#my friends all want me to shut up about the number guys /pos

[wherehyperfixationsgotodie]

so i kind of went to see ajr this past weekend (they were absolutely phenominal btw, go see them if you haven't and you like their music) but during the down time i may have gone a little nuts with art. finally figured out my style, so that's good.

presenting: the babies

some extra notes about all of them (that didn't fit into the ref sheet)

x: - even though x is very in touch with their feminine side, putting she/her as pronouns didn't feel right. it's not a part of his Main Pronouns, yanno? if someone calls them that, though, they won't really mind, though it may throw them for a loop. - x is the only character in this headcanon that doesn't prefer one set of pronouns to the other. they're fine with they/them as much as he's fine with he/him - "nanah" as a nickname is derived from the fact that they lowkey look like a banana. also because two and x have food themed nicknames for eachother. - instead of calling him "xy" for a nickname like in canon, i went with xie instead. this is because, if you're aware of miraculous ladybug, like you've seen a handful of the earlier episodes, you might be aware of the fact that there's a character in that show named xy. he's a horrible person and i hate his guts. can't associate my favorite variable with that guy, the hell? - they're very prone to wandering off while in a store. also, they must touch everything. - x is the most emotionally intelligent out of the three. - x's favorite food is a bagel with cream cheese covered in strawberry jam.

two: - two prefers he/him pronouns to they/them pronouns, but also he doesn't want to fully label himself as anything. either is fine, though he very slightly prefers he/him. - two is very himbo, but the good kinda himbo! he’s not unable to do shit, they’re genuinely really dedicated and smart, but he gets pretty distracted from the task at hand if he isn't fully invested in it. if they put their mind to something though, they will get it done. - four only called two "twink" once and two started crying laughing about it. he finds it hilarious. - is still british! that's an important distinction since that's one of the core pieces of their character in canon fhdsufhdsu

four: - four prefers they/them as pronouns but also likes the feeling of being "boy," so him and two have opposite problems. - four has a resting bitch face, which means that x has scary dog privileges while they're out in public. - our has really bad panic attacks when they go out in public alone. like. sitting on the ground, back against a wall, sobbing violently kinda panic attacks. being with x and, as much as four hates to admit it, two helps a lot though. helps keep his mind off of everyone around him

anyways, thanks for reading, that's all. expect more art of them (i already have two more fully done pieces of them and one more that was supposed to be a sketch but kinda got away from me dfhsudihf.)

- moondancer

[givethemsmut]

The Pack | Chapter Four

Characters: Dylan O’Brien, fem!reader

Pairing: Dylan O’Brien, Dylan x You

After lunch with Alex, catching up on everything about that night, we decided to walk around the shops. An unknown number flashed across my phone.

810-987-5678: Hey it’s Dylan. I got your number from Pos. You didn’t tell me your dad is our producer.

ME: Doesn’t really matter does it?

DYLAN: He’s my boss. I fucked my boss’s daughter.

ME: Doesn’t make me off limits. I’m over 18, 21 and adult enough to have sex.

DYLAN: Have you had sex before? Or your dad just thinks you’re a virgin?

ME: Doesn’t really matter does it? We did what we did. I was wasted but I think the condom was proof enough of our actions.

DYLAN: Matters to the guy who might have taken your virginity. Do you not remember that night?

ME: So what if I was a virgin? Would you have treated me differently? I was more wasted then you. That night is in pieces.

DYLAN: Damn it. I didn’t know. I should have known. Course I would have treated you differently! It was your first time!

ME: First, second, third. It’s just sex Dylan. Least it’s over with. You just had sex with your girlfriend, her panties were on your bed. Why should us having sex matter?

DYLAN: First Time is different than knowing what you’re doing the second or third time. What if we were so drunk I forgot a condom? What if I hurt you?

ME: You didn’t hurt me. It was sex not human sacrifice. I’m disease free, perks of being a virgin and you wore a condom. All is well.

DYLAN: I didn’t have sex with her. I told you we got close. She cheated. We broke up. I didn’t cheat. Did you miss complicated?

ME: I told you it’s complicated. He’s my best friend, we fool around but he pushed for sex and we argued. We were never dating.

DYALN: Come over tonight. Posey is got somewhere to be. House to ourselves.

ME: Maybe.

DYLAN: Don’t be like that. You’ve already spent the night. We’ve already had sex. I’ll see you at 7.

I guess that meant I had a date? I convinced myself he just wanted to apologize for taking my virginity. Adding insult to injury when I already threw it away on a stranger.

Alex was rooting for him to be the one. She hated Brody with a passion. He always complained to people, our friends, that I wouldn’t put out. That was her tipping point and when they started to feud pretty obviously.

I saw my dad at home before I started getting ready and let him know I’d be with Dylan. Following me to the bottom of the stairs he shouted after me, “Now you two are a thing? Do I need to talk to him?”

I was mortified, “No! We aren’t a thing. We hooked up. Doesn’t mean we have to date. Just don’t call people this time.”

“Are you staying over there again?”

I rolled my eyes hard, “I’m gonna go get ready. Goodnight dad.”

I decided on high waisted shorts, a v neck white shirt and boots. Casual and simple to avoid any wrong signals. I was sober. It was a new day. I didn’t know what to expect the whole drive there and when I pulled in there was three cars which seemed odd if Tyler had somewhere to be.

I turned off my car and headed towards the door. A girl answered, “Hi, Tyler isn’t here. Okay now, bye.”

Dylan saw me and ran to the door, “Hey, I’m so sorry. Come in.” His body stayed close to mine as I stepped inside confused. Almost like he was shielding me when he whispered, “She’s not staying.”

He asked me to go to his room upstairs which I did but I was listening hard the whole way up to their conversation and sat at the top of the stairs.

“Britt. Just take your stuff and go. I threw away your panties.”

“I’m going to check your bedroom. It’s not that easy, Dyl. I’m in every part of your life, how do I get my stuff and go?”

He blocked the stairs knowing he sent me up to his room but she shoved past him. I quickly shut the door and sat on his bed. She came in and glared at me before she looked around.

“Who the fuck is she Dyl?” She shouted too loudly.

“Don’t. Just get your shit and go.”

“Sent her up to your room alone, party last night, hmm. Must be last night’s slut. How cute.”

Coming through the door it slammed against the wall when she spotted the condom wrapper he didn’t clean up.

“Seriously? Got me back huh?”

She looked at me, “Wasn’t he great? Real go getter in bed.”

“Leave. Get out. Go fuck that guy who was trying to text you.”

She left but not without getting in my face first. “You think it’s rare you got in his bed? He’s gonna tell you I’m the bad guy but I know all his tricks. Good luck figuring those out. He’s your problem now.”

She left and slammed the front door so loudly I jumped in my own skin. Immediately he started to apologize for her sudden appearance for her stuff in attempt to talk to him.

I just sat silently taking it all in. He went to the bathroom and came back with a condom, “Okay, ready? Round two? I can’t let that be your first time. You barely remember.”

I was shocked and not turned on after the scene she just made. I stood up and backed away, “Excuse me? After that? I’m not exactly turned on by your crazy ex or the fact that the used condom wrapper is still there.”

He tossed the condom on the bed and stepped into me until I was against his closet door frame. “Shit. I’m fucking this up. I just really wanted to see you again. I feel guilty as shit. You deserve a better first time.”

His hand was planted behind me on the molding keeping him a good distance away from my face as I whispered, “That night came back to me. I remember.” He asked what I remember and I told him, “I remember kissing. I remember you had to get a condom. I remember watching you put it on between my legs. I remember the condom felt cold and wet.”

I could feel his lips drag against my neck as I spoke. He was hot and I wanted round two but I wasn’t sure if either of us were ready.

I asked him if he remembered it and he said against my neck as I felt his hands graze my ass, “Every minuet. You got so wet. Let me feel you again.”

I was weak for him. I took off my shirt between us as his lips dragged against my neck. His hands ran up my sides, grazing my breasts and nipples through my shirt. I managed to get out in between kisses, “Get the condom.”

He pushed himself away to unbutton my shorts for me and push them down. We were both breathing heavy and sloppily finding each other’s mouthed.

Kicking my boots off, I wrapped my arms behind my back, unclamping my bra until I was in nothing but panties between him and the door frame. I could feel his eyes devour me, dragging over my body and his hands pulling my hips to him.

His mouth captured mine, opening, and feeding me his tongue before he undid his own pants. Eager I could feel exactly how wet I was between my own legs when I pushed them down.

I could barely keep my whimpers to myself when he whispered, “Are you on the pill?”

I shook my head no and kissed his neck.

“Fuck. Come here.”

Still kissing he walked me right into his bed until I crawled backwards against his sheets. Planting kisses down his jaw and neck he kneeled his way between my legs, his hands smoothing down my legs until they fell open for him.

“Are you okay? Nervous?” He could tell I was nervous when he saw exactly how soaked my panties were.

He attempted to put the condom on inside his underwear. Shaking my head yes I reached for him when he hovered over my own body.

Still

struggling with the condom I let my hands roam his body, caressing every taunt muscle and leaving kisses over every inch I could reach.

“Do you need help?” I prayed he didn’t need it because I wouldn’t be much help.

“Shit. I’m ruining this. Tell me your on birth control,” his husky voice poured over me. Snapped the condom once more he tossed it on the bedside table before I felt his hand between my legs. “Fuck, so wet. God, I wanna be inside you.”

“I don’t care about the condom. Just fuck me.”

I opened my legs wider hoping he’d just decide either way. Fingering the hem of my panties he closed my legs and dragged them up my legs. “Are you sure?” He whispered to me before he pushed between my legs again.

Round two felt even better then the first time. I felt his hands dance along my breasts while his other hand held down my hip as he slide inside me.

Every inch of his arousal was stretching me to fit his size. I could help moan out when my mouth collided with his shoulder, muffling myself.

His breathe was shaky and restrained enough that his hot breath skated down my spine without trying. My eyes kept closing, the pleasure was too much to take as his lips whispered against my ear, “Hey.”

I opened my eyes and he was perfectly placed above me and his hips still pushing against mine. “I’m close baby. I’m gonna make you cum first, okay?”

I shook my head, I felt weak against his words as he picked up his pace. His hips thrusting into me and I could feel myself squeezing against him as I got closer.

My head fell to the side as I soaked it up. He whispered into my neck, “That’s it. Cum baby. Ahh. Fuck.”

Every part of me tensed and shook as the orgasm rolled down my body. I could feel my legs closed and the grip I had on him turn into spasms.

His whispers pushed me further over the edge as I felt him slide out from between my legs. He moans got louder as I saw his hand touch himself. He looked at me as he tugged himself until I felt his cum land onto my inner thigh.

He laid next me trying to catch his breath and pulling the sheet over us. He pointed to a box of tissues on his night stand and I handed them to him. I suddenly felt the tissue against my thigh and I jumped before his lips found mine once more.

After we laid together in his bed talking, learning about each other. He finally brought up my dad, “So your dad is gonna kill me huh? Your dad already gave me the speech. Laughing, I asked him what he said, “Don’t hurt you, you were a virgin, Britt… ya know all the ways this won’t work out.”

I wasn’t shocked, I was all my dad had. I told him, “I am sorry he attacked you. I’m his only kid – he’s protective. After we lost mom it all affected us differently.”

“So why didn’t you have sex til now?” I could tell he was curious instead of judgey the way everyone else asked in sarcasm.

“I don’t know. Guess I never felt comfortable with anyone. Why, when did you have sex?”

“Oh me? I didn’t have friends in high school. It wasn’t until right after I booked Teen Wolf. After that it was pretty easy…”

Shifting topics smoothly I finally asked, “What was that about earlier?”

His arms dragged me into the nook of his arm before responding. “Her being dramatic and desperate. Ignore her. She’s anger I found out. You hungry?”

He didn’t wait for my answer before picking up his phone and ordering a pizza for delivery. I sat up wrapping the sheet around me while Dylan swung his legs over the bed edge. I missed his warmth already as I watched him step into his boxer briefs again.

Dylan entertained me with the small talk and satisfied himself with round two. I silently scolded myself for letting myself enjoy his company.

Brody always found a reason to get up after fooling around too, never staying too long. Just when I wanted to hate Dylan for the same reason his hand reached out for me. “Come on. Bring the sheet. Food is on the way.”

Taking his hand after making the sheet into a dress and we headed to his kitchen for supplies. I was leaning against the counter watching him buzz around while reading his texts at the same time. “Posey is on his way back. Is he with your friend?”

I shrugged not knowing actually. I told him, “I should probably go get dressed before he’s back.”

Dylan grabbed my arm and pulled me into him letting our kisses deepen. I felt him push me back into the countertop while his hands felt for the edge, making sure he didn’t hurt me, “I’m not done with you. I don’t care if they know that…”

Between kisses I whispered, “I’m nearly naked…”

His hands grabbed my ass through the sheet, “Why bother? I’m gonna take this off anyways. We’ll go back to my room once the pizza is here.”

Ten minuets later of making out the food arrived and I followed him to the door like a love sick puppy. He pulled some cash out of a jar marked ‘for food’ next to the door asking, “how much do I owe you?”

The girl looked up and her mouth was open, “You’re – you’re Stiles. From Teen Wolf. Holy shit!”

He leaned in shushing her, “Don’t tell anybody but I get that a lot. Not him, sorry.” He was hoping that would detour her fandom for now.

He must of realized her looking behind him when he shift in front of me, hiding me almost. I caught his eyes looking back to make sure I was covered. “You know. My girl. Don’t mind us. Half naked.”

The delivery girl’s eyes widened, she was admiring him while trying to figure out who was luck enough to be the other one enjoying him. She leaned in and whispered, “Can I get an autograph?”

He snorted to himself and shrugged large, “Sorta believed I might not be him, right?” He laughed knowing it wouldn’t work.

He signed one of the dollar bills and closed the door. “Sorry, that just started happening.”

We headed black to his room and scarfed down pizza while he played some music. We couldn’t stop talking, laughing, just enjoying each other. I wasn’t a virgin anymore and I was wrapped in a sheet but more comfortable then I had ever been with anyone.

We heard the door open and feet running up the stairs, “Dyl you home? O’Brien you here?” Tyler Posey opened the door and immediately turned around like he had just seen too much. “Hey Dyl. Sorry bro. I’ll talk to you later.”

As he closed the door behind him again Dylan jumped off the bed like an action star, opening the door and calling his name. “What’s up man? We were just eating pizza.”

Leaving the door open just enough I heard them talking.

Tyler: Dude, I saw Britt with some guy at the party. She came up to me talking mad shit about your new girl. She had a point, you don’t even know her and you dated Britt for 6 years. You sure you ready to start something new?

Dylan: I took her virginity. I’m not gonna bail. I really like her. I think I would have liked her even if I was with Britt. That’s a problem. Britt just wasn’t the one.

Tyler: Just take shit slow man. She was a virgin. It’s day two and you’re still in your room with her man.

Dylan: Having sex, bro. Be happy for me! She’s amazing.

Tyler: You don’t know her.

Dylan: Actually… all we’ve been doing is talking. Between the sex. I know about her family, she’s in school, her ex and we’re just starting. You’ll love her. Just wait.

I was already dressed as I listened when he came in. All I had left was my shoes. He came in surprised, “What are you doing?” I told him I should get going and he protested. “You heard him didn’t you? He just knew her for so long he’s getting protective. He doesn’t want me hurt.”

I stood up and kissed his cheek, “I agree with him. You did just ended a long relationship. We are moving fast. Shit happened because we had too much to drink not because we fell for each other. Let’s just… take it slow.”

His hand held mine, “That’s not true. Yeah, we got drunk but I don’t regret it. I don’t regret doing it all over again today either.”

I moved to the door, our hands still linked, “Text me okay?” Tyler was in the hallway creepily listening or waiting for Dylan again. I walked by, “Bye, Tyler.” I heard Dylan’s door slam shut scaring me but I kept walking.

Tyler was right. It was too much too quick.

[tobioismylove]

the best thing to ever happen in my life

pairings: Tetsurō Kuroo x reader(f)

genre: angst, fluff

warnings: self harming, suicide attempt, family issues, reader is in highschool, kuroo is in college, about 2/3 years age gap between them.

notes: wrote the rough plot at night, then I went to sleep, and then woke up at 3a.m. to finish this. I hope you'd enjoy it <33

I recommend listening to this cause I wrote this story while listening to this song :')

Your life sucked when you turned 13.

At 13, you started to notice the unfair treatment by your parents between you and your brother. They could deny it all they wanted, but you knew he was their favourite child just because he was smarter than you. He got everything he wanted just because he was smarter than you, while you were shut down by your own parents whenever you asked them for something.

At 13, your brother, the only sibling you had, had stopped talking to you. Reason? You wish you fucking knew. He just woke up one day and decided to ignore your whole existence, which your parents didn't actually mind.

At 13, you started noticing the frequent arguments between your parents. You witnessed your mother almost chugging down a bottle of Clorox. Your father? He was watching while snickering, seeing absolutely nothing serious in it.

At 13, self harming started. People who noticed your scars assumed you were doing it for attention. They didn't know anything that happened within the walls of your house. Not that you could tell them anyways, because your mother had always said "whatever happens within these four walls should stay within these exact four walls".

You fell asleep every night, hoping that everything would get better when you woke up the next morning. But it didn't.

Things only got worse.

The unfair treatment continued, getting ignored by your sibling continued, arguments between your parents continued, and your self harming continued.

It continued until you turned 17.

At 17, when you went over to your one and only best friend's house, you met your 'the best thing to ever happen in my life'.

He was your best friend's neighbour. He had this really messy hair, rubbing his eyes while yawning as he made his way out of his house.

Your friend had walked ahead, not noticing that you stopped to stare at the guy who stared back at you with his sleepy eyes.

You were staring because one; he was incredibly handsome, two; why in the world does this hot dude look like he just woke up although it's around 4:30 pm?

He was staring because one; you were pretty, two; because you stared at him first.

"Maybe we should take a picture." He spoke, walking closer to you while pulling out his phone from the pocket of his red hoodie. "What?"

"What?" He stood beside you and took a selfie, not minding your absolutely confused expression.

Did this dude just take a picture with you?

"Excuse me? You can't just do that." You glared at him, to which he only gave you a grin. "But I just did."

"Y/N! Come on!" Your friend shouted, standing in front of her house which was two houses away from Kuroo's. "Coming!"

"You. You better delete that photo right now." You stated, pushing your index finger against his chest. "Are you mad that you don't get to keep this photo? Give me your number and I'll send it to you."

"Fuck off." You huffed, cheeks dusted pink at his shameless flirting as you stomped towards your friend's house.

Kuroo decided then and there that he had to get to know you more.

So he went out of his way to ask your friend for a favour.

"What in the world are you doing here?" You questioned, confused as to why this hot dude was here instead of your friend. "I asked your little friend to help me meet up with you, so here we are." You crossed your arms over your chest, internally scolding– or maybe thanking– your friend for this.

"What do you want to drink? My treat." He asked, standing up from his seat while pulling out his wallet from his back pocket. "Well, if you insist." You grinned, telling him your order, and later, a little more about yourself.

Short coffee dates turned into long movie dates.

"Baby, focus on the movie." You whispered, glaring at your boyfriend who insisted on looking at you instead. "Gimme a kiss." He whines when you shake your head. Gosh, is he really a college student or a horny little high school boy?

"Jesus, baby." You playfully rolled your eyes before giving him a quick peck on his lips. Your boyfriend had chosen the seat on the very back of the theatre, so hopefully, no one would notice his teasing hands under your skirt, squeezing your thighs as he pulled you in for another kiss– deeper this time.

Movie dates turned into ditching school and going over to his house.

"Do you not have any classes?" You questioned, getting comfortable in his bed as he wrapped his arms around your body. "Ditched." You chuckled, lightly pinching his chest. "You troublemaker. Not only did you ditch but made me ditch too." Kuroo grinned, gently pushing you back on his bed and pressing kisses along your jawline. "You love me." You giggled, twining your arms around his neck and looking into his eyes lovingly. "I do."

"I'm hungry." Your boyfriend laughed, lightly pinching your nose. "When are you not?" You rolled your eyes, pushing him away from you. "Shut up and go bring me something to eat."

"Yes, ma'am!" He laughs, handing over his laptop to you. "Pick a movie or whatever. I'll be back with food." Giving you a quick kiss on your lips, he heads downstairs to the kitchen.

Lazy indoor dates turned into sneaking out in the middle of the night to watch the stars with him.

"It's really beautiful." You whispered, stretching out your arms as if to embrace the whole scenery in front of you. "Right? It's like my safe space." Kuroo said as he wrapped his arms around your waist from behind and rested his chin on your shoulder.

The song softly played in the background, giving off the perfect relaxing vibes both you and kuroo needed at the moment.

Baby, you know I just wanna leave tonight

We can go anywhere we want

Drive down to the coast, jump in the seat

Just take my hand and come with me

"Come here, princess." He takes your hand in his, his other hand resting on your waist as he pulls your body closer to his. "What are we doing?" You questioned, placing your hand against his chest. "Dancing." And so you did as he guided you, each step at a time, and then spinning you around before pulling you back into his chest.

"Where did you even learn to dance this?" You asked, laughing out loud. "Movies and shit." He grinned, stealing a kiss from your lips. "Now, if you don't mind me asking," his grip on your hand loosens as he traces his fingertips down along your wrist, brushing against your scars. "What's wrong, my love? How come you never told me about this..?" He presses his forehead against yours, pulling down the sleeves of your hoodie to cover the scars again.

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing if it makes you harm yourself like this." He whispered, voice breaking as if he was on the verge of breaking down into tears. "I'm sorry. It's okay if you don't want to–"

"It's 'cause no one really loves me." You took a deep breath and Kuroo had sat down on the grass before gently pulling down onto his lap.

"Being shut down by your own parents isn't nice at all. Them straight out calling you dumb isn't all that nice. It hurts." You let your tears roll down your cheeks, your boyfriend being there to wipe them away. "Like, I know I'm dumb and all but–"

"This is where I'd love to cut in, my love. You're not dumb at all. Don't put yourself so low." He whispered, pushing away the strands of hair away from your face and you gave him a small yet genuine smile. "You're the best thing to ever happen in my life." You admitted, intertwining your fingers with his slender ones. "Then that's more of a reason for me to stay by your side forever." He raises your arm, pulling down your sleeve to reveal the scars lying on your smooth skin. He placed gentle kisses on top of the scars, making your heart flutter. "So that you won't hate yourself anymore."

Dating Kuroo meant being liked by his friend. Him and Kenma are a package and there's no other way around this. So when he brought you over to hang out with Kenma, he loved how both of you immediately clicked.

Thanks to your little knowledge in video games, it was easier to talk to Kenma. Though there was still a lot more you didn't know about games, he was willing to teach you.

Because how can he not?

You looked so interested when he went on about this new game to Kuroo. You asked if he could teach you how to play it and he was more than happy to.

To Kenma, you were fun to be around with and easy to talk to. And that's how Kuroo fell in love with you even more.

Your parents soon found out about him, going as far as hitting you for ditching school for a troublemaker like him. They started being strict towards you, allowing you to go nowhere but school.

When you ditched school once again to tell your boyfriend about it, he took a deep breath and said;

"I think we should break up, Y/N." His head was hanging low, not daring to look up at you sitting on his bed. "I think not, but why do you think so?" You asked, trying to maintain your composure while you were literally scared of him leaving you.

"Obviously because your parents are being strict to you and even hitting you.!" He ran his hand through his hair, finally looking up at you. "And I just can't sit and do nothing about–"

"Then protect me." You cut him off.

"Protect me, be here for me at the end of the day when I need comfort, be here to provide love for me instead of leaving me." Tears were rolling down your cheeks at this point as Kuroo reached out to pull you into his embrace. "Why'd you think leaving me is the only option?"

"I'm sorry, princess. I'm so sorry. I won't leave you." He whispered into your ear, pulling you to sit on his lap as he pressed a soft kiss on your forehead.

In your parents' eyes, Kuroo was nothing but trouble. They think he's only taking advantage of a high school girl on her last year.

But they don't know how deep the love you share is. They don't know he brought happiness to you, he made you love yourself, he made sure you knew that you mattered. That man is the love of your life.

The man who sacrificed his sleep to bring you to the safe space in the middle of the night is the love of your life.

"Finallyyyy." You stretched your arms as soon as you got out of the car, breathing in the fresh air lingering on the mountains. Once again, in the middle of the night, your boyfriend had kindly driven you here as you couldn't stand hearing your parents arguing with each other back at home.

Kuroo played his favourite song on the car's radio before joining you on the hood of his car. "I'll never get tired of this place."

"And I'll never get tired of watching you watching the stars." You giggled, leaning your head on his shoulder and placing a kiss on his jawline. "You're a cheesy guy." He grinned, wrapping his arms around your waist. "You love me."

"I do."

