#i’m too lazy to try to figure out how to send photos to my phone rn

[yumeyumeappleo]

here’s what the leo’s saying because my handwriting sucks:

“hey don. I need to tell you something. uhh your music taste sucks. like it’s hot-dog garbage. like—“

[abbyromanoff]

Can you do kinda like a porno trope thing where the reader is a milf who needs help fixing something and GP beefy mechanic nat comes over to help and they end up having sex after lots of sexual tension (like reader touching Nat’s muscles or nat staring at readers boobs or ass) with daddy kink, praise and breeding

A hot affair

Pairings: g!p Natasha Romanoff x reader

Summary: the ask just written down basically

Word count: 2185

Warnings: smut, small angst, fingering, unprotected sex, breeding kink, daddy kink, praising, degrading, slapping, cheating, talks of cnc, anal, reader is a milf

No one is permitted to steal, copy, or reblog my work as their own!!

A knock at your door brought you out of your thoughts as you walked to the front of the house to greet the plumber. The sight you saw wasn’t one that you expected, there stood a tall woman, probably close to six feet with her muscles bulging out of her shirt. She smiled at you as her red hair shined in the sunlight. You composed yourself and let the woman in, staring at her larger ass as she walked inside the house.

Your husband and kids were gone, the kids being at school while your partner was at work until 7:00 PM leaving you and Nat alone. You directed her to the toilet that she had to fix, stating the object won’t flush. She immediately got to work as you made your way into the living room, grabbing your broom and continuing with your sweeping.

Nat was able to figure out the issue in no time, she didn’t understand why your husband was too lazy to fix it himself but at least she’s getting paid. Gathering her tools into her tool box she walked out of the room only to find you bent over using a little broom and dustpan. From here she could see a clear view of your ass as your skirt slightly rose to show a small bit of your white panties. She quietly pulled out her phone and snatched a photo before you turned around, jumping slightly when seeing her.

“Oh god, you scared me!” “Sorry about that, but uh, I finished, the toilet is now working. It was just a small jam in the back, nothing too bad. If you’d like I can show you how to fix it in case it ever happens again.” She was never this nice, maybe it was your attractiveness that made her drawn to you. You hesitantly agreed, now being seemingly nervous around the woman. Once you returned the cleaning item to the kitchen she walked you to the bathroom, resting her hand on your lower back almost touching your butt. When you entered the washroom she made you lean over to look at the back of the small machine, showing you exactly how she repaired it.

“Oh okay, thank you so much. I’ll go get your money, how much did I owe you again.” You grabbed your purse from your room as soon as she finished, trying to get her hands off of you as you remembered you’re married.

Nat sighed before answering, “Uh, it was $186 dollars, you can just send me the money on-” She cut herself off as she saw your now larger looking breasts under your v-line shirt. You looked up to see what she was going to say until you noticed her eyes trained on your slightly exposed chest, bringing your shirt up a bit to cover it as you handled the money. When noticing you were eight dollars short you cursed to yourself under your breath and turned to look at her apologetically.

“I’m eight dollars short, is there any way I could pay you on ApplePay or something?” “Oh no it’s f-” When she was about to finish her sentence she realized her mistake and quickly stopped herself, a smirk growing on her face as she thought of what to do.

“Well, that money is really important and sadly I don’t have ApplePay,” That was a lie. “But not to worry, I think I know another way you could make up for those eight dollars.” You were about to ask how until she leaned in for a bruising kiss making you stumble a bit. You didn’t kiss back, as attractive as she was, you knew you had to stay loyal to your husband even if he is an asshole. When she didn’t feel you kissing back she retreated, looking at you like you just told her that her family died.

“Why aren’t you kissing back?” She asked with pure hurt in her tone, she didn’t know why she felt so much pain from your denial but she did. You looked down, placing your hands on her strong chest as you sighed.

“Nat, I’m married. As hot as you are and as much as I’d love to kiss you, I still have a family.” You started to move away from her but she grabbed your arms before you could, her eyebrows furrowing at your words.

“But your husband is terrible, I heard you two talking on the phone and I mean, do you really want that asshole? He treats you like you’re dirt when you’re clearly not.” Her words made you want to smile but remembering the situation, you held back.

“And if I did kiss you? How do I know you wouldn’t treat me the same way?” She looked like you just stabbed her in the heart, pure betrayal even if you barely knew her.

“Let me show just how well I’ll treat you.” When she leaned in to kiss you, you didn’t back away, you accepted the touch and let your walls fall down. The kiss was sweet, magical even as she used her hands to lightly rub your sides and slide down to grope your bottom. You lightly jumped at the contact and Nat chuckled dryly as she moved her head down to your neck, planning to leave marks that your husband would see from a mile away. You groaned at the feeling of her lightly biting your skin and played with her red locks as she did so, not caring that she was leaving hickeys. Her curious fingers trailed to under your skirt, playing with the hem of your panties as she loathed in the small wet spot lying upon the undergarments.

“Please Nat, please fuck me.” You begged quietly, embarrassed with how needy you sounded.

“You need to be more specific than that baby, you gotta tell me what you need.” “Need your fingers, I need you to fuck me with your fingers!” She groaned and bent you over the counter, tracing your panties once again before inserting the digits into you. You bit your lip to not release any sounds but Nat wasn’t having that, she wanted to hear just how good she was making you feel. Grasping your lower lip she yanked it out of the hold your teeth had on it and made you look at her as her two fingers sped up its pace.

“Look at me when I fuck you sweetheart. Yeah, that’s it, look at daddy.” The title she gave herself shocked you slightly but turned you on, the thought of calling her that sent a shiver down your spine.

“Please daddy! Please fuck me harder!” “You want it harder? You’re such a dirty little slut, begging daddy to fuck you as if she isn’t already.” You nodded, not really knowing what she said but just wanting her to fulfill your request. She complied and thrusted her slick fingers into your tight hole faster, feeling you clench around them. She muttered dirty words under her breath as she listened to your moans and the squelching sounds from your pussy. You felt the coil in your stomach snap as you reached your peak, not warning the younger woman first.

When she realized that you were cumming she quickly removed her fingers, slapping your ass in a warning.

“Did you just cum without permission?” Her words along with the tone scared you, you didn’t realize you had to ask her to cum. You started spewing out apologies as she gave you a disapproving look.

“I didn’t mean to! I didn’t know I had to ask a-and I didn’t even realize I was going to cum, I promise.” She softened up at your words and you relaxed knowing she wasn’t mad at you.

“Oh my poor baby, you haven’t had an orgasm in a long time, have you?” When you nodded she continued, a cute pout on her face. “Of course you haven’t, I don’t expect that husband of yours to know what he’s doing and you, you my precious angel probably don’t even know how to masturbate.” She could tell what the answer was with your embarrassed face, laughing slightly as she started rubbing her bulge on your backside.

“Fuck, wish I could just fill this sexy ass up with my dick. You’d let me, wouldn't you? You’d let me fuck your ass even if you didn’t want it? You’d let me do whatever I wanted to you even if you didn’t want it, I know you would you perfect little whore.” As much as you wanted to deny it, she wasn’t lying. You wanted so badly for her to take you without your consent, but for now that would just be your dirty little secret. While you were stuck in thought she had already taken off her pants and only when she started rubbing herself on your clit did you return back to the real world. When she alined herself up with your gaping hole you thought she would finally fill you up, but she didn’t. No, she just sat there waiting for you to plead her, waiting for you to take matters into your own hands and lean into her length.

“Beg me for my cock princess, fucking beg me.” “Please daddy, please! I want you to stuff me full so badly! I need you to put your babies in me, need your fat cock filling me up.” Your words made her shutter, thinking about pumping you with so much cum that you get pregnant made her even harder. Pre-cum dripped from her wanting length as she started to slip inside of you slowly, wanting to be careful as to not hurt you. When she was all the way inside of you she didn’t move, she waited for your thumbs up which you quickly gave, wanting her to fuck you already.

“Mm, so tight princess, can barely even fit.” Her arms wrapped around your torso as she started a slow pace, only quickening when you begged her to go faster.

“My little slut wants me to destroy their pussy? They want me to use their tight little hole as a fleshlight, use you for my pleasure only?” When you nodded it was like something switched inside of her, she slammed her cock in and out of you as you shook beneath her, your breasts bouncing back and forth with every move. She removed one of her arms around you and slapped your ass repeatedly, watching as the smooth skin turned a shade of red. She brought her fingers to trace your buttock, teasing the small hole that layed upon it.

“Will you let me finger your ass baby? I would use my cock but I’m a little busy fucking your perfect little pussy.” She didn’t give you time to respond as she slowly started to sink her digit into your ass, moving in and out without giving you time to breathe.

“Daddy! Too much!” She shook her head even though you couldn’t see it, denying what you said.

“No, no, no sweetheart, it’s not too much. You can take it, just be my good girl and let daddy play with you. You said you’d let me do anything I wanted right? Even without your consent?” You yelled out a ‘yes!’ as you barely even gave it time to think about, just aiming to please Nat in whatever way she wanted. She chuckled dryly and added a second finger, watching as your face contorted into a pained one.

“Daddy, think I’m gonna cum. Can I cum please?” Noticing you fixed your earlier mistake and asked to cum made her smile, as much as she wanted to torture you for hours and not let you have that release she knew you so desperatly needed it.

“Cum for daddy baby, be my good little toy and cum all over my cock.” With her permission you finally let go, your legs shaking as the pleasure coursed through you. Nat finally let herself finish as she came inside of you, filling up your cunt like she wanted so badly.

“I’m cumming baby, let me fill this fucking pussy with my cum. I’ll make sure you get pregnant, wanna watch as your stomach grows all big and round, these sexy tits getting full with milk. I promise I’ll take care of you, I’ll fuck you everyday and make sure you stay pregnant, you’ll never have to see that shitty excuse of a husband ever again.” You could barely register her words as you were too engrossed in getting yourself off.

When your breathing returned to a normal and Nat finally pulled out she fingered her come back inside of you and licked them clean, slowly removing her other digits out of your tight ass and watching as it clenched around nothing. She grabbed a notepad and a pen, writing down her number and handing it to you.

“I want you to call me over the weekend, make sure your husband is here so he can hear how well I’m fucking you.”

[beaker1636]

A Love Reunited - Ricky Smut/Fluff

A/N: I don’t know why my mind went towards a sappy fluffy cute smut but it did so hopefully you enjoy this anon! I didn’t edit this so they’re maybe some typos, also I upload via mobile so if the formatting is ever off I am sorry! Enjoy!

Edit: for some reason tumblr won’t let me add the imagine below the photo so it’s all wonky. Sorry!

Sighing you clock out at work and make your way out the door, extra glad it is finally the weekend after a long week, but also a little disappointed to be making your way home to your apartment alone. Your boyfriend Ricky is away on tour and unfortunately there is still about a week left before he can be home.

You decide to send him a quick message before you start the drive home, letting him know that you are thinking of him and miss him.

When you pull into your driveway you notice that you have a message so you take your phone out as you walk towards your front door.

“Good thing we got home early then,” you read.

You quickly unlock your front door when you got the message, looking up to immediately gasp. Wasting no time you make your way to where he sits on your couch, sit down on his lap facing him and bury your face in his neck. His arms snake around you, holding you to him tightly as you both sit there in the silence for a couple minutes to embrace and take comfort in being together again.

“Something came up and the tour ended a week early, so I decided to surprise you after work today,” he says softly in your ear, not wanting to let go of you as the two months you were apart has taken a toll on not just you but him as well.

“I missed you so much,” you mumble, trying not to embarrass yourself by happy crying.

The timer in the oven goes off, forcing you to separate from eachother.

“Go sit at the table, I will have dinner out for us in a minute,” he says kissing your forehead as he slips by you and into your kitchen.

You make your way to the dining room table ad smile when you see that there is a beautiful bouquet of flowers itting on it, and candles are lit around the room giving a romantic feel towards the meal, which melts your heart at the effort that he made to do something for you despite the fact you know he must be tired from the tour.

Rick comes out with your plates and then heads back into the kitchen to grab you both a couple of glasses of wine before he takes a seat next to you at the table.

“You didn’t have to do all of this for me, I know you must be exhausted after such a long tour,” you say as you start to eat the wonderful meal that he has cooked.

“I wanted to do something nice for you when I got back because this was the first tour we’ve been through together and I know it is a lot for you as well. I figured we have a nice at home date tonight and then we can spend the weekend being lazy and lying around together. After your week you probably need it too,” he responds back, reaching over to lightly squeeze your thigh under the table.

The two of you continue to eat, Rick telling you all about the fun and weird moments of the tour. Most of this he has already told you during your facetime chats but you still gladly listen to him as its been so long since you have heard him talk in person.

When you both finish eating you move closer to him so that you can give him a kiss, giggling when he pulls you out of your chair and onto his lap, not expecting the sudden playful moment.

“I’m so glad you are home, I missed you so much. I know you would never do anything but just knowing you meet so many fans makes me anxious, you never know what they could do or if you would meet someone better,” you admit shyly as you start to lightly play with his hair, loving the silky feel of it in your hands.

“Baby, listen to me. I don’t want anyone else. Noone comes close to you or how I feel about you,” he brushes your cheek with his thumb, which makes you look at him and making eye contact.

He leans down to gently kiss you again, but this time feels a lot different than any the two of you have ever shared with eachother. You can’t place why but you don’t question it, quickly giving in to the feeling and losing all sense of what is happening around you.

You can feel him smile in the kiss which makes you smile as well. Lightly Rick tugs on your lip with his teeth, your tongues lazily meeting. You can’t help but love how soft and gentle everything is right now. These slow sweet moments together are rare and you haven’t been able to have on in awhile.

His hands trail down your sides before landing on our ass and resting there for a moment before he pulls his lips away from yours just slightly.

“Why don’t we move this to our bed? You can show me how much you missed me,” he whispers, his breath ghosts across your lips making you shudder.

Rather than answering you get up off his lap and grab his hand, leading him out of the dining room and to your bedroom.

Both of you lay down on your sides facing eachother, lips quickly colliding with eachothers again only this time is more heated, both of you getting needy for contact that you have been missing.

One of his hands is resting on your hip as the other is in your hair, holding you closely to him. Slowly he pushs on you, letting you know that he wants you to lay down on your back which you happily do.

His hands teasingly rub the skin of your stomach which is now exposed from your shirt riding up slightly. Trailing his hands softly up your torso until they make their way back down towards the hem of your shirt, which he grabs and slides off of you, your bra quickly going with it while you blush.

The two of you have only been together like this a handful of times before he had to leave for the tour, so despite wanting it you still can’t help but feel shy when he looks at your body.

He gives you another quick soft kiss that is over before you can register that it had begun before they lightly start to ghost from your ear down to your throat. At the same time one of his hands moves to cup a breast, lightly kneading it before starting to roll your nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Even after all this time he still takes satisfaction in teasing you.

He know that he finds your sensitive spot on your throat when you gasp and tilt your head allowing him more access to continue leaving marks along the path, because you know that he has to be at that point.

Reaching inbetween the both of you you decide to unbutton his jeans, sliding them down slightly along with his boxers.

He adjusts so that he can kick his them off the rest of the way before his lips slowly start to trail down your chest, continuing to leave marks as you reach down to slowly stroke him, wanting to drive him crazy and tease him as much as he was doing to you. You know you succeeded when he lets out a barely audible groan which makes you giggle.

His lips wrap around one of your nipples, making you gasp and shift at the sensitive feeling, your jeans feeling a bit too constricting now.

He notices you shift and moves to unbutton them, pulling away from you slightly so that you can lift your hip, allowing him to remove them as well as your panties in one quick motion before sitting at your side. He reaches over you so that he can rub your clit but you grab his wrist and stop him.

“No, I-I just want to feel you tonight, please?” you beg, craving the closeness and the connection that you have been lacking out on with him.

His shifts so that he is leaning over the top of you again, his lips finding yours gently as he teases you slightly with the tip against your clit. When you give him an annoyed grunt he finally gives in and slips inside of you, both of you letting out a groan at the sudden feeling of pleasure that is coursing through you.

Hi thrusts get a little bit harder as he goes but he doesn’t get anywhere near as rough with you as he always has in the past. He wants to savor this moment with you and enjoy this feeling. He also feels the change between this act and the other times the two of you have been together.

Pulling away he locks his eyes with you as his hands find their way to your waist, flipping the two of you so that you are now on top.

“Ride me baby, fuck just like that,” he groans as you begin to rock your hips against his, you being inpatient and going a bit quicker than he was when he was on top and leading the two of you.

Knowing that he won’t last long himself after not getting any for a few month he reaches between the two of you, starting to toy with your clit which makes you look away from him, arching your back at the level it adds to everything.

He can feel you starting to clench around him, hear you letting out breathy moans that let him know that you are getting quick and when you do cum rather abruptly he is right behind you, spilling inside of you a couple seconds later.

When you come down you share a couple lazy kisses before you finally pull yourself off him and go to your bathroom to quickly clean yourself up.

When you return you quickly put your pajamas on, and notice that he has slipped into his boxers and is laying on your bed waiting for you to join him. You do so, laying your head on his chest and wrapping an arm around him while he begins to lightly run a hand along your back. Both of you sit there quietly, processing what has changed between the two of you but not wanting to be the one to break the silence.

A few moments later Rick decides to be the one to break it, “Being away from you like this for so long made me realize something… well that and one of Chris’ weird peptalks helped me figure it out too,” Rick says softly, still rubbing your back softly.

You move so that you are looking up at him,” Hmm?” you ask.

“This is probably not the best time to say it, and totally is not what I planned to do but I want to say it. I love you, more than that I’m in love with you. I’ve never mised someone so much while gone, or worried about a girlfriend like this,” he slowly stops talking when he realises he is rambling.

“Rick, I love you too. I just was too nervous to say it and freaked out thinking it would freak you out saying it only four months into our relations,” you admit and then before giving him a second kiss lightly.

Suddenly realization hits you and you pull away with a weird look on your face.

“Wait, you confided in this with my brother before you did me? No wonder he has been really weird lately when we’ve talked and asking how things are going with you,” you say giggling slightly.

You lay back down, curling up in his side again, content to just stay like that the rest of the night.

“He confronted me about it, I will explain later, lets just go to bed,” he says, sounding annoyed.

You decide to just let the subject go but totally plan to ask him about it in the morning curious on what that could have meant.

The two of you continue to catch up on everything you haven’t had a chance to with one another before you finally start to fall asleep, feeling loved and cared for, more content in your relationship than ever.

[silverstonesainz-archive]

𝟏 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝟑 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 || 𝐜.𝐡.

❝ i'm the love of your life, until i make you mad ❞

summary: how many chances does she have left to give? word count: 2.5k warnings: cussing (?), alludes to sexual themes, no proofreading note: i keep trying to rework this over and over and i think i finally got it. i hope you like this, this one is a little more personal to me <3. (also, i'm changing the layout of the fics bc i am too lazy to edit photos so i hope you like this)

𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 –––

𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎.

The grey text bubble stares you in the face, and you nearly type a response. But you know better, you know there was an impending drop after the high, the screaming, the tears. Truthfully, your heart can’t handle another rollercoaster ride with Carter.

𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛

That stupid nickname, one he coined for you when he saw your red cheeks after your first hockey game, unaware of how cold it actually was indoors. You remember the goofy smile on his face, how proud he was at the new name he had for you. You can almost hear his voice, the raspiness of it as he calls you that stupid nickname. Your index finger presses down on the power button of your phone, locking it, before placing it screen down on your nightstand. You turn your back to it, eyes shutting in hopes that sleep will keep you from giving in to temptation with green eyes.

But then your mind races, worry and anxiety settling in your bones at the possibilities of why he’d want you over at one-fucking-thirty in the morning. You aren’t dumb, you know exactly what will happen when you walk through his front door, the chaste kisses before you’re naked in his bed, trying to catch your breath before you roll out of it and return home like it never happened. It’s the question of what triggered him to even text you after approximately three weeks of radio silence. What changed?

Curiosity gets the best of you, so you turn over to grab your phone on the nightstand. You ignore the new texts from him, instead going straight for snapchat. You go through the stories of your shared friends, and it isn’t until you get to Beez’s story do you find your answer. You watch in awe as he and Carter slam three shots in a row, in one video. Then the next video, the one of friends dancing, you spot Carter chugging his beer in the background as Trav cheers him on. It isn’t until the end of his story, the one with Carter speaking gibberish into the camera, do you realize how drunk he was tonight.

There’s a loud knock on your door, shaking you from your nosy daze. You roll out of bed, wrapping your robe around your barely clothed body before opening the front door. The universe must be playing a sick joke on you, the stars laughing at your current situation as you stare at a very sheepish Joel holding onto a very drunk Carter.

“I’m sorry. He wouldn’t shut up, and he threatened to drive here himself. I had to.”

You rub your face in exasperation, a grunt of frustration escaping you. “It’s fine. Just… couch.”

You point to the piece of furniture, stepping aside to allow Bee to drag his friend through the door. You shut the door just as he plops Carter down, and you make a beeline for your kitchen. You can hear your heart in your head, the beating obnoxious as it races to calm you down before your mind sends you into a spiral.

“Y/n…” You turn at the sound of Joel’s voice, leaning on the counter as you look over at him, “I’m sorry. I know things… things aren’t great between the both of you. I can come back before morning skate to grab him. He’s asleep too, so you don’t even have to worry about talking to him.”

You nod, smiling wearily. “Alright Beez.” You sigh softly, “I think Carter has one of my spares in his wallet.”

You walk past the boy and towards the limp figure on the couch. His brown wallet sits on the coffee table, and you are quick to snatch it up. Your heart clenches as you open it, the polaroid photo of the both of you sitting nicely in his wallet. Your vision is blurred with tears for a split second before you blink them away, forcing yourself to look away from the picture. You squeeze the leather between your fingers, feeling for the small key. You peel back the empty card pocket, slipping your finger into it to pull out the silver spare.

“Here.” You hand Joel the key, “Let yourself in in the morning.”

“For sure. Thank’s y/n, and I’m sorry.”

You let Beez out and lock your door. It’s already two when he walks out, and exhaustion is finally beginning to wash over you. You quickly grab a fleece blanket for Carter, as well as aspirin and a water bottle for him to take in the morning. It isn’t until you are tucking him in did he begin to stir from his drunken slumber. His brows furrow, and his hand absentmindedly finds your arm.

“Rosy…” He mumbles.

“Yeah Carter?”

His eyes peel open, swollen with sleep. “I’m Hartsy.”

Your eyes dart away from him, a sigh escaping you. “Yeah, you are.”

“You never call me Carter. Only Hartsy.” He blinks rapidly, reaching out to cup your cheek. Against better judgment, you let him. “Are you mad at me?”

The alcohol made him forget, you assume. And you know better than to argue with him, so you smile softly. You take his hand on your cheek into your own, squeezing lightly. “Just tired. Go to sleep Hartsy. You need rest, you have a morning skate in four hours.”

His eyes droop tiredly, a small smile splayed on his lips. “Good night Rosy. I love you.”

You choke on air, those three words raising goosebumps on your skin. There is no time for a response, Carter’s soft snores filling the empty space before you can even react. You slowly retreat, letting go of his hand and turning off the lights.

In the six months and how many days you were “with” Carter, not once has he ever hinted that he ever felt that way about you. You were walking a fine line between dating and casual. It was a modern day situationship. You’ve spent the better part of your time together pushing and pulling him to and from your life. It’s always a rollercoaster of I need yous and I can’t do this anymores. Always one step forward, then three steps back.

But then three weeks ago, things changed. There was a shift in your dynamic, a change in your relationship in the form of a blonde puck bunny pressing her tits onto Carter’s chest and him simply allowing it. And as if that didn’t burn enough, he added fuel to the flame by walking out of the club with her in tow, leaving you in the dust and in shambles. You left him a text, a simple i’m done playing your game. And then it was radio silence. There was no attempt from either of you to reconcile like you’ve done before, no attempt to fix it with a late night hook up or breakfast at your favorite cafe. It was quiet.

You lay in bed, Carter’s voice repeating those three words over and over in your head until sleep washes over you. It’s a dreamless sleep, and you wake up to the sound of dishes clattering in your kitchen. For a split moment, you forget that you had a guest who was residing on your couch. Your ignorant bliss is immediately replaced by confusion. The sun is far too high for it to be six in the morning, so really who is in your apartment? Carter had to have left hours ago at this point.

You open your door carefully, peeking out into the general vicinity of your home. The green throw blanket is thrown over the back of the couch, and the TV is on playing at a very low volume. Carefully, you step out and walk towards the sound of movement. Carter moves comfortably in your kitchen, his back muscles moving beneath his skin as he spreads butter on his toast.

“Carter?”

He spins around quickly, relief flooding his features when he sees you. “Jeez you’re quiet. Didn’t even hear you come.”

“You’re still here… what happened to the morning skate?”

“Canceled. It’s an afternoon one now. Toast?” He offers. You shake your head, arms crossing over your chest.

“Beezer picking you up?”

Carter chuckles as he takes a bite into his toast. “In a rush to get rid of me?”

“Yeah, actually.” You mumble, walking into your kitchen to make yourself a bowl of cereal.

“Ouch.” He smirks, putting his toast down, “Still bitter?”

Your jaw drops at his crassness, the lack of sensitivity. Your blood boils, and you know very well that your skin is turning red. “You have some nerve Carter, some fucking nerve.”

You abandon the empty bowl and the box of cereal on the counter, walking away from the brunette. To no surprise, you hear his footsteps pad behind you and he is quick to pull you back from moving any further.

“Hey. It was a joke.”

You scoff, “Not a good one.” You yank your arm from his grip, “You need to leave.”

“Well since I’m here, why can’t we just talk?”

