#my sleeping mind thinks scott needs to date a shrink to actually get help

[edutainer2022]

So, it was a barrage of about 20 (that's right, twenty) ballistic missiles on the city at night. Twenty ballistic missiles sound (and feel) like, I presume, Thunderbirds 1 through 3 flying by and landing on your roof all at once. So I just kinda covered my head with a blanket (not gonna help if/when it hits, for the record) and noped out for a while.

But that's not the whole point of this post. When I did catch an hour of sleep before the next air raid (just called off, it's fine, for now), my mind supplied a dream I now maybe want to write down as a possible story idea: Jeff is in therapy after Oort Cloud and kinda... sets his therapist up to have lunch with Scott, because it came up Scott gave up therapy right after Dad disappeared, so the lunch is to determine if Dr Something or Other will take him up as a patient too. It's strictly business. Scott only agrees as a courtesy to Dad and because he's in NYC anyway, dealing with the TI board meltdown. The lunch is nice, though, they even walk a little back to Dr's office - it's a nice sunny fall. The Dr is a little spooked by a black car following them, but that's just Tracy Security - they get in trouble if he sneaks out downtown. No, the Dr won't take him up as a patient. No offense. None taken. The Dr will, however, take him up on the offer of dinner this Friday - to discuss the best ways to help Jeff reorient and adjust, or course. If that was maybe Dad's lowkey original intent, he doesn't let up, completely busy with IR reports and smiling into decaf coffee back at the penthouse. Jeff is maybe a little freaked out how much of a security frenzy this minor "occasion" elicits - extensive background checks, networking patterns, travel patterns, Kayo runs the NYC detail rugged, John is stressed. Jeff is confused - the Dr is already his shrink, so extensively vetted - but it's DIFFERENT, Dad, OMG! Jeff is wondering if he's maybe missing something there (and he probably is). Anyhow, the Tinies were shooed away from sing-songing "Scott and Dr sitting in a tree" when the next air raid started an I woke up.

[thefallenbibliophilequote]

Bucky Barnes having a girl headcanon

A/N: this all started from an ask that Kas got but then I started commenting on it and well it turned long so I decided to make it an official headcanon.

Okay so, if Bucky had a child it would be a girl. That is how my mind sees it.

She will be called Becca after Bucky's sister.

She would love to braid his hair and play with it and he just can't say no to her. So he braids her hair and she does his.

She would def put stickers on his metal arm, or even draw on it when he sleeps.

Alpine would be so protective of her, like a mom bc pets are very connected and protective over babies that grew up with them.

And she would love her uncle (godfather) Steve so so much!

Don't even get me started about how she will never be afraid of his metal arm but she would rather admire it, she would clutch it while they are walking and she will wrap it around her when she had a nightmare and she sneaked into her daddy's bed- she will insist on having his left arm around her keeping her safe.

The kids at her kindergarten? They are afraid of her but not because her father is Bucky, no they are scared of Her. Because she is very protective of her dad.

Am I going to start talking about her found family with the avengers? Abso-fucking-lutely

Natasha and her knives. Bucky wanted to be the first one to teach his girl self defense but Natasha beat him to it. He was not happy when he entered the house and saw daggers in the vaults with little Becca excitedly smiles at her aunt when she hit the target painted on the wall. He didn't let Natasha babysit for a month after that.

Clint would teach her ASL so she could talk to him.

Which reminds me

Bucky would teach her Romanian, and will call her by Romanian nicknames 😊

Tony and Bruce would help her with homework or show and tell! She loves just sitting in the lab when she is bored, colouring and asking the scientists about what they are doing. She started to use very advanced scientific terms casually (she used them wrongly but it is still cute)

Obviously she would love to play with Morgan and Cassie

Although one time Scott invited her over for a play date with Cassie and he shrinked with them into a princess castle

Bucky went crazy when he couldn't find her and Scott almost died when Bucky found out.

The hulk? He would be like Alpine. SMALL CHILD IS TINY. LITTLE CHILD NEEDS PROTECTION. HULK PROTECT BECCA.