So come away, starting today

Start a new life, together in a different place

We know that love is how these ideas came to be

So baby, run away with me

"Come live with me when you enter college." Your eyes widened as he slipped in a ring on your ring finger. "Tetsu. What's this?" You asked, pulling away to look at him with your wide eyes.

"A promise ring, princess." He smiled softly, pulling out another ring similar to the one on your finger, handing it to you as he extended his hand for you to put it on his finger.

And you gladly did it.

"Live with you, you say?" He nodded and you closed your eyes momentarily as he placed a kiss on your forehead. "My family loves you. I don't see a problem." You cleared your throat, narrowing your eyes at him. "You don't see my parents as a problem?"

"Nope. You're gonna be an adult, they don't have a say in this matter." He takes your hand in his, pressing kisses on each of your fingers. "But if you're scared then you can just lie to them and say you're living in the college's dorm." You laughed, slightly shoving his chest before getting down from the hood of his car. "You're a bad influencer."

"You love it, you love me." He grinned, one of his arms around your waist and the other holding your hand. "I absolutely do."

And under the blankets of stars, both of you danced with the song softly playing in the background as the moon stared in envy.

Everyone has their 'the best thing to ever happen in my life', and yours just happened to be this man right in front of you.

[liighty]

Guzma babysitting Reader’s Niece

(A/N): BACK ON MY BULLSHIT AGAIN! BUT THIS TIME IT’S NOT ALL THAT SELF-INDULGENT AND MIGHT POSSIBLY BE TURNED INTO A SUPER FIC IF I FEEL LIKE IT

In all honesty i’ve thought about making another largeass super self-indulgent Guzma x Reader mega fic, but I’m not sure if I want to? I don’t know if anybody would read it, so that’s what this post is for!!! If you like this and want to see actual Guzma x Reader with plot and not just fluff drabbles lmk!! I have a bunch of asks to address so maybe i’ll get to that too soon

Anyways, back to the fic.

Mini Summary: (Y/N)’s niece needs to be babysat while (Y/N) is interviewed, so they turn to Guzma and crew to help out for a bit. Chaos ensues.

Rating/Triggers: UH drugs are mentioned but not really? THE KID DOES NOT DO DRUGS!!!! but yeah if that makes you uncomfy i’d be careful with it??\

Pairing: Guzma/Gender Neutral!Reader (I used the honorific ‘Titi’ which is gender neutral for ‘Tia’ or ‘Tio’ [extra thanks to Ocha_Bocha for helping me with that one <3] and tried to make it as gender neutral as possible. Originally this was written with a male reader, and then I went female, and ultimately attempted to eliminate gender completely. [Following the footsteps of Splatoon teehee])

Fic under cut!!!!!

"Are you sure this is a good idea, honey?" You clutch your niece's hand as you approach the large walls that separate Po Town from the rest of Ula'Ula Island. It's not that you don't trust the man who you're leaving her with- in fact, those two have been acquainted previously and seem to get along fairly well- It's his friends who you're concerned about.

"..." Her silence is expected, as the kid isn't all that talkative. Recognizing the young girl's silence, you frown. 

"You can stay in the office lounge if you really want to. I know you aren't the biggest fan of crowds, and um- Guz has some pretty loud friends-" Your explanation of what to be expected is quickly interrupted by a blue haired young man decked in black and white clothing. "Yo yo, what's with the kid?!" 

You arch a brow. You knew that Guzma worked with kids, but this guy couldn't be any older than 15! "I could say the same for you. I'm here to talk to Guzma-"

"Ya mean the boss? Why would some random chick want anything ta do with the leader of the Team Skull, huh?!"

A pink haired girl dressed in the same outfit walks up to the boy, crossing her arms. "Shut it, ya clod. Don't you remember the conversation we had with Boss yesterday?"

Hearing this, the blue haired boy's eyes light up in an epiphany. "Ohhhhh shit- Right-"

"Watch yer fuckin' language around the kiddo." She lightly smacks the back of Dansei's head. "She's in good hands, ma'am."

Another pink haired woman, this one being someone you finally recognize, walks in and smacks both of the delinquents in the head once more. "You say that after cussing, Reese?" 

Thank God. Plumeria. "Hey Plumes-" You smile weakly, waving politely with your free hand. Your niece does the same. Another young man, this one much shorter than the first and with green curly hair scrambles after Plumeria, jumping up and down to be seen. "Sorry about these numskulls. I'll lead y'all to the big boss man, yo. No worries at all, so you can chillax!"

I'm regretting this more and more by the second.

The crew starts whistling some hip hop tune as they make their way to the Shady House, the smaller boy beatboxing. You've taken this time to offer a piggyback ride to your niece, who's politely declined. Are all kids like this? Or is it just her?

Once they approach the boss, Guzma immediately jumps out of his chair, his signature shit-eating grin plastered on his face. "Eyyyyyy! (Y/N)!!! Kiddo!! What's up, homeslice?!" He hops down the stairs and crouches so he can get at eye-level with the young girl, offering his fist for a pound-it.

She bumps her fist against his, smiling just a bit. It's more of a reaction than you expected, at least. "S-sup, Uncle Guzma-" 

Looks like his slang is rubbing off on her. That's cute.

"Thanks for droppin' by, Doll. No need to worry about Little Miss Troublemaker over here, I got it all under control." He picks up your niece and walks over to you, pressing a looooooooongass smooch on your cheek. The other Team Skull members all make mini comments, like "Ewwww-", "Grosss-", and "Cooties-", causing Plumeria to once again smack their heads together. 

You roll your eyes, unable to stop the smirk on your face from growing any further. "Not in front of the kids, Guz." "Ah, right, right- My bad." His shades slide onto his face, hiding the bright red blush that had crept onto his cheeks. "Well, you should probably get goin', ey? The Aether Foundation's one lucky company to have you interviewin' for a position."

"Dork." You boop his nose, then your niece's. "Call me if you need me, okay honey? I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay, Titi (Y/N)-" You smile at the nickname while the others snicker. 'Titi' sounds an awful lot like 'Tittie', and considering three of the 7 people in the room are immature teenagers, there's definitely some laughing going on in the background. Plumeria looks very tired. How does she deal with these kids all the time?

"Alright, I'll be back. Don't light anything on fire, okay?" You yell as you walk off, feeling a slight hint of unease at the idea of leaving your young niece with so many delinquents, even if it's just for a few hours. It'll be fine, though. Guzma's there to keep them from doing anything stupid.

You laugh at the thought. Who am I kidding? He's probably gonna be the one who explodes something first.

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

The interview itself wasn't all that bad. You're fairly certain that you either aced it or put yourself up for consideration, which in itself helped your confidence just a bit. With the absence of Lusamine and the arrest of several of her chairmen, the foundation was very antsy and in need of someone who could handle the Pokemon Observation department. With your background in medicine and PR, you were rationally on the list of potential replacements, and despite your initial resistance, learning that the company would be run by somebody that WASN'T the manipulative little bitch Lusamine gave you enough comfort to accept the offer for the interview. Was it just an offer or an invitation? You weren't quite sure, but Wick was very insistent on you showing up.

Either way, you're pretty certain you got the job. Good on you. 

You can't help but wonder how your niece is doing, surrounded by so many troublemakers. As you make your way to the entrance of the Shady House, you can hear loud music, causing you to feel a small tint of anxiety. She'll be fine.

You walk up to the door and creak it open, the smell of burnt… whatever the fuck that is flooding your nostrils. Of course. They lit something on fire.

"Guz??" You call out to the empty room. "Plumes? Anybody home?" As expected, there's no response. You start to feel more and more anxious the more ground you start to cover. Where are they? Peeking your head around the corridor, your anxiety comes to its peak when-

"And that's why you should never do drugs, aight?"

H-Huh?

Your niece sits on Guzma's knee as he bounces it up and down, his signature shit-eating grin plastered on his face like usual. Awfully burnt cookies sit on the table, explaining the smell from earlier, and Plumeria seems to be asleep with the other team skull grunts. Are they… napping? Seems like it. 

She nods enthusiastically, taking a bite of a charred cookie and grimacing shortly after, causing the two to both laugh in unison.

"Doesn't matter if it's just for recreational purposes, you could still get hooked, and that's the last thing we want!" Grinning once again, Guzma pokes her forehead.

Hypocrite. You're reminded of the first time you two had kissed, which happened to be shortly after you both had blazed a couple of joints. It's enough to get you laughing, though.

"Huh?! What're you doing here so early? Don't tell me ya flunked THAT bad!" Guzma's eyes widen, a genuine look of bewilderment painted on his face.

"I did not flunk! I think I did great!" You huff, crossing your arms defiantly. "It's suuuuuuuper comforting that you thought I failed, Guz."

"Nononono I was joking!! Right, kiddo??" Your niece quickly nods. "See???? No harm, no foul!"

Arching a brow, you walk up to the two and pick up the young girl. "Mhmmm. Did you have fun, honey?"

She nods again, unable to contain the grin on her face. "Uncle Guzma told me about his Pokemon training! And I got to ride on Golisopod's back!" 

The large bug type pokemon bops up and down upon hearing its name, prompting a smirk from Guzma. "Yeah, I told ya I'd take care of her. She's welcome back anytime, okay?"

"Thanks, Guz." You peck his cheek, and your niece sticks her tongue out, closing her eyes. 

"Icky cooties!!" Where the hell did she hear that? The only people you can think of who'd say such a thing are in the other room snoozing, so- Yeah, actually, you know exactly who taught her that word.

"Well, I'm gonna getchu with my cooties! And my tickles!" You raise a hand menacingly, wiggling your fingers with one eye closed. She immediately curls up, not out of fear, but out of excitement. It's nice to see her so happy again.

After a very long tickle session, you quickly glance at the large grandfather clock, noting the short hand of the clock slowly approaching the number 8. Shit. "We gotta go, kiddo. Your dad isn't gonna be all that happy if we get home any later than 8:30. Besides, it's past your bedtime."

"I bet Uncle Guzma stays up past his bedtime-" She yawns. "Can we stay for a little longer?"

How can I say no to that face? You find yourself incredibly conflicted. Do you tell her you have to leave anyways? Or do you stay and risk getting in trouble by your brother-in-law?

"Eh, as much as I'd love to have you over for longer, kiddo- Look at your Titi (Y/N). They look exhausted."

You smile gratefully at the comment, glad that it doesn't have to be you to tell your niece to go home. "Yeah, I'm beat. We can hang out some other time, okay? I promise." You pat her head and get ready to leave.

"Aww… okay. Bye, Uncle Guzma!! Bye Golisopod!" She holds your hand, and the two of you eventually walk your way back to the car. As you drive away, one thing lingers in your head. You can't think of anything else, in all honesty.

Guzma's great with kids. I should've expected as much, but… I'm glad he gets along with my family.

Your stomach rumbles at the intersection. I'd kill for some malasadas right about now- 

Okay, maybe you CAN think of something else.

[swifteforeverandalways]

Notes: so @lilmissriottbliss and I have both been watching a lot of Chicago Med and decided that the Chicago shows now officially take place in Emoverse! This is just a lil’ one shot of Kate being injured, Rhea and Toni taking her to Chicago Med, and everyone finding out Ethan was once SHIELD. If anyone has questions, toss them in my inbox!

“Hold on, just hold on,” Rhea Ripley muttered, half under her breath, as she ran down the street. Kate Kane was laying, half limp, in Rhea’s arms. It was supposed to be a normal trip, a vacation almost, to Chicago before WWE started touring again but it ended in disaster. Even on vacation, Kate brought her Batwoman suit and it ended with her stabbed.

“M fine,” Kate murmured weakly, even as blood steadily bled out of the wound.

“You aren’t fine, you got stabbed!” Toni snapped, her tone shaky. Kate tried to roll her eyes but winced instead as they burst into the Emergency Department at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center.

“Help! We need some help over here!” Rhea shouted. A nurse rushed up to them.

“What’s your name?” She asked.

“I’m Rhea, that’s Toni, and this is Kate. Please. You need to help her!” Rhea pleaded.

“Dr. Halstead, over here!” The nurse yelled. A tall, well built man with red hair rushed up.

“What happened?” He demanded.

“We Uh….we um….” Toni stumbled over the question so Rhea quickly butt in.

“We were at the park and Kate was climbing in a tree and fell,” Rhea quickly lied. Dr. Halstead looked unconvinced but still helped Kate onto a gurney. “Someone page Dr. Choi!” “Already on it!” A nurse yelled.

“You look really familiar,” Another nurse commented. “Kate!” Toni cried

“Listen, will you help my girlfriend or not!” Rhea snapped. A Korean man ran up and checked on Kate, making orders quickly.

“Get me a CBC, CMP, tox screen, and type and screen. STAT,” he commanded.

“Make sure the tubes are green and lavender,” Dr. Halstead said before adding a, “Or Raya will have my ass” under his breath. One of the nurses snorted.

“Looks like whatever stabbed her missed her lung by about a centimeter” Dr. Choi said.

“What the hell stabbed her?” Dr. Halstead asked. Toni paled. “She fell off a tree, I didn’t even look when we picked her up” Dr. Choi looked at the two women, frowning. Kate’s heartbeat went slow. “She’s stable” A nurse said, another snapping her finger. “I know you two! You’re wrestlers!”

“Bloody hell, can’t we go anywhere and not be recognized,” Toni grumbled.

“April, leave them alone,” Dr. Choi said with a smile.

“I’ll take the tubes down to the lab,” a new doctor said, walking up.

“Thanks Nat!”

The doctor walked off with the tubes in hand.

“Where can we wait?” Toni asked

“I’ll show you….I actually have a few questions for you two,” Dr. Choi said. Rhea nodded. Dr. Choi led them to a small room and shut the door behind them, crossing his arms and looking at the two. Rhea did the same, Toni sitting down.

“I’ve been a doctor for a very long time, and I know what kinds of injuries are caused by what. And I know that she didn’t fall out of a tree. So what happened?” Dr. Choi said. Rhea looked him in the eye. “I can’t tell you that”

“Why not? Was this a domestic dispute? Those injuries are more from a knife than falling from a tree”

"It wasn't a fight with us, and that's all I can say"

“Kate helps SHIELD,” Toni added.

“The agency that works with the Avengers?”

“Yes, her father runs Crows Security in Gotham,” Rhea said.

“That explains where I’ve seen her. Used to do medical for Shield”

“So trust us when we say, this wasn’t a dispute with us.”

He sighed. “Fine. But don’t be surprised if Chicago P.D gets involved” Toni nodded

“And we’ll let SHIELD know….why did you leave them?” Rhea asked. Dr. Choi’s jaw tightened. “That’s none of your business”

“Fine,” Rhea snapped, “But some agents will be coming here.”

“Then you can ask them” he left. “What a dick”

“We should call Bobbi and let her know.”

Rhea nodded. Toni pulled out her phone, dialing up the number.

“Hello?”

“Hi Bobbi, do you know a Dr. Choi?”

“Yeah, he used to work for SHIELD. Why?”

“Because Kate had a incident with a knife and I’m pretty sure him and Rhea are gonna hurt each other”

“I’ll be there ASAP”

“Thank you”

About fifteen minutes later, Bobbi Morse strode into the room with Jade on her heels.

“Ethan!” She greeted the doctor

“Bobbi. Jade,” Ethan nodded. Bobbi pulled him into a hug, Ethan awkwardly returning it.

“How have you been? It's been ages.”

“Good”

“Have you been going to therapy or are you still overworking yourself?”

“The second one” Will interrupted.

“Damn, he looks like he could be Romanroger’s kid,” Jade joked. Bobbi snorted, turning to Ethan. “I thought when you retired you said you’d take care of yourself.”

Ethan shrugged, looking away awkwardly. Bobbi sighed, noticing Rhea glaring.

“So why did he leave?” Toni asked Bobbi and Jade. Ethan glared.

“What, you said to ask them,” Toni said.

“Ethan used to be a field agent” Bobbi said

“Ooh,” Rhea and Toni nodded in understanding.

“Went down to medical after a mission, been a doctor ever since” Ethan added

“So what happened to Kate? Is she okay?” Jade asked.

“She was stabbed”

“We’re just waiting on the blood test results,” Will added before his phone buzzed with a text.

“Why is Saraya texting you in all caps?”

“Something about Nat saying we were being rude”

Ethan laughed. Will smacked him. “She might be tiny but she’s gonna kick my ass!”

Ethan laughed again. Will stared at Ethan. “Stop laughing!”

“To be fair, tiny people can be scary. One of our wrestlers…..” Toni shuddered, “Took out a guy.”

“With a broken nose”

There was a knock at the door. Will made a noise.

“Come in,” Ethan said. A small woman holding lab papers walked in, glaring at Will. “Hey Raya” She marched up to him and began poking him in the chest. “You. Do. Not. Get. To. Be. Rude. To. Wrestlers!”

“I apologized!”

“Still rude to be rude to them!”

Ethan silently walked out. “Actually it makes sense he's former SHIELD” Rhea noted.

“He never did say where he was before coming here,” Will mused.

“Was he in the Budapest mission?” Jade asked Bobbi, who nodded.

“Thought I recognized him. What happened?”

Bobbi let out a long breath.

“He got shot in the knee, guy came close to killing him, retired from field work not long after”

“Damn,” Jade shook her head.

“He was a good agent”

Bobbi nodded. “He was”

“A bit. Not much, Jemma did a lot more as did Lincoln”

“Lincoln was smart enough to work in med shit?”

“Had a medical degree and everything”

“We sure he didn’t cheat?” “Jade!”

“What?” Jade grinned cheekily. Bobbi shook her head. “I was on Budapest, hell of a two day mission”

Will frowned as there was another knock on the door. A man who looked similar too but a little bit older than Will, and with darker hair, walked in with Natalie behind him.

“This is Detective Halstead”

“Jay Halstead,” Jay extended his hand, “I understand this involved SHIELD?”

“Yes, we can’t exactly say that out loud” Jay nodded

“What happened to the perp?”

“I might have punched him out and left for CPD to deal with” Rhea flexed. “These aren’t just for TV”

Toni laughed slightly, nuzzling her face against Rhea’s shoulder.

“Wow” Jay said

“So will Kate make it?” Toni asked.

“Well she’s in surgery right but we have the best surgeons in the state”

“Not to mention her blood type is O pos, which we have a good amount of, and the rest of her results look normal,” Saraya added. Rhea breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Anyway, I need to get back to the lab,” Saraya said, handing the lab papers to Will.

“Love you” She mock glared. Natalie laughed, pulling her into a hug.

“Where’s Ethan at?”

“He walked out.”

Saraya sighed. Natalie bumped her shoulder gently. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing much, just thinking about my application to join Shield”

“You applied for SHIELD?”

“Yup. Didn’t get in because of an underlying heart condition”

“Underlying heart condition?” Will frowned.

“Arrhythmia” Saraya said. Will let out a breath.

“Now that I think about it, it was a blessing in disguise. I was able to finish my MLS program”

Will wrapped her into a hard hug. Saraya hugged him back, laughing. “April’s missing too so I assume I know where Ethan is”

“God I was such a bitch to him” Rhea whined.

“Eh, you were worried about Kate. If it had been me injured, Jade would’ve killed him,” Bobbi shrugged. Jade stuck her tongue out.

“Jade’s a bit overprotective,” Bobbi explained, noticing the confused looks on Will, Natalie, and Saraya’s faces. Toni coughed. “Bit?”

“Not my fault I don’t want my wife killed,” Jade shrugged.

“Ethan’s having a panic attack!” April ran down the hall.

“I’ll page Dr. Charles,” Will said but Bobbi grabbed his arm.

“Let me go” She ran after April. In the break room, Ethan was sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees.

“Ethan” Bobbi knelt down and grabbed his hands.

“Leave me alone,” Ethan muttered.

“Not happening” Bobbi sat in front of Ethan, “I know you’re scared, but do you remember what you told me? Back when I was having these?”

Ethan looked up

“That you were safe at SHIELD,” he said.

“Exactly. So you’re safe here”

“How do you know?” Ethan whispered.

“Because you have friends here. You’re alive”

Ethan licked his lips. April leaned down and hugged his head to her chest.

“I’m here for you,” she whispered. Ethan held onto her and took deep breaths. “I’m such a idiot for talking about Budapest”

“Sometimes it feels good to talk about traumas, sometimes I feel better when I talk about….you-know-who,” Bobbi said. Ethan nodded, April kissing his head. “I’m guessing you’re his girlfriend”

April held out her hand. “Fiancée, actually.”

“Nice job Ethan”

Ethan chuckled slightly.

“Alright let’s get up” April eased him off the ground. Ethan smiled at her, hugging her tightly.

“Thank you Bobbi”

“Anytime,” Bobbi smiled.

[gildedmuse]

So... I have this bad habit where sometimes, when attempting to summarize the idea for a fic, I go into waaay too much detail.

Like, I don't go as far as to actually wrote the damn thing because, you know, effort and laziness, but... Well, it's a close call. It gets to the point where it's less a summary and more what my friends use to call a Quick Fic. All that's .kissing is the actual dialogue and descriptive narration.

Having said that....

Here is a "summary" of an ZoLaw AU where Law works for Doflamingo...

What happened was, basically, Law got caught by Doflamingo after eating the devil's fruit which eventually allowed him to cure his dieses, thus why he's still alive. Or, at least, isn't dead from lead poisoning. Because let's face it, Doflamingo could have just killed the boy then and there. Sure, he'd have to find the fruit all over again, but better that the deal with this little traitor

Except really it was his brother who had been the traitor. Law is still just a child, and children can be so suspectable to any number of ideas so long as an adult gives them a pat on the head and a treat after.

Which is when Doflamingo realizes that he can just manipulate Law into being another loyal follower. Then eventually - when he's no longer useful - Doffy will have him sacrifice his life for his own immortality. By that point Law will be family, and family never lets Doffy down. Not anymore.

So it's under Doffy's personal tutorage that Law grows up, and as much as he might resit the man who imprisoned Corazon, it's hard not to eventually fall to all Doflamingo's sweet praise and promised. And Law gets what he had wanted all along: a way to get back at the world that willingly watched his home wiped off the official world map and would be happy to see the entire town dead to the very last one. This Law truly earns his title Surgeon of Death, acting as the top officer of Hearts in the Doflamingo crime family. And yet despite his cruelty, he isn't even on the government's wanted list; protected under the Shichibukai's jolly roger.

In the meantime, the Strawhats are still doing their thing right on through Punk Hazard (which they somehow manage to not only live through but actually do more damage and cause twice as much chaos. The biggest difference is that Ceaser and Monet escape and Sanji can't perv out over being in Nami's body). So this time when they roll into Dressrosa it's less "backing up the plan of an ally" and much more "on complete and total accident" and "without a damn clue".

Yeah, basically they're the Grand Line's easiest prey.

But, hey, it works out! Well, no, not really. But Sanji does meet Violet, Luffy meet Sabo and help recover Ace's devil's fruit, and Zoro does get lost and require a magic fairy guide. Plus, hey, since they're not really there for any purpose other than that they happened to be passing by, it's not like they can't pull a dine and dash. They may be unprepared, but The Monster Trio can still keep up the fight until everyone is back on the Sunny.

A perfect escape!

Except no.

Because Luffy isn't totally ready to leave, not when he wants to know more about what Sabo is doing and help his new friend Rebecca. Not that they have time to debate the merits of staying or pulling a tactical retreat since at that poing Big Momma is on their ass. And that scary dude in the long black coat is still somehow following them, teleporting himself through the fucking air like wtf why is this happening now!? Nami is forced to make an executive decision: they're can't stay. Also, oh God oh God they're trapped and they're going to be killed and oh God.

It's moments like these you're almost thankful one of your crew members is a total maniac. Because in the middle of all this mess, Zoro just smirks, tells Nami to just concentrate on getting away from that annoying ass ship, he's got their other attacker covered. Which only makes everyone freaks out MORE because what is Zoro thinking: he'll be killed! ("Not immediately, of course. First they'll likely torture him for information, perhaps even kill him as slowly as possible." / "What? Why would you say that? That is not SUPER helpful to hear right then!") The Sunny goes into an all out panic attack. Everyone is yelling or crying or both.

Except Luffy.

Luffy who looks at Zoro, at the singing ship, at the dark power user trying to slash their ship apart, at the shore line of this island and the way it radiates a fake happiness covering Rebecca's very real pain. Luffy who just lowers his hat over his eyes and gives the nod.

