask, she could see him looking at her in that way that she didn’t like. Xander took his knife, knocked her down and began to hack at her hair. Grace screamed. Heath tried to separate them, Grace and Xander began fighting like wild animals until the stewards separated them. “What the FUCK did you do???” He grabbed Xander by the throat and began to choke him, “That’s it! That’s the last time I let you ruin business.” 

“We’re going to be late. Put him in the trunk and we’ll take him out later. We’ve gotta meet up with HER and she doesn’t like to wait.” He shoved Xander to the ground and told Grace, “Hogtie 747 and meet at the car. You and 152 get him into the trunk. I have to cancel your date and I’ll need the reason with me.” Grace nodded once and looked angrily at Xander. 

He dropped his head. “They were going to sell you tonight. Now, they aren’t.”

“But now, you’re probably gonna get killed!”

“We can’t let them kill him, Grace. He’s our friend. The Apex sticks together.”

“The Apex is bullshit that the stewards have told us to try to keep us in line.”

“Just loosely tie me and make sure I’ve got my knife,” Xander said. “And don’t worry about me. They may have created the concept of the Apex, but the Apex is made up of us, the children that stick together and look out for each other… friends…” Heath started crying. “Just put me in the damn trunk.”

Grace rode with him, in that trunk. She hadn’t secured it and knew that the stewards would presume that she had. They saw her and 152 putting him in and they heard it shut. That was as much as they needed. Whenever the car stopped and they heard the doors shut, Grace opened the trunk and climbed out, stretching her limbs, then helping Xander out. They couldn’t close it, because they didn’t want to make noise. Besides, they wanted to make it look like Xander had gotten away, not been let go.

They were in the middle of nowhere. Grace looked around, “If you just hide in that field or something, They won’t see you. The plants are too high. They won’t look for you, as they still have to finish business with HER.”

“What about you?” He asked, terrified, now that he thought about it. They would know that she let him go if she went back to the car!

“I’m going to watch and wait, see if they notice that you’re not there now. If they don’t, I’m gonna latch on to the back of the car and hop off whenever they get back to the warehouse, before they see me.”

“That would never work. This isn’t a cartoon, Grace!”

“Shhhh! Everything I say makes sense. Go hide.” The nine year old was crying, for the first time since she met him. “Cut that out.” She gave him a hug and repeated, “Hide.” He obeyed. 

She made it back and tried to find a spot to hide without being detected. She also wanted to know about this person that they were meeting with. The woman wore a mask of her own, or more accurately, a helmet. She had a long black coat, boots, and tattooed sleeves… in fact… she appeared to be covered in tattoos, even on her neck. Grace couldn’t see her face, but whenever she removed the helmet, she could see an A with a squiggly line. The woman was British, and Grace felt a certain… connection to her. That just reminded her of her mom. 

“I conduct business. Hundreds of children are currently under your stewardship, affecting said business which I have been conducting. You are supposed to be giving me things that I can use. Payment of some kind for my benevolence in not shooting you in the face and letting your assets dissolve. It has not been worth doing business and I’m afraid that I have to cut things off at the head…” With a few fluid movements, she had pulled out a long blade, swiped at his neck, put it back in her sheath, and began putting her helmet back on by the time his head fell off! The other steward looked terrified as she climbed onto her motorcycle and said, “Clear out of there. You’re finished.” She drove away and Grace watched in awe. 

This is the part that she didn’t talk about much. Not when she replayed that night… not when she thought back to it. She tried to think it happened another way. But, it didn’t. What happened was she realized that she had 747’s knife. She came from her hiding place as the second steward made a phone call and she jumped on his back, swinging the knife with the past couple of years of fury and the past few nights of fear for her date that she was expected to be sold off on. It didn’t work like the blade that woman had. In fact, it was terrible at doing what she was doing. But, she was covered in blood, and she now had a phone and two stewards’ heads. 

“Sev?” she called out. His face appeared in the tall grass and he gasped. 

“What happened?” 

“Do you know how to drive?”

“Not at all.”

“Me neither. Well, I guess we’ll have to figure it out…” She used the GPS on the phone that they had used to get to this meeting place in order to get back to the warehouse and get “their kids” out before whatever might be about to take place now that at least 2 stewards were dead.

They drove back to the warehouse, crashing into a steward as they did and she was pinned beneath the car. Grace got out, removed her mask and covered her nose and mouth. She began to try to struggle, so Xander restrained her arms. Each of them took one of the heads and they marched into the warehouse, threw them onto the floor and Grace yelled out, “Grab whatever you can and get rid of the adults. They can’t stop all of us!” 

Seeing the heads made some of the children so afraid that they just started running and screaming. Some of them started attacking the adults, as order. Some of them were chasing confused stewards from the building. The armed stewards definitely began using force, but even if some had to die today, the rest would be free. Grace was never gonna take that shit again. She took the mask off of her steward’s head, pick the head up by a handful of his hair and raised it into the sky. “APEX! Check the warehouse for anything that we can use. They’ll send in reinforcements. We’ve gotta move out, but we’ve built this place. We don’t leave here empty handed!”

152, 747 and 808 came with phones, laptops, and files from the office. Other kids came with weapons, money, drugs. “Good haul, Apex... Where’s 214?” She couldn’t find him. They had to leave without him, but she vowed to herself to come back after it was less heavy. The police were definitely headed that way. They took a van. 747 was behind the wheel and 152 at the pedals. Some of the kids followed. Some had scattered, to be picked up and maybe taken home, maybe taken away. But when they got out of the van at the field across from where the woman that Grace called The Conductor had killed the steward, they decided to regroup in that spot. 

Xander and Heath had been right next to Grace when she rose as Apex leader. They had carved A’s like the Conductor’s into the backs of their necks, using the same knife that had stabbed off a head. Grace could still remember the adrenaline and the euphoria of looking at her brethren’s smiles and them looking at her, their savior, the one who made them free.

Not. Like. This. 

They had been painting the symbol on the doors whenever they took someone. Tonight’s target had been one of the original Apex stewards who escaped the revolt. He was also one who had stomped on Xander’s belly when he was 9 to get him in line. But, most notably, he had armed guards surveilling his property, because several of his old associates had been bagged and tagged.

They didn’t see them get in, but whenever they saw them moving around and they began firing into the house at the intruders, Heath was hit almost immediately. It happened so fast that Xander was sure it was instant - that he didn’t feel a thing. Grace wanted to try to check on him, to try to take him. He was gone. Xander couldn’t lose her too. He grabbed her and dragged her out. Apex sticks together. They had to leave him behind.

Mistakes. Were. Made.

Heath should’ve stayed in the van. She let him get out because “Xan’s my bro. I have to be there for him,” and she was a softie for letting old Apex kids get the justice that satisfied them. She never should have let him. She should have told him no. That only she and Xander infiltrate and incapacitate. That’s how it always was, but she let her emotions give him a shot, and he got shot.

Things. Went. Wrong.

08. Night Cap

[sage-nebula]

i know you don't ship it but do you think mairin could have a crush on alain? it seemed that way to me she did when i watched the xy anime

Yeah, I think reading Manon as having a precocious crush on Alan is a valid read given certain behaviors of hers in canon, from how she stalks him to how she clings to his arm in the group photo in the end, to how she latches onto his arm to pull him into dancing with her at that showcase celebration. I don’t think her “you’re exactly my type!” line in TSME 1 was meant in a romantic way, and it’s notable that she did not blush at all when she told Lysandre that she wasn’t Alan’s girlfriend in TSME 2, since PokéAni usually has characters who do have crushes blush when they make denials (e.g. Misty when Daisy told her to “pick a cuter kid” in “The Waterflowers of Ceruelan City” and both Ash and Misty when Team Rocket joked about them ditching Brock to elope in “A Scare in the Air”). But even so, I think that if someone wanted to say that Manon had a precocious crush on Alan, they could still make their case, particularly with all of the literal clinging she does at the end of the series.

