#shout-out to Spin for reminding me to post

[mattluvsmarni]

Fanfiction Truth

Summary: You knew Matt for as long as you can remember, but what you didn't know is how he'd react after catching you reading fanfiction about him.

Warnings: smut with a plot, p in v, making out, slight humiliation, swearing, unprotected sex.

A/N: This is my first fic on here. Idk how i came up with this i just thought imagine if his s/o in the future were to see the things that are written about him and ofc my mind went to filthy places. anyways i hope this fulfils ur expectations, enjoy lovlies!!

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

You lay on your stomach aimlessly scrolling through Pinterest for the last 3 hours, you adjust yourself, sitting upright , and shaking your arms to let the blood flow again. you and Matt were supposed to hangout but he's running late. you pick up your phone to check if matt has texted– nothing. You find yourself thumbing through posts trying to stay busy.

You come across a post reminding you of a comment section about matts fanfictions. You drop your phone to pick your laptop up again, search his name in tags, and scroll judging by titles until you find one. 

as you read, you can feel your eyes slightly watering and the light coming from the screen suddenly being a bother, 

Her and Matt are in a club. 

The lights are low, they’re intoxicated, his hands on her hips, not an inch of space between they’re bodies, they’re moulded into one.

 her head thrown back, he's breathing in her ear. 

his hands running up and down her body. 

you sit back, your thighs pressed together. this is matt, your matt, the matt on his way to innocently hang out with you right now. and this is what you’re doing? You stare at the screen for another minute contemplating your choices , but you're already wondering what's going to happen next. 

he snakes his arms around her waist, pulling her impossibly closer. 

she can feel him growing in his pants. 

she can feel her arousal soaking her panties, as she tries to squeeze her thighs together while continuing to grind and sway, 

 He's teasing, toying with the hem of her skirt. She tightens her grip on the material around his biceps, as her nails dig into the skin of his around her waist.“Matt, please” she breathes.

“Please what” he teases

“I need you, please.” 

‘“In any situation your manners are still in use, such a good girl aren't you?” he coos.

“For you? Always.” she admits, spinning around to wrap her arms around his neck.

“Yeah?”, He chuckles, “you’re going to have to hold out for me until we’re home though.” he mockingly pouts, smoothing his hand down your back to lightly squeeze your ass.

This was getting you all hot and bothered. you’d be lying if you said you weren't imagining present day you and Matt. 

Matt and you unintentionally ended up at the same college, after he made your early school years more horrible than it already was. Now being ‘older and wiser’ which he claims to be he finally grew a pair leaving him with a want to rectify his history with you . This includes hanging out from time to time, trying to form a healthy friendship, and seeing where it goes from there. 

but reading that and always having nothing other than your fingers to help you get off. Makes everything you just read sound so perfect. You’ve had your fair share of fantasies when it comes to Matt. Seeing it all spelt out and in front of you made you in need of something real. You just wanted to drop to your knees in front of him, and beg to please him. Have him laugh in your face, call you pathetic, and shove his dick down your throat. 

"Fuck" you whisper shout, running a hand through your hair, your thoughts were out of control. You slam your laptop shut. pacing around your room, up till your movements are interrupted by a notification on your phone. 

Matt:

I just pulled in 

You:

omw!

After taking a minute to exercise your breathing. You slip on your slippers running down the stairs, the buzzer goes off right before you can hit the button.

Letting him in, you notice the bag of snacks in his hands before looking up at him to see that small, but genuine smile. He pulls you in for a quick hug. "Sorry Chris needed me to take him to eat before I came over."

You can't even look him in the eye and he's apologising for running late. "no, no you’re good, come on up." you exclaim, shaking your head of all unwanted thoughts.

-

lying on your backs facing each other. you guys fell into a chain of laughs and good conversations with your playlist playing in the background. "I'm glad to finally have you sitting here listening to my music."

"Stop acting like I hog." he gasps, "I let you play music."

 With a quirk of your eyebrow, he quickly adds, "sometimes."

"name one time." you insisted.

Turning his head in the other direction. He tries to pretend he's in thought when really, he's trying to hold back a smile. 

"Mhm exactly" you strongly emphasise, "I'll never understand why though my taste is significantly better than yours."

"yeah?" He argued

and that one word took you back 2hrs, reminding you of what you read earlier.

You sat up clearing your throat, "yeah."

"Let's not lie to ourselves."

"Denial is the sickest disease" rolling his eyes at your comment. He goes to gather all the trash into a single bag, Brushing you off with a distasteful grumble.

-

"Can we start looking for a movie to watch?" He asks

"Of course! start looking." you call out on your way out to grab a soda for the two of you.

You walk back into the room to Matt and inch away from the computer screen, his eyes quickly moving from one side to another. 

"Here" you chuckle, handing him his drink

"Who needs movies when we could just read these" he suggests.

Every bone in your body goes rigid. You completely forgot to clear the tab. "Wait, hold on, give me a second." you frantically try to reason, lunging forward in an attempt to take it out of his hands.

But he’s quick to drive it out of your reach.

"No, you wait, and give me a second, I'm almost done." he says, bringing a finger up before your face to punctuate his words. 

A wave of embarrassment washes over your entire body, you sit back trying not to look anymore suspicious. Your pursuit at trying to stay unbothered fails the minute you start to think about what part he's reading. 

Matt seems so invested and you’d give a million bucks to know what was going on in his head right now. The only sound between the two of you was the music now lightly playing. He continues his scrolling, smirking for a split second, now you’d also kill to know what drove that reaction out of him.

You can hear the pounding of your heart, as he finishes up closing the object of your demise to look up at you. You avert your eyes, taking sudden interest in your feet. 

“I've always heard of these but never got around to actually reading one though.” he says finally breaking the silence 

You pull your bottom lip between your teeth not knowing how to respond.

"Why were you reading them anyway?" he questions, inching closer to your place at the edge of the bed.

"I saw a comment section on it the other day" you're 100% sure it's visible how hard you’re breathing.

"There's no need to be embarrassed. I'm just surprised. It's not something I expected from you." he assures. 

"What’d you think of it?" he asks, placing a hand on your unclothed thigh, and smiling triumphantly when he hears your breath hitch. 

"I didn't get to really read it" you say lying through your teeth.

"Come on we both know that's a lie he says with a look of disbelief. ‘It's written all over your face, you’re telling me you didn't imagine me and you in that club." He asks, trailing his hands up your thigh . 

"Because I did. It was you who I imagined wearing a flimsy little black dress. Under colourful lights. It was your body that was backed up against mine." he says, and you can feel his breath on year neck.

Your eyes flutter closed as you angle just right for him to mark. 

He brings his lips to your neck leaving a trail of open mouthed kisses.

You couldn't bring yourself to care how evident your need for him was anymore. Not with that confession of his. Not when he was touching you the way you’d only dreamed of in the company of yourself.

"I want you to let me have my way with you, have you under me. For you to be begging me to let you finish." he says, his hand now almost right where my body needs him the most.

"Or I could just back off completely. And continue to be your plain old buddy Matt."

"Your pick sweetheart." He threatens, removing himself from you. 

"Matt!" you instantly whine at the loss of warmth. Quickly reaching for his hand to place it back on your thigh, 

"the first option" you huff out. 

He chuckles, slowly bringing his hand up to your clothed clit pressing his finger to it tracing along the wet patch that's gathered and I forgot how to breathe. 

His touch is light and barely there but i still can't will myself to breathe. I wish he'd give more and as careless as it makes me, I want it. 

"tell me. What exactly was the first choice again?’"He begins moving in a slow and tangible circular motion. 

you open your mouth to respond, but all that comes out is a jumbled cross of a gasp and a hum.  

He slows down his movements even more. coming up to pinch your nipple through your shirt. "I asked a question."

"Have your way with me until I'm begging you to let me finish." you rush out, throwing your head back, and bucking up your hips looking for more friction. It was embarrassing that you were already losing it and he’s done nothing.

“You don't have to tell me twice” picking back up his speed. A barely there whimper escapes my lips.

He's leaving more kisses all down to where his teeth skim the sensitive skin between your neck and shoulder. Marking all along your skin.

 he finally dips a finger inside your underwear. Seeing for himself how much of an effect he’s actually had on you. 

“So fucking wet like I knew you’d be.” His cock twitched against the constricting material of his pants as you audibly moan at his words

Inserting a finger. You throw your head back from the sudden relief as he works you perfectly. Your body had a mind of its own in this moment, moving with his fingers.

“Yeah go ahead and ride my fingers. Show me how good I make you feel.” He growled into your ear

Pressing his thumb to your clit as he curled his fingers in you, and that was all you needed to come undone all over his fingers.

Watching you try to catch you breath and the way your lips were still parted had him bringing his fingers dragging them across your lips to spread your wetness along them

You made direct eye contact as you darted your tongue out to taste yourself, that small action alone did so many things for him

Tempted, he licked his own lips reflectively mirroring your actions. 

Overtaken by his temptation he smashes his lips against yours, your hands fly to his hair taking advantage of your surprise he’s quick to slip his tongue into your mouth tasting you like he was a starved man you moan into the kiss as he brings you up to straddle his lap.

The kiss was hungry and fast eager to satiate the want you both were obviously feeling he was gripping your hips to help you move in circular motions as you grinded down on him you’ve never felt so in need of something more than you were right now he felt the same it was written into his lips and the way it aggressively moved against your own. 

Your patience was wearing thin. And his dick was begging to be freed. Your fingers reached down to press on the button of his jeans then to look into his eyes for any signs of disagreement. There wasn’t any. “I don’t want to finish on anything other than your dick right now.” you admit as you go to unbutton his pants.

“Fuck” he curses, halting your movements by quickly flipping you both over so that his chain was now dangling over your face. He wasted no time reconnecting your lips, only pausing to pull your top off and making quick work of your bra. 

His lips moved down swirling his tongue around your hardened nipple “Matt” you breathed, as your body melted completely into his touch. “Please” moving over to give the other one the same attention “I know baby, I know” he assured

Leaving a path of kisses all the way down to the waistband of your shorts. “Up” he spoke. Lifting your hips so he could get rid of your shorts and panties. Next came his shirt and finally those cockblocking jeans.

His pants and boxers now a pile of nothing on the floor. He started slowly stroking his member, aligning it with your wet and ready entrance, amused at the moan you let out when he had barely pushed it in yet. “Quit the teasing.” you whined

 He pushes himself in “holy shit you're tight”, he grits out and you immediately clench around him causing a groan to escape his lips.

You felt light-headed by the amount of pleasure you were feeling at the moment.

Matt. Right here, was everything to you right now. It was something that was gonna be inked into your brain forever.

With a roll of his hips and the arching of your back he was buried deep in you, and it had you seeing stars.

Matt loved the position he had you in where he could see every single reaction he pulled out of you. "exactly where i wanted you" he says with each thrust. "and you're taking me so, so well."

The tip of his dick continuously meets the sweet spot inside you, sending you closer to the edge

"oH OH" you quietly moan

"Come on don't hold back, i wanna hear you" he grunts, "is this what you imagined when you were reading those filthy things about your friend?"

you moan in response. he continues his merciless pace, as he brings a thumb to your clit.

"Fuck, fuck matt i'm close." you warn just as you feel the nearing of your second orgasm.

"go ahead baby, cum for me" his thrusts and thumb both gaining speed

as if your body was waiting on his permission, your vision fades to black while you feel your body arch off the bed as you let yourself go

"fuck yeah" he moans, his movements getting sloppy as he paints your insides white

you both lay there after he collapses next to you and pulls you in after you've both caught your breaths

"so am i staying here tonight" he questions breaking the silence

you can feel his chin moving on top of your head as he speaks, "no we can't remember that was established."

"I think it's a little too late to be talking about not crossing lines, considering you just let me fuck you." you could just imagine that smug look of his right now feeling all proud knowing he's got you

"fine just this once" you sigh in defeat

"yup just this once" he mocks as he gets up to your bathroom looking for a towel to clean you both up.

"i'm serious" you demand loud enough for him to hear only smiling to yourself now that you're out of his sight.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

A/N 2: That pic of Matt on the tour bus will always have me in a chokehold.

[ai-higurashi]

Cure Pumpkin design I did back in December with t-shirts, etc. in mind! mostly to make a shirt for @zukoromantic

[winchesternova-k]

finally watched texas chainsaw massacre tonight

i rlly liked it but i think the part that i found most interesting was it’s impact on horror. the influence on aesthetics in particular rlly stood out to me (different shots made me think of outlast, spn, resident evil, nbc hannibal and other things i couldn’t rlly place)

the cinematography was gorgeous tbh tho the dinner table scene was so hard for me to watch. the constant screaming and the way the shots bounced around with such intensity was a lot on a sensory level but sally’s terror was rlly palpable

i have Thoughts abt franklin from a disabled perspective (particularly the way his opinion was overlooked constantly as Just Being Crazy bc he was disabled filled the same role more recent horror has women in and that they experience misogyny for instead of ableism) but i’m too tired to rlly articulate them

i’m also fascinated that texas chainsaw massacre was considered super gory at the time but tbh i barely noticed it in comparison to the horror media im more familiar with (and is more modern) i think it’s interesting that it originally had an r rating when i found the gore more comparable to an m movie (by australian classification) idk i just think it’s interesting how much what goes on screen has changed and what that means for horror (also the fact that what i would consider minimal gore was equally terrifying to say outlast)

[ewanmitchellcrumbs]

Best Intentions - Chapter One

Pairing: Tom Bennett (World on Fire) x femme Warnings: Angst. Smut. Mentions of shell shock and trauma. Word count: ~4.3k

Summary: An overview of how Tom and her came to be friends, and the set up for the story now that he's returned to Longsight. Series masterlist.

Author's note: I don't have a tag list. Please follow @fics-by-ewanmitchellcrumbs and turn on post notifications. Community labels are for cops.

The imposing red brick building of Plymouth Grove Primary School is gigantic and intimidating to her as she enters through the gates to the playground, the thought of being left here for the entire day makes her clutch at her mum’s hand with tight desperation.

Her first day of school is one she’ll never forget, forever imprinted in her mind, owing to a big pair of blue eyes filled with mischief, and a grin with a pair of front teeth that remind her of a rabbit’s.

It’s morning break as she surveys the playground nervously, trying to decide if she feels brave enough to join in on a nearby game of hopscotch. It’s then that she feels a warm puff of air ruffle the back of her hair, and she spins around to see a sandy haired boy running back towards a group of laughing lads.

“I did it! I gobbed in her hair!” He shouts.

Humiliation warms her skin as tears prickle her eyes, and she hurries inside to the girls’ toilets to unsuccessfully try to locate where the offending spittle has landed, all the while sniffling back sobs.

It’s when dinnertime comes and she sits unhappily sipping her milk that she sees him again. He sidles up to her, alone this time, a sheepish look on his face.

“I didn’t really,” he shifts awkwardly from foot to foot, “Gob in your hair, I mean. I was dared to, so I pretended,”

“Oh,” is all she’s able to manage, not sure of what else to say.

“I’m Tom. Mates, yeah?” He says with his bunny toothed grin, and she can’t help but smile back.

He sits himself next to her, opening his own milk and they spend the remainder of the hour getting to know each other.

She’s surprised to learn that it’s his first day too, she had assumed from his confidence that he would be a couple of years above her. He lives with his dad, Douglas, who works as a bus conductor, his mum - Josie, and his sister, Lois, who is a couple of years above them.

He learns all about how she lives with her mum, and it’s just the two of them as her dad had passed away when she was a baby. Her mum runs the shop off of Stamford Road with her uncle, who lives in the flat above it.

Tom’s eyes light up at the mention of this. “The one with the jars of sherbet straws?”

“Yeah,” she smiles, “And treacle toffees!”

By half past three that afternoon, as the children file back out of the school gates, her and Tom are firm friends.

Her mum and Josie stand waiting to collect them, and they discover that they live only a few streets apart, so the four of them and Lois walk home together, chattering excitedly about her and Tom’s first day of school.

From that day forward, the thought of being at school for the entire day fills her with excitement. Tom makes it a less scary place to be, and is quick to defend her if ever anyone tries to give her trouble.

Their friendship remains solid as the years pass, as does Tom’s compulsion for finding trouble. He adores showing off and being the centre of attention, but it’s always her he runs to when it’s time to face the consequences. She is a privy to a side of him that nobody else is, she has seen his fear, his sadness and his doubt.

They sit on the wall adjacent to her mum’s shop, a paper bag rustling between them as they help themselves to sherbet straws. Tom and Lois had walked home with her and her mum. Josie hadn’t been there to pick them up, she hadn’t been for a few days now.

“Should probably go home soon,” she slurs around a mouthful of sweets, “Need to do my homework.”

Tom nods slowly, moving his own sweet around in his mouth. “D’you…d’you think you could help me with mine?”

“Why?” She chides, “‘Cause you spent all lesson mucking about?”

“Come on,” he pleads, “Me mam’s not well, last thing she needs is me getting into trouble because I can’t do sums.”

She clicks her tongue and sighs. “Fine,” she says, jumping down from the wall.

“Smashing,” he grins, following after her.

She smiles over her shoulder at him. “What are mates for?”

Josie’s illness worsens and she passes away around the time that they start secondary school.

Tom’s behaviour becomes more uncontrollabe, exacerbated by his mum’s death, but with her and Lois at the all girls school, and him at the all boys, there is little that can be done to stop him.

Things come to a head one day when Douglas opens the door to an angry neighbour, who berates him for Tom having stolen the milk from their doorstep, running away laughing, before dropping and smashing it when they’d chased after him.

He’d come to her after Douglas had given him a stern telling off, head bowed and looking sorry for himself.

“He hates me,” Tom had said sullenly.

“He doesn’t hate you, Tom, you just need to behave yourself. Why’d you do it?”

“Was dared to,” he says with a shrug.

“Like when you spat in my hair?”

