#might’ve gone slightly overboard

[mnemonicmew]

Should’ve read the terms and services

[j0kers-light]

His Lighthouse: The Morning After (LedgerJoker x f!reader)

The Morning After 

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series summary:  

Y/n is an aspiring writer living in Gotham City and struggling to find her next muse. Her recent novel is getting all the buzz, earning her far more attention than she signed up for. But when a chance encounter results in her nursing The Joker back to health, will she find the time to write another best seller or will her own story become front page of the Gotham Gazette?

chapter summary:    

The elusive 'morning after' a romantic night with a lover, whatever will Joker and Y/n get into? Now that they are set on dating and getting to know one another will anything separate them from that goal.

authors note:

Hello! Hello! I’m back with another update and I must say, I'm a humble girl at heart but I sob cry knowing that there's really that many people that enjoy my story! I intended this to only reach a few people, if any at all, yet here we are... It only makes me wanna write more! Did I mention this story is farrrrrr from over? 

Taglist!    

@blackreaderatrisk   @twinkledinkle @clemdango04 @l3ejm @tears-of-amber @what-an-angell

Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! 

Last Chapter  |  Next Chapter 

You were absolutely stunning.

A natural beauty amplified in the morning light. Joker was so lucky he woke up at odd hours of the night. He would have hated himself for all of eternity for missing this. You, fast asleep and looking drop dead gorgeous.

Sometime during the night you wiggled your way out of his hold and rolled over onto your back. Joker still kept you close, it seemed that he craved physical contact even asleep, and he threw a possessive arm over your waist.

You had created some space between the two of you but your face was the first thing he got to see when he opened his eyes.

Joker wanted to wake up to the sight of you everyday.

Your beautiful lips slightly parted to allow for soft puffs of air to escape. Your dark lashes fluttering every so often in a deep R.E.M., (he wished you were dreaming of him) and your soft skin was highlighted by a ray of sunshine flooding in from the window. You didn't like that and it almost roused you awake.

You grumbled and turned into Joker's chest resuming your slumber. Suddenly he became the teddy bear. My, how the tables turned in just a few short hours.

You sought him out for protection and clung to him in your most vulnerable state. That subconscious choice had Joker speechless. No one had ever relied on him before yet you did just that. Seeking out his comfort while vastly unaware of the reaction that tiny decision would forever have on him.

He took extra care not to wake you up as he located the room remote on the nightstand and programmed the automatic curtains to move and shield you from the rising sun.

You earned your rest and then some. Joker would make sure that nothing bothered you.

On top of being kidnapped, (and quickly rescued) you let Joker finally have sex with you. And the clown definitely made up for lost time. Freaking overachiever. He might've gone overboard yet he heard no complaints. You were exhausted both mentally and physically.

Joker didn't consider himself much of a savior but he would do everything in his power to keep you safe. Not much could disturb you in the penthouse but he wouldn't take any chances.

You entrusted Joker with your heart until he had to leave and shatter it into a million pieces.

But that was negative thinking. Who knows? Maybe he could find a way to lessen the pain before then.

Joker chose to focus on the positive. Live in the moment. That's all you have. He pulled you closer in his arms and fell back asleep, holding you tighter than ever.

You woke up disoriented, sore, and clutching a pillow for dear life.

You wiped your mouth knowing there was probably drool present with how well rested you felt. That was the best night of sleep you had in weeks.

Not much was said after Joker tucked the both of you into bed last night. You tried your best to say something heartfelt; you epically failed.

"You're stuck with me for five more months."

He said it with such confidence you wanted to believe it was true. That you finally had a chance with Joker.

Things were still unclear but hopefully you and Joker were on the same page going forward. Things seemed to be off to a good start. Joker physically slid right back into your life as if nothing had happened. It was the emotional aspect of things that you were worried about. You hoped you weren't moving too fast but then again there was a deadline here underlined in red twice.

Five months felt so short and the clock was already ticking..

There was so much you wanted to ask, experience, and talk about with Joker but right now his side of the bed was empty. You rose from your sleeping position, looking around the room for his presence and came up short. The room was quiet.

It was then you noticed the curtains were drawn but the sunlight still peeked out from the bottom. Dawn truly dawned on you.

It was the morning after and you were alone.

Greaaat, real classy. An empty bed totally screams positive relationship goals. You two were totally on the same page! You had the urge to toss a pillow in anger. How could you be so stupid to believe that Joker would take this seriously?!

"Don't overthink things Y/n. Maybe he went to the bathroom or some other lame excuse. Yeah, that would explain why he didn't wake up next to you after such a wonderful night together."

That's the lie you told yourself as you flung the covers back and stepped on the cold hardwood floors.

Fitting. It matched your current feelings towards a certain fugitive. You blinked back tears for even allowing Joker a chance with your heart. It really was just sex to him, no strings attached, and oh no...

You clutched your head trying to stop the bad thoughts from taking over but they kept appearing even as you struggled to breathe.

You needed privacy before this panic attack got too intense. You nodded to yourself and almost made it to your sanctuary but the aroma coming from your kitchen caught your attention.

It quite literally made you stop in your tracks to investigate.

You made your way through the archway that separated the common area of your penthouse from the private rooms. The sight that greeted you snatched every bad thought from your mind and tossed them straight in the trash.

"What are you doing?" You mumbled to your roommate.

Joker turned around so you could see the gaudy Kiss the Cook apron that Dick left a few BBQ parties ago hanging from around his neck. Joker opted out on wearing a shirt and his dark grey sleeping pants were hanging dangerously low on his hips, showing off muscle and V lines that you failed to notice before.

He brought the whole scene together by waving with a plastic spatula in greeting. "Hmm. Good morning Bunny."

Joker watched you sink into the barstool at the island counter wide eyed and speechless.

His green eyes scanned you from head to toe like he didn't see you every time he woke up this morning— which happened to be a lot.

He couldn't get over the fact that you and him were actually together. It was such a far fetched concept that it didn't seem real so Joker kept waking up in a cold sweat throughout the night thinking you weren't there. What if he didn't rescue you from the warehouse or worse? What if you died at that dumb charity event and his sick, twisted mind was making all of this up?

It wouldn't be the first time that his mind became his own worst enemy.

Joker woke up each time gasping for air hoping that his nightmare wasn't a reality, only to sigh in relief when he felt you in his arms.

He would squeeze you tighter (despite grumbling your displeasure of it in your sleep) and fell back asleep with his living teddy bear safe and sound. But the same nightmare would awake him again an hour later thus, repeating the cycle anew.

Broken sleep wasn't healthy but Joker was used to getting the bare minimum in order to survive.

He didn't want you to worry or worse, wake you. Joker had his demons and as much as he wanted to stay by your side and ignore them, solitude was the best remedy to clear his head. Well that and shock therapy, but he wasn't at Arkham Asylum anymore.

So he regretfully left you tucked in bed to roam the penthouse when he had the thought to treat you to breakfast. His thoughts always revolved around you. Funny how you caused his inner turmoil and was also the solution to rid them.

Joker couldn't get you out of his head though he feared the day he would no longer think of you.

A deafening silence in perpetual darkness. A different type of loneliness that Joker didn't want to return to. How could he return to his old ways after experiencing your blinding light? He would never be the same but that was something to worry about in the distant future.

He focused back on you, seated before him at the kitchen counter, trying to figure out what was going on. Joker cleared his throat and set about clearing the air.

"I had plans to bring you uh break fast in bed but it seems you're really too noisy for your own good." He eyed you briefly before turning around and flipping whatever he was cooking in the skillet over.

You blinked in shock as he set the utensil down and leaned on the counter, crossing his arms.

"How did you sleep?" He popped the letter p and waited for a response. You decided to answer his question with one of your own.

"You can cook?" You waved at the mess he made of your kitchen. "Like... actually.. cook?"

"Duh whatcha think I'm doing, Y/n? I got nothing on you but at least I can feed myself without burning the apartment down." Joker didn't break eye contact with you as he dragged the skillet off the burner and killed the heat.

A shiver ran up your spine. A man that could cook was a secret weakness of yours. It was hard to believe that Joker knew his way around the kitchen. Your mind was on tilt. "Uh I.. um.."

"Use your words Y/n." By the time you looked up, he was reaching to take something out of the cabinet. This domestic version of Joker had you weak in the knees. He didn't seem to notice.

"Do you like syrup on your pancakes?" Joker shook the bottle to gain your attention. You forgot to verbally say yes along with your nod, causing Joker to arch an eyebrow.

He slammed the cabinet shut and set the syrup down next to the plate of pancakes already cooked and ready to eat. You just now noticed them.

Fluffy golden brown cakes stacked high and glistening with melted butter like some fancy flapjack commercial. They looked too good to be true. Either this was a dream or Joker was trying to impress you. So of course you had to be dreaming.

You thought as much until Joker grabbed your chin from over the counter.

"What's floating in that pretty little head of yours hmm?" He loved that lost doey eyed look during sex but right now, not so much.

He slowly nodded his own head trying to urge you to speak with no success. You just stared at him so he let your face go with a sigh.

"AlrighTyyy then. Since you're incapable of speech, I'll talk. I found your pancake mix in the pantry and since you weren't, uh, waking up any time soon to make us anything. Tada." He gestured to his hard work. "It's.. it's magic. Now eat something so that brain of yours can start workin.' Here."

He scooped out the last pancake he made from the skillet onto your plate and dragged the larger serving plate closer for himself.

You were still speechless but glanced down at the fine china before you. It was your plum blossom set and it brought a smile to your face thinking back to the first time you served it to Joker all those weeks ago.

Funny how things changed but everything remained the same.

His pancakes didn't look poisonous and none of them were burnt either. (His first of many attempts were sitting at the bottom of the trash mocking him.) The ones before you looked perfectly normal and smelled yummy if your growling stomach had any say on the matter. Joker slid into the barstool next to you and loaded his own plate with food but kept an eye on you lost in thought. Did you hit your head or something? This silent treatment was unusual behavior even for you.

Right as he was preparing to force you out of your daze, you grabbed a fork and dug in. Joker would be lying if he said he didn't hold his breath waiting for your review.

You were chewing too slowly for his liking and he thought the worst when you suddenly glanced his way.

"These are delicious." You beamed.

"Well yeah. You did all the work, I just cooked the d__n things." So it wasn't as easy as he led you on to believe. Interesting..

You hid your mirth by hitting his arm. He bristled at the playful contact. "You know the rules, Joker."

It took him a minute to get what you were talking about but he rolled his eyes knowing all too well. "Sweetheart. I said a lot of bad words last night. Don't ya remember?"

He bit into his forkful of pancakes and smirked at your flushed face avoiding his eye. He dialed back his signature laugh into condescending chuckles, aimed at you.

"Don't go shy on me now, Y/n... you weren't last night when you kept begging me for more."

All the sinful things Joker whispered, groaned, and panted in your ear last night played in your head like a sports recap. You hated when he was right. You were practically begging for it but he didn't have to rub it in.

Joker turned out to be quite the sexual deviant and you just so happened to be his personal plaything until further notice.

You didn't mind. Joker took his job as a lover very seriously despite his apparent rough treatment of you. Another fact you discovered, Joker was verbal in bed. and he talked you through the most intense moments of the night with that silver tongue of his. Good Lord the things his tongue could do..

You cleared your throat, "I ah remember. But to answer your question, I slept very well and t-thank you for cooking."

Joker grunted in that weird way of his, this time it held a positive, don't mention it tone, as the two of you ate in silence.

You thought he would bring up what really made him ditch you in bed this morning but nope. Crickets. You honestly weren't surprised. Joker could avoid any topic when it benefited him. He wasn't the only one that ran away instead of facing his emotions. His 'I decided to cook breakfast' excuse didn't sit well with you.

You wisely kept that thought to yourself.

Thankfully Joker didn't seem to notice your lackluster mood (or so you thought) although he was rather quiet as the two of you finished up breakfast and he moved to collect the various plates and other tools he used.

As a peace offering, you volunteered to wash dishes and Joker immediately took you up on it.

He was dreading cleaning all of this crap. Why didn't you own a dishwasher? Probably another weird quirk of yours since you actually looked excited to manually wash dishes. He could tell by that ghost of a smile on your face. Yet your mood hadn't fully recovered.

Joker knew something was bothering you when you kept quiet as the sink filled with suds and hot water. He chose not to comment in case he was wrong with his assumption but when was he ever wrong? Uh never.

After you blindly handed him a knife to towel dry off, enough was enough. He felt insulted. You knew his track record with knives. Why hand him one? Before you could blink, Joker had you caged in between him and the kitchen sink with no way out.

Your soapy hands grabbed his arms on instinct. "J-Joker, what are you doing?"

Your eyes met his trying to understand what had gotten into him. His knowing gaze made you uneasy so you purposefully looked away.

"Oh. I see." Joker eyed you up and down, "Go ahead and get it off your chest Y/n."

You froze. How did he..?

"How'd I know you wanted to talk? C'mon sweetheart, that look on your face screams; I'm holding something back."

Joker watched you swallow and he glanced down at the marks he left on your neck. They were noticeable but still faint against your skin tone. He wished Wayne could see you all marked up and claimed. That annoying rich boy needed to know his place. Sometimes being a secret really sucked. Joker wanted all of Gotham to know that the two of you were together.

Would you be upset if he made an anonymous tv broadcast about it or leaked it to the Gotham Gazette? Joker knew saying anything would put you in danger but a man could dream.

There had to be a way. You stole Joker's attention away before he could think on it further. "I mean yeah I have questions but I doubt you'll answer them."

Joker visibly sighed. You didn't trust him in the way he wanted you to. Just what would it take?!

"Won't know if you don't ask, doll. Up you go!" Joker picked you up and plopped you down on the kitchen counter, ignoring your startled yelp.

He left you there shell shocked and mildly turned on to go drain the water in the sink. Dishes could wait, you were more important.

He dried his hands and yours before removing the apron he was wearing. Then Joker gave you his full undivided attention. Such a shame you were too busy ogling his abs to start asking him questions.

"Eyes up here princess." Joker said.

The endearment was new and it hit your core like an atomic bomb.

"Ohh Y/n! Did you just moan? I think you diddd." He walked up and settled in between your legs, smiling wide. Of course he noticed your reaction. Lovely.

Joker licked his lips in that distinctive way of his. He subconsciously missed his clown makeup.

You liked his natural bare face more. "N-No! I did not! Can you be serious for once?"

Rule number one: be careful what you ask for around Joker. His eyes clouded over and the temperature in the kitchen dropped a good ten degrees instantly. A serious Joker was scary. You were trapped on the counter with this unstable degenerate blocking your path.

And the danger excited you. His sharp eyes forced you to elaborate.

"I can't seem to understand how quickly you responded to rescue me. Don't get me wrong, I'm forever grateful, but Mac and Neo painted a clear picture that you never wanted to see me again. I mean, I went two weeks with absolute radio silence and that hurt Joker. I know I was the one who ran away.. but you let me go. Y-You encouraged me to! I know we sorta kinda settled things between us and I am willing to try this- try us out but..."

You stopped to take a deep breath. Your next words came out in a heavy sigh.

"How do I know for sure that your feelings are genuine? You said it yourself you suffered while I was away, that you still have voices and doubts in your head about me. It sounds like you're confused on how to proceed. You're still struggling with your emotions and I don't want to force you into something that you might not be ready for. If we need to slow things down or take another break I—"

"You are noT pushing me away just because you're the one too scared to jump all in." Joker cut you off.

His eyes were venomous green staring you down from his towering height. Even situated on the counter, Joker could make you feel so small. Deep down you actually feared him just a tad.

His palms squeezed your upper thighs as he came nose to nose with you. This is not how he wanted to tell you about his inner demons.

"None of that matters Y/n! I saw you get taken with my own eyes. What was I supposed to do? Sit back and watch as they killed you?"

He hissed the accusation in the combined space and you could smell the maple syrup enlaced with his words.

"Sounds like a normal Joker reaction to me." You commented.

Your response hurt more than it should. A few months ago that would have been true. But now? Now he had to feign indifference to save face.

"Sorry. Uh next time? when you get kidnapped, I'll sit back and take notes mkay? Whether you like it or noT, you're stuck with me, so no. I will not slow down ooor take a break. I have you all to myself and I refuse to let you go. Even if I don't know what I'm doin' you're not going anywhere."

By the end of Joker's speech his lips were hovering over yours. You could feel the truth and uncertainty in his words but you didn't have much to say as a rebuttal. He was willing to try something new despite the odds stacked against him.

Those expressive eyes of his held you hostage and you were unable to look away. They were begging for you to understand what he failed to say— what both of you were too scared to admit this early on.

So for now it was best left unsaid. Joker was leaning down to seal your lips with his when someone started banging on your front door.

Joker growled at the moment being ruined and was making his way to neutralize the noise when you ran after him.

"Joker, wait!"

You caught up to him near the dining room table. With a gentle hand on his chest you pushed him back. "You're a wanted fugitive, remember? Let me answer it."

He scoffed and pushed you aside. "Uh huh. A defenseless author with a target on her head wants to answer the door? You're asking for it now. Move."

He did have a point, however. "Joker I know that knock from anywhere it's not—"

"You got ten seconds to open this door or we're coming in!" A feminine voice hollered from the other side.

Joker eyed the door in newfound intrigue as the person began counting down. He returned your gaze when you answered his question. "It's Florence. Please. Go. Hide!"

Oh. A friend. Normal guests, not psychotic criminals trying to kidnap you. Joker was kinda disappointed.

Florence kept banging on the door in between her exaggerated countdown.

Your e/c eyes pleaded with Joker halfway between seven and five to leave. He almost put up a fight but retreated to his bedroom— out of sight, for the time being. You heard the bedroom door slam close and knew Joker wasn't in the best of moods after being interrupted.

He was finally opening up and giving insight to his inner thoughts and feelings until Florence came out of nowhere and forced him back into his shell. This tiny world you created with Joker in your apartment was just a façade. The world was still revolving and balancing Joker's existence and Gotham's would prove to be a difficult task.

Dealing with a grumpy Joker would be an even bigger one. That would have to be a problem to deal with later though. Right now Florence was on number three and louder than ever.

"Open the f___ing door Y/n! I know you're in there girl! We just wanna talk!"

Classic Florence to threaten you passive aggressively.

You took a deep breath and unlocked the door right as Florence got to one. To her left, Barbara was holding the only set of spare keys you had, save for the front desk copy downstairs and surprisingly Joker's set. How he came in possession of your keys was a topic to be revisited at a later date.

You greeted your friends. "Hey hi. What brings you—"

The Haitian woman shoulder checked you as she walked into your apartment. Barbara wheeled herself in, giving you a telepathic, 'she's pissed' warning glare in passing.

The redhead shook her head as you closed the door. You didn't have to read the room to know Florence was mad. You rubbed your aching shoulder. The message was well received.

Florence had her hands on her hips bringing attention to the body chain hanging snug around her waist. You saw the intricate beads, healing crystals, and evil eye charms attached to the gold chain, most likely made from a native from her home country.

Despite Gotham City's unpredictable weather, Florence wore a crop top and wrap skirt complete with impressive lace up heels. A vision as always and she knew it.

"Not you acting all cordial at the door. You almost died and I had to hear about it off the news! No phone calls, no text, f__k a letter would have sufficed! If Barbara here didn't fill me in, I would've thought the worst!" Florence listed off each offense she had against you with her long acrylics.

Each click of her coffin nails made you cringe. It was literal sorcery how she could braid hair with them.

You walked further into the room to confront Florence, more like de-escalate her ire.

"That was two weeks ago Flo." You mentioned. They didn't know about you getting kidnapped just yesterday. The less they know the better.

Barbara made a face before weighing in.

"It doesn't matter how long ago it was Y/n, we were so worried about you! It was terrifying to watch the news without knowing your whereabouts! No one heard from you until I got a call from Bruce saying you were laying low at his estate. You should have called us. We're your friends!"

She failed to mention that Bruce was first on the scene as Batman with his tech analyst Oracle on standby that fateful Friday night. Both were clueless as to where you disappeared to until you mysteriously appeared back at your apartment, otherwise unharmed the next day.

Your whereabouts after the gala attack were unaccounted for. Where did you go for the night? Better yet, how did you escape the carnage?

Things weren't adding up, hence Barbara here with Florence (blissfully unaware of course) trying to get more intel.

The billionaire mentioned that something was on your mind in the two weeks you stayed with him. Even worse, things fell flat literally out of nowhere and you were too eager to leave Wayne Manor. You refused to talk about it to him, maybe you would confide in Barbara.

Bruce said he dropped you off at your place yesterday afternoon and Barbara was determined to get to the bottom of things today. Florence was playing her part in the secret mission and rounded on you, agreeing with her redheaded friend.

"Exactly! Friends communicate but wait a minute, new information being presented. You stayed with the DILF?!" She looked at you both with a petty smile slowly forming on her face.

"Bruce is not a daddy." You crossed your arms with a dramatic eye roll.

"Girl you crazy!" Florence cackled but stopped when she noticed something peculiar. "Hold on... Oh my god." She gasped.

Barbara jumped in her chair and looked around. "What? What is it? What's wrong?"

If she looked further into the kitchen she would've seen the mess Joker made of it. You clearly didn't have any time to clean or hide the evidence of him being here before their unexpected arrival. The fact the mess was there made you panic and try to keep their attention isolated in the living room.

"You f__ked him!" Florence screamed.

Your face turned deadpan the exact moment Barbara spoke out. "Wait who??"

Florence rolled her exotic eyes. "Y/n had sex with Bruce Wayne! It's written all over her face."

"I d-did not!"

She scoffed, "Tuh the devil is a lie. You had sex with somebody and ya boy Wayne seems to be a biter." She poked your collarbone that was riddled with marks. Your pjs put them on full display and you slapped a hand over them.

"I-I uh.." You turned to Barbara for help but she seemed to be processing this new information poorly.

"I I I. You're stuttering Y/n. Was the sex that good you can't form sentences? Is he still here?" Florence followed your gaze and looked over her shoulder.

You made a panic induced noise that diverted her attention back to you and away from the archway leading to the bedrooms.

"Bruce isn't here because I didn't have sex with him! I was still in bed when you banged on my door like the freaking GCPD." Your state of clothing sold the story but Florence wasn't buying it judging by her pursed lips.

"Mmhm. You took a shower and didn't wrap your hair beforehand. Any woman with some common sense would protect her textured hair before showering unless she's too preoccupied by getting dicked down. I can see the water damage Y/n. You ain't slick." Florence tapped your nappy hair that was sticking out from under your silk wrap.

Busted and Florence looked smug as you struggled to make a witty response.

Barbara broke the silence, sounding a bit hurt. "Y/n.. did you really have sex with Bruce?"

You turned towards the redhead and sighed. It was easy to forget Barbara had this weird, complex relationship with the billionaire. If she wasn't so flirtatious and coy with Dick you would've been convinced she had a thing for Bruce.

Either way, you heard the betrayal in her voice and felt obligated to set the record straight.

"No, I did not Barbara." You glanced at Florence when she snorted. "Look. I said what I said. Believe me or not that's up to you but I have no reason to lie."

Barbara slowly nodded her head but both of you eyed Florence when she burst out laughing.

"That dick must've been grade A to have you this twisted. You look like you barely survived a one night stand with a sadist." Florence snickered and fell on the couch in stitches.

She was having way too much fun roasting you. She was right about the sadist bit. Joker did get carried away...

"She has a point Y/n. They look painful but regardless— I'm so happy for you!" Barbara squealed.

"Our girl is finally getting dick. Took her long enough!" Florence added in between wheezes.