But with all that said, Manon having a precocious crush isn’t an issue. Lots of kids get precocious crushes on people older than them; it’s a part of growing up for people who aren’t on the aro/ace spectrum. Heck, in the OS Misty got a crush on Danny in the Orange Islands, and he was a whole ass adult. It happens. What would be an issue is if Alan returned feelings for Manon, because he’s absolutely too old for her. Thankfully, there is absolutely nothing in canon to suggest Alan’s feelings for Manon are anything but platonic, so his character remains untarnished and we can all breathe a sigh of relief. (And yes, I do mean it when I say there’s nothing in canon to suggest that Alan is a creep who cares for Manon in anything but a platonic way. Manon is one of Alan’s precious people, yes, but she’s grouped in with Professor Sycamore, who is Alan’s father-figure. Sliding Manon in there with them to make a little family unit makes Manon like a little sister to Alan, something that’s strengthened even more in that very dancing scene by having Bonnie tugging on Sycamore to get him to dance with her. Alan’s precious people are his family; there’s nothing romantic about it and it was pretty smart on the writers’ part to make sure that Sycamore’s importance was there from the get-go, so that no creepiness could be attributed to Alan’s feelings.)

So yes, Manon might have a precocious crush, but Alan definitely doesn’t return it, and couldn’t without being a disgusting creep. He’s flat out too old for her. While he’s not an adult, as a 15 year old he’s no longer in Manon’s age demographic (especially since Manon is written as even younger than the 10 she’s supposed to be, but that’s a different discussion). At their current ages, she would be in elementary school while he’d be a couple years shy of graduating high school. She’d be in junior high when he’d be in college. He could finish a master’s degree before she even graduates high school. They’re at different stages in their lives and while it’s understandable that Manon could have a precocious crush on a cool older boy who looks out for and protects her, it would be creepy, weird, and gross if said older boy looked at a vulnerable little girl and had a crush right back. Again, thankfully that isn’t the case here.

And while you might argue, “Well, eventually they’ll be adults!” that argument doesn’t work here because they remain in each other’s lives. Even if the series had ended differently and Alan had stayed home to rest and recover a while before heading out again while Manon resumed her journey by herself, I think most would agree with me that they’d still talk on the phone regularly, she’d come back by the lab to visit, they might take a trip somewhere together a couple months down the road, et cetera. And because they’d remain in each other’s lives, not only would Alan absolutely have an influence in how Manon grows (not to the point where it’d be considered raising her, of course, but she clearly looks up to him a great deal and takes his words to heart), but he’s also never going to be able to stop seeing her as a kid. You never notice just how much someone grows when you see them all the time; it’s like the years aren’t really passing at all. What would seem like a drastic change to someone who doesn’t see that person all the time won’t even register in your brain. And what this means is that the fundamental foundation of their relationship isn’t going to change, especially since that foundation was formed during such formative years (and during such a formative time) in their lives. Even when they’re both adults and Manon is perfectly capable of taking care of herself, to Alan, she’ll still be his kid sister. Sure, consciously he’ll know she’s an adult, but that won’t change how he feels. It’s like how loving parents view their kids as their babies still even after said kids are well into adulthood. It’s how I know that my nephew has graduated high school, but he’s still a baby to me. It’s just how the human brain works.

So while a time skip romance could work for say, Dawn and Cilan, since they only met each other once and for a very brief period and then (as far as we know) never spoke again after that, it can’t work for Alan and Manon, because Alan and Manon remain as constant presences in each other’s lives. If they parted ways at the end of XY&Z and then never exchanged a single word for the next 20 years after that, then while I still personally wouldn’t like it, at least it wouldn’t be creepy anymore. But since we can all agree that is very much not the case, a romance between them absolutely would be creepy and would make Alan look very, very bad. Again, though, we can thank all our lucky stars that isn’t the case and that Alan’s feelings for Manon were shown to be platonic through and through. (Also, no, I don’t ship Dawn and Cilan, they were just the first 10 & 15 match I thought of wherein they met very briefly then never again afterward. Clemont and Cilan could also be used as an example, or Sophocles and Brock, etc.)

As a final note, if Manon did have a precocious crush on Alan and it came out in some way (either through her directly confessing, or maybe she tries to claim Alan as her boyfriend to someone and he overhears, etc), then while Alan is a very direct and honest person, I do think that he would let her down gently, and that it would actually be similar to how Wendy let Dipper down in Gravity Falls. Even the age difference is similar there, with the exception that while Wendy is the same age as Alan (15), Dipper is actually a little older than Manon (12). But I imagine the conversation would be very similar. He’s too old for her, but she still means a lot to him and always will, and he might even throw in how he views her as his family and how much that means to him since family was all he ever wanted as a kid. And while Manon might still be sad for a little while at first, I think seeing how much she sincerely means to Alan would help ease that, and eventually she’d grow up, move past her crush, and they’d be the dynamic siblings they were always meant to be.

And as a bonus: while Alan wouldn’t be one to give shovel talks because he doesn’t like to interfere in other people’s personal lives, he also doesn’t have to open his mouth to be intimidating and neither does Lizardon. I don’t think Manon would have to worry about any potential future partners hurting her. I’m pretty sure they would be way too scared to once they learned who her big brother was, even if he didn’t say anything to them at all. 

[komahinasecretexchange]

Title: London

Author: @entraptantrum

For: @emptyfishtanks

Rating/Warnings: For general audiences, mild violence/nondescript stabbing.

Prompt: Komahina travelling to cool places!

Author’s notes: I really hope that you enjoyed this fanfiction! I hope you’re having a lovely holiday. This was very fun to write! Thank you for the cool prompt!

The airport was almost overwhelmingly busy. There were so many people, all with different appearances and personalities, which made themselves apparent in their manner of presentation. Some walked funny, some sang songs to themselves, but it was immediately clear just by looking at them that they all had somewhere to be.

The announcer was speaking over the intercom, making bold, loud speech rumble throughout the building, as if the word of God himself was thundering through. It obviously wasn’t, but the idea was at least somewhat interesting to imagine.

Aeroplanes took off outside the window, their brilliant white wings carving into the clouds as they ascended through them like enormous metal angels.

Despite all of this, all that Hinata could focus on was the fact that Komaeda was standing painfully close to him. Their shoulders were brushing against each other in quite a subtle way- nearly enough to not even be noticeable. But Hinata noticed. He was almost always dreadfully aware of the distance between them. Like his mind would stop running if he wasn’t monitoring Komaeda at all times.

“Hm?” he jumped slightly as Komaeda tugged at his sleeve.

“Hinata-Kun, were you even listening?” he asked, voice free of the accusatory tone that would ring in the voice of literally anyone else. Komaeda then laughed, amused by the utterly bewildered expression displayed across Hinata’s features.

The latter flushed, feeling the heat of sheepish embarrassment against the back of his neck. “I- oh- I guess not. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I don’t blame you for not listening. Trash like me…probably isn’t deserving of having his voice heard. I was just asking if we should get back to the rest of the class.”

“Why? Don’t we still have time?”

Komaeda fished his cellphone out of his pocket and brought it up to show Hinata, the blaring screen lighting up like the morning sky when he pressed a button. The phone buzzed, joining the series of ‘New Message!’ alerts that had already been hanging around the screen, making it 10. All from Souda.

“WHERE THE FUCK ARE YA? Off snogging?”

Hinata cringed slightly, noting the way that Komaeda’s pale cheeks turned the faintest shade of pink as he read the message. “At least he’s being on topic. ‘Snogging’. We are in London, after all.”

“Heh, yeah. That’s our Souda, always appropriate for the situation,” Komaeda chirped, voice empty of any malice or sarcasm that could be expected from such a comment.

Hinata glanced at his face, taking a moment to appreciate how…brightly he always seemed to smile, before narrowing his eyes into a sharp glare. No way was he thinking…that about Komaeda. No way.

“Is something wrong, Hinata-Kun? You’re looking at me funny…”

“Gah,” Hinata shook his head, feeling unusually hot. “It’s…nothing.”

“If it’s important to you, it’s hardly nothing, but if you want me to drop the subject, I will,” Komaeda said with a curt nod, appearing oddly dutiful.

Hinata gave him an odd glance before the white-haired boy shook his head and grabbed his sleeve, beginning to tug him in the direction from which they had come. Amongst the crowds, Hinata spotted a head of vivid pink hair and exhaled in anticipation of what was surely going to be a harsh greeting.

