#sans being protective of his room because he's a little embarrassed of the evidence of his rot time (depression) just being out in the open

[angelbitezzz]

More skeleton shenanigans (full doodle page under the cut)

[reservoirreputation]

Dimples Extras: Part Two

Some BTS stuff for my Reservoir Dogs fic Dimples. Best if you read that first, just crawl my blog a bit.

Part One was about the original outline.

This, Part Two, is about the order of the scenes, both for drafts one and two. The story's non-linear, so this can be a fun little guide for anyone who feels a little lost after reading/rereading it.

Fun fact, before reading: the fic was meant to be 50/50 Larry and Freddy's POVs. The story felt a little light, though, so I included scenes from Holdaway and Freddy's Mom's POVs. So, the original intent of the fic would essentially exclude chapters one and two, which just feels too weird to think about now. As a result, however, the fic now feels more Freddy-centric, for obvious reasons.

Another note: some scenes got changed or scrapped entirely, so if for some reason you're reading this first, the fic isn't exactly going to reflect this post.

Really nerdy shit below. You've been warned.

CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF EVENTS (Draft One)

-Freddy wakes up, Freddy’s Mom visits him in the hospital, putting the idea out there for him to move back in with her.

-Freddy talks to the cops/supervisors. Lays out his terms.

-Time jump to Larry, freshly transferred to jail, post-physical therapy. Meets up with Pink. They talk about Cabot, Freddy. Larry thinks Freddy is dead, Pink disagrees.

-A newspaper article about Freddy’s triumphant return to the force makes the rounds in jail.

-Cabot’s loyalists pay Pink and Larry a visit, telling them to keep their mouths shut, that they don’t blame them (Larry) for things going wrong, that they lay the responsibility at the LAPD’s feet.

-Freddy’s first real day back on the force. He thinks over how he felt/feels about the dept. He sees that the diamonds from the failed heist are in their evidence locker. He does his job.

-A week later, the workplace harassment begins. 

-Freddy’s Mom visits a second time, Wendy is brought up. Freddy contacts Pink and Larry’s defense attorney, to try and help their case.

-Keats visits his new clients, tell them of Freddy’s intentions. They say it doesn’t help with their present Cabot problems.

-Freddy has his not-date with Wendy. He realizes, in trying to explain to the mindset of being undercover, that he sees Mr. Orange as an extension of himself.

-The trial, where Pink, Orange and White are reunited in the same room, Freddy ‘crumbles’ under cross exam, and Pink points out that the diamond haul is looking a little small. Pink and Larry are sentenced.

-Freddy resigns from the force the next day. He’s now betrayed a second group of people, becoming a social leper. He knows that his court performance protects Pink and Larry in the short-term, but that by embarrassing the PD, a retrial, or worse, a murder trial, was likely to go ahead.

Pink and Larry are transferred to prison proper. Because of how high-profile the case was, they’re immediately being bullied by the prison guards. They’re met by a new group of Cabot loyalists. The prisoners start to harass Larry, specifically. Freddy’s resignation is made known.

-Larry considers what Freddy’s true intentions are. If the guy who was head-over-heels for Larry ever really existed, or if Freddy actually does care.

-A month later, and Keats calls to tell Pink and Larry that murder’s back on the table. He also says that Freddy’s skipped town, moving back in with Mom.

-A week later, Freddy finishes moving in up in San Fran, has leftover business in LA. He visits Wendy one more time. 

-Freddy leaves his car by the Golden Gate Bridge, leading cops to assume he’s killed himself. He makes the long journey to LA, first on foot, then by stealing a series of cars, as well as buying in cash a change of clothes. He stays in a cheap hotel for the night.

-Pink and Larry are being transferred to the courthouse in the early morning. A commotion is heard outside the van. They assume it’s Cabot’s men, who were lying and just wanted Pink and Larry to have their guard down.

-It turns out that Freddy is the one who, successfully, carjacked the van. He gives Pink and Larry a quick recap, and the three split.

NEW ORDER+NEW SCENES.

FREDDY’S MOM

-Holdaway visits Freddy’s Mom to deliver the bad news; it appears her son has disappeared, his car found parked near the golden gate. She knows what they’re implying; she denies the possibility that her son would kill himself. She goes on to say that Cabot’s men had something to do with this. That the PD failed her son by not putting him in witness protection. 

-Several months prior, with Freddy’s Mom and the first time she saw Freddy after surgery. It shows that she encouraged him to move up there with her.

-Freddy’s graduation, where he tells Mom about becoming a cop. How strained things were between he and Wendy.

-Holdaway handing the phone to Freddy, saying that his Mom was chewing his ear off. They couldn’t tell her he was undercover, but still had to put her mind at ease.

-Mom having to fly down to LA for the most tense hour of her life; Freddy’s critically injured. She gives consent over the phone, getting him into surgery.

-Mom meeting up with Wendy, and her hopes for her son’s future. She sets up a not-date between them, not long after Freddy’s returned to the force.

-She finishes readying Freddy’s old room, his stuff still in boxes. She finds a note on his pillow, which he had told her earlier was a list of things she could get for him. The note really reads: “I’m not where they say I am. I’m safe. Burn this.” She has to just trust her son, and thinks he’d only do this if he had no choice. She burns the note, and thinks of all the people to blame; Cabot’s men, who she knew were a problem because of the trial, and the LAPD, who didn’t take care of her son while out in the field, or put him in witness protection when he was rescued from the warehouse.

HOLDAWAY

-He’s at the diner he and Freddy would exchange info at. The mom’s words linger in his head. Holdaway feels info of his own eat him up inside; that the LAPD had become resentful of Freddy, and were actively making him feel unwelcome.

-When he’s first assigned Freddy’s case; meeting Newnadyke for the first time.

-The first meeting they have, and Freddy feeling iced out by everyone, but that this cat, White, has taken a shine to him. How he turns red even admitting that. No one says the quiet part out loud.

-Freddy in physical therapy. Using light weights. There’s a tension between them. By the end, Holdaway’s imploring Freddy to change his story. “Not a story if it’s true” “Fuck off, man, this is your life we’re talking about.” It’s public, no more is said.

-Holdaway, not one to visit the LAPD’s HQ often, overhears some newer personnel who don’t recognize him/ his connection to Freddy; they start talking shit about how Newandyke isn’t the same after the warehouse. That the guy’s saying nothing, or not saying enough, or not said it correctly, and that Freddy’s loyalties have changed. That, without ever being arrested, Freddy was the diamond heist crew’s bitch. They giggle about it, seek Holdaway’s approval when he doesn’t laugh. “Hope I never find one of you boys in my department.” he smiles. “What’s that?” “Undercover training.” his smile vanishes. The rookies pale, make excuses, and wither under Holdaway’s glare.

-Holdaway asks Freddy out for a drink, where they talk about the robbery trial. Freddy reveals he’s handed in his badge.

-Holdaway finds out about Pink and Larry’s murder trial, and how Freddy was skipping town, He thinks that it’s for the best.

LARRY

-Pink and Larry are being transferred to the courthouse in the early morning. A commotion is heard outside the van. They assume it’s Cabot’s men, who were lying and just wanted Pink and Larry to have their guard down.

-Time jump to Larry, freshly transferred to jail, post-physical therapy. Meets up with Pink. They talk about Cabot, Freddy. Larry thinks Freddy is dead, Pink disagrees.

-Larry and Orange are alone, for the first time. A sense of nerves, posturing. He calls out Orange for being a pretender; that it’s okay to be scared shitless. Something changes in the kid’s eyes. A vulnerability. They share a smoke, Larry cupping the other’s hands to steady the light. It’s electric.

-A newspaper article about Freddy’s triumphant return to the force makes the rounds in jail.

-White shows up at Orange’s place, ready to go scout the jewelry store. Says the kid looks too much like a punk, should change into something more cheerful. Orange marches back into his apartment, and soon comes out wearing a floral shirt that’s a damn-near carbon copy of Larry’s. This cracks him up. Orange continues to mimic Larry, trying to get a rise out of him, but White is just tickled. They fall into comfortable silence, and Larry just catches the kid out of the corner of his eye, drinking him in. Makes him feel special.

-Cabot’s loyalists pay Pink and Larry a visit, telling them to keep their mouths shut, that they don’t blame them (Larry) for things going wrong, that they lay the responsibility at the LAPD’s feet.

-Larry wakes up from surgery, handcuffed to the hospital bed. He’s told by some cops to start talking. Larry only says ‘no’. The badge says, if you don’t, your buddy certainly will. Larry figures they mean Pink, the only one not in the shootout. Larry still says ‘no’. The cop threatens that their witness, not one of his cronies, will tell. He thinks they mean Orange, and that they’re bluffing. It barely crosses his mind that they’d be better off charging him with murder.

-Keats visits his new clients, tell them of Freddy’s intentions. They say it doesn’t help with their present Cabot problems.

-The trial, where Pink, Orange and White are reunited in the same room. Just as Freddy takes the stand, the chapter closes.

FREDDY

-Freddy wakes up, Freddy’s Mom visits him in the hospital, putting the idea out there for him to move back in with her.

-Freddy talks to the cops/supervisors. Lays out his terms.

-Freddy, when he’s first pitched the undercover job. Telling his Mom that he’ll be out of contact for a while, and to reach Holdaway if she needs to pass along anything. Freddy feels like this is the first time he can explore a side of himself he’s always repressed; all throughout high school, he knew he wanted to be a cop. Missed out on all the stupid bullshit most kids indulged in. Keep his nose clean, his reputation spotless. Which also means no chasing after guys, even in Queerville, USA. Freddy sacrificed his own interests and development to insure he could get in. Only to find out later on, he was the one of the very few that cared to that extent. 

-Freddy’s first real day back on the force. He thinks over how he felt/feels about the dept. He sees that the diamonds from the failed heist are in their evidence locker. He does his job.

-The time White tells Orange his name. It, like the events of the failed heist, was given out of sympathy. Freddy rejects it, doesn’t want the man’s pity, but Larry follows it up with, ‘if you wanna work with me again, I’d much rather us be on a first-name basis’. The pull this has on Freddy, and how he tried to bury it. ‘You might get away with it, but I ain’t Joe’s buddy’ ‘You can tell me, after’ 

-A week later, the workplace harassment begins. 

-The first time Freddy got such a note, back in middle school. His Dad was still alive, then. Told him the only way to properly respond when your manhood’s questioned was by violence. Someone labels you this, they may as well have put a target on your back. You can believe in progress all you want, but you can’t give a trigger-happy bigot an excuse, especially as a kid. His Mom says that’s bullshit, but only to the first part; settle things with words, not violence. Freddy ends up telling a funny enough joke that the bully backs off, mirroring his efforts to get in good with Joe’s crew. Not long after, his father dies to a stray bullet from a road rage incident. If she could, his Mom would’ve wrapped Freddy in bubble wrap, and never let him leave the house.

-Freddy’s Mom visits a second time, Wendy is brought up. Freddy contacts Pink and Larry’s defense attorney, to try and help their case.

-Freddy gets drunk, one night; he talked to White earlier, asking him about what to do, if anything should go wrong. In the car, White so casually laying out violent acts, reminds him of what his Dad would’ve said. About how he’d overheard numerous times the guys back at the station saying similar, or worse. How they were all just two sides of the same coin, and would probably get along with each other on a blind date, should occupations be a banned topic. Freddy could see the thieves’ perspectives. That’s when the drinking began. Betraying these criminals wasn’t that far off from screwing over the PD. Another drink was in order. He calls White. Doesn’t know why, just does. Maybe he’ll confess, like a petty criminal to a cop. See how the roles so easily reverse? He throws up. Washes his mouth out. Does another shot. He forgets about White showing up. ‘You alright?’ ‘Peachy’ ‘You need me to hang around?’ ‘I need you to stop being so nice’ Figures as a last ditch effort to getting thrown out of the group, to scare White off, ‘Or you can kiss me and make me feel better.’ he tries to sneer, but only feels his face burn. Worst part is, White doesn’t decline, ‘I know you’re nervous, but maybe after the job-’ ‘It’ll get easier?’ White blushes, ‘I’d take you up on that offer.’ Well, that backfired.

-Freddy has his not-date with Wendy. He realizes, in trying to explain to the mindset of being undercover, that he sees Mr. Orange as an extension of himself.

LARRY

-The trial, where Pink, Orange and White are reunited in the same room, (cont) Freddy ‘crumbles’ under cross exam, and Pink points out that the diamond haul is looking a little small. Pink and Larry are sentenced

[volleychumps]

hey hey hey i love you & your work 🥺🥺💕 can i request hc or scenario (up to you, love) of akaashi, ushijima, & tsukki being cramped on a busy subway train with the girl they like and having to like be v close & trying to give each other room but there IS NO ROOM and ! there’s a pervert feeling her up and they see she’s Very Uncomfy and save her from it? thanks ily 💓💓 congrats on 3k

Thank you for 3.4k! Have some fwuffy scenarios you guys seem to like protective boyos tehe 

Protecting their Crush on a Subway w/ Akaashi, Ushijima, and Tsukishima

Warning(s): depictions of harassment 

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

Akaashi

He knew you rode this train. 

It was an evident fact that stood out in his mind when he would board after a grueling practice, instantly seeing you in the same spot at the same time of the day after your own club activities, either immersed in a book or your playlist, a light tune in your throat. Akaashi would make sure to always sit on the other side, risking a glance at two at you from the other side of the subway train, always keeping a distance- yet always keeping you in sight. 

And it was evident that the setter had no intentions on acting on any blooming feelings he felt emerging from your small giggles reserved for yourself, or even the tasteful choice of book of the day you flipped through. He was satiated from his distance, hands tucked away in the warmth of his pockets as he watched you hurriedly tuck your novel away and get off at your stop. 

Until the day came where the distance was closed. Harshly. 

He wondered where you were as the sun set and the train conductor was making their final calls, the subway growing unbearably cramped- a fact he noticed as soon as he realized your absence- not being able to handle the small quirk to the corner of his lips when you stumble on out of breath just as the final call was being heard. 

Blue-green eyes watch from a peripheral view as you bite your lip at the sight of your seat being taken, looking around kind of lost before your eyes fell on his school uniform. Akaashi tilts his head, scooting just enough towards the person next to him to make room that had your eyes brightening at the motion. 

 Your grateful smile had both corners of his lips quirking up now, and you sit graciously in the seat next to him while whispering a small thank you, now not having to stand up and hold onto one of the rails. He simply nods, looking down at his own book but not really paying attention to it, noticing a bit too late that your leg was pressed tightly up against his. He feels the blush emerge before he can stop it, but keeps his eyes on the inked words. 

But his leg wasn’t the only one yours was pressed against. 

He feels you stiffen mere minutes after the train began to move, and his blue eyes drifted to his left to break the ice and talk to you-

and he wished they had sooner. 

Akaashi’s eyes narrow at the sight of a dirty hand inching towards your thigh, exposed from the skirt of your school uniform. You were quiet and reserved at school (one of Akaashi’s favorite traits), and was most likely not the type to speak up when an incident like this was happening. And he wasn’t either. 

Until now. 

He casts a glance to your face to see you near tears, face flushed in embarrassment as you internally struggle with the choice of making a scene, prompting Akaashi to shut his book with a sharp clap, feeling your trembling increase as the hand slides up further. You feel his breath tickle your ear as you look at him slightly, watery eyes blinking in confusion. 

“Excuse me, L/N-san.” 

Your eyes widen a little bit when Akaashi’s arm wraps around your waist, reaching behind you to snatch the other side tightly, pulling you into his side snugly so far away from the perv next to you that your leg is almost on top of his. Akaashi ignores the thump in his ears and heat in his cheeks as he rests your head on his shoulder, lifting his head slightly to shoot a venomous glare at your perpetrator over your head. 

The old man laughs nervously, deciding it was a good time to get off as the train came to a stop, nodding once to Akaashi before making a hasty exit. 

Akaashi sighs, narrowing his eyes further when he saw all the extra space, signaling that the old bag had been pressing up to you on purpose. He lets go of your waist immediately, not surprised you scrambled off him as fast as you did. 

“I’m sorry for acting rashly, I-” 

“Thank you!” You bow deeply, now having the room to do so as the volume of the train car had lessened drastically. “A-Akaashi-san, right? I see you around school sometimes so don’t freak out, I know you’re a gentleman! How do I make it-?” 

“L/N-san.” 

You tilt your head, and Akaashi hums, content look on his face as he opens his book back up. 

“You missed your stop.” 

“You...know my...?” 

“Will you allow me to walk you home when my stop comes?” Akaashi rushes out, internally beating up for his mistake before a warm smile crosses your face, the setter relaxing at the sight of it as you nod once. 

“I’d like that.” 

“Very well.” Akaashi clears his throat as you shift a bit closer to him despite the distance you could easily put between the two of you. 

“What are you reading?” 

Akaashi feels his lips curl again, anger fading away as he tilts the book in your direction to explain, legs touching one another voluntarily-

suddenly glad the distance had been closed. 

Ushijima

He always stood two hand rails down from you. 

The train ride home had always been a rather cramped one, but the regulars on this train were the same people who knew that the certain railing you were holding was yours at this time of the day. And Ushijima’s railing was his. 

Two away. 

Ushijima saw the way your face lit up when you talked to Tendou, the kind smile gracing your features enough to make a foreign feeling bump around in his chest as he stood off to the side awkwardly. Tendou had flicked your forehead, and you had pouted in his direction with the most adorable eyes-

“Are you just going to let your friend bully me?” 

And then you had taken his arm, sticking your tongue out at Tendou as you pretended to begin to pull him in another direction. 

“Just for being an ass, I’m stealing your one and only Ushijima~” 

“YOU WOULDN’T DARE-” 

But the funny thing? He found himself wanting to go in the direction you had wanted him to, your small hand wrapped around his bicep as the wing spiker tried to translate just what he was feeling. 

And when you let go, he blinked. And blinked some more as you giggled and waved as you walked off, suddenly wishing Tendou hadn’t interfered as the redhead places a curse on you from afar. 

He glances at you, hand loosely holding onto the holder above your head, eyes cast downward. You probably didn’t know you were on the same train, seeing that you never looked at your surroundings much due to your focus on your phone. 

But he suddenly wished you looked around you before you left yourself vulnerable to the person who wasn’t a regular on the train. 

Ushijima’s glances turn to a full on-stare at what was happening, eyes hardening at the sight of some geezer approaching you from behind, resting his front against you as you freeze. The brunette boy watches as your face contorts to one of fear, the phone screen turning off and stopping it’s illumination on your face. 

And then you glanced around for help, instantly locking eyes with him. 

Ushijima moved hastily, maneuvering around the oblivious passengers before stopping to tilt his head intimidatingly at the man pressed up behind you. 

Two handrails away. 

“Y/N, there you are. I was starting to think you missed the train because I didn’t see you.”

Ushijima smoothly steps between your harasser, taking his place and ignoring the slight stumbling of the pervert, keeping a respectful distance from you before his hands rest on the same handrail. Olive eyes peer down at you, his worry for you winning against the anger in his head. 

He glances behind you, eyes narrowing down into a glare as the old perv whistles and looks in every direction except his, Ushijima’s height and pissed-off expression now very apparent. 