Zoro smiles, and is immediately almost clobbered by a giant Chopper. What is Luffy saying? Don't they realize that is the same guy who almost took down Sanji, Zoro AND Luffy only moments ago? Zoro can't fight him alone! Sanji, more calm than the rest, lights a cigarette while explaining that he's not trying to stop Zoro from getting himself killed or anything, but Chopper is right. That guy was incredibly tough, and there's no way Zoro can do it alone ("Shut up dartbrow! You don't know what the hell you're talking about! I could take him down with just the two swords! With one hand behind my back!" / "He already kicked your ass once, Marimo! Or have you forgotten because of all the head trauma!?" / "The only reason he kicked OUR asses is because YOU kept getting in my way you damn weak-ass cook!" / "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, IDIOT MARIMO!?") Franky tries to regulate the fight but he's busy blocking those deadly aimed slashes from hitting his poor ship while Brook and Kin'emon work on stopping the incoming cannon balls. Either way they're going to have to do something SUPER fast if they want to get out of here. Yeah, Luffy, we need an actual plan. We can't just send Zoro out to-

"Zoro", Luffy says and despite everything going on around them the deck of the Sunny goes really quiet. They all know that tone. "Zoro, I need you to take care of this until we can get back. I still need to kick Mingo's ass for a friend."

At the sound of his captain's no nonsense voice, Zoro is suddenly easily able to stand, shrugging off the pile of people trying to stop him from jumping to his death (and by pile of people I do mean the coward trio and Sanji, who is mostly just trying to get in a few kicks). He draws Wado, clutching the katana in his teeth and yet still somehow manages what you know is a smirk. It's a promise.

And like that, Zoro is launching himself right into the blue sphere of the battle.

A battle against one of Doflamingo's top officers. A devil's fruit user with a twisted heart and home field advantage. Needless to say, it does not end well for our hero.

—🧡—

Although, Law has to give his rival swordsman some credit. He has his share of fun toying with the boy, and despite never standing any real chance of victory Law can admit the strawhat pirate puts up a better fight than most. Far better than Law had been expecting from some one so new to the New World (supposedly he got Mihawk to agree to train him, but Law has met the Hawk Eye and finds the idea utterly absurd). Then there is the way his smile had just an edge of what Law could only call manical delight, even when it became clear he'd long lost. This greenhaired kid really is stupid enough to believe his captain will come back for him. As though he would come charging back into Doflamingo's territory a second time just to retrieve a single crew member. One who was not only crazy enough to sacrifice himself but couldn't even win the fight. At the same time the swordman's loyalty and faith - as misplaced as it is - is kind of... Adorable. Who knew someone could come so far on the Grand Line and still be so innocent?

Law immediately wants to corrupt it.

Thes other family members will whine tell you, Doffy has always had... Let's say... A "soft spot" for Law. He's spoiled that brat for years, is what they mean but don't dare to say. Sure enough, Law barely has to work to talk Doffy around to letting him personally see to the prisoner's arrangements. Doflamingo is a little suspecious at first (he can never truly trust Law, not after the Corazon incident), but he quickly dismisses it. He's had the Heart Officer's loyalty for years now.

Of course, when he sees the spark of interest light in his apprentice as they eye their newest spoils of war, he can't help but tease Law. After all, Zoro is quite an enticing young man and Law isn't the only one there who likes pretty things. They're so fun to destroy which - judging from the way Law shivers when Doffy runs a hand through thick green hair before yanking the boys head back against the wall hard enough to leave the young captive panting and dizzy - is precisely his protege's plan.

(Doflamingo also happens to know Zoro almost definitely had trained under Mihawk, and he would love to see his fellow warlord's eyes flash with barely contained anger when he learns how Doflamingo has broken his favorite toy. It's not his fault - Mihawk is always so uptight and repressed, it makes agonizing him too much fun for Doflamingo to resist.)

In the end, though, he knows when Law's determination is set. And for whatever reason the boy has decided he absolutely has to be the one to keep their guest "comfortable" while his captain makes up his mind on what he'll do. So Doflamingo only teases for a bit - touches a little, plays with the barely conscious boy kneeling at his feet, enjoys the way Zoro still has enough spirit left to try taking bite when Doffy's fingers trail to close to his bloody lips (oh, and, what a joy! Law nearly growls at the prospect of not being the one to ruin the boy!) - but eventually he stops his little game. He gives in, telling Law to have fun with his treasure. He is the one who took him down after all. It is only fair he keeps him.

Just try not to completely break the poor thing, not until Strawhat returns for him.

Law snorts at the very idea. This is hardly the first time they'd done this. He's never seen a single captain try and retrieve their stolen property (he has of course, but he doesn't remember them). He doesn't see why Strawhat-ya would be particularly special.

Before Doflamingo can come up with a clever, vague answer about Law trusting him, Zoro suddenly gives a bark of laughter that would have scared lesser men senseless. It only serves to draw the two men's interest back to their little pet.

Luffy won't come back for him, Zoro confirms, much to Law's surprise (he personally never thought Strawhat-ya would, but then why would the swordsman sacrifice himself so willingly for a man he has so little faith in?) and has Doflamingo raising an eyebrow in.... Interest. Zoro looks at both of them with no fear, like he hadn't taken a humiliating defeat and is even now bloody and chained up, helplessly listening in on these two infamous pirates talk about him like he is a mere object. Actually, if anything, he appears to be wearing a smirk under all that blood. Because he knows something they don't.

Luffy won't come back for him, because his captain knows Zoro doesn't need to be rescued.

To Law, this makes Zoro look like an even sweeter treat. Doflamingo is simply amused, remarking that perhaps their little pup has yet to realize the leash around his neck is shaped like a noose.

Zoro meets his gaze, steady yet daring. He promised Luffy that he'd take care of it, and so that is what he will do. He'll never go back on his word, especially when it comes to his captain. Something Doflamingo with his distrusting and fear-toed crew couldn't understand. So see, their plan to use Zoro as bait will never work, because Zoro swore to Luffy that he'd be take care of it. So he will. Luffy has enough faith in Zoro that he'd never believe anything less and would never turn around out of doing to try and mount a rescue.

No, when Luffy comes back it will be for the sole purpose of kicking Doflamingo's ass.

The mood darkens. In a flash, Doflamingo is in back in front of him, yanking Zoro forward by the chin. He squeezes hard enough to bruise. You can hear the cracking of bone as he explains to Zoro exactly how precarious his current position is only to grow second by second more frustrate by Zoro's completely lack of fear. So he squeezes harder. He slams the boys head back into the wall and starts smiling when he gets a since from the stoic swordsman.

Before he can do any real damage Law steps in, reminding Doffy that he promised him he could have the boy. And just like that, Doflamingo's whole mood appears to shift back to calm. He puts on his fake smile and let's Zoro go, even pets the boy's hair. Of course, he had promised. And he, too, is a man of his word. Something Zoro will surely learn in time now that he is one of them.

Zoro, now with blurred vision and the taste of fresh blood on his tongue, is smart enough not to answer. But not smart enough to lower his head or try and appear humbled. Lucky for him, Doflamingo decides the boy isn't worth it. When he turns around he notes the hungry way Law is eyeing the kneeling prisoner behind him. Which brings a crueller, yet more genuine, smile to Doffy's featurss. The Strawhats vice captain may act invincible now, but he's never faced Doflamingo's own Surgeon Of Death. As disinterested and put off as Law might usually act, the boy can be dangerously twisted. He's sure his top officer will break the young pirate down bit by bit - both literally and figuratively - long before his captain can come running back in to try and find him (and Doflamingo is sure Strawhat will, no matter what Zoro might think).

He leaves with one last reminder to Law not to completely shatter the infamous Pirate Hunter. No, Doffy would hate to see their newest family member treated so poorly, especially seeing as he has much bigger plans in store for the young Mr. Roronoa. Specifically, he wants to see the face of Monkey D Luffy when he watches as the last bit of his first mate's spirit broken.

And because Doffy practically raised the boy and knows exactly the right buttons to push, he decides to give Law a little extra motivation to bring Zoro to that point. Just in case that interest turns into something dangerous like longing or - laughable as it is - actual fondness. It's so simple, too: as he walks by he simply whispers how there is nothing like crushing the heart of unrequited love.

It will be such a treat, tearing Zoro from his captain, and watching Luffy realize he's lost his chance to love the other man, wouldn't it Law? What a truly tragic romance. It almost makes you hope the two of them at least had some time together. Law didn't happen to give them a moment along before forcing Zoro to throw himself into the fight, hmm? Just a small, precious second or so for the two to share a final kiss. After all, not even Doffy is so cruel as to deny the poor boys such a tender moment.

Sure enough, Law's eyes immediately narrow and Doflamingo can feel the jealousy rolling off him. Not because Law gives a damn for their prisoner's feelings - Doflamingo raised him better than that - but he always has had a possessive streak. Having taken an interest in the swordsman, he will hate the thought that the boy might even think of another or that Law won't be the first to possess him in ever possible way.

Doffy leaves with a cruel, deep laugh. He can't wait until dinner, when he may just happen to remember the rumours about his "friend" Mihawk and his taking a young green-haired boy under this wing and in to his bed. By tomorrow he suspects every part of Zoro's body will bare at least some mark that he now firmly belongs to no one but Trafalgar Law.

[chwetuan]

the hook-up; jinyoung

+ category: fic (wc - 2.5k) 

+ genre: soft angst, fluff, exes!au

+ a/n: i’m back with my first full-length fic since coffee bean! this is a wip that was originally a request from much, much earlier this year. enjoy <3 - Z

Saturday Morning You were not in your own bedroom. This much you registered upon opening your eyes — barely. And if the warmth at your side was no indication that there was a person next to you, the snores and the smell of whatever the hell happened last night surely was.

You sat up, preparing to make a swift exit, when suddenly, things had become the complete opposite of “normal post-frat party”.

There was a very obvious pair of pink, fur-lined handcuffs secured around your left wrist. Your first instinct was to scream - which you did, your theatrics jolting the guy you soon realized you were attached to from his slumber.

“Listen here, freak,” You start, chin jutting out and chest puffing as threateningly as you could manage in your half-sitting up position. It was more awkward than anything, the way you were perched on your elbows. 

“You better have a fucking expla- Oh my god,”

Staring back at you, an annoyed scowl and a case of bed head that always looked too good on him (this you knew) was the last person you wanted to see. He hisses, throwing the comforter off your bodies - and thank god, you were clothed - clambering to his feet. 

“What the fuck did you do?”

The tug of your arm is unintentional but painful, bending your wrist in an unnatural position as you’re pulled to your knees in an attempt to balance.

Your first instinct is to push him, but you’re unstable on the bed. Instead, you settle for a hand on his shoulder and frown in his direction.

“Ow, you asshole!”

Jinyoung can’t do anything but stare at you. He takes in the dress you’re wearing, how the cinched satin blue contrasts with the comforter, and for a moment, he wishes he could enjoy how good you look, even with last night's makeup smudged around your eyes and hair sticking up in different directions. He can’t, however, because the pink handcuffs that attach your left wrist to his right is all that he can focus on.

6 Months Before: The Break-Up You’re not sure what started the argument this time, but if the look on your boyfriend’s face was giving any hints — he was pissed, and it would be a long one.

“Could you have at least acted like you wanted to be there?”

You can tell he’s watching you, his gaze burning holes into your back as you roll your eyes and undo your shoes. 

“I didn’t want to be there.”

He scoffs, and you hear the rustle of him removing his jacket and beanie. “Seriously?”

“What did I do, Jinyoung?” You snap, turning to face him. “I told you that I didn’t want to go. I’m sorry if I wasn’t in the mood to sit and socialize with a bunch of people who hardly acknowledge me to begin with.”

Your tone is challenging, arms crossing in defiance while he sits on the edge of his bed, leveling you with a look.

“You ignored everyone at the table and sat on your phone the entire time.”

“You didn’t seem to care too much about what I was doing when we were there. The girls seemed to keep you very occupied.”

His brows furrow at the suggestive undertone of your words. “Are you serious right now?”

“Have you ever thought that maybe I was the one being ignored?” You ask openly. “That no one was talking to me? That maybe, it’s not my fault?”

He doesn’t answer.

“You know what?” You pause, grabbing your purse from off of his desk. “I’m starting to get real tired of you reaching for new reasons to argue with me. It’s like I can’t do anything right. I talk too much and I’m oversharing, or I laugh too hard at someone’s joke and I’m flirting. I ask you to spend time with me and I’m too demanding. I kiss you a little too long, and suddenly I’m needy.”

Maybe it’s the courage of red wine filling your system, or maybe it’s frustration at the last 3 months of your relationship being too tiring, but something has taken over your words.

Jinyoung doesn’t do anything but watch you gather your things and listen to your rant with growing irritation, his jaw clenching.

“If you don’t want to be with me anymore, just say it already. I’m tired of fighting with you, and I’m tired of fighting for something one-sided.”

“If that’s how you think I feel, then maybe we should’ve broken up a long time ago.”

You’re not sure what you were expecting, but his response makes you freeze momentarily. Maybe you were expecting him to deny your words, to tell you he still wants you, or to take you in his arms with another apology and then to his bed where he takes your breath away. The thought sets a strange feeling in your chest, one that reminds you that’s all your relationship had been watered down to in the last few weeks. There was no more spontaneity; no more movie nights, arcade dates, or even study sessions. Just arguments, apologies, and sex. The thought makes your stomach churn with a form of sadness you haven’t felt in a long time — so grounding, it almost takes you away from what’s happening at the moment.

The word leaves your lips before your mind processes what you’re saying.“Okay.”

“Okay, what?” Jinyoung demands, and suddenly, the feeling in your stomach is gone.

“We’re finished.”

12 Months Before: “I’m running out of ways to express that I have feelings for you.” Jinyoung’s tone is teasing when he hands you the plastic bag.

His words catch you off guard, but there’s no way you’ll let him know that. Of course, you’ve been speculating that maybe he liked you a little more than a friend for a while now, but you were never one to flat out assume anything — not when the first move hadn’t been made.

“What are you talking about? You haven’t even kissed me yet.” You quip, setting the bag down on the dining table and running a hand through your hair.

“Oh? I guess I’m in the wrong, then.”

“Most definitely. I can’t believe you. You should leave.”

“But,” He starts, stepping closer and taking your chin between his fingers. “I haven’t even kissed you yet.”

He’s smirking, the nerve of the fucker, and your heart is beating so quickly in your chest, you’re worried he can hear it.

When his lips touch your own, your eyes shut tight, and it feels like a garden has bloomed in your chest when his free hand comes to grasp your waist — butterflies and all.

He pulls away, the same smug look on his face as before when your lips chase his own. “Is the message clear, now?”

Pausing, your eyes look upwards as you pretend to contemplate something very important — something very, very pivotal. “Almost.”

And he kisses you again, and again, and again, until the message is clear — until you know how he feels about you, and until you let him call you his girlfriend.

Friday Night: The Hook-Up “You have to wear that dress. That’s an “I’m getting laid tonight” dress.”

“You always know exactly what to say.”

She laughs as she stretches her arms above her head. “I only speak the truth. ”

You sigh, staring at the navy number, a smile playing on your lips. “I’m not trying to get laid, though.”

She scoffs, sitting up from her place on your bed as she clutches a pillow to her chest. “Oh, please.”

You raise a brow at her reflection in the mirror. “What?”

“I won’t say it...but, you know.”

You do know. It has been awhile.

So you wear the fuck me dress, and you get fucked up in a frat house that seems like a distant memory. A hazy recollection in the archive of your conscious as you take in the high ceilings, rounded archways, and red cups scattered across the lawn and kitchen.

Your cheeks flush with the heat of bodies, and vodka, and whatever else you’ve been sipping on since the moment you walked in.

You avoid the eyes you feel burning into your skin, the smiles of old friends, and the lips of prospective lovers. It all passes like that same hazy dream — that slow-motion, warped bass, and iridescence.

You find yourself in Youngjae’s room, the music turned murmur as you lay on his bed, eyeing the posters on the wall and the rotation of the ceiling fan. You close your eyes and fall asleep.

Then, you wake up.

Presently

Awkwardly wringing his hands and taking a sip from his glass, Youngjae finally starts talking.

“I don’t know where the key is.” His cheeks are such a deep shade of red they could be mistaken for blood oranges.

“Why the fuck would you handcuff us together in the first place?” Jinyoung presses, tugging you along with him as he sits on the barstool.

There’s an embarrassed smile on Youngjae’s face. “It wasn’t my idea. Talk to-”

“But these are your handcuffs.” You confirm, curring him off, eyes zoning in on the younger boy as he fiddles with his chain.

“Uh, yeah,” He pauses, rushing to clarify. “Well, they’re not for me, but I own them.” “I don’t care who they’re for, Youngjae. Where’s the spare key?”

“S-spare?”

Jinyoung groans. “We’re gonna have to get someone to cut them.”

Fright crosses Youngjae’s features, before he’s interjecting. “No!”

“What the hell do you mean ‘no’? They have to come off.” Jinyoung fumes, eyebrows furrowing in denial.

“Give me a day to find the key. One day.�� He’s practically begging.

You press, gesticulating wildly before Jinyoung’s detached hand traps your own on the table. “Youngjae, what do you want us to do? Stay like this? Are you kidding?”

“The thing is, they’re custom made. I spent $600 on them. One day is all I need.”

~~~

“Stop walking me like I’m on a leash. I’m not your dog.”

“You’re seriously more annoying than I remember.”

He freezes in his steps. “You’re making it way too obvious that we’re handcuffed. At least walk next to me. Insisting to walk two feet away from me doesn’t change the fact that I’m right here.” He tugs you back towards him.

“Neither does it change that fact that you’re still annoying.”

He lets out a sigh as your steps begin to fall in line with his own.

~~~

“Jinyoung.”

He snaps. “What more do you want me to do?”

The situation at hand is not ideal — It hasn’t been from the start. But as you stand in the shower, curtain drawn, dress pooling around your ankles, you can’t help but put your pride aside.

“Just take it off!” You squeak.

“Do it yourself.”

“Do you think that if I could do it myself, I would’ve asked you, dickwad?”

A groan of acceptance resounds through the small space of his bathroom. 

“Okay. My hand is coming in.”

“Just do it already,” You snap. “There isn’t anything you haven’t seen before.”

“Don’t remind me.”

You roll your eyes.

“Okay.” He exhales, pulling back the curtain with his eyes shut tight.

“I never thought I’d be doing this again.” He says as he unclasps your bra.

“You literally don’t have to narrate your every action.”

~~~

Jinyoung’s words are thick with tiredness when he tells you to stop. It’s about 2am, his voice is a mere mutter, and the room is dark, but you’re wide awake.

“What?”

His body is close to your own, shoulder to shoulder, forced to lay side by side by the cuffs that attach you.

“Tugging the blanket.”

“Oh,” Your voice is small in the space between you. “I’m sorry.”

“You always used to do that.”

Used to. You wish you could will yourself to forget about the past, to forget about his presence next to you, and forget about the urge you have to curl into his chest and have him kiss away your nighttime worries.

“You haven’t slept at all.” He points out.

His voice is a bit clearer now, more matter-of-fact and his words throw you into the same pool of emotions you were working so hard to avoid.

“Why couldn’t we make it work?”

He sighs, softly calling your name. “We shouldn’t do this.”

“Why not?” You demand. “Were we meant to fall apart?” There’s a few moments of silence as the words settle. It’s asking a question with an answer already in your mind, unable to decipher your own desires from your bitter rationalizations.

Maybe you wanted it to fall apart. Having a reason is better than having none.

“We could have made it work.”

Jinyoung wants so badly to hold you until the question leaves your mind. His heart is beating in his chest, loud in his ears because of course, of course you were never meant to fall apart.

You were always meant to be where you were right now, in his bed and at his side.

“You let me leave.”

“You left on your own.” His voice is soft, barely above a whisper, and the meaning behinds his word etches their way onto the hardened canvas of your heart.

And it starts breaking.

“I didn’t want to leave, Jinyoung.”

He’s biting his lip and his tongue, teetering on the line of being honest and running from his feelings - as he’s always done. 

He feels like he’s walking on a tight rope, one misstep away from falling into the pit of whatever the hell the feeling in his chest is. 

He can’t describe it - it encompasses him whole and makes his mind race. It makes him unsure of himself, and he’s afraid it’ll steal his soul from within him. It’s a stagnant battle, with no end or beginning within sight.

“But you still left.”

You’d think his words would be bitter and biting — the opposite of the defeated response he gives you.

“I felt like I had to.”

“You didn’t.”

Tears gather in your eyes. He’s right.

“You could have stopped me.” You’re right.

“We were changing.”

You whisper back to him. “I know.”

It’s then his phone buzzes to life on his nightstand, a message left unread, and a saving grace all at once.

The night grows darker, eyes heavier, and minds empty as you fade into slumber.

~~~

When the click of the key in the lock of the handcuffs echoes in the quiet kitchen, you feel the same bittersweet ache in your wrist that you felt in your heart a few months earlier.

It’s symbolic. You’re not chained to each other anymore. You’re free. Maybe, it’s for the best.

Something keeps Jinyoung at your side when you leave Youngjae’s house. He lingers, not knowing what to say.

Biting his tongue and biding his time.

“We changed,” You whisper softly after a few moments. “We changed, but I think we can try again.”

He nods, taking your hand in his own. And it’s different from the handcuffs, and different from all the other times he’s held your hand. And it’s good. At least for the moment.

“I think we can, too.”

And you don’t know if it will work; you don’t know if you’re setting yourself up for heartbreak and more sleepless nights, but you also don’t know if you’re setting yourself up for happiness. The risk is worth the taking. 

.

.

.

[spadebrigade]

eyes on you - sfw version

author’s note: hello! this is “eyes on you”, a version of my fic on ao3 that has the smut cut out. click here for the original, which also has the tags + summary

author’s note (continued): please note that this is a sequel to my longer work, a fortune i couldn’t foresee. but you don’t need to read it in order to understand this one shot! 

we begin with this song. now onto the fic: 

This was his moment. Kuroo closed his eyes, took a deep breath. It only took one phrase to spark a revolution, one song to set a nation’s heart on fire. And he was just the person to take on this challenge, delighting in the water droplets as they cascaded over his bare body. Taking in one more deep breath, he belted out:

“I love you, baaaaaby, and if it's quite alright

I need you, baaaaaby, to warm the lonely niiiiight~”

For the world to hear. Well--for Kenma to hear his terrible singing through the noises of the shower running in their shared apartment. He was just getting into the nonexistent music, singing excruciatingly slowly while he lathered his hair into a mohawk, before he stopped. 

Why hadn’t Kenma banged on the door for him to shut the fuck up yet? Between the awful singing and the cheesy lyrics, he’d expected his boyfriend to have a complaint by now. 

Rinsing off the remaining suds, Kuroo hummed the rest of the song to himself. He still couldn’t believe that he and Kenma were dating. All those years he’d been in love with his best friend, and it turns out it’d been mutual the whole time? He shook his head, muttering “what the fuck” to himself. But he couldn’t bring himself to be too mad about it, because they were together now. And as was his right as both boyfriend and best friend, he was going to annoy the fuck out of Kenma.

He slung a towel over his waist, not even bothering to dry off the drops of water that ran down his chest. He had far more important things to worry about, like bursting into Kenma’s room without knocking.

“What are you up to?”

Kenma sat in his desk chair with his back turned to the door. Kuroo didn’t need to admire him in secret anymore, but it was habit. Some part of his chest fluttered at the sight of his boyfriend so focused on his computer screen, ears covered by headphones and hair piled into a neat bun.

“I’m streaming,” Kenma said, occupied by some fantasy world on his monitor.

“What are you playing?” Kuroo stepped into his personal space, leaning forward and dripping water onto the keyboard.

“Oh my god.”

It was the utter disbelief in his voice that made Kuroo look up, to see wide honey-brown eyes. “What?”

“You’re half-naked and my camera is on.” He gestured to the stream of comments running across the screen. Kuroo caught a “WHO IS THAT” and plenty of tongue and water emojis.

“Oh.” He’d already forgotten he was in a towel. “Well--” He hadn’t signed up to perform for such a wide audience today, but he was going to deliver. “I gotta give the people what they want...Check out these guns.” He posed, flexing his biceps and making kissy faces at the camera.

“Get out,” Kenma pushed him out of the camera’s range. “You’re going to get me banned for pornography.”

He threw his head back into a hyena laugh, making his way towards the door. He was giddy, having achieved his goal of annoying Kenma for the day.

On his way out, he heard his boyfriend speaking into the mic: “The chat is being too much today. That’s just my roommate.”

Kuroo clicked the door closed. Right. Just his roommate.

When he sat at his desk later, trying to study, he knew that Kenma hadn’t meant it that way. They were boyfriends, and they were out as a couple to practically everyone they knew (Bokuto and Hinata had been particularly happy to find out, insisting on double dates that Kuroo agreed to and Kenma was horrified by). But Kenma was a Youtuber and hadn’t yet told his audience, for a number of reasons.

One was for their privacy. As Kenma had explained, “If my fanbase finds out I’m dating someone, they’ll have a lot of opinions about it. And that’s not something I want to deal with until I have to.”

And Kuroo understood that. But there was one reason that he wasn’t exactly comfortable with.

“Plus,” Kenma had said on that cold night when they were both sitting on their hard lump of a couch, “Yuuji and I have this whole thing going on right now. He’s been desperately single for a while and the fact that it looks like we might be dating is helping his views, and mine.”