He presses his lips together, lowering his eyes. “I dunno why I do it. It’s just hard since mam’s gone, dad doesn’t understand me like she did.”

It’s then that she notices the tears that rim his eyes, and she pulls him into a hug.

When had he gotten so tall? He feels massive compared to how he used to.

“Thanks,” he whispers, “I’m glad we’re mates.”

The next few years follow a similar pattern; Tom gets into trouble and immediately runs to her each time, basking in the safety of her presence and comforting words.

As they grow older, Tom’s misbevaiour evolves into petty crimes which soon attract the attention of the police.

She also begins to notice the smell of cigarette smoke clinging to him each time she pulls him into a hug, a troubling new habit he’s developed, no doubt to impress the older boys. 

He now seems impossibly tall, and with every inch he grows it feels like he pulls a little bit further away from her. It makes her heart ache.

She grows used to seeing him walking home in the mornings looking bedraggled, a cigarette perched between his lips, after having spent the night in the back of a pub to avoid the police, who would no doubt have been knocking at the door of the Bennett household the previous evening.

When news of war having broken out in Europe reaches them and lads Tom’s age begin signing up to the draft, Tom decides he’s having none of it.

“Signing up as a conchie!” He tells her, as they sit on the wall together, waving the green booklet for emphasis.

“Your dad was a conscientious objector,” she says, narrowing her eyes in disbelief, “Your beliefs are suddenly the same as his are they?”

Tom tuts, flicking his lighter absentmindedly. “Just don’t wanna sign my life away for a load of bollocks that’s got naff all to do with me,”

His mind soon changes once the police come knocking again. He enlists in the Navy, action he considers less direct than fighting on the front lines.

The night before he’s due to ship out, he has a rowdy celebration in the local pub, jeering and clinking glasses with those who’ve not yet joined the draft. She watches on with a heavy feeling in her chest, she knows behind all his claims of how many Germans he’s going to kill and how he’ll have a bird in every port that he’s terrified of what’s to come.

That much is proven as he walks her home later that night, unsteady on his feet and reeking of beer. He sways in front of her once they reach her front door, big blue eyes misty and filled with emotion.

“You okay, sailor?” She asks with a soft smile.

“Can I– can I stay the night?” He asks, suddenly seeming like the little boy he was back when they were in primary school and he’d apologised for pretending to spit in her hair. “I don’t wanna be alone.”

She’s never shared a bed with Tom before. They’ve always been just friends. Her throat runs dry at the thought, but in that moment he seems so vulnerable, she can’t deny him anything.

They creep up the rickety wooden stairs to her bedroom, careful not to wake her mum, and squeeze into the single bed that occupies the space. He clings tightly to her, long limbs wrapped around her, like a drowning man grasping onto a lifesaver.

“I’m so scared,” he whispers into the darkness.

“You’ll come back,” she reassures him, “You have to, who else would be my mate?”

She feels him smile against her shoulder. “Yeah, who else would put up with you?”

They giggle, before shushing each other as she elbows him in the ribs, and they fall asleep curled around each other.

Tom’s gone when wakes up.

They write letters back and forth to each other, but each one feels distant and lifeless. He’s writing with the mask he shows to the rest of the world, giving an emotionless recount of each of his days. She supposes he might be afraid or whose hands his words may end up in, and he doesn’t want to embarrass himself, so she clings to every letter, vapid as they are, grateful to still have a connection to him.

She visits the Bennett household once a week, to share the letters they’ve been exchanging - to her disappointment, the ones she receives are much the same as the ones he sends home to Douglas and Lois.

Over time, her mum and uncle join her on her visits. Her mum brings cakes and her uncle gets into the habit of playing cards with Douglas. She is glad for the closeness between their two families, it makes Tom’s absence seem less daunting.

It’s at the Bennetts’ house where she learns the news of the attack on the HMS Exeter, the Naval ship that Tom is stationed aboard. Her blood runs icy cold at the news, though the Exeter was victorious it is not without deaths and casualties.

The weeks spent waiting for news are agonising, and it’s Tom she’s thinking of as she leans against the shop counter, eyes fixed on the large front window, but too lost in her thoughts to see through it.

“Quarter of sherbet straws when you’re not away with the fairies,”

The familiar voice startles her out of her reverie and she looks up wide eyed at Tom’s smiling face.

God, he’s grown into those bunny teeth. Has his smile always been so handsome?

“Tom!” She squeals, rushing from behind the counter and throwing her arms around his neck. “Do your dad and Lois know you’re back?”

He hugs her warmly before pulling back. “Yeah, popped home first to say hello. Left me new bird there, actually, thought you’d wanna meet her?”

She hates the way her heart sinks at this, but nods regardless, flipping the closed sign on the shop door and locking it behind her.

Tom tells her all about the Battle of the River Plate as they walk back to his house. He grows solemn when he’s finished, glancing sideways at her.

“I saw people die,” he says quietly, “I thought I was gonna die. Can’t believe there’s so much of my life I’ve pissed up the wall.”

It’s then that she notices how much more mature he seems, wise beyond his years. He’s seen things that no man his young age should have seen. She reaches for his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, a gesture which he returns.

“So, this is Vera,” he gestures towards the kitchen table as they head inside.

She laughs, relief washing over her, when she sees the little canary sitting in her cage.

For a few days it feels like everything is back to normal, until Tom gets a new posting and has to leave again.

“I’ll come back,” he tells her, taking her hands in his, “who else would be your mate?”

She can’t help but smile. “No one else would put up with me,”

He’s away longer this time, his letters are fewer and the worry gnaws at her with more intensity than ever before.

For the second time in her life she cries over Tom Bennett when she hears that he’s been declared as missing in action on the beaches of Dunkirk, a suspected capture by opposing forces.

Lois falls pregnant, and for a time the advancing stages of her pregnancy and eventual birth are a welcome distraction, a reminder that there is life amongst all the death that surrounds them.

Her grief is amplified when bombs fall over Manchester, a bottomless pit opening in her gut when she finds out that there was a direct hit on the Bennett house. Her uncle and Douglas had been inside playing cards at the time, neither had survived.

Her mum moves Lois and her baby into the flat above the shop, with her uncle gone the space is no longer occupied and it makes sense for them to have it, considering they no longer have a roof over their heads.

It’s comforting to have them so close, a little piece of Tom to hold onto until he comes back, if he comes back. She hates herself for thinking it.

When Tom next steps through the shop door, there’s no trace of his grin from last time. He looks skinny, haunted, he’s aged. There’s an anger within his blue eyes that replaces the mischief that used to sparkle there.

He doesn’t need to ask for her to know what he’s after. There will be no hugs of greeting this time.

“She’s upstairs,” she says softly, her stomach tied into knots.

He simply nods and walks towards the back to go up.

It doesn’t take long for her to be able to hear the muffled sounds of arguing and not five minutes later he storms back downstairs and out into the street. She follows after him, grabbing the quarter of sherbet straws she’d bagged up for him.

He’s sat smoking on their usual spot on the wall, and she hops up beside him, placing the paper bag between them. He doesn’t touch them. She wonders when the last time he ate anything at all was, he looks so thin.

The silence between them feels painful, she doesn’t know what to say, but she can tell from the way his hands shake and the urgency with which he drags on his cigarette that if she doesn’t say something then he certainly won’t.

“You can’t be angry with Lois, y’know,” she says gently, “it’s not her fault,”

“Then whose is it?!” He snaps angrily, eyes narrowing as he looks at her.

He’s never spoken to her like that before and she shrinks away from it. “It’s not my fault either,” she whispers sadly.

His face softens, a look of shame replacing his anger as he averts his gaze, his lips twitching. “Sorry about your uncle,”

“Sorry about your dad,”

His return is brief, only a couple of days this time. Enough time for him to visit Douglas’ grave, but not enough for them to talk, not properly anyway. He reveals that he was taken to an American hospital in Paris, after being shot in Dunkirk. A woman named Henriette had helped him to escape France and he’d made his way home via Spain. It’s all so matter of fact the way that he recounts it, but she only has to look into his eyes to see the turmoil he’s feeling. It crushes her.

He looks fearful and uncertain when they say goodbye, the urge to cling to him and beg him not to go is overwhelming.

“You’ll still be here when I get back, won’t you?” He asks.

“Course I will, I always am,” she replies with a sad smile.

He cups her cheek, his large palm engulfing her face and leans down to press his lips to hers. She startles at first, they have never kissed before, but she quickly reciprocates, moving her mouth against Tom’s. His lips are so soft and there is a tenderness behind the gesture that brings tears to her eyes.

She’s breathless when they part, his forehead resting against hers, his hand still cupping her cheek.

“Mates, yeah?” He whispers.

The word makes her heart twinge. “Yeah, mates.”

Her fingers trace lightly across her mouth as she watches him walk away, kit bag slung over his shoulder.

Tom sends no letters at all the third time he leaves, so eventually she stops writing to him. She figures it can’t be nice for him to hear about how life is carrying on without him, how his niece has started to walk and talk, a new house built in place of his old one with a new family living inside it.

She can’t bear how the world continues, while she feels stuck in place, waiting for his return. It isn’t fair that there are people getting to laugh and love and live their lives, while he’s sacrificing his so that they may have the privilege.

With the exception of the morning paper sort, her mum has taken a step back from the shop, needing more rest than usual, and without her uncle around to help out, she’s taking on more hours in order to keep things ticking over. The sweet jars sit empty, rationing is difficult to get used to. She’ll never be able to come to terms with sending people away without the food they want and need, simply because the shop either doesn’t have enough stock, or they have already used their allotted portion for the week.

Her mind drifts back to how skeletal Tom had looked when she’d seen him last. She hopes he’s managing to eat.

It’s the beginning of September, the dying embers of summer glow dark orange on the horizon, as the evening battles the day for dominance in the increasingly earlier darkening of the sky.

Lois is on an evening shift, so her mum is round at the flat looking after the little one. She has the house to herself, and has lost count of the amount of times she’s read and re-read the same passage in her book, unable to take the words in.

She frowns when she hears the door knock, unsure of whether she should answer it or not, she’s not expecting anyone. Her hesitation provides enough time for a second knock, more urgent this time, so she relents, going to the front door and opening it.

It feels as though time freezes when she sees Tom standing there, gaunt and tired looking.

He doesn’t give her time to react, dropping his kit bag to the floor as he closes the door behind him and presses a bruising kiss to her lips. His hands pull at her clothes as he backs her towards the living room sofa, and she lets him.

She just needs to feel that he’s real, that he’s really back, so she loses herself in the moment, allowing him to climb on top of her, her own hands moving to strip him as he does the same to her.

Her fingertips stroke down his back and she’s shocked to find she can feel every vertebrae in his spine, and all the ribs that protrude through the skin. She’s never touched him in such an intimate manner before, but she knows he’s never been so emaciated. He feels hollow, yet there is strength to how he manhandles her.

Pulling her thighs apart, he settles between them, pushing her open with the thickness of his cock. She gasps, arching against him, clutching tightly to his shoulders as he pistons his hips in quick succession against hers. This is no gentle lovemaking, it is filled with raw animalistic need, a desire to feel something, anything.

His breaths are ragged against her neck and he finds release quickly, spilling inside of her with a grunt before collapsing and pulling her tight to his chest.

They lay quietly on the sofa together, nothing but the sounds of their heavy breathing filling the space. She has a thousand questions she longs to ask him, yet none of them seem appropriate. Despite the fact that Tom has just brutally had his way with her, she’s still in shock that he’s returned.

“I’m sorry I never wrote,” he says eventually, “was tired of never having any good news to tell you,”

“You’re back now,” she says quietly, fingers tracing over the bullet wound scar in his shoulder, “that’s all that matters,”

“Still mates then?” He asks.

Her heart lurches at the word. Is that all they are after what’s just happened?

“Yeah, still mates,”

He drifts to sleep in her arms and she holds him, until his thrashing pushes her from the sofa. She lands with a heavy thud on the living room carpet, watching in horror as Tom’s sweaty body writhes and cries out in terror in his sleep.

She kneels beside the sofa, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder to still him and coax him awake. He startles, wide eyed, before clutching at her, burying his face in her neck and sobbing until he drifts into unconsciousness again.

As Tom settles back into life in Longsight, he goes right back to wearing a mask for everyone.

“Are you a hero?” Children shout as he walks down the street.

“Always have been, always will be,” he says with a lopsided grin.

Yet each day ends with him muffling his cries into her neck after she’s soothed his night terrors, she knows better than the act he puts on for everyone else’s benefit. She suspects that Tom may be suffering from shell shock, but doesn’t dare to bring it up. Knowing his father had the same, it is likely a sore subject for him.

His return sees a new development in their friendship, them sleeping together the night he came back isn’t a one off occurrence, yet each time he still continues to refer to her as a mate. It’s confusing for her, but not an issue she wishes to push, knowing that Tom is struggling with enough already. He’ll figure it out when he’s ready, she just needs to be there for him.

Tom gets a flat nearby, and finds a job at the local garage. Having served in the Navy has imparted mechanical skills to him, and he can easily work his way around an engine.

She sits perched on the workbench of the garage, admiring the view. Tom’s sandy coloured hair is pushed back from his forehead, his navy overalls tied around his waist, leaving him in just the white vest he wears underneath. His first customer of the day has yet to arrive, so he’s clean for now. She bites her lip at the thought of how dirty he’ll be by the end of the day.

It has become routine for her to spend a few mornings a week watching him work - her mum has never gotten out of the habit of insisting she wants to open the shop and sort the morning papers before heading home, so she is left to her own devices most days until the early afternoon. Tom doesn’t seem to mind having her hang around the garage.

When a car pulls in, a portly gentleman stepping out, Tom walks to greet him.

“It keeps overheating, I can’t understand why,” he explains to Tom.

“I’ll take a look for ya, mate. Come back in an hour, yeah?”

The man looks over at her with slight concern. “Will she…uh…be assisting you?”

Tom grins. “Nah, she’s just a mate, won’t let her near your motor, don’t worry.”

Just a mate.

She thinks back to how he’d knelt behind her not long after they’d woken up, just a couple of hours ago, pulling her hips back to meet each of his thrusts.

Just a mate.

Mates don’t do that.

Tom’s voice breaks her out of her thoughts. “Stupid old sod, just needs to put coolant in the engine. Gonna tell him I replaced the fan belt and charge him extra.”

She giggles, shaking her head. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”

He gives an easy shrug. “He’s loaded, he can afford it.”

She sighs, looking at her watch. “I’d better push off, mum’ll be expecting me at the shop. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

“Probably not,” Tom says. “Booked solid tomorrow, but come round to mine after?”

She nods, waving and walking away. She’s used to Tom letting her know when the garage will be busy, so makes a point to stay away so he’s not distracted.

It’s not until the end of the day, when she fishes around in her pocket for the keys to lock up the shop that she realises she has Tom’s lighter. She’s too tired to pop round and drop it off at his, so decides she’ll swing by the garage in the morning to give it back.

Her fingers wrap around it in her pocket, preparing to take it out to hand back as she approaches the garage the next morning.

She stops in her tracks when she sees a sleek black motor car parked in the vehicle bay, a tall, sophisticated, beautiful woman standing beside it. Her perfectly manicured nails stroke down Tom’s bare arm as her ruby red lips pull back into a smile.

Her heart lurches in her chest as she watches him reach out to tuck a strand of the woman’s long, dark hair behind her ear.

Her throat tightens, nausea bubbles in her stomach as she turns and walks away, the lighter long forgotten. It feels as though the bottom of her world has been ripped away. She angrily swipes at the wetness that rims her eyes.

Just mates.

Fine, if that’s what Tom wanted then that’s all they’d ever be.

[sturniololoco]

Studying

Sturniolo Little Sister (SLS) x The Sturniolo Triplets

Warnings: Slight yelling/fighting if u squint, language, etc

SLS/N's POV

At the beginning of this school year, I promised my brothers I would try my very hardest to do the best I could in school.

It wasn't looking good so far.

"SLS/N, c'mon! You have a test tomorrow!" Nick said, trying his hardest not to laugh as I attempted to do a handstand on my bed.

I flopped and rolled over, sighing. I got up and walked back to my seat next to him.

"Okay, what happened in France in 1889-" My brother began to say, but I cut him off.

"I hate the guy that made tests a thing." I blurt.

Nick sighed, shaking his head before going back to the flashcards he made for me.

-

Things like this kept happening between us and Nick was starting to get frustrated.

But I couldn't see that.

"SLS/N! Sit your ass down and listen." Nick shouted, scaring me as I was mid-spin in my rolly chair.

I stopped dead, my mouth zipping shut as I looked at him guiltily.

I had never heard Nick yell like that,

He was mad.

He continued on with his lecture, frustrated and mad nonetheless.

I swear I listened to the first three flashcards, but it all went downhill from there.

The only time I zoned back in was when Nick was aggressively standing up from his chair and arching out of my room.

"You're not even helping yourself! What's the point in me wasting my time!" He yelled as I heard him walk down the stairs.

As I heard a door being slammed from downstairs, I felt the tears well up in my eyes.

With shaking hands, I pick up the pile of cards and begin reading them between sobs, studying like Nick wanted me to do.

-

At this point, I was reading them on my floor, half crumpled, with tears flooding down my face like a river.

I hear a little knock on my door, and then Matt walks in and sits next to me silently.

Just his presence makes me even more upset, reminding me of how I let Nick down.

"Hey, you need to calm down, okay?" He says, grabbing my hand and making me look at him.

“N-No! I need to s-study!” I yell, slamming my flash card onto the carpet under me and bringing my hands to cover my eyes, wiling the tears not to fall.

“You can study after you’ve calmed down for me, okay?” He says, picking up the flashcards and putting them behind his back.

I nod, trying to suppress the sobs racking my body.

-

Once calmed down, Matt takes the cards from behind his back and shuffles them, saying,

"You know, I've always had really hard time with school too.”

I look up at him, focusing on the sound of his voice. It relaxes me as keeps talking.