“Something you needed, sir?” The words come out lacking any form of respect, and the geezer only shakes his head no hastily before making an excuse to go to the other side of the train car, leaving as the train comes to it’s next stop. 

Ushijima doesn’t take his eyes off of him until he’s out the doors, huffing through his nose with a shake of his head before glancing down at you, seeing a slight quiver to your shoulders before sighing. He goes to move away, wanting to give you much-needed space-

but your hand grabbed the side of his school jacket before he could take a single step. 

“U-Ushijima-Kun...” 

Olive eyes widen at the tear that slipped your eye as you looked up at him, tremble in your voice. 

“Could you...stay there?” 

And the thump was back in his chest, Ushijima merely nodding once as you relax your grip on the side of his jacket, facing forward again as you hastily wipe at your eyes. 

“Um, sorry to ask, but could we maybe ride the train together going forward-?” 

“Yes.” 

You turn again at his abrupt response, the kind smile filling your face in relief as Ushijima finds himself giving a content one back, tightening his grip on the railing-

now no longer two rails away. 

Tsukishima

He preferred to stand. 

Lesser chance that people would have to be so close to him, easier to mind his own business, his height giving him an innocent view of...

You. 

You who sat with one leg crossed over the other as you absent-mindedly stared at the outside flashing by with the speed of the train, lost in your thoughts as the tall blonde who held the railing a few feet away could watch as you entered your head- void of reality. He would watch as a book lay-half open in your lap, your thumb holding your place as you watch the world from outside the train window flit by.

Tsukishima liked how lost you got. 

Like the day you had bumped into him, the blonde already pissed about getting to school late before now having deal with disheveled you, jacket hanging halfway off your body and still pulling a shoe on. You had looked up at him with a doe-eyed expression, apologizing profusely as Tsukishima remained indifferent, this close to snapping before- 

“Here! Take this, you’re late too so you probably didn’t get to eat anything-” 

And then a pastry was shoved into his hands before you were running off into the entrance, waving backwards before turning around slightly, the blonde boy bewildered as a wide grin passed your face- 

“See you around!” 

Tsukishima found himself wanting to do the same as well, unwrapping the pastry that was much too sweet for the morning-

still chewing on it as he mildly walked up to the entrance you had darted off in, now not annoyed at the fact that he had been late in the first place as sugar coated his tongue. 

Tsukishima kept you in his line of sight, immersed in his phone while knowing if you had caught him it would probably be translated as some creepy action, but you never had looked away from the outside. He wondered what would happen in the case that you did, knowing he surely wouldn’t be trying to get your attention- 

And he suddenly wished you would look away to notice the odd man oh-so-casually gripping the railing that was in front of your seat, stepping in front of you with no good-intentions behind his smirk. 

Tsukishima loses his grip on the railing above as the man begins to talk you up, you flinching at the sound of the voice in surprise before innocently peering up at him with that same doe-eyed expression-

the look on your face a bit too familiar with the blonde as the man nears even closer, a look of uncomfort passing over your face as it looks like you’re kindly telling him that you’re still a high-schooler.

Tsukishima feels his jaw clench when the stranger grabs a few strands of your hair, rubbing it between his fingers as you flinch away, his hand darting out to grab your face-

“Oji-chan, that’s not a very nice way to touch a girl, is it?” 

The smile on Tsukishima’s face was feigned so-obviously, golden-brown eyes spinning in a dangerous glint as he tilts his head, smile straining as he raises his voice. 

“If I didn’t know any better, it would be harrassment if that girl didn’t like it- oh! Is she crying?” Tsukishima clicks his tongue as the onlookers begin to take their phones out, whispering amongst themselves in judgement as the perpetrator stumbles over his words. 

He casts a glare to the blonde as Tsukishima’s grin only widens, scoffing before getting off the train as it comes to it’s next stop. Tsukishima ignores the applause when the perverted man steps off, merely stepping in front of you and gripping the railing above as you look up at him with eyes brimmed with tears. 

The grin fades as Tsukishima sighs, collapsing in the now-open seat next to you before looking straight ahead, voice now it’s signature monotone as he sits his bag next to him. 

“Oi. You can cry. I won’t judge you. Much.” 

And he doesn’t stop you as you lean your head on his shoulder and let your tears of relief slip freely down your cheeks, the blonde shooting glares at anyone sending you pitiful looks until your stop comes. You wipe away your tears hastily, looking behind you in confusion when Tsukishima grabs his bag to get up with you. 

“What-?” 

“Are you dense? I’m walking you home.” Tsukishima glares at you, daring you to comment on it before grabbing your forearm and dragging you off the train, your sniffling filling his ears as he begins to walk out of the station. 

“Hey.” 

“Hm?” You manage out after directing him to where your house is, the blonde still three steps in front of you as his hold on your forearm tightens just a little more. 

“Wait for me after school. You’re riding with me from now on.” 

“But-” 

“Okay? Goodnight.” 

Tsukishima turns on his heel, wishing he could hear your door open to ensure you get in okay before your voice makes him stop mid-step. 

“T-Thank you! I’ll be waiting after school...Tsukishima-Kun.” 

The blonde glances behind him, lips curling up into a smirk at the sight of a pretty smile now filling your face in the moonlight. 

“You won’t get lost when you’re with me, idiot. Let me see you go in before I change my mind.” 

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

General Works: @takemetovalhalla @savemesteeb @kasandrafaye @dreebbles @yams046 @aprettyfruit @therestless101 @dai-tsukki-desu @lifeisntjustblackandwhite @curiouslilbeast @wisepandaslimeland @deadontheinsidebut @lmkjimin @h0ngh0ngh0ng @theworldupthere @itz-tooru @orangegiraffe7

[prose-for-hire]

Love, and dust, is in the air

Pairing: Spike x reader

Request: Do you think you could maybe do something where Spike always goes soft around the reader because he loves her? No matter what, even if he's yelling at the Scoobies and she walks in late he just instantly deflates and gets a dopey smile because he thinks she's so cute and innocent. Oo maybe he gets angry and protective cuz someone tries to attack her but she steaks them like a badass and then dotes on Spike cuz he got injured? And he's embarrassed cuz he wasn't scary but she finds him cute too?

Requested by: Anonymous

Part Two

Warning: Swearing. Fighting. Spike gets hurt.

A/N: Again, I got overexcited with writing the demon/backstory involved. No vampires today, but protective Spike and a reader who can handle themselves and be soft with him at the same time.

There was a demon out causing chaos in Sunnydale, which was not enough to haul you out of bed apparently. It was something that happened a lot, so you had to have a little pass for not hurrying just to have to sit in a long meeting that would probably involve a lot of reading and arguing about how best to get rid of whatever gross demon was trying to play havoc with the town you lived in.

At the Magic Box, everyone sans yourself, were discussing at great length the best way to remove the cursed Egyptian mummy that had started to suck people’s brains out through their noses. The mummy was flanked by two feral jackals that mauled anyone that interrupted the process. There was some debate around the ritual to return the mummy back into its resting place as it appeared that the jackals would not easily allow for the process to happen. They appeared to be the ones in control, not the mummy. This meant there would need to be some way of slaying the jackals so they could perform the ritual, but Giles and Willow were heatedly discussing the merits of humanely removing the jackals or just giving them a good stab from a big, pointy object. No guesses for who was arguing what.

This meant that Spike was getting irritated. It was annoying that the little group had to run the morality triathlon before it came back to what it always did. A good old fashioned fight. He was itching for it, ready to take them all on himself if none of them were willing to give over on the fight.

“But they’re sentient beings, Giles! You can’t just kill animals because they aren’t behaving how you like”

“They are bloody tearing half of the town limb from limb, Willow! To think that there is any other way is-”

“Bloody idiotic! The lot of you! You for entertaining the big song and dance about it and you for being, well, the bleeding bloody heart of the operation! They’re evil, they’re trying to kill you – it’s kill or bloody be killed so you can all have a big scholarly debate on the matter but I’m going out there and getting it done”

“Spike! You don’t make the decisions, we need to tread carefully or-” Buffy warned.

“Or what your head might bloody explode at the idea of actually slaying a demon and not shagging it to kingdom come? You wanna send it to hell in a nice neat little bow? Well let’s bloody go!”

“The jackals are just protecting the Mummy, something they’ve been bound to for centuries – we can’t just kill them for their loyalty!” Willow insisted, perhaps a little close to home for her. She had been with Oz for a long time and she knew that although the jackals were double the size they should be and highly aggressive, they could still feel.

“You’re fucking ridiculous – the lot of you! I’ve never seen so many self-congratulating, fake moral prats in one-” but Spike didn’t finish his sentence. You had walked in. His hand was still in mid-air from where he had been pointing around the room, but his face softened when he saw it was you. He didn’t want to shout in front of you, to hurt you, and he definitely didn’t want you to think that he was including you when he insulted the rest of the group.

He loved you, unconditionally. He was all-in, he just struggled to get close to you because the others were always getting in his way. You were sort of quiet, something he assumed meant you were somewhat innocent, but you weren’t necessarily shy around him. He liked the way your eyes lit up when he said something you found humorous and he liked that when you did manage to get a chance to speak to him, you were always kind to him. You even hugged him once after a fight and he thought he might pass out at how euphoric your affection made him feel. He had surprised you and wrapped his arms around you tight, making you smile so wide.

All of the fight that was in him had deflated when you walked in, all of the harsh words gone. His eyes were on you as you sneaked in and sat down without a word trying to hide the fact that you were late.

He appeared to have melted, smiling at you slightly, lowering himself into the seat beside you as you smiled back, despite Giles berating you for being late and the argument about how best to remove the mummy and it’s pets from the hellmouth started up around you again. But Spike no longer cared. You were here, they could talk in circles all night for all he cared, at least he’d be able to watch over you while they spoke.

Willow, Tara, Anya and Giles were staying behind to conduct the ritual so that when the jackals were either distracted or taken out (there still wasn’t a consensus) the mummy could be restored back to its sarcophagus in the Sunnydale museum with someone needing to attack when the Mummy was weakened. You had been paired with Spike to one part of Sunnydale with Xander and Buffy in the opposite direction. Spike had tried to insist you stayed behind but you told him you would be okay.

“You don’t need to be here, love, I can take care of this. Get yourself safely in bed, you look like you could use a nap”

“You think I look tired?” Your brow furrowed a little in that way he found cute. He spluttered, trying to assure you he definitely didn’t mean it that way. He had just wanted to protect you, it was more likely that Xander and Buffy came across the threat anyway, the demons had a tendency to go gunning for the slayer for some reason.

A figure started to stagger towards you both, interrupting the look Spike was giving you that was starting to make a heat rise in your cheeks. A figure started to walk slowly towards you, as if it could feel your presence. 

 “It’s the mummy!” You shouted, your eyes wide as Spike stepped in front of you, making sure he would be the target. Apparently, the threat was yours for today. It rounded on you, but Spike wasn’t having any of it.

“No you bloody don’t” Spike warned, spinning the mummy away with a hard kick to the chest after it lunged at you, knocking you to the floor. He helped you up, his touch in complete contrast to a second ago, he was gentle as he pulled you to your feet. As if he were scared to break you. The anger behind is eyes was evident, his jaw tensed when he saw the graze on your elbow. It was small and you were fine, but to him this was as if it had torn both of your arms off. He started to get brutal, as the jackals rounded the corner, prowling towards you both. Spike moved you behind him, a hand resting on you protectively, his touch always soft with you. The jackals circled you both, as the mummy walked towards you again, making Spike even more angry.

“You don’t come near them” He snarled, taking all of the attention from you. Spike, although he did have a brain that could be taken, wouldn’t be a target. They wanted human brains. Your brains.

The jackals leaped, both at Spike leaving the mummy staggering towards you, hands out as if ready to hold you down so it could extract what it wanted from you. Spike was violently kicking at the beasts, one had bitten into his side and the other was latched onto his leg. He had managed to fight one off but he was still struggling with the other. He looked over, the reason he was attacking them, even more aggressively than usual, was so that he could get to you. He was desperate to protect you. You had a sweet nature, he hadn’t been expecting what had come next. Even the jackal appeared to pause as it watched you punch the mummy before climbing it like a tree, kneeing it so it doubled over, allowing you to climb onto its back and secure it’s neck firmly between your hands, the way it had been threatening you.

Spike stared, his eyes wide at the way you so skilfully went for it. You didn’t even flinch as it thrashed at you. You struggled against it, trying to incapacitate it as Spike desperately tried to get out from the jackals jaw to help you. The ritual was complete, you could tell because strange golden light started to seep from cracks in the mummified flesh. It was now or never. You grabbed it’s head and twisted, it crumbled away in your hands and just as it did that, the jackals disappeared. A lot of dust started to pour from the mummy’s neck, flowing through the air as you ran over to Spike where he sat, clutching his side now the threat was gone. The mummy disintegrated as you both stared into each other’s eyes.

“That was…” He started, seemingly lost for words. He had forgotten his wounds at the sight of how capable you were in a fight. You didn’t usually get the chance to prove yourself like that, it was usually Buffy’s fight. You weren’t a slayer, just someone that had picked up some Sunnydale tricks along the way – you had to be like that on the Hellmouth, or you really wouldn’t last a week.

“You poor thing, it really bit into you” You said softly, kneeling beside him and stroking his side as he winced, “Sorry - come on, let me help” You had a mini first-aid kit you always brought on patrol that you took out and started to look for something to put on the wound. It wasn’t as deep as it could have been which you were grateful for. You didn’t want him hurt. You were really fond of him which is why you went kind of quiet around him sometimes.

“No, don’t – I just lay there like some useless git” He berated himself, his jaw tensing again in anger at himself this time. He had wanted to keep you safe. You shook your head softly, stroking your thumb along his jaw as you spoke.

“You didn’t, you looked out for me! You took on two were-jackals and lived, well – sort of, to tell the tale! That was so brave!” You insisted, giving him a smile that he savoured, your fingers still tracing his jaw. It was so sweet he was surprised when you came back the same sweetheart despite the rage he had seen as you attacked that mummy. He could tell you were being genuine too, you really found him brave. You smiled while he watched you begin to fuss over him, his gaze never leaving that face he loved so much.

As the last particles of dust lay upon the ground as a light scattering of icing sugar would, he made a decision. He was going to do it. He was going to tell you how much he loved you. He just had to figure out how.

[manikas-whims]

Kiss it better

Pairing: Shouto Todoroki X Momo Yaoyorozu

Words: 1639

Rating: T

Read on: AO3 | FFnet

“This is foul play!” Momo protests against her friends with an adorable pout. “You can’t be serious.”

“Now now Yaomomo, don’t try using your pout on us. We’re very serious.” Hagakure teases.

“Yes, this is just how a game of Truth Or Dare works.” Ashido says matter-of-factly, high-fiving an excited Uraraka.

This is so unfair. Momo Yaoyorozu has never had the luxury of enjoying fun activities that every teenager had. A courtesy of her strict parents. For fifteen years of her life, she was bound by the rules and regulations of the Yaoyorozu household and being the only child to her parents, they were even more stringent on her.

Last week, she informed the girls in her class about her lack of knowledge when it came to games like these. They were beyond flabbergasted and made it their personal mission to make Momo experience atleast half of what she missed out in these past years. Thus, they’ve promised to play one of their childhood games together on every weekends.

Today they’ve introduced her to “Truth or Dare”, a simple game in which the only rule is to choose between the two aforementioned terms and then do as instructed by the rest of the players. It sounded entertaining in the beginning but now she’s starting to regret ever agreeing to this.

“Can I switch to truth?” she asks hopefully but Tsuyu wags a finger at her in complete rejection.

Momo whines, her lips jutting out in another pout and Kyouka pats her back reassuringly but then sides with the other girls. She places the palms of her hands on her waist, breathing out in defeat as she motions her feet in the direction of the common area. Knowing well about her massive crush on Shouto Todoroki, her friends have dared her to kiss him. How is she supposed to lock lips with him when she can barely look him in the eye!?

In the common area, Bakugou and Todoroki are lounging on the couches, wet towels hanging around their necks. They must’ve just returned from their provisional license class and taken a shower. The wounds from their training are visible and fresh. She scoffs. Such a boys thing to carelessly let their scars remain untreated.

She observes the two who are too busy with their cellphones to pay attention to the show being broadcasted on the television or to each other. Craning her head back, she finds her friends standing stealthily at the wall near the stairway, expecting her to execute her dare. She sighs. How can she carry out such a task when she easily gets flustered by him. She racks the gears in her brain to come up with some kind of solution and her eyes widen at a sudden realization— she’s been asked to kiss Todoroki! However, it hasn’t been specified if the contact between their lips is mandatory, which means anything counts as long as her lips touch any part of his skin. Great! This has reduced her nervousness, albeit only slightly. She still has no plan on how she should convince him about this since she isn’t even allowed to mention about the game to him.

She frowns, her brows creasing in concentration as she watches the boy of her dreams, staring with disinterest at his phone.

Yaoyorozu is acting strange tonight. She’s been standing by the staircase for a while now, doing nothing but..observing him? Her charcoal irises hold a fiery sort of conviction in them. It may look like he’s indulged in something on his cellphone but she’s actually making it hard for him to concentrate.

He wonders if she’s mad at him for reasons unknown. Maybe because his wet hair is soaking the headrest of the couch? Or is it because he’s carelessly left his dirty shoes on the carpet? Whatever it is, he’s too tired to deal with it. He’s just returned from his provisional license training (yes, they aren’t allowed rest even on their days off) and he’s so drained that he took a quick shower and decided to dump himself on the couch until its time for dinner.

“Todoroki-san” the dark haired beauty finally approaches him and he tilts his head up to listen. “Does this wound hurt?”

He blinks as he realises she’s referring to a particularly deep cut on the left side of his cheek. Inasa had been too rough during their sparring session. Well, it obviously does sting a little as he hasn’t put a bandage on it. As a child, he was always told by his father that real men don’t cry over a little pain from their wounds. That these wounds are a constant reminder of his own weakness at being unable to protect himself from getting hurt.

“Don’t worry, it’ll heal.” He responds, his face stoic as ever.

Her eyes widen on hearing his precarious words and she shakes her head in disbelief. “I can help it heal faster.”

He arcs a brow in interest. She can? How? Has her quirk evolved further? Does her quirk now possess healing properties like the Recovery Girl? His mind starts nerding-out like Midoriya, a myriad of questions swarming his head but he curbs his curiosity and asks, “How?”

His vice class representative chews on her petal lips as if contemplating whether or not she should explain. But with a hesitant voice, she answers, “I..I can kiss it better.”

If anything, his confusion doubles. Kiss it better? Like the Recovery Girl does? She really isn’t making any sense right now.

“When I was a child,” she speaks up in a small voice when she notices his puzzled look, her hands fisting into her pink top. “My mother told me that every wound heals faster if someone kisses it. That the kiss transfers that person’s concern and affection into the wound to help it get better. So she used to do it a lot.”

The youngest Todoroki is at a loss of words. “Oh..” he says innocently.

“Yeah, everyone’s mom does it.” She adds sweetly.

