#not forced at all if you wanna ignore this go right ahead [3

[skelliko]

Hi Skelle! ☆ How r you? I hope you have a nice day/night! 🫶🏼 I want to request something.. my request is can you make like a full (not a mandatory) headcanons of how the guys will act if they have a crush on someone? Like how they behaviour will change, how they first meet the reader immediately think “yep, she’s the one”, where, and overall how sappy they can get when they have a crush 🥹 i would like them with baji, kazutora, chifuyu and haitani brothers.

Feel free to ignore this if you feel this is too much cause I don’t wanna stress your cute 🧠💐🎀🩷 brain 🧠💐🎀🩷

Lmao

a/n: hope this is okay, sorry for the wait. i didn't intend to make these all be in a school setting, I had tried to do some in a workplace but It's all I could think off without making it basic 😕

★-Tokyo revengers

๑-context: first interaction + how they act/feel with a crush

๑-featuring: Baji, kazutora, chifuyu, ran, rindou

°- kazutora hanemiya

-- kazutora was forced to stay behind the classroom to finish his work that he hasn't done, the teacher was sat in front of her desk doing whatever a teacher does there while everyone else but him exit out the room. however when you were on your way out you slickly slid a small, folded up piece of paper on the side of kazutora's desk which certainly didn't go unnoticed by him.

-- his eyes went right at you and watched as you walked away almost expecting you to look back at him but you didn't. to then occasionally glance at the teacher to make sure that she doesn't look up as his hand slides towards the note to carefully and quietly open it up. anything could have been written on the note but since he was so focused to not get caught his mind was blank and didn't assume anything right away.

-- the piece of paper held all the answers to the worksheet that he was supposed to complete. to avoid any suspicions from the teacher he immediately placed it flat on the desk underneath his palm to collect himself and not get too ahead of himself, I mean what if the answers are incorrect and your setting him up for longer detention? eventually he risked it and wrote down all the answers that you had given him and handed in his work. and sure enough you become a life saver there, he was able to get out of there quicker than he first anticipated.

-- eventually he came up to you "hey, thanks for the... you know. but why'd you give me 3 incorrect answers? thought you were supposed to be smart" he said it in a almost teasing way, not upset at all about the incorrect answers. but you replied with "because no one would believe you to get them all correct without being forced to do them again" and that right there is the moment that he realised what kind of smart and mischievous person you are, enough that you've captivated his thoughts for the rest of the day and onwards.

• normally he'd get pissed off when forced to stay behind in class, but now, his mind is flooded with you that he's getting stayed back more and more just so that your hand can brush over his desk and give a semi warm piece of paper that you've held safely in your palm on the way to his desk to get him out of a situation that he put himself in, it almost feels like holding your hand. are you aware of what he's doing? probably, but that won't stop him. he also keeps all the pieces of paper even tho they serve no purpose, but knowing that you were the one that gave it to him changes the perspective of those little scraps.

• he has a major urge to be around you, he's craving your presence and voice and he always feels some sort of ache is in body from just thinking about seeing you once the weekend has passed. also the same thing goes for craving your physical touch such as a tight hug or maybe even a scalp massage but he knows that won't happen any time soon but the crave is still there, it's like a maladaptive daydream.

• he also looks at you different compared to others, with you it seems like kazu is looking at an angle with gorgeous white wings and a stunning outfit, whereas with others it seems like their just ants. big difference there.

-- sure you've been in his class for a while but that was the first time you've actually interacted with each other, other than a quick eye contact from looking around the room. there's always that one classmate that you haven't talked to but once you do it changes so much more than you first intended.

• he feels his emotions to a certain extreme level and cause of this he tries to hide it as much as he can otherwise he grows too expressive without realising it. and that can easily make his feelings seem obvious if not tamed correctly. he tries to act casual despite his stomach is turned into a butterfly sanctuary, his palms are grown sweaty, and his breath is held in to get rid of the feeling of jumping about and smiling like a complete idiot. mentally hes turned into a little kid with red cheeks just because his crush smiled at him, someone give the kid an ice pop otherwise he'll overheat. no seriously he's burning up like a fever just being near you.

°- Keisuke baji

-- Baji was getting into some sort of escalating argument after school had ended, him and two guys were getting a little rowdy but because of Baji being in his nerdy disguise at the time he couldn't risk in making a scene

-- but then that's when you butt in and stand by Baji's side. it was certainly a shock to suddenly see you appear beside him and hear you verbalise your opinion and defend him like that against these two delinquents even though he could have easily defended himself despite the circumstances, he could have walked away and led them somewhere else but no, you brought yourself into the bickering before he could act on it

-- Baji was gonna speak up to cut you off and try and get you away from the slight hazardous situation but you certainly had a lot to say and that just caused him to keep quiet. were you not scared? if you weren't for yourself then he was surely scared for you. he wasn't mad at you for getting involved, instead he somewhat gained respect for you and he had to hold back in smiling.

-- though he obviously couldn't let the situation keep going so he had to quickly drop the whole argument by speaking over you and basically drag you away by your sleeve gently. his feelings didn't grow immediately right there and then but they did develop quickly over a short period of time.

• thinking of you? his cheeks are sore and he brings a hand up to his mouth to suppress it and as if to hide it even though there's no one around to hide his smile from. he doesn't know why he does that but he just does.

• if someone were to be told that baji giggles when you message him they wouldn't believe it, that whole image for them is nonexistent when it comes to Baji, wouldn't even consider it. but this man really does, he tries to stifle them and keep a calm exposure however when he's laying down on his bed he has a wide smile plastered stupidly on his face and when he feels an excited, giddy feeling he can't help but feel a small laugh escape. when he tries to hold them back it almost feels like his chest is being tightened. your suffocation him without even being there, imagine a potential news title 'baji Keisuke suffocated due to feeling giddy about a crush'

• not much of an artist, can only actually draw simple outlines of certain objects such as pain flowers or stick men, but that doesn't stop him from picking up a pen or pencil and start to doodle, nor does it stop him to have your features flash in his mind and him draw you as a stick figure or even a wobbly blob. he sometimes zones out in class when doodling and when he catches himself in drawing you he quickly scribbles it out before anyone or you sees.

°- chifuyu matsuno

-- its raining outside on a school day and you don't have an umbrella nor a hood to cover yourself so due to that you chose to stay behind in your empty classroom to wait out the rain just so you don't get soaked. you chose to stay behind and do something captivating that it even caused you to lose track of time, luckily Chifuyu walked past your classroom and saw you there, it's at least a few hours past school hours (don't ask what he's still doing here)

-- he curiously came up to you and mentioned it however even after those few hours the rain hadn't left and it was still pouring the same weight as it had at the start, and due to the sudden passed time you had no choice to head home even if it means getting drenched. but upon chifuyu hearing your reasoning, there was no way he was gonna leave you walking out in the cold rain while he had a perfectly good umbrella, even if he wanted to leave he just couldn't bring himself to.

-- so he did the first thing that came to mind and that was to try and offer his umbrella to you. at first it seemed convenient for you but then the thought of him going out in the rain with nothing bothered you, so obviously you declined. bit of "no it's fine" here and there but after some of those you both came to an agreement to share it.

-- halfway through with you both walking underneath the same umbrella and chatting away to avoid the awkward silence he walked you home without you realising, he had to turn a corner ages ago but willingly chose to stay with you since you both were having an interesting conversation. and sure enough, thump-thump-thump his heart is racing, ever since then you've been on his mind.

• he feels so much about you, butterflies in his stomach and the need to move around because if hes sat still he'd probably snap in half from the excitement that he can't handle when the thought of you appears. he can explode from the overjoy of interacting with you as if it's a rare thing to happen even though it really isn't, you're just that special. he definitely jumps around and about in his room and punches the air silently whilst trying not to cause too much noise. making a whole new cardio work out.

• whenever he's reading his manga and romance comes in he can't help but picture the two characters to be you and chifuyu. he flicks his eyes between the two characters repeatedly even if he's been on the same page for 5mins, he'd still play out the scenario of them being you two. I mean that whole first encounter almost seemed too cliché to not have come straight out of a movie with unrealistic standards. but no, it all really did happened which causes his mind to go in places that you two are almost casted together and made to talk, as if the universe is setting you both up.

• passing your classroom at any chance he gets just to try and get a glimpse at you but while doing so his heart paces like hes just ran a marathon, he hasn't even seen you yet but the anticipation is killing him. and even when it rains on school days again hes not heading straight home but instead he's making his way to your class to see if you're there again waiting for the rain to leave, always hopeful and wishing that you're empty handed without an umbrella or a hood.

°- ran haitani

-- your in an empty room scribbling something in a sketchbook, using both hard and light pencil strokes. doesn't bother ran at all that you're here doing your own little thing but what actually does is that you're sat in his usual seat. normally he wouldn't try to intervene, especially if it's something this petty plus he wasn't all that desperate to stay here for long but even then, he still walked up to you.

-- first instinct that you had when hearing his footsteps was to close your sketchbook shut before looking up, clearly you don't want no one seeing your personal work/drawings. this little thing perked ran's interest, he doesn't know much about art in the form of paper and pencil, but he's still intrigued as to why you chose to hide it that it made him forget about his petty emotion of you sitting in his seat.

-- in short term, he ended up seeing a few of your pages and the reason for it is cause you despise your own work, despite continuing drawing in your own time you seem to always criticise yourself and think harshly on them. but in his eyes he can't help but be in awe of them, he cant understand what's so bad about the drawings. next thing you know he's asking for a drawing of himself, you didn't seem too bothered by the idea as you were about your skill wondering if you could even pull it off but ran managed to convince you.

-- sitting in a chair in front of you as a muse, meeting eye contact as you looked at his features repeatedly to get the right shape of his eyes, nose and lips. him purposely moving a little to see if you'd say something about it and trying to peek over your sketchbook book to see your progress only for you to move it away out of embarrassment. it took a short while but finally seeing himself on a page in dark grey lead made him feel something, not necessarily a major attraction but appreciation even tho he's the one that pressed on the idea.

-- and that's when the butterflies hit, it's a major delayed reaction but the giddy feeling hit after being the muse and grasping the fact that you were able to draw him this well from you analysing his features, something about this made him more seen than he already is. maybe a confidence boost? who knows, even he himself can't figure it out exactly other than feeling warm from the inside out about you.

• no matter how hard he tries to relax around you he always feels blood rushing in his body making him become tense whenever you two have an interaction as small as just saying hi to each other, and once you both pass he sighs out air as if you've caught his breath and didn't let go, though he also ends up smiling after that sigh but it's more or less a mix of a nervous and happy smile, one that makes you to be unsure if you're supposed to be excited or scared.

• i reckon hes a yapper once he gets comfortable enough, anything that comes to mind he can talk and talk about it with you like his life depends on it, but once he's finished speaking he only then realises the things he's said and regrets it all even if the topics he's talked about aren't all that bad but he still gets embarrassed of himself for letting himself get carried away like that to the point where afterwards he speaks in a much shallower tone "...I don't know why I said that, ignore that" it's kinda cute tho.

• you got him twisting and turning, losing focus in certain activities and even his sight of where he's going. at some point he was walking but his eye view was so focused on you that he ended up walking into the metal, water foundation and he had to embarrassingly play it off hoping that no one had seen the doofus walk right into it as his head was turned 80° in your direction.

°- rindou haitani

-- you and him happen to share the same taste in music and favour the same band/Artist, he knew this by overhearing a conversation you had with someone and that made him perk up a little but not enough for him to engage in the conversation. he'd silently listen in to hear what your favourite song is and guess if your a hardcore fan or just a regular

-- despite rindou not being the one to come forward about the mutual interest that you both have, it was you that needed up going up to him after hearing his music escape though his earphones from how loud he set the volume to be. sure he was a little embarrassed after you mentioned it but once you both started talking about the band, something had opened him up as you talked about it with enthusiasm while he was agreeing with everything that you were saying and adding his own little comments, you were both constantly on the same page.

-- hes gained a small interest in you but not enough to catch feelings and be attached, there's plenty of people with the same interest as him and even though he can't find many it doesn't mean that you should be on top of the list. yet.

-- those previous, tamed feelings were immediately thrown out the window after hearing you sing his favourite song when you thought you were alone, he didn't mean to intrude but when he quietly walked in a room to get something he ended up hearing your voice singing along to a favoured song, you immediately became his favourite cover. your tune and enthusiasm had him captivated and stuck. he didn't get the item but instead but he stood outside of the door listening until you stopped.

• when you suddenly appear and make yourself known he gets a little spooked and drops whatever he was holding in his hands (mainly depends on what the item is, as in if it's not fragile and just a pen) its the type of scare that makes his mind go 'oh shit they're here, act cool, act cool' you can just walk into the room and when Rindou looks up to see you its like his whole body does a nervous shut down for a split second. he's normally not like that at all so when that became a common occurrence he swore he was starting to become insane.

• only you're allowed to touch his glasses or gloves or in fact anything that belongs to rindou. sure his brother is an exception but that's to be expected. if anyone else tried to touch his stuff he'd more than just swat their hand away like an annoying pest, but with you? he feels warm and giddy about you picking his glasses up and trying them on yourself, heat rushes up to his face but he always tries to act cool and casual. he just can't shake the thought that you've worn his glasses that he's wearing right now, it almost feels like getting a high five from your favourite celebrity.

• anyone would probably assume Rindou to be a little heartless from him occasionally being nonchalant around others and sure that's true enough but with you? he's flustered, cannot specify enough of it, poor man can't even go a day without his lungs constantly shifting in volume from the way you get him so nervous. he's even grown to stutter a little, not a whole lot but enough for it to be noticed once in a while and each time he looks back on the sentences he's said he always cringes at himself.

 ♡----

[augustjustice]

you wanna feel how it feels? (let's exchange the experience) 3/?

Part 2 | AO3 Link

Notes: Sorry it took a minute for the next chapter of this one! I spent a lot of June and July focused on some event fics and then had a small bout of writer's block after. School's starting back up soon, so updates may continue to be slow going--but they will come, I promise. This fic is a personal favorite, so it remains a top priority for me.

After a brief kerfluffle of Steve taming his signature hair until it was styled to suit him–using the emergency Farah Fawcett spray he kept in the Beemer, and, oh, Eddie had no plans of ever letting him live that one down–they were off. 

As he backed out of the Munson’s drive, Steve slung his arm across the back of the passenger’s seat, the same way he always did, and Eddie told himself he definitely didn’t get the same fluttering butterflies in his stomach as he always did at the gesture. Because it was ridiculous on a good day, to feel that way over such an innocuous thing–and even more so given their current situation. 

Now that they were heading for Dustin’s place, an awkward silence fell between them. The tension in the small space of the car was only intensified by the fact that things were usually so easy between them the rest of the time.

But…these weren’t exactly usual times. A fact that was damn near impossible to ignore when it was quite literally staring them in the face.

Steve kept tapping his finger nervously at the steering wheel, hand stroking his chin as he very deliberately and obviously turned his face towards the driver’s side window. Eddie couldn’t stop fidgeting in place in his seat, reaching to fiddle with his rings before he remembered yet again that they weren’t there and found his thoughts tailspinning once more. 

As the car rolled towards town, they couldn’t stop casting curious, sidelong glances at each other, both of them flinching and turning away quickly each and every time the other one caught them at it. 

To busy himself, Eddie took to flicking through the radio stations, trying to find anything decent to distract him. He didn’t bother hiding his disgruntled noises every time yet another pop hit started blaring from the speakers.

“Come on, dude, quit it,” Steve finally snapped, slapping Eddie’s hand away from the dial, “You’re gonna give me a headache. Besides, you’re the one who always insists it's the driver who has total control over the music.” 

That, at least, felt normal, except–the hand that had connected with Eddie’s own was wearing a ring. His ring. And the feeling of smooth metal grazing over his skin was just foreign enough it felt like a shock, the surprise reminding Eddie yet again of the bizarreness of their situation and causing him to jerk. 

Steve’s eyes snapped down to his hand, grimacing as he seemed to register what had tripped Eddie up. He flexed his fingers–Eddie’s fingers–once before yanking his hand back.

It was like an invisible force field had fallen down between them, dividing them each to their respective sides of the car. Eddie felt his chest clench at the thought, and he couldn’t take it anymore. 

“Look, I get it, man, it’s fucking–completely and utterly bizarre, right?” The words burst from Eddie’s mouth in a rush, incapable of being contained a second longer. “But, I don’t see why we can’t–talk about it? I mean, it’s happening to both of us, so…who better, right?”

Steve’s shoulders sagged, body collapsing back against the driver’s seat, like all he’d needed was Eddie’s go ahead for the tension to drain out of him. 

“Oh my God! Eds, it’s so weird!” he exclaimed in agreement.

Eddie smiled, that same relief running through him, too, like they were sharing it. 

“It’s goddamn crazy! And you and me? We have seen our share of crazy shit, Stevie.”

“Yeah, well, me more than you, rookie,” Steve teased, the small smile he sent Eddie just enough to make Eddie’s dimples appear. 

And even though it was his own eyes looking fond, crinkling at the corners in amusement, Eddie still felt warmth settle in his chest, being on the receiving end of Steve’s particular brand of gentle prodding. 

Still–he couldn’t let Steve’s words go unchallenged. Flustered, he blurted in protest, “Nope! Absolutely no sports talk in my body, Harrington. Fucking blasphemy, is what it is. That’s rule number one.” 

Eddie gave an exaggerated, full body shudder. 

Steve scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Seriously, dude? How the hell is rookie sports talk?”

“The fact you even have to ask that proves just how much of a jock you are, man.” 

Steve’s face slowly broke into a grin, big and bright and mischievous, and, god, Eddie really hated being on the receiving end of his own ‘about to start shit’ face. It was a wonder he ever got away with anything at all, really, since his smile was apparently the world’s biggest giveaway. 

He jabbed a finger at Steve. “Don’t you dare do it, dude. I’ll walk this handsome ass body of yours straight off a cliff, I’m not even joking.”

Dropping into a stern coaching voice worthy of the height of his high school glory days, Steve called out, “Hey hey hey! You call those free throws? Work on your stance and tighten up that form! Let’s see a little hustle here, I want to see nothing less than a 110% out of all of you!”

Eddie’s face twisted in horror, and he covered his ears with both hands as he shouted, “Lalalala!” 

Steve let out a loud, full-bodied laugh, not as wild as Eddie’s usually were but just as free. “I’m just getting started, Munson. I could do this all day.”

Eddie shot him a betrayed scowl. “I can’t fucking believe you, Steven. I’ve got a reputation to maintain, you know, and I–”

Steve shook his head, still chuckling.

“Man, did anyone ever tell you you care way too much about what other people think of you? Especially for someone who’s supposed to be ‘breaking the social order,’ or whatever.” 

Eddie hated that–Steve making those stupid little air quotes with one hand, parroting the exact same speech he’d heard from Dustin and Eddie himself a thousand times over right back at him. 

“I hate you.”

“You definitely don’t, dude. Which is already bad for your precious reputation, by the way.” 

“Oh, well, uh. You’re totally worth that, I guess,” Eddie admitted, before letting out a long sigh. “Even if you are gonna make everybody we know think I’ve gone to the dark side.”

“Trust me, man, you’ll live,” Steve reassured him, giving him a conciliatory pat on the thigh. 

The gesture was enough, though, to make Steve notice that Eddie had pulled his legs up into the seat out of habit, sitting–as he tended to do–at what was basically a crouch while tapping out an uneven rhythm against one knee. 

“Dude, put your feet down,” he complained, giving Eddie’s leg a light, ineffectual shove, “you’re gonna get dirt all over the upholstery. I swear to God, you’re as bad as Dustin sometimes.”

Suddenly, Eddie’s lips quirked up into a wide, mischievous grin, a thought occurring to him. Revenge was a sweet, sweet flavor. 

“Technically, this is my car.” Leaning over the console into Steve’s space, Eddie tapped himself once on the nose. “Check out this mug, man. Matches the name on the car title to a T. You need me to show you some ID?”

He made a production out of reaching for the wallet he had tucked away in the back pocket of Steve’s jeans. 

“Whatever, Eds. Don’t be annoying,” Steve rolled his eyes. 

“Aww, Harrington, I was born annoying.”

The light that suddenly shone in Steve’s eyes practically spelled trouble. “Wait, so. If the Beemer’s yours…that means the guitar’s mine now, right?”

“Oh, absolutely not, Harrington! Don’t bring my sweetheart into this.”

Steve shrugged, infuriatingly casual. “Hey, you’re the one that started it, dude. Fair’s fair.” 

But the banter had done the trick and broken the ice. Even if it was about the morning’s weirdness, it got them all that much closer to some sense of normalcy. 

The rest of the ride to Dustin’s passed in easy chatter.

—

That peace was short-lived, however, once they pulled up in front of the Hendersons’ place.

The car had barely stopped rolling before Dustin was bounding out of the front door to meet them. When Eddie gave him a wave from the passenger seat, he openly gawped. 

“You let Eddie drive your car?!” The words, spluttered in disbelief, were the first thing out of Dustin’s mouth when he climbed into the backseat. 

“Just letting Eds take her for a test drive. Everybody deserves a shot behind the wheel of a ride this sweet at least once. Isn’t that right?” Eddie waggled his eyebrows at Steve, Cheshire smile expectant. 

Hanging his head, Steve only sighed–not nearly as long or loud as Eddie suspected he would have liked to–and turned off the engine. Clearly, he was resigned to his fate of trading places with Eddie and letting him drive his car yet again. 

…There’d been a lot of that going around this morning.

In the rear view mirror, they could both see Dustin open his mouth to speak. 

“Not you, big guy,” Steve jabbed a finger in his direction. 

He was lucky, really, that they made giving Dustin a hard time such a shared pastime. That meant they could easily pass off “Eddie’s” sudden defensiveness over Steve’s car as just his usual ribbing, the pair of them keeping up a united front as always. 

“That is so unfair!” Dustin whined as they both stepped out of the car. “I’ll have you know, I’m a very responsible driver. Or, at least…I would be, if you’d just give me a chance!”

His pleas went ignored. 

When their paths crossed in front of the hood to switch sides, Steve tossed the keys to Eddie with one quick, smooth flick of his wrist. Eddie jerked forward clumsily to catch them, warm metal hitting his palm…before he subsequently fumbled them to the ground. Squatting down, Eddie snatched the key ring up from the grass and jingled the set with a sheepish grin. The gesture made Steve simply shake his head in what Eddie was going to tell himself was fond exasperation. 

Dustin, on the other hand, was at the ready with his own snarky commentary as they clambered back inside. 

“Okay, seriously, what was that, Steve? Miss your Wheaties this morning?” 

“Guess I’m out of practice, since my glory days are over. Old age will do that to you,” Eddie drawled, ignoring the withering look Steve shot him. 

“Hey, hey. Need I remind you, I’m older than you,” Steve grumbled snarkily, arms crossed over his chest.

“That is true. Only you must bear the burden of being a third year senior,” Eddie sing-songed, before quietly mumbling, “for now, at least.”

A line appeared between Eddie’s own eyebrows, the patent Steve Harrington expression of concern. But before he had a chance to say anything, Dustin stuck his head between them, like a particularly curly-haired mole popping up out of his burrow. 

“Eddie, I didn’t know you were going to be here,” he chirped, sounding excited as his face swiveled to look at Steve. 

“Well, you know, Steve said he could use an extra set of eyes to look after you little hellions, so…here I am.”

The flourishing hand Steve tacked on to gesture at himself was a nice touch…even if there was an obvious beat in there where he was clearly remembering to do it. 

Then, he pressed a palm to Dustin’s chest, gently pushing him into the backseat. “And sit back, dude. What do you wanna do, fly out of the front windshield if we crash?”

“Wow. Thanks for the vote of confidence in my driving skills, man.” Eddie thought he had Steve’s dry exasperation down pat, if he did say so himself.

…It was just poor timing that had him taking a corner only a tiny bit too sharply, tires squealing for what was probably no more than a single second as he just missed brushing up against the curb. 

In answer to Steve’s pointed glare, he could only smile contritely and mouth, Shit. Sorry.

Besides, despite the impatient energy that still seemed to thrum through him, Dustin had done as Steve instructed and sat back. So, their passenger on board remained safe and sound.

“Whatever the reason, I’m glad you decided to join us. Especially because…I’ve got a question for you.”

It took a beat for Steve to realize he was the one being spoken to, the silence stretching just a hair too long before he jerked his neck quickly to look back at Dustin. “Huh? What?”

“I’ve been thinking about the layout of the dungeon at Castle Ravenloft–” Dustin started to chatter.

