#my hands have been shaking for the past thirty minutes btw

[radioactive-cloud]

changed my fucking profile pic so i can see this every time i open this godforsaken app i'm so sick it's not even funny

[pervysenpaix]

At work and I’m having horny thoughts…like I just can’t stop thinking about katsuki ‘thick cock’ bakugo and how he’s so obsessed and possessive with his gf

So obsessed that he takes one of your slick covered panties with him to work for good luck, and sniffs those very same panties every time deku or some useless extras piss him off

So possessive that before he steps foot out the door he makes sure to leave your neck covered in dark hickies

So obsessed that sooner or later he persuades you (after one night of six intense orgasms, three from his mouth and the other three from his cock) into joining his agency

So possessive that after noticing that you’ve gained the attention of fellow pro hero’s Shoto, Red Riot, and Deku he decides to show them that you belong to him and only him

Which lead to bakugo fucking his poor gf through multiple orgasms with a choked out suki and daddy slipping past her lips all the while the three other pros watched strapped down to their chairs with aching cocks straining in their pants

So, are we gonna talk about this or ......................................? No ? Okay, cool.

Bitch (do you mind me calling you bitch ? it's a term of endearment for me lmao) , I had to literally set some time aside and grab some ice coffee and my glasses just so I could do this properly. I'm heading over to y0ur profile right after this cause honey you is NASTY 🥵 Btw, did you wanna get out of here after this because .....😈

WARNING (18+)- NSFW content, viewer discretion advised.

Exhibitionism

Mutual masturbation (because it’s definetly not gay to help your bro)

Bondage

Marking

Squirting

Degrading

Creampie

Oral sex

"Fucking extras" Katsuki muttered, clenching the damp fabric in his fist. He’d been watching you through the crack in his door for the past twenty minutes, laughing and joking with pro heroes.

“You’re pretty marked up, (y/n). I guess you and Bakubro had a pretty good lunch, huh ?” He teased, throwing his harm over your shoulder. “Oh, god. Is it that bad you groaned” looking between the three men, “well you’re costume is pretty … revealing” Izuku responded, green eyes, shamelessly, roaming your body.

You scoffed, “oh please, you and Shoto wear spandex body suits and Ei’s practically naked. You all look like whores” you stuck your tongue out and crossed your arms, making the men chuckle. “That may be true” Shoto smirked, “but we don’t have the same asssets that you do.” Your cheeks burned but you weren’t going to let a little boy talk throw you off, “Izuku does, it must be jelly cause jam doesn’t shake like that”.

Katsuki felt his resolve snap, no longer drawing that calming feeling that’d overcome him whenever he’d inhale your scent. So angry that he couldn’t even envision his happy place, 10 inches deep inside you, these extras were fucking with his peace. How dare they ?

Ever since he’d convinced you to join his and Red Riots agency, definitely because of your potential as a sidekick and not because he wanted to keep an eye on his property, those three had swarmed you like vultures.

“Wow (y/n)-San, you were amazing ! I wish Shoto and I had you at our agency!” Deku would beam excitedly, grabbing both of her hands and pulling them to his chest. “I agree, Midoriya. I’d definitely love someone with her skill set working under me” Shoto added, pressing his palm against the small of your back. He’d be furious, especially at the way you grinned and giggled, then Eijiro would come in with his doe eyed smile, muttering praises while pulling you into a bear hug.

What part of his did those dumbasses not understand? Even when he’d cover your body in hickies and dark marks; or when he’d fuck you so hard you’d limp in the office the next day. They just weren’t getting it, and he needed to make sure they understood that they weren’t getting you.

“Training room, thirty minutes. Wear civilian clothes.” Katsuki shouted through his door. As if on cue, Izuku shuffled in a few seconds later, “Hey Kacchan, do you have another training scenario planned?”, the hero asked. It wasn’t uncommon for the blonde to schedule impromptu training sessions between the two agencies since they shared a building. He claimed it was because he wanted a chance to “mop the floor with that damned Deku and icy hot”, but he actually admired their capabilities, especially Izuku.

***

The three hero’s sat in their chairs expectantly, hands cuffed behind their back using quirk-cancelling bracelets. Midoriya was already rationalizing different methods of escape, automatically assume this was some kidnapping training ; he’d probably be muttered frantically if his mouth wasn’t taped shut.

The door opened and in walked Katsuki, who was carrying you over his shoulder with a shit eating grin plastered across his face. You were restrained in a similar fashion, wrists bound by ropes behind your back. Maybe this is a hostage situation, Izuku thought before he realized that you were naked. Not even underwear, you were completely nude.

“Doesn’t she look pretty, boys ?” Katsuki called out, running his rough hand over the swell of your ass and giving it a smack. A startled cry left you and you pressed her legs together as fresh slick trailed from your , seemingly, drenched cunt. What exactly are we doing again ? , Izuku thought, glancing towards the other two pros; Shoto’s eyebrow was quirked, with a look of obvious interest on his face while Eijiro’s eyes practically bugged out of his head. What the hell Bakubro, I can see … everything. Is it manly to look ?

“What’s wrong, fellas? Can’t talk ?” He laughed dryly, “that’s funny because you never having a problem talking to MY woman!” He smacked your ass again, using a bit of his quirk, “KATSUKI!” You wailed, reeling from the burning pain. It would definitely leave a mark, that was kind of his thing.

You were covered in bite marks and hickeys, from your neck down to your ankles. It looked like sbeen attacked by some wild animal not a horny pro hero.

“You sound so pretty when you scream my name, Princess” Bakugo cooed, while gently laying you face down on a table, “like a pretty little whore” he whispered, digging his nails into the meat underneath your thighs and spreading your lips apart. He whistled, “it’s a flood down here, boys. Is this turning you on, my love ? Being put on display for them like a fucking whore ?”

A finger pushed inside your wet heat; squelching as he pumped to the knuckle.

“Ah~”

“Ah~”

“Katsu~”

“What is it, Princess?” He purred, adding another finger , “I’m making you feel that good? You can’t even hide how much of a slut you are” his fingers curled, rubbing against wet walls while his thumb swiped over your clit. “Please more, please, please~” Katsuki chuckled, glancing towards the men who were shifting uncomfortably in the seats, all with prominent erections. “She’s a greedy little whore, huh ?”

The men were to stunned to speak. Well, that and the fact of their mouths being taped shut.

The blonde added a third finger, spreading and twisting as he caressed your insides. It felt amazing, you were feeling to good to even be embarrassed. When he first told you what he’d planned you were hesitant but he’d quickly convinced you.

“Come on , Princess. I want them to see what pretty faces you make when you cum. Want them to see how you fall apart for me. Don’t you want everyone to know that you’re mines?” He purred, rocking your hips against his thigh as you chased your high.

“Suki~” you mewled, eyes squeezed shut as the orgasm rocked your body. “So pretty. Slutty little whore cumming on my fingers. Look at you, it’s fucking pathetic” his hands were a stark contrast to his words, the gliding along your skin ; rubbing your back and shoulders as you rode out your high.

“Look at you extras.” He snarked, “dicks look like they’re about to bust through your clothes. I don’t blame you, she’s fucking hot right ?” Bakugo cupped your cheeks, lifting your head so that they could see your face. They nodded eagerly, eyes glued to your lusty state.

Katsuki grabbed a chair and placed it behind you, “see, this is why she’s my girl. Only I can do this to her. She’d never get this messy for any of you” he grabbed two handfuls of your ass, spreading your cheeks apart while he licked a long strip down your puffy lips, coating his tongue in your slick juices.

The men groaned, sinking further into their chairs and spreading their legs. Eijiro was actually whimpering.

Katsuki made out with your wet cunt, moaning and grunting as his tongued traveled through your folding. Drinking your essence, probing your entrance and sucking your clit. “Taste so good” he panted, tongue flicking over your bud, “smell so good” he pushed his face against you turning his head side to side as your juices coated his face; it cling to his cheeks and dripped down his chin. Katsuki are you like it was his sole purpose, his only goal in life devouring your cunt.

You weren’t even finished cumming when Katsuki started to thrust into you.

“KATSU~”

“KATS~”

“ DADDY P-PLEASE !” You wailed but he didn’t relent, just kept drilling into you. He kicked the chair backwards to widen his stance and it flew across the room, slamming against the wall. The sudden sound made you flinch and clench around Kat’s thick cock, he grunted and bit down on your shoulder making you screaming out. “What’s wrong, whore ? So you can make this slutty pussy bite me but I can’t bite back ? That doesn’t seem fair, you can really be a bitch sometimes”.

A muffled groan sounded from Shoto who was rutting against his seat while Eijiro whimpered loudly, legs bouncing like a dog in heat. Izuku was oddly calm, yes his long dick was rock hard, it was easy to see through his sweats but his face was impassive. “What’s wrong, nerd ? Not enjoying the show that my whore is putting on ?” He snarled, grazing his sharp canines across your shoulder and pressing even deeper. “Probably wishing it was you ?” .

Izuku raised a brow, it was an interesting suggestion; especially since he didn’t specify who’d place he’d be taking. Would he be fucking you? Balls deep in that tight little cunt ? Licking the sweat that clung to your beautiful brown skin. Or would Kacchan be fucking him? Slamming his cock deep inside his ass and punishing his prostate; splitting him in half and handling him like a toy ? Fuck, Deku’s legs spread and he let out a shaky breath. Or maybe he’d even get to fuck Kacchan , thrusting inside his mouth; the blonde sitting pretty on his knees while he waiting for Izuku’s load to drop in his tongue. His mind was racing.

“Oi, Nerd ! PAY FUCKING ATTENTION !” He thrusted particularly hard making you cum around his dick. “Suki~, dadd~ , Ngh~ daddy, yes” you breathed, it was hard to discern; the garbled sounds of pleasure falling from your throat proof of the way he was wrecking you. That shit was rated porn.

Let’s get it.

Katsuki fumbled in his pockets and pulled out a remote; a click and the cuffs clattered to the ground. “That shit was starting to look painful. Thought I’d help you out. If you fuckers think you can last without cumming then I just might let you fuck. You’d like that wouldn’t you, whore?”

“‘Suki more , more~

“Fucking, slutty idiot. You’re already dumb from my dick and you’re still asking for more ?” He scoffed, picking you up and wrapping your legs around his waist. He forced your body down while thrusting up into you and you were howling his name.

“Oh g-god” Eijiro moaned, cum spilling on Shoto’s hand; he then took the heterochromatic male in his mouth and finished him off, swallowing his hot sticky load.

“This is a fucking whorehouse” Katsuki muttered, hips stuttering in your heat “give me one more, Princess. Cum for me” he pinched your clit as he slammed you down on his cock. He chanted your name and and moan in your ear. A few more thrusts and you were coming again, body trembling and spent as he fucked his semen deep inside you. “What do you say ?” He rasped, squishing your cheeks between his fingers, “t-thank you daddy”.

**

Shoto and Eijiro had dismissed themselves while you were still be railed by Katsuki; who knows what they’d gotten themselves into 🌚

Katsuki was kissing your shoulder and whispering “I love you’s” in your ear while he untied the bonds. He was about to help you get dress when he was interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing.

“I think it’s my turn, Kacchan.”

[luimagines]

Maybe you caring for the chain? Like doing small things like helping tend to their wounds or brushing their hair. Love the blog btw!

Masterlist

A little TLC?

A little Fluff?

That's my JAM! You got it hun!

It's gonna be in bullet point list because I can.

Content under the cut!

Time

Can you imagine this guy?

It's late at night and you wake up unexpectantly.

It was supposed to be your shift but it's way past that

It's even past the shift after yours

Time is still by the fire pit

Awake

You get up

You walk over to him

Place a hand on his shoulder

He looks up at you, tired as hell

He knows he's been caught.

"It's past your bed time Old Man"

"I just wanted to give everyone a little break."

And like?!

You push him aside gently and he lets you sit next to him.

You pull him towards you and you place his head on your lap

"What am I going to do with you?"

"It's not your job to take care of me."

"Someone has to. Malon will have our heads if you come back home any less than how you left."

You start running your fingers through his hair and he closes his eyes in bliss.

It's quiet and neither of you say anything.

Time quickly falls asleep from your touch and you stay up to take your watch.

You take the next watch after as well.

Soon enough the sun rises.

And you let Time sleep in.

Twilight

What about Twilight?

Twilight was mid battle, fighting multiple bokoblins at once.

At some point he had lost his sword.

This boy hunkers down and starts swinging.

It's a one on five boxing match.

Twilight, to say the least, is not unharmed by the end of it.

You notice that he's not stable on his feet and has a few bloodied patches on his clothes, not to mention the (hopefully) small cut on his forehead.

It's more blood than you'd like to see.

You're quick to help and let him lean into your side.

You bring to the side of the fire, quickly taking out your personal med pack and begin to clean his face.

He's not seeing straight so he starts to speak nonsense.

"Twilight honey, please, don't." You try not to laugh.

"Have you seen them though?"

He's talking about you.

"They're so amazing. Did you know that? They're so cool. They know so much about history and animals and plants."

"Twilight please, I can't reach the cut. I need to disinfect it."

"And animals and Epona and Epona likes them so much. I want to show them my home and my family. Colin would love them. And I think they and Illia would be best friends."

You're blushing but it's soft and you're smiling because Twilight is smiling and he looks so happy at the thought.

You wave away Hyrule when he comes to check on The Rancher, letting him know that you've got it covered.

It's sweet.

Wild

His is a little more obvious

"Wild, what on earth?"

He comes back from an afternoon adventure.

He's absolutely filthy.

There's at least three sticks in his hair.

At least those are the ones that you can count because they're sticking out.

Multiple leaves.

You think you see something move.

"What?"

He doesn't care.

You sigh and stalk up to him.

You grab his arm.

"You're my prisoner now"

Wild tries to fight you but you're determined.

You sit him and take out a brush, taking his pony tail down.

It's a long battle.

But after at least thirty minutes of fighting the branches and leaves and what might have been a tiny mouse like creature.

The mouse thingy just ran away.

You're trying to be as gentle as you can but Wild has a hard time sitting still.

Some leaves leave easier than others and there were actually seven separate branches in his hair that you take out one by one.

But when you get past the battle and clear the foliage, Wild relaxes.

Soon you're only brushing his hair.

He needs to wash it.

But you're not anywhere near any body of water so it'll have to wait.

Wild hums every time you pass the brush pleasantly through his hair.

Within moments his hair is soft and tangle free.

You look around him to look at his face.

He's calm and blissful.

You smile and go back to brushing his hair.

It's a calm afternoon from then on out.

Warrior

Warrior isn't one to accept TLC in public but-

It's after a battle.

And you look over to Warrior who's taking off his armor at a painstakingly slow pace.

It takes him a while.

He grimaces in pain and begins to rub his neck and shoulder.

You bit your lip and sigh.

You make your way over to him.

"Need a hand, soldier boy?"

"What?"

He's confused.

"If you got pain, I can help with that."

You don't want to make it a big deal or weird.

"How?"

"I want your permission first. I'd have to touch you."

"Sure. Why not? Do it."

You nod and get behind him.

Soon enough you start kneading his shoulders and lower neck.

He grunts at the pressure you put on it but otherwise lets you continue.

He's stiff as a brick.

So you're there for a while.

But when you get tired or when he's better off than how you started (whichever comes first) you let him go.

He rubs absentmindedly where your hands just were and smiles in relief.

"Thanks."

You grin.

"Any time."

Sky

Now Sky is a bit different

He's not shy about TLC

He's frequently the one to take care of the others

You however notice something off one day

His hand was always in a fist and you pulled him aside.

"You ok? What happened?"

Sky sighs, and opens up his palm

A large cut down the middle

It cut through his leather and gloves and was bleeding through the cloth Sky was holding.

You gasp and begin to help him out then and there.

"How did this happen?"

"It's not that big of a deal."

"It's your hand!" You take off the gloves as gently as you can and bring out your med pack. "You kind of need that."

You sit him down and clean it off.

He's quiet as you work, watching you tend to his wound.

He flinches slightly at the disinfectant and hisses.

You begin to wrap his hand with a clean bandage.

You're meticulous in wrapping it up completely.

It's slow and you're losing progress in travel time but neither of you care.

"You don't have to do this."

"I want to. You can't stop me."

"I'm pretty I could if I did."

"Yeah, probably."

More silence.

You take moment to study your work and gently turn his hand over.

You give it back to him.

"How did you even manage that? You're usually so much better at this."

"It's... embarrassing..."

"Do I even want to know?"

"...No... Thank you... For helping."

"Of course."

Legend

"Legend, sweetheart, what are you doing?"

He's the kind to avoid public soft and gentle actions

Even if he's the kind to desperately want them

He'll push people away and fail to satisfy himself by yearning from a distance.

One day, you have enough.

He's trying to sit next to you and he's fidgeting, internally fighting himself over something but it's too close to you to not notice.

You sigh and pull him close to you, wrapping both of your arms around him even as he tries to fight you off.

He's trying to struggle out of it but you just snuggle into his shoulder.

He doesn't fight you for long.

Legend borderline melts into your embrace and he hugs your arm in return.

"You've got a weird sense of pride, you know that?"

You start to run your hands through his hair.

Legend scoffs

"You're the one being weird."

"Mh-hm."

"You are."

"Just say you want a hug."

"....No."

"Well I guess I have to hug you more often then."

"........No."

"Yes."

"Ok."

Hyrule

Now, you're pretty sure that The Traveler's love language is touch, so he's not shy about keeping his hands to himself.

There's always a hand on your shoulder, a comfortable hug when your sad, gentle fingers to wipe away your tears and he's doesn't mind when one (or three) members fall asleep on him.

"Oh my- Hyrule" You drop your defensive stance from being startled and stare at him.

He's bleeding from at least three different areas.

"Hyrule, sugar, sit down!" You rush over to him and help him get into a sturdy position.

You're quick to pull out a potion and help him drink it.

His hand makes its way onto your shoulder as he settles himself down.

You push his hair out of his face with frantic but gentle fingers.

"Hellllllloooo." Hyrule attempts to smile but his head swoops to the side, too heavy for him to keep it up.

"Oh, what happened?" You push up his sleeve and begin to treat the nasty scrape on his forearm.

You know the potion will eventually take care of the injuries

But you're impatient.

"I... Got caught up in a cave."

"Why did you go alone?" You stress as you begin to clean the blood off.

"...Couldn't find Wild."

"Oh my goodness, take me with you next time." You nearly shake him. "Don't go alone."

Hyrule nods and sighs in relief, as the potion begin to effect.

"That sounds like fun."

"Can you not get hurt, for just like... five minutes..."

"I can't make that promise."

"Promise me, you'll at least tell someone that you'll be going somewhere."

"I can do that."

Wind

Wind is down for anything.

He's not afraid of any sort of TLC.

You're sitting next to each other one day for dinner

You both eat until you're full and lean up against each other.

The warmth of the fire heats both of you like a comfortable blanket.

Wind leans up against you and sighs.

You smile and wrap one of your arms around him.

Wind then snuggles closer and hums happily.

You set your plate aside and begin running your fingers through his hair.

Within moments Wind starts to fall asleep against you and he lets himself fall even more against you.

"Sleep hon, I got you."

" 'mkay." Wind adjusts himself one more time and lets his breath even out.

You let him sleep against you for a while until you also decided to hit the hay.

One of the others sets up his bed roll and you pick up Wind.

You begin to make your way over and set him down but your resident pirate holds onto your arm

"-Don't." Wind whines.

You hide your snickers and try to get him to let you go.

He doesn't.

Welp...

You bite the bullet and ask Hyrule to bring over your own bed roll.

With the help of some of the other boys, you get it set up as close as you can get it.

Adjusting your grip, you lay on your side and pull Wind close.

It's bedtime.

So you fall asleep next to him.

Four

Four is actually little more like Legend in terms of initiating contact than he cares to admit.

He's not going to push anyone away if they come to him.

Even if he wants something as simple as a hug, he won't be the one to go and hug someone.

Someone will have to hug him.

But this boy yearns.

And he's bad at hiding it.

You take it upon yourself when he's being a little off to talk to him

Brush his hair

Hold his hand

Hold him close with your arm over his shoulders, a side hug when your both walking.

He lets you.

He leans in closer and tilts his head in your direction.

A silent request for pats.

If you've been playing with his hair for long enough, he'll let you braid it.

You take the time to keep it out of his eyes and occasionally put flowers in it when there's more down time.

Four won't say it but it's one of his favorite times

He wears his flower braids with pride

It's not something that he would do for himself but he wouldn't change it for the world.

It makes him feel special.

[mrslilyrogers]

All I Have To Do Is Dream

Pairing: Steve x Reader, Telepath! Reader (X-men reader)

Summary: It’s been five years since the snap. You and Steve are stuck at an impasse. You want a family, he doesn’t. He says he’s moved on but has he really? With your doubts growing, you consider risking his trust and use your powers on him to get your answers once and for all. 

Author’s note: I know I’ve been gone for so long, I’m sorry!! I loved these requests and decided to merge them together. Took a while to write, I haven’t had much inspiration. I’ll keep this short and hope you enjoy this!! Let me know what you think!  

Requests: hi!! first of all i adore your writing (esp. betrayal)!! id willingly chop two of my limbs in exchange of ur writing skills hahah!! can you maybe write a oneshot similar to take my breath away, and the reader and steve are dating, but they’re actually in steve’s dream(like in age of ultron) and she is sad that steve’s still hasn’t moved on from peggy?? and can you make it extra angsty?? sorry if this is too much hehe!! thanks btw :))

Hmmm maybe angst w/ Steve or Bucky where a misunderstanding/bad fight leads to the reader leaving the team?

“Damn it, Steve! Would you just listen? Where the hell are you even going?” your voice boomed around your small apartment as you breathed harshly, trying your best not to pull your hair out of frustration. 

At first, it had all been just petty disagreements, you and Steve letting off some steam after the snap happened. You had thought it was normal at the time, a coping mechanism that needed to be flushed out of your systems never expecting that it would last for as long as it has. Five freakin’ years. By now, you would’ve thought you’d realize how lucky you were to still be alive, to still be together while others couldn’t say the same. And yet...

“Geez, Y/N. I am! For the past 30 minutes! And I’m telling you now what I’ve told you from the start,  I am not ready! You gotta give me more time, doll.” He replied, his voice just a tad calmer than yours but you didn’t miss the tick in his jaw as he walked out of your shared room, shrugging into his jacket. You knew his anger was just brewing inside, ready to attack if you pushed just a little bit harder. After countless back-and-forths, this had become a routine between the two of you with Steve always taking the role of the aggrieved party, ending arguments with an exasperated sigh and a roll of his eyes before he walked away, deciding he had something better to do with his precious time than fight with you. While you, on the other hand, always found that more infuriating, making you impatient and mean, baiting and nagging him until you wouldn’t even recognize the shrill and whine to your own voice.

“And when would that even be? It’s been five years since the snap. When will—”

“Don’t you dare bring that up!” his voice rose, eyes glaring at you as he whirled around, his jaw clenched. “Don’t use that excuse on me, you know damned well I know it. Why do you think I chose to move on and be with you instead of helping Nat bring them all back, hmm?” He continued mockingly as if you were stupid enough not to understand. 

This was it, what all your petty arguments had narrowed down into;

Despite what he said, he still wasn’t ready to settle down. 

“But what the hell are we doing now, Steve? We’re not getting any younger! I want to have kids, a family, with you!” You knew you sounded pathetic, and desperate all at the same time but you couldn’t help but continue, the pretty picture already clouding your brain, 

“Can’t you see it? Having children of our own, their drawings hung up on the walls, the dog you’ve been wanting to have since forever running around the house, family barbecues...” your voice trailed off, a lump forming in your throat, your eyes glazing over with unshed tears. It was all within your grasp, so easily reachable if only Steve agreed with you. If only he wanted it too. Anger bubbled up to the surface while he bristled, looking annoyed. 

 “We can have all of that, you know. What are you even waiting for? Will you ever be ready? Because it really feels like you won’t and I’m the only one who actually wants this,” You were unrelenting, thinking of Tony Stark’s family, how they had gone off the grid and had their own little piece of heaven. Crossing your arms, you knew you wouldn’t achieve anything by becoming a nag but your patience was already wearing thin. 

“Jesus, Y/N! Why would you even say that? Of course I want a family with you! I’m just not ready for that yet! Just give me more time,”

Shaking your head, you let out a defeated sigh and looked away from him. You could hear him grabbing the keys from the counter, exhaling loudly before he went up to you and ran his hands down your arms soothingly, willing you to understand. When you didn’t budge, he just pleaded as he always had, 

“I love you, you know I love you. But I need to get to this meeting, those people need me, Y/N. Could we please just talk about this later?” He moved his head lower to meet your eyes and even in your state of anger, you knew you couldn’t say no to that. He took your begrudged nod as an assent, kissing your forehead before he turned to leave. What else were you going to say anyway? He was going to lead a therapy session for people who had lost their loved ones. Guilt ate at you for keeping him here when he so desperately wanted to save the world. People needed him too, not just you. They hung on his every word. They needed their Captain America, their symbol of hope. While, here you were, acting like a child because he wouldn’t let you have your way. 

Letting out another sigh, your gaze stuck to the floor, berating yourself at how selfish you’d become. You knew what you were getting into when you dated him. You had no illusions of being the center of his universe, it was always going to be the people. But still, it would’ve been nice to be put first for once. You hated the tandem feelings of jealousy and guilt that always crept up on you after your fights. You just wished he understood that while those people needed their hero, you needed your Steve too. But as time passed, it seemed like the man and the hero were indistinguishable and you’d been deluding yourself into thinking it could be different. You’d just have to accept that too because living without him wouldn’t even be an option. 

He paused by the door, catching sight of your slumped shoulders. “Hey,” he said softly, striding back to you. 

“You know I love you, right?” he stroked your cheeks and you couldn’t help the turn of your lips. Nodding slowly, you rolled your eyes at how easy you were for him. 

 “I know. I’m sorry,” 

Ducking down to give you a quick peck on the lips, he reassured you again, “We’ll talk about this later, I promise,” then he gave you one last kiss to your forehead before he disappeared. But what once would’ve eased your worries did nothing to quell your nerves now. Your heart believed everything was alright but your gut said otherwise. 

_______________

He looked down at the worn, brassy compass in his palm, his mind years away from where he was, unaware that you were standing by the door. You watched his shoulders relax into a defeated sigh, his eyes never leaving her picture. You couldn’t remember when he ever looked at you like that, all the love and longing etched on his face. He brought his other hand up to caress the picture gently, as if he actually imagined she was with him, a small, sad smile forming on his lips. You felt the air knock right out of you while you scrambled out of there feeling as if you’ve intruded on an intimate moment. You couldn’t help the tears falling from your eyes while you convinced yourself it was nothing. He had just lost his best friends, she was a symbol of his past. He just missed that right? 

You paced around the kitchen, your mind running back to the times you’ve caught him staring at Peggy’s picture. All those times you pretended you didn’t notice how frequently he had been doing it these past few years. His voice, an echo in your head, 

“I’m not ready, just give me more time doll, please,” 

Closing your eyes, you buried your face in your hands. Oh, it would be so easy, you thought. All you had to do was get into his mind and see for yourself. One little, fast trip into his thoughts and you’d get your answers. He’d be none the wiser, no one need ever know except you. And your dignity, and your pride and your principles. Ugh.

He trusted you, you promised never to use your powers on him and yet, that was all you could ever think about now. Did he think of her when he thought of the family he wanted? Was it her face he saw, walking down the aisle to him? 