He chuckles bitterly. How could he have known this when his mother wasn’t around for ten years of his life? How could he have any knowledge about such small gestures of love when his father didn't let him!? But before the thoughts of his tragic past can consume him any further, he sees her bend forward. Levelling her face with his, she inches closer and her lips gently caress the cut. It’s brief yet powerful, making him clench his left hand to keep his flames at bay. And in a heartbeat, the warmth is gone. The feeling of her soft lips is gone as she straightens back up and smiles the purest smile he has ever witnessed. A bit of the un-dried blood from his wound has smeared her lips but he finds it even more attractive, his fingers twitching at his sides.

“The hell is wrong with you two!? I’m sitting right here!!!” The booming voice of Katsuki Bakugou instantly shatters their moment and the two teens jerk away from each-other to see their classmate fuming.

Ignoring the blond’s usual angry outburst, Shouto turns to Yaoyorozu. “It worked.” He states, thankful.

The girl’s face starts flushing with embarrassment at his admission and she only nods in response before running off.

A combination of squeals greet her by the stairs and Momo finds her girlfriends grinning at her.

“You sly girl!” Ashido teases, slapping a hand on Momo’s shoulder in approval.

“The puppy-like look on Todoroki’s face made it all the more adorable.” Hagakure adds as they all ascend upstairs.

"Jeez you got some of his blood on your lips." Jirou comes forward and wipes it away with the back of her hand. Momo blushes lightly but smiles at her bestfriend.

Upon catching sight of Todoroki's wounds, Momo came up with that brilliant excuse to kiss his cheek and thus, complete her dare. But the child-like look on his face as she told him about the custom of mothers kissing their children’s wounds, was priceless. So innocent. Has he never been kissed by his mother? The mere thought saddens her but she pushes it away as she follows her friends back to her room to continue playing the game. She can’t wait to get her sweet revenge.

.

.

.

It’s seven in the morning and most of her classmates are still asleep. Yaoyorozu enters the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. She didn’t expect Bakugou and Todoroki to be up so early but then again, they have their rigorous provisional license classes regardless of today being a Sunday. She nods at them in acknowledgement and walks towards the refrigerator, pulling out some tomatoes. She begins chopping them but in her drowsy state she ends up injuring herself, the sharp edge of the knife tearing through the skin of her index finger.

“Ouch!” she moans at the painful sensation. Okay, so maybe an early morning snack was a bad idea afterall. Should she go back to her room to get some bandages. Or should she save herself the trouble and make one right now with her quirk? So then what are ingredients used in the making of a bandage?

Her thoughts are interrupted by her dual haired crush as he’s immediately at her side. Shouto takes her fingers between his own to examine the wound. And before she can even process whats happening, his thin lips are grazing the cut. She yelps and blushes as he pulls back, a small smirk evident on his face.

“There, I kissed it better.” He supplies smoothly and she averts her eyes, her face turning as red as the tomato she was chopping.

“Seriously you two! Right infront of my coffee!?” comes the shouts from Bakugou, whose presence they had failed to acknowledge yet again.

A/N: hello TodoMomo Fam. If you've read this fic, then please feel free to share your views about it via comments ☺

I'm still new to this ship so I'm trying to practice writing these two before starting an actual multi-chaptered fic. I have a plot in mind but I'm still practicing with one shots so i hope you appreciate my contribution to this ship ☺

Until Next Time...

~Manika

[dazaran]

title: you're still here ship: oda sakunosuke/edogawa ranpo   ft   'Oda was adopted by Fukuzawa too during the events of ln3' au rating: G AO3 link: here!

day two of rarepair week -- prompt : your hand in mine / scars.

The sound of loud, hard footsteps echo down the hall of the hospital building. Nearby nurses and doctors turn to focus on the source of the noise that breaks the silence of the peaceful and melancholic establishment, though it zooms past them before they can give a complaint warning. More accurately, the source is not an ‘it’ but a ‘he’ - Edogawa Ranpo, fresh off a case on the other side of the city, but one phone call from Kunikida was enough to make him order the nearest policeman at the site of his case to drive him straight to the hospital as quickly as possible.

He makes a sharp turn down another hall, and when he reaches the second door to his right, he grabs the door handle and swings it open with too much force. It bangs against the wall protector in the process, but he pays it no mind as he looks at the other side of the room with a frantic expression.

“Sakunosuke!”

A man with red hair sitting up in a hospital bed turns to meet Ranpo's gaze. There's a fresh scratch against his cheek, and gauze is wrapped around his chest from where it peeks out of his hospital gown. “Ranpo...”

Ranpo strides quickly across the room to the man’s side, palms nearly slamming on the edge of the bed before fingers grip tightly against the sheets. It makes the bedridden man wince, but it’s conveniently ignored. “You idiot - you idiot, Oda Sakunosuke! Do you know how I felt, getting a call from Kunikida that you were in the hospital?” he says, voice almost trembling.

Oda lowers his gaze in shame. “... I'm sorry.”

Ranpo shakes his head, lifting his hand to use a sleeve to wipe his nose. “Stupid... You just had to get hurt when Yosano-san’s out of town...”

Really, no one's to blame here. Not Yosano for a trip she planned months in advance because someone up north had some medicine she was eagerly anticipating, not Oda’s... Maybe a little of it was Oda’s selfless personality and the fact some amateur bombers tried to rob a bank, but still.

Ranpo doesn't take injuries of his family well. A concern drilled into his heart from an incident 12 years back, while he didn't have much of a policy for work, he did have a policy of making sure to protect his ‘family’ - the agency. Seeing them get hurt, seeing a possibility of losing them, it was something he hated. After having grown up with the master detective for over the past decade, Oda knew this all too well. He knew, but at the same time... He couldn't let civilians get injured if he could help it. That was the agency’s policy.

Carefully, Oda reaches out to grasp one of Ranpo's hands. Ranpo flinches at the touch, but soon lets his body relax when he meets those warm red eyes. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen,” he explains, tone gentle. “Atsushi and I were in the building at the time and had to act. The criminals targeted a woman and her child. We couldn't stand by and do nothing.”

He can't help it. Similar to Kunikida, Oda had a policy about letting people die in his presence. Many years ago, he was on the other side of the spectrum known as ‘life and death’ - he was the hand of death itself, looking into the eyes of many people and never feeling moved whether they begged for help, nor did those glassy lifeless eyes perturb him. Oda is sure he would have remained on that path forever had he not met Fukuzawa, Ranpo, and most importantly Natsume. He was given a new goal in life, a second chance, and while he certainly didn't want to allow it to go all to waste... Oda was no longer a man who could bear the idea of letting someone die.

From the way Ranpo looks at him, he can tell the detective knows it too. After a decade together under Fukuzawa’s leadership, they understood each other; they had a bond with one another that was undeniably strong, even if it all started with a scared young boy possessive over his savior because he didn't want to be alone and a child assassin who didn't know how to feel. Somewhere along the line when distrust faded away and Oda learned what it was like to be a normal person, the two of them had a new issue to overcome - though feelings for each other is relatively much easier. Stupid and cowardly, the fact it took them until they were 22 and 23 to say anything or act was amazing in itself.

Yes, they were stupid in their own ways. They were stupid in a way the other loved more than anything in the world... Like right now, as Ranpo can't keep up his displeased face in front of Oda’s honest expression and concedes with a sigh as he lifts his hands to cup the redhead’s face. He leans forward, just enough to press their foreheads together.

“Jeez... Alright, I'll let it go this time.” Ranpo says, bottom lip jutting out in a pout. “But you better not end up like this again any time soon. I don't... want to see the man I love the most in a hospital bed of all places, when he should be in bed with me at home.”

Oda chuckles softly, lifting a hand to rest atop one of Ranpo’s, leaning forward to press a chaste kiss against his lips. “Knowing you, you planned on climbing into bed with me right now anyway.”

“Oh, great! Less explaining for me, then!”

With a wide smile, Ranpo kicks off his shoes, jumping into Oda’s bed in one fluid motion. The force of his weight against the redhead’s chest makes Oda groan in pain, gritting his teeth as he shifts to make room for the detective. Ranpo doesn’t apologize for it, instead making himself comfortable at Oda’s side with his head resting against one of the man’s broad shoulders. Oda can only sigh, moving his arm to wrap it around Ranpo to have a more comfortable position as he presses a small kiss to Ranpo’s temple.

“Comfortable?”

“If I wasn’t, I’d keep moving until I was~”

“That’s true.” Ranpo did what he wanted, when he wanted, until he was satisfied. That was just the kind of person he was.

There’s a moment of peaceful silence between them, but considering that one of them is a busybody, it’s not long until the detective shifts to slip a hand underneath Oda’s hospital gown to drag fingers over the gauze wrapped around his midsection.

“... How bad are your injuries?”

Oda hums, letting his head fall back against his pillows. “They threw a hand grenade, and I jumped in front of that mother and her child. It was near a window, so I had a fair share of it in me. My life’s not in danger anymore, everything is just going to hurt for a while.”

“Hmm. When Yosano-san comes back, are you going to ask her to heal you up?”

Silence again, this time it being completely Oda’s fault. Eventually, the redhead clears his throat, then shifts in his bed. “I’d rather heal up the old fashioned way for this, no offense to her...”

Ranpo throws his head back with a laugh. “Even after all these years, you’re still scared of her treatment!! You’re the senpai, you know.”

“I know...” Oda looks away, scratching his cheek in embarrassment. “It’s not as if you act like you’re a fan either. Her ability is terrifying, after all...”

“I’m not a fan of getting hurt, but if it comes down to my life, I’d trust her with it.” the detective speaks with complete confidence, a smile on his face which soon softens as green eyes move to look at Oda’s face. “And I trust you with my life too. You’ve saved it enough, after all.”

“You’re still going on about that...”

“Ehh? Not just the first time, of course, but the first time is the most important!”

Understandably so, as without Oda exposing the location of some men who tried to hire him, Ranpo would have most likely been sold on the black market as a slave. It was on nothing more than a whim that Oda told the then-bodyguard Fukuzawa, but never did he think that what transpired afterwards would lead to his own life changing as well and now - Well, here they were. The agency was created so that Ranpo and Oda could use their talents in a safe environment, while Fukuzawa watched over as their guardian.

Of course, the two of them weren’t children anymore and lived in their own apartments now. (Sometimes, as Ranpo was rather flighty and enjoyed company over the loneliness of his messy apartment.)

Tracing circles on Oda’s abdomen idly, Ranpo exhales. “... Do you think they’ll scar?”

“Who knows.” a pause as Oda sinks more into the bed, bringing Ranpo closer. “Are you just asking that because you have some sort of fetish for mine?”

“How crude of you to say~ You say that as if I like to watch you get hurt!” the detective smiles, knowing that Oda’s accusation isn’t exactly completely wrong. “Well... I do like them, but not for no reason.”

Oda arches a questioning brow. “I don’t understand.”

A small hum, and soon Ranpo allows his hand to merely rest against Oda’s body. “They just remind me that despite everything you’ve been through, despite all your struggling, you’re still here. You’re still alive and fighting.”

“Ranpo...”

Ranpo gives a childish, incoherent noise, burying his face in Oda’s shoulder. “This is embarrassing, I’m not saying anymore! Bottom line, I’m just happy you’re okay - okay? Got it?”

That didn’t last very long. Oh well, Ranpo’s genuine sentiment never did before he got embarrassed and immediately closed in on himself. Oda personally always found it rather endearing, which is only made evident now in the way he grabs for Ranpo’s hand resting against his abdomen to bring it to his lips, pressing a kiss against Ranpo’s fingertips.

“Thank you, Ranpo. I love you too.”

“... I-I didn’t... say that.”

“You don’t have to. I’m a part of the Armed Detective Agency too - I have some skills. And... I should know the personality of my lover after we’ve been together for years.”

This quells any further argument from the detective. Ranpo is quiet for a moment, lacing their fingers together before squeezing lightly. “You should rest for a while. You’re still healing.”

“I should.” Oda returns the squeeze, nuzzling into Ranpo’s hair. “Stay here and rest with me?”

“Well, I did finish my case...” Ranpo curls into the redhead’s side with a content noise. “I guess there’s no helping it~ Alright!”

Yosano returns to Yokohama by 3 in the afternoon. Atsushi is quick to inform her of the situation with himself and Oda under Kunikida’s order, even though his knees shake and buckle under her unnerving stare and sing-song question of ‘do you need treatment?’ . Of course he doesn’t. Atsushi rarely does, but Yosano loves getting a rise out of him regardless, as he’s quite the theatrical one like Tanizaki. She says she’ll go check on Oda’s condition at the hospital in Atsushi’s stead, and struts off out the door with her medical bag in hand.

When she gets there, one of the nurses is more than happy to direct her towards Oda’s room, and Yosano bows her head politely before walking down the hall. She stops just outside the hospital room with a gloved hand on the doorknob, inhaling before giving a smile and entering the room.

“Oda-kun, Atsushi-kun tells me that you were injured,” she coos, closing the door behind her first before turning around. “Shall I tend to your-”

Her voice is soon cut short when her gaze settles on the man. He’s fast asleep in the afternoon sunshine, not even the opening of the door capable of waking him from his slumber. His arms are wrapped around Ranpo’s small frame that is so contently sleeping atop his chest, curled into Oda as if he were a cat. Their hands are still holding one another’s - and Yosano can’t help but give a smile as she rested her hands on her hips.

“Geez... Now how can I think about bullying you when you and Ranpo look so content?” Yosano thinks aloud, knowing very well they won’t be able to respond to her.

Well, ruining such an endearing sight would be too much of a shame... Yosano opts for walking over to ruffle Ranpo’s hair affectionately, then Oda’s.

“Sweet dreams, you two.” she says with a soft smile, and quietly makes her exit out of the hospital room.

Oda and Ranpo don’t even stir from their slumber, all too content and safe in each other’s arms.

[pjbehindthesun]

chapter 11: the glass and the torch

Saturday, October 13th, 1990

“Helloooo – oh, hey Alex.” The door swings open and my obnoxious greeting is cut short as I realize I’m talking to him, not her. It’s the first time I’ve seen him since she got home. My rural manners hitch my smile back up on my face fast enough that I don’t think he noticed anything, but fuck, I still want to smack him on the side of the head with my shoe. Not just once, either, like… once for every word I shout at him. Stop! Fucking! Up! With! My! Friend! You! Fucking! Jackass! I’ll! Fucking! Kill! You! If! You! Hurt! Her! Again! Ahh, that is deeply satisfying.

“Hey, Lucy,” he greets me pleasantly enough, but I have a feeling he’s wearing a similar mask to cover whatever his own thoughts are about me. I can only hope his is concealing a bottomless pit of despair and embarrassment and sheer mortal terror at having fucked up so badly the other night. What kind of idiot actually forgets a whole entire human being?

“Okay, babe, you sure you don’t need anything else at the store? Grocery list looks okay? No? Okay, I’ll be back in a while, love you,” he fusses over an extremely stressed out looking Cora, who barely responds to him as she pores over a piece of paper at their kitchen table. He grabs a few tote bags from the hook by the door and offers me an awkward wave before leaving and closing the door behind him. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was scared to talk to me today. Good. He could stand to be on his best behavior a little more often.

“Luuuuuce,” Cora whines as soon as the door closes, dropping her pen and yanking off her glasses, “I need huuuuugs.”

My murderous thoughts evaporate and I go to my friend and give her a bear hug from behind her chair, and she wraps her arms around mine and silently fake cries. “What’s your damage, woman?”

“I can’t science,” she pouts, and then glowers at me over her shoulder when I can’t help laughing at her.

“I’m looking at some persuasive evidence to the contrary.”

I nod toward their little table, which is covered with paper several pages deep, each one filled with typing that is bleeding red from where she’s marked it up for editing. There are a lot of things my best friend doesn’t do well. Suffer fools. Bluff at poker. Pick boyfriends. But she’s a goddamn science rockstar.

“There does appear to have been a struggle, though… this is that fellowship application?”

She nods, and I take one arm off her to pick up the nearest page. “Page nine. How many pages is it supposed to be?”

“Five…” she mumbles into her hand like she’s trying not to be heard.

“And how many pages is it, currently?” I stand up and try to neaten up the nearest pile.

“Eleven…”

“Okay. This is bleak, but we will manage. We just need fortification. Stay strong, I’ll be right back.”

On autopilot, I grab their teapot out of the cabinet and start boiling water for tea. Once it’s done, I go back to the table, where she’s done a half-assed job of clearing a spot for the cups.

“You’re an actual angel.” She cradles a mug in her hands and her eyes zone out as she watches the steam curl upward.

“You’re delirious and sleep deprived. Okay, where are we starting?”

I understand maybe a tenth of the content, but if nothing else, I can help her find places to trim down the writing, or remove redundant graphs or figures, or shorten the references section, and an hour later we’ve got it cut down to seven pages.

“The rest is on you, or else we’re going to need something stronger than tea,” I groan as I stretch my back, and her head hits the table in a dramatic clunk.

“I repeat, an actual angel,” her voice is muffled by the papers she’s squashing her face into, but then she sits up and flashes a tired but happy smile. “I’m 95% sure I can fix the rest of this myself after a cat nap. Or some FOOD. Let me feed you for your services, it’s only right.”

I follow her into the kitchen, but she hip-checks me out of the way when I try to help. She aimlessly roots through a couple of cabinets before turning around looking defeated.

“So the cupboards appear to be bare… OH!” her eyes widen. “His stash of illicit starches!” She wheels around and produces a half-eaten bag of tortilla chips from a drawer next to the stove. “Do you know what this means??”

“Nachos,” we say at the same time.

I may not be able to live out my fantasy of bloodying Alex with a shoe, but at least I can passive-aggressively eat all his favorite junk food. We pile on our preferred sins and head to the couch with our plates.

“So, how’s work?”

“Medical and fascinating, as always,” I roll my eyes. “The new girl labels all her food in the fridge because she thinks everyone else is going to steal it.”

“Well, to be fair…” Cora holds up a chip and regards it.

“I mean, no jury would convict me for stealing nachos from my friends. But come on, some office rando’s disgusting tunafish salad?”

Cora mimes puking in her mouth.

“Jake says I should make fork marks in every dish, not actually to eat it, just to fuck with her.”

“Jake’s my kind of sicko.”

“Anyway, it’s just the usual office bullshit.”

She scrutinizes her next bite very carefully. “Yeah. You think any more about moving on?”

Her eyes dart up to me, like she knows she’s on thin ice. Every now and again we talk about it, the idea of changing careers, because she knows I hate my job, but she’s at least figured out that it’s mostly an off-limits subject. I love Jeff to bits but he hasn’t gotten that memo yet.

“Ehh, not lately. It pays the bills, it doesn’t take a lot out of me, I have good hours… why rock the boat?”

“Sure, sure, makes sense,” she nods, and I can tell she’s done asking questions. I love her for that.

“Anyway, fuck my stupid job,” I say a little too loudly, “are you coming to the guys’ practice later?”

“Oh come on, you saw how much work I still have to do…” she looks back at the kitchen table with that cornered wild animal look in her eyes.

“Nope, uh-uh. We slayed that monster. You’re going.”

“Yeah, but once this thing is submitted, I really should get started on my thesis proposal…”

“Cora.”

“Lucy.” She fires back in an exaggerated version of my impatient tone.

