#she's also not sure how to deal w /not/ being seen as the cringe fail loser girl (affectionate)

[tvckerwash]

a yet to be fleshed out scene from my ct lives au is more or less just ct going "I cannot believe I have to go on a mission with these 2 strangers whom I don't trust in the slightest because my former teammates mercilessly slaughtered all of my boyfriend's teammates so now his boss doesn't think he's qualified for field work anymore"

[time-is-restored]

I took offense to “most cringe fail meow meow in recent history” until I realized it was a compliment 👍 she is minmaxing her life isn’t she (the caretaker for instance) anyway I think Clara and Martha would be friends but would also have a complicated relationship

oh im genuinely so glad u realised it was a compliment it would KILL me if ppl thought i just like. was unironically shitting on clara omg she's one of my favourite characters in like... ANYTHING, ever. i am OBSESSED w her twisted mind..

(expanding on my martha + clara dynamic thoughts under the cut bc it got OBSCENELY long lol)

i also completely agree w that clara and martha take! on the surface, i think they would make very good acquaintances/casual friends. they share the same inquisitive + intellectual nature, so i feel like they approach problem solving very similarly. it's hard to give a concrete example, since no companion has ever faced the EXACT same mystery, but what comes to mind for me is martha realising its safe to open the windows in smith + jones, and killing the engines in gridlock to hide from. whatever the monster was that episode LOL. compared with clara noticing the similar poses in Hide, and learning to make rapid-fire deductions to bluff her way out of danger, like in The Girl Who Died.

from memory they also have pretty similar sense of humour, and as unlikely it would be to come up in casual conversation, they can also both relate to being forgotten by the doctor, though at least in martha's case it was only a temporary measure.

however, i think beyond the level of occasional friends/allies, shit would definitely get tense. martha's arc is defined by how she never can truly adjust to the loss + death that follows the doctor wherever he goes, and how that's a good thing, and makes her such a good person + doctor. her priority is always saving + healing as many people as possible, and the level of distress she experiences after losing someone never seems to lessen (i can't quite remember its name, but the dolphin alien in the doctor's daughter comes to mind - at that point, martha has seen COUNTLESS fatalities, both while walking the earth and working for UNIT, which isn't exactly a chill desk job. but still, she cries like she's just lost a close friend, because she has). she feels everything incredibly deeply, and even though she does appear to develop a 'soldier's mentality' or whatever the fuck it is that davros calls it in journeys end, when she threatens to destroy the earth to disrupt the dalek's plan, to ME the most important part of that sequence is that she doesn't genuinely try to stop the housekeeper from shooting her/preventing her from using the key. she understands that what she's about to do is terrible, and would not blame anyone from stopping her - does not resent them from trying. there's no ego driving her actions here, just experience.

when we compare that with clara... now, listen, i wanna give a disclaimer here and say that i in NO way believe that clara is a paticularly cruel or callous person. but she ABSOLUTELY 'goes native' to a degree that martha explicitly refuses to (i can NOT see her rolling over to the housekeeper for even a second, if her and martha's places were switched, for example). sure, the adventuring is addictive, but she also learns to compartmentalise other people's deaths in a way that pretty much... no one other than the doctor himself seems to learn to do? she's hardly gunning down innocents, but she encourages ppl to risk themselves for the greater good (before the flood), and explicitly deceives people about their chances of survival (mummy on the orient express, flatline). as seen in her final sacrifice with rigsy, it's not like she's unwilling to walk the walk, but that familiarity with death + loss is something that's freaked out virtually every companion that's ever traveled with the doctor, and by the end of her journey, im pretty sure clara deals with loss in an almost indistinguishable way to him.

compound that with clara's control issues (if it came down to it, could she really trust martha with key components of any plan, even if she is intellectually aware of her capability + experience?) and plain old ego (while i do think clara in s9 has grown a fair bit away from her 'dont lump me in w the rest of those puny humans' rant in kill the moon, as viewed from an outsider POV, martha's job at UNIT automatically puts her as 'lesser' in clara's eyes, just bc of how often travelling w the doctor involves scoffing at local armies as they royally fuck everything up. WE know that martha's more than just someone else's lackey, but would clara?)... yeesh. at minimum, im seeing clara being condescending + dismissive, and martha being (almost DEFINITELY rightfully) outraged at clara's cavalier, too-cool-for-emotions attitude, and associating her with the doctor's worst moments.

ofc they could work THROUGH these issues with time - ultimately, both of them became very close with and fond of the doctor, and that takes a particular type of tolerance to some... frequently grating personality traits LMAO. not to mention how well they could bond if they gave each other half the chance (sarah jane + rose, martha + donna - companions all inherently have a lot in common! the love of adventure, of exploration, of being able to be part in something so much BIGGER than every day life..)!

tl;dr despite my dismay over the poll, they realistically actually WOULD fight, quite a bit. but im a firm believer in the healing power of the 'talking shit -> being proven wrong' pipeline, not to mention the power of female characters unionising, so i like to imagine that they could one day be good friends :)

[youwerenevermeanttofeelalone]

77 Minutes | Five Hargreeves

✦ pairing — Five Hargreeves x Plus Size Reader

✦ word count — 1.7k

✦ summary — you’re not having a good day — Five isn’t either and things only seem to be getting worse.

✦ warnings — spoilers for season 2, some angst, mentions of blood and violence, mentions of death, language, a little bit of fluff.

════════════════════════

You were having a bad week, and that day only proved that it would get worse if you didn’t find a solution quickly.

Luther and Diego had been in the middle of threatening to kill a lady through the phone when you arrived, Elliot was dead, you didn’t know where Five was, and you were on a time limit to save the world.

There was also the fact that you hated your temporary job, but that was a petty complaint. People were the worst, honestly, you were still getting used to being around them after years only around Five.

Five sadly stared at Elliot, covering him with the sheet Luther had draped over him again.

“Are you okay?” he asked you, eyes analyzing your face and body in search for injuries.

“I wasn’t here when it happened,” you assured him, observing the curling and uncurling of his blood-stained fingers around the handle of the briefcase he was carrying.

Unfazed by the familiar sight before you, slightly bothered by the fact that taking blood off white clothes had never Five’s most developed skill, you rummaged through the belongings you had bought hours ago.

He stored the briefcase in a safe spot, immediately trying to shimmy his blazer off.

Walking into the bathroom as Diego and Luther questioned him, he gave you a thankful nod when the clean shirt caught his attention.

It wasn’t like you could blame them for being shocked by the sight of Five covered in blood, but you didn’t want to partake in the interrogatory. You knew better. They should have known better, too.

“Five,” Luther pressed, “what did you do?”

Five cursed, shaky hands worsening the red splotches on his shirt as he tried to take his vest off.

You gently removed his hands, helping him to slide the item off and dropping it to the side.

He grunted in acknowledgment, not in the mood to anger you by ignoring your actions. As attractive as he found your angry version, he was tired.

He made a motion with his finger for you to turn around. You did so, facing Diego and Luther as you heard him run more water.

The shuffling behind you helped you guess what he was doing. You rested your head on the doorway, watching Luther fumble with his luggage as he struggled to open it.

“You can face me again, sweetheart.”

The uncharacteristic soft tone caught you off guard. Five could get to be extremely sweet if he wanted, but there was something off this time. He was a private person, not the type of person to use pet names in front of his siblings.

“So I found a way home,” he announced, putting his tie back on.

“What?” Luther inquired, too surprised to be able to hide it. “How?”

“All the details are irrelevant, but... I made a deal to get back to our timeline.”

The shakiness in his voice got on your nerves. Five wasn’t one for getting antsy, much less when solving a problem. And what kind of deal was he talking about?

“What about doomsday?” Diego asked the important question.

“Won’t happen.”

“And the 2019 apocalypse?” Luther followed Diego’s example.

“Everything will be back to normal. All right?” Five glared at his brothers. “Now, no more questions.”

Feeling as though the latter statement was directed at yourself, you followed him and his brothers.

Five put the blazer back on, declaring, “We gotta go. We have to find the others, right?”

He gave clear instructions. Luther would get Allison, Diego would get Klaus, he would get Vanya, you would bury Elliott.

“Now, we meet back in the arrival alley in 77 minutes.”

You frowned. Time limits when it came to time travel had never been a good sign.

He handed you and his brothers synchronized watches. You reached for your gloves, putting them on before clasping the watch on top.

Diego was skeptical. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. You show up drenched in blood and expect us to believe everything’s gonna go back to normal if we go home now?”

“Elliot just got killed because of us,” Five sneered.

“What about dad? What about JFK?”

Here we go again...

“Diego, we have a chance to go home and make things right. We are taking it.”

“I have to say goodbye to Lila.”

“Lila doesn’t give a shit about you, Diego! She never did.”

You winced. That had been harsh, even for being something coming from Five. You could tell Diego really cared, he was failing miserably to hide his hurt.

“Lila is one of them. She’s a member of the Commission.”

“Not possible.”

“She was just using you to get to me.” Condescendingly, Five added, “You’re the Oswald of this story, my friend. The goddamned patsy.”

Raising his voice, Diego said, “Just because you found someone who is insane enough to want to be with you, doesn’t mean that everyone wants you.” He turned to look at you briefly, “no offense, you’re lovely, but in—“

Five interrupted his brother, approaching him and hissing, “If you don’t do this, I’ll kill you myself. Got it?”

You were truly worried now. That had been unprompted. Before you could say or ask anything, Five teleported. The whooshing sound made you cringe for the first time since you met him.

With a sigh, you kept yourself from entering in a self-absorptive moment. Everything would be okay in less than 70 minutes, there was no use in focusing on things that would only make you lose time.

Walking towards Elliot, you double-checked to make sure you had taken the car keys already.

Diego stopped you from carrying Elliot. “I’ll bury him after getting Klaus. He’s not far away from here.” You were about to deny him, but he pleaded in a low voice, “Please, (Name).”

Damn Diego and his puppy eyes. Nodding, you slid your hand into your pocket and withdrew the keys.

════════════════════════

Five paced. From left to right, from bottom to top. Luther shifted in his spot, checking his watch every few seconds.

Diego was nowhere to be seen, Vanya and Allison were late too. Five was shocked by the fact that a seemingly hangover Klaus had gotten there in time yet his more responsible siblings couldn’t be bothered.

The briefcase charged, Luther and you cursed sadly along with Five who threw the item off. As the briefcase disappeared, Five got angrier.

Sighing, he angrily lamented, “We were that close. That close!”

“Now what?”

“Now nothing, Luther. All right? Make your peace with God.”

“W—What?”

Luther’s confusion would’ve been endearing in any other circumstance, but you were sure Five was about to explode.

“What about Allison and Vanya?”

“Screw them both! They should have been here.”

“What about Diego?” Klaus chimed in.

“Screw Diego, all right? Screw everybody!” he yelled. “(Name) and I were better off on our own in the apocalypse.”

You looked down, avoiding Luther and Klaus. Five didn’t mean it, he would never mean something as brutal as that — not toward his siblings whom he had missed so deeply throughout those years.

Five tended to be hyperbolic, adrenaline got the best of him nine out of ten times. It had always worked in your favor until now. And even now, he must’ve been planning something else already.

“Five, come on!”

“You know what, Luther? It’s every sibling for himself now. How ‘bout that?”

Turning around, Five pulled the door open, slamming it shut after crossing the doorway.

Klaus whimpered, “Did Five just get meaner?”

“I’ll handle Five,” Luther assured. “You two go get the others.”

You shook your head. “It’s my fault that Diego isn’t here, I’ll talk to Five. You two follow the plan to get the others and I’ll see you here later.”

Walking up the stairs, you perked your ears to assess where Five could’ve been. He was being dramatic, and he wanted to be found, perhaps even followed — you knew because he would’ve teleported if that wasn’t the case.

Five was still pacing in the bedroom. He didn’t acknowledge you as you entered, too busy mumbling things to himself.

You weren’t interested in deciphering whatever he was saying under his breath, you wanted him to tell you what was really going on.

And he knew, after so many years together he had to know. Resting your back on the wooden door, you patiently waited for him to be done.

His pent-up frustrations had never bothered you. Perhaps because you had met him in a stressful situation, but mostly because you loved him.

“I’m going to do the unthinkable.”

“Of course you are.”

Five stared at you through his eyelashes. “We don’t have time for this.”

“Then what do we have time for, Five?”

“I don’t want to fight. Not right now.”

“You just want to break the most important rule of time travel,” you deadpanned, mocking him.

“I killed The Board for nothing, (Name)!”

“We can fix it!”

“You’re not surprised? I wasn’t supposed to kill anymore!” He kicked the bed, huffing out of his nostrils.

“Oh, come on,” you breathed out, getting rid of the uncomfortable watch and leaving it on the first surface you found. “We will always be assassins, Five. The difference now is that we’re doing it on our own terms.”

Sitting down on the edge of the bed with his head between his trembling hands, he let out a sob.

God, what a fucking awful day. You pushed yourself off the door. Walking towards him, slowly in case he wanted to have space, you discarded your gloves.

Taking the spot on the bed beside him, you placed your hand on his back and rubbed it. When he didn’t make a move to push you away, you wrapped your arm around his shoulders, pulling him close. “It’s okay. I’m here with you.”

Shifting, he wrapped both arms around you as he buried his face in the joint of your shoulder and neck. His shaky frame under your embrace broke your heart.

“The Handler tricked me — there wasn’t supposed to be a time limit.”

If he wasn’t so distressed, you would’ve punched him for making a deal with The Handler from all people.

“Vanya tried to fight me earlier,” he sniffed, resting his cheek on your shoulder. “Then after promising she’d be here she couldn’t do a simple task.”

“Have you considered the possibility that something happened to her, Allison, and Diego?”

“Who knows,” he grunted. “We have other things to worry about now.”

“Yeah,” you mumbled. Closing your eyes, you rested your head on top of his.

You just wanted a few minutes of silence in his embrace, holding him close like you used to after rough missions. And by the way his arms tightened around you, you asserted that he wanted the same.

[moodykylo]

Of Experiments and Exhaustion

Wowie! It’s been a hot minute hasn’t it, well I once again have another favorite character so you all get a fic!! This will also be cross posted to my ao3!! without further ado my first tangled the series fic!!

To say that Varian felt awful would be a hilarious understatement. 

He had been feeling off for a few days but thought nothing of it, he always felt like something was wrong anyway, but now there was no denying that the ache in his stomach wasn’t just hunger, or that the heat radiating from his body and sending rivulets of sweat down his face, overexertion. He was undeniably sick. 

 But of course, Varian would ignore every last symptom until he couldn’t anymore, just like always. Only this time he was working as the royal engineer in the palace. 

Varian was working on an invention for Corona, getting fed up with the tremors that would rack his thin frame, leaving him indisposed and dropping his tools. He groaned in annoyance and maybe, a little bit in pain. 

Varian wiped the sweat off his face, shivering. He was freezing but still felt like his brain was cooking in his skull. He sighed in exhaustion, the sigh eventually turning into a coughing fit that scorched his lungs with an agonizing fire. 

When the fit subsided, Varian’s vision blurred, the world a smudge of colors. He grabbed onto the lab table that he was working on, his legs weak and unsteady. 

“You’re okay, you’ve got this.” Varian told himself for the umpteenth time that day. He repeated the mantra over and over again as if it would magically make all of his symptoms go away. 

Once Varian’s vision cleared he let go of his desk and got back to work, or at least tried to, it was pretty hard to focus as his body shook with convulsions, and his stomach churned dangerously. 

With a low moan, he wrapped his arms around his abdomen, willing his nausea to pass. When it didn’t, he sunk to the floor whimpering. “Come on Varian. Y-you’ve got this.” Varian said, pulling himself off the floor. He quickly sat in a chair near his desk, placing his burning and all too light head on his desk. 

He sighed, comforted by the coolness on his skin. He was still shivering, teeth chattering, but his skin was on fire. He placed his head in the palms of his hands for a moment, nausea and dizziness gripping his entire being. 

He stayed this way until he heard the door to the lab open. Upon hearing the creak of the door he quickly lifted his head up and grabbed something to make it look like he was working.

“Hey, Varian!” The voice belonged to princess Rapunzel, the living embodiment of sunshine. Varian heard the soft patter of her bare feet on the floor as she padded closer to his desk. 

“Oh! Rapunzel! H-hey!” Varian stuttered out, cringing at the way his hoarse voice cracked. He did not look at Rapunzel in fear of her noticing something was wrong.

“How’s the invention coming along?” Rapunzel asked, looking over Varian’s shoulder at the slew of messy notes and scattered tools. 

“It’s um… g-great!” Varian said through gritted teeth. He resisted the urge to whine as he felt coursing white pain bounce around in his head. 

Rapunzel smiled widely. “That’s wonderful!” Rapunzel placed her hand on Varian’s shoulder. At the sudden touch, Varian jumped and Rapunzel giggled quietly. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!” Rapunzel said sweetly. Varian only shrugged feeling his throat tighten with the threat of a coughing fit. Rapunzel noticed him tense. “You okay?” She asked, concerned. Varian nodded at this, still afraid to speak. 

Rapunzel felt like something was off with the young alchemist but she wasn’t sure what, she was sure about one thing though; Varian needed a break. 

“Hey, you’ve been down here awhile… why don’t you join me for a walk?” Rapunzel suggested, beaming. Varian knew he wouldn’t be able to handle a walk so he quickly thought up an excuse. 

“Oh, I uh- I have a lot of work to d-do so I can’t!” Varian stammered. He felt a tickle at the back of his throat and deep in his lungs. He held his breath to avoid a fit of hacking. 

Rapunzel pouted. “Please? Just indulge me?” She pleaded, eyes wide. She wanted Varian out of the lab. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d even seen Varian out and about, which was concerning, to say the least. 

Varian couldn’t say no to Rapunzel, even though he really wanted to. He huffed and then nodded. Rapunzel squealed excitedly and grabbed Varian’s gloved hand, pulling him up. 

Varian stumbled, head reeling from the motion. He discreetly grabbed his chair until the world was steady. Rapunzel thankfully didn’t notice, too busy chatting about something, 

He released his tight grip on the chair and followed Rapunzel out of his lab, wheezing from the exertion of having to walk up the steps. He desperately tried not to cough but failed and a few painful and congested sounding coughs escaped. 

Rapunzel stopped dead in her tracks upon hearing the young alchemists choking. “Are you alright?” She turned around and rushed over to Varian’s side as he caught his breath. 

“M-me? Oh! Yeah! I’m fine, just uh dust from my lab!” Varian knew his excuse was terrible but it was the best he could think of with his hazy mind.  He made sure to avoid direct eye contact with Rapunzel. 

Rapunzel seemed skeptical at first but then nodded, turned back around and continued walking, babbling about something that just sounded like static in Varian’s head. 

Rapunzel would glance back to Varian every so often as they walked, his lack of conversation was worrying her. Varian always rambled about new inventions when he had the opportunity, but after 2 minutes of silence, Rapunzel was beginning to get anxious. 

“Varian?” Rapunzel's voice made Varian jump. His head was pounding and his vision was blurring. “Hm?” He looked up to her, shivering profusely. 

“You sure you’re okay? You’re really quiet.” Rapunzel said concern evident in her tone. She slowed her gait to allow Varian to catch up. 

“Mhm!” Varian couldn’t even see Rapunzel’s face anymore, his vision was getting darker by the minute. He was overwhelmed with heat but also freezing simultaneously. His head was pounding in time with his quickening heartbeat. Varian struggled not to groan as another wave of nausea pulsed through his stomach. 

“If you’re sure..” Rapunzel replied, uncertainly, but continuing to walk. 

Varian followed, his consciousness being clouded by ever-growing darkness and disorienting dizziness. He felt himself swaying with every step. The sweat pouring down his face sent shivers up and down his spine. His head felt like it was splitting open. 

Varian stopped walking, panting heavily. “I uh, Rapunzel?” Varian stuttered out, his words shaky. “I don’t… I think I-“ Varian’s vision was fading quickly. 

Rapunzel turned just in time to see Varian pitch forward, his face deprived of all color, except the scarlet flush on his cheeks.  

She quickly reached out, catching Varian before he could hit the ground. It was only now she realized how utterly ill he looked. 

She placed the back of her hand on his forehead, frowning worriedly at the heat that quickly warmed it. She then palmed his cheek, wincing when she felt the same heat that had radiated off his forehead, on her hand again.

“Oh Varian..”  she cooed quietly, going to get help in carrying Varian to the infirmary. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“No, no! It isn’t my fault I d-didn’t, I didn’t… it’s not my fault!” 

Rapunzel felt her chest tighten at Varian’s fevered mumblings, his voice sounded anguished, he was still hurting, he had told her that everything was fine, it obviously wasn’t. 

Rapunzel was pulled out of her thoughts by Varian waking with a strangled sob, followed by a pained moan. 

When Varian came to, he was immediately bombarded with pain and discomfort. His body felt heavy as lead, a stark contrast from the lightness of his head.

Despite the light feeling, he felt like someone was crushing his skull with a tight vice. He was dizzy and disoriented, he had no idea where he was. 

Varian looked around, the white walls of the infirmary were too bright, he whimpered and shielded his eyes with his arms. 

“Varian?” Rapunzel’s voice broke through the sound of his blood rushing in his ears. 

“R-Rapunzel? W-what? Where am I? What happened?” Varian sat up with a wince, coughing harshly into his fist. 

“The infirmary, you fainted, you’re burning up with fever. Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?” Rapunzel’s eyes held sadness and concern, it made Varian’s stomach twist. 

“I uh… I didn’t think it was a big deal. I’m fine! It’s nothing really…” Varian rubbed the back of his neck nervously. 

“Varian you passed out! It’s not nothing!” Rapunzel frowned. “You’re allowed to not feel well. You can tell me anything, you know that, right?” 

Varian didn’t want to tell Rapunzel anything, he didn’t deserve her kindness. “I know but…” he was cut off by a violent coughing fit that left him wheezing and struggling to catch his breath. 

Once Varian’s breathing was steady and he didn’t feel that he was at risk of fainting again, he spoke. “I… I didn’t want to bother you, I don’t deserve help after everything I did to you…” Varian looked away from the princess. 

“Oh, Varian.” Rapunzel pulled Varian into a tight hug. Varian was puzzled, she wasn’t mad at him? 

“Varian, you only did those things because you were hurting, I've forgiven you a long time ago, maybe it’s time you forgive yourself hmm?” Rapunzel smiled sadly. 

Varian didn’t know if it was the fever or just how awful he was feeling, but he buried his head into Rapunzel’s chest, sobbing. 

Rapunzel was taken aback by the outburst but comforted the boy nevertheless. She cooed soft reassurances to him until his sobbing was nothing more than small hiccups. 

When Varian finished crying he was exhausted. “I… I’m sorry princess, I don’t… I don’t know what happened I-“ 

Rapunzel shushed him gently. “It’s okay Varian, something tells me you needed that.” Rapunzel gave the alchemist’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “You should get some rest, you look absolutely exhausted.” 

Varian nodded, laying down and shutting his eyes. Rapunzel’s words echoing in his fuzzy mind. 

Rapunzel stood from the infirmary bed, but she was stopped by Varian’s hand grabbing her own. 

“Thank you, Rapunzel, for… for everything.” Varian’s voice was soft and weak, but he sounded peaceful. 

Rapunzel smiled. “Of course Varian, now get some rest.” 

Varian nodded and fell asleep, his dreams, for the first time in a year, sweet.

[vikingpoteto]

Red Robin under the spotlight

Read on AO3 

______________________

Relationships:  GEN. Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake

Summary: Red Robin and Red hood are basically urban legends, no one is sure they're real. That is, until there is a picture of the two of them grinning at each other on Gotham Gazette's front page.

________________________

Tim Drake is having… a day. 

Stuck in his office for the afternoon, he is praying for nightime to come soon so he can put on his suit and vent his frustration by beating up some unsuspecting criminal. He’d known being a CEO wasn’t particularly fun, but he didn’t expect the board of directors to be babies for so long. 

He skims his proposal for what feels like the hundredth time unsure of how to make it clearer that that is the best course of action for their investments. The fact that he is only 18 should not trump his very solid, data-based arguments. 

So he’s already in a bad mood and praying for a distraction when his office door swings open and Tam Fox storms in.

“Timothy!” she shouts. 

He feels like he's about to learn he should be careful with what he wishes.

“Hey, Tam, I missed you too?” He tries.

Behind her, his secretary makes a helpless gesture as if trying to communicate she tried to stop Tam. Tim gives the woman a tired smile and makes a dismissive gesture.

Ignoring that, Tam slams the door closed and repeats for emphasis: “Timothy.” She pushes an iPad into Tim’s chest. “What is the meaning of this?”

Raising an eyebrow, he takes the iPad and looks at the screen, noticing he’s staring at a Gotham Gazette article and… Tim’s heart stops.

The headline screaming at his face says RED DYNAMIC DUO? by Vicki Vale and beneath it…

“Oh god,” Tim whimpers.

Beneath the headline there’s a picture of him and the Red Hood. 

Or, well, Red Robin and Red Hood. They’re sitting on the fire escape of one of the abandoned buildings in Jason’s territory and both are seemingly at ease. Too at ease. There are two BatBurger bags at their side and their fingers are intertwined. Red Robin is staring at their joined hands with a wide smile. Fucking hell. Tim always makes a point of never smiling in front of anyone when he’s in his suit, he has a reputation to protect. He doesn’t know if it’s better or worse that Red Hood isn’t wearing his helmet, because it emans his open grin is visible as well - and thank god  Jason has the habit of wearing a domino under his helmet. 

Who the hell took that picture? How the hell did they go unnoticed by both Tim and Jason?

He then starts reading the article, every word feeling like a punch to the gut. 

Gotham City has seen its share of vigilantes over the years and, unlike public figures such as Superman, they prefer to keep to themselves, making many people wonder whether they’re even human. As a shot captured by an amateur photographer that chose to remain anonymous, we find out at least a pair of the many Gotham “heroes” are closer to us than we thought. 

The vigilante known as Red Robin Gotham's patheon of heroes a couple of months ago and little is known about him. He’s been seen working with the likes of Batman, Robin and even Batgirl, making us all think he’s one of the good guys. It seems like Red Robin’s circle of friendships doesn’t include only Justice League members, though.

The Red Hood, the man so tenderly smiling at Red Robin, is a notorious mob boss whose territory's size, GCPD especulates, rivals Black Mask’s. Red Hood wanders between both criminal activities and a violent brand of justice and, while he's been seen working side-by-side with heroes like Nightwing, a hero that since has only been seen in Bludhaven, no one can claim to have seen the Red Hood so comfortable around one of the bats of Gotham

The two young men were pictured in a tender moment. Could this mean that Red Robin is straying towards villany? Is the Red Hood is considering changing his ways? Or, perhaps, are we facing a pair of starcrossed lovers, separated by different set of morals, but still unable to stay away from one another? 

Tim makes an inhumane sound. The words  star crossed lovers  jump from the screen, burning his eyes and making him wish he was going over a dumb business proposal still.

“Well?” Tam demands. “What is that, Tim?”

“I don’t know, Tam,” he answers, his voice weak. “What on earth- How the hell… Oh, god .”

“Why were you hanging out with the Red Hood?”

“Stakeout,” Tim says simply.

“Why were you on a stakeout with the freaking Red Hood?”

At that, Tim recovers enough to feel a bit miffed. That’s the same tone she had last year when Tim was working with assassins and he gets offended on his brother’s behalf. Even if, you know, said brother had also been somewhat related to the assassins in question. In the past.

“Hey, Hood is not as bad as the news make him look. Sure, he’s not exactly clean, but he’s a valuable undercover agent and…”

Tam makes sounds of a woman whose white Valentino bag had liquid lipstick spilled in. “Does that mean you  are  dating the Red Hood?”

“What? NO!”

Tim pinches the bridge of his nose. God, what a mess. 

“He’s my brother,” he says. 

Tam looks like she goes through the 7 stages of grief in a very short time and, honestly, Tim feels for her. He likes Tam a lot. She is smart and strong and the poor girl has had to deal with so much since she and Tim became friends.

“Are you telling me… that Dick Grayson…”

“No, Dick’s not the Red Hood.”

She stares at the picture again and then at him. “This isn’t Duke or Damian, Tim.”

“You’re right. It’s a long story. I can’t tell you, though. I trust you but Hood’s identity isn’t my secret to share.” 

Tam closes her eyes and breathes in and out slowly. After all the crap she had to deal as one of Red Robin’s friends, a stranged brother that happened to be a crime lord (an anti-hero, really) wasn’t that far fetched. She didn’t know much about the Drakes because Tim didn’t talked about them, so, for all she knows, Red Hood could be Jack’s or Janet’s bastard child. Although Tim can figure her theories, he doesn’t try to explain anything. Whatever she works out is better than letting her know Red Hood is Bruce Wayne’s son brought back from the dead.

“Fine. You’re not dating a criminal. You’re a criminal’s brother.”

“I mean… if you think about it, I’m a criminal too.” He smiles sheepishly under her glare. “Being a vigilante isn’t exactly something I can put on my resume.” 

Shaking her head, Tam checks the picture again. “What were you even doing? Because it looks like you’re holding hands and finding it hilarious.”

“We… hm. We were thumb wrestling.”

She stares at him, her expression empty of any emotion. Tim cringes.

“Look, not everything is death traps and high risks, alright? Sometimes stakeouts get boring!”

“You were laughing your head off because you were having a thumb war with the Red Hood,” Tam deadpans.

“Hm. Actually the thumb war wasn't that funny, that was him cheating. I was winning so he kept talking shit about Dick’s past to make me laugh and lose focus.”

Tam finally sits down and she looks at ceiling as if she’s considering all the life decisions that lead her to this moment. At this point, Tim knows she’s just being dramatic, because knowing Red Hood cheats at thumb war for certain isn’t more shocking than the time she met Tim. 

“The thumb was isn’t important now, though,” Tim says. “ This  is a huge problem. Hood’s gonna be in hot water if people think he’s  friends  with a hero.”

He refuses to use the word lovers, because ew. Sure they’re not related by blood, but… ew. Tim  sees  him as a brother, damn it.

“Well, I’m afraid there’s not a lot we can do now,” Tam says apologetically. “The article’s been up since this morning. Even if we have them take it down, it’s already out there. #RedDynamicDuo is trending on Twitter.”

Oof. That’s… oof.

Tim intertwines his fingers and glares at the tablet in front of him as if waiting for the puzzle to solve itself. He knows it won’t, so it’s up to him to fix this. His burnt out brain suggests calling Bart and asking him to run back in time and stop that cursed thumb war. His practical brain has half a mind to call Oracle and see how much online evidence she can get rid of. He has to contact Gotham Gazette and threaten them into not putting vigilante’s identities at risk by posting such pictures, although he doesn’t hold high hopes for that course of action. What he needs now is a bigger scandal, although he fails to think of something more dramatic than Red Robin and Red Hood being buddies…

Right as he’s starting to feel a bit forlorn, his phone buzzes on the table. A picture of Dick smiling flashes on the screen and Tim allows himself to perk up for a moment. Dick for sure will be able to help him.

“Dick!” He picks up, full of hope.

Tim is greeted with cackling. Dick’s cackling.

He groans. “Richard.”