“What is there to talk about?” You challenge, “What is there possibly left to say at this point Carter?”

“You don’t think there isn’t anything worth talking about?” He raises a brow, “Considering the last time we saw each other?”

“I said all I needed to. I’m done with the games, I’m done playing it. Go play with your new blonde bunny.”

“Wow, nice.” He scoffs, “Thought you valued communication, valued a conversation, valued talking things out. Where’s all that y/n?”

“I already communicated with you Carter!” You snap, “I told you what I wanted, told you that I didn’t want you to sleep with other people, to do shit like that while you’re with me! Why should I have to repeat myself? Why should I have to remind you?” Your breathing is jagged and hot tears stream down your face as your frustration fills you to the brim. Images of that night three weeks ago flooded your mind. “You don’t respect me enough, don’t value me enough. You begged me to come out, kept me close until your blondey came around and suddenly I was nothing. You made me look like a fool in front of our friends, your teammates.”

Carter is quiet, studying your features with furrowed brows. You can see the guilt in his eyes, in the way his lips curve down, and his ears turning red. He was ashamed.

“You didn’t even try to apologize either. You avoided me, didn’t try to call, or text, or something half-assed like tell Joel or T.K. to invite me to something. Nothing.”

“Oh fucks sake Y/n,” He retorts, “I’m always apologizing, always the first one to initiate a talk, always-”

“Because you always fuck up!”

A thick blanket of quiet covers the room, only the sound of angry breathing heard. You weren’t wrong, and he knew that. But, fuck, you didn’t need to say it. Now it’s out there, the universe listening closely to the exchange. The first time Carter came knocking on your door with flowers in hand, it was a petty problem. It was small, something he may or may not have said while he was drunk that made you drop him home early. The second time, he ignored you at a party hosted by the WAGs, one you helped plan. He was frustrated with how his season was going at the time. He was too consumed with a conversation with Claude to even give you a second of his time to tell you what a great job you had done. You had become a fly on the wall, watching everyone weave their way through the party and find their places, leaving no room for you to fit.

Carter knows his sporadic moods and his need to tug you along has worn you down. He’s always feared the day you would have enough of him and his baggage would come, and now he believes it’s finally here. Your face only reads anger, disappointment, rather than the tear stained cheeks he’s become so used to. Tears that showed him you cared. There’s a sense of tiredness in your eyes, a plea for him to just walk out of your home and your life for good.

But he wasn’t ready.

“You’re right. I’ve fucked up so many times, too many times. Hurt you, embarrass you…. and there’s no excuse, no reason other than I’m a dick.” You chuckle humorlessly, pushing your hair out of your face and shaking your head. “I’m so sorry y/n, I’m trying to be better for you, I am. I don’t want to lose you.”

“I’m not going to wait around for you to fucking figure it out Carter,” You mumble, walking towards the front door, heart heavy with each step. Hurt rises to your throat as your fingers wrap around the cold door knob.

“Y/n, please no.” Carter takes long strides to fall to his knees as his arms find their way around your waist, head buried in your side. Your heart clenched at the firm grip he had on you, tears welling in your eyes and blurring your vision. “Don’t let go now.”

“Then when?” You whisper, “You might want me now, but what about tomorrow? Or next week? What do I do when you don’t want me, when I’m no longer the one you want?”

“I always want you… I… I love you.”

Your eyes meet his bloodshot ones, the rosy tinge in his nose and cheeks. His words shoot through you like arrows soaked in acid, burning your flesh and breaking you down. Words meant to sound so sweet, tasted bitter in your mouth.

“No you don’t.”

“Yes I do, Rosy.”

“No you don’t, Carter.”

His calloused fingers move to clasp your hand, tugging you down to his level. You give in, knees buckling to meet the floor beneath you. You are putty in his hands, body molding into his touch as soft cries and whimpers escape you. A gentle shhh moves past Carter’s lips as he rubs your back, his chin resting atop your head as he pulls you as close as he possibly can.

“I love you. I really do, I swear.”

“Carter please.” You shake your head, only moving enough so that you can crane your neck to look at him. “Please stop.”

His confession drowns you, squeezes your lungs tight. You dreamed of drowning in such words and affections. But here you are, begging for him to take it right back.

“You love me now, you say that you really do. But what about when you’re bored, or mad, or find another pretty little penny when we go out? Hm? Where’s the love then?”

Carter shifts between your sad eyes. “Don’t be done, just give me one more chance. One more, please.”

A sob forces its way up your throat, sounding strangled as the sound pushes past your lips. Your cries burn Carter’s ears, clenches his heart tight. With your palms flat against his chest, you push him away. You force yourself to your feet, glancing down at him one last time. You see the plea in his eyes, the hurt in his tear stained cheeks. He mirrored who you used to be. This was it, a culmination of your heartache and pain manifesting in this very moment as you stand over Carter.

“I’m all out of chances to give.”

––

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[teddybasmanov]

and the soul basks in the nirvana of resurrection

Chapter 1|Chapter 2: my laziness is flowing on the verge of enlightenment

Pairing: Freelancer/Gavin/Huxley/Damien/Lasko, background Elliott/Sunshine, background Avior/Starlight.

TW: coma, memory loss, memory alteration, mild angst/emotional hurt.

Notes: Words in italics are supposed to be not in English, words in singular quotation marks ‘like this’ are reader character’s (that’s the freelancer) thoughts. The freelancer is implied to be not from the US. Lyrics in the text and the titles are from this song. Everything is agonizingly good and tooth-rottingly sweet AU.

Word count: a bit over 2300.

who am I

and why do flounder

the thoughts

Half an hour before Cam’s arrival is spent in pretty relaxed banter and the freelancer finding out that some things never change. One of those things is apparently their phone and their music library on it. They scroll through their photo gallery, while their partners huddle around the bed, trying to look over their shoulder.

“So, this is the E&E closing, I’m assuming,” they look at the picture of Huxley and Damien wearing their medals, Huxley’s arm is wrapped around Damien’s shoulders and he’s trying his best to look displeased by it.

“Aha,” Lasko confirms, “if you want anything else you should scroll faster – there’re a lot of these,” he chuckles lightly.

The freelancer follows his advice and soon comes to something they recognize again, “And this is Friendsgiving!” they raise their gaze from the screen to the guys.

“It is,” Gavin smiles at them fondly, “It was wonderful, and your idea by the way.”

“As usual,” Damien joins in.

“Hey, dude!” Huxley goes to defend the freelancer.

“What? I was serious!” the fire elemental falls victim to his own usual sarcasm.

“Sure,” the freelancer wants to say something else but then someone knocks on the door. Cam’s habits are much more civilised than Gavin’s – he not only doesn’t’ rift in the middle of the room, he even politely asks if can come in.  

Camelopardalis is distinctly inhuman and it’s not clear what’s playing a bigger role in it – his gargantuan height, his horns or the aquamarine undertones of his skin and hair. He sends everyone a slightly distant smile.

“Punctual as ever,” Gavin grins in return.

“Of course, my friend,” Cam nods, “Good day, to all of you, and you’re the freelancer, I presume,” he looks straight at them.

“I think I am,” they answer and it sounds like everything between a joke and a genuine concern.

“Would you prefer some privacy, while we try to figure out your memory issue?”

“I…” the freelancer hesitates, “Yeah, probably, I wouldn’t want to make anyone worry,” they smile half-apologetically at their partners.

The elementals look at Gavin as if asking him if it’s okay to leave, he gets up and they follow him.

“Call if you need anything,” and with that Camelopardalis and the freelancer are left alone.

“Mind if I sit?”

They make an inviting gesture and the daemon sits at the foot of their bed.

“Can you explain what and how you remember or rather not remember in a little more detail?” his voice stays calm and soothing.

The freelancer repeats the story they’ve already told their partners – about everything being fiction.

“That’s an interesting case, I’ve never heard of anything like this, maybe I’ll be able to tell more if I see for myself. Only if you let me, of course,” Cam looks a little confused.

“Sure,” ‘Isn’t it what Gavin called you for?’ “Can I ask you just one question before that?”

“Ask away, I’ll answer what I can,” the daemon keeps his eyes on them.

“How’s Regulus?” the freelancer takes a shot in the dark and hits the target.

“How do you know him from?” it’s the first time Cam’s face significantly changes to express surprise. They don’t say anything, just raising an eyebrow to show that the answer is obvious.

“Oh, yeah,” Camelopardalis gets the memo, “He’s doing much better, his obsessive tendencies are almost gone, he’s still very protective of his charge though. They’re doing better too with his help – he’s so happy about it.”

“So, they’re together? He’s not contained in the department?” Now it’s the freelancer’s turn to be surprised.

“Why would he be at the department?” Cam’s dark eyes widen, “I’m friends with his steward – they’re great with empathy daemons with attachment issues, Regulus is going to be a very good daemon in time,” he smiles fondly again and the freelancer mirrors his expression.

“When you see him or his steward, please tell them that he helped me so much through some hard times. At least my memories are telling me that.”

“I’m sure he’ll be glad to know that,” Cam’s smile widens a bit.

“Okay,” the freelancer takes a deep breath, “Let’s see what’s wrong with my memory.”

“It won’t hurt, I promise,” the daemon puts his big hand with long elegant fingers right in front of their face and they feel something gentle but definitely foreign prodding their mind, pictures start flashing in their vision and they suddenly start feeling sleepy.

“It’s okay, relax, you’ll wake up when it’s over,” Camelopardalis says in his lulling voice.

When they open their eyes again, he’s looking at them with a strange expression.  

“I take it you didn’t like what you saw?”

“It’s not that, it’s just…” Cam stumbles.

“Were the parts about you true?” the freelancer makes a guess.

“Yeah,” he lowers his eyes, as if ashamed of his own discomfort.

“I’m sorry, I never meant to make you watch all of that again, even if from a different perspective,” they reach out to take his hand, slowly enough to give him time to move away. He doesn’t.

“It’s okay,” he smiles again even if it’s weak this time, “The good parts are also true, after all.” They sit in silence for a little while.

“So, about your memories,” Cam clears his throat, “I cannot return memories that aren’t there, I’m sorry. If you’d want to forget any of that, I’m at your service.”

“Thanks, I’d rather keep it, if not because it’s all I have, than to appreciate how good everything is in reality.” ‘Or at least seems to be for now.’

“Well, Gavin has my number, in case you change your mind,” the daemon shrugs, still looking a little guilty.

“I think I can call them back in,” the freelancer half-asks and Cam nods.

When their partners come in, Damien is the first to ask:

“Did it work?” to which the freelancer scrunches their nose and shakes their head.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to live with it,” they turn to the daemon again, “Thank you, Cam, anyway, it was nice seeing you.”

Gavin offers to walk him out and they leave for a few minutes. While they are out the elementals try to comfort the freelancer and the freelancer tries to persuade them, they don’t need comforting. When Gavin comes back to such a familiar picture, he suggests that everyone needs to eat and is met with a four-voice protest.

When the elementals are forced to leave to finally have their late lunch/early supper, Gavin stays with the freelancer and feeds them as well ‘Literally feeds, get your head out of the gutter’.

“I want to see if your tastes are still as I remember.”

“Well, I like you very much, so they can’t be that different,” they tease, as he conjures a tray of food on top of their hospital blanket. The food is good, as well as the feeling of Gavin’s palm resting on their knee. Trying to inquire if he himself is hungry, leaves them with a vague mention of Huxely having a free morning today, from which they deduct that no, Gavin is not indeed hungry.

When the rest of the polycule comes back the freelancer hesitantly offers:

“Since Elliott won't be here for a few more hours, maybe we’ll do some more fact checking? I can talk separately with each of you, so as not to… disclose anything that was private before.”

 Their partners agree and decide to go in the order of meeting.

…

“And then you told me your birth name.”

“You told me yours a few days after.”

…

“Did I cry when we discussed our families?”

“We both did.”

…

“You know I actually still like mini-golf.”

“I hope this time you can really play it.”

…

“And then we held hands on the trail.”

“Like this?”

“Like this.”

…

When they all gather in the freelancer’s room again they’re a little shaken by all the reminiscing, but mostly in a good way.

“While we still have a bit of time, can I take a wild guess?” the freelancer starts talking.

“Sure,” Gavin is settling on the side of their bed again.

“Gavin, do you know Avior?”

“Do you not?” he raises an eyebrow.

“Well, not in that quality,” they say with an uncertain intonation, “When did you see him the last time?”

“About a week before your accident. And you’ve seen him too, by the way, we had a double date,” Gavin says, uncertain of why Avior came up all of a sudden.

“Have you heard from him since?” the freelancer continues their inquisition.

“Well, we texted a few times. Why?” the incubus is getting more and more confused alongside the elementals, who are observing the scene.

“Can you call him now, please? I just need to hear him.”

“Sure. Avi? Am I interrupting something? So, you have a minute? Great. Yeah, so the freelancer has awoken and their memories aren’t that great at the moment and they want to talk to you. They’re worried, I’ll just let them explain themselves,” he passes the phone to the freelancer.

“Avior? Good afternoon.”

“Afternoon freelancer, good to hear from you again.”

“Can I ask you something? Full disclosure: it’s going to sound weird and like something I shouldn’t be aware of.”

“I’m already intrigued, go on.”

“Are you feeding off a dreamwalker, who’s obsessed with a cult?”

“No… Not at the moment at least, there was one a few years ago, but I left him when I got bored with his constant hatred.”

“Can you tell me a bit more about him? Anything weird? Any details that you still think about?”

“Actually yes. Firstly, I have visited him fairly recently and was surprised to find out that his academy friend has pulled him out of the cult. Secondly, I met my Starlight right after leaving that guy. I literally bumped into them.”

“Thank you, you’ve put my mind to a rest. Tell your partner, I said hi. Goodbye.”

“Bye,” they give the phone back to Gavin, “He’s not stuck in hell.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he chuckles, “the closest he probably was to it, was that double date I mentioned.” They raise an eyebrow, “Because you and his partner have persuaded us to go to a Dante inferno themed escape room. He was furious the whole time.”

The freelancer lets out a nervous laugh, ‘Well, how interestingly my brains work, apparently.’

The elementals, who kept watching the scene with growing bewilderment, decide to interfere.

“Hey,” Damien shuffles a little closer to the freelancer, “You don’t have to tell us anything but we’re glad, that things are better than you remember them being.”

“Believe me, I am also very glad,” they let out a more relaxed smile.

About five minutes after the agreed upon time, they hear another knock on the door and a round-faced man in a headband peaks through,

“Sorry, I’m a little late, they were refusing to let me in,” he grins, not seeming too displeased with it.

“It’s okay, come in,” the earth elemental waves to the incomer.

“Would you like us to leave again?” Gavin addresses the freelancer.

“I don’t think we’re going to find out anything we didn’t already with Cam, so you can stay if you want,” they shrug with one shoulder, “Good evening, Elliott,” they turn to the man who is settling down on a chair beside the bed.

“Evening, congratulations on waking up!” he says cheerfully.

“Thank you. At this point I’m honestly not sure what you can do, since the memory modifier was here already and couldn’t fix anything,” the freelancer spread their hands helplessly.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” his demeanour falters, “I can tell what I saw in your dream if you want, or just answer some questions.”

“That would be nice. Actually,” they squint almost mischievously, “Did you accidentally call me sunshine while calling for me?”

“Yeah, I might have, sorry,” Elliott rubs the back of his neck.

“It’s okay, it was sweet,” the freelancer reassures them.

“So, did you actually hear it after all?” his curiosity takes over.  

“You were saying something about the screen in front of me being not real, right?”

“Yes, I did, actually,” he sounds surprised.

“Then I heard it, several times in fact. It affected me quite a lot,” they admit, biting the inside of their check. “May I ask you something not about my dream?”

“Sure,” Elliott draws the vowel, a little confused.

“Why are you in the city?” the freelancer asks in a suddenly strict voice.

“On a vacation with my partner,” he answers carefully.

“And that’s all?”

“And that’s all,” the dreamwalker is surprised by a sudden interrogation.

“Okay,” they pause, seemingly satisfied with the answer, “Say hi to Brachium, then.” They expect a reaction if not an overreaction, but Elliott just gives them a long look and, after they hold his gaze, says:

“Sure,” he rises from his chair, “I think I’ll go, you’re right, I can’t do much that a memory specialist couldn’t. Good luck in your recovery and good night,” he sends them a wave and another smile, which they return.

“Who’s Brachium?” Damien asks, when the dreamwalker leaves.

“He knows,” the freelancer answers evasively, while Gavin gives them an odd look. He might know more than they think he does.

Later in the evening, the doctor says that if everything is okay in the morning, the boys are free to take the freelancer home.

“Do we all live together?” they ask in happy surprise.

“Yeah, big house, personal rooms, a big one for… common activities,” Gavin answers in a smirk and a quirked up eyebrow.

“What? Like in 2012 Avengers fanfiction?” the freelancer lets out a half-chuckle half-scoff.

“You’ve already joked like this!” Lasko exclaims.

“At least twice, in fact,” Damien notices dryly.

“Well, I don’t remember it, so it doesn’t count!” they laugh, baring both rows of teeth and happily squinting.

Gavin stays with them for the night.

[realcube]

randomly falling asleep with hq!! characters 💤

navi | masterlist | taglist 

thank you anon for this cute request!

characters: ushijima, tsukishima & yachi 

content warning: swearing, mentions of sexual assault 

thank you to anon for this cute request

wakatoshi ushijima

♡ he shows affection in his own...special way 😊

♡ by that, i mean that if you fall asleep while sitting next to him and he thinks you look cute, he’ll just stare (●__●)

♡ like deadass if he was anyone else, it’d be creepy as hell but he’s your bf so-

♡ he stares bc not only do you look precious, but he doesn’t want to touch you as he’s afraid that he might wake you up

♡ though, if you’re in public (like sitting next to him on the train) he might gently put his arm around your shoulders to make sure that onlookers know that you’re safe with him

♡ also, it only takes one time for him to catch on to your habit of disappearing and falling asleep in the most unconventional places and istg he is the BEST at guessing where you are - it’s a gift

♡ like he’ll arrive home and if you’re not there to immediately greet him with kisses, he’ll take a moment - let him boyfriend senses take over and walk him over to whatever room is giving him ✨(y/n) vibes✨, open the door and there is a 99% chance you are in that room sleeping 

♡ and he probably got it right first guess (which is a pretty big deal considering y’alls house resembles a sims fkn mansion made with motherload money)

♡ he’ll open the door to the storage cupboard to find you sleeping with the mr muscle spray and it’s such a shame bc he was going to be a clown and make a ‘why are you cheating on me?’ joke but you were in REM sleep 🙄

♡ or he’ll walk in to the conservatory and see you laying in the fetal position on the floor and that is the ONLY time he interferes with your sleep bc he doesn’t want you to fuck up your back 🥺

♡ like he has an obsession with your posture - like if you are slouched he will tell you to stand up straight or if you are sitting hunched in a chair, he’ll creep up behind you to start massaging your shoulders while fixing your posture 

♡ not to be rude though- just bc he cares

♡ also, he never questions how you end up falling asleep in the most random of places, he just goes with it 

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

ushijima sighed as he hung up his jacket, realising that this was one of those days were you won’t come scurrying to the front door to greet him with kisses and instead he had to hunt through in search of you. although, it wasn’t much of a hunt considering his gut instinct said you’d be in the study room and there you were, cuddled up by the bookshelf. 

however, your back was hunched over in way that didn’t look to comfortable so ushijima thought it was his duty to transport you to somewhere that there was a lot more appropriate and fit for sleeping.

so he gently slipped one hand behind your back and the other under your knees to slowly pick you up and carry you to your shared bedroom. is efforts may have been in vain though as he noticed one of your lids flutter open out of the corner of his eye, “good afternoon, sweetheart.” he hummed, steadily shifting his hand from your back to the back of your head to tenderly caress your cheek with his thumb as you cuddled into his chest. “are you awake?”

“No.” you groaned.

“Shame, I was going to suggest going out for walk on the beach--”

“I’m awake! Let’s go!” 

kei tsukishima 

♡ he probably calls you lazy but he’s really just jealous of how well you can sleep

♡ coz he just lays in bed till 4AM staring at the ceiling 

♡ i imagine that if you were to fall asleep next to him in a crowded, bustling place - like on a train - he’d take off his headphones and clasp them over your ears so the loud announcements don’t wake you up  

♡ he doesn’t fall asleep on transport btw (not even planes) so don’t worry about missing your stop 

♡ though he’s not usually a fan of PDA, he’ll hold your hand without a second thought to lead you out the train when you’re still recovery from the post-sleep haze because of course he doesn’t want to lose you in the crowds of people or anything

♡ and if you have a cute lil sleepy face then he might take a picture but he’d probably edit the picture with snapchat or something and draw like a moustache on you, put a sarcastic caption or something then send it to you 

♡ (but he’d save an unedited version of the pic bc you’re adorable-)

♡ like tsukki leaves you on delivered most of the time on snapchat bc he believes if you have something important to say, you’ll just message him normally but the rare occasion you do get a snap from him, don’t get your hopes up bc there is a 99% it’s just something like a picture of you with a drawn on crown and the caption ‘sleeping beauty 🙄’ 

♡ ‘so you think i’m a beauty 🥺’

♡ then he leaves you on read

♡ he will not carry you under any circumstances in public btw

♡ and at home, if you were to fall asleep on the couch next to him while y’all were watching a movie, there’s a 50/50 that’d he carry you to bed 

♡ but if he doesn’t take you to bed, he’ll set down a pillow for you on the couch and shift you around so you were laying in a more comfortable position, then drape a blanket over you 

♡ in regards to when he comes back from work, you’re usually already asleep in bed - but there is one time that you were not in the bedroom, and he still teases you for it until this day 

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

most of the time, you’re sound asleep in bed by the time gets home but tonight you weren’t - in fact, you were no where to be seen. he had searched everywhere, called your phone multiple time and he looked at your schedule, but it appeared as though you were supposed to home right now - so hours, he was sitting fretfully on the couch, contemplating calling the police.

however, all his distressed pacing really worked up an appetite so he poked his head into the pantry to grab a snack but his soul almost left his body when he noticed you laying on the floor, fast asleep, with the cat curled up in your arms. who he didn’t even noticed was missing lol

usually, he wouldn’t even think of waking you up but the rage and shock that shot through his body resulted in him barking out, “what the fuck?! what are you doing here?! i’ve been looking all over this damn house for you and--”

he was cut off by the cat springing out of your arms from the surprising sharpness of his voice and scurrying off, leaving you confused on the floor on the pantry, half asleep, wondering how you got here and why tsukishima was yelling at you? “hm? what’s wrong, sweetie?” you hummed, rubbing your eyes while tilting your head up to look at his tall, slender figure looming over you in the doorway.

as much as tsukishima wanted to stay mad at you, upon noticing how cute your bedhead was along with how soft your voice was, he quickly realised that there was no way he could continue yelling you. so instead, he scoffed and slowly kneeled down to sit next to you on the floor, looking at you with kind yet concerned eyes as he inquired, “why were you sleeping in the pantry?”

it took you a moment to try and remember but once you did, you blurted out, “oh, berry was having trouble sleeping.” yes your cat is called berry. don’t question it. her full name is strawberry tsukishima shortcake. “so i cuddled with her in her favourite sleeping spot and she slept like a baby. but i guess i did too.” yo chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of your neck. 

tsukishima mentally cursed you out as he was expecting a silly explanation but shit that’s cute. why does he lowkey want to join y’all next time?

hitoka yachi

♡ gsrbtrhryh she gets so flustered and nervous when you fall asleep with her

♡ and she always does tbh bc she has no idea what to do 

♡ like she thinks you look so precious and angelic so she really wants to take a picture and - if she thinks you’d be okay with it - she clicks a photo and probably sets it as her background or posts it on her private story

♡ she is just so head over heels for you tbh that everything you do just astounds her 

♡ she just stares at you like ◉_◉ for half an hour bc you are so beautiful then something inside her just prompts her to lean in and just *mwah* and at first she is quite satisfied bc she has expressed her affection 

♡ but then a few seconds later her soul just leaves her body and guilt just washes over her 

♡  ‘OMG I JUST ASSULTED MY OWN S/O’

♡ she feels horrible 

♡ this close 👌 to calling the police on herself

♡ when you wake up, prepare to be bombarded with her apologies 

♡ once you reassure that it’d fine bc it was just a lil peck on the cheek and she is your girlfriend after all, it brings her the slightest peace of mind

♡ so you peck her cheek while she is asleep to call it evens and that basically fixes it 

♡ but anyway, she is so careful around you when you sleep - like she will literally do the most just to ensure that she doesn’t interrupt your REM sleep

♡ however, that can lead to extremely sticky situations - like the first time you ever fell asleep around her 

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

You were on the 5th movie of your barbie movie marathon when she looked over and noticed you had fallen asleep half way through, so she immediately paused it so the noise wouldn’t wake you up. This was the first time she had ever seen you sleep and she felt somewhat flattered that you felt safe enough around her to be vulnerable - even though, yachi never really considered herself to be a rather daunting or intimidating person.

she couldn’t help but just sit and admire you for a few minutes before realising that she should probably transport you to somewhere more comfortable as you were currently sitting next to her on the pink beanbag in her room. and although  it was kinda comfy, the preferable alternative - her bed - was only a few feet away.

so she knew what she had to do.

she hopped to her feet and before she did anything too hasty, she stretched to ensure that she wouldn’t pull a muscle while doing what she was about to try. she inhaled deeply before crouching down - instead of bending over as she remembered what coach ukai had told her, ‘lift with your legs!’ - then snaking her arms under your torso and knees.

then, she sprung back up and immediately rushed over to the bed as even though you weren’t too heavy, she was afraid that if she held you for too long, you’d wake up. so once she reach the foot of her bed, she tossed you on so your neck was being supported by her soft pillow and yanked her duvet over you. 

she gazed lovingly down at your cozy figure laying on her bed and she couldn’t help but smile.

