#my lenses are kinda scratched too it’s just a mess over here

[cetoddle-archive]

finally got around to buying new glasses 🥳

[binniesthighs]

call me babydoll | reader x chan

a/n: ahhhhh wow WOW cuties LOL i was not expecting this fic idea to keep me up in my sleep and occupy all my waking thoughts BUT thank you so so  much for you words of support!! hehe well....here we goooo i hope that ya’ll are ready teehee--also tags will be added as they come! You can read part one here

Two 

Pairing: self insert, female reader x bang chan 

Genre: action, mystery and suspense, fluff, smut, angst 

Tags: (of this part) bodyguard au, secret agent au, royal au, moderndayprince!chan, secretagent!reader, secretagent!jeongin, secretagent!jisung, skz side characters, adventure and mystery, action and peril, plot driven, running out of time, slow-ish burn, growing feelings, sexual tension, explicit language, jeongin in this fic is my bb and i will protect him, sexy and smart jeongin tho still hehe 

CWs: mentions of death, people dying/killing, mentions of blood and wounds, mentions of getting drunk, hungover, and vomiting, a bombing. 

Word count: 5.2k 

Parts

ONE | TWO | THREE

The road was long and winding, pitch black, desolate, quiet and foreign. In the backseat of the car, Chan had slumped his head over on Jeongin’s shoulder and bobbed with the motions of the road. His nose would twitch in his sleep, and he would make little grunts of nonsense words. He had worked himself up after the banquet, and actually hadn’t stopped his “love confessions” until you told him to shut up or you would shut him up. 

Your partner’s glasses were illuminated from the screen of his laptop which he tapped quietly away at. You too felt drowsy, but sleep would be for later once you had properly arrived at the safe house, or safe hotel, or safe hole in the ground...whatever it was. 

“You hear anything from Carroll?” You slung your arm over the seat and lowered your voice. 

“Nothing yet.” His eyes flicked around the screen. “It’s almost like it’s too quiet. I’ve already told her that we have the prince and that he’s safe, but..nothing.” 

“You don’t think...they got targeted too?” 

Chan snored lightly on his bodyguard’s shoulder, and he didn’t dare to move an inch. 

“I sure as hell hope not. But...that would explain why things have been so quiet. If this was a larger scale attack...I don’t know what this could mean then.” 

From the darkness of the outside world in the car windows, you passed a forest of pines and oher types of stoic trees making up the mountainside. 

“Well, I think that we should be optimistic for the time being.” 

Jeongin nodded. He looked to be a mess: blood had splattered at his white shirt collar and in specks on his neck. His cracked lenses however, didn’t keep him from his work. He had pulled his tie loosely around his neck, and had also provided his jacket as a pseudo-blanket of sorts for the prince. The prince, had offered his own jacket to you seeing as you only had your dress, but you had been managing just fine. You accepted it, but only because it could soothe his chivalrous ego. He had a hard night already, so you saw it best. 

“Two, where are you taking us?” You called to the mysterious driver. 

Ever since meeting him at the hotel, he had been nearly silent the whole ride. 

The man cleared his throat, “As far away from here as I can. I don’t know of any safe houses so...I’m just trying to remove us.” 

“I can find one for us if Carroll doesn’t get back to me....which she should...” 

Jeongin was not one for speaking of his mother as anything other than his boss. Since he had been assigned to be your partner a few months ago, he had never referred to her as his mother, nor did he ever seem to harbor any emotion for the stern woman. Both of them had been a bit allusive to you, but that was simply how it was in this line of work. You didn’t know things about the people around you, and you didn’t need to ask. You had wondered if he had worried about her, or thought about her when you were on missions. The young man had trained rigorously, and had passed each exam from the academy with flying colors. After considering it for a while, you figured what immense pressure he must've been under: son of the woman in charge, a master at infiltration, espionage, manipulation, cybersecurity, and a million more things; he had to prove himself and more. 

You couldn’t have asked for a better partner, but you almost did wish that you had known more. 

Two fiddled with the radio, settling on a station that played some kind of country-western type music. 

“What’s your specialty Two? How’d you end up a part of this shitshow?” 

The driver laughed, then hummed along with the music for a moment. “This has been my gig for few years, but I’ve never been a part of this unit before. Carroll always saw it best for my services to be used in other places.” 

“You have a specialty?” Jeongin asked while still typing furiously. 

Two scratched the back of his head. “I do a little bit of everything. But...let’s just say that I’m good at making friends. That’s why Carroll likes me.” 

“--You know her personally?” Your partner quipped, but the edge to his voice didn’t sound like judgement, but rather caution. 

“We’ve had a few meetings.” 

“Hm.” 

You kicked off your heals to massage your aching toes. If only they had attacked at a time when you had the proper footwear. 

“You said we could also call you J?” You sprawled over the back seat in an attempt to make yourself more comfortable. Still, the plastic seatbelt buckles poked into your back. 

“Yes. You can call me J.” 

And that was that. No “What’s J stand for”, or “where are you from”, “where’s your home base,” “how did you rank at the academy?” You added questions to the list of things that weren’t allowed as well. 

Jeongin tore off his glasses with an exasperated sigh to rub at his tired eyes. Chan made a happy little noise, presumably because he had found a cozier spot on Jeongin’s shoulder. He had now gotten the chance to sleep off his drunken stupor that may or may not had contributed to his sudden confession, and the reason behind the two pitstops you had taken for him to retch on the side of the road. 

If he was a prince, he might’ve also been one mess of a prince. In all of his grace and confidence, the pleasures that he partook in would often get the best of him at times too. 

You gave up on trying to get some sleep, but rather sat up to watch that paradoxically handsome and misshapen prince. Just like this: sleeping, vulnerable, with some kind of lopsided smirk on his face, he was much less than the regal figure that you had painted him to be in your mind. For maintaining appearances the whole day long, you hadn’t ever really gotten the chance to see him like this before. His façade faded, and you surmised that maybe he really was different from the way that he let on. 

“I’m so fucking tired.” Jeongin yawned. 

“Get some sleep then. I’ll stay up to watch things.” 

“That’s just it. I can’t sleep even if I tried.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Can you pass me some hand sanitizer or something? There’s...blood on my hands.” 

Your partner’s voice cracked slightly. It was then when you realized that this had been the first time that he had fired at real people. 

“I’ve got a water bottle? Is that enough?” 

“Yeah. It’s fine.” 

He splashed the liquids around while wiping his hands away, then flicked the remnants of water away. 

“Something about this doesn’t sit right with me.” 

“How do you mean?” 

Chan’s coat draped over your shoulders, and you pulled it in closer around your arms. The night had been cool, and the AC blasting in the car didn’t make it much better. 

Jeongin licked his lips. “Nothing was supposed to happen tonight. We made sure of it. No one was suspicious, we ran background checks, we checked the whole area...” 

“Hey,” You attempted to turn your tone softer, “We couldn’t have seen it coming. They just rolled up out of nowhere, there was no way that we could’ve stopped it--” 

“--Innocent people died tonight. If they were out for the prince, or maybe they weren’t, why so much collateral damage?” 

“Obviously they don’t care.” 

“Bastards.” Jeongin took the last bits of water to slug. “We’re gonna fucking find out why they did all of this.” 

Two shifted in his seat, “Any word? Hate to mention it, but I’m getting kinda tired. It’s past three already.”  

“Fox?” 

He clicked around, then shook his head. “Still nothing.” 

Chan snorted a bit in his sleep: an action which woke him up. 

“Wha-what? Where are we? Are the there yet? What time is it? Fuck...my head feels like it’s splitting...” 

“We’re finding somewhere, your Highness. We’ll be there soon.” Your partner motioned for you to hand him another water to give to the disorientated prince. 

Chan nodded while he rubbed his temples. “Shit. Please tell me that I just made this all up. That it’s some kind of fucked up nightmare...” 

You threw Chan’s coat back to him. “Unfortunately, no. We’re trying to figure out everything that we can.” 

“Who the hell were those guys?” Water dripped down his neck in a way that you pretended not to notice. “They were wearing crests. I couldn’t tell, but weren’t they red?” 

“Very observant, your Highness. F?” 

The younger man bit his lip, “I’ve already tried finding where the crest is from, but I can’t find anything that resembles it within our database. I was able to see one up close. It looked like a heart or something like that, and a diamond. I’m guessing that it could’ve been maybe a spade? Like the kind that you see on playing cards? Still, since we’ve never seen it before, we can only assume that they must be a new group.” 

Chan nodded, but anyone could tell that the information had flown right over his head. He licked at his wet lips, then sighed. 

“Bee, You okay? Fox? I suppose that I should ask you both.” 

“I’m...fine.” His sudden concern came as a surprise, and your partner looked just as shocked. 

“I-I’m fine too. No holes in me or anything.” Jeongin suppressed a laugh. “But you’re not, your Highness. How much did you have to drink?” 

“Oh...enough. I guess that I lost track at some point. Those kind of things are boring anyway.” 

“Fox? You’ve got that locale?” Two clicked the turn signal. 

“Oh! Yeah, I’ve got one. Sorry, It’s about an hour from here.” 

“Locale?” Chan cocked his head. 

“A safe house. Or something like that. We need to lie low while we wait for instructions.” 

“No one has said anything...? Not even...my father?” 

Jeongin shook his head gravely. “No.” 

The young prince fell silent, and you watched as worry fell over his clouded eyes that were lined with bags. Normally his expression was anything but strained, but in this moment, you saw doubt sweep over him like the darkness on the road ahead. You leaned the farthest you could from your seat to grab at his hand behind you. 

“You’re safe with us. Nothing is going to happen to you.” 

His hand was warm, maybe a little clammy, but it was soft, like that of a prince, naturally. Still, it was strong and veined. Chan’s thumb rubbed soft little circles into your own skin, muttering, “Thank you.” For once, his eyes which would normally devour you like some kind of rare dish held you earnestly. I trust you, they said. 

“Two. Let’s switch.” Jeongin slammed his laptop closed. “I’ve got it from here.” 

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

The safe house was quiet. As most of them where. It was even a bit stereotypical: a little cottage in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by woods on nearly all sides. It had a little overgrown garden, and a shed that looked like it held either all kinds of gardening equipment, or the real thing that sheds were meant for in your business: ammo. It had a white painted porch with cracking paint, as well as porch swing with rusting chains. In the early morning the windows were are black, but still faintly reflected the massive array of sparking stars above your heads. The only thing less antique about the home was the touch keypad on the front door. It beeped with a little tune, then flashed the insignia of the agency: a ticking clock. 

“Two, can you find a generator or something? Get the electricity up and going?” 

“Can do,” He said, then disappeared. 

Two was mostly a quiet man, a feature that gave you both reasons to trust him and to be suspicious. Besides him being a bit smaller in stature with thin legs and characteristically round cheeks, there was something different about him that you couldn’t place; something unexpected. You wished once again that questions weren’t on the list of things that weren’t allowed. 

“There should be clothes around here somewhere.” Jeongin padded his way through the dark rooms. “You shower first your Highness.” 

Chan tripped over his feet as he spread out his arms to find his way. You giggled lightly at the action. A man really was stripped down of any and all sense of composure when his life had been threatened and he had to have his bodyguards pat his back while he had gotten sick after one too many royal drinks. 

The lights flashed on, flickering at first with the sound of the lightbulbs waking up after a long sleep. The interior design of the place was exactly as you had expected: it was a family home with a fireplace and several chairs and couches covered in dust. Bookshelves were full with the strangest assortment of reading material and board games there held a thin layer of grey dust too. The kitchen was small and cozy: it had all the necessities. A stained glass chandelier hung over the wooden table for eight, and was decorated with glass hummingbirds and pink flowers. In odd corners of the house, children’s toys had been sitting untouched. A family must’ve been living there, and you wondered what must’ve become of them. 

Two returned with spiderwebs caught on his dress coat. “Water should be hot in about thirty minutes or so I think.” 

Your partner crossed the room, raking a hand through his snowy white hair. “I’m gonna try and make the calls again. See if I get anything. If not, we’ll have to...begin Operation Cheshire.” 

It was the phrase that you had hoped neither you nor your partner would have to say. 

Chan slumped down in one of the upholstered chairs, throwing dust into the air as he did. Compared to the rest of the room, him and his designer clothes seemed comically out of place. “Wha-what’s that?” 

Two pinched between his eyes, and your chest shook with an unsure inhale. 

“It means that we assume the worst. HQ got taken over and we’re all at risk. Information about us could be accessible to anyone. Essentially, we go into sleeper mode until we can reconvene with other agents...if there are any more. We dissapear. Next, we work on getting you back home, no matter what it takes.” 

“HQ?” What are you talking about?” Chan toyed with his diamond set cufflinks. “HQ? Like whoever manages the bodyguards??” 

“Your Highness...” You and your partner exchanged knowing glances. “We’re more than bodyguards.” 

“What?!” 

“We’re operatives. Agents. We work for an intelligence agency that specializes in a bunch of different things...protecting royalty if needed.” 

“What the fuck?! Why didn’t anyone tell me? Chan slapped his leg. “Fuck! No one tells me anything!!! I get that I’m a fucking prince but I’m not fucking useless!” 

The memory of the confidential file reemerged in your memory: the promise that you had made to His Majesty The King after he had requested a “special hire” to watch over his son. The file itself had contained a several thousand words or so that you hadn’t bothered to read, but rather skimmed till you got to the signature part. Carroll had simply nodded before you put your pen to the paper. 

“It was for your saf--” 

“--My father did this, didn’t he? Didn’t he? Some kind of sick way to keep tabs on me? See what I’m doing?? God! The man never trusts me. If the thinks that I’m that much of a disappointment...this is just--” 

“Your Highness, it’s been a long day, you’ve been through a lot, just take a shower and get some rest. Alright? We’ll talk more about this in the morning.” Two stepped forward with his hands folded in front of him. His interjection was unlike his previously quiet presence. 

The prince sighed, tapping his tragically expensive shoe on the hardwood. 

“Fine. We’ll talk about it in the morning.” 

Chan’s eyes grew dark with an authoritative air that you had seen before. His façade had slipped over him like a cloak. He rose, buttoning his jacket, then tweaking his sliver brooches decorating his neck. 

“Fox. Bee. Two. Thank you. Good evening.” 

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

Chan knew that it was you at the door when you would knock two times, then pause, and knock twice more. In your hands, you held a cup of warm milk. For a prince, even he couldn’t reject the beverage to help him fall asleep at night. You had seen him order it at hotels on more than one occasion. Jeongin had found a nearby store to get food for the morning. The two of you had suddenly found yourselves as now both his bodyguards and his servants. While you waited, you hoped to God that Carroll would compensate you for the extra work. 

The door creaked open, revealing your prince modestly dressed in plaid flannel, hair dripping slightly in wet strands. You had never seen him as simple as this before: no princely persona or cold exterior to upkeep. He looked...normal. 

“What is it Bee?” 

“I thought you might like some...well, this.” You provided him with the cup. “I know that it’s nearly morning, but you should still try to sleep in. We’ll take care of things. 

He took the ceramic mug from your hands, fingers barely brushing against yours for mere moments. 

“Thank you.” He hushed with a thankful smile. “Would you like to come in? We could...just kind of...sit for a minute.” 

Behind him, sun peaked at the horizon, a splitting of red piercing the navy deep of the night. The colors muddled, blurred, a bit like the color of blood fading into the deep fabric of one’s formal wear. It was desolate, but still beautiful. 

“To be honest,” His eyes fell, “I don’t want to be alone right now.” 

You had saved the biggest room for him. It smelled of mothballs and other old things like sheets that had rested in a dark room for much too long. Still, there was a kind of familiarity to it all and the way that the matted rugs and brass vintage lamps lit the room with a soft yellow light. The full sized bed creaked once you had sat down. In his golden halo, Chan’s brown strands appeared to be softer, and not as prim and staged. 

“I’m sorry for snapping earlier. I realized that there are things that are out of my control. You know more than I do, and I accept that. I trust you...a-and Fox.” 

You rubbed your hands into the jeans you had found in the cupboard. They had dirt and grass stains from work in the garden you presumed. 

“It’s okay. I understand that you would be scared. It’s okay to be. I...get scared sometimes too. I know that it might look like it, but I fear...for my life too. So does Jeong--Fox.” 

Chan’s voice cracked. “Is someone out to kill me?” 

You sighed, sensing his hesitation. “I don’t know. But we will know soon.” 

The prince stared down at the white bubbles in his milk, then swirled around the liquid to watch the way that that it moved. 

“I don’t think I’d like to die. Would be pretty unfortunate, don’t you think? I feel like I’ve got so many other things to do. A kingdom to manage, people to govern, much more bottles of Scotch to drink, parties to attend...” 

His eyes met yours, and you could see the very fragility of the life that he spoke of right in them. He was right in that dumb speech of his. He really was just a person. 

“...I like to think that I’ll get married someday to someone that I love. I actually would really like to do that.” He chuckled. “Lame, right? Someone like me who always bounces around. Wouldn’t take me for one?” 

“Mm. No. I think that from what I’ve observed of you, and I’m trained to observe, I think that bouncing around...means you’re looking for the right thing. And, I guess that it’s fun too.” 

Chan chuckled, “You’re good at observing.” 

You paused, remembering Lee Minho from earlier. 

“Were you looking when you were talking to that man at the banquet? He was very handsome.” 

The prince placed the cup down. “He was. I don’t know. He just seemed kind of interesting. The kind of mystery that only a stranger has. I would’ve liked to have talked to him more now that I think about it. Maybe it would’ve been worth my time.” Chan twisted his back to crack it. “I don’t know if you saw but he had some really nice fucking thighs.” 