“AHAHAHAHA O-oh god, you… aha... b-baby bird, you… HAHAHAHA--”

Tim isn’t paid enough for this. He hangs up.

“Can you help me with this?” He asks.

“Don’t I always?” Tam quirks an eyebrow.

Smiling tiredly, he stands. “I’m taking the rest of the afternoon off. Can you take care of… you know… day job stuff?”

“I guess. Good luck with your… your family thing.”

 THE BIRDNEST

spoiler alert: *insert game of thrones joke here*

In the hood: Go fuck yourself, Stephanie

spoiler alert: not judging u bro he hella cute

WonderWing: steph please

cassandra cain-wayne: ?

send me a Signal: they’re talking about that picture of Hood and Red holding hands cass

yumm: were NOT holding hands

cassandra cain-wayne: I print that picture.

In the hood: W H Y ! ?

cassandra cain-wayne: cute :) 

spoiler alert: she right and she should say it

In the hood: Steph, turn on your location. I just want to talk.

yumm: stephanie I hv pics of u sleep drooling on me from that that 1 patrol dnt test me

spoiler alert: shut up red dynamic duo

 Tim hates the internet.

Barbara is kindly trying her best to muffle the online reaction, but there is only so much she can do without outright deleting people’s tweets. Tim knows for a fact that that would only cause a bigger uproar, so he asks her to settle for burying mentions of them under a fake algorithm. 

He has yet to think of gossip hot enough to top the rumors, but he doesn’t think even his fake engagement to Tam last year received so much attention. A glimpse into Gotham’s elusive heroes’ personal lives was too exciting to let go quickly.

When he walks into his apartment, he wants nothing but to take a hot shower and a nap. He knows he can’t, though. 

As well as he knows he isn’t alone. 

He plays it cool, walking in as though he doesn’t notice the person in the shadows. He drops his keys and phone on the nearest table as he would normally and turns around too abruptly to allow a reaction, his fist connecting to… someone’s palm.

“Nice reflexes, Baby Bird,” Jason says, quirking an eyebrow as though mildly impressed.

Tim groans. “Would it kill you to use the door?”

“It might, better not risk it.”

“It shaves five years of my life span every time I come home and you’re waiting in the shadows. Of all of Bruce’s habits to pick up…”

Jason simply shrugs. “So… what’s up,  honey? ”

“Ew, don’t say that,” Tim groans.

Keeping his nonchalant facade, Jason lets himself fall into Tim’s couch as though he belongs there. Tim heads to his room to change into more humane clothes.

“I’m assuming Dickie shared the news already,” Jason says.

“He couldn’t stop laughing long enough to say anything,” Tim replies from his closet. “Tam was kind enough to show me, though.”

“Tam… is that your ex-fiancée? Hmm… The news sure keep shipping you with everyone, speaking of which.”

Grumbling the whole time, Tim puts on a purple hoodie he might or might not have stolen from Stephanie and that he wears whenever he’s stressed. He wears that hoodie a lot. Heading back to the living room barefoot and feeling slightly more prepared to deal with the situation, he says:

“I’m assuming you aren’t here just to hang out.”

Jason gives him an unimpressed look. “I’ll give you three guesses.”

Tim blinks once. Twice.  No, it can’t be that… “ Everyone thinks you’re a rat.”

“Bingo.”

And this situation keeps getting better and better. Red Hood is feared enough that he can get away with hanging out with the goody two shoes every now and again and keep his rep. Being caught eating burgers and giggling with a hero was a whole new animal. 

They have to assume Hood’s safe houses were compromised as well. The point of having many hideouts is that you’re never left with nowhere to go, but even Jason wasn’t prepared to have everyone in his territory turn on him. That and they all had been raised and trained to be paranoid. It was too big of a risk to assume he’d be safe in a known place.

“Crap,” Tim mutters. 

“I considered ditching Gotham and spending some time with Roy instead…”

“But that would be as good as a confession. You’d never gain their respect again,” Tim completes for him.

Jason nods. 

The only silver-lining about this situation is that this is Jason. Granted he isn’t too angry to think, Jason is practical and willing to do what’s needed, even if it’s annoying or if it makes him uncomfortable. Tim likes working with him because of that.

“You know where the extra blankets are,” Tim says. 

Because, of course, if Jason can’t be at his own place and he can’t be with Roy and Kory, he’d crash Tim’s place. The manor isn’t really an option for him and Tim doesn’t blame him for that. 

“The plan of action?”

“I’ll let you know as soon as I figure out.”

Jason sighs. “I’m going to punch something in your Red Robin cave.”

“Be my guest.”

 Damage control is necessary, of course, especially for Red Hood’s safety, but there is something bothering Tim more. He opens the news and studies the picture. It’s a damn good shot, almost looks like it was staged. He closes his eyes and tries to remember that night. In order to take that picture, the photographer would have to be in of of the buildings across the street and they’d have to be good enough to go unnoticed not by one, but by two highly trained vigilantes, one of which had his senses enhanced by the Lazarus pit. 

He messages Babs quickly for more info on whoever sent those pictures to the news, but not even Oracle had managed to track them yet. It sounds like the photographer walked into Vicki Vale on the street and handed her the picture, because there was no digital footprint of such interaction.

Without any more ideas, he puts on his suit and heads out, glad that is patrol night. Perhaps punching criminals will give him some clarity.

Tim is nowhere near closing any of his cases and Gotham is unusually quiet because of course the criminals would choose tonight of all nights to be chill. The night Tim needs a crime. That’s why he’s more than a little thankful when a crackling sound in his comm lets him know someone’s trying to send him a message.

“Hey, hot stuff,” a familiar voice calls, “I have an underground gambling den to dismantle tonight, you want in?”

Red Robin smiles. “Is that a date?”

“I don’t know, is it? I don’t want Red Hood coming after me.”

“Batgirl.”

She laughs shamelessly. He hopes Barbara isn’t listening. Although the alternative would be Wendy listening, and he doesn’t know which one would be worse. Steph’s sense of humor isn’t for everyone and while, Tim doesn’t mind their inside jokes and got used to her eternal flirting, he feels as though those should remain between the two of them only.

“I’m serious, though,” Steph continues. “I don’t think backup is needed per se, but I miss fighting criminals with you. Plus I figured you could use a punching bag or two.”

He grins. He just  really  loves Steph. 

“Send me the details. I’ll meet you there.”

Turns out it’s a pretty standard burst for them. Gambling den covering a massive drug operation, because this is Gotham. Why wouldn’t they use an illegal thing to cover another more illegal thing? That sounded like a great idea. 

He finds Batgirl waiting for him on top of a building. She simply smiles and points at the shady alley down the street. 

“Gentlemen first?” she offers. 

“It’s your case.”

With a nod, she dives towards the ground and Red Robin follows her closely, frowning in confusion when she doesn’t dropkicks any windows. Instead, she casually strolls towards the back of the alley where a suspicious metal door that could easily go unnoticed if it didn’t scream CRIMINAL ACTIVITY HERE. Batgirl knocks at the door and gestures at Red Robin to stay away.

A slit on the door slides open and a confused crook tries unsuccessfully to see who’s there. With both vigilantes’ out of his line of sight, the poor bastard has no option other than opening the door to check. Batgirl swiftly pulls him into a headlock as soon as he walks into view and Red Robin’s grinning face is the last thing the man sees before the pressured applied makes him pass out.

Red Robin doesn’t figure what Steph’s plan is until she cuffs the unconscious bouncer and stands straight, offering her arm.

“You’re so dramatic.” He rolls his eyes, even as he takes it.

“Shush, you think I’m awesome.”

That he does. Especially when the two of them climb down into the basement turned illegal cassino with their arms locked as if they’re a couple. It’s cartoonishly comic how long it takes everyone to realize Red Robin and Batgirl are standing on the entrance, looking around at the 50 different illegal activities happening at once. 

Not as comic as when Batgirl shouts over the music: “Please, don’t stop on our account!”

The gamblers sober enough to freeze in horror. 

“Before we start, anyone wants to just give themselves in?” Red Robin offers.

That’s when guns start firing and all hell breaks loose. 

 The night ends, as it would, with Batgirl and Red Robin walking home a trio of strippers. The women weren’t to blame that their work environment was less than ideal and they certainly didn’t need to be left tied up waiting for the GCPD like the mobsters Steph and Tim beat up tonight.

Red Robin wanted to just watch them from the top ot the buildings and make sure they got home safe, but Batgirl insisted they walked alongside the women. Their costumes don’t look completely out of place near them and Red Robin doesn’t know what to think of that.

For a second, he thinks he hears someone behind them. Everytime he turns around, he finds nothing but an empty alley, so he shrugs if off as him getting hit tooo many times.

While Batgirl excitedly chats with two of the women about their future employment - one of them is in this line of work just to get by, the other genuinely enjoys sensual dancing as a form of art but wishes she could work somewhere better - when the third of them discreetly detaches herself from the group to walk closer to Red Robin.

She still looks tense and guarded, her arms tightly wrapped around herself and Tim wishes he had a jacket to offer her. The way she sideeyes him says she wants to say something, but is too nervous to start. Not wanting to betray his persona, he simply waits, trying to appear as non threatening as possible.

“Thanks a lot for savin’ us, Red Robin,” the woman says finally. “I can’t believe I’m meetin’ ya.”

He gives her a small smile. “I’m just glad you’re safe, ma’am, there’s no need to thank me.”

“I just wanted ta say… I get ya.”

Red Robin tilts his head to the side. “Ma’am?”

“The thing with your man. Must ta’ be hard dating the Red Hood. I know how it is.”

He was… He was getting sympathy from a stripper with bad taste in men.

“There’s nothing gross between Hood and I!” He lets out before he can help himself, his voice a little louder than intended.

The other women startle at his outburst and turn to him, wary. One of them reaches for what is clearly a pocket knife that she thinks is cleverly hidden in her bra.

He sighs. “I’m sorry, ma’am, just… Batgirl, I believe you’ve got things from here. I’m taking off.”

She gives him a concerned look, but ultimately nods. Under Batgirl’s and the three strippers perplexed glares, Red Robin grapples his way out of there.

 Tim wakes up around noon feeling as though he was hit by a truck, as he does when he sleeps longer than three hours a night. He slowly sits up and looks around his messy room, wondering how come he’s feeling so miserable. The smell of food stirs him into some sort of alertness.

Right. He’s not home alone today.

Yawning and scratching his belly, he forces himself to get out of bed. He know that the longer he stays the more likely he is to slip into a coma, his body demanding compensation for years of sleep deprivation. Tim drags his feet towards his kitchen where he finds one of Gotham’s most dangerous vigilantes humming to himself as he makes breakfast. Or Lunch. Brunch. Whatever.

“And here I thought I was the family’s zombie,” Jason says in lieu of good morning.

Tim grumbles something about his brother being too comfortable in Tim’s kitchen, but he doesn’t dare complain. Jason is probably the only person that uses Tim’s stove and one of the perks of having him over is that he does cook. A lot. 

The one disadvantage about having Jason over is…

A knife lodges itself on the counter in front of Tim when he tries to reach for the coffee pot. Tim didn’t even see him throwing it. He glares at his brother.

“Food first. Coffee after,” Jason says. 

“I’m too nauseous to eat, I just woke up.”

Again without breaking eye contact with the pot he’s stirring, Jason blindly reaches for a package of crackers casually left on the counter and hands it to Tim.

Tim makes sure to give him his best rebellious teenager glare before grabbing the stupid crackers and sitting down to eat them. Stupid Jason with his stupid boredom. Tim had forgotten Jason goes into full mom mode when he has nothing else to do and that he’s particularly obnoxious about Tim’s eating habits.

“I consume the necessary calories,” Tim mumbles over his cracker.

“Okay, Damian.”

Tim throws a cracker at him. Jason easily dodges without looking, which is kind of annoying.

After that, the two brothers fall into comfortable silence. Tim knows Jason wants to talk about their plan of action, but he knows Tim is nowhere near awake enough to hold a conversation. Besides, Jason doesn’t like being bothered while he’s cooking anyway.

By the time the food is ready, the crackers worked their magic and Tim no longer feels as though his stomach is ready to puke out its emptiness. He grabs dishes he hadn’t used in quite a while and sets the table for the two of them. The brothers start eating in silence, Tim slowly recovering his sense of self - no wonder he goes for so long without sleeping, he takes too long to reboot when he does - and Jason mindlessly scrolling through his phone. 

Then something on the small screen makes Jason choke on his food. 

Tim quirks an eyebrow. “You okay?”

“Hm… Timmy, you may wanna take a look at this.”

“What?” Tim takes Jason’s phone. “Oh, for fuck’s sake !” 

It’s another news article. The picture is fortunately less detailed, just a red and black silhouette against Gotham’s sky that may or may not be Red Robin standing over one of the many gargoyles. The text, however.  

RED ROBIN MAKES HOMOPHOBIC REMARK AND SHOCKS ADMIRER

Gotham’s newest vigilante busted an underground gambling den last night. Despite his heroic deed, his words after the fact were less than commendable. When questioned about his relationship with the Red Hood by one of the women he rescued, the hero allegedly said that there’s “Nothing gross between him and Hood.”

“Personally, I was shocked,” said the woman in question, Krystal Math, 25  years old. “Red Robin became my favorite hero when I heard he also has a dead-beat boyfriend. I was starting to finally see myself in one of those bats, you know? I couldn’t believe when he said being gay is gross. Never meet your heroes, I guess.”

   THE BIRDNEST

WonderWing sent a screenshot.

WonderWing: red robin is cancelled for homophobia, pass it on

Robin: Good. It’s about time we rid ourselves of him.

Cassandra Cain: Little brother does not approve gay rights? :(

yumm: im literally bisexual

spoiler alert: he avoiding the question

in the hood: #redrobinisoverparty

yumm: I hate this fucking family

 Tim hasn’t stopped pacing around the room since he read the most recent article. Those were his exact words by the letter, meaning someone had been listening. He doubts Krystal, bless her heart, was the one going to the news with his “homophobic remark”. 

Having basically given up on getting Tim to calm down, Jason is the one to get the porch door open for Steph. Because apparently she’s been learning from Jason and acquired his hatred for front doors. Steph knows how Tim gets, so she promptly ignores him and gets comfortable on the reading chair to check the article fully.

“This is nuts,” Steph says. “We were being careful. I made sure of it.”

Tim believes her. Batman and Robin are basically public figures at this point, even if they don’t interact with civilians if they can help it. Red Robin and the Signal were heard of and spotted around the city, but not a lot of people really  know  of them. Red Hood was basically a urban legend until recently and Black Bat sill is. Batgirl, however, is known for being a people hero. 

She was, back in Barbara’s time, stopped for a bit with Cass, but Steph embraced the old tradition whole heartedly. She would walk people home late at night to make sure they were safe, wave at little girls in the bus, talk to kidnapping victims until they were under heavy blankets handed by the police. Steph was extroverted and charming and she used that fully as Batgirl like she never could as Spoiler. That being said, she and Barbara always made a point to avoid pictures, security cameras and whatnot. If there was a hero good at hanging with civilians while unnoticed by the media, that hero was Stephanie Brown.

Tim’s phone is buzzing. He ignores it in favor of stomping around some more. 

“Well, something must have slipped your watchful eye,” Jason says, shrugging.

Steph glares at him. “Mine, perhaps, but are you implying someone went unnoticed by Oracle?”

“Well, someone obviously did,” Tim snaps, tossing his phone at the couch in frustration. “What happened after I left, Steph?”

“Nothing,” she says honestly. “I walked the ladies home. Krystal was a bit miffed but she didn’t say anything, so I thought she was just a shipper upset that her OTP wasn’t canon.”

“You think she went to the news after?” Jason suggests.

Steph frowns. “Why would she? She didn’t look like she had media connections exactly.”  

Tim’s phone, that bounced off the couch and fell with a soft thud on the carpet, continues to explode with texts. He sighs and stops to pick it up and finally answer them.

“Appearances can be deceiving,” Jason argues. Then turns to Tim: “You should look into her. I’m gonna check other possible sources.”

“Hm-hum, just a second,” Tim mumbles, typing furiously. “Damian is being a nightmare and asking for help on a case.”

“Wack. Are you telling him to solve his own cases instead of using your intell to impress Bruce?”

Tim glares at Jason.

“Really? C’mon, Timmy, we’ve been over this.”

Stephanie gives them a puzzled look. “You’ve been over… Dami being a nightmare?”

“Jason says that whenever someone is mean to me I should reply by attacking them where hurts the most,” Tim explains.

“He knows all of our weaknesses and he has the quickest thinking,” Jason says, frustrated. “The least he should do is stand up for himself with that knowledge!”

"Kinda rich coming from the guy that tried to kill him," Steph says, quirking an eyebrow.

"Steph," Tim scowls. "He didn't know me then and the pit rage--"

"Timmy," Jason cuts him off. 

Tim sighs. "Besides now I could off him in 20 different ways if he tried any of that shit again. There. Happy, Jason?"

"That's my baby brother."

Steph smiles at him. “You know what? You’re onto something, Jaybird.”

Tim interrupts his walk of worry again to smile a bit. Something about Stephanie and Jason agreeing on something is immensely satisfying.

Still, on the matter at hand, Tim says, “If I go off on Damian, Dick’s gonna get mad…”

“Then go off on Dick as well,” Steph promptly suggests.

Jason high-fives her. “Atta girl. Besides if Dick doesn’t want us to tell Damian to fuck off he has to work harder on teaching him not to be a little shit. Everyone here has a tragic backstory here and we all know Damian goes too far sometimes.”

Tim shakes his head again. “Regardless, Damian’s case will have to wait. We’re gonna go with your plan, Jay. And Steph…”

“Wow, no way, José. I’m just here as an eyewitness. I don’t want to get involved with homophobes and end up shipped with Jason or some shit.”

Tim glares at her. “I was going to offer you some of our leftovers, but since you’re not interested, that’s fine.”

While Jason laughs and Steph protests, he proceeds to look for his laptop, hoping this isn’t going to be a dead end. 

 “This is a dead end,” Tim declares.

From what he can find, Krystal wasn’t even paid for her impromptu interview. Apparently Vicki Vale showed up at her place to confirm the veracity of a story that she heard God knows where. 

Dick is in Bludhaven, but he insisted on facetiming them when he realized his brothers were struggling, even if he mostly just made worried faces from Tim’s phone as Tim, Jason and Steph exchanged notes. As a rule of thumb, Tim doesn’t involve his siblings in his cases since he became Red Robin, but this is definitely an all hands on deck situation. Tim isn’t desperate enough to get Bruce involved, but he’s getting there. Especially when Dick says:

“Babs couldn’t find anything in Vicki’s email or phone. She’s double checking all of Vicki's sources, but so far it’s been no good.”

“We could always get Vale and hang her by the ankles on top of some building until she talks,” Jason suggests. "Let's go old school on her."

Everyone ignores Jason. Tim stands for another mug of coffee. Dick lets out a frustrated sigh. Steph keeps watching all of them from the couch, where she’s been lying down and tossing gummy bears into her mouth for the past half-hour. 

When no one acknowledges him, Jason sighs and stands. “Alright, this’ been fun. I’m going to patrol.”

Dick frowns. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“He can’t vanish,” Steph says. “One thing is crashing Tim’s place to make sure he won’t get ambushed in his down time. If Red Hood goes AWOL he might as well admit he’s working with the Batclan.”

Jason nods. “If I don’t do my job, next thing I know Black Mask takes over my stuff.” 

“Can’t have Black Mask taking over his stuff,” Steph agrees.

Dick glances at Tim as though expecting him to disagree with the plan. Tim lets out a defeated sigh. “He’s right. Just… make sure to find a safe place to change into your gear so no one sees you. If there are any safe places, that is…”

Jason rolls his eyes. Tim knows he’s going full Robbie Downer mode, as Jason likes to call it, but he can’t help it. It’s not often that he finds himself without any ideas. He  should  have been able to solve this already. Since nothing comes to mind, he starts imagining unrealistic scenarios in hopes that they’ll give him some insight outside of the box.  AU in which I was never shipped with my brother by some nosey reporter. AU in which I went out Damian instead of Jason that night.

Tim groans in frustration. “Why did it have to be Jason? We could get away with me having a thumb war with literally anyone. If it was Batman out there, this wouldn’t be that much of a problem.”

“Maybe if you hung out with all your brothers and not just Jason there wouldn’t be as many rumors about you and Red Hood,” Dick mumbles.

Tim glares at the phone. 

“Really? You wanna go there? You wanna talk favoritism, Richard? Because you’ve been favoring Damian for-freaking-ever.”

“Drag him!” Jason cheers. 

“Tim,” Dick says, looking genuinely upset, “I love all-”

“Save it,” Steph cuts in. “We all have favorites Dick, there is no use denying it.”

Because Dick’s eyebrows are knitted in confusion, Tim clarifies: “Bruce’s favorite is Cass, yours is Damian, Jason’s is… I don’t know, his guns. Steph is my favorite, unfortunately. Steph’s favorite is Cass, Cass’ favorite is Duke, Duke doesn’t have favorites, he’s the only good person in this family, and Damian’s is also you.”

Steph nods. “You did it! You broke the Bat Family dynamics to its bare essentials!”

“And that is why Tim is my favorite. After my guns,” Jason adds.

“Jason, we do not rate our siblings.”

“That’s why you’re in last place, Dick.”

Ignoring Dick’s enraged noises, Tim sets his mug aside. “I’m going patrolling, even if today isn't my turn. Solo this time. Hopefully Red Hood and Red Robin being separate out there will help the rumors die down a bit.”

No one has a better idea - Tim’s least favorite sentence - so that’s what they do. 

 It’s another infuriatingly quiet night.

Red Robin stops a couple of muggings, scares the crap out of some drug dealers. At some point, he considers contacting Poison Ivy and asking if she has any corrupt CEO she wants help with. He could, you know. It’d stop Ivy from killing someone and on his last run with Harley Quinn she did let slip that Tim was Ivy’s favorite Robin. 

He almost falls mid swing at the memory, thinking he might be onto something, but then he remembers Harley hadn’t particularly recognized Red Robin as the third Robin. She was just ranting about how the new tiny Robin had no sense of humor and Ivy missed the last one. Besides of course Harley Quinn wasn’t feeding Vicki Vale some BatFanfic. Tim’s brain must be really burnt out if that’s the best hot take it can come up with. 

It’s almost 3am and he’s taking a pair of muggers that can’t be much older than Tim to the police. He’s about ready to call if a night when someone shouts:

“Red Robin!” 

He looks on instinct and his stomach drops when he sees Vicki Vale running towards him.  Crap.

“Red Robin, can I get a statement?”

He keeps walking. He’s just one dirty alley away from GCPD, otherwise he’d just tie the stupid muggers to his back and would use his grappling hook to get out of the situation, grapple safety be damned. The muggers gingerly attempt to hide their faces as the reporter runs to them swinging a digital recorder. Vicki acts as though she can’t see them.

“Red Robin, what do you have to say about the rumors of your relationship with the Red Hood?”

The rumors you created?  Red Robin quickens his pace and the muggers trip over themselves. He stares straight ahead, pretending he doesn’t notice the woman basically running in heels to keep up with him. 

“Are you ashamed of it? Is it because he’s a criminal or because he’s a man?”

Red Robin wonders if the muggers would walk the rest of the way and turn themselves in if he asked nicely.

“Don’t bother, lady,” one of the muggers says. “He’s a nasty bigot.”

The other mugger  nods and the two of them are wearing matching pouty expressions. Now Tim just feels bad. He didn’t become a hero for the recognition and he’s not in the business of doing PSAs like Superman, but he doesn’t want the strange socially woke criminal youth of Gotham to think they’re being arrested by a homophobe.

“I have no problem with two men in a relationship, I’m bisexual,” he tells the muggers. “Still, I’m not dating Red Hood. Just because I’m bi it doesn’t mean I’m dating every male vigilante I run into.”

At that, the two crooks look mildly surprised and suddenly they seem to feel a bit better about being arrested. Would you look at that. 

Red Robin delivers them to the police, painfully aware that Vicki Vale is nowhere to be found anymore. He feels like he’s going to pay dearly for being too prideful to let himself be mistaken for a heterosexual person. 

 Lo and behold, Twitter, on that very same morning.

@Gotham_Gazette:

Red Robin hints that he might be bisexual. “No, I’m not dating the Red Hood, just because I’m bi it doesn’t mean I’m dating every male vigilante,” said the hero on the rumors about his relationship.

        @dgraysonman hints??? he literally said he’s bi smh

        @stephssss wow only the male vigilantes? biphobic. let red robin date batgirl too

        @babsgeez be gay do crime, be bi serve justice

        @thomascommaduke no cops at pride, only Red Robin using a bi flag as cape.

“Timmy…” Jason starts.

“Don’t. Just leave me alone to die.”

“That’s fair, have a nice day.”

 At this point, Tim is surprised Bruce hasn’t intervened. As unaware of social media as Bruce can be, he’s always on the look for anything that might compromise their secret identities. Tim pulls two all-nighters in a row doing detective work and still makes no progress on his search for the person that sent Vicki that picture and overheard his conversation with Krystal. He fully expects Batman to jump him on his next patrol and give him a lecture.

When he comments that to Jason, he gets a confused look in response.

“You didn’t get a lecture? Bruce was the one that told me first. I had to hear about being careless for 20 minutes before I got home and could take off my comm.”

Tim frowns in confusion. Bruce had talked to him once or twice after the news got out and he didn’t comment anything on it. 

“That’s Batman’s psychological profiling,” someone suggests. 

Tim almost jumps out of his skin when Steph casually walks into the living room with a bowl of chips. 

“What are you doing here? And are those my clothes?”

Steph shrugs in the sweater that clearly doesn’t belong to her. “Jason and I are doing movie night.”

“Movie night,” Jason mocks. “She’s been here for the past two days. Did you seriously not notice, Tim?”

Tim’s jaw drops. 

Steph sighs and her expression turns guilty. “Fine. My mom is out of town for the week and Jason is a better cook than I am. Is it a crime to bum off your ex-boyfriend and his bizarrely talented in the kitchen brother?”

Before Tim can say anything, Jason interrupts: “What were you saying about Batman, Steph?”

She heads to the couch and starts looking for the remote, her feet propped on the coffee table. “B knows Jay will just shrug it off and deal with the consequences, hence the need of a lecture. If he annoys Jason, he’ll stop and reflect on it, even if out of rage. He knows Tim’s already overthinking and working his butt off to fix it, so he doesn’t want to add any pressure.”

Both Jason and Tim stand in dumbfounded silence.  Since when does Steph know Bruce so well?

She raises her gaze when the quietness stretches and quirks an eyebrow at them. “What? Am I wrong?”

“Hm. No. That’s pretty much what we’ve been doing,” Jason admits, if a big begrudgingly. “That’s annoying though.”

Steph simply makes a dismissive gesture and pats the sit beside her. “Tim, you need a break. Wanna join us?”

Tim hesitates. On one hand, the fact that Bruce trusts him that much is a tad touching… and knowing it makes him feel he has to solve this as soon as possible. On another… it’s kind of annoying that Bruce knows him so well and yet doesn’t think about offering any assistance. Tim is not stubborn enough to refuse a helping hand when he’s on a pinch.

“You’re not going to solve anything if you’re hallucinating from sleep deprivation, Timbers,” Jason points. “Besides we’re watching Avatar.”

“Fine,” Tim says.

If for nothing else, just to prove to Bruce that he’s  not an overworker and he can slack off in the absence of a parental figure.

Tim falls asleep in the middle of the second episode. Steph and Jason vow to take him to bed once they’re sure he’s completely out, but they only last until the end of the first season. The three sleep soundly on the couch for good eight hours and regret dearly when they wake up with necks too sore to fight crime for at least a day.

 Consequences. They always come.

Almost a week goes by in which the rumors are but an annoyance to Jason and a source of stress to Tim - but almost anything can stress Tim if he tries hard enough, so that’s not saying anything. Jason is still staying at Tim’s, but he’s considering going back to his own place when they go for three days with no new article and nothing unusual has happened. 

Until it does. 

It’ a rainy night Tim is going over reports for the next WE meeting when he hears a noise coming from the balcony. His stomach gives a familiar twist when he recognizes Batgirl hunched over the weight of one Red Hood. 

He rushes to her aid, already feeling nauseous. There’s no blood in sight but whatever happened must be serious if Jason is willing to let Batgirl give him a piggyback ride. Tim lets them drip water all over the floor and, in his panic, has half a mind to appreciate that Batgirl’s boots have enough traction that she doesn’t slip.

“What on Earth…”

“The most ridiculous thing,” Steph bables as she and Tim drag a very dizzy Jason to the couch. She then starts ranting so fast Bart Allen would be proud. “He was doing his thing as usual, but some of his people turned on him and there was an ambush and so many flipping people against one poor Hood and good god that guy shot his helmet at point-blank which,  damn , that was so stupid, of course the freaking helmet is bullet proof, it just ricocheted and…”

“Steph, calm down,” Tim interrupts. “Jason, can you report?”

When he gingerly attempts to take off his helmet, Steph takes over and undoes the safety measures before carefully removing it. There is a dent on the back part where he had been presumably shot. 

“Hm,” Jason grunts, squinting even behind his domino mask. “Ambush. Shot. Concussion. Very concussion. Ankle hurts? Prolly not broken, tho. Also stabbed?”

Tim nods. “Steph, get the medical supplies. Where’s the stab wound, Jay?”

Jason points to his thigh and there is an improvised bandage keeping him from losing too much blood. Considering how well done it is, Tim figures it’s Steph’s work. He nods and starts checking his brother’s vitals and making sure there aren’t other serious wounds.

When she comes back with the supplies Tim needs, Steph has her cowl down and a somber expression. She turns off the lights for Jason’s sake, the only source of light left on being the lamp near where Tim is already ripping off a piece of Jason’s pants to have better access to his wound. Steph sits by Jason’s side and grabs his hand, much to Tim’s surprise. He’s too busy taking care of the stab wound to ask, but he doesn’t have to. Steph breaks the silence:

“I’m so sorry, Jason.”

Jason gives her a confused look. “You saved my ass?”

“Yes, but…” Steph sighs and turns to Tim. “Babs is with the Birds of Prey tonight, so I was on my own. I was messing around with my comm frequency when I accidentally got into Jason’s. I heard the mess and it sounded like he was in trouble so I panicked. I went to get him and… Well, if there was any doubt that he’s working with the Bats, there isn’t now. It was too obvious that I was protecting him.”

Jason squeezes her hand. “Hm. Pigs.”

“Right. Then the police arrived and instead of leaving right away I stopped to make sure Jason wasn’t bleeding to death. More than a few cops saw me patching him up.”

Tim sighs. Well, shit. 

“It’s not your fault, Steph,” Tim says. “I mean… he literally wears a bat on his chest. People were bound to find out it isn’t just to stick it to Batman.”

“Is too,” Jason mumbles.

Tim ignores him. “The situation isn’t ideal, but we all prefer people knowing Red Hood is associated with the Bats than him being dead.”

“I died before.”

“We know, Jay.”

“Do not recommend.”

“We know, Jay.”

Steph fidgets a bit, still looking guilty, but ultimately nods. Tim is about to start stitching Jason’s wound closed when she says: “There’s more. You, hm, you know Renee Montoya?”

