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superlarva · 11 months

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Happy Sunday! I had a little more time than usual this week, so I tried my hand at a more realistic rendering (there's a slightly different version under the cut with Fives's injuries).

Anyways, here's chapter 1 of my fic (I promise I'll come up with a name soon) about Rex parenting baby domino twins!

Summary: Rex and Cody go to Kamino and pick up Fives.

Prologue here!

Next Chapter: 02

CW: Implied/referenced child abuse, implied/referenced sexual assult (not of Fives)

^Please stay safe, friends, there's a decent amount of talk about trauma in this chapter.

Chapter 1 - Fives

Cody had insisted on driving. He knew Rex well enough to know his brother, normally unbreakable under any stressors, was just barely holding himself together.

Cody was barely holding himself together.

Rex had never explicitly told him what had happened when they had been separated, but there had been hints. Hints that made guilt and protectiveness and anger surge through Cody’s veins.

Rex came back quieter, more cautious, less trusting. He would get night terrors that left him pale and trembling, only soothed back to sleep by the sound of Cody’s voice reading stories or whispering affirmations.

Back then, Cody had not wanted to assume, and Rex had not wanted to share.

Now Cody knew. He knew beyond the shadow of a doubt what she had done to him. He knew why his little brother had come back from her care nervous and shaken. Why he hadn’t let anyone so much as tap him on the shoulder for years afterwards.

It made his blood boil.

If only he had been a few years older, he could have gotten Rex out before they were split from the group home. If only he had realized the lack of letters he received wasn’t because Rex was making new friends and didn’t have time for his older brother, but because he needed help.

He had needed help and Cody had not been there for him.

He had not, but he would be damned if he was not going to be there for Rex now.

Cody stopped at a red light and looked over to his brother. Rex was hunched over in the passenger seat, slumped against the window, lost in thought.

“You alright, Rex?”

Rex slowly turned his head towards Cody, his eyes still anchored on a spot of air in front of him. After a moment he tore his gaze away to focus in on Cody, fingers pulling at the hem of his sleeves, “Fine.”

Cody’s brow raised; Rex was a horrible liar. The light turned green, and Cody eased onto the gas, shooting his brother the occasional glance to let him know he was still listening if he wanted to say more.

“Nala Se,” Rex mumbled the name so quietly, Cody would not have caught it if he had not known to look for it. Then Rex’s eyes filled with grief and his voice turned desperate, “They were with her, Cody! Her! I didn’t know! All this time, they were with her! I- I could have- I should- I didn’t know!”

Cody grimaced and gripped the steering wheel tightly but tried to relax and remain calm for his brother, “I know. It’ll be okay. They aren’t with her now. We can make sure they never will be again.”

Rex sank back into his seat and closed his eyes. Cody was happy to see some of the tension in his brother’s shoulder lessen.

They drove in silence until they crossed into Kamino. It began to pour, buckets of water thudding against the windshield. Cody grinned and nudged Rex playfully, “Twins, huh?”

Rex opened his eyes and Cody thought he saw the ghost of a smile play across his lips, “Echo and Fives.” Rex dropped his gaze to his lap and sighed, “I don’t even know how old they are.”

Cody shot his brother a soft smile. He knew, he had already done the math, “They’d be at least seven. Maybe eight.”

By the time they arrived at the KCPS office, Rex had had plenty of time to steel himself for meeting the twins. Even if he did not really feel it, he wanted to appear calm and collected for the boys after the day they must have had.

Walking back into the familiar white, sterile building of his childhood almost broke down everything he had built up over the drive, but a gentle squeeze on his shoulder from Cody grounded him.

The waiting room was empty save for a tall, gangly woman sitting behind a sleek white desk. As Rex and Cody approached her, she looked up from her computer and smiled, “What can I help you with this evening, sirs?”

Rex took out his wallet and slid his ID over the counter, “My name is Rex Fett. I’m here to pick up Echo and Fives.”

“Of course.” The woman checked his ID, typed a few things into her computer, then slid it back to him, “If you’ll just follow me, Mr. Fett.”

The woman stood, grabbing two folders from the desk and then briskly made her way towards one of the hallways branching out from the waiting room. Rex followed hot on her heels with Cody not far behind him.

When they reached a room at the end of the hall, the woman turned to face the brothers, one hand on the door handle, “I apologize. I didn’t make it clear on the phone. Fives is the only one we are currently holding. Echo is in the ICU. There was an… accident.”

Rex and Cody exchanged worried glances.

“What happened?” Cody asked.

The woman shrugged, “We believe there was an explosion. The police are currently investigating the matter. Nala Se was arrested on site. Echo was taken to Kamino General due to extensive injuries. Fives was unharmed and sent here.”

Rex opened his mouth to ask if Echo was okay but stopped himself. From the way the woman had worded her response it was clear she did not have much information on his condition. Besides, she had said Echo was in the ICU. He clearly wasn’t okay.

Cody rested a hand on Rex’s shoulder and said in a reassuring tone, “I can check on Echo tonight, alright?”

Rex nodded numbly, staring at the closed door in front of them.

“Good, focus on Fives. I’ll iron out the details with, uh,” Cody squinted at the woman’s nametag, “Taun We out here.”

“Yeah,” Rex said, shaking the anxiety from his mind and squaring his shoulders, preparing himself for whatever awaited him on the other side of the door.

Taun We nodded to the brothers before slowly opening the door. She stepped to the side, letting Rex take a few steps into the room.

The room was much like the waiting room: white floors and white walls. There was a small table in the center of the room with a few chairs pulled up to it and a shelf with a few meager toys lined up on it against the back wall. The space didn’t look lived in one bit. The toys hadn’t been touched and the chairs were angled slightly towards the door as they might be if they were in a picture for a magazine. Rex would have felt like he was breaking a rule if he moved anything from its place. In the back of his mind he wondered what kind of interior designer would okay this design for a CPS office.

In one of the far corners there was a single small white cot with grey sheets tucked tightly around it. In the other sat a small boy, legs pulled up to his chest, head tucked down and hidden from view. He was wearing what looked to be pajamas: a white wifebeater and a pair of striped boxers.

Cody and the woman began talking in hushed tones and Rex pulled the door closed a little more without shutting it completely to muffle their voices. The boy didn’t acknowledge his presence, so Rex cleared his throat and gave a small wave despite knowing the boy could not see him.

“Hello. My name is Rex.”

The boy made no response.

Rex took a tentative step forward before retreating back to where he had been standing only seconds before. He wasn’t sure if getting closer to the boy would spook him or not and he didn’t want to make his first impression a bad one.

“Is it alright if I sit next to you?” Rex asked, watching the small form carefully.

The boy’s head shifted up a bit, peaking up over his arms and a curious eye regarded Rex. After a moment the boy’s eyes narrowed in on Rex’s jacket. “I already talked to the police,” he said with an accusatory hoarse voice that sounded like he had been crying or screaming recently.

Rex looked down at his jacket, realizing that his 501st patch was stitched proudly over his left breast. “I’m not-” Rex stopped, he had been about to refute the boy’s claim on the principle of his tone. He tried to smile instead, “Well, I am a police officer, but I’m off duty right now. I came to pick you up. To bring you to stay at my house.”

Rex cringed internally at how lame he sounded, but the boy raised his head a bit more out of his arms and squinted at him. Taking the boy’s curiosity as an invitation to move closer, Rex slowly made his way over to the far wall and slid down against it until he was sitting cross legged about a meter away from the huddle form in the corner.

Rex evaluated the boy once he was closer. Fives was small, too small for him to be at least seven, and his bones jutted out of his skin at sharp angles. He looked like he was the same height as the little kindergarteners that waited for the bus on Rex’s streetcorner, and to Rex’s dismay, he was much thinner.

Rex ran his eyes over the boy, scanning him for any injuries and spotted multiple cuts and dark bruises, old and new, covering his arms and legs. “Uninjured” my ass. He covered his automatic grimace as best he could and met the boy’s puffy red eyes, “It’s nicer than this place at least.”

Fives cocked his head to the side, his eyebrows drawn together, and his mouth set in a small frown.

“I live in Coruscant,” Rex supplied.

The young boy’s confusion only intensified, “Not Kamino?”

“No, not Kamino. The next city over. Have you ever been there?” Rex asked, wanting to keep the boy talking.

“No.... What about—” Fives cut off abruptly, suddenly breaking eye contact and tightening his arms around his knees.

Rex waited for a minute, trying to give Fives time to formulate his question, but after a while it became clear that he wasn’t going to try and finish his thought.

Rex thought he knew what the boy wanted to know. He shifted a little closer to Fives and lowered his voice, trying to soften it, “Are you worried about Echo?”

Fives’s wide eyes snapped to his and he slowly nodded.

“Can I let you in on a little secret?” Rex asked, smiling mischievously, hoping to God that little kids liked being in on secrets.

Fives nodded, wide eyes still scared, but now also betraying some seriousness, as if he was trying to let Rex know he was trustworthy.

“Once Echo is all better, he’s going to come live with me and you too.”

“R-really?” Fives sounded like he didn’t believe him.

“I promise,” Rex said seriously, glad that some of the disbelief fell from the boy’s face. “As soon as the doctor’s say we can bring him home, we will.”

“Why?” The question was barely audible, and the boy’s eyes began to fill with tears.

“Why?” Rex questioned back, confused. He had thought that being able to stay with his twin would make Fives happy.

“Why are you l-letting Echo come?” Fives’s tears were falling freely now. “I-I thought you w-w-would t-take him away b-because w-we were— b-because we were b-bad.”

Rex watched as the boy’s small frame was racked with sobs, unable to comprehend what could have possibly happened to make him think that they were going to take Echo away for being “bad.” Deciding it didn’t matter, he scooted closer to Fives.

“Hey, listen to me,” Rex said softly, only continuing when Fives met his eyes. “You and Echo weren’t bad. You were good and brave.”

A sob racked Five’s body and Rex moved instinctively to wrap the boy in a hug, stopping with a rush of guilt when Fives flinched back. “Sorry,” Rex said, retreating. “Do you want a hug?”

The boy studied him for a second before slowly nodding. Rex shifted so he was sitting shoulder to shoulder with Fives, then reached his arm back and wrapped it around the boy in a side hug. Fives rested his head against Rex’s side and sniffled, tears still running down his cheeks.

“No one is going to take Echo away,” Rex soothed as he tried to wipe some of the tears and snot from Fives’s face with his sleeve. “He’s just at the hospital right now because he’s a little hurt. They need to fix him up, but they aren’t going to take him away.”

“Really?” Fives looked up at him with big, desperate brown eyes.

“Really,” Rex said firmly. “And I’ll tell you what: we’ll go see if we can visit Echo tomorrow morning after we go home and get some sleep. Sound good?”

Fives took a deep shuddering breath, and Rex was glad to see the tears had finally stopped falling, “We c-can’t see him now?”

Rex shook his head, he had no clue what Echo’s condition was or if they would even be allowed to see him in the morning, “Not right now. I think Echo needs his rest. But I can ask my brother if he would check up on him tonight and he can let us know how he’s doing.”

“You have a b-brother?”

“Yup, his name is Cody. He’s just on the other side of the door if you want to say hi.”

Fives glanced between Rex and the door suspiciously.

“He’s a police officer, like me,” Rex added, hoping that that knowledge might make the boy feel safer.

“O-okay,” Fives said, a little uncertainly as he uncurled himself and began to stand.

Rex stood as well and moved to the door. Fives followed close behind. When they reached the door Rex popped his head out before opening it all the way. Taun We was handing over the two files she had been carrying to Cody and they both looked up at the movement. Cody spoke first, “How’s it going?”

“Good,” Rex said quietly, “I think we’re ready to go.”

Cody and the woman both nodded and Rex opened the door the rest of the way, revealing Fives, standing half hidden behind his leg.

Cody immediately crouched down to the boy’s height and smiled kindly, “Hey, I’m Cody. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice t’ meet you. ‘m F-Fives,” the boy mumbled as his eyes scanned over Cody and the woman. Then he looked up at Rex, eyes searching for something. Approval? Rex wasn’t sure, so he offered the boy an encouraging smile.

Taun We stepped forward and Fives shifted back a little, positioning himself more behind Rex’s leg. The woman didn’t seem to notice and addressed Rex, “We just have some papers to sign back at my desk and then you can go. I’ve filled in your brother on all the details we were given access to.”

Rex nodded and Cody straightened up. The woman turned and began walking back down the hallway towards the waiting room. Cody gave Rex a face he knew meant he needed to tell him something later before trailing after the woman.

Rex turned to Fives, “Ready to go?”

Fives nodded, then frowned, “I’m really allowed to go with you?”

“Yes,” Rex said, smiling.

Fives looked from the room he had been waiting in, to Rex, to the receding figures of Cody and the CPS worker down the hall, “Okay.”

The boy cautiously reached out and took Rex’s hand, holding it tight as if he were afraid if he let go, Rex would disappear.

Rex squeezed back.

He wasn’t going anywhere.

@marierg @stressed-cherry

#you can't tell me Fives didn't immediately imprint on Rex like a baby duckling #also #I'm so so so sorry Nala Se #I know she's not that evil #I just needed a name and hers was the one that popped into my head #the clone wars #arc trooper echo #arc trooper fives #captain rex #clone trooper echo #commander cody #tcw #clone trooper fives #clone wars #superlarva #domino twins #baby dominos

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stereopticons · 1 month

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fic pride friday

Rules: Post your favourite line or passage from as many of your published works as you’d like. Let yourself feel proud of your creations! Tag as many people as you post snippets, so your fellow fic friends can be proud, too.

Thanks for the tags, @rmd-writes and @kiwiana-writes! I struggled with this because apparently I’ve never written anything in my life! So I’m sure once I post this, I’ll go oh damn I can’t believe I forgot x!

Tagging @hippolotamus @blackandwhiteandrose @rosedavid @indestructibleheart @mostlyinthemorning @filet-o-feelings @nontoxic-writes

Under the cut because it’s a lot of words

a long winter of indifference

The gap between their bodies is maybe six inches at most, but to David, it feels like miles. That little sliver of Egyptian cotton might as well be the Marianas Trench for as impossible as it feels to traverse, and every night they don’t cross it, it gets a little wider.

The crack on David’s heart gets a little wider, too.

David isn’t sure when it all started, can’t pinpoint a moment when it all began to fall apart. It was insidious; by the time he noticed something was wrong, the chasm between them had already formed.

If pressed, David would probably say it started with Clint’s heart attack around Thanksgiving. Though it was relatively minor—thankfully—the recovery was still long, and Patrick put a lot of miles on his old Toyota driving between Schitt’s Creek and West Canthor. David tried his best to be supportive, but the stress of keeping the store running while Patrick was away, of sleeping alone more nights than not, of constantly worrying about the Brewers—all of them—was caustic and ate away at the soft parts of him. The strain caused Patrick to shut down and to shut David out.

By the time Patrick was able to return to their lives, the holiday rush was in full swing. Neither of them had the time or energy to deal with anything that wasn’t the store, let alone the ever expanding rift between them.

The resulting infinitesimal shift in their marriage grew and swelled with each little stressor—the anemic sales throughout December putting a strain on their savings, the damage the cottage sustained in an early January snowstorm, all the little swipes and jabs they’ve taken at each other in the intervening months—and now David is staring at the rigid line of his husband’s back, afraid that something’s been irreparably damaged.

It’s been a long time since things felt this hopeless.

tangle and stretch

Patrick is thirty-two years old when David asks him if he believes in soulmates, and this time, he’s prepared.

“Yes,” he answers without hesitation.

David turns to stare at him. “You do?”

“You seem surprised.”

“Well…yeah,” David replies, still staring at him with his mouth hanging open. “I mean, you are the numbers guy.”

“Ouch, David,” Patrick teases. David rolls his eyes. “Do you want to know why I believe in soulmates?” David looks hesitant, his still-ever-present fear that the other shoe is going to drop evident on his face. Patrick takes his hand gently. “I didn’t used to. But when I was ten, I saw a boy on the cover of a magazine.”

Patrick tells him about the magazine, about the Christmas cards, about watching A Little Bit Alexis. About losing him and finding him again years later at a moment that he sorely needed him. By the end, they’re both in tears.

“That’s why I believe in soulmates, David,” Patrick says, gingerly wiping a tear from David’s cheek with his thumb. “Because how else can I explain how I ended up here?”

your secret’s safe with me

Of all the Big Relationship Moments in all those rom-coms David made her watch, Stevie never expected that “picking your lover up at the airport after a long time apart” would be a thing that she’s into. There’s nothing romantic or sexy about airports in general; in fact, airports are probably the exact opposite of everything she finds attractive. But despite all of that, there’s butterflies in her stomach and a tingling at the base of her spine when she sees Ruth appear at the top of the escalator leading down to baggage claim. It only intensifies when Ruth spots her and breaks into a wide grin.

They don’t leap into each other’s arms, but it’s a close thing.

“Hi,” Ruth murmurs, her breath ghosting across Stevie’s neck as Ruth pulls her into a hug. Stevie inhales deeply, wrapping herself in the scent of Ruth–a strangely intoxicating mix of her fancy perfume and the scent of paper and ink. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” Stevie sighs, sinking into the embrace. She’s never been one for public displays of affection outside of making out in bars, but it’s been too long. She leans up and presses a kiss to Ruth’s soft lips, relishing the taste of her mango lip balm and the coffee she must have had on the plane. It’s a relatively chaste and quick kiss because, well, airports. But it still kindles a small fire low in Stevie’s belly, one that she hopes they’ll have plenty of time to tend to later.

let my love fix you up

He’s not able to finish the sentence but he doesn’t need to. Patrick already knows. He can’t say he hasn’t had the same feelings bubble up inside him, like when the store was robbed or when David was in a car accident last winter. It’s the price of loving someone, he supposes, the crushing fear of losing them.

with a hand on your side of the bed

Last night was a revelation, in more ways than one. Of course it was wonderful to have the privacy to finally connect, and he’s certainly keen to repeat the experience, preferably as soon as possible. But he was surprised to realize how nice it was just to be able to fall asleep together, and even nicer to wake to find Patrick still there. He hadn’t quite dared to hope for it—there were too many mornings back in his old life that he woke up alone and lonely in a bed far too big for one. But Patrick stayed. And despite the morning breath and the under-eye bags and whatever crime his hair was committing, Patrick still brushed a curl off his forehead and kissed him and told him he was beautiful.

And how, after all of that, is David expected to go back to sleeping alone?

Sighing again, he flips over on his side and picks up his phone. The glow of the screen lights up the room and he squints at it as his eyes adjust. He wants to text Patrick, but he’s likely already asleep. And anyway, what would he say? It seems too early in the relationship to say sleeping in your arms ruined me for ever being able to sleep without you, no matter how true it might be. (Actually, the truth of it scares David more than a little. It’s too soon to think like this, in always and forever but he can’t help it.) He could just say I miss you, because that’s just as true, but he doesn’t want to come across as too needy. They’re already past the point in a relationship when people usually get tired of him, so he feels like he’s living on borrowed time.

His phone vibrates in his hand and a notification from Patrick pops up.

Can’t sleep. Miss you. Thinking about last night.

Before he types out a response, David hides his smile behind his hand, even though there’s no one around to see it.

coming home to you

Stevie thought that if she ever got the chance, she’d put the town in her rearview mirror and never look back, but the chances did come, from David first, then from Mr. Rose, and both times she chose to stay. Somewhere along the line, sometime between when the Roses crash landed in her life and when they left again (some of them, anyway), the town grew on her.

It’s been years now, but every time they pull into the cottage’s driveway after she’s been away, she thinks back to that afternoon when she and David sat on the hood of her car and she told him he’d won. It’s been years now, but it’s still true. And maybe she won a little bit, too.

the lie between your teeth

David spent years meticulously building up walls, brick by brick, protecting the already charred exterior of his marshmallow heart. It only took Patrick a few minutes to find the tiniest chink in David’s armor, a few days to pull down the highest walls, flaying him bare in a way that so few people have been able to.

After that, David just gets angry. Angry at Patrick, angry at his parents for landing them in this situation, angry at Uncle Eli for the same, angry at everyone, but worst of all, he’s angry at himself. He should have had better self-preservation instincts than this, should have known that landing in a ridiculously-named tiny town in rural Ontario wasn’t going to fundamentally change the course of his relationships.

#schitt's creek #david rose #patrick brewer #stevie budd #tag games

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use-your-telescope · 6 months

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When Everything's Made to be Broken - Chapter 9: Something So Brand New

Summary: Theo makes good on her promise to Loki, and shenanigans ensue.

Author's Notes: So this is a longer chapter than I usually post, but given it all takes place during the span of one evening it didn’t make sense to split into two chapters. If you love Loki/Theo interactions, you’re in for a treat here. There’s also Brodinsons and Wanda/Theo friendship building as well.

I’m *hoping* to post my next chapter on December 10, but I sense that we’re about to hit a rocky patch at my job as a series of stressors all collide (aka shit’s about to hit the fan), so I’m going to give myself a one week buffer and say that the chapter will be up by no later than December 17th. It’s written, but I’ve found that I like to go back and do an in-depth editing pass before posting that usually takes at least a few hours… Essentially, I would rather underpromise and overdeliver than say I’ll post something and then just… not.

Oh, and RE: shit hitting the fan at work - I’m not worried about myself amidst the work stuff (I’m not about to lose my job or anything). I'm worried about the students I work with and how they’ll handle everything… And since my job is supporting said students, I imagine I’ll probably have my hands full. I’m intentionally being vague for privacy reasons, and in hopes that it doesn’t blow up so my concern is pointless.

Completely unrelated, but I saw The Maine live last week and they opened with this song! They put on a great live show. 10/10 do recommend.

If you enjoy, please reblog!! I'm a lil' blog and reblogs really help me out <3

Content Warnings: Alcohol/Drinking (including getting a bit too drunk).

Word Count: 9,384

Read on AO3 | When Everything's Made to be Broken Masterlist

Song: Dose No. 2 - The Maine

First breath out of a coma Over and over Oh what a lovely view of you A two step into disorder I stumble forward Towards something so brand new

“Hey, uh - some of us are going to hang out up on the roof tonight. Want to join?”

Ever since Theo relented to Loki’s begging (and though he wouldn’t admit it, he totally begged her to join them), a foreboding sense of dread hung over Theo like a storm cloud, waiting for this very moment. A night of forced socializing and feigned pleasantries as the other Avengers tried not to make their suspicions about Theo painfully obvious - Theo would rather watch paint dry.

Across the threshold, hope radiated through the smile on Wanda’s face. She stood with hands in hoodie pockets, jeans and birkenstocks completing the Scarlet Witch’s look for that day. The outfit surprised Theo - from observation, Wanda only wore pants when working out, opting for skirts and dresses in daily life. Theo would have confidently bet real money that Wanda didn’t even own a pair of jeans.

Then again, it wasn’t the first time Theo was wrong, and it wouldn’t be the last.

Every possible excuse percolated in Theo’s mind for why she couldn’t join - lying about having plans, claiming she was tired or didn’t feel well, even outright admitting she didn’t want to go – but then Loki’s voice interrupted her thoughts, reminding her about the deal she struck.

And, well, after reading about the aftermath of Ultron and Sokovia, Theo realized they had more in common than she first thought.

“I— yeah, sure.” Theo swallowed thickly, steeling herself for a miserable evening. She forced a smile at Wanda, praying that the expression didn’t look as uncomfortable as it felt. “I’ll join - let me grab a couple things first.”

Wanda’s face lit up, eyes wide as planets as she processed Theo's answer. “Great! This is going to be awesome! Uh, you should probably grab shoes, and maybe a jacket - it’s still a bit cool out.” She babbled, still gaping at Theo.

Theo held up a finger, stepping away from the door before Wanda could continue. She grabbed a thick sweater to cut the breeze, toed on some sneakers, and plopped a beanie over her hair, pausing in front of a mirror to make sure she didn’t look like a total mess.

Wanda practically bounced down the hall, constantly glancing back to check and make sure Theo hadn’t abandoned her. Theo trailed behind, listening to Wanda recount the construction of the rooftop lounge and how this was the first year they actually could use the space, and how excited they were to finally have a nice, private outdoor space to gather. At best, Theo half-listened along, her pulse quickening with every step closer to their destination.

