#i want to snap one and eat it like a kit kat bar

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

I have exciting information for you! Bird bones are not entirely hollow, rather they are filled with large air pockets. I find the result both delightful and terrifically unsettling!

[superhero--imagines]

Part 2 Here! / Part 3 Here! / Part 4 Here! / Part 5 Here! / Part 6 Here!

A/N: not superhero themed. I just read midnight sun and had this idea and I don’t feel like making another blog so.... hope you like twilight lol

There will be a part two, and just a reminder, I’m still looking for beta readers so DM if you’re interested!

* It probably starts with you reading midnight sun, you remember reading the books/watching the movies when you were younger.

* Man, you really forgot how bad this book was. The writing itself is good, but the plot...

* It’s like everything revolves around Bella, everything is created for her.

* You almost feel bad for the other characters

* Well, whatever, you’ll finish the rest of the book tomorrow and never think about that awful franchise again.

* When you wake up you feel an ache in your head. But you didn’t drink last night, maybe you’re dehydrated

* You shift, noting the smooth silk of the covers. Now you’re alarmed.

* You don’t have silk sheets

* You see a mirror in the corner of the room, and rush over

* The face that looks back at you is different then yours

* It’s the same in some ways, but different all the same

* The curve of your nose is slightly off, your lips are thinner, eyes a little closer together.

* The memories begin to flood in, in this world you were on a graduation trip with your parents, you got an all inclusive package. Three days of sightseeing in Volterra.

* You got sick on the last day, when you were signed for a tour of the castle, your parents went without you

* That was the last you saw of them

* You dumbly followed, asking question where you shouldn’t. And ended up at the volturi’s door

* Aro had grasped your hand to see how much you knew, only too see nothing. Likewise Jane’s powers did not work as well

* They were astounded by this, it appears this was several years before Bella was introduced to the story

* And so, you became a prisoner of the tower

* Your soul must have been in this body for quite some time, but you’ve only remembered now, that’s the only explanation for why their powers didn’t work on you. Your consciousness is not of this world.

* There’s a short knock on your door

* “Are you decent?”

* You call back and Alec pops his head in.

* “Ready to go to the library?”

* He looks so kind. The boyish grin that stretched across his face as you shook your head.

* It was in direct contrast to the sadistic personality you had become accustomed to in the books

* “I need a few more minutes”

* You half expect him to lash out at you for being slow. By he only nods, closing the door and waiting outside for you to finish.

* He was you friend. You realized

* He IS your friend

* You think back as you turn on the faucet. He didn’t like you at first, being assigned to guard a human was insulting

* But he started to warm up to you once he heard you play the piano

* This body was quite used to the ivory keys. And so you charmed him as best you could, half for your survival, because the happier you kept him the less likely he was to kill you.

* And half because- you were so lonely, the Loneliness echoed in this body like an ache. Suddenly an orphan, in a continent where you knew no one. All you had was this boy.

* How long have you been here? You kept a talley at one point, but abandoned it after the thirtieth day. What was the point? You would either die or become one of them

* A shiver erupts through at the thought, in your past life you were a vegetarian, you didn’t relish in the idea of killing something alive and moving.

* You pull on a sweatshirt, ripping of the chanel tag. They bought you the nicest things money could buy, the most lavish food you could have.

* They did the same thing with the tourists they lured, keeping them happy and well fed, the same way the cows that became wagyu beef might be cared for. That way when it came time to slaughter, the meal was that much more delicious.

* You suspected this was similar, that should you be an unnecessary addition, you would make a meal suitable for their palette

* Alec basically talks your ear off the entire way to the Volturi library, mostly about literature

* “What are your thoughts on Anna Kerenina?”

* “That the patriarchy needs to be burned to the ground.”

* “That is.... valid”

* He even talks when you’re at the library, much to the annoyance of a few of the other patrons

* “Which book are you looking for now?”

* You stop mid motion on the ladder and turn to look at him. His ruby eyes glowing, he looks bloated. Like he’s fed too much.

* “Alec, why are we friends?”

* You really should keep your mouth shut. Alec was the only real ally you had, you shouldn’t say anything that might put him off

* And yet, it unnerved you, because the Alec in front of you was a very different character then the one you had come to see.

* He looks at you like you hung the moon,

* “Because you’re the most interesting human in the world”

* You burst out laughing, earning several glares.

* “I-I’m sorry Alec, but I’m not, I’m just the most interesting human you KNOW, there’s way more people who are more interesting than me.”

* You expect to see him offended, and he does, but there’s a twinkle in his eyes

* “I’m not so sure about that”

* The days creep by, reading books, eating snacks, it’s nice

* You learn, that Alec hasn’t talked to a human in a very long time. Outside of the screams he heard after devouring one.

* He hasn’t been outside the castle walls in many years, possibly a century.

* “What’s the best part of the human world?” He asked you once

* It’s the 90’s, so smartphones haven’t been invented yet.

* “One tree hill and friends”

* “Well you have a friend right here”

* “No friends the show”

* “The what?”

* And that’s how you got Alec hooked onto cable television

* Who knew the cure to vampire- sadism was a healthy dose of Jennifer Aniston fumbling about on screen

* “Is this what life is like?”

* You shrug, it was what college had been like for you in your past life.

* “It’s kinda what schools like, but i never got to be on my own”

* This body was only 18 after all.

* Alec doesn’t say anything, but his expression falters

* Alec’s only now starting to understand the life you will be denied once Aro decides when to turn you

* Jane joins later

* One day when you and Alec are lazing around the library when she appears, she says nothing, just sits down next to Alec and reads a book

* You’re sure they hear the uneven thumping of your heart as you turn back to your book. Her power doesn’t work on you, you remind yourself

* Not that she even needs it, she could snap you apart like a Kit Kat bar

* And if it came down to it, you’re sure Alec would let her, he might like you but his loyalty’s always remained with his sister

* “So... you watch human television together?” Her bright red eyes flickered from Alec to you.

* You nodded, never sure what exactly it was that would set Jane off

* You had seen enough in the books to know her moods were compatible at best.

* “I would...like to join” she awkwardly looking away, and you were sure if she could, she would be blushing.

* Honestly it’s kind of cute.

* “Sure, the more the merrier”

* And that’s how you basically adopted the sadist twins

* It’s a little harder to get Jane to open up, but once you make a comment about how Phoebe was the best character in friends, she starts to open up

* “Humans are cruel, even when they’re kind it’s only because they want something from you.”

* “Is that what you think about me? That I’m only nice to you because I want something?” she meets your eyes for a few minutes before turning away

* “I’m not sure”

* You understand very gradually why they’re so twisted

* They’d been treated terribly during their human life, in every kind act lingered a dark shadow, in even minor misunderstanding the image of a monster

* Their centuries in the Volturi didn’t help. Under Aro’s ruthless tutelage, and Caius’s sadistic tendencies, They had no one they could trust but each other.

* They were only surviving just as you were

* “Sometimes I wonder how much of my loyalty is real, and how much of it is Chelsea.” She whispers one day, so quietly you barley hear it

* You rest your hand on hers, it’s the only comfort you could think to offer

* When Jane grasps your hand in hers, she breaks every bone in your hand

* She doesn’t understand the pained screams or your mangled hand fit a second, and then she realizes what she did

* Alarmed she carries you halfway around the castle screeching for someone to help

* You pass out from the pain, when you come to you’re in your bed, a very cold hand holding your own

* “How are you feeling?” You don’t recognize this vampire, but you don’t really know anyone outside of Alec and Jane.

* You feel light headed, a warm feeling washing over you, you must be on some strong drugs

* “My body’s still grieving, but my mind is sharp.”

* It’s incoherent at best, but there’s truth to it, your body is still grieving for your parents and the life you’ve lost, but your otherworldly mind is ten steps ahead, cross referencing every action.

* The man offers a short chuckle

* “You really did a number on your hand. I’ve done what I can but...”

* You look down to your hand, half surprised by the bright yellow cast encasing it

* You had figured you would wake up to be a vampire, it just made sense, these were unfamiliar human aches to them after all and vampirism was a simple and effective cure

* They must want something from you, if they’re keeping you human

* You suspect it’s something along the lines of how they waited until Jane and Alec were burning at the stake to save them, so their power would be that much more potent

* Maybe they’re doing the opposite with you, trying to make you as happy as possible to see what effect it has on your ability

* It’s too bad you don’t have one

* “Thank you for your hard work.” You mumble, being human for a little bit longer is well worth the pain.

* “How did you break your hand?”

* “I held Janes’ hand”

* Your doctor let’s out a short laugh

* “That sounds about right”

* You smile, it does sound right, of course you would break your hand that way

* The conversation flows naturally after that, you talk about all sorts of things

* “You think vampires have souls?” He quirks an eyebrow

* “I’m of the opinion that a soul is something you create through hardship and struggle, being able to live longer means that you have more opportunities to have the experiences that result in a soul”

* “That’s an intriguing notion, I wish I had brought my son with me.”

* You’re about to ask about his son, when you’re interrupted by the door swimming open

* “I heard you were awake, are you alright?” Alec rushes in, his eyes frantic

* “Yeah these drugs are top notch” you press the button that releases the pain killers and let out a giggle

* “Is that alright? Humans are awfully sensitive.” Jane pipes up from behind Alec, you hadn’t noticed her in your haze.

* Your doctor chuckles

* “I’m aware,” he’s smiling but it’s strained

* “What’s wrong?” You ask, he was so calm until a second ago, he doesn’t answer you

* “I’ll give you three a moment.”

* You only register he’s gone when you hear the door close

* The twins rush over to you, Jane is kneeled by your side, while Alec hovers over you

* “I-I’m sorry I hurt you, I forgot-I didn’t remember.” You we’re sure Jane would be crying if she could

* “It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean it.” You raise your cast encased hand and give her a gentle pat on the head. “From now on, physical signs of affection will just be one sided.” You joke, which makes Jane grin

* “I’ll practice with some animals before I try touching you again”

* The three of you chat for a bit, they’re both surprised by your cast and ask several questions about its “primary function”

* “I didn’t know there was a doctor here” you murmur, feeling drowsy

* “Carlisle’s not with the Volturi, he’s from another coven in the new world.”

* Your drowsiness flies away in a second

* “That was Carlisle?”

* Jane looks somewhat confused but nods.

* A flutter of hope erupts in your chest, it’s so strong even your grief stricken body feels it

* You might have a chance. It’s slim, Carlisle has a family he loves and needs to protect. But still, they were strangers once too. No different than you.

* It’s a way out of here

* The next few days follow in a drugged haze, Alec and Jane visit every so often, and Carlisle engages you in occasional conversation while checking progress on your hand

* “Why are your eyes gold?” You know, but well, you need him to believe the lie

* “It’s a bit of a long story” he says with a wary smile.

* “I’m not going anywhere”

* He sighs, a genuine smile encompassing his face as he recounts the tale.

* Even though you’ve already heard it all before, it still makes you cry

* Even in the haze, you know something’s.... off

* There’s something about the way Alec won’t meet your eyes when he talks to you, and the uneasy weight that lingers in the air whenever someone else is in the room

* On the third day, it’s Aro who visits you, Alec and Carlisle in tow behind him.

* “Oh my, all that internal bleeding, how awful”

* Even you can feel the insincerity, but it’s the first you heard about internal bleeding

* So that explains it, the drugs and the aches all along your body, it wasn’t just your hand, you were dying

* “Don’t worry, we’ll save you” Aro’s smile is cruel “won’t we Alec?”

* Alec looks afraid, almost pained, but he nods

* Ah, so this was punishment for Alec too. Until that moment, when Jane broke your hand, Aro must have been ignorant to how close the three of you had gotten.

* You close your eyes, you knew this would happen eventually. There were only two ending to this story, and it seemed one had finally been picked

* You feel a pinch on your neck, right above your collar bone, no worse than a flue shot.

* You wait for the pain, the vivid screams you remember from the books and movies, but it never comes.

* Instead it’s just a warm numbness that spreads across your neck and left shoulder.

* “It doesn’t hurt” you murmur, you feel a cold hand rest against your forehead, Alex’s hand.

* It’s so gentle, he must have practiced on some animals first, you think.

* “No the pain comes later.”

* And so you drift into inky black unconsciousness, the last sleep of your human life in this world.

* You dream that you’re sitting at the bottom of a tree, a fig tree, like the one Sylvia Plath wrote about

* Each fig a different path, half of them have already fallen off, dark, as they rot at your feet

* “How do you do it?”

* You look to your side and find the person who’s face you see in the mirror, they’re hugging their knees to their chest, dark circles under their eyes

* “How do I do what?” You ask, they bite their lip

* “How can you be so strong when you’ve just lost everything?”

* You see their eyes brim with tears, and you look away, to the tree that looks over you both

* “I don’t know” It’s the truth, you have an unfair advantage in this world, because you know all the secrets each person carries, while yours remain shrouded in darkness. And yet... it’s not why you persevere

* “All I do know, is that I want to give them hell”

* Your counterpart grins at that, and to your surprise, you feel a smile stretch out across your face

* Yeah, it’s not about power, you just want raise some hell in this backwards misogynistic world.

* “I guess that’s the one you’re picking then huh?” Your counterpart points to a fig, it’s on the tallest branch of the tree, so far out of reach it almost seems unobtainable

* But you only nod

* “Yeah, I think that’s the way I’m going to go”

* They look at you and smile.

* “If you ever get the chance, I hope you punch that jerk Aro right in the face”

* You laugh.

* When you finally awake, you’re still laughing. A smile etched onto your face.

* Everyone’s there, all looking at you with concerned glances.

* Yeah, you’re going to have a lot of fun in this world.

[tsukishumai]

First Kiss Scenarios- Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Hanamaki, Matsukawa (Aoba Johsai edition!)

OIKAWA –

The weather was particularly beautiful when Oikawa had taken you out to see the cherry blossoms. One 25 minutes train ride had taken the two of you to a park you had never been to before, but Oikawa had told you about many times.  

This was probably the fourth weekend in a row that Oikawa had shown up at your door, insisting that you go and get ready because there’s this place that he just /has/ to take you to.

You take one look at his face, always plastered with excitement, and there’s just no way that you could say no.

Oikawa is fidgeting next to you; if he wasn’t pulling at the hem of his shirt, he was tugging his collar, or running shaky fingers through his brown hair.

“Are you alright?” you asked, and he jumped at your voice, nodding as his cheeks begin to flush.

“Yeah, of course! Why wouldn’t I be? You… look really nice today.”

You brush your fingers at the new accessory that draped across your neck; a sunflower pendant that hung from a golden chain, smiling at the memory of Oikawa stuttering as he insisted you wore it for today’s outing.

“Thanks… What’s got you all blushy blushy?” “I am /not/!” “You look like a tomatokawa!”

He shoved you lightly, chuckling as you stumbled to the side. “You can’t just add –kawa to any word, that’s not very creative.” You smiled, making your way back next to him and looping an arm through his. “It’s worked pretty well for me so far.”

 Oikawa stilled next to you, stopping his footsteps abruptly. You were about to question him, but instead, admired the view of cherry blossoms dancing around in circles as the wind blew around you.

“It’s really beautiful up here. Thank you for taking me –“ “Willyoubemygirlfriend?”

You blinked once. “What?”

You watched Oikawa turn an impossible shade of red, stumbling over his words as he tried to pick the right ones to say. You never thought you’d see the “Great King” Oikawa, usually so smooth and suave, turned into a stuttering, blubbering mess and you thought it might just be the greatest thing you’ve ever seen. “Shit, I messed that up. Wait, let me start over, I had a speech, if you could just – “

You pulled him down by the collar he had been messing with the whole morning, and placed a soft kiss on his lips, smirking in satisfaction when you see his eyes widen.

“Yes, I will be your girlfriend.”

IWAIZUMI –

You have always loved watching Iwaizumi play.

You’ve known Iwaizumi since you were first years; he was assigned to be your lab partner, and the two of you hit it off so well, you’ve been friends ever since.

In class, he was a quiet student that always had the answer whenever sensei asked him a question, turned in his work on time, and actually pulled his weight during group projects.

Out of class, he was your friend that ate lunch with you, walked you home, made fun of you every chance he got, helped you study when you were about to fail chemistry.

During a game though… he was a completely different beast, and just the sight of him was enough to make your body feel like it’s on fire.

You usually try to ignore your growing feelings for Iwaizumi, but when you see him out on the court in his uniform, with his amazing receives and powerful spikes, you can’t help but let your eyes linger on him just a little longer.

It was match point for Seijoh, and you could feel the tension in the air so thick, you couldn’t breathe.

You watched as Oikawa points a finger at Iwaizumi, setting the ball perfectly for him.

Three blockers lock in on Iwaizumi, but that only made the ace’s eyes harden, and you felt butterflies making a home for themselves in your belly

Iwaizumi jumps, and the next thing you heard was a loud slam, your eyes barely able to follow the powerful spike that the opposing team had no chance of blocking.

The crowd around you celebrates as you run down towards the court, cheeks aching from the huge smile on your face that got only wider as you see Iwaizumi get jumped by his teammates.

“Congratulations Iwa-chan!” You yell, and his eyes snap around until they finally land on you.

He gets out of his teammates grips, the last thing you see was his grin before he sweeps you up in his arms and locking your lips in a kiss.

You were shocked for only one moment before you return his excitement with your own.

“Jesus Christ, get a room!” you hear his teammates, but at that moment, you couldn’t give damn.

HANAMAKI –

Hanamaki had been your best friend since junior high.

You were reminded of that so abruptly when you get a call from Iwaizumi to pick him up from the after-game party at Oikawa’s house, saying Hanamaki’s been looking for you like some lost puppy. The party that you just left an hour ago, asking Hanamaki if he’s sure he doesn’t want to come with you, but he insisted it was okay to leave him because he was going to be just fine.

“Why you walking so fast,” Hanamaki slurred

“Because it’s late, and I want to go home, Makki.” You can’t lie, you were a little buzzed yourself, which is what prompted you to head home early in the first place. “You’re lucky Oikawa lives just a few blocks down.”

“Come on, y/n,” he bugged you, intentionally slowing down your movements by rooting his feet down where he stood. “Slow down,” he slid his hand down your arm to intertwine it with your fingers, “Let’s enjoy the walk.”

You let him lead the way, footsteps moving at a glacial pace. His eyes were closed, and he had a certain glow about him, his shoulders slumped in a way you haven’t seen in a while.

“Open your eyes, you idiot,” you say with joking tone, “You’re going to trip over.”

“No, I won’t, I have you to guide me.”

You rolled your eyes, moving to loosen your fingers from his grip, but he just tightened it.

“Stop,” he said when he noticed what you were trying to do, “Just let me hold your hand.”

The fluttering in your stomach doesn’t stop, witnessing the side to your best friend that you rarely got to see.

The two of you finally get to your house, the one that stood directly to the left of Makki’s. He stood facing you at the gate, preparing to part ways.

“You gonna be able to make it all the way over there by yourself?” You joked, and he stared down at you with clouded eyes.

You stared back at him, frozen as you watched his eyelids slip close and he lowered his head to place a chaste kiss on your lips.

“Good night,” he said, taking a step back and stumbling towards the direction of his own home. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” you hear him mutter.

You stand at the entrance of your gate until you see that Makki has safely made it inside his own. Suddenly you let out a shaky breath you didn’t know you were holding, slowly lifting your fingers up to your lips.

You chuckled, finally heading inside to get ready for bed, wondering if Makki is going to remember that in the morning.

MATSUKAWA –

People usually have the wrong impression of Matsukawa – they say he’s intimidating, and quite scary looking.

But in reality, he is just one giant 6’2” goof ball.

“What the hell,” he teased you on your usual walk home. “Who the hell eats Kit Kat like that?!”

You just smile, laughing at how easy it is to rile him up.

“What? They present it in one rectangular bar, so what’s the problem?” you peel back the wrapper of your favorite chocolate.

“No, you’re supposed to break off the individual pieces!”

You take one big bite out of the entire Kit Kat, fighting the urge to burst out laughing when Matsukawa just stared at you in horror.

“You… you just want to watch the world burn.”

This time, you actually did laugh, and Matsukawa thought he was hearing music.