“The one valid pig,” Jason says. “I like her.”

“She was there. She helped a ton keep the other cops away from us before we could escape,” Steph says. “I think she wanted to check on Jason and…”

Tim stops moving. He knows Montoya, worked with her before and she’s a nice woman. That being said, she doesn’t have any connections to Hood. Why would she… Oh. The gay rumors. Damn wlw/mlm solidarity.

“What happened?” Tim asks, already fearing the worst.

“Hmmm, we’ll tell you, but I’m concussed, so you have to promise you won’t be mad.”

“Jason.”

Jason sighs. “Well. She asked about our relationship and… Hm. I might have told her we’re brothers.”

Tim stares at them. Steph is cringing and Jason is too out of it to care. At this point… Tim starts laughing, making the other two - even the concussed one - frown in worry.

“Aw, man,” Tim says between chuckles.  “What the fuck, am I right? I’m too old for this. Who cares? Not me! Fuck it. Fuckety fuck fucky-fuck.”

“I think we broke him,” Steph whispers even as Tim resumes stitching his brother.

They went from not-sure-if-real to a freaking cop knowing about their family in the span of a week. Tomorrow #TimDrakeIsRedRobin could be trending on Twitter and Tim wouldn’t care. Not anymore. Let them come.Literally everyone in his friend circle is a vigilante, a hero or a criminal at this point, he doesn’t even care about endangering anyone.

 It takes actually two days for it to hit the news. He’s alone in his office when Tam texts him a link to Gotham Gazette online. Judging by the lack of other words, Tim figures she’s cutting ties with him again.  

The newest article has no actual pictures, but a sketch of Red Hood standing with his guns pointed at the viewer and Red Robin standing behind him, his face only partially turned. The thing looks more like superhero fanart than an official sketch, but that never stopped Vicki Vale before.

 VIGILANTE FAMILY? by Vicki Vale

Red Robin, one of Gotham’s many masked vigilantes, was cause of intrigue recently. Many  people noticed the hero doing his work around Red Hood’s territory, something not even Batman dares on the regular. Speculation turned into a craze of theories when both red-themed vigilantes were caught sitting on a roof sharing a meal from Batburger and many thought perhaps there was more than your regular vigilante team up. 

Turns out the hero and the mob boss aren’t lovers, against popular belief. When questioned about the nature of their relationship, Red Hood snapped and confirmed one of the less popular theories: the two men are, in fact, related. “Red is right and he should say it,” said Red Hood to a bewildered policewoman. “Of course he’d say it’s [REDACTED] gross, he’s my little brother.” When asked about the conversation overheard by our reporter, the policewoman in question refused to give any more details and requested to remain anonymous.

It’s hard to be sure how such development came to be. The Red Hood has been active in Gotham for years as a mob boss and, more recently, a vigilante and ally to Gotham’s bats. While Red Robin is a newer vigilante, could it be that he was trained by the Red Hood? And how do the two brothers fit with Gotham’s oldest vigilantes? Unlike his older counterpart, Red Robin has been often spotted working side-by-side with the likes of Batgirl and Robin, making some question whether Red Robin is distancing himself from his criminal brother. However, sources spotted Hood being aided by Batgirl more recently. Could it be that his former sidekick is bringing Red Hood closer to the side of justice? More on the Red Twins as the story develops.

 THE BIRDNEST

spoiler alert: RED TWINS

WonderWing: R E D  T W I N S

send me a Signal: ~ * R E D T W I N S * ~

in the hood: uhhhh my bad?

yumm: dis is great

yumm: now im hoods stranged sidekick

yumm: i fucking hate u jason.

in the hood: hey, if you didn't want to be my sidekick you should've picked another color

yumm: screw u u dont own the color red

in the hood: I was born first

yumm: u died first 2

WonderWing: Tim!

spoiler alert: oof 

send me a Signal: wow Tim that was too far

in the hood: I’ve never been prouder to be your brother I taught you so well Timmy

send me a Signal: … I stand corrected. I sometimes forget everyone in this family is clinically insane

 “Hey Tim. There is discourse about you and Jason now.”

Tim lets out a whimper. 

“So apparently some people still ship you two. But those people are being cancelled because shipping incest is problematic.”

“Steph, are you planning on going home? I noticed you took one of my drawers.”

“There’s fanart of you two.”

“I don’t want to see it. That'll scar me for life."

“I’m DMing it to you. By the way there is civilian Red Robin fanart and for some reason they made you blonde.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, I guess it’s more fun to ship people with different hair colors. Should we dye your hair?”

“Why.”

“That way when you finally hook up with Co-”

“Finish that sentence and I kick you out of this apartment for good.”

 With the cat out of the bag, they start doing different damage control. 

Red Hood is now openly working with the Bats, so Steph and Cass dismantle Hood’s former safehouses around Gotham which mostly means getting Jason’s books and bringing them to Tim’s place. Jason suggests the places should be converted into something useful for the neighborhood, such as libraries or a community center of sorts, so Tim starts working on what needs to be done by WE to make that reality. Tim also makes sure Bruce pretends not to know Jason is using a lot of money illegally acquired to getting himself new hideouts.

They dance around the topic a lot and nothing is really said until Steph brings it up. Steph, whose mother returned days ago. Steph, that definitely doesn’t want Jason to leave, because apparently she suddenly has a new favorite ex-Robin. Steph, that is currently eating homemade waffles in Tim’s kitchen, even though Tim is 83% sure she didn’t sleep over last night.

“Why doesn’t Jason just moves in?” she asks.

When neither boy replies immediately, she continues:

“I mean, it’s more practical, isn’t it? Tim’s place is already secure, he has a hero hideout downstairs and you two already work together all the damn time. Tim’s office can be converted into a room for Jason, because, let’s face it, I spend most of my free time here and Tim never uses it. I once saw him take his laptop with him to the bathroom and then return to the kitchen table instead of using the office. We wouldn’t even have to take the shelves, because Jason would fill them.”

They exchange a look. 

“You know, she’s right,” Tim says. He shrugs like it’s no big deal, really.

He isn’t nervous at all while Jason stands there, his expression unreadable. It’s not like he enjoys way too much having his brother around and got way too comfortable with having a roommate and a half (if you count Steph) on the past weeks. Tim doesn’t care, he’s cool like that.

“I mean. I guess having you as a roommate beats living alone,” Jason finally says.

Tim fails to hide his grin. “We can start working in turning the office into a room this weekend.”

Jason smiles back and messes his hair. 

Tim’s first theory is that Steph wants Jason off the couch so she has an official place to sleep, because apparently Jason’s cooking is that good.

His second theory is that she noticed how happy Tim is to finally share a house with family. The Wayne Manor had been home for a while, sure, but despite Alfred’s best efforts the place wasn’t the coziest. It wasn’t the same as sharing an apartment with a brother, bickering about sharing chores and openly discussing their night jobs before shifting the conversation to a video game they want to buy. Sharing actual meals and making sure one another wouldn’t end up dead in a ditch.

Tim decides to stick with his first theory, after all it’s easier for Steph to make Red Twins jokes if Jason and Tim are under the same roof. 

 Even without new gossip, the idea of vigilante brothers is too interesting for the general public to let go. Tim and Jason start acting mostly in the shadows and having no interaction with civilians at all and they’re still the topic of Gotham’s variety shows and online discussions from time to time.

Because they don’t slip again, Bruce has yet to bring up the subject with Tim, but the mystery remains. Who listened to all those conversations and how? Tim keeps expecting the other shoe to drop, to get a message demanding ransom for their secret identities, something,  anything , but nothing happens. Nothing freaking happens and he’s never been this frustrated.

That is, until, it happens. The ultimate betrayal. 

Dick’s next visit coincides with the time Cass is over for the week. Because Bruce is secretly a sap in the wrongest way, he suggests they all go patrolling together. Such great family time. 

Despite their initial protests, they must all be the same kind of freak, because they all agree. They split up soon to cover more ground, but keep their comms on so it still feels they’re all in a big menacing group. 

Red Robin is somewhere near the crime alley when Nightwing announces he noticed some of Two Face’s goons getting into a building. He checks his wrist pad for their locations and notices Nightwing isn’t that far from where he is. The next closest person is Red Hood.

“I’ll take care of it,” Nightwing says over the comms.

“Negative. Two Face himself might be there,” Batman intervenes. “Wait for backup. The Red Twins--” And he stops himself as though realizing what he’s saying.

“Batman!?” Red Robin gasps in a betrayed voice. 

Nightwing is already having a laughter fit over the comms almost drowning the sound of Bruce’s disappointed sigh.

“I’m sorry, Red,” his father says and he even forgets to use Batman’s scary voice. “Nightwing and Batgirl have been saying it so much that-”

“Save it,” Hood groans. “And stop laughing, Jerkwing!”

The worst part is knowing that, even if he solves the mystery, the Red Twins thing is probably going to follow him to his untimely death. 

 Tim all but lost hope when he gets an email from Barbara. “To my favorite Red Twin” says the subject. He groans, but opens the email, because one does not simply ignore a message from Oracle. Then he almost drops his phone. 

Attached there is a grainy picture of a young woman talking to Vicki Vale. The image had certainly been enhanced digitally as it’s probably from a shitty security camera, but you can still see the woman’s face clear as day. She looks like she’s handing Vicki something, her shoulders tense and her expression wary. The body of the message is, most likely, the woman’s personal info. Her name is Lisa Harris. She is 27 years old. She lives somewhat close to Jason’s territory. And, most importantly, Babs added to the end of the message:

The picture is from the night before the Red Twins article ;) Vicki didn’t talk to anyone other than her coworkers and our pal Lisa on that night.

Jason comes out of his room when Tim trips on the coffee table in his hurry to stand. “What’s up?”

Tim hands him the phone. Jason’s eyes grow wide. “I don’t care about subtlety. We’re both going after this chick.”

“Agreed.”

“Should we wait for Steph? She’s gonna be mad that we went when she’s in class.”

“Jason, Steph doesn’t live here.”

“Doesn’t she, though?”

“We’re not waiting for Steph. She’s not involved.”

“Aight, but when she’s bitching I’m gonna say I remembered her and you said no.”

 They leave their bikes behind first for stealth sake, but mostly because the place they’re going isn’t that far from their place. Tim shivers at the thought of someone so dangerous living near him. He wonders what kind of information Lisa might have gathered and for how long she’d been watching them. Is she a new enemy? Perhaps a member of the league?

The shitty building she lives in doesn’t suggest that. It’s just another grimy Gotham apartment complex that didn’t age well. The place they’re looking for doesn’t have a balcony, only a useless fire escape so rusty it would probably crumble under any sign of flames. It’s a perfect hiding spot, because nothing suggests a villain lives there. It’s just a building, home to many underpaid bachelors, nothing too suspicious about it.

Red Robin reminds Hood of that before they nod to each other and split. Jason goes into the building with a ton of confidence, for such a big guy trying to go unnoticed. Tim uses his grapple to reach the right window, not trusting that fire escape for even a second. 

The window is open and he finds himself looking at a place not that different from the one Jason lived before moving in with Tim. Mismatched furniture of the living suggests whoever lives there didn’t have money for fancy decor or that they don’t mind how the place looks. However, something about the place looks… well, lived in. It doesn’t look like a criminal temporary hideout, but rather someone’s place.

As he hesitates, a woman walks in. The woman of the picture, Lisa Harris. Her long blonde hair had been tied in a knot on top of her head and she’s getting ready for bed, if her oversized T-shirt and pajama pants say anything. She’s holding a bowl of cereal.

She reminds him of Steph and that causes him to hesitate for a second. What if this girl is innocent? Their evidence is circumstantial. Maybe she just happened to talk to Vicki Vale at the wrong time.

That hesitation costs him dearly. The woman appears to feel his eyes burning the back of her head. She glances at the window and their gazes meet.

Crap. 

Lisa inhales sharply and drops her cereal bowl. Before he can reassure her of anything, she’s bolting for the door. He pats himself in the back for his backup plan, because just as she opens the door she runs right into Red Hood’s chest. Lisa stumbles backwards, her expression horrified.

“Knock knock?” Hood quips.

She lets out a squeak and guilt makes Tim wince. Once again he opens his mouth to tell her they’re not here to hurt her when she… vanishes. 

She simply disappears right in front of their eyes.

“Shit, she’s a meta,” Hood hisses. 

Red Robin’s thoughts fly a thousand miles per hour, finally making the conexions he stupidly missed for so long. Of  freaking course.  He was so used to dealing with a bunch of idiots in colorful costumes and assassins and whatnot he hadn’t taken in consideration that ninjas aren’t the only exceptional enemies they face. And if his theory is correct. 

“She’s still here,” he says. “If I’m right, she can turn invisible. That’s how she’s been listening to private conversations.”

A soft gasp follows his statement and Hood is moving almost as fast as Red Robin’s insights. An invisible woman is still solid and her clumsy footsteps are still audible, so on the moment that follows Jason seems to embrace air. 

“No!” She cries out, flashing in and out of sight for a few seconds.

“Careful,” Red Robin warns.

Hood is wearing his helmet, but Tim knows him well enough to know his brother is glaring at him as if saying  duh?  

Lisa tries to stomp on Hood’s feet, she squirms and grunts, but he doesn't budge. Apparently invisibility is her only power and she looks terrified.

“It’s okay!” Red Robin hurries to say. “We’re not going to hurt you!”

She turns her frantic gaze to him. Her brown eyes suddenly become watery. 

Shit.

“Hood, let her go,” Red Robin says. 

“Seriously?”

“Yes. You’re not going to try to escape again, are you, Lisa? We just want to ask a few questions.”

He wishes they had waited for Steph.

Lisa hesitates, paralysed, but slowly nods. Her eyes never leave Red Robin once their gazes met, not even to check whether Hood is going to let her go or not.

“Hood,” he calls again. 

Groaning something about being too trusting, Jason lets her go. He is gentle about it, too, making sure to let her feet touch the floor carefully instead of simply dropping her. Regardless, as soon as she’s left to stand on her own legs, her knees give in and she drops on the floor. At that, Tim can tell even Jason is hiding guilt behind his helmet.

He shakes his head to regain focus and crouches in front of the woman. If at this point they just apologize and leave, they’ll have traumatizes this poor woman for nothing.

“Lisa Harris,” he starts. “That’s your name, right?”

She trembles when he says her name and that should have been the first red flag. He blames it on the stressful situation and moves on.

“I’m sorry for startling you,” he says. He keeps his expression empty, even if he again can tell Jason is cringing at the understatement. “No one here is going to hurt you. We just want some answers. Is that alright?”

Her hands are balled tightly on her lap as though she’s making a lot of effort not to move them - perhaps to punch them, defend herself? But again she doesn’t look prone to start a fight.

“You’re him,” she whispers, her voice heavy with… something. It almost sounds like affection. “You’re really the Red Robin. In my room.”

That  red flag is harder to ignore. He is about to check for other shock symptoms when Hood calls.

“Hmm… Red? Are you seeing that?”

He follows his brother’s gaze… and his chin drops. On the wall opposite to the door hangs a giant corkboard. On the corkboard, held by black and red tacks there are dozens of Red Robin pictures. Some blurry, some taken from so far that you can barely be sure it’s really Red Robin or not, the infamous picture of the thumb war (demon horns had been disturbingly scribbled on Jason on that one) and… He doesn’t have words. 

“You’re my hero!” Lisa claims.

“Is he? I couldn’t tell,” Hood says.

Red Robin punches his knee, which is all he can reach from where he is, and turns his attention to the woman in front of him.

“Lisa, for how long have you been following me?”

“Since you saved me,” she says. “Well… Hm. You didn’t save me. But you stopped a heist at the Central Bank a couple of months ago and I was there. I could've died without you.”

Aw, crap on a stick.

“Do you… do you know who I am?”

“You’re Red Robin,” she repeats.

“He’s asking about his identity behind the mask.”

The way she glares at Jason doesn’t suggest she had been shaking in fear moments ago. “He’s Red Robin,” she insists. “I don’t need anything else.”

“If you don’t know… how do you have so many…” Hood gestures vaguely at her creepy corkboard.

“I did detective work,” she says and glances at Red Robin as if expecting a pat on the back. “I noticed you always go on patrol on mondays, wednesdays, fridays and saturdays. Then if I wandered around long enough… It was just a matter of hard work and bit of luck, really.”

Damn. Now that Tim thinks about it, the one time he went on patrol spontaneously was also the night Vicki Vale found him by coincidence rather than magically knowing what happened. 

“Fuuuuck,” Hood groans. “I told B patrol schedule was a dumb idea!” Then, in a deep growly voice, “ It’s a matter of efficiency Hood, don’t be paranoid. Who’s paranoid now, Batloser?”

“Not the time, Hood.”

“Right. Proceed.”

Red Robin sighs. “Why did you sell my pictures to Vicki Vale?”

At that, Lisa looks suddenly ashamed. “I.. I’m sorry. I thought… I thought you were  involved  with  him  and I panicked. I thought… I thought seeing what it would do to your reputation would make you see that he’s not good enough for you.”

“Rude.”

“Hood.”

“What? She is.”

“I was trying to learn more about him, you know? I was. When I found out he was your brother, I realized you had no option, right? Family is family. I even told the news again to clean your record.”

So he had a stalker. A stalker concerned about his love life, no less, that’s… great. Just great. Of all the scenarios he considered they’d have to face, this is not one of them. Before he decides what to do, however, Lisa speaks up again. 

“You sound so… nice.”

Tim stares at her in confusion, unsure whether to thank her or not. Regardless, she didn’t sound like she was complimenting him.

“I mean… aren’t I supposed to be?”

“No! I mean… you’re… you’re dark and brooding and serious and you don’t waste time with civilians unless forced…” She frowns and Tim figures she’s thinking about the night with the strippers. “You’re… the night.”

Jason snorts. Tim punches his knee again. “Lisa, I’m pretty sure you’re thinking of Batman, not me.”

Her expression twists in such fury both vigilantes prepare to restrain her, but instead of directing her anger at them, Lisa scoffs.

“Don’t  get me started on Batman! All that crap about being mysterious and working alone? Then he joins the freaking Justice League? Just… Batman, in the middle of a bunch of rainbow wearing clowns. And then… all those freaking kids. Why does he have so many kids?”

“Lady, we ask ourselves that everyday,” Tim admits.

Lisa is wearing the same expression Krystal had when Red Robin denied his relationship with Hood.

“I’m sorry, Lisa, I’m grateful that you admire me, but you can’t keep following me like this.”

Her eyes teary again, Lisa swallows dry. “Clearly, if you’re  sorry  about it.”

They can’t exactly take her to Arkham for taking pictures. Tim feels less bad about the whole thing when the woman stands and starts telling them in a  very loud voice  to get the hell out of her house.

“Fine,” Jason says, heading to the corkboard. “But I’m taking this.”

“Take it,” she shouts. “I don’t need it anymore. You’re  just like Batman!”

And that’s how Red Hood and Red Robin find themselves standing in the middle of a dusty hallway, Hood with a conspiracy board under his arm. 

Well, that happened. 

 In the end, Steph  was  furious about them going to the stalker’s house by themselves, but there was not a lot she could do except doodle on every picture of the stalker board. 

There must be something very wrong with their sense of humor, because their text group becomes a mess of jokes about the stalker Robin being stalked. At that Tim has no problem exercising Jason’s lessons in holding grudges and refuses to help them with any of their cases unless they stop it. The thing is that all of them find the whole thing hilarious.

All of them except Duke.

“Give it a while,” Tim tells him. “You’re the most recent acquisition to the family. In due time your idea of funny will be just as warped as ours.”

“Hm. When was the last time you slept, Timmy?” Duke asks.

“Tuesday.”

“Today is Tuesday.”

“Hahahaha yeah.”

“... Jaaaaasooon! Come over here! Tim is going into The Ring territory! Do something about it!”

Bruce doesn’t find it funny either. He isn’t happy that there’s a deranged meta he didn’t know about, but Tim thinks that was the least surprising part of the whole ordeal. He reckons a lot of metas doesn’t want to be a hero or a villain, they’re just regular people that live regular lives and happened to win in the metagene lottery. 

Or… well. In Lisa’s case, not so regular.

And that’s why upon hearing the story for the first time, Bruce  completely freaks out. He starts considering possibilities from scaring the woman as Batman - “That’s a terrible idea, dad, you heard she likes that shit,” says Dick over facetime - or having her arrested - “Father, having bad taste in men is hardly a crime. She has yet to do anything to harm Timothy” Damian helpfully reminds him - and finally to fill out a restraining order - “For who, Karen?” Jason snaps. “Red Robin? Or you want to walk into that nut job and tell her she’s not allowed near Tim Drake-Wayne?”

Long story short, it’s chaos. Tim has had enough of a crazy night, so he sits back near the training area of the cave and sips the tea Alfred made him. Bruce is doing Tim’s stressed out circuit, pacing back and forth around the cave while his children follow him - Damian is holding the phone higher than his head so Dick can talk to Bruce at eye level - and they try to talk him out of doing anything stupid.

Most of them, anyway. It looks like Duke is definitely looking into the possibility of a restraining order.

Cass detaches herself from the mess and heads towards Tim. She looks calm, as Cass always does, and some of that calm transfers to him. When she takes a seat by his side, he smiles at her.

“Okay?” she asks. 

Tim shrugs. “Weirded out, mostly. I’ll be fine.”

She points at her then signs Tim’s house as a question. She’s asking him if he wants her to come over.

While Cass is one hell of a bodyguard, Tim thinks of Steph, who’s most definitely playing with his video games back at home, and of Jason, whose schedule mostly matches Tim’s, hence he is, more often than not, at one shout of distance. Tim can’t think of any place that feels safer than his home right now.

“I’m fine. Jay and Steph are taking care of me. I’ll just have to be twice as careful during patrol,” he says.

Cass nods, satisfied. She gives him a forehead kiss and leans against his side. The two of them watch their family yell at each other for the next ten minutes, matching serene smiles on their faces.

 Bruce settles for keeping Lisa under occasional watch. 

Barbara stalks her online and finds that Lisa has left a Red Robin fanclub (Tim did not know those existed) and closed all of her threads on the Red Robin subreddit (Tim knew about those, but kept his distance), making it seem that learning that Red Robin is just a polite-ish kid really killed her love. 

Bruce says he’ll keep tabs on her because he know she’s a meta, it’s not like he’s being overprotective, he totally knows Tim can take care of himself, really. 

Other than that, Bruce is way too happy about Jason’s new living arrangement. He even  almost smiles. 

 Tim… is fine. The whole thing is creepy, for sure, but he finds out that his siblings making so many jokes about it makes it easier to handle. Yay for their unhealthy coping mechanisms. 

He doesn’t think he will ever be okay with media, though. It’s annoying enough that he has to deal with reporters as Tim Drake-Wayne, he definitely doesn’t need the attention as Red Robin. 

Luckily for him, his siblings help him with that too. One time he’s wrapping a gang bust with Nightwing when a reporter comes running towards them, begging for a few answers. Red Robin cringes inwardly realizing there are no close buildings to use his grapple, but before he can say anything, Nightwing squeezes his shoulder. 

“Go, Timmy. I’ve got this.”

Tim smile. “Thanks, Dick.”

And he leaves the silent and swift way only a Bat can do. 

 Things are great. As great as they can be in Gotham, at least. Tim wakes up at 9am - an early time for a vigilante, but he got at least 5 hours of sleep, so that’s something - and heads to the kitchen. He finds Steph (who still swears she doesn’t live with them) and Jason bickering over pancakes they’re making. Smiling to himself, Tim mumbles a good morning and starts washing the dirty dishes from last night.

The peaceful morning is interrupted by Steph’s phone buzzing. She use a paper towel to clean her hands before checking it and…

“Uh… Timbers?” she calls.

He freezes, the pan he’s washing suddenly forgotten. “What now?”

Steph is trembling with contained laughter when she hands him the phone. Duke just sent her a link to a news article. Tim clicks and finds himself staring at the headline RIVALRY BETWEEN HEROES? followed by a clear picture of Nightwing and a blurry shot of Red Robin.

The article follows:

After dealing with an infamous gang of contrabandists that operated near Gotham’s harbor, Nightwing and Red Robin went their separate ways without much courtesy. Despite the short collab, it appears that Red Robin didn’t appreciate Nighwing’s help, his farewell words being a sarcastic “thanks” followed by calling Bludhaven’s hero a “dick”.

Tim raises his eyes to the other two. Steph is hiding her face into the crook of Jason’s neck, her shoulders still trembling a bit. Having read the article over Steph’s shoulder, Jason is biting his lip.

Tim deadpans: “This is the funniest shit that ever happened to me.”

The three of them explode in laughter and they cackle for a good minute, until the three of them are breathless and their cheeks hurt.

“I-I want to print that and frame it,” Steph manages between giggles. “Let’s hang it on the living room.”

“Good… ahaha… Good work, Timbers,” Jason says, smiling wide. “For that, you can have extra pancakes.”

Tim is still grinning when he goes back to his dish duty. Maybe being under the media attention isn't so bad after all.

[oops-prow-did-it-again]

Pokémon Black: The Novel - Chapter 9 (Thread the Needle)

Prologue and more info

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Pokémon Black: The Novel on FFN

Pokémon Black: The Novel on AO3

Pokémon Retold the series on AO3

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

Hil spent the next week training along Route Three.

He stopped at Striaton City’s Pokémon Center often and stayed there overnight. Even if he often heard whispers and received awkward stares, he had no intentions of going to Nacrene City just yet. He knew Cheren and Bianca would likely spot him, and he just didn’t want to talk to them. As angry and hurt as he had been at Cheren in Wellspring Cave, he had understood Cheren’s concerns. In fact, he had even agreed with him. He just had no solution for the problem at the time.

His mind had settled on a simple plan: train, train, and train. Do it alone. He hoped that he would be able to manage on his own, and if he got into a tough spot, desperation would force him to keep from locking up. At first, he and his pokémon had been forced back to the Pokémon Center almost hourly, but after a while, he found a groove and was able to remain for longer stretches of time. His pokémon seemed to appreciate the one-on-one interactions they received, at least. He had even managed to catch a Blitzle after repeated, failed attempts at acquiring one.

The Blitzle, a male one, had an arrogant air about him. He had been lazy and disinterested in battle and that had been what allowed Hil to catch him. Hil had offered him the chance to leave following his capture since he seemed angry at having been caught, but at the last second, the Blitzle had seemed to change its mind and bumped its muzzle against Hil’s right palm. Hil had smiled uneasily and thanked him for agreeing to stay. Due to his haughty nature, Hil had jokingly called him ‘Prada,’ and the name stuck.

It was day eight when Hil awoke in his hostel room to his Xtransceiver ringing wildly. He ignored it at first, as he always did, with the hopes the other person would get the hint and leave him alone. Yet, after ten minutes or more of successive rings, Hil’s anxiety kicked in and he sat up, dazedly reaching for the device. He found it was a mixed effort of Cheren and Bianca both calling him. He flopped back down in the bed before sliding his finger across the ‘Answer’ button.

His face appeared on the bottom left screen. His unkempt, oily hair, whipped into every which way, indicated way more obviously than he’d have liked that he hadn’t showered in the last two days. “Sup,” Hil mumbled groggily.

“Hil!” Bianca exclaimed. “You finally answered! I’ve been so worried!”

Her voice echoed. He could tell she was with Cheren in the same spot and they had both just been making a concentrated effort to annoy him into answering. He supposed it had worked.

“Yeah? I’ve just been training on Route Three some,” Hil yawned.

Again, it was Bianca who spoke. Cheren didn’t seem to even be looking at his Xtransceiver. “Well, you scared us! We thought you might have been hurt when you kept refusing to answer and you never showed up in Nacrene,” she whined. She tilted her head and glanced at Cheren. After a short pause, she stamped a foot and tapped him in the shoulder. “Hey! Speak up!”

Cheren winced at her touch and shot her a dirty look. He nervously glanced up at the Xtransciever and away again. “I’m sorry for what I said in Wellspring Cave,” he mumbled at last through what sounded like a mouthful of cotton. “I lost my cool. You didn’t deserve that. It won’t happen again.”

Hil tossed his left arm over his forehead, blotting out his view of them and their view of his face. “Don’t say that, Cheren,” Hil sighed. “I mean, I appreciate the apology, but what I meant is… you weren’t wrong, really. It is scary that I freeze up like that and that’s gonna be a big problem if I don’t deal with it. That’s why I went off the radar. I wanted to practice without having anyone to fall back on for a while but myself. Hoped it might force me to see reason even if I was having a freeze-up.”

“…Did it?” Cheren asked quietly.

Hil thought about that for a second as he moved his arm from his face. He hadn’t really had but one or two moments in his training throughout the week where he truly froze, and both times, his pokémon had taken up for him. At least, Noodle had. Rather than continue to panic alongside Hil and wait for him to issue commands, the Snivy had taken it upon himself to react when Hil began to lose his focus; he seemed to default to a Vine Whip, and then would lightly tap Hil’s legs with the vines as well to try to regain his attention. Interestingly enough… it had worked. Noodle had to repeat his ministrations a few times, but it always worked.

“I think so,” Hil answered finally.

“So, nothing bad happened while you were out there?” Bianca asked worriedly. Suddenly, he felt very annoyed with that question. It sounded as if Bianca were being protective at him. While part of him wanted to be appreciative, what little pride he had was wounded at the implication he needed guarding by her.

“Nope,” was all Hil answered her with. She didn’t deserve his vitriol. “I caught a Blitzle, though. His name’s Prada.”

“That’s awesome!” Bianca beamed. “Where are you at, anyway? You look like you’re in a bed, but we haven’t seen you in Nacrene.”

“You look like you slept on your head and forgot what a shower was as well,” Cheren added dryly.

“Ha ha,” Hil sneered, “yeah, I’m in Striaton City’s hostel. Was able to convince them to let me have a room alone.” Hil curled his lips a little and mockingly said, “Perks of being the kid of a dead gym trainer man.”

Bianca visibly cringed at that statement, but shook it off within seconds. “W-well, we’re at Nacrene, if you want to meet us here! Cheren already won his badge from Lenora. We were waiting on you to come along and have your battle before we left!”

Hil blinked. “You were?”

“Yeah. We left Nuvema together, didn’t we? Why split up now?” Cheren questioned. “Not gonna let one little fight ruin us, are we? We’ve had worse spats, I think,” Cheren laughed a little nervously.

Hil chuckled. “You have a point… okay. I’ll get ready and meet you guys in Nacrene in…” Hil glanced at the time in the corner of the Xtransceiver’s screen. It was currently 10:12 AM. Oh boy, he had sure slept in. “…Probably about noon,” he said half-heartedly. “Sorry, I had no idea I slept in so late…”

“You always sleep in late,” Cheren mused.

“We’re away from home, who cares? Sleep as late as you want!” Bianca giggled.

Cheren scowled at her. “That is not healthy life advice.”

“Thanks Daddy, always lookin’ out for us,” Hil grinned.

With that, Cheren hung up and Bianca squealed something incoherent, laughed, and quickly wished Hil farewell before hanging up as well. Hil felt relief welling in his chest. He hadn’t realized how badly he had missed talking to them and how painful it had been to actively ignore them over the course of even just the week. He had known Cheren and Bianca his entire life, and he looked forward to putting that spat behind them.