As they stepped out onto the rooftop, it actually seemed like the perfect night to enjoy a city skyline and a cold drink.

A fully stocked bar stood along the far end of the roof, while plenty of outdoor seating offered opportunities for everything from lounging around to enjoying a meal. The space even featured a fireplace table and heat lamps for cooler nights, which already had been turned on to cut the chill. True to the Stark aesthetic, all of the furniture came in muted tones and clean lines, sharing design language with the indoor common areas.

The other Avengers had settled in among a series of outdoor sectionals, some standing around the periphery while others gathered near the bar. As they drew closer, Theo realized that the company for the evening consisted of not only Avengers Tower residents, the Avengers who resided elsewhere…

Oh god, when Theo caved to Loki’s request, she had not expected it to play out like this; she thought it would be a movie night, or going out to dinner. Not everyone and their mother staring at her.

As if she sensed Theo’s nervousness, Wanda grabbed Theo’s hand and smiled at her, pulling her towards the larger group.

With every step, Theo braced herself for an icy reception, all the while building up the courage to put on a brave face. She met everyone once, that first day when she was announced as an Avenger - maybe twice, if she counted the briefing that she crashed - so at least there were no new faces.

Small blessings, she supposed.

Wanda didn’t go of Theo’s hand until they reached the edge of the group. It only took Wanda a moment to find Vision, standing behind one of the sectionals as he chatted with Shuri about something very science-y. Vision casually wrapped an arm around her, listening intently to Shuri, who gestured animatedly as she responded.

Nearby, King T’Challa sat tall, dressed in a hybrid of western and African clothing with shoulders squared back as he conversed with Natasha about the United Nations and Wakanda. He spoke with a measured cadence that indicated he put great thought and intent into his words. On the opposite side of Natasha, Yelena slouched back in her seat, scrolling through her phone while laughing at something on screen.

Not far from Yelena, Peter Parker told Tony about school and the latest device he was building. His enthusiasm struck Theo, and she caught herself smiling as she noticed the way Peter mirrored Shuri’s animated gestures, hands flailing wildly as he attempted to describe the contraption. Colonel Rhodes listened from the other side of Tony, with open posture and head tilted to the side, nodding along patiently… It was quite the contrast, especially next to the borderline manic tendencies of Tony and Peter’s unbridled enthusiasm.

Nearby, Bruce spoke with Dr. Stephen Strange - a tall, thin man whose expression was entirely too serious and his posture uncomfortably rigid, which, if Theo thought about it, made sense for a former neurosurgeon. Sharon Carter chatted with Steve, Sam, and Bucky, laughter regularly erupting from the quartet; apparently, they were familiar with each other and had a lot to catch up on.

Clint looked at home behind the bar with Scott Lang, snippets of conversation about their kids floating over the other conversations as they prepared drinks for everyone and brought them over to the group.

Loki and Thor sat in deep discussion with the Valkyrie (or, as Loki often called her, Val) about something related to New Asgard; seeing a Valkyrie in a chunky sweater and Timbalands still threw Theo for a loop, but she knew that different people would adapt different aspects of life on Earth.

Thor noticed Theo standing there, bewildered at the sight of everyone in one location.

“Lady Theo!” Thor exclaimed, standing to greet her. “Welcome to your first family night!”

Wait - did he just say family night?

Theo could practically hear the world screech to a halt as everyone fell silent, gaping at the new addition. Her heart stuttered in her chest as she froze in place, a veritable deer in the headlights.

“Brother—“ Loki hissed, rolling his eyes as he elbowed his brother. “Do not overwhelm her.”

“Uh… hi?” Theo cringed at how pathetic she sounded. “Sorry, didn’t mean to disrupt.”

“No apologies necessary - come, take a seat.“ Loki offered Theo a reassuring smile as he gestured for her to sit next to him.

“Watch out, the prince is rescuing Rapunzel.” Tony teased, a smirk on his face as he raised a glass to her.

“Watch out everyone, Stark is jealous that a woman is not racing to offer herself up to him,” Loki retorted, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Raucous laughter came from Loki’s response; even Theo giggled as she sank into the cushions beside him. Loki, in turn, flashed a smirk and winked at her, before effortlessly folding Theo into the Asgardians’ conversation. Without needing to ask, Scott brought Theo an old fashioned, which caused a rush of gratitude to flood Theo’s veins.

The alcohol wouldn’t have much of an effect on her, but having something to occupy her hands with was always appreciated.

Likewise, the others returned to their conversations. Over time, topics shifted and incorporated other people, slowly snowballing as everyone tuned into the larger discussions.

At one natural lull in conversation, Loki went to refill his drink, leaving a vacant spot beside Theo in the process. He barely made it behind the bar when, with a whoop, Shuri leapt over the sectional and claimed the seat as her own. “Ha ha!” Shuri’s face was smug as she shimmied into the cushion, crossing one leg over the other as she stretched her arms along the back of the seat. “This will make a lovely throne.”

Despite the stutter of her heart from Shuri startling her, Theo couldn’t help but laugh when she caught T’Challa rolling his eyes at his sister.

“Excuse me, that was my seat!” Loki scowled, gesturing wildly to where he previously sat.

“Not anymore.” Shuri stuck her tongue out at him. “Besides, you speak to Theo all the time. It’s my turn.”

The latter part of Shuri’s comment nearly made Theo choke on her drink - up until that point, hardly any attention was paid to Theo’s presence. Was that about to change?

“You are lucky I like you, princess,” Loki rolled his eyes, but let out a breathless laugh and shook his head. “Or else I might banish you to an alternate realm.” His threat lacked any teeth; if anything, it came off as a joke. He offered Theo a reassuring glance and the slightest nod, as if encouraging Theo to trust that Shuri wouldn’t make it weird.

Theo masked her nerves with a sip of her cocktail, allowing the notes of smoke and citrus to coat her tongue.

If Shuri noticed the interaction, she didn’t say anything. Instead, she struck up a conversation about a funny tiktok trend that made her think of Theo, eventually morphing into a conversation about medical technology.

Seat stealing, however, was only the prelude to a series of hijinks during the evening.

It started innocently enough. A few drinks into the evening, Tony entertained the team with one of his tales about inventions gone wrong - this time, DUM-E had sprayed a visiting SHIELD agent with a fire extinguisher instead of the computer that actually caught on fire.

While he rambled, Wanda glanced over and made eye contact with Theo. Wanda rolled her eyes before mouthing, “Want to see something fun?”

Theo nodded, curious to see what Wanda was going to do.

A moment later, Tony reached forward to grab his drink and take a sip of it, only to stick his hand through the glass…

Where a nearly empty cocktail previously sat was nothing more than an illusion.

Theo’s eyes darted to Wanda, who stood behind Tony sipping his drink. Theo had to bite back a laugh as Wanda grimaced and shook her head, not a fan of whatever Tony had in his lowball.

“What the hell happened to my drink?” Tony whipped around, looking to see if someone had hidden it. His eyes settled on Loki, who glanced around at the others as he held his own drink, casually taking a swig. Either Loki hadn’t noticed, or he was really good at keeping a straight face.

“Reindeer games, I swear to god-”

“I thought we’d moved past such childish accusations.” Loki cocked an eyebrow at him, unamused.

“He didn’t move, Stark. Chill.” Bucky defended the Asgardian prince.

“Well someone took it, and it wasn’t Captain Stick-in-the-Mud.” Tony retorted, looking around the group. The glass vanished from Wanda’s hand before Tony could see it, presumably returning to the table where it started.

“Okay guys, this isn’t funny,” Tony whined, completely oblivious to his beverage’s return to the table.

To her left, Theo caught Loki taking a large drink of whatever was in his cup to stifle a laugh – he knew exactly what Wanda was up to.

Just then, Tony turned back around to discover his drink in its original location. He groaned, slouching back in his seat. “Anyone who wants to turn in their cape for stand-up comedy, just let me know.”

As he returned to his story, Wanda winked at Theo before sending her a text message– “So we have a game during family time...”

Theo stared at the screen for a moment before typing out a reply. “Which is…?”

Wanda’s face lit up as she read the message; a playful smile pulled across her lips as she typed out a reply. “How many pranks can we pull off before one of us starts laughing.”

Suddenly, a message from Loki popped up as well. “The only rule is that no one should be harmed. Otherwise, it’s fair game.”

Oh. Apparently Loki was playing along too.

Another message from Wanda came in: “You want in?”

Tempting, but with her reputation…

“Sounds fun, but not sure…” Theo responded, “I don’t know that the others trust me. Pranking them might make it worse.”

“If anything, they’ll believe I am the perpetrator,” Loki assured her via text message. “My affiliation with mischief and trickery lends itself to suspicion.”

Not only did Loki speak like he just read a thesaurus, but he even texted like it.

Theo stared at the screen for a moment, weighing her options. On one hand, she could stand to loosen up a little and have some fun. On the other hand, pranking someone could go over like a lead balloon if the prank didn’t land well; she needed to be confident that whoever she pranked would not be upset if she partook.

By then, Sam launched into a story about his last trip to see his sister and nephews in Louisiana. Bucky had tagged along, in part because the point of the trip was to fix up the Wilsons’ boat, and Sam knew he’d need an extra set of hands. A pigeon waddled about on the roof, only a few feet from where Sam sat. Sam, however, was oblivious to the bird’s presence; he was too busy mimicking how Bucky stole Sam’s tools to fix a leaky valve instead of simply using his vibranium arm.

After over a month of listening to Julie pine endlessly over Sam and his down to earth personality, ass of a national treasure, and good-natured sense of humor, Theo swore she knew more about Sam than she knew about her own cousin…

An idea sprung to Theo’s mind. She set her glass on the table, casually lowered her hands out of sight, and whispered an incantation.

“How do you know vibranium would hold up to the steam?” The pigeon asked, cocking its head to the side as it waited for an answer.

Sam nearly leapt out of his seat as his eyes bugged out of his head.

“Wait a minute, wait just a minute – please tell me you all just heard that.” Sam stared at the others as they all gawked at the pigeon. Theo, however, snatched her glass and took a sip of her old fashioned so she didn’t give herself away. “Did that bird just talk?”

“Falcon, I did not realize that your skill set included speaking to birds.” Loki answered without missing a beat.

Theo nearly spit out her drink as she fought the urge to burst into laughter.

“Hey, just because I’m called Falcon doesn’t mean I like birds.” Sam argued, a twinkle in his eye as he settled back into his chair. He must have known there was some magic at play; if Theo was lucky, he would not know whose magic created the illusion.

“I want some of whatever he’s drinking,” Theo pointed at Sam, pretending to be oblivious about the use of magic so she did not draw suspicion. “Because that must be some good shit.”

“No,” Tony replied, “The good shit is the Asgardian stuff.”

“That stuff will knock you on your ass unless you’re a god,” Sam agreed with a toothy grin and a nod. “Even the super soldiers get drunk on it.”

“Tony, I’m assuming you tried it?” Sharon asked, narrowing her eyes at the billionaire.

“Of course I did,” he scoffed, putting a hand on his chest, “I am a connoisseur - had to see if the hype was true.”

“Until you had the hangover from hell the next day.” Natasha pointed out, a smirk dancing on her lips while she crossed her arms.

“Please,” Tony retorted, “It barely holds a candle to the frat party from hell-”

“-in your second year at MIT.” Rhodes, Sam, and Steve answered simultaneously, all rolling their eyes.

Tony must have told that particular story a time or twenty before.

“Lady Theo,” Thor called from behind the bar. “I’m about to refill my beverage. Would you like to try some Asgardian ale?”

Theo glanced over at Loki and raised her eyebrows at him, hoping he’d give her some sort of subtle cue about whether it was a good idea; he just smirked at her and winked.

Not helpful at all.

Then again, the night had gone well up to that point…

“Sure, why not?” Theo replied with a short shrug of her shoulders. She assumed that he’d take a shot glass from the bar and put a little ale in the glass - it may fuck up a normal person, but that was probably only when consumed in large quantities. A small amount of the ale wouldn’t hurt, right?

What she didn’t expect was Thor to bring over a massive mug of ale, filled to the brim.

“That’s alcohol poisoning about to happen,” Yelena cracked up as she saw the size of the mug.

Nearby, the Valkyrie cackled. “Thor, remember that Midgardians can’t handle booze like you can.”

“My liver hurts just looking at that.” Bruce commented, letting out a nervous chuckle but shaking his head.

Well, whether she wanted to share or not, the Avengers were going to learn something new about Theo.

“Oh, that’s what healing magic is for. Healing your liver after alcohol damage.” Theo quipped, earning a surprised snort out of Tony. A surge of confidence rushed through her as she winked, glanced at the deep red, clear liquid, then took a drink.

Given the ale’s reputation, Theo expected it to taste like everclear - practically straight ethanol that burned when consumed. However, a delightful, complex blend of flavors - citrus, juniper, and caramel - coated her mouth. Only a hint of hoppy bitterness accompanied, but each flavor in the unlikely combination balanced the others surprisingly well.

Theo smiled and gave Thor a nod of approval. “That’s better than I expected,” she admitted before she took another drink. “I was expecting something that burned my mouth from the alcohol content, but this is downright pleasant.”

“I bet you twenty bucks you can’t finish that.” Bucky challenged, a smirk spread across his features as he leaned back into his seat.

Bucky had no idea what he was getting himself into.

“The bet is just that I can’t finish it? That’s boring. Of course I’m going to finish it.” She scoffed, rolling her eyes. Sitting up a bit taller, she puffed her chest out in defiance and drank a large swig of ale.

“The real bet would be if she doesn’t throw it up afterwards – just because it goes into her system doesn’t mean she won’t get sick from it.” Steve pointed out, “Not that I think this is a good idea, mind you.”

Remarks like that were probably how Steve earned the nickname of “Captain Stick-in-the-Mud.”

Theo whipped out her wallet, throwing a $20 bill down on the table. “Game on. $20 bet that I can drink this and keep it all down.”

Bucky reached across to shake Theo’s hand before putting in his own $20 bill.

Shuri and Yelena whooped in support, pumping their fists in the air. Bruce sighed as he shook his head and rubbed his temples. Steve rolled his eyes, while Clint smirked and shot Scott a look of well, this should get interesting. Peter’s eyes widened, despite furrowing his brow - he looked like he was worried.

What a sweet, sweet summer child.

Theo took another sip of the ale, then spoke up. “We need some tunes playing. It’s too quiet up here.”

“Oh! I have some new music we can listen to!” Wanda jumped at the opportunity to hook her phone up to the wireless speakers. “It’s a local band that Vision and I saw last week. Theo, I think you’d like them – they sounded kind of like the music your band played.”

It was hard to imagine Vision at a concert, standing there with relatively stiff posture as other people were grooving to the music… He must have really liked Wanda to let her bring him to concerts. Did he like the same music as her?

Did he even like music?

Did androids have likes and dislikes? Or feelings? How did that work?

That was a rabbit hole to go down another day.

What sounded like some generic indie-pop music started to float through the air, but it was pleasant enough to be good background music.

Loki sent another message – this time solely to Theo. “Are you truly planning to drink the entire mug?” Theo looked up at him, his eyebrow cocked up with skepticism and his chin dipped as he made eye contact.

“Maybe I am.” Theo replied, smiling at him and winking as his phone buzzed.

Asgard wasn’t the only realm with particularly strong alcohol, and despite Theo’s small size she was no lightweight.

The group resumed their casual chatter. Wanda, Theo, and Loki continued to cast illusions and mess with the team in subtle ways, oftentimes struggling to maintain a poker face as the rest of the team grew drunker and drunker, and as a result became much easier to mess with.

Eventually, Thor regaled the team with one of his latest adventures off-planet, voice booming as he gestured grandly about some battle he fought in. As the story started to near its climax, Theo caught the way Loki’s hand moved quietly to his side and twitched as he cast a spell.

Theo’s eyes darted around as she tried to figure out what changed – it wasn’t until she looked up at Thor that she found her answer:

Loki transformed Thor’s mug so it was shaped like a giant penis… while Thor drank out of it.

Wanda, who stood beyond Thor’s line of sight, lost it, face beet red and shoulders bouncing as she doubled over in silent laughter.

From what Loki previously shared, Thor reveled in sharing stories where he prevailed as the savior of the day. With that in mind, the choice to make Thor look absolutely ridiculous as he drunkenly extolled his heroism seemed like it was as much a jab at his self-importance as it was just plain old hilarious. Theo hadn’t taken Loki to be one for juvenile humor, but she had to hand it to him – it was well-played.

Even better, Thor didn’t even notice the change – he set the mug down on the table as he continued his story, and later on picked it up to take a swig to wet his throat.

It didn’t take long before the others started to notice the mug’s new shape. The Valkyrie looked like she about to keel over; her shoulders shook so hard from silent laughter that if Thor turned around he’d know something was off. Natasha had to bite her finger to stop herself from breaking into laughter. Steve and Peter shared wide-eye, startled expressions, leaning away from Thor… who still hadn’t noticed.

The more time that passed without Thor noticing, the funnier the spectacle became.

Finally, Sam finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“Wow Thor, you’re really swallowing that ale like a champ.”

Tony choked, then spat out his drink while the people around him recoiled from the spray. Steve turned downright crimson with secondhand embarrassment, hiding his face behind his hands.

“Yeah, you’re really gripping the shaft of the mug like it’s your job.” Bucky added, trying and failing to keep a straight face as Thor looked over at Tony and Steve, confused.

Theo’s eyes watered from trying not to laugh, and her jaw hurt from the muscle tension involved with maintaining her poker face.

“Dammit, I’m biting my tongue so hard to stop from laughing that it’s bleeding.” Wanda’s message popped up in the group chat, while Loki still effortlessly maintained a completely straight poker face and relaxed posture.

“I thought you were a bit too high-brow for a good dick joke…” Theo added, fingers tapping the screen furiously as she replied.

“I know not of what you speak,” Loki answered innocently; he glanced over at Theo and winked, then followed his message with an eggplant emoji.

Wanda nearly spit out her drink when she got that message.

Thor finally put two-and-two together as he looked down at his mug, then glared at his brother; however, he was laughing despite the glare, giant shoulders bouncing up and down. “Why must you taunt me so?”

“I hold no responsibility for this madness!” Loki protested, though the sparkle in his eyes told Theo that Loki knew he wasn’t going to convince them otherwise. “God of mischief I may be, but I’m hardly the only capable sorcerer on this team.”

“Well Theo’s been too busy downing some Asgardian ale,” Bucky commented, “And Wanda… Wait a minute. Wanda?”

They all turned to look at Wanda, who gave a deer-in-the-headlights expression as she pretended to be horrified. “The fact that you could imagine me doing this is mildly offensive,” she exclaimed, silently glaring at Loki. “Besides, Strange can cast spells too.”

Everyone looked over at Dr. Strange; one unamused eyebrow raise was enough to dispel any thoughts that he’d been the one behind it.

“Let’s be real – Reindeer games would be the one to make that joke.” Tony pointed out, “Which… well played, I’ve gotta say. Not much makes me spit out my drink like that.”

Loki smirked, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. “You need to raise your standards, Stark.”

Steve, who was still mostly sober and desperate for a change of topic, looked back at Theo and noticed her nearly empty mug. “Wow, you weren’t kidding about finishing the ale.”

In turn, Theo downed the remaining ale and placed the mug on the table. “Yeah – It was good. But I’ve gotta say, for all the talk about how it will get me drunk, I still feel pretty sober. Are you sure you weren’t messing with me? This isn’t some fraternity-style hazing thing to bring a new team member on board?”

“No, my lady,” Thor confirmed, “That was genuine Asgardian ale. I must say, I’m impressed.”

Theo cast a glance over to Loki before sending a text. “You didn’t mess with this, did you?”

“I would never deny someone the opportunity to get drunk.” Loki looked dead serious as he sent the message, so she took his word for it.

“Well shit,” Bucky replied, his words slurring ever-so-slightly from his own alcohol consumption. “How about double or nothing – we each drink a mug of ale, and whoever is more sober at the end of the night gets $40.”

Steve tried to cut in. “Bucky, no –“

Bucky, yes.

“Deal.” Theo shook his hand again, confident that she was about to become $40 richer. Not only was Bucky already more drunk than her, but the Asgardian ale would only exacerbate the difference in their sobriety levels.

He probably wouldn’t end up with alcohol poisoning, so it’d be fine. Maybe a hangover, but not alcohol poisoning.

“Now here’s the thing -” Bucky began, “- Before your mug can be refilled, you have to do the Asgardian call for another drink.”

“Which is…?” Theo arched a wary eyebrow, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

With perfect timing, Thor finished his beverage and demonstrated by throwing his mug down on the ground, shouting “ANOTHER!” as the glass smashed against the concrete and shattered into a million pieces.

Theo gasped and nearly flew out of her seat from the noise, heart pounding in her chest. She looked at the glistening fragments of glass, then up at Thor, then back down at the glass.

Thor failed to stifle his laughter as Loki rolled his eyes in the background; with a flick of his wrist, the shards of glass vanished in a flash of emerald light.

“Yeah that’s going to be a hard pass from me, dude.” Theo shook her head, stood up and walked over to the bar to refill mug. While she was behind the bar, she also pulled out a fresh mug for Bucky.

“Oh no, you don’t get to pour – we need someone neutral to do it, so we know it hasn’t been messed with!” Bucky called out, shaking his head at her as he moved to join her at the bar.

“Well I can certainly be the judge of that.” Loki volunteered, his voice a cool contrast to the rambunctious shouting and cheering that echoed from the rooftop.

“You’re really letting loose tonight,” Loki’s message appeared on Theo’s phone. “It’s nice to see you relax a bit.” Theo blushed and cracked a sheepish smile.

Loki strolled behind the bar, took both mugs and filled them up. Once satisfied that each mug contained the same amount of ale, he handed one mug to Bucky and the other to Theo. He then filled a mug of his own before returning to the rest of the group.

“As the judge, I reserve all right to document any embarrassing moments for blackmail in the future.” Loki told everyone quite seriously. Shuri cracked up and added that if Loki didn’t capture the evidence, she certainly would, and with how the Princess of Wakanda held her phone at the ready, Theo fully believed her.. Theo returned to her seat, noticing Shuri had saved her place; Bucky trailed close behind.

“You say that like I’m going to do something embarrassing.” Theo teased, holding her mug up to Bucky and Loki as if to suggest a toast. “To Bucky making one of the dumbest bets he’ll ever make.”

“To the new girl finally gracing us with her presence,” Bucky replied with a wide grin, “and not realizing she’s about to lose the bet!”

The rest of the group held up their glasses and clinked them together, after which Bucky managed to drain about a quarter of his mug in one swift drink.

“I didn’t realize this was a chugging contest.” Bruce commented with a nervous laugh as Bucky set his mug down.

Theo, recognizing that rapid alcohol consumption would not help Bucky in the bet, snickered. “You can’t enjoy it if you chug it, you know that right?”

Bucky offered a coy grin in response, his cheeks flushed pink from the alcohol in his veins.

He really had no idea what he was in for.

And I feel alright (Feel alright) Yeah I feel alright, Alright… I let go This is something spiritual When I say so Give me life, give me love Leveled up on a higher dose No sorrow (baby this is chemical) Hit just like an antidote (can’t come down, down) Adios (give me, yeah give me) Give me life, give me love Leveled up on a higher dose

This was certainly a different side to Theo than Loki had ever seen.

Her guard wasn’t up in the same way it was at Stark’s party, nor was she silent and reserved, as if it were a mission briefing or meeting. The relaxed, easygoing demeanor that Loki eventually uncovered after multiple interactions made its debut amongst the others, and for the first time since the infamous briefing, it seemed like Theo wasn’t afraid to be the center of attention.

In truth, Theo’s decision to join in the evening’s activities surprised Loki. Though Theo agreed to stop declining the invitations from Maximoff, Loki had expected that this would not be the occasion which Theo relented, as the large group could be rather intimidating. Instead, he anticipated that Theo would wait until she could verify that it would be a small gathering with ample opportunities to depart, should she grow uncomfortable.