“Hinata! There you fuckin’ are!” Souda exclaimed, immediately reaching out to hook a forceful arm around Hinata’s unsuspecting neck. Giving a slight ‘oof’ of surprise, Hinata shot Komaeda a pitiful look as he was yanked into a one-armed hug by the overzealous-as-always Souda Kazuichi. “I’ve been looking all over for you!”

“What, why?” Hinata asked, wincing slightly as Souda refused to let go of him. “Did something happen? I thought we had plenty of time left before we had to go to the hotel.”

“We do! But…I have a CRISIS!” he yelped, pointing an accusatory finger to his right, tears prickling in the corners of his wide eyes. Hinata let out an exasperated breath, wondering why on earth he was even friends with Souda, then followed his finger to see Sonia and Tanaka talking.

“Oh…no?” Hinata said doubtfully, unsure of what exactly he was looking at.

“It’s terrible, isn’t it!

“I don’t get it,” Komaeda said, tilting his head to the side.

“What is there not to get?! That devilish serpent has wormed his way into my precious Miss Sonia’s heart!”

“‘Devilish serpent’?” Hinata shook his head. “Now you sound like-”

“Don’t say it,” Souda hissed, a warning fire burning in his eyes as he aimed a sharp expression of distaste at his soul friend.

“H-hey, take it easy, Souda,” Hajime said, lifting his hands before himself as if in defence. He’d never really admit it, but up close (especially when he was trying to be threatening) Kazuichi’s teeth really did look awfully creepy…

All at once, the fire in his eyes blinked out and a blinding grin graced Souda’s features once more. “As if I’d hurt my soul friend!” he chuckled, once again heaving an arm over Hinata’s shoulders, other hand flying up to ruffle his hair.

“Hey!” Hinata scowled, face turning red from the humiliation. A few people at the airport turned to look at the two foreigners shrieking in Japanese, curiosity creeping into their expressions before they shrugged it off and returned to their activities. Humans had remarkably short and unforgiving attention spans, didn’t they?

“So what if Sonia-San is talking to Tanaka-San?” Komaeda asked, eyes not moving away from the chattering pair. “It just means that they’re friends and friendships strengthen to overcome any despair. I think that’s rather hopeful, don’t you, Souda-San?”

“I told you, just ‘Souda’ is fine,” Kazuichi grumbled, stepping away from Hinata. “And you can stop blabbering on about hope already!” he shrieked. Komaeda’s smile was unwavering, however, and he simply shook his head with closed lips. “She’s probably forgotten all about me, talking to him,” he groaned, slapping his palms to his face in defeat.

“Dude, don’t be so glum,” Hinata began, sympathetically rolling his eyes. He placed a hand on Souda’s shoulder. “Even if she doesn’t like you, there’s plenty of girls out there.”

“But none of them are Miss Sonia,” Souda mumbled

Hinata’s pursed his lips into a thin line, feeling that his friend was acting rather immature. “Have you even tried talking to her yet? You know, asking her to hang out or something?”

“…No?”

“Then why are you complaining? She hasn’t even rejected you properly yet,” Hinata said. Though, judging by the way Sonia frequently avoided Souda, she didn’t have to. “Go and talk to her. Try to just be nice. Be her friend first.”

Souda puffed out his chest, nodding eagerly. “Yes! You’re right! See, this is why you’re my Super High School Level Best Bud!” he laughed, once again reaching over and ruffling Hinata’s hair, ignoring his indignant yelps, and bounding off to the vending machine.

Hajime sighed, watching as he shoved in a bunch of coins and collected up the British sweets that dropped down into the bottom. He ran up to Sonia, who turned towards him with a slightly pained smile.

“Since when are you so knowledgeable in romantic endeavours, Hinata-Kun? Are you particularly experienced?” Komaeda asked. Hinata didn’t miss the slightly sly tone that snuck into his tone, disguised under his usual bright smile.

Immediately flustered, Hinata floundered to cover his tracks. He crossed his arms, feeling his face redden. “Ah! No, no, it’s not like that!” he rambled sheepishly. “I just- you know- it’s just, like- ah-”

Komaeda let out a merciless laugh, his whole face lighting up as he watched Hinata struggle. “Calm down. I’m only joking.”

Hinata grumbled to himself, before turning back to watch Souda present Sonia with the sweets. To his great surprise, her face lit up and she sang her praises to Souda, who was turning a delightful shade of pink to matched his hair.

Heartbeat still refusing to return to normal, Hinata let out a slight gasp when Komaeda nudged his side. “Your advice seems to be working,” he said in an uncharacteristically low voice. Hinata felt his breath against his ear, shivering slightly before Sensei’s voice rang out and shattered the peculiar atmosphere.

“Class 77-B! Please gather! We’re taking a register before piling into the taxis and going over to the hotel! We’re then taking a short break, then heading off to sightsee! Isn’t that exciting?” Yukizome-Sensei announced, loud enough for any students in the vicinity to overhear.

“Well, we should probably go meet up with everyone else, now,” Komaeda said, voice back to normal. Hinata’s state wasn’t, though, so he could only nod, before following Nagito to the front of the airport.

Everyone else soon followed, brilliant grins upon their faces as they chattered about the prospect of enjoying the city. It was quite exciting! None of them had really ever journeyed that much, except Sonia, of course, so it was quite lucky that the school had offered an end-of-year trip to the entire year group. To London of all places, too! Sonia wouldn’t shut up about how they would all love it so much.

The royal family was supposedly delightful.

A hoard of bodyguards followed after the students, one to a prearranged minivan taxi. There wasn’t much room in the cars, so Hinata was left shoved into his seat, body uncomfortably close to Komaeda. Needless to say, his face would not be cooling down anytime soon.

What was it about his weirdo friend that sent him into a fever every time he was remotely close to him?

Tsumiki, Souda and Kuzuryu entered the minivan too, sitting in the seats before Komaeda, Hinata and the bodyguard. It was strange that they had to be watched when out on something simple like a school trip, but of course, they were all quite important people. Especially the princess amongst them.

“Oh, d-dear!” Tsumiki immediately squeaked, pressing her hand to Hinata’s forehead. “Hinata-Kun! You’re burning up! A-are you sick? I’m so sorry! P-please don’t be angry at me! I knew I should have paid better a-attention to you! You’re not used to the s-sudden London cold, are you? Ah! I’m s-so s-sorry, so sorry-”

“Tsumiki-Chan, it’s really okay,” Hinata said nervously, gently prying her hand away from his forehead. “It’s not a fever, it’s just-” his gaze nervously flicked towards Komaeda, who was thankfully too busy staring out of the window to notice. “I’m just a bit embarrassed with the bodyguard here, is all.”

“Are you sure? I’m s-still going to get a good look at you when we g-go to the hotel. I’m so sorry!” she bowed her head, hands clasped in her lap.

“Oi! Tsumiki, Hinata’s fine, he probably just got a good look at some cute lady! Am I right?” Souda grinned, showing Hinata a thumbs up. “Atta lad!”

Kuzuryu elbowed Souda in the ribs forcefully. “Stop being such an idiot, Souda.”

“What!? What did I do now?”

“If you really can’t tell, that’s really on you,” he said, before crossing his arms and shooting Hinata and Komaeda a meaningful look that Hinata really didn’t like the implications of. He shook his head, staring out of the window like Komaeda as his friends bickered in the cab.

“Oh! You’ll never guess what happened!” Souda finally shrieked, grabbing the attention of everyone present. “Miss Sonia- agreed to a date!”

“What, really?” Komaeda asked, eyes widened. His face broke out into a wide smile. “Good on you, Souda-Kun!”

“No way she agreed to go on a date with a bozo like you,” Kuzuryu scoffed, while Mikan trembled in the corner.

“N-no offence, but-”

“Oi! You’re gonna say something mean, huh? You too, Tsumiki!? Whenever someone starts with, ‘no offence,’ you know it’s gonna be rude,” Souda frowned, crossing his arms with a pout. “And…well, it wasn’t exactly a date. She said she’d agree to hang out with me…but Tanaka’s coming too. Still! I’m sure she’ll ditch him once she’s charmed by me and my looks and humour!” he cheered, wiggling his eyebrows in a very un-charming manner.

Everyone groaned.