 ----------------------------

Castelia City had felt suffocating recently. It was a new feeling to the happy-go-lucky gym leader of the most bustling, lively city in Unova. The open, winding streets and various shops that had once felt warm and inviting now felt restricting, like the straps to a straitjacket, and he, the loose cannon of a patient.  He had opted to leave the city for a while. He still had rights to a studio in Nacrene City and although he had allowed some younger artists to use it for the time being, they had been ecstatic at the idea of having him back for a while. Their exuberance had been welcome. Burgh didn’t feel like he was anyone’s favorite person anymore, but their reaction had made him feel wanted.

Many would tell you Burgh was the cavalier, artsy gym leader of Castelia City, enjoying life at its fullest and encouraging his gym trainers and challengers to do the same. They would proclaim him as easily the most upbeat of the entire Unovan Pokémon League Staff, they would celebrate his portfolio of art, and lightly tease his fondness for Bug-types. They may have whispered about his occasional artists’ block and how he’d travel to Nacrene City to escape it on occasion, since he had started his art career as a lost, lonely art student in one of its outrageously expensive studios.

More recently, however, one may have found a wildly different picture of Burgh painted by the brush of news anchors: the ignorant, careless gym leader that did not notice the light fading in one of his students. A callous, pompous artist who no longer concerned himself with the emotions of others unless it suited him for public viewing.

It had all stemmed from the sudden suicide of a gym trainer of his named Vincent, or as he had preferred to be called, Vince. Burgh also felt the blame aimed his way was highly unfair because he never had any idea Vince was struggling. Vince was more outgoing than many of his other trainers, he joked often, he loved to pretend he really was a court jester in alignment with their funny clown outfits… He had seemed so excitable and happy. Sure, Burgh had been aware Vince had an unpleasant home life, but the gym had seemed to lighten his day up. No matter how many times he scrutinized his time spent with Vince at the gym, he could never come up with an ounce of evidence pointing to the idea that Vince was struggling with such bitter demons.

The closest thing to evidence he had come up with was that sometimes, Vince showed up in unkempt clothes, the scent of coffee strong on his breath, and his eyes glazed over dazedly. It had given Burgh the impression that he may have been hungover, but what was he supposed to have done about that? Vince was a grown man, and while he preferred his trainers to show up unintoxicated, there was no official rule about it. The only time anyone was asked to sit to the side for those reasons was if they were actively disrupting instruction or clearly not in their right mind. He hadn’t had an incident like that with any of his students, well… ever. Vince had always joked about his uneasy state whenever he arrived like that, and Burgh had just joked back, thinking that’s what Vince had wanted.

Insulted was a kind way to put how the media’s lashings made him feel. Burgh prided himself on offering help to others and indeed, his passion for art had grown from a desire to show off the beauty of everyday mundanities to others in a bid to brighten their lives. His love for Bug-types had sprung from a youth spent sympathizing with them for how most considered them gross and unsightly. He had striven to show they were just as deserving of love as any other pokémon. As any other living creature.

Over the course of three short months, the media was running his name into the ground. Truth be told, not everyone believed it; Burgh had personally touched the lives of many people and his status as gym leader meant that many had difficulty even considering the possibility of the sensationalist stories being right. Even so, the small group of people who believed it were very real. An odd glare here, a hurried, husky whisper there… Burgh was not blind nor was he deaf to the hike in public criticisms. He could have marched up to them and demanded they stop spreading such nonsense—indeed, he could have even gone to the news stations themselves and order them to stop spreading such insidious stories—but he knew that would only worsen his reputation. He had begged other League Staff that had wanted to defend his honor to leave the subject alone and let it blow over. It seemed like it would never blow over, though…

On top of all of that, crime was on a minor rise in Castelia City, and he knew the source of it. Robberies, though only of relatively small amounts of cash, were being reported. The culprit was described as a mid to older teenager that used pokémon wordlessly and seamlessly in his thievery. Burgh had known immediately who they spoke of and although he had not exactly been interested in divulging that information to police (nor was he required to), guilt had pressed him to offer those stolen from some compensation. He earned plenty of money from his art as well as his job as a gym leader. He played off their confusion as him simply wanting to be a good citizen.

Meanwhile, he really was just trying to lessen the heat on the robber. Burgh had met the boy, Taven, some years ago, by chasing him through the streets of Castelia and well into the sewers after hearing stories of a mysterious young man robbing grocery stores for food and other menial supplies. He had grown frustrated with the chase and had his Leavanny use String Shot to tie him up, force him to stop. Until that point, Taven had been mostly silent save for the occasional grunt, but upon finding himself trapped, he yelped and began to struggle madly against the bindings. The fright in his dark, slate eyes had given Burgh some pause. That was a notable change from the careful, almost smug expression he had seen earlier.

Initially, he had intended to calm the young boy down, and then take him to social services where he would personally oversee how they handled his case. Yet, as Burgh and his Leavanny had drawn closer, Taven had glared up at him with an almost feral look of fear and snapped, “No!” He then had jerked with so much might in his attempt to free himself that he had lifted himself nearly completely off the ground. The panicked effort had seemed to sap most of his strength, as when he stopped, he had been panting wildly. “They need me!” he had gasped, his voice cracking in the last word. He had squeezed his eyes shut at that point.

An Oshawott had then scurried from the sewer water and jumped in front of Taven, brandishing a shell in its tiny arms. Unlike most Oshawott Burgh had met, who looked as if they had no idea where they were most of the time, this one had been dangerously focused. Rattata soon had followed and begun to gnaw away at Taven’s silken prison. Zubat then swooped from the darkest recesses of the arching ceiling and had descended on Burgh in a swirl of beating wings and screeching. His Leavanny had managed to scare them off, but by that point, Taven had been long gone. A pile of shredded silk had been all that remained.

After that, it had been a long road of carefully gaining the boy’s trust, and coming to the unspoken agreement he would not try to remove him from his home. Even if Taven’s home was literally the Castelian Sewers, he seemed happy there, and he had never forgotten the sheer panic and conviction in Taven’s voice that first meeting. Taven truly believed he was all that looked out for the pokémon that called Castelia’s sewers and alleyways home. Burgh knew that although integrating him back into society would have likely been best for him physically, Taven would have hated every second of it. The more he learned of the petty thief, the more he saw him as his own son, and felt a stronger desire to help and protect him where he could without forcing his hand. Taven… was complicated, but Burgh knew he had a good heart. After all, despite his downfalls, Taven’s primary motives were rooted in helping abandoned and starving pokémon around Castelia City.

Except recently, he feared that was taking a turn. Robberies performed by Taven up until that point were done to take care of himself or his pokémon. Clothes, food, the occasional creature comfort—but these robberies were simply for cash, and although nobody was ever hurt, the details from the victims showed that Taven was not afraid of threatening the victims to get them to listen to him. Burgh liked to believe he didn’t have a truly violent bone in his body, but…

He sighed. He was wondering if he knew what anything really was anymore.

Suffice to say, he was looking forward to heading to Nacrene City, and hoped to get some coffee with Lenora and Hawes while he was there. They were a lovely couple to hang out with and Lenora typically inspired him with her discussion of new artifacts that had been given to her museum for curation. He had a habit of over-blowing details in his artwork of ancient pokémon she described, but she seemed to enjoy his work, nonetheless.

He was walking the straightforward route through Pinwheel Forest. The buzzing of life from within its depths always made him feel a little introspective, he thought with a snicker. It was where he had met the majority of his pokémon. He often escaped to the Pinwheel Forest whenever he wanted to draw as a child and that habit had not fled him even as he grew older. This was not his destination, however, so he pushed through the last of the canopied pathway and found himself on the neatly trimmed path that connected Pinwheel Forest and Nacrene City. A beautiful fountain circled by pathway appeared in front of him as he walked and he decided to take a breather on one of the benches next to it. He listened carefully to the Pidove cooing overhead and the distant calls of Patrat chuffing at threats in the distance, likely telling the rest of their pack of a prowling Purrloin.

He breathed in the clean air. It smelled strongly of the nearby forest and a little swampy. Parts of Pinwheel Forest were marshland, after all. Already he was feeling the prickle at his fingertips to begin to sketch as a loose, indescribable image formed in his head. All of his art started that way, as a nondescript blur in the back of his mind, and it was his hand that sketched it into proper form. After a few seconds of waiting to regain his stamina, he was off again. He’d have to settle into his studio and then go meet Lenora before he could be free to camp out in the forest for a day.

 ------------------------------------

He had only just noticed her before she came barreling at him at top speed, enveloping him in a tight hug. She was a lot stronger than he remembered. Hil staggered at Bianca’s hold and laughed when he stumbled as she let him go. Cheren strode up to him next with his arms crossed. Hil gave him a small smile. Noodle, on the other hand, practically danced on his shoulders in excitement as he recognized Hil’s two friends.

“Yeah, that’s them, buddy,” Hil chuckled. He snorted as Noodle finally opted to climb onto his hat and lean down on Hil’s visor to get a better look at them. Cheren snorted and awkwardly reached his right hand out to pet the bouncy Snivy.

“So, are you wanting to try and take on Gym Leader Lenora?” Cheren asked idly as he continued to rub Noodle.

“I guess I could try. We were training for a while out there…” Hil glanced at the visor of his hat. “Noodle, you think we’re ready to fight the next gym?”

Noodle peered over the visor, sticking his nose into Hil’s face, and chirruped. Hil felt his tail gently thwap against his head a few times. He laughed and moved to grab Noodle’s tail to steady him. “Easy, pal, that’s my head, Arceus knows I’ve got enough brain damage,” he giggled.

“Would you stop,” Bianca complained as she gently swatted at his arm. Cheren took a step back.

“Stop what?” Hil asked, genuinely confused.

“Saying stuff like that,” she huffed. “That’s mean.”

“It’s about me, though.” Hil really was clueless as to what she was getting at.

“Exactly, stop saying mean stuff about yourself,” she said, nodding. Hil dubiously agreed that he would, but really he didn’t see anything wrong with it. It was funny. He was allowed to have some humor about his situation, wasn’t he? That familiar feeling of irritation picked at his chest. When was everyone going to stop shoving their ideas of how he should handle it onto him?

“Anyway,” Cheren interjected sharply, “if you want to challenge Lenora, we’d better get there soon.” He adjusted his glasses and turned to face further into Nacrene City. Hil noticed the cityscape behind his friend was mainly that of dark wood and faded stone structures. It looked old, but lively, with people bustling from the various apartments and studios. “Gym Leader Lenora only takes trainers at certain times of the day since she works as the Museum Curator.”

With that, the three friends headed toward Nacrene City’s museum and gym. It was a large, stately building visible from well across the other side of the city, but as they drew nearer, they noticed a crowd of people gathered in front of it. It was easily two or three times as large as the one that had blossomed in Accumula Town for the Team Plasma speech there. Yet, it soon became clear that was exactly what this was. To the left of the museum’s entrance, a group of seven or eight silver robed men stood proud. Just like in Accumula Town, two on either end of their makeshift stage proudly displayed flags bearing Team Plasma’s insignia, while a man in darker, rounder robes paced back and forth between them. He had a tall, round hat and gray, grizzled hair spilled out from beneath it.

“This looks good,” Cheren grumbled as they all slowed to a stop at the back of the crowd.

“We call ourselves friends, or benevolent caretakers,” the elderly man was saying, his voice rising in volume, “and yet we bring our ‘friends’ back from the dead to fight for us! They are brought back from a life some thousands of years ago, likely from a time very different from ours, and expect them to assimilate to our society! To our brutish way of battling one another for sport! Fossil restoration is barbaric and another cruel invention of the Pokémon League!”

Hil had started to laugh, but was cut off by the roar of agreement that came from the gathered people. He shared a look with his friends and noted the shock on their faces as well. He had known Team Plasma had managed to gather a rather massive following… but, as he looked out over the crowd, actually seeing it in person was an entirely different feeling. The air was alive with their chanting and fist-pumps. This seemed less like an informative speech and more like a rallying cry… He cringed as he heard some of the words from the crowd.

“No more exhuming the dead for sport!”

“We shouldn’t profit off of something resting in peace!”

“And yet, that’s exactly what trainers do…”

The elderly man looked over the gathered crowd with a satisfied grin. He jabbed a fist into the air and screamed, “We must put an end to this horrific practice of bringing back the dead to serve the needs of selfish trainers, usually young children that have no idea what it is they’re doing! Not only are we abusing pokémon, but we are manipulating our youth into believing this behavior is acceptable!”

[allthelittlethingsihavetosa-blog]

Aww Shit...{w/@V_Bloodletter}

Vishous

I was in hideout motion and it was all going rather well. Wrath knew of my location, I had imparted that info to him before I left. But the rest of the Brotherhood was clueless to my whereabouts. And for now I planned on keeping it that way for a while. I needed the seclusion, the down time away from people, all people, even the Doggen. Although I did bring a male Doggen with me to my new residence. As of yet I hadn’t decided if this was going to be a full time thing or just until I finally finish pulling my head out of my ass. But for the time being I didn’t need to make that decision. I made sure that I could be reached when needed and that I was on the streets when it was my time to work patrol. It was imperative that I stay low-key right now. No one else needed to understand that but myself. I had managed to stay away from the Manse as well as my Penthouse. Although I had it all wired to feed into my system here in the middle of BFE. And that was why I was able to have a front row seat to all the wondrous things that Doc was up to at the Commodore. The night she decided to break into my place, an alarm went off and at first I was up and ready to demat to the high-rise but then I saw who it was. So I grabbed a bottle of Goose along with some beef jerky then sat back and watched the show. That was up until the end and I knew that Doc wasn’t really hurt or did any extreme damage to my property. Although that didn’t diminish the fact that she intruded where she had no business intruding. And that shit would be fucking dealt with. I wasted a few minutes in gearing up and locking my place down before I vanished into thin air. When I came to form on my balcony it was like the place knew I was there. The glass doors slid open gracefully, black pillar candles lit up to full flames and as I stepped inside the doors closed and locked down.

Piper

::Every inch of my body ached in so many ways I couldn’t figure out what sound to make first, so in a exhale of breath they all came out at once. I chuckled darkly catching my breath again before I finally let my eyes open to take in my surroundings now that the sedative had released me from it’s grip, I hadn’t forgotten where I was by any stretch of the imagination. It was more to check that no one was waiting with a weapon close enough to do damage. Scribe knows Vishous could be the one doing so for all I knew, rightfully so given what I’d just done to his penthouse and his trust by my intrusion. I shifted my position a simple inch which caused nothing but sheer pain to radiate outwards but I needed to get out of this fucking tub then figure a way out of this place before the man himself showed up to exact revenge only to find the neighborhood doc half dressed and covered in blood waving at him like some retarded seal. The image alone had me laughing to myself as I found my feet and stepped out of the tub to tuck my gun back into its holster. Before I gazed into the mirror and gave myself the once over. My wounds weren’t healing as fast as I liked which meant the daggers were laced with more than just a heavy sedative, he was a sneaky bastard I’d give him that. He liked to torture more than I gave him credit for. Just when you thought you were safe and far away you’d realize he still had you. I took another minute to gather myself before I’d start working on an desperately needed exit plan. It was then  I noticed the candles scattered throughout  light up almost on cue with the sound of the locks I’d known to the the remaining windows slam into place. There was only one person who could make such a thing happen without setting off the alarms I had earlier:: 

Shit. Shit. Shit.

::There was no way I could run and hide anywhere in this penthouse that he couldn’t find me, I wasn’t going to turn this into a cat and mouse game for many reasons. The biggest one being, he wouldn’t tolerate it anymore than I wanted it to happen.. I swallowed the contents of my stomach that had suddenly decided that now was the best time to crawl their way up my throat. Cautiously I half wondered  if I should at least pretend to be surprised? Or act like I would have in the past and played the foolish stupid doc but I couldn’t.  I did this of my own free will. I knew what I was doing every single step of the way and I wasn’t, for once, going to let that scare me.:: 

You watched me the entire time didn’t you?

Vishous

I leaned my shoulder against the bathroom door frame and watched as Doc tried to collect herself, at least somewhat. With a tatted brow cocked, I shook my head and still I didn’t speak. I pretty much knew if I spoke right now, none of it would be without cursing or growling and who knew what the fuck else. I would never bodily hurt Doc. She was family. But she also betrayed me and my trust. Even though I had no desire to step foot in my Penthouse, that didn’t mean that it was open to any fucking person that wanted to trespass on my property. Actually it pissed me off more with the fact that I even had to come here when I didn’t want to. I glanced around before letting my eyes finally settle on the female. “What do you think?” Again I just shook my head and pushed away from the wall, to stand fully up. “I will go with sixty seconds of whatever excuse you have for doing what you did and then…” My shoulders came up in a nonchalant shrug. “And then you stay a safe distance from me until we get you back to the Manse, to Wrath and Rhage. They can deal with this fucking shit.” I didn’t even attempt to hide the frustration and anger from my tone. What would be the point to? Not even my Brothers had ever tried or thought to not only come to the Commodore but to destroy my property and break into it. 

Piper

::My first immediate thought was at least he gave me sixty seconds, it was shortly followed with an inner cringe by just the thought of Wrath and Rhage knowing what I had just done. I felt a bone deep shudder follow before I even opened my mouth to speak my peace::

I’m not going to make excuses, Vishous. I have two valid reasons for coming here. 

::I was trying not to get frustrated at the looks I was getting or the anger that was flowing off the brother in waves thick enough to push me over, he had every right to be giving them. For now my only choice was to speak what I had to say and hope that he saw that it wasn’t in some malicious intent that I came busting in. I didn’t move from where I stood just pushed my shoulders back a little and stood to face him a little more, hoping he’d at least appreciate the gesture::

You just left, Vishous, without a single word to anyone. That in itself is none of my business but it was something completely out of character in all the years I’ve known you. I run, you don’t. You stand and fight till you’re bloody and raw then you fight harder. So when I went to find you, to ask you for help and no one had seen you in weeks, yeah I came looking for you. Besides Rhage, you’re the one person I’d sacrifice everything for. The guards you left in place weren’t exactly going to let me in, you weren’t answering your cell and panic had set in. If you were up here in trouble what would you have me do? Leave you? 

::I stopped talking at that point, there was nothing else I could say I was exhausted and I ached in places that I didn’t even know I had. Punishment was coming no matter how hard I prayed otherwise. I wasn’t going to beg for for it to be any different.::

If or when I get a change I’ll ask Fritz to make arrangements to have everything fixed at my expense however you wish it to be done. I wouldn’t change what I did, Vishous and I’d do it again without fail. 

Vishous

I made my way into the living room, obviously watching Doc as she stumbled her way from the bathroom. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on or why she was here or what the hell happened to her. I shook my head and shot a text message to #Fritz . ‘At the Commodore, send a car to pick up the Doc ASAP and she will need medical treatment.’ I slipped my phone back in my pocket and headed to the bathroom again. It took a few moments to retrieve the first aid kit and to retrieve a bottle of Goose from the kitchen. Once I had everything that I needed for the situation at hand, I went back to where Piper was and started barking out orders. “Sit down…” I shot a glance around the spacious room and shrugged. “It would appear that my table is the only suitable place to have a seat.” I had emptied my Penthouse out almost completely over a year ago and to date, I still didn’t want to be here. But unfortunately I had no fucking choice in the matter. I placed the kit on the flat surface and started unpacking the few items that I would need. “I contacted #Fritz and he will be sending a car to pick you up soon.” I didn’t want to delve too deep into the things I was being asked. Answering questions was not high at the top of my list right now or any time for that matter. But this was Doc and she deserved some info. I blew out a breath and gave a dead look. “I needed to go MIA. I had given Wrath a head’s up on what I was doing. But yeah, no I didn’t post it on the Brotherhood bulletin…” I shook my head, glanced at you for a moment. “Next time maybe I will shoot you a text to let ya know that I am on the lamb. As for your question, my eyes are everywhere. Never doubt that.” 

Piper

::I moved somewhat slowly towards the table nearly jumping out of my skin when I heard the order barked at me, it wasn’t so much the order it shook me from the haze I momentarily found myself in again. Then once again I found myself staring at Vishous as I sat on the table before him, hating myself for the millionth time since I started this adventure. Once I heard his confession I knew exactly how he felt, it was why I ran, why I left.. All he wanted was space, plain and simple yet I forced him out of that in some foolish attempt to find him on my own. I glanced down at the kit, cautiously pushing it away before placing my hand on his and finding his gaze again.:: 

I deserve every ounce of this pain I’m feeling right now, Vishous and you can cancel Fritz. I have a ride downstairs that if I leave here Rhage will fucking kill me for. I mean, even more than he will for the rest of this shit. Which he will and Wrath? Fuck me, those two are going to ...I don’t even want to think about it. So, no, Vishous, you don’t owe me any explanations as to why you left, Guess just remember I’m a little more emotional than the rest of them? 

::I chuckled hoping to ease the tension in the room but failed horribly, the pain it caused nearly knocked the air right out of me. I took a chance and punched his shoulder, before I even  another cautious joke. He was taking things a little too lightly for my liking. It was all too weird.:: 

As for your security, I’d like to know what the fuck you had those daggers laced with. Also, I’m pretty impressed. I expected explosions and fireworks but you came with nothing but stealth.

::I glanced at Vishous  again, arching a brow::

You’re being far too quiet. Too reserved, Vishous. If this was anyone else you’d have torn them a new one by now. I destroyed your penthouse, your trust. Yet you’re sitting here trying to tend to my wounds?  

Vishous 

I snorted out a grunt and shook my head. “I assume that your ride downstairs is Rhage? Because yeah, I’m not letting you bail out with anyone else tonight. No fucking matter how irritated I am with you right now.” I flinched at first when I felt you rest your hand on mine and I had to remind myself in the next breath that it was okay...For the moment. “No, I don’t owe you any explanations but for now, I will tell you that I am good with where I’m at. The Manse and all that goes with it, you make sure that they are all good. And if you need me, I will work...a little better on replying to messages.” The corner of my lips turned up in a half grin. That was doing pretty good for me, considering that I had no desire to be within the city. “As for the rest, no.” I looked at you sitting there and narrowed my eyes a little. “Come now, do you really think that I will let you or anyone make repairs to this place? No, I will take care of it myself and obviously beef up my system that you completely destroyed.” I gave you a pointed look. “Right now, I need to be quiet but no fucking matter how pissed I am at you for destroying whatever property I have or even betraying me, you are my friend and we will deal with it. I might not want to speak with you or see you for a while but that doesn’t mean I’m cutting you out of my life.” I nodded at the barrage of marks covering the areas that I could see. “Show me where to start.” 

Piper

I can handle however you want to deal with me, V. Quiet or loud or hell even throwing things at me, I just couldn’t handle you cutting me out completely. That would probably kill me. Just like it would if any of the others did and I shouldn’t have done it you when I left without a word if I would ever return and for than I truly am sorry. As for my ride downstairs being Rhage..

::I paused for a moment closing my eyes as I sat up a little straighter despite the burning pain it caused, he’d have to look at the gashes no matter how much I protested otherwise. I’d also have to confess that I did this without letting anyone else know and I already knew Fritz was probably letting my male know of my whereabouts and condition as we spoke. That was going to be a conversation I knew I would have to sit and simply take without saying a single word.::

Rhage has no idea I’ve left, I mean I did leave a note that told him but whether he's actually found it yet is unknown. I can tell you one thing, he’s going to be a whole lot more agitated than you are, also a fuckton more vocal about it, he was actually the reason I was looking for you. Or at least the scalier part of him was. You should probably take a look at the wounds where those damn small daggers that lined the railing got me, they didn’t go too deep but whatever they were laced with are making it really hard to stay awake and don't even get me started on the pain right now. The rest I can handle later or have someone at the manse look at.

Vishous

I just shook my head and gave a chuckle. I glanced at you a moment before I went to work on cleaning each bloody wound. “I see some things never change. You running out and doing things that you shouldn’t be and of course doing them on your note while leaving a note behind.” My grin widened a little when you mentioned about parts of my security system that did cause you some issues. “At least I know that it all wasn’t a fucking a waste. And yes, you are more than likely right, you will hear much more from Rhage than you will from me.” I snorted out a grunt once i cleaned most of the blood away and started in with bandaging the areas. “That is not a yes or a no as to who is picking you up…”One black brow rose almost to my hairline and I locked my diamond eyes on your face. “What exactly do you mean that you came looking for me because of Rhage? I know I have been MIA and no, I am not living within the Manse but I do still keep nightly contact with Wrath. And nothing has been said or relaid to me that there is an issue with any of the Brothers. So yes, you will need to explain what the hell is going on.”

Piper

I am fully capable of taking care of myself, if this doesn’t prove that face than I don’t know how the hell else to prove it to any of you. I mean I could have gone out hunting Lesser or something but I chose to do this. 

::I hissed out a breath, glaring at you when the disinfectant hit some of the larger wounds. Sometimes I wanted nothing more than to be looked at as more than just the Doc but I guess that day wasn’t going to be today, besides I wasn’t about to argue with the man whose house I just broke into or who was currently helping me out. Besides, Vishous so far hadn’t torn my ass apart when he rightfully could have. Sighing I bit down into my lip to suppress the slight twinge of shoulder pain as I sat up straight again:: 

There is nothing wrong with him, I just have a few questions or maybe I’m more curious? The beast seems to be acting a little weird around me, not like I want to eat you weird but the complete opposite. Infact…

. 

::I nearly jumped clean out of my skin glancing over my shoulder at the doors when I heard the pound coming from the opposite side, groaning loudly:

You weren’t by chance expecting company were you? 

#TBC

#AwwShit

[theflashdriver]

Advice (A Silvaze and Sonamy Oneshot)

"Sonic, you've helped my world in the past; for that, I trust and respect you but today I require aid with something less… typical." Upon being approached by Blaze, sat on the wing of the Tornado while Tails tinkered away, Sonic hadn't been sure why she was in his dimension and now he found himself only more bamboozled. Wasn't she meant to be protecting her dimension? It didn't sound like the sol emeralds had been stolen or her world was in peril, besides Silver was there with her now; he'd be able to handle it as well as Sonic could alongside her; probably even better... unless the threat required all three of them? The blue hedgehog did recognise there was no way she'd cross dimensions unannounced and unplanned unless the situation was urgent. The princess was normally blunt and to the point yet today she was struggling to meet his eyes; hesitation in her voice, "I require your advice on a… personal matter of great importance to me."

Refusing to let his confusion show he flashed a grin, "A personal matter? You had me worried I was gonna have to scramble Nega, well lay it on me! I'll give it my best shot!"

There was a long pause, Blaze's fists balled, Sonic's brow raised. She looked up to him, face forced into a bizarre contorted frown; fangs bared and cheeks pink, was it a look of embarrassment or rage? He had no idea but it was kinda terrifying. "How do you deal with… romantic feelings?"

The synapses in Sonic's mind failed to ignite for a moment, he stared blankly at her. Eventually, those final two words processed. "What?! Wh-Why are you asking me about love?!" He had considered dropping from the wing but now the chances of that had reduced to zero, he brought his knees to his chest. Anything else, anything else would have been fine! Eggman Nega stole the Jewelled Sceptre? Sure. Captain Whiskers kidnapped Marine? Fine. Silver was having trouble with some fute- Wait Silver, yes Silver! Realisation struck Sonic, that was his out! The blue blur pointed down to Blaze; "Silver's in your dimension right now, isn't he? W-Why don't you just ask him?! H-He probably knows as much as I do!"

His green eyes bore down on Blaze, willing that she'd either vanish or the Tornado's engine would suddenly kick-start, shooting off with him in tow. The cat was looking away from him, growing only redder. She must have stood there for a full minute, completely silent. "I… I can't ask Silver about this. It needs… it needs to be someone else."

Sonic blinked at that. "Why can't you ask Silver?" Lines of heat were radiating from Blaze; she wasn't speaking and refused to meet his eyes. Sonic was perplexed; he'd only ever heard good things about their friendship, how well they could fight together and that, according to Amy at least, they brought out the best in one another. Amy'd spoken of how when Silver was around Blaze'd smile, that she'd drop all of her walls and speak freely; she'd walk hand in hand with him without a care. Silver too, around her he went from some lost soul awkwardly stumbling his way through life to far happier fella; relaxing and far more freely. How Sonic had seen it, and how he'd had their dynamic described, the two seemed to complete one another. It was upon that thought that a realisation hit him. "Oh…"

Blaze was gripping her arm, eyes shut; the glow to her cheeks had spread across her face, deepening from pink to red. "These feelings it's… it's Silver. I've been having… I've felt this way for a while but I don't know what to do. They started just after I remembered and well…" The princess released a sigh. "Cream is too young to ask about these things, Amy, while more knowledgeable… would go too far, I'm not sure I could discuss this seriously with her. You're older, you must have dealt with these feelings at some point… right?"

Sonic felt a heat on his face, he leaned back on the wing to get out of her vision and tried to skirt past that last question. "I don't know about me dealing with them, but I said I'd give it my best shot and I meant it! What do you wanna know?"

I want to know everything! When did you realise? How does it feel?" Amy was overjoyed, a giant smile on her face; hands clasped atop her heart. She had been minding her own business, getting groceries with nothing much planned for the day, when a golden opportunity landed in her lap. Now sat on a park bench, grocery bag dropped at her feet, she was sat next to a once Silver, now very pink, time traveller. A certain embarrassed hedgehog who had finally admitted to his feelings for a certain purple princess, a princess currently in this world and apparently seeking some kind of advice from a Blue hedgehog.

"Ehhehe…" He made a kind of sighing yet groaning sound, his eyes were glazed over; he was clearly trying his hardest to distract himself in their environment, focusing on the trees and the birds rather than daring to look at Amy. "W-Well r-recently it just kind of… hit me and now, when she's around I get this feeling in my chest? L-Like it might explode? She's really kind and strong and smart a-and pretty and I just…" His head dropped to his hands, giant quills hanging down. Through his hands, he mumbled, "I w-want to tell her but I'm terrified. I-I need advice and you're so open, y-you aren't scared to say you love Sonic so I thought…"

Amy smacked his back, administering rather overwhelming pats that shook his body; a manic smile on her face. "You've come to the right place! It's so nice to meet another romantic; finally, someone else wants to talk about these things. You just need a little confidence that's all, you've got to learn to speak your heart!"

The patting stopped, he sat himself up; hands pushing hard into his knees. "S-Speak my heart?"

"Right! Right! You've got to be blatant; you've got to be honest with yourself! That way you'll be honest to her." Amy began her lecture, overjoyed to have her first student. She'd thought it'd be Cream some in the far-flung future but this was perfect! "Every time I see Sonic I try to make my feelings clear, I hug him close and profess my love wherever and however possible. That way, when he finally gets around to admitting his feelings, he can do it with confidence; I'm being true to myself so that he can be true to himself and we can be true to each other." Amy was beaming through her explanation, eyes closed and gesticulating wildly. "In every dance, someone has to lead right? Who it is may change with time, but before that someone has to open their hand and ask the other; that's us Silver! You've got to hold her close, shower her in affection; she's already open to you, reach out and let her take your hand!"