Instead, the sight of Theo trailing behind Maximoff as they crossed the rooftop brought the first of many pleasant surprises in the evening. If the expression Theo wore when Thor addressed her provided any indication, Theo had not anticipated such a robust gathering, and for a moment Loki feared she might teleport away from the immense attention suddenly focused on her.

Luckily, that had not been the case. From time to time, Loki caught Theo glancing towards him with a silent question in her eyes, usually as if trying to assess the situation, but as the evening wore on the questioning glances decreased, replaced by smirks and thinly veiled attempts to refrain from laughing at the others.

Perhaps the greatest surprise in the evening came when Theo agreed to not only try some Asgardian ale, but challenge Barnes to what one might consider a drinking contest with the aforementioned ale. Given Barnes held two significant advantages - his substantially larger size and the physiological changes from the super-soldier serum - the odds seemed stacked against the sorceress. If anything, Loki suspected that hubris fueled Theo’s decision.

However, he was far too curious about the outcome to consider intervening unless things turned sour, and up to that point he saw no cause for concern. Theo seemed fine, continuing to engage in conversation while working through her beverage. Occasionally, Loki caught himself staring at Theo’s petite hands, her dainty fingers wrapped around the massive mug of ale. If he could be honest with himself, The juxtaposition was rather adorable.

Barnes, unsurprisingly, was the first to finish his ale. Theo, however, was not far behind.

“I have a proposition.” Banner spoke up, looking between the empty mugs with a twinkle in his eye. “I think we should give these two a field sobriety test and see who is more sober… For science, of course.”

Loki, unfamiliar with the test Banner mentioned, hesitated. “And what exactly does a Midgardian sobriety test entail?”

“Oh, it’s easy.” Theo assured him, standing up and stretching both arms overhead. “You just answer some questions and do some basic tasks, like walking in a straight line and balancing on one foot for a while.”

Loki studied Theo with some doubt; when she didn’t notice, he messaged her. “Are you certain it will be so simple?”

Theo typed and sent her reply without even looking at her mobile’s screen. “Bucky’s about to get destroyed.”

Barnes swayed the moment he stood up, nearly tripping over his own feet as he made his way towards the area where they set up the test. He hadn’t even walked half of the line marked out before it became clear as crystal that Barnes was utterly toasted.

Theo, meanwhile, seemed only lightly buzzed. She easily completed the straight line test… while walking on her hands.

“A woman after my own heart,” Romanoff laughed, clapping as Theo finished the test. “It’s not often we have team members who are able to move like that.”

“Girl, you’ve gotta teach me how to do that,” Shuri exclaimed, “That’s dope as hell!”

Theo gracefully returned to her feet, pausing for just a moment to adjust her clothes before she feigned a curtsy and smirked at Barnes, who simply groaned from where he sat.

From what little Loki knew of Theo’s background, the ability to walk on her hands came as no surprise - she had formal training in acrobatic maneuvers, and her goaltending demonstration highlighted her agility. Yet, she did not seem like the sort who would walk on her hands for fun… Though from what he had seen, she certainly was the sort of person who would do so to prove a point. Quite frankly, It was the kind of thing that Loki might do if he were in her position.

All things considered, it seemed like Theo might share Loki’s penchant for mischief and trickery.

“Normally gods are the only ones who don't get knocked on their ass by Asgardian ale.” Stark commented, brow furrowed and eyes narrow as he studied Theo.

“Asgard isn’t the only place with abnormally strong liquor,” Theo casually explained, shaking out her shoulders and stretching her neck. “There really are some places with nothing better to do than drown your sorrows!”

Loki couldn’t help but laugh at her comment, though the choice of words piqued his curiosity. Of course there was the realm she refused to speak of, yet it sounded as if Theo referred to more than one location. Had she visited other realms as well?

Surely, she was exaggerating.

“You’re talking about Michigan, right?” Stark teased.

“No, I’m talking about spending time with you.” Theo deadpanned, winning a lively round of jeers and laughter of the group.

Not done showing off, Theo proceeded to balance on one foot for five minutes while casually discussing the merits of different types of alcohol that she’d encountered and how the Midgardian body metabolized alcohol, far longer than the 30 seconds that were required for a field sobriety test (at least, according to Doctor Banner). Gesturing vivaciously as she spoke, Theo’s eyes lit up with amusement as the others laughed along with her commentary.

As someone who was an expert at embellishing stories, Loki could tell when Theo added flourishes or exaggerated details. However, any talented storyteller understood that the best tales required a bit of panache, and Theo was no exception. While the others may not have noticed, to Loki, it was painfully obvious that Theo knew she was putting on a show.

“Okay, I think at this point there’s a pretty clear winner.” Rhodes snickered as Barnes laid down on a sofa, complaining about the way the world spun..

Theo happily took the $40 that Barnes previously threw down on the table, smirking as she dramatically tucked it into her wallet.

“Is anyone hungry? I could go for some pizza right about now.” Maximoff asked, looking around at the others.

“FRI, you heard the lady!” Stark lifted his head as he spoke up to no one in particular. “Well… I was actually thinking we could go out for pizza?” Maximoff suggested, shrugging her shoulders as she pointed behind herself towards the elevator.

Frankly, after such lively conversation and company, Loki was nowhere near ready to turn in for the night… Even if “going out” was not his preferred activity, perhaps it was worth accompanying the others on their venture.

“As much as I’d love to, I should probably make sure Bucky gets to bed in one piece.” Rogers replied, his point amplified by Barnes’ unintelligible grumbles.

“Yeah, it’s getting late –” Banner glanced at his watch before he stood up. “I’m ready to call it a night.”

“I’d join you.” Loki nodded at Maximoff, lightly shrugging his shoulders.

“Pizza sounds like fun.” Belova pushed herself up from her seat. “I’d go.”

“I’m down!” Shuri added, stretching as she rose to her feed.

Theo had yet to respond, eyes darting between the others as they responded. She didn’t seem tired, but experience indicated she would not opt-in unless clearly invited to attend

“The night is young – why not enjoy some excellent company for a little longer?” Turning to Theo, Loki offered a wry smile as he offered a hand to help her up. “Would you care to join? I suspect Maximoff would even let you select the pizza place…” He shot a knowing glance to Maximoff, who grinned and nodded.

“Sure, I suppose I can come along.” Theo perked up, mirroring Loki’s smile as she accepted the gesture, and allowed Loki to pull her to her feet. “I’m not sure what my options are for pizza around here, so I would defer to someone else to choose.”

Loki felt a bit of heat creep up on his cheeks - he ought to have remembered that Theo only recently became a resident of Midtown, so her knowledge of local eateries would be limited at best.

“Oh, there’s lots of great options nearby!” Parker exclaimed, bouncing up from his seat. “My favorite is–”

“She didn’t tell you to pick a place,” Shuri held a hand out to stop him as she smirked.

Parker replied with a pout, crossing his arms to make a point.

“If you tell me what place you want to go to, I’ll suggest it,” Theo winked at the spiderling.

“That’s not how this works!” Shuri protested, turning to Theo and covering her heart with mock offense.

“Okay, okay,” Theo held up her hands, laughing as she shook her head. “Wanda, pick a place since you wanted pizza and I have no idea what’s good around here.”

“I can do that - Vis, you coming?” Maximoff beamed at Vision, reaching for his hand.

“I shall accompany you.”

And off they went, in search of pizza.

Mic check - say hi to LoLo Goodbye to normal Welcome to your mad world Where you can forget About your boredom From this day forward Well I will give you love on every level

If anyone had asked Theo that morning how she expected her evening to go, drinking a supersoldier under the table and then going out for pizza at one in the morning with some of the Avengers would not have come to mind. Yet, in another edition of “my life is stranger than fiction,” that was exactly how Theo’s night played out.

The pizza place Wanda recommended was fairly close to Avengers tower - down an alleyway and through a side door, the restaurant sat tucked in the basement of a bar that Theo recognized because she played a couple shows there a while ago..

When they first walked in, the atmosphere practically screamed “hole in the wall.” The lights were kept low - low enough that it was easy to hide the dirt permanently coated on the floors. The smell of cheese and cheap beer lingered in the air. Even at the late hour, the place was packed. Perhaps the low light was to their advantage - no one seemed to notice the group of superheroes as they made their entrance, which was a relief. It took Theo back to the midnight hours in Durham. Her friends drunkenly crowded into booths for food after spending the night getting guys to buy out the bar for them. Theo had to play along in those days in order to hide her magic and its effects on her body - however, the lack of drunkenness meant she was still able to recall the exact way the place felt. And this… this felt all too familiar.

When they found an empty booth, they wasted no time claiming it as their own, even if it meant they had to squish together so everyone fit. With the way they packed themselves together, Theo couldn’t help but notice Loki’s body against hers, steady and firm without encroaching on her personal space. Loki may have been her first friend among the Avengers, but that didn’t mean they were ever quite so close. From Theo’s observations, Loki seemed like he avoided physical contact whenever possible, recoiling from Thor’s touch and carefully distancing himself when anyone else drew near. Really, Theo couldn’t remember ever having made any physical contact with him that wasn’t an accidental brush of the hands when they handed items to each other.

Despite feeling a bit thrown off by the touch, she wasn’t uncomfortable… If anything, it was actually kind of nice.

Not that she was going to say anything, because that would absolutely make it weird.

The effortless, lighthearted conversation that started on the rooftop continued the moment they sat down, even as everyone made quick work of the first round of drinks and the pizza, continuing to the extent that it wasn’t long before they ordered another round of drinks.

After the waitress delivered the second round of drinks, Wanda swallowed the bite of pizza she had been chewing, then spoke up.

“Thank you.” Wanda paused, considering her words. “For coming out tonight, that is. This has been fun.” She beamed at Theo. “I’m glad you have a sense of humor. The pigeon was well played.”

Theo blushed, biting back a smile. “Thanks for letting me in on the fun… though I have to say, I think Loki took the trophy home for best prank of the night.”

This time Loki didn’t try to deny it, grinning with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “It is important to remind my brother to stay humble… ‘Tis best to not allow his ego to overtake him. Do you agree?”

Theo let out a laugh, just barely tinged with melancholy as she thought about her sister. “That is part of a sibling’s job description, isn’t it?”

“Am I remembering correctly that you have a sister?” Vision asked Theo. “I recall mention of a sibling in your file, though you’ve not spoken much on the matter.”

Theo flinched, though the motion was barely perceptible. Loki’s eyes flickered over at her - he must have still noticed.

“I do… but she’s presumed dead, like my parents. We got separated when we ended up in the other realm” Theo shrugged as nonchalantly as she could manage, but the way the expressions in the group softened told her that they picked up on her discomfort around the topic. “My Mémère – err, my Grandma – raised me after that, and she raised my younger cousin, Max; he’s practically my younger brother.”

“There’s no reason to be nervous; family is a complicated subject for pretty much everyone on the team.” Wanda assured her.

Theo flashed a thin, yet grateful smile. “Yeah, I gathered that was practically a prerequisite for joining the Avengers.”

Loki snorted at her comment.

Wanda took the opportunity to change the topic, launching into the recap of the last band that she saw in this particular place. Apparently this was one of her favorite spots to go when she wanted to blend in and have some fun, especially since the poor lighting made it hard to be recognized.

As Wanda spoke, Theo noticed a young couple making out next to a jukebox and couldn’t help but smile at the sight – they may have assumed that the poor lighting obscured them from view, but their affection was sweet. Another wave of nostalgia from her days in Durham washed over Theo.

It occurred to her that everyone in the booth had lived vastly different lives from her own: a literal princess sat next to a kid who grew up in Queens; an orphan sat next to an android, who sat across from a frost giant/literal god, and on Theo’s opposite side was someone who trained to be a spy since before she could walk. However, Theo didn’t feel like a fish out of water. On the contrary, she actually felt like she belonged there, sitting in this cramped booth with six other people who knew what it was like to be different. And the best part was, she didn’t even have to hide what made her unique.

Her heart warmed at the thought.

By the time they finally left the pizza place, it was nearing three in the morning – the sun would rise in a few hours, however Theo was still wide awake. Wanda must have sensed that Theo was still ready for an adventure because she paused outside, looking in the direction opposite the tower.

“So where are we going now?” Theo inquired, looking between the others.

“Given you have a high alcohol tolerance, I think we should do some bar hopping,” Wanda offered, “This is New York, after all, the city that never sleeps. We might as well make it a proper night out!”

“The princess is out of her tower and there are some fine establishments nearby.” Loki added, a smug expression curling over his lips as he crossed his arms. Shuri cracked up, entirely aware that Loki was referring to Theo and not to her.

“I don’t know why you’re calling me a princess when we have a literal princess with us.” Theo offered a playful scoff in response to his joke, pointing at Shuri.

“The literal princess had a great time, but she’s gotta go back to Oakland tomorrow.” Shuri smirked and took a bow. “So I’ve gotta call it a night.”

“Yeah, I have a biology exam I need to study for tomorrow, so I should get some sleep.” Peter agreed.

“I head out for a mission bright and early,” Yelena sighed, “So I should probably go too.”

“They may be ditching us, but I’m down to go check out the bars,” Theo offered. “But I hope you don’t make the same mistake Bucky did - that might not go as well, since you aren’t a super soldier.”

Wanda laughed freely, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “Oh no, I’m not about to try and match you drink for drink. Consider this our way of giving you a tour of the neighborhood!”

Vision, of course, was also fine with bar hopping; as long as Wanda was there it seemed like he would be happy.

After bidding goodnight to Shuri, Peter, and Yelena, the remaining four Avengers departed for the first bar. The cover of night provided protection from the stares that Theo expected to get walking down the street, though it was likely helped by the decrease in people out and about at the odd hour.

The quartet moved between local bars seamlessly. The sight of the Avengers didn’t draw the looks Theo would have expected most celebrities to draw - the other three, apparently, were regulars. They chatted with other customers and joked around with the bartenders, always making a point to casually slip an introduction to Theo in the mix without making it awkward. More often than not, the other customers would buy a round of drinks for the group as a way of welcoming Theo to the team, and before Theo could respond either Loki or Wanda would accept on her behalf.

If Theo didn’t know better, Loki and Wanda were on a mission to see just how much alcohol it took to get Theo drunk; frankly, as long as Theo wasn’t the one footing the bill, she didn’t mind the opportunity to loosen up a bit.

As the sun crept over the horizon, Theo felt the warm buzz that came with mild inebriation, having consumed enough alcohol to finally overcome her obnoxious tolerance.

Loki had a slight flush to his cheeks and a hint of glassiness in his eyes – there was no way that he could become intoxicated from what a human would drink alone, but between the Asgardian ale he consumed earlier and the other drinks, he seemed more relaxed than usual. Up until that point, Theo noticed that even when relaxed, Loki always had this air of being immensely composed, but that night it seemed like he let some of that properness fall away and let his guard drop ever-so-slightly.

In contrast, Wanda was comfortably drunk, allowing herself to hiccup and giggle freely while slurring some of her words. Not messy drunk by any means, thanks to Loki and Vision switching out some of her drinks for Shirley Temples when Wanda wasn’t looking (given how easily they managed the feat, Theo guessed it wasn’t the first time they had swapped her drinks so she didn’t get sick).

Vision was the only one who was sober, but that had to be a normal occurrence… Not shockingly, it was impossible for an artificial intelligence system to process alcohol. Theo found it odd to watch Vision eat and drink like a normal person, since he didn’t actually digest food and that he didn’t even need to eat to function. The sight was even more jarring when he camouflaged himself to appear like a person and not an android, which he did anytime he ventured into public.

Still, it wasn’t the weirdest thing Theo had ever seen…

With the sun peeking over the horizon, bringing with it the impending arrival of the morning, the group agreed it was time to return to the tower. While there was nothing on their agenda for the day that they had to prepare for, by that time everyone had been awake long enough that they were more than ready for bed. Vision and Wanda led the way, Vision wrapping his arm around Wanda to help her stay steady as she giggled and cooed endlessly at him, utterly lovestruck each time she looked at her partner.

Behind them, Loki and Theo strolled beside each other in comfortable silence. As they moved, Theo discreetly observed Loki. His normally upright, regal posture had softened. His eyes gazed out into the distance, though it didn’t seem like they had a fixed point of interest. He kept his hands in his pockets, and his expression reserved - just the slightest hint of knitted brows adorned his expression.

The man beside her was different from the Loki that Theo first met, or the Loki she saw earlier in the evening – the sharp, charismatic, and sarcastic prince was replaced by a much quieter, introspective man. Even with the faint warmth of the alcohol in Theo’s system, she could sense storms swirling in his mind that were locked away from public view. She couldn’t help but wonder how often he allowed that side of him to show.

When they arrived at the tower and made their way up to the residential floors, Theo couldn’t help but notice the way that Loki held the elevator door for her, and how he placed his hand on the small of her back as she passed by. It must have been the way that Loki was raised that made him do those things - as a prince, he must have been taught these types of gestures as a part of proper etiquette - but the feeling of his touch lingered long after his hand left her back.

No one else was around, which meant that it was either too early for the others to be up, or those who were already awake were off doing something else. Those moments of stillness were rare in the tower, and after a long but fun night out, Theo was grateful for the peace and quiet. Up ahead, Wanda giggled and squealed as Vision patiently coaxed her towards their suite. It didn’t take long for them to disappear behind the door, leaving Loki and Theo to themselves. The pair’s comfortable silence continued as they made their way down the hall, pausing outside the door to Theo’s suite.

“This was a lot of fun,” Theo commented to Loki, a shy smile on her lips as she took hold of the door handle, but refrained from opening the door.

“Indeed,” he nodded, sticking his hands back in his pockets and shifting his weight back onto his heels as he gave her a nervous smile. “I’m glad you’ve come out of your shell a bit more – it is nice to spend time with you.”

They both stood there, biting back smiles as they looked into each other’s eyes. In the peace of the tower and the sun rising, there was almost a special sort of peace that fell between them - a moment frozen in time.

Eventually though, that moment had to end.

Theo cleared her throat, a rising heat now present on her cheeks. “Well, I should probably…” Theo trailed off, gesturing that she was going to head inside. “Uh, good night Loki.”

“Right,” Loki blushed, looking away as he dipped his head. “Good night Theo.”

Theo found herself reflecting on the night as she got ready for bed. Yes, Loki, the little bastard was right - the Avengers, for all their initial assumptions and hesitations, genuinely did want to be her friend.

And despite every reason why Theo shouldn’t want to, at the end of the day… She wanted to be their friend too.

I let go (I let go) This is something spiritual (something spiritual) A vibrant soul (a vibrant soul) Give me life, give me love Got me hooked on a higher dose No sorrow (baby this is chemical) Hit just like an antidote (can’t come down, down) Adios (give me, yeah give me) Give me life, give me love Leveled up on a higher dose

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stories-and-chaos · 2 months

Text

Tarnished pt 23

[Helluva Boss AU where Blitzø’s childhood theft from Stolas’ palace is discovered and major consequences ensue for everyone involved.]

[Part 23/?? Word Count: 1857]

[CW: Drug abuse, addiction, gaslighting]

—————

Two weeks later, Blitzo sent another letter. It was thinner than the first. Barb gave it the same treatment, ‘RETURN TO SENDER’. The next one was even thinner, probably just one page in the envelope.

After she had that one sent back, he started sending postcards. Mostly they were generic landscape images from across the Rings. But not being in an envelope meant she saw snippets of the text on the blank side. Barb let Fizz know that Blitzo was sending mail, but never the content.

She didn’t mean to read any of them, but checking the address meant seeing what was written. There was a theme of ‘sorry, please talk to me, let me explain, I’m sorry, text, call, so sorry,’ in his scribbled handwriting. Knowing their dad’s account of events, her brother’s repeated requests for forgiveness just infuriated Barb.

She saw there were a few that mentioned her and their mom. Blitzo was asking if Fizz knew where they were. You’d know if you’d stuck around, traitor, she thought bitterly as she sent the postcards to be shredded.

The frequent reminders of Blitzo’s existence kept her off balance. And Fizzarolli was spending more time in Lust. He kept denying any emotional attachment to Asmodeus but Barb saw the difference in how he talked about the Sin. His absence left her somewhat at loose ends in her downtime.

The other survivors from their circus had scattered; few wanted to stay in Greed with all the established gangs and corruption. Barb, not wanting to be alone constantly, found other demons that shared her interests. One of those interests being drug use was incidental.

After seven months, the postcards arrived less frequently. Barb didn’t really notice; she had access to stronger stuff and was getting fucked up on a regular basis. Fizz was paying her enough that she could afford it… for now. But as the next pageant got closer, she started missing more days.

At first it didn’t matter too much. Her friend was off being Ozzie’s boy toy. The PR team was finally filtering the mail somewhat. And just before the pageant, Blitzo sent a card saying, ‘I’ll leave you alone Fizz. You know where to find me. I’m sorry.’ That was one less stressor; Barb celebrated with a weekend long bender.

She managed to be clean for a few days before and after the clown pageant. She was able to function as Fizz’s security the whole time. Once again, he won. Once again, Mammon immediately signed him on with a year long contract.

This year though, the king of Greed had some things to talk about concerning Fizzarolli’s assistant. Whisking him behind closed doors for the rigamarole of the contract was the perfect moment to plant seeds of doubt about Barb in his mind.

“Y’know Fizzy, that assistant o’ yours…I know she’s your friend but she’s been slacking big time,” he said as they signed and initialed pages. “I’d hate for someone from your past to take advantage of you, yah?” Mammon had a look of intense concern as he finished his portion of the contract.

“I-I’ll talk to her, Mammon sir.” Fizz was already worried about Barb. He knew she’d gotten hooked on painkillers after the fire. She’d been sober for years but he could see the signs popping up. And if Mammon noticed, things were getting worse.

“Good boy Fizzy! ‘Cause we’re gonna be real busy again and we don’t need c**ts coasting off your success.”

The day after the pageant saw Fizz in Lust again, working with Ozzie on updating the Fizzies. Asmodeus took him out for lunch again. He’d told Mammon before the contest that he’d need the whole day with the winner for their work, preventing his fellow Sin from interrupting anything.

After lunch, Ozzie sprung an offer on Fizz. “I’d like you to work at my lounge club, Froggie. Get you some experience outside the Greed Ring and away from all those creeps.”

Fizz waved a dismissive hand. “Psh, I’ve always had creeps around, it’s not that big a deal. Besides, Barb’s got my back.”

“Yeeeeeeaaaah, about that,” Asmodeus said slowly.

“Oh not you too Oz! Mammon was just bitching to me last night about her!”

“Hey, I’m just saying…she’s having a bad time lately. I’m not gonna pry, but if even Mam has picked up on it? Your girl needs help.” Ozzie cupped Fizz’s cheek. “Look, I know she’s important to you. You’re basically family right?” Fizz nodded. “So I want to help. And moving you both out of Greed is a good way to start.”

Fizz sighed. “Yeah, she’s never really liked it there anyway. I can’t make her do anything though.”

“You know me babe; I ain’t about forcing anyone. Unless she’s in deep shit, too deep to handle or putting herself in danger? you gotta let her make her choices.” He leaned back in their private booth. “I’m serious about working at my lounge though. You’d make a great M.C. Fizzy-frog.”

Fizz agreed to perform at Ozzie’s, with the frequent scheduling starting in a few weeks. He had prior commitments with Mammon to take care of first. Doing nightly shows at the lounge would mean moving to Lust.

Before that, he wanted to talk with Barb. The first chance he got was almost a week later, after they were done at Mammon’s for the day. Fizz had to steal himself to talk to his friend so he went to her apartment after hyping himself up via a phone call with Asmodeus.

Barb, meanwhile, had taken a hit of her current drug of choice as soon as she got home. It was the first big high she’d had in the past two weeks. When Fizz showed up at her door unannounced, she could feel the drugs hitting her system. Although he looked serious and she was trying to focus on what he said, the chemical filter in her veins meant she really only caught a few words. Kind of like those snippets of Blitzo’s postcards.