Steve would be protective as hell. I mean, she would come to him with problems and he would help her with advice that does not include threats and daggers.

But on the other hand...

Steve is a little punk and Bucky used to take care of him back in the 40s (he still does now ofc)

So he will sneak out candies and such when Bucky would tell Becca no more. Bucky will then find Becca eating happily candies with Steve on the couch.

Thor would tell her all about the realms and she in turn would explain to him human terms and slang. He likes having tea parties with her. Lady Becca is a fine ruler of the Tower.

Now because I am me I have to include Loki... The thing about Loki is that I think kids would be attracted to him. He is the kind that would say kids are annoying but eventually will kind of like it. She is just so precious and so he gave in and now he is showing her magic and reads to her.

Okay I'm done with the found family (ha! Yeah right)

Bucky would constantly pick her up and just carry her around because she has him all wrapped around her little finger and he wants to hold her close.

He goes on missions less now after he had her (I guess this is technically a Bucky x reader but I want to focus on Bucky being a dad rn) and he is now mainly training other new agents.

So after Becca was born with those gorgeous blue eyes and brunette hair, Bucky would take endless pictures of her. Modern technology has never been more useful to him.

If Becca starts to cough? Over protective dad mode engaged! He would panic and contact doctors and see Cho or Bruce over every small thing😂 bc he is precious.

I said it before but pre-serum!Steve was sick a lot and Bucky was the one to take care of him... So he was always worried when Becca got sick

But she would be the one to reassure him

Because she is a tough one, just like her dad.

Oh and I almost forgot! (Found family again) Bucky wasn't fond of it at first but Peter was actually a good kid after he got to know him. He stopped his metal arm ffs so Bucky figured he can babysit her bc she would be safe. Especially bc of his Spidey senses that alert him whenever something might be wrong.

So peter became an older brother and you can bet that he got her to watch star wars and other nerdy stuff

And hey, her dad is a nerd too, she will be as well. LOTR? She has every book already.

Now back to Bucky.

He would do anything for his little girl

He never thought he would have a family after he got drafted into the war. And especially after he became the winter soldier. Because who would trust and love him enough to create a little baby with him?

Well he found the right girl

And then little Becca was born and he was in love with her

Becca loves her daddy so much, she is daddy's girl no doubt.

And just like she comes to him for nightmares, whenever she hears her dad having trouble sleeping she would get out of bed with her stuffed white wolf and she would come and ask him if he had a nightmare.

Then she would come to bed and give him the stuffed animal so he can hug it just like she does for comfort.

She is always surrounded by love from her big family and especially from her loving dad

So she always gives it back

And Bucky could not be happier that he has his little girl here with him.

The end.

... For now at least.

[elisaphoenix13]

Against All Odds (Ch. 10)

Scott ended up staying in the shower a little too long, since Quill actually had to knock on the door and make sure he was okay, but he was enjoying a hot shower after three days. When he finally did get out, he felt a lot more human and happy to be in clothes that actually fit him. It was nice to have the smell of cinnamon enveloping him while he was sick, but Quill's clothes were big enough to make him feel like different parts of his body were being strangled or in a vice, so better fitting clothes were more comfortable.

"Did you leave any hot water for me?" Quill asks when Scott finally leaves the bathroom.

"I...I don't know. I'm sorry. I was just so glad to have--" Scott sputters until the older teen slowly reaches out to gently massage the back of his neck, effectively silencing him.

"I was kidding. Even if you didn't, it's fine." Quill drops his hand and heads into the steam filled bathroom. "My cousin made breakfast. Why don't you head downstairs and get some and I'll be out in a few minutes?"

Quill closes the bathroom door before Scott can answer and the younger stares at the bathroom door before glancing at the bedroom door. Go down by himself? No. Absolutely not. He didn't know anybody that might be downstairs and being alone with them terrified him. What if they asked questions? Did they even know he and Quill were dating? What if they didn't and he accidentally outed Quill to his family?