“Ahhh. Nice thighs. Didn’t know that you cared for that.” 

The two of you laughed together a bit like old friends. It felt nice. 

“...Bee. I should also probably apologize for how I acted back before we got in the car. I was...drunk, scared. I said some things--” 

“--That you were in love with me?” 

“Yeah...that. I realized that...I’ve been...unfair to you. You don’t deserve the ridicule. You’ve only ever been helpful to me and--” 

“--Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.” You shrugged. You had met hundreds of guys like him before, at least you thought. 

Chan sighed as if he was gathering himself. “Bee. I did mean what I said.” 

“What? Ch-your Highness, you don’t mean that.” 

He laughed, “It’s alright. You can call me Chan. And...yes. I did. You’ve got a kind of mystery to you too. Frankly, I can’t stop thinking about it.” 

“This...this is inappropriate.” You shifted, the rising off the bed. Your cheeks warmed, but you couldn’t know why. Maybe he was just too damn charming. But, he was like that with everyone. 

He rose too, hastily following you on your way to the door. “Bee, wait.” 

“Chan, you can’t do this. It makes things...complicated.” 

He advanced, slowly, closing the space between you. “It’s only complicated if you feel the same.” 

“I-I don’t.” 

The prince’s hand carefully rose to cup your face, a gesture so gentle that you shied from the feeling. Even this close still he smelled of white roses. 

“Have you ever heard of conflict of interest?” Your breath hitched. 

Chan grinned, “There you go making this complicated again.” 

A wandering hand of yours acting on its own reached to tug hold of his shirt. 

The prince leaned in closer, nearly close enough to breech the gap between his plush lips and yours. 

“What if I don’t mind making things...” He whispered the word, grazing his mouth over yours, “...complicated?” 

“Ch--” 

He pressed his weight fully into you, a smashing of lips met with incessant heat and your back shoved into the door. His tongue easily twisted around yours, and his soft gasps filled up your mouth. It had taken you a couple seconds to realize what had happened, and to decide what to do with yourself. His mouth was blazing, it was as if he was weaving a spell, or perhaps you had made it up for yourself. He kissed you with vitality; like he had never tasted anything like you before and was starving for you. You realized, perhaps you had wondered what it would’ve felt like. One hand squeezed tighter to his shirt, and you kissed back, meeting his heat. 

Jeongin’s voice called down the hall, “Bee? Bee, are you there?” The sound of your bedroom door shut. 

You pushed Chan off you with flat hands on his chest and an amazed smile on his face. 

“This...this doesn’t mean anything.” You gasped, reaching for the knob after a moments pause. 

Chan snickered, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

“Goodnight your Highness.” 

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

For a man so young Jeongin liked his coffee black, and drank it like an old man too with his nose buried in a newspaper while it fogged up his glasses--or what was left of them. 

“I finally got correspondence from Carroll this morning. She said that HQ experienced some kind of blackout and all the systems went offline. It wasn’t safe for her to contact us on a regular line. They got everything back up and running and everything seems fine, or so they think.” 

Your partner had already made himself comfortable in a pair of sweatpants and a cotton tee with slippers. You never would’ve guessed that he was a trained assassin on the side. 

Two returned huffing in the door from his morning run. He was one of those people. 

“Any word?” He rubbed his face off with a dishtowel. 

“Disgusting.” You sneered at the crude action. 

“Well, we’ve got thousands of miles between us and the kingdom and what seems like a hell of a lot of guys on our tail, but, after I sent Carroll the info about the red crest, she wants us to do some digging. 

“With the prince in tow?” You lowered your voice lest the sleeping royal heard you. “I don’t think so.” 

“It sounds like she’s convinced that the person behind all of this could be someone who attended the charity ball. And, I don’t really disagree. They must be good at keeping secrets if they evaded us.” 

“Hm. You’re right. A high profile event like that, even though its for a good cause it’s always a competition with those snobs. I just don’t know who could order something so cruel...all those people in the same place...” 

“Since it’s a new group, they must still be underground. So, to see who lives underground, you’ve got to go there yourself to find out. Or, in our case, find someone who knows the rabbit hole.” 

Two grabbed a chair, ruffling his deep brown soaked hair. “What does that mean?” 

Jeongin flipped his laptop around. “This is the man that we need to go see. Codename White Rabbit. Or as he calls himself--” 

“--Bun.” You cut in. “Yeah, I know him.” 

Both of the men chimed, “You do?” 

“Yeah, he’s undercover ops for the agency. He’s sort of a jack of all trades. He owns some kind of front out in Egypt. It’s called The Tea Party. Bar up front, but in the back he provides all kinds of information--for both sides. His cut is that for any information he gives to the agency he gets cash compensation. If anyone would know about anything underground, it would be him. As I’m sure Carroll told you, he’s a stickler for meeting in person. He’s one of us. I think.” 

“You think?” 

“He also does...other deviant things. I heard that these days he’s had a couple dealings in some...substances. Black market stuff. Carroll also provides safety for his business in return for his information.” 

“That...sounds illegal. Immoral even.” Jeongin’s eyes widened upon hearing the news about his mother. 

“You’ve got to pay to play you know.” 

“So Egypt then?” Two wiped off the back of his neck with the dishtowel, stretching out one of his toned arms. “I’ve always wanted to go there.” 

“Oh--one more thing.” Jeongin took a rather long sip from his cup. “The King’s counsel reached out to me too this morning. They asked me if the Prince was safe and where we were. I have them loose details of both. They seemed somewhat relieved.” 

Chan sauntered down the steps with a massive yawn, stretching up his arms and shirt to reveal an inkling of his abs. You also pretended not to notice it. 

“Gooood morning everyone. Fox. Two.” He dished out a wink. “Bee.” 

“Morning your Highness.” Jeongin nodded, and crossed his legs. “Feeling well?” 

“Ahhh much better.” He poured himself a cup of coffee in the kitchen, staring out the little window over the sink, then took an indulgent sip. “It’s peaceful here. I kind of like that.” 

“Your Highness, we’ve received word--” 

Chan rose his hand to shush your partner, then languidly took another sip. “I’m still enjoying my drink F.” 

A light buzzing resonated somewhere in the house, a bit like the sound of a dryer, and the home started vibrating. Your water glass on the table rippled. 

“Two, did you notice if there was anything strange about the house?” 

The buzzing grew nearer. 

Two looked puzzled, “No, why?” 

The vibrating grew more violent, and your glass shuddered off the wooden table, shattering on the ground upon impact. 

Chan squinted out the window, “Is that a--” 

“CHAN GET DOWN!” You shrieked. 

Within milliseconds the whistling of a bomb screeched through the air, then crashed into the rickety ceiling, splintering wood everywhere and demolishing the furniture. 

You had seconds to act while the matte black bomb hissed with a steam releasing from some seam and ticked. You sprinted to grab Chan’s arm as hard as you possibly good, all in a blur, pummeling your bodies against one of the shattered windows, and hurling yourself out to the morning dew. You had no time to see if Jeongin or Two had made their exit, but looked out, towing the prince so hard you must’ve done some damage to his shoulder. You stumbled to your feet, tripping, and grunting until the bomb diffused, and exploded the cottage altogether. You covered Chan’s head and most of his body with your own as a shield and the shards of wood, metal, and brick came flying. 

“Ar-are you okay?” You patted the prince down in his shock, who stared blankly with empty eyes. 

The prince’s flannel had been torn to shreds with glass, and blood oozed onto the fabric on his arms. 

“Yeah...yeah...I’m...fine.” 

“BEE! Y/N!” Jeongin screamed over the flames to find you. 

“OVER HERE!” You bellowed back, and your partner came running with Two behind him with terrible cuts on his face. 

“They knew. They FUCKING knew.” He panted after reaching you. 

“We have to get out of here.” Two gasped, and blood ran down his face, nearly into his eye. “If they know where we are now, they’ll come to check to see if the damage is done. We have to move.”  

The sky filled with an angry smoke, and the once peaceful forest filled with the colors of orange and red. 

“The car?” 

“Broken windows from the blast but I should be able to get it going. There’s spare parts in the shed. And ammo. A fuck ton of it.” 

“We’ll need it.” 

You pulled the prince to his feet as he blinked wildly at you and your team. 

“Fuck.” Was all the could manage. 

In your complete surprise, Chan’s bloodied and cracked hands pulled your face into his, kissing you with lips that tasted of the salt of blood. 

“I fucking love you Bee. I’ve decided.” 

Jeongin’s jaw dropped in the corner of your eye, so you promptly slapped the prince upside the face. 

“You’re in shock. We need to get out of here.” 

A wrinkled smile danced on the royal’s face, and you might’ve thought that it was a bit charming. 

“Admit it. You love me too Bee.” 

~🌹~ 

Bunch of (Ro)ses! 

@minaamhh @dazzlehoseok @synnocence @jjewibeans @hyunsluvv @unexceptional-h @bobawithchaitea @lechanters @sailorhyunjinz @silencefavarchive @eunaeiekim @julesinthesoop

[fanmoose12]

Hange was crunched over her laptop, typing furiously - it was probably another strong worded letter to one of their associates. If nerves weren't currently eating him up, Levi would have found the scene in front of him amusing. But as the case was, he was barely able to keep it together. He tried to distract himself, looking around Hange’s office. Even though, it was only the beginning of December, she was already in a festive spirit. There was a small Christmas tree on her table, and on her wardrobe hung a string of Christmas lights. Hange adored Christmas, so it was no surprise that she was getting ready for it so early.

Levi glanced back - thankfully, everyone else had already left the office. At least, no one would see him stare at Hange like he was some kind of a creep. It was bad enough that some interns jumped away from him in hallways.

There was nothing to be worried about, though. He just needed to ask Hange a small question. She was his best friend, there was nothing scary in asking your best friend a question. Besides, Hange probably wouldn't even accept his invitation. Knowing her, she received dozens offers already. She'd apologize and refuse, Levi would wave her off and then they'd forget about this incident altogether.

Just like they’ve forgotten about last year's incident.

Yes. There was absolutely nothing to worry about.

Levi straightened his shirt, fixed his tie and took a deep breath. And then finally— he knocked on the door.

"Yes!" Hange shouted. "Come in!"

"Oh, it's you," she said, as Levi walked inside. "I thought it was janitor coming to kick me out again," Hange laughed at her own joke.

The smile turned into a frown, as soon as she saw the look on Levi’s face.

“Is… everything alright?” she spoke gently, getting to her feet and coming to stand beside Levi. She tilted her head, looking at him worriedly. “You look kinda tense.”

Levi lowered his head, hiding his eyes behind the hair. “It’s… my mother,” he managed finally.

“Your mother?” behind the lenses of her glasses, Hange’s eyes widened. “Did something happen to her? What can I do to—”

“She’s fine,” Levi quickly assured her. He wasn’t going to tell it to her, of course, but Hange’s concern warmed his heart. “She just…” he cleared his throat and looked up at her, staring straight in her eyes. “She invited you over for a dinner. At Christmas.”

“Christmas?” she scratched the back of her head in confusion. “Are you asking me to spend Christmas with you?”

“My mom asks you,” Levi corrected. “But yeah. You don’t have to agree, though! If you have other plans already, it’s more than fine. She’ll understand. No hard feelings whatsoever.”

“Are you kidding me?” Hange beamed. “Christmas with Ackermans? How can I possibly refuse? Besides,” she elbowed him in a side with a mischievous look. “It’s not every day that Levi Ackerman—”

“My mom—”

“Invites me over to a Christmas party. Don’t worry, shorty,” Hange reached out and ruffled his hair. For some weird reason - probably because he let Hange get away with literally anything - he let her assault his immaculate haircut too. “Of course, I’ll come.”

“Great,” and Levi actually meant it. Despite, the fiasco during the last year’s Christmas party, he was looking forward to spending this Christmas with Hange by his side. “Now, c’mon, it’s almost nine pm. Get your shit, four-eyes.”

“Huh? Levi, are you offering me—”

“A ride home?” he scoffed. “Yes, I do, Hange. Or have you fixed your car already?”

Hange chuckled sheepishly. “I keep forgetting about that… you know how it is.”

Levi rolled his eyes. “Unfortunately, I do. So hurry up before I change my mind.”

“I’m on it, Captain!” she dashed to her desk, getting her bag and phone. Then Hange went to the wardrobe and took out her coat. She hastily put it on and haphazardly wrapped a scarf around her neck. “And I’m ready!” she announced proudly.

Levi tsked. “You’re such a mess,” he pulled her closer and fixed the wrapping of a scarf, making sure that it covered Hange’s neck completely. “There,” he patted her arm. “Now, you’re ready.”

“Thanks, dad,” Hange giggled and started to lead the way. “So, who else is going to be at the party?”

“You, my mom, Kenny—”

“Oh, your uncle?” she rubbed her hands together with a sly smile. “I like him! He’s so much fun!”

Levi huffed. “Just be careful around him, four-eyes. Or he’ll get you involved in some of his shady shit.”

“There is no need to be jealous,” she teased.

“Keep dreaming.”

“And that’s it?” Hange asked. “Your father—”

“Fuck no,” Levi replied instantly. “Kenny is more than enough to fill the asshole’s quota.”

Hange raised an eyebrow, amusement written all over her face. “So your uncle’s an asshole, huh? Didn’t he raise you, though? You know what they say – an apple doesn’t fall far—”

“Oi,” Levi interrupted, before more shit came out of her mouth. “I may be too straightforward sometimes, and sometimes I’m a little harsh and can come off as rude, but I’m nothing like Kenny.”

“If it helps you sleep at night,” Hange patted his shoulder with a sympathetic look.

“Shut up, four eyes,” scowling, he gave her a light shove.

“Ah!” Hange suddenly exclaimed, spinning around. “Christmas with Ackermans! I’m already looking forward to it!”

“Weirdo,” Levi commented, desperately fighting to keep an affectionate smile off his face.

“You’re saying it as if you aren’t the same,” Hange giggled. “Admit it, Levi. You’re as much of a weirdo as I am. That’s why we’re so compatible.”

“Whatever,” he scoffed, refusing to even entertain the idea. “Hurry up by the way. It’s late already, I don’t want to spend the whole night with your crazy ass.”

“Oh, Levi?” Hange put on an innocent look on her face, twirling a stray lock of her hair. “Can we stop to eat somewhere, please?”

Levi gave her a flat look. “Your fringe is empty again?”

“I just forgot to do the groceries…” she mumbled.

“Fine,” Levi sighed. “We’ll make a stop. But we’re going to my favorite place. Those disgusting burgers you love so much make me want to puke.”

“Let’s eat your boring soup then.”

“My boring soup is healthy. It won’t give you an atherosclerosis.”

“I need another favor from you…”

He groaned. “Let me guess, you forgot your wallet again?”

Hange shrugged with a smile. Levi cursed.

“Alright, I’ll pay for you. But it’s the last time, four-eyes,” he warned with a stern face.

With a smile still on her face, Hange nodded. They both knew that Levi was lying.

“Wait,” Levi said, as they neared the front door of the building. He turned to face Hange, eyeing her critically. “Where are your gloves?”

Hange rolled her eyes, but obediently opened her bag and started rummaging through her things. “Aha!” she exclaimed a couple of moments later, proudly showing Levi a couple of gloves. “Here they are!”

“Put them on,” Levi instructed, walking outside and heading towards his car. “And let’s leave this place, before the café closes.”

“Coming!” Hange shouted, following after Levi with a wide grin.

***

It was a Christmas Day already, and Levi was standing on a porch of his mother's house, waiting for Hange to show up. Knowing his friend, she would be late for at least ten minutes, so Levi leaned against the door, debating if he should go back inside to get his pack of cigarettes. His mother hated when he smoked, but it was going to be a stressful day, Levi knew it. Even without the memories of his last Christmas, nagging at him, there was Kenny he had to deal with, and the relationship between him and his uncle was at the very least, strained. If he wished to end this evening without strangling Kenny, Levi needed a lot more than just one cigarette.

However, before he could decide, he saw Hange at the other end of a street. She was walking with a spring in her step, dangling a couple of bags in her hands.

Levi crossed hands on his chest, watching her approach.

"What is this shit?" he pointed to the bags she was carrying.

"Presents!" she grinned widely.

“Presents?”

"Yes! For you, your mother and uncle."

Levi didn't drop the look of skepticism. "There are four bags."

"Of course, silly," Hange shook her head. "I've got two presents for you."

"Two?" Levi frowned. "Why two? I got only one for you."

"Well, it's not my fault your birthday is on Christmas," Hange complained. "Speaking of!" she spread her hands, "it's time for a hug, birthday boy!"

Levi cringed. "Is there a way to avoid it?"

"No!" Hange announced cheerfully. "C'mon, I'm waiting!"

Levi sighed, but obliged and came closer, letting Hange wrap her hands around him. She hummed happily, nuzzling his cheek.

"Ah, that was a good one," she said, as she took a step back, releasing Levi. He, however, couldn’t agree with her statement. It was a good hug, but it ended too quickly for his liking. Well, it wasn't like he could ask Hange to repeat it. She would agree, of course, but his reputation would suffer tremendously.

"Goddamn it, four-eyes," Levi scowled, when he took a good look on Hange's hands. "How many times do I have to remind you about the gloves?"

He grabbed her red and freezing palms in his, softly rubbing them. "Let's get inside, before you freeze to death."

"You worry too much," Hange rolled her eyes, but didn't try to shake Levi off and let him lead her inside.

The moment they crossed the threshold, Kuchel was already standing in front of the door, smiling from ear to ear. Levi awkwardly let go of Hange's hands and took a step back, allowing his mother to welcome her.

