#never separate a man from his best friend's ass that he is suspiciously aware of at all times

[bluishfrog]

"What are you doing, idiot?"

"Appreciating you."

"Appreciate that ass."

"I am!"

[gayhuckleberryinatrenchcoat]

You are my home💚💙

Happy Valentine’s Destiel Wedding Day everyone!

Part 2 of my Destiel wedding series.

Click here for the masterpost.

Thanks @bonchickabelle for your support

~2,8k words

“Are you nervous?” Sam teased Dean, who stood in front of the mirror, tugging his tie straight. He thought about it for a moment “Excited? Sure, can’t wait to see Cas again after you forced us to spend last night apart for some stupid tradition. Nervous? No. It’s Cas I’m marrying.” Sam smiled knowingly, already half out the door. “I’m very happy for you two!” Alone again, Dean’s eyes drifted back to the mirror and he placed his hand on his shoulder, right over Cas’ handprint. He meant what he had said to Sam. It had been the first night they had been apart since he got Cas back and he barely slept. He had just felt wrong without hearing Cas’ gentle breaths, without being able to wrap his arms around the former angel and without feeling the weight of Cas’ head on his chest. But was he nervous? Not at all. He was almost surprised at how calm he felt. He’d never been this sure about anything in his life. After today, he would never have to spend another night without Cas.

Everything was perfect. Everyone they knew had insisted on helping with the wedding in one way or another. Sam wanted to officiate them, he got his license as soon as he heard the happy news. Eileen had taken the grooms separately to shop for wedding suits, Jack had promised them a warm, sunny day and handmade the invitations with Claire. Jody and Donna had baked their wedding cake, Ellen and Jo contributed a dozen homemade pies, Bobby took care of the bar and the catering. Garth and Bess promised to capture the whole day on their cameras. Gabe offered to be their DJ and Ash took care of all the technical stuff. Rowena had promised them truly magical fireworks at night, while Crowley and Benny were in charge of the security, although that shouldn’t be necessary ever since Jack became god.

Charlie and Dorothy had not only offered their vast, beautiful property as their wedding venue, they had also taken care of the decorations. The ceremony was set to take place on the Southern side of their house. An aisle led through rows of white chairs up to a little lake in front of which they had placed a rectangular wooden arc, decorated with greenery and big white flowers that stood out brightly against the blue water in the background. The Western side of the house was already equipped with a big dance floor around which tables, a big buffet and a bar had been set up. To top it all off, Charly and Dorothy had hanged fairy lights in every single tree on their property, which would create a magical atmosphere at night.

Lost in thoughts, Dean adjusted the flower on his lapel and smiled at the mirror. He never thought that he – Dean fucking Winchester – would ever get married. And yet here he was. His phone buzzed and his smile became even wider as he saw who texted him.

[Cas 10:34] Dean?

[Dean 10:35] What’s up? Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet now😉

[Cas 10:37] No, my feet are perfectly fine, why would they be cold?

Dean rolled his eyes, amused at his fiancé’s confusion.

[Dean 10:37] Not literally, that’s an expression for someone who has second thoughts on their wedding day. What’s going on?

[Cas 10:38] Oh. I see. I’m nervous that I might act weird because I don’t know all wedding customs. So I wanted to ask if you could maybe help me out when I’m about to make a fool out of myself.

[Dean 10:39] Sure thing, sunshine, but don’t worry about acting right, it’s your wedding day, all you have to do is enjoy it. And everybody here knows you’re a little weird😉

Without a knock, Charlie barged in. “What’s up bitch, you ready? Cause your fiancé is and he’s smokin’ hot.” She winked as she noticed Dean’s blushing cheeks. “Yeah, I’m ready. Where’s Bobby?” “Already waiting downstairs for you. I have to go, see you in a few”.  As quick as she had come, she disappeared again. Dean took another glance at the mirror to make sure everything was perfect before he left the room.

Downstairs Bobby and Ellen were laughing over a glass of scotch. When Bobby noticed Dean, he smiled and reached up to adjust his baseball cap, scoffing when he realized that he didn’t wear one today. “Lookin’ good” he grumbled. Ellen gave Bobby a quick peck on his cheek and winked at Dean as she went to take a seat. “I’m glad ya two idjits finally got the sticks out of your asses. Took ya long enough.” Dean chuckled nervously, his cheeks turning red again. “Thanks Bobby. Truth is I still don’t know how I got this lucky.” “Well, ya really deserve this, ya know? You’re a good man. He’s lucky to be with you. And I like him. Never seen you this happy.” After a pause he added “I’m very proud of you son.” Fumbling with the empty glass Ellen had left behind on the table in front of him, Dean replied “Bobby... Thank you. You’ve always been a father for me, unlike John, who... Anyways, thank you. For everything.” Dean swallowed, unable to put his love and gratitude for this man into words, but as he looked up at Bobby’s face, he caught him wiping over suspiciously wet eyes. “Idjit” he grunted, pulling Dean into a bone crushing hug. He nodded at the clock. “Ya ready? We gotta go.” “Ready” Dean replied, and he meant it. He was more than ready for this.

Or maybe he wasn’t. He was more than ready to marry Cas, but he wasn’t prepared for the sight of all his loved ones in one place, alive – thanks to Jack – gathered to celebrate with him. He always thought the only occasion where they’d all come together would be for his funeral, and he didn’t even expect that since most of them had been dead until a few months ago. Grateful and touched to see how many people where there because they loved him and Cas, Dean fought back some tears. While Garth’s kids waddled down the aisle, scattering white rose petals, Bobby squeezed Dean’s arm, as if he could sense all those thoughts whirling in his head. Dean nodded, linked their arms and let Bobby lead him down the aisle where Sammy already waited with a big grin and an even bigger stack of notes for his speech.

Back in the house, Charly gave Cas an encouraging smile and handed him a gorgeous bouquet of white and yellow flowers. “Thank you for leading me down the aisle, I was made aware that that would usually be the responsibility of one’s father...” “There’s nothing usual about this wedding..” Charly teased him. “Besides, you’ve been my bestie ever since we first met, of course I’m gonna walk you down the aisle!” She linked their arms. “Ready?” Cas nodded. “Ready...” Leaning in, he added with a proud smirk “...bestie”. The doors swung open and they stepped outside.

All heads turned around to see Cas, but he didn’t even notice. He was completely captivated by the sight of his fiancé, who let out a little gasp before breaking into a wide smile. His eyes made those cute crinkles that Cas loved so much and as he came closer, he could see a tear roll over Dean’s check. Usually, although Dean had become way more relaxed over the last months, Cas could always sense a lingering alertness in him. But now... he seemed completely at peace. Cas quickly blinked away some tears. He didn’t want anything to cloud his vision, he needed to preserve this image in his mind. His navy-blue suit combined with a simple black tie and a white flower on the lapel suited Dean incredibly well. He was beautiful and Cas’ heart skipped a beat at the thought that it was him who caused the pure adoration and happiness on Dean’s face.

Charlie led Cas towards him with excruciatingly slow steps. Dean could barely restrain himself from running towards them. Cas was indeed smoking hot in his black suit, the baby blue tie perfectly matching the color of his big, loving eyes. Their eyes locked and Cas smiled at him with his adorable alien head tilt. Dean took a deep breath in, smiling at his fiancé, whose eyes glistened suspiciously. Cas seemed completely awestruck, and Dean felt a little lightheaded like he always did when Cas looked at him like that... like he meant the world to him.

Charly placed Cas’ hand in Dean’s. “Hey handsome! Missed me last night?” Dean whispered with a wink. “Hello Dean. I missed you very much indeed”. Murmuring “Me too”, Dean softly leaned his forehead against Cas’. The grooms stood there for a moment with closed eyes and fond smiles on their faces, the longing for each other almost unbearable. Cas finally pulled away and stated softly: “You are incredibly beautiful”. He turned towards Sam. Dean blushed at the seriousness in Cas’ voice and slowly turned to face his brother as well, not without glancing at Cas’ concentrated face once more and shooting him a loving smile from the side. While Sam held his unsurprisingly deep and thoughtful speech, Cas slipped his hand into Dean’s, who squeezed it lightly in response.

When it was time to say their vows, Dean took Cas’ hands in his and started shakily: “So, uhm, I’d like to start if that’s okay. Cas – you’re my best friend. And you’re the love of my life. I never thought I’d ever say something like that, I didn’t exactly think love was in the cards for me. I never let anyone close. But you...” His furrowed brows softened, and he broke into a fond smile, adopting Cas’ little head tilt. “You immediately got to me – well, right after I stabbed you... Sorry for that, buddy.” He winked and Cas chuckled softly. Dean continued, his voice overflowing with love: “I love your weird, quirky personality. I love that you’re such an openhearted, adorable little dude and at the same time you’re brave, strong and one hell of a badass. You never stop surprising me. You have the most loving, pure and beautiful soul.” Dean’s voice started to crack. “You know me better than anyone, heck, you probably even know me better than I know myself. You looked into my soul and you love me for exactly who I am, which is the best gift you could have ever given me.” Firmly holding Cas’ gaze, he added seriously: “I promise to always love and support you unconditionally, in our human life together and beyond. I’ve been yours ever since you first laid a hand on me. And I swear I will be yours for all of eternity. I love you Cas, so damn much.”

Cas looked at him completely lovestruck, tears glistening in his eyes. In a low, gravelly voice he declared: “I never truly belonged anywhere. I never... functioned the way I was supposed to. And you made me realize that that’s okay. That freedom and free will were more preferable than being a brainwashed soldier of heaven. You gave me your friendship, you made me part of your family. You taught me to love.” He cupped Dean’s face, gently brushing his thumb over Dean’s freckled cheeks. Squinting his eyes in adoration at the miracle before him, he added: “You are the most perfect, selfless and loving human being I have ever known.” Tears started rolling down Dean’s cheeks, he still had a hard time accepting that someone – especially Cas – would think so highly of him. Receiving this praise in front of such a big audience made him blush. “Dean, you are my home. I love you. Forever.” He pressed a soft kiss on Dean’s forehead and wiped away his tears. Dean almost drowned in his loving eyes, completely overwhelmed with affection.

Claire and Jack came up to give them their rings. Claire handed Cas a ring and whispered: “Congrats Ca... Dad”. Cas froze up for a second, tilting his head, squinting his eyes, trying to understand if she really just meant that or if it had just slipped out on accident. When she gave him a shy confirming smile, he pulled her into a strong hug. Jack handed Dean a ring with a “Hello Dad” and a short hug, before tugging on Claire’s hand to pull her back to their seats. The almost married couple shared a confused look after what just happened, Dean opening his mouth to ask “Did they just call us..?” “I believe they did”, Cas replied happily.

Sam moved on with the ceremony and let them repeat some more promises to each other before posing the final question: “Do you, Castiel, take Dean Winchester as your lawfully wedded husband?” Cas answered earnestly “I do.” Sam turned to Dean to repeat his question: “Do you, Dean Winchester, take Castiel as your lawfully wedded husband?” Dean grinned widely, eyes crinkling around the edges: “Hell yeah, I do!” Sam asked them to exchange their rings to seal their bond and Cas took Dean’s hand gently in his. He slipped the ring on slowly, looking deeply into Dean’s beaming green eyes. Dean then slipped a ring onto Cas’ finger, his fingertips lingering longer than necessary. Sam finally pronounced them “...husband and husband. You may now kiss your groom!” Under the roaring cheers of their loved ones, Dean cupped Cas’ face while his husband pulled him close, arms wrapped around his waist. Their lips found each other easily, all of their adoration blooming into a chaste, soft kiss. Cas spontaneously bent Dean backwards, who gasped into his mouth in surprise, before letting himself fall into the strong embrace. Their kiss deepened, both too far gone to hear the excited cheers and whistles around them. It took them a while to gather the strength to break apart, foreheads resting against each other for one more moment before turning to the cheering crowd. Dean linked their hands and raised them up, as Sam exclaimed loudly: “I present to you Mr. and Mr. Winchester!”

The party afterwards was one for the books. Everyone had a blast and surprisingly enough, everyone got along perfectly, which wasn’t exactly a given on a party were hunters and supernatural beings came together. Donna’s and Jody’s wedding cake was mind-blowingly delicious. It was a white cake with three tiers and a figurine of the happy couple on top, wearing their trademark flannel and trenchcoat. When they cut the cake open, it revealed a colorful surprise. The top tier was colored like the bisexual pride flag. The second tier was chocolate-brown and the bottom tier looked like a rainbow flag. Dean insisted on feeding Cas with some cake and “accidentally” smeared frosting on Cas’ face. After he had kissed it away shamelessly, which earned them loud cheers and whistles from their guests, Dean pulled his husband onto the dance floor for their first dance.

They both didn’t exactly know how to dance, but it didn’t matter. They were just happy to feel the comforting warmth of their bodies against each other and melted into a tight embrace. As they were swaying gently, eyes closed and faces buried in each other’s necks, they didn’t realize that the first song had long blended into the next one. After a couple of songs, Dean opened his eyes for a moment, watching all the people he loved enjoy themselves. Jody and Donna slow-danced next to them and Eileen tried to teach Sam how to dance, hoping not to get her toes crushed. The brothers exchanged a big smile that said: “We’re so damn lucky”. Rowena stood at the DJ-table with Gabe, brushing a hand over his arm and whispering something in his ear. Crowley and Benny seemed to hit it off at the bar and Claire and Jack tried to teach Sonny some “tictoc-dance”, whatever that was, while Miracle excitedly jumped around their feet. Dean closed his eyes again and sank even deeper into the feeling of Cas’ arms wrapped around him.

The party carried on deep into the night, roaring rock classics long having replaced the quiet couple-dance music, everyone partying on the dance floor or sharing stories and laughs at the bar. As the newlyweds sat down to chat with Sam and Eileen over some drinks, Cas looked at his husband lovingly. He was overjoyed to see Dean beaming happily from being among all the people he loved, no danger in sight. As Dean caught Cas starring, he gave him a gentle peck and got up. He linked their hands as they strolled towards the lake, the party sounds fading into low background noises. They leaned up against each other, the reflections of stars and fairy lights glistening on the water as they held each other close in the cold night air. Dean nuzzled his nose into Cas’ hair and pressed a gentle kiss on his head. Cas turned to see Dean’s glowing eyes and pulled him into a long, achingly tender kiss. They were home.

[cuddles-with-bucky]

My Face, Your Boxers

Bucky X Reader

Authors Notes: Written for @the-ss-horniest-book-club​​ and thank you so much for allowing me to combine these two amazing prompts together!!! Hope I did it justice!

Warnings: Enemies to lovers, pranks, language, sexual tension, talks of sex, implied smut.

Words 2,372

Prompts:

Y/N and Bucky have never got along and are always bickering. One day, he decides to prank her by changing all of her lace underwear to briefs with his face all over them.

Bucky has a date tonight and reader changes all of his boxers to “Pardon My Hardon” boxers.

The boxers:

“You’re putting way too much milk on your cereal, doll.” Bucky elbowed you, almost knocking you off the stool and spilling the milk everywhere.

“Fuck off and mind your own business.” You gritted through your teeth, wanting to knock that smug grin off his stupid face. 

“Ah, young love.” Sam teased as he walked casually into the kitchen that was thick with sexual tension, no thanks to you and Barnes. You shot him a glare, pouring your milk carelessly over your cereal.

“Y/N seriously, fucking leave some milk for the rest of us!” Bucky warned, reaching over and snatching the bottle from your hand.

“Stop being up my ass all the damn time Barnes.” You said, scooping some cereal up on a spoon and shoveling it into your mouth. “If you want me to fuck you up the ass doll, all you gotta do is ask.” 

“I’m out!” Sam announced, grabbing an orange and leaving quickly, leaving just you and Bucky alone in the kitchen which was always a very bad idea since you didn’t get along with the man. 

You’re not really sure why, ever since he came to the compound, he acted cold and distant with you despite your warm welcoming and months later, he became the biggest dick. 

“I wouldn’t fuck you if you were the last man on earth.” You argued, loved pushing his squishy buttons. Despite him being an enormous asshole, he was so easy to piss off and you loved it.

“Hypothetical question, why?” Bucky pressed, taking a seat next to you and watched in amusement as you kept on shoveling the cereal in your mouth. 

“Well first of all; you’re always sweaty and disgusting and I imagine you grunt a fucking lot. And secondly; I repeat my first point. Thirdly; I’m best friends with my vibrator that always lets me cum first. Something I don’t see you doing.” 

“Aww, you jealous doll ‘cause you don’t have a man to know, lick you and fuck you into the mattress?” Bucky smirked, leaning his forearms on the counter.

“Jealous? HA. I actually feel quite sorry for any poor woman underneath you as you drip your disgusting sweat on her face. I’m GRATEFUL for that. Besides, wouldn’t want your dentures to fall out as you sucked the life out of me, plus, I’m a really nice person, now please, fuck off and have a great day.” 

“Whatever you say, doll.” Bucky chuckled, drawing the pet name out since he knew how much it annoyed you. He was getting up to leave and missed the spoon being launched at his head by seconds. 

“Sergeant Barnes?” The AI beeped as Bucky walked into the common room. 

“What is it, FRIDAY?” Bucky asked, looking up in the air. 

“A parcel has arrived and Mr Stark has left it in your room, sir.” 

Bucky laughed knowing exactly what the parcel was, and it was all planned perfectly since you would be out of the compound most of today. 

Bucky hurried back to his room and unpacked the parcel that was sitting on his bed, he cut the tape and laughed maniacally as he pulled the new custom ordered underwear out of the box. He spent hundreds of dollars on this and it had to go right. 

He put a few hundred into a separate bag and hid the box in his closet in case someone decided to barge in like they normally did. Bucky exited his bedroom, walking down to the other end of the hall where your room was, just as he was about to go in, you came out.

“What?” You asked confused, putting your keys and phone in your pocket. 

“I was- I thought you were out?” Bucky stammered, subtly moving the bag of underwear behind his back so you couldn’t get a peek. 

“God, what are you, my husband? If you really must know, I’m just leaving so leave your testicles in your pants and stay out of my room. I remember what you did last time and I don’t want another cleaning bill.” 

“Yes ma’am.” Bucky saluted. He was amused you didn’t even wonder why he was outside your door, or maybe you did and just didn’t care since Bucky always did go out of his way to annoy the fuck of you. Him being there was nothing to you.

While Bucky sneaked into your room, you had your own secret meeting with a friend in Brooklyn. You knew Bucky had a date tonight, because he’s talked about it non stop since last week and since he embarrassed you on your last date, you figured a little paycheck was overdue. Your friend had ordered you over 300 pairs of boxers. Boxers you were planning to plant in Bucky’s dresser so his date could freak the hell out. 

You were an observant person, and his sweatpants never hid anything that great. The man constantly walked around with a boner, it was so obvious so these boxers were true, but you know, they would excuse it for him when his date sees him. You couldn’t wait to see the look on his face. 

Bucky pulled all your lace panties out and threw him carelessly onto your bed, including your bras. He unpacked the new briefs and folded them neatly into the top two drawers of your dresser, snickering as he saw the print on them. It was probably quite a childish prank, but he was sure you’d get a kick out of it.

Once Bucky was done, he put your laced panties in the bag he brought with him and left your room undisturbed and went back to his to hide the panties and meet Steve at the bar for a few beers. 

You actually passed Bucky in the lobby, just as he stepped out, you were about to step in. He noticed a box in your hands, around the same size as the one he had delivered and snickered. How ironic would it be if you pranked with him the same underwear. 

“Whatcha got there dollface?” Bucky purred, adjusting his leather jacket. You couldn’t deny he looked smoking hot in his black outfit. “More dildos?” He teased.

You snickered and stepped into the elevator. “Why? Jealous they might be bigger than you Barnes?” You cackled, pressing the button to your. 

“STAY OUT OF MY ROOM!” You heard him yell just as the doors closed. 

If anyone was to blame for this prank, it would be Bucky for leaving his damn door unlocked and making it too easy. You had no problem breaking into his room and removing his tattered and worn boxers, some with holes where the wiener would be, why he had a fucking hole there was anyone’s guess, you’d like to think it was because he probably rubbed one out every time he was alone in this room. 

You replaced his ragged old boxers with some lovely new ones. They were red with a black waistband. The imprint on the front where his bulge would be read “Pardon My Hardon.” To now, you cackled like crazy every time you read it. You could imagine the look on his face, and also his date’s face. 

Apparently, he was hoping to get lucky tonight. With these boxers, that’s not gonna happen. This was their first date after all. Once you hid his old boxers under the bed, you proceeded with the second part of your plan to make sure he would wear these and not notice them; remove all lightbulbs from his room. You paid Tony in good faith to cut the electricity for tonight when Bucky would be in his room changing anyway, but to be sure Tony didn’t follow through on his promise for some reason, you needed to remove the lights just in case. 

You clapped your hands when you got the last light bulb out, also throwing them under his bed and left his room undisturbed. 

Now you just had to wait.

***

Bucky returned back to the compound around 8 p.m and already it was dark outside. The heavy rain clouds that lingered over NYC ended daylight quicker than expected. To make matters worse, the storm had cut electricity out in the compound. Candles were lit everywhere, except for Bucky’s room since he just needed a quick wash and change of clothes. His eyes had never let him down before and he knew his room like the back of his hand. 

He closed the curtains in his room and walked into the bathroom, washing his face and hands and patting himself dry with a towel he felt around for. 

Bucky could hear the distinctive chatter from his teammates down the hall as they sat in the common room talking about the storm. Thunder and lightning came suddenly and the rain pelted against the floor-to-window panes. This storm came suspiciously quickly. Considering he was aware Thor was in town.

But these thoughts never really crossed his mind and he didn’t piece it together. He was thinking about Dot and his date tonight. He whipped his black jeans off along with his boxers, opening the drawer, he felt around for a pair and grabbed them.

His fingertips traced along the waistband until he felt the silk label and slipped into them. They felt a little tighter than usual, but Bucky had been working on beefing up again. 

Bucky reached into his closet and pulled a clean pair of jeans off the hanger and slipped them on. He next removed his shirt and picked a button up off the hanger on the other side of the closet. When he was dressed and happy, he sprayed some cologne around his throat and neck, picked up his leather jacket off the bed and left his room. 

He walked a little down the hall when your door suddenly ripped open, scaring the shit out of him. He stumbled and put his hand over his heart.

“Did you seriously fucking change my underwear to your stupid face?!” You gritted through your teeth. 

“I did.” He shrugged, smirking as he now leaned against the doorframe. “Now you will always have me between your legs, doll.” Bucky teased, licking his dry lips. 

You huffed out a laugh and shook your head. You’d never tell him, but you actually really liked the briefs. They were exceptionally comfortable and you find them funny. You couldn’t imagine the look on a man’s face though as he peeled them off you.

“You have a date tonight right?” You questioned, the candlelight behind you just about makes out his features. 

“I do, so no need to wait up. I’ll leave some earplugs in the common room so we don’t keep you awake.” 

You laughed, there was no way he was getting any tonight with those boxers he was most likely wearing. 

“Enjoy the *squeak, squeak, squeak*” You teased, imitating his squeaky mattress that you heard often.

“Enjoy your vibrators that you had delivered today.” He retorted. You snorted and retreated back into your room, slamming the door unintentionally in his face.

***

You didn’t know what time it was when you fell asleep. Once Bucky had left earlier, you found Tony and Thor and thanked them with a hug each for their part in your plan. Let’s face it, without them, this wouldn’t have worked. But it seemed you were right and Bucky really was that naive. 

You’re not sure what woke you up either, you thought you heard a knock on your door but it must have been in your dream. You rolled onto your back and stretched, putting your arm under your pillow, you just started to doze off again when the knock came louder this time. 

You glared towards the door, rolling over to flick a lamp on and dragged yourself from the comfort of your bed towards it. You opened the door and on the other side stood a rather tired and unamused Bucky Barnes. 

“Barnes? Are you lost, you’re room is down the hall on-”

“What the fuck did you do to my boxers?” He seethed, his jaw and fists clenched. You rubbed your eyes and chuckled, angering Bucky more. 

“Oh, you saw them.” Is all you said, his eyes flickering down to his custom briefs. He couldn’t help but become aroused when he saw a slight wet spot and your nipples tenting underneath your tank top. 

“No, Dot saw them and she was fucking horrified!” 

“Poor Dot. You know, they are really funny and I’m sorry but if she couldn’t take the joke then maybe she isn’t the one for you.” You stated, folding your arms across your chest and resting them under your breasts, the swells of your breasts now threatening to spill out. 

Bucky said nothing as he took a step towards you. You remained still in your place, his breath fanned over your face. 

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe then I don’t want another man between your legs, on briefs or otherwise.” Bucky sighed. Your arms dropped down by your side and Bucky took the opportunity to reach out and take on, guiding it to his hard bulge. Your hand squeezed him and he moaned quietly. 

“If you want this, if you really want me, then I suggest you get in here and get your face between my legs for real.” 

“If I knew planting briefs with my face on them would make me fuck you, I’d have done it months ago.” Bucky chuckled, his hands on your waist as he walked you backwards. He kicked the door closed with his foot, guiding you two back towards the bed until your knees hit the side of the mattress. Bucky kneeled on the floor before you, his fingers hovering on the waistband of the briefs. 

“Are you sure?” Bucky asked, needing to hear you say it. “I know we hate each-”

“I don’t hate you. And I’m sure. Please…” 

“Good, me neither. Once I start, I’m not gonna be able to stop.”

“Then don’t stop.” That’s all Bucky needed to hear. Once those words left your lips, your briefs were ripped from your body and your legs thrown over his broad shoulders. His tongue diving in between your seeping folds.

[op-peccatori]

coup de foudre | MLQC Shaw/Ling Xiao (M)

Fandom: Mr Love: Queen’s Choice

Pairing: Fem!Reader/Shaw

Rating: 18+/Explicit/NSFW

Words: 5k

Summary: He hadn’t planned on getting sucked in, unable and unwilling to free himself. But they’ve all had their chances and now, it’s his turn.

coup de foudre (‘stroke of lightning’): a sudden unforeseen event, in particular, an instance of love at first sight

A/N: i have nothing to say. except that this was supposed to be a filthy hookup thing but I should have known better. please...don't look at me lmao

(tags under the cut)

Warnings/Tags: explicit sexual content, mild language, vaginal sex, ... minor electric play, please don’t try this at home, chapter 19/20 spoilers...ish

Rain-soaked bangs cling to a crinkling forehead, hanging over amber eyes squinting through the unforgiving downpour. 

His heart pounds, tremulous and worried, within the confines of his chest–because of all the running, he tells himself repeatedly–as the heavy soles of his combat boots splash through puddles, drawing peeved looks from the people passing by. 

Annoyance and concern twist and twine around his lungs as there’s no sign of that familiar face, the sparks on the tips of his fingers deadly in his urgency, and if he doesn’t find what he’s looking for right now–

The fates conspire as the thought crosses his mind, as if unwilling to draw his ire, and his path leads him to a park near Loveland University. There aren’t a lot of people nearby or in the park itself; he wanders in through the wrought iron gate, already thinking of turning back and going back to the cafe in the hope that you’ll be there–and then he catches a glimpse of the now-familiar silhouette, curled up on a bench, seemingly unbothered by the rain.

Drenched to the bone with your hair glued to your face and your clothes clinging to your skin in a way he tries really hard not to notice, you almost remind him of a lost kitten he’d come across as a child. Even the way you shiver is similar, although the way his body responds to you is very different.