-

It wasn’t too long after that before the class arrived at the hotel, clambering over each other to push themselves out of cabs, yelping at they got accidentally slapped in the face by each other’s flailing limbs. Souda was the first out of the car after kneeing Kuzuryu in the stomach and pushing past him.

“You’re gonna pay for that, Souda!” the yakuza shouted after him as Souda sprinted into the hotel, barely managing in time to hide behind Yukizome as Kuzuryu drew closer.

Hinata rolled his eyes, opting to exit out of the other set of car doors instead. He held them open for a shaking Tsumiki, who would not stop spluttering gratitude despite the insignificant nature of the action, and Komaeda, who graciously thanked him and waited for them to enter the hotel together.

The other half of the class, consisting of Naegi, Togami, Kirigiri and that lot, arrived shortly after Hinata’s class did. Makoto was at the front of the class, chattering eagerly with his friends, while Kirigiri and Togami listened intently with similar levels of affection. It was strange how two people as cold as them could break down their masks in front of someone like Naegi.

Taking a glance at Komaeda, Hinata sighed and wished that someone would think the same of him.

It wasn’t that there was anything particularly wrong with their relationship. On the contrary, Hinata considered Komaeda to be his best friend, despite all of his…quirks. He was a strange individual with terrible social skills. He could never tell if what he was saying was meant to be an insult or a compliment and sometimes, Hinata wondered if Komaeda even knew the difference between the two. He had a dark sense of humour and made jokes at the most inappropriate times- Hinata was sure he’d try to crack one at a funeral one day.

He was insanely intelligent though. And so quick-witted. Even without his luck, Hajime was certain that he’d achieve so much in life, just riding by on his enormous brain.

Most of their classmates considered him crazy. Hinata thought about this as their sensei signed them all in at the reception.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t see why they thought this of him- he certainly acted insane at times. What with his delirious speeches on hope and despair and the delicate balance between the two, how any act in the name of hope could be justified, even murder.

Hajime wished he could break past this mask that he had put up and get to know the real Komaeda. Get to know his emotions past the usual blank smile.

He glanced at his friend, who looked back with an eager grin. There it was again. Hinata flashed him a half-hearted one of his own, then turned back to stare at the floor, wistfully carrying himself off to fantasies where Komaeda was easy to understand.

Once Yukizome signed them all in, the class flooded into their rooms, each of which contained four queen-sized beds and a bathroom. It was a luxury hotel, afterall. Hinata, Komaeda, Souda and Kuzuryu all shared a room, as before the trip had even taken place, the teachers gave the kids a chance to room together with their friends. Those who didn’t sign up to pick were just placed in random with their classmates.

Souda hopped onto his bed and straightaway began jumping up and down on it, bouncing like a rambunctious mouse.

“Get down from there before you break it, dumbass,” Kuzuryu shouted at Souda, shaking his fist at him like a deranged old man. “I certainly won’t take the blame when Yukizome-Sensei comes asking.”

Souda grimaced, then dropped into a cross-legged seated position on the bed. He blew a raspberry in Kuzuryu’s direction. “You’re completely no fun! It’s like everything I do- there you are ruining my joy.”

Komaeda flopped down onto Hinata’s bed, resting his head in his hands. “We have free reign over London now, Hinata-Kun. Would you mind if I tagged along with wherever you’re going?”

Hinata eagerly nodded, sitting down opposite his best friend. “Of course! You know I lov- like spending time with you,” he said, somewhat sheepishly towards the end.

Komaeda beamed; a beautiful smile that sent shivers through Hinata’s heart- for some odd reason. Hinata shook his head, then smiled to himself absentmindedly.

“Is…there something on my face?” Komaeda frowned, a puzzled look creeping over his features.

Eyes widening as he realised he’d been staring again, Hinata choked. “Ah- uh- no- there was just- you know- It’s nothing.”

Komaeda tilted his head to the side, curls swaying in time with the motion, before closing his eyes and nodding with acceptance. “If you say so. I trust you, Hinata-Kun.”

Such a remark didn’t have to send electric sparks through Hinata’s brain, and yet it did. It did so immensely.

“Right,” he said, in a somewhat restrained manner. Now was not the time to be behaving like a complete and utter weirdo.

-

Later, the two left the hotel room, pockets weighed down with the allowance of British pounds that the school gave them for their trip, varying levels of excitement discernable in their expressions. Hinata’s disposition was edged with anxiety, the awkward kind that always seemed visible with him, while Komaeda’s face was decorated with an exuberant grin that on him, was quite unsettling. Or so many said.

They decided to visit bustling market first, as per Komaeda’s suggestion. It would be easy to get lost, Hinata thought with distaste, not quite liking the idea of wandering around an overcrowded market without his friend there with him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right by your side,” Komaeda assured him with a small laugh, which he tried to stifle by covering his mouth with his hand. Cute.

“What if you get lost?” Hinata asked accusingly, dismissing the previous embarrassing thought. Komaeda was not cute. Well, under certain lights Hinata supposed he looked decent and he could understand why some girls might be into him but it was not like Hinata was interested-

“Why don’t I hold onto your sleeve then? So neither of us wanders off,” Komaeda suggested as they reached the entrance to the market.

Hinata shrugged, but held out his arm for Komaeda to loosely tug at anyway. He tried not to think about how they were almost holding hands.

They ventured into the market, which was packed with people- the air thick with the stench of bustling humanity. People that reeked of smoke, perfume or food all milled around the two boys, who stuck close together out of necessity- you know, to not get lost.

The entire place was so colourful it almost made Hinata’s eyes hurt. There were oceans of jewel-tone fruits positioned like soldiers on the front lines in baskets by fruit stalls- pink, tender pig’s flesh hanging on glinting silver hooks from the tops of the tents- gleaming minerals stacked together by a witch’s shop along with swaying pendulums and pentacles that looked an awful lot like eyes.

Komaeda and Hinata approached the witch’s stall by Komaeda’s request. The lady sitting by the table had a beautiful silk red scarf draped over her head, the ends decked out with silver tassles. Her eyes were twinkly and green, while her hair remained a vibrant pink with only a few grey streaks. She strangely reminded Hinata of a wiser, kinder-looking Souda.

“Look, Hinata-Kun! Aren’t they so pretty?” Komaeda asked, pointing at the rows of gemstone necklaces and bracelets.

The lady chuckled, before picking out two pale pink bracelets. “Ah, I’m assuming rose quartz for the pair of you?”

Hinata’s eyebrows shot up in pleasant surprise. “You speak Japanese?” He glanced at Komaeda to see his reaction, surprised to see his face turning bright, beetroot red. He had let go of Hinata’s sleeve, keeping his hands to himself, close to his chest.

“Ah, no, actually,” he spluttered.

Hinata raised an eyebrow. “What? Are you okay?” he asked with concern, placing a hand gently against his forehead. Uncharacteristically, Komaeda batted his hands away.

“I’m fine,” he assured Hinata, though he still sounded flustered. The lady sighed, then nodded with understanding.

“I see. My mistake.”

“But…I would like that peridot necklace,” Komaeda hummed thoughtfully. The woman eyed Hinata over the brim of her glasses, then nodded decidedly, packaging up the necklace while Komaeda payed. He thanked the lady then gingerly tugged at Hinata’s sleeve once again.

“Why’d you choose that one?” Hinata asked, honestly to make smalltalk.

Komaeda stared at him long and hard, before shaking his head with a slight laugh. “I just…it reminds me of something pretty.”

Slightly puzzled by this response, Hinata tilted his head to the side slightly, but said nothing more. They visited several more stalls, before finally deciding to head out of the market.

They were just about to exit, when Hinata spotted a group of children barrelling towards him and Komaeda. Letting out a quick gasp, he grabbed Komaeda’s hand and pulled him to the side to avoid being knocked over. Komaeda sucked in a surprised breath, before stepping closer to Hinata instinctively.

They were a few inches apart now, hands tightly clasped together between them.

Hinata’s heart sped up as he realised how truly close he was to his best friend. He could feel Komaeda’s soft breathing against his lips and the way that he lightly squeezed Hinata’s hand, as if afraid he’d run away. As if Hinata would ever.

He knew he should step away, but no force on Earth could have compelled him to move in that moment, when the busy market fizzled away like bubbles in a bath.