"Oh my god." You groaned at your friends ganging up on you. You made your way to the couch and sat down next to Flo.

After a while their laughter simmered down until Florence could speak without giggling.

"Okay nah forreal. I can squeeze you in for an appointment. Your hair looking a lil rough baby." Florence patted your natural hair professionally. "Did he pull the braids out or something? What happen?"

You swatted her hand away. "See you ain't right. If you two are done hounding me, I'd like to relax for the rest of the day."

Joker was bound to be pissed with how long they were hanging around. He was not a person to keep waiting but you couldn't kick them out without raising suspicions.

"Oh? He wore you out these past two weeks and now you're trying to kick us out. Rude. We came over to invite you out for a girl's night." Florence propped her heels on the coffee table and Barbara nodded her head, situated in her favorite spot next to the accent chair.

Behind her you spotted Joker's ridiculous panda suit he left on the floor when the two of you arrived late last night.

It was riddled with scratches from the spray of bullets Two Face's goons made in retaliation to your rescue. A cold sweat ran down your spine hoping they didn't see it. How could Joker be so careless?! Oh right, he thought it would be just the two of you in the penthouse for the next five months. You weren't a recluse for crying out loud!

Although few in number, you had visitors and many deliveries that stopped by. You mentally shook your head and diverted your attention back to Barbara who clapped her hands in glee.

"You can rest later Y/n! C'mon, we haven't hung out in ages!"

Flo admired her acrylic set and added her two cents in. "Red is right. Plus you deserve some fun after your brush with death."

If only she knew just how true her statement was and how recent. You wanted to agree but..

You glanced towards your guest bedroom where you knew Joker was bound to be eavesdropping. Florence's stunning beauty blocked your field of vision.

"Unless you really do have a dick appointment with a tall handsome billionaire you not telling us about." She sang.

You spat the denial out through your teeth. "No, I don't."

Barbara snickered behind her hands and the motion caused her many bracelets to clink together. "Perfect! We'll make it a true girl's night and invite Morgana!" She whipped her phone out and began typing away. "Wait, what time does she get off work?"

"Three." You and Florence said at the same time but you added more to your sentence. "So this is a thing. Like we're actually going out tonight?"

"Yes but there's a catch. I was invited to a club by one of my clients." Florence said with a grimace.

Barbara looked up from her phone not understanding the issue. "Okay? Wow! That's amazing Flo. Which one?"

"Euphoria."

You and Barbara shared a look. "I've never heard of it, is it a new club or something?" You asked.

Florence turned her head and mumbled something off to the side. Her odd behavior was irking Barb who had enough and raised her voice. "Spit it out Flo!"

"It's in Atlanta aight! The club is in Atlanta." She huffed out.

"Like.. Georgia?"

"As in, almost nine hundred miles away, in a different state than us Georgia?"

Florence rolled her eyes at the two of you pestering her. "Y'all so childish. Yes, that Georgia. I flew down to braid his hair a few times and he always invited me to his club for bottle service as secondary payment. Wasn't interested before, but we could use a little bit of fun on his dime. Plus I'm tryna get drunkity drunk tonight."

You snickered seeing Barbara process this new information. She was the brains of the group. This would be interesting.

"How are we going to get there, Florence? Traveling with me and a wheelchair isn't the best thing in the world, I'd tell you that."

Florence quickly replied. "It's just a suggestion d__n. He has a jet so it'll be personal care for you and your equipment, I promise. It beats staying here in Gotham. Just about all of the warehouses and strips are closed due to that explosion last night."

You stopped laughing.

"Oh good point. Dad's been so busy handling the situation on top of the National Guard I didn't get to talk to him this morning." Barbara mentioned.

Were they talking about the bomb Joker caused to save you last night? It sure sounded like it. You tensed up in your seat and remained quiet.

"See? It makes sense to travel elsewhere since Gotham City nightlife is temporarily shut down. This is what happens when an idiot blows up a perfectly good liquor factory. We have to party outside the state!"

They were definitely talking about the warehouse Joker demolished. Barbara and Florence spoke in the background about tonight's travel details but you were stuck in your own world.

It was insane to recall but you were kidnapped less than twenty four hours ago and Joker's 'heroic actions' had citywide consequences. Most of the nightclubs in Gotham were housed in warehouses so it was sound logic to shut down the rest to protect the public from any other repeat hits or copycats.

Would it be too suspicious to turn on the tv to watch the news coverage mid conversation? You didn't expect any survivors, but you needed to know what lengths Joker went through to get you back.

Even if they were criminals beyond saving, their deaths somehow felt like your responsibility.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing with this.. Usually I would stress my dad's strict citywide curfew but technically it doesn't apply if we fly out of the state. Morgana's not answering her cell so she must be busy with an order. I'll fill her in later. How about we meet back here around, oh let's say, a quarter to eight then drive to the airport?"

You were still on the fact they were talking about last night's traumatic event to even acknowledge they were making plans without your say.

You reentered the conversation with a stage cough. "Um excuse me? Hi. The owner of the meetup spot wishes to speak. Do I have a say in the matter or...?"

"Nope." They both said.

You were overruled two to one. What was the point in trying to stick your ground?

You finally got to glance at the clock. It read a little after eleven am. For someone who went to bed super late and woke up extremely early, you had a ton of energy. But did you have enough for a girl's night? Would you have enough to face Joker after this and tell him you were leaving? You were way too young for this kind of stress.

You'd have grey hairs by the end of the year. Florence ended your worrisome thoughts when she stood up with a flourish.

"Alright I'll call and tell him that we're a go. Now you!" She rounded on you with a pointy coffin nail. "I want that hair washed and presentable to match your sexy outfit that you'll wear tonight. And if you fail to be ready at eight pm, I will personally cockblock your plans with Wayne. Have I made myself clear?"

Florence stood over you looking every bit the assertive girl boss she was. You nodded your head to appease her. "Yes ma'am. I'll be ready."

Neither her or Barbara looked convinced. You were notorious for rain checks after all.

"I mean it Y/n/n." Flo warned.

Barbara sent you another telepathic message, this one, sucks to be you, before they both made their way towards the door. You held it open, waving goodbye and promising to be ready at eight o'clock.

You closed the door with a soft click that did nothing to muffle your heavy sigh. Somehow you got roped into a jet setting night out. Just what were you going to tell Joker?

You could write a thousand speeches, captivate an audience with your riveting tales, but when it came to finding a way to tell Joker about tonight's plans, you came up short.

He would not take the news well, that much was certain and you really didn't want to put a wedge in the already fragile relationship. You liked Joker a lot but your pre-existing friendship with the girls was important too.

Who took more priority in your life? You rested your head on the front door, at a loss on what to do.

"Going somewhere bunny?"

You screamed at the low timbre caressing in your ear. You doubted if Florence and Barbara were out of earshot yet but you honestly did not care. Your roommate was a sneaky devil that loved to scare people, i.e. you.

"Joker, you got to stop creeping up on me like that! My heart is racing!" You placed a hand over your chest to try and calm the tempo down.

Joker could care less. He heard every word you said and had a bone to pick with you. He crowded your frightened form to the wall and eyed you down with that mysterious gleam you had yet to decipher. You couldn't tell what he was thinking until he spoke.

"Soooo you're leaving. Again." He growled.

Okay he was Pissed with a capital p.

You had two choices here. One, play the victim card or own up to the plans and hold your ground. You chose the higher ground.

"Oh that. Well you already heard but Flo, Barb, and I are doing girl's night. I can't back out or they'll get suspicious. I mean.. they already think—"

Joker cut you off. "That you're screwing Gotham's most favorite upstanding citizen, Bruce Wayne? Yeah I hearD. I'll let that slide solely on the fact that the Commissioner's daughter was sooo worried about your sex life she failed to notice incriminating evidence right in her face."

He stepped back to pick up his bulletproof panda suit off the floor and shook it playfully. "It's comforting to know everyone associated with the GCPD is dumber than a bag of rocks."

You didn't find his comment funny.

"Don't insult my friend right to my face, Joker. That's what you not finna do."

He enjoyed hearing your Blüdhaven dialect come out whenever you were upset. It was a different side of you that very few got to see.

You noted his aloof demeanor and decided to agitate the bear since he wasn't mad like you thought he'd be. "Meanwhile I'm surprised you're not more upset about their 'accusations'. A lot can happen in two weeks."

You quoted Joker's own words right back at him, much to his displeasure.

Joker's grin fell and so did the panda suit from his grasp. It sank to the floor with an audible thud as he approached you once more. "Watch it Bunny."

You pursed your lips. "Or what? You'll spank me?"

"Do you want me to?"

You could tell Joker was serious. He didn't stutter nor did he crack a smile. If your eyes weren't glued to his, you would've seen his hands balled up into fists and shaking by his side. This version of Joker was unknown to you and it was wise to tread carefully. He was unpredictable and visibly on edge.

You let out a shaky breath. "N-No! Look. I'm not running away.."

"Then why did you agree to go out clubbing in Atlanta? That's the very definition of leaving!"

Joker was trying to ebb his emotions but it was proving to be difficult when you stood there acting like you were innocent.

Didn't you see your hypocritical actions front and center? How dare you paint him out to be the villain here?! He shouldn't be punished just because you were scared to take a leap of faith. You talked up a good game about giving this relationship a shot but you ran away at the mere drop of a hat. It was not fair.

You should be the one questioning your feelings toward him, not the other way around. He stood firm on his feelings, (even if he was relearning them day by day) you were the one uncertain. You were the one who was afraid.

Joker couldn't help you overcome that fear, at least not in a healthy manner. However tough love was a tried and true approach to these situations...

"Why?" Joker growled again as he invaded your space.

He didn't care if you were claustrophobic. He couldn't even think straight let alone notice how his actions were affecting you. You backpedaled further into the kitchen and was creating some distance until your back hit the pantry door next to the stove.

Then you were caged in, standing before a raging lion.

Arms you previously admired and clung to throughout the night were walls of steel, blocking your escape. Joker's tall frame blocked out the light, plunging you into a dark void where you were an innocent mouse and he the Cheshire Cat licking his fangs in anticipation.

The shadows made his facial scars harsher somehow. More sinister than you'd care to admit.

Joker repeated his question yet your brain failed at forming the right words to answer. Your silence was not what he wanted to hear. Joker asked you again only this time, he shouted it.

You cowered away and he preened at the fear rolling off of you. Almost a month ago, he would have killed to see fear overwhelm your features, yet seeing it today, it was all wrong. Just wrong, wrong, wrong. He never wanted you to fear him but that dark, ugly side he tried so hard to tame, wanted— no needed to force you to see their way of thinking.

Fear was the only way. It was the only emotion Joker knew and perfected and so he used it well.

You whimpered when Joker's fist careened into the pantry door mere inches from your face. It almost drowned out his demand for answers. Almost.

You didn't know how to respond when he was like this.

Granted you were still emotionally drained from last night, (and from this morning when you woke up alone) you easily lost the battle against your emotions and let a tear slip out.

His world stopped spinning.

It was as if Killer Croc ripped Joker's heart out and shredded it into confetti paper. Joker feared nothing but the moment he reached out and tried holding your face in his hands- when you flinched away- he felt hollow inside.

He was scum, lower than dirt for invoking your tears.

Joker's hands hovered in front of your face, trembling from the thought of touching you, of invoking your fear of him more, he couldn't stomach the sight anymore. He did this. No. That horrid- evil side of him that he tried his best to hide whenever he was around you, did this.

It wanted your blood, your terror, your very life if you were foolish enough to give it. Joker knew he was a monster; it was common knowledge and he wondered daily why you allowed him to dwell amongst your beauty and kindness. All he ever did was cause you pain.

Perhaps he should leave. He couldn't hurt something out of his reach, so he nodded to himself and began to turn when your weak, watery cry stopped him.

"Wait! Please."

Joker's world began spinning again, one hesitant inch at a time.

He was the one that cornered, frightened, and made you cry so why was he the one acting afraid? Joker was scared to see your face, to find disgust there directed at him. Maybe today would be the day you came to your senses and kicked him out of your life for good.

But no. His Bunny was too merciful. Your hands mirrored his previous intentions and held his cheek like glass. Your hands were so warm on his scars it made him dizzy.

"P-Please.. I'm sorry. I promise I'm not running away! Don't ever think that I'm running from you or from u-us. It's just.. um my friends and I rarely have the same schedules and if I don't go tonight it'll be months before we get to hang out as a full group again. And with you in my apartment for the next five months I want— No, I need to spend time with them before I give you all of my attention. You deserve it! I'm so sorry Joker, I have to go, please don't be mad at me!"

You burst into tears and clung to his chest. He blinked in awe that his fear tactic worked. Finally you explained your actions! Although he hated the method he used, it all worked out in the end.

You feared Joker just a smidgen more than you previously did and in the future he would use that to his advantage. Joker sighed to himself. He was ashamed for even manipulating you like this, but as he wrapped his arms around you and shushed your hiccups like a baby– he knew.

The seed was sown; You knew better not to anger him again.

Joker was used to making people cry and he hardly cared if they never stopped. It was part of the job description as Joker monopolized people's fear of him for his grip on power.

That is until he made you cry. Then, it was a problem. One that he couldn't seem to fix.

You two had slid to the kitchen floor where Joker sat with his back to the counter and you in his arms. He looked every bit a grumpy cat.

No matter how many times he patted your back or mumbled out at "There, there Bunny." or rolled his eyes each time you apologized he groaned, "Stop saying sorry and stop cryin.." you didn't.

You would simply tear up more and cling to him tighter.

This was Joker's atonement. His legs had since fallen asleep from your weight on them and he watched the time tick by on the stove's interface. Sooner or later you would tucker yourself out, right? Joker was by no means religious but he considered praying to something if it finally dried up your tears.

He was seconds away from shoving you aside and doing something more useful with his time- but once he raised a hand to caress the back of your head, it all stopped.

Just like that, you stopped. He was mad at himself for not thinking of it sooner. You secretly loved your hair being played with despite your strict 'no touching rule.'

You whimpered differently and shuddered in his hold as your gentle sobs came to a stop.

All was quiet until you looked up into muddled green orbs. Joker appeared to be absolutely bored but his eyes softened when he saw your puffy face staring up at him. Even with tear stained cheeks, you were beautiful. He didn't know if he was allowed to kiss you but nothing could stop Joker when he wanted something.

Right now, he wanted to kiss those pretty lips of yours. He wiped your lash line with the pad of his thumb and angled your head better to see him.

"You feelin better doll?"

You bashfully nodded your head. Your emotional outburst was so embarrassing now that it was over. To think you cried in front of Joker of all people! Ugh, you felt so pathetic.

Yet the way Joker's eyes regarded you like you were the most interesting thing in his world, it gave you a bit of hope. Who cares if your writer's mind over romanticized the moment?

Joker arched an eyebrow at your spaced out gaze and huffed gently. "Still not using your big girl words. I wanna hear you use 'em." He tapped your temple once, then twice to taunt your brain.

"I-I ahem.. I feel better. T-Thanks for letting me cry all over you." You wiped his chest that did little to absorb your tears. His muscles looked good wet. You cleared your throat after thinking that wild thought.

"Something else still on your mind?" Joker asked while tipping your head back with a lone finger. He had a sixth sense in reading your mind.

This relationship would be so much easier if he actually could, but alas. He was still pretty accurate at times.

"No. I just feel stupid for crying in your lap like some spoiled brat." You grumbled.

"Hmm, you do acT like one so no harm done." He laughed after seeing your annoyed scowl. "Now that your uh.. tantrum is over. You wanna relocate this chat somewhere else? Like.. not on the floor?" Joker shifted his knee and you both heard the pop it made after being in the same position for too long.

"Oh my gosh! Your leg! I'm so–"

Joker took that time to shut you up with a kiss. You tensed up for a millisecond but melted like wax soon after on his velvet lips. Unfortunately he broke the connection off prematurely and you failed to stop the whine that escaped your throat.

Joker chuckled once and pecked your lips, unable to deny you of anything. "If you apologize one more time, I'll give ya something to really be sorry for."

You barely had time to digest that warning before Joker abruptly stood up with you still in his arms. The sudden change of motion threw you off. He held you steady as you adapted to standing on your own two feet once again. You thanked him once the room stopped spinning.

Then you saw the state of your kitchen. Dishes were still lying around that weren't cleaned the first go around and it was slowly creeping towards midday. You had too much to handle before eight pm.

But one task at a time you told yourself. "I should finish cleaning and make us lunch before I start getting ready."

Joker's arms tightened around you after hearing your intentions. All that crying and you were still leaving? It didn't make any sense to him. You knew exactly what he was thinking and backed out of his arms with a sigh.

"I'm still going, Joker. You can go one night without me. I can cook you dinner before I go and I'll be back before breakfast. But I do need to go grocery shopping beforehand. I doubt there's anything in the fridge."

"There isn't." Joker confirmed.

You nodded and rocked on your heels in awkward silence. Your statement hung in the electrically charged room. Joker didn't help the situation by staring at you unblinking. Two pools of emerald bore into your soul and you crumbled like a cookie. Staring at Joker was like playing with fire. You had to look away to save yourself.

"Alrighty then. I guess I'll g-go get ready–" You made it around the island counter, headed towards your bedroom when Joker grabbed ahold of your arm.

"Uh where are you going?" He asked.

Did the man have separation anxiety or something? Regardless, your eyes traced from Joker's grip on your skin, up along his muscular arm to his eyes. Surely he wasn't hard of hearing.

"I just said I need to go grocery shopping. Geez Joker. It won't take me long and I promise I'll be back before you know it. I do have to change though." You glanced down at his firm grip, willing him to let go.

"You're not going anywhere without me."

Unfreaking believable. Who was acting like a spoiled brat now? Did all logic fly out the window this morning? You were literally speechless, gaping up at Joker until he explained himself.

"Both of us are going to the store." He sounded so sure of himself you wanted to believe it was possible. But this new level of insanity Joker cooked up was maddening.

How did he survive this long making these rash decisions?

You made a face and waved your hands wildly in a state of confusion. "Joker, you can't be serious. You're a wanted fugitive! There's an active manhunt for your recapture! Not to mention the explosion you created last night to rescue me has the entire GCPD force on go mode. The last thing you need to do is go outside."

Joker crossed his arms and stared you down. His facial expression was proof he didn't care about the authorities or their frivolous manhunt. His dramatic eye roll was a big, 'I don't give a f__k.'

You looked Joker dead in the eye and made an iconic hand gesture, "One does not simply walk into a supermarket with a reputation like yours."

Joker didn't get the pop culture reference. "Uh.. I'm not wearing any makeup." He pointed to his bare face. "So yeah, yeah I can."

He brought up a good argument. Joker did in fact look like a completely different person without his signature clown makeup. He could probably avoid detection if not for his scars. You were biased towards them but any other person would openly stare if they saw Joker's face. His hair alone would instantly raise alarm.

"That doesn't change the fact you're still.... well you." Joker arched an eyebrow at your choice of words so you quickly retracted your statement.

"I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT! I meant.. um green hair, drop dead gorgeous guy, oozing dangerous vibes, plus your uh.."

You gestured vaguely at your mouth. Joker just blinked.

This field trip must mean a lot to him if he truly forgot that his appearance was a major problem with attempting to blend in with society.

Self acceptance was always celebrated here, but not everyone has an elongated smile carved onto their face. You struggled saying that in a positive tone but you couldn't beat around the bush.

"Good Lawd this is pointless. Since you won't take no for an answer, you're putting a beanie on to cover your hair and I have a face mask around here somewhere to cover your scars. If I could, I'd put a brown paper bag over your head." You sighed wistfully.

His pointed glare dared you to try.

"Joker, this is still too risky." You trailed off and scratched the back of your neck, overthinking this idea since he wouldn't. Was his separation anxiety worth him potentially getting arrested?

You glanced up when Joker scoffed flippantly. Apparently so.

"Risky is my middle name, Y/n! I go under-cove-rrr more times than I'd care to admit with no issues. Gotham Citizens are annoyingly ignorant when it comes to being observant." The dark gleam in his eye had you believing him for a second.

Yet it wasn't enough. "I don't know.."

He hated hearing the hesitation in your voice. Joker was running out of excuses so he took you in his arms and held fast to your shoulders shaking them none too gently.

"Hey. Y/n. Look. Look at meee." You gazed up at Joker with doubt still clouding your e/c hued eyes. He took a moment to admire your beauty before he jumped back to the matter at hand.

"Nothing bad will happen. Can you- oh I don't know, trust me for once?" He cupped your face and stared straight into your soul.

Time slowed down whenever you stared at Joker. There was something about those electric green eyes of his that simply drew you in. His lips loomed closer and closer until they met yours with a rare gentleness that you never expected Joker to possess. Joker's kiss felt lighter than the pancakes he made for breakfast.

His tongue clashed with yours fighting for dominance- swirling like the butter and syrup on your plate- until you gave Joker full control. He licked the root of your mouth in victory and ever since you were a goner.

Joker pressed up against you- all hard edges and a festering heat. The combination made you weak in the knees yet Joker couldn't erase the narrative from your mind. This trip to the store was definitely risky and it went against your logic as an author.

Every character you read about or created never exposed themselves in such a way. They were smart to avoid detection at all costs until the coast was clear.

They weren't arrogant, thinking themselves untouchable and they never taunted the authorities. Joker was doing that and more. In Joker's case, his recapture was inevitable because Batman always tracked the clown down.. but not this time.

This time, Joker was under your protection and you dared the caped crusader to steal him away from you. You made a silent vow to keep Joker hidden the day you half-dragged, half-carried him into your apartment, unconscious and bleeding.

If Joker was going down, so were you. And so  you elected yourself to be the brains of this duo.

You seriously wanted to boycott this dumb idea of his. There were so many what ifs floating around in your head. If you spent the same amount of time thinking about the cons you would have known they were moot points since Joker was already determined to go.

He said it himself Gotham citizens were ignorant to their surroundings.

Barbara and Florence were living proof of that. If they were more observant they would've blown the whistle on your 'hide a fugitive in my apartment' quest a long time ago. Barbara saw right through your little white lie about adopting a cat but didn't press the matter any further.

You proudly wore a necklace of love bites and bruises that Florence pointed out although she didn't grow concerned when you denied it wasn't Bruce's doing. Who else did it then Florence? You mentally rolled your eyes. It was kinda sad just how little your two best friends cared. You might need this girl's night more than you thought.

And to get there you had to appease Joker. Your thoughts were abuzz as he pulled away from your lips for air. He swiped at the string of spit connecting your mouths with his tongue and rested his forehead against yours.

You didn't need more persuasion after that doozy of a kiss. You trusted Joker to some degree and it was high time to give him more credit where it was due. All you had was his word and a pinch of hope that this trip wouldn't backfire.

You played with the strands of hair on the nape of Joker's neck to gain his attention. He already knew you would cave in but your following words just solidified his theory.

"I hope I don't regret this. Get dressed loser, we're going shopping."

And that's how you ended up grocery shopping with Joker.

The mere thought was insane but sure enough, you glanced to your right and the notorious criminal stood next to you reading the nutritional facts on a bag of chips in fake interest. You had to smack his hand when he tried to open the bag in the middle of the store.

He threw death glares at you for hitting him but eventually tossed the half opened bag into the cart.

"I totally regret this." You grumbled and pushed the cart away from Joker.

He said nothing but followed behind you, secretly keeping an eye out on the various shoppers and all available entry and exit points. Just because he told you he went undercover with ease didn't mean he was lax with surveillance. Joker was vigilant while maintaining a level of calmness. A shame you weren't in the same boat.