"You came!" Kuchel laid her hands onto Hange's shoulders, kissing both of her cheeks. "I'm so happy to see you, my dear!" she took a step back and faced Levi, giving him a stern gaze. “And you told Hange wouldn’t accept our invitation. You should bring her over more often.”

Levi looked down, mumbling something so quietly, neither Hange, nor Kuchel were able to catch it.

Watching the scene in front of her, seeing an embarrassed Levi, who was just scolded by his mother, Hange couldn’t help – she doubled over with laughter.

“Sorry!” she raised a hand, still chuckling. “I’m just— Levi looks so much like you, Mrs. Ackerman, it’s adorable!”

“Ah,” Kuchel smiled, reaching out to ruffle Levi’s hair. “He was always his mother’s boy.”

Levi groaned, desperately trying to hide his red face from Hange’s amused gaze. “Can you two please stop humiliating me?”

“And here she is!” Levi had never wanted the Earth to swallow him more than he did in this exact moment. He recognized that deep, booming voice instantly. “The only person who can tolerate my dear nephew!” Kenny walked out of the room to welcome them.

That infuriating smirk was already plastered on his face, and Levi cursed under his breath. It would be a very long evening.

“Hange, my darling!” Kenny took a step closer, meaning to take Hange by the hand. Levi was instantly by her side, glaring at his uncle.

“Watch your hands, old man,” he spoke darkly.

Kenny whistled. “Someone’s jealous, huh?”

Before Levi could retaliate and come up with another insult, his mother came to stand between them, wearing an annoyed expression on her face.

“Stop it, boys,” she sighed. “Kenny, don’t pick up on Levi, and you, Levi,” Kuchel shook her head. “Be nice for once, alright?”

“Yes,” Kenny and Levi answered in unison. Kuchel beamed.

“Now you two take your coats and shoes off and then join us in the living room. Hange?” Kuchel turned to her. “You’ll stay the night with us, right?”

“I…” Hange scratched her neck, unsure.

“Stay,” Levi whispered, nudging her in the side. “Mom already prepared the guest room.”

“I guess I have no choice then,” she grinned. “Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Ackerman.”

“Don’t mention,” Kuchel waved her off. “And please, call me just Kuchel. Levi talks so often about you, I feel like you’re a part of our family.”

“Ah, a-alright,” Hange stared at Levi, but he turned his face another way, stubbornly refusing to meet her eyes. His mother was exaggerating, he didn’t talk about Hange that much.

Kuchel sent them another warm smile, and then left to the kitchen.

"Aw," Hange pouted as soon as Levi took off his coat.

"What's wrong now?"

"You're wearing a simple shirt and cardigan.”

"And?" Levi prompted, feeling his patience go thin.

"Why not a Christmas sweater?" Hange clasped her hands, frustrated.

Levi looked at Hange's bright red sweater with a big reindeer right in the center of it. "No thanks," he mumbled. "My eyes hurt just looking at the monstrosity you're wearing."

"It's called fashion, Levi, you should look it up sometimes."

"Says a person, who can wear the same shirt for two weeks in a row. By the way," Levi outstretched his hand. "Give me it."

"Give you what?"

"My present, four-eyes, give it to me."

"A-ah," Hange resolutely shook her head. "Wait until midnight."

Levi gritted his teeth in frustration. "Fine, you can keep the other one, but you have two presents. Give me the one for my birthday."

"Nope."

"Hange, today is my birthday, I deserve to receive my birthday gift."

"Have some patience, will you? I'll give it to you at midnight."

"Why can't you—"

"Let's go!" Hange pushed him forward, leading him away from the presents. "Your family is already waiting for us."

***

As Levi watched Hange chat with his mother and uncle, sharing jokes and stories about him, he couldn't help but wonder - could it be that Hange actually forgot about the incident that had happened last year? It was the only possible explanation, she was so calm, so nonchalant, while he was practically brimming with nervous energy, trying to think about literally anything to distract himself from the awkward memories.

Noticing his stare, Hange smiled and winked at him, before resuming her story about Levi's meeting with investors. She wasn't nervous in a slightest and Levi decided to follow her example. If Hange was unbothered, what reason did he have to panic? If she didn't remember the events of last Christmas, he should try to forget about it too. *** "Hange, honey, come here," Kuchel beckoned, interrupting Hange's conversation with Kenny. "There is something I want you to see."

"Oh," as soon as Hange saw what Kuchel was holding out to her, she rubbed her hands in anticipation. "Is it what I think it is?"

Kuchel nodded, wearing the same giddy expression as Hange. "It's our family photo album."

Levi, who just came back from the bathroom, felt his heart drop. His mother wouldn't dare...

"Mom, it's my birthday," he reminded, sitting down next to her. "You can't embarrass me at my birthday."

"But Levi," Kuchel pouted. "I'm not embarrassing you! I just want to show Hange, how cute you were as a child."

"Yeah," Kenny chimed in. "She needs to see what your face looked like before you got a severe case of constipation."

"Shut up," Levi hissed, glaring daggers at his uncle.

Meanwhile, Hange was already opening the album...

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed delightfully, staring at the first page. "Levi, you looked so cute! You were the most adorable baby ever!"

"He still is," Kuchel softly patted Levi's cheek.

Levi groaned, covering his face with a hand. It was the worst moment of his life.

"Look at this face!" Hange continued to coo. "And these pretty eyes!"

Levi's cheeks were on fire.

"Tell about this to anyone, four-eyes," he warned quietly, careful not to let his mother hear. "And you're dead, got it?"

"Of course," Hange smiled, amusement swirling in her gaze. "My lips are sealed."

 ***

As the evening progressed into the night, Kuchel excused herself, insisting that she needed to go and rest. Levi and Hange were sitting on a sofa in the living room and watching TV. As they were on the second part of Die Hard, Kenny left too, claiming that there was something he had to take care off. Начало формы

“He’s definitely up to something unlawful,” Levi commented off-handedly as soon as Kenny closed the door after himself.

“Oh?” Hange grinned, muting the TV. “What do you think he’s going to do? Rob someone? Murder?”

“I don’t care,” Levi replied. “And you shouldn’t care too. The lesser you know, the better.”

“You’re no fun,” she smacked his shoulder, before collapsing on his lap with a quiet giggle.

“Get off,” Levi complained. “I’m not your pillow.”

“But you’re warm,” Hange wiggled a little, taking a more comfortable position. “And soft.”

“Shut up,” he sighed, trying to ignore the pleasant feeling that appeared because of Hange’s words. “It’s almost midnight,” he nodded at the clock on the wall. “So get up and bring me my present.”

“Oh my,” Hange looked at him with a sly look. “You really can’t wait to receive it, huh?”

“Give it, four-eyes.”

“Fine!” she huffed, getting to her feet. “But I want to see my present too.”

“Hurry up!” Levi called after her.

He rose from the sofa and headed to his room, where Hange’s present was hidden. When he came to the living room, Hange was already sitting on the floor by the Christmas tree, wearing a wide, excited grin.

"My present," Hange demanded, reaching with her hand.

Sitting down next to her, Levi rolled his eyes and passed the package to her. Instantly, Hange started opening, tearing the paper like an overexcited child. Levi glared at the pile of paper on the floor, but Hange was too excited to notice his dark expression.

"Oh!" she breathed out, as soon as she saw the present. "Levi, is that—"

"Your hands are always cold," Levi explained, watching Hange try the new pair of gloves he got her. "I know it's not much, but..."

"No!" Hange protested, pressing the gloved palm to her chest. "They're perfect! So warm and soft!"

"Good," Levi let himself relax. "It's my first time doing something like this, so I was afraid—"

"Wait!" Hange shrieked, eyes wide. "You made them by yourself?"

"Yeah," Levi said with a frown. "It's a not a big deal, though. Knitting isn't so hard, so..."

"You've knitted the gloves for me..." Hange whispered with a big, dreamy smile on her face. She kept staring at the gloves like they were a damn miracle. Levi couldn't look away from her, as a warm feeling spread through his veins. He could never guess Hange would like his present that much.

"Thank you!" Hange wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer for a brief hug. "Well now!" she grinned, letting go of him. "It's time for your presents!"

“Finally,” Levi muttered.

Reaching behind her, Hange handed him the first package. "That's your Christmas present," she said softly.

Levi nodded, taking it from her hands and then carefully unwrapping. Once he was finished, he put the pieces of paper in a neat pile. Then, he looked at his present. It was a sweater, an exact copy of the one Hange was wearing right now, only slightly smaller and green, wherein Hange's was red.

"Matching sweaters!" Hange announced gleefully. "Put it on!"

Reluctantly - the sweater was kind of ugly - Levi put it over his shirt. He felt like an idiot, but the beam he received from Hange was making it kinda of worth it.

"You look really handsome," Hange noted, making Levi's heart skip a bit. "I should have gotten you reindeer antlers, though. They would have completed the look," she added, ruining the sentiment completely.

"Shut up," Levi grumbled. "How give me another one."

"I feel kinda stupid about it now," Hange began, fidgeting a little. The gesture was so uncharacteristic to her that Levi arched his eyebrow, looking at her in surprise. "Especially after your mother showed me a different one, and it contains cuter pictures," Hange smiled at that. "But, well, here. Happy birthday, Levi."

Levi greedily snatched the present from her and took off the wrapping paper. Inside there was a book - a photo album - Levi realized as he took a better look.

He opened the first page, and saw a picture of himself and Hange. Hange was smiling into the camera, one hand was making the piece sign, while the other was wrapped around his shoulders. His face was as emotionless as always, but there was a soft look in his eyes.

"I put our photo at the first page, because I know my face is your favorite," Hange teased with a sly smile.

Levi didn't answer - there was no need to confirm that Hange's words were actually true. Instead he turned the page. The next one showed him, Erwin, Mike and Nanaba, looking relaxed and slightly drunk. Hange obviously took this picture, since she wasn't in it. Then he saw a photo of him and Mike building a sand castle and after that a picture of him and Erwin, while they were playing Mario Kart on Erwin’s sofa. On the next page, there was a group shot of every employee of their firm. He, Erwin and Hange were stood at the center, with Erwin's arms on their shoulders. After that, it was a picture of Levi with their interns, Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Sasha and Connie. It was taken after they finished a seminar, Levi remembered. The kids were on cloud nine, since it meant that they could finally rest after a long and tiring weekend. They did well on the seminar, so when they asked for a picture with them, Levi just couldn't say no.

"You look like a proud dad here," Hange commented, leaning over his shoulder to look at the photo.

Levi let out a noncommittal grunt and continuing flipping over the pages. There was a lot more, almost three dozens of pages and each one showed a dear memory.

"I know that you like this stuff, keeping small mementos," Hange said. It was true - as much as Levi loved order and cleanliness, he also gathered all kinds of tickets, receipts and other small trinkets that reminded him of good memories. He kept all of them hidden in his desk drawer, though, so he was surprised that Hange knew about it.

"Thank you," he told her.

"You like it?"

"I love it," he confessed. He didn't say it often, probably had never actually said it out loud, but he valued, loved all of his friends. They were the best thing in his life. Of course, he couldn't say it now too. There was a reputation he had to uphold after all. "I've never seen a bigger collection of ugly faces."

Hange laughed then, throwing her head back. Levi watched her with a small smile.

"Happy birthday," she repeated, putting her head back on his lap.

Levi didn't protest this time, simply stared down at her. The Christmas lights were dancing across her face, making Hange look softer around the edges. Without thinking, Levi reached out to brush some hair out of her forehead. Hange smiled, looking up at him.

"Hey," she began. Levi nodded, motioning for her to continue. He stretched his hand, taking his teacup. "Do you remember last Christmas?"

The hand with a cup froze midair, as he stared at Hange with wide eyes. He thought she was going to launch in another lengthy and boring story, not bring this thing up.

"I don't," he answered stiffly, fighting the urge to get up and run. Hange shouldn't have known about this.

"You really don't?" Hange asked, disappointment in her voice. "We were at the party at Erwin's place, I had a bit too much eggnog and—"

And then she staggered out on a balcony, while Levi was having a smoke break. She was clearly drunk and a thought flashed in Levi's mind that he should bring her home or lay her down in one of Erwin's guest rooms, before she did something stupid. And that's what she did in the next moment. Something stupid. She snatched the cigarette from his hand and threw it away. Levi opened his mouth to reprimand her for that, but wasn't unable to actually say anything. Because Hange— Hange was kissing him. Before he could react to it in any way - push her away, bring her closer, entangle his hand in her hair - anything, Hange took a step back.

Whatever was reflecting on his face, Hange didn't like it. She pursed her lips in thought and a line formed between her eyebrows.

"That's not good," she said finally. "Just— just forget anything happen."

And just like that she was gone, giving Levi no time to respond and leaving him alone at a dark, cold balcony.

The next morning, she gave no indication that that kiss had ever happened.

"You do remember," Hange poked his cheek with a finger. "I can see it in your eyes."

"Then why the fuck have you asked?" the hand that wasn't holding a teacup, tightened into fist. What the fuck Hange wanted from him? She told him to forget, didn't she?

"I just wanted to— doesn't matter now," she looked away from him. "I've got my answer already.

Hange moved, trying to get up. Levi pressed on her shoulder, pushing her back.

"You were the one, who told me to forget it.”

"Because you clearly weren't interested!"

Levi frowned. "Who said that?"

"You!" Hange pointed a finger at him, almost hitting him in the nose.

Levi waved her hand away. "I've never said such thing."

"You didn't need to. Your face said it for you."

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

"You don't understand?" Hange huffed. "When I kissed you, you were scowling!"

Levi crossed hands on his chest. "That's how my face always looks like. You know it."

"You didn't kiss me back!" she accused.

"You didn't give me the time to do it!"

Hange felt silent after that. She kept looking at his face, as though searching for something there.

"Does it mean that... you wanted to kiss me?"

"Yes," Levi sighed. "For a very long time now."

"Oh," Hange's cheeks became an adorable shade of pink. "That's a bit unexpected. But... If I were to kiss you again—"

"I'd more than welcome it."

"Alright," she nodded, getting up. Hange leaned in, until their lips were almost touching. She glanced in his eyes, checking his reaction. Then she slowly moved closer, leaving a gentle kiss on his lips. She withdrew almost instantly, looking more than a little embarrassed.

"So," she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Did you like that?"

"It will take me some time to get used to it," Levi admitted.

"We can take it slow," Hange offered. "Would you like that?"

"Yeah," Levi agreed. "I would like that."

"C'mon then," Hange got to her feet and then held her hand out to Levi, helping him up as well. "Let's finish the movie."

He followed Hange back to the sofa and then resumed the movie. At first, he sat at the other end of sofa, deliberately putting some distance between them, in case Hange felt awkward. She rolled her eyes at the gesture, moving closer and laying her head on his thigh.

"Is this okay?" she asked, looking up.

"Yeah," Levi carefully put his hand on her shoulder and started rubbing it softly. "More than okay."

Hange smiled and turned her attention to the TV screen. Levi smiled back, staring down at her.

It was his best Christmas ever. Much better than the last one.

[kaylathekittykat225]

Pretty Girl // Jason Todd X Reader

Warning/s: small mentions of insecurities, but all is good

Word Count: 4,016

Hey guys, hope you all enjoy. It would be cool to hear what you guys like about my writing if you have the chance, just trying to see what y’all like to see from me. :)

Here’s my Masterlist.

Enjoy.

—–

"Honestly Bruce we are fine, we can take care of Gotham for three nights...No we aren't gonna let it catch fire...Come on that was one time! And that was all Tim's fault! Why aren't you blaming him?!"

"Hey!" Jason groaned as soon as he heard the younger Wayne boy pipe up, obviously tapping into the conversation between Jason and Bruce. Bruce started yelling at Tim, Tim started yelling at Jason, Jason was yelling at the wall he kicked, honestly, it was all a muddled mess.

"Shut up!" The three arguing men all dropped their jaws at being told what to do, and them actually obeying it. Jason opened his mouth to say something sarcastic back, honestly, it's his best come back yet, but Damian spoke up again. "Todd, go to your left."

"What the-"Jason looked over to his left and saw an alley way below him. "If I go left, I fall off the damn roof, you twit. If you wanted me gone that badly, you could have just asked."

"Todd, just go down the damn alley." Bruce's voice in the background was telling Damian off for using language while the vigilante did as the younger asked. He clambered down the fire shoot and walked about the darkened alley way that smelled like old seafood and Chinese.

"Okay Damian, what am I doing down here?" Even through his red helmet, Jason could smell every horrible stench, his lenses adjusting to the much darker surroundings and trying to find something that Damian could have noticed even when he's in Paris with Bruce.

"Just listen." Silence filled the air as he did, he even turned up the sensitivity of his helmet's audio receiver, and still found nothing. "There." Just as Damian spoke, a quiet whine overpowered Jason's ears, deafening him for a minute. Okay, sensitivity too sensitive.

Jason walked towards the noise, adjusting his audio again before he caught sight of the thing making all the noise. "Nice ear Damian, I'll call you guys back." Jason murmured before hanging up on his family, and promptly hanging up on Damian when he tried calling back right after he dropped the call.

"Hey, pretty girl." Jason tenderly whispered, dropping all previous signs that he was one of the most feared names in Gotham as he knelt before the shivering dog in front of him.

The auburn-haired dog whimpered again and pulled her front paw closer to her chest and tried pressing herself between the wall and the dumpster. "Hey, hey, I'm not gonna hurt ya. You don't need to be scared of me, pretty girl." He slowly extended his arm out to the injured looking dog, waiting and hoping that she would lick his hand or sniff it or something that showed she wasn't scared of him.

She however continued to try and push herself back into the corner, away from him. Jason sighed and thought to himself of what to do, going to scratch the itch on his chin when he felt the smooth metal of his helmet against his fingertips.