“It’s just chocolate, what does it matter how I eat it, as long as it gets eaten?” “I can’t believe I actually like someone as psychotic as you.”

The both of you stopped walking; you, trying to register what Matsukawa just said, and Matsukawa trying to understand why the hell he just said that.

“You… like me?”

A small smile began to appear on your mouth, one that only grew wider as Matsukawa just got redder. He was trying to avoid your stare, and the first words that came out of his mouth came in a stutter.

“Ye – Uh – Well – Hey, look, is that Makki?”

You raise your brow and turn around, getting more confused when you see that there was no one around.

You turn your head back only to see Matsukawa’s face mere millimeters from yours. You inhaled sharply, holding your breath while Matsukawa gave you a second to move away. When you didn’t, he lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on your lips.

“Yeah,” he said nonchalantly, placing both his hands in his pockets. “I do like you.”

He walked ahead of you, leaving you a flustered mess.

[mudhornchronicles]

dreamboat | greaser!frankie | part four

pairing: frankie morales x reader; greaser!frankie x reader

warning: cursing, talking down, and feels

a/n: listen… I know the song mentioned in this part was released before their time and I’ve tried my hardest to stay within this timeline but it just went so well. sue me. also... do ya’ll like the moodboard i did? c:

part one | part two | part three | part four

masterlist

No matter what you were doing, homework or chores, your mind is always drifting off to Frankie. 

and so did Frankie’s.

The urge to talk to him became stronger every time you saw him in class because you truly enjoyed his company. You liked him because he never tried to be someone he was not - he was true to himself.

You were enamored by the way he spoke so passionately about his mother and his favorite pastimes. You felt a ripple of joy when you had seen his eyes light up when you complimented his father’s car. You also caught yourself giggling like a schoolgirl at the sight of his cheeks reddening at your comment about his “cute dimple.” 

You may have not known Frankie for long, but from the time you’ve spent with him, the more at ease you felt. 

Frankie didn’t miss the quick glances you shot his way, but he also knew you didn’t miss the way he paid more attention to the way you adjusted your pencil when you tried to understand the day’s lesson than to the lesson itself. 

Frankie took a mental note at the fact that you took great pride with your hair. Even though there were endless ways of styling your hair, Frankie’s favorite was your go to up-do with a ribbon that always matched your skirt. It was simple, yet so elegant at the same time. 

You packed your grey spiral notebook and #2 pencils in your school bag and settled the leather strap on your right shoulder. Your class let out early, which you were thankful for. You were tired from running to your first period after missing the bus and having to catch a ride with Max - making him late in the process. You walk into the hallway, ready to take the stairs for your math class when you hear a throat clear behind you. You assumed it wasn’t for you and as you placed a hand on the handrail, you hear Frankie speak your name.

You look back and flash him a tired smile. “Good morning, Francisco.” You check the giant black and white clock and cough up a chuckle. “Actually, good afternoon.”

Frankie looks around to see students’ eyes widen when they hear you call him Francisco. Shit, Frankie thinks. 

“C’mon baby.” Frankie silently chastises himself. “Don’t be runnin’ that pretty little mouth with my government name ‘round here.”

You stood dumbfounded. “Excuse me?” 

Frankie leans back on the cement wall and chuckles. “Y’heard me… Listen sweetheart. I-” He abruptly stops and glares at the gawking students. Freshman, he thinks.

“Was I talkin’ to you? Get the fuck outta here before I give ya a reason to stare.” and with that they scram. You frown and scoff.

“Goodbye, Frankie.”

“No.” He gently grabs your arm and turns you back to him. “Can we please talk? You’ve been avoiding me like the plague.”

“Frankie let go of me.” You tug on your arm, trying to set it free from is grasp. “I’ll be late for math class.”

Frankie lets out a laugh, the laugh you liked hearing. “It’s a short day,” he says. “School’s out for the day.”

“Is today Wednesday?” you question.

Frankie nods and smiles, revealing his perfect dimple. “You got a ride home? Lorenzano told me you got him detention.”

Your mouth drops. “He got detention? Oh no! That was not my intention at all! I was let off easy.” You shake your head in disbelief. “If he’s in there I should be too. Excuse me, Frankie.”

Frankie throws his head back in laughter and holds you in place. “I’m kiddin’, doll. I just saw ‘em leave with Goldilocks.”

“Goldilocks?”

“Michael, sweetheart. I gotta teach ya these names. He was your ride, wasnt he? How ‘bout I take ya home?”

You rub the back of your neck and shake your head slowly. “That won’t be the best idea, Frankie.”

“‘Cause of ya folks?” You nod and decide your shoes are much more interesting to look at than the brown swirls of chocolate that rest in his eyes.

“What do they say ‘bout me?” You look back up and your eyes shift to a doe-like look.

“C’mon dolly. Just tell me.”

You shift your weight from one foot to the other as you bite your lip, trying to find the words to say. “They said you aren’t what I need to be seen with. That your only goal in life is to ruin what they worked so hard to have. My mother said you were only going to use me for the opportunities I earn and use them for yourself and that I should just forget you.” You let out a deep sigh and look into his eyes.

You see his jaw shift side to side and take in a deep breath. He looks at you and says, “and do you believe them?”

“No. Not one bit.”

Frankie takes one of your hands into his and smiles. “Good. I won’t make you any more late to the bus than I already have.” Frankie gestures to the hallway that stretches down and meets the entrance of the building. 

“But I do have a question for you.” You nod, motioning for him to continue. “You wanna go on a ride with me?

“I thought you hid your car?”

“I never said anything about my car. How ‘bout it, dolly? Let me take you on a joy ride.”

You hesitate and Frankie notices this. “Do you trust me?”

He continues to play with your fingers and you give his hand a small squeeze.

“I do.” you smile. “Pick me up at the same spot as the last time, okay?”

———

You can’t help but feel worried, yet excited all at the same time. When you heard the roar of Frankie’s motorcycle, a smirk crept up and planted itself at your lips. You turned and saw Frankie ride up and park right next to you, kicking the stand and stabilizing the bike before walking over to you.

“So this is what you meant by a ride, huh?” Frankie smiled proudly and nodded. “Yep. This here is Delta. Finally finished her a couple months back. Whatd’ya think? Ain’t she a beaut?”

You walked around the bike, analyzing it and committing her details to memory. “She’s a Harley FL? She looks like a ‘41 or ‘42.”

Frankie looks back at you with an amused look. “You know bikes?”

You smiled and nodded. “My uncle owns a shop upstate.” You comment. “His prized possession is a 1935 Vincent Comet. He’s very proud of it. It doesn’t move, but it looks nice.” You joke. 

“I think I just fell in love with you, doll. You can’t just whip this on me so suddenly.” You laugh with him and smile to yourself.

I think I just fell in love with you, doll. 

“Before we go, I need you to wear this.” He says handing you a silver and red helmet. You frown and pat the crown of your head. “But it’ll frizz and flatten my hair”

He pulls a white bandana from the inside of the helmet and hands it to you. “It won’t, trust me. My mom wears this all the time and her hair is still higher than the empire state.”

“I do trust you, Frankie.” You chuckle. You bring his hands, bandana in between, and motion for him to tie it for you. This brings him close. His face is close to yours - his lips closer than ever. 

He ties it in place and cups your cheek. Your eyes are glued on each other and that feeling of being content flows back into your system. He clears his throat and hands you the helmet, unbuckling it before you take it into your hands.

He helps you onto the back of the bike and before he can get on, you spot his school bag tied to the side of the bike. “What’s with the bag?”

“It has something for us. Don’t worry, doll. You’ll see soon.”

———

Who knew this place had such a view. Frankie drove up through windy roads, the elevation making your ears pop, but the result was breathtaking. He pulled up to a flat section of the mountain, nearly at the top, and you could see the navy image of the mountain range serving as the background of the miniscule outline of the town.

Frankie helps you off the bike, placing a helmet on each of the handles. He unties his bag for the bike, grabbing your hand and leading you towards a grassy area. He opens his bag revealing a squared white tablecloth, snapping it and placing it on the ground. He helps you onto the fabric and allows you to get settled before he sits and re-opens his bag. He snaps his bag shut and looks at you. He calls your name, and you give him your full attention, which he has had from the beginning.

“Would you like to have a picnic with me?” he shyly says. Your cheeks burn at the sight of his timidity. “I would love to, Frankie.”

From his bag, he pulls two glass soda pop bottles nestled in paper napkins, two wrapped sandwiches, candy bars, and a bag of potato chips. He sets your share of the foods in front of you and sets the candy choices in front of both of you.

“I didn’t know what candy your favorite was, or if you even eat candy, but I brought us some options.” He proudly says. In front of you were a plethora of candy: snickers, gummi bears, kit-kats, m&ms, junior mints, and tootsie pops. You grabbed your favorite and thanked him.

You weren’t used to be treated with the amount of kindness as Frankie was giving you. You had been courted before, but they all believed that gifts were the way to your heart, but, you just wanted a good conversation.

“Frankie, can I ask you a question?”

“You can ask me anything you want, doll.”

“Why are you so set on being around me?”

Frankie shrugs, opening his sandwich. “You’re a cool chick.”

You nod in agreement and giggle. “Alright… You’re a cool cat too Frankie… well when you’re not getting arrested.”

Frankie playfully rolls his eyes and lets out a loud groan. “That was one time.”

You give him a nudge and when you are certain he’s looking; you start to mock him.

“Please Mr. Jailer…. Won't you let my man go free…”

Frankie lets out a hearty laugh. “That’s unfair!”

“Please Mr. Jailer,” you continue. “Won't you let my man go free.” You both cackle and howl until you’re out of breath.

“C’mon! How ‘bout ya give my criminal record a break and eat your sandwich!”

You looked at the plastic wrapped sandwich and grinned. “Did you make these yourself?” He nods with a mouthful of food and hums uh huh. You enthusiastically unwrap the sandwich and take a big bite. You let out a moan in delight as the flavor of seasonings attack your tastebuds. It’s not too spicy, but it’s also not bland – making it one of the best sandwiches you’ve ever had.

“This is amazing. What’s in it?”

“Um.. swiss cheese, a mayo and chipotle sauce thing my mom put together, crushed chips, and seasoned chicken. My mom wanted to be different and used chicken instead of ham, I guess.”

“Well tell your mom that she’s a genius. This is incredible.”

Frankie sniggered. “I’ll pass it along. She’s an excellent cook. You’ll have to try it sometime.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

You both sat and ate quietly. No words were spoken – simply taking in the scenic view. You look over to Frankie, only to see him in a daze. There was a question that lingered in your mind and although you didn’t want to ruin the moment, you knew you had to ask. You whisper his name, hoping he would hear it, and he did. He slowly turned over to you and uttered a low yes.

“Why do you act differently when we’re together in public than in private?” You vocalized the confusion that lingered in your mind from the moment he flipped a switch at school. “You’re sweet, smart, and caring while we’re here doing this, but all you do at school is curse, skip class with the boys, and disrespect anyone that looks at you a little too long.”

Frankie knew this conversation would come. He didn’t think you would notice his attitude changes, yet here you were. He lets a sigh be exhaled through his nose as he shakes his head. “You just wouldn’t understand.”

“I don’t. That’s why I’m asking.”

“I act the way I do because that’s what people expect. They expect someone like me to fail and…You have no idea what this town… what these people… can do to you.”

“Frankie… I may not know what you’ve gone through in life, but what I do know is that you have my shoulder to lean on and my ears to listen when you need it the most. I like seeing this Frankie.” You sit up, resting your weight on your legs, and reach for his hand. “The Frankie that gets good grades and has a great sense of respect and responsibility – not the Frankie I saw at school today.”

He looks down at your interlocked hands and lets out a content breath. Frankie gives your hand a squeeze and gazes at you – not at your eyes… this look goes much deeper than that.

“Does your mother really believe I’d use you and toss aside the one person that decided to get to know me before they wanted nothing to do with me?”

You shrug, knitting your eyebrows. “She can think what she wants to think – just know that’s not the way I do.”

A cool breeze picks up as you continuously play with each other’s hands and sit comfortably in close proximity. Frankie reluctantly lets go of your hand and shimmies out of his leather jacket. He wraps it around your shoulders, making sure your exposed arms are somewhat covered. You take a lapel in each hand, pulling on them to wrap yourself with the jacket. Frankie’s heart skips a beat as he takes a mental picture of the way you looked wearing his jacket.

Frankie sits back down, but you nudge your way closer and closer to him. You feel like melting as you smell his cologne, from the jacket and himself.

“What are you going to do about Michael?”

Frankie looks taken aback from the sudden question. “Don’t worry that pretty little head about him. The boys and I will handle the trust fund baby. I’ll figure it out.”

“Are you going to get hurt?”

Frankie stretches his arm out, a quiet plea for you to come closer. You oblige and he immediately wraps his arm around you, placing a chaste kiss atop you head. “I don’t know.”

You put your head on his shoulder and hug him, both arms around him. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“No one will get hurt if Mikey boy plays his cards right.” You look up and see his softened face, but stern eyes. The thought of Michael alone burns a flame in Frankie, a reaction he had no actual reasoning behind.

You stay like this for a few minutes, but you decide to lighten the mood.

“Psst…” you say. Frankie looks down at you with kind eyes.

“I know that no other… One will ever do… And I know that the answer's…All up to you.” you sing.

Frankie sniggers and rolls his eyes, but nevertheless joins you.

“Please Mr. Jailer… Won't you let my man go free.”

———

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[sproutsgcrden]

when the seafoam floats | chapter one

the entrance exam

summary: Aizawa Michi isn't sure of a lot of things in her life, but she is sure that Midoriya Izuku is going to be a great hero. Following him from Aldera Middle School to Yuuei High only cements that fact, even if he does have a strange new quirk.

author's note: this is a longtime coming! i've been planning Michi's story for over a year now, and i'm so excited to finally be able to share it! keep in mind that this a retelling of canon with an oc-- some things will be different, some things will be the same. i update every monday on ao3.

masterlist | read on ao3 | next chapter

want to be tagged? send in an ask and let me know!

art done by emmythetaciturn!

father | sent 06:48

good luck. don’t die. i’ll get you a kit-kat later

loudmouth | sent 07:03

HAVE FUN TODAY MIMI! YOU’RE GONNA ROCK THIS 😎😝👏💪🗣

nem | sent 07:06

You’re going to do amazing today, my little mimichan 💕💕

Missed Call | izukun💚 | 07:49

izukun💚 | sent 07:49

Hey! I’m here! Call me when you’re close? 😊

--------

Michi clicked the call back button, bringing the phone up to her ear as the familiar dial tone rang. The black skirt of her middle school uniform swayed gently in the wind as she continued her trek up the path that led to Yuuei High School. Her seafoam green hair, wavy as it was, was pulled back into her usual half-bun. Even if it was completely down, it would barely reach her shoulders. Her narrowed brown eyes began to search for the familiar green hair of her friend among the throng of middle school students in her way.

A click sound through the phone, and through the static and background noise Michi could make out a meek voice. Her lips formed a small grin, and her pace sped up. If she bumped into anyone, well, she could apologize later.

“Hello? Micchan?”

Michi excused herself past a couple who were walking extremely slow for her tastes, and tightened her bag to her shoulder with her free hand. “Hey Izukun! I’m about to pass the gates, so I’ll probably see you within a minute or two. Where are you at?” The golden gates seemed to dazzle in the sun. The young girl had been here many times with her father, but for some reason the entrance seemed especially intimidating today.

“Oh, I’m on the left side of the walkway, right by a pillar…” Michi could hear Izuku’s hesitance through the phone. “Are uh, are you nervous at all?”

“Nervous? Izukun, of course I’m nervous. This is the biggest entrance exam in the entire country. I doubt my quirk will be useful during the physical- but hey, that’s why we trained, yeah? If anyone can pull this off, it’s us!” Just then, Michi passed through the gate. She saw a glimpse of green hair behind one of the pillars, and changed her direction. “Anyways, I’m right behind you.”

A muffled and surprised screech sounded through her phone’s speaker, causing Michi to look up at the source of the noise. Izuku had turned around so quickly that he tripped, but luckily a nearby girl helped him. After hanging up her phone and putting it in her bag, Michi quickly ran towards the duo before her.

“Are you okay?” The cheerful voice of the brunette standing in front of Izuku carried through the open air. “Sorry for using my quirk on you without asking first! I know that some people may not like that, but I figured it would be better than falling!” The girl helped Izuku stand straight and released her quirk just as Michi caught up to them.

Leaning over, Michi gave Izuku a once over, just to make sure he didn’t actually hit anything before he was caught. When she didn’t see anything wrong, she nodded and turned to the brunette standing beside her. “Thanks for catching him. He can be a little clumsy- nerves aren’t really helping today.”

“Oh, it’s no problem! This whole thing is way nerve-wracking!” The two turned to Izuku, who was too busy staring off into space to be aware of anything around them. “Anyways- my name is Uraraka Ochako! Good luck in the exam!”

Michi bowed respectfully..“Aizawa Michi. And this is Midoriya Izuku. Good luck to you as well.” Uraraka nodded, and walked into the building, brown hair bouncing gracefully. Michi watched her walk inside before she turned her attention to her friend, who was muttering too quietly for her to catch on to what he was saying.

With a huff of amusement, she slapped his shoulder and began to guide him into the building. “Izukun, I know you don’t have much experience with girls, but you could at least try to introduce yourself to the one who saved you from eating the sidewalk.” Michi laughed as Izuku’s face went from shocked to embarrassed.

“Oh gosh, you’re right. I was too busy trying to figure out her quirk to even say anything! Do you think she noticed?” Their shoes scruffed against the paved stairs as they continued their walk, eventually reaching the door and going inside. “I mean, what do you think it was? I think it could be some sort of gravity manipulation based on how I floated- that’s perfect for rescue work! She would be an amazing hero, I really hope she makes it in- is that- Thirteen?!”

Thirteen was stationed at a long table at the end of the entrance hall, clearly meant to be a check-in. They pointed directions for the potential students in front of Izuku and Michi as they handed out pamphlets. Izuku began to shake, from nerves or excitement Michi couldn’t tell. She assumed a mixture of both. It wasn’t everyday you got to meet such influential heroes in person- at least for the normal civilian.

As the duo eventually made their way to the front of the line, Thirteen greeted them enthusiastically. “Welcome to Yuuei, Hero Hopefuls! Can you please give me your school I.D.s so we can get you checked in and ready to go?” Michi and Izuku, of course, already had their identification available. Thirteen quickly took them, and checked the two of them into the system. After handing a freshly printed packet to each of them, along with their I.D.s, Thirteen pointed them down the hall.

“Those packets include the booklets you will use in the written exam, along with information regarding the physical you’ll take after. Your proctor will explain everything in more detail once they’re ready to start the exam. Aizawa-san, you’ll be in room 1-E, right down the hall after taking the first left. Midoriya-san, you’ll be in room 1-G, just a few doors further down. Good luck to the both of you!”

Michi led the way to their respective rooms, clearly having some knowledge on where to go. Izuku followed her lead, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “Uh, Micchan?” The girl in question absentmindedly nodded her head, gesturing for Izuku to continue his question. “Well, I was just thinking, isn’t it a bit strange that we haven’t seen Kacchan yet?”

“Why would you want him to see you today of all days?”

“I don’t! I just-” Izuku sighed, causing Michi to pause and pull him to the side of the hall. “If he does see me, I’d rather it be before everything starts? At least it wouldn’t be so embarrassing if he yelled at me in an empty hallway versus a classroom.”

Michi nodded in understanding, waiting a moment before speaking. “I don’t think he’d go too overboard today, Izuku. At least, not on campus? Yuuei is very strict in their policies, so he’d likely be barred from taking the exam if he started screaming at you for nothing.” She gave him a reassuring grin. “And if he did, I’d punch him in the face. Again.”

“Micchan! You can’t just talk about how you punched Kacchan!”

“Why not? The asshole deserved it for what he said. And you know it.”

“I mean, maybe he did. But I’m sure you’ll be barred from taking the exam for talking about how you assaulted another student so openly!”

“Yeah... But I could still make it into general studies, probably. Besides, my old man already knows I cracked open Bakugou’s nose.”