“How about we make a deal. If you get above a C on your test tomorrow, we’ll all go out for an ice cream date after school.” He says, sticking his hand out for me to shake.

I nod and smile, grabbing his hand. But instead of shaking it, I pull him to me, hugging him tight.

-

I sat at my desk, leg bouncing up and down nervously and biting my nails as I waited for Matt to go get Nick.

My oldest triplets brother entered my room and walked over, kneeling in front of me.

“I’m sorry. I’ll listen now.” I say, staring back at him.

He gives me a small smile with makes my chest swell with relief.

“Oh so you’ll study because Matt promised ice cream?” He joked, shoving my arm out playfully, then picked up the cards.

We studied till 10:00, me focusing as had as I could. Nick tucked me into mute bed and turned my lamp off.

“Good luck on the test tomorrow kiddo.” He said, leaving to shut the door, allowing me to fall asleep.

-

“Nick! I got a B+!” I squealed as I hopped into the backseat next to my brother, shoving the test in his face.

He smiled and took the test from his face before giving me a hug.

“Great job bud, I’m so proud of you!” He said I to my ear.

“TO THE ICE CREAM STORE!” Chris yelled.

-

posting one a little early for yall! <3

@idkwhosnyla @babypat08 @eyelessdemon00 @christopherowensturniolo @sturnsxx @freshloveforthefit @matty443355 @sleepysturnss @emeraldgreenbeautiesstu @sunsetsturniolos @hoesturniolo @x4nd3rsukz @chr1sgirl4life @sstvrnioloo @sturns-posts @chrisstopherfilmed @kylasrealityx @zoeysturnioloooooo @comet235 @islaasblog @sturnioloblogs @defnotayonna @mattsleftnipple03 @thematthewlover @mattsaq @idkhowtosleep

[frost-queen]

Bodyguarded // part 4 (Reader!Grimes x Daryl Dixon)

Forever tag:@missmelodramatic, @merlin-dahlia, @alex--awesome--22, @elllie-does-the-posts, @floatlosers, @merlieve, @queen-of-books, @glimmering-darling-dolly @denkisclown, @wildieflower, @meyocoko, @bubblybrianna, @justanothercoco, @subjecta13-thefangirl, @m-rae23, @harleyquinnswifeyfrfr, @swampthing07, @melsunshine, @panhoeofmanyfandoms, @venomsvl, @the-uncoordinated-house-cat, @rosecentury,  @imagines-by-her,  @evilcr0ne, @vviolynn, Tag: @strangerthingslover69, @ankhmutes, @yoowhatthefuck, @sseleniaa, @deansapplepie, @abbiesxox, @skulliecadaver-blog, @winterassassin1804

Summary: When a sudden change in Shane's behaviour appears it leaves you both startled and vulnerable. Meanwhile your brother takes on his brotherly duty of checking out Daryl. Will Shane's new attitute be more dangerous then his explosive one? [ read part 1 & part 2 & part 3 & part 5 ]

You were searching the back of the truck for something specific in one of the many bags stashed there. You had to bend a bit over the railing to reach more to the middle. Slightly getting bugged that you just couldn’t reach that bag. You heard some footsteps approach, yet kept focused on your doings. – “Daryl can you…” – you started as the person behind you neared. Your words cut off by a loud gasp, eyes widening as two firm hands set on your hips. Their body pressing hard against your back. This didn’t feel like Daryl.

His grip was too brutal for it. – “Where is your bodyguard?” – you heard Shane say close to your ear. A shiver of fright went through your body, making you instinctively elbow him back and spin around to be less vulnerable. Shane stumbled back with his hands up and a ridiculous smirk on his face. – “What the f*ck do you want!” – you called out to him, feeling disgusted that he had touched you.

Shane lowered his hands with a cocky expression. – “So defensive.” – he replied with a dirty chuckle. You kept a tentative eye on his behaviour, with him you could never be certain. He noticed you were anxiously looking past him, almost if you were hoping someone would notice him around you and come.

“Looking for Rick?” – Shane asked, moving his head a bit so he’d block your view. – “Or that dirtbag of yours?” – he added following your motion as he wanted to keep himself in the centre of you. – “Can’t defend yourself? You are pathetic Y/n.” – he scoffed  making you harden your gaze to a glare at him. – “And you’re a dick.” – you responded. To your surprise he laughed. You were anything but trying to be funny. Shane touched his nose, looking briefly away before taking a step closer to you.

He set his hand down on the truck, entrapping one side of yours. He tilted his head a bit to get a better look at you. You felt intimated and watched. Wanting his prying eyes to stop, you pushed him away. – “You lied to me!” – you called out wanting to change whatever he was doing. You wanted to divert his prying eyes from you.

Anything to get those hungry eyes off you. – “About?” – Shane asked in return, finding his balance again. – “Rick!” – you shouted at him. Shane tensed his jaw. – “You told me he was dead!” – you reminded him. – “He was as good as dead.” – Shane responded loud.

“Going after him was hopeless.” – he finished. – “You left him for dead…” – you accused. Shane came closer again standing nose to nose with you. Puffing his chest up to appear taller. – “I did what I had to do in that situation.” – he made clear. – “Rick was as good as dead.” – he stated staring hard at you. – “I saved you.” – he said making you harden your expression. – “No, you left me for dead.” – you answered coldly. Shane slammed his hand against he back of the truck, startling you. – “That was on you!” – he called out. 

“If you only…” – he slightly lowered his voice not finishing his sentence. – “If what?” – you shouted at him angry. Shane inhaled sharp through his nose, grabbing you firm by your arms. Your back got pushed hard against the back of the truck. With a bit of fright in your eyes, you stared back in his eyes. Shane staring right back at you, before he breathed out a laugh.

Lowering his head with a shake as he kept chuckling. His act a complete mystery to you. He inhaled sharp through his teeth, looking back up to you. This time he was smiling as he booped your nose. – “Y/n Grimes.” – he said with a chuckle. Clearly amusing himself, but completely confusing to you. He took in a deep breath, looking up to the sky.

Brows furrowed, you couldn’t help but stare confused at him. Shane’s gaze was on you again till they lowered. Stopping somewhere at the same height of your lips. It made your expression untense with surprise. Shane smiled. Moving your shoulders, you wanted to brush his hands off you. Shane let go of you taking a step back. He turned around taking his leave, yet while walking off he just had to look one more time back at you.

Once he was out of sight, you exhaled loud. Grasping for your chest, feeling your heart pound like a maniac. This behaviour might have been scarier then when he pressed a gun against your head. You forgot about your search and just ran off. Not wanting to be out of that situation. You jogged back to camp just to be more in the public eye.

Carol stopped you, seeing you were out of breath. – “Hey are you alright Y/n?” – she asked touching your shoulder. Unable to form any words you kept trying to catch your breath. – “Fine…” – you told her. – “You sure?” – She asked further. Taking in a deep breath, you hummed with your hands on your hip.

“All fine.” – you reassured her with a soft smile. – “Okay Y/n.” – she replied not pushing any further. You walked over to the campfire, picking up a bottle of water from the cooler (that didn’t work anyway) from beside Glenn. Taking the top off, you started to drink. First a voice came followed by a touch. – “Did you find the toolbox?” – It was Daryl’s voice as he had placed a hand on your hip.

His little touch made your body reflex into wanting to get them off. You jumped forwards, spinning around immediately, some water splashing out of the bottle. Daryl moved his hands up as a reflex. – “Sorry.” – he said looking a bit hurt at you. You exhaled deep once your brain was sure it was Daryl. – “No I’m sorry.” – you told him, approaching him.

“I’m… just a bit… jumpy.” – you went on, closing your water bottle. You laid your arm on his shoulder tilting his chin up with your finger, wanting him to look you in the eye instead of looking away. – “I’m sorry.” – you let him know with clear intentions. To prove to him you were truly sorry, you gave him a kiss. – “You okay?” – Daryl asked as your gaze drifted over your shoulder. Across, your eyes met up with Shane.

He had stopped and was staring. Something about the tightness in his expression making you nervous. Almost as if he was making up scenario’s in his mind. Daryl noticed your absence as he looked beyond you, seeing Shane as well. His first reaction was to look disgusted back at him. Almost murderous as his hand gently pushed you closer to him. – “I’m okay.”- you spoke breaking the contact with Shane.

You started walking taking Daryl’s hand as you pulled him with you. Daryl’s gaze never leaving Shane’s with a threatening look. – “I didn’t find the toolbox.” – you told Daryl while walking off. Daryl gave you his full attention once more, falling in step with you. Daryl and you walked up to the truck. Daryl reached in the trunk, taking out the toolbox. – “Daryl…” – you started, hearing him hum loud as a response.

“Can… can I sleep with you in the camper tonight?” – you asked feeling a bit shy. Daryl turned his posture to you. – “Sure, why?” -  he asked curious. – “It’s just… I… I don’t feel like being alone tonight…” – you answered as Daryl threw his arm over your shoulder. – “I got ya Y/n.” – he responded leaving a caring kiss against the temple.

Daryl handed the toolbox to Rick. – “Thanks.” – he said, slapping Daryl against his shoulder. Rick set the toolbox down, kneeling beside it. – “So uhm you and my sister..” – Rick started taking out a wrench. – “Rick!” – you called out embarrassed. Your brother chuckled. – “I was just curious Y/n.” – Rick answered moving his hands up with a smile. – “Uh-hu.” – you hummed out funnily. – “You just want to hear him out.” – you replied.

“I mean if you want me too.” – Rick responded with a chuckle. – “No, I don’t.” – you said giving him a nudge so he almost lost his balance. Rick laughed. – “I just want to get to know the man my sister finds interesting.” – he said embarrassing you. – “Oh shut up.” – you nudged him again to make him stop embarrassing you. – “You know my sister used to be really shy.” – Rick told Daryl.

“Really?” – Daryl looked with surprise at you. Rick hummed loud. – “Used to be afraid to talk to boys.” – he outed. – “I was eleven!” – you called out to justify it. Daryl seemed to find it adorable. – “I mean she hid behind the curtains when Shane came by for the first time.” – Rick continued to tell with a chuckle. – “Shane would make it a game to get you from behind the curtains.”

“You two were stupid teenagers.” – you responded to your brother, remembering it. You remembered very well how Shane would run up to the curtains, tickling you through the thick curtains, just to get you to move from behind them. Teasing you with silly words and pulls on the curtain as you kept pulling it back in front of you, not wanting to engage with a teenage boy. Daryl’s smile had faded, showing a bit of jealousy in his expression.

“Anyways.” – you said loud not wanting to hear more of it. – “I grew out of it.” – you told Rick laying an arm over Daryl. – “You did.” – Rick replied with a warm smile. You nudged Daryl to leave your brother to do his tasks. Glancing to your side, you noticed Daryl actually wanted to ask you something. – “Don’t.” – you let him know.

Daryl simply nodded. He came standing before you, making you stop. – “I’ll have to finish some tasks, see you tonight in the camper?” – he wanted to ask to be certain. You hummed with a nod. Daryl kissed your forehead before taking his leave. Exhaling soft, you turned around to head over to Carol for laundry duty.

Night was falling as you felt exhausted. Muscles sore from handwashing all those clothing. You had just said goodnight to Carl, telling him you’d do a sleepover with him tomorrow. He wanted to have a sleepover with you in the car, but you had already promised Daryl you’d come. Carl seemed satisfied enough with your answer running over to the tent he shared with Rick and Lori. You opened the door to the camper, getting in.

Daryl already laid on the bed or rather self-made sleeping area. With one hand behind his back, he lowered himself. Tapping the empty space beside him whilst laying his head down. You chuckled going over to him. You laid yourself beside him as Daryl moved his arm around you. He snuggled closer to you, settling himself in a good comfortable position. His chin resting against the top of your head. – “My offer still stands.” – he muttered out with closed eyes.

It took you a second to remember which offer till you got it. The running away offer. – “I know…” – you replied moving your head on his chest. Somehow you couldn’t get Shane out of your head, as some things became clearer. Perhaps there has been hints of his behaviour towards you in the past. When you were younger, he always seemed to take an eager interest in you. Why?

“Daryl?” – you said soft expecting an answer, but your answer got replied by soft snoring. Lifting your head up, you wanted to see for sure. He had fallen asleep. Taking a deep breath, you lowered your head on his chest once more. Pulling your knees up to snuggle closer to him. Trying to banish the demons from your head.

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

Read more of my fics on my Masterlists!  

[deanscherrypie69]

The Roommate Pact B.B 🗽 (One)

Pairings: !RoommateBuckyBarnes X FemaleReader

Warnings: Language, mentions of drinking (alcohol) mentions of sex (nothing happens.) Mentions the reader having long hair!!! I think that’s it but lmk if I miss anything!!

Warnings and Reminders - Please do not plagiarise, copy, repost/republish, adapt, or translate any of my work on any social media platforms, apps, or third-party sites. The only platforms I post my work on are: Tumblr and Wattpad. I do not own any character of any franchise (Marvel etc.) All my works are fiction and may be dark or triggering content: READ ALL WARNINGS BEFORE PROCEEDING

Happy reading!! Comments and reblogs are appreciated!!

The buzzing of your your phone rang through your ears, meaning it was time to get up. You open your eyes and reach over to shut off your alarm, but you couldn't. Something tight was wrapped around you body. You froze,

Moving your head to the side, you notice that it was someone.

You squeal when you realize that his eyes begin to open. You qucikly rush out of the bed grabbing your phone with you. Rushing into the bathroom, you close the door behind you.

You touch the screen of your phone, it lights up revealing texts from your bestfriends asking if you made it home safe from last night, tilting your head in confusion. You happen to catch glimpse of yourself in the bathroom mirror.

You scream, you were naked. Your hand quickly covers your mouth.

What the hell happened last night.

"You gonna come out now doll?" A voice was muffled by the door, but you knew who it was.

The door open, a hand reaches in, holding a t-shirt and you underwear. You quickly snatch them from his hand and shut the door.

You couldn't believe this.

You slept with your roommate, your bestfriend. Bucky Barnes.

Once you were done, you grab your phone and exit the bathroom.

You see him sitting on the edge of his bed, his phone in hand.

"Did we-." You say looking at him.

"We did." He says dropping his phone next to him.

You notice both of you clothes scattered on the floor. You shake your head and cross your arms over your chest. "I don't remember anything." You softly say.

"I do." Bucky sighs looking at you.

You shake your head, how did this happen? why did it happen?

"You were drunk." He begins.

. . . 12 hours before. (Past)

"Happy birthday Steve!" You shout throwing your arms around the tall blonde haired man.

"Why thank you Y/n." He says hugging you back.

"Thanks for coming." Steve looks between you and Bucky.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world pal." Bucky slaps Steve's arm.

You smile lookin between the two friends, "I'm gonna get a drink." You look between the two men and stride off to the bar.

Steve doesn't miss the way Bucky's eyes follow after you. He watches as your hips sway and that tiny red dress that hugged your curves just right.

Bucky is snapped out of his thought when Steve says something.

"How you two haven't had sex yet is beyond me." He laughs.

Bucky huffs and rolls his eyes, "We're friends. That's it."

Steve rolls his eyes, "What friends do you know live together?" He questions crossing his arms together. "Lots." Bucky snaps.

"I'm done with this conversation or whatever the hell this is." Bucky walks away, he heads over to the bar. Where you were joined by Natasha and Wanda.

He notices that you back was turned to him, your long H/C flowing behind you back.

It had been a hushed conversation between the three of you. But it had come to a stop when Wanda noticed Bucky was coming over.

"Hey." You quickly spin around in your chair, holding a glass of red wine, it was you favorite/ Bucky couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

"Hi."

You slide over a glass of whiskey in his direction. "Thought you might like one." You hum picking up your glass and bringing it up to your lips.

"Thanks." Bucky takes the glass and brings it up to his lips mirroring your action. He was looking at you. Almost like a staring contest.

Wanda whispers something in Natasha's ear causing her to let out a laugh.

You and Bucky never break eye contact.

That was until Tony yells, causing your drink to spill on your dress. "Shit." You groan.

"Who's ready to get this party started. Tony screams.

Bucky's eyes wander down to the wet spot that had formed on your dress, he knew it was one of your favorites.

"It's fine." You say putting your glass down on the bar. "Let's dance." You squeal. Grabbing Bucky's hand.

"This should be entertaining." Wanda says to Nat as she sips on her beer.

- _ _ _ You had been dancing and drinking. Everyone watched as you swayed you hips to the music that blasted through Steve's apartment.

There was a bottle of tequila in your hand. You'd drink out of it as you danced to the music. No one stopped you.

"You should get her home Buck." Steve looked down at his watch it was 2am. Steve patted Bucky on the back, "Thanks for coming." Steve thanks his friend once more.

"No problem." Bucky shares a smile with his friend.

And he walks over to where you were dancing, you were the only one.

Bucky stuffs his hand into his jean pockets as he watches your hair flip in different directions, some sticking to your face.

He takes one hand out from his pocket to pause the music.

You quickly stop your movements when you realize there wasn't any music.

"Hey." You pout turning around, you move some of your hair out of your face, you were met with Bucky standing there looking. "I was listing to that." You pout.

You begin to walk over to the stereo where Bucky had been standing.

"We should go." He says taking the bottle from your hands, "I don't wanna go." You huff.

Bucky sets the almost empty bottle down on one of Steve's coffee table.

"Come on doll. Bucky takes your hand. You huff and Bucky drags you through the apartment.

"Text me when you're home safe. Natasha say.

"K Natty." You slur as Bucky drapes your coat over your shoulders.

"Byee Stevie." You smile as Bucky drags you out the door.

- - _ "This is what you need, fresh air." Bucky smiles looking up at the night sky.

You watch as Bucky's blue eyes look up at the night sky, there was a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I had fun tonight." You say stopping in your tracks. Your heels scraping on the pavement below.

