#it goes back to childhood but uh. yeah. not my cup of tea.

[helianskies]

guess who's now going to the panto with a bunch of school kids bc they needed the extra help and i can't say no to my mum

[siren-dragon]

After Eight -- The Cat Returns fanfic:

So... I had a Ghibli movie marathon recently and remembered my old childhood OTP of Haru and the Baron. Then I read a few fanfics by @catsafarithewriter and landed in another fandom abyss, lol. And that later spawned this au one-shot from a prompt I read. Anyway, this is my first time publishing anything for another fandom so hopefully it’s good. Enjoy! ^_^

AO3 story link

Human AU -- “I need to finish my term paper and you’re the only 24-hour internet cafe open. Help me.”

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The front door of their small flat closed with a soft click as Haru shrugged her backpack higher onto her shoulder and soon hurried down the corridor and out onto the streets with a determined step. To be fair, Hiromi and Tsuge did try their best to accommodate her as she stared helplessly at her computer screen within her bedroom while they giggled and chatted on the sofa. And though Haru managed to continue through her term paper despite the late hour; her concentration quickly began to wane while the tell-tale sounds of snogging managed to reach her ears despite the closed bedroom doors. So, she rather quickly decided to pack up her supplies and laptop, stuff them into her school bag, and exit the flat in an attempt to find somewhere quiet.

Of course, she didn’t really consider the fact that a) it was 10 in the evening on a Friday and b) she would need wifi if she were going to try and continue her paper.

“There has to be somewhere open…” she groaned, having passed another bar filled with her fellow college students enjoying the beginning of their weekend. “Why are there so many bars everywhere?!”

After traversing the streets for a good 20 minutes, all the while debating if she could chance stealing the wifi from a late-night McDonalds, the brunette soon found herself pausing to stare at the building her feet seemed to have led her to. It was a rather quaint building, reminiscent of European cafes with it’s white and green paint and black sunshade. Written beside the glass and wooden doors was a simple plaque with the words The Cat Bureau scrawled across in dark lettering. However, it was the petite sticker smacked boldly on the corner of one of the windows with a drawing of a cat on a laptop reading “free wifi” that nearly made Haru weep tears of joy.

“Oh, thank God; an internet café!” she beamed with delight before hurrying inside.

If she thought the outside was charming, the interior was spectacular. Alongside the windows were various tables with off-set white tablecloths and a small flower vase as a centerpiece, while opposite sat a wrap-around wooden bar complete with stools. The entire room was bathed in a warm, golden glow from the hanging antique light fixtures and Haru couldn’t help but be captured by the small café. “Wow, this place is beautiful…”

“You are too kind Miss,” an accented voice chimed, causing her to swivel to the source.

Standing behind the countertop was a man, perhaps a few years older than Haru herself, offering her a kind smile with a rag in hand. Though Haru was practically half-asleep due to exhaustion and the creeping energy withdrawals her last study-snack tried to prevent, even she couldn’t deny how attractive the man was. Slightly tousled tawny locks and vivid green eyes stared back at her with an intensity that caused her face to take a distinct pink tint. His attire was a bit formal, what with the crimson vest and collared shirt with a bowtie- though his black apron and rolled sleeves didn’t undercut the professional appearance.

“Erm, I’m sorry- were you closing soon? I can leave if you want. It’s just that I saw you had free wifi and I needed a space where I could finish my term paper…”

The man gave a gentle laugh, “no worries Miss, this is a 24-hour café; stay as long as you like. The Bureau doesn’t often receive customers on Friday evenings, what with many preferring venues that serve alcohol.”

Haru grinned, “you’re a life saver. And this place, I’ve never seen such an amazing café before.”

“Thank you, and please sit wherever you like. Make yourself at home. Is there anything you would perhaps like to order?”

Taking a spot at one of the tables near the window, Haru immediately glanced at the menu resting upon the table, looking over the pamphlet for something cheap that would keep her awake. She was rather impressed by the modest selection- ranging from teas and beverages to cakes, sandwiches, and even a few pastries. “I’ll just have a cup of the house blend tea, please.”

The man smiled, “as you wish.”

If the food wasn’t going to bring her back here, the charming waiter certainly was- though as quickly as the thought crossed her mind Haru prayed her internal feelings didn’t make themselves known with the reddening of her face.

Quickly pulling out her laptop and research materials, in an attempt to finish her work and not stare at the handsome waiter, Haru set to work on trying to finish her paper. The quiet atmosphere gave a rather calm and ideal setting, allowing the brunette student’s work to continue at a steady pace. On occasion Haru would steal a glance to the waiter as he set about making her order, humming a gentle tune under his breath before returning to her paper. It was only when the cup and teapot was set gently beside her did Haru startle from her concentration while another plate- this one bearing a slice of angel food cake with whip cream and strawberries found it’s place beside her tea cup.

“Oh! Um, but I didn’t order-“

“On the house,” the man smoothly replied. “Besides, nothing goes better with tea than some angel food cake.”

Haru giggled, saving her work before closing the laptop and setting it aside for the meanwhile. “Thank you very much.” Pour a dash of milk into the cup, she raised it for a tentative sip and blinked in surprise. “Woah, that’s got to be the best tea I’ve ever tasted.”

“You flatter me with your kind words, Miss.”

“Wait, did you make this from scratch?”

The waiter laughed, “indeed I did. That’s my own personal blend, though it tends to be a little different each time so I’m afraid I can’t guarantee the taste.”

“Well, it’s certainly better than the school’s local Starbucks.” Haru complimented, making the man grin. “Did you make the cake as well?”

“Unfortunately, no. While I am no stranger to the kitchen, that particular cake was made by our resident chef Muta. He has a penchant for sweets which has earned quite a following from the locals.”

“I don’t blame them, if the cakes are as good as the tea- I don’t think I’ll be able to go anywhere else.”

This time the man gave a teasing smirk, “and here I thought it was the free wifi drawing in customers.”

Haru laughed, “well, it certainly did help. I’d take a quiet café with wonderful tea over my small flat and a roommate making out with her boyfriend any day.”

“Well, that certainly would cause a bit of a distraction to a working student. If that’s the case, feel free to stay as long as you like Miss.”

“Haru,” she answered back. “My name, it’s Haru.”

He gave her a soft smile that made Haru’s stomach do nervous flips as bright green eyes met her own warm caramel irises. “Humbert von Gikkingen, at your service but please; call me Baron.”

Now it was Haru’s turn to give a small smirk. “So, Baron… this teapot looks like there is enough for another cup or two. Maybe, you would like to share it?”

This time it was Baron’s turn to flush the faintest pink before giving a rather delighted grin and retrieving another cup from behind the counter and taking the seat across from her. “I would be honored. After all, nothing makes a cup of tea better than sharing it with a rather fetching young woman.”

If Haru’s face wasn’t red before, it certainly was now- and judging from the slight mirth dancing in Baron’s eyes, the warmth of her face was easy to spot.

 =========================================================

“I didn’t even know we had a 24-hour internet café near the campus.” Hiromi commented in confusion, “must have been nice since you didn’t come back till after midnight.”

“Hey, I was giving you and Tsuge some space so I could work on my paper.”

Hiromi grinned, “uh huh, then why were you frantically typing this morning in an attempt to finish it? Maybe you got distracted on your little night excursion.”

“Yes, by tea and cake.” Haru answered dryly, trying to keep calm and prevent a tell-tale blush to creep up her face. “Trust me Hiromi, you’ll love the place.”

“Alright Haru, I- hey is this the place?”

The two girls stopped in front of the familiar white and green painted café, same black sunshade up though this time there were a few tables set up outside and a few more customers than the previous night. However, this time, a waitress with white-blonde hair and a pink ribbon around her neck was serving customers outside while inside a tall and thin black-haired man clad in the similar formal attire Baron wore yesterday tend to the waiting patrons. Yet she couldn’t hide the small frown at the lack of Baron’s presence, wondering if perhaps he only covered the evening shift.

It was then did she finally hear Hiromi’s laughter, when the chestnut-haired brunette pointed to a sign on the door. “Haru, you did read the sign before you went in this place last night, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

She merely silently pointed to the hours of operation, which clearly stated that the café was only open from 09:00 AM – 10:00 PM, with it opening later in the morning on Sundays. Haru felt her jaw drop slightly as her face turned cherry red while Hiromi merely laughed louder.

Of course, she did get a slight just desserts when the two friends were seated inside and Haru noticed Baron nearly fly out of the kitchen, hastily tying his black apron before catching her gaze. The black-haired waiter was whispering frantically to him while Baron looked to be offering some polite apology. Though when he caught Haru’s eye he couldn’t help the knowing smile on his face while Haru gave a rather sheepish look as he approached the table to take their order.

“Welcome back, Miss Haru. I hope your paper was a success.”

“Yeah, it really was…. Especially after the extra 2 ½ hours I worked on it last night.” She said with an embarrassed groan. “I am so sorry for butting into your café last night. If I knew you were closed I would have left and-“

“Think nothing of it, you needed somewhere to work and I was happy to help.” Baron replied with a kind, though slightly tired smile from the previous evenings unintentional long shift. “Perhaps… I could suggest another cup of our house blend in the name of bygones?”

Haru gave a shy smile, “yes please.”

“Make it two,” Hiromi added. “And whatever pastry you would recommend.”

“Certainly. I shall return momentarily, ladies.”

As Baron returned to the counter, Hiromi waited perhaps 2.1 seconds before whirling upon Haru with a large grin reminiscent of a satisfied shark. “Do you think he’ll write his number on the napkin for you to take home?”

While Haru didn’t make a point of causing scenes in public places, she couldn’t help flicking a sugar cubes at her friend’s laughing face. Though judging from the laughter dancing in Baron’s vibrant emerald eyes and the tint of pink dusting his cheeks, she wouldn’t be complaining if that was the case.

[auspicious-lilana]

Two Cats, One Heart (Chat Noir x reader)

Summary: Y/n Ross and Adrian Agreste are childhood best friends, they’ve been through thick and thin, including losing their mom, and dad. Since then Y/n’s mom made her live with Adrian at his mansion and forever leaving her life. Watch as their lives Change as they become the new heroes of Paris alongside Ladybug and see how Romance sprouts between the two models.

Part 1 |  Part 2 |  Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7  | Part 8

Warnings:  It’s a bit long hehe? 

"And now I'm pretty sure Chat doesn't like me the same way I like him." I finished explaining everything to him.

Adrian and I were sitting on my couch, Alpha in the coffee table in front of us munching away his brownies.

"What makes you think that?" Adrian asked.

"For one, besides the usual flirt banters, He didn't show anything that could give me a hint that he likes me back."

"I think he does like you."

"How do you know?" Adrian seemed a bit stuck, looking around for an answer.

"Since you've been pretty honest with your secret, I guess I can't keep mine without feeling guilty." Adrian sighed.

"What secret?" I got more confused as he took out a piece of cheese. "Wait, is that what you kept reeking of?"

"Yes, It's the only thing he eats, every single time." I got more confused.

"Who's he?"

"How much longer are you going to play dumb?" Alpha asked while chewing as I cringed. "He means his kawami, Plagg."

"First of all, Don't talk while you eat. I thought I told you that a hundred times Alpha." I scolded before turning to Adrian before it dawned on me as I saw a little black cat attached to the cheese in his hand. "If you have a kawami then it'd mean you're..."

"Yes," Adrian nodded. "I'm Chat Noir." I felt myself blushing, realizing I had just rambled about my crush on Chat Noir...to Chat Noir!?

"You...I...Wait, that explains why you're always going near my locations to change back." I remembered. "Who knew,"

"I thought you were planning to try and sneak a peek at my identity." Adrian chuckled. "But you were just trying to get home too."

"So...When you said Chat Noir likes me back..." I looked to my side, trying to hide my blush.

"Yes, I meant I liked you too, a lot."

"Hey, Plagg. I got a little spot I hide whenever these two get all lovey-dovey, wanna eat there?" Alpha offered, noticing Plagg's disgust.

"Don't have to ask me twice." The two kawami's made their way out as Adrian and I rolled our eyes.

"What happens now?" I asked.

"Well, this is normally the part where we umm, we...kiss." We inched closer to each other as he grabbed my arm to lead me closer to his face, I looked to admire his features, fluttering my eyes shut as we touched lips.

"This counts as us now Girlfriend and Boyfriend, right?" I whispered.

"Of course."

***

"Agent Smith, It's too dangerous! We must evacuate!" Adrian exclaimed as he and Mylène were crouching behind the teacher's desk, water guns in hand.

Our class was filming a movie for a project and Adrian and Mylène were the voted leads. I was going to be the lead girl but I wanted to work behind the scenes, so I play the role of the Assistant Director, while also Mylène's understudy if anything were to happen.

"You're suggesting we run, Officer Jones?" Mylène asked with a determined look. "After it devoured my family, my friends, and even my beloved dog, Sniffles?" She dramatically stood up. "Never! I won't run! I no longer fear it, I'm going to face it, then I'll-" Ivan loomed over as scripted with a monster mask, roaring as best as he could as Mylène broke character and screamed in fear, hiding under the table as Adrian and I looked at her worried.

"Sorry, Mylène." Ivan apologized, taking the mask off.

"Mylène! That's like, the tenth take." Nino scolded, frustrated as he rubbed his forehead. "And we're only on the first scene!"

"Fourteenth actually." Alix corrected, holding up a count from her seat in the back. "But who's counting."

"Ughh..."

"I'm...sorry." Mylène apologized, getting out from under. "I'm gonna do better on the next take, I promise." Juleka was reapplying blush, fixing Adrian's look.

"Anyone want some tea?" Rose offered, holding a portable kettle.

"You're playing a hero from the special forces. You're not supposed to get all freaked out!" Nino lectured.

"I know, but...that monster mask he's wearing is so...realistic and scary!"

"Just big ol' me, Mylène." Ivan stuck his fingers through the eyes of the mask, show how harmless it was. "Nothing to be scared of."

"You ask me, he doesn't even need a mask," Chloé said, laughing with Sabrine as I frowned at her.

"Does it hurt you to be a little bit nicer, Chloé?" I asked.

"Ivan, put the mask back on, you're playing the monster!" Nino demanded. "And Mylène, we need you to stay in character!" Ivan put the mask back on, causing Mylène to get scared.

"I need to sing my happy song, it always makes me feel better." Mylène took a deep breath as she began singing to herself, slowly stepping back. "Smelly Wolf, Smelly wolf." I felt Alpha scoff from my pocket, muttering his offense at her song. "stinky breath and slimy--" She bumped into Adrian, suddenly jumping back, shrieking in fear.

"And the Oscar for the best pathetic scaredy-cat afraid of its own shadow goes to...Mylène!" Chloé laughed, making Mylène feel worse as Adrian looked at her, disappointed.

"Chloé, seriously?" Adrian asked.

"Yeah, so what?" Mylène ran out of the classroom, crying.

"Mylène!" Marinette shouted. "Anyone gonna go after her?" Ivan ran after Mylène, calling out her name as he took the mask off.

"Epic, Chloé! Just Epic!" Nino sarcastically exclaimed. "What are we supposed to do now without our leading actress?"

"Who needs her, anyway?" Chloé scoffed. "She was totally lame!"

"You're lame!" Ivan shouted, coming back in. "Mylène is crying her eyes out on the bathroom thanks to you!"

"Me, Lame?"

"Hey, Hey!" I came in. "Fighting over this isn't going to get this film done any quicker, We'll find a way to get this done by tonight!"

"As a producer, I'll make sure of it too!" Marinette agreed.

"The Deadline for the Parisian Student Short Film Festival is tomorrow evening, precisely 26 hours, 15 minutes and 14, 13 seconds from now." Max clarified.

"Thank you, Max." I smiled.

"And we still have editing, post-sound, soundtrack..." Marinette listed.

"And who's gonna take Mylène's part?" Adrian asked.

"Um, me of course!" Chloé got up from her seat.

"You haven't even read the script!" Alya argued.

"Of course I have! The first scene anyway, I can even tell you that it ends with a kiss between Agent Smith and Officer Jones!" Chloé batted her eyes at Adrian as he pleadingly looked over at me as I moved next to Nino.

"As Mylène's understudy, I'm the one who's supposed to take her place if anything were to happen. Remember?" I reminded Nino.

"Right." Nino nodded as Marinette screaming, looking at Alya.

"You wrote that?!" She shrieked.

"Hold up!" Alya exclaimed skimming through her script again. "I didn't write that!"

"Uh...I wrote that." Nino admitted. "It was just a little tweak. You know, to move the story forward."

"What! You edited my script without even telling me!" Alya gripped onto the collar of Nino's shirt. "That's low."

"Wait a minute! You mean our script!" Nino argued, removing her hands as Adrian and I sighed before Rose came up to us.

"Juice?" We gratefully took a cup.

"Thanks, Rose." Adrian thanked.

"Guys, it doesn't matter who did anything, we have a film to get done by tonight." I reasoned.

"she's right," Max said. "Principal Damocles is only allowing us to use the school until 6 p.m. sharp. Which leaves us 9 hours, 12 minutes, and 12 seconds. 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6..."

"Adrian and Y/n kissing cannot happen! No way!" Marinette hissed at Alya quietly, as so nobody could hear.

"It makes no sense story-wise anyway." Alya shrugged. "The main character's emotional journey-"

"Hold on!" Marinette ran over to Adrian. "We can't let Mylène just leave just like that! It's...wrong!  We all chose her to play the leading female role! And...we're all in this movie together! She needs our support. I'm gonna go find her and bring her back."

"Always trying to save the day, aren't you, Marinette?" Chloé mocked.

"Wait," I said, holding her arm. "I'll go, you're the producer, you're needed here." I left before she could say anything more, missing the satisfied look on her face.

{Third POV}

"Nice going, Miss Producer." Nino sarcastically remarked. "Now we have no lead again!"

"Yeah, but now we'll be able to go look for our real lead!" She argued, hiding her intentions of just wanting to keep Adrian kissing Y/n out of jealousy.

"I told you. Tick tock, there's no time! We need a lead now!"

"Marinette can do it!" Alya exclaimed as Adrian got uncomfortable at the thought of kissing a different girl.

"What?! No! I can't act. I'm... the producer." Marinette started furiously blushing.

"But you wanna kiss Adrien, don't you?" Alya whispered to her as Marinette glanced at Adrian who mentally hoped Y/n can get back in time.

{Y/n's POV}

"Mylène!" I called out as I entered the Bathroom. "Mylène?!" I looked to see nobody was there, missing the monster feet in one of the stalls as I noticed the mirror was covered in some sort of slime.

"Wow," Alpha gasped, peeking out from my pocket to take a look. "I knew you girls were disgusting in terms of love, but I didn't think you guys were that disgust- hey!" I glared at the little wolf, shoving him back in my pocket with a finger.

"She isn't here." I noticed, "Didn't Ivan said she'd be in the bathroom? This is the only girl's bathroom in this half of the school, she should be here."

"I think that slime might have something to do with this."

"I can't find her on my own, I'll have to get the others to help look for her. I have a feeling crying wasn't the only thing she was doing in here."

"Wow, the best idea ever!" Alpha sarcastically praised. "Not like it was the only choice you had!" I shoved him back down my pocket as I had an eerie feeling as I ran back to the classroom.

"Guys!" I shouted, seeming to have boast through the door right before Marinette could kiss Adrian, who was trying to prolong the kiss as long as he could, relieved at my interruption as Nino shouted Cut. "Mylène isn't in the bathroom, we need to find her. I think something might be going on- wait, Where's Max and Kim?" Right as I asked, we heard two screams. "Did you all hear that?"

"Loud and clear." Adrian nodded.

"We better scope this out," Marinette said as everyone ran to the source of the scream.

"A fruity snack for the road?" Rose offered.

Nino began recording them, following me as I noticed something on the floor.

"Hey! Anybody here?" Adrian shouted. "Kim! Max! Where are you guys?!"

"Wait, I felt like I saw the same pink goo...the bathroom!" It finally clicked as Adrian came up to me, picking up the armband covered in goo.

"That's Kim's!" He exclaimed.

"They vanished!" Nathaniel began panicking.

"Or they're playing a sick joke on us." Alya scoffed.

"We should go to Principal Damocles's office and tell him what's going on!" Marinette declared, She then noticed Nino was filming everything. "Nino, come on! Stop Filming!"

"Not a chance! This is just getting good!" I took the chance to slip away from the class quietly.

{Third POV}

Adrian had tried to slip away with Y/n but soon got caught by his best friend.

"Yo, Adrian!" Nino called out.

"I left Officer Jone's jacket back there!" He quickly came with an excuse. "Should probably wear it in all the scenes." Nino nodded as the rest of the students went upstairs, Adrian already running back into the empty classroom which Y/n had already snuck into the other way.

Neither noticing the Horrificator Akuma, a slimy monster start gooing the entire school roof, doors, and windows to keep them shut-in.

"This is the first time transforming with another person in the room." Y/n admitted, feeling a bit nervous and awkward for some reason.

"Then we better get used to it." Adrian winked.

"Hey, your Chat side is already showing!" Y/n pointed out as Alpha and Plagg came out from their pockets.

"Y/n, Darling." Alpha calmly called out. "I never ask you to hurry up and transform, it isn't me. but right now, I'm begging you to just transform. I can't stand this lovey scene." Y/n scoffed.

"So um," Adrian awkwardly shifted before he took off his right shoe. "Guess we should first make them think we've vanished."

"Good idea." Y/n nodded her head, reaching to take off her hairpin, throwing it to make it seem like she was struggling as it came off, Adrian doing the same after showing Plagg his shoe, making the small black cat cringe.

"You say I stink of Camembert," Plagg said.

"I mean, you both do." Y/n pointed out as Adrian gave her a look before sighing.

"Plagg, claws out!"

"Alpha, Tails out!"

***

The rest of the students were going into the Principal's office, looking inside to see pink goo around.

"Even Mr.Damocles isn't around," Rose said, worried as Marinette stood outside the door, making sure nobody was looking back before she took out her phone, dropping it on the floor as she ran into the library.

"Time to transform." She quickly said to her little kawami, Tikki. "Tikki, Spots on!"

***

"Anyone seen Agent Smith- I mean Y/n?" Nino asked. "And Marinette too?" They ran out of the office, Alya stopped to see her phone on the floor.

"Oh no," Alya gasped. "This is Marinette's phone."

They soon walked around the entire school, checking the ceiling, windows, doors, to see a pink goo covering them shut.

"We're trapped!" Chloé exclaimed before taking out her phone. "I'm going to call Daddy!"

"Dudes, you know cellphones never work in horror movies." Nino reminded, still filming everything.

"No bars..." Ivan said, checking his phone.

"No coverage!" Nathaniel sadly said along.

"Told you so!" Nino got excited. "Boo-yah!"

"Is everything okay?" Ladybug asked, appearing at the door.

"Ladybug in my movie? This is legit!"

"And on my Ladyblog!" Alya started filming too.

"We've got to calmly evacuate the building, okay everyone?" Ladybug ordered. "

"Easier said than done, Ladybug," Chat said as he and Lady Wolf came jumping down, landing next to Ladybug.

"The place is covered in pink goo, nothing can come in or out." Lady Wolf added.

"Triple Legit!" Nino exclaimed.

"Lady Wolf in the flesh!" Maya grinned, taking her phone out. "This I can't miss, my viewers are gonna eat this up."

"We tried to cut through the goo, but it's no good." Chat Noir explained. "Totally indestructible. So looks like we're trapped inside the school for now. Just stay put and try to relax, guys."

{Y/n's POV}

"Let's talk for a bit," I suggested as Chat and I led Ladybug to the corner of the office, out of the student's sound range.

"We know that Hawkmoth's taken another innocent victim somewhere in this school." Chat said.

"And there's only one way to get rid of the goo and get everyone out of here," Ladybug added.

"And that's to capture the Akuma like always,"

"Exactly." Chat flirtatiously grinned at me. "I love it when you read my mind."

"Ugh," Ladybug playfully groaned, already used to the usual flirty banters of her partners. "But we better find this thing first, and it's prisoners." Before they could say another word, they soon had Nino right behind them, filming them.

"Don't mind me." Nino quickly said. "finding the missing peeps and solving this crazy mystery with Chat Noir, Ladybug, and Lady Wolf...This movie's gonna be so swank!"