“Micchan!” Izuku’s eyes were wide, but he couldn’t mask the giggles leaving his mouth quite fast enough. Michi smiled in response- a large, open-mouthed smile that rarely came from the normally stoic girl. Once Izuku calmed down, he began to talk once more. “Oh yeah. I forgot you mentioned your dad taught here. I’m still upset you won’t tell me which hero he is.”

Michi huffed, a small ounce of suppressed laughter. “Dad doesn’t like me sharing his hero identity, Izukun. But, to give you a clue…”

Izuku leaned in closely, ready to hear whatever could possibly clue him in on the mysterious hero.

“You have a few pages dedicated to him in one of your notebooks! I think number eleven?”

Green eyes widened comically as Izuku took in the implications of his friend’s words. “You mean I already wrote about your dad and you won’t tell me which hero he is?!”

“I thought it was funny.” Michi shrugged with a small grin. “Plus, like I said, dad doesn’t like people knowing his hero identity.”

“I still- I wrote about your dad and you never said anything!”

“I would’ve corrected you on your analysis had you been wrong, but you actually broke down his abilities quite well! I wanted to take a picture and show it to him, but that would’ve been too on the nose.”

Michi slapped her shell-shocked friend on the shoulder, trying to snap him out of his stupor. “We have a test to take, remember? Let’s focus on that!”

Izuku, getting over his shock and embarrassment, shook his head clear of his thoughts and nodded towards his friend. Michi walked a little further with him to make sure that he made it to the correct room before hurrying to her own. It was time for the exam to get started.

--------

Michi groaned as she tightened the seafoam-colored half bun sitting on top of her head, turning her back quickly to pop it as she made her way towards the large auditorium Snipe had pointed her group in. The written test hadn’t been as difficult as she thought it could’ve been. Thanks to the endless nights she and Izuku spent studying every subject they could get their grubby little hands on, she didn’t have nearly the amount of trouble she expected to have on the math section. It really wasn’t one of her strong suits. Quirk Science and Quirks Laws, however, were a speciality of hers. Her father debated the laws with his coworkers frequently enough for her to pick up on, and Quirk Science definitely helped explain her own quirks’ functions. Sparing a quick glance down to her pamphlet, Michi took the stairs near the entrance to find her seat.

The row her seat was in wasn’t hard to find, but Michi did a double take once she found it. With narrowed eyes, she slammed her bag on the table with a bit more force than necessary. Of course they would sit her near him. She only hoped that Izuku got placed on her side instead of the empty seat on his side.

“Real mature, guard dog.” the grating voice of Bakugou Katsuki sounded from her right. She barely spared him a look of contempt before setting her gaze on the stage below. His ashen blond hair was as explosive as ever, red eyes set in the permanent glare she was used to seeing from him. The sight of his crooked nose was enough to almost make her lose her cool, letting out a short cackle.

“Yeah, as if you know anything about maturity. Want a reminder of how your nose got permanently tilted to the side?”

Bakugou snarled, turning away from Michi to face the stage once more.

It was the first day of their third year, and of course Izuku was the first one assigned to classroom cleanup. Michi offered to stay behind with him, but she ran to the restroom right after class was dismissed. She knew she should’ve waited until Bakugou and his cronies left for the day, a fact she cursed herself for months after the event.

Her shoes tapped against the linoleum floor as she hurried back to their class, knowing the sooner they got the cleaning done, the sooner they could go get some katsudon and celebrate their first day being over. She didn’t expect her vision to turn red in rage the moment she entered the room.

“If you really want to be a hero so bad- maybe you should take a swan dawn off the roof of the building and pray for a quirk in the next life!”

Fingers and the chain smoker had already turned towards the door, eyes widened in fear. Not knowing of the danger that awaited him, Bakugou turned towards the exit with a smug smirk. And that’s when he was met with a sharp crack against his nose. Blood leaked through the torn skin on the bridge, as well as one of his nostrils. He spluttered, hand moving up to catch the blood and cover his nose as his shocked eyes met Michi’s glowing red ones. Her seafoam hair, normally tied back in a half bun, floated towards the ceiling.

“If you ever say anything like that again, I won’t stop at your nose.”

The feeling of someone tapping her left shoulder brought her out of the flashback, and she turned to see Izuku smiling down at her. He set his bag down beside his chair softly, scooting his chair closer to hers as he sat down. His documents were placed on the table in a neat stack. He was about to say something to the girl beside him, when he seemed to realize that Bakugou was only two seats over. Michi knew he’d probably start freaking out, so she turned to face him completely, blocking out his view of Bakugou.

“How do you think you did on the written portion, Izukun?” The lights dimmed before going back to their original brightness, signalling that the presentation was about to begin.

The young boy fiddled with his papers, shaking his head slightly. “I think I did okay? There were a few questions on the beginnings of quirks that I had a bit of trouble with, but other than that it seemed easier than expected?”

“Yeah. Good thing we studied for the math section. I totally would’ve failed if we hadn’t gone over a majority of it.” Michi flicked her eyes towards the stage once more, seeing the silhouette of a man with very large hair walk up to the podium.

Izuku, Michi, and the rest of the participants crowded into the room focused their attention to the newcomer as the lights dimmed. His bright yellow hair, gelled up to the high heavens, was only accented by the artificial lights beaming down on him. Headphones covered his ears, and the collar of his leather jacket did little to hide the speaker connected around the man’s neck. Michi chuckled as she heard her green-haired friend let out a squeak in surprise.

“YOOOOO YUUEI HOPEFULS! HOW ARE WE FEELING TODAY?” The man certainly didn’t need the mic connected to the podium as his voice echoed clearly throughout the entire auditorium.

“That’s Present Mic! His quirk control is absolutely incredible- his rescue stats as well! I listen to his radio show every morning! I can’t believe he’s a teacher here! It’s totally crazy that all the teachers here are pros- guess that’s Yuuei for you!” Izuku was nearly bouncing in his seat, gushing over the Voice Hero with the quietest voice he could possibly muster.

“Will you stop nerding out, freak?”

Michi glared at Bakugou. “You really want me to mess up your nose again, sweaty hands?”

“Micchan! Kacchan!”

The two stopped glaring at each other and turned forwards again, paying attention to Present Mic, much to Izuku’s relief.

“WELCOME TO TODAY’S LIVE SHOW! EVERYBODY SAY HEY!”

If Michi had been paying attention to detail, she would’ve realized that no one in their position would ever reply. Tension and nerves were extremely palpable in the air; everyone was too scared to even say anything at this point in the exam. All except Michi- who was used to the loud, booming calls made by her father’s best friend. So when she replied with a decent-volume, she lifted her head, surprised to see over a thousand faces staring back at her.

Blood immediately rushed to her cheeks as she realized that she was the only one in the entire room to reply to the loudmouthed hero. She felt Izuku’s concerned gaze as she tried to block out the obnoxious sound of Bakugou trying (and failing) to hold in laughter.

“THANK YOU EXAMINEE 8978!” If Michi were any closer, she would be able to see the wink he sent her way, but from the distance she was at, she could barely see his exaggerated movements. “I’M HERE TO PRESENT THE GUIDELINES OF YOUR PRACTICAL! ARE YOU READY?!”

The large screen behind Present Mic lit up, showcasing a map of the ten different battle centers. “THIS IS HOW THE TEST IS GONNA GO, LISTENERS! YOU’LL BE EXPERIENCING TEN MINUTE LONG ‘MOCK CITYSCAPE MANEUVERS’! BRING ALONG WHATEVER YOU WANT! YOU’LL HEAD TO YOUR ASSIGNED LOCATION AFTER THIS PRESENTATION, YA DIG?”

Bakugou shuffled beside Michi, taking a quick glance at the paperwork laid out in front of each of them. “That’s so kids from the same middle school can’t help each other out, yeah?”

“Yeah. It makes sense, too. Especially considering that each consecutive I.D. number is assigned to a different location!”

“Get your eyes off of my paper, nerd!” Izuku shuddered as Bakugou whisper-screamed at him. The ashen blond grunted as he looked away. “I’ll crush all these losers. Fortunately for you, you’ll get to live another day.”

Michi felt a sinister grin form on her face as she spoke through clenched teeth. “Broken. Nose.”

They grew silent once more as Present Mic continued to speak.

“Each site is filled with three kinds of faux villains! Points are awarded for defeating each according to their respective difficulty levels!!! Use your quirks to disable these villains, and earn your points! That’s your goal, listeners!!” There was a short pause before the hero continued. “Of course, playing the antihero and attacking other examinees is prohibited!”

Michi elbowed Bakugou at the reminder, making him scowl at her.

“Excuse me! May I ask a question!”A voice sounded from below, nearly right in front of the stage. A figure was lit up by a stage light: a tall student with dark blue hair and glasses. He didn’t pause to let the hero reply before he continued on with his question. “There appear to be no fewer than four varieties of faux villains on this handout! Such a blatant error, if it is one, is highly unbecoming for Yuuei! Japan’s top academy! We’re all here today in the hopes of being molded into model heroes!”

“And you! With the curly hair!” His finger pointed towards Izuku, making the green haired boy cower behind Michi. “You’ve been muttering this whole time! It’s distracting!! If this is some sort of game to you, then please leave immediately!”

Izuku let out an embarrassed “Sorry,” in reply, making Michi glare down at the kid who singled her friend out. If it wasn’t going to create even more of a scene and cause Izuku to become even more of a nervous wreck, she’d totally give this guy a piece of her mind. Just who did he think he was?!

“Alright! Examinee 7111! Great catch, thank you!” Present Mic increased his volume, trying to lead the attention back to himself. “But the fourth villain variety gets you zero points! He’s more of an obstacle! There’s only one at each site! A gimmick of sorts that’ll rampage around in close quarters.”

“Thank you, sir! I apologize for the interruption!”

The presenting hero nodded, gesturing to the entire room with his hands. “That’s all from me, folks!” He went on to describe a quote from Napoleon, of all people. Michi knew this was the school of schools, but she also knew Mic was being forced to spew the random educational fact to them all. “PLUS ULTRA!!! Break a leg, listeners!”

With that, the main lights turned back on and the other potential students began to shuffle their way to their respective buses. The small shuttles would take them to and from campus to their testing sites. Bakugou, bag already slung across his shoulder and papers in his grasp, sped past Izuku and Michi as soon as the lights turned back on. The two shrugged as they gathered their things and made their way down and out to the buses.

-------

The shuttles, while as large as they could be, were still completely cramped. Michi found herself wishing that the battle centers were closer so that they could just walk to where they needed to be. She wasn’t much of a people person in the first place, even more-so when she was surrounded by random people with no room to herself. Luckily, she was able to grab a window seat near the back. The kid that sat immediately next to her didn’t seem too awful, either.

“Hey! Name’s Sero Hanta!” His deep black hair reached just above his shoulders, and his smile was so obviously genuine. Michi nodded, eyes flickering down to the round shape of his elbows before meeting his own. “This is totally crazy, right?”

“Aizawa Michi.” She sat up a bit straighter to provide more room for the both of them as she nodded. “Tell me about it. Didn’t know we were fighting robots… I’m going to have to be creative.”

Sero lifted his arms to give her a better view of his elbows. “I get ya! My quirk’s called Tape! I produce organic tape from my elbows.” He dropped his arms once she had gotten a good look. “What’s yours?”

“It’s called Erasure.” Michi held up her hands for Sero to see. “If I touch someone with all five fingers, I can erase their quirk. Or, I make them unable to use it? It’s not very effective on those with mutations, however.”

“Oh no shit?” Sero turned to face Michi fully, lifting his elbow to her still raised hand. “Try it on me! I wanna see what happens with my quirk!”

The young girl nodded, and placed her entire hand on the boy’s elbows. Michi felt her hair begin to float upwards, and she could tell by the look on Sero’s face that her normally brown eyes had begun to glow red. “You can move your elbow. I can still have my quirk activated if I let go.”

Sero tilted his arm away from her, moving it back and forth with furrowed brows. He shook his arm a few times, in an attempt to try to use his quirk. “It’s so weird. I know my quirk’s still here, it just feels like I forgot how to use it.” He knocked his knuckles against his elbow. “Yeah, I can’t get anything to come out.”

Michi nodded and deactivated her quirk; the feeling of her hair floating back down to normal tickled the back of her neck. In an instant, tape shot out of Sero’s elbows in a similar fashion to a grenade getting launched. He quickly grabbed the end before it could get far, and retracted it. She sheepishly scratched the back of her neck, turning her gaze to the floor.

“Sorry. I should’ve warned you before I let it go.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it!!” The shuttle came to a stop in front of their battle center, and the two of them stood as they waited their turn to make their way to the gate. “That’s a pretty great quirk though. It sucks that you don’t have a way to use it against the robots.”

Michi shrugged, following Sero as he began to walk through the aisle. “I have a few ideas of what I can do. Either way, if I don’t manage to bag enough villain points, I’m confident I’ll make it into general education. I can just fight my way into the hero course from there.”

The duo had made their way to the gate by the time Michi finished her short speech, and started to stretch while they waited for the countdown to begin. It wasn’t a long wait before a loud buzzer sounded through the area, and as soon as the gates opened up, Michi sprinted her way through it. She barely acknowledged Present Mic’s voice as she surpassed those in her group, heading straight for the nearest one-pointer.

The one-pointers were the smallest of the bunch, and therefore the easiest ones to test her theory on. Logically, these robots had to have a manual shut-off. Michi had no doubt that the exam proctors were controlling these things from a central room somewhere on campus, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t other ways to make sure they were running properly.

Thanking her dad for the parkour lessons, Michi narrowly dodged the robot’s fist before hopping onto it. Using its arm as a leverage point, she swung herself towards its neck. It didn’t take long for her to maneuver herself so she was able to look down at its back. Taking a moment to look around, her eyes lit up as soon as she glanced at a small switch between the neck piece and the back of the robot. Dodging another hit from the bot, she swung herself around once more. Hanging one arm around its neck from the back, Michi was able to stick her hand down far enough to toggle the switch. She heard a small click and immediately did a backflip off the bot and ran to find a new enemy to take on.

The other examinees were beginning to catch up to her, but she did her best to ignore them and keep to the plan she had. Now that she knew for sure that the robots had a toggle for power, Michi felt much more comfortable going after the two and three pointers. She would just have to make sure to dodge their attacks as well as she could. Without any quirk enhancements, taking a hit from one of the bigger bots was sure to at least crack a rib or two.

As Michi kicked off the two-pointer she just eliminated to land on the arm of a nearby three-pointer, she found herself regretful that she hadn’t practiced more with a capture weapon. Her father’s capture scarf, while useful, was extraordinarily complicated to learn how to handle. Even after practicing with a smaller version for about two years now, she still didn’t feel confident in handling it. At least, not confident enough to take it along for the most important exam she would probably ever take.

The three-pointer shut down with a flick of a button, and Michi jumped down to the ground as it collapsed in on itself. The ten-minutes they were allowed were quickly running out, and the examinees had fully taken advantage of every second. The young girl ran down the back alleyways of the mock city in hopes of finding a straggler or two, but it seemed to be in vain. She was sure that there were probably some more targets near the open streets, but quite frankly it was a bloodbath between the others and she really didn’t want any part of it.

Just as she was about to enter another alley, the ground began to rumble. Something big was approaching, and approaching fast. Looking out onto the main road, she spotted the biggest robot she had ever seen in her life. It easily doubled the largest buildings in the area, and the insane amount of weapons situated on its arms made it a terrifying sight to behold. That’s the zero-pointer?

Michi stared at the giant, watching it move closer and closer as other examinees rushed past her to get to safety. No wonder Present Mic said to avoid that thing! There’s no stopping it unless you want to break yourself! Michi set her foot back, hesitantly getting ready to make an escape, before she heard a terrified scream break out in front of her. A kid with strange looking balls on top of his head was cowered underneath a few pieces of rubble. It didn’t seem to be crushing him, but Michi knew sooner or later that the zero-pointer would.

With a sigh, Michi forced herself forward, running towards the other examinee as fast as she could. She came to a stop right beside the boy, eyes flickering between him and the zero-pointer. As she took a closer look, she noticed that similar balls to what he had as hair were wedged in between the wall and the pieces of rubble about to fall on him. She also noticed that his pant leg was caught in between the street and the piece of rubble as well.

“Hey!” The kid met her calm gaze with watery eyes and snot dripping down his nose. She tried not to grimace at the sight. “Those ball things are your quirk, right? Can you get them to unstick? I’d reach around to rip off the part of your pants that are stuck but I can’t reach and we really don’t have the time to mess around here.”

“I- I can’t!!” The kid was pretty much inconsolable. “I made sure they’d be super sticky for the exam today!”

Michi gritted her teeth, looking around for something she could use to help push the heavy rubble away, at least to the point where he was able to get his pant leg out of there. A metal pipe glinted in the alleyway she came from, and she made sure to tell the crying boy that she’d be back soon. Pushing herself up once more, Michi sprinted to the alleyway and bent down to pick up the pipe. A ripping sound came from above her, and she looked up to see Sero grinning down at her with a sweaty face.

“Need help?” Sero dropped down from the roof to stand beside Michi as she stood to face him, gripping the pipe tight between her hands.

“Actually, yeah.” She gestured for him to follow her as she turned to run back to the boy in trouble. “We need to move this rubble so he can move but his quirk got caught up in the mess. So we need to separate this main piece from those balls attached to the wall.”

Sero nodded, taking a furtive glance to the approaching zero-pointer which was only getting closer. Tape from both of his elbows shot out, attaching to the flat side of the rubble. “I’ll pull; you can stick that pipe up at the top and push it my way.”

Michi did as he said, jamming the pipe as far as she could between the wall and the debris. As soon as Sero called out, Michi began to push the pipe. The young girl relied more on her speed than her strength, so she wasn’t very used to dealing with this much weight. Sweat dripped down her face as she pushed harder, finally beginning to see the rubble move in the direction they wanted it to. After a minute or so of this, she felt the trapped boy grab onto her leg and pull himself out of the hole he had essentially dug for himself. Once he was a safe distance away, Sero and Michi both stopped their efforts.

The duo sent small smiles to one another, grateful that they were able to help. Unfortunately, that feeling didn’t last that long. Michi, about to ask the other boy if he was okay, suddenly froze as she felt a hand travel up her thigh.

“Oi, what the fuck!” She kicked the boy away from her, which wasn’t hard to do as he was still gripping onto her leg. Sero, who saw what had just occurred, came to stand by Michi’s side. Their glares combined sent the kid into another crying fit.

“I just wanted to say thank you!”

“Yeah, that came across real well when you tried to cop a feel.”

The boy, mouth open and ready to respond with some pathetic excuse, suddenly stopped as a loud sonic boom echoed around them. Almost immediately after, Present Mic’s obnoxious yelling sounded through the area.

“TIME’S UP, LISTENERS! PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE FRONT GATES!”

--------

The shuttles had taken them back to the main campus rather quickly. Those who had minor injuries were informed to wait for Recovery Girl to come back- apparently somebody had majorly hurt themselves in one of the other battle centers. Michi suspected it had to do with whatever caused that explosion at the very end of the test.

Michi walked through the crowded group of waiting students, searching for a glimpse of familiar green hair. Her brows furrowed as she saw no sight of him, and she pulled out her phone to see if he had texted her. The lock screen lit up, showing a photo of herself and Izuku on their first day of their third year. She was barely smiling, and he was red-faced and sweating buckets. The picture always did make her grin, but when she saw that there weren’t any notifications, she pulled up her messaging app. She was in the midst of typing up something to send to Izukun when she felt a hand land on her shoulder.

“Examinee 8978!” Present Mic stood beside her, shooting her a wink through his orange-tinted glasses. “Someone’s looking for you. Lemme take you to them, ya dig?!”

Michi nodded, following the tall hero as he led the way towards the less crowded hallway. As soon as they were out of earshot from most of the other examinees, Present Mic grinned down at her.

“What?”

“Nothin’. I’m just so proud of you! Saving people already!” The hero wiped a fake tear from under his eye, cackling when Michi groaned. They made another turn, and Michi grew more concerned when she realized they were heading in the direction of Recovery Girl’s office.