"Me too." Bucky says. Standing in front of you. He towered over you. You loved it.

The smell of his colonge hit your nose, you hadn't noticed what he hand been wearing tonight. A black button up. And his favorite pair of dark blue jeans.

His dark black hair had been put up in a sleek bun.

Bucky smiles. He watches as your eyes move down to his lips. "Buck-" You begin to say. Your throat was dry. Maybe you were kinda drunk. But you felt sober, all of a sudden.

It happened so fast.

You lips were attached to Bucky's as you both stumbled into your shared apartment.

"Your room." You mumble against his lips. Bucky nods. he knew it was the closest.

It was dark in his room, but somehow there was a tiny bit of light coming through Bucky's curtains. He watches you slip your dress over your head. Leaving you only in your bra and undwerwear.

You crashed your lips onto his. Bucky feels your hands laying with his belt tugging at it. But he pulls away from the kiss. "Are you sure?" He questions. His lips inches away from yours.

"Yeah." You say dropping to your knees.

- - - 12 hours earlier (Present time)

Bucky turns to you. He looks at your face, he sees that your starting to remember. You sigh and sit next to him on the bed.

"I wasn't that drunk, Bucky I- knew." you confess.

Bucky's eyes go wide, why was he shocked? You both acted on impulse. He didn't regret it, not one bit-

You turn to look at him, he was in his boxers his eyes filled with worry. "I don't regret it."

"I don't either." He confesses. He looks into you eyes, he watches as you fiddle with your fingers.

"What if we- kept doing it, like it was just sex no strings attached, just friends who live together and have sex..." You clear your throat.

Bucky let's out a shaky breath. 'No stings attached' But he had already- He quickly rids that thought.

"Yes." He says a little bit too quickly.

You smiles at the blue eyed man. He watches a smile tug at your lips.

"Good." You clear your throat and get up from the bed, grabbing your shoes and dress that were scattered on the floor. "And um, I'll see you tonight yea?" You say.

"Tonight yea. Bucky says scratching the back of his head, he smiles and watches as you leave the room. He hears the bathroom door shut.

He falls back onto his bed, the smell of his perfume fills his nose.

"No strings attached my ass."

[birgittesilverbae]

Prompt: just a highly tattooed Beatrice. Anything. Maybe she’s in a band, maybe it goes to her teenage rebellion, maybe it’s your dads au and Bea always wears sleeves and one day Ava finally sees her ink… idk. Anything with tattooed Bea.

thanks for the prompt!

//

Beatrice hasn't worn short sleeves in the time Ava has been back. 

True, it's closing in on winter, but Malaga in November is barely any cooler than Brienz had been in June, and back then Beatrice had taken every possible opportunity to go sun's out, guns out.

Ava watches, curious, for some sort of sign, some clue to what Beatrice is keeping under wraps. She's been back for a week, almost, and they've kissed in quiet corners and in the back of the chapel, and once, in a fit of daring, in the confessional, Ava in Beatrice's lap admitting to myriad sins ("the Bloody Marys sold well, I just hated making them" and "I bought us new towels because I used ours to try and smother a stovetop fire" and "I spent half our time in Switzerland trying not to touch myself to the thought of you"). 

But they haven't gone any further than furtive makeouts and some over-the-clothes heavy petting – which, she has to remind herself, would be a mind-blowing development for June Ava. And Beatrice hasn't even rolled up her sleeves, which… The thought of Beatrice's forearms had constituted, like, a solid 64% of Ava's will to live while on the other side, but it's fine. She's fine. She can be very cool, very normal and definitely would absolutely not suffer if she never got to see Beatrice's forearms again.

She'd be totally fine. 

It's on day seven post-return that Beatrice slips up. She's been waist-deep in a van's engine compartment in between shouting matches with Mary across the garage, and stray curls of hair are slicked to her forehead with sweat. She rubs at her face and then frowns, unbuttons the placket at her wrist and starts to roll up her right sleeve. Ava feels like a Victorian gentleman about to pass out over the mere sight of a sliver of skin. She doesn't mean to, but she takes a step forward over the threshold of the garage, drawn towards the revelation of Beatrice's bare skin like a moth towards a flame.

There's a faint blue glow that grows brighter as Ava approaches, and Beatrice's head snaps up. She fumbles with her sleeve for a moment, an adorable crease between her eyebrows, but the cuff is caught on the knob of her elbow. She settles for linking her hands behind her back instead.

"Ava!" She chirps far too brightly for someone Ava had heard calling Mary a 'piece of fucking work' not two minutes past.

Ava takes another step closer. "Beatrice," she replies, soft. She'd raise a hand, but this already feels far too much like approaching a wild animal. 

Apt enough, though, as Beatrice's eyes very noticeably flick towards the exit. "Show me," she says, just as gently.

Beatrice's shoulders droop. "You would have found out sooner or later," she concedes. "It was only a delay of the inevitable in the hopes I would be better prepared to discuss it by the time the conversation arose."

She swings her arms forward, left hand finding the pocket of her coveralls, right coming out in front of her until her forearm is on display for Ava. 

It's a starburst shining divinium blue, a double handful of lines broken by tick marks emanating from a central black point. Ava can't help herself, doesn't want to stop herself from reaching out and dragging a fingertip down one of the lines. Beatrice's skin is warm beneath Ava's touch and the divinium sparks bright in response to the Halo's nearness.

"What is it?"

Beatrice clears her throat. "Pulsars are spinning neutron stars that blink on and off like lighthouses. When the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft were launched, they were sent bearing a plaque with this map on it – a map of the position of known pulsars relative to our sun. A map of lighthouses, guiding the observer here." She taps the central dot. "That's here, that's home, that's us," she says, in that slightly removed tone Ava associates with the oh-so-common occurrence of a 'Quotes with Beatrice' event. "On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives." Beatrice inhales shakily. "It was stupid, really, but I thought maybe it would help guide you back to us. Back to me. Back home."   

[harlowcomehome]

Arts and concerts:

Requested by the beautiful and talented @jackharloww!

Jack had been frantically looking around the house for his keys, checking every counter and dresser possible.

“You didn’t hang them up?” You asked as he frantically started to check his pant pockets.

“I thought I did” his face was starting to grow red. He was supposed to be at the venue doing sound check already for NPLH.

“This is a fucking disaster” he threw his hands up in defeat as he sat on the bed.

“Baby, it’s fine. Take my car and I’ll keep looking” You walked over to him pushing his curls out of his face and planting a soft kiss on his pouty lips. You started to place kisses on his jawline, making him finally break out into a smile.

“I’m sorry, I’m just stressed” he took your face into his hands, giving you a more passionate kiss. You were interrupted by Hazel who watched the two of you in disgust from the doorframe.

“I found these” She had Jack's car keys hanging from her index finger as she held them as high in the air as possible.

Jack jumped off the bed immediately, grabbing them and picking Hazel up to spin her around. She giggled as her dad placed her back on the ground. “You’re a lifesaver Hazey!”

“Remember that tonight! I want my shout-out!” She giggled as Jack went and said his goodbyes to Jade who was pouting on the couch.

“What’s wrong Jadey?” Jack checked the time before taking a moment to sit with her.

“Don’t want you to leave” she mumbled.

“It’ll just be a few hours and then you three can come to the show with Uncle Clay! I promise” he held out his pinky to his youngest daughter who rolled her eyes but obliged anyway.

He gave you one more kiss before running out of the house.

“Drive safe! You have people who love you!” You always reminded him of that as he left the house, he blew you three kisses as he pulled away.

“Mommy, are we still making bracelets for Daddy's show?” Hazel already had the box of organized beads in her hand.

“Only if you tell me where you found those keys” you giggled, having a good idea.

Jade climbed down from the couch and over to you both, “I was sitting on them.”

Hazel laughed, not expecting her little sister to come clean so easily. “Jadey!”

“I wanna make bracelets” she shrugged as she climbed into the kitchen chair and waited for the two of you.

“Let’s not do that again! Your dad almost-“You paused and attempted to think of a better way to word what you wanted to say.

“Lost his marbles?” Jade giggled and you nodded knowing that’s how Grandma Maggie would’ve explained it.

You sat down at the table with the girls giving them bowls to put their beads in to eliminate some mess and then you showed them both how to tie them.

“Mommy! You’re fast!” Jade giggled as she watched your pile of bracelets quickly grow.

“My friends and I used to do this before shows in high school!” You giggled as you looked at Hazel and Jade's smaller piles.

“Do you think people will trade with us?” Hazel asked excitedly.

“I think so! Daddy made a post asking everyone to make bracelets so we are hoping the turnout is good” you smiled.

Jade was looking at the alphabetical beads for a moment before you noticed.

“Need my help bug? What do you want to put on yours?”

“Daddys girl!” She giggled as her feet swung underneath the table.

“I don’t think anyone would want that one though” Hazel giggled innocently. “Right mommy?”

“No, I think… I think someone would probably want to trade for that one” You smirked as you helped her look for the correct beads.

Hazel was confused at your response but luckily didn’t question it.

By the time show time came around, you had a combined 36 bracelets to trade. Clay drove the four of you to the venue to meet Jack before he went on stage.

“Do you think we made enough?” Hazel shook the plastic container that was holding the bracelets as you walked through the venue.

“I think that’s plenty” Clay chuckled shooting you a smile as you waited for Jack.

Jack greeted the four of you with a big hug before picking Jade up and balancing her on his side.

He bent down to give you a kiss before Hazel interrupted holding the container of bracelets up for him to see.

“What are these?” He smiled, sorting through the container. He immediately saw Jade's “daddy’s girl” bracelet and blushed thinking you made it.

“Jade made that one” you pointed when you saw his gaze.

“Oh yeah?”

“I made this one!” Hazel pulled one out of the container to give to Jack. “It’s not to trade! I made it for you!”

“For me?” Jack immediately put it on his wrist.

“I made you that one” Jade pointed to a purple and black bracelet that was sitting on top.

“You two are the sweetest! Thank you” Jack smiled as he put Jades on too.

“Hey! Where’s mine?” You teased and Hazel rummaged through the bracelets handing you one. Jade was too distracted talking to her dad to notice.

“This one’s for you!” Hazel gave you Jades bracelet still without her little sister noticing.

“Because you’re daddie’s girl right?” Hazel held her head to the side mildly confused, making you and Jack hold back laughter.

“Well, I need to go” he chuckled to himself “I need to go get ready.” He motioned for Clay to follow him as he sat Jade down on the ground beside you.

“Mhm,” you narrowed your eyes at him as you tried to contain your laughter.

“Let’s go sit down” You silently shook your head at your husband who was laughing down the hallway with his brother.

“Daddy is silly. He gots the giggles” Jade giggled too as she held your hand and walked with you.

“Yes, he’s very silly” you smiled as both of your daughters followed to the VIP area to wait for Jack to start the show.

[happilyfeatherafter]

Happilyfeatherafter’s ficrec Fridays

Happy Dean Winchester's 45th birthday week, and happy Friday! I was absolutely blown away by everyone's incredible posts for Dean this week, you guys. It made me all emotional.

Back with my fourth week of fics I've read and loved recently. If you missed last week’s you can find my previous rec lists here for more!

26 January 2024

american oracle by @handsliketruth and whiskeyjuniper (@satinsolace) I spent all last Sunday reading this one and it was such an immersive experience! An earthquake shakes something loose in the bunker, seemingly trapping Dean, Cas and Sam inside with it as they attempt to fix what's gone wrong, only the bunker isn't going to make it easy for them! Super creepy, twisty, reality bending and really beautifully, unsettlingly written. Whatever's happened is messing with their minds, and the creeping horror of real or not real persists, but even through that the Dean and Cas of it are really fascinating in how they navigate their intense feelings for each other. I was also incredibly impressed with how the effects of canon wrapping up were woven into the plot in such a powerfully potent way, exploring fate, free will, and the future. Really a stand out (and I know a lot of you have been reading it because I found this fic open in no less than three separate tabs in my bookmarks when I came to read it myself. So adding one more rec to the pile!)

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by @norahastuff (art by @logsdrawsthings) is a brilliant and seamlessly written missing conversations DCBB fic set in seasons 4 and 5. The dialogue is so on point for that era Dean and Cas, at times I had to remind myself what came from the show and what was brand new. As they navigate their way towards the apocalypse, and Cas watches over Dean in reality and in dreams, it seems hard to find solace. But in getting to know one another better, they both question their parts in the grand plan, and also find peace, connection, and company in their deepening bond.

A Fic About Dean’s 45th Birthday by @scoobydoodean both does exactly what it says on the tin AND made me cry lol. After Mrs Butters plants the seed in his head that he's too old to celebrate his birthday, Dean gets a little upset, but he doesn't let on to anyone. The poor man just wants to be appreciated and celebrated on his birthday! But he feels guilty about causing a fuss, and anyway, he can still show his love through making sure everyone else's days are marked for the occasion. But on his 45th, his family is acting a little suspicious, and they seem to want him to stay away. Angsty, sweet, give that man his krispy treats!!!! Check out Dean with Scoobies.

found it here in your love by nevernevergirl (@yorkesteins) is another Dean's birthday ficlet, but taking a 180 spin on it. Cas has plans. LOTS of plans. Dean deserves to be celebrated. But some pesky snow has derailed Cas' thoughtfulness, and despite his best intentions he's awfully upset about letting Dean down. "In which learning to live your life after nearly two decades of saving the actual world is a process. They're doing it together, though." Sweet, domestic, heartwarming love (even when there's a tantrum involved.)

Plus shout out to @angelsdean's I spy Dean's birthday game, @dean-isms's birthday party watchlist, and ALL of the incredible fic, art, AMVs and edits you made. TALENT.

[bettyshoweduptotheparty]

Happy 4th December - No, we are not there yet

Sorry in advance, this is a bit of rant, which is not something I usually post. But it's a wet Monday morning and I've had a really frustrating weekend, and today, on this anniversary of maybe the biggest piece of gaylor lore, the pictures and headlines I'm seeing just tipped me over the edge into a rant.

So, on this 4th December 2023 it is 9 years to the day that the world woke up to grainy pictures and videos of Taylor Swift, the world's most famous popstar and America's ultimate good girl, allegedly kissing a woman at a 1975 concert. And the tabloids and social media went crazy over it. And not in a good way. I remember the way I felt, so very nauseated about reading words like 'lesbian affair', 'shocking' and 'fling', not just on Taylor and Karlie's behalf, but the way it made me feel about myself, too. I was brutally reminded that 'lesbian' in 2014 was still seen as a dirty word and society's default was to see sapphic relationships as something scandalous and a fall from grace, rather than something beautiful. To this day I look at this photo and can't help but feel awed by the love and intimacy that their body language exudes, but the world didn't see it that way, they were just obsessing over whether they kissed or not and how to spin that into a dirty story.

That was almost a decade ago. So, have we made progress? Is it all fixed and every queer person (especially artists and celebrities) can live authentically and freely? Well, no, of course not, as was possibly proven again this weekend by Billie Eilish, who confirmed that she is gay (more or less unplanned) in an interview. Nobody should be surprised as she was never subtle about her queerness, yet it cost her over 100,000 social media followers in just 24 hours after explicitly coming out. Being gay, especially for women, is only acceptable when mainstream society don't have to see it. Don't talk about it and God forbid, don't kiss in public. Never mind that straight people do it all the time. The very same tabloid paper that printed kissgate pictures with the word 'shocking' next to them, put Taylor on the cover two years later and described her romance with Tom Hiddleston as 'exciting' and 'sexy'. And on the very morning I see the tweet about Billie, I find this message in my inbox:

Why indeed...? And I was of course expecting Taylor to show up at another football game, but to see her looking somber in a Carol-esque red fur coat, while her partner and all her friends are having a lovely time in LA... it just makes me angry today. Yes, maybe we've made progress in same ways, but we are still so far from where we need to be for everyone to be able to come out without repercussion. In a better world, Taylor would have been in a gorgeous dress next to her wife, rather than sitting next to the girl who would have bullied us in High School.

(And btw, not only was Rebel Wilson blackmailed into coming out by the Sydney Morning Herold, she has lost thousands of followers and has pretty much focused on film making rather than acting since coming out. Maybe this was always her plan, but also, maybe not. Interesting, that film making is also seemingly becoming Taylor's second career leg...)

So, anon who sent me the question above, take this as my answer. Why is the most famous popstar in the world not out in 2023? Most likely because it would cost her so much of what she's worked hard for over the last 17 years. Not withstanding that the answer may also be 🛴 and what he did in 2019 that prevented her from coming out then, the world is just not a very good place for a celebrity to be anything other than straight, white and cisgender. And after 10 years of activism in LGBTQ+ organisations, today I feel a bit deflated by that. But with every single person who feels brave enough to shout their truth from the rooftops, we break down the walls a little more each time. 🌈

[melishade]

Attack on Prime: What if the TFP War continued on the world of Attack on Titan? AKA The War Timeline

Main Story

Peaceful Timeline Pilot

Beloved Timeline Pilot

TFP Optimus in Episode 1 Pilot

Summary: A spacebridge accident happened on Earth, launching both Autobots and Decepticons to the world of Attack on Titan. And while the Autobots are willing to do everything in their power to protect humanity, the Decepticons will stop at nothing to destroy and conquer whatever is let. The war rages on, and if one wants to live, they must fight.

So the fourth pilot fully written out as asked in this previous poll. This is based upon the War Timeline as posted in my masterlist if you want more information! Please read this and give a comment while also looking at the other pilots and my main fanfic story!

Roll it!

Optimus groaned in pain, his helm feeling like it was spinning. His body ached as he moved his servo to rest it on his forehelm. His optics slowly opened, and he winced at the streams of light that came into view. When his vision cleared, he found himself under a partly cloudy sky. The sun was high in the air, and he could see trees out of the corner of his optics. What had happened?

“Is everyone okay?” Optimus’ optics snapped open and he immediately sat up. He looked at his surroundings and saw the Autobots slowly getting up and looking just as delirious as he felt.