"Jeez, Jace, that might help if she could see you." He quickly pulled the latch at the base of his neck and pulled the deactivated red mask off his head. "There you go, is that better girl?" Jason quickly shook his hair out of helmet hair mode and smiled gently back at her.

Her shivering body seemed to calm down and the dog leaned forward with a curious expression, slowly scooting out of the corner with her nose extended towards his hand. As she started coming more towards his hand and into the light, Jason saw that there was a long piece of barb wire wrapped around her front paw, covering it in dry and wet blood. "Aw, sweet pup. Let's get you all cleaned up, you pretty girl. Let me see the leg."

The German Shepherd of a dog finally walked into the awaiting arms of Jason; while doing so, she kept her front paw to her chest, holding it away from hurting it any further. The young vigilante kept cooing and whispering quiet words of encouragement to her as he lifted her up onto his lap, he  was already sitting cross legged on the damp ground of the alley way. "I'm going to take you home and have my friend patch you up, okay?" Jason whispered to the dog as he gathered her up in his arms and stood up.

She whimpered quietly and twisted her body around to face him, her pink tongue reaching over to lick his cheek. "Aw, you're welcome."

<<<>>> 

"So, you are saying, Master Jason, that you found this dog in the alley way and you brought her here?" Alfred has asked this question about three times over since Jason and Dick had driven back into the Batcave, Dick still dressed in the cowl he had to wear tonight to assure that everyone that Batman was still about.

"Eyup," Jason popped the "p", keeping his eyes fixed solely on the dog who laid passed out of the table. Watching the man who could be considered the boys grandfather, Jason saw how he was patching up the dog; yes, he was doing one of his many hobbies of being a caregiver, but he seemed very stiff. "Honestly Alfred, if you have a problem with this, I can keep her at mine and Roy's place."

"It is not a problem at all, Master Jason. I don't think anything could be possibly worse than Master Damian's vast array of animals." Dick chuckled from his place in front of the computer, everyone remembering different instances where Damian's animals caused chaos in the house. "Just keep her front leg cleaned and we can talk about what to do with her when Master Bruce returns."

The tallest of the used to be Robins nodded his head and walked over to Alfred's small operating table, the butler walking away with the barbed wire and his surgical tools to return upstairs to his butling. Stealing the silver chair from the corner, Jason wheeled it over and sat next to the dog's head, patiently waiting for her to wake up.

"So, a dog," Dick spun his chair around to look at his little brother, his Little Wing. "Always saw you as a cat kinda dude."

"Please, you know you're the cat fanatic of the family."

"Then why do I have a folder full of you and Alfred the cat cuddling pictures?" Dick chuckled to himself as he pulled the folder up on the screen, showing the multitude of pictures of the buff man and cat.

A gentle blush dusted across Jason's nose and cheeks, "I'm not gonna deny that I am an animal person, but I prefer dogs over any other animal."

Dick hummed at his brother as he rolled his eyes and spun back to the computer. "What's ya gonna call 'er?"

"Hmm," Jason hadn't really gotten that far, all that was in his head was: dog hurt. Help dog. Dog home. Good dog. "I don't know, I don't really want to name her if she isn't really mine."

"Well you got to call her something other than dog." The faux Batman had a point.

Before Jason could really say anything else on the matter, he noticed the German waking up. "Hey, pretty girl." He rubbed the top of her ear between his forefinger and thumb, watching as her dark eyes looked around and groggily focused on him. "How you feeling?" She whimpered at him in response before the dog pushed her body up, stopping when she felt her paw not freely moving before she saw the gauze Alfred had wrapped around the now clean wound.

Jason happily smiled as she yipped and moved herself to be able to lick his hand, rubbing her wet nose against his calloused hand. "So much for a cat person." Jason had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as Dick muttered while he finished up the report for the night.

<<<>>> 

By the end of the fourth day, Bruce and the Demon Sperm Product were scheduled to be home at any moment and Jason was kinda upset that they were coming back home. Okay, so he was happy that they were coming back, because dear God does Bruce do a lot around the city. Tim, Dick and Jason were ready to have two more sets of fists to help swing at the criminals of the city. Let's just thank God that Joker didn't decide that this was his week to break out of Arkham.

But the only living Todd was not looking forward to Damian coming home and stealing Pretty Girl away from him. And that she would love Damian more than she seemed to love him. He finally came to the conclusion to just name the dog Pretty Girl, finding it a fitting name with the knowledge that she was in fact a girl and she was a pretty dog.

So, while breaking down and then proceeding to rebuild his pistol over and over again, Jason stared at the dog who rested her head on his knee, she placed it there after she noticed he couldn't stop making it jump. The clicking of the gun pieces over and over again quickly drew her dark eyes open and stared up at him. "Hey, don't look at me like that." Looking around the room, Jason found he was alone, besides Pretty Girl, in the Batcave and he turned back around to her. "Don't tell Dick I said this, but I'm nervous for you to meet Damian, or I guess Damian to meet you."

Jason went on rambling about his internal worries about Damian and Pretty Girl, but as he looked down to her, all he saw in her eyes was understanding, as if she knew what he was telling her. "I just...I don't want to lose you, Pretty Girl." Setting the gun aside, Jason opened his lap up and the red furred German Shepherd happily accepted the invitation to leap onto the young adult's lap, quickly smothering his face in kisses and licks. He could almost feel her reassuring him that all of his worries are impossible to happen.

The rare deep throated chuckles from Jason were cut short by the rapid footstep and demanding voiced of Damian Wayne racing down the stairs. "Todd? Todd where is this dog? Are you torturing it with your presence? Are you actually torturing it?"

"I'm not an animal torturer, you little brat." Jason muttered to himself as the curious dog leapt from his lap and bounded excitedly towards the oncoming voice.

Her higher pitched barks varied greatly from Titus' deep-set barks that followed after his master's stride. Jason didn't think it was a good idea for her to go up into the mansion, not wanting to have Titus, or even Alfred, bite her for intruding on their space. And BatCow, damn that uttered animal was mean, ain't no way that Jason was letting his Pretty Girl near that monster.

Damian slid towards the dog on his knees, a smile quickly crossed his face at the sight of her. "You should be grateful I heard you over Todd's headset, otherwise something could have eaten you." Running his hair through her freshly cleaned fur towards her ears, Damian quickly looked over to his older brother. "You did well in taking care of her in my absence Todd. You can proceed home now; I don't think the dog nor I will be requiring your assistance any longer."

Jason's breath hitched in his throat as he continued to watch Pretty Girl, his Pretty Girl, lick at Damian's outspread hand. But that's how she was, a dog who loved people and would love anyone who would give her the time of day. He wasn't anything special to her.

Brushing past Bruce, Jason said his goodbye, stating he would see everyone for tonight's patrol when he got there. As he left, he could hear the happy barks of the dog he let himself be stupid enough to feel connected to. "Who the hell am I kidding, she's just a fricking dog, not a woman." But when she was around him, Jason actually felt wanted and needed by someone other than this damned city.

"Will you be needing anything, Master Jason before you go?" Alfred asked without looking up from the dinner he was preparing for Master Bruce's return dinner, knowing all of the boys' footsteps by heart after years of hearing them stomp around the once quiet home he cared for.

"No, I-" Looking up at the old man, Jason stopped in his tracks. "Do you still make that killer hot chocolate you would make me when I was a kid?"

"Only for you, Master Jason." Alfred then swiftly whisked around the kitchen as he prepared the hot chocolate that Jason adored as a little kid; somethings never changed.

But even with the steaming drink before him, that still tasted like heaven in a drink by the way, Jason radiated a mopey mood. "Jason?" The deep-set voice of his adopted father asked from the doorway of the kitchen, surprised to see Jason here,  half expecting Jason to already be back at his apartment and as far away from the house as he could be.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." Named vigilante sighed half-heartedly before taking a quick sip of the drink.

Bruce eyed his son up and down, never too used to emotions, especially coming from this one. Usually Dick was the over emotional and sighing one. "Is...everything alright?" Knowing he was stepping on eggshells, Bruce proceed with caution and took a bar stool next to Jason.

"Oh peachy, good to be reminded around here that I'm not needed and that every time I think someone will depend on me and think I'm worth their time will turn around to someone else, leaving me in their dust." Slamming the cup down, Alfred cleared his throat at the action, resulting in a quiet apology from Jason.

Bruce's steely eyes kept a fixed stare on the black-haired boy with the white streak running through the middle. "Jason, you know you're-"

"I don't need your sympathy, Bruce." Standing up, the boy feeling interrogated quickly chugged his hot chocolate down, welcoming the scalding burn to his throat before gently placing the glassware in the sink to be cleaned later. "I'm running back to my place, call me when you head out for patrol." And without any room from Bruce to call out, Jason had left to grab his bike from the Batcave.

Swinging his leg up over the seat of the bike, Jason switched on the engine and sped off, the screeching of his tires not allowing him to hear the frantic barks of a German Shepherd he was leaving behind.

<<<>>> 

Over the next couple of days, Jason has been far more irritable and much more trigger happy than normal, leaving many of the perps they took down wounded and heavily bleeding. He couldn't even stand the voice of Damian, always snapping at him and disregarding his presence as if he were a gnat on the floor.

"Little wing, you have got to-"

"Quit with that stupid name, Penis!" Jason harshly barked at Dick.

Taken aback, the vulgarly nicknamed blacknette took a step back, the shock evident on his face; that was always a sore topic for Dick, memories of his younger years at the circus with all the older boys who were fire swallowers or throwers making fun of his choice of nickname.

Jason regretted his words as soon as they left his lips, but every little thing was getting on his nerves. And like everything he regretted, he ran from it. Before Dick or the rest of the shocked family could do anything, Jason Todd was gone. "What the heck was the about?" Tim broke the silence from the medical bench, hissing as Alfred continued to stitch up the gash on his forehead.

"Whatever it is, Jason needs to get himself in order, he's going to get suspended from the field if he continues to act like this." Bruce with his cowl still on, glances over to still fazed Dick.

"I think Todd poisoned my dog." Damian declared, having decided it was proper time to change the subject.

Alfred scoffed. "Master Jason did no such thing."

"Then why is she being as grumpy as he is? All she does is sleep in front of his bedroom door upstairs." Rolling his eyes, the usually calm Alfred pulled the thread too tight, resulting in a yelp of pain from Tim.

"You all are too blind to see that Master Jason was very attached to that dog."

"But she's mine!"

"Quite the contrary Master Damian, Master Jason found her and took care of her until you came home from your business trip and claimed her as your own. That is also the explanation for Master Jason's irritability." The butler left his family with this knowledge and proceeded upstairs to enjoy himself a cup of tea.

"What's Pennyworth going on about?"

"A very valid point." Dick said, finally out of his trance. "You should have seen him with her, he loved Pretty Girl."

"Yeah." Tim voiced his agreement.

"But that is such a repulsive name, I think BatDog fits her so much better." From her corner of the room, the German Shepherd perked up at Dick calling her name, only to drop it back down when Damian wandered over to her.

Pulling the cowl off his head and moving to put it away, Bruce called, "Just get Jason back here in a better mood for patrol tomorrow," before walking up the stairs to his bed.

"Well, what's the plan, Dick?"

"We're going to make Jason regret ever bringing up that nickname." Dick replied with a hard-set goal behind his eyes.

<<<>>> 

"Whoever the fuck you are go away!" Jason groaned at the door, not happy to be woken up from his not so peaceful sleep to banging on his front door. He got home and didn't even bother changing out of his bloody uniform, just falling onto his bed and calling it a night.

More banging.

"Quit it!"

Even more banging.

"That's it, you're getting a bullet in the head." Grabbing his pistol from the nightstand, Jason swung open the door and pressed the end of the barrel to the smiling face of his grinning older brother. "What the hell are you doing Dick? It's 4:30 in the fucking morning."

"Oh, the time is called payback for calling me Penis." Happily grinning, Dick was way too calm for someone with a gun pointed point blank at his head.

Groaning, Jason lowered his arm, "Yeah man, I'm sorry 'bout that I just haven't-"

"And that’d be why I am here." Using incorrect grammar always bugged Jason, so this was another little payback is a bitch move of Dick's while he pulled the leash he had hidden behind his back.

"Pretty Girl?" The dog barked happily at her name and leaped across the threshold of the apartment into Jason's unsuspecting arms. "Hey, who's my Pretty Girl?" He pulled his arms out and scratched behind her ears, her pink tongue catching his face and hands as much as she could, both happy to see the other person again. "Dick what's going on? Why'd you bring Pretty Girl here?"

"Well, Damian thinks you poisoned her because she was mopey when you left, Bruce is sick of your attitude, I'm not too pleased with your choice of nickname, Alfred misses making hot chocolate for you, and Tim couldn't care any less that I'm bringing the dog back." Staring at his older brother in disbelief, Jason looked back down at the panting dog, she looked as though she could be smiling back at him. "And she just missed you."

Smiling at the dog, Jason pressed a kiss to the top of her head, "I missed you too girl."

But the joy wasn't long lasting, after Jason pressed the quick kiss to the dog, a loud popping sound followed by a woosh almost blew his ear drums out. A purple dust filled the apartment entry way, filling both Jason's and Dick's mouth with a nasty taste of magic.

"What the hell?" Jason coughed and fanned the dust away from his face, taking a look over to Dick to see him trying to cough up a lung. "Pretty Girl?"

"Down here." A loud shriek followed the voice, if it was from Jason, Dick or the new feminine voice, no one would admit or ever know. But the new not deep make voice scared the crap out of Jason.

Looking down, he saw a girl sitting at his feet, her H/C was a mess and E/C eyes stared right back at him, scared and just as confused as he was. "Um, who are you?"

"I-I'm Pretty-" She caught herself before she said the dog's name. "I'm Y/N."

Nodding, Jason took his leather jacket off and used it to wrap around you, keeping his eyes level with your own, covering you as best as he could with a jacket. "Okay, Y/N," turning away from you he saw that Dick had already read his mind and grabbed you a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt from Jason's closet. "Let's get you some clothes on and we can find out what just happened."

"I...Klarion, I think his name was Kalrion. I was petting his cat when he cursed me or something like that." Nodding, Jason ushered you into the door and out of the hallway where peering eyes could look and led you to the living room, turning his back to you as you changed.

"Sounds like a curse Klarion would do." Dick commented.

Nodding, Jason turned around after you gave him the go ahead. "So, Y/N, um, do you have someone you could call, a boyfriend, husband? Something like that?" Not noticing how your face fell at the question, Jason couldn't let himself look at you for longer than a few seconds, his hands in his pockets were getting sweaty and clammy faster than he wanted to put a bullet through the Joker's head.

"I...no, I just got out of a halfway home, I got out of there cause no one wanted me, and I just turned eighteen a few days before all this happened." You meekly looked down at your feet, playing with your fingers.

"Oh...well um...you can..." Quickly clearing his throat, as well as trying to cough up this nervous behavior he had brewing inside of him, he looked up at you finally meeting your eyes again. "You can stay here for the night. I can take the-"

"I am not letting you take the couch, I watched you come back to the cave with all those bruises and cuts. You are sleeping on your own bed. I can take the couch." You stood tall and stared back at him, your body telling him you were set on your decision and that it would take more than an army to make you change your mind.

"I...okay." Jason relented as he felt how tired his body was, it was still way too early for him to be awake, and his mind was slowly shutting down. "I'll grab you a pillow and blanket."

"Don't worry Jaybird, I gottem for you." Dick happily bright out the pile of linens and went places them on the couch. "And if you will excuse me, I need to go explain to Bruce how we have a new addition to the family." Chocking on his own spit, Jason turned to shout something at his brother, but spluttered out very few words.

"I...I guess this is good night." Jason nodded in agreement and turned to go down the hall to his bedroom. "And Jason," turning back to the mystery girl, Jason felt himself calm a little at her smile. "You can't lose me that easily Jason, especially not to Damian."

Smiling back, Jason thought a second before he responded. "Thanks, Pretty Girl."

[farfanfiction]

Loyalty to the Pack: Part 13

Pairing: John Seed x Joseph Seed x Reader x Jacob Seed

AUs: Omegaverse, werewolves

Warnings: Angst, fluff (kinda), references to self-hate, depression, anxiety, cursing, mentions of injuries and blood, mentions of self-harm, fighting, attempted suicide

Word Count: 2,121

A/N:  Thank you guys so much for being this patient for this chapter. I went through a lot of stuff in my personal life as of recent and I didn't have the energy or inspiration to write. But, now I’m back and I feel more inspired than ever! And like I promised, this is a Joseph and John oriented chapter. Jacob will get his moment very soon!  And like always, give me some feedback on what I could do better or what I did alright, where you wanna see this whole mess go, or something you just don’t understand.

Masterpost     My Omegaverse Rules

                                                          ---------

   Blind rage began to bubble up as you cradled yourself to the cold, cracked, asphalt of the Hope County prison. Dirt scrapped against the palms of your hands as you clawed your way to the ground. The tears that you couldn’t hold back slowly trickled down your reddened face. You had no idea who you were mad at. The Deputy, God, or yourself. A little voice was echoing in the back of your mind, yelling over and over about how it was your fault.

   To think John had suffered without you was a stab to the heart. You had never thought in your life that you would be saddened over a mate, let alone John Seed. As a child, it was a mear crush that you could control. A simple blush and a hello were all you needed, but as you got older, things began to change. He began to grow from cute to handsome and maybe even sexy in your mind. 

   You had grown to care for him and even though you wanted to kill him when you were first announced as mates. He claimed a piece of your heart without you even knowing.