“Sorry- I- uh- was just trying to get away before the kids- they were running. And stuff,” Hinata frantically explained. It was a difficult thing to do, as he was completely mesmerised by Komaeda’s eyes. They were- for lack of a better word- absolutely beautiful. Swirling, glittering grey, like a storm with lightning crackling behind the storms. Or a witch’s dark cauldron where something nefarious was brewing. It was absolutely enchanting.

Komaeda reached up a hand, as if to gently touch Hinata’s cheek, before a hesitant expression took its place in his face and he let his hand drop. “Right. Well- we should probably leave before we get knocked over by someone else.”

Hinata nodded, feeling his heart still thudding away in his chest. He lead Komaeda out of the market, before they stood together and tried to decide what to do next. Hinata was well aware of the fact that they were still holding hands.

-

They went to grab something to eat, then journeyed back towards the hotel when it was getting dark. The streetlamps were luridly shining, nearly blinding with their buttery yellow light. Komaeda walked closer to the inside of the street, as with his luck- a car would come speeding through and knock right into him. Of course, with the other side of the coin, he’d meet a producer at the hospital who’d want to publish a musical about his life, which would make him famous and rich.

Walking on the inside of the road wouldn’t really stop a speeding car, but at the very least, it made Komaeda feel safer, which was a good enough justification for Hinata.

A man turned the corner and began nearing the boys. His face was majorly obscured by his hat and scarf, though his hooked nose protruded out like a bird’s beak, visible despite the coverings. His hands were in his pockets, which were sewn onto a large trench coat that covered his entire frame, making his figure impossible to discern.

Komaeda and Hinata chatted about one thing or the other, though Hinata wasn’t really listening. He was too focused on the proximity between the two and the way that his fingers seemed to brush Komaeda’s at each footstep. Would it be appropriate to take his hand again? Probably not, Hinata thought resentfully. It would be strange to just grab his hand out of nowhere, especially when he had no excuse to do so.

When the man passed them, it took Hinata a moment to realise that Komaeda was lagging behind. He turned around, then felt his blood run cold.

The man had his arm wrapped around Komaeda’s body, a gleaming knife pressed to his throat. Hinata’s stomach turned in upon itself, writhing in the adrenaline that coursed its way through his body. He bit his tongue, swallowing hard as he raised his hands and took a step back.

His English was limited, but he could understand perfectly when the man said, “Give me your phone, your money and anything else, or I kill him.”

Hinata’s hands scrambled for his pockets, ready to give anything the man wanted in return for Komaeda. Random madmen on the street were not to be bargained with, he decided in that moment. Not when someone like Nagito was in danger.

“Don’t bother, Hinata-Kun,” Komaeda’s voice rang out. “I’m not worth it. Even if he kills me…I’m willing to just be a stepping stone so that you can get away. Maybe…maybe my death will even inspire hope back amongst our classmates. Bring them together. I’m not worth your belongings, Hinata-Kun.”

“Stop whispering in whatever the fuck language that is,” the man gruffly ordered, his brusque, acerbic disposition making itself very apparent. “Just hand over the belongings.”

“Let me me a stepping stone…” Komaeda muttered, before yelping slightly as the blade dug deeper into the pale skin over his neck.

Hinata was horrified at Komaeda’s words. How could he say stuff like that? Hinata was perhaps realising why his classmates called Komaeda insane. His heart pounding in his ears, hands shaking, he took his phone out of his pocket and reached over to hand it to the man.

As he reached to grab the phone, Hinata got a good look at his face. His eyes were sunken in and his skin was droopy and wrinkled. There was not a single trace of merry youth in his eyes, which were dull and grey like the concrete below their feet. He looked old, perhaps a druggie, too.

Either way, Hinata made a split second decision. He dropped his phone onto the ground. The man looked temporarily stunned, eyes following the phone to the floor, giving Hinata a precious moment to enact his impulsive plan.

He grabbed the arm holding the knife, then twisted it from around Komaeda and against his back, causing the man to let out a shriek of agony. Hinata pried the knife from his disgusting grip, then, trembling slightly, stepped back, pointing it at the man as if it were a gun.

When the man recovered and went to round on the boys, Hinata closed his eyes and rammed the knife forward, propelling it into the stranger’s hand. He let out a screech.

“Come on!” Hinata yelled, grabbing Komaeda’s arm and yanking him forward, running with him down the street until they were far away enough that the man wouldn’t catch them.

They both slowed, able to see the hotel in the distance. Breathing heavily, Komaeda turned towards Hinata, brows furrowed.

“Hinata-Kun, you shouldn’t have done that. What if there were cameras? You’ll get into trouble.”

Breath heaving at a similar pace, Hinata stood up straight, glaring at Komaeda. “So what? He was trying to hurt you.”

Komaeda shook his head, as if in disappointment. “Hinata-Kun…I’m not worth it. I’m just meant to be a stepping stone to the true, pure, beautiful hope inside each of you. I’m not…I’m not special in that way.”

“What the hell are you on about?” Hinata asked, frustration mounting. “Of course you’re special. Of course you matter. You life is just as precious as mine. It doesn’t matter if I get in trouble, because I was defending you. I’m glad to get into trouble if it was for a noble cause.”

“You…it doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t have done that. You should have let him kill me. He was crazy enough to do it. Imagine the hope that it would inspire-”

“Don’t you see?” Hinata stepped forward, arms shaking at his sides, both from anger and residual fear. “The hope wouldn’t mean anything if you weren’t here.”

“Why do you care so much about a nobody like me, Hinata-Kun? Why do you bother to hang out with me when…when nobody else would. Why do you stick around as if I matter? Are you foolish, or are you perhaps brave? Are you wiser than even I gave you credit for? Why do you do these things. I just can’t figure you out.” Tears were streaming down his face at this point, irregular, shiny lines down his face that glistened in the lamp light. “I don’t matter. I don’t matter at all. It doesn’t matter whether I live or die. All that matters is that everyone else is okay. I never mattered.

You shouldn’t care about me, Hinata-Kun. You should care about somebody who’s worth it. Somebody who isn’t a garbage human worthy of being naught but a stepping stone. I-”

Komaeda suddenly stopped, silenced by Hinata’s mouth against his. It was a gentle kiss- their lips barely touching, brushing against each other like blossoms in the wind. It sent electricity down Hinata’s spine and he shivered, reaching up a hand to cup Komaeda’s cheek.

He pulled away, face flushed. “You matter to me, Komaeda. I care about you. You mean so much to me, more than you realise. You’re…I could spend hours talking about how much you mean to me. How much you make me care about you.”

Komaeda’s eyes were wide and he blinked back the falling tears to no avail. He lifted his hand and placed it on Hinata’s, lacing their fingers together and pulling his hand down towards his chest. Hinata could feel Komaeda’s heartbeat, rhythmic and fast. Like an excited dance by a group of overzealous performers.

“Hinata-Kun…I don’t know what to say…”

“Then don’t say anything. Just stop talking bad about yourself. You- you deserve to live. Had…had I lost you back there…I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. You matter, Komaeda.”

Komaeda blushed, looking away from Hinata with red dusting his cheeks, a colour that stood out beautifully against his pale complexion. “Hinata…you’re…you’re too good for me.”

“We’re good enough for each other, I think,” Hinata said with a soft smile. Komaeda looked momentarily stunned, before letting out a small laugh, matching Hinata’s smile.

-

Later that night, after the excitement of the day, Hinata and Komaeda lay in their hotel room, unable to fall asleep. Kuzuryu and Souda were both snoring loudly in their beds like trumpets.

Komaeda lazily turned in his bed, facing Hinata. He smiled at him, before shyly looking away, probably remembering the moments outside of the hotel earlier. Hinata thought he looked cute when slightly shy. Suddenly feeling bold, bolder than usual, Hinata pulled his covers off himself and walked over to Komaeda’s bedside.

“Budge over,” he instructed in a whisper.

Komaeda obliged, though he looked a bit confused. Hinata climbed into his bed, wrapping his arms around Komaeda’s waist.

“Hinata, what if Souda and Kuzuryu wake up?”