[wonder-kid-pugh]

Favourite T-shirt - (Jessie Fleming x reader)

I've been sittin' here, tryna figure out

What did I do right to be with you right now?

I put my arm around your shoulder

To see If I can pull you closer

And I didn't wanna say it

But I honestly thought I'm growin' older

"Sup Fleming" I smile as I walk up to the small Canadian. She whips around but a smile spreads across her face when she sees me. "Hey America" she smiles as she stops walking letting me catch up to her. I throw my arm around her as we start walking back to the dressing rooms and I can already feel all our teammates eyes on us.

We had met few years ago playing against each other on the national team so we knew each other in passing. I would be lying if I say that she didn't catch my eye from the beginning but I never got the chance to talk to her other than post match pleasantries.

But it wasn't until she was dragged along to a party at Stanford by her friends did I get a chance to actually talk to her.

"Fleming? What are you doing here?" I ask as I see her standing by herself off to the side in a quiet corner of the kitchen. I had to stop myself from checking her out. She wasn't wearing her usual shorts and a baggy t-shirt. Instead she had swapped from for jeans and a more fitted top with her hair let down. She tensed for a slit second but visibly relaxed when she saw it was only me. "Oh hey L/n. Some of my friends were invited and dragged me along". I raise my eyebrow, "And they left you alone. A bruin alone in cardinal territory? That's dangerous". She chuckles lightly taking another sip of her drink, "Is that right?" I lick my lips a smirk playing at my lips, "Don't worry I'll protect you".

Honestly if it wasn't for the small few drinks I've had tonight I don't think I would of have the courage to flirt with her let alone talk to her. But taking advantage of the small liquid courage because at least if she flat out rejects me I can hide behind the excuse of being drunk. But it seems that it paid off as she bites her lip probably trying to stave off a smile but I can see it poke through, "Oh really?"

I smirk down at the smaller player, "Let's see how hard they party in Canada".

I saw your eyes in the city lights

And almost said, "I want you so bad tonight"

Yeah, you were kissing my neck, you were making me nervous

And none of our friends would believe it

You were puttin' your hands up under my shirt

Makin' fun of the way I was breathing

Parked up on Mulholland drive

Blankets in the back of my car all night

You look so good, it hurts

In my favorite T-Shirt

"Fuck" I moan as Jessie nips at a particular spot on my neck as I throw my head back giving her more access to my neck. She chuckles as she trails kisses down the column of my neck. I latch my arms onto her hips trying not to show how much my hands are trembling right now trying to anchor myself.

I know I was drunk otherwise I don't think either one of us would have gone this far. But I was wasn't drunk enough to stop myself from feeling nervous. The height difference working against us as I had to crane my head down to kiss her. As I kissed her I started walking her backwards until her back hit the wall. As her back hit the wall she gasped letting me take control.

But that doesn't last as she slips her hands under my shirt causing me to gasp and shudder from her touch. This doesn't go unnoticed as she pulls back just enough to smirk at me as I stare down at her breathless. I have to hold back a moan as her finger rake over my abs. "You okay there?" She asks with a smirk evident on her face. She rests her palm over the side of my ribcage, "Your breathing pretty heavy there. Do I make you nervous?" She teases.

My breathing hitches again as her hand moves higher so it's now over my heart. Her palm lays flat over my rapidly beating heart which she can no doubt feel. "Looks like your heart is racing" she giggles lightly. I huff out a laugh as I grin leaning my forehead against her own.

I don't know whether it's between the amount of alcohol I've consumed or how hazy my mind was but the way the dim light was hitting her perfectly. I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from telling her badly I wanted her right now.

But she catches me staring at her as she tilts her head at me, "You okay?" I take another second to stare at her before shaking my head. But before she could ask I lift her up by the back of her thighs and pin her to the wall using my hips as her legs wrapped around my waist. "Now I am" I whisper before smashing my lips into hers.

Heart is beatin' harder than it ever has

Wanna put you in a photo, put you on my dash

I put my arm around your shoulder

To see If I can pull you closer

And I didn't wanna say it

But I honestly thought I'm growin' older

"Y/n! Stop!" Jessie whines as I keep the camera trained on her. But I just grin, "Nah. If your going to drag me out here on a long ass hike. The least I'm going to do is take pictures of the amazing view".

I mentally fist pump at the pink tint coming across her face but while I'm distracted she lunges at my phone and now she grins as she turns the camera on me and starts taking pictures of me now. "Hey!" I laugh and try and reach for my phone but she steps out of my reach and continues on, "give it back". But she just shakes her head, "Nope! It's your turn now".

I throw my head back groaning playfully, "Ughhhhh". But it instantly drops as I hear her laugh causing me to smile. It seems that she catches it and starts taking pictures again. I start making funny faces at her making her laugh again making my heart beat even faster.

I take my phone off her and start scrolling through the pictures. I stop of one of Jessie laughing and I show it to her, "Now that's a beauty. That's definitely going on the dash". I send her a wink, "That way I get to see your pretty face everyday".

I chuckle as she blushes before I pull her into me throwing my arm around her shoulders. She looks at me questioningly before I hold up the phone so the both of us are the in shot. When she sees the camera focused on us she buries herself into my side slightly hiding from the camera. I chuckle and grin at the phone as I snap the picture before showing Jessie.

"Huh" I say making Jessie look at me. I smile down at her, "I think I like this one much better actually".

This causes her to smile wrapping her arms around my waist and hugging into my side. I wrap my arms around her as we watch the city below us and as the sun falls out of the sky.

I saw your eyes in the city lights

And almost said, "I want you so bad tonight"

Yeah, you were kissing my neck, you were making me nervous

And none of our friends would believe it

You were puttin' your hands up under my shirt

Makin' fun of the way I was breathing

Parked up on Mulholland drive

Blankets in the back of my car all night

You look so good, it hurts

In my favorite T-Shirt

No, it doesn't really fit, but you don't really care

'Cause you said you were cold and you need it

Hope you're gonna forget that you ever put it on

'Cause you gotta see me if you keep it

Parked out at the end of your drive

Kiss me through the window one more time

You look so good, it hurts

In my favorite T-Shirt

"God I'm tired" I groan as I flop down onto the grass. "Same" Tierna sighs as she lies down beside me. I lay my arm over my eyes trying to shield from from the sun just too tired to move. "What's that?" I hear but too lazy to move so I just lay there.

"Y/n?" I hum indicating that I was listening. "What's that?" I move my arm to see Andi nodding towards me. I look down at my neck to see that the make-up I had put on had wiped away revealing the small purple swelling that was peeking out from under my training top.

"Oh my god. Y/n! Is that a hickey?" Tierna gasps from beside me as I try to adjust my shirt to try and hide the dark bruise. "Y/n got laid?" Katie asks acting shocked learning some laughs from the team while I flip her off, "Fuck off". Alana pulls my top down showing off the hickey to everyone before I can swat away her hand, "Damn whoever it was she got you good".

"Who is she anyways?" Tierna asks as I start collecting my stuff. I just shrug but she scoffs, "Don't give me that. Cmon who is it". But I remain quiet as we start walking off the pitch. But then Tierna decides to play dirty.

"Tell me who it is or I'll tell Alex and Kelley your sleeping with someone"

I stop in my tracks and glare at the redhead, "You wouldn't dare". When we were called up to the national team. Kelley kinda just drifted over to us seeing as we were cardinals. But seeing as I was a forward and hanging out with Kelley a bit, it was only natural that I became close with Alex as well. The two had taken me under their wing and had watched over me at camps.

Tierna smirks, "Try me". I huff out while she nudges me, "So? Tell me who is it?" I huff our before glancing down at my trainers and mutter, "Jessie Fleming". Tierna groans, "Cmon tell me seriously who is it?" I just give her a confused look, "What do you mean? I told you it's Jessie". Tierna scoffs, "Cmon off it. Are we talking about the same person?" Tierna looks at me, "Jessie Fleming the shy timid Canadian who's an entire head smaller than you. Did that?" She says pointing to my neck. But I just nod causing her to scoff again and turn on her heel, "Fine don't tell me".

I watch wide eyed as she turns back on her heel towards the locker room. I can't help but chuckle and shrug before following her.

Yeah, I've been sitting here, tryna figure out

What did I do right to be with you right now?

You were kissing my neck, you were making me nervous

And none of our friends would believe it

You were puttin' your hands up under my shirt

Makin' fun of the way I was breathing

Parked up on Mulholland drive

Blankets in the back of my car all night

You look so good, it hurts

In my favorite T-Shirt

No, it doesn't really fit, but you don't really care

'Cause you said you were cold and you need it

Hope you're gonna forget that you ever put it on

'Cause you gotta see me if you keep it

Parked out at the end of your drive

Kiss me through the window one more time

You look so good, it hurts

In my favorite T-Shirt

After much awkwardness and a small bit of embarrassment I finally grew a pair and asked her out on a proper date. I went slightly cliche and brought her to a drive in movie. I had it all setup with food and drinks along with pillows and blankets to sit in the back of my truck.

We whispered quietly between each other at the terrible film that was playing. With all my preparation I forgot to check what was playing. But it worked out in the end as we laughed at how terrible the plot line was. At one point I could feel her shiver as she leaned up against me. "You cold?" I ask as I look down at her. But she just shakes her head but immediately moves further into me contrasting her actions.

I detach myself from her making the both of us frown lightly from the loss of warmth but after a minute find what I was searching for. I hand it to her, "Here put it on". She looks at it for a second before accepting the shirt I keep in my car for emergencies. But I can't help but stare. Due to the height difference it doesn't really fit and it hangs off her.

But she looks absolutely adorable in it.

She smiles at me before moving back into her position at my side snuggling into me with the blankets wrapped around us, "Thank you". I kiss the top of her head throwing my arm around her as her head fits perfectly into the hollow between my shoulder and neck, "Your welcome".

Eventually the movie ended and I drove her back to her dormitory for the night. Running off the high of the successful date I turn to her with a smile as my hand goes to hers, "Thank you for agreeing to go on a date with me". She smiles as she interwine our fingers, "Thank you for asking". Neither of us saying anything. We sit in a somewhat comfortable silence neither knowing what to say and both not wanting the night to end.

Sadly time was against them

"I should head in" Jessie says quietly her eyes locked on our hands as she rubs her thumb over the back of my hand before looking back up at me, "you have a long drive back and I don't want my teammates sending out a search party". I chuckle, "We wouldn't want that".

I bite the inside of my cheek wanting to kiss her so badly but not wanting to push it and ruin a perfect night. Unfortunately my awkward side prevails as I scratch the back of my head sheepishly, "So uh I-I'll text you?" I cringe at how awkward I sound but thankfully she just giggles and nods, "Yeah I'd like that".

She turns and gets out of the car closing the door behind her. And I can't help but sigh and sink back into my seat grateful I didn't make a complete fool of myself in front of the Canadian international. But it doesn't last long as I jump as there's a knock on the window. But I quickly calm down as I see it's only Jessie who's currently laughing at me.

I roll down the window, "Jesus Jessie you scared the shit-" But I don't get to finish my sentence as she leans down and kisses me through the window. I don't hesitate as I kiss back. When she breaks the kiss she smiles and kisses my cheek one last time, "See you later America". I grin letting out a breathy laugh, "Bye Canada".

With one last smile she taps the window before heading back to her dorm. I bite my lip as I watch her until she makes it safely inside. She looks back and waves before disappearing into the dorms. I drum my fingers against the wheel before beginning the long drive back home myself.

I smile the entire drive home. Not worried about a second date knowing that we'll see each other again soon. After all

She's still wearing my shirt

In my favorite T-Shirt

You look so good, it hurts

In my favorite T-Shirt

And god damn did she look good in it.

[myherowritings]

All That Ass

— One night at the gym, you see a handsome guy with so much ass, you take a picture on the sly and send it to your number neighbor, Bakugou, to freak out over. But what you don’t expect is for him to reply with a picture of you from the same gym.

pairing: bakugou katsuki x f!reader word count: 1,876 genre: number neighbor au!!, fluff

a/n: this is a bonus “what if” scenario based on these asks i received about baku and y/n meeting at the gym while he’s doing leg/butt day LOLOL,, just to be clear, this isn’t a canon part of the nn-verse! it’s just a hypothetical oneshot answering the question “what if they had met this way” AND I THINK IT’S SUPER CUTE!! i hope you enjoy and pls lmk what you think !! xx

“So… Does anyone want to go to the gym with me?” you asked cheerfully, sending a pointed look Shinsou’s way.

You knew Midoriya had already gone this morning (though, if you asked, there was no doubt in your mind he would go again), and Todoroki had just come back from swimming laps at the pool, so your roommate, Shinsou, was your best bet.

Too bad said roommate would rather stay home and play outdated games than workout with you. 

When he didn’t reply for a solid five minutes, you poked him on the bicep-- How he actually had muscles considering how lazy he was would undoubtedly remain the world’s biggest mystery. 

“Hello? Earth to Shinsou?”

He slowly tore his gaze away from the television, looking up at you from his seat on the couch. “Did you say something?”

Giving him your best smile while fluttering your lashes, you sang, “Does the best roomie in the world want to go to the gym with me?”

“No.” Shinsou hardly blinked. 

Your mouth formed a small ‘o’. “Wha--? That’s it? You’re not even going to give an excuse?”

“Nope. Just go by yourself,” he dismissed. “You always talk about how you’re a ‘strong, independent woman’, correct?” 

You scratched the back of your neck-- A habit you picked up from him over the years. “Well, yes…”

“And strong, independent women should be able to go to the gym by themselves, right? 

The only way you could respond was with an incredulous nod. 

“Glad we could agree,” said Shinsou with a wry smile. “Have fun at the gym, then!”

“I… Thank you…?”

And with a slightly confused expression you grabbed your keys and duffle bag and walked out of the door to the recreation center near your apartment, vaguely hearing Shinsou chuckling in the background.

It wasn't until you felt the chilling breeze of the outdoors that you snapped out of your trance. 

“Dammit,” you muttered under your breath. How was he always so persuasive? Sure, at times you could be the slightest bit gullible, but regardless, his skills were almost inhuman.

You huffed, shaking your head as you entered the reception area of the gym. After showing the workers your membership and brushing your hair out of your face, you headed upstairs to do some cardio. 

“Excuse me, are you done with the StairMaster?” you asked the blond-haired guy wiping down the only open machine. 

A bead of sweat trailed down the side of his face to his neck and you had to avert your gaze before he could catch you gawking. 

“Just finished,” he said, his voice a gruff timbre that was surprisingly pleasant to the ear. He finished wiping down the handles and nodded your way. “Go for it.” 

You beamed, setting your water bottle and phone on the machine to get situated. “Thank you so much!” 

He huffed. “Yeah, whatever.” 

That wasn’t exactly a warm ‘you’re welcome’, but you shrugged it off with a small smile, stepping on the stairs and starting a light warmup. 

You placed your earphones in and played some music to set the mood, ready to work up a sweat. Cardio was a pain, but it was worth it if it meant having a nice butt. (As well as making your heart stronger and increasing your lung capacity, you supposed, but those were mere seconds to the booty gains.) 

As you upped the speed and got into the swing of things, you felt your eyes wandering around the room to your favorite part of the gym-- The squat and deadlift area. You noticed a handful of people were littered among the equipment and after your short inspection, you hummed to yourself.

Yup, things were definitely looking good there.

Absentmindedly, you saw your screen light up out of the corner of your eye and you unlocked your phone, briefly checking your messages. Or rather, checking for a certain message from a certain someone.

Still no reply? you sighed, placing your phone back on the StairMaster and trying to distract yourself by looking back at the students doing some leg exercises.

Almost instantaneously, your eyes were drawn to the blond who was using the cardio stairs just before you came. 

StairMaster plus squatting what was easily 75 kilograms within ten minutes? You had to stop yourself from practically swooning on the spot. That was some serious gluteal strength he must’ve had.

He was finishing up his current rep of back squats, cheeks flushed pink and hair sticking to the sides of his face with sweat. Not only did he look unfairly handsome, but he had a hot body as well. 

His arms were toned with a nice amount of muscles on his biceps and triceps--oh, goodness, his triceps were really something else--and he had impeccable posture as he squatted. (Not that his posture was the first thing you noticed about his squat, of course.)

You were staring so intently at this beautiful specimen of a man that he himself noticed, pausing briefly to try to find the source of the laser beams he felt on his behind. Before he could catch you gawking, however, you tore your gaze away and grabbed your phone, trying to pretend you were on it this whole time. 

When he looked away, you sighed in relief, opening your camera app and peering at him through the screen.

You weren’t sure why, but you had a gut feeling your number neighbor, Bakugou, would’ve loved to share this beautiful sight with you. He seemed to be having a bad day and you figured a nice booty would be just the thing to cheer him up. So, really, you only wanted to take a picture of the hot gym guy out of the kindness of your own heart. 

After snapping the photo, you sent a quick series of texts freaking out to your ‘bakubestie’ along with an attachment of the image of the blond guy’s backside.

Y/N: *Attachment: 1 Image*

Y/N: HDJSJDJD IK I’M LIKE QUADRUPLE TEXTING RN AND I’M SORRY (but rly what’s new)

Y/N: BUT I THOUGHT YOU WOULD APPRECIATE THIS PIC IDK WHY DON’T QUESTION MY IMPULSES OK

Y/N: i’m at the gym and this hot (albeit a lil bit of a grumpy grump :/) guy is here and woW

Y/N: like i’m just trying to work out in peace but his ass is all “hi there (       )(       ) how are you (       )(       )” AND I FEEL SO ATTACKED,, how is one person allowed to have all that ass? save some for the rest of us pls bro

After getting a good percentage of your thoughts and thirst out, you let out a sigh of liberation, upping the intensity of the StairMaster to further get your jitters out.

As you continued scrolling through your phone to check for texts from your roommates, you heard a bark of incredulous laughter from the other side of the room. You distractedly looked up, but after seeing nothing out of the ordinary other than the hot guy grinning at his phone, you shrugged and placed your cell down to get back to your workout.

The intense climbing only lasted for about three minutes before you got a text message from Bakugou (which you knew only because his text tone was ‘It’s so fluffy!’ from Despicable Me while everyone else’s was the default chime). A bright smile made its way to your face as you lowered the speed once again, taking a drink from your water bottle to cool down before eagerly glancing at your screen. 

bakubestie: *Attachment: 1 Image*

Curiously, you took a look at the picture Bakugou sent. It was one of someone in the gym that looked quite similar to the one you were in, wearing the same workout clothes you were currently wearing… In fact, it looked like the photo was taken just now from inside the room, right next to the squatting area… 

bakubestie: Too much ass, huh? I could say the same about you

You blinked, taking a few moments to process just what exactly was happening before you yelped in surprise. “What the--?!” 

Your face fumed, head snapping up from your phone so fast you lost your balance and tripped on the incoming stair of the machine. Losing footing, you barely had time to let out a brief, “Oh, shit!” before falling down the StairMaster and onto your butt on the hard floor. 

“Ouchie…” 

There was a moment of silence before a booming laughter was heard from the opposite side of the room, and a mixture of dread and excitement filled your stomach.

Dread because if your suspicions were correct, the guy from the gym you were thirsting over to your number neighbor was your number neighbor. And excitement because--hello--you were finally going to meet your number neighbor! (That was, of course, if he didn’t run out of the gym at the very moment.) You were so excited that you couldn’t even dwell on the utter embarrassment any normal person would probably be feeling.

The scuffling of footsteps moved closer as you rubbed the side of your hip that landed on the ground. 

“Tch,” you heard from above you. You looked up to see an amused expression on the blond gym guy’s face as he extended a hand out to you and checked for any injuries. “You really are a dumbass.” 

Your heart skipped a beat at his all too familiar tone, and you winked cheekily at him while accepting his hand and standing upright. “And you really have a nice ass.” 

Bakugou rolled his eyes as he fought off the blush on his face, your compliment catching him off guard. “Okay, well-- Now I know for sure it is you.”

With an excited grin, you jumped up and down on the balls of your feet. You were filled with nerves and butterflies and you wanted nothing more than to tackle your number neighbor into the biggest hug you could muster.

“You are okay though, right?” he asked, the smallest hint of worry in his features. 

The little crinkle between his brows was so adorable that you just couldn’t help yourself. Your grin widened even more and your face began to hurt from smiling so much. You were certain you looked like a fool, but you didn’t care. 

Before you could second guess yourself, you stood on your tiptoes and threw your arms around his neck to tackle him into a proper bear hug. Bakugou was still a bit sweaty and warm from working out--and you most definitely you weren’t looking any better yourself--but that didn’t change the fact that he felt cozy and safe and smelled faintly like your favorite caramel treat at the candy store. 

“Yes. I’m better than okay,” you murmured into his shoulder. “It’s nice to meet you, bestie.” 

Bakugou froze in shock before letting out a breathy chuckle, slowly wrapping his arms around your waist as you shifted so your head rested against his chest. His hand lingered on the small of your back as he peer down at you with what looked like a smile of his own and you wished you could capture that moment in a frame and relive it forever.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Y/N.” 

[random-mha-thoughts]

Thigh Highs

Characters: Todoroki Shouto, Bakugou Katsuki, Kaminari Denki (these guys be ass men i dun wanna hear NOTHING)

Scenario: Your boyfriend sees you wearing thigh high socks for the first time in your relationship.

Genre: Spice, College AUs!

Word count: 1,746

Tags:  @yuki-osaki​​ @liviitehe​​ @iamsoftsodonttoucheume-blog​​ 

a/n: I told y’all you were getting headcanons. But instead you’re getting MINI-SCENARIOS because I was feeling it ayeee.  I’m happy to be writing again, even if it’s a warm-up to fanfics and my requests.  I really needed to write something I’m inspired by to ease myself back into writing again, and right now I’m inspired to write these boys thirsting over their s/o’s thiccness. Thank me later.

Also! I was originally gonna write for Kiri, but since I have a request for Denki coming down the pipeline soon, I figured I would write a little sneak peek/sample of him.  They’re scenarios were similar though.  I’m gonna write a part 2 with Kiri, Shinsou, and a bonus Todoroki scene ;)

Todoroki Shouto

You don’t know what spurred you to wear those thigh highs buried in your sock drawer.  Maybe it was a Pinterest post or a school life anime, or it was just too hot for joggers but too cold for just your shorts.  It wasn’t like you were going anywhere; your friends proposed a movie in the common room on your floor, so it didn’t matter if you didn’t look the best in them.  It’s just an experiment, you think as you slid them up your legs.  One glance in the mirror and the slight rolling down at the hem made you frown, taking it as a sign that your thighs are perhaps on the too thick side.  Still, you didn’t care enough to take them off, plopping yourself on the couch between Tsuyu and your boyfriend.  He’d glanced over briefly and outstretched his arm in anticipation of your body nestling itself there to snuggle.

Sometime in the middle of the movie, Todoroki’s head ended up in your lap, twiddling with one of your hands, caressing your fingers and knuckles with his calloused ones.  His other hand rests on your knee.  As the movie carries on, more of your friends start dozing off and you start paying more attention to your phone.  You feel Todoroki’s hand on your knee ghost ever so slightly up higher.  Figuring he’s just cradling his head on that hand, you try not to stiffen, until his finger starts tracing the rolled up lip of my socks.

Your hand in his soft hair taps a finger to call his attention.  When his body pivots onto his back, you whisper, “Why are you touching my socks, babe?”

A teasing smirk quirks at his lips.  “Is it distracting you?”

“Kind of.”  It may or may not make you self-conscious.

His finger traces a small circle on your bare thigh, facing your body now.  “These socks are distracting me too, calling attention to these beautiful thighs of yours.”  Before you can respond, he places a kiss right at the hem of your shorts, sending a wave of low heat through your body.  “That little bit of skin spilling out the top looks absolutely tantalizing, dear.”  His light touches and caresses enveloping your body in delicious sparks of electricity as he continues peppering more feathery kisses on your flesh to meet the end of your shorts.  You squirm as you breathe his name, only for him to sit up and lean up against your ear.  “I’d like to devour them, rest on them a little more,” his voice drops lower, “Maybe dwell right between them.”

Your face erupts in the most furious heat.  “N-No- W-What if someone hears you?” you whisper-yell.

“Everyone’s asleep already.”  Todoroki’s hand dips under your flesh, riding up your shorts and giving your soft thighs a light squeeze, his lips ghosting the sensitive spot under your ear.  “But I can wait to ravish you fully when we’re alone.”  Another chaste kiss on your jaw.  “I’d love to see you wear these more often.”  The other hand tugs the elastic band before releasing it, letting it snap against your thigh and eliciting a sharp gasp from you.  He just chuckles at your sensitivity.  “Be prepared, darling.”

Bakugou Katsuki

“Get over here and cuddle me already!”  Your needy boyfriend grumbles from your bed.  His pouty face is apparent in your mind even if you can’t see it from your rummaging.

“Just a minute, babe.”  You’re separating the socks in your drawer.  You figured it would be a cute idea to wear the socks Mina suggested you get; they were soft enough to cuddle in and you thought Bakugou would enjoy it, even though he’s not the picky type as long as you were actually cuddling him.

It’s a lazy Friday afternoon after your classes are finished.  The end of a weary school week means cuddling up with each other as stress relief.  There’s nothing more the two of you look forward to than staying in each other’s arms, watching movies, talking, kissing, or a combination of all three.