"Stay together, right behind us." Ladybug said, walking away before grabbing Nino's arm, pulling him towards her. "Means you too, Spielberg."

***

We were following the trail of pink goo, not noticing Sabrina and Chloé leave their group, running off to hide elsewhere.

We entered the classroom Adrian and I had transformed in, Ladybug noticing Adrian's shoe and my hairpin.

"There!" She exclaimed, picking it up.

"Anyone recognize this shoe and pin?" Chat asked, playing dumb.

"That's Adrian's shoe," Nino exclaimed.

"And that's Y/n's pin, she never goes anywhere without it!" Maya pitched in.

"That's weird." Ladybug said. "There's no pink slime here."

"Yes, there is." Nathaniel pointed out the slime on the desk, kneeling before he got grabbed by a slimy tentacle.

The other students started to step in fear as Nathaniel started panicking. Juleka being the only one who was more awed by the slimy monster than scared.

"Everybody run!" Ladybug shouted as they all ran out of the room, Nino remaining by Chat's side to record and Juleka staying put near the door, admiring the monster which grew larger.

"Awesome." Juleka grinned, the monster roared at Juleka as she seemed a bit taken back before grinning. "So Awesome." I noticed the height difference, it's power. He shrunk when Jeluka wasn't scared?

It spits goo at Juleka but I quickly grabbed her arm and took her out of the classroom before it could touch her.

"Eww!" Chat exclaimed. "What's your name, Drool-lator?" The monster spits goo at him but he spins his staff to avoid any touching him before swinging his staff to remove the slime. "Cats aren't afraid of slimy toads like you."

"We better hurry and find our where that Akuma is hiding!" I exclaimed.

"I don't see anything," Chat exclaimed as they dodged a slime, jumping down the stairs as the students hid in the corner, watching them. "Just miles of slime!" The monster looked at the fear in the kids, growing in size, confirming my suspicions thoughts.

"Fear!" I suddenly shouted, catching Ladybug and Chat's attention. "It grows from fear!" Ladybug ducked tying a yoyo around its leg to a pole as Chat tried to land a hit before he got slimed into the wall, I gasped, going in from behind before getting caught to the wall as well.

The monster then grabbed the yoyo string, pulling in Ladybug before sliming her onto the basketball hoop.

The monster turned and grew as everyone screamed, it approached the class, recognizing Ivan, affectionately licking, grabbing Nathanial (who was released during the fight) and Alix, jumping away.

"Oh no! It took Nath and Alix!" Rose exclaimed. (A/n: No way! what a shock! Not like we just witnessed it happening.)

They soon managed to get out the slime, running to a door to see it was slimed shut.

"Did you see how it only left Ivan alone?" Ladybug mentioned.

"Yeah," Chat agreed. "What's that all about?" I thought about it before remembering what happened earlier, the goo in the bathroom, Mylène's long disappearance.

"The monster has to be Mylène!" I exclaimed. "She was the first to disappear...from what I heard..." I quickly covered up.

"Where are Sabrina and Chloé?" Alya asked, running up to the teen heroes with the small group of students behind her, Nino still recording.

"We'll find them, don't worry." Ladybug reassured. "If we can find a way out of here..." They soon heard Chloé's screams and ran up the stairs, pushing through the doors as something seemed to have been blocking the front of, they looked around to see nothing but a trail of slime.

"We're too late!" Chat exclaimed.

"But look!" I said, pointing to the trail. "We can still follow it!" I lead the group as we were led to a dark workshop.

"I'm so amped!" Nino exclaimed, recording as I was about to open the door before we turned to Nino with a frown.

"Turn your amp down to about 4, will ya?" Chat asked.

"My bad...." Nino sheepishly chuckled as we stood on our guard, slowly opening the door, walking into the cellar, looking at the large blobs of slime.

"Anybody in here?" Ladybug asked, her voice ringing in the room.

"Ladybug, it's me, Chloé Bourgeois!" Chloé cried out.

"Don't worry! We'll get you out!"

"Well, hurry it up!"

"Is everybody here?!" Ladybug, Chat, and I went around, trying to get a count of everyone. "Mr.Damocles."

"Present!"

"Alix?"

"Yeah!"

"Nathanial?"

"Here!"

"Adrian?!" Ladybug started to panic at the silence as Chat froze, "ADRAIN?!" Chat quickly hid behind a goo pod.

"Yeah, Yeah, I'm fine!" He exclaimed. "What about uh Y/n?" I glared at Chat for mentioning my name for everything.

"Y/n?" Ladybug repeated, I hid behind a corner.

"Oh um! I'm here too!" I quickly shouted. "How about Marinette?"

"Yeah! Yeah! We got everyone!" Ladybug exclaimed, tugging on the Goo Pods. "Ugh! they won't budge!"

"Get us out!"

"I can't stay here!"

"Help!"

"Everyone! Try to calm down!" I shouted before a giant slime went past us, covering the door we came in from, the monster jumping down in front of us.

"Okay, now this is getting scary." Ladybug admitted.

Chat distracted it throwing pieces of the goo at it as it tried to attack him, giving Ladybug time to use her powers.

"Lucky Charm!" Guitar strings dropped to her hands. "Guitar strings? Are you kidding me?"

"How would...Mylene's song...." I exclaimed. "Ever heard of Smelly wolf?" I asked Ladybug as she nodded, catching on. While Ladybug used her vision to gather the things needed to make temporary instruments, Chat used his powers to the bars rusted and trap the monster in its place.

"Okay, we're all going to sing!" Ladybug announced, strumming her fingers to the strings attached to a broom and bucket.

"Sing?" Chat asked, jumping down to us. "That's your plan?"

"The only way to get through this to get your fear under control. You all know Smelly Wolf, don't you?"

"Seriously? Smelly Wolf?"

"Care to join us?" I asked, blowing into a pipe to warm up a tune. Chat grinned, making a drum set out of pots and trashcan lids.

They began singing to the monster, their fears slowly going away as the monster shrunk shorter and shorter before it turned cute bite-size, no longer terrifying.

They all walked up to it as it looked up at the students, jumping into Ivan's arms.

"That's the same button I gave to Mylène!" Ivan gasped.

"That's where the Akuma is!" Ladybug exclaimed, taking the pin as she did her thing, breaking the pin. " No more evil-doing for you, little Akuma. Time to de-evilize!" She let it go as it turned into a pretty white butterfly. "Bye-bye, little butterfly." She threw the strings to the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The energy from her power goes around, getting rid of the slime and shifting everything back to normal as the monster turned back into Mylène.

"Pound it!" the three of us exclaimed, fist-bumping before deadpanning as Nino, who surprisingly still was recording came up to us.

"Awesome." He muttered.

***

The movie playing ended with Mylène and Ivan kiss as Nino wore a confident grin, sure he had it in the bag.

"Well, Mr. Mayor. What do you think?"

*** {Third POV} ***

"We didn't make the cut!" Nino complained to the rest. "He said the monster was a horrible replica! Completely unbelievable! No joke!"

"Don't worry, Bud." Adrian placed the hand he wasn't holding Y/n's hand on his shoulder. "This is how all good movie directors start out."

"Learn from mistakes right?" I pitched in.

"Yeah, even if that final wasn't quite what we thought it would be." Alya said, giving Marinette a side glance, the girl was too distracted at looking horrifedly at the intertwined hands of the two models.

"H-hey, anything going on between you two?" Marinette nervously laughed.

"Yeah." Alya thought about the day. "You two have been awfully closer lately."

"We're uh.. Dating?" Adrian got flustered, looking away with a shy smile, neither noticing the heartbroken look on Marinette

"No. Way. Since when?!"

"Around a week ago?" Y/n thought about it.

"I have to go." Marinette ran off, Alya following after.

"I wonder where they're going in a rush?"

"Who knows." Nino shrugged. "But dude, why didn't you tell me? I thought were best buds?"

"It didn't come up."

"What got you to suddenly into each other?" the two looked at each other, chuckling.

"It's a long story,"

Leave some feedback! Have a nice night!/Day/Evening! 

[staysaneathome]

Statement #3 of the Reigen Files (Name Pending)

[CLICK]

ARATAKA REIGEN: “Oh, a computer! Nice, nice, very nice.”

[A clatter of someone dropping into a chair with two much force. The table squeaks as it is nudged out of alignment.]

ARATAKA REIGEN: “How-eh-how’s the, «what’s the word again…» the recorder?”

THE ARCHIVIST: “Fortunately, its cover was just cracked and the tape was fine, no thanks to you.”

ARATAKA REIGEN: [Sucking in air through teeth.] «C-crap.»

ARATAKA REIGEN: “I can pay for a new one?”

THE ARCHIVIST: “It’s fine, Mr. Reigen. Just, just try not to gesticulate too wildly this time, alright?”

ARATAKA REIGEN: “Eh, what is ges-gesti—?”

THE ARCHIVIST: “Oh, damn, uh…Movement. No big movement, like this, right?”

[There’s a faint sound of a hand smacking against plastic.]

THE ARCHIVIST: “Ow! Oh, damn—”

ARATAKA REIGEN: “Sims?”

THE ARCHIVIST: “…At least the laptop’s screen’s fine. So, so no big movement like that, got it?”

ARATAKA REIGEN: “No big movement! Got it!”

[Another clatter as something else on the table is hit.]

THE ARCHIVIST: “…Let’s just get this over with, shall we?”

THE ARCHIVIST: “Statement of Arataka Reigen, regarding…” [Weary Sigh] “…Regarding the time his parents forgot to pack him a lunchbox for a school sports day. Statement is taken directly from subject by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, whose time Mr. Arakata apparently sees fit to waste at his leisure, on June 12th, 2016 at 11:45 AM. Statement begins.”

ARATAKA REIGEN: “Well, I want to say it was maybe…3rd grade in elementary school?”

THE ARCHIVIST: “I beg your pardon?”

ARATAKA REIGEN: “Elementary?” «I’m sure that’s the right word…» “The school you go to when you’re…eight, I think?”

THE ARCHIVIST: “Oh, you mean primary. Right, okay. Please continue.”

ARATAKA REIGEN: «…Okay… I could’ve sworn it was…anyway,» “I was eight years old. It was my school sports day. I was in class 3-B, and we were the red team that year. We had done well that year, because we had Urashima Taro in our class. We didn’t do so well the next year, because he moved down to 4-C, but we had him that year, and he was really strong and the fastest runner put of everyone. Of course, I helped us get a victory over 3-A in the rope-pull, so I was pretty important to our success too. But then lunch time came, and everyone in my class went off with their parents to eat their lunchboxes. You know what it was like in the one hundred and eighties, where everyone’s parents had to work to buy the next meal for the week. Well, my mom and my dad could not come because both of them were working that day. But I guess both of them had forgot to tell each other that? So after the rope tug, I went to go have lunch like all my classmates, only no one was there. And they’d both forgotten to pack me something to eat on my own, even? So I was just staring at everyone else eating, with their mommies and daddies, and feeling really, really hungry. And it was weird, because my vision got kinda…«what’s the word…» fuzzy? Like I was in a…«mist», you know? When clouds come down to where you can see and it goes all white?”

THE ARCHIVIST: “You mean foggy?”

ARATAKA REIGEN: “Foggy!” «That’s the word, I need to remember that for next time…» “Yeah, yeah, foggy. And I am in the foggy, staring at all these people, but they are hard to see. Hard to hear. Almost like I’m the only real person and they’re just…extras? Like in a movie? And I’m really, really hungry, and I’m wishing I had some…some food. Or a person to talk to, like everyone else. And then there was a hand on my shoulder. It really scared me, because I thought I was alone! It was Tanaka-sensei, my…«…I know this!» Ah! Homeroom teacher! Yeah, yeah, homeroom teacher. And he was scared because he saw me just staring at everyone, not moving, and Tanaka-sensei asked me where my parents were. And I said they weren’t here, and I had no lunchbox. So Tanaka-sensei gave me his banana and peanut butter sandwich, because I had no lunch. It was pretty good. But what I learned most on that day was that it was okay if your mom or dad or whoever takes care of you didn't show up, even if it was to something important to you. Because there are other adults who will care, even if they aren’t them, and that’s okay. But when you’re an adult, and you have a kid like that, you gotta do your best to be like Tanaka-sensei was to you to them. It’s what being an adult means. I have students like that, and I made sure to make Mob a peanut butter and banana sandwich when he was training for his club. Tome’s allergic to peanuts though, so she prefers cheese and egg sandwiches.”

ARATAKA REIGEN: “I have some pictures of Mob in his club, wanna see?

THE ARCHIVIST: “That’s quite alright Mr. Reigen, I—”

ARATAKA REIGEN: [Clearly ignoring his protests] “Yeah, see, here, this is Mob training for his first race! He was so excited for it, and he did super good, even if he ended up tripping at the start! He was «74th» in his year! Wait, I have a video here—”

THE ARCHIVIST: [Slightly desperately] “Is this really necessary—”

[Slightly tinny sound of a video being played through a phone’s speakers. There’s the sound of clamorous cheering in Japanese, in concert with wild and slightly too enthusiastic applause. Faint sounds of people running are audible beneath the sounds of support. Reigen’s voice calling out for Mob is much louder than anyone else’s.]

THE ARCHIVIST: “Ah. How lovely.”

ARATAKA REIGEN: «Right?» “Mob’s on the track and field team at Tokyo U now! He’s in his second year.” [A wistful sigh]«They grow up too fast… I remember when he barely came up to my knee, when he first came into my office…»

THE ARCHIVIST: “That’s very nice, Mr. Reigen. But if we’re quite finished?”

ARATAKA REIGEN: “Well, I guess—”

THE ARCHIVIST: “Wonderful. Why don’t you go and wait in the bullpen and Martin will fix you a cup of tea? We’ll be sure to look into this and see if it is anything more than childhood drivel and get back to you, posthaste.”

[Clatter of someone being not so gently guided out of their chair and shown the door]

ARATAKA REIGEN: “Okay? Wait, what does ‘drivel’ mea—”

[The door slamming shut in his face cuts off the end of his sentence.]

THE ARCHIVIST: “Oh thank God.”

[Slow trudging steps of someone shouldering a burden too heavy for their shoulders and slumping into their chair with more force than strictly necessary. The table squeaks in complaint again.]

THE ARCHIVIST: “I need a pay raise. Some similarities to Naomi Herne’s statement, but honestly I expect that’s more a result of Mr. Reigen’s sense of melodrama than anything else. Honestly, if Elias expects me to entertain these frivolities…”

[A pause. Shuffling as papers and miscellaneous pens and other utensils are shunted aside before audio quality suddenly increases.]

THE ARCHIVIST: “Wh-? What’s this doing here? And it’s…running?”

THE ARCHIVIST: “Ugh, MARTIN! How many times have I told you, we only have a limited supply of these tapes, we can’t afford to leave them running them willy-nilly, honestly—!”

[CLICK]

[loversamongus]

Coffee, Chills, and Closeness | modern!Zuko x reader

a/n: I was really happy with the way Friends, Fevers, and Family Movies came out so I decided to write a sequel to it in which you now have to take care of a sick, grumpy, little Zuko. I just really love good ol’ fluff.

warnings: characters sick with the flu; some language

words: 2.2k

After a few more days of bed rest and bowls of Katara’s special flu season homemade soup, you were starting to feel much better. The color reappeared in your face, the bounce returned to your step, and clarity chased out the dizziness in your head. Your best friends noticed your change in health and mood almost immediately.

“Must be my soup,” Katara said as you bounced past her in the kitchen to reach your cereal. You couldn’t help but question a knowing look in her eye. You raised an eyebrow in response.

“Or maybe just some good nights of sleep,” she continued. “You’ve had a smile plastered on your sleepy face for a couple nights now.”

“I’m gonna ignore the fact that you’ve been watching me sleep and eat my breakfast now, if you don’t mind.”

But what Katara said couldn’t be completely ignored, no. You don’t often remember your dreams, but recently you’ve been able to remember one recurring image that has appeared in your subconscious for the last few nights in a row. A certain shaggy haired, golden eyed someone kissing your forehead, just the remembrance of the sensation is enough to give you the chills again. Of course, there were cowboy dolls and astronaut action figures dancing in the background so the mushiness of the dream didn’t last too long.

It’s funny how the nostalgia of your childhood could wiggle its way into any dream, conversation, or movie night decision. You didn’t have a particularly cushy childhood but it was stable enough compared to your friends. While little you sat on the floor of your living room rewatching The Lion King for the umpteenth time, Sokka and Katara were mourning the loss of their mother, Aang was shouldering enormous responsibility that isolated him from his grammar school friends, Toph was being sheltered and completely restricted from most activities by her parents, and Zuko. Well Zuko hasn’t shared much about his childhood with you but the parts he did definitely weren’t filled with faith, trust, and pixie dust.

Your thoughtful reminiscing was quickly interrupted by Sokka barging through the front door, carrying three cups of Jasmine Dragon tea. While handing one cup to his sister and one cup to you, a devilish smirk grew on his face.

“You got your boyfriend sick.”

“My what?”

“You heard me. Iroh told me he came in for his shift all wheezing and hacking and snivelly and had to send him home. Sounds a lot like someone I know.”

“I- Sokka, Zuko isn’t my boyfriend. “

“Yeah, yeah, and I’m not the funniest, sexiest, strongest, most talented man on the planet.”

You heard Katara nearly choke on her orange juice and you reached to pat her on the back before grabbing your wallet and house keys.

“Okay well, I don’t have time to unpack all of that with you. I have to get to the diner.”

At this point, Sokka had already made his bowl of cereal and with a very full mouth, he seemed to be talking to his spoon more so than you. “That’s because you know it’s Zuko.”

“What?”

“I said tell Suki I love her!”

With a roll of your eyes, you headed out the door. For a few moments, you grumbled to yourself over the annoyance of Sokka’s teasing. But very quickly into your walk to the diner, a wave of guilt rushed over you. Zuko is sick with the flu. You knew you shouldn’t have snuggled up to him or cried on his shoulder while watching Toy Story 2!

“Okay but it’s not all my fault. He’s the one that kissed me on my feverish forehead. That was a mistake,” you mumbled to yourself.

Once at the diner, you headed to the workroom to get your apron but before starting the breakfast shift, you took out your phone to send a quick text.

hey heard you were sick :( how ya doing?

Not a minute goes by before you get a response.

Uncle exaggerates. I’m completely fine.

Letting out a sigh, you wonder how you could have met anyone as stubborn as you. The small smile forming on your lips is quickly erased by the sound of your manager calling for you to get on the floor. Your sick friend would have to wait.

The morning shift started out the same as it always had, and you were grateful for the routine after being out sick for the past week. A couple of the regulars welcomed you back with warm smiles and kind tips, while you still made sure to avoid small talk with some of the other diner patrons. Seriously, what was up with that cabbage obsessed man? The morning hours seemed to fly by with ease. Just as you were refilling a coffee pot, however, your calm routine was shattered when you noticed a very pale, black-haired man slouched over one of your tables.

“What are you doing here?” you whisper-yelled at him before passing his table to refill one of your other table’s coffee mugs.

“Getting some breakfast,” he whispered back, propping his droopy head up on his hand.

“Well it’s almost lunch now, you idiot.”

“Getting some brunch then.” A dopey smile appeared on his face but you could see in his eyes that he must not have slept well last night.

“Zuko,” you said, almost scolding. “You shouldn’t be here. You have the flu.”

“I do not. I’m just tired. Can I have some coffee, please?”

“If you’re just tired, why do you sound all congested?” you asked as you poured some coffee for him.

“Allergies,” he replied simply but unconvincingly.

“Oh my god, Zuko,” you began to raise your voice but immediately regretted it when you saw your friend raise his hands to his head. A migraine no doubt, the memory of those still fresh in your head from your own bout with the flu. Lowering your voice, you spoke to him again.

“Why did you come here when you’re sick?”

“It’s Tuesday. I always come in for breakfast on Tuesdays to see you.”

Goddamnit. After being out for a week, you completely lost track of what day it was. Also goddamnit again. Zuko really dragged himself out just to keep up this little ritual even though he looks AWFUL. Okay, not completely awful because somehow even when he’s sick, the way he looks at you could give you chills and suddenly you’re remembering that forehead kiss again and--

“Excuse me, miss? Can I get some more orange juice?”

“Yes, of course. One moment please,” you snap out of your thoughts and reply to your waiting tables.

Before going over to satisfy your customer’s request, however, you turn back to Zuko with a gentle smile. “I’ll bring you some toast and some fruit. I’m sure that’s all you’ll be able to keep down anyways.”

It didn’t take long for the kitchen to fill Zuko’s order and once it was complete, you headed back over to his direction. You had to stop right in your tracks for a moment though and take in the picture before you. In the booth sat a sleepy little Zuko still perched up on his hand but his eyes have fluttered shut. Noiselessly, you place down his plate of toast and fruit in front of him and gently nudge his shoulder to wake him up.

“Hey, sleepyhead. Eat as much as you can. I’ve got one more table to take care of before my shift ends. Then you can drive me home. If you can stay awake, that is.”

“Mmmmmm thanks,” he muttered into his hand. 

You left him to pick at his food while you finished up with your last table. When you returned to Zuko about twenty minutes later, you jokingly congratulated him on eating half of his toast and a couple pieces of cantaloupe-- probably more than you had eaten when you had the flu yourself. As you started taking away his plate, you caught Zuko reaching into his pocket to take out his wallet. Knowing what little you actually served him, you stopped him before he could take out more bills than was necessary.

“No, stop. We talked about this. I don’t take tips from friends.”

“It’s only fair and it’s the right thing to do.”

“No. You took care of me when I was sick, that covers it fine.”

“How ‘bout another tip? You should wear your hair up more often. It looks nice like that.”

“Here’s one for you. You’re delirious. Give me your keys, I’m driving.”

With that, your shift was over and you were gathering your things to go home. Zuko did manage to put up a little bit of a fight over letting you drive but once you shot him your “I’m serious, mister” look, he finally gave in. It was a short drive back home but you couldn’t help but glance over at your passenger every now and again. It was rare to see Zuko in such a state as he is always the put-together one in the friend group. That wave of guilt rushes over you again since you were the one that got him sick in the first place.

“No, it was the forehead kiss. His own fault,” you mumble to yourself.

“What?”

“NOTHING. Uh, Katara still has some leftover soup. Why don’t you come up and have some? OH! And we can finish Toy Story 2 since someone didn’t let me finish it last time.”

“I’ll come for the soup but not for the movie.”

“ZUKO. I was cured by the nostalgic joy of my childhood, it can cure you, too!!”

“I don’t have any ‘nostalgic joy from my childhood’ in case you forgot. My mother left, my father scarred my face, and my sister hates me.”

Thankful you had come to a red light, you looked over to Zuko with concern. But he did not look back. His head was leaning on the window and with his arms folded, he avoided your gaze and continued to stare out the window.

“Well, all the more reason to finish the movie,” you tried to say lightheartedly, but the rest of the drive was silent.

Once you’ve reached the apartment, you ordered Zuko to make himself comfy on the couch while you threw some soup in the microwave. You spy a note on the kitchen counter from Katara explaining that she’s out to lunch with Aang and Sokka went to the gym with Suki. You smiled, happy that you could avoid good-natured sibling teasing for the time being. When the soup was ready, you turned to find Zuko sitting on the couch under a pile of blankets and holding the remote for the DVD player.

“I thought you didn’t want to finish the movie,” you questioned, handing him the bowl of soup.

“But you do.”

Your grinned ecstatically, quickly moving to sit next to him on the couch.

“You shouldn’t get too close. You’ll get sick again.”

“I’m immune now, it’s fine,” you said as you reached to share one of his blankets.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works. At all,” he replied, but his protests ended there as the movie started back up.

As you were getting yourself comfortable on the couch, your arm grazed Zuko’s and your body shook, chilled from the cold skin. Zuko noticed immediately and looked over at you questioningly.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing, you’re just cold. Eat your soup, it’ll warm you up.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Um, I had to take those pills when you watched me so the least you can do is eat some soup.”

With a small smirk, Zuko obliged and ate a few spoonfuls of soup before laying back against the couch. You cuddled up closer to him, figuring if the soup doesn’t warm him up, you definitely could. Once you rested your head on his shoulder, his head gently tilted to rest on yours, a much familiar scene from the time you were sick. Although the roles have been reversed this time around, the warmth of happiness bursting through your chest from this closeness is unchanged. You felt his left arm wrap around you before settling at your waist, and you reach up with your right hand to hold onto his. Sure, Toy Story 2 isn’t a romantic movie by any means, but it makes you happy. Just like Zuko does.