“They got in at 3am today, they’re not waking up for a while,” Hinata said dismissively, an odd sort of smile playing at his lips. Komaeda grinned, stupidly happy for his friend’s insistence. He reached up a hand and brushed his thumb against Hinata’s jaw, before leaning forward and pressing his lips to his.

The End.

[darkmindsotome]

Obey me! Oc + HC

Thanks to @lxvescramble​ for their post HERE and their fun suggestion I ended up playing around as well and this is what I came up with. Dollmaker link here

Darkmindsotome Masterlist

Obey Me OC : Andromeda (Andi) Mundi plus HC of how the brothers react / interact with them.

Andi actually quite likes her name but it was a little bit of a mouthful when people were trying to call her so it became shorter by necessity. You might ask why such a good little girl would require such consideration and be given a nickname as a requirement. Well, that is because naturally curious Andi also gets bored easily. Not really an issue until she decides to get up to mischief. You see a good girl, in this case, is just someone who hasn’t been caught yet. Andi is a master of avoiding reprimands in the human world but in Devildom? She is a child who adores chaos and you can bet if Lucifer finds his hands full keeping Mammon in check, then Andi is simply going to add to that headache. That being said she never actually does anything intentionally terrible; it is all small pranks to break up the peaceful boredom. She enjoys reading and playing games.

Reactions and Interactions with the new Human:

Mammon: First thought of her as a big pain in the ass. I mean this whole exchange thing seemed like a great idea and everything (Plus no one was going to say no to Diavolo). Spent the first few days avoiding her like she was infectious until he was ordered by Lucifer to figure out who had broken into her locker at RAD and put a bunch of snapdragons in it. (Snapdragons are a weed in Devildom and not only snap they bite and leave nasty burns). He figured out who had done it and beat them up. Now he thinks of her as another sibling and she is basically his cute and adorable Lil Sis. He melts when she gives him puppy eyes and begs him for things. She gave him a scarf as a gift looking adorable when she did because it suddenly occurred to her it wasn’t like Devildom is cold or anything. It is not his most prized possession. (Asmo tried to borrow it once and nearly lost his manicures). Mammon went from running away from, to running to the human quickly and gets hellishly protective.

Leviathan: This shut-in hardly noticed her, that was his story and he stuck to it for a whole week. She was quiet and such a normie, he actually couldn’t stop checking her out in a very awkward way. She looked completely lost in the library in RAD. She was trying to carry a stack of books that was nearly as big as she was. He couldn’t stop thinking it was so cute like something from an anime or manga. He caught the pile as it began to tip before she could even cry out and he blushed the minute they made eye contact. Finds out as much as he is a super fan she is actually really into some manga’s and things from the human world he hadn’t even heard of and agrees to swap copies of them with him. (This is definitely a trope right? Yeah, it’s a trope and the boy is living his dream right now). He overhears Lucifer offering to help her with studies and immediately goes to her room later that night to ask if he can help her instead. He finds out that she finds it hard to focus when there isn’t noise around her so he drags in some games and things into her room. If Andi wants noise and distractions in the background in order to work he can do that, in a very Levi way. He now plays all of his RPG 1st player shooters in her room while she studies. (Not that he is worried about what will happen if her grades slip or anything).

Asmodeus: Was overjoyed they got a girl living with them, even if it had meant a lecture from Lucifer about inappropriate behaviour and respectful distancing. He finally had someone to go on dates in town with that wasn’t going to complain about the 4hrs in Majolish where he was picking out dresses that all looked exactly the same. (There were differences in fabric, cut, stitching and each one accentuated a different part of his already perfect body, how could you not want to try them all?). From day one realised she hardly did anything with her own hair after washing and brushing. He felt it his duty to inform her of all the beauty rituals he could which was met with about as much enthusiasm from Andi as red-hot needles in the eyes. She relented seeing how happy it made him promising to at least let him do her hair and nails for her sometimes. When it’s the weekends he tracks her down and sits behind her playing with her hair. It really was such fun having a girl in the house.

Beelzebub: You know this boy loves family and takes to her in a heartbeat. He listens to Andi talk about life in the human world, her life in foster care and finds it all amazing. (There are humans who take in other humans children to provide care and shelter for them until they are old enough to survive alone?) She's so small though he is worried he'll crush her, and he has to stop himself from hugging her several times when she makes him very happy handing him snacks in class. He really wants to show her he appreciates her thoughtfulness and never finds the chance to repay her kindness. After she screamed at a spider on their walk home from RAD Andi threw herself so hard into his arms they both landed on the floor in a heap. Yes she was small and a human but dammit this was now his human and he would protect her from every creepy crawly in Devildom (There is a lot of them).

Belphegor: So these two didn’t have the warmest of first encounters. During one of his searches for a good place to nap, he wandered into Andi’s room and caught her changing clothes. There was a lot of screaming and he was hit in the face with several plushies and a shoe. (Andi wrapped a towel around herself and came out into the hallway to retrieve her shoe just as the rest of the brothers appeared. That was one hell of a day). His uncertainty of her faded a little after she apologised for attacking him. She had spoken to the others and heard about his sleep habits and prepared a few sleep aid gifts from the human world. (The wheat bag cow cuddle buddy is his fave). One night after dinner she grabbed his blanket and did a disappearing trick on him. It took him half an hour to find her and when he did she was curled up in his bed. He now curls up near her, not because he wants to always nap with her but because he is now afraid she will vanish on him.

Satan: Nose in a book always. Humans don't interest him that much as a whole but when this one arrived; she had several big thick novels he had never seen before. For a while, he had forgotten them as Andi was more focused on settling in than reading but he noticed her one night in the library in the house of lamentation and remembered them. He thought he would be sneaky and tried to position himself near her so he could read his book and attempt to sneak a peek over her shoulder at her books. Andi noticed and as much as Satan tried to deny his actions he was happy when she offered to share with him. They now have their own book club where they swap books and then meet up to have tea and cake and talk about them. (It’s a peaceful time he wouldn’t miss for the world).

Lucifer: Finds her to be a pain at times or more precisely an annoying distraction. When they first met, he made the assumption that she was simply a very sweet little human girl, a good girl. So when he found someone had put itching powder in his dress shirts and wet sponges in the toes of his slippers there was no way he thought it was her. (Not that punishing Mammon was something that was never a requirement but he did feel a little bad for doing it without reason). He has taken to watching her more closely as he clearly cannot take his eyes off her for more than a few hours before discovering she has found a way to convert her boredom into chaos. Nothing that she has ever done has been more than a minor inconvenience, to be honest, if this was the best the human world could offer then he could take it easily in stride. She has a cute apologetic look on her face that turns him to jelly, so it actually makes harsh punishments difficult to issue. (He simply cannot allow the others to see that sinfully adorable face). He has to work hard not to reveal the smile on his face as something other than sadistic when he hands her the mop and broom so she can scrub all the floors in the house as punishment.

"How come the human gets that and I get strung up from the ceiling upside down?" - Mammon "

"She's human they are delicate. Besides if he hung her upside down her skirt was fall over her ears and even Lucifer isn't that crude." - Levi

Diavolo: Let’s face it this Lord of Mischief adores the unpredictability of her. He has heard all the pranks she has pulled with the brothers and was only sad he was unable to get a front-row seat to the events. Of all the exchange students he is over the moon she was chosen as one of them, he now had another partner in crime. He laughed his crown off during an official dinner when one of the attending demons asked her a question that clearly made her feel very uncomfortable. Her wordplay was one of the things that had interested him from the start. When she is uneasy she deals with it by making sure the situation is as difficult for everyone else as possible too. (It's rather amusing to see the unflappable Barb and Lucifer getting flustered).

Barbatos: Found her one day during grocery shopping and took pity on her as she tried to figure out the difference between dried petrified hellshrooms and fresh. Devildom had a wide range of food available to purchase, it was one of the things Lord Diavolo insisted on before the exchange. So he found it strange that she should be trying to use ingredients that weren’t human. When she explained she was in charge of cooking dinner but she was a terrible cook he smiled and offered to help. (How bad could she really be?) He quickly discovered the girl can turn any food into a weapon and after nearly destroying the castle kitchen decided to tell her he would personally deliver food to the house on the days she was meant to cook. All she had to do was put it on plates and serve it.