Oh, shit. He and Steve knew each other pretty well at this point, sure…well enough to put on this charade, at least, when they were wearing basically impenetrable disguises. But this–this was a true test of skill, and Eddie didn’t think they’d be forced to try and navigate it quite so soon.

So when he glanced over at Steve, he fully expected his own brown eyes to have gone wide, to find Steve wearing a fear-stricken expression as he looked back at him. Instead, Steve had a single eyebrow cocked, looking calm, cool, and unimpressed.

“Seriously? Like I’m actually gonna tell you anything,” Steve dismissed him easily. “Pfft, get real, Henderson.” 

“Come on,” Dustin protested, tone petulant and needling. He held up his fingers, practically pinched together. “Not even when I’m positive I’m this close to solving the last puzzle?”

Eddie couldn’t help but snort. The party wasn’t even remotely close. 

Oh, the arrogance of babes. 

“Honestly, uh…fat chance of that one, big guy.”

“I wasn’t talking to you, Steve,” Dustin rolled his eyes, an exaggerated show of bratty teenage exasperation. “In case you forgot, you weren’t even there last night.”

That glib dismissal–Eddie couldn’t help but take it like a blow to the chest, though he did his best not to let it show.

It was just that…the words stung for a couple of reasons. 

First of all, he still couldn’t fight back a flicker of disappointment that he hadn’t managed to convince Steve to join them for even a single night of Hellfire. 

And on top of that, it stirred up memories of the many times Eddie had found himself the odd man out in school, excluded on the basis of his freak status before he learned to fully embrace it. Though the feeling was familiar, it wasn’t one he was accustomed to experiencing over something so quintessential to a part of his identity, who he was at his core. 

But…D&D really wasn’t Steve’s thing. So, Eddie shouldn’t have been all that surprised commenting had gotten that kind of response out of Dustin.

…Right?

“He’s right, you know,” Steve interjected, coming to his defense. “That dungeon is like…super fortified.” 

Coming on the heels of his own internal reasoning, Eddie couldn’t help but send Steve a startled, owlish look. 

What? Steve mouthed, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a small, satisfied smile. I listen.

“But I–” Dustin gave it one last go.

“No ifs, no buts, no coconuts,” Steve playfully taunted, waving him off with a hand. “Give it up, dude.”

Eddie shook his head, settling comfortably into their usual rapport with a wry, “This kid.”

“I know.” Steve fell right into step alongside him, tone commiserating. 

Lower lip jutting out into what could only be described as a pout, Dustin muttered something that sounded suspiciously like butthead babysitters.

And even if Steve hadn’t already been his very own mirror image, there was no question in Eddie’s mind that, in that moment, the amused look Steve shot him perfectly matched his own.  

As Dustin stewed in silence, the two of them picked up where they’d left off before, back to bickering over the radio. Eddie reveled in the opportunity to chastise Steve when the opening chords of Mötley Crüe’s “Shout at the Devil” started to play and his friend automatically reached for the dial. 

“Ah, ah, ah, Munson,” Eddie clicked his tongue, waving an admonishing finger at Steve. “You know the rules. Hell, you were the one who reminded me of them just this morning, remember? Driver gets final say on the music.”

“Just wait til we’re back in the van, dude. It is so on,” Steve warned in a low voice, eyes gleaming as though Eddie had just issued a challenge. 

The sudden image of Steve, still in Eddie’s visage, rolling down main street as he shouted Madonna lyrics at the top of his lungs swam into Eddie’s head. 

Before he had a chance to discourage that horrifying future from coming to pass, however, Dustin spoke up again. 

"Steve?" 

"What is it now, Henderson?" Steve answered on autopilot, not even bothering to look up. 

Neither of them registered the mistake at first. 

But when Dustin didn’t charge on ahead, Eddie glanced into the rearview mirror to find him frowning. From the passenger seat, Steve caught Eddie's eye, his casually amused expression having morphed into panic. With nothing more than a jerk of his head and a pair of widened eyes, he sent Eddie the transparently obvious, silent message of Do something! 

"What can I do for you, Dustin?" Eddie asked quickly, cutting off their backseat passenger just as he opened his mouth. 

Instantly, he worried that he had sounded too much like himself, and not enough like Steve. 

"Okay, seriously, what’s going on?” Dustin demanded. “You guys are acting weird."

Christ, the kid was suspicious. Sure, Eddie couldn’t blame him, after everything, but–it had only been one slight mix-up. It was…plausible, at least, that Eddie could have just been answering for Steve.

…Probably. 

"No we're not," Eddie and Steve said in unison, which…okay, that wasn't their most convincing moment, Eddie could admit that. 

“I don’t know why you don’t just tell me,” Dustin said with exaggerated exasperation. “Especially when you know whatever it is, I’m going to figure it out eventually.” 

“Uh-huh. Yeah, I wouldn’t count on that one, smarty pants.” Steve murmured wryly. Despite how they’d fumbled it, that spark of humor was back in his eyes when they caught Eddie’s, like they were sharing an inside joke. Then, he hurriedly added, “Because there’s nothing going on.”

“Fine, whatever,” Dustin harrumphed. “Go ahead, you can try and keep your secrets…for now. What I was trying to tell you, Steve, is that…it’s just going to be Lucas today. Oh, and Erica, too. No Max, though. She’s having a girls day with El.”

Eddie hummed in acknowledgement. “And what about mini-Wheeler?”

“Nance is bringing him,” Steve explained before Dustin had a chance.

“I already told you that, Steve,” Dustin snarked automatically. 

But, not even a beat later, he gasped, his head shooting up between the seats once more. When he turned to Eddie, there was obvious concern radiating from his face, his brow wrinkled and eyes squinting. Dustin gave him a quick slap on the shoulder. 

“Watch it, man, he’s trying to drive,” Steve complained, though the comment didn’t phase their young companion for even a second. 

“Shit, shit, shit, what the hell, Steve?! Wait–you’re not having memory issues and not telling me about them, are you?”

Eddie couldn’t fight back a bark of shocked laughter at such a serious overreaction from Dustin. First the paranoia, now this? Maybe they all really did need that trauma therapy Owens kept hinting about. “Dustin, man–Jesus Christ, what the hell are you talking about?” 

Steve groaned. “Come on, Henderson, just…chill out, alright?” 

Like before, their words went ignored, Dustin back to bulldozing ahead. 

“Because that would so not be cool!” he tapped a finger into his palm emphatically. “If this kind of thing is happening, I need to know about it. I’ve done all kinds of research on post-concussion syndrome, and that shit is really serious.” 

“Trust me, dude, he already knows that,” Steve said, sounding exasperated yet fond.

“Well, obviously, he’s not taking it very seriously, Eddie, if he’s just sitting here, ignoring potential symptoms!”  

“While your very touching concern has been noted–I’m totally fine. I promise. Shit, man, I just…forgot for a second. That shit happens. Thankfully, Eddie here was around to remind me, so. No need to call in a team of specialists to poke and prod at me just yet.”

To be honest, Eddie had had quite enough of that already, when Owens had demanded a full examination after he’d been pulled from the Upside Down. Even if it wasn’t quite the same circumstances, he wasn’t about to let Steve–or even just his body, for that matter–be put through the same thing, not when it could be avoided. 

Which was yet another reason to avoid having this whole thing come out into the open, especially when it might just right itself tomorrow without any extra intervention. Dodging the possibility of the pair of them becoming the former lab’s next science experiment was a top priority, as far as Eddie was concerned. He might not be totally sure what was going on, but it seemed like the kind of thing Owens and his team would have a field day with. 

“I reminded you, too,” Dustin grumbled.

“I know you did, buddy. Thanks for that.” 

Reaching out, Eddie gave Dustin a noogie through his hat–and Steve’s hand wasn’t far behind, replacing Eddie’s the instant he pulled back and doing the exact same.

With that crisis thankfully averted–for now–it wasn’t long before they made their way to the Sinclairs. 

No sooner had Eddie turned into the driveway before brother and sister were out the door in a flash, piling into the backseat while Dustin scooted over to give Erica the spot in the middle. 

“Hey, Steve!” Lucas greeted brightly. When his eyes caught on Steve sitting in the passenger seat, he blinked in surprise before adding, “Oh, hi, Eddie, man! I didn’t know you were coming along, too.”

“Why are you surprised?” Erica asked dryly, shooting him an unimpressed look. “They go everywhere together, like some kind of old, outdated comedy act. When was the last time you saw one of them without the other?”

There was one silver lining to the statement, Eddie guess. At least this way Steve wasn’t being forced to explain his presence yet again. Still, he felt his cheeks heat slightly and hoped Steve didn’t catch what Eddie knew from experience was a pretty, rosy blush spreading all over his face. 

Because…shit, was he really that obvious? 

“Last night at D&D,” Lucas shot back succinctly, always happy to get one over on his sister. 

“That’s only because Steve doesn’t want to hang out with you dorks in full nerd mode.”

“Erica!” Lucas’s exasperation was transparent. “You were literally there, nerding out just like the rest of it!”

Erica simply sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Eddie couldn’t help but marvel at how much she and Dustin acted just like little mini-Steves sometimes. 

“I said what I said.”

Their brother-sister back-and-forth had distracted the pair enough they hadn’t actually settled down and buckled up, not even as Eddie started to pull away from the curb. 

"Seat belt," Steve chided. 

Old habits died hard, clearly.

Erica snorted. "That's rich. We've all seen the way you drive, Eddie. Bargain bin Evel Knievel over here."

Eddie clapped a hand against Steve’s borrowed chest, crooked smile teasing as he turned to him. 

“Christ, went straight for the heart with that one, didn’t she, Munson? Erica Sinclair, fucking brutal as always.”

“Just the facts!”

"Pretty sure the last time Eddie took us to the arcade, he was like…crouched in the driver's seat the entire time," Lucas agreed, the Sinclair siblings for once on the same page. "I don't even get how his foot touched the pedal."

Steve shot Eddie a loaded, sarcastic look, back at it with the silent communication. Eddie knew he wasn’t quite as good at deciphering the meaning as Robin was, but he still thought he could read, See? Do you see what a bad influence your bullshit is on our kids? pretty clearly between the lines.

"You’re absolutely, 100% right, Erica. I should be way more careful when I’m driving,” Steve agreed pointedly. Then, he jabbed a warning finger into the backseat. “Just like you guys need to buckle up. Harrington's car, Harrington's rules, alright?”

"Uh, that's not what you said last week, when you changed the tape deck like six different times," Dustin said, voice full of patent 'well, actually' disbelief.

"Oh, well…not Eddie's fault I think bubblegum pop is the height of musical innovation," Eddie quipped, shooting Steve a wink and a shit-eating grin. There really was an upside to all of this, it turned out, because Eddie was having way too much fun with it. 

At least, he was until Steve leaned over and nudged him hard in the side, the jab making Eddie let out a punctured little oof. Shit, Steve hadn’t been kidding when he’d bitched about Eddie’s pointy ass elbows–those things were sharp as shit. Eddie was pretty sure, with Steve’s jock reflexes now wielding them, they should be categorized as certified weapons. For the sake of the safety of others, if nothing else. 

“Told you,” Steve hissed. The expression he shot Eddie suggested he was an idiot for ever doubting him.

“...Dude, what are they talking about?” Lucas asked. He was clearly attempting to speak in an undertone, but the sound carried to the front of the car nonetheless. 

Dustin shrugged, answering him back in the same sort of stage whisper. “I’m as confounded as you are. They’ve been acting weird since they picked me up this morning.”

“I still really don’t get how that’s all that damn surprising,” Erica countered, flat and unimpressed as she inspected her nails. “They always act weird.”

“Hey, what can I say?” Eddie interjected. Though he was having his fun, it wouldn’t hurt to try and steer this renegade boat back towards the shore. “Guess maybe Munson’s just starting to rub off on me.”

You’d like to rub off on something, the little voice in the back of Eddie’s head piped up, ever unhelpful. Just maybe not right now.

“When they got to my house, Eddie was driving,” Dustin informed the group, clearly offering a counterpoint.

“You let Eddie drive your car?” Lucas exclaimed, the disbelief in his voice evident.

“That’s exactly what I said!”

“Sure I did,” Eddie answered, smile as wide as the cat who’d caught the canary when he turned to Steve, “Eddie’s an excellent driver.”

…Okay, so maybe he wasn’t that great at resisting the temptation. 

“So not helping,” Steve muttered, in clear support of Eddie’s own oft-silenced inner voice of reason.

“…Maybe Steve lost a bet,” Lucas reasoned.

All three of them hummed in unison, considering this.

Steve huffed. “No one lost anything, alright? Just–mind your business. Didn’t anybody ever tell you guys curiosity killed the cat, or whatever? You’re all way too damn nosey for your own good.”

Eddie wondered if  Steve’s jock pride wouldn’t allow them to slander his good name like that, by suggesting he didn’t come out on top in a competition. 

But he backed him up nevertheless. “You heard the man. That’s quite enough out of the peanut gallery for now.”

“Besides, you need to stop worrying about whatever new bullshit those two are up to, and start worrying about how I’m about to kick all your asses at Dig Dug,” Erica said succinctly, the air of finality on the subject clear in her voice.

Eddie laughed. “Have I mentioned today that, out of all you snot-nosed little brats–you are totally my favorite, Erica Sinclair?”

As Erica grinned smugly and the other boys started to shout out a variety of protests, Steve inclined his head in approval. “Yeah, okay. See, now you’re starting to get the hang of it.”

—

When they pulled up to the arcade, the kids scurried out of the back, rushing inside with the same speed they might have if a Demogorgon was hot on their heels. Steve and Eddie moseyed up the sidewalk behind them at a much more slow, leisurely pace. 

Since they were out of eyeshot of the party, Eddie took the opportunity to hold the door open before Steve got to it, doing his customary flourishing bow to indicate he should go ahead of him. 

“After you, oh noble King of the Freaks,” he teased, eyes twinkling as he winked at Steve.

“You’re ridiculous.” 

But though Steve’s tone might have been deadpan, that did nothing to hide the amused smile quirking up one corner of his mouth, Eddie’s dimple giving him away instantly. It might have been a little weird to see from the outside, but those things were honestly starting to come in handy. 

Once they were inside, it didn’t take long to spot the pipsqueaks all congregated around Wheeler Jr., Nancy standing not far away. 

Steve raised a hand in greeting before trotting over to her, Eddie only a few steps behind. 

“Hey, Nance!”

“Oh, Eddie. Hi!” Nancy blinked at Steve in obvious surprise. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

He shrugged helplessly. 

“Yeah, there’s, uh…kinda been a lot of that going around. But, you know…I’m a wild card like that, yeah?” The flash of his smile and the way he spread his arms aloft, like a magician revealing a trick, was clearly meant to be bombastic. But even with Steve’s perfect disguise, Eddie could see the hint of an effort behind it, privy as he was to the man behind the curtain. “Never really know where I’ll turn up next.”

Nancy’s brow furrowed, her smile a touch puzzled. Now, whether it was her usual bewilderment at Eddie's shenanigans or something more–that was kinda hard to say.

Eddie threw an arm around Steve’s shoulder, coming to his rescue either way. 

He tried to be a lot more conscious of himself than he had been in the car, this time. Eddie had been in high school theater, after all–before he dropped out, at least. Plus, he had a whole cache of NPCs on rotation that he improvised weekly. Performing was what he did.

So, when he went to speak, Eddie did his best to adopt Steve’s patent blend of fondness and exasperation for the kids. 

“You know what a pain in the ass those little shits can be. So, I just thought–might as well call in the cavalry, get the most sought after babysitter in town…after yours truly, of course.” Eddie patted a hand against Steve’s chest. “Don’t worry, man. With enough time and my specialized training, you might just reach the same great, babysitting extraordinaire heights as me.”

Okay, so maybe there was a little too much theatrical flare on that last part–but every actor liked to put his own signature spin on things, right?

Besides, Eddie could feel it, the way Steve relaxed against him, before he huffed out a laugh. “Can’t wait, dude. Tell me when and where for the first official meeting of the Babysitters Club, and I’ll be there.”

“Well, hopefully it’s not too soon,” Nancy interjected, playing along, seeming amused by their antics. “Since I’ll be seeing you at the library tonight. Right, Eddie?”

Steve flashed her a sweet but confused smile. Internally, Eddie couldn’t help but marvel at the way he still managed to make that look cute, even while wearing his face. “Wait, wait, sorry…what about tonight?”

“It’s Sunday,” Nancy said pointedly.

“Yeah…” Steve dragged out the syllable, darting a searching look at Eddie, “and?”

Realization hit Eddie, right between the eyes. 

“Oh, fuck, that’s right!” he slapped both his hands against his forehead, pressing Steve’s hair flat. “We–shit, I-I mean, you and Nancy have your weekly study session tonight. Right?”

“You forgot?” Though the question was clearly directed at Steve, Nancy’s eyes never strayed from Eddie, studying him carefully.

“Yeah, I guess my brain’s just been a little, uh…” Steve sucked on his lips, expression self-deprecating as he spun a finger next to his temple, “scrambled today.”

Understatement of the century there, Harrington, Eddie thought, and had to literally bite down on his lips to keep from saying it out loud.

…And he tried not to get too caught up on it, the knowledge that that was actually Steve’s plump bottom lip his teeth were digging into.

“Is memory loss contagious?!” Dustin called out from several yards away. 

Steve sure had these kids pegged–nosey didn’t even begin to cover it.

“Okay, what is he talking about?” Nancy asked. Thankfully, she looked far more amused than concerned, if the losing battle the corners of her mouth were fighting was anything to go by.

“Steve forgot one thing, one thing. And then I forgot another. Apparently,” Steve pitched his voice louder, making damn well sure that the munchkins could hear him, “Henderson thinks that’s cause to alert the national guard, or some shit.” 

One hand settled in its new perch on Eddie’s hip, he shrugged and then threw his free arm out towards Dustin, Harrington code for, What can you do? 

Nancy shook her head, nose crinkled, mirth having won the day. “Well…sounds like it’s a good thing we ran into each other, since it gave me a chance to remind you. I guess I’ll see you tonight, then?”

“I’ll be there,” Steve agreed, sending her off with a finger gun. 

Once she was out of sight, disappearing through the door with a final bye, guys and an admonishment to Mike to behave, Steve’s shoulders slumped, letting out a long groan. 

“Oh my God, just when I thought having to study was finally behind me.” He dragged both hands down Eddie’s face, honestly looking a little nauseous at the prospect.

“Sorry, dude,” Eddie said in an apologetic undertone, casting around to make sure the others were too caught up to listen in again. “I, uh…totally forgot about the significance of the day, what with everything else going on.” 

Steve instantly softened. “No, man, you don’t–look, it’s–whatever, it’s not that big a deal. I’ll get through it.”

“I guess it’s a good thing you’ve been helping me out with those flashcards, huh? Gonna come in handy after all.” 

Because as much as Steve was bemoaning the prospect of having to prep for tests now, he had been more than willing to give Eddie a hand getting through his studies on more than one occasion. And, sure, the pressure wasn’t quite the same, when he wasn’t the one who was expected to perform. 

Still, it warmed Eddie a little, knowing that Steve had been willing to do it even though he was clearly far from enthused about anything remotely scholastic. 

“Looks like it. But, I mean, that’s kinda my point. If I’m there in your place, than how are you supposed to–”

In a flash, Steve clamped his mouth shut tight. The culprits for his sudden hesitation became apparent pretty much immediately, when Eddie saw that both Henderson and Little Wheeler were headed their way. 

Long legs outpacing Dustin’s, Mike made it over to them first–and Steve wasn’t quite able to hide the shock that came over his face, when the younger Wheeler wrapped a hand around his wrist and started tugging him along. 

On instinct, Eddie reached up to try and hide his bemused grin behind his hair, grappling for a second when he realized his mistake. 

Steve really couldn’t be faulted for the reaction. Even though Eddie knew full well that he would willingly die for any of those kids, and that Mike held way more admiration for his sister’s-ex-turned-party-babysitter than he would ever let in front of Steve, their entire dynamic was basically built upon an artifice of begrudging tolerance.

“Come on, Eddie. Join our party for round one of Gauntlet. We could really use you to help us get past the first level.”

Crossing his arms across his chest smugly, Dustin fell into step beside them. “Plus, maybe now I’ll almost have some real competition.” 

Arrogant little brat, Eddie thought fondly. 

“Oh, Henderson, you are so on. Better watch your ass, man. You can kiss that high score goodbye,” he ribbed good-naturedly. 

The whole thing was their typical sort of shit talk…which only made Dustin’s answering scoff of disbelief come as even more of a shock. 

“I know you’re joking. Right, Steve? What would you even know about it?”

He’d gotten a taste of it this morning, sure, but Eddie was so flabbergasted by the harshness of Dustin’s condescending tone–the superiority of it all–that, for once, he was struck speechless. Luckily, Steve was at the ready, prepared to pick up his slack. 

“Whatever, dude. Don’t be a little shithead just because Steve kicked your ass last week at Pac-Man.”

Mike snorted just as Dustin spluttered in protest. “Sure, yeah. But Pac-Man doesn’t exactly count as…a real arcade game, now does it?”

Eddie felt like he’d been doused in a bucket of cold water. Dustin’s smugness had taken the final veer straight into asshole territory without so much as a pit stop.

“Pfft. What’s that even supposed to mean?” Steve demanded.

And even though he wasn’t letting Dustin get away with it unchallenged, Steve still seemed way too nonchalant about his dismissive, imperious tone for Eddie’s liking. Almost like…he was used to it.

“Yeah, I’d sure as hell like to hear his explanation for that one myself,” Eddie agreed, crossing his arms over his chest now and wielding Steve’s disapproving babysitter stance for all it was worth.

Stopping in his tracks, Dustin’s head swiveled back and forth between them, mouth agape as he took in their wall of solidarity.

“Eddie–come on, back me up here. I thought you of all people would get what I meant. Right?”

Eddie did was the thing. He got exactly what Dustin meant. That didn’t make him right, though, or anything less than a complete and total shithead–just like Steve had said–for thinking it. 

And sure, in the past, maybe Eddie had waxed poetic about the wonder of a fantasy arcade game that established intricate world-building and lore. Like with D&D, there was something to be said for immersion, pulling the player into not just gameplay but a story. And it was fun to argue over things, make a case for which game or character or book was your favorite. But that didn’t mean there had to be some kind of hierarchical system created out of it. He thought–he’d hoped–he’d done enough to make that clear. 

…Dustin, though, might be living proof that he hadn’t.

Steve shrugged, casual. “I seriously don’t, dude.”

“Dustin’s right, it doesn’t count,” Mike agreed flatly, “now, can you guys just hurry up so we can actually start playing?”

“What the hell is taking you losers so long?” Erica’s voice suddenly demanded. 

She stood a few feet away, Lucas right behind her, looking beyond fed up. Clearly, the Sinclairs had gotten sick of waiting and wandered over to see what all the ruckus was about.

“We’re just debating the merits of playing one of the ‘lesser’ games in the arcade here,” Eddie put air-quotes around the title, before adding, his tone mockingly conspiratorial, “Turns out, Pac-Man evidently isn’t good enough for these two.”

Erica scoffed. “Well, that’s just stupid.”

“Besides, what are you even talking about?” Lucas’s face screwed up in outrage. “Pac-Man’s cool!”

“Finally! Thank you, Sinclair!” Eddie threw his hands in the air. “Good to know that at least some of our charges see reason.”

“Like I said,” Steve shrugged nonchalantly, pinning Dustin with a cooly judgmental look that would have ended at least a dozen of his former classmates, “sore loser.”

Dustin wilted slightly, shoulders slumping. It seemed, like Steve’s peers, he wasn’t entirely immune to the Harrington dismissal, either–or, well. The Munson one, technically, right now. 

“Whatever,” he muttered, still stubborn as ever despite it, “no need for you guys to be such assholes about it.”

Was this kid serious?

“Uh,” Eddie held up a single finger in challenge, “I really don’t think we’re the ones that started that, big guy.”

“What’s next? You gonna say My Little Pony is just for little girls?” Erica asked, tone accusatory as she looked straight at Dustin.

Lucas clapped a commiserating hand on his shoulder with a quiet, “Best of luck to you.”

He didn’t look all that sorry, though–as well he shouldn’t, in Eddie’s opinion.

And Erica’s piercing gaze did manage to make him falter, slipping past his defensiveness. “That…that’s different.”

“Uh, different how?”

“This is so dumb, we’re getting totally off track.” Rolling his eyes, Mike turned to Steve. “Are you gonna come play with us, or not?”

“Nah, man,” Eddie waved a hand at him in dismissal, wrapping the other around Steve’s elbow. “Eds is gonna stick around over here, playing Pac-Man with me. You’ll hardly miss him. Too busy playing something serious, right?”