Amy opened her eyes and was met with a wide smile her fellow hedgehog's face, still quite scarlet but it was a look of confidence and hope. "Yeah! I…" And then, as if some realisation had struck him the smile vanished; eyes went from sparkling to dull and mouth crumpled into a cringe. "I-I don't think I can do it like y-you do. The idea of hugging her out of nowhere, o-or just saying I love her out of nowhere is terrifying. I-I want to but I think I'd faint or mess it up or…" His eyes closed and expression became more neutral, breathing a sigh he continued; "I-I'd like to do it but I don't think I can, I'm not confident enough; I need to learn how to be confident like you are."

"Huh? Well, confidence just comes as second nature to me; I don't think that I can teach that. I love him so I tell him so. Is it that scary for you?" Amy stroked her chin, quickly landing on a conclusion; "I suppose I've known that I love Sonic for a while and I've been chasing him for a long time. You really should just be honest with her, be open and blunt, but if that's not going to happen cause you're shy… what hints have you dropped?"

"Hints? Umm…" His seating shifted, left leg crossing over his right; leaning back he started to feverishly pull at his chest fur. "Does being embarrassed c-count? I've been embarrassed around her like… a lot recently."

Amy groaned, throwing her vision to the sky; he was being completely useless, but then every rose must grow from the dirt up. She had her work cut out for her, but with time and patience… or strength and piko-piko, he'd get there eventually. "No Silver, it should be words or perhaps gifts; you can't just be embarrassed around her and expect love to bloom. If it were that easy Knuckles would be a master of romance, being embarrassed is fine but you need to actually act. They say actions speak louder than words, but some well placed-ones will linger in the mind forever while objects fade." The pink hedgehog, "Be more specific, what makes you love Blaze? How do you feel about her? You've only given basic terms like pretty and smart, speak from your heart."

Silvers eyes closed tightly, "G-Give me a moment." He took a deep breath through his nose; pinkness seemed to concentrate on his cheeks. Amy felt her grin grow, she wished she had a notepad or some kind of recording device, but at the same time just watching someone come to terms with their feelings. Anticipation built with every passing second.

Tails had long retired to his workshop; things were moving at a molasses pace and, for once in his life, Sonic was happy about that. It gave him time to think through his answers on this subject he was less than comfortable with. How long had passed, ten, twenty, maybe thirty minutes? The only question she'd asked was whether it was weird to have these emotions, to which he'd responded not really. He finally sat back up, looking down at her; Blaze's hand was over her face and she was vigorously massaging her forehead. He knew he should speak up, but he had no idea what to say. "Have you told him anything, given any hints?"

"No…I-I feel too embarrassed to do that. I'm also scared, in case… these feelings aren't reciprocated. I don't want to lose our partnership, I want it to grow stronger." Blaze's hand went to her arm, her gaze locked onto the runaway beneath them. It was weird seeing her like this, weirdly relatable to the blue hedgehog.

He rolled his eyes a little at that thought, pushing past it. "Well… you'll have to tell him eventually right? You can't hide this from him forever."

Her head snapped up to him, a burst of anger overtaking her embarrassment; "That's why I'm asking for your advice. If I knew how to do that I'd have done it already. How would you admit your feelings?"

"A-Alright alright, my bad." Sonic cringed away from her glare; now wishing he'd let silence reign over them he ducked back onto the wing. How would he confess his love? He'd never really considered it, "I've been avoiding those feelings for a long time…I-I'm not sure how you…" No, he had to try his best; he was helping a friend after all, even if it meant discussing emotions he'd rather push aside. "Well… I'd want to know for certain they liked me back before I'd even consider telling them. As for how to do that… I guess if I ran from them and they followed that would be a good sign."

Blaze paused for a moment at that before looking back to her feet, shaking her head. "Silver would follow regardless of whether he loves me, he'd be worried or think he'd done something wrong. Besides, running away from someone you care about seems… stupid, hurtful even."

"I suppose it is…" This conversation was giving him thoughts and he wasn't sure he liked them. He'd have to shift things back toward Silver. "Have you tried… uhh…" He scratched at his quills, he could have let the conversation die there but no; he'd forced it back open. "People write love letters… I think? You could do that?"

There was another silence, Sonic took his previous thought back; he'd like this to go far faster and be over with as soon as possible. He felt like he was swinging blindly and just hoping to arrive at the right answer; unsure if there even was a correct answer. Blaze shook her head again; "That feels… impersonal, I'd want to do it properly." She released a sigh, there was a tinge of frustration to her voice; "We're getting nowhere. Let's not talk about how I'd confess, I asked you how to deal with these feelings in the beginning, If I understand that then I'll be able to act more autonomously. How do you control them?"

"Oh, uhh…" He stifled an awkward laugh with a cough; his plan to turn things back toward her and Silver had utterly failed. "Run away from them? I try not to even think about those feelings."

"I see…" Blaze's hands had balled into fists again; he could see her ears had lowered. "That's not an option for me, I want to embrace them."

Now Amy's anticipation was turning to fear, how long could he hold his breath? He had gone from red to pink to purple to blue, any longer and he'd-

Silver finally released his breath, panting; hands on his leg as he struggled. Amy initially assumed the worst but as his eyes finally opened confidence was completely renewed, that sparkle had returned to them; his colour shifted back to an embarrassed pink but he was smiling. "Alright… I think I've got something at least. I-I don't know if I'll say it right, but I'll give it a go." His eyes were locked forward, not looking to Amy but the world before him. She didn't speak, fearing she might smother the poor boy, trying to keep her smile small (failing) she nodded him to continue. "Blaze is th-the best. I trust her more than I trust anyone, I-I trust her more than I trust myself. She's so strong, not just fighting but she has a will to do what is right regardless of cost; she sacrifices far too much. I want to protect her despite knowing she's strong enough to protect herself. I know she's pyrokinetic but I want to keep her warm. I-I just want her to be happy more than anything else. She's so serious but when… when she smiles the world… i-it stops I guess is how to put it, nothing else matters? It's all I can focus on, her fangs poke out and… eugh…"

His head dropped to his hands, Amy's fist pounded on the arm of the bench; she had to push him here otherwise he'd never continue. She couldn't let this slip from her grip! "Come on! Get a grip! We were getting somewhere there; don't give up now! What else?"

"I lost her once, I couldn't stand to lose her then and I'd die if it happened again!" His head had risen, fists were clenched; the light lingered in his eyes but he was shaking like a leaf. It was weak but Amy was impressed, he'd caught a second wind! "I've lived life without her but, when I look back on it, it doesn't feel like I was living. There is no home without Blaze, I feel so much more confident when I'm by her side; like I could do anything… well, anything but… ehm…t-tell her how I..." He stumbled again but this time, on his own accord, shook his head and pushed through; "N-No one else even comes close, no number of people. I'd chose…". Suddenly a flinch entered his eyes, he turned to Amy for a moment before turning back to their environment; he closed his eyes and bit his lip before continuing but the sound he released was inaudible, less than a mumble.

"Eh? I couldn't hear that last bit, you'd what?" Amy couldn't help noticing something change on his face, were tears welling up in his eyes? They were sealed closed he was shaking, but as they opened her suspicion was confirmed; he dragged his wrist over them, metal bangle crashing into his temple with ever wipe.

"I'd chose her over the world, every time…I-I don't know if she'd like me saying that, but it's true." Silver managed to pull his arm away. Eyes still damp; he released a deep yet cracking breath, not meeting the pink hedgehog's grin.

Amy didn't understand why, that last statement had been as sincere as all the others, but something about those words triggered a joy much greater than those prior lines. It was a sense of elation, a strange sense of familiarity; as though things had come full circle, like placing the last piece in a jigsaw. It just felt right, completing even.

She pulled him into a headlock, beaming down at his flailing quills; "Just like I would Sonic! Every time, without a moment of hesitation! I knew you could do it!" He was still croaking, arms waving wildly and pushing against- Oh he couldn't breathe, he'd been breathing out when she grabbed him. Amy released Silver, the grey hedgehog immediately fell off the bench. As he panted on the ground Amy continued; "That was brilliant Silver! Now you just have to say it to her. Will that really be so hard?"

"Y-Yes! That was terrifying." Silver half shouted, slowly rising to his feet. "I could barely say that to you, trying to say it to Blaze would be hundreds of times harder."

Amy frowned at him. There was a pause, the steps of a plan forming in her head; if the prior tactic hadn't worked she'd have to get more nefarious. "Really? I was sure after you got it out once it'd be easy." She shrugged, eyes closed. "I guess you're right, you do need my confidence." A trap was laid.

"That's what I've been saying… but if you cant teach that I guess I'm stuck." He'd stepped straight into it. As he plopped down in his seat, head in his hands, Amy punched him in the shoulder; almost throwing him from the bench once more.

"So you're just giving up already? You just said you'd chose her over the world!" She frowned at him, teeth grit. "I knew you were embarrassed but I didn't think you were-

"N-No! I just mean I don't know what to do next, of course I'm not giving up!" Silver shouted, she could see the seriousness in his eyes but the smile hadn't returned to Amy's face but behind her frown was something more... mischievous.

She looked away from him, arms folded. "I'm not sure I believe you Silver. It seems to me like you're the type to promise a girl the world and deliver nothing. I don't think you're really embarrassed, I think you're talking up a big game with no intent to follow though. You can say all this to me, but not a single romantic word to her? Yeah right."

"Wh-What? Of course I'd do it if I could!" There was desperation in his voice but not quite enough for Amy's liking, she wanted him pushed one or two steps further, she kept her back to him; remaining silent. "I-I want to but I'm scared, I'll mess it up or I'll just collapse in front of her; that's not even considering whether she feels the same way."

She sighed to fake anger, turning back to cast him a glare; "Has that ever stopped me? Look at all I do for what little Sonic has returned me. Yet Blaze, who shows you more affection than she does anyone else, doesn't deserve to know you love her; let alone how grateful you are? You should have given that speech to her long before you even considered sharing it with me."

Amy looked away again, keeping the pout on her face. She heard him go to start talking before stopping as if catching himself. A sigh sounded; "I-I can't do that but…" Amy turned back, raising a brow. "M-Maybe I could do something smaller. Please, Amy, I need help with this."

He'd locked himself in now, Amy's plan had worked; it wasn't confidence but if this is what it took to get him on the track that led to it then so be it. She'd not been so open with Sonic, in the beginning, compared to now at least, a little push would do Silver some good clearly. Her frown flipped into a Cheshire grin, hands clasped before her chest. "Alright. Let's make a plan."

How long had it been? Was the sun close to setting? Could he go now? Thoughts of this sort were floating within Sonic's head while feelings of hunger racked his stomach. He was still sat atop the tornado's wing, much too scared to move lest the cat beneath him ask another question. Weighed down by the want to help a friend who so rarely talked about these things, being tortured by the nature of the conversation and any similarities to his own predicament. Blaze's blunt, negative, responses certainly weren't helping with the latter.

Finally, she spoke up again; "Is there a way to find out if these feelings are mutual?"

Sonic looked down to her, she'd finally stopped standing; Blaze sat on the tarmac legs crossed and chin in her hands. He cringed a little, he really was trying his best but… he really wasn't used to dealing with these emotions himself, let alone being forced to confront them. "I…" He sighed, finally admitting it; "Amy's my only real example and she's pretty forward. I don't think he'd act like that, would he? You said he'd follow you but would he… chase you?"

"Not unless I worried him," Blaze looked back up to the wing; "Amy's your only point of reference? Had I known that I'd have gone to Vanilla."

"Hey, that's…" Sonic flinched as he caught himself, his eyes closed and his brow furrowed. He breathed a sigh. "That's fair. I'm not very good with these emotions, I'm sorry you've wasted your time."

"That's been obvious since the start but I stayed here rather than leaving and dealing with them so… I'm no good with them either." Blaze met his eyes, there wasn't a smile to her face but there was an understanding in them; no rage this time. "We should both probably get better at this."

"I mean…" Sonic swung his leg from the edge of the craft, he still loathed thinking about this at all but it was undeniable; a lot of his past actions weren't looking so hot. "Yeah, you're right. I should probably be better to her. But it's not like you're doing nearly as bad as me, you don't hide from him."

"Yes the bond between Silver and I is still as strong as ever, but if he were to return these feelings I'd be glad but I'm unsure how easily I'd accommodate them." Her ears had pressed down again, though this time forward instead of backward; scarlet colouration had fully returned to her face. She took her head in her hands. "I want to do this properly, but I've still no idea how. It's all so new to me."

"Well… wouldn't it be new to both of you?" Was that the first correct thing he'd said all day? Probably. Was it obvious? Undoubtedly. But there had to be something comforting there… right? "He'd probably be just as awkward as you about it, wouldn't he? At least you'd be embarrassed together, less pressure." He felt like he had to keep talking but had run out of words… well he hadn't, he just didn't want to keep going. Bringing a hand to his head he continued; "If Amy and I were to ever… I'd be alone in that." Yeah, he was stopping now, that was enough.

Blaze looked up, still embarrassed but once again her gaze lacked harshness and anger; "He would be embarrassed yes, albeit in different ways. I'm sure he'd try far too hard while I'd be scared to act as we had before let alone go further."

"Well… that sounds like it evens out." Sonic smirked, glad he'd finally given a good answer; he wasn't going to ruin that by running his mouth any further.

"Perhaps, but it's reliant on these feelings being returned. He's quite naïve, I don't know that he even thinks about these things." She shrugged, before frowning slightly; "You know you can come down right? I'm not going to kill you."

He half laughed, "When you phrase it like that it sounds like you might but alright." Sonic finally dropped from the wing of the tornado, but he didn't meet the ground. No, he'd braced for impact, having half planned what next to say, only to feel himself freeze; a teal tint overcoming his vision. He went to gasp in shock only to find his jaw locked in place, eyes struggled to flicker beneath the strain; he knew what this was but where was-

He watched in horror as the tornado got further and further away; he was drifting backwards! "That's it! Real him in Silver!" An all too familiar voice called out behind him. Sonic's legs flailed at a snail's pace, struggling to fight the psychic grip and regardless a good foot from the ground.

"This feels wrong." Amy's grey ally confessed, running a hand through his back quills. The cringe on his face was clear as he dragged Sonic through the air, kicking and failing to scream. "I thought this part would be easy but it's bringing back some… less stellar memories."

"Hey, hey, we have a deal." Amy tutted, arms already wide to catch Sonic. "Besides, do you really want Mr Loveshy hanging around when you try to flirt?"

He choked on air, grip wavering on Sonic for a moment before retightening. He looked to her, muttering under his breath. "F-F-Flirt? W-When you say it like that it's so much scarier."

"Oh fine, call it a compliment ya wuss." Finally, the blue hedgehog rotated, to be honest, the face he'd been locked into wasn't the most attractive; mouth wide and eyes as beads, but Sonic was within her grasp! That was what mattered. Her arms locked around him, going limp as the psychic energy left her body before tensing as he was pulled into a rib-crushing hug. Her singsong tone rang out; "Nice of you to join us Sonic! I've got a new partner in crime, you'll never get away now!" Loosening her grip she shifted him; carrying him bridal style. She'd expected some resistance but, rather unusually, he simply lay in her grasp; refusing to meet her stare.

"Y-Yeah… hi Amy." This was bizarre but the pink hedgehog wasn't about to question it, she looked up to Silver; "Well go on, what're you waiting for?"

"Okay… okay… I can do this." Blaze hadn't moved from the runway, she was still sat right where she'd been; albeit with more of a confused look than when they'd arrived, staring back at the group over her shoulder. Redness clear on his face Silver began to make his way over, eyes like saucers and face a burning scarlet but he was clearly trying his best.

Beneath her Sonic tried to cut in; "What's happen-

She awkwardly bent a finger to his lips, "Shh shh shh, I wanna watch this!" For every five steps Silver took Amy took one forward, she wanted to be in earshot for this... but simultaneously getting too close would probably freak him out. Amy managed to halt herself a few paces from the aircraft; leaning against it with Sonic still ensnared... or well, at least normally she'd use that term. Sonic seemed rather content in her grasp for once, she shot him a look but still their emerald eyes refused to meet. "Is everything alright?"

"I-I'm fine." He grumbled, ears spiking up; "Amy please, what's happening."

The rose hedgehog watched as Silver extended a hand to Blaze, she took it and together they pulled her up. "I think he's going to take the first step, he's going to take lead!" Amy whisper-shouted.

Amy's senses heightened to their peak, Silver began; "Hey Blaze, sorry about that; Amy was insistent I help her and well... I-I hope I won't have to do it again. D-Did you get the advice you needed?"

The cat shook her head, "No but it should be fine, I've come to my own conclusions." She leaned in a little closer to him, peering at his face. "Are you okay Silver? You're looking quite red."

"A-Am I? Oh dear…" He was shaking, white quills waving like the last autumn leaf. "I feel fine, I-I think I know why I'm like this."

Her brows raised, "Oh? What is it?"

Amy leaned in but for a moment she couldn't hear anything, he went to speak and backed down at least twice; growing redder and redder. Blaze was looking more concerned with each passing moment; their hands were still touching. Finally, Amy heard it, the words they'd agreed on... well, more or less. He was struggling after all. "Y-Your smile is…" His head dropped, now both of his hands held hers. "I-It's really good! Th-The best I've ever seen! I-I can't get it out of my head."

The response was immediate, she went as red as him; both their eyes locked on the others shoes. From this far away Amy could just make out the words; "But I-I'm not smiling right now Silver…"

"I-I know, a-and don't force yourself to… b-but I thought you should know that. I-It's really… It's the best. I-I love i-i-it." They weren't even looking at each other to confirm it! Amy was feeling the strangest concoction of pride in her work, anger that they were both this useless and awe at watching this first step! Not to mention the warmth of holding Sonic in her arms so loosely, it was almost like he wanted to be there!

Blaze's free hand reached up, shaking (albeit much less than Silver) as it reached his cheek and pushed his head up. Eyes must have met, her ears had flattened forward and from this angle Amy could just make out one of those fangs he'd been talking about, "Th-Thank you, Silver. L-Let's go home… we can talk about this more if you want?"

"Y-Y-Yeah… okay." They seemed to fumble a little, one of his hands dropped from hers with the end result of his right and her left hands linked.

The pair turned back to their advisors, shouting their equivalents of goodbye before the cat drew a grey crystal from her cloak and in a burst of flame a portal opened before them. Amy took another step toward them; a wide smile on her face, "Good luck! See you both soon!"

Beneath her, she heard a sharp breath before Sonic shouted out, "You can do it!"

At that Blaze seemed to freeze for a moment, Silver looked to her, but she quickly shook the hesitation off. "Then you can too!" And with that, they vanished; portal quickly closing behind them.

The pink hedgehog looked down to blue, face twisted into a curious yet mischievous smile; "What was that about?"

There was a redness to his face she'd only caught sight of a couple times, "I-I'll tell you… e-eventually, probably."

Amy smiled, her grip tightening; "Take all the time you need, you're not going anywhere."

"A-Alright." Their eyes finally met again, he was looking up at her. After a pause, just hanging in her arms, he spoke. "I'm kind of hungry... do you want to go and-

"Yes, yes, yes!" Before he could even finish Amy had set off, racing to find somewhere to eat with the blue (going crimson) blur in her arms.

[pockpop]

sunset,sunshine | lee felix

➵  summary: being the first black idol from one of the big three is already a challenge, but dealing with felix and feelings? it seems even harder.

➵  genre: fluffy, angsty, cutesy cringe ish

➵ request(s): (1) hello luv ❤ if requests are still open, may I ask for a Felix x y/n fic where y/n is part of the upcoming jyp girl group with survival group ( like stray kids) and she's the first biracial (black & korean) artist from the big 3 ?? oh and y/n is a fellow crackhead Aussie too lmao. thank you!

(2) hello! may i request a felix x australian!reader fic where y/n is the maknae, main dancer, main rapper, & vocalist of a unique girl group that like produces and writes songs, like skz! ( they also don't do basic concepts like cute and sexy). but the gag is... reader is the 1st black and korean idol! reader is a w a l k i n g meme and very 4d, which ppl rlly like!! lmao she's also a fellow 00 liner, and since her and felix have a lot in common, many international fans ship them together! thank u!

➵  a/n: ermm I got these requests a WHILEE back and I honestly just didn’t know how to go about it? but it is finally here and I’m so sorry for how late it is and a complete foolery mess but I hope you like it anons and I hope this at least makes you smile cause who doesn’t love them some felix okay?

sept.15.2018  | 3:06am

masterlist

••

you bopped your head to the music blasting through your headphones as you bounced down the brand new halls of the new jyp building. your sneakers squeaked against the floor as you bowed to the staff you passed and waved to a few friends you had made so far as a new part of jyp’s company.

but people recognized you everywhere you went and called you ‘jyp’s experiment’ because technically, that was what you were. the agents talent scouted you, more for your great musical abilities than your mixed race, and instantly you had become a trainee for jyp.

but that was over two years ago, and now you were officially a debuted idol in one of the newest girl groups,the first black and korean idol of the big three, so of course there was much talk in the kpop world of how much you were going to change it. you could produce, write your own songs, dance,sing, and act a bit, you were a triple hit and people called you trouble. not that you didn’t mind.

it was pretty early in the morning and so as you came to the dance practice rooms, some were still empty but a few had occupants. you were passing one of the rooms when a head of orange hair caught your eye. immediately backtracking, you glanced through the small window of the door to see felix of stray kids practicing alone.

you had only met him in passing a few times but he mostly kept your conversations short and brief,always smiling that gorgeous smile of his. he always practiced around the same time as you and you always wanted to have at least conversation but you just didn’t know how.

people always said you were a pretty open person and extremely a mess, a walking meme so to speak, but felix was different. he was australian just like you and you both struggled with korean coming to the country, so there was common topics,but he was always gone before you could start.

you watched him glide across the floor, his movements so effortless and sharp. he knew his balance and it was as if he connected to the music in a way you had never seen before.

you wanted to watch him for a little bit more,but you wanted to go over a few parts before your members got there. but right as you were about to leave, felix suddenly looked back directly at you,’catching your eye. embarrassed,you slowly backed away and quickly tried to walk away but instantly you heard the swift opening of the door.

“it’s rude to stare you know,” you heard his accent loud over your music. you were wondering if all the times he could’ve actually made conversation, why now when you looked like you just rolled out of bed and was staring at him hardcore. you turned around and scoffed, waving him off,”it wasn’t staring, it was admiring a fellow artist,”

felix smirked glancing down at his sneakers, then back up at you, sweat dripping down his forehead. “admiring? hmm I don’t think that’s the word for it,”

feeling how warm your cheeks were getting, you turned to leave,”g’day sunshine, mama’s gotta go!”

“see ya later peeper!”

you gasped turning back to him and the moment he began to laugh at you, you narrowed your eyes at him.” listen up sunset looking head ass boy, you trying me too early in the morning,” this insult only made him laugh harder and soon you broke into a smile just at seeing his face light up the way it did.

he finally calmed down to say,”you’re actually funny when you’re not rushing to get away from me. you know, as fellow aussie’s we should get to know each other.”

“hmm yeah no, i don’t become friends with boys that still use the word peeper,”

rolling his eyes, felix leaned against the door handle,”fine, admirer, let’s hang sometime later if you’re not busy.”

tilting your head at him as you backed away slowly, you hummed in thought,”I might take you up on that offer, I think you might be funny enough to roll with me.”

“I might be? oh girl you have no idea,”

and that’s truly how your friendship with felix grew. he hated being called sunset sunshine head by you but allowed you to do it because he thought you were cute. plus you spoke your mind, always tagged him in memes and did fortnite dances with him on the roof of the jyp building, without a care in the world.

even though your mini album was done, you were still working. you wrote lyrics, produced music, having the positions of maknae, a main dancer, rapper, and vocalist at times, you had a lot on your plate, but felix came in clutch with sending his memes of the day.

but international and korean fans eventually caught on to how close you two were.it truly wasn’t a secret that you both would make entire fools of yourselves backstage at music shows and the cameras caught it all. international fans truly went wild for it,some korean fans as well but not everyone was very happy about it and didn’t keep it secret.

»»

one late night, after a music show performance, you returned to the studio to work on a new song you had begun to write. but after getting stuck on a line, you ended up just reading some comments online because they truly were your guilty pleasure.

“y/n and felix are a whole ass mood,”

“she’s annoying,”

“omg what if felix and y/n are secretly dating and end up like edawn and hyuna?”

“I can’t stand how weird y/n is, sorry not sorry.”

“if felix is interested in someone like y/n, I feel sorry for him.”

“y/n is a happy virus and felix is our sunshine,can they just be together already?”

you were still scrolling, immersed in the comments that you hadn’t heard felix enter the room. it wasn’t until he approached you, his cologne catching your attention.

“creeping on me again, sunshine? you are still failing to scare me homie,” huffing, felix sat beside you and spun in his chair,”i wasn’t trying to scare you, I thought I told you I gave up on that after you punched me in the face the last time.” you pursed your lips before nodding,”you tried to get me while I was coming out of the bathroom, mama always said you gotta be cautious ya know?”

felix rolled his eyes and smiled at you,”aren’t you supposed to be working on something important?”

“aren’t you supposed to be resting before another show?” you counter question and he shrugs, shrugging back, you continue.”I’m just reading some comments about us,”

“they are by the thousands, don’t read them,”

“but some are so cute! people actually ship us together! funny thing is we barely text with words, our friendship is literally in memes,”

felix smirked, his eyes dancing in the dim light of the studio.”meme king and queen, we should be crowned.”

“you’re obviously the queen though because I definitely have more balls than you,”

“says the girl who can’t even look at sloths without crying,”

“but they are cuddle bugs! a animal made for cuddling! totally beats humans any day, fight me.” felix giggled, sitting up to lean forward on his knees.”i don’t know why I like you, you’re so weird.”

you tilt your head at him and he realizes what he said and his eyes widen,”wait-run that by me again?” a smile curling the corners of your mouth. but felix was panicking,”chan is calling me, gotta blast!” he was out of the studio before you could get another word out of him.

but he just confessed to liking you. was it like-like? or just as a friend? you weren’t sure but it made you feel happy inside.

»»

“wait- so how did he say it?”

groaning you out down your fork, less interested in your taco salad. “nina, I’m not repeating it again, it’ll be for the fourth time! he said he liked me.” nina, was a member of your girl group, half cuban and your best friend.

“but y/n,” she whined,”context is important! I mean he does talk about you a lot but you do the same about him too so- wait, do you like him?”

you shrugged and glanced around the small restaurant trying to avoid her sharp hazel eyes.

suddenly, she gasped, her hand smacking the table and making many people look over to you two.

“you do like him! damnit! I should’ve known after you made a literal moodboard of meme felix faces!”

“that doesn’t mean anything!”

nina narrowed her eyes at you and made a stank face,”the only time you ever did that was for pepe and kermit and claimed you only made meme moodboards for your current crushes.”

pouting, you crossed your arms,”dang it nina, stop paying attention to things I say! I was hoping you would forget about that.”

“yeah well I didn’t. so why don’t you just tell him? the boy probably is goin’ crazy thinking you don’t feel the same,”nina said going back to stuffing pieces of chicken into her mouth.

“you know you’ve got to chew it, right?”you ask as she inhaled the chicken, she held her hand up to you and ate even faster before she choked on a piece and cried because she had to spit it all out. you didn’t let her know that you had gotten it all on camera and already getting screenshots for meme pictures later.

»»

the next time you saw felix in person, he was leaving one of the dance studios just as you were leaving a producing room. it reminded you kind of when you guys first became friends.

you couldn’t help but feel a bit sad and reminiscint about the fact that you both went from talking all the time and walking to the building together to nothing. you knew he had been avoiding you by the lack of memes and strings of whiny texts.

you saw him before he saw you and thought it was now or never.”hey stranger danger,” his head shot up at the sound of your voice, his fading orange hair was wet from sweat, sticking to his forehead, reminding you of fading sunset light. his jacket was slung over his shoulder as he was mid-singing through his duffel for his headphones.

“oh hey, dude.”

“you really are going to dude-zone me? the disrespect I feel is abundant,” you say in mock hurt, touching your chest. he broke into a smile and glanced down at his shoes.

“like I really was out here about to tell you how I like you and all and how your freckles remind me of the stars and your hair the sunshine but no-“

“wait really?” his face lit up in shock, his eyes going wide. biting your lip, you rocked on your heels.”yeah, yeah you know but if you don’t feel the same anymore it’s cool.”

felix shook his head,” feelings don’t disappear that fast y/n, I just didn’t know what to do when I accidentally confessed.”

“you could’ve just waited like two more seconds and I would’ve been like yo dude, I like you two, let’s reign as the meme couple and slay these hoes.” felix began to laugh again and you smiled seeing his face brighten as he did. his smile and laugh was seriously your favorite and you shamelessly stared at him.

“well, if that offer is still on the table,”he started as he walked closer to you until you had to glance up to see him better. “then I would happily reign with you,” you giddily rocked back and forth and smiled at him.

“well yeah cool, I would give you a little peck and all but you is a sweaty mess and if you touch me we gonna fight so I suggest you back it up like ten feet.”

“what? you don’t like me like this?” he teased trying to sexily run his fingers through his hair but it only made you laugh at him.

“do that again and I’m leaving you for kermit,”

“right, what can that frog do for you that I can’t?” you both began walking side by side, hands brushing but no one making a move to hold hands.

“I’m sure he is limited in many ways but that frog be banking so,”

felix rolled his eyes at you and swiftly leaned down mid walk to peck your lips,leaving you shook for a moment.”he ain’t as cool as me though.”

shyly you smiled at him and continued to walk,”damnit sunshine, back at it again with the cheesiness.”

••

[moyaxhi]

skinny love

Summary: Takumi likes Souma. Souma likes Takumi. Everyone just wants them to get together.

notes: I wrote this a long time ago and found this in my drive (then i decided to somewhat finish it. This also could be a companing fic to trim. 

ao3

“I can’t believe him!” Takumi exasperatedly shouts as Isami makes his way inside their apartment, “He has the gall to actually make something like that and not listen to me?!" The blond-haired Italian paces back and forth vigorously ranting at Yukihira’s performance at their joint class today. Of which he would have been totally fine with if not the fact that instead of having Isami as his partner, the professors deemed it a good decision to pair Yukihira and Takumi together. Saying that and quote —"Takumi-kun will be a good influence to you Yukihira-kun."

And well, it escalated into a mess. Not really, but Takumi was not used to working with a storm like Yukihira.

“Well you got to work with him didn’t you nii-san?” Isami sits on the couch munching on a box of Every Burger. Takumi stops his pacing and glances at his brother, “You don’t understand Isami! He just won’t listen to anything I say!” The other Aldini nods his head prompting for his brother to continue and that he did. “I told him to sauté the garlic first. What does he do?” Takumi raises his hand in irritation, “He goes and does something entirely different! He does the onions first! The nerve!"

Truthfully, Isami thinks that his brother has been reacting too much to anything that Yukihira does lately. "To be fair nii-san, the two of you did get a high grade,” the younger of the two points out. “Still!” Takumi complains, "If he would have just listened to me.” Isami watches as his brother sinks onto the couch next to him. The older blonde grabs one of the throw pillows and hugs it close to his chest. “…I don’t know why but I feel weird whenever I see him.” Takumi mumbles, “It’s like I can’t stand him but at the same time I need to make him see me. Do you know what I mean, Isami?" Isami sighs, his brother could be so oblivious sometimes, “Maybe this just means you like him, nii-san.” “W-well, I do consider him to be my friend!” Takumi protests Isami shakes his head and his gaze is  at his older brother, “No, what I mean is, you like him more than just a friend.” Takumi looks scandalised at the words that his brother utters.