Your nerves were one thousand percent since the moment you two left the apartment and it was noticeable from how your heels tapped on the epoxy floors to your shifty eyes. Every sound made you jump. You still couldn't believe you agreed to this.

After explaining to Joker that you were quoting Mean Girls and not deliberately calling him a loser, (you knew better) you both went your separate ways to get dressed.

You spent half of your thirty minutes taming your hot mess of hair into a pineapple bun and tied it strategically with a scarf. It paired well with your designer halter top and black skinny jeans that made your backside look phenomenal. You chose to wear printed Louboutin heels to polish off the look and eyed yourself in the mirror celebrating a job well done. Until you saw the bruises on your neck.

Joker's 'handiwork' was on full display but nothing a little concealer couldn't fix.

Adorning bracelets and a pair of hoop earrings as finishing touches, you considered yourself ready to go. Joker didn't know what to say when he opened his bedroom door and saw you in the hallway applying another coat of clear lip gloss to those plump lips of yours.

Your smoldering gaze rooted him to the spot.

"I uh thought we were going to the uhh... store?" He managed to say.

You looked ready for a date not for running errands. Joker looked down at his scruffy jeans and grey long sleeve shirt feeling vastly underdressed.

You on the other hand were practically drooling at Joker's choice in clothes. All he needed was a jean jacket and he would be any woman's bad boy dream. Since when did ripped jeans look so hot? You fiddled with your hair scarf hoping you weren't visibly sweating.

"You weren't kidding when you said you went clothes shopping. I ah... you look.. wow." You stuttered in Joker's direction. Your heels clicked loudly on the hardwood floors as you sauntered over to him.

Just a change of clothes and Joker had completely transformed himself. He let a few strands of his hair peek out from underneath the dark beanie you gave him. The pop of green was the only color in his monochromatic attire. Maybe this disguise would actually work.

He had you fooled. Joker looked like a lead guitarist of a metal band and an incredibly hot one at that. He let you run your hands over his clothed chest, while holding back an amused grin. "Answer my question Bunny." He reminded you.

"What question?"

Joker shook his head. "If we go together it'll draw more attention, 'specially if you keep that on..." He cooed. He didn't have to crane his head to see that booty from the front. You could make anything look sexy but this fit of yours was killing him.

"Right.. yeah perhaps I can meet you there? It's the EverFresh on Yale St."

That would explain your dressy outfit. Only nannies of prominent families and the upper elite shopped at EverFresh. Their prices were inflated but the quality of food lived up to the company's name. Joker knew you would blend in with your outfit. Everything made sense.

Not much else was said when the two of you left your apartment and rode the elevator down to the main floor. You were sweating bullets thinking someone would identify Joker but alas, no one batted an eyelash. Other than a fleeting glance at him for wearing a face mask, Joker roamed freely amongst the public.

This was actually working. The realization was terrifying.

He could've been anywhere all these years. It made his reputation that much terrifying. Joker whispered in your ear to relax right before he disappeared into the foot traffic outside of your apartment complex. Then you were alone.

Despite his reassuring words you felt like everyone was watching you. One guy stared longer than you liked on the subway (it didn't dawn on you that you looked hot) and it raised your hackles until you heard someone subtly clear their throat a few distance away.

The subway car was packed but out of the corner of your eye, you could see the dark handsome figure of Joker holding onto the ceiling handle. His grip on it highlighted his bicep in the tight grey shirt he wore and the lady standing next to him was definitely enjoying the view. If only she knew those arms could snap her neck and the nearby populace in the blink of an eye.

Joker's green eyes glowed in the overhead lights before the subway went through a blacked out passageway. The staring contest pursued even in the dark. Keeping an eye on Joker helped calm your nerves and you let out a shaky exhale until a robotic feminine voice announced the station's arrival.

It wasn't far of a walk out the subway terminal into the blinding organic and healthy food market, EverFresh.

The place reeked of superiority. It made you want to gag but you mentally prepared yourself and rented a cart to begin your shopping. This wouldn't take long and you reminded yourself you were nothing like these people.

EverFresh was the only store you knew of where a pre-screening background check was mandatory before obtaining a membership and also where sweats were banned. You wished you wore your Saint Laurent YSL logo heels instead.

Sticking out like a sore thumb wasn't ideal right now. Yet none of that mattered when Joker entered the store five minutes after you.

Somehow he bypassed earning a stink eye from the greeter when he failed to rent a cart or handheld basket, however, Joker did gain the eye of every housewife, nanny, private chef, and female employee present.

There was an air about him that commanded attention while warning people not to stare for too long. It was apparent he didn't belong here but no one questioned Joker's authority. He naturally found you on the bread aisle and strode up to you with confidence.

Unfortunately you didn't see him toss a loaf of whole grain wheat into the cart but you heard his dramatic greeting, "I see you started without me, Princess."

A middle aged woman, (a politician's wife by the looks of it) sent jealous daggers into your back.

You thought bringing Joker along to the store would put him at risk with the cops but, oh no. His sexy, mysterious aura was gonna get you in trouble with the jealous shoppers. Joker was better off coming as the wanted man he was instead of this wickedly good disguise.

Joker chuckled at your dilemma and only made matters worse by following behind you like a dark shadow. From an outsider's perspective, he appeared to be your personal bodyguard but he was anything but. You grabbed a few more things before turning down the breakfast aisle when Joker decided to act a plum fool.

Your heels echoed on the spotless floor as you combed through the vast selection for the various items on your list. Since Joker was with you, he could help carry the majority of the load so you could buy in bulk. You were scratching an item off the list when you heard your name across the way.

"Oh Y/n can I please have it? I promise I've been a very good boy."

You slowly turned around to find Joker holding up a box of Cocoa Nuts and Frosted Flakes, shaking them aggressively. You were surprised that Colomy's brand of cereal was even in stock here but stared at Joker in disbelief. Whatever happened to keeping a low profile?

He swore your left eye twitched. You were just about to scold him when another shopper walked by getting an eyeful of Joker. She giggled out a hello, he paid her no mind.

"Please Bunny?"

Her scoff was louder than the gossip she'd start about you. Your membership would take a few points for sure.

Steam was coming out of your ears you were so embarrassed.

"You are acting like a child. Yes, you can get them! Anything to shut you up." You scanned the area making sure no one was getting too suspicious. If anyone were listening in, it sounded like a nanny discipling her charge. If only Joker was an adolescent and not a full grown man with a twisted sense of humor.

This was the first trip to the store that no one had asked if you needed help or huffed at you to move out of their way. Usually a store associate would have bothered you by now. The lack of customer service put you on edge.

Joker invading your personal space and practically purring in your ear didn't help relieve your paranoia either. "Thank you Mommy." He said while tossing both boxes into the cart.

You never felt more embarrassed in your entire life. You wished the floor could swallow you whole. And so everything came back full circle.

"I totally regret this." You grumbled and pushed the cart away from Joker.

Yet he never left your line of sight. He stayed glued to your side even while you struggled to reach things on the top shelves and made sexual innuendos as you chose between two pieces of meat.

"Hmmm. Why not get that one Y/n? We both know you like thick pieces of meat." His words made the tips of your ears tingle and it flushed beet red when a blonde standing next to you gasped in shock.

She looked Joker up and down, no doubt about to shoot her shot but you tossed both packets of meat into the cart and hissed at Joker to follow you.

He did, but not before winking at the blonde. No matter how many times you told him to behave he would say or do something attention grabbing and shoot your stress levels sky high. He was doing it on purpose now. You were about to reach the floral section when you rounded on Joker.

"Stay right here and watch the cart. Do not walk off, do not flirt with another shopper.. again.. and please don't eat anything I haven't paid for yet."

He rolled his eyes and gave you a lazy army salute, which was his way of saying, 'I will make no such promises.' He was already looking for something to get into by the time you turned around.

Your attention focused on the florist center which took up a decent size of the market. It alone contributed to the sweet, inviting smell that wafted throughout the store.

Arrange me Not owned leasing rights within the supermarket but their primary location was a blooming success in Otisburg. And with good reason. Their work was amazing with each bouquet arranged with a personal touch for the expected recipient. They made common flowers works of art and you were lucky enough to know the owner.

Morgana planned on expanding to a third location in New Gotham by the end of the year. She could put old Pamela Isley out of business if the botanist turned super criminal ever returned to an honest living.

Regardless, you knew your friend was here in person today based on the more elaborate, premade bouquets on display. You walked up to the counter and decided against ringing the bell placed there.

It was too noisy, the florist mentioned time and time again.

"Morgana you busy?"

You didn't have to wait long before curious brown eyes shot out from the back followed by a dazzling smile when she recognized her current customer. Morgana had her long silky hair done up in a high ponytail today with a wreath of wildflowers acting as a makeshift hair tie.

If her hands weren't caked in dirt she would have hugged you. "Never for you Y/n! What will it be today? Lilies? Garden roses? Ooh! Peonies are in right now and I have a full crate that I can ship over from Otisburg to—" You stopped her rambling with a gentle wave.

"I'd love any arrangement you make Morgana but that's not why I'm here."

"Oh." She scratched her face, leaving a streak of soil there. "Did something happen again? I haven't checked my phone today."

Out of all of your friends Morgana was the most level headed when it came to your life drama. She didn't panic like Florence or Barbara would and it was one of the reasons why Morgana was the only person you texted after you woke up underground in Joker's bunker.

You hated having favorites but you could tell Morgana anything simply because she wouldn't overreact or care about the information. She was truly a free spirited individual. Which meant you could be as blunt as you wanted— no harm done.

"No, nothing bad happened. Flo, Barb, and I are doing girl's night. Barbara texted you the full details but I wanted to make sure you knew before your shift ended. We're meeting back up at my place at a quarter till eight. Florence got this client of hers that's flying us out to Atlanta."

Halfway through your explanation Morgana wiped her hands and face clean with a cloth and rounded the counter to stand by your side. It was acting as a barrier from giving you a hug. She pulled away with a laugh after hearing the end of your sentence.

"Oh she been giving that man pussy!" You joined in with her peals of laughter.

"That's what I said because ain't no way he's offering to fly us all out free of charge! He owns a club so I guess he's paying for everything else tonight. We just gotta come as we are."

"I have yet to turn down a man's money. Consider me in. What's the dress code?" Morgana asked. Unfortunately, you were just as clueless.

"Uh I don't know." You checked the group chat but nothing was mentioned. "I mean it's Atlanta so probably hot girl summer. Florence mentioned she wanted to get drunk so. There's that."

Morgana sighed to herself. "That means someone gotta stay sober to watch her Haitian a_s. We are not getting kicked out of a club again. I nominate you this time." She rolled her eyes when you muttered, well duh, but continued. "But say less I'll be ready. Is Cindy down?"

You totally forgot to include the businesswoman! It was quite last minute and you hadn't talked to her since visiting her office with Bruce two weeks ago.

"I doubt it."

Morgana hummed, "Won't hurt to invite her just in case she can pull a miracle." Out the corner of her eye she saw a client come up with a pickup ticket. "Ooh gotta go girl, but I'll see you tonight!"

She waved you off and greeted her new customer before coming out the back with a massive centerpiece bursting with spring florals. The lady gushed over the piece and struggled holding it with her two arms, it was so huge. It was absolutely beautiful and after seeing it you turned to Morgana—

"I'll bring you a bouquet when I come over tonight." She knew you too well. You walked back to where you left Joker and the cart with a content smile.

You killed two birds with one stone; informing Morgana of tonight's plans while shopping for groceries, all without an incident. Maybe tonight wouldn't be as bad as you thought. That is if Joker let you go.

The man had separation anxiety and boarded a boat down the river of denial. You didn't want to anger him or ruin whatever that was growing between you and him. Everything would work itself out, you thought to yourself and rounded the corner, only to arrive at an vacant spot.

"Where..." So obviously you weren't tripping. You left Joker by the wine and spirits section near the checkout yet he and your cart full of food were gone.

You frantically looked around but other shoppers were milling around minding their business, blissfully unaware. There was literally a madman on the loose and they went about their day as normal. Joker was nowhere in sight so you did the same thing your mom did whenever she lost you in the store.

You went up and down each aisle searching.

You couldn't call out Joker's name— wanted criminal and all— bummer right? Each aisle came up empty. You didn't spot a black beanie anywhere. You didn't hear any screams of terror nor did you see a crowd of women lining up for his number. He simply vanished. Your stress levels were over 9000.

"Excuse me miss? Did you lose something?"

You whirled on the store associate who stopped you on your fourth trip around the store. She took in your dilated eyes and distress, hoping you'd explain.

"Miss?" She put a halt to your panic with a comforting smile. "What seems to be the problem?"

"My cart! I left it right here and... and.." You choked out.

"Miss Y/L is it? Your membership card was authorized for a purchase over twenty minutes ago. I assumed your bodyguard went on ahead with the groceries since he opted in on a home delivery service."

Screw the GCPD capturing Joker. You were going to kill him yourself.

Did he know how much delivery services cost?! Scratch that. What was he thinking leaving without you? The man couldn't follow simple instructions and did he have to take your purse with him? At least you had your phone and apartment key in your back pocket, however your anger for a green haired clown was at an all time high.

You had to save face in this uppity store so you faced the store associate with a tight lipped smile of your own.

"Is that so? Well, I guess he got impatient while I was off browsing in the flower section. Thank you for your help."

She returned your smile and moseyed off to assist another customer, leaving you stewing near the exit. Joker better have a good excuse after pulling a stunt like this. It was gonna be a long subway ride home as you plotted about all the many ways to get even with the Crowned Prince of Crime.

[sevikasenby]

Care to share more about your thoughts on bottom Sevika?

yes😵‍💫 (might’ve gone a bit overboard but shhh)

• would take a while for her to let you top her. she’s use to having and taking control so giving it up for a night would be a big step for her.

• fingering her and eating her out is as far as she’s gone, so her finally taking the strap is exciting.

• (she can’t deny that the thought of you fucking her really turns her on though)

• edging her

• fingering her and making her promise she’s not gonna turn the tables and flip you two around when you edge her just a little too much (cause paybacks a bitch)

• her telling you that you look pretty while helping you put her strap on.

• would 100% try and tease you so you get flustered and let her fuck you instead.

• not gonna happen. topping sevika is 50% payback for all the times she’s obliterated you and 50% wanting to see how loud you make her get.

• you can definitely tell when she’s trying not to show that she’s really enjoying you fucking her. (her mech hand gripping the sheets tells you otherwise)

• “it’s okay, i wanna hear you. i wanna hear how good i’m making you feel”

• getting her to tell you how hard, slow, fast or gentle she likes it.

• pulling her legs up to wrap around your waist to fuck her deeper (you’re gonna try and pretend that you didn’t see her eyes roll slightly behind her head)

• really wanting to hear her beg (would probably taking a few more rounds for her to really let go and do)

• using all the tactics she likes to use on you against her.

• so far telling her how pretty she sounds, how good she’s taking her own strap, and pulling on her hair to turn her head so you can suck marks onto her neck are most definitely working on her.

• hearing sevika moan in your ear while she’s stretching up your back. (while her nails are pretty short, you can still tell she’s leaving marks)

• “fuck, ba- ah fuck, that feels so good”

• making sevika fuck herself on the strap, whether that be her grinding her hips down when you stop fucking her (just to see her reaction) or her riding you.

• not letting her cum yet, and holding her hand back from her clit, simply because you can’t get enough of hearing her moan and seeing her writhe under you.

• watching her eyes roll back into her head and feeling her legs shake when you do finally let her cum.

• would make her stay in bed so you can go and get a warm washcloth to clean her up like she does for you.

• also holding a water bottle in front of her and her calling you an idiot while she takes it to drink cause “i was gonna get it”, “sure you were”.

[nicohischierz]

aunt y/n: player!reader x lucas hughes au

taglist: @francesfarhadi @hzstry8 @cixrosie @heartz4hisch @ivy-34 your user isn’t written properly or if you want to be added please send me a message!!

lucas’s mum, andrea, was set to follow the isles and seeing as the devils were on the road as well, she had no one to leave her son with.

whilst quinn offered to fly and get him, you jumped at the chance to babysit.

as you were pregnant and weren’t able to travel, you assured andrea that lucas would be in safe hands. the young boy was awe-struck when he was dropped of in yours and nico’s apartment.

your boyfriend, had gone out with lucas and bought all the snacks he needed before heading off to the airport.

and now here you were, watching the isles play the stars.

“are you hungry?” you asked lucas.

the young boy shrugged. in the twenty-fours you spent with him, you realised that he wasn’t much of a talker. like his father.

you walked over to your kitchen and opened the refrigerator to see what there was. but you were unsatisfied with the options and decided to order some mcdonald’s instead.

upon seeing your screen, lucas moved closer to you and peered over your shoulder. when you noticed, you moved the screen slightly so he can see.

“can i have some chicken nuggets and an ice cream please?” he asked meekly.

you nodded and might’ve gone overboard on ordering things but you were in a good mood and didn’t mind.

when the food arrived, you got a call from quinn. you unknowingly auto filled his details in.

lucas answered your phone whilst you put all the food out in front of you.

“y/n. why did i just get charged $150 from mcdonald’s?” quinn asked slowly.

you paused after hearing his question and winced slightly. “daddy, aunt y/n and i are having a movie night. bye!”

lucas quickly cut the line on his father and smiled up at you.

that night, whilst you and lucas slowly feasted on the greasy mcdonald’s, you exposed quinn’s secrets to lucas causing the young boy to laugh at his dad.

“wait wait, are you saying that dad made a music video with uncle josh?” he asked. you nodded eagerly and pulled out the video quinn made for mock rock.

you then proceeded to tell him about jack’s lack of geographical sense as he questioned whether there was a city in new jersey.

“you know kiddo, from what your mum tells me, you are a lot like your dad,”

lucas beamed up at you.

“mama says you’re going to have a baby soon. are you excited?” he asked looking over at your bump.

you nodded and rubbed your stomach. “i think we’re having a little boy. i also think you and him would be good friends,”

“papa says you and him are really good friends. maybe your baby and i can be the same!” he exclaimed.

you smiled at the boy and brought him in for a hug.

the rest of the week, lucas introduced you to all his favourite things in hopes that you’d know what to do when your child came.

when nico opened the door to his apartment, he was welcomed to the sight of lucas lying on you with avengers playing in the background.

he couldn’t wait for this to be his life forever.

[minkkumaz]

ALL GUMMED UP INSIDE

no matter how hard seungheon tries, the hole in his heart grows deeper as you feel almost unreachable. small mistakes that grow into awkward situations. but he just doesn't know how much you like him too.

DISTANT LANDS AND OTHER ADVENTURES series

PAIRING lee seungheon x fem!reader WC 2.6k TAGS adults dni. friends to lovers trope. school au. fluff. mutual pining. crying. angst if you squint. cussing. they're extremely clueless. like very clueless. OMI NOTE this series keeps producing bangers i literally could not giggle any more right now. i'm sososo proud of this so i hope all the minors (adults pls get out u weirdos) in the 8turn fandom are fed.

a void deepened in the confines of seungheon’s body, inching closer and closer to his soul. as if a foreign substance called love crawled its way to strangle him when he was most vulnerable. this feeling was constantly recurring, consuming him whole.

seeing the way your lips perked up into a fond smile when you heard a funny joke, throwing your head back in a fit of giggles. the crinkles on your forehead appearing when there’s a math question you don’t quite understand. it was impossible to look away.

of course, the endless teasing from his hyungs never faltered, but in a way he was too entranced to care. every emotion he felt was worth it to continue seeing you exist. the only shame being the mixed signals you sent. being unable to determine if the touch of your hands was a delusion, or if the spark existed.

every move he made felt like another mistake, staring hopelessly into your clueless eyes. it wasn’t you’re fault that you couldn’t catch on, but you weren’t completely oblivious. you felt it to, but random incoherent babbles came out instead of a clear ‘i like you too’

“why haven’t you just told her yet instead of trying to drop hints?” yungyu questioned, snapping seungheon out of his staring contest with the door.

“it’s not that easy dude. you’ve never had a girlfriend before, let alone a crush!” he whined, burying his face in his hands.

“you’ve never had a girlfriend either! i’m just saying if she hasn’t picked up on anything you should just flat out tell her.” yungyu suggests, ruffling the boys hair.

“i’m better off asking minho or haemin for help.” he groaned in annoyance.

“trust me, they’re going to tell you the exact same thing. take it or leave it.”

seungheon rolled his eyes, throwing a worn out eraser in his friends direction. the two boys had always been close, basically embodying a brotherly - like bond. when he wasn’t with you, he was stuck to yungyu’s side. though when all the fun passed by, he knew gyu meant well. 

the weight of staring at the door, hoping you’d pop in soon, was slightly lifted off his shoulders for the mere second he was distracted. love influenced him in mysterious ways, almost making him feel silly. was this love, or an idiotic perception to mess with his head? despite this, he appreciated the first conclusion a bit more. the sound of a door sliding open interrupted his thoughts suddenly.

when you saw him, your face visibly lit up. an award - winning smile appeared on your lips as you entered all the way into the classroom. you were slugging around a heavy bag on your back, looking as if you could almost topple over. stumbling in your black mary janes, you rush to seat yourself in the empty desk next to him.

“heonie!” you inhale and exhale quickly, dropping your backpack on the floor next to you and practically falling into your seat.

“good morning, y/n!” he greets you, mood immediately much brighter after seeing you, “why such a load?”

“it’s the first day of school! and i might’ve gone overboard with school supply shopping this year?” you shrug, “but look at all these cute pencils!”

you unzip your stationery pouch, pulling out an assortment of colorful led pencils with different patterns and little animals. one of them had a cute panda with puffy cheeks on the side, with a little charm to top it all off.

“here, i got this one for you.” you take his hand suddenly, placing it in his palm. your touch was warm, sending fireworks up his arm.

“for me? i already went school supply shopping, y/n, you really didn’t have to!” he fidgets with it in his fingers.

“well yeah, but i have a matching one!” you hold out another animal themed pencil in front of his face, “see? now it can be special to you.”

“thank you then!” he grinned sheepishly, clicking the end of it to watch the led protrude from cone at the top. 

“y/n, why didn’t you get me a cute pencil?” yungyu complained jokingly from the other side of seungheon’s desk.

“get a grip yungyu, you know i like heon more than you.” you scowl at him.

and on the other side of the spectrum, you and yungyu had a playful rivalry. everything was light hearted one hundred percent of the time, feeling the need to fight for seungheon’s attention. while he knew it was all friendly, his breath grew unsteady and his face began to burn at your words. 

“ouch.” yungyu smirked, giving seungheon a very dramatic wink before trying to go back to whatever he was doing. 

“ask yoonsung for matching stationery or something.” you recommend him.

“maybe he’ll get us some pens on top of that, better step up your game–” the loud blare of a school bell cut him off, initiating the start of classes.

turning your head from him, you took out the rest of your supplies and notebooks just in case you needed to write anything down. the rest of your classmates did the same as the teacher followed in shortly. you nudged the side of seungheon’s leg with your shoe, making him look in your direction.

‘lunch later?’ you mouthed sweetly, making him nod happily in response.

class was always a bore, long lectures giving you the most insufferable headaches ever. the teachers voice being toned out by any thought that decided to surface in your brain. each student almost looked like they were going to pass out, first days of school were like that sometimes. it was either basic instruction that you’ve already heard hundreds of times, or a review quiz.

what you mainly looked forward to in the day was lunch, like many others. this was when you got to spend most of your time with seungheon during the school day. your stomach fluttered with joy (and hunger), getting flashbacks to times when you’d sit closely to share a meal.

everyone filed out into the hallways, rushing to get to the cafeteria in time for the best food options. grabbing your backpack, you rustle through your things in search for your lunchbox. yet alas, that attempt was proven worthless as it was nowhere to be found. a groan left your throat, making your friend look over.