“Eddie?” Mike demanded, like there was no way his Dungeon Master would agree to this. 

“Yeah, I don’t think so, dude. Like he said–I’ve got more important shit to do.”

Mike and Dustin openly gaped–as if he and Steve hadn’t both been actively pushing back against their asinine bullshit since the moment it got started. It was like they just expected Eddie to turn on Steve at the last second, shout out a Just kidding! and laugh in his face, or something.

The possibility that they might didn’t sit well with Eddie at all.

“There’s four of us anyway,” Erica pointed out. “What were you planning to do, let him steal my spot? Like hell!”

“Stealing is a gross exaggeration.”

“It was just for the first level anyway,” Mike added mulishly.

Seeing that their babysitters weren’t budging, the group began trudging back towards Gauntlet, still arguing amongst themselves. 

That sort of morale didn’t bode well for their future quests. So, being the benevolent gamemaster that he was, Eddie decided to send them off with some parting wisdom.

After all…he couldn’t let them get in the last word.

“Oh, but! Before you go. If I may make one teensy, tiny suggestion. I mean, you can do what you want…but. If you were smart,” Eddie spread his hands wide, a gesture meant to draw attention, “you’d let Thrya lead the charge. Only makes sense, right? Her shield’s the strongest, after all, and her sword delivers two times the normal damage.”

Four heads swiveled as one to stare at him with varying levels of shock and suspicion, from Dustin’s gawp to Erica’s careful, narrow-eyed gaze. 

Her expression was the first to clear, however, undoubtedly pleased by Eddie’s suggestion that she should be at the head of the pack. “Damn straight!”

“We know that,” Mike huffed snippily, despite the fact that their earlier conversation made it clear they hadn’t been thinking of Thyra at all, “but how the hell would you?”

“Hey, I listen,” Eddie shrugged, shooting for Steve’s nonchalance. “Besides, Eddie never shuts up about the damn thing. I was bound to pick up something eventually.”

Steve jerked his head towards him, that patent Harrington look of concern back. But it was no more than a flash, there and gone almost as quickly as it’d come. 

“Well, I mean–that just makes sense, doesn’t it? Thyra goes first, and then, uh…” Steve snapped his fingers together, “Thor can flank her, yeah? Since he’s the best fighter one-on-one.”

Eddie could not turn to stare at Steve, owlish and open-mouthed, without raising more suspicions than he already had–but, Christ, did he want to.

The boys were already nodding, taking on board this latter piece of advice with ease, while Erica tapped her foot impatiently in the background. 

“Now, shoo. Off to your battle stations, the grown ups will be over here playing a real game.” Tightening his grip around Steve’s bicep, Eddie practically dragged him away.

Once they were near the Pac-Man machine, at a safe distance away from the party, Eddie finally spun on Steve, what he was sure could only be described as pure glee animating his face.

“Harrington, you dirty dog!” he slapped his arm. “What the hell was that, good sir?”

His surprise clearly delighted Steve, if the smirk turning up his lips was anything to go on. 

“What? I told you, I actually do listen to you, you know. It’s just that, sometimes, some of it goes,” Making a whooshing sound, Steve swept a hand just above Eddie's unruly mane, “Right over my head. A couple things actually manage to stick, though. I mean, like how I know you always play that wizard dude, Merlin, yeah? With all the cool spells and shit. Which makes sense, since he’s like…the most magical one in the game.” 

“You saying you think I’m magical, Harrington,” Eddie teased.

Steve shrugged. “Well, I mean…what else would you call it? Coming up with all those worlds and characters and stories like you do for your campaigns? Sounds a lot like magic to me, dude.”

There was such plain certainty in his tone, like what he was saying just made sense. Eddie felt his cheeks go warm instantly at the praise–and while he’d certainly admired that sweep of pink on Steve’s face before, was he always this easy to blush? He had a hard enough time not giving himself away as it was, without having to worry about that little telltale sign of exactly what he was feeling. 

Steve nudged his shoulder into Eddie’s, a gentle bump. “Just because it’s not my thing doesn’t mean I can’t tell how good you are at it, Eds.”

Tragically, Eddie couldn’t even fully enjoy the sweetness of the moment. Not when the mere thought of just how much certain people seemed to think Steve not sharing those interests meant they could talk down to him automatically darkened his mood. 

“Well, uh–just because it’s not your sorta thing also sure as shit doesn’t mean those little chuckleheads should talk to you like that. Jesus Christ. Henderson, man–I knew he had a mouth on him, but he kept acting like you were…”

“What, like I’m an idiot? Yeah,” Steve sighed, trying to rub a hand over the back of his neck and still clearly surprised by the tangle of hair that prevented him, “I know. Dustin’s a little shit sometimes, but…I guess I can be kinda stupid, when it comes to certain things.”

Eddie felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. 

“No, Stevie, you’re not. Not at all, man,” he protested immediately, tone insistent.

“Yeah, no, I know, I know,” Steve agreed, harried. “It’s just…I mean, I totally don’t know jackshit about your nerdy stuff.” 

“So? Me, I know fuckall about sports,” Eddie jabbed both thumbs towards his chest, emphatic. “You think that makes me stupid?”

“A little,” Steve answered, smirk teasing. 

Letting out a bark of a cackle, Eddie shoved him in the side. “Harrington, man, shut the fuck up.”

“You know what the kids are like. They can be total assholes, when they wanna be, but you just…gotta ignore them, mostly,” Steve tsked, waving a hand through the air in the way one might bat away a particularly annoying swarm of insects. “That’s what I usually do. That, or, you know, give them a little taste of their own medicine, when they really deserve it.”

“Oh, they’re plenty deserving. It’s fucking…mind-bogglingly ungrateful, is what it is. They’ve got no right to treat you like that,” Eddie stewed, his rage from earlier boiling back up anew. “And I hope that little stunt was worth it to them, cuz I’m gonna have Henderson and Wheeler rolling at a disadvantage for the rest of the year.”

Steve turned his face away for a moment. It was that sudden shyness that he sometimes seemed to get around Eddie–the kind he never saw from Steve back in high school–like he couldn’t quite look at him.

“Thanks, man,” he said quietly, patting a hand briefly, gently in the small of Eddie’s back in a show of gratitude. 

“Don’t mention it. It’s the least I can do.”

Especially since Eddie was worried he might have in some way contributed to the problem, the guilt of that possibility gnawing at him. 

Letting out a quick sigh, Steve chewed at his bottom lip, clearly still thinking. “With Dustin–I mean, he’s like my little brother. We give each other shit all the time. And that’s fine. I get it, it’s our thing. But, it–it was weird, you know? He was so excited to have me–to have you here. It felt…I don’t know, kinda like it used to? When he still looked up to me.”

Eddie sucked in a breath, feeling like he’d been punched in the gut. “Christ, man, I wasn’t kidding when I said he never shuts up about you. He still looks up to you, no question.”

“Sure, but,” Steve shrugged, his small, brittle smile devastating, “guess it’d be kinda nice to have him do it to my face, once in a while.”

In the hospital, during the aftermath of everything, Steve had confessed that he’d been jealous of Eddie too. 

At the time, Eddie couldn’t imagine why, but–he got it, now. It had to have felt like Eddie was replacing him, from the outside looking in. Which was fucking…ludicrous, when Eddie knew deep down Dustin hero-worshiped Steve every chance he got. That all the kids did. The way they used to go on and on about the former King of Hawkins High during Hellfire sessions had annoyed him to no end, before.

…But, it turned out that Steve wasn’t actually on the receiving end of those lavish praises, apparently. It was just always out of earshot of the man himself. 

“Fuck it,” Eddie smacked a hand against the arcade machine, resolved. “When we’ve got ourselves all sorted out again, I’m gonna need to have a serious talk with that kid. Wheeler, too.” 

“Eddie…” Steve drew out his name, his voice wavering, uncharacteristically hesitant, “you seriously don’t have to do that, dude.”

He shook his head, expression steely. “Oh, I’m going to, Stevie. It’s non-negotiable, at this point. After all, I mean–they besmirched Pac-Man’s name. What other choice do I really have?”

That was enough to get Steve to smile–a real one, this time, without even a tinge of bitterness. “Aww, yeah. I love that hungry little guy.”

And at his genuine enthusiasm, Eddie couldn’t help but grin back, wide and toothy.

“Me too, man. Me fucking too.” 

“Speaking of–” Steve tilted his head towards the game as he leaned up against it, arms crossing over his chest and his smirk cocky, “you ready to get your ass kicked by me?”

Eddie’s eyes glittered. “Oh, Stevie, buddy, you are so on.”

—

As the machine let out its sad little game over noise, Eddie clenched a fist against his mouth and swore, the neon high scores that popped up on screen making it clear he still hadn’t come anywhere close to beating out Steve.

With an exaggerated hiss and a wince, Steve slapped a hand against his shoulder, condescendingly jocular. “Yeah, better luck next time, dude. Not your fault you’re facing off against the Pac-Man champion.”

Eddie was in the process of revving up to smack talk him right back when Lucas bounded over to them, the rest of the kids shockingly not in tow. As he squinted over Eddie’s shoulders at the scoreboard, Lucas’s eyes widened in surprise. 

“Oh, hey, you’re beating Steve!” he gave Steve a congratulatory pat on the back. “I thought that was pretty much impossible.”

And, to the unknowing eye, it certainly looked that way. Despite their own competitive natures, he and Steve had both agreed that switching names would be for the best, lest they at some point attract an audience of onlookers amongst the party–or anybody else, for that matter.

So SMOKINSTEVE was currently taking up the number two spot, a name Eddie had cheekily chosen after vetoing Steve’s own suggestion of just plain Steve as far too boring. EDTHEBOLD sat right above it. When Eddie had explained that he’d stuck with his title of ‘Ed the Banished’ for the past month or so, Steve had just hummed in acknowledgment–and then entered in the alternate he’d chosen without so much as a single comment. 

Looking at it made Eddie’s heart clench a tiny bit. 

“Sure, okay. I’m in the lead…for now,” Steve conceded. “But give it a couple days, Sinclair. I’ve got a feeling Harrington’s set to make a total comeback. I mean–he’s got game, you know?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t count on that. You’re the nerd, after all, man,” Eddie flashed Steve a too wide grin while he bopped him lightly on the end of the nose, reveling in the rare opportunity to call him such. “This is supposed to be your area of expertise.” 

Turning to Eddie, Lucas smiled, bright and hopeful. “Speaking of game–hoops after this, right? We’re still on? I’ve been working on my three pointers, but I could still use some tips from the former co-captain.” 

And if Steve using his voice to call out sports terms had stunned him, Eddie honestly felt a little like his brain was flatlining now that he was clearly expected to respond back in jock speak. 

“Uh…”

Luckily–or maybe it was the ultimate sign of Eddie’s complete lack of luck, it was kind of hard to say–Steve leaned across him and cut in. 

“Of course, dude, he wouldn’t miss it. Steve’s been telling me all about how much better you’ve gotten, even just since you first started out practicing together a few months back.” 

“Really?” Lucas’s face lit up, looking at Eddie. "You think so?"

“Totally, man,” Steve answered for him. “He’s, like, super proud of you.” 

And he really did look chuffed–every inch the bragging babysitter that he was, even if Lucas was none the wiser. 

Come to think of it, Steve definitely had mentioned something about that in the past few weeks. Anything athletic tended to go straight over Eddie’s head–but, for all his protesting, he’d been making an actual real effort to pay closer attention, even when he understood less than half of what Steve had to say. 

Because Steve was into it, and he looked so cute anytime he started excitedly rambling on about balls in baskets. Not to mention his general…everything kind of put a real kibosh on what the Munson Doctrine had to say about jocks in general. So Eddie’s code was currently under revision, much like his entire worldview had been ever since Spring Break. As much as he might still put on a show–especially when it came to protesting Steve hijacking his own voice for nonsensical sports jargon–he really was trying to learn, do better. 

Which meant that, when Steve elbowed him–not nearly as subtly as he thought–with a pointed, “Isn’t that right, Steve?” there was really only one answer. 

“Oh, yeah, absolutely. You know, it’s like I always say, you’re, uh, uh…you’re a natural, Sinclair.” 

Well…that was a good start followed by what he assumed was a crit fumble when it came to stealth, as he’d tried to come up with a word to describe any specific athletic skill and drawn a total blank.

…Maybe he hadn’t done too bad, though, based on Lucas’s answering beam. And that look on the teen’s face made his piss-poor attempt at bumbling through things all worth it. 

“Awesome!” Lucas bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet. “Erica said she wanted to come too, but just to watch. I’m pretty sure she’s planning to heckle us from the stands.”

“I’d expect nothing less,” Eddie commented, swallowing hard as he sent Steve an anxious look.

With him out on the court, she’d certainly have plenty of material to work with. 

“Guess that makes four of us, then,” Steve gave a quick nod, like he was checking off his mental headcount with all the attentiveness of a parent heading up a school field trip, “since I’m going, too.”

“...You are?” Lucas asked. Unlike the shitshow with Dustin and Mike earlier over the mere suggestion Steve might know a thing or two about arcade games, he didn’t sound condescending or disapproving–but he still blinked over at Steve in surprise. 

Which was…totally fair, Eddie wouldn't have believed it either. In fact, the only thing that could tempt him into an amateur basketball game on any normal day was the chance to subtly ogle Steve. 

“Sure I am,” Steve answered easily, “wouldn't wanna miss out on Harrington's stellar moves. Isn't that right, Stevie?”

He shot Eddie a wink, leaning into his space with an uncanny imitation of one of Eddie’s Cheshire wide smiles. 

They might have bungled it a few times thus far, but that–shit. That was actually a really good impression of him. 

…A really good, really flirtatious impression of him. 

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, did that mean Steve knew Eddie’d been pretty shamelessly flirting with him basically every chance he got since Spring Break? 

He let out a somewhat strained laugh, trying to cover for the sudden swirl of confusion inside him at the possibility. “Right. Absolutely, man. Can’t wait to uh…shoot those balls?” 

With a flick of his wrists, Eddie did his best imitation of the tosses he’d seen Steve make back in gym class. Even for pretend basketball, he was pretty damn sure his aim was totally off. 

As Lucas rushed off to deliver the news to Erica, Steve let out a sound that could only be described as a giggle–a genuine one. 

“Don’t sweat it, Munson. I promise I’ll show you the ropes.” 

Then, he gave Eddie a quick, firm slap on the ass–the exact same kind he had sometimes seen the jock guys giving each other at the end of a long practice.

No sooner had he felt the sting of it than two deep, red spots bloomed bright on his cheeks. 

…Eddie was so fucking doomed. 

If I accidentally missed you on the taglist, or you'd like to be added or removed, please let me know!

Taglist: @tinytalkingtina @sidekick-hero @thefreakandthehair @lingeringmirth @eriquin

@grimweathers @too-efn-old-to-be-here @stevesworldxx @themellowyellowmomma @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx

@anne-bennett-cosplayer @ellietheasexylibrarian @sharingisntkaren @a-lovely-craziness @highkingpenny

[rinrinx2]

Omg how about we get like a pov of rindou reacting when renzo doesn’t wanna hold his hand anymore😭

Hope you like it ♡

.

Hand holding

Rindou x reader

Warnings: none

"I don't wanna" Renzo babbled out as he let go of Rindou's hand for the 10th time in the last 20 minutes.

" Renzo hold my hand now" Rindou replied with much more authoritive tone now. He was no longer playing the 3 year-olds game.

Rindou was not about to let his son became a poster boy for the back of a milk cartoon because the young boy had decided he no longer wanted to hold his hand.

"Renzo hold it"

"You can't make me" Renzo said looking up at Rindou making eye contact with his father; the much smaller boy who was barely tall enough to reach his father's knees, stood his ground firm. He was not going to hold his hand, no matter what.

Rindou was taken aback by the young boys sudden switch in behavior, he was usually very accepting of holding his father's hand especially in crowded places.

"Haitani Renzo hold this hand right now"

"I don't have any hands" the small boy said pulling the sleeves of his sweater over his hands.

And all while Rindou argued with Renzo you stood on the sidelines watching as the scene played out. Feeling lucky as for once you were ignored in their arguments not being pulled in to play referee.

"Renzo what if someone steals you" Rindou asked with a raised brow trying his best to scare his son into holding his hand.

"Uncle Sanzu said if anyone steals me he'll hunt them down like a hungry man hunting a fat hog" Renzo said matter of factly as he spoke now without a stutter watching as his father face went completely blank just starring down blinking at him.

But just as Renzo was about to take his father's lack of reaction as a win Rindou began talking.

"Uncle Sanzu thinks he can kill a shark with a butter knife, his delusion" Rindou said as he reached forward in an attempt to grab Renzo's hand. Only to watch as the young boy began running just in time to not be grabbed by his father.

You watched as you saw you son running like his life depended on it in your direction, with you frowning husband following closely behind.

"Mommy!" Renzo screamed arms reaching out towards you hoping you'd shield him from his father.

"Make Daddy stop" the young boy said as he came to a stop infront of you, now slightly hanging onto your leg.

"(Y/N) make Renzo stop, and tell him to hold my hand" Rindou said as he approached the two of you.

And finally your luck for the day had ran out as you were once again playing referee for your son and husband's silly arguments.

"Rindou you can't force Renzo to hold your hand" you said causing your son to stick his tongue out mockingly at your husband.

"And Renzo you have to hold someone's hand"

It was now Rindou's turn to stick his tongue out in victory over the argument with Renzo.

"Fine I'll hold you hand mommy" Renzo said grabbing your hand placing his smaller one in yours.

"Fine then" Rindou said with a sigh as he began walking ahead of you and Renzo.

You looked down at Renzo and then at his hand you held. Your eyes quickly peering to your husband who you could tell was sulking. He had mentioned to you time and time again how he was scared that Renzo was growing up to fast, feeling as if his young son would soon be a man.

And this moment here only solidified Rindou's thoughts in his head. His son no longer wished to hold his hand. Even though you couldn't see Rindou's face you knew it was probably etched with sadness and you even though you couldn't read Rindou's thoughts you knew it was plagued with heartache at his son's rejection.

"Renzo why don't you want to hold daddy's hand?" You asked looking down at your son.

"Because I'm a big boy now" he replied keeping his gaze forward as the two of you continued to walk.

"But you're holding my hand which isn't that different from holding your dad's"

"I always hold daddy's hand and people always say I'm a baby for holding it. So if I hold mommy's I won't get called a baby"

"Just because you hold someone's hand doesn't make you a baby. Holding someone's hand means they love and care for you" you explained to your son, watching as his head snapped up at you to watch as you spoke to him.

"Daddy loves and cares about you alot that's why he always wants to hold you hand, I do too but it means alot to Daddy and he feels sad when you don't want to"

"Daddys sad?" Renzo asked.

"Yeah can't you tell look how his walking all hunched over like a sloth, you know he only walks like that when his sad"

"Oh no Daddy is sad" Renzo said realizing what was happening.

And soon enough you felt your son let go of your hand as he sprinted in the direction of Rindou.

"Daddy!" Renzo shouted as he ran to his father causing Rindou to turn around.

Rindou watched with slight shock in his face as he watched his son ran towards him coming to a stop infront of him.

"I love you too, Daddy now let's hold hands" Renzo said grabbing Rindou's hand causing the older Haitani to smile as he lightly gripped his son's.

"Do you feel happy now Daddy?" Renzo asked as he and Rindou began to walk again.

"Very"

"Good cause mommy said you walk like a sad sloth"

"Mommy said that? What else does she say about me?"

You listened as your son and husband spoke as they walked, hearing your son spill your secrets to you husband but not minding it at all if it meant he got to spend time with the person he feared he had the least amount with.

.

.

.

All rights reserved to @rinrinx2

[xdeariex]

too late

--

summary: peter plans a getaway trip to treat you but doesn't show. fem!reader, both reader & peter are like early twenties (let's just pretend that's when tony recruited peter.)

word count: 1645 (still kind of a blurb, idrk where i was going with this)

warnings: angst, swearing that's basically it

a/n: definitely inspired by the opening scene of the movie 'american ultra' also, i haven't posted in a long time and i wrote this at like 3 am so just give me a little time to edit

you weren't sure how much hope you had for the unforeseeable future. or even the future that held just a few hours ahead.

having a boyfriend like peter, everything was uncertain. and no, it wasn't just to take a dig at him, you loved him with all your heart and knew what you were getting into when you decided to stay with him after finding out he was spider-man.

the missed dates, missed calls, texts, and events. the missed time together. you were amazingly understanding, it came as a surprise to not only you but peter as well.

still, this didn't mean that you didn't find yourself disappointed sometimes.

it all started as peter's idea. a trip. not just a day trip or a few-hour road trip. an actual trip, a getaway. somewhere it would feel like only the two of you existed. no criminals, no stress, only you two.

and normally one would think if it was peter's idea, and the trip didn't pull through, then it must've been you, you were the one who flaked. but that wasn't true.

seated in the airport terminal, your leg wouldn't stop bouncing. you chewed at your fingernails, anxiety taking you out in waves. the tears were burning your eyes but there was no way you were going to cry in public like this.

especially when you knew this would happen. in fact, you expected it to happen. it was too good to be true. every fiber in your body was fighting against acting upon the rage filling you with each passing second. and as the final call for your flight was forced to be ignored by you, you huffed out a breath, lifting out of your seat and rolling your suitcase with you to the exit.

'i'll meet you at the airport' he said.

that should've been the first sign he wasn't coming.

peter already felt guilty. so guilty, he felt physically sick. to make matters worse, he was late. doing what? he wasn't out assisting the police in a car chase, or stopping some wanna-be criminal from stealing the purse out of some poor lady's car in the middle of the day. instead, he was pacing on the roof of your apartment. his chest rising and falling as he felt his own anxiousness suffocating him.

he couldn't lessen the worry of what would happen while he was gone. there were people that depended on him, a whole city, tony. could he just leave it all behind? and what about when we got back? will everyone have turned on him for not being here?

"fuck," he kept mumbling over and over, migraine absolutely killing him. his hands were shaking profusely. no matter how hard he gripped one in the other, the shakes wouldn't stop, nerves flowing through him rapidly. this weight was crushing him second by second - and the more peter pictured you, confused, alone, angry even- it got heavier.

he had the decision to make, and fast.

unfortunately, he didn't make the deadline. he subconsciously made his choice and now would have to pay the price when he saw the look on his girlfriend's face.

----

a voice in the back of your head kept urging you to do nothing but pay attention to the road.

he was sitting right next to you in the passenger seat and although he was completely silent, his presence weighed a heavy tension between you both. so thick you could slice it with a knife. and what you'd give to do just that.

"y/n, i'm sorry." he finally broke the silence, voice shaky. you didn't even want to know if he was looking at you or not.

"it's okay." your voice was sweet and convincing. a part of you just wanted to convince him so you could convince yourself as well.

he eyed the promise ring on your finger, he remembered picking up a (less than) part time job in order to save up for that ring. he got fired right after he bought it. your birthstone sat on the band of the ring and in the right light, it really did look beautiful. but the beautiful image was soon squandered when he saw your knuckles. white, from gripping the wheel so hard.

"i-it's not." he finally replied.

he wanted you to know that he already know's he fucked up, he's aware. he wants you to know that he cares about you more than words could explain and not even all the sorry's in the world could cover how fucking sorry he is.

"peter, i said it's fine," you said in the same tone as the first time.

"no, it's not fine." he persisted.

"i really wanted to do this for you, you know? i researched what hotels were best to go to, the restaurants, the stores… i know you would've loved to drag me to all of them." at this point he was rambling on to himself. "i fucked up, i ruined it."

"you didn't ruin it." you shook your head, trying to get him to just… stop.

but now you knew he was looking at you. he could see your eyes glassing over, although you were trying your hardest to blink them back without blurring your vision. you knew he wouldn't let up until you gave him some sort of reaction but what were you supposed to do? what would getting upset do other than put you both in an uncomfortable position neither of you wanted to be in?

"you should be mad at me-"

"i'm not." you interrupted, glancing over at him for just a second.

"well, why not?" he nearly spluttered out.

"it's not your fault, peter. i mean you have a lot on your plate, it's not easy to just walk away-"

"seriously?"

"what do you want me to say? it's… it's alot! is it not? isn't that why we're going back home?"

you didn't mean that in a passive-aggressive way. more of an 'i'm trying to understand you' way. but peter picked at whatever he could get.

"no, we're going back home 'cause i fucked up more times than i can count. it's my fault, i ruined this for us."