For the first time in your life, you hated your upbringing at the Xavier Institute. You hated the values and principles they instilled in you, the very reason you were adamant not to use your powers on the unwilling and unsuspecting for your own personal gain even though you were going crazy, craving for your own peace of mind. Deep down you knew, promise to Steve or no, you couldn’t go through with it. 

You looked at the clock, thirty minutes to go before his meeting ended. Grabbing your coat from the rack, you impulsively decided to go to him, promising yourself you weren’t going to nag and argue with him but have a normal conversation like you used to. You haven’t had a date in a long while anyway. Maybe a little spark of romance was all you really needed. 

_____________

Your steps echoed on the linoleum floor, walking past the empty hall to follow the directions to the room where the meeting took place. Rubbing your palms together, you spotted the room. The fluorescent lights hanging above casting a lonely pallor to the already gray walls while the rain poured heavily outside. The gloom, an inevitable reminder of what the world has become. It seemed everywhere people went, there was always a reminder of what they’ve lost. Even on an otherwise unblemished sunny day, the vibrancy was not the same, people were scarce and it was quiet. Too quiet. Which was why you were so adamant to continue on living, in order to honor the lives of the people you’ve lost. 

You could hear their faint voices outside the room. Your heart going out to those poor people who still held onto the past while you thanked your lucky stars you still had Steve.You fished for your earphones in your purse trying not to eavesdrop but his clear and deep voice interrupted you. Leaning against the wall opposite the door, you listened, a smile tugging on your lips while he commended the other person. He was always so good with words, always knew the right things to say and that never failed to make you proud. His words of encouragement lifted your spirits, making you stand a little taller, hope blossoming in the pit of your stomach. He talked about moving on, about finding purpose again. 

“I went in the ice in ‘45 right after I met the love of my life,” 

Your whole body went cold, the smile on your lips faltering, your hands suddenly gripping the edge of your blouse while his disheartened voice continued to try to reassure everyone including himself,

“I woke up 70 years later, you gotta move on. You gotta move on,”  

With a hand to your lips, you ran, your rapid, staccato steps filling the hall barely even muffling the sobs you desperately tried to hide. 

___________

Steve didn’t bother coming home straightaway after the meeting.  He told himself it was because he needed to check up on Nat despite the fact that he could’ve easily just called, despite knowing you were all supposed to meet for dinner in a few days anyway. He took his time getting to the Avengers Compound, embracing the uncharacteristic quietness of the city, giving him the chance to be alone with his thoughts. If he were being honest with himself, he couldn’t shake off the guilt that settled at the pit of his stomach at the thought of Peggy. The love of his life. Apparently, anyway. He had no idea where that came from, never really thought of it until it slipped from his mouth. And did he really feel that way? Was she really the love of his life? 

The thought of you came unbidden from his mind, your warm smile waking him up in the morning, your laughter setting the world to rights whenever he was feeling especially out of place. You’ve been through so much together, what you both had was real and it was beyond anything he could’ve imagined when he woke up from the ice and he knew he should take it a step further. He loves you, he is fully committed to you. There was nothing holding him back and yet… and yet, he still thought of her. He couldn’t help but think that if he had only stayed where he really was supposed to be, Peggy would’ve been the mother to his children, she would’ve been his wife. She would’ve been his life’s true love. But the very thought of that put a sour taste to his mouth, the truth was he could never picture his life without you. As much as he still dreamt of the past, how could it be the same if you weren’t there?

At first he thought falling in love with you was a balm to soothe his lost soul until he eventually realized you had crept up on him slowly but in a span of a heartbeat, wormed your way into his heart so suddenly he couldn’t even pinpoint the exact moment he knew he loved you. It was plain and simple, he knew it as he knew the sun rose in the east, he loved you. It was so unlike the way he fell for Peggy where all it took was one look and he was already drunk in love. 

Was it possible then, to be in love with two women? 

________________________________________

You were already in bed when Steve got home, feigning tiredness from the day when your heart was really beating rapidly in your chest. How could you face him now knowing you were second best? You could hear him in the bathroom, oblivious to your inner turmoil. When he was done, he gave you a quick kiss goodnight and went to his side of the bed, his back to you. You turned to face the wide expanse of his shoulders and wondered where the hell do you go from here. Would you really be alright living in the shadow of his ex, one of the world’s most accomplished women, so extraordinary that Captain America couldn’t even move on from her? Could you really leave him if it came down to it? 

A tear escaped the corner of your eye and you laid on your back, the darkness of the ceiling reflecting the heaviness in your heart. You must’ve stared at it for hours, wondering just how far away you were from the man right at your side. He was with you physically but his heart? You always knew deep down, it belonged to someone else. If he had a choice to go back, would he leave you? With the way things were going, you knew he would. In an instant. There was always a part of him that he closed off from you and ever since the snap, it only worsened. The fights, the distance, it all made sense now. Heck, even tonight, he didn’t even bother to ask how you were doing and accepted your lame excuse to get to bed early. It was the weekend, you literally had nothing to do the whole day and yet, it never even occurred to him that something could be wrong. For once, you were sorely tempted to use your powers on him. Hearing his even breathing as he slept didn’t make it any easier. It would be over before he knew it, what would be the harm in that? 

As if on cue, he turned and faced you. His long lashes resting peacefully on his cheeks, his lips slightly parted, he looked like a man who didn’t carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. He looked younger, more like your Steve. The Steve you wished would let you in and give you the family you’ve always wanted. 

“Just a quick little trip, no one would ever know. What would be the harm in that?” the little voice in the back of your head taunted.

What would be the harm in that? 

With your resolve weakening, you jumped right into the abyss, entering the mind of the man of your dreams, hoping you were his too. 

______

The sun shone brightly through the open window, letting in the warm summer breeze while his favorite vinyl record played in the background. 

Kiss me once, then kiss me twice

Then kiss me once again

It’s been a long long time 

The air was crisp and the smell of pancakes and cinnamon wafted from the doorway of the kitchen into the living room of the small, suburban house. The yellow walls were adorned with children’s drawings with a few marker drawings on the wallpaper here and there. The faint sound of giggling could just be heard from where you stood by the stairs. Your children, you thought to yourself, a smile creeping up your lips. This was it. This was what you’ve been picturing too, what you’ve told him countless times over and over again. He dreamed of it too. You turned your attention to the living room, your heart giving a little leap at the mess. It looked like someone had tried to tidy up but gave up on the last minute, some toys still scattered about. You noticed the pet bed by the couch, and you couldn’t help but be excited and hopeful, it was everything you thought of down to a T. You went towards the paper and crayons on the low table between the couch and the fireplace, inspecting one of the children’s current drawings there. It was of a family, their hands holding each other while they smiled in front of the house, a little dog at their father’s side. At the bottom, a scribbly handwriting of a preschooler wrote; Mom, Sarah, James, Dad and directly below the dog, Sam. You laughed aloud at that, clutching the drawing, hoping you could keep it for yourself and willing it into existence. 

“Come on, dance with me,” 

You heard Steve’s playful voice coming from the kitchen. A woman’s laughter rang out, you could just imagine yourself shaking your head at him in response, but something about the woman’s laugh caught you in your tracks. A little too shrill, a little too melodic. You inched closer to the open door, your heart dropping to your stomach. There they were, the picture perfect couple.  He twirled her around, her red dress hugging her curves so effortlessly, while she drew her head back and laughed. The dimples on her cheeks deepening, her curls staying in place even when Steve maneuvered her around. They looked so beautiful together, his golden locks and smitten smile never once leaving her face, he never looked so happy. 

Not even when he was with you.

That realization hit you like a train. You couldn’t even remember the last time he looked at you the way he looked at Peggy now.  When was the last time you danced? When was the last time you acted silly together? When was the last time you were both happy? That was what hurt the most. You couldn’t even remember. It felt like a weird sort of deja vu except now, it was an actual woman instead of a picture on a compass. You tried to gather your pride and step away but you couldn’t, you were rooted into place, a sadistic part of you welcomed the pain because you should’ve known. 

“I went in the ice in ‘45 right after I met the love of my life,” 

You should’ve known.

 But instead, you choose to play the fool.

There must’ve been a shift in the air that only they understood because Steve gathered her in his arms now, their eyes locking into each other, gentle and longing. 

You'll never know how many dreams

I dreamed about you

Or just how empty they all seemed without you

So kiss me once then kiss me twice

Then kiss me once again

It's been a long, long time

He rocked her back and forth, bringing her hand up to his chest, turning into action what words fail to describe. She closed her eyes and laid her head on his heart, savoring their moment. He leaned his head on hers too, a satisfied smile on both their faces as they continued to sway to the music. You had never felt as small as you did now. You felt like a thief, intruding on their moment, stealing his dream away. And that’s exactly what you were doing. That’s exactly what you are. You felt so dirty, a desperate, pathetic fly on the wall he couldn’t get rid of. And worst of all, you destroyed his trust too.

As if on cue, the colors started to change, the song distorting and shifting and in this moment you knew, you had to leave. 

You have to leave. 

Part Two

[blxetsi]

Hi there! I love your work!! So I know this sounds a little niche but, could we get headcanons for a reader in a polyamorous relationship with Hange and Miche please? Hope you’re having a really good day!

NO BEXAUSE IVE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEINE TO REQUEST POLYAMOROUS STUFF OMGGGGG 😭 ty for your service anon it means a lot 😔🙏

hange and mike dating headcanons (canonverse)

zoë hange x gn!reader x mike zacharias

warnings: polyamorous relationship, and titans ??, reader is kinda innocent ?? like just easily wound up

also this is going to be SO fucking long and focused on hange for the first long bit sorry !

btw this isnt rlly dating headcanons so much as backstory, how you met, and shit leading up to actually getting together i went so fucking overboard and went the complete opposite way of what you asked ill do a part two with ACTUAL dating headcanons if youd like anon just tell me and ill do it

- i think you wouldve worked for garrison originally

- in season one when hange started the experiments on sawney and bean thats when you would've met them

- you had been a big fan of their research studies for a while, so being in front of someone you thought was so cool was a little nerve wracking

- you had just became newly appointed as a captain for a garrison squad, being one of the youngest recruits to get the position, which also meant some people thought you couldnt handle the job

- you were good at telling others what to do, and guiding them when needed, you took over the leader role very quickly, you had to if you wanted to keep the position

- although you thought you were a good leader, others didnt

- specifically older members of garrison who thought because you were so young, youd be naive

- and since you were a garrison captain, you worked closely with hange and moblit during their experiments

- any request they made for supplies or anything, went through you and youd get it for them

- they needed more help ? youre requesting three soldiers to the experimentation zone immediately. anything they needed you helped with, because you liked helping

- hange had quickly grown fond of you, they were so thankful that you were so willingly to have your squad help them. you remember the brunette grabbing your hand and saying "thank you for your dedication to this project and to science !" while bowing multiple times

- as unsanitary and childish as it was,,, you didnt wash that hand for a day

- hange saw how some members of your squad treated you, and it may have irked them a bit

- causing them to rant to moblit while writing down research data

- "hange." "i just dont get it, why dont they say anything ? theyre so nice so why dont people respect them like they should-" "hange !" "what ?!" "youre writing down captain l/n's name on your page !" "so what ?!- wait what" this causes a night of bickering between the two of them 😐🤚

- when sawney and bean died hange was devastated. you had grown to like the section commander as a friend and respected them greatly, so to see their hardwork and research all go down the drain was hard

- you immediately went into leader mode and started ordering your squad around "listen up ! i want this whole perimeter checked and searched for any evidence to help us find out who did this." a couple members groaned, and one man, who was in his early thirties made a comment about it. "theyre just stupid fucking titans. we're supposed to kill them, not keep them alive for some freak to experiment on them."

- yknow,, looking back on it maybe you shouldnt have went off on them the way you did, but you did because not only was the man questioning your authority and orders, he was blatantly disrespecting a section commander. "i am your captain. i am your leader. you will respect me, and you will listen to me. you either do i say or youll be suspended and taken off my squad immediately. and that goes for everyone ! do i make myself clear ?" you shouted. the man who had talked back raised his eyebrows, youd never once yelled or demanded things be done in a manner like this, and it clearly shocked him when you stood up for yourself.

- a bunch of murmurs came from your squad and you dismissed them, but not before stepping in front of your soldier in front of everyone. "between you and me ? you should be discharged for not only your blatant disrespect and defiance to me for months now, but also for your innapropriate and degrading comments about section commander hange. you wanna pull some shit like this in the future, not just to me but to anybody ? you should kiss your position in garrison squad goodbye, since youre too childish to keep your thoughts and opinions to yourself. now grow the fuck up and go do what ive asked please." the man looked scared as he stared at you, no one had seen you act like this before, his jaw clenched as he nodded and walked off, the rest of your squad dispersing with him

- you didnt notice hange calling your name until you felt their hand on your shoulder. you turned around and saw their sympathetic gaze on you. "thank you for defending me. are you okay ?"

- you rubbed the back of your neck and answered. "honestly ? i feel kind of bad, like i embarassed him or something." the survey corps leader tilted their head back as they laughed. "youre so kind y/n, but im proud of you." the comment, although lighthearted, struck a cord with you

- a couple days later you were requested to meet with not only the section commander but commander smith, as well as your superior, dot pixis

- the meeting only lasted about thirty minutes, but hange had boasted about not only your leadership skills but also your knowledge and ideas on various sciences. erwin decided to offer you a position to work under hange, and dot pixis agreed to have you transferred to the survey corps if you agreed.

- did your decision have to do with your crush on hange ? maybe. would you ever admit it ? no.

- pixis explained to you that youd be honorably disharged from the garrison regiment before being moved to the scouts' headquarters in trost

- you surprisingly got along well with others there. working in hanges squad was fun, and even though you were demoted from a captain back to a cadet you didnt mind

- hange had offered to share as much knowledge as they could with you, which led you to be in their office (as messy as it was) after work hours

- and thats where you met mike

- well, got to know him

- hange introduced you two when you first joined and the first thing the section commander did was NOT shake the hand you held out for him but to lean down and sniff around your hair and neck

- your face felt hot as you stuttered over your words, thrown off by his,,, unique, greeting

- hange and laughed and lightly pushed him away, before explaining to you that thats just what mike did

- back to being in hanges office

- for nights on end youd stay up together in their office, two chairs huddled beside one another while you read through books of research, not just from hange but from published scientists and anthropologists too

- mike had started joining you two only three days after you and hange started

- he would stay quiet, but would sit next to hange making them be sandwiched by the two of you

- after that you started to notice him more often

- down the halls he'd send you a small smile, which you brightly returned

- sometimes he'd be in charge of training that day, and he would wordlessly help you position your arms to properly block or punch when sparring with other members

- then he started bringing tea when he would come and listen to you and hange discuss different theories, articles and information together

- you didnt even know the two were dating until you accidentally walked in on them in hange's office

- they werent doing anything dirty, just giving each other a kiss, but you had walked in on them with a stack of papers captain levi told you to give to hange.

- you kinda,, stood there, slackjawed, while the two pulled apart slowly to look at you. hange had a mischievous grin on their face while mike just gave you a blank stare

- you dropped the papers. the stack of documents levi tasked you to give to hange. you dropped them. How Embarassing.

- your face began to feel hot not just from seeing them but also because youre embarassing yourself by dropping the papers and just standing there like an IDIOT

- "uh,,, i- captain levi said to give you those documents you requested." your voice cracked at the end making you wince

- "you mean the documents that are spread out on my floor now ?" hange asked. you looked between them and the floor, then at mike, then back to the floor than back at hange. "yes." you said, and you could feel that warmth in your face spreading to your ears now too. "im sorry." you exclaimed, your voice sounding strained as you quickly walked backwords and closed the door in front of you

- you started avoiding hange and mike after that, and became hyper aware of everything that they did. they were TAUNTING YOU 🙄 you could feel it

- instead of small smiles in the halls, after you started ducking your head down when you saw mike, he would now give you head pats when you crossed him

- hange would let their hand linger on your shoulder or side as they shuffled past you during meetings or experiments, and would come closer than usual when handing you documents

- mike would give you teasing smiles when you got your ass handed to you during sparring

- and finally you were fed up ! did this count as workplace harassment ? you didnt know but you wanted answers ! so you went to the source, hange's room after dinner

- you didnt bother knocking, you just walked in with your eyes closed

- hange giggled, "what are you doing y/n ?" "making sure im not walking into something i shouldnt be seeing, section commander." "by that do you mean the kiss mike and i shared ?" "yes." "well we're not kissing right now." they said, and you peaked one eye open to be sure they werent lying, and they werent !

mike stood up from his chair and slowly made his way past you, closing the door. you took a deep breath before throwing all of your word vomit on blond and brunette duo. "so i dont know why you guys think teasing me like this is fun, but it isnt. it makes me flustered and nervous and feel weird and im not sure if it counts as abuse of power but i dont like it so it needs to stop." you huffed in a big breath of air after saying all of that, and hange rested their head in their hands.

"y/n do you have a crush on me ?" they asked. their voice was soft but they still had that stupid smile on their face. you could feel your face getting warmer by the second. your mouth opened and closed but no words came out.

" i uh, im gonna leave now." you turned around but hit something hard, and looked up at mike looking down on you, a smirk on his face. he put his hands on your shoulders and turned you back around to hange, walking the two of you over to their desk. he gave you a slight push, causing you to put your hands on the desk and lean on it, while mike kept his hands on you to keep you from running.

hange leaned into you, your noses barely touching. "i only ask because, mike and i have grown very fond of you." they said. you nodded a little bit, the tips of your noses brushing against each other.

"yeah well, id be a little sad if my superiors didnt like me, that would be kind of bad." you replied.

"can i kiss you ?" they asked.

and now is when your brain really stops functioning. thoughts fill your mind of mike and his relationship to hange. are they actually together or is it a friends with benefits kind of thing ?

"i uh, i cant kiss you." you replied, a bit breathlessly caused by both section commanders.

"why not y/n ?"

"well i'm not a cheater, or a homewrecker. i mean i assume that you and mike are together so, im not going to kiss someone in a relationship." you stammered out. this was making you very nervous, butterflies errupting in your stomach. you knew they were just teasing you, goofing around to make you flustered, but a part of you hoped youd be able to kiss hange, and maybe mike for that matter.

they chuckled a bit, before their brown eyes looking behind you to mike's towering form. "honey, can you tell y/n its okay if they kiss me ?" they asked. mike let out a small laugh through his nose before leaning down.

"only if y/n promises to give me a kiss afterwards." he whispered. he pressed a faint kiss to your temple, and you shivered from the contact. he was warm, very warm, and even though it was such a small amount of contact it did so many things to you.

you gulped before bringing your eyes back to hange. you looked to their eyes, and then to their lips, and continued that pattern silently in hopes theyd understand. you didnt want to be teased anymore ! you wanted something to happen.

hange got the hint and smirked, before leaning in again and lightly brushing her lips against yours. theirs were soft compared to mikes chapped ones, and the kiss was so slow, so innocent, it had you leaning in for more. it was a slow, lazy kiss, a kiss to test the waters, it helped calm your nerves, but also made your nerved explode with heat.

finally the researched pulled away, and put their hands on your cheeks, squishing them to pucker your lips, before giving a kiss to your forehead, nose and lips one last time. they let go with a soft smile on their face, and a blush of their own.

you could feel mike press his body down against yours, making your knees buckle slightly. he took his right hand off your shoulder to place it on hange's cheek, thumbing over the red pigmentation. he then turned your head up and to the side, before giving you a kiss of his own. this one was a bit more dominating, hard. his chapped lips scratched against your own but you didnt mind. in a weird way it made you feel at ease, having him take control of it, the same way hange did but his was just more, needy.

he pulled back with a shaky breath and looked at you before looking at hange. "so y/n," hange began. they stood up and made their way around the table, mike pulling himself and you up straight so hange could sit on the edge, pulling you in to stand between their legs. being sandwiched in between mike and hange made you so aware of them, and even though you were very new to something like this you felt weirdly safe and secure. "mike and i genuinely care about you, and we want to be with you the way that we're with each other. would you like that ?"

honestly, how could you say no ?

thats it again im sorry the anon who requested this you did not get what you asked for 😭😭😭😭 hope u all enjoyed requests r open stay safe

[nooneelsecomesclose17]

Who says I want to go back

This contains spoilers for Friday's ep of Emmerdale, because it enraged me so much I had to write a fix-it. So have a Robert's the one helping with Liv fic. I've borrowed relevant bits of dialogue from the ep (watching that twice was not pleasant btw)

--------

"Well I need something to forget that I'm here with you. When you're in my face Aaron, I hate you." He can tell himself that she's just mouthing off, that she doesn't mean it but it still hurts, has every time she's said it.

"Yeah I know Liv, you keep telling me. What am I supposed to do, I'm terrified. I can't stop you hurting yourself."

"Please. I'm not in danger. You're just a control freak that can't stand me having fun." He can see Robert, standing just inside the door, trying not to intervene because just lately that makes everything worse, but he knows he's there, that's what's important. He should be on his way to see Seb, he's already late and he nods, tells him to go, he can manage.

"That's not true."

"You want everyone to be as miserable as you, don't ya. Oh poor Aaron. You wouldn't want to be happy if you knew how to. You just want to drag us down cos of what you've been through." He just shakes his head. Is it true, is she right, does he do that? Robert's always teasing him for being grumpy, but is it more than that, does he drag him down too. "What, no shouty comeback?"

"If that's what you think then there's nothing I can say is there." He doesn't wait for an answer, just grabs his coat and leaves. There's no point even trying to talk to her when she's like that.

He heads to the yard, maybe an hour or so of bashing the hell out of metal will help calm him down. He should've gone with Robert like he suggested, but he hadn't wanted to leave Liv alone all that time.

It doesn't work like it always had in the past, and Robert's not answering, even after enough time has passed for him not to be driving.

"You alright kiddo?" He throws the crowbar down as Cain approaches.

"What's she done now?"

"Who? Your demon of a sister? Nowt, but your Mum said you'd had words."

"Something like that." He collapses down on the steps, throwing his gloves on the ground.

"You alright? She said Sugden was off to Liverpool."

"Yeah, to see Seb. Not like we can have him at ours right now is it?"

"You know, it's not a failure to say you can't cope."

"There's no one else is there? Sandra's worse than useless and she doesn't have anyone else. I'll sort it Cain. You'd never leave Mum to fend for herself would ya?"

"I might if she didn't want my help. I'm just saying...it's alright to fail." He nods, because he can't. He's failed her once already, he left her behind. He won't do it again, no matter how hard she pushes him.

--------

She's not about when he gets home and after making himself a cuppa he tries Robert again, just wants to hear his voice.

"Robert, this is really not a good day for you to do that ignoring calls thing. Just, call me back, please. I need you."

"God that was pathetic. No wonder he's not answering. Maybe he's finally seen the light. He's gone off to Liverpool for a couple of days, who knows what he's getting up to there."

"Why would he Liv?" Her words don't even hurt anymore, he knows Robert better than that, trusts him properly now.

"Wouldn't be the first time with her would it? All he's got here is you leaving whiny messages on his phone."

"You don't have to pick a fight just to cover what you're really after. It's right there."

"Aw what's up, don't want to tell me what to do anymore cos hubby's off with the ex?"

"Enough! Do you know why he's gone there huh? It's cos we daren't have Seb here with you like this. Just go Liv, get out of my sight."

"You just can't face up to the truth can you? He's up there with her and you're here, alone. Face it Aaron, you're the fool."

"Oi! What the hell is going on?" Both of them turn round at the sound of Robert's voice. Aaron smiles when he sees he's got Seb in his arms, immediately reaching out for the little boy who he's sure has grown since the last time he saw him.

"Liv was just telling me what she thought you were getting up to in Liverpool." He can see when Robert realises what he means, and he takes Seb into the kitchen away from the pair of them. "Hey mate, it's alright, we're not mad at you. How about a biccy eh?"

"Oh was she. Why don't you enlighten me?" He sets Seb at the table with a colouring book they keep handy before watching the two of them.

"Well it wouldn't be the first time would it?"

"I think you're winning in the repeating mistakes game right now don't you? So what brought on this latest round of making everyone hate you? Run out of vodka?"

"Of course you're taking his side!"

"You've all but accused me of cheating so why would I take yours? How long are we doing this for Liv, because I'm tired. Aren't you?"

"Get off my back Robert!"

"Fine. Just get out."

"You can't throw me out. It's my house!"

"So you keep saying, except that's not actually true is it? It's half Aaron's and mine too." He stands his ground and Aaron stops himself from getting her to stay. He doesn't have the energy, just wants Robert and Seb, and some peace. Liv stares at him for minute before she grabs her bag and storms out.

"You know she's just going to drink all that at the pavilion don't you?"

"Yeah, probably. I'll go after her in a bit, when you tell me why I have thirty missed calls?"

"I should go. I'm her brother."

"Yeah well you married me. What's yours is mine and all that crap. I think you've taken enough off her for today don't you?" He runs a hand through Seb's hair before hugging Aaron, holding on until he relaxes properly. "Go on, what did she say?"

"Do I control people? Make them miserable?"

"What, no! Did she actually say that?" Aaron nods. "That's ridiculous."

"You're always saying I'm grumpy."

"Yeah cos you are, and I love you anyway don't I? You never make me miserable though, or anyone else. The only one doing that round here is Liv. I know she's suffering Aaron, but this can't go on."

"I don't know what to do anymore. She won't listen."

"Then we ask for help. As much as I love your Gran, her idea isn't going to work and your Mum's idea...well the less said the better. When I've found her, we're going to see Liam, or Manpreet."

"But..."

"No. We need proper advice Aaron. They'll know who to talk to, or how to talk to her. She doesn't have to know, not yet, but I'm not having you upset like this."

"Ok." He sniffs, pulling back from Robert's arms, feeling cold as soon as he does. "How come he's here?"

"When I got to Rebecca's I saw all your calls and guessed something had gone on so I asked if we could change the weekend to here. She didn't mind, her and Ross have some concert thing they want to go to anyway. Besides he missed ya. I don't do cuddles as well as Daddy Aaron apparently."

--------

"So this is where you're hiding." He sits down on the steps beside her. The bottles beside her are still mostly full so hopefully he can actually get through to her. "Make you feel good does it, hurting Aaron?"

"Does actually."

"Funny...I used to think I could manage all on my own, didn't need anyone else. Without the gallons of vodka obviously, but yeah, I pushed everyone away, said all the right things to make it happen even though inside I was begging someone to stay, to see how much I was hurting, how much I needed them."

"I don't need anyone."

"Except you do, if only to pay the bills so you can afford that." He points to the bottles. "So why don't you talk to me because if I come home again and find you've spoken to Aaron the way you have today you might just find yourself truly alone. Trust me, you don't want that to happen."

"Aaron would never do that."

"Maybe, maybe not. Everyone has their breaking point and I truly don't think he's far from his. So go ahead, if you want to lose your brother forever then I'll give you some tips from when Andy and I hated each other. Or," He picked up one of the bottles, unscrewing the cap and pouring it onto the grass. "You can come home with me now, apologise, and then tomorrow, we'll go to Manpreet or Liam and get some advice."

"And if I don't?"

"I reckon it'll take about an hour to pack the car and then Aaron and I would be gone."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me. I love you Liv, you know I think of you as my sister, but Aaron is my number one priority, him and Seb and I'm not having him putting up with your verbal abuse any longer." He gets up, brushing off the back of his jeans. "I'll leave you to think about it. We'll be at home."

The walk back to Mill calms him down, ready to tell Aaron what he'd said. Liv was likely right, he doesn't think Aaron would ever abandon her, anymore than Robert would Vic, but something had to happen, had to change.