He wished he had the ability to shrink so he could run under the bed and hide, but he didn't so Scott decided to explore the bedroom instead. He noticed that Quill had changed his bed sheets since the old ones were probably covered in sweat (yuck; Scott didn't blame him for wanting to have clean sheets), and the bedroom itself was surprisingly clean. Okay, cleanish. Everything had a home, but Quill was still a typical teenager that stepped out of his pants and kicked them into a corner until he got around to actually throwing them into a hamper. With how big the pile in the corner was, Scott was actually beginning to wonder if his boyfriend even owned a hamper.

Scott shakes his head and looks over at the desk and tilts his head curiously when he finds an old walkman sitting on the surface, and he sits at the desk before carefully grabbing the outdated music player. It was outdated but obviously well taken care of, so Scott could only assume it meant something to Quill. He puts the headphones on, presses play, and was pleasantly surprised when he listened to the mixtape. Scott continued to listen to the music as he looked over every inch of the walkman, and then eventually put it down with as much delicacy as possible before snooping through his boyfriend's desk.

Scott startles as he flips through a small book when the headphones are removed from his ears, and he looks up meekly. "I promise I was careful with it."

"I know. I watched you put it down." Quill answers softly. "You didn't go downstairs did you?"

"I don't know them." Scott whispers.

"Okay. Let me get dressed and we'll go down together okay?"

Scott nods and halfway through the gesture he finds himself eye level with Quill's waist, and he gulps at the close up of the V of the older teen's hips disappearing into…

He's only wearing a towel! What evil deity is trying to give me a heart attack?!

The younger squeaks before turning away when a single drop of water starts running down Quill's ripped abdomen, and then heaves a silent sigh of relief when his boyfriend finally walks over to his dresser to grab some clothes for the day. Scott was grateful to have a warm house to stay in and be given hot meals, but staying with Quill was already testing his sanity. Not to mention the more salacious parts of his mind. They were definitely having a field day right now.

So he keeps his focus on a piece of blank paper he starts doodling on, and halfway through drawing a rather grotesque landscape, Scott stiffens when Quill comes up behind him and leans down to kiss the side of his neck. They were soft and gentle, and he could tell that Quill consciously made sure not to make Scott feel trapped, and he didn't. Quill gave him the opportunity to move away or flee if he wanted to, but Scott just melted into the attention. He slowly turned into a puddle of goo as Quill continued with the gentle affection and even let out a sigh of happiness when Quill rubbed soothing circles into the back of his neck with his thumb.

This was okay. It didn't make him want to run and hide. He actually wanted to make Quill sit or lay down so he could curl up against him again.

"Pancakes...eggs...sausage…" Quill starts mumbling against Scott's neck.

"Hashbrowns?" Scott asks hopefully and the older teen laughs as he moves away.

"I'm pretty sure Sophie made everything. Come on." Quill turns the chair and pulls Scott out of it before pushing him toward the bedroom door. "Hurry up before everyone eats everything."

Everyone? Scott was only aware of Quill's grandpa and cousin. How many people were visiting or even living here? When they got downstairs and stepped into the kitchen, Scott wanted turn right back around and go back up to Quill's room. There had to be at least ten people and they all looked at him the second he and Quill walked in. Scott was suddenly very uncomfortable and subconsciously half hid behind his beast of a boyfriend in an attempt to escape from inquiring eyes.

"I'm glad to see you looking better." The elderly man at the stove says and the young woman beside him nods.

"Peter gave us all a scare when he burst through the front door with you."

Well that was embarrassing.

"I'm sorry for intruding." Scott whispers and Quill's grandpa points at the table with the spatula in his hand.

"Peter already told us your situation. You're more than welcome here. Why don't you both go sit down and get something to eat?"

Quill directs Scott to the table, and they pile both of their plates with food as some of the others join them at the table. There really was some of everything, and Scott took a little both of it all before he started to munch on some bacon he could thankfully taste. Sitting at the table for a meal with a family was foreign to him. He didn't know what to do, so Scott was content to eat while Quill and his family conversed. Even if he wasn't actively part of the family thing, it still brought a fuzzy feeling and he didn't mind being ignored.