“That’s not true!” Takumi counters, “There’s no way I would like someone like him. Not in a million years Isami!” Isami shrugs, “Well think about it nii-san. You mostly talk about him. During the camp, you told me you were worried that Yukihira was going to fail and that you would never settle the score with him. You also told me that you wanted to face Yukihira at the finals for the Autumn Selection. When you lost to Mimisaka, you were so depressed about it. And then you heard about Yukihira’s shokugeki with Mimasaka. You got so angry when you found out that Yukihira bet his cooking career for your mezzaluna and everyone else’s tools," Isami listed, "Bottom line is nii-san, I think you like him. Maybe more than a friend should." Isami watches his brother’s face morph in confusion, then his brother’s cheeks redden in embarrassment, and finally, blue cerulean eyes widens in horror at the realization that he makes. “Dio,” Takumi's face was absolutely terrified at his discovery, “I-Isami... Maybe I do like Yukihira. W-what do I do?” Isami smiles at his brother and shrugs, "I don't know nii-san, what do you want to do?" ---

Later that night, Isami makes a very important phone call to Yuuki who then tells Ryouko, who then tells Megumi while brushing their teeth, who then passes it down to Marui while going to get for a glass of water, who then happens to see Ibusaki, where Ishiki-senpai happens to overhear, who then tells Fumio-san about this "fool-proof plan we have to get two cooking idiots together."

---

Megumi notices that Souma-kun has been in good spirits lately. She notices his enthusiasm whenever they're in class and especially when their professor starts to talk about Italian cooking.

She has a pretty good idea why Souma-kun's in a great mood. And it's not because of the pile of Shokugeki's that he's gotten lately. More so, it had to do with a certain blond haired Italian.

And of course, Souma-kun isn't the only one in their grade to like Takumi-kun. He's one of many, but he does have the advantage at this point. A very big advantage to what she's observed. She's fairly sure that Takumi-kun likes Souma-kun as well.

Back at home, her mother always told her to trust her instincts. And her instincts tell her that getting those two together would be the best thing.

There was a burning need in her to succeed in getting Souma-kun and Takumi-kun together… as embarrassing as that sounds!

Is this what Yuuki meant by 'shipping'?

---

Souma's noticing that his friends have been acting weird lately. He's noticed that whenever they get together, they're purposely making him sit next to Takumi. Not that he minds in the slightest.

Actually, he likes it. He likes being this close to Takumi. The Italian was so fun to tease and his reactions were adorable.

Yes, he'd said adorable, don't judge him!

---

Ikumi actually frustrated for once.

Well, she's been frustrated many times, especially during her time in the Don RS (but she did like that club to an extent. It would crumble without her good graces).

Anyways, she's never been this frustrated before. She's quite irritated as well.

Today, the first years have been gathered for an activity for one of their many cooking subjects. The assignment was whipping something up the Elite Ten would approve of.

Which is not that big of a deal actually. Well not exactly, it's a very big deal having the Elite Ten taste their food. Nevertheless, Ikumi's not that flustered as everyone else is.

It all started when the professors announced that the first year students would be shuffled into groups of three, deciding that it would be a good experience for students to be well acquainted with each other. Blah blah.

With her luck– who was she kidding? Since meeting with Yukihira, she'd had no luck at all, she finds herself paired with both Yukihira and the older Aldini twin, Takumi.

She doesn't have any problems with Takumi. If anything, the older Italian was very reliable. Yukihira was too, to an extent.

Okay let's get this straight, she might have feelings for Yukihira, but when Yukihira blatantly tries to flirt up Takumi, she knows she's lost her chances. Not that she minded at all. A woman of her calibre would have any guy or girl falling to their feet with a snap of her fingers. Have you seen the way she fillets meat? Exactly.

There was no use crying over spilled milk.

Anyways, back to Yukihira flirting. It was repulsive looking at him.

He has no game. Ikumi thinks to herself as she starts to flip the sirloin steak. She cringes at how Yukihira tries– keyword tries, to get Takumi's attention with useless jokes and cringe-worthy pick-up lines.

"So," Yukihira tries to be smooth but fails at it, "You sure know what you're doing Takumi."

Are you an idiot? He's a freaking chef! Ikumi shakes her head in disbelief.

"I'm a chef Yukihira," Takumi dismisses and if Ikumi was paying more attention, she would have seen pink dusting Takumi's cheek, "What'd you expect?"  

"Well then Chef Takumi, why don't you spice me up?"

Oh god. Did he just--

Collectively, the two blondes turn to Yukihira looking at him as if he's lost his mind.

"What?!" Takumi screeches so loudly that the other people near them turn to look at what the commotion was about.

Yukihira points somewhere behind Takumi's back, "The rosemary's behind you. I was asking if you could, you know, give some to me."

"Oh…"

Ikumi mentally slaps herself, thinking why in the hell the meat gods hated her and gave her these two bean heads to work with. Takumi is an idiot. Yukihira is an even bigger idiot. They're both idiots.  

Oh god, please let these two be together. They're perfect idiots together.

---

Fumio has never seen idiots like this in her life.

And to be honest, she's seen idiots in the span that she'd been working in the Polar Star Dorm

Jouichirou is one, Isshiki is another, heck everyone in the Polar Star Dorm was basically idiots, but they were her idiots nonetheless.

And like a doting mom that Fumio is, she just can't stand two particular idiots.

Yukihira Souma and Takumi Aldini to be precise.

The Takumi boy, blond hair, gorgeous eyes, and equally as gorgeous face came by again. This time, with the prospect of trimming Yukihira's hair.

She'd heard them from the hall. She'd heard Yukihira come up with a lie that she had gone with the others grocery shopping when in actuality she was just sitting in the kitchen having a nice cup of green tea.

"That kid," Fumio muses at the lie spewed expertly from Yukihira's lips. She sips the cup of green tea, "If he wanted to be alone then he should've told me so."

Not a few minutes later, Yukihira comes down to the kitchen.

"Hey, Fumio-san," Yukihira greets moving over to the pantry to no doubt serve the guest they had.

"Ya didn't have to lie, 'ya know?"

Yukihira lets out a good-hearted snort.

The older woman stands up and reaches for a jar of cookies. She hands it to Yukihira, "Megumi's baked some cookies, better to share some with your guest."

"Thanks, Fumio-san," He says as he grabs a plate and pours out some of the cookies.

Fumio waves her hand dismissively, "Ya better get your head straight, boy."

Yukihira gives her a confused look as he puts everything in a tray. "I mean, go on and ask him on a date already," Fumio chuckles, "Everyone knows you two like each other."

The blush on Yukihira, albeit a little one, confirms everything that she needed to know. He moves to exit the kitchen but Fumio will not let him leave just like that.

"No sex in the dorm ya hear?"

"Fumio-san!"

---

Alice has no interest in the prospect of Yukihira Souma-kun's personal life.

But she does understand why one would go for Takumi Aldini. He's no match for her beauty, of course, but his looks were far from average. He was very good looking and his eyes were as clear as the Caribbean seas. Which Alice found really a redeeming quality.

Alice, with her trusted companion, Kurokiba watch waiting to see what happens next.

"My lady?" Kurokiba speaks up, "Why are we up here again?"

"Can't you see Ryou-kun?" Alice huffs, "I'm trying to see what else those two do!"

"Ahhh…"

Alice has no interest if those two get together or not.

No interest at all.

…

Though, Kurokiba would beg to differ.

---

Mimasaka, on the other hand, is very interested in Yukihira Souma's personal life. Since his loss at the Shokugeki during the Autumn Election, he's refrained from 'stalking'–as many would call it, but he'd like to call it 'extensive research'.

Though, old habits die hard. When he caught wind of a rumour that Yukihira Souma harboured feelings for Takumi Aldini, he was intrigued, very much so.

To be honest, he didn't 'research' at first. He minded his own business and just wished the two well. But the more the days passed, the more he wanted to see proof of this 'blooming love' that they had.

Soon enough, he was following both Yukihira and Takumi after school, closely watching them.

At first, Mimasaka didn't notice anything. Just random bickers and teasing (mostly from Yukihira) here and there. But the more he watched, he started to notice little things. Like when Yukihira smiled at Takumi like he was the most interesting thing in the planet. The way Takumi's eyes brightened when he caught sight of Yukihira. The way Yukihira ruffles the back of his hair when he's said something embarrassing. And most of all, he noticed how Yukihira and Takumi would give longing stares when no one was watching.

"You're busy."

Startled by the sudden voice, Mimasaka almost lost grip on his binoculars. He steps back, hiding behind the bush and looked next to him were found the same cerulean eyes–only a shade darker, that belonged to Takumi's younger brother, Isami.

"Oh," Mimasaka sighs "It's just you."

The younger Aldini hums, "Just me."

"So what do you want?"

"I was about to ask the same question, Mi-ma-saka-kun," Isami sings.

"I-I was just curious, is all," He plays with the hem of his uniform.

"Hmmm," There's a calculating smile on Takumi's face and Mimasaka takes back what he'd said about the younger Aldini before, he's definitely terrifying, "Maybe if you're so curious, you'll lend a hand?"

"On what?"

"You'll see."

---

Erina is quite busy. Being an Elite Ten Member is very taxing indeed. She had a packed schedule every day but she did enjoy the time off when she had.

Usually, when she had a free day, she would spend it in a hot bath to relax her aching muscles and that was currently what she was doing.

Too many things had piled up at the moment and having this time to herself was heaven.

But heaven was cut short when Hisako called for her, "Erina-sama, there are some guests for you today."

Erina waves her hand elegantly, "Send them away Hisako, I'm not in the mood to entertain guests."

Hisako looks reluctant but she replies, "Erina-sama, Tadokoro Megumi-san is here as well, she says that she needs to speak with you immediately."

Erina perks at the sound of Tadokoro Megumi's name. She stands up and grabs the bathrobe hung on the handle and gracefully puts the garment on, "I will be down immediately."

Hisako bows at her. The assistant making her way through the corridors to announce Erina's arrival.

Upon Erina's entrance, she's faced with more people than she anticipated. One of those faces that she recognised was her very own colleague, the seventh seat, Isshiki Satoshi.

Erina's eyes widen in surprise, "Isshiki-san!"

Issiki gives Erina a bright smile, "Erina-chan!"

Erina tries to calm herself, this is such a shocking moment and in her bathrobe too! "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Tadokoro Megumi stands and bows to her, "I'm so sorry for randomly dropping by on you Erina-san!"

She waves her hand, "It's alright Megumi-san," She surveys the room. She sees Mito Ikumi, members of the Polar Star Dorm, and the younger brother of Takumi Aldini, "Why have you all gathered here might I ask?"

"We need to ask a favour of you, Erina-sama," Mito Ikumi stands.

Erina raises an elegant eyebrow, "And what is this favour?"

"Well," Isami Aldini steps forward, "You see, Erina-san, my brother and Yukihira-kun are… well, for the most part, they like each other."

"I don't see what this has got to do with me. I don't care about Yukihira Souma's love interests in the slightest." Though she did pity Takumi Aldini for having such a human being like Yukihira Souma like him. She did see the appeal to Takumi Aldini, he was by far one of the most attractive people in Tootsuki. Certainly, his current fan club could prove that.

"We don't want to bother you either Erina-san," A member of the Polar Star Dorm provides, "But, please help us out!"

Erina isn't convinced, she was about to decline when a desperate look from Tadokoro Megumi has her ice wall crumbling. She sighs, "All right what is it?"

"We want you to serve as a judge for a shokugeki."

---

"You want me to what?!" Yuuki and the rest of the Polar Star dorm are in from Yukihira, whilst the young man sat on his bed.

"Come on!" Yuuki whines, "We know you like him!"

A slight tinge of red on Yukihira's face gives him away, but the contemplative look on his face stays.

"We know how much you love shokugekis too, Souma-kun," For once Megumi is the one to push the idea of shokugekis to him. Which, if Yukihira was paying attention long enough, he would have noticed the utter out of character behaviour, but it seemed that he didn't.

"Well…" Yukihira sighs.

"Come on!" Yuuki enthusiastically shouts, "It's like killing two birds with one stone. You get to cook and win a date with Takumi!"

Yukihira seems reluctant all of a sudden, "The last thing I want to do is to push my feelings for him."

"I doubt it," Ibusaki mumbles under his breath.

Marui sweat drops they can't fail, not now, not after countless sleepless nights to get this to work. Not after they got Erina Nakiri do be a judge for the event. With an uneasy breath, Marui says, "You won't know until you try."

At the comment, Isshiki-senpai stands, apron glory and all, "Yes!" he agrees, "Where is the Yukihira-kun that won't back down from a challenge?"

Isshiki-senpai places his hands on Yukihira's shoulders, "This is but a challenge Yukihira-kun! One must court his love! One must get his love to know how much you want them!"

"How do I win his heart by beating him in a shokugeki?"

"It's a start?"

Souma crossed his arms and contemplated the idea, "Well, we do love to cook."

"That's the spirit!" Megumi chanted.

---

Yukihira Souma issues an official shokugeki against Takumi a few days later.

Takumi isn't one to back down from a challenge.

And so, not even three hours since the shokugeki has ensued, he accepts it.

---

A week later, they find themselves at the stadium, many people came to witness a shokugeki of the Autumn Election candidates. Upon hearing the shoukugeki match, Mitsuru Sotsuda made an article about it that had been published on the front page, which garnered the grand audience in the stadium. Many of Takumi's fangirls were also there rooting for him to win. The Polar Star on the other hand…

"YOU BETTER WIN THIS!" Yuuki, with her fans and her headband, shouts across the stadium, "YU-KI-HI-RA."

Yuuki chants, beckoning Megumi to follow her and reluctantly Megumi does. Inwardly she's praying the Yukihira wins and that Takumi-kun would finally realise his feelings for Yukihira and go for it.

---

"Prepare to get your butt beaten by me Yukihira," Takumi intimidates Yukihira though it was lacking of any venom.

Yukihira, as dense as he was to the atmosphere that he's in, isn't pressured at all, it was almost as if he was enjoying the attention that Takumi gave him.

"Who even says 'butt beaten' anymore?" Yukihira teases, "Are you a kid?"

Flushed like a ripe tomato, Takumi retorts, "Anyways! I'll settle the score once and for all."

---

The time limit was one and a half hour, the instructions are given as was a shokugeki from Yukihira was that they could cook whatever they felt they were comfortable in. Definitely a Yukihira move alright.

Two can play that game, Takumi thinks.

What better way to beat Yukihira in his game.

---

Yukihira, on the other hand, knows exactly what to do.

Which is why he would give Takumi his best.

Takumi would skin him alive if he didn't take this seriously.

"Go get your man!" Yuuki hollers from the stands, the whole Polar Star Dorm cheering on with her.

---

The world, Yukihira thinks, is full of clichés.

Maybe, just possibly, it was ironic.

Because, just as he was finishing his plate for a risotto, he looks over his shoulder and he could see Takumi plating a bowl of ramen noodles.

Yukihira had cooked Italian thinking that Takumi would beat him with his own expertise, not knowing that Takumi was doing the same.

God, they were idiots together.

"Thirty seconds!" The speakers blast.

---

It was a landslide win.

It didn't help that Erina was one of the judges. Just made the defeat sting a little bit harder.

His ego deflated.

Humiliated.

In big bold letters flashing on the screen said, 'Winner: Takumi Aldini'

---

[thisiswhereifall]

Struggling to continue but I'm back

Hi! I'm back! Maybe not for long, but here I am!

College has been keeping me busy but I promise to do my best to keep contributing to this wonderful fandom. I love this ship so much, and it needs more art and fics. I'm proud of us, guys!

Anyway, I sort of mixed the prompts Secrets, Peanut Butter Cookies, and Headphones here to make up for lost time. Thank you all for your patience!

----------- o -----------

Keith wouldn't say that he actually had an idea of what's going on, but he did have one.

Keith normally never cared about anything that didn't involve fighting, war, or his identity and he still doesn't.

Keith had a habit of not setting issues aside and he does not intend to try solving a problem later on if it could be solved now.

Keith had an idea of what's going on, and even though he would never care about what comes of it, he will most definitely not just set it aside. It might affect teamwork, after all. Might.

And it all started with one simple question.

“Pidge, can I borrow your headphones?”

Keith usually didn't borrow anyone else's stuff. He'd prefer improvising his own method and equipment than owe anyone a favor, and it wasn't because he was cold and anti-social like the girl in front of him always says. He just wasn't used to kindness, being alone for most of his life. It could use some getting used to, now that he literally lived with a bunch of people unrelated to him in any shape or form – they were full human and he was not – and he would have to make a few adjustments to his lifestyle.

And although he will never admit it – and he doesn't plan to – he really missed music. It kept him company back on Earth, when he went for days with no one to talk to or care for him. Aside from training, Keith really liked music.

But he wasn't going to ask Coran or Allura to blast his favorite bands through Altean speakers. That would blow his cover and worse, get judged for his taste. Not like his taste was bad, he just knew that someone – namely, Lance – never fails to make fun of completely normal stuff.

So, he had no choice but to ask the only person he knew wouldn’t blabber about anything unnecessary.

“What do you need my headphones for?” Pidge's emphasis on the possessive pronoun made Keith cringe a little. He almost forgot that the girl values her equipment as if they were rare treasures(they are). Keith swallowed, and the two engaged in a staring contest when Pidge looked up from the machine she was building. Keith could feel Green's eyes on him, too, and he finally figured that he was, in reality, in the Green Paladin's territory.

He didn't break the eye contact, because he didn't want to seem nervous. “Uh, I…” Oh, great. He stuttered. “I just wanted to listen to something while training…” His voice lowered and he held his head low.

When Pidge eyed him, he already knew what her answer would be.

“That's… really a good thing to know. I didn't know you enjoyed music.” Pidge commented, and Keith almost yelled at her when she smirked mischievously. “But, uh, I…” Her voice trailed off, and she started adjusting her glasses. Keith knew – she was trying to find her words and was really nervous doing so.

As much as he wanted to listen to some music – and he just found out that Coran had access to Earth music earlier during breakfast talk – he felt bad making Pidge anxious. She was never really good with words. “You don't let anyone borrow your equipment.” The sentence came out colder than he expected it would.

Alarmed, Pidge's eyes widened in panic. “W-W-Wait! Okay, so maybe you're right, I don't let people borrow or touch my stuff, but I swear it's nothing personal, like, I like you, wait no! I only like you as a friend, nothing mushy or whatever, so it would be okay for you to borrow my things, but I just really feel uncomfortable when someone borrows my stuff and I swear I really like you – as a friend! Because I like someone else, and…”

Keith's ears perked up.

“Come again?” He immediately cut her off, and he could see the terror in her eyes while she tried to adjust her glasses frantically. Knowing that she wouldn't repeat any of the things she said, he decided to cut to the chase, as usual. “ You like someone?”

“I-It's not like that!” Keith was amused now. He had never seen Pidge so flustered before. Her confident façade faded and all he could see now was a girl who was desperately trying to hide her embarrassment. “I like him as a friend, too!”

Keith raised an eyebrow. If it was a friend, he was one hundred percent sure that the person was in this ship. After all, Pidge didn't seem like she had anyone she could call a friend before. Much like him.

Before he could push any further, Pidge turned away from him, working on her project once again. “Look, I'm really busy and sorry for the, uh, headphone thing. I need to finish this today, too.” And Keith left, deciding to ignore the fact that her hands were so sweaty and the tools kept slipping from her grasp.

Of course, that didn't stop him from training. For a while, he completely forgot about the earlier incident while he was facing the gladiator, not to mention, he lost interest quickly. It was a personal matter and he didn't want to pry any further into a silly thing.

That was until he and Hunk were sitting in the common room, and the door opened.

“Hey, Hunk, got any food in the kitchen?” Keith looked up to see a certain blue idiot by the door. Nothing special. Just Lance. He would ask Hunk for food every now and then, and this was normal.

Except he came in wearing Pidge's headphones around his neck.

“Uh, I think I left some of the improvised peanut butter stuff thing on the table.” Hunk answered. “We also have the alien bread that Coran really liked. He got a whole bunch of them from the Space Mall.” The Yellow Paladin quickly followed up. Lance tilted his head, confusion written all over his face.

“I don't really like peanut butter. Did you know peanuts cause acne? Not having any of that.” Keith blinked at Lance as he talked. As the Blue Paladin rubbed his head and turned to leave, Keith opened his mouth to speak.

“Did you just take that without permission?” Keith's accusing voice caused Lance to turn around with a scowl on his face. Hunk looked back and forth between the two, puzzled.

“What?” Lance replied without delay, taken aback by the sudden random question from his rival. Keith didn't seem pleased about having to point out what exactly he was talking about, but he did nonetheless. Lance eyes narrowed when Keith raised a finger to point at him – was that his middle finger? – or not at him, but his neck.

And when Lance's hand traced the object around his neck, his scowl disappeared upon realization. “Excuse me? I asked her nicely and she told me it was okay.” He turned to leave again. “Besides, she lets me use it every night before going to bed.” And with that, Lance left, leaving Keith to wonder about what just happened.

Lance passed by the common room again soon after, holding a plate with two peanut butter(?) sandwiches as he went to enter the opposite hallway from the kitchen. Didn't he say he didn't like peanut butter? Huh.

Of course, Keith knew there was something weird going on, but he hardly gave much thought on it. The days proceeded as normal, and the battles were won flawlessly – except that one time Hunk failed to break through an enemy barrier because he thought his Lion could, and Shiro had to save him from being melted by the nuclear material of the enemy defenses. The druids were getting more creative in their weapons.

Oh, and that one time, too.

It was just one little thing, no big deal. If Allura didn't say anything, Keith wouldn't notice – he was too busy maneuvering through the glaciers covered by the thick fog in the ice planet.

“I can't seem to find Lance. Paladins, the fog is interfering with the castle's sensors!” Allura's voice was glitching through the comms and Keith could tell that the Lion's sensors were also weakening. He immediately pulled on the controls, almost hitting a huge glacier, if not only for Red's agility.

“Lance—with me…--- found--- stuck in the – requ-- ck-up now!” Pidge's voice cut through the comms and it caught Keith's attention. “What?” He heard Shiro respond. Keith made a choice to fly up and out of the atmosphere, trying to receive the message.

“I said, Lance is with me! He found the prisoners stuck in a cave, we request back-up now!” Pidge's voice was loud and clear now, and Keith stopped himself from asking something entirely different.

Hunk beat him to it.

“You didn't split up? I thought we were supposed to split up. I go close to the ground, Keith would fly across the glaciers, Shiro and Pidge were supposed to fend off the incoming Galra ships, and Lance would--"

There was an air of awkward silence in the comms. It was a very short silence, almost unnoticeable, or maybe Keith was just overthinking things.

“Never mind that now, Paladins, we've got company!” Allura shouted, and a humongous blast caught everyone's attention. Without pressing on the issue further, they formed Voltron and took on the enemies with ease.

Nobody questioned anything further nor did the two receive scolding from either Shiro or Allura. It was like an unspoken message between all of them.

The next morning(?), a pissed-off Keith stormed out of the training room to drag out a certain Paladin who was late for training. As usual. As he neared Lance's room, the door opened before he could come close, and he didn't know why, but he hurriedly hid in a corner.

“Aw, come on, Pidge! That was my favorite song!” Lance's loud voice could be heard throughout the corridor, even though he was in his room. To Keith's surprise, it was Pidge who came out of the door, and to add up to his current surprise, Pidge was actually awake this early. Everyone knew how hard she worked every night, so they don't force her to train in the morning with them.

But here she was, striding out of Lance's room with her headphones on-hand. “Yeah, sure, Lance. Tell that to Shiro or Keith, whoever comes to your room to drag you to the training room first.” She answered with a smug smirk. “Besides, I need my headphones for something today.”

“You just want an excuse to see me this early every morning.” Lance retorted, unknowingly making Pidge's face as red as Keith's jacket. “After all, who could resist my charming bedroom voi—oof!” A jab to his stomach was enough to make him shut up.

“Whatever, Lance.” Pidge rolled her eyes.

Keith tiptoed away from the scene as quietly as he could. At least he now knows why everytime he or Shiro was about to pick Lance up, he was already awake before they could even knock.

[pkmntrainergreyze]

The Emo School (Chapter 3)

Previous

Chapter 3: Modern Day Pain...

I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong. -Benjamin Franklin

09/14/01 FRIDAY

D A L L O N   W E E K E S

"Cocaine is God's way of saying you're making too much money, now that's just bull-f*ckin-sh*t Robin Williams, debunked"

I don't know how I got my hands on a 1000 funny quotes book, I don't know why I'm even reading it. Life sucks, that's how it works.

I'm contradicting myself am I? No? Okay, let's keep it that way-

"Dallon have you seen my cra-" he stopped my destructive train of thoughts that will have me go psycho again.

"No Brendon, ask Pete" I replied with a blank stare

"Uhh... no thanks"

Sycophant

Now, I guess that's my hypocrite self spitting venom. To think that I actually managed to slack off this shift made me wanna throw up. Just anxious stuff, sounds like a blog name, if I had access to blogs and not MySpace would have done things like that a long time ago.

(we have Tumblr Dal— oh wait, this is the early two thousands lel)

I'm think I'll the pink slip anytime soon, I can't help it, those lingering devils are going to be the death of me. I mean, once I enter the class I feel like choking myself for a trip to the clinic.

I sound like a really problematic guy, but then again, almost everyone has bigger problems than me. I just need to thank God I'm not in Pete's shoes.

I promise I'll do much better next Monday.

Seriously.

But then again, the students here are already talented and intelligent, sure with some exceptions nevertheless I'm still frightened by them.

"Are you just going to sit around inside the faculty Dallon? I think your students are worried. You don't have to worry about Miss Flack you know she regretted being the rebellious stage"

Snapping my head to the direction of the voice with a bit of distraught, I sighted Tyler with a box of cereal.

"Hello Tyler"

"Hello to you too Dall-"

"Salutations!"

There popped Josh with his trendy hat on, newly dyed hair, no care, like he didn't interrupted a conversation earlier, but I didn't mind and Tyler didn't seem to be upset either, they're friends after all.

"Have you seen Brendon?" "Yeah, asking for the same question here as well"

After Josh spoke, Tyler indeed raised his hand like an average student. I remained in my position before answering their very opposite toned questions "Yeah, he was just here a while ago before you entered, he probably went back to find his wee- lunchbox"

Josh smiled while Tyler's eyes furrowed a bit, questioning me with a hint of concern. "Thanks Dal, see ya later!"

With that, I was left in the room with an awkward situation with Tyler.

"U-Uh, see you later as well"

Thus, they both left the scene.

Tyler seems a little less confident today, a little more perplexed. Oh well, it is Tyler Joseph.

Sighing a bit, waiting for Brendon to get in trouble later on; I opened the book once more, licking my fingers, before entering page three hundred and ninety-four.

●-----------------------●

"Guys can someone name all the borders Egypt has-"

Riiiiiiiiing

"A-alright I'll see you all next Tuesday"

I didn't even notice the clock, oh well. Maybe I'm not fit for a History Teacher. I'd sometimes wish they could just find a replacement so I could retire and not feel bad about it.

I could hear the continous rumbling noises from the students' side of the room once they dragged the chairs out to stand up and leave. It did took me a while to understand the salty aftertaste it left on my mouth. Instead of complaining I just readied myself for the next class to enter and... Probably chew gum and place another batch underneath the tables... Our poor janitor's been through a lot today.

Chewing gum isn't cool or the janitor won't have fun in school.

That... It reminds me of Dad...

●-----------------------●

"How can you say sorry to a man who's probably high on drugs?" Ryan pondered as he took a sip of milk through a white and red stripped bendy straw.

I stared at his looking-through-space form.

"You're the philosopher and a very known substitute science teacher here, I'm pretty sure both things go well if you're a pro, you tell us"

Silence.

Then it hit me

"Wait— is that why Brendon's not here?"

That childish man-child wouldn't stop doing weird things huh? Yesterday he texted me saying stranger things with the lines of "quitting pipes", making me look like a very guileless teenager who just learned what methamphetamine means.

What—of course I knew what drugs are!

What do you mean Brendon sprinkled 'magical coke' on me, coca cola isn't a very solid material—

"Yeah, I told him to fuck off yesterday, I was really pissed off when he told me to put back the white cheese in the grocery shelves"

Of course that would happen.

"I don't know Ryan, treat him like a human being-" he gave me a mini glare, oh shit I didn't mean for it to sound... Nevermind.

"s-since some people think stoners don't have a life" I added to make it sound more... decent.

How do you control men at their age of 27? Exactly, I don't get the appeal on doing it as well, let them run around, do weird crap that'll get them fired.

Actually, don't do that.

I wonder if Brendon's interested in things like the 27 club-

No Dallon, bad thoughts Dallon. Bad thoughts.

"Just say sorry or something, give him space when he avoids you a bit too much... "

That advice sucks so bad, just like the way Ryan eats his cheese whiz.

I hope Ryan doesn't blame me if everything went downhill

"I'm blaming you if everything went downhill" He laughed after saying such playful words that make me shiver "You're too easy to read Man-Tree, and yeah, I know, it's okay if you didn't have any idea what to give for an advice"

At least he took a hint on not doing what I said.

Wait did he just compare me to a tree, I feel sorta honored—

From the corner of my left eye; I saw Patrick sprinting away confused and scared of Ryan's words.

"Eh, now I understand why Patrick would start to avoid me" "You can say that again"

●-----------------------●

I'm still unsure how to feel about Miss Williams' presence in the cafeteria. I mean, sure, she's known for being a great librarian and she also teaches in the senior building but still...

I'm still not used to seeing her here rather that seeing her inside the library, reading somethings I don't understand.

"Geez Dal, is it really weird for me to buy food here?"

"Yes Hayley, it just is"

She laughs and put down the tray on top of the cliche tables. The clock strucking on twelve would make sure that break's over.

"Well, get used to it. I'm tired of waking up early to make lunch, and besides food here is amazing" Her laugh has always been familiar for everyone. The Juniors considers her a cool and casual teacher that they'll love to learn from... Wish I could be like that, not complaining though, I love Dadlon.

"Hey, I'm not saying you shouldn't eat here and all"

"I know Dal"

●-----------------------●

"I feel like the electrolyte in a battery terminal"

"Why so Frankie?"

"Please don't call me that Dallon" Frank cringed before rubbing his shoulders while it shook. Seems like only Gerard can get to call him that, what a shame.

"I just got here, what happened?" I threw the plastic from the burgers straight down the trashcan, he just watched and waited until I come back.

"Welp, two of my rad students just roasted one another and now teachers are pretty much asking me things I don't even know" He sighed, stressed.

"I mean, how am I supposed to know what's the cause of the problem?" He flipped his hands and shrugged, as of to look clueless and annoyed.

"Don't you roast people?"

Okay, why did I say that.

"..."

"...Oh yeah I get it, whatever. I'm proud of my students, if I we're the principal I'll let them graduate" His comment of self awareness isn't making things better.