You haven’t noticed him yet. Your palms are spread open in front of you, exposed to your unfocused gaze. There’s a sinking feeling in his chest as the thought of why you’re here comes to mind, so close to a man you should be staying far away from. 

Shaw swallows the lump in his throat, mouth curving in that cocky way he knows will annoy you. With any hope, enough to wipe that miserable look off your face. 

“There you are,” he calls, grinning at the way you jump and twist in place. Your eyes flash with immediate recognition and he’s near sickened by the elation that courses through him. You know him now, and that shouldn’t delight him half as much as it does. 

It’s just because it would piss, well, quite a lot of people off.

“Oh, it’s you.” Your eyes, previously dull, spark with curiosity. “Shaw.”

“Mm.” There’s an umbrella clutched in his hand, one he’d brought along with you in mind, but it feels awkward in his grip now. He wants to open it and tug you closer, draw you into his arms and warm you up; he tosses the umbrella at you instead, trying to keep from shuffling in place as you stare at it in quiet surprise. “Y’know, I like parks as much as the next guy, but this isn’t really the kind of weather you should be out in.”

“More friendly advice?” you ask, eyes twinkling, and his mouth dries up. You sigh and open the device he so thoughtfully handed you. You don’t think you can get any wetter, but you might as well use it. “I know. I just...” 

Visited Loveland Uni. Ran into Lu-Ares. You had felt so drained, so defeated, that you had, in all your wisdom, decided to stop by the park you had frequented so often with the professor by your side. It hadn’t been your intention to be caught in this rain.

“What are you doing here?” you ask instead. 

He clears his throat, not wanting to answer or continue standing around here. But with your eyes fixed on him so intently, he isn’t sure if he’s even capable of moving a muscle, let alone leave. 

“I was just passing by. Saw you here, lookin’ like a drowned rat, and I’m just too nice to walk away.” 

“Sure you are.” You get up with some effort, hating the way your clothes stick to you, missing the way he stiffens. You raise the umbrella until it covers most of him and you, stepping closer and steering your thoughts away from the heat you feel coming off him. “Well, thank you.” 

“No problem. We’re friends now, yeah?” He watches you, your small smile, and the way it twitches before it crumbles, his heart lurching as you drop your forehead onto his chest. “You okay?” 

He resists the urge to curl himself around you.

“Yeah.” His hand comes up to rest on your head. He had meant for it to feel like he’s petting a cute animal, but instead, he wants to take his glove off so he can feel your hair in all his tangled glory. He ruffles it gently, and your hand comes up to fist in his shirt. “...No, not really.” 

“Thought so. Think you could go mope somewhere drier?” 

“I’m not moping,” you grumble, pulling away, much to his disappointment. “But yeah. Mind walking me home?” 

“Sure. I don’t have anything better to do, thanks for asking,” he drawls, taking the umbrella from you and drawing closer as you begin to walk out of the park. He’s overcome, just for a moment, by the urge to grab your hand. 

It’s funny, he thinks. He’d thought the rest of them pathetic for the lengths they’d go to for you, the way they seemed to orbit around you as if you were the centre of their worlds. Even now, despite having no recollection of you, they aren’t impervious to your pull.

And neither is Shaw. 

All he had planned on doing was to wait and watch, derive amusement from you stumbling around like a lost little lamb, help out whenever the mood struck him.  But ever since that one time he’d sat next to you on the bus, watching you study him suspiciously, the way you had fidgeted when his jean-clad thigh pressed into yours–ever since then, a certain, dark hunger had taken root in him. 

It was when he ran into you here, separated from your guard dogs, that he realized it was just you and him. For now, but it was still a golden opportunity to play with you. To touch you. 

He hadn’t expected to be drawn in like the rest. To want you so bad it filled him with warmth on the best of days and burned him inside out on the worst of them. 

“If you had anything better to do, you wouldn’t have come looking for me in this kind of weather.” 

Shaw scoffs, refusing to turn his head and expose himself to your knowing gaze. 

You know better though. Not with how often he seems to find you no matter where you are in the city. It’s something he has in common with a certain someone, and the thought has you aching with something bitter. 

Your current companion may be a strange one but you can’t deny the relief you feel when he’s around; he’s the only person in this strange new world who remembers you, who knows things aren’t quite right. He doesn’t seem to care much, but you’re grateful for his presence nonetheless. 

It’s with that thought in mind that you come to a stop. “I...don’t want to go home.” The silence had been particularly stifling today, prompting your escape, even if it was to grey skies and raging clouds. 

Shaw studies you carefully, the stubborn set of your jaw and the quick flicker of panic in your eyes. You look like you expect him to mock and dismiss you, and while the former would be all too easy, he can’t dismiss your subtle request.

And living up to expectations has never been his style.

Saying no to spending more time with you? He’s not an idiot. He’ll take his entertainment where he can get it, and things around you are never dull. 

“Alright. Wanna come over to my place?” 

The words are out before he could rethink them, and he prays you don’t take it in the wrong way. 

“I mean, we can find something to make you feel better.” Ugh, shut up, Shaw.

Would it be so bad, though–

Yes, it would. You’re not his to take. No matter how badly his mouth waters at the very thought of getting a taste, of sinking his teeth into your skin; no matter how often dreams of you shake him awake with sparks crackling along his limbs, his pants embarrassingly tight. 

You agree without much thought, and he wants to scold you for it. You trust too easily, even after everything with that Professor. 

“Come on, then.” Because his body and mind slip from his control whenever you’re around, his thoughts turn to the dream he’d woken up from last night, hard and throbbing with raging lust, fingers trembling as they were forced to his cock. He had still been half-asleep as he spilt himself onto his sheets, shame eventually creeping up his spine as his mind drifted toward awareness. 

You’re oblivious to the turn his mind has taken, wrapped up in your own thoughts. You have so many questions, most of which you know by now won’t get an answer. But as he leads you up the stairs in a small building, you’re caught off guard by the thrill of anticipation building in you. Your eyes linger on the broad expanse of his back, the studded leather jacket stretching over his shoulders, the way his jeans cling to the round curve of his ass.

“I’m in the mood for pizza. There’s a great place nearby, if you’re cool with it. Oh, we could watch–“ He pauses just outside the door to 3B, fingers hovering over the keypad. “Oh, uh, give me a few minutes.” 

With that he taps in the password and slips into the apartment, leaving you outside, perplexed. You wait in silence, realizing quickly that he hadn’t exactly expected to bring a guest along, and hadn’t had a chance to clean up, if that’s what he’s doing. 

‘Maybe he’s hiding stuff. Clues to the current situation,’ you think suspiciously, before dismissing the idea. You’ve come here to spend time with a new friend, not snoop around. For the first time in what feels like ever, you’re not going to snoop. You’re going to eat pizza and watch whatever Shaw had been about to mention. You need a goddamn break and you’re going to take it. 

The door opens then, with Shaw’s head still turned away as he appears to sweep his eyes over the room once more, as if checking to make sure everything’s in place. 

“Right, come on in,” he steps back to let you through, glancing around the hallway before closing the door. You slip your shoes off at the entrance, looking around curiously as you step into the room, smiling gratefully when he hands you a towel. 

His jacket is hanging on a rack at the entrance, leaving him in his shirt. His bangs are slicked back and there’s a towel around his neck, the beads wrapped around his wrist clattering as he dabs one end of the towel over his skin. It all makes an enticing, domestic picture, one that has you swallowing nervously.

“Nice place,” you comment, hiding a smile as you spot what looks like a pair of boxers next to the couch, pretending not to notice when he kicks the garment behind it. 

“Thanks. Um, do you maybe wanna change?” Neither of you had considered your soaked clothes, and you feel like a complete idiot. 

Shaw, on the other hand, has to tear his eyes away from the sheer fabric of your shirt, the way it hints at the tempting swell of your breasts. It’d be better for you both if you spend the rest of your time together in a sweatshirt. 

“...That would be really great, thank you.”  

“Wait here, I’ll go, uh, find you something to wear.” 

You feel awful about putting him out like this, but he’s vanished through a door before you can say anything, and you focus on drying your hair. He comes back with a bundle of clothes and an endearingly nervous expression. 

“I thought it might be better if you just shower, if you want to, I mean. I mean, do whatever, I’ll just order us some food,” Shaw mumbles, handing you the clothes. 

“Are you sure? I don’t mind waiting, you can go first,” you offer awkwardly, laughing weakly when he rolls his eyes and pushes you towards the bathroom. 

“And that’s very gracious of you, but you’ll catch a cold if you don’t get warm soon, so go.” It’s more of a demand than anything and you can’t help the ‘yes sir’ as you shuffle towards the door. “Mushroom and cheese okay with you?” 

“That’s my favourite!” you call back, closing the door behind you as you step into the bathroom. Placing the clothes on the counter, you take in the products scattered over the surface. Namely, the various types of hair products and perfumes. 

Cute. 

You feel oddly shy as you undress, mind swimming with scenarios involving Shaw stumbling into the bathroom somehow while you’re naked. You can almost picture the flushed cheeks he tries so hard to hide, the slight bobbing of his throat you’ve caught so often, and the way he tries to avert his eyes but fails.  The thought of him pressing you into the tiled walls has you clenching, your cheeks blazing as you turn on the water.

You wonder if he’s thinking about you naked in his shower right now. 

What you don’t know is how right you are, and how miserable it’s making him. Shaw has never felt the kind of shameful thrill that races through him now, as a part of him wonders what you would do if he joins you, if he sinks to his knees and licks into you like a starved, depraved creature.

You're out in ten minutes, smelling of his favourite body wash, and it takes everything in him not to bury his nose in your neck. That scent has never smelled half as good on him as it does on you. Your cheeks are still rosy from the shower, and he watches mutely as you wrap a towel around your head.

Then, with a smothered groan, he realizes you’re in his old sweatshirt and shorts, both too baggy and more adorable than he’d expected. 

Fuck. 

“I’m done! Thank you, Shaw,” you murmur softly, and he nods, dazed and dismayed at the thought of having to tighten his leash. 

“You can put your clothes in the dryer.” He shows you to the machine, starting it for you before handing you his laptop, surprisingly you with the show of trust. “Don’t snoop around too much. You can’t blame me if you find something you don’t want to see.” With the taunt thrown, he turns on his heel and saunters off.

You browse YouTube for a bit before setting the laptop aside and curling up on the couch. It’s been a few days since you woke up in this reality, but it feels like forever. You had almost forgotten what safety felt like. And you can’t quite believe you feel that way with Shaw. 

A mesh of stress and worry wound tight in your chest for so long, finally loosens a little as your limbs relax, and you nearly melt onto the cushion as you drift off, knowing you’re not alone, for once not uneasy at the thought. 

He finds you dozing lightly, tiptoeing into the room, crouching down once he reaches you. The frown that had come to find a near-permanent place on your face seems to have almost faded, and his thumb comes to rub away the last traces of it from your brow. 

Shaw’s eyes, lidded and intent, come to rest on your parted mouth, and yearning throbs hot in his belly. His fingers, helpless against the softness of your skin, trace the sharp bridge of your nose, your full cheeks, the plump curve of your lips. He’s so transfixed by the sight, fighting back the urge to dip his head for just a quick taste, that it takes him a moment to realize he’s being watched. 

Caught, he locks eyes with you and freezes, his pulse quickening when he sees no sign of fear or distrust in them. Instead, you tilt your head the slightest bit and–his breath catches in his throat when he feels your tongue flick at the rough pad of his thumb. 

Stunned, he can only watch as your mouth parts further to suck the tip in, tongue stroking it in an erotic imitation of an act he’s only ever dreamed of.

It’s when your lips curl up, amused by his stupefied expression, that he frees the digit from your mouth with a low pop and daubs the wetness from it down your chin. You don’t say a word but the look in your eyes tells him everything he needs to know; he’s shaken by the way desire seizes him then, roaring and commanding him to take, to please, to wreck.

“You’ve had a bad day,” he tells you, hoarsely and weak in the face of his burning thirst, pulling his hand back. 

“I’ve had a bad month. But I thought you brought me here to make me feel better?” you ask, blinking innocently as you rise up, leaning your weight on one elbow.

His low chuckle sets your nerves alight, as does the way his eyes can’t seem to decide between staying fixed on your eyes and mouth. “With pizza and Netflix.” 

“Mm. You can just say no,” you say, even though you’re already leaning in. Your lips brush the corner of his and he sucks in a sharp breath, eyes sliding shut as he feels your breath on his face, warm and beckoning.

You must know that he–

“I can’t,” he breathes and captures your mouth with his. He can’t fathom a situation where he would deny you, when you’re ready and willing to let him in. When he’s been longing for this for so long. 

It’s slow, a sweet claiming, relief and destruction bound together intimately. Any thoughts of resistance are abandoned, left in the dust for the exquisite flavour of your mouth. He groans at the slow drag of your teeth over his lip, shifting onto the couch to lean over you without breaking contact, tilting his head to go deeper, take more.

Satisfaction courses through him, visceral and grasping, as you turn onto your back, hands clenching in his shirt to pull him down from his careful hovering. 

You’re lost, sinking into each other with every moan, your fingers digging into his shoulders as his finally tangle in your hair. His tongue slides along yours, and you’re overwhelmed by the desire to feel every inch of him, on you, in you, firm and warm.

“Good,” you gasp out, planting swift kisses along his jaw before he groans and crushes his mouth against yours again, intent on having his fill, knowing he never will; he will never get enough. His hand, splayed across your abdomen, slides down. He can nearly feel the coiled tension in you, desperate for him to unravel it, begging for his attention.

The doorbell rings, startling and shrill.

Shaw pulls away, breathing hard, the tips of your noses brushing. You pant lightly, a moan stuck low in your throat as you feel his hard bulge pressing into your belly. His desire is an unmistakable as yours; you ache to take his cock in you, your lust for him dripping from your cunt. 

His amber eyes, glossed over as he fights to control himself, clear slightly at the second ring. 

“I’ll be right there,” he yells in the direction of the door, before diving in to kiss you, hard and quick, all teeth and tongue, and then he rips himself away and staggers over to the door; your soft whine rings in his ears and chipping away at his composure. 

He greets the delivery man with a strained grin, his mind occupied with the temptress he left on his couch. The man eyes him weirdly as he takes the cash, taking in the state of his hair and lips, eyes flitting over his head; he averts his eyes when Shaw sheds his pleasant demeanour, his expression edged with threat. He grabs the pizza, shooting a quick thanks at the man and barely restrains himself from slamming the door shut.

The haze of desire lifts. You’re probably hungry, and he needs to think. 

You have other plans.

He’s barely left the boxes on the counter and turned around before he finds himself with an armful of determined girl pressing up against him, arms wrapping around his neck as you press your mouth to his. 

“Ah, baby,” it slips out and he blushes at the low, needy sound that escapes you. “D-don’t you wanna eat-?” 

“I want you,” you say, demanding and fierce and he doesn’t stand a chance. “Please, Shaw.” 

His hands are clutching at the backs of your thighs before his mind can catch up, hauling you up until your legs wrap around his hips. A lazy grin splits his lips at the squeal that escapes you, that then melts into a moan as he sucks your tongue into his mouth. 

He presses you into the wall and drags his tongue down the length of your neck, pleased by the way you shiver. “You need to be specific.” 

His teeth sink into pliant flesh and the back of your head hits the wall, hips bucking up involuntarily. “Ah, I-I–“

“You want something, baby?” His hands knead the plump flesh of your ass as he sucks a blooming mark into your skin. “You gotta ask for it.” 

He lets you slip down, just a little until you can feel him against you, just as desperate but better at controlling it, and using it against you.

“I-I want you to touch me, Shaw.” The heel of his palm slips between your bodies to press between your thighs, putting enough pressure that you grind your hips into it, desperate for the friction. 

“Like this?” he asks, smirking impishly when you glare at him in frustration, pulling at his hair.

“More,” you whine. He laughs and adjusts his grip so he can carry you further down the hall. 

“Tch. Greedy.” You nip at his earlobe in retaliation and his hands squeeze your ass in warning, this time as a warning–one you dismiss right away.

“I want your cock too,” you whisper, so softly he would’ve missed it if your lips weren’t ghosting the shell of his ear, your cunning tongue tracing the delicate skin. “I want you to fuck me, use me–“ 

The rest of your words are lost in a yelp as he throws you onto the bed, slipping his T-shirt off with one hand as he reaches for your ankle with the other. His abdomen, all taut muscle, his shorts resting low on his hips–you could run your fingers all over him for hours. The skies flash through the window, angry and eager, the rain still falling mercilessly, and you think it matches the look in his face perfectly.  

“Careful what you wish for, baby,” he says in a half purr, his eyes dark with ruthless promise as he drags you closer. “I won’t be so nice if you tease me.” 

His thumbs hook into the waistband of your (his) shorts and tug them down, only to pause, swallowing the sudden flood of moisture in his mouth as your glistening cunt is exposed to his ravenous gaze.

“My underwear got wet earlier,” you hurry to explain, nervous and embarrassed at the way he’s staring at you, his tongue darting out to wet his mouth.

“Your underwear isn’t the only thing-” He’s cut off by his own laughter as you kick him lightly in the stomach, attempting to close your legs–that he puts a stop to at once. “Now, now. I’m not complaining.” The foxy curve of his lips meets the arch of your foot, sliding across the skin over your ankle. He crawls onto the bed as he kisses his way up your leg, the tip of his tongue dipping into the crease at the back of your knee.

You can only watch in breathless silence as he nips his way up the tender flesh of your thigh, never breaking the meeting of your eyes. He parts your legs, fingers slipping through your slick curls to spread your folds before a long digit pushes in.

“So wet. Is it all for me?” 

Shaw’s gaze doesn’t waver once and you throw your head back, cunt clenching around his finger and heart racing from the hunger in his face.

A second finger slides in, rubbing at your slick walls as you moan and rock your hips up. You glance at him, teeth digging into your lip at the sight of his pupils blowing wide as he looks at his fingers coated with your arousal. 

“Look at you,” he growls, pumping his fingers faster as his tongue flicks at your swelling clit and you whimper and try to jerk your hips away. “Who would’ve thought you’d be such a dirty slut, begging for my fingers.” 

With his other hand, he pushes the hem of your sweatshirt up until your breasts spill free from beneath it, the cloth folded under your chin. His hot mouth tugs at a nipple, nipping and sucking as his fingers stroke you to a slow ruin. 

“Shaw.” You’re half cursing, half pleading and then you’re yelling in outrage as he slips his hand away. “You ass–“ But your voice dies in your throat when you spy him tugging at the cords of his shorts, yanking them down his hips. You can’t even call him out on his own lack of underwear, distracted as you are by his cock, by the way his lips close around his fingers as he licks them clean.

He lashes flutter at the taste, the little sample of your flavour rich on his tongue, and he vows to spend more time with his face buried between your legs, to grab a proper meal. His mouth waters at the thought of you coming on his tongue.

“You sure about this?” He asks, reaching into a drawer in his bedside table and pulling out a square foil.

You lock eyes with him and it hits you. You’ve got a lot, and nothing at all on your plate, you have mysteries to chase and thing to set right, because you’re in a reality where nobody remembers you. Nobody, except for this gorgeous, infuriatingly cavalier man standing in front of you, stroking his cock slowly and waiting for your permission. 

You deserve this, damn it. 

“Absolutely,” you respond with a touch of finality, rising up to your knees to reach for him, sliding the sweatshirt off as you go. His knee rests on the bed as your fingers wrap around his length, covered by his own as you prime him together, drawing the first drop of arousal from his tip.

He kisses you, once, twice, and then again. Your lips slide down his throat, placing sweet, wet kisses along the flexing muscle of his shoulders. Down and down you go, dipping your tongue into his bellybutton, smiling at the way his hips jerk. 

You glance up at him and open your mouth, lips forming a wide O, tongue out; he shoots a prayer up before guiding the head of his cock in. 

His fingers dig into the back of your head as you swallow as much of his thick length as you can, tongue pressing flat as you move back and forth along it. His thrusts are shallow, his scent musky as your nose brushes his unruly curls. 

“Pretty, pretty baby,” Shaw growls, the sweet words warped and filthy as they fall from his lips, hands tugging at your hair. “You look perfect like this, with my cock in your mouth.” 

Your moan vibrates around him and he stiffens, easing you off, plucking the condom off the bed and ripping it open.

“As much as I’d love to,” he mutters, pushing you onto your back, climbing over you fluidly. “You asked to be fucked, and I intend to deliver.” 

He fits himself between your legs, kneeling between them as he slides the latex on. You can’t help but clench in anticipation, watching him position himself at your entrance. 

“Last chance,” he whispers, teasingly. He isn’t completely sure if he can stop, if you do choose to tell him to. You look beautiful, your hair spilt across his messy bedspread and your eyes, vulnerable and filled with desire, waiting for him. 

He slides the head of his cock along your folds and a shudder runs through you.

“Fuck me,” you rasp, eyes sliding shut as he slides in. Your thoughts, your problems, your loneliness–everything numbs and fades away. All you smell is him, sharp and heady. All you feel is him, his cock sheathed in you and his lips on your cheek. 

“As my lady commands,” he mutters sarcastically, with a touch of sincerity as he grinds against you, drawing a sweet moan from you. Your walls squeeze him, hot and slick and possessive, pleasure sinking into his bones, scraping him raw; he will never let you go, now that he has you. It doesn’t matter which world or which reality you find yourselves in. 

‘You’re mine now,’ he thinks darkly, greedily. He, who refuses to tie himself to any side, will bind himself to you so deeply you will never escape him. He will sink his claws so deep they would never be able to rip you from his grasp. 

You gasp his name and the sound travels through him with a jolt; he thrusts hard, eager to see what other sounds he can draw from your lovely mouth.

Shaw tries to be gentle. He tries really hard. He’d wanted his first time with you to be sweet and slow, gentle and lasting as long as he could physically make it. But you shred any remnants of his control with the way you twist and writhe beneath him, meeting his thrusts with urgent rolls of your hips and moaning for him, so sweetly it threatens to unravel him. 

Your whispers of how good he feels, how you never want him to stop, of please please please push him until he’s pounding into you with reckless abandon, riveted by the sight of you falling apart, your head thrown back and your breasts bouncing with every snap of his hips. 

He can’t help it; his hand reaches for your cunt, fingers pressing to your swollen clit. The barest whispers of static spark to life on his fingertips, just for a second–your body reacts before your mind can process it, convulsing and twisting as he rubs tight circles, a scream tearing from your throat as he pins you in place. 

Your walls clench him so tightly he nearly chokes, plunging into his own ruin as his pace falters, turning wilder and unmeasured, as he comes with your wrecked visage burned into his mind. Your eyes are wet, your limbs trembling weakly.

You kiss his face sloppily as he tries to catch his breath, drawing him in until his face presses into the side of your neck. He takes a long moment to breathe you in, the scent of sex and sweat intoxicating, his mind still consumed by you as he turns you both over to hold you close to him.

Your fingers creep up his side, and a mortifying, high-pitched noise of protest escapes him when you pinch him hard. "You better not have fried my vagina," you mumble tiredly. 

"Chill. You're fine." It's not the first time he's tried it, but he wisely keeps that to himself. You snort, nuzzling his chest as a satisfied sigh leaves you.

Triumph courses through him, as does fear; he’s not one to lie to himself. This will not be a one-time thing. He will have you, again and again. He will stay by your side, regardless of what others will think or do. 

His heart squeezes at the thought of Gavin. What would he think of the fact that Shaw has stolen you away while he remains oblivious, with no plans of letting go? 

That is, if you’re on board. 

In all honesty, he can't bring himself to regret any of it. They've all had their chances and now, it’s his turn.

You press your ear to the rapid thumping of his heart, not attempting to untangle your legs from his. You hum when he kisses your hair, turning to catch his mouth in a soft kiss. A low grumble breaks the tranquil silence, and you purse your lips when he turns to you with that familiar mocking stare.

“So,” you begin nervously, trying not to squirm. “Pizza?”

[amazingdriverfics]

If your request are still open how do we feel about a cross over or 2 and 5 from the smut prompts for our big bear Clyde? 🥺 your writing gets me through it 😭

A/N: Thank you so much fo your request. I’m happy to be able to help you in any way, I know times aren’t easy and it’s very difficult to deal with so much. Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone, I’m grateful for your existence, you are loved too :)

Hope you like this moments with the softest bear there is and that you are having a nice day.

warnings: smut

Request?   My masterlist

“y/n, can we pass at the Duck Tape before our girls night?” Mellie’s voice echoes through the empty salon instantly making you nervous, the last time you had seen Clyde you were under him as he pumped his cock in and out of you, it was a blissful moment to you who had been crushing on the soft man ever since your teenage years, but now, a week later, you still hadn’t heard anything from him so the mere idea of seeing him again made you blush, afraid of the awkwardness of the moment.

“Sure, I guess…” you whisper the last part knowing she wouldn’t listen, you agreed aware that if you said no, it would me suspicious and if Mellie ever found out about you and him, she would drag you to Clyde and wouldn’t let you leave until everything was solved, after all she was your best friend and she knew about you crush for her brother.

“Let’s hit the road then” her voice takes you out of your head as your eyes meet her figure standing right in front of the office door, the fuschia dress she was wearing matching her long decorated nails as her brown soft hair was in a messy yet pretty bun on top of her head, sometimes you wished you could look more like her.

Without another word, the two of you leave the salon behind entering in her old car. One thing you were never able to understand about Mellie was her capacity of driving incredibly fast through roads without crashing no matter which car she was behind the wheels. By now, you were used to her driving style and it didn’t scare you anymore, what is pumping adrenaline in your body instead is the picture of Clyde replaying in your head making you more nervous as the distance between you and his bar closes fast.

The sight and sound of Mellie’s fingers snapping right in front of your face make you realize that the car has stopped and that right in front of you is the bright ‘Duck Tape’ sign. “Sorry, Mell, I was lost in my thoughts. I’ll wait for you in the car” you say, feeling brilliant for your last minute idea. Staying in the car wasn’t going to make Mellie suspicious and it would save you from facing Clyde.

“No way, I’m gonna stay there for a while and it's hot as hell in here, come on getcha ass out of the car” her words cause you to cry inside, but as you try to keep a cool face, your feet meet the concrete floor of the bar’s parking space. Mellie doesn’t wait for you as she makes her way to her brother, you, on the other hand, take you time giving small steps towards the direction she just went, trying to avoid the encounter as long as possible.

Unfortunately, your figure is in front of the wood doors before you had wished, from where you are standing you can already see his broad back covered in a blue button up shirt and his large hand and prosthetics over the bar counter.

As soon as the wood on the door cracks announcing your presence on the bar, Clyde turns to face you and for a minute everything else disappears, all you can see is his face, his dark brown eyes boring into your e/c eyes, his furrowed brows, his black facial hair, his prominent nose, his moles and freckles and the lips you had kissed not long ago. To you, he seemed affected by your presence, but your insecurity kept whispering in your head that you just wanted to think that.

The moment ends as a sound of someone clearing their throat behind you make you move forward before whispering a ‘sorry’ to the stranger, that’s when you finally see Mellie sitting in the stoll right in front of where Clyde was standing previously. Awkwardly, you make your way to her, sitting by her side and trying hard to ignore what happened between you and the gigantic man. “Took ya’ long enough” she mocks, tone dripping malice making you swallow dry. “Yeah, I got hm distracted” you answer hoping to change the subject.

“I bet” she says with the same tone, but this time actually laughing after the words meet you ears, instantly your cheeks become red.