The movie ends with Wheezy singing his rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and you looked up at Zuko as if to say, “See? I told you Wheezy comes back. I love this part,” but he’s already asleep. It seems like you’ll never be able to get him to watch the whole movie, but you sighed contently anyways. Then, in a fit of sudden boldness, you sat up to inch closer to Zuko and kiss his cheek softly. 

He stirred and looked at you through drowsy, half-closed eyes.

“That’s not fair,” he said. “I can’t kiss you back properly while I’m sick.”

You smiled and leaned in closer.

“I’ll settle for a forehead kiss for now.”

“Deal.” After giving to you what you asked for, he gazed admiringly at you for a few moments before falling back to sleep. You could have sworn he had a dopey grin on his face, too, and you wondered if this is what Katara saw on you the past few nights. You settle back against Zuko’s chest and let his breathing lull you to sleep. The two of you fell into such a deep sleep, while in each other’s arms, that not even the sound of Katara and Sokka double hi-fiving after spotting you both on the couch woke you up.

[sohotthateveryonedied]

Just the Same

Summary:

“You’re sick.”

“You’re ugly.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone you weren’t feeling well?”

“I’m fine.” Jason closes his eyes. “Just a little tired.”

“Uh-huh. And that’s why you have a fever?”

Read it here on AO3!

Bruce has a very simple plan for tonight, alright? He’s going to grab a quick post-patrol snack from the kitchen, then he’s going to take a shower, and then he will go promptly to bed. He’s tired. It’s been a long day. He just wants to sleep. (You absolute fool, the goblin in his brain screeches at him, because the goddamn Batman cannot get a goddamn break or else the world will literally split in two.) Fatefully, Bruce passes the den’s open doorway while half of his mind is preoccupied with sending Dick a goodnight text, and he happens to glance into the room. That’s when he stops in his tracks. Even more fatefully, Alfred is coming down the hall in Bruce’s direction, carrying a tray with a single cup of tea on it. “Alfred?” “Yes, Master Bruce?” “Were you aware that Jason was home?” Alfred looks over at where Jason is asleep on the den sofa, still in his leather jacket and boots. He doesn’t look remotely surprised by the sight. Then again, is Alfred ever surprised? “Master Jason got in while you were on patrol. I offered to make him dinner, but he said he wasn’t hungry.” Then there’s that classic Alfred Pennyworth eyebrow crease. “When he wakes up, do inform him that one does not forgo the need for nutrition when one has been dipped in a Lazarus Pit.” “I’ll be sure to do that.” “Now, if you will excuse me.” Alfred walks off with his perfectly level tray, on a perilous journey to Damian’s room. Bruce envies him. At least Alfred gets to go to sleep after Damian gets his nighttime tea. Bruce enters the den carefully, without a sound. God knows Jason hardly sleeps through the night without interruption as it is. Now, at least, he looks peaceful enough. So much time has passed since his last haircut that his hair curls against his temple, plastered with sweat. He must have come here straight from Red Hood business. At least he didn’t get blood on the couch this time. Quietly, Bruce pulls the knitted throw blanket from where it’s draped over the back of the sofa and lays it over Jason, tucking it in close when he catches a shiver rattling Jason’s teeth. Now that he’s paying attention, he can see that Jason’s cheeks are flushed as well. His mouth is locked in a grimace, even in sleep. Bruce presses the back of his hand against Jason’s forehead and clicks his tongue. Definitely a fever. Jason’s eyebrows wrinkle at the touch. His eyes crack open and take a moment to land on Bruce, sitting on the edge of the couch by Jason’s torso. It says a lot that he doesn’t go into battle mode as soon as he registers an unfamiliar presence in the room. “Mmph. Go away.” “You’re sick.” “You’re ugly.” “Why didn’t you tell anyone you weren’t feeling well?” “I’m fine.” Jason closes his eyes. “Just a little tired.” “Uh-huh. And that’s why you have a fever?” “Why don’t you mind your fucking—” Jason tumbles into a coughing fit, wet and hacking. “I’ll be right back,” Bruce tells him with a parting pat on the knee. His knees creak as he stands, heading for the bathroom down the hall. He digs through the medicine cabinet until he finds the thermometer, one of many that Alfred keeps in every bathroom in the house. He grabs a bottle of Tylenol as well. Bruce goes back to the couch and reclaims his spot next to Jason, who has stopped coughing by now, but his breathing is heavy. Bruce touches the thermometer to Jason’s temple, ignoring his weak swats. It reads out a hundred and one degrees. “When did you start feeling sick?” Jason grunts and rolls onto his side, curling in on himself. “Dunno. Yesterday, I guess.” Bruce frowns. Of course Jason would ignore any achy feelings for as long as possible. None of Bruce’s kids have a single self-preserving bone in their bodies. “Tell me your symptoms.” “Being a fucking snack.” “Jason.” Jason coughs. “Leave me alone, old man.” “Does your throat hurt?” “Yeah, so quit trying to make me talk.” “Any nausea?” Jason buries his face into a throw pillow. “You’re fuckin’ exhausting, you know that?” He sighs. “Not since last night. I’m freezing, lethargic, and my head is killing me. Happy?” Bruce hums. “It’s probably the flu.” “Yeah, no shit.” Jason closes his eyes. “Now will you leave me alone? You’re making my headache worse.” Bruce twists open the Tylenol cap and shakes out a couple of tablets into his palm. “Here.” He holds them out to Jason. Jason opens one eye, looks at the pills, and closes it again. “No.” “Jason—” “No. Don’t like pills.” Bruce can’t say he didn’t expect as much. Still, it does Jason no favors to continuously refuse any sort of medication, choosing to tough out the pain for as long as he can. It all ties back to his mother’s drug addiction, a disease which Jason watched slowly kill her over years and years. It makes sense that he’d grow up with an unwavering aversion to drugs. When Jason was a small tot, Bruce and Alfred spent what probably accumulated to hours of cajoling, trying to talk Jason into taking even the lightest painkillers. Lidocaine and numbing solutions were fine, but anything resembling a narcotic was out—and still is, apparently. It makes Bruce wonder how Jason reacted to the Lazarus Pit and its euphoria-inducing waters—part of the whole “magical healing” process. Maybe he was too out of his mind at the time to form a solid thought, much less remember his childhood trauma. This is one fight Bruce chooses not to get into, so he recaps the Tylenol and sets it aside. Miraculously, Jason is already asleep again. That’s fine with Bruce; it’s better his son sleeps this flu off than wastes his energy arguing. Trying not to jostle him too much, Bruce takes off Jason’s boots and leaves them on the carpet. He grabs the TV remote and settles in on the couch with Jason’s feet in his lap, pulling up a nature documentary on hyenas that he and Damian haven’t had the chance to finish yet. Looks like he’ll be catching up on his sleep tomorrow night. Right now, Jason needs him (despite how fervently he’ll protest as much). Honestly, this whole situation brings Bruce back to the old days. After moving into the manor, it took over six months for Jason to completely recover from the years of malnutrition he suffered on the streets. His weight was far too low for a boy his age, even more scrawny than Tim. Alfred provided Jason with plenty of vitamin supplements and extra servings at dinner to bulk him up, but his immune system was shoddy at best no matter how much weight he gained. During his Robin era it was illness after illness, from the common cold to a whammying case of pneumonia. This is the first time Jason has been sick in Bruce’s presence since his death, though. Bruce is learning about the eating habits of hyenas when Tim comes in from the kitchen with a cup of peppermint tea, despite having supposedly gone to bed three hours ago. He stands there in the doorway for a moment, looks owlishly at Jason, then at Bruce, then back to Jason. He grins. “No,” Bruce says. “You don’t even know what I was going to do!” “I know you, and the answer is no.” “Jeez, Bruce. I’m not gonna kill him.” Tim attempts to cross his arms, forgetting that he’s holding hot tea, and hisses when it scalds his arm. “The hand-in-warm-water trick’s never hurt anyone,” he mutters. “Go back upstairs. You’ll get sick.” Tim wrinkles his nose. “This is prejudice against people without spleens, you know. I could sue your ass.” “Sue me from upstairs where I can comfortably know that you won’t die from the flu.” Tim rolls his eyes, but he goes. Bruce hears him stomp up the stairs, getting quieter and quieter until the footsteps are gone entirely. Bruce shakes his head. How did he ever think that having four boys would be a good idea? He questions his younger self’s judgement every day. For the next three hours, Jason sleeps in fits and starts. He never stays awake longer than five minutes at a time, drinking water when Bruce prods him to and grudgingly letting Bruce check his temperature for any spikes. Bruce learns quite a bit about hyenas in the meantime, until the documentary ends and a new one about sea otters begins. In between the hazy bouts of wakefulness, Jason tosses restlessly in the throes of nightmare after nightmare. Beads of sweat roll down his forehead. In the back of his mind Bruce wonders, is this just the fever talking or are nightmares a nightly villain for Jason? The latter would come as no shock, but that doesn’t mean he likes the idea. Bruce runs his fingers through Jason’s sweaty curls, a reflection of years ago when he would do the same thing any time Jason had a nightmare during his youth. Jason has been cheated out of peaceful nights from the beginning. Of course, back then there wasn’t a white streak splitting the darkness of his onyx hair—a reminder of the pit water swimming in Jason’s blood. Bruce moves a lock of hair off Jason’s forehead, gentle as a moth. Jason’s eyes fly open and he jerks away from the touch, a gasp ripping up his throat. Bruce doesn’t move. He gives Jason a moment to regain his bearings, stilling the hand in Jason’s hair. Green irises lock on Bruce, frenzied. “Where?” he croaks. “The manor.” Jason takes a deep breath in, clenching his jaw. “Okay.” He lets it out. “Okay.” Bruce grabs the water bottle he’s kept on the coffee table. “Here,” he says, moving his hand down to Jason’s back and prodding a shoulder blade. “Sit up.” “Fuck you.” It comes out half groan, the illness-wrought exhaustion catching back up with Jason. “You need to hydrate.” “Double fuck you.” Bruce shrugs. “Drink half of this or I’ll call Alfred and have him convince you. Your choice.” Jason rolls his eyes and snatches the bottle. Bruce will take that as a victory. Jason sits up with enormous effort, groaning at the aches in his body until he’s upright next to Bruce. He drinks the water, wincing when it hits his sore throat. “What were you dreaming about?” Bruce ventures to ask. Jason lowers the bottle to narrow his eyes at Bruce like he’s the biggest idiot in this room. “Shut up.” The annoying part is that Bruce genuinely has no idea what Jason’s nightmare could have been about. His childhood? His death? His resurrection? Any of the traumatic things that could have happened afterward, ones that Bruce wasn’t there for? There is such a disconnect between the two of them now. He should count it a blessing that they have moments like this, though Bruce would greatly prefer spending time with Jason while he isn’t sick and miserable. But Bruce will take it, nonetheless. Jason drains a sufficient amount of water, only to lurch forward in another coughing fit as soon as he gets in a breath. “Christ,” he rasps, eyes watering. “Just fucking shoot me already, will ya?” Bruce rubs his back. “I could tranq you, if you really think it would help. But I can’t guarantee that one of your brothers won’t take advantage of that and draw mustaches on your face while I’m not looking.” “Har, har. You’re a fucking comedian now.” Jason’s voice is coarse as gravel, scraping up his vocal cords. “Want some tea? It’ll help soothe your throat.” “Later. Just wanna...sleep for now.” In spite of everything he stands for, Jason tips his head to rest it on Bruce’s shoulder. Whether it was intentional or he’s just so disoriented from the fever that he has no idea he’s even doing it, Bruce won’t take the gesture for granted. Jason is shivering, so Bruce pulls the blanket tighter around his shoulders where it slackened during his sleep. Then, in a riskier maneuver, he puts his arm around Jason and pulls him in close like he did so many times when Jason was a lot shorter and a lot less jagged around the edges. Bcuce still loves him just the same. Jason leans into Bruce’s warmth instinctively, but he warns, “Tell anyone about this and I’ll shatter your clavicle.” “Mm-hm.” “I mean it. You’ll need a goddamn orthopedic surgeon to fix you up if you breathe a word of this to anyone.” “I believe you.” It must be a good enough answer because Jason closes his eyes, relaxing in Bruce’s hold. “The only reason I’m gonna say this is ‘cause my brain is melting,” Jason says, “but...thanks. For being here.” He yawns. “Being sick alone fuckin’ sucks.” “I hear you.” “And keep Tim away from me, ‘kay? I don’t trust the little snot not to pull something.” Bruce snorts and unpauses the otter movie. “Go to sleep, Jay.”

[greyfongschemmenti]

Hesitate 11|15

FryeArcana

Chapter 11

Code of Honor

Summary:

You and Team Avatar deal with the aftermath of dealing with Hiroshi Sato. You visit a recovering Lin while also having to deal with the rising tension in the city in the police force. The code you swore to the city gets put to the test.

You help Asami pack up some suitcases helping her move out of the estate. “you’re sure you don’t want to stay with me instead on Air Temple Island?” you help the air acolytes bring the suitcases into the boat. Asami looks back at the city then looks back at you and sighs “yeah, it’ll be a change, nothing to remind me of my father.” You sigh softly and put your hand on her shoulder and give her a small smile “well now I have more reason to come and visit the island”. You wave Mako, Bolin and Asami off as they get on the ferry and they head out to the island while you get on your cycle and leave.

*

You hop off your cycle with a takeaway bag and take your helmet off as you walk up the stairs inside an apartment building. You knock on the door and the door slowly opens, “who is it?” a voice groans out, ‘it’s me” you voice out. You hear a long annoyed sigh, but the door opens some more, and you walk inside then close the door after yourself. You turn around and look at Lin slowly walking back to her kitchen as she was prepping some tea. “I uh…brought you some food. Wasn’t sure if you ate yet.” You set the bag down on the counter and walk over to her, gently putting your hand on the handle of the pot “Let me do that, you should be laying down in bed.’ You softly speak in a whisper. Lin grumbles and waves you off “I’m not an invalid, you didn’t have to show up, you didn’t need to bring me food. You don’t have to baby me” Lin annoyingly spats out. “I can handle myself” she shoots you a look “how did you even find my place of residence?” she crosses her arms. Your cheeks redden with a soft blush and your hand rubs the back of your neck “I uh…took a look at your personal file, but I swear I only look at the address, nothing else.” You look over to the side. Lin Beifong had been recovering from the injuries she received during the battle at the Equalist factory. She had already given in her letter of resignation early in the morning, you on the other hand decided to stay on the force. “Don’t take offence of me offering to help out with these little tasks, it’s what friends do for their friends. You know what a friend is, right?” you turn as you finish pouring her a cup of tea then hand it to her., giving her a smile. Lin frowns and rolls her eyes “I guess” she grudgingly takes the cup, giving it a soft blow before taking a sip, she inhales deeply then slowly exhales. You smile softly and look around her place from where you stand, it’s weirdly clean, everything had a place and was set in perfect order. It felt very humbling, not too much stuff but enough for it to be filled in and feel like a home. You look back at Lin as she enjoys her tea still standing “before you refuse, how about you take a seat at the couch and I’ll serve you the food I brought, Saikhan is  getting inducted as the new Chief of Police soon, we can probably catch the broadcast on the radio…” Lin looks up at you and takes in your orders, not really feeling to argue or fight with you she surprisingly just gives you a nod and starts walking over to the couch and takes a seat. You look around the kitchen, looking through the cabinets and look for the plates and chopsticks, “left cabinet by the stove and then the bottom drawer of the same side” you hear Lin giving you instructions knowing what you’re looking for. “thanks!” you call out and get the plates and a couple of chopsticks. You serve the food out on a plate for her, some steamed rice and roast duck, then poured some noodle soup in a bowl. You left the dessert in the bag. You walk over and set the plate and bowl on the coffee table in front of her and handed her the utensils, “alright, well dig in” you sit down beside her. Lin looks over at you not moving to the food “are you not going to eat?” she asks, you slowly shake your head, “nah I’m okay, but you eat” you give her a nod. Lin sighs and eyes you “it’s weird to eat when someone is going to be staring at you”. You shake your head and smirk “ok, just so that you don’t feel embarrassed about nourishing your body. I’ll join you so you don’t feel alone.” You get up and walk over to the kitchen. “I don’t feel alone! It’s just weird, that’s all” Lin yells out. You laugh softly as you prepare your plate, just serving yourself the rice and duck then walk back to Lin, turn on the radio and sit back down. “alright, will you eat now?” you look at her and she gives you a little smirk before sitting up and starts grabbing her bowl and starts sipping her soup.

You and Lin hear Saikhan give his speech and his wishes for Lin to make a speedy recovery. Everything seems to be going as normal as an induction can be before he announces that all information concerning the Equalists and their revolt will be directly passed down to Councilman Tarrlok. Your eyes widen and turn your head to the radio “what?! I wonder what Tarrlok had to do or say to get Saikhan agree to that.” You mutter as you put down your plate on your lap. “I don’t know but knowing Tarrlok it wasn’t legal.” Lin scoffs. You groan out as you space out in thought “hmm”. Lin reaches over and turns the knob to click it off. You open your mouth trying to find what to say, “how are the sessions with the healer coming along?” you look over at her. Lin breathes deeply and slightly winces at her back “it could be better…I have another session this afternoon.” You nod and you softly run your hand on your lap curling your hand before you reach over and put you hand over Lin’s. Lin looks down at your hand and her hand twitches wondering what you’re doing. You smile amused to see Lin’s reactions “relax, it’s just a comforting gesture” you watch slowly hold your hand and you can’t help but feel your heartbeat quicken and give yourself a moment to compose yourself. Just be a friend. She just needs a friend right now. “Hopefully, you can get recover quickly. It’s not the same at the force without you.” You softly speak, you absent mindedly run your thumb softly on her hand. Lin stiffens some then slowly lets go of your hand “I failed my duty as chief, plus I still need to look for my men and face Amon” she balls her fist and gets upset but groans out softly. “Alright hero, you can do that but once you’re healed up. You’re no good to your men all bent up.” You put your hand on her shoulder to calm her down. Lin looks over at the clock then glances over to you, “shouldn’t you be getting ready for your shift?”. You take your hand off and glance up to the clock “yeah, got stuck with the late shift” you start to get up and grab the dishes, Lin keeps telling you to leave them and she’ll clean them, but you refuse saying it’ll only take a few minutes. You wash and dry everything and throw away the trash, Lin standing by and watches you as she leans on the counter. You see the white takeaway bag and remember the dessert, grabbing the bag and scoot it over to Lin. “I forgot I picked you up some dessert” Lin eyes the bag suspiciously and starts to open it, “egg custard tart?” she quickly looks up at you and you start to think it was a mistake “do you not like egg custard?”. Lin shakes her head “no, I like the tart. I used to eat them all the time in my childhood. They were Avatar Aang’s favorite food.” She softly spoke out then closed the bag and looked up at you. You smile softly “heh, I didn’t know that but that’s cool” you make your way to the door and open the door, “thanks for visiting me, y/n…not many do”. You turn your head and look back at her “well maybe they’re just afraid of you, it takes a lot for me to be afraid of someone. I’m not like most people” you give her a gentle smile before heading out the door and head out the building. Lin looks at the spot you were just standing and quietly mutter “you’re right. You’re not like most people”.

*

You’re walking about at headquarters down at the cells when you hear and feel a blast goes off. You run down and see a jail break happening in place, you yell out to an officer “make a call, Level 4 alert and to send all units back to the station!”. You bend a piece of earth and launch yourself in the air then make a massive punch down on the ground causing a wave of earth to knock several equalists knock off their feet. Other officers try to apprehend the convicts but end up getting electrocuted down. You notice a chi-blocker trying to sneak up behind you and you crouch down and block his punches. You’re able to block his attacks but get hit with their electrified baton behind the head by another chi-blocker and get knocked out.  

*

You groan as you slowly get up and look around seeing all three convicts have escaped. You wrap your arm around your midsection and stumble down the hall trying to leave the station. You’re about to leave when you get word that a unit and Tarrlok’s task force are there at the scene as well at the Avatar. All the chi-blocker and convicts are apprehended once again. “Korra?” you whisper as you get taken to get checked by a healer.

*

After getting the all clear you head out and go visit Air Temple Island, where you see Korra and the gang having just arrived at the island too. “y/n!” Asami yells out and runs over to you giving you a hug, you groan out in slight pain. “what’s wrong?” Asami look at you with concern then she comes with the realization “you were at the station when the jail break happened!” she steps back as you nod. After breathing out the pain you stand up regaining your composure while Korra, Mako and Bolin walk over to you and Asami and hear what you have to say “yeah, it was happened so fast. Everything was calm nothing out the ordinary when all of a sudden we heard a blast. I felt it in the floor above. I tried to get all the units to come back to the station to help us fight the Equalists. I held on as long as I could but there I was outnumbered and got knocked out. I heard Korra was about to take them out and capture them.” You look over at Korra and she takes a step forward “we all did, not just me” you look at the group. “yeah, Team Avatar saved the day!” Bolin smiled with pride. You laugh softly “Team Avatar huh? well, I don’t want to say that you guys shouldn’t be putting yourself in harm’s way, but that would be a bit hypocritical since I would do the same thing. Just promise me you’ll look out for each other.” You look at everyone and they nod relieved that you’re not scorning them for their actions. You put your hands on Korra and Asami making a circle with the team, “if you need anything, anything at all. You can count on me. You have my support.” Team Avatar smiles at you and give you their thanks. Korra offers you to stay the night since it’s so late. You slowly agree and take her for her hospitality as she and Asami walk you over to the girl’s dormitory.

*

You’re showered and dressed for bed when you hear a knock on your door, “yes?” you walk over and see Asami “hey Sami, everything okay?” Asami looks down and nods “yeah, I’m sorry I know you’re probably tired and want to go to bed, but I felt like I needed someone to talk to about dad.” She softly spoke to not to wake anyone else who happens to be asleep. “come in” you welcome her inside and you both sit on the bed. Asami breathes before she speaks “first, I want to apologize for what my father did to you…” you stop her before she continues talking placing your hand gently on her shoulder in a comforting tone you speak to her “Asami…. what your dad has done has nothing to do with you. You have nothing to apologize for. Your father’s actions are not a reflection of who you are. You’re not at fault. We’ve both been fooled by him. I can’t imagine what you’re going though seeing the kind of man you’re father has turned out to be. His heart got tainted by hate from losing your mom. But don’t let what he has become define you. You are your own person. You’ve stayed on the path of right and true while your dad stayed on hate and vengeance.” Asami’s eyes water and starts to cry, you put your arms around her and let her cry it out. After a few moments Asami mumbles out “I’m glad I have you as a friend, and I’m glad you’re back in Republic City I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had to experience that on my own. I know I have Mako, but its better when you can lean on a close friend, even though I’m an only child you’ve been the closest thing I have to a sister.” She sniffles wiping her tears on her sleeves. You feel a bit choked up and you pull Asami in a tighter hug “you’re like a sister to me too, Sami. You can count on me for anything.”

You whisper out to her. Both of you take a few moments to get your emotions in place before Asami heads back to her room and soon you go to sleep.