   You didn’t necessarily blame the Deputy. He did what he thought was right, just like everyone in Eden’s Gate. But the truth was that you had no idea who was the hero and who was the villain. Both sides had their advantages and disadvantages. 

   The Resistance gave freedom to its fighters. You could do what you wanted, bond with who you wanted, but they also had a habit of killing anyone in their way. Eden’s Gate gave people a purpose. A safe haven for wolves, but they take and take from Hope County. 

   This whole ordeal had washed away your rose-colored lenses of how life is fair, how God always looked out for the good and punished the bad. This was wrong. He didn’t care. This truth had turned your vision to black and white. If a God would let this happen to the soulmate he chose for you, is he truly a god? 

   Your (e/c) eyes turned to the cracked ground and saw the pebbles that cut into your hands. As you scrapped them off, small trickles of blood seeped from the cuts. You were too involved in watching the blood puddle drip onto Earth, much like the hallucination in the Bliss, to notice the heavy prison door creak closed. The Deputy cautiously walked down the cement stairs and his steel-toe boots quietly crunched on the ground. 

   The weight of almost killing a man hung heavy on his shoulders. From what Nick had explained to him, an Omega has this connection with their Alpha. If one person felt pain, emotional or physical, so would the other. (Y/N) would have definitely felt John’s emotions as he fell from Affirmation. Anger, defeat, fear. All of these must-have run through his smartass head as he fell to the ground.

   The smell coming from all around you was overwhelming. You knew this scent. It was the Deputy. Worry and guilt came off him in waves. You ground your teeth as you felt him get closer and closer. 

   The Deputy reached out a hand to you, ready to help you off the ground. “Don’t fucking touch me.” You barely said this above a whisper. Dep just came a little closer as he watched you shake more violently than before. Were you crying or angry? He honestly couldn’t tell. 

   “I’m… I’m sorry,” he whispered. He knew there was absolutely nothing he could do but beg for your forgiveness. People could forgive but not forget. 

   “If you’re so fucking sorry than go FUCK YOURSELF! JUST FUCKING DIE!!!!” You lashed out at him with what could only be described as primal rage. Your nails ripped his shorts, causing blood to trickle down his leg. The Deputy could only just stand there and take it as you lash out at him. Clawing at him with tooth and nail. Pushing him into the dirt. 

   All he could think was that he deserved it. Every scratch or bruise was punishment. He hardly knew you, but he felt a connection. If this was what you needed, then this was what he could do for you.

   “I understand what you’re going through, let me help.” Your (e/c) eyes seemed to turn red just for a second as your veins looked like they were going to burst. The Deputy felt like flinching as your hands formed a fist. You swung and socked him right at the jaw. His head was thrown back and another yellow bruise formed on his tan skin. 

   “You don’t fucking understand what it’s like! Being told what to believe, what to wear, or who to love! To be forced to be someone you don’t want to be. Unlike you, a werewolf is hardwired to be this way! I can’t choose who to mate, but I fall in love anyway! So, no. You don’t fucking know! If you want to help, take me to the nearest fucking bliss field!” The Deputy looked taken aback by the speech. This cult was worse than he thought.

   The Deputy carefully helped you up, his tan hand gently taking yours. You ripped your hand away with a growl and nudged him. He only gave a small smile as he led you out of the prison’s parking lot. He gave a whistle and the dog from earlier scampered up.

   He was quite cute with gray fur and black dots. His large brown eyes stared up at you as his tongue flew out of his mouth and lapped at your hand with a whine. “His name’s Boomer.” 

   Boomer cocked his head at the name and gave a floppy smile. You remember him from the ranch. He was with the deputy when you hid in the closet. The love of a dog was unmatched, especially a dog like Lexi. God, you missed her. Where ever she was, you hoped and prayed to the Father that she was safe. That dog was one of the only things you actually trusted, she was family. 

   “Come on Boomer.” The dog wagged his tail as the Deputy opened the door to the back seat of a truck. He happily jumped in and laid down on the smooth fabric

   The Deputy crossed the front of the truck and got into the driver’s side. You got in and slammed the door. If the Bliss got you into this mess then you need to get out of it. If you weren’t high off your mind, you could have helped John. There was no warning, or maybe there was. 

   The bunker, it was John’s bunker. And the blood… The bliss was trying to warn you. He was trying to warn you. Whether it was John or Joseph or Faith, or even God. You were warned. 

   Maybe Joseph was right. John was the start and you opened the seal. You were the lamb, not the Deputy. You were the world’s downfall and you had to pay. John didn’t have to hurt if you weren’t here. Maybe the world didn’t have to die. You weren’t the Mother, you were simply Wrath as John had said. 

   The truck came to an abrupt stop and you looked out the tinted window. A field of white bliss flowers swayed softly in the wind. It’s hard to think something so beautiful could cause so much destruction. 

   “Do you have any Molotov cocktails on you?” His brown eyes widened at the soft-spoken question. What were you going to do with Molotov cocktails? A twisting feeling began in the pit of his stomach as he reached for his side bag. He dug out two cocktails and a lighter. You hesitantly took them and took a deep breath. This was it, the end of the road. You opened the door and looked back at the Deputy. You gave him a nod and he drove off.

   You looked at the field and saw no one. They must have been at a sermon for John’s recovery. You should be there instead of running. You were a terrible Omega. You couldn’t even support your Alpha let alone live up to beta. You at least hoped Holly was with him. Someone he genuinely loved and cared for. 

   You looked down at the cocktails again and lit the lighter. You brought it to the alcohol-soaked cloth and threw it. The flowers went up in flames and black smoke flew into the air. You lit the other and dropped it at your feet. The dry grass fueled the fire as it began to heat up the air. The black smoke filled your lungs and throat. 

   You slowly brought your fingertips to the flame and your (s/c) skin blistered at its touch. Your Omega side screamed and hollered for you to pull away, but the pain felt good. It was the punishment you were looking for. Into Hell’s embrace.  

   Your eyes slowly fluttered shut as the smoke burned and you collapsed onto the burned flowers. A rustle was heard beyond the field as trucks pulled up. 

                                                          --

   Faith was helped out of the truck by Jacob as they both searched the field. This wasn’t Jacob’s territory, but he couldn’t help it. Joseph was with their younger brother and he had to be by his side. Faith was worried about the bliss. The Resistance had been going around burning fields left and right, but now it really got her attention. 

   “Umm, sir we found something.” A VIP yelled from across the field. Jacob wasted no time sprinting with Faith hot on his tail. He stopped dead in his tracks when he found you. His red face turned redder at the sight. 

   “Jacob is that…” Faith trailed off. She wasn’t expecting you among the bliss. Your eyes were shut and your chest wasn’t moving. Faith threw herself on the ground and placed her ear to your chest. No heartbeat. Her eyes began to water. 

   “Jacob…” Her voice was quiet as she looked up at her older brother. 

  “What Faith?!” He yelled, getting rather annoyed with her. He only took one look at you to know something was wrong. He crouched down to you and started to perform CPR. 

   “What do you want me to do? Can I help?” Faith and the other Peggies ran around like chickens with their heads cut off until Jacob’s voice boomed through the burning field.

   “I need you to calm the fuck down and listen. Faith, contact Joseph, I need a healer ready when we get to the compound. Don’t just stare at me! Move!” Faith had never seen Jacob so frantic before. He was usually the calm and lazy one. 

   The minutes that passed bye felt like hours as you finally started to cough up the ash and smoke you breathed in. “You had me worried there for a second kitten.” Jacob let out a dry chuckle as he slowly lifted you and carried you to the SUV. He sat you down next to Faith, who was too busy talking with someone over radio. 

   “Alpha…” The name escaped your dry lips as you shifted in your seat. Jacob gave a rare smile at you and looked at Lexi in the seat across from him. She looked less raggedy than before, having been well fed at the Veteran’s Center.

   “You need rest Omega.” He honestly didn’t care which Alpha you had ment. You were his Omega through and through. His to breed and savage. A strong Omega for a strong Alpha. If you were weak, you wouldn’t have survived. 

   When you finally arrived at Joseph’s compound, Jacob could finally be relieved. Gabriel carried you to Joseph’s ranch and Jacob went on the hunt for some hard liquor. If John visited, there was bound to be a stash somewhere.

[itsbuckysworld]

HELLO SPRING DAY 5

Pairing: Astronomy Student!Bucky X Psych Major!Reader Category: College AU! Warnings: fluff bomb! Word Count: 2.6K Guest Appearance: very very very briefly Steef Rawgers

i know i said no writing two prompts in one day but im doing so to catch up because as the “host” of this event I feel like I should be up to date. 

I REALLY LIKE THIS ONE!

Day 5: Starry Night, for my Spring Short Story Writing Event

“Sorry!” Someone says, startling you out of your calm state. It’s 9pm and you’re lying on a blanket at the top of a tall hill in the park. The spot you had claimed as yours since the past week, where you come to relax and just breathe after long days. You always had a thing for laying down in the great outdoors to sort of unwind and let your body and mind breathe, and suddenly, there was a slight interruption, a bump of something hard and metallic against your outstretched leg. Opening one eye, clearly annoyed, you look to the intruder.

It’s a guy you’ve never seen before, his sweatpants hanging a little low on his hips and his short hair is messily pulled back as he circles clumsily around you looking up to the sky, bothering only slightly not to run you over with his… whatever he’s carrying. You sit up and notice his equipment, the heavy looking backpack, the small briefcase and the telescope he’s trying his hardest to set up. You deduce that’s what bumped into your leg as the guy continues to ignore your laying frame. He’s wearing glasses and he fixes them rashly, his face clean shaven and young.

You’re about to ask him to leave you alone and tell him this was your spot, as if you could claim a section of the public park, but he doesn’t let you begin when he’s crouching and looking through the lense excitedly, quickly reaching into his bag to take notes.

“Uhh, excuse me?” You start but he’s too busy looking at whatever he’s looking at, squinting through the tiny hole, to even chance a glance at you. In fact he shushes you as he takes his eye off the lease to scribble something hastily.

You give him a glare behind his back and scoot over closer to him “Hello! I was here first!” The guy all but whines. 

“I’m sorry, I’m just… I’m trying to work on my thesis”

Thesis? This guy couldn’t be much older than you. What? 23 tops? And he was working on his thesis? You notice all the scattered books that have flown out of his backpack in his frenzy to study the sky. Astronomy, Physics, The universe and us, A brief history of time.

After sitting there confused for a few seconds he finally addresses you, once more apologizing as his fingers maniacally tremble and play with the frames on his face. He’s shy, excitable, and giddy, almost reminds you of a puppy or a toddler, seeing the world for the first time, as he explains he’s an astronomy major, a freshman like you, and since day one he’s decided to study and try to catch patterns in the night sky and stars in a yearly basis, but first he had to find a spot that would allow him so, to sit and examine almost on the daily to grab the correct data. This, the tallest hill of the park – your spot to relax – was it.

“Well –“ you begin, sassily and brushing imaginary dust off your legs – “this was my relaxing spot first” you state matter-of-factly, returning to lay down as if claiming your territory and expecting him to pack up and leave but all he does is stare at you bitting his lip, and then he shrugs with a smile slowly creeping in. “I won’t interrupt you…” he says and you can tell he’s already made up his mind, he’s not leaving your spot. “Would you mind sharing your spot with me every now and then?” And you eye him with one eye open, head resting on the palms of your hands, you sigh closing your eyes and extending one hand towards him. “Y/N” “James”

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“Turn your music down” James, or well, Bucky as you’ve grown to call him over the months, now almost a year, tells you as he squints and spies on the specs of stardust in the dark sky through his telescope. You’re listening to some albums your creative writing teacher recommended for the upcoming months – your favorite elective so far, guaranteed – With a quick roll of your eyes you oblige, ticking the down button on his computer and returning to taking notes on your notebook as you lay on your tummy, using your free hand to push some of your now shorter hair away from your eyes as the breeze fluttered it around. 

“Find any new constellations worth naming after your sister?” “Nope” Bucky chuckles, and reaches to grab a sandwich from the picnic basket you’ve brought for the day without glancing away from the telescope “Not yet… Pass me my B chart?”

You don’t take your eyes away from your book as you reach over to his backpack and pull out a thick roll of paper he’s tried to explain to you over and over but it always goes over your head, every single dot is a star that you can’t place whenever you look up, and you think it’s a superpower of his, how he finds exactly the constellation he’s looking for – In his eyes, your superpower is how you easily know every single song and band from the 70’s.

You continue like this for a little longer, and later when you start to yawn, Bucky is right there with you and you both pack up in complete sync as he finishes his sandwich and sends a text to his roommate, the two of you walking together down a few blocks. His slight stubble and thicker frames adorning his face, different than when you’d first met. “See you tomorrow?” “Can’t, have this event to attend to, extra credit” “Wow, look at you needing extra credit” “Shut up. Friday?” “Sure, your turn to make sandwiches”

And then you go your separate ways.

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“Wait, the box with like... the- the triangle on top?” “Yes! yes! Ok, now now, do you see Cassiopeia?” he leans over you from behind, clapping excitedly. “Now you’re asking for too much” you lean back and sit away from the telescope in a fit of laughter that Bucky joins in. His now long hair is pushed back into a bun, away from his eyes, but a few strands adorn his face, and he’s changed his frames a second time this year, these ones you like way better, not so thick as the ones he used to have last year and not wonky like the ones he just switched out of.

He’s looking at you through them, appreciating how the new glasses are so clean and pristine he can see you perfectly through them and he enjoys the view.

His phone chirps on the blanket you’re both sat on, right next to the familiar picnic basket you’d bought all those years ago. It’s Steve, FaceTiming him. You greet him as well, he’s now your friend too, and you’re trying your best to see if you come up on the video despite it being so dark out. “Oh, you’re in your spot” he says it, almost mockingly, given he’s always found it kinda funny how you’ve both grown to call this your spot. This patch of grass at the park was yours and Bucky’s to keep. “Whatcha need punk?” Bucky doesn’t want him to keep mentioning their spot like that, specially because Steve always does it in this tone that sounds like he’s saying I told you so, you’re blind if you can’t see you’re head over heels for her. 

Bucky doesn’t want to talk about that or bring anything that could indicate to that, certainly not in front of you. “Think you took my car keys, idiot, I’m stranded at the apartment.” Bucky curses under his breath. “They’re at your place” he says looking to you and you shrug, it’s no big deal, you can swing by and get them on your way back, after all, Bucky was done stargazing for the night and you were done Bucky-gazing as well.

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“You nervous?” It’s a chilly spring night when you lay on your back on the red and white checkered blanket, looking at the stars, with Bucky next to you laying in the opposite direction. This time around there’s no telescopes, no mess of notebooks strewn around you, and Bucky just tosses a ball up into the air and back into his hands, over and over as you just take in the night. You can’t remember the last time your spot was used for just relaxing. Surely, it’s happened many times over the course of the years, but these past months were filled with nothing but stress, which is exactly where your question comes from. 

“For my thesis presentation?” He asks, turning slightly to face you. You’re upside down in his eyes but still way too pretty through his contacts – a fact you’re not so happy about him no longer having the dark frames adorning his face, you’d grown quite used to it, but you’re glad he at least chose clear contacts, means his eyes are the same vibrant blue, and he’s kept the beard despite going back to a shorter haircut, which is altogether a nice new look – You nod. “Almost crapping my pants” a nervous chuckle leaving his plump lips, and you laugh wholeheartedly. “You’ve got this in the bag. Been at it since you were a freshmen, if someone knows how the stars dance over new york city on a yearly basis, it’s you” “And you too” “Well I’m flattered you think this silly ol’ psych major has been understanding a single word you’ve said about time and space” this causes him to laugh out loud now, a little more at ease.

The breeze hits your face and you close your eyes, letting it consume you and relax your bones. Bucky can only stare from the corner of his eye. He’s thankful for whatever combination of events lead the both of you here and now, and there’s a smile he can’t contain, suddenly drawing itself on his features.

“That lab internship write back?” You continue with your eyes closed. You hear it in his sigh the answer is no, and your hand blindly but gently reaches over to scratch at his scalp in a soothing way, however you can. He likes it when you do that, really calms him down. “They’re missing out.” There’s a tenderness in your voice as you turn to look at him. You mean it, whoever is not giving him their time of day must be insane. He’s worth his weight in gold and more. “The idiots that refused your proposal last week are missing out too, big time” his hand reaches over to push a strand of hair back from your face and your smile is warm and so is your face and every place his fingers graze, getting a dorky smile out of you. You catch a small glimpse of the star pendant on his bracelet, you’d gifted it to him long ago and he’s had it close ever since.

There’s a silence that envelops the two of you, a kind you’ve experienced before during all those years. Whenever he was deep in thought analyzing bright specs in the sky behind the clouds, or whenever you were reading too intensely into some case study, there was always silence. The kind that screamed how well you two could coexist and be perfectly content with each other.

“Look” you say, and point away from him, up and to the left. “Ursa minor”

Bucky looks and immediately bursts into surprised laughter. “Oh my god! It took me four years but you finally can find Ursa Minor on your own without a telescope!” He’s short of clapping amusedly. You push at him almost making him roll away down the hill some and calling him a jerk as his laughter calms down and he repositions his body to a sitting position. It doesn’t take you long to join him, the both of you facing the rest of the park over your hill

Looking at the time you know it’s late, usually the two of you are packed up by the time midnight rolls around, but just for tonight you’d rather stay and enjoy the company under the bright light of the stars. Bucky points somewhere in the distance, probably another constellation you can’t name, except, because he’s a great teacher – you’ll remind him later that he should look into that teaching position Professor Ruffalo had suggested – you can now recognize some shapes and this is definitely not a constellation he’s told you about before.