Finally, you pull them out and slide them on.  Catching your reflection in the mirror, you smile at how cute they look on you.  They have little black bows at the top and a matching line down the side of the cream colored knit.

“Babe.”

Bakugou’s sudden gravelly voice pulls you out of your thoughts.  It’s a different tone from the whining he was doing just a moment ago, it’s sudden intensity almost scaring you.  One look in his crimson eyes tells you exactly why.  He’s sitting upright now, tracing your form as his tongue swipes his smirking bottom lip.  “Is that a little something for me?”

You flicker your head down then right back at him, pushing your legs together shyly.  “I thought it would be cute, don’t you think?” you squeak out.

Your action must have excited him more, something between a hum and a groan resonating in his throat.  “God, you’re killing me.”  Bakugou holds his hands outstretched to you.  “Get over here before I scoop you up myself.”

As the obedient lamb you are, you scurry over to him.  His hands immediately grab behind your thighs and pull you into his lap, strongly gripping your soft skin.  “Just the perfect accessory for these amazing thighs of yours.”  He gives one of them a light slap, earning a yelp from you.  “You been hiding these from me for long?”

You shake your head quickly.  “Mina thought I should get them, I wanted to show you.”

“It’s my lucky day isn’t it?” Bakugou groans out, gathering more of your thickness in his hands to massage them as he meets your lips sloppily.  “Who said you can look that damn hot?”  As he leans down to steal rabid kisses from your sensitive neck.  “I’m the only person you can wear these for, you hear me?” he growls against your skin, leaving a bite on your collarbone.  Blunt nails dig down the flesh of your leg, making you gasp.  “I can just hold them all day, you’re not going anywhere for a while.”

One thing’s for sure, you’re going to do a lot more kissing than you did cuddle this time around.

Kaminari Denki

There are a lot of things in your closet that you haven’t worn, including a single rogue pair of thigh-high socks you’ve never dared to wear until you were bored today.   It could be fun to look like a schoolgirl, you think brightly, pulling them on.  Half of you expected the socks to constrict all the life from your legs, but they were just the slightest bit snug at the tops of your knees only.  With the help of Pinterest, you decide on a pair of shorts and some heeled booties to finish off the bottom half of a potential outfit you promise you’ll wear to class one day.

When you finally look in the mirror, you instinctively say, “Damn.”  You didn’t expect the outfit to look this cute, even though your thick thighs look a little too big at some angles.  “I have a figure.”

You have to take some cute pictures.

Pulling out your camera, you imitate the poses in the model photos you saw, pushing your legs together to make your thighs look skinnier and trying not to show the fat pooching out from the top of the socks.  Buzzing with newfound self-esteem at how hot you are, you send the pictures to your boyfriend without another thought.  “Was cleaning stuff out, don’t I look cute?”  You expect him to answer right away since he saw the pictures right after you sent them, but he leaves them on read, sending all of your confidence crashing down.  I thought I looked cute, I thought he would agree, you think somberly.

Slumping onto the floor in front of your closet, you slide through the pictures you were just squealing over two minutes ago.  Why would Kaminari, your number one supporter and cheerleader, leave you on read?  You thought you look like quite a catch.  You know you look like quite a catch.

A minute later, there’s a knock on your door.  Rushing to answer it, swinging the door surprisingly reveals the bright blond hair of your boyfriend.  You have no time to act surprised, he takes one sweep down before he jumps on you, pushing your body against the wall and crushing your lips to his.  His hands tightly grip your hips, looping a finger inside your shorts.

You roughly push his face away, both to breathe and get an explanation from your seemingly bipolar boyfriend.  Before you can say anything, he moans, “I couldn’t help myself, I had to come see you in person.”  He pulls back a little to scan your body again.  “God, you look sexy, baby.  You know how much I love your legs and this curvy little figure of yours.”  He hoists you up by your thighs, pinning your body to the wall with his and squeezing his hands around your flesh just shy of your butt.

You let out a yelp just as his lips capture yours again, more hungry this time, as he gathers more of your lovely thickness in his hands.  You try to match his pace, but he proves to be too much for you, especially with how he’s slowly grinding your bodies together, sending sweet tingling electricity through you.  Kaminari slides his hands down your legs closer to the middle of your thighs to carry you over to your bed, waddling over so he won’t drop you.

As he passes your mirror, you separate from him.  “W-Wait, stop here.”

The boy stops moving but continues his assault down your neck now.  Through your foggy mind, you pull out your phone and take a picture of the passionate image: your boyfriend gripping your honey thighs desperately as he ravages your neck, your arm clinging onto his neck and your knees squeezing his body, the socks the perfect accessory.  He looks up to stare down at the picture before rushing you over to the bed, practically tossing you down onto it before taking his place hovering over you.  Stealing your lips with another searing kiss, he mumbles, “I want that as my phone background, you look so hot there.  Damn, I’m so lucky to have you.”

You chuckle out another sigh.  “And here I thought you didn’t like how I looked.”

“Never!”

PART 2

[dirtyoatmeall]

Good for you

A/N: Wow sorry I've been gone!! I suddenly got back into reading and suddenly found myself in the middle of multiple series! anywayz, I finally listened to Olivia Rodrigo's new album so here is a songfic for good for u. I ended up going in a completely different direction than I had in mind. It's also long as fuck. I proof scanned it, but it's like 18 pages, as always sorry for the incorrect grammar, I do what I want. Call me Maybe will be getting one soon as well :)

Pairing: ex!Kageyama x reader, foreshadowed Atsumu x reader

Genre: angst? hurt/comfort? Its sad for pretty much most of it.

Word Count: 10.3k (im so sorry)

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol and drinking, implied adult themes, all characters are 21+ !!, detailed breakup. 16+ only por favor

Well, good for you, I guess you moved on really easily. You found a new girl and it only took a couple weeks.

Your phone chimed, alerting you of a new text, you reached for it on the side table, pausing the movie you were watching. It was a message from Shoyo and an image: ‘I’m sorry, I figured it’d be better if I told you instead of finding out on Twitter.’ Your brow pinched, what could that mean? You unlocked your phone to open the text.

The pinch deepens as you zoom in on the picture, eyes beginning to prickle with tears. It was a photo- most likely taken by a fan or paparazzi- of Tobio, your boy-, ex-boyfriend. He was with a woman, she seemed slightly familiar, probably a model or something along those lines. Your face heated and shame burned in your chest, the embrace they were in looked so intimate; private, that it seemed wrong to look. You deleted the image and left Shoyo on read for now; you’d reply when you’re in a better headspace.

It had only been a couple of weeks and he had already moved on, meanwhile, you were just starting to not cry at the little reminders of him scattered about your apartment. He hadn’t even come to get his stuff. You sniffle and walk over to the wall to your left; the picture wall- and gently take one of the photos off, smiling faintly at the memory it brings to the surface.

Remember when you said that you wanted to give me the world?

The sun filtered through the blinds, casting a soft glow around the room. Groaning, you squint at the brightness before rolling over. Your eyes find blue ones, startling you slightly. He chuckles softly, voice deep and gravelly with sleep; sending heat through your body. “you’re so jumpy in the morning.” he whispered in the otherwise empty apartment.

You roll your eyes and let him pull you into his chest, listening to his heartbeat and his fingers traced lazy shapes into your hip. “Shut up, you know it takes me a day or two to adjust after you’ve been gone.”

You meant for the words to be light; not expecting the emotion you heard behind them. He sighs, arm winding tighter around your waist as he kisses the top of your head. You bring your head up to meet his gaze and shift in his arms, frown tugging on your lips. “’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin the mood.”

He sighs again, shaking his head softly. “You don’t have to apologize for anything, I should, for never being home, missing holidays and-“ You put a hand against his lips silencing him, brows drawn tightly together.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for either. I knew what I was getting into when we got together, it didn’t bother me in school and it doesn’t bother me now. I’d much rather you live out your dream than being stuck here with me all the time.” You feel his mouth open to object, but your hand stays firm. “I’m serious Tobio, I mean every word.” He nods against your hand and you release him. You flush slightly at the open emotion in his gaze. He pulls you into a kiss, murmuring against your lips. “I don’t know how I got so lucky with you, I promise I’m gonna give you the world.”

And good for you, I guess that you've been workin' on yourself. I guess that therapist I found for you, she really helped

A few days later you meet Shoyo for lunch, a new onigiri place where he apparently knows the owner. He sighs as he sets down his menu, your eyes snapping back your own, pretending like you’ve been mulling it over this whole time. “Alright, go ahead and ask.”

You look up from your menu, feigning innocence. “Hm? Sorry I wasn’t paying attention.” He rolls his eyes and raises an eyebrow. You hold his gaze for a few moments before your shoulders sag in defeat. Your eyes fall to the table as you pick at the corner of the laminated menu. He gives you a minute to collect your thoughts before he places his hand atop yours, a sad smile gracing his features.

“(Y/N), it’s normal to want to know how he’s doing.” You chew your lip and mumble, “Well he’s obviously doing good since he already moved on.”

He continues as if you hadn’t spoken. “He started going to that therapist you recommended a day or so after,” he pauses, trying to gauge where your mind is. You’re meeting his gaze, and he can see you got what he was implying so he continued. “He’s been going consistently; says it’s really helped him.” You nod, blocking out his next words; too busy thinking about how you’re going to find a new therapist.

Now you can be a better man for your brand new girl

As you eat, you think over his words. You swallow and take a deep breath, trying to instil confidence in yourself. “Are they… good together?” Your voice comes out softer than intended and you inwardly cringe. He smiles faintly and nods. “They are.” You nod in understanding and turn your focus back to your meal.

Well, good for you. You look happy and healthy, not me-If you ever cared to ask

You knew it was inevitable, your apartments aren’t that far apart, you just wished it wasn’t so soon.

You were grocery shopping for the week, trying to figure out how many oranges to get before settling on 4 with a sigh, you toss them into your cart, turning around to see blue eyes at the other end.

You inhale sharply, your gazes met and he was too close for you to run away, leaving only one option. You were suddenly glad you met Shoyo for breakfast this morning, you were dressed up a bit, but you weren’t so glad when you became queasy. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped, letting it fall shut. You feel your face flush with heat and you duck your head, mumbling a soft “sorry!” and move to continue down the aisle, hoping he’d let you go.

Those hopes were crushed with the hand that gently captured your elbow, halting your escape as he turned you to face him. You were silent for a moment before he realized he was still gripping your elbow, dropping his hand to his side. You crossed your arms around your middle, trying to look- be smaller, small enough to get away. Though the rational side of you knew it wouldn’t happen, that you’ve known each other too long to simply stop. So you raised your gaze, uncurling your arms and bringing your shoulders back to at least look the part of an old friend caught by surprise, smiling as you spoke.

“Oh, Kageyama! I didn’t see you there, how are you?” He cringed ever so slightly at the use of his last name, filling you with a sick sense of pride that weighed uncomfortably in your chest. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a brunette coming up to him, not noticing you as she surveyed the list in her hand.

“Babe, did you find the oranges? Oh, remind me to pick up my birth control at the phar-“ Her eyes widened as she noticed you; cheeks flushing slightly in embarrassment. Unfazed, Kageyama snorted softly, wrapping an arm around her waist before turning back to you. “This is Yumi, babe, this is (Y-) uh, (L/N).” You smiled and waved, which she mirrored, going to speak but instead was interrupted by you, who had decided to spare all of you of the awkwardness of prolonging the conversation. “It’s nice meeting you Yumi, and it was nice seeing you Kageyama, but I gotta run.”

They nodded and waved in farewell as you continued down the aisle, letting out a deep breath before heading into the next aisle. You needed more alcohol.

Good for you. You're doin' great out there without me, baby. God, I wish that I could do that.

You saw them a few more times during your shopping trip. You had wanted to leave right away, but you had been putting off groceries for too long, and leaving your cabinets and fridge almost barren. Thankfully they were always far enough where if you accidentally made eye contact a smile in passing was warranted enough.

As you contemplated between mini pizzas or a large pizza, you heard a loud giggle from further down the aisle. Your head turned towards the noise instinctively and you saw them at the end, near the ice cream, which you hoped they moved soon because that was next on your list. They were laughing, her arms around his waist as she looked up at him, he had an arm around her, resting on her hip as he met her gaze and you felt your chest tighten and an emotion you definitely did not want to name and wanted to shove down, down far enough to forget it. They looked the part of smitten lovers, and you decided you didn’t need ice cream all that bad and grabbed the mini pizzas before heading to checkout, continuing to ignore the emotion swelling, weighing down your chest and moving up to your throat.

I've lost my mind, I've spent the night cryin' on the floor of my bathroom

You took a deep, shuddering breath that broke halfway into a gasping sob. The emotion was suffocating, burning in the back of your throat and pulsing against your skull as you hugged your knees to your chest, the cold press of the tub against your back doing nothing. You tried to take a breath again but your chest was too tight, it was constricting your lungs, pushing hot tears down your cheeks and pulsing harder as with the ringing in your ears.

You could faintly comprehend the door to the bathroom opening, but didn’t look up as someone wrapped their arms around you, pulling you to them; the feel of fabric twisting in your grasp somewhat grounding as they smoothed down your hair, their words muffled under the ringing. You couldn’t think about the tears and who knows what else dampened their shirt, couldn’t think of anything except the emotion weighing so heavy in your chest you were positive it was going to break your ribs, break through you and continue down, down, deep underground.

You have no clue how long you were there with them, not even sure how long before they arrived. They shifted their arms to pick you up, and you let them, not even moving your hands from their place on the shirt, you were sure they were glued there, the tears acting as an adhesive. Sobs still racked your frame as you were set down, tucked under the covers of your bed before the person laid next to you, resuming their soothing touches as the weight in your chest slowly lightened, gradually releasing its grip on your lungs as the ringing quieted, allowing you to hear the slew of soothing words softly coming from the person next to you.

But as the emotion lessened its grip on you, tiredness swiftly replaced it, the pounding at your temples only encouraging the darkness to weigh you down, until it settled over you like a blanket, your fingers laxing enough for them to fall back to your side. Your breathing slowed, the occasional hiccup breaking the silence as you slept.

But you’re so unaffected, I really don’t get it, but I guess good for you

Shoyo let out a deep breath as he gently shut the door to your bedroom behind him, shoulders slumping with exhaustion when he heard the latch click. He dragged a hand down his face, combing his fingers through his hair as he went to your kitchen to finish putting away your groceries, throwing away what was defrosted before collapsing on your couch, pulling out his phone, debating whether or not to text the person likely responsible for your tears. Turns out he didn’t even have to, they had already called him and left a message about an hour ago, a little after Shoyo first got to your apartment. He brought the phone up to his ear as he pressed play.

“Hey, I ran into (Y/N) at the store today, you know I thought you might be right; that our friendship ended with the breakup, but it was like nothing had changed! She even met Yumi though Yumi didn’t notice at first and started talking about her birth control,” a laugh, “I don’t know why you were so worried, she seems perfectly fine. I was thinking about having a little get together in a few weeks, Yumi really wants to meet everyone from Karauno, you both should come! Oh one sec, what? Okay! Sorry, I gotta go, Bye.”

Shoyo slid down the couch slightly, groaning as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Really? He was glad you stocked up on alcohol at the store because after hearing that, he needed a drink.

Well, good for you, I guess you're gettin' everything you want. You bought a new car and your career's really takin' off.

Two weeks later you sat on your couch, eyes focused on the match televised. You tell yourself you’re watching the tournament to see who Shoyo will end up going against; if you can give them any pointers, though a part of you knows it’s a lie.

At the end of the match, the Adlers, no, To- Kageyama, had scored the winning point, securing a spot in the semi-finals. You lifted the remote to change the channel, but you froze as the camera zoomed in on the edge of the court, where you watched Yumi jump into his arms, he threw his head back laughing as he spun her around before kissing her. You could hear the commentators discussing the game after making a cheeky comment but you tuned it out. You watched them walk off the court, snapping out of the trace as soon as the camera cut to the other team. You quickly turned it off. Taking a deep breath in your silent apartment.

You were going through your Instagram feed when you came across a post from Tobio. It was him and Yumi in front of a new car, kissing. You noticed it had multiple pictures, and swiped through, all of them of the couple. The last one was the most recent, earlier today, in fact, you recognized the jersey of the other team in the background. You part of the caption, deciding to scroll past before scrolling back up to read the long paragraph that was pretty much a love letter to Yumi. You bit your lip and liked it, cursing afterwards, you didn’t want him to know you still followed him. You debated unfollowing but decided against it, it’d only look weirder if you had liked a post and weren’t following him. You couldn’t get his expression out of your head, he looked so happy.

It's like we never even happened. Baby, what the fuck is up with that?

Over the next few days you received multiple texts from Kageyama, updates on his family; that they were asking about you, wanting you to visit, an invitation to a small gathering they were having next week, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi and Yachi were in town and he wanted to introduce Yumi to everyone. And several attempts to start a conversation.

You replied to all of them, thanking him for the update, politely declining the invitation; using work as an excuse, and you halfheartedly tried to keep up with the conversations until it got to be too much. It was like nothing happened, like he hadn’t suddenly broken up with you, after almost 7 years together. There were times you wanted to remind him, but decided against it. You didn’t want to be the bitter ex, you wanted to move on, like he had.

And good for you, it's like you never even met me

You think Shoyo had a talk with him.

After it all became too much, the media, the texts, the times he tried to call you, you told Shoyo. He was furious, ignoring your pleas to just leave it be as he left your apartment.

Later that night he came back, less angry and with takeout. When you had asked where he went he just smiled and told you not to worry about it. You watched movies the rest of the night. When you awoke the next morning there were no texts from Kageyama, and nothing on social media. Your nosiness got the best of you and you looked him up, only to furrow your brow as the results came up blank. You checked the other social media you had each other on and couldn’t find him anywhere. You didn’t dare text him, just in case, but it was obvious- he had blocked you, on everything.

There was an emotion curling in your chest, but you couldn’t quite name it. You didn’t know how to feel about it, so you stayed in bed for a few more hours before migrating to the couch. Shoyo didn’t come over that night, and you hated that you were slightly relieved.

Remember when you swore to God I was the only person who ever got you?

You sighed, still slightly out of breath and damp with sweat, snuggling into the body next to you regardless, smile stretching your lips. He tightened his arm around your waist, petting your hair as he shifted onto his side, bringing you closer and tangling your legs together. You wrapped your arms around his neck loosely, softly kissing his throat, right below his adam's apple before resting your face against his collarbone. He shuddered and drew you impossibly closer. “I know I don’t say it as often as I should, but I love you (Y/N), so much. I swear sometimes I feel like you’re the only person in the world who understands me. Ugh, that sounded so cliché.” You snorted as he slightly shook with laughter. “I love you too Tobio.” You brought your head up for a tender kiss before the two of you settled into a peaceful slumber.

Well, screw that, and screw you. You will never have to hurt the way you know that I do

You awoke the following morning with a hollow ache in your chest, your eyes burned but nothing came. You don’t know if it was good that the tears never came, but the hollowness settled heavily in you, it seemed to be all around you, weighing down the air equally. You were on autopilot the whole day, not fully there.

You blinked at the chime from your phone and raised your brows at the time, and your eyes widened at the name in your notifications. You quickly opened the text and looked at the image 2,3,5 times. It was a selfie, only the top part of Yumi’s face was visible, she must’ve been taking it, having to have it out enough to get Kageyama and all of his family in the frame, everyone smiling brightly. The typing bubble popped up for a few seconds before it disappeared and was replaced by a small message. You read it over and over before biting your lower lip. This is when the tears would normally come, when they’d be expected and yet they didn't. The burn was there, the lump in your throat but nothing else except the hollow pulsed in your chest. You didn’t think that was a good sign.

From Tobio:

We miss you! The kids keep asking when you’re going to come to play again. We love you, and you’re always welcome to visit. -Miwa~

Well, good for you. You look happy and healthy, not me if you ever cared to ask

You decided not to tell Shoyo about the picture, after all, it was his sister who sent it. He sent an apology the next day and you quickly dismissed it, asking him to tell her thanks and to tell everyone hello for you and that you hoped they had a great trip.

He unblocked you later that day. You assumed it was because of your text, he probably thought everything was fine now, that little bump in the road passed and things were back to normal again. And you tried, you tried so hard to go back to the person you were before. Fake it ‘till you make it was something you lived by, and you certainly were doing a great job faking it, but the ache in your chest told you that you hadn’t made it yet.

Good for you, You're doin' great out there without me, baby

You always kept up with the volleyball news and media, now for just Shoyo, but it was impossible to not see Adlers updates, and as MSBY’s rival you felt you needed to keep up. They were a force to be reckoned with, win after win; tournament after tournament they were at the top, MSBY one of the few to keep up. You sent him a congratulatory text after his last win, if he didn’t want to leave your friendship then you’ll try your hardest not to either, even if it hurts.

God, I wish that I could do that

Well, that lasted about 2 weeks. It’d been about 2 months since Kageyama broke up with you. You texted occasionally, most of them short conversations. They used to be longer, but you knew that to really get over him, you couldn’t be his best friend like before, you had to distance yourself. Shoyo wanted you to block him, even if just for a few more months, so you can move on quicker, but you disagreed. Your lives were so intertwined it wasn’t possible to not see him or hear about him at least once a week, usually in the form of sports journalism.

You laughed at Tsukishima’s joke, choking on the margarita you were in the middle of drinking, causing the others to laugh at you. Everyone was miraculously in town this week and demanded that you all hang out all week. Yachi stayed at Hinata's apartment since he had a roommate, and Tsukishima and Yamaguchi stayed at yours, though everyone decided to congregate at your apartment, the former two falling asleep on your couch and after the third night in a row, you convinced them to just stay. Hinata packed a bag and slept on your futon, Yachi slept in your bed with you, and the last two shared your guest bedroom.

While they all swore it was a mere coincidence everyone was in town, you had a strong theory that Hinata invited everyone down to stay with you, since in 3 days was what would’ve been your 7 year anniversary with Kageyama. They did their best to keep you distracted, going out to clubs, having movie marathons and game nights that lasted until dawn. You were filled with immense gratitude for that, and you made sure to let them know it. You were glad your little group was able to stick together, even if the shadow of the empty seat at the table grows with each passing day.

I've lost my mind, I've spent the night cryin' on the floor of my bathroom

You almost made it. Everyone stayed in today, keeping a careful eye on you all morning, until you got a call from your mother. Your parents lived in the countryside, they didn’t have great reception out there, even if they did they’d keep the single landline they have now. They called every so often, for holidays or updates on health and family members. The last time you talked to them was about 6 months ago. You head into your bedroom before you answer, a little worried about what might be going on, you knew your father’s health was declining, could something have happened? You took a deep breath and accepted the call, bringing your phone to your ear. “Hello? Mom?”

It takes a second before she replies, probably trying to get your father to stand next to her. “(Y/N) sweetie, sorry it’s been so long, it’s been busy down here and since your father can’t do a whole lot anymore, it’s been taking longer to keep the farm in shape.” You can hear your father grumble something in the background and you can imagine your mother rolling her eyes.

“Nevermind that! We were calling to congratulate you and Tobio on your anniversary, that’s today right? 7 years, I hope you know how lucky you are dear, these days relationships just aren’t lasting like they used to, but I’ve always known you two would stick through, I still do. Hopefully one of these days I’ll get a call about a ring? Or maybe some grandbabies?” She giggled on the other end, going on to talk about her and your father’s relationship, not paying attention to if you’ve replied or not, and you haven’t, you’re- you’re- you jolt out of whatever trance you were in to find yourself on your bathroom floor, back against the tub, your mother still chattering away in your ear, though you can’t hear her.

She’s right. Today is- would’ve, been 7 years. A flurry of emotions roars to life in your chest and you feel the familiar burning and grip start to take hold. You clear your throat, interrupting her story.

“Uh mom, me and Tobio aren’t together anymore. I’m sorry, I meant to call earlier, but there’s a lot going on. I actually have to go, I promise I’ll call later okay? I might be able to get away from work in a few weeks to visit. Love you.”

You ended the call, guilt joining the mix, you had completely forgotten to tell your mother, her words stirring the pot of emotions and memories in your gut as they rose into your chest, filling your lungs, spilling into your throat into your nasal cavity, behind your eyes and into your skull. You slackened your hold on your phone, and it tumbled onto the tile. You choked against the burning in your throat, pressing your palms into your eyes, trying- uselessly- to stop the slideshow of memories.

He had been your best friend, your longest crush, your first- well, everything. You truly thought you would be spending the rest of your life with him, travelling the world as he plays volleyball, eventually settling down and buying a house somewhere, anywhere. Marriage, a cat, maybe a dog, and kids. You never once thought the father of your future children would be anyone but Kageyama Tobio. Apparently, he thought differently. Against your will, the night he ended everything played back in your vision.

You heard the door close as you finished up dinner, a smile stretching wide on your face as you imagined his reaction. You spent the week learning how to make this dish, an old family recipe from his grandmother that he apparently adored and ate every time he visited home without fail. After years of watching her make it, you’d think you would have a good idea of how but you were naïve to think so. You finish plating the dishes and setting up the table, brows pinched in confusion, he hadn’t come to greet you yet, which he always does. You shrug it off, he might’ve had a tiring practice, hopefully the food makes up for it.

You pad down the hallway, thinking he jumped straight in the shower. You stop in the doorway of your shared bedroom; He was sitting on the edge of the bed, head in his hands as his elbows dig into his knees. Worry and confusion rose; what was wrong? Was practice that bad? You don’t try to mask your steps towards him, though he flinches all the same when you lay a hand on his shoulder, quickly withdrawing it. You sink to your knees in front of him, gingerly holding his wrists as you speak softly.