“Can I get you something, y/n?” a deep voice interrupts the conversation fortunately or not you couldn’t decide. Once again, your eyes meet his making you shiver as your whole body seems to be set on fire, making you hotter and leaving the blush on your face more intense.

“W-water please” you sutter, too nervous to talk straight as your hands fidget your dress feeling the soft cloth as you try to calm yourself, your plans on not being suspicious flying out the window.

“Come on, it’s friday, girl” Mellie turns to you before facing her brother “She’ll have a Sex on the Beach”. You don’t have the strength to argue and you watch as Clyde nods making his long soft hair move in his shoulders before leaving you alone with your best friend.

“Before you continue to eat my brother with your eyes I need ya’ to listen to me” she states “I forgot something back in the salon, I’ll get it and in no time I’ll be back, kay?”.

“I can go with you, Mell” you reply, even though you knew that she wouldn’t let you get out of the bar so soon. “Nonsense, you have a drink to enjoy” she says winking her eyes as she leaves you behind with anxiety leaving from your every pore.

You stay on the bar for a long time waiting for her, but at this point you already knew she wasn’t coming, it was almost closing time and all of the patrons had gone their own way. “She’s not coming back” Clyde states, his figure towering yours as you play with the straw in your cup, emptied long ago. “Yeah, I know, guess I’ll just have to walk home” you shrug not wanting to bother him anymore.

“I’ll take you” he replies and you instantly shake your head. “I really don’t want to bother ya’, it was a long day” you say, getting up before he could say anything to stop you, the whole situation too humiliating for you. The time you spent on the bar proved that the moment you two had shared a week ago meant nothing to the man, since he ignored your presence as hard as he could only talking to you to ask if you wanted anything other than the one drink you had.

“You never bother me” his words echo through the bar igniting a flame of hope in you as his hand close around your wrist not allowing you to finish your way out of the bar. Slowly, your eyes meet his face a pleading expression on it. “You don’t have to pretend, Clyde” you say sadly, insecurity speaking louder than his features.

“I’m not. I’m sorry for ignoring you for a week, sweetheart, I was nervous, ya’ know? You are so pretty and funny and I thought I didn’t deserve you, but when Mellie brought you here today I knew I messed up bad. You were always more than just a one night stand to me, I like you ever since high school.” his soft words melt your heart making happy tears fill your eyes as relief spreads through your body slowly.

“Please, come here, sweetheart” Clyde pleads and, before you take notice of it, your body starts to move on its on, making its way around the counter and entering the space his figure occupies.

When you’re standing in front of him, his hand travels to your cheek, fingers caressing your skin making you shiver as his prosthetics touch the end of your spine caging you in his embrace. “You are so pretty” his breath meet your lips from the small distance separating your face from his. Before you could reply, his lips seal yours, tongue lapping over yours in a sweet kiss making your hands go to his neck where his hair meets skin, your nails provoking him.

It wasn’t long before the kiss starts to heat up, his erection pressing against your stomach, your hands traveling to his abs scratching it while his cupped your ass. Your tongues exploring every inch of each others mouth.

You are the one to detach your lips from his, the need burning on your insides becoming too much for you to bear, wetness gathering on your panties and blood running to your clit causing it to become swallowed. “I need you now, Clyde” you whimper, voice dripping with need. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’ll take care of ya’” he states, voice deeper with desire as his hand move to the end of your light summer dress pulling it from your body with your help and letting it forgotten on the floor as he takes a step back, eyes accessing your figure, now, only in underwear. Feeling self conscious under his gaze, you try to cover up your body, a way to avoid the exposure.

“Don’t do that, love, you are perfect” he reassures you “look at what you are doing to me” he says, taking his belt off before lowering his denim pants to his feet, kicking them off with his boots and socks. Without second thoughts, you eyes travel to his big and large cock, pressing against his white boxers, a wet spot right above its head. The sight makes you close your thighs, looking for any friction capable of relieving the pressure on your pussy.

“Now, do you believe me?” he asks causing you to nod, too enamoured by the big man standing in front of you, as you drop your arms leaving them at the sides of your body, making yourself exposed to Clyde. “Good”.

Once again, his lips are on your as his hand works on your bra opening it up and letting it go down, you, on the other hand, work on his shirt buttons dying to see the broad muscular abs he had, but your hurry ends up working against your wishes causing Clyde to chuckle against your mouth.

“Let me help you”, in record time his shirt is disposed and you drool over the sight of him, even though you had seen him like that before you still weren’t accustomed to it.

Taking you by surprise, Clyde wraps his arms in your waist lifting you up until you were on the counter, legs spread around him. His lips seal yours again as his hand travels down your body entering your panties. The second his index fingers meets your folds, your back arches and a moan is swallowed by his mouth, but it wasn’t enough.

“You are so wet, sweetie” he purrs getting away from your touch, leaving you cold and causing you to frown, the attitude, however didn’t last too long since Clyde took your panties off and quickly rubbed your sore clit with his thumb, his middle finger caressing your hole without entering it over and over again in the same rhythm, teasing you without providing the relief of your need to be filled up by him. “Cly-yde, please” you beg.

“I got you, don’t worry, y/n” with these simple words, his middle finger enters your cunt, your walls stretching around it, but still begging for more. In a slow pace, he pumps it in and out of you, finger fucking you as his thumb keeps on massaging your clit. With the passage of time, another finger is added and you feel them curling on your insides before coming out as Clyde tongue returns to your mouth, lazily lapping over yours as you moan into his mouth everytime his curled fingers meet the sweet spot inside of you.

His lips travel to you cleavage kissing it with the same amount of passion he kissed your lips. “Do you think you’re ready for me?” he murmurs in your skin, words making you clench around his thick fingers, the sheer idea causing your orgasm to become closer, ready to crash all over your body. “Yesyesyes” you answer nodding your head eagerly dying to be stretched by his huge cock still locked in his underwear.

In an impossible speed, his hand leaves your pussy, working on getting himself out of his boxers, when it's finally done, you watch as his erection slaps in his stomach, veins visible around it and it’s red angry head shining with the sheer precum. Your mouth instantly waters with the vision and you make a mental note to ask him to suck his cock in the next time.

“Tell me if it hurts” he says, as his hand guide its tip up and down your folds covering the erection with your wetness in the intention to make it slide into you easily, avoiding unnecessary pain. You nod, closing your eyes when you feel the tip entering inside your tight hole and stretching you, he was so large, slowly he lets the rest of his inches enter in you until he is hitting your cervix, making you impossibly full, full of him.

“You are so tight, my God” he moans and you clench around him as reply, enjoying the feeling of him fully seated on your inside. Clyde doesn’t wait too long before starting a precise pace in and out of you, his tip barely still on you before slamming on your psussy again, his hand holding your back as yours were closed in his arms, legs around his hips. The sound of his balls slapping against you ass filling the room.

“I love fucking you, sweetie, your pussy fits me so well - myGod - you’re mine” he says, rhythm starting to become faster, his confession making your walls clench squeezing his cock tighter than before. “Sa-say it again, Clyde” you ask, turned on by the idea of belonging to the man you loved for so long.

“S-shit, you are mine, y/n, mine” he grits through his teeth, his cock hitting your sweet spot faster and harder, making your toes curl and your orgasm crash on you, every atom of your body blissing in pleasure as your muscles shook and you pussy strangled his erection, making it hard for him to fuck you through your orgasm as your release coated it.

When you come back to reality, you can see and feel that his pace is becoming sloppier indicating that he wasn’t far from finding his release as well. “Cum for me, Clyde” you whisper tired from the effort and the recent orgasm.

Your words were all that took, in no time, his seed was filling your canal, mixing with your own release, as his head met your shoulders and groans were mumbled against your skin.

“I love you so much, y/n” he says, voice above a whisper as his softening cock leaves your cunt making you feel empty.

“Oh Clyde, I love you too”.

[mulletcal]

scrabble - ashton irwin blurb.

a/n: would you believe me if i told you i fucked up 4 different times trying to post this. WELL, anyways, here’s a pt 2 to this post and i still mildly blame @sexgodashton​ for it.

word count: ~2.2k (oops)

warnings: none

-----

Since that day where Ashton had realized that his Words with Friends stranger was also his neighbour, his mood surrounding this lockdown brightened significantly.  His niece was good at keeping his spirits up, but it was nice to have someone around that he could talk to as a fellow adult.

More often than not, you would show up with a baked good that you had googled how to make, dropping it off at Ashton’s doorstep before waiting at the end of the driveway to make sure either him or his niece picked it up.  Ashton would return the favour in his own small ways, letting you know what they were cooking that night, asking if he should make extras.  You both had taken to putting lawn chairs at the end of your driveways, maintaining the appropriate distance, but balancing your plates on your laps as you all enjoyed a meal together.

Getting to know Ashton, it grew increasingly difficult to push down your feelings for him.  He was intelligent, handsome, goofy, and he clearly cared for his niece, which also warmed your heart.  Even though anytime Ashton would say something, she’d give him a certain look that had him turning as red as a tomato; which didn’t help you find him any less endearing.

Your Words with Friends games continued, you kicking his ass each and every time - well, except for the one time you let him win, even if he vehemently denies that.  You had suggested that when the lockdown was lifted, he should come over some time and play a game of Scrabble with you, to see if somehow being in person made it any different.  It could be to his benefit, of course, because being that close to those hazel eyes would distract you.

On Ashton’s end, the feelings were very much the same.  He couldn’t stop thinking of you, and how he wished to be closer.  Ashton had never started a friendship, let alone a relationship where he wasn’t able to touch the person he was talking to - whether it be a handshake or a hug.  The most he could do was crack jokes from more than 6 feet away, grinning as you rolled your eyes at another stupid pun.

Ashton realized he had run out of fresh produce once again, but this time before placing his order he sent you a message to ask if you needed anything.  If only you could write back asking if he was something that was available - but you had nowhere near enough confidence for that, so you just replied that you didn’t, but thanking him.  Ashton wanted to use it as an excuse to see you more than just around dinner, but he could never let you know that.

A few weeks later, you heard on the news that the lockdown - as long as everything continued on the decline it had been on - would end next week, with some limitations so people aren’t going too wild too soon; but this meant something huge: you could actually be closer to Ashton.

Figuring a call would be more satisfying than a text, you pressed ‘Call’, vaguely thinking about when you both first exchanged numbers in the first place.  He had forgotten to look at the app all day, busy with Instagram Live interviews, but he felt so guilty and insisted you exchange numbers so you could keep the casual conversation going.

“You there?”  Ashton asked, bringing you out of your memory.

“Shit, sorry! Was just calling to tell you that it looks like our Scrabble game is gonna be happening sooner rather than later,” You speak with a grin that’s probably evident in your tone of voice on the other line.

“Wait really? I haven’t checked the news at all today.  I’m assuming none of the guys have either, we have a music video going up in about ten minutes.”

Oh, right.  You had forgotten he was in a band, his constant drum playing wasn’t just to make noise - he actually did it for a living. “Which music video is it again?” You ask, trying to think of the title before he could speak. 

“Wildflower.  You gonna watch it?” 

“Yeah, of course! I need to support the boomer uncle in the band,” You could hear him scoff on the other end, causing you to let out a small laugh.

“Yeah, I see how it is. Just cause I play the internet’s version of Scrabble makes me a boomer.  Puts you right there with me, though,” He stated, and it wasn’t a lie, but you enjoyed making fun of his age anyways. “I’ll see you later though, the guys wanna have a group FaceTime to watch the video together.  Makin’ pasta tonight, want some?”

“Not tonight, I’m all pasta’d out.  But I’ll meet you guys there, just text me when you start dinner, yeah?”

“Sounds good. Bye!” You could hear an enthusiastic ‘bye’ in the background that made you smile, setting down your phone and looking up ‘Wildflower’ so you could be apart of the video’s premier.

You were most definitely not expecting what you saw while the video played - Ashton had told you, from what you remembered anyways, that they had filmed all their parts separately in front of a green screen in their house.  You didn’t know that you would get so much of Ashton’s personality through the video though, and you couldn’t wipe the grin off your lips the entire time.

Once the video ended, you picked up your phone to send him a quick text message to say you enjoyed the video, and it didn’t take long for him to reply with his gratitude towards you.

Dinner that night had a different air to it, you couldn’t tell if you were all just excited to not be stuck in the house anymore, or sad - or, in your case, if you were flustered because Ashton was wearing the same shirt he had chosen to wear in the video.

This week was going to go by incredibly slow.

**

As you predicted, the days leading up to the lockdown being lifted dragged on - every hour feeling like another day, but you were aware that it was mostly due to freedom, or your feeling of freedom, was so close.

Ashton knew that the guys would all want to see each other right away, and he had agreed on that front - FaceTime calls just weren’t doing it for him anymore.  He was so close to being able to hang out in Calum’s backyard again, laying in the sun and making jokes with his best friend.  All of them had agreed on one thing though - rather than all get together on their first day out where none of them really had much in their house; the first day would be spent gathering supplies for a “family dinner” on the second day.

This also meant that his first night was free.  Ashton knew he didn’t need to worry about his niece, especially since it was only right next door, and he would have the security system in place to be alerted of any suspicious activities.  He had to see you and deliver on the promised Scrabble game; and he needed to test the waters to see how you felt towards him as well.

When the fateful day came, Ashton was practically buzzing with excitement.  He headed to the grocery store, wanting to pick up essentials for the dish he would bring to Michael’s, but also he wanted to attempt to recreate the cookies you made for him as a welcoming gift - though he was sure his baking skills couldn’t hold a candle to yours.

Having gathered all the ingredients, he headed back home to try and bake.  Ashton was excited when you texted him, asking if you guys were still on for tonight.

[2:04 pm]: You bet your gluteus on it.

He could tell you were laughing on the other end, due to the amount of times the three dots had appeared and disappeared, when his phone finally vibrated in response.

[2:05 pm]: Stop trying to make gluteus happen, it’s not going to happen.  Also that’s only roughly 8 points, so nice try.

Ashton couldn’t contain his fit of giggles - his excitement bubbling out of him again, grinning at his niece who walked into the kitchen.

“Someone’s excited to see his crush today,” She mused, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“Not a crush, just excited to be within six feet of someone who I’m not related to,” Ashton retorted, both of them sticking their tongue out at the other.

“Tell me why I see ingredients to make those cookies, then?”

“Can’t a man just buy apples and cinnamon, and all the other ingredients to make cookies without being judged?” Ashton pouted in a feudal attempt to win this debate, but he knew it was pointless to argue with a 14-year-old.  “Wanna help? I’ll let you eat some cookie dough.”

Very quickly she agreed, and they set about making the cookies for you. 

While on your end, you were doing something similar for him; you had gone out to buy ingredients to make a cake, that you were going to decorate to say “Happy End of Lockdown”.  You weren’t sure if you were taking it too far, but you were genuinely excited to see his reaction when he read it.

You had just finished the final touches on the cake when the doorbell rang.  Furrowing your brows, you glanced at the time, realizing much more time had passed than you had thought.  Suddenly you were nervous again, not having time to fix your appearance, or fix up around your house for that matter.  Your phone on the kitchen island buzzed, and you quickly picked it up to make sure it wasn’t anything super important - only to find a text from Ashton.

[7:56 pm]: Can you hurry up? We’re free, and I promise I won’t spit on you.

If it were any other person in your life, you would have replied with something along the lines of, “Too bad, I’m kinda into that.” But you couldn’t be that way with Ashton - you felt as though you needed to restrict that part, or risk losing Ashton in your life all together because you weirded him out.

Tugging the door open, you mustered up the best grin you could at the man who now stood before you, “Hey stranger,” you spoke, stepping aside so he could come in.

“Hey yourself.  Even though you left me out in the dust, I brought these cookies for you, in hopes you won’t do it again.”  Ashton offered up the plate of cookies, and you recognized the scent that had wafted from them almost immediately. 

“You made those cookies?” You asked softly, your heart completely melting at the sentiment. Glancing up at him, you noticed he was watching you, your eyes meeting his hazel ones, so you cleared your throat.  “You gonna come in, or you gonna wait to be invited in like the boomer you are?” You left him there, mouth hanging open at your words as you brought the cookies into the kitchen.

“For the last time, m’not a fuckin’ boomer.  I was born in ‘94!”

Spinning back around, you nearly collided with his chest, rather instead backing up to pat it while looking up at him, “Okay Boomer.”

After that moment, your nerves disappeared completely.  Flour was in your hair, but the two of you didn’t care; much preferring to laugh over your cups of tea and the treats you had both made.

When it came time to play Scrabble, you were excited to see how he’d live up to his online persona from Words with Friends, or if instead he’d just mutter curse words when you put down a word that was worth triple.  It was fairly easy to stay focused, your eyes trained on the letters before you, instead of the raven haired man whose eyes were boring into the side of your head after each word he put down.

You hadn’t realized why until you looked up from your tiles to the board, trying to place your next word to finally beat him.  There was a word spelt out at the top of the board, one that hadn’t been there previously - the word was ‘date’, but beside it there was a small piece of paper with a question mark on it, and in the corner where the letter value would be was drawn the tiniest heart you’d ever seen.

“Did you make that heart yourself?” You asked, a grin spreading across your lips, finally looking up at the man.

There was a long pause before he whispered, “Yes,” almost sheepishly, his cheeks turning pink.

“You wanna go on a date with me?”

The response was quicker this time, a more confident, “Yes.”

Looking from him to the tiles, you reached across to grab the letters to spell ‘Kiss Me’, stealing his question mark to add to the end of it.

Ashton read it, looking back towards you with a smirk, “You know that’s cheating right?”

“Are you gonna kiss me or not?”

tag list:   @haikucal​ @talkfastromance4​ @softbabiestan​ @boyfriend-cal​ @calum-uncrowned​ @wildflowerirwin​ @irwindoll​ @gosh-im-short​ @atlcalm​ @thesubtweeter​ @heavenisapeach​ @ridingcthood​ @loveroflrh​ @wokeupinjapanisabop​ @mantlereid​ @inlovehoodx​ @irwinkitten​

[itskixlol]

Why be a hero when I only get disappointed?

Prompt: The hc where Midoriya is the UA traitor

Warnings!!: Hideout Raid Arc spoilers (chapter 84-97 and episode 46-50), kidnapping,

Summary: Who even is Midoriya? When he starts acting suspicious, why does he start leaving at early hours of the day. What happens when the LoV is involved...?

Word count: 1.5k+

Characters: Izuku Midoriya, Akane Shizuka (OC)

{Second person POV}

It all happened so quickly. A month ago you had spotted Izuku in the common areas at 4 in the morning, seemingly sneaking in. You had came down to meet with Mina for an early coffee run but when you saw Izuku everything went sideways. You had excellent grades, a clean reputation, a powerful quirk, a good relationship, and you were good looking. What more could you ask for? But when you saw Izuku that morning none of that mattered. He looked as if he hadn't slept in months with large, dark circles around his eyes which were drooping, threatening to shut any second. His back hunched following his shoulders, which were angled sharply down. His whole figure looked lifeless and that worried you. You pulled him aside and into your dorm which he hadn't seemed to notice until you plopped him down. "Where on Earth have you been? You look like you got hit by a truck!" He had no explanation to offer, instead falling asleep on your bed. You had to cancel with Mina and tell her that Izuku had crashed at your dorm and wasn't showing any signs of being alive other than his even breathing.

You and Izuku had been dating for almost a year before this, he was a sweet boy who had potential radiating off him and cared for others. So once he told you that he had to get back at Bakugo you had every reason to support him. But the next morning when he told you he'd joined 'the league' you couldn't help but stare in utter disbelief.

You knew the boy and he wasn't thinking like he usually would, so why not turn him in? That's why you cursed your curiosity. "Really? You joined the League? I don't believe it!" You knew how to push people's buttons, that was just who you were. Meaning to or not. He led you to where they were meeting and that's when you knew you were in for it.

---

{First person POV}

Now I stand in front of my classmate. Zuku and I had put on quite a show just a couple hours ago, when we kidnapped him. Of course we didn't make it look like that, but that's what happened. Shigaraki made sure that it looked like we also got kidnapped along with Bakugou. Of course it would come as more of a shocker if both of us had just went with them so we fought against them for a bit and actually ended up injuring Toga a bit, but she'll be just fine. She always bounces back.

{Third person POV}

Akane looked towards Izuku. The two shared an odd connection. They labeled it as love but others would have labeled it as manipulative. Deep down they cared for each other but on the surface it was very dull... Until it came to crime.

Izuku broke free from the restraints using his quirk while Akane waited for him to walk over. He pressed his lips to her forehead while he stretched the restraints farther than they were made to stretch and then they snapped.

Akane's quirk was quite different. She had always said her quirk was Cold-Flame which would make sense considering her father's is the same. Truth was she had multiple quirks, to some extent.

Her lips held the usual grin as they always did. Bakugo was already trying to explode the restraints only to find that his hands were tied securely behind his back. Looking towards the pair as they laughed hysterically at his attempts. "Damn nerds! Get your ass over here Deku and get me out of here with your shitty quirk!" The mood quickly changed as Izuku stared at him through his eyebrows as Akane's whole left side erupted in green lightening, traveling from her palm towards her elbows and up her chest stopping halfway to the middle of her chest. "No can do Kacchan." Sounding almost like the victim as the words rolled off his tongue. "Surprise~" It came out like a venomous song from Akane's lips.

Akane Shizuka. Quirk: Trustfall. Trust her and your quirk becomes hers as well. Using one quirk too much will hinder her ability to use the others and the mental toll is a story in itself.

Their orders were to keep Bakugou restrained and wait until Shigaraki or Dabi got there. It was far too evident that Shigaraki would come as quickly as possible since he didn't trust Dabi with an ounce of him. All they had to do now was put on a show and have an entertaining time.

Now lounging on the couch Kurogiri had fixed just hours ago, they were speaking of school, free time, and pretty much everything except the League. Truth be told, neither of the two liked leading this double life. It was draining and stressful, not being able to make true friends either than those in the league, going to and from school just to go straight to the abandoned bar, raising suspicion with their parents, it was far too much. At least they had each other, right?

Walking to the fridge, Izuku was all too aware of his movements. If there was anything that wouldn't leave him, no matter his status in the hero world, it was his anxiety. Which turned into a very powerful aspect of him. He was far too aware of seemingly small things but that made him all the more cautious through and through.

Bakugou's expression had changed very slightly if at all. His mouth agape, his shoulders tense, his eyes unwavering. If anything had change it was that he wasn't talking anymore. All the answers displayed for him but still unable to comprehend.

Akane's eyes never left Bakugou. It was no secret that she had a bit of a crush on him in the past, everyone knew. So when Bakugou got a girlfriend it was devastating for everyone. Something seemed so obvious and then shattered. So when Akane and Izuku started dating, he was sure that was the ultimate payback. So now to see her on the opposing side of "good" is a shocker. Akane was almost as much of an All Might fanatic as him and Izuku so it was almost common knowledge that she would be an amazing hero.

The silence in the old bar was near deafening. Izuku was leaning against the fridge as Bakugou and Akane exchanged cold stares when Toga walked in. "Hey cutie's~ How's our sweet Bakugou? Didn't let him out did ya? Oh that'd be a shame," all her words sounded like a sweet school girl tune as they tumbled from her pouty, pink lips. The tension was weighing heavily on everyone's shoulders until Toga waltzed in, her personality enough to change the atmosphere bringing smiles to the two villains-in-training but a scowl to the junior hero's.

Shigaraki and Dabi weren't too far behind Toga as they walked in about 2 minutes later. "Look the bastard wasn't even trusted to go out alone hmm," earning a glare for snarky comments, Akane remained grinning sweetly. With her, glares were always met with smirks and giggles or bland eyes with barely any noticeable emotion... if any. "Watch it pipsqueak, you aren't exactly allowed outside either are you?" A low and gravelly voice filled the expanse of the now occupied bar although he wasn't exactly yelling. A gloved hand now separated the teen and man as they were starting to activate their quirks, "Not now. Dabi what are you, a child? Letting her get to you? God it's why she's here let it go," this time the voice was much more high-pitched than the first but more intimidating to anyone who recognized it.

Shigaraki was definitely immature but somehow Akane and Dabi's relationship seemed to be even less mature, despite Dabi being older than Shigaraki. Earning scoffs from both villains they both backed down as Akane replaced her purple, fingerless gloves onto her hands. "Woah were you really gonna fight her? You would've lost Dabi! She has all our quirks ya know!" A smirk painted Akane's features as she heard each words Toga said. She lived for the praise and surprise that now made it's way onto Bakugou's face.

Prancing over to Bakugou's seat she placed her lips only centimeters away from his ear as she gripped his chin in between her forefinger and thumb as she spoke, "Don't you see, they want you here. You are what we need to make our plans work. Join us Bakugou." He was moving his face away from her hands which made her draw a blank.

She slowly backed away, the insomnia she had developed now setting the exhaustion deep into her bones. She retreated to Izuku's side, leaning her head onto his shoulder as they huddled, talking of plans and what to do with the ashy blonde, who sat only feet away. She was fading her way into sleep as Izuku stroked her hair gently whilst explaining and engaging in the makeshift briefing. The last thing she could register before falling into a dreamless sleep was Izuku's shoulders slightly vibrating as he spoke.

---

She awoke on the battered couch on top of Izuku while Dabi had slept on the new and more well kept couch because of his 'bad back' while they all knew it was a half-assed excuse. Groaning as she stretched her arms to better hook her hands on Izuku's shoulders, slowly nestling back into his chest as she brought the covers a bit farther up on her back.

Going over as much of the short meeting she could, her mind kept wandering to Bakugou and the part that she missed in the meeting which was what they were preparing to do with him. She knew that Izuku would most likely tease her for falling asleep and Shigaraki would bitch about how she was putting her attention somewhere else rather than him, Dabi would make her do something for him to get the information she missed and she hoped Toga would tell her since they were close.

A low groan came from under her as she looked up to Izuku's face to see that he was starting to wake up. Rustling slightly under her and better securing her in his arms, he finally opened his eyes. The two sat in a comforting yet slightly awkward atmosphere as the rest awoke one by one. This may not be the best way to live, but it was going to work itself out as long as they had each other.

[renlimotroll]

Darling, my dreams came true

⚠️ Warning: BL/ Personification/ Imagination/ Out of Character/ Cursing ⚠️

Please do not read if you are uncomfortable with boyxboy.

A/N: I wrote this during ungodly hours, so there might be grammar errors. I’m so stressed with work and this happened. This story was born as I was talking to my friends about my MinSiru imagines and listening to Aimer. Also, this is just my imagination, so please don’t take it seriously.

Enjoy! 🤖🐶

Love, Ren 🌻

Summary: When he’s sleep-deprived, Siruko gets weirdly affectionate, especially towards a certain green head. Everyone knows what’s going on, but of course, Siruko is the last to know about his actions and feelings.

Pairing: 🤖🐶

AU where Bintroll are still youtubers but they live in the same house.

(Story continues below)

It was a great day. The sun was shining warmly outside, and Siruko feels well-rested and refreshed. He stretches then gets up, deciding to check his notifications later and get brunch first. He can smell coffee and something delicious coming from the kitchen. With his luck, Mintosu could be cooking curry and wouldn’t that be the best brunch ever.

He doesn’t know why he felt disappointed that it was Ichihachi cooking, but Ichihachi-kun’s pancakes smells and looks really good so he grabs a plate and forks a piece. Siruko wasn’t aware of the knowing eyes that were watching him carefully as he prepares his coffee. Since Siruko seems to be not fully awake yet without coffee, he didn’t notice how Ichihachi, Quartet, Jiraichan and Hakotaro were side-eyeing each other in a silent communication.