*

You see the tensions rising in the city with the nonbenders no thanks to Tarrlok’s new law set in place. Your unit gets called to take care of an equalist threat over at the Dragon Flats borough.  Tarrlok gives his officers the order to turn off the electricity in the area. Quickly the people are getting upset with the treatment they are receiving. You walk over to Saikhan slightly upset at what you’re seeing, “Chief, the reports were of an Equalist threat. These people aren’t equalists at all they’re nonbenders. They are causing no threats, they don’t even have weapons, there is children in the crowd, sir, why are we here.”  Saikhan glares at you starts barking out “I don’t know how you ran things with Chief Beifong, but I don’t need you questioning my authority. Now get back in line”. You get mad and turn around walking back to the line but notice a car approaching and see Team Avatar walking towards the scene. Korra is the first to speak “what’s going on here y/n?” you turn your attention to her. “we got word about an Equalist threat, but there’s nothing here to prove that. Honestly I don’t know what’s going on. These people aren’t armed or dangerous.” You explain to her “so why not let the nonbenders go?” Asami asks stepping forward. “they’re upset about the electricity being out. I don’t know why their cut off…. I’m not liking this at all” you look at the team with concern you get called out by Saikhan to get back in line. You look at the team worried as you slowly walk back and follow the Chief’s order and walk back to the barricade, before Saikhan makes an announcement to the crowd with the intercom “All nonbenders, return to your homes immediately. Disperse or you will all be arrested.” The crowd starts to yell out in anger “you can’t treat us this way! Give us back our power!” a little girl points out Korra and some of the people walk over to Korra “Help us! You’re our Avatar too!” a mother asks Korra, her face is filled with conflict but walks over and promises to try her best to fix the situation. You stand in line as Korra and the gang walk over to Tarrlok, you watch as the crowd are growing more restless by the minute. You hear an order given out by Tarrlok “Round up these equalists!” a few officers are starting to walk up to the barricade to start the process. Your eyes widen “you can’t be serious!” you yell out at Saikhan “you’ll follow an order, officer! If you don’t consider your career over!” he barks back at you. You look over at the crowd and watch as a few officers are taking the barricade and start bending it to take in people by groups. You step back and shake your head “this isn’t right! Our job is to protect innocent citizens not oppress them!” you yell getting mad at the chief and Tarrlok for how he is handling the situation. Korra runs out to the crowd ordering the officers to stop while Tarrlok grabs hold of Asami and run to him. “let her go Tarrlok she hasn’t done anything!” you bark out glaring your eyes at him. “she is past curfew and her father is a known Equalist conspirator. Now you’ll stand down officer, remember you sworn an oath to the city.” He glares back at you as two officers grab Asami you grab your badge from your armor and rip it off “Not anymore. I never sworn to oppress innocent people.” You growl out. Mako steps besides you “Let Asami go!” he orders Tarrlok. He looks over at his officers and points over at you, Mako and Bolin “Arrest him and his brother as well as ex-officer y/n” they quickly wrap their metal cables around the three of you before Korra calls out Tarrlok and earth bends two large boulders from the ground threatening him. Tarrlok walks up to Korra and calmly but threats her back “unless you want to join your friends in prison, I suggest you put those down and go back to the Air Temple.” Mako calls out to Korra and begs her to listen to him. “it’s not worth it, Korra” you add in as the three of you get shoved into the back of the squad car. Korra yells out she’ll get Tenzin to come gets us out.

The ride back to the station is quiet before Bolin breaks the silence “I can’t believe you quit the force right then and there, y/n” he sadly looks over at you. You keep looking down at the floor of the squad car “it was the right thing to do…” You respond back and the four of you sit back in silence until you get booked and processed. You get told to get out of your uniform and you tell them you have a change of clothes in your locker. Two female officers escort you there “why’d you do it, y/n” one of the officers ask you “yeah, you’re one of the best in the force, you really gonna backstab us like that?” the other adds in. You don’t look at them but keep walking in front of them towards the locker “I swore to protect this city when I joined the force, and now I see that the force isn’t doing anything to protect its people. Instead of creating peace in the city you’re causing more division between the benders and non-benders” you spat out angrily. The two officers scoff at you offended by your words. They uncuff you to give you a chance to change into your normal clothes and jacket then cuff you once again, this time tighter than before, “you don’t know what you’re talking about, y/n”.

You get shoved into the same cell as Asami while Mako and Bolin are in another. “Do you think Tenzin will get us out?” Asami asks you as she sits on the metal bed. You put your cuffed wrists up as you pull your knees up on the bed and sigh “Not tonight at least, Tenzin will mostly have to talk to Tarrlok tomorrow about getting us out. I'm sure Saikhan is too far up Tarrlok’s ass to do anything about it.” You mutter out “until then we make do tonight and wait”. Your mind thinks about Lin and wonder if you should request to make a call, but she still hurt and recovering. You think it’s best not to get her up and get involved in this situation. You can survive the night in jail, at least you're not alone. Though you begin to wonder just how bad things are starting to get in the city. The movement keeps growing and is starting to take over and you’re not sure if the Amon will be able to be taken down.

[theanarik]

Day 1: Welcome to Hyuga Antiquing

Happy SasuHina Month everyone! I’m gonna try to participate the whole month, that’s my personal challenge.

Day 1: Antique Shops.

Welcome to Hyuga Antiquing

You can also read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24489868

When Hinata started working at the Antique Shop her father owned, she thought that every single day would be dull and boring. Sure, there have been days where the only thing she wanted was for someone to come in and just take a look, someone she could talk to. Well, she talked to the dolls, sometimes, but one-sided conversations weren’t really that gratifying. There were days upon days that no one would come inside, and then there were other days where she had five to ten costumers. Those were her happiest days. She really enjoyed working at the Antique Shop, most of the time she could just, tune out the rest of the world until the door bell rang, daydream or do homework, or just forget the outside world existed for a bit.

When she was little, her mom would take her through the shelves, would let her play with the dolls, would let her pick vinyl after vinyl and they would enjoy the music, and dance, and sing, and laugh. Hinata always felt like the Antique Shop was a completely different world. It was hard going back, after her mother died, but her dad made it through and he brought Hanabi and her every single day, and he would let them play with the dolls, and would let them play music, and laugh, and have fun. But he never walked through the shelves with them. Always staying behind and letting them play however they wanted. Hinata remembers hearing sobbing, the sound echoing through the walls. She never said anything.

As she grew up, she found the Antique Shop to be quite boring, some other things taking up her time and she just… stopped enjoying it. She would come to visit her father to bring him lunch, or just to talk, but she wouldn’t go through the shelves, or play music, or check the dolls. After she started college, though, her father got sick and she decided, along with her cousin, Neji, that they would man the front desk while he got better. And one month became two, and two became three, and three became four. After working at the Shop for four and a half months, and her father not getting better, Hinata decided that maybe, just maybe, she would stay longer.

*

There were lots of things she enjoyed about working at the Antique Shop, one of them were when her friends came to visit. Kiba and Shino enjoyed checking the new stuff, organizing it with her, joke around and asking for payment, make her laugh when they used the dolls to reenact some shitty movie they saw. Another thing she enjoyed was making small talk with the regular customers. There were five of them: Kaho, Kurenai, Sarutobi, Tsunade and a boy around her age, that she still doesn’t know the name of.

He’s tall, dark and broody, doesn’t say much and always looks like he’s ready to murder someone. The first three times he came in, she didn’t say anything to him, mostly because he had this look on his face where he pretty much told her that if she came to talk to him, he would kill her. Hinata has had her fair share of difficult customers, she’s learned that if they need help, they’ll come to look for her. Also, he was way too attractive for her to turn into her work persona. So, when he does come to ask her for something, she is decidedly not surprised (and a lot more collected). After that, she starts to keep tabs on his interests. She does that with all her regulars, just so she knows where to put the new stuff when it comes.

Kaho loves doll houses, so when a new one comes in through the back door, she makes note to call her when everything is settled. It takes her two to three days to come, and most of the time she takes them with her. Kurenai loves custom jewelry and comic books. She comes regularly to check them out and maybe buy them, if she doesn’t, she just stays for longer chatting with Hinata. Sarutobi loves first edition books. They have three whole shelves full of them and he comes once a week to check them out, he probably knows all the tittles by now. Tsunade, on the other hand, she loves postcards. She says they remind her of a time when she would send them to her lover. Hinata wonders a lot how old she really is.

The brooding man, though? Yeah, no, he doesn’t stick to one thing.

He’s bought books, guitars, jewelry, porcelain, videogame consoles, comic books. He once bought a doll house. Though Hinata is pretty sure it was for his girlfriend or something like that. He came to return it after a few weeks though, which made Kaho very happy. Hinata thinks that maybe he’s just buying gifts for his loved ones, and she wonders how he manages to get that much money every single time he comes, which is pretty much once a month.

One day, she learns his name. He comes in with a blond boy. He has the loudest laugh she’s ever heard – and she’s friends with Kiba – and the bluest eyes she’s ever seen. He is, decidedly, the most attractive guy she’s ever seen. Well, aside from Tall, Dark and Broody, of course. Tall, Dark and Broody’s name is Sasuke. And he seems just so relaxed around the other boy that she just can’t help but stare for a few seconds.

“Welcome to Hyuga Antiquing,” she says, automatically. “Please tell me if you need any help.”

“Thank you!” Blond boy says.

“Actually-.” Sasuke says. “Naruto, can you go check the shelves?”

“Why?”

“Just go.”

Sasuke walks to her, and she gets out of the front desk to meet him, he seems… nervous, and that’s something she never quite thought she would say about TDB.

“Yes?”

“My mother’s birthday is coming up, and the last time I was here, I saw you had some lockets on display?”

“Oh, yeah!” Hinata says and motions him to follow her. “We moved them beside the dolls, it was uh… a last-minute decision.”

Kaho and Kurenai met, and that’s all Hinata’s going to say. She’s a romantic, sue her.

Sasuke follows her in silence and when they arrive to the jewelry section of the store, she grabs one of the displays and turns around.

“These are all the lockets that are in the shop, please tell me if you need any help?”

“Uh, sure.”

She goes back to the front desk and passes Blond Boy, Naruto, who’s looking at the guitars like they came from another world. Most people get that look when they check out the prices.

“Can I help you?” she asks him, offering a smile.

“Uh, no, I’m just… Sasuke gave me a guitar for my birthday this year, he’s a big gesture guy like that, I just… I didn’t know they were so expensive.”

“He must really appreciate you, then.”

“Sure, he does! I’m basically his brother from another mother.”

“Stop telling her nonsense.”

Hinata jumps at the voice behind her. She didn’t hear his footsteps and that’s something. Everything echoes inside the shop. It’s creepy sometimes.

“You’re a ghost, dude.” Naruto says, clutching his heart. “And what do you mean ‘nonsense’!? It’s true!” Naruto says fake hurt.

“Uh huh.” Sasuke rolls his eyes and denies with his head. Hinata wants to laugh at the theatrics Naruto is pulling.

“Did you find the one you wanted?” she asks, instead. This is her job, after all.

“Yeah.” He says, showing her a silver locket.

“Ooohhh, that’s pretty!” Naruto says, trying to grab it. Sasuke snatches it away. “Hey! I just want to see it!”

“See it, not touch it.” Sasuke shows it again and Hinata gets a proper look.

It’s the locket that was far, far back in the display. Silver, round, a flower of eight petals engraved and an overlapping branch of a cherry blossom tree. It’s, by far, one of the most beautiful lockets she’s ever seen, and she wonders if Kurenai ever saw it.

“Mikoto’s going to love it.”

“Stop calling my mom by her first name.”

“You call my mom by hers!”

“I use her tittle first.” Sasuke says, turning around, and she goes to follow him to the front desk

“I use her tittle first.”, Naruto repeats, mocking, and Hinata fakes a cough to cover up her laugh. The look Naruto gives her tells her that she failed at that.

*

Sasuke comes back alone, five days later, and he looks just as relaxed as he looked when he came in with Naruto. She wonders if good things are happening to him.

“Hey, how can I help you today?” Hinata says as he comes closer to the front desk, and he asks her about porcelain.

“My mom loved the locket, and she was saying that she wanted new porcelain this morning. Can you show me?”

“Sure!”

He buys a set of four teacups, their plates, a tea pot, and teaspoons.

*

It… kind of becomes a regular thing after that? Hinata doesn’t change most of the stuff in the store, but Sasuke keeps coming to ask for her help to find something, without even looking for it himself. She’s pretty sure he has the entire shop memorized and it’s not like the thing is too big. But he just… he just keeps asking for her help, and then he asks how her day is going, and then he just continues to talk to her; and soon enough, Hinata leaves behind her work persona once he enters the shop and she’s not just talking to the dolls but to Sasuke. And yes, sometimes it becomes a one-sided conversation, along with some stuttering and sometimes with too much emotion, but Sasuke keeps humming and nodding and saying just the right thing at the right time and it makes her feel… different.

They exchange numbers one afternoon after Sasuke hasn’t been able to come to visit for almost a week. He has dark circles around his eyes and seems stressed out. He tells her that his brother is sick and that he needs surgery, that he’s been staying with him at the hospital, and that when he came, there was another man at the front desk. Hinata explains that that’s her cousin Neji, as she offers him a cup of tea and he tells her about his childhood, when Itachi would come home tired and still go out with him to play. Hinata tells him about her mother, and how she would carry her on her shoulders, and they would walk around the shelves and check the highest books and speculate together about what they were about.

Sasuke kisses her after that, after she finishes telling him one of the things she invented about the books, after she tells him how embarrassed she was with herself when she finally read the book, after she laughs and blushes and stutters as she asks him to say something.

*

When Hinata started working at the Antique Shop her father owned, she thought that every single day would be dull and boring. As she takes Sasuke’s hand and laces their fingers together after closing the shop for the day, she thinks, I couldn’t be more wrong.

You can also read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24489868

[kimshavacado]

Dead Heat Ch. 8

Pairing: Yoongi x reader

Genre: Arranged Marriage/Mafia AU

Summary: Three extremely powerful families with enough power to bring down entire governments, all with vastly different views on how things should be run. The Min family thinks everything can be solved with money, the Jeon family think everything can be solved with violence, and the Kim family relies more on thought which leads to a lack of action. When Kim Y/N loses her father, she only has one way to save herself and her family. But it involves having to give herself over to a stranger. How the hell is she not supposed to punch him in his stupid rich face?

Dead Heat Masterlist

Warnings: Language, Awkwardness

A/N: I was honestly surprised by the final total. It was very split over tumblr and ao3, but there was a clear choice. One that I, myself, would not have chosen. Enjoy! 

Chapter 8: Relocation

After a few minutes, you slowly escape the warmth of the bed to sneak out. If Yoongi notices, he doesn’t try to stop you. You head back to your room, which now feels cold and lonely. You wash up, get dressed, and prepare yourself for the undoubtedly long day your about to have because of the men downstairs.  

Just as you throw on a sweater, you hear your phone ring. It’s such a mundane thing that it takes you a second to realize that no one should be calling you. As you stalk over to your phone cautiously, your heart sinks to your feet when you read the name on the screen.

Jimin.

Quite a few things flash through your mind. Jimin’s face, the years you shared together, the hurt he had caused you. You seem to be frozen in your place, the only thing bringing you back to your senses is the “missed call” notification on the screen.

You search your brain for any explanation as to why called and when you can’t come up with one, it scares the shit out of you. You honestly have no idea what to do and start to panic. Should you have answered? You could just try to call him back. No, why would you do that? But why would we call you like that? Shit, should you tell-

“What’s taking so long?” You hear Yoongi from outside your door. Without thinking you run to the door and open it, but no words come out and you just stare at him. He meets you with surprised eyes. He officially looks weirded out.

“Why are you crying?” He asks cautiously.

You’re crying? You hadn’t really noticed, too focused on having a mental breakdown.

“It’s nothing.” You immediately say, apparently fixed in defense mode. He raises his eyebrows and presses his lips into a thin line while he stares at you. After yet another uncomfortable duration of time you bring your hands up to your face to wipe away any moisture. You need to pull your thoughts back together.

“Uh, okay then.” He says, still weirded out and turns to walk away. Shit you should tell him, right? Your little internal war is cut off again when you realize you’ve already latched onto his wrist to stop him from leaving.

“Jimin called me.” His face loses all expression once you say this. He turns serious, which has you feeling even more uneasy.

“What did he say?”

“I didn’t answer.”

“Why not?” That’s a wonderful question. Maybe you should’ve, just to hear… but maybe it would’ve been too much.

After a while he stops waiting for your response and walks away from you. You chase after him towards the stairs, ignoring that you two are no longer alone.

“Should I have? Would you have?” He stops on the stairs to think about this. You wonder what it is he’s thinking or who he’s thinking of if he’s entertaining this imaginary call.

“I don’t know.” He says looking directly at you. But in his eyes, you get a suspicion that that might not be true. “Come on, we all have some things to discuss.”

You can’t tell if he’s angry with you or not.

“You wanna ‘relocate’ me!? What is that even supposed to mean?” You start to make a scene in front of the men who have gathered around the large meeting room.

“Us. Relocate us, Y/N. It’s obvious this place isn’t secure anymore. While we prepare a plan, it’s best if we didn’t stay.” Yoongi explains in an attempt to calm you down.

You look around at the men at the large table and standing along the walls. Honestly, you were only hot headed at a moment because Jin and the rest of your house were here. It pissed you off to see him sitting there acting all mighty in your rightful place, sending you away again. How come you were never allowed to do what you wanted to do?

“What do you want us to do?” Your eyes go wide, afraid you might have said your internal rant out loud, but Yoongi is just asking you what your decision is. He’s giving you a say, but you know he’s right.

“Okay. We’ll go.” With a nod you submit. Then Yoongi dismisses everyone to speak with Jin about next steps.

“Y/N you’re part of this too.” Yoongi calls when he sees you leaving with the others.

“I’m sorry, do you just ask me to stay and talk important business?” You ask, a comical look of disbelief over your face. “Since when did my involvement ever give me the authority to do so?” You turn to bitter sarcasm to emphasize both of their disinterest in your opinions on prior matters. “Please don’t let me interrupt the discussion of almighty-“

“I mean, we could always just not tell you.” You huff at this, feeling like a child having a tantrum and collapse into a chair at the large table. After everything, you’ll honestly take what you can get from them. When he notices you’ve finished, Jin breaks the silence.

“I think I have a good place for you to go. Your parents used to have this private timeshare in the country. We basically own it now and no one’s been there in ages, so it won’t be that predictable of a location. Y/N, you’ve probably been there before, do you remember? You might have been too young, though.”

“Wait, my parents had a timeshare? When?”

“After they got married. Sort of needed a place to escape to sometimes, I guess it never hurt to have a sort of safe house away from all this.”

“Huh.” Jin’s confession has you reeling. That’s not something you had expected your father to have done.

“Who knows about it?” Yoongi asks.

“Well we don’t actually have a timeshare agreement anymore, and no one actually owns it. We’ve kept it handy for situations like this, and there’s no record saying we own it, so I guess, just me.” Jin responds.

“Huh.” Yoongi mocks by mirroring your previous response. “Alright then.”

Jimin’s POV:

He needs to just quiet the war in his mind for good, and he might know a way he can do that.

He cares too much. It’s too important. You’re too important. He can’t keep hoping for your forgiveness, he has to know if he’s lost you for good. It’s too dangerous to be questioning sides. There’s one thing left to ask:

Which side is he on?

He chooses to put all his fate onto a leap of faith. All he needs is your help, even just to hear your voice. That would be enough, just to be reminded why he was doubting in the first place.

He gets his phone out and finds your name in the contacts. He hesitates before taping the call button. He shouldn’t be doing this to you, but he needs to know that he hasn’t messed everything in his life up.

Every unanswered ring diminishes his hope. But instead of sadness, he feels anger beginning to bubble up with every ring until it goes to voicemail.

Y/N POV:

Of course it’s raining, why would there be good weather on an evening like this? It’s not like you and Yoongi are driving off into the sunset together. No, instead you’re watching the water droplets race down the car window wishing you could just melt away like them.

Yoongi is quiet the entire trip and you don’t mind. It means your mind is free to wander around all the events that have happened. You think about how everything has made you aggressive and cold to others. But you give yourself some slack, knowing you were once innocent and free of worry as a child.

You still have the good childhood memories at your core. You like to think you’re more like your mother than your father, but it’s hard to tell sometimes. You look over at Yoongi and he drums his fingers on the steering wheel and can’t help but think about his parents as well.

Soon you arrive at your destination and follow a long road covered in trees to a decent sized villa. Through the rainy evening glow you could see the outline of a clearing behind the building which might be a lake, but it’s too dark to see. You’ll have to view it in it’s full glory tomorrow morning.

“Here we go.” Yoongi takes a deep breath before running outside of the car to grab bags. You can’t help but laugh at the unique way he runs around like he’s almost waddling.

Once you see he’s getting soaked you get out to take the final bag up to the house with him. Once through the entrance, you notice how it’s dark and smells like dust. It really gives off abandoned vibes and you start to regret agreeing to this until Yoongi turns on the lights.

It doesn’t look like it’s been decades since someone’s cleaned, and you let out a sigh of relief that it’s passable for living.

“Find a bathroom and get changed.” Yoongi directs. You comply, wanting out of the wet clothes.

Thirty minutes later, after walking around to get acquainted with the space, you find yourself on the couch with a book and a cup of tea. But you’re focused on the words in your head instead of the words on the page. You’re back to your previous debate on which parent you’re like.

That’s when Yoongi walks in, noticing your spaced out expression. He decides to watch for a moment. But when your eyes don’t move, he lets out a small laugh.

“You’re definitely not reading that book.” Caught red handed, you continue to stare at the book with the same expression.

“I’m… thinking.” You say, not meaning to sound as suspicious as you do.

“Yeah, you do that a lot.” You finally tear your sight away from the book to see he flop down on the couch next to you. Now that you think of it, who was Yoongi like?

“Are you more like your mother or your father?” It sort of just comes out of you mouth. His eyebrows lift in surprise but he pulls them back down and takes time to think about it.

“Both.” He says, and you suppose the same of yourself. “But never at the same time.” This really resonates with you. “You can try to be your own person, but other people are what make us who we are.” You suppose this is true as well.

“I always wanted to be like Jimin. Everyone liked him when we were younger, he was practically perfect. But I always compared myself to him.” You pause and let out a sigh. “I’m glad I’m not like him.”

“Me too.” He says this quickly which gets your attention. When you look at him, he’s facing sideways towards you on the couch. His legs are only and inch from touching yours and he’s looking sincerely into your eyes. It’s either that or the low cut shirt he’s wearing that cause something to turn inside you.

“I need a drink.”

Only good things come when alcohol is involved. Of course what better way to distract yourself from your attraction to your husband than to inhibit your ability to reason. Yoongi plays along though, and you find yourself a slurring mess an hour and a half later. You’re both pretty deep in, but it’s mostly you.

After you crying for the past 20 minutes about the fact that you haven’t had a “real” boyfriend since high school. He decides it best you call it a night.

“I think it’s your bedtime.” He says laughing at your most recent pout. But that only causes you to deepen your pout. He laughs again.

“You know sometimes, I forget you’re not a child.” When this doesn’t get fid of your pout he decides to mirror it. Leaning in to mock you. However, this gives you a great view given his choice of loose clothing and looking up to his pouting face, it’d be almost too easy to close the space. So you’re not surprised when you do. Yoongi however, is. Barely registering that it’s happened before you pull away from his face to stare him down in defiance.

“See? Not a child.” You say, but he’s still focused on your lips. He forgot that you’ve done that before, maybe he should be more careful. Did he really need to, though? You’re his wife, you’ve kissed him before. Maybe it’s because of the drink, but he pulls your head back into his with little thought.

This time is not quite as short as the first. You seem to reciprocate a little too easily, letting his mouth slot with yours. You take action to latch onto him as well, reaching out for the shirt you had so desperately wanted to touch before.

His hands snake down and around your waist as one of yours slides up his neck into his hair as things get a little more heated, tongues tasting the alcohol on each other. One of you lets out a noise resembling a moan, but you can’t tell who because the kiss has gotten impossibly deeper and you can’t stop yourself from throwing a leg over to the other side of him.

He seems to be as lost in it as you are since he pulls your body over the rest of the way so that you’re completely straddling him. After everything that’s gone through your head to day, it’s nice to lose yourself in him and forget anything else. You decide you want to share an impossible amount of time sharing breath like this.

When one of his hands ghosts under the back of your shirt to the bare small of your back, one of yours goes to the hem of his and begin to lift to take it off. Before you can, he grabs your thighs and hoists you up causing you to squeal from surprise. You two never part as he walks you to the bedroom, excitement bubbling in your gut.

When he reaches the bed, he lowers your head down to the pillow, slowing down the kiss. It makes you more desperate to continue but instead, Yoongi stops moving entirely. Pulling away and resting his forehead on yours, you two catch your breaths for a moment.

“Go to sleep.” He whispers just centimeters from your lips, and you want to yell at him. After all that? Go to sleep? You’re about to chastise him for treating you like a child once again until he pulls away climbs on the bed next to you appearing content in his decision to sleep.

You stare at him in awe of his ability to just close his eyes and pretend like that didn’t just happen.

He really is an ass. And you really like him.