"Do you think it'll work?" Aaron asks him as they watch Seb playing in the garden a while later. There's been no sign of Liv but Robert could only hope she'd listened.

"I don't know, but if it does, then it's a start."

[mysterytickingegos]

Roadtrip

Pairing: Wilford Warfstache x Reader

Genre: Fluff. Like so god damn fluffy. The fluffiest thing this angst-lover will ever write. TOOTH ROTTING- okay you get the point.

Word Count: 1,710

Summary: Your relationship with the strange TV personality naturally leads to some pretty fun adventures, but this one might just go down in history as your favorite.

Anonymous Request: If you have time, could you please do 10, 17, and 20 with either Wilford or Yancy (and they/them pronouns)? 🥺👉🏼👈🏼 I love your writing btw ❤️

Authors Note: I think it’s safe to say I’m out of the ficlet mindset after this one. I got an idea and got waaay carried away but hopefully no one minds!  Maybe a bit out of character? I’m not completely sure.

Want to read more?

[Image Description: A gif of Wilford Warfstache from the short “Warfstache Interviews Markipler” screwing with his hair. End Description.]

The sun wasn’t even up yet, that was your biggest concern. Not that there could be some kind of emergency but that someone had the audacity to knock on your door before the sun was even up. You swung the door open to see Wilford standing there, looking much more casual than usual and grinning the moment he saw you. “Good morning, sunshine! Ready to go?”

You sighed and let your defenses down. “To go?”

“Yes, to go! To go to the big thing in Chicago!”

“Yeah I remember that, I thought we were leaving at six thirty.”

“It is six thirty.” He said, glancing down at his watch to check.

You stared at him for a moment in sleepy confusion before it finally hit you. “You meant six in the morning??”

“Well of course I meant the morning, can you imagine the traffic that time of day?” He chuckled at the thought and let himself inside. “Besides, the network made it very clear I can’t miss this. Best not to take chances.”

“...You’re lucky you’re cute.” You grumbled, fighting back a yawn as you left to get dressed and grab the bag you packed the night before.

You’d been dating Wil for somewhere close to two years at this point, and you’d been friends for longer than that, and you still never had any idea what to expect from him. There was always a new adventure or shenanigans for him to pull you into, just waiting around the corner. This was one of those times.

When you came back downstairs he took your bag, and your hands in his once it was securely over his shoulder. “Come on, cheer up! I know you took the week off so I made sure this would be worthwhile, planned some stops, made sure we had plenty of time.”

You stopped to lock up your apartment before you two started walking downstairs. “What kind of stops?”

“Sweetheart, you are just gonna have to wait and see.” He told you with a wink.

MONDAY

If Wil hadn’t stopped at a gas station, you probably wouldn’t have been able to keep yourself awake at the start of the drive, but thankfully you took the opportunity to get yourself some caffeine and something for you both to eat. After that it was pretty fun, with music blasting and the windows cracked. Every half hour or so one of you would turn the music down and get into another conversation. You had both been so busy the past few months that you had plenty to talk about. Though, the entire time he made a point to keep a folded up piece of paper out of your reach.

The first detour was through the Las Vegas strip, the only stop being a cozy barbecue place off of an exit. But it was fun to see the grand casinos and attractions nonetheless.

“Okay, this is amazing,” You said, pointing to what was left of your sandwich. “What’s the story behind this place?”

“I’ve actually never been here before, just saw it had four and a half stars.” In the middle of his explanation, he swiped a fry off your plate. “I actually haven’t stayed in Vegas since before all the smart...google...haberdashery.”

You stopped halfway to taking a drink, biting back a smile. “Haberdashery?”

He smiled back, shaking his head at you. “Don’t start.”

“So you really planned this out then, huh?”

“Yeah! I have a whole list of places we’re stopping. Did you expect anything less from me?”

“I probably shouldn’t answer that.” You teased. He gasped in mock offense before both of you burst out laughing.

“Fair enough.”

Once you got back on the road it was an extremely long eight hours, at least in the second half after another gas station stop. Your legs were cramped up and the music was getting a bit tedious and had to be turned down. Wilford assured you it was the longest stretch in the whole trip, but even he was tired by the time you guys got to stop in a small Chinese restaurant on the border of Colorado.  “I should’ve picked a closer hotel.” He mumbled through a yawn, waiting somewhat impatiently on the ‘meal for two’ special. “I really didn’t think it’d be this late.”

“How far is it?” You asked, spinning your straw in your glass.

“‘Nother two hours, I think.”

You nodded, deciding to step in. “You could barely keep your eyes open when we pulled in, you should let me drive.”

“You’re probably right...” He seemed hesitant, but neither one of you wanted this to end in a car crash. “But don’t look at the list.”

“I won’t, I won’t. Jeez”

The next two hours were nice, as it was dark now and there were hardly any cars. It didn’t take more than a few minutes for Wilford to doze off in the passenger seat after he put in the next address and you played an audiobook at a low volume to keep yourself focused. Finally the GPS buzzed; “Your destination is on the left.”

You pulled into the lot of Riverwalk inn and nudged your partner’s shoulder until he finally started to stir. “Hey, c’mon we’re here.”

TUESDAY

You heard an alarm start going off on the other side of the bed and let out a groan, pulling a pillow over your head. “What time is it?”

“It’s eight, get up and get dressed and I’ll find someplace to eat.” And with that Wilford was up and out of bed, no problems.

You on the other hand... “We can’t even sleep in a little bit?”

“Not unless you want to start crossing places off the list, my dear.” He started going through his things to look for something new to wear. “We still have to make it there by Friday...for the thing.”

You grumbled some more, finally dragging yourself out of bed after hearing a couple promises of fresh coffee. “Wilford Warfstache, this ‘thing’ better be the best thing that’ll ever happen to you.”

“I already know it will be!” He said in a sing-song voice as you grabbed your bag and vanished into the bathroom.

“What’s the plan for today anyway?” You called out.

“Nothing much, a couple breaks here and there but it’ll take most of the day to get to-” You heard him cut himself off, “to...the next place. But things’ll get good tomorrow, I promise.”

And when you drove into Oklahoma city that night, you pondered all the possibilities.

WEDNESDAY

It was much easier to get up early, mostly out of excitement. After you two stopped at a random chain restaurant to get something for breakfast, you pushed for answers again. “Come on, you have to tell me now that we’re here.”

“Well, actually I couldn’t decide.”He tore his napkin in two and pull a pen out of what seemed to be thin air. You were about to ask if he even realized he did that, as he usually didn’t, but he held both his now-paper-filled hands out. “So, you pick. Left or right, whatever the paper says is what we’ll do.”

“Okay...left.”

He tossed the other paper over his shoulder and read what yours said. “Ooh good choice.” You tried to lean over the table to see it but he closed his hand quickly, leaning closer to you. “Now, Y/n, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you want to kiss me.”

“I’ll kiss you if you tell me where we’re going.”

He laughed at you and slipped out of the booth without hesitation. “Nope! Not ruining the surprise.”

He was very insistent that it didn’t happen, even convincing you to close your eyes once you were close. He guided you out of the car, and finally let you open your eyes. You looked up at the big green sign.

“OKC Zoo and Botanical Garden.”

“Oh my- are you serious?” You had to stop yourself from jumping up in excitement, and grabbed his hand to pull him inside.

You were still beaming hours after you two left, showing him how all the photos turned out over dinner in Kansas City.

THURSDAY

The audiobook had hit a lull, and you were too sick of pop music to switch it. Wilford was much more quiet than usual, so you kept to yourself for a while after lunch, eventually nodding off for a good half-hour.

“We made it!” Your boyfriend cheered, shutting off the car as you sat up straight. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t even realize.”

“Nah it’s fine. We’re here?”

“Yep! We are officially, finally in Chicago. Ready to stretch your legs?” 

You bought some ice cream from a Dessert Dealer before driving down to the architecture center to walk around, even deciding to catch a movie before you checked into the hotel.

“This was the best. week. ever!” You exclaimed, flopping onto the bed.

Wil chuckled and laid down beside you. “It’s not over yet.”

“Well you said no detours planned on the way back, and you’ll be busy with the thing tomorrow, so...safe to say we can call it.” You shrugged, flipping onto your stomach and laying your head on your arms. “What is it anyway? A speech? Big grand opening?”

He didn’t answer you at first, contemplating the answer. “Truth be told...” He started. “The network has no idea I’m here. I just wanted to surprise you with all of this. Because...”

“Because?”

He put up a finger, staring down at his watch until-

FRIDAY

“Because, happy anniversary.” He said with a grin,

You had to pause, doing the math in your head, before sitting up straight. “That is...the sweetest thing anybody’s ever done for me. God, I love you.”

He pulled you into a hug before you started tearing up. “I love you too...In fact I didn’t think it was possible to love someone so much.”

“Me either,” You admitted, pulling back to wipe your face with your sleeve. “Happy anniversary, Wil.”

Little did you know that despite the list being complete, there was still one more surprise in store.

You know, considering the ‘top secret list’ you couldn’t look at was just to keep your attention away from the tiny black box in his suitcase?

[louiserandom]

Play Games with Me

Pairing: Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara | Rating: E

A/N: Commission for the amazing @rookie-d​💙💗 thank you so much! *hugs* 

Read on AO3 or continue under the cut :3 Ko-fi and fic commission info in the header!

Tobirama SenJERK has never had sex in his life, Madara types, as always brimming with spite when it comes to his least favorite person in town. Maybe on the planet.

Rereading the comment and satisfied that there aren’t any typos or any hint whatsoever at some kind of hidden affection (which isn’t there, never was and never will be, Madara reminds himself firmly), he hits ‘Comment.’

“Take that, you dumbass,” Madara mutters under his breath, and really, this could be classified as childish, were he not completely in the right to take vicious revenge upon the fucking asshole who dared refer to Madara as ‘so idiotic it’s pitifully adorable’ on his last stream. Hah! Like Tobirama isn’t the less intelligent one of the two of them; Madara has watched enough of his Uncharted 4 gameplay to note that Tobirama took twelve seconds longer than him to figure out arguably the most difficult puzzle in the game. And although Madara’s sub count doesn’t quite reflect his superior intellect compared to Senju’sーnot that he’s checked in a whileーit’s likely a testament to the viewers’ total lack of taste, if anything else.

(Two thousand, nine hundred and thirty four viewer’s, to be precise, according to this morning’s stats and minus the handful of Madara’s fake accounts that he created just in case to keep up with his chief competitor. Admittedly, it might be a tad annoying.)

A notification pipes up.

Hm, I wonder how you’d know that, MaddyGamerboy? Are you stalking me? I must admit, I’m flattered.

Madara sputters at the reply. At yet another butchering of his perfectly adequate nickname. The fucking nerve of the guyーand people fucking wonder why Madara hates his guts?

(Madara knows it doesn’t really help his case that he’s touched himself to fantasies of the younger Senju more times than he’d care to count, but hate-fucking a thing isn’t it? Hate-masturbation must be too, he supposes. Not the healthiest outlet for negative feelings, but it makes him feel good enough.)

(Heavenly, to be precise.)

I AM NOT, YOU SELF-OBSESSED DUMBASS, Madara types, simultaneously taking care of the half-a-dozen typos that appear of their own accord.

No.

Deep breath. Stop fingers from shaking. Think about something witty to say.

Pff, he writes, for lack of any better word to express his indignant huff, like I give a shit about you. You’re dumb.

It did sound much better in his head, but Madara has spent over a minute writing the comment already, and he doesn’t want to appear as if he’s thinking too hard on it.

He posts his answer, not dwelling too match on the number of likes on Tobirama’s comment far outnumbering the hundred Madara’s garnered. Again, Tobirama’s audience is clearly not the best judge of character.

“FUCK. YOU. SIDEWAYS, SENJU!” Madara shouts at the reply that follows, consisting only of the words:

Thanks for the sub btw.

“You fucking piece of shit,” Madara hisses. “Like eight fucking fake accounts do anything to boost your stats, I don’t even like all your videos from each one of them, you ass!”

I DID NOT SUB DONT BELIEVE HIM

I’m happy to have another loyal fan ;)

HE IS FUCKING LYEING!!!

With seemingly every single person in the comments raving about how it’s about time MadGamer69 and admitted he admires FlyingThunderGod’s skill, Madara has to consciously restrain himself from smashing his laptop against the wall.

“You can just tell him you like him, you know.”

Madara startles, almost stumbling to the floor when Hashirama returns with their drinks and quickly put-together snacks, always the one to rummage through Madara’s kitchen because Madara hardly cares what edible and inedible things existed there or what to do with themーthat’s Izuna’s job.

“I do not,” Madara snarls, as Hashirama flops next to him on the couch, “like that stupid clusterfuck you call a brother!”

“Madara!” Hashirama whines, with that ever-present pout on his face. “Be civil.”

“Yeah, when he returns the favor,” Madara glowers, grabbing a milkshake from Hashirama’s hand. “Did you forget that he fucking started it? Do I need to quote his “pitifully adorable how so much stupidity can fit in such a short man” again?” Madara can’t help flailing his arms a little, though far too conscious of this habit now since the Tobirama has started pointing it out. He makes up for it with what he hopes is a deadly enough glare. “Did no one in your family bother to teach him manners? Did you?”

Hashirama only sighs. “And did you forget,” he asks, “how before that you abused my invitation over to our place to hide his Golden Youtube Gamer Tablet?”

Madara groans. “It’s called a Gold Play Button. Idiot.”

“Now you’re insulting me,” Hashirama grumbles, “and who cares? The point is, you’d be upset too if he hid yours.”

“Youtubers care,” Madara says, “and also, that’s irrelevant, that was revenge for him making fun of my perfectly adequate gameplay.”

“To be fair, you were dying quite a lot in that playthrough...”

“He took twelve seconds longer to figure out that puzzle in the game!” Madara growls.

Hashirama rolls his eyes. “Well, of course, because that Yellow Flash guy was flirting and distracting him in the chat.”

Madara blanches. "That good-for-nothing pipsqueak was what?”

“See,” Hashirama drawls, “you are jealous. Why would you be jealous?”

“I-I’m not!”

“Madara, you are so far in denial, that as your best friend,” Hashirama says firmly, slapping a hand over Madara’s mouth before he can muster another protest, “I cannot stand by and watch you suffer. Anymore, that is, because this has reached a breaking point. So, please, for me, I am begging you, just try politely asking if maybe Tobirama would like to accompany you for coffee somewhere tomorrow? Maybe brunch? I mean, come on, I know you guys don’t hate each other anymore. Seriously, you guys seem like you enjoy arguments, and hey, who am I to judge how people express affection?”

“Affection?!” Madara shrieks, shoving Hashirama’s hand away.

“And please stop pretending you don’t have printed out screenshots of my brother’s videos hidden under your mattress because Izunaー”

“Is a fucking snooping rat!” Madara hisses.

Hashirama sighs. “If it helps you feel better, maybe Tobirama might possibly not feel extreme dislike towards you but actually the opposite,” he says, smiling nervously as Madara blanches.

Because... what?

He blinks, running Hashirama’s words through his mind again.

“And how would you know that?” he asks, suspicious. “I swear if you dared tell him anything about my possibly nonexistent feelingsー”

“Possibly?” Excitement starts bubbling in Hashirama’s eyes. “That’s progress!”

“Definitely nonexistent feelings, dammit!”

Hashirama, the asshole Madara calls best friend for some reason, giggles. “Don’t worry, I didn’t. I promise, stop glaring or I will start pouting,” he threatens, and Madara schools his expression back into a light scowl to avoid the infamous Senju pout.

Like a curse, memories of said pout curling Tobirama’s lips spring to mind, and Madara has to physically shake his head to banish those thoughts.

“Listen, the fact that we’re not as... aggressive as we used to be,” Madara says, “doesn’t mean we suddenly like each other.”

“Madara, you insist on coming along every time we hang out,” Hashirama points out.

“I like hanging out with you.”

“Yet every time we do,” Hashirama presses on, “you’re hyperfocused on bickering with Tobirama instead of talking about wholesome stuff with me. Did you even notice that I brought Mito with me the past few times and it was literally a double date?”

“Was not!” Madara shoves at Hashirama with his shoulder and stands up to pace, because there goes the tell-tale sweating of his hands, the fluttering in his chest and stomach and the memoriesーof him and Tobirama secretly filming the other on camera when they do stupid shit, their almost daily Best Playground Insult Contest that’s been memed half to death on Twitter, the one time they got separated from Hashirama and Izuna in Disneyland because they’d got caught in their arguments so much it devolved into discussing their favorite games and an actual conversation that had Madara’s insides tingling.

No.

No, no, no. If anything, they were just gradually becoming something not unlike friends. And Madara’s occasional fantasies behind closed doors were nothing but a means to a pleasant end.

Not. Feelings.

No matter how much he’s grown attached to the site of messy, white-gray hair that he knows is soft to the touch from all the times he’s tugged on it to irritate him. No matter how piercing Tobirama’s unique red eyes may look. No matter how objectively hot his recent workout routine video wasーand Madara knows he’d only watched it so many times because he wants to improve his own routine, right?

Right?

Madara groans. “Why are emotions so fucking confusing!” He slumps onto the floor and wraps his arms around his knees, hitting his head over and over again on his kneecaps because, “I don’t even know what I want from him, okay?”

There’s a brief silence before Hashirama joins him and keeps him from abusing his head further. “How about,” Hashirama suggests, rubbing a comforting hand on his back, “you just ask? Listen, he’s my brother. And you’re my best friend. You two fighting less and at least making an effort to get to know each other better?” Hashirama brings out the puppy dog eyes. “That would mean the world for me.”

Madara glances at him before looking away again, focusing on a random photo of the wall. One featuring Tobirama right after his university graduation with a wide smile on his face. Quite the adorable face, too, and the unprompted thought makes Madara want to descend into oblivion. Preferably forever.

“That’s difficult,” he says lamely.

“But not impossible,” Hashirama says, “and hey, it’s better than waiting for the Yellow Flash guy to actually make a move on Tobi and start occupying all of his time. He’s a really big fan.”

“Fuck Minato,” Madara scoffs, “the guy just showed up and is just shamelessly emulating Tobirama’s style. That’s dumb.”

“Dumber than you claim Tobi is?” Hashirama prompts.

Madara thinks about it. “You know what? Yes.”

“As I saidーprogress!”

Madara can never go through with his impulses to punch his well-meaning best friend, and so grabs the nearest pillow from the couch and smashes it into Hashirama’s face to shut him up.

Tobirama returns home only to find Hashirama and Madara standing by the front door, frowning as they watched something that sounded like a tsunami of some kind.

“Listen, it’s gotta be one of those black holes or something twisting that vortex. Look how stuff disappears right into it!” is his brother talking, and Tobirama is already heaving a frustrated sigh.

Please don’t tell me you think there’s a black hole on Earth.

“There’s no black holes on Earth, idiot! The nearest one is way off, like near Pluto or something,” Madara says.

Ah. Even better. Tobirama chuckles under his breath, crosses his arms and leans against the wall, observing the two idiots he knows and loves.

He mentally kicks himself.

Well, one of them, he loves. Of course he loves his brother.

The other is... complicated.

“And besides, that could just be the Loch Ness monster or a cthulhu or something. See how dark the water is?”

“Or maybe,” Tobirama says, making them both jump, “it’s a natural phenomenon that’s a tad too difficult for both your brain cells to comprehend? I’m happy to explain though.”

“I’m happy to see you fuck yourself,” Madara greets him his usual way, scowling despite the exceptionally conspicuous blush painting his cheeks.

The contrast never fails to make Tobirama’s heart beat faster. He hates himself for it.

“Mm, Madara,” Tobirama teases, “not in front of my brother.”

As expected, Madara starts spluttering, and Tobirama is left wondering again how he avoids making a total fool of himself in each and every one of his videos. It seems Madara saves most of his flailing for the comment section.

“You,” Madara snarls, pointing Tobirama’s way, “are an asshole, Senju, but spending time with the better part of society might do you some good. So see you at brunch tomorrow and do not be late.”

And with that, Madara gives Hashirama a cursory wave and stalks off, leaving Tobirama frozen on the spot.

Did Madara just?..

Tobirama blinks, swallowing heavily as he feels his throat running dry and his heart rate pick up.

No fucking way.

He must have imagined it. Through his stupor of trying to figure out what the hell just took place, Tobirama vaguely registers Hashirama’s facepalm.

“Sorry for that,” Tobirama hears his brother speak through the rush in his ears. “He meant, uh, will you please join him for brunch? Tomorrow at 11 am, Eggspectation?”

Tobirama blinks harder.

“I,” he starts, “I don’t... Did you blackmail Madara into asking me out?”

Hashirama looks scandalized. “What? No!”

“Did Madara just ask me out?”

“Well, yes, Tobi.” Hashirama chuckles nervously. “You sure you’re feeling okay?”

Tobirama glares. “The idiot’s wake up text to me today was literally a collection of trashy limerick poems about how much I suck. Sorry if I’m a little skeptical.”

“You,” Hashirama says, wincing as a long-suffering expression settles on his face, “you guys send wake up texts to each other?”

A moment of awkward silence hangs in the air.

“Sometimes,” Tobirama says, defensive, although the damage is already done.

“And you’re still not going out? Tobirama, you do realize he’s in love with you, right?”

“Don’t say things like that, Anija!” Tobirama snaps, hoping the dim lighting in the corridor conceals the blush he can feel heating up his cheeks. Fuck. Now he’s turning Madara. “Yet, I mean.”

“I’ll save the celebrations until after your date then!” Hashirama sing-songs like the idiot he is.

Tobirama resigns to his fate. “I hate you.”

“You love me.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“You’ll thank me for this.”

“If it goes well,” Tobirama glowers though it’s ineffective, really, against his brother’s bubbling positivity, and the sheer awe still coursing through him from Madara asking him out on a fucking date is actually enough to make Tobirama want to hug him. He refrains. "Now, thanks, Anija, but I have work things to attend to.”

“Sure! Just don’t forget, 11ー”

“Eleven eggs and uh, no expectations, got it.”

“Wait, Tobi, noー”

With no time to waste, naturally, Tobirama bolts into their apartment and straight to his room to choose an appropriate outfit. And to mentally prepare himself for something he’s almost given up hoping for.

Tobirama cannotーwill notーmess this up.

Tobirama makes sure to arrive about ten minutes early. Not because he’s worried or nervous, of course; maybe just a little, but mostly just to get his bearings beforeーfinallyーa date with Madara goddamn Uchiha.

Madara, who’s been Tobirama’s stupid crush since high school, and just as in love with gaming as he is, only that didn’t turn out to be such a great bonding point between them, as Tobirama had hopedーbefore he actually got to know his Anija’s best friend.

Madara, who seemed to dislike Tobirama at first sight and only grew to hate him more over the years as they both found more joy in arguing than they did in talking.

Madara, who, despite this, blushes every rare time Tobirama genuinely smiles at him or drops a suggestive joke, who has an arguably unhealthy obsession with Tobirama’s ass which he always ogles when he thinks no one is looking.

Madara, whose plastered ass Tobirama had to drag home the other week, amid drunken speeches about capitalist injustice, some wacky conspiracy behind the disappearance of the dodo bird and... something quite interesting.

 “Listen, Senju,” Madara was slurring against Tobirama’s shoulder, as the latter cursed every single nonexistent god that Hashirama had chosen that fucking day to go on a road trip with Mito, Toka and Izuna, leaving Tobirama in charge of this walking trash fire of a man. “Listen. Tobira... Tobi. Tobirama. You’re so hot.”

The words almost made Tobirama stumble.

“What, Uchiha?”

“And cute... So pretty, too, I wish you could see that...” Madara went on babbling. “I think you do. But still. Wish you could see me like I do. I mean see you. Like I do...”

“Tobira, you’re just, you’re unfair...”

“I hate you and I like you then I love you and I hate you again, why you’reー” A hiccup. “How do you exist...”

“I just want to hold hands and just... walk and talk and be together and...”

Tobirama watched in ever mounting confusion as Madara leaned completely into him, humming as he hugged Tobirama tightly and said,

“Is that too fucking much to ask...”

Tobirama stood, shell-shocked, with Madara whispering impossible nonsense in his arms, wondering if he was in a dream.

 The next day saw Madara returning to his usual self insulting Tobirama at every goddamn opportunity, which left Tobirama... confused.

Confused, and conflicted, and sleepless for the rest of the night, thoughts held captive by the utter idiot whose ultimate goal seems to be to ruin Tobirama’s life.

It’s maddening.

Of course, he’d suspected that Madara’s flailing and constant blushing interspersed with screams and insults (the most creative ones, reserved only for Tobirama, it seemed) were signs of not so much dislike, as the complete opposite. Of course, Tobirama had tried flirting with Madara, just bordering right there on the edge of suggestive, only for his advances to be seen as patronizing or condescending. And hearing Madara speak to him this way, in a drunken stupor no less, when he’d probably have no causeーor abilityーto lie is...

Maddening. Annoying. Exhilarating. A tantalizing opportunity. Maybe a glimmer of hope.

And of course, Tobirama told his brother; they never really had any secrets between them. And of fucking course Hashirama had a hand in convincing Madara to change his usual behavior, which is nice and all, but doesn’t help the nerves wracking through Tobirama’s body, nor the crippling fear that he’s going to somehow screw this up.

But no. Deep breath. Exhale. And remember Anija’s advice.

Tobirama takes the last turn before he’s faced with their meeting place, surprised to find Madara already there.

Even though he’s usually always late. Sitting inside by the window, looking out onto the street with a slight frown, Madara keeps worrying his bottom lip and, apparently, trying to break a spoon.

It paints an endearing picture. Tobirama sighs, feeling a smile tugging at his lips.

This man...

Tobirama comes in, approaching him slowly, allowing himself a few moments to watch Madara needlessly fix his wild mane of hair, appraise his reflection in the spoon, try out several fake-looking smiles before settling on a scowl and going back to his nervous tics again. With another sigh, Tobirama takes the few steps left to his date, repeating Hashirama’s advice over and over in his head.

Just be yourselfーand have fun!

Just a few minutes into their date, it becomes obvious that Madara didn’t get the same advice from Hashirama.

Or just didn’t get the advice, period.

With their orders made and beverages served, they’re left to wallow in a less than comfortable silence, broken only by Madara’s... uncharacteristic attempts at conversation.

“Are you enjoying the tea?” Madara asks Tobirama with all of the softness of a brick wall.

Tobirama isn’t used to the man being eloquent, much less polite, and he has yet to have at least one conversation with Madara that doesn’t devolve into a pissing contest. So theoretically, Tobirama should be enjoying this.

But it only seems wrong. Annoying. Not them.

He tries to recall if, maybe, their first meeting was an adequate exchange? Tobirama thinks to the day Hashirama first introduced them. Only flashes of spilled milkshakes and jibes at intelligence run through his mind, and of course that was the very first time he’d called Madara an idiot pipsqueak, receiving quite the lame ‘stuck-up dandelion’ in turn.

Unsurprising.

“Yes,” Tobirama says, taking another sip as he eyes Madara struggling on the other side of the table. Struggling to do what is the question: either sit straight, or assume a more relaxed posture, or reach towards his own drink, or avoid eye contact, even though he keeps glancing his way when he thinks Tobirama won’t notice. Tobirama does, every time, and that just makes the whole ordeal more awkward. “Nice weather,” Tobirama says, with about as much enthusiasm.

If Madara wants to play this stupid game, Tobirama will indulge. Just to see how long it takes for Madara to break and return to his blustering status quo.