The young girl adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. “It would’ve been better had that loser not tried to grab my ass.”

“And Mineta Minorou will face consequences for those actions. If I have anything to say about it, he won’t step foot in the school again.” A deep, exhausted voice sounded from in front of them as Eraserhead turned the corner they were approaching. His eyebags were very pronounced today, only seeming more prominent from the shadows his long, unkempt hair cast upon his face.

As Michi and Present Mic walked closer, he stopped them to hand Michi a kit-kat bar and pat her head. “Good job, kid.” All Michi did was nod her head, trying to hide her forming grin.

Of course, the moment was ruined once Mic opened his mouth. “Why can’t you two act like a normal father and daughter for once?! Give her a hug, cry! Show some emotion!”

Both Aizawas felt their eyes twitch, turning towards Mic with matching glares.

“Okay, okay!” Mic began waving his hands and backing up. “I’ll shut up! I gotta go check on the other listeners anyways since this case may take Chiyo a while!” With that, Mic sped away back towards the lobby where a majority of students were still waiting, leaving Michi and Eraserhead alone before the nurse’s office.

Michi blinked, turning to her dad in hopes of hearing an explanation. He sighed, eyes closing as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Your friend. I thought he was quirkless.”

“He is, though?” Michi crinkled her nose in confusion, “He has the extra toe joint and the special shoes and everything.”

“Then how did he level an entire zero-pointer with one punch?”

“What did you say?!”

All her father did was sigh again, and open the door to Recovery Girl’s office. Immediately, Michi rushed in, ignoring the elder woman’s protests. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw Izuku laying on the stretcher with a nervous smile.

“H-Hey, Micchan! How did your test go?”

She was going to kill him.

[aen-maggs]

YOUR MESS IS MINE - Chapter 4

I ordered coffee because I was still feeling cold inside from my nightmares, and a side of bacon. Eddie ordered the All Star with his coffee. The Waffle House we ended up at wasn't very busy and the wait staff seemed to be pretty chill, so I figured our order would take a little while.

Eddie hadn't said two words on the way to the resultant. Now he leaned back in his seat, hands on the table and cocked his head slightly.

"Well?" He asked in that gravely voice of his.

"Well what?" I tilted my head to match his.

"Well, you wanna talk about that shit or what?" He said.

"I would rather not." 

Eddie chuckled. "Same old Kit.  Some time ya gonna have to open up to someone, Riff Raff."  He sipped his coffee and I felt heat cross my face at his use of another one of my old nicknames.

"Can you refrain from calling me by names I have no use for anymore?" I snapped. He seemed to almost choke then a hardy laugh came out of him.

"Oh, excuse me. I didn't mean to offend you, princess."  Eddie said crossing his arms.

"Why don't you tell me why you bothered asking me out here?"  I said as the waitress brought our food.

"To clear the air is all." He said picking up a fork.

"Great.  Air cleared. I have put all that behind me anyway." I said, but my tone hinted at the opposite. I saw on Eddie's face he knew it too.

"Nah, it ain't gonna be that easy. Besides, I want an apology." He said. It was my turn to laugh.

"Me? Apologize to you?"

"That's right." Eddie said as he forked eggs into his mouth. My eyes narrowed and I put my hands flat on the table.

"You said you were done." The words slinked out of my mouth as my anger began to rise.

"I said I was done with what we were doing. I never said 'Hey, Kit, I want you to sneak out and take the only vehicle we had, leave me stranded in some roach motel in Arizona, change your number and never hear from you again.'" He was getting pissed now, and the more he got heated, the more I was feeling my own anger build.

"You are such a dick. You left that night. Went for a long walk or didn't you think I knew you were at the bar up the road mugging down with that waitress we were both eyeballing earlier that night." I said loudly. The staff in the Waffle House was getting a little edgy and side glances were coming.

"And so what if I was," Eddie shot back, "You were the one that made it clear it was a friends with benefits situation."  He used the air quotes.

"I don't need this shit right now" I started to get up and walk out. Eddie snagged my arm and all humor was gone from his eyes.

"Sit down." He said through gritted teeth. Knowing him the way I did, I sat, but my temper was in full bloom now and I barely could stand the sight of him.

"I'm going to finish my meal here. After that, you and me are going to fight this out. I am not working with you with this between us."  He started eating again and a waitress came by to ask if I was ok.

"It's him you should worry about." I mumbled after telling her I was. Eddie winked at me.

Once he was done, he paid and we walked out of the restaurant. In the parking lot, I grabbed Eddie's arm.

"What the hell-" I started, but he pulled me closer and his mouth slammed into mine. He was kissing me with that intensity that only he had. His tongue slid into my mouth and I found myself opening up to him and relaxing into the embrace with a need and hunger I had not felt in years. His left hand was at my lower back as his right hand curling my braid in his fingers. His warmth and electricity were intoxicating.

He moved to my neck and I felt him speak against my skin.

"My room. Now." He growled and I didn't resist.

How we got back to the hotel was a blur of hand and mouths kisses and moans. Once inside his hotel room, we began pulling at each other's clothes. It wasn't long before we both were naked.  I felt myself tremble slightly at the sight of him, and he grinned with mischief.

"Oh you ain't gettin' scared are you, Kit?"  He kissed me again as I leaned backward on the bed.

"Not at all. Just forgot how big you are." I said. My arms were around his neck and my heart was pounding.

"I'll be gentle, Kitty Kat." He said, "Just this once." 

Eddie was gentle. His hands, slightly rough, slid over my body feeling me for the first time in years. He began to slid in to me, and I moaned loudly. He took his time, waiting patiently for me to open to him. At last, when he was all the way inside me, he picked up the pace of his thrusts. My body responded to him instantly and I came quickly and with a full intensity. Eddie came shortly after and rolled off of me onto the other side of the bed.

We were both panting and I felt like the room was tilted slightly. It was a surreal feeling being in bed with Eddie Kingston again after all these years.

“Turn over,” he said. I looked at him.

“Why?” I turned my back to him.

“Cause you snore.” I felt his big arm fold across me and his legs tangled into mine. He was already asleep and I closed my eyes trying to settle my mind.

[im-fairly-whitty]

I have synesthesia too! I associate colors with people. Could you tell me what Trinity or Itty tastes like? Please and thank you! ❤️

Ooo that’s cool! I’d ask what color you associate with me but I’m assuming it’s more of an IRL you’ve-actually-seen-the-person thing? Ah well, still super neat. It’s fun to see all the different kinds we are, there’s so many varieties! 

Trinity: licking the clean windshield of a new car, the smell-taste of a sugary christmas peppermint candy, licking the sharp edge of a pointed leaf

Itty: opening an old sewing supplies box and inhaling, the taste of thread when you try to break it with your teeth instead of scissors, the taste and feel of snapping a cracker between your teeth

Kiel Gnomenfoot: the taste of a dark salty wind on the open sea, the suffocatingly salty taste of cold ocean water splashed into your mouth unexpectedly. Mushroom scent and taste with an unpleasant too squishy mud taste. 

My own name doesn’t really have much of a taste to me! Probably because it’s repeated so often to me? Last year the closest I could get to pinning it down was something like fresh sugar snap peas, now it’s drifted to a kind of acrid fresh vegetable taste, like if you let the cellophane part of a green vegetable sit on your tongue until it burned. (I have a really low acidity tolerance IRL so fresh fruits and vegetables can do this in my mouth if I’m not careful and result in sores, I don’t think this is a universal experience but it is part of my taste repertoire as a result.) 

My username has the same issue (since honestly I see it on a daily basis more than my irl name), there’s very faint hints of flan and pretzel sticks but not much more beyond that.

You’ve caught my inner nerd by the scruff of its neck so alright, I’ll bite.

Godric: a metal cup of raspberry juice knocked back in one almost violent swallow, the thick sharp tasting rind of sourdough bread that’s tough to chew.

Helga: eating sunflower petals stirred into soft but not melted butter (if eating butter like that somehow wouldn’t make you gag, but you’re still aware you are definitely not supposed to be consuming the flower petals, they taste bitter and odd but not overwhelmingly so)

Rowena: licking worn down wood that’s often exposed to water, the taste of pond water. the taste of fresh sprouts.

Salazar: a sweet savory syrup, something honey golden with spices in it of some kind, but on water that’s dispersing the flavor and consistency thinner

And here’s a couple spells:

Accio: biting into crisp kit kat candy bars and lemon peel zest with a drink of fresh water 

Expecto Patronum: a soft metallic taste that makes you want to sneeze for some reason, cotton candy but somehow the cold flavor of expensive vanilla ice cream as the spun sugar melts in your mouth

Avada Kadavra: guacamole and licking sun baked stucco, stale lunchmeat, the taste of cardboard 

[twdfanfic-multifandom]

“I’ve had worse scratches from my sister’s kitten”

*Set between season 3 and season 4*

****

"Can I slide in a small request?" Michonne said quietly, her face stern. You turned to look at her, eyebrows furrowed.

"What is it?"

A moment of hesitation passed before Michonne finally spoke, the seriousness of her voice making you slightly nervous.

"Snickers. Kit-Kat. Butterfinger, whatever you can find. Please. I'm begging you." Desperation filled her voice as if her life depended on her single request for a candy bar. A laugh bubbled from your lips as you shook your head.

"I'll try my best, though I can't guarantee its freshness," you stated as you made a mental note to look for any form of chocolate on your supply run.

"As long as it has sugar and has more than a hundred calories, I don't care if it's decades old," Michonne retorted and offered you a small smile.

"Be safe," she instructed finally before turning away from you.

Daryl leaned against the car with arms crossed, waiting patiently for you. Tyreese already had the engine running, and soon the three of you were exiting the prison grounds. The sun was fresh and sharp having just risen, and the blinding golden rays streamed through the windows. From the backseat, you watched as golden strips of light cut across Daryl's skin, almost making him glow. He looked beautiful. He absentmindedly chewed on a fingernail while he and Tyreese exchanged quiet conversation.

An aura of tiredness filled the car. It was early, and runs weren't a fun part of surviving - though they were necessary. The prison ran out of food quickly despite the rationing, so scavenging for supplies became more frequent. Most of the time it was you and Daryl out hunting for food. The two of you worked exceptionally well together - your bubbly yet sarcastic disposition paired well with his hostility and dryness, and you found yourself enjoying time with Daryl. He was cold and stern, but beneath the tough exterior was a heart of gold. You'd clearly seen that throughout the months. This was occasionally reinforced by meaningful conversations shared between the two of you on late night watches, or laying beside a fire in the woods. He was a good person.

"Y/n, you still awake?" Tyreese said loudly, making you wince.

"Am now, asshole," you joked with a small chuckle, and Daryl glanced at you out the corner of his eye, his lip tugged up at the corner.

After a few more minutes, the entered into a desolate town and the three of you stepped out, weapons ready. Everything looked ransacked. Windows were smashed in, and walls were covered in graffiti. The end is here. Repent and get saved. They're coming. We're all dead. You're dead.

A small chill ran down your spine, and the two men also seemed unsettled by the writing on the wall. It was hard to get used to things like that. It added to the feeling of impending doom that always seem to loom at the back of everyone's minds. Walkers snarled in the distance. None of them seemed nearby, but everyone knew it was best to get in and get out before they became a problem.

"There," Tyreese pointed out a large building with a faded sign - what once was presumably a Walmart. Quickening up the pace, you headed into the building.

Daryl stepped protectively in front of you, crossbow raised. He scanned the massive room before walking forward towards the shelves.

"Let's split up," you suggested in a whisper. The large man nodded before Daryl interjected.

"No, no way. Ya stick with me," he instructed, making you roll your eyes despite the warmth that filled your heart.

"I can fight. It'll be quicker if we split up," you motioned to your gun and knife.

"She's right," Tyreese agreed, earning a glare from the archer. After a moment he reluctantly agreed, and we went different ways.

The shelves were not entirely empty, but most of the canned goods were gone. The only things left were the things most people didn't want to eat - beans, tuna, clams, vienna sausage. You placed the available tins in your backpack before heading to the candy aisle. Your heart sunk when you saw that it was totally barren. All the racks were empty, save for a single bag of marshmallows that had been ripped open and spilled all over. Defeated, you dropped to your knees.

"Why the candy?" You muttered bitterly to yourself, letting out a huge sigh.

"Ya say something?" Daryl called out from somewhere else in the store, and you shook your head stupidly before realizing that he couldn't see you.

"Just talking to myself," you called back. In a last effort, you bent down to scan the deep dark depths beneath the metal shelving. Shining you flashlight underneath, all there was to be seen was an ungodly amount of spiderwebs and dust. Then something glinted in the artificial light. Desperately you crawled forward to reach for the shining object. With a crinkle, you pulled out the dusty bar. Baby Ruth. Hell yeah. A big smile plastered onto your face and you pocketed the candy bar - Michonne was going to be happy. She hadn't asked for anything since arriving at the prison. All she did was help out as much as she could and stayed out of the way. The two of you had become close friends in the short time that Michonne had been at the prison, but it might as well have been years of friendship. It sure as hell felt that way sometimes.

"Guys we got company!" Tyreese yelled, snapping you out of your daze. Raising your gun you shot up off the floor and headed towards the sound of his voice, now noticing hungry growls.

"Holy shit."

A steady stream of walkers flowed through the single open door of the Walmart, while dozens more were pressed against the large window panes, blocking your exit. Arrows fired from beside you, and you glanced at Daryl. He was focused. You and Tyreese followed suit, firing your guns at the grotesque and hungry walkers. Their jaws snapped loudly. With a sudden shatter, one of the large window panes gave in under the pressure of the walkers, allowing them entrance.

"Shit," Daryl muttered. Fear pulsed through you as you kept firing, though it seemed pointless. The unmistakable click of an empty mag sent frustration coursing through your head. You flung your gun towards a biter with only half a face, then pulled out your knife. Rushing forward into the oncoming creatures, you stabbed them relentlessly in their decaying heads, one by one.

"We gotta go," Tyreese said breathlessly as he motioned towards the rest of the building. There had to be another exit. You nodded as you turned away from the creatures and hurried towards Daryl, who placed a warm hand on your arm.

"Ya okay?" He asked quietly, his low voice rumbling through your chest. His eyes were simultaneously cold and warm, paradoxical like him. Soft and hard. Cold and warm. Where his fingers touched your skin sent waves of electricity through your body, making your stomach tighten.

"Yeah," you breathed softly, your eyes staring straight into his.

"Seriously guys, not the time. We gotta go now."

With the moment broken, the three of you ran through the array of shelves. In the distance was another loud shatter. Then another. Then another. No more glass. Panic rose in your chest along with the increasing sense of urgency. They were coming, fast. Tyreese fired his last few rounds at the herd of walkers that just rounded the corner, and Daryl continued to fire his arrows - which would eventually run out.

"Tyreese, find the exit. We'll hold them off," you barked as you stabbed your blade through a half-exposed temple. The man paused for a moment, contemplating arguing, then nodded and headed out of sight. One particularly gross walker had been split up the torso, and its bowels hung out of it like putrid sausage. Its jaw hung limply from its rotting face, tongue lolling out like a smelling slab of meat. Bile rose in your throat and you shut your eyes.

It was a stupid thing to do.

Suddenly you were down on the ground. Fingers clawed at your ankle and a new set of nails clawed at your stomach, ripping open your skin. A small scream erupted from you as you shoved your arm forward, blocking the thing from chewing your face. A series of other pains burned their way onto your body like fire, and tears streamed down your face.

The walker by your face suddenly stilled, as did the other ones surrounding you. In one swift motion, Daryl pulled you up into his arms and sped towards a small, dingy bathroom. The fear in his eyes seemed to scare you more than the intensity of the situation.

He threw down his crossbow and instantly surveyed your wounds, paying attention the scratches on your abdomen. Blood seeped out of the slits and onto the beige tiled floor, making you feel slightly sick.

"Shit, y/n," Daryl's voice was laced with panic. His hands pressed against the wounds to stop the bleeding.

"It's not so bad. I've had worse scratches from my sister's kitten," you joked, though your attempt at humor failed miserably. Anger flashed across the man's face.

"This ain't a joke, y/n!" He yelled, making you flinch. Black spots danced into your vision and you shook your head slightly. It only made you more dizzy.

"You're right. The joke is you focusing on the scratches," you said lazily, staring into Daryl's fearful eyes. A puzzled expression crossed his face. Sighing, you pulled yourself into a half-sitting position before pulling off your tattered shirt. Daryl blushed heavily before turning to a deathly pale shade when he spotted the fresh bite in the side of your torso.

"No, no, no. No," he said repeatedly, his hands suddenly by the bite as if he could heal it. he couldn't. His head shook repeatedly, shaking free a few teardrops which spilled onto your blood-soaked skin.

"'S okay, Daryl," you said softly, gently placing your hand on his warm arm. Death was inevitable. Everyone knew that.

"Don't you dare say that," Daryl growled.

"It really is, it's okay. I'm not afraid of dying," you reassured him, though it was a lie. Everyone is afraid of dying. Especially when they have to die in front of the person they loved.

"Ya ain't gonna die. I'm not lettin' that happen. Ya gonna be fine, y/n. Ya gonna be fine," the archer's voice was now thick, choked by tears. Your own tears spilled onto your face as you watched him stare helplessly at your dying body.

"Don't let me turn."

Daryl looked at you, and for the first time you saw that he was broken. His mouth was turned down at the corners, and tears spilled down his cheeks in a steady flow, hair covering his face. Your hand found his blood-covered one as you passed him the Baby Ruth bar, also covered in blood. Your blood.

"Please give this to Michonne," you whispered and your eyes slowly fluttered shut. You were tired.

"Open ya eyes, y/n. Stay with me. Stay awake," Daryl pleaded as he gripped your hand, his other hand on your overheating face. It was now a battle whether you would die from blood loss or from the infection. This was one competition that you wished neither would win.

"I'm just tired," your voice was barely audible, sending blind fear through Daryl's body.

He never got close because he knew this day would come, but now it was here, he wish he did. He wished he'd told you how he felt. He wished he'd spent every single waking second with you, rather than attempt to distance himself. But now it didn't matter, because you were dying and it hurt all the same. God, how it hurt.

"Stay with me," Daryl pleaded finally, before he did it. Heart beating so fast he thought it would explode, Daryl place both hands on the side of your face and gently placed his lips against yours. All the times he wanted tell you how he felt, all the times you'd shared watching the stars, all the moments of ineffable feelings between the two of you filled that single kiss. His lips against yours felt like his heart growing warm and his heart shattering at the same time. It was warm because he loved you. It shattered because he knew that he would never be able to kiss you again. He would never be able to have more moments with you.

"Finally," you muttered weakly when you broke apart. Your heart would have been beating fast if it weren't pumping slowly and thickly from blood loss. New tears lined your face as you stared into Daryl's swollen eyes. Your heart broke at the sight.

"'S okay, D."

He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, placing his forehead against yours. He felt your warm, slow breaths against his face. The words were about to leave his lips; those three words that he'd been itching to say for the longest time. But then he realized it didn't matter anymore, because he no longer felt your breaths on his face. They had stopped. You were gone.

[abutterflyscribbles]

That’s a Wrap

@teddy-feathers I felt inspired

“Nope.” Victor snagged the alien by the shoulder, dragging her backwards away from the scientists’ reaching hands. “Not happening.”

“Sergeant Victor! This is not under your authority!” Doctor James snapped. “Stand down and give us back the specimen!”

Victor looked the scientist in the eye, deliberately refraining from blinking while he kept his face set in a neutral expression that he knew unnerved people. Anger, disdain, he kept them locked down and focused on accomplishing the task immediately in front of him. Which was to keep the alien safely away from the scientist. He could feel the alien fear. Every time one of those hands made a grab she flinched like they had touched some unhealed wound.

Actually, the alien was entirely still. Some vital part of her instincts of self-preservation had shut down and she barely stayed on her feet when Victor had pulled her back.

Speaking in a clear voice Victor said, “She doesn’t want to go with you. As for authority, that transfers out of civilian hands in this situation. The facility is locked down and we’ve got armed hostiles. It’s time for you to shut up and stay out of the line of fire.”