A/N: Relationships are changing! Sorry for the steamy fake out there. If y'all are good, maybe Santa will bring some smut around the holidays. Thanks for dealing with me!

Next Chapter

Tags:  @badbyeyoongi @whothefuckstolemykeds @xxqueenwxtchxx @alecmidnight @rjsmochii @itsrapmonstanotdancemonsta @ superarmyofdreamersuk @zxlla​ @1796p​ @obeythehemmings​ @betysotelo18​ 

[365daysoftododeku]

20th December 2019

Author: Liz

________________________________________________________________

Is You

Christmas is just five days away and Todoroki is freaking out. 

Every year, Midoriya blows Todoroki away with extraordinarily personal gifts, bringing loving tears to his eyes before he hands over a boring present of his own. Although Midoriya weeps every time, Todoroki knows it’s never as good as his lover deserves. 

So, Todoroki made a vow to himself that this year he would give Midoriya the best gift ever. But how can he can he do that? Todoroki has no clue, so maybe their friends would. 

-

“Aw, Todoroki!” Uraraka squeals as herself, Iida and Todoroki sit in a corner booth at the local cafe. “You know whatever you get him, he’ll be grateful and love it.” The smile Uraraka gives is almost reassuring. Almost. 

“I know,” Todoroki sighs, looking down at his half empty tea cup. “But I want this to be even better. Something that will amaze him.. He deserves it after all.” That last part was muttered, though the other two still heard it loud and clear. Uraraka and Iida share a secret smile before the speedy hero reaches a hand out, clapping Todoroki harshly on the back. 

“You’ll figure it out, Todoroki.” The ice and fire user looks up, meeting Iida’s encouraging eyes. 

“Yeah!” Uraraka chimes in. “I mean, he always says that ‘all he needs is you’! So anything you come up with, he’s bound to cherish it for the rest of your lives.” 

Todoroki swears he can still see hearts in his friend’s eyes as they part ways.

-

Todoroki sits in the small kitchen of Bakugou and Kirishima’s apartment. He isn’t sure why he thought Bakugou would know what to get Midoriya, but they were childhood friends, so maybe the blond has some sort of idea. 

“The hell? You think I know shit about what you should get for Deku?!” 

Or not.

“Chill out, babe.” Kirishima scolds his fiancee, though there is a bright smile on the redheads face, so maybe it can’t be called ‘scolding’. “Listen, man. Midoriya is crazy into you!” Kirishima’s enthusiasm is overwhelming to Todoroki, but he powers through. “All he talks about is you and how amazing you are and how he feels so lucky to have yo-” 

“Blah blah blah, all that sappy shit. You get it.” Bakugou rolls his eyes and returns to whatever he was furiously stirring in a bowl when Todoroki first arrived.

Kirishima chuckles softly before looking back at his friend in crisis. 

“Seriously, Todoroki. When you first started going out, I remember hearing Midoriya say ‘he’s all I’ve ever needed.” Kirishima sighs lovingly as though those words were spoken for him. Todoroki blushes, a small smile forming on his face. 

“Oi, shitty hair!” Bakugou turns around, finding his soon-to-be husband staring blankly into space. “You trying to say I’m not that sappy?!” Jutting out a hip, Bakugou crosses his arms in front of his chest in anchor. 

“No no no, babe!” Kirishima immediately jumps from his seat at the table to put out the fire that is his lover. “You express your love in your own special and perfectly you way.” The hardening hero takes Bakugou’s face between his hands, planting a small chaste kiss on slightly pouting lips. 

Todoroki took that moment as his chance to leave. 

-

There was one more person Todoroki had in mind who would know his boyfriend incredibly well. 

All Might.

“Young Todoroki!” All Might’s booming voice sounds through Todoroki’s cell phone. (The students were given their teachers phone numbers in case of emergencies.)

“Hello All Might.” Todoroki formally greets his teacher before clearing his throat. “I have a question to ask of you about Izuku.” 

“Young Midoriya?!” All Might’s voice is almost frantic with slight anxiety seeping through. “Is he alright?!” 

“Yes, yes, he’s fine.” Todoroki quickly reassures his teacher. “It’s about Christmas.” 

A couple beats of silence fill the receiver and Todoroki starts to think the former #1 hero had hung up on him. 

“Hel-”

“Young Todoroki,” All Might interrupts him, voice calm and collected. “Are you asking me what you should get Young Midoriya for Christmas?” 

Todoroki blinks, stunned. “Uh…” 

“My boy,” There’s a smile in All Might’s voice. “Why are you asking an old man, like myself, what to get your boyfriend for Christmas?” 

Todoroki huffs. “Well… I just, I don’t…” Upon his stumbling, All Might let out a soft chuckle. 

“Todoroki, you know him better than anyone. You’ve seen him at his most vulnerable, been at his side for, what? Five years now? You’re adults, taking on Japan as two of the top ten heroes. You’re obviously meant to be, Young Todoroki.” A beat passes before All Might speaks up again. “Let me ask you, what do you want out of this relationship with Young Midoriya?” 

Todoroki doesn’t hesitate to answer, “I want to spend the rest of my life with him.” 

“Then I think you know what you want to get him.” 

-

It’s here. Christmas day. Midoriya was sleeping peacefully on Todoroki, his breathe hitting the half-and-half male’s bare chest. 

Todoroki woke before the sun could rise, nerves raking his soul to the core. 

He tries to calm himself by combing his fingers through Midoriya’s green curls. He shuts his eyes tightly, trying to will himself to sleep, but to no avail. 

Before he knew it, bright rays filter through the window of their bedroom, framing Midoriya’s freckled face. The OFA user’s eyes scrunch at the sudden sunlight, a yawn escaping his mouth. Todoroki swears his heart stops at the sight, knowing full well what was to come. 

Once Midoriya gets his bearings, the smaller man looks up at his wide awake boyfriend, shooting him a sleepy grin. 

“G’morning.” His voice is gravelly, causing Todoroki to blush and smile at the sight. 

“Good morning, Izuku.” Planting a swift, sweet kiss to his lovers forehead. 

They slowly get out of bed and get ready for the day, the whole time, Todoroki feels anxious. His hands are sweaty and his heart is pounding. While they sit at the table to have breakfast, his foot taps quickly against the tile floor as he distractedly eats his eggs. 

“-outo? Shouto!” Todoroki jolts, turning to his left where he finds his boyfriend looking at him with concerned eyes. 

“Y-yes?” Todoroki clears his throat, pretending to be nonchalant. 

“Are you okay?” Midoriya sets his fork down, hand reaching out to hold Todoroki’s. “You’ve been distant all morning, what’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry,” Todoroki sighs. “Just, tired I guess.” Midoriya gives a small smile. 

“Let’s go back to bed than. Presents can wait and we don’t have to be at Kacchan’s until 3.” Intertwining their fingers together, Midoriya tugs at Todoroki to stand. 

“No, ‘Zuku.” Todoroki pulls the smaller man towards him, holding him closely. 

“But why not?” Midoriya looks up with big green eyes. Todoroki’s gaze flickers across Midoriya’s face.

“I, uh.. “ Todoroki stutters, causing Midoriya’s head to tilt in confusion. “I-I want to give you your present now.” Todoroki says each word slowly, tasting them on his tongue as though they’re foreign. 

“O-Okay! We can do them now!” Midoriya’s energy returns full swing as he drags Todoroki to their living room. Todoroki chuckles, forgetting his anxiety for a moment, getting lost in that blinding grin.

The two swap presents from their family members and friends that they had gotten in the mail. They always kept them under the tree, saving to open them for Christmas no matter how early they came. 

Then, it was down to the last two gifts: A medium sized present labeled Shouto, and a small plain brown box labeled Zuku. Like every year, Midoriya stands first to retrieve his gift, handing it to Todoroki with jittery fingers a wobbly grin on his face. 

Todoroki takes the present and begins ripping at the shimmering paper, revealing a plain brown box. Using his ice, Todoroki makes a small, pointy icicle to rip at the tape holding the package closed. He lets out a gasp when opening the flaps. 

Inside lay a black shadow box frame. Todoroki lifts it from the box and inspects the contents behind the glass. 

There’s a ripped out piece of notebook paper with a shriveled, yet still yellow dandelion. On the scrap paper above the flower, the words From Shouto in messy, high school handwriting clearly by Midoriya. The photo was black and white with a vignette around the edges. Todoroki was holding Midoriya on his back, the freckled teen was grinning so wide his eyes closed and Todoroki was looking up over his shoulder with a loving expression. It was clearly after hero training as both were in their hero costumes. 

“W-Where…” Todoroki was at loss for words as small tears fill his eyes. 

“Uraraka apparently took it after class one day.” Midoriya’s cheeks were bright pink as he bounced his leg. “She’s been holding onto it and decided to share it with me a couple months ago, so I thought…” Midoriya’s voice trails off as he bites at his lip. 

“It’s amazing, Izuku,” Todoroki whispers, finally looking up from the sweet gift and leaning forward to place a sweet kiss on Midoriya’s lips. “I love it, thank you.” Their foreheads touch and Midoriya giggles in delight. 

“I’m glad,” Midoriya responds just as a quietly. After a couple more moments, the two break apart and it hits Todoroki that it’s his turn. 

Standing a shaky legs, Todoroki goes under the tree and retrieves his small gift. Back to his boyfriend, he quickly pulls the small jewelry case out of the box. When he turns around, everything fades and all he sees is Midoriya. 

His best friend, his lover, sitting on their couch in their apartment. This place they bought together and share together. 

Together. 

“Izuku…” Todoroki whispers slowly walking to his boyfriend who scoots to the edge of the couch, body twitching in excitement. Once he’s infront of Midoriya, Todoroki looks down and suddenly, the words just come to him. 

“Izuku, you are my everything. You have saved me hundreds of times; from myself, from others. You are an incredible hero and person and I feel honored to be able to spend everyday at your side. You are an inspiration to all young heroes, your strong and passionate and I feel I fall inlove with you more everyday.” Midoriya’s lips quiver as pools of tears trickle down his cheeks. “When we’re apart, even for a moment, I find myself missing you. I know our jobs are unpredictable, but I never want to be without you. All I could ever need is you.” 

With that, Todoroki gets down on one knee, opens the ring case and holds it infront of Midoriya, whose jaw is slacked tears no longer falling. Todoroki tries not to choke up at the most important part. 

“‘Zuku, will you marry me?” 

Midoriya stares at the silver band. A hand comes up to cover his mouth as a harsh sob unexpectedly rakes his body. His eyes squeeze shut as streams of water descend quicker than before. 

Todoroki feels uncomfortable, unsure of how to console his lover considering he still hadn’t recieved an answer. Then, green eyes open wide and lock on mismatched ones. Midoriya’s scarred hand drops to his lap.

“Yes.” Midoriya breathes.

Todoroki freezes before asking, “Really?” 

“Yes!” Midoriya yells as he jumps from the couch. Todoroki stiffly follows up before he is tackled into a passionate kiss and loving arms. Finally breaking from a sort of trance, Todoroki wraps his own arms around the smaller man, holding him close, kissing him back just as intensely. 

After a couple little kisses, Midoriya pulls back with a wide grin before looking down at the ring still in it’s case. 

Todoroki flails slightly, scrambling to take the ring out, dropping the jewelry box in the process before taking Midoriya’s left hand and slipping the band onto his ring finger. 

Upon closer inspection, Midoriya sees the words engraved in cursive: All I need is you, with green, red and white jewels at either end of the phrase. 

Without saying another word, Midoriya pulls Todoroki in for another kiss, but Todoroki hears him loud and clear. 

All I need is you. 

________________________________________________________________

Would you like your work to be featured in the 365 Days of TodoDeku Project? Apply here! (≧∇≦)/

[petersasteria]

You Again?! - H.O. // 18

Pairing: Haz x Reader

*This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.*

Series Masterlist

"Lunch trade time, Y/N!" Harrison smiles at her as he walks to her desk with a paper bag. He takes Y/N's lunch and puts his on her desk. "I hope you don't mind eating something home cooked."

Y/N looks at the paper bag in front of her before looking up at Harrison. She warily points at the paper bag and asks, "You... cooked this?" Harrison grabs a chair and sits across from Y/N. He looks at her just nods as he takes out the food from the bag and eating it.

"Wow. That's new." Y/N shrugs, mimicking Harrison's actions. "Mitch still isn't here. I miss him. He's back at his hometown, because his grandpa just died."

"Oh." is all Harrison says. "Give him my condolences."

"Okay."

They eat in awkward silence. Harrison clears his clears his throat and says, "So, how was your day so far?"

"It was surprisingly not stressful."

"That's good." Harrison nods, taking a bite of his food. "How's the food?"

"You know, it's really good! You really outdone yourself." she smiles at him politely. "I like it."

"Sam helped me." Harrison shrugs. Y/N nods, "Yeah, he's great. I miss him."

"He misses you too." he says with a small smile.

"I'm going on a date tonight." Y/N blurts out. Harrison looks at her as his face falls. He couldn't believe what she just said. He wants to get his girl back, but she's going on a date with someone else.

Y/N takes his silence for her to continue, "Yeah, his name is Mark. I went to Ainsworth with him and we bumped into each other last week and he said that he's free tonight so he asked me out to dinner. I, uh, said yes. I figured I need to put myself back out there in the market seeing as it's been two years."

Harrison just nods, "Okay. Will you go home first to change your clothes or will you go straight to the restaurant? Not that there's anything wrong with your outfit today; you look really beautiful. I just asked, because maybe you wanted to freshen up before your date or something." He rambles, still trying to process what Y/N said to him.

"I'll go home first and then I'll go to the restaurant."

"...Can I still give you a ride home?" Harrison looks at her shyly. She just nods as she finishes her food.

-

Harrison sits on the couch and checks the time on his phone.

9:45 PM

'She's probably enjoying her date right now.' he thinks. He sighs and calls Tom. It rings for a while and Tom picks up on the fifth ring. "Haz? What's up?" Tom asks.

"She's on a date with some guy named Mark and she's probably having a good time." Harrison rants.

"At least she's having a good time. She wasn't having a good time doing your chores, that's for sure." Tom chuckles, knowing damn well it would annoy Harrison. And it did.

"Yeah, I got that." Harrison snaps. "You don't have to fucking rub it in my face."

"I know, but's just funny!" Tom laughs. "Anyway, just be her friend if this date goes well. Maybe you guys aren't meant for each other." Harrison could imagine Tom shrugging it off like it's nothing.

"But Tom I need her!" Harrison sighs.

"I get that, but when she needed you, where were you?" Tom asks, suddenly getting angry. "You weren't there, were you? Where were you when she did all of your work? Where were you when she called me to pick her up from the place where the board exam was supposed to be held, because she told them to remove her name from the list? Where were you when she was crying to me about how it was hard for her to let go of the one thing she loved doing just so she could attend to ALL of your needs?"

Harrison stays quiet.

"Answer me, mate. Where were you on her birthday? Which by the way, is the same day of your anniversary. Where were you when she got so insecure the moment she saw Elle chatting you up? Haz, I know you love her. But Y/N's my best friend and I've known her longer than you. She's basically my sister at this point. I look out for her and she looks out for me."

"So when I found out that things have been going down hill all because of you, I was hurting with her, because I didn't expect YOU OF ALL PEOPLE to cause her pain. When she came to me crying, I cried too."

"Now that she's finally putting herself out there, you're stopping that? I'm sorry Haz, but I'm not siding with you on this one. I won't let you ruin her happiness like you did before. Would you like it if Charlotte goes through the same thing Y/N went through? Of course not! As her brother, you'd be pissed! Like I said, Y/N's like a sister to me. I'm telling you this so that you know where my anger comes from. Don't ruin this anymore for her. If she needs a friend, then be a friend."

"That day she left you, you weren't the only one who lost someone. After she came crying to me, she said that she needed to leave me so that YOU have someone. I hated her for that, because FUCK, you already hurt her so much but she was still thinking of you! You lost the love of your life, but I lost my best friend and my sister." Tom finishes his rant with a sigh.

"Talk to me when you've fixed this, yeah?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Harrison says.

"Okay. Talk to you soon, mate." Tom hangs up and Harrison groans in frustration knowing damn well Tom was right.

Harrison gets up from the couch to get a beer from the fridge, but stops when he hears the ring of the doorbell. "That's weird. I didn't expect anyone today." Harrison mutters to himself as he walks to the door and opens it. His heartbreaks when he sees Y/N standing there with tears streaming down her face with her purse on one hand and her heels on the other. She wipes her tears and forces a small smile, "Hi Harrison."

"Y/N.. hi. Is there- is there anything you, uh, need?" Harrison asks.

"I, um, went to Tom's place, but all the lights were out so I went to his childhood home and he also wasn't there and this is my last resort. I need him right now." Y/N cries. "I really need him right now. So please tell me he's here."

Harrison frowns, "I hate to be the messenger of bad news, but... he's not here. He's out of the country, Y/N."

"Oh my god." Y/N sobs violently. "I'll just go home, then. Thank you." Before she gets the chance to turn around, Harrison stops her.

"Wait!"

She turns around and wipes away more tears. "Yeah?"

"You're in no state to go home like that. Come on in." Harrison motions for her to come in and she shakes her head.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Besides, you might have company." she says.

"I actually don't and I meant what I said about being here for you. So, please allow me to. I know you need Tom right now and I understand if you want him here instead, because he's better at this than I am. But, I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere." Harrison stares at her.

"I can be your acquaintance or your friend or whoever else I can be in your life just please, let me help you." Harrison pleads. Y/N cries harder and walks up to Harrison to hug him tightly. He immediately hugs back as tight as he could and tries to calm her down.

They pull away after a minute and Harrison wipes her tears away, "Come inside and make yourself at home. I'll lend you a change of clothes and make you some tea and we can talk about it, yeah?"

She only nods as Harrison closes the door after she comes in. He locks the door and goes straight to his room to get some clothes for Y/N. She sits on the couch in the living room and looks around. Harrison comes down soon and hands her a pair of sweatpants and a loose shirt.

"Do you want a bath or a shower? It seems like a good idea to relax, don't you think?" he asks. She gladly accepts the clothes and says, "I'll take a quick shower if you don't mind."

He shakes his head, "Nah. You know where the bathroom is. I'll make us tea." She smiles at him gratefully before heading to the bathroom.

After showering and getting changed, Y/N quickly makes her way down to the living room and she sees Harrison already sitting there with to cups of tea on the coffee table. She sits next to him, leaving a small space in between them of course, and takes the cup of tea before sipping it.

"Thank you, Harrison."

"Anytime. So, what happened?"

"He stood me up. We were supposed to meet at 7 PM, but after waiting for an hour, I decided to just order something to eat and leave. Don't give me shit like 'maybe he was late', because he wasn't. He stood me up on purpose. I saw it on his Instagram and he changed his profile picture on Facebook. He was at a club and his new profile picture is with some chick with purple ombre hair which is so 2012, by the way. Galaxy stuff and shit." Y/N says bitterly.

"I'm sorry for ranting it's just that," she sighs, "I had a crush on him at Ainsworth and when he asked me out, I kinda freaked out because the most handsome guy in college wants to go out with ME. Then he fuckin' stood me up and I feel like I don't deserve to be dating anyone."

"You don't deserve to date anyone who's a jerk like him; like me. You deserve someone better and I'm pretty sure Tom would say the same thing." Harrison chuckles.

"Yeah, he would." she gives him a small smile. "Thank you so much for letting me stay. I couldn't think straight when I was out there. I just walked and my feet are killing me so I took off my heels and stuff."

"Yeah, you need a car." Harrison jokes and he smiles when she laughs at his joke.

"Yeah, I do but I can't buy a car right now. I'm kinda tight with money." she gives him a tight-lipped smile.

"Is that why you're eating the same lunch everyday?" he questions. He was really curious as to why a beautiful girl like her is eating some garbage food when she deserves better.

"Mhm." she hums in response. "It's the only thing I could afford. I'm paying bills and with prices getting higher and shit, it's getting kind of hard to make ends meet. I'm also saving up for a new apartment."

He nods, "Oh, I see. What's wrong with your current one?"

"The roof has a leak and stuff and the AC isn't working anymore so it gets super hot. I don't even have a fan to cool me down, because I don't have the time to buy one and I don't want my already expensive electricity bill to add up." she chuckles.

"If you're struggling, why don't you ask Tom for help?" he asks her as he sips his tea.

"I don't him to get worried even more."

"Then, I'll help you. Also, how is your bill so expensive?"

"I'm late in paying rent and a few other stuff. To be honest with you, if I don't pay my rent that's three months late, they'll kick me out. They're giving me until next week. I don't even know anymore. I look like I have my shit together, but I don't." she sighs.

"I'll help you. I won't take no for an answer." Harrison offers her a small smile and she asks, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I want to help you." Harrison takes her hand in his, "It's okay to ask help sometimes."

"Thank you."

"I'm here for you."

* * * *

wow this is long

Tag list: @sweetdespairbarnes​ @marvelislove10​ @fanficparker​ @mrs-captainsteverogers​ @trustfundparker​ @xximaweirdoxx​ @justasmisunderstoodasloki​ @ixchel-9275​ @singingcatlady​ @with-my-soul-and-heart​​ @myblueleatherbag​​ @spnobsessedmemes​ @marvelousell​

[thescentifollow]

Neighbor - Part 4

Reader x YoungK

Genre: Lecturer Brian au / neighbors au / romance

Word count: 1628

With the sound of the doorbell, you guys came to your senses.

“Aidan is here!”

“Coming in a second.” You answered.

He came to greet you before you could.

“Hey, darling.”

“Hi!” You hugged Aidan. YoungK was a little taken aback by this warm greeting, considering your position just a moment ago.

Trying to not show his perplexity, he fixated a smile on his face. And that smile caught Aidan’s attention.

“Hi there.” Turning you to introduce him.                  

“That’s YoungK, my new neighbor. This is Aidan, childhood friend and Ashley’s twin brother.” You need the feel to emphasize him being your long-time friend.

“Nice to meet you, I can totally see the resemblance.” Feeling kind of relieved.

He was caught by surprise with the twins’ enthusiastic laughs at his wit.

“I’m glad to see a new face in this circle. It’s quite rare.” He said smiling.

When you finally sat on the table, Meg asked YoungK something you were curious about too.

“Your real name can’t be YoungK, right?”

“No, of course, it’s not.” Laughed and continued, “You can say that it’s my stage name. I am in a band called Day6. But we’re not performing anymore.”

“Oh, why is that?”

“Well, I moved here, two members live in Korea, one is doing his master in Canada and the other one moved back to his birthplace, Argentina.”

“It’s sad to hear, it would be great to see you perform.”

“Maybe when we hold a reunion concert.”

“We’ll be the first ones to get the tickets.” Everyone agreed and laughed.

“So, were you singing or playing an instrument?”

“I rapped, sang and played bass guitar. I haven’t been doing the first two for a while. But I still play guitar from time to time.”

“What a well-rounded man! I’ll be waiting for your reunion concert.” Aidan yelled basically.

Thanks to everyone being easygoing the night went well. Oh, and with a little help of the alcohol.

When you were finally alone, you reviewed the night lying on your bed, but got stuck in one moment especially. The moment you met his gaze.

As you tried to brush it off by saying that you just met him, that you are too busy to date and stuff, you fell asleep. But you were aware that these were just excuses, and deep down you felt something that you hadn’t felt for a long time. He was the one who made it.

-

Next Monday

As soon as you woke up, you hopped in the shower. Monday is not a busy day for you, thankfully. Just a meeting with your advisor and you can enjoy the rest of the day. But today you also had to run some errands such as grocery shopping and doing laundry. After a morning coffee, you decided to go grocery shopping to get it out of the way as soon as possible. It was a relief to get your car before the start of continuous days with heavy rain, you thought to yourself, while entering the garage. Just then you heard someone calling your name.

“Hey, y/n!”

It was your neighbor Brian, whom you haven’t seen for a week. Being busy with papers and stuff, you didn’t even get a chance to eat properly this past week. But truthfully, he crossed your mind from time to time.

“Hi, what’s up?”

“Nothing much, heading to class. What about you?” He was smiling, but you were both aware that something was off.

“Grocery shopping.” You smiled as you pointed at the shopping bag in your hand.

“Ah… Free day?”

“Sort of. I just have a meeting in the afternoon.”

“I see. How was your trip to New Jersey?”