“What. the hell. is up with you and Stone?”

The customary Stone-induced eye roll is a lot more impatient than usual. “Uhm, Stone’s an irredeemable asshole?”

“Well, sure, but that’s nothing new. What the hell happened last night? Jeff said that when Stone came back inside after talking to you, he looked like a decapitated praying mantis.”

“This image pleases me.”

“Come on, what happened? Why don’t you want to come to the gallery?”

She purses her lips for a moment. “I don’t even know. He’s just up my butt all the time about everything.”

“Speaking of images.” I earn a shove to the knee, but she’s laughing.

“I don’t know,” she says again. “I just… why’s he so fucking interested in my love life all of a sudden.”

“He’s your friend, he cares about you.”

“I know, just… I want things to go back to normal, when Stone being my friend meant calling Alex Cletus and making fun of the Doc Watson tapes in my car. Now it means him treating me like I’m breakable all the time and fixating on every little spat I have with Alex.”

“Well,” I say slowly, choosing my words with precision, “maybe he feels a little protective, I mean, he was the one who picked you up, and probably saw you when you were feeling the most upset that night…”

“No, I know, that’s the thing, I already owe him enough, can’t he let it go? Does he have to keep reminding me that we’re not… equal anymore?”

“Ah yes, the hallmark of a healthy friendship, keeping score.”

She cocks an eyebrow. “Oh, you’re the sarcastic one now? Filling in for Stone in his absence, are we?”

“When are you going to drop this and let the poor guy relax? He’s worried about you.”

“Since when does him worrying about me translate to him deserving to hear every gory detail of my personal life?”

“You told me everything,” I point out.

“Yeah, but you’re you.”

“I’m who?”

“Abbott, or Costello, I don’t give a fuck. You’re my best friend. I’m just saying, of course I told you, I tell you everything. I know you’re not going to judge me, think I’m weak, mock me for still trying to make it work. Stone… he wouldn’t get it, he’s always making fun of Alex, and like, I don’t know… he just doesn’t miss a thing, does he?”

She chews her lip, and I can tell she’s not really expecting an answer to that last question, because we both already know it. It’s true, Stone’s invested in her. It’s plain as day when they’re in the same room. He can hardly look anywhere else. I’m pretty sure she has no clue why, because she’s too busy being irritated by him, but it’s obvious enough to me that he’s carrying a torch for her. But it’s also not my hill to die on, and I don’t want to make her feel any worse.

“Well, he’s your friend, he cares about your happiness. Give him a little credit, Cor. Maybe he wouldn’t make a joke out of it after all. You don’t know.”

“Yeah, and if a frog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his ass hopping…” she gets up to put our plates in the sink, and it’s clear the subject’s closed.

“Okay, well, think about it? Their practice, I mean. Eddie goes back to San Diego tomorrow, you know, it’d mean a lot to all of them if you came with me.”

She gives me a pained expression and I know I’ve got her. “Okayyyy, maybe…”

“Alright, come downstairs at 2, no take backsies!”

She opens her mouth, but I’m out the door before she can say anything.

***

“Uhm, hello?” A muffled voice calls through my door, accompanied by a knock.

There’s no mistaking that guy’s voice anywhere, is there? That impossibly deep voice for such a small frame, and the way he pronounces words like he’s got a gerbil in his mouth. That thought makes me laugh to myself, but the smile’s instantly wiped away when I open my door to see Eddie, his hand still held up from knocking with the back of his knuckle, his other hand holding that one inside a wad of bloody paper towel, giving me the world’s most sheepish look.

“Jesus, what happened to you?” I bolt to the kitchen to grab a dish towel.

“I, uhm, broke a glass,” he explains lamely as he unfolds the makeshift bandage, showing a gash on the outside of his thumb. I take his hand to get a closer look at the cut, which is bleeding like crazy but I don’t see any glass in it, and it doesn’t look deep enough to need stitches.

“And you did this how, by crushing it with your superhuman grip? Here, put pressure on it, Stone’ll kill us both if you bleed out in my apartment before your first show,” I wrap the towel around it and compress it, making him wince a little. “Well, first he’ll kill me, but I guess he’ll have to dig you up first and then kill you again.”

“Nah, just slipped when I was doing the dishes just now, and I tried to fucking catch it as it shattered, so I’m standing there with a pile of broken glass in my hand that I’m try to corral while I bleed all over everything, and guess I just kept making it worse,” he chuckles as he takes over pressing the towel into his thumb and nods in thanks.

“That was a shit plan, Eddie.”

“Yeah, I worked that out too.”

I look up from his mangled hand, and now that the crisis is somewhat under control, I actually notice him for the first time. Jesus, I mean, everyone looks different when they’re wearing a hat, but…

“…what…?” he asks slowly, narrowing his eyes at me just a little, and I realize I’m probably staring pretty rudely.

“When did you get all that hair?”

“I don’t know,” he laughs, “like, slowly, over the past couple years?”

“Ask a stupid question…” I grin at him. “No, sorry, just, I guess you had that hat on when I saw you before.”

“Ohh, yeah,” he laughs. “Your fair city’s pretty fucking cold, if you hadn’t noticed.”

I’d figure out a pithy reply if I wasn’t still trying to work out the mathematics of how this giant mane of hair fit up inconspicuously in that little baseball cap. I’d say he looks like a totally different person, except it suits him. It has this sort of salt-tangled look to it like he’s permanently just gotten off the beach.

“Well, you’re well insulated with that hair, then,” I laugh. “Okay, so, bandaid?”

“If you don’t mind,” he mutters, suddenly looking embarrassed again. “Sorry to bother you, were you working?” His eyes fall on my table, which is still covered with the bleeding carcass of my research statement.

“Essentially always,” I shrug, “so bothering me’s not really a thing.”

“Thanks,” he scratches the nape of his neck with his good hand. “I just couldn’t find anything helpful in Jeff’s place, and I didn’t want to bleed all over every cabinet.”

“Yeah, and even then, I doubt he has bandaids,” I laugh. “Kinda the textbook bachelor pad.”

“Yeah,” Eddie grins, “pretty great, right?”

“I mean, if you’re a bachelor.”

He looks around my apartment. “Yours is nicer, though.”

“I wouldn’t say nicer, I would just say we don’t…”

“…live in squalor?” he volunteers.

“Yeah, that. So are you gonna stay there when you come back up?”

“I don’t know, maybe. He’s been pretty great about letting me futon-surf so far.”

“The only kind of surfing we’ve got in Seattle, after all.”

“Oh, you wait, if there’s surfing I’ll find it,” he chuckles.

“So do you have a lot to take care of back in San Diego? Probably a lot of people you want to say bye to?”

His expression darkens a little bit, but he just shakes his head and says, “nah, not really. I mean, friends and stuff, sure, we’ll probably have a little gathering. But I don’t have a lot keeping me there. Kinda… kinda why I’m here, right?” The frown deepens.

I don’t know the guy or what’s going on in San Diego, but I know how it feels to be asked questions you don’t want to answer.

“Yeah. Hey, let me get you that bandaid…”

“Thanks,” he says with a little smile, and I think he’s talking about more than the bandage.

***

“Okay, so Mike, we said 5, but can you maybe show up a little earlier than that, like, uh, like 4:45? I just really don’t want to be late…”

Eddie’s nervously hassling Mike to make sure he’s got his ride figured out for his flight tomorrow morning, and Jeff’s bouncing his stupid fucking basketball off the wall like he’s catching rebounds while Dave tries to swat the occasional rogue ball with a drumstick. We’ve been playing for hours and I guess it makes sense that everyone needs a break, but I’m getting tired of the goofing off, so I focus on making a big chord chart for each song we’ve written and try to ignore the fact that I’m surrounded by idiots.

“Hey, beautiful!” Jeff lobs the ball at Dave’s head when he notices Lucy coming down the steps and runs over for the usual nauseating makeout session that occurs whenever they say hello, or goodbye, or whenever the hell they feel like it. Before I can avert my eyes, I realize with a jolt that Cora’s right behind her, and she dodges the two of them on her way to the couch at the back of the room. Mike ruffles her hair as she walks by him and she elbows him in the ribs with a grin before greeting Eddie and Dave. Of course, all of this comes from my peripheral vision, because I’m too busy studying this chord chart like my life depends on it to avoid looking directly at her.

“Okay, one more time through each one?” I bark, a little louder than I meant to, and thankfully the guys come back together pretty quickly.

We run through Breath again and then E Ballad, or, shit, Black, is that what he’s calling it now? Anyway, it’s sounding pretty decent. When that one’s over, Mike scratches his cheek and squints at Eddie.

“You change something, dude?” Eddie just looks at him questioningly until he goes on, “what was it… I thought there was a line that repeated both times about clouds, but it was something different in the second chorus…”

“Mmm? Oh, yeah, uh, the broken glass?”

Ed shoots a sideways glance at Cora, who tries to disguise a snort laugh as a cough when she notices I’m staring at her trying to figure out what the hell she’s laughing at.

“I like it! Edgy.” Mike grins. “What next, Gossard?”

We run through a few more things before we feel like we’re in a solid enough place to take a break for a few days while Ed’s gone. The whole time, I have to fight the temptation to look over at her and try to figure out what she thinks of our new stuff. But it’s not going to work that way. If she came to talk to me, she can come to talk to me. I make a meal out of packing up my guitar.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen, enough playing, time to go play!” Jeff grins, trying and failing to spin the basketball on his finger. Lucy swats it out of his hands and they wrestle over it like a pair of otters.

“Stone, come on man, come play with us! Last chance to prove your manhood,” Mike nags.

“My manhood’s not contingent on my ball-handling skills, Mikey.”

“Pain the ass,” he grumbles, but he’s grinning. “What about you, Cor? Lucy’s actually not bad, but we could use a little more gender equality out there, I mean, if Stone’s not coming along….” I flick a pick at him.

“Uhm, no, I’m good, I think I’m gonna hang out here,” she says casually, but I can feel her watching me again. A little flare of hope sparks up in my chest, but the image of her furious expression last night squashes it pretty quickly.

As their footsteps pound up the stairs, I hear Eddie remind Mike one more time about his flight, and then the sound of the door closing behind them as their voices dissipate. Alone again. There’s so much I need to tell her. Except I still can’t bring myself to look at her because I’m so apprehensive of another stupid fight.  

“So, hey,” she says, fidgeting with her fingernails.

“Hey yourself.” I’m probably being difficult, but I’m not about to stick my neck out again unless she does.

“Can we talk about the other night?”

“That depends.” I lean against a short stack of amps, taking a deep breath to brace myself in case this goes to hell again, and finally force myself to make eye contact.

“On?”

“On whether you’re going to bite my head off again.”

“No biting. Promise.” She bites her lips in. It’s almost enough to make me laugh.

“I’m sorry I bit your head off,” she continues. “You were right to be pissed at me, I didn’t call you.”

Jesus, is that all she thinks it was about? How do I begin to explain it to her? “I don’t care about that, you know. I mean, yeah, you shoulda called. But I just wanted to know things were okay. I mean, or not okay, whatever they are… But I shouldn’t have –”

Her mouth flies open to interrupt me but I wave her off.

“– I shouldn’t have hassled you. You had enough on your mind without me getting in the middle of it.”

She shakes her head with a deep crease forming between her eyebrows. “Don’t do that, don’t let me off the hook. I was a jerk, Stone.”

“You were jerk-adjacent, maybe. But it’s understandable.”

“Well, I shouldn’t have lost my shit. You were just trying to look out for me and I took it all out on you like a fucking asshole. I’m sorry. It’s not your doing.”

“It’s not like I helped, though,” I mutter, fiddling with the dial on the amp. “I have this thing I do, where I end up getting the wrong end of the stick because I’m too busy thinking of myself as the center of the universe.”

“I can relate,” she says, fighting a smile.

“But today I was thinking about it some more, and… you don’t owe me anything, Cora, no explanations. I was trying to be there for you, but I just ended up making your… situation into something that was about me. Which is stupid, because at the bottom of it, you’re just really important to me, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

She’s chewing her lip so hard I’m getting worried about it before letting go of it to ask me, “so, are we okay?”

“I am if you are.”

Finally she lets her smile break the tension on her face as she comes closer to pull me down into a hug, her arms coiled tightly around my neck.

“I’m sorry.”

“You said that already.”

Her shoulders shake with a silent laugh, and she sinks into me. “I fucking hated being on the outs with you, you know?”

“I know. Me too.” I press a quick little kiss against her temple and lean my head against hers. 

“Ugh, Stone cooties.”

“Sorry,” I mutter, but I don’t mean it.

“I kid because I love. You know I love you, Stoner,” she adds, squeezing a little tighter.

Oh.

Something falls into place that I hadn’t even known was missing. I didn’t know I needed to hear her say it, even in that laughing, joking, friendly way, and I didn’t know that I needed to tell her, but suddenly it’s the only thing on my mind.

“Yeah, uhm… I, I love you too, Cora…”

She pulls back from me far enough to inspect my face, grinning that sly grin. The grin that I learned on the night we met means pure trouble. Pirate smile. I have to smile back, I’m powerless against it.

“Thanks for bailing me out there, bud,” she teases.

“Yeah, I couldn’t leave you hanging, how embarrassing for you.”

Christ, I want to lean down and kiss her, she’s so close, it feels like fighting gravity. But obviously I’m not going to. It’s an asshole move, and she’d kill me and I’d deserve it. In the bad idea hall of fame, that's…

She stands on her tiptoes and pecks me on the cheek before unwinding her arms and stepping back.

“So, is this a band practice or what? The fuck are we just standing around for?”

After what feels like a very long minute, my heart starts beating again and speech returns. I look around the empty room. “Note the conspicuous lack of band…”

“Excuses, excuses. Are you a guitarist or aren’t you?”

She parks cross-legged on the couch and eyes me expectantly. I shake my head and grab a guitar, sitting opposite her in the little folding chair.

“You’re bossy, Red.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“Okay boss, whaddya want to hear?”

***

He indulges me with only a little grumbling, but I think it’s because he’s got so many new ideas rattling around in his head for the new band that he doesn’t mind having someone fresh to play them for. After a while, he runs out of stuff I haven’t heard, so he starts goofing around with riffs and songs from all over the place and I stretch out on the couch to listen. I recognize Tiny Dancer right off the bat, and a few others, but he gets a good minute into Dirty Work before I can finally place the tune and complain loudly enough that he gives up.

After the usual eye roll, he breaks into the opening chords of The Rain Song, which sound so delicate that I have to close my eyes because I feel like any other sensory information is just going to get in the way. It feels like he plays that one for ages, occasionally singing a line quietly here or there over the top of the chords, more to himself than audibly. When he finally stops, I open my eyes to see him squinting at me.

“Thought I’d lost you,” he jokes.

“No, the opposite. One of my favorites.”

“Really? Why?”

“Why? I need a reason? It’s perfect.”

“Sure, it’s just so ballad-y and sentimental…”

“…thus spoke the Marshmallow…” I cut over him.

“…and, like, so out of character for them. That’s such a weird album.”

“I’ll have you know it’s my favorite Zep album, you dick.”  

He frowns at me. “Really? Houses?”

“This surprises you?”

“I don’t know, I figured you for a IV kind of girl.”

“That’s everyone’s favorite Zep album. Since when do I do what anyone tells me I should do?”

That makes him chuckle. “God, it figures, of course you would like the weird one.”

“It’s a thing I do. Anyway, you brought it up, why’d you play it?”

He drops his eyes back down to his guitar and fiddles with a few chords. “I don’t know. Just… just been on my mind, I guess.”

“Your mind’s a sentimental place then, Stoner, like it or not.”

His ironic smile relaxes a little, and for a second I think he’s stumped for a reply, but then he nods to himself.

“Alright,” he says thoughtfully, “she who likes the weird ones. I bet I got your number…”

He bends his head back down to his guitar and starts playing the opening notes, the intro to that song, the one that sounds the way a sunrise feels. The weird one. Well, the most normal one on the weirdest album, which makes it the weird one in an especially weird way. Only Stone. I sink a little deeper into the couch as the sound radiates, resonates. By the time he starts quietly singing again, my smile’s so big it hurts.

“Hey, lady…”

[ashxketchum]

The Switch - A Taiora crackfic(?)

I started writing this last year sometime after Soushitsu was released but never got around to finishing it until today (yay me). It’s a confusing-ass crackfic where Sora and Taichi switch bodies, so proceed with caution.

word count: 4,739

Set somewhere in between the first 3 tri movies, take your pick. Ff.net link, in case someone wants to leave a review. 

~

Frankly, there are quite a few things in this world that are completely unexplainable. You might try your very best to use logic and be rational, but there are some problems that just can’t be solved by using one’s brains. These strange problems appear out of nowhere and just when you start getting used to them, they vanish. Having travelled through dimensions into a world different than ours, we usually assume that no matter what happens now in our normal lives we would rarely ever be surprised by it. Unless the problem is related to the said different world, also known as the Digital World, we don’t really pay that much attention it. Could there really be anything more important or interesting than having a digital monster as your best friend and travelling through uncharted territory to fight other digital monsters? I bet you tried to oppose my statement, but the truth is, there isn’t.

Unfortunately that’s the mistake the eight of us made too. We were so concerned about our Digimon and all the commotion the infections etcetera were causing that we forgot to pay attention to our normal lives. What follows is a story which can only be termed as bizarre and you may not believe it, but I assure you, we eight chosen children stand witness to this strange occurrence. There might even come a day, when we might forget certain things about Digimon and Digital World but I doubt we’ll ever forget this day…

The brightly lit room was filled with just the sound of fingers furiously tapping on the keyboard, the occupant of the room was a lone high school boy diligently analysing some new data that he had recently acquired as he waited for his friends to arrive. Lately, with the sudden comeback of the problems of the Digital World, it had become a custom for the eight of them to meet at Koushiro’s office after school. Sometimes they were even joined by the newcomer, Meiko, but usually it would just be the usual gang. Koushiro was looking forward to share his newfound information with Taichi and the others. He took his role as the decoder and the information gatherer of their group very seriously and every time he figured out the right answer, he’d a feel a little proud of himself.

He glanced at his wristwatch and then again at the empty room in front of him. His friends sure were taking their time coming over today. A scowl appeared on his face suddenly, when he wanted peace and quiet they’d all hang around annoyingly, messing the whole place up and now when he actually wanted to talk and interact with them, they were all late. Koushiro sighed and wondered if he should just play with the Digimon while he waited when the door to his office opened and in walked Takeru with Hikari right behind him.

“Good evening!” Takeru chirped, grinning.

“My brother and everyone else isn’t here yet?” Hikari asked, looking around the empty room with a quizzical look on her face. She took a seat on one of the sofas and Takeru came and stood next to Koushiro behind the monitor.

“I thought we were the ones who were late.” Takeru stated, chuckling.

Just then, a flailing and heaving Jyou entered the room apologizing for being late, the other three smiled courteously as Koushiro pointed out to their senior that in retrospect, he was actually on time. Jyou sat down next to Hikari, having not being able to keep in touch with the others because of his busy schedule, he decided to utilize this time to chat and catch up with her. Some time passed, as the four friends talked casually about school and other things happening in their lives. Koushiro was just explaining to the others, a new idea he had for a phone app when the door to his office burst open and there stood a red-faced Mimi, looking nervous.