“None of that gives you the right to take specimens into your possession. Leave that to the professionals, sergeant.”

“Nope.”

Victor’s blunt response irritated the scientists. It came off of them in waves. That and their disdain for the soldiers. The later Victor could understand. They had to put up with the top brass coming and meddling with their projects even though they couldn’t tell a microscope from centrifuge. But it was really not the time.

“The specimen--”

“She--” Victor wished he knew what the alien was called, “--saved the lives of my men. She gets to choose who she goes with.”

The scientists looked skeptically the the still, drooping form of the alien and her dull, lifeless eyes. Standing on odd, slender feet--digitigrade, Victor thought what those kind of feet might be called--the alien looked ready to fall over before she could muster the energy to have an opinion. Much less protect anyone.

Victor did not sigh. It was hard, but he didn’t. He pointed at a patch on his shoulder. “Empath. Take my word for it, she has a preference.”

The usual surprise and suspicion flooded the room. It puzzled everyone that an empath would become a soldier. Soldiers weren’t supposed to worry themselves with things like thinking. Follow orders. Don’t question it. How could an empath not question things. It never seemed to be suspected that even non-empath soldiers could produce a personal opinion or two.

Victor put the alien’s hand on his shoulder, curling her fingers through an empty loop in his uniform. He didn’t have to ask if she could hold on. She could.

“Why do you think it’s a girl?” one of his men asked as they prepared to start clearing corridors.

“The long eyelashes and hair ribbons.” Victor retorted. It wasn’t like the alien’s thoughts were lines of script that he could read. The knowledge she was female just slotted into place along with her obvious fear of the scientists.

His aside amused the alien, in a vague way. He thought it might be because she had no hair. He was pretty sure she didn’t get the joke.

“She got a name?” someone else asked.

“Yeah.” Said Victor.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh, funny, sarge.”

“I do my best. Hey, Henry, give me one of the candy bars you stole from the vending machine.”

Henry pulled out a kit kat bar out of her pocket and tossed it to Victor, “In my defense it was busted open and this is an emergency situation. It was salvage.”

Victor caught the candy in one hand. “I don’t care, so long as you brought enough to share with the class. Just eat one so I don’t have to hear you craving it.”

He held the candy bar over his shoulder to offer the alien who was walking behind him. “And you eat one so I don’t have to hear you feeling faint.”

The alien accepted it and took her hand off his shoulder to wrestle with the candy wrapper.

One of the scientists made a noise of protest. “What are you doing? You can’t just feed it that. That thing is full of artificial preservatives, you ca’t just introduce it to the specimen’s system! Especially outside of lab conditions! You could throw off our data--”

The alien freed the candy bar from its wrapper. The film of dullness over her eyes had cleared a little and they looked more like eyes. Like how you could see the iris expanding and contracting in human eyes, Victor thought he could see things working in her eyes again.

She was annoyed. Annoyed enough to look Dr. James in the eye.

Crumpling up the wrapper with the delicacy of intense concentration, the alien lifted the ball up and put it into her mouth, all without breaking eye contact.

There was stunned silence.

The alien swallowed the wrapper.

There was scattered snickering. Victor failed to keep from grinning. The alien was confident the wrapper wouldn’t do her any harm and she hadn’t choked on the wrapper so he didn’t worry.

“That’s not the part you eat.” Victor remarked in a conversational way.

Since there were no visible whites to her eyes Victor wondered if she even had a concept of eye rolling. She managed to convey the same mood anyway.

[trollhunter94]

Pairing: Crowley x Reader

Warnings: None

Words: 2.4k

Summary: A recollection of the day that you spent with a stranger, exploring the streets of a new city and gaining a new friend in the process.

A/N: Dedicated to @ifindyourlipssokisssable for her love of Crowley, Mark’s tattoos and for being a lovely human being. Here’s some Season 10 Crowley for you.

I met someone today. Not a man though, not really.

He was a Demon, but not just any ‘run of the mill’ Demon. He was the King of Hell.

I know, crazy right?

It all started in a quiet and ominous Bar in the centre of my hometown. As I sat alone, wondering what to do with my day, a shady figure appeared beside me. Of course, I jumped out of my skin, knocking my drink off the table, which he skilfully caught.

I think he could sense that I was feeling a bit lonely, or maybe my countenance was just screaming ‘Loner’. In either case, I don’t really care because it was the best day of my life.

He placed the glass back on the bar with a look of amusement on his face before saying “very graceful. I’m sure you meant to do that”.

I responded with a sarcastic smile at this stranger. “Oh yeah. Only the cool kids knock their drinks over”. His eyes scanned me with uncertainty and caution. “Yes. I see that. Do they also sit alone and take coldly to new faces?”

“Sadly, I think they do” I said truthfully, taking a sip of my drink. He chuckled at my comment before perching on the stool next to me and outstretching a hand to introduce himself. “The name’s Crowley. King of Hell”. I shook his hand with the response: “King of hell? What are you, some sort of government stiff?”

His eyes widened, shocked by my reaction to this information. The fact that I didn’t question the place that he worked, just the method of how he got the job.

“No” he said heartily, shaking his head with amusement. “This isn’t a job that I get paid for”. My instant response was “that sucks”, followed by “why do you do it then?”

Lifting his eyes upwards, he thought about my question. “For the power, of course. Why else would I surround myself with a herd of snivelling and incompetent Demons inside a bureaucratic cesspool?”

The way he described Hell with a sense of dreariness and instability made me wonder, maybe he wasn’t doing his job properly. “Well, you know the saying. With great power” I warned casually with a pointed finger.

“Yes, I know” he muttered, unamused by this. “Responsibility is for mortals and parents”. I guess he was right. If you were an immortal, then death would be of no consequence. My chain of thought was quickly interrupted.

“What’s that you’re eating?” He pointed at the item in my hand, half-wrapped in foil. “It’s a chocolate bar” I said to him. “Do you want to try some?” He gave me such a sceptical face at the invitation, as if I was trying to poison him.

“Go on” I urged him, snapping the two bars apart and offering him one. “Have a Kit-Kat”.

“Is that a thing?” he asked me curiously, taking a different bar off the counter and inspecting the chocolate snack. “Yes” I stated with absolute certainty, “and it’s delicious”.

He held out his hand, curious to try this sugary snack that I defended so passionately. I happily placed it in his hand and watched as he put the whole bar into his mouth and chewed on the chocolate wafer.

“Mmm” he voiced his agreement with the taste and texture of it. “This is actually quite pleasant”.

“Yes” I agreed. “Yes it is”. He leaned forward, elbows resting upon the bar as he reached for my glass and took a sip. Putting it back down, he caught my gaze and held it rather intensely.

“Haven’t you got anywhere better to be, than this dingy little place on a Tuesday?” I thought about his question for a second before reasoning made me turn it back on him. “No, not really. Haven’t you though?”

A smile plastered his face before he shrugged his shoulders. “Ah, Hell can run without me for a day. Besides, how often does an opportunity like this come around?“

”Like what?” I asked. “To sit in a ‘dingy bar’ and hang out with me?”

“Well, that” he agreed with a head tilt, “and the chance to take you on an adventure”.

My eyebrows instantly shot upwards with intrigue. “Really? What kind of adventure? Does it involve pirates and swordfights?” Crowley instantly grinned at the mention of this. “No sorry, can’t do that. How about Eskimos and snowball fights?”

“Sounds better than sitting here” I agreed happily, taking the final sip of my drink.

“Let’s go party then, shall we?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, putting them on with an air of coolness about him.

“What, now?” I questioned excitedly, picking up my bag and swinging it over my shoulder.

“Why not?” he simply replied, as he grabbed my hand and led me towards the exit. This unexpected turn of events didn’t bother me in the slightest. With nothing else to do today, I decided to go with the flow and let this stranger be my guide.

We barged through the doors and I was shocked that the usual scenery of shops and cars had been replaced with the sight of a bustling street market. It had two rows of stalls, trailers and tents that sold everything from paintings and clothing, to comic books and great-smelling food.

This definitely wasn’t my hometown, made obvious by the illuminated white tower that was situated before us. Crowley stood by my side as I took in the beauty of this place that he’d taken me. I think he was expecting a different reaction though, maybe surprise or confusion from the way he asked “what? Not tropical enough for you?”

“No”, I quickly responded. “It’s beautiful. Where are we though?” He just chuckled and responded with “that’s the beauty of not knowing, don’t you think?” He proceeded to pull me into the crowd of people, where we browsed the rows of the market.

I soon stopped at a stall that had an array of multicoloured hats and scarfs of every type. Picking up a red top-hat, I put it on and turned to Crowley for his opinion. He smiled and said to me “it suits you”. I quickly turned back to find him one to try on.

His face dropped when I picked up a deer-hunter and handed it to him suggestively. “Oh, no. I’m good” he politely declined. His refusal did nothing to deter me from placing the hat on his head. He didn’t take it off straight away, instead he glared at me for a few seconds.

He did look fabulous in that hat.

A good deal of browsing occurred before we both stopped to watch a break-dancing session that was taking place at a crossroads in the market. The young boy of about 15 had attracted a small crowd with his talented moves, so I decided to capture this moment on my phone.

After about 10 seconds of recording, I noticed Crowley nodding his head to the beat of the background music, so I turned the camera on him. As soon as he noticed me filming him, he struck a pose that radiated warmth and enjoyment.

This spurred me to turn the camera onto myself. “The King of Hell, everybody” I introduced him, relishing in the humour of this moment. I could have sworn he chuckled at this.

As I put my phone back in my pocket, I felt a warm hand clasp onto mine. “Come on, let’s see what else is around here”. The fact that he held my hand as we glided through a crowd of complete strangers, felt extremely normal. It was as if I’d known him for ages.

We walked along the sidewalk for about 5 minutes, browsing at the artwork displays and talking about the popular shows on HBO. Turns out he is a really big fan of Girls and Band Of Brothers.

It wasn’t long before we came across a simple convenience store that sold basic goods. I slowed down and tugged at Crowley’s sleeve as the urge to buy unhealthy food surfaced. He looked down at me at the sudden stop.

“Can we go in here quickly?” I asked him, pointing to the window of the store. The look on his face was reluctance, but he had little choice when I pulled him inside and headed straight for the sweets section.

He simply strolled around the store with hands in his pockets, not so willing to browse this commercial shopping facility. It wasn’t too long until some item piqued his interest though. He wasn’t sure what it was, but the skull head of it looked interesting. He picked it up and felt the smooth texture of the plastic.

He looked up as I approached him ready to leave the store, and his face changed suddenly. A look of shiftiness was given as he proceeded to tuck the item into the inner pocket of his overcoat. He was shoplifting. All I could do was smile as I pushed him towards the door, feeling like a troublemaker in his company.

We headed onward, not knowing where we were going, just enjoying the company of each other. After a while, we perched on a bench whilst I convinced him to try some of the food I’d bought. At first he was reluctant, dismissing the need for junk food, but soon crumbled under my powers of persuasion.

Once he’d tasted the inner centre of a Malteser, he was hooked. Thus began a contest of how many we could stuff into our mouths and how far we could throw one. Ten minutes of simple human pleasures was shared before we set off on another walk.

We strolled down the back alley of the main street, talking about life experiences and regrets. I asked him if he’d ever killed anyone. His immediate response was one of surprise. Coming to a halt, he glared at me. I think he was deciding whether or not to be open with me. Eventually, he spoke up.

“I have…. done certain things, that I’m not proud of. Hurt people along the way and made a few enemies”.

“Enemies?” I questioned curiously. “Like who?”

“Well, most Demons” he responded casually. “Lucifer himself isn’t a fan of me sitting on the throne either. Not to mention the countless number of creatures and humans I’ve hurt or betrayed”.

“Wow” I said, slightly shocked. “That’s a long list”. He just chuckled and rubbed the scruff of his beard, thinking about how much he was despised by the people around him.

I decided to break the silence with another question. “What about tattoos? Got any?”

He gave a shrug and a moan in response. “Meh, I’ve had one or two. You?” I just shook my head, fully aware that I probably haven’t experienced as much as he has. 

“Oh, well that’s something we can rectify. In fact, I know a lovely little place nearby”.

“You know what?” I said light-heartedly, “why not”. His delight at the acceptance was a picture of radiance as he gave me a pleased nod and rested a hand on my shoulder. “Excellent. Let's go, shall we?”

He led the way to the tattoo parlour, holding the door open for me and walking alongside me to the counter. “Evening”, he addressed the man behind the desk. “This young thing would like to experience the wonder of tattoos for the first time”.

The tattooist was quick to accommodate me and Crowley, leading us over to the seating area. “Of course. Do you have anything in particular you want?” Before I had a chance to speak, Crowley jumped in to the conversation.

“Yes we do. Let me draw it for you”. He picked up a piece of paper from the table and began to draw his own design, being careful not to show me what he was creating. Once he’d finished, he handed it over to the artist and spoke to him so quietly, that I couldn’t hear them.

The man nodded before calling me over to lie down on his work bench and to reveal my shoulder. I was putting my complete trust in Crowley not to screw this up. I’d heard stories of some epic tattoo fails. Let’s hope this wasn’t going to be the Cool-Aid Man or something ridiculous.

I led on that leather surface and braced the prickly pain for what seemed like hours. Crowley would sit and chat with me for a while before strolling around the room, browsing the designs that covered the walls.

Eventually the artist wiped the inked skin for the last time and took a step back to admire his work. “There we go, all finished. Do you want to see?” I sat up with a sense of relief and nervousness of the finished result. “Yes please”.

He picked up a small mirror as Crowley approached the two of us. I gave him a look of nervous excitement before taking a glance at my new body art.

My only thoughts were “oh my god! Have you just tagged me? What does that symbol even mean? And why does it say ‘protected’?” His lips curved into a smile as he nodded, trying not to laugh at my not-so-positive reaction.

“Crowley!?” I reinforced my tone, demanding an explanation for this. “You’ll thank me for this later” he quipped before looking upwards in thought. “Maybe you won’t actually”.

I took another look, still doubtful of his intentions. “It does look pretty cool, but it‘d better not be some kind of satanic, devil-worshiping brand”.

As the artist applied a covering to my shoulder, Crowley told me that the tattoo was an anti-possession sigil. It stopped Demons from entering my body and taking over. To think that this was a possibility was frightening, making me wonder if anyone I ever knew had been possessed.

Crowley returned me back home shortly after that. Leaving me at my front door with a head full of new memories and a permanent reminder of our day together, he vanished into the night.

I don’t know whether I’ll ever see him again. But I will always have that day, the day I spent with the king of Hell.

Crowley tags:

@uselessace @bungeewabbit @roxy-davenport @queenofhellwithcrowley @gettinjoyful

[moonbeambucky]

Frosting On Top

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader Word Count: 1786 Warnings: fluff, smut

Summary: Your attempt at baking doesn’t go quite as planned but you and Bucky make the best of it.

A/N: If only all baking could turn out this way! Reblogs, comments and likes are always appreciated! gif source (x)

“Oh come on. What is happening?” You groaned while turning on the oven light to check your cupcakes… the cupcakes that have been baking for nearly twenty minutes and have still not risen above the baking pan.

You look around at the mess in your kitchen. Nearly every surface of the counter is covered with something; puffs of flour, ingredients that should have gone back in the refrigerator, batter that dropped from the spoon as you were scooping it into the wrapper, tiny granules of sugar you know are going to be a pain to clean up because they’re everywhere. You’re ignoring the sink and it’s mountain of dishes, dirty bowls, mixer attachments and a half dozen spoons. How did you end up using so many spoons?

This is not how you expected baking to go. You spent last weekend in bed thanks to your period and you were craving sweets thanks to your binge marathon of The Great British Bake Off. Luckily you had the best boyfriend in Bucky Barnes. He raided the kitchens throughout the Avengers compound and stockpiled all types of cookies and candies for you. Sam was furious when he found out his Kit Kat bars went missing. He brought it up every chance he could, grilling the whole team during training. You and Bucky shot knowing glances at each other, hiding the laughter that was threatening to come out, especially when Sam was interrogating Wanda. You replaced them that night ordering Kit Kat’s in bulk.

All week you looked forward to this day. You had gotten back from a rough mission and you just wanted to unwind and practice your baking skills. You’ve made cupcakes before but wanted to experiment with your flavors, lemon cupcakes with lavender buttercream frosting. You were certainly not as talented as the contestants and but if you followed the recipe you were certain you could pull this off. Baking is fun or it at least it’s supposed to be but at the moment you’re wondering how someone could manage to screw up cupcakes so badly!

The door of your shared apartment opens and you know it’s Bucky before he calls out for you. After living together for a while you’ve become accustomed to the sound of his routine; his arms shrugging out of his jacket as he hangs it on the doorknob of the closet, his clunky boots echoing off the wood floors as he toes them off.

“Hi doll,” he greeted, his voice growing louder as he walks into the kitchen. “I thought we could…”

Bucky abruptly stopped speaking as he saw you standing in the center of a mess. A cherry red apron was tied around your waist and matching oven mitts were holding the most depressing tray of cupcakes ever baked as proven by their lack of size and the deep frown on your face. You slammed them down on the counter out of frustration.

“Everything okay Y/N?” he cautiously asked.

“Look at my cupcakes. They’re pathetic!”

Bucky stepped behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and leaned his head on your shoulder. Looking down at the pan he cringed.

“Y/N, I love you but I think you should stick to watching baking shows. ‘Cause these…” he hissed once again, looking at the pan. The cupcakes were flat or sunken, with blackened edges because you kept them in for too long hoping they would eventually rise. “…are not good.”

Your shoulders slumped even further in frustration. “No shit Bucky. I don’t know what happened. I followed the directions,” you whined.

You broke out of his embrace to grab your phone, pulling up the recipe. “Mix the sugar, butter and eggs, okay,” you repeated. “Sift the flour, salt and…” Your face dropped as you stared at the unopened container of baking powder, grabbing it you pouted at Bucky, showing off the culprit for your misfortunate cupcakes.

“Natasha called me and clearly I got distracted!” you preemptively defended.

“Doll, let’s face it, you’re skilled at so many things but this,” he gestured to the general disarray of the kitchen, “This is not one of them,” he chuckled.

You were disappointed, not only because you messed up but you were hungry and looked forward to eating the cupcakes. “At least I still have this,” you said, sticking your finger into a small bowl of lavender frosting.

Bucky watched the way your finger slid into your mouth, humming in satisfaction at the taste. He let out a simultaneous moan that did not go unheard. You smirked, dipping your fingers back into the frosting you brought them up to his mouth. He looked down at you, with a lustful gaze and devilish smile. Grinning, he took your fingers into his mouth, sucking the frosting off them slowly. The vibrations of his moaning that went straight to your core.

You threw your arms around his neck to pull him into a searing kiss, your tongues dancing with each other, the light taste of lavender still present. You broke the kiss to pull off your shirt, revealing a lacy bra Bucky couldn’t wait to tear off you.

Bucky’s lips were pulled back to your skin like a magnet as he kissed the crook of your neck, delicately sucking the skin while he hands cupped your breasts through the bra. His hands went behind your back to unhook the clasps but you pulled away before he could.

Biting your lip with a teasing smirk you grabbed a spoon along with the bowl of frosting. Bucky’s eyes doubled in size, especially as you curled your finger to call him closer. With one hand behind your back you unclasped the hooks letting your bra fall to the floor. Bucky sucked his bottom lip into his mouth as he stared at your chest, eagerly wanting to touch you but he waited knowing the sweet reward he was about to get.

Dipping the spoon into the bowl you scooped up a dollop of frosting and placed it on your nipple that hardened at the cool sensation. You looked at Bucky through lust filled eyes as you generously coated the other one, smiling as you watched him adjust his straining erection.

Bucky wet his lips as he leaned down, licking long stripes up your breast before fully engulfing your cream covered bud into his warm wet mouth. You bring your legs together, feeling your wetness soaking through as he moans while he licked and sucked you clean. He kissed his way over to your other breast, his storm colored eyes raging with lustful wind as he flicked his tongue feverishly over your nipple before swirling it over in agonizingly slow motions. His metal hand kneaded your neglected breast, pinching and twisting the hard peak causing you to cry out his name.