“Hey babe, what’s wrong? Did you have a bad practice? Why don’t you tell me about it over dinner, I got everything at the table.” He sighed deeply, sagging further, like the weight of the world weighed down on him. Your concern grew and you squeezed his wrists in a silent question. He took a deep breath and sat up, you let your hands fall away but he caught them, cradling them in his grasp, pity and guilt swirling in his glassy gaze as it met yours.

You sat up on your knees, why in the world would he look at you like that? “Tobio? What’s wrong, baby you have to tell me so I can help, you gotta let me in.” You were pleading at this point. He so rarely showed this much sadness, you were sick with worry, mind going to the worst-case scenario. He squeezes your hands, bringing them up to his lips. He keeps them there for a moment, his eyes shut, brow drawn tight.

He brings them back down to his lap and lets out another sigh, meeting your gaze again. You can see the conflict on his features bright as day. “(Y/N), I’ve been so lucky to have you in my life, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to pay back what you’ve given me. I’m truly, truly grateful and you've been one of my longest friends, one of my best friends. Which is why- why-“

He lets out a shuddering breath gaze dropping, tightening his grip around your hands. Your brow is pinched deeply, eyes searching his features for any sign of what could be going on. He takes a breath, trying to calm himself before continuing, and when he meets your gaze you no longer see the guilt, you see a wall you worked so hard to bring down. You open your mouth to speak, but he cuts you off. “You are one of the most important people in my life, which is why I have to do this. I can’t keep doing this, prolonging the inevitable only makes it more painful and the last thing I want to do is hurt you. But, (Y/N) I can't keep this up any longer, I thought- I thought it might pass, if I kept going along, pretending like everything is fine, when it’s not.” Your heart drops, no, it can’t be, what does he mean?.

“Everything is fine Tobio, what are you talking about? What are you saying, I-I don’t understand.” The emotion thickens your voice and his face falls as he sees the tears gather in your eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I loved you so, so much. I promise, I loved you more than anything, so much it hurt.” The tears are escaping both your eyes. You want to get out of his grasp but his hands only tighten around yours, like a lifeline. You suppress a sob bubbling up to speak, the world tumbling softly from your quivering lips. “Did?”

A hand touching your shoulder tears you from the memory. You’re aware of the hot tears streaming down your face, of the tight sobs wracking your frame, ripping from your throat against your will. You feel hollow, the ache grows and pulses until it’s all you feel, grief rising to meet it. You blink the tears away, to look around the room, you hadn’t recognized it right away, still disoriented from the memory. You see your friends, concern and in some cases, anger, in their gaze as they hover. You were surprised to find Tsukishima was the one at your side, the one who had pulled you from the memory turned nightmare. Your lip wobbles and he pulls you into his arms, embracing you as you cry into his sweatshirt, much like you had to Hinata weeks ago.

You’re vaguely aware of hushed voices around you, the rumble of Tsukishima’s voice oddly soothes you. You can hear Shoyo behind you, you think you hear him say your mother’s name, was she calling again? The thought slips from your mind as quickly as it came. You sat in your bathroom for who knows how long, crying in Tsukishima’s arms, surrounded by your friends.

But you're so unaffected, I really don't get it but I guess good for you

Later that night, when everyone has finally passed out, you slip through your apartment door, pulling your hood up as you head towards the street. You have your phone, keys and pepper spray. You just wanted- no, needed to get out of there, the slight chill in the air rousing you. You take in the surroundings, letting your feet take you wherever they please.

You sigh as you take in the park in front of you. You used to come here a lot, whenever you needed to clear your head. It was a space for you to be truly alone to work out your emotions. Which is exactly what you needed now. You smile faintly as you reminisce, not paying attention as you head to the swings, only to stop in your tracks, still hidden in the shade as you watch on. What the fuck.

The creak of the swings is drowned out by laughter, two people sit on the swings, legs pumping to go higher and higher. Her hair whips in the wind and she closes her eyes, leaning back for a moment. You watch him slow down, eventually stopping and getting up to approach her flying form. Right when she is about to pass him, he moves, grabbing her and the swing, halting them mid-swing. She squeals, which quickly melts into laughter as she lets go of the chains, wrapping her legs around his torso and her arms around his neck. Her smile is a sun in the night, love radiating from the couple as they kiss. You look away and spot an open picnic basket, a bottle of wine poking through on a blanket rumpled from use.

You leave as silently as you came.

Maybe I'm too emotional but your apathy's like a wound in salt

The hollow ache starts to burn as you walk back to your apartment. You didn’t expect him to be as affected tonight as you were but you thought he’d- what did you think he’d feel? Mourning? Grief? Sadness? Why would he? He was the one who broke it off, who ‘fell out of love’ or at least that’s what he said when he broke your heart. And to bring her there?

Maybe I'm too emotional Or maybe you never cared at all

You shared that spot with him a year after you moved in together, he knew its significance to you, to your relationship. How long had he been bringing her there? What did he tell her about it? Did he use the words you said to him all those years ago? You wondered if he even remembered what today was. He said he had loved you, but was he truthful? He promised quite a few things during your relationship that were broken when he admitted it, when he confessed ‘what had been eating him up inside.’

Maybe I'm too emotional but your apathy's like a wound in salt

The hollow was slowly filling, bitter, anger, loss, and more flooded the space as you recalled his words that night.

“I can’t do this anymore.” You had never felt more dread than in that moment.

“I loved you so, so much.” You had wished the past tense was a mistake, but you knew it wasn’t.

“I don’t know when it happened, if it was slowly or quickly.” You could tell it was a lie.

“I-I just realized I loved you in a different way than you loved me.” A cute way of saying he no longer loved you.

“I thought that if I just stuck with it, that it might change, that it was just a slump.” Another way to say ‘leading you on because I was too afraid to tell you the truth.’

“I tried, I tried so hard to love you the way you wanted me to.” For how long? How many years did he lead you on, how long did he let you think everything was ok?

“You deserve more than I can offer.” You knew that was true, you did deserve more. You deserved a lot more than this, than an offer.

Maybe I'm too emotional Or maybe you never cared at all

You were crying by the time you got to your apartment building, but it was different. You didn’t feel the aching hollow as strongly as before. You felt anger, bitterness about what he said, you had a million things you wanted to say to him, to make him know what he did. But didn’t he already know? He was there, he saw what his words did, he saw the aftermath, at the very least he heard about it. And yet the night after he was pictured entering a popular high-end club. It was on your Twitter feed that morning, effectively pouring salt and lemon into the hole in your heart. You had thought it then, and you’re thinking it now.

Well, good for you. You look happy and healthy, not me If you ever cared to ask

The next morning, no one brought up last night, and you were thankful for it. You think they could sense the shift, from the aching despair to the brittle anger. So you all lounged on the couch, playing Mario Kart to help you channel it.

You were on the fourth stage of Grief according to Yamaguchi, who brought it up the following day over breakfast. He explained: Denial- which was during the breakup and right after, Depression- which came to fruition after you ran into them at the store, Bargaining- When you tried to go back to how it was before, trying to keep the friendship alive so you’d still have him around, Anger- which was now, when you realize that you wasted years of your life for someone who didn’t even love you and now they want to go back to friends, after they immediately get into a new relationship. The next step would be the final- Acceptance, when you would finally accept he was gone, when you could finally move on.

Good for you

After that night the change became more obvious. You weren’t hiding anymore, you would hold your head high and snap others off if they trod down the wrong path. You felt the hot anger slowly cool over time, as you continued to go out, to clubs, bars, parties Shoyo always invites you to but you always decline. You met his teammates, finally after too long.

He had dinner for you and the team at his apartment that he shares with one of the said teammates. You dressed up a little, enough for Shoyo to whistle when you showed him over facetime as you finished getting ready. You weren’t planning on going anywhere except your apartment after; there was just something about knowing you look good that does wonders to the confidence. You grin widely as he complains about not wanting to deal with his teammates crushing on you. You end the call when you get into your car, you were going to stop by the store to get something and then head over, despite his assurances no one else was bringing anything.

You purse your lips in thought as you surveyed the wine selection in front of you, bending slightly to read the label of one on a lower shelf. You didn’t realize you were taking up the aisle until someone cleared their throat behind you. You paid the little mind, murmuring an apology as you stepped to the side. You felt their presence next to you, and after a minute of them burning a hole through you with their gaze you turned towards them, lips pursed in annoyance rather than thought.

You're doin' great out there without me, baby, like a damn sociopath

The wide eyes of Kageyama Tobio meet yours as you study him for a moment before smiling. “Kageyama! Sorry, I didn’t realize I was taking up the whole aisle, you know me; always so indecisive.”

Your joke seems to snap him out of whatever train of thought he was in. He smiles and chuckles, turning to look at the wine in front of you. “What kind of an occasion is it?” He asks after a beat. “Oh Shoyo is introducing me to his teammates today, wine’s something people bring to dinners right?”

He smiles and nods before pointing out several bottles. “These would be appropriate, and Shoyo likes this brand.'' He plucks one from the shelf before presenting it to you. You smile and thank him, before parroting his question back to him. He turns back to the wine. “Uh, Yumi got a promotion and I’m surprising her with dinner with her coworkers.” You hum in thought before grabbing a wine off the shelf for him. “I think this would be a good one. It's white, so the stain won't be as bad and won’t stain her lips like a red would. It’s a dessert wine so even her younger colleagues should enjoy it. Oh, and tell her congrats for me.” He smiles and thanks you before you part.

You arrive right on time at Shoyo’s, the wine was well received and his teammates were great. They were everything he told you and more, you all got along great, especially you and Atsumu, he was Shoyos roommate and it was great to have another person to make fun of his horrible habits with, much to Shoyo’s dismay.

The dinner flies by, and eventually, you’re the last to leave. You wave to Atsumu before hugging Shoyo. “Thank’s Sho, for everything you’ve done for me these past 6 months. I love you.” He squeezes you tight, kissing the crown of your head before pulling away.“You don’t need to thank me (Y/N), I know you’d do the same. I love you too, drive safe.” You wave as you leave back to your apartment.

I've lost my mind, I've spent the night. Cryin' on the floor of my bathroom

The next 6 months fly by, and you spend more and more time with Shoyo and his team. Bokuto dubs you an honorary Jackal and you celebrate drinking until dawn, as a true Jackal would. You spend time with them individually, the gym with Bokuto, reality TV with Sakusa, movie nights with Shoyo, and all of the above with Atsumu, in addition to annoying his brother Osamu at his restaurant.

It hits you out of the blue. You had felt a little off all day, but you had chalked it up to the takeout you had last night. You glance at the calendar as you walk past, only to backtrack and look again, with wide eyes. Today marked a year since the breakup. It had taken you a long time to move on, but you were finally starting to feel yourself again, so why did your heart ache all of a sudden? Why did the burning rise in your throat, prickling the back of your eyes as you began to breathe faster, feeling the despair rise out of the depths to rip a sob from you lips? You try to stop, taking deep breaths, count five things in the room, but none of it works. It’s not as bad as the other times, but you feel shame crawling up to join, you were finally turning things around, how could you let it all go to waste?

You curl into yourself on the couch, blindly calling Shoyo to ask for his company, maybe he’d know, he helped you get this far, maybe he can make sure you don’t fall too far. You listen to the rings until you hear the click of an answered call, not even letting him speak before crying into the phone, asking him to be with you, help you understand. Half your words are unintelligible as you ramble on, not really listening to the other end until you think you hear him say he’s on his way, but he sounded odd, different. Had you interrupted him? Was he too busy? No, he would’ve told you and sent someone else, probably Yachi since she was the closest.

You quickly tire of trying to hold everything back, and let it wash over you, all the feelings from this past year rise up, poised to drown you, and you allow it, letting it crash down and wash over you. You let the sobs free themselves, somehow knowing it was the right thing. You give yourself to the despair, the anger, the loneliness.

You don’t hear the knocking at the door, or the sound of the door opening, too absorbed untangling the knot of emotions in your heart; until you feel the cushion next to you you sink with the weight of another person, and a hand gently rubs your back soothingly.

You lean into him, letting him pull you to him like many times before. He pulls you into his lap, curling an arm around your waist while the other hand cradles the back of your head, letting you sob into his shirt. You take a deep breath, letting his familiar scent calm you- wait.

You freeze and your stomach drops. It’s not Shoyo. They're bigger, enough to cradle you against their chest. They’re whispering soothing words into your hair, and you hear a familiar accent, leaning back quickly enough to send a wave of dizziness through you and you sway for a moment.

“Woah, what’s wrong?” Atsumu asks, moving his hands to your hip and back to steady you. Your wide eyes meet his and he tilts his head slightly in confusion. “(Y/N), hey sweetheart, you okay? Gave me quite the scare there earlier ya know?” You continue to stare at him until he waves a hand in front of your face, breaking whatever spell you were under.

You blink a few times, shaking your head slightly as the corner of his mouth quirked up. You look back at him, brows furrowed, cringing when you hear your voice, hoarse after however long of crying. “’Tsumu? What’re you doing here? Where’s Sho?” He raises an eyebrow at your question, lifting his hand to wipe a tear from your cheek.

“Whaddya mean? You called me cryin’ an’ askin’ me to come here to keep ya company. Speakin’ of, what in the world is wrong? What’s got you so sad sweetcheeks?” Your face heats at the nickname.

“Oh, ‘m sorry, I meant to call Sho, he knows; it’s- today is-” He embraces you as a fresh wave of tears springs from your eyes. You can hear the rumble of his chest as he speaks, breath fanning your ear. “It’s all ok, ya don’t haveta cry, I can call chibi if you want him instead of me, it's no prob-“ You shake your head, cutting him off.

“No, s’kay. Thanks for being here ‘Tsumu, sorry I pretty much threw myself into your lap when you sat down.” You rub an eye, feeling awfully close to a toddler. He chuckles and combs your hair back, tilting your chin up so you’re looking him in the eye. “No needta thank me doll, and I won’t object to a pretty thing like you throwing themselves into my lap, though I’d enjoy it more if you weren’t crying. Now, d’ya wanna tell me what made you cry a river in here. Or at least what I can do to help.”

You curl inward slightly, not sure how to explain your wants at this moment, the emotions tangling in your chest too raw to name. You use actions to express your needs as words continue to fail you. You shift in his lap, straddling him instead of the awkward side hug you were doing before. You break eye contact, looking anywhere but him, feeling awkward and exposed. He snorts softly and his hands run up your knees, palm flat against your thighs, up and over your hips to splay against your back, bringing you back to his chest. Your pals lay flat against his sides, sliding along his ribcage and then south, fisting the fabric against his lower back as you rested your cheek on his shoulder. You waited and waited but the tears didn’t come, you could feel the tear tracts cool on your cheeks, trying to put your feelings into words.

A shudder than through his body as he felt you sigh into his neck, arms wrapping tighter around you, pulling you closer, until you were flush against him. The minutes passed by as the two of you stayed wrapped around each other, you breathing the only sound in the apartment. You sighed again, pulling away from him slightly to lean back to look at him. He searched your face, taking in the emotions clouding your eyes, thumbs rubbing circles into your hips soothingly. You gave him a weary smile and took a deep breath, looking down at your hands as you spoke.

“I don’t know if Sho told you about this, but about 6 months before I met you guys I got out of a pretty serious relationship, I mean it was my first relationship and the breakup hit me really hard. The day of the dinner was one of the first times I had truly felt myself again.

“We got together in our first year of high school. We had been friends years before that. God, I had a crush on him for so long, I can’t remember anyone before that.” Your voice is whispy, reminiscing on a better time. “I wasn't a manager that first year, though I was around often enough that I helped where I could. I was at almost every practice, which is how I got acquainted with the other first years. He was still guarded and grumpy then, so I was friends with everyone first, and we all slowly warmed up to each other.

“When he asked me out at the end of the year, after saying goodbye to the third years, it just- it felt so right, like this is supposed to happen. I was a manager our last two years and by graduation the six of us were close. We managed to stay in touch and visit each other whenever possible. Sho had gone to travel, Kei to Sendai for school, Hitoka and Tadashi stayed for school before she went to Tokyo and he stayed in Miyagi. Tobio was picked up by the national team immediately after graduation, to play in Rio. I was accepted into a university in Osaka, and he moved in with me when he got back.” You ignored the way Atsumu’s hands tightened their grip when you said his name.

“It was perfect, we- we were doing fine, or at least I thought we were.” Your voice cracked and you took a shuddering breath before continuing. “He traveled between Tokyo and Osaka a lot and of course for games but it never bothered me, I knew what I was getting into. Eventually, Sho came back, and joined your team, moving into an apartment not far from ours. I was so happy.” You whispered the last sentence, afraid if you said it too loud it’d sound like a lie.

“I hadn’t noticed any changes, he didn’t seem withdrawn or unaffectionate, he was like he always was, until he wasn’t. He came home one night and said he didn’t love me like that anymore, that he couldn’t love me the way I loved him. He- he said he tried to, he said he tried for a long time, in case it was a slump but it wasn’t. And all-all I could think about was the way he said it, like he had been thinking about this for a long time, he looked so tired like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders as he told me the last who knows how long was a lie.

“He left and stayed at a teammate's house until he could get an apartment. He moved close by, I still don’t know why he didn’t move to Tokyo. Sho came and stayed with me for a few days, until I kicked him out so he could focus on the tournament that was coming up. He kept in touch with Tobio, and would update me when I asked.

“That was a year ago, and I know I should be over him, and I am, or I thought I was until I realized what today was and- and everything, all the emotions I had pushed down came back up, no longer letting me ignore them. All the grief and anger and insecurity kept rising and rising until I thought I was gonna drown. Which is when I called Sho, or at least I thought I did.” The corner of your mouth twitched into a small smile as you met his gaze.

But you're so unaffected, I really don't get it

“I- I think it would’ve been easier if he hurt too, if I saw that it affected him even half as much, because that would mean he had felt something, he had loved me at one point. And I don’t know, maybe he came to terms with it before he ended it, but seeing him with someone else, not even 3 weeks later just rubbed salt too deep into the wound that just seeing them happy together sent me into tears. When I ran into them days after I found out, when I saw with my own eyes how good he was, how happy he was without me; I don’t know how long I cried, but it was suffocating, it had such a tight grip on me I couldn’t breathe, I didn’t even realize Sho was there until he was hugging me.” You watched your tears fall onto your hands, leaving droplets on his pants. You took in a shuddering breath, suddenly meeting his gaze.

“I just- I don’t know what wrong with me, why can’t I let myself be happy?” Your voice cracked, and you brought a hand to your face, embarrassment simmering low in your gut. Atsumu gently pried your hand away from your face, replacing it with his own as he cupped your cheek. He wiped the tears that fell from your lashes with his thumb. He brought you forward to kiss the crown of your head before returning his gaze to you.

“Doll, look at me. There is nothing wrong with you, ya hear? Your heart was broken, it ain’t gonna fix itself in a day. You will be happy, I promise. Whenever we lose someone we love, a piece of us goes with them. He was sucha huge part of your life, I’d be more worried if you weren’t sad. I can’t say when, but one day you’ll notice it hurts less and less until you barely notice it. Until then you have me and everyone else to help you, so don’t hesitate to lean on us when you need to, got it?”

Your bottom lip wobbled and your eyes were glassy with tears yet again, though this time for a different reason. You threw your arms around his neck and crushed him into you as you cried his name. “I didn’t know you were such a softie! I bet no ones gonna believe me when I tell ‘em.” He wrapped his arms around you again, you were so close you could feel his laughter in his chest. “Yeah, and I didn’t know ya were such a cry baby.” You snorted and pulled away, “That’s on you, I am a well-known cry baby.”

You matched his grin, feeling lighter. You pulled yourself off his lap, but he didn’t let you get very far, pulling you into his side, your legs thrown over his thighs as you turned on the TV. You ended up falling asleep on your couch together, your neck cramped and you found out you drool, but it was worth it.

But I guess good for you

The next few months went by relatively quickly. There were a few hiccups, mostly on holidays, but you listened to what Atsumu had told you and you leaned on your friends during those times. Speaking of Atsumu, while you two were close before, after that night you felt even closer. You found yourself at the apartment he shared with Shoyo more and more. You came to every MSBY game you could, usually helping Osamu run his booth.

When you weren’t with him, Atsumu would often find you helping his brother run orders at the restaurant; under the guise of an apology for annoying him so often, but both twins saw how happy you were when you were working. Eventually, Osamu just gave you a position there, because he didn’t want to get caught exploiting free labor, not because he liked you or anything, you were just as annoying as his brother- or so he says.

The blonde hadn’t noticed just how much time the two of you spent together until you went to visit Yachi in Tokyo for a week, and had odd chunks of time with nothing to do. It was confusing, and frankly off-putting how different it was when you weren’t around. Everyone noticed of course, and teased him for it, more the team than Osamu, because he couldn’t deny he missed you too.

Despite your protests that it was just a 2-hour train ride from Tokyo, and maybe another 10-minute ride to the stop near your apartment, Atsumu insisted on picking you up from the station during your call earlier. “ ‘M not taking no for an answer doll, I’m picking ya up.” You rolled your eyes at his stubbornness and sighed. “Fine, but I’m venoming you for the gas, no ifs ands or buts about it.” You smiled at the sound of his groan from the other line, good thing you were just as stubborn.

Well, good for you, I guess you moved on really easily

You were idly scrolling through your Instagram feed, about 10 minutes away from Osaka when you saw a glimpse of a ring, you scrolled back up and read the caption. ‘I’m the luckiest man in the world’ followed by a picture of what must’ve been Yumi’s hand, and adorned on her left ring finger was a large, and no doubt expensive, engagement ring. 6 months ago it would’ve summoned tears, but now you smile faintly, commenting your congratulations before scrolling past. Atsumu was right, eventually, it started to hurt less and less and now it was barely there.

You stood up when the announcement of your arrival in Osaka rang overhead, tucking your phone away and grabbing your bags to exit the train car. You immediately spotted your chauffeur, thanks mostly to the gaggle of young girls surrounding him as he laughed and signed autographs. You walked slowly, trying to buy time until they left but (un?)fortunately he spotted you. A wide grin stretched his features and you couldn’t help but reciprocate, lifting your hand in a small wave. He turned back to the girls and said something before breaking through, jogging towards you as you met him halfway.

You had an amused look on your face from his theatrics and the wide gazes of the girls he left behind. “Hey.” He said when he stopped in front of you. You snorted, “Hey.” He pouted at your tease, which only made it more funny, before rolling his eyes and taking some of your bags, giving you a pointed look when you tried to object. You huffed and walked next to him towards the exit.

You startled slightly when his arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you by your hip into his side. You looked up at him but he kept his gaze ahead, though you could see the slight flush to his cheeks and the slight twitch of a grin. You reciprocated, hooking your thumb through the belt loop by his hip as you kept your gaze ahead, his stare bringing a slight heat to your face.

He laughed lightly and you two continued out to his car where he tried to make you sit in the back seat because “ it’s not professional for a chauffeur to let their passenger sit up front.” You laughed before letting your face fall into a mock-serious stare and said “no.” in the best deadpan tone you could conjure up before climbing in.

You raised an eyebrow as you looked at him when he didn’t start the car. His hands were on the steering wheel and he was looking ahead in thought. “Atsumu?” He looked at you, smiling softly, still not saying anything. “Uhh you okay? Do I really need to sit in the back for you to be able to drive because-“ He laughed, waving your concerns off. “No, no, I’ll allow it this once. Sorry for spacin’ out, I’m happy yer home.” You looked at him incredulously, “ I was 2 hours away ‘tsumu.” You see a faint flush creep up his neck and he clears his throat, turning back to the wheel and turning on the car. ‘I know, I just missed ya ‘s all.”

You were just able to make out his dejected mumble, quietly huffing in amusement as you glanced down briefly before turning to look forward, biting back the smile at his flinch when you grabbed his hand, bringing it to your lap as you intertwined your fingers. “I missed you too, ya big softie.” Smiling, he squeezes your palm before focusing on the road, and you feel something stir, a bud sprouting from the once hollow place in your chest. It hasn’t bloomed yet, but you have a feeling it will soon.

[capsteddybear]

Our Playlist - Wanna Be That Song - Brett Eldredge

Song lyrics:

"When you're searching the horizon, When your eyes look back, When you're standing in the moment, Every life has a soundtrack"

----- ------

You wake up to the sound of people getting their suitcases from the overhead cabinets. You stretch out in your seat and open up your window cover and quickly close it from the bright sunlight beaming in. You feel a tap on your shoulder and you look up and it's your fellow colleague Sarah, "hey wake up, sleepy head. We landed."

"Hey, Sarah. Yeah, I'm up, I'm up." You stretch out again and gather up your things and get your carry on bag from the overhead cabinet. As you board off of the plane you see your other coworkers and students waiting at the gate. Once you're all together you guys head to the baggage claim and gather your other bags and guitars.

You guys then hop in a shuttle and head to the hotel where you guys will be staying for the trip. Once you guys arrive at the hotel you help check in all of your students. The lobby is packed with other students from different universities, but luckily enough the check in process doesn't take too long. You head to your room to check it out. As soon as you walk in you carefully prop your guitar case against the wall and toss your bags on the floor and flop onto the bed face first hugging a pillow. You lay there for a moment letting your body relax. You slowly turn over and stare at the ceiling as you listen to the city atmosphere coming from the street below. You sit up and walk over to the window and pull open the window curtain and look down at the street. Your room is on the 15th floor of the hotel so the crowds of people below look like a bunch of ants. You scan the surrounding buildings taking in the scenery.

You hear a knock at the door and it's your colleague Betty, "hey (y/n), we're gonna head out on the town and get an early dinner. Wanna join us?"

"Yeah sure."

"Okay we'll meet up in the lobby in about an hour?"

"Yeah sounds good."