[avenger-hawk]

i just read one of your asks about your future fics. have you considered writing about sasukes interactions with karin?? not sasukarin (but sasukarin is still a good ship!!) but i really like your karin meta and would love to see her in your fics, even if she isnt part of a ship!!

wow Anon I just realized in the last nice ask I received about my writing I forgot to mention a suisasu oneshot I started writing as a drabble here…I haven’t thought about writing something centered on Sasuke and Karin, usually I wrote about Team Taka as a team, as in my Team Taka headcanons here, here and in bits of In Power (ff.net/ ao3) and What He Wanted (ff.net/ ao3).

I know what you mean when you love a character like Karin and you want to see her more, even in a not shippy context. And I totally agree that SasuKarin really IS a good ship, the only worthy Sasuke ship with a girl, tbh. (I think Sasuino would be ok too but I’m not interested in it all all as I find it boring, and I prefer Saiino anyway).

(needless to say: SS shippers, don’t read, this is not for you. And since it’s properly tagged as anti, don’t bitch)

It’s only a matter of personal taste, I’m usually more interested in rarer pairings, and because when I think of Team Taka ships I’m more intrigued by suisasu and juusasu that in my opinion have room for both ‘healthy’ dynamics and darker ones. But if I weren’t so slow and full of future writing projects as you read, I’d totally like to write them. In fact, I’m gonna leave some random headcanons here cause I’m sorry I’m not able to write all the things I have in mind and you guys mention, AND because I’m so late replying to this ask that I feel guilty xD

My favourite things to read and write isn’t romance but dark stuff and hurt/comfort, so I would love some hurt/comfort between them, and there is a lot of possibility for this, just thinking about canon. I actually see SK hurt/comfort as canon behind the screen so you may have an idea already, both for shippy and non-shippy stuff.

For example, there’s nothing about Sasuke’s years at Otogakure but we know he was always with Orochimaru, not only training or taking poisons/drugs to get stronger, but also visiting other hideouts and assisting to his horrible experiments as well as seeing/meeting Suigetsu and Karin, mostly, as she was not a prisoner but a subordinate, kinda like Kabuto. She saw more about Sasuke than the others in Team Taka, and this may mean a lot of things. For example like in this fanart, inspired by that Karin-centric filler episode (I think 331) where she witnesses Orochimaru taking Sasuke in a dark room which seems quite creepy and may be interpreted as…eh, you get it. And there’s also Kabuto telling her that Sasuke sought Orochimaru, that he came her by his own choice…that, in this dark context, that he is ok with things being done to him (it’s the price for power). 

So it’s interesting to imagine Karin being more and more intrigued by this person, who saved her in the past, when they were genin, and who now came to her creepy leader that she knows very well, and ‘lets’ him do all sorts of things to him. Some random headcanons coming, more or less connected

-(tw: pain) Otogakure: she’s doing some work and she overhears someone moaning in pain, and she sees Sasuke shirtless, strapped to a table/bed and kind of squirming, as he’s been injected poison for his training and he’s clearly suffering.

(She takes his hand and tries to comfort him. She thinks he was in too much pain to remember but some time later he tells her ‘thank you. For being beside me that day’)

-(tw: r*pe) Orochimaru leaves the creepy room and tells her to heal Sasuke. When she enters she sees him battered bruised and bloodied everywhere, looking in pain and lost, defeated, and it’s easy to understand what happened, and that it’s neither a first nor a last time, but when he sees her he puts up a tough face, cause he doesn’t know her and he doesn’t know if he can trust her as maybe she’s like Kabuto. He can’t imagine that she (like in my Team Taka headcanons part 2) was r*ped too by Orochimaru, that most of his ‘most interesting subjects’ have been at least once. He’s the most special which means Oro always comes to him ‘to toughen him up’ and ‘train’ him or ‘just’ to be repayed for making him stronger, and he’s constantly manipulated by him (that he’s not as strong as Itachi, that he needs him to be stronger and defeat his brother, and so on) and she knows this. She, too, is wary of him cause he might be so manipulated that he supports him and if she says something wrong he might tell Oro who might punish her and she is ok with him now, he leaves her be without molesting her, so she wants to keep the peace. So she’s discreet and heals him, not in the impersonal way Kabuto does though. Sasuke appreciates silently.

-(tw: random violence and blood) Inspired by this amazing fanart by @lisimba-art. Sasuke is trained to use his curse mark, but it’s hard to completely control his powers in that form, with those weird wings and everything. So it’s exhausting for his body but also for his mind, he can’t even think straight at some point, and he can’t control his emotions either, even though he tries hard cause he can’t be weak. Orochimaru makes him fight against other ‘test subjects’ with the curse mark or with other powers he developed on them, and Sasuke kills them…he hates killing, as there is only one person he wants to kill. He feels his body move and he can’t avoid it, he feels his nails slashing another human and can’t avoid it, it’s horrible, it’s like being trapped in a nightmare. 

Karin stumbles on the fighting ground and sees him. They know each other by then, she is worried about him, many in Oto bet on how long he will last, if he will last, when Orochimaru will ‘devour’ him, if the curse mark will ‘devour’ him first. When she sees him Orochimaru, who was observing him with Kabuto, left already. Sasuke is standing alone, a few corpses around him. She approaches him, talking slowly and calmly, to check his wounds. Nothing too serious, the most worrying thing is his mental/emotional state, cause he looks around without actually seeing things, he seems lost, troubled. 

It takes a few minutes for him to see the one who’s speaking to him, and when he does he’s not in his usual state anyway, Karin can tell not just from his chakra but from his body language. He’s standing so, so close to her, his shoulders are hunched and his eyes are empty, or somewhere else still. Or maybe they want to be somewhere else, she can’t tell. She should feel the heat radiating from his toned body -she dreamt of a moment like this- but the tanned version of what is normally pale is so cold..maybe he got so close because she’s warm instead.   

“Sasuke…bite me, you’ll get some chakra back and you won’t feel cold anymore,“ she tells him, but he just hovers over her, silent as a hawk watching its prey, but unlike it, just staring at her. 

“I killed all of them” Sasuke’s voice is low and raspy, but he’s back, she’s glad but also sad because he’s clearly upset by what happened and she knows why. Everyone does. 

- (tw: mentions of blood/violence/r*pe) This works both for Otogakure and for Hebi/Taka travelling. Night time, Karin hears some low pained sounds and she realizes it’s Sasuke having a nightmare, about either the above mentioned moment where he was forced to kill random people, or about some abuse Orochimaru inflicted on him, either directly or through someone else like Kabuto. He suddenly wakes up and realizes Karin was there. She tries comforting him by saying that she knows what he felt back then cause she was done similar things, and also Suigetsu and Kabuto and others, even though she doesn’t minimize his experience (as Oro’s favourite he took more than others of whom he soon got tired). It’s a hurt/comfort moment where they share intimate traumatic experiences and bond.

Bonus dark points if the experience Sasuke had a nightmare of, involved the aforementioned indirect abuse inflicted by Orochimaru but indirectly, through his current comrades Suigetsu and Juugo, ofc hypnotized/drugged/in some trance. Karin connects with the way he sometimes looks at them when he’s more tired and vulnerable, almost imperceptibly but she can see chakra shifts. They talk, he doesn’t say anything but the things he said in his sleep were obvious so she tries to make him admit and he does, as he’s honest. He doesn’t blame them, he knows they were under Orochimaru’s power just like he was during his curse mark mode when he wasn’t able to control it.

He thinks that Suigetsu and Juugo don’t even remember that experience but they do, exactly like he does with his killing random people in curse mode form. 

More bonus dark points if Karin assisted to the traumatic thing cause she was Oro’s assistant too, sort of.

Related to my Akatsuki AU that is mostly in my mind for now (how unexpected lol) and it’s Itachi/Sasuke centric but there’s also a lot of Sasuke interactions (like, with Deidara a lot, I just like the idea) and lots of Team Taka that exists in this context first as Orochimaru’s subordinates along with Kabuto, then as Sasuke’s comrades, cause while Itachi is a full fledged Akatsuki, like Orochimaru (he never left Akatsuki in my AU), Sasuke is not, and like Orochimaru has subordinates affiliates to the Akatsuki, Itachi has Sasuke. Unlike Akatsuki wearing cloaks with red clouds, Akatsuki ‘lesser’ members wear black cloaks like Sasuke and Team Taka wore in canon. They are given missions too, they’re younger and less experienced that the others and their interactions and dynamics are similar to canon ones.