“Barb, I know you’ve got a problem. You’ve been using drugs again, I can tell. We need to get you help, but we can’t do it here. Asmodeus offered me a gig, I’ll need to move to Lust. Please, come with me. I can’t stand seeing you destroy yourself. We’ll get away from all this shit in Greed. Get you some fucking help.”

Barb tried to string together what he was saying. What truly stuck with her was he was moving. Leaving for Lust and Asmodeus. Away from her. She growled angrily. “Urrrgh! Fine, go fuck off with your royal sugar daddy! I don’t need you!” She pushed him away from her. Her intoxication meant she didn’t have much control of her strength. Her push knocked him against the wall; if he hadn’t hit it with his prosthetic arm, it would have left bruises.

She stomped to the door and yanked it open. “Get the fuck out Fizz. The other imp looked stricken so she pushed him again. This one sent him into the hallway. Barb slammed the door shut, locked it and put the chain on. He had a spare key, but even his extendable arms would struggle with the chain. She pressed her back against the door and slid down it as Fizz knocked desperately. He kept saying her name but she didn’t respond. She just curled up, silent and crying.

Eventually, he was gone. Her sense of time was completely distorted. Maybe it had been an hour, maybe just a couple minutes. She just wanted to forget about everything again. Fortunately, past Barb had picked up a baggie full of little friends from her dealer that were very good at helping her forget.

A few days later, she’d come down enough to realize she had to go work. That many pill-shaped friends weren’t cheap. But when she got to Mammon’s main offices, her keycard didn’t work. Barb tried multiple times, flipping the card in different directions but she continued to get error sounds. She was ready to punch the scanner when the door opened smoothly.

The shark demon that stepped out towered over Barb. “What do you want?” No politeness, just blunt demanding attitude.

“I want to get to work. Why isn’t my keycard working?” She waved the offending piece of plastic in front of the shark’s snout.

His concentric ringed eyes focused on the card, reading her name. “Barb Buckzo. Yeah, your position’s been…terminated.” He gave her a leering grin and flicked the card. His claw hit with enough force to send it spinning out of her hand and down the street.

“The fuck d’you mean, ‘terminated’? I’m Fizz’s assistant and bodyguard!”

“Not no more. You haven’t been here for a week. Mr. Fizzarolii and Lord Mammon don’t need some lazy ass coasting on her buddy’s success.” He straightened up to his full height. The shark crossed his arms and continued to match her glaring look. “So you’re out, shoulda got a termination letter in yer mail.”

Her jaw dropped. Those assholes! “I wanna talk to Fizz. Right now!” She tried to push past the beefy shark, but he outweighed her and Fizz combined.

“Mr. Fizzarolli is busy. Lord Mammon is free for the next ten minutes if you wanna talk to him.” Barb growled, a rumbling hiss coming from her chest. “Thought so.” The shark went back inside and the door slid shut behind him.

Barb stood there, chest heaving. She had mostly come down from her high and there was no drugged filter between her and her emotions. After a few minutes of glaring at the locked doors, she started hurling nearby rocks at the building. Her aim was still good from all those years in the circus. But those doors were designed to withstand bullets; a valid concern with all the turf wars likely to pop up in this Ring.

All the rocks in Hell wouldn’t do much to the structure. Barb didn’t care; if anything it made her madder. She kept hurling the same rocks over and over, screaming obscenities all the while. Until she threw one that ricocheted back, hitting her directly on her circus brand and knocking her on her butt.

She sat there, dazed. The pain on her forehead belatedly hit and she rubbed the spot to find ichor welling from the scratch. “Fine. FINE, YOU HEAR ME! YOU CAN GO FUCK YOURSELVES! HAVE FUN BEING A PAMPERED WHORE FIZZ! YOU’RE JUST LIKE THAT TRAITOR BLITZO!” Barb turned away, rubbing her upper arms with both hands as she tried to keep the anger in the forefront. She flipped of the building as she walked home.

Not that the studio apartment would be home much longer. She was behind on rent and her landlord was ready to kick her out. Checking her mail, she found the termination letter; included was her severance check. Not enough to back pay everything. But enough to find somewhere else. Something cheaper and closer to the drug dens she was visiting more often.

Within two days, she was gone, ghosting everyone in her life.

—————

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#helluva boss #helluva fanfiction #helluva au #helluva blitzo #helluva fizzarolli #fizzarolli #barbie wire #helluva asmodeus #asmodeus x fizzarolli #fizzmodeus #helluva mammon

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fiction-box · 1 year

Note

I just realized the rules say we can ask for up to two at a time. 🥲

…would you mind writing for a cursed female reader and Ashe? Except maybe she’s in a bit more danger and there’s a high risk/stress level?

Thanks so much 💛

No problem at all! My rules say you can have up to 2 characters, but that's more of a limit than a requirement. Thank you for reading them!

But yes, I did attempt to raise the stakes in this one. There is more visible tension, and I have written my interpretation of some behavioral changes that might occur when significant stressors such as this are introduced.

Here is my take!

Requests are open. The story will be continued under the cut.

The light of the sun streaming in through the windows brought the pleasant warmth that came with the changing of spring to summer. You were walking down the hall, looking out at the blue sky through the glass when someone bumped into you.

“Oof-” you didn’t fall to the ground, but the box that the other person must have been holding fell next to you.

Kneeling down, you picked up the box, “Excuse me, but you dropped…this…?”

Only, when you looked around, you couldn’t tell who it was that had run into you in the first place. There wasn’t even a trace of a clue, and so you were left to stand in the hall holding a box that didn’t belong to you.

“Woah, hey! A-are you alright?”

You turned from your spot on the ground to see Ashe jogging up to you.

“Did you happen to see someone running by you?” you asked.

His eyes went wide, “Wait, did someone push you down?” his brows lowered, “Just tell me what they looked like. I’ll catch up to them.”

“No, no, that’s not it!” you defused, “It’s just…there was a woman, I think, from the bit of the robe that I saw. She bumped into me and dropped this box, but when I looked up to hand it to her, she was gone.”

“Hmm,” Ashe looked down the hall, as though he might see someone matching your limited description. Suddenly, he seemed to realize you had been knocked to the floor. “Oh! Sorry, here, let me help you up.”

He took the box from you in one hand, then outstretched his other one. You accepted the help, allowing him to lift you off the ground. As he handed the box back to you, you accidentally got your first real look at what was inside. There was no lid, but a thin sheet of material covered whatever was inside.

“What is it?” Ashe wondered aloud, peering into the container.

You were curious, too. Gently, you allowed your fingers to ease the material off the object. A mirror, laid to rest at the bottom, was the only thing underneath it.

It was more ornate than you expected for something the size of a book. There were golden swirls around its edges and a ruby-red frame.

Finding yourself entranced by the pattern, you reached in with your free hand, curling your fingers around its frame.

You retracted them quicker than you had curled them.

“Agh!” you breathed, a sharp pain spreading across your hand.

Ashe retrieved the box from you, watching your hand intently, “You’re bleeding…come on, let’s get you to Professor Manuela.”

The trip didn’t take long; she bandaged your hand and let you go with a warning to be more careful.

“Maybe you should take this to your room. The person who bumped into you would probably recognize you, and you could get it for her if you ever meet again.”

“That’s a wonderful idea, Ashe.”

So it was that you parted ways with you making a one-way trip to your room. Originally, you had been prepared to set the box away somewhere under your bed before heading down to the dining hall, but…

…one more look wouldn’t hurt, right?

You woke up the next morning in front of the mirror, though you didn’t remember ever taking it out of the box and setting it on the small coffee table at the center of your room. In truth, you didn’t actually remember falling asleep last night, either.

Legs sore, you rose from your “seat” on the floor before the table. You were unsteady for a moment, stumbling into your bed on shaky legs. After a good stretch though, it was time for you to make your way to the dining hall for breakfast.

Navigating there and getting a meal wasn’t so difficult, but it was when you ran into Felix and Ingrid on your way to the training grounds that something seemed off.

“Hey,” Ingrid greeted, uncharacteristically hesitant.

“Um, hi…Is there any particular reason you two are looking at me funny?” you checked yourself over once, “There’s nothing on my clothes, is there?”

“Well…you did something different with your hair, is all.”

My hair?

You grabbed a bit of it, pulling it forward so you could see.

“No, I don’t think so. Why?”

“You dyed it,” Felix raised a brow, clearly impatient, “There are streaks of white that weren’t there, before.”

“Ha-ha,” you quipped, “Come on, you know my hair has always been like this.”

Your classmates looked at each other, then back to you, “No, that definitely wasn’t there yesterday.”

“Or any other day,” Felix added.

“Not falling for it,” you called, walking past them into the training grounds.

They didn’t come after you. It was nice that they had stopped acting strangely, but you found it weird that they never quit their joke or apologized. Weirder still was how Felix was in on it, too.

You shut your mind off, moving to start your training for the late morning. To warm up, you would fire off a few spells at the training dummies. Then you could find a partner and really get down to business.

~~~~

Nothing went right.

The training dummies were barely scathed, and when you worked with a partner after lunch, you performed worse than ever. Now, dinner had passed. You had ended late with some private training, but you just felt confused, weak, and desperate.

Heading out for the last time that day, you came across Ashe again. He had wanted to know if you were able to return the mirror, but you let him know you hadn’t found any luck in that regard. After wishing him good night, you finally got back to your quarters.

Only, you didn’t go to bed again. You woke up in front of that mirror. And it happened night after night for the next two days.

~~~~

“...good morning,” Professor Byleth strained, concerned.

You were the last to enter the classroom, but you certainly made the most notable entrance.

Sylvain’s eyes widened, Ashe’s jaw hung open slightly, and Mercedes gave a small gasp.

“Your hair! It’s all white- why would you-?” Annette cried.

“That’s not the only change,” Felix scoffed. “She’s absolutely useless in the training grounds. Couldn’t even use her magic, and she was pale as a ghost the whole time.”

“She’s pale as a ghost right now…” Ingrid worried.

You sighed, “Why has everyone been giving me such a difficult time? I don’t understand what’s so hard about this; my hair has always been white, I’ve never been able to use magic,” and with a pointed glare toward Felix you finished, “and we’re from Faerghus; we don’t tan easily.”

Dimitri frowned, “Does anyone have any sort of portrait or letter that can contradict her hair color?”

“No, because it has always been this way.”

“Then why do you keep so many tomes in your room?” Ingrid contested.

“Maybe because the professor buys them and gives them to me? At this point, I’m pretty sure she’s just using my bookshelf as a storehouse, but I don’t mind.”

“That is enough, everyone. Ashe, please see me after class.”

“W-What?” Ashe whipped his head to face forward.

“He didn’t even say anything,” Ingrid rose out of her seat, “You can’t punish him while I’ve been-”

“I said enough, Ingrid. Ashe will be seeing me after class, and class will be starting right now. That is final.”

The room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Throwing a pitiful look Ashe’s way, Ingrid sunk back into her chair.

“Sylvain, perhaps you’d like to start us off with your report on the Sreng region so far this month…”

~~~

“...you asked to see me?”

Professor Byleth sighed, “I’m sorry I had to call on you in front of everyone. I promise, I’m just as worried about your classmate as everyone else.”

“You’re not in trouble,” she added upon noticing Ashe still looked like he might protest to something.

“Maybe I’m not, but she is! She’s been acting so strangely these past few days, and that’s not even considering her change in hair color.”

“I’m well aware. The hair was intriguing enough, but her strength has been greatly depleted ever since I trained with her a few days ago.”

And after their training session early this morning, she wasn’t sure what else there was to take than the strength that kept her standing and breathing.

“This isn’t the joke she’s making it out to be. Your classmate is in danger, but fortunately, I think I have a lead. These past few nights, I’ve noticed her turning in early and locking her door. She won’t respond when I knock or call her name, though.”

“That’s strange. If anything, she looks like she’s been getting less sleep than usual,” Ashe pondered.

“My thoughts exactly. We don’t have much time until tonight, but I want you to be watching her. As soon as you see her go into her room, grab the nearest classmate and pick the lock.”

“P-Pick the lock? But-”

“This is for her own good. There’s something I need to pick up, and then I promise I’ll be right behind you.”

The archer still looked confused despite his nod as he turned to go.

“Oh, and Ashe?”

He turned until they were making eye contact.

“Don’t let anyone catch onto what you’re doing.”

~~~~~

So, he waited, watching silently throughout the day as you went through your tasks. You really did do quite a lot for the Blue Lions, but…something was off.

Your steps and actions were clumsy and inexperienced despite it being the umpteenth time you tended to the stable mares. If anyone would know, it would be Ashe; the one who would spend all evening on the task so long as you were with him.

A change. Your steps sure and balanced for once as you put away your supplies and headed off to bed.

The commoner boy followed you to ensure you really did make it to your room. The sun hadn’t even fully set yet, but there was no doubt you’d find a way to wake up tired the next day, regardless.

Well, not this tim-

“Wow. Never took you for the kind to stalk a girl, Ashe. Guess you-”

“Shh!”

Perfect. Naturally, Sylvain had caught him in the hallway following you to your room just as you had shut your door. Just great.

“Woah, now you’re shushing me? I mean, of course you’d want-”

The archer deftly pulled the sword from the scabbard at the Gautier noble’s side, maneuvering to hold it at Sylvain’s throat.

“Sylvain, this is serious,” Ashe shouted in a whisper, “So help me, if you make any more noise…I may be shorter than you, but we both know I’m faster.”

Shocked, Sylvain didn’t have a reaction other than widening his eyes.

“Take it easy, Ashe,” he muttered. “Besides, you don’t even know how to us- gh-!”

The former thief pressed the blade forward, “I know enough to know that if I apply enough pressure right here with the blade, you’ll never make another noise. You will not speak. Do I make myself clear?”

After a moment of staring each other down in the hall outside her dorm room, Ashe sighed and turned toward the door. A few more moments and the sun would fully set.

Kneeling at the handle, the archer pulled the sharp metal of a lockpick out of his pocket.

Suddenly, he was yanked backward by his hood and into the wall. On instinct, Ashe jumped to his feet, but not before Sylvain had retrieved his sword from the floor and pointed it at Ashe.

“Sorry, but I can’t let you do that. Some lines you just don’t cross.”

“Sylvain, what in Fodlan are you talking ab-”

The soft click of the Professor’s heeled boots rushed down the hall toward the Lions, her own voice coming out in a whisper-shout.

“What are you two doing? Enough messing around; Sylvain, let Ashe pick the lock already.”

“What? Professor-”

“Shh!”

Instantly, Ashe was back at the handle, Less than a few seconds later, the lock was rendered obsolete.

“All you, Professor,” he nodded.

Nodding in turn, Professor Byleth pulled the bow she had obtained from off her shoulder, nocking an arrow in place and crouching low.

“How did you-? What is actually going on here?” Sylvain panicked.

“Sylvain. I don’t have time to explain much more, but we’re going to need your help fighting if push comes to shove. Your classmate’s life hangs in the balance.”

“And that’s why you-?”

“That is why the Church agreed to let me use this bow. Parthia will strike true, even if we cannot identify the enemy, ourselves.”

“Right. Okay, I’m with you.”

“Ashe, open the door.”

Noiselessly, the commoner flung the door open only to find his classmate kneeling on the floor at a small table.

Still primed to shoot, Byleth shuffled about the room until the small mirror propped in front of her pupil came into view.

Their friend was transfixed by the object, a thin, steady stream of white light connecting her eyes to the mirror.

The moment the Ashen Demon came into its view, the white tendril snapped. It lashed out, now more physical than intangible.

There wasn’t enough time to react to what was happening. The magic of the mirror was too quick. With a single, deceptively heavy swipe, it collided with Byleth’s head. She was knocked aside, Parthia left to fall where she once stood as her form went limp against the wall.

“What th-!”

“Professor!”

Sylvain rushed across the room, adapting quickly to slide under the tendril’s attack. Upon reaching Byleth, he swung back against the magic.

Each swipe simply cleaved the tendril, stalling it for a moment before it reconnected with its base and came in for another attack.

Taking advantage of the distraction his classmate provided, Ashe crawled toward where Parthia lied.

All it took was a glance around to know the only arrow Ashe had was the one his Professor had dropped.

He dared not whisper a word as he nocked the bow from his place on the ground. With only a rough estimation of the mirror’s position due to his limited view, it really would be up to Parthia.

Ashe rose to his knees and yelled only one word to Sylvain in the split second he had to aim.

“Duck!”

The projectile flew to the center of the room, slightly adjusting its trajectory to hit its wielder’s mark. Sylvain dropped to the floor just in time, doing his best to shield Professor Byleth’s body as Parthia’s arrow struck true.

The mirror shattered, a burst of light energy knocking all of the present company to the walls of the room.