You close the door and decide to unpack some of your stuff. You pull out your phone and call Chris back home. At first he doesn't answer and you look at your clock and figure out that it's around 3 o'clock in the morning back at home. You decided to leave a message instead, "Hey Chris, I know you're sleeping right now, but just wanted to let you know I made it to Japan. I miss you and Dodger. Love you. Bye."

About a minute later your phone is buzzing and you see Chris' face on your screen.

"Hi"

"Hello, beautiful. I got your voicemail."

You can tell he was asleep from the tone of his voice, "Just wanted to let you know I landed."

"I tried to stay awake, but I fell asleep on the couch. I felt the phone vibrating, but it got lost in the covers and by the time I found it, it stopped ringing."

"You didn't have to stay awake."

"I know, but I wanted to…. Or at least try. What time is it there?"

"It's almost 4:30 in the afternoon."

You hear Chris yawn over the phone, "What are you guys gonna do the first day?"

"Just settle in. We're about to go get dinner." You hear Chris yawn again, "I should let you go back to sleep."

"Mmm, call me when you get back to the hotel? I should be better after I get a couple of more hours of sleep."

"It's okay we can talk another time."

"Nooooo, I miss the sound of your voice…. And I miss your face."

You smile, "It's only been a day."

"After a minute passes I miss you."

You giggle, "aww, that's sweet. I think you need to get some sleep."

"Yeah, but please call me later. Promise I'll answer."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you, (y/n). Good night."

"Good night, babe."

You hang up the phone and freshen up a bit before heading down stairs to the lobby to meet up with the others. You guys head out on the town and do a bit of sightseeing before finding a spot to eat. Everyone is tired from the flight so there's not as much talking at dinner, but you know everyone is enjoying their time together.

After dinner you all head back to the hotel. Once you're back in your room you take a quick shower before calling Chris.

It rings a couple of times before he answers, "hello?"

"Hi, did you sleep enough?"

"Yeah…. I wanna see you, can we video chat or is it bedtime for you?"

"Yeah we can for a bit. Let me set up my laptop and I'll call you back, okay?"

"Okay, bye. Love you (y/n)."

"Love you. Bye."

You grab your laptop out of your backpack and hop into bed. You connect to the wifi and call Chris back. It rings twice before you see his handsome face on the screen.

"Hey handsome."

"There's my girl."

You can tell from the background that Chris is in the kitchen, "What are you up to?"

"Cooking breakfast… your favorite… pancakes." He lifts the pan from the stove and shows you.

"Yummy."

"What's some? I think I made a bit too many."

You rub your stomach, "No thank you. I ate enough at dinner."

"How was it? How's the view from the hotel?"

"It was delicious. There was a lot of different food, I couldn't remember the names of everything, but it was really good. Wanna see the view?"

"Yeah!" Chris puts the pan down and concentrates on the screen as you get out of bed to walk to the window. "Oh wait, you were in bed? Sorry, you didn't have to get up."

"No, it's fine. I didn't find my comfy spot yet."

You hear Chris giggle as you open up the curtains to reveal the view. You hold up the laptop closer so he gets a better view and you point out stuff to Chris.

"How far is the university from there?"

"I think the schedule said about a 10 minute drive."

"Ah not too bad, what time do you guys have to be there tomorrow?"

You walk back to bed and snuggle back in the covers with your back leaning against the pillows with the laptop on your lap. "Call time is at 9 so I'll probably wake up at like 7:30-8 and make sure everyone else is up and has eaten breakfast…. And you, what do you have planned after breakfast?"

"Take Dodger for a walk and visit my mom later."

"Tell her I said hi."

"I will."

"How's Dodger?"

"He's doing good. He slept on the couch with me after you called earlier."

"Why didn't you sleep in bed?"

"I fell asleep watching tv waiting for your call, and I was too lazy to walk to the room after you called."

You let out a giggle, "sorry, I didn't mean to keep you waiting."

"It's fine, I'll always wait for you." Chris winks at the screen that causes a big smile to appear on your face.

"I love you."

"I love you too, (y/n). You should get some sleep. You got a long day ahead of you tomorrow."

"I should. I'm really tired from the flight. How do you get used to the time difference?"

Chris laughs, "it'll take another day or so, but you will don't worry."

"Ugh, okay. Gonna sleep now, I'll text or call you when I can okay?"

"Okay. I love you, (y/n). Good night."

"Have a good day, Chris. I love you. Bye."

You close the laptop and place it on the nightstand. You set your alarm clock and soon drift off to sleep.

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

The next morning you're up 20 minutes before your alarm goes off. Your head is pounding so you take some medicine before having breakfast and meeting your students in the lobby. Once at the university you guys head to the music department and auditorium where you guys will be rehearsing. You think the auditorium at your university is big, but this one seems three times as big. First you guys sit in the seating area as the director of the university introduces himself and welcomes you to campus. After the introduction he shows you the practice and dressing rooms. You guys leave your stuff in the rooms before taking a tour of the music department. Once the tour is over you have your students warm up on stage before rehearsing as a group. Your headache is almost gone which makes you happy, but you brought your medicine with you just in case.

During rehearsal you would walk off stage and down the aisle of the seats. Having to perform in a bigger space than you're used to means you have to play a bit louder to fill up the space. Even though there would be mics set up on stage you made notes in your head on certain parts of the piece where you'll need to change the dynamics. You walk back up stage and end the piece. You flip back through your score and add the dynamic changes and tell your students to do the same. You go through your other pieces and add notes as you go along. Your colleagues are also sitting in the audience so you ask for any suggestions that they have and make note of them too.

After you rehearse all of your group pieces you take a 20 minute break before it's time for the solo acts and duets to rehearse their pieces. During your break you send a message to Chris telling him how rehearsal is going and attach a photo of the auditorium with the caption saying "it's 3 times as big as the one back home." When break is almost over you notice that the other ensembles from the other school start to enter the auditorium to watch you rehearse before it's their turn to practice on stage. You start to get nervous. First, it's the bigger concert hall and now it's having unfamiliar people in the audience during practice, not even during the concert yet. You start to fidget in your seat and you feel your phone vibrate in your hand. You look down and it's a message from Chris:

"Hi sweetheart, that's a beautiful spot you get to perform at. I'm so proud of you. You worked really hard to get there. Don't get nervous, okay? You're gonna do great. I love you. 💙 "

You smile and your eyes get teary, but you quickly wipe them away so your students don't notice. However your friend Sarah is sitting in the same row as you and notices you wiping your face and comes to sit next to you.

"Hey, (y/n). You okay?"

"Yeah, just nerves. I'll be fine."

"I'm here if you wanna talk, okay?"

"Thanks, Sarah."

Rehearsal continues and the solo acts and duets from the students sound great. They even get applauses from the other university that's watching. Once all of the students are done rehearsing it's now your colleagues and your turn to take the stage. A few of them perform before you. Once it's your turn you read your message from Chris one more time before placing your phone is your guitar guitar. You take deep breaths as you make your way up to the stage. You perform 2 pieces "Recuerdos de la Alhambra" by Francisco Tarrega and "Asturias" by Isaac Albeniz.

After you finish your time on stage you put your guitar back in your case and take your seat in the audience and watch your other colleagues perform. Once everyone from your university has a chance to perform on stage the next university sets up their ensemble to rehearse. You, your students and colleagues stay in the audience to watch them as well. After 2 hours of rehearsal you guys go to the practice rooms and work on whatever else needs adjusting. You check in on your students if they need any other help with stuff and you give them your notes that you took while watching them rehearse.

The next few days of the trip consists of rehearsals on stage and in the practice rooms. Not only for your students, but also for yourself. When you're practicing in one of the rooms you get text messages from Chris. Mostly of him saying he misses you and that he loves you. But your favorite ones are random photos of him and Dodger throughout the day.

"Dodger misses you." Attached is a photo of Dodger chewing on one of your shoes. "Don't worry, I'll buy you a new pair by the time you come back home."

"Tell Dodger I miss him too. Gotta get back to practice now. I'll call you later."

When you're back in your hotel room you video chat Chris. As you're eating dinner he's eating breakfast so it seems like you're eating together.

"What's for dinner tonight?"

"I just ordered some fruit and a salad. Not really hungry tonight."

"You okay?" As Chris tilt his head in a concerning manner.

"Yeah, I had a big lunch earlier. I'm fine." You smile to reassure him.

"Okay, remember I'm here if you wanna talk."

You let out a deep breath, "I know, thank you. We've been rehearsing a lot and I'm just tired."

"If I was there I would give you a massage."

"Please? I miss your massages …. And your cooking."

Chris laughs, "just another week and I'll give you as many massages and pancakes that you want."

You sigh, "gosh, another week? Don't remind me." You rub the back of your neck from the tiredness.

"Aww come on, besides all of the rehearsing I'm sure you're having an awesome time, right?"

"I am, I just miss you."

"I miss you too, (y/n). I love you."

"I love you, Chris."

"You should get some rest."

"Yeah, you're right…. I'll call you when I can."

"Alright, sweet dreams, sweetheart. I love you."

"Good night, Chris. I love you."

---- -----

The second week of the trip consists of master classes with the instructors from the different universities and the guest judges. When you perform with your students you get a handful of great comments and a few pointers to work on before the final performance at the end of the week. Between rehearsals you always find time to call home and check in with Chris.

"Hi Chris."

"Hey beautiful, how's it going today?"

"It's going great. We finished our master classes this week and we have one more full dress rehearsal tomorrow before the concert."

"Woo, sounds like you've been busy… Gosh, I really wished I could be there to support you in this."

"Aww, I wish you were here too… Promise I'll play my solo pieces for you when I get home."

"Please do. I love listening to you play."

"Okay, I gotta go back to work now. I love you, Chris. Bye."

"Love you too, (y/n). Bye sweetheart."

---- ------

The last dress rehearsal is a success. All of the ensembles from the universities sound amazing. With it being the last night before the concert you go out for dinner one last time with your students and colleagues.

One of your colleagues makes a speech before your food arrives at the table.

"I would like to start off this toast by thanking (y/n) for getting us here. If it weren't for your dedication to your students and your hard work ethics we probably wouldn't have been here."

You turn a light shade of red because now the whole table is looking at you. You take your glass in your hand and raise it up as you stand up from your seat, "I'll take partial credit for getting here. If it weren't for my hard working students we wouldn't be here. These past 2 weeks have really shown me the dedication and time you guys have put into your craft. I really appreciate that, it makes my job easy and fun." The table laughs as you finish up the toast. You enjoy the food and company before heading back to the hotel to sleep.

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

The day of the concert you get to sleep in longer than usual. You feel refreshed and well rested. You have breakfast and lunch with your colleagues and head back up to your room to relax and call Chris.

"Hey."

"Hi, sweetheart, tonight's the concert right?"

"Yeah, in about 2 hours. Wanted to call you before it starts."

"You excited?"

"Uh, yeah, but more nervous than excited."

"Don't be nervous, sweetheart. You're gonna do great. You've worked so hard and so have your students. You guys are gonna rock. I know it."

"Thanks, Chris. I love you. I'll call you later."

"I love you (y/n)."

You take a shower before heading to the university.

Once you're in the dressing room you unpack your concert attire and dress in your conductor outfit for the ensemble pieces first. You stand backstage to the side as you watch the other universities perform first. After they're done it's now your ensemble's turn to take the stage. As you walk across the stage to the conductor podium you hear the applause and your heart starts to race. You take a few deep breaths before you cue your students. You lose yourself in the musical pieces. All of your focus is on the music and your students. And soon enough you're done. You freeze in the cut off position for a moment before you relax your arms and let out a breath of relief as you step down from the podium and the audience applauses your performance. You bow to the crowd and walk off stage as the curtains close to set up for the next ensemble. You miss the next couple of performances as your change into your solo concert attire. As you take one final look in the mirror in the dressing room you notice a single white rose and an envelope with your name on it. Your eyes get watery because you have a feeling you know who it's from. You quickly rip the envelope open and read the note inside:

"Hi sweetheart, I hope you get this in time before you get on stage tonight. Your friend Sarah contacted me and said you were a bit nervous this whole week about performing. I know I probably sound like a broken record when I say this, but don't be nervous. You're gonna sound amazing on stage. I'm so proud of you. I love you. Can't wait to see you when you get back home. - Chris. "

You smile and wipe the tear falling down your cheek as you freshen up before heading back to the stage. You listen to the other solo performances before it's your turn to perform. As you walk on stage again to the concert bench you take deep breaths to steady your heart beat. You take a seat on the bench and get into the playing position and start your performance. After you play the last note of your piece you freeze for a moment and then relax and take a bow as the giant auditorium fills with cheering sounds. A smile of relief appears on your face as you take another bow and walk off stage. You place your guitar back in its case in your dressing room before heading back to watch the rest of the performances.

Once the concert is over you change into more comfy clothes and head back to your hotel room and turn in for the night.

----- -----

You wake up early the next morning for your flight back home. You pack up all of your stuff and meet everyone in the lobby to take the shuttle to the airport.

Before take off you send Chris a text:

"Heading home now. Can't wait to see you. I love you."

While on the plane you stay up and watch multiple movies and read some chapters from a book that Chris recommended for you.

Soon enough you're back home in Boston. As you make your way to the end of the gate you spot Chris in his Boston cap and red flannel. With it being early in the morning you see a sleepy smile appear on his face as soon as he sees. You run up to him and jump into his arms burying your face into his neck as he hugs you tight.

"Chris!!!"

"Hi sweetheart."

He gives you a welcome home kiss before you hug him again and pepper his face in kisses. "Gosh, I missed you so much."

He giggles between kisses, "I can tell. I missed you too." You stand there for a minute in each other's arms, happy to be back together. "Let's go get your luggage and head home." He laces his fingers with yours and you lead the way to baggage claim. When your stuff appears on the belt Chris carries your guitar case in one hand while still holding onto yours.

On the drive back home you lean your head on his shoulder as he drives. He kisses the top of your head and you smile watching the sunrise.

Once you make it back home you're greeted with puppy kisses from Dodger.

"Hi handsome!"

He melts to the floor as you rub his belly. Chris laughs and walks passed you and heads to the kitchen, "you hungry?"

"Depends…. You gonna cook pancakes?" You walk into the kitchen and see Chris with a plate of pancakes already made. You cover your face and bust out laughing.

"You said you wanted pancakes when you got home… I never break my promises." He places the plate on the counter and walks up to you and hugs you.

"Do you remember the other part of your promise?"

A grin appears on Chris' face and he leans in for a kiss, "if you're talking about the massage, then yes I remember."

You kiss him back, "then I'll take the massage first." You wink as you lead the way to the bedroom.

Chris laughs and spins you around into his arms and kisses you passionately before picking you up and carefully placing you on the bed with him laying on top of you.

"Welcome home, sweetheart."

You run your fingers through his hair, "I'm glad to be back."

He peppers you in light kisses before you guys roll around in bed, lost in each other's eyes. Soon enough he does end up giving you that massage he promised. You missed the touch of his warm, strong hands on your body. You moaned as your body relaxed more and more. Soon after you fall asleep. A few hours pass and you wake up from your nap. You roll over in bed and see Chris with his phone and headphones plugged in. You tap his arm to get his attention.

"What are you watching?"

He turns his phone so you can see, "you."

"What?" You rub your eyes to take a better look.

"Your friend Sarah emailed me clips of your performances…. You sound amazing, sweetheart…. You always do…. And you look really beautiful."

You set up in bed and kiss Chris, "I love you so much, babe."

"I love you too, (y/n).... Wanna eat your pancakes now?"

"Yes please!" You hope out of bed and run to the kitchen. You can hear Chris laughing from down the hallway. "Oh nooo!"

Chris jumps out of bed and runs to meet you in the kitchen, "babe, what happened??" You both catch Dodger in the act eating your pancakes and bust out laughing. "It's okay, I'll make a fresh batch for you." He gives you a kiss on the forehead as he walks over to the stove.

"Thank you, Chris." You take a seat on the stool at the kitchen island and tell Chris all about your trip as he cooks pancakes for you.

[peachyteez]

mint chocolate chip ice cream ≫ DAY FOUR, CONNECTIONS

this abandoned, shy bunny hybrid loves hanging around the open field area of the recovery facility. one day, with the help of jungkook, another bunny hybrid, jiyu meets mingi. after days of mingi being too shy and running away from her, a bag of carrots and mint chocolate ice chip cream was all it took to seal the deal.

PART OF THE HEAVEN SERIES.

✧ taglist: @defsoul15, @jaeminpeachy, @joongiebug, @sunsethw4, @t-tbinnie, @chanyeolol, @danibookmarks, @hello-its-ya-boi, @murralyn, @alienmashup, @panini, @moon8894, @koasworld, @taetae123094, @luv3rxcha, @treasure-hwa, @etherealbyeol, @hwaseongzzz, @lovely-sanie, @orbitiiny, @pirate-of-the-dark-seas, @babydolljo, @ms-starlight, @everrrlasting, @bls-luv-me, @atzgiggle, @arohabyeol, @rainbowmagicpixecorn, @soverystupid, @ayetothezee

✧ notes: i should be christmas shopping but 👀 also i have a new series in the works that might be released after heaven 👀

back。| next。

lazy days like these ones were jiyu’s favorite days. now with four others in her home with her, she loved them even more. seonghwa laid on the floor by a window with sunlight pouring in and napped, with earbuds in, hongjoong listened to his music and curled up on the couch. seeing yunho and mingi play around with each other brought a small smile to jiyu’s face as she watched them. mingi was so reserved back at the hybrid center but seeing him with a carefree smile around yunho warmed her heart. 

thinking back to his behavior, she figured that, like the others, he came from a rough family. she wanted to help him, and the first step was to track his old owners down. she had an episode with yunho’s former owners, and she would do it again for mingi. 

but how do i ask him without making it awkward? although mingi had opened up a little to her the previous night, she doubt he’d tell her his whole life story. seeing mingi’s eyes on her, she softly smiled before continuing to drink her coffee and typing on her laptop. 

“hey, mingi.”

hearing yunho call out to him, mingi tore his attention away from jiyu to the puppy hybrid. “would you want to live here?” yunho asked, cocking his head to the side as his tail calmly swayed from side-to-side. 

mingi flinched from the question. “i-i-possibly couldn’t—” he already felt bad for imposing on her by staying at her home for the time being. living here would be a dream, he wouldn’t lie, but he knew he legally couldn’t—otherwise it’d paint jiyu as a kidnapper since his previous owners still had custody of him. 

yunho chuckled. mingi was his best friend, of course he’s know why he was so hesitant. “how do you think i’m here—no, she didn't steal me, calm down,” he reassured after seeing mingi’s face morph into one of horror, “she did it legally. she had my old owners hand the paperwork over to her.”

mingi furrowed an eyebrow. he’s heard many stories about yunho’s owners and how selfish and stubborn they were. “but...how did she—?”

yunho shrugged as memories of that day resurfaced. “i’m not sure, but i think there’s more to her than most of us know,” yunho said as he discreetly glanced over to the girl at the kitchen counter. “but not in a bad way. i can tell she genuinely cares for us; otherwise, hongjoong would’ve bled out in the forest, seonghwa would’ve been god knows where, and you and i would still be wandering out there and freezing our tails off.”

mingi nodded along to his friend’s words. she really went through the trouble of getting yunho’s paperwork? his owners were absolutely horrendous, how did she even manage to pull that off?

jiyu suddenly let out a groan as she face-planted onto her laptop keyboard. yunho and mingi yelped at the impact before rushing over. “are you okay?!” yunho asked as he bent down to her level. 

she slightly chuckled. “i’ve face-planted many times for it to not hurt at this point,” she joked. she caught mingi peeking at her laptop; mingi squeaked out an apology before looking away. jiyu slowly reached up and pet his head. “it’s okay, mingi, i don’t mind.”

yunho glanced at her laptop to see lists of names and some of their information. he cocked his head to the side. “what are you doing?”

jiyu hesitated before looking at mingi. “i’m trying to track your old owners down—”

“are you going to give me back?!” mingi panicked.

jiyu shook her head. “no, bub, calm down. judging from your behavior the past few days, i doubt you’d want to go back. there’s probably a reason you ran away, and i wouldn’t be so cruel as to return you to the place you escaped from.”

mingi sheepishly nodded, feeling a flood of relief at her words. “are you going to...” he trailed off, suddenly hesitating. what is he was getting his hopes up that she would get his adoption papers? was his wish too big?

“yes, bub, i’m going to try to get your adoption papers from them,” jiyu answered his unasked question. “i’ve said this way too many times for me to count but no hybrid should have to live in fear of their owners. if you’re going to adopt one, then take full responsibility for their wellbeing,” she mumbled the latter with a slight frown.

mingi felt the wall around his heart crack even more at her words. at the moment, he felt as if he was encased in a warm blanket, away from the dangers of the world. now he could see why yunho trusted her so much. 

“do you recognize any of them, mingi?” she asked, turning her laptop towards the bunny hybrid. “i’ve narrowed the list down to these people. are any of these people them?”

eyes flitting around the list, his eyes froze on one name. “here,” he softly said as he pointed at the name on the screen. “that’s her...”

park youjin. 28 years old. 

she frowned when she pulled up a photo of the woman. apparently, she was the ceo of a pretty popular game company. “how are all of you from pretty well-known families?” she mumbled to herself. 

unfortunately, the woman’s status caused a little problem for jiyu. she had already created a buzz around herself when she stood up to yunho’s former owners, the ceo’s of star enterprise, a company that her father had acquired a few years back. if she were to cause another buzz, she had a feeling her father would do something that would potentially risk her life with seonghwa, hongjoong, yunho, and now mingi. 

“oh, man, i really have to call him...?” she asked before face-planting again onto her keyboard, causing yunho and mingi to yelp with fear for her face. 

“call who?” mingi asked. he had a slightly bad feeling in his stomach at her reaction to his former owner. as much as he wanted to legally escape, he didn’t want to put anyone in danger or risk of anything. he didn’t know if his little heart could take the consequences. 

“an old friend, you can say,” she wryly smiled before standing up with her phone. “i’ll be on the balcony,” she said before slipping the back door. 

she stared at the contact name. yuta. she hadn’t spoken to him ever since she left the main house. yuta was a black cat hybrid and her assistant. rather than calling him her assistant, she always called him a friend. he’s been with her ever since the two were teenagers, when he became old enough to watch over her on his own. 

“well, pray he doesn’t chew my head off for this,” she prayed before pressing the call button. hearing the dial tone, she was worried that he wasn’t even going to pick up. 

“ms. jiyu?!” came a surprised tone from the other end. 

gasping from the sudden sound, she almost dropped her phone. “ohmygod, that scared me,” she calmed her racing heart. “and i told you, you don’t have to call me ‘miss jiyu’, that makes me sound old and you're the older one,” she teased. hearing a sigh, she chuckled. 

“sorry, it’s a force of habit,” he said. jiyu could imagine his tail swinging around in excitement. “so why the sudden call after three years? three years!”

jiyu held the phone a little ways from her ear at his scream. unbeknownst to her, the four hybrids in the house were watching her from inside. “i wonder who she’s calling for her to look like she went deaf,” hongjoong curiously mumbled; the others nodded in agreement. 

“sorry, sorry,” she sheepishly scratched her head even though he couldn’t see. “i know this is really out of the blue, but i need a favor...” she could see his enlarged eyes at her request, making her internally laugh. 

“with? i don’t really have a choice anyways,” he wryly responded. 

“um...i need you to retrieve park youjin’s hybrid adoption forms for me.”

a moment of silence passed. 

“...why?” he asked. “that’s a pretty random—”

“her hybrid ran away and i found him. but she hasn’t been...the best parent, so i’m helping him out. but i can’t exactly cause another disturbance like last time with star enterprise otherwise father’s going to have my head.”

yuta took a while to process her words. “i know it’s not breaking the law to request adoption forms, but that means you have two hybrids?!”

“...three actually...maybe four if you get me park youjin’s...” she nervously chuckled. 

“i—what—four?! you’re returning in a year, are you bringing back four new hybrids?!” he incredulously asked, his mouth gaping open. 

“i haven’t exactly figured that part out yet, but just trust me and get them...please?” she asked. 

what felt like an eternity passed before he sighed again. “alright, alright. and without your father knowing, i’m assuming?”

“you know the drill.”

yuta slyly smiled at the familiar words. “your wish is my command, miss.” he burst out into laughter at her whining. “sorry, couldn’t resist. but I can give them to you in two days max. just send me the information.”

“alright, thanks. and be careful.” after saying their goodbyes, she went back inside to see the four staring at her.  

“so are you getting them?” seonghwa asked, all of them looking at her with hope and expectancy in her eyes. especially mingi. 

she broke into a smile. “don’t worry, i have a friend that has a way of getting anything and everything. just trust me on this, okay?”

although her words were mysterious and didn’t offer any clues, they all trusted her with their life. she hasn’t done anything wrong or harmful, so why would she  start now? suddenly, a loud grumbling sound come from the red-hair’s stomach. 

his cheeks turned red and he grew flustered. “s-sorry...” they laughed, amused by the bunny’s clumsiness and antics. 

“alright, let’s go get dinner. what do you all want?”

as if they discussed it beforehand, a unanimous scream of chicken came from all four of them. jiyu was surprised, yet happy that they all seemed to get along despite only knowing each other for a short amount of time. “i guess that settles it,” she playfully rolled her eyes before grabbing her keys. “come on, maybe we can rope yeonjun, binnie, and beomgyu into coming with us.”

seeing mingi’s head cock to the side at the mention of new people, yunho pat his back. “they’re nice people and hybrids,” he reassured as they put their shoe and coats on, “soobin and beomgyu are great, but just a warning, beomgyu’s quite hyper. and yeonjun’s like a male version of jiyu”

hearing his description, jiyu’s nose scrunched. “that’s such an insult,” she joked. 

seonghwa and hongjoong tried to suppress their laughter, causing jiyu to playfully put her hands on her hips. “not a word or no chicken.”