Well, he wasn't really ignored. Quill's family asked him an innocent question here and there that he gave them a mumbled answer to, and at one point, he felt his heart swell when Quill poured him some orange juice. Scott had been eyeing the carton across the table for the better part of five minutes but didn't want to interrupt any of the conversations, and Quill seemed to catch on. He just grabbed Scott's glass, reached across the table for the carton, and filled it up before handing it to Scott and he drank it gratefully.

Breakfast went by, and Scott quietly offered to help clean up, but Sophie (the earlier woman) just waved him away and told him he was a guest. He and Quill went back upstairs, full and content, and Scott gave into the temptation to crawl onto the bed when they got into the bedroom. He wasn't as sick as he was last night, but his body was still recovering and sapping every bit of energy he had. Scott really wanted to take a nap.

"Want me to put on a movie?" Quill asks as his looks through his collection.

"Sure." Scott replies with a sleepy slur.

"I'd ask if you want to choose but I can see you're already starting to fall asleep." The older teen teases as he pops a movie in.

Scott only hums in confirmation and dozes between awareness and actual sleep while the movie plays and Quill does whatever. About halfway through the movie, Scott is dragged back into awareness when he hears his boyfriend fiddling with the walkman, and he cracks his eyes open to watch him. Quill actually treated it with as much gentleness as Scott had earlier that morning, and it only piqued the younger's curiosity.

"What's so special about it?" Scott murmurs and Quill looks over at him.

"Oh...uh...it's the last thing I have of my mom."

Scott frowns. "I'm sorry for using it without asking."

"It's okay. You were careful with it. I don't mind if you want to listen to it again." Quill says as he puts the walkman back on his desk. "She died when I was eight. Cancer."

"Your dad?"

Quill shrugs. "I don't know who he is."

"Why would you get pissed about my parents…?" Scott questions and the older boy scowls.

"Because they ignore you! My mom was awesome and she loved me, and after she died I was lucky to have my grandfather. But you?" Quill rubs his eyes. "You don't have anyone and it made me realize how lucky I was. Even if I never knew my dad."

Scott shrugs and closes his eyes again. "I have you and Stephen now."

Quill huffs and Scott feels the bed dip a few moments later.

"Scoot."

Scott rolls onto his side so Quill can sit on the bed and watch the movie he's partially listening to, and eventually returns to his earlier dozing. A knock on Quill's bedroom door disturbs him again but he keeps his eyes closed when Quill calls out. He hears the door open behind him and tries to doze off again when he hears Quill's grandfather talking, and then he focuses on the conversation when he hears his name.

"He was quiet at breakfast."

"That's just how he is."

"Peter...do you know if he's abused?"

Scott's blood ran cold. He couldn't kick Quill in warning since they were both on top of the covers, so all he could do was hope that he wouldn't spill the beans or give any indication to what his home life actually was. Scott's parents may neglect him, but he had a roof over his head and they sent him money for food (not including recently), and Scott was finally starting to make friends. A friend and a boyfriend but they gave him the attention he needed. Scott was actually opening up to the amount of affection Quill was offering him, and was even starting to think about going to him for more.

If Quill said anything, Scott would be taken away without a doubt, and he would have to start all over again.

"I don't think so." Quill thankfully lies.

"What are his parents doing out of town this close to Christmas?"

"Work, I think. They told Scott they would be back before Christmas but the weather is probably keeping them away. Stephen left a note in case they get back before I take Scott home. With our number."

"Alright. I don't mind if he stays. I just had to be sure."

The door closes a few seconds later, and Scott chances looking over his shoulder to look at Quill. He catches a glimpse of rage in his boyfriend's eyes just before Quill covers it up, and Scott yelps when the older teen suddenly grabs him and pulls him into his arms. Scott could somehow feel the heartbreak that Quill was suffering from just from the hug alone, and he slowly returns it.

"I hated lying about it."