He leaves a trail of open mouth kisses as he travels upwards, stopping to suck on that spot on your neck that makes you squirm with delight before finding his way back to your lips. Dipping his fingers into the bowl for more frosting he brings them up to your lips. You take his fingers into your mouth, moaning as you swirl your tongue around them, giving him an exciting preview of what you’re about to do.

Your hands slide down to his jeans, making quick work of the button and zipper to get them off him. On your knees you press teasing kisses to his cock, still straining in his black boxer briefs. Eagerly you pull the material down his solid things freeing his length. You were on him instantly, pumping him in your hand a few times, delicately swiping the beads of precome over his swollen head.

Grabbing the bowl you grinned as you placed a spoonful of frosting on his tip; Bucky hisses in delight at the feeling. Your hands wrap around his base as you flatten your tongue to lick the frosting, swirling your tongue around his head before taking him into your mouth.

Your moans vibrate around him as you take him deeper with each passing bob your head. Bucky watches himself disappear in your mouth, metal fingers denting the countertop as you swallow him deep. Your watery eyes look up at him with devotion as you release him, your hands now stroking him and Bucky grins at the tiny specs of frosting that have gathered in the corner of your mouth. Your hands begin to stroke him in corkscrew motions while you flick his balls with your tongue, sucking his heavy sac into your mouth.

“Aggh fucck,” he cried.

With that, Bucky brought you to your feet, quickly pulled down your leggings, tearing your panties off you but you didn’t care. He lifted you onto the table, diving his tongue over your soaked folds, lapping up your juices like it was nectar of the gods.

You moaned, grabbing a fistful of his hair as his tongue finds your clit and begins to suction it into his mouth. Squirming beneath him you cry out quickly as an intense orgasm washes over you but Bucky doesn’t let up. He hums as his face is buried between your legs bringing you over the edge again quickly while his hands pinched your nipples.

Bucky pulled you to the edge of the table as you grabbed the hem of his shirt, taking it off him. He lined himself up and pushed into your entrance, agonizingly slow, making you quiver with every inch until he filled you to the hilt. He pulled out again, equally as slow, his cock dripping with your arousal.

“Bucky, I need you,” you moaned, a whine really out of desperation to feel him again.

He smirked, sliding in again and thrusting with a furious pace, groaning as your walls clenched around him. His lips crashed to yours for a searing display of your passion. You moan, hot puffs of breath against his skin that burns with desire for you.

Bucky changes his angle, hitting you deeper, you’re teetering on the edge. His hips shift creating the perfect friction against your clit and you cry out. Your body tenses, pulsating around him, white hot light burns behind your eyes as  you fall over the edge together, Bucky emptying himself inside you with a few snaps of his hips.

The heavy weight of Bucky’s spent body presses your back into the cold table but you love it, seeing him let go, giving all that he has to you. You push away the hair that is sticking to his sheen of sweat on his forehead; smiling with soft, love-hazed eyes.

Bucky kisses you, tender and slow, looking up to flash a playful smirk, “Forget what I said. You can bake anytime.”

[rainsonata]

A Restless Night

Fandom/Pairing: Elsword; hints of LPMM Rating: K Word Count: 5,022

Summary: Being friends sometimes means standing outside of Psyker’s house in the dead hour of the night because your son accidentally fed a stray kitten chocolate.  Psyker is suddenly entrusted with taking care of Arc and Mastermind needs a nap.  MMLP Modern AU developed with @blazingsnark, where MM and LP are single dads to AT and PT.   

Note:  Rest of MMLP Modern AU can be found here.    

It was still dark when Psyker woke up to his phone on his dresser, vibrating to a ringtone he had been hearing more often.  Rolling to his side, he reached out to unhook the phone from the charging station (Dear gods, the sun wasn’t even out yet.) and slid his finger across to answer in a groggy voice. 

“Hello?”

“Lusa!”  Mastermind’s voice was loud and clear.  “Hey, I know it’s kind of early…”

“It’s four in the morning,” Psyker fought the desire to bury his face into a pillow, instead looking up at the ceiling.  He had early morning schedules for work and exercise, but this was too early even for him.  A nagging thought tailed at the back of his sleepy mind, “What’s up?”

“Can I bring Arc over?”  He sounded embarrassed, “I need someone to watch him while I’m out.”

“Did something happen?”  Psyker grew suspicious with narrowed eyes, sitting up to straighten his back and glared at the phone, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Mastermind said with weakness.  His voice was breathy, but he sounded okay, so Psyker didn’t question him further.  “But I need to take a little guy to the hospital.”

“I’ll come over,” Psyker said and lowered his phone.  “I can come back if Psych wakes up.”    

“You won’t have to…”

His hesitance made Psyker stop when he heard the sound of something closing shut from the other side of the call.  Was that the car door?  He opened his window, peeking out to see Mastermind stepping out of his car with Arc wrapped in blankets and wiping his eyes.  Father and son caught Psyker’s eyes and gave a tired wave for a greeting.  What the hell.  They were standing on his lawn.    

They were at the door when Psyker opened to see the pair half asleep with red eyes like neither of them had much sleep.  Mastermind prompted Arc into the house and led him over to where the sofa was in the living room before turning to face Psyker, who still processing what he saw.  His friend and kid showed up at his house without warning and Mastermind was pale as a ghost like someone was dying.  A quick gaze over the two found no signs of injury, but it was alarming to see either awake at this hour.     

“Where are you going?” Psyker asked as Mastermind tucked in Arc.  “Are you hurt?”

“It’s not me,” he shook his head.  “Arc found a stray kitten and we’ve been waiting for the mother, but she hasn’t returned.  I saw it eat something last night and the vet told us to monitor, but it got worse this morning when Arc woke me up.”        

A cat, Psyker mentally shook his head in disbelief.  All that panic over a cat.  The way Mastermind talked over the phone made him believe another family member or neighbor was hurt.  If this was later in the day, he would have called out Mastermind for making him worried.  

“How long has it been?” Psyker asked.  

“A few hours at most,” Mastermind said.  “We were planning on leaving him at the animal shelter, but it looks like he already made his decision.”  He said without humor, a barren smile forming across his lips.    

“Where is it?”

“In the car,” he said.  “I’m sorry for dropping on you like this.  I’m worried about leaving Arc alone or taking me with him when it’s still early.”

“It’s fine,” Psyker crossed his arms and glared.  “And stop apologizing!  Of course, I’ll look after him.”  

He followed Mastermind to his car and saw something lying inside a bundle of quilts, a small white head sitting out of the pile with its eyes closed.  Its body twitched when Psyker reached out to pet it, crying a weak mew.  

“Text me if anything comes up.  I left Arc with his homework, snacks, toys, and some clothes in case I’m out longer.” Mastermind said when he stepped into the car to fasten his seatbelt.  The kitten was placed in the back and secured in a baby car seat with the seat belt pulled over.  

How about you?  Psyker wanted to ask the man, who could barely keep up with his own words and stumbled over them in a rush.  He wanted to tell Mastermind that things were going to be okay and he and Psych will keep Arc company, but a mixture of morning drowsiness and fear struck him from saying any of that.  Did Mastermind say how old the cat was?  It couldn’t have been older than a few weeks old judging by its size.  He and Psych adopted Doomsday when he was a couple of months old, but he was unsure how things worked for younger kittens.  

Instead, he gestured for Mastermind to wait and ran back into the house to grab the first thing he saw on the kitchen counter, sprinting back out to toss it at the other.  Mastermind caught it without thought and opened his hands to see a Kit-Kat bar.  

“Sugar for the drive,” Psyker said.  

“Thanks,” Mastermind opened the bar to chomp off a big piece, chewing it with a thoughtful expression.  “This is the first time Arc and I took care of a pet outside of the occasional goldfish.”  

“It’s not your fault,” he was quick to shoot down whatever doubt Mastermind intended to say.  “Get that cat to the nearest hospital and then we can talk about taking care of pets.”

“You make it sound like it belongs to us,” Mastermind chuckled.  

“It kind of does now that I’m involved with it,” he joked.  “Is that everything?”  

Mastermind nodded and checked his watch for the time, scanning the back seat one more time to see the kitten wiggling inside the blankets before closing the doors and locking them shut.  As he backed out from the driveway, Psyker stood at the lawn even after he drove off and left the neighborhood.  By the time he returned back into the house, he sunk into the seat next to Arc and decided to catch up on sleep before the boys woke up.  

Morning arrived sooner than he thought it would.  It felt like he didn’t sleep at all, a quick dreamless slumber that ended when the sun rose and he heard something crashing.  Psyker’s eyes snapped opened, jumped off the chair, and scrambled over to see a child standing over the counter on his tiptoes to reach for a bowl.  Lying on the tiled floor were plastic containers, more tumbling down before Psyker ran over to catch them and shoved them back into the shelves.

The child looked embarrassed, “Sorry, Lusa.”

“Already up?” He grinned, easily reaching his hand to grab the bowl and handing it to the boy.  

Arc nodded and mumbled a thank you, taking it with searching eyes for the cereal before pouring the bowl, carefully pouring the milk to avoid spilling.  The ten year old was still in his pajamas, purple ones with cat imprints on them and sat on a high stool at the counter.

Psyker was in the middle of checking the fridge for food when he was greeted by a loud meow.  He looked down to witness Doomsday walking into the kitchen, looking up at him with expectation when it sat in front of his bowl.  The gray cat meowed again when Psyker didn’t react to it as if saying, Hey, what’s for breakfast?       

He laughed and reached down to ruffle the cat’s head, “Look who’s home today!”

Course, I am, Doomsday licked his paw, or at least that’s what Psyker pretended that was what he was saying.  He laid on his stomach when Psyker opened the canned food, pupils growing bigger at the sight of breakfast  

“You think the cat will be okay?” Arc asked while watching Doomsday eat, “I mean our cat.”

“Your dad is doing everything he can to make sure it feel better,” Psyker wasn’t sure how to answer that question without giving the kid false hope.  He noted the absence of Psych and made a mental note to check on him later.  

Arc accepted his answer, “Dad said he’ll call later, right?”

Psyker nodded, “But for now, you’ll have me and Psych to keep you company!”  

How much did Mastermind tell Arc?  He didn’t look surprised to wake up in their house, but he was unusually quiet since Psyker found him.  The kid was moving his food around the bowl, eating the cereal pieces individually and only stopping to sip the milk.  His legs dangled from his seat and seemed more interested in Doomsday because his eyes was on the gray cat, who finished his meal and was already meowing for more.  

“If you eat more, you’re going to get fat.”  Psyker teased the cat when it pawed his knee for more.  Yellow eyes looked up at Psyker and let out a lazy yowl, rolling on his back to expose his belly as it to make a point.     

“Is Dad mad at me?”        

“Why would he be mad at you?”  Psyker stopped rubbing Doomsday’s belly, guilt pangs in his heart when he saw Arc’s fearful expression.  The kid kept looking at Doomsday like he was seeing a ghost, was this about the white kitten?  

“I didn’t mean to do it,” Arc whispered and choked on his words.  “He ate the chocolate I dropped. When I made it open his mouth, it was already gone.   I told Dad what happened and the vet told us to watch for signs, but now he’s sick because of me and he really liked that cat.”  

“Your dad was telling me this morning how brave you were to wake him up even when no one in the house was,” Psyker chose his words with care.  “If you waited longer, the cat wouldn’t have made it when he dropped you off.”  He noticed the heavy bags under Arc’s eyes and asked gently, “Did you get any sleep when the vet told you two to watch the cat?”

Arc shook his head, “I couldn’t sleep.”  

Psyker nodded, fair enough. 

“You and your dad did all you could,” Psyker said.  “Psych is going to be awake in a bit, you want anything?  Books?  Games?”  

“I think I’m going to go back to sleep after this,” Arc rubbed his eyes, letting go of the tension in his shoulders and finished the last bit of his cereal.  “How long will dad be out?”

“I don’t know,” Psyker said.  “But I’ll tell you if he messages me.  Tell you what, when you and Psych are up, let’s try this new online game I found.  They just released these new classes I think you guys will like.”   

The game had been running for years, but something about the recent updates perked his interest when he was checking out games to try out with his son.  He already had the game downloaded on the computer.  It was a colorful game with lots of characters and seemed easy enough to play, although the new classes he mentioned to Arc struck him as eerie for reasons he couldn’t pinpoint.  What was the game called?  Add Sword, Grand Chase?  Something like that. 

“I think I heard Psych talking about it.” Arc mused, but agreed, “Okay, I’ll try it.”

“Awesome!” Psyker beamed, “If you need me for anything, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

There was still concern written on his face, but the wrinkles were gone at least and he was smiling again, a good sign by all means.  Psych was still asleep, so breakfast could wait.  After cleaning up the dishes leftover from Arc and himself, he wiped down the countertop and made sure to place the cat food where Doomsday couldn’t reach it.  When he left to brush his teeth, he caught Doomsday lying in front of the TV with Arc lying on the couch with his eyes closed.        

“Aw, come on!” Arc slammed his keyboard with frustration when he missed another combo with defeat.  He didn’t have a laptop yet, so he was playing on the family computer with Psych playing against him on the other computer.  

“I win!’ Psych bounced in his seat.

“No fair!” Arc pouted, “You cornered me before I could move!”  

“Too bad,” he stuck out his tongue.  “Wanna pvp again?”

“No,” the other moved his hands away from his keyboard and exited the sparring room.  “You keep using the same combo against me.”

Before Psyker could debate if he should sort out their bickering, the phone he had been clutching on all day vibrated in his hand.  Even after cleaning the kitchen from breakfast and running some errands around the house, he checked his phone every so often for messages or phone calls from Mastermind.  It wasn’t until half past one did he see the text message.    

>>Chocolate poisoning.  Vet says he’ll need to stay overnight.    

His heart stopped beating, drawing in his breath and almost didn’t hear the boys still arguing in the background.  Psyker barely texted back a message, having to go back and delete misspelled words that came out as a jumble of letters before hitting send.  

>It’s okay?  Arc told me the details and says he’s sorry.  He’s been asking for you all day.  You coming back?  

He watched the screen dim while waiting for Mastermind’s response before it lit up again, a longer message this time followed by frantic sentences.  

>>Yeah, they said he’ll be released tomorrow to rest for a few days at home.  Is Arc okay?  What happened?  I’m coming back in a bit after I grab something to eat.    

Psyker bit his lip and gave up trying to text back when the phone failed to pick up his words from moving his fingers too quick.  This wasn’t something he wanted to carry through text messages when the idiot couldn’t hear his voice or that he had a dozen other things to say aside from this cat business.  

“Hey, Arc is fine.”  Psyker was relieved when his call was picked up almost as soon as he pressed the call button.  “He thinks it’s his fault for it getting the cat sick.”   

Mastermind’s voice was quiet and hushed, “I told him it was an accident and he didn’t mean it.”

He retained himself from saying, Of course he does, he thinks of you highly and he doesn’t want to disappoint you.      

“I want to talk to Arc,” Mastermind said.  “Is he there?”

“Why don’t you come over for lunch?” Psyker suggested.  “You plan on heading home today?  I thought maybe Arc could stay a little longer.”    

He couldn’t see Mastermind, but he imagined the other nodding in agreement when he said, “That would be good for him.  I guess I can drop by for a bite.”     

Psyker stifled a laugh when Mastermind walked into the house later that day, navigating through the clutter of books and toys on the floor.  The other male nearly popped a vein when he walked by an arrangement of legos, wanting to avoid the death of stepping on one, something Psyker could sympathize with.  He stubbed his foot more than once thanks to Psych sometimes forgetting to clean up after himself.       

“I thought you got lost!” Psyker said a little too cheerfully when he greeted Mastermind.  Tired and irritated from lack of sleep and caffeine, but the concern over the cat and Arc from this morning were gone for the most part.

“Traffic was hell,” Mastermind grabbed a chair and sat behind the sofa with his head resting on the armrest.  “This stupid driver nearly rammed into me.”  

“Alas, a typical Saturday afternoon.”  Psyker said with a grin.  “Lunch is in the kitchen, by the way.  Want me to get it for you?”

“That would be great,” Mastermind glanced around the house.  “Where are the kids?”

“In Psych’s room trying out a new game,” he went to grabbed a sandwich from the fridge and slide the plate over to Mastermind.  “You want pickles with that?”

Watching Mastermind eat was always interesting to Psyker.  Always starting from a corner, he would nibble through the crust before taking bigger bites into the middle, but careful not to spill out the food even if it was something like a sandwich.  Today however, Mastermind was ravenous and ate through the whole thing in minutes, only pausing to gulp down water to make sure he wasn’t choking.  Did he forget to eat while he was out again?     

“I’m glad you’re back in one piece,” Psyker sighed.  

“The cat is sick, not me.”  He rolled his eyes.  “Things were looking bad, but I think the cat will be fine.  Arc’s going to be happy when I tell him.”    

“You want to talk to him?” Psyker said, “I’ll take care of the dishes.”   

Mastermind gave him a grateful look and left the dishes in the sink for him to take care.  He watched the other walk down the hallway to where Psych’s room was.  When he was done washing the dishes, he saw father and son talking amongst themselves in the living room, too quiet for him to catch what they were saying.  Arc was showing a picture he drew to Mastermind, the way his face lit up reminded him of Psych.  Mastermind was still holding onto the picture when he slipped back into the kitchen with the boys moving back the living room to clean up the mess when Psyker came out to remind them.    

“You wouldn’t want Masi to fall over them and break his back, would you?” Psyker lightly chided them when he pointed at the mess.  

“Dad…” Psych whined, but Arc cackled.  

“I’m not fragile,” Mastermind feigned annoyance, but a smile slipped through.  The way he draped himself over the couch with his chin resting on his crossed arms reminded him of a cat.  He looked up at Psyker in confusion when the other laughed at the similarities.  “What’s so funny?”     

“Your hair's a mess,” he teased Mastermind.  “You look like Doomsday.” 

Mastermind snorted being compared to the gray cat, who was short furred, but then remembered the one time Psyker gave it bath and turned its fur into a little mohawk before cackling and sending pictures to him.  Nonetheless, he self consciously patted his hair down and used his phone camera as a mirror to look at himself.    

“Do you and Arc want to stay over for dinner?  I can order pizza.”

It was shockingly easy for Psyker to ask this question without thinking twice.  He figured why not when Mastermind and Arc were already here and it was getting late.  The kids were wrapping up on cleanup, chattering away with something that sounded like a debate between video game characters.  Mastermind was flipping through his emails on his phone and only looked up when Psyker made the offer.      

Mastermind rubbed his temples, “Fine, but let me choose the toppings this time.”

“Of course,” he beamed, giving Mastermind a sly smile.  “Don’t forget I like pineapple.”  

Mastermind groaned, “Lusa, that’s disgusting.”

“But it’s sweet,” Psyker sang.  

“And sour,” he scrunched up his face.   

“Like you.”

“Lusa,” Mastermind looked at him with exasperation.   

“Masi.”  

He bumped his fist up in victory when Mastermind planted his face into the couch in defeat, but not before dialing the pizza place to place their order.  The pizza’s aroma was quick to herd in the kids and the adults when the doorbell rang, Arc and Psych fighting over the paper plates and Mastermind pulling out his card while Lunatic Psyker searched for a place to put the pizza without Doomsday getting to it.  Amongst the chaos and liveliness of fighting for a bite to eat, it wasn’t the first time Psyker thought he wished he invited Mastermind and Arc over more.           

Psyker woke up to the sound of scratching from the back of the house.  Cursing at the familiar sound he once thought belonged to ghosts, he found Doomsday meowing at him and pawing the glass door leading to the backyard.  He slid the door open and watched the feline run off into the darkness.  He was going to get anxious later that day about Doomsday not returning home, but he was too tired to be concerned about that when he walked back into the house.      

“Lusa?”  

He spun around to see who it was and grasped his hand over his chest in the sudden sound of their voice.  Gods, that scared him!  Having white hair and a pale complexion made him thought Mastermind was a ghost.      

“Sorry for waking you up.”  A wave of deja vu hit him of interacting with his friend at an ungodly hour yet again.  Was this becoming a norm for them?   