●-----------------------●

"Hey Brendon you alright?"

Brendon's been pulling his hair for a straight minute, he's bent over while sitting on his chair like he's going to break any minute, of course he's not alright.

"I-I can't take it"

His eyes looked puffy from both crying and a side effect of something I wouldn't wanna know.

"Shh, it's going to be okay" I tried removing the hands he used to cup his face but he appears to be much stronger than me.

He curls up, knees now covering his eyes and his arms strengthening the force that defends his pride.

"What happened?"

"Re-relapse? I don't f*cking know. I've been trying to make myself think that I won't be smoking but it always ends up like this Dal"

"Shh, shh, I'll tell Pete you're sick, I'll substitute"

Okay, wrong move, I don't know how to deal with students. But for Brendon... I wouldn't mind helping... He's a great friend after all, even though he's kind of a dick.

"T-thanks..."

"Anytime"

●-----------------------●

"It gets tiring honestly" I sipped on a new batch of coffee I prepared just two minutes ago while Ryan speaks gibberish, well, genius gibberish... That's not a thing I know.

"Sometimes people just forget that they should know who's worth their time and happiness or not, and they'll often use destructive emotions to get into the way of their relationship until two sides wouldn't dare speak with each other while one is hurting" He continued as he licked on the spoon of Cheese Whiz, gliding the cheese up to the tip of the spoon.

"Tell me Dal, have you given up a friendship?"

"Well, I don't think I have the guts to" I spoke with honesty "—but I should do that"

"Wow, that's kind of not conforting my situation right now"

"Oh sorry"

"But in all seriousness, I just hope he makes up his damn mind and if he ever says it's over then he should just keep it like we're strangers."

"Geez, you sure are quite frank with this. Have you lived through a rough path or something?" I successfully lightened up the mood, I can see Ryan smiling fron the corner of my eye.

"Well, you can't trust people easily who knows, they might steal your cheese" I raised my eyebrow in confusion.

"Ryan, no one says that"

"I did so deal with it Dallon"

●-----------------------●

"Hey there Mister Way" Micheal looked from his behind to see me greeting him "I've heard you've been visiting the music room with Mister Toro, what instrument are you interested in again?"

"More like forced by my brother and Ray, they want me to play the bass" Sounds about right.

"I could help you, you know?"

He shrugs "Thanks"

That blank stare would be the death of me, he looks like that one hero in an action movie that does Karate and that has bad temper.

Why is the Way brother's so complicated?

●-----------------------●

"Joshuuuuaa"

"Tyleeeeeer"

I witnessed one of those amazing scenes a human eye could record.

It was the miraculous handshake that the bestest friends does whenever they had the chance. Yeah, it may not be that rare of an action but it something that keeps me going.

"Woah, that's so cool guys!"

That was a big mistake.

Tyler hissed and threw his arms around Josh's neck while he tried hard to carry his odd friend. "Woah Tyler!"

"He. Just. Witnessed. Our. Secret. Handshake!" He hissed once more, emphasizing on each word. He added more stress on it than any normal person would.

"It's not that big of a deal—" "Of course it's a big deal Josh! That was something special to me! To us!"

Can I compare Tyler to a cat by now?

Seriously, he sounds like a cat thats been impaled with a knife to the gutter.

... Don't ask me why I know this.

●-----------------------●

"Okay Brendon, truth or dare?"

"Uhh... I'd say truth"

"If Ryan, Dallon or Spencer were to be hanging at the edge of a cliff, who would you pick?"

Brendon smirked as he continued to share a gaze with Spencer, who's shaking his head with the similar curved line plastered in his face.

"We all know the answer would lead to some four-thousand long *ss fanfiction"

What does he even mean by that? What's a fan fiction? Whatever it's probably Ryan. Although he wouldn't talk about him since...

wait

"What happened with you and Ryan?"

There was this prolonged silence that shouldn't have been that long if Brendon decided to speak early but he decided to go against the idea. He just stared, a little empty, like the time he was pranked

"He's having emotional mood swings inappropriate for his age, is all"

Well, I wouldn't call it a mood swing.

I mean, Ryan just love cheese, it's not like he's actually addicted to it like people joked around, right?

"Not true babe, I remember him using Cheese instead of cucumbers for therapeutic purposes" He emphasized on Babe and Therapeutic Purposes just to lace a sarcastic vibe on the topic about Ryan...

....

Nah, not true.

"Well, suit yourself"

I don't know why I'm easy to read.

"Because you're saying things out loud Mister Weekes!" The british transferee answered in such amusement. Spencer choked on his drink as he attempts to stiffle a laugh while the others, such as Josh and Frank (Iero, getting tired of correcting what Frank am I talking about with how many Franks are there) did not show any shame.

"Am I really saying it out loud?" Murmurous was the way my voice behaved. Patrick frantically nodded "Hells yeah"

"Hells yeah? Mister Stump says Hells Yeah?" Pete chimed in, slipping a seat next to Patrick and Tyler. "For the record Patrick, I am not letting you forget that, it's just historic- oh Mister Sheeran can you please hand the books you used to Miss Williams? It's been a week. Thanks"

As soon as the last student left for such 'delivery', the sounds of students seems to be getting farther and farther; with the exception of those who stays to wait for their service/school bus of course.

"What's up?" Pete joined the party.

"Nothing much, just our traditional Truth or Dare Friday, Brendon's turn to ask" While Joe—who just finished his class at Grade Twelve—spoke, Pete sips into his starbucks coffee.

"Cool, continue Brendon"

"You in?"

"Nah"

"Pay for view."

Joe's small joke sent Pete a payful glare at the Trohman-Fro man. "Later", he answered.

"Well, Gerard" there was this sparking tension once Gerard's responce came knocking "Yes?"

Brendon's face turned rock solid, like some action movie interrogation is about to happen as he stared at what seems to be a "punk criminal" at the moment and he was Clint Eastwood. Gerard didn't even flinch or look fazed, but rather reserved. "Do you believe in aliens?"

The fuc-

The question made him flinch real bad, some shocking news right? Brendon smirks, but no laughter was heard from him, rather the other players—plus Pete—in the game.

"I-I-uh..." Gerard pushes the stray locks of hairs behind the back of his ear, odd enough, I could now feel his nervousness. What, is he an alien or something?

"I-I'd say I'm a little too hesitant to answer that"

"Boo" Pete's response made others laugh along, although Gerard did glare at him.

I never thought a mysterious—and almost nefarious—character like him woulf sound nervous and look sweaty at that moment, "it's like that moment came from somewhere else"

"Agreed" Spencer replied in approval.

I'm speaking out loud again am I? Is this because of my lack of sleep? Yeesus— I mean... Yeah.

"Imagine if Gerard's an alien" The thought was bothering me and I have to say it, sorry "I mean, he looks like he could be one— I mean, he loves the scent of drugstores"

The conversation carried on with Frank adding details and the others consistently listening to his talk about Gerard's secret origins fron Reprise, even made a narration out of it

"And he's the artist who would get out of a planet called Reprise since he's so f*cking lonesome— Oh let's give him a acquaintances" Frank glances at the others with cheeks puffing from the breath he's beginning to hold, Pete laughs "How 'bout an alien space companion?"

"Oh! How about a pink masked alien-"

"no" Gerard blocked but Spencer's muffled laughs is still heard.

"-named Lola!" Josh's voice has audible enough and Gerard-proof for everyone to hear

And thus, this ship about an imaginary alien and a grumpy teacher was born

●-----------------------●

"Are you sure he didn't say that in a more normal way? Are you sure this story is real? I mean, it's a bit too descriptive if you ask me that's kinda skeptical—"

"No, he said it in a Gerard Way, of course he's weird Dallon. All the teachers here are way too young and talented Dal, they say and do weird things" Pete said, pathetically laughing at his own joke. He didn't mind though, he's too happy to even care. "And incase you forgot students here are as talented as well, only this time they're quite well known, and you're special too Dallon, you're a well known bassist not only in town you know? So hearing a story about a drunk comic artist isn't that odd if you know where to go"

"I... I just don't believe he would go around and say Easy Peasy Pumpkin Peasy and stuff like that..."

"He also said Pumpkin pie motherfucker in case you forgot" He added in such delight, I swear if this is some japanese cartoon there would be flying sparkles everywhere.

I stayed behind because I have to prepare myself for upcoming Summative Assessments and since I already noted Pete that Brendon won't come he said I should do his work for tomorrow. Welp, this is what friends are for, some are worth doing examinations for.

"Well, you haven't heard of Brendon's campfire stories back then haven't you?" Pete asked with a small smile, I shook my head to say no.

"No, I haven't"

I just came to this school last year, in November so I missed the month.

"Eheh, he should be doing that soon, our camping is in October after all, shame you didn't git to attend last year too" He teased "—he loves to freak kids out. I remember that one time he told the story of... What was that? LA Devotee was it? Oh, he doesn't only do horror, he actually tells some funny ones... He'd act drunk and tell history stuff just to mock the old history teacher"

I bet you all twenty bucks he was drunk, and about the history thing....

Looks like I'm not looking forward to that.

"Aww, don't be Dal" He pouted as he placed the globe on the top shelf "He just love to tease the guy so much, gosh I couldn't remember his name"

"Looks like you're old enough to retire" Joe chimed in with a small joke that had Pete to glare at him.

"Not yet Joe"

"Heh, my bad"

"I haven't heard of the old history teacher"

"I think his name was Briar or something, we're not that close" Joe shrugged as I almost wanna place my grabby habds to his hair. "He never really came back since he had to take care of something"

"Oh, I see" I just hope Brendon doesn't make fun of me at camping

"Oh dear, you're about to see how things go down in history at October. Some retirees would visit the school at the month" Pete smiled once more before snapping his fingers "Oh yeah! Last time we had Mister Tre to roast the kids' marshmallows"

"Yeah and he almost burned his clothes"

"It was pretty dope to see him roll around" Joe added more to his statement before chuckling loudly.

Our twittering didn't last long, like it usually does. Pete heard a call from his phone in the office, wow, he sure has some very nice hearing.

"Woops, be right back!" He left the room after he pointed his index finger to us.

"Bet you ten bucks it's his father"

"No need Joe, I already know it's him"

"I really love the way Pete still loves his Dad even though he just let him control one school, unlike his siblings" I chortled this time "welp, I think his father's just testing him. I think he's still new for a Principal"

"Yeah that's true, seems like only yesterday we'd jam out into Green Day and Misfits" He reminisced over the past memories.

"Wait, are you guys almost at the same age?"

"Yeah, Pete isn't that old as he looks. He's so fuckin' immature back then you know? God, his hair sucks so bad back in his emo phase"

"I HEARD THAT!"

Joe frozed but then the ice melted away when I snickered at the newfound look

"BUT ITS TRUE!"

Haha, yep. I still wanna teach at this school.

I looked around the office once more and found something pretty odd. It was a picture frame with four veey familiar figures.

"Is that..." I pointed at the object as Joe tilted his head lightly before snapping.

"Oh, that picture? Yeah, that was when we were to take a picture for an album we never really released"

"Really?" "Yes really"

"Then why does Andy looked like he's been edited to the picture?"

Joe snorted

"Andy always poses in that semi-sideview way, he's really there when the picture was shot. I swear" He said in all seriousness to stress on his words. I rolled my eyes.

"I doubt that"

"Oh why wont you ask Andy" "Wont be be offended though?"

"How would Princess be?" Joe stared with sincere confusion "He'd probably laugh cause it's true"

"Would he? That's more like your thing Joe" I muttered lowly but hoped for him to hear the words at the same time.

"... Yeah you're right kiddo"

I picked it out, thumbs onto the front frame and the others to support it. It was filtered in a light blue shade. It was Pete, Andy, Patrick and Joe from left to right. The names were written in beautiful fonts and were printed nicely, although seeing "Peter" and "Joseph" still makes me uncomfortable.

Joe was right, Pete's hair does suck so bad.

"Ouch, you guys are teaming up on me now? Jesus" Pete soon entered without me noticing, eh, I don't care if he heard my thoughs anymore.

"Hey, don't say his name in vain Peter" Joseph scolded with a small smirk when he said his name.

"Don't be a hypocrite Joseph, remember Senior Prom?"

"Oh I remember your geeky dance very well Peter" Joe laughed as he got coffee from the machine. Pete laughed as it seemed like the plan of bringing back awkward memories backfired.

"Whatever Joseph Roughman"

"I'm pretty sure the announcer at that time was kinky as hell" Joe and Pete continued the conversation, forgetting my presence. I don't mind, it's funny to watch them being so comfortable.

"Ah, didn't Patrick had this tied hair to the back that time?" "I think so, although nothing can defeat Brendon's forehead"

"Ye-yeah, right" Pete slyly hid his with his hair with a crooked smile. "Right..." He reassured himself, Joe smirks larger than earlier.

"Welp, we sure had good times with the band huh?"

"Yeah... I miss screaming"

"Eh, I miss Patrick's soul voice more than yours"

Pete glared at Joe as Joe defensively raised his two hands high. "Just sayin'! Just sayin'!"

"So... What was the name of the band?"

"Not was Dallon, it's kind of an underground band but we're Fall Out Boy"

"So you guys still a thing?"

"If you meant in a four-some gay relationship hell no, but sure why not?" Joe winked as Pete shivered in disgust

"Joe you disgust me" "I could tell that myself Pete"

"Don't mind Joe, but yeah, we still are. It's just that we're on a break for a while now" Pete grabbed Joe's empty cup into the trashcan as he asked for. "—I mean, even Ryan and Spencer was in a band with that Brent guy"

"Brent? Like Brendon?"

"Nope, Brent is a different person from our beloved B-den"

"Oh, never really knew about him" I sighed then placed the picture back at the table to which I saw it first. Pete gasped once it processed.

"Wait, you haven't heard of it yet? They'd use to play as Slight Anxiety or something, but Brent left and all. They're pretty well known in Nevada, New Jersey and Chicago. You probably heard of them from Mister Gioia as well" After Joe stated it I just brushed it for now, I should ask him that tomorrow.

"Nah, not really"

"I should lend you my copy of the cds sometime. Although don't forget, the titles are really wordy" His offering made me smile. Joe did the same. Wow, they're acting like a very supportive family, I might get my Dad vibes on.

"Oh, thank you. I'd love to hear it— I mean it's not like I'm doing that cause you're my boss or something but—"

"It's okay Dal. No problem" He understands.

[mackinmacki]

Return Serve

Rating: T

Word Count: 9066

Pairings: NozoMaki, HonoUmi (background)

Summary: Maki's good at volleyball, but not so good at being sociable. That's always created problems, but it's worse now due to a newfound crush on Nozomi, a fellow teammate. That'll probably go fine, though.

Link: (FFN) | (AO3)

A whistle blew, stopping everyone right where they were. "Alright girls, practice is over! Good job today." With those words from their coach, the volleyball team walked off the court and sat down on the bleachers. Maki sighed with relief, grabbing her water bottle and guzzling down some needed H2O. Practices had been getting more intense with the first game on the horizon, but she didn't mind it. If they were going to win, they all needed to sharpen their skills and be at their best. These were the kind of thoughts she kept to herself, though. As a freshman, and the only freshman on the team, her opinion had been proven to not be held in high regard. No matter how right she actually was.

The problem had been that normally freshman didn't join the team. It wasn't just volleyball, but any sports. They weren't good enough, and even if they had the skills, they'd likely be redshirted anyway. It was supposed to be a non-issue. That wasn't the case when it came to Maki, though. She seemed to be naturally talented at the sport, having been playing it since she was a kid. It was enough to impress the university coach, who was more than happy to have Maki on the team regardless of age. That would be that, and even if there was some grumbling, it wasn't enough for anyone to make a big deal out of it. She was on the second team anyway, which wasn't as highly regarded as the first team (obviously).

Except that one of the members of the first team got hurt, opening up a spot. When it was Maki who was chosen to take said spot, the grumbling got a lot louder. A freshman getting onto the first team after a single practice? That wasn't supposed to be how it went. Those who were older - AKA all of the other members - were far from happy about it. Not that Maki cared. She knew her skills were top notch, and she wasn't shy about thinking that way. If they didn't want her there, then they should've been better and gotten the spot themselves. It wasn't her fault that they didn't measure up to her.

Despite how much she didn't care, things hadn't been all that smooth up to that point. There was definitely some sort of freeze-out going on, where her teammates would do their best to make sure the ball didn't go her way. Unless the ball was hit directly at her, the chances of her touching it had become minimal. In retaliation to what she felt was unfair practices, she would dart out of position in order to steal the hit from another teammates. Naturally, this didn't help ingratiate her with the others, which led to increasingly angry back and forths. She nearly came to blows with Hitomi, which would've surely ended badly... for her. Hitomi probably would've beat her three ways to Sunday. If it wasn't for Nozomi, Maki might've ended up getting herself kicked off the team.

When it came to her university life, it all seemed to somehow revolve around Nozomi. That wasn't how it was supposed to be, but there was something about that woman that made quite the impression. She wasn't the captain of the team - Eli was - but as far as Maki was concerned, she might as well be. Her skills on the court were excellent, but it was the way she handled all the disparate personalities that was unrivaled. She could act goofy and still lower the guards of hard-nosed teammates like Umi or Hitomi, or she could become serious and inspire others to work their hardest.

Somehow she could be friends with anyone, but it always threw Maki for a loop whenever Nozomi would talk to her. As far as she had been able to tell, not a single member of the team liked her, yet here was the best - and hottest - member of the team wanting to start conversation with her. Not only that, but she even found time to defend Maki when the others were treating her with little to no respect. It frustrated Maki that someone would do all that for her, yet she was so socially inept that she couldn't even hold a conversation. She wanted to improve in more things than just volleyball, if only to impress Nozomi.

One thing she was trying to improve on was her team chemistry. Literally anything would be an improvement over how it was at present. There was one thing she felt that she could try doing, though it made her anxious to even think about it. Like other sports teams, the girls would go into the locker room to change once practice was done. Not Maki, though. She had no desire to have others staring at her in varying states of undress. It wasn't really that different from wearing a bikini at the beach, but it also felt really different. She didn't have an explanation for why it did: it just did. And some of her teammates even showered there! Where anyone could see them! ... Naked! She wouldn't even be comfortable doing that around her best friend... if she had a best friend.

She had to admit that walking home as soon as practice was done wasn't exactly the most friendly thing to do. Maybe if she changed with her teammates, they'd all grow closer and not want to replace the ball with her. Well, maybe that didn't make any sense whatsoever, but at least she'd get the added bonus of watching Nozomi change. Trying to pretend that didn't make her a total pervert, she finished re-hydrating herself and went into the locker room.

Her main worry was that her showing up there for the first time would mean the others would point it out and make a big deal about it. Of course, they promptly did so. Half the team automatically turned to look at her, which made her want to immediately run in the other direction. She didn't like how they were looking at her, and she found it difficult to look at any of them in return. Why did she have to be so damn intimidated by people she could easily argue with for hours?

"The fresh princess of Tokyo is here!" Nozomi's shout was enough to get the rest of the locker room looking her way. Maki cringed at the strange nickname, inwardly shrinking under the gazes of her teammates. None of them look particularly friendly. At best, they looked uninterested. Only Nozomi looked happy that she was there, bouncing over in her practice shorts and without a shirt and wow she really was bouncing. Bouncing bouncing... 'Ugh, get a grip, Nishikino!' Maki gulped as she found herself face to face with Nozomi. She was one of the tallest members of the team, but Nozomi somehow made her feel shorter. Her emotions really needed to come under control. "Ain't seen you 'round these parts."

"Well, uh..." What was she supposed to say to that? Probably something not utterly stupid, but her brain wasn't ready to cooperate. "I'm here now, aren't I?" She had prepared for this. Being the first one to practice, she'd changed in the locker room instead of in a bathroom stall like usual. Then she'd found out which locker was supposed to be hers and stashed her clothes in there. She had been prepared for this. If only her stupid mouth would get with the program.

She opened her locker and began to undress, her cheeks turning red as she refused to turn around and check if anyone was watching. It would just be her bra strap they'd see. That wasn't a big deal. And her panties... She didn't get that far, though. Only her shirt had been taken off when she felt a pair of hands grab her chest and squeeze.

Letting out an undignified scream, Maki jumped forward, escaping from the grabby pair of hands but also banging into the lockers. Wincing in pain, she turned to find Nozomi standing there with a grin on her face. It was like she wasn't even trying to hide the fact that it had been her. "N-Nozomi! What the hell was that?!"

"Orientation." Nozomi giggled and reached out, making Maki cover her chest, but it was just to pat her on the head. "All the newcomers get a washi washi!" Maki found that really hard to believe, but none of the others spoke to deny her claim. She could even see Umi starting to turn red. Jeez... Nozomi was really something. What that something was, Maki wasn't sure.

"W-Well, you got your weird orientation over with. Now can I please get dressed?" Trying to calm the blush that had risen on her face, Maki turned around to grab her shirt from her locker, but it seemed Nozomi wasn't quite done with her. Instead of leaving her alone, Nozomi hugged her from behind. Maki's breath caught in her throat.

"Aww, don't be mad, Makicchi. I was just teasin'." She leaned up and whispered in Maki's ear, sending shivers down her spine. "You've got some really ripe tomatoes, though. Not gonna lie." Attempts to curtail her blushing had failed. Positively burning now, she broke out of the hug and hurriedly pulled her shirt on before grabbing the rest of her clothes and slamming her locker shut.

"I-I have to go." She hugged her clothes tightly to her chest, refusing to look at anyone as she power walked her way out of the locker room. Everybody else was certainly looking at her, though. Their stares burned holes in her back, and she couldn't shake it even halfway across the gym. Why did she have to be so stupid? Sure, Nozomi grabbing her breasts out of nowhere was really weird, but apparently everyone else had gone through it. Why did she have to lose her cool and run out? Great, now she was jealous that Nozomi had been grabbing other girls' breasts. Why was she like this?

"Maki! Wait!" Hearing her name, Maki stopped and turned to see Nozomi running after her. She had put on a shirt, which was parts relieving and disappointing. Not that she'd ever admit that out loud. As Nozomi approached her, she didn't know what facial expression to make; what emotion to convey. Mostly, she was embarrassed about reacting like that in front of everyone, but especially Nozomi. She settled on a nonchalant expression with a tinge of red on her cheeks. That was something she couldn't really help. "I'm sorry about embarrassing you like that, Makicchi. I didn't mean to make you leave."

"It's... It's fine. I just... didn't expect it." She found it hard to look at Nozomi, lest she end up a stuttering mess. When she did though, it really did seem like Nozomi was being sincere about her apology. It made Maki feel worse about the way she had reacted. That wouldn't stop her from saying more stupid things, though. "Just keep your hands to yourself next time, alright?" She hadn't meant to be so abrasive like that, but Nozomi didn't seem to let it affect her. Giggling, she lifted her hands up in mock surrender.

"I'll keep my hands to myself next time. Scouts honor." Her laughter, her smile... It was so disarming. Somehow it just naturally put Maki at ease. It had done so since the first time she'd seen Nozomi's smile. She was even able to smile as well, though it wasn't as big and warm. That'd never been her style, really. "How about I make it up to you?"

"You don't really have to-"

"Oh, but I insist!" Nozomi didn't seem like the kind of person who would take no for an answer. "You got classes at noon tomorrow? We can have lunch together. My treat."

"Uh, no, I'm free then..." Maki couldn't really say no, or argue about it. Truth be told, her heart had begun to flutter the moment Nozomi had asked if she could make it up to her. The washi washi incident was now the furthest thing from her mind. She had been invited to have lunch with Nozomi... Nozomi! The woman that Maki had a low-key yet severely hardcore crush on. She really hoped that her mouth didn't continue to be utterly moronic and ruin things again.

"Great! Hope you don't mind Subway. Only the finest cuisine for you, Makicchi." The cutesy nickname made Maki blush, but it was better than 'the fresh princess of Tokyo'. They agreed to meet up the next day, with Nozomi giving her a wave before heading back to the locker room. Maki left the gym, but in much higher spirits than she had been just a few minutes ago. Nozomi wanted to have lunch with her. She was going to pay for it. It all sounded like some kind of date, and it made Maki's stomach start doing somersaults. Maybe Nozomi really did like her.

She had a hard time stopping herself from smiling the entire way back to her dorm.

The next morning was not as exciting and happy. In fact, it was more stressful than anything else. Due to having a morning class right before lunch, Maki didn't have time to prepare herself before the fated meeting. The best she could do was to dress a bit nicer for class, so therefore she'd be dressed nicer for lunch with Nozomi. What would be the proper attire for such an event, though? It wasn't a date, nor was it even a fancy restaurant. She wanted to look good for Nozomi, though. What was she going to wear?

She settled on a blue, knee-length skirt and a matching button-up shirt. It didn't seem too formal or too casual when she looked at herself extensively in the mirror. Normally she wouldn't be so bent out of shape about her appearance, but she'd never had anyone that she wanted to look good for. 'It's not a date,' she kept telling herself over and over, but that didn't stop her from feeling like a nervous wreck inside. How was she going to be able to pay attention in class?

Turns out she was able to pay attention, but not without feeling like she was going to have an anxiety attack at any moment. She was glad that she'd made an executive decision at the last moment to not wear lipstick, lest her classmates stare at her. They'd wonder why she was looking all gussied up. Ugh, she really had a problem with believing everybody was staring at her, judging her. Maybe because she'd stared at and judged people before, and now it was coming back to her in some sort of karmatic retribution. It made her super uncomfortable, and she hadn't found a way to make it any better yet.

It would be okay, though. She just needed to think about going to lunch with Nozomi. ... Actually, thinking about that made her more nervous. She needed to think of something else. Volleyball, maybe? That was something calming, and she enjoyed thinking about strategies she could implement if her teammates weren't stubborn pricks. Thinking about volleyball, however, didn't work too well. It only led to her thinking about Nozomi again, her body moving flawlessly as she chased after the ball and spiked it over the net without breaking a sweat. She was so incredible... Incredible enough that Maki didn't even realize the class had been dismissed until she blinked and found herself alone in the classroom with the professor. 'Shit...'

Luckily she had enough time to make it to Subway before it became noon, but unluckily that meant she had to stand around and wait for Nozomi. She stood outside the doors and tapped her foot, mostly to keep herself from playing with her hair rather than due to impatience. Twirling her hair around a finger was one of her nervous tics, something that she could only avoid doing by doing something else. Of course, that just led to the new thing she was doing becoming a nervous tic, but it was progress. Or probably not. Not in the slightest.

When Nozomi appeared at twelve on the dot, a lot of Maki's worries melted away. Gods, Nozomi looked so beautiful. Since they'd never hung out before, and they didn't have any of the same classes, she'd barely ever seen Nozomi in regular clothing. Even in casual clothing - just a simple white sweater and a short purple skirt - looked incredible on her. The way the material hugged her ample chest, visible from even a distance. Her black thigh high socks that looked so absolutely perfect on her wonderful body. ... Maki's face went red as she coughed into her fist. A certain part of her mind was taking the reigns a bit too excitedly. 'Normal thoughts, normal thoughts... Nothing lewd, please nothing lewd.'

"Makicchi! Ready to eat fresh?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess." She couldn't help but notice that Nozomi was staring at her rather intently. It looked like she really wanted to say something, but instead she just smiled and walked inside, leaving Maki to follow her. She decided to just push the look to the side, since she didn't know what it meant. True to her word, Nozomi paid for Maki's sandwich, topped with a heaping helping of tomatoes. Then they took their sandwiches outside, where they sat down at a table together.

This was a new experience for Maki. She'd never sat down and eaten with people who weren't family members. There was probably some protocol that she was unaware of due to her complete lack of a social life. Was she supposed to make conversation, or were they just supposed to eat in silence? She took a bite out of her sandwich, figuring that Nozomi would be the one to start the conversation. It seemed like something she would do. But what if she was supposed to be the one to do it? No, no, she was overthinking things, and she was just stressing herself out. She would just eat her sandwich and wait for Nozomi to make the first move.

"You don't talk much, do you?" That was not how Maki expected their conversation to start.

"Eh?! You... You didn't say anything either!" Nozomi giggled at that, which made Maki start to blush. She was such a confusing woman. An enigmatic student. She confused Maki, yet drew her in. This wasn't normal for someone she'd only known for such a short period of time. She shouldn't have fallen like this so quickly. It wouldn't end well.

"I'm just kidding, Makicchi. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to." There she went again with that genuine smile. It put her at a loss for words, like she'd had anything to say before regardless. But it made her want to say something, anything, to show that she could be someone who was worthwhile to talk to. If she spent the whole lunch acting like a statue, then Nozomi would realize she wasn't worth her important time and never look her way again. She couldn't let that happen.

"Uh... S-So, the first game's coming up at the end of the month." In times of trouble, there was always volleyball. At least they both had that in common. Did they even have anything else in common?

"Yup! You ready to win?" Maki nodded slowly, though she wondered how the game would actually go. Sure, they had the raw talent to win without question, but if it ended up like their practices sometimes did, then there'd be no cohesion. Those idiots would just steal the ball from her, when they all knew how much she could help them win. They'd lose, and it'd be their stupid faults. "That's a pretty scary face you're making, Makicchi."

"Wh-What?" She tried to change whatever expression she was making, which just made Nozomi laugh. It'd be more embarrassing if her laugh wasn't so good-sounding. ... No, wait, it was still really embarrassing. Gods, she was probably blushing too. "I-I was not!"

"If you say so." They ate in silence for another minute before Nozomi spoke up again. "Are you worried about the game?"

"Of course not." At least Maki could speak with confidence on that. "I have no doubts that we're going to win."

"That's not what I meant." Nozomi giggled and shook her head, but then her expression turned serious. "I mean with the rest of the team. It's obvious that there's some friction between you and the others." Maki had been about to take a bite of her sandwich, but she froze with the sandwich still in her hands. This was not a topic she really wanted to talk about. She really appreciated having Nozomi defend her during practices, but she had been hoping that wouldn't involve having to talk about it aloud.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem. Practices are different from games." It was hard to even convince herself of that, and Nozomi didn't seem fooled either. She wasn't worried about her performance. Rather, she was worried about even getting a chance to perform. "... Okay, maybe I'm..." She couldn't look at Nozomi, so she stared at her sandwich instead. "They're going to freeze me out. I know it."

"I'll talk to them, okay? We can't have any disunity in our games." She smiled at Maki, making her feel like she couldn't - or shouldn't - argue the point. "We're a team, and we'll act like it. I'll make sure the others are on the same page."

"You don't need-"

"But I want to." Nozomi cut in, flipping her frown back around quickly. "I want you to feel comfortable on the team. Things will be different. You'll see." If anyone else had said that, Maki would've just rolled her eyes and silently disagreed. When Nozomi said it, though, she felt that she could believe it. It really did feel like things would change, and that Nozomi would make sure of it.

When they were finished with lunch, Maki was able to go to her next class in high spirits. Her crush on Nozomi certainly hadn't abated: it seemed to just grow constantly. However, it felt more like Nozomi actually felt something for her. Maybe it was just friendship, or her being nice, but no one else had ever gone out of their way to try and make her feel comfortable. That had to mean something, right?

Maybe it meant nothing.