"Thank you." Scott whispers and allows Quill to hold him tighter.

They stayed like that until lunch, Scott finally actually falling asleep when Quill started massaging the back of his neck again. Sandwiches were made by his grandfather and brought back up to the bedroom so they could eat and watch a movie, and after lunch Scott and Quill spent time playing different card games. The older teen was really good at poker, and made a passing joke about how it was too bad that they weren't playing strip poker, and Scott blushes hotly at the implication. He most definitely would have been completely naked if they were.

Dinner was eaten downstairs and it passed similarly to breakfast, and thankfully Quill's grandfather didn't ask any questions about Scott's life at home. He seemed to accept what Quill told him, and as long as Scott didn't give any reason for the family to think otherwise, he was in the clear. They easily accepted that Scott would be spending Christmas with them and were gracious enough not to overwhelm him with questions or attention in general.

Then Scott realized...he would be spending Christmas with Quill and his family. No big deal. He would just stay upstairs while they spent time together opening presents and other traditions, and he would be content to watch movies all day. It's what he did every year at home anyway. He would be so quiet they would forget he was even here.

And suddenly, his heart broke at the thought. They would forget about him, something he was used to, and now it bothered him? It always bothered him, but now that he was slowly getting used to attention, being ignored was affecting him more. Even just the thought of it.

No. He wouldn't intrude on their Christmas. He was just fine with staying up in Quill's room and that was that. Maybe if the weather cleared up, he could leave before then so he wasn't intruding and eating their food anymore either.

"Scott."

Said teen looks up at Quill from the pajama shirt he was changing into. "What?"

"Is something bothering you?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Something just seemed...off about you at dinner." Quill elaborates as he finishes changing.

"I'm fine. Maybe you were picking up on how tired I'm feeling."

Quill grunts out a maybe as they climb into bed, and Scott braves scooting closer to the bigger teen and is immediately awarded with Quill wrapping an arm around him. Instead of turning so they fall asleep like the night before with his back to Quill's chest, Scott remains as he is with his nose against his boyfriend's collarbone and tucked against his side. With another small adjustment, Scott had his head on Quill's shoulder and a leg over one of his, and he almost immediately fell asleep once he was comfortable.

They were, of course, rudely awakened by some birds the next morning that were singing rather loudly and it had Quill groaning just as loud.

"What the fuck are birds so excited about at five in the morning?!"

Scott sniggers. "Probably the break in the storm."

"Well they're about to get bitch slapped by reality in about half an hour." Quill grumbles. "The storm will be coming back then."

The birds continue chirping loudly right outside the window, and Quill grabs Scott's unused pillow and throws it at the window, making it shudder under the impact. The birds fall silent for all of ten seconds before they start up again and Quill throws his arm over his face with another frustrated groan.

[forkanna]

[AO3 LINK] [EF LINK]

NOTES: Guess what, everybody? This might be the first time I've ever had the chance to do this: I'm posting this chapter ON LOCATION! Yep, I'm currently in Toronto, Ontario, about to head back out into the city for more exploration. Who knows? Maybe I'll bump into Kim and Knives!

Also, sorry about the cliffhanger/teaser at the end, but I'll get the next one up soon, I promise!

I didn't call or text Knives back the next day. Probably made her feel bad… or maybe not. Can't always tell how she thinks.

Problem was, I needed time to recover. Any college girl can tell you that there's a huge difference between a sloppy, drunken make-out session, and actually kissing a girl you're semi-interested in. Twice. In the same day. God, did I like her… which surprised me a lot more than it should have, given how cavity-inducingly sweet she is. Guess I was just used to hating everybody and everything, so anything that messed with that status quo was going to be regarded with heavy skepticism until I felt like I could trust it.

But she seemed to understand, because I didn't get a bunch of sappy texts or selfies of her making kissy-faces or whatever. She only texted once that night, and once the next day just to say "So I have this cute redhead's number ; )". Which made me roll my eyes, but I'm pretty sure a customer heard me giggle.

He must be destroyed. No one can know.