“It was fine, you know, nothing much.”

“Right. Well, uh… I have to go now.” He said looking at his watch and continued, “But I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, see you. Drive carefully.”

“You too.”

There was a huge awkwardness, that no one could deny, in the air. The words just couldn’t get out of your mouth. Though it wasn’t intentional, it made you both feel uncomfortable. You tried not to overthink and told yourself that it was because you didn’t see each other for a while. Oh, and because of that moment you shared. You haven’t seen each other since that day; therefore, you didn’t get a chance to talk about it. It’s for the best, somethings are meant to be just moments. Nothing more than that.

-

When you were about to pay at the grocery store, you got a phone call from your advisor. He called off your meeting because of a personal problem that came up. To be honest, you were glad. After being away from home for the weekend, naturally you wanted to spend some time at home.

Even though you prefer spending time home alone, this time you wanted to spend this free time with someone else. It would be a good way to break the ice too.

Knowing he had a class, you decided to text him.

“Are you free after your class?”

You were expecting a text message but instead your phone rang.

“Hello.” You could hear the students saying goodbye to him.

“Hi, I didn’t mean to disturb, sorry.” Taken aback by his unexpected call.

“No, you weren’t, my class just ended.” You were about to answer but then he kept talking.

“But I’m going to Virginia today for a 3 days long conference.”

“Oh…” You sounded a little bit disappointed.

Then he offered something, “How about this? You water my plants for 3 days and when I’m back let’s watch a movie together.”

“Sounds good.”

“I’ll text you once the plane lands. Oh, you can find the keys under the doormat and there are 4 plants in the house, one in the living room, two in the kitchen and one in my bedroom. Thanks a lot.”

“Got it. No problem. Bye.” You felt a little bit frustrated but chose to just let it go. It’s not like you’re close enough to feel this way.

After finishing laundry too, you decided to reward yourself, as if you’ve done something great, by watching a movie. But when you think about it, just to survive the first day of the week feels like a success.

You prepared a cup of green tea and wrapped yourself in a blanket. After choosing Before Sunrise to watch for the hundredth time, it’s finally time to enjoy yourself.

Halfway through the movie, a text message destroyed the whole mood. Annoyed, you decided to check the message as soon as possible and get back to your movie.

“Y/n~ What are you up to? I’m at the hotel right now.” Seeing him being the one who texted eased your annoyance a little.

“Just recharging.”

He smiled at the picture attached to your text.

He answered as soon as he saw the scene from the movie by saying, “Ah, that movie is a classic! When I’m back let’s watch Before Sunset too.”

You were surprised at his sudden excitement and enthusiastic answer.  To be honest men usually don’t like to admit that they like romance movies. That’s why, even though his offer was not a big deal, it was enough for you to see his soft side.

“Sounds good.” You answered.

He answered, “Great, I’m looking forward to it.”

A few more texts about how tired he was and what your plans for tomorrow are were exchanged between each other before you went back to the movie.

This movie always makes you feel all kinds of emotions at the same time because it’s so real. Their meeting, emotions and how they represent them. This movie has a great impact on how you perceive love.

Feeling peaceful thanks to the masterpiece you just watched for the hundredth time, you went to his place to water the plants. As you came in, you realized things were a quite different than before. He had finally unpacked all boxes and put some baubles and pictures around.

Because you didn’t want to want to hover like a stalker, you decided to do what you need to do as soon as possible. You knew what having a stalker means and frankly it wasn’t pleasant.

His tidiness totally baffled you. The kitchen, nothing left unwashed or left on the kitchen counter. Same goes for the living room. Everything is in the proper place, nothing out of ordinary.

“Then his bedroom must be a complete mess.” You murmured.

Contrary to your guess, it was quite neat. His bed was a little messy though. So, you were not totally wrong.

Just when you were about to leave the house a picture on the coffee table next to the comfy looking sofa in the living room caught your attention. There were Brian and four other boys next to him, one of them holding a birthday cake. They were all good looking. Some could even go crazy for such guys.

“So, this must be Day6…”

You smiled at the wholesomeness of the photo. Then Brian caught your eye, as always. His indifference in the picture didn’t fail to make you laugh. You lifted your head and looked around. You could see parts of him everywhere. A sweet peacefulness filled your heart.

“I like it. I… I like him…” Finally confessing to yourself.

You remembered what Meg said a long time ago, “When you have feelings for someone, they get all your attention. And if you try to avoid it, it gets worse.”

You did listen to her last time. It had severe consequences. But it’s almost impossible to live the same thing again, right?

You were torn between the two choices. Should you show your feelings or just keep avoiding until they disappear?

I thought of this picture while writing that part of the story. so wholesome :’)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5

masterlist

[bazypitchandsimonsnow]

Being Simon

Chapter 2: The Present

Rating: T

Genre: Fluff/Angst

Word Count: 9856

Chapter 2/2 (All chapters)

Summary: Simon is back in his own time, but all he can think about is the man from his past.

Read on AO3

AN: Time for some pining!

———————————————

I wake up on Sunday feeling just as shitty as I did Friday night. No amount of comfort food, hitting my punching bag, or mindless TV have helped. And sleeping it off has done jack shit, because all I could dream was Ty’s soft looking black hair and pretty eyes.

I barely know who he is. I don’t even know his bloody last name. Yet I desperately want to see him again. How that’s going to happen is...well, that’s something I haven’t figured out yet. Every time I’ve opened a door, I’ve hoped I would walk into Dr. Margaret’s office. She can time travel and teleport, surely she’ll know something about one guy I talked to. Right? Right...

I throw off my blankets, sitting up and staring out at the London skyline, lit up in violet and gold by the rising sun. I wonder if he’s out there, looking at the same horizon I am. I wonder if he’s working at his mother’s law firm, or if he’s reading forever like he truly wants. I hope it’s the latter. I want him to be happy. Fuck, I can’t stop thinking about him. The urge to see him again is burning in my chest and gut and everywhere. I’ve never felt like this before; so intensely focused on one person. If only I had looked at his bloody number!

“God,” I groan, “I want waffles. At least I can have that.” I get up and stomp to my door. The second I walk through, I stumble onto a cold stone floor, bright lights flooding my vision.

“Nice pants,” Dr. Margaret says. I pull the hem of my shirt over my Monty Python boxers.

“Seriously, why do you always get me at literally the worst times?”

“Not my fault you never have a good time.”

“Oh, fuck off.” I sit heavily on her couch with my arms crossed. “So what happened? You usually do the post-regret session earlier than this.”

“Time is an illusion. Stop stalling. What did you learn?”

I sigh, sinking further into the cushions. “Well, I learned that Agatha and I didn’t just fall apart, I let it fall apart. I put myself and my own stuff before her time and time again. And I’ve done the same with everyone else after Agatha because I refused to see my part in our relationship ending, so I never tried to fix it. I need to actually be present in and put the work into my relationships. That’s the lesson, right?”

Dr. Margaret scoffs and laces her fingers together, elbows on her desk. “What the hell am I here for?”

I shrug with a little smirk. My ego feels way too inflated right now. “Dunno. You got something else to add?”

“Hm.” She leans forward and pins me with her intense eyes. She’s really good at that. “You’re too scared of being alone to end things when they’re not going well. Why you get dumped every time. See that?”

And pop goes my pride. My face heats up, most likely turning an impressive shade of scarlet. I sink into my seat. “Okay, yeah, you’ve got a point there...”

“Simon.” She moves even closer with a kind smile. “Don’t feel bad. Not a bad person. Were alone most of your childhood, don’t want to be alone again. But can’t keep making choices from fear. Have to make them for the right reasons.”

“What are the right reasons, then?”

“Happiness, growth, all that good shite on greeting cards.”

I let out a small laugh. “Okay, I’ll go pick some up at the corner store.”

“Get some ice cream too. Deserve it after such a long regret.” She leans back in her chair, strong arms crossed behind her head. “Maybe give Agatha a call on the way there. Might know something about a raven haired bloke.”

My pulse goes into double time. I lean forward with eyes wide. “Wait, you mean-”

“Have fun.” 

Dr. Margaret nods, and the world spins into a blur of colour around me. Then I'm stumbling through my bedroom door like I haven’t been anywhere at all. Fuck, I hate when she does that. I have to stay against the wall for a few seconds, just until I don’t feel like I’ve been on a bloody tea cup ride for a million years. Part of that might be caused by Dr. Margaret said. My heart is still beating like mad. It’s bruising my fucking rib cage, I swear. Holy shit. Holy shit.

I scramble to grab my phone, half charged on my bedside table. Fourth in my contacts is one Agatha Wellbelove. It’s relieving to see for so many reasons. The phone rings three times, each one making my anxiety ratchet up, until it finally cuts off.

“Hello?” Agatha answers.

“Aggie!” I say a bit too loudly.

“Simon? What are you doing? It’s four in the morning here.”

My stomach sinks. Right. Major events don’t usually change after a regret. “Oh my god, you’re in California. I completely forgot about the time difference, I’m so sorry. I’ll go-”

“It’s alright, I’m already awake now. What’s up?”

“Um...this is going to sound random, but do you remember Ty? Your friend from third year uni?”

“Wow,” she chuckles, “that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.”

Fuck, that’s not a good sign. “Have you, uh, seen him since uni?”

“A little, but not in awhile. We only had a couple more classes together before exams started. We had drinks a few times after, then I went to California right after graduation and he went to Oxford. Both of us were too busy to keep in touch, I guess.”

“Oh. Okay...” I lay down on my bed, Part of me just wants to curl up under my blankets forever. Another part wants to stuff my face with pastries. (Maybe both.) (Both is good.)

“What’s up with asking about Ty?”

“I dunno. I was just thinking about that time we talked. It just, uh, popped into my head” Because I literally just lived it a couple days ago while in time travel therapy, but I can’t say that. I learned a long time ago that no matter how rationally I explain it, no one will believe me.

“Right, you talked to him after our breakup.”

“Yeah. He helped me a lot. I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t still be friends without him. He was nice. In his own weird way.

She laughs quietly. “Yup, sounds like Ty. He acted all haughty but he was such a sweetheart. Wish I had kept more in touch with him more.”

“Me too.” I hug myself, and it helps a little. “Me too.”

“Oh, I think I might still be Facebook friends with him.”

Almost all my despair washes away in an instance and I bolt upright. “Really?!”

“Lemme check.” She makes little contemplative noises through the phone. “Okay, yeah, there he is, Ty Black.”

“Black? That’s his last name?”

“No, he told me he had a crush on Sirius Black and wanted to pretend they were married.”

“Oh...okay.” I start to deflate again. I feel like a leaking balloon. “Does it say anything?”

“Looks like he hasn’t used it in awhile. His last post was a couple of years ago. Says he made partner at a law firm.”

“Does it say which one?”

“No, just that it’s in London. Not surprised, he always wanted to be in the big city.”

I’m grinning ear to ear. He’s in London, my city. He’s here with me. I can find him. “Cool, cool, good to know. Um, anything else you can tell me, Ags? Like his full name?”

“No idea, Si. I actually didn’t know much about him. We spent most of our time gossiping about our classmates or getting shit faced. If I asked him something about his family or past, he’d always change the subject. So I just don’t know.”

I’m not sure how to feel about that. Ty told me things about his family, about his past. But was that because he trusted me instinctively, or because I was just some random bloke who probably wouldn’t remember? Was I convenient? Well, he gave me his number, so he must’ve seen...something in me. Not sure what though. I've never seen much in myself.

“Okay,” I sigh, “makes sense, yeah. Thanks, Agatha.”

“Welcome, and good luck. From what I remember, he was really cute.”

My face turns a bright shade of scarlet. Luckily Agatha can’t tell over the phone. (I think.) “Um, I’m not sure-”

“Please, give me more credit, Simon. I’ve known you for most of your life, I can absolutely tell when you're smitten. Not sure why you’re thinking about him over ten years later, but I support you. I hope it goes well.”

I smile, and I kind of hope she can hear that. “Thanks, Ags.”

“Welcome. Now I’m going to go back to bed. Love you.”

It’s impossible to describe the utter joy and relief I feel at those words. I’ve got Agatha back in my life. Hell, as far as she knows, we never lost touch to begin with. I’m so, so happy.

“Love you too, Ags. Night.”

“Night,” she yawns. The phone clicks off, but I keep grinning. Well, even if I can’t find Ty, this is absolutely a victory. But I’m going to damn well try.

My stomach growls louder than a lion. Waffles first, though. Definitely waffles.

———————————————

“You don’t remember anything about him?” I ask through my mouthful of sweet, delicious fried batter and syrup.

“No, Simon,” Penny sighs. “I don’t remember the guy you mentioned, like, once in the few weeks before our third year exams.”

I grumble. Stupid past me, not saying more. It’s not his fault though. Past versions of me only remember bits and pieces of a regret, just enough so they don’t seem like total weirdos who blacked out and can’t remember a big chunk of time. So it's more like stupid time travel shenanigans.

“Damn, okay. I’ll just keep looking.”

“Are you really going to scour all of London looking for one bloke you met over ten years ago?”

“When you say it like that it sounds stupid.”

“Yeah, it really does.”

“Bye, Penny, got more work to do.”

“Simon-”

I hang up before Penny can talk me out of this. She absolutely will, and I don’t want that right now. I want to find him, no matter how impossible it seems.

First stop is the alumni website, obviously. We went to the same uni, he has to be somewhere in the system. My fingers fly like lightning across the keyboard. No one in the political science or English departments that looks close to him, just a lot of uptight white dudes or hippie looking magazine writers who probably smoke too much weed. None of them have his gorgeous skin or dreamy grey eyes. (God, I want to see those eyes again.)

Next, I try the Oxford law school site. It’s even more impossible to navigate than most uni websites. There aren’t even any pictures of their alumni, just a list of stupidly posh names. Lewison, Pemberly, Grimm, Fairchild, Abbot, Harrington, none of which have a first name resembling Ty. That’s another issue. His name could be a nickname for so many other names. Tyler, Tyson, Tyrell, Tyrone are all possible. (Hope it’s not Tyrone, bloody hell.) Or maybe his name is just Ty, for some reason.

That’s why London 411 is absolutely no help. Apparently there are literally thousands of Ty's living in my city. I narrow it down to people my age, plus or minus a few years and there are still hundreds of Ty’s and Ty adjacents. I groan and rake my fingers through my hair, nails digging into my scalp. Why the fuck didn’t I get his last name? I want to scream at myself but all that would achieve is getting noise complaints from my neighbours.

Eventually, I resort to just straight up Googling. I try everything I can think of. “ty university of manchester,” “ty university of manchester english,” “ty university of manchester politics,” “ty university of manchester english politics,” “ty oxford law,” “ty london lawyer,” “ty london,” “ty sexy hot university of manchester student ashwerhuertjwerh.”

I faceplant my keyboard for longer than I would like to admit. “This is hopeless,” I groan into my table. I lift my head up to the ceiling. “What’s the point of this, Dr. Margaret? Is this some sort of test? Are you trying to give me a bloody ulcer?! Cause the last one is absolutely happening!”

Of course, there’s no answer. I’m not even sure where Dr. Margaret’s office exists relative to myself, or to our reality period. Trying to figure that out makes my brain hurt. I look at the clock, and it’s already seven. Christ, have I really been at this for that long? I should be grading homework like a good teacher. I need to stop. I’m a thirty three year old person, dammit, not a love struck teenager. (Okay maybe I’m both.) I slam my laptop shut and go on a hunt for food.

I heat up some frozen macaroni and take out my munchkins’ worksheets. Okay, these are easy. Math tests are universally understandable and simple most of the time, unlike stupid time travel therapy tests. I shovel bad pasta in my mouth as I fly through grading. 

“Good job, Matt,” I mumble through my shitty food. “Got the formula right.”

This is easy. I can do this. And I’m not thinking about Ty. Not at all. Maybe if I keep telling myself that, it will come true.

———————————————

“Nice job there, Roy,” I say. “You summarized the text wonderfully.”

“Thank you, Mr. Snow.” He beams at me with his gap toothed grin.

“You’re very welcome, bud.” I turn to Sufia, who seems to be stuck on the second question. I get down on her level, making my knees ache in the process. It’s worth it. “Need any help, Sufi?”

She holds up her worksheet to me a little too close. “What’s this word mean?”

I gently push the paper back so I can actually read it. (My vision isn't bad enough for that yet.) “‘Ascend,’ it means going up. For example you can ‘ascend the stairs.’”

Her eyebrows knit together. “Why doesn’t it just say go up then?”

“Well, that involves a longer discussion about poeticism that we’re going to have next week, alright?”

“Okay.” She goes back to the worksheet, sticking her tongue out in concentration. I chuckle under my breath. The strange and hilarious things kids do, gets to me every time.

I wander around the room, helping any kid who needs it and giving suggestions when asked. Teaching is less about telling and more about guiding children. It makes me wish a certain someone would guide me instead of leaving me to suffer for the last week.

I’ve still got nothing on Ty, no matter where and how I search. Everyday my hope gets whittled down bit by bit. I’m this close to giving up. There’s only so many hits one person can take, really.

“Yes, that’s a good point, Maeve, I like where you’re going with that,” I say. “How do you think that fits with our earlier readings?”

Maeve scratches her head with the top of her head with her pencil eraser. “Um...I don’t know...”

I crouch down near her. “Well, is there a way for you to remember? Do you have the books on you?”

“No, but I have something better!” She reaches into her absolutely massive backpack (I’m surprised she doesn’t tip over wearing that thing) and pulls out three notebooks. They’re all labeled with divider tabs. It’s insanely organized for a nine year old. “I keep a lot of notes.”

“Wow, I can see that. You like doing that?”

“Yeah! I keep all my notebooks, I like to read them.”

“Smart plan. Wish I kept-”

My mouth snaps shut. The gears are turning in my head. Creaking and slow, but still turning. I’m flung back to a vague memory of being 24, moving into my current flat from my old uni one, and Penny sorting through my random crap. She stood over a mess of all my uni papers next to my desk. Literal years of collected worksheets and notes that I never got around to throwing away.

“Why the hell do you have all these?” Penny asked.

“I wasn’t sure what I’d need for later classes,” I’d said, “then it all just piled up...”

She shook her head at me. “Well, you can’t keep all of it. Pick some stuff you want to keep and we’ll donate or throw out the rest.”

I nodded, then sat cross legged in front of the anxious student hoard. I tossed all the random papers profs handed out but I never read, along with most of my notebooks. But I remember one moment, a single instance that might change everything, when I decided to keep the notebooks that looked nice. Like the green one with vines on it I used in third year. I always kept it in my book bag. I liked the pocket just inside the front cover.

Holy shit.

“Mr. Snow?”  I’m snapped out of my weird memory trance back to my reality as a teacher who needs to, y’know, teach. I smile down at Maeve.

“Sorry, mate, spaced out a bit there. Anything else you need help with?”

Maeve points to a new question. “What does this mean?”

I explain the question to her as calmly as I can, not showing how I’m simultaneously panicking and ecstatic inside. Like a fireworks display in every lobe of my brain. Holy fucking shit.

———————————————

The second all the munchkins are out the door, so am I. Luckily I’ve been distracting myself from the Ty search by furiously doing all my lesson planning. I’m set for the next week. But all I’m really thinking about is where I put my bloody notebooks.

I slam my door shut, only vaguely wondering what my neighbours would think. My office (really a repurposed storage room) is a huge mess of textbooks and lesson ideas, like a tornado tore through a Michael’s and a college book store. I make it even worse by throwing object around, searching for one stupid thing. I have to have it, I need to have it. It’s my last chance, honestly. Please, universe, let this go right.

Under my Teaching Theory 5th Edition textbook is a pile of old notebooks, including a green one with vines on the cover. I scramble to open it. My heart skips a beat when I feel a piece of paper. Slowly, I pull it out, and gasp under my breath.

023-345-9876 Give me a call sometime, Snow - Ty

I’ve never typed a number so quickly in my life, though I have to keep hitting backspace because my fingers are shaking so much. And I’m even more nervous as I bring the phone to my ear. Fuck, this is so stupid, but I’m not turning back now. The phone rings three times before it finally gets picked up.

“Basilton Pitch,” a smooth, strong, most likely male voice replies. Well, that sort of sounds like him, but wrong name. My stomach sinks a little.

“H-Hi,” I squeak. I clear my throat so I don’t sound like I’m going through fucking puberty again. “Um...”

“Hello? May I help you?”

“Uh, possibly.” I rub the back of my sweaty neck. “I don’t know if you can help me, but I’m looking for someone who gave me this number a long time ago. Do you know a man named Ty?”

There’s a long, extremely awkward pause on the other side. My face gets more and more red each passing millisecond. I’ve really fucked up, haven’t I? I should just hang up-

“No one has called me that in ages,” he says. “Who are you?”

I gasp very audibly. Holy mother of all fuck. It’s him. I’ve found him! “It’s me!” I shout far too loudly. “I-It’s Simon. We met once in uni, after your friend Agatha broke up with me. I’m not sure if you remember-”

“You’re...you’re Simon Snow.”

“Yeah! That’s me! And you’re Ty, the really nice posh gay bloke who was getting his degree in politics and English then went to law school, right?” I’m grinning, I can’t stop grinning.

“Holy shit, it really is you.”

“Yeah, and you’re you!”

He chuckles, and his voice sounds even brighter than it did all those years ago. “Yes, I am. Though I’ll admit, I’m a bit...confused. Not that I’m ungrateful, but I gave you my number over ten years ago, and you’re only calling me now?”

“Um, yeah...” I scratch my blushing face, quickly concocting up a reasonable story that lacks time travel. “I got caught up in exams, then I, uh...kind of lost the notebook where I put your number. I was so pissed at myself for awhile but what could I do, y’know? Then I was, um, going through my old uni stuff today and take a wild guess at what I found.”

“A notebook with an ancient piece of scrap paper.”

“Still pretty smart, huh?”

“Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out, but I’ll take the compliment.”

My cheeks are starting to ache from smiling. I don’t mind at all. “Happy to give it, and that you haven’t changed your number in over a decade.”

“Thank God for being loyal to a mobile carrier.”

I’m about to say something else, anything to keep talking to him. But then there’s commotion on the other end of the line, and Ty (Basilton?) moves away from the speaker.

“What?” he says. “Yes, I can take a look at your notes, Vadoma, give me a moment.” His voice becomes louder again. “I’m very sorry, I wish I could keep talking, but I have end of the week work to do.”

My shoulders slump. “Oh, okay.”

“From your area code, I’m guessing you’re in London too, so how about we have coffee tomorrow and catch up? Around noon good?”

“Yes!” My voice squeaks again, fuck. Calm down, Simon. “Yeah, that sounds great. Any suggestions?”

“I know a nice little place in Camden if that’s alright.”

“Yeah! I actually live in Camden.” 

“What a lovely coincidence. I’ll text you the address?”

“That would be amazing.”

“Great, I’ll see you then, Simon.”

“See you.”

The phone clicks off, but it stays by my ear for another long moment. My brain is still playing catch up.

I found him. I actually found him. My stomach is filled to the brim with a thousand butterflies. I’ve never been this excited about...anything, really. How is it that one guy can make me feel like this? I have no clue, but I don’t care. I’m just looking forward to tomorrow so much.

———————————————

My leg won’t stop bouncing. No matter how deeply I breathe or push down, it just keeps jerking around like a hyperactive toddler. I’m somewhere between excited and completely, utterly terrified. What if he doesn’t show up? Worse, what if he does show up and he doesn’t like me anymore? It’s been over ten years, I definitely don’t look like I did when I was 21 anymore. He could be horribly disappointed with 33 year old me, with my dark circles and crow’s feet and only marginally better fashion sense. I would be.

Fuck, he’s going to laugh in my face isn’t he? My leg bounces even more. I stuff the last of my scone in my mouth then wash it down with strong coffee. Unfortunately that does nothing for my anxiety. I’m stewing in so much worry and fear that I don’t notice a shadow over my table until it decides to speak.

“Hello,” the same smooth, strong voice from the phone and from ten years ago says. I look up, and my heart skips more than one beat.