“It’s terrible!” She exclaimed, “Taichi-san and Sora-chan fell down the stairs and lost consciousness. Yamato-san and I need help carrying them back here.” She shouted hurriedly, and dashed out as quickly as she had entered leaving the other four completely stunned with their mouths hanging wide open. Takeru recovered first and grabbing Jyou by the arm he followed Mimi out of the room swiftly.

Hikari paced around the room, and Koushiro nervously fidgeted in his seat as they waited for everyone to return. After some excruciatingly long minutes, Yamato and Takeru entered his office carrying a knocked out Taichi, and right behind them was Jyou carrying an unconscious Sora in his arms with Mimi hovering around them. Hikari gasped and a concerned look clouded her face as she watched Yamato and Takeru set her brother down on one of the sofas, Jyou did the same with Sora on the other side. All of them crowded over the two unconscious friends, observing them closely.

“Isn’t it better if we take them to the Nurse’s office?” Hikari asked worriedly, gazing over her brother’s expressionless face.

“It’s closed. We already checked.” Yamato muttered in reply, his blue eyes fixed on the unmoving body of his best friend.

“Well then what are we supposed to do?” Koushiro questioned no one in particular as he shifted his gaze from Taichi to Sora.

“Wouldn’t throwing water at their faces work?” Mimi wondered out loud, having seen that trick work in countless movies and dramas, she figured it would work in real life as well.

The others were at a loss so they thought there was no harm in trying her idea out. Hikari sprinkled a few drops of water on her brother’s face and Mimi followed her lead and did the same to Sora. The six of them waited, intensely staring at the unconscious duo’s face, hoping to catch some kind of reaction, but there was none.

“I’ve heard making them smell something stinky works too…” Takeru suggested, unsure if anyone would actually pay attention to it.

“Okay, I’ll take one for the team.” Yamato smirked, as he took off his left shoe preparing to put it over Taichi’s nose.

“No, wait!” Hikari shouted, “His eyes twitched!” She wasn’t sure if she was seeing things in order to protect her brother’s nose or if they actually twitched but Mimi also shouted excitedly at the same time about Sora moving her hands, and relief washed over Hikari.

Six pair of eyes intently observed as the two people lying on the sofas slowly started to stir. Taichi and Sora’s eyes twitched and slowly opened at the same time. Relived sighs and happy gasps covered the room (Yamato dejectedly put his shoe back on) as they moved and slowly sat up straight. However, the other six were still unaware of the real problem that now, slowly unfolded before their eyes.

Taichi and Sora turned around to look at each other and their eyes locked. Silence fell over the room as everyone else was confused by the sudden staring contest happening between the injured two. But as they paid more attention, they noticed that their faces were no longer holding blank expressions but that of disbelief, terror and desperation.

“What the hell? What the hell? What the hell?!” Taichi was the first one to move, shouting maddeningly.

Confused looks dawned the faces of the other six as they tried to understand what was wrong, they turned towards Sora who was still sitting normally and sort of looked like she was spacing out.

“Onii-chan, are you okay?” Hikari asked reluctantly, not sure of what to make of her brother’s actions.

Taichi faced her, still looking terrified, he shook nervously as he tried to answer, “I’m…I’m…I’m…nnno-“

Very abruptly Sora stood up and everyone’s attention immediately went back to her. She looked herself over once and then glanced at Taichi, suddenly she grabbed her own chest with both her hands and grinned, “Sora your boobs sure have grown in these past few years.”

A different kind of silence enveloped the room. The sun had set long ago and the scenery outside the window was dark and sinister, just like the changing atmosphere of the room. For who knows how long, nobody moved a muscle. They just stared open mouthed, at the auburn haired girl standing in front of them fondling her own chest. As the situation slowly settled in their minds, Hikari, Takeru and Koushiro turned red as they continued looking at Sora. Jyou covered his face with his hands and turned away as Mimi leaned in closer, a glint in her eyes indicating that she was probably interested in figuring out her friend’s size. Yamato’s head swivelled from Sora to Taichi as he tried to make sense of what was going on. Taichi sat there white faced and trembling, from embarrassment or rage, no one could tell just yet.

“I still think mine are a little bigger though.” Mimi muttered thoughtfully.

“That’s what you’re concerned about in this situation?” Yamato shot a furious glare in her direction.

“The situation is quite obvious isn’t it.” Mimi replied, scowling at the older blond.

“What is so obvious about this, please do tell Mimi-chan.” Yamato dragged the out suffix in a sickeningly sweet voice.

“Taichi-san and Sora-chan have switched bodies.” Mimi stated simply.

“Eeeehhhhh?!”

The disbelief, surprise and at some level, maybe even fear, was evident in everyone’s voice as they continued screaming and turned their heads from one side to the other, trying to understand what exactly was happening.

Sora removed her hands from her chest and grinned widely, making victory signs with both her hands she exclaimed, “I’m Taichi.”

It wouldn’t have been a surprise if some of them would have swallowed a few flies that day as their mouths continued to hang wide open and their eyes settled on the now extremely energetic Sora who was now jumping up and down and giggling happily. The only one who wasn’t as surprised as the rest of them was Mimi, who was playing along with this development quite calmly.

“No…”

The morose whisper made the heads turn towards Taichi, who was sitting with his head bowed down and still trembling with what can now possibly be defined as rage.

“You’re dead!” Taichi screeched as he leapt at Sora from across the room, his face was flushed and his eyes looked glassy, almost as if he was about to cry. He stretched his arms ahead in order to reach Sora’s neck, but luckily for the latter Yamato and Jyou reacted swiftly pulling him back down to his original position as he screamed curses and death threats at the girl while still remaining slightly teary eyed, the other two boys managed to hold their own against him and restrain him and Sora took this opportunity to move backwards so that she wasn’t within her raging friend’s reach. After securing a safe position she chuckled and replied, “Sora, if you kill me now, you’d basically be killing yourself. It will be like committing suicide!”

“Like I give a damn about that right now, you freaky-pervert-monster-idiot-bastard!”

The other six watched this exchange silently, Koushiro, Takeru and Hikari still looked dazed and it seemed like they still couldn’t believe what was happening. As soon as Jyou and Yamato realized that they weren’t technically touching Taichi but rather Sora, their faces turned red as they hurriedly let go of him(her) and looked away, embarrassment eating away their voices. The only person who looked like they had something to say was Mimi, her face was filled determined contemplation as she glanced at her two friends and then sighed heavily.

“Firstly, Taichi-san, please apologize to Sora-chan for what you just did. That wasn’t fair and it kind of makes me think you’re a disgusting person on the inside.” Mimi folded her arms across her chest as she looked at Sora(Taichi) sharply. Hearing Mimi’s words something stirred inside the little sister of the group as the dazed look vanished from her face and was replaced with one of disgust.

Pointing an accusing finger at Sora(Taichi), Hikari shrieked, “Onii-chan, you’re disgusting. I’m so disappointed in you.”

Instantly the look of excitement turned into that of regret as Sora(Taichi) started blabbering, trying to explain to Hikari how it was just a joke and she shouldn’t hate him for this and that he loves her very much.

“Uhm, you should apologize to Sora-chan first.” Mimi repeated, rolling her eyes at the scene in front of her.

“That’s right.” Hikari added, scowling deeply at Sora(Taichi), though she still couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that her brother was currently inside a girl’s body Hikari somehow managed to maintain the death glare long enough to turn her brother into a nervous puddle.

Sora(Taichi) clapped her hands together and facing Taichi(Sora), she bowed her head and shouted, “I am really sorry for what I did Sora. Please forgive me.”

Taichi(Sora) quietly seethed a little longer before giving up and accepting the apology.

“Well then now that this is settled, we need to figure out how to deal with this situation.”

Everyone faced a triumphant and hopeful looking Mimi, internally surprised by the fact that she was being the voice of reason in a stressful situation like this.

“I’m at a loss really…” Jyou murmured quietly, quickly excluding himself from the conversation.

“Same.” Takeru smiled and pulled back as well.

“Maybe this is just a dream… That’s right I fell asleep on the desk while waiting for everyone to arrive. Wake up me!” Koushiro mumbled to himself as he got up and resumed his position on his desk, behind the huge monitors.

“Dream? This is a freaking nightmare.” Taichi(Sora) hissed angrily.

“Get a hold of yourself, Koushiro. You’re supposed to be the smart one right?” Yamato glanced at the genius, he didn’t want any part in trying to figure this shit out so he thought he might as well put Koushiro in the spotlight.

“Huh?! That has nothing to do with it! I have no idea what’s going on or how this even happened!” Koushiro retorted but it was too late, because of the older blond’s words everyone was now looking at him with intense expectations in their eyes. He groaned realizing that he wouldn’t be able to wriggle out of this one.

“Well let me explain what happened,” Mimi started, still looking unaffected by the bizarreness of it all, “Me and Sora-chan were on our way to your office when we ran into Taichi-san and Yamato-san so we all decided to come here together. We were making our way up the stairs with me in the lead when Yamato-san insulted one of my favourite mascot characters,” She paused to glare at the blond who just rolled his eyes in response, “So I turned around to tell him to shut his tsundere trap when I lost my balance and slipped. I was about to fall down but since Yamato-san was right behind me he somehow managed to catch me, despite of how weak and puny he looks-“

“Are you blind or what Tachikawa?” Yamato interrupted her furiously, his ears had turned a light shade of red from feeling rage and embarrassment at the same time.

“But in the process, he accidentally shouldered Taichi-san in the face leading him to lose his balance and roll down the stairs, grabbing Sora-chan along with him as she was right next to him. Next thing we knew they were lying on the ground, on top of each other and were unconscious.” Mimi finished, ignoring Yamato’s interruption completely.

Everyone quietly processed the information, despite of wanting this to not be real, each of them looked deep in thought as they tried to look for an explanation or solution. In order to clear the awkwardness and make things easier to understand they made Sora and Taichi sit on one sofa and the rest of them took their seats on the opposite one, with Yamato and Jyou standing behind it.

“Okay, so we can assume,” Koushiro began maintaining eye contact with the two sitting across him, “That this phenomenon occurred when you bumped into each other.”  Taichi and Sora nodded seriously, and Koushiro turned to look at his other friends to see if they had a different idea or theory, but it looked like everyone pretty much agreed with him, “So the question now is, how do we reverse this?”

“We should get them exorcised!” Jyou gasped excitedly but he was met with seven clueless looking faces so he explained further, “You see, it’s kind of like Taichi’s soul is possessing Sora’s body and vice versa so we can just get an exorcist to make them go back to their original bodies.” The dark haired senior looked quite proud of his idea, but everyone else in the room had already rejected it in their heads.

Takeru sighed and bravely took up the task of breaking it down Jyou, “Uhm, senpai, I doubt we’ll be able to find an exorcist nearby. So we should look at more easily accessible options…” he trailed off, smiling politely at Jyou hoping that the older boy would catch his drift.

“Since it happened because of them bumping into each other, why don’t you try it again?” Hikari suggested.

“Try what again?” Sora(Taichi) asked, looking puzzled.

“Push them down the stairs? I’ll do it.” Yamato smirked, earning a glare from both Taichi and Sora.

“What Hikari-chan obviously means is that they should bump their foreheads together again or something like that. But I didn’t expect you to understand Yamato-san.” Mimi stated, shooting a condescending look in the blond’s direction.

“I guess we can try that…” Taichi(Sora) muttered unsurely.

The two then faced each other, jaws set and eyes determined, it would be difficult to put into words what was going on in their heads at that time. Taichi(Sora) balled his fists and took a deep breath, Sora(Taichi) on the other hand looked like she was spacing out, again. There was a long silent pause, in which everyone kept their eyes fixed at the strange couple but neither made a move.

“Okay are you guys going to do it or do we need to push you down the stairs?” Yamato muttererd angrily, losing patience within a minute.

“It’s difficult! I know it’s going to hurt so my body isn’t moving,” Taichi(Sora) replied, shooting an exasperated look in the blond’s direction.

“Ready, when you are,” Sora(Taichi) chuckled lazily.

“Okay, but think about it Sora-chan, if you don’t move now you might stay like this forever,” Mimi started, “Imagine, living in Taichi-san’s body for the rest of your li-” She didin’t get to finish her sentence as Taichi(Sora) grabbed Sora(Taichi)’s shoulders by her hands and forcefully banged their heads together. There was a bit of shouting and groaning as the two teens buried their face in their hands and moved away from each other.

The other kids waited with bated breath to see if the two had succeeded in turning back but as Taichi(Sora) raised his head and looked at his hands miserably, it was obvious that the head-banging accomplished nothing except creating the now prominent bruising on their foreheads.

“Now what?” Hikari voiced out what they were all thinking in an unsure voice and was met with uncertain murmurs and more awkward silence.

“There’s no other option, we have to kill ourselves…” Taichi(Sora) muttered quietly, his face was laden with disgust as he studied his hands.

“Sora, don’t be ridiculous.” Yamato rolled his eyes,

“Yes, Sora-san, please don’t say such things, you’re forgetting something,” Koushiro said, he motioned to where Mimi was standing as if she was the answer to everything.

Mimi on the other hand was grinning with excitement, an evil twinkle in her eyes she began “I have waited all my life-”

“For Taichi and Sora to switch bodies?” Yamato interrupted dryly.

“I have waited all my life,” Mimi started again, shooting a glare in the blond’s direction, “for something like this. Watching all those dramas and movies and reading those countless shojo mangas and doujinshis will finally pay off.” Mimi cackled, making everyone move slightly away from where she was standing.

“Get to the point already.” Sora(Taichi) muttered.

“Sora-san.” Mimi faced Taichi(Sora) with a determined look, and the latter backed away a little further, not expecting anything helpful to come out from her younger friend’s mouth.

“There is no other option,” Mimi said, and surveyed everyone in the room with a grave look on her face. Jou seemed to be the only one who was still buying into Mimi’s flair, returning her intense look.

“You have to kiss.”

Mimi’s words were met by another shocked silence as everyone in the room processed her statement. Except for Yamato, who rolled his eyes and threw up his hands in a ‘I could care less about this’ gesture, everyone else turned furiously red.

“Are you crazy Mimi?” Taichi(Sora) shouted, he stood up and put some distance between him and Sora(Taichi).

“I would highly recommend not doing that.” Jou nervously piped in.

“But, it’s the only way senpai!” Mimi reiterated restlessly, “The pattern is right in front of us, in every body-switch comedy, this is how they always resolve things.”

“I don’t think you should call this situation a comedy, Mimi-san.” Takeru grinned, clearly enjoying Mimi’ antics.

“It doesn’t hurt to try.”

Everyone turned to look at Sora(Taichi), she was still sitting on the couch and rubbing her bruise from before, looking calmer than ever.

“It doesn’t hurt to try?” Taichi(Sora) seethed through gritted teeth, “Do you even understand wha-”

“Yes Sora, I do understand what kissing is,” Sora(Taichi) spat back fiercely, “I’m a 17 year old boy, what do you think you’re gonna find in my search history.”

Another long awkward silence followed Sora(Taichi)’s statement as everyone tried very hard to not think about their self-proclaimed leader’s search history. Taichi(Sora) was more or less rendered speechless, and was now too tired of the whole situation to actually bother replying to her (ex)-friend’s statement. In the past hour nothing had made sense, except maybe Mimi’s weird excitement and the fact that everyone else was more or less internally enjoying this mess, but one thing that Sora was sure about was that she would never forgive Taichi for his behaviour in her body, she would hold it against him until her very last breath.

Taichi(Sora) took a deep breath and cleared her throat, breaking the eerie silence that had fallen over the room and grabbing everyone’s attention. Mustering all the courage that resided in this body, Taichi(Sora) announced her decision.

“Okay.”

“Okay, what?” Sora(Taichi) questioned, tilting her head slightly out of confusion.

“Okay, let’s kiss.” Taichi(Sora) repeated, his voice breaking slightly at the end.

The squeal Mimi let out over this statement could only be considered unhealthy, but was also currently the only trace of happiness in Koushiro’s office. The office’s owner himself looked extremely sceptical with his brows furrowed deeply as he feebly attempted to think of a better solution. Jou looked just as unimpressed as Koushiro, shaking his head in defeat and passing a warning look to his two friends in front of him and one of annoyance towards the giddy brunette. Although Takeru did not look like he was enjoying this situation, anyone who knew him could tell from his eyes that the cogs were already turning inside his brain on how to adapt this situation into a fruitful work of literature.

Hikari raised her eyes to the heavens, praying that when she woke up tomorrow she would’ve forgotten all about this and never have to face the sleazy side of her brother ever again. But Yamato was the only one who looked truly uncomfortable, the whole conundrum of his best friends switching bodies had already given him a headache of a lifetime but watching them kiss would really take the cake. The blond was sure that the scene would kill his appetite for at least the next week or maybe even months to come.

The whole situation was stressful yes, which is why Taichi was trying to lighten the mood with his antics, attempting to keep Sora from spontaneously combusting in his body from hyper-stress. Suggesting to go along with Mimi’s plan was just a teasing remark he made to make her angry and not tense but he never expected her to agree with him. In theory, there was nothing wrong with kissing Sora, but Taichi would have preferred to do that while he was in his own body, and not kiss himself as Sora. This would basically be nightmare material for the rest of his life. But if Sora was desperate enough to try this, it seemed that there was no other option but to go ahead with it. He hoped that when they returned to their bodies they wouldn’t retain the horrific memories of the kiss.

“Of course, you all need to leave.” Taichi(Sora) added, motioning towards the door of the office.

“Uhm, it’s my office?”Koushiro’s mutter went unheard as Yamato and Jou heaved huge sighs of relief and started walking towards to the door, Takeru, a little disappointed followed his brother’s lead.

Hikari passed a worried glance in her brother’s direction but then remembered that that was Sora, shaking her head she sent a feeble thumbs up in the latter’s direction who replied with a nod and a nervous grin.

“Okay maybe I should stay behind to make sure that it’s a success,” Mimi started, folding her arms into a stance that said ‘I’m not moving’. Koushiro rolled his eyes and linking his arm with the brunette’s, dragged her out of the office followed by Hikari, who closed the door behind them without sparing another glance for the unfortunate souls.

“Okay, then.” Sora(Taichi) stated blankly.

“Yes let’s get on with it,” Taichi(Sora) murmured.

They stood facing each other, with just a few inches of space between them. What seemed like hours but were only seconds passed as neither made any attempt to move. Sora was well aware of what they were supposed to do but it’s as if every muscle in the body she was possessing had frozen in that very moment when she locked eyes with her own self. She’d watched enough romance movies to know the fundamentals of kissing but to practice it in reality was seeming much more difficult especially since she was inside one of her closest friend’s body and was supposed to kiss herself, she could only hope that she wouldn’t puke the minute their lips met.

“Sora, you know how this works right?” Sora(Taichi) asked, raising an eyebrow, an impatient look settling on her face.

“Of-of course I know how it works!” Taichi(Sora) squeaked back, his cheeks now covered in a deep shade of red. Sora(Taichi)’s expression worsened at this, the google-head was not happy to see himself blush and stutter and look like an all-around idiot.