"don't-" you took a deep breath, thanking whatever god was to bless you for only being a couple of miles from home. "don't say that, alright? it's okay. i promise."

those were the last words spoken for the remained of the ride. pulling into the driveway, you swiftly turned the key out of the ignition and rushed out of the car, not worried about the luggage.

still, peter called out. "i'll get the bags." before you slammed your door and made a quick beeline for the front door of your apartment.

in the few seconds, you had to yourself, you choked down any emotion, hoping to finally just convince peter that you weren't mad. you really weren't, you didn't feel as mad as you did at the airport. you were just... disappointed. anyone would be if they planned a trip to Hawaii with their partner and their partner didn't show.

you shook your head as if that would rid you of your thoughts. every time you tried to reason with the situation, it just made peter seem bad and you didn't want that- you understood.

when he stumbled in with the suitcases, you looked at him blankly for a moment, thinking of what to say or do. nothing came to mind. you took your suitcase from his hands and went to your room, hoping to unpack both your luggage and your mind.

there was truly nothing more to say, you're already told him you weren't mad (though he didn't believe a single word of it).

setting the suitcase on your bed and unzipping it, you looked down at what you had packed. a couple bathing suits, nothing too extra (you intended on just pulling it together with a sheer coverup), casual outfits - summer outfits. one's you could no longer wear at this time given it was fall in new york and the weather was less than forgiving. packed at the bottom of the luggage was the ugliest palm tree button-up you'd ever seen in your life. peter insisted you buy matching ones, claiming it'd make the cutest picture, the cutest memory.

"ah, what the fuck?" you sighed out, the heel of your palm pressing down on your eyes as you tried desperately not to cry.

"i knew it," you were startled by peter's voice behind you. "you are upset." his voice cracked, walking over to you and pushing your suitcase out of the way. he sat in the spot now, looking up at the way you towered over him. "I want you to be upset with me."

"peter, stop it."

"no, I won't. it's not fair to you."

"it's not going to help either of us if I lash out at you." you brought your hand up to his hair, pushing back the curls falling in his eyes. it reminded you of how you two sat up late last night debating if you should give him a haircut, make it more manageable before you left. clearly, you both decided against it. you didn't mind, you loved his hair longer.

with nothing blocking your view now, you could see in his eyes. you could practically feel the guilt radiating from him and if you chose to ignore it before, that sad, desperate look in his eyes only struck you harder.

"i just..." he choked on his words, letting his head fall to your chest, words now muffled by your clothes. "I'm really, really sorry, baby." he apologized for quite literally the millionth time.

"pete. it's okay."

"you deserve so much better."

"oh, so i have a man telling me my worth now?" you teased, hoping to lighten the mood.

"i'll make it up to you." he looked up at you again. "I fucking... i swear, I promise. i mean it this time, I do."

"i know you do, baby."

"i love you."

"i love you too, peter."

you had no doubt he meant it, you just weren't sure how he was going to keep to his word this time. or if he was even going to.

[sophie-i-guess13]

From the list "70's and up." 'I remember when she used to make a lot of noise/ hopping and bopping with the corner boys' maybe a Soda x Y/N who notices how Y/N doesn't come on that side of town anymore, as if her name had been wiped, turns out she's hanging with socs, and that's got Soda all fucked up, cause he trusted Y/N, and doesn't know what she's said to them. Now however, he finds out...this wasn't by choice.

Creative freedom, my friend. Go wild. <3

I still remember when she used to make a lot of noise / hoppin’ and a-boppin’ with the street corner boys [ I knew the bride when she used to rock ‘n’ roll - Nick Lowe]

Sodapop Curtis x Fem!Soc!Reader. Y/N is in her villain era and I am so sorry

CW : sad sad sodie pop :(

I follow her through the hall and down the steps, backpack swinging on her shoulders as Y/N forces her legs to stay at least a good four steps ahead of me. I don’t wanna believe it- I can’t believe it. Even as the truth walks away from me, all dolled up in a pale blue blouse and white poodle skirt. “Y/N!” I call out again. She dodges my words and bodies as she pushes through groups of greasers and Socs alike, making a beeline for the sidewalk at the edge of the schoolyard. I lunge forward as her shoes tap against the concrete, my fingers hooking around the strap of her book bag.

“The hell do you want, Sodapop?” She scolds. I lose my words the second I see her; face painted in makeup she never wore when she ran with me and the guys. Her hair, curled to perfection, shifts on her ironed shoulders with each breath she takes, manicured nails tracing the line of pearls along her throat.

“What is this? You stop comin’ ‘round for weeks, then Two-Bit tells me ‘bout you comin’ into the cafeteria on some Soc’s arm? That you’ve been gettin’ cozy in the front seat of his Mustang?” She takes a step back, yanking her backpack from my faltering grip.

“Don’t say it like that,” Y/N snaps again, “God, you’re just like the rest of them! Don’t go playin’ the victim now, Sodapop, greasers are just as bad as Socs. Maybe worse.”

“You know that ain’t true,” I say desperately. I didn’t wanna believe Steve, or Two-Bit, not even my brother. But now that I’m looking at her, all I can think about is how Y/N’s slipping away. Swapping her life and memories for a couple expensive trinkets and the quarterback. “What’s goin’ on with you, Y/N? T-this ain’t like you-,”

Her eyes, as beautiful as ever, are narrowed into slits; burning with angry tears. “What’s not like me? The fact that I’m actually focusin’ on my future? That I’m not out gettin’ loaded every Friday night?” She takes another step back when I reach for her, dragging her hands through the air and shaking her head. “I wouldn’t expect you to know, but some kids outta take care of their parents when they grow up, Soda. You think I’m gonna be able to do that if I keep livin’ on the east end?”

I ignore the sting her words leave in my heart. She isn’t thinking straight- this isn’t her. She’s confused, scared even. She has to be- she… Y/N wouldn’t just say this. Not to me. “If it’s money that you’re worried ‘bout, Y/N, we can help you-!”

“Right,” she laughs bitterly, “you’re gonna take care of me and my parents, Sodapop. All on that salary you’re gettin’ at that gas station, right? Just you, me, couple babies, livin’ with your brothers ‘cause you can’t afford to move out.” I wanna say something, but my mind turns up empty. All I can do is watch uselessly as Y/N straightens out her skirt and turns her teary eyes up the street, where that damned Mustang has rolled to a stop. “Face it, Soda, kids like us need the money if we wanna make it past eighteen.” She traces her pearls again as my heart drops to my stomach. “We’re talkin’ ‘bout gettin’ hitched after graduation. He’s gonna take care of me. Better than any of the boys on our side o’ town could.”

I take her wrist when she turns to leave again, just in time to feel my own eyes sting with tears I didn’t deserve. All I wanted was for her to be happy- to be safe. So why was it so damn hard to let her go? “Please, Y/N,” I plead uselessly, “we can talk about this- we can fix this-,”

I’ll never forget the way she looked at me then, the harsh edge she used on her words when she shoved me back before climbing into the passenger seat of that Mustang. “Get off me, grease.”

[babyjakes]

a lesson to remember.

〈 disclaimer: this blog posts content not suitable for individuals under the age of 18. minors are strictly prohibited from viewing, sharing, or interacting with this blog. for more information on this blog's commitment to protecting minors, read our full statement here. 〉

summary | when ransom decides you’ve been enough of a brat, he’s sure to give you the punishment of a lifetime.

pairing | dark!daddy!ransom x little!reader

warnings | ohboy. NONcon (restraints, crying), ddlg, forced orgasms(!!), major clit focus (torture? not really pain?, just overstimulation), clit pumping, vibrator use, fingering, squirting, ransom being a dick(!), name-calling (nice and not nice!!!), mocking/humiliation, the cable-knit sweater lmao

word count | 1,143

requested by anon | this is pretty dark but in a similar style to your stucky ddlg series so i hope it’s ok - daddy!ransom x little!reader where he’s holding her as his babygirl against her will (so non-con?) and he punishes her with forced orgasms because she hates them/finds them humiliating? i love your clit stuff, so maybe some torture? ;)

an | ooh oh this is just :’-) right up my alley, lol. this is p similar to my stucky stuff but!! ransom would be so much more cruel, definitely into some overstim torture. he would just love making you scream and cry from too much pleasure and thats!! hot lol. thanks for this request, friend! hope you enjoy <3

“Okay, princess. You know what time it is,” Ransom begins steadily as he rolls back the sleeves of his white cable-knit sweater, licking his lips as he kneels down in front of you.

He’s got you roped up on his large black office chair, your legs bent up on either side of you and secured back to the sturdy leather frame.

He’s stripped you down to nothing but your baby pink blouse, leaving your pussy bare and spread wide open for his entertainment.

A pacifier sits between your lips, held in place by a thick strip of duct-tape as tears roll down your cheeks, helplessness setting in as Ransom begins shuffling through your dreaded bin of ‘toys.’

“It’s time,” he grunts, his arousal glaringly apparent through his trousers as he pulls out the dreaded clit pump, “to teach this stupid little baby a lesson. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?” his voice mocks sympathy as he spits harshly onto your pussy, causing you to whimper into your pacifier as his spit drips down your awaiting folds. “Time to show her what happens when she makes her daddy angry.”

His strong, thick fingers come up to run over your slick sex gently, and you let out a sob into your pacifier, causing Ransom to grin. “Fucking love it when you cry, love seeing you fall apart like the dumb little baby you are.”

Spreading apart your labia, he uses his other hand to position the mouth of the pump right around your sensitive nub. Choking against your make-shift gag, you squirm in protest, but your restraints keep you from moving even an inch.

“Go ahead and squirm, you stupid whore. You’re not getting anywhere,” Ransom laughs harshly as he squeezes the pump, the device instantly sucking up onto your clit and causing you to scream.

“That’s it, look at that. So fucking pretty, all sucked up in there,” he marvels as he tugs slightly on the object, your clit burning terribly from the suction.

“Gonna get you nice and sensitive, sweetheart, how’s that sound?” he hums as he shoves two fingers into your aching sex, beginning to pump relentlessly as finds your g-spot.

Unable to anything but whimper against your gag, you let out a pathetic cry as tears flood your face, but your agony only motivates Ransom to keep going.

“Come on, puppy. Wanna see you fall apart on my fingers while you’re clit’s caught up in the pump,” he encourages, only growing slightly annoyed as you do your best to keep yourself from orgasming. “You can try to ignore it all you want, doll. Nothing’s gonna stop me from getting what I want.”

Curling his fingers up inside of you, he begins flicking at the pump secured tightly around your clit, causing waves of unbearable pleasure to rush through you as a familiar warm feeling builds up in your belly.

Ransom sees your climax approaching, grinning sickly as he twists his fingers inside of you. “That’s it. Now fucking cum on it, slut. Go on and cum on it like the dumb little baby you are.”

Sobbing into your pacifier at his words, your orgasm tears through you like a hot knife, pleasure exploding inside of you as you reach your peak. “Fuck, so fucking hot when you cum,” Ransom grunts as you squirt onto his hand.

As you begin to come down from your high, he releases the pump off of your throbbing nub, thumbing lightly at it as you whine in protest. “There, nice and swollen,” he smiles as he reaches back down and grabs the magic wand.

You scream a “no” through your gag as he laughs at your resistance, turning the vibrator all the way up to high before slamming the bulb down onto your now completely exposed nub. “Right. Fucking. There,” he sneers as he rolls the wand over your bundle of nerves in a tight circle, his other hand beginning to pump in and out of your soaking pussy once more.

Your second orgasm arrives within minutes, your entire body seemingly snapping as your toes curl up in hideous pleasure. Ransom smiles widely as you squirt onto him once more, your unwanted climax his absolute favorite thing in the world to witness.

“Stupid baby, makin’ such a fucking mess,” he chuckles as you heave and sputter from your orgasm, your bright red clit now throbbing painfully against the strong vibrations of the wand. You look up at Ransom pleadingly, but he just laughs in your face.

“You think I’m gonna let you go after two?” he asks incredulously, his fingers continuing to pump in and out of you painfully as the humiliating sounds of your wetness fill the air. “You really are just a dumb little baby. No, sweetheart. We’re not done, not even close. Gotta teach you a lesson, make sure you won’t disobey Daddy again.”

As he continues to swirl the horrible wand over your burning clit, another orgasm begins building up inside of you, this one feeling much stronger than the other two. Sobbing into your gag, you brace yourself as Ransom lets out a sickening laugh, urging, “That’s right, gonna fucking cum again for me, aren’t you? Go ahead and cum, slut. Cum on it like a good little girl.”

Stars explode through your vision as your third orgasm arrives, your muscles ripping to shreds against the ropes holding you in place. Your cum squirts out violently against Ransom’s hands and the wand, some even splashing up onto his face, causing him to grin.

“Filthy little baby,” he grunts, yanking his fingers out of you and shoving them in his mouth, savoring the sweet flavor of your humiliation. “Taste so fucking good, I could eat you all up myself,” he mumbles as his hand returns to your spasming cunt, reaching up around the wand and pulling back on the skin surrounding your clit to leave nothing to soften the horrific waves of stimulation provided by the vibrating bulb.

“One more, princess. One more for Daddy, want you to fucking gush for me,” he demands as he presses the wand up directly on your nub, a scream erupting in your throat as your last orgasm pierces through you. Your pussy does exactly what he said, literally gushing out onto the floor between you as your squeeze your eyes shut, your body feeling like it could give out at any moment.

When the waves of pleasure finally settle, you slowly peel your eyes open again to see that Ransom’s pulled away, his hands now wiping themselves off onto a rag as your cunt continues to throb.

“All done, sweetheart,” the man coos as he turns back to you, grinning at the sight of you completely drenched in your own cum. “Now hopefully you’ll remember this lesson the next time you want to be a fucking brat.”

[castlevader]

get rid of any doubts

A/N: BEFORE YOU READ, i’m hoping to learn more about DID and even tho if this is super simple and short i hope everything is okay ( lmao if that makes sense ). i forced myself to write and this is what came out, so i’m sorry if this sucks, i hope to do better the next time so pls be kind 😭 thank you for reading my stuff

PAIRING: steven grant ( moon knight ) x gn!reader

( i initially wrote this with a fem!reader but then changed it, if there’s something that i forgot to change lemme know pls !! )

WARNINGS: nothing, written in lowercase and no proofread bc lmao

if you wanna send a request check my pinned post and the guidelines post first <3

go ahead.

“what?? y-you’re crazy,” steven replied, getting a concerned look from a couple that was walking not so far away. he was nervously playing with his nails, his eyes focused on your face, barely visible through the book store’s window.

just ask them out and get rid of any doubts.

“shut up, that’s the worst idea you ever had,” he sighed, but slowly started walking towards the store. he pushed the door open and your voice immediately filled his ears, calming him down a bit. steven sent you a look and noticed you were chatting with one of the clients, so he quickly reached a section and tried to not give the impression he was there just to talk with you.

grab a book.

“what?” he slightly jumped, too focused looking at you.

grab a book and buy it, then ask them out again.

steven thought about it for a moment, then grabbed a random book, hoping it wasn’t too expensive. he walked towards you and tried to calm down— you already went out on a date a while ago, he knew you were kind, and gentle, and you would— “hello?,” your voice startled him, steven got lost in his thoughts for a moment and the person you were talking with was long gone.

“oh, hello,” his cheeks started heating up, but he tried to ignore it. “hi,” he nodded and stared at you for a moment. “are you gonna buy it or …?” you pointed at the book in his hands and steven looked at his hands and then nodded again, handing the book to you. you couldn’t help but smile at his embarrassment.

“i guess you enjoyed paella so much you wanted to try cooking it yourself?” you joked, checking the book price and then looking for a bag under the counter. “excuse me, what?” steven confused expression surprised you a bit, he seemed more distracted than usual. “the cookbook, it’s about spanish dishes,” you showed him the book and then put it in the bag.

“oh, right! yeah, spanish food. yes, i-i was curious about…” his mumbling became a set of incomprehensible words, but you didn’t interrupted him because he was already looking for his wallet in the meanwhile. “thirteen,” you said and steven nodded.

“so, um… i was wondering, y’know, if you would m-maybe go out with m-me, again,” he said while you were putting the money in the register. you glanced at him and you noticed that his eyes were focused on your hands, he was probably too embarrassed to look right into your face.

“oh, okay. it would be fun, i enjoyed spending some time with you,” you smiled and hoped he would meet your eyes. so he did. “amazing!” he exclaimed, but then apologised. it made you chuckle and you glanced around the store for a moment. “it’s okay if we go eat lunch together? i’m almost finished with my shift, so…” you shrugged and silently hoped he would say yes.

“that’s-that’s amazing, i recently got fired so i don’t have anything to do for today,” he told you without second thinking, but then cringed at his words. “i mean, i’m free today so it’s amazing, i mean it’s amazing that you accepted and that we’re gonna have lunch together,” he started talking rapidly before you could add something and you nodded slowly, handing him the bag with his book.

“i’m sorry, it’s-it’s just that i think i like you, like you very much, and i’m terrified,” he murmured, but cringed right after telling you, it probably wasn’t the way he wanted to tell you all of that. he was concerned by your silence and quickly met your eyes.

ah, shit.

“i-um… m-maybe we can talk about it later?” your cheeks were burning and your heart was beating so fast you feared he could actually hear it too. “yeah, of course! yes, see you later… i’ll wait outside.”

you watched steven exiting the store quickly, almost stumbling into his own feet and you smiled at his clumsiness, trying to recover from his recent words.

you kind of felt the same way about him, but you never thought he actually liked you as more than a friend, so it truly surprised you.

🏷 list: @xbeauxny @weinersolider @iwannabekilledtwice @baby-shy @sunwardsss @marlboromatt @powerpuffluuvv @transias @luvxginger @atlas-nex @evilcr0ne

( if you wanna get tagged under my moon knight fics, lemme know so i add your nick@ to its taglist <3 )

[jvsons]

Yo hi! Would you be willing to do a hc for Jason or Dick where reader loses their temper with someone reader hates and just jump in a fight with them? Or if you don't wanna write violence maybe reader just get this resting murder face and say "you should lock yours doors when you go home"

Thank you :3♡

LOSING YOUR TEMPER

FEATURES • Jason Todd and Dick Grayson

MASTERLIST

WORD COUNT • 1,087

WARNINGS • arguing, fighting, strong language, slight depictions of violence

CATEGORY • fluff, slight angst

AN • hey hey! thank you so much for your request! i am just getting to all of the submissions i have, so if you requested something i’m not ignoring it, just have a lot to get through.

JASON TODD

“Look, one of the bat kiddos is here!”

Good. Fucking. Christ.

Your hands immediately curled against the fabric they were bound by, the dark color of your gloves hiding the strain of the knuckles underneath. As if this night couldn’t get any worse, you had been forced to a speed change as the gala you had been attending was taken hostage. This place was enormous, and you just had to find the perpetrator yourself. The Joker.

“Like what I’ve done with the place?”

“Shut up.” Your teeth were grit tightly, only shadowing the rage beneath the surface. “Do you know how many lives you’ve taken tonight?”

He fucking smiled. It was impossible to hate someone more than you hated him. All of these innocent people he’s murdered in cold blood, and it was funny to him.

“Maybe, 60? No, 80 for good measure.”

Anger was the remnant of his words, flared in your eyes at the sight of his smile, sound of his laughter. The simplicity of it all was driving you insane, he was backed up in a corner, trapped, and couldn’t care less of the consequences ahead. You almost looked away. Until you didn’t.

The collar of his suit was grabbed harshly, mixing in a blur of wall as he was hauled into a curio. Glass shattered, coating his pale complexion with small ticks of red. The shard cracked under your boots, imposing figure lingered on by amused eyes of green.

“You’re lucky I don’t kill you right here.” The scent of faint chemicals danced along the hands that held him in place. “But that’s not what you deserve, you get to suffer first.”

You pulled away, watching him laugh off your warning. That very humor was soon cut off by a swift kick to the throat, the point of your boot pressing down on his esophagus at a force just above crushing.

The time passed all too fast. You stopped pulling punches before it was noticed so, rendering the insanity under your bruised fists heaving and bloody. You were fixated, unable to pull away from needing the blaze in your arms.

Thankfully, someone did it for you.

“Hey, hey.” The newfound voice cut into your ears was soothing, familiar in its tone and allowing you to pause. “Just relax.”

You took a deep breath, accompanied by a look to the side. Jason’s gaze was soft on you, ignoring the mess of a body you kicked away and focusing on your hands. A quick check to the skin beneath the gloves and his eyes parted.

“I’m sorry for stopping you.” Jason’s voice was quiet, running his hands along the length of your arms. “I want to kill him more than anything, but we can’t.”

“I know.”

You shared his vision, traveling down and finding the Joker unconscious. A scoff parted your lips, followed by a sharp beep in the air. Jason nodded at your decision, giving a reassuring squeeze to your shoulder while pulling a grapple from his belt.

“Let’s go home and get some ice on those hands.”

DICK GRAYSON

“So, what are you thinking for a first stop?”

You hummed at his question, welcoming a series of light breezes to hit you face at the door. Dick slowly swung your interlocked hands back and forth, following your eyes as they wandered along the digital map in front of you.

“Maybe we could go here, or, maybe here.” You turned to him, pointing to a small store marked on the second floor. “Have you ever been here?”

“Don’t think so, it looks new.” Dick leaned down to match your height, squinting to read the store’s description. Unimpressed, you swiped to the next store.

Wait.

It was your turn to squint, honing in on the glass front. Turns out, you weren’t crazy, and there were two cats perched on a tower right near the entrance.

“No way.”

“No kidding,” he mimicked you, eyes wide at the sight. “We’re totally going there.”

Furiously nodding, you pulled Dick by the hand and began speed walking towards the nearest escalator. He allowed you to drag him around like a rag doll with no opposition, only parting for a separate step on the moving stairs. You joined hands once again on the second floor, turning in the direction of said cat withholding store.

“Y/N? Is that you?”

Hearing the call of your name, you stopped walking, turning your head to the right.

Oh, just wonderful.

Absolutely wonderful.

A few moments later, a young couple had stopped to rival you. Dick glanced at you, eyes painted with something you could clearly see as confusion. You suppressed an eye roll.

“Wow, it’s been a while.” The man of the two spoke up, meeting your gaze with a small smile. “I see you’ve moved on.”

Dick’s eyebrows quirked at this.

“Could say the same for you.”

“This is my fiancé, Laura.”

Huh.

You extended your hand, offering the woman a kind smile. She returned the favor, and you almost felt bad after retracting.

“This is my boyfriend, Dick.”

Dick offered a respectful curve of his lips as he took your newfound ex’s hand.

“Careful.” He leaned in, the smile growing on his lips making you bit the inside of your cheek. “She’s a slippery one.”

What little restraint you had left was released with a sharp smack to your ex’s face.

“Slippery! You expect me not to leave you after finding that out, asshole?”

“Finding out what?” Laura’s voice was slightly shaken, watching you with an underlying fear in her eyes. You frowned.

“He cheated on me, three times.”

You gave the poor woman a look of sympathy as Dick began pulling you away, offering a soft “it was nice to meet you” to her. Then, to you.

“Let’s get to that cafe, honey.”

Silence overcame the surrounding air as you walked, eyes averted from Dick and focused on the ground. You assumed he was just as upset as you were, only for different reasons.

After some time, you looked up. His gaze flicked over.

“You seriously let a guy like that cheat on you three times?”

Okay, maybe he wasn’t mad at you.

“He was really good at hiding it!” You countered, snorting when Dick scrunched up his nose in distaste. “Took me almost 4 months to figure it out.”

“Ugh.” His groan had you laughing again, following the slight tug of your hand to close distance. “Let’s stop talking about him, I want to be happy when we see these cats.”

“Yes boss.”

Tags - @coffee-latte-sprite @homosensations

[ptergwen]

favorite crime

w/c: 1.6k

warnings: swearing, mentions of blood / death, lots n lots of angst

summary: you convince peter to go on the run after he’s framed for murdering mysterio, but he doesn’t want to drag you into his mess

a/n: this was completely based off the song by olivia lfmbsjfhs it’s so beautiful and i’ve wanted to write something for it for a while now so yee i hope y’all like ! pls lmk what you think <3

-

“we have to get you out of here, peter! come on!” you shout back to your boyfriend and tug his hand that’s laced with yours.

peter doesn’t budge. even when your grip on him tightens, when you pull him forward with all your might, he remains stoic.

there’s something he needs to do, and he’s been contemplating it since the day he met you.

it’s time to let you go.