“Yeah...” Madara clears his throat, eye twitching as he manages to hold Tobirama’s gaze for a commendable three seconds this time. “Hate the sun. I meanーI mean I love the sun. Ugh. It just, uh. Burns.”

It’s both saddening and funny to see Madara visibly deflate.

“Skin too sensitive, huh?” Tobirama starts small. “Just like your ego?”

Madara’s jaw clenches and his nervous look shifts into a glare before he looks away again, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to calm himself down before he flashes an unnaturally cheery smile.

“Heh, nice,” Madara grits through his teeth, “nice joke, Senju.”

Tobirama raises his eyebrow as Madara flinches at his own words.

“I’m glad you appreciate my sense of humor,” Tobirama says, barely reining in a smirk.

“Sure! You’reーyou’re funny.”

“And?”

“And what?” Madara frowns, confused.

“And what else am I?” Tobirama demands, feigning thoughtfulness. “A recent assessment of yours was that I look and act like a self-obsessed dumbass, I think.”

“No-no,” Madara blurts out, looking much a cornered animal, “I think you... you are... you look not at all so terrible today?” he finishes with a nervous chuckle, running a hand through his hair.

Tobirama wants to scream from the agony.

No. This won’t do, otherwise he might as well leave.

“Can you just call me a stuck-up asshole like you always do or recite one of those horrible limerick disses?” he demands.

Madara actually yelps. “What? No! I mean, wait.” He narrows his eyes. “Why?”

“Because you’re acting weird.”

“We’re on a date, if you were too stupーpreoccupied to get my invitation, Senju,” Madara says, jaw still clenched as he doubtless refrains from swearing, “and I’m being civil!”

That’s the advice he must have gotten from Anija, Tobirama thinks.

What a tragedy.

“Madara,” Tobirama implores, leaning his eyebrows on the table and meeting Uchiha’s gaze, “have you considered thatーI prefer it when you aren’t?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, thank fuck!” Madara slams his hands on the table, heaving a massive sigh as Tobirama laughs in relief. “I was ready to fucking die, you piece of shit! How does your brother stay so fucking kind all the time, it’s fucking torture!”

Tobirama rolls his eyes. “It’s a talent, naturally. Just like your talent at embarrassing yourself and mine at being awesome.”

“You’ve got it a little backwards, Senju,” Madara sneers, “but it’s excusable, given your level of intellect.”

“Twice as high as yours?” Tobirama parries.

“Twice as little.”

“That’s more like it,” Tobirama says, grinning despite himself, “I thought you were a decoy or something. You’ve told me to fuck off every single day since we first met and this was getting worrisome.”

Madara’s laugh is sudden, melodic, sending those irritating tingling sensations through Tobirama’s body. He makes an effort to appear outwardly calm.

“Maybe because you managed to piss me the fuck off every day that I’ve known you,” Madara scoffs, “but you’re all right sometimes. I guess.” He shrugs, feigning nonchalance even as he keeps nervously fixing and running his fingers through his hair.

A stupid, tantalizing habit. Tobirama imagines carding his own hands through the messy locks, tugging Madara’s head back toー

He forcefully aborts the thought process before he’s faced with a problem of the harder kind. “Oh, I’m sure we’ll try to strangle each other when we game together.”

“We’re playing today?” Madara asks.

Tobirama tilts his head to the side.

“You haven’t planned one gaming session after our date?”

“Um,” Madara says, blinking rapidly, “why should I be the one with the plan?”

“Because you’re the one who invited me,” Tobirama deadpans. And anyway, Madara is always the one to egg Tobirama on to gaming, which would usually only ever lead to semi-playful brawls and their fighting making Hashirama cry.

And without Anija there to assault them with his antics, Tobirama wonders what their play-fighting might lead to... and promptly shuts off those thoughts again. Control, dammit.

Madara opens his mouth, then closes it, sighs explosively and says, “All right, fair enough. But you’re the strategy pro here. And my thing is RPGs.” He smirks. “I can improvise.”

And Madara does, in fact, improvise, leading Tobirama on what he hopes is a satisfying daylong adventure. It’s strange, walking by themselves around Konoha without anyone else with them (not that they’ve taken to ignoring Hashirama and Mito anyway on their most recent group outings), free to talk about and do anything they want. Strange and perfect, the way Tobirama switches between poorly concealed bashfulness and his usual confidence, as their jokes and jibes at each other, every little prank they pull never fails to make them both laugh.

It’s perfect.

Just like Tobirama’s smile is, directed at him without any pretenses as they set off to explore the lush, gigantic forest surrounding the city, rumored to be home to mythical, many-tailed creatures. And that’s followed by their forays into an abandoned chemistry lab; the scares they get in the woods from intermittent growls coming from the shadows are nothing compared to the horror Madara feels when Tobirama insists on touching broken vials and experimental equipment, and going through doors with dilapidated ‘DANGER. CHEMICAL HAZARD’ signs.

“If we’re infected by some deadly and insidious poison,” Madara whispers as they explore the lab’s tunnels, “I’m going to fucking kill you before it does. Painfully.”

“It’s for science,” Tobirama says. “And trust me. We’re safe. I got a degree in this.”

“Youtube is practically your full-time job at this point. What the fuck else do you need?”

“The satisfaction of discovering something cool?”

“And deadly.”

"Unlikely.”

Madara groans, cursing his life, as well as his inability to say no to hisーapparentlyーnew boyfriend.

The boyfriend who’s just discovered another hidden pathway to a deeper level and has scurried off towards it like an excited five-year-old. Despite himself, despite his intent to keep complaining, Madara can’t hold back the grin tugging at his lips.

Still perfect.

Just like their lunch date which turns into a picnic by the Naka river, where Madara remembers meeting Hashirama way back when. Just like the first time Tobirama grasps his hand, fingers gently massaging it as he laughs at Madara stuttering to a stop from whatever rant he’d been on, heart in his throat and mind suddenly focused on whether his palms are too sweaty or not.

His mind goes blank. Eyes focus only on the man in front of him, whom he yearns to strangle just as often as he craves to tackle him onto any surface and ruin him completely. And it should feel wrong, it should be, only Madara hasn’t quite felt so right about anything in a long time, and with every minute they spend with their familiar bickering, just with a layer of something more behind it this time, it becomes harder and harder to deny how good being near Tobirama makes him feel. Happy. Complete.

Madara winces. Oh, gods. He’s waxing poetic now.

All worries about that fly out the window when Tobirama, without so much as a word of warning, leans in and draws Madara by his collar into a kiss.

Surprisingly, he doesn’t spring up to awaken alone in his bed like he always does, after dreams like these.

And, unsurprisingly, it turns out to be Madara’s best kiss to date.

Maybe he’s exaggerating, if just because he’s been craving this so damn much. Tobirama’s lips are hot, gentle, and welcoming against his, a curious tongue darting out to coax Madara’s lips open and deepen the kiss. The delightful drag of his tongue, his hands, rough and demanding on Madara’s chest, waist, thighsーit’s not long before he’s dizzy with it, barely holding back moans of pleasure for fear of sounding too desperate.

“Fuck,” Madara gasps as they pull away for breath, lips still touching as their eyes stay locked and he’s treated to Tobirama’s downright ravenous gaze. “That wasー”

Tobirama cuts him off with another kiss, then another, and it’s not long before they find themselves tangled in a mess of limbs and loose clothing. The hard ground presses against Madara’s back as Tobirama settles on top of him, ravaging Madara’s mouth with a passion that soon has his pants feeling too tight.

Fuck.

He groans, hips thrusting of their own accord and feeling Tobirama's own erection through the fabric.

Madara makes an immense effort to pull away, stifling a whine at the loss of contact.

“Bed,” he says, mortified at his own crudeness far too late after the word comes out. “Fuck, I meantー”

“Yes,” Tobirama growls, capturing Madara’s lips in another open-mouthed kiss before he hauls him up to start gathering their things. “Your place or mine?”

“Yours? Izuna,” Madara rasps, head too clouded to explain more in-depth, but Tobirama seems to understand.

“Anija shouldn’t be back for a while,” Tobirama says, a devastating grin on his face, “lots of time for us to play.”

Gods.

Madara scrambles to his feet fast enough to stumble, and for once, Tobirama has nothing to say about his clumsiness.

They all but crash through the front door, not even bothering to lock it as they rush through a cursory check to make sure Hashirama is out like he said he’d be.

“Fuck, thank the gods,” Tobirama sighs in relief before dragging Madara back into liplock.

Madara can’t hold back a moan this time, heat ratcheting up between them as he wraps his hands around Tobirama’s neck, pulling him closer as they stumble to the couch. Madara ends up straddling him just so that their cocks brush through too-rough clothing, kiss growing urgent and sloppy, as wandering hands touching every inch of uncovered skin.

Clothes fall away, leaving them both shirtless, and Madara needs a few moments to take in the miles of pale skin, so soft to the touch, toned muscles rippling as Tobirama squirms under him, gasps and groans escaping his lips in answer to every one of Madara’s touches. He leans in to mouth Tobirama’s neck, sucking bruising kisses onto the soft skin there pleasure flaring at the base of his stomach each time Tobirama moans and arches against him.

“You’re so sensitive,” Madara whispers, with a hint of incredulity. “That’s... fuck.”

“Yeah,” Tobirama rasps, eyes unfocused, “because... just get on with it.”

“If I knew this is what it took to finally get you to shut up,” Madara chuckles, “I would have tried this a long time ago.”

If he weren’t so sure Tobirama genuinely despised him. Butー

“I fucking wished you would!” Tobirama snaps, though the irritation rings hollow with the breathless tone.

Madara blinks in shock.

“You did?” Madara asks, moving lower to lap at Tobirama’s nipple, sucking the hardened nub into his mouth and eliciting another delicious whimper. “You thought about this? About my hands on you, touching you?”

“Yes!” The desperation in his tone only adds to Madara’s mounting confidence, one that he so rarely ever feels in Tobirama’s presence.

“My mouth on your cock,” he continues, heart hammering against his ribs as he trails kisses lower and lower, “would you like that? While I finger you, getting you ready to take me?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Tobirama’s hips jerk, making them both moan at the friction.

“Off,” Madara grunts, tugging at Tobirama’s pants with one hand as the other works the belt off his own. They scramble, a bit awkwardly, until they’re both naked and sprawled on top of each other, and Madara all but drools at the sight of Tobirama’s cock, hard and straining, beads of precum already leaking from the tip.

Perfect.

It’s tempting to just let go but Madara decides to take his time. Strokes Tobirama’s sides and chest, fingers his nipples, kisses every inch of skin he can reach, sucking bruises and biting slightly. He marvels at every little keen and groan he wrings from Tobirama, relishing how needy he grows with each second, how he moans Madara’s name, curses him and urges Madara to touch him, sliding his dick against his and huffing when Madara doesn’t do anything about it, before finally devolving into pleading.

Just what Madara’s been waiting for.

“Madara, please,” Tobirama’s whines, a soft, desperate sound that makes Madara groan in turn.

“Please what?” he asks, knowing he’s being a tease and enjoying the hell out of it.

Tobirama musters a pretty non-intimidating glare. “Just... fuck.”

“Tell me.”

“Fuck you.”

“Is that what you want?” Madara raises an eyebrow, making sure to wet his lips, letting his tongue gently graze the head of Tobirama’s cock. “I can bottom. I don’t mind.”

“Fuck!” Tobirama squeezes his eyes shut, heavy breathing interspersed with desperate whines. “Just... suck me off. Please. Now.”

“That’s it, Tobirama,” Madara drags out the syllables of his name, a smirk tugging at his lips, “when you ask so nicely, how can I refuse?”

He wraps his lipsーfinallyーaround the head, licking at the salty fluid gathered there, ears ringing from the heady feel of Tobirama’s cock against his mouth, his hands tangling in Madara’s hair, the sounds slipping from Tobirama’s lips that are borderline fucking obscene. Madara takes a breath to brace himself and takes Tobirama a few inches deeper. His length is hot, stiff, and heavy in his mouth as Madara presses the flat of his tongue against the underside, sucking hard, wringing another delectable whimper. Tobirama’s thrusts up, cock hitting the back of his throat, and Madara chokes for a moment, his own dick jerking at the sensation.

“Madara,” Tobirama breathes, “Madara, gods, you feel amazing.”

The words send another rush of pleasure through him, and Madara takes himself in hand to release some of the unbearable tension, stroking himself slowly as he relaxes his throat and sinks down to take Tobirama to the base.

Tobirama’s moan is a sweet, drawn-out melody. One that Madara enjoys making louder and louder as he starts moving, setting a fast-paced rhythm, uncaring for how debauched he may look, drool leaking out of his mouth and coating Tobirama’s cock, throat constricting around it as he takes him deep, lets him stay there, tongue gliding along his shaft. Tobirama soon devolves into barely coherent pleading, until ‘please’, and ‘more’, and Madara’s name are the only words coming out of his mouth.

It’s intoxicating. Overwhelming, far too much. Madara gives up stroking himself, the pleasure ramping up far too quickly, too soon, though Tobirama isn’t doing much better. Madara draws his lips up along his length, lapping up more precum gathered at the head, even as Tobirama’s hips jerk again and the hand in Madara’s hair tightens, urging him back down.

“Madara, please,” Tobirama keens, “I need...”

Madara has a pretty good idea of what he needs. He swirls his tongue over the head, descending again until his nose is pressed against Tobirama’s stomach. Madara swallows around him once, twice, a third time before he feels Tobirama nudging at his shoulder in a warning he doesn’t pay heed to, starting to bob his head again, wrapping his fingers around the base of Tobirama’s cock, using both his mouth and hand to bring him to completion.

“Fuck, Madara, Iー”

Madara lets out a muffled groan once he feels cum spilling against his tongue, swallowing rapidly as Tobirama’s cock pulses, again and again, through an orgasm that has him writhing and and trembling underneath him, hands tightening in Madara’s hair enough to hurt with the kind of tantalizing pain that only adds to the pleasure.

“You feel so fucking good,” Tobirama pants, watching Madara through white lashes, eyes dark and hazy as another shudder runs through him, “fuckーI want...”

Madara releases him with a wet pop. “Want what, Tobirama?” he whispers, voice too hoarse for him to speak properly.

Tobirama grips his shoulders in lieu of an answer, directing Madara to turn around so his back is pressed against his chest.

Then Tobirama’s hand wraps around his cock andーoh.

Madara has pretty much forgotten about his own pleasure, too focused on not coming too soon and making sure Tobirama was enjoying himself.

“My turn,” Tobirama murmurs against his ear, tone still breathless but with a commanding edge to it now that makes Madara shiver, “and lemmeーlet me hear you, Madara.”

Gods. He groans just from the sound of Tobirama’s voice. The feel of his teeth nibbling at his earlobe, his hand setting a quick, harsh rhythm that builds up the pleasure to impossible degrees. Tobirama’s heated skin pressed against his back, his thighs, the fingers of his other hand carding through his hair with a gentleness that contrasts with his harshness before.

It’s too much.

“Go on, Madara.”

Tobirama’s fingers swiping at the precome gathering at the head of Madara’s cock, smearing it over his shaft. His voice, a muffled whisper coaxing Madara to let go, to come for him, to say Tobirama’s nameー

“Just like that, Madara,” Tobirama grunts, “louder for me, come on.”

Madara thrusts into his grip, all but fucking into Tobirama’s fist at this point, moans his name as the heat grows unbearable the closer he gets to release.

“To-bi-rama...” He comes with a broken groan slipping from his lips as cum spills all over his stomach and Tobirama’s hand, each pulse coming stronger than the last, leaving him dizzy and boneless in Tobirama’s arms for however long it takes for his orgasm to abate.

Feels like forever. Probably a lot less. Time does seem to slow down, though, both of them collapsing against each other onto the cushions, breathing raggedly and curling into each other as Madara turns to bury his head in the crook of Tobirama’s neck.

It still seems unreal. Too perfect. So right.

They lie there for a minutes, coming down from the high, limbs tangled and lazy kisses exchanged here and there. Tobirama looks so peaceful, like Madara’s never seen him before: eyes half-lidded, hair messier than ever, sticking in every direction, skin still flushed and marked, all over, with hickeys and teeth marks, the mere sight of which has Madara’s dick stirring in interest, recent orgasm or no.

“You know,” Madara says, hands running over Tobirama’s chest, barely grazing his still sensitive nipples and making him shiver, “if this is the game you want to play, I’m really not against binging it. The rest of the dayーweekend, if you want.” Madara presses a kiss to Tobirama’s neck. “Make the playthrough as thorough as possible.” To his collarbone. “Unlock all achievements and, uh,” Madara trails his hand along Tobirama’s chest to his groin, past his length and to his ass, "explore every location.”

“If that was some thinly veiled euphemism,” Tobirama says, barely holding in laughter, “for you wanting to fuck me sideways...” Madara holds Tobirama’s gaze as his fingers hover just over Tobirama’s hole. “Then Madara, for fuck’s sake, stop trying to be subtle and get to work.”

Madara barks out a laugh.

“Whatever you say, Tobirama.”

Madara dips his voice low and deep, like he’s noticed Tobirama loves, and relishes the whimper it earns him. Relishes the way Tobirama arches against him, looking for friction, how delectable he looks, ready and responsive, so eager for Madara’s touch.

He knows then and there that if it’s up to him, Madara will do anything to make this last.

[blarfkey]

Zev/Ellana “Shh. You better be quiet if you don’t want to get caught.” Rated E

For @sharkapologists

BTW I having a lot of fun practicing smut with these promps, haha.

At first it looks so innocent. Barely bigger than her thumb and dark red, Ellana doesn't even know what the hell it is.

"This is my present?" she asks dubiously.

"Don't look so disappointed, mi amor. We are going to have a lot of fun with it."

"Okay, great. But what is it?"

"Oh, your innocence never fails to delight me. Here. Let me demonstrate."

He takes the device from her and cups it in his hand. It's so small that it disappears entirely behind his fingers. Then he cups her between her legs.

Nothing happens.

"Wow," Ellana drawls out.

Zevran chuckles against her neck. "Give me a moment."

He pulls out his phone with his other hand, opening up a harmless looking app with a button and then --

Out of nowhere the thing starts buzzing right against her clit, sending an immediate shock wave of pleasure, even though her jeans.

“Fuck!"

Ellana scrabbles for purchase against his shoulders, her hips jerking up against his hand. Zevran chuckles again, pressing kisses down her neck while she grinds against his hand, rapidly turning into a needy, hot mess. The sensation, so new and so different and so intense, makes her come embarrassingly fast and embarrassingly loud.

"Did you enjoy that, carina?" Zevran switches the device off and pulls his hand away. "Your blush is redder than it is."

Ellana's still trying to catch her breath, her chest pounding. "What the fuck is that?"

Zevran places the device in her hand with an unbearable smirk. It's warm.

"It's a vibrator," he says. "Except this one is very special."

A vibrator. Ellana looks down. She's heard of them, but she's never actually seen one. It doesn’t look like much but damn does it pack a punch.

"How so?"

"Because it's designed to fit discretely in your underwear and it's controlled remotely by my phone. The range is incredible."

Zevran gives her an unbearable smirk before leaning in. "You are going to have to learn to be quieter, Ellana, because I am going to be making you cum all day tomorrow," he adds against her ear.

Zevran lied. That fucking bastard has not been making her cum all day. He's been making almost cum all day, but just when she gets close, the vibrations will stop. How the fuck does he know?

He also didn't tell her that the vibrator comes with different settings. In addition to the steady buzzing that gotten her off so quickly last night, there's a soft fluttering pulse that does nothing but tease her, a sharp, staccato that makes her jump in her seat, and heart beat pulse that makes her see stars and never lasts more than a few seconds at a time because he hates her.

The worst part is that she has no idea when it will activate. She can sit through half an hour of lecture with nothing and then suddenly have her pen ricochet across the paper when it starts again.

She's spent all day pissed off and unable to concentrate, thighs pressed together and fighting the urge to squirm in her seat. 

Krem actually asked if she had a fever at lunch and she had to convince him she was perfectly fine in between bites of her sandwich and the soft fluttering pulses of the vibrator that drive her mad and do little else.

Thank the gods today she doesn't have Dr. Sten.

He was right about one thing -- it really is discrete. No one can see it through her jeans and no one can hear it and it's somehow worse that Ellana's losing her sanity and no one would be able to tell why.

That afternoon she stalks down to the math tutoring room, armed with a stormy expression and her problem set for the week. At this point she could probably get through it alone without too many issues, but Zevran fucking owes her right now and she is going to collect.

Of course today of all days the tutoring room is packed. Ellana has to wait until Zevran gets done with another student -- teased by the vibrator on it's softest setting -- her fingers gripping her textbook until she's white knuckled.

When the freshman finally fucking leaves, Ellana stalks over to his table and slams the book down loud enough to make the guy at the table beside them flinch.

Zevran gives her a sunny smile. "Good afternoon! How may I help you?"

"You fucking son of a bitch," she hisses, sitting down.

"I'm sorry? What have I done to offend?" He blinks innocently. "Haven't you peaked many mountains today?"

She leans across the table, glaring at him. "I haven't peaked any mountains today," she says in the barest whisper.

Zevran leans back and smirks. "I know. But unfortunately for you, I'm closing today, so unless you have some. . . problems you need solving, you will have to go home and wait for another two hours or so.”

"I do have problems," she says, flipping the book open.

A slow smile crosses his face. "Well. Let's get to work, shall we?"

She spends the better part of those two hours struggling. After a year of help, Ellana has made significant gains in math. Not that anyone could tell in that moment.

Zevran explains patiently how to break down each problem and she looks down, mind blanking every time the vibrator pulses suddenly against her. He keeps his phone hidden under the table so she has no idea when he start it up again.

Sometimes he will let sit there for several minutes, undisturbed, while she jumps at every tiny sound or movement and sometimes he will leave it on the lowest setting to slowly drive her mad while she tries to solve complex equations.

And sometimes he gives her the illusion of impending relief, forcing her to bite her lip to keep from crying out and control her breathing while the people around her carry on, oblivious.

And just when she's skirting the edge of what promises to be the most bone shaking orgasm of her life, it stops and she has to fight not to cry or murder someone.

By the time five thirty rolls around, the room is empty save for them and she's a soaking, aching mess of a person, teetering on the edge of insanity.

Zevran packs his messenger back with care, his phone on the table and Ellana's eyes dart over to it. It would be so easy to take it and push that button and sit on it to keep him from getting to it. By this point she could probably cum in ten seconds or less.

His eyes meet hers, the corner of his mouth crooking up.

"Ellana, mi amor, please turn the lights off for me."

He knows. Godsdamn it. Ellana sighs and stands up, stalking over to the light switch by the door in a huff.

The room plunges into darkness -- the winter sun having just set -- and a second later the vibrator starts up again, the heart-beat pulse that knocks the air out of her. Zevran crowds her up against the wall, sliding his leg between her thighs to press the vibrator closer against her.

"Shiiiit," she whiness, fingers digging into the front of his shirt.

"Shhhh," he says. "You should be quiet if you don't want to get caught."

A desperate, needy sound builds up in her throat. "I can't."

He presses his hand hard against her open mouth, muffling the scream spills from her as she cums harder than she ever has in her life.

She reaches up to pull his hand away but Zevran refuses to budge. Instead of backing off, he pushes her harder against the wall, his hand a firm grip over her mouth.

"Oh mi amor," he breathes against her ear. "Did you think you were only going to cum once? The phone is on the table -- we're not stopping any time soon."

She's never come more than once before -- is that even possible?

His other hand snakes underneath her shirt and sports bra to knead and pinch at her nipples. He kisses his way up and down the side of neck, teeth scraping, sucking almost hard enough to leave a mark. It's almost too much -- the steady pulse of the vibrator, the added pressure of his leg between her thighs, her breasts, her neck --

Ellana comes again, her orgasm lighting through her nerves like electricity and it's pleasure and agony both.

"One more time, my sweet girl,” he croons. “One more time.”

He kisses past her clavicle, down her sternum, pulling her shirt and bra up and latching onto one of her nipples, teeth scraping over it exactly the way that drives her crazy. He undoes her jeans with practiced perfection, chuckling against her breast as his fingers glide over the sticky fluid that has seeped through her underwear to coat her inner thighs. Pushing the side of her underwear, he slips one long finger into her soaking, desperate entrance and Ellana screams against his hand.

Her hips stutter and grind against his leg, she's so wet it's dripping down her thigh now and the world has reduced itself to nothing but overwhelming sensations.

Fuck. FUCK!

Her third orgasm hurts the way a good massage hurts, her walls fluttering and clenching around his finger. She doesn't think she could take another one, but luckily for her, Zevran pulls both his hand and the vibrator from her ruined underwear and tugs her jeans back up.

He takes a moment to lick the vibrator clean before stowing it in his pocket and holy fucking hell.

Ellana slumps to the floor while he gathers his things, turning the vibrator off with his phone. She's too boneless to move.

"Come, Ellana," he says, striding over to her and holding out his hand. "Let's get you home."

She glares at him balefully. "Let's get you home. I have vengeance to enact."

He gives her a wolfish smile. "I look forward to it."

[courtofjurdan]

One chance part 12

Jurdan College Au - previous chapter

masterlist

*Well I was a day late last week so I’m a day early this week. I hope you enjoy this!! This is a chapter I know some were desperately waiting for. Let me know how you like it. BTW everything for the pregnancy I looked on google so if it is wrong, blame google. love you guys!!*

warnings: unplanned pregnancy, mentions of blood, mentions of drugs

It’s been about two and half weeks since getting out of the hospital. She has stayed with Cardan the entire time. And if she had to admit to herself, she genuinely enjoyed being with Cardan. She missed him when he wasn’t there. 

Jude has been doing her classes at the dorm with the help of Cardan. Cardan started going back to the uni about 10 ten days after the accident. He was feeling better and Jude was not as sore but he didn’t want her to go until she was one hundred percent better.  

Right now, they are getting ready to go to Jude’s twelve week doctor appointment. The morning sickness is getting better, but the cravings are real. But Cardan is always there to help whenever she needs or wants it. Headaches have hit her like a tsunami though, which makes it hard to focus on school. 

Cardan and Jude got in his pretty black mustang and headed to the appointment. Cardan hesitantly asked, “So do you want me to come with you to the appointment or would you rather go alone?” 

“Cardan, this is your baby also. Of course you can come, that’s if you want to.” 

A relieved smile spread across his face, “Yes, yes, I want to. I’m going to be there every step of the way with you.” He grabbed her hand. 

These past couple of weeks, they have gotten really close to each other. They went from sitting on opposite sides of the couch to sitting side by side, went from high fives to holding hands, went from small hugs to light pecks on the cheek. They were falling for each other and they didn’t even know it. 

Jude grinned her happiness and squeezed his hand in return. 

She was nervous. More nervous than anything she’s been nervous about in her life. She never thought in a million years this would be her right now. With Cardan Greenbriar. He could feel her tension. He just wasn’t sure if it was because she’s in the car again or for the appointment. 

Cardan, on the other hand, was so excitedly nervous. He was excited to see his little baby. It feels so surreal to him. He’s having a baby with a person he has loved for a long time. A baby. His baby. 

They got to the doctor office and Jude looked around at all the women in the waiting area. Some of them are heavily showing. She could only think that that would be her one day. 

Cardan checked her in and went and sat beside her. They waited a good twenty minutes until they heard-

“Jude Duarte.” 

Jude and Cardan followed them into a room with a laid back chair to lay on. They had Jude lay on that and said Dr. Tatterfell would be in there in a minute. She looked at the nurse with a smile and nodded her head. A mask was what she had on. 