“What time is it?”  Mastermind pulled out his phone to read the numbers, “Two?”

“You were out since nine,” Psyker said.  As soon as they finished their dinner of a strange combination of pizza toppings that looked like a rainbow, Mastermind collapsed on the chair and slept.    

“I was supposed to take Arc home after dinner,” Mastermind bemoaned.  “I thought it was going to be a quick nap.”

“I told Arc not to wake you up,” Psyker said.  “You were out all day, so I thought you needed the sleep.”  Arc’s sleeping bag was still here from last time, so it’s just another sleepover for the kids.  They fell asleep not too long after Mastermind after he pulled out a cartoon movie for them.  It was a movie that was out the year before, something about robots and superheroes.     

“But I’m here too,” Mastermind said.    

“Eh, we already live at each other’s houses.”  Psyker waved it off and joked.  “Want to merge our houses?”  

“Ha,” he snorted.  “Only if you do the taxes for me.”  

Psyker grinned, “And you do the cooking?”  

“You don’t like my casseroles,” Mastermind rolled his eyes.  

“Only because you use green bell peppers,” he teased him.     

Mastermind snorted and played with a loose strand of his hair, twisting the ends until it tangled around the curls.  For the first time that day, Mastermind had a genuine smile that stood out under the dim lights.  Had this been him two years ago when they just met, he would have complained about waking up in disoriented and in a house of another person’s, but he looked comfortable with himself.    

Mastermind walked back to the living room where the boys were asleep in sleeping bags on the carpeted portion of the floor with only a bit of their head sticking out.  Arc was easy to spot, clinging to a pillow he borrowed from Psych.  Unsure on what to do, Mastermind awkwardly stood in between the chair where he passed out and where Arc was.  Psyker saw the man holding a mental debate and decided to save him from his dilemma.  

“Stay,” Psyker walked over to place a hand on Mastermind’s shoulder.  “Feel free to use the guest room if you want.  I have a spare toothbrush if you need it.”  

It took Mastermind what felt like minutes to register what Psyker said and opened his mouth, only to close it shut again and gave a tiny nod in understanding.  He gave Psyker a grateful look when offered a toothbrush and left to brush his teeth.  When he came back, he saw Psyker sitting in the chair with a worn out expression.  Psyker thought he was gone until he cleared his throat.      

“Thanks for taking care of Arc for me,” Mastermind said.  “I don’t know what I would have done without you.  I’m glad he likes you enough to talk to you too when I’m not there.”  

“Hey, that’s what friends do,” Psyker replied.  It went unsaid that he was happy that Arc was comfortable with him too.  Not too long ago did Arc shyly let Psych do most of the talking to Psyker if he needed anything.  “I know you would have done the same for me if I needed you to look after Psych.”

“Friends?” Mastermind repeated the words as if he couldn’t believe it.  “Yeah… Psych is a good kid.”  The gentle smile made Psyker’s heart stop for a moment, one that wasn’t directed to anyone, but he was glad the lights were too dim for Mastermind to see his face.  “What’s a good name for a white cat?”

“Hm?  Thinking of a name now?” Psyker was amused, “I thought you weren’t planning on keeping it.”  

“No, but I spent so much money on that operation that he might as well be ours.”  Mastermind growled.  “Not even a month old and he’s already a brat.”    

“Fair enough,” he laughed.  “Doomsday got into trouble a lot when he was a kitten too.”

“You phoned me because you thought you lost him to the trash can,” Mastermind pointed out.  

“Hey, I found him digging through the trash once.” Psyker tried thinking of name suggested, “How about Snow?  Frosty?”

“Too generic,” Mastermind sighed.  “How annoying.”     

He grinned, “Welcome to the joy and pain of having a pet!  Congrats.”    

“I can already feel the pain,” Mastermind said with sarcasm, but there was no venom in his voice.  He yawned, “It’s late, I’m going to sleep.  I’ll see you in the morning.”  

With Mastermind retreating back to the guest room for the night, it left no reasons for Psyker to still be awake.  He checked on the kids again to see them fast asleep before going back to his room.  When he hit the covers, he passed out into a dreamless sleep.  

The next time he went to Mastermind’s house to pick up Psych, he was greeted by Arc, who was showing him the science project he and Psych worked on that afternoon.  With Psych sprinting to the car despite warnings from Psyker not to, he scanned the house in search for Mastermind.  After walking through the living room with Arc behind his trail, he soon found Mastermind with his knees on the floor with his head ducked under the coffee table.

“Sorry about being late, the interns messed up something and it took hours for me to untangle.” Psyker ran his hand through his roots with worn out eyes.  He and Mastermind were past the stage of getting annoyed at each other for being a little late, both of them understanding the nature of their jobs, but he despised running late out of the need to feel in control.

Mastermind pulled his arm under the sofa, reaching out for something Psyker couldn’t see.  It wasn’t under Psyker cleared his throat did he notice his presence and promptly stood up to face him with an awkward cough.  

“I didn’t hear you,” he apologized.  “Did Psych already leave?”

“Yeah, he’s in the car.” Psyker said.  “Did you lose something?”  

“I can’t find Apocalypse.”  Mastermind groaned when Psyker gave him that weird look, the kind that questioned his sanity.  It didn’t help that Arc was laughing when he said the name and added, “You know, the cat?  Arc, go look for him in your room.  He might be hiding in your closet again.”  

Arc was still giggling when he went down the hallway and made a right turn to where his room was before slamming the door shut.  Mastermind pulled his hands down his face and rubbed his eyelids before pulling them away to see Psyker staring at him.  

“You named it Apocalypse?”  

“Arc named it,” Mastermind explained.  Wasn’t that the name of a super villain from one the comic books Arc and Psych loved so much?  He grumbled when Psyker started laughing at the name, “We call it Apo for short and HEY, your cat is named Doomsday.”     

Still cackling, Psyker rolled up his sleeves and grinned, “Doomsday is a great name, our cats’ names match!”  

Rolling his eyes, Mastermind said, “I wouldn’t know.”  Right, Mastermind wasn’t as well verse with comic books as he was.  Anything he knew about them were limited to whatever movies he saw in theaters with him or Arc.     

His attention snapped back when he heard a soft squeak coming from the bookshelf hugging the living room wall closest to the kitchen.  He and Mastermind followed the noise to discover a small white ball of fluff sitting in the trashcan.  It waved its paws in the air when Mastermind picked it up and gently scolded at it.

“Naughty kitty,” Mastermind placed a finger on its forehead, trying not to smile when it mewled.  “I thought you wandered off where the birds could pick you up.”

Psyker chuckled at its liveliness, “It looks healthy.”  

“Yes, a real trouble maker,” Mastermind feigned annoyance.  “He’s a little brat.”  

“Now you an extra mouth to feed,” Psyker teased when Mastermind went to the kitchen to open a can of cat food.  

“Hey… thanks for the other day.”  Mastermind said.  “I know I said it for Arc, but I mean it for myself too.  Having someone to talk to is nice.”   

Again?  He wasn’t uncomfortable with Mastermind, not when he was always joking with him like he was just now, but it felt like something was stuck in his throat when Mastermind thanked him for what felt like the tenth time that month.  The giddiness he experienced reminded him of his high school days, clouding his judgment about Mastermind’s last statement.  

“You don’t need to thank me for every little thing I say or do,” Psyker said.  He didn’t mean to be rude, but he wasn’t sure how many more times he could take these thank yous ever so formally when he and Mastermind have known each other for nearly two years.  It made talking to Mastermind awkward sometimes, although overtime, he found it cute.  “Just say, ‘you’re awesome, Lusa.’”  

In deadpan expression, “You’re loathsome, Lusa.”    

He looked at Mastermind with a thumbs down and pulled down his lips into an exaggerated frown in attempt to make the man laugh.  All he got from Mastermind with a twitch in his facial features before shaking his head with a small smile.  He may have lost the conversation, but he won a smile.        

Apocalypse, too, mewls in approval from its spot in Mastermind’s arms.   

[hangrypa]

Didactic Year, Concluded

What a year.

What I Learned:

- IT’S IMPORTANT TO TAKE BRAIN BREAKS: Which in my case, meant Netflix binges (note all New Girl gifs), working out, and painting. Yes, there is limited time, especially when you spend the majority of your waking hours in the classroom. I tried my first semester without any breaks and got burnt out very quickly. My second semester, I forced myself to take several breaks a day of at least 20 minutes each. I would set a timer and not think about school until the timer brought me back to reality. Even though our second semester was busier than our first, my grades looked better, and I retained much more.

-  CARDIOLOGY IS TERRIFYING: I know, I know. Come on, Hangry! It’s the heart! It’s an organ with four chambers. Yep, I know. But whenever I have to figure out the squiggle of an EKG (forget PQRST, it’s a freaking squiggle) or figure out how to get a patient’s pulse back (anyone who saw me during ACLS watched me basically sweat a puddle around myself) or decipher a murmur (I’m sorry, but you cannot seriously tell me that that noise sounds like it’s a click; there’s nothing click-ish about it). This is my weakest system, which is not good considering that the heart is a superduper important organ that many living things have. And cardiology is also the largest portion of the PANCE, the PA certifying exam. Yipes. This is something I’ll have to review every night through every rotation.

- DRAMA IS EVERYWHERE: Students talk about each other. Faculty talk about each other. Students talk about faculty. Faculty talk about students. Lots of opportunities to burn bridges, and I saw a lot of promising relationships (in the nonromantic sense) destroyed by just a few simple words. Lesson here: don’t talk about other people.

- IT’S THE SIMPLE THINGS: I get to school early to watch the sunrise from the top floor of our building. It’s a beautiful sight- our city line warmed by the yellow rays of the sun slowly rising above the horizon. Between classes during the winter, I go outside, make a snowball, and roll it into a snow boulder. It’s purposeless, yet it brings me an odd sense of accomplishment. Are these strange things to do? Maybe, but I don’t care. I’m happy, and that’s what matters.

- THERE’S STILL A LOT TO LEARN: When I was leaving to start PA school, everyone was telling me, “You’re going to do great!” and “You already know a lot. You got this!” Meanwhile I was trying my best not to crap my pants. I knew it would be tough, and it is. As someone who’s never worked in emergency care, things like aortic aneurysms and Battle’s sign were entirely new to me. OBGYN scares me beyond words, and kidneys still barely make sense to me (to the patients I’ll be seeing soon: please don’t worry, I’ve been studying electrolytes, and I’ll have a preceptor who will watch my every move). 

What Changed About Me:

- MY OUTWARD PERSONALITY: I am a stubborn, impulsive person, but I’ve learned to suppress the stubbornness and impulsiveness over the years. I’ve made an extra effort to do so during this program. Also since starting PA school, I’ve become far less talkative. I’ve never been a chatty person, but I’ve found that by being silent 75% of the time, I can take in what is happening around me and stay out of trouble. Ironically, whenever I do speak in class or clinic, people get really quiet. Whether that’s a good thing, well, haven’t quite figured that out yet.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- MY STUDY METHODS: I used to read and reread my notes. I found out quickly that this would not work for me in PA school (thought it does work for others). Now I study only by quizzing. I don’t organize my notes. I don’t rewrite anything. I don’t read. I quiz. By using textbook questions and PANCE practice questions, I am forced to think through the material and use critical thinking to find an answer. It also induces a sense of panic many days prior to the exam and tricks me into thinking that I don’t know anything and that I absolutely have to learn it right then and there, keeping me from procrastinating. This method made it easier for me to recall material both during exams and on clinical days.

- MY WEIGHT AND BODY COMPOSITION: As a way to deal with stress, I started lifting heavy weights during PA school. I also started eating a ton. As a result of this, I gained weight during school (more muscle, some fat). Luckily I still fit in most of my clothes (there are some skinny jeans that I just can barely pull over my quads), and it’s interesting because I can see more definition in my arms and legs. As someone who used to count every calorie, this was a good change for me. 

- MY GOALS: I came into school thinking, “I’m going to go into neurosurgery!” Several cadaver lab hours later, I realized that surgery is not my thing. Now I’m more interested in critical care. I have a rotation in the MICU and one in the PICU, so I will find out more about it soon. I also used to think that I would want to work a full-time job as well as pick up a part-time (20 hours) somewhere else. Now I’m not sure. Good thing I have a year to decide.

Thoughts:

- DATING/HOOKING UP: No one in my cohort hooked up with or dated anyone else in our class. However, in another class, there were two people who did, and it turned ugly. I’m not saying that you can’t find The One in your PA class. You can. But remember that you’ll be stuck with the person for the next 2 years. In our program’s situation, the failed relationship/FWB/whatever-it-was led to a huge scream fest at a party the other week, and one of them may or may not have resorted to throwing things.

- SHARE: Doing something as simple as sending a copy of your notes to your classmates every so often or sharing Quizlet sets can be helpful to your classmates. Why would I share my hard work? Good question, especially when you find that no one else is, it can seem pointless. But here’s how I see it: every shared piece of information benefits a patient. Let’s say that you’re in class learning about managing a pleural effusion. You’re diligently taking notes, but Jamie over there is sleeping and basically missed everything. He also doesn’t seem to care. You send the class your notes. Later that night, Jamie is scrolling through his email and happens to see your notes and takes a quick read. For some reason, the way you phrased your notes made the pleural effusion management material really stick. Four months later, Jamie is on his ED rotation. It’s crazy busy, and someone comes in with a pleural effusion. The patient is panicking Jamie remembers your notes on managing pleural effusions and tells the preceptor, “Hey, I can take care of that.” And he does. The patient stops gasping for air and feels much better. And that’s all because of your notes. Sure, Jamie should have paid attention in class. Sure, you might not get direct credit for taking care of the patient. But at the end of the day, it’s all about the patient. As long as the patient gets better, everyone wins.

- DON’T COMPLAIN/GOSSIP (at least not to any students or faculty in the program): Whenever we, the students, have a complaint/criticism of the program...it backfires. Our faculty tells us to suck it up and deal. Literally. Personally, I have a lot of beef with the program, but I don’t talk to anyone in the class about it. When I’m feeling really incensed, I’ll call up family or friends outside of the PA program and drop every single expletive in the dictionary. Or I’ll just type something up on this blog (THANK YOU, PAblr). Also, gossiping about another person will bite you in the ass. The reality of PA school is that people often turn cliquey, and many are also quick to stab each other in the back. Maintain some distance. Save the rants for your family and non-PA school friends (and then buy them a ton of chocolate as a thank you for the listening ear).

- BE NICE: I know that I just said people stab each other in the back and get cliquey. They do. And, yes, I said to maintain some distance. But it’s still important to be nice even if you’re the only nice person in the room. As a class of only 20-something students, we spent at least 12 hours a day, 5 days a week together. And this doesn’t even include weekends when we had outreach events or cadaver lab. When you put a bunch of stressed out people in the same room, people tend to snap or explode at each other. Don’t let that happen. Whenever I found myself close to my breaking point, I left the room and walked the stairs to burn off angry energy. When I returned to the room, my legs would be a little sore, but I found it easier to deal with people. Some of my classmates will be my colleagues one day. Being a PA is about being a teammate. And to be a cohesive team, it’s important to be kind to each other. 

- DON’T CALCULATE YOUR GRADE: I mean, definitely check them from time to time, but don’t sit there and do calculus to determine how many A’s you need this semester to maintain a certain GPA. It’ll stress you out on all levels. You’ll be taking an exam, get freaked out by one question, and think to yourself, “Shit! How many more can I get wrong and still keep a B on this test? Wait! No, I need an A on this test to keep a B in the class! SHIT! I HAVE TO GET 100% ON THIS EXAM!” And then you’ll probably forget all the material you need to know while you sit there calculating and recalculating how many questions you can get wrong on this test. Do not panic yourself. Just focus on learning.

- FLOWERS, CHOCOLATES, AND CARDS: A large bunch of flowers at the grocery store is $5, 1 pack of 10 mini Kit-Kat bars is $2, and a pack of 15 generic cards is $5. In the middle of a stressful week, give everyone - faculty, staff, and students, both male and female - a single stem from the flower bunch and a mini Kit-Kat bar. Write a simple “Happy Birthday, Jamie! Thanks for being an awesome classmate!” on a generic card and give it to Jamie on his birthday. At the end of the semester, on a generic card, write each faculty and staff member, saying, “Thanks so much for your help this semester!” They’re simple gestures that require little money and minimal time, yet they can make a difference in someone’s day. My male faculty and classmates picked on me a little bit for getting them flowers, but it still made them smile. PA school is a stressful time for everyone, and just a little effort on your part can help alleviate some of that tension and stress.

Takeaway Message:

PA school is tough, and there are many ups and downs- academically, professionally, and personally. Am I better than the person I was one year ago? Am I more knowledgeable? Am I a better provider? Yes, I am.

And now I shall go celebrate my one-year anniversary as a PA student.

Best of luck to all those starting their clinical year, didactic year, interviews, or applications!

[tacticalgrandma]

"ooh it's chilly out" - spiderbyte // "i got a rock" sombra/gabe // "want to trade candy?" team talon

AO3 | Prompts List

Comments/kudos/reblogs will make me love you!

It had not been overly difficult to hijack the cargo ship. The Shimadas were not the arms traffickers they once were, and there had just been a shoestring crew that Widowmaker easily dispensed with. And that same scant roster meant that the AI pilot was already running, and Sombra simply needed to change the coordinates and the Southern Europe Talon HQ was fully supplied with all the guns, ammunition, and biochemical weapons they needed.

Until, of course, they opened the cargo compartment.

“Are they decoys?” Akande asked, staring at the boxes of candy that filled up the space.

Widow, who was sitting on top of one of the stacks, looked up from her box of Nerds and shook her head. “It was a two hour trip. I checked all of them. Unless they’re hiding shells in Skittles packages, there’s nothing.”

“I don’t understand,” Akande whispered. Sombra walked past him and caught the Snickers that Widow tossed her way.

“Manifest said that they were going to unload in Texas. The war with Deadlock has cut off a lot of trade to the Southwest. My guess is the Shimadas were looking to make money smuggling candy in time for Halloween.”

“It could work,” Widow said. “We might be able to turn this around if we deliver this to whoever the Shimadas’ contact was.”

“We don’t need money, we need weapons.”

“Money can be used to buy weapons.”

“Thank you for that economics lesson, Sombra, but the Shimadas could still ambush us at the drop, and we have no intel on the contact–“ Akande heard the sounds of boots on the staircase behind him and drew a hand over his face. Reaper ducked through the doorway and stared at the scene– Sombra flicking through a map of shipping routes with one hand and rooting through a box of flavored Kit Kats with the other; Widow tipping a small cardboard box upside down into her mouth, a candy necklace around her neck.

“This is not shotguns,” he said. Akande sighed.

“We had bad intel on the contents of the ship.” Reaper said nothing, but Akande could still feel the waves of judgment coming off him, and he grit his teeth. “Alright. This was a low-cost mission. We’re going to chalk this up as a drill, dump the cargo, and start looking for a proper target.”

“Wait wait wait.” Sombra snapped the map shut and stared at him wide-eyed. “Why do we have to dump it? It’s perfectly good candy.”

Akande gestured around the fairly spacious room. “It’s a ridiculous amount, Sombra. I am not exposing Talon agents to transport M&Ms.”

“Okay first of all, they have Sour Patch Kids in here. Second of all, you’re buff–“

“No,” Reaper said flatly. Sombra made an inarticulate noise of frustration and Akande turned to him, raising an eyebrow.

“Usually you humor her more than this.” Reaper ignored Sombra’s second squawk, this one more indignant, and turned to him as well, lowering his voice.

“You do not want to let them do this.”

“What if we just took whatever we could carry?” Widow said from her perch. She shrugged when Akande looked up at her. “They have Kinder eggs here.”

“Ogundimu. Listen to me. This is a very bad idea.” Akande bit his lip, looked between his most valuable and sensible agent, and his vaguely untrustworthy and frequently passive aggressive fellow executive, and made up his mind.

“You can each take one box,” he announced. Sombra whooped, Widow smiled, and Reaper growled under his breath. “And if there are any Twix, let me know.”

-

“I told you this was a bad idea,” Reaper said the next day.