“please, peter. i’m begging. i know you’re tired of running, but if we don’t leave now… they’ll find you,” you desperately choke out. peter squeezes his eyes shut, dreading what’s to come. “i can’t do this to you anymore, y/n. i… i’m sorry.”

emergency sirens and flashing lights approach the old apartment building serving as yours and peter’s latest hideout. the whole world is on the lookout for him, so you two stowed yourselves away in brooklyn for a bit.

you were hopeful the rumors would pass eventually — about how peter shot the beloved mysterio and left him to die in cold blood. they’re merely talk, of course. you’d personally seen the events of that day unfold on the tower bridge. hell, your class was right at the center of them.

quentin beck was pure evil, so rotten he defamed both peter and spider-man with a charge as cruel as murder. he’s wreaking havoc on him from beyond the grave, over a complete misunderstanding that peter had nothing to do with.

beck’s true source of anger is stark industries. yet, once again, peter ended up the collateral damage.

he was deemed a wanted murderer. posters revealing his name and face were plastered up around the city, a reward even being offered to whoever who turns him in.

you’d proposed the idea of skipping town until things settled. the way you saw it, it was peter’s only option other than prison for twenty-five to life. peter was panicking and couldn’t think straight, so he went along with your getaway plan.

a few weeks later, he’s regretting it.

you’ve been the one person he could trust through this madness. you’re right there to console him, to protect him just like he does you. through sickness and health, life and clearly death, you stick by peter’s side. you left everything behind without a second thought, for him.

peter loves you more than you’ll ever fully be able to comprehend, which is why he can’t ask you to do that. this is his battle to fight, not yours or anyone else’s. his.

you suddenly freeze in your tracks, turning around to look at peter. “what are you talking about? you’re fine, pete.”

his eyes roam everywhere except to yours as they water. blinking back tears, he fixes his gaze on your intertwined hands. you notice a stray tear fall down his cheek and use one of your thumbs to wipe it away, then press a reassuring kiss to his lips. peter lets himself reciprocate momentarily before jerking back.

“please just… stop being so nice to me. you’re making this way harder than i wanted to to be,” he rasps and squeezes your hand tighter. you’re still lost, absolutely clueless about what he’s referring to.

“look, pete. i wanna hear you out, baby. but… i think it should wait until we get to jersey.” you keep your voice as calm as possible, though you’re terrified for both of you. since the feds know your location, they’ll have the place surrounded any minute.

hopping cities isn’t cutting it anymore, so you’ll have to change states this time. new jersey is next on your list.

using his strength to his advantage to hold you in place, peter seizes both your shoulders. his bloodshot eyes lock with yours. a stern expression coats his features, one you’ve seen from him yet never been on the receiving end of.

“we’re not going to jersey, y/n/n,” he declares, the sirens starting to grow louder. you feel a pit forming in your stomach. “we have to!” you immediately protest. “it’s not gonna be easy finding our way, but it’s the last-“

peter cuts you off, voice softer now. “no, no. that’s not what i meant.” he waits a beat and inhales a deep breath, aiming to settle his nerves. it doesn’t.

“i’m going to jersey. you’re staying.”

tears cloud your vision the second those words leave his mouth. you shake your head furiously back and forth, willing him to take them back.

part of you was always afraid peter would get second thoughts. not only about running away with you, about ever being with you. you’re both so young. your entire lives are ahead of you, and peter won’t allow you to risk your own because this isn’t worth a single bit of it.

he’d warned you how dangerous it was to be associated with spider-man. it’s why he held off on telling you about his alias for the longest he could. you naturally began asking questions whenever peter bailed on dates and showed up to school covered in bruises. he hated lying to you, using his stark internship as an excuse, so he finally came out and said it.

peter sometimes wonders if you’d be better off not knowing at all. it’s too late now, though.

“wait, what? why- why can’t i go with you?” you plead, peter’s fingers coming up to cup your cheek. his fingertips lightly caress your skin. “i’m a criminal, y/n. you’d be my accessory.”

it takes everything in him not to break down and sob along with you.

you lean into his palm, already missing his touch. “i don’t care... i don’t give a fuck. i just wanna be with you, peter.” peter literally has to bite his tongue to fight the urge to cry. hands grabbing either side of his head, your fingers twist in his hair roughly. “i’ll do anything, pete. i really will, i swear. name it.”

peter threads his own fingers through yours again, bringing your hands to his chest.

“i’m so sorry, angel. i never should’ve gotten you involved,” he murmurs out and pecks your forehead. “you have nothing to prove to me, okay? you’ve done more than enough. i’m gonna return the favor.”

you let out a strangled whine, your knees buckling as you come to terms with the gravity of your situation.

this is it. this is the end of yours and peter’s story.

“hey, none of that. it’s okay,” peter coos, neither of you convinced. the tastes of salt and metal flood both your senses. he helps you back up and hugs your waist, peppering your cheeks in more kisses. you’re bawling now, arms wound around his neck, clutching at his tattered jacket.

free tears escape peter’s eyes at last. “i love you. i love you so goddamn much, y/n. never forget it,” he nearly whispers. you sniffle and push your forehead against his. “i’m not saying it back ‘cuz that feels like a goodbye, and i- i can’t say goodbye to you yet.”

“it’s not a goodbye,” peter reassures you, rubbing circles on your lower back. “it’s, uh, it’s a see you later. i’m gonna figure something out and be back to you before you know it. can’t get rid of me that easy.”

that earns a faint giggle from you, peter managing a grin. you two attempt to ignore everything happening beyond these walls, only focusing on the other.

“then, um…” you clear your throat. “i love you.” his smile dwindling slightly, peter nods and meets your gaze. “i love you too, baby. you should probably get going soon.”

affirming his advice, a booming voice that sounds from a microphone commands peter to come out with his hands up.

your worry spikes, instinctively drawing peter in closer. he forces himself to put on a brave face for you.

“i’m scared, pete. where… where am i supposed to go?” you rush to ask him. “home, y/n/n. go home,” peter decides, pressing a final kiss to the top of your head. “just don’t get caught, and you’ll be fine.” carding your fingers in his undone curls, you sigh. “easier said than done, but i’ll try not to.”

you’d never pictured that the sweet boy with a heart too big and brain even bigger, who sings you to sleep even though his voice sucks and spends his last dollar buying you flowers, would be accused of first degree murder. it isn’t true or fucking fair.

what’s worse, he has to bare this storm alone now.

you lift your heavy backpack off the cold ground, slinging it onto your shoulders. peter stares out the window and down at the assembly of swarm troops crowded together.

“are you gonna be okay?” you catch his attention. he snaps back into reality, pulling your hood up so it covers your head. you’re wearing a sweatshirt of his, after having gone through all your own clothes. “i hope so. are you?” peter repeats your question. “i hope so,” you echo.

tying your hoodie strings tight, peter offers a smile. “say hi to may for me. ned and mj, too.” it’s going to be tough to face his family and friends after this. “i will. i’ll let them know you’re alright.” you kiss his cheek, placing a hand on his chest. peter lets your touch distract him from the mess he’s about to be hit with.

“thank you, y/n. i’ll see you soon, baby. you have my word,” he promises, stepping back so you two can go your separate ways.

you watch him with fresh tears threatening to spill.

“i’m gonna hold you to it. be safe, spidey.”

[interlunium-opus]

"I hate him spending time with you more than I hate running so you know, priorities." [ Jay. ]

[ Jay | fluff ]

Author’s Note: Here's a fluff in response to the following request "Can you maybe do a fluff/crack for Jay where maybe he felt a little jealous when you praised someone for their skill and he immediately goes competitive mode and openly tries to show how he's far better indirectly to the guy?" Hope it's close to what you have in mind and hope you like it :3

“Do you have anything to explain to me?”

You jumped, startled, as Jay appeared beside you while you were busy shoving your textbooks into your locker, “Jay! What did I say about sneaking up on people?”

“And what did I say about not keeping secrets between us?” Jay snapped back, arms crossed, brows raised, “Is this how much our friendship is worth?”

“My goodness, what is it this time?” You sighed as he fished his phone out of his pocket, turning it to show you a candid picture of you and Sunghoon from last night.

“I mean seriously, of all people to date, you have to go for this pretentious prick?” Jay scoffed before gesticulating wildly, “Look, I know I said that you need to stop being aromantic and start planting some sort romantic interest somewhere — but Sunghoon is just ain't it. In fact ! I’d rather you date the spawn of the devil, Jungwon, instead.”

You snorted a laugh before shaking your head dismissively, “Dude, we were just running last night okay? Does that even look like a date to you?”

“Okay,” he repeated sarcastically, “but you love running alone! So why are you suddenly running with someone — and not just anyone but this prick???”

“I really don’t get why you two hate each other so much,” you raised an eyebrow at Jay, “Look we just happened to bump into each other last night and since we were heading the same way, he asked if I don’t mind him tagging along for the remainder of the way — no big deal.”

“Ughh, that’s the oldest trick in book,” Jay scrunched his face, “And you said yes?”

“I mean — we’re not exactly strangers, we have been in the same tutorial class together for more than a year now," you mumbled as you zip your bag up, "He's a good running partner too. His pace was so stable and steady that it made me stuck to mine as well — I mean, duh, he's an athlete after all."

"Hey, I can run well too," Jay grumbled defensively, "You know if you needed a running partner, you could've called me right?"

“Maybe if you were as fit as I am, she would have,” Sunghoon suddenly appeared beside Jay, peering over his shoulder to look at the picture on his phone, “That’s a good picture of me and y/n — no wonder you got jealous.”

“Speak of the devil,” Jay rolled his eyes, “Aren't you a bit too greedy over what I have? first, you took up my spot for the dance competition and now you're trying to make a move on my girl."

"Jay, that was 2 years ago — get over it. You've taken my spot afterwards for the Summer competition anyway so we're actually even," Sunghoon retorted, "Also, she's not your girlfriend anyway so your territorial behaviour is pretty misplaced."

"Guys, cut it out," you shut your locker close with extra force in an effort to shut the squabbles, "Also, why am I suddenly dragged into your petty fights."

"Right sorry about that, he's just always trying to pick a fight with me," Sunghoon shook his head dismissively before turning to you and beamed, "Just stopping by to ask if you're running again tonight 'cause I would love to join again. It’s off season for ice-skating so I thought it's the perfect time to get back to running again."

“Oh? Yeah I am going tonight as well, just a tad bit late in the evening though. I want to finish up some work at the library first,” you smiled back at Sunghoon, ignoring Jay’s burning stare, “You know you can start ahead if you want — don’t want you waiting too long in case I'll take too much time at the library.”

“I’ll go when you go, don’t worry,” he reassured as he backed away, joining Heeseung who was waiting for him, “I’ll text you alright? Looking forward to tonight!”

You nodded and waved at him before turning to Jay, “What?”

“That’s it,” Jay clasped his hands together, “I’ll run with you tonight — and the next.”

“Jay, don’t be ridiculous, you hate running,” you emphasized, “which is why I never asked you to run with me.”

“Hey — I can love running if it’s for you,” he winked, wrapping an arm over your shoulders, dragging you past the crowded hallway towards your next class, “Or let me paraphrase: I hate him spending time with you more than I hate running so you know, priorities.”

“your priorities are all skewed then," you clicked your tongue, "Well, as long as you don't hurt yourself."

_________________________________________________________________________

The next morning however Jay did not show up in Modern Political Thought seminar that you guys have every Thursday morning. Though the guy is such a sleepyhead, he never misses a class even when he pulled up an all-nighter the night before. So this sudden absence, paired with the fact that he managed to run a whole 5km without stopping last night, was sowing seeds of suspicions and guilt within you. To make things worse, he did not even respond to any of your messages for the last 5 hours.

That was why you ended up being in front of Jay's apartment instead of having your lunch that noon. "Hi!" you immediately say as the door of Jay's apartment opened. It was Jake, his flatmate, with his lids only half-opened and hair all disheveled, "y/n?"

"Sorry for waking you up Jake," you smiled apologetically, "Is Jay home? He missed a Politics seminar this morning and he didn’t respond to my text at all — just wanna make sure he’s alright.”

“mmhmm, pretty sure he’s in," he answered drowsily before yawning, "but probably, still hibernating.”

“Oh okay, do you mind if I come in?”

Jake nodded, backing up as he held the door open, “Of course, come in — it’s messy though.”

“Don’t worry about it,” you reassured, making your way towards the room at the end of the hallway. As you knocked on his door, Jake suddenly shouted from the kitchen, “don’t bother knocking y/n — that guy sleeps like a log. Just go in.”

“Uhh…” you bit your lip, slightly hesitating but relented when your subsequent knocks yielded no answer.

“Jay? I’m entering okay?” you say as you let yourself in, carefully navigating around the dark room, stumbling a few times against some random furnitures.

"Jake, get out okay-" you hear him grumble from underneath the covers, tossing the other way, "just let me... sleep mo..re."

As you neared his bed, you reached over to his bedside table and turned on the lamp. Suddenly, Jay rose from the covers, his hand gripping your wrist, grunting "Jake what did I just say-"

Trailing off, he looked at you with brows furrowed in a mix of annoyance and confusion, before his expressions gradually soften "y/n?"

"dude, you almost gave me a heart attack," you muttered, sighing exasperatedly.

"Sorry, I thought it was Jake trying to disturb me again," he softened his grip and rubbed your wrist as if he had just hurt it, "Did I hurt you?"

"My heart, almost but my hand is fine," you pulled your hand away, "How about you?"

"What about me?"

"You missed class this morning," you crossed your arms.

"It's just one class, no big deal. I just overslept-"

"Is that all?" you raised an eyebrow before pointing at the crumpled muscle relief patch packs and pain relief creams strewn messily across his bedside table, "Did someone overexert himself last night?"

"Fine, I didn't come to class partly because my legs are sore," he shrugged, "but hey, I ran as much as Sunghoon did! Aren't you proud of me?"

"Not if it's at the cost of your legs!" you replied exasperatedly, "Come on, where is the rational Jay that I know? he wouldn't have let his competitiveness and ego cloud his judgements like this."

"It's just normal post-workout sore, I've had it a couple of times before," he reassured, "Also, I may hate running. But I'm actually good at HIIT and strength training so I'm not all that unfit as you think I am. Or he thinks."

"All that just so you can prove him wrong?"

"No of course not, I couldn't care less about him," he huffed, "I just wanted you to know that I can pace well with you too."

"Jay, that does not make it any better-"

"Probably also to convince you that I make a better running partner than Sunghoon," he sniggered.

"Well, guess what, you can't run if your legs are hurt," you quipped.

"Oh shit, that's true," he muttered under his breath, "Well post-workout sore usually last between 3-7 days so I'll be good as new after that. Running partners?" he stretched his hand out as if asking for a handshake.

You sighed, grabbing his outstretched hand, shaking it as if you guys are signing on a pact, "Only if you promise not to overexert yourself next time."

"Promise," his smile widened, "Have you had lunch? I'll cook something up for you."

"Your legs are hurt though."

"They're sore not hurt," Jay emphasized, scooting to the edge of his bed, "Also even if they are hurt, I cook with my hands not legs so..."

You chuckled, "Well sir, if you insists."

"Of course, wouldn't let my girl go out of this house famished," he wrapped an arm over your shoulder, grinning gleefully.

[saucymalum]

How Cliche pt.4

Luke Hemmings x fem!reader pt.1, pt.2, pt.3

Summary: When Y/Ns sisters wedding was announced they thought they could find a date. But when the weddings a week away with no date they are forced to ask their best friend, Luke, to be their fake boyfriend for the wedding.

Originally posted on my Instagram

Word Count: 721

-----

A few hours later I'm squeezing in a nap when a loud crash shakes me out of my beautiful dream. I sit up quickly and make my way to my phone preparing to call the police and my door opens. I let out a shriek hiding under my blanket. I don't know why my caveman brain said that blankets were a good shield but whatever. My blankets are peeled back and all I see is Luke.

I stare into his blue eyes as he laughs at me. God, I really wanna snap his neck right now. Smoke blows out of my ears as I push him away. I step away from him and start getting ready for the day.

"Aw don't be mad at me." He pouts mockingly.

I roll my eyes, "You scared the shit out of me Luke, you're lucky I didn't punch you."

"Did I wake the sleeping beauty?"

I ignore his question and grab the folded clothes I had laid out. When I get to the bathroom, Luke calls out to me again.

"Where do you want breakfast? We can go to the diner if you want."

With my fresh shirt halfway on I poke my head out to look at him, "You don't like the diner."

"Not true, I just don't prefer it. But I know it's your favorite. Plus their waffles are pretty good."

____________

After many pauses to talk to Luke I'm ready and we're on our way. I place our bags in the back of my car before throwing my keys to Luke.

"Don't hurt my baby," I say.

"Don't worry, Angel is safe with me."

We arrive at the diner and a grin spreads across my face. I'm practically buzzing in my seat. I catch Luke's gaze at me as he's smiling down at me. I scrunch my eyebrows at him and he shrugs in response.

"I've never seen anyone as excited about food before you." He says.

"Well, you've been missing out." I smiled and hop out of the car.

I skip into the building and pick a booth. I plop down and start looking at the menu set in front of Luke and I. 

I get my usual and of course, Luke gets the waffles. I check the time noticing we have 2 hours till we leave.

Stuffing a forkful of pancakes into my mouth smiles over at me, "I don't think any guy could make you as happy as those pancakes do."

I nod, "True, but some have come very close."

"The best way to earn your love is pancakes." He hums.

We continue to eat in silence sharing glances here and there. Once the bill has been paid, which I all but forced Luke to let me pay we were back in the car.

"One hour ride ahead of us, you get to pick the jams," I say as I close the passenger door.

"Ooo one hour of goat screams here I come!"

I rolled my eyes at Luke and roll my hoodie into a makeshift pillow. With the music turned low we stay silent until my thoughts catch up to me. 

"You got anyone new, Luke?" I ask.

He chuckles, "No, why?"

"Curious, "

Luke smiles over at me briefly before nudging me. "Get your sleep, Sunshine. Youre cranky without it."

I take the suggestion and quickly continue my rudely interrupted nap.

__________

Once again I wake up from my nap only this time it's peaceful. I look around to see we're parked in the airport parking lot and Lukes scrolling through his phone. 

"How long have we been here?" I reach up and rub the sleep from my eyes.

"Umm about 20 minutes."

I groan and lean my head against his arm. He keeps scrolling social media before locking his phone.

"I almost forgot how cuddly you are after waking up."

I roll my eyes at the teasing smile growing on his lips and step out of the car. I pull my bag out of the trunk as Luke makes his way around. We head inside bags in hand and begin the annoying airport process. 

Once we're seated in the airplane I look over to Luke."By the way, my moms picking us up."

He gives me an annoyed glare, "Youre so lucky I didn't dress homeless."

Next

[kirishimaswife2819]

Second Choice || Katsuki Bakugou x Reader, Izuku Midoriya x Reader

Masterlist

Pairings: Katsuki Bakugou x Reader, and Izuku Midoriya x Reader

Requested by @loxbbg​ : Hiiiii I was wondering if you can do Izuku x reader x Bakugou where izuku loves reader and Uraraka and reader is tired of being his second choice and pulls herself out of the equation only to see Katsuki was the person for her and she explores that years later Deku tries to ask her out since Uraraka left him and Katsuki steps in telling him he can’t manipulate her or something like that thank youuu!!

Summary: Izuku likes both you and Uraraka, but you’re always the second choice, so after removing yourself from the equation, you fall for Bakugou. But years later, Izuku wants you back.

Word Count: 2.8k

A/n: Thanks for requesting! I tried my best to write this, and I hope I did okay. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this! -Danielle <3 

“Thanks, Izuku,” you said, smiling, “I had fun tonight.” You and Izuku were standing in front of his house as you pulled his hoodie tighter around your shoulders. The two of you just got back from a walk on the beach, after spending the day in the park.

“Yeah, I had fun too,” Izuku responded, blushing a bit. You noticed the way his eyes looked to your lips, before looking right back up at your eyes, even if it was only for a few seconds.

“Hey Izuku?” You asked, “Can I kiss you?”

“You wanna what!?” He exclaimed, surprised by your sudden statement, causing him to turn red.

“If you don’t want to-”

“I didn’t say that!” He exclaimed quickly, before calming down a bit, “I’m fine with it.” You smiled, and leaned forward, cupping his cheek, before kissing him. When you pulled away, you both had big smiles on your faces.

“I should probably get inside, before my parents kill me for breaking curfew,” you said, smiling, “See you tomorrow, Zuku.”

“See you tomorrow,” Izuku said, smiling and watching as you walked up the steps and into your house.

You walked into class, smiling, excited to see Izuku today after what happened last night. You opened the door and walked in, looking for the familiar green haired boy. Finally, you spotted him, over by Uraraka’s desk, blushing really bad.

“Finally!” Mina exclaimed, “It took you forever!”

“Took who and what forever?” You asked, approaching the small group of people surrounding Uraraka and Izuku.

“For Uraraka to confess to Deku! We’ve been waiting for this forever, and he even said he likes her back,” Mina explained, but she noticed your face fall at her words, “Hey, why do you look so upset?” You ignored her and tried to hold in your tears as Izuku looked at you. His face immediately fell at the look on your face, because you looked like you were seconds away from sobbing. Mina and a few others noticed as well, so Mina spoke again, “Y/n?”

You didn’t say anything, and instead ran out. You heard a few calls of your name, and suddenly you ran straight into somebody.

“Watch where you’re going, dumbass!” Bakugou yelled, causing you to look at him with your tear filled eyes. You were now letting the tears flow, not bothering to hold them back. Bakugou was taken back by this, “Woah, hey, what the fuck is wrong? Why are you crying?”

“No reason,” you replied, fake laughing and wiping a tear, “I’m just being dramatic.”

“I don’t feel like playing any games, so just go ahead and tell me,” Bakugou said, crossing his arms.

“It’s dumb, I mean why did I even think he would like me back? It’s not like I’m anything special,” you said.

“What the hell are you talking about? Who doesn’t like you back?” Bakugou asked, furrowing his brows.

“Deku,” you replied, making eye contact with him for the first time since he noticed you were crying.

“I’m going to kill that fucking nerd,” Bakugou said, going to move past you, to which you pushed him back.

“No, wait, it’s fine, don’t do anything to Deku. I’ll be fine,” you said, trying to hold back your sobs so you could say what you needed to say, “Just go to class. Tell Aizawa I’m not feeling well.”

You didn’t wait for a response, and walked past him and continued going back home. That day, you ignored all the worried calls and texts from all your friends, wondering what was wrong, but a particular one caught your eye.

Zuku <3: please, y/n, just meet me on the beach where we were last night, I need to talk to you

With a sigh, you wiped the tears from your face and slipped on one of your own hoodies. You made sure to grab Izuku’s hoodie on your way out, to give back to him.

You left and went towards the beach. When you got there, you saw Izuku was already there waiting, sitting in the sand, playing on his phone. Izuku hadn’t expected you to come, so when you approached him and he heard you, he jumped, before realizing it was you.

“Y/n,” he said, quickly standing up. He noticed your tear stained cheeks, puffy red eyes, and even your messy hair.

“What do you want to say to me?” You asked, trying not to cry again.

“I just wanted to apologize. Look, Y/n, I’m really sorry, I didn’t-”

“No, you’re not,” you replied, raising your voice a little, “If you were sorry, you wouldn’t have kissed me and then admitted to liking Uraraka the next day. You don’t care about me, and it’s obvious that you never have.”

“But I do!” He exclaimed, “I just.. I just like Ochaco more.”

“Of course, you do,” you replied, letting out a fake laugh, “Leave it to dumb old me to assume that anybody could love me more than her.”

“Wait, Y/n, I-”

“Here take your hoodie back,” you said, tossing it into his arms, “I don’t want it.” You turned and went to walk away, but Izuku stopped you, grabbing your shoulder.

“Wait, Y/n.” He tried, but you roughly pushed your shoulder back and forced his hand off of it.

“Goodbye Midoriya,” you said, walking away, leaving Izuku alone on the beach. When you got back to your room, you broke down again, and eventually you cried yourself to sleep.

The next morning, you were awoken by your alarm. Once you rubbed away the sleep from your eyes, you could see that you had so many notifications.

3 missed calls and 4 texts from Ochaco 5 missed calls and 10 texts from Mina

Along with a bunch of other missed calls and texts from other members of the class, but once again, one caught your eye. A text and missed call from somebody who you had never thought would text you unless he absolutely had to.

Bakugou: He’s a fucking idiot, don’t let him get to you

After removing all of the notifications, you got up, wiping your eyes and beginning to get ready for the day. You were aware you looked a wreck as you walked into the classroom but at this point you really didn’t care. You walked in the room, and past Izuku, who had tried speaking with you, to sit at your desk. A few people tried talking to you, but after being ignored, they gave up. Ochaco came up and apologized, and she surprisingly sounded like she was actually sorry, so you accepted her apology and told her to just go and be happy with Izuku.