“Well, you’re in the taller body so please take the first step,” Sora(Taichi) rolled her eyes, and began tapping her foot impatiently, a regular habit of Sora’s that her body was now unconsciously performing.

“R-right, I knew that,” Taichi(Sora) replied nervously, watching herself do something so normal and familiar as tapping her foot flooded her with willpower, she would do anything to go back, even move this body that felt like it was being pushed down by gravity itself.

Taichi(Sora) started to lower his head, unsure of where to look. Looking into her own eyes was terrifying especially since she knew that the determination cast in them was Taichi’s and not hers. Sora(Taichi) also started to raise her head in order to meet him halfway, and it was when their lips were mere centimetres apart that they both came to a halt, their gazes fixed on each other. Just a little bit further and their lips would touch, Sora thought, she couldn’t bring herself to look at her own face like this any more so Taichi(Sora) nailed his eyes shut and took a leap of faith.  

Neither were sure about the exact moment that it happened.

Was it after their lips touched, or just a second before it?

Taichi was himself again and his lips were still pressed against Sora’s.

When Sora opened her eyes, she was on her toes, her lips still touching Taichi’s.

They’d solved the riddle, prevented a catastrophe but the only question remaining was who’d pull apart first?

-End-

[bolbianddolanhouse]

BNHA self insert AU [Book 3]

New? Read here! Then here!

Chapter 5: That’s Not How You Eat a Banana!

I. HATE. BEING. A. GIRL! So much upkeep and not enough time in the mornings to get ready...no wonder Hanaka is like that. Just another 9 days and I can burn these bras like it’s social justice!

“Hey uhhhh Maserati-sama?!” Gon stopped me after school “Got a moment?”

“Sure! What is it?” I flashed a polite smile to hide the fact that my poop was coming and I don’t like to shit in school bathrooms...it’s just my thing okay!

“Normally I’d ask my buddy Iida-kun to training but seeing that he’s still away” he spoke meekly “Would you like to join me on a little outing in downtown?”

“Like...on a date?” I asked curiously because I was flattered that he thought I was passable and likable enough. 

“Not a date! Well...not unless you want it to be” he turned red “it’s not anything fancy, but I wanted to show you around and expose you to some more Japanese culture.”

At first that part confused me, but then I remembered that the Maserati family is from Italy “Right! You’re so thoughtful Ryu~”

“So uhhh see you Saturday at 3pm?” He stumbled on his words, taken off guard by being first named “It’s right here near the school.”

“See you then!” I pinched his cheek “You’re the best Ryu! Bye Bye!”

I trotted quickly to the intel wing to panic with Beizu.

“How was class?” asked Beizu, picking at his bra strap.

“Bad, I got asked out.”

Beizu stopped his picking and looked at me dead in the eyes “What in the actual fuck Iwa?!”

“I know! I feel like an imposter but also like an asshole if ghost him” I groaned, slamming my forehead into his shoulder “Will you lookout for me on my date?”

“I did say I’d do that for you when we were little” sighed Beizu, comforting me “I’ll make sure you don’t slip up and your titties stay in place.”

Fast forward to Saturday, I go out like I was biologically a girl... armed with pepper spray and taser. Like, it really shouldn’t be like that BUT CONSIDER THIS! Have you seen my ass? And THESE hips with the Chanel boots?! Nobody would behave themselves! I get the ping from Beizu that I’m in his range of vision and I get more nervous. This is technically my first date! Didn’t think it would be with Gon or with me in drag...maybe I’ll put this one in the ‘didn’t count’ pile.

“Hey! You made it!” called out Gon “were you waiting long?”

“Not at all!” I flashed a smile “Thanks for inviting me out doll~”

Gon looked around “Where’s your chaperone?”

“I said I was going to be with somebody in the hero class and I was just dropped off” I pulled out of my ass “Why wouldn’t you trust a hero in training?!”

“Cool! You can count on me to protect you” He puffed out his chest and held out his arm for me to hold on to “Shall we be off?”

For most of the outing, it was fun and full of good conversation! The ending is what got me a lil fucked up.

Gon semi cradled me as we watched the fireworks at the local park “I’m not sure if these are city fireworks or if this is a villain attack” Gon was wary “but they’re pretty!”

“Doesn’t matter! They’re pretty” I started to say but then I felt Gon’s breath near me.

“Sorry, it’s just that you smell really pretty” he got bolder with his sniffing “I love your scent. I can’t get enough!” he shifted his arms “You know, it’s been more than 4 days and I’m still infatuated by you.”

“Oh that’s crazy hahaha” I didn’t know what to say but I started to panic a little.

“Whatever you do, DON’T LET HIM GET ANY CLOSER!” Beizu spoke into the earpiece “I’m going to send you a text to get you outta there!”

Gon’s hands shifted to caress my body and the alarms were blaring in my head on full panic mode. What the fuck am I supposed to say?!

“Please Ryu~ I’m a lady!” I huffed as I pried his hands off me.

“Sorry! It’s just that...I think I’m in love with you” he confessed “I don’t care about your wealth or family company stuff, what I fell in love with was your genuine demeanor. You know when you’re wrong and own up to mistakes! And your hidden quirky side is so adorable, I’m honored to be the only one that has seen that side of you” he grabbed my hands to hold them up “I don’t normally think about love and stuff like that, but I’m willing to risk everything for you. Will you be my love?”

“Ryu! So bold I-”

“Maserati-sama!” cried out a woman in auburn hair, running towards us “There you are! We have to get you back to the house, your father is requesting your presence.”

I play along “Papá?! What would he want from me? I haven’t spoken to him in days!”

“That’s why, come now!” the woman grabbed me from the wrist “You can play with your little boy toys later!”

“FOR THE LAST TIME, THEY’RE DOLLS!” I screamed as I was pulled by them “As for you doll, see you at school~”

“Wait! What’s your answer?” asked Gon.

“I’ll tell you later!” I yelled back, picking up my pace.

This woman led me to an unmarked vehicle, but I already knew the vehicle belonged to my mom’s company. I open the door to the back seat of this mini limo and see Beizu sitting in the seat.

“That was close huh?!” smiled Beizu.

“Wait, if you’re here, then who’s-”

The woman takes off her wig “It’s me! Your good ol’ Uncle Jin!”

“Uncle Jin?! Wow, you are un-clockable!” I cried out as I closed the door and saw two other people “wait, who the-”

“You don’t recognize ya Aunty Mimi?” said the scruffy looking man in a brown wig.

“And don’t forget me! Your American Bastard of a mom!” joked the other man in an American flag bandana and aviators.

“Wow! All of you are just un-clockable!” I gushed over their wardrobe “why did you all do drag?”

“Well, since you told us you were going out with a male classmate as your female persona” Mom explained “We caved and followed you around! Sorry!”

“Yea, then we bumped into Beizu that was out of drag” Uncle Jin explained “He told us what was up, and I must say, that was close! You would’ve definitely been exposed if we didn’t cut in.”

“Okay but why are you guys in drag too?” I asked.

“It’s fun! We love being your uncle’s bodyguards” Aunty Mimi put in bluntly “Remember when we beat up that one dude that groped him on a mission?!”

“That was ICONIC! We beat the absolute shit outta the guy” Mom reminisced “the screams in our earpieces while we wailed on the guy from our higher up just added to the whole scene.” She looked at Beizu and I “We almost failed the mission but that diversion worked in our favor.”

“How?!” Beizu questioned.

“Oh the guy was a higher up in the chain of the syndicate we were spying on” Uncle said like it was nothing “he had all of the keys and shit to the evidence we needed.”

Mom chuckled, then cut in “Also keep in mind this was a mission we had before I got married to your dad” she cleared up “Last time we had a mission like that was, what, after I had the twins?”

“It was around the time I found out I was pregnant” Aunty Mimi clarified “Can’t have a single mom go off in the high stake missions! Especially the best ones.”

That had me thinking back to the incident...if my mom was doing all those risky agent missions, does that mean she stopped because of the incident? Was I the the real reason she doesn’t do missions like that anymore? We got home and I went straight to my room to add this to the timeline of things. Though there was still lots to put in between these events I have so far, I wonder if I’m intertwined in this mystery... Aside from being born into the family?

-Fast Forward to Monday-

I’m dreading my walk to hero class. Every step feels like I’m going to throw up and my nerves are just piling up...this sucks!

“Maserati-chan!” chimed Kage-san “You’re back for another week!”

“I am! Just this week and I’m back to my home estate” I faked my enthusiasm as I sat at my seat “Wish I could stay longer~”

“Hey! Maserati-sama!” Gon got my attention as he walked up to my desk “What happened? What did your father say?”

“Oh that sounds strange without context” I said before clearing my throat “He, uhhhh, didn’t like the idea of me being out without my chaperone. I used my quirk to convince my dad’s workers to let me go out on Saturday.”

“Why did you do that?” asked Gon, shocked “You didn’t have to do all that, it wasn’t a big ordeal!”

“But...I wanted to feel like a normal teenager” I did my cutesy pout “being an heiress is no fun! I wanted to go and hang out with you, Ryu-kun~”

The whole class gasped at me first naming him. And Gon turned red in embarrassment...just like I planned.

“Yo, are you and Maserati-san going out?!” blurted out one of our classmates.

The class didn’t let us clear things up, everyone exploded with chatter. It when on until class started. All I had to do was play it safe now until Friday.....boy was I wrong! To spare you of all the shit: That one dude that doesn’t like me, confessed to me (as a girl) just because he was jealous of Gon, The following days were full of Gon doing the most to win my affection and My wig flew during intel training!

-Friday, after school-

“Wait, Maserati-sama!” Gon said, speeding up to stop me.

“Hm? Yes doll?” I responded, knowing full well what’s going down.

He stood there, for a full minute, looking at me “I uhhhhh- wanted to ask you something. Well, more like, ask you what’s your answer” his nerves got to him “y-you never g-ave me an answer, and I wanted to know before it was too late.”

I took a deep breath and took something out of my uniform pocket “I thought about it long and hard doll. And I don’t have enough time to express it but I wrote it down here” I handed him a letter “My ride is waiting for me, bye bye!” I said before running off.

“Did you give him the letter?” asked Beizu in the car.

“Yup, but I have a feeling he’s not gonna shut up about it” I groan as I took off my bra “fuck this being a girl shit! If I ever get in a relationship with a girl, I’m gonna let her be her natural self around me! No makeup, bras or pants if she doesn’t want to!”

Beizu side eyed me “Does that mean you-”

“I don’t have a crush for the last time Bei!” I stopped him.

“I was just asking, you keep talking out going out and dating” Beizu responded “never seen you interested in those things and I was just wondering.”

“...do you can an interest in those things?” I asked him suspiciously.

“Like.....yeeeea I do BUT LIKE! I don’t know if they’re emotionally ready to date” he responded like he got caught “I know at the drop, I’d say yes and be with them romantically along with the things we were doing before. But maybe I’m asking for too much from them” he drooped his head “It’s killing me low key.”

“Awww my bestie is in love!” I teased him a bit “I hope they come around soon and realize how much of a catch you are! Just make sure to have me as best man!”

Beizu started chortling “Oh you’ll be at my wedding alright! I’m not going through that life event without you with me.”

That kinda warmed my heart and had me forget about my shitty week in fake tiddies. I can’t wait to be his best man and stand next to him at the altar when we’re older...wonder who he’s talking about though?

“Oh! I almost forgot, Iwa” mom spoke up after we dropped Beizu off at his place “I was wondering if you could help Mr Hitoshi with something tomorrow? Usually his husband or oldest would help but something came up.”

“Uhhh sure” I accepted with little thought put into it.

“Great! It’s going to be an all day thing, I’ll drop you off after breakfast” she concluded.

Haven’t seen that man in a while, wonder what’s up with him.

-The next day-

“Thanks for coming on short notice!” said the purple haired man as I walked into his home “Neito and Niyo had to go attend to some family matters on that side of the family, leaving me with all the storage stuff and the little one.”

“Storage things?” I asked curiously.

“Yeah, I cleared out our shared storage and brought the things we want to keep here to put in our attic” he sighed “The plan was to have everything done today because our next day off is next month. And this can’t be put off that long.”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad-” I start to say, then I saw all the boxes that took up the whole living room “NEVERMIND! That a lot of shit!”

“Yeah, worst of all, I know I have a box full of pictures in there somewhere from my youth” he chuckled nervously “I kinda want to sort through it, so the sooner we find it, the better.”

“I guess this is a job for my second quirk!” I take off my sweater “Okay, lets do this!”

I was breaking a sweat over this! It was good telekinesis training but boy were my arms killing me. We get two thirds of the way when we stopped for a lunch break.

“Iwa-kun, daddy asked want kind of meat do you want on your Okonomiyaki” asked Mr Hitoshi’s youngest daughter.

“Beef, with extra sauce” I responded, tummy growling in anticipation “Thank you Hitomi.”

She gave me a thumbs up before running back to his dad in the kitchen. That kid is growing up so fast! And also looking so much like his purple haired dad, that it kinda looks like Mr Hitoshi just cloned himself. I like this family in particular, the Shinso family is just your typical gay-dads and two kids with a large age gap. The oldest is almost a year younger than Lili, and the youngest is like 4 years younger than the twins. I don’t quite know the type of friendship between him and my mom but they seem really close. Once his daughter excused herself from the table, I asked him.

“Question, how did you meet my mom?” I asked innocently.

Mr Hitoshi nearly choked on his drink “Oh jeez, why?”

“Just asking, you seem really close to her and I don’t think my mom mentioned where she met you” I responded.

He set his cup down “I met her in UA, first year but I didn’t really talk to her until my dorm move in the summer of 2nd year.”

“Oh! Why didn’t you talk to her sooner?”

“I was shy, I saw her as this powerful, cat like person that could level the school with a wave of a hand!” he chuckled “but I learned how friendly and sweet she really was. Soon we did a lot of things together like train, hang out, stay up to watch the sunrise and go out for coffee.”

“That’s so cool! She had so many friends in high school” I was in awe “Wish I had her charisma to have friends like that!”

“I loved her charisma too, in fact, I dated your mom in high school too.”

That last part broke my brain “Wha! You and my mom?!”

“Yea, believe it or not! I was surprised too” he sighed “Your dad was always in the way when I tried to flirt with her. And I’d ask if he was her boyfriend, but he’d do the hand thing and be like ‘I cannot date a fellow classmate! We are just friends!’ ya know?”

I would’ve laughed, but I was still trying to process it “Were you the long term boyfriend?”

“Yes, I dated your mom from 3rd year all the way to before your mom’s 20th birthday” Mr Hitoshi counted the years “Yeah, that sounds about right! Literally right before she started up her company.”

“Why didn’t you stay with her if you were so in love with her?”

Mr Hitoshi’s smile disappeared “Well, there was many reasons I didn’t stay” he was trying to find the right words “mainly it was that she was changing into her adult self and I wasn’t ready to be an adult yet. Plus I didn’t see myself getting married, obviously I changed my mind, but I just saw us being domestic with no kids. She wants the whole package of getting married, buying a house, having more than one child and have family get togethers in the backyard.”

“...But you-”

“Yeah I know I do most of those things now, but that just adds that I wasn’t with the right person. I thought a lot to myself that she deserved better” he looked at the framed photo of his family on the wall “And she did do better, when I found out she started to date your dad, I was like finally! She found her true love. And when I heard that she was getting married and wanted me to come, I cried that she’s living her dreams that it made me think that I should get married too!”

“Man, I wish you were my dad” I sighed “I hate being born into a legacy family.”

“I’d say you’re lucky to have your dad” he countered me “Your dad loves your mom more than I did, and I knew he does all those little annoying things because he loved her but I still dated her. I just wanted to date her for her status and looks, I gaslighted her so much when we dated without even realizing it until later. If I were your dad, you might even exist! I just wanted one child and I’d show the bare minimum of affection to our child. Your mom was too responsible and sensible for me at the end, but I found my love in my husband and my kids. So I understand why she wanted it so bad, theres so much love to give.”

“I don’t believe you” I joked but then I saw him get up and dash for the box on the coffee table “I said I was kidding! I know my dad loves me and my siblings.”

He rummaged through it and took out a shoebox “I might get into some hot water with your mom, but I think this will put things into perspective” he opens the box “these are all the pictures and gifts your mom gave me while we dated. Take a look.”

I saw pictures of young mom and Mr. Hitoshi, like they were in love “Wow, you look borderline dead, no offense.”

“None taken! My sleep schedule was garbage” he laughed “But you see how I was with her? All lovey-dovey but they were all in private up until everyone found out near the end of 3rd year. I never showed her off nor bragged about her like your dad does. Hell, I never went to the dances with her! And that’s all she wanted to do when we were young, just dance the night away.” His smile disappeared “I thought everything was set for us after graduation, we moved into that house-”

“The old house?!” I interrupted him “that one?!”

“Yeah, I moved in with her mostly because I worked in the same city and needed housing. It wasn’t how I thought it was gonna be” He pulled up a picture of her on the couch with a cat “She changed, I saw her true self and all I did was try to stop her from maturing into the woman she is today. What I did was inexcusable and I deserve to die alone, but your mom forgave me after years apart. She put aside all the trauma of our break up and told me how much she wanted me to still be her friend.”

I saw the mixed expression of sadness and pain in his face, this was some deep shit “Why did you guys break up?”

Hitoshi’s face turned pale “I still can’t talk about it nor can your mom, thats how traumatic it was” he put the picture back in the box and stood up “if only there was a way to glimpse into the that past, that’d make things so much easier.”

I didn’t say I had such a device, but that shit bothered me all day. When I got home, I added that part to the timeline. Of course I didn’t bring it up to my parents because it seems kinda weird to bring up the past like that. Ever so slow is my view on my mom is changing. She was kind of a smart player at my age, wonder how she did it.

-Wednesday, at lunch-

“What’s wrong?” asked Beizu “you really seem out of it today.”

“I’m still fucked up over what Mr Hitoshi told me” I said softly as I mindlessly ate my cheetos “Just more and more secrets come out!”

“Tell me about it! I recently found out that my dad worked for your mom as her advisor” he said with a little sadness “He was the first person your mom hired, your mom knew my dad since she was in 1st year.”

“Wait- what?!” that jump started me “So my mom IS the link!”

“Yea, and my mom still won’t talk about my dad!” Beizu sounded frustrated “Like, is it so hard to talk about him?! What did he do to have so many people hush up about it?!” he turns to face me, tears welling up in his eyes “I don’t even know where he’s buried, if he’s even buried! That scares me Iwa...what if he did something bad that caused his death and that’s why-”

“Stop!” I threw my arms around him and squeezed “Lets not focus on that right now, I don’t think he would do anything bad. He was a side-kick before right? My mom wouldn’t hire someone she didn’t trust.”

Beizu leaned his head on me “I know, but why keep secrets? I’m his son and I want to know more about him and that part of the family.” He let his tears fall “I feel like there’s a missing part of me and knowing him would fill that part.”

“Even if we never find the truth” I assured “we still have each other and I’m not going anywhere!”

Beizu wrapped his arms around me, completing the embrace “Thank you Iwa, I won’t leave your side either.”