“you wouldn’t dare!” they all chorused.

“good god, it’s like i have quadruplets.”

[iraprince]

hello! do you have any advice for switching from traditional art to digital? (i recently ran out of supplies so im relegated to my computer lol) i hope youre having a good day!

i sure do!

first off i really recommend clip studio paint, but i also recommend u wait for it to go on sale. it goes 50% off a few times a year, so imo it’s worth waiting, but it also is usually on sale for only a few days so u have to stay on top of it. they usually announce on twitter etc. the tools don’t make the artist and obviously it doesn’t Really matter what program u end up settling on, i’ve just been really pleased with CSP and i wanted to recommend it

second: nothing that u can do with digital art programs/tools is cheating and it took me way too long to really internalize + understand that. copy-pasting stuff instead of redrawing it, using symmetry rulers, using transform/ctrl+T to stretch or squash slightly off anatomy instead of starting over -- when i was first getting into digital i A. didn’t know u could do this stuff and B. felt weirdly guilty doing it once i figured it out, as if i was a worse artist for using the tools that are literally built into the software or that it was lazy or dishonest to do so. that, it turns out, is bullshit. any drawing is just a constant series of decision-making and a lot of digital tools just help u make or retract or edit those decisions faster than traditional does. it’s not better or worse, it’s just different, and it’s worth ur time to figure out which of those differences are the most convenient and useful. this stuff exists for a reason! use it! save ur wrists and ur patience and ur time!

figure out file organization early, because it’s something u don’t have to deal with irt traditional art and so it probably won’t come naturally, but it also makes ur life harder to have a desktop swarming with wip files that are all titled “kjsrhrfgdhgj.psd” or whatever. some ppl sort into folders by date; for me it works better to sort by content (i.e. i have folders for tvrn stuff, patreon stuff, different fandoms, dnd/ttrpg stuff, “misc ocs” for characters i don’t draw much and “misc fandoms” for one-off fanart that doesn’t merit its own folder, etc etc; this is what makes it easiest for me to find stuff, but ur system might end up different.) i admittedly still name my files keysmashes if it’s personal stuff rather than work/commissions, but at least it’s all sorted into a category where i can quickly find it again anyway

also, u can hybridize traditional and digital! i frequently like my traditional pencil lines better than what i can do digitally, so i often scan them in, turn them into lineart, and color digitally (here’s a tutorial on how i prep that). but even if u don’t have a scanner, a carefully taken phone photo with high contrast can still be used the same way. i tend to lay my sketchbook flat on the floor in front of a window, squat down and hold my phone as level as i can while i’m taking the pic, and then i blast it in my phone’s built in gallery editor (highlights/shadows and contrast) before sending it to myself and doing the same thing w tone curve/levels in csp. it’s not perfect, but it’s presentable, and it can be a good way to ease urself in if ur feeling frustrated w the learning curve on digital draftsmanship.

oh, and this tip is really small but it’s ended up being rly helpful for me: resist the urge to zoom in way past 100% scale view just bc u can. if there are times where u absolutely need to, sure, whatever, but there’s no point in regularly tweaking tiny things pixel by pixel at 250% zoom bc nobody who looks at ur art is gonna see that and ur just bloating ur own time spent on things and creating unnecessary stress for urself!! if 100% zoom doesn’t give u the control u want, that may just mean u need to work larger to begin with.

set up a comfortable workspace with a Good chair. look up proper posture and try to stick to it. i know we’re all gay and it sucks to sit in a chair properly but otherwise ur gonna hurt urself. take even more frequent breaks than u do when drawing traditionally! screen bad!

also, if ur tablet has a way to calibrate pressure, try that out. a lot of them are set in a way where you have to press really hard to get full line width and over time it can really seriously strain ur wrist; u can’t manually set pressure in traditional tools (besides like. using softer lead i guess lmfao) but u can with tablet pens and u should try it, bc if u can use a lighter touch overall it really goes a long way towards preventing injury in the long term.

this is all the stuff that came to mind immediately; i’m sure there are tons of basics i haven’t covered, depending on how much of a transition this is for u, but there are a lot of tutorials out there written by ppl more patient and more educationally-oriented than myself so you’d be doing a better service to urself seeking those out than if i were to try to clumsily emulate them lol. good luck + have fun!

[notcanoncompliant]

I See You

So I finally got the writing bug again. This is pretty much PWP. It’s decent, I hope those of you who are into this stuff are into this fic. lol

Trigger Warnings: blood, implied cannibalism, non-con.

The FBI has been after Anthony Stark, serial killer-slash-mob enforcer, for a long time. Peter, special agent and analyst, dips into places he shouldn’t. There are consequences.

And away we go...

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

“Good morning, Starshine.”

Peter tries to swallow, his mouth and throat fuzzy from whatever had been used to knock him out, his head stuffed up and aching. 

He opens his eyes, winces at the light. Shuts them. 

His wrists are secured together high above his head, and everything is cold, chilly air on bare skin--bare. God. He’s naked; stuck in stirrups, strapped down. But, aside from the headache and the discomfort of waking up in bindings and completely exposed...he doesn’t hurt.

He lifts his head, forces himself to squint in the light at the figure standing off to the side.

“What did you give me?” he asks, voice thick.

“Standard knock-out cocktail. Painless,” says that familiar voice.

Peter swallows again, drops his head back against the headrest of the chair and shuts his eyes. “Thanks for that, I guess,” he rasps.

A soft, familiar chuckle issues from the right side of the room. He’s too tired to look. 

He drifts in and out for a little while longer in the wobbling in-out of slowly returning consciousness. 

Footsteps click behind him and then further back. A quiet humming lilts through the air, and then the rush of water--a sink--and the sound of something being filled. More footsteps, this time growing closer along with the humming.

Something pokes at his lips, and he opens without thought.

A straw.

He sucks, moans at the cool rush of water down his parched throat.

“Good boy,” the figure says.

Peter shivers involuntarily at the praise, heat curling lazy-sweet in his gut. Danger, a deep part of him whispers. 

He takes another pull of water and then the straw slips from between his lips.

He opens his eyes.

Anthony “Tony” Stark moves away to stand off to the right, setting the glass of water down on the desk and sitting back against the edge. The enforcer looks good; dressed to the nines as he was in every fruitless interrogation video on record, a suit that probably costs as much as Peter’s rent, goatee immaculate, thick salt and pepper hair styled in a casual mess. He watches Peter with a pleasant look on his face that doesn’t match the emptiness of his pitch-dark eyes.

The room is small, an office, maybe. They’re in a warehouse; through the window behind Stark, Peter can see closed bay doors, concrete and metal and beams and silent, unmoving machinery. A quick glance around the immediate room tells Peter there’s no tray of instruments, nothing lined up on the desk. Nothing to do the kind of rip-and-tear damage Peter had seen in any of the crime scene photos. 

“You look confused, Pete,” Stark says. “Were you expecting something?”

“I’m just well-versed in your usual, and this isn’t it,” Peter says. He tugs a little at the bindings around his wrists--leather. Stiff, but exponentially more yielding than the steel cuffs that left cuts and torn skin around the wrists of the bodies in the morgue, in the photos. 

Stark smiles, and cold trickles down Peter’s spine. “You’re a special case.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“You got a little too close, all on your own.” Stark smiles again, looks...proud. “A real go-getter. You’ve got enemies in high places, Petey-pie. Kept poking your nose in all the wrong places.” He shrugs. “Or the right ones, as it were.”

The first unpleasant sensation prickles through whatever it is Stark gave him (definitely not standard knock-out; an unsurprising lie), and his stomach sinks.

Someone did this. Someone sent him right into the jaws of the monster--why ‘jaws’, why do jaws matter--and now he’s going to die in some creative way, some way that doesn’t include scalpels or knives or cattle prods or any of the endless list of horrifyingly inventive tools Anthony Stark has allegedly used to ruin human beings.

That ‘someone’ was probably--most likely--Rumlow, head of the task force and a first-class asshole. He’d warned Peter not to get involved, and Peter hadn’t listened, because...well, because he noticed the inconsistencies in the original ME reports versus what was included in Stark’s official dossier, inconsistencies made all the more suspicious by how tightly the originals were locked down. 

Maybe Peter had ‘noticed’ them when he’d ‘stumbled upon’ the confidential files.

Maybe Rumlow noticed. Maybe someone above Rumlow noticed.

And now Peter’s shoulders ache from how his arms are suspended and there are straps wrapping his thighs and calves, keeping his legs spread in the stirrups of this medical chair.

“What are you going to do to me?”

Stark tuts. “Boring. Try again.”

Peter wets his lips nervously. “Do you take requests?”

“Better.” Stark pushes off from the desk, and comes to stand in front of him. “And no. But you’re free to beg for whatever you want.”

“Boring,” Peter says, a touch breathless, real fear finally beginning to worm its way through. “You know I’ll beg at some point.”

Stark smirks. He walks back to the desk, pulls a rolling stool out from underneath and moves it between Peter’s spread legs, shucks his jacket and tosses it onto the desk. He begins meticulously rolling his sleeves up to his elbows.

“Tell me something,” Stark says as he sits down, rolls a little closer. “Why would someone send a pretty little hacker into the jaws of death?”

Peter winces at the phrase, twitches back away from Stark’s nearness before he can catch himself. Too many sensitive parts on display, too close to that shark-like smile.

“Analyst,” Peter corrects inanely. “And I don’t know why you’re asking, why do you ca--fuck, okay,” he gasps, a bolt of pure panic shooting, short and electric, through his limbs at the sudden grip of Stark’s hands high up the backs of his thighs. “Okay. I saw some things and I knew they were wrong and I guess I went to the wrong people.”

“What was wrong?” Stark asks, faux-curious, trailing his thumbs back and forth along the sensitive inner skin of Peter’s thighs. His gaze is dark, flat, fixed on Peter’s eyes instead of all the flesh in front of him, and Peter can’t tell at this point whether that’s a (relatively) good thing.

“They...fudged the ME reports,” Peter says. “Doctored the photos.” He struggles not to squirm when Stark’s hands slide down to his ass. “They…”

Peter freezes. “They know who you are,” he breathes. “They know. They hid the marks because they know, and they…”

“They like to toss me a good meal every now and again,” Stark supplies casually.

That’s why there are no tools. No knives, no blades. Stark’s smile is a weapon, and Peter is beyond fucked. 

Maybe it’s the drugs, maybe it’s just the intensity of the understanding, but Peter can practically see blood between those immaculate teeth, painting Stark’s lips. Can see those teeth cutting, pulling, ripping, tearing, chewing-- 

The grip on his ass tightens, and he lets out a strangled sound when Stark’s eyes drop from his in favor of the places between Peter’s legs.

“They gave you to me for disposal, Mr. Parker,” Stark says, distractedly. “A pretty little troublemaker about to throw a wrench in all their plans.” He leans in, and Peter jerks at the brush of lips against the inside of his right thigh. “I should send them a thank you card.”

Those lips part and teeth scrape Peter’s skin, not nearly hard enough to break through, but roughly enough to startle him into trying, futilely, to pull away.

“I can make it all disappear,” Peter blurts. “I’ll wipe everything. Every file, every scrap of anything that has anything to do with you. I could do it from my phone, right now.”

“Mm. I know you can,” Stark murmurs. He kisses Peter’s thigh again, squeezes his ass. Smirks up at him. “My job isn’t all wetwork. I know all about you, Peter.”

When he leans in toward the center, towards Peter’s most sensitive places, Peter squirms in earnest, leather straps biting into his limbs, across his middle. “No, wait, please--”

And then all he can do is moan, startled and loud, when Stark dips down between Peter’s cheeks and kisses him, open-mouthed, tongue thick and hot and wet, probing at Peter’s hole, alternating between long, dragging sweeps and penetration, slick muscle working its way inside Peter’s body.

“What the fuck,” Peter gasps, yanking downwards, flinching and struggling between the sharp tug at his wrists and the non-stop stimulation of Stark’s mouth. “What the fuck are you--oh, God, stop, you can’t--don’t, please,” he begs, tears springing to his eyes.

It feels good, scary good, his hips arching and bucking to the extent allowed by his bindings, but that all encompassing pleasure is going to stop at some point and turn to unimaginable pain and terror. 

Images flash through his mind--the real photos; missing pieces, torn flesh, the mangled crescents he couldn’t--hadn’t wanted to believe--were bitemarks--

Stark drags his tongue from Peter’s tailbone over his hole and laves attention on Peter’s balls with a loud, satisfied groan.

“Fuck, that’s good,” he growls, grinning up from between Peter’s legs. Peter makes a high sound, a whine, at the sight of those teeth so near his thinnest skin. Stark nuzzles at his sack, sucks one of Peter’s balls into his mouth, rolls it around and releases it, takes in the other for the same treatment.

Still no pain. Still nothing but sparking heat prickling through Peter’s hips, low in his spine, his body aching for more even as tears free themselves and roll down his cheeks. He squeezes his eyes shut and slams his head back against the chair, unwilling to keep looking down at his traitorous cock, jutting up stiff and leaking on his stomach. 

“Please,” Peter says, voice cracking. “Please don’t--” he cuts himself off, bites down on the words. Please don’t hurt me. Please don’t stop.

“Peter,” Stark croons, pressing a soft kiss to the base of Peter’s cock. “Baby. Sweetheart. Light of my life.” Peter flinches and moans, low and frightened, at the press of teeth against his erection, faint, sharp pressure. “Look at me.”

Peter swallows, steels himself, and looks down his body.

“I lied,” Stark whispers conspiratorially, breath washing warm across Peter’s stomach

The fluorescent light flattens everything, brings out the shadows in Stark’s eyes and the faint hollows under his cheekbones, monstrous and hard and beautiful.

“No one sent you to me.”

Peter stares, uncomprehending--unwilling to comprehend. “What?”

Stark smiles, slides his hands around to pet and squeeze the tops of Peter’s thighs. 

“You’re here because I wanted you here. You’re here,” he kisses the tip of Peter’s cock, and to Peter’s shamed arousal, it twitches, a bead of precome leaking and rolling down the shaft, “because you’re better than all of the idiots who believe they have me cornered. My pretty little hacker, my little genius. Scooped up by the Eff. Bee. Eye.”

“Wha--” Peter starts to ask again, numb, but Stark sucks him down.

Down, down, into the hot, tight, pulsing heat of his throat, down to hell and farther, past any hope of return. Lost in the dark, reverent satisfaction of Stark’s gaze, and the stretch of Stark’s lips around his cock.

When the sharp edges of those perfectly straight, perfectly terrible incisors close around the base of his flesh, press in hard enough to hurt, Peter comes with a choked cry, straining against his binds.

Stark sucks and licks him through it, brushes open-mouthed kisses the slick, too-sensitive head until Peter twitches and moans from too much.

When Stark releases him, nuzzling at Peter’s trembling thighs like a lover, murmuring sweet, possessive nothings into his skin…

...Peter might as well have died here, in this warehouse. Lost, consumed. Gone.

“You’re mine, Peter Parker,” Stark says softly, watching him with pleased, victorious heat. “You have been from the moment you cracked the encryption on those reports. You saw me. And I saw you, sweet thing. I see you.” He smiles. “And I’m never giving you back.”

Peter stares down at him, breath slowing as the sweat begins to cool on his body. Slack against the chair, shoulders aching, muscles twitching from exertion, he gives up.

He nods.

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

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@the-amazing-spidertwink, @silkystark, @starkercrossedlovers, @hoeforthegays, @problematic-sofatini, @starkeroverlord, @starker-reader, @mrstark-please, @aoifelaufeyson, @fastenyourseats, @starkerhowlter, @smidnite, @starkeristheendgame, @readysetstarker, @awesomeimportantfan, @darker-soft-starker, @vanillapeter

[i-am-dead-inside-666]

Apologies

Steve/Tony(+Bucky)

Summary: Steve and Tony make up and a cute stuckony moment. Wow that’s a crap summary.

Warnings: some angst I guess but mostly fluff. Bad language.

Please don’t post this on other platforms without my permission. Thanks 😊

Nobody cared. Tony knew that, he'd been hiding in his lab for six days now, not coming up for showers or to sleep, barely eating. The only regular schedule he kept to was the hourly coffee renewal. Cold coffee reminded him too much of lazy mornings with.. Steve... soft cuddles and whispered nothings, mugs forgotten on their side tables.

He hadn't seen another human in over a week. He'd passed out in the lab several times, from lack of food and drink, or just pure sleep-deprivation, he didn't know.

Nobody had been to check on him, because that had always been Steve.

He'd always been there to pick him up, striding into his lab with confidence that only Captain America could hold. Sweeping Tony's exhausted body against his chest, he'd carry him up to their bedroom, where he'd hold him tightly in his arms until Tony felt a little bit less broken than before.

But Steve wasn't there anymore, no one was.

So he huddled in the tiny gap under his desk, his stomach twisted into so many knots that he could barely breath. His hands pulling at his hair, as though they had a mind of their own, his nails clawing painfully at his scalp.

His chest was hurting so badly, and he wasn't sure whether it was from where Steve had slammed his shield through the arc reactor, or the fact that it was Steve that slammed his shield through the arc reactor.

He loved Steve so much, and the pain at him abandoning him, like everybody else in his life, it made him feel completely worthless.

A low whirring noise dragged him from his thoughts, forcing himself to relax his hands, he loosened the grip he had on his hair and looked up. Through teary eyes, he watched as Dum-E nudged his chair out of the way and rolled closer to him.

"hey Dum-E." Tony managed to whisper, a small smile stretching his cracked lips. The robot cocked his claw, almost like someone would do when they were confused, then he pushed forwards until Tony reluctantly lifted his arm up and let the robot nuzzle against his side.

"...I know.. I miss him too." His trembling voice was barely heard audible over the blaring music that he was definitely not using to try and drown out his self-destructive thoughts.

Squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to stop anymore tears from escaping, he twisted his fingers back into his hair and tucked his head back between his knees.

————————————————————

"I don't want to be here long, I'm just grabbing some stuff." Steve muttered, more to himself than to Bucky as he hurriedly grabbed clothes from the wardrobe he and Tony used to share.

"Yeah whatever punk." Bucky answered, absentmindedly glancing around the room. His gaze settled on the neatly made double bed, too neat. His brow furrowed and he stepped forward, Steve was too busy rummaging through something to notice him.

He let his metal fingers trail lightly over the bed covers, concerned at the layer of dust that had accumulated there. There were two bedside tables, one on each side of the bed, in various states of disarray.

The one on the opposite side of the bed must have been Steve's, as he could see several half finished drawings scattered by the base of the lamp.

However it was the one nearest to him that drew his attention, it was much much messier than Steve's. There were several coffee stains on the surface, and Bucky couldn't help but roll his eyes, coffee was apparently the only thing the genius ever drank.

He was vaguely aware of the other objects cluttering the table, but his gaze was fixed on the nondescript flip phone, placed with almost inhuman precision so that it lined up perfectly with the frame of a picture.

The frame was facedown on the side table so that the picture it contained couldn't be seen. Glancing over his shoulder to check what Steve was doing, he had practically climbed half way inside the wardrobe, making Bucky grin despite himself.

Turning back to the bedside table, he ever so gently lifted the frame up, gasping softly at the beautiful scene captured behind the glass.

Steve and Tony, both in perfectly tailored suits, posed for the camera, the former holding the latter bridal style with ease. Bucky's heart fluttered at the dopey smile on Steve's face as Tony planted a firm kiss on his cheek.

Both of them had their left hands thrust towards the camera and Bucky's breath caught in his throat, matching silver bands glinted on their fourth fingers. Steve never told him he and Tony were actually married.

Confetti rained around the happy couple, a mix of red, blue and gold, celebrating the colours of the two superheroes. The confetti was suspended in the air around the two, reminding Bucky that that's what this was, a special moment from the past, from a happier time.

His ears pricked suddenly, detecting the slight increase in Steve's breathing, decades of living as the Winter Soldier had given him unparalleled senses.

He turned, the frame still clutched tightly in his new metal arm that had been anonymously delivered to him and Steve's hideout. The moment Steve had opened the package, he'd burst into tears and refused to leave his room for three hours. Yet he still insisted that Bucky use the arm, even if his smile strained slightly every time he set eyes on it.

Steve's face was almost as pale as Bucky remember it from the 40s, coupled with his wide eyed stare and trembling hands, he could almost believe they were the same person.

"I'm sorry I- I was just- looking." He anxiously tried to explain, gesturing half heartedly towards the messy side table.

The blonde blinked slowly, as if pulling himself from the depths of a dream, "It's.... fine." He waved away Bucky's poor attempt at an explanation, trying to hide the way his voice cracked.

"No it isn't." Bucky replied in a much more measured tone, gauging his friends reaction. Steve's jaw went from slack to so tight that Bucky was afraid he heard his teeth crack.

"Everything is fine." He ground out, stiffly turning back to his suitcase and aggressively beginning to stuff everything he'd pulled out of the wardrobe into it.

"You didn't tell me you guys were married."

The only response he got was a shrug and a murmur he could barely make out. "wasn't important."

Bucky sighed, gently placing the picture back down, upright this time. He made his way to the end of the bed and perched there, softly tugging on Steve's shoulder until he huffed and joined him, falling heavily onto the bed.

Back in the tower, back in this room, back on this bed, all the memories Steve had been suppressing came rushing back to the front of his mind. Almost without thinking, he leant his head down to rest on Bucky's shoulder.

He couldn't help but miss the feel of Tony's, softer and lower, Buck's were.... harder, tough cords of muscles beneath his shirt. Both were comforting and familiar, but he couldn't have both... could he?

The former Winter Soldier was momentarily taken aback by the sudden contact, and he stiffened. He couldn't help it, seventy years of being conditioned to fear human touch.

A pang of guilt shot through him, as he could tell he'd managed to make Steve feel worse because as soon as he realised he'd tensed up, Steve had bolted upright, like a child caught doing something wrong.

Quickly wiping his tears from his cheeks, he mumbled, "M'sorry, I shouldn't have brought you here Buck, we can leave.. I'll send Nat to grab my stuff later."

Knowing he'd crossed some sort of line, Bucky simply nodded, watching from the bed as Steve returned to rooting through the chest of drawers.

Finally, curiosity got the best of him, "Watcha looking for now?"

"My dog tags." Steve muttered, slamming his fist on to the drawers, wincing at the audible crunch. "I- I gave them to Tony." He swallowed thickly, "But they aren't here."

"Where else could they be? The kitchen? The-"

"Lab!" Steve exclaimed, finishing Bucky's sentence for him. "Fuck." He swore, clenching his fists tightly to stop himself from punching something, anything.

"Then go get 'em." Bucky prompted, unable to stop himself from rolling his eyes as Steve's jaw practically fell open.

"Wh-what?!" He spluttered, "You- want me- to go up to my husband who I left and- and- say hey, uh- yeah, sorry to intrude, but you know that really important meaningful thing I gave you- yeah- I want them back." Steve raised his voice to a dramatically high pitch, earning another low sigh from his exasperated boyfriend/friend whatever they were.

"Do you love him?" Steve's eyes practically fell out of his head at the question, shifting slightly on the bed Bucky continued, "Lemme rephrase, do you love him more than you love me?"

"I- what?!"

"I see the way you look at him. You.. you don't look at me like that." He continued, wincing as Steve's features contorted in pain.

"Buck I-"

The brunet stood up so that the two were eye level, even that jarred Steve for a moment, his words dying in his throat, he was so used to looking down....

"-don't feel bad," Steve frowned, forcing himself to stop thinking about Tony, to focus on Bucky's next words.

"I- I've been wanting to talk to you about this anyway.." Bucky trailed off, thinking about how to phrase his next sentence, "I know we used to talk about us back in the forties, and- it really is a dream come true that we got a chance to figure- this-" he gestured between them, "out, but- you aren't- you aren't happy with me.."

Glancing sadly back at the photo, he couldn't help the low sigh that left his lips, "You love Stark- Tony." He corrected himself.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Steve pressed his palms against his temples. "You're right!" He yelled, "But you're also wrong! So fucking wrong!"

The vein in his jaw twitched as he gritted his teeth, alerting Bucky to just how annoyed he was. "I'm... wrong?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yes I love Tony! But I also love you! And- and- I can't choose!"

"Well maybe you don't have to.." Bucky thought out loud, Steve's gaze snapped towards him.

"What?"

Bucky shook his head, "Nothing, it doesn't matter, just- go talk to him you punk."

A bittersweet smile creep crept up Steve's face, "Shut up jerk." He retorted, making his way to the door, he paused for a moment in the doorway, hesitating. Impatiently, Bucky waved him away, ignoring Steve as he rolled his eyes.

Thoughts raced through Steve's head at a million miles an hour as he walked down the hall, what if Tony didn't want to see him, what if he was mad at him, hell, if Steve were him he'd be mad at himself-

He was at the doors to the lab way before he was prepared, he could already hear Tony's music through the doors.

Steve didn't realise his fists were clenched until he forced himself to relax, exhaling sharply as he examined the crescent shaped indents in his palms.

Taking a shaky breath to steady himself, he cast his eyes towards the ceiling, an old habit that he could never shake. "Ja- Friday? Could- um- could you let me in please?"

"I'm sorry Captain Rogers, Mr Stark has removed you from the system. I am unable to grant you access to the lab."

Steve's frown deepened, what could he do now? Break the door down?

Friday's smooth voice interrupted his internal monologue, "Although, if the door to the lab was accidentally left unlocked, technically I wouldn't be allowing you access."