And when the light vanished, no one in the room was left awake to get back up again.

~~~

In the days that followed, the infirmary stayed busy. Manuela tended to Sylvain and Ashe in the infirmary as Rhea chose to care for you and the professor on her own terms. An abundance of clerics that were at the Church’s disposal lent their talents for the occasion as classmates came and went with gifts, well-wishes, and plenty of questions.

Professor Byleth was the first to return to her class, recovering from her head trauma abnormally unaffected. Sylvain’s recovery took place shortly after, as he had been protected mostly by his position low on the ground.

More days passed, the infirmary closed itself off to visitors, and the room in which the incident occurred was tidied up. The Blue Lions remained with only seven students in attendance for another week.

The day Ashe returned to the class, he was almost overwhelmed at the amount of gifts sitting at his table. Books from Ingrid, sweets from Mercedes, flowers from Dedue, and a multitude of letters from people around the monastery.

And when the Blue Lions returned from their monthly mission to find you had been returned to the classroom, your hair returned to its natural shade?

Well, the only person that needed to be pulled into the hug was Felix.

#fire emblem #fe3h #fire emblem three houses #fe x reader #fiction #fe3h x reader #fire emblem x reader #fe ashe #ashe ubert x reader #ashe ubert #ashe duran x reader #ashe duran #ashe x reader #fe sylvain

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beelzebuddy-catan · 7 months

Text

The Not Entirely Human-Human Exchange Student pt. 13

Summary: I think we all know what what happens after Belphie is released at this point. Cass and the brothers deal with the aftermath of Belphie being released. Once again, Cass has to call out the avoidant to a fault conflict resolution style of the brothers. Warnings: Swearing, major character death, mentions of other deaths, PTSD/Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorder symptoms Spoilers: Up through Lesson 16 Characters: Cass (OC), Lucifer, Mammon, Levi, Satan, Asmo, Beel, Belphie, and Lilith. Notes: I know not everyone uses humor as a coping mechanism, but Cass definitely does. Forewarning as I know that doesn't sit right with some people, but we all have different experiences and responses to those. Previous Part • Next Part

“Please, please don’t die. I can’t lose you,” Mammon whispered.

Someone slipped their hand behind her head, supporting it enough so her head was no longer at the painful angle. “You have to support her head you idiot. Humans are fragile.”

“Are you fuckin’ serious right now, Levi? There ain’t no way she's human!”

Wait, what? Cass hadn’t told them she was a Nephilim. Had Diavolo told them at the castle when she left? Wait, no, these were the brothers from the past. It was only now that her breath was returning to normal. That sentence was going to make her start hyperventilating again.

“We don’t know that!”

“She’s got antlers stickin’ out of her head!”

The shock of that statement gave Cass enough energy to open her eyes in a panic. She stared up at Mammon. His eyes were glassy, and his shaking hadn’t stopped. Mammon didn’t look away, as if she would die if he did.

“Cass?” Lucifer called, still in shock.

“What the fuck? How are you still alive?”

“Cass? Cass!” Lilith’s voice pierced through the air. “I’m so, so sorry. I knew he was different, I never thought he’d...” Her words faded in and out. “You need to focus. You can’t give up.”

What did Lilith mean? She was dying, she’d already fought so hard. Why wasn’t she allowed to have a break? Besides, they’d find the letters Lilith had written in her pocket. The brothers would finally be able to heal. And the Nephs at least would know what happened to her this time.

“I was able to give you my grace. It should be enough to stop you from dying,” Lilith spoke again. “I, I don’t have much time left.” Cass wanted to protest but couldn’t find the words. “Don’t worry about me, I’m happy. I lived the life I wanted. Thank you, for everything.”

When she finished speaking, Cass plunged back into dark icy waters. Her lungs were on fire, begging for air. Somewhere above her, she saw lights, as if reflecting on top of a lake. Fighting with the little energy she had left she broke through, only to be met with chaos.

Voices. They were so loud. Cass tried to figure out where they were coming from or who was talking, but it was all just noise. Had she hit her head when she fell? The ground beneath her was moving, but it didn’t feel like the attic floor she’d been on.

Her head was heavy. Too heavy to even lift. Not that it mattered. She didn’t even have enough energy to open her eyes. It felt like something was pulling her head down. Oh, the ground was moving because someone was holding her. How long had she been unconscious?

Satan’s voice was one of the first she recognized. He was yelling. Even half unconscious she could feel his anger. Why wasn’t Lucifer stepping in? Even during his worsts outburst, Lucifer could get him away from others to cool off.

“DAMMIT, CASS,” Mammon shouted, his voice raw and desperate. “YA CAN’T DIE ON ME.”

The laugh she’d heard moments before passing out followed. If she had the energy, she probably would have flinched. Somehow the sound felt colder than the air around her did. Mammon trembled in response to Belphie.

“You look like such a fool, Mammon. It’s just some human. You’re panicking like her death is the end of the world.”

“Belphie, you...” Lucifer’s voice trailed off, unable to speak.

“What have you done?” Beel’s voice was oddly hallow. Cass couldn’t begin to imagine the conflicting emotions he was feeling at the moment.

“With injuries this bad, the chances of survival for a human are...” Satan didn’t finish the thought.

“Lucifer,” Asmo screamed, “do something! We have to do something.”

He didn’t answer. Instead, Belphie laughed again. “That’s the exact look I hoped to see on your face, Lucifer. It’s all too perfect.”

Cass only wished she could say something, do something to ease the pain and horror she sensed around her. It felt like she was being lowered, but Mammon didn’t let her go. He only pulled her closer as he knelt on the ground.

“Please, please don’t die. I can’t lose you,” Mammon whispered.

Someone slipped their hand behind her head, supporting it enough so her head was no longer at the painful angle. “You have to support her head you idiot. Humans are fragile.”

“Are you fuckin’ serious right now, Levi? There ain’t no way she's human!”

“We don’t know that!”

“She’s got antlers stickin’ out of her head!”

“Cass?” Lucifer called, still in shock.

“What the fuck? How are you still alive?”

Belphie lunged at her. Fortunately, Beel caught him before he got too far. He pulled his twin back, an iron grip around the youngest brother. He was seething as he fought against the hold, determined to kill her.

“Lilith, survived, Lucifer–” was all Cass could say, pain shooting through her throat.

“Don’t you dare say her name,” Belphie hissed.

“Did she just say survived?” Asmo asked at the same time.

Satan lifted a cup of some kind of liquid to her lips. He muttered a spell while she drank the contents. After a minute the pain subsided to a dull ache, and she was able to move and speak. Mammon refused to let her go though, arms tight enough to provide comfort, but not so strong she couldn’t get out if she really wanted to.

“How did you know about Lilith?” Lucifer asked.

Cass recounted the same story they’d discussed only hours ago. “I promise, she was happy.”

Belphie thrashed against Beel’s hold again. “You’re lying! LIES, it’s all lies! Are you all really going to trust the word of some human? Do you not remember what they did to Lilith?”

“It’s true,” Lucifer said. “I, I’m sorry. But how did you know that?”

“She told me.” Cass didn’t have enough energy to process their reactions. Instead, she reached into her jacket pocket. “Remember I said I had one more secret?” She asked Mammon. When he nodded, she pulled out the letters. “I think these will explain everything better than I could.”

Now that the pain had subsided and she wasn’t afraid of dying, Cass stopped fighting the exhaustion taking over her body. The last thing she heard as she drifted asleep was Mammon saying her name and Satan telling him to let her rest.

---

When Cass woke up, she was lying in her bed. An eerie silence hung in the air. It was oddly lonely waking up in the empty room. Last time she’d almost died, Beel had been there. Cass hadn’t known what to expect after they read the letters from Lilith. Maybe they hated her for keeping it secret.

She’s got antlers stickin’ out of her head! Mammon’s words popped into her thoughts. Cass threw the blankets off, stumbling to the closest mirror. There were no antlers in her reflection though. She ran her hands through her hair, confirming the lack of appendages.

The memories after going back in time were foggy. Cass glanced at the door to her room. Were it not for the bruises on her neck, she might have thought it was all a nightmare. But there they were, angry purple and black reminders of Belphie’s hatred.

Cass took the blanket from her bed, pulling it around her shoulders, seeking any kind of comfort. The last thing she wanted was to be alone right now. The darkness reminding her of the death she’d almost accepted.

Cass started shaking, her thoughts slipping back. She scratched at her throat, suddenly unable to breathe. Find someone, anyone. She stumbled away from the mirror and down the stairs. A broken sob fell from her lips, unable to make it to the door before her fear took over. Cass curled up, hiding underneath the blanket, waiting for the sound of Belphie’s laughter to subside.

Someone said her name. The blanket was pushed back just enough, not taken away completely. A hand clasped hers as their thumb rubbed comforting circles against her wrist. It took a moment for her to feel safe enough to look out.

“I’m here, it’s gonna be okay,” Mammon stated firmly. “I’m not gonna leave, ya. Got it? You’ve always got the great Mammon to count on. For however long ya need.”

Once her breathing returned to normal, Cass sat up, letting the blanket fall from her shoulders. She could tell Mammon was trying not to pull her into a hug, not wanting to overwhelm her. Cass wrapped her arms around him, pressing her ear to his chest to listen to his heartbeat. After a moment, he returned the hug.

“Do you hate me?”

Mammon sputtered. “What kinda question is that? Why would I?”

“I didn’t tell you about Lilith, any of it.”

Mammon’s arms dropped. Cass leaned back just enough to look up at him. There was no trace of anger or distaste in his expression. He rubbed the back of his head in thought, trying to figure out the best phrasing.

“We promised not to hide how we felt any more, right? So, I’m gonna be honest with ya, I’m still not sure how I feel about it. Probably a lot of things and they come and go. I was angry, confused, frustrated, whatever, but hate? I could never hate ya.”

Cass hung her head, unable to look him in the eyes. “I also don’t blame ya, Cass. Look what happened when we found out that she had lived. Imagine how it’d have been if we thought we could talk to her again. ‘Sides, Lilith didn’t give ya much of a choice. She made that much clear in the letters, right?”

“I don’t really know what she said,” Cass answered. “I know I wrote them, but I was trying not to focus too much since it was something private.”

Mammon stayed quiet. His eyes fell to the bruises on her neck. She could only begin to imagine what was running through his mind. Cass held her hands up to block his view. He didn’t look away from the spot though.

“I didn’t let anyone else save me,” Cass smiled, trying to break the tension. Mammon glanced up, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. “You said if it wasn’t you saving me, then no one should be.”

Mammon pulled her into another hug, taking a deep breath. “That’s not a funny joke, ya idiot,” he mumbled into her hair.

“Um, you said something earlier.”

“Ya heard that?” Mammon’s eyes widened in horror, and he blushed. “Look I don’t know what ya think I meant, but just forget about it, okay?

“Okay, so you said two things earlier and we’re definitely talking about them both.” Mammon groaned, realizing his mistake. “You said there’s no way I was human because I had antlers?”

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that with everything else going on. How’d ya do that anyways?” He asked, hands feeling her head where the supposed antlers must have been. “Did Solomon teach you the trick when you were in the human world?”

Cass swatted his hands away, fixing her hair and glaring at him. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

“Ah, Cass, you’re awake.”

She and Mammon looked at the door at Lucifer’s voice. Relief washed over his features at the realization. His smile disappeared when his eyes landed on her neck before he caught himself, forcing another smile. Cass moved her hands back down to rest her chin on, covering the bruises once again.

“Did you say Cass was awake?” Asmo asked, leaning around Lucifer to peer into the room.

Satan and Levi’s voices followed as all of them tried to enter the room. Mammon moved to block her from view, already sensing her panic. That didn’t stop the others from complaining about him and Lucifer.

“Knock it the hell off, you’re freakin’ her out.”

“You’re not the only one who was worried, Mammon,” Satan snapped.

“Asmo, may I see your scarf?” Lucifer asked.

Asmo gave him a skeptical look but didn’t question it. Lucifer tossed the scarf to Mammon. Cass peaked over Mammon’s shoulder to meet Lucifer’s concerned eyes. He turned around, pushing the others out of the room.

“We’ll be in the living room if you’d like to join us,” Lucifer said. “If you’re not ready, that’s completely understandable. But we’ll be waiting whenever you are.”

With that, he closed Cass’s door behind him. Mammon handed her the scarf, refusing to look at her. “Sorry, I’m not that good at healin’ magic. If ya don’t want to wear something around your...I can get Satan. I’m sure he can heal the...or Asmo can show ya some makeup tricks.”

Cass put on the scarf, checking that it was situated the right way before standing. She grabbed Mammon’s hand, helping him up. She fought the unease in her stomach about seeing the others by reminding herself they wouldn’t have come to her room if they didn’t want to see her.

“Hey.” Cass squeezed Mammon’s hand, not ready to let go. “Don’t think I forgot what we were talking about. I’m still waiting to hear what you were blushing about.” The blush returned to Mammon’s face, and he groaned at the thought.

---

Over a week had passed since the incident. Satan had been able to heal Cass’s bruises enough that they were barely visible. At times, it felt like the yellowish marks were the only thing acknowledging what had happened.

The brothers, except Beel and Belphie, would always change the topic when Cass brought up what happened. They trailed off and refused to look at Cass when Belphie came up in conversation. After everything, it felt like they were right where they had started, refusing to talk to each other.

Beel had been keeping Belphie away from the house. Or, at the very least, he was keeping Belphie away from Cass. Not only was that not what she wanted, Cass was starting to miss Beel more and more. Which is what led her to her current plan.

After the house fell silent and she was sure everyone had retired for the night, Cass made her way to the twin’s room. The last few nights, she had figured out their pattern. Beel must have been talking to one of the others and coming home when they thought Cass had fallen asleep.

Cass was going to try her damnedest to talk to Belphie one way or another. Her next option was to wait for him in the attic. Although, she’d prefer to avoid that room for a while longer. At least she had more control of the situation here.

Even when he was trying to be quiet, Cass would recognize Beel’s steps anywhere. She didn’t miss the hushed whispers of the twins as they made their way through the halls. Beel opened the door, his eyes widening when he saw her.

“Cass?” Beel said her name with a mixture of happiness and surprise. “What are you doing here?”

He glanced to his side down the hall at the question, not entering the room. Cass already knew he was checking that Belphie didn’t continue walking. While she appreciated that Beel was being cautious, she was getting sick of everyone deciding how she needed to handle this.

“I wanted to see you. Also, I need to speak with Belphie.”

“I don’t know if that’s–”

“I know you’re trying to help, but I can’t keep doing this. All of you refusing to acknowledge that he exists around me isn’t helping. I, I’m never going to be able to heal from this if I can’t face it. I decide what's best for me, okay? If Belphie doesn’t want to talk to me, that’s his choice and his alone.”

Beel turned his head, looking back to the same spot in the hall. After a second, he nodded and stepped back. Belphie stepped into her line of vision.

“So, you do exist.”

Belphie gave her a weak smile. “Can Beel stay?”

Cass was relieved he asked. While she wanted to talk to him, she wasn’t quite sure she was ready to be alone with Belphie. “I’m assuming you’ll tell him everything anyways?”

Belphie entered their room, and Cass took an unconscious step back. Beel followed but didn’t stop as he crossed to Cass. He searched her eyes before slowly going to hug her. Cass laughed softly as he gave her the gentlest hug she may have ever received.

“I really missed you,” she whispered.

“Me too,” he answered before stepping back. He stayed close to her side.

Belphie shifted uncomfortably, eyes darting around the room. Cass flinched at the movement. Beel glanced down at her. She could tell he was debating if he should interrupt or not. Cass wrapped her arms around herself, trying to slow her breathing.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she started. Both Beel and Belphie looked shocked at her words. “But there’s something I think you deserve to know. It wasn’t me who let you out, not really. Before going up to the attic, I asked Lilith’s ghost to possess me. She was with me until I woke up in the entry way with Mammon.”

Belphie took a shaky breath. “You mean, she was there when...”

“When you were seconds away from successfully killing me? Yeah,” Cass answered. The twins flinched at the directness of her words. She didn’t care though. Pretending it didn’t happen or sugar coating it wasn’t going to change the past. “I think, I think that’s the only reason I’m still alive.”

“What do you mean?” Beel asked.

“Apparently, she had some of her grace still and I guess that’s what saved me.” Cass looked between the two. “I obviously don’t know you all that well, Belphie, but I’d like to think I know Beel enough to know you also blame yourself for what happened to Lilith. She wouldn’t have wanted that.”

“Why do you care?”

Cass shrugged, shaking her head. “It’s not for you, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m just the messenger. She never blamed you and until the very end she loved you so much. The last thing she said to me was that she was happy. Whatever regrets you may have, don’t, because she wouldn’t have lived the life she wanted.”

“She’d still be alive though if–”

“Maybe,” Cass interrupted, “maybe not. But it doesn’t matter now, it happened, and you have to accept that. If not for yourself, for her. Maybe you’ll have to learn to be happy knowing she was happy. Anyways, that’s all I came here to say.”

Cass went to leave, giving Beel’s arm a squeeze as she passed him. Before closing the door behind her, she turned back to say one last thing. “You know, I think one of the hardest things about loving someone is accepting that sometimes the life we want for them isn’t really what they need or even deserve. It may not have been what you expected, but it still may have been best.”

#use of humor to deal with trauma #obey me #obey me mc #obey me fanfic #obey me spoilers #obey me lesson 16 #obey me lilith #obey me lucifer #obey me belphie #obey me mammon #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmo #obey me beel

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phantasmagoric-acquaintance · 2 years

Note

44. "That is my choice! My decision to make, not yours! Not anyone else’s! Mine!" w lucretia :D?? thank you <33 -ise (i cant remember if i sent u this before so if i have, just disregard this sdklfsd)

Despite the best efforts of Lup, Magnus, and Merle to lighten the mood, the first dinner with the crew since the Day of Story and Song was an awkward one for Lucretia. Though Davenport was never much of a chatterbox to begin with, he seems to speak less now than he had before, and she feels the full force of guilt for having taken his voice from him for so long. Barry remained polite and made an attempt to cover his trepidation, but it was obvious to Lucretia that he was struggling to return to the relationship they’d once had, certainly due in no small part to the way she’d made him a villain in the eyes of their friends.

Even still, she could also tell that he was making an effort to forgive her, as was Davenport. Merle and Magnus had long worked out any resentment they’d had towards her, and Lup had made it clear that though she’d always be upset at Lucretia, she’d had plenty of time inside the Umbra Staff to make peace with what she’d done and she saw no point in holding grudges about it.

The biggest stressor for Lucretia during this dinner was Taako.

He’d been even quieter than Davenport, speaking only when spoken to, and in short, snippy answers. He’d spent most of the time pushing his food around his plate with his utensils like a child who didn’t want to eat his vegetables. Now, he’s squirreled away in the kitchen with the dishes, a chore he offered to do with much less of the usual protesting.

Lucretia excuses herself from the after-dinner conversation after a few minutes, leaving the others behind in the living room to bicker over board games. She stands in the kitchen threshold for a few seconds, watching Taako work with the tense focus he only exhibits when something is wrong.

After a moment, she speaks. “Do you want help with those, Taako?”

“Haven’t you helped enough?” he fires back, without missing a beat.

Still, Lucretia steps forward, grabbing a dishrag off the counter, and begins drying the dishes in the overflowing drying rack. “I understand you’re still upset with me, Taako, and you have every right to be. I just wish you would talk with me.”

“Oh, like how you talked with me before you wiped my sister from fucking existence?”

She sighs. “That’s not… that wasn’t my goal, Taako, you know that.”

“Do I fucking care? That’s still what you did.” He’s been scrubbing, Lucretia notices, at the same plate for perhaps a minute. It looks spotless. “Like… like, I don’t care. I don’t care if you had the best intentions or what-the-fuck-ever. It doesn’t give me back the decade with her that I lost. So I don’t care.”

Lucretia carefully pulls the plate from Taako’s hands. To her surprise, he lets her. “I hear you, Taako, I do. But I want you to understand that I wasn’t trying to hurt you, or her, or Barry, or anyone. I… You were hurting so much already, I just wanted to spare you the pain—"

“Don’t you see how fucking fucked that is?” He whips around to face her, leaving the faucet running. “Like, that’s so not your fucking call to make. Did you not think to fucking ask me? Because that should have been my choice to make! Mine! Not anyone else’s! It’s so fucked of you to take that from me.”

Lucretia’s head spins, searching for the right thing to say. “Taako…”

He’s already turned back to face the sink, breathing heavily. He picks up the last little bit of silverware and starts scrubbing. “You wanna talk?” he asks, much quieter. “You want fucking, vulnerability and shit? How’s this: I’ve never in my whole life been so afraid to not be in the same room as her. ‘Cause, like, how am I supposed to just trust it won’t happen again? How can I promise her that I’ll be there for her if she wanders off and gets herself hurt again. Because I always said I would be, but I left her alone in that cave for a whole fucking decade because I fucking forgot that I was looking for her. It eats me the fuck up.” Turning off the faucet and depositing the clean silverware into the dish drying rack, he looks up at Lucretia once again as he makes his way towards the threshold. “So yeah. I’m pissed. Sue me.”

And with that, Taako strides out of the kitchen, leaving Lucretia alone with the weight of his words.

#wheeeee i finally answered a prompt . this is from like so many montsh ago asdfjjlsjdfk #the adventure zone #taz #balance #taako #lucretia

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variousqueerthings · 2 years

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Hi! Out of curiosity what were the two instances of Hawkeye not being willing to sleep with married women? There's Radar's Report, though the explanation there is focused on Hawkeye wanting to commit rather than just sleep with her casually so I don't know how much it counts. And I don't remember anything else.

I do personally count "Radar's Report," because of a variety of reasons, the main one being that Hawkeye doesn't really want to marry her/be in a long-term relationship, as I see it.

It's kind of vague, because Erika is a one-off character in a syndicated show in which Hawkeye will have several other intense one-off romances, but this one ends pretty chill overall, so you can make an argument that it's there making a point about casual sex being a-okay (she's the one who doesn't want to make a thing out of it and he goes very fast from "oh rejection kind of sucks" to "well, sex still seems like a great idea!"), right up to imagining it's meant to be a small heartbreak for Hawkeye

I personally lean far on the one side with that one, especially considering Carlye -- the supposed One That Got Away -- when he literally tries to pressure her into divorcing her husband and then backs himself into a literal corner rather than commit to marriage

With Erika, was it because they were in an intense situation together in which she might have died? was it because she was (briefly) a woman who was off the market? was it just war-time stressors generally? (Was it because he saw aromantic kinship in here, yes I have an angle)

(I also note here that obvs Hawkeye also sleeps with Margaret when she's married, but that is also a Different Kind Of Situation, seeing as they're both thinking they might die + he's been there several times when she's confessed that Donald is cheating on her, including just before + she's not someone he's just met, they're verging on pretty good friends at this point and... it's different and it's a tangent rn, stop me)

It's also unclear when he does start thinking about Erika as a possible long-term relationship. He jokes about their children before he sees the ring, but it's not really different to things he's said while flirting with other women -- he describes it to Trapper as "all of a sudden something changed in mid-lechery" and then Trapper basically makes a point that he has the choice to either keep on going or backing off (seeing as "someone being married" isn't really a deal-breaker to a relationship out here) and Hawkeye is so close to keeping-on-going, but physically makes himself back off before Erika tells him the ring is a fake

I will also say that even if he was looking for something more long-term there, again... marriage is not really a deal-breaker out there -- and I wouldn't even have noticed it as such if it weren't for the second instance below:

the second instance is a throwaway moment in "George" when he's painting that one nurse's nails (sidenote, I didn't add that to my screenshots of "coded conversations" in this episode, but once you're committed to viewing that episode through a queer lens, the brain cannot help but be a little 👀👀👀 at Hawkeye painting someone's toenails -- someone who wasn't even intending on going out with him, but was taking herself (and her newly painted toes) to see Trapper!)

"I'm glad you're not married"

"Who says I'm not?"

"Well, I don't see a ring on any of your toes"

I note it as an interesting contrast to Radar's Report, because while that is full of various grey-zones as you point out, this is apropos nothing and he doesn't even end up getting a date out of it anyway (and ofc it's in this particular episode)

Overall two instances do not a hard analysis make, it's just an interesting angle to see him from, considering that Trapper is a married man who's sleeping with people + Hawkeye's fascinating insertion of himself in the Hunnicutt marriage ("protecting" Peg from knowing that BJ has cheated + telling him in two separate episodes Not To Fuck Things Up With Her) + the two times I'm remembering when Hawkeye does sleep with a married woman

#hawkeye pierce #im rewatching MASH #MASH #aro hawkeye #im gonna remember to tag things as that #maybe....#go the fuck to sleep #i am not here anymore i am sleeping #aromantic hawkeye

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familyofpebbles · 1 year

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June 18th, 2022 - Wedding Day

I woke up strangely calm. I think it’s partly because at this point, everything was out of my hands. And also, it didn’t quite feel real after so much waiting.

You got a message from your mother, saying that she tested positive for covid, and so could not attend. You tried to arrange it so that she could watch from a distance, and we could even get pretty over-the-bridge pictures with her- but she said she could barely move and had to stay at the hotel. Heartbreaking. Now both of the parents of your young childhood weren’t coming. And the worst part was, there was no real time to process that.

With a brave face, we arrived at the venue. You called Blake to come early, and we watched the tents come together and finalized seating. The wind was high, and we were warned that one of the tents was tearing and could not be connected to the others. They wouldn’t try to open the other tents up until the wind died down a bit, which it was SUPPOSED to do shortly before the ceremony. With that little stressor in mind, as more friends started to arrive we split off into our separate tents to start getting photos and getting ready.

Truthfully, this is where it all starts becoming a blur!

Jordan, Leanna, Britta, Shayne, Haley, her girlfriend Audra, and I all crowded into a stiflingly hot tent to change. I decided to step out back, take my shoes off, and wade into the overflowing river to cool off. I was feeling emotionally untethered- not in a bad way, but in a floaty way. Hard to explain. It felt good to ground into the cold mud and feel the sun on my back and have a quiet moment with Britta and Leanna out there with me.

Stephanie, our photographer- was finally ready, and so we headed back inside and began the long and giggly process of getting me into my outfit in slow motion. Shayne helped me into it, Haley zipped me up, Leanna wrapped my flowers up my arm and Britta situated the crown. There was a lot of laughter and even a few tears. It was so good having my girls with me- and of course I video called Moriah once we were all dressed up.

My dad came up to the tent, and as I was inviting him in I was met by a rush of “WAIT WAIT WAIT” from the Stephanie - I forgot about getting cute pictures- and we all shooed him away from the door again so I could stand up and Steph could get into place, and THEN I invited him to come in.