Jude was happy but she just had a feeling that this isn’t right. She’s 19 and about to have a kid. This is wrong. She can’t be a mother. At least not a good one. Doubts. Doubts. Doubts. 

She looked at Cardan sitting beside her and he gave her a tight smile. She could see the excitement written on his face. He was having his doubts too but he had to be strong for Jude. Because inside her doe eyes, he saw the doubts and fears swarming. He wouldn’t mention it unless she did. 

About 7 minutes later Dr. Tatterfell came in with a smile and shook their hand and asked how they were doing. 

She began to speak, “Well you seem to be doing okay. Your current symptoms are very common at this stage and I am very happy to announce that you have gained the weight that you needed to gain for you and the baby. I’m sure it was hard with morning sickness but you have done an incredible job. Fortunately, you will get a lot hungrier as you progress.” 

Jude started to speak, “Well I couldn’t have gained the weight if he” -pointing at Cardan- “wasn’t on my tail about eating more. But recently I have been so hungry which helps the weight gain also.” 

Cardan smiled and nodded his head at Dr. Tatterfell. She began to speak, “I’m glad you made her. Well, now let’s lift your shirt and pull your leggings down a bit.” Jude did what she said. “I see a little bump in the making which is good. You probably wouldn’t notice when you have clothes on but I can tell when your stomach is bare. I’m going to put some of this cold gel on her stomach and then I will get the ultrasound machine.” 

Cardan and Jude nodded their heads. Jude looked down and she did see her tiny bump. She didn’t realize she had one but she really hasn’t been looking either. She really is in utter shock.

She puts the gel on and Jude flinches at the cold and she puts the ultrasound machine on. Cardan stood beside Jude. He could see her shaking hands so he grabbed the one near him and rubbed circles on the back with his thumb. 

They heard the machine make this beeping noise and they both looked up at the screen. Dr. Tatterfell said, “That’s your baby’s heartbeat.” And then she moved the thing in her hand over more and said, pointing to the screen, “and there is your baby.” 

Cardan was standing there, mouth open, surprise and pride written across his face. He looked down at Jude who had watery eyes and tears streaming down her face. He turned, still holding her hand, and cupped her face with his free hand wiping away tears and kissed her forehead. 

You could see the baby’s head and legs and feet and hands. It looked like a little blob with arms and legs but it was a baby. They were in absolute awe. This was their future. Their responsibility. Their child who would be loved like they weren’t, taken care of like they weren’t, wanted like they weren’t. 

Tatterfell took pictures and gave them to Jude. She cleaned her stomach off and put her clothes back into place. She took Cardan’s hand and walked out of the office. When they were outside the door, Jude looked down at the pictures in her hand, and back up at Cardan. She said, “Oh my gosh, Cardan, this-”

But she was cut off by the most passionate kiss. Cardan cupped her face and kissed her passionately but gently. He gave all he had. His excitement and happiness was shown in that kiss. His love was shown in the kiss. 

Jude opened up to him and kissed him back with that same passion. She had tears running down her cheeks. But that didn’t matter. She couldn’t believe this. She wasn’t mad like she would have probably been. Pregnancy is making her moods weird.

They broke it off with both of them smiling but Cardan wiped the tears with his thumbs and said, “Jude Duarte, I swear to be everything I can be for you and our baby. I know this isn’t what you expected at 19 but I’m here and I’m never leaving. This is the happiest moment of my life. I’m going to be a dad, and you're going to be the best mother. I get to have a baby with the love of my life, Jude. I love you. I know I’ve not always shown-”

He was cut off by another kiss from Jude. It basically told him to shut up. But Jude replied back in an emotion thick voice, “Cardan I want this too. I never thought I did but I want it. I’ve wanted it for a long time but I never admitted it. I love you.” 

Cardan gave her a soft peck on the lips and just held her against him. After the tears dried up, they walked to the car together. They went and ate some dinner and headed back to Cardan’s dorm. 

Jude didn’t want to go back to hers. Luckily, Cardan didn’t say she had to. So they watched a movie and got ready for bed. Cardan laid down on the couch and Jude slept in his bed.

It felt wrong to Jude. So Jude got up and went to Cardan. When Cardan felt Jude grab his hand, he looked at her in wide eyes and said, “Is everything okay?” 

Jude giggled at him. “Yes.” She took a deep breath and said, “Come, let’s go to bed.” 

Cardan just followed her as she pulled his hand. She stopped by the bed and got in on her side. Cardan stood there in disbelief. Jude wanted to sleep with him. 

Jude looked at him, with pleading eyes, “Do you not want to sleep in here?” 

That snapped him out of his thoughts, “No I do. Are you sure you’re comfortable with this? I don’t want you to regret anything?” 

“I’m not going to regret you just sleeping with me. I want you to hold me.” Jude couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. What has pregnancy done to her emotions? Where is the Jude we all know. 

Cardan crawled in the bed and pressed his chest against Jude’s back. He wrapped his arms around her. He didn’t know where to lay his hand on top. She may not be comfortable laying it on her stomach. So he just put his hand on her thigh. 

To his surprise, Jude grabbed that hand, interlaced her fingers on top, and set his hand on her stomach. He felt the slight bump there. The place his baby is growing. Tears started to form in his eyes. 

He looked at her and kissed her cheek, saying, “I love you. Goodnight.” 

“Love you too! Sleep well.” 

That was the best night of sleep they both got. Wrapped in each other’s arms, peacefully. They never thought they would get this. They thought they would pretend to hate each other for their whole lives, but instead they found happiness with each other. 

Cardan woke up first. Jude had turned and was burying her face in his chest and he still had his arms around her. He watched her sleep. He loved this. Cardan hopes to wake up like this every morning. 

About thirty minutes later, Jude peaks her eyes open and says, “You’re so weird. Watching me in my sleep like a creep.” 

She could feel the reverberations of his laugh through his chest. Jude went on speaking, “Cardan I’m hungry.” 

His eyes lit up with amusement. “What would you like?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.” 

He untangled himself and towered over Jude. He kissed her hard. Her hands found his hair and she pulled which made a groan come out of his mouth. 

He broke off the kiss. His dark eyes looked into her chestnut ones, “Are you sure you want to do this?” She nodded her head. “If I hurt you in any way, please stop me immediately.” She began kissing him again in answer. He was very conscious of not putting too much weight on Jude because he was afraid to hurt the baby. 

But this was the best morning he has ever had. This is the most eventful but joyful morning they both have ever had.

 After they were done with their bed activities, Jude got a shower. When she came out, Cardan had made sandwiches and said they were going to go have a picnic at the park. 

Jude didn’t mind going. He wanted to spend time with her and get to know her better. He had questions for her and she had questions for him. 

When they got to the park, Cardan picked a private place and sat a blanket down on the ground. He unloaded the basket of food and he decided to speak first, “So now that your title changed from the greatest friend to the most amazing girlfriend, I would like to get to know you a little better. I know this is probably the weirdest situation you’ve probably had but I’m here to take the steps with you.”

Jude looked at him and smiled her shy, discreet smile.  Cardan continued, “Let’s do this. I’ll ask a question, you answer truthfully, and you ask a question and I’ll answer truthfully. No judgement at all. If you get too uncomfortable, just let me know.” Again Jude nodded. 

So Cardan continued, “So how is your relationship with your adoptive family?” 

“Um it’s okay. Me and Vivi are pretty close. Oak doesn’t really know any different because he’s 6 and I was adopted when I was 7 so I’ve been there longer than he’s lived so he really just sees me as a big sister. Madoc and Oriana try to treat us like their own but it’s hard because we aren’t their own. My mom was best friends with Madoc and they agreed to be our godparents if anything would ever happen to my parents and unfortunately, it did.” 

Cardan saw the emotion she was trying to hold back. He nodded his head and said, “Ok your turn.” 

She took a bite of her sandwich and asked, “So what about your parents?” 

Cardan coughed, “Well, my dad has nothing to do with me. He gives me money and things but no love. My mom got put in prison when I was 8. She got out about a year ago. She comes occasionally to visit. She got put in for drugs and driving under the influence. My brother Balekin ended up taking me in. But he was awful. He would get drunk a lot and beat me. So I stayed with Nicasia and Locke sometimes. And that’s where we became good friends.” She nodded her head. Cardan asks his question, “Can I ask how it felt to be in the crash that killed your parents?” 

Jude took a deep, shuddering breath. Cardan immediately said, “You don’t have to.” 

But she said, “No I need to. I need to tell someone.” She took a few seconds to get herself together. “We were just talking in the car. It was snowy and icy. And my dad and mom came to pick me up from a friends house and we made crafts and little stuff like that. And I told my parents to look at what I made-” her voice was starting to get thick with emotions and tears started to brim her eyes. Cardan saw it and moved over beside her to rub soothing circles on her back. “When they turned around my dad didn’t see the ice on the road and slid right into a semi truck, and I remember the truck going into the front of the car and cru.. crushing them. Blood was everywhere. I remember my dad’s last words were ‘they're beautiful just like you.’ I’ll never forget, Cardan. They died because I wanted them to look at my stupid artwork. That’s why I get tense in the car because of that and our recent crash.” 

Angry and sad tears were coming down her face. Cardan held her and then realized what she said. She blames herself for their death. She has blamed herself all these years. 

When Cardan realized he grabbed her face in his hands said with a stern facial expression, “Jude it’s not your fault. That’s not your fault. He could have slid the car on the ice with or without him looking at you. You can’t blame yourself on that, sweetheart.” 

“But Cardan it hurts so bad. Even now it hurts. I’m glad Taryn wasn’t with us because what I saw was an image that will never leave me.” 

“I know it hurts, baby. But it wasn’t your fault. None of it, okay?” 

Jude is now sitting in his lap sideways. He begins to wipe the tears away while Jude nods her head and says with a thick voice, “Okay.” 

He just holds her and rocks her until he realizes she has fallen asleep. Her face still red from crying and she’s still so dang beautiful. 

Jude has been extra extra tired lately. She takes naps during the day. The migraines don't help either. She gets to go back to school Monday which it’s now Saturday so she is hoping and praying she gets through the whole day. 

 Now she has to bring the news to her family and friends. How is she going to tell them? How are they going to react? Next Saturday will tell it all.

Next Chapter

masterlist

____________________

I hope you enjoyed it!! Feel free to give me prompts of what you would like to see happen. I am desperately running out of ideas. I know how it is going to turn out but I need eventful ideas. Anything is appreciated!

Tag list:

@newwifeyy  @aelin-queen-of-terrasen  @afexiss  @roseygirl25  @mi-mavencalories  @spideygirlstuff  @deargreenbriar  @b00kworm  @thequeenofeveything  @munchycow  @aesthetics-11  @booksrmee @akaloto  @hauntedfreakdeputyhero​  @hurema @dorkzrul @curlyredqueen06

Let me know if you want to be added or taken off of the tag list.

[alexthepartyman]

Fine Line

Chapter Six: I’m hopeless, I’m broken.

“Yeah?” Uncle Jason asks as Penelope comes in. 

“Thank you for the flowers. I know I can be challenging, but your work is appreciated. J. Gideon. I appreciate the appreciation.” I look to Jason with confusion. He didn’t get her those flowers...what? Who’s posing as Jason? “And btw, you’re not challenging. Well, no, you’re totally challenging, but you’re not challenging at all in a bad way. Sir.” She turns around and looks at the framed photos. “Hey, is this your family?”

“Yeah. Sort of.” 

“Nice. Hi, Jamie. How are you doing? You finally got off your crutches?”

“Working on it.” 

“Thanks again for the flowers. Hey.”

“Hey…”

“What the hell does btw mean?”

“By the way. Internet shorthand.” 

“You sent Garcia flowers?”

“No. You need something?”

“Missing child in Wilmington, Delaware.”

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

“Eleven year old Billie Copeland was last seen on the playground at four-thirty yesterday afternoon.”

“Isn’t there a thing that says we get notified immediately? Why wasn’t this reported sooner?” I ask.

“Yes, the Child Abduction Response Plan. What happened?”

“Well, there was reason to believe she was with her father. Her cell phone shows a call to him around the time of her disappearance.” 

“So they’ve since ruled him out?”

“He called the mother about an hour ago,” JJ answers. 

“That doesn’t mean he isn’t involved.” 

“He’s on his way to the family home, so you can talk to him there. The local police are now considering this a stranger abduction.” 

“Twenty hours later?”

“Long term stranger abductions of children Billie’s age are rare. They represent only half of one percent of all missing cases per year. But they are usually more likely to be fatal. Of the children that are abducted and murdered, forty-four percent die within the first hour. From that point forward, their odds of survival greatly decrease. Seventy-five percent are gone after three hours. Virtually all of them are dead after twenty-four.” 

“We’ve got four hours, then.” 

“Shall we go?”

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

“She’s been missing twenty-one hours.” 

“You should have let Derek drive, we’d have gotten here in fifteen minutes,” I remark. 

“We’re gonna go meet with the lead detective at the park where the girl was last seen.” Aaron drives away.

“We need to know everything that’s being done,” Jason says.

“I’ll find out what the press is running, see if I know any of them. We may need to manage what they put out. Jamie, be careful to stay away from the media, they’ll have a field day if they find out about you.” 

“Good. See what the uniforms know from the canvasses. Elle, I need you to be a liaison with the family.” 

“A liaison?”

“In a child abduction, the parents are likely to break down if we aren’t careful.” I move alongside them towards the house. 

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

“We’re looking for a male in his mid to late thirties who drives a late-model green SUV. If anybody has seen anything suspicious, we have a hotline set up at the Wilmington Police Department. Billie Copeland is an eleven year old girl. The last time she was seen, she was in a blue track suit and a blue soccer uniform.” 

Mrs Copeland sniffs, turning off the TV. “They’ve been running that over and over again for the past two hours,” she says. 

“They just want to help find her, and running it over and over again, it may get to somebody who wasn’t watching before, somebody who might know something,” I explain, letting my arm shake. 

“The press wants to talk to me. I just...I don’t think I can face it.” 

“It’s best you follow our guidance.” 

“Why don’t you just tell us what happened?” Elle asks. 

“Um...I was focused on practice, and...Billie was...being a pain, as usual, she was giving me attitude. So I told her to run it off. I sent her away.” 

“That’s not your fault. There’s no way you could have known. Focusing on what we can’t control...that’s only going to make you feel worse. What’s done was done.” 

“How long have you been divorced?” Elle asks.

“Um...it’s been final for six months, but we haven’t lived together in over a year.” 

“Are you seeing anyone?”

She laughs, “Between work and Billie, when would I have the time?”

“Not one date? Any men coming over to the house?”

“I-I had a few casual dates after work, but they never came to the house. Billie still hopes that her father and I will get back together.” 

“How did Billie’s dog die, Mrs Copeland?” Uncle Jason asks.

“Uh...it was hit by a car two weeks ago. How did you know that?”

“Shrine in the room. Helps her grieve?”

“Her father did that for her.”

“They get along well?”

“Best of friends. She calls him every night, tells him about her day, asks about his. He’s a cancer survivor, so he takes time off from work, pulls her out of school for father/daughter field trips. Says we all need to stop and enjoy life. But he forgets that he has responsibilities, they both do, which makes me the bad guy. And she blames me for the divorce. Blames me for everything...I shoulld have just let her go with her father. I’m sorry.” She gets up off the couch and storms away from us.

“She’s pretty fragile.” 

“The last thing she did was fight with her daughter. Can you imagine what that feels like?”

“Pretty terrible. Lost Jamie once, I had to rescue him.” 

“I thought that was Eddie.” 

“He was there.” 

“Elle, I was seven,” I tell her. Tires screech from outside. 

“Mr Copeland’s here.” 

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

“I have been calling you all night!”

“I’m sorry, Marilyn, I turned my phone off.” 

“How could you turn your phone off? What if Billie got sick or…we needed you.” 

“I said I was sorry!” Mr Copeland walks back to us in frustration. “What’s being done to find my daughter?”

“We’re assessing that right now.”

“She’s been missing since yesterday! What the hell have you people been doing since then?!” 

“Where have you been, Mr Copeland?” I ask.

“Me?”

“Where were you all day and all night?”

“I have a cabin in Brandywine Valley.”

“Police tried you there.” 

“Well, maybe I was out at the time.” 

“Bille tried your cell phone yesterday afternoon.”

“Well, I shut it off sometimes. I like the solitude.” 

“You didn’t fight your wife for custody of your daughter,” Jason adds. “But you...you like being in her life.” 

“I want her to grow up in her home with her friends around. This is the only place she’s ever lived.” 

“So you love her very much.”

“Yes.”

“Why do you waste any precious time we have left? You weren’t at your cabin. You weren’t at work or with friends. Police didn’t call us until a little while ago because they though your daughter might have been with you?” I look to Mr Copeland, whose face screams disbelief. “That you might have taken your daughter. Until you can give us a satisfactory accounting of your whereabouts from the time your daughter went missing until -” Jason gets up and puts his face in his hands. “Would you help me understand why a devoted father who talks to his daughter every night suddenly turns off his phone, disappears for almost twenty-four hours?” 

“I was...busy.”

“Not good enough,” I remark.

“It’s one thirty. You called your wife at eleven thirty, found out Billie was missing.”

“So?”

“Well, Brandywine Valley’s fifteen minutes away. Where were you, Mr Copeland?”

“I…I was at Sloane Kettering Hospital. In New York City. Dr Baylan Mahal is the head of oncology. You can call him if you want.”

“I will.”

“How long?” I ask.

“What?”

“How long do you have?” I ask. “It’s an inference. You mentioned oncology...only viable answer, your cancer came back.” 

“It’s in my lymph nodes now. You wouldn’t know what those are.”

“Immune system glands. Mine are messed up, too. Can they do anything more?” I take a seat in front of him, on the ottoman. 

“No. Please, find my daughter. Find my daughter.”

“Of course.” He puts his head in his hands and cries. 

“Call Sloane Kettering.” 

I look back as Jason leaves, Elle stands, and I extend a hand out to hold Mr Copeland’s shoulder. 

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

“You took all the police off the street?”

“We believe your daughter was abducted by someone in the area, and that she’s probably still nearby.”

“Then shouldn’t you be flooding the area with cops, knocking on doors?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Yes, it is.” Mr Copeland pops his medication, and I pop mine, too.

“Youre taking the meds again.”

“Look...what exactly are you people doing to help get my daughter back?”

“You’re sick again, aren’t you?”

“We want you to meet with the press...both of you.”

“Elle…” 

“Press conference. That’s what you have? You just said you’re already taking the press that’s running off the air.”

“I know. But this will be different. Trust us, Mr Copeland.” The doorbell rings. 

“I’ll get it. Just tell Marilyn what you need us to do.” Elle sticks her hand out towards me, jarring me from gettin up and following him. 

“That was his second remission.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“Billie won’t even talk to me anymore. How am I gonna tell her that her father’s sick again?”

“One thing at a time, Mrs Copeland. Once we find your daughter, you’ll figure it out.”

“Can I help you?” 

“Mr Copeland, I’m Helen Godfrey from a few blocks away. I have printouts of all the sex offenders in the area. I think if you just...look at any of these…”

“What the hell?” Elle asks, heading out of the house. I get up and grab my crutches to see Mr Copeland running to his car with a paper in his hand. “Mr Copeland?” 

“I’m really sorry,” I quickly apologise, walking out the front door.

“Mr Copeland!” Tires screech as the yellow truck pulls out of the driveway and heads off. 

“There are sex offenders in the area. I thought he should know.”

“Stupid,” Elle remarks, ripping her phone open. 

“Ma’am, I’d highly recommend leaving that to law enforcement,” I quickly advise, following after Elle. 

“Hotch, we have a problem.” 

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

“Mr Jones isn’t interested in pressing charges,” Aaron says. 

“Am I supposed to be grateful? The bastard’s a pedophile.”

“Not all sex offenders are pedophiles,” I cut it. 

“Did you check up on him? Did you ever search his house>” 

“He solicited a prostitute. Nothing with kids.” 

“But he’s registered on-”

“Mr Copeland, please. There are at least a million different ways to get on that list.”

“That’s why accessing that type of information is supposed to be left up to law enforcement.” 

“We understand your frustration and your anger, but you’re jeopardising our efforts to save your daughter’s life. Every minute spent chasing you is time we’re not spending on Billie. So either get control of yourself and follow our directions or stay out of our way.” 

“What would you like us to do?”

“Make a public appeal for information regarding a witness driving a dark green SUV.”

“Isn’t he supposed to be the suspect?”

“Yes. But when people hear suspect, they can’t see the guy next door as a monster. They can’t imagine their neighbour doing something like that, because that’s not how they know them. If they’re a witness, they might be a hero.”

“Okay, but what if he thinks it’s a trick? What if he panics or thinks or it’s too risky, and then he-”

“You’re not just speaking to him. You’re talking to his neighbours, as well. Anyone who knows him.”

“We’ve done everything we can to relieve the pressure on this man. We’ve taken the cops off the street. You won’t have any standing with you on the dais. Only a local minister.”

“Hearing he isn’t a suspect might calm him down as well,” Aaron adds. “Right now he’s under enormous stress. And we need him to believe, even if it’s just for a little while, that we’re way off the mark, that we’re not close to arresting him.”

“Are you? Close to arresting him?”

“We need the public’s help.” 

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

“If you keep looking at me like that, they’ll definitely notice,” I scold Derek. 

“I’m not too sure you should be off your crutches.” 

“How am I gonna be able to walk without them if I don’t try? Besides, it’s not like I’m going that far.” 

“Okay, come on.”

“Here they come.”

“Would you close the door? Thank you,” I hear JJ say from the stage. “Okay, can I have everyon’s attention? Please, if you could just take your seats...the Copeland family is here to make an appeal. As you all know, their eleven year old daughter Billie is missing. So if ou could just have a little compassion and patience. Mr Copeland.” I poke my head around the corner to watch the scene unfold with my own eyes. Mr Copeland sets up to the podium with his wife and the minister.

“Yesterday…” he clears his throat. I gently nod. “Yesterday, at approximately three pm, my daughter...our daughter…” The minster holds her hand. “Belinda Copeland. Billie. Went missing from the recreation center. We are looking for a man, a witness, in a green SUV. There have been some reports that he is a suspect, but that was a mistake. He’s not suspected of anything. We would like this man to come forward and tell us what he knows. We need your help. He may not even understand how important what he saw is. So anyone with information about this individual or his green SUV, please call the tip hotline. Thank you.” I smile up at him and give him a thumbs up. 

“Mr Copeland! Mr Copeland!” 

“We’d like Billie to come home now. It’ll be dark soon. Thank you.” 

“So the body located by police earlier today is not Billie’s?” My heart sinks to the floor, rage filling me, hot and deep. What the fuck? There was a body? There was a body? How did he even find out?! 

“What?” 

“The female body -”

“There’ll be no more questions. Thank you.” 

“What body?” 

“This press conference is over. Let’s discuss this outside.” I dart along the walls and find myself at the door out of the room, ripping it open for the couple to walk through. 

“What body?” 

“Come on, Mr Copeland. There’ll be no more questions. That’ll be all for now.” I look towards the cameras and the reporters. 

“Press conference is over,” JJ repeats. 

“Mr Copeland!” 

“What about Billie?” I look at the flashing photo lights and blink, closing the door behind the minister, and JJ goes up to one of the reporters. 

“Is that your idea of compassion?”

“I only asked a question. You’re the ones who didn’t tell the parents-”

“Because we weren’t sure. Raising and destroying hopes with inconclusive information is dangerous,” I cut in. 

“James.” I groan at JJ. “A positive identification hasn’t been made. Asking them about that was out of line, Hal.” She shuts up and drags me out. 

“Is there a body?!” 

“Please just come with me,” Elle begs. 

“Tell me right now, did you find a body?” 

“Mrs Copeland-”

“Did you find Billie? Is my daughter dead?” She asks. I reach up and let her lean on me. 

“A body was discovered,” Aaron answers.”

“It’s not Billie. The body that was found was much older, looked like it had been there for days. Looks like maybe a junkie or an overdose.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I saw the body myself. It’s not your daughter.” 

“My god, I can’t...I can’t…” 

“Please, just come with me right now,” Elle says, leading Mrs Copeland away as she cries. Mr Copeland follows them. 

“What the hell was that all about?”

“A reporter asked them about the body.” 

“Probably heard it on the scanner.” 

“I should have prepared them for that.” 

“We don’t have anything to tell them yet,” Jason argues. 

“Billie’s running out of time.”

“And so are the parents.” 

“Come on. A little hope, huh? We’ll make it, we’ll make it.”

“James, you’re not allowed to go up to reporters.” JJ scolds me as we follow Jason out.

“JJ, it’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. We have to be careful what we tell the media, or else we could get Billie killed.” 

“I know, JJ.”

“We haven’t even properly discussed what’s going to happen if they catch wind of who you are-”

“Minor consultant, working under SSA Jason Gideon of the Behavioural Analysis Unit, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Tell them that.” 

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

“How’s it going?”

“The unsub’s in here somewhere.”

“If you can’t find sex offenders with green suvs, try anybody with green suvs.” 

“You gotta bet that the police talked to them in their initial canvass.” 

“Maybe not. Our unsub is a solitary individual. He isn’t the type of guy to insert himself into an investigation. Wouldn’t it make more sense that he wouldn’t have answered the door during the initial canvass?” 

“Neighbourhood was crawling with cops, canine units, search and rescues. Make him nervous and jumpy, he’d want to avoid them at all costs.” 

“Yeah, you could easily just pretend you aren’t home,” I add. 

“So then he couldn’t allow anyone into his home to ask routine questions, even if the girl was bound or gagged because it’d be too risky.”

“It’s next to impossible to control breathing, speech patterns, body language when the body’s under extreme duress. Maybe if we compare hotline tips with anyone who wasn’t at home during the initial canvass.” 

“Or didn’t answer the door.” 

“We’ll find our unsub.” 

“Let’s get to it. Jamie, here you go,” Aaron hands me a pile of files from Spencer’s work area. “Green SUVs, in the area.” 

“Got it.” 

“Sergeant.”

“Yeah?”

“Here’s what we need. Everything that come in here…”

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

“Yeah. It was worth a try. That’s right. Thank you.” Derek hangs up the phone. “Nothing.” 

“Agent Morgan?”

“Yeah?” 

“This the kind of thing you’re looking for?” 

“What is it?” I ask, pushing the chair out to get up. 

“Uh-uh. Crutches.” Derek scolds me, and I groan and set them up. “Reid.”

“A Mr Lomax has a neighbour with a green SUV, but he hasn’t seen him all day. Says that’s unusual. Thought he might have been out of town, but now he sees some lights on over there.” 

“1106 Springfield. Where’s our canvass sheets?” I grab them from a nearby table. “1106.”

“1100 block. 1106...no answer.”

“Let’s go talk with Mr Lomax. Nice call.” 

“Thanks. Good luck.” I look up at Spencer as we head out. 

“I am definitely not using these come Tuesday.”

“Tuesday? Why then?” Spencer asks.

“That’s when school starts up again, and I’m headed back on A/B weeks for the month.” 

“You should use your crutches for as long as you’ve been told to. You know, the correct way of getting off of your crutches is to go to physical and occupational therapy.” 

“Oh, come on. These things are annoying! I’ve been going since it happened!”

“Actually, it’s been one month and twenty days since your accident, and you started going to physical and occupational therapy a week after it, so you’ve been going for one month and thirteen days.” 

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

“Mr Lomax?” Derek asks as we approach a man aggressively raking leaves in his yard. “Agent Morgan. Agent Reid. James Rossi. FBI.” The two men beside me pull out their badges, and I pull out mine that granted me access to the buildings. 