The rest of the day up until lunch, you attended all your classes, trying your best to avoid Izuku or any of his friends altogether. During lunch, instead of going to sit with Izuku, like you normally did, you went to go sit by yourself somewhere, but a voice stopped you.

“Hey! L/n!” Kirishima yelled, gaining your attention, “Come sit with us!” You gave him a small smile and walked over, sitting in between him and Mina. Sero, Kaminari, and Bakugou were also sitting at the table.

“Thanks,” you said, causing Kirishima to smile.

“No problem,” he replied, and went back to talking with Sero about something. You spent the rest of lunch with them, only really talking when one of them asked you a question, or said something to you. Bakugou was the one who spoke with you the most, and every time he did, you thought back to the message he sent you.

Finally, lunch was over, but Kirishima stopped you before you got up and left, to ask a question.

“Do you want to hang out with us after school? We’re going to the arcade,” Kirishima said, looking at you with hopeful eyes.

“I don’t know,” you replied.

“Oh, well, we’re going to be there at like four, so if you’re coming, just text me so we can wait for you,” Kirishima explained, and you nodded. 

“Okay, I might come. Thanks,” you said, giving him a small smile, before walking past him and to your next class. After the day was over, you went home and looked to the clock. You had managed to avoid Izuku for the rest of the day, despite him trying to speak with you multiple times. You continued to look at the clock, thinking about if you wanted to meet up with Kirishima and his friends at the arcade or not. You weren’t in the best mood, but it might take your mind off of things.

So, you took out your phone and sent him a quick text, letting him know that you were going to be coming. Then, you changed out of your uniform and into something more comfortable. You looked in the mirror and tried to look a little more presentable than you did throughout the school day. Eventually, you grabbed some money, and your phone, before leaving the house and making your way to the arcade. 

When you got there, you opened the door, and entered. You looked around for a moment, before spotting Bakugou, Kirishima, Kaminari, and Mina standing a little ways away from the entrance, talking.

“Hey guys,” you said, approaching them.

“Hey Y/n,” Mina said, smiling at you. She still kind of felt bad for being the one to break the news to you yesterday, even though she didn’t do anything wrong.

“Alright, what are we doing first?” Kirishima asked, looking around at all his friends. They each said something different, so Kirishima turned to you, “What do you wanna do?”

“I really don’t care,” you said, with a shrug.

“Why don’t you go with Bakugou?” Kirishima asked, gesturing to the blonde, who was standing off to the side, crossing his arms and leaning up against the wall.

“Sure,” you said, as Bakugou stood straight up, uncrossing his arms.

“Come on, dumbass,” Bakugou said, making you follow him towards whatever game he wanted to play. You two spent a couple hours playing different games, before you all met back up in front of the arcade. Kirishima had to go home and eat dinner, and so did Mina and Kaminari, leaving you and Bakugou all alone.

“Well, I should probably-”

“Do you wanna get something to eat?” Bakugou asked, startling you.

“W-what?”

“Are you deaf? I asked if you wanted to get something to eat,” Bakugou repeated.

“Oh, uh, I guess, if you want to,” you said.

“Alright, let’s go,” Bakugou said, forcing you to follow him towards a pretty popular fast food restaurant in town. You two got in line and ordered at the counter, before sitting down at a table and waiting for your order number to be called.

“Why did you ask me to get food with you?” You asked, looking around.

“What? Am I not allowed to want to eat food with you?” Bakugou asked.

“Well, no, I mean, you are, but why just me? You didn’t offer for any of the others to get dinner with you, so why me?” You asked.

“Fine,” he said, rolling his eyes, “I like you, a lot. And I wanted to tell you.”

“You,” you said, trying to process it, “Like me?”

“Don’t make me say it twice,” he replied, crossing his arms.

“Oh,” you said, “I-”

“You don’t have to answer right away,” Bakugou said, “I know you’re upset because that damn nerd broke your heart, but once you get over him, maybe we can work something out.”

“Maybe,” you replied, giving him a small smile.

It had been a whole five years since that occurred. Katsuki and you started dating a few months after he confessed, and you had been happy ever since. You two were now engaged, and you couldn’t be happier. Everything was going perfect, until you heard a knock on the door and you opened it to be met with a certain green haired, pro hero, Deku.

“Deku,” you said, “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah,” he said, giving you a small smile, “Can I come in? I wanted to speak with you about something.”

“Oh, uh, sure,” you said, moving aside and allowing him to come in, “Come on, we can sit in the living room.” Izuku nodded, and followed you into the room, where he sat down on the couch.

“What kind of-” Bakugou cut himself off, as he stepped into the room. He had a different type of seasoning in each hand, “Deku.”

“Hey Kacchan, what are you doing here?” Izuku asked, causing you and Bakugou to give each other a look. How did Izuku not know that you two were together? Literally, everybody knew. Bakugou was about to tell him, but you spoke to him.

“Both,” you said, referring to the bottles of seasoning in his hands. Bakugou decided to leave you and Izuku alone, but he gave the hero one last glare for good measure, before stepping back into the kitchen.

“Alright, now, what did you need?” You asked, giving Izuku a small smile. You had managed to avoid him for the rest of your time at U.A., and even as a pro hero you managed to not have to work with him, so you were wondering what he was doing here when you made it clear that you never wanted to see him again.

“I’ve really missed you,” Izuku said, catching you by surprise. You weren’t sure what you were expecting him to say but it definitely wasn’t that.

“Uh, I guess I’ve missed you too,” you replied, even though it wasn’t really true. Sure, you missed him in the first few months since you had stopped talking to him, but after that, you barely even thought about him.

“Look, Y/n, I sort of regret what happened when we were at U.A. You know, when I confessed to Uraraka after we kissed. And I want to know if you wanna try again,” Izuku explained.

“You mean try again as in, be friends, right?” You asked, hoping he wasn’t suggesting what you thought he was.

“No, I mean in a romantic way,” Izuku said.

“If you really think she’s going to say yes, then you’re dumber than you look,” Bakugou said, crossing his arms.

“Kacchan, this is a private-”

“It stopped being private the second you tried to get my fiance to give you a second chance,” Bakugou said, “And don’t tell me you didn’t know, because literally everybody knows. Now, you have about one minute to get the hell out of my house before I blow your ass up.”

“I’m not leaving. What makes you think she likes you more than she likes me?” Izuku asked, crossing his arms.

“Are you fucking serious? You actually think that she still likes you after what you did to her?” Bakugou asked, “You know, I-”

“Wait,” you said, causing both men to stop glaring at each other and look at you, “Katsuki’s right, Izuku. I stopped liking you after you did that to me, and I’m not going to start liking you again.”

“But, I-”

“No, you’ve said what you needed to say, get out,” you said, standing up, “Now.”

“Y/n, wait-”

“Are you fucking deaf? She said to get the fuck out!” Bakugou yelled.

“Fine,” Izuku said, standing up and walking out. You and Katsuki followed him and watched as he opened the front door and stepped out. He looked at you with teary eyes, and he almost said something but you interrupted him.

“Goodbye Midoriya,” you said, slamming the door in his face, and then turning to Katsuki, who looked the most pissed you’ve ever seen him, “Well, that was a fun activity for a Saturday night.”

“No, it was not,” Katsuki replied, “Are you good?”

“Why wouldn’t I be good?” You asked.

“Just checking,” he replied, “You used to like Deku, just making sure you’re alright.”

“I stopped liking him five years ago,” you replied, “Trust me, I’m over him.”

“You better be,” Katsuki replied, causing you to give him a kiss.

“I am, now, do you want help with dinner?” You asked, causing Katsuki’s eyes to go wide.

“Shit,” he said, rushing over to the kitchen, “Great, it fucking burnt. All because of that damn nerd.”

“Calm down, we’ll just get take out. How about pizza?” You asked, picking up your phone, and going through your contacts.

“Sure,” Bakugou replied, throwing out the burnt food, before going back to the living room and sitting on the couch. You joined him after ordering the food. You cuddled into his side as he turned the T.V. on.

“I love you,” you said.

“More than Deku?” Katsuki asked, even though he already knew the answer.

“Yes, Katsuki, more than Deku.”

[levisgirll]

oki it me again uWu back with another request because I really enjoyed the first one!!!💗💗 couldn't find the exact words to phrase this but what about aomine (from Kuroko no basuke) as your boyfriend in university. I look forward to what you will write!!

𝐀𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐤𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝

text: hello again!! thank you so much for reading my posts and the fact that you like them makes me happy c: 💗💗 I'm glad you enjoyed the other request so, I hope you enjoy this! (also, aomine is my second fav in knb ^^ he's just so attractive oml-)

synopsis: aomine daki, the great basketballer player at your university is your boyfriend! how is it like to have aomine as your boyfriend though? and how does he act with you? (get ready for this-)

Once Aomine is your boyfriend, get ready cause this guy will show off and flex a lot when it comes to you. Whenever you stay and watch his practices, he flexes a lot with his back muscle and he would turn around if YOU saw that. You are just sitting there, all blushed while covering your face, "Oh god, this idiot..."

Sometimes, the basketball club would invite student for 'Learning the basics of Basketball' and the first person he wants to invite is, of course, his girlfriend. While he is waiting for her, he would just sit in the bench and lots of people go to him for help, but he would ignore everyone and say he is tired and to leave him alone. But once he sees you, y/n, entering he is all energetic and comes running to you. "Aomine, let me change wait" , "But darling, I was waiting for like 10 minutes...you have to make up for that."

Once everyone leaves and its just you two, he gets all hyped up cause he loves it when you are alone with him. He gets extra clingy towards you and keeps on hugging you and you can feel his tensed muscular body. "Sweetheart, you looked amazing today."

Okay but this guy, would fuck up and beat any guy that even showed any sort of disrespect. He is not standing there with a glare or bumping into them if someone laughs, or says something mean to you. He will go up to that person and hold them up while saying "Okay, you started this. Come here."  You have to stop him before he gets physical towards them, "Aomine! Stop!! They just said to me to move". "Yea, 'Move you', what the fuck is that? Asshole, learn some manners! Do you know who you even spoke to!"

This guy is smart, so he knows all your university spots, so don't be surprised if you see him out of nowhere. "Hey its that guy! He is always following you!" Kagami would yell out, "Fuck, you have some stalker Y/N" Kagami would say while glaring at him, he was your university best friend. "That's my b-boyfriend."

Your man will also buy you a lot of snacks, and if you say you skipped breakfast. He is dragging you to the university café and will force you to eat after he buys you food.

Oh my god, your boyfriend loves to tease you A LOT. Like there wont be a day he wont tease you. If you somehow changed up your hairstyle, he will make a huge scene. "No WAY! Sweetheart, you look so good! Wow, that's my GIRL! You all heard that??!"

Aomine makes you laugh like crazy, and there also wont be a day he wont make you laugh. He just loves it whenever he hears your beautiful laugh and small giggles, he founds it so cute and you really warm his heart whenever he hears that.

He will never forgive himself if he ever made you upset or cry. Aomine will probably think about it the whole day and he will keep spamming you "I'm sorry" multiple times. If you don't reply back, he would come to your lecture hall and he is gonna make a scene. "Y/N I SAID IM SORRY!"

You definitely boost his ego, like crazy. Whenever he feels low before a match he would call you and he just wants to hear his girlfriends voice motivating him. "Aomine, don't worry you got this! Besides, didn't you tell me the only one who can beat you...is you?" "Fuck, you are right. Darling, I'm gonna win this and I'll come and hug u after this match. Wait for 20 minutes" And he actually does it.

This guy sticks with his words, so if you tell him meet up at 2 pm. He is there at 2pm waiting for you. If he says he will do literally anything for you, he fucking will.

Once he got, really upset and emotional and he said to you during a call at midnight. "Y/N, Dont leave me like how everyone does.". You then recalled about him telling you about this past and how his old teammates left him, so you would say "I wont, I'm your girlfriend aren't I?" And he is up on his bed all hyped hearing that, "Can I see you now!" "Aomine it's 2am and I have a quiz tomorrow bye, shutting my phone love you!" But this guy wont leave you and spam you in EVERY social media. "Nice try, but I know you have discord on your laptop. Wait, I see you online I'm calling you now."

One time, he came to your huge lecture hall and he sat right next to you, and he would just turn and look at you, focusing on what you are doing, and play around with your stuff and hair. "Aomine, I am trying to focus!" You say all blushed and can't even write anything on your notebook. "Of course, cause you are focusing on me right? Sweetheart, I know, I know I am great." Now you wanna smack him.

Whenever he sees you, he gives you that hot smirk of his and it gives you butterflies. "Ha! Wow literally everything I do, you love it don't you?" . Y/N then turns to him and gives a small chuckle, "Don't get ahead of yourself, Aomine." He then goes near you and lays his arm on your shoulder, bring you closer and he would whisper to your ear "Why not? your my girl so, I want to impress you."

You both love it whenever you guys hold hands around university, this guy is really tall so you always feel so relaxed and also great when your boyfriend squeezes your hand, and walks you to your lecture. "Okay now try to focus on your lecture and not your mind all about me alright?"

He actually loves it when you cheer for him and that really boost not only his ego but rather his self-confidence. "Y/N! I'm gonna win this match for you!" He would yell out during the match and everyone is looking at you.

He would go for academic help for you sometimes and you guys meet up in the library to study. You are the reason he passed some subjects, don't get me wrong, he is intelligent but super lazy.

His wallpaper is a selfie of you both and he looks at that before every match. He sometimes pecks his phone when he finds a picture of you.

Speaking about his phone, this guy has a folder with just you, all your pictures, screenshots of chats, even screen records of your voice notes and videos. He just loves you dearly, and he gets so fucking mad if someone touches or even goes near that gallery. He protects that with all his life, your pictures are important and he is not the type of guy to show his friends your pictures, in fact he hates that! "My folder, my girl, and no one gets to see that. Go away."

Whenever he is bored or isn't doing nothing, he would open his phone, and check every social media app to see your online status. "Oh OH, I see you online darling! Answer me, wanna go out and get ice cream? Please say yes."

He is actually such a great motivator and brings your mood up whenever you feel like giving up during university. He won't allow that, like never. "What so you will just give up? Stop? After all this time, you let this one test fuck you up? Don't you dare let that bring you down, you idiot." He actually even inspires you.

Before you go for the whole day cause you had to work on your report he would say "Smile for me one last time?"

When he sees you from afar, he would yell out and say "That's my girl! Don't move, I'm coming for you!" And this guy jumps at you with his embraces and sometimes picks you up. "L-Love put me down!!"

He actually loves teasing you like that in public, he wants everyone to know that are are HIS girl and his only.

He messages you during his practices and even would skip practice to see you.

Y/N: Oh you don't have practice today?

Aomine: Nope! And besides, I am the captain so doesn't matter. (He is not the captain- its akashi but lies)

He says that and then goes on how he knows everything about basketball and the team and he keeps doing that till you can compliment him ‘Please Y/N say anything’ he would think and you know that but tease him back not saying anything.

*meanwhile in his basketball groupchat* 

Kise: aomine, WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU?!

Akashi: Probably ran off to see his girl.

Atsushi: Whatever, my chance to leave and eat outside.

Kuroko: Can I join you?

Atsushi: No.

You would treat his injuries and he would just sit there, looking at you with a smirk.

Aomine: "Oh yea, here even hurts darling!"

Y/N: "Love....you are lying aren't you?"

Aomine: "What! No!...Maybe?" 

You let out a sigh "Ah, you are an idiot...stop hurting yourself all the time." He would suddenly lift your chin up and say "You know...that I love you yea? You also better tell me everything and if you need help, just say it" He can be really soft and sweet sometimes, but he gets all cringy and shy about it and he gets up rubbing the back of his head. "I-I mean that's what a boyfriend does right?! Come on, get up I'm taking you out."

Okay, I hope you enjoy this and anyone who did! Aomine is such a dork but a sweetheart and I can see most of this happening :,) 

If anyone enjoyed reading this, please then leave a like or a reblog! It means a lot and have a great day <3

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Born to Run

Warnings: dark elements including noncon and rape, fingering, kidnapping, guns, and other explicit content.

This is dark!Frank Castle and explicit. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: You are forced onto the road when an unwanted passenger gets in your backseat.

Note: So I’m gonna tag @allaboardthereadingrailroad​ because I promised them I’d write Frank and I finally got to it and it was loads of fun!

Thank you. Love you guys!

As always, if you can, please leave some feedback, like and reblog <3

You sighed as you rolled to a stop behind the yellow taxi. You craned your neck to try to see around the lines of cars, another deadlock in New York traffic. You couldn’t be surprised as you idled in one spot and leaned your hand on the wheel as you checked the time. 

You heard a siren, saw lights flashing ahead, and heard shouts. Again, not unusual for the city.

You rubbed your forehead as the sun beat down through your window and the humidity built as it leaked in through your open window. You tried not to use the AC too much as it made your old Chrysler overheat in the annual New York heatwave. You shifted in your seat and pulled against the belt as you tried once more to peer past the crowded vehicles.

You heard heavy footsteps, several sets echoing from all directions. A figure appeared on the other side of your car and the back door was ripped open. The man ducked as he slammed the door behind him and laid across the seat. He rolled down onto the floor, a sudden invasion that shocked you.

“What the fuck--get out of my car!” you snarled.

“Honey, you’re gonna wanna keep it down,” he said as his large body barely fit in the crevice between the seats.

“What--”

He poked a gun up towards you and waved it, “eyes forward,” he said, “hands on the wheel, and turn the music up.”

“I don’t have any money--”

“I don’t want your money now shut up,” he hissed, “now you keep it up and I’ll blow a hole through your seat… pity you’re on the other side.”

Your adrenaline spiked and the pounding in your temples deafened you. You turned the knob of the radio to drown out the pulsing and the man’s ragged breaths. Several others appeared, several dressed as officers and few in civilian clothing. You grasped the wheel and made yourself stare at the license plate ahead of you.

The search party dispersed as they called out to each other and the cab slowly crawled forward. The man squinted up through the window as the cars around you began to move as well.

“Drive,” he said.

“What do you want?” you asked shakily as you pressed lightly on the gas.

“To do what I tell you,” he barked and wiggled uncomfortably on the floor, “you keep driving until you’re out of the city and then maybe we’ll talk.”

“It’s rush hour, that could take ages,” you huffed.

“So take ages,” he growled, “you don’t stop ‘til I tell you, got it?”

You nodded and cleared your throat, “uh huh,” you looked in your rearview as a gunshot rang, “exit?”

“Whatever gets you out of New York now shut up and drive.”

You did as he said. You made your way at a snail’s pace until traffic began to thin out and you turned away from your usual route.

“Tell me what street you’re on when you turn,” he ordered, “don’t fuck around with me.”

You looked at the sign and read it aloud. You followed a silver Civic to the next and again recited the name on the dented sign. You checked the clock again. Your meeting would have already started, that was probably why your bag wouldn’t stop vibrating.

“Give me your phone,” he said. You reached over blindly and grabbed your purse. You dropped it to him and he quickly unzipped it, “roll the window down,” again, you obeyed as you recalled the sight of the gun.

He pulled apart your phone and you glanced back over your shoulder. He had the back of and the battery in his hand. “Hey--”

“Keep your eyes on the road,” he flung the battery out the window and bent the phone in half. He tossed it too and righted his gun to aim over the console, “go on.”

“You can take the car, please… people will look for me,” you pleaded.

“Not for a while,” he laid back and gripped the gun, “now someone sees you arguing with your windshield and they gonna get curious so shut up and enjoy the… is that music?”

You changed the station with a flick of your finger, you barely registered the smoky tones of Springsteen as you focused on steering and reading out the street names. Your veins burned as our blood pumped wildly from your racing heart and the man’s scent tickled your nostrils; he smelled of blood and sweat. You hoped he didn’t add your own to the stains on his jeans.

💀

It was dark as your car dinged. You swore and looked ahead for a sign. You shook your head and blew out a long breath.

“I need gas,” you said to the phantom in the back seat.

He grunted as he pushed himself up from the floor and sat up, “gotta be a station close.”

“And if there isn’t?”

“Then we get out and push,” he scoffed, “stop worrying about ‘if’ and find us a station.”

You rolled your eyes. The man was annoying, even if he was terrifying. You scratched your nose and sat forward with a yawn. “I’d know if you hadn’t destroyed my phone.”

“See, right up there,” he ignored your gripe, “yellow sign just ahead.”

“Christ,” you huffed and blinked at the black road.

“I’m sure you had some real important business,” he grumbled, “but I’m sure the coffee can make itself.”

“Excuse me? Fuck off, I’m not some--”

“You’re gonna miss your turn,” he warned and you flipped your signal on.

You pulled into the station and he scooped up your purse. You shut the car off and unbuckled your belt. You twisted in your seat to watch him search your purse. He pulled out your wallet and counted the bills inside.

“Right, we fill up then we’re back to it,” he opened the door and stepped out.

He uncapped your tank and pulled a hose from the meter. He slid it into the slot and kept a hand lazily on the handle. You slowly opened your door and got out. You looked at him over the top of the car as he scowled at you, it was the first good look you got at him.

His dark hair was shaved on the side but he had about and inch or two up top, his nose was crooked, and his dark eyes were set beneath a forehead that betrayed a frequent grimace. You looked at the lights of the station then back at him.

“I gotta… go pee,” you said.

“You wait,” he said, “I’ll go with you.”

“What?”

“You think I’m stupid?” He released the level and tapped the nozzle as he pulled it out, “hold your horses, I’m comin’.”

He put the hose back in and stomped over to you. You saw the gun tucked into his belt and he pulled his jacket over it. He snatched the keys from you and grabbed your arm and marched you to the blazing door of the station.

“You have one minute before I come in and drag you out, pants down or not,” he tore open the door and shoved you through.

You curled your lip as he took a few sticks of jerky from a display and approached the counter. As you got to the sign over the restroom, you looked back as he stared at you. He raised a thick brow and tapped his wrist as if he wore a watch; he did not.

You went into the bathroom and locked the heavy door behind you. You looked around the grimy room and shuddered at the stained toilet bowl. You stepped up on the seat and looked out the small window above. It might be big enough if you suck in.

You stepped on the pipe beside the handle and pushed on the pain. It was just as gross as the rest of the room. The pane finally popped out and you hauled yourself over the high ledge. The glass didn’t quite open wide enough so you had to bend as you wiggled through. You had a high chance of landing on your head but you really didn’t want to chance worse with that man.

You kicked as you were lodged halfway through the window and a knock came at the door, “better pull your pants up,” your abductor called through the door.

You struggled to force yourself through as you tried to angle your hips past the frame. The door burst open with a frightening kick and you flailed your legs as you tried to hit the man blindly and keep him away. He caught your ankles and pulled you back. You cried out and grabbed the window frame so that you didn’t crash down into the toilet.

“Hey, let me go,” you tried to kick him again and he batted away your foot.

“You do that again and you won’t have a safe landing,” he tugged again and you nearly lost your grip on the ledge, “now come on.”

“You got my wallet, my keys, everything, so why don’t you just leave me--”

“Don’t make me count,” he sounded like a father.

“Count? Oh, come on, what am I gonna do? Just let me go.”

“Three,” he swung you just a little, “two,” he gripped your legs firmly, “O--”

“Okay!” you shouted, “okay, just-- let me down.”

Cautiously he bent and put your feet on the floor. He stood and you pushed yourself straight. He grabbed your arm and spun you to face him. He bent and rammed his shoulder into your stomach as he scooped you up. You yiped and pounded on his back as he turned and carried you out of the restroom.

As he strutted down the aisle, the clerk stared at you in confusion. The man reached the door and paused, “on her rag, she gets a bit pissy.” He left the store with a chime and carried you across the lot, “you want the trunk or are you gonna be good?”

You pulled on the back of his jacket and gritted your teeth, “would you put me down?”

“I won’t ask again so either you choose or I do,” he said as he neared the car.

“Alright, alright,” you snarled as he popped the trunk, “I’ll be good just don’t-- not in there.”

He harrumphed and walked around to close the trunk. He brought you up to the passenger side and dropped you on your feet. Dizzy, you grabbed onto the car and he ripped the door open, narrowly missing you with it.

“In,” he pointed to the seat.

You glared at him and stepped under his arm. You sat and he closed the door with a snap. He rounded the hood and the car dipped as he sat in the driver’s seat. He fumbled with keys and shoved them in the slot. He turned the ignition and shifted in the seat.

He took a stick of jerky from his pocket and peeled the plastic. He took a bite as he put the car in drive. He pulled out with one hand on the wheel and chewed noisily and he siphoned through the radio station with his greasy finger. You buckled your seatbelt out of habit and crossed your arms. 

“Get some shut-eye,” he gristled, “you’ll be drivin’ once the sun comes up.”