He’s just as beautiful as he was back then, but in a very different way. Same reddish-gold skin, same deep sea grey eyes, same raven black hair. But instead of looking like some preppy statue, he looks, well, human. He’s dressed in a tucked in white button down with a soft floral pattern. His collar is open, the sleeves are rolled up to the elbow, and it’s even wrinkled in some places, but none of that seems to bother him. More astounding, he’s wearing distressed black denim that hugs his legs in all the right places, a thumb casually hooked in one pocket. Never would I have imagined the uptight bloke I met in jeans. His hair reaches all the way to his shoulders now, falling in a lazy wave that softens the sharp lines of his face. His kind smile absolutely helps too. 

This isn’t the same Ty from twelve years ago. This guy is a lot more grown up, and looks so much happier.

“Hello?” he says again. “You there, Snow?”

I shake off the second Ty induced pan-panic of my lifetime. “Uh, yeah. H-Hi, Ty. Oh, wait, you go by Basilton now, right? Or do you like something else?”

He chuckles as he takes his seat across from me. It’s a simple movement yet surprisingly graceful. “Just Baz is fine. It’s less of a mouthful than Basilton.”

“Okay. Hi, Baz.”

“Hello again, Simon. How have you been?”

“Good, good. How about you?”

“Alright. Honestly, I’m still in shock that I’m seeing you again.”

I chuckle and rub my neck nervously. “Yeah, me too. But, uh, you look good. Twelve years later and you’re still stupidly attractive.” My face immediately heats up. “Sorry, that’s weird-”

“I don’t mind. Not at all.” He leans back, arm casually slung over the back of his chair. “You’re still cute as ever, though I am glad your fashion sense has improved.

I must look so ridiculous right now, a thirty three year old man blushing like a smitten schoolboy. How can I help it when he talks like that? “T-Thanks. Your clothes have definitely changed too. What happened to the tweed jacket?”

Baz groans and hangs his head over the back of his chair. I like the way his hair falls. It’s pretty as hell. “Please don’t remind me. God, I don’t even know what I was trying to do back then.”

“Be some posh and professional prat while also being gay as hell?”

His head moves back up and he snaps his long finger and points at me. (I still want to know if he plays piano or not.) “Yes, that sounds right. Conformity and rebellion all at once. I had such insane cognitive dissonance back then, god.” He leans his cheek into his palm, pretty eyes fixed on me. “So what do you do now? Still attacking random men then stealing their cigarettes?”

I chuckle to try to hide my utter embarrassment. “No, but if I remember correctly, you offered me the cigarette.”

“Touche. You still haven’t answered though. What’s your life like?”

I shrug and sigh. “It’s pretty normal. I live in a tiny flat and I alternate between box food and take out, but I’ve got a pretty great job. I teach little kids.”

“So you did end up going into teaching like you wanted?”

“Eventually, yeah. I got sidetracked for...well, until a year ago. But I’ve finally been getting my life together lately. I do my laundry once a week now instead of once a month.”

He laughs, head bending back over the back. It’s so free and open, I’m amazed. “Yes, truly a sign of adulthood, I agree.” Baz sighs and runs his hand through his hair. I like how the black strands fall over his fingers. “I understand being derailed all too well. You should’ve seen me six months ago, I was a train wreck.”

“Really?” It’s hard to imagine Baz as a train wreck. He was so pristine in uni, and even now he still looks absolutely perfect.

“Oh absolutely. I’m humble enough nowadays to admit that you were right, Snow.”

“About what?” I don’t mind being right, but I’m not really used to it.

“About me.” He leans forward, arms crossed and elbows on the table, offering more but still a bit closed off. “All those years ago, you asked why I couldn’t just do what makes me happy. And I said that what I wanted didn’t matter. I had many reasons back then, but in the end they were all bollocks. I learned that the hard way. So, you were right.”

Is it strange that I’m both happy and sad that I was right? It’s absolutely a bittersweet taste on my tongue, like figuring out a lesson about myself from a therapy session. “Well, uh, thanks, I guess. But that sucks. Was the hard way, y’know...really hard? I hope it wasn’t.”

He sighs and runs his hand through his hair again. Honestly, he looks like some romantic hero when he does that. And I didn’t think he could get more attractive. “Well, it wasn’t fun, I can certainly say that. I did what I was supposed to do. Went to Oxford, became a lawyer at the family firm, fought all the cases the way I was supposed to. I kept waiting to not feel like shit every single day, but that never came. Nothing ever got better, and bit by bit small things piled up, completely crushing me. Then, well...” He winces, like someone has kicked them in the shins. “I did something pretty ridiculous.”

My head fills with a flurry of probably insane ideas. I only now realise that I’m leaning a lot closer, entranced and nervous for what Baz has to say. “How ridiculous are we talking?”

“Well,” he bites the corner of his lips (it looks way sexier than it should), “one morning over six months ago, I was looking over my case for the day. Checking notes and arguments, drinking too much coffee alone, smoothing out my suit, the usual. And for some reason, in that moment, a realization hit me; This was going to be the rest of my life. Reading cases, arguing for clients I hated, feeling completely numb all the time. I had been doing all this bollocks for almost ten years, and realistically I would be doing for decades to come. The thought sent me into a terrifying meltdown thanks to years of untreated mental health issues. I didn’t know what to do so I sort of ran away.”

“Ran away?” I chuckle. “In your thirties, I think they usually just call that a vacation.”

“It would have been, if I had told anyone I was leaving and hadn’t stopped answering my phone for weeks.”

My eyes go very, very wide. “Wait, what?!”

“Yeah...” It’s hard to tell in this lighting, but I think Baz’s cheeks turn red. Embarrassment looks cute on him. “After pacing around my flat for hours, I decided to simply leave. Packed a small bag, grabbed my car keys, and just started driving north with no destination in mind. Of course my colleagues started blowing up my mobile, then later my family and friends joined them. I couldn’t bear to answer because I didn’t even fully understand what was going on. I just needed to get far, far away from everything I knew and hated.”

“Where did you go then?”

“To a lot of places,” he sighs. “Mostly bad bars though. I basically drank and danced my way up the British Isle. I think. Honestly, I barely remember that time. It was an alcohol laden haze with brief moments of sober lucidity when I drove. And when I was lucid, I got depressed about my life again so I would drink more that night and pass out.”

“And you did that for how long?” My heart is beating a bit too fast. I know he’s fine, yeah, but still, the worry is eating away at me.

“Only a month,” he says, like that’s in any way a relief. “At the end of September, I stayed at a shitty inn in Scotland. I remember walking down the hall, and the next thing I knew I was in a hospital with my aunt by my side. She equal parts screamed at me and was relieved I was okay. Turned out I had fallen down the stairs while severely hungover like a bad Monty Python skit.”

He laughs, but there’s sadness behind it. Just like his smile over ten years ago. The more things change, the more they stay the same, I guess.

“Obviously I was fine.” He waves dismissively. “I spent two weeks recovering in the hospital. Which gave me a lot of time to think about myself and my future. By the end, I had decided to take an actual leave of absence from my work to focus on my mental health. And I did. Started therapy, stopped drinking, bought some clothes that weren’t bloody lawyer suits.” I can’t help but giggle. Baz’s smile has no sadness behind it this time.

“So I guess you’re not a lawyer anymore?”

He shakes his head. “Absolutely not. I quit a week after I got back to London, then started applying for book editor jobs.”

I grin wide. I can’t stop grinning. “Reading books forever.”

There’s a lovely glint in his eye. Like someone ripped Polaris from the heavens and put it in the deep sea grey of his eyes. (God the poetry unit is getting to me.) It’s a kind of playful happiness that I really, really like.

“You remember,” he says amused.

“Of course!” He smiles wider, eyebrows raising up. Now it’s my turn to blush like a teenager. I sheepishly rub the back of my neck, thinking of a reason that doesn’t include time travel. Or obsessing over our one conversation for a week. “Well, I-I’ve remembered some stuff. You just kind of, uh, y’know, stuck in my head.”

“Hence why you still called me ten years later.”

“Yeah.” I tilt my head down a bit, uselessly trying to hide how ridiculous I look. “I mean, I’m not really sure why. You were just...really different from anyone I’ve met. You were so, pretty and posh and smart, and at first I found it annoying. But the more we talked I realised you were nice, in your own strange way. And without your help I would have lost Agatha in my life forever. I dunno. You made an impression. You’ve come up in my head from time to time.”

Technically that’s not a lie. By time to time I just mean all the time for days. Though I have a vague feeling, a whisper of a half memory, that past me may have thought about Baz too. Some things always stick post-time travel no matter how much past me is supposed to forget. Usually it’s only the super important, impactful things. Looking at Baz’s incandescent smile, framed by wavy black hair, I think he might count.

“Honestly,” he says, his voice low in a very private way that I like, “you’ve come up in my head too. Especially during my crisis. I thought about how right you were back then, how I should have listened to you and maybe wouldn’t have wasted so much of my life if I had. But I was too stubborn and blind back then to” 

“Hey, stop that.” I somehow lean even closer. I’m this close to actually getting out of my chair. “Don’t beat yourself up so much. Remember that you had good reasons back then, and yeah it really sucked to go through all that, but you learned stuff right?”

“I suppose...”

“Then it wasn’t a waste.” Baz’s eyes narrow. A softer version of a glare, but he's still not totally happy. “Yeah, I know that’s easy to say, but I do kinda get it. Working in jobs I hated, never dating, never really doing anything for years, that all felt like a total waste. Sometimes it feels like my life is only just starting now at bloody 33. But I think struggling also gave me the drive to work harder now, live better. So did being a lawyer give you anything good?”

Baz looks really cute when he’s thinking. I like the way everything in his face pinches up, from the furrowed manicured brow to the slight pout of his bottom lip. (Don’t think about kissing that pout, do not think about it.) (Fuck I’m thinking about it.) Slowly, his expression softens.

“I learned,” he starts, “that I can’t force myself to love something. I thought if I was a lawyer long enough, I would at least learn to tolerate doing it, but I still hated every moment. I can’t keep living for other people’s expectations. At least that’s how my therapist puts it. Maybe I’ll fully listen to her one day.”

I let out a laughing snort and immediately cover my mouth in embarrassment. I hate when I do that. But Baz grins at me. The amused, affectionate glint in his eyes makes me want to blush even harder. My stomach feels like it’s full of rocks and butterflies all at once. It’s so overwhelming and wonderful.

“Took me a while to listen to my therapist too,” I say. “Actually fixing yourself is hard.”

“Tell me about it,” Baz groans, hanging his head for a moment, hair like a wavy curtain around his face. “It took ages for me to realise that I didn’t know everything that was wrong with me. Instead I had to actually listen to someone else’s assessment of me and not interject my own thoughts every time. Do you know how frustrating that is for a know it all like me?!”

“I can only imagine,” I giggle. My thoughts immediately go to Penny and the first time she got drunk. My ears rang for hours from all her yelling about not actually being drunk. She and Baz might get along. (Maybe a little too well. God, could I deal with two of them together?) (Hopefully, because I want Baz to stick around for awhile.)

“I live in absolute agony.” He puts the back of his hand against his forehead like a dramatic Victorian maiden. I’m about to call him that when my stomach decides to rumble louder than a bloody earthquake. The corner of Baz’s mouth quirks up. “You hungry there, Snow? I can get us something.”

“Uh, yeah, I’m always hungry. But I can buy it, don’t worry.”

“Nonsense. I was the one who asked you out and picked the place, I’ll happily pay.”

“Out like a date?” The words spill out before I have a chance to stop them. 

I’m pretty sure even the tips of my ears have turned bright pink at this point. Shit, why did I say that? Calm down, Simon. This is (technically) the first time we’ve seen each other in twelve years. No need to make this something it may not be. I expect Baz to be shocked, or confused, or annoyed at worst. But once again today, Baz surprises me. All he does is smile, looking at me with such kindness, far more open than I remember he was back at uni.

“Would you like this to be a date?” There's no pretense or implication in his words, he’s legitimately asking me. I don’t feel pressured, but luckily I already know.

“Yes, yeah, I-I would. I’d like that a lot.” I reach my hand forward across the table and just barely brush our fingers together. The tips of his are rough. Maybe he plays guitar or something, not piano. Doesn’t matter. I like the way he feels anyway.

Baz grins pointy ear to pointy ear. He flips his hand over, long callused fingers pressing into the much softer skin of my inner wrist. He can probably feel the way my pulse jumps. Luckily, I can feel the way his own is hammering. “Me too, Simon.”

We spend a bit too long just staring at each other before my stomach grumbles again. Baz chuckles and flags down the very nice waiter. I get another cherry scone and hot chocolate (yes I am 12 on the inside), and Baz gets something called a pumpkin mocha breve.

“What on Earth is that?” I ask when Baz gets his drink. It’s pale orange with a mountain of whipped cream on top.

“Try it.” He offers the cup to me and I take a sip. My tongue is immediately assaulted with more sugar that I’ve ever tasted at once. I blink rapidly from the shock.

“It tastes like a candy bar.”

“What can I say, I have a sweet tooth.” He licks the whipped cream off the top like a toddler with ice cream. A dollop gets on the tip of his nose.

“You’ve uh, got something right...” I flick the cream off with my thumb, “there.”

He laughs quietly. “Thank you. Allow me to return the favour.” Baz brushes some scone crumbs from my cheek. My skin feels like it’s on fire.

“T-Thanks.”

“You’re very welcome.”

We eat and drink and talk in between. Baz tells me about his work at the publishing house. It’s a small place that does mainly e-books and a few print ones, focusing on indie LGBT+ writers. He’s currently working on a book he describes as “gay polyamorous steampunk pirates,” which honestly gets me way too excited. I plan on pestering him for more details in the future. He looks animated the whole time, so passionate about what he’s doing. It makes him more beautiful.

He asks about my teaching. I tell him about my students, how incredible they are no matter how much they drive me crazy. I describe my lesson plans and all the new things I’m trying. Structured word inquiry, collaborative maths work, mixing subjects together to get kids engaged with stuff they don’t like. Luckily my principal is in favour of more out there ways of teaching too. Baz pays attention, asks questions and listens raptly. I can’t tell if he’s faking it. Most people do. I can’t blame them, it’s not very interesting. But as I go on and on, Baz never tries to change the subject or stares off into space. It’s not like he’s an angel for paying attention to me. It’s just nice that he’s making the effort. He’s really, really nice.

We eventually move off the topic of work. I tell him about my fencing class, something I haven’t done since I went to Watford. Baz calls me a bronze haired knight. I’m not too proud admit that made me blush. In turn, Baz tells me about getting back into playing the violin since he quit being a lawyer. (So that’s what the calluses are from).

“Cold I hear you play sometime?” I ask.

“My skills are still rusty,” he says over his near empty mug.

“Is that a no then?”

He sighs, but it’s with a small smile. “More like a ‘listen at your own risk.’”

“I can live with that.”

“Alright, another time then.”

I grin. Another time, I really like the sound of that.

Eventually, we somehow get onto the harder topics. I tell him about being in group homes, not having friends until Penny and Agatha, still feeling out of place and worthless sometimes. Baz talks about growing up without his mother, trying to live for her instead of himself until recently. Turns out we’ve both had a lot of hardship. We understand each other. We sort of match, I guess.

“I did like being with my younger siblings,” Baz sighs. “No matter how much I pretended I didn’t. Part of me felt like I was betraying my mother if I loved her husband’s children with another woman. But they were still my siblings and good kids, though I’m glad they’re all mostly tolerable ages now.”

I chuckle, leaning my cheek on my fist. “Mm, understandable. I always wanted siblings. Other kids to play with, y’know?”

“Group home kids didn’t play with you?”

“Nah, I was the weirdo who preferred punches over talking. No one liked being around me.”

Baz reaches out and brushes against my forearm. How can someone make me feel like I’m going to melt with just a touch? “If it’s any consolation, I certainly like being around you.”

I grin and touch his arm in turn. “I’ll certainly take that.”

We get away from all the dark shit, turning back to happier things. Baz describes the techniques and difficulties of the violin with dramatic gusto. I relay some of my worst customer service work experiences. I’ve never been good at talking, never liked it much. But I like it with Baz. He feels easy to talk to. I barely feel scared or awkward. We talk so much that we don’t even notice the sun setting on the horizon.

“Holy shit what time is it?” I say.

Baz looks down at his fancy leather watch. (A leftover from his prep days.) “Much later than I think either of us realised.”

I laugh and run a nervous hand through my hair. “Damn, sorry.”

“Don’t you dare apologize, Snow, unless you regret being here?”

“What?!” I gasp. “Of course not!”

He grins cheekily. I grumble and glare at him. Teasing bastard. Baz grabs my hand, lacing our fingers together. Any bad will immediately vanishes. “You said you lived in Camden. How close are we?”

“Uh, not that far. I walked here.”

“Wonderful. How about I pay then walk you home like a gentleman?”

I hope my face doesn’t look as hot as it feels. I squeeze his hand. “I’d like that a lot.”

He squeezes back. “Good.”

Baz does just as he says, and soon enough we’re strolling down the streets under the dimming London sky. We chat some more, but also occasionally just walk in comfortable silence. I don’t mind either, because Baz doesn’t let go of my hand the whole time. I’ve never felt so excited just from someone holding my hand. I don’t know why. I don’t care, really. I just want to bask in it forever.

Unfortunately though, we do reach my building. Never have I hated my own home more. I consider not telling Baz so we can keep walking, but then I remember all the homework I was supposed to grade yesterday while I was too excited about Baz to focus. I’ll need a good night’s sleep to survive. Life is too cruel sometimes.

“This is me,” I say.

“Nice place,” Baz replies.

“You don’t need to lie.”

“I’m not, I promise.” His head tilts to the side, a smirk on his lips. “Maybe I could see if your flat matches up sometime.”

I swear to god, my face is going to melt off from how much I’m blushing today. Baz laughs at my obviously flabbergasted expression. I playfully smack his shoulder. “Haha, very funny. Buy me dinner first, arsehole.”

He tugs me a bit closer by our joined hands. My nose is almost touching his. The smell of his post coffee peppermint gum hits me so hard I’m afraid I’ll stumble from the wonderful shock. “Are you free next Friday?”

I gulp, then nod slowly. I can’t look away from his mouth, fuck “Y-Yeah.”

“Good for you.” He takes a large step back, snapping me out of my daze. He’s got a cheeky little half smile on his lips. “I’m not, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy the free time.”

I gape at the absolute bastard. I shove his shoulder a bit harder this time. “Arsehole!”

Baz throws his head back laughing. It’s the most beautiful sound in the noisy London night. He takes my other hand and runs his thumb over the back of it. “Unfortunately, I am actually tied up for the next week, but I’m free the week after. Any ideas, Snow?”

I grin at him. “How about a scenic walk in Hyde Park?”

One of his eyebrows goes up in playful confusion. “Not dinner?”

“We’ll get to dinner eventually. I expect to be romanced a bit more first, Basilton.”

He smirks again and pulls me closer again “That doesn’t sound bad at all. Hyde Park will be lovely this time of year.”

“Agreed.”

Even though by all rational logic we should let go, our hands stay linked. Neither of us make a move to get away. I can smell the peppermint again, every time his hot breath brushes against my face. It’s somewhat shaky. But I imagine mine is about the same. I’m not sure. I’m too focused on his sharp cheekbones and blown pupils and pouty mouth. Mostly his mouth. Before I know it, we’re nose to nose. I’m getting whiffs of something other than his gum. Cedar, maybe, and bergamot. It’s perfect for Baz. He moves his face slightly, and our mouths almost touch. A spark still runs through my veins.

“Simon,” he sighs, and the sound of his voice hits me in so many places. Baz’s head moves again, brushing our noses together. I watch his eyes flutter like a pair of butterflies until they fully close. Mine follow suit. I’m overwhelmed by the smell of cedar and bergamot as I press my mouth to Baz’s.

He’s colder than I thought they would be, colder than anyone I’ve kissed before. Yet I like it so much more. Baz’s tepid mouth sends a calming wave through my constantly overheated body. He’s soft too, like how I imagine a cloud could feel if I was ever able to touch one. Our lips slot together so easily. His hands clutch mine tighter, nails even digging into my skin. Not good enough. Not close enough. I let go of Baz, but only so I can slide my arms up to hold his shoulders, pressing our bodies together. Baz immediately winds his arms around my waist, getting us even closer. He’s all lovely lean muscle pressed against me. And I fit into his arm so well. My lips fall open and Baz quickly follows. His tongue slowly over my back teeth, making stars explode behind my eyes and in my brain. I kiss him more fervently. Baz groans into my mouth. 

Part of me can’t believe that we’re doing this. Two thirty three year old men, snogging like stupid teenagers on the steps of my apartment building. Sounds so embarrassing. The other part of me really doesn’t care. I’ve never felt like this just from a kiss. Like I’ve left my body and entered another dimension where all there is happiness and pleasure and Baz. Is this how all kisses are supposed to feel? Or is it because of Baz? I don’t know, and I don’t care. I just weave my fingers through his silky smooth black hair and keep kissing this wonderful, wonderful man.

Baz pulls away, and I nearly whine. Luckily I still have a bit of dignity. (Just a bit.) He doesn’t let go of me, thank god. He keeps his lovely hands on my waist, eyes still half closed, bright red lips pulled into a grin.

“Do you always kiss on the first date, Snow?” he whispers playfully.

“No, you’re the first.” I twirl a bit of his wavy hair around my index finger. “Feel special?”

“Extremely.”

I lean forward and kiss him again for a moment. Just a quick, hard press against him. Baz leans forward slightly when I pull away. My heart flutters happily in my chest. “As much as I’d like to keep doing this, it’s late, and I’ve got grading to do.”

He makes an over dramatic groan, leaning against my hands. “How dare you be a responsible teacher who is truly committed to educating the next generation?”

God, he’s making me want to kiss him again. He does it so easily. “I know, terribly inconvenient. We’ll figure something out, yeah?”

“Yes, give me a call. And don’t wait twelve years this time.”

I sigh while Baz smirks at me. I’m about to retort when he leans down and kisses me. My head is spinning like a tumble dryer. I don’t want this day to ever end. Unfortunately, reality is a thing that exists. And because of it, Baz has to pull back, leaving me wanting more.

“I’ll text you when I get home,” he says, “alright?”

“Alright. Have a good night, Baz.”

“You too, Simon.”

He pecks my forehead, and I nearly melt into the pavement. We then slowly disentangle ourselves. My fingers trail on Baz’s as he lets go. He waves one more time. I smile back. And I keep smiling as I watch him walk down my street, only going for my keys when I lose sight of him as he turns the corner. I literally skip up my steps to my door. I’m so dazed with happiness that I barely notice that I walk into Dr. Margaret’s office instead of my dingy lobby.

“Snogging in public?” she says. “How very adolescent.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “That’s what you say after abandoning me for a week?”

She snorts, leaning back in her chair. “Didn’t abandon you. Just let you figure things out on your own. Point of therapy, remember?”

“Well, yeah, I know that. A little heads up would be nice though.”

“Not my style.”

It’s my turn to snort. I plant myself on her couch. “I know, you’re more of the ‘toss in the deep end and yell swim’ kind of therapist.”

“Mhm. And look how it turned out. Found your Baz.”

My eyes narrow even more. “How do you know his name?” Dr. Margaret just keeps smiling at me like a cat who’s caught a canary. The realisation slaps me in the face. My jaw drops open. “You knew exactly who and where he was the entire time, didn’t you?” No change, still smiling. “How?!”

“Though about him. Saw his whole life in my mind’s eye.”

My jaw falls further. Holy shit, how powerful is she? “Really?!”

“No.” She pulls a plastic card out of her pocket, holding it between her index and middle finger like a throwing star or something. “Swiped his uni ID and Googled him here. Much faster than powers.”

I can’t help but burst out laughing. Godlike abilities have nothing on a good search engine, it seems. “Of course you did.”

She shakes her head sarcastically. “Can’t believe you. Send you back in time, and you wonder how I know about one bloke?”

“Uh, yeah. Knowing everything is a bit different from time travel.” I lean forward with elbows on my knees. “Why didn’t you tell me about him then? Why make me suffer for a week?”

“Suffering now?”

“Well, no, now that I’ve found him-”

“And what made you want to find him?”

I rub the back of my neck, trying to coax the words out from my brain. “Uh, I dunno. I know we met only once, but he just stuck in my head. He was interesting, smart, funny and nice in his own way. And I wanted to talk to him again, learn more about him. It was overwhelming, really. How much I wanted to be around Baz again. I-I’ve never felt something like that so strongly before.”