Now, Kuroo chewed the end of his pen. He and Kenma hadn’t even been together that long, but he felt like he was already putting on a suit for the funeral of their honeymoon phase. When they had finally gotten together, the world didn’t stop for them--Kuroo had to pay attention to his exams, and Kenma had to pay attention to his Youtube career. 

So much attention to his Youtube career. If he wasn’t recording a video, then he was editing another video, or streaming. At least Kuroo got to tag along when Kenma vlogged something, though he’d only be there to help with the camera. 

But there was one thing he felt good about: they were going to have a Movie Night, a semiregular tradition that neither of them ever skipped. They’d take turns picking bad movies and Kenma would order some food, and Kuroo would cook something healthy in an attempt to balance it out. Last time, Kenma had chosen a film about a murderous car tire and this week, Kuroo planned to outdo him with a 2002 3D animated Christmas movie that was sure to be a heap of hilarious garbage. 

Once he’d finally finished balancing the last of the chemical equations, Kuroo found himself in the kitchen, preparing cauliflower. It was a methodical process; washing, chopping, baking (even though their oven kind of sucked and raised the temperature of the entire apartment). He was in the middle of it when Kenma shuffled out of his room.

“Are you cooking?” He tilted his head, sniffing the air.

“Yeah, I found this dope recipe. It’s gonna be so awesome, you’re gonna have to like vegetables.”

“Right,” Kenma snorted. “Listen, I have to skip the movie tonight. I’m gonna hop on Yuuji’s stream and it’s gonna take a while.”

“Oh,” Kuroo said in a voice that he hoped covered the sound of his heart dropping to the bottom of his chest. “Okay.”

“Don’t you have homework to finish anyway?” 

“Yeah.” He watched Kenma pluck an apple off the counter and disappear into his room.

Kuroo was left alone with the cauliflower. He lifted the bowl towards his face, staring at the zombie broccoli. “You still like me, right?”

It didn’t answer. He would have been worried if it did.

He continued cooking in silence. One missed movie night wasn’t a big deal, right? They could watch movies any time.

Or that’s what he told himself as laughter echoed from Kenma’s room. 

                                                               ≡

Kuroo thought that he could shake off these negative feelings, but they stuck to him like a wet paper towel. 

He’d never been the jealous type in relationships. When his middle school girlfriend confessed that she liked another boy, he let her go with no hard feelings. With all his one night stands, he’d never felt possessive. If anything, he preferred to leave before he or his partner could marinate too much in their shame. But then again, when he’d been with all of those people, his heart had stayed behind in Kenma’s hands.

The word “jealous” left a rotten flavor in his mouth, but he couldn’t deny that was how he felt. When he went back into his room, pulling his laptop towards his face way too close like a preteen looking up boobs, he started researching this Yuuji that Kenma was spending so much time with. The Wikipedia page popped up on Google:

Full name: Yuuji Terushima

Occupation: Youtuber

Alias: PartyHair

Sliding in earbuds, Kuroo clicked around his channel. Immediately, his latest video began to autoplay.

“Welcome back, everyone! It’s your boy Yuuji…”

Kuroo frowned. This guy was fucking smokin’. A chiseled face, perfectly styled bleached hair, and was that a fucking tongue piercing?

He groaned. It was a secret wish of his to get blown by a guy with a tongue piercing. What if it was Kenma’s too?

A voice in his head told him he was being a total dumbass right now. And obviously, he didn’t think that Kenma would ever cheat on him--or actually leave him--based on who around him happened to be hot and have piercings. But Kuroo was still fucking mad about it.

After watching over an hour’s worth of PartyHair’s videos, Kuroo had brewed himself a fat pot of Old Man Grumpiness, complete with a dash of edge and a sprinkle of angst. One that he was still letting simmer when Kenma peeked into his room later.

“Good night.”

“Night,” Kuroo borderline growled, curling up under his blanket.

Kenma quirked an eyebrow in response. “I think you need to sleep.” 

Sending incoherent mutters in response, he heard Kenma quietly click the door closed.

Kuroo would be damned if he waited his whole life to get this boy’s attention, only to lose it in a matter of weeks.

But he was still being a little bitch the next day, as Bokuto noted when they got lunch together.

“I’m not being a little bitch,” Kuroo crossed his arms, watching with annoyance as Bokuto scarfed down a burrito. “I’m just--I’m just pissed that he’s spending so much time with some other dude, y’know? We’ve only been dating a few weeks. Shouldn’t our hands always be in each other’s pants?”

Bokuto nearly choked, letting out a boisterous laugh. “Why the fuck would you assume that?”

“I don’t know!”

He shook his head. “Dude, if it really bothers you that much, why don’t you just talk to Kenma about it?”

“Because I don’t want him to think I’m some kind of possessive creep.” He leaned his cheek on his hand dejectedly.

“But you are some kind of pos-”

“Thanks, Bo, I get it.” He stared down at his untouched food.

“Look,” Bokuto gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, “relationships are about communication, right? I always tell Akaashi what’s on my mind.”

“Yeah, I know.” Kuroo had heard plenty of times, from Akaashi himself, how it could be a little overwhelming to hear every passing thought about is it possible for two people on opposite ends of the universe to experience sunrise and sunset at the same time? And sometimes it was things like what do you think dirt actually tastes like? 

“Me and Kenma don’t really work that way.”

Bokuto grinned knowingly. “Kuroo, which of us has been in a successful long-term relationship?”

He groaned, knowing exactly where this was going. “You.”

“And which of us was miserable until he listened to my genius advice to confess to Kenma?”

“Me…”

“Exactly,” Bokuto shot off some finger guns, before stealing some food off of his plate. “So maybe listen to the love expert this time around.”

He hated the fact that Bokuto was right, that he actually knew more about these things than Kuroo. But he didn’t need the reminder to know that Bo was an expert in loving people, was just natural at being adored and loved by everyone in the room. Kuroo, on the other hand, was not that kind of person. He was a little shit--and glad to be. But he didn’t want to only be a little shit to Kenma. He wanted to be a very nice shit, that smelled like roses. That you might want to cuddle with during a cold night. Okay, he was bad at metaphors.

                                                              ♠

Kenma slid a hand over his face. “There’s more?”

He’d found himself having a peculiar problem ever since Kuroo had wandered into his room with a towel on. The entire internet was thirsting over his boyfriend.

The chat was spammed with comments, and within a few minutes, his Twitter was flooded with screenshots of Kuroo’s abs.

ana_the_beara: who the f**k is this hottie?! @ kodzuken

kr1kit: @ kodzuken says that’s just his roommate…

chanchan28: oh my god they were roommates

Kuroo had wandered into his room for all of one minute and now he had to deal with hundreds of thirst tweets, questions about his dating life, and speculations about Mr. Wet Abs’ identity. It was all a bit much for him to handle. (Though he did have to give credit to the people who made memes and edits during the stream, seemingly seconds after the whole thing even happened.)

He had a ton of damage control to do, especially considering how he and Yuuji were supposed to be dropping hints that they were together. He hoped that the other Youtuber wouldn’t be mad about it.

“That’s actually so funny,” Yuuji laughed on their phone call, scrolling through the memes. “But it could be a big help! It’ll, like, make more noise, y’know? Get people talking, which will get us more views.”

So that was one thing he didn’t have to worry about. But this whole “possibly-dating-other-online-people” business was starting to feel like more trouble than it was worth, as much as he liked hanging out with Yuuji. 

How long did this have to go on for anyway? He’d much rather spend time with Kuroo. Speaking of Kuroo…

Maybe he could go for a movie tonight. So what if his homework was a day late?

                                                              ♠

Kuroo was on the couch with his laptop, in the middle of solving equations that he should have done earlier, when Kenma walked into the living room.

“Hey, I have some free time. Want to watch a movie?” He settled in beside Kuroo, criss-crossing his legs.

He glanced at Kenma, before returning his gaze to his laptop. “I have work to do.” Shit, that’d sounded too sharp. Now Kenma was looking at him with furrowed brows. “It’s...homework.” He added awkwardly, as though that explained his terrible mood.

“Are you okay?” Came the inevitable question, gentle as it always was, laced with concern.

‘I’m fine,’ was what he’d wanted to say. That was not what came out.

“Oh so you want to hang out with me just because your schedule cleared up?”

He got a look of bewilderment in return, and looked away, his skin heating with embarrassment and anger.

A hand reached over and Kenma slowly closed his laptop, looking at him directly. He couldn’t bring his eyes to meet that catlike gaze.

“Are you saying that I don’t make time for you?”

There was the question. The confrontation.

“Well, you don’t.” As he said it, he felt like a petulant child, throwing a fit over nothing. But he couldn’t stop himself.

“Kuro, we’re both in a busy time right now. You know that.” His voice was measured despite the irritation that colored it.

He turned now, arms crossed and eyes glaring. “Why don’t you go hang out with Yuuji?” He spat the name.

Kenma blinked. Processed. “...You’re not seriously jealous of Yuuji?” Halfway between a question and a statement.

His shoulders scrunched as he sunk into the couch, silent.

                                                              ♠

“Oh my god. Is that why you've been acting so weird lately?” He took Kuroo’s silence as an invitation to invade his space, gently pushing away the laptop and scooting even closer.

“You’ve been spending so much time with him! And half your followers think you’re fucking.”

“What does it matter if they think that when I’m fucking you?”

Kuroo huffed, turning his head away again.

“Kuroo, what does it matter when you’re the only person I masturbate to?”

He whipped his head back immediately, overcome by a blush that had already infected not only his cheeks, but also Kenma’s.

“I’m the only person you masturbate to?”

Now it was Kenma’s turn to look away. “I--I’ve been into you since forever. You already know that.”

He grinned. “But this is another level, kitty cat.”

Kenma groaned in frustration, his tied-back hair unable to cover the embarrassment on his face. “I’m out of here.”

“Kenma,” Kuroo said, in both shock and amusement at his boyfriend’s reaction. He didn’t have time to say anything else before Kenma was off the couch, out the room--

“Hey!” He scrambled to his feet, following after him. Kenma was fast, but not fast enough. Kuroo caught his hand in the hallway. He was anticipating a struggle, but didn’t receive one--Kenma’s face was turned away, but their hands were nonetheless linked together.

He led his embarrassed boyfriend into the room where this whole mess started, walking past the gaming setup and settling on Kenma’s bed. He sat among the pillows, but the bed’s owner settled in the farthest corner towards the wall, pressing his hands to his cheeks as though to absorb the redness.

“I masturbate to you, too.”

The confession relaxed Kenma’s shoulders, but his voice still came out quietly, “I always wondered--” He interrupted himself, shook his head. “Sometimes, I...I heard you doing it.”

Kuroo raised his eyebrows. “Me masturbating?” The answer to his question came in the form of sheepish nods. “...Did you like what you heard?”

“I--yeah, idiot!” 

                                                             ♠

A pillow landed on Kuroo’s face, earning his laughter. A devilish smile grew on his face. “Well, if you liked that song, I can give you a concert.” He was already shrugging out of his shirt. “You’ve got the best seat in the house.” 

Maybe Terushima had a sexy piercing and some of Kenma’s time, but only Kuroo had the honor of gracing his boyfriend’s fantasies. And he was going to prove just how grateful he was.

“Did you see the news articles about your little display in my room?”

Kuroo snorted as he settled back, getting comfortable. “Did I make you jealous?”

“No,” he answered too quickly, crossing his arms. “Idiot.”

He let out his dorky hyena laugh, which, to Kenma, somehow sounded sexy. Before he could say anything else, Kuroo put on an enticing, yet filthy show for him to watch, which he may have participated in. Which may have involved a fantasy of a steamy shower in a lake house that they’d visited as kids.

When the show was over, they both settled back against the pillows breathlessly.

“Kuroo,” He began with a quirked brow, “if you were thinking of shower sex, then why set it in the cabin?”

He felt Kuroo’s chest shake as he laughed. “You’re finding plot holes in my masturbation fantasies?”

“Well, yeah.”

“It’s because...it’s scenic.”

Kenma scoffed at the obvious lie. “Come on, you’re clearly in a sharing mood today.”

“All right,” Kuroo sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “It’s because that summer...when we first visited that cabin...it’s when I first realized I love you.”

His heart skipped a beat. “It was?” Suddenly he racked his brain, trying to remember anything special that happened, any sign that Kuroo’s feelings towards him had changed. But there was nothing. They’d acted like dumb kids during that week away, just like they had every week before that.

“Yeah.” Kuroo smiled. Not that devilish grin of his, but one that was more honest, that spread over his face easily. “It was actually because of your mom.”

“What? Stop joking--”

“It’s not a joke!” He laughed, meeting Kenma’s eyes. “It really was because of her. I wanted to go to the deeper part of the lake without any adult supervision, and she wasn’t having it. It went something like…”

“I want to go in the lake.” Insisted young Kuroo, pointing to the opposite shore. “Me and Kenma wanna see the fish.”

“No, Tetsurou.” Mrs. Kozume tutted. “What if something happens while you’re over there and we can’t help you?”

“But I can swim! I won’t drown.”

She put her hands on her hips. “What if Kenma drowns? Will you be happy if I die from a heart attack?”

“But I didn’t even hear what she was saying,” he chuckled. “Me drowning was one thing, but putting you in danger...that was something I could never risk.”

Kenma had no idea how Kuroo could do it--could make him fall in love more and more.

“I thought about it a lot. But I decided that if someone else drowned--this is gonna sound horrible,” He shook his head, smiling. “If someone else drowned, I wouldn’t be nearly as upset. Except maybe my dad, but. The point is, I cared about you more than anyone else. Your mom must have been happy because I dropped the idea of going that deep into the lake.”

“Can we stop talking about my mom?”

Kuroo broke into another laugh. “Fine, fine. There were a few times at the lake that I thought about kissing you, but I chickened out each time...I really wish you’d been my first kiss.”

Kenma felt his chest expand. He knew how much Kuroo regretted fooling around with other people before they’d started dating. “...You don’t remember, do you?”

He received a curious head tilt in response. “Remember what?”

                                                             ♠

“My eleventh birthday.”

“Wha--” Kuroo broke off his own question in confusion. “I remember your eleventh birthday. It was a few months after we visited the lake. Didn’t we have a sleepover?”

Kenma nodded. “We did. But that’s not what I mean.”

“Enlighten me.”

“All right. But give me the blanket first. I’m cold.”

“Even while resting in my loving arms?” Kuroo sighed dramatically, before pulling the blanket up over them. “There. Now tell me.”

“Okay,” Kenma tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, looking at a spot on the wall. “My mom bought me that cake. Do you remember? The one with the hedgehog on it.”

“Right. Because you liked Sonic, but you wanted him to look like a real hedgehog.”

“Yeah,” He nodded. “And she only told us to eat one piece so we wouldn’t get hyper. But then she went to sleep and we ate mochi instead?”

“Because it’d take longer for her to notice it was gone.” Kuroo grinned.

“You got this bit of chocolate on your nose. And you were laughing about something--I don’t know what it was, but it felt like a light inside of me switched on.”

“Your gay awakening?”

He snorted. “Basically. But that wasn’t what I wanted to tell you.”

“What, Kenma?” Kuroo whined. “You’re leaving me in suspense here.”

Kenma ignored him. “Do you also remember how you said you wanted to stay up all night long? And then you fell asleep at 11:30.”

“Well we were playing volleyball all day!”

He chuckled. “Well...before you fell asleep, we were talking. You asked me if there were any girls I liked.”

Kuroo’s eyebrows rose upwards. “And what did you say?”

“Anyway, Kuroo...have you ever kissed anyone?” Newly-eleven-year-old Kenma asked as Kuroo yawned.

“Me? No.” He shook his head sleepily. 

Kenma turned over to his side, looking at Kuroo intently. Kuroo, with his messy hair covering half his face and his arms tucked behind his head, stared comfortably at the ceiling. 

“Is there anyone you want to kiss?” Kenma asked, his heart beating faster.

“Mm, I dunno.” Kuroo turned over to face him. “I’d need practice.”

“We could practice.” He said before he could think better of the words, his pulse in his ears. He started to think of something to say, to cover it up--

“Mhm.”

Kenma’s breath stopped in his lungs. He scrunched up his face, gathered up the courage, and planted a peck right on Kuroo’s mouth. The world tilted, forever changed.

“...Kuroo?”

The only reply he got was a loud snore.

“No way.” Kuroo burst into laughter, much to Kenma’s annoyance. “I was asleep?!”

“You were, you ass.” Kenma rolled his eyes. “It was so embarrassing.”

“I guess that’s why you never mentioned it, huh.” Kuroo said, pulling Kenma’s hair free from its ponytail to run his fingers through it. He supposed that he was forgiven for the actions of his twelve-year-old self when Kenma hummed contentedly and leaned into his touch. “Actually,” he said with a small smile, “I’m kinda happy that happened. Because it means we were each other’s first kiss.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“And you’re gonna be my last kiss, too.”

“...Kuroo?” Kenma gave him that cute, furrowed-brow look.

“When we’re all old and wrinkly, you’ll still be the only person I wanna kiss.”

Kenma scoffed, turning over. “What a dork.” But there was no hiding the pink that had bloomed on his cheeks.

                                                             ≡

“So,” Kenma said to his camera, leaning back in his gaming chair. “Next question: what is Kodzuken’s sexuality? Ah, I might need some help with this one.” He picked up his phone, dialing a number before putting it to his ear. “Can you come in here? I need you for a minute.”

A moment later, his door opened. “You called, kitty cat?”

“I told you to stop calling me that.” Kenma scoffed. “Anyway, come here. I need to tell my viewers what my sexuality is.” He gestured to the camera.

Kuroo squatted beside his chair, rubbing his chin in thought. “Ah, Kodzuken’s sexuality...well, it doesn’t matter, does it? Because he's mine.”

He suppressed a chuckle, but a smile still leaked from his lips. “Thanks for clearing that up.”

“No problem.” He stood, pressing a kiss to Kenma’s cheek. “Don’t be too long, okay? I’m making dinner.”

“Okay.”

Upon hearing the door click closed, he turned back to the camera. “Well, this answers the next question: who is Mr. Wet Abs?” Kenma waved his hands, knowing he’d later edit in pictures of them together. “He’s not just my roommate. He’s my boyfriend.”

And whatever he’d have to deal with--however many questions, comments, or gaudy headlines--it was worth it.

Ending notes: a million thanks to both my good friend ana and the lovely lauren for beta-ing this fic for me <3 and thank YOU for reading! please feel free to let me know what you think :D

my ao3

my instagram: @ spade.yy

[dailyaudiobible]

12/11/2020 DAB Transcript

Amos 4:1-6:14, Revelation 2:18-3:6, Psalms 130:1-8, Proverbs 29:21-22

Today is the 11th day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it's great to be here with you today like it’s great to be here with you any day, any day at all - spring, summer, winter, fall - anytime at all. It's great to be here with you. Wait, that sounds, that sounds remarkably like lyrics I know - spring, summer, winter, fall, all you have to do is call and I'll be there. You've got of friend. So, friends, let's gather together here around the Global Campfire and take the next step forward in the Scriptures. And this is one day where we…we don't have to move into new territory. Most of the days we do have to move into new territory because of the territory that we’re in in the Scriptures, but today we don't have to enter into a new book. So, we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Amos chapters 4, 5, and 6.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for the next step forward that we get to take every day and that it reminds us of Your presence in our lives and of Your constant transformation in our soul. And, so, we take to heart what we just read, the last thing, the last thing blinking there before us as we concluded our reading today. “A man of wrath stirs up strife and one given to anger causes much transgression.” We know this is true. We can affirmatively shake our heads, but if we slow down enough, we know that this is giving us advance words for the season that we are in and all of the festivities that are around us. We need to remember this and not be a man or woman of wrath and not be one given to anger unless stirring up strife and causing transgression is the goal, which it’s not. The goal is to be Your hands and Your feet and to minister Your love into this world, especially in this season because we are known by our love. So, come Holy Spirit, plant the words of Proverbs into our hearts that we might carry it forward and that it might shape the way we behave. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it's the website, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

It's Christmas time. That is what's going on in the world so that's what's going on around here as well. And what a joy it is to just continue to move through the Advent season, just to sense that longing, that longing that we feel. This is the season to acknowledge that longing because it's kind always underneath it all isn't it? We are often…we turn that longing into what material possession or what type of scenario can I arrange for that will make that longing go away? Like, how can I fill that void? When it's way deeper than that. We’re just running at a pace that we never slow down enough to give any attention to it. That longing is the deepest cry of our soul, that all things would indeed be made new again. And we long for that. We long for the Advent of Jesus, right? The Arrival or this would be called, the second Advent, like a second arrival. But at the same time because it's Christmas season and this is the season to pay attention to that, we put ourselves in the position of the people who were waiting for the Advent of the Savior, who were waiting for Christmas even though they didn’t call it Christmas, who were waiting for Him to come because they had the longing in their soul too and there was a promise that He would come. And he did come. But we have that longing. Advent lets us tune into it as we wait and consider that in our souls as we move to Christmas where then with joy, we celebrate the arrival while still longing for the second arrival. So, it's a joy to spend that season together. And all things that are happening are Christmas related.

So, it's like we’re putting together our holiday Christmas party, our annual holiday gathering. It's virtual. It'll just show up as another program just like the community prayers do in a couple weeks, but we’re gathering all of the calls. So, you can use the Hotline button, or you can dial 877-942-4253. And those are, you know, those are the numbers that you…or that's how you would submit a prayer request or encouragement. Right now, also a holiday greeting. The one rule that I’ve been talking about is “don't combine”. Don't combine a prayer request or an encouragement with a holiday greeting. Just call in your holiday greeting and then if you have a prayer request or encouragement call that in separately. It’s one of the special times of year you can do that. And, so, yeah, don't be left out. Trust me. Every year lots and lots of people procrastinate and then it's too late. Don't be that person this year. Call in and share your holiday wishes with the community as…that we've been to each other all year as we’ve gone through the Bible.

The other thing is the Daily Audio Bible Shop is full of resources that make for unique gifts. And…like the God of Your Story, which is the written dated January 1st through December 31st devotional, essentially. I don’t really like that word because I think that what we’re doing here is way more than devotions, but in written form it is the gold that is the things that we talk about, the themes that we talk about as we go through the Bible each and every day. So, it is a perfect companion resource…in fact it was made to be “the” perfect companion resource to the Daily Audio Bible just to take the journey deeper. Maybe we listen to the DAB and then read that at night and it just kind of sows the themes in the stories that we are in deeper into our lives or if we’re out of…we’re like will gonna go off the grid on some type of holiday and we’re gonna be out of touch, this lets us stay right in step with the things that we are reading, but it's also a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to read through the Bible in a year and needs a friend to guide the way, to point out some of the beautiful things, the vistas that we get to see when we travel through the Bible together. So, the God of Your Story is available. The family Christmas record is available as well. You can get a physical copy in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, but you can stream it on Apple music or Spotify or Google play or wherever you can stream music. Just look for Family Christmas and maybe my name and you'll find it. That is the soundtrack for the community, that’s the soundtrack to the holiday season. It's…it’s something that I created over a couple of years and it's really meant to be that hot cocoa moment where you shut off everything in your house and you just got the Christmas lights on and just trying to find the Spirit of Christmas in the silence and just catch a breather in the festivities of it all, this is the soundtrack for that. So, check it out at. There are plenty of resources in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. If you spend $40 or more in the shop this season, we will include in your order the Daily Audio Bible Christmas ornament for 2020. We have one each year. We have for the last seven years. And, so, we have that this year as well. And you get it with your purchase of $40 or more in the Shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you do that dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link on the homepage and I'm humbled…humbled to know that so many have clicked that link. And that is why we’re here or if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner. And I'm humbled. Like, that’s not a joke. I'm humbled that…that that link would be clicked and that we would continue on and…as a community together. I thank you for your partnership. Or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, or holiday greeting right now you can hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button up at the top, can’t miss it, or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning this message is for little Halo. This is Grandpa Bob from Michigan. Oh, sweetheart I heard your prayer and your cry out for help to deal with this person who’s being evil toward you and perhaps others. Honey just start off by praying for this person. They need God in their heart. They don’t have a mother who loves them perhaps or teaches them God’s way. But the sound of your voice, sweet innocent child, God loves you so much and He will give you the strength to deal with this person. I want you to know that you sound just like my grandbabies and that I love you. I want the best for you. And because you reached out God is going to help you deal with this person. He loves you. He loves you. You know what, and so do we. Call in again. Call in again. You are loved. Bye-bye.

Hello, I was just calling for prayer about… I feel so distracted with things that are going on in the world and so much of makes me sick and I try to keep listening to the Bible and I do but I have to keep reminding…like…keep staying focused on what I’m listening to and I try to read and it’s just everything is…it’s really hard to stay hopeful. And I just…no matter how hard I try to focus on God…it just…I don’t I don’t feel close. It’s just really hard. It just makes me feel sick, physically sick to my stomach. So, thank you for your prayers.