We finished eating and got ready to face the next half of the school day. Before I headed to the hero wing, Beizu grabbed me by the sleeve.

“Hmm?”

He made eye contact with me “I love you.”

That surprised me, but I just smiled “I love you too.”

After that, he let go of my sleeve and ran off to class. That emotional moment was what I needed to get into the zone of things! Nothing like two bros, that love each other. Once I got home, I trotted up to my mom’s home office. Usually she’s cooped up in her office on Wednesdays, so Beizu’s mom picks me up from school. The door was open and the lights were dimmed inside.

“Mom?” I announced myself from the doorway.

“Si mijo?” responded mom “I’m on the ceiling.”

I walk in to see her floating and bouncing around in the high vaulted room “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Come up here then” she perched herself on a swing she had up there.

“Oh man” I muttered to myself before I jumped up to float my way up.

“Okay, what did you want to talk about?” asked mom when I perched myself on a padded ledge.

“I’ve been hearing a lot more about you when you were my age at school. And I was wondering if you could teach me the key to your success” I asked “I’m sure you have some sort of magic ratio or foolproof plan.”

“Well that’s the problem Iwata” she giggled and started swinging herself “there’s no magic or math involved! It’s just pure luck and my impulsiveness.”

“What?! It’s just luck?” I didn’t believe her “There’s no way it’s luck every time!”

“Not every time, for the most part I just act on impulse because I’m either in the heat of the moment or my plans didn’t work the way they were supposed to” she explained “Just me, my abilities and God versus the problem! I didn’t fully plan on getting this far or be in this country in the first place!”

“Do you ever get scared?”

“Every time, but I have a more noble cause that keeps me going. Before it was going back to my home country” she stopped swinging “But nowadays, it’s because I want to come home to my family.”

That sparked another question “Why don’t you go back to visit?”

Her expression changed “Things are bad where I grew up, no hero culture and the government isn’t intervening. My parents got out of there before things got bad, but I had to be sent away to protect them” she sighed deeply “I was so young, and not ready to leave my parents. Hardly slept for weeks when I settled here, all I did was cry when I wasn’t at school because I missed my home.”

I was starting to put two and two together, but I read the room and didn’t pry more from her “Well...what can you teach me that will help me in the program?”

That snapped her into thinking mode “I suppose I can teach you strategy and tap into your stamina.”

“Stamina?” I wonder how that was related to anything.

“Yea, all telekinesis users have high stamina due to our heightened brain activity. Up side, we’re powerhouses and victory is within reach” she floated off the swing “downside, the insomnia is terrible! And nightmares are mega scary!”

I shuttered “That’s why my nightmares seem 3D?!” then something clicked in my head “Wait- is that why you gave me coffee when I developed my telekinesis?”

“Yup! Coffee is part of the latin culture because most of latin-american peoples are telekinesis users. It helps us damper the stamina to sleep better at night” she stretched out her back “along with the lavender and sage. That’s why I put you and Tensei in the same room, both of you need the same treatment as I did when I was growing up.”

I floated off the ledge “That makes so much sense! But what about Lili and Hanaka?”

“They don’t have those types of quirks, they’re honestly very lucky to not have telekinesis” She floated down and I followed “Imagine having telekinesis and being a girl? I hate it! It’s one of the worst things in the world! Ask your dad.”

“I heard my name” Dad said as he stopped in front of the office door “and why is it so dark in here?”

“Dad, what would happen if Lili and Hanaka had telekinesis?”

“I love your mom and I love your sisters, but I don’t have the capacity to deal with the anger fueled telekinesis or have the whole house leveled because I took away toast privileges” he fixed his glasses sternly “Trust me son, you haven’t seen your mother angry yet. We’re very fortunate that you and Tensei got those quirks, if I’d known this is how our children were going to turn out.”

“Oh shut up” Mom slapped dad on the ass as she walked to the stairs “You wanted a full house, I said 2 or 3! You’d get me pregnant right now if I didn’t shut down the baby factory the moment Hanaka breathed fire!”

He sighed “She’s right, I want more kids” his face turned red, then he faced me “What were you guys talking about?”

“How to be better in the intel program” I responded “I got my answers, it was a good talk.”

I ran to my room to write down that little bit of background mom told me. I’ve never heard her complete story but I have a feeling I will very soon.

-Chapter 5, End-

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[adscititious-cacoethes]

Petrichor (9/12)

Pairing: Eventual Trevor C./Reader; other background relationships Chapter: 9 of 12 Warnings: Swearing, Plot!, Geoff is there, cuteness, Learning about Backstories! (sort of), Trevor is Super Cute and Great and Good and Stuff, vampires and werewolves and things that go bump in the night (PG-13) Word Counts: Chapter: 4,446 Total: 33,967 A/N: Home stretch! Here’s some plot and some cute and some stuff. Also I take prompts now! (see here for details). Now that the end is near for this fic, I need some more stuff to work on :D  Reminder that this has a bunch of supernatural-y stuff, and also that this would not have seen the light of day (pun intended), if it weren’t for @chefgeofframsay. P.S. - Feedback would be cool P. P. S. - sorry if any chapters end kind of weird, this was written as one long thing and then I decided to break it up.  Previous|Next

You dressed as quickly as you can, texted your mom and Blaine, and then focused pulling up both illusions and a neutral expression as you left your room and walked into the kitchen. Trevor, Michael, and Lindsay were all standing around the island counter, chatting, but fell silent when you entered the room.

“Is something wrong?” You asked, instantly regretting it, but all three of them shot you matching reassuring smiles.

“No, just waiting on you. You ready to go get some lunch?” Lindsay said, picking up her purse from the counter.

“I just gotta feed Gus, first.” You told her, reaching past Michael for the fish food, but Trevor shook his head, stopping you in your tracks.

“Already done, while you were in the shower. And uh, I also did the dishes because I wanted to wash my face and brush my teeth and I felt bad doing that with dishes in the sink.” He said, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Trevor, you didn’t have to…” You trailed off, blushing, and you watched Michael and Lindsay share a look out of the corner of your eye before Lindsay wrapped her fingers around your wrist.

“Now that that’s settled.” She said, pulling you to the door and stopping mid-sentence in a way that sounded like she had no intention of finishing it.

One uneventful lunch and a quiet drive later, and you were once again standing in the elevator, on your way up to Geoff’s penthouse. Michael and Lindsay and Trevor were all chatting about something (Trevor standing very close to your side), but you were too busy thinking to pay attention.

The elevator doors eventually slid open, and you heard a squeal, raising your head just in time to see Ashley barrel into you, wrapping you up in a hug. Relief flooded your body as you brought your arms up and squeezed her tight. Your mentor was here, in your arms, unscathed, and you felt tension you didn’t know you had melt from your shoulders.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” You whispered next to her ear, and she nodded, pulling away to hold you at arm’s length. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears.

“Look at you, you’re all grown up now.” She murmured, pulling you into another hug for a moment before dragging you out of the elevator. She turned to face you again, and then looked up, over your shoulder.

“And you must be Trevor.” Ashley said it the same way that moms do when they think they know something you don’t, and you couldn’t stop the heat that spread from your neck into your cheeks.

As your mentor, she was essentially a second mom, after all.

“Nice to meet you.” Trevor stuck out a hand as he said, it, but Ashley batted it away in favor of pulling him into a hug, too, and he looked at you wide-eyed over her head, but brought his arms up to pat her on the back, anyway. You just laughed with Michael and Lindsay at Trevor’s obvious confusion.

“Thank you for taking care of my [Y/N],” She said, pulling away from Trevor and looking to Michael and Lindsay standing behind you, “all of you. She’s always been my favorite apprentice.”

You didn’t know you could do it, but you felt your cheeks growing impossibly redder. You shot Ashley a glare, which she just laughed at, “What? It’s true.”

“Does this mean you know a lot of like, baby stories and stupid shit that [Y/N]’s done?” Michael asked, and to your absolute horror, Ashley chuckled and nodded.

“Oh, do I ever.”

“Sweet.” Michael said, wicked glint in his eye, and Trevor patted your upper back sympathetically.

“It’s okay, he does this to all of us,” Trevor informed you quietly, leaning down so that his face was near yours while he spoke, “come on, Geoff’s probably waiting impatiently, he knows you’re here.”

You nodded and followed Trevor down the hall, giving a parting wave to the others and silently praying that Ashley didn’t tell too many embarrassing stories.

“So, I’ve heard through the grapevine that you’ve had your first Prediction.” Geoff said from behind his desk, fingers steepled together. You were sitting in the same chair that you sat in when you were last in Geoff’s office, only this time you were sans Lindsay, Trevor instead sitting in the chair she had occupied. Ryan was up against the wall behind Geoff, leaning precariously against it despite the amount of stuff that hung on the walls.

“Uh, yeah.” You shifted in your seat and glanced over at Trevor, who was smiling encouragingly at you.

“Trevor filled me in last night, but I had a couple questions of my own. Can you describe the man who attacked Ashley?” Geoff asked, face stony, all business.

“Uh, he was Unseelie. Tall, thin, but he picked her up with one hand. One of his wings has a giant chunk missing, but the line was smooth, almost like it was repaired surgically.” You told Geoff, and then nearly jumped out of your skin when Ryan pushed himself off the wall (making frames knickknacks rattle) and nearly ran out of the room.

“Good, we know who it is that’s after you, then. He was on our short list,” Geoff opened up a file in front of him and shuffled through a couple of papers until he evidently found the one he was looking for, “does the name Novus ring any bells?”

“No? I don’t think so? I’m sorry. If he has to do with my father, I’ve never heard of him. I try to avoid discussing it with him. I know he does a lot of good work, taking on cases so that non-humans can still get fair trials without outing them, regardless of whether they’re guilty or not, but it wasn’t something that he brought home with him very often.” You explained, wringing your hands in your lap. Geoff sighed a little.

“No, I get it, kid, don’t worry. This was a case in the Seelie Court, actually. He was the defendant; your father was prosecuting him. Sentenced to 80 years, must’ve just gotten out. Says here that he was screaming “I’ll give you something worse than death” at dear ol’ Robin as he was dragged out of the courtroom.” Geoff looked up at you, and you tried to swallow down the lump in your throat.

Something worse than death.

What else was worse than your own death? You only kid getting murdered. And judging by your Prediction, this Novus jerk was ready and willing to destroy anything in his ‘quest for revenge.’ At least things make a little more sense, now, even though they’re still off the wall, you thought to yourself, sliding down in your seat a little. You caught movement in the corner of your eye and turned a little to see a very concerned-looking Trevor staring at you.

“Alright, at least we know who it is, now. Anything else we need to talk about?” You asked, and as Geoff rubbed at his face, you saw his tattoos ripple and move. The woman on the back of his hand winked at you and gave a cheeky grin.

“Yeah, you need to stay here until we resolve this, [Y/N]. Penthouse is safe, I know who goes in and out at all times, it’s the best place for you. We’ll put up a ‘sorry, closed due to family emergency’ sign on your store. I’ll even go get your fish myself.” You expected another fish joke or burst of laughter, but it never came, Geoff’s sleepy blue eyes just trained on you.

“I – I can’t just, like, not work, Geoff. I appreciate everything you’re doing – even though it’s because my father’s telling you to and whatever – but I have bills to pay, and shipments due in, and customers that need to pick up preorders. I understand, but I don’t know how long this is going to take. I can’t leave my job for weeks and weeks.” You tried to put into words how you felt, but judging by the growing frown on Geoff’s face, he was either not getting it or Not Having It. He slammed his hands on his desk, standing up from his chair so fast it clattered back into the wall, making you jump and cower back a little bit into your seat. The whole room went dark, and you could See his aura crackling and swirling with life.

“It’s not a matter of what you want! It’s a matter of your protection! Do you think we’re getting paid for this? This is a favor to your father, friend to friend. I’m putting my whole team into this out of the kindness of my heart! I don’t care if you have shit to do, I’m not putting you in a position where you’re at risk!” Geoff half-shouted, voice pitching and cracking all over the place.

Before you could open your mouth to say anything – before you could even think of anything to say at all, Trevor was out of his chair, hands up and out in a placating gesture, and now you could only see right half of Geoff’s face and upper body.

“Woah, now, Nelly, let’s just calm down, now, everyone,” Trevor urged before turning to you, “[Y/N], I get it. You have a business to run, and you do it almost entirely by yourself, which means you have a reputation on the line, too. But the store is sort of a risky place, being the only location besides your apartment that you frequent on a regular basis, and the first time you were attacked, originally, you were walking home from there.

“Geoff,” Trevor turned his back to you to face his boss, “We understand that you’re doing this because [Y/N]’s father is a good friend. I understand that you’re doing what you think is best. But if the tables were turned right now, would you be comfortable with completely upending your entire life indefinitely, or would you crave something that would give you some little, tiny sliver of normalcy, even if it meant taking a risk? Can’t we compromise, instead? [Y/N] cuts down store hours, maybe to three days a week, and Blaine gets any shipments that come in on days that the store isn’t open? That way, she gets something in her life that isn’t completely foreign-upside-down bullshit and you get to make sure she’s protected and safe?”

You watched, wide-eyed, as Trevor’s words made Geoff’s jaw loosen and his shoulders drop. By the time Trevor had finished, the (presumably) older man had fallen back into his chair, hands rubbing at his face. You had no idea that Trevor could negotiate and defuse a situation like that. On the surface, you were in awe of his concise eloquence and quick-thinking, but deeper down…well, you couldn’t stop the little voice back there that found it attractive. Trevor had a way with words that appealed to your book-loving self, and the fact that he was essentially standing up to you, to his boss. It was flattering, and it made you want to blush and giggle like a schoolgirl.

“Fine. Three days a week. But if this goes on for more than another week, we’re not sticking to the same three days. I need you to tell me all preorders expected and all shipment dates for the next couple weeks, so we can make sure your customers and suppliers and shit don’t get pissed at you. But I’m not getting your fish from your apartment, you have to go get it your goddamn self.” Geoff said, tone dismissive, and you let out a breath you didn’t know you’d been holding. Trevor stepped back and sat down again while Geoff handed you a piece of paper. You wrote down the ones you could remember, and then scribbled Blaine’s number at the bottom.

“I don’t know if I remembered all of them, but Blaine should still be at the store, so he can look it up in the planner book that we keep, you can text or call him about it.” You said, giving the paper back. Geoff only let out a hmph in response, but you could see the corners of his mouth twitch upwards, so you were hoping that meant the man wasn’t actually mad at you.

Geoff then instructed the two of you to “get the dicks out of here” with a wave of his hand, and you shot a quick series of texts to Blaine, updating him on the whole thing while you followed Trevor out the door.

“Want to go get some stuff from your apartment now?” Trevor asked, and you nodded absently.

“Hey,” You stopped walking, grabbing Trevor’s forearm. He instantly turned to face you. “thanks for like, helping and negotiating and stuff. That was really, super nice of you, and after last night…” You trailed off, hoping that Trevor would understand the unspoken end to your sentence: I owe you.

He just chuckled a little under his breath and shook his head, “It was nothing, [Y/N]. I could tell what you were trying to say, and I knew that Geoff wasn’t going to get it right away unless someone spelled it out for him. It’s not my first rodeo with Geoff ‘I’m an overprotective fucker’ Ramsey. And as for last night, I already told you, I’m just glad that you’re okay, and I was there to help.” He fitted you with a dazzling smile, and before you could talk yourself out of it, you surged forward and wrapped your arms around his waist, pressing your face into his chest in the biggest hug you could muster. Trevor’s arms immediately responded, wrapping around you and pulling you tighter to him.

You weren’t sure how long the two of you stood there, hugging each other in the hallway, but the sound of someone clearing their throat had you jumping away from each other. It was Jack, and he had a sly smile on his face as he looked between you and Trevor.

“I’m about to take Ashley to the airport. I figured you’d want to say goodbye, [Y/N].” Jack told you, beckoning you to follow him.

After a tearful good-bye with Ashley, you found yourself dabbing at your eyes and sitting in the passenger seat of a nice, dark-colored sportscar while Trevor drove back to your apartment. The two of you gathered up two suitcases worth of necessities (well, one suitcase of clothes and other necessities and one suitcase of stuffed animals) and Gus in his tank and brought it all back to the penthouse, where Trevor helped you set up Gus and your things in the same room you had stayed in the night you were attacked.

“I’d love to stay and hang out, but Jeremy just requested some assistance with recon.” Trevor said after the two of you finally got Gus’ tank set up and settled (he was a spoiled rotten grumpy little fish), waving his phone a little for emphasis.

You sighed inwardly, disappointed that your time with Trevor was called to an end for the moment, but pulled a (hopefully understanding) smile onto your face, regardless.

“Okay. Thanks for helping me out with this asshole.” You said, gesturing to Gus. You bit down the and everything else that you wanted to tack on. You’d already had that conversation – you didn’t want to sound like a broken record, or worse, have Trevor get annoyed at your repetitiveness.

“Not a problem. I’ll swing by if it isn’t too late when I get back, but if not, you know where I’m gonna be. My door’s always unlocked as long as I’m in there.” Trevor smiled at you, and you nodded, giving him a wave when he looked back at you before he shut the door behind him.

You immediately flopped back onto the bed with a sigh, that turned into a yelp when you nearly bonked your head against the headboard.

“Forgot that there wasn’t going to be as much soft stuff to stop my fall.” You muttered to yourself, rolling onto your stomach and texting Blaine for a while – making sure everything was fine at the store that day, making sure he was fine, asking if him and Mica were going to spend the night together to be super safe (they were – Blaine was staying at Mica’s house, because she had much better security).

Eventually, you moved on to unpacking all of your things – there was nothing you hated more than living out of a suitcase (okay, there were a lot of things you hated more, this whole situation one of them, but suitcase was still fairly high on the list) – and after that, you took a nap.

Your ‘nap’ turned into a ‘sleep,’ and it was well after midnight when you woke up again. You splashed some water on your face and pulled up your hair before slipping out into the hallway as quietly as you could and knocking on the nearest (aka Trevor’s) door.

After a minute with no answer, you reached forward and tried the knob.

Locked.

Okay, plan B (who were you kidding, you didn’t have a plan B). You sighed and started wandering down the hall, turning corners at random in an attempt to find something – or even someone – recognizable. You weren’t sure if it was by chance or by Geoff’s doing, but your twists and turns through the enchanted penthouse eventually led you to a small, dark room, the only light coming from a small writing lamp, which illuminated what looked like a desk scattered with papers and the outline of a person.

“Can’t sleep?” They asked, and you took a step forward, eyes adjusting to see Ryan staring up at you.

“I meant to take a nap for an hour. It turned into, like, seven.” You responded, making him chuckle.

“Take a seat.”

You slid into the seat across from him and curled up, tucking your feet under you. You heard shuffling and then the room was suddenly a lot brighter, a set of sconces flaring to life behind the desk. You took in the room as Ryan sat back down and went back to his work. It seemed to have a delicate balance between old and new, with ancient-looking tomes and crumbling maps were strewn between circuit boards and tablets. Ryan was wearing glasses and was hunched over what looked like a box with a bunch of wires coming out of it, but you were sure it was probably a little more complicated than that.