The day after that, I texted her a single word: "Bored." Less than a minute later, she was racing into the video store, blue paisley scarf around her neck soaked in sweat and a light smoke coming from the soles of her running shoes.

"What took you so long?"

"Sorry!" she panted, hands on her knees. "I… stopped to breathe!"

"Dude. Kidding." Something weird came over me; I got up from my chair and gestured for her to sit and recover from obviously sprinting all the way here. Was I putting someone else's needs before my own? What the hell?

When I came back from getting a glass of water from the back, she looked way more calm and relaxed, though she still accepted the glass gratefully and chugged it. "PWAH!" she gasped when it was empty. "Thanks!"

"Sure."

Setting it down, she turned to smile up at me. "Watch a movie? You pick again."

"We could make out," I suggested in a deadpan voice.

"I'm all sweaty and gross. You probably don't w-"

My lips cut hers off. Seriously, I don't know what I was turning into; maybe it had just been so long since I let anybody in that all that pent-up "relationship energy" was bursting to get out and do something for once. Maybe she was just a great kisser. All roads led to Snogtown, anyway.

When I pulled back, I wrinkled my nose. "Yeah, you are pretty sweaty. But you don't stink or whatever; just have that… you know. The salty smell."

"The wha…?" She was clearly still a little dazed from the kiss.

"That salty skin-smell of someone who just started working out. Not like, old gross sweat, but fresh, clean…" I fell silent. How did she keep getting me to talk more than I normally would? The whole reason I didn't say much was because I didn't want to sound stupid, which I felt like I was a lot more lately. Being stoic was a defense mechanism, I don't need a shrink to tell me that.

Not that Knives cared. Lucky for me, she never cared when I sounded dumb. "Oh," she said with a slight nod. "Yeah, I know what you mean, kinda. Never really thought about it before."

"Right. Anyway… I dunno what to watch. We have a French film that sounded kinda interesting."

"I don't speak French very well," she snorted.

"Mine's pretty rusty, too. But there's subtitles."

"Cool."

So I put it on. And this time, the experience of watching a movie with Knives was totally different. I mean, not that much different from before, because the oddly comfortable silence was still there. Her comments were about the same as they would have been before. There was just… I dunno. Holding hands and kissing, snuggling slightly — once her sweat evaporated a little, of course.

I had a girlfriend. A fucking girlfriend. It was really starting to hit me, and every time it did, I felt my face getting warmer. Apropos of nothing! Just thinking about that being what Knives was to me now was impossible enough that it made me embarrassed without any specific event to trigger that reaction. Even just this, holding her close while we sat through some sappy avant-garde piece that made me roll my eyes with every scene, watching her nibble at a bag of Skittles she found in her purse… not even kissing very often because we were still awkward, shy nerds… yeah. Was off the beaten path for me, something I hadn't felt in forever.

What the hell did she see in me? Still no idea. But she seemed to think I was "nice" and "cool", or whatever.

After the movie, we went around the corner into Honest Ed's for some lazy window-shopping. Ordered some Chinese and went back to my place, talking while we ate. Mario Party for a while. We kept nudging each other and threatening not to kiss the other person if we lost… well, the second one was mostly me, but yeah.

The best way to describe it was that it was what I needed. Basically everything I'd needed but didn't want to admit to needing.

"You're such a cheater."

"I am not!" she cried out as she shut the Nintendo off, pouting a little. But I was beginning to learn the difference between when she was just pouting and legitimately hurt or sad; I always felt this deeply-buried desire to hug her either way, but it was easier to ignore when it was nothing serious. "Like, it's my game, of course I'm gonna be better at it. You're out of practice."

"Oh, stop trying to make me feel better." But I was already smiling a little. Just a little, though. "You really don't mind leaving this here?"

"Nah. It's nice having somewhere to hang that's not in my parents' house. Like, you probably get me."

Nodding, I helped her wrap the cords around the claw-like controllers as we nipped it away for the night. "Yep. Cramp your style no matter how old you are."