He traces the outs of it, just five stars that almost make the shape of a heart if you squint hard enough. “Discovered a new constellation” “Did you now?” You glance at him, taking in his features and how he slowly looks back at you, time seeming like it’s stopped, even though Bucky knows that’s impossible. The pull you have on him is comparable to that of a black hole, except you’re so bright it burns, and it’s continued to burn through the years ever since that day his old telescope almost broke because he was too busy trying to stop you from tripping down the hill, not that it was insanely dangerous, it’s just you were – are – insanely important, and he realized you were it for him. With all the star and space puns you’d googled just for him, and with your crazy theories about people’s minds and your unwavering dedication to everything you did. “… yeah…” came out of him barely above a whisper. He’s been jokingly discovering constellations with you since his sophomore year, and you found it even more charming every time. Lost in his eyes, you’re only slightly aware that you’ve cupped his face in your hand and now the tip of his nose has met the tip of your nose and it’s a nano second before his lips have met yours and you’re melting into him, allowing him to take your breath away, and being hypnotized by his always minty breath.

It takes a lot in him to stop kissing you, but he has to pull back to breathe and make sure it’s all real and not just another dream. He can barely separate from you though, just enough that he can breathe and mutter some words to you, but you’re there, so so close, just how he wants to keep you. He’s tired of looking at stars that are damn far away, so it’s nice to see one so up close. “Would it be too corny if I said I named that new constellation after you” he murmurs, just above a whisper, and you giggle, pressing your forehead to his. “yeah.” And you shrug as if saying you don’t care. “kinda cute tho” “you like cute” it’s more of an affirmation, he knows you too well by now. The two of you basically eskimo kiss through the short hushed conversation. “i love cute” “noted” He’s smiling, breathlessly as he closes the distance and kisses you again and again and again. It makes the spot – your spot – unforgettable, and even more so when a year and a half down the road he’s on one knee right there, promising you the stars as you assure him he’s already given you the whole sky.

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feedback is greatly appreciated and encouraged!! I REALLY LIKED THIS ONE HOPE YOU DO TOO. I feel like this could have been a fic, like all the days i skipped? wow. Or their life after they marry? cuteeeee

[bapyess1r]

Head Over Heels

01. Make A Mess

Joe’s POV

“Fucksake, man…” I mumbled as she walked arm in arm with her friends into the pub. She was a bit on the short side, cute little round face, curvy figure, cocoa skin, and sad honey colored eyes. Her shapely brows furrowed in the middle a bit as she tried her best to look happy. But she won’t fool me. I could tell. She broke down into tears soon as she got to the bar and I thought to meself maybe it’d be best to wait to make her acquaintance. I turned to my friend Mark, searching for some kinda approval, and he just shook his head as he went to take a sip of his brew. “Aw but-” I groaned.

“Don’t do it to yourself, man.” He said with a sarcastic smile.

“You don’t think a bird like that might go for me?”

“I don’t think ANY bird like that would go for you.” He replied just as calmly as before, adding a slight chuckle to the end.

“Now that’s just downright rude, mate!” I chuckled, slapping the table. I know I wasn’t much to look at but I wasn’t that bad. I mean my teeth were clean, I don’t stink, and I dress pretty ok I think…. And I was almost positive that I wasn’t that much older than her either… I hoped. “She looks a bit upset. Maybe I’ll wait a while to speak to her.”

“Your luck, she’s just broken up with her mans.” Mark added before eating a piece of the chicken tenders between us. Just as I looked up, one of her friends branched off.

“I know exactly what will make you feel better!” the guy of the group said, making his way towards the jukebox hanging on the wall in the corner. He was a young Asian fella, broad shouldered, blue hair styled almost like a Disney prince, small eyes, wide cheeky smile. The closer he got to passing my table, the taller he seemed to get. ‘Christ…’ I thought as he stood in front of the colorfully lit jukebox, digging his hands in his pockets for change. I looked back and forth between him and the girl. She too seem eager to know what he was going to do. Eventually, he selected a song and turned around to gesture towards her. Head Over Heels began to play and I rolled my eyes as I turned to Mark.

“Tears for fucking Fears? I mean really…” I said quite sourly as I took a sip of my pint, tapping my foot, watching the girl walk towards him. And the girls she came with pushed her towards him. The boy smiled at her kindly as he pulled her into his arms and began swaying to and fro. They broke apart after a while and began dancing all goofy like. I chuckled at them a little as she bounced her shoulders to the rhythm. She was a right silly one, that girl. I watched her dance about, her voluminous curls move around her, teasing with a raunchy dance now and then. Something about her was interesting and I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Just then she draped her black leather jacket off her shoulders, exposing her back, arms, and collarbone, swinging her hips and dropping her body slowly as she got into the song. I could feel my jaw drop. The twinkling of the fairy lights hanging in the windows almost sparkled around her. And at that moment, I wanted her to be in me life, making a mess everywhere if she wanted to.

After a few songs of her and her friends dancing, she snuck away and pulled a pack of smokes before ordering a drink at the bar. I stood up quickly, startling Mark for a moment as I grabbed a handful of his shirt to catch his attention abruptly. “Mate…” I said pointing to her as she took her newly ordered drink outside to the patio for a smoke. “That’s my que!” With that, I rounded my table to head outside.

“Good luck to ya, bruv.” He said raising a glass.

“Cheers!” I replied slickly as my hands searched for my lighter.

“Hopefully it doesn’t go arseways-”

“Could ya just be positive, mate?! Seriously!” I joked as I walked away, leaving Mark to laugh in his drink for a while.

I pushed through the crowds of people and took a deep breath before opening the front door. I pulled out my pack and shoved a fag between my lips, looking over the rim of my red sunglasses. When I spotted her, I immediately went over to her. She stood in silence, leaning over the wooden railing as she swirled her drink around, her cigarette burning steadily As if she hadn’t bothered to take a drag. “Ah, shite! Well ain’t that sum’n!” I exclaimed as dramatically as possible, patting my chest down all the way to the pockets of my jeans. She glanced at me from the corner of her eyes with a faintly bewildered smirk but turned her head to ignore me. “I can’t seem to find me lighter! Isn’t that fuckin….” I began to lose a bit of confidence as I saw she wasn’t really giving me the time of day and was slowly losing interest. ‘Guess I’ve gotta be more aggro...’ With a shy tap on the shoulder, my heart about burst into flames when she looked at me with those big baby browns. “Aha…. e-excuse me… you wouldn’t happen to have a lighter, would ya?” I asked her lowly as she turned around with a thin brow raised.

“Depends…” she smirked, finally taking a drag and ashing the long burned tip in no particular place.

Samira’s POV

I turned my head at the sound of a deep raspy voice and a gentle tap on my shoulder, only to be met with a large pair of deep green eyes peeking behind red lensed glasses. Couldn’t necessarily see it, but I could feel my cheeks burning. He was tall and covered in tattoos. He might’ve had a few years on me but he wasn’t unattractive in the least. He had a roughness about him… “Aha…. e-excuse me… you wouldn’t happen to have a lighter, would ya?” He asked in a shy voice, much to the contrast of his loudness a few seconds ago. I took a puff of my cigarette that long waited to be smoked and turned around with what was supposed to have been a friendly smile but I was too depressed to bring myself to a standard ear to ear.

“Depends…” I said shortly.

“On what?” He asked with a mischievous smile.

“Whether I’ll get my lighter back or not.” I said with a raised brow. He let out a soft chuckle before taking off his glasses and hanging them on the collar of his thin graphic tee. He took a few steps back and placed a rather large hand on his chest.

“Hand on the Bible, fucking cherry on top and all that!” He nodded. I burst into a nervous giggle. He was funny! I liked that… with that, I dug into my jacket pocket and tossed him my newly bought Bob Marley bic. “Well that’s nice, innit? Did you have to specially order that or…?” He asked before lighting the cigarette between his soft thin lips.

“No, I got it from the corner store just there.” I replied plainly, sipping on my whiskey. He pulled the cigarette out in an overdramatized shock face.

“Korner Mart?! Well shit, man… I might go grab one for meself!” He said. I just smirked.

“Should’ve checked for your lighter before you left!” I smirked simply before looking out at the rocky driveway lit to the end by bulbous string lights and a few tiki torches as cars arrived and departed simultaneously in the night. “Samira Marshall…” I said randomly.

“I’m Joseph…. G-Gilgun. But erm… call me Joe.” He laughed nervously. He almost seemed ashamed that he was nervous. He scratched the back of his head and hummed a bit like he was looking for something to say until he gave a bright grin. “So you’re not from around here, Samira. I can tell that by your accent.” He said proudly, leaning against the railing next to me. I chuckled lightly.

“And what else can you tell about me?” I asked, sipping my whiskey gingerly. Oh, how he loved to play around! He slapped the rails and rested himself on one elbow to give me a once over.

“Let’s see here…. obviously you’re from the states-” He began.

“What gave me away? It’s the Levi’s, huh?” I joked, not breaking eye contact as I tossed my cigarette butt in the nearby bushes before reaching for another. He narrowed his eyes for a moment and placed a warm hand on top of mine. I was confused until he asked me….

“Would you rather smoke a doobie or two instead?” He asked me. My eyes lit up and he instantly he knew. He smiled extra big as he leaned in and pulled a pre rolled joint from his ear and held it between us. “Follow me. I know a spot right up on the roof.” He offered his arm and gave me a cheeky smile. I narrowed my eyes and analyzed him a moment. I didn’t get bad vibes and nothing seemed weird… “What’s all the smizing for, ay?”

“Just makin’ sure you’re not a serial killer or a sex trafficker or something….” I answered honestly.

“That hurts, lass!” He chortled, tucking the joint behind his ear.

“Did it? Did it really?” I chuckled. I began playing with my curls but immediately stopped. He was charming in a funny kinda way but I wasn’t ready to open myself to a relationship yet…

“So hows about it?” He asked. I looked at him quietly and took the last of my drink to the head.

“Fuck it. Why not?!” I exclaimed, taking his arm and following him back into the pub. He beamed.

“Atta girl! We can get us some more drinks while we’re at it!” He added as he grabbed the door. “After you, m’lady.” He said, to which I definitely laughed. Not because he was being funny but because I had never had someone be gentlemanly to me up until then. It would take some time but I definitely wanted to know him more…

Author’s Note:

So this is chapter 1 and it’s a bit rough but I think it will pick up from here 🖤

[showyourenergy]

compare and contrast;

              As soon as they’re out of the tower, Lalna set the other him down and crouched down to examine him. Thankfully, the ginger-haired shorty didn’t try to punch him in the face or anything, and instead still seem near-catatonic from the emotional blow Nigh had dealt. That’s… not good. To tell the truth, Lalna wasn’t in the best mental shape either; he felt like he ricocheted through several emotions from the situation escalating so quickly, and it always left him feeling dizzy. Oh, yeah, and he nearly died, had a weird-looking clone yell at him and a different weird-looking clone go nuclear at a catboy, and he had no idea what he was doing.

He’s pretty familiar with his own biology out of necessity. This means that feeling nothing when he checks for a pulse, not even a weak one, when checking the spot he’s checked on himself dozens of times, is disorienting. The sensitivity issues on his mechanical hand means that he doesn’t even bother trying to check his own wrist most of the time, seeing as he may not even be able to accurately feel it, but seeing as he was able to use his organic hand for this then it was worth a shot. Still nothing. He was out of practice with this location, so maybe he was just doing it wrong? Lalna checked a few different spots on the wrist, thinking intently, then pressed his fingers against his own wrist, sensitivity issues or not. It kind of hurt with how much pressure he was putting on it, but he could faintly feel it, just not enough to get an accurate count.

Which meant he just discovered this clone doesn’t have a pulse whatsoever. That’s… inconvenient, and also somewhat disturbing.

There isn’t any apparent injury when he lifts up the clone’s shirt, careful to not make the situation even more awkward and doing his best to avoid being near the thaumic mess serving as his right arm. Or, at least, there isn’t any blood. There’s also far less scarring than he has, which he feels like he should’ve expected but it still felt weird. Whoever this was, they’d had better luck at staying uninjured than he had. Either that, or flawless healing was another ability Specimen Three had.

He felt around, just in case there was something internal he couldn’t see at first glance, then frowned. Hold on. There was something wrong along his left side, where Nigh had grabbed him. He hiked the shirt up higher and leaned in for a closer look. There was something weird there. He blinked. It almost looked like a tattoo, or some weird marking, except it felt weird when he touched it, as if the texture of the clone’s skin had changed. It… kind of looked like a crack, thin blocky lines scored on his skin.

“Am I dead yet?”

Lalna jerked away. The clone was alive after all, blinking up at him with half-lidded eyes. It was the first time he got a full, proper look at him without things immediately going to hell, and it was one of the weirdest experiences Lalna had. Lalna was pretty used to seeing his face in the mirror, especially once he’d taken to monitoring himself for Flux resurgence, and he’d seen more people with his face walking around than he was comfortable with: alternates from other universes, clones of himself with the slightest physical differences like styling their hair differently, mindless crowds of mass-produced copies intent on murdering him into the ground, a dark, warped reflection of him with red-lensed goggles and a too-wide grin. This version of him still stood out from the rest.

Like he’d first noticed, the odd clone was closer to Nano’s height (and Specimen Three’s) than his own, and his hair was a vivid orange and far fluffier than it had any right to be. A single scar ran across his nose, starting from just under one eye and ending under the other. His labcoat was rumpled and dirty, with one sleeved rolled up to showcase his replacement arm, and the glove on his organic arm was fingerless and beige instead of being shades of grey like Lalna’s own. The shirt he’d been messing around with was also beige, and proudly displayed a logo of… some sort of company? It looked like a knockoff NASA logo, except in shades of orange and reading “JAFFA”. In small text circling the logo was what he assumed was the program’s motto: “Hold space to slow down”. The clone was also missing boots, instead apparently preferring to go barefoot, and the hems of his pantlegs were in horrible shape. Asides from all of that, they were identical.

Wait, back up. He’d heard of JAFFA before. They were the rival space program to whatever Sips and Sjin’s was, and he’d kind of stolen the idea of going to space with Nano from them. He didn’t really know much about the organization, just some word-of-mouth that it had gone quite catastrophically… Had this Lalna worked for them? The thought dug into him despite his attempts to shoo it off. He had more urgent things to focus on!

…Like the fact that the clone had asked him a question and he’d zoned out staring at him. Whoops.

“Uh... no? I mean, you seem fine, minus the whole… not having a pulse thing.” He scratched behind his head as he tilted back from a crouch to a haphazard sitting position. It wasn’t very graceful, but he didn’t care too much about that.

Oddly, the other Lalna didn’t seem too bothered to hear that. “Oh, that’s… normal.” Lalna raised an eyebrow. The other him opened his mouth to elaborate, but seemed to think better about it as he sat up and avoided looking in his direction. Lalna’s gaze drifted to the modified weapon he’d grabbed along with the clone, worried that he was going to pull it on him again, but there was something else on the clone’s mind. “…What happened to Drei?”

“Specimen Three?” He doesn’t quite understand the look the shorter him gives him. Annoyance? Irritation? Offense? Maybe “Drei” was their preferred name and he wasn’t appreciating him calling them by their designation. Somehow that felt about right, although he couldn’t explain why. “Uh, they stayed behind,” he answered. The redhead’s blue eyes widened in horror and panic, and Lalna held up his hands. “I’m sure they’ll be okay, though!” he quickly appended. “They’ve survived–” He cut himself off before he let slip that, one way or another, Drei had survived him and Nano destroying the facility they were stored in. He was pretty sure that info wouldn’t help the situation whatsoever. “–things,” he substituted. “They’re a Nano, I’m sure they can handle anything thrown at them.”

The other closed his eyes again, and for a moment Lalna thought he’d finally lost consciousness. Then he spoke up again. “Are you going to kill me?”

“What? No!” He gave him a startled look. “No, not unless you’re like… gonna try and kill me or Nano first, or replace me and do dastardly things.” The other Lalna didn’t look like he believed him, or maybe was just having trouble understanding what he was getting at. “Okay, uh. I think we got off wrong. Can we start over? Here, uh, my name’s…” He paused. Saying “Lalna” wouldn’t help, not when the name could apply to them both. Especially if the other had some bad experience or another with another Lalna, which he could easily believe both from how he’d reacted to him and how badly almost every encounter with another him had gone.

“I’m Atomic,” he settled on. He still wasn’t used to calling himself that; he’d come up with it sometime after he and Nano had exited the Time Gate while neck-deep in yet another identity crisis, and Nano had tried to push him towards defining himself as a separate entity from Hector. Finding out his entire life had been a lie had hit him hard, and he was still dealing with the aftershocks a year later.

…Speaking of identity crises. Atomic realized something that had been bugging him in the back of his mind and hadn’t surfaced to the forefront until now. Every time he’d met another Lalna from his universe— that Magic Police asshole, the pretender that had locked him away in the arrow trap, even some occasional flickers from Hector himself— foreign memories had crammed themselves into his brain, disorienting him. They could happen without him having contact with the relevant Lalna, but there was always that moment of dissociation and confusion when he met another where, for the smallest of seconds, he forgot who he was.

That hadn’t happened. Whoever this Lalna was, he had no foreign memories from him. That was… another weird thing.

He was watching him— no, more like scrutinizing him. Atomic tried not to fidget. He could tell that the other was looking at his scar; it was pretty hard to miss, a splash of discolouration across his face where the Flux used to be, and was one of the traits he desperately clung to to set him apart from the other Lalnas he’d met. After a moment, it clicked: the redhead was likely trying to compare and contrast him with whatever other Lalna he’d met before.