Dear Daily Audio Bible family it’s Faithful Hope in the UK and I’m calling this time to ask you to join me in prayer. I have mentioned previously that I’m in a nasty court case with regards to my children. And yeah. It’s nothing new. It’s been going on for several years. Anyway, you guys have been praying and I’ve felt that and thank you to everyone who’s joined me in prayer so far. But today I’ve just literally sent my ex-husband an email, asking him and his wife and his mother and even his church fellowship to consider having seven days of prayer and fasting…well…prayer and fasting for me and him and prayer from the others bringing this matter before the Lord because there’s no need for this acrimony. Obviously, it will only work if were humble and repentant and all of us who have been involved in this situation are humble and repentant of any harm we’ve inflicted on the other. So, I do ask you Daily Audio Bible family. I pray that…to pray that he’ll be able to respond to that positively, that he will join in this prayer and at the end of the seven days we will have a real praise report going forward. So, yeah. So, let’s just pray. Lord I do thank You Lord that You bring a peace that is beyond all measure that is hard to fathom Lord. And Lord I just pray that You would bring Your peace into the situation. Lord I pray that Steve and Jill would be willing to commit to this time in Jesus’ name. Amen.

[singing starts] He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got my brothers and my sisters in His hands. He’s got my brothers and my sisters in His hands. He’s got my brothers and sisters in His hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the sun and the rain in His hands. He’s got the moon and the stars in His hands. He’s got the wind and the clouds in His hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the rivers and the mountains in His hands. He’s got the oceans and the seas in His hands. He’s got…He got…He’s got…He’s got me…and my…He’s got you and He’s got me in has hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got everybody here in His hands. He’s got everybody there in His hands. He’s got everybody everywhere in His hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands. Dum pum. [singing stops] I’m His grace He shines. Loving you Daily Audio Bible family and praying…

Hello DABber family this is Walta the Burning Bush that will not be Devoured for the Glory of our God and our King. I just heard the sweetest call from Halo I think that’s your name and your mom inspired you to listen to the DAB and you called in praying for yourself. Hatred, you mentioned the word and you…you talked about someone in school that’s just being mean. And, so, I want you to know I prayed for you. And Father God I praise You for this girl and I thank You for Your love for You and her love for Your word and I pray that You will put a shield of protection around her as she goes to school. Help her to see these kids through Your eyes and Lord I pray that You will use her to bring them closer to You O God. And I pray O God that You stop them. Give her favor. Give them just the desire to get to know her and to be nice the next time they see her Father. I know that You’re able to work miracles. And Father God, thank You for all the kids listening God and all the parents O God in raising their kids Lord. Teach us O Lord to number our days. In Jesus’ name. Amen. And Candace from Oregon, I heard your praise report for Micah. I’m praising God for you. Have a wonderful, wonderful Christmas if I don’t see you guys or talk to you soon. Bye-bye.

[gaasaku-fanfests]

Getting Almost There

Title: Getting Almost There Author: drharunosakura Rating: PG-13 Word Count: 4390 Summary: An almost but never was rears its ugly head again as the smallest of exhanges are moved to new heights. Author's Note(s): Let me know what you think about this. If enjoyed I wanna spin this into a proper chaptered fic.

Trope: Unresolved sexual tension

Sakura Haruno could not believe that her next-door neighbor for years, her knuckleheaded idiot brother, her best friend in the entire world would do this. Yet, here she was almost too terrified to step out of her condo to start on this day trip to see the said idiot. “Well, I might as well get this over with. It’s not like Naruto actually knows about my past with his best man.”

If Sakura knew that if this was the friend that Naruto wanted to pick her up she would have never agreed on the four-hour journey to the Land of Tea with him. She did want to support him and his wife. They were doing a grand reopening of the Resort they were given on their wedding day. Sometimes Sakura just couldn’t understand the kinda money the Hyuuga’s had She supposed her ride would understand better as he similarly grew up in the world of class and sophistication and excess. Moving to grab her suitcase and walk out she got a good look at Naruto’s best man and Sakura’s biggest mistake at his wedding, Sabaku No Gaara.

He looked good, too good. The kind of man that whether he was in workout gear, a three-piece suit or the jeans and a t-shirt he currently wore he looked like the clothes were absolutely made for him and him alone. Nationally ranked MMA fighter in high school and college, tech multi-millionaire of his own fortune and grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth he had made Forbes’ 30 under 30 the past three years in a row. There weren’t many people in this world that could make Sakura Haruno, research scientist, incredible trauma surgeon, and published marvel, insecure. But the redhead smoking a cigarette in front of an Aston Martin that probably cost more than her condo, did with ease. Seeing her approach and stamping out the cigarette the man that she would be spending the next several days with approached her slowly.

“Naruto didn’t tell me it was you I was picking up. Here I thought I’d have to play Prince Charming to some... random bimbo.” He paused as he looked her up and down, before moving to grab her luggage and place it in the deep red convertible he was driving.

Not realizing Sakura had been holding in her breath for some time until she released it the moment he turned his back, she took a few more breaths in preparation for spending quite a bit of time with a man she has been avoiding for the past year.

“I’m surprised you didn’t fly there.” She murmured and he turned his head before snorting and opening up the door for her.

“I don’t like flying commercial and Temari needs the jet for her fashion show this weekend. I like not being a complete prick to my big sister.” He smirked before shutting the door and giving Sakura a moment to marvel at the luxury of the car he owned.

“What no helicopter?” She joked under her breath before holding it as Gaara moved over her and reached to grab something. He still smelled like fresh electronics and cinnamon and cigarettes and she hated how hypnotic of a scent it was to her. Pulling back the man grinned and produced a pair of sunglasses before whispering in her ear.

“Naruto hasn’t yet re-zoned the helicopter pad yet, I asked.” Before slipping on the sunglasses and starting them on their journey.

Sakura was silent for the first hour or so of their ride, glancing every so often at the redhead next to her. She remembered exactly what she felt the first time they locked eyes. It was at the initial rehearsal dinner and he was the last to arrive. No one knew what this mysterious best man looked like but Naruto was adamant that his best friend in the entire world from business school could be the only person he wanted to be the role and we would all love him.

Sakura was sitting beside Hinata and Ino, gushing over the fact that one of them was finally getting married when he walked into the private room of Choji’s restaurant. Ino was the first to recognize him and man was she starstruck.

“That is Sabaku no Gaara. How on earth did Naruto become best friends with Suna’s most eligible bachelor of the year?” Sakura couldn’t help but giggle. As she was the maid of honor (Hanabi was slightly too young as Hinata’s little sister) Sakura went to introduce herself to her partner for most of the wedding festivities.

“Sakura-Chan! You have to meet Gaara. This is my best man and he saved my ass a few times in business school.” Naruto grinned and Sakura turned to look at the redhead in question. She had vaguely heard of the Sabuko family, mostly from Shikamaru and his wild affair with the fashion designer Temari, but the younger was the marvel.

He was just under Naruto’s height but had the presence of being head over shoulders taller. He had eyes the color of jade and a smile that seemed new on him like he was trying it out for show and wasn’t sure if he would take it home or not. His hand reached out to shake hers and the low timbre of his voice absolutely rattled Sakura.

“You’re the maid of honor right? Naruto has not shut up about you. I guess you’re my partner for this thing.”

“Y-yeah.” She chuckled, hating herself for the stutter and quickly moved to shake his hand. She hadn’t been this flustered since high school and here she was near blushing at a man for smiling at her and shaking her hand.

“Well, you two are gonna be great pals. I’m gonna go check on Hinata and get this thing going kay?” Naruto grinned and moved along, leaving Sakura to show Gaara his seat across from her at the table.

“So,” She asked at the venue, they were waiting for their part in the ceremony to begin and Sakura thought she might as well get to know the man she was walking down the aisle with… figuratively speaking that was. “How did you and Naruto meet?”

Turning towards her Gaara smirked and this half-smile felt quite warn in, it suited him better. “I kicked his ass in a speech and debate class and he literally kicked my ass in the gym. We’ve had one another’s backs after that and he became like a brother to me in business school.”

Nodding Sakura looked up at the two to be married and added. “Well he was so excited everyone gets to meet you. It’s not like you get to visit too often living all the way in Suna right?”

Turning towards Sakura before taking another glance at the groom he replied. “I suppose I could visit more if given a good reason.”

Stopping at a traffic light Sakura supposed the silence had gone long enough and she couldn’t take it anymore. As she was far too terrified to touch the radio of his car she blurted out a question.

“So, what errand did you need to run for Naruto that was close to my place?” She quipped knowing that Naruto was a good enough bridge for them to talk about to start with; lest she loses her mind in the silence.

“Naruto needed a couple of high tech systems to help his POS system run on the multitude of international clients the resort sees. Making it easy for the employees to use multiple types of credit cards and translate itemized receipts was a pretty simple program to run. I just made it an offline system and there are a couple of monitors in the back so I could just give it to him to install before opening day next week. I have a pretty good supplier in the area and picked them up before I got you.”

Sometimes she forgot how smart Gaara was. How he could light up a room the moment he gathered their attention or how he could seemingly make things just appear from him. He could solve any problem at the drop of a hat and never seemed to make a big deal of it.

Sakura was freaking out. She was single-handedly going to ruin the wedding of her best friend in the entire world. Ino dealt with the flowers. Choji had catering down to a science. Hinata’s family dealt with the venue. All Sakura had to do was handle the music and her duo for the ceremony completely bailed. She had 72 hours to find another musician or Hinata was walking down the aisle in silence.

Sighing Sakura placed her head in her hands in her hair and let out a long slow groan.

“Last I checked wasn’t it the bride was supposed to be the one to freak out about a wedding?”

Looking up she saw Gaara. He was in a tank top and running shorts and yet she couldn’t be bothered to think him out of place in the hotel’s business center.

“Well, when one of your biggest roles in the wedding, really your only role in the wedding falls through you’re bound to get a bit stressed.” She sighed.

Sitting down beside her silently while he answered a few emails on his phone he asked, “So, what fell through?”

Looking at him she bit her lip before responding. “I was supposed to get music for the wedding and reception and I found this great band for the reception. That’s settled and I thought I found this beautiful Guitar and Violin duo for the ceremony but they canceled last minute and I don’t know where I’m going to find someone and this has to be perfect because it’s Hinata and Naruto and Hinata has been pining after Naruto since we were in grade school and if anyone deserves a fairytale wedding it’s her and I don’t know what I can do to fix…” She went to continue but Gaara stopped her with a silent hand before asking.

“So you need an appropriate soloist or duo that can play at the wedding ceremony right?”

Sakura nodded and went to explain her worries before looking at Gaara dial a number and pick up the phone.

“Cousin, Sasori you still dating that stupid artist guy? He still good friends with that harp player what’s his face Haku. Yeah, the one who just finished up that European tour. Get me his contact info for a job on Saturday. Wedding. I need it guaranteed but put that lovely family money stamp on it kay? See you for dad’s obligatory family get together next month.”

Sakura paused and attempted to close her mouth from the awe that she just experienced. “Y-you didn’t have to do that. You barely know me why would you help me like that?”

“I haven’t helped you yet. But if you haven’t gotten a text from me with his contact info in two hours then my cousin won’t be getting his spot in the gallery I own this year either.” He chuckled and moved to answer another set of emails.

“I don’t know how I can repay you Gaara, this is so sweet.”

Turning towards her Gaara simply smirked and lifted her chin. She could feel the heat of his breath against her cheek and she hoped she wasn’t blushing as noticeably as she felt she was. “Continue keeping this wedding exciting for me and Naruto happy. He deserves this day to be perfect too and it’s the least I can do to make sure it stays that way.”

Sakura paused as they pulled into a little cafe just passed the highway. Stepping outside it Sakura followed him as he ordered his order and then silently turned to her for her to add-in. Paying for the both of them before Sakura even had a chance the two of them moved to a spot outside of the cafe and Gaara pulled out another cigarette.

“I have to say this once just as a doctor, you know how bad those things are for you.” She murmured knowing he probably didn’t want the scolding but unable to hold back any longer.

“Running as many companies as I do at my age will kill me a lot faster. I think a couple of cigarettes a day are hardly comparable to the stress that puts on my body.” Rolling her eyes at that she conceded to her one statement and went to sip her coffee. She, while not one for too many sweets was a true lover of whipped cream and relishing in the delicious taste that accompanied her latte.

“How is the whole doctor thing going?” He mentioned after a while, startling her and shocking her that he remembered.

“Um, it’s great. I just finished up my residency so everything feels finally permanent; like I’m finally out of school. How is everything your way?”

Putting out his cigarette he paused before answering, taking a long look at her first and Sakura inwardly cursed herself for the delicious shudder that went down her spine.

“Of the Sand Corp is doing decently. Enough that my father is pressing me to sell it under the Kazekage Industries umbrella; not like I would. It seems he is punishing me for doing so by giving me more responsibilities to run under the family business not that Kankuro isn’t an epic VP of my company anyway.”

“Well at least visiting Naruto will give you a bit of a vacation. When do you have to go back to Suna?”

Taking a moment take a long gulp of his coffee, and give Sakura time to ogle the bicep that was holding it he responded, “I actually moved to Konoha a couple of weeks ago. Kazekage Industries is expanding and dad wanted me to take over the branch here. Hence making it really difficult to fully run my tech business based in Suna.”

“Oh, that is tricky, but at least when Naruto comes back or visits he’ll be able to see you as well. Have you been adjusting ok considering?” She asked taking another long sip of her coffee, not noticing the spec of cream that remained on her upper lip. Sakura wondered how he managed to do it all and how much stress she would be under if put in half of that situation

“The takeover was a bitch and I can’t find a good assistant to save my life plus I don’t know anyone in this town besides well, you and I just found that out.” Taking a moment to lean in close to her Sakura froze.

Was he going to kiss me? This is just like the wedding I’m freezing. He looks so good but we haven’t spoken in nearly a year! Oh kami please. Sakura thought before noticing him remove the offending cream and take it between his own lips.

“Think you would oppose to showing me a few places where I can lesson my will to murder? A good gym and a good bar would be only for the greater good at this point.” He teased and she frowned as he seemingly looked like he was enjoying this torture he was putting on her body.

“Yeah, I do. Perks of growing up around here and going to undergrad here.” Taking their collective silence Gaara moved to give her one of his smirks and asked.

“I might actually have to take you on a date then cherry blossom. Think you could handle me this time?” Sakura blushed and turned to look out at the scenery before them. The land of fire was changing into the more tropical more scenic land of Tea, though as Naruto’s resort was on the coast it would still take another hour or so to get there.

Taking the pause neither as a good or bad thing, Gaara finished up his coffee and stood up to stretch before glancing down at her. “Come on, if we’re late Naruto will assume I’m dead and blow up my phone to the point of me throwing it out the car, and between you and me I really can’t lose another phone this quarter.”

Giggling Sakura stood up and followed him to the car for the last leg of their journey. “Alright but just keep to driving safely. Late or not if I’m dead I can’t patch you up after a car crash.”

“I’ll definitely keep you alive but no promises on 100% safety Sakura.” He chuckled twirling his keys in his hands. “I gotta live a little reckless or I’ll go insane.” He paused before fully getting in the driver's side, “Well more than I already am.”

Sakura was attached to her phone at their bachelorette party spa night. The timid Hinata not one of clubbing or strippers so Sakura and Hanabi planned an elegant pamper night for all of the bridesmaids.

“Forehead, this is a girls night. Stop texting your prince charming of a boyfriend and come join us.” Ino chastised before moving to see what she was actually looking at.

“Oh my God girls she actually is texting Gaara.” Stealing Sakura’s phone to bring it to the girls Ino giggled much to Sakura’s chagrin.

“Let me see here, ooh, pamper night going well. Promise me you’ll send pics of Naruto if he does anything stupid?”

Sakura tried and failed to grab it, only to have it thrown to Ten-Ten, who continued reading.

“What’s in it for me? And he added a winky face!”

“Guys, come on.” Sakura groaned moving to grab it only to have the phone thrown to Hanabi.

“That’s not very Best Man behavior of you.” Hanabi paused before cracking up. “Oh my god Sakura is full-on flirting and I think Gaara is flirting back. He just responded.

“What did he say?” Ino grinned moving to hold Sakura down with Ten-Ten at the assist.

“He said, I may be the best man but that doesn’t make me good. I think we should respond.” Hanabi chuckled and mortified Sakura tried to escape.

“Hanabi, don’t.” Sakura begged.

“Kid you got this, we’ll give you the honors.” Ten-Ten chuckled and Sakura wiggled stronger before moving out of their grasp.

“And, send.” Hanabi chuckled giving Sakura her phone back and watching her pale in complexion, then only more so when the girls heard the ping of a response.

“So,” The bride-to-be finally spoke up. “What did he say?”

Nearly too shocked to respond, Ino looked over her shoulder and squealed before announcing.

“So our lovely Hanabi moved us with her elegant words of asking the very tasteful So what are you good at? And it looks like our little cherry blossom might have caught herself a billionaire.”

“Why?” Ten-Ten asked before Sakura took back her phone and shut it off.

“Because,” Ino continued. “He told forehead that he could schedule some time to show her later if she liked.”

Sakura shook her head from her blush and tried to calm herself from her memories of Gaara at the wedding. They were nearly inseparable then. He was always so smart, and so good with his words.

“Are you too warm Cherry Blossom?” Gaara added moving to turn up the air and finally turn on the radio, shifting the dial till some form of music could be heard.

“Maybe a bit, though I’m not exactly uncomfortable.” She whispered out looking at the road flying past them as Gaara sped them along the highway.

“So I still make you squirm is all. I know how to fix that.” He chuckled and Sakura involuntarily shuddered before responding.

“The wedding was a mistake. I don’t normally do things like that and I shouldn’t have gone as far with you that night.”

“Oh calm down cupcake I kept my pants on. You leading me on and then ghosting after just a kiss when you were acting like you wanted a lot more than that should make me a little antsy to be near you again not the other way around.” He scoffed moving to turn on their exit and get to the last leg of their journey.

It was the reception. The ceremony was lovely Gaara’s call had come through and it turns out Haku was someone Naruto had met a long time ago and had changed his life. The blonde idiot fully burst into tears at the sight of the delicate man softly singing as his bride came down the aisle. The pictures had all been taken the speeches given and now it was simply time for the party that they all knew Naruto could throw. Sakura was taking a well-deserved spot of air when she saw her best man on the balcony having a cigarette.

“You gave a wonderful speech. I think a couple of people cried, Iruka-sensei I know did.” She chuckled and he turned and smirked when he noticed it was her. Offering her a cigarette that she politely declined, he took a step to close the distance between them.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it Sakura, I’ve always had a knack for a good speech. Yours was pretty cute as well. I can tell Hinata really enjoyed it.”

Blushing slightly Sakura swirled the bit of champagne she had in her glass before asking, “How long are you in town for?”

“Couple days, then I have to head back.” Pausing when he saw her mood utterly deflate he moved to hold her chin. “But I can always make the most of my trip now.” He grinned and pulled her in for a breath-stealing kiss.

It made her weak at the knees. She felt dizzy. She felt like everything she had ever desired was in that kiss and so much more could be had, and it terrified Sakura. Pulling back she looked at him and quickly uttered out a soft. “I have to go.” Before disappearing from the venue.

It took a long time for Sakura to realize why she bolted when all her body was screaming at her to do was screw Gaara in his hotel room till the sun came up. He terrified her. Gaara had this type of undeniable power to him. He wasn’t overly tall. He was fit but no monster. He was beautiful but not in a way that was common and yet anytime Gaara spoke the entire room always gave him 100% of their attention. He was in control at all times and that was not something Sakura had any idea how to deal with. She was Sakura Haruno. She was a woman who always called the shots and she certainly was not one who knew how to deal with an alpha like Gaara; especially for a one night stand.

Not to mention that she had just had a rather ugly breakup with Sasuke Uchiha and was learning to be on her own; something that would have been ruined if it just looked like she fell into the closest thing available. So nothing about their current predicament made it seem like they should start a relationship and rather than deal with Gaara’s temptation of simply being there nor the teasing of her friends Sakura bolted and went back to the safety of her condo and her job.

She honestly thought she had gotten over her handsome wedding parter but the time apart clearly didn’t change the way her eyes still longed to undress him or the way she would follow the curve of his lips when he talked. How she could picture those hands of his wrapped around her body and how even going back to her deepest of crushes should she ever remember being remotely attracted to anyone else.

“We’re gonna be there soon.” Gaara murmured pulling her out of her thoughts and she took one last look at the curve of his jawline and how it tensed slightly as he turned before she moved to look at them entering the gates of the property.

Gaara parked briefly and before Sakura could react he had gotten out and moved to open the door for her. “One best friend of Naruto’s arrived safe and sound. Now I just need to collect my fee.” He smirked and Sakura scoffed and looked up at him.

“And what fee would that be?”

“I’ll take it in installments over the course of the weekend but I will go ahead and get my first payment before we spy the knucklehead.” He teased and pulled her up close to him. She could feel his chest pressed against hers. Smell that amazing cinnamon scent that only he had. Their lips were barely separated, their breath intertwined in a way that begged them to kiss.

She was shocked, she was aroused and she had just closed her eyes to let them have their second kiss when seemingly as soon as it started it was over and he pulled her away.

“What was that?” She asked slightly out of breath and angry at the overflow of emotions that were racing through her body.

“Evidence that you still want me so bad you can barely stand it.” Pulling her close to whisper in her ear and she actually did let out a soft moan as he whispered out.

“Our mutual friend has so kindly scheduled us some time together. I think this is the perfect opportunity for me to show you something I’m rather good at.” He grinned and pulled away grabbing both of their bags as they walked towards the entrance to the resort.

I really should have stayed at home. Sakura thought to herself as she walked behind Gaara and saw the genuine smile on his face as he greeted Naruto and she finally saw her best friend of over 20 years.

But it had been a while since I’ve had a vacation. Her mind rebutted. Maybe he is just an added part of the relaxation?

“Come on Sakura, Naruto says our rooms are right next to each other isn’t that convenient?” He added and resumed carrying both of their luggage.

Or maybe this weekend will be the most tiring vacation I have ever had.

[clownsgobeepbeep]

Enforcers

@grotesquegabby 

In which the rules of Halloween are demonstrated yet again

Of course, a warning for gore/blood/violence 

After a rather interesting meeting and more, Ula could honestly say that she was filled with surprised at the news she had received about her new friend, or at least that was what she thought of him.

She and her mother had been invited over to her uncle Pepper’s house, this new friend having been at the house to hang out with Ula’s cousins.

Pepper and this ‘Alexander’ character had been chatting, Pepper asking what Alexander planned to do for Halloween as the time finally approached. And then, he said such alarming news.

“Oh, I’ve never celebrated Halloween actually.”

Such shock ran through Ula’s mind, her little body could not believe such a thing! Especially from a guy like this. Now this, this was something Ula had to fix a.s.a.p.

_____________

“So cool cat, what’d you call me up for?”

“Halloween.”

Against her mother’s wishes, Ula had gone out of her home late into the night, wandering the lonesome town until finding herself in the public park. Not too long after, she was accompanied by Alexander who flashed his grin in the darkness.

“I must say that I am bewildered at the fact that you have never celebrated Halloween.” Ula stood before the taller clown who stared down at her. “So, I have decided to make it my personal duty to teach you the wonders of Halloween and its rules.”

“Rules?”

“Indeed! There are a total of eight rules that ust be followed, but five of those are a lot more important than the rest. So these I will teach you throughout this month.”

“Sounds dope! What’s the first one?” Alexander crouched down to be closer to Ula’s height as he kept his hands in his pockets, Ula giving him a sly smile before pulling her out from behind her, revealing a large, orange lollipop with a jack o-lantern face on it.

_____________

After an entire month of waiting, Halloween day had finally arrived.

All sorts of decorations adorned practically everything, wherever you looked there was a pumpkin or bat or spider in sight. This was something that was clearly spotted by the pair that walked along the sidewalk, one carrying an empty burlap sack that dragged on the ground. This one was dressed in an orange onesie with two yellow patches, also wearing a large burlap mask over her head. Next to her was a taller man, wearing an outfit resembling a greaser’s as his hair was slicked and combed back in a matching style.

“This neighborhood is clean.” the one in the burlap stated before the man looked down at her through his shades. “Everybody seems to be following the rules.”

“Yeah!” the greaser nodded before the shorter figure ceased her walking, prompting him to stop as well to not bump into her. They both looked up at a house as they heard a door be slammed, noticing that there was a group of kids standing before it, all with disappointed expressions.

“Looks like we finally found one, huh?” 

“Yeup!” the child nodded as they watched the scene unfold, early trick or treaters leaving the house after having been denied candy. “Rule number one?”