“This is my office, but unlike Geoff, I don’t get the luxury of having a door.” Ryan piped up after a few minutes of silence, startling you a little.

“I’m sorry, I can leave…” You said, trailing off and dropping your feet to the floor.

“No, stay if you want to, I don’t mind. Just letting you know, I could tell you’re curious.” He explained it with the same vague, sort of enigmatic tone that you had discovered he was fond of. You nodded, and the two of you lapsed into silence again. Ryan was weird, to you. Now that you had gotten to know every member of Geoff’s crew a little better, you had deduced that Trevor wasn’t an apprentice, after all. In fact, you were sure that the two were fairly close in age (relatively speaking, of course. Your guess was that there was only about 150 or so years between the two vampires). Ryan’s knowledge of the world and its inhabitants vastly exceeded your own, and you found nearly every interaction with the older man turned into a lively history lesson – which you were genuinely happy for, even when Michael was groaning and threatening to smash his own face in just so he didn’t have to listen to it anymore. But while the others were relatively open and friendly, Ryan’s words always seemed to be cherry-picked carefully, things that seemed like they wouldn’t be secretive discussions riddled with vague half-comments. You wondered if Ryan just had a flair for dramatic (like Geoff), or if he was really as secretive of a person as he seemed. And even beyond that, you wondered why, when Trevor was the temperature of a nice, cool breeze, Ryan felt like ice that had just come out of a blast chiller.

“Something on your mind?” Ryan asked lightly, pulling you out of your own head. You hesitated to answer, not certain about how far you could reach before being offensive, how much you could pry before hurting someone’s feelings and breaking the fragile trust you had established.

“It might be too invasive to ask.” You finally settled on, dishing Ryan a taste of his own purposely vague medicine.

“You’ll find that there’s very few things in my entire life that I would consider too private to talk about, at my age.”

You sighed, “It’s only partially about you.”

“So, Trevor, then.” Ryan stated – and it was just that, a statement of fact, not even a hint of a questioning lilt in his tone.

“Is it really that obvious?” You asked, fidgeting in your seat. Ryan glanced up at you over his glasses, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Well, considering it’s only ‘partially’ about me, I’m assuming it’s a vampire ‘thing,’” He lifted one hand to enunciate his inflections with air quotes, “and beyond the fact that Trevor and I are the only vampires in AH, over the past week and a half or so, you’ve grown closest to Trevor – much closer than most of the rest of us combined.” Ryan’s voice dripped with hidden meaning, and he shot you a knowing smirk.

You blushed a little bit at that, embarrassed that your attachment to and subsequent crush on Trevor was that obvious, especially in that short of a period of time. You took solace in the stories that your mother had told you, time and time again, about how she had only known your father for a few hours before she knew he was The One and they shared their first kiss. And they’d been together for centuries, now.

You opened your mouth to respond, but Ryan beat you to it: “If you’re about to say, ‘I don’t want Trevor to find out and get upset with me,’ one; he won’t find out, and two; he won’t get upset. With me, maybe. But not with you.”

You harrumphed and sunk further into your chair. You glanced around, even craning your neck to look behind you, and, satisfied that no one else was there to eavesdrop, you turned back to Ryan.

“Why are you so much colder than him?” You asked, watching intently for Ryan’s response. He set down the tools in his hand and pushed back a little so his chair rolled back, leisurely swinging his socked feet up to rest on the edge of the desk.

“He’ll tell you the details in his own time, but it’s no secret, so I’ll tell you the basics.” Ryan said, pressing his fingers together and resting them under his chin.

“A long time ago, right around the time that I first met him, Trevor had an…unfortunate run-in. He had been working with an angel at the time – she’s still a contact of ours, actually – and to make the story short, they had two options: let Trevor die or let him feed off of her angel blood without fully knowing what the consequences of that would be. Like a good friend, she chose the latter, which led to Trevor seeking me out for help.

“What neither of them knew, because at the time, side effects of magical blood were elite, Need-to-Know basis information – I won’t get into that, all you need to know is that ancient, crumbly-ass vampires are fucking dicks – was that by drinking an angel’s blood, even though it was only a little bit, Trevor became a little less undead. Sunlight doesn’t weaken him as much as it does me. He doesn’t feel dead to the touch, like I do. He doesn’t need to drink as often as normal, unless he’s been exerting a lot of energy, and when he’s full he can even do life-y things like blush and eat a lot of ‘real’ food without getting a stomachache. He still has all of the typical weaknesses – wooden stakes to the heart, silver, decapitation, acid, the works – but he’s a little bit less dead than the rest of us. It’s the closest thing to the popular human myth of ‘day-walkers’ as vampires get. Does that answer your question?” Ryan finished, and you nodded, a little numbly. You didn’t know what you were expecting, but it wasn’t that.

“Why – why doesn’t it happen more often, then?” You asked tentatively, leaning forward a little bit in your seat.

“Sometime between then and now, drinking non-Normal human or animal blood has been pretty much unanimously outlawed by both the High Vampiric Counsel and the community as a whole. There are exceptions, when it’s a dire situation and the ‘giving’ party has willingly consented, but those are mostly on a case-by-case basis. Why do you think that the effects of magical and mythical blood are never discussed in any of the books you’ve read about us? We operate under a sort of ‘ignorance is bliss’ mentality.” You found yourself nodding as Ryan spoke. It did make a lot of logical sense, after all. You stifled a yawn, and, as Ryan fell silent, you took that as your cue to leave.

“Don’t just start talking to him about it. I know you have more tact than that, but still. He probably won’t be too happy with me for stepping in instead of shutting up and directing you to him.” Ryan said as you stood, making you pause, and for a moment fear clutched your chest –What if this was a bad idea? What if Trevor will hate you for going to Ryan instead of him? – but you pushed it away. Ryan said he wouldn’t be mad at you, and you hadn’t gone to Ryan at all, you had just stumbled upon his office, and the vampire had asked.

“Will do. Thanks, Ryan.” You told him, giving him a small smile before wandering away. It took you a while, but you eventually made it back to your ‘room’ – you hesitated to call it that, because it wasn’t yours, not really, not forever – and plonked down on your bed, falling asleep while this newfound information about the cute boy you liked swirled in your mind.

[theouterspaceplace]

The Tipping Point wip chptr2

Hi my name is Sam Sox.  I grew up moving around from place to place until I was 12 and then my dad got a normal job that kept us in one place while my brother and I entered and graduated from High School.  So when people ask me where I am from I tell the San Francisco, California.  Although not technically correct it is a close enough approximation of the truth for two reasons.  The first is my conscience,  Telling somebody the 15 different towns cities and or country’s we had lived in wasn’t going to simplify any conversation or understanding of who I am,, what made me, and where I identify as home. 2. My dad had told us to never tell people where we had lived in the past for “security purposes” .  When I was young I didn’t understand why or really what for “security purposes “ meant.  I knew my dad was a Marine Col. and we lived in a lot of countries for a short period of time, and usually moved somewhere else on a moments notice usually in the middle of the night.  When we arrived we were originally housed in the US Embassy where some diplomats worked.  Soon thereafter my Dad would drive us to our new home with a new car and new kids on street.  Since I was young I could usually pick up the local language in a month or two , which I was told was incredibly amazing for only  four or five weeks.  What did I know,  I was just a kid.  By the time I was ten years old I could speak  14 different language or dialects.  I didn’t  think anything of it and thought that all kids spoke several languages,,  Evidently the U.S. Military didn’t feel the same way and by the age of 11 I was usually employed by the Embassy as a translator with “top secret” clearance.  For a kid I thought that was pretty cool, “Top Secret”  like I was a special agent Double Oh nothing as my older brother would tease me.  He spoke English and Spanish well  a little French and German but could only order Ice Cream in Arabic, Farsi, Russian,, Serbian, Croatian, Slovak, Hungarian, Chinese (both the main dialects),,Japanese or Korean.  I didn’t understand that I was “gifted” and I had a special knack fo picking up the native language,  I thought moving around the world after my dad got a phone call was normal.  As I said before what did I know I was just a kid. 

People often ask me about my mom.  I didn’t know my mom.  My dad would NOT talk about her.  He would get very angry with me when I asked so I just stopped asking him,  My older brother new a little bit about her but a description of her and what country we were in when the Men in Uniforms took her away.  but he was five and a half and I was almost two years old. From that point on we had nanny’s for mother’s.  A new mother for each country. We had a lot of new Mom’s by the time I was twelve..  I thought all kids had a lot of moms.  What did I know I was just a kid.

By the time I was twelve my brother was sixteen,  My brother was a big for his age.  Already 6′ 2″ and still growing.  People often mistook him for being older than 16, since he had to shave every day now and had a Marine style haircut most people thought he was a Marine assigned to the Embassy Protection Unit. But he was not, he was just a big kid.  And that is what got him into some trouble with the local “police force” of the current country we were living in (Iran).  my brother was arrested for “spying”.  Before my dad found out what had happened they had beaten up my brother pretty badly.  He said they were yelling and screaming at him to tell them who his contact.  was.  That is all he could remember.   But I had never ever seen my dad get so mad.  I was terrified of my dad when he got like this.  I didn’t hide under my bed anymore but I ran for my room and prayed for my dad to calm down.  With a flurry of phone calls and hyper vigilant determination my brother was home early the next morning.  My brother looked terrible, you could barely see his eyes and his face was all puffy.  he looked like he had marshmellos under the skin.  I asked him I i could do anything for him and he said “start packing kid we are out of here, and I can’t see too well right now,.  I loved when my brother gave me orders..  He rarely did this so I took off like a shot and packed his stuff my stuff and even my dads stuff before lunch time. I had just finished packing everything when my dad walked hurriedly through the front door and said, “kids get packing NOW,” I smiled and said we are all done and ready to go.  My dad didn’t say anything but I knew he was proud of us for being wise, taking responsibility, and even more so for being ready to go.  I even saw him smile when he saw his bags packed too.

The next day we landed in San Francisco, California,  I learned much later what my dad had done to get my brothers release. I was impressed, proud, and appalled  by what he had done.  But when I found out the truth about my mothers disappearance in a country right next to Iran, I understood his actions much better..  I believe his thoughts were “I am not going to lose another one NO MATTER WHAT”  And he officially retired from the Marine Corps that very day.  I didn’t know what to make of this but by this time I was no longer a kid.. Yes we ran for our lives and never, not one of us ever talked about this again. Never.  It had become an ingrown  characteristic of  sorts for me to not talk about where we had lived or what my dad did etc. etc. I was now in sixth grade and  learned quickly that all my “nannies” or “moms” had taught me well.  Either that or all the other kids were stupid, and they didn’t seem stupid so I must of been taught well. My teachers looked at me with wonder.  My manners were that of career Marine Officer and my education was that of the world.  Combine the two and you have and immediate “teachers pet” label on your forehead.  About a month into the school year and some older kids started harassing me. They grabbed me and in the following struggle my shirt got ripped and my hands scratched up.  My dad wasn’t home when I got back to the house  but my brother was.  He jumped up when he saw me and demanded to know what happened,. I didn’t want to tell him because I was embarrassed but the look on his face told me I better tell  him the truth and tell him now..  Five minutes later he left the house and came back an hour later.  He told me that those kids would never bother me again, ever.  He said nothing more.  I believed him, the look on his face told me everything.  That was pretty much the last time anyone in our neighborhood ever harassed me, and that went for High School as well..

[bountyofbeads]

In court, he speaks for Speaker Nancy Pelosi

By Ann E. Marimow | Published

December 25 at 5:46 PM EST | Washington Post | Posted Dec 25, 2019

To the extent Douglas N. Letter caught a break, it came down to this: Two of his cases were being heard on the same floor of the same Washington courthouse on the same afternoon.

In one room, Letter tried to persuade a judge to force President Trump’s former White House counsel Donald McGahn to testify before Congress. During a short break, Letter hustled down the hallway to a second courtroom. There, his colleague insisted that former national security adviser John Bolton’s deputy must comply with a House subpoena to testify in the impeachment inquiry.

That fall day has come to represent a typical schedule for Letter, the genial, self-deprecating lead lawyer for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). After a 40-year career at the Justice Department, defending policies of presidential administrations from both parties, Letter now speaks for the speaker in courtrooms throughout the country while advising House leaders on impeachment.

With his small team of lawyers, Letter is locked in pitched battles with the Trump administration, which has vowed to fight all congressional subpoenas for documents and testimony — and resisted cooperating with House impeachment proceedings. As general counsel to the House, Letter has a hand in an outsize number of fast-moving legal fights between Congress and the president.

Letter is slated to represent the House at the Supreme Court, which will review two rare separation-of-powers cases over disclosure of Trump’s tax and financial records in March.

And in back-to-back hearings Jan. 3at the federal appeals court in Washington, Letter will explain why the judges should give the House access to secret evidence from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation. His colleague, Megan Barbero, will then ask the court to uphold a ruling forcing McGahn to appear before a House committee despite White House efforts to block his testimony.

“Because of the stonewalling by the Trump administration and the insistence on going to court on every kind of thing, it’s very demanding with multiple opponents and multiple cases,” said Irv Nathan, who held Letter’s position the first time Pelosi was speaker, starting in 2007. “The job is on steroids.”

Justice Department lawyers counter in court filings that forcing key presidential advisers to answer Congress’s questions would be a “radical distortion of the balance of powers.” Grand jury material, they say, should be off-limits to Congress even in an impeachment proceeding.

The general counsel’s quarters are jammed into a second-floor suite of offices in the Cannon House Office Building, so cramped that one attorney works out of a closet. The tight space for nine lawyers and staff belies the lasting impact their cases will have on the structure of the nation’s government — the scope and limits of presidential and congressional power and how the branches interact.

“Even when he’s got a crushing workload on him and other people would snap, Doug’s reaction is to recognize what an incredible position he’s in,” said former Justice Department official David O’Neil, who has helped Letter’s team challenge the administration’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. “He inspires people to put in their best work and to pull all-nighter after all-nighter because the work matters.”

Letter, 66, sleeps only four hours on a typical night, according to friends and former colleagues. When he’s not in court or crafting legal filings, he briefs Democrats on strategy and advises House leaders on impeachment. He talks frequently with Pelosi in meetings, by phone or in texts, with messages that also touch on a shared affinity for sports teams from the Bay Area, where Letter grew up.

The House lawyers typically travel to hearings as a pack, entering the courthouse with Letter in his trademark baseball cap. While arguing against Trump’s border wall funding plan at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco, he wore a 49ers cap. In Washington, it’s the Nationals or Capitals.

Letter, who was not authorized to comment for this article, was born in the District but spent his childhood in Palo Alto, Calif., where government work was a family tradition. His father, who served in World War II, ran the National Labor Relations Board office in San Francisco. Letter graduated from Columbia University and returned to California for law school at Berkeley.

A workaholic even by Washington standards, Letter holds to his sleep schedule to make sure he has time for long-distance bike rides, tennis and family, according to friends. They count on his Sunday evening emails asking who’s in for weekly basketball games at a Montgomery County, Md., middle school that Letter has organized for 35 years. Letter is the informal commissioner of the group, made up mostly of government workers who choose not to pay extra to air-condition the gym.

“Lawyers in this town can get competitive; we believe in our own version of the rules,” said Joshua Geltzer, a former Justice Department lawyer who worked with Letter during his stint last year at Georgetown’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. “If people get a little too combative or revert to lawyer mode, he’ll calm people down, tell us to take it easy.”

Letter has tapped his network of former government lawyers, including Geltzer and his Georgetown colleagues, to help handle the 15 pending lawsuits involving the House. The lawyers are working for free, according to a Pelosi aide.

When Letter retired from the Justice Department in February 2018, he was head of the civil appellate division with 65 attorneys. He had done stints in the White House Counsel’s Office during the Clinton administration, as terrorism litigation counsel defending post-9/11 policies for George W. Bush and as senior counsel to Barack Obama’s attorney general Eric Holder.

Ben Wizner, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, argued opposite Letter in national security matters, including in a federal lawsuit against a CIA contractor for its alleged role in transporting detainees to secret prisons, where they were tortured. Letter, representing the government under Bush and Obama, narrowly prevailed in persuading a full panel of the 9th Circuit to dismiss the lawsuit because of secrecy concerns.

Wizner, who likes Letter personally, said his eyebrow raised when he learned of Letter’s new role.

“There is some irony in his being tagged to push back against executive branch overreach,” Wizner said. “As a government lawyer, he defended extravagant claims of executive prerogative, including that the CIA could designate its own illegal activity a state secret and thereby avoid any kind of accountability.”

But John Lawrence, Pelosi’s former chief of staff, sees Letter’s experience representing both Democratic and Republican administrations and his insights into high-level legal strategy as a plus.

“It never hurts to have somebody around who knows the other team’s signals or at least understands how they think,” said Lawrence, who recommended Letter for the job.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, both conservatives, attended Letter’s farewell party at the Justice Department, Lawrence noted.

“When he walks into court, the judges know he’s not there as a flack for the Democrats, but as a serious litigator,” Lawrence said.

Letter revels in bantering with the judges and is at ease in nerve-racking court sessions of hypothetical, rapid-fire questioning, said Matt Collette, who was Letter’s deputy at the Justice Department.

During a hearing in November over access to Mueller’s secret grand jury material, Letter pointed out that the Justice Department lawyer had repeatedly referred to the department as “the government.”

“The House of Representatives is the first branch,” Letter said. “We’re both the government, but we’re the first branch.”

“You’re part of the first branch,” reminded Judge Thomas B. Griffith, a former committee counsel for the Senate, the other half of the legislative branch.

In a sign of his comfort in court, Letter offered levity in a nod to the bodies mired in constitutional conflict.

“Judge Griffith,” Letter said, “I was hoping you’d take up the mantle of the Senate and we could complete this.”

Letter’s adversaries in court are often former colleagues, allowing him to anticipate the views of the executive branch and to speak with institutional background.

“Presidents from George Washington on (unlike Mr. Trump) have understood that Congress has the power to conduct investigations and oversight of the president as part of the constitutional design,” Letter wrote in a court filing asking the appeals court in Washington to uphold a House subpoena for Trump’s accounting firm records.

The Justice Department’s arguments are “fabricated out of whole cloth: they may represent what the department wishes the law were,” he wrote, “but they are not the law.”

Trump’s lawyers accuse the House and its lawyers of seeking the president’s financial information to embarrass the president and score political points — and of overstepping into a law enforcement role.

“Given the obvious temptation to investigate the personal affairs of political rivals, subpoenas concerning the private lives of presidents will become routine in times of divided government,” warned Trump’s attorney William S. Consovoy in asking the Supreme Court to review a ruling against the president.

Even in the middle of a bitter fight, Letter’s legal positions are distinct from his personal relationships. Halfway through the November hearing over grand jury materials, it was Letter’s turn to speak.

Letter would eventually tell the court that morning why the House had an urgent need to see the evidence: “Did the president lie?” Letter said. “Was the president not truthful in his responses to the Mueller investigation?”

But first, he made a personal point: The Justice Department attorney on the opposing side, Mark Freeman, was Letter’s former colleague and had succeeded him in leading the appellate office in part because of Letter’s “very strong recommendation.”

“After this is all over,” Letter told the judges, “we will shake hands and hug.”