“Exactly.” Dr. Margaret picks up a pen just to point it at me. “Felt strongly for the first time ever. Made you determined even to find him when it was hard. And never felt this strongly because you always settled for okay. Felt okay with Agatha, with Todd, with everyone. Need better than okay. Need to want someone more so you can build more. Make a relationship that’ll actually go somewhere.”

My eyebrows furrow. “I thought I needed to focus on the present more.”

“You do. In the present, desire Baz right?”

I think about Baz’s pretty eyes and his pretty laugh and the way he made my head do somersaults when he kissed me. My flushed face splits into a grin. “Yeah, I really do.”

“Good.” She leans back again with her hands linked behind her head. “Build from there. Put the effort in like you did searching for him. Will want to put the effort in, because you actually want him, not just because he’s nice and you should like him.”

The puzzle pieces start to slide into place finally. It was all one big, weird life lesson, of course, like everything Dr. Margaret gets me to do. Looking back, I cared about Agatha, and I did love her as a friend. But I never desired her. I never desired Todd or any of my other exes either. They just seemed like the kind of people you should date. They weren’t even bad, they just weren’t for me, weren’t who I wanted.

But dear lord, do I want Baz.

“You couldn’t just tell me I was dating people I wasn’t actually attracted to?” I ask. “That I was actually supposed to feel more but I was settling for nice people I didn’t really like instead?”

Dr. Margaret shakes her head. “Not how therapy works. Supposed to guide you to find the answers, not tell you outright. Where’s the fun in that?”

I cross my arms and smirk at her. “Since when is therapy fun?”

She glares at me hard. “Brat. Lucky that I like you.”

“Aw. I’m touched.” My voice is sarcastic, but my bright smile is genuine. I’m glad she likes me. I’m glad she’s here to help me finally live my life. I hate to think where I’d be without her help. From her returning grin, I think she knows that.

“Go do your grading. Be a responsible teacher. See you next time.”

“See you later, Dr. Margaret.”

She waves her hand, gold rings flashing in the light, and the world spins like a cyclone. I yelp as I fall flat on my arse on my apartment floor. Well, at least she didn’t put me back in the lobby so I had to climb all those stairs. Small blessings, take 'em where I can get ‘em. And Dr. Margaret herself is already a huge one.

After getting out of my day clothes and into trackies, I set about to my teacher's work. It’s not the most fun part of the job but it’s certainly the most important. I’m lost in a haze of spelling tests and math activities when I feel my phone buzz. There’s one text on the screen, and it makes me smile instantly.

Baz Hey, made it home safe. I had a lovely time today and can’t wait to see you again. Call me tomorrow at lunch?

Is it possible to die from such pure happiness and excitement? I hope not, because I’ve still got so much more of my life I want to live. And I want to see if Baz will be a big part of it.

Simon  me too. call you at noon <3

———————————————

AN: Mushy ending, as usual for me haha. I really hope you all liked that! Even if you don't know the original show, I hope it was good. I really liked the idea of Simon in time travel therapy, it would be good for him. Tbh I thought about making Ebb his therapist because she was such a mentor for him, but I wanted to try out Margaret and she ended up being a lot of fun. I may write more in this universe. There are other Being Erica plotlines that could be fun. And exploring Baz and Simon's relationship in this AU further could be great. We'll see. I'm taking writing day by day due to my health. Anywho, thanks for reading!

[itsreigns]

Birthday

Roman Reigns x Reader

(Y/N) is Roman’s girlfriend. She’s being distant and he doesn't know why, and it's causing them to argue. What is she up to?

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“What’s wrong with you?”

“Is everything ok?”

“Are you ok?”

Roman has been asking these questions repeatedly, over the past few weeks. Only to have a half ass excuse as a response.

You’ve been so stressed planning his birthday party and trying to keep it a secret, that you didn’t even realized how much you’ve been neglecting your boyfriend and how odd you’ve been acting.

It was only when he asked for some time apart that you came to your senses. When abruptly all of your plans, all of your hard work seemed to just… go to waste. Everything went out the wrong way.

Now, you want to explain yourself and your actions, because you definitely owe him an explanation, but that means you have to come clean about his surprise party, and… in all honesty, it breaks your heart to have to do so. You’ve been so excited about it; working on all the details, inviting all his friends and family… and stupidly engulfed in everything about him, but somehow forgetting the most important part: him.

After debating with your thoughts for what seemed a century, you decided to let him get his space and clear his head. Knowing him, pressuring him to talk or listen to you would just upset him even more and make things worse.

So it’s been a week since you last saw him, or even talked to him. You followed your decision and let him be, and, much to your dismay, he never reached out ever since. And you’re missing him as hell.

Tomorrow it’s the big day. His birthday.

You still decided to keep the surprise party up. So that’s still happening. You’re not going to be there, but at least you know he’ll be there surrounded by the ones he loves. Happy. And that somehow is enough for you.

It’s 4pm, and you’re currently sprawled on your couch, a cup of tea sitting on the table, as you type the message with all the details to the venue to all the guests. You left Jimmy and Jey out and sent them a specific message, because they’re in charge of bringing Roman.

Once you’re done, you place your phone down on the couch, sighing as you look up at the ceiling, lost in thought. A few minutes later, your phone beeps.

“Hey, what’s up baby girl? You gonna be there tomorrow? Hope you’re feeling better. And don’t worry, we’ll get him there!”, the text said. You smile. Jimmy really is the sweetest.

The smile fades as you type your reply.

“Hey Uce! I’m not… I’m sorry. Make sure he goes, and please have fun.”

You put your phone on silent and turn off all notifications after hitting send, setting it down at the table, as if doing all that would stop all the stress and pain in your chest and protect you of your own thoughts.

To avoid any more overthinking, you ended up watching a couple of movies and ordering a pizza for dinner. Then, you took a long, hot shower, in hopes of relaxing and getting a good night of sleep, but you still had trouble falling asleep.

Waking up, your chest tightens once you realize what day it is. You drag yourself off the bed, but can’t seem to do anything but mope around the house.

Finally, it’s 5PM. In a half hour, guests would start arriving at the venue.

Once more, you’re lying down on the couch. The TV is playing some movie in the background but you’re not paying it any attention. Your mind… your heart is some miles away. Wherever Roman is.

Meanwhile, Roman is being dragged out of his bedroom by his two cousins who are insisting that he needs to get his 'stinky ass' in the shower. Reluctantly, he agrees and soon enough put on the clothes that were laid out on the bed before slipping on the shoes and lugging himself to the car waiting downstairs.

5:30PM.

Lots of guests have already arrived at the venue. And it’s all looking so good. Everyone’s admiring its decoration, and pretty much everything, since every single detail is somehow linked to Roman and something he likes or admires.

Finally, 15 minutes later, every guest is there, in their position, waiting for Roman and the Usos to arrive. Once their car gets in the parking lot, everyone is excited and trying to be quiet until they get there.

Roman seems lost in thought, so lost that he’s not even questioning why his cousins took him to this place.

“SURPRISE!” Everyone yells excitedly, jumping out of every corner.

Roman’s mouth falls open, his brows furrowed in confusion, but those features are quickly replaced by a gentle smile. Not a full, sparkling smile, because obviously something was missing. But he chose to ignore the feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He went out greeting and thanking every guest for their presence and for their birthday wishes. Once he’s done, he stands there in the corner, just glancing are the venue.

Everyone is here. His coworkers, his friends, his childhood friends… even his family is here. How did this happen? Who did this? Someone had to do this. His mind is now running with lots of questions.

Luckily, Jimmy knows him as the back of his hand.

“What’s up, Uce?”

“Uh, nothing. I was just thinking.” Roman sighs, glancing down at his feet, but Jimmy knows best.

“Thinking about what? It’s your party, enjoy it.” He tries to hype his cousin, putting his arm around his shoulder gently.

“Who did all this anyway? You and Jey?”

“Nope. Our job was merely to make sure you were here.”

“What? Then, who-”

“Seriously, Uce? Who do you think knows you this good and would put this much effort in a surprise party, uh?” Roman finally hits realization, running his hands down his face.

“I fucked up. I fucked up big time.”

“Why exactly did you break up with her?”

“I… I didn’t break up with her. I just… I asked for some time.” Jimmy shoots him a look. “I know, it’s pretty much the same. But she had been acting so weird. Always on her phone or on her laptop. Always dismissing me with lame ass excuses. I just assumed...” He trails off. “I just couldn’t handle it anymore… And I know I haven’t seen her or talked to her ever since but-”

“What? You haven’t talked to her ever since? Are you serious?” Roman nods, in shame. “You know she was probably just busy planning this whole thing right?” Once again, he nods, averting his gaze to the ground. “You need to go talk to her and make this right, Uce.”

It’s around 9PM, and you had just gotten up from the couch and headed to the kitchen, trying to find something to eat, when someone knocks on your door.

You go and open it, no questions asked, thinking it’d be Jimmy and Naomi. When your eyes lay on Roman, you almost feel like your heart would jump out of your chest.

“Roman, what-?”

“No, (Y/N), just… please, just hear me out, ok? Just hear me out and then you can make a decision.” Roman pleads, his whole demeanor almost desperate. You sigh deeply, moving from the door so he could enter.

You walk towards the living room, sitting down in the couch and pulling your knees to your chest, hugging them, as Roman sits down next to you, but still maintaining his distance. He sits there for a while, staring at his hands.

“I know it was you who organized the whole party.” He breaks out the silence, as he turns to face you, his voice slightly rough.

“Uh, yeah… It was nothing, I-”

“It was everything.” Roman cuts you off. “You got everyone there. My friends, my family, everyone.”

“I just… I just want you to be happy. That’s all I want, really.”

“I know, and I’m guessing all your weird behavior had to do with all that?”

“Yes… I was trying to keep everything a secret, so it’d be a surprise. I wanted to surprise you. I wanted you to have a different birthday. A memorable one. And I definitely didn’t want to ruin it. And I didn’t, and you had fun, so… mission accomplished.”

“I had fun, and it was definitely memorable, but… there was something missing.” You furrow your brows questioningly, urging him to continue. “There was someone missing.”

“Oh God, who did I forget? Was it a family member? Oh my god, I knew it, I-”

“It was you, (Y/N).” Once again he cuts you off, and you finally lock your gaze with his, seeing nothing but pure adoration there. “You were the only thing missing there to make my day perfect, but that’s entirely on me. And I’m so, so sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. I’m at fault too… I should’ve acted differently. If I did, I could’ve saved us a lot of trouble.”

“Can I hug you? I just miss you so m-”

You don’t even let him finish, you launch yourself into his arms, hooking your arms around his neck and pulling him close.

“I missed you too, so much.” You sigh, finally feeling home. You pull back to face him, cradling his face in your hands. “Happy birthday, baby. I love you so much.”

“I love you too. So, so much. And I really can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me today.”

“You don’t have to. Seeing you happy is all the thanking I need.”

“You want to see me happy?” He asks, with a wide, kind of teasing smile.

“What kind of question is that? Of course I want to see you happy. What do you-”

“Then, marry me.”

You’re pretty much sure you’re hearing things. Roman didn’t just propose. No, he didn’t.

“W-What?”

“You heard me. I don’t know about you, but for me, having you as my wife, would make me the happiest man on this planet.”

“Baby, marrying you would make me the happiest woman on this universe.”

“Could you just do me a favor, then?” You nod. “Check that box, below the TV.”

You stand up, and head to the wood furniture, kneeling down on the floor and pulling the box out. Opening it, there’s a bunch of CDs and DVD’s on top. You look back at him and he motions you to keep looking.

Your motions come to a halt once your eyes lay on the small dark red velvet box. Picking it up, you couldn’t help but feel very emotional. Once you open it and see the ring, the tears start falling. The ring is so beautiful.

Suddenly, Roman is kneeling next to you. You hug him right away. Pulling back, you kiss him, deeply and hard. These days seemed ages. You were craving him… his touch… everything about him.

“Yes.”

Roman had the most beautiful, bright smile you’d ever seen on his face.

“This is, easily and by far, the most amazing birthday I ever had.”

Give me some feedback please?

[holly-hep]

The Beauty of Being Numb | Klaus Hargreeves x Reader

Index

Chapter 8: How To Turn Your Stupidity Into a Sexy Attitude

The next day, (Y/N) was happy to wake up and see Klaus sleeping beside her. He looked so calm and graceful, mouth slightly opened. 

She took a bath and changed in the bathroom, kissed Klaus goodbye in the forehead, and went downstairs to have breakfast. 

When she enters the kitchen, Luther and Alisson are eating in silence, and Grace is making her juice. 

-Guten Morgen!- she greets them with a wide smile. 

-Morning, (Y/N)- Luther responds while Alisson waves. 

-Got any plans for today, Luther?

-Not really. 

-Good- she thanks Grace for the juice and drinks it-. So, you're staying home? 

-Yeah. 

-May I ask you a favor?

Alisson looks at her with a frown. Since when they were so friendly to each other?

-Uh, sure. 

-Can you take care of Klaus?- she takes a piece of bread with peanut butter Grace is offering her-. I don't expect you to prevent him from taking anything, he's good at snicking. But, can you watch out he doesn't have an overdose or choke in his vomit? 

-Yeah, don't worry- Luther gives her a small smile-. He has survived on his own all these years, I bet he can make it through a couple of hours. I'll keep an eye on him, though. 

-Thanks. I've to go, see you later. 

(Y/N) starts walking towards the door when Alisson's voice stops her:

-Where are you going?

-To work. Ren, my boss, will be very angry if I arrive late, so I better hurry up. 

-You work?

-Yeah, at the flower shop, downtown. Come to visit any time you want, I'll give you a discount. 

-Thanks- Luther says. 

-Well, bye. 

She takes the car since it's raining and chilly. 

As soon as she stops in front of the shop, Ren runs out to meet her, an incomplete bouquet of roses on his hand. 

-Finally! I couldn't sleep last night out of curiosity. Tell me everything! 

She laughs as she gets out of the car. Then, she walks inside the shop, the scent of various flowers receiving her. 

-Girl, stop playing around and spill the tea! 

-Well... 

-Oh, no!- Lile, Ren's sister, enters the shop with three coffees and a box of donuts-. Did I miss the story? Shit! No, you gotta tell it again! 

-She was just about to tell it!- Ren takes his coffee-. So shut your mouth and listen. 

-Oh, sorry. Here's your coffee, Voss. Soy milk, I remembered this time.

-Thanks, Lile.

-So, how did he react when he saw you? 

-Did he kiss you? 

-Where did he take you yesterday? 

-Did you meet his family? 

(Y/N) laughs. 

-Hold up! One question at the time. Well... He was with all his siblings when he saw me. I presented myself, but he was too busy drinking at the bar, so I called his attention by saying his names- she sights-. And when he saw me, he smiled and ran to hug me. Oh, guys, it was amazing! I could have died there and then. 

-So, no kiss?- Lile seemed disappointed. 

-No. But we did sleep in the same bed- Ren looks at her mischievously-. Just sleep, nothing else. 

-And where you went yesterday? 

-We drove around town, he wanted to show me some spots from his childhood- she lied-. We went with his niece, it was so fun! 

She extended her hand to take her coffee. 

-And...- Lile is interrupted by her brother. 

-OH MY GOD!- he takes (Y/N) by the wrist and gets closer-. You got married!? 

-AH!- Lile screams, almost climbing the front desk to see the band-. Girl, how you got that in such a short notice? 

-How dare you not invite us? 

-Yeah! We've been hearing you talk about "your soulmate" for almost three years! 

-Guys, no, no...- she looks at the ring, sad-. I didn't marry him, it was a silly game we were playing yesterday with his niece. And the ring belonged to Sir Reginald's wife, it was given to me as a gift. 

-Oh- Lile sits back-. I kind of expected a more cinematic rencounter, you know? I mean, after not seeing each other for four years, that's the least...

The front door opens, the bells hanging from it ringing, and a tall redhead man looking at his phone enters. 

-Hi, Dylan- Ren smiles at him. 

-Hey, guys- he looks up from his phone-. Oh, (Y/N), you're back!

-What are you doing here, Hitchcock?- she asks in a soft tone. 

-Oh, so now that the Hargreeves kid had come back you don't want to see me?- he fakes being offended. 

-Don't be silly- she laughs as he approaches the front desk-. It's just weird you're here, you only come on Mondays and Thursdays. 

-Yeah, but Janet's daughter went to the office yesterday and tore the flowers, and her mom can't wait till Thursday- he winces-. Anyway, can you make her usual arrangement, please? 

-Oh, sure- Lile goes to the back of the store-. It'll be in ten minutes. 

-Thanks- he rests his arms on the desk-. How was rencounter? 

-Oh, boy, I've seen more interesting dates in National Geographic- Ren answers, watering some plants-. Don't let that ring fool you, it's just a present. 

-For me, it was perfect- (Y/N) replies-. Coffee? 

Dylan takes a sip from her cup and rubs his eyes. 

-Man, I'm so tired. But hey, at least I have a day off tomorrow. 

-Oh, it's your birthday! 32, right? 

-Yeap- he gets closer to her-. I don't know if Lile and Ren already told you, but we're reuniting at my apartment later today. It's something small, just some drinks and snacks... Would you like to come? 

-I'd love to! 

-Great, this is my address and phone number- he writes it down on a piece of paper at the counter-. It starts at 7. 

-Th...

Outside the shop, a taxi skids and a man dressed in black with a pink scarf rolls on the hood. He had his hands full of candy and snacks and was being chased by a policeman. 

-Can you excuse me?- (Y/N) says to Dylan as she runs outside. 

-Where are you going?- Ren asks, but she doesn't answer. 

Outside the shop, she rushes to the other side of the street. 

-Klaus! Klaus!

-Oh, hi, honey!

He doesn't stop running, but the officer does.

-Miss Voss, you know him?

-Unfortunately, I do- she turns to see him-. I apologize, Officer Evans. I'll pay for what he took. 

-Alright. 

After she paid for everything, (Y/N) went to look for Klaus, and found him sitting on the sidewalk, eating some chips. 

-What are you doing here?

-Love, hi... You want chocolate?- he offered her a bar. 

-No- she looked around-. Are you here alone?

-I'm sorry, sorry- she hears Luther behind her. She glares at him-. I got distracted talking with Five, sorry. 

-Don't worry, I don't think someone can stop him, to be honest. 

-Klaus, we need to go back to the house. 

-Oh, sure. 

He stands up, blinks an eye to his friends, and gives her the bar of chocolate.

-You owe me $30- she says.

-We're married, what's yours it's mine- he does a dramatic bow and leaves. 

(Y/N) can't help but smile. 

[everlarkbirthdaygifts]

Happy Birthday, 567inpanem!

Today, we wish @567inpanem Happy Birthday! We hope you’re having a wonderful day so far, and that you’ll end it with some delicious, Peeta-worthy cake! To keep your party going, @ally147writes has written a story just for you!

AN: Happy Birthday, @567inpanem! Your very simple request for an Everlark fic was kind of broad, but I hope you’ll enjoy this little drabble. I wish I could have made it longer, but many things have conspired against me this past week and I had to pare it down a little. Maybe I’ll expand on it later when I add it to my AO3 collection...

Rated T. Unbeta’d - all errors are my own. I apologise if people find this iteration of Katniss, or this fic in general, too bitingly sarcastic, but I’m spending all my time either writing academic stuff, or middle-grade fiction. I don’t have an outlet for the sarcasm right now and gawd I need it...

---

“Hey.”

 Katniss jumps, knocks her knees against the underside of the rickety desk and sends her pencil case tumbling to the floor. Her university’s post-grad study room is never anything less than silent. Exactly the way she prefers it. In the year-and-a-half she’s been frequenting, no one’s ever said more than two syllables to her, and that’s usually just to ask if the computer next to hers is taken.

 Which, yes, it is, even when it’s not. Because personal space is a commodity in here and there’s plenty of other computers to use that aren’t right by hers.

The source isn’t hard to find. The guy sitting across from her, with his blond curls tucked away under a dark blue, knit hat, typing away at his computer. Even though he’s smiling, he’s not looking her way at all. Par for the course, really; the guy’s been sitting in the same seat and giving her the same half-eyes since she started using the area.

 But she keeps inviting it, since she’s never tried to sit anywhere else.

 What can she say? When she’s lagging on academic inspiration… well, at least the view’s nice. Impressive that she can turn out a coherent sentence at all with that right across from her, really.

 She leans down and retrieves her pencil case. “Uh… hey.”

 “So…” There’s a glitter in his ludicrously blue eyes that has nothing to do with the reflection from his computer. “Come here often?”

 “Somehow,” she murmurs as she goes back to typing, “too often, and not often enough.”

 Blond guy snorts. “Yeah. I get that. Thesis writing is its own special kind of hell.”

 “Amen to that.”

 “No, but really. I think I’ve seen you here every day. I know how you take your tea, your favourite cup soup and everything. Seems weird that I haven’t said hello before now.”

 “Not weird,” she tells him. “We’re in a silent study room, after all.”

 “Maybe.” He shoves away from his desk and pushes the sleeves of his henley up to his elbows; Katniss watches every sordid inch of it. “But you’re the closest thing I have to a best friend since I started this program, so I guess I felt a little guilty.”

 “Well, don’t hog all the blame,” she says, and he laughs. Her cheeks go warm — too warm — so she refocuses on the keyboard and taps out a sentence that’s probably nonsense that she’ll have to delete later. “I could have opened my mouth, too.”

 “Plenty of it to go around, I’m sure.” He smiles at her, and the whole thing in combination, his ridiculous face with that ridiculous jawline, the bright blue eyes the exact colour of the sky in summertime, and the way his toned forearms flex around the bunched-up fabric of his shirt, she just —

 “So,” she says, coughing. “I’m your best friend?”

 He shrugs. His shoulders. Ugh. “I think I’ve spent more time here with you in the past year than I have with all my other friends combined. You more than qualify for the position.”

 “I don’t think I’ve ever been anyone’s best friend.”

 “Their loss, I’m sure.”

 “If I’m your best friend, you probably have to say that. Besides, it’s not like I’ve got any competition in here.”

 He clears his throat, and the apples of his cheeks go pink. “I don’t think you’d have any competition anywhere.

 “You… uh, you due a break any time soon?” he asks, before she can make any sense of what he just told her. “I was gonna go scope out the food vans for some lunch. That one that makes the melty subs is back.”

 She makes a weird noise like a wistful sigh. “I do like that one. Can’t go wrong with cheese and bread.”

 He grins even wider. “I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”

 Whatever that means. She glances at the little clock in the corner of her computer. She’s been working non-stop for the past four hours. Her tea is long gone. And she didn’t bring her apparently trademark cup soup with her today, either.

 “Guess I’m due,” she says eventually.

 Blond guy smiles, with just the right touch of sweetness that she can just about feel her teeth rot. In a good way. “I hear it’s not uncommon for best friends to grab a meal together.”

 She quirks a brow at him. “But it might be if those friends don’t even know each other’s names yet.”

 He laughs again, the sound warm and rich as a hot chocolate. “True. I’m Peeta,” he says, holding his hand across their desks. “Peeta Mellark.”

 She takes it and blinks at the literal spark that flares between them. Not just for the fairy-tales, apparently. “It’s Katniss. And I swear if you lump me with a shitty nickname like the ones I know you’re thinking of, you can find a new best friend.”

 He laughs and kicks out of his chair. “Come on. You don’t want to be Peeta-Bread and Kitty-Kat?”

 Totally against her will, she smiles, and so does he, like he’s won something huge. The whole thing might be a bit more tolerable if he’s making an ass out of himself, too. Presuming she’s going to go along with this charade, of course.

“Better than Catnip, I guess.”

 “Who called you Catnip?”

 “Just some douche back home.”

 “Sounds like an asshole.”

 “Sure was. But wow, listen to us bitch and moan about long-forgotten dudes from my childhood.”

 Peeta beams. “You’d think we’ve been friends our whole lives.”

 “I expect you’ll want to know all the deep stuff next.”

 “We’ll go slow. I’ll find out your favourite colour another day. Now, come on.” He circles around to her side of the desk and pulls her gently to standing. He’s not as tall as she thought, but she kind of likes being able to see his stupid, gorgeous face without inflicting significant neck trauma. Kind of really likes it. “The line at the van isn’t getting any shorter.”

 “I think I liked it better when I didn’t have a best friend.”

 She’s horrified to realise she’s lying.