“Holy smokes, that was fast!”

“Did you call in a tip about your neighbour, Don Curtis?”

“Lives down the street. I saw the news thing, you know?”

“Yep. Green SUV?” I ask, spotting the car.

“Yeah. I was thinking...Don drives a dark green explorer, and he’s at the park all the time. I figured, like they said on the television, maybe he knows something but he doesn’t know that he knows it.” Or he’s our unsub, and he definitely knows he is. “Know what I mean?”

“Yeah, we do.” I look back towards the man. “Where’s his explorer now?”

“It’s usually in the driveway, but I haven’t seen it today. Haven’t seen Don either, which is kind of weird. We’re always out front talking about the lawns. He never has any crab grass.” I don’t know what that is, so. “I don’t know how he does it.” 

“Do you know if he has a dog?”

“Used to. A big golden retriever. Her name was Candy. I think she died like six months ago.” 

“Thanks, Mr Lomax,” I say, as we turn to walk away. 

“Yeah, Hotch. Morgan. Better get over here right now.” I swing myself forward, starting the walk down to the house. 

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

“Third house down on the right. We knocked on the door, but nobody’s answering.” 

“His neighbour said he’s definitely there.” 

“He’s got a green ford explorer in the garage.”

“Break down the door,” Jason suggests.

“No. We don’t have probable cause.” 

“You don’t think owning a vehicle that was used to kidnap a child is probable cause enough?” I ask the detective. “He’s got a green SUV, dog that died recently, spends time at the park.” 

“Pretending he’s not home.”

“None of which are illegal. No judge is going to sign a warrant based on that information.” 

“You’re weighing the life of a child against the price of a door?”

“I’m weighing the law against the price of a door.” 

“The girl’s in the house right now. The longer we stand here and wait, the longer he has to finish her off.” 

“I’ll call a judge. If we go in there without a warrant, all that evidence will get thrown-”

“No time!” I yell, bouncing up and down.

“We’re aware of the rules of evidence. What do you propose that we do?” 

“JASON!” I yell, throwing my crcutches off and running after the old man as he dashes to the house. 

“JAMIE!” 

“Gideon! Gideon, wait a minute!” Derek yells. “Gideon, Gideon, you need -” He gets cut off by the sound of glass, Jason hits the window with a potted plant, shattering it and climbing through the window. 

“FEDERAL AGENTS, FBI!” Derek shouts, kicking the door open and wielding his gun. I follow after everyone else, dashing down the hall after Jason, but stopping before rounding a corner. I pop my head out, spotting the open door at the end of the hall. Jason heads towards it, and I pull my pocketknife out of my bag and unfold it, preparing myself to attack. Derek rounds the corner with his gun in front. I pull back as Jason screams, a man walking out of one of the rooms. 

“Where is she?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I hear a gun cocking.

“Where’s Billie Copeland?” 

“Please don’t hurt me.” 

“Gideon…”

“Please! Please put the gun down.” 

“Gideon!”

“Get him out of here!” 

“Let’s go. Let’s go.”

“TEAR THE PLACE APART!”

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

“Just as we expected, he has an extensive collective of deviant photos and cartoon downloads.”

“Partitioned in separate folders?”

“Yep.” 

“Access the internet history. Identify any pornographic sites, shut them down.” 

“We’re uploading to Garcia as we speak.” 

“What is this? Is it all porn?”

“It’s a lot of home movies with a bunch of kids in it. This one, you need to see it.” I keep my head down as the tape starts to play. 

“Ssssshh. Remember what I’ll do if you tell.” I shiver at the sound of the voice. 

“Gideon, we searched the entire house. Upstairs, downstairs. Everywhere. There’s no sign of the girl or that she’s even been here. It is possible that he moved her. Polly Klaas was found twenty-five miles from home. Danielle Van Damme, thirty, Samantha Runnion, fifty-two. But keep in mind...we were twenty hours late getting involved.”

“Man doesn’t take chances. He wouldn’t drive around with a girl in the car. He took her, got her off the street as quickly as possible. Just keep looking. Jamie, details.”

“I’m on it.” 

“You know, it’d be helpful if I knew exactly what to look for,” I comment. “We just have kiddie porn, and that can put him away for something...but it doesn’t help us find Billie.” 

“I know. Details, what does he mean by that?”

“Survey everything. Point out anything that catches my attention. Hey, is there, like an attic or a basement?”

“There’d be a door somewhere, or stairs.”

“Sometimes there isn’t. I remember being in a house...you got to the basement through a hole in the closet floor. You wouldn’t know it was there, it was covered up. I’m gonna get Jason.” 

“What kind of house has that?” Spencer asks.

“I don’t know. You know what he’s talking about?”

I walk down the hallway and head into the living room, where Jason is pulling something out of a broom. “What’s that?”

“Insulation. What did you need?”

“I was thinking...is there a basement or an attic? Sometimes, there will be patches in the floor or the ceiling, and when you take out the patches, there’s the entrance.” I explain. “Didn’t he have insulation on him? Access point might be in a bedroom or in the hallway.” 

“The hallway. Jamie, there’s a vent.” I turn around and head back the way I came, stopping under a vent in the ceiling with poofy stuff hanging from it. 

“You mean this thing?” I ask. 

“Yeah. That thing. Hotch, get me up there.” 

“Here, take my crutches, I can get up there. Jason, help me.” I take off my crutches, letting them clank on the wooden floor under us and jump into Jason’s arms, opening the vent and hoisting myself up from there. “Jesus Christ, I’m heavy.” 

“You’re just out of shape. Alright, thanks, Hotch. Jamie’s already up there. Jamie, look for Billie.” I nod, crawling away from the hole and looking around, spotting a girl with a bright pink arm cast. “She’s here.” I crawl towards her, unwrapping the tape from aronud her mouth. “Sssh. It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m Jamie. We’re gonna take you back to your parents. You’re safe now. Is your arm hurting?” I ask. 

“I wanna go home.”

“I know.”

“Hey, Billie. My name’s Jason. Jamie and I are gonna take you home.” 

“Can she get to a doctor afterwards to check on her arm?” I ask. 

“Yeah, maybe. Your mommy and daddy are very worried about you.” 

“I wanna go home,” she pants. 

“Let’s go see your mom and dad, huh?” Jason undos the rest of her bindings takes her in her arms. “Oh, I forgot. I took this for luck.” He gives her something. “Let’s bring it back to where it belongs, okay? Let’s go see your mommy and daddy. Jamie, go down after her. Hotch! Here she comes. Here you go, sweetie. Watch your arm.”

“Thanks, for not getting mad at me.” I say as he lowers her into Aaron’s arms. ‘Watch her arm.”

“What did you even do?” I chuckle at his obliviousness. “Watch your arm.”

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

“I got absolutely nothing.” 

“Aw, nothing.” 

“Ssss…two pair…” Spencer hisses. “Of aces…”

“Oh, get out of town! Why you always winning? Nuh-uh!” 

“Cause he cheats!”

“Poker. It’s mathematics, it’s statistics.”

“Which explains why I’m horrible at it,” I comment. “I don’t think I had anything either.” 

“No, you didn’t.” 

“He’s from Vegas.”

“House rules.”

“There’s that, too.” 

“Alright, shuffle.” 

“Give me a card,” Derek demands.

“Hey, Hotch,” Jason asks. 

“Yeah? He can play poker, we’re not using actual money.”

“It’s not that. Not even his dad can teach him to play.” 

“Uncle Jason!” I exclaim.

“It’s true. Did you send flowers to that tech girl...Garcia...and say they were from me?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Jason, people need to know that they’re important, and sometimes you forget that.” 

“I already sent her a gift.” 

“What? Jamie, you didn’t tell me.”

“Well, maybe you should ask,” I remark. 

“Oohh, boy got some sass.” 

“It’s his dad. Dave can be blunt. What did you get for her, Jason?” 

“An MP3 player. Jamie helped pick it out. They last longer. Unless you drop them, or the battery dies, whichever comes first.” 

“So, she got two gifts.”

“What if she thinks I’m sweet on her?”

“I’ll talk to her.” Elle gives a funny look that makes us all laugh.

“Give me cards,” I say.

[thenixart]

Unedited Dorohedoro fanfic (opening of chapter 1)

Bioremediation

What do we say to Death?

-Location: Hole?-

“Uhg...” Consciousness comes back to Ton like a hammer to the side of his head. Searing pain radiates from his temple to his ear that only increases as he gets up. He groans, “Oww.”

Taking stock of his surroundings, Ton is absolutely certain that he is no longer in the Hole shopping mall. There was no sign of the door he just opened or the wave of sludge that washed over him. Not even the hallway he’d just been in with the numbered doorways. The place he was in now looked decrepit, like a building long abandoned and left to rot. The ground was uneven, cracked and broken in places, large slabs that looked like they’d been moved and some point before being dropped. Massive metal pipes, plastic-covered soft grungy tubing, corroded iron girders, walls with struts, and studs visible. It felt like a half-finished construction project left in the rain.

And it reeked.

A familiar kind of raw sewage, wet mud, and rotting corpses kinda smell. The boss’s scent. Strongly emanated from the thick sticky reddish-black liquid dripping from him. It was some kinda sludge, grainy and thick and not unlike the stuff he’d see in the bathtub as a kid after the boss had done his weekly shower. He had an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach about this. Using his relatively cleaner undershirt he wiped the muck from his face and set about trying to find his comrades.

“Saji!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. One hand cupping the side of his mouth and the over carrying his now ruined undershirt. “Tetsujo! Ushishimada! Damnit guys where did you go?”

There’s something niggling in the back of his mind like he’s forgotten something very important, something he saw in the dark fluid that washed over him. As he walked he realized that this place is far far larger than it first appeared, starting to look more like a rotted rundown city not unlike Hole. Just worse. And in places freakishly organic. 

He stops and there is a hole in the ground not too far ahead filled with clay-colored bubbling muck. An arm sticks out of the hole and lays limp along the ground. Seeing what is probably a person in trouble he rushes to action. 

“Hey! Hold on tight!” He grabs the hand and pulls, bracing himself with his weight on his back leg and not the leg close to the edge of the hole. The pit looks nasty and he doesn’t know if the edge is stable or not. The mud makes a horrible sucking sound as he wrenches the person free. Whoever they are they’re fairly slim with long hair and absolutely covered in the muck.

Using his undershirt he cleans the person’s face and after clearing the layer of grime his heart jolts-- “Natsuki!”

He clutches her close and can’t help but shout, “Hey! Hey! Hey! Wake Up! Natsuki!!”

Then he realizes that she isn’t breathing. 

“Shit!” He lowers her back to the ground and tries to pull up those CPR lessons from back in the day. Medicine along with fighting were the two main things that the boss actually taught them. He inhales as deeply as possible then locks lips with her and forces that air into her lungs.

“Natsuki! Don’t die!” He downright orders as he starts with chest compressions. Using his full upper body strength he pushes down directly on her sticky bare chest and then releases and counts. One... two… ten… thirty… forty-two… sixty-six… one hundred! “I said breathe! Damnit!”

Natsuki complies with wet coughing that forces red slime out of her mouth and nose. 

“Thank goodness!” He sighs in relief and cleans more of the gunk off of her. His shirt now irredeemable is left on the ground. As he looks at Natsuki’s naked huddled form turned away from him his mind swarms with questions and the nagging feeling that he’s forgotten something important. 

“Hey,” He says to get her attention as she seems to be very distracted about the whole nearly drowning thing. Ton takes off his jacket and drapes it over her shoulders. “Natsuki, how did you get here? Why are you butt naked? And how did you get to Hole?”

She says something. He knows she’s saying something. He’s looking right at her and can plainly see her mouth moving and she’s even gesturing with her hands. She’s saying something but he heard nothing. It felt like there was water in his ears and something he needed to remember. Whatever had happened to her didn’t change the fact that they were still lost in a strange and possibly dangerous place.

Compared to the other heavy lifting he’d done that day carrying Natsuki was a breeze. Hell, she was even smaller than Dokuga and Ton knew for a fact that he could bench press the other man without breaking a sweat. He picked a direction and kept walking.

And walking.

And walking.

And he is forgetting something important.

A flash of memory passed him by so fast that the only thing that registered was the sound of torn flesh. Ton becomes aware that he has a splitting headache. For some reason, it feels like it’s been hurting for a good minute and he just didn’t notice. Natsuki taps his shoulder and he notices that their surroundings are dimmer and the walls are oozing sludge. An uneasiness settles into the pit of his stomach and he has her hand him one of his knives from his jacket. He carries it in his mouth just in case danger appears and he keeps walking.

The feeling of danger passes and Ton fills the time and silence with idle chatter. Worry gnaws at his gut as they find no exit or any other people around at all. He knew he’d been walking for damn kilometers at this point. Worry turns to dread when he sees a hole filled with sludge. His protests that it couldn’t be the same hole that he pulled Natsuki out of are killed by the sight of his crumpled and dirty undershirt beside it.

He has remembered the thing he forgot.

The realization of death feels like the floor falling out from under him. He feels the pain in his head and ear and ah… That’s why he couldn’t hear Natsuki. The thing in the sludge tore through his head.

They were nowhere. Alone together in the void and fully dressed.  He was so very tired. 

“You’ve been here a long time, huh,” Words came slowly as his mind grew foggy. “I… wasn’t able to help you… I’m sorry...”

The darkness closed in.

Rough slender fingers closed around his hand and squeezed. 

With a jolt, they are thrown from the abyss. It feels like his body is full of pins and needles as his surroundings come into focus. They were laying in a hallway full of numbered doors in a pool of blood and back powder. What?

“Ok! I haven’t had a trip like that since that time Maki gave me a bad batch of Black Powder.” Natsuki’s voice croaked as she rubbed her temples. 

“Natsuki!” Ton shouted and engulfed her into a crushing hug. “Thank the devil! You’re ok!”

She hugs him back just as tight. When he lets go he notices her expression and the fact that he can see right through her to the door behind. Oh.

“Ton...” She says and her smile is tinged with sadness. She pokes him in the chest and he notices that he too is transparent. Weird. Weirder is the faintly glowing blue cord going from her wrist to his on the hand that she’d grabbed not too long ago. “I’m pretty sure we’re dead. Maybe ghosts or something?”

That made sense, given the whole weird ass gunky… limbo? (Limbo? That’s a word he hasn’t thought about in a very long time.) that they were just in. Plus his memories of something taking out a chunk of his skull and slashing up his ear. If the blood on the ground was his then he was extremely dead. But…

“That’s… not possible.” A touch of the past flashed behind his eyelids of a quiet conversation. A heavy hand on his head and flowery incense. A woman’s voice. That may be what happens, but that’s not remotely fair. And damn the devils for it. “Sorcerers go to hell when we die. Like immediately. Only humans turn into ghosts.”

Natsuki shrugged and an ‘I don’t know’ sound. “Big bro, all I know that this isn’t hell and that I definitely died.”

“...how did you die Natsuki? Last I heard Doguka sent you on a solo mission. Did something go wrong?”

She stood and turned her back to him. He heard her take in a deep breath then release it. “I was leaving the manor. For some reason, Dokuga insisted that I leave through the back exit. On the way out I ran into the boss. He… licked me. On the mouth. It was weird. Then he told me he wanted me which you know super exciting--”

“Eww! You like fifteen and he’s almost thirty!”

“Sixteen!”

“Same difference! Still nasty!”

“As I was saying. Super exciting! Butterflies in my stomach and everything. Then he kissed me (btw the boss really needs to brush more often like hot damn) and...” She paused. He could see her hands shaking even while hidden inside of her poofy hoodie. “He used En’s magic. He filled my insides with mushrooms and cut me to pieces with his knives. He was… smiling. Smiling as he killed me.”

She buries her face in her hands and he’s there instantly one arm around her shoulders and another on her head. He makes a soothing sound because his words fail him. He wanted to say that the boss would never because… well, the boss half-raised him and the others. Saved their lives and gave them a reason to live. Sure he was pretty cold and blunt but he… Ton, Saji, Ushishimada, Tetsujo, and Dokuga… they all loved the boss and it was clear that they were loyal. That Natsuki was loyal. Why would the boss…

The one who killed me was a Crosseye! I’m sure of it. Risu’s voice bubbled up from a traitorous part of his mind. As Natsuki turned to cry into his chest he felt the phantom pains of his knives turned against him by Risu’s magic. Powerful rare magic. Yeah… the numbers on Natsuki’s smoke readings were pretty damn good and defense magic? Well that’s really fucking useful, isn’t it? If they’d have met under different circumstances if she hadn’t been a Crosseye and able to use her magic? Well, neither he nor any of the guys would have hesitated to take her head for the boss. That was the stone-cold truth yet something about it made him nauseous. 

Natsuki was a nice person. Hell, from what he heard about Risu before his death the kid was bright eyed and bushy tailed too. Actually in it for the cause and not the money.They were killed by the boss. The faces on the thing that killed me had cross eye marks, his brain supplied. Natsuki and Risu didn’t deserve to die.

“You can let go now.” Natsuki said, pulling away from him. She rubs her eyes and looks very tired. “Alright. So… what next.”

He shrugged. “No idea. Wanna find the others?”

“Why not?”

------

It doesn’t take them long to find Ushishimada, Tetsujo, and Saji who are now rather loudly looking for Ton. Which was nice. 

“Where’d that dumbass go?” Ushishimada was saying when Ton and Natsuki caught up with the rest of the group. Rude. Ton stuck his tongue out at him. 

Natsuki waved her hand in front of Saji’s face as he read a sign about where exactly they were. “I don’t think they can see us.”

“Nope. Let’s see if this works,” Ton took in a deep breath, “HEEEEEEEEEEY GUUUUUUUUYS!!!!”

No response. Huh. The guys continued with their conversation and Ton shuddered when Tetsujo walked right through him like he wasn’t even there. Tetsujo stopped and his shoulders tensed and his eye darted around. Oh! Perhaps? Before he could try again his attention was drawn to the horrible wall of ooze pulsating further up the hall. About around where he’d woken up. Very familiar black slime.

“Ewww, you see that?” Natsuki said, pointing at it. Ah good, he wasn’t just seeing shit. 

“Whooa!” Tetsujo’s hand flew to his sword because apparently he saw that shit too. 

“What’s wrong Tetsujo?” Saji did not see it.

“I--I dunno,” Tetsujo was on high alert now. Granted it didn't take much to really set him off. Man carries his sword even to the bath, he’s got issues. Not saying that the rest of them don’t have issues but Dokuga and Tetsujo were the most paranoid people Ton knew. “But just now something..”

The phantom wall of slime vanished the moment Ushishimada’s shout caught their attention. He’d picked up the powder trail and found the door marked with Ton’s blood. Door nineteen.

“Shit! Ton we have to do something!” Natsuki shouts as she reaches out for the guys. Her touch fails to even raise the hair on the backs of their necks as they open the door. Ton’s nerves feel like they’re on fire, his attention locked onto the bloated monster inside of the room and the meaty sucking noises it was making. It wasn’t the only thing he saw. From the blood spatter patterns and bullet holes in the wall it looked like there’d been a gunfight in here recently. Even from this angle Ton could clearly see that it looked like the boss had been partially decapitated, the top of his head flopping a bit as he… ate. The boss was eating something. 

“...Is that really what the boss looks like now?” Natsuki’s voice was barely audible as the pain in his ear returned. His head throbbed and half of his face felt raw and torn. There was static in one of his legs and it felt like his guts were falling out. 

Ah, well that’s that then. 

A hollow feeling slithered inside of Ton as he detactedly watched Tetsujo, Saji, and Ushishimada’s excitement at finding the boss turn into unease and confusion and then morph into horror as they discovered what Ton had already figured out. There was something weird about seeing your own corpse. Even weirder to see someone who you genuinely loved just going ham on your carcass like your guts were made of bacon. Something that was almost a laugh escaped Ton’s ghostly lips as the puns caught up with him.

Though looking at the boss, he definitely didn’t get that big by just eating him. Hell most of his carcass wasn’t even in him yet. There was a lot of blood everywhere. And there was no way the boss could have gotten to this room on his own and as strong as Dokuga was this was pretty damn far to carry that thing on his own. And definitely no way that Dokuga would have made such a sloppy attempt at decapitation if he had reason to harm the boss. So a firefight in which someone hurt the boss and the boss ate the resulting bodies. As well as Ton because... he’d shown up. The boss had still been hungry and he’d shown up and as far as the boss had been concerned Ton was food.

The monster that was the boss pulled his torso closer and seemed to hesitate for a moment before digging its claws into the flesh of his chest and tearing it open to get access to the organs inside. Ton felt that. Pain seared through his ghostly body and his ribs snapped and popped in time with his real ones as the boss tore out his ribcage. 

Saji was the first to act. His voice was shaky, begging, and on the verge of screaming as he tried to pull Ton’s remains away from the boss. “S...Stop. Stop it already! That’s your friend! Have you forgotten that?!”

Was the boss ever actually their friend? The part of his heart that would always remember being beaned in the face with a burger, the one and only time the boss shared food that was meant for him. The fun trips to the fancy restaurants.The fighting as a team. But… really it was more the boss tolerated them while they loved him unconditionally. Well sort of. The boss… Kai… saved their lives when they were kids. Gave them a reason to keep on living in these shithole worlds. Not the reason they told themselves or the recruits but reason enough. To be useful. To feel protected. To be provided for and free from want. That’s probably as close to loved as a bunch of losers like them could get from someone (something because the boss was never quite like a proper person now was he?) that powerful. They used the fear of Kai to use others. And the boss used them. And threw them away once they were no longer useful to him. Simple.  

And yet it made the traitorous part of Ton’s heart burn with rage.

They’d been loyal! Saji deserved better than to be on the verge of tears playing a pathetic game of tug of war with one of his best friend’s rib cage while begging the man who half raised them all to remember that comrades aren’t snacks. They’d been kind! Ushishimada should have been home, helping Ton cook up a hot breakfast for their brothers in arms instead of sinking to the floor in grief.  They tried to make things better! He didn’t want to see Tetsujo vomit from stress and feel the need to draw his against someone he trusted, it was like watching something get irreversibly broken. 

THEY DESERVED BETTER!  

Like a match in a methane mine heat burned through the numbness of Ton’s incorporeal body. (And how dare that bastard actually finish eating his body while the others were breaking down!) There was a fight brewing and the odds are astronomical bad. Neither he nor Natsuki could really touch anything or be heard. Tetsujo was the most ready to fight but he was emotionally shaken. Saji was still in denial and Ushishimada was in a worse state. And Ton knew exactly how fast Kai’s horrible horrible tube mouth was even if the monster could barely move the rest of its overstuffed body. Then the odds decreased rapidly when it called upon the magic it stole from Natsuki.

Fuck.

That didn't stop Ton for instinctively reaching for his knives. What did stop him was the large gloved ice cold hand grabbing his wrist. Colors muted and time slowed enough for him to actually be able to track the movement of that whip quick tube mouth as the monster simply bit a chunk out of Ushishimada’s chest. Instantly killing him with Saji following soon after and about as gruesomely. From the corner of eye a shadow flies out and over the corpses of his friends, pausing briefly and then flying back out of sight. 

“Ton!” Natsuki calls out in alarm and he sees a similar shadow wrapped around her. 

“Hey!” He shouts turning around quickly the hand still firmly grasping his wrist. The figure before him causes a shiver to run down his spine. Her face was a skull partially obscured by a gas mask not unlike the mask of that Aikawa dude (the one who tried to stop the boss who the boss turned into... ), there was even a thick black tube running from her mask that dropped down in loops around her waist like biomechanical intestines. Thick leather armor reminiscent of firefighter gear largely concealing her figure. She towered over him and Ton was not a small man. The black scythe in her other hand felt like a solid threat.

“You are dead,” Death said, sounding tired which given all of the recent killings she probably was, “Rejoice. These problems are no longer yours. You can rest, forget, and move on. Your friends will meet again in Hell.”  

His friends will meet again in Hell? “But I’m still here now. I could help Tetsujo survive.”

“Buy doing what? You are one soul against a mountain of angry dead. Even if you did manage to kill the host, and he’d probably thank you for it the poor boy’s been trying to stop himself for years… even if you did kill him your living friends are unlikely to survive the birth of that thing. Either they’ll be eaten very soon or just after the kid gains its own physical form.” 

“Host? That thing?” There were puzzle pieces coming together but so much that he still didn’t know enough. And why… hadn’t they been taken to Hell? Ton had to assume that those shadows that ghosted over Saji and Ushishimada’s bodies where their souls getting harvested. But… “Why did you say my friends will meet up again in Hell?”

“You certainly are nosey,” Death sighed. One of her tubes looped around him and she let go of his wrist. She altered her grip on Natsuki to a singly less restrictive loop around the girl’s waist. “And I still have so much work left to do.”

“Ok but--” Ton started only for everything to go dark.

[hattywatch]

A. Henrique - You’re the Reason Why

Author’s Note: This is for my sweet @xolilyxo who is dearly in love with Adam Henrique and has recently recruited me <3 I love her and I love him, even if I never really follow west coast hockey because it’s on way too late for my east coast ass. 

“I thought you said it was ‘endearing,’ what happened?” You huffed and rearranged the pillows on your bed, pressing them against the wall, as if that could block out the caterwauling coming from the next apartment.

Ohhhhhh, I wanna dance with some-bah-dayyy. Wanna feel the heat with somebody!!!

“Yeah, well... endearing is reserved for private concerts that don’t occur while I’m SUPPOSED TO BE ASLEEP!” You shout the last part towards the wall behind you, hoping your voice will carry through it, like his is currently doing.

Your friend laughs, and you groan, “Thanks a lot for commiserating. I really appreciate it,” you’re going for biting sarcasm, but the yawn that slips into your sentence betrays you and takes all the malice out of it.

“Sorry. You’re being a baby. Just go knock on the door and ask him to pipe down. He probably doesn’t realize he’s being so loud,” you suppose that’s one solution, “But, it’s really late and I should be asleep already. See you tomorrow, don’t be laaaate!” she sing-songs, and you mock her with a face, not that she can see it through the phone, but you say good night anyway and plug your phone into your charger.

You flop down onto your side and can still hear the music, and man, clear as a bell coming from the bathroom of J6. Even putting another pillow over your head isn’t really helping. Eventually you give up, leaving your room and dragging your blankets along the floor to the couch. Between the two rooms and one door between you two, the singing is drowned out and you can finally fall into a deeper sleep than you’d be able to for the past week.

_____

The sun is bright and the weather is beautiful, which is a small consolation as you’re sat outside sipping your coffee deeply and chatting with your friend at brunch, which you were ON TIME TO, thank you very much.

“Did you at least get to see gym hottie this morning?” She signals the waiter walking around with the coffee carafe over to fill you guys up and you shake your head no. “I haven’t seen him down in the gym for a while, actually. Maybe he moved,” the thought is sad, since ogling him on the treadmill is the only thing that gives you the drive to get on the stupid stair climber 3 days a week.

After you finish up eating and drinking far too much coffee to be healthy, she has to go home to her family, but you have the day free and it really seems like you’ve earned a manicure with the week you’ve had.

_____

By the time you put the key in your door, careful not to smudge your nails, and kick off your shoes, you can hear it.

If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends.

And honestly, how much can one man shower? But your friend was right, now that it’s the middle of the day you don’t find it so annoying. It’s kind of cute, so you find yourself humming along until you remember it’s twenty-nineteen, “Alexa? Play Wannabe, by the Spice Girls,” and bless her, she does.