Things had indeed gotten better since their conversation. While the team wasn't exactly inviting her to sorority parties or anything,  they had stopped keeping the ball away from her. In turn, she stopped doing the same to them, and the team appeared to have something akin to cohesion, which was what they needed with the first game coming up.

What Maki's problem was, which was keeping her up at night, was Eli. The captain of the team and unofficial hot model... bitch, she had some sort of relationship with Nozomi. What exactly it was, Maki wasn't sure, but whatever it was, they were really friendly with each other. She was the one Nozomi talked to more than any other person on the team, and they could be seen palling around both on and off the court. At least, that's what Honoka said. For a girl who was dating someone as stoic as Umi, she sure was a talker. A gossip too.

With this being the final practice before their first game, Maki was doing her best to concentrate on it. However, it was hard to do so when all she could pay attention to was Eli and Nozomi talking to each other. The coach had stepped out and left Eli in charge, but it sounded like she was more involved in flirting than in volleyball, with Nozomi as her primary target. Nozomi seemed to like it, though. She was smiling and laughing, her eyes more on Eli than on the game. It made Maki's blood boil, but it also made her want to cry. She'd rather punch someone than have anyone see her cry, honestly.

There was a lot to say that would put things in proper context. She was not dating Nozomi, nor did she know if anyone was dating Nozomi. Based on information she'd weaseled out of Honoka, Eli and Nozomi had been friends for years, so it would make sense that they were close to each other. What that proper context didn't take into account was that Maki was irrational and childish, so she didn't want sensible explanations. She wanted to be mad and to pout about it.

Her attention was being tested severely by this spectacle, as she decided to call it. Why couldn't the two of them stop fraternizing and just practice? It'd make her feel better, at least. Because, of course, the world revolved around her and all. It finally became too distracting when she saw Eli reach around and smack Nozomi's ass with a clear smirk on her face. Nozomi slapped Eli's arm in response, but she was still laughing. Still smiling. Maki saw red. Then she saw white as the ball hit her right in the face.

"Heads up!" Well, a bit late for that now. Maki stumbled backwards, her face stinging. Touching her face, she could feel the telltale wetness of tears, which she really hoped was due to the shock of pain rather than something else. Play had stopped, probably because the ball was now on the ground. She heard someone laughing, though she couldn't tell who it was. When she looked up, her eyes landed on Nozomi, who was heading her way with a concerned expression on her face. Seeing that made it harder not to cry, for whatever reason. Maki didn't want to be there anymore. She didn't want Nozomi to come to her aid this time, because she was sure it would cause her to burst into tears in front of everyone. So before she could reach her, Maki turned tail and ran out of the gym.

She ran until she had turned a corner to escape sight of the gym, desperately fighting to keep the tears from falling. Looking around, she remembered the bathroom that was nearby. There was only one other girl in there, washing her hands at the sink. Without acknowledging her, Maki entered one of the stalls, locked it, then sat down on the toilet and cried. Thankfully she had learned the art of silent crying, so no one would be the wiser as she had a total breakdown in the school bathroom.

This was great. She was a real adult now. Gods, she felt utterly pathetic. Worse, she'd made a big spectacle of storming out of the gym. As far as anybody knew, it was because she got hit in the face, which meant everybody would believe she was being a complete baby. Though maybe they thought that already... but it'd certainly be worse now. Covering her face with her hands, she let a fresh wave of tears fall down her cheeks. She was such a mess.

When she had finally stopped crying and checked her phone, she realized that practice had ended nearly twenty minutes ago. Time really flies when you're having an emotional breakdown. Exiting the stall, she went to the sink and splashed water on her face, trying to clean herself up. She'd stupidly missed the rest of practice, though it was a bit of relief to not have to see any of them again until the game. After the scene she'd caused, she could do without seeing any of them again for the rest of her life. 'Even Nozomi?' Her heart twisted at the thought, and she was worried that she'd start crying again.

This time though, she didn't cry. Instead, she picked herself up metaphorically and headed back for the gym. Since she'd left her clothes and backpack there, she didn't really have much of a choice. There wouldn't be anybody there, though, which was a relief. She'd just go in, get her backpack, and go home to mope about her non-existent love life. What she really needed was a distraction. Something to get her mind off of...

Nozomi. Maki froze at the entrance to the gym as she opened the door and found Nozomi sitting in the stands alone. She turned to look her way, and their eyes met. Initially, Maki wanted to step back and run away again, but instead she stepped forward, letting the door close behind her. "Nozomi..." She stood up and smiled gently Maki's way. "You're... here late."

"I could say the same to you." Feeling like she was being rude, Maki walked further into the gym, until she was a short distance from Nozomi. To help close that gap, Nozomi had left the stands and walked onto the sidelines. In her hands was Maki's backpack. "You left this... Can we talk?" Maki didn't know what to say, though she wish she did. Rather, she wished that she could just come out and say exactly what had happened. That, however, would be embarrassing. She would absolutely not do that. Instead, she just nodded and came over to take her backpack back, thanking her silently. She watched as Nozomi sat back down on the bleachers, with her following suit. "Are you... Are you okay, Makicchi?" After having seen her so close to Eli, hearing that nickname made Maki's heart beat uncomfortably.

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" Nozomi was giving her a look of disbelief. "Don't answer that. I just... needed to go... away. Something important." 'Keep digging that grave, Maki. Dig that grave.'

"Maki, do you honestly expect me to believe that?"

"Y- No. Not really." Maki sighed and leaned forward, clasping her hands together and staring at the floor. She really didn't want to admit to this. "I was... frustrated, I guess? Eli was really... distracting you, you know? We all need practice, and she's acting like she's better than the others." Never mind the fact that Maki herself had thought that very thought about herself. She wasn't the one on trial here.

"I see..." When Maki looked up at Nozomi, she was staring back with a very knowing look on her face. It seemed that Nozomi saw all too well. Maki gulped, starting to tap her foot so she wouldn't twirl her hair. Why did it seem like Nozomi could see right through her? "You weren't jealous of Elicchi by any chance, were you?" She scootched closer to Maki, bumping their hips together. Maki scooted a bit back, feeling like she'd broken out in a cold sweat.

"J-Jealous? What? No way! She just..." Nozomi had closed the small distance between them again. "... needs to pay more attention." Her hand was on Maki's leg, making it much harder to concentrate. "She's... being inappropriate with you... in front of everyone..." Her voice faded out, a blush creeping onto her cheeks as Nozomi leaned in, both of her hands high on Maki's legs. Why was she getting so close? It was going to cause her heart to burst out of her chest.

"Aw, Makicchi... I didn't mean to make you jealous." It was like she wasn't even listening to her lies. She was getting ridiculously close, to the point that their foreheads were almost touching. "Elicchi, she was just being silly. She's like that sometimes. We're not an item, if that's what you were thinking." Her lips looked very plump, oh-so kissable... "Don't think about her, okay? Think about me."

When she leaned in and kissed her, Maki found it surprisingly easy to not think about Eli, or anything else for that matter. Her eyes shut and she instantly melted before her crush. A simple kiss seemed to heighten her senses to ludicrous levels. Maybe it was because it was Nozomi, or maybe it was because it was her first kiss. Could be both. Something had her body set aflame with not giving any sort of fuck about anything else except for kissing Nozomi right then and there.

She put her hands on Nozomi's shoulders, gripping onto them tightly as she found herself being pushed onto her back. Laying on top of her, Nozomi deepened their kiss while she started to get a bit frisky with her hands. She put her hands on Maki's hips and starting inching them upwards, lifting her shirt as she went. It seemed like they had gone from zero to sixty in record time, but Maki had no desire to stop what they were doing. The feeling was incredible, and she didn't want Nozomi to stop. Jealousy? Never heard of her. She'd only heard of kissing Nozomi until her lips fell off.

Nozomi could do a lot in a short amount of time. She'd taken Maki's breath away, while also pushing her shirt up just below her breasts and working her shorts down a bit. Not all the way, just enough to reveal a hint of her underwear. When Nozomi's tongue came knocking, Maki answered without hesitation, parting her lips and letting it in to utterly dominate her mouth. She opened her eyes for a moment, then shut them again with a whine. Her nails were scratching up and down Nozomi's back, her hips involuntarily bucking up at Nozomi's warm, so incredibly warm body. Sure, she had no experience when it came to intimacy, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. This was her crush, and this was her senses being completely overwhelmed. If Nozomi wanted to strip her down and ride her like a bucking bronco, she damn well could.

When they finally stopped making out for more than five seconds, there was clear excitement and lust blazing in both of their eyes. Nozomi sat up and straddled Maki's hips, grabbing the hem of her shirt and started to pull it up. Then she stopped, her vision seemingly clearing as she saw Maki staring up at her with such want. She hesitated, a frown looking so out of place on her face. Without warning, she let go of her shirt and got off of Maki, standing up as if breaking out of a daze.

"Nozomi?" Maki sat up slowly, still in that daze. She could tell that something had changed, though. Nozomi was looking at her weird, like she was scared of something. "What happened? What's wrong?" She tried to reach out for Nozomi, but she stepped back, making Maki grab at air.

"Shit, I... I didn't mean to do that." She looked like she was panicking, which confused Maki further. "Gods, I... I'm so sorry, Maki. I shouldn't have..." She tugged down her shirt, smoothing it beyond its necessary needs. "It's... It's not you, I promise. I swear, it's... I can't take advantage of you like this..."

"You weren't, though." Maki tried to argue, but it didn't seem like Nozomi was listening.

"I'm so sorry, I... I have to go. I'm so sorry." Before Maki could stop her, she had started running out of the gym, a startling parallel to Maki's own escape a short time earlier. "I'm sorry!" She yelled out over her shoulder, and then she was gone, leaving Maki sitting on the bleachers with messed-up clothes and too much skin showing. Rapidly coming down from the high of making out, Maki flopped back down on her back, staring up at the ceiling and sighing. The sun was beginning to set, casting shadows across the gym. It seemed like it was also setting on her understanding anything at all anymore.

"I don't understand people..."

Maki had finally gotten herself up and dragged herself to her dorm. She didn't cry at all the whole way home. There was no way she could figure out which emotions she was supposed to feel then. All she felt was numb. The moment she got back to her dorm, she went into her room and laid down on her bed, face first into the covers. She really didn't want to be awake and think about anything, eventually falling asleep for nearly two hours.

When she woke up, it was completely dark outside. Unfortunately, she was awake again. She really didn't want to be awake, lest her emotions crash down on her like a waterfall. It didn't happen, though. Not at first. More than anything, she was just confused. She'd been in the gym with Nozomi, they'd been making out. It'd been getting pretty hot and heavy... and then suddenly poof, the moment was gone. Nozomi 'had to go'. What the hell had happened?

Of course, Nozomi wasn't there to answer those pertinent questions. Maybe Maki had been a bad kisser. She couldn't get better without any practice, though. Something had happened when Nozomi sat up and got a good look at Maki. Maybe she'd suddenly realized what a bad idea what they were doing was. She realized, 'Oh hey, I could be making out with anyone on the entire campus. Why am I bothering with this loser?' And now she'd made herself sad.

When her phone started buzzing, she didn't even bother to grab it. She didn't have to energy or desire to look at it. Two minutes went by, and then it buzzed again. Maki frowned and made herself grab her phone. Who was being so insistent? When she looked at her screen, it was a number that wasn't in her contacts, which made her heart jump into her throat. Was it Nozomi? How had she gotten her number? Now there was a helping of nerves to looking at a text message. She forced herself to swipe her phone on and take a look.

Maki, it's Honoka. Can we talk?

Maki?? Please answer

Honoka? Okay, how did she get her number? Frowning, Maki didn't want to answer, but it seemed like Honoka was going to keep spamming if her she didn't say something.

Honoka, how did you get this number?

Your roommate is friends with Hitomi, who's friends with Umi, who I'm banging. It's really important that we talk. It's about Nozomi. Maki's stomach flipped after reading that. There was no way she was ready to talk about something that just happened. Especially with someone else. Did Nozomi tell Honoka that they'd made out? Gods, that was mortifying. Why would she do that? She wanted to die.

I do not want to talk right now. She waited for a response, maybe something along the lines of, 'Oh, I'm sorry. Let's never talk about this again!' Instead, she heard a loud knocking on the front door, followed by another text.

Oh, well I'm at your dorm now. Oh. Great. Of course she was. She considered not answering the door, but the next knocking was halted by what sounded like the door opening. Her roommate must've answered the door. "Maki! Someone's here for you! Should I kick them out?"

"Hey, don't do that!" Yup, that was Honoka. Sighing, Maki dragged her pathetic self out of bed and went out into the living room, seeing Mikoto trying to shut the door on a resisting Honoka. "C'mon shortie, I know her!"

"Shortie?! You're asking for some discipline!"

"Mikoto, just let her in. I know her." Maki turned and went back into her bedroom, not bothering to watch as Mikoto finally stepped aside with a grumble. Honoka bounced in and went after Maki, going into her room and letting the door shut. "What do you want, Honoka?"

"Ehehe, right to the point, huh?" Honoka laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Do you want to maybe take a walk?"

"I don't want to take a walk!" Her shouting made Honoka flinch, which in turn made her feel guilty. She made sure to tone down her voice after that. "Look, I know why you're here, but I don't want to talk about it." She sat down on her bed and stared at her feet. "I don't know how to talk about it." Honoka went over and sat next to Maki, slinging an arm over her shoulder.

"Maki, Nozomi... has some things that she doesn't like to talk about. And I probably shouldn't say anything... err, anything more than I already have." Another nervous laugh. "But you like her, right? And don't argue. I've seen the way you stare at her after practices."

"If I can't argue, why'd you ask the question?" Maki grumbled, embarrassed that she was so obvious about it. If only Honoka didn't come to watch most of their practices. "It doesn't matter anyway. I've seen the way she and Eli act together. I don't have a chance against that." Honoka didn't answer at first, letting them lapse into silence. Maki squeezed her hands together, feeling like she was a kid again, being talked to by her dad.

"When I first started having feelings for Umi, I found out that she actually liked my best friend." Maki's eyes widened, looking up at Honoka in surprise. She hadn't expected that, but then again, what did she really know about Honoka? Or Umi? "It didn't really feel good. I never thought I'd cry over something like love, ya know? But I did. It hurt to look at her knowing how she felt about someone else."

"But... you're dating now, right?" Maki ventured curiously, hoping she wasn't crossing a line. "What happened to her liking your best friend?"

"Well, after being sad and stuff, I decided that I couldn't really act like that if I didn't even try to ask her out. I mean, she never asked Kotori out, so I still had a shot, right?" She laughed about it like it wasn't the scariest thing imaginable. "So I asked her out, and she said yes! I knew how she felt about Kotori, but eventually we started dating and it ended up fine. We could all three hang out together and there wasn't any feelings of awkwardness or jealousy."

"So you're... saying Nozomi likes Eli?"

"Not exactly." Honoka squeezed Maki's shoulder comfortingly. "I'm saying you might regret it if you don't at least try. If she says no, you'd feel bad, but you already feel bad, right?"

"You're good at this comforting thing. Ever thought of being a therapist?"

"I'm being serious, Maki! Just talk to her, and ask her what's going on. Once you hear everything, you can make a judgement for yourself. Or you don't have to, I guess. It's your choice." So there was definitely something going on with Nozomi, and apparently Honoka knew, but wouldn't spill the beans. It was up to Maki to try and find out what it was.

"I'll... I'll think about it." Honoka nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer.

"I guess I should go now." She stood up, but Maki stopped her by grabbing her hand.

"Wait! I, uh... I'd rather you stayed. J-Just for a little bit." Maki started to blush, pointedly looking away. "I-I want to know more about Nozomi. Maybe we could just... talk for a bit?"

"Really?" Honoka broke out into a big grin, jumping back onto the bed. "Okay! Oh, I should text Umi first, let her know that I'm gonna be staying out late in another girl's bedroom."

"M-Maybe don't do that..."

Without having Nozomi's number, or knowing any of her classes, Maki had to get her number from Honoka, which she used to text and ask if they could meet at the gym the next afternoon. It was awkward enough to ask, but it was even more awkward sitting there and waiting for her to show up. She didn't even realize that she was sitting in the same spot where she'd been making out with Nozomi less than twenty-four hours previously. That caused a quick shift in where she was sitting.

When Nozomi came in, Maki stood up, but felt too awkward to walk over and say something. She wasn't even sure what to say, so she just waved and tried to smile. It probably looked like the least enthusiastic smile in the history of facial expressions. She didn't need a mirror to know that. Nozomi eventually walked over, though, as usual being the one to make the first move.

"Hey Makicchi. You wanted to talk about why I abandoned you yesterday, right?" Maki nodded mutely, and Nozomi gave her a strained smile before sitting down. Following suit, Maki got an uncomfortable sense of deja vu. "First off, I promise ya it wasn't your fault. You're a really good kisser."

"Nozomi! Jeez..." She kind of enjoyed hearing her say that, though. It made her feel a bit better about her intimacy prowess.

"But when I saw you laying there, wanting me, I just felt... bad. Like you didn't really know me, but I still made you want to do these things with me."

"Because I wanted to. I-I mean, I..." There was probably not any innocent way to express that she wanted Nozomi to go to town on her body. "I wanted that. It felt good. I didn't stop you."

"And that's why I had to stop myself." Nozomi looked too guilty for someone who had only done some simple making out. "It would've been your first time doing that kind of stuff, right?"

"That's... irrelevant."

"So yes." Nozomi giggled, but quickly returned to a more solemn expression. "That wouldn't have been my first time, Maki. I've done it a few times... More times than I care to admit, honestly." Hearing that made Maki feel like she'd been dunked in cold water. Realistically, it would make sense that Nozomi wasn't a virgin. Who could resist someone who looked so damn good, and who was also a great person to boot? That brought to mind a certain someone, though. Her lips felt strangely dry as she tried to voice out her curiosity.

"That... Does that include Eli?" The way Nozomi looked away from her said everything. "Oh..."

"We had a friends with benefits thing in high school... and university." Maki couldn't look away, but she wished she could've. It was her worst fears being confirmed in the most brutal way possible. "But I was telling you the truth when I said we weren't an item. We haven't had sex in months, and that was kind of the problem." She turned back to look at Maki, her cheeks having turned a lovely shade of pink. "I've been really, uh... 'pent up', let's say. I feel like I have a problem when it comes to sex, and I was trying to stop doing all that stuff. But I guess I couldn't really resist you, huh?"

"Why me, though?" Maki was doing some expert multi-tasking. She was taking in everything Nozomi said and filtering it into the 'death is preferable' compartment of her brain, while also lining up questions she didn't want the answers to but was so desperate to have answered. On top of that, she was working overtime to make sure no tears came out in a moment of weakness. She was actually pretty proud of herself for not collapsing immediately into a heap of despair and lack of sleep. "Why would you want to do... that stuff with me?"

"Because when you joined the team, you were like this small, fiery ball of skill and determination."

"Small? I'm taller than you!"

"Details, details." They both smiled a bit at that, though. "I knew that the others weren't going to take to you, and I sort of felt personally responsible for your well-being. I wanted to make sure you would be able to mesh with the team, and that you wouldn't quit due to everyone else being assholes. It was a nice surprise that you were so driven, like you wanted to prove to everyone how good you were. Stealing the others' shots was a nice touch."

"Yeah... I've never really been part of a team before."

"Really? Could've fooled me." Nozomi sure had a lot of jokes for someone who was saying a lot of really upheaving stuff. "I just grew to feel more connected to you during our practices, even if we never hung out afterwards or anything. ... And, you know, when you've been self-imposing celibacy, you start noticing how well those shorts show off your cute butt."

"You really know how to set the mood." With all her concentration elsewhere, Maki had no chance to stop herself from blushing. "Why did you stop what we were doing, though? After all that, you, uh... you wanted me, and you knew I'd let you do it. Why stop?"

"The reason I had stopped throwing myself at every cute girl that passed me was because it started to feel empty. Like all I did was the four S's: school, sex, sleep."

"What's the fourth S?"

"Subway sandwiches. Well, I guess that's five S's." Was this really happening? "The point is, I'd never really done anything relationship-wise besides that. There were no dates, or hand-holding, or cuddling. Just cleavin' and leavin'. I wanted to try doing more than that." She trailed off after that, sighing before continuing. "But of course I got close to you, physically, and I let myself get carried away. It was stupid and careless, but I shouldn't have run away. I'm sorry for leaving you like that."

"It's... It's okay." Maybe it wasn't okay, but she wasn't going to say that. She wasn't sure what to do at that point. Her emotions were even more turbulent than they'd been yesterday. She was definitely feeling a raging jealously stemming from knowing that Eli had bedded Nozomi. Not only Eli, though, but others too. How many others? She didn't know, and she didn't feel comfortable finding out. There was a strange, perverse sense of hope as well. Everything Nozomi had been talking about had led up to her admitting that she liked Maki, at least in some way. She felt protective of her, and also found her attractive, which had to mean something. Regardless of how many others she found attractive.

On that subject, should it really matter what she did in the past? From what Nozomi had told her, she hadn't done those things in quite some time because she wanted more. What if she wanted more with her? Maki's crush still existed: it wasn't snuffed out despite everything she heard. Could she really judge Nozomi on the things she did in the past? Maki hadn't even known she existed at the time. If she wanted to take things slow, or as slow as Nozomi could go, there was still a part of Maki that wanted it to be with her.

"Why don't you try it, then?"

"Huh? Try what?"

"Doing that... relationship stuff with me." Maki blushed deeper, but she made herself keep going. That was the advice that Honoka had given her, and at the very least, she'd end up still miserable if things went south. "You want to do that, right? Hand-holding and dates or whatever? Why not with me?" Nozomi just stared at her, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You'd want to do that? After all I told you about my past?"

"Well, that's in the past, right? I don't care about that." What she meant was 'I don't want to care about that.' "But I... I like you, okay? I've liked you since you defended me during practice. We could at least try, right? One date, and if you don't like it, then we can stop and pretend this never happened. How about that?" She wasn't sure what the answer was going to be, but she was caught off guard when Nozomi wrapped her in a tight hug.

"I do want to do that, Makicchi. If you're okay with letting me learn these things on the fly, that is."

"Like I've gone on a bunch of dates." 'Or any.' "It's fine. We'll learn together, right?" She pulled Nozomi back from the hug and smiled, one that was actually genuine. Nozomi couldn't help but to smile back before diving back into the hug.

"This means a lot, Makicchi. I promise you, it's not going to be like how things were in the past. I'm going to do my best for you."

"And I'll do my best for you." There were still a lot of worries in Maki's mind. The fires of jealously were likely not going to be put out easily, on top of the fact that Nozomi's inexperience with dating was going to be mashed with her own inexperience with... everything. They would eventually be in bed together, surely. What if she didn't measure up? Would Nozomi desire for more?

Those were the bad thoughts, the worrying thoughts, but there were other thoughts too. Good thoughts. Like how she had just asked the woman she was crushing on for a date, and how that crush had said yes. In fact, she'd seemed very happy to say yes. Nozomi wanted to change things in her life, to actually do romantic relationship things, with her. That seemed like cause for celebration. All those other things, those were in the past. Having an exclusive relationship with someone as wonderful as Nozomi? That was the present, and hopefully the future too.

"Not to dampen the mood or anything, but we still have a game soon."

"I'm not worried about the game." Maki smiled warmer, holding onto Nozomi's hand. "We'll be fine. Besides, I have something to really play for now." Nozomi's hand immediately came up to her mouth, covering it. "Nozomi?" Then she started to snort with laughter. "Wh-What? What'd I do?"

"Gods, Makicchi, that was cheesy as hell! Is that something you're supposed to do in a relationship?"

"Sh-Shut up!" Somehow Nozomi was very good at making her turn new shades of red. Still trying to halt her laughter, Nozomi took Maki's hand back and squeezed it.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! ... Kind of. It's sweet, though. You're real girlfriend material, Makicchi. Really." Ah, there was that genuine smile again, as lovely as always. Maybe it was cheesy, but it didn't stop it from being true. This really did feel nice. Despite all those worries, Maki felt more peaceful than she had in awhile. Being able to call Nozomi her girlfriend... She could get used to that.

[bbparker]

Riddle Me This (Peter Parker)

Summary: Spider-man's super pal ‘Riddles’ is closer to him than he ever thought. Though she may not be pure, she is witty.

A/N: This was requested using prompts and not my best work and kinda cringe but it makes me love it more!

Warnings: PURE FLUFF and bad attempt at being funny (on my part)

Requested!

Prompts:

4. How could I? How could you?!

12. RUN!

25. Cute but still fucked up

// Masterlist //

‘Though she is anything but pure, she was witty.’

Spider-man stood on the top of a sky scraper looking down at his city, waiting to get the call for justic-

“Inner monologue, again. Really?” A girl like squeal fell from the spider's mouth, prompting him to fall off the edge of the building. The girl looked down at her watch counting down until the man pulled himself back to the top. “Annnnd… one.” As the last syllable falls off her lips, a hand clasps the edge of the building and a head follows. “R-riddles, hey. W-what's up? Haven’t seen you a-around in a while.”

“Hey, Spidey.  I’ve been here and there, a little bit of everywhere.” Pulling himself up, the teen sits on the side with the female super, Riddles, takes place next to him. “Do you always rhyme? Like I know your name is Riddles but what if you want to say run for your life?” Riddles looked up to Spider-man with a grin worthy of the Cheshire Cat.

“No I don’t always it just pertains more to my humour. Plus, Joker was kind of taken so…” Riddles laughs, Spider-man following suit.

Peter Parker had met Riddles when he was on the job and although she began as a villain, through time she’s slowly developing hero traits. Riddles has the full use of her brain through experimentation, through what Peter had gathered over time, which resulted in super flexibility, strength, the creation of force fields and agility. Like that of Captain America, just with force fields. Although she was slowly becoming a hero, Peter understood that she also had a dark past and many enemies.

The two stopped talking as an explosion was heard on the lower east side of Manhattan. Both supers standing slowly to see smoke billowing out of a city hall. “Time to go to work Riddles.”

“Ugh, it's only Monday and I wasn’t planning to work until Sunday, yet people seem to be running astray.” Cringing at her own words, Riddles turns to Spidey, who looked like he was midway through using his web shooters. “Yeah, I need to work on these things.”

Grabbing her waist and bringing her closer to him, “Ready to go? Swing to the heavens with your spider-king?” Cringing, “Dude that was worse than mine-AHH!” Midway through her sentence, Spider-man began to swing with one arm from building to the next. “PETER LOOK OU-” It was too late; the young Spider ran full force into the side of a building. Both supers looking like bugs on a windshield.

Cheeks pressed against the building and both still stuck to it as the people on the inside of the offices staring at them. “Spidey.”

“Y-yeah?”

“How good at are you at swinging generally?”

“Uh, I mean I’ve face planted every now and then, occasionally hitting a bus…well it hits me”

“And out of all those times, how many have you swung with another person?”

“Uh, none.”

——————

Peeling off her super suit, (y/n) fell onto her bed with exhaustion. After the bugs on a windshield, they’d finally managed to get to the explosive incident, then dealing with the bad guys; (y/n) was exhausted. A small knock on her window alerted her to why she had to skip out on Spider-man so early. Quickly pushing her suit under the bed, (y/n) opened the curtains to find Spider-man himself on the fire escape.

“Evening M'lady.”

(Y/N) laughed softly, “you’re a dork. Hurry up and come in. What injuries do you have for me to cure today Mr. Spider?” As (y/n) went into her adjoined bathroom, Peter/Spider-man took a seat on her bed waving his arms around as he attempted to explain the events of that night her occasionally popping in to tell him of her night too.

“And then, and then we ran into a b-building! A-actually now that I think about it…” Freezing for a moment from the bathroom, hoping he hadn’t recognised anything about her under the costume. “She… she knew my name, n-not Spider-man but-”” Peter Parker” (y/n) said softly. Returning to her room and leaning on the door frame. Finally removing his mask, he smiled softly up at (y/n). “Yeah…”

Walking forwards and standing between Peters legs, his hands lightly placed on her waist; the medical items in her hands. He looks up at (y/n) as she cleaned and swiped anti-bacterial creams over small cuts and grazes on his cheeks. Finally looking in Peter’s eyes to already see him looking back at her with his smitten face, (y/n)’s cheeks dusting with with pink.

“It’s kind of cute but fucked up that you come to me with all these injuries considering I have little to no experience.” Placing a hand on his cheek, she lightly swipes a band aid over a particularly nasty gash. Peter leans into her touch and suddenly nothing else exists. How she wants this, wants him but she knew with her life it couldn’t happen. But the light touches of his hands on her hips and the sweet, caring brown eyes that searched her own, were almost irresistible.

(Y/n quickly gathered her thoughts. Spider-man or not, her enemies were ten times as powerful than Peter could hope to be. (Y/n) pulled away disposing of the used items and went to was he her hands in the basin

Peter watched as she walked away, his heart pounding at the almost-something. Head now down with a little sadness, a shiny and silk like material were peering out from under the bed.

After moments of silence, she decides to try to break it, only for Peter to cut her off. “Hey, did you want to order piz-”” Where did you say you had been tonight (y/n)?” Tensing, (y/n) continued to dry her hand on the towel. “I already told you, I was working an extra shift at the cafe.” Walking back into the room to see Peter holding up the full length of her Riddles suit.

“Damn.”

“T-this makes so much sense. Oh, my God. Shit (y/n)! What were you thinking?!”

“What are you talking about?” Her face held a cold demeanor. Peter failed to notice and began pacing. “You…you- you’re Riddles? The super… oh my- You’re in league with the bad guys! Holy, you were a part of HYDRA!” Peters filter no longer existed and all her pains she had spilled out to him as her alter-ego suddenly returns as a reminder, right back into her face.

“Funny how you’ve failed to mention my attempt at escaping that life, but whatever.” (Y/n)’s statement going unnoticed by Peter. “Oh, the danger you’re in!” (Y/n) stopped him by grabbing his arm. “How could you do this? You’re putting yourself in so much danger (y/n)!” Frustration grew within her and she couldn’t help but feel now he knew her other half, he thought her weak.

As if she wasn’t up to the likes of Captain America and the Winter Soldier. “How could I? How can you? It’s not like I chose to be a super! It was forced upon me as well as my past. Please spare me the worries, I’m not a normal human girl, you know this.” All while crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow, rivaling that of the Black Widow.

Walking forward and placing her hands on Peter’s shoulders. “Breathe in and think happy thoughts.” The Parker boy couldn’t help but let out a huff of a laugh. “Don’t worry you’re already taking this a lot better than I’d ever expected. I was half expecting you to scream and yell ‘Run for your lives!’”

Shaking his head at your humor, Peter finally pulled you closer and leaned down to touch his lips to yours. It was a sweet, caring kiss and as Peter touched (y/n)’s cheek with his hand, she let out a hiss. “Sorry, a certain Spider didn’t know how to swing and squashed me on a building.” Placing his other hand on her other cheek Peter mumbles as her forehead leans on hers. “And I’m sure he’s very sorry but he’ll definitely start practicing more.”

She huffed a laugh and reconnected their lips in a deeper more passionate kiss. Somehow Peter manages to pull her closer as he leans closer as if to get a better taste of her. “Oh, I'm in trouble…” (Y/n) managed between Peters caresses.

‘Though she was once nothing but witty, she is now loved.’

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