After he had at least drank half of his cup and felt more alert, the purplehead finally noticed the weird atmosphere at the dining table. “What?” He asked. Jiraichan was smirking, Quartet was making weird faces, Ichihachi was looking at everywhere but him, and Hakotaro look so done already even though Siruko doesn’t know for the life of him what he has done to earn that exasperated look on his younger brother. It’s way too early for this. “What?? Shouldn’t I be receiving morning greetings instead of… whatever this is??”

“Well, you certainly have a good morning, don’t you?” Jiraichan raised his eyebrows teasingly.

“Chotto, Jiraisan,” Ichihachi warned.

Siruko was bewildered. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing, Siruko-san! Good morning!” Quartet quipped a little too brightly.

Siruko glared at them suspiciously. “Good.. morning.”

“Oh for goodness’ sake!” Hakotaro shook his head and rolled his eyes heavenward. “Niisan, your shirt!”

“Aww there goes our fun.” 🐻

“Way to go Hakotaro.” 🐰

“I wanted to wait and see if Siruko-chan notices it himself.” 🐱

Siruko blinked and followed his younger brother’s words to see.. he was wearing something green. Very green. Something that suspiciously does not belong to him and very particularly belongs to someone else. His face turns bright red like a tomato.

“I-it’s not… I-I’m not… W-we’re not…!” If he could spontaneously combust like a DbD generator with a missed skill check right now, he would. Siruko instantly knew what his friends were thinking and they were wrong!!!… or were they? He’d know if something happened, right? As far as he knows he didn’t really go drinking. He was editing videos and… he does remember Minben-san not letting him drink any more Red Bull, but that was it. He did feel dizzy and queasy yesterday with his migraine, but he didn’t throw up on anyone, right? What the hell happened last night??

Hakotaro rolled his eyes so hard for the second time already even though it’s still early. His older brother was so hopelessly trying to solve what happened that he can practically see equations and formulas appearing from thin air. “Save it Niisan. We all know that–”

“Aaaaah--!” 🐻

“Hakotaro–” 🐰

“Stop–!” 🐱

“When you’re extremely tired, you go to Mintosu-senpai and do… I don’t know what to call that… skinship??” For once, the usually sure-of-himself Hakotaro was at loss for words. “You’re just so affectionate it’s so out-of-character, and you literally have to have some body part of yours touching him! You slump on his back, on his shoulder, on his lap, which, by the way, stopped being funny after the fifth time and just started to become so gross now.”

“F-fifth time??” Siruko definitely did not squeak with a high tone.

Ichihachi cleared his throat. “We stopped counting after the tenth time. And Minben-san always carries you to bed when that happens. He makes a show of complaining about it, but he drops everything he’s doing just to come to your aid.“

“T-t-that..’s n-n-not.. I- uh.. I..”

Jiraichan made sympathetic noises. “If it helps, we’re actually wondering why you can control yourself better when you’re drunk. It only happens when you’re really, really exhausted, like when you’ve stayed up for more than 30 hours.”

“I– what?? S-skinship??”

“You almost punched Quartet-san once because he was trying to make you go to bed and he tried to, and I quote your words, ‘separate Minben-san and I apart!’ ” Ichihachi supplied unhelpfully.

“I– what??” Siruko.exe stopped working and can only ask one-word questions now. It took him a few seconds to process this, and another few to actually believe it. Why are they telling him these... lies?! This can’t be true, right? And why is he only finding out about this now?! Siruko is really starting to re-think considering them his friends, because they’re enjoying this way too much, and they are set on ruining his otherwise perfect morning.

“There goes the bet.” Quartet said nonchalantly, as if talking about the weather.

“BET?? WHAT BET??” Nope, Siruko did not screech. That was a manly scream.

“We guessed you didn’t know you were doing it and we’re right.” Jiraichan explained with a smug smile. “We kinda have a betting pool as to when you’ll realize. Until your dear brother..”

“I’m just sick and tired of this, okay? It’s been a year!” Hakotaro threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Niisan, if you like Minben-san so much then just go confess to him!”

‘W-WHAT??! I-I DON’T–“

“Everybody knows, Siruko-san.” Jiraichan informed him mercilessly, like the psycopath he is. “Us, Hanae-san and the others, even the old lady in the market selling fruits. Everyone.” He put his finger to his lips and looked thoughtful. “Except Minben-san.”

“I–what?” Siruko stammered for the third time.

Hakotaro took pity on his brother, who was doing a perfectly good impression of a Magikarp. “We’re just saying, Niisan, this madness has to stop. You turn into a cuddle monster around Minben-san when you’re exhausted, and the poor man gets a heart attack every time you do. It’s driving all of us crazy, so if you really love your otouto, you’ll get over yourself and confess. Or so help me, I’ll find a locker where I can push the both of you in so you can talk about your feelings!”

“I don’t really do that, do I?” Siruko bit his lip worriedly. He went to the house of the one person in this world who wouldn’t betray him, hoping to get some clarity and possibly some remedy for this whole mess.

“Well…” Gzira look pained to admit it. “Remember when I had to stay overnight last week to help you with Hanachan’s video?”

“Yeah?” Siruko bit his nails nervously.

“You were so tired you were mumbling the theme song of Doraemon.”

“So?? That’s not weird, you know?”

There was an awkward pause, before Gzira resumed. “Backwards… you sang it backwards. It was kinda impressive.” Siruko whined like a child upon hearing that. He’s so close to having a mental breakdown. Why didn’t anyone tell him this? Friends, his ass.

“I was honestly worried and I kept telling you to take a rest, and when I woke up the next day I found out you were still awake. I had no idea what to do, you were so stubborn! So I called Hakotaro over. He said, ‘There’s only one solution to this’ then walked out. When he came back, he brought Minben-san with him.”

“Oh no,” Siruko groaned in despair, feeling his whole face and neck burn with humiliation.

“Yeah. Want me to go on?”

“Ugh.”

“You smiled at him so tenderly and hugged him.”

“No. Stop.” Siruko buried his face in his hands.

“And you called him ‘cuddliest robot ever’. And you practically climbed all over him like a koala. It was so weird I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. Like I wasn’t in the right dimension.”

“Mou, Gzira-kun!” Siruko screamed into his hands. So much for the peace of mind he was hoping for.

“Then he carried you to your bedroom. I don’t know what was weirder, you reverse piggybacking him like a beetle on a tree, or Minben-san actually letting you do that.”

Siruko sulked. No way this happened. Although, there was something he was curious about. “What.. what did he…“ he asked, knowing that Gzira would get his message.

“Okay, don’t freak out, but he did look fond. Like, he liked carrying you to bed. I don’t even think he noticed Hakotaro and I standing awkwardly at the side because he was just looking after you. He even patted your hair. He practically melted when you started nosing his neck.. eww by the way.” Gzira made a face, remembering the scene which seemed so domestic.

“Umm…” Siruko could not believe what he was hearing. He… he did that? And Minben-san… did that?

Gzira continued. “Weirdest experience ever. Hakotaro said it was a regular thing. I got surprised when he said that the only person who could convince you to go to bed when you’re past the 30-hour mark was Minben-san. He even included me on the betting pool.”

“I hate you.” Siruko crossed his arm grumpily.

“No, you don’t.”

“No, I don’t.” He sighed in defeat.

“Look, why don’t you just tell him how you feel? It’s been a year, don’t you think you’ve been harboring these feelings for a long time?”

Siruko can’t even begin to imagine the horror. “No way! Minben-san… he’d never like me that way!”

“Why not?” Gzira challenged.

“You know! I’m just a regular guy! I’m not even good at anything! There’s no reason for him to like me!”

“Siruko-san…” Gzira scolded his friend tenderly. “Stop belittling yourself! You’re the smartest, kindest person I know–okay, well maybe Sensei is that too–but you’re a pretty neat person! Anyone would be lucky to have you!”

“You’re just saying that coz you’re my friend.” The purplehead pursed his lower lip out.

“No, I’m saying it because it’s true. And as your friend, I want you to stop overthinking things and just, just try to tell him what you feel, okay?”

“What… what if he rejects me?” Siruko whispered sadly.

Gzira sighed internally. He loves his friends, but sometimes they’re just… too dense. He just wished this pining would stop so they can all be happy. “You guys are so perfect for each other, you’re both oblivious idiots. Just trust me on this. Minben-san’s got it just as bad for you as you for him.”

Siruko wished he could believe him, but he just can’t. Dreams are just that… dreams. Like fairy tales are fairy tales. There’s no way that Mintosu would fall for him, and even though that thought hurts, it’s the reality. Mintosu liking him was just… a fantasy after all.

Yes, everybody was wrong. Siruko grumpily mashed his keyboard, trying to clear the level on the game he was playing and failing miserably. His character kept on dying, and it’s frustrating. Once his character got stuck somewhere between two walls, he decided to give up and shut down his computer. He stared at the black screen reflecting himself.

There’s no way Minben-san would like him. Look at him. There are big dark circles under his eyes, his hair was always messy, and he’s thin as a tooth pick. He doesn’t go out of his room that much, he’s not even that good in games, and the only thing he’s good at is maybe memory games. That’s so lame, right? Unlike Mintosu’s friend, what was his name again? Akoroshi. Now that is a talented guy. Knows English, good at singing, really good at games. It’s just impossible. That’s why he never confessed. He couldn’t even begin to compare with that guy. And what if Mintosu rejects him? Then the friendship he tried so hard to treasure will be gone, it will be awkward as hell since they are all practically homesharing, and maybe he’ll lose the only connection he has with Mintosu. So no way. He’d never confess.

It was a bit hard to avoid Mintosu because you know, housesharing, but Siruko feels like he’d done a pretty good job. He thinks he’s done really well in monitoring if he’s reaching 30 hours of no sleep or managing his exhaustion levels so that no embarrassing thing could ever happen again. He had to vigilantly avoid doing things that was second nature before, like falling asleep on Minben-san’s shoulder during movie night or hitting each other’s knees while playing Mario Kart, because they were just friends! Only friends! It was probably awkward for Minben-san to help not carry him to bed, and maybe the guy was doing it out of some friendly obligation or guilt, and Siruko never wants to put anyone in a situation like that where one forces his friends to do something for him. He keeps his distance now, toning down his actions to just behind the friendship lines, and plasters a smile on his face while pretending he doesn’t see the confused, slightly hurt looks Mintosu was showing as he avoids him.

It was almost successful and he could probably live like this for the rest of his life (hiding his pain) until his so-called beloved friends, his family even, corners him in the kitchen, the place where it all started. Siruko should seriously consider finding his own place to live.

“You’re being very ridiculous right now Siruko-san, and I don’t have much patience for ridiculousness.” Jiraichan says in a tone that means he’s about to pull out knives from his jacket. Very pointy knives that he likes using. “It’s bad enough the bet was cancelled. That was the only thing keeping me from locking you two in a vault and welding the bolt shut so you two can finally make out.” Siruko flushed red when the images came to mind, but shook his head. It was just a stupid fantasy, it didn’t make his heart clench painfully at all. Nope.

Quartetchi followed up immediately. “Sorry Siruko-san. It was fun when there was a bet in place, but now it’s just annoying. You two are the biggest pair of dense idiots in the world.”

“Look Niisan, before, you and Minben-san just irritated me when you both flirted with–”

“We do not–!!” The older brother interrupted indignantly.

“Yes you do!” Hakotaro almost raised his tone in frustration. “You bicker like an old married couple, and as much as it irritated me to see my Niisan and my senpai flirting but not even knowing they do, now it feels like whatever sanity I still had has just gone and you both are being so… so… gaaah!”

“What Hakotaro means to say is,” Ichihachi tried in a gentle tone, “you guys are playing the biggest game of chicken in the world. It was fun when we could tease you both about it and make money out of your hopeless romantic-ness, but now that we can’t, we need you to get your heads out of your asses and do something about it or we will.” He threatened calmly.

“I don’t know what you guys are talking about!” Siruko raised his arms wildly in desperation, his voice breaking. Why can’t his friends just leave him and his misery alone? “Minben-san and I are just friends! What do you want me to do?!?!”

“Oh my god Siruko-san!” Quartetchi complained. “If I didn’t love you as a friend I’d bash your head in that marble sink! How can you be this dense? Aniki’s been walking around with this sour, grumpy face like someone set his PC on fire, and you’re acting like a hurt puppy! A hurt, cruelly-kicked puppy! This has to stop!”

“Mintosu-san LIKES you, Niisan!” Hakotaro emphasized on the like. “How could you miss that? How do you not see--”

“He doesn’t!” Siruko crossed his arms stubbornly. “He’d never! Why would he–”

“If you finish that self-depreciating sentence, I will take out my mines and let you explode right there!” Jiraichan narrowed his eyes. Siruko gulped.

“Okay, that’s it! I’m done. Guys help me.” Quartet suddenly hauled Siruko’s arms up, and Ichihachi grabbed both his feet and lifted it up. The Bintroll leader yelped in surprise and tried to struggle, but Jiraichan and Hakotaro glared at him with that ‘If looks can kill’ face, and he can’t really do anything, not unless he wants to drop like a sack of potatoes to the floor painfully. Jeez, the grips of these two are so tight!

They dragged him upstairs to Mintosu’s room, where he was streaming APEX. Jiraichan opened the door with a bang so loud Mintosu jumped from his seat and hit his knee on the table. Hakotaro grimaced internally, that looked painful. Mintosu let out a string of profanities that shocked his viewers.

“What the fuck’s goin on??!”

The viewers were all alarmed and the comments flew so fast in the chat stream, all wondering what happened to their favorite green robot gamer. Bloodhound died, and Mintosu had to return to the main screen. Suddenly, a purple blob was dumped into his lap and a scream of pain was heard. Mintosu winced and turned off the mic.

“What the fuck guys?! I told you not to come in when I’m–” oh. Siruko-san. Siruko-san was on his lap, grimacing in pain at being dumped unceremoniously. Mintosu’s brain short-circuited and he could only blink.

“Minben-san, my Niisan likes you. A lot. And we know you like him too. I know you think you’re being subtle when you think Niisan’s not watching, but we’re not idiots like him. We know. Everyone does.”

“I- what…” Mintosu unknowingly echoed Siruko’s words from before.

“Just kiss already you idiots!!” Jiraichan yelled with his high-pitched voice. For all his size, he’s really scary when he’s angry. “C'mon guys, let’s go!” The pink fairy stomped angrily and headed out, while the others followed suit. At least Quartet and Ichihachi had the decency to apologize. Siruko thinks he needs to find new friends, they’re so rude!

Before Hakotaro closed the door, he glared daggers at Mintosu, “Look, I can’t say I like the idea of you making out with Niisan, but you make him happy, so please keep doing so. If you ever hurt my Niisan, I know Limone-sensei and everybody else will help me bury your body where no one can find it.” Mintosu nodded, believing the younger one will totally do that. Siruko flushed red upon hearing his brother’s shovel talk.

"I’m really happy if you guys finally get together, but please remember to get your hands off of each other and keep the PDA to a minimum, at least when I’m around.” And with that, the blonde closed the door. The silence that followed was really uncomfortable, and Siruko prays, Ground, swallow me up!!, wondering if it was possible to die out of humiliation.

“So… umm…” Min-san sees the flow of comments asking where he is out of his peripheral view, but he couldn’t care less, not when the person he’s been crushing on for a long time is blushing so hard on his lap right now, and he looks really adorable. Mintosu had wanted this. For so long. If this is a prank, he’s going to kill those guys. But he wants to believe that maybe, just maybe, he has a chance.

Siruko stubbornly refuses to look at him out of embarrassment, and Mintosu just rolls his eyes, even though he’s flustered too. Whatever, he thinks, because he’s never going to let Siruko go after hearing that. He rearranges him in a more comfortable position and mutters, “Okay, before I start the stream again, I’m gonna get this out. I like you, so fucking much, so after this we’ll talk and maybe get some food. Now, stay still and stay quiet.” Mintosu shakes his head to rid of his jitters, places his fingers on the keyboard and mouse, and turns his mic on. “Sorry bout that minnasan, there was a little bit of a commotion, just the bintroll guys messing around, but everything’s fine now. Really fine!! In fact, I’m feeling so good today, I might even get diamond today! Watch out! Hahahaha!” And the fight is on.

Once or twice, Siruko tries to wriggle his way out, but frankly Mintosu feels very warm around him, and being encased around his arms just makes him feel all sorts of giddy and calm at the same time. Mintosu just growls softly when Siruko tries to move so he gives up and watches his.. wait–are they boyfriends now?– maneuver Bloodhound perfectly and get a few kills. This is so embarrassing but at the same time, it’s all he ever wanted. He’s so happy he could just burst. Part of him wonders if he’s dreaming, but that dump was really painful so this must be real. Mintosu rests his chin on his shoulder, and any disbelief of reality he has disappears quickly, because that weight on his shoulder can’t be fake. Soon Siruko feels very sleepy and warm, and even though his heart still feels like it will burst out of his chest, maybe, just maybe, he can start to believe that Mintosu actually likes him back. Mintosu is actually warm and surprisingly comfortable even though he’s talking gibberish and laughing loudly in his ear, and Siruko starts to nod off against the gamer’s chest a few times. He doesn’t understand why he feels sleepy, but he can just always blame Minben-san later.

He blinks blearily when Minben-san carefully slots him into his bed, and the green guy turns off the lights and covers them with his blankets. It smells like detergent and Mintosu and home, and this isn’t the situation he had always imagined being on Minben-san’s bed, but it’s not that bad especially when Minben-san pulls him in and drapes his arms over him for a cuddle. Minben-san without his glasses always makes the butterflies in his stomach flutter, especially now that they’re so close he can practically feel Minben-san’s warm breath and heart beating loudly in his chest. The thought that Mintosu also feels whatever he is feeling is strange but comforting.

“Minben-san,” he whispers, so as to not disturb the electric peace in the atmosphere of the room, “they said we’re idiots.”

Mintosu chuckles and Siruko really likes it when he does that. “Maybe we are. Is that why Sensei keeps telling us that?”

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s because we’re idiots in another sense.”

“Tashikani.”

“So… you’re not into… Akoroshi-san?”

“What? No way! Yuck! I’ve never been interested in him that way! He’s just my best friend, that’s all.” Mintosu pauses. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?”

“Mmmmmm, maybe...?” Siruko sheepishly mumbles.

“Idiot.” He flicks Siruko’s forehead, resulting into the purplehead pouting cutely. Mintosu thinks he wants to kiss him, but he’s also content with this right now. “It’s you I like. A lot.”

“Why?” Siruko sounded so unsure and lost. Mintosu hates that. He knows that the purplehead tends to be insecure sometimes, which is absolutely absurd. If he could only see that everyone loves him, he would never second-guess himself.

“I just do. Honestly, why wouldn’t anyone? You’re amazing and everything. If anything, I thought you wouldn’t like me.”

Siruko starts to chuckle and Mintosu joins him. “Okay, maybe we really are idiots.”

“Right.”

“And for your information, I like you too. A lot. Actually, maybe I love you.”

Mintosu snorts. “Okay, then ‘maybe’ I love you too.“ Siruko smiles sleepily at that, and Mintosu’s heart skips a beat or two. “You know, you actually told me these a few times before, but I thought you were just being delirious or maybe hallucinating. You’re an idiot who really needs to sleep more.”

“As if you do! You’re just as bad as me, maybe even more!” Siruko wrinkles his nose angrily, and Mintosu thinks cute. “But.. really? I said that? That’s… embarrassing! Why didn’t you say something?”

“Well, I wasn’t gonna take anything your sleep-deprived brain says seriously. Once, you talked about giant ducks and how they’d take over the world one day. You mumble so many weird things, you idiot.”

That… was definitely weird. He can’t really blame his friends for staying away from crazy, sleepy him.

“Plus, well, maybe I like sleepy, idiotic Siruko-san.”

Pink dusted his cheeks. He can’t believe that Minben-san really put up with all of that craziness, but it did lead to this now, and Siruko decides to just stop doubting everything and take whatever happiness he can get. “Whatever. Sleepy Siruko likes you too, so shut up.”

Mintosu huffs, but his fingers run through his purple hair, and that feels really good. Siruko really wants to savour this moment, but his eyes are getting droopy and he doesn’t think he can keep them open.

“Sleep.” Mintosu orders softly.

“Hmmm…” Siruko answers sleepily. “Good night Minben-san.”

Well, what do you know, dreams do come true after all.

It was a great day. The sun was shining warmly outside, and Siruko feels well-rested and refreshed. Mintosu was cooking curry while he was preparing the coffee pot. Nothing really changed after last night, they still bicker a lot and tease each other to death, but this time, there are more leaning-to-each-other and maybe more skinship between them. It was a good morning. The four other Bintroll members were watching the strange love-hate interaction with fond but exasperated eyes.

“Anyone wanna have a bet? I’m betting six months before their first kiss.” 🐻

“C'mon, give them a little credit.” 🐰

“They wouldn’t have made it if Hakotaro didn’t interfere.” 🐱

“Yeah, and I would have won the bet.” 🐻

“No, you wouldn’t!!” 🐰

“Hmm… my bet is a week.” 🐱

“Uh, no way Ichihachi! It took them a year to tell each other that they like each other–actually no, without our help, it would have taken more than a decade! You really think they would kiss in a week?” 🐰

“Yeah! Just place your own bet!” 🐱

“But–” 🐰

Hakotaro drowned them out. Sometimes it’s really tough being the only sane member of this household, but this is family, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s happy as long as everyone is happy, even though everyone is an idiot.

“Finally.” He sighs to himself, seeing his brother and his senpai smiling, and moves to break up the ongoing fight between a kiss that’s really not their business.

It was just a normal brunch in the Bintroll household, but everyone is laughing, and this is happiness. Siruko really appreciates this second family he has, and if he moves to hold Minben-san’s hand under the table, well, sue his boldness.

“Ne~ aishiteru~” he says in his heart.

[A/N: I hope you guys like it! It’s been a year since I last wrote a story and my skills are a bit rusty haha. Also, it’s my first time posting a story on tumblr! It was fun coding but also so frustrating! My good friend cm made the pic! Thanks cm! Visit me on Twitter! Anyway, have a nice day! Panyanyanda!]

🌻

Owari~

[astroninaaa]

clarke griffin sucks here’s why

Hi! I’ve wanted to actually write some anti-Clarke discourse for a while now, specially because I’ve hated her since I first heard her talk to someone else in the show, but I was always hesitant because of blorkes and Clarke stans and all that. Well, I’m doing it anyway.

(DISCLAIMER: all this comes from her depiction in the show. I have no idea how book Clarke is, since I’ve never read the The 100 books. Now buckle up and enjoy my angry and not-that-thought-out rant.) (And I’m putting it under the cut because it is... a lot.)

I know many people started to dislike Clarke after season 3 or whatever, but I believe she has been problematic since the beginning. 

For starters, she put herself in a position of power during season 1, and that’s a fact. People say she “had no choice but to become a leader”, but that’s a lie. Just like Bellamy did, she made the decision to bear leadership: from the moment they arrived, she was already making orders and trying to boss people around. Was she wrong? No, she wasn’t! She wanted to keep herself and others alive, which is a good thing. But she didn’t have to. Btw, if she had never done anything things wouldn’t have change, to be honest, since they did not get to Mount Weather and built their little cute camp around the dropship. I mean, Jasper wouldn’t have been speared and they would have found out about the Grounders a bit later, but I think nothing much would’ve happened. Actually, maybe things with the Grounders would have been easier, considering I firmly believe the theory that the only reason they attacked Jasper in the first place was because he was all happy about finding Mount Weather, the place that had been kidnapping and killing Grounders for a long ass time. 

My point is: I believe Clarke wasn’t actually needed as a leader when they first came down to Earth. I think she was just a spoiled priviledged girl, just like Bellamy said she was, who could not get around to letting go of the power she held. There was no more priviledged and non-priviledged, so she secured her influence by becoming a leader. 

An important statement that people tend to forget: she was just as guilty as Bellamy was for Murphy’s hanging, if not more. She was always talking about justice and whatnot, but when she had the chance to be just, she wasn’t. A knife is not enough evidence to fucking accuse someone of murder — during 1918 and 1919, there was a serial murder going around called “The Axeman of New Orleans”, who used axes he found in people’s houses to kill them (I’m a fan of true crime sorry not sorry). If police went by Clarke’s logic, the dead would’ve been the murderers, which certainly does not make much sense. The least she could’ve done was talking to him separately, conducted a trial or whatever, anything but accusing Murphy of murder before the whole camp. She knew they hated him, and so did Bellamy, and that’s why Bellamy didn’t want her to tell everyone about Wells’ yet. And yes, sure, she was grieving, but grief is still not an excuse for what she did to Murphy, it isn’t. She might have tried to stop the hanging later or whatever, but it was still a direct consequence of her actions and would not have happened at all if she had stopped to think for even a moment. The truth is that Clarke does not comprehend that she can actually be wrong, a fact that repeats itself multiple times throughout the series.

(There are other times she fucks up during season 1, but Murphy’s hanging is what stands out the most to me, so I decided to leave it on that. But don’t worry, I have many other examples!)

I can’t even express how much she pissed me off during season 2. Yes, Mount Weather was a very suspicious place and she was right to be wary, but how could she leave her people and escape? She wanted to get help and all that, but she fucking knew they were bleeding out the Grounders and was definetely aware they would soon try something alike to the 48, and she still left them. She left them alone and clueless to the danger they were in, and she didn’t even know if the Ark had come down alright or if there were other survivors. Mount Weather was lying to them about not finding anyone but she couldn’t be sure of that — everyone could have been fucking dead and she would have left her “people” to die too.

I’m not even gonna talk about Lexa’s betrayal because that wasn’t actually her fault, I admit that. Was she stupid to trust a Grounder? Yes. Should she have considered the fact they tried to kill Raven the first opportunity they got (when Lexa’s cup was poisoned) and the fact that the Grounders did not trust them because of Finn and wrongly Raven? Obviously. Does that make Lexa’s betrayal her fault? No, but she should have seen it coming, tbh.

And, again, she put herself in a position of power where she wasn’t needed. There were actual adults ready to look for a better solution, but she didn’t let them. Of course she didn’t  — how could Princess Griffin let go of her power?

Letting Mount Weather drop the bomb on TonDC was... horrible. It was not the act of a leader and it was not the act of a good person. It was selfish, it was the act of someone who leaves their people to die with the excuse of “looking for help” without even knowing if there is help waiting for them at all. It would have revealed Bellamy’s position, yes, but Bellamy would have preferred that than letting people die like Clarke and Lexa did. THEY LET PEOPLE DIE. Hundreds of people! God, they didn’t save the Grounders and the Skaikru that had come for a DIPLOMATIC AND PACIFIC reunion, but Clarke really thought her deal with Lexa would mean something if a better deal appeared, right? Damn, that was naive.

And then she left her people again by the end of the season, of course. “I bear it so others don’t have to” my ass — Bellamy still went apeshit and Jasper still got depressed and no one actually saw her bearing it, so they bear it too. The only thing girlie did was leave behind responsibility and betray her friends so she didn’t have to face regret for her actions. Meanwhile, people needed her, since she had put herself in a position of power for so long that everyone actually looked up at her, for some unknown reason, since she mainly fucked things up.

I don’t remember season 3 that well, but I know that Bellamy’s rant to her when she came back and was trying to be his friend was absolutely reasonable and true. She fucked off into the woods, represented Skaikru in Polis without them knowing for a while, came back to Arkadia and tried to get some power again, but then no one cared about her. Bellamy was too busy making the wrong decisions because of his emotional pain and sorrow to actually give a shit and they had greater things to solve than filling Clarke’s need to be worshipped.