“Where the fuck are you taking me?” you groaned.

“Dunno, far,” he answered bluntly, “no talk, just sleep.”

“I’m not a dog,” you muttered.

“Keep actin’ like one and I’ll get you a leash,” he snorted.

“I really don’t get why you don’t just take the car--”

“As useless as I’d agree you are, you’ve seen my face and the longer I keep you from running back and snitching, the better chance I got,” he adjusted the seat as he chewed the last of the salted meat, “but there is another option?”

“There is?” you asked.

“Yeah, I could kill you,” he chuckled.

You swallowed and exhaled as you leaned your head back heavily. You peeked over at him as he focused on the road and as much as you wanted to leap from the moving car, you knew that would be just as fatal. So you huddled down and closed your eyes.

“Would you turn that down?” you nodded at the radio.

“You askin’ me to turn down a classic?” he turned the knob and Robert Plant’s voice whined from the speakers, “a nice little lullaby for you.”

You closed your eyes and turned in the seat so that you faced the door, the belt strained against you awkwardly but you didn’t care. You crossed your legs and tried to drown out the music. Even without the racket, you wouldn’t sleep easy.

💀

You woke after hours of uncomfortable sleep in the car seat. The car was still as you yawned and groaned as your stiff muscles rebelled. You sat up as you heard the sound of water hitting the dirt. The man was just outside with his back to you, pissing on the side of the road.

You looked to the ignition but the keys weren’t there. He finished up and zipped up noisily. He opened the door and bent to look at you. He kept his hand on the door as his eyes met yours.

“Get out, stretch your legs, you gotta piss, there’s a bush,” he jabbed his other thumb behind him.

“Really?”

“Or you can keep holding it,” he shrugged and closed the door. He walked around the front of the car and pushed an arm over his head to stretch his shoulder. You took a breath as your irritation bubbled and reached for the door handle.

You got out and held in a grunt. You walked around the back of the car and glanced around. The bush was small and poor cover. Even so, you really had to go as you spent your only opportunity trying to sneak out of the station. You looked at him and neared the leafy bunch. He blinked at you and turned his back.

“I hear any funny business,” he said over his shoulder, “you can piss your pants instead.”

You shoved your pants down and squatted. You let out a steady stream and almost sighed as the pressure left your pelvis. When you finished, you waited until you were relatively dry and pulled your pants back up.

“All done,” you said as you went back to the car. He shook his head and pointed you to his side.

“You drive, sign says there’s a motel about an hour down the road,” he opened the driver’s door.

You got in and he snapped the door shut before he went to the other side. He settled in the seat and slid the keys into the ignition, turning it until the engine rumbled. He leaned back and pushed his fingers back against his palm.

“Right, let’s go.”

You sniffed and pulled back onto the empty highway. You’d never been down that one before, an old country road with sparse exits. He pushed on his jaw until his neck snapped and you winced. You hated the noise.

“So, what do I call you then?” you asked.

He was silent and you felt him watching you, “like you care.”

“I don’t but looks like I’m stuck with you, so…”

“Mmm,” he pulled out some more jerky, “Frank.”

You nodded and stared at the endless road ahead. He said your name before you could.

“Saw it in your wallet,” he explained.

You drove in silence from there until he flipped the radio on. He chose a country station and you silently cursed his taste. You followed the signs and he pointed you to the old motel as you approached it. You thought of hitting the gas but that would do nothing but piss him off and probably get you hurt. Worse, you’d be stuck in the car with him for who knew how long.

You steered into the lot and he yanked the keys out of the ignition before you could. You mirrored him as he got out but he stomped over to your side. He leaned in as he lowered his voice.

“You can play along,” he pushed his jacket open and showed the butt of his gun, “or there’s still room in the trunk.”

“Fine,” you muttered.

“I mean it, you try anything,” he rested his hand on the gun, “you really wanna get someone else hurt?”

You nodded and chewed your lip, “I get it, okay?”

He pulled his jacket closed again and took your elbow, ushering you up to the front of the motel. You wriggled away as you reached the door and entered ahead of him. He drew you back as he followed you through the door and cleared his throat. The woman at the front desk looked up over her glasses and set aside the novel with a shirtless man on the cover.

“Good afternoon,” she sang as she swiveled in her chair, “how can I help you two today?”

“We need a room,” Frank said as he pulled out a wad of money.

“Deposit’s three-hundred, sir,” the woman replied, “can I get a name?”

“Ben Tacker,” he lied smoothly as he counted out the money.

“Alright, and a piece of ID?” she asked.

“Funny thing,” he peeled a fifty free and held it over the desk to her, “I lost it.”

She stared at him and slowly took the bill. She shoved it in her pocket and counted the rest out. She handed him a paper to sign and he scribbled without caring. She handed him the key and he thanked her in the same gruff voice.

“You two have fun,” she called after him as he swung open the door and waved you out.

He chuckled and shook his head, “sure will,” he said before the door shut again.

He looked at the number on the tag and led you to the door with the same. He unlocked it and waited for you to enter. The lock clicked as he trailed you and brushed past you as he went to the closet. You watched in confusion as he pulled out a stack of extra bedding and shared shredding the tinged top sheet.

He took one of the strips as he neared you. You backed up against the door and he wrenched you away as he pulled the single chair up behind you. He sat you down and held your wrist against the narrow arm of the chair. As he began to wind the strip around your wrist, you twisted and he squeezed so hard your fingers went numb.

“Can’t trust ya but I gotta get some sleep,” he growled as he finished tying your first hand. He went back and took another strip of linen, he repeated the process on your other arm and both your legs.

“And what if I have to pee?” you pulled against the bounds but only added to your discomfort.

“Hold it,” he shrugged and took the remote. He flipped on the television and pushed the control into your hand, “there. I don’t wanna hear another word.”

“You’re not serious? You’re just gonna leave me like this?”

“I coulda left you in the trunk,” he turned and walked around the foot of the bed, he plopped down with a sigh, “you should be thanking me?”

He untied his boots and kicked them off. He pulled off his jacket and tossed it over the far side of the bed. He set the gun on the table beside the lamp and stretched his arms behind his head. As he laid back, he shifted awkwardly and dug in his pocket, he tossed your credit card up onto the table with a flick.

“Now, don’t go pullin’ shit or we won’t get that deposit back,” he groaned as he wiggled to get comfortable, “not my money so I don’t really care either way.”

“You… asshole,” you huffed and he smirked.

“I think an asshole woulda just taken the car,” he said, “and left you with a hole in your head.”

You clamped your lips together and shook your head. You hit a button and searched through the channels. You didn’t really care what you watched, you wouldn’t be able to pay attention anyway. You stopped at an old episode of NewsRadio and let the remote rest on the end of the arm.

The laugh track filled the interminable silence and after some time, low snores rose from the bed. You peeked over at Frank, his arm slung over his face as his chest rose and fell steadily. He might be irritating but you had enough sense to be afraid of him. If you had to guess, he was ex-military and judging by your inopportune meeting, he was also a wanted man.

You fidgeted as much as you could in the chair and turned back to the screen. It was as if the recorded guffaws were at your expense. You slumped as the cotton chafed around your wrists and yawned. Your back was still stiff from your nap in the car and the chair was little better with its thin pleather cushioning and short back.

💀

You didn’t remember falling asleep, not until you woke up in terrible pain. Your head hung over as you were nearly folded over your lap entirely, your bound arms holding you just above. You groaned as you pushed yourself up and it sent a pang up your neck. You heard the rattle of pipes and looked over at the empty bed.

You let out a strained breath and moved your head side to side, just slightly as the pain lingered and throbbed with each pivot. You balled your hands in fists and tried to twist your arms against the linen. You flexed your legs too, wiggling your feet as you tried to loosen the ties.

The chair began to rock as you fought against your restraints. The remote fell to the floor and the television kept blaring. As you were sure you just needed a little more, the chair tipped and you bounced off the side of the bed as it crashed down onto its side. The impact had your head spinning and shower faucet squeaked off.

You kept moving your arms and legs, desperate to free yourself before he could discover you. There was no hiding your intent anymore. The bathroom door opened and your heart swelled. Shit. You hissed as you heard his footsteps and looked up as his shadow loomed over you.

Frank stood in nothing but a towel, his thickly muscles torso still damp as he glared down at you. You cringed and tried not to see more than you wanted.

“I gotta take a leak,” you lied, well, not exactly untrue.

“Uh huh,” he hummed doubtfully and grabbed the chair. 

He hauled you back up and planted the chair back in place. He shook his head at you and retreated. He pulled one of the white robes from the hook on the wall and pulled it over the towel. He tied the belt tightly and dropped the other layer before he disappeared back into the bathroom.

When he emerged again, you watched him dully, “I really do have to go,” you said.

He ignored you and checked his gun. He slid open the drawer and set it inside.

“Well,” he came around the bed, “I got some bad news for you, There’s no window in there,” he grabbed the strip around your left wrist and unknotted it, “so, I’ll give you two minutes.”

He untied you and watched as you rubbed your wrists. You stood with a wince as your legs ached but he didn’t back up. You sidled past him and he turned to keep his dark eyes on you as you approached the bathroom. You swung the door shut and nearly collapsed on the other side.

The bathroom smelled of the gardenia scented soap that came with the room and there was still moisture in the air. You relieved yourself quickly and stood to gaze into the mirror. You looked awful, you felt awful. You splashed your face with cold water and leaned heavily on the porcelain. 

Whether you listened to that man or not, you were fairly certain the result would be the same. You could see it now, the black barrel of the gun, his finger on the trigger. You shuddered and shook out your hands as if to get rid of your nerves. You stood straight and groaned as you stretched out the knots in your limbs and back.

You went back into the hotel room as you rubbed your neck, the needling pain still buried at the base of your skull.

“Tell you what,” he said as he sat on the bed and aimed the remote at the screen, “I can tie you up again or you can make both our lives easier and just lay down.”

“Is there a third option?” you winced as another jolt went through your spine.

He snickered and pointed to the pillows, “we’re leavin’ early,” he said, “so you can sleep now or sleep in the car.”

You gave no response as you went around the other side of the bed. You eased yourself down against the pillow and let out an unwitting groan. It felt good to lay down. You turned onto your side, your face away from him, and he finally stopped switching stations.

You closed your eyes and hugged yourself as his weight rested at the bottom of the bed. It wasn’t hard to drift off as the pain chased you into unconsciousness and the stress of the last day shrouded your mind. You only hoped he wasn’t waiting for you in your dreams.

💀

The night's stay was taken out of the deposit and you were back on the road to nowhere. The man gave you gruff directions as he closed his eyes in the passenger seat. At night, you switched and you grew complacent as the endless travel wore on your wits. You didn't know why he wouldn't just let you go. He could take the car and the last of your money and just leave you alone. Likely the separation would be preferable to both parties. 

Another motel after a week of driving and you were thankful to be standing still. You were asleep on your feet as you dragged your feet behind your grumpy captor and as you leaned on the front desk and bid farewell to even more of your cash, you barely processed the conversation happening around you.

Frank's arm wrapped around your waist and he pulled you close. You flinched and sneered at him. You felt so gross, you didn’t want to be touched, let alone by him. The desk clerk handed him a key and chuckled.

“It’s been a long trip,” Frank said, “think we just need some R and R.”

You blinked at him stupidly as he turned you around and swept you out the door. Outside, you shoved him away and stumbled as he laughed at your pathetic effort.

“What the fuck was that about?” you scowled.

“Well, you looked like you were about to keel over, just tryna keep you on your feet,” he jingled the keys and led you up to the second level.

“Don’t do that again,” you mumbled as you waited for him to unlock the door.

“Sure, honey,” he said mockingly as he slid the key out and kicked the door open, “come on.”

Just like last time, he locked the door and you looked around at the small room, a single queen and another rickety chair. 

“Please, don’t,” you said as you crossed the room, “I’ll stay, just don’t tie me up. I need to lay down.”

“You need to wash the road off ya,” he quipped as he peeked into the bathroom, “ladies first.”

You stared at him and tilted your head. He might have kept you alive so far but you could hardly trust him. After all, you weren’t exactly there by choice. You tiptoed forward, warily eyeing him as you got closer. He stepped back and crossed his arms.

“You might not be able to smell ya but I can,” he nodded through the door, “ten minutes.”

You stepped inside and he snapped the door shut behind you. You sat on the toilet and rubbed your eyes. You looked down at your clothes, rumpled and stained with sweat and filth. You took a moment and stood to strip off the layers one at a time. 

You cranked on the shower and stepped under the stream. The shower curtain rang as you pulled it around the tub and you basked in the hot water. It felt good and your muscles relaxed as rivulets trailed down your skin. You scrubbed with the vague floral scented soap and scrubbed until you felt a little more like yourself.

Reluctantly, you turned the faucet off and reached for the towel on the bar. You lowered your foot onto the tile and patted yourself as you stared at your blurred silhouette in the steamy mirror. A knock sounded at the door and had you wrapping yourself in the white cotton.

“Ay, they got some machines here,” his voice scratched, “should probably wash those rags up while we’re here.”

You tucked the towel in at the top and gathered up your clothes. You neared the door hesitantly and cracked it open. You peeked out at him as he watched you impatiently.

“Figure you can’t run naked… well, if you try, it won’t be so easy,” he remarked. You shoved your clothes through wordlessly, “there’s some robes out here when you’re done with your sauna, princess.”

You rolled your eyes and shut the door. You heard him chuckle and move around the room as he grumbled under his breath. You waited for the other door to open and close before you emerged. 

You took the robe folded over the bottom of the bed and tied the belt tight around your waist. You sat on the bed, your back to the frame and switched on the television. You thought of running but he was right, even if you eluded him, you doubted there were many who wouldn’t do worse to a barely clothed woman, not out there in the middle of nowhere.

He returned shortly and dropped a haul of processed foods on the bed from the vending machines. He wore a robe as well but it was smaller on him and the flimsy white slippers provided with the room. He shuffled through his trove of salt and sugar. 

He took the two cups and placed them on the small round table and filled the kettle from the bathroom sink. He plugged it in and flipped the switch. “Hope you like chicken noodle,” he said.

You read the guide on the TV and punched in the channel playing re-runs of Law and Order. It was a grim choice but you just needed to disassociate from the dingy motel. The kettle clicked and his shadow flickered in your peripheral. Frank sat and the mattress dipped beside you. He held out a steaming cup with a plastic spoon sticking out of it.

“Thanks,” you took it and leaned back as you stirred the boiling soup.

“We’ll grab some burgers at the next stop,” he grizzled, “Fuckin’ starvin’.”

You said nothing and stared at the lawyers arguing on screen with the detectives. They were trying to figure out how a woman ended up in a motel with marks around her neck; dead. A chill went through you and you slowly glanced over at the man beside you.

He squinted and returned your gaze. His mouth slanted and he shook his head, “really?” he challenged nonchalantly.

You took a deep breath and turned back to the screen. You sipped at the hot broth and scooped up noodles as you tried not to think about being strangled to death on the bathroom floor. 

When you finished, you set the empty cup aside and slid under the covers as the afterglow of the shower weighed down your limbs. You just wanted to sleep. If he did decide to kill you then, you wouldn’t even know the difference.

He grabbed a candy bar from the mess and sat back, jarring the whole bed as he did. You rolled onto your side and pulled a pillow over your head. You squeezed your eyelids shut and tuned out the old tube television and the chewing of the man behind you. Sleep crept up on you in haze, half-aware of the muffled voices and the movement on the other side of the bed.

You pushed the pillow away as it grew warm beneath and sleepily pulled it under your head. You heard the distant noise of the pipes. Groggy, you sank back into a shallow sleep as the constant noise lulled you.

You were disturbed again when you were jostled and the television shut off. You felt him behind you and wiggled closer to the edge. He barely seemed bothered as he stretched out and you felt the heat radiating from his body. You drifted off once more, dreaming about the eternal highway and Frank’s bristly orders.

You snorted awake, this time from a haze so deep it felt as if you’d been drowning. You felt the arm over the middle, heavy and firm, and the hot breath on your neck. Your lashes fluttered, threatening to close again, but your adrenaline forced your eyes open. 

He was flush to your back, his hard body against your back as his hand was slid into the opening of your robe. His rough fingertips rested against your soft torso, just beneath your breast.

“Frank,” you rasped and tugged on his wrist, “the fuck are you doing?”

He groaned and shushed you as he nestled closer. You went rigid as you felt a prod against your ass. You grabbed him more firmly but could not move his hand as he squeezed you tighter. His hand glided up against your resistance and he cupped your chest. You gasped and pulled at his long fingers.

“Frank, get your fuckin’ hands off of me--”

He ignored you and rolled his thumb over your nipple. Your breath caught in your throat and tried to push yourself up. He held you down as he snaked his other arm beneath your.

“Honey, just relax,” he said drowsily, “I ain’t hurtin’ ya.”

“Get off!” you slapped the back of his hand.

“Mmmm,” he purred and nuzzled the back of your head, “you smell like flowers.”

“Frank--”

“What else are we gonna do, honey?” he asked and his breath tickled your ear, “hmmm.”

He nibbled at your lobe and a chill went through you. You pressed your hands to his and knew he could feel the frantic beating of your heart. You shivered as his arousal poked against you again. You gulped and gasped as suddenly rolled onto his back and pulled you up onto him.

Your robe fell loose as you laid atop him, your back to his hard torso as his other hand roved lower. You squirmed and grasped at his wrists. He easily ignored you as he kneaded your tit and his other hand slid along your vee. You held your breath and pushed your legs together.

“That’s your problem, you just need to let go,” he hummed and brushed his fingertips down the line of your leg, “come on and open up for me.”

You shook your head against his shoulder and he pinched your thigh. You yelped and he did it again. You hit his hand and he laughed, a deep rumble that flowed through you. He dug his nails into your flesh as he continued to fondle your chest with his other hand. 

You whimpered as he threatened to break the skin and let your legs fall open around his. He slid his fingers between your folds and over your clit. You gasped and he swirled his fingertips, sending a bolt of electricity through you. You gripped his thick wrist and gritted your teeth as you tried to resist the fire in your core.

“What d’ya think you’re still around for, huh?” he slithered as he poked around your cunt, pressing his fingers to your entrance.

You murmured a weak protest as your eyes rolled up and you stared at the wall above the bed. You huffed between your teeth as he shoved two fingers inside you. You clenched around them and your nerves rippled with the wave of pleasure.

His palm rubbed against your clit as he rocked his hand slowly and you shook your head, fighting the unwelcome thrumming as it pulsed deep within you.

His fingers slipped easily in and out of you as you slickened and reached back unthinkingly to curl your fingers into his sides. He moved his hand faster, the friction building to a spark. You closed your eyes as your nails pressed against his muscles and your legs bent around his.

You spasmed as you came, your surrender declared with a pathetic squeak. He didn’t stop until you were panting uncontrollably, your head lolling on his shoulder as you bit the tip of your tongue. When he pulled his fingers out, you whined at the sudden emptiness.

He rubbed his wet fingers along your cunt and spread your lips as he snaked his other hand beneath your leg. He tore open the tails of his robe and angled his tip against your opening. He urged you onto him, sliding you down his body until your back arched to accept him. You moaned as he entered you and the overwhelming fullness fueled your helpless voice.

“Hmm, honey,” her purred as his hot breath touched your scalp, “just what you needed, isn’t it?”

You sputtered as he moved his hips beneath you, rocking into you from below as he planted his feet in the mattress. He lifted you carefully and kept an arm around your middle as his other toyed with your sensitive bud. His thick breaths clouded around you as he moved your body in time with his.

He hooked his arm around around your left leg and pulled it higher, doing the same with your right as he fucked you harder. He reached from below to keep his thumb on your clit, your legs folded against your chest. He growled in your ear and bit the lobe again. You clawed at the blanket below him as he used you so easily, your shame smothered by your pleasure.

You orgasmed again and as your walls clenched around him, he groaned and his legs slipped down straight. He turned onto his side and quickly rolled you onto your stomach as he forced your legs down. He pinned you beneath him, weaving his arm through yours as he pulled them back as his twined his fingers behind your head.

He kept you pinned beneath him as his flesh clapped against yours loudly. You moans seeped into the pillow and his animalistic grunts punctuated each thrust. The bed shook beneath your bodies and he pushed his thigh up around yours. He sat up, still bucking his hips as he pulled your arms back and forced you to arch with him.

He gripped your elbows as he hammered into you. Your moans turned to whines as he pounded your walls and you gulped down air desperately. He growled and you felt his body tense as his hold on you broke. He shoved your head down against the pillow, almost suffocating you as he once more sped up.

He snarled and his motion grew spasmodic. He slowed and his hips jolted into you in jagged thrust. He emptied himself into you as his long fingers stretched over your scalp. Finally, he stopped, still straddling you as he heaved a shaky sigh. He sniffed and trembled as he ran his hand down your back.

“Really makes me happy I didn’t put a bullet in ya,” he rasped, “real…” he squeezed your hips and pushed in as deep as he could go, “happy.”

[snafu-maniac1]

Zuko deserved better

So I rewatched Avatar the Last Airbender recently and let me tell you......

I wanna murder several people.

Looking back on this entire series I’ve come to notice something. I watched the show just like any other audience member and only saw the good and the bad characters. One of these prime examples is Zuko. Zuko’s redemption arc has been praised as one of the greatest in history, succeeding where others have failed. But watching it all again......it wasn’t redemption. Not to me personally.

Before everyone gets angry and defensive at me, please finish reading my post and hear what I have to say. I do not wish to start any fandom wars or discredit or disrespect anyone’s opinion, this is just my personal psychological analysis of Zuko’s character....Sigh and let me give you a warning.

It’s gonna be LONG. 

So if you’re not interested or don’t want to hear it or don’t feel like reading something this long that’s fine, you can go ahead and just click away and ignore this post.

Starting from book 2. 

Now you may be wondering why I’m starting here and not from the start of Zuko’s childhood but I first want to address the one question everyone had been wondering since the series 2 finale. What would have happened if Zuko hadn’t sided with Azula?

My answer is.....that wouldn’t have happened.

Everyone’s been focusing on the entire arc where Zuko was struggling to accept that the war was wrong and how Iroh was trying to get through to him when he tried to capture Appa and afterwards, but here’s something everyone tends to ignore.

Why didn’t Iroh try sooner?

Why didn’t he try to stop Zuko before Aang came, before he’d gotten so deep and desperate to the point that he continuously committed heinous acts to capture the Avatar? People would justify it by saying Iroh wanted Zuko to realize the wrongs of his father and Nation by himself to shape him into his own person. But that is in no way the appropriate way to approach a physically, psychologically and mentally unstable and abused child. Zuko was a thirteen year old boy when he was burned and banished. This is where we go into his childhood. Zuko was raised like any other Fire Nation citizen. As we’ve seen in book 3 and in the Pirate comic book, The Fire Nation citizens were led to believe that the other Nations were ‘savages’ and ‘barbarians’. It villainizes the Fire Nation even more. The very fact that they would spread heinous lies against other people when they themselves were responsible for the war that ruined so many lives. But when you realize, what Sozin and the other Fire Lords did was a solid battle tactic. Making the opposing side out to be these horrendous monsters. Making lies or accentuating every one of their worst traits to dehumanize their enemies so that the people would not have any qualms about fighting them. All of the Fire Nation schools were taught these lies. And Zuko was no exception.

Zuko was a member of the Royal family. And from what was shown in the Avatar series, the Royal family was isolated from the rest of Fire Nation society. Zuko had no way of knowing what the other Nations were really like, no way of knowing the truth about the war and no one had bothered to explain it to him. The one person that could have, did NOT. And yet people had expected him to just automatically know that he was being lied to and that his people were the villains. Zuko’s only social exposure was with Fire Lord Azulon, Fire Lord Ozai, Dragon Of The West General and Crown Prince Iroh, his cousin Prince Lu Ten, his mother Princess Ursa and his younger sister Princess Azula and her friends Mai and Ty Lee. All of whom believed in the Fire Nation propaganda and all of whom had no problem in participating in the war and making jokes about burning Ba Sing Se to the ground. Zuko was under scrutiny and aggression from Ozai. Ozai was Zuko’s ‘handler’, his ‘groomer’. He groomed Zuko into a certain type of submissive and obedient behavior. Zuko was not allowed to show any type of emotion otherwise he would suffer severe repercussions. Ozai and Azula taunted Zuko for having a sense of compassion and with how he was ostracized in a war loving family, he began to believe his behavior and way of thinking was unusual. It was like Azula said to Mai, “Your mother had certain expectations of you and when you strayed from them you were shot down.” In Zuko’s case, the expectations he strayed from resulted in severe punishment. Ozai was willing to permanently disfigure and traumatize Zuko when he was a thirteen year old boy. It’s not unusual to think that his punishments towards Zuko would sometimes very likely be physical and many people even write alternate universes of the Avatar series where Ozai was even more abusive than he already was. He was a manipulative man who brainwashed his daughter into being his perfect, obedient little slave and manipulated his son into questioning his own sense of reality. He would tell him that Azula was born lucky and he was lucky to be born, cementing Azula’s view of herself of receiving everything she wanted and turning her personality toxic while he made Zuko feel inferior and faulty. If there was something wrong with him, his father would tell him and he needed to fix it. But he never could. He strayed towards his mother, who like Iroh, abandoned Azula because of Ozai’s manipulation and did nothing to help her like they ‘helped’ Zuko.