“Ay, okay.” Optimus turned his gaze to where Bulkhead was seated and saw Jack, Miko, and Rafael waking up and rubbing their heads.

“I need to scan everyone.” Optimus saw Ratchet forcing himself to stand, ignoring his own pain kneeling down to scan Bumblebee.

“What were you three thinking?!” Arcee yelled at the human kids.

“We were trying to get Miko out of there!” Jack retorted.

“Miko, we talked about this! I thought you were past this!” Bulkhead exclaimed.

“You said it was simple recon!” Miko retorted.

“That’s not an excuse!” Bulkhead and Arcee shouted in unison.

“The damage is done,” Ratchet declared as he finished scanning Bumblebee, “And at the very least we’re still operational.”

“Are we in the Shadowzone again?” Rafael asked as he rummaged through his backpack to grab his phone. Miko turned her attention to Jack before pressing her hand on his face.

“Wha-! What was that for?!” Jack yelled as he grabbed her wrist.

“If we’re in the Shadowzone, we can’t touch anything,” Miko recalled.

“We can all see and touch each other!” Jack reminded.

“Then the spacebridge malfunction the Decepticons were having launched us somewhere else,” Ratchet surmised as he finished scanning Bulkhead. He was about to scan Arcee, but she waved it off.

“Go scan Optimus first,” Arcee suggested, “He still looks out of it.”

Ratchet immediately kneeled down towards Optimus and started to scan him. Optimus didn’t pay attention to him, and merely tried to recall what had happened. There was a scouting mission, they found energon, but the Decepticons had ambushed them. Jack, Miko, and Rafael had somehow gotten involved. The Autobots tried to get them out, but the groundbridge and the spacebridge had crossed streams? Or there was a malfunction in the spacebridge? He couldn’t remember. His helm was pulsing in pain.

Optimus rubbed his optics and grimaced a little. Something was wrong. Why couldn’t he figure it out? What was wrong?

“Optimus are you alright?” Ratchet asked as he placed his servo on his shoulder, “Your vitals appear normal, but if you don’t tell me-!”

“I still function,” Optimus reassured as he forced himself to stand up.

“At the very least, it looks like we’re still on Earth,” Jack proclaimed as he looked at their surroundings. Optimus took in his surroundings as well, and found that they were surrounded by similar views of that on Earth: pine trees, green grass, blue skies. It all looked normal for the planet. But something still felt off. Optimus’ gaze fell to a footprint that was hidden in the forest, and noticed how it was much too large to resemble that of a human.

“No one is at base; however, which means that we’re going to have to explain to Agent Fowler how to operate a groundbridge,” Ratchet groaned in irritation.

Bumblebee responded to Ratchet in his binary code, trying to reassure him.

“Yes, I know, it’s just going to be a hassle to hear him scream at us and talk about his human affairs,” Ratchet waved off before activating his comm. link, “Agent Fowler, we need assistance.”

Ratchet blinked in confusion when he was only met with static. “Fowler?”

“No response?” Arcee asked him.

“Yes,” Ratchet answered, “Odd.”

“Let me try.” Bulkhead placed two digits against his audio receptors, “Agent Fowler? Hello?...Static.”

“Did the spacebridge malfunction scramble with our comm. link?” Arcee asked, not noticing Optimus walking towards the footprint. The Prime kneeled down to examine it closer. It looked like a human footprint, but why was it so large? Humans couldn’t reach a size similar to that of a Cybertronian. It didn’t make sense.

“Uh…guys?” Rafael called out with worry as he showed the Autobots his flip phone, “I’m not getting any bars.”

Jack and Miko were shocked at that and quickly pulled out their phones to find what Rafael was saying to be true. They had no reception either.

“So we’re not in the Shadowzone?” Miko chuckled nervously, “Because we had reception last time we were there!”

“Look, maybe it was the spacebridge malfunction!” Jack reasoned, “That could explain it! Right?!”

“Maybe if we can figure out where we are we can find a place with a working phone,” Arcee suggested.

Something was wrong. What was wrong? Optimus’ helm shot up, when he heard a low growl like an animal. Optimus stood on his pedes and scanned the area as the Autobots continued discussing what to do next. Where was that sound coming from? Optimus looked past Bumblebee and saw something crawling towards them. It was a four legged humanoid figure, but it was significantly bigger than the humans they had with them. It had no clothing and no reproductive organs, but it had a multitude of teeth. And it looked hungry. Its gaze fell to the humans and it lunged for them!

“Bumblebee, behind you!” Optimus called for him.

Bumblebee snapped his head to the creature that lunged for the humans. All three screamed out in fear, but Bumblebee quickly kicked the creature in its open mouth, shattering all of its teeth and knocking it into a tree.

“What the frag?!” Arcee exclaimed. They all looked on in horror when the four legged creature was clearly not dead. Steam arose from its mouth and the back of its head. Its teeth began to grow back and the jaw stitched itself back together. The creature shook its head to shake off the injury as it finished regenerating its wounds.

“Bumblebee!” Rafael screamed as it lunged for them once more, but Bumblebee quickly pulled out his blaster and shot it multiple times in the head. The creature skidded forward from momentum before slowing to a stop. The energon seemed to do the trick, as the body began to decay and evaporate into steam, leaving nothing else behind to examine.

“By the Allspark!” Ratchet gasped in terror.

Optimus could only stare in horror as well at the sight, mirroring Ratchet’s expression. All the Autobots didn’t know what to say to this sight, but Optimus knew one thing for certain.

“We are not supposed to be here,” Optimus declared.

Bulkhead snapped his helm to a creature taller than Optimus emerging from the forest and running towards him. “Optimus!”

Optimus activated his battle mask and pulled out his own blaster, aiming his weapon at the center of the creature’s chest. Before Optimus could fire, he caught a blur of green followed by a trail of smoke. The next thing he knew, the nape of the neck was sliced open and blood spewed out everywhere. Optimus followed the direction of the blood splatters and the trail of smoke as the creature fell to the ground, and his optics fell onto a human. The human was covered in a green cloak with an emblem of wings in the center of it, holding swords in both hands. He wore gray pants with brown straps and boots, and around his waist was a strange contraption that was allowing him to fly. The human turned in the air and stared back at Optimus, and Optimus saw that he had black hair trimmed to an undercut. His gray eyes stared back at his blue ones with a mix of fear and surprise. That expression faded as the human grit his teeth before shouting.

“Enemy forces! Don’t break the formation!” he commanded.

The Autobots heard the sounds of clopping hooves and high pitched whirs and saw an army mirroring what the human was wearing emerging from the forest. Some rode on horses and surrounded them on the ground, while others were flying in the treetops and above them. The three humans yelped when the Autobots formed a circle around them, their backs towards each other to cover their blind spots. Ratchet quickly pulled out his surgical blades while Bumblebee pulled out his other blaster. Arcee pulled out her blasters while Bulkhead pulled out one blaster and one wrecking ball.

The Autobots found that they were completely blocked off from any clear exits, and the humans on the ground stared at them in absolute fear and anticipation. It was a tense standoff, with the Autobots not sure on how to confront this. But the humans looked ready to attack them at any moment. They were just waiting for someone to give the order. Optimus knew it would be a losing battle for those humans, but they had humans that they needed to protect. They were clearly not on Earth anymore. Those creatures tried to kill the humans, and humans that surrounded them now had the technology and knowledge that the Autobots clearly lacked. Optimus made a choice, one that would hopefully get them answers and get the humans to safety.

Optimus stood up straight before transforming his blaster into his servo and raising both of them in surrender. “My name is Optimus Prime, and I do not wish to cause conflict. I only ask for assistance and guidance.”

==

Erwin’s day went from normal to absolute insanity in a matter of minutes.

It had been five years since the fall of Shinganshina and the loss of Wall Maria. Much had changed since that fateful day. The Survey Corps had been granted more funding and resources, although not that much. Weaponry had finally been cleared to be attached to the top of the wall, much to the Wallists’ protests, and the discovery of Ilse’s notebook had spearheaded titan capture and experimentation.

The Survey Corps had left Wall Rose and started their expedition to try and reclaim the land lost in Wall Maria. They had managed to find an abandoned town with no titans near the area and decided to set up camp there. Erwin noticed the way that Hanji was giddy with excitement, proclaiming that it was going to be a big day. However, the Survey Corps had already suffered the loss of five lives before finding this place. How many would they lose on the way back to Wall Rose?

However, Mike was acting…off. His best friend and humanity’s second strongest always had a knack for sensing titans. A blessing to have in the Survey Corps. But the man had proclaimed that the air was off, that there was a smell of metal and gunpowder, and that something was coming. Erwin didn’t understand the cryptic warnings. Mike wasn’t even too sure what he was sensing, but he told everyone to be on high alert.

Mike’s prediction turned out to be true when they spotted a blinding blue light off in the distance, sending a shockwave that blew their tents out of the ground. Erwin immediately ordered everyone to get on their horses and investigate the source. As they rode towards the source, going through the trees, Erwin could’ve sworn he heard someone speaking. He was hearing a conversation. Erwin then heard someone screaming before a blue light suddenly illuminated the forest and disappeared. Erwin ordered Levi to go ahead, and the captain quickly through the trees, headed towards the titan that was running towards the source of the blue light. As the edge of the forest came into view, Erwin thought his eyes were deceiving him when he saw something so bright and colorful, like it didn’t match the colors of their world.

“Enemy forces! Don’t break the formation!” Erwin heard Levi shout. When the Commander’s vision cleared, he gasped in shock at the sight of five metal titans standing together in a clearing.

“Surround the titans on the ground and in the treetops!” Erwin ordered. Erwin remained on his horse as they emerged from the forest. He quickly directed Mike to guide the others to the right while he surrounded the titans from the left, being sure to avoid the titan Levi had just killed. Levi’s squad and a few others had quickly taken to the trees as these titans stood back-to-back in a circle. Erwin could feel his hands trembling as these titans pulled out glowing weapons before getting into fighting stances. Erwin had pulled the reins on his horse to a stop and found himself in front of the tallest of the five titans, and this titan had a giant gun for a hand that looked ready to fire.

Erwin didn’t know what to do. For the first time in a long time, he was actually visibly terrified at the sight before him. Never in the history of human kind did any of them expect to see five metal titans! What happened?! Did the titans evolve?! Why the hell did they look so different?! Erwin narrowed his eyes at each of the titans before him.

The one he was in front of was massive compared to the others. Its head and legs were painted blue, while its torso and arms were colored red. Its right hand was that of an advanced rifle, but the left hand looked normal, save for it being the color black. It had no mouth to speak of, as it was clearly covered by some kind of mask, and its eyes were such a bright blue. Erwin’s gaze fell to the titan on the first one’s right. Its appearance was starkly different from the other. It was shorter, with broader shoulders and a larger waist. Its skin was a mix of white and orange, and it had a mouth which was a cause for concern. It appeared to have some sort of orange backpack, and both hands were replaced with blades. Erwin turned his attention to the titan on the left, and his worry grew exponentially. This one was the same height as the second one, but it was big. The titan had a round body, with large arms and legs. It had a gun for one hand and a boulder in the other. It looked like a heavy hitter and it unnerved him.

The other two, he could only peer through the gaps of the first three in order to get a decent look at them. The shortest one was adorned in blue with accentuated pink markings. Erwin was confused at the sight of…wings? But he elected to ignore them for now. It looked like both arms were guns as well, and it looked…female?! Was that titan a female?! Titans were known to lack reproductive organs! They had no idea how they were able to reproduce, but this one clearly had the features of a human female! How was that possible?! Erwin’s eyes darted towards the last one. It was yellow with accentuated black markings. It had wings similar to the female titan, and even though it had guns out, its hands didn’t disappear. They were still visible. Erwin saw the titan turn it head, and he couldn’t help but think how comically large its blue eyes were. But this titan had no mouth? Was it a type of mouth guard? It was vastly different from the first titan.

But this…this was surreal. How did they get here? Why were the titans like this? What did that mean for humanity? He could tell everyone wanted to attack these things. He managed to catch Levi perched on a tree with his blades in hand, ready to strike if need be. He could feel Hanji gasping with excitement, and glanced behind to see the section commander with the widest, gapping, smile. He turned his attention to Mike, and his friend nodded his head to him, ready to follow his command whenever he gave it. Erwin was ready to give it. He didn’t know if they were going to live or die, but as members of the Survey Corps, they had to dedicate their heart and soul to the cause.

He opened his mouth, ready to speak, but paused when the red and blue titan slowly stood upright. Its gun transformed and changed right back into a hand. It raised both hands in surrender, stunning Erwin. It knew what surrender was? But the biggest revelation came when the titan spoke.

“My name is Optimus Prime, and I do not wish to cause conflict. I only ask for assistance and guidance.”

Erwin couldn’t help it. His mouth hung agape while sounds of worry and bafflement echoed throughout the Survey Corps. The only exception was Hanji who merely squealed with delight. But how could the rest of them not break face? Five metal titans had just shown up, and now one of them just spoke! Could all of them speak?! How was this even a possibility?! The only recorded evidence of a titan speaking was from Ilse’s notebook! And now…!

“Boss, I think that was a bad idea.” Erwin heard the green one whisper to the being, Optimus.

“Definitely was a bad idea considering what we just saw,” the female titan had hissed.

“They’re all talking,” Mike mumbled.

Erwin didn’t know how to respond. This was madness! However, the yellow one began to speak in a slew of strange noises that scared the soldiers near it, demanding what it even said.

“A new language!” Hanji squealed with delight.

“Oi, calm the hell down!” Levi shouted at them, but Erwin could tell even Levi was shaken by the yellow one speaking. However, while the soldiers looked afraid, Levi was…bewildered. Levi had managed to spot Erwin through the titans and mouthed something to him.

‘Fight or run.’

Fight or run? Erwin’s words almost got caught in his throat. Did Levi…was Levi able to understand the yellow titan?!

“Optimus, I would strongly advise getting the humans out of here before engaging in anything drastic,” the orange titan warned.

If Erwin’s mind didn’t break, it definitely shattered in that moment. Humans? What humans? What the hell was that titan talking about? Erwin’s gaze darted around, trying to see any humans. There’s no way that there could be-!

Erwin’s train of thought screeched to a halt when he spotted them. He spotted humans. Three humans. Three human children. There were humans with the titans, hiding behind the yellow titan’s foot for protection. There was a tall male with black hair and a long face. He wore a long sleeved gray shirt and blue pants, but the material was clearly not native to the wall. He could tell that much. His gray eyes stared on in concern at the sight of his men, as he gestured for the youngest of the three to remain behind him. The youngest looked afraid as he put his black backpack on. He wore an orange vest and white undershirt with blue pants as well. His brown eyes were less noticeable compared to his red glasses, and his orange hair was standing upright, practically defying gravity. The sight of that child paled in comparison to the girl, who was clearly not native to the walls. Her clothes were an eyesore. A clash of green, pink, purple, and blue. Her hair was…pink! How was her hair pink?! Erwin noticed how excited the girl looked as she peered over the titan, making some sort of comment, but the oldest of the trio quickly grabbed her by her collar and yanked her behind the yellow titan’s foot.

“…holy shit,” Mike swore as he finally noticed the children. And Erwin couldn’t help but agree with his friend’s sentiments. How could he not? There were three humans hiding behind titans for protection. They didn’t run or cower in fear at the sight of them. They trusted them. Erwin’s gaze shifted upwards, and he froze when he noticed the titan, Optimus Prime, staring directly at him. The titan’s eyes then darted towards the children in their circle before landing back to him. Did…did the titan know if he was the Commander? How was he able to target the chain of command so easily? But Erwin could tell, the titan was silently pleading with him. Begging him to call off his men so that they could get the children to safety.  A million thoughts swirled through Erwin’s mind. He was trying to determine the risk and the reward with the decision he was about to make, but…his gaze fell to the children. The reward was higher than the risk.

“STAND DOWN!” Erwin commanded, causing everyone, both titans and humans, to snap their heads at him.

“Commander, what the hell?!” someone screamed at him while Mike stared in shock.

“STAND DOWN! THAT’S AN ORDER!” Erwin repeated. Erwin’s gaze fell to Levi, and the Captain was clearly questioning his decision like the rest of them. But Erwin gave one simple nod to Levi, and the Captain relented. He lowered his hands before placing his swords back into his holsters. One by one, the rest of the Survey Corps followed suit.

“Autobots, stand down!” Optimus immediately ordered. The titans glanced at each other before standing upright and raising their arms upwards. They showed to them their weapons transforming back into hands.

“Mine-!” Hanji squawked when Mike quickly grabbed the squad leader by wrapping his arms around Hanji’s arms and abdomen. “Mike! Let go! You asshole!”

Erwin climbed down his horse, and Optimus Prime had lowered his hands to his side. “You lead these men.”

It wasn’t a question. “Yes. My name is Erwin Smith. I am the 13th Commander of the Survey Corps.”

“Not U.S. military,” the green one had commented, “We’re not on Earth.”

“And where exactly are we?” The orange one had demanded, clearly annoyed by what has been happening.

“Wall Maria, which had fallen five years ago due to the powers of Titans,” Erwin explained, “We have been findings ways to reclaim what humanity had lost. We are humanity’s last line of defense against the titans, and we are doing what we can to prevent our species from becoming extinct.”

Erwin heard a gasp from the circle and saw the girl grinning with excitement. “We’ve been isekai’d!”

“Miko, shut up!” the eldest quickly covered the girl’s mouth, but the damage was done.

“Are those kids?!” Oluo exclaimed, causing the female titan to slap a hand over her eyes.

“Scrap, Miko,” she had groaned in irritation.

Erwin turned his gaze to Optimus. “You must be…confused at what is happening, and we have questions of our own. If you would be willing to come with us-!”