Also, the whole “blood must not have blood” shit? Funny, real funny. It’s just like Lexa pointed out: “blood must not have blood until it applies to your people”. She is SUCH a hypocrite it pains me. And she did not spare Emerson for “blood must not have blood”, she did it because she knew it would make him suffer more and that came back to bite her in the ass. Karma’s a bitch, I guess. And she tried to make Luna become Commander against her will, which I’m not gonna talk about, but was just really fucked up.

I think my hatred for Clarke peaked during season 4. First, she didn’t want to tell the Grounders the world was about to end again and was apparently okay with letting them burn, until Roan found out and got mad about it. She tried to become Commander, blatantly disrespecting Grounder culture just so she could boss all the people in the world around. “She wanted to help!” “She had no choice!” Yes, sure, she had no choice but lying to everyone and disrespecting a whole nation. She couldn’t, you know, talk about it. Okay. I mean, that’s how Clarke does things, right? Kill and deceive first, give a half-assed apology later. It has been working so far, there’s no reason for her to stop.

Forcing Luna to give them her bone marrow? Very problematic, but “Welcome to Mount Weather” was one of my favorite Raven quotes. Abby was also a fucking bitch for being alright with killing Emori but throwing a tantrum when Clarke finally came to her senses and decided to test Nightblood on herself instead of murdering people who went all the way there to help her, but that’s not what I’m focusing on.

Locking Murphy up while she attempted to kill Emori? Not good. Emori knew from the beginning she would be chosen for testing Nightblood — she is a Grounder, and Clarke’s disregard for Grounders has been made very clear before. (And no, having a Grounder girlfriend in a very unprofessional and non-diplomatic way does not excuse her from discriminating against Grounders.)

And then she took over the bunker, disrespecting Grounder culture once again by betraying the conclave and, well, many people. (I know Echo did it too, but I’m not talking about Echo right now so if someone brings this up I’m gonna riot.) I also think it’s funny how she was always talking about saving everyone and all that shit but was so fucking fast to leave Raven, Octavia, Monty, Harper and Kane to die. You know, the people who were supposed to be her friends and all that. Oh, well.

Then Octavia won. And she still did not open the bunker. Man, opening the bunker would save so many lives, including the life of her oh-so-called best friend’s sister, but she still didn’t do it. Classic Clarke God-complex: she decides who is worth saving, and the Grounders aren’t. Then there’s the whole thing with holding Bellamy at gunpoint and then using “but I didn’t shoot!” as an apology. Bitch, it isn’t about shooting, it is about the fact you looked your supposed best friend straight in the eyes and pointed a gun at him, threatening to kill him if he dared to try and save his sister and many others of certain death.

She sacrificed herself by the end of this season, great. I mean, yeah, that was nice of her. Congrats for doing a good thing for once, I guess, even though she knew she probably wouldn’t be able to get back in time anyway so the least she could do was making sure the others lived. I wish she had actually died then, it would’ve been a great end to her arc (finally saving her friends at the cost of her life after betraying them and leaving them to die repeatedly — damn, I might had even started to like her a bit after that) and I would be able to stand the worshipping of her done at the start of season 5, since she would be, yk, dead. Sadly, that did not happen.

She was a villain during season 5 just like Octavia and I wish she had been depicted that way. She wanted to kill Blodreina (because just overthrowing her wouldn’t do) but she wasn’t okay with letting Madi take the chip. I know these are different things, but see it like that: killing Octavia was a way of taking control of Wonkru at the expense of a life. Madi becoming Commander was a way to take control of Wonkru at the expense of Madi’s childhood. Are any of them good? Not really, but Commander Madi does not envolve killing someone and even has a nice ring to it. Besides, Madi had given consent to taking the chip.

(Another point: Octavia was actually thrown into a position of power, just like everyone claims Clarke was. Octavia was the conclave’s champion and was expected and even obligated to lead, while Clarke simply decided she was more competent than the others and became a self-proclaimed leader. After that, she whined for all seasons about how she didn’t want leadership. Octavia never did that, despite being the one who became a leader unwillingly. Just like Raven put, Octavia and Clarke are the same, but Octavia doesn’t pretend to feel bad for empathy points. Damn, I love Raven.)

She left Bellamy to die in the fighting pit, because now Madi is the one she cares about so fuck everyone else. She gave over Raven and Shaw and let them be tortured for nothing. She betrayed literally everyone and was the one to put McCreary in a position strong enough he had the power to literally destroy Earth. Clarke Griffin was directly responsible for Earth’s end.

And then she said “sorry, I had no choice” and most characters fucking forgave her. I hate the way this series throws Clarke’s half-assed apologies onto us and expect us to accept them. I think it is very annoying, since Clarke would be an awesome villain, but they insist in making her one of the good guys, even with the whole “there’s no good guys” theme, which I wholeheartedly believe to be just a way to justify why Clarke needs to be forgiven again and again and again. It is not much more than bad writing, to be honest.

During season 6 she again becomes a leader without being prompted to. I loved Josephine and I think that the fact Clarke wasn’t actually Clarke was the only reason I didn’t absolutely despised her like I have done for the previous seasons. Again, I would have loved it if she had actually died then. Imagine Josephine becoming a main character for season 7 too? Amazing, brilliant, showstopping, incredible.

And she is not even there for season 7, at least until “The Queen’s Gambit” lol. Guess they finally saw how much of an annoying character she is. The only thing I remember of her is the “I don’t believe in Karma” thing, which was... expected. I mean, someone who has done as much harm as she has can’t believe in Karma anyway or she wouldn’t be able to sleep at night, and Clarke’s whole thing is about pretending to be sorry but not actually trying to change, so we can’t have that.

In conclusion, Clarke Griffin fucking sucks. She is a bad person and the way everyone always forgives every bad thing she does is bad writing. The series tries to sell her as one of the characters on the “good” side, but she actively works against it. She is not even a GOOD villain to watch, like Murphy was for many seasons. She is just an annoying character with a God complex who fucks things up, betrays her friends and lets people die again and again and then is forgiven because she is supposed to be an admirable main character. She is selfish and abusive and manipulative and power-hungry and fucking sucks, so please don’t stan her.

And that’s on that! Nice.

(DISCLAIMER PART 2: this blog DOES NOT support Eliza Taylor and Bob Morley, specially after Arryn Zech’s accusations. I know we cannot be sure of anything, but I prefer to side with a potential liar than with a potential abuser.)

[tvdiaries-imagines]

Old Flame: Pt. 4

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1726

OLD FLAME MASTERLIST: CLICK HERE

Rousseau’s is rather empty. There’s only a couple at the bar and a handful of people seated at the table. You and Kai waltz in, making yourselves comfortable at the bar.

“Another new face.” The blonde bartender says with excitement, “What brings you to the city?” She asked, placing coasters and napkins over the bar counter.

“Oh, just visiting an ex.” You said with a casual amusing tone.

She flickered her curious green eyes at Kai. “Him?”

You snorted at her assumption before shaking your head. “Oh no no no.”

She narrowed her eyes briefly at Kai before returning a playful look to you. “I’d say brother, but you two look nothing alike. So gay best friend?”

Kai grinned, amused. “Wow. That’s a first.” He threw an arm over your shoulder which you briskly rejected.

“Nope.” You said, “just a straight friend.”

“With benefits.” Kai added, raising a brow.

“Shut up.” You nudged Kai’s arm, shooting him a scowl before bringing your attention back to the blonde. “He’s totally kidding. He’s just here for moral support or whatever. Anyways, we’ll get a whiskey. Neat.”

“Sure thing.” She placed two empty glasses over the counter before turning to grab a bottle, pouring it a quarter of the way. “So visiting an ex, huh. Where are you two from?”

“Virginia.” You responded.

She furrowed her brows, baffled. “Wow. That’s pretty far to visit an ex.” A nervous chuckle escaped her mouth as if her response was beyond her control. “So sorry if I’m being too blunt. It’s not something I hear everyday.”

“Don’t worry about it…” You shrugged, glancing at her name tag. “Camille...It’s very complicated.”

“I’m all ears…” She dragged, as if waiting for an introduction.

“Y/N.” You flashed Camille a warm smile. “I know it sounds like I’m a weird ex, but I promise it’s not that weird. His sister flew all the way to Virginia and begged me to come see him.”   

“How odd?” She blinked, puzzled. It does sound a little crazy to someone who doesn’t know the backstory.

“Very very odd.” Kai added.

“Yeah I know.” You said, taking a sip of your whiskey before continuing. “His sister told me that he lost someone very important to him and that he’s been spiraling like crazy. So she and their older brother assume that I’m the key to uplifting him, I guess.”

“Got it, got it. So have you seen him yet?” Camille asked, intrigued.

You let out a long sigh. “Yes. A few minutes ago actually.”

“She ran off.” Kai smirked, leaning back in his seat.

“Ran off, huh. And he didn’t chase after you?” Camille raised a brow.

“No.” Your eyes fell to your glass, but you recovered quickly, clearing your throat as you shift your view back to the bartender. “But it’s fine. I mean, it was probably a lot for him to take in. I’ll be back soon though.” You shrugged.

“Well, you know what? I hope everything falls into place with you and your ex.” Camille said, offering you a warm smile.

“Mmmhmm.” Kai muttered, taking a generous sip of his whiskey.

For the next hour, you remained at the bar, getting to know Camille. You learned that she has a smart ass, sarcastic personality. But you enjoy every bit of it. Kai was being his usual chatty, narcissistic self. He earned many eye rolls from you and even Camille. Though, it seemed she still enjoyed his company.

You found yourself getting lost in your thoughts every now and then, replaying your very brief moment with Klaus and all the different ways you could have handled it instead of running off like a scared puppy. It was excruciating for you not knowing what went on in his head from your arrival.

All too familiar memories rushed through your head.

You’ll never forget that time Klaus scolded you for going on a walk alone. You weren’t attacked by anyone, but you did sprain your ankle after missing a step. You called Kol to come to your rescue, but he later told Klaus about it anyways.

Living with Klaus and waking up every morning to the smell of breakfast being cooked by a compelled chef.

On your last anniversary spent with him, you came home to a trail of rose petals that leads to the massive backyard, where he is waiting with a violin player and a table set up. He knows how much you cherish quality time, so his phone was set away for the remainder of the evening.

Nowadays, you wake up alone in your bed and to the smell of bacon being cooked by Stefan or Damon. You never minded it at all, though. But being in the same city as Klaus and seeing him after all this time is quite difficult for you not to reminisce.  

“Y/N.” Kai snapped you out of your thoughts, his hand placed on the small of your back. You blinked numerously to bring yourself back. “You okay there?” He asked.

“Yeah. Sorry.” You trailed off. Suddenly, you hop off of the bar stool. “I-I decided I’m going to go back. I think I cooled off long enough. Camille, it was so nice to meet you. I’ll definitely try to come visit again.”

“Leaving already?” Kai added. He’s a bit bummed that you’re already off to spend time with your ex without knowledge of when you’ll return, but he quickly realized this is the exact reason why you’re here and it was his choice to tag along.

“Yeah, just keep Camille company. I’ll call you if I need anything.”

“Nice meeting you, Y/N.” Camille offered you a smile.

Sauntering out of the vicinity, the warmth of the sun welcomes you. Your superb memory came in handy because you didn’t need gps or Elijah’s assistance to find your way back to the Mikaelson compound. You strolled instead of rushed, taking in all the sun and Jazz music has to offer you. Even you were tempted to walk inside a gift shop or two, but the task at hand was more important. Niklaus.

Glancing over your shoulders, you noticed two muscular men following closely behind you. It could be your paranoia, so you tried brushing the feeling away, but as you turned a corner, you caught a glimpse of them indiscreetly trailing after you.

You’re a vampire for god sakes, so you figured you can take them. You wandered into the nearest alleyway until you are no longer earshot from the tourists. Like clockwork, the men followed.

Halting, you turned on your heel and only noticed one of the men standing before you. “Look. If you don’t want to get your ass beat by a girl, I suggest you scurry away.” You did a shooing motion with your hand, smirking.

“Y/N Y/L/N.” His tone meant business.

“Who’s asking?” Your eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“You’re coming with us.”

You scoffed at his response. “No way in hell.” This stranger must be out of his mind, stalking me and expecting me to willingly go with him. You thought to yourself.  

You spun to walk away, but you are met with the second man’s chest and immediately everything goes black.

(Meanwhile…)

“We’re taking the 12 original rings.” Elijah started, pacing in the dining room. “Now, four sit on the hands of the Guerrera brothers. One on Oliver, one on Francesca.” He flickered his eyes from Hayley and Klaus, who are keeping a distance from both ends of the dining table. Neither would make eye contact whatsoever.

“Three, with the home security detail and the rest scattered amongst her lackeys.” Elijah continued, “Each ring is distinguishable by its setting. Gauche. Like those that wear them.”

“If they believe that they can get the stake, they will come for me when I’m weak.” Klaus said, glowering in his seat. “Each ring we retrieve will strengthen me, but I will still be at a disadvantage.”

“Ergo, any hope of our success depends entirely upon our working together.” Elijah implied, stepping closer towards Hayley’s direction. “Two of you can no longer afford to retreat to separate corners.”

Hayley frowned, but knows that Elijah is right. They all have to work together as a team.

Klaus stood, peering at Hayley with a hardened expression. “This is our fight. You ready for battle, Hayley?”

“Just promise me that Francesca doesn’t come out of this alive.” Hayley’s eyes burned with rage.

“Her head will be delivered to you on a silver platter.” Klaus smirked.

“And what of dear Y/N?” Elijah intervenes. Klaus clenched his jaw at the thought of you getting hurt if you joined in.

“She stays out of this.” Klaus said with a serious tone. “Since neither of us are aware of when she will return, do inform her to stay away from the compound until-”

The ringing of Elijah’s phone gained everyone’s attention. He freed it from the inside of his suit jacket pocket, brows furrowed in confusion at the name. He glanced nervously at Klaus as he answered the phone. “Francesca.” Elijah hid his hatred for her with a professional tone.

Klaus’s lips drew back in a snarl, fighting the urge to rip the phone out of Elijah’s hand to give Francesca a piece of his mind.

“Hello Elijah. We have your precious Y/N.” She said, Klaus’s eyes widened. “Bring Klaus to us when the moon reaches its apex or she’s dead before the sun rises.”

“Elijah! Klaus!” Your struggled voice was the last they heard before Francesca ended the call. The brothers wondered how she found out about your relationship to them, but remembered that you did walk to the compound with Elijah earlier today. They figured one of Francesca’s wolves must’ve spied on them.

“They have her?!” Raw anger shot through Klaus, hands clenched into fists. “Now this changes everything. I am going with you, Elijah.”

“No Niklaus.” Elijah rejected without remorse.

“We will continue with our plan. Allow me to handle retrieving Y/N, alone. You are too weak and quite frankly brother, your frail condition will be a burden to me.”

Klaus exhaled deeply though his nostrils, maintaining his hardened expression. “Fine.” He spat the word before softening his tone with utter desperation. “But I beg of you, Elijah. Bring her back to me alive.”

Elijah nodded before disappearing.  

-

TAGS: @ynm1505 @ravenmoore14 @xdontxcare @seasiren96 @anyasthoughts @woodworthti666 @agentmarvel13 @miss-lumiere @elizabethann1090 @physically-a-cheesecake @azhar1422 @morsmornte @retrocontessa 

[royallyanxious]

Fake best friend me, maybe?

paring: platonic roceit

tw: sympathetic deceit, very brief mentions of past abuse, crack fic

additional note: Deceit’s name’s Deegan because “Dee” was too short.

wc: 3.8k

Summary: Deceit needs someone to pretend to be his best friend. His only option is his so-called mortal enemy.

AO3 link

Door loudly closed behind his back. Dee cringed. The hallway smelt like dirty socks and sweat. He hated college but he hated his asshole ex-friends that were waiting for him outside even more. And above all of that he hated the fact that he had to humble himself in front of someone. Worst day in Deegan’s life.

His golden eyes scanned the nearly empty hallway as he scratched the scar that ran across his cheekbone. Most of people looked away when his eyes met their eyes. Dee was not widely liked in here. Not anywhere to be exact. He didn’t bother to change that either.

Only one person seemed to be completely unaffected by Dee’s sudden appearance. The gold sparks in his eyes lightened up. That was the man he was looking for.

Dee took one step forward and then another. Roman was standing just few meters away, clicking something furiously on his phone. His friends flew away as soon as they saw that Dee was approaching them so surely Roman had to be aware of his soon-to-be company. And yet he didn’t even bother to look up at Dee.

The audacity of this bitch.

Dee cleared his throat loudly. If it was possible hallway suddenly became even more empty.

“Roman, buddy, I have a favour.” He declared standing right in front of Roman.

The other glanced up from his phone, eyeing Dee suspiciously. Rightfully so. He was unimpressed. He usually was.

“Buddy?” Roman sneered, putting his phone into the pocket, “We’re not buddies. In fact we technically hate each other.”

“Oh come on, don’t be dramatic.” Dee clicked his tongue in response. He had to remain calm if it was to work out but then… bickering with Roman was always so much fun. The worst thing was that Dee knew that Roman felt the same way. Convincing him to do anything could take ages.

“Dramatic? You spat into my lunch yesterday!” roared Roman, “You spat and grinned right into my face. Thank you very much, buddy-my-ass!”

Fair point.

“I was smiling in general direction, you just happened to be right in front of me!” said Dee innocently.

Roman groaned and raked his hand through his copper hair. Dee could already see the mischievous smile tugging up the corners of his mouth. That was the moment he was waiting for.

The thing with Roman and Deegan was that officially they hated each other but in reality they couldn’t live without separately. They were the type of enemies that were going absolutely morbid without each other. It escalated to the point that if Roman was sick - Dee was skipping school, and if Dee had taken a part-time job - Roman made sure to torment him with nasty texts during his shift. And everyone approved that. Because it was simply their dynamics.

Roman was widely liked by the masses while Dee was a freak/loser type of guy. It was only logical for people to label them as enemies. Especially since almost each of their encounters ended up with sharp remarks and angry sneers. Yet somehow they kept coming back to each other, like two magnets. There was no escape from that.

There was however one unspoken rule between them - the rule that Dee was about to break any second soon. Never have they ever met outside of the college. If they saw each other in public, they never made a move to suggest that they know each other. It was their way of keeping balance in the nature.

Not for long.

“I need you to fake-best-friend me.” blurted Dee when Roman finally (finally!) looked at him without the confusion and mockery in his eyes.

Said eyes almost immediately grew wider. Dee was not surprised.

“Excuse me?.” Roman took a step back and put a hand over his heart. Again - not unexpected. “I must be hearing things… First of all. There’s no such thing as ‘fake best friends’. Second of all… You do realize that people usually assume that we are mortal enemies, right? It could ruin our image! Give me one good reason why should I do that.”

Dee sighed. Talking to Roman was one thing (that itself wasn’t easy) but convincing him was something completely different. He was stubborn and while Deegan usually didn’t mind that (it made his life much more interesting), now he was cursing that very trait of Roman Fucking Fairley. Damn him and his stupid stubborn ass.

“Well this is important to me.” replied Dee and mentally praised himself for very witty response. Great fucking job he should be a mediator truly.

“Is it now?” Roman huffed loudly, mocking smile back on his face as he raised his eyebrow.

“Very.” nodded Dee, trying to ignore the heat tickling his cheeks. It was humiliating but it was also his only shot. The truth was that no one was even willing to normally talk with Dee, not to mention hanging out in any possible way.

“My answer is still no then.” shrugged Roman and turned around on his heel. Dee nodded thoughtfully before the other’s words caught up on him.

“Wait what. No! Oh for god’s sake, Roman! One small favour for your favourite slimy enemy?” in a spun of a moment Deegan grabbed Roman’s hand, practically launching himself on him. “This is my dignity that we’re talking about! I can’t lose it!”

“You can’t lose something you don’t have, dipshit.” replied Roman coolly. Sparks of cold satisfaction were literally glowing in his eyes and Dee mentally groaned.

“You’re insufferable.” he said instead and let his hand slip off Roman’s wrist.

“I’m just trying to be a worthy match for you.”

“Do you really?” snickered Dee.

“Oh shut up. Gimme a sec” snapped Roman and pulled out his phone again. He started typing something furiously with the speed of the light. Before Dee got to ask what he was doing Roman switched his phone off and crossed his arms on the chest. “So… fake best friend? Sounds like a terrible fic trope. Also proves that you’re lame.”

“I disagree and... slightly disagree.” grinned Dee and started walking towards the door, explaining everything vividly “So basically what I need you to do is pretend that you’re my best friend. Because my friends from the past are waiting for me outside and I don’t want to look like a sore loser.”

“You are sore loser.” Roman said smiling lazily but followed Dee’s steps anyway, “Why me though?”

“You’re my enemy.” Dee shrugged, “No one knows me better than you do. Tell me something nobody knows.”

“Patton didn’t threw up on Logan’s couch. It was you.” replied Roman almost immediately.

“See? That’s the spirit! You can totally fake best friend me.”

“Yeah… Maybe… maybe you’re right.” nodded Roman, “You owe me a pizza afterwards though! Like you know… just you buying me pizza and leaving me alone.” he warned raising his finger up as if he wanted to threaten him.

Deegan smiled and hooked his own pinky finger over Roman’s. The atmosphere between them was heavy with challenge which - for once - wasn’t held against each other. Seconds later Roman unhooked his finger and pushed the door, letting the fresh air into the building. Dee let himself smile a little bit wider as he padded after Roman. Something warm and fuzzy made itself cozy in his chest and he had no idea what that was but - him be damned - it felt pretty good.

---

Turned out that Roman didn’t have to do much. Just him being there was more than enough apparently. Except of him and Deegan, there were three of them. Those ‘ex-friends’. Roman wasn’t the type to overthink so he didn’t ask why they weren’t friends with Dee anymore. He also didn’t ask why they decided to meet up if they weren’t friends. It wasn’t his business anyway. Also he didn’t care.

Just like it wasn’t Dee’s business that Roman had cancelled plans for entire afternoon just because Dee asked him for help.

And sure, Roman was fighting against the idea at first. The thought itself - of him and Dee hanging out (even if it was fake hanging out) was actually pretty concerning. But it also took Roman exactly 5 seconds to understand that spending one more evening with Dee was much more fun than spending time with anybody else.

Being around him was like a challenge. And oh boy, Roman did enjoy challenges a lot. Pretending to be Dee’s best friend was a great opportunity not only to work on the acting skills but also gave Roman more occasions to embarrass his self-proclaimed enemy. And that what Roman was always up for.

Everybody claimed that Dee and him were complete opposites but Roman begged to differ. They were actually painfully similar. It’s just the directions they took were different.

He enviously glanced slushie that Deegan was sipping as they strolled down the street, before his eyes wandered to nameless men that were never skilled enough to be Dee’s friends. Because you see, Roman had this strong belief that it didn’t require time or patience to be Deegan’s friend. It required skill. And actually Roman possessed this skill. He just never made a proper use out of it.

“You’re awfully quiet guy, Roman!” snickered the boy with hair that was dyed green. Roman was pretty sure that his name started with “e”. Despite the outstanding hair-colour, he was pretty grey.

Dee laughed loudly when he caught Roman’s gaze lingering on him.

“Roman’s shy baby at first but believe me you wouldn’t want to see him surrounded by his little fans!” he mocked, his lips twisted in a loop-sided grin. It made his sharp cheekbones stand out even more. “Or you know what? You would love to see that, Evan!”

Ah, so it was Evan. Bland name. Actually fits him well.

“Why?” peeped another guy, the one wearing thick glasses.

“Because everybody loves our Roman here.” grinned Dee. “If only they knew that inside he’s not as much of a saint that they think he is.”

“Hey!” Roman’s eyebrows furrowed, “Excuse me, I am a model student.”

Apparently those words held some kind of a special meaning because the rest of the boys started laughing as if they heard a good joke.

“What?” asked Roman confused, scrunching up his nose.

“You can’t be a model student if you’re friends with Dee. Being friends with Dee is like… a major disgrace for any model student.” explained Even, glancing at Dee a little bit waringly.

“Yeah,” agreed Thick Glasses, “You gotta choose! You’re either perfect or you hang out with Dee!”

The third guy, the one wearing long, orange skirt, leaned closer to Roman, before whispering loudly “I don’t think we need to tell you that nobody chooses Dee in this equation, do we?”

Dee quickly took an obnoxiously loud sip of his slushie. Their eyes met for a split of second and Roman couldn’t help but notice a shade of shame in Dee’s eyes.

Some would say that at this very moment Roman felt pity. But he knew better. The only emotion in his heart at that time was an overwhelming disgust and sense of unfairness. He instantly straightened his back and snatched the slushie from Deegan’s hand.

“It’s their loss honestly. Dee’s a great guy. Not that you know though. After all you ditched him too, didn’t you?” he smiled widely, showing off two perfectly white rows of his teeth.

Orange Skirt cautiously stepped back while Evan and Thick Glasses looked at each other slightly panicked.

“It’s not…” started Evan but just when his tongue started twisting in whatever explanation he had, Dee waved his hand off.

“Roman’s always like that. Always a prince on a white horse.” he joked heavily before looking at the other with a familiar glint of something wild in his eyes. “Why do you always make everything sound so awfully melodramatic, idiot?” he sneered.

Dee knew what he was doing. Roman could feel in under his skin. It was nothing different from the remarks that Dee sometimes threw at him in the college. He wanted to rile Roman up in the name of good fun. And he knew that Roman wouldn’t refuse. He never refused. So when the question tickled Roman’s nerves just like it usually did, he let his lips spread in a merciless smirk.

“I’m just trying to keep up with your terrible sense of fashion, babe” he replied smoothly, eyeing shimmering with glitter shirt that Dee somehow managed to put into his jeans.

Evan crackled upon hearing that but neither Roman nor Dee cared. The blood was already rushing under their skin. That was their dynamics.

“At least I don’t spend hours in the morning, trying to flawlessly stylize my hair.” hissed Dee, circling Roman, “And yet you still wonder why people treat you like a fucking trinket. Try talking to them and they will swoon. Try looking in their direction and they will faint. Wave at them and, I’m sure, they will be ecstatic.”

Roman only chuckled at this statement, “Bold statement considering that it comes from someone who daily waves aside everyone in general.”

“It’s a conscious decision.”

“You puking at Logan’s couch! That was a conscious decision.” laughed Roman and briefly looked at the others. “But you barking at people? If it’s a decision of yours, then you are really poor at making them.”

“The only poor person here is you and it’s because you’re lacking your brain” retorted Dee, eyes glimmering with excitement. “Nitwit.”

“Imbecile.”

“Moron.”

“Moron your hair.”

“I think you meant maroon and that’s hardly an insult,” smiled Deegan widely, “Therefore I win.”

“Win? A freakshow maybe, yes.” replied Roman. He wasn’t sure if the sweet taste lingering on his tongue was from the slushie or from the delicious ripost.

At this point Deegan was fuming, eyes glistening in excitement and fury, hands clenched in small fists. Roman smirked even wider. He was enjoying their game today. The outside world had already ceased to exist. It was only him and Dee’s awful attitude.

“Just because you won a battle, doesn’t mean that you won the war,” hissed Dee, baring his teeth. Left canine was pricking his lip. Roman knew this sight by heart by now.