"In fact… I could, um, sleep over? Not tonight, and not for, um…" The way her eyes looked away, I didn't even have to guess what she was trying to say. "But just to play a board of 50 turns, and have breakfast together, I guess. Is that dumb?"

"Pretty dumb." But I felt bad instantly, so I added, "That you thought you had to ask. But this place is tiny; it'll probably be super uncomfortable."

Her pout turned into a grin. "Nah. I like your couch. And um, your bathroom's not bad, just sucks you don't have a legit bathtub. Though the shower stall is pretty roomy."

"Why, do you wanna shower together?"

The minute I said it, I could tell it was going to send both of us into fits. And I was right. Of course, my fit was basically just me facepalming and holding my hand there until my blush subsided. Knives kind of let out a strangled squeal, then flopped onto her back and rolled around for a few seconds. When we both recovered, we kind of glanced at each other, then away, then back again.

"Y-yeah. Maybe. I mean, I know you're probably kind of curious about my body…"

"Wow, listen to this self-confidence." Her red cheeks made me want to kiss them. So I did, and she gasped very quietly. "Man, this is weird."

"I'm curious about yours, too, though," she admitted very softly. It was so shy that I couldn't even tease her about it without feeling like some kind of puppy-kicker.

"Well… I think if I tried either one right now, I'd explode, so… we can kinda put a pin in that."

"Sure!" she agreed instantly, and the sheer relief in her voice told me it was the right plan. "I don't want you to explode into coins!"

Snorting, I started pushing up from the floor. "Didn't mean like that; just figuratively explode. But good to know."

Walking her to the door felt even more different now than it did the last time. My date. My girlfriend, Knives Chau, who was walking extra slow so she could spend more time with me. Everything was the same, but everything felt different. Pretty lame. We kissed, and it was longer, sweeter. With her shoes on, we were closer to the same height… I don't know why I noticed that. But she still leaned up to kiss me. Complete with one foot popping up and everything, like in some classic silver screen romance.

Around the time we started getting hotter and heavier, and I kind of naturally started poking at her lips with my tongue, she pulled back with a sudden gasp and a shiver. "Ooh… mm, wow, Kim…"

"Shit."

"S-so I'll see you tomorrow?" She suddenly seemed to be in a hurry. As if hanging around with me would keep her from leaving. Which might have been true, actually; I knew I was starting to feel an inclination toward trapping her in that apartment and never letting her leave.

"Hell yeah, tomorrow."

                                                                ~ o ~

It snuck up on me. Like, for some reason I was thinking "twenty-four hours", and it was more like sixteen or something. Because she had to work, so this time she didn't drop in on me during my shift, but around the time I got off she was right there out front, wearing a cute tank top, skirt that came to her knees, and strappy sandals, bags packed and grin in place. Ready to go.

"Are you moving in or something?" I demanded, having taken one of the bags to help carry them to the bus stop. "What the fuck?"

"I brought my Ninja Ninja Revolution pads! You're in a basement flat, right? No downstairs neighbours… we can stomp around all we want!"

My eyes just deadpan glared. "Ninja Ninja Revolution. I don't really play… I mean, I barely ever…" But her earnest grin made me roll my eyes and grunt, "Fine."

"Plus I got hair dye and nail polish and face masks and all that stuff if you wanna get super girly." At my scowl deepening, she added, "Or not! We don't have to use any of it!"

"You'd paint my nails some horrible Dayglo green."

"Nuh-uh! Like, forest-green. It would complement your hair. But I could do black or like, an electric blue maybe? Or just a clear-coat with sparkles…"

That topic lasted most of the way home, with her off on a tangent without me having to contribute much other than stubbornly refusing to accept that this inevitable course of events was going to eventually catch up with me. Ah well… it was only one night.

Or was it? This was getting a lot more serious a lot faster than I had anticipated. And if I had known what would happen later that evening, I'd probably have thrown both hands up in the air and realised that my life was never in my control to begin with.

Luckily for everyone involved, I had no clue.

                                                                 To Be Continued…