“Always hand out candy to trick or treaters.~” the man gave a big, sinister grin as X’s appeared on his shades, then being handed one of the orange lollipops he had seen so many times throughout the month. He took it, bringing it to his lips to give it a single lick, then taking a bite out of it which left it with sharp curves.

“I’ll see you in a bit.” the child waved to the man who had soon disappeared, so she approached the same door they had been looking at previously. Her sack dragged on the floor once again and remained there as she lifted one of her gloved hands, her finger pressing the button that rang the home’s doorbell.

“I said get out!”

“Trick or Treat!” the child shouted before stomps were heard, angry unlocking followed soon after right before the door was roughly swung open.

“I don’t have any fucking candy, so just fucking leave! Tell all your damn friends no candy here!” the home owner yelled at the child who lowered her sack, tilting her head as he glared down at her. However, she then raised her open sack once again.

“Trick or Treat!” she repeated in a cheery tone, making the man’s frown deepen as he even grit his teeth.

“I said no fucking candy!”

“Well, I’ve got some for ya mofo!” came a voice from inside the house and before the man was able to turn around, he choked out a sound that turned into a gurgle. Right on his throat was the orange lollipop from before, digging deep as it had been stabbed into his neck before being ripped out. With that, the child in front of him saw as blood squirted out of his new wound as he attempted to gasp for air but only dropped to the ground as blood kept pouring out.

“I found some candy inside.”

“Great! You go get it and I drag the body inside.”

“Pfft, you sure?” the greaser gave a chuckle before he was given a look by the child, or at least he very well knew that since she was hiding beneath her large mask.

“Alexander Calamity.”

“Come on, just call me Alex. You know I hate that formality shizz.”

“Okay. Alex, please move your butt so we can go spook more people.~” the child giggled before Alexander gave a grin, his shades showing thumbs up as he saw her pick up the man’s limp body and drag him into the house as a trail of blood was left behind.

_____________

“These decorations are pretty fly, but I bet I can make some better ones.” Alexander commented as he ate a candy bar. “Bet I can make some cooler lookin’ ones though.”

“Well with this stuff,” Ula lifted her burlap sack that now contained a few contents inside, the sack tinted crimson on a few spots. “I’m pretty sure we can make such great ones!”

The pair walked down the sidewalk once again, nearing the town square that was a lot more crowded than the neighborhoods they had been previously visiting.

“You could hang them in your front yard!”

“Yeah! And nobody will ever know what they really are.” Ula giggled as she peeked inside the sack, the contents being severed parts from their latest victim. Alexander had been given the honors to chop the guy up and it was clear that he had fun doing that, even taking everything out of his head that was displayed on his coffee table.

“I said no! I’m not buying it for you!”

“But, but, y-you promised…”

“Hold up!” Ula held up her hands which made Alexander stop walking, his shades now presenting questions marks as he watched her turn to the side where they heard some voices. He also turned to the side, noticing a mother and her son who was crying as he held onto a plastic containing a costume as they stood in front of a table and display with last minute costumes.

“It’s stupid just as Halloween is stupid. I am not buying you the damn costume!” she yelled at the boy before ripping the costume out of his hands and throwing it to the side, then roughly grabbing his wrist in attempt to drag him away from the stand.

“Alex?” Ula turned to the man who furrowed his eyebrows, still maintaining a grin however as he continued to watch the sight in the distance. “That boy’s not gonna be safe from the evil spirits lurking around tonight if he doesn’t get that costume.”

“Word.”

“Do you remember rule number two?”

“Always wear a costume.” Alexander looked down at Ula who gave a nod, both whipping around as they heard a smack.

They looked at the child who now held his cheek that slowly became a reddish hue, tears threatening to pour out of his eyes.

“In this case, we also must enforce the rule of never hurting the innocent.” Ula stated with clenched fists at her sides. “So, I’ll take the boy and you the mom.”

“Aiight. D̴̹̉̍͒́͑̃̚͠͝o̸͈͕̞̹̼̮͙̿p̶̢̼̟̫͎̐̕ȅ̷̙̟̏̾͝.̷̧̟̖͉̹͖͗̔͗̎͜͝.” Alexander’s grin seemed to grow before he and Ula parted ways.

_______

“Now I want you to shut up and not mention this again. Besides, it’s too damn late to be buying costumes, especially such a ridiculous one.”

The mother from before continued to drag her son through town, a clear frown on her features as she heard the child behind her sob.

“Stop crying or I’ll give you a reason to.” she hissed back at him, turning to look at him before she stopped walking in complete surprise. Her hand was not clasped around her son’s wrist but rather…a chocolate bar. How did she not realize such a switch?

“Where did you run off to!?” she yelled out as she turned, barely realizing that she was in an alley that, despite the daylight, seemed to be rather dark. “Come out now! You very well know I’m not in the mood for these games!”

“I wanna play a game though.” she heard somebody speak behind her, so she turned around before her eyes landed on a man dressed as a greaser.

“Who the hell are you!?” she yelled at him as he could only grin at her with such a sinister demeanor. “Where is my son?”

“Not sure you can call someone your k̵̡͙̹̹̞͂̒̇͜ḭ̴̧̢̭̦̱̥̪̩̭͋̐̌̃̈̚͝͝d̶̞̙̜̎͊̀̚̚͝ if you treat them the way you do.”

“Shut the hell up and tell me what you did with him!”

“Don’t worry about it,c̴̢̡̻̝̘͐̚h̶̳̳͕̦̭̪͑̔̽̂͛i̷̧͙̹͒̾̽͆̀̇͠c̵̢̙̮̐̓̓͋͂͋̅ă̸̼̝̔͆̽̑̐͋̊͌͝. My little homie’s taking care of him.” the woman heard as the man pulled his arms from behind him, revealing the very same costume her son had oh so desired. “Meanwhile…

Ī̵̧̈'̸̢̘͒́l̴̛̹̫̳͇̹̥͓͛̐͛̋l̷̛͔̗͚̆̈̃̂́̐̾̕͝ ̶͎̫̠̳̣͔͂͊́̍͂͐̈́̿h̸̡̟͕͓̎ḛ̶͍̾̓͌̈̀̑͊͐͗l̸͙͉͙̞̹͐̅͆̋͆͋͐̄̈́ͅp̴̦͍͉̰̃͂̾̎̾̆̿̈́̀̈́͜͜ ̷̭͖͔͍̰͉͖̌̎̔̊͆͋̆̌͌͝ỵ̸̠͇͇̃̓̋̒̓̈́͛͒̚͝o̸̝͇̟̤̓̅̋͌ự̴̥̦̇̌̏̕ ̶̡͓̠̭̥̬̬̓̈́w̴̩̗̖̝͙̥̖̭͈͕̾̿̽̿i̷̮̭̯͔͋̈̿̈́̚̕t̴̨̢̘͉̺̮̜̮̫̮͛͒̂̒̏̈́̒͠h̶̡̬̎ ̶̧̡̛̤͎͆͑̐̈́͋͗̒y̷̢̺̹͎͙̣̗̖̝̱͊̇̚ò̵̧̰̲̮͈̩͙̹ủ̸̝̭͍̝͈̲̆̆̊͋͊̾̏͋͗r̶̆̍̏̒́̈́͋͆̋̏͜ ̸̨̢̰͙̲̱͖̻͎̇̉̋̉c̷̡̛̠̯̥̭̼̈́̑̂̃̎́̽̚ợ̴̡̦̗̖̠̹͎̔͝s̴̡̨͇͍̩̜̻̳͎͓̓̏̄̉̿̔͂͠t̷̮͉̺̣̦̘͓̥̀̐̎u̴̫̮͑̿̈́̀̓̕͝m̶̥͐̒́̿͒͝e̷̡̨̖̱͍͍͚̣͖͋̇͒͒͜.̸̡̹͇̟͇̝͍̻̂͑́͛̊̋́̊̚͜   ‘’

_____________

After a long night of trick or treating, everybody had soon parted ways and gone home.

Well, mostly everybody.

Just like on very many nights, the window to the bedroom belonging to Ula now slid open ever so carefully. Soon, a burlap sack was dropped down onto the ground outside, falling onto the cool grass below. Then, a foot and leg popped out before being followed by another and then the body they were connected to.

Ula now hopped down onto the grass beside her empty sack, then picking it up as her other hand went up to her mask, adjusting it to then scan the area around her.

“Yo, yo there cool cat.~”

Ula turned around and was slightly startled as she now saw Alexander, still in costume of course, standing behind her.

“Alex!”

“Wassup!” Alexander crouched down to be closer to Ula’s height as they smiled at each other. “What ya got planned now?”

“We must observe all those who are still awake.” Ula whispered before motioning to her bag. “Emptied it out so we can get some pumpkins and possibly candies. Or just some other kind of snacks.”

“Sweet!~” Alexander nodded before standing straight, walking away with Ula as the two giggled to themselves.

They walked around the neighborhood, Ula placing a hand on a plethora of pumpkins who’s lights had gone out. However, she was glad to say that it was but a mere wind that blew out the lights, so that was something that was easily fixed. However, she soon came across a pumpkin that made her stop in her tracks.

“Now that’s shady.” Alexander crouched to touch the pumpkin they found on the ground, completely smashed into several pieces with its seeds and inside spread all out. He reached a hand down to touch it, grabbing a seed before noticing that the rest of the seeds and inside made a trail. In fact, he could easily make out a trail of footsteps which made him grin, his eyes flashing with scary pumpkin faces.

“These pumps got a brutal beating.”

“I know…” Ula mumbled out before Alexander noticed that both her fists were tightly clenched as she shook with clear anger, but he could also sense a tint of sadness in her.

“Hey, let’s give those mofos a taste of their own medicine.” he nudged Ula who gave a nod, walking behind him as he already knew where the culprits were. Soon enough, Alexander found them, a group of young adults who walked down a sidewalk. Their shoes were dirtied with pumpkin remains just as the bats they carried were.

“You wanna sit this one out?” Alexander turned to Ula who gave a soft nod, so he gently pat her head before accepting the burlap sack she now handed over to him. He then cracked his knuckles and even other parts of his body, then heading towards the group as he adjusted his shades that flashes with X’s, his grin still on his features.

“Yo! What’s the dillio around here my dudes?” Alexander asked the group who now stopped walking, turning to him in confusion as he now stood in front of them with his hands on his hips.

“The fuck are you?”

“Just your local cool dude, watching the streets.” he shrugged before pointing to their bats. “What’cha using those for?”

“Smashing pumpkins.” another of the members replied. 

“You’re not one of those who gets sentimental about that, are you?” one asked Alexander before he gave a shrug.

“Maybe. But I do know that you f̷̺̎̍̈́͂̑̃̉̋̕ǫ̶͓̟͖̈́̿̏̈́̌͒͠ơ̵͍̫̅̍͐͂̈́̓̕͘l̵͖͔̞̖̔͐͘͜s̴̡̧̬͔͚̪̰̗͊͌̏ ain’t following certain rules.”

“Rules?”

“Yeah! Never heard of ‘em, huh? Well, let me teach you some.” Alexander gave a nod, right before from his back sprouted a few tentacles but that the group watch him with wide eyes. “Rule number three of Halloween:

ņ̸̟̝͖͙͕̝̫̓̽̄̕e̵̢̫͍̞̠͖̭̜͚̾͊͜v̶͚͛͐̑̅͂e̵̢͈̮͖̹̓͗͂ŗ̸̳͈̟̮͈̝́̃̚͠ ̷̫̺͇̖̮̌͐͘ͅͅb̸̢̬̩͍̟͕̄̌̔͂̀̈́̑̀̕͠ͅl̴̬͚̤̘̓̐̃̓ǫ̴͒̋́͝w̶̨̤͉̣̝̜̲̪̬̎͊̀̔̎̕ ̵̗͖͉̟̝͓̰̣͝o̶̧͚̼̫̤͖̪̬̜̊̌͘͝͠ͅu̷̧̗̩͖͍͂̓t̵̢̬̝̬͇̣̻̱̓̈́͒͐͋ ̷̨̜͇͓͇͇̘̈́͝a̴̼̱̼̭͚͙͛̒̾̚ ̵̢̪̗͓͓̖̇̾̓̀͌͜͝ͅj̵̨̧̥̼͓̭̪́̅̈́͊̎̌͝ȃ̵̝̣̹̃́̿̏c̵̨̨̲͙̪̺̬̺̮͑͒̑͌̕k̸̦̀̈́̔͜͝ ̴͙̎̕̚ơ̷̝͈̏͝’̴͎̔͆̿̐͌̊̌͝l̴̨̞̳͔̻͌͐̾̽̀͆̅͗̕͜ȃ̴̝̪̰̥͚͔̺̖̫̕n̷͙͈̠̣̩̈́̓͒t̶̲͎͎͎̲̞̣̅̎̉e̶̢͙͔̦̠̾̾͆̅̍͋́͘r̴̨̡͚͎̱̲̦̫̃̔͆̐ͅṅ̷̛̞̈́̈́͑͂̍́̚͝ ̷̧̛͖͉̼̜̤̺̈́̎̎̌̾̓ḃ̸̗̥̖̤̂ͅȩ̷̖̖̦̞͇̠̹̭̂̓͆͠f̵͔̊̆͆o̵̡̜͙̦͕͇̜͚̭̓̽́̈́͌̀̈́ͅr̵̨̈́̓̀̋̔̏̾̑͝͝e̶̜̜̟̠͕͗̽́̑̍̈̏̈̕͝ ̴̢̞̲̫͓̭͋m̸̠̦͔̭̜̀̌̐͋͋̿̇͆ḭ̵̝̰͎̺̖̹̟̲̌̒̒̈́̑͑͘͠ͅḍ̷̖̯̗̫̥͊̀̃͑̈́͒̾̒n̶̨͓̪͈̩̮̟̭͍̚͜i̴̧̧̧̤̳̼͇͂͐́̊͂̀͐̔g̵̥͍̠͛̅h̴͍̅̓̿͌͋̄̓̃̔̀ṭ̵̟̃̋̿̕.̵̛͉͎͔̥͇̭̇̑̂̄̂͒̆̉ .

Especially if you’re gonna smash it.”

Before any of them could react, a gasp was heard as a tentacle went right through one of the members, the others now gasping in terror as the tentacle was retrieved. Their eyes followed it and landed on Alexander again as he gave a laugh.

“I̸̡̱̟͐͛͂̈́́͑̀̈́͆ț̸̛͎̘̦̜̳̹̿͌̽̄̉̊͝͝'̷̛̬͖͎̀̍̍̈́͘͝͠͠ş̶̟͉̰̾́͋͘͝͝ ̴̧̘̻̻̈́͊̈́̓̂͛̍͐̐̕g̵̲̩̝͓̩̻̟̞̹͋̀͌̌̍o̸̼͍͂̂́ͅ ̸͖̎̀͋̚t̷̩͎̭̽̄̐̄̑͆i̷̳̓́m̴̛̞̳̭͙̓̀̆̾͑e̷̟͓̖̺̫̻͓̒̌͂͛̊̉̾!̷̨̙͕͚̙̩̺͓̪̔͂̒̿̍̃́̈̂”

“Fuck this!” one of the members shouted out, then running in the opposite direction as the others followed suit, yet they were all brought to the ground as they felt something wrap around their ankles. They realized that tentacles held onto each one of them, dragging them back towards Alexander which filled them all with panic.

“Not time to bounce just yet.~” Alexander then reached down as a bat was swung right at him. “Wrong move.”

In an instant, Alexander snapped the bat in half before discarding of it to the side, then grabbing onto the arm that originally held onto the bat to give it the same treatment. Bones cracked loudly as screams and sobs followed, Alexander only laughing to himself.

“But wait! This isn’t all I’m gonna do!~” he announced before breaking a few more arms and then legs, his tentacles releasing everybody who now had no chance of escaping. “I wanna s̸̢͍̥͉͕̙͓̊̐̈́́͋̇̾̓͘m̴͈̣̯͈͖͋̓̍͂̈́̀͘͜͝à̶̯̮̩͈͙̠͉̞s̷͂̾̊̾̿͊́̓̕̕͜ḩ̸̦̘̗͇̈́́̀͝ͅ some pumpkins too!”

One of the members watched as Alexander approached them, giving a blood curdling shriek as his foot came down to their face, smashing their entire head as Alexander sadistically smiled at all of them. Then another scream followed as he smashed another head, and then another, realizing that blood had splattered onto his shoes as well as the bottom of his jeans.

“My bad, did I make it seem like I forgot about you?” Alexander leaned down, dangerously close as he hovered over one of the remaining members. “Don’t worry, I can fix that b̷͔̺̤̮̙̯̱͗̇͂ͅͅṷ̸̡̘̘̠͙̮͈̖̅̋̓̆̀̕͜͝͠ḑ̵͙͈̭̻̯̰̎̿̐̉͌̄̕. “

He reached down to the person’s neck, squeezing tightly before ripping it all out. Alexander now held a spine and head as he looked down at the survivors who attempted to crawl away, though moving even the slightest bit proved to be a rather difficult task.

“P-please! Stop!”

“We’re s-s-sorry!”

“Talk to the hand dudes.” Alexander reached down yet again, his hand, or in fact claw, jabbing right into a face before he pulled out whatever he could, dropping it on the ground. To finish off, Alexander jumped into the air before smashing the remaining heads, laughing to himself before eventually landing on the sidewalk with a pleased sigh.

“Hey tiny!” Alexander called out before he saw his masked friend approach him. “How was that?”

“Perfect!” Ula gave him a thumbs up before Alexander presented her the spine and head. 

“How’s about we keep some of these as souveniers?”

“Yeah! And we make this head into a pumpkin.”

“Like the way you think homie.”

_____________

“Is this it?”

“Yeup!”

Ula and Alexander now stood before a house, one that seemed to be the slightest bit off. They stared at it for a while before Ula took the lead, walking down the path and up the doorsteps, peeking in through a window to see a man. He was sitting on a couch with a bowl of candies beside him, casually eating every single one as evert wrapper was dropped on the ground.

“What’cha see?” Alexander now stood behind Ula as he peeked into the window as well, shades flashing images of candies.

“A nasty old man.”

“Word.” he nodded before they looked at each other, Ula then presenting yet another orange lollipop before she and Alexander gave each other sinister grins.

_____________

Flipping through the channels of his old television, the man gave a yawn before reaching into his candy bowl once again. He set down his remote control to open one of the wrappers, never realizing as a tentacle reached in and carefully took his bowl. Before the man could reach into the bowl again, a hand placed another bowl, practically identical to the first.

The man popped the candy into his mouth before throwing the trash on the floor, once again reaching into his candy bowl. He repeated his actions from before, popping in the next candy into his mouth and biting into what was a chocolate. However, he then scrunched up his nose and spit the candy out, standing up in disgust as he glared down at the sweet.

“What the fuck!?” he yelled while wiping his mouth, then rushing into his kitchen to turn on the sink, washing his mouth with water as fast as possible. “Ugh, what the fuck….how the hell did I…”

He pondered to himself as spat out just a few more times, wiping his lips again as he had tasted what he had included in a few of the candies he meant to pass out but unfortunately had leftover. So, he approached his couch and grabbed the bowl, taking a sniff of the candies before turning his nose again.

He shook his head and walked towards his kitchen again, never realizing that something crawled on the ceiling above him, following him everywhere he went. The man opened his trash bin before throwing the candies inside, then turning around to see as his television switched channels by itself.

“What the…” he furrowed his eyebrows, then stepping towards it as he figured it was a mere malfunction for his television was old. On the screen were images of costumed children, all chanting trick or treat which made him give a snicker. However, his smirk faltered after having heard a giggle…and right above him.

Ever so slowly yet apprehensively, the man turned his head to look up before his mouth opened as he attempted to let out some sort of sound, but he was too shocked to do so. However, he then managed to give a scream as the figure above him dropped down and clasped onto his head from behind, claws digging right in.

“What the fuck what the fuck! Get off!” the man yelled as he felt the small figure scratching him all over, also holding on very tightly as their legs were wrapped around him. “Get off you bitch!”

The man then took hold of the small one, gripping on tightly to throw them off of him and onto the wall where a loud thump sounded. 

He panted to himself before rushing towards the orange figure, his intentions being to fight as it was now down and hurt, but his intentions were interrupted when he felt his robe be grabbed and tugged back harashly.

“That wasn’t very n̷̡̪̦̪̬̼͈͍͓̓̀͑̏̃̑̈į̸̢̨̨̮̳͇̟̣͇̈́̏̅̈́͒c̴̱̯̠͇̻͍̫̰̥̺̉̈́͋̀̑́̓̅̾̕ẹ̶̺͇̉͜  of you my dude.” he heard as he was thrown onto the ground, then looking up to see Alexander who gave him a devilish grin. “Can’t go around hurting kids like that, not cool.”

“What the fuck do you want from me!?”

“Not much, just wanted to give you a reminder is all.”

“R-reminder!?”

“Yeah, or more like a message to other asses like you.” Alexander gave the man a pat on the head. “And to all those who come by to cribs like this one, always check your candy.~”

The man gave out a gasp as he felt Alexander dig his claws right into his abdomen, digging around as he never looked away from the man.

“Let’s see, what do we have here?” Alexander tilted his head before pulling out intestines that made the man’s breathing worsen as well as quicken with pants. “I can tell there’s lots of candies in here. Hey, come check these out.”

Despite the shock and pain, the man saw as the figure from before stood up from the ground they had been slumped against. They approached him and Alexander, little legs bending to get a closer look of the gorey sight.

“There’s a lot of candy in there.” Ula’s voice was heard before her claw dug into the man as well, making him scream again before coughing out blood. “Some might have poison, good thing we’re checking them.”

“Yeah. I say we keep on checking.” Alexander nodded before reaching into his pocket, pulling out a chocolate bar that he unwrapped to reveal a piece of chocolate with a blade dug into it. Right then, Ula presented her bitten lollipop as well before she and Alexander turned to the man with fiendish smiles.

“Don’t worry.” Ula whispered. “We’ll go slow and make sure we see every piece.”

And for the rest of the night, as a plethora of people peacefully slumbered, screams were heard all around like the wonderful chanting of trick or treaters.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 031: Just How Many Kids Am I Gonna Have to Adopt

Previously on BnHA: Bakugou went on a roaring rampage of revenge. The once-mighty class B ate some humble pie and got shut out of the finals. Tokoyami was the fucking MVP and kept Team Deku’s hopes alive at the last second. Todoroki used his Arm That Reminds Him of His Dad Who He Hates for a half second and had instant angst. He, Deku, Baku, and the mind control guy with purple hair advanced to the final round along with their teammates. Todo and Deku went off to have a private chitchat while their dads met up in a random hallway.

Today on BnHA: Todoroki thinks All Might is Deku’s dad (but is he wrong?). He then tells Deku all about his dad, who is terrible. And his childhood, which is also terrible. And his scar, which, you guessed it -- terrible. All Might and Endeavor have their own separate conversation during which Endeavor is, wait for it... terrible. Deku has no idea how to respond to any of this, so he affectionately declares war. Bakugou listens in on the whole thing because of course he does. I basically lose all of my shit and then some and I’m not gonna pretend like I didn’t.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 68 now, so any ETAs will reflect that. Although there is one ETA here that was written the day after I read the chapter and is noted as such.)

well hello there Todoroki! are you about to become my third adopted son from this series, because it’s getting a bit crowded tbh. but you’re all good boys, so. it’s hard to say no to you

finally some more info about this guy!

his mouth is relatively ill-mannered? I haven’t gotten that vibe from him

(ETA: and I still haven’t? like is he using the wrong kind of keigo or something and I just never noticed or what)

Todoroki’s burn scar: dot dot dot. except that this is one of the few things I think I might have accidentally spoiled myself for, because there was a gif making the rounds a while back that I happened to see accidentally. which is my own damn fault, and it’s not like it’s other people’s job to keep me from getting spoiled. if anything this taught me to take extra care now that I’m at the point where I know and recognize the majority of the cast, and am thus more potentially spoiler-literate than I was before

anyway

(ETA: haha so let me just explain here. I actually was not spoiled, but I thought I was. what happened was that I saw a gif of Todoroki lying on the ground and then his flames slowly ignited, starting from around his left eye right where his scar is, and then expanding to cover the scar. and I thought, oh, that must be what happened originally before he learned to control it! hence, burn scar! little did I know that was not the case at all and that the actual story was so. much. worse. omg. but the whole thing really set me up to be properly shocked, so.)

he apparently is another one who’s not immune to his own abilities! he has to use his left side to regulate the temperature changes from the right so he doesn’t give himself frostbite or anything like that

“if he uses his left side for too long”... yeah I’m pretty sure I did spoil myself there lmao. we’ll see, I guess

IZUKU: “you wanted to talk?” TODOROKI: [GLARES]

well this is off to a smashing good start

there goes Deku comparing everyone and everything to Kacchan once again! Todoroki apparently has “a much colder sort of intimidation”

“you overwhelmed me. so much that I broke my own pledge.” it’s kind of a stupid pledge, honestly, Todo

whoa hold up

did this kid just fucking put two and two together and actually come up with four

“I felt the same pressure coming from you.” hahaha! you don’t say! :’D

WOW he’s SO DAMN CLOSE

I’m pretty sure he’s not! he supposedly does have an actual bio dad somewhere out there, but we’ve never seen him and he doesn’t seem to be around! but!! aside from that, All Might did pass down his quirk and he has adopted him now, so! I’m gonna give him close to full marks for accuracy!

motherfucker, Deku is going off on some meandering rant of denial and it’s possibly the least convincing thing I’ve ever seen

lol Deku. at this point maybe just shut up

now he’s asking why Todoroki thought that. well I guess it must be because he himself is the son of a famous hero, right?

oh shit

yeah, come to think, it really does imply the existence of a “but” there, huh

now he’s telling Izu that his dad is Endeavor. would Izuku have already known that, what with the degree to which he tends to stalk his favorite heroes? the number two hero having a son his own age definitely seems like the type of factoid he would have made a note of

“all the more reason for me to crush you.” boys, no. :( why are all of my sons so antagonistic toward each other

cut to All Might and Endeavor!