Akande leaned against the balcony railing and watched in dismay as Sombra yet again grappling hooked herself into a cafeteria wall. She broke her fall by translocating down to Widow who was, in a deeply uncharacteristic display, attempting to backflip across all the tables.

“We’re sure nothing was spiked? This is really just a sugar high?” Next to him, Reaper sighed.

“Every year at Overwatch,” he said. His tone of voice suggested that if he had normal eyeballs, he would be performing a thousand yard stare. “Every year, Lieutenant Wilhelm would give the Amari girl half a candy store for Halloween. Every year, the entire base would grind to a halt as we tried to contain the whirlwind of chaos he had unleashed.”

“Still. They’re grown women,” he said. Widow was now attempting to showcase her accuracy by throwing Swedish Fish into Sombra’s mouth. “You’d think they’d be able to self-regulate.” Absentmindedly, he fished a Twix bar out of his pocket and began to unwrap it.

Reaper looked sideways at him. “How many of those have you had?”

“Look, just make sure they don’t break anything,” Akande said. “And remind them that the acquisitions meeting is in two days.” Reaper shook his head as Akande pivoted and power walked back to his office.

-

Two days later, Akande walked into the conference room to see Reaper sitting with his hands folded, and Widow and Sombra sitting with their heads flopped down on the table. Akande rubbed at his temple, tried to ignore his buzzing headache, and cleared his throat.

“Right. Sombra. Have you had any luck identifying potential targets?” Without looking, Sombra raised her palm, projected a web browser, and typed “free guns” into Google. Akande sighed as he sat down.

“I expected better from you,” he said to Widow. She groaned apathetically in response.

“Really,” Reaper said, and Akande tried not to wince at the sound of his voice. “Did you finish your entire boxes?” Sombra and Widow both made grumbling noises. “I cannot believe you two. That should have lasted a month. You could have at least spread it out enough so that you would be awake for this meeting.”

“Hey, wait, yeah,” Sombra said. “Akande. Why don’t you give us some of your candy. Hair of the dog that bit you. That’ll work.”

“No,” Akande said. His brain felt very heavy.

“Come on. Don’t you want us to be productive?”

“I can’t,” he said slowly.

“Why not?”

Akande considered responding verbally but opted for dropping forward onto the table, onto his folded arms. Widow reached over and tapped at his shoulder. He laid his head on its side to face her. She shook her head as best she could without lifting it.

“I know,” he said quietly. “I know.” Reaper cleared his throat.

“Okay, if I’m the only one functional at this meeting…”

“Hang on. That’s true,” Sombra said. “Why didn’t you take any, Gabe? When I was going through old Overwatch stuff, I saw you send eight all staff emails in one day about someone stealing from your candy corn stash. Isn’t this your whole thing?”

The three of them turned to look at him. Reaper folded his arms. Sombra widened her eyes.

“Ooooh. Wait, can you not eat food any more? Like, I know you get your sustenance from death and decay and My Chemical Romance albums or whatever, but I thought you were still capable of it…”

“I am not,” Reaper said in a clipped voice. Widow raised her hand and he sighed. “Yes?”

“Does this mean you don’t poop?” Reaper pushed away from the table and stood up.

“Okay, this meeting is over.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Sombra grabbed at Reaper’s robe and he stopped. “I’m sorry, Gabe. We should have been more sensitive to your Halloween needs.”

“I’m leaving,” Reaper said, without moving.

“We’re not doing actual work now, right?” Akande shook his head. “So we can do whatever spooky stuff you want.”

“As long as it doesn’t involve moving or thinking,” Widow said. Sombra nodded in agreement.

“Other than that, it’s your day, boo.” He looked over at Akande, who shrugged.

“I mean, we aren’t going to be working…” Reaper hesitated, then sat back down.

“Sombra, can you torrent Hocus Pocus?”

[sweetnestor]

Story of Another Us | Week 3

university au, platonic af

previous chapter

A wasted heart that just eclipses

“Good morning,” I greeted to my phone camera. I was still in bed, my hair was in a bun, and my face was naked, vacant of any makeup. “So I may have forgotten to post a video on Friday, so I’m just going to vlog today’s adventures.” By “forgotten,” I mean that anxiety took its toll and robbed me of my motivation, but I didn’t like admitting that without going off on many tangents.

I had done daily vlogs before. Lots of people liked them for some reason. Domesticity is apparently very popular. Also, some people only watched my daily vlogs in the hopes that Mark would pop up, or, at this point in time, maybe even Jack.

“Literally, all I have today is class, and I’m going to be taking a small Irish man with me,” I explained as I sat up. “I might even drag him to Sephora with me after. I do need to restock on some things, so we’ll see.”

I stopped recording and sighed. Now I’ve practically given away that I was going to be with Jack. Would he even want to be in my vlog? I should have thought about this before. I didn’t just want to throw a camera into his face. He’s said before he doesn’t like people doing that… Maybe I should just not make any video at all?

I thought about it as I got out of bed. I also noticed that the house was oddly quiet. Mark, Matt and Ryan must have been out of the house. As for Jack… he must have been gone too, that is if he decided to ditch class today. Maybe now I could have some time alone. I felt like I hadn’t properly recharged in a really long time.

Despite that I’ve made the opposite known, I decided to look like I had my shit together. It took about an hour to get myself ready, having decided to do something with my long ass hair. Thankfully, keeping it in a bun didn’t put it in bad shape, all I had to do was curl the bright pink ends. Then I went through my entire makeup routine, and that was when I realized there hadn’t been a sound throughout the house, not even Chica’s little pitter-patters in the hall. It disturbed me a little bit, but I took a deep breath and tried to convince myself it wasn’t a big deal.

Once I was dressed, I wandered about the house. No one was in their room or bathroom, or anywhere until I went downstairs. Jack was sitting at the breakfast bar, headphones on and staring intently at his laptop. However, he looked up when he saw me, smiling warmly. No wonder it was so quiet.

“You’re dressed up,” he observed, eyeing my outfit. I was wearing a skirt for a change, and plenty of people were definitely going to point it out.

“I’m just vlogging today,” I replied.

“Oh, well you look nice!”

“Thank you!”

He changed the subject. “I’m just waiting for this video to upload, and then I’ll be ready to go.”

“Take your time,” I told him.

I made myself a coffee while I waited. I decided not to eat anything with it even though it would have killed more time. Luckily, I remembered I still had to do my “makeup of the day” selfie so I went to the window in the living room and took my phone out. I got a few shots, making sure to get angles of every feature on my face.

After that, I went to Twitter to see what was going on. My mentions were just demands for the selfie I had yet to post. My MOTDs were the only consistent thing about my time on the internet, and when it's just a little late, people get antsy. And rude, mostly rude.

Instead of acknowledging that, I asked what highlighters I should try out.

Then I went back upstairs to the bathroom to look over what I used on my face today. All my products were scattered across the counter, but I knew where everything was, so I snapped a picture on my phone before deciding to take another picture for Snapchat. Once that was done, I put everything away, knowing they would be misplaced or broken if I left them out here. Once, I left my Kat Von D contour kit out on the counter for an hour and when I came back, the pressed powders were mysteriously broken.

Not long after I was done posting my pictures, Jack called my name from downstairs. I sighed, calming my nerves as I went to go meet him.

I didn't mention my vlog again until we were in the car. Or, I thought about mentioning it, but my anxiety induced ass kept my mouth shut. I had to get a video up on my channel, people were asking for it. I hated getting so nervous about it. I just didn't want him to think I was one of those YouTubers that vlogs every single second of their lives.

“Do you mind if you're in my vlog?” I suddenly blurred halfway through the ride to campus. “I-I mean, if you want, sorry. Like, it's just that I didn't post a video over the weekend y pues necesito poner algo en mi canal pero no quiero molestarte…” I trailed off, realizing I had switched languages. I did that sometimes.

“Bella,” Jack said, and I could hear a smile in his voice, “I'd love to be in your vlog. You don't have to explain yourself to me, even though I have no idea what you said. It's no problem at all.”

I was quick to hand him my phone. “Do you mind vlogging while I drive?”

“Of course!” He put on the front camera and aimed it at both of us.

“Hi! We’re on our way to campus!” I said in my ‘vlogger’ voice as soon as it was recording. “This is Jack, by the way.”

“Hi!” he greeted.

“We’re kind of roommates,” I tried to explain.

“We crashed Mark’s house,” he said. “We’re the monsters in his basement.”

“Yeah!” I chuckled. “We’re also classmates, and if I vlog more, then you may see even more of this guy!”

“I also crashed Bella’s house,” Jack added.

I hesitated, then laughed. “Someone’s gonna take that the wrong way.”

~

“So class was cancelled,” I spoke to my phone camera as Jack and I walked through campus. “We have like, two hours to kill. So, we’re probably gonna go eat, and then go to Sephora.”

“What’s that?” asked Jack.

I smiled almost wickedly for the camera. “You’ll find out.”

Obviously I only said that for the vlog. I explained to Jack what exactly Sephora was, and the told him he didn’t have to come with me if he didn’t want to.

“No, I’ll go with you!” he cheerily said. “Let’s do it!”

“Wait, really?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes! Let’s go!” He sounded way too excited. Then again, it is Jack. But it’s also a freaking makeup store.

Either way, I wasn’t going to complain.

This is weird, but I felt a sense of peace walking into the store. Technically, it should have triggered my anxiety. If you walk in there with no makeup, you get death glares from other shoppers, and the employees treat you like you don’t know anything about beauty. Speaking of the employees, they also try to talk to you and advise you on what colors go with your eyes and skin tone and other stuff I didn’t necessarily agree with. Yet, I was calm when I walked inside.

Jack followed me wherever I went, looking fascinated but also confused. For once, there weren’t a lot of people in the store, so he wasn’t recognized by anyone. Yes, even in Sephora, Jack was sure to get recognized. That’s what I expected at least. Even more surprisingly, he was intrigued by all the products.

“What’s that?”

“Primer.”

“What does it do?”

“Smooths out your skin and helps your makeup last longer.”

“What about this? It’s shiny!”

“Oh! Just what I was looking for. Highlighter!”

I looked at the sample on the display shelf. Urban Decay. I hummed in thought.

“What does it do?” Jack asked, looking over my shoulder.

“Makes your skin glow,” I replied. “Kind of like a healthy glow, depending on what the highlighter is like.”

I swatched the sample on my finger, showing him the iridescent, pearly color. Then, a thought came to mind. “This color might actually go with your skin tone.”

He chuckled. “Mine?”

Smiling, I took his wrist and wiped, for lack of a better word, the shimmering product onto his skin. “Actually… no. You’re a teeny bit too pale.”

“Of course I am!” He laughed.

“But it would look great on me!”

We continued browsing through the store. I also realized I hadn’t been vlogging the whole thing. Every time I’ve tried to vlog in Sephora in the past, I was always told off by an employee. So technically, Jack was actually curious about these things. He followed me around the store, far more interested than I expected. He was especially captivated by the Too Faced counter, and I knew exactly why.

“Does… does that actually smell like chocolate?” he asked, pointing to a specific eyeshadow palette, a childlike wonder in his eyes.

“It does.” I smiled wide, practically giddy that someone was open enough to talk to me about my one interest. “I have this palette, too. It’s actually my favorite.”

“That’s so fucking cool! Wait-” He leaned closer to read the label. “Why is it fifty fucking dollars?”

“Excellent question!”

“And this! It’s a heart with powder in it! Why is it thirty five fucking dollars?”

“Let’s not think about prices,” I told him, sympathetically patting his shoulder. “They’re pretty, and for me, they’re necessary.”

“Are they really?”

“Well, it’s what I do for a living, so yes.”

“Why do you like it so much?” he asked, looking at me. “I’m not trying to be mean or belittle you, I’m actually curious.”

Don’t know about him, but the mood changed for me.

“I’ll tell you that story one day.”

~

I thought I had enough questions about Mark. Jack’s fanbase… well, they were a lot nicer. Still invasive, but nicer. I edited and uploaded my vlog the same day I filmed it, and it got the numbers I half expected. Plenty of views and likes, not that that mattered. What mattered to me was what they were saying the following day. Many of them requested I do Jack’s makeup for a video. Many requested he do mine. Some said we should date. But by far, the best thing I had seen was a drawing of me and Jack as Cosmo and Wanda. I guess having the ends of your hair dyed bright pink qualifies you as eligible to be drawn as a fairy! I loved it!

I hadn’t used Tumblr so much in a very long time. A lot of Jack’s followers were now messaging me, not just on there, but on Twitter, Instagram, and all of my other social media as well. I wasn’t sure whether to be cynical because they saw me now as an extension of Jack and Mark, or nervous because now more people were aware of my existence.

I mean, it’s not like they were doing anything wrong. Hardly anyone was rude, most people were saying I was pretty, that my makeup was on point. Compared to other vloggers’ audiences, Jack’s was very kind and welcoming. I was pleasantly surprised.

“You’ve been on your phone every chance you’ve gotten all day,” Mark pointed out that evening. “And you’re actually smiling.”

“I don’t think I’ve had this much attention before,” I said, still scrolling. “I thought people would hate me for being around Jack.”

Mark scoffed as he lied down next to me in bed. “What’s there to hate?”

“Well, I’m resented for being around you.”

“Hey, they came around. They like you.” Mark always tried to see the best in his audience, but he also knew they hated me when we first went public. I couldn’t really blame them, but it still sucked.

“Either way, I shouldn’t think about it too much,” I concluded, finally putting down my phone, turning to face my boyfriend.

As soon as I was unoccupied, Mark practically attacked me. He managed to dive into me and roll me onto my back. I yelped, then giggled as he pinned me down.

“I feel like I haven’t had you to myself lately,” he told me, leaning in so our noses touched.

“I know, things have been so busy,” I replied, despite how trapped I felt in this position. I tried to keep my breathing normal. It’s been awhile since I’ve been this close to anyone, and Mark knew this.

“Let me make it up to you,” Mark said, his voice deep and very close to my ear.

I gasped and shivered as his lips attacked my neck. My stomach dropped and my face heated up so much I was surprised Mark’s hair didn’t singe off as it tickled my cheek. I squirmed, trying to get out of this awkward position.

Luckily, Mark caught on, picking his head up and peering down at me. “You okay?”

“C-Can we do this another time?” I asked, my voice small and shaky.

He paused for a split second, but nodded and rolled back to his side of the bed. “I’m sorry, I got carried away.”

“It’s okay,” I replied, taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry… I still get really nervous…”

I’m so stupid. It’s not like I was a virgin. It’s not like he didn’t make me feel safe… I felt so guilty.

“I won’t make you do anything you’re not ready for,” Mark reassured, reaching down to take my hand. “It’s okay, I promise.”

“I’m sorry.” That was about ninety percent of my vocabulary.

“Don’t be.”

_______

next chapter

[shelbeymurphy-blog]

Day 3 - February 26th, 2020

Day three got the best of me I will admit. I am not too sure whether it was the challenge or just an off day for me (maybe a combination of both) but I was just not feeling like myself today. At 5 o’clock in the morning I got a text from my clinical instructor saying that my clinical was cancelled because she was sick, which at first I saw as a blessing. I had a day to relax and catch up on a bunch of things. However, I was looking forward to clinical and being able to keep myself busy as I had did yesterday. 

As any rational person would do at 5 o’clock in the morning I went back to sleep for a couple of hours and thought I would wake up feeling rested and ready to start my day. However, I am sure you could guess that this was not the case. I honestly had no motivation to get out of bed and I fell so groggy all day long. Not only was I having a rough morning but tomorrow I also have a safe medication calculation exam and if I do not get above 90%, I fail. This added stress on top of everything else set me up for one of the longest and hardest days I have had in a while.  

BREAKFAST - 09:30

Breakfast this morning was tough for me because I as I mentioned above I just was not in a great head space today. I made two eggs with two pieces of toast for breakfast and broke, yet again, another yolk. I could tell it was going to be a rough day when breaking the yolk to one of my eggs almost made me cry. My ability to regulate my emotions seemed to be completely out the window. Throughout the rest of the day my mood was flat, so flat my even my roommates noticed and kept asking me if I was okay throughout the day. To be honest it was really frustrating to be in such a weird mood and have no idea why or how to explain to others how you are feeling. 

After breakfast I tried to sit down and start practicing medication calculations for my test and I caught myself several times staring into to blank space or just completely zoning out. I had no concept of time and what I thought had been hours of studying had only been 45 minutes. I was so frustrated and confused about why I could not snap out of this funk. One of the hardest parts of this challenge is that I am not even hungry lots of the time but I am just so drained from the stress about worrying if I have enough food and if I am able to have a snack.

LUNCH - 13:00

Lunch rolled around at about 1 o’clock and I was hoping that this meal would help me out of my odd mood. However, it honestly almost made it worse. I was so tired after this that I had to lay down and have a nap, even though I got to sleep in this morning. After about an hour long nap I woke up and tried to start studying again, this time being a little more successful than the last attempt. 

At this point in my day I thought to myself that maybe a piece of fruit might help and I decided to eat one of my last bananas (I forgot to take a picture, but cut me some slack, I had a rough day). Honestly, the fruit helped a bit and it gave me a little more energy to actually have some decent study time. After about an hour or so of studying my boyfriend came over so I took a little break. He gave me one hug and I am not kidding when I say that I balled my eyes out for about half an hour. He was confused, I was confused and to be honest I could not tell you why I was crying. I think I was just so emotionally and mentally drained that I had a mini breakdown. Worried, he offered to go buy me some snacks or a healthy meal to eat to hopefully make me feel a bit better. However, the thought of cheating and not completing the challenge completely snapped me out of my mood and I was ready to stop feeling sorry for myself. 

DINNER - 19:00

I swear, if my roommates jokingly ask me what I am having for dinner one more time, I may lose my mind a bit. I get it is a joke and that they are trying to make light of my situation but I am already sick of having the same meal everyday and them making jokes hit a nerve today. I am going to blame this on my bad day, but every little thing today made me get irrationally emotional. This challenge is kicking my butt. 

Today, I had my pre-made rice and vegetables for dinner again. However, not having to cook or decide what to make all week has been nice but I still wish I had more variety. I want to be able to switch up my meals for the second half of the challenge so that I am less tired of eating the same thing but I know that rice and tomato sauce or pasta and vegetables will be much worse. However, on a better note I am actually feeling quite full after my meals and find myself only wanting more snacks when I am relaxing. 

SNACKS - 21:00

After such an emotional roller coaster today I decided i could have a little treat. Actually, correction, a fairly big treat. I did not take a picture of it but I actually ate six of my “dinosours” and 4 pieces of my Kit Kat (half of the whole chocolate bar). Oh, and on top of that I also ate the granola bar pictured below. I will admit I went a little crazy and I definitely did not need to eat all of that but I went to be in such a better mood. 

THOUGHTS

Looking back on my day, it is quite ridiculous to think that I thought I had a hard day when I had three full meals, a few snacks, and some treats because some people in the world do not have that option. I feel guilty for feeling sorry for myself because I have the option to eat more food should I choose too, when in reality people do not. When they get hungry, they stay hungry and that breaks my heart. There is an estimated 815 million people in the world (that is 10.7%) that were suffering from undernourishment in 2016 (World Hunger, 2018). Those numbers really put into perspective how little my issues are. 

To clarify, I am not a crier, I do not cry often and I definitely would not usually cry over breaking an egg yolk. In hopes to find a reason for my crazy, emotional day, I did some research on how hunger effects an individual emotions. I found a website that summarizes an article from the Journal of Biological Psychiatry and it displayed that serotonin levels, which are partially responsible for regulating mood and behaviour, fluctuates when an individual has not eaten or becomes stressed out (Dallas, 2011). This made me feel a little less guilty for being so emotional and tired throughout my day because I had no eaten what my body is used to and I was extremely stressed out. 

I apologize for the shorter post today, but as I write this I am still feeling quite down and I am going to try to get a good nights sleep tonight. Hopefully day 4 is nicer to me, than day 3. 

To look at the website Research Reveals Why Hungry People Get Cranky: https://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/0916/research-reveals-why-hungry-people-get-cranky.aspx

To look at the World Hunger website: https://www.worldhunger.org/world-hunger-and-poverty-facts-and-statistics/