Dancing around your kitchen with your broom, you work your way through some basic chores. Sweeping, unloading, and then reloading the dishwasher. It’s really putting you into that Sunday cleaning mode, and before you know it, your whole place is clean and you’ve worked up a bit of a sweat. So, you hop into the shower and since you’re in the mood, you leave spotify open on the sink and warble through your own little musical. Since you have all day, you really get into it. A full exfoliate/hair mask/shave shower.

Thirty minutes in, when you hear an aggressive pounding coming from your door, you’re surprised and a little agitated, because everyone is entitled to a long uninterrupted shower, but you turn off the water and dry off the best you can before slinging a robe around you and hurrying to the door, a trail of wet footprints leading back to your bathroom.

When you open the door a crack, you’re shocked and your hand flies up to the chest of your robe to make sure it’s secure. Gym hottie is stood outside your door, looking sheepish but purposeful.

“Uh, can I... can I help you?” He looks about as uncomfortable as you feel and he opens his mouth to speak, but just a little huff comes out, so he tries again.

“I’m eh, I’m really sorry to bother you, but I have a game tonight and I’m trying to nap, and I guess my bedroom wall is shared by your bathroom, so I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind turing your music down.” Your eyebrows crinkle up and you forget that the behemoth in front of you is as attractive as he is with all of indignation that clouds up in your head.

Before you can help yourself, the door is swung open and you can’t even be bothered to care about the fact that you probably look like a drowned rat, “YOU can’t sleep? You can’t sleep!! You have got to be kidding me, buddy.”

He looks a little confused, or maybe a little scared that he knocked on the door of a crazy person, so you clue him in, “I don’t have to ‘guess’ that your bathroom shares a wall with my bedroom, because I haven’t been able to get a full night’s sleep in over a week with you putting on broadway productions in there every night!” you jerk your thumb in the direction of his apartment and he looks downright bashful after your outburst. Stood there in front of your door, shoulders limp and eyes cast down.

The fight leaves you before you can even second guess how much you probably just embarrassed yourself. “Yeah, I’ll turn my music off… sorry for keeping you awake.” He looks up and smiles, a little thing that knocks your heartbeat up a tick.

“I’m sorry too, I didn’t realized the walls here were so thin. You could have just come over and told me, though,” he shrugs his hands into his pockets and his smile grows a little bit, “I don’t bite, ya know.”

You sigh, and shift your stance to rest on one foot, the hip popped out to the side, “Yeah, well. It’s fine. It’s cute when it’s not 2 am.” It isn’t until you’ve said it that you realize exactly what you said, but it seems he has and he latched onto it.

“How about this?” He pulls his phone from his pocket and hands it to you after pressing his thumb into the button to unlock it. “Put your number into here, and I’ll give you mine too. If you think it’s too late for my singing to be cute, send me a text and I’ll stop. Nodding, you take his phone and type your number in. You set your name as with “(singer from J8)” next to it.

“We’re all good now right? I really have to get this pre-game nap in or it will throw everything off.” He raises an eyebrow at you and you relax your eyebrows where they’ve laid furrowed on your forehead for the brunt of this interaction.

“Yeah, we’re good J6.” He holds out his hand, and you’re reluctant to pull yours away from the neck of your robe but you do after tightening the belt around your waist. “Adam is fine. Thank you J8.”

“Y/n,” when you finally let go of his hand, he turns and walks away heading back into his apartment as you stare on before you close the door and head back into your bathroom, ready to hop back into the shower. You shut the door and hang your robe up on the back of it before turning the stream of water back on.

Before you can get into the shower, you hear your phone vibrate against the marble countertop and sigh, reaching over for it.

“I think your singing is cute too, btw.” You don’t get a chance to respond before the little dots pop up and another message pops up onto your screen. “Enjoy your shower ;) ”

Well, fuck.  

[baekbyunny]

Chanyeol's Valentine Disaster (II)

Part 1 is on my blog!

Chanyeol hears a couple seconds of silence before the phone clicks and he realizes Kyungsoo hung up on him.

“That little…” Chanyeol murmurs irritated. Chanyeol dials again and hears Kyungsoo pick up.

“What?” Kyungsoo asks sounding a little annoyed

“I’m serious!”

“How do you know?”

“I heard her on the phone. I think she butt-dialed me, but I heard her talking to a kid and telling him if he behaved he would get ‘nappy time’ early! And the kid kept calling her mommy!”

“Are you being serious?”

“Yes!”

“This isn’t some kind of joke you’re trying to pull on me?” Kyungsoo asks him trying to confirm what he just heard was really true.

“No! After I heard him call her that, I accidentally pushed the end call button! At first I thought there was no way she could hide something like this from me, but-,” Chanyeol pauses and bites his lip. “You remember that one time you helped me cook some ramen at her apartment and you got that blue towel from her closet in her bedroom after I spilled some of the ramen broth on the kitchen floor?”

“Yeah?”

“Well after I accidentally ended the call, I searched her room to see if there was any way she could be hiding some children stuff in there and then I went inside her closet and saw this brown box on the floor and I opened it and I-I found some baby powder, a baby blanket, and some kid-sized pajamas inside!” Chanyeol exclaims exasperated.

“Okay, wait. You’re really not playing with me?” Kyungsoo probes again.

“No!” Chanyeol shouts aggravated with how Kyungsoo doesn’t believe a word he’s saying. “I’m dead serious! Kyungsoo, I really think she has a child!”

“I-give me a second.” Chanyeol’s hears him shuffle in the background and hears someone talking to him. “Okay, I’m back. Let me get this straight, you think she has a son? How on earth could she hide something like this from you for a whole year?”

“Exactly! Her parents live somewhere near us. Do you think the kid lives there?”

“Maybe. But this is Y/N we’re talking about. She’s not the type to keep secrets like this from you.”

“Right?! I thought so too, but I remember there were times where we would fight and she would say I was being too careless and you know how I can’t keep a secret to save my life, so there were some times where I would accidentally tell people some of the stuff she told me to keep secret,” Chanyeol’s eyes widen as he comes to a realization. “Do you think she doesn’t trust me? Because she thinks I’m too immature and I talk too much?”

“Chanyeol, I don’t thin-.”

“And that’s why she would hide her child from me! She thinks I won’t be able to handle the truth and that if she does tell me about her son, I’ll somehow spill the beans and tell everyone about it!”

Ignoring Kyungsoo’s protests to his remarks, Chanyeol decides that he needs to come up with a plan. “Kyungsoo, I got to go. Keep what I told you a secret. I’ll text you later.”

“Chanyeol, what are you planni-.”

Chanyeol quickly ends the call and paces around the living room trying to think of a way to make you trust him.

Should I try and confront her about it? No, that might make things worse. What if she breaks up with me?, Eyes widening, he immediately stops pacing and feels himself start to sweat at the thought. Should I just tell her the truth and tell her what I heard on the phone? No, that could just ruin everything and she might really breakup with me. Oh man, What am I going to do?

Frustrated, Chanyeol ruffles his hair and sits himself down on the light blue sofa in your living room. Putting his hands on his face, he groans at his predicament.

She knows I love kids. Why in the world did she hide the fact that she had one herself? Does she think I’ll judge her for it? There’s no way I would leave her just cause she had one! It’s fine with me that she does! She means too much to me to let this stand between us and there’s no way in hell I wouldn’t love her child. And who was the bastard that left her to take care of a child all by herself?! Were they even married? Hell, I’d marry her in a heartbeat! He suddenly stiffens in his seat and gets up.

“That’s it!” he shouts. Grabbing his car keys on the dining table, he makes his way out the door.

_________________________________________

Forty minutes past and you begin to wonder where Baekhyun is. Surprisingly, Kyungsoo hasn’t been in his office for a while either.

I wonder if Kyungsoo caught him or something. You begin to think of all the possibilities that could of occurred when you left Baekhyun by himself and decide to text him.

Y/N: dude, where are you? it’s been thirty. minutes

kyungsoo isn’t here yet so if you hurry, so if you hurry I don’t think you’ll get in trouble

You hear the elevator door ring and you see Baekhyun and Kyungsoo walking out of the elevator together and they’re…talking?

What in the world- what happened? Dang, Baekhyun’s smile is WAY too bright. Good lord, it’s as bright as the freaking sun, you think as Baekhyun walks towards you with a beaming smile on his face while Kyungsoo walks back to his office.

He crouches next your desk. “Y/N, you won’t believe what just happened when I went to go fix my hair in the bathroom.”

“Did something happen between you and Kyungsoo?” You ask him

Baekhyun nods, “He asked me if I wanted to hang out with him!”

“Oh wow! That’s great, Baek. You’ve been trying to get him to like you for so long! What changed his mind?”

“I’m not sure actually,” Baekhyun says and ponders the thought for a few seconds. “I just caught up to him when I got out of the bathroom and we started talking in the elevator. I’m surprised he didn’t ignore me like usual. Well, anyways we’re gonna get some dinner after work.”

“Looks like your goal to become friends with him is working. Congrats, Baek!”

“Thanks! Oh, he’s looking at us from the window.”

You see Baekhyun wave at him with a smile on his face and you turn around to see Kyungsoo look from Baekhyun to you and you see a strange look appear in his eyes before it disappears in a flash.

Did I imagine it or did he look at me funny? you question to yourself, but wave to him and you see him wave back and mouth out the words, “Get back to work” to the two of you. You give him a thumbs up and turn back to Baekhyun.

“Ok, let’s get back to work before Kyungsoo gets mad at us again.” You say while turning on your laptop.

“Aw, but I don’t wanna work. It’s so boring an-”

“Come on Baek, I can already feel him glaring at us.” you warn him as you sense the looming dangerous aura that’s growing from Kyungsoo’s office.

“Fine.” Baekhyun whines and sits down in his chair. You chuckle at his childish behavior and decide to text Kyungsoo.

Y/N: So you finally decided to hang out with Baekhyun huh

Penguinsoo: Yeah, he’s really pushy so I thought that if I just went to dinner with him, he would leave me alone

Y/N: Well he’s pretty pumped about it

Penguinsoo: Really?

Y/N: Yeah, it’s a little sad that he’s even this excited. He’s probably going to chat up a storm with you

Penguinsoo: …

I’m starting to regret my decision

Y/N: lol

You’ll be fineeee and who knows? Maybe you guys will actually become friends

Penguinsoo: I’ll try, thanks

Btw…

actually nvm

have fun on your date with Chanyeol

Y/N: ok? thanks!

Well that was odd, you think to yourself. Anyways, I should probably figure out what I should wear for the date tonight. You look at the small dark red box in your purse and smile. I hope he likes the gift I got him.

You two have been together for over a year now and you still can’t comprehend how fast the time has flown by. You loved Chanyeol. Being with him felt so right. He felt like the missing piece of the puzzle. You never thought you would find someone so sweet and charming, but somehow you did and you never felt so happy before. You’ve been in love with the man for so long, you couldn’t imagine a day without him and you truly believed he was the man for you and so you decided to get promise rings for Valentine’s to show him that you loved him and that you were ready to take a bigger step in your lives together.

Wait, I got to stop daydreaming. I got to get these papers done so I can leave earlier, you shake off the wandering thoughts inside your head and get back to work.

_________________________________________

You yawn as you complete the last piece of paper on your desk and check the time on the clock portrayed on the wall in front of you.

5:30, that’s probably the earliest I’ve ever been, you think to yourself impressed with how efficient you are just so you could leave.

“Hey Baek, I’m gonna head out!” You say as you pack your belongings.

“You finished work already?” Baekhyun asks surprised while swiveling his chair to face you.

“Yeah, I gotta get ready for my date with Chanyeol tonight.”

“Aw, that’s cute. Did you get him anything for Valentine’s?”

“Yeah, I did.” You reply.

“Well? What did you get him?” Baekhyun asks you curiously

“Promise not to tell anyone?”

“Cross my heart!” Baekhyun replies while making an ‘X’ motion near his heart

You quickly make you way over to him and whisper in his ear. “I got us promise rings.”

His eyes widen for a moment and then soften, he smiles at you and replies, “That’s so cute.”

“You think so? You can’t tell anyone yet though. I want to surprise him!” You explain to him

He nods and stands up to give you a hug. “I’m so happy for you guys. He’ll be ecstatic!”

“I hope so.” You say while hugging him back. “I got to go and get ready, but tell me how dinner goes! I really hope you guys become friends so call me when you’re phone gets fixed!”

“You’ll be the first I tell,” Baekhyun replies with a cheery smile on his face. “I wish the both of us the best of luck tonight.”

“Thanks, I think we’ll need it.” You say and smile after you see him laugh at your joke. “See you later!”

You wave goodbye to both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo and make your way home to get ready for the date.

_________________________________________

You arrive at your apartment and get dressed for the date. Putting on your earrings, you hear your phone ring. You read the caller ID and see that Chanyeol’s calling you so you answer the phone.

“Hi, honey.” You greet him

“Hey sweetie, just wanted to remind you that the restaurant reservation is at seven. I had to go do an errand first, but I’ll meet you there.” Chanyeol replies sounding as if he was in a rush

“Okay! I’ll meet you there in about twenty minutes.” You reply

“Okay, great. I’ll see you later, babe. Love you.” He says quickly

“I love you to-,” You pause after hearing that he’s already hung up

I wonder what he’s doing. He sounded kind of busy. I’ll just ask him about it later. You think to yourself while walking out the door of your apartment.

_________________________________________

You open the door of the restaurant and walk to the waitress sitting behind the table.

“Hello, I have a reservation under the name, Park Chanyeol.” You say politely

“Oh, okay. Let me just find your name, give me one moment please.” She says with a bright smile on her face.

While she’s looking for his name on her computer, you look around the restaurant and see that it’s filled with people. There are roses and candles decorated on every table and you see a lot of couples in the room.

Must be because it’s Valentine’s Day. I wonder if Chanyeol is here yet. You try and look for him, but your search for the giant is interrupted when the waitress finds his name.

“Park Chanyeol right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

She nods as she confirms the reservation and stands up, “I’ll lead you to your table. Please, follow me.” You follow her lead and she seats you at a table next to a wall

“Here are your menus.” She says while placing one hardcover menu book in your hand while placing the other menu on the other side of the table

“While you wait for your date to arrive, may I serve you any drinks?”

“Water should be good for now.” You request politely.

“Alright then! Let me go get it for you.”

“Thank you.”

You smile as she leaves. After a couple minutes of waiting, you start to wonder where Chanyeol is. You start to worry and you decide to call him. As you take out your phone from your purse, you see Chanyeol walking towards you.

“Hey Y/N, I’m sorry for being a little late.” Giving you a kiss on the cheek, he seats himself down in his seat.

“That’s okay,” You reply. “What were you doing?”

“Just a few errands. Had to pick up a few things from the store and what not. I hope I wasn’t keeping you here by yourself for too long.” He says apologetically while picking up the menu.

“Oh, it’s okay. I just got here so don’t worry about it.” You reassure him

The waitress who seated you walks back to your table. “Hello, are you guys ready to order?”

You and Chanyeol both look the menu and then at each other and you both decide that you’re ready. “Yes, we’re ready.” You say

“Great! What would you like to have?” she asks you while pulling out her notepad

“I would like the chicken piccata.” You tell her.

“And I would like the steak. Oh! Could we also get the chocolate lava cake?” Chanyeol orders.

“Sure! I’ll be right back.” The waitress takes the two menus out of your hands and leaves.

“Chocolate lava cake, huh? Aren’t we being fancy today.” You tease.

“It’s Valentine’s Day, we should enjoy it.” He says and holds your hand on the table while looking into your eyes. “You look amazing.”

You feel your heart beats a little faster and you smile softly at him. “You’re quite handsome yourself.”

He smiles back at you and squeezes your hand. “So how was your day today?” He asks

“It was good!” You say as you try and remember if anything happened at work. “Oh, the funniest thing happened at work. I was trying to wake Baekhyun up and-,” You pause as you see Chanyeol shifting in his seat, looking around as if he dropped something.

“Chanyeol?” You ask him as he nervously looks underneath the table. “Are you alright?”

He quickly looks back at you and gives you a shaky smile. “I’m fine! Just fine. I’m just gonna use the bathroom for a sec. I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, alright.” You reply squinting at him suspiciously due to his odd behavior

Did he drop something?, You think to yourself and look underneath the table to see if there was anything there. Seeing nothing on the ground, you take a sip of your water and decide to scroll through your phone while you wait for him

______________________________________. Chanyeol quickly makes his way to the bathroom hallway. Shoot, shoot, shoot! Why am I so clumsy today of all days?! He thinks to himself and shoves his hand in his pant pocket. Taking out his phone, he texts Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol: DUDE

Satansoo: What

Chanyeol: I’M AT THE RESTAURANT AND I LEFT THE RING AT HOME

Satansoo: Dude

Chanyeol: I WAS IN SUCH A RUSH TO GET DRESSED FOR THE DATE TONIGHT AND I LEFT IT ON THE TABLE

Satansoo: Dude are you fr

Chanyeol: I KNOW I KNOW

Could you uh

Could you get the ring

Satansoo: I’m about to meet up with Baekhyun for dinner

Chanyeol: Just have dinner here!

please please please

Wait why are you having dinner with Baek?

I thought you said he was annoying

Satansoo: I thought this would stop him from asking me to hang out for awhile

And fine I’ll do it

I don’t have your home key tho

Chanyeol: There’s a spare under the potted plant next to the door

Satansoo: That’s not safe

Chanyeol: I KNOW

Just get it

P l e a s e

Satansoo: Ok ok im otw

Chanyeol: THANK YOU

Could you ask the waiter to put it in our desserts?

I can’t do it or else Y/N will get suspicious

Satansoo: Fine

Chanyeol: I ly bro

Satansoo: Yeah yeah whatever

Chanyeol: :’)

Chanyeol puts his phone back in his pant pocket and straightens his suit. You see him walk back to the table and sit down.

“You ok?” You ask him, curious as to what happened

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Chanyeol says trying to reassure you. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Alright” You reply. You’re still suspicious of him, but you decide to let it go for now and decide to change the subject. “Well how was your day? Did anything happen?”

Oh, you have no idea, Chanyeol thinks to himself while trying to find a way to answer. “Mm, I just did some songwriting, but I did watch an episode of a new television show.”

“Oh, really? What was it about?” You question him.

“Well, it’s called Baby and Me and it’s about a single mother trying to raise her child all by herself,” He explains while carefully observing you as he tries to see if there is any difference in emotion on your face. Seeing no reaction to his words, he continues. “It’s a comedy, but it has some drama in it. It’s pretty interesting.”

“Sounds interesting.” You state as you take a sip of water. “Let’s watch it together after dinner.”

“Right,” He says cautiously. “Yeah, let’s do that.” How can she be so calm?, he thinks to himself, She didn’t even flinch!

The waitress walks back to your table carrying the two dishes you ordered in her hands. “Here are your dishes. If you need anything else, please ask. Enjoy!” The two of you thank her and she takes her leave.

While the two of you are eating dinner, you discuss some new projects coming up in your work. Chanyeol listens to your explanations for each project until he spots Baekhyun and Kyungsoo walking inside the restaurant. They take their their seats at a table behind you and watches Kyungsoo excuse himself to use the restroom and goes to a waiter near the restaurant kitchen doors, while pulling out the ring and pointing to your table.

Yes! Everything is finally working out, Chanyeol thinks to himself while chewing on a piece of steak

“Chanyeol? Are you listening?” You ask him.

“Huh?” he replies and looks back to you. “Oh yeah, I am.” You give him a deadpanned look and he almost laughs with how done you look.

“Ok, I wasn’t.” he confesses. “I’m sorry, I’m just worried that something might go wrong tonight.”

You decide that you’ve had enough of his odd behavior so you try and pry the truth out of him. “You need to stop worrying, dear.” You tell him gently. “Everything is going well, don’t worry about it too much. But, you’re usually not this anxious, what’s going on with you?.” You try and ask him hopeful that he’ll finally explain his behavior as you hold his hand.

“It’s just-,” He pauses and bites his bottom lip. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a proper date like this and plus it’s Valentine’s Day. I just wanted to to help you de-stress today, you seemed kind of down this past month so I wanted to help you feel better, but I haven’t been much help to you have I?” Chanyeol asks you, sounding discouraged.

Your touched by his efforts to help you feel better and you squeeze his hand. “Chanyeol, you don’t have to do all this just to make me happy. The only reason I was feeling down was because of how busy we both are now. I just miss being with you.” Before you can continue, your chocolate lava cake comes and you feel Chanyeol’s hand twitch underneath yours

You’re train of thought disappears as you look at the mouth-watering dessert. “Oh wow, these look amazing.” You take your fork and cut into it and watch the melted chocolate slide onto the plate. Chanyeol looks at you with an intense stare as you bite into the cake. “Mm, Chanyeol this is delicious! Try it.” You cut another piece off and hold it out to him. “It melts in your mouth.”

He takes a bite of it while staring hard into the dessert, “It’s really good, Y/N. Here let me feed you some.” He pulls the plate towards him and digs through the chocolate cake.

Where is it? Why isn’t the ring in here? Seeing nothing inside, he looks up and glances at the table behind you. Don’t tell me..

_________________________________________

“Here are your desserts.” The waiter states and places each plate on each end of the table.

“Wow, these look really good. Thanks, Kyungsoo.” Baekhyun smiles and takes a bite of his vanilla cake. He chews on a piece of it while trying to speak, “You know, I think this could be the start of a beautif-. Ow!” Letting out a yelp, Baekhyun feels something hard on his tongue and takes out whatever is inside his mouth.

A ring? Why is there a ring her-, he pauses his thoughts and slowly looks at Kyungsoo. Seeing his face is completely frozen, he looks at the rose on the table and then back at the ring. Putting two and two together, Baekhyun awkwardly puts the ring on the table, pulls on his black tie, and clears his throat, “Kyungsoo, I’m flattered that you think of me this way. But, I’m straight man and I really just see you as a friend.”

While Baekhyun is talking, Kyungsoo looks intensely at the ring trying to figure out what’s going on. Understanding what’s happened, his eyes widen and he quickly stands up with panic in his eyes, “That wasn’t for you, you idiot! That was for Chanyeol!”

“Wait, what?” Baekhyun says confused

“This,” Kyungsoo says while holding the ring in front of Baekhyun’s face. “Was for Chanyeol’s table! He’s planning on proposing to Y/N tonight!”

“He’s proposing? Like, an actual wedding ring?” Baekhyun asks

Kyungsoo nods and Baekhyun stiffens and his eyes are wide with fear, “He can’t!”

“Why not?”

“Because Y/N isn’t ready yet! She got him promise rings for Valentine’s Day, not engagement rings! Why is he proposing anyway?! It’s only been a year!”

“He thinks she’s hiding a kid from him because he accidentally heard her having a conversation with some child on the phone and she said something about if he behaved he could have ‘nappy time’?” Kyungsoo says questioningly trying to remember if those were the words Chanyeol told him. “Anyways, It made Chanyeol freak out and now he thinks she’s hiding the kid from him because she doesn’t trust him well enough to keep it a secret. So he asked me to tell the waiter to put it in their dessert as a surprise for her!”

“A kid?” Baekhyun asks thinking he heard Kyungsoo wrong.“Nappy time? What in the world are you-,” Baekhyun stops talking and looks at Kyungsoo with a look of realization. “Oh my god, are you kidding me? Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Why? What is it?”

“That wasn’t a kid! That was me!” Baekhyun exclaims while pointing to himself. “I was just playing around with her! Oh my god, I can’t believe he heard that and now he’s going to propose?!”

“That’s how you joke around with her?!” Kyungsoo exclaims shocked while looking at Baekhyun with disgust on his face

“It was only because I dozed off in the office and when she woke me up, I accidentally called her my mom!” he exclaims. “We made this whole joke about it!”

“You dozed off at work?” Kyungsoo questions him while glaring

“I mean sort of.” Baekhyun replies sheepishly, but shakes his head as he tries to focus on the situation at hand, “but look that’s not important right now! Oh, wait he’s looking this way!” They motion him to come over to where they are and watch as he excuses himself from his table.

“They gave you guys the ring?” He questions the two and shakes his head in disbelief. “Unbelievable.”

“Chanyeol, wait.” Kyungsoo says trying to stop him from leaving

“I got to go, we just finished our dessert so I’m just going to go with plan B and just propose.”

“Chanyeol, hold on a sec-.”

“See you guys later! Wish me luck!” He states and grabs the ring from their table and walks back to his own table, ignoring the sounds of protest coming from the two men.

“Shouldn’t we stop him?” Kyungsoo asks.

Baekhyun shakes his head and replies, “It’s too late. He’s already proposing." Baekhyun looks away and shuts his eyes ashamed he couldn’t do much to stop this disaster. "I can’t watch.”

“Just eat your cake.”

After watching your table for a few seconds, Kyungsoo slowly nods in agreement and they both sit down and finish eating their desserts in silence.

_________________________________________

You see Chanyeol come back to the table and before you can say anything, he stops right in front of you and kneels down on one knee.

What is he doing?, you think to yourself. A sense of dread slowly fills the pit of your stomach as you watch him look into your eyes sincerely and opens his mouth.

“Y/N, I know it’s only been a year since we’ve started dating, but I love you so much. You’re the light of my life and I can’t imagine my life without you in it. You’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been and it’s only been a year. I love how sweet you are and thoughtful you can be. I can be myself around you and I’m really grateful that you let me be who I am around you.” He stops his confession for a moment to take a breath.

“You always listen to my thoughts and you know I can be a bit childish sometimes and I may not be the best at keeping secrets. But I swear I’ll love and cherish you and your child with all of my heart.”

Your eyes widen and you feel your body stiffen. What did he just say? Did I hear that right?

“Chanyeol, what are you talking about?” You interrupt him. “What child?”

“The kid you have. I know you have one and it’s okay! It’s great actua-.”

‘No, hold on,” You stop him while holding up your hand to refrain him from opening his mouth. “I don’t have a child.”

“Yes, you do! Y/N, It’s okay!” He exclaims and holds your hand with both of his. “I love children and I know you don’t think I can keep this secret, but I can!”

Is he being serious right now?, you think to yourself bewildered that this is even happening

“Chanyeol, wait. I don’t have a child. Really. How in the world-. Where did you even come up with this conclusion?” You inquire him aghast that he’s not joking when you see the sincere look in his eyes.

“I heard you on the phone. You butt-dialed me,” He explains. “You were talking to your son.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Y/N, he called you ‘mommy’.”

You’re eyebrows are furrowed in confusion and you freeze as you recall what happened at work.

“Chanyeol,” You say slowly. “Did he sound like a toddler? Did I say something about giving him nap time early?”

You see him nod and you almost want to cry. “Chanyeol! Oh my-” You pause and laugh with disbelief. “That wasn’t a kid. That was Baekhyun!” You cry out.

A look of confusion goes across his face, “What do you mean?”

“We were just playing around! I made this whole joke about it after he accidentally called me ‘mom’!”

“What about the stuff in your closet?”

“You mean the box full of kid clothes?” He nods and you continue. “That’s for when I babysit, Yeol! Don’t you remember my friend, Joy? She asked me if I could babysit her kid?” You ask him in hopes that he gives you any sign that he remembers, but all you’re met with is a blank look on his face and a shake of a head. “Well, that’s what she asked me to do for her. She gave an emergency box full of her kid’s stuff just in case she had to leave for an emergency.” You explain

His ears turn red from embarrassment, “So you don’t have a kid?” He meekly asks you

“No, I do NOT have a kid, Chanyeol,” You state slowly and clearly. “And what were you talking about before? I know you can’t keep a secret sometimes, but I still trust you. I would never hide something like this from you.”