Uh Anon why did you make me think of more interesting scenarios tho, I had too many already lol

[zefyre]

a preview for domino effect:

“You’ve been going to the library a lot lately.”

James’s voice broke through the fog of jumbled words and idle half-formed thoughts and Kagome froze over her history book, hand stilling on the page she’d been skimming through. Her eyes flickered up to find her brother standing across the table from her, an eyebrow arched and arms crossed, and all she could do was blurt out an an unintelligible, “Eh?”

James snorted. Pulling out a chair, he dropped into without ceremony. “I said,” he drawled, plucking a book from atop a perilously stacked group of many and inspecting it, “You’ve been going off to the library a lot lately.”

She fidgeted, playing with the corner of a page from her book. “Well, we’ve been assigned a lot of essays lately,” she hedged. “Lots of researching to do,” she added, propping up her history book up for him to see as an example and mentally crossing her fingers he’d accept it as is.

It wasn’t a lie per say, but it was pretty weak as excuses went considering the time she’d been putting in the library of late was more on par to a seventh year revising for the NEWTs than a second year’s workload. Most of it was really spent on finding any information she could on basilisks and hidden chambers belonging to Slytherin’s founder. The former was easy enough but the latter was an effort spent largely in vain, hence her last ditch attempt of looking in Hogwarts: A History.  

Even Myrtle’s story about her death, while interesting, didn’t reveal much more than what Kagome already knew – that she was killed by the basilisk but she didn’t know who ordered it.

She did, however, recognize a certain name when she mentioned it: Tom Riddle.

“Oh yes, Tom.” Myrtle let out an honest to Merlin giggle. “He was very dreamy. Perfect grades, all the professors liked him, even the Headmaster!” Her smiling expression turned upside down in a second flat, eyes filling with tears. “Of course, when Olive Hornby found out about my crush, she wasted no time to make fun of me and rub in how Tom Riddle wouldn’t look twice at “Fat, ugly, pimply Myrtle!” the ghost wailed, her voice rising with each word.

“Olive Hornby was a bitch,” Kagome couldn’t help but comment.

Myrtle’s wailing cut short and for the first time ever she looked at Kagome without an ounce of dislike as she fiercely agreed.

“Olive Hornby was a right cunt.”

While not exactly productive, the conversation at least seemed to warm Myrtle towards her, if only a little bit.

It still didn’t explain how Tom Riddle, a Hogwarts student from almost thirty years ago according to his special services trophy, managed to reappear in front of Harry twenty years in the future without aging a single day.

Magic, obviously, and not the good kind if he was siccing basilisks on schoolchildren.

Kagome absently rubbed at her forehead before sighing.

“You’ve been pretty quiet too, I’ve noticed.”

Kagome’s arm dropped to her side and she shrugged, eyes sliding away from James’. “Lots on my mind, I guess.”

At least that wasn’t a lie.

James hummed. The sound wasn’t very reassuring, and it made her nervous.

“Are you okay, Kagome?”

Kagome went still. Her brows furrowed as she swiveled to stare at her brother. His returning look felt heavy to bear. “…What do you mean?”

James sighed, a forlorn sort of quality beginning to bleed into his voice. “I mean, are you still having nightmares?”

“Nightmares?” she parroted almost immediately, taken aback and, quite frankly, panicking.

How did he know? Did someone say something? Did one of the girls overhear?

James was looking at her as if she sprouted a second head. “Madam Pomfrey mentioned dreamless sleep potions when you were at the hospital wing?” he slowly reminded her. “You only take that if you’ve been having bad dreams, which… would explain a lot, if I’m being honest.” He grimaced, “You look like shite.”

Kagome swallowed thickly, unable to even come up with a snappy retort.

When she didn’t answer right away, James sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m just… worried, I guess. You’ve been looking, I dunno, kinda stressed lately?” he guessed. “Like… really stressed.”

Kagome pressed her lips into a tight, thin line and tried to ignore the guilt squeezing her chest. “I…” she trailed off, scrambling for another excuse.

Gods, she was so tired of giving excuses.

She sank into her chair, rubbing her face with both her hands. “I am stressed,” she admitted. “And I’m not sleeping well either. You’re right.”

“I am?”

Gods, she hated how surprised James sounded, no doubt because she actually admitted it, and once again she hated herself a little bit because she only had herself to blame.

“Super stressed and bad dreams,” she confirmed, dropping her hands away from face. James’s expression was one of deep concern, so sincere it made her chest hurt because now she had no choice to lie, even if it was only by omission. “Regulus still glares at me like I’m less than a piece of gum stuck to his shoe.”

James snorted. “Only eleven and he’s already perfected the look. Sirius tells me he learned it from their mum.”

Kagome was not surprised in the slightest. “No wonder I was getting chills,” she said, and managed a smile when James laughed. “The dreams… I’d rather not talk about them.” When her brother frowned, she waved him off, “Most of the time I don’t remember, it’s just… difficult to sleep, after.”

James didn’t look like he fully believed her, not that she blamed him because she did remember each stupid nightmare, but at least he was kind enough to let it go. “At least take Madam Pomfrey up on those potions then, okay?” he gently asked, and she nodded, not having the heart to tell him she’d already been brewing her own for a while now.

“Also, hey, speaking of the little twerp,” James scooted closer, leaning over the table towards her and his voice so hushed, she could barely catch what he was saying, “Did you know he’s been following you?”

Kagome’s head shot up, eyes going round. “What?” she said out loud.

Very loud.

So loud Madam Pinch practically materialized before them the very next second, looking very irate to match. Her eyes swung between the pair like a pendulum, heavy with warning. “No. Shouting.”

Meekly, Kagome sank in her seat and muttered an apology. Across from her, James was looking away, trying desperately not to laugh and failing spectacularly when what clearly sounded like a laugh escaped him, despite his poor attempt to smother it and pass it off as a cough.

Kagome swore she heard Madam Pinch’s jaw crack before she shouted at them to get out.

“And here I thought there was no shouting,” James not so quietly sniggered by her ear when they stepped outside the library door after Kagome had hastily collected her things.

Which, of course, Madam Pinch heard if the way the doors slammed shut behind them meant anything.

“James…” Kagome groaned, shoving him half-heartedly with her shoulder. “It’s gonna be like a week before it’ll be safe to go back there. And she’s definitely gonna be breathing down my neck when I do.”

James just waved her off. “You need the break anyway.”

Kagome shot him a dirty look. “I was gonna go look for some more books on, y’know, that thing we’ve been planning to do?”

James looked less nonplussed at that. “Ah…” he let out a nervous laugh. “Well, it’s only a week….”

Kagome sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Now what’s this about Regulus following me?” she demanded, following up with, “And why haven’t you told me until now?”

James shrugged. “I dunno, I didn’t think much of it at first?” he said, scratching his cheek. “You’d think he has a crush on you and was just being a creepy little stalker if it wasn’t for the fact he’s supposed to be royally pissed at you.”

“That is mean,” Kagome said, even as she laughed a little. Creepy little stalker was not a title she’d associate with Regulus, it was so ridiculous.

“It’s true. The last few times you’ve been leaving meals early he’s been getting up to leave too.”

Kagome pressed her lips together in thought, trying to calm her suddenly racing heart. “I mean, I don’t think he’s been making friends so couldn’t he just be leaving after he’s finished eating?” she asked, trying to be logical, because if he wasn’t, well… the times she left early were also the times she snuck off to visit Myrtle’s restroom.

She almost wanted to laugh, and only barely managed to tamp back the hysterical sound bubbling up in her chest. Gods… Would it be better that Regulus thought she was having random bouts of diarrhea or that she was sneaking off to do something suspicious in the restroom?

“Only the times when you leave alone though?” James asked, skeptically, and she grimaced. “But I mean, there’s also the fact I caught him spying on you through the bookcase in the library just little bit ago.”

Kagome stopped and stared. “Oh…” she said, her voice faint, “That’s… yeah, that’s weird.”

Concerning, actually. Very concerning.

James hummed, sounding much too smug.