“did you forget your lunch at home again?” seungheon asked you, standing up from his desk.

“bro yes, how come i always do this?! that’s so lame i packed something so yummy too..” you grumble, begrudgingly slipping your arms into the sleeves of your backpack.

“jeez how can you be so adorable sometimes.” he said under his breath.

“you better be whispering about how to solve my lunch problem.” you quirk an eyebrow.

“i’ll just buy you lunch, so don’t worry about it.” he offers.

“aww heonie.” you cheer internally, “you’re too cute. i’ll make sure to pay you back tomorrow, pinky promise.” 

“no it’s fine! i uh– enjoy taking care of you, so really, don’t even think about it.” he acts casually, despite his marathon - winning heartbeat.

“ah.. thank you then.” you say flustered, darting your eyes to the floor.

awkwardness soon surfaces, covering the two of you in a blanket of silence. both of your heads were reeling, trying to comprehend what flirting was and if that conversation was anything close to that. naivety often caused problems between emotional teenagers, and you were no exception.

he enjoyed taking care of you, those words rang through your head like an insufferable telephone. maybe he cared for you more than you perceived him to.

“right, let’s go before they run out of your favorite.” he breaks the tension in the air.

“wait they have my favorite today?” you perk up.

“wouldn’t want you to miss it.” he walks in front of you towards the door, leaving you to catch up behind him.

running over to meet his side, the two of you make your way down the halls to ease your hunger. you’re shoulder to shoulder with him, arms bumping together occasionally, sometimes pinkies. to you, it was mundane being this close to seungheon, but it made you feel like you needed to scream into a pillow.

the cafeteria was bursting with conversation, everyone with their established friend groups and a few lonely stragglers. still following closely behind the boy, you quickly grabbed lunch and sped off to your designated spot with trays in hand.

it was a secluded place, close to the field but not far from the school. shaded off by tall trees, leaves threatening to fall from the branches and be replaced with pungent flowers. you sat criss cross on a bench, flattening your skirt with the palms of your hands appropriately.

“i’m so hungry i could eat a whole building right now.” you rip off the plastic covering your utensils, crumpling it up and placing it under your tray.

“hey slow down, or else you’ll choke.” he cautions as you dig into your food.

“worried you’ll have to pull a heimlich on me?” you say with your cheeks stuffed.

“well i don’t want to but if i have to.” he furrows his eyebrows, making you giggle. 

“you’re dumb heonie, i won’t die in front of you. i’ll probably look funny and that’s embarrassing.”

“the thing you’re worried about isn’t dying, but looking weird?” he laughs, “you’re really pretty either way, that shouldn’t be much of a concern you know.”

“pretty..?” your breath hitches slightly, the tips of your ears already beginning to burn up. 

“uhm– yeah i think you’re–” he swallows, “really pretty–”

“seungheon!” a voice yells from behind him, appearing to be an eager yungyu with minho attached to him.

“i’m going to go to the bathroom real quick!” you squeak out, excusing yourself hurriedly to the bathroom. he lets out a defeated sigh.

the interrupting boys drew closer to you and seungheon’s spot at the bench, confused why he looked so out of it, and why you were walking away from him in panic. a hand landed on his shoulder reassuringly.

“why the long face, seungheon? are you okay?” minho asks, worry lingering in his tone.

“this is just stupid. i can’t keep pushing this down any deeper.” he frowns, “but why do i keep trying if i can’t reach her?”

“what happened exactly?” minho wonders.

“i– i called her pretty and then she rushed to the bathroom out of no where.” he runs a hand through his hair.

“maybe she just really had to pee?” yungyu tries to comfort, earning a light punch on the arm from minho.

“i don’t even know anymore. i am genuinely desperate to know what it’ll take to finally be with her.” 

“telling her straight up is what will probably work the best right now seungheon..” minho told the distressed boy.

“see, i told you!” yungyu added.

“are you guys.. completely positive that will work. because otherwise this feeling is going to consume me whole waiting for this thing to start.” he pleads with his friends.

“positive.” they both say simultaneously.

“okay, fine. then how do you guys suggest i do it?” seungheon gives in.

“whenever she comes back from the bathroom, just say you have something to tell her and lay it out. no use waiting anymore.” minho proposed a plan simply.

“i’ve seen the way she looks at you seungheon, i promise she’ll like you back.” yungyu pat seungheon on the back.

“alright.” seungheon said hesitantly, “you guys better get out before she gets back, or else she’ll think i’m plotting something.”

“aww that’s my little underclassman.” minho pat his head.

“dude don’t be corny..” yungyu gives him a disgusted look, minho mirroring it almost exactly.

“just go! i think she’s coming back.” seungheon swats them away, visibly paranoid.

they trot away quickly, leaving seungheon alone with his thoughts. everything he’s imagining gets notably louder as he waits for your figure to appear back around the corner, borderline hallucinating any movement. this wasn’t anything he’s ever done before, you were his first crush after all.

and because of that, maybe there was more pressure to see whether you reciprocated his feelings or not. first loves never seemed to go away no matter how hard anyone tried, and he doesn’t want to have to imagine you absent in his life. 

once you finally do come back, his stomach is doing somersaults, and his heart palpitating. theres still a slight blush on your face when you sit down on the creaky bench, soon meeting his eyes once you’re fully settled down.

“hi, i’m sorry if i took awhile!” you brush off, twiddling your thumbs together, “what did minho and yungyu want?”

“oh! it’s not that important but um, i wanted to talk to you about something.” seungheon brings up, hands shaking slightly in his lap.

“of course, whats up?” you respond nervously.

“for the longest time, you’ve been one of the closest friends in my life.” he started, “and the last thing i would want is to ruin anything between us.”

“are you saying you don’t want to be friends anymore..?” you almost choke out.

“what? oh my gosh, y/n, no! well, yes but–” he pauses, reaching over your trays to take hold of your hand, “i like you a lot. and it’s kind of been killing me every time i drop a hint that goes unnoticed.”

your lips part like you’re about to say something, but no words come out. instead tears begin to well up in your eyes and your bottom lip quivers, making it painfully obvious that you’re about to cry. a droplet falls from your eye, immediately making seungheon’s eyes widen in horror.

“y/n! please don’t cry i– i didn’t know you were going to react like this i’m so sorry!” he raised his hands to cup your face, wiping your under eye to rid it from any tears.

“seungheon..” you sob out, leaning into his palm, “i didn’t think you were going to like me back.”

“why wouldn’t i like you– wait what?”

“i thought you were just being nice this whole time, i had no clue how to react and– i wasn’t sure how to make it obvious that i liked you.” you sniffed, “that’s why i got us pencils, they even had little hearts next to the panda..”

“and i thought i wasn’t being obvious.” he smiles at your words.

“heonie!”

“i’m kidding. god we’re so stupid aren’t we.”

“maybe a little bit.. but you’ve had me teetering on the edge all day! first you say you liked taking care of me, then you bought me lunch, then you called me pretty?!” you mentally facepalm.

“at least thank minho and yungyu for knocking some sense into me, i was probably going to walk you home next.” he remembered the rest of his plans he had in stow.

“you can still walk me home today..” you stammer, head still resting in the comfort of his hands.

“i wouldn’t plan on having it any other way.” he sighs with relief, stroking away any remaining tears.

“there is one thing we’re missing though!” you mention suddenly.

“bro was i supposed to get you flowers..?” he gasps, moving his hands away to dig for a makeshift gift in his backpack.

you bring his head back to you, placing a soft peck on his lips. it was something new he’s never exactly felt before, but he wouldn’t have it with anyone other than you.

“now we are official. that’s how couples solidify things, right?”

© 2023 minkkumaz, all rights reserved support your writers by reblogging + giving feedback! it is greatly encouraged and appreciated. thank you! → why feedback + reblogging is so important. ~ (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡ if you'd like, donate to minkkumaz !

DISTANT LANDS AND OTHER ADVENTURES series

[spencerkellyv]

HIIII can I get like a part two to my other request where after the fact Jonathan and Y/n are the only ones awake in the van and Y/n thinks he might’ve gone too overboard but Jonathan is like “oh no trust me I would’ve strangled him if I was you.”

You got it!!!

Johnathan was harder to nail down than the other characters so far but I had fun writing for him!

If you haven’t read part one you can read it here

https://spencerkellyv.tumblr.com/post/689008184185290752/i-really-hope-you-watched-volume-2-of-season-4

Hours after the confrontation you, Mike, and Will still hadn’t spoken a word. The sun had set, filling the sky with a peaceful darkness, as the stars twinkled in the distance.

Mike was sleeping with his head in his hand, leaning against the window. Will’s head was resting gently on your shoulder, though you had to stay slightly hunched over to make it work. It was the first time in the whole car ride that the tension in the air was settled. The only other person in the car who was awake besides you was Will’s older brother, Johnathan.

When you had first met Johnathan, he was a bit odd in your opinion. He didn’t speak much to anyone other than Will and he was always just taking pictures at random moments.

However as you had gotten to know him more through Will, the two of you became as close of friends as one could be with their boyfriends older brother.

Tonight you had occasionally caught him glancing at you many times. The most recent time you finally decided to speak up.

“So Johnathan are you going to keep staring at me or are you gonna tell me what’s up?”

He turned to you looking shocked before responding with, “I’m really happy Will has you y’know?” His fingers shifted on the wheel as he glanced between your face and the road ahead of him.

“What brought this on?” You inquired, a small smirk rising on your face.

“Well I heard your conversation with Mike before we left.” Your face flushed red. You couldn’t believe that despite your best efforts to conceal the conversation, someone had still heard the words you spoke.

“Look I’m sorry, I know it was an overreaction I-“

Johnathan was quick to cut off your explanation with a soft laugh. “No, it’s okay.” He said between chuckles. “I would’ve done the same thing. Except I wouldn’t have been nearly as nice about it. Mike would’ve probably been strangled at this point if I had my way.”

The two of you shared a few laughs. Keeping it quiet so you wouldn’t wake up any of the passengers around you. The next time it quieted down between you Johnathan broke the silence once again.

“As much as I want to I can’t be there for Will forever.” He ran his hand over his face as he spoke. “And he won’t need me as much the older he gets.”

You nod. Gesturing for him to continue.

“I need you to promise me you’ll watch over my brother. Be his rock.” Johnathan asked, voice quiet and hitching in the final sentence.

As if on cue Will shifted against you, opening his eyes and staring into your own.

“Are we in Hawkins yet?” He asked.

You chuckled softly. “No baby, not yet. Go back to sleep. It’s okay.” You kissed his forehead before he tucked his head into your shoulder.

“I promise you Jonathan. I’ll be there for him. Forever and always.”

Johnathan smiled behind the wheel not moving his eyes from the road. He clearly was acceptant or your statement and you allowed yourself to rest.

Because you were sitting next to the window, you shifted your position so that your back was against the door and Will was against your chest, the sound of his steady breathing and the car tires against the road lulled you into a deep and calm sleep.

God knows what would happen tomorrow or the next day, but you knew you would do anything for your boyfriend and his brother.

I don’t like the ending that much but I did my best <3

If anyone wants any other characters feel free to request :)))

[ichorai]

cellmates ; four ; j.wy

pairing ; jung wooyoung x reader

summary ; stuck in jail after stealing a necklace off the princess, what happens when your new cellmate with an impossible escape plan comes along?

words ; 5.2k

warnings / includes ; medieval fantasy au, blood and grime and death and everything in between, some curse words, future ateez cameos, future suggestive / mature content, cellmates to (future) lovers !!

a/n ; surprise !! here you go stop crying >:( kdjffj jk i hope yall enjoy !!! the plot thickens up quite a bit in this one 👀 ,,, there are also a couple surprises sprinkled here and there :DD to make up for what i did to yall last chapter lol

cellmates masterlist.

As a child, a popular tale you often heard was one depicting a man stranded on an island, throat dry with thirst and stomach void of nourishment. He passed out in exhaustion by the beach, just on the brink of death. But before his soul could fade away, the mermaids took pity on the man of skin-and-bones and brought him underwater, breathing life back into his lungs. He contentedly lived the rest of his life as a merperson.

Although stories like those always had happy endings, they could never really make you smile, unlike how all the other children reacted. What about the people the man cared about when he was on land? Had he just completely forgotten about them to selfishly live an easier life underwater?

The same thoughts ran through your pounding head repeatedly as you dully stared out into the gleaming ocean. From where you were, bound tightly against the main mast, you had a clear view of both the ship’s deck and the waters. You couldn’t really remember how long you’d been tied up… if you could recall correctly, they had only thrown Wooyoung overboard just last night. That felt like an eternity ago. 

All thoughts of mermaids and fairy tales and Wooyoung dissipated from your mind once a pirate stepped into your view. In the daylight, they were far less scary than when you had first encountered them. The pirate had bronzed skin verging on being sunburnt, and sharp eyes of molten gold. A red bandana held his hair out of his leering face, and you noticed a dark branding burn of a sword ran through a skull embedded on his chest, partially covered by his loose tunic.

The man tutted, grabbing your chin between two fingers. It was then that you realized just how tired you were; you hadn’t gotten any sleep, instead spending the night struggling against your bonds and crying after Wooyoung.

“Let me go.” Your voice was so hoarse that it didn’t sound like yours anymore.

The pirate merely grinned and shook his head.

You wracked your brain for a second before spitting out, “Isn’t it bad luck to have a woman onboard? Your ship will sink if you keep me here.”

“Why, you must have nothing but worms between your ears,” He cackled in a sinister manner. “That’s just a silly little myth, sweetheart. Women are more than welcome here.” With those words, he ran his eyes over your tense form. A predator surveying its prey.

Much to your relief, the pirate stepped down. That feeling didn’t last very long, however. Just as he slid back, more pirates filtered into your view, clearly just having woken up to start the day. There were so many eyes on you; some curious, some disinterested, and some boldly staring with unsavory expressions.

“I say we make her do the dirty work,” One with golden teeth chimed. “Scrub the decks, clean the chamber pots.”

“We should toss her overboard. We don’t need another mouth to feed.”

“Keep her tied up there! A pretty thing like her should be on display for everyone to see!”

“We can drop her off at the next port and sell her off as a slave. We could use the extra gold.”

“Awh, don’t you think we should keep her? Ain’t half bad to look at.”

Those were only just a few snippets you could make out in the midst of the tumultuous roaring of the pirates as they yelled their suggestions over each other. They grew progressively louder as more ideas came into mind on what they should do with you. Panic brewed within you, but your limbs were tired and your mind was numb. All you could do was stand and watch.

The pirates immediately quietened once a one-eyed man with a peg leg hobbled out of the navigation room. The soft clunk, clunk, clunk of the wooden leg against the planks was not unsimilar to the rapid thundering of your heartbeat.

This is the captain, you thought. It was obvious, what with the way the pirates shut their mouths tightly and bowed their heads down to their chests. Some even trembled on the spot. If Wooyoung were here, he’d laugh at them.

Oh, how you missed him. 

The captain had a voice of pure silk, a stark contrast to his ragged appearance. In a quietly powerful tone, he stated firmly, “We leave her here until we reach Aurecia. Then we sell her off.” After a tense pause, he sternly added on, “Nobody touches her until then. Aurecians pay well for unspoilt women, so if any of you lot come remotely close to her, I’ll have your heads.”

The diminutive consolation you received from the captain’s commands ebbed away slightly when you thought more about what he was saying. They were going to sell you off as a slave in Aurecia. And if you could recall the map correctly, Aurecia was the opposite direction of Virelis, where you were supposed to be going. To top it all off, Cerulea and Aurecia were trusted allies, and that could mean nothing good for you.

“No!” You suddenly interjected in a croaky voice, throat so dry it felt like you had sandpaper in your mouth. “Please, don’t take me there. I need to go to Virelis. Please, you can sell me there!”

Everybody stared at you in complete befuddlement. The captain gaped at you with one narrowed eye and spat out, “Virelis doesn’t take slaves. Don’t play games with me, girl.”

Out of desperation, pleading words frantically poured out of your mouth before you could stop and hesitate, “Then don’t sell me! I’m useful, I swear!”

“Forgive me if I have difficulty believing you,” The captain said in a bored tone, gesturing to your bleeding, tied up form. 

A frustrated huff escaped you as you hissed out, “I’m Y/N L/N! I was the one that stole the princess’ necklace! I’m a valuable asset and you’d be lucky to have me on your crew.”

A stunned silence washed over the pirates. Then, one by one, they started laughing. They snorted and chuckled and slapped their knees as if you had told them the funniest joke in the world. You half-heartedly attempted speaking again, but your voice was drowned out by their howling laughter.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP BEFORE I FEED YOUR SORRY ASSES TO THE SHARKS!” The captain bellowed, his velvety tone long gone. He had his arms crossed tightly over his chest, a scowl pulling at his lips. 

The lot of them snapped their mouths shut so quickly you could hear their teeth clacking against one other. 

“Y/N L/N is nothing but a legend,” The captain stepped closer to you, his one eye narrowed in suspicion. “I don’t know, nor do I care for why you’re lying, but it better not become a problem. I’ve already got one crew to deal with. I don’t need to add a raving lunatic onto the list.”

“Please!” You wiggled against your bonds slightly, wincing at how the coarse rope fibers scratched at your chafed skin. “Why would I lie?! You’ve got to believe me, I’m Y/N L/N, I’ve been in jail for a long time and I’ve only recently escaped with the man you tossed overboard. Please, we can go bring him back, he can tell you, I - !” 

The words lodged in your throat. It was pointless, trying to convince a haggle of savage pirates to go back for someone they tossed to the sharks. There was a sort of heavy pain deep down in your chest, and you brokenly blew out a sigh. The feeling churned at your insides uncomfortably. It might’ve been the sea sickness, but you knew it was a nasty combination of guilt and panic and regret.

The captain noticed your abrupt change in demeanor, but decided not to comment. Instead, he said stoically, “Y/N L/N is a wonderful character in a legend told to scare children and I would absolutely love to meet her. But unfortunately, I don’t think I’d ever get the pleasure to. She’s not real.” You stared into his one eye, tears welling up in your own. “And about the man we tossed over… he put up a real fight and he wasn’t worth the trouble. He’s probably long gone by now. It’d do you good to forget about him.”

Pirates behind the pair of you started snickering, but were quietened when the captain straightened and just about snarled out, “DON’T YOU HAVE WORK TO DO? GET ON WITH IT, YOU STINKY BASTARDS!” 

They scrambled in a panicked fashion, a few of them running into each other as they dashed in opposite directions, others clumsily slipping on the damp plank wood, and some merely ran like headless chickens with no definite direction in mind. 

“They’ll treat you well in Aurecia, girl,” The captain slipped back into his velvety tone once more. You supposed this was his way of apologizing… or, the closest thing to an apology you’d ever get from a pirate. “Just try to accept it and it won’t seem as bad. This lot here won’t hurt you in the meantime. I’ll make sure of that.” He gestured to the rest of the men who were settling back into their daily routines. You were surprised to see that they were already hard at work; manning the sails, scrubbing the decks, navigating the ship, so on so forth. The life of a pirate definitely wasn't an easy one. 

You said nothing in return, staring blankly at the glinting ocean. The hollow clunk, clunk, clunk of his peg leg fading away was a sure sign that the captain was gone. You couldn’t bring it in yourself to watch him go.

This was most probably the worst possible time to cry. At this point, you were surprised your sore eyes could still manage to produce tears, considering how dehydrated you were. It was obvious that some of the pirates were still watching you, pausing mid-job. You tried to ignore them and hung your head sullenly as dry sobs rumbled in your chest.

You were stuck floating in a gigantic cesspool of saltwater, and yet your body had the audacity to produce even more. It was this very water you were bobbing on that most probably filled Wooyoung’s lungs as he gave up his last breath. The thought did nothing but make you weep harder. 

Pirates really had no designated time to have luncheon and supper, but their stomachs all seemed to revolve around roughly the same hours. By the time the golden of the sun was grazing against the deep green waters and the sky was bleeding a strange shade of amaranthine, they were all shouting out complaints of hunger and trotting to the small kitchens below deck to have supper. 

You were hungry, but also sure that if you had even a morsel of bread, you would heave it right back out. The day was spent with you gazing at the rocking waters, bustling pirates, and the large, tattered flag that hung proudly way above you. On occasion, you tried pleading to the pirates who were passing by, but none of them so much as glanced towards you. It seemed as though they took their captain’s orders to heart. 

And so, after hours and hours of being neglected, imagine your surprise when one particular pirate sheepishly walked up to you, a little after all the others had disappeared below the deck to eat.

At first, you hadn’t noticed the quiet man because you had your stinging eyes shut, trying to block off the last and harshest glares of the sun as it sank under the edge of the world.

He cleared his throat once, and your eyes flew back open, startled.

“You must be starving,” He said. 

The first thing you noticed about him was the strangely soft shade of pink his hair was. It wasn’t unsimilar to the color of Yunho’s hair, and you found yourself wondering how the kind giant of a man would react knowing that you lost Wooyoung. 

“Oh,” He gestured to the brightly-hued strands on his forehead. “I’m half fairy. Everybody looks at me funny when they first see my hair.”

Snapping out of your thoughts, you observed the man in front of you suspiciously. You had little to say in reply to the strangely personal fact he told you, and so you bit down on your tongue and let silence further consume you.

He had an angular face and complementing sharp features, but he bore a timid expression in an unexpectedly stark contrast. What was this fairy-man doing on a pirate ship? He didn’t look at all like the rest of the crew. The others were sunburnt and filthy and rugged. He, however, was somewhat well kempt, skin void of burns and scars and dirt. A loose cream-hued tunic was hung over broad shoulders, barely slung over his hardened chest, a leather belt tightened around the small of his waist and tucked into black trousers. It was quite a dignifying outfit in comparison to the rest of the crew clad in dirty rags and stolen clothes that didn’t match in the slightest. But for that, you could understand. Seeing the pirates randomly throw on haphazard articles of clothing, you thought back to when you were on the run with Wooyoung, stealing clothes off of drying lines and changing into whatever would fit.

The only thing that pushed the strange pink-haired man more towards the ‘rugged pirate’ side was a silver lip ring glinting with the late sunlight from the side of his bottom lip. In his eyes you saw gentle kindness, but you knew better than to trust him just yet. 

“Are you hungry? I can sneak something up for you while everyone’s busy stuffing their face full.” He had a voice of honey and silk, tempting you to accept his generous offer. But you kept your mouth shut.

“I understand,” A sad, empathetic look crossed his face. “Sea sickness is the worst the first couple of days. From there, it’ll gradually get better once you get used to it. But please, drink some water.”

From out of nowhere, he brandished a pretty silver chalice and held it up to you, the metal stingingly cool against your lips. You would’ve been stupid to turn down the water, so you leaned forward slightly and slurped at the drink so quickly that some sloshed down your chin and dripped onto your chest. 

“I can get you some more later,” He said, pulling the cup away as you gasped for air. “But I have to tell you something important first. My name is San, by the way.”

He had a name that roughly translated to ‘mountain’ in Old Cerulean. You thought it was a rather pretty name… fitting for such a pretty man.

“I just wanted to say this while no one was around,” San sucked in a deep breath, steeling his quaking nerves. “I believe you.”