“That’s what I thought!” He exclaims while holding out his arms up from his sides. “I never thought you would hide something this big from me, but then I heard you on the phone and I saw the box full of children’s stuff and I guess I just assumed you did.”

Chanyeol says looking down at the floor while twiddling his thumbs for a few seconds. “So you trust me?” he asks you while speaking softly. “You don’t think I’m too childish or anything?”

“Of course not.” You tell him gently.

You move out of your seat and kneel with him on the floor while taking his hands and holding on to them with yours. “Sure you can be a little childish time to time, but you’re pretty mature when it’s time to be serious, you know? Hell, you even thought of marrying me when you thought I had a child,” You exclaim.

“I know I can get frustrated with you when you don’t act like your age sometimes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t trust you and that I think you should change. I love how fun you can be like when we go to the park and how we can run around and play without a care in the world. You’re always so sweet to me and you make me so happy, Yeol. You mean so much to me and that’s why,” You say and turn grabbing the small red box from your purse. “I got us these.”

You open the box and Chanyeol looks closer at the box to inspect them.

“Rings?” he asks out loud while taking one of them.

“They’re promise rings,” You explain. “They’re not as fancy as engagement rings and it doesn’t mean we’re engaged or anything, but it’s more like a token of our love for each other. I know It’s a little cheesy, but I thought this would help ease us into taking a bigger step in our lives together.” You give his hand a squeeze and continue. “You mean the world to me, Yeol. Really. I love you so much to the point where I can’t even think about having a life without you,” You say while caressing his cheek. “So? Will you accept it?” You ask him hopeful that he’ll say yes.

He looks at you with big eyes completely shocked. You see them start to water and he pulls you into a tight hug. After a few seconds of silence, he answers you. “Yeah,” He says softly with his voice slightly shaky. “Yeah, I accept.”

You feel something wet fall onto your back and a small smile appears on your face.

After a few seconds of silence, you pull yourself away from his arms so you can see his face. Eyes slightly red with a few tears rolling down his face, you take a napkin from the table and gently dab his cheeks. After wiping the tears away, the two of you laugh realizing how ridiculous you guys must look being on the floor of a restaurant.

“Come on,” You say softly. “Let’s go home.”

“Okay.” He agrees.

Before you can stand up, he grabs your arm and pulls you into a kiss. With a sincere look in his eyes, he gives you a small smile.

“I love you.”

You smile back.

"I love you, too”

[wtfdavidsvlogs]

Isn’t it Lovely(D.D) Chapter 3

Warnings: floofy😋 couple swears here and there

Requested: See chapter 1

Plot: the reader and David meet and fall in love with each other instantly. One giant emotional roller coaster this is.

Chapter 1 2

Gif by: @vlogsquadfanatic

I literally could not wait another minute. My legs were hurting from bobbing them up and down. My finger nails had started to go back into my fingers from tapping them on my phone nervously. I laid my head back and turned to the left. The clock read 3:17PM. I groaned into a pillow and laid down. Seconds go by, minutes, an hour, three, and I can finally start getting ready. I applied a natural eye look and did my hair in a long side braid. Some pieces pulled to shape my face. I was going to an Italian restaurant with him so I wanted to be fancy. I started looking through my wardrobe. Now that I look at it, everything in here looks disgusting. I scoff and scuffle through all of the ugly clothing that I had to choose from. I yell out loud.

“LEEEEXXXXIIIIII!” I scream.

“WHAAT!” She yells back angrily.

“GET YOUR ASS IN HERE AND HELP ME PICK OUT WHAT TO WEAR!” I yell with the same amount of annoyance. She groans and her stomps start to grow louder and closer to my room. She opens the door and she walks in a bit more amped because of the circumstance. She looks at everything and she inpects closely. She would occasionally shake her head or turn it to the side for a maybe. Until she got to a dress. She took it out of my closet and held it up to my body. She smiled and nodded slowly. (this is the dress. obvi)

“Thank you.” I smiled and hugged her. She hugged me back.

“No problem, hun.” She patted me and left my room. Leaving me to my own devices. I start to strip myself of the days clothing and I slipped on the stunning 50’s style red dress that Lexi picked out for me. I have always loved the poodle skirt 50’s vibe. So I got this dress because of it. I have just never had the correct occasion to show it off. I finally do now. I look at myself in the mirror and I smile. I love the way I look. Will he?

I slipped into a pair of black heels and stepped out of my room. I see Lexi sitting on the couch watching something on her phone. I walk further towards her as she hears my footsteps she looks up. She drops her phone brings her hands to her face.

“Girl you look stunning!” She said pulling on her hair. She looked so amazed by me. I blush and look down giggling slightly.

“Dude he is going to go bat shit crazy over you!” She whisper yells. I laugh and smile wide. I pick up my phone and the time reads 6:55. I tell Lexi that it’s time and I walk towards the door grabbing my keys and purse. I hang the strap over my shoulder and the bag hangs at my hip. I walk out the front door and over to David’s apartment. I raise my hand to knock but hesitate slightly before tapping my knuckle three times on the hollow wooden door. I can hear laughing and shushing. Someone’s footsteps come closer to the door at a fast pace. The door swings open violently I look inside to see about 10 people sitting on a couch and a strange white guy with a dew rag on his head. I laugh and walk inside slowly. The man closes the door and guides me inside. There were 4 girls and 6 guys there not including David who wasn’t here. A girl with bright red hair, a girl with obvious lip injections but still very pretty, a woman that seemed about her thirties with implants everywhere (not a bad thing btw), a short girl with really long curly brown and blonde hair. The guys were the all of the people I saw with David when we first met. One of them had this fuckboy vibe to him, another was a grown man, the one that answered the door, one guy with bright blue hair with dreads, one guy that looked just unbelievably angry at everything, and another with curly brown hair. I stood at the end of the hall looking at this mass of people.

“Hi, I’m Caroline.” I waved and they all stood up smiling and coming over to hug me. The girls calling me adorable the fuck boy calling me hot. I shook a lot of hands and met a lot of people. I laughed and sat down with them.

“So why are you dressed so nice?” Brandon asked me crossing his arms. Not menacingly but probably out of confusion. I realize now they probably have absolutely no clue why I am here.

“Oh, yeah I probably should have said what I am even doing here. I’m going on a date with David.” They all opened their mouths and said oooh collectively. I was surprised as to the fact they all were expecting me.

“Why the sudden realization?” I said confused but laughing.

“You’re the girl he won’t shut up about.” Trisha says. I smile and look down.

“No really ever since the night we all met you for the first time he has not stopped talking about you.” Jason said with his arm around Trisha. I look at him and chuckle. I guess he does feel the way I do. I suddenly hear foot steps behind me and I can hear his voice panicked.

“Is this good? What if it doesn’t match what she’s wearing?...Guys?!” He says. I stand up and turn around. He looks at me dead in the eyes. He is dressed in black. A button up with the top button loose. Black pants and shoes. Black jacket and a splash of color to spice it up. A red tie. Exactly the same color as my dress. I look at him a smile with sugar laced in my gaze. I wanted to kiss him right then and there. I could feel his eyes looking at every part of me not wanting to miss a thing. (GIF)

David Pov

xxxxxx

I step out to see everyone talking to a girl that I can’t see. Dressed in red. I ask.

“Is this good? What if it doesn’t match what she’s wearing?...Guys?!” The girl stands and twirls around making her dress fly in a flowing circle. It was like time a had slowed and I couldn’t see anything but her. Y/N standing in a dress that would make the angels sing. A smile brighter than the sun blesses her face and I smile along with her. She looked at me with this adorablely perfect look in her eyes that I just couldn’t describe. All I wanted to do was kiss her. To feel her. To be with her always.

“Hi” I say with and exasperated sigh of adoration. She giggles. Oh her giggle. It could literally make me cry.

“You look...just...like...” I was stuttering at what to say that didn’t sound so unbelievably creepy.

“So you have rendered this man speechless.” Jason said making Y/N laugh. Along with everyone else. I fake laughed and made a throat cutting signal at him when she turned around. She turned back around and I smiled again.

“You look absolutely, ridiculously beautiful Y/N.” I said to her while looking down into her eyes. I towered over her small body. Maybe by at least 8 inches. It was adorable. She is adorable. Even in heels that were supposed to increase her height made no comparison. She looked up at me with this smile that just makes my heart melt. Every time I see her I notice something even more beautiful about her. I realize that we are now just kind of standing here awkwardly with all of my friends watching us. I snap out of my haze and grab her hands delicately. Her hands were practically half the size of mine.

“Are you ready to go?” I ask her calmly almost a whisper. She nods and grips my hands harder. I walk her to the front door and tell her to wait outside. Claiming ‘I forgot something’. I jog back to everyone.

“If I find out any of you said something rude or offensive to that beautiful woman out there, aka Todd, I’ll kill you.” I say pointing at him. I walk back to her outside and we walk toward my car. It’s just us now.

Thanks for reading chapter 3. Sorry I haven’t been posting very consistently I have been like clinically sick the past couple days but I hope you are all liking this story so far. I’m bringing out my inner shakespeare.❤️🔆

[verritytorres]

calron fake dating au - unfinished outline

THROUGHOUT ONE MONTH (OCTOBER 2017)

·      still not fully clear on why they fake date but we getting there

o   call announces it for shits n giggles at a party on Thursday night (drunk? to celia the gossip queen?) then morning after everyone’s like “oh congrats on finally dating aaron btw!” “what”

o   aaron’s pissed at first cause that’s actually a shitty thing to do also he’s been pining for going on two years now do u have any idea what this does to his Heart

o   that is, until something happens that convinces him

§  some bully fuckers in the locker room after soccer practice like “who we gonna get today, chad?” “well everyone in here is off limits so--” aaron chimes in “what do you mean… off limits” “look youre a respectable guy so we treat you right, always have. teammates honor and all that. so we get at other people instead” (cue Dark Aaron) “and who are these other people” “that scrawny guy hunt for example” “oh, you mean call hunt my boyfriend?” “your…what?” “you heard me. if you fuck with him, you and I might have a problem. and nobody wants that.”

§  later, aaron texts call “I’m in.”

§  “sweet. what changed ur mind?” “That’s not important.”

·      the only person that knows is tamara bc helou its tamara they don’t keep secrets from each other

o   STUDY SESSION AT THE GABLES FRIDAY AFTERNOON (they all in the same regular algebra class cause theyre gay and therefore not great at math):

§  t: yo btw have you guys dealt with the whole “youre dating” rumor? if anyones been giving you a hard time tell me so I can eliminate them off the face of the earth

§  c: actually, aaron and I are just gonna roll with it

§  t: wait. youre actually gonna date?

§  c: NO no no no we’re gonna fake date. scam the fuck outta the school also it’s a bit too awkward to go back on it now for me so

§  t: (turns and gives aaron a Look cause she knows this fuckers been pining forever) are YOU on board with this?

§  a: (busies himself with his hw to hide his blush) yeahsurewhynot

§  t: (looks up and shakes her head) this is gonna end badly, calling it now

o   t: math is acephobic. im asexual and its inconveniencing me

·      Saturday! aaron goes over to the hunt household to hang out like he usually does

o   alastair loves him

o   alastair: so when did this happen?

o   call, who is sitting knee-to-knee w aaron on the couch like he always does: when did what happen

o   alastair: (gives him a Look) the watsons came in this morning. Brenda told me the news, im just surprised you didn’t tell me

o   call:…..what news…….

o   alastair: you two are dating, right? which im totally fine with btw, i had a boyfriend back then too, and im really happy for you, youre both mature enough that I don’t have to give the whole speech—

o   call and aaron are looking at each other in Horror

o   call: OKAY THANKS DAD WE’RE GONNA WALK HAVOC NOW BYE (nyooms outta the house with aaron and havoc in tow)

o   out in the park

§  c: so I guess we gotta find out how to sell this whole (gestures between himself and aaron) thing

§  a: (snorts) thing?

§  c: yeah thing. if my hermit dad knows, then we can assume just about everyone in town knows too. which is not the idealest

§  a: why’s that?

§  c: cause then we gotta act all coupley to everyone or else they’ll be like “wait a minute…are they really dating??”

§  a: well, not with everyone. tamara knows

§  c: yeah, that’s one person in a whole townful of people

§  a: we spend the majority of our time with tamara though

§  c:….point. we still gotta sell it to everyone else

§  a: it cant be that hard, just hold hands a little here, drop some compliments there

§  in reality aaron doesn’t wanna do Big Couple Things or else he might literally spontaneously combust. its possible, hes read abt it

§  c: oh come on, no one gonna buy that. we gotta pull out all the stops

§  a: (cursing silently) like?

§  c: hugs. general lack of personal space. kiss on the cheek, maybe. pet names.

§  a: (calming his crazy heart) oh. I see.

§  c: as long as youre alright with it, of course! I don’t wanna do some creeper shit and like accidentally assault you

§  a: nonono I get it im alright with it. (pause) we should uh..have some signal, though

§  c: signal?

§  a: in case one of us goes too far or something. nothing too obvious, but just obvious for us to notice

§  c: hm. ok, how bout asshole?

§  a: (bursts out laughing) asshole????

§  c: (grinning) yeah, asshole. I never call you an asshole, you never call me an asshole. so if you say “youre a bit clingy there, asshole” I know I should back off

§  a: that- that hardly sounds affectionate

§  c: well duh you gotta say it in an affectionate way. like this (sticky sweet voice, batting eyelashes) “asshole”

§  a: (still laughing) okay. asshole it is.

§  theyre both quiet ntil aaron speaks up. “I do have one request”

§  “which is?”

§  “this is gonna sound weird, please don’t ask but…don’t kiss me. not unless I tell you to.”

§  call looks at him like ??? then says “sure, man. nix on smooches. you wish you had a taste of these bad boys, though.”

§  aaron turns away bc hes a blushy boi. “youre making it weird.”

·      Monday rolls in

o   call is in Zombie Mode making himself coffee on his antique expensive coffee machine (the best Christmas gift ever thanks alastair)

o   alastair, making pancakes: shouldn’t you bring an extra to school today?

o   sleepy call, pouring himself a solid triple shot of espresso: whaddya mean

o   alastair: if youre gonna be dating aaron, you gotta treat him right. bring out the big guns, you know

o   call, suddenly wide awake: what????

o   alastair: I will not have that boy deprived of real boyfriend privileges

o   so call leaves his house with two coffee cups

o   he walks over to where he knows aaron is at the time (music room, playing piano)

o   before he heads in he looks inside and just. stares at aaron playing the piano. gay descriptions galore

o   aaron hits a wrong key and swears

o   c: well that’s a big word

o   a: (practically jumps out of his seat, swearing again)

o   c: and that’s an even bigger one

o   a: oh, its you. good morning, call

o   c: morning, snookums

o   a: (smiling tentatively) snookums? is that really the best you can do

o   c: that’s just scratching the surface, and also its Monday morning so im not at my peak. anyway i brought you coffee

o   a: thanks. already “pulling out all the stops” I see

o   c: I plan to be an especially doting boyfriend (glances at the door, sees a few people staring at them) I..gotta get to my locker (kisses his cheek, aaron goes rigid, call whispers at his ear) we got an audience. see you at lunch

o   aaron sits there for a while after call leaves staring at the ceiling and asking himself why

·      lunch in the magisterium high caf

o   jasper: I JUST—I STILL DON’T GET IT

o   aaron, biting calmly at his sandwich: what don’t you get

o   jasper: there are at LEAST a dozen guys in this school ready and willing to go out with you and you go with CALL

o   call, resting his head on Aarons shoulder, much to Aarons chagrin: its ok dude you can just say youre jealous

o   jasper: YEAH A LITTLE. Aarons like…the best catch out here. the golden boyfriend. the guy that would tell your parents “yes sir ill have him back by nine thirty sharp :)”

o   aaron: I wouldn’t say that to alastair

o   call: yeah you would (turning back to jasper) who are these dozen guys? I gotta know whos planning to fight me so I can know their weaknesses beforehand

o   jasper: kai hale, for one

o   aaron: hmm. he is kinda cute

o   call: HEY

o   jasper: definitely cuter than hunt

o   aaron: is there something particularly wrong with call?

o   jasper: OPEN YOUR EYES HES A TRASH MAN

o   call: takes one to know one

o   aaron, shrugging and finishing his sandwich: maybe I like trash men

o   call laughing his ass off, jasper groaning: youre killing me, stewart. youre literally causing my cells to stop functioning

·      study hall w aaron and tamara

o   t: (has been frowning at him for the past 10 mins)

o   a: okay you clearly want to talk about something so out with it

o   t: are you sure about this thing with call?

o   a: what, the dating thing?

o   t: the fake dating thing

o   a: right. its fake. yeah im fine

o   t: we both know that’s a lie, aaron. we don’t lie to each other

o   a: (sardonically) yeah well. ive been lying to him since we were freshmen

o   t: having a crush isn’t lying, per se, but that’s besides the point. im worried about you, man. I don’t want call to hurt you accidentally, and then consequently be hurt himself by not knowing how he hurt you, cause then ILL be hurt by best friend collateral drama

o   a: I get it, tamara

o   t: then I reiterate: are you sure about this?

o   big internal monologue

o   a: yeah. im sure.

·      INSERT SLOW BURN

·      CARNIVAL

o   it’s the fall festival since its October theres pumpkins everywhere and haunted houses and candied apples and hay bales and rides and its lit

o   the iron trio+jasper go always

o   theyre walking around, aaron looking at the decorations, tamara call and jasper arguing abt which haunted house to visit first

o   c: the mansion is the obvious choice just sayin

o   j: but theres a haunted hospital ffs

o   c: ive been in enough hospitals to know for a fact that they are all haunted so that doesn’t excite me as much as a MANSION

o   t: how bout…we happy medium at…the graveyard one

o   a: how bout we don’t go to any of those and just go to the roller coasters instead

o   t: aaron, I love you, but youre a weenie sometimes. you can wait outside if you don’t wanna go

o   a: im not leaving you guys alone! (catches calls eye, glances at jasper, call nods a lil, aaron drapes his arm round calls shoulders) who am I to let my boyfriend into that scary place alone?

o   c: (smiling and rolling his eyes) its not that scary, but I appreciate the offer, sugar

o   aaron? oh yes he is dead

o   j: (GAG) youre going to give me diabetes with all these sweets

o   t: (mischievous smile) I dunno, jasper. ever since they started dating they’ve been acting kinda the same as always

o   aaron Tenses, call raises an eyebrow at him then turns to tamara

o   c: what were you expecting, rajavi? showers of pda everywhere?

o   t: oh come on, if any one of us is going to be That Couple its you two.

o   a: LOOK THERES CARAMEL APPLES OVER THERE (nyoom)

o   turns out the haunted whatevers are not open yet, they open at nightfall, so they head to the roller coasters

o   surprise surprise call hates roller coasters

o   “if I die I want you all to know that you are not written into my will therefore I owe you nothing”

o   hes clinging to aaron the whole ride and aaron is like if theres a god up above…….

o   then they reach the hay bales and jaspers like “im gonna head over to the bumper boats w tamara you guys can wait here or do whatever I guess”

o   “we’re just fine going with you guys??”

o   jasper looks at call weirdly and says “um, no youre not. you lovebirds need some alone time. get your 10 things I hate about you on in these haystacks.”

o   they get redder than the ripest tomatoes

o   t: UHHH HES RIGHT BYE GUYS (N Y O O M)

o   they just stand there awkwardly for a while when call says “wanna head over to the carnival games” “please”

o   they walk over to the game area in a kinda uncomf silence until aaron breaks it

o   “what did jasper mean by 10 things I hate about you?”

o   call stares at him “are you serious right now”

o   aaron looks at him meaningfully

o   “oh my god. oh my god. have you never watched 10 things???”

o   “no?”

o   “oh my god. dude. its just like star wars all over again. we’re watching it, no excuses.”

o   aaron smiles at him “okay. whats it about?”

o   “well if I tell you that ruins the whole goddamn surprise, doesn’t it, pumpkin?”

o   he laughs. “it does, doesn’t it.”

o   they get to the carnival game: the hammer game. the biggest prize is a huge stuffed monkey

o   aaron turns to call grinning and calls like “you do know this game’s rigged right. theres no way you can win.”

o   but of course. aaron wins.

o   call is just gaping at him and whispers “you fucking beefcake you.”

o   aaron says “here’s your prize, boyfriend” and fucking winks

o   is call dying? we don’t know this aint his pov

o   c: it looks like you

o   a: thanks

o   call suddenly looks behind aaron with wide eyes and grabs Aarons hand so Aarons brain goes like WHAT…..

o   “heads up,” call whispers, “group of classmates at eight o clock”

o   AY ILL KEEP WRITING LATER GOTTA ACTUALLY START OR ELSE I NEVER WILL

·      call and tamara have always attended every one of aaron’s soccer games, but for some reason this one felt different

o   theyre cheering frm the side with their banners as always (banners say STEWART FOR SOCCER GOD and LUCKY NUMBER 8 and most recently THAT’S MY BOYFRIEND!!! maybe that last one makes this different)

o   its also rainy as heck the banners had to be laminated this time (do not underestimate being friends w a rich kid)

o   they both in they raincoats while Aarons in full soccer gear in the RAIN rifp

o   but the team is falling behind so theyre like FUK OUR CHEERING ISNT WORKING WHAT WE DO

o   at halftime

§  t: lets get the fuck down there we gotta give him a pep talk

§  c: what r we gonna say

§  t: HELL IF I KNOW LETS JUST DO IT

§  so they head down to where aaron is sitting, drinking from his water bottle

§  c: cant you just tilt your head back and stick your tongue out in this weather

§  t: shut up. aaron we are here to peptalk you. (INSERT PEPTALK IDK HOW TO PEP)

§  exit tamara

§  a: (wince) we’re that bad today, are we

§  c: yeah youre kinda sucking

§  a: well that’s not the supportive boyfriend comment I expected

§  c: doting. I said I was going to be doting, not supportive. and definitely not a liar

§  a: whatever. tamara’s pep talk helped, so I guess ill get my head in the game

§  coach rockmaple blows his whistle for the team huddle. aaron salutes call with two fingers before standing up to go and then call blurts “ice cream. on me. if you win the game, that is.”

§  aaron stares at him and then smiles. “you’re on.”

§  TEAM MAKES A HUGE COMEBACK AND WINS THE GAME!!!

§  everyones celebrating and grinning and cheering and call catches aarons eye and theyre smiling, smiling, smiling, and suddenly call finds himself right in front of aaron and aaron is cupping his face and its raining and it sounds like something out of a movie and his face is so close and aaron’s freckles are covered in droplets and so are his lashes and call never really thought about it but if he leaned in, tilted his head just a bit, they would be kissing, and call could pass it off as having an audience—

§  aaron pulls call’s face towards him and kisses his forehead, leaning his head to call’s ear to say “you owe me an ice cream.”

§  and call’s heart all but leaps from his body, he feels lightheaded, and aaron looks fucking beautiful like this, his eyes alight with triumph and joy and something else

§  he doesn’t think till he gets home that wanting to kiss aaron for real wasn’t part of the plan.

·      they first kiss at a party cause everyones like KISS KISS KISS so call (lightly drunk) cups Aarons cheek and leans in. aaron.exe has crashed is not working holy fuck this is the best thing ever and all those gay ass descriptors. everyone cheers in the bg

o   call is dronk, aaron is driving him home, call is being supper chattery and super flirty (think: drunk Laurent)

o   alastair is sleeping so aaron has to make sure call is quiet when going to his room

o   a: (a lil breathless cause hes basically carrying call) be quiet, your dad is sleeping right there

o   c: (winking with both eyes) what do I get in returnnnnn

o   a: oh my god

o   aaron finally gets him to his bed, drapes him on it and tucks him in, hes about to lean away when call grabs his shirt collar to keep him there

o   “aren’t you gonna give your fake boyfriend a proper goodnight?”

o   AARON.EXE HAS CRASHED HE IS DEAD HE IS GONE GOODBYE

o   “youre drunk. i—we can’t—youre not yourself right now. goodnight.”

o   “mm. alright. you owe me a kiss, though.”

o   aaron huffs. he cant breathe right. and just because its 3 am and hes feeling reckless after kissing him tonight and call’s just about asleep and he probably wont remember this in the morning, he whispers, “sure.”

·      THE BREAK

o   Aarons leaning on his kitchen counter, trying to look casual but ultimately failing. call has a sneaking suspicion as to why hes acting this weird but by god he will not say it. its too embarrassing on its own.

o   “so.” aaron says. “you kissed me last night.”

o   fuck. dammit. “did i?”

o   “yeah, in the middle of the party. everyone was watching.”

o   call spots himself a loophole and hell if he doesn’t take it. “sweet. looks like drunk me was up for a show.”

o   “what do you mean?”

o   “well, it was a full party. this whole thing is build on other people believing we’re together

o   “’sides. it’s all just fake anyway.”

o   aaron stops, his hands fists. “right,” he croaks. “its all fake.”

o   “dude…you okay?”

o   “yeah. yeah im fine.”

o   “don’t lie to me aaron, i can see youre upset. spit it out.”

o   aaron takes a deep breath and quickly says “is it really all fake?”

o   call freezes. his mind replays last week’s game, and the subsequent breakdown he had because he likes aaron. and fuck. fuck. he swore he was being quiet about it.

o   “yeah,” he says after a while, forcing the words out. “it was always fake, that’s the idea.”

o   “lately, it hasn’t felt fake.”

o   call’s stomach drops. “if you ever needed to stop you could’ve just said—“

o   Aarons eyes are closed. “last night didn’t feel fake.”

o   because it wasn’t, because im a shitty human who fell for you and since I did this has all been horrible self indulgence, because I like you and you don’t like me.

o   “well it was, so I don’t know why youre making such a big deal out of it.”

o   call hates the things that come out of his mouth.

o   something in aaron seems to catch fire, his eyes fly open and he’s angry, call has barely ever seen him angry at him. “it’s a big deal for me, you kissed me”

o   “I didn’t—I didn’t mean to!”

o   “then if you didn’t mean to, why did you!”

o   calls head is spinning, he doesn’t know what hes doing at this point. “I was drunk, aaron, people fuck up when theyre drunk”

o   “I told you not to kiss me, but you went and did it anyway, do you have any idea how that felt—“

o   “I don’t, aaron, because I don’t feel the things you feel!”

o   aaron freezes completely, his eyes wide

o   “right. I forgot. sorry. right.”

o   theyre quiet, and call knows he fucked up. he doesn’t know exactly how, but he knows.

o   “I…I gotta go. bye.”

o   aaron slams the door behind him, call hears the car door slam and aaron driving away before he manages to whisper “wait”

o   but its too late. hes alone.

o   well, not alone. havoc noses his waist and looks up at him with huge, worried eyes.

o   “come on, boy. lets go for a walk.”

o   he ends up at the park—the same park he first discussed the thing with aaron. he sits down under a tree and rests his head on his knees, havoc cuddling up to him.

o   he kind of drifts off, loses track of time. his mind is kinda blank right now. he knows that’s probably a shitty coping mechanism but what the fuck can you do.

o   he doesn’t want to do anything right now. he doesn’t want to deal with anything or anyone right now.

o   he doesn’t want to feel anything, because feeling is what got him into this mess in the first place.

o   he’s so wrapped up in his personal void that he doesn’t hear the footsteps behind him until he hears jasper say “you look miserable.”

o   call doesn’t look up. “fuck off, jasper.”

o   he does not fuck off. instead call hears leaves crunching  as jasper sits down next to him.

o   “he’s at tamara’s. been there for the past hour.”

o   “didn’t ask.”

o   “but you wanted to know.” calls quiet at this.