“Yeah, absolutely not,” the female titan cut him off, earning protests from the yellow titan. Erwin’s eyes darted to Levi, and the Captain gestured his head towards the kids. The yellow titan was talking about the kids. It had to be about their safety. He could use that.

“You are all unfamiliar with our terrain,” Erwin calmly reasoned, “But we know this place, and we know that titans are roaming the area as we speak. You all might be fine in defending yourselves, but how long will your human companions last before a titan sneaks up on you and tries to eat them.”

The titans grew tense at Erwin’s words while Miko removed the eldest’s hand from her mouth. Erwin then gestured to the titan that was still slowly turning into steam.

“The titans do not eat for survival,” Erwin continued, “They only do it for the thrill of it. And there are a multitude of titans that are unpredictable with their behavior. Those three are not going to last out here very long.”

Erwin gestured to the direction they came from. “If you come with us, we can guarantee their safety behind the territory that we still have left.”

The orange titan glanced over at Optimus, waiting for the Prime to make the call. Optimus seemed to come to a decision before turning to the others. “We will follow the humans to their territory.”

“You sure about that?” the green one asked.

“We cannot risk the humans getting hurt,” Optimus reasoned, “And if we want to return to Earth, then we need to forge alliances.”

Erwin raised an eyebrow at that as Optimus turned to him. “If you would be will to guide us, then we will follow.”

Erwin nodded his head before mounting his horse once more. “We’re returning to Wall Rose!”

“With five giant titans?!” Someone shouted, “The canons will fire before we even reach the gate! How the hell are we supposed to-!”

Everyone took steps back when the five titans’ bodies practically fell apart before reshaping and putting itself back together. They had all transformed into…strange carriages, each of their own texture, design, and size. Erwin didn’t know how else to describe it. The colors still matched the titans he had just seen but when the hell could titans do this?!

The yellow one had open the side door, and Miko and the youngest of the children quickly climbed inside. The eldest was about to climb in, but noticed the stares directed towards them all.

“Um…robots in disguise,” he had shrugged before sitting in the front and shutting the door himself.

“Not a very good disguise,” Levi commented as he and the others hand lowered themselves from the trees and mounted their horses.

“I want to touch it.” Hanji vibrated with giddy, but Mike grabbed the reins of the horse Hanji was sitting on before pulling it along.

It was a tense ride back to Wall Rose, with the Survey Corps surrounding the titans with a simple circle formation. The horses were running at full speed towards the massive structure, but the Survey Corps were stunned to find that the titans were keeping up with them in these strange forms. Hell, some of them were even driving past the horses, specifically the female titan. She was riding on two wheels instead of four. It looked like there was supposed to be someone on top of her form, and it looked odd without it.

“Erwin, what the hell are you thinking right now?” Levi demanded as he pulled up next to him at the front of the formation.

“I’m thinking about how we can keep these titans here to help us,” Erwin answered truthfully.

“They might not appear to eat humans, but it looks like they know how to kill,” Levi retorted, “We bring them in the Walls. Then what? There’s going to be chaos and questions. Some could be asking for them to be destroyed. How the hell do we spin this to have it benefit us, even if they aren’t dangerous?”

“…I don’t know,” Erwin confessed, “But there must be something that they can do.”

“…I saw the yellow one kill a titan without hitting the nape,” Levi informed him, “It killed them with those guns on its arms.”

‘The blinding light,’ Erwin realized.

“Prime guy was ready to blast a hole in the chest of the other one before I killed it,” Levi explained, “They’re trained soldiers, Erwin. With the power to kill titans without cutting the nape.”

“All the more reason to try and get them to stay here with us,” Erwin declared, “We’ll finally be able to turn the tide in this war against the titans.”

Levi grimaced in response.

“Also, have you been able to understand the yellow titan?” Erwin asked, baffled.

“Every third word, it’s been creeping me out,” Levi explained.

“No, that’s good,” Erwin proclaimed, “If they’re planning something else and are trying to hide it, then you’ll be able to figure it out sooner.”

“Optimus, are you certain that this is the right decision?” Ratchet asked him as they drove side by side.

“It is one of the few options that we do have,” Optimus answered, “We do not know our surroundings very well and we cannot risk the humans getting hurt. There is also the matter of the Decepticons.”

“Right, they could still be on Earth,” Ratchet recalled, “Or they could have very well come to this strange place with us. We have no idea.”

“All the more reason to gain knowledge from the natives in order to determine our next steps,” Optimus declared, “We need to return back to Earth as soon as possible if the Decepticons are still there. I don’t know how long Agent Fowler and the military will be able to last without us.”

“So…we’ve been isekai’d to a morbid place,” Miko began as she continued watching the soldiers ride through titan territory.

“Yeah, this wouldn’t have happened if you had just stayed at base,” Jack scolded Miko.

“Look, we’ll find a way out of this!” Miko reasoned, “Besides, it can’t be all bad! They have medieval spidermen!”

“Miko-!”

“Medieval Spidermen, Jack!” Miko shook his shoulders, “That’s literally the best thing ever! It can’t get better than this!”

“How long are we going to be stuck here for?” Rafael finally asked, “What about our parents?”

“Raf, don’t worry, we’ll figure something out,” Jack reassured, “Right ‘Bee?”

Bumblebee chirped and beeped in response, causing Rafael to smile. “Yeah, I guess we’ve been in worse situations and still got out of it.”

The three humans blinked when they suddenly heard a knock on the window. They turned to see someone waving at them with delight.

“’Bee, lower the window,” Jack ordered as he approached the window the person was waving at. Bumblebee lowered the window a little bit, and Jack was met with the grinning face of...a woman, maybe? They didn’t look too much like a woman.

“You can lower it a little bit more,” Jack said to Bumblebee, and the scout reluctantly complied until Jack’s face was completely in view, “Can I help you?”

“Yes! My name is Hanji, and I have a multitude of questions I need you to answer before my friend, Mike, comes back to grab me!” The statement came out in rapid succession.

Bumblebee immediately spoke up, causing Hanji to stare in confusion.

“Bumblebee says that we can’t give away too much information,” Rafael explained as he peered over the open window.

“You can understand him?!” Hanji asked with excitement.

“Yeah,” Rafael answered.

“And you have a name!” Hanji cooed with joy, “Bumblebee’s a cute name too!”

Bumblebee started beeping again, and Rafael translated. “He says thanks.”

“So you’re Bumblebee, and the big, tall, one is Optimus Prime.” Hanji pointed to the truck, “What about the other three?”

“The one driving next to Optimus is Ratchet,” Rafael began, “The blue motorcycle looping around us is Arcee and the green hummer is Bulkhead.”

“And he’s my partner.” Miko pointed to herself, “So watch it, or he’s gonna wreck you!”

“Oh this is so exciting!” Hanji clapped. The squad leader grunted as Mike grabbed the reins of the horse and pulled them aside, “Thank you!”

“Bye!” Rafael waved ‘goodbye’ before turning to the others. “They seem nice.”

“A little bit energetic for my tastes,” Jack asked, “Kinda like you, Miko.”

“Ha,” Miko drawled out.

“What the hell are you doing?” Mike hissed at Hanji.

“Gathering Intel.” Hanji yanked the reins back from Mike in annoyance. The squad leader let out a big grin, riding over to Erwin and waving to Mike, “I have names~.”

Erwin deadpanned as he heard Hanji creep up behind him on horseback. He could feel the grin radiating from her skin. “This better be important.”

“Optimus, Ratchet, Bulkhead, Arcee, and Bumblebee.” Hanji pointed to each vehicle with their respective name.

Erwin and Levi glanced back before turning back to Hanji.

“They all have names?” Erwin asked in surprise.

“Yes, those children were very nice in giving me that information,” Hanji explained before sighing in defeat, “I would have asked for more information, like the names of those kids, but Mike pulled me away before I could ask.”

“Anything else you might have gotten from them?” Erwin asked.

“The youngest can understand Bumblebee’s language,” Hanji listed, “And the girl referred to Bulkhead as her partner. I think those children might be assigned to individual titans as protection. The girl to Bulkhead. I assume the youngest to Bumblebee since he can understand him. I don’t know about the eldest.”

Hanji noticed the way Levi’s face turned sour. “What happened to you? Looks like you’re about to take a shit.”

“He can understand every third word of…Bumblebee.” Erwin felt weird addressing a titan by name.

Hanji gasped with joy as her smile grew wider to the point where it would break her face.

“If you fucking touch me, I will-!” Levi froze as everyone was alerted to the sounds of screams and destruction. The Survey Corps looked ahead and stared in horror at the sight of the southern gate to Trost being destroyed and two titans slowly making its way inside.

“Shit!” Levi swore.

“Everyone, scale the wall!” Erwin ordered.

The Autobots were stunned to see everyone jumping off of their horses and hooking onto the side of the massive wall before scaling it with relative ease. Miko had opened the window and peered her whole body out to see the amazing display.

“Wow.” Miko pulled out her phone and started recording the Survey Corps. She yelped when Jack immediately grabbed her belt and pulled her inside Bumblebee’s alt mode.

“Autobots, head towards the breach!” Optimus commanded as he revved his engines. When they had reached the breached and transformed into their bipedal modes, excluding Bumblebee, they were horrified at the titans running rampant in the city. They destroyed and toppled buildings. They grabbed human soldiers without a care in the world, and they started to eat them. It didn’t even matter what age they were. Some looked like teenagers, like Jack, Miko, and Rafael, but they were still being devoured. They let out horrified screams of terror as they were either devoured in one gulped or chewed to pieces.

“What the frag did we just get ourselves into?” Arcee swore.

The Survey Corps landed atop the walls and examined the chaos below.

“It’s only been a few hours and shit’s already going to hell,” Levi remarked.

“It feels like it was almost premeditated, considering there was a titan invasion right after we left,” Mike proclaimed before turning to Erwin, “Orders!”

Erwin was about to give the command, but-!

“Bumblebee, keep the humans safe from the threat!” Optimus ordered the yellow titan.

“Wait, hold on!” the girl cried out, but Bumblebee had quickly driven deeper into Trost before he could continue.

“Autobots, focus all efforts on eliminate the threat and protecting the humans!” Optimus ordered as he pulled out his guns.

“Got it!” Bulkhead said as he pulled out his blasters.

“With pleasure!” Arcee snarled as she pulled out her own blasters.

“Roll out!” All three Cybertronians fired in rapid succession at the titans closest to them, scaring some of the other soldiers. Erwin managed to count twenty titan deaths from that volley of attacks, and none of the titans that were killed were struck in the nape. The remaining for titans split up to cover more ground, with the orange titan, Ratchet, running by Optimus’ side.

Ratchet noticed a titan coming up on his right and quickly pulled out his medical blades before slicing it’s leg off. As the titan lost its balance, Optimus shot it in the chest, causing it to disintegrate. Meanwhile, Arcee had jumped onto one of the buildings and ran along the rooftops, firing headshots at each of the titans that she spotted. Bulkhead, despite being the slowest runner, had tackled a titan much larger than him into the ground before shooting it in the face.

“…I think we just became useless,” Mobilt commented, baffled at the sight before him. However, every one of them heard sadistic giggles before it evolved into unhinged laughter.

“IT’S FINALLY HAPPENED!” Hanji shouted, cackling to the sky, “The pinnacle of titan evolution has been reached! We have witnessed the sheer might and battle power of what titans can do, and I have finally been blessed to see this day! IF THERE IS A GOD, THANK YOU FOR KEEPING ME ALIVE THIS LONG TO SEE THIS GLORIOUS DISPLAY!”

Hanji continued cackling like a madman while Levi turned to Erwin. “Hanji’s broken.”

“Everyone, assist the titans in eliminating the threat and help out any wounded or injured soldiers!” Erwin ordered.

“Yes, sir!” they all shouted.

“Dedicate your hearts!” Erwin recited their mantra as they all jumped down from the top of the Walls to attack the titans.

==

Marco continued flying around the city, trying to lure titans to the other side of the town so that Eren could plug the hole in the wall, but he spotted no titans in his line of sight. Maybe he should regroup with a few others and come up with a strategy then. That seemed like a good idea. Marco’s gaze fell towards a rooftop with two other soldiers on it. He sighed a little with relief. Reiner and Bertholdt. They were still alive. Marco landed on the rooftop, ready to call for them, but-!

“There’s no way that they can plug that hole in the wall,” Bertholdt proclaimed, “They don’t have the resources, and Eren might get eaten in the process. We won’t be able to find out anything else if that happens.”

“I might have to figure out a plan with my Titan somehow.” Marco paused in his step at Reiner’s words. Titan? What did Reiner mean by that? What did he mean by ‘my Titan’?

“But if they find a way to plug it, then it’ll undo the work we’ve done to open it!” Bertholdt retorted. Marco was baffled at Bertholdt’s words. Open it?! What are they talking about?! Marco was about to speak up to ask what they meant, but stopped when he saw a blue light coming their way. All three yelled in surprise when the light flew directly above them, almost hitting them. Reiner and Bertholdt ducked in opposite directions while Marco ended up falling off the roof. Marco yelled in pain when his back hit the ground fairly hard, but when he sat up, he didn’t feel that anything was broken. Just bruised. What was that? What the hell was that?!

Marco’s gaze went up to the sky and he saw a few more blue lights shoot across the area. Marco was about to call for Reiner and Bertholdt, but immediately stopped himself. Those words the two uttered, the fact that Eren could transform into a titan at will. That meant…

Marco quickly scrambled to his feet, grabbed his blades and latched onto the buildings with his grappling hooks to get as far away from the two as possible. Reiner and Bertholdt…they were hiding something. They couldn’t be trusted, and Marco needed to get as far away from the both of them as possible! But what the hell was that blue light!-any…way.

Marco could see from afar the sight of metal titans running throughout the city, killing other titans left and right. What the hell was going on?!

==

“Armin!” Mikasa called out for her friend just as Armin was ready to stab his blade into the nape of Eren’s titan form. Armin noticed that Mikasa was staring on in horror, forcing him to abandon Eren and fly up next to her. The cadet gawked at the sight of four metal titans within Trost, shooting and killing titans with ease, without even touching the nape of the neck!

“What the hell is happening?” Mikasa found herself trembling. Armin couldn’t help but be terrified as well. Eren had been eaten right before him, but came back to life with the ability to turn into a titan. He was supposed to lift the boulder in order to plug the hole in the wall, and now, metal titans were roaming around the city killing titans left and right! It was madness! It was insanity! It was…Armin’s attention turned to the unconscious titan that was Eren, his face still regenerating. If Eren couldn’t lift the boulder, then…

“Armin!” Mikasa tried to grab Armin, but he had already flown off to a pair of those titans nearby, forcing Mikasa to quickly follow after him.

“Optimus, how else can we kill these creatures?!” Ratchet demanded, “Energon is effective, but is possessive regenerative abilities!”

Ratchet sliced open the stomach of a titan about to eat a human, but the wound was already regenerating, even after the titan dropped the human. “My blades are useless.”

Optimus recalled the titan he was just about to kill earlier before one of the humans intervened. He had cut in a particular spot: behind the nape of the neck. Optimus replaced one of his blasters with his blades and quickly stabbed a titan that was his height in the nape of the neck. When Optimus released it, the titan fell to the ground and its body began to decay.

“Autobots!” Optimus activated his comm. link to speak to the others, “Destroy the nape of the neck! That is another way that we can kill these creatures!”

“Got it!” Bulkhead said as he took out his wrecking ball before crushing the nape of the neck of the titan with it. Arcee replaced her blasters with her arm blades before jumping and carving her blades into the nape of another titan.

“They figured out the titan’s weak point,” Mike commented as he flew with Erwin.

“They’re hyper-intelligent,” Erwin declared.

“Do you think that we can still convince them to still be on our side?” Mike asked, “And can we convince the public that they’re not dangerous?”

“I don’t think we need to do much in either of those categories,” Erwin proclaimed as he noticed the green titan holding back an abnormal titan, allowing a few cadets to flee on foot. Erwin couldn’t help but admire the strength and power of all the titans. He couldn’t help but admire the way that Optimus commanded his soldiers with such ease. It was a marvel to watch.

“HEY!” Optimus froze when he heard someone calling out…calling out to him. Optimus turned his helm to the source of the noise and saw…a boy waving to him. A soldier. He waved both arms high in the air to gesture for both titans to come to his location. A female soldier came up behind him to try and deter him and get him to run, but the boy merely pointed to a boulder a little ways off from their location.

“THIS WAY!” the boy beckoned before flying towards the boulder. The other soldier quickly went after him, and Optimus went after the two of them.

“Optimus, we have to focus on the task at hand!” Ratchet reasoned as he ran after his leader and friend.

“Those two need help!” Optimus explained, “I believe they have a solution to stop this carnage!”

==

“Wait, Bee, we need to go back!” Miko exclaimed as they continued driving down the war torn street, causing Bumblebee to speak a retort.

“We don’t have any way to defend ourselves! We’ll be killed and eaten alive if we don’t run!” Jack retorted.

“But can we even hide in here?!” Rafael asked, “Where are we even supposed to go?”

“I don’t know, but-!” Jack stopped when he noticed someone on the ground, pulling the strange equipment off of the corpse of their comrade before throwing his own off. He quickly strapped the new one on before looking behind him in horror. Jack noticed a titan coming up towards him, and the soldier trying to get away, but the equipment still wasn’t working.

“Bee! Open your door!” Jack slammed his hand on the passenger door, “Miko, help me grab him!”

Jean tried hard to pull the handles of the 3D gear that he had gotten from his fallen comrade, but it still wasn’t working! Why the hell wasn’t it working?! Did this guy’s 3D gear get destroyed too?! Shit! Shit he was going to die! Why did a titan attack have to happen before he went to the inner Walls?! As the titan reached out for him, he yelled in surprise when something yellow rode past in between him and the titan. Two pairs of hands grabbed him and yanked him inside the vehicle before the titan’s hand slammed into the ground.