All Might is being super nice so naturally Endeavor basically tells him to shove it!

hey, Endeavor! get fucked!!

DAMMIT ALL MIGHT STOP MAKING ME LOVE YOU EVEN MORE

he’s talking about how Todoroki (or “little Shouto” as he calls him... what was the Japanese equivalent? don’t tell me it was Shouto-chan) (ETA: nope, just the same -shounen suffix he uses for all of his kids) won the round even without using his left side, and says that “someone has been raising him well”

are you guys going to have a battle of who is the best dad

?! All Might is asking him for tips on how to dad?

All Might, maybe he’s not the best guy to ask? unless you’re going for a “how to make your son hate your guts” thing here

oh. whoa. hold the fuck up

[PULLS THE CAR AROUND!!] I’VE MADE UP MY MIND, SHOUTO, YOU’RE ADOPTED. HERE, YOU CAN PUT ALL YOUR THINGS IN THE TRUNK, AND I’VE BROUGHT YOU A TEDDY BEAR. TAKE IT EASY, KID, EVERYTHING’S GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT

ENDEAVOR YOU ARE ALSO CANCELLED. I’M SERVING YOU PAPERS. BY THE WAY, I HATE THAT STUPID MUSTACHE

All Might is all, “wut”

lmao I just realized he basically went up to Endeavor and was like “can you give me some advice” and Endeavor’s response was basically, “FUCK YOU!! NO!!! I HATE YOU!! ALSO!!!! MY SON WILL BE BETTER THAN YOU AND THAT’S THE ONLY REASON I HAVE A SON IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!”

and he said all of this while being, just... on fire. just all over the fucking place

what a weird conversation, is my point

he says Todoroki is a “rebellious little brat”, but that he’ll make him surpass All Might

wowwwwwwwwwww. CANCELLED. SO FUCKING CANCELLED

back to Shouto! Shouto we’re on a first name basis now

his dad basically embodies the worst of all this pro hero crap. the complete antithesis of All Might

All Might. bud, hold up. we need to sit down and discuss. there are three of them now, All Might. we need to do everything we can to make sure that none of these impressionable young kids ends up going down the wrong path and ending up like this salty fuck. I apologize for my language, All Might, but this is serious stuff. I know Katsuki is pretty rambunctious, but he has a good heart underneath it all, I’m sure of it. Deku is a good influence on him. now, I don’t know what kind of emotional damage this new one has been dealt, but he seems all right so far, so we just need to make sure he stays on track and makes some good friends, and is doing all this because he wants to be, and not because his POS father tells him it’s what he’s supposed to do

-- oh sorry guys I went off track there

so anyway, Shouto is telling Deku all about his horrible dad who wanted to be better than All Might but wasn’t better than All Might (AND HE COULD NEVER!!!!)

so he “came up with another plan.” oh honey ;_;

Deku apparently doesn’t have any idea why Shouto is telling him all this, because he’s still relatively new to this shounen protagonist stuff, and it’s his first tragic backstory. hush and just listen for a sec, Deku

“quirk marriages” fucking shit we’re really getting into fucking eugenics now. that got real heavy real fast

so basically Shouto’s dad forced his mom’s family to agree to marry their daughter to him. WOW. WOW

now Deku has shut up and looks properly horrified

I’m glad he understands that his father is a total piece of shit, though. like, good. good fucking show, Shouto, you keep it up

“as I remember it, mom was always crying...” ;_;

-- WHAT

WHAT.

DEKU. YOU AND ME ARE TWO OF A KIND HERE

FUCKING WHAT. SO YOU’RE TELLING ME BOTH PARENTS WERE ABUSIVE. DAD IS A NARCISSISTIC ASSHOLE WHILE MOM TOOK HER OWN HORRIFICALLY SHITTY SITUATION OUT ON HER FUCKING CHILD, WHICH IS NOT FUCKING OKAY NO MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES, AND ABUSED HIM EMOTIONALLY AND PHYSICALLY. HOLY FUCKING SHIT

I APPARENTLY WAS NOT, IN FACT, SPOILED BY THAT GIF, THANK GOODNESS

YEAH THIS CAME TOTALLY OUT OF LEFT FUCKING FIELD FOR ME TBH

SHIT

poor Deku really does look so shaken up all of a sudden. like, he has the best mom in the world, who loves him so much even without him having a quirk (as far as she knows). and then along comes this cool kid who seems to have it all, but in fact his home life was horrific and abusive, and he just came up and told Deku all of this out of the blue lol, and I say lol, but I’m not actually lol, you guys, I’m so not lol

okay. okay, dude, I get it. but! I still think that if you were to go ahead and use it, it would still be fine, because in the end you are not him, you’re not his tool, you are you, and you can go ahead and be as incredible of a hero as you want, and it’ll be in spite of Endeavor and certainly not because of him

(ETA: this is basically exactly what Deku ended up telling him. only I bet you I could have done it without dramatically ripping every fucking limb in my body to shreds. but hey, you know, shounens gonna shounen)

does U.A. have counseling. aside from All Might, who to be fair does try his best. but like, real counseling

because if not, they should. have counseling

-- !!!!!!!!!!!!

[AUDIBLE GASPING SOUNDS, I LITERALLY GASPED IN REAL LIFE???!!!!]

KATSUKI OH MY GOD. SURE, GET IN ON THIS. OF COURSE YOU WERE LISTENING, NO FUCKING WAY DEKU AND TODOROKI GO OFF ON THEIR OWN AND YOU DON’T NOTICE AND SLINK OFF TO FOLLOW THEM AND EAVESDROP. BUT I BET YOU WEREN’T EXPECTING THAT, WERE YOU

ARE YOU HAVING FEELINGS OF EMPATHY?? I HOPE TO GOD THIS IS HELPING YOU WITH YOUR EMPATHY MY ANGRY SON

LESSON ONE: DON’T BE LIKE ENDEAVOR!!

LESSON TWO: JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE COOL AND STRONG AND POWERFUL DOESN’T MEAN YOUR LIFE IS AUTOMATICALLY GONNA BE GREAT

LESSON THREE: I’M JUST CURIOUS, WERE YOU LISTENING IN ON THE “IS ALL MIGHT YOUR DAD” PART OF IT TOO?????

OH MY GOD

[shaking out hands to dispel all of my crazy excited nervous energy] oh my god. deep breath. okay

s-sigh. okay, Deku. now you have to say something, okay? don’t think about it too much, just. say something back to him, dude

oh shit Shouto’s walking off now. DEKU YOU DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING!!!!

also!! Shouto mentioned the All Might connection again, so even if Katsuki hadn’t heard him the first time, he definitely heard him now

ugh I’m SO FUCKING DYING TO KNOW just how much Kacchan has actually put together when it comes to the “Deku received his powers from All Might” thing and it drives me fucking crazy and I’m pretty sure I’m not going to get answers any fucking time soon. this manga has been good to me so far, but not that good

(ETA: this is a next day ETA! like, just to be clear, I haven’t read any additional chapters yet. but I was thinking on this some more, and basically I’ve come to the conclusion that Katsuki must know. the thing is, I keep forgetting just how insanely thorough Horikoshi is when it comes to his attention to detail. and I just can’t see him going out of his way to show Katsuki within earshot of a conversation like this, twice (here and on the bus to USJ), and not have that lead up to anything. yes, Katsuki has shown himself to be fairly oblivious to a lot of the goings-on surrounding him if it doesn’t involve him directly. but we’ve also seen that he absolutely does pay attention if the matter involves Deku. and he showed during the fight with Kurogiri and the rest that he’s definitely clever enough to pick up on subtle clues and connect the dots. and the thing is, the thing with Deku getting his power from All Might is not subtle at all. it’s the most obvious fucking thing ever, so obvious that two of Deku’s other classmates have come close to figuring it all out even without any hints. and neither of them had Deku literally come up to them and say “I got my quirk from someone else, but I can’t say from who.” yeah, Bakugou didn’t seem to understand it at the time. but he’s had time to process it since, and I just can’t see any way he wouldn’t have made the connection by now. so until we’re shown otherwise, I’m going to operate under this assumption from now on.)

(ETA 2: as of chapter 68, this is still up in the air! so I stand by it! I’m putting it out there!)

-- DEKU IS SAYING SOMETHING!!!! DEKUUUUU

and he says he’ll repay everyone who helped him by becoming the best

“let me return your declaration of war with my own.” awww. “declaration of war” isn’t really the best description for it lol. not when it’s being done like this

;_;

a healing shounen bond of determination is born

meanwhile Kacchan’s still listening in but doesn’t say anything. last time he got upset because they were having a rivalry without him. I wonder if he’s gonna let them have this thing for themselves this time around

don’t worry Kacchan, no matter what happens you’ll always be Deku’s number one rival. seriously, no matter how many other people he goes around declaring war on, you’re the one that fucking inspires him and lights that crazy fire in him and spurs him on to do crazy things and be amazing. you and All Might. but he’s not in love with All Might

lunch break is over. I wonder if they ever got to eat lunch

lol I’m so checked out of the sports festival now. I just want these three to go get ice cream together and chill

apparently they prepared some sort of “recreational activity” for the kids that didn’t end up making it to the final

um. what

I’m hovering my hand over the “cancel” button once again, people. don’t make me do it

[REPEATEDLY SLAMS CANCEL BUTTON FURIOUSLY!!!!!]

...okay, we’re back to the actual plot now

YESSSS THIS IS WHAT I FUCKING HOPED FOR THE MOSTTT

I mean come on, you can’t have a fucking shounen tournament arc without a fucking tournament

wait a sec. I’m looking at these individual panels, and the only conclusion I can draw is that Aoyama and Ojiro were somehow on the purple haired guy’s team this entire time and I didn’t realize it?? how’d he manage that? (mind control. obviously.)

quick bold predictions: MY GIRL OCHAKO TAKES IT ALL. LET’S GOOOOOO

more seriously, Deku and Todoroki will obviously have to fight each other, most likely in the final. so Bakugou is probably out in the semi or quarterfinals. although I can’t picture him going up against Deku again this soon, and if the finale is going to be Deku and Shouto, having Baku fight Shouto first kind of takes away from that, I feel? so maybe he won’t make it to the semifinals either. in which case probably the purple haired guy will, along with... MY GIRL OCHAKO. DID YOU NOT HEAR ME EARLIER. LET’S DO THIS. PLEASE. SOB

(ETA: honestly this tournament ended up surprising me at every turn. what a fucking ride)

BONUS:

STEEL RYOHEI!

Tetsutetsu is actually a pretty easy name to remember, but I just like calling him Steel Ryohei so much because I feel like it’s so fucking accurate

this guy really likes spinach

[acheaptrickandacheesyoneline]

Chapters: 1/3 Fandom: Arrow (TV 2012) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak, Tommy Merlyn/Oliver Queen, Tommy Merlyn/Felicity Smoak, Tommy Merlyn/Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak Characters: Oliver Queen, Tommy Merlyn, Felicity Smoak Additional Tags: Smoaking billionaires, eventually, no island au, road trip au, dcpolyamficbang, music music everywhere Summary:

Nothing sounds like a better adventure to Oliver and Tommy than roadtripping across the US on their way to their 4th college. What neither of them expect is to meet Felicity Smoak.

When Felicity finds herself broken down on the side of the road, the two rich boys who come to her rescue seem like nothing more than entitled frat boys.

But somehow a road trip turns to more.

Whoops we (@acheaptrickandacheesyoneline and @ohemgeeitscoley) wrote a saga when we weren't paying attention. All because of a love of music, OT3 and Road Trip Fics. It's been a very long planned and talked about fic and YAY IT EXISTS NOW.

Huge thanks to @absentlyabbie and @andyouweremine. You ladies know what you did.

Written for the @dctvpolyamshipweek Big Bang

 TRACK ONE: SUIT AND JACKET by JUDAH AND THE LION 

I ain't trading my youth for no suit and jacket I ain't giving my freedom for your money and status So don't say I'm getting older 'Cause I'll say it when I do

As it turned out, it was a hell of a lot easier to buy a car new at a dealer when he was sixteen than what he was doing now. Which was handing over four hundred in cash to the guy who had shown up when Tommy had called the number scrawled on the windshield of the station wagon.

At least he thought it was a station wagon. His knowledge of cars was nothing compared to Oliver’s. His best friend’s knowledge sort of stopped when it cost less than fifty large though. This tan POS was lucky to be selling for the four hundred he pulled from the ATM.

It was exactly what they needed though. What was the point of a road trip across the country in a shiny, guaranteed-to-make-it luxury car? There was no adventure in that, no risk. They would have the rest of their lives to be predictable and safe.

Tommy just hoped the air conditioning worked.

By the time he pulled into the drive at the Queen Manor, the engine was starting to actually settle down into a noise that might have been normal once upon a time. The CD player had an old Aerosmith disc stuck in it and would not give it up no matter how much he smacked the dashboard. Thankfully, the radio and speakers both worked fine, and Tommy could turn the volume loud enough to cover the strange car noises.

Shutting the car off, Tommy tapped his hands against the steering wheel before getting out of the vehicle.

“What is that?” Thea asked, stepping into his view, her nose curled up in disgust. “Ollie said you were getting a car to drive to your new school.”

Rolling his eyes, Tommy ruffled her hair as he walked past her. “That is a car, Speedy.”

“Not a very good one.” She stuck a hand on her hip, her eyes narrowing as she studied the car. “There is no way my parents are going to let you drive that.”

“Where is Ollie?” Tommy asked, ignoring her comment. He didn't particularly need Thea to tell him something he already knew. “I think we should be getting this show on the road.”

“Wait, what?” Thea asked, and Tommy didn't need to look at her to know that her mood had shifted. “You’re leaving today? But the going away party isn't for another three weeks. No one told me.”

“Fuck,” Tommy muttered under his breath, turning around to look at Thea. “Thea,” he started, shoving his hands in the front of his pockets, before continuing, “We are going to be back before you know it. Hell, you'll probably have no time to miss us before one of us gets kicked out and we’re back here.”

Thea didn't say anything, crossing her arms instead and staring at the ground. Tommy tilted his head up, closing his eyes. Oliver was going to kill him. Leaving Thea wasn't something either of them were particularly happy about doing.

“It’s not like--" Tommy paused, biting his tongue to stop the words ‘the first time' from leaving his mouth. Not because it wasn't the truth, it wasn't the first time they had left for college, but because Thea didn't need the reminder. Every time they left, she reacted the same way. “We won't be gone for long.”

With a large sigh, Thea nodded. “You better not be.”

“C'mon, Thea, let's go get Ollie,” Tommy took a step toward her, holding his hand out. “You don’t want to miss the look on his face when he sees this beauty do you?”

Thea laughed, shaking her head as she took his outstretched hand. “You mean he doesn't know?”

“No,” Tommy said, opening the front door to the Queen Manor, “I thought it would be better as a surprise.”

“Then you’re right, I definitely want to be there when you tell him.”

“When Tommy tells me--" Oliver began, surprisingly close as he glanced behind Tommy, through the open door. “What the fuck is that?”

READ THE REST ON AO3

[always-thirsty-pocket]

Bit of an update on my situation I guess.

I was applying for jobs nonstop for two weeks, I had three interviews, I spectacularly failed the first one because I didn't practice interviewing at all and have been socially isolated for years, so I needed days of practice, I did okay at my 2nd interview but they ghosted me, then I got my third interview at Jack-in-the-Box, who had me back for a 2nd interview, and as of the 18th, I was told I would be hired by Jack-in-the-Box. I'm getting nervous about that though since I got an e-mail yesterday telling me to come in the day before I got the e-mail, but it didn't have a time I was meant to come in, and I had to fil out some forms first. I called the number in the e-mail for clarification, but the manager wasn't there. The guy working said "she just sent those e-mails out today, i'll have her call you but she'll probably have you come in on monday", well I've not been called back nor have I gotten any E-mail, i'm checking my spam folder religiously.

My phone was shut off so i'm using a temporary solution that requires wi-fi to make and receive calls and texts, and it's only semi-reliable. So I hope I'm not missing these calls or something. Hopefully I just get the call tomorrow.

Anyway, i'm very proud to have gotten a job at all, but nervous about how i'll even perform. I foolishly decided to ignore some calls from wal-mart for interviews and now my application for them is no longer in consideration, when they probably would have paid better, I'm just of the mind that right now I need to take the absolute first thing that I get in order to help put a roof on my head, and I can worry about finding a better job after all that.

We're still no closer to understanding where we are going or when or even how. My brother said he'd be using his days off to go talk to people who run affordable housing programs but I've only seen him wasting his time at home these last two days... a friend of mine has made me a very generous offer to move in with his family for up to three months, and possibly permanently if I continue trying to improve myself and pay some rent. But as much as I love my friends, I want that to be my absolute last resort, because I'd feel like a really low pile of dirt abandoning my mother and my nephews when they probably need the extra help, and as of right now, my housemates are the only close family I have left, and I have big regrets about letting myself become distant with the rest of my family.

I had a very bad day last week... Before all this crisis began I had set a goal for myself to learn how to drive, and if my mom would teach me, I'd help pay for a butt load of things that her car needed to be legal to drive on the road, including renewing her driver's license. She agrees but strings me along for months, I later find out she didn't really want to do it because she didn't want me spending my money, which......okay...fine... I get your good intentions, but the result was really fucked up. But anyway, we come to find out her car's Catalytic converter is fucked, and it's too great of an expense for me to pay for... on top of that, I was unable to get one of those free phones because we couldn't prove our residency due to having a PO box. So two of my biggest goals got shot down big time and I started having a panic attack. My aunt is coming down a week from now, supposedly giving us her car and taking ours so her husband can fix it. I worry they're going to flake on us though and it sucks that once again, someone else is bailing us out, we need it right now but being bailed out so often is part of what this mess is even about.

Being hired, and having a safety net offered by my friends makes things feel a lot better but things still look very bleak and uncertain for my family and it feels like i'm the only one taking much action when 60 days ( I think it's more like 50-ish at this point? ) is not a good time limit for all the stuff that needs to be done ( throwing out trash and junk we don't wan to take with us, packing, rehousing the excessive number of pets my brother takes in to impress his boss at the animal shelter, finding out where we're going to live in the first place, applying to live there, so on and so forth ) Like, i'm not above living in less than ideal conditions temporarily until we can get a 4 bedroom place, or hell, I'm not above living in a Garage either. My current bedroom is actually a Garage that was converted into a game room by my father before I was born..... this is what stings so much, this is a house my father grew up in, that I visited many times as a child, and was promised it would be my safety net...

Anyway... this got a lot longer than I intended to, suffice to say I will hopefully be working very soon. I would still appreciate Ko-Fi donations in the meantime, as we will have moving expenses, I needed to buy work and hygiene supplies, i'm still trying to get my mom's license renewed and I want to get my learners permit so I can start driving myself... maybe I can be a delivery driver someday, that's what I wanted to do in the first place because truthfully? I miss my paperboy job, but those don't exist anymore. I'm rambling again. Here's my Ko Fi:

Somebody has also started a Gofundme for my brother. He doesn't believe in hand outs, he's not refusing it, but he's also not advertising it anywhere. He's just being too stubborn for a guy who's down on his luck and has two kids he needs to think about. I'm crossing my fingers that whatever he plans, our mother and myself will be included in those plans, but he's made it clear that if it's only him and his kids that he can afford to live with, then the choice is obvious. And that's fair. I'm not applying for jobs so I can blow all my money on nerd shit though, and my mom, bless her heart, is trying to find ways to work too, but frankly, I worry about her physical condition. She's entering her sixties soon and is in very bad shape... Anyway, if you want to give to my Brother, that's an option too, but I don't know how Gofundme works.

[paintedface]

The Notification of your Name

Summary: You’ve been dating your boyfriend, James Buchanan Barnes, for an entire year, but you’ve never actually met him. 

Pairing: Internet Boyfriend!Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 3415 Words

Warnings: literally none. is fluff even a warning?

Notes: Thank you to @whyisbuckyso for beta-ing this, even when you were busy af! I also know that if you live in an apartment, you’d normally have a PO box, but for the story’s sake, it was a tiny package delivered into the apartment mailbox. They may be ‘rushing’ it but like,, they’ve been dating a year already. also the gif below is my image of bucky in this one, just without the beard and a lil younger looking. 

Permanent Tags are OPEN | masterlist

A notification sounds from your pocket and you pull your phone out quickly as you slice open the tape of one of many cardboard boxes, piled up in the corner of the room.

Bucky ❤:

How is my beautiful girl this morning?

Grabbing a stack of throw blankets from the box and tossing them onto the couch, you quickly tap out a reply.

Y/N:

I’m doing good, now that you have me blushing

You take the time to look around your new apartment, relieved that your best friends had helped out with the furniture placement, and now it was just up to you to decorate the rest of the place. University’s given you the chance to finally get a place of your own, and it’s everything you could’ve wanted. Enough space to have your friends over, and not too big to make the place feel lonely.

Bucky ❤:

Aww, I bet that’s a nice image ;)

Y/N:

Shut up you handsome jerk

James Buchanan Barnes, or Bucky as he likes to tell people to call him, is your boyfriend of a year. Since you started talking, you could never put down your phone, as there was an endless supply of notifications of FaceTime requests, SnapChat photos, texts and a variety of other apps. The thing is, even if you’ve skyped almost every single day, you’ve never actually met the guy.

It wasn’t your decision to join Tinder, your so-called two best friends, who were always waltzing around with their boyfriends, decided that you needed one too.

“Y/N, I swear to god, if you don’t make one, I will.” Samantha tells you, dangling your phone from your fingertips.

“I don’t, fucking, need one!” You groan, attempting to snatch your phone from her grasps, to no avail.

Nicolette rolls her eyes, perching on a barstool as she sips on some exotic Starbucks beverage. “Sure you don’t. Y/N, you deserve a guy who’ll treat you right. Or a girl, maybe even one who doesn’t identify as either. Still! You’re lonely, for fuck’s sake.”

“I can find a guy without a dating app, okay?” You slump on the couch when Samantha threatens to throw the phone out of the window.

Both of them raise a skeptical eyebrow at that and you huff, crossing your arms. “Fine, I can’t. Just do it, okay?”

“You’ve got a match!” Sam screams, as Nic and you scramble over to see who you matched with.

All of your eyes widen, almost comically, when you see who it is, because shit.

“Holy fuck, can I steal your tinder account so I can steal this guy away?” Nic says breathlessly, and you’re able to grab your phone off Sam, pinching yourself to see if you’re seeing things right.

Yeah, maybe letting your friends set up an online dating profile for you wasn’t so bad.

Day and night, you talked about everyone and everything, talking about movies, awkward social situations and so much more. You were hooked with him, and the first time that you facetimed, you both practically started crying. He told you to wear no makeup, to be yourself, and the whole time, Bucky was praising you and your face. He was hesitant to show you his metal arm in action, from a nasty car accident two years ago, but you told him that it was so fucking cool. You’re both nerds. But he’s a hot one.

After you’ve unpacked most of your boxes, your two idiots of best friends come and swing by, taking you to a local diner. It’s a classic, stereotypical American diner, with milkshakes and burgers, but you love it. A brunette named Darcy takes your order, her smile wide as you make small conversation with her.

“So,” Sam leans forward on her elbows, “Doesn’t Bucky live in this city?”

Your eyebrows scrunch together in confusion, before your hands cup your mouth in surprise. “Shit, I think he does!”

You pause before you can get too excited, and you lean back into the booth. “Wait, but what if he doesn’t want to see me?”

Nic smacks your arm, glaring at you. “He’s your fucking boyfriend, Y/N, what do you think? He loves you!”