The water had certainly drowned away the scratchy burn in your throat, so you were free to painlessly stutter out, “W-What?”

“I believe you,” He repeated. “It’s like you said… why would you lie?”

“You believe that I’m Y/N?” Your voice raised an octave or two higher, to which San shot you a warning look and glanced behind him as a precaution. If anybody heard or saw either of you, the captain would have his head. “Why?”

Hope was a dangerous thing. It muddled your brain and clouded your consciousness, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. So you looked upon the pink-haired pirate dubiously, furrowing your eyebrows.

“I might be the most gullible man out there,” San snorted, raising a hand to rub against the back of his neck. “You kinda fit the description in all the stories and legends. And you don’t look like you’re lying… I don’t know… it must be the fairy blood in me. My mother always knew when I was lying or telling the truth. She used to tell me that good people only truly lie when they want to protect others. But… you don’t have anybody here to protect. Not anymore, anyways.” There was a guilty, remorseful sort of look that flooded his face. 

You were so relieved that you could’ve burst into tears right then and there. 

“And… that man the others threw overboard… he kept saying your name. You might’ve had reason to lie to us, but he didn’t. Especially not then.” San spoke gently in a low tone, as if he were speaking to a frightened child. Something painful twisted in your stomach at his words. “So… yes, Y/N, I believe you.”

Then he leaned forward and quickly swiped his cool thumb over your damp cheek. You only then realized that you were crying again, flinching away from his touch at first, before relaxing your tensed muscles. 

“Thank you,” was the only thing you could properly croak out. There were so many things you wanted to tell him. Help me. Let me out. Bring Wooyoung back. Take me away from here. Why are you helping me? What are you doing here?

Although none of your erratic thoughts were heard, you sagged in relief when he said, “I’ll try to talk to the captain about making a stop in Virelis.” As a tentative afterthought, he added, “I’m sorry about your friend.”

“I loved him,” You croaked out, surprising even yourself. “I didn’t know that I did.”

San flashed you a sad smile, “Some people never realize. You’re lucky that you did.” Then, he murmured after gesturing to your bloody hands and wrists, “I’m also sorry about them hurting you. I have a special coconut extract lotion that treats wounds and burns very well. I’ll try to sneak up something for you to eat, as well. We’ll have to wait until it’s completely dark, though.”

You had so much to tell him, so much to ask, so much to thank him for. The fairy-man rotated on the stub of his heel to walk away, and you whispered out, “San!” He glanced back at you with a curious expression, and you nodded your head, sincerely grateful, “Thank you.” The questions could wait, you supposed.

A smile so wide spread across his lips that his eyes almost disappeared. Around savage pirates practically all his life, he rarely ever heard those two strangely comforting words. He dipped his head politely and walked away, leaving you to your own overwhelming thoughts.

Sleep had taken you under its dark wing a little while after San left, however fitful and sporadic. Your head pounded as your swollen and aching eyes fluttered open, somewhat surprised to see that it was still dark. Where was San?

Then, as your consciousness shook away the foggy webs of sleep, your brain registered a faint singing voice. However, it wasn’t just any rotten pirates’ singing voice; it sounded as if a woman was wailing, but in the most beautiful way possible. The trembling vocal chords pierced through the night sky, high-pitched and ringing in your ears melodically. It was a song in a language you couldn’t understand, but the warbled words molded together sounded pure and whole, just about placing you under a trance. But of course, you were still quite dazed and confused from slumber, unable to clearly hear the singing voices. On top of that, the water seemed to be extra loud, splashes and waves thundering against the boat almost every five seconds.

Tired, you rolled your stiff neck. Strangely, you noticed that the deck in front of you was void of any pirates. Glancing to the side, there was not a single soul to be seen manning the navigational wheel. Your neck ached as you craned it to look upwards, squinting at the crows’ nest, just to see that it was equally empty. Where are they? you thought absent-mindedly.

The singing was getting louder, and you had to physically shake your head to get your mind out of the gutters. The ropes strained against the skin of your raw wrists even more when you shifted to look behind you.

The sight that you were met with had you reeling against the mast in panic. 

Sirens. Dozens of them, sitting on moldy rocky ledges jutting out of the ocean waters. They were beautiful creatures, smooth skins tainted a faint green and shimmery silver hair just long enough to drape wetly over their breasts. They bore seductive expressions and parted their full lips to croon out the mesmerizing song in unison.

And the splashing against the boat? With a choked gasp of horror, the undisputed mystery of where all the pirates had gone was answered. One by one, they were marching off the planks, plummeting into the salty ocean waters, swimming as if their life depended on it, closer and closer to the beckoning sirens. They all held entranced expressions, some with gaping mouths and others with fully blown pupils of adoration and lust.

The sirens were far enough where you weren’t fully under influence, but much too close to be clear of mind. You had to count yourself lucky for being female; it was known that sirens had stronger effects on men. But you didn’t have much time to spare.

You suddenly became short of breath in panic. Where was San? Had he already jumped off? Blowing out a shuddering sigh, your neck trembled with great effort as you angled yourself to look back again. It was easy to spot his brightly-colored mane, the pink starkly bright in the moonlight.

“SAN!” You screamed to the best of your abilities, voice scratchy from your previous slumber. For a second, the fairy-man seemed to twitch slightly into your direction. A particularly high-pitched note echoed across the waters, just about slicing through any hesitation San might’ve held. Just like that, he turned completely away from you with a stupefied look, before hopping off the ship and plunging into the ocean.

A scream of protest ripped through your throat. There was no time to think… you could already feel their lulling voices numb the corners of your mind…

No. No, I have to get out of this. 

With a quick glance back, a flare of hope ignited somewhere within your chest when you spotted a dagger just behind you, buried in the fraying wood of a grog barrel. Its handle was jutting out in your direction, the crooked blade void of rust and gleaming with reflected moonlight. Excruciating pain shot through your right arm as you twisted your wrist about, desperate to be freed of the knot. The hardest part was getting your hand through the tight loophole, groaning at the throbbing sensation.

After frantically yanking yourself upwards, you managed to wrench your right wrist free, covered with blood and scratches and blisters. Then, with no time to spare, you reached as far as you could behind you, towards the barrel. Your bones ached and cracked under the strain, but you pushed through with gritted teeth. Tears ran down your twisted features from the pain. With a final shriek, you lunged and wrapped your blood-slicken fingers around the hilt. The sick sound of your left shoulder popping had you screaming in pained misery, but there was no time to lament. You’d fix it up later.

It took little effort to extract the blade out of the rotting wood. You prayed not to drop the dagger as your hand trembled ruthlessly. Swallowing dryly, you raised the blade to your left wrist, and began hacking away at the ropes.

They were tough, coarse things, but gave way eventually, unraveling with each strand. You didn’t even have to cut through the whole thing until it was weak enough to break on its own. 

You were free. 

The sirens’ song grew louder and louder, and frantically, you wobbled away from the mast and to the side of the ship, steadying your shaking legs against the rail. Every fibre of your being screamed at you to stop and jump into the water, swim to the beautiful melody that came from just over there…

“No!” You managed to moan out. Your left arm was completely useless; you weren’t able to move the limb at all. The tearing of your shirt as you somehow managed to rip off the sleeve rang in your muddled head alongside the foreign words quavering through the air. You used the dagger to slice the cloth in half, and shoved each piece into your ears. It was disgusting and uncomfortable, but it would have to suffice. The sirens’ voices sounded little other than muffled hums, and though you had to stay cautious, you could already feel your mind clear tremendously.

The last of the pirates had just clambered off the side. You would’ve heard the large splash he made as he cannon-balled into the waters if it weren’t for your make-shift ear plugs.

You were tired. You were thirsty, aching, sleepy, and just about every other bad feeling one could possibly have. Unfortunately, the ship was still heading right towards the sirens, no doubt turned off-course by a crewmate heavily under their influence.

And so, you dragged your heavy limbs over to the navigational wheel, letting out a soft tormented wince when the small act of curling your quaking fingers around the wooden spokes were enough to send what felt like great electric shocks of pain up your spine. Then, you spun the wheel one-handed, over and over and over again until the massive beauty of a ship leaned away from the sirens (who were clearly enraged, hissing and baring their sharp teeth), silkily gliding over the waters. Warm ocean air billowed into your face and tousled your hair, and for the first time since you’ve gotten onto the ship, you didn’t feel like throwing up. 

A part of you felt bad for leaving San, the only pirate to show you even just a morsel of empathy. Who knows, maybe he’d survive. He was half fairy, after all. You muttered out a soft soft wish of good luck for the pink-haired man, though you doubted that would do much.

Your mind was quick to leap from the fate of San to a man who’s been in your life for much longer. Where would you be if it weren’t for him?

Wooyoung wasn’t one to just… give up like that. He couldn’t be dead. Perhaps you were being a fool for holding onto hope, but you would gladly welcome that title if there was even the slightest chance that he was still out there, alive and breathing.

And so, you steeled your nerves by drawing in a grand breath. Your lips settled in a firm, determined line.

You were going to go find Wooyoung.

Where were you to start?

Dozens and dozens of maps and scrolls were tossed about as you pillaged through the papers, in search of a chart that would actually be of use to you. Much to your dismay, there weren’t any maps whatsoever that held the directions to Virelis. There goes that plan down the drain. Where else was there to go?

The sling that held up your left arm was procured hastily from the medbay after you popped your dislocated shoulder back into its socket with a quailing shriek. The pain had faded into a dull ache, but at least now you could wiggle your fingers. That was a good sign, you supposed. Your stomach was full with what you could find in their kitchen pantries (which was mostly just stale biscuits and half-cooked fish), and to be honest, you felt better than you have in a long, long time, despite the circumstances.

There was still the problem of finding him, though. If you could recall correctly, you were only around a days’ sail away from where they had kicked Wooyoung off.

But that would mean turning back to Cerulea. And that… definitely didn’t sound smart. You rubbed your fingers against your throbbing temple, taking a long swig of refreshing water from a pitcher. Gentle light was filtering in through the small circular window, illuminating the yellowed maps in such a way to make them look golden. There was no time to appreciate the simple beauty of this, however, because a stupid, moronishly foolish, plan was forming in your head.

What if you went back to Cerulea? Would Wooyoung be waiting for you there? Maybe he was staying with Yunho while he got back on his feet. After all, it’s not like he could swim all the way to Virelis, especially with how injured he was. Cerulea was a much closer, safer plan. It was the only place he could go, right?

Unease twisted your stomach at the thought of going back to the country that locked you in a dark dungeon for moons upon moons upon moons. Deep down inside, you knew that no part of Wooyoung would ever willingly go back to Cerulea. Not after all he went through trying to get out. But what else were you to do? And even if he weren’t there, at least you’d be able to inform Yunho on what happened. Then the sweet giant of a man could help you find him.

You stood up, compasses and maps slipping off your lap, respectively clanging and fluttering towards the ground noisily. With large, determined strides, you exited the navigational room and to the main deck, where the steering wheel was situated. Warm, salty breeze whispered against your ears, calm and encouraging.

“I’ll find you, Wooyoung,” Your words were swiftly stolen by the wind. You hoped that gale would be kind enough to carry the message over to him, however impossible it was.

Halfway across the world, laid an unconscious dark-haired man, clad in nothing save for his smallclothes and bandages tightly wrapped around his skull. He was situated stiffly atop a narrow bed, scars and bruises still quite fresh and clearly visible against his paler-than-usual skin.

Wooyoung awoke with a startled choke of a gasp, sore eyes flying wide open. There was a searing pain in his abdomen as he sat up, wheezing and hissing in agony. He took in his surroundings with a panicked demeanor, gaze landing on the mildly surprised fair-headed figure with striking green eyes standing by the doorway, fresh bandages in his palms. He’s an elf, Wooyoung realized after a long moment of gaping, noticing the ever-so-slightly pointed ears poking out beneath silvery locks and the infamous nature-woven clothes only elves wore.

“Took you long enough,” He said in a thick Elvish accent, followed by a beguiling snort. “I thought you would stay asleep forever. I’m Yeosang.”

Wooyoung blinked sluggishly once, twice, and a third and fourth time for good measure. He knew very well that he should probably answer. After all, elves were widely known to be an easily offended kind. But for the love of everything he held dear, he just couldn’t seem to crack his lips open. 

The two stared at each other awkwardly for a second more. Then promptly, his eyes rolled into the back of his skull as his upper half crumpled onto the bed, instantaneously returning into the sweet relief of unconsciousness.

[strawberrysoup]

Pocketful of Posies || Chapter 3

You’d been hiding for years and years now; from your family, from society, from alphas and packs. Suppressants were dangerous but effective and necessary for an omega who refused to be owned—but no suppressants were strong enough to fool the nose of a super soldier, who together with his pack would stop at nothing to bind you to them forever.

pairings: dark!Avengers x reader word length: 3.4k chapters: 3/? warnings: A/B/O dynamics, power imbalances, noncon and dubcon sexual situations, loss of autonomy, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat — this is a dark!fic, read at your own risk. 

Tony had presented as a delta at twelve, much to his father’s insurmountable disdain. Howard Stark had gone to great lengths to ensure himself an alpha prime for a son—he’d spent years hunting down the perfect omega, who proceeded to have almost unheard of difficulties getting pregnant. After a grueling pregnancy, said omega had the gall to have massive complications during birth that meant she’d never carry another pup. The fact that Tony couldn’t even do the simplest thing right—present as an alpha prime, like himself, like Captain America—was just heinous.  

But for all of his intelligence, Howard Stark had been a moron. Being a delta came with a slew of advantages over alphas, over alpha primes even. His heightened empathy was an extraordinary tool, his intuition was nearly on par with an omegas. Sure, he wasn’t as dominant as an alpha but he could hold his own in most situations. Alpha orders rarely worked on him, at the very least. He could induce an omega’s heat and even if he couldn’t completely sate an omega during that time as he lacked a knot, deltas were critical in giving alphas periods of rest during the week-long estrous.  

If an omega was the glue that held a pack together, deltas built the foundations. Their ability to support packmates on multiple levels was crucial—just like an omega, they were able to understand their packmates deeply and act as conduits and facilitators.  

He’d never been called a manipulator before. Especially not by a sweet-faced omega with surprisingly sharp little fangs. He supposed that most deltas were considered more… cunning than other presentations. Tony preferred the terms suave or charismatic, if he was being honest. Deltas were charming, dammit. But she’d reacted like he was some sort of con artist, a blink away from hiding the Queen up his sleeve.

Letting the suit catch her while he stood aside might’ve caused a bit of unnecessary distress—it was a good thing said suit was equipped with a silencer, or the shrieking would’ve brought down every alpha in the surrounding three towns. Steve had been giving him those disappointed eyebrows since he’d emerged from the woods, even after Thor and Peter took her inside to be bathed. Tony figured that was punishment enough, especially considering their omega seemed to hate him.  

“We should probably go through the car,” Steve sighed, running a hand over the back of his head—Tony knew the alpha prime didn’t want his own discontent to unsettle the rest of the pack, “thoroughly. Make sure you check for anything hidden, we’ll make stacks for what we can and can’t give back.”  

The blond shifted closer to Tony’s side, his other hand brushing against his back gently. Alpha primes weren’t as in tune with their pack’s emotions, that’s what omegas and deltas were for, but Steve and Thor put in more effort than any other’s Tony had ever encountered. They’d waited for him to arrive after all, instead of converging on the scared omega in a group of two alpha primes and two alphas—even Bruce’s serene beta wouldn’t have been enough to calm her. Steve realized that Tony was put off, had made the effort to notice the shift in the delta’s demeanor, and moved to offer comfort if he should want it.  

“I doubt she has much,” Bruce had his arms crossed over his chest, one hand rubbing at his chin as he stared towards the house, “I can’t decide if her body chemistry is just a 180° of what it should be because of the suppressants or if there’s something else.”  

“You called her something earlier, when we were walking through the woods,” the blond had already started pulling bags from the back of her Tahoe, setting them gently on the ground so that his delta and beta could begin looking through them, “you called her classical?”  

“Classical presenting omegas? It’s a theory that started cropping up in the late nineties,” Tony’s hand bobbed slightly in the air, “widely debated in accuracy. There have been very, very few case studies but they’re pretty promising—essentially, we’re looking at traits that were bred out of omegas a thousand years ago or more that are starting to crop up again due to environmental and cultural stressors.”  

“Or,” Bruce sent the delta a stern look, “it could be the result of genetics; omegas on both sides of the family likely went extremely scarce, to the point of nonexistence. Both parents must’ve carried the same near ancient recessive genotypes, the alleles would’ve had to match up perfectly in order to produce offspring with those traits.”  

“Like I said, it’s widely debated,” Tony rolled his eyes affectionately at the beta, riffling through the bag at his feet, “either way, our omega is displaying traits that haven’t been prominent since the 10th century.”  

“What do we need to do? What do we need to watch out for?” If alpha primes were only good for one thing, it was determining the necessary course of action for their packs’ safety and prosperity.  

“There’s no way to tell for sure exactly what we’re looking at, except for an omega who’s biology is incredibly convoluted and—” the sound Bruce made was one of disdain as he pulled a ziplock with what must’ve been at least a hundred small blue pills in it from one of her bags, “chemically altered beyond belief. How could she even get a hold of so many suppressants?”  

“She’s willful,” Steve sighed, tossing a matching baggy towards the disheveled beta, “Even Peter’s purr doesn’t affect her the way it should, it’s a good thing Thor and I coexist so well—keeping her in hand would be difficult for one prime.”  

“Jesus Christ,” Tony’s jaw dropped as he withdrew a fucking machete from one of the bags, the several hunting knives, snares, and fishing lures neatly arranged in the bag barely even shifting at the jerky movement, “can you imagine an omega using one of these?”  

“That one I can,” the blond snorted, gesturing back over his shoulder with one thumb, “if she’d managed to grab that bag we’d be a couple of packmates short.”  

“This is the one she was about to make a run with,” Bruce held up a wallet, opening it a moment later, “no debit or credit cards, driver’s license for Colorado, local library card, $200 in American money.”  

“There’s a wallet in this one too,” Steve frowned, unzipping it and peeking inside, “looks about the same, license is out of Quebec though—and another library card. No cash in this one though.”  

“I bet it’s hidden in there,” Tony stated, having already pulled out two fifty dollar bills from a small hole in the seam of the inside of his chosen bag, “oh, here’s the suppressant stash from this one.”  

The sound of tires on gravel distracted the three of them, head’s popping up to see Bucky and Carol making their way down the driveway in a dark green Jeep Wrangler. Both looked antsy and there were shopping bags piled so high in the back seat Bucky couldn’t see out of the rear view mirror. Carol was out of the car before it even came to a complete stop, coming to stand in the middle of the chaos of neatly packed bags.  

“This is all she had?” The blonde alpha questioned, frowning at the three remaining boxes and the camping equipment in the back of the Tahoe, eyes briefly passing over the contents of the bags on the ground, “good thing we went overboard with the shopping.”  

“Did you buy her any clothes?” Bruce questioned, looking at a faded, threadbare old t-shirt he’d just withdrawn from the bottom of the duffle, “everything she has is either full of holes or has been washed so much it’s practically see through.”  

“We bought everything,” Bucky answered as he dropped down from the lifted Jeep, “clothes, toiletries, collars, nesting supplies—we grabbed some of those omega diet essentials too, the vitamins and the powder stuff they’re supposed to have.”  

“She inside?” Carol interjected before the conversation could be continued, “I wanna see her.”  

“Thor and Peter took her inside to get cleaned up about 10 minutes ago, Sam’s starting on dinner,” Steve stepped to the side and motioned the two towards the house, “be gentle, she’s… she’s having a hard time.”  

“Have we figured out how long she’s been hiding for?” Bucky ignored his friend’s gesture, turning back towards the Jeep to retrieve several bags, “Wanda told us what sizes to buy but wouldn’t say anything else about her.”  

“This ID says she’s thirty-two,” Steve flicked the plastic ID, having dropped the rest of the wallet back in the bag, “Bruce, what did the one you had say?”  

“Twenty-nine,” the beta’s response was quick enough that the alpha prime knew he’d memorized the details of the ID and anything else he’d found in the bag already, “there’s no telling how long she’s been on her own though—at least a few years considering how well established she is living from her car.”  

“She has two different IDs?” Carol’s eyebrow raised, taking several of the shopping bags Bucky passed her without complaint.  

“And at least a thousand doses of suppressants,” Tony snorted, “a machete, I’m pretty sure if we keep digging we’ll find a gun—”  

“Thank you Tony,” Steve cut the delta off before he could start any nonsense, “we’ve found two wallets with two IDs so far, but she’s got three more bags like this and then those boxes. We’re just trying to sort what she needs from what she doesn’t right now.”  

“How is she?” Bucky’s question was obviously directed at his fellow delta, eyes not wavering even when he saw Steve and Bruce exchange glances.  

“She called me a manipulative monster and tried to bite me.”

“There’s no telling how long she’s been hiding, or what she went through before she started hiding—or even what she’s been through while she’s been hiding,” Bruce sent the delta a look that bordered on provoked, “and you were being antagonistic.”  

“I was not, I was just—”  

“Being yourself, huh?” Carol smirked, dodging past the men and heading up the path towards the mansion before the billionaire could respond.  

“What, you guys think we should’ve waited for the sentient iceberg?” Tony jabbed his thumb towards Bucky, “his delta charm is rustier than that heap of metal we found attached to his arm after he pulled you out of the Potomac.” 

“You don’t even know what charm is yah fuckin’ grifter.”  

Steve dropped his forehead into his hand; there was a consistent theme in large packs that resulted in deltas being at each other’s throats constantly. It would only get worse when Loki arrived, the third of the trio was an entirely different breed of antagonistic. Steve was absolutely sure that all of his packmates looked upon each other with affection, at least 99% of the time, but Tony, Loki, and Bucky fought constantly without an omega’s balancing presence.  

The clearing of a throat silenced the squabbling deltas, attention immediately going to where Bruce stood with a stack of notebooks in his hand, “one of the boxes has notebooks and library books, the other has dry foods. She’s got a sleeping bag, tent, a water filtration system—anything she could need to survive in the woods or her car for an extended period of time.”  

“No notebooks or food in the go bags?” Bucky frowned, arms crossing over his chest and he shifted his weight when they all responded negatively, “I could understand why the notebooks wouldn’t be a priority to bring with her, but no food?”  

“From her supplies it looks like she’s probably a passable hunter, food would take up too much space if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. Looks like she prefers hunting knives to bread and peanut butter,” the beta shrugged, motioning to the piles he’d been organizing while Steve tried to mediate the deltas squabble, “each of her bags has a wallet with an ID, cash hidden somewhere, a change of clothing, a bag of suppressants, water filtering tablets, the hunting knife, matches, a water bottle and a thermal blanket.” 

“Pragmatic,” Bucky muttered quietly as he stepped up to the trunk of the Tahoe, glancing at the box of notebooks and library books, “Neotropical Diversification, Monoco—what the fuck, Mono-coty-ledons? Avian Genomics in Ecology and Evolution, Orientation and Navigation in Vertebrates. I don’t know what half of those words even mean, and they’re titles of books.”  

“That’s all environment biology—ecology,” Tony’s eyebrows went up, “niche stuff too, higher level.”  

“Good thing there’s a lot of us to keep her brain occupied,” Bruce’s lips split into a small grin, eyes directed at the pile of knives, “otherwise she’d be difficult to manage. Whatever happened in the meantime, it seems she might’ve attended university at some point—this level of understanding is usually somewhere in a graduate program, although it’s a pretty wide variety of specific topics that aren’t generally associated with each other.” 