“Hey, hey are you okay?!” someone shouted at him. Jean screamed in fear at his current location. What the hell was this thing?! Who were these people?! Were they civilians?! Did the carriage just beep at him?! What the hell was-?!

Jean grunted when the oddly dressed girl suddenly slapped him across the face before grabbing his collar.

“Get a hold of yourself man!” she screeched at him, “You’re an awesome medieval spiderman and people need you right now!”

“What the hell’s a spiderman?!” Jean shouted at her before a young boy took a look at the 3D gear around his waist, “And why the hell is your hair pink?!”

“Whoa, this is wild,” he remarked in awe, “Is it damaged?”

“I don’t know! I tried pulling the trigger!” Jean answered as he tried to examine the handle.

“Let me see,” the youngest said as he looked at the handle and pressed the trigger, “I think this handle needs a lot more pressure to activate.”

“What?” Jean stared in bafflement before pressing the trigger as hard as he could. The grappling hook shot out of the open carriage door and hooked itself onto a building.

“Deuces, spiderman!” Jean yelped as his grappling hook yanked him out of the moving carriage. Jean held onto the building he latched onto for dear life before looking back at the strange carriage. He had the perfect opportunity to flee. Why the hell didn’t he?

==

“This way!” Armin beckoned the two titans as they got closer to the boulder and Eren’s titan.

“Armin, whatever those things are could hurt Eren!” Mikasa retorted as they ran side by side.

“But they could also help him, or help us!” Armin retorted, “The bigger one could help move the boulder if Eren can’t! Eren is also vulnerable! Titans could come and devour him!”

Mikasa still stared at Armin with concern, but…decided to trust Armin’s decision.

“Optimus, we have to return to help the others!” Ratchet exclaimed, “We-!”

Optimus skidded to a stop when they arrived at the boulder, and Optimus’ optics widened when he saw a massive titan slumped against the boulder. The side of its face slowly releasing steam, but not healing fast enough.

“What in the Allspark is this?!” Ratchet demanded as he stood next to Optimus.

“This is Eren!” Armin explained as he and Mikasa landed on the roof, “He’s a human that can turn into a titan!”

“How?” Optimus demanded as Ratchet began to scan the massive titan for vitals.

“We don’t know how, but we need him to carry out our plan!” Armin declared, “Most of the titans have been lured to the other side of Trost so Eren can carry the boulder to plug the hole in the Wall! But Eren’s just learned about his powers and he doesn’t know how to control it!”

“They’re actually telling the truth!” Ratchet exclaimed as his sensors picked up a life signal in the nape of the neck.

“Please, we need your help to get him to move the boulder!” Armin begged, “Or have one of you do it! We don’t have much time!”

Optimus thought it over. He could probably lift the boulder, but there were other factors he needed to consider. Based on the information he observed, the titan was human, and he was probably around the same age as those two humans on the rooftop. The boy was trying to plead his case, but he could see the terror in his eyes. The girl looked ready to attack and defend the titan, but her face displayed moments of concern and worry.

This was a power no one knew about. No one knew how it could be controlled. But one thing was certain: if the titan couldn’t find a way to prove that it was useful, then the human inside may very well be executed out of fear. Optimus glanced back at the humans on the rooftop. They had to try and rouse the titan for their sake.

“Ratchet, can you resuscitate the titan?” Optimus turned to the medic.

“Resuscitate the titan?! Are you mad?!” Ratchet shouted, “I am barely just starting to understand human anatomy to avoid the situation that happened with Rafael! This is entirely different from any organic that I have seen! It’s healing itself, there is a lack of organs compared to humans, and a human is controlling the body?! It’s like one of Miko’s monster movies!”

“Ratchet, if there are more allies that can help against the titan threat, then it would be beneficial to acquire them,” Optimus retorted before whispering, “And those humans are concerned for their comrade.”

Ratchet glanced back at the two soldiers on the roof.

“They need your help,” Optimus declared.

Ratchet’s face contorted into a grimace before groaning in frustration. “Slag everything!”

Armin and Mikasa saw Ratchet open the medical kit on his back before he pulled out a set of defibrillators. Ratchet adjusted the knob to the highest setting and rubbed the items together to create friction and electricity.

“If this doesn’t work, then you can carry the fragging boulder by yourself!” Ratchet shouted before placing the medical devices against the titan’s pectorals. “Clear!”

Armin and Mikasa yelled when a shock of electricity ran through Eren’s body. His body jolted to life and his good eye snapped open before he roared in pain. Eren’s eye fell to Ratchet and he immediately swung his arm to smack Ratchet to the ground. Optimus quickly grabbed him before the strike could hit and pulled the medic back. Before Eren could strike again, Armin and Mikasa quickly flew forward and latched onto his hair to look him in the eye.

“Eren, it’s okay! They’re here to help!” Armin reassured; however, Eren still looked uncertain, remembering the pain he just felt in his chest. He looked behind the two of them to see Ratchet scrambling to get one of the defibrillators and put the device in his medical kit. The other side of his face completely healed, and he was stunned to see two metal titans staring back at him.

“We mean you no harm,” Optimus reassured as he raised his servos in surrender, “My name is Optimus Prime, and my comrades and I are here to help you deal with the titan threat.”

Eren blinked in disbelief as Armin and Mikasa sat on Eren’s shoulders.

“Do you remember your mission?” Optimus asked him.

Eren stood up before looking back at the boulder he was just sitting against. Eren clenched his fists before kneeling down and grabbing the boulder from the bottom. He sunk his fingers into the massive rock while Armin and Mikasa flew off of Eren to gain some distance. Eren grunted in pain as he heaved the boulder onto his shoulder and back before standing upright. Steam radiated off of him, but Eren ignored it as he began to walk.

“He’s doing it,” Mikasa sighed with relief.

“Arcee! Bulkhead!” Optimus activated his comm. link to contact the others, “Protect the titan carrying the boulder!”

Arcee jumped and spun in the air before slicing through the nape of the neck. She grunted as she jumped off of that titan before taking out her blaster and shooting another titan in the head.

“I thought the whole point was to kill these things!” Arcee shouted.

“Well one of them is apparently a human that can turn into a titan!” Ratchet explained.

“Oh, no way! A Kaiju?!” Miko screeched through Bumblebee’s comm. link.

“His name is Eren and he needs protection so he can seal the hole in the wall!” Optimus explained before shooting a titan that almost got too close to the titan shifter. “Do not let any of the other titans get near him!”

“On it!” Bulkhead shouted as he grabbed the legs of a titan and spun in around before throwing it at another titan blocking Eren’s path.

Optimus went to follow Eren to provide him some cover, and Ratchet quickly stood up to follow.

“Wait!” Ratchet looked back to the two humans that called him there in the first place.

“Thank you!” the girl told him before the both of them flew off to protect Eren.

“Sir!” Petra called out to Levi as he sliced the nape of two titans with ease. She pointed to the sight, and Levi witnessed a massive titan carrying a boulder just as big as it towards the hole in the wall. Levi then turned his attention to Optimus protecting the titan from behind, shooting any titans that got too close to it. Meanwhile, the blue and green titan converged onto the scene and killed any titans that got in the way of the one carrying the boulder.

“They’re going to seal the hole in the wall,” Levi muttered before calling out to his comrades that were near him, “Everyone! Kill any titans that might get too close to it!”

“Yes, Captain!” they followed his command.

“THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!” Hanji cheered, flying through the air with reckless abandon.

“Launch!” Arcee ordered Bulkhead as she bolted towards him. Bulkhead quickly lowered his servos for Arcee to stand on before throwing her into the air. From her aerial view, she aimed and fired at five titans that were too close for comfort. She then managed to jump on the back of a titan much larger than her before shooting it repeatedly in the nape of the neck.

“Holy shit! Is that a female titan?!” Connie pointed to the sight of Arcee jumping off the corpse before hitting the ground. Annie couldn’t help, but gulp at the sight of her.

“There’s more of them?!” Jean demanded as he landed right next to Connie and Annie.

“Get your asses up and kill the titans getting to close to the one holding the boulder!” a Survey Corps member shouted as a squad flew directly above them.

Marco continued to fly around the area, unable to stop his admiration at the sight before him. He watched as the metal titans killed the regular ones with ease. He saw how well they worked together. He saw how they were going out of their way to protect other humans. It was…incredible. He’s never seen such comradely and bravery. Not like this.

Even so, Titans were defying their innate nature to protect a species significantly weaker than them. But there were also humans that could become titans at will. Everything that he had ever known was a lie, but he wanted to do good works. He wanted to do good services. He wanted to serve the king, but many go to the interior in order to run from the titans. That’s exactly what Jean wants to do. And even if he explained this information to the government, would they listen? Would it fall on deaf ears and mean nothing? He wanted to be devoted and do what was right, but he also couldn’t run away when people were in danger.

Maybe…maybe the Military Police wasn’t where he belonged.

Eren couldn’t help but be overwhelmed at what was going on. He was met with the sight of metal titans helping humanity. He saw a flurry of soldiers swinging around on their 3D gear to eliminate titans. He could feel the pain from holding the boulder above his head, but he still pressed onward. His legs burned, the ground shook under his every step, but he still kept going. Fight. Fight!

Eren stumbled a little as he reached the hole, but it didn’t stop him. Titans stood in his way, but they were quickly shot down. Eren could hear Armin shouting his name, cheering him on, and he roared in determination as he slammed the boulder against the hole, sealing the entrance into Wall Rose. He could feel that there was a moment of quiet, of shock and disbelief at what humanity was able to accomplish, but he wasn’t able to relish in the victory as his body collapsed against the massive rock.

“Eren!” Armin and Mikasa called out for him, racing to the nape of his neck together to cut him out.

“The hole’s been sealed,” Connie muttered, “Holy shit. We actually stopped the titans!”

Reiner and Bertholdt landed closer to the now sealed gate and did their best to conceal their terror. There was so much to process. The gate had been sealed, and there were metal titans clearly never been seen before helping out the walls. They had no idea what they were supposed to do now!

“Autobots, continue assisting humanity in eliminating the titans!” Optimus ordered before they all continued eliminating the titans.

Pixis’ hands were behind his back while everyone watched on in concern. However, everyone was stunned when the yellow smoke signal shot up into the air, signifying that the operation was a success.

“Everyone! Assist in eliminating the titans and finding survivors!” Pixis commanded, and soldiers immediately heeding his command and jumped down the wall to help.

“Sir, there is the matter of…those titans,” Gustav chose his words carefully as he handed Pixis a telescope.

The Commander of the Garrison extended the device and looked through the lens. “It is something that we will have to watch closely. However, this will prove beneficial if we play our cards rig-!”

Pixis froze when he spotted…her. He spotted a female titan, slicing through the nape of a titan’s neck before extended both arms and shooting two titans on her side. The titans collapsed to the ground, but the female titan didn’t bother to look back as she bolted towards the next threat.

Pixis’ mouth dropped at the sight before his face morphed into a wistful smile.

“Sir,” Anka called out. “Sir!”

Pixis held the telescope close to his chest and giggled. “God does exist, and he has blessed me for all of my years of military service.”

“What are you talking about?” Anka snatched the telescope away from Pixis and used it to scan the battle field. When her gaze fell to the blue, female, titan, all she wanted to do was curse god for his incompetence.

“God does exist, and he is a cruel bastard who enjoys sick jokes,” Anka declared in frustration.

==

On Earth

Wheeljack stepped off the Jackhammer and examined his surroundings. There were crumbs of energon abandoned on the ground. The trees were knocked over and the ground was leveled. There were clear signs of blaster fire, and he checked the pulses of the vehicons to determine if they were dead or not.

What had happened? He was only on Earth for a little while, but he wasn’t expecting something as severe as a massive energy spike resembling that of a spacebridge. At least not yet. What was-!

“HEY! OPTIMUS! RATCHET! SOMEONE PICK UP THE COMM!” someone had screamed in the Jackhammer. Wheeljack walked inside of his ship and pressed a button.

“What do you want tiny?” Wheeljack demanded. He couldn’t forget that annoying aft voice no matter how hard he tried.

“Where in the Sam Hill are Optimus and the others?!” Agent Fowler demanded.

“I thought they were with you?” Wheeljack raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Well there’s no sign of them!” Fowler declared, “Did the Decepticons capture them?!”

“No…,” Wheeljack trailed off, “But I think something else happened.”

“Well then get to Jasper, Nevada so we can talk about it!” Fowler ordered.

Wheeljack looked back at the battlefield before taking off towards the Autobot Base. What in the Allspark was going on?

(So a few notes:

-This timeline takes place right before Season 2 Episode 7 of Transformers Prime, so many key players would still be alive and active. -I didn't want to introduce the Decepticons in this chapter. If I were to introduce them, I would probably put them at the end of the 2nd chapter. I ended with Wheeljack because I thought the mystery aspect would be fun to set up. -Hanji does have a revelation that they are non-binary in this timeline, but they don't know what that means until Jack, Miko, and Raf bring it up because the trio were defaulting to they/them pronouns for Hanji when I made them interact with each other. However, I did try my best to avoid using she/her pronouns for Hanji unless I absolutely needed to do it because at this point in this timeline, Hanji does still go by those pronouns. I just didn't want to cause too many issues since I did say I would continue to refer to Hanji by they/them pronouns for the rest of my writing. It feels like I might be offending someone or breaking a promise. (Once Hanji changes their pronouns in this timeline, Levi does still threaten people with violence if they misgender Hanji). -Marco does live. I thought it would be fun to spice things up. -Because Levi is an Ackerman, I wanted him to be able to understand Bumblebee, but not that much because binary code is still new to Levi. -I was not originally going to have Ratchet resuscitate Eren, but the thought came to me as I was writing this and I wanted to have some fun with it. Lol. -I finished this damn thing in like two days. I'm really trying to get all my side projects done before I start my new job. -Anyway, be sure to show some love!)

[b0nten]

THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE STOPS AT DAWN AND SPINS BACK TO HOLD THE DEVIL

[SYNOPSIS] ˚⁀➷｡ being one of five special grades, you learn how to deal with exorcisms, but rarely with loss.

[NOTES] ˚⁀➷｡ i was kinda skeptical to post this because i don’t rlly write for jjk but i had this planned out (sloppily) in my notes for so long. i would like to thank @twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat for inspiring me through their fic if i fell through the floor i’d keep falling to post this (i know we’ve never interacted before so i’m literally so sorry if this comes off as random & makes you uncomfortable) because a) of how much i love that fic and b) of how it reminded me of this and actually motivated me to finish and polish it. also big thanks to my shawtybae ray @httpshujii whom i left traumatized after i asked her to beta-read this fic😭😭

[EXTRAS] ˚⁀➷｡ timeline is probably WAAAAAAAAAY off, especially the shibuya incident/culling game. swearing, a lot of words.

24.12.2017

“you two can’t even tell good and evil apart.”

“doesn’t that guy piss you off, mimiko?”

“nanako, want me to hang him?” the brunette holds her rope tight around the dummy’s neck.

her sister, annoyed by the assistant’s words, hisses. “you guys don’t even know how sorcerers like us are treated in the shitty countryside that doesn’t show up on maps. you do all the good and evil you want. but for us, if geto-sama says so, then black is white and white is black. we believe in the world he sees; and we will hang everybody who gets in the way!” she threatens and they both take their combat positions, ready to strike when, suddenly, footsteps echo through the empty alleyway.

“cut it out, you three.” wind blows though silky hair and a perfume they all recognize takes over the air as all of their faces drop. “don’t bother, ijichi, they’re just as stubborn as their dad.” a smile glides across your lips, but disappears just a few moments later. “ew, my pants are stained with curse juice.”

“mom?” “y/n-san?” they gasp at the same time, and ijichi’s head turns back so fast you could swear you heard his neck snap.

“ ‘mom’ ? y/n-san, what’s going on?” he asks, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

“that’s a long story i’ll tell you only if you promise not to snitch to the higher-ups.” you grin at him, patting him on his shoulder as you pass by. “don’t worry, i’m not switching sides.” you reassure, and hear him sigh in relief.

with the speed of light, the twins rush towards you, embracing you in a warm hug.

“miko, please don’t hang my friend, yeah? and you, young lady, what did we talk about, try to be a little less hostile!” you scold, ruffling their hair a little rougher than usual. then, a crash startles all four of you.

“miguel? what the hell are you doing!” the light-brunette shouts, rolling her eyes once the man’s ironic response reacher her ears.

“ugh, ” you can only do the same, brows furrowing when another familiar face pops up, “satoru, pipe down! and pleaaaaase try to not kill him!” you shout to grab gojo’s attention, dragging out the plead.

“when you ask me so nicely, i guess i can make an exception for you, bestie boo!” he shrugs, winking with his only uncovered eye.

ignoring the antics that you’re so used to, your attention falls back on the girls.

“you two, ” you start, clapping your hands closed and dragging your right hand as to conjure a katana. then, you scrape a circle with it in the cobblestone, “i’ll teleport you somewhere safe, i don’t like where this is going, and i gotta clean up some of the curses suguru let loose around here. be careful, i love you.” you wave as a big fire sphere rushes up from the ground, building a barrier between you. before the girls can say anything else, they disappear completely. “ijichi, text me the date and time and i’ll be there. gotta get to kusakabe as soon as i can or he may need to get his diaper changed.”

you laugh, dissipating into a puddle of black, while your underclassman still can’t believe what he’s witnessed.

15.10.2008

you know that what you’re about to do is rash and irrational, and possibly clearly also considered treachery in the jujutsu world. the fact that nobody had already caught wind of what you were up to was and still is in itself a miracle, but you could narrow it down to them thinking you were still grieving; and truth be told, you still kind of were, trying to do it the best you could. healing fresh wounds is never easy and recovering from a break-up that didn’t directly happen is sometimes like trying to sew shut a deep wound with cotton thread.

and that’s what kept you going in the most excruciating year of your life: your wounds deserve to close properly, and it is within your right to be able to run your fingers across your skin, without fearing they’ll plunge deep into your chest and dreading to take them out knowing they’ll be covered in blood and the smell of a broken heart.

so you step, determined and furious to get your cause across. you bang your fists on the big door, and a chubby man of middle age greets you at the entrance.