I was surprised at how excited I was, and I think dad was surprised he cried. And then we both cried, and we hugged, and I was so happy I got to have that moment with him. It felt like such a landmark. I’ve moved out and been married once before- he didn’t get to be there for that one- and have had so much happen since, but I felt like he saw me grown up for the first time. It was really special.

Then, first look with you, finally! At this point we had only been apart a few hours but with emotions running so high it felt like so much longer. When he turned around, we barely got a look in before we wrapped each other up in a hug and started crying. We just needed each other. After we reined it in to just sniffles, we got a good look in and straightened each other out. You looked so handsome- and so decked out in medals and things! I think the vintage looking pink and greens really suit your face. You looked like you stepped straight out of a 1940s photograph. And with my flowery crown and arm band and pink cloud of a dream dress, I had never felt more like a fairy.

More pictures with each other and our friends, and then time for me to hide away as guests started to arrive.

And then waiting. I’m afraid I wasn’t very talkative and didn’t actually do much to give the girls any common ground to chat with each other about, but to be fair I was starting to get nervous. There wasn’t a ton of people, but still! -

Our cue to start walking was supposed to be Heather giving us a 5 minute warning, my girls could go sit down, and then the music would start to play- but unfortunately our DJ did not get the memo, and we suddenly heard the walking song start playing! (Dawn from the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack, by the way.) We scrambled to get the bouquet and rush over, but it turned out alright and we made it to the front just as the song was ending. My girls had to run out after us as we got up, but they made it!

The ceremony was my favorite part. I could re-live that over and over. I loved being able to tell you and everybody listening how much I love you, and what a difference you’ve made in my life. I loved hearing your speech to me, right from the heart. I loved the unplanned parallels between our vows. I love that we both made each other laugh, and cry. I loved that we made everyone else laugh and cry too. I loved that moment in time with you- professing our love for each other on a day meant exclusively for that. I treasure that the most out of the whole trip.

And then it was done, and we kissed, and we walked back down the aisle, and flower petals were thrown, and Fiery Red Hair was playing, and we laughed and bounced around and then realized we didn’t know where we were walking to since it was all in one place, and took a quick look around the tents before going right back up to the ceremony spot to take family photos.

Lots of smiling and sore cheeks and a rumbly belly, and then it was finally time to eat! Kind of. Someone had set aside some appetizers for me and for that I was thankful! I finally got to say a proper hello to everyone that was there. And THEN we got to sit and eat. The food was pretty okay, but I wasn’t paying much attention to it honestly. There was so much going on!

Grandpa Bob was about ready to leave, so we needed to give our speeches.

Mine was a quick round of thank yous to everyone who helped make the wedding happen, and a statement of wonderment at how special it is to have this group of people all in one place for the first and only time- how thankful I was to be surrounded by love.

Your speech was beautiful. We’ll post it in full later, so I won’t try to sum it up. It moved me (and everyone else) to tears several times over. And I know it meant so much to your grandfather. I know he is proud of you.

After, he gave us hugs and- according to him- perhaps his last goodbyes.

Another heartrending moment in this rollercoaster of a day.

I feel privileged to have met your grandfather. I am forever thankful that he was there for you on our wedding day. How beautiful to make it to his youngest grandson’s wedding. And what a way to honor him there.

We held each other, and took a few laps, and then had to pull ourselves together so we could cut our beautiful cake that Raechel was so kind as to make for us, with the knife Jesse gifted us! Truly the sharpest knife I have held and the most delicious cake I have ever tasted (lemon!). What generous and talented friends we have!

Then before I got to eat my slice, it was time for us to have our first dance I guess, since our song started playing! (Moonlight Serenade, in case any of you readers have forgotten). It wasn’t announced- which we had requested- so there weren’t as many people watching. I was glad for it, as I was beginning to have my fill of being stared at! It was lovely and giddy though, and when we were done I got to eat that amazing cake.

Then it was me and my dad’s song to dance to! Dance Dance Dance by Steve Miller Band. He had started danced to it with me on his hip way back when I was about two or three, and it’s reminded me of him ever since. I love the pictures we got of that dance, with the two of us laughing so much. Still so, so glad he was there.

And that was the end of the formal stuff! No more being stared at! Time to relax and enjoy! A bit more mingling, a new flower crown, and then it was already time for our golden hour pictures. Those turned out to be my favorite. I loved the flowers I was wearing and was comfy in bare feet, and you looked so handsome with your crisp uniform and sword, and the sun came out just for us! We ran and twirled and kissed and laughed in the glow of the sunset. I love you.

Then time to dance, finally. Always my favorite part of weddings. I only stopped for the occasional hug and hello. I snagged who I could and pulled you in for all our special songs, but I think my requests were a little niche and since I refused to hear the Cha Cha Slide at our wedding, dance participation was a little sparse. The children and Jake and C were my majority partners, and I made sure to hold the dance floor down all night.

And then, very suddenly, it was done. The last song played, and we were packing up. I wandered off to my tent to get changed, letting in all sink in. My heart was so full, and it all went so fast. As I was beginning to tear up, Britta came in and found me. We shed some happy tears together, and she did tarot and oracle card pulls for me. It was the perfect warm and peaceful end to the evening.

We emerged to a handful of our friends loading up all the decorations and cake leftovers, with Kevin being kind enough to take the rentals to return for us in the morning. You and I, in a daze from the events of the day, made our way back to the Airbnb and managed to admire our rings for a moment before exhaustion overwhelmed us, and we passed out in each others arms.

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sehunniepotwrites · 2 years

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OKAY IM READY JOHNNYS POV FROM ALL MY LOVING WHEN YN LETS OUT ABOUT HER FEELINGS like that part where she's like "you really hurt me" and he's like *wince*

game. send me a scene from one of my fics and i'll rewrite in the other's pov!

fic. i'll send all my loving to you scene. "you really hurt me." warnings. n/a (will update later if i find the need for any!) word count. 2.5k+

notes. written in multiple airports. unedited and uploaded using shitty airport wifi. brooke bb, i love you for requesting this!!! for all my "all my loving" enthusiasts, this is for you <3 (tagging @suhnnyskiess because i know how much you love this fic!!)

DISCLAIMER. This is work of fiction. I do not own the people/characters or concepts I have written about. You cannot translate or copy my work. © sehunniepotwrites, 2022

“Can we talk in private for a little bit?” Johnny found himself asking after listening to everyone in the room talk about this poet his girlfriend raved about. Alice went on and on about this writer, annoying him with compliments about these words that tugged on her weakened heartstrings, and it began to irritate him. But hearing you suggest that he should give this particular collection a chance made him want to read into it. Then again, he could almost never say no to you. Keyword: Almost.

There was that one time that refused to escape his memory. It was the moment in time that he regretted; a moment he desperately wanted to fix. Johnny needed to erase the image of your brokenhearted face from his mind. Maybe then, the feeling of missing you would subside.

Johnny followed you out as you led him to your snow-covered porch. It brought back flashes to the good old days with you, when nothing else mattered except him and his best friend.

Like it was second nature to him, Johnny moved ahead to brush the cold off the steps and motioned for you to take a seat. He smiled to himself as he saw you flinch as the freezing cold touched the fabric of your pants. The man was glad to see that some things never changed—you were still ever-so-sensitive to the cold. Seeing you shiver against the winter breeze pushed him to place his body right next to yours, secretly hoping that his warmth would find its way to you, just like it used to. Maybe you didn’t take note of the way your body immediately pressed against his but Johnny did.

Johnny tried his best not to look at you. He tried not to take in the many ways the years apart had changed you. The dark circles and bags under your eyes were darker now, visible under your light layer of concealer. Although you were dressed up, hair styled immaculately, and your outfit so put together, you still looked affected by something.

Were you lacking sleep? Were you taking care of yourself? Was there something stressful going on in your life?

Was he the stressor himself? He heard that you hadn’t returned to town ever since your falling out. His heart shattered at the fact that you went out of your way to avoid him.

Granted, he never came back either but for different reasons. Johnny was caught up in his new relationship with Alice, constantly spending his breaks with her. Three years into their relationship, he had met the family and traveled around the States with Alice at his side. But seeing you again, still looking like an angel in the snow, his eyes kept focusing on you. They tracked the way you warmly greeted his parents and how they accepted you into their arms with no room for hesitation. He also saw the way his parents smiled and treated his lover—welcoming but not to the point how they treated you, his pretty little sunflower.

Would you still smile at the nickname he used to call you? Should he even risk saying it? The word “flower” sat on the tip of his tongue, itching to come out. Remembering how you blew up last time, the boy decided not to.

Instead, he stretched out his large palm to catch flakes in his hand. He watched them melt away as soon as they hit his skin. “Remember when Frozen came out? All you wanted to do is build a snowman,” he babbled. He winced. Was that really the only icebreaker he could come up with? He almost smacked the side of his head for his stupidity.

Surprisingly, bringing up fond memories worked because you had replied with, “How could I ever forget that?”

Johnny turns to see you with a hint of a smile gracing your lips—a pair he had missed. He missed the sounds you would make, the words that used to spill out, and all the little shapes they used to form as you talked. God, how he missed you. And it was all his fault. You did nothing wrong but love him and he rejected you harshly. All because he was frightened of losing the best thing he ever had.

He sat in silence with you, both pairs of eyes glued to the falling snow that always tied you two together before he spoke again. “I know this is practically years too late but I’m sorry for how things ended.”

Johnny was more than sorry. He would do anything to make up for the lost time. He’d do anything for you to return to him as a friend. He’d love to introduce you to the special girl in his life, a person that shared a few similarities with you. He hoped you would get along.

“You really hurt me.”

He knew that he would have to work for your forgiveness. You couldn’t just let him back in and erase all the pain with one simple apology. But he also didn’t imagine you admitting how much pain you were in. “I know, I’m sorry.”

“No, I don’t think you do know, John,” you snapped back, a fire igniting in the eyes he used to look into.

Funny how those same eyes used to lure him to sleep and be the first thing he saw when he woke in the morning. And now, they were the ones that scorned him so deeply, that he thought first aid was needed on his aching heart. The harshness in your words called for silence and his lips clamped shut to obey your quiet command. He shrunk into himself, never experiencing the receiving side of your wrath before.

Then, Johnny realized you called him by another name. Why did hearing his government name slip past your lips hurt him more than anything else in the world? Why did he long to hear you say Johnny once more?

“Johnny.”

“What?”

“I don’t like when you call me John. It’s always been Johnny to you.”

You didn’t respond right away. Johnny thought his words were lost to the loud, blustery breeze that blew past your close bodies. But you heard him, loud and clear. “Right, Johnny.”

The way your knees grazed his as you turned affected him in more ways than one. It was another reminder of how much time had flown without each other. Back when everything was easier, when he didn’t break your heart, your bodies could easily fit into one step. Now, you pressed in a way that friends—former lovers—shouldn’t be. There was a second where Johnny thought about pulling one of your knees into his lap, just so you could be more comfortable on the hard, wooden steps. He refrained, of course, because what kind of image would that bring to your families, friends, and his girlfriend that they left inside?

The sort of intimacy he used to share with you was impossible to recreate. Out of respect for you and his loyal girlfriend, Johnny had to stop his mind from steering in that direction. But heavens above, how he just missed your presence. His hands twitched as he willed himself not to reach for you.

“But you need to know. I was a wreck when you left me.” Johnny picked up on the way your usually strong voice broke. He hated that he was the reason your sturdy voice wavered.

“Just—just imagine this for me, okay?”

He agreed silently. He had his chance to speak all those years ago. Now, it was your turn to let it all out with no interruptions in your way. You deserved to be heard and Johnny was willing to listen.

“Just imagine falling for the person you trusted most in the world, yeah? The person who was like your guiding light home, who could make you feel better with just one touch.” As you set the scene with your words, Johnny could feel you shivering with emotions. He was aware of how your nails dug into your thighs—a habit of yours Johnny hated, he never did approve of you inflicting pain on yourself—as you continued on. How would it feel if you pushed all that heartache towards him instead? Could he stand it?

“Picture telling that person that you loved them and not platonically. That you loved them in that romantic, ‘I want to be more than friends, hold my hand and never let me go’ type of way.”

Tears were willing their way out of his eyes but he closed his lids, refusing for them to fall. Johnny didn’t deserve to cry. He deserved to take it all. Gulping back his emotions, he bit his lip. That sting was nowhere near the agony you had gone through but it was something. Your words were laced with so many emotions, he failed to pinpoint every single one. But the desperation to be heard was clearly there. It clung onto every syllable, word, and breath of air you took

“Imagine telling the person who promised to never hurt you that you are in love with them and then they just tell you ‘no.’ Can you picture that in your head, Johnny? You give them your everything and then they tell you one simple word that just tears you apart?”

He cleared his throat but that was the only noise he could make. “I miss you so fucking much, you don’t understand.”

He jumped up at your confession, relieved that you missed him as well. “I’ve missed yo—”

“I’m not finished.” Your words cut him off. The delivery was as sharp as the knives he used to cook meals with you earlier during your college years, slicing him into pieces. A manicured finger met his face, almost poking him in the eye. He flinched back, Johnny’s shoulders falling as he did so. He felt so incredibly small, like he was reverting back to the times he heard his parents arguing through his thin walls.

“I’ve missed you and I appreciate your apology but in no way can I forgive you right away. That amount of hurt needs a lifetime to heal completely.”

Unwavering tone delivering words straight and true, he looked at you with admiration. Johnny was amazed at how strong you had become.

“You may have not wanted to turn our whole friends-with-benefits relationship into something more and I get that now. But you have to understand, Johnny.” A moment of stillness took over as you paused. The man beside stole a glance at you, seeing the way you discreetly ran your fingers against your throat. He guessed you were getting choked up.

“You, you—God, you left me all alone to deal with that heartbreak! You just—you just threw me away like a crumpled piece of paper on the damn floor, you couldn’t even pick me up and—and place me in the trash.” A spitfire you were, rapidly shooting out words that shot him where it would hurt the most. But again, you were right in his glassy eyes. You would always be right. Johnny had left you hanging; you were so incredibly close to him and he shoved you away when you had so much to say. He forced you to watch him walk away from your friendship, your situationship, and lastly, what seemed to be a transition from friends to something more.

The feeling of his tongue licking his dry lips paired with the sensation of teeth sinking into his bottom lip helped him plow through his messy thoughts. He wondered if your eyes could spot the way the gears were slowly turning in his head. You used to say that you could. Was he still an easy read to you?

He tangled his long fingers through his loose bangs, he holding them back for a second before releasing them. “I’m sorry. I don’t even know what to say except that I’m just really sorry. I didn’t know.”

Apologies were all he could give. He couldn’t give you his heart back then and even now. In the past, it trembled but it belonged to you. In the present, it belonged to that beautiful girl sitting on your couch, a place where he used to relax with you.

“I know, Johnny. I can see that. If anything, please just understand that I not only lost a lover I thought I had that day but my best friend in the whole entire world, too. Okay?”

“Yeah,” was all that came out of his mouth for just a moment. A lover. You had seen him as a lover. That was such a high title coming from you. It was a claim that he wanted to reciprocate many years ago but lacked the courage to. He would’ve loved being loved by you. He already adored being your number one person, your best friend. Why couldn’t his past self take the leap and accept the strong flame he felt for you? Why was he still thinking about all of the regrets he had when it came to loving you? It felt so wrong of him. “Okay. I understand.”

There was another brief period of stillness as the words sunk into your heads.

You had shaken him to the core. He still couldn’t believe you loved him in that way.

A lover. Your lover.

Your love for him started off as a little seedling of friendship, sprouting leaves and stems that grew and grew. Then, it blossomed into a beautiful flower, one so yellow and bright, face looking for the rays of the sun—a face that only looked at him.

“But,” you said softly, snapping him out of his thoughts. He felt your soft fingers graze under his neck, aiming for his strong jaw. You lifted his chin with a hand at school at the first moment of contact. “I would be so happy to have you back in my life, Johnny. That is, if you’ll have me.”

The blond was relieved that you were talking to him. Beyond happy that you were willing to rekindle the friendship—he was determined to win back his best friend, no matter how long it would take for you to fully forgive him. Excited that you seemed to get along with his girlfriend.

But there was this weird feeling that came over his heart when you said his name with that certain softness in your voice. The way you held his chin with the lightest of touches sent tingles down his spine.

Johnny ignored the fluttering in his chest and pulled you into his arms. He felt you sigh happily, your smaller build sinking into his comforting hold.

His chin rested against the top of your head. “Of course, flower,” the nickname slipped out naturally. “I’m just happy to have my best friend back,” he muttered.

And when you looked up at him with glittering eyes that looked like the snow falling from the sky, he swore his heart leaped out of his chest. “Me too.”

#ask game #neowritingsnet #cznnet #ankathia #nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct x reader #johnny scenarios #johnny imagines #johnny x reader #johnny fluff #johnny angst

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soramei · 3 years

Text

From Resentment (hhj)

Pairing: Hyunjin x Reader (she/her)

Summary: After a fated meeting involving a cute and fluffy puppy, you found yourself drawn to Hwang Hyunjin: the school prince. Everybody in high school loved him. It was hard not to. Not only was he rich, smart, and athletic, but he was also incredibly kind-hearted.

However, one day seemingly out of the blue, everything that you thought Hyunjin was came crashing down.

Now a freshman in university, you were excited to live out your dreams. That was, until Hyunjin came hurtling back into your life like an uncontrolled meteor. His presence threw a curveball on all your plans, and would eventually change your perspective on everything that you thought you knew.

Genre: studentl!hyunjin au, angst, enemies to lovers

Warnings: cursing, tw puking

Word Count: 8.8k

Masterlist

A/N: Not an Intentional update but a hyunjin oneshot!! disclaimer: no aspect of hyunjins personality here was drawn from real life — irl hyunjin is a ray of sunshine <3

You looked at your math homework, proud that you got all the answers correct. Since it was a slow afternoon at your job today, you had extra time to focus on your homework. The boss at the convenience store you worked at allowed you to have your homework out, as long as it was hidden behind the cash register.

As you stared at the rest of your homework, you started to feel the weight of tenth grade pile up on you. Because it was your first year of high school, you were still trying to adjust to everything; your grades, your teachers, and all the new students walking around the halls.

You stuffed the rest of your homework in your backpack. It was the end of your shift, and you wanted to go home as soon as possible to start with the rest of your studying. Crap. No matter how hard you tried to zip up your backpack, it wouldn’t close. After trying one more time, the zipper tore from your backpack.

You cursed under your breath. You couldn’t afford to buy a new backpack right now.

You had just been able to afford your new school uniform by taking up extra shifts at the convenience store, and you still needed money for your grandmother’s prescriptions. You sighed, annoyed to have another monetary stressor weighing on your shoulders.

Walking outside with your now torn backpack, your eyes widened at the group of boys in front of you. You immediately recognized them from behind.

The school princes. These three seniors were all known for three things: being extremely smart, handsome, and talented.

On the left was Seungmin, and from what you’ve heard, he was the smart and quiet one. He was always helping the teachers, being the class president and all. Any time a girl or a boy needed academic help, Seungmin was there and happy to assist.

The person on the right was Jisung. With his charming and charismatic personality, he had dated tens upon tens of girls in his grade. Just in the last year. It helped that he was really good looking — and also stinkin’ rich. His father was a notorious restaurateur, and with him being the first son, he was basically given unlimited spending rights.

The only person richer than Jisung was the boy in the center of them both: Hwang Hyunjin. This boy was the school prince. The prince of princes. He somehow managed to participate in music clubs, engage in study groups, and captain the soccer team all the while keeping up excellent grades. Every girl that Jisung had dated was said to have been rejected by Hyunjin first. That was his only flaw: he was notoriously cold to any and all romantic confessions.

You followed behind the three princes, staring at your torn up sneakers. You knew you didn’t exist in their world, but even being near three handsome and rich teenage boys made you nervous.

Suddenly, you heard a whimper coming from behind a bush to the left of you. It sounded like a hurt animal.

Worried and curious, you walked over to the bush to see what it was.

It was a puppy. Small and fluffy, it looked up at you with it’s beady black eyes and cried out. His paw was bleeding.

You panicked. Having never seen a hurt puppy before, you had no idea what to do. You called out for help.

“Help!” you cried, hoping that somebody had heard your call for help. You desperately wanted to help this hurt puppy, but you hesitated to touch it, afraid that you would hurt the animal even more.

The puppy howled in pain, making your panic rise. You were about to call out for help again, when you heard somebody running up behind you.

“What is it?” The voice asked.

“I-I don’t know. I just saw this dog here, and-and his paw is bleeding,” you anxiously stuttered.

“Here, let me take a look.”

You heard the voice behind you, so you shuffled over to make room.

It was Hwang Hyunjin. The person that responded to your cry for help was the most popular and well-liked person in the school. You were shocked, a bit intimidated actually, so you silently moved to the side for him. His black hair shone in the sunlight as he bent down to examine the dog.

“Come here, boy,” he chirped. The puppy listened, and started limping to him. “Something hurt you, didn’t it.”

He stood up, picking the puppy up along with him.

“C’mon,” he gestured with his head, “my vet isn’t too far from here actually. We can make it by walking.”

You silently nodded and followed him.

He was right. The walk to the veterinarian clinic, though very awkward, wasn’t too far. The clinic was empty at this time of day, with the receptionist being the only person in the room.

“Hyunjin! Always a pleasure,” the receptionist beamed. It seemed like Hyunjin’s likeability wasn’t only confined to your school. “My, what do we have here?”

“There’s something wrong with his paw,” Hyunjin tried to show the receptionist where the blood was coming from, “is the doctor free right now?”

“As a matter of fact, he is,” the receptionist said whilst checking the schedule. “I’ll take this little boy to the back where he can get prepped for the veterinarian.”

Hyunjin handed the puppy carefully to the receptionist. The receptionist took out a crate for the dog, put him in, and then disappeared through the back door. The two of you were now left alone in the waiting room.

“Uhm,” you coughed, “thank you. I know you probably want to get back to your friends, so you can leave now.”

“No, I’ll stay,” he looked at you and smiled, “those idiots are just playing LOL at the PC room anyways. Plus, I want to see how this little boy turns out.”

You smiled back at him, nodding your head. A few moments of awkward silence passed.

“I’m Hyunjin by the way,” he said.

“I know. I’m Y/n.”

“You’re in your first year, right?” he said, looking at the colour of your uniform.

“Yeah, it’s so hard to get used to though. I’m trying my best with my homework, but I think this school stuff just doesn’t click with me,” you rambled.

“Oh?”

“I want to go into dance. I’ve never been able to afford professional lessons, but I’ve always wanted to go to university for dance. My grandparents said they would let me if my school grades were high.” You didn’t know why you were giving your life story to Hyunjin. He just had this natural charisma that made you want to spill everything to him. It was the way he looked at you with those cat-like eyes.

“I know what you mean. It took me forever to convince my parents for me to major in dance. I got in by early admittance, but I’m sure they still have their reservations about my major.”

“You’re majoring in dance?” you asked, eyes wide.

He smiled. “I’ve loved dancing ever since I could remember. It’s my passion, and truthfully, the only thing I’ve got going for me.”

You were shocked. At school, Hyunjin was known for so many things other than dancing. Hell, you didn’t even know he enjoyed dancing and you thought you’d heard everything about him already.

The two of you chatted for a while longer before the vet came out with the now happy looking dog.

“It seemed like this little guy got into a fight with something, and he got a pretty large gash on his paw. Luckily, it wasn’t bleeding too much so I just gave him some anaesthetic and stitched it right up.”

You sighed in relief. “Thank god he isn’t too hurt.”

“Yes, it’s good that it wasn’t too bad,” the veterinarian agreed. “I’m assuming this is your dog? As soon as you finish with the bill, I can release this little guy and the both of you are ready to go.”

Oh yeah. The bill.

Although you knew you couldn’t afford to pay the vet bill, you didn’t know where this little dog would go if you couldn’t take him home. You did the mental calculations, and if you worked some extra shifts, you could probably be able to pick up the bill today. Buying a new backpack could be saved for another day.

“Sure, where can I pay?” you asked.

“Just over by the receptionist.” The veterinarian pointed.

You walked over to the receptionist, and she handed the bill over to you.

You almost fainted.

Just the anaesthetic and the stitches alone cost over two hundred dollars. This was extremely over your budget, and probably even more than the amount in your savings. You felt uneasy.

“Uhm, actually, I don’t think I can-”

“Do you take cash?”

Hyunjin had interrupted you, walked up to the receptionist, and pulled out his wallet. He peaked over your shoulder and took out a huge wad of cash to hand to the receptionist.

“Hyunjin, you don’t have to,” you begged. You felt bad that this guy you didn’t even know had just offered to cover you for over two hundred dollars.

“Think of it as a good luck gift from a fellow dancer.” He smiled.

That was when it clicked. You didn’t know what clicked, but it just did. It was his smile. It was the way the corners of his eyes crinkled up and how the corners of his lips pinched at the end. You now understood why all the girls at school were in love with him. He was quite literally perfect.

You thanked him profusely, even after the two of you had left the clinic. With the dog in your hand, you walked side by side with Hyunjin.

“So,” he started, “have you thought of a name for this guy yet?”

Oh yeah — he was your dog now. “Hmm, I don’t know yet.”

“What about Coco?”

“Coco?”

“Yeah, let’s see if he likes it.” Hyunjin leaned in and cooed at the little puppy. “Hi, little Coco!”

The puppy’s eyes lit up, and with his tongue stretched out, he started panting.

“I guess he likes it,” Hyunjin smiled. God, his smile could melt all of Antarctica.

“Coco it is.” You poked at Coco’s nose.

Hyunjin was about to say something back to you when his phone buzzed. He took a peak, rolled his eyes, then smiled. “My friends are god awful at games. I swear, they can’t even win one round without me. You’re okay with going home alone?”