“They are library books,” Tony stated with a shrug, “maybe it was all she could get her hands on at this level. We did find multiple library cards, all to different library districts. The ones she has now are all from the same district—does she have any Canadian IDs?”  

“One from Quebec and one from Ontario,” the beta pointed out two bags, one of which was sitting by Steve’s feet, “those two bags. The other IDs were Colorado, Alaska, and Michigan. We’ll have to figure out which one is real, if she has a real one. The name of the housekeeper the company assigned to us matches the Ontario ID.”  

“This is insane,” Steve sighed, shoulders heaving with the breath, “she must be running from something, hiding.”  

“Wanda will tell us, I’m sure,” Bucky’s flesh hand landed on the blond’s shoulder with a clap, fingers squeezing momentarily, “for now, how about we just focus on getting her settled in the cabin with her things.”  

“Should we let her get settled here?” Bruce frowned, a worried line creasing his forehead, “I’m worried it could be detrimental, for her to adapt here and have to move to the compound once our vacation is over. As soon as she starts to get comfortable she’s gonna be uprooted all over again.”  

“We’ll discuss it tonight at dinner,” Steve spoke before anyone else could prolong the debate, “Hopefully Natasha, Clint, and Loki will get here in time. Sam’s making lasagna, said we wouldn’t be eating until late anyway. Let’s bring everything in, minus the things she doesn’t need.”  

“Nesting supplies to the laundry room?”  

“Yeah, toiletries to Nat and Wanda’s bathroom. Put her clothes with mine or Thor’s,” the blond alpha instructed, heaving several bags into each arm before turning on his heel and heading into the house, “leave the camping supplies, we’ll lock up what she doesn’t need back in the garage for now.”  

Her scent, chemically masked and altered, was emanating through the entire cabin, he could smell it the moment he stepped over the threshold. Everything looked spotless and he smiled, ducking his head slightly to hide it; he liked that the whole house smelled like his omega—their omega, who’d spent a lot of time and effort making everything look perfect for their arrival.  

Wanda and Carol were in the living room, bathed in the light of the sun just beginning its descent. The stairs, one set leading up and one down, were straight ahead, blocking the view of the kitchen, dining room, and study. The parlor to his left featured haphazardly abandoned suitcases, the rest of the pack who couldn’t quite be bothered at the moment to properly deal with their things.  

The smell got stronger up the stairs, he could hear the low rumble of both Thor and Peter’s combined purr. Their omega was in distress—alpha’s struggled when omegas were in distress and Steve imagined both were getting their hearts twisted in their chests. His packmates dispersed to follow their assigned tasks, Bruce joining Sam in the kitchen to help with dinner. Steve dropped bags at the appropriate doors in the hall before making his way through Thor’s room and into the bathroom, where the two alphas were practically piled in the tub with their omega.  

Peter sat on the edge of the tub, pants rolled up past his knees and his legs in the water where she was leant up against them. Thor was half in the water, shirt gone as he leaned over to clean the mud and grime from her skin, manipulating her limp limbs gently.  

“I take it she didn’t want a bath,” Steve murmured, eyes flashing around the half destroyed bathroom.  

“She can fight my purr more than we expected,” Peter looked almost bashful, the hand that wasn’t stroking her cheek running over the back of his head.  

“Omegas on Asgard are very similar to her,” Thor commented quietly, still focused on his task, “its why I found them so meek when I first arrived—Omegas are willful and determined. She just needs to be trained, her behavior can be corrected.”  

“I know there are omega protests sometimes, but I’ve never seen one completely reject packs,” the brunet alpha was frowning, “they have biological requirements for interaction with others—her body can’t generate certain chemicals without the necessary pheromones that the different presentations provide. It could stunt her immune system, damage hormone glands like the thyroid and—”  

“We’ll get all of that figured out Peter, we can fix anything that’s wrong with her,” Steve told himself it wasn’t a false promise, “it’ll just take time and a lot of effort. Let’s get her dressed and up to the attic. Bucky took all of the extra bedding for nesting to wash but we can make do with what we’ve got temporarily, the scents might help.”  

“Would you grab one of my shirts?” Thor asked, looking back at the other prime imploringly; it wasn’t just a simple request—Thor was asking that their shared omega be scented by his clothing first.  

Steve hadn’t been born an alpha prime. Sometimes, he felt like a delta that had been gutted and pumped with morphine—his empathy had been stolen, replaced with strength and adrenaline and aggression. He missed the part of himself that allowed him the deeper connection with others, the amount of effort he had to expend to determine the emotions of his pack made him feel like an alien (especially if they weren’t telegraphed by scent), but sometimes it was okay. Sometimes, it meant he had a wider understanding than other alpha primes because while he didn’t retain the heightened sense, he knew where to start to unravel their puzzles.  

With Thor it was easiest. All he really had to do was follow his own stream of consciousness—wanting the omega clean and warm and fed and scented. He wanted her to smell like him, wanted her wrapped in his clothes, his blankets, he wanted it beneath her skin and seeping from her pores. And so did Thor. The Aesir was asking Steve to take a loss, to not fight him for the right to scent her first.  

It was a good thing he hadn’t been an alpha prime, or the request would’ve absolutely ended in some sort of dominance display. Aggression had immediately surged though his chest at the question, the challenge, the demand, he needed to prove he deserved it more—Steve shook his head firmly, cleared his throat, and rolled his shoulders back before making eye contact with the other prime.  

“Sure thing, any in particular?”  

There was relief on Thor’s face, along with understanding; he was fully aware of the sacrifice Steve was making and the effort it took to make it, “I know you’ll chose the right thing.”  

They didn’t realize their omega was practically having an out of body experience­—that she felt like she was hovering over her own body, watching in horror as the two alpha primes who’s mingled scents she was sure marked each and every one of their packmates, communicated like real people. The suppressants hadn’t completely brutalized her scent receptors or hindbrain; she’d known there was something too much about the blond alphas, something that whispered to her omega senses. They were alpha primes and that was a nightmare.

Because alpha primes weren’t supposed to co-habitate. They didn’t share. They were aggressive, territorial, verging on violent. The idea that the two had somehow weaseled their way through that instinctive disposition upon meeting, had managed to form a pack—it didn’t bear thinking about. All she needed to think about was getting out quickly, before something irreversible happened and she was trapped forever. 

[toxic-potions-productions]

Monstrous Hysteria (Fm!39)

Incase some of you are curious on what Fm!39's Hysteria looks like. But, D might already know about all of this since I talked to her about it in our DMs 😏😉

So, whenever Fm!39's in Hysteria, he basically turns into an rabid animal like a wolf or something like that. His hair is very messy & slightly longer, his eyes turn completely white & blood pours out of them, & he's able to do some serious damage even when he doesn't have his cleaver or anything like that. You can hear animal-like breathing & growling from him & sometimes he'll even bite off skin from someone & eat it if they're in his line of sight. When that doesn't happen, he'll just claw & scratch at someone However, this Hysteria exerts alot of energy out of him & it will lead to some events just like Og timeline 39. When he finally returns to his normal self, he's either really lightheaded afterwards or he'll just pass out for hours. That's one of the many reasons he never uses his Hysteria since he kinda has a hard time controlling it. It mostly only comes out when he's really --& I mean really-- angry. The only people who've seen it so far are LBL!Zoey & Steam!Thirty. So, word of advice, if you hear Fm!39 let out a monstrous roar, that's when you know he's in Hysteria. & be sure to stay out of his sight, because if he finds you....

You might just end up becoming his food.

Okay, I'm very aware I might've gone overboard on a few things, but oh-fucking-well! I think this turned out really dang cool

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

39 from: Five nights with 39

Designs & alternate timeline by: Me

Alice: Madness returns by: Spicy horse

Do not steal, trace or copy.

[marvelousstevetony]

Can you make this with sick Steve “Can you pronounce anything correctly right now?” “Ndo. *sniff* See???”

Eeep, so sweet! Pls imagine this in a non-powered au with professor!Steve and Tony who has his Stark Industries work thingie💖

Between meetings that have run too long and several overdue deadlines that he finally caught up with, Tony is more than ready to declare it the end of his work week even though it’s only Thursday.  Pepper had shot him one glance and nearly winced at how exhausted he had looked after that last meeting and then decided to let him off until Monday.

And for that, Tony is truly grateful, because it means that he can have a lie in the next morning. It subsequently means that he will be fully energized for date night with Steve tomorrow evening and not have a million things hanging over his head, distracting him from spending time with his boyfriend for the first time in what feels like forever.

While Tony has been caught up in business with Stark Industries, Steve has spent the majority of every day, and probably most nights, too, grading his students’ assignments or preparing for his lectures, and from what Tony has been able to detect through Steve’s texts, he’s just about as ready for the weekend as Tony is.

***

The next morning, Tony wakes up late, as expected. What is the point of having a day off if you can’t sleep until noon anyways?

He checks his phone first thing and is excited to see a text from Steve. His excitement plummets when he reads it, though.

Hey, Tony. I think I’m gonna need a rain check for tonight. I’ve come down with something and I don’t want you catching this. I was really looking forward to seeing you, though… miss you.

Tony’s heart sinks a little in sympathy, but also because he really misses Steve. They haven’t seen each other all week. Tony can’t even remember the last time they spent more than three days apart, but they’ve both been so busy with work that they didn’t have the time. Hence they had planned date night once both of them were off work.

Aww, I’m sorry you’re feeling bad, baby. I miss you too. So much. We don’t have to go out, though, we can just stay at yours and eat take out and watch movies. I won’t even tease you when you inevitably fall asleep on me half way through.

Tony sends the message and gets a reply less than two minutes after.

First of all, I don’t fall asleep on you. Secondly, you really don’t have to come. Not that I don’t want you here, I do, but I’m pretty gross and 100% contagious. Trust me, you don’t want this.

Tony can’t help but smile to himself as he imagines Steve curled up on his couch, wrapped in a million blankets, blonde hair all messy and disheveled and his nose and cheeks flushed pink. How could Steve think he would ever want not to be with him when he’s like that?

I don’t mind, Steve. I miss you and I want you to feel better. I’m coming over, okay?

You do fall asleep on me, by the way, but I’ll pretend you don’t since you’re sick.

Placing his phone on the beside table, Tony gets up and immediately starts pulling his clothes on. He’ll need to go the store to grab a few things before heading to Steve’s place, like the super soft tissues Steve never buys for himself, and probably some more tea as well.

Tony is just about to leave his apartment when Steve responds after a couple minutes of silence.

Okay. Thank you, Tony. I love you.

Warmth flooding in his chest, Tony types out a quick reply before turning the door knob and going out the door.

I love you. Leaving now, see you in a bit.

***

Tony doesn’t even bother knocking as he lets himself into Steve’s apartment. It’s basically his apartment as much as it’s Steve’s, really, if you look at how much time he spends there in comparison to his penthouse.

It’s not that he doesn’t like his own place, because he does. It’s luxurious, it gets cleaned twice a week, and it’s large enough to fit all of Tony’s crap, which is objectively a lot.

Steve’s apartment is different. It’s smaller, and older, and could definitely use an overhaul in a few places, but it exudes warmth and comfort and feels homey in a way Tony’s place at the tower never could, which is probably why they spend most of their time at Steve’s.

Sometimes Tony wonders why they haven’t moved in together after being together for nearly three years, but maybe they’re just not there yet. And it’s not like it would change a whole lot, honestly. The only time they spent apart is on weeks like this one where both of them are too busy and caught up in their own things that neither of them have the time to make the short trip from Manhattan to Brooklyn.

Tony knows that he wants to, though. He wants to move in with Steve. Or have Steve move in with him. But that’s a minor detail and doesn’t really matter to Tony. What does matter, though, is that Tony won’t ever have to say goodbye to Steve when he goes back to the tower, and that he gets to slip into bed next to Steve every night regardless of their schedules.

And if they lived together, Tony wouldn’t have to rush from his place to Steve’s to take care of him when he’s sick either, because he’d already be there. Anyway, that’s a discussion for another time. Right now, Tony has other things he needs to take care of. Steve, for one.

Tony toes off his shoes and pads into the kitchen, setting the shopping bags on the counter. He might’ve gone a bit overboard and bought an excessive amount of sick-person-things, but Tony has never claimed not to be over the top, especially when it comes to Steve.

From the kitchen, he can hear the tv playing in the living room room, along with a series of incessant sniffles, and Tony figures Steve has already reached the end of his tissue supply. He grabs a box of Kleenex and heads towards the living room where he finds his boyfriend huddled up on the couch.

An empty mug and countless crumpled tissues litter the coffee table, some are on the floor, too, and Tony instantly thinks it looks like every episode of every bad sit-com he’s ever seen where one of the characters is sick. In the center of it all is Steve, who now has his face buried in the crook of his elbow, eyes narrowed into slits, his expression twisted into an anticipatory frown as his breath wavers. After a few seconds, his eyes close fully and he gives into the rush over sneezes.

“ehhCHshoo! H’uhh—uh! chuh’SHhoo! ehh… EISHhh’oo!”

The last sneeze of the triple is strong enough that Steve’s body snaps slightly forward with it, shoulders visibly tensing.

“Looks like you could use these,” Tony announces his presence, waving the Kleenex in the air, and goes to sit next to Steve on the couch, then drops the fresh box of tissues into Steve’s lap. “Bless you, sweetheart.”

Steve still looks a little taken aback by the sneezes and blinks at Tony a few times to clear away the woozy feeling. When he still hasn’t moved after a few seconds, Tony reaches to pull out a few tissues and hands them to Steve.

“Oh, umb… snff! Hey, Tody… snffSNF! Thangks,” Steve says thickly as he accepts the handful of tissues. “I didn’ evend hear you ged id.”

Tony flashes him a soft smile as he brushes a few strands of blonde hair away from Steve’s forehead. “Yeah, you’re probably all bunged up, hm?”

And he really is. His voice has gone all low and he sounds like he’s breathing through concrete. His nose almost looks swollen, too, what with all the congestion that seems to have settled in his head.

Steve sighs stuffily and nods a little. “Yeah, I’mb, uh… snf! snf! oh, ‘scuse m-mbe— huhh-CHshoo! eiiSHH’uhh!”

Sniffling does nothing to stop the tickle from building, in fact, it just coaxes it out. Steve catches the sneezes in the tissues, both hands steepled over his nose and mouth. He gives an experimental blow afterwards, but that just makes him cough, and he gives a few congested snuffles, then coughs some more.

“S-sorry,” he sighs when Tony blesses him and gives him a concerned look. “I’ve beed sndeezing— SNF! all day, ad I’mb… snf! ugh… I’mb jusd so gross.” Steve looks close to a pout, but he can’t keep his mouth closed for more than a few seconds since his nasal airways are completely blocked and impenetrable.

Tony’s worried frown just deepens. “You sound so sick, honey,” he mumbles, brushing a finger across Steve’s nose, putting a light pressure on the maxillary sinus, then strokes it with his thumb. “Can you pronounce anything correctly tight now?” he asks, only half joking.

It makes Steve chuckle, though, a husky, low sound, but it makes his eyes go soft, and Tony feels himself melt a little.

“Ndo,” Steve replies, proving his point and sniffles again. “See? SNFF!”

Tony can only smile at the self-deprecating tone to Steve’s voice and the bashful expression that crosses his face. His already pink cheeks flush a deeper shade of red, and the smile he gives Tony is bordering on shy. Blue eyes are fully fixed on brown, and despite the glazed look to them, there’s still that distinct sparkle that always appears when he looks at Tony.

After a few seconds of intensely gazing into each other’s eyes, Steve ducks his head and looks away. “Stop,” he laughs when he looks back up to find Tony still staring at him.

“Stop what?”

“I doad snfSNF! kndow… You’re mbaking mbe nervous,” Steve says, rubbing his neck and smiling sweetly. Then, suddenly, Steve wrinkles his nose, his entire face scrunching up in irritation. He scrubs his nose against the back of his wrist before quickly bringing the rest of his arm closer to his face. “h’h’uhh! huhESCHhiiew! snffSnff!”

“God bless you, Steve…” Inching closer, Tony drops a kiss to Steve’s cheek. It’s a little warm, but nothing too bad, at least not yet. This close, he can see how the hairs on Steve’s neck raise as he places another peck on his jaw.

“Just relax, okay?” Tony whispers, and Steve hums contently in reply. “I missed you,” he adds, just because he hasn’t told him in person yet. Somehow, it feels like a confession.

“I missed you, too.” Steve grabs Tony’s hand, linking their fingers together and giving it a tight squeeze.

“I know it’s barely been a week, but I really hate not seeing you every day.”

“I kndow… mbe too,” Steve admits and catches his bottom lip between his teeth. He almost looks uncertain for a second, but then he takes a deep breath, steadying himself. “What if you just… stayed? Here. With me.”

Steve looks a little nervous again, watching Tony’s reaction closely.

And, to be honest, Tony’s nervous, too, all of a sudden. “You mean…?” Tony starts, dumbfounded and eyes wide. Steve’s nodding. Tony swallows around the lump in his throat. “Are you— are you sure?”

“I mbean, you basically live here already. And… sniff! It would be nice. Not having to miss you.”

“Steve…” Tony breathes.

“We don’t have to stay here either… we could… snf! We could stay at the tower, or find somewhere else. Not that— I mbean, if you snf! don’t want to, that’s… that’s fine t—“

“Steve,” Tony repeats, this time more confident. “Yes. Yes, I want to stay here. With you.” Tony’s tone is level as he answers. He doesn’t recall ever being so sure of anything, apart from the fact that he loves Steve above everything else.

“Oh,” Steve says and lets out a relieved chuckle. “Thad’s… great. Amazing, even. I-I’mb…”

“Yeah, me too,” Tony says and leans in to brush his lips over Steve’s. “But let’s celebrate later, okay? Right now, you’re having tea and medicine, and then we’ll put on a movie so you can fall asleep on me.”

Steve rolls his eyes fondly. “I don’t fall asleep on you.”

“Oh, yes you do.”

[i-am-bella-donna]

Here’s to the Heartache Chapter 1: Happy Birthaversary

Dukeceit Week 2021 Day 1: Anniversary/Birthday

AO3 | Next Chapter

Story Summary:

What if I told you life was built to break? What if I warned you you can’t outrun your fate? Would you believe with time comes grace? In perfect light, in perfect place. Every dream was mine to lose, and that’s what it took to lead me to you.

Janus and Remus were alone…but at least they had each other.

So here’s to the heartache….

Chapter Summary:

Janus plans to surprise Remus on their anniversary. Little does he know that Remus has a few surprises of his own.

Pairings: Romantic Dukeceit

Word Count: 3,371

CONTENT WARNINGS: FIRE

A/N: Chapter Theme Song: Burning Heart by Victoria Carbol

~~~

Janus blinked.

His title might have been Deceit, but for once, he must have been the victim of a deception from his own eyes. Surely this was all in his imagination.

Because, surely, surely, the Dark Mindscape was not….

“Good morning, beautiful!” Remus suddenly cheered from behind him, wrapping his arms around Janus and hooking his chin over his shoulder. “Like what I did with the place?”

Janus blinked again as he surveyed the Dark Mindscape, which was now anything but. Once he was able to confirm that he was not, in fact, dreaming, he turned to face his boyfriend. “Darling,” he began. “You know I love you—”

“That I do, my gorgeous reptile!”

“—but can you please explain why it looks like a bumblebee threw up in here?”

The living room was full of black and yellow party decorations—streamers hanging from every available surface; the ceiling nearly invisible behind the sheer abundance of balloons; confetti covering the entirety of the floor. A long banner spanned the length of the room, blocky yellow letters stark against the black fabric.

HAPPY BIRTHAVERSARY, JANUS!

Remus scratched the back of his head, only slightly sheepish. “Well—I suppose I might’ve gone a little bit overboard…”

Janus raised an eyebrow. “Remus, I’ve known you for years, and I can assure you that I have yet to see you go only a little bit overboard.”

“C’mon, Snakey! You know you love it!”

“Do I?” Janus teased. He shot Remus a smirk and began to navigate across the living room, eternally grateful that Remus had the foresight to forgo adding strings to the balloons. Or perhaps not—it would only be harder to clean up later.

But that was a problem for the future.

He was only slightly surprised to enter the kitchen—thankfully sans decorations—and discover an entire array of breakfast waiting for him. His heart melted. “Cephy, you didn’t have to do this.”

“Nope!” Remus said with a grin. “Today’s your birthday, so I get to pamper you as much as I want! You did the same thing on my birthday, remember?”

“Yes, but today is also our anniversary,” Janus reminded him. “I should be allowed to pamper you as well, darling.” He took a seat and gestured to the food before him. “Join me; we both know that this is more food than I—or any regular human—is capable of consuming alone.”

Remus seated himself across from Janus and loaded his plate with food. “Thanks, Jay. But I get to pamper you extra,” he insisted. “You know, to make up for last year.”

Janus raised an eyebrow. “You held a literal ball in my honor,” he said flatly. “Trust me, last year was incredible.”

“Yeah, but you got me a better gift than I got you. And it was your birthday!”

“I didn’t give you any—”

“Your heart!” Remus said with dramatic exasperation, throwing his head back and draping one arm over his face. “You gave me your heart, and I’m not even talking about the squishy organ! You confessed first, even though it was your birthday!” He pouted. “I had a whole plan. I was going to make it the perfect night…but then you went and made it the perfect night for me, instead!”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Janus chuckled, amused by his boyfriend’s antics. “And Cephy—for what it’s worth, it was the perfect night for me, too.”

~~~

Janus could not help but smile as Remus led him onto the balcony. “What’s this?” he asked as the large glass doors swung shut in their wake.

Remus smirked playfully. “Thought you might need some quiet time,” he said, guiding Janus toward the railing. The stars were completely obscured by clouds, but pinpricks of light were visible in the distance—controlled fires, set nightly in the villages.

“Really, Remus,” Janus repeated for what might have been the thousandth time. “You didn’t have to do all of this. I’m grateful, of course, but you didn’t need to trouble yourself.” He leaned against the railing and closed his eyes, inhaling the faint scent of smoke and apples. The scent of Remus’s kingdom.

Remus scoffed. “Oh, puh-lease. I wanted to do this, thank you very much!” He snorted. “Even if I wish there weren’t so many nauseatingly sweet couples down there.”

Janus let out a laugh. “I suppose I agree with you on that.” It was only partially true. Watching various couples make heart eyes at their partners did make him sick to his stomach—but that sickness stemmed from heartache, not disgust. “I almost feel guilty for leaving Trivia to fend for herself.”

It was Remus’s turn to laugh. “I don’t! Five bucks says she’ll cause a small explosion just to stop the sappiness.”

“You know what? I’ll take that bet.”

The pair shook on it and fell silent once more. A few minutes later, Remus cleared his throat. “You know…now that I think about it, it actually would be kinda cool to be in a nauseatingly sweet relationship.”  

Janus hummed in agreement, silently hating the ache in his chest. “True. Unfortunately, we are the only remaining Dark Sides, and I doubt any of the Light Sides would be willing to—”

“Gross, gross, gross—I’d rather fuck a walrus than date any of them!”

Janus could not help but laugh at the look of sheer horror on Remus’s face, prompting Remus himself to break into a smile. “Of course,” the latter continued. “I’d be down to go on a date with you.”

Ouch.

The joke stung more than a slap in the face. Unfortunately, as much as Janus wanted to pretend that Remus was being sincere, even for a moment, his mouth would inevitably ruin it by bursting into bitterness; the telltale taste of a lie. Any second now.

But the bitterness did not come.