“what’s your name? do you have an appointment?” he questions, and you answer with the same western bullshit name you gave when you rang them up to book said ‘appointment’. he turns a few pages in his clipboard and finally his face lights up.

“yes, please, come in!” his arm is stretched out in a gentlemanly manner, signaling for you to enter. and you do, something bubbling in the pit of your stomach. excitement? no, that’s almost impossible. hate? hurt? the wish for vengeance you have so obsessively dreamed about? you’re not sure about any of those. when you step into the room, though, you feel nervous. like you’re walking on the thin glass shards of your broken youth — the one that got spat and shat on by the same world that made geto spiral into his madness — stolen mercilessly by the greediness of the higher-ups.

“geto-sama will come in shortly!” he explains, and you gather all your composure to ensure you won’t vomit right then and there.

“he calls himself geto-sama now?” you wonder, and although you haven’t said it out loud, the title still leaves a bitter feeling on your tongue. you imagine maybe that’s what curses taste like to suguru.

“welcome, miss— oh.“ full of confidence he struts from behind two curtains, and when he sees you, his gaze softens and you swear you can catch a glimpse of the boy you lost an autumn ago. “it’s so nice to see you, y/n!” he calls out and picks up his pace, almost rushing to you. “i’m so glad it’s not one of those monkeys! sometimes i get nauseous from seeing them all the time!” he face-palms, then beams, and takes your hands in his, leaving a kiss on your temple, lastly pulling you close to him like he always did, even before he vanished.

you think you’re going to be sick again, watching him act all nonchalant and normal, as if nothing has happened. “how dare he?” you think, feeling the anger pierce your stomach walls, and settling in your throat. how can he act like this? like you’re still high-school sweethearts, like he’s just come back from a mission and you’re standing at the school gates, ready to welcome him back. your brain almost freezes, heart urging you to stay like that, but mind screaming at you to pull away from him.

so, against your heart’s wishes, you tear away from him. “monkeys? that’s what you call them now, suguru?” you click your tongue in annoyance, a habit he knows you have whenever you’re about to get petty. “what happened to civilians, non-sorcerers, humans, people?” you ask, blank face staring daggers into his soul.

“my love, they’re all just monkeys.” your once-lover says with the same nonchalance, “don’t bother being all so formal with them. they can’t even use jujutsu, like we do, so—“ before he can say anything else, you cut him off, something similar to a mix of anger and sadness in your voice.

“don’t call me that, suguru.” your voice cracks a little, eyebrows furrow and your heartbeat picks up its pace, and you think maybe your legs are going to give out on you any minute now. “i’m not here to play happy family reuinted.” you almost choke on your words. “i—”

“geto-sama!!! geto-sama!!!” a panicked, feminine voice comes from behind the curtains, and soon enough, two young girls emerge from them. one has light brown hair, the other’s is a little darker than shoko’s. they can’t be older than 6, 5 if you dare to overthink. the former is dragging her sister by her hand, and the latter is holding a plushy tight against her chest, stumbling here and there.

“what’s wrong, you two?” he asks gently, crouching down to their level. you remember how he used to speak to you the same whenever you came back from a mission sad or displeased and your heart drops at how easy it is to break down your walls and have memories growing like ice flowers in the archives you vouched to burn off your mind.

“mimiko—“ her gaze averts to you and ricochets into the ground, small figure balancing from foot to foot as she apologizes, “oh, i’m sorry for interrupting.”

when you look at them, you can’t help but smile. they look so… sweet. so innocent. what are they doing here? “that’s alright, you don’t have to pardon yourself, it seemed urgent.” with a motherly sympathy you didn’t know you held within you, you explain. with the corner of your eye, you see a smile bloom on geto’s face.

“ohmygod!” the same one calls out to her sister in a not-so-subtle whisper. “that’s the lady whose picture geto-sama has! the one he told us about!”

“nanako… you can’t say that when she’s in front of us… it’s rude.” mimiko half-heartedly scolds her sister.

you can’t help the blush from creeping up your cheeks or the laugh from escaping your lips.

“y/n, these are nanako and mimiko.” suguru explains and nudges them forward. “girls, this is y/n, but you already knew.” he smiles again, abstaining himself from laughing at his own semi-bad joke. “they’re…” he continues. “they’re my epiphany, the reason i left the useless jujutsu world and started to make my own.”

you try to ignore the last part of his introduction and his sickeningly smug grin, and you crouch down too, in order to observe them from closer proximity. “nice to meet you both.” you say, warmly, and touch the floor with your hand. a puddle of black forms around it and you awkwardly rummage through the void. soon enough, you pull out two candy-bars.

“i hope you two like macadamia nuts and chocolate. unfortunately it’s all i have right now.” you apologize with a sheepish smile, handing them the sweets. they look at geto to seek approval, and when he nods enthusiastically, they accept your gift with lots of giggles and bright grins.

suguru’s heart skips a beat before it melts. he really is touched you’re showing his daughters so much kindness, but he’s even happier he sees the same candy-bars you ate in high school. he feel nostalgic, even though he knows it’s only been a year. but just like in his case, he thought a year might have been significant change for you too.

the tender moment is interrupted by knocking on the door. “geto-sama, i’m terribly sorry to disturb, but your next appointment is here.” an assistant calls out, and geto is visibly annoyed.

“tell them to wait for a little bit. we’re still not ready to wrap up.” he commands, outside going silent instantly. “i am so sorry to cut this short, y/n.” he says, admitting regret, “you are welcome to drop by any time you want. and you don’t have to use a fake name.” he’s hopeful now, he’s even more confident, and he steps closer to you.

but as if you two are magnets of the same polarity, your body forces you to take a step back. his gaze saddens and something like despair flashes briefly across his face. it almost reads like “please come by again. please.” almost like a desperate plead.

“i’ll see.” is the only response you can give before turning around and heading to the door. before you open it, you look back at the three of them. “nanako, mimiko, it was nice to meet you.” you say, softness for the two canceling out whatever uncomfortable feelings you had before.

“you too, y/n-sama! please come by again!” they both say back, waving as you leave the room. a peculiar tickle renders your body almost perplexed when you hear the honorific.

you navigate through the temple like you’re trying to find the exit of a maze, but when you’re outside, you take a deep breath of fresh air. your hand travels up to wipe the shells of the tears forming in your eyes and you swear you can smell the blood that’s gushing from your still unclosed wounds, sewn again with cotton thread.

“they’re my epiphany.”

they’re his epiphany.

you replay the scene in your head, and feel desperate the more you chant the mantra, as if your ego has not only been broken, but sanity stripped away from you. then, your thoughts are broken by your phone ringing. flipping up the cover, you try to play everything off as normal.

“shoko?” you say, “is everything alright?”

“i should be the one asking you that.” her tone is sharp, “is everything alright with you, y/n?” it softens, and like a dam about to break lose, you sniffle and answer out.

“no.” it’s clear, it’s there, you said it. you don’t have to pretend.

“come over. i miss having my girl around.” she says, and you giggle.

“you’re lucky i’m in the area. i’ll be there in fifteen, girlfriend. and stop talking to me like im one of your hoes.”

she just laughs manically before ending the call. you smile, and go.

10.04.2009

you don’t know for sure if whatever you feel against nanako and mimiko is compassion or pity. or maybe hatred, sometimes disguised as jealousy. but ever since geto said that, there is this little voice in the back of your head that keeps playing the same sentence, like your mind’s a broken record.

“he chose them over you.”

“he chose them over you.”

“he chose them over you.”

“he chose them over you.”

“he chose them over you.”

you’re not sure how to feel. they’re kids. they’re young, they didn’t coax him into starting this. maybe they were just caught in the crossfire, you like to guess. maybe they were the last straw.

or maybe, you were simply not good enough, which, in all honesty, was hard to accept. being a special-grade sorcerer that came from nothing isn’t easy. someone’s always on your back, refusing to get off; from the higher-ups to one’s parents. it’s hard to live up to pre-made expectations, and carry burdens on an already-cracked spine, but you’ve always been strong — so strong even gojo pissed his pants sometimes — so what happened? what made him resort to this?

finally, after looking through the things he left behind in his room, you came to understand geto didn’t leave because he wanted to, he left because that was what it came to. and slowly, you accepted that the twins really were nothing more than two girls caught in a crossfire, that geto somehow saved. his last mission, it must’ve been excruciating, he must’ve seen hell in its true form (again) or death itself in front of him (for the third time) when he went to that village and slaughtered it mercilessly.

that was actually the case, as you come to learn. after six months you build up the courage to visit again, this time unannounced, this time without a purpose. you were sure it’d be left unserved anyway, like the last one. so, when suguru welcomes you into the room once more, you make small talk. and ask about his life, sometimes trying not to gag when he makes disgusting remarks about “monkeys”.

and voluntarily, he tells you the girls’ story after they fall asleep on your lap, dead exhausted thanks to the running around they did. you learn their past, and see something ignite in suguru that makes you think. if you had been there, would you have done the same? would you have stopped him, or joined him? he did nothing wrong, he killed abusers. he killed people that beat two defenseless children, something he shouldn’t have been persecuted for, you thought. this whole monkey thing, tough, something else, another story. but maybe, just maybe had somebody heard him out, he wouldn’t be staying across from you dressed in robes but instead you would’ve been sitting in an apartment you bought with all the money you saved up, all four of you cradled next to the other watching tv with the volume off as to not wake up the sleeping girls. and maybe, just maybe, satoru would have found the fushiguro-zen’in boy and his sister that he’s so serious on finding and they’d come over and play together, while you, shoko and sometimes utahime and mei gossip on the couch and suguru, satoru, nanami and ijichi hang out in the kitchen.

if it weren’t for your teenage heart and forgiving soul, you wouldn’t have begged geto to consider your idea.

“i can try and negotiate a deal for you.” you’re serious, and not about to give up, no matter what he says. “i’ve been taking extra missions, suguru. they like me, they started to value my opinion in the last two years.” you say, and your eyes gloss over when you look at him.

“y/n…” he sighs. “this is my choice. i’m content living like this.”

you break a little.

“don’t say that suguru. it’s not too late, you know? i can vouch for you, i can make sure nanako and mimiko are safe, if that’s what you’re actually concerned about. i will take extra shifts, i will fight for you.” you start to crack and chip off at the edges. “in the end, you did nothing wrong killing those villagers, but that’s something they’re just gonna look away from because you killed non-sorcerers. hateful, filthy, non-sorcerers that deserved their fate.” you say, gritting and swearing behind teeth, jaw clenched and breathing like your lungs are glued together.

suguru always liked your sense of justice. it was always strong, defined, your moral compass was as clear as the sky on the first day you were transferred to jujutsu high. it was refreshing to see someone like you, that fought, no matter what; that gave herself up for the cause she wanted to prove. you would’ve killed yourself if it meant judgement had been served correctly, and even if it meant losing yourself on the way, you loved standing up for what was right. you’d tear at yourself so everybody could be happy. and he could see it in your eyes, the way they shine with the beauty of a thousand galaxies and the passion of a hundred suns, radiating hope, even after all that you’ve been through. you’re hope, you’re love, you’re light, ready to sacrifice herself just so others could grasp that spark even for a little while. ah, as long as…, like you said in your heydays, cigarette between teeth as geto lit it for you, shoko boo’d in the background and satoru annoyed nanami but entranced haibara, holding the world in your hands, ready to blast another wall, to save another soul, to make another life-source. you were temperance and the tower all in one, the embodiment of balanced destruction, the origin of damaged harmony. you ate, chewed and spit yourself out so everyone could see that you were raw — you were like them — you were all the same, kids with power and jobs too big for ages that didn’t even bloom correctly yet.

but this time, he can’t let you do that. you can’t be his divine intervention anymore, you can’t make a catastrophe of your life just to build his anew. he had chosen his way the day he committed mass murder, roots of his goal planted deep inside his hatred for non-sorcerers, and it was far too late to go back, no matter what you said or could have said or say, his life is now with his cult. and he looks at you, with his girls cradled in your lap and wonders of the life you could have had, had amanai’s death not taken such a toll on him. he never told you, but he wanted you to meet her. she would’ve absolutely adored you, no doubt, and vice-versa.

sometimes he wakes up in the morning and you’re not next to him and then he imagines it too: a little house in meguro, and he’d wake up at the crack of dawn and look at you sleeping peacefully beside him, then he’d get up and cook breakfast. he envisions evening walks in spring, when the cherry blossoms bloom, and nanako and mimiko running wildly along the river banks, and you shouting after them to be careful. his heart swells with what if’s and maybe’s but he remembers that in his world, he can achieve that. and he doesn’t have to worry about any of you three being in danger either.

you feel the need to change the topic. you feel the regret floating around in the air — you feel the wound you tried to sew shut so many times miserably — and it reeks of fresh blood and sweet tea and plum blossoms and the winter he confessed his feelings.

“let me help you get them to bed.” you smile, and he reciprocates. he takes nanako from your lap softly as not to disturb her sleep, and guides you to their room.

you find yourself kissing their foreheads as if they’re your daughters, as if you hadn’t met them only two times in your life, and suguru finds himself too close to you. you think he’s too close to you too, but right now, in this shit you’ve dragged yourself into, you don’t care at all anymore.

so you kiss him, you lift yourself up on your toes enough for him to already know what you’re doing and to bend down. electricity sparks and you see yourself in the middle of snowy shibuya crossing yet again, people going on about their day while you pour your hearts out to the other silently, carnally, with chapped lips falling against each other, devouring the curse of love with gluttony, and freezing hands tangled in the intimacy of two sixteen year olds dumb enough to think they’re able to write their own destiny.

that’s why you continue to visit. in the rest of 2009, 2010, 2011, and so on. between what you lost that you never even had, and the brief moment of serenity of feeling like a family with geto and the girls, you finally feel like you have something to live for.

it goes without saying that it still frightened you — if anyone were to find out where you were going, who you were going to — they all may have been put in danger. but the moment the big, wooden door to the temple opens and two smiley faces jump into your arms while the boyfriend you never had the guts to break up with greets you sweetly, all the worry dissipates. you were not there “to play happy family reunited”, you had found a family. and as twisted life had layed itself out for geto, maybe yours wasn’t that far from it either.

so, once a month you come, with gifts, with candy, with love and worry and whatnot. you’re there to see the twins grow up, sometimes you help suguru cut their hair, to navigate through all the stages of girlhood you experienced too — well, almost all, since it’s kind of hard to give them really everything when their dad is a wanted mass murderer in a world over half of the population doesn’t even know exists. but you’re there, and you’re happy when you’re with them. they’re your sun.

and it goes like that for years, you come, you laugh, and you leave. sometimes before you leave, geto kisses you chastely, and sometimes more, which means you stay the night, and he partially sees his dream come true the next morining; and he loves it, he can’t wait to get it done, but he feels guilty. guilty for the plan he’s come up with and guilty knowing you’re gonna be on the opposite side, no matter what.

when the girls turn eight, they start calling you ‘mom’, to your and geto’s surprise. but they like it, and honestly, so do you and so does their dad. it’s random, but it feels natural, it feels warm. suguru’s heart sinks, and he thinks he can keep his plan hidden and pushes it back a few more years, until he can’t anymore. so, on the twins’ eleventh birthday, a beautiful day of 2013, it’s the last time you come. you try to talk him out of it, but no matter how many pleads and promises and compromises, his decision is still the one he told you. that day, when you leave and look back with a fake smile at the kids waving at you from the door, the wind feels sharper on your face and the air is definitely colder than what it was supposed to ever be. you go to the bar and drown out your sorrows, glass after glass after glass after glass after glass until you’re numb. and even in the numbness, there’s still an aching pain, like a scorching dagger has been stabbed through your heart, burning the skin and muscle and everything in between on its way to bring you down. you wonder if that’s what curses feel when they’re exorcised.

so, while nanako and mimiko ask about you and why their mom isn’t coming anymore, you bury yoursef in work. you kill, you start to teach, you do paperwork. satoru comes over sometimes and when you look at him, you can only cry. shoko comes over more than sometimes, and when you look at her you can also only cry. they both hug you and sometimes cry with you too: a pity party. nanami writes to you a lot, and when you read his messages you also cry. sometimes you go to visit him, and he looks at you with a disgusting look. he knows you haven’t broken records these past few months because of your love for jujutsu, but because of the hate you bear for it. his heart shatters seeing his senior like this. so, he pours you tea and gets you the cookies you always loved, stashed next to a framed picture of you three — you, him and haibara.

kento always thought you were like glue. you kept everyone together. and although him and yu were only your juniors, you made them feel like they were your brothers. you brought together the jujutsu world so closely, you made it seem like it could work, until nobody was there to help you, even though you tried so hard. it was like a mirage, but so closely and delicately conjured one could swear it was real — maybe that was your true domain expansion — and you would’ve killed yourself if that meant it’d be kept intact, and you kind of did, because at the price of your own well-being, you took care of the others. you worked overtime so gojo had less missions to go on, helped nanami get out of jujutsu and welcomed him right back with open arms and broken heart that still needed mending desperately, and helped shoko with med school until she decided she’d just cheat herself into getting her eligibility.

and you’re a wreck, so you browse pictures in your phone of you, suguru and the girls, you frame them but keep them away from the world’s eyes, god knows who may find them and put you on death-row too. you look at them and feel like you’re mourning geto a second time around, but this time you’re also mourning.. your kids. the kids who called you mom, who sometimes called you up at night when they had some “girl problems” they couldn’t tell suguru right off the bat, the girls that asked you to sew their ripped clothes, and who watched you and geto do that side by side.

you didn’t understand how suguru came to that conclusion, to push you away for good. you never tried to erase his ideology from the girls’ minds, you simply mothered them. you loved them