Atomic cleared his throat and the other startled. “Uh, like I said, I’m Atomic,” he started off, somewhat nervous. “I used to live in a big castle, and I studied things like… the Flux…” He couldn’t help but stare at the other Lalna’s right arm as he spoke. It was oversized and appeared to be made of Flux, or Taint, or at least some kind of thaumic corruption; it looked dead-on like Nano’s own Fluxed-up limbs, made of Flux goo held into shape somehow, although unlike Nano’s he couldn’t make out the dark shading indicating where the original limb was. Weirdly, it seemed to mimic the appearance of a robotic limb, with bands of darker purple around the joints and darker-shaded fingers that gave it a segmented look. Oh, yeah, and then there was the yellow eye on the back of the hand staring at him.

He was losing focus again. Atomic tried to ground himself with his own memories again as he resumed speaking. “I kinda took on an apprentice, Nano, and xe got… uh, Tainted. So since then I’ve been moving around, trying to find a way to cure xem before it’s too late.” He interlaced his fingers, examining how they fit together. “…and I’ve never seen you before in my entire life.”

The clone was scrutinizing him again. “So… you’re not him?” Atomic looked up. The other sounded confused, but also… hopeful? “You didn’t work for Hole Diggers? …You didn’t nearly throw me out into space because I’m a reject?”

Atomic’s eyes widened, and he shook his head hard enough for his goggles to fall down over his eyes. “What? No! No, I don’t even know what Hole Diggers is.” Actually, it did sound somewhat familiar… Hadn’t Hat Corp sold them a deed to a shitty, inhospitable island? His confusion and alarm seemed to soothe the other’s nerves, and the redhead reached out with his thaumic hand. Atomic eyed the offered hand uneasily, noting the six-petaled flower marking on the palm. It reminded him of the flowers Specimen Three—Drei—has been sprouting. He wondered if that was intentional.

“I’m Digger,” the other Lalna said with an uneasy smile. “Because, uh, I used to work for Hole Diggers… or, my original did.” He didn’t see the look of shock Atomic had in response to what he said. “I’m a reject, as you can probably tell… Honeydew messed with the shell constructor.” Atomic’s eyes went even wider as he mouthed ‘Honeydew?!’ in alarm. “Um, sorry for freaking out. A… a lot of things happened today.”

Atomic shook himself out of his daze. He’d have to ask Digger for more information on Honeydew— and the Lalna that Digger had been cloned from— later. “No kidding,” he groaned, pushing his goggles back up to rub at one eye with the heel of his palm. Digger still had his hand extended. Atomic considered it, then grasped it with his mechanical hand and shook it. Ew, squishy. “Do you… need a ride home…?” He trailed off, looking around. Digger giggled.

“No, it’s okay, I know my way around.” For a moment, Atomic could swear that Digger’s blue eyes had shifted to a more purple hue. Maybe it was the lighting? “Um… what about you? Do you need help?” He got to his feet and picked up the double-ended disassembler, then stowed it away in his inventory before helping Atomic up.

“I am in need of so much help,” Atomic groaned.

[grifalinas]

Testing out Battlescars as an original work. The scene below was written for the revamp, but I never got that far in posting, so no one will have read the original to compare to it (hence why I chose it). Enjoy.

-/-

Buck has never particularly been a fan of his birthday: having been born on Valentine’s Day, his life has been a series of being ignored by those preferring to celebrate their love over his birth. Even his own birth was overshadowed by the holiday; it’s hard to enjoy a day knowing his father chose being with his wife over attending the birth of his son. Affair or not, he feels as the man’s firstborn he should have warranted a look-in.

Still, a boy doesn’t turn sixteen every day, and turning sixteen means getting his license. He wakes up early in the morning and bangs on his dad’s door for ten minutes before dad finally answers, squinting sleepily down at his son. His glasses are askew and his hair is mussed, and Buck has a moment of being glad that it looks like he’s finally been sleeping again before he gets back to his purpose.

“You said you’d take me to get my license,” he says, by way of explanation.

“What time is it?”

“I don’t know, like five? Ish?”

“What time does the DMV open?”

“...eight.”

Dad looks disgruntled for a moment, and turns to look longingly at his bed. Buck glances over as well, and looks away before he’s forced to register the large, human-shaped lump in the covers. He sighs. Of course his dad would be more interested in staying in bed with his lover than actually acknowledging his son’s birthday.

“One hour,” dad says finally, taking his glasses off to rub sleepily at his eyes. “We’ll stop somewhere for breakfast while we wait for the DMV to open.”

“Yeah?” Buck gives him a surprised look. “No kidding?”

“Am I in the habit of kidding?”

“Well, no, but…” He trails off, and takes a step back. “I’m gonna go get dressed!” he calls, turning to hurry back to his room.

-/-

Destiny gets back from her morning run just as Buck is getting out of the shower. She sits on his bathroom counter and watches him while he brushes his hair.

“So how does it feel to be sixteen?” she asks. “And what are you doing up so early? I thought you were allergic to the idea of two six o’clocks in one day.”

“Normally I am. Dad’s taking me to get my license.”

“The DMV doesn’t open till eight.”

“He’s taking me for breakfast first.”

“Ah.” She gives him a knowing look: she’s been in his position enough not to offer comment. “So what have you got planned for today? Apart from your license, I mean.”

“I dunno. Thought I’d borrow the car and take the guys up to Valhalla to catch a movie.”

This time the look she gives him is secretive and mischievous. He frowns, and turns to finish dressing rather than think about what it could mean.

-/-

After he finishes dressing, Buck heads downstairs, and finds dad drinking coffee while Victoria fries herself an egg. Dad is looking more put together now, but his collar isn’t quite high enough to hide the fresh bruise on his neck, the one that wasn’t there less than an hour ago. Buck suppresses a grumble and turns to making his own coffee rather than think too hard about it.

“Happy birthday,” Victoria says, moving out of the way so Buck can reach the coffee maker. “Are you looking forward to getting your license?”

“I mean.” Buck shrugs. “I just think it’ll be nice not to have to wait around for someone else to take me places, you know? By the way.” He turns his attention to his dad. “Do you mind if I borrow the car this evening? I want to take the guys up to the city for a movie.”

“Hmm…” Dad considers this, and exchanges a secretive look with Victoria. “...We’ll see,” he says. “I may need it, it is Valentine’s Day, after all.”

Buck fights down a scowl. “Gross,” he says, and stalks off to his room to wait till time to go.

-/-

The DMV is in Spiral, which is a bit of a drive that dad lets Buck handle; once they’re in the city, dad leaves it to Buck to decide where they’re going for breakfast. They end up going out for French toast, and after a breakfast that is only a little bit awkward, they head to the DMV, and make it not long after it’s opened.

There’s already a line formed, so they take their number and have a seat. Dad brought his computer and decides to get some work done, while Buck fills out the form he needs for his license.

“It’s a good thing I’m not legally blind yet,” he says, scratching his head with his pencil and staring at the part where he says he needs corrective lenses. “Think my eyesight is gonna end up as shitty as yours?”

“Probably,” dad says. “But I’m not quite bad enough to count as legally blind yet, so you shouldn’t need to worry, not for awhile.”

“At least Victoria is willing to do most of your driving for you,” Buck says, glancing at dad in his periphery. He’s starting to wonder about their relationship; he’d assumed they were just bennies, but now he’s not so sure.

“I do employ a driver, you know. Though it is fortunate that Victoria is willing to drive when we’d prefer our privacy, even from a driver.”

“Yeah, super fortunate.” Buck glances down at his form, only half completed. “So you guys really planning to do shit for Valentine’s, huh?”

Dad sighs. “Buck, do you truly want to have this conversation at the DMV, on your birthday? I would think you’d prefer to leave it for a later time.”

“So there is a conversation to be had.”

Another sigh, and dad turns his attention back to his computer. Buck scowls and goes back to filling out his form. After a moment, dad takes his glasses off and rubs his eyes.

“This is new territory for both of us,” he says finally. “I have been with no one else since- since she died, and Oliver is a wound still fresh and raw for Victoria. Neither of us is sure what we are or even what we want.” He adds, as an afterthought, “It was Victoria’s idea to spend Valentine’s together, not mine.”

“Big fucking shock,” Buck grumbles. He finishes filling out his form, and sets it aside in favor of taking out his phone.

“I don’t understand the problem,” dad says. He sounds frustrated. Buck scoffs.

“Of course you wouldn’t. Look, it- it doesn’t matter, okay? Let’s just drop it. I don’t get many good birthdays, let’s not ruin this one before it even gets off the ground.”

“Very well.”

From there, the wait for Buck’s test is silent, with dad working and Buck playing Mathlibs on his phone. It’s a relief when his number is called and he can head out, keeping to a walk just in case dad wants to wish him luck or something before his test.

Dad is silent. Buck isn’t sure what he was expecting, if he’s honest.

-/-

Buck passes his test- he messes up on parallel parking, but the instructor decides to let him by on the grounds of everything else being fine- and goes to wait in line to get his picture taken and his license made. Once he has it, he heads back over to dad, who is packing up his computer so they can go.

“How did your picture turn out?” dad asks.

“Not great.” Buck squints at it. He’d at least had the foresight to take his ponytail out, so his head isn’t shaped weird. He hands it to dad to look at.

“You look so unimpressed,” dad observes, handing it back. Buck snorts.

“Yeah, well, I mean. If I get pulled over, I’m gonna be unimpressed.”

“Fair enough. It’s not a particularly flattering photo, but license photos never are.”

“It didn’t exactly have much to work with. Puberty is not doing me any favors over here.”

Dad gives him a sidelong look, and looks amused. “I think you look very handsome, Buck.”

“That’s because I look like you and you’re full of yourself.”

“Perhaps.” They stop near the car, and dad hands him the keys. “Care to drive?”

“Hell yeah!” He takes the keys and slides into the driver’s seat. “You need to stop anywhere on the way home?”

“I was actually thinking we might go to the mall, so you can be allowed to pick out your birthday present.”

“Whoa.” Buck turns and raises an eyebrow at him. “Who are you, and what have you done with my dad?”

“Very funny.”

“No seriously! You’re doing all this nice shit for me today. You never do that.”

“It’s not every day my son turns sixteen.” He mirrors Buck’s expression. “Am I not allowed to dote a bit?”

“I mean- I guess you are- I just-” He trails off, and distracts himself by focusing on getting the car out of the parking lot and into traffic. “Look, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just go to the mall so you can buy me that limited edition Luna Brothers Gamebuddy that just came out.”

“Don’t you already have a Gamebuddy?”

“Well, yeah, but this one is embossed with a picture of Max on the cover. That makes it better.”

“What is Luna Brothers?”

“Just this dumb show about monsters that my friends watch. I only want the Gamebuddy so they’ll all be jealous.”

“That so?” Dad doesn’t look like he believes him, but he doesn’t reply in favor of checking the text his phone just alerted him to. He turns to look out the window, and Buck sees a secretive smile reflected in the window. He winces and turns his attention back to the road, trying to find some way to get dad’s attention away from- no doubt- Victoria.

“Uh, yeah, it’s about these brothers who were orphaned as kids and then this really shady dude took them in. And the younger brother babysits for his classmate’s little brother, that’s Max… uh… my friends all say that Max reminds them of me, actually, which is kinda cool, cause he’s really funny and gets all the best lines.”

Dad looks interested, so Buck launches into an explanation of The Luna Brothers, pleased when he puts his phone down in the seat for awhile. Buck doesn’t often have his dad’s undivided attention, and he’s going to enjoy it while he does.

He’s able to keep the conversation going the whole time they’re at the mall shopping- dad gets him the new Gamebuddy, and several new games and a Mud Mummies t-shirt as well- and then they go out for lunch. On the drive home, they play Mathlibs, with dad running the board and Buck supplying the equations, and it’s honestly one of the best birthdays Buck has ever had.

He spends the whole time waiting for the other shoe to drop.

When they get home, Victoria’s car is there in the drive, and Victoria comes out to meet them before Buck has even got the car into the garage. She looks smug. Granted, she always looks smug, but this seems situationally specific. Buck resists the urge to groan. There’s that other shoe, it seems.

Buck slams the car door a little more than he meant to and heads for the door, but dad catches his shoulder with one hand to stop him.

“Where are you going?”

“Inside,” Buck says. “I gotta call the guys and see if we had any homework from today.”

“In a moment. I want you to see something in the backyard.”

“Fine.”

Buck follows them out of the garage to the backyard, hanging back and watching the way they walk together. He doesn’t really see anything different- there’s a good foot or so of space between them, and they’ve got their hands behind their backs while they walk. But they also keep glancing at each other and speaking quietly.

He’s so busy watching them he doesn’t quite realize they’ve stopped until he nearly barrels into them. They’re both looking at him expectantly, so he looks around, wondering what it was they brought him back here to see-

“That’s a car,” he says. There’s a Scorpion in the yard, cornflower blue and brand new. He looks up at his dad. “Is that mine?”

“You knew you were getting it.” Dad looks smug.

“Yeah, but I thought-” He thought he’d have to wait for dad to get around to it. “-I didn’t know it was coming today.”

“It did. Do you still want to borrow the car tonight?”

Buck rolls his eyes, unable to disguise how pleased he looks. “Whatever.” He moves over to the car, wanting to look at it but not quite daring to. He’ll be the first of his friends to have his own vehicle- not counting Manny, who has a truck but is Destiny’s friend more than his anyway. Mano and Lys have both had their licenses for ages but they’re still using the family vehicles.

“Unfortunately it wasn’t available in green,” dad says, moving to join him. “But we can easily have it painted if you’d prefer it.”

Since when does his dad actually know his favorite color? Buck shakes his head. “No, blue is fine, the shade of green I like doesn’t look right on cars.” He gives dad a hopeful look. “Can I drive it?”

“It’s yours, isn’t it?”

“Right. Mine. Keys?”

Victoria passes them over, and Buck slides into the car. He hadn’t wanted a scorpion, and had complained when dad told him that’s what he was getting, but he doesn’t mind so much now that he’s sitting it in. True, it’s big and clunky and made to be sturdy more than anything, but it’s more than any of his friends have. He cranks up, and lets the window down so he can lean out of it.

“I think I’ll go up to the school and show it off,” he says. “See you later.”

He drives off, leaving dad and Victoria standing in the yard.

-/-

Once he’s gone, they head inside.

“Did you enjoy your day out?” Victoria asks. Cyrus nods.

“Have you ever heard of The Luna Brothers?”

Victoria hums an affirmative. “It’s very popular right now. Manny and Donut watch it together sometimes. I believe it is universally agreed among their friends that Max is a toddler, cartoon version of Buck.”

“How do you even know that?”

“I pay attention.”

Cyrus shakes his head. He hasn’t missed the jab. “Do you think I’ve made up last month to him with that?”

“I think it will take more than one good birthday and a car to make up for…” She hesitates. “...last month.” Victoria touches Cyrus’s hand, levels on him a pointed look. “Some indication that there will not be a repeat of last month would go a long way.”

Cyrus shoots him a look, then turns and heads back to his study. “What did you have in mind for tonight?” he asks.

Behind him, Victoria sighs and follows. “Nothing fancy. Dinner would be nice.”

-/-

[thecreativeangel]

Labels (Peter Parker x Reader)

Peter Parker x Fem!Reader

*Please don’t plagiarize my work, thank you :3*

Summary: You’ve always read people like open books, until meeting the mystery that is Peter Parker. But since making it your mission to figure him out, things have gotten clearer and more complicated at the same time.

Warnings: Cussing, duh. Mention of being beaten up? Oh, and that’s not my GIF. Also: Sub!Peter, kind of. Ugh, I just love Sub!Peter so much.

Words: 1,565

Peter Parker baffled you. There, you said it. He was the one thing that your brilliant mind couldn’t figure out. He hung out with the Populars, he was arrogant and cocky, he bragged and swore like a truck driver with anger issues, flirted shamelessly and much more. But when he talked to you for the first time...

“I guess we’re partners now.”

You looked up from your notes to see Peter standing over you, his hands in the pocket of his varsity jacket. He doesn’t even play sports… Your eyes scanned his figure, lanky and awkward, different than when he was with friends. When working on the project he would look at you, catch your gaze, and quickly look away, hastily grabbing a pencil and resuming work on the poster. 

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Peter Parker didn’t just confuse you, he made you show pity and mercy because you saw how he acted around certain people, how he tried too hard to look impassive, how his friends would idolize him one day and shun him the next. You saw the way he would pick at his food at lunch while the people at his table socialized, sometimes nudging him and laughing. Peter would give an exhausted smile and nothing more.

Peter wasn’t an ass kisser, at least, and you were eternally grateful. Partly because that was one less bad quality to him, and partly because you didn’t have to endure any ass kissing when the teachers paired you and Peter together for everything. No matter the class, (which, by the way, was also a weird coincidence; most of your classes were with Peter.) you always paired with him, sat next to him, worked with him.

It came to your attention that he was also brilliant. Even if he acted slightly dumber than your usual donkey, Peter did his part in projects, aced his classes and once even asked you if you wanted to study after school during homework lab. More surprising even, was that he actually showed up, exactly on time, too.

Peter Parker wore glasses. Something you noticed by mistake during a debate club meeting, an activity he came to every week. The lenses weren’t thick and they were your everyday hipster glasses; plain, thick black frame, bigger than average round glasses. The first thought that came to your mind was slight worry, because what would his friends think if they knew he came to debate club. The second thought was that he probably wore hipster glasses because they were the only ones that were “cool”. The third was that there was a small possibility that he looked kinda cute. Kinda. 

Peter tapped you politely on the shoulder, despite the fact that he was sitting right next to you.