“No, but at the revenge still tastes sweet,” he said, taking a particularly large sip of the blueberry slushies.

Something sparkled in Dee’s eyes and Roman froze with the straw in his mouth.

“You do know that you’re basically indirectly kissing me, don’t you, loser?” stated Dee casually as if he was discussing why it’s light during daytime.

The drops of slushie that was still tingling on Roman’s tongue forcefully made their way to the pavement as he started coughing abruptly, choking on his own saliva and air. Meanwhile Dee started laughing so loudly that the sound was surely to be heard two or even three streets away from there. The cup with the slushie fell on the ground and the liquid spilled across the pavement, creating a blue puddle. Deegan thought that the look on Roman’s face was totally worth the prize of the drink though.

Only when Dee’s lungs started to burn craving for oxygen, did he take a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Roman finally straightened up but before he could angrily deliver any remark he had on his mind, Dee wheezed again pointing at Roman’s perplexed face.

“You have fucking blue sprinkles on your chin, genius.” he snorted mercifully.

Fair amount of red blush crawled on Roman’s cheeks. Quickly, he wiped the chin with his hand but instead of getting rid of the blue drops, he smeared them even further.

“Well, great.” he grumbled in reply, looking through his pockets in search of a tissue. “I’m already turning into a snake that you are. Thank you for your slimy gems, Dee.”

“Actually, you’ve always been a cold-blooded bitch, Roman. So really turning into a snake wouldn’t make much of a difference for you anyway.”

Roman prepared himself for the familiar sound of whistling and growling that usually followed sentences like that but this time, all he heard was silence and Dee’s heavy breathing. He looked around. He got so caught up in the game that he forgot where they were. What was even more shocking though was that Dee and him were standing all alone on the empty street. His eyebrows furrowed as he scanned the surroundings. He could have sworn that he had just seen Evan and the rest of the group…

“They left the moment I called you ‘nitwit’” said Deegan noticing Roman’s confusion. “I guess our shenanigans were just too much for them to handle.” he added shrugging.

The sun was slowly disappearing behind the horizon, tinting the sky with the shades of golden specks. For some reason they reminded Roman of the sparks in Dee’s eyes.

“Well, to me they came across as weak from the beginning,” he replied finally, trying to pretend that he didn’t see just how much the other was avoiding his gaze. “I guess my mission here is over then…” he added hopelessly.

As soon as these words left his mouth he felt an unpleasant pain growing in his chest. It wasn’t unfamiliar - or at least didn’t feel like something strange. Maybe it always was there, but Roman never cared enough to acknowledge it. The realization hit him hard moments later, when Dee sighed loudly. Roman didn’t want this day to end. He had fun. Despite all the concerns he had - today he had fun. And it wasn’t because of Eran or whatever his name was. It wasn’t because of Orange Skirt or Thick Glasses. It wasn’t even because of melting slushie on the pavement. It was because of Dee.

He always had lots of fun with Dee.

Those unspoken words were stuck in his throat, bruising his sensitive flesh and ego. Him, Roman, someone who was a man of many words and even more kind smiles, was now standing in front of one of the most important people in his life and he was practically mute.

Dee hummed softly, still avoiding Roman’s eyes. He seemed unbothered and it hurt more than it should.

“Text me your address and toppings,” said Dee finally.

“What?” asked Roman dumbly, cursing the confusion in his voice.

“The pizza?” sighed Dee, arching his eyebrow,  “I promised, I remember. So don’t worry. You’re free now.” he smiled but it was a strained smile. Roman knew all of Deegan’s smiles: from the mocking one through the evil one up to the honest dorky laugh. Over all those years, he learnt to distinguish and love them. This one? It wasn’t a smile Roman wanted to see on Dee’s face. Not now nor ever.

“Ah, right…” he mumbled numbly when all he wanted was to ask Dee what was wrong.

They stood in complete silence for a few minutes, Roman unsuccessfully trying to catch Dee’s gaze. It was weird being together without the air filled with fights and insults. It was weird but also surprisingly comfortable. The only thing destroying the moment was tense muscles under Dee’s skin and a certain uneasiness that was radiating from him. Roman could feel that something was wrong but he couldn't bring himself to ask. After all who was Roman to Dee? Nothing more than official enemy and unofficial fake best friend.

The odd silence was broken by a loud tune announcing a new text message. Hesitantly Dee pulled his phone from the pocket of his jeans. Whatever someone texted it apparently was funny because moments later Dee’s lips spread in a shy smile. He glanced at Roman behind his phone, as if he wasn’t sure if the latter was still there.

“Yonnah, texted me.” he said casually and Roman blinked with surprise.

“Sorry, who?” he asked politely.

“Yonnah.” repeated Dee, searching for some kind of recognition on Roman’s face. Finding none he sighed, “One of the guys we’ve been hanging out with all day long. The one with specs…” he provided helpfully.

“Ah! Thick Glasses!” clapped Roman with understanding.

”The only thick thing here is your head.” purred Dee and just like that the heavy atmosphere was gone.

“From the other side, the only non-thick thing here are your thighs.” grinned Roman.

Dee grimaced. “That was kinda lame.”

Roman chuckled in response, for the first time not feeling an absolute and overwhelming need to reply with something equally sharp and mean.

“Yeah, it was…” he agreed carefully.

Deegan looked at him visibly stunned. It wasn’t just an agreement. Both of them knew that. It was something new, a step forward maybe. Someone could call that a peace offering but they never were at the state of war. Nothing remotely close to hate radiated from golden eyes when Dee was talking to Roman. Ever. For Roman he held only shy kindness mixed with playfulness.

“I was thinking, Dee…” Roman cleared his throat, “Maybe after all we could get that pizza together… I mean. We don't have to if you don’t want to but… God, don’t let me ramble, this is terrible,” he hopelessly looked at the other.

If it was possible Dee’s eyes grew even wider and his mouth was hanging open. Then he blinked rapidly few times in a row.

“You want to hang out… With me?” asked Dee carefully as if he wasn’t sure if it’s not another joke.

Roman nodded quickly. “Pretty much so. I think it’s high time for us to hang out properly don't you agree?” he said, scratching his head. It sounded terribly lame.

And yet somehow Dee was beaming. His eyes were sparkling under the artificial light of the lamp above their heads. The scar running across his cheek seemed to be just another line of his awfully toothy smile. Roman’s heart melted on the spot.

“I’d actually love that.” nodded Dee finally and almost instantly turned on his heel to walk down the street. He stopped however after barely few meters just to glance over his shoulder and wink at Roman, “Don’t get me wrong. This is pure business for me. If I go with you, we will split the bill, right?”

Roman laughed under his breath, already setting off in Dee’s direction.

“Yeah… I guess we will do that.” he said to himself. “I guess, we will…”

----

That evening Dee was sitting on his bed waiting for Roman to finish taking a shower. He wasn’t sure how or why had he offered Roman to crash over at his place. It was natural. Having Roman around was always natural to Dee. It always had been.

Yet, over all evening long neither of them said the magical word.

Friends.

Maybe they were friends indeed. Maybe they were friends way, way before Dee asked Roman for a favour this morning. Maybe they were yet to become real friends.

Once again, Dee hummed and opened his phone searching for a text from Yonnah. He found it funny how a silly text, pushed him to make a decision that might had been one of the most important decisions of his life.

“I’m glad that you finally got yourself a normal best friend

actually no

scratch ‘normal’

you two are fcking nuts”

The end.

PS I'm heavily considering writing a sequel to this story in which our lads would become something more than just best friends. If you'd be up for that let me know if you wanna be tagged :)

General taglist:

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[mrsnazariowrites]

Yesterday

The Edge of the World: Chapter 9

Perfect Match AU

Pairing: Damien x MC

Perma-note: Dames’ name is Dexter in this series.

A/N: After weeks of studying for exams exams and just posting previews, I finally sat down and threw out the rest of this! 

I’m going to start posting everything via tumblr once again, but I will still be including the archive link to the same fic as well, just in case my read-more link malfunctions or you just prefer to read on the archive.

The supporting lyrics are from the song Empty Eyes, by Within Temptation

If you need to catch up, Chapters 1-8 is in my Masterlist

Link to the Choices Fanfic Archive version: http://choicesfanfic.com/content/yesterday/

Summary: Maya has a long-overdue conversation with Alana in their cell . . . and then some very hard truths to throw at Dexter. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang infiltrate the docks. Will they make it through undetected?

Disclaimer: Characters/canon belong to Pixelberry

You’re determined by faith you pretend to make up,

You lay out your case like the enemy

But all that you got through dirty white lies,

You find the damn correct way of blaming me for your crimes

Won’t you talk to me? Don’t walk or run away.

I’m onto you . . . yesterday . . . (with empty eyes)

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

The silence inside was stifling, save for Rowan and Cecile’s argument echoing in muffled yells through the metal walls. The cargo container Maya and Alana were currently shut in allowed for plenty of leg room, but at the moment, both of them were situated in corner, trying to gather as much as they could from the conversation outside; grabbing at bits and pieces of their words to get a clue as to what would come next. Nothing special seemed to come of it besides more vengeful, grandiose declarations.

At least until one name stood out to them.

Khaan. 

Maya glanced sideways and met Alana’s gaze.

“Does that name ring a bell for you?” the agent whispered.

Maya shook her head, biting her lip. “Nope. Never heard of him.”

“If this guy is so important to them, I wonder why he hasn’t shown up yet.”

As the voices outside died down, she sat back and took a deep breath which only seemed to tighten her nerves as her mind was bombarded with numerous theories. All she’d been able to get from this was that for some reason, they desperately needed this ‘Khaan’ guy to advance their Siren project. But what did that have to do with her and Damien? Wasn’t this whole thing supposed to be a ploy to recapture their group?

Then her mind shifted back to him as it often had throughout this chaos. Harley had taken him somewhere else while she and Alana were being held separately. And given that Alana’s presence here wasn’t even the original plan-

Maya’s heart sank and she drew her knees further in. Damien has something that they need. She inhaled sharply and looked back to the door. And now they have someone he needs too.

“Maya?” Alana’s calm voice came distantly to her, but she was hardly paying attention, still fixated on this new revelation. This was the only possible explanation. But as far as she knew, none of them had ever heard of Khaan. Did Damien specifically know about him? Or did he just know more than he was telling? Why would he hide it? What the hell is going on here?!

“Maya, look at me,” Alana said a little more loudly and Maya looked back at her, barely aware of how much she was shaking.

“What?”

“You okay?”

“I-” Maya blinked in surprise at the question. Not that that wasn’t a valid thing to ask, but more because it was Alana asking. “Yeah,” she cleared her throat to try and hide how much her voice was wavering. “As fine as I can be. You?” She glanced at Alana’s lip, which was slightly coated with some dried blood.

“Oh, this?” She gave a nod, smirking. “Please, I’ve seen worse.” Maya nodded in acknowledgement and moved to listen through the wall when Alana spoke again. “I’ve always hated liked Paris, you know,” she mused. “It’s so damn charming all the time.”

Maya quirked an eyebrow. “You have a pretty interesting definition of ‘charming’,” she said. “Cabarets and expensive bars not cutting it for you? You think this is any better?”

“What can I say?” Alana shrugged nonchalantly, barely giving away how she too, was trying to keep it together. The only indication of this was the way her foot kept tapping against the floor. “Keeps things interesting.”

Maya was about to elaborate on how dismal circumstances like this seemed like such a normal thing to her. But then a loud creaking sound jolted both of them out of their conversation as the door opened and someone walked in. The sole lightbulb hanging from the ceiling was dim enough to make out a familiar figure.

“Damien?” Maya instinctively perked up.

There was a scoff. “Afraid not.” Dexter came through the door, carrying two plastic plates of food. Alana watched suspiciously as he placed one in front of her. He noted her expression and rolled his eyes, his sarcasm plain for all to hear. “I’ve tried to keep any dietary restrictions in mind, but you’re gonna have to make do with what’s here for now.”

“Riiight,” Alana said dryly, eyeing the mashed potatoes in front of her. “Slop it is, then.”

He turned to Maya, handing her the same thing while she watched incredulously. The last time she’d seen that softer look in his eyes was when they were at the Louvre checking out paintings; talking and laughing together, speculating on what she’d believed was ‘their relationship’ and future. And it had all been a lie.

Dexter had been perpetrating a ruse and Maya had fallen for it hook, line and sinker. That’s what had brought them here to begin with. It was why Nadia and her friends were stuck in god-knew-where, desperately trying to find them. It was why Alana was soon to be an not-so-official missing person.

And now it was why Damien was in danger of being hurt or worse.

From the start, Maya had only been trying to do something good for Hayden, for the Matches. This was just supposed to be about exposing Eros and going back home, but now everything had spiraled out of control.

And he was the reason why. 

As she looked into the eyes of the man who’d deceived her, all Maya could think of was one question. “Why?”

Dexter raised an eyebrow at that question, then glanced at the plate, seeming to think she was asking about the food. “It’s . . . been a long day. Thought you could use some food in the mean time.”

Maya looked at the plate then at him, her face contorting into a snarl, and she slapped it out of his hands. Dexter’s eyes followed where she’d thrown the food. He remained stiff in place, opening and closing his fists again before taking a deep breath and then looking back at her, tilting his head meaningfully. “I think it’s in your best interest not to antagonize the one guy who’s actually being nice to you for once-”

“Please, do you seriously think you’re doing me a favor right now?!” She all but yelled in his face. “You’re the reason we’re in this situation in the first place, which brings me back to my first question: Why?” When Dexter didn’t answer, she piled on. “Back at the Louvre . . . you impersonated Damien, made me trust you . . . god, you even let me kiss you, I-” Her voice grew thick with emotion and she broke off, having to steady herself before she could speak again. “You took advantage of me, Dexter . . . Of my feelings, my fears. How could you?”

“I- ” Dexter opened his mouth to answer, only to be silenced by the look on her face. He found himself gazing into her eyes – eyes that shone with pure hurt. She watched him expectantly as he struggled to find the words that would’ve come more easily to him many hours ago. “My job was to lead you away from the museum. It’s not personal, Maya. I was acting on Father’s-”

“Father– wow, okay excuse me while I barf.”

Dexter let out an irritated sigh. “Mr. West’s orders. I have a job to do. That’s it.”

“Yeah, your actions at the forest made that abundantly clear.”

“Excuse me?”

“You stopped Harley from hurting me. Was that part of your job description?”

His eyes narrowed. “That has nothing to do with this.”

“Oh but I think it does.” Maya stood up, balancing herself in spite of the handcuffs binding her hand to the railing. “One moment you’re handing me over to Eros and then the next you’re yelling at Harley for hitting me? I can’t figure you out!” She scoffed, shaking her head. “Every time you look at me, I see him; his eyes, his face. I think of the sweet things he’d say that make me feel safe. But then I remember your hands on me. Dragging me away from the museum, holding me down while I kicked and screamed.” She pressed on, undeterred by the way he tensed. “You’re feeling it, aren’t you? The anger.”

Maya watched every tell of his that she knew matched that of Damien – the way his jaw clenched, the way his hand was shaking. “That’s how Damien felt when Rowan attacked me in the Arctic. It’s how he felt when he saw you pull me into the van. That’s how you felt when Harley did the same. And that’s why you’ve kept me away from him since then.”

“That’s- I was just trying to-” Dexter stammered for a second, then caught himself. He pointed a finger at her, glaring. “Look, no one asked you to fake a bathroom stop and then go running off into the forest. Whatever happened to piss off Harley, that’s on you.”

“Riiight, and I’m sure he was perfectly fine with you getting knocked on your ass by Damien’s ex-girlfriend.”

His turned a light shade of red as Alana chuckled at the remark, then threw his hands up, frustrated. “What exactly do you want from me, Maya?!”

“For starters, some honesty. You started this whole thing by lying to me and then kidnapping me on someone else’s orders. Then you suddenly start insisting that I shouldn’t be harmed, though you’ll look the other way when they hurt Alana or Damien.”

“I already told you, I don’t give a f-”

“Damien’s hands shake like that too when he’s nervous.” Maya’s reply hit him point-blank.

“That has nothing to do with this.” Dexter shoved his hands in his pocket, completely brushing her off as he stepped back.

“Bullshit!” She cried. “It has everything to do with the way you keep looking at me like you suddenly want to be some kind of protector! Stop looking at me like that when you don’t even mean it!”

He barely recoiled at those words, but whoever was sitting closer to him could see that his fists were visibly bunching up in his pockets as he endeavored to keep his composure. Maya knew that with every accusation she kept throwing at him, that was probably getting harder and harder to do, and she was playing with fire. Under normal circumstances, she’d have been a little calmer than this.

But now? She was too frustrated with her situation to care.

Dexter glared at her. “You think I want to look at you?” He fired back passionately. “That I wouldn’t rather just do my job and move on without Harley breathing down my neck? That it’s so easy for me to wonder why every time I see you cry, I feel like-” He immediately stopped and looked away, his face becoming as stony as it’d been before, but it was too late.

“W-what?” Maya’s eyes widened at this random slip-up and everything came to a standstill. Several seconds of uncomfortable silence passed until she finally managed to speak again. “You feel like what?” She unconsciously stepped forward, only to be held back by her restraints. “Dexter . . .”

“It doesn’t matter,” Dexter said, shaking his head. “None of it matters. You want an answer? Fine. All of these extra feelings are the real thing.” He continued to study her as she gaped at him, clearly not having expected that. Then he quickly added, “But I’m not the real thing, not your Damien. The sooner you accept that, the better it would be for you.”

“Dexter, it does matter. Stop pretending like you don’t have a choice. You do. You’ve always had a choice.”

“I don’t-”

“No, you’re wrong,” she shouted passionately. “Life is full of choices! And Matches are just as alive as humans! That makes you accountable for what you do. You chose to obey Eros, chose to deceive me, and now you’re choosing to ignore that you know this is wrong! Eros isn’t doing this anymore, Dexter! You are!”

There was a flash of hurt in his eyes that immediately changed to anger. “You know what? I’ve had enough of your whining,” he growled. “You wanna throw tantrums and piss off everyone you meet? It’s your funeral.” He swiftly marched over to the discarded food, scooped it back onto the plate in one swipe and then then threw it down in front of her. “Eat if you want, or go hungry. See if I care.” And with that, he strode out of the cargo container, slamming the door behind him.

Maya rolled her eyes and sat back down, fuming. She stared at the food for a few seconds, wrinkling her nose in disgust no matter how her rumbling stomach was betraying her at the this time, then looked away morosely.

Alana’s snarky comment broke the silence. “If you’re the best negotiator your group’s got, it’s no wonder you always manage to land in some sort of trouble.”

She whirled on her, irritated. “Oh sure, you’re one to talk about negotiating.”

Now it was Alana’s turn to roll her eyes as she picked up on the hidden meaning. “Aww, is the little princess still holding a grudge?”

“I- are you-” Maya let out an incredulous squeal. “It hasn’t even been a week! What did you expect, a heartwarming forgiveness monologue?!”

“Well, technically-”

“No, that doesn’t count!” She snapped. “Sticking together was what got us out of there. I stand by that, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten your role in this. And while we’re on my negotiation skills,” Maya leaned forward to emphasize her next point. “Let’s not forget that it’s my sweet-talking that got Rowan to reveal his plans despite the scene you made at dinner.”

Alana’s jaw dropped and she was silent for several moments, studying her until her smirk returned. “Impressive, Maya. Looks like there’s hope for us after all, that is, if your overactive limbic system doesn’t get us in trouble.”

“Can’t be any worse the way yours did.” To her surprise, Alana laughed at the jab. Another silence passed as Maya watched her curiously, partly hating how she felt her previous anger towards the wayward agent start to soften. Then she threw out the other question that had been stuck in her head ever since that fateful day in Moscow. “Did you really think Damien would’ve thought better of you if your plan had gone through? If he’d been safe and we’d all been thrown to the wolves?” 

Thanks to the poor lighting inside the cargo container, Maya didn’t notice Alana’s slight flinch at her abrupt question.

“I . . . hadn’t thought things through then. I realize that now.” The agent sighed. “I didn’t know what Eros was beyond what you had all told me. When you said they were after a robot and some files, I didn’t exactly forsee . . . this.” She gestured to the their dingy prison. “I mean this is dark. Really messed up.” That flicker of emotion in her eyes was there again. “Kidnapping, replacing people, to-” Alana immediately closed her mouth before she could finish the last word. She didn’t bother to look at Maya to see if she’d picked up on it.

Maya looked down at her lap, beginning to fidget with her hands. “Then why betray us like you did?”

“I didn’t see it that way then. At the time, my only interest was in keeping Damien safe. I didn’t know you guys nor did I particularly care about you.” She sighed again. “But given the last few days since the train, I see now that you’re . . . good people. Disgustingly annoying proportions of good in fact. I suppose I can see why Damien thinks so highly of you.”

“Alana . . .” At this point, Maya couldn’t help the intrigue she felt at what was probably the first genuine interaction between them. Before, Alana had shown nothing but disdain for them, which was easy to brush off, given her shaky history with Damien. But she’d still come forward to help when she saw their situation – albeit putting on a show of wanting to help for Damien’s sake, only to throw them under the bus for that very reason.

And now it seemed that the realization was hitting Alana harder than before – that not only had she grossly misjudged the wrong people on all ends, but her actions had also ended up endangering the one person she’d truly wanted to protect. Even if it hadn’t, the way things were going now, Alana would have earned his hatred if Maya and the others had had to face this alone.

“Bringing you to Eros was a . . . bad call. If I’d known what I know now, I . . . would’ve made a different call.”

Maya’s lip twitched. “Alana Kusuma. Are you trying to apologize?” The scowl forming on Alana’s face only heightened her amusement, lifting her anxiety and encouraging her teasing even further. “You must really like me. It’s almost like we’re-”

“All right, don’t push it, kid.”

————————————————-

Dexter paced angrily next to the cargo container, hardly aware of the faint conversations going on nearby. At this moment, he didn’t care whether anyone would see him practically lose his composure over one girl. He had every right to be annoyed now, if not before.

He had never exactly expected Maya to be cooperative, given the circumstances, but her anger was infectious. Every time she would let loose, it caught onto someone else and would spiral into a chain reaction that would come back to him. The way she’d easily angered Rowan was evidence of that. And considering the way Cecile kept egging him on, this did not bode well for anyone. This was bound to land them all in trouble if they weren’t careful. Why Maya couldn’t see that was beyond him.

What was also beyond him was why he was even concerned over this. As far as he knew, the mission was accomplished – yet every order he’d followed was starting to backfire on him. Limiting Harley’s apparent zeal for cruelty, following orders to the letter . . . Dexter had done it all, yet now it was his loyalty that was possibly being questioned.

He’d heard time and time again that it wasn’t in any Match’s best interest to cross Rowan – and he hadn’t. But after today, he couldn’t help feeling a pull toward the idea that something else was amiss. Was it from Rowan’s apparent, cold disregard for these people’s dignity? Based on what Dexter knew, Rowan at least seemed to be very attached to his creations, going as far as to consider them his ‘children‘.

Dexter wrinkled his nose a bit at that thought. Somehow, the label still didn’t sit well with him. He never questioned it, but that didn’t mean he welcomed it. As far as he knew, he had a mother and four sisters who he was one hundred percent sure cared for him . . . at least they would’ve if the relationship was actually real.

It wasn’t, though, nor was it his place to want that. No matter how real these details felt, they were as fake as his persona. So long as he’d accepted this, Rowan and Cecile were placated.

No, he was part of Rowan’s destiny, to carry out his vision for the Siren Project. Much like the mythical creatures of Greek lore that had brought doom to innocent sailors, he himself had charmed Maya – taking the form of her lover and charming her with sweet words, only to lead her and her friends into danger.

Sirens could wield power without lifting a finger. They were breathtaking, yet ruthless, cunning, unwavering . . . and held no remorse for their actions.

So why was he faltering now?

Dexter had done everything he was supposed to do. Eros was getting what they wanted today because of him. His subtlety was why their plan had worked to begin with. He’d had, what, only a few moments of sympathy for Maya’s plight? And now while Harley got off kissing Rowan and Cecile’s prissy asses, he’d just been scolded like some small child.

I’m not a child. No one tells Damien Nazario what to-

Dexter cut off his thoughts in realization, then balled his hands into fists. “God fucking DAMN IT!” With a yell of frustration, he blindly kicked at a box nearby, watching as cracked open and its’ contents spilled everywhere.

—————————————————–

Nadia and Sloane were crouched behind a large pile of boxes, surveying the area. Cargo containers outlined every area of these docks, like a maze. Where Hayden and Steve were at this point was hard to guess, considering how easy it would be to get lost here and in consequence, be discovered.

Once they’d arrived at the docks, they’d spent a good few minutes surveying the area until finding a spot that wasn’t patrolled by guards. The plan was for Hayden and Steve to snatch some guard uniforms for themselves, then use the former’s similar appearance to Harley as an advantage to clear the area. Then he would lead the rest of them undetected to a better vantage point where they could plan their rescue.

Until then, the others could only wait bated breaths. Nadia clutched Dipper closely to her as they did their best to stay hidden until Hayden and Steve returned. In the distance, she could make out silhouettes, bobbing in the ocean and she could feel memories coming back that she’d rather not relive. She quickly shook her head, trying to quash down any thoughts of what Maya and her friends were going through.

No, Nadia. No negativity allowed! We’re going to make it out of here. Period. Though she still couldn’t resist getting one particular thought out in the open.

“Hey Sloane?” she said quietly.

“Hmm?”

“I really hate boats.”

“Agreed.”

There was a loud crash and a shout from nearby and both girls jumped. Sloane instinctively clapped her hands over her mouth as a few figures came around the corner. Dipper’s ears were straightened up and her teeth bared. She was on high alert, but to her credit, remained quiet; it was as if she’d sensed the danger her guardians were in if she made so much as a sound in front of the wrong people.

“We’re back.” Steve’s loud whisper brought relief to all of them as he and Hayden approached them, dressed in the guards’ black uniforms. Nadia stepped out of her hiding spot and approached them, beaming as Steve wrapped her in a hug, instantly evaporating her previous worry.

Sloane was smiling approvingly as she took in their appearance. “This is perfect, very convincing.” she said. “With you two dressed like that, Eros won’t even know the difference.”

“Oh they didn’t,” Hayden laughed. “Once I walked up and started barking orders, they scampered off.”

“Did you find a place?”

He nodded. “The area I cleared out has a few cargo containers we can hide in. But we need to move fast.” And with that, he began to lead everyone in a certain direction.

“By the way babe?” Nadia looked to Steve, grinning. “You’re gonna save that uniform for after we get outta here, right?” Sloane and Hayden collectively groaned and she raised her hands defensively. “What? I’m just saying . . .”

“Nadia?!” An all too familiar voice stopped them in their tracks and they whirled around, ready to face whatever threat had just come their way. They froze when they saw him. Dipper let out a low growl and Hayden tensed.

Nadia’s eyes widened and she almost lunged forward, only to be held back by Steve. Taking a deep breath, she backed down and looked back to the one who’d just intercepted them, swallowing hard.

“Damien, is that you?”