He was going to walk you home? Could he be any more perfect?

You nodded your head. “Thank you, Hyunjin. I’ll pay you back for the bill one day.”

“No need,” he winked. “Like I said, it’s a good luck gift. Oh, and you can ask me if you need help with any school work. Anything to help a fellow dancer.”

He waved goodbye, then went running off in the other direction. You held Coco close to you, heart pounding. Although you didn’t want to be like all the other girls who fell for him, you felt like you were already falling for Hyunjin.

The next day, you had planned to go shopping for dog supplies after school. After a really long and arduous debate with yourself, you decided to sacrifice all of your savings in order to buy everything that Coco needed. You knew Hyunjin owned a dog himself, so throughout the whole day, you worked up the nerve to ask Hyunjin to come with you.

At the end of last period, you gathered all your stuff from your desk and headed to the soccer field where you knew Hyunjin and his friends would be. Whilst you crossed the field, you noticed Jisung staring at you. You found his stare intimidating, but you tried to brush it off. He then whispered something in Hyunjin’s ear.

“Hi, Hyunjin,” you said anxiously, biting your lip. “Umm, do you want to come with me to shop for Coco?”

He stared at you for a couple seconds, then, a look of disgust appeared on his face. “Why? So you can use my wallet again?”

You stared back at him, wide eyed. Who was this person? It wasn’t the Hyunjin that so graciously helped you out yesterday.

“W-what? No!” you exclaimed. “I-I just wanted your opinion…”

“Sure,” Hyunjin smirked coldly, “opinion my ass.”

“Hyunjin,” tears were pooling in your eyes, “I don’t understand.”

“If you need money so much, here.” He reached in his pocket and turned up a wad of cash, throwing it at your feet. “Just don’t come to me next time. And buy yourself a new pair of shoes while you’re at it.”

You looked down at the money, trying to hold back your tears. Why was Hyunjin being like this? You didn’t understand. His two jockeys beside him didn’t even bother to stop him. As you tried to stop yourself from crying, you felt your sadness turn into rage.

“I don’t need your stupid money,” you said, kicking the cash back to him. “Maybe you can use your daddy’s money to buy yourself a new personality.”

Hyunjin’s two friends tried to hold back their snickers at your words. Hyunjin heard, turned around, and gave them both death stares.

You didn’t bother to listen to whatever he was going to say next and simply stomped away, rage burning inside you. Everything about him was a lie. His charming and charismatic personality, his generosity, his kindness. They were all lies. He really was nothing but a rich, spoiled boy living with his father’s money.

There was rage behind every step you took. Wiping away your tears, you headed to your locker. You didn’t need him anyways; it was better to realize his true personality earlier rather than later. Hands shaking from anger, you dialed the combination to your locker.

“Hey, sorry about what happened earlier.” A voice came from behind you. “He can be a real jerk sometimes.”

It was Jisung. You rolled your eyes. You didn’t want to see him either.

“Why didn’t you do anything about it then?” Your voice came out shaky. It was obvious that you had cried.

“Once he starts, there’s no stopping him. It’s usually better to let him finish uninterrupted, or else he will get more mad.”

“Oh,” you said. Your hatred for Hyunjin grew even more.

“I could come with you, though. I don’t know much about dogs, but I can help you carry your bags.”

“I don’t know…”

“C’mon, no way you can carry everything by yourself.”

You hesitated. “Okay, I guess.”

And so, you left for the pet store with Jisung, still confused about everything that had happened. It was strange with him. He was nice and cracked a joke every now and then, but it was just different from being with Hyunjin. At least he was nice, you thought.

Your trip went well. You managed to buy everything you needed for Coco. In a turn of events, Jisung had actually come in handy as he offered to carry the huge bag of dog food you bought. He even offered to buy you a coffee.

“Thanks for all your help, Jisung.” You stood outside the door of your apartment, smiling at him.

“No problem, gives me an excuse to work out my guns.” He pretended to flex his arms.

You choked back a laugh.

“You should get going now. It’s late,” you said.

“Alright,” he started to leave. “Hey, if you see me in the halls, feel free to say hi.”

You nodded and waved to him as he turned and walked away, remembering his words. Every time you saw Jisung in the school hallways, you gave him a small wave in which he happily returned. However, whenever you saw him walking with Hyunjin, you made sure to purposely avoid them. You didn’t want any negativity in your life.

You kept up the waves, and soon, waves turned to small conversations which soon turned to flirting. By the end of the semester, you and Jisung somehow ended up as a couple. Jisung was polite and sweet, unlike a certain person. With every free moment you had, you hung out with Jisung — all the while avoiding Hyunjin.

The two of you stayed a couple for the rest of Jisung’s senior year. Somehow, the two of you had even kept up your relationship throughout your whole high school experience. It was hard at times as he went to university, but with a lot of effort, you had made your relationship work out. You barely had time to talk with him, but you enjoyed the little time that you did have. Jisung had never even once mentioned Hyunjin when you were together, and with time, you had totally forgotten about that jerk. You weren’t even sure if they were still friends.

You worked hard in school and reaped all the benefits. Your rank had consistently been in the top twenties amongst all the other students, and you even had time to practice your dancing. You remembered the day that you received your acceptance letter from university. Hands shaking, you had barely managed to open the letter all the way before you screamed. You had gotten into university with your dream major: dance.

Because of your excellent grades, you were able to pay a lot of your tuition with scholarship money alone. You hesitantly decided to quit your job at the convenience store to focus on university. Although quitting meant that your bank account would take a big hit, you decided that it would be best in the long run. There was a lot in your savings, and you even had a little extra to buy a new outfit for your first day of school.

Jisung had been busy on the first day of university. He had previously promised to show you around campus, but with him being a no-show, you wandered around by yourself to try to find your classes. You had trouble with the campus map at first, but after walking around for a bit, you were able to find all your classes with ease.

Your first few classes were a snore. Because they were all theory, you had to down two cups of coffee in order to stay awake. Somehow, you managed to take coherent notes despite being bored out of your mind. You just wanted to dance.

The good thing was, after sitting through many classes, your time to dance finally came. Your last class of the day was an introduction to dance course, and you couldn’t wait to go. You wanted to know your teacher, your peers, and most importantly, express yourself.

The dance class was in a studio in the university’s fitness center. It was huge, way bigger than the tiny gym in your high school. Upon entering the studio, you were immediately met with the sight of students, exactly like you, already stretching. You chose a spot in the room and started stretching as well, making good use of your time before the instructor comes in.

After some time, most of the students — including you — had finished stretching and were sitting in silence waiting for the instructor. The door swung open, breaking the silence. The instructor had come in.

“Hello new students,” he said, “welcome to Dance 100. Today, I will go through the curriculum with you as well as introduce your final project.”

The instructor whipped out a projection of the curriculum and started explaining the purpose of the course, what you would be graded on, and how you would be graded. He then read through his class expectations before moving to your final project.

“This final project will act in place of a final exam,” he explained. “You will be required to create a dance that includes everything we’ve learned in class and write an essay explaining all the elements in your dance. It will be worth half your grade.”

The class gasped in surprise. Not only did this project sound extremely difficult for a first year course, but the fact that it was worth half your grade made it borderline unfair.

“I know it might seem difficult, but worry not, you won’t be doing this alone. Every year, the first year dance students get mentored by the third year dance students for the final project. Each student has already been assigned a random mentor which will be introduced this class.”

The whole class murmured, talking amongst themselves and expressing their opinions on this project. It was definitely an interesting project. You hoped that you would be paired with a good mentor that would actually care about how well you did.

There was a knock on the door.

“Ah, this must be them.” Your instructor opened the door and a wave of third years came flooding in. Each one of them had a name tag pinned on their shirts. “Class, these are the third year students.”

You all politely greeted them.

“Now,” the instructor continued, “I will put the class list on the projector, and each of your names will correspond to a third year mentor.”

The instructor put out the list for display. You scanned down the list of names, eventually finding yours. Following the dots to your corresponding mentor, you almost choked on air when you saw yours.

It was Hwang Hyunjin.

You were at a loss for words. Just when you thought he was out of your life forever, the man that was so incredibly mean to you — the man you hated with your whole soul — was now your mentor. Just the thought of being in the same room as him filled you with disgust.

You scanned the sea of third year students, and your eyes immediately found him. He was staring back at you with the same shocked expression that you had on.

He looked different. Not only had he grown taller, but he had lost all his baby fat as well. His hair was different too. It was bleached blond and it almost hit his shoulders. What was the same, however, was his intense stare and his plump lips.

You walked over to him.

“You look different.” His eyes scanned up and down.

“So do you.” You clenched your jaw and sighed. “I guess we have to work together.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he said flatly.

“Listen,” you copied his tone, “I’m not excited about this either, but I want to get a good grade for this class. If you don’t wanna help me, just say so and I’ll just work alone on this.”

“Don’t be stupid,” he rolled his eyes, “this is part of my grade too. I can’t let you fuck this up for the both of us.”

You rolled your eyes back at him and pressed your lips in a thin line. Ignoring what he said, you asked, “where do we start?”

“Let’s find a time to meet every week.” He pulled out the newest iPad model from his bag. Of course he would have the newest iPad. “I’m busy every day except Saturday, so let’s meet then.”

Way to consider your opinion. He was lucky that you weren’t busy on the weekends.

As Hyunjin worked on sorting his schedule, you took your time to look at how he had changed. With his hair blonde, he looked like a completely different person. You didn’t understand why he kept his hair long though. It kept falling in his eyes.

“Stop staring at me. It’s freaking me out.” He narrowed his eyes at you.

“I wasn’t.” You crossed your arms, defending yourself.

“Whatever.” He tucked his hair behind his ear and put his iPad back in his bag. “Don’t be late on Saturday.”

And with that, he left. You looked around the class. Most of the other students were still with their mentors, presumably getting to know each other and discussing the project. You almost wanted to ask your instructor to switch with somebody else, but that would mean passing on the nightmare known as Hwang Hyunjin onto a perfectly innocent person. You had your moments, but you weren’t evil.

The interaction with Hyunjin had left you in a sour mood for the rest of the day. You tried to study, but you were too distracted by the thought of having to work with that monstrosity for a whole semester. It was worth so much of your grade, too. You had just hoped that Hyunjin was as good at dance as he previously told you. You remembered him saying how dance was his passion in life. That was when you still liked him. Who knows, maybe he only said that so he could play you like every other girl he played with.

For the rest of the week, whenever you thought of the dance project, you were filled with dread. You tried to ignore it, and sometimes it worked, but most of the time it kept reappearing in your mind like a virus. The way Hyunjin had infected your mind bothered you to no end.

Time passed fast though, and before you knew it, Saturday had already come. Searching through your closet, you picked out a simple outfit for practice today. You slid on your tattered old sneakers and headed off to the studio that Hyunjin had told you to go to.

Entering the dance studio, you noticed that you were right on time. However, Hyunjin was not. Great… He made such a big deal over you being on time that he himself forgot to be punctual. You sat on the wood floors and started to do some stretches to warm up.

Eventually, after you finished your stretching, he entered the studio. With a girl. Holding a textbook, Hyunjin handed it to the girl and put on his signature deceitful smile. His ugly, perfect smile. The girl batted her eyes and waved her fingers goodbye before strolling out the door. You rolled your eyes at this, feeling bad for the girl. Hyunjin was playing her right in front of her own eyes and she didn’t even realize it.

“Were you really late because of a girl?” you sneered.

“Why do you care?” he retorted, flinging his bag to the corner of the room.

“I don’t.”

“Sure you don’t.”

Not wanting to waste time with that childish banter, you decided to end the conversation then and there. “Okay, well anyways, I’ll show you what I learned in class this week.”

Hooking up your phone to the speaker, you chose the song that you’ve been practicing with for the whole week. As the song progressed, you found it hard to not get lost in the music. Just dancing was the easy part; incorporating everything learned in class was another story. Although it was fairly difficult, you thought you executed everything very well as the song came to an end. Finishing up, you panted from exhaustion and looked at Hyunjin for his comments.

He stood, with his arms crossed across his torso, leaning against the speaker. There was a blank expression on his face.

“Not bad.” He started to walk up to you.

“But?”

“But you’re too stiff. You’re too focused on perfectly executing the technical moves that you forget to just move your body. Do what you did half-way through the song again.”

You turned the music on, trying to do the dance with Hyunjin’s criticisms in mind. Looking in the mirror, you did your best to show as much emotion as possible, all the while moving more fluidly. The room was filled with heavy bass and the squeaks from your sneakers.

Suddenly, the music was abruptly cut off.

Hyunjin had stopped the music and was making his way over, face still unreadable.

“You’re still trying too hard and it shows.” Hyunjin shook his head.

Clenching your jaw, you did your best to hold back your anger. Were you just not supposed to try? This annoyed you. Just because he didn’t need to try to be good at anything didn’t mean you couldn’t.

“Well,” you tried to say calmly, “how can I do this then?”

“You have to relax.” He put one hand on your hip and started to guide you. “Don’t focus on each individual aspect, but try to imagine everything as a whole. Then, things will come naturally.”

You followed his hand, allowing Hyunjin to guide you to his own rhythm. After a while, every movement felt so fluid and you didn’t even notice that your face started to match your movements. Glancing at your reflection, you gasped, noticing how different your dancing looked. You whipped your head to face Hyunjin, the two of your inches apart and breathing heavily.

“See,” he mumbled, looking down at you. “Once you stop thinking, everything just comes naturally.”

You looked back at the person inches away from you. It almost felt as if he was being kind. But you knew the type of person he was. You weren’t going to let this happen again. Snapping out of what weird trance you were in, you pushed him away in an act of self perseverance.

He didn’t say anything.

“I’ll try again,” you said.

Hyunjin strolled over to the speaker and turned on the music. This time, you didn’t think about anything you learned in class or Hyunjin’s criticisms. You just trusted in your body. Everything else was blank.

Taking a step forward while still in your trance, your shoe lost its grip on the floor, causing you to fall right on your knee. You cried in pain, holding on to your knee.

“Fuck,” Hyunjin hissed. He ran over and bent down to your level. “Can you move it?”

“I think so.” You tried to straighten your knee. It hurt, but you were still able to do it. There would most likely be a nasty bruise there the next morning.

“You’re still wearing those scraps that you call shoes? They’re literally coming apart at the seams. This is going to happen again if you don’t get new ones.”

You blushed in embarrassment from his remarks. “I’m not going to spend money on things that I don’t need.”

“Well, you need shoes. Just go buy a new pair later.”

Was he being serious? Or was he just spoiled?

“Hyunjin, not everybody can just go spend money whenever they want,” you loudly sighed. “Unlike you, I need to consider my budget for most things.”

“Well, why can’t you ask your boyfriend to buy it?” he sneered. “Seems like you’re good at doing that.”

How did he know you were still dating Jisung? What did he mean by ‘good at doing that’?

“What?” You crossed your eyebrows. “Do you think I’m with him just for his money? Do I really look like that kind of person to you?”

“You used me for my money,” he mumbled under his breath.

“What?” You couldn’t hear him right.

“Nevermind, rehearsal's over.” He stomped off, leaving you alone in the practice room holding on to your injured knee.

You busied yourself with everything and anything you could do over the weekend in order to forget what happened during rehearsal. However, no matter how hard you tried to forget, Hyunjin’s comments on your shoes stuck in your mind like glue.

During your shift at your job, you couldn’t help but keep staring at your worn sneakers. You never paid attention to your shoes before until now. They did the job, so why would you need to buy a new pair? Still, you unconsciously paid attention to every step you took.

On Monday’s dance class, you decided to go early. It was always nice to warm up in a room with other try-hards. They felt less judgemental than the others.

The studio barely had anybody in it this early before class. Everybody was either stretching or had already started going over what was taught last week. Shuffling your way over to your locker, you couldn’t help but compare everybody else’s shoes to your own. You’ve never cared about trivial matters such as shoes, but you couldn’t help but feel a little self conscious as your worn-in sneakers squeaked its way over to the lockers.

Opening your locker, your eyes widened, shocked at what you saw. Inside was a box containing a brand new pair of sneakers. It was an expensive brand as well, a brand that you never thought you would be touching in your life. You turned your head around, scanning the room. Everybody seemed to have been busy with their own thing.

Did somebody put these in your locker by mistake?

Taking the shoes out, you noticed a small slip of paper fly out. You picked up the note.

Keep these. I was a jerk.

You knew who had sent this. It was Hyunjin. You didn’t know what game he was trying to play at, but you weren’t going to fall for it like you did that day in high school. Gingerly putting the shoes back in your locker, you decided to return these back to Hyunjin at your next practice.

“No, I gave them to you as a gift.” Hyunjin turned his nose up at you, refusing to take back the shoes.

“Why would you give these to me if you think that I only use people for their money?”

“Because,” he rolled his eyes, “if you’re unable to dance then my grade is screwed as well.”

He made a good point, but you were stubborn. “Still…”

“You know what? Keep it, give it away, sell it, I don’t care. Let’s just start practice.”

After that dance practice, you threw your old shoes in the trash.

It was midterm season a month into school. You thought you had gone to hell and back with high school, but this was even worse. Each day consisted of waking up, studying, and going back to sleep. You lived on coffee and toast. It wasn’t much, but it gave you the energy to sit at the library for hours to study.

You didn’t see anybody during the midterm season, Instead, you chose to hermit yourself up at the library for days on end. This meant that, at least for a couple of weeks, your dance practice with Hyunjin was put on hiatus. Not that he minded, of course. He happily deleted the practices from his schedule.

You also didn’t see much of your boyfriend, Jisung. Ever since school started, he seemed to always be missing in action. He would almost never have time to be with you, and with the few moments that he was, it seemed like he was always so apathetic towards you. You brushed this off as stress though, as you finally knew what it was like to experience university exams.

It was a clear and sunny day on the morning you finished your last midterm. Leaving the exam room, you looked up to the sky, basking in the sun. Today was going to be a good day. Not only were you now stress free, but you were also invited to an end-of-midterm party for your dance class tonight. You had never gone to a university party before, so when a classmate asked if you wanted to go, you eagerly accepted.

Wrapping up your dance class, you stood at your locker, gathering the rest of your stuff.

“Hey.” An arm wrapped around you.

“Hey, Jisung.” You smiled, turning around to face him.

“You’re done all your midterms?”

“Yup.” You nodded happily.

He took a look at your shoes.

“New shoes?”

You hesitated in answering his question, not knowing where Jisung was with Hyunjin in terms of friendship. It was better to be truthful now rather than apologizing later.

“Hyunjin gave it to me.” You looked down, fiddling with your fingers. Why were you afraid of Jisung’s response?

“Wait, what? Hwang Hyunjin? Like from high school? Y/n, I thought you hated him.”

“I did! And I do,” you tried to explain, “but he had a reason to give me this.”

“Bullshit, Y/n. You’re really gonna believe any reason he pulls out of his ass? I thought you actually matured from high school.”

“Well, you would understand if you were around more often!” you yelled. You knew it was wrong to address other problems and blow this out of proportion, but you couldn’t think straight. Your mind was clouded with anger.

“What does this have to do with anything?” Jisung barked back. “What we’re talking about is how you, no matter how shitty of a person Hyunjin is, keep going back to him! Y/n, all that man does is take. He takes from you and he sure as hell takes everything from me. I won’t let that happen this time.”

When had he taken anything from you? All he had done was give.

“Jisung, let’s end this.”

“You’re right. Let’s cool down and talk later tonight.”

“No,” you shook your head, “I mean, let's end us.”

Jisung looked at you in disgust. “It’s Hyunjin, isn’t it?”

“No,” you vehemently denied, “Jisung, you never have time for me, and the little time we do have together you act like a different person. And now you’re being all possessive just because Hyunjin gave me a gift? I’m sorry, I just don’t see us recovering from this.”

“Fine, whatever.” Jisung turned around. “We’re done. But Y/n, don’t come running back to me when Hyunjin screws you over like he does with everybody.”

After Jisung left, you stomped your foot on the ground, tears pooling in your eyes. It was for the best — breaking up with him. For the past month, you hadn’t been happy with where your relationship was going, but this wasn’t the way you wanted to end an almost three year relationship.

Wiping away your tears, you tried to compose yourself before heading over to the pub. Jisung wasn’t worth the tears.

The walk to the pub wasn’t far as every establishment catered to students was a short walking distance from campus. For your entire walk over, you kept your head down so as to not receive looks from others. The headache from your cries and a blush of anger still lingered with you. Hopefully you’ll look somewhat normal by the time you reach the bar.

Checking your reflection once more in your phone camera, you fixed your hair a bit before going inside.

The bar was filled.

With students from both your dance class and the third year class, there was not an empty corner in sight. The music was loud, but the sounds of chatter coming from the students were louder. The place was dark, with the only source of light coming from very dim, bright blue LEDs.

It was surprising to see everybody in a different setting. You were used to the sight of your classmates being only in sweats and workout clothes, but now that they actually had time to get ready, everybody seemed like a completely different person.

You saw a few of your classmates wave at you, beckoning you over to where they were sitting. As soon as your butt landed on the chair, they spared no time to push a shot glass filled with clear liquor in front of you. You gladly took the drink, wanting to just let go and forget about everything that happened today. Holding back a cough, you scrunched your face as you felt the alcohol burn in your throat. It had been so long since the last time you drank.

After five you stopped counting. Partly because you knew you were going to drink more, but mostly because your head couldn’t even count to five anymore. Scrunching your eyes, you tried to focus on the blurry figure of your classmate complaining about her professor. Bored out of your mind as her mindless babble went on forever, your eyes started roaming around the bar. As your eyes wandered, you noticed somebody behind your classmate staring at you.

Hwang Hyunjin.

Even in your inebriated state of mind, you knew that it was Hyunjin. What other university student had the balls to bleach their whole head blonde? Your eyes met, and he ran a hand through his golden locks. Why do the most beautiful people harbour the most wretched personalities?

You tried to ignore his staring by focusing your attention back on your classmate, but eventually, you couldn’t help but glance back at him. He was still looking at you.

You saw a girl come up to him. She was the same girl that showed up with him on your first ever practice session. Because of the dimly lit bar and your drunken vision impairment, you had to really squint to make out what was going on. The girl, all smiley and giggly, put her hand on his shoulder, making Hyunjin break his eye contact with you. He smiled at the girl, mouthing words that were drowned out by the music. For some reason, this made you furious. Why was he so nice to everybody else but you? What had you ever done to him to make him hate you so much?

You kept your eyes on the girl, knowing full well that you shouldn’t have. You hated that — even on your night off, even when you had just broken up with your boyfriend — Hyunjin was still in your mind like an unkillable parasite. You hated the way he tucked his hair behind his ears. You hated how the corners of his eyes crinkled up when he smiled at her. You hated him.

You watched as she leaned in and whispered something in his ear, causing him to laugh. That was the last straw. In a drunken haze, you took your phone and bolted out the door, ignoring the concerns of all your classmates. Maybe it had been a mistake breaking up with Jisung. Maybe he really did know what was best for you.

Stumbling out onto the street, you tried to dial Jisung’s phone number. It proved to be too difficult of a task, however, as your drunken fingers could only tap on random numbers on the screen. You cried out of frustration.

“Y/n.”

The voice coming from behind you startled you, causing you to lose your grip on the phone. It dropped on the cement with a loud crack. Tears welled up in your eyes as you bent down to pick up your phone. There was a huge crack right down the middle of the screen.

“You cracked my phone,” you said, trying to keep your composure.

“So? It’s not like it’s worth much anyways. Just ask your boyfriend to buy you one.” Hyunjin’s evil eyes squinted down at you.

“Why are you still on about this? Hyunjin, I’ve never used anybody for money and I never will!” You couldn’t control the tears flowing down your face. “Plus, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I broke up with Jisung today.”

You didn’t know why you were spilling your guts to the last man in the world you would trust. Surely, it was the alcohol.

“Y/n.” His tone had completely changed. He almost looked — concerned?

“Whatever, Hyunjin,” you slurred. “Just leave me alone. You can go back to that girl and have your fun with her.”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t care.”

“Y/n, why do you care?” His tone got louder.

“I don’t!” you yelled at him. Your tears made everything even more blurry.

“Y/n! Tell me, why do you care?!” He spat back at you with just as much fury.

“Fuck you, Hyunjin. News flash, not everything in the world revolves around you and your rich and prestigious life. Maybe you wouldn’t be so toxic if you would just understand that.” You screamed at him through your sobs. “Also, I don’t know where you got this stupid story of my being a cash whore from, but I will say this one last time: I have worked for everything in my life and I have never and will never use anybody for their money.”

Hyunjin looked back at you, shocked. You stared back at him in disgust. Not wanting to waste anymore time on him, you stumbled down the street to look for a taxi. However, as you wobbled down the pavement, everything became even blurrier than before. You felt nauseous. You couldn’t control it anymore.

You threw up. All over the sidewalk. You couldn’t stop. Every time you thought that it was over, more and more came out. Your throat burned, and it wasn’t just the alcohol.

As you hurled out all the remains of today’s lunch, your hair was held back.

“Get away from me, Hyunjin,” you groaned. You didn’t want him to see you this weak.

“Who else is gonna take care of your drunk ass, idiot,” he mumbled.

That was the last thing you heard before everything went black.

It was a blinding white light that woke you up. You groaned, trying to block the light with your forearm. Cracking your neck, you tried to holster yourself up.

You were on a leather couch. Squinting, you surveyed the room you were in. It was clean, spacious. The floor was a white marble — there wasn’t a single speck of dust to be seen. Across from you was an incredibly wide TV with many game consoles scattered around it. You looked behind you. There was a large kitchen island illuminated by warm pendant lights. Sitting at the island, on his laptop, was Hyunjin.