“Hey, are you done with the main argument?”

You turn away from the computer screen and smile faintly. “Um, almost, just need to finish the-”

“The closing sentence? It’s hard, right? Remember to encapsulate the major points from previous paragraphs. I-I highlighted them on my sheet if you need help.” He rambled, pausing for breath and turning the faintest shade of delicate pink. “Not that you need it, you probably have it covered. N-nevermind.”

You stared at him, enjoying the newfound stutter that he developed. Peter on the other hand, took your silence the wrong way. He mumbled a “sorry” and turned back to his own document. You could have corrected your staring but you enjoyed the red tint to his ears and the fumbling of his hands all too much.

Peter Parker was secretly insecure, but you never knew the extent of it. There were so many rumors about him and his friends, you thought he’d learned to ignore them, but you were wrong. All it took was for someone to whisper behind his back and he would become paranoid, tapping his foot and holding the edge of the desk until his knuckles turned white. Peter would become irritable, sometimes having miniature explosions and nearly yelling at the person to stop whispering. That was bad for his image though. Bad for the “calm and collected” aura he had built.

You discovered it was easy to pacify the situation. All it took was to ask them to stop in a gentle voice, and they always did, or they’d have to face you mad, and no one ever wanted that. You’d placed a hand on Peter’s left shoulder blade, rubbing circles with your thumb. Since then it was his weakness, a guaranteed way to calm him down. His grip would relax, along with the muscles in his back and arms. He was okay.

Peter Parker cared more than he let on. There were times when you questioned whether he was really impassive, or if it was an act, but that was all settled on the 18th of April. By chance, you had walked down the guidance counselors hallway. You didn’t mean to listen in, but you’re glad you did.

“I know I messed up, but he was-talking and I-you should’ve heard what he was saying-”

“Peter I understand, but that’s no reason to hit him.”

You tuned out and stood near the water fountain like a statue, listening to the guidance counselor ramble on about student guidelines. Peter got in a fight again. He said he wouldn’t.

“Please, please don’t tell Aunt May. She-she can’t know this, it’s been a rough year, and-please don’t.”

“Peter I won’t tell your aunt, as long as you promise it won’t happen again.”

“It won’t. And…will (Name) know about this? ‘Cuz I promised and she really trusted me, a-and she’d be really disappointed if-”

“I won’t tell her, Peter.”

That night you came to the May Parker’s apartment for movie night as usual, this time carrying a container full of brownies. And when Peter accidentally fell asleep on your lap during the first half of The Hunger Games, you may or may not have kissed the top of his head, just because.

Peter Parker was torn at the edges, cracked just the slightest bit. You knew that the second he came to class with a bruised jaw and scratch marks. You had the decency to ask after class.

“Lucas thought his girlfriend was cheating on him with me.” He mumbles, refusing to look at you. “I’m n-not allowed to sit with them, and-I think it’s better not to be near them anymore.”

“Peter…” You trail off, thinking hard. “You can sit with us.”

“I don’t think-”

“It’s not a discussion, Parker. You’re sitting with us.”

Ned and Michelle weren’t happy at all. Well, Michelle showed it in her own special way, and Ned was a polite sweetheart as always.

“Why is he here?” Michelle deadpans, not so quietly. Peter shrinks back in his seat and begins to pick at his food like he did at his old table. You don’t like that.

“Shut up, Mickey.” You say through clenched teeth, hesitant to show Peter affection in front of your friends. Michelle would never stop teasing you for that.

“Seriously (Name),” Ned whispers to you. “How do you know he’s trustworthy?”

You rolled your eyes and twisted around to Peter, who had paled noticeably. “Can you-” You say it too loudly and Peter flinched, making your heart clench. You soften your voice to just above a whisper. “Can you give us a second, please?”

He gave you a tiny nod and you grin back before scooting down the empty lunch table, dragging Ned and Michelle with you.

Ned rubbed his arms when you let go. “Listen, I know you don’t trust Peter, but I do.” You confidently. “Mickey, you sat with me because everyone thought I was weird, and everyone thought you were going to kill them.”

“That’s true.” Michelle admits.

“Ned, I asked you to sit with us when I saw Flash shit talking your weight, right?”

“Yes?”

“And do you remember what I did to Flash after that?”

A bright smile appears on his face. “You hid mashed potatoes in his hoodie.”

“Fuck yes I did. Point is, we’re a bunch of total losers, no denying that, but’s it’s okay. We know each other from the lowest points in our lives, and we help one another, just like we’re going help Peter. No man, woman or loser left behind, ‘member?”

“That’s deep.” Ned says, kind of ruining the moment but you smiled at his comment anyway.

Michelle huffs loudly. “Fine… But I know you like him.”

You spend the rest of the lunch period trying and failing to find a good comeback.

Peter Parker is a mystery, to everyone but you, because now you see through him. He can’t take pressure well and you don’t blame him because he’s taken enough pressure already. He loves you for that, even if he hasn’t said it aloud yet. You know how to scratch the spot right above the nape of his neck that makes him purr, and that he prefers tea to coffee, that he loves to lay his head on your stomach while you run your fingers through his hair. He knows that you love freshly washed laundry and geeky movie marathons under dim lights and a blanket, hoarding books and randomly organizing files of aesthetics on your computer.

Peter could never find the word to express how grateful he is that you were assigned as his partner for the history project nearly a year ago, that you had let him in, given him a chance. You love him for the true Peter Parker, and he loves you right back. The two of you are polar opposites, supposedly nothing in common. A boy and a girl, a Popular and a nerd, and those will forever be just labels.

[aw-yeah-jimin]

get to know me

tagged by @honey-hoseok - i havent been tagged in a thing in ages lol thank you~

Rules: Answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people. (im like gonna tag like 3 people tbh)

THE LAST: 1. Drink: water 2. Phone call: i lit cant remember the last time i made a phonecall... mightve been when the hospital rang about my address change 3. Text message: mum about picking me up 4. Song you listened to: neyo because of you 5. Time you cried: idk couple of weeks ago

HAVE YOU: 6. Dated someone twice: nah 7. Kissed someone and regretted it: nah 8. Been cheated on: nah 9. Lost someone special: not really 10. Been depressed: ye 11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: yeah lmao

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS: 12. orange 13. blue 14. grey

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU: 15. Made new friends: kinda idk??? theyre kinda more like acquaintances really i dont talk to them much outside of uni and theyre all like from birmingham so they have their home mates anyway 16. Fallen out of love: nah 17. Laughed until you cried: i do all the time tbh 18. Found out someone was talking about you: ye... but like everyone in the flat talked shit about each other so im not surprised but it was joke because she thought i banged on the walls when her and her bf had sex??? like no i just hit my head a lot because i cant sit still 19. Met someone who changed you: nah 20. Found out who your friends are: kinda 21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: nah

GENERAL: 22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: like all but about 10-20 23. Do you have any pets: ye man we got a dog like 2 weeks ago lmao 24. Do you want to change your name: nah 25. What did you do for your last Birthday: nothing tbh went bank and doctors lol 26. What time did you wake up: about 10:20 27. What were you doing at midnight last night: just watching tv 28. Name something you can’t wait for: tbh to go back to uni/find out if me new flatmates are terrible or good this time lol 29. When was the last time you saw your mom: like an hour ago 30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: im not really unhappy with anything rn 31. What are you listening to right now: the tv 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: ye lol one of my uni flatmates was a tom 33. Something that is getting on your nerves: not a lot really 34. Most visited website: youtube probably

LOST QUESTIONS. 35. Mole/s: ye a few 36. Mark/s: i have a few from rashes that i kept scratching but then they went away but you can still see where they were 37. Childhood dream: i wanted to be a policewoman i think lol 38. Hair color: brown 39. Long or short hair: short-ish 40. Do you have a crush on someone: not really 41. What do you like about yourself: er like looks wise i like me nose lmao n like just in general i think im good at communicating like i can make a convo out of any random crap 42. Piercings: i have the standard lobes, and then daith and conch on me right ear 43. Blood type: AB+ 44. Nickname: lou/loulou 45. Relationship status: single 46. Zodiac: cancer 47. Pronouns: she/her 48. Favorite TV show: omg so many like rick and morty, adventure time, steven universe, coach trip, hollyoaks, its aunny 49. Tattoos: nah 50. Right or left hand: right 51. Surgery: nah 52. Hair dyed in different colors: i used to dye the ends different colours but i havent for a couple years 53. Sport: i lit havent done sport since school n i was only good at netball n table tennis tbh n like i just messed around in P.E. most of the time and me and amy made up our own versions of how to do things lol 54. There’s no question here so fun fact: ???idk likeee... i really actually enjoy doing laundry but everyone else seems to hate it and idgi bc i find it to be one of the easiest chores even when you hang it out on a washing line its really not that bad 55. Vacation: i havent been away since 2011:( but on that one it was a school trip, we went to america skiing, and on the way back had a stop over in france because it was cheaper than direct to england lol 56. Pair of trainers: i just live in vans tbh lol but i have a pair of nike hitops that are like 6 years old but theyre so comfy for like long distance driving/walking far lol

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating: nothing         58. Drinking: water 59. I’m about to: do nothing tbh lol it's chill out time 60. No question here either so another fun fact: erm like i think im good with money??? like compared to me mates and that i think im less like sponteneous and i think more about what im buying and also what i could buy instead that i actually properly need lol 61. Waiting for: this was already a question??? 62. Want: i want the zephyr vans but we dont have that colour here;( 63. Get married: im honestly not too bothered if i do get married or not 64. Career: im like still not fully sure what i want to do, like i just do business in general at uni, but im leaning towards something in accounting and finance

WHICH IS BETTER 65. Hugs or kisses: hugs 66. Lips or eyes: eyes 67. Shorter or taller: the same height or taller, like im quite tall too so 68. Older or younger: i lean toward older but younger by a year or 2 is cool 69. No question here: ??????????????????????k 70. Nice arms or nice stomach: nice arms i guess 71. Sensitive or loud: sensitive 72. Hook up or relationship: relationship 73. Troublemaker or hesitant:  hesitant i suppose

HAVE YOU EVER: 74. Kissed a stranger: nah 75. Drank hard liquour: ye 76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: i dont use either 77. Turned someone down: nah 78. Sex in the first date: nah 79. Broken someone’s heart: not to my knowledge 80. Had your heart broken: nah 81. Been arrested: nah 82. Cried when someone died: no one i know has died since i was like 6 so idk if i did then or not bc i cant remember 83. Fallen for a friend: nah

DO YOU BELIEVE IN: 84. Yourself: most of the time 85. Miracles: sorta 86. Love at first sight: not really  87. Santa Claus: nah 88. Kiss in the first date: depends how it goes 89. Angels: nah

OTHER: 90. Current best friend’s name: i dont really have one tbh 91. Eye color: green 92. Favorite movie: im not much of a movie person tbh i probably watch three a year lol but my fav one i saw recently is girls trip

okay tagging: @run-run-run-rn @chensguns @auroraemberneko @22wooji n yeah cya

[smileymyungjun]

Rules: Answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people (I’m not tagging anyone, you can do this if you’d like to!! :) )

I was tagged by @hongbins-wife (thanks, Vero)

Answers under the cut!

THE LAST: 1. Drink: Sweet Tea! (extra sweet ‘cause I’m trashy) 2. Phone call: it was either my mom or my boyfriend, I can’t remember 3. Text message: it was also the Romeo group chat (I have it named as “A Mess™”)  4. Song you listened to: Never - Produce 101 Season 2 Ver. 5. Time you cried: Yesterday lmao school was stressful and it has only been two days HAVE YOU: 6. Dated someone twice: Nope 7. Kissed someone and regretted it: I haven’t actually kissed someone romantically because I’m not big on physical contact... oops... 8. Been cheated on:  Nope. I’ve only really been in one long relationship, and it is the one I’m currently in. 9. Lost someone special: Yep. Loads of times. Whether it be a relative or a friend. 10. Been depressed: oh yeah, definitely. 11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: nah I haven’t really had alcohol and I’m not in a rush to have it either LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS: 12-14: Red, like a soft or pale yellow, and probably Ocean Blue. IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU: 15. Made new friends: Yep! (that Romeo/more multi tbh gc is The Shit™ okay??? I love them all sm ;;) 16. Fallen out of love: If you think of like kpop groups, then yeah. 17. Laughed until you cried: Yep (lunch table, last school year towards the end) 18. Found out someone was talking about you: Yeah, my boyfriend’s nasty ex. Trying to spread stupid rumors about us and our friends with one of my ex-best friends who left us to spread rumors and date the nasty ex :’) gotta love when that happens. 19. Met someone who changed you: sort of? I don’t change a lot about myself unless I really need to. 20. Found out who your friends are: Yeah :/ some are still here, others are not. 21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: I don’t really use Facebook, so no.

GENERAL: 22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: When I had one I knew all of them cause I was like 14 lol besides maybe one or two I knew from a different state 23. Do you have any pets: A cat at my Mom’s and two dogs at my Dad’s! (and I visit my older brother’s place a lot, who has two dogs, a cat, and two fish) 24. Do you want to change your name: I like my name :) I couldn’t imagine myself being called anything else tbh 25. What did you do for your last Birthday: I just sat around until my older sister came over to throw a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup at me. Oh, I also called my Dad! (my mom and older siblings had work, so we couldn’t do much. We did have cake when the next month came up :) ) 26. What time did you wake up: 4:30am I accidentally fell asleep at 5pm yesterday... 27. What were you doing at midnight last night: Sleeping lol 28. Name something you can’t wait for: This last high school year to be over with because of how stressful it already is 29. When was the last time you saw your mom: Thursday? She was gone for work today and I hadn’t left my room to see her, and then yesterday I slept before she got home. 30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: not really anything? I haven’t had the easiest life, but I feel I wouldn’t be where I am now if it hadn’t been that way. 31. What are you listening right now: Skyfall by Adele 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: One of my neighbors is named Tom, so yeah. 33. Something that is getting on your nerves: Seeing fans either crowding idols in public places or sexualizing idols especially minors 👀👀 34. Most visited Website: Probably Youtube, but Tumblr is a close second.

LOST QUESTIONS. I JUST PUT IN RANDOM INFO ABOUT ME 35. Mole/s:  I have some moles, and then I have some scattered beauty marks (also moles but smaller? I guess? they’re basically the same thing) on my arms and face. 36. Mark/s: yeah, cat scratches. 37. Childhood dream: becoming a Pediatrician (I was and still am a weird kid) 38. Haircolor: Like a light/medium brown (fun fact: I was blonde until 7th grade and then my hair got dark really fast) 39. Long or short hair: it is a little long right now, but I’ve had it short before and liked it :) 40. Do you have a crush on someone: I mean yeah, I have a boyfriend so I’d hope so. 42. Piercings: I had my ears, but they kinda closed up years ago. 43. Bloodtype: I have no clue rip 44. Nickname: My mom calls me Beanie/Bean, and my bff calls me “space trash” so that’s about it 45. Relationship status: currently dating someone! 46. Zodiac: Pisces 47. Pronouns: She/Her 48. Favorite TV Show: I really like Criminal Minds 49. Tattoos: none 50. Right or left hand: Left Handed ;)) 51. Surgery: Oh yeah, I broke my leg when I was in 5th grade oops hehe         52. Hair dyed in different color: I have never dyed my hair, but I have thought about it! 53. Sport: I was in Marching band for two years, and a looooong time ago I did cheerleading for like 5 years 55. Vacation: I go to my dad’s every summer and he lives around 5 1/2 hours away 56. Pair of trainers: I have a few pairs of shoes? If that is what this means? A pair of “Sunset Orange” Converse (think Creamsicle color), a pair of Galaxy Vans, a pair of plain black and white Vans, and then a pair of MIA Boots. MORE GENERAL: 57. Eating: Currently: Chinese food 58. Drinking Currently: Broth from soup if that counts 59. I’m about to: watch youtube to procrastinate from doing homework 61. Waiting for: the time for me to be able to sleep again 62. Want: less homework tbh 63. Get married: I’m not looking for any of that any time soon if I do. Not something I really see myself absolutely needing to do... 64. Career: I want to go into Astronomy! (maybe Astrophysics but we’ll see) WHICH IS BETTER 65. Hugs or kisses: neither oops 66. Lips or eyes: definitely eyes 67. Shorter or taller: Taller (I’m barely 5′3″ everyone is taller than me) 68. Older or younger: older for now 70. Nice arms or nice stomach: I don’t really care tbh 71. Sensitive or loud: both? 72. Hook up or relationship: relationship  73. Troublemaker or hesitant: more hesitant, but troublemaker works too. HAVE YOU EVER: 74. Kissed a stranger: no, and I probably won’t ever. 75. Drank hard liquor: no 76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: I lost my first pair of glasses in a torrential downpour at Disney World... 77. Turned someone down: yep 78. Sex in the first date: I can’t even kiss my boyfriend, so no. 79. Broken someone’s heart: I mean, he did like me quite a bit, so maybe..? 80. Had your heart broken: yeah like multiple times because some guys are just assholes but it is okay now 81. Been arrested: nah I am too much of a wuss to do anything 82. Cried when someone died: oh yeah definitely  83. Fallen for a friend: a little yeah DO YOU BELIEVE IN: 84. Yourself: sometimes and it depends on what 85. Miracles: not a lot 86. Love at first sight: Not really 87. Santa Claus: lol nah 88. Kiss in the first date: no, wait until you’re both comfortable. 89. Angels: maybe? OTHER: 90. Current best friends name: I have two, and surprisingly both of them are named Taylor F. lmao 91. Eyecolor: hazel 92. Favorite movie: the Tim Burton version of  Alice In Wonderland