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

I don’t know where I’m going, in search for answers

I don’t know who I’m fighting, I stand with empty eyes

You’re like a ghost within me, who’s draining my life

It’s like my soul is see through

Right through my empty eyes

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

@lizeboredom @scalpeljockeybrycelahela @flowerpowell @walkerismychoice @walkerduchess @odetomars @okchoices @mfackenthal @nazariobae @gardeningourmet @eileendannie @rainbowsinthestorm @choiceslife @the-everlasting-dream @aworldoffandoms @musicalnerd98 @queen-among-writers @ab1901 @universallypizzataco @sawyeroakleyscowboyhat @jlpplays1 @mysteli @itsraleighcarrera @mitalijoshi @furiousherringoperatortoad @strangerofbraidwood @client-327 @damienazarios @sawyeroakleyscowboyhat @mrsnazariowalker @indiacater @boneandfur @simplyaiden-blog @furiouscloddonutpeanut @blackcatkita @ritachacha @moonlightgem7 @jadedpixiescribbles @brightpinkpeppercorn @choicesarehard

[artificialqueens]

you and i-- we're defying gravity ch. 2 (scyvie) - amelieee

a/n:

hey, i’m back! uh, this time with less typos! i finally got a beta (thank you to my friend althea for helping me). thank you to everyone who’s supported me so far– i know the fic is still boring but hopefully we get to the more dramatic parts soon.

Last chapter: Yvie finally enters Shiz but unfortunately gets roomed with an obnoxious student.

This chapter: School life continues, Yvie learns more about Scarlet, Brooke and Vanjie finally meet, and something bad is happening in Oz.

The walk going to Scarlet’s private suite was incredibly and unbearably awkward. Usually, Yvie —the introvert that she is—would enjoy silence, but this situation irked her to some degree. With the weird icy glares she receives from Scarlet, she knows they wouldn’t get along at all, especially when Scarlet and Yvie’s personality and aesthetics clash horribly.

At least Yvie gets to have a private suite. It’s better than those other cramped rooms Shiz had to offer. If she were to room with Scarlet there, it wouldn’t take too much time until they start brawling with one another.

“So,” Scarlet says at one point midway through their journey to the suite, “You’re Brooke’s sister?” Scarlet says, maybe in some effort to relieve the tension between them. 

“I didn’t know if you were listening a while ago but yes, I am.” Yvie says, her voice sounding very condescending and impolite. She can see that Scarlet holds in a scowl as they begin ascending a flight of stairs.

“I just didn’t expect it, really,” Scarlet says and Yvie was not sure if that was an insult or not, “I’ve actually met your father and your sister a few times before but I never knew someone like you existed,” Scarlet states and Yvie’s eyes narrow at her.

“When did you visit us?” Yvie asks, genuinely curious. To be fair, it wasn’t insulting that she didn’t know of her existence especially when she was unfamiliar with Scarlet as well.

“A few moonlights ago. My two Momsies had a meeting with the governor and they decided to bring me along.” Scarlet states, sounding very proud, “Your father’s such an… interesting man. I see you took his bluntness,” Scarlet states.

Despite Yvie’s hatred towards her father, Scarlet’s comment was very much true. While her sister took the sweetness but occasional asshole-ness of her mother, Yvie got the quick temperedness and bluntness of her father. It was something she disliked about herself especially when she didn’t want to connect to him in any shape or form. She sometimes would love to pretend that he wasn’t her father and honestly, any other person could possibly be a better father figure than him.

“Yes, I’m aware. He’s a dick.” Yvie says and Scarlet raises an eyebrow at her, maybe a bit surprised by how up and on front Yvie was. “And I’m sure you are a Gillikin…?”

“Mhm, proud daughter part of the Envy and James clan— you heard of them?” 

“Nope,” Yvie says, causing Scarlet’s prideful smile to falter. 

“That’s—that’s the first time I’ve heard that,” Scarlet says, clearly irritated. Yvie merely shrugs as a reply, not wanting to continue the conversation further.

Luckily, they finally made it to Scarlet’s room. Unfortunately, it was on the third floor which caused both of them to be exhausted upon arrival. Then again, most of the third floor is occupied by Scarlet’s suite which makes up for the many flights of stairs. 

The suite was impeccably large, but that was expected. It seems that some parts of the room are already furnished: there were red, floral curtains hung up on windows that had the view of most of the campus. Coincidentally, there were two queen-sized beds laid out, and there were numerous shelves which Yvie thought was too suspicious to be meant for one person. All of it just screams ‘Scarlet Envy’ so much, but at least it wasn’t as terrible as Yvie expected the room to look.

“Why do you have two beds?” Yvie asks as she begins to drop her suitcase on her bed.

As she begins unpacking her items, Scarlet replies, “I was going to use these beds to share with my friends whenever they come over but… of course that wouldn’t be the case now,” Scarlet says, still looking annoyed. “Now I have to share my room with someone who has golf balls for eyes, my Oz…”

“That’s the best insult you have? Really?” Yvie says with narrowed eyebrows, “You literally look like a used tampon, don’t try me,” Yvie adds. She hears Scarlet gasp as she begins to fold out all her outfits.

“Excuse me? I made this outfit all by myself,” Scarlet says and Yvie decides to look back at her for a second. Scarlet does a twirl with her dress and Yvie couldn’t help but notice the loose seams of the dress around the waist.

“Yea, I can tell— there’s literally holes on the side of your dress, dumbass,” Yvie retorts and she hears another gasp from Scarlet. Yvie smirks to herself as she takes all of her books and other items out of her bag.

“W-well this is quite old so the seams must’ve given up,” Scarlet says as a reply, “And y’know what? I’m not here to please you anyways… especially to someone who wears trash bags as dresses,” Scarlet says but her comment didn’t really shake Yvie too much. 

“I know, I’m haggard as fuck, nothing new,” Yvie says and she can hear Scarlet grunt in frustration. Out of nowhere, she feels something hit the back of her head, and when she turns around, she sees that Scarlet hatless— she threw her beret directly at Yvie. The impact wasn’t too harsh, though, it barely made Yvie lightheaded. Scarlet, on the other hand, looks livid. Looking like she’s been pushed to her limits. Yvie didn’t care for her well-being, she merely chuckled with a menacing grin.

“I don’t like you, you’re intolerable,” Scarlet snarls as her cheeks were as red as her outfit. Yvie merely enjoyed Scarlet’s irritation and replied by sticking her tongue jokingly. Even if Scarlet looked like she barely enjoyed their banter, Yvie absolutely adores it— anything that makes Scarlet infuriated somewhat entertains Yvie. “Ugh, I can’t stand your face, I’m going to stay with Ra’jah for a few hours.” Scarlet shuts her suitcase with a slam, glares at Yvie, and walks away with an angry strut.

Yvie doesn’t really say anything as Scarlet exits; there was no clever reply for her to push Scarlet’s buttons even further. Instead, she places a picture frame of her and her mother on the bedside table alongside a black vial her mom once gave to her.

//

“You wouldn’t even want to share your desk with me? Isn’t that like, too petty– even for you?” Yvie asks, quite irked that Scarlet was hogging the entire table she had at the corner of the room. Scarlet voiced out a ‘hmph’ as she waved her hand, signalling Yvie to shoo. Yvie quirked an eyebrow at her selfishness but decided not to argue. So, she swiftly stole one of Scarlet’s expensive pens and ran back to her bed to write her letter.

“Hey, bitch, Momsie got me that—“

“It’s just a pen, let me fucking borrow it,” Yvie says, and even if Scarlet takes a sharp inhale, she obliges. 

A few days have passed since the rooming assignments had gone wrong and Yvie and Scarlet still barely handle it well. It was surprising that their room was still intact despite how much Yvie was tempted to throw her entire bed at Scarlet. But only a few days have passed and much more can happen in the span of four years.

Yvie ironically grins to herself, she does not want to imagine what those four years would be like. She doesn’t even know if she can last a year in Shiz with this stuck-up roommate of hers. She and Scarlet have been so close to scalping each other every day, and she doesn’t know how long it’ll last until someone physically combusts. It’s safe to say that their relationship will never elevate from barely tolerable roommates.

Yvie sits cross-legged on her bed with a thick book about Oz’s history on her lap and a blank sheet of paper and envelope lying on top of it. It was her makeshift desk since Scarlet has been using it to write… whatever she’s been writing. Yvie thinks she’s too thick-headed to know how to write. 

Yvie, however, needed to write a weekly progress on her and Brooke for her father. It wasn’t the most enjoyable thing but her father never expects lengthy letters from her. If it wasn’t a letter Brooke wrote, her father would most likely skim through it. So,  the letter would be short, and Yvie could definitely put zero to no effort writing it.

With Scarlet’s fancy-ass pen, she begins to write in messy cursive,

Dear father,

Rooming’s been terrible in Shiz. I wasn’t informed that you have decided to separate my room with Brooke’s— in fact, I don’t even think you remembered to assign me a room (it was expected anyways).

But of course, I’ll take care of Brooke. I promise that she will be safe in my hands.

As for who I am rooming with now… Have you heard of Scarlet James Envy? She claims she’s met you before— her parents are Ama James and Larena Envy, if I recall correctly. I’ve actually never heard of them before, surprise surprise, but you might. 

Anyways, I’m currently staying in Scarlet’s suite and to summarize my thoughts on Scarlet: she’s annoying.

Sincerely, Yvangeline 

Once she finished her short letter, she folded it in half and stuffed it in a plain white envelope. She sticks it closed, attaches a stamp with the Emerald City on it, and writes the required addresses and names on the envelope.

“Are you done writing? I assume you’re done writing—“ Scarlet says out of nowhere as she was finished writing as well. She began writing her letter way before Yvie did so it was logical for her to end writing by now. “Here’s my letter, I want you to dr—“

“Woah woah woah, you’re expecting me to do you a favor?” Yvie says, pushing away the envelope with a displeased expression. To retort, Scarlet pushes it right back, insisting Yvie would accept her request.

“It’s just a fucking letter, Oddly, just drop it at the same time you’re dropping yours.” Scarlet demands as Yvie squints, getting handed the letter from Scarlet. The envelope was unsurprisingly red, just like any other thing she owns, and has a faint smell of different types of flower-based perfumes. The scent, however, was unpleasant and too dizzying for Yvie’s taste.

“Yea, exactly, it’s just a letter. Do it on your own,” Yvie says, raising the envelope in the air for Scarlet to get back. With an aggravating smirk, Scarlet swiftly grabs her clutch bag, attempting to flee from the situation. Yvie almost catches up to her. Unluckily for Yvie, she got away. Even Yvie’s fingers almost got trapped as she tried to run through the door to chase Scarlet.

“What a crazy bitch,” Yvie states, sounding peeved. Looking down at the foul-smelling letter, Yvie was tempted to crumple it up and throw it at a random student from her window. Yvie never obeyed anyone’s requests, always being the rebellious type, and she obviously wouldn’t want to satisfy Scarlet by dropping her letter in as well without anything in return.

But maybe, she can use this as an opportunity to read what she wrote. 

Yvie doesn’t know if Scarlet is aware of this habit of hers but when Scarlet writes anything, whether it’d be an essay or letter, she’d emote and show diverse expressions wildly. A while ago, Scarlet had jumped from looking irked and angry to looking giddy and joyful. It would never be subtle either— she once caught Scarlet spinning around on her chair as she smiled brightly, implying that whatever she wrote must be something great.

And with the letter right at her grasp, maybe she can… take a small peak at what Scarlet wrote. It was nothing too grand or evil— she had no one besides Brooke to spread it to and Brooke had next to no one as her friends as well. It’s just a small gander anyways. Nothing will turn out horribly unless she confesses to Scarlet that she read her letter.

Also, Yvie’s petty. That should be a good reason enough for her to open the note.

Unsealing the envelope, she grabs the poshly designed paper out and began reading the lengthy note.

Dearest, darlingest Momsie and Mumsie,

It’s been five days since I’ve last seen you (or maybe a bit more when you receive this) and I’ve already missed you two so much! I will always miss your fresh fruit shakes after each school day,and it’s been so hard to replicate it on my own. Maybe if you write back, you wouldn’t mind giving me your secrets on making the best fruit shake?

Anyways, Shiz’s partly became a disaster and a dream come true. Surprisingly, many people seem to recognize me! I guess those theatre shows I did never were completely useless. There’s always some crowd following me whenever I get out of my suite or whenever I walk into the cafeteria— it’s as if I’m the Wizard himself! But of course, I know my limits and shouldn’t abuse my popularity.

(Yvie gives a snort at this, somewhat entertained by how fake this all sounds.)

On a worse note, rooming has gone wrong. Madame Visage, the headmistress, has rudely decided to get some freaky student as my roommate. I wasn’t even supposed to have a roommate! Madame Visage would never even dare to listen to my complaints or issues. She even declined my request to teach me sorcery despite my great and informative essay! What a horrible headmistress she might be!

Horrible Madame Visage is merely half of the issue. The other issue is my deranged roommate. To put it lightly she is… unusually and exceedingly peculiar and quite impossible to describe. Well, the second part of that sentence is untrue but I don’t think you would believe it if I say what she looks like! Just know she’s excessively haggard and is the daughter of the governor of Munchkinland. I didn’t even know he had a daughter besides Brooke, how sad it must be to be her.

At the same time I’m quite… envious (hah, I know) that she gained the sorcery class I wanted but couldn’t get all because she was somehow born with powers. I, personally, do not believe what I saw and I theorize it was some act done by Morrible and my roommate to confuse and scare me away. It just doesn’t make sense that they would decline my request— I thought the entirety of Oz loved me?

At least Ra’jah’s here to lend me a helping hand. With her, I’d of course be able to rise above all these issues. Maybe Madame Visage could finally see how skilled I am once that happens. 

Back to Ra’jah, though— she has been wonderful, like always (not to discredit Shuga and Vanjie, of course). Popularity could be overwhelming but with her, my world easens up. I can’t wait ‘til we get married after we both graduate Shiz. Just thinking about it makes me feel so giddy!

Anyways, I suppose that’s all I have to say. I hope you write back soon even if you two have lots of work to deal with. I’ll also make sure to write back immediately as well!

Lots of love, Lettie

Yvie finished reading with raised eyebrows. The letter didn’t contain the juiciest gossip that would satisfy Yvie but it did contain information that Yvie didn’t know of Scarlet before. 

Firstly, she did recognize who Vanjie was. Scarlet only brought her up in once in the letter but Yvie knew that it implied that Vanjie was one of her close friends. How could she have missed seeing that troublemaker on the first day? Yvie recalls Vanjie as the student who always seemed to be glued to Yvie when it came to being classmates from elementary to highschool. They weren’t necessarily close but they got along fine with Vanjie not minding the weirdness of Yvie. Or perhaps Vanjie was only being nice since Yvie remembered that she was quite fond of Yvie’s sister.

Secondly, Scarlet called herself Lettie. It was a tiny detail, but to Yvie it was a bit funny. The name was the opposite of grace and elegance and Yvie couldn’t imagine Scarlet ever using that name in front of anybody. She can’t wait to begin bothering Scarlet with that name far into the future so she wouldn’t realize Yvie might have been reading her letters.

Lastly, the most shocking thing was that she was dating Ra’jah. After reading this, their interactions suddenly made much more sense to Yvie. She was the one who guarded Scarlet all day during the first day of classes. She was the one who Scarlet would always go to whenever Yvie became such a bother to her. She was also the one Scarlet was so touchy-feely with, always snuggling up to her when she got the chance.

Yvie didn’t know why but it gave her a bitter feeling. She barely even knew Ra’jah but she felt like she needs to dislike her as much as she dislikes Scarlet. Maybe it’s an instinct thing since Yvie just hates delusional people like Scarlet.

With a disappointed face, she returns the paper back into the envelope and seals it up again. She plans on dropping this by the school’s mailbox around tomorrow morning before her class with Miss West.

For now, she heads off to her sorcery class with Madame Visage.

//

“Day by day, Scarlet’s voice makes me deafer and deafer.” Brooke says as she takes a spoonful of porridge. The sisters, obviously bothered, watch from afar as a massive throng of students surround Scarlet as if she were a magnet. These crowds only grow larger and larger everyday and have no plans on stopping. 

“I’m her roommate— I don’t even know how I manage,” Yvie mentions as she pokes her fruit salad with her fork. “She is insufferable.” Yvie adds, watching Scarlet begin answering questions from her loyal fans.

Every lunch time, this would always happen. It’s only been five days and Yvie doesn’t know if she and Brooke could watch this happen for four years. Scarlet’s fans were borderlining disturbing as they faithfully follow her around like pets. They try their absolute damnest to win Scarlet’s praise but of course, Scarlet, being the person she is, makes it hard for her followers to gain it. That’s at least a bit admirable to Yvie because Scarlet was thankfully being true to everyone. Yvie can barely appreciate liars or fakers.

“And she also has Vanjie as her close friend, I couldn’t believe it,” Yvie mentions and she sees Brooke’s eyes widen in disbelief. 

“Vanjie? As in the Vanjie who Dad resents because when he first dropped by our school, she immediately shouted that he looked like an egg that shone brighter than the sun?” Brooke says with an enthusiastic smile. The corner of Yvie’s lips curve as well just remembering such a fond memory. 

“Yep.” Yvie replies and Brooke immediately scans through the crowd to find the rowdy brunette. She was eventually spotted when Scarlet’s fans shuffled around a bit and was seen sitting down quietly on one of the chairs. She clearly was exasperated by Scarlet’s fans, but keeps herself company by talking to Ra’jah and another person who Yvie assumes was Shuga.

“Wow, I didn’t expect her to be here.” Brooke says, looking a bit mesmerized, “How did she even pass the entrance exam?” Brooke asks and Yvie shrugs, unsure of it as well.

“Is the Mateo clan considered popular?” 

“No, not really, but I do recall something about her mom working here. Not sure about it, though,” Brooke says as the two still kept watching the brunette. It was a bit silent as Brooke seemed to smile longingly as she observes her. It was no secret that Brooke most likely was attracted to Vanjie in some form, since Yvie has been watching her rave over her since they were in elementary. Brooke would always complain that she could never get Vanjie in a class with her and was always envious Yvie spent most of her classes with Vanjie.

Eventually, at some point, the crowd separates a bit as Brooke and Yvie get a clear view of Vanjie. She was deadpanning, obviously bored by the obnoxious fans Scarlet had. Eventually, she also noticed Brooke staring at her and lightens up immediately. Brooke takes in a sharp inhale before she waves a small hello at the petite woman, hoping that Vanjie would join their table instead.

When Vanjie caught sight of Brooke’s wave, she almost jumped out of her seat. She seemed just as excited and eager to see Brooke as much as Brooke was seeing her. But just before Vanjie could hop tables, all eyes were suddenly on Vanjie, then to them. Brooke’s euphoria suddenly dies down as her anxiety takes control. She shrinks back as far as she can as she continues to finish her porridge, pretending that she doesn’t see the huge crowd in front of her.

Yvie purses her lips as she grabs her unused, wooden spoon and rapidly hurls it at the crowd. Instantly, some of them squeal and duck, wanting to avoid such a threatening and murderous weapon, but before it could even hit a certain person, Yvie uses her magic to stop it midway and returns the spoon back into her bowl. Yvie gives a proud smirk, feeds herself, then says, “What? Something in my teeth again?” Yvie says, licking her sharp teeth in front of everyone. With disgusted expressions, they face away and immediately flooded Scarlet with questions about Yvie.

“You, Yvie fucking Oddly, are horrible,” Brooke murmurs beside her, looking unimpressed, “I hate you,” Brooke adds, clearly angered. Yvie takes a sharp inhale as she realizes she acted out of impulse and pettiness again. When will she ever learn?

“Miss Envy, Miss Envy, you are just to good, how do you handle such a beast like her?” some stranger asks, catching Yvie’s attention. Yvie rolls her pupil-less eyes, too used to insults like this to be affected. But after that one insult, someone else followed, then someone else until everyone’s just throwing insults towards Yvie back and forth. Hearing people mock Yvie is nothing new but Yvie admits this can also be too… overwhelming. 

“Oh but Scarlet, you are such a martyr for being able to deal with her! I wish I could have your strength and endurance,” someone says and Yvie really contemplates throwing her spoon again without tricking them. Scarlet actually looks a bit bewildered by the statement but just accepts it with a radiant grin. 

With a giggle, Scarlet replies, “These things are meant to try us, I suppose.”

“Oh poor Scarlet, she’s forced to reside with someone— someone like her,” someone states as she glares at Yvie with a growl. Yvie wants to bark back but Brooke holds her back before she does. The insults begin piling in again and Yvie simply wants to drown them all out. She knew there were many aspects of her that were unlikeable but she didn’t really want to be reminded of it. 

“We just want to tell you that we’ll support you no matter what, Miss Envy!” someone says, “We’ll always be here for you!” they add and many people cheer in unison. Yvie could tell that Scarlet was reluctant as her lip quivered for a moment,  but she eventually pulled through with a fake smile and some bullshit speech which appeased many of her fans. Not so much of her friends, though; they look as exhausted as ever.

Thankfully, the loud bell outside has rang. Everyone began to disperse as they say their farewell statements to Scarlet. Scarlet, as fake as she can be, also responds back. Yvie doesn’t know how Scarlet manages to keep up that facade all day. For Yvie, it was extremely dizzying. At least she knew how to balance her time with friends and her time with her fanbase since it seemed like her friends really admired Scarlet even if they seemed sick of her fans.

“Do you think I should talk to Vanjie now that she’s free?” Brooke says out of the blue as she wheels towards the hallway. They had around ten minutes before their classes would start so Brooke had a chance to call for Vanjie’s attention before they leave the cafeteria. Yvie watches as Vanjie almost descends into their hallways. Yvie licks her lips as she nods, hoping Brooke would catch her before she left. 

Then, Brooke pauses, still not doing anything. Yvie realizes that Brooke’s anxiety was overtaking her again and is restraining her from reaching out to Vanjie, “Never mind, let’s just go.”

“Oh no, fuck that, I’m helping you out,” Yvie says as Brooke’s eyes widen in concern. 

“Yvie, Yvie, my Oz, don’t—”

Yvie, with a fast sprint, catches up to Scarlet and her friends and shouts “Boo!” loudly. Scarlet squeals like the pussy she is while the other three merely jump in surprise. The four stop their tracks as they all turn around to eye Yvie judgmentally (actually, Vanjie was more astounded) as Yvie chuckles dorkily.

Scarlet, being the most infuriated out of the four, slapped Yvie with the clutch bag she was carrying. She grunts as Yvie only grins in entertainment.

“What in the fuck, Oddly? Why do you keep doing this?” Scarlet asks, looking like she was contemplating murder.

“I think you forgot everything that happened during lunch time—oh wait, you’re the same person who couldn’t get into Madame Visage because of that half-assed essay! I shouldn’t be expecting much intelligence in that delusional head of yours, anyways.” Yvie responds quite mockingly, making Scarlet as excessively red as her hair. 

“Get to the point,” Scarlet demands.

“Well actually, I’m mostly here to talk to Vanjie,” Yvie mentions and Vanjie lights up again. Scarlet steps aside, looking like she’s a bit familiar with their friendship.

“Yes, I’m here, at your motherfucking service,” Vanjies says with a hair flip, “It’s a surprise to see your ass here— I didn’t even think that bitch of a father of yours would pay your tuition.” Vanjie mentions, her vibe as nonchalant as ever. Yvie’s glad that there’s someone else besides her sister who can see past the queerness of Yvie.

“Same, but I’m here, I made it,” Yvie says a bit triumphantly, “Also, not to end this conversation too early but my sister wants to talk to you,” Yvie says as she points to her sister who was nervously wheeling up to them but was a bit behind. Vanjie smiles even more when Yvie mentions Brooke as she swiftly and roughly pushes Yvie and Scarlet away to get to Brooke.

Brooke appeared to be very startled when Vanjie ran at her but seems to be okay once Vanjie inevitably gives her a heartwarming hug. 

“Wow, they’re cute—reminds me of our friendship, Scar,” Yvie says and Scarlet elbows her harshly in displeasure. “Ow—! Bitch, stop hurting me,” Yvie says and Scarlet merely rolls her eyes at her.

“Okay, I’m leaving,” Scarlet says as she begins strutting away dramatically, “See you later, Oddly,” Scarlet says as she intertwines her arms with Shuga and Ra’jah and begin walking away, leaving Yvie alone with Brooke and Vanjie.

Then again, Brooke and Vanjie were too engrossed in their conversation to notice Yvie. So, Yvie leaves without them. She had a different class anyways and the two can manage without Yvie.

//

Yvie doesn’t regret choosing today of all days to drop the envelopes. The weather was warm but not hot enough to be unbearable and the protesters didn’t have anything planned on this day. There were only some traces of dropped protest signs and lots of shed Animal fur left in front of Shiz which can be a little bit… saddening. 

With the prejudice that Animals are experiencing today, Yvie would’ve gladly joined the protest if it weren’t for her studies getting in the way. After all, she could somewhat relate to the Animals with her being somewhat of a misfit as well. It was also very irritating that the university barely accepted any Animals to study along with them with the exception of one Ram who was accepted last year, one Lion who was one of their smartest professors, and many of the janitors being a mixed race of Animals.

As some people were cleaning up the streets before any vehicles passed through, Yvie took this opportunity to cross the street to reach the mailbox. On the other side of the street, there seemed to be two people surrounding the mailbox already. Yvie squints; she recognizes those two. One of them says a joke and the other one cackles loudly— now she really recognizes them.

“Vanjie!” Yvie yells and approaches them. She didn’t really call out Ra’jah’s name just because they aren’t too familiar with one another. With Ra’jah being Scarlet’s girlfriend, Yvie thinks she most likely dislikes Yvie just like Scarlet does.

“Yvie! What’cha doing here?” Vanjie says, her tone as energetic as ever. 

“Dropping some mail, duh,” Yvie says as she waves the two envelopes in the air, “The red one is Scarlet’s, obviously. Don’t know why she asked me to do it especially seeing that you two are here.” Yvie adds as she finally reaches the mailbox. She immediately drops it inside but stays for a few to converse. “Why’re you two here? I thought that your mom lives here,”

“Yea, she does, but my sisters still live with my dad back in the farm so I gotta write them something,” Vanjie says, “And Miss O’Hara’s here because of some princess bullshit, I don’t know,”

“You’re a princess?” Yvie asks curiously.

“Well, yea, but I never refer to myself with that title. There’s no other Winkie at Shiz so everyone would probably think I’m crazy if I say that I am,” Ra’jah says. She’s much more polite than what Yvie expected her to be. “But I’m not doing any princess bullshit, I’m just writing something for my parents, just the normal stuff. What about you? I thought you hate your dad?”

“Duh, of course I do, but I have to give him weekly reports on Brooke just because it wasn’t enough that she was writing him letters,” Yvie says as she begins to lean on the mailbox.

“Your dad’s such a pain in the ass,” Vanjie states nonchalantly as if she’s said it many times before, “You know how hard it was for me to sneak Brooke and her fucking wheelchair out of her room just so we can hangout back then? I had to fucking drop Brooke so I can grab her wheelchair.” Vanjie says and Yvie laughs dorkily, recalling the memory as well.

“Then there was a time where you couldn’t steal the wheelchair so you just had to carry her the whole time?” 

“Yes! Oh my fucking Oz, yes! I was exhausted that day, bitch. Those tangled legs are heavy as fuck,” Vanjie exclaims and the other two laugh again, amused by her storytelling. “Anyways, I need to head back to class in around fifteen minutes before Professor Del Rio my pounds my ass for being late again,” Vanjie says.

“I have Miss West so—wait, don’t you share that class with me, Oddly?” Ra’jah asks and Yvie nods. “You should come with us then since we’re technically heading to the same place,”

“I—you… want me to go with you?” Yvie asks in disbelief. 

“Yea, I mean, if you want to.” Ra’jah says and Yvie thinks how weird it is for her to not be judgmental towards Yvie at all. 