When Zuko was thirteen he wanted to ‘prove’ himself to his father by attending one of his war meetings. Zuko very likely only wished to do what his father wanted because by then, Iroh had abandoned him when he left after the Siege of Ba Sing Se, his mother disappeared and his grandfather and cousin were both dead. The only ones he had left of his family were his father and sister who both abused him and he only wished for their approval and their affection. Humans need mutual affection. Children who do not receive affection from their parents, tend to not take that type of neglect well. Because people need affection to properly function. Our parents love us from when we are young and that emotional connection is something very important to every human being’s mental state. However, Zuko’s only source of affection, his mother, was taken away from him. Azula herself, had no source of affection. Not from her mother, who thought she was demented from her father’s brainwashing, nor from her brother who feared her, nor from her father who used her as a tool. Returning to the day of the Agni Kai, Zuko wished to be of use to his father, he craved his affection because that is what the abuser does. They make you believe they are the only ones who can validate you and if you do not abide by their rules or follow their orders then you mean nothing. Zuko for the most part from what I could see in the flashback, held his promise and did not speak. But when he refused to back down when his people were in danger, Ozai was not pleased. This is because he is an abuser. He is Zuko’s ‘handler’ and when someone who is abusing another person witnesses this type of behavior, they have a feeling of loss of control. They desire control, they crave it, over the abusee especially. So when Zuko showed empathy towards the Fire Nation citizens and did not do as Ozai wished, he decided to ‘rectify’ that. In the most BRUTAL way possible. An Agni Kai. A public spectacle where he would establish dominance over his son, over his pawn and he would make a show of it. He would show everyone that HE was the one in control and NO ONE could defy him. When Zuko refused to fight Ozai, because of his love for his father, Ozai only saw that as a weakness. Ozai is a psychotic man. The fact that he did not have any problem in burning his son so cruelly shows that he does not have any sense of morals. Going back to Zuko, a thirteen year old child at the time, he had just been punished for disobedience, for straying from his father’s expectations, in the worst way possible.

Zuko did what many people would say is the right thing to do. He tried to defend his people from a cruel man intent on sending them to their deaths. But in doing so, he had defied his father and was punished for it. He was punished....for trying to HELP people. His life was essentially DESTROYED and he was thrown out of his home...for trying to help people. For showing empathy towards others. He was punished in the worst way possible for defying his father. His entire perception of right and wrong was thrown out of balance. He was taught that the war was right and that the Fire Lord, his father, was all knowing. And his mother tried to teach him kindness and her lessons of kindness got him punished. The amount of physical and mental damage he had sustained from such a punishment would in some cases be irreversible. Iroh was right there with Zuko and he did nothing. I CAN understand why he did not step in during the Agni Kai. He had been gone from the Fire Nation, his brother had taken the throne and he could have very well himself been punished severely for intervening. However, why did he allow Zuko to continue to believe he was the one at fault? Everyone of us has seen Zhao, has seen the way he treated Zuko during his banishment. Zuko very likely spent those entire two years before Aang’s arrival, being subjected to that type of behavior from everyone around him. All of them blamed him, all of them very likely said that he’d deserved what had happened to him. No one was on his side. He ended up turning aggressive and cruel towards others, because that was the way his father behaved and it was his empathy towards others that got him punished in the first place. He said in The Storm ‘the safety of the crew doesn’t matter’, just like the general that called the 41st division ‘fresh meat’. It was easier for Zuko to lash out at others and be aggressive than to let them see his vulnerabilities and hurt him for them again. It was the same with Song and her mother. Ozai tried to force him to be cruel, he tried to groom him the same way he did Azula. They dehumanized the other Nations and Zuko behaved the exact same way he was expected to. ‘Their compassion would cost them’. It was exactly the way his father wanted him to be. It was what Iroh did not wish for him, and yet despite claiming he thought of Zuko as a son, he did not in any way try to convince Zuko to give up his quest during the two years he had been searching for something that at the time was believed did not exist. The only instance we were shown of Iroh saying anything against his search, and even that is a stretch, was in the Western Air Temple episode where Zuko has a flashback of Iroh telling him that ‘destiny was a funny thing’ when Zuko said it was his destiny to capture the Avatar. Iroh had time to run the White Lotus, an antiwar organization for two YEARS maybe even longer and he did not think of taking two MINUTES to talk to Zuko, to ease him into realizing the wrongs of the war. Okay, yes he could have passed it off as character growth. But how do you expect a person, surrounded by people telling him he was at fault, he had no choice, either obey or never come back, to realize something like that? How do you expect an abuse victim to accept help all by themselves when their abuser forces them to depend on them? Did Iroh take him to some Earth Kingdom villages to see that they aren’t the vicious savages the Fire Nation portrays them to be? Did he take Zuko to the Southern Water Tribe to see the damage done to them at the hands of his own country? No. Instead he acted like an oblivious old man who had no interest other than Pai Sho and speaking proverbs that Zuko could not hope to understand.

Two years Zuko spent looking and looking and he turned desperate to the point that he was willing to do anything to go home. And then The Avatar finally returned. And then the people that Zuko was raised to perceive as brutal savages continued to stand in his way. And did Iroh intervene? No. He still did nothing. He allowed Zuko to continue his pursuit and turn into the worst possible version of himself. People say that Zuko should own up to the consequences of his actions. And he should. But would he have done those actions had Iroh stopped him earlier? Would he have done any of the things he did when the only remaining adult figure in his life had told him otherwise? Would he have listened to Iroh? The answer is yes. He was willing to do what Ozai had expected of him so why would he not listen to Iroh with time and patience instead of waiting till the last possible moment to do so? Children don’t automatically know right from wrong from the moment of their birth. They are taught by their parents, by the adults in their lives and Zuko had Ozai as his parental influence. And Iroh knew that. He knew the type of man his brother was and he did not try to overwrite his brother’s abuse to help his nephew until Zuko was already on the path of no return. When they became refugees Iroh still did nothing until they got to Ba Sing Se and until Zuko, again in an act of desperation, tried to capture Appa. That was when he FINALLY decided to step in. Three years since Zuko’s banishment, sixteen years of his father’s influence and abuse and he decides the very moment his nephew is close to the brink of insanity is the perfect opportunity to DESTROY his entire world view. He had worked day in and day out for two years before Aang appeared, only for his uncle, someone he TRUSTED, to tell him it was all for NOTHING. Two years of TORTURING himself. A year of fighting against his Nation’s enemies and SUDDENLY he’s being told it was all for nothing. When Iroh and Zuko reunited, Iroh told him he found his way again ‘on his own’ like how Zuko told Ozai he had to learn everything ‘on his own’. And they were both right. Zuko had no one to help him. He had to suffer through so much on his own, without anyone’s help and they’re SURPRISED he acted the way he did. When everything came to ahead in Ba Sing Se with Katara, people thought ‘Oh Zuko has changed he’s going to help Katara.’ And when he did not they HATED him for it. 

The reason for this is because Katara was the ‘good guy’ and Zuko was the ‘bad guy’. Black and white. Katara and Zuko shared a moment of understanding from both losing their mothers and Katara offered to heal his scar and he chose to side with Azula and both Katara and the viewers saw this as a betrayal on Zuko’s part. This assumption however is completely unjustified and unfounded. Everyone sees Zuko and the Fire Nation as the bad guys. The villains of the story. But Katara and the Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom were the bad guys in the Fire Nation’s eyes. Katara was the ‘savage’ standing in the way of Zuko going home. The Avatar was his home’s greatest ENEMY and THREAT. Had the situation been reversed and Katara had to choose between Zuko and the Water Tribe and her brother and father, people would have supported her choice because they were the good guys. Zuko’s people were the bad guys so it had to be the wrong decision and a betrayal to Katara and Iroh. But Zuko was an unstable, traumatized child who did not wish to believe his people were bad, who did not want to fight his home after he spent so long trying to capture Aang, his home’s greatest THREAT and ENEMY. Katara hated Zuko because he represented everything that the Fire Nation did to her family. And Zuko hated her because she was the ‘savage’ keeping him from his one way home. To Zuko, Katara was the bad guy. And looking back at their moment of sympathy where Katara said he betrayed her trust I can only ask one thing....how could Zuko have known that Katara wasn’t trying to trick him? Now, the viewers would automatically respond ‘Katara’s not like that! She wouldn’t do that!’ but the fact is, we the viewers KNOW Katara. We know she’s not that type of person because we got to know her through out the series. Zuko does NOT know her. To Zuko, she’s just another faceless enemy out to KILL his father. He chose Azula’s side because he could not accept what Iroh was saying to him because why hadn’t Iroh said so sooner? He did not want to join Aang’s side cause this was the AVATAR. The one out to KILL his FATHER and take down his HOME. When Zuko returned, he was conflicted about what he had done because he had begun to see how wrong his father and sister’s behavior and The Fire Nation’s war truly was. And Iroh cemented that further by proclaiming Zuko’s struggle was because of Roku and Sozin’s conflict when that was clearly not the case. Zuko was groomed and brainwashed by the Fire Nation propaganda like every other citizen but he was not dispelled from that belief by anyone. No one tried to make him question that belief. Iroh did not try to ‘help Zuko’ until the very last moment in Ba Sing Se. People believe Zuko betrayed Iroh because that’s how it’s supposed to be when Zuko was the ‘bad guy’ and Iroh was the ‘caring’ Uncle and ‘voice of reason’. And yet he did not think to ‘reason’ with Zuko before this entire mess even started. He did not in any way try to disrupt Zuko’s view of the other Nations or his father. In my opinion, IROH was the one who betrayed ZUKO. Iroh KNEW the entire time that what Zuko was doing was wrong. Zuko was a child who was not allowed to think for himself and Iroh KNEW Zuko was brainwashed by the exact same propaganda he himself had believed before he lost his son. If Iroh, who had believed in the Fire Nation for so many years, was unable to realize the wrongs of the war until his ADULTHOOD when he lost his son, how in the world did he expect a 13 year old child to do so? And Zuko became even more unstable and then he chose the Fire Nation.

When he realized it was wrong and went to join team Avatar, they were reasonably mistrusting.

Zuko’s redemption arc from a simple perspective, from team Avatar’s perspective was very well done. Team Avatar did not know what Zuko had been through. To them he was just another Fire Nation monster who had hurt them. To the audience, he was just another Fire Nation monster who had hurt the good guys. No one would think that deep into a fictional character’s perspective or psychological and mental state. No one would think past the ‘good guy’ and the ‘bad guy’. But one thing I cannot justify is Katara’s accusation of betrayal towards Zuko. As we have mentioned, Zuko and Katara were enemies who had a mutual hatred towards each other before his ‘redemption’. They had one single moment of shared empathy and understanding and that is NOT the basis for earned trust. What would Katara have done had she been in Zuko’s shoes? Fighting her enemies, fighting people she sees as nothing more than monsters and she has to choose between her long time enemy and her sibling and her home and her family. If she was in that position, she would choose Sokka and Hakoda and Aang and the Water Tribe over Zuko in a heartbeat because those are her FAMILY members and her FRIENDS and people would justify her because she’s the ‘good guy’. The hero. But Zuko is the villain so his actions automatically AREN’T justifiable. I understand Katara’s mistrust towards Zuko because of their history and because again, she doesn’t know anything about him or what he went through. But she cannot expect him to just automatically leave behind everything he’s ever known and ever believed in because of one single moment of understanding. Zuko should have done everything he could to make it up to the group because he owed it to them and they again, did not know any of his reasons for hunting them. But Zuko does not deserve to be labeled simply as ‘a bad guy turned good’ when he was NEVER a bad guy to begin with. When he was never even mentally stable enough to make that type of decision for himself. In today’s day and age Zuko and Azula would have BOTH ended up in a mental institution. And after all of the things he went through, Zuko was the one who ended up going back to Iroh and apologizing when Iroh was the one who abandoned him and then Zuko at 16 years old ended up as the leader of a nearly fallen apart country. He had to suffer through insomnia, assassination attempts and mental instability and abandonment. Iroh left to Ba Sing Se and only made two appearances in a total of SIX comic books after the end of the War and one of those was entirely brief. So while Iroh gets to enjoy the rest of his life selling tea, Zuko has to suffer the consequences for what his family did. He was also abandoned by Mai which brings me to another point.

Zuko’s toxic relationships.

Some people say they dislike Mai because she is emotionally abusive towards Zuko. It never occurred to me before but looking at it now, I have to say that I agree. In the comics after book 2 had ended it was shown that Azula used Mai’s childhood crush on Zuko to manipulate him into going back to the Fire Nation with her. And Mai.....I don’t even know how to get started on the entire mess that is their relationship. Mai is a person who does not like emotion. She doesn’t like to express herself and immediately shuts down anything even close to emotion. The same applies to Zuko. Zuko is a very emotionally unstable and insecure person. And instead of reassuring and calming him, Mai immediately cuts him off whenever he loses a handle of his emotions and just flat out ends their relationship on the spot. She gives Zuko no explanation, just gets angry at him and then all of a sudden when Zuko can’t take anymore and explodes she suddenly says she cares about him. Their relationship is toxic. Mai demeans his problems and things that trouble him. Quote “I just asked if you were cold, I didn’t ask for your whole life story.” when Zuko was nervous about going back home. She demeans his guilt towards Iroh and tries to make him feel better by ordering servants around. And then in the Boiling Rock episode she attacks him for his letter which is reasonable on her part, but there is the problem that despite being Zuko’s girlfriend, up until that point she was Azula’s subordinate first and foremost and she could have tried to let Azula know. Still was a shitty way of ending their relationship, I’m not gonna act like it wasn’t but I still wanted to put that perspective out there just for thought. Not to mention how she ended things in the comic books. The trust issue I understand. But I don’t understand how ONE single mistake would lead to her just immediately ending things instead of at least TRYING to work it out. She could have listened to him and seen why he was so upset and scared of messing up that he went to Ozai of all people for help. She did not stick by him when he needed her and that was what forever ruined their relationship for me. 

In simple terms, Zuko was a bad guy who became a good guy and redeemed himself.

In psychological terms, Zuko was an abuse victim who was brainwashed since his childhood, blamed for it and made into a scapegoat while his sister ended up in a mental institution because of her father’s influence and because the same people who ‘helped’ Zuko didn’t think she deserved it too.

So from what I’ve seen while rewatching the series....

Zuko never needed redeeming. Zuko needed help.

And he didn’t get it. 

[kittyymew]

Office Sex- Part 2

Link to- Part 1

********

"Don't be. Cause I'm gonna do a lot of things to you in my office henceforth, brat... starting with making you choke on my cock... hope you're prepared for a long night ahead..." Levi says smiling.

**

"I-...." your words catch in your throat at Levi's statement.

"What is it brat? Do you not like that idea?" Levi asks reaching forward, his knuckles gently brushing your cheek. "Wh- no I do!" You blurt out way too quickly.

"Tch dirty little slut..." Levi says and you feel your blush rise up to your cheeks again. "It turns you on doesn't it? Me calling you a dirty little slut... among other things obviously..." Levi continues. You shyly nod and Levi just smiles.

"Well, my cock isn't gonna free itself slut!" he says, lightly smacking your cheek.

Without another word, you lean up and quickly start fidgeting with his belt and the buttons in an attempt to free his cock, your hands shaking from all the adrenaline. You seem to be taking way too long for Levi's liking and he starts helping you, pulling his pant down his legs followed by his boxers.

Levi grabs his length, stroking it. You can see the drops on pre-cum coating the tip of his cock and you cannot help but stare at his cock. It's a little bigger than you imagined, which just fuels all the dirty thoughts in your head.

"I always wondered what it'd look like to watch my cock disappear into your pretty little mouth..." Levi says. You glance up at him before reaching up and replacing his hand with yours, slowly starting to stroke his shaft. Levi sucks in a breath, quickly composing himself before continuing, "I've been dreaming about my cock hitting the back of your throat...."

The adrenaline combined with your arousal has you leaning up and taking half of his length inside your mouth as you suck hard without any hesitation. Levi grips the armrest, his head falling back as he lets out a deep moan at your sudden actions.

He lets out a shaky breath, looking down at you as you start bobbing your head up and down his shaft. His hands come up, tangling his fingers in your hair, "What a good slut!" Levi states and pushes your head down forcing his cock all the way inside. You squirm, leaning forward, gripping on his knee as he forces you to take his cock.

He lets out a moan, still forcing your head down. You squirm trying to ignore your gag reflex. After a few moments, you try to pull your head back but Levi is stronger than you, holding you in place. You push on his knees as you try to pull out, out of breath, and choking. He lets go of your head and you immediately pull out, panting, a string of saliva hanging from the corner of your lips as you look up at him.

"Tch, such a messy slut..." Levi says smirking down at you. You try your best to hide your blush as you lean forward again but Levi stops you. He stands up, and circles you until he's standing behind you.

"Stand up, brat..." Levi commands and you obey without questioning. "As much as I'd love to see your pretty lips wrapped around my cock, I want to bend you over the table and fuck you" he continues, his hands grabbing your boobs from behind giving them a firm squeeze. You bite down on your tongue to keep yourself from making any sounds that would give Levi a chance to gloat.

"I love how you thought a dress would be an appropriate outfit for cleaning my office... easy to discard..." He says unzipping your dress from behind, quickly discarding everything on your body except your panties. You feel shy, even vulnerable. You're grateful that Levi cannot see your face at that moment. He grabs the back of your head, bending you over his table, forcing your head down. You let out a squeal and place your palms on the table as he does that.

"Stay, brat..." Levi says stepping back. You can hear him curse under his breath as he takes in the sight of you bending over his table. He quickly removes his shirt and is behind you once again, his hand gripping your hips tightly.

"I have something in my mind Y/N..." Levi says and you look at him over your shoulder. "Oh? What is it Captain?" you ask, in your most innocent tone.

"Fuck, you act way too innocent brat, but now I know what kind of a dirty slut you are! That innocent act isn't going to work against me" Levi says, his hands grabbing your ass cheeks, caressing them, squeezing them, occasionally spanking them.

"I- don't know what you're talking about Captain..." you say, trying your best to not grin as you now look up at him with your best puppy dog eyes. Levi just stares at you for a moment with an amused grin plastered on his face as he shakes his head.

"Oh, Y/N... So you're saying that you wouldn't want me to tie your hands behind your back as I fuck you like you always fantasize about...?" Levi says teasingly.

"Wait! I never said that!" You say, pushing yourself off the table only to be pushed back down by Levi, followed by a hard spank. You yelp, whimpering at the sensation.

"Tch, don't misbehave now brat," Levi says as he leans down to grab his belt off the flood. "Now, will you be a good brat?" Levi asks as he rubs his belt over your ass cheeks and you nod.

"Good," He says, grabbing both of your wrists and bringing them behind your back as he tightly fastens his belt around your hands.

"Now, I have a few rules. Do you think you can follow them?" Levi asks, slipping your panties down your legs. "Y-Yes Captain Levi..." you say, squirming as you feel the cool air hit your now exposed pussy.

He slowly trails his fingers up your legs until he reaches your pussy. "Good. Rule number one, you cannot cum without permission..." Levi says as his fingers start moving up and down your pussy lazily, spreading your wetness. "O-okay captain..." You say as you moan lowly, nodding.

"Rule number two, you'll beg like a good little slut if you want to cum....got it?" Levi says, leaning down, his lips brushing against your neck, his fingers still rubbing your pussy. "Mhmm..." you moan out, tilting your head to the side to give him more access to your neck.

"Good girl..." Levi says, one of his fingers now pressing against your entrance as he slowly pushes his finger inside, while also biting down on your neck. "P-please... more Captain..." you moan out.

Levi just smirks, sucking and nipping at the spot on your neck, making sure that he's gonna leave a huge mark there. He moves his finger around before pulling it out, agonizingly slowly, until he pushes in two fingers inside you, slowly fingering you while kissing and biting your neck. He pulls away after a few moments, satisfied at the mark starting to form on your neck. You moan, spreading your legs further desperately wanting more.

"Tch. Needy slut..." Levi says as he stands up and pulls his fingers out of you. "And for rule number 3, I want you to keep repeating, 'I'm a whore' when you cum and not stop until you get down from your high...understood?"

Levi says as his fingers are replaced with the head of his cock rubbing over your pussy driving you wild. You moan in response, lifting your hips to get more of him. Levi grips your hips with his free hand, steadying you. "Use your mouth, brat!" Levi says slapping your ass again.

"Understood Captain!" you squeal out.

"Good girl..." Levi says, slowly pushing his tip inside your pussy. Levi sucks in another deep breath as he grips your hips with both his hands, letting out a low, primal grunt before slowly pulling out a little before pushing, almost forcing his cock inside your pussy. You moan loudly, almost unable to move in this position.

He's about halfway in when he leans down and whispers in your ear, "you're so wet that I would've slipped in easy if your tiny little pussy wasn't so tight,"

His unrefined words send a shiver through you. A few more thrusts and Levi manages to push his entire length inside you. He pauses for a moment once he's inside, then grabs your arms and starts pounding into your pussy without any warning.

You let out a moan, your pussy clenching around his cock as your fingers ball into a fist at the overwhelming sensation. "F-fuck Captain!" You scream, bucking your hips towards him.

Levi just grunts in response, pounding in your pussy harder, his other hand snakes around your waist, his fingers trailing down, finding your clit as he starts to rub it. You moan clenching your pussy around his cock and you hear Levi moan. You lift your right leg propping it over his desk, spreading yourself to Levi.

Levi smirks as you do that, now plunging in your pussy with more force and speed, his cock hitting at a different angle which makes your eyes roll to the back of your head. You feel the knot build up in your lower stomach, your orgasm building with each hard thrust.

His fingers rub your clit vigorously all the while pummeling into you from behind, you cannot help but moan out, your moans often getting stuck in your throat at particular hard and deep thrusts.

"What a good little whore with a good little cunt, taking my cock in her pussy like a little fuck toy that she is..." Levi says grunting. The way he's talking and fucking you, making your head spin as you near your orgasm.

"I- Captain I'm close... may I please cum...?" You say, your breathing shallow, words barely coming out of your mouth.

"Mm no. Beg slut. You can do better than that!" Levi says, his grip on your hands tightening and his movements getting sloppier.

"P-Please Levi... I wanna cum so bad! Please let me cum around your cock like the slut I am! Please!" you scream out, clenching your pussy hard as you try your best to hold it in.

"Mm fuck brat, cum... cum around my cock you whore..." Levi says, his fingers leaving your clit, now both his hands grabbing your arms that are tied behind your back and he starts fucking you harder, as he presses your body down on the table.

"God fuck! I- am a whore Captain! I'm a wh-ore... I'm a whore..." you scream/ moan, your breathing uneven as you cum hard around his cock.

"Mm.. fuck... good girl..." Levi says in between grunts and with one final hard thrust, Levi climaxes inside you.

He pulls out after a few moments and unties your hands. You stand up, your legs still shaking. Levi turns you around and pushes you back so you're sitting on his desk. He rests his hands on either side of your body, trapping you there. You're still hazy from all the events to even be shy or flustered about what just happened.

You look up at Levi and he's just smiling at you.

"I want to do this more often, brat. I'll be taking you out tomorrow..." Levi says, his hand coming up to caress your cheek.

"Oh... I-..." you don't fully process what he's saying and Levi seems to understand that by your expression and your reaction.

"It's a date Y/N," Levi says chuckling as he pecks your lips.

"And don't worry, we'll try out every single thing you've written in that diary of yours and even more..." Levi says grinning.

"Captain!" you squeal out blushing, hiding your face in your hands and Levi just laugh.

"Tch. It's Levi for you, except when I'd be fucking you..." Levi says grinning as he pulls you in for a hug.

Your heart is still racing at the events and you cannot help but smile like an idiot at the thought of Levi liking you romantically.

********

Gaaaah I didn't know how to end it! And it's like 3 am here and I am so sleep-deprived lmao. I hope that you didn't feel like the chapter was rushed!

Thank you for taking time to read my stories!