“Wh-what happened to me?”

“You’re the worst fucking drinker I’ve ever seen, that’s what happened.”

You rolled your eyes.

Hyunjin ignored you, standing up and leaving for another room. Less than a minute later, he reappeared with a toothbrush and a roll of toothpaste.

“Go clean up. You look disgusting.”

You snatched the toothbrush from his hands. He pointed over to the bathroom and you trudged your way over. His bathroom was huge, almost bigger than your bedroom at home. You felt as if you were in a hotel.

“Your bathroom is huge.” After washing up, you felt not only cleaner, but more awake. “You’re really living the life with your family’s money, huh.”

Hyunjin sighed, slamming his laptop shut causing you to flinch. “Why, after everything, do you think I’m this rich, pretentious fuck?”

You rolled your eyes. Not this again. “Well, why do you still think I’m this money hungry monster?”

“You really wanna know why, Y/n? It’s because Jisung told me so. He was the one who told me that all those years ago.”

You were shocked. Jisung was the one who told him that? Your ex-boyfriend that you had loved and dated for almost three years? You didn’t want to believe it, you really didn’t, but there was this tiny whisper in the back of your mind telling you that it was true. He had a reason to — Jisung was always going on about how Hyunjin always took from him.

“But Y/n, I-” He stopped mid-sentence.

“You what, Hyunjin?”

He pressed his lips to yours, caressing the back of your head. You were shocked, but almost autonomously, your lips parted feeling the heat of his breath against yours. He pressed his body to yours, running his hand down your waist. His lips, the same lips responsible for his perfect smile, felt so soft against your own. You heard the thuds of his heartbeat as he held you closer.

You broke apart, gasping for breath. The realization of what you had done just hit you.

In a panic, you used your whole strength to push his body away from you. “I-I have to go.”

“Y/n, wait!” Hyunjin called.

You paid him no attention. Instead, you ran across the marble floors, hoisted the front door open, and sprinted out. Hoping that Hyunjin wasn’t following you, found your way outside and took a taxi home.

You sat in silence, trying to process what had just happened. You had just kissed Hyunjin. You had just kissed Hyunjin. Hands shaking, you grasped at the ends of your hair, trying to calm yourself down. Did that just happen?

You were more mad at yourself than at him. How could you have just kissed Hyunjin? You hated him. He was nothing but rude to you, never smiling and always accusing you of things that were clearly lies. He made you feel self conscious, nervous, and everything in between. You hated him.

But he was so sweet on that fateful day in high school. He gave you a new pair of shoes when you had slipped during practice, and he held your hair for you when you were drunk. His hair glistened in the sunlight, his smile made your heart race, and his lips ignited sparks of every colour in the rainbow in your chest.

You hated Hwang Hyunjin. You hated how fast you became infatuated with him on that day in high school, and no matter how much you tried to deny it, you hated that your feelings haven’t changed ever since. You hated Hwang Hyunjin. You hated that you loved him.

Curling up in your bed, there was no stopping the tears flowing down your face. You cried and cried upon this realization, and you remained this way for the rest of the day. The effect Hyunjin had on you was bigger than you ever expected, and you hated it.

At school, you tried to avoid as many people as possible. The kiss you had shared with Hyunjin was plaguing your mind, distracting you and igniting the fire that was your inner turmoil. Even the thought of Hyunjin put a strain in your heart. It was the way his breath fanned over your nose, gently tickling it like a bird’s feather and the soft silk of his blonde locks brushing up against your cheeks.

You shook your head, trying to erase any and every thought of that man. Walking to your locker, you were stopped in your tracks, the dam in your eyes starting to crack. You couldn’t do this today. You turned around to go somewhere else — anywhere else.

“Y/n, wait.”

You sniffed, wiped stray tears from your eyes, and picked up your pace.

“Y/n.” He grabbed your shoulder, turning you around to face him.

“Hyunjin, please, I can’t do this today.”

“Are you… Are you crying?” He touched your face, wiping your tears with his thumb. “Y/n, why are you crying?”

You shook your head. You were scared of what would happen if you opened your stupid mouth.

“Y/n, please.” Hyunjin begged. His voice was shaking. “Tell me why.”

You shook your head again.

“Y/n, please.” His voice cracked.

“Hyunjin,” you paused, taking a shaky breath, “it’s because I love you. I’ve loved you ever since the first moment you smiled at my pathetic ass. Even when you hurt me more than anyone has hurt me before… I never had a choice, Hyunjin. It’s always been you.”

You tore yourself away from Hyunjin, embarrassed to your core. That was the most humiliating thing you’ve ever done, but at least you had closure now.

“Y/n…”

“No, Hyunjin. You’ve torn me down and humiliated me enough already. What more could you possibly want?” You demanded, aware that everybody around you was staring.

“Y/n,” Hyunjin rasped, “It’s only ever been you. I’ve spent the last three years miserable knowing that you were with someone else. I’ve-I’ve never even been with another girl in the past three years. I know you have no reason to believe me because I was such an ass. I am such an ass. Y/n, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for projecting my insecurities on you, I’m sorry for accusing you of things I know you’ve never done, and I’m sorry for anything else I might have fucking done. Y/n, I love you. Please, I don’t fucking deserve it, but is there any way you could forgive me?”

You stared at Hyunjin’s bloodshot eyes, tears freely flowing down your cheeks, and before you could even think, you found yourself pressed against his lips. Your eyes closed, savouring the feeling of his soft lips touching your own. His wet cheek pressed against your own, and with a nudge of the nose, Hyunjin deepend the kiss with a raw passion in which you’ve never felt before.

You cradled his head, relishing in his silken blonde hair as you brushed your fingers through his locks. He sighed in response, his breath tickling against your cheek. You were fully aware that everyone on campus had seen both your messy confessions of love, but you didn’t care. All you could do was replay the moment that Hyunjin had said those words — those three tiny words — over and over in your head as you ran your fingers through his hair and kissed his soft, honey lips.

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letarasstuff · 3 years

Text

Normal People don't know their IQ

(A/N): Inspired by me, who recently discovered normal people don’t know their IQ, while I was tested two or three times already...

Summary: A certain someone is the only way to get the UnSub. But there’s also something different that makes her special.

Warnings: Angst (fluffy end, I swear), language, mentions of rape and torture, mention of dead people, the usual CM stuff I guess Wordcount: 2.0k

✨Masterlist✨ _________________________________________

“Garcia, I need you to look into high school teachers, who are suspended or fired for inappropriate behavior towards students and live in the area of the kidnappings”, Hotch orders in a stern voice. But you can’t blame him, after all there are currently six dead teenage girls and one missing. One can only hope and work as fast as possible to get her back to her parents alive.

The team is working a case in Sacramento, California. Teenage girls get abducted on their way home from school, are held for exactly a week and are killed by a simple cut to their throat. The torture they have to endure beforehand isn’t as simple. The last two also show signs of rape.

The dumbing sites are different parks all over the city. The placing happens overnight only to have the girls found the next morning by a clueless jogger or stroller.

“Let’s go over the profile again, I feel like we are missing something”, Rossi commands. His gut feeling tells him only that much, he just has to find out what it is.

“It’s a white male in his mid thirties to late forties. He blends in, so he has to be or has been a teacher. Someone who looks like they belong into a school isn’t suspicious”, Spencer counts the facts.

“The victims all look similar, probably resembling an ex-wife or girlfriend”, Morgan adds. Before he can get into the depth of the torture a phone rings.

“My lovely crime fighters, I got an address. Charles Collins. philosophy and history. Got suspended for suggestive talk towards his female students. He is also said to stare at them and certain body parts for way too long and way too obvious. Gross. Annnd that- wait”

“What is it, Garcia?” Hotch asks after a moment of silence, which is unusual for the ever bubbly tech analyst.

“You got your profile wrong. Collins doesn’t take these girls because of an ex flame.”

The team looks at each other in confusion. Garcia always stresses how she isn’t a profiler and can’t judge over people, because she only wants to see the good in them. How is she able to tell that the profile is off?

“Shoot baby girl, we don’t have much time left”, Derek urges her. He wants nothing more than to have this SOB finally behind bars. The whole team wants that.

“He has a daughter. Technically it’s not his daughter, it’s someone else’s, but he is her foster father. Go and please save both girls!”

Penelope doesn’t have to say it twice. After a brief thank you and goodbye the team is on their way to the given address. As soons as they get there, everyone notices the absence of a car in the driveway. Hotch sends Spencer, Emily and Derek through the back door, the rest goes in from the front.

“FBI! OPEN UP!”

It’s needless to say that nobody opens up. There is no other way than kicking the doors down.

After entering the house and clearing the first floor, Rossi points towards the stairs that leads to the first story. There are only two rooms. A bathroom right hand and a closed door left hand.

Morgan counts quietly down before also kicking this door down and screaming “FBI!” But he seemingly talks with air, because there is no one to be found. Once again the team swarms out to look for evidence or clues.

As Spencer looks through the room they cleared last, he sees various things that make him smile. Several bookshelves are flooded with all kinds of genres, authors and covers. At first he can’t make out in which way they are sorted. But a closer look makes him realize that they are sorted by the author’s birth year. The doctor is kind of impressed, because that means the person knows when they are born in order to find a certain book. He likes the idea, it is a nice little challenge.

While he investigates further a sound makes him stop. He sends a text to Emily and waits for her. When she enters the room Spencer gestures to her to keep it quiet. Then he points to the bed.

They lower themselves down to the floor at the same time on each side of it. A girl, no older than 14 years, lays there shivering in angst. With big doe eyes she looks at Spencer and whispers:

“Please don’t hurt me.”

A while later the team is back at the station with the girl sitting in one of the interrogation rooms. The temperature is already set down, though Hotch feels really bad for it. Still there is another girl out there waiting to be safed.

“Baby girl, what can you give us on her?” Morgan sets his phone in the middle of the table and switches the speaker on.

“Our little girl’s name is (Y/N) (Y/L/N), fourteen years old. Parents were deemed to be unable to look after her since they are both heavy drug addicts and didn’t even register her crying for two hours straight. Since the age of six months she bounces through the system with nobody wanting to keep her longer than two years. They claim she is too smart for them and want somebody to look after her, who can challenge her intellectually.

“Collins took her in one and a half years ago. He got her signed up in several activities after school, like chess and academic decathlon. As of right now she is a junior with an opportunity to graduate next year. Her teachers describe her as incredibly bright with a complicated way of thinking.”

“Complicated way of thinking? Her intelligence was neglected for years, so she gave herself her own challenges. I found her books sorted by the birth year of the authors. She found ways of making things more difficult for herself, that’s why she fabricated strange ways of thinking. This is often found in children with high intelligence, who are not boosted enough by their environment”, Spencer explains, getting more and more furious.

His colleagues feel that this is a sensitive subject for their resident genius. JJ comfortably puts a hand on his shoulder, making the tense go away.

“Emily and Dave, I want both of you to interrogate her. We need to know where he hides the girls. JJ, try to hold the press off for a bit longer. Morgan, Reid, I want you to watch and look for tells or anything else”, Aaron orders.

Everyone works on their given task immediately.

You don’t need to be a profiler to see that (Y/N) is scared out of her mind. She has her feet on her chair and her head lies on her knees. When the two agents enter, she tries to at least fake some kind of composer. But she fails miserably at it.

“Hello (Y/N), may I call you that?” Emily begins in a soft voice. The teenager nods shyly. “Good, (Y/N). My name is Emily Prentiss and this is David Rossi. We are agents from the Behavior Analysis Unit from the FBI. Do you know why you are here?” The teenager shakes her head.

“Ok, let’s cut the chase”, David's voice booms through the small room. “You know exactly why you are here. From what we saw in your room you are an incredibly smart girl. How high is your IQ? 130? 135?”

“147 a-actually”, she nervously corrects the agent, never meeting his eye. The team notices this fairly quickly.

“Even better, normal people don’t know their IQ. So you know what your forster father does. You saw the news, you read the papers, you heard your classmates talk. In addition to that, the girls look alarmingly similar to you. And all of the sudden Charles is more often out than usual. So do us a favor and come clear.” Then he pulls out a picture from a manila folder on the table. Emily tries to intervene.

“Rossi, don’t. She is not the UnSub. (Y/N) is just unfortunate to be at the wrong place.” “She might as well be another UnSub if she doesn’t do anything to help us. Do you know how long you are going to jail for helping hi-”

“I don’t know anything. I- of course I saw what is h-happening. A-and I connected the dots a long time a-ago. You know, Charles lost his job and that’s a stressor. T-then Child Service was investigating him, because of the suspension’s reasons. I-I couldn’t do anything. I had no evidence, the police wouldn’t believe me. I asked him once wh-what he thinks about, you know, what’s happening. He slapped me and told me to not talk about it again. I’m so sorry, I wanna help. The only thing that comes into my mind is an old cabin he once mentioned when I first arrived at his. B-but I don’t know if it helps you. P-please, I don’t want to go to jail or juvenile, I-” Then (Y/N) breaks down into tears.

Emily is in an instant by her side trying to calm her down, while Hotch gives the information to Garcia. As soon as she finds the location, JJ takes a seat next to (Y/N) and the rest of the team flies out.

“You don’t have to be scared of him anymore, Sweetheart. My colleagues will find him and he will be tried and convicted. He will never be a threat to you again”, the blonde tries to comfort her.

“Whenever I leave an abusive home, there will be another one that’s exactly the same. The only difference with Charles was that he seemed to understand me. He helped me. There’s nobody who is willing to do what he did for me”, she admits sadly.

It breaks JJ’s heart, because her words are true. Even though he is a killer, Collins did help her. But she is also determined to show the young girl that he isn’t the only one who can do that. That there are more people out there, who are kind and as helpful if not more.

Not long after this the team brings the man into the station, Morgan guiding him with a deadbolt-like grip.

Rossi spots (Y/N) in a break room with a hot drink in her hands. While making his way over there, Spencer follows him. He wants to talk with her as well.

“(Y/N) I’m sincerely sorry if I hurt you earlier. I didn’t intend to scare you, we just had to act quickly and you were the only source of information available. I also wanted to tell you, that your achievements are astonishing and I guarantee you a bright future, maybe even at the FBI”, he winks at the end of his last sentence.

“I understand, Agent Rossi. But doesn’t everybody know their IQ? I assumed everybody gets at least tested once in their life in some way”, she asks with surprise in her voice.

At that the older man is speechless. Of all things she could accuse him of legitimately, (Y/N) goes with the most innocent question.

“Actually, not everybody gets tested. A reliable test has to be done by a psychologist and most people don’t go to one. Furthermore there has to be a valid reason to do one, that’s why a great part of the population doesn’t know their IQ”, intervenes Spencer. He has to infodump, since the last time was over half an hour ago.

“But you also have to differentiate between the several kinds of intelligence, because intelligence is way more than being good at math. There…”

Rossi stopped listening to the excited interaction between the two geniuses. Instead he watches their body languages and facial expressions. He hasn’t seen both of them more at calm than they are now.

After all there might be a way for (Y/N) to get a little Happy End.

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spenciegoob · 3 years

Text

Swing to the Stars

this fic swap is for @reidgraygubler ... I really hope you like it, shadow :)

A/N: AAAAH! this is my first fic swap and I’M SO EXCITED!!!!

Summary: Spencer meets someone in his little hiding spot, and desperately hopes to see them again.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Gender Neutral!Reader

Category: fluff with a dash of angst

Content Warnings: mentions of Maeve & William Reid, talk of a case involving teens, mentions of bullying, mentions of guns and pepper spray (not used)

Masterlist

Word Count: 2.4K

___

The first time I climbed that treacherous hill, dirtying my converse for all to see what my night activities truly consisted of, I was alone. I enjoyed it like that, I came here by myself, and I intended to keep it that way. When I sat on the swing dangling by two dangerously flimsy ropes, I thought how ridiculously large the slap of wood used to make it was. My elbows were bent a little over a 90 degree angle just to reach both sides, but I never thought past it. I had other things on my mind that night.

I thought about my mom. I knew she would have loved a secluded, little space like this. She would’ve probably read to me here, using different voices that held deep emotion to convey each story with a precise amount of dedication and love. Each story to her was special, and I silently thank her every day for passing that trait down to me.

Unfortunately, if I thought about my mom, I thought about my dad. William was never a kind man, and I could pride myself on one thing; I would never be like him. He didn’t deserve to know a place like this. It was too serene, too beautiful to house a man so willing to abandon the two people who should’ve been the most important to him. I was glad he would never get the chance to sit on this swing.

I thought about my family. How Garcia would jump with excitement at the prospect of having a picnic overlooking the city, yet quiet and missing the sounds of cars zooming by or overlapping chatter. I thought about JJ, and how Henry would beg her to push him in the swing, because to a little kid, it was perfect. He didn’t look at the frayed rope and fear that it would snap. I hope he never starts to fear the world like that.

The second time I found myself back at the bottom of the hill, I made it halfway to the top before seeing a couple getting up from the swing they were sitting together on. I realized then why it was so comically large; it was meant for two people. Thankfully when I reached the top only half out of breath, the two were starting their descent to where I came from.

This time when I sat down, I thought about Maeve. I would’ve brought her here, shared the little secret corner of the world I built for myself. She would’ve loved something like this, and I know if life wasn’t so cruel, and I was given the chance to show her, we would’ve talked for hours. So that’s what I did that time; I talked to Maeve. To anyone else, I probably looked like a crazy person talking to himself, but much to my delight, not many people made the trip up the hill to find this place.

Now I go whenever I need a break from my mind, which unfortunately is more times than my schedule allows me to take that leisurely walk. I spend my nights sometimes after a particularly hard case there no matter the time, using the ropes that scratch my hands as my lifeline down to Earth. I watch the stars, screaming and cursing at the world in my head and waiting for the sky to respond. It never did, and the next case always came in the following morning.

This particular time that I found myself at the bottom of the grassy hill waiting to be climbed, the case I just returned from involved kids across the board. A teenage unsub was killing his fellow classmates that have wronged him. Unfortunately, the BAU had to witness his stressor recorded for the whole school to see. It involved vile insults being thrown at the young, defenseless boy only for the bullying to escalate to violence.

It was awful.

As I trudged up the hill with less excitement to look into the vast unknown than usual, I couldn’t stop thinking about the unsub. All he wanted in life was a friend, someone to talk to, laugh with, share memories together. No matter how wrong it was, I saw myself in him. Our souls held the same scars given to us by people who had no right to go digging for such a deep part of ourselves. If I didn’t make it, would I have turned out like him?

When I reached the top, completing my journey once again, I saw them. Sitting there, staring out into the sky, mimicking my thoughts to do the same on the jet ride home. I could only make out half their face lit up by the light casting down from the full moon, but I didn’t need to see more to know they were breathtaking.

I would have turned around to return home to nothing more than books reread thousands of times and stale coffee, but I already made the mistake of stepping on a rather large branch that broke in half. The crunch coming from their right immediately had them on edge, and reaching for their bag that I could only assume had some sort of weapon inside. I hope it was legal.

I felt terrible for breaking them from the trance they were in. They were deep in thought about something that was probably going to become a solution if I hadn't interrupted their musing.

“H-hi, I’m sorry to scare you. I didn’t expect anyone here this late. Not that you being here is a problem! I didn’t mean to disturb you,” I frantically shouted, although there was less distance between us than I originally thought, and probably seemed crazed by my volume level.

They just giggled at first, but upon seeing my distraught expression, their face turned more kind than humorous.

“That’s okay. I’m just glad I didn’t jump so fast to pepper spray you. That would definitely be the worst case scenario.” I let out a breath of relief for some reason. Here I was, in front of a total stranger thankful that their weapon of choice wasn’t a gun. I’ve been on the wrong end of too many during my years.

“Did you know Chemical Mace, more commonly known as pepper spray, was invented in the 1960s by a man named Alan Lee Litman and his wife Doris Litman at the time. Their reason was actually because one of Doris’s female coworkers was attacked and robbed, so they thought to create a nonlethal weapon with easy accessibility and use, considering not everyone is able to use a gun. It wasn’t until 1987 however that the Litman’s sold their creation to Smith and Wesson where it was mass produced and later sold to law enforcement.”

“Wow, I don’t think I did.” They laughed again, but something in my heart told me it wasn’t meant to come with malicious intent. “Do you do that a lot?”

“Do what?” I asked, even though I had some inclination of what they were referencing.

“Spout random facts. I’m not complaining, that was very cool, but I am fully intrigued.” They smiled again at me fondly, the kind of smile that left me a little breathless, even more so than the 45 degree incline I had to climb to find myself in front of them. There was nothing to convince me they weren’t authentic in every word they stated.

“I do it quite often, yes. It gets annoying after a while though.” It was true, I was told on many occasions that my rambling got old very fast. I suppose that’s what happens when you’re close to me for too long. I tend to stop being the awe-striking genius, and become the nagging, walking encyclopedia.

“I don’t see how that could become annoying.” It sounded sad coming from them, like I had insulted their oddity. I would never, and I was really hoping to find out what it was.

I had nothing further to say that would express my shock, and slight fondness over their praise, wary of its honesty even if it did come from them. I hadn’t known them for more than 4 minutes and 36 seconds, but it was enough to figure out that they weren’t a liar. It wasn’t from profiling either.

“You know, there is room for two people here if you wanted to join me. I’m sure you didn’t climb that hill for nothing.” They continued for me. If they noticed my surprise, they said nothing about it.

Usually, I would be skeptical of being in a close proximity with a stranger, but as I approached them carefully, even if their hand was no longer reaching for mace, I felt the passing between our eyes. It was as if we had shared every part of ourselves with eye contact, and as crazy as it sounds, I felt the somber thoughts that lingered from their previous reflections.

So I sat down, grabbing onto only one of the scratchy ropes, and enjoying the way I could rest my elbow against my side now that I was using the swing to its fullest potential. I stopped caring about the probability of the ropes snapping under our combined body weight. The worst that could possibly happen was I bruised my tailbone a little bit, but I wouldn’t care past the initial embarrassment. At least I had someone to show that with.

“Do you ever think about what’s out there?” They asked once I was settled on the wood slab as comfortably as I could muster. Being boney didn’t necessarily help. Before I could answer, they continued. “I can tell you’re a man of science, if the fact dump wasn’t any indicator, but I mean beyond the facts, and the known.”

“No, I don’t think about it.” It was a lie, I think about it every time I’m here, but I wanted nothing more in this moment than to know how they saw the stars.

“I do. Quite frequently, actually. I mean, I’ve read every book there ever was about the stars and space, but there is still no answer to my question.”

“What question?” I had to know.

“What’s exactly written in the stars,” they replied, using their hands to showcase the sky above us. I sat back and thought for a while. Like the books they’ve read, I too didn’t have the response to their question. God, how I wish I did.

I don’t know how long we sat there quietly. One of the perks of total darkness in the dead of night is that the moon couldn’t tell time the way the sun did. We got lost in the cosmos together, contemplating sharing our own troubled thoughts with each other. It would have felt right if we did, but alas, the ringing of my cell phone dropped a pin in our reflections.

“I- I’m sorry, I have to take this,” I rushed out before standing up and accepting the incoming call from Penelope. I knew it was a case before her bubbly voice rang through my celular. I allowed the disappointment to bleed through my tone when I told her I would be back at the BAU shortly, hoping that the small release of the emotion would be enough to ward it off in time to turn back around.

It didn’t.

They were already looking at me expectantly when I made my way back to the swing, bending down to retrieve my satchel I had abandoned on the ground. The amount of guilt on my face must have been enough to tell them I had to leave abruptly, despite the fact that the only thing I wanted to do was stay for even just a second.

“That’s okay,” they spoke softly, giving me a tight lipped smile. “We’ll see each other again.”

“How do you know?” I couldn’t help but be skeptical. Life never did work out in my favor. They looked up at the sky once more before answering.

“Just a feeling.” I let a full grin break out at their response, the first one I’ve had when visiting this place. I turned around to start my journey back to the office where dark, and twisted things lurked behind manilla folders. Before starting my descent however, I spun around quickly, almost losing my footing and taking a tumble.

“Woah there tiger, don’t hurt yourself,” they giggled at me, one that I returned with my own breathy laugh.

“I just don’t know your name.” It baffled me a little bit that I hadn’t thought to ask before this, but they just gave me one last smile, tilting their head in faux contemplation.

“Ask me next time.” I will.

***

It’s been a year since I met them, and I haven’t seen them since. Not for a lack of trying however. After that case, I went there every night until a new one arose, this time taking me to Oregon. They hadn’t been back, and part of me wondered if it was because of me. Did I not try hard enough the first time? Should I have ignored my ringer until my phone had 5 missed calls from Penelope?

But then my eidetic memory swooped in to save me from going down that road, one of the only times it wasn’t the cause of my self destructive thoughts. Because while I replayed the conversation over in my head wondering where it went wrong, I remembered their eyes, and their smile.

I remembered what it felt like to sit with them, and thankfully that was enough to convince myself our meeting wasn’t in vain.

I never was the kind of man to believe in the universe. The whole notion that “everything happens for a reason,” felt like a lie created to somehow blame an external force on the chaos in one’s life. There were so many things in my life that had no reason for happening, and to blame that on anything or anyone but myself would be a cheap excuse of a way out.

But for some odd reason, the universe aside, I believed in them, and strangely enough, I don’t think they would have blamed me for the life I had to live. So, as I sit down tonight on this familiar piece of wood, I choose to stare at the stars instead of the ground, and believe that if I spoke aloud, maybe they would hear me.

And they did, because my efforts to sit on one side of the swing in case they returned to me were not in vain. I didn’t look over, I didn’t have to to know it was them. I had already relaxed once their presence was known in my peripherals.

“Y/N,” they spoke, causing me to change my view on the stars to their side profile. It wasn’t all that different than staring at the constellations spread around us. “My name’s Y/N.”

___

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