Truth.

Janus froze. Remus…was telling the truth?

The other hesitated and watched him carefully. “Janus?” Remus asked slowly, raising an eyebrow at his sudden change in expression. “You good?” When Janus did not respond, he cleared his throat awkwardly and glanced back over the railing. “I, uh…sorry if that made you uncomfortable or…something. I was just kidding.”

Bitterness.

Lie.

A thousand hopes flooded his veins within the span of a second; the euphoric thrill of possibilities igniting in his heart. Only a moment passed, but that was enough time for Janus to make his decision.

I am confident that this will work out.

A lie of his own, fueled by his emotional high from the night. From hours of dancing with Remus and Trivia. However, even though he knew it was a lie…he wanted to believe it. Needed it to be, if he was going to take this risk.

A risk that was spontaneous, random…and surprisingly Remus-like.

Then again, living with someone for over two decades does make them rub off on you. He took a deep breath. All he had to do was say it.

“Remus,” Janus said quickly, focusing on the fires in the distance. “I like you, romantically, and I believe you feel the same.”

There. He said it.

…Silence.

Why is Remus being so quiet? Remus is never quiet.

Janus nervously glanced back at Remus, who was watching him with his mouth ajar.

“I—wha—how—” Fragments of flabbergasted words were all Remus could manage. 

Janus hesitated, his heart nearly beating out of his chest. “Is that a yes?”

Please say yes, please say yes, please say—

“Yes, but how the fuck did you—”

He said yes. He said yes!

Janus missed the rest of what Remus was saying, completely lost in his own excitement.

“—holy fucking shit, since when can you—”

He was riding an emotional high of pure, utter bliss. Nothing could make this moment better.

“—oh my god, and I had a whole plan, too—”

Janus shook himself out of his thoughts and rolled his eyes, unable to stop himself from smirking upon realizing that Remus was still rambling. “Just shut up and kiss me.”

Remus paused, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. “With pleasure.”

Lightning illuminated the clouds as the world beneath them burned. It was perfect.

~~~

“I mean, it was awesome, sure, but it was so fucking anticlimactic,” Remus groaned, trying to stifle a laugh. “Like, I had this whole-ass plan, and you just—just swept me off my feet!”

Janus chuckled. “It was surprising, wasn’t it?” A year later, he still did not know how he had been so unafraid; so confident and ready to confess. However, it was a decision he never came to regret.

Remus stood from the table and stretched, setting his plate in the sink. “Well, this year is gonna be different. I have a birthaversary plan that’ll knock your undies off!”

“…Should I be excited or worried?”

“Both, my beloved bananaconda!”

“Why are you like this?”

“Ha!” Remus threw a shit-eating grin over his shoulder as he left the kitchen. “You know you love me!”

Rolling his eyes, Janus smiled and went back to his own plate.

“That I do, darling. That I do.”

~~~

The rest of the day was filled with games and movies; banter and mischievous teasing. However, as fun as they were, those activities were simply distractions, meant to keep the two of them occupied until the main event. Remus used it as an opportunity to pamper Janus at every available moment, and Janus did his best to return the favor—after all, it might have been his birthaversary, as Remus had put it, but it was still Remus’s anniversary, too. Janus was going to treat his boyfriend well if it killed him.

Besides, Janus had his own surprise in store for Remus.

When the clock finally struck six, Remus led him to the Imagination, taking him out of his castle and into the capital village. There, they were immediately greeted by Trivia—who was not exactly inconspicuous with her leathery violet wings—and….

“Greetings, Shadowlings!” Roman cheered, waving as he caught sight of Janus and Remus. Remus grinned and waved back while Janus did his best to suppress a smile—although his delight upon seeing his friend was still obvious.

“Hey there, bro!” Remus exclaimed, tackling his brother in a bear hug. “Glad you could make it!”

Janus snorted. “What excuse did you give the others this time?”

Roman grinned sheepishly, offering a half-hearted shrug. “I said I had paperwork to sort through. Needless to say, no one will be bothering me tonight.”

Trivia rolled her eyes and stepped forward, the splash of violet scales across the bridge of her nose almost glowing as she grabbed Roman by the sleeve and dragged him away. “Well, everything is set up. If you need us, we'll be with Remy.” 

“Unhand me, Dragon Witch!” Roman yelled as the two of them disappeared.

“It’s two hours. You can cope with my presence for that long.”

Janus shot Remus a look, ignoring the rapidly-fading banter. “Do I want to know what she was talking about?”

“All I’m saying is…I told you I had big plans for tonight.”

Before Janus could respond, the faint sound of music reached his ears. At his questioning glance, Remus laughed, taking him by the hand and darting through the villagers, many of whom were trying to go in the same direction. Remus led Janus to the middle of the cobblestone road, where street musicians seemed to be playing an…oddly familiar tune.

Janus paused. Wait a second—

“Is this the village dance song?” he asked, amused. “From Tangled?”

Remus nodded eagerly, yanking Janus into the dance. Janus could not help but match his wide grin as the music washed over both of them.

Now that he was taking in the scene, he could not help but notice how surreal it was. The music was childish and whimsical—something much more befitting the other half of the Imagination. Banners hung between the buildings, each strung with miniature flags—yet unlike in the movie, these were not simple flags emblazoned with an emblem of the sun, but jet-black flags depicting the emblem of the Duke. The sky around them was dark and cloud-covered instead of clear and blue, the only light source being the occasional flash of lightning.

The setting was the dark to the light of the music.

It was terrifying—but it was beautiful.

Fitting. After all, it was only together that light and dark could reach their full potential.

Faster and faster the two of them twirled, eyes only on each other as the dark world faded to a blur and the tempo of the music quickened. It was like the stories of the Fae that the two of them had loved as children—tales where mortals were taken to enchanting lands and forced to dance until they withered away into nothing.

At the moment, that did not sound like such a terrible way to go. If Janus were to die today, he would die happy.

It was not until the music finally stopped—the melody may have matched the song from the movie, but this version had been far longer—that he felt his soul return to his body, practically slamming back into him as the world refocused. Janus stared at Remus with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, the two sharing an awe-filled expression. Their chests heaved in tandem as lightning flashed behind the clouds, a roar of thunder following and giving way to momentary silence.

“We should probably move,” Remus finally murmured.

“And why is that?”

Janus received his answer in the form of a sudden sheet of rain.

This time, it was his turn to take Remus and race for shade, ignoring the joyful cries of the villagers as a new song began despite the downpour. The pair made their way to one of the few firepits that was already aflame. Given that the pit was the size of Thomas’s entire living room and the cover was even larger, they were easily able to take shelter, warmth seeping through their damp clothes.

“So…” Janus began when he finally caught his breath. “I suppose they will not be uncovering the firepits today?”

Remus snorted and shook his head. “Not if they want them to keep burning.” He gestured to the carefully-controlled inferno behind them. “What about you? Got anything to burn? Wanna do the ill-advised thing and add fuel to the fire?”

Janus rolled his eyes with a fond smile. The firepits were an important part of kingdom tradition. People would throw in various items throughout the day and set the pits aflame at sundown, the contents of the firepits acting as fuel to keep the fires burning. It was an activity both practical and enjoyable—the firepits allowed for a source of light in the starless night, but they also served as a center of catharsis. If someone wanted to permanently get rid of an item, they simply needed to throw it into the firepit. Once something was thrown in, it was never seen again. Janus had thrown in a fair number of possessions over the years, and he would be lying if he said that it was not his favorite tradition of the kingdom. At the moment, though, he had other plans in mind.

“Not this time, darling,” he said lightly, ignoring his sudden nervousness. Now is as good of a moment as any. If I can confess without batting an eye, I can give my boyfriend his anniversary present without freaking out. “I actually had something else in mind.”

Remus raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Janus nodded, a small but involuntary smile creeping on his face. “Darling, this past year of dating you has been…incredible.” He took a breath. “I spent a long time trying to find the right gift. Something that could help me show you how much I love you. So…I hope you enjoy.”

Remus lit up and blushed—not endearing at all. Janus smiled nervously as he summoned a guitar.

Please like it, please like it, please like it—

He closed his eyes and let the gentle tune of the guitar fill the air; the familiar notes a beautiful contrast against the crackling fire. He opened his mouth and began to sing.

“I would go to war for you if you asked me.”

Janus had been so shocked when he first heard the song—a song of love and fire; war and destruction—that he immediately teleported to Roman’s room, completely ignoring the late hour.

“I’d water fields in blood to save your life.”

After assuring Roman that there was no emergency and apologizing for waking him up, Janus had frantically asked if the other would be willing to give him guitar lessons.

“No, I am not afraid of destruction.”

Roman had agreed, of course, and thrown him out with a don’t come back until morning! and a small book on music theory for beginners.

“Oh yes, I’d sell my soul to hell to keep you alive.”

The next six weeks had been spent practicing in secret; sneaking off to have lessons with Roman whenever they were both available. Janus had poured his soul into learning the song—after all, it described his relationship with Remus perfectly.

“The dark will fall, and I will crawl, but I’m not letting go.

“Yes, death will call, and I crawl, but I’m not letting go…”

He just hoped he had really gotten as good as Roman had claimed.

Janus took a deep breath as he began the final chorus.

“Burning heart, all that’s within me; all I am, burning up for you. My blood, me to you binding, living to find my way to you.

“And I found myself in you.

“And I found myself in you…”

Janus let out a long breath as the final note trailed off. …Please tell me he likes it, he thought to himself.

The silence was broken by the sound of Remus squealing. “Oh my god, Jay, that was amazing!”

Janus peeled his eyes open, pleasantly surprised to see Remus giving him an earnest smile. “…Really?” he asked. “You actually liked it?”

“Liked it?” Remus exclaimed, practically glowing. “Liked it? Sweetheart, I loved it!” He grabbed Janus by the shoulders and grinned from ear to ear. “Holy fuck—I didn’t even know you could play! And that song…”

Janus blushed and absentmindedly brushed his hair behind his ear. “Words are my specialty. I can bend truth and lies to create entire worlds of denial. But…I did not want to use lies. My love for you is composed of nothing but the truth. I was not sure what else to do, so…with a little help from your brother, I decided to take a leaf out of your book.”

Remus stared at him before tackling him into a hug. “Snakey, you’re amazing.” His eyes sparkled as he pulled away. “My turn,” he whispered, his smile growing. He was practically bursting with excitement—although, for what, Janus did not know.

He lovingly took Janus’s hands into his own. In the background, the tall flames crackled and licked the air; an ever-present warmth behind them. Remus was silent for a few moments.

“You know what?” he finally said, getting down on one knee. “I love you, too, Danger Noodle.”

Janus was only able to stand frozen as Remus pulled a—a ring from his pocket. A golden ring that depicted a snake eating its own tail, its eyes onyx-black and its scales incredibly intricate.

The ring was beautiful. Almost as beautiful as the amazing man kneeling before him.

I…did not see this coming.

“Fuck long speeches,” Remus breathed. “Will you marry me?”

Oh. My. God.

Every inch of him was frozen; every cell weightless as he was flooded with excitement.

Remus was asking to marry him.

Remus was asking to marry him.

“Yes,” Janus said, his voice barely audible. He shook himself from his shock and repeated himself louder. “Yes, yes, yes!”

Remus slipped the ring onto his finger and leapt to his feet, grinning madly as he yanked Janus in for a hug, making a high-pitched squealing sound. Janus immediately obliged, wrapping his arms around the neck of the other and holding him in a death grip. They clung to one another for a while, almost shaking from glee, until Remus finally burst out laughing.

“Do you know what this means?”

“What?”