Sam shakes back her hair, taking a sip of her milkshake. “You think he’d pass up the chance to meet you? You two are made for each other, and you’ve been dating for a year without seeing one another! That’s gotta mean something.”

You nod slowly but you bite your lip still. “What if I’m not what he expects, though? What if I don’t live up to-“

“Y/N! You’ve facetimed so much, that I swear you know each other inside out. I promise,” Nic rests a hand on your arm, “That if you do end up meeting, you’ll be more than fine.”

“Not to mention your expression whenever you see a notification from him, it’s hilarious!” Sam snickers, and before you can punch her, Darcy comes along with your food.

“Who’s him? Who’s the special guy that this lovely lady likes?” Darcy asks, leaning on your table, her eyes sparkling when you realise that she heard almost all of your conversation. You can’t stop your two friends from sparing no detail from Darcy.

When you arrive back home, you see a thin package wrapped in brown paper and string, sitting on the floor outside of your door. That’s weird, you think, because any package would normally be delivered in your mailbox outside of your apartment block.

You see that the delivery details on the brown paper are definitely yours, though the name is your Mum’s. You carefully tear open the paper and the edges of your mouth curls up when you see a small, fresh dot-journal in there. You told your mum that you wanted one, to organise your life once you moved in, and she obviously already got one delivered to your apartment.

You put it in your bag, but before you can crumple up the brown paper, you see a small note with delicate black script stuck on the other side of the paper.

Hi new neighbour (I heard all the general moving chaos),

This was accidentally delivered to my mailbox instead of yours, so I decided to put it out here. I’m pretty sure nobody will steal it. Hopefully.

Sincerely,

James (Apartment 306)

You grin at the note, and pocket that as well. You’ll have to meet this James person one day, apparently he’s in the room opposite you. Already, you’re having good feelings about staying in this new place.

A WEEK LATER

Of course, the day that you remember that you have a shift at the coffee shop, is the day that you don’t actually have a shift at the coffee shop. As soon as you shut off your alarm, you realise that you’re already up and there’s no point going back to sleep. Brushing your teeth and putting on some makeup (so you don’t look quite so dead) and cute yet comfortable clothes, you grab your keys and get ready to head out. The diner makes some really good breakfast food, as Darcy has proved, so that’s your morning destination.

Slinging your bag over your shoulder as you tap out a text to Darcy (you ended up exchanging numbers after the first time you met), you don’t notice that somebody else is coming out of the opposite apartment. You let out a shocked gasp as you walk into somebody at the same time that somebody walks right into you. They stumble back a little and your phone slips out of your grasp from the collision. You instantly begin apologising, while you’re scrambling to obtain your phone from the floor.

“Shit, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you!” You exclaim, as the other person tries to catch their breath.

“No, it’s fine, I didn’t see you either! Hey, you’re the new neighbour, right?” He asks a little shakily, but he lets out a chuckle at the end of his sentence.

“Yeah, I am, I moved in a week ago.” You take the hand that he offers you, before standing up. “My name’s…”

You trail off instantly, eyes widening in shock, seeing your expression mirrored by the man in front of you.

“Y/N?!” “Bucky?!”

You stare at each other, and your heart is thudding so fast and so loud that you think that Bucky can hear it.

You’re expecting it to just be a trick of the eye, but he said your name too. He looks so much fucking better in real life, looking like he was sculpted by the gods themselves. Soft, wavy brown hair falling over his forehead, stormy blue eyes, clear, smooth skin and a jawline that would probably give you a cut if you tried to touch it. Just looking at him makes your legs buckle a little.

Suddenly, you feel strong hands grip your waist and you squeal as he spins you around effortlessly, his broad, husky laugh filling the air. He pulls you into an impossibly tight hug, burying his face in the crook of your neck as you clutch onto him tightly. You’re pretty sure the grip that you’re holding each other in is painful to the two of you, but nothing else matters but the fact that you’re finally, finally in each other’s arms.

“Fuck, baby, it’s actually you?” He whispers breathlessly, muffled by your skin against his mouth.

You nod, rendered speechless as he pulls away a little.

“Shit, Y/N, I can’t believe it. To think that just this morning, I was gonna message you to see if we could meet up, all romantically. But here I am, in a singlet and boxers, in front of the love of my life.” He chuckles softly, and your smile is so goddamn wide that it hurts your cheeks. Not to mention the blush that’s quickly appearing at the ‘love of my life’.

“To be honest, you look great in a singlet and boxers. I’m not complaining.” You grin, finally recovering your voice, and he glares at you playfully, but a smile breaks onto his face. 

“Of course you wouldn’t be complaining, you get the good view.” He murmurs, before he pulls you back into a close embrace, shutting his eyes as he nuzzles the top of your head, ghosting his lips over your hair. You can feel his metal prosthetic resting on the curve of your back, it’s cool to the touch, and it’s him. It’s Bucky.

“I still can’t believe it’s you, Buck.” You say softly and he leans down to press a soft kiss to your forehead. It doesn’t feel forced, or awkward, it feels like he’s been doing it to you for years.

“I know, neither…” His actions still, and he raises an eyebrow at you. “Hold on. If you’re living there…” He points to your apartment’s door, before continuing, “Then whose name was on that package I left outside?”

You giggle, looking up at his confused puppy dog expression. “That was my mum’s name, she sent me a journal.”

Realisation dawns on his features, and then his fingers tighten on your waist a little. “Are you actually my neighbour now?” For a moment you’re paranoid that he doesn’t want you to live across from him, but judging by the wide smile on his face, you’re pretty sure he wants it.

“Apparently I am.” You shrug lightly, and his eyes are shining so brightly that you’re probably going to be blinded by it. But at least he’d be the last thing you’d see.

“Well, my beautiful girlfriend…” He murmurs in your ear and fuck, it’s so much better hearing him say it in real life rather than on FaceTime, “Would you like to go out to breakfast with me?”

Your heart leaps and you nod, before giving him a small smirk. “You’re gonna go out in your current ensemble? I mean, it’s fine to me, but it’s pretty chilly outside.”  

“Oh right, I forgot about that.” He doesn’t let go of your hand as he unlocks his apartment door. “I was gonna go down to the lobby to get an iced coffee because I don’t have any coffee left, so I didn’t bother to change.”

You step through the door into his apartment and your mouth parts slightly, looking around. It’s got a similar layout to yours, but it’s filled to the brim with unique hints of the man himself. Framed posters of action films, vinyls stacked in trays, fucking succulents on the window sills…now you can remember seeing some of them in the background of his facetimes and skypes.

“I’ll be right back, doll, but make yourself comfortable. I was binge watching Brooklyn 99.” He kisses the top of your head, setting butterflies fluttering in your stomach, not wanting to let go of him. He’ll be an apartment away, every day from now on, you think to yourself. You watch as he disappears into his bedroom, before you plonk yourself down on the sofa, immediately dragging a blanket around you. You can smell a hint of his cologne on the material, rolling your eyes at yourself for your gushy actions, before pressing play on an old Halloween episode of Brooklyn 99.

“Fuck, Y/N, I come in all smooth and prepared and then you’re curled up in a blanket? How am I meant to compose myself then?” A voice groans behind you, and you turn to see Bucky standing there, with his arms folded and a pout on his very kissable lips. He’s wearing a shirt with the top buttons undone, with a sweater and denim jacket over the top. As well as skinny jeans, boots and a scarf wound around his neck, his hair still slightly ruffled. His metal hand is exposed, warming your heart to think that he’s already comfortable to show it, around you.

“I’m not meant to look cute, I’m meant to look dead.” You reply simply and he snickers, sitting down beside you and pulling you into his lap.

“Well you’re not succeeding at looking dead. You look even cuter in real life, babe.” He tells you gently, letting out a content noise as he noses at your hair.

“It’s so fuckin surreal to see your face out of the screen, Buck.” You lean up to run your eyes along his features again, still trying to comprehend that he’s here with you.  

Bucky gives you a warm smile, running his gaze up and down your body. “You too, beautiful. Now,” He grunts a little as he stands up, pulling you up with him, “May I take you to breakfast?”

“Well, well, well! Who do we have here?” You laugh as Darcy waltzes her way over to your booth, speaking in a sing-song voice. Bucky refused to sit on the other side of the table, not wanting to let you out of his arms.

“Darce, this is Bucky. Bucky, Darce.” You say, and Darcy instantly shakes his hand, her eyes bright.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Bucky. So you finally met, huh?” She brushes back her dark curls, before sitting down on the other side of the booth with her order pad ready.

“Mm hm, entirely by accident. We ran into each other…” Bucky says and after a beat, he mumbles, “literally.”

Darcy raises an elegant eyebrow, before poising her pen over her notepad. “Well, why don’t you tell me all about it over a breakfast on the house?”

Darcy doesn’t stay for too long, giving you the chance to talk more with Bucky, but her being, well, Darcy, she still gets a lot of information out of the two of you.

“So…” Bucky takes a sip of coffee, before shifting to look at you. He smiles again, one of those quirky yet beautiful smiles. “I’d ask to come over to yours tonight, but you’re sort of only a few metres away.”

You grin back at him, arms tightening around his neck. “Well, you’re welcome to come over, I’ll give you the key one day. If you’re able to walk across the hallway, old man.”

He snorts, rolling his eyes. “Since when am I old? I’m only a year older than you.” He pinches your side gently and you jump, giggling.

“Anyone older than me is elderly.” Your throat hitches when he stares at you, resting his forehead against yours. You can feel his breath tickling your lips, and he slowly leans in, his lips brushing yours…

“OH SHIT, OH SHIT, OH SHIT!” Somebody screams from the door and the two of you jump apart, blushes on your face, though your hands remain intertwined.

You can see Sam and Nic run full speed towards the two of you, before simultaneously sliding into the opposite booth seat.

“Why do you guys always ruin the perfect moments?” You mutter under your breath.

THE NEXT DAY

“Well, you’re a sight for sore eyes, doll.” A low voice says, and you look up from your desk, ready to knock out the asshole who’s trying to hit on you. Your fists instantly unclench at the sight of Bucky, and you collect up your laptop and books into your bag, slinging it over your shoulder.

“How’d you know which lecture I was in? Do you even go to this place?” You ask curiously, following him out into the university’s main hall. Even his walk is like a proud motherfucker, making you feel like a teen with a crush on a jock again.

“Of course I go here! I thought you knew that! And I’m pretty sure you told me that this was your last class of the day, so I naturally assumed that you’d be here.” He shrugs, winding his arm around your shoulders.

“Y’know, it’s a lot better knowing that I can see you after Uni instead of having to FaceTime you.” You give him a smile and he smirks back.  

“You’re right on that one, gorgeous.” He drawls, giving you a sideway glance that makes you weak at the knees. His impossibly smug look fades when you move closer to him, a blush creeping up his face.

You notice, and you grin to yourself as you loop your arms around his neck, watching as his tongue darts out to lick his lips nervously.

“What’s wrong, pretty boy? Not so cocky anymore?” You ask softly, the corner of your mouth quirking up and he swallows audibly, running a hand through his soft brown locks.

“Fuck, Y/N…I can’t, when you’re this close, you know what you do to me.” He groans quietly and you giggle a little, before resting a hand on his cheek.

“Is this okay?” You say shyly, and he nods instantly, drawing you closer with his metal arm around your waist.

“More than okay, beautiful. I’ve wanted this for a year.” Bucky breathes, before finally, finally, connecting his lips to yours, urgent yet lovingly. You can’t stop the little gasp from slipping out, before pressing forward. It’s everything you’ve wanted and more, his grip on you tightening as he deepens the kiss. He tastes of sugar and caffeine, he tastes of something you’ve been missing. And when you finally part, breathing heavily with wide smiles on your face, you realise that even if you’ve been dating online for a year, having him here, with you, is all you need.

A WEEK LATER

Incoming Phone Call from:

Bucky ❤

Your smile widens, and you press ‘receive.’

“Yeah?”

“You know how you gave me a key to your apartment?”

“Mm hm, Buck?” You cross one leg over the other, pointing your toes.

“Wow, you have a really nice kitchen.”

You lift an eyebrow, raising your head from the pillow, ears perking up. “Y’know, that sounds really creepy.”

“It’s not creepy if it’s true. Wait, no, never mind. I don’t have a way with words.” He says, and you see the bedroom door open, your boyfriend stepping through with his phone to his ear. White singlet and boxers, fuck, that’ll be the death of you.  

“That was even creepier, Buck.” You tell him as he crawls onto the bed, covering your lips with his own gently, before pulling you into his chest.

“I know. I just shouldn’t speak anymore.” He grins, clicking off his phone and tossing it onto the bedside table, before nuzzling the crook of your neck.

“You’re such a dork, Buck.” You tell him, pulling the covers over the two of you as you turn on your TV.

“Yeah, but I’m your dork.”

permanent tags (OPEN): @vibranium-arm​ / @gallifreyansass​ / @omalleysgirl22​​ / @girlwith100names​​ / @buckysinthesinbin​ / @cameronahugenerd​​ / @imsecretlyromanburki​​ / @megan-atthedisco-blog​​ / @buckys-fossil​​ / @iamwarrenspeace​​ / @sofiathearab / @alohabucky​​ / @buckyappreciationsociety​​ / @debbielovesbucky​​ / @metal-armed-dino​​ / @helloitscrowley​​ / @sebastian-stans-thighs​​ / @fantastic-fantasy-fanfics​​ / @hela-goddess-0f-death​ ​ / @feelmyroarrrr​ / @mjuikoli​ / @meganliiz​ / @yoyolovesbucky / @srgntjbarnes / @carriefish-er / @jurassicbarnes / @ssweet-empowerment / @shieldagentofthemonth / @palaiasaurus64 / @i-love-superhero / @infiniteholland / @ailynalonso15 / @bywonater / @vanillaicecrusher

(strike through means I couldn’t tag you, sorry!)​

[l0chn3ss]

Tipped Off

Written for @souleaterpolyamweek Soul Eater Polyamory Week 2018 Day 4- Fighting Team

Black Star, Kim Diehl, Maka Albarn | Day 4 Read on FFNET or AO3

On Thursday night, Kim decided to pay attention to her side of the restaurant for once in her waitressing life. Just that afternoon, she'd spotted a discounted Mac in the ads, and with her own laptop on its last breath, it was a deal that she wanted to take. She'd done some math and figured that with a week's worth of extra tips and a punctual paycheck, she could have her prize as soon as Wednesday. She just had to swallow her pride and put on her best smiles.

With her resolve fueling her, she plastered a chipper facade onto her face and approached her next table.

"Hello, my name is Kim, and I'll be your waiter tonight. Can I get you started with some drinks?"

The boy closest to the edge of the booth jumped in surprise. "Sorry, what?"

Her eyebrow twitched, her smile faltered. "My name is Kim. Can I get you guys some drinks?"

"Uh, what's uh, what kind of drinks do you have?"

Before she could answer, the two boys across from her laughed. "Come on, Black Star. She's not that cute."

Kim squeaked, "Excuse me?"

Quickly, the boy closest to the window waved his hand and corrected himself. "Sorry, not you. I meant the girl sitting over there by herself."

Without looking to where he was pointing, Kim continued on as if that blunder never happened. "For drinks, we have Sprite, Sunkist, Pepsi-"

"Pepsi for me," the boy to her right said. He gestured next to him, to the same boy who spoke up before, "Kilik'll have one too, probably." A nod confirmed his order. "And Black Star? For you?"

The one sitting alone on his side of the booth rubbed his head. He was still flustered, still flipping through the pages of the menu in attempts to find the beverages section, but he gave up soon after his friend brought him to attention. The boy, Black Star, apparently, muttered, "Just water."

"Right. I'll be back with that soon."

As she left, she heard them begin to bicker again.

"She's alone. Go make a move, Star!"

"I'm not getting up for that."

"Your loss."

"Shut up, Harvar."

"Seriously, he's right. What's gotten into you?"

"You shut up, too, Kilik."

Kim tapped their order into the POS system, trying to forget about their topic of conversation. It wasn't her first time hearing customers talk about their respective love interests. As a waitress, she was easily mistaken as a prop or a side character to some greater story, and so Kim had heard plenty of interesting things from people who didn't bother to restrain themselves.

She confirmed her entry, then moved onto her next task.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the group of boys growing rowdy again. They dug their fists into each other's heads and laughed as if they had no other care in the world. Rather, they had just one, and that was apparently caused by the not-that-cute girl that they were referring to before.

Kim wasn't curious, but she was very nosy. When she walked back to deliver the drinks, she took a peek in the general direction she remembered being pointed towards. There sat a petite girl, about Kim's age, ash blonde and doe eyed. She'd been at the restaurant for the last hour and a half, surrounded by books and an endless order of coffee and garlic bread for her table of one.

Though she wasn't seated in Kim's section this time, the girl, a regular, spurred a flurry of whispers amongst the staff whenever she arrived. She came every few weeks, sometimes with a couple of friends or her father, but most frequently as a solo diner. Given the amount of time she spent in the restaurant, she must have sampled the entire menu at least twice, and she always offered a generous tip before she left. The staff were always happy to see her, and some knew her by name.

Weirdly enough, Kim was not one of the lucky few with that sort of information.

It was always business and tips when it came to the restaurant. She didn't want to turn it into one of her stomping grounds, especially when she had so much else to do outside of it. Sure, she's made friends here before, but Kim has no desire to be part of the gritty details and workplace drama. It was only her money maker, her bread and butter. Soon enough, she'd be out anyway.

She fought the urge to take another look at the girl, worried that she would be caught in the middle of the act. The group was completely wrong: she was that cute, so much so that the wait staff fought over whose area to seat her in. Kim had been the lucky person last time, and somehow, it was enough to pacify her for the time being.

As she made her way back to the boys' table, drinks at the ready, she hitched her customer service smile back up onto her face. "Here you are!" she said sweetly, "Can I take your—"

"One more minute," a boy interrupted. Harvar, was it?

Kim forced wider. "Ok, take your ti—"

"No, it's fine," Black Star groaned, running both hands through his blue hair. "I'm ready now."

"You sure?" his friend teased, "We can wait."

Black Star looked unamused. "Fuck off, Harvar."

"Right, ok, your order?" Kim tried again, peeved at the interruptions but reluctantly amused, too. She had a natural tendency to poke at others already, and so the group managed to coax a few sarcastic comments from her as they went on, accidental at first, but eventually purposeful.

It took her a while to extract their order of one appetizer and three entrees between their ongoing banter, but each dish came with interesting details, and despite everything, Kim found herself hanging onto their conversation. They were fun to be around, and unsurprisingly, they were as welcoming as if they knew her all along. The group had even managed to get a rise out of Kim, laughing when she hit Black Star on the back of his head with her notepad.

"Come on, stop bothering the waitress, Black Star," Kilik said.

"She's not stopping me, besides, they're plenty of me to go around!"

"We're tired," Harvar said, but his tone suggested otherwise.

"And I'm not."

"But you still won't go up to the girl over there, even after showing me your moves?" Kim jutted her thumb behind her, turning to look as she did and catching the brief movement of pigtails. "Tragic."

Black Star's ears turned red while the others snickered. Harvar held up his hand for a high five, which Kim found within herself to return.

"S-shut up! It's different."

She snorted. "Relatable. But watching you two making eyes at each other is going to make the entire restaurant lose their appetite."

"We're not- I mean, she's not- Wait I'm not- We really are not!"

Kim left Harvar and Kilik to their teasing. All three of them were ballsy; she'd give them that, but they weren't enough to pull Kim away from her tips— at least, not yet.

She slid into the kitchen to report to the line cooks that another one had fallen for the girl.

"God, I want to see what this chick is like."

"Maybe once you wipe the grease off your face," the guy from the back corner yelled, guffawing.

"Ay, Kim, you afraid of some competition?"

Scoffing, she pinned the table's order onto the board. "Please, if Lydia failed, what makes you think I'd be arsed to try myself?"

"Lydia ain't you, though."

Once the food was ready, Kim hoisted the large tray onto her shoulder and crossed the distance again to deliver it; on the way, she couldn't resist the urge to check on the girl for a brief moment before moving on.

"Right-o. Is there anything else I can get you guys?"

"Actually, yeah." Kilik nodded towards the girl. "You can get this fool her number. He still hasn't shut up since you left."

"Well, y'all are the ones who can't stop dissing me!"

Kim raised an eyebrow. "What's in this for me?"

"Satisfaction of helping out a thirsty boy?"

"Peace and quiet?"

"I can't believe you two," Black Star groaned.

She raised an eyebrow. "This is actually kind of sickening, but in a romantic way."

Kim really was surprised that, despite all his boyish charm, he didn't have the guts to talk to the regular girl himself. He'd proven it enough while talking to her, but why not do it once again to the girl who seemed equally as smitten? If it was anything like what he was showing Kim, he should've had no problem.

People were strange.

"No gain, no deal," she said, turning to leave.

"Wait."

Black Star's tone managed to stop Kim in her tracks. She saw a shift in his demeanor, a playful smile surfaced along with a glint in his eye. He leaned forward and put his weight onto the table. "How about my number, too?"

Kilik and Harvar howled with laughter. "Black Star, you sly, sly dog! Leave some for the rest of us!"

Blinking, then cocking her hip, Kim smirked, "You think you can handle me?"

"Absolutely."

"And her? At the same time?"

"Get me her number and find out."

She smacked him upside the head again, said, "Nice try. Drink your water now, thirsty," and left to swoon in peace, out of sight.

Once away, Kim let a true smile emerge on her lips. She hadn't felt her interest build since the first time she'd served the regular girl while she was still new to the job. Both of them attracted her, enticed her.

But, would she get a couple extra dollars if she helped?

Before she could go back into the kitchen, her coworker stopped her.

"Oy, Kim? My shift is ending but I still have three tables. Can you cover? Table 13 and 14 are still on entrees. But table 18 needs her check."

Lightbulb.

"You got it, but you owe me."

"Oh please." Her friend rolled their eyes. "Taking my tips should be good compensation. I got to make the bus on time, so they're all yours."

"Good point. You can leave now."

They snorted. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Not wasting any time, she hopped to the register to gather what she needed. After checking to see if the boys were looking over- which they weren't- she snuck over to the girl's table across the restaurant.

"Hey," Kim said, sliding into the seat across from her, placing down the receipt and hushing the girl's surprise. "I'm not supposed to be doing this, but you know the guy with the blue hair— hold it! Don't look over." She snapped her fingers, commanding attention again. "Come on, you've done it enough tonight. But yeah, him. He wants your number, so can I get the digits and a name to go with it?"

"Oh," the girl squeaked.

Cute.

"I, uh. I know who you're talking about. Hard to not notice… Name's Maka, and let me get a piece of paper."

"That was kind of easy. More than I thought, actually."

Maka blushed and tore off a corner of lined paper. "I mean, why not, I guess."

Kim hummed. "So, he definitely wasn't the only one watching, huh?"

The deepening color on her cheeks confirmed Kim's suspicions. Without looking at the phone number, she snatched it away once Maka's pen stopped and held it between her index and middle finger.

"You're cute, really," Kim said. "I'll be back to collect the bill. Expect a text soon, or whatever."

In no time at all, she was back at the other table, flicking the paper at the boy's head. "I work fast," she put it simply. "Don't forget to leave generous payment."

There was a small sting in her heart that came with helping two people get together, especially when she was feeling a type of way for them both. She didn't stay for long once she was sure that Black Star had taken a look at the contents inside of the paper, only saying briefly who it belonged to, the girl's name feeling strange on her lips.

"You treat her well, you hear?"

And with that, Kim left the table alone for the rest of their time, doubling on the others more vigorously. By the time she'd looked back to Maka's table, she was gone, books and all. Though a five dollar bill replaced her, Kim sort of wished that the person was still there instead.

She dropped it into her apron and decided to forget about it while she cleared the table.

After an immeasurable amount of time had passed, she eventually found herself back at with the boys, taking care of their bill and exchanging a few more words before they left, half-heartedly. The continued to speak in hushed voices whenever Kim came close, and she figured that she may have overstayed her visit. It wasn't a waitress' role to get involved with the customer after all.

"I'll leave you to it then, thanks for dining with us today," Kim said as she dropped off their card and their copy of the receipt.

However, that wasn't the last surprise of the night.

On the line meant for tips, a ten digit number was filled in instead of an amount. Kim snorted, "I would have preferred cash, but whatever."

She was added to a group chat by the end of her shift.

Prompt-

@otpprompts: Person A is at a restaurant with family members or friends when they see someone also dining in the restaurant, but they're alone (Person B). When the waitstaff-person (Person C if OT3) comes back to A's table and asks if there's anything else they can get them, Person A replies "Yeah, that person's phone number," and points to Person B. Cue them actually going up and getting B's number for A. OT3 Bonus: Person C asks if it's alright if they get Person A's number as well and they all begin to have phone chats and group texts. Persons B and C make fun of Person A for "using their waitstaff as a wingman".

Thank you to Alliope, Psychadelicrose, and soundofez for betaing!