With furrowed eyebrows, Yvie says, “I thought you disliked me?”

“What? No!” Ra’jah says, looking shocked, “Scarlet says some stuff to me and, of course, I love her, but she lives in her own world— I can’t believe everything she says. Plus, I do know a thing or two about being a misfit like you,” Ra’jah says and points to some small and numerous gemstones that are glued to her cheek. If Yvie remembered correctly, it had something to do with Winkie royalty, and it absolutely looks gorgeous. “People say they look like acne or think it’s some sort of disease which is… kinda awful but hey, I don’t really care.”

“I think they look fantastic,” Yvie says, observing the gems closer.

“Thanks but girl, from afar, they look like someone splattered white paint on me,” Ra’jah says, “But really, I don’t hate you. You can be blunt sometimes but I get where you’re coming from. Vanjie tells me you’re nice anyways and I believe her more than whatever Scarlet’s fanbase has been saying.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me of them.” Yvie says, “Such bastards.”

“And dumb as fuck,” Vanjie adds, very peeved, “It’s always so claustrophobic too. I just wanna be… free, ya know? I hate how they feel like they have control over me just ‘cause I ain’t Scarlet,” Vanjie vents and Yvie hears a hum of agreement from Ra’jah.

“If we have Shuga here, we can make our own “Oppressed by Scarlet’s Fanbase Club”.” Ra’jah says and the three laugh, “Okay, y’know what, we should probably get going.” 

“Yea, we’ve been hanging out with this mailbox for too long.” Yvie says and on cue, they get going, and head to their designated classrooms.

//

At some point, they had to leave Vanjie in the hallway, but it wasn’t a long walk from Vanjie’s classroom to Ra’jah and Yvie’s. Eventually, they made it on time— even if they were the last ones who arrived at the classroom. Yvie could feel judgmental eyes land on her when people saw her entering with Ra’jah.  Thankfully, the stares die down when Ra’jah begins to hangout with Scarlet. That’s one benefit of Scarlet’s popularity, Yvie supposes.

Then, because of how last minute Yvie and Ra’jah arrived, their professor walked in immediately when Yvie sat down. Their professor mostly taught social studies and the history of Oz, which Yvie thought was quite interesting. Their teacher’s passion for the subject also made their classes less boring and more enjoyable.

“Good morning, class, everyone’s looking very chipper as always,” Their teacher, Miss West, spoke with a smile. She was always like this, very bubbly and optimistic towards everyone. She was a favorite amongst many students but was equally hated by some because of her appearance. Miss West was the only Animal faculty member of their school (with her being a Lion) excluding the janitors and she was often targeted by many of the school’s rowdier students. 

“Okay so, I’ve read all of your essays by this morning and I have to say I’m impressed by the progress so far!” Miss West says as she heads to the center of the class, placing all of her papers down, “Most of it is astounding but I have to mention that some of you—especially you, Miss Envy—have focused on form over content which I highly discourage.” she adds and Yvie smirks to herself. Yvie had read Scarlet’s essay the other day when she asked her to proofread it and Yvie said the exact same thing. Of course, Scarlet would never listen, but at least Miss West was calling her out now.

“Our other professors don’t seem to have a problem with it,” Scarlet bites back, putting her chin on her palm while her elbow is on the table. She was clearly unfazed by Miss West and her obliviousness always makes Yvie annoyed.

“Maybe Miss West isn’t like the other professors,” Yvie retorts and Scarlet, alongside her fans, all give Yvie a sharp look.

“Ooh, the gremlin is pressed,” Scarlet sneers which evoked some muffled giggles. Yvie merely looks away from Scarlet and pays her full attention to Miss West.

“Class, calm down— Miss Yvie does have a point. As you know, I’m the sole Animal of this faculty, but it wasn’t always this way.” Miss West says with a bittersweet expression, “Back then, I remembered when you walked down the hall, you’d see an Antelope explicating a sonnet—or, or a Snow Leopard solving a mathematical equation! Don’t you see, dear students, that Oz is becoming less and less… colorful?” Nina says and eyes Yvie for a second. Everyone else just seemed exasperated that Miss West was possibly going to ramble the same thing over and over again. “This leads me to my first question— who can tell me what sent these events in motion?”

Yvie raises a hand, “From what I’ve heard, it all started with the great drought,” Yvie says, remembering what she’d studied last night.

Miss West look impressed and nodded, “Exactly! Food grew scarce, people were angry because of the famine, and then the question became, “Whom can we blame?” Can anyone tell me what the term ‘Scapegoat’ means?”

Once Miss West threw in another question, Yvie took another opportunity to raise her hand again. Everyone simply rolled their eyes at Yvie, causing Miss West to give out a tired sigh. “Does anyone besides Miss Yvie have an answer?” Miss West asks, prompting Yvie to lower her hand. Surprisingly, Scarlet raised hers, “Ah, yes Miss Scar—“

“I don’t see why you can’t just teach us history instead of always harping on the past.” Scarlet answers disrespectfully. This caused some murmurs of agreement but Miss West, with an unsteady stature, shushes everyone before it gets too chaotic.

“Well—“ Miss West says awkwardly, “Perhaps these questions will enlighten you,” She says as she approaches their chalkboard and turns it over. The room grew eerily silent as they all gaze at what is written on the chalkboard with fright. Instead of the questions being displayed, there was something more… offensive written on the board. In bright, red chalk and big letters, the board read: ‘ANIMALS SHOULD BE SEEN AND NOT HEARD’. 

Yvie becomes infuriated. She turns to look at all her classmates to spot whoever could do such a horrible act. But to her surprise, everyone seemed shocked—even Scarlet looked bothered. After a few more seconds of confusion and worry, Miss West eventually speaks up, “Who’s responsible for this?” she says, her voice the softest it has ever been. “I—students, this may seem, uhm, a little sudden but I’m going to dismiss the class early. Just for now.” the students all didn’t seem to process what she said but Miss West speaks again, “You heard me— class dismissed!” 

Everyone besides Yvie obliged, standing up and heading out swiftly. They all seemed equally as troubled as they were glad they got a free period today. Yvie, on the other hand, was immensely concerned for Miss West to leave this early. She was pacing around the same area as her eyes were fixated on the message written on the board.

“Animals should be seen and not heard…?” Yvie reads the message as she stands, grabbing her handbag from the side. Miss West jolted and looked back, unaware of Yvie’s presence.

“Oh, it’s just you, Miss Yvie…” she says, her voice shaky, “Don’t worry about me, go ahead and enjoy this free period with your friends.”

Yvie snorts, “Friends? That’s funny— I don’t have any.” Yvie replies and Nina raises an eyebrow, “Okay, I do have about three but they’re probably spending their time with Scarlet.”

“Oh, I guess you don’t want to enter that territory,” Miss West replies and they both laugh. Yvie opens her bag and grabs the two sandwiches she made this morning. One was supposed to be for Brooke but Yvie knows she could always just get the same thing she gets from the cafeteria. 

“Here,” Yvie approaches Miss West and sits on her table, “Since you look so down in the dumps,” Yvie hands her the neatly wrapped sandwich and Miss West gladly accepts it.

“Oh, thank you kindly,” Miss West replies and eats the sandwich in one go, swallowing the entire thing. Yvie laughs as she merely takes one bite of her sandwich.

“Y’know, words like these shouldn’t bother you— I mean, insults would forever bother me but I know how to snap back—but that’s beside the point. What I mean is that this was probably written by some asshole and you shouldn’t listen to them.” Yvie says, her words not so eloquent as she wanted them to be, but Miss West appreciates it anyways.

“Yes, of course but…” Miss West grabs the washcloth from one of the table’s drawers, “But have you heard of what’s going on in Oz recently? Such—such dreadful things,” Miss West says and shudders as she looks at the words one more time before erasing it.

“What things?” Yvie asks, eyes narrowing.

“The last Animal professor from Quox has been fired.”

“Professor Heart? The one who teaches literature?”

“Yes, her! And—and not only that but she lost all powers of speech. She… she can’t talk anymore.” Miss West states, clearly terrified, “And I’m sure you know Asia O’Hara, the Owl who’s the head of Munchkinland’s Air Mail service?”

“Has she…?”

“Yes, she can’t talk either. Well, that’s what I hear from the rumors…” Miss West says then pauses as she appears crestfallen, “But I don’t know, the rallies get smaller and smaller and I can’t help but—“ Miss West coughs then coughs even more to the point a growl escapes her lips. Yvie slightly tenses as she comes close to rub Miss West’s back in comfort.

“Miss West, are you feeling sick? Do you want me to fetch a glass of water?” Yvie asks but Miss West refuses, shaking her head.

“No, no need to but thanks, Miss Yvie. I don’t know what came over me.”

“Do you think that, uhm… some Animals are forgetting how to speak? How is that even possible?”

“I— I don’t know.” Miss West replies. Just as she does, there was a knock at the door. Without hesitation, the person walks in with a stern expression on their face. Yvie and Miss West both look at the person, Yvie distancing herself from Miss West a bit.

“I heard there was some sort of disturbance in class, what’s going on?” Madame Visage asks, “And Yvie, since you have nothing going on, I’ve decided to give you a bonus class on sorcery. I’m expecting you to be on your way in around five minutes.”

Yvie didn’t complain about the extra class; solo classes with Madame Visage were always fun. “Yes, of course,” Yvie replies, finishing the last bite of her sandwich before slinging her bag over her shoulder. 

“I’ll talk to you, Miss West, later,” Madame Visage says before exiting again. Miss West simply sighs as she nudges Yvie with a smile.

“You better go,”

“How about you?”

“I’ll be fine, Miss Yvie.” Miss West says reassuringly.

Yvie sighs but gives her a smile as well, “If something bad is actually happening, someone must’ve reported it to the Wizard already. That’s why we have the Wizard, right?”

“You’re—you’re right, Miss Yvie. Nothing truly bad would ever happen in Oz.” Miss West says, feeling slightly calmer than a while ago, “Thank you, Miss Yvie. You better get going before Madame Visage throws a fit.”

“Oh, I’m used to it, don’t worry.” Yvie says and Miss West chuckles, “See you tomorrow, Miss West.”

“See you too, Miss Yvie.”

 footnotes: - scarlet’s parents are inspired by glinda’s parents… except i used ama clutch as the other parent so scarlet would have two momsies. - the events of this fic span from the song what is this feeling to something bad. some lines are taken from the original script, some were revised so it would not be exactly the same. - ah yes, vanjie is boq in this fic. shuga is there because… shuga. i think she’s meant to be either shen shen or pfanee, i dunno. - the reason why they haven’t seen vanjie in a week is that the scarlet’s crowds always cover her up in some way. i know it doesn’t seem logical but just stick with me, lmao. - unlike boq and nessa, brooke and vanjie have met before. boq is originally from munchkinland and i wanted vanjie to have the same thing but a little bit tweaked. just know that brooke, vanjie, and yvie have some history with each other. - if i remember correctly, there is only one animal studying in shiz in the book. in this fic, i made it kahanna. animals are basically the mistreated race of oz so yea, there’s that. - okay, so i don’t remember every detail of the book but i do remember something about fiyero having some sort of gems on his face? not sure. since he is a prince, i made ra'jah a princess (how fancy). - nina west is miss west, by the way, and is a lion. i don’t know how you wanna imagine how the animals look but i just think of them as animals but they walk like humans.

[kehrschaufel09]

What You Wish For

Pairing: Female Reader x Jae

Genre: Supernatural AU

Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4

Warnings: Light swearing

Words: 1,241

a/n: I am so sorry to all of those who waited for an update. But I literally had no motivation and I didn’t want the result to be something half-hearted. I hope you like the new chapter! 

Chapter 3 

“Hey Y/N!” Mina waved from across the green. Since it was weekend, the three of you decided to make a picnic at the Han River. It was a great idea to take your mind out of school and all the other crazy things that happened lately. 

The temperatures were getting warmer and it was a nice summer day in June. The perfect day to finally wear your favorite dress again. 

Your best friend and her boyfriend were sitting on a large blanket and had already outspread the food they made. 

You happily waved back and hurried to get to their spot. “Hey guys! I’m so glad you made it today!” Mina stood up to greet you properly and Minhyuk followed her example. You hugged both of them overly excited. 

“Did you wait long?” You asked. Minhyuk smiled at you. “The food is still here so probably not.” You laughed relieved. Sitting down on the blanket besides Minhyuk you got the food from your bag. 

You spent the next 2 hours talking about everything that came to mind. But despite all the fun you, Mina and Minhyuk had it felt somehow incomplete. There was something missing. Something important you couldn’t describe. 

Just as the weird feeling you have had before came back you noticed a man standing at a bench not far from you. He was wearing a long coat and his features were awful familiar to you. The coat, the way he walked and his radiance. You had definitely seen them before.

You narrowed your eyes to slits and tried to identify his face but without success. Mina must have seen you because she looked at you wondering. 

“You alright?” She looked around to find what you were staring at so intensely. 

You snapped out of your trance and nodded absently. “Hmm… yeah…” 

“You are kind of weird lately, Y/N. Did something happen? You know you can talk to me about anything.”

“No. Everything is fine. Really.” You said, slightly laughing to hide your lie. For a moment you were contemplating whether to tell her about the stranger watching you or not. “… University has been a pain in the ass lately.” 

Mina seemed satisfied with your answer so you sighed relieved and grabbed a slice of kimbap from one of the containers. 

Mid-eating your sight wandered back to the bench where the man stood earlier. He didn’t move a bit and remained at the exact same spot like before. But it seemed different. He was talking on the phone with someone and while talking he was staring at you. 

Maybe you just imagined it but it felt like he was slightly getting anxious. He seemed to scan the park searching for someone or something. His gaze landed on you, becoming aware that you were watching him. He quickly looked away and hid his face under his cap. 

Then Minhyuk spoke up, interrupting your staring contest.“Ah! Before I forget to mention it. Wonho is planing on doing his birthday party tomorrow. He invited all three of us.” 

Wonho was a good friend of Minhyuk’s and also a music major like Mina and you. He was a nice guy and you two got along pretty well. You saw him almost every day as he was having almost the same classes as you did. 

Mina seemed really excited. “What do you think Y/N? You gonna come?” You smiled. 

“Of course!” Wonho’s parties were quite infamous around campus and some distraction wouldn’t hurt you. Mina looked happy with your answer and you grinned. 

Then your thoughts went back to the man watching you. After scanning the park with his eyes he found what he looked for and got unstuck from his frozen spot in front of the bench. His feet lead towards you and your friends. 

His determined steps lead him in your direction. This was making you slightly nervous and you started to brave yourself for any attack he eventually was going to launch. The moment he was close enough for you to see his face he suddenly turned left and started walking even faster than he was before.

You sighed relieved, happy that you didn’t have to defend yourself from a stranger who was definitely stronger than you. You kept following him with your eyes. 

He was on the merge of running as he reached another man standing under the shadow of a big tree. They seemed to know each other and talked for a bit. They glanced once in a while in your direction as if they were talking about you. 

You tried your best not to be suspicious watching them and started to contribute something to Minhyuk and Mina’s conversation.

The next time you glanced over they started walking towards the river. On their way they passed a big oak tree. You expected them to appear again after passing the visual obstacle but that never happened. They just vanished. 

You were going completely crazy now, weren’t you? Was your mind playing games with you? Once in a while your sight went back to the tree. Maybe they just stopped behind it and talked for a little longer. Waiting for you to go home and stalk you again, or anything like that.

Or maybe you just missed the time they left.

Trying to forget the incident you immerged yourself deeper into the conversation of your friends. They were choosing a birthday present for Wonho and that could take longer than expected.

But somehow it bothered you for the entire afternoon. As you decided to pack your things and go separate ways for the day you still couldn’t think of anything else. After saying goodbye to both of them you made up your mind to at least check the tree they both ‘vanished’ behind. Maybe they dropped something or left some kind of trace that would give you the evidence of not being entirely insane. 

You searched the grass for something to give you some kind of hint or anything. Crawling on the ground for about 10 minutes you already wanted to give up. You sat down, leaning against the trunk. Exhausted from looking for any evidence, you decided to take a break. 

It was nice watching couples driving their bicycles along the river, dogs playing together and people having a beautiful day. Suddenly a butterfly grabbed your attention. It was sitting on a daisy flapping with its wings. You observed it carefully and that’s when you noticed something dazzling your eyes. Frowning you reach for the spot and picked up a small pendant. 

Weighing it in your palm you examined it closely. It was a golden pendant in the form of a star, rather flat and the front and back were sealed with glass. The hollow between the pendant was filled with a silvery mist that swirled inside its container. The jewelry itself wasn’t bigger than the nail of your thumb but it felt really heavy in your palm. But the heaviness wasn’t the only surprising thing, what was more unexpected was the familiarity that came with it. 

This was definitely the kind of evidence you were looking for. At least it stopped yourself questioning your own sanity.

You were deep in your thoughts on the way back home and kept thinking about the strange events today and the days before.

Nowhere near did you know that this day was going to get even stranger. 

[draculaurennn]

LIONA OR BUST

. — Liona: Send me a ship and I’ll break them DOWN

How did they they meet?

there was a collapse in a desert temple and sio’s bff / spirit sister nova saved her, and then literally right after they were surrounded by gerudo guards and gan and link and questioned for being suspicious. which they were but they arent. 

Who developed romantic feelings first?

siona !! she’s one of my crushes easy babbs and like 234354566 other people in hyrule she finds link v charming. 

Who is their biggest “shipper?”

gannova. its a joined effort. 

When did they have their first kiss and under what circumstances?

under A WATERFALLLL and it was v romantic. idk the circumstances probably everyone just chillin out after rough times.  

Who confessed their feelings first?

siona. and then she left bc she thinks link and zelda are destined to be together and she doesnt wanna try to fight destiny obvs. 

What was their first official date?

i think a fireworks show in kakariko village. festival games and fun foods and a light show seem right up their alley. 

How do they feel about double dates/group dates?

i don’t think they mind them at all ! i think they’re just happy to spend time together so however they get to. plus they love their friends to pieces so. 

What do they do in their down time?

im always puzzled by the question of down time bc i never know what constitutes a hobby and what constitutes like, an actual chore. uhhh but link likes horse riding and being robin hood, and siona spends a lot of her down time sleeping or following people around. or brewin’ chus lol. 

What was the first meeting of parents as an official couple like?

THEY DONT HAVE ANY. oh wait link has koume and kotake, i guess, even tho he’s adopted prince. uhhhh koume doesn’t like siona, and kotake does, but thats bc they’re aware of the trade off sealing siona and zelda away respectively to end the cycle of reincarnation. so i think koume thinks siona is a big problem. but in terms of official couple stuff. . . koume and kotake don’t care bc. . . link isn’t blood lol. literally it doesnt matter what he does. 

What was their first fight over and how did they get past it?

yknow i dont. . . really think they fight all that much, if at all. the biggest thing i can see them getting into tiffs about is link doin smth stupid and risky and siona havin to warp his ass out of it, but i think they just tend to laugh those things off. 

Which one is more easily made jealous?

SIONA. i mean, she’s really nice about it, but she definitely gets jealous of everyone and everything all the time, and not just about link. 

What is their favourite thing to get to eat?

e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. they literally will eat so many things, i don’t think there’s a set favourite ??? maybe bread and jam, but on the massive spectrum of foods link eats and siona steals, i don’t know that they have one favourite. 

Who’s the cuddly one? What their favourite cuddling position?

both of them, i think. idk about cuddling positions though bc i think its pretty much a given that siona just starfishes on him so. not much room for options lol. 

How long do they wait before sleeping together for the first time? What’s the circumstances?

I HAVE NO IDEAAAAA. a good while, like decent, nice, respectable adults, but also actually probably in the twilight realm bc 1.) they’re stuck, and 2.) there’s a lot of time to talk about your feelings when you’re running away from the person you love. 

Who tops?

lonk - wow i didn’t say it depends for once LOL

Who does the shopping and the cooking?

both of them ! they shop together and link cooks. siona makes a p nice jam, though. 

Which one is more organized and prone to tidiness?

siona. she has a lot of personal research that requires a lot of organization, because brewing chu jelly down into useable materials requires paying attention or  . . . blowing up. and she’s trying hard not to blow up. 

Who proposes?

lINK. i don’t know, i don’t know if they have a traditional proposal so much as nice conversations abt being together forever. it just kinda falls into place w them. 

Do they have joined Bachelor/Bacheloette parties or separate?

i don’t think they’d have these? i think honestly, they’d just have a little celebratory shindig w friends and just get married or smth. 

Who is the best man/maid of honour? Any other groomsmen or bridesmaids?

NOVA AND GAN. that’s it, those are the only friends they have. 

Big Ceremony or Small?

i think it’s a small personal ceremony but probably a city-wide celebration bc even tho he’s not a blood prince he’s a prince yknow ??

Do they have a honeymoon? If so, where?  

THAT yeah seems like smth they’d do. if i know liona, tho they’re still pretty fresh, they’d probably hit a couple of places like goron city, kakariko - basically some places they can have fun, hit a hot spring, and eat a ton of good food. 

Do they have children? How many?

I THINK THEY HAVE.  . . two ??? i think it’s two girls, i don’t really know. (my sims have one girl so far and she’s blue w blonde hair so LMAO)

[ruffboijuliaburnsides]

Kirsi: 1, 17, 22, 27; Summer: 2, 11, 19, 24; Percy: 4, 15, 33, 44, , and to close it off, answer two of your choice that you think are the most interesting but aren't spoilery for Calliope

Kirsi

1. Does your character have siblings or family members in their age group? Which one are they closest with? 

Kirsi’s youngest brother was about 8 years older than her, but she had a smattering of cousins who were closer in age both above and below?  She was never particularly close to any of her cousins - loved them, hung out with them, played with them, but she was probably closer to her brother and his girlfriend (later his wife) than she was to any of them.

Her sister-in-law had no sisters, only brothers, so she loved having a little sister to dote on even if Kirsi wasn’t particularly “girly”, and her brother had been especially fond of her since she was born.  He’d been the youngest of the family of 4 siblings at the time (and had been expected to be the last), and Kirsi was so small and helpless and LOUD and he just immediately declared her his favorite - partly because his other sister was being mean to him that week, but it actually stuck.

She misses them desperately.

17. Already answered

22. What does your character like in other people?

She tends to like what she respects.  She respects determination and conviction, she respects kindness and a respect for your ancestors and family (unless they don’t deserve it obviously).  She is also strangely fond of this one girl who has a thing for TREES, which just baffles her, but whatever Neela, you do you.

27. How does your character normally deal with confrontation?

Violently.

Summer

2. What is/was your character’s relationship with their mother like?

Summer doesn’t actually know who her mother is, aside from “a human who your father should never have stooped to having relations with, let alone spawning you.”  When she was little, she liked to imagine she’d been stolen away from her mother, who was just as noble as her father, just a human, and that one day her mother would find her and take her home to raise her like she’d always wanted.

She found out when she was about 15 that her mother - whether noble or not - had been paid 2,000GP to never mention her and forget anything ever happened.  She stopped dreaming about loving parents after that.

11. In what situation was your character the most afraid they’ve ever been?

While she will never ever ever tell him this, the few hours after she thought Winter had died.  They had gotten separated by undead at night in the woods and circumstances were such that both believed the other to be dead, and neither of them handled it well.  Winter killed a bunch of undead and then lived in a cave for a few years, the smelly man.  Summer on the other hand spent a couple of days huddled up a tree, terrified and heartbroken and keenly aware that (as far as she knew) she had gotten the only person who ever loved her killed.

The prospect of facing the world without at least knowing he was out there, without anyone at all giving a rat’s ass about her, was the worst day of her life.

After that she pulled herself together, found the nearest town, and got some mercenary work, swearing to never give a fuck about anyone but herself if she wasn’t getting paid, ever again.

19. What is your character’s biggest relationship flaw? Has this flaw destroyed relationships for them before?

She is extremely selfish and extremely slow to trust and extremely quick to piss people off.  I wouldn’t say it’s ever destroyed a relationship before, but it’s definitely prevented her from ever developing them.

24. How quick is your character to trust someone else?

She isn’t.  She’s never really come to actually trust anyone (Winter excluded, as usual) except Evaia, and 99% of the reason she even started to trust Evaia was because Winter did, and because Evaia had helped Winter when she couldn’t.

She is a selfish, suspicious little bat and I love her.

Percy

4. Has your character ever witnessed something that fundamentally changed them? If so, does anyone else know?

......Is it a cop out to say that while she definitely liked and was attracted to her girlfriend Kithri before this happened, the time they used wildshape and held actions and shit to take down an orc leader with a one-touch exploding spell scroll in 12 seconds starting from 60ft away changed her life in that it was the moment she really realized “oh shit.... I’m UNEQUIVOCALLY IN LOVE with Kithri.”

And then she got stabbed a little and she ripped the guy’s throat out with her teeth.

I’m pretty sure Kithri is not 100% aware of how hot her girlfriend found that. Though she definitely knows she found it at least a bit hot.

...They had lots of sex.

15. Is your character preoccupied with money or material possession? Why or why not?

Nah.  She grew up in the woods with basically nothing, as long as she’s got something to eat and a place to sleep and preferably (but not necessarily) clothes to cover her ass, she’s good.  She’s kinda crunchy.

33. In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?

I’d say it depends on who’s doing the criticising, and what’s being criticised.  If her form is being critiqued or something, or she’s hurt someone and they’re telling her how, she is absolutely willing to improve.  Otherwise she’s most likely to say something like “Honestly I don’t really care what you think? Sooooooo bye?”

44. How easy or difficult is it for your character to say “I love you?” Can they say it without meaning it?

It’s very easy for her to say - she’s an emotionally open, extremely affectionate person.  That said, she doesn’t think anyone should say they love someone if they don’t.  That’s just MEAN.

Calliope

4. Has your character ever witnessed something that fundamentally changed them? If so, does anyone else know?

It’s less “witnessing” and more “experiencing”, but her parents kidnapped her from where her older sister had been keeping her safe, to use her as a vessel for the lich their cult worships or w/e, and while her friends did their best to save her, it... actually worked.

They booted the lich out a few days later, thankfully, but it was... kind of a crystallizing event when it came to her parents.  She’d always known, even before she was willing to admit it, that her parents didn’t love her and were bad people.  But the cruelty and callousness that they showed burned away any remaining scraps of love and desire for their love that she felt.  It made her want to learn how to defend herself, instead of just being useless and defenseless in her archives, and it reinforced that her friends (and her girlfriend) and sister loved her and had enough love to make up for anything at all her parents could’ve given her.

Pretty much everyone she knows knows about what happened, it was kind of a high-alert emergency on the moon.  Most people don’t know why it was SO high-alert that the shy archivist was kidnapped, though, because most of them don’t know that the Director is her sister.

12.  In what situation was your character the most calm they’ve ever been?

So, Calliope was unconscious for a while after getting rescued, and then slept in the infirmary A LOT for a few days after.  One night, though, at probably about 2 in the morning, she woke up from a bit of a bad dream, and Virx (her girlfriend) was asleep curled up on top of the covers next to her, and her feet were being pinned by Virx’s wolf Thistle and Calliope’s smoke dog Baron Magnus, and there were flowers and little presents and cards on every flat surface, and her sister Alex was asleep in a chair next to her bed with a book on her chest and her glasses crooked on her nose and a Light spell starting to flicker out.

In that moment, she felt the safest and the calmest and the most loved that she had ever felt in her life, and she fell right back asleep and slept soundly until the morning.