Remus smiled wickedly. “We get to plan a wedding!”

~~~

A/N: This is the ring that Remus gave Janus.

Taglist: @dukeceitweek

[amajikilvr]

warm aromas - tamaki amajiki

word count 1.9k

reader type filipino , gender-neutral

premise tamaki gets a taste of your cultural during a first date

For the record, you weren’t terribly nervous about this date. At least not any type of uneasiness worth noting. It was a fluttery kind of anticipation that shot your butterfly-filled stomach into your chest, all the way up your throat, and then finally falling back down before repeating and repeating. More than anything else, you were excited.

It was just Amajiki, after all. Well, he wasn’t just anything. Amajiki was a beautiful kaleidoscope of oddities that you had yet to have the pleasure of discovering. For now, you simply knew him as the tender boy in your class with immense talent and heart.

You considered him a great friend and had been willing to take a leap of faith in an effort to pursue something more. And it seemed like your bravery was paying off so far.

Walking into the warmly lit restaurant, you took a deep breath of the aromatic atmosphere and felt your heart jump and shake as Amajiki’s sweet face came to mind. You couldn’t see yourself ever forgetting the way his complexion had brightly glowed like the surface of a fresh cherry when you asked him out after class.

The familiar older woman working at the front waved and greeted you by name and you did the same with a notable extra twirl in your step. She raised an eyebrow at you, aged forehead wrinkling in amusement.

Needless to say, not even a sudden run-in with your worst enemy would’ve been able to take your good mood down a single notch.

And there he was, already sitting at a back booth that was tucked away and hidden from the majority of fellow patrons, which didn’t surprise you in the slightest.

You grinned and held back a squeal as you plopped down in the seat across from him. “Hi! Hope I didn’t make you wait too long.”

Amajiki immediately shook his head, indigo tufts of hair bouncing comically. You wanted to just reach out and ruffle them.

“Y/L/N! You didn’t! I was just early, sorry. I was so worried about making you wait for me. Sorry.”

“Aw, that was sweet of you, Tamaki.” You watched his cheeks flush at the use of his given name. Hesitantly, you let your hand hover over his. “Can I?”

“O-oh, yeah.” His face went pale before gradually going an even darker shade of red crimson.

You leaned forward and gently grabbed his hand, a little shocked to feel it trembling. “I’m really happy to be here, you know. Especially since it’s with you.”

Amajiki gulped before taking a long steady breath. His lips curved into a small smile as he made tentative eye contact with you for the first time.

“Me too… Y/N.”

“So, have you ever tried Filipino food before?” You asked after a moment of comfortable silence between you two, still relishing the feeling of his hand in yours. “Hado-san told me you were an adventurous eater…”

“I guess I am. My quirk kinda relies on a diet with plenty of variety. I’ve grown to really enjoy trying different kinds of food, practicality aside.” He paused, clearing his throat, and glancing away. “No Filipino food yet, though.”

“Well,” You gave his hand an experimental squeeze. Amajiki’s breathing went shaky in response, but he squeezed back. “I think you’re really going to like it.”

You’d discovered this restaurant after searching the Internet for somewhere in this city that served authentic Filipino cuisine. Finally, you found this nice family-owned place with delicious food, albeit you still preferred your mother’s cooking, but that was a given.

“Then I’m excited.” Amajiki gave you another wobbly smile. “Not that I wasn’t excited before. I was up all night thinking a… Oh, that’s embarrassing…”

You laughed softly, not at him, but hoping to reassure him. “No, that’s actually cute.”

Tamaki’s eyes went wide and instead of the blush returning, he went as white as a bedsheet. “Oh god… I’m sorry, I’m just so embarrassed. Y/N… Sorry…”

He covered his face with his free hand which was shaking significantly more by now. You were slightly concerned he might get up and run for the nearest corner.

“Tamaki, it’s okay.” You wanted to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, but you settled for squeezing his hand some more in hopes of not further overwhelming him. “It’s all good, don’t worry. I really like you.”

He opened his mouth as if to respond, but was interrupted by the arrival of the waiter who you had already grown quite friendly with over the years. You made a bit of small talk before ordering several classic dishes for Amajiki and you to sample together.

“Y/N,” Amajiki spoke up once you two were alone again. Thankfully, he had time to recover while you ordered and color had returned to his face as a result. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“What is it about me that you like?” The last part was practically whispered and you had to guess whether you heard him correctly. “I just didn’t expect any of this is all…”

You tilted your head, smiling at Amajiki as you looked over his face carefully. He was beautiful on the outside too. His jawline was sharp and prominent, skin clear and soft-looking, and his eyes were sparkling and expressive. You could never get over the color, a startlingly deep shade that was only missing a background of stars and planets.

“Well, firstly, I think you’re very attractive.” You watched Amajiki choke on the sip of water he’d taken. He coughed a few times before silently blinking at you and you took it as a sign to continue. “You’re just so vibrant. When you’re using your quirk, you light up the whole room. You do without it too. And watching you work so hard and improve this year has been amazing. You inspire me without even trying and I couldn’t be more thankful for it.”

Amajiki made a small gasping noise, borderline a squeak, before squeezing his pretty eyes shut. He took a couple of deep breaths before sighing heavily. “T-that’s… Wow… Y/N, thank you. Thank you so much.”

He kept his eyes closed as he finished, blushing immensely again. “I think you’re beautiful… And smart. And kind. And… Oh my god, sorry, I might need a minute to just-”

“Tamaki.” You nervously brought your hand to his face and cupped his cheek. It was incredibly warm. “Is this okay?”

The response was shockingly quick. “Y-yes.”

You took another huge risk and just hoped it would pay off in the end. “Can I kiss you?”

A pregnant pause this time. Your heart was working overtime and you swore you could hear it pounding from inside your chest. Amajiki was quivering ever so slightly under your touch. You shouldn’t have asked, it was probably too much happening too fast.

“It’s okay if you don’t-”

Amajiki cut you off almost frantically. “No! I mean, yes, you can. Please…”

You gathered yourself and leaned even further across the table. First, you planted a chaste and sweet kiss on his other cheek. Going for his lips took more courage, but you did it. This kiss was longer than the other, but not by much. You didn’t care. As it turns out, Amajiki’s lips were as soft as they looked.

“Was that fine?” You asked, concerned when he still wasn’t opening his eyes. You felt a bit jittery yourself from that kiss.

They flew open at your voice. “It was great, I just need to go…”

He made a weak outward gesture and you gave him a comforting smile. You understood without him having to say it. He just needed a moment to himself after all of that.

“The washroom’s over there.”

Amajiki stood up, his hand coming loose from yours and your other hand falling from his hot face. “Thank you. I really did enjoy that, I just need a minute. Sorry, this is so rude of me…”

You shook your head sharply. “I don’t think that. Go ahead, take your time. I get it. I really do.”

“All that matters is that you feel comfortable.”

“Okay. Thank you.” He seemed relieved as he stared at you, actually gazing into your eyes, before rushing off towards the door you had pointed out to him.

Now alone, you smiled to yourself and placed a finger to your lips, still shell-shocked by the turn of events. You had actually kissed Amajiki and it was everything you’d imagined and more. Things couldn’t be going better and you two hadn’t even ate yet!

It wasn’t too long before your order arrived and Amajiki returned nearly back-to-back.

“Perfect timing,” You greeted him and took note of how he was no longer shaking like a leaf. “I might’ve gone overboard… don’t know if we’ll be able to finish all of this ourselves.”

“You’d be surprised by the size of the meals at Fat’s agency.” Amajiki chuckled as he took in the plates of steaming food laid out before you two. “What should I try first?”

You feigned being deep in thought before grinning. “Hm, just pick whatever.”

He reached for the platter of puto and you followed suit. They looked delicious, extra fluffy and topped off gooey cheese. Amajiki watched as you popped the entire thing in your mouth with zero reservation.

“They’re little steamed rice cakes.” You explained after swallowing.

Amajiki took a bite out of his and finished it soon after before grabbing another. “Mm, they’re very light. Do they always have cheese?”

“Depends, but a lot of the time, yeah.” You answered while helping yourself to a second of your own. “Hey, What could you manifest out of this?”

A mischievous twinkle flashed in Amajiki’s eyes as he raised a finger in a “wait a minute” fashion. You wanted to giggle at how his face scrunched up in concentration, but held back for his sake. After a short moment, a pair of small pale horns shot out from his purple hair.

You let out your laugh, nearly choking on puto in the process. “Nice!”

His cheeks were rosy as he scratched at the back of his neck. He looked focused once again before the horns seemed to be gone in the blink of an eye.

“Dairy products are always fun.” Amajiki stated while sipping his water. “I could’ve given myself two stomachs but I thought that was kinda gross…”

“Just a bit.” You agreed, laughing softly. “But also kinda cool.”

Next came the lumpia, a dish comparable to egg rolls. Amajiki seemed especially pleased as he took several bites out of one.

“Really good.” He confirmed with a nod. “Pork inside?”

“Yup.” You kicked him playfully under the table. “Think you could manifest one of those curly pigtails? Like in the cartoons?”

Amajiki froze like a statue midchew.

“Just kidding.” You reached over and gave his hand a quick squeeze. “Glad you like it.”

“I-I think I like you more, Y/N.”

The lunch date continued on. It was a quiet moment while you two were enjoying a hearty noodle dish when you were struck with a wave of warmth that filled you from head to toe. You felt so at home, sharing this piece of your culture with probably your favorite person ever.

Amajiki appeared utterly relaxed as he ate, cheeks tinted with a very soft pink. You noticed both of his pointy ears twitch a number of times and were puzzled before you remembered something Togata had said to you once.

“He’s done it ever since we were kids. When he’s really happy, his ears will do this twitch-thingy, but try not to point it out. He gets really embarrassed.”

It might have been the cutest sight you’d ever seen.

[clonecest-bin-account]

Assorted Clonecest Fics - Fantasy (Fox/Slick) | E

(WARNINGS: self-destructive behavior, suicidal ideation)

(Fic under the cut)

Slick has never been kind to Fox. It’s not that he hates all brothers, but he can’t stand the ones he calls “Republic lapdogs”, and to him, Fox is the biggest one of them all.

Whatever, Fox doesn’t care. That’s not the reason why he seeks him out; if he wanted to be treated with care, he would’ve chosen another companion.

No, the reason why he seeks out Slick of all people is exactly because he despises him; it makes the bruises on his body have a meaning.

 He got caught by Thorn once; the shower in his private quarters was under repairs, meaning that Fox was forced to use the communal ones.

He always made sure to go there either very early or very late, so that he’d be alone, but one day he met the other Commander; he had just gotten back to Coruscant and needed to clean himself up. See, unlike Fox, Thorn likes using the communal showers, because he’s an extrovert son of a whore, so it wasn’t that surprising to see him there, it was just the timing that was wrong.

At that point, it was too late for Fox to leave so he decided to just get over with it as soon as possible. He tried to act nonchalantly as he began to strip off his clothes, but Thorn still noticed the amount of bruises, bite marks, hickeys and similar on his body.

“Holy shit! Fox, are you alright?” he asked immediately, worried. Osik.

“Yeah, I’m fine…” he began, opting then to lie. “We… might’ve gone overboard, my partner and I…” In the end, it wasn’t that big of a lie. It was certainly enough to reassure Thorn, who smirked at those words.

“A partner, huh?” he asked, getting closer to Fox. “And who this partner is, pray tell?”

Despite everything, Fox laughed - it was always like this, with Thorn.

“Can’t tell you, vod,” he replied, slightly shoving him with a shoulder.

“Oh, you will,” Thorn promised, but apart from that he didn’t push it much, except from the fact that he still occasionally asks him about the identity of this mysterious lover, but of course Fox refuses to tell him.

 A harsh slap to his face snaps him out of his thoughts. Fox blinks, looking around, disoriented. Right, he was in the middle of something…

“Got distracted there, Commander?” Slick’s voice echoes in Fox’s head. He tries to reply but a sharp thrust has him moan his heart out.

His face stings where Slick has hit him, but it’s a grounding pain. He only hopes that there aren’t any signs of a bruise, even though with how little he shows his face around - more and more often hidden under his helmet - it shouldn’t be a problem covering it.

“Maybe you just aren’t doing your job very well, then,” he spits back, sending a smirk Slick’s way, as if he isn’t fucking the life out of him already. He shouldn’t provoke him like that, but he can’t help it: he needs him to be angrier.

Slick snarls, his hand shooting towards Fox grabbing him by the throat and squeezing it with all his hatred.

 Fox’s so used to it by now that he doesn’t even panic, he doesn’t even move.

No, this is actually the best part, Fox thinks. It’s a thrill that he rarely gets to feel anymore.

Each time he wonders how it will end: will Slick eventually pull away, or will he keep going? He can picture it already: Slick keeps squeezing and squeezing on his now darkened by bruises skin, crushing his windpipe. He doesn’t stop, not even as Fox struggles for breath - it’s an instinctive reaction, not something that he’d actually do.

His vision would start to blur, is Fox… crying?

It doesn’t matter, what matters is that soon, Fox won’t be breathing anymore. Would Slick keep on fucking his body until he’s warm, riding the high of having killed such a despised person, or would he freeze on the spot, conscience heavy for the act he’s just committed?

Who cares? Not Fox, who would be dead in this scenario.

 Slick lets go.

Fox gasps for air.

 It always ends up like this, with Slick letting him live. Whether it’s for pity, knowing that he wouldn’t get away with killing an officer or any other reason, he never takes that additional final step.

Maybe he senses how miserable he is and has figured that it would be crueler to keep him alive.

A shame, truly…

 Fox stumbles as he steps out of Slick’s cell.

It always takes him a great deal of effort to move after his “visits”, and it isn’t just for the obvious physical reasons. He feels empty, like a void that only accidentally looks like a person.

No matter what, however, he knows he’ll be back; Slick knows it too, that’s why he’s always so smug when he watches Fox struggle to leave, knowing that he did that, and that he’ll do it again, because Fox needs him, that much is clear.

As long as there’s even the smallest chance that he might not survive it, Fox will come back. He has to.

Tag list: @maulusque @captainrexwouldnever If you want to be added feel free to let me know!

[stargazer-sims]

Journal Entry #21

Victor

Hello, all! Long time, no see!

Things have been nonstop around here, which is how I like it, but it hasn't left much time for updates. There's been a lot happening in our lives, and I'm going to try to fill you in on all of it as best I can. You know me and keeping on track. Sometimes that's hard for me to do.

Okay, the first item of news is that Yuri and I have decided our first international adventure together is definitely going to be to Selvadorada. Turns out, there are some great travel packages available in the winter, which is the only time we can go, due to me having a job now. I think Yuri’s still a little nervous about flying, but he’s starting to get into the idea of the trip itself. We’ve been doing our research, so we’re going to be fully prepared, and it looks like it’s going to be a totally amazing experience. We’ll keep you all in the loop as our travel plans develop.

In other, less happy news, Yuki finally went home. I have absolutely no idea what kind of capitalist disaster kept Mr. and Mrs. Okamoto working at their company’s head office in the city for three and a half weeks, but I guess they sorted it out at last. I’m sure he’s back in his office here in town now, terrorizing his local workforce once again.

Yuki didn’t want to leave when her parents came here to get her. She hung onto Yuri and cried so hard that it made me wonder how bad life for her really was at home. It took all Yuri’s considerable powers of persuasion to convince her to let go.

I’ll admit, when she left, I kind of felt like crying myself. I’d gotten used to having her here, and we were feeling like an odd little family to me. I was really getting into the routines of bedtime and playtime and chores and homework. Yes, homework. Yuki was still with us when she started school last week, and they’ve had homework assignments already.

Yuri had to help her with that, of course. I was never great at doing my own homework when I was Yuki’s age, and I didn’t think I could focus long enough to help Yuki with hers.

Yuri is brilliant, and he did really well with encouraging her to figure out the answers herself and praising her when she got it right. Getting it wrong was no big deal. He told her that incorrect answers were just bends in the road on the way to her goal, and that she should keep trying.

“Remember what I said about being wrong?” I overheard him telling her. “It’s not easy, and we might not like it, but it’s how we learn.”

If we ever planned to adopt a kid some day, he’d be a great dad. That’s what I think. Neither of us actually want to have the permanent responsibility of a kid, and we’re far from ready for it even if we did want to, but I mean, hypothetically, I can picture Yuri as a fantastic parent. As for me, I’d be the fun dad who’d plan the birthday parties, cry dramatically over every first-time event, and hate giving time-outs. I’d be the classic “Go ask your other dad” guy, because you just know Yuri would be the one making all the rules.

Another thing that happened while Yuki was with us was that she had her birthday. September is a big month for birthdays in the Okamoto family. Yuki, Yuri and their mom were all born in September.

Yuri and I might’ve gone slightly overboard with Yuki’s birthday presents. Yuri got permission from his mother to let him buy her a snowboard, so we went shopping in town. A snowboard isn’t any good without snowboard boots, and she needed a helmet for safety reasons. We bought her an adorable snowsuit too, and matching gloves.

The look on her face was priceless when she saw everything. The only thing we wrapped was her helmet, and Yuri gave it to her before dinner. It was probably a tiny bit mean on our part to make her wait until after dinner for the rest, especially because she knew exactly what the helmet was for and had no problem anticipating what would go with it, but watching her get more and more excited all through our meal was worth watching.

As soon as we were done clearing up the dishes, we showed her everything else, and she ran straight upstairs to try on her snowsuit and helmet in front of the mirror. We could hear her shrieking with delight, "I look like I could be in the Winter Olympics!"

I've already had her up on the mountain with her new snowboard, and let me tell you, our Yuki is a natural. We were only on the bunny slope, but I predict she'll be on the easy slope by midwinter.

If she wants to compete, I think next year she could be in the junior novice competitions. The most important thing for now, though, is that she likes it and that she's staying safe.

The last time I talked to her, she was trying to think of a name for her board. She said she'll let me know when she comes up with something perfect.

On the subject of snowboarding, it's less than two months until the start of our competitive season. I've been training like crazy, but it's harder now that I have a job and have to be at work four days a week. Still, I'm feeling good about this season. Elsa is the best board I've ever owned, and she rides like a champion, and I’m in really great shape.

The first competition of the season is during the work week, but my boss has already approved me taking the day off. It's on a Friday, but my boss is letting me work on Monday that week instead, to make up for it. Yuri promised me that he'd come and watch. I'm ridiculously excited, and I can hardly wait for this season to get going.

Even with lots to look forward to during autumn and winter, It's hard to believe summer's over. Harvestfest is tomorrow. This'll be my second Harvestfest without my mom and our extended family, and although I'm sad about that, I've still got plenty to be thankful for. I'm planning a huge meal for tomorrow and we're inviting our friends over, including Seiji’s new girlfriend, Chiharu, who we’ll be meeting for the first time. It'll be a combination of celebrating Harvestfest and giving thanks for all the blessings in our lives, and celebrating my sweet Yuri's birthday.

His birthday is actually today, and he's twenty-five. In my opinion, twenty-five years is a big milestone for somebody whose parents were told when he was born that he might not live past the first twenty-four hours. I think defying odds is one of Yuri's specialties, and as for those Harvestfest blessings I was talking about... he's my greatest one.

It's wonderful and strange to think that we'll both be twenty-five for a couple of months. I don't know why, but I like the idea of there being a magical window of time where we're the same age.

We met in that special part of the year, when we were both twenty; it was in November, so Yuri had turned twenty about two months prior, and I was about to turn twenty-one on the second of December. It's hard to believe we've known each other nearly five years now, and that we've been officially together for most of it. Our second anniversary of being physically together here in Mt. Komorebi will be this coming February. We're reaching milestones everywhere, and I love it.

Yesterday, I made Yuri’s birthday cake, and this morning we had cake for breakfast. I'm pretty sure it was the first time in Yuri's life that he's ever eaten cake for breakfast, and we couldn't stop laughing about it.

He doesn't eat a lot of sweets, and he's not used to it, so it was kind of funny to see him on a sugar high first thing in the morning. Generally speaking, I'm the one who's energetic in the mornings, and it was a change to have him moving at my speed.

He hopped into the bath with me after breakfast, which was an unexpected surprise. There was a lot more playing and nonsense than he typically accepts, but he started it, so that's my excuse for letting things get silly and splashy in there. Let's just say, not a whole lot of actual washing got done.

"I think you should take me somewhere nice for my birthday," he said.

"Do you? I thought you wanted to have a quiet day at home."

"It's my prerogative to change my mind," he said airily. "It's my birthday, after all."

"Anybody ever tell you that you're a troublemaker, Yuri Okamoto?" I was trying hard to keep a straight face as he casually tickled my chest.

“How could you ever call an innocent boy like me a troublemaker?"

“The ones who seem innocent are the ones you’ve really got to watch,” I said. “They’re the ones who make you do things.”

“Oh? What things? I may be too innocent to know what you mean.”

My effort not to laugh was a wholly unsuccessful one. “Keep doing what you're doing, and you’ll find out.”

“Will I like it?”

“You tell me,” I said. “I don’t think we’ll be going anywhere, because I'm going to scoop you out of this tub and carry you to my room, and then take my time kissing every centimeter of you from head to toe. Every centimeter you can tolerate, at least."

"That's still a lot of centimeters." He stopped tickling me and began petting me instead, ghosting his fingertips over my collarbone in a way that always makes me feel pleasantly weak and tingly. "That could take a while. Longer if I want a turn kissing you all over."

"Could take all morning."

He hummed softly. 'Yes, it could, but we can always go out in the afternoon."

“I guess you’re feeling adventurous today.”

“Mm-hmm. I am." He gazed at me through half-closed eyelids. "Do you like it when I’m adventurous, Victor?”

“You know there’s only one correct answer I can give to that,” I said. I trailed my fingers slowly along the length of his spine. “You tell me when to stop, my beautiful brave boy. This is your adventure.”

I got down to the small of his back before he gasped. “Ohh… stop, please. Stop right there.”

“Too much?”

“No.” He wiggled a little under my hand. “It’s good. I like it. Just remember how you went all the way down my back like that, because I want you to do it again, but I want to experience it properly. I want to be comfortable, not squished into a corner of the tub.”

“Who’s squishing who?” I said. “You’re the one who’s on top of me.”

“Let’s get out,” he said. “Weren’t you going to carry me to your room? Kiss every centimeter of my body I can tolerate, I think you said?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m ready for it. I might even let you try exploring a few new spots.”

So... that happened.

We had fun until Yuri got too cold, and then he whined at me until I went to his room and got some clothes for him. Then, we had fun again, attempting to put pyjamas on each other. I’m actually much better at dressing him than he is at dressing me, since I’ve already had some practice. It was nice to see him being able to enjoy it for once, too. Usually when I have to change his clothes, it's because he's too ill and in too much pain and literally can't do it by himself. There's nothing remotely amusing or pleasant about that.

Once we were sufficiently covered and snuggling under the blankets, and Yuri had stopped shivering, we were both prepared to pick up the thread of our earlier conversation.

"So,” I said, “Where would you like me to take you for your birthday?"

"I want to go down to the valley and look at the coloured leaves," he said. "You can take me to the park in Hanamigawa. Maybe we can pack some sandwiches or something, and our dinner can be a picnic."

"That sounds awesome," I said. "When was the last time we had a picnic?"

"This time last year."

"I think we should make a point of doing it more often, don't you?"

"I'd like that," he said. "Know what else I want to do?"

"What?"

"Karaoke."

I laughed. "Yuri, you're terrible at karaoke. Why do you want to do that?"

"Because you're terrible at it too, and I want to watch," he said. "Besides, I won't care that I'm terrible after I've had the drink you're going to buy for me."

"Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Just one," he said. "It's my birthday. Please?"

The way he was looking at me, it would've been impossible to refuse him anything, and when he curled his fingers around mine and gave my hand a playful squeeze, I knew I wasn't going to be insisting on any sort of reasonable behaviour.

"Okay," I said. "I'll buy you a drink tonight. Just one, though, and if the angry belly monster doesn't like it, you're not allowed to blame me. Got it?"

"Got it," he said, and gave me a cheeky little grin. "But, if I don't feel good after, you'll still take care of me, right?"

"Don't I always?"

"You do. I love how you take care of me.” He rested his head on my shoulder. “I have nothing to worry about with you. Makes my other worries easier to manage.”

He didn’t have to say what those were, because the two biggest ones were my worries, too.

I’d said I would talk to Hana about the situation with Ren, but I hadn’t succeeded in doing it yet. Hana and I don’t frequent the same places, so I don’t often see her, and the two times I’d tried calling her, it’d just gone to voicemail. Probably she was ignoring me. I figured if I wanted to catch her, the only place that would happen would be at the rink. That wouldn’t be ideal, but I doubted it’d happen at all otherwise.

Fortunately, Yuri seemed to have calmed down quite a lot since his initial conversation with Hana. I know he’s still concerned about it. He’s told me that he can’t stop thinking about it, but at the very least, he’s coping.

The other big thing occupying the top of our worry list has been his upcoming medical tests. That appointment seemed far away three weeks ago. Now it’s looming like a shadow, only two days away.

It’s hard for me to understand how Yuri’s feeling about it, because I’m hardly ever sick. I think the only time I was ever in the hospital, aside from various trips to the emergency room to get treated for sports injuries, was when I had day surgery to get my wisdom teeth removed, when I was twenty-one. I don’t like going to the hospital, but I’m also not too scared of it. Then again, I have no reason to fear it. Nobody puts me through medically-authorized torture when I go there. I’ve never once woken up in a hospital bed feeling worse than I did when I arrived.

The tests are routine; he has some of them once a year and others, like blood tests and antibody tests, more often. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that everything’s okay. He’s been doing so good lately that I’m almost totally convinced it’ll be fine, but I’ve discovered that what’s making me feel confident is having the exact opposite effect on him. It’s like he’s waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop, like he’s afraid this has been the calm before a very big storm. That particular fear, I’m coming to realize, is part of the psychology of disability.

All I can do is be with him and support him however he needs me to. He doesn’t expect me to try to understand what he’s going through, because he and I both know I never can. He always says what he needs most is my empathy and patience and gentleness. I’ve promised him, to the best of my ability, he’ll always have that.

I glanced at him, and he was gazing back at me, still smiling. I said, “Do you want to get up and see what I got you for your birthday, or would you rather just lie here for a while?”

“Lie here,” he said. “I already have what I want for my birthday, all wrapped up next to me.”

“I thought you liked presents.”

“I do, and I’ll be happy to open it later.” He stroked my side idly. “I hope it’s something I can wear.”

“Were you peeking in the closet?”

“No.”

“Well, it is something you can wear. It’s something you told me you wanted last year at Winterfest.”

“Oh!” he exclaimed. “In that case, I do want to open it now, and then I’m going to keep admiring it all day.”

“If you want it now, you have to get up.”

“No… Victor, that’s not fair. I think you should bring it in here, and then you can put it on me.”

I pretended to think it over, but I already knew I was going to give in. Saying no to him when he’s like that is just too hard.

“Okay, birthday boy. Stay right there. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Thank you,” he said sweetly as I was leaving the room. “You’re the best.”

I’m telling you, my willpower is hopelessly lost with this guy around. I’m clay in his hands, no question, and I don’t think I’d ever want it any other way.

[nsheetee]

11:41am

“Jeno!” You call out when you see his mop of newly dyed brown hair walk out of the locker room. He and some of his friends turn around at your voice; you wave to get his attention, a shy smile on your lips. Jeno’s heart skips a beat when he sees you, his eyes can’t help but turn into hearts for you as you wave him over. He doesn’t even notice his friends’ teasing as he walks towards you, sending them a distracted “I’ll be on the court soon.”

“Hi,” You say gently as Jeno approaches you. He has his practice gear on, a basketball tucked neatly between his side and his arm, and a wide smile on his face. If there’s one that you think Jeno could use to get anyone’s attention, it’s the smile that he always keeps on his face; genuine and kind and innocent.

“Hi.” He didn’t mean to stumble over such a small and simple word, but his stutter makes him look away from you temporarily, his gaze always coming back to the inescapable you.

“Sorry, you probably don’t want me distracting you before practice, but I wanted to give you these notes from Biology.” You hand over some pieces of paper, neatly stapled in the corner with “For Jeno :)” written across the top in your pretty handwriting. Jeno takes the notes with his free hand, his heart skipping a beat when your fingers brush for a quick moment.

“You’re not bothering me.” Jeno reassures; ‘you could never bother me.’ “Weren’t we going to study tonight?” He asks, tilting his head like a perplexed dog.

“I got called into work. I would tell them I already have plans, but this was unavoidable.” You frown, “I’m sorry for the late notice.” Jeno shakes his head, another smile brightening his features.

“It’s no big deal. Your notes are the best so It’ll be an easy study.” For a split second, Jeno thinks he might’ve gone overboard on the compliment, but the humble smile you give him makes his moment of confidence worth it.

“You’re too much for me sometimes.” You laugh, “Either way, I still want to spend some time with you…” You trail off.

Jeno’s heart thuds in his chest, feeling like it’s shaking him to the core. Could this be it? Could you be asking him out right here, right now? Oh no, what’ll he say? Of course he’ll say yes, but he can’t sound too excited or he’ll never relieve himself of the embarrassment but he also can’t sound bored because then you’ll think-

“Babe!” A loud, high-pitched voice calls from behind Jeno, making him lose his train of thought. You look over his shoulder to see Donghyuck skipping over to you two, his hair bouncing and a large grin on his face. He pushes past Jeno, making him drop his ball and slightly pushing him into the wall. He tackles you into a hug, you share some laughter before turning back to Jeno with Donghyuck’s arm around your shoulders. Your smile seems brighter, you look like you fit into his side perfectly and it makes Jeno’s smile turn sour.

“Like I was saying,” You can’t stop smiling like a fool, and Jeno doesn’t know whether to be happy or annoyed, “I still want to spend some time with you after the study session Thursday night. Do you still not understand cellular reproduction?” You ask, wrapping your arm comfortably around Donghyuck’s waist.

“No,” Jeno tries to pick his smile back up off of the floor where Donghyuck pushed it off of him, but he’s sure he doesn’t look the same as before, “I don’t understand it yet.” You nod, saying something about staying for an extra 30 minutes on Thursday to help explain.

“Man, maybe I should get some tutoring if that’s all it takes to spend time with you.” Donghyuck teases, squeezing your shoulders to press you into his side some more.

“You don’t need tutoring to see me,” You roll your eyes, “I’m your girlfriend, Hyuck.” And with that you both wave to Jeno, Donghyuck sending him a “see you on the court” while you bid him goodbye until Thursday. Jeno says a weak goodbye, longingly watching Donghyuck walk away from you after kissing your forehead, before turning to pick up his basketball. He walks onto the court with a heavy heart and ripped biology notes, and a reminder that he’ll never get to treat you the way you deserve while his teammate is at your side.

[outrebanx]

breathe

Kiara Carrera x female reader

Masterlist

Request/summary: ‘hi!! i saw that you didn’t have anything for kiera yet on your outer banks master list. if it’s not too much to ask, could you do an x reader thing where the reader has a panic attack and Kie calms her down?’

Word count: 900-ish

Warnings: panic attack, self-doubt (i.e not feeling good enough), around the panic attack it’s angsty but with Kiara helping it becomes more fluffy I guess

A/N: obviously this is my first time writing for kiara so i hope it’s good 🥰 I’ve had a few panic attacks so this is mainly based on my experience, but I hope I’ve written it how you wanted. although I feel I might’ve gone overboard with the description but oh well

“Hey babe,” Kiara mumbled from way she was laying next to you on your bed.

“Mhm?”

“I think I’m going to go to sleep now you okay with that?” She moves onto her elbows so she can better see your face, you nod and she leans forward to kiss you.

“GoodnIght Y/N.”

“NIght Kie.” You say, feeling her move onto her side, back facing you.

You and Kiara had been dating for around three months, you had liked her for a while before she revealed she also liked you too. It still shocked you whenever you thought about the night you two were swimming in the sea and she admitted she liked you, especially because you thought her and JJ had a thing. But once you’d recovered from her actually liking you back you’d kissed her and from there you’d decided to start dating.

Kiara’s breathing was becoming heavier and more even beside you but you couldn’t sleep, your mind was racing with hundreds of different thoughts, ‘would you and Kie last?’, ‘how long would it take for her to find someone better than you?’, ‘how long would it take you to mess it up?’. These thoughts went on and on, the panic and worry only growing. Normally you could keep these thoughts contained, knowing Kie cared for you was usually enough to help, but tonight, even with her beside you, they were definitely getting the better of you.

You could feel your heart beginning to race quicker and quicker, the tears behind your eyes started to fall. You sat up, raising your shaking hands to your chest, almost as if you were trying to force a much needed breath out of your body, but instead all that came out was a small choke.

This was enough to stir Kie though, she sat up and turned towards you, worried you might actually be choking or something similar. You didn’t want her to see you like this but you couldn’t move, only clench your fists to try and stop them shaking, forgetting the tears on your face and the rapid pace your chest was moving.

“Hey, Y/N, what’s wrong?” She said from where she’d moved in front of you, worry prominent in her eyes.

“I... can’t...” You managed to say, your throat now so dry you struggled with each word you said.

“Can’t what?” Her hands were on your shoulders, fingers moving in circles in a calming motion.

“Breathe.”

Your fists we’re now so tightly clenched that you were almost certain your nails were drawing blood, not that it mattered much in the state you were in. With every breath you took in, it felt like no air passed into your chest, as if you were being choked.

At this point Kiara must have worked out that you were having a panic attack, her hands gripped yours, trying to relax your grip as she spoke to you.

“Okay babe, I need you to try and breathe on my count okay?” You nodded for her to continue, “Alright breathe in for 5 seconds with me.”

You followed her lead, both of you breathing in and then breathing out in time, the air welcome in your lungs.

Once your breathing was better she turned her attention back to you, “Now tell me something you can see.”

“Your face.” You said, your voice raspy.

She gave you a wide smile, “Great, now something you can feel?”

You unclenched your fists slightly, “Your hands.”

“You’re doing amazing Y/N, what about something you can smell?”

Your breathing was almost back to normal now, the tears had stopped falling down your face, “Your vanilla perfume.”

She took one hand off yours and cupped your face, wiping the tears away with her thumb, “Yes the one you bought me for my birthday, are you feeling slightly better now?”

You nodded, you’re hands were still shaking slightly, but you no longer felt the crushing weight of panic and doubt, so you knew you’d be feeling much better soon.

Kie was still giving you a concerned look despite your nod, “I didn’t know you had panic attacks?”

“Um I don’t always but sometimes they creep up on me.” You looked down at your bed, avoiding her eyes.

“It’s not something to be ashamed of babe, and now I know, whenever you need me I’ll be here, and maybe one day you can talk about what triggers them with me, okay?”

You nodded again, the love you felt for her increasing as she was so supportive and caring towards you, putting the thoughts that had triggered this back in their place for a while.

Kiara leant forward, encircling you in her arms, planting a small kiss on your hair, it took you a moment before you hugged her back, but once you do you can’t help but feel safe in her hold.

“Okay do you wanna try and sleep now?”

“Yes.” You say, a small smile on your lips.

You settle back down onto the bed, she keeps her arms around you from behind, reminding you she’s still there, almost like an anchor, when she whispers, “I love you Y/N.”

Your breath hitches in your throat, you turn your head slightly, trying to see in her eyes if she really meant it.

Her eyes were watering slightly but she seemed to be trying to convey her genuine feelings to you, so you smiled at her, “I love you too Kie.”