A small grin lit Steve's face up, "I knew I liked you." He chuckled under his breath, tugging on the door which slid open with ease.

"Tony? Are you here?" Steve asked hesitantly, as he stepped into the room, his words nearly inaudible over the music.

His gaze swept over the empty room, he waited a moment before moving towards the bombsight of a desk opposite him. He subconsciously kept his footsteps light, a habit he'd picked up trying not to wake Tony if he'd fallen asleep in the lab.

He reached the desk, glancing over the papers scattered across it, he paused as he recognised the blueprints for Bucky's new arm.

Tearing his eyes away, he was almost ready to pack it in and leave, but as he turned, his enhanced eyesight caught the sliver of steam rising from the coffee mug.

The line between his brows deepened and he let his knuckles drag across the porcelain, nearly hissing at the heat. Since when did Tony drink his coffee that hot?

Then it hit him. Hot coffee, Tony must still be here, he wouldn't have been able to sneak past Steve. A low sigh slipped through his lips, he knew exactly where Tony was.

Rounding the desk, he gently pushed the chair to the side, crouching down to peer into the foot space beneath the desk.

What he saw made his heart shatter and his eyes well with tears. Sure he'd seen tony like this before, huddled beneath his desk, shaking, crying, pulling his hair hard enough to keep him grounded.. and every time he saw him like that, his chest ached, but this time, this time he knew that he had caused this, Tony was in pain because of him, and that hurt.

Tony's grip on his dark locks loosened, and he turned towards the sound of Steve's voice, his watery eyes widened, "Steve?"

Hearing Tony's broken voice was the last straw and the tears he'd previously managed to hold back fell from Steve's baby blue eyes, spilling down his pale cheeks.

"You're not real." Tony finally mumbled, pressing his palms over his eyes and shaking his head. Steve barely heard his whisper, but he did, and his hand tightened, his fingers pressing dents into the desk where he gripped it.

"Friday. Pause the music." He growled, anger at himself seeping into his tone. Tony looked up at the sudden silence, his stare blank as he seemed to look straight through Steve.

His gaze sharpened suddenly, bloodshot eyes meeting Steve's with such intensity that the super soldier nearly flinched. "I know you're not real!" He snapped, "Now get out of my head."

Tony waved his hand in dismissal, mere centimetres from Steve's nose. He made an attempt to crawl out from under the desk, nearly tripping over Dum-E. Steve quickly moved backwards out of his way, watching Tony as he stood up and attempted to straighten his clothes.

The brunet refused to look in Steve's direction, he simply offered a small smile to Dum-E. Steve jumped up as Tony turned to walk towards a separate bench, picking up a small and hunching forward over a delicate piece of machinery.

"Tony- please.. I really am here." Steve tried again, desperation creeping into his voice. Tony hesitated, sure, he'd hallucinated seeing Steve before, but never like this, it never hurt as much as this.

He turned slowly, screwdriver still clutched tightly in his fist, his fingernails pressing deep enough into his palms to draw blood as he cautiously stepped towards his husband.

He was on edge, waiting for this hallucination of Steve to turn on him, slam his shield into his chest, say something horribly hurtful and horribly true or simply wait until he could almost touch him, and then vanish.

Steve's eyes flicked between the sharp object Tony was gripping like a lifeline, and his face, so full of pain and hurt that Steve's stomach twisted with guilt. Not wanting to scare the skittish engineer, he froze.

Tony bit his lip as he edged nearer, taking in Steve's rigid posture, neither of them even dared to breath.

The hand that wasn't gripping his screwdriver moved, almost subconsciously towards Steve's face, trembling as his fingers followed the sharp line of his jaw. A frown creased his brows at the rough stubble there, the screwdriver slipped from his hand, clattering to the floor, although neither of them acknowledged it.

"You're really here?" He asked, uncertainty making his voice waver slightly. Steve nodded slowly, searching Tony's deep brown eyes for any hint of forgiveness or understanding, "I'm here Tones."

"Don't. Call. Me. That." Tony hissed, withdrawing his hand suddenly. He tore his eyes from Steve's, his gaze dropping to the floor. "I don't care if you're really here! Get the fuck out of my lab!"

"Tony-" Steve corrected himself, "Don't push me away- I swear I feel so bad about- about Siberia-" he cringed as soon as the word left his mouth, leaving a bitter taste in its wake.

Shivers shook Tony's body, spreading out from between his shoulder blades as every single memory he'd been struggling to repress came flooding back.

His parents. He was looking at his parents, after so long, he'd nearly forgotten what they looked like, how beautiful his mum was.

He knew what was coming, but he couldn't help but flinch as the car careened off the road, smashing into a tree.

He watched, barely breathing as The Winter Soldier ripped his life apart. Hatred burned like acid in his stomach, but not towards Bucky, not even towards The Winter Soldier, but towards himself.

For nearly thirty years, he'd hated his father, hated him for every time he was 'too busy' to spend time with him.

Hated him for every time he compared him to Steve.

Hated him for drinking that little bit too much and slapping him around.

But all that blame for his mother's death, was completely misplaced. Tony's heart ached as he recalled his fathers last words from the video.

"Maria- my wife- please help my wife..... Sergeant Barnes?"

"-ny- breathe- come on- follow my breathing." Steve's voice cut through Tony's panic and he realised that he could feel the steady thrum of a heartbeat beneath his fingers.

Biting back sobs, Steve pulled Tony's body against his chest, moving slightly so that Tony's head could rest against his broad shoulder.

"Come on Tony, I'm sorry- you're in the lab with me. Remember. Follow my breathing." The feel of Steve's warm, familiar shape wrapped around him comforted Tony as he struggled to control his erratic heart and heavy breathing.

"I'm sorry- please don't leave me- stay please- I don't wanna.. don't wanna be alone-" Tony mumbled, eyes still unfocused and slightly glazed.

"No- I'm sorry Tony. I- I screwed up big time." Slowly, Tony's breathing evened, but he let quiet, listening to Steve's explanation.

"Me and Buck weren't exactly accepted in the 40s. So we stopped ourselves, pretended we didn't have feelings for each other. And then I went into the ice and I thought I'd never see him again."

He sighed heavily, subconsciously running his hand down Tony's side, "I really love you baby, I swear I thought I'd completely moved on. But then he came back." Steve's face twisted into a grimace, "And all those old feelings came flooding back- an' I couldn't lose him again-"

His voice broke at the end, and he dropped his head into the crook of Tony's neck, his shoulders shaking.

"I'm sorry." He cried, tears soaking through Tony's T-shirt. Blinking back his own tears, Tony carefully extricated himself from Steve's tight embrace. He didn't pull away entirely though, simply twisted himself in Steve's lap until they were facing.

He carefully cupped Steve's jaw, tilting the soldiers face so that their equally teary eyes met. His thumb rubbed small circles over the rough stubble as he contemplated his next words.

"I understand why you did it.... which makes it even harder I guess, 'cause I know I'd do the same for Rhodey." Tony sighed, "I can't forget about this, not yet... it still hurts too much." He rubbed at his chest slightly, his gaze softening when Steve's face fell.

"But I can forgive you." He finished, blue eyes meeting brown as though they were seeing each other properly for the first time.

Steve was rendered breathless for the second time in less than half an hour, as Tony's hand snaked round the back of his head, fingers curling into the hair at the nape of his neck.

Neither of them moved for several long, tense moments, they simply stared into one another's eyes, mapping their faces out in their minds as they recalled every reason why they fell in love in the first place.

Then Steve moved, leaning forward to capture Tony's lips in a slow and cautious kiss, his large hands sliding up Tony's side, rucking his shirt up and tugging him closer to his chest.

Relaxing into Steve's arms, Tony's eyes slid shut and he melted into the familiar feeling of Steve's lips against his own. He smiled into the kiss as Steve's tongue swept along his bottom lip, easily working its way into his mouth and pushing between his teeth.

They kissed until they ran out of oxygen, breathing heavily and in sync as they pulled away.

Tony tilted his head forward so that his forehead rested against Steve's, his eyes still closed as he caught his breath.

"I missed you." He confessed, peering through his lashes at Steve, "And I'm sorry for screaming."

The blonde chuckled softly, "I did deserve it." His face turned serious again, "I am sorry, Tony."

Just as a smug grin crept up his face, Tony chose that exact moment... to faint.

Panic gripped Steve's chest for a moment as the brunette slumped against his chest, then he heard Tony's stomach grumble loudly, and felt the ribs poking through his shirt.

"Oh Tony." He sighed, rolling his eyes as he easily scooped the shorter man into his arms and striding out of the lab.

"Wh-" Tony's sleepy mumble made a smile tug at the corner of Steve's lips, even as he had to tighten his grip when Tony attempted to wriggle out of his arms.

"M'fine- gerrof!" He growled, pushing against Steve's broad chest, "S'fine you apologised, you can go now- put me down!"

So Steve did, dropping Tony onto one of the kitchen stools so that he was sat at the island, facing Steve as he started pulling ingredients out of the cupboards.

"What are you doing?" Tony groaned, placing his chin in his hand to stare at Steve.

Steve ignored the question, asking one of his own, "When was the last time you ate?" Glancing over his shoulder, he sighed in exasperation as Tony shrugged, mumbling an off handed, "I dunno."

"Jeez Tones, have you thrown all my food away? He complained, throwing his arms up in annoyance.

Tony shrugged again, "I don't like your rabbit food." He fastened his gaze on the floor, "And it reminded me too much of you."

Steve tensed at Tony's mumbled statement, turning around to stare at him as he continued, "Didn't know if you'd be coming back anyway."

"Tony-"

The brunet sighed, "Don't, I told you, I get it." He muttered, half way off of the stool before a large hand landed on his shoulder, pushing him back down.

"Sit. Down." Steve snarled, "We are not discussing this now. I am making you some healthy, nutritious food. Then you are going to brush your teeth, get in the shower and go the fuck to sleep. Cause no offence but you look like shit."

Tony rolled his eyes but remained seated, brushing Steve's hand off his shoulder, "Language." He mocked, trying to lighten the mood.

A low chuckle left Steve's throat, and he moved back towards the stove, cracking several eggs into a bowl and beginning to whisk them.

Tony stifled his own giggle, glancing around the kitchen as his stomach growled again, his eyes drifted over the door and he stiffened.

Watching Tony's eyes widen in fear, Bucky felt guilt settle on his shoulders. He edged his way out of the doorway, avoiding eye contact with Tony as he cleared his throat quietly.

Steve whipped round at the noise, "Uh- Buck- I.. we were just..." he gave up when he saw Tony's judgemental stare from the corner of his eye, he gestured awkwardly at the omelette, "Food."

"Right, do you want me to go? Natasha sent the quinjet over." Tony's face crumpled at the mention of the red headed spy's name, remembering the sharp sting of betrayal that stabbed his chest every time he thought of her.

Steve glanced worriedly at Tony, "Ah- no. It's fine," he slid a plate across the island and Tony frowned in disgust, trying to ignore the super soldiers presence somewhere behind him.

"Steve- it's green." He pointed out, prodding it suspiciously with his fork. Steve rolled his eyes, dropping into the seat opposite Tony, "It's got spinach in it you baby, just eat it."

"Keep rolling your eyes and you might find a brain somewhere back there."

"Shut up. Not all of us are geniuses ya know," Steve shot back, his Boston accent creeping into his voice.

"Evidently." Tony snarked, stabbing his omelette again. "Oh for fuck sake!" Steve cursed, trying to hide his grin as he yanked the plate towards him and snatched the fork out of Tony's hand.

Bucky smiled at how quickly the two of them fell into what he assumed were old habits, trading sarcastic comments like sweets at Halloween.

"I don't need you to cut my food up. I'm not a baby Steve. And watch your language."

Steve frowned, shoving the plate back towards Tony with his omelette now in bite sized pieces. Tony pulled another disgusted face, but grudgingly started eating anyway.

"Buck do you want one?" Steve asked, standing up and grabbing a couple more eggs, they were large ones, but still sat easily in the palm of his hand.

Bucky hesitated, decisions had always been difficult for him after... hydra, but this one was the worst he'd ever faced.

Sure Steve, why wouldn't I wanna sit down to a nice meal with you and your husband, oh yeah, your husband, you know the guy you cheated on with me and then left half beaten to death in a freezing bunker. Could this get any more awkward?!

"Um-" he hummed, silently hoping that someone would make the decision for him. Steve smiled tightly, noticing Bucky's discomfort, he pointed at the seat next to Tony, "Sit down, I'll make you one.

Apparently it can get more awkward! Why, why would you sit me next to him, it's not like we tried to kill each other like a week ago. Bucky felt like face palming, was Steve really an oblivious asshole or was he actively trying to start a fight.

He cautiously moved towards the stool that Steve had gestured at, trying to ignore the way Stark shifted away from him, shoulders tensed.

Measuring his breathing helped calm him slightly, in, out, in, out, four even breaths later and he was sliding into the seat next to Tony.

They sat together in silence whilst Steve finished cooking another omelette, sliding it onto a plate and across the island.

"Eat up ba-" Steve blushed, cutting himself off as Tony's grip tightened around his fork, the metal grinding against the porcelain of the plate. "-ucky. Bucky." He tried to save himself, his face redder than a beetroot.

A loud yawn broke the silence that followed, and both Steve and Bucky turned to stare at the sleepy engineer. When he noticed their stares, he shot them both a cold glare, "What? I'm tired ok." He snapped.

Steve grinned, "Come on, let's get you to bed."

"Stop treating me like a baby Steve. I can take care of myself." The blonds eyebrow quirked at Tony's statement.

"Really? When was the last time you actually slept in your bed?" Tony flushed, "You used to pass out in the lab, quite often if I remember correctly."

"Is this your long winded way of getting me into bed? Cause I hate to tell you, but you might wanna up the romance a bit." Tony sassed, sliding off his stool and stumbling towards the door.

Steve laughed, "Gimme a sec while I put this stuff away." He scooped the eggshells off the side of the counter and moved to put them in the bin. Whilst he was busy cleaning up, Tony continued to stagger away from them.

He'd barely made it three steps before his knees buckled and the ground rushed towards his face.

Suddenly, strong arms were wrapped around his torso, pinning his arms to his sides, caging him into a broad chest. Tony gasped softly, his nose inches from the floor, "Thanks babe." He mumbled, twisting in the tight grip so that he could look up at- BUCKY?

Tony felt heat rise up his face, "Uh- I thought you were Steve?" He squeaked, sounding more like a question than a statement, he smiled weakly as he met Bucky's deep brown eyes.

"Hmm, you're cute when you blush." Bucky muttered without thinking, staring down at the small man trapped between his body and the floor.

"Um- do you two want me to leave? Give you some privacy?" Steve cut in, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

Bucky jumped as though he'd forgotten Steve was in the room, he glanced over his shoulder, ignoring Tony as he wriggled between his arms.

"Um sorry that bambi here hasn't figured out how to walk properly yet." He stated, a teasing edge to his words, before Tony could even blink, he was cradled like a baby into Bucky's chest.

There was an arm hooked beneath his knees, and another on lower back which held him steady, the metal cool against his hot skin, even through the material of his shirt.

Tony could hear Steve's heavy footsteps follow them as he was carried into the bedroom and dropped unceremoniously onto the bed. He bounced onto the soft mattress, a low uff pushing past his lips at the shock. Bucky couldn't help but grin, pushing a stray hair out of the billionaires face and tucking it behind his ear.

Steve smiled softly at the two of them, pulling the corner of the duvet back so that Tony could snuggle beneath it.

Without thinking, he leant forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. Lingering for several moments, he eventually pulled away, opening his mouth to ask Bucky whether he was ready to go, when a hand circled his wrist.

Tony blinked up at him sleepily, "Please stay." He whispered, tugging the super soldier back towards the bed.

Steve shot a wary glance at Bucky, who was laughing silently at the confusion on Steve's face. "It's fine jerk, I'll go meet 'tasha on the quinjet."

"Nah uh." Tony's childish pout was directed at Bucky, making the assassins heart melt at the pleading looks in his doe brown eyes and sulkily stuck out lip.

"You... want me to stay?" He hesitated, surely this was overstepping at least 100 boundaries.

"Please." Tony whined, his eyes seeming to get wider and cuter the longer they were fixed in Bucky's.

Steve chuckled, "Oh dear, you've made the mistake of looking into his puppy dog eyes. He knows they get me every time." Bucky finally managed to tear his eyes away from Tony's, to realise that Steve had stripped into his boxers and was sliding in to the bed next to Tony.

The two stared at him expectantly and he shuffled, rubbing the hairs at the back of his neck, "I dunno, is there even enough room in the bed? I-"

"I'm not going to sleep until you join us." Tony sulked, folding his arms across his chest.

Bucky sighed dramatically, his hands awkwardly fumbling as he yanked his hoodie over his head along with his T-shirt. He opted to leave his sweatpants on, and slowly edged under the covers.

The bed was plenty big enough for all three of them, with enough room for Bucky and Steve to be able to comfortably stretch out. Tony sighed in satisfaction, nuzzling his head int Bucky's chest as Steve curled around him.

Cautiously, Bucky brought his metal hand up from where it rested against the covers, he loved his new arm and he made a mental note to thank Tony for it tomorrow. He'd been working especially hard on learning to control his strength.

Now wanting to scare Tony or himself, he moved at the pace of a snail to rest his fingers in the engineers thick locks. Amazingly, he could actually feel the hair against his hand, and ever so gentle, he began to play with the soft brown hair, smiling at the content hum it earned him.

Bucky stayed awake for much longer than both Steve and Tony, the latter passing out minutes after Bucky had started playing with his hair. Steve took longer to fall asleep, but as Bucky lay perfectly still, he listened to the blonds breathing get slower and steadier.

Looking down at the two men cuddled up next to him, he couldn't help the warm feeling of hope that spread through his chest. A small smile curling his lips, he let the soft exhales of his friends lull him to sleep.

[randomoranges]

this is an homage to all the weird random text message conversations ive gotten btwn today, this week and last year. the first messages are near verbatim from what i got today.

also these 2 get to actually have a good time of it instead of the disappointing endings i keep getting hahaha

anyways. my phone is like a magnet for strangers to come and text me haha

Strangers in the Day

Edward was bored beyond tears, doing some paperwork, when his phone buzzed with a text message. Needing a distraction, he picked it up and opened the message without checking who it was from.

 “Last nite was gr8. Thx for the drinks. Want 2 go for round two later?”

 He blinked and for a moment had to think back to what he had actually done last night. Last time he’d checked, he’d been home, alone, too exhausted to even think of doing anything exciting. He’d done laundry and the highlight had been going for groceries. However, he was quite sure he hadn’t done drinks or anything remotely fun over there.

 Before he could even respond to the message or think if he wanted to respond, there was a second message that came in the form of an attachment.

 Edward wouldn’t have opened it, in case it was spam or malware, however, it seemed he’d forgotten to turn his data off and so the photo loaded itself.

 And, well, he was bored and the glitter caught his attention and – at least this – handsome stranger – pretty stranger – wasn’t naked. He was allowed to look. Respectfully.

 The stranger had very nice hair. Very nice curly hair and perfect full lips that were set in a very attractive grin and –

 He had no idea who this person was.

 “Well, I’m glad you had fun last night, but unfortunately, it wasn’t with me. ☹” He texted back. He felt bad for the – guy. Sure, it was a little bold to just – send a photo to a stranger, but he supposed that in his defense, the guy thought he was sending it to the person he’d been out with last night. At least the photo was only just flirty. He’d gotten worse.

“What?! That jackass gave me the wrong number?! Ugh. How typical. Anyways, what are you up to?”

 Edward read the message twice. He could politely ignore it and go back to his ordinary day, or he could – go along with whatever this was and see where it went. If it got weird, he could block the number and have a new anecdote to tell his friends next time he saw them.

 “Kind of stuck on a work project. You?”

 It took a few minutes for the answer to come in and at this point, Edward was more invested in this conversation than with his project.

 “Was rly hoping to go out 2nite and now reevaluating my options... I’m Étienne by the way. Hello, stranger!”

 Edward laughed. He wondered if he should give his real name back and figured he had a common enough name. Plus, Étienne sounded too normal of a name for it to be a bot. Or, at least, he hoped.

 “Hello to you too; I’m Edward. What parts of the world are you in, if I may ask?” He was genuinely curious. The area code wasn’t from around here and he was too lazy to check. Plus, it gave him something to ask and he could always double-check as safety afterwards.

 “Og from MTL but currently in Edmonton. You??????”

 It explained the foreign number and if Edward was a little bit pleased that Étienne was in Edmonton, well, no one needed to know.

 “Og from Edmonton and currently in Edmonton.”

 “!!!!!!!!!! New friend from Edmonton!!! Hi!!!!!”

 Edward cracked a smile at the enthusiasm, even if it was a bit – much. He then wondered if he wasn’t talking to some minor, even though Étienne had originally opened up with the message about the drinks. Still, he panicked, wondering if maybe this wasn’t some great scheme to catch him and throw him to jail for coming off as a predator or some sorts and decided to ask. To be safe. Sure, people could lie, but... he’d at least could say he tried.

 “B4 this gets weird or wtv, are u an adult? i am but wanna make sure n all. I can send u a pic to prove im real.”

 “K well u already have a pic. But yeah. Im real. And not trying to be weird. Sorry if this is weird. I rly thought I was texting my date from last night. Lol.”

 Edward wanted to respond to Étienne, but it seemed the other was on a texting roll and so he waited a bit before answering.

 “No worries and for the record, yes I am an adult.”

 “Gr8. Also. I may be a lil high and a lil drunk and – well yeah. Hahaha”

 “Shit. I hope youre not a cop ahahaha.”

 Edward looked at his watch and quirked an eyebrow. It was a little bit early to be a “lil drunk and a lil high” but – then again, who was he to judge? He’d had his days...

 “Your secret is safe with me.” He hesitated before pressing send, wanting to add an emoji but afraid it would mean too much. He re-read the conversation and figured that he could. He was having fun, after all and he could – flirt with Étienne. Or whatever. He could – have a fun conversation. Granted, he had no idea if Étienne was into men, but he didn’t have to tell him either.

 He was probably over thinking.

 He added the winky face emoji and was ready to call it a day if Étienne thought it was too weird. Plus, they were still technically strangers. Étienne had no idea what he looked like. They’d never even met and they most likely never would.

 “Ure totally cooler than my lame date last night. True MVP.”

 “Thought you’d had fun on your outing last night?”

 “I did. But I’ve been stood up. Or – wtv this is. Wrong numbered. So. Now I am alone and with no plans. L maybe u can help?????”

 Edward had no idea why, but his cheeks heated up some and well, he wanted to see where this could go. What help did Étienne want and need? He’d seen the photo of Étienne – the one with the pretty hair and pretty green eyes...

 “Well, I’m not sure there’s much I can do, I’m afraid...”

 “Ure a local. U can totally tell me where to go. U can help me be less bored as well:D”

 Edward blinked. He wasn’t sure if Étienne meant it as an – invitation of sorts or if it was some type of proposition for – well, something else. It was hard to say. He’d watched too many pornos where it was the later, but at the same time, he could be completely wrong. Plus, if Étienne was trying to flirt him into bed, Edward wondered if Étienne had understood that he was well – not a girl.

 He didn’t want to string the poor fellow for too long. Étienne seemed to have had a day – or night. Or, well, both.

 “I mean, I wouldn’t mind, but also, I’m not a woman.”

 “I know this is weird n all and I swear im not usually this forward but I would love some company if ure down.”

 Edward paused. This was a little – forward and part of his brain reminded him that this could very well be a scam of sorts. He did a quick check on the phone number and didn’t get any results saying not to trust the number. Still, he wanted to be cautious, no matter how curious he was. Sure, he had hooked up with strangers in the past, but usually, he had either seen then beforehand at the club he was at, or he’d met them through an app. Not that he’d always had stellar encounters, but.

 “Well, I had plans on getting ice cream later tonight. I know it’s not a hot date or drinks, but we could meet there. And also, again, for the record, I’m very much a guy. In case you’re expecting some hot girl.”

  He figured he’d reiterate, in case Étienne hadn’t seen his previous message. He also figured that he could throw the ball in Étienne’s court and – hope for the best. The ice cream parlour was neutral enough and in the worst case scenario, he still got ice cream out of it.

 “I love ice cream! Might not be drinks but it can turn into a hot date ;) idc if ure a dude. Dudes are also hot J im sure ure totally hot. when r u free???? We can meet now if u want.”

 Suddenly nervous, but also a little excited, Edward took a moment to really think this through. Was he really about to go out and meet up with some stranger? Was this wise? He figured this was as prudent as all the strangers he’d brought home from clubs, bars and hookup apps, yet this felt – more dangerous. Somehow. Yet – he wanted to. He wanted to go to the ice cream parlour and at the very least, meet up with Étienne. See what he looked like. Eat ice cream and hopefully laugh the whole silly thing off afterwards.

 “Perhaps around 4h30? I need to finish this work thing and then I need to get there. I can text you the address.”

 “Sure. Change into something pretty then ;) see u later.”

 Edward’s cheeks ran hot again and he really hoped this would end well. “Haha, I’ll try. I’ll meet you by the entrance. I’ll be wearing a dark navy jacket.”

 (In the end, the meeting went well. Sure, it was a little surreal and strange, but Étienne turned out to be a genuinely nice guy. He was even prettier in person – and funnier and Edward found himself drawn to him nearly instantly. They clicked and spent the better part of the evening getting to know one another over their ice creams. When it got later still and Edward noticed that they’d been sitting there together for over four hours, he tentatively asked Étienne if he’d like to go out for drinks, for real. Étienne beamed and agreed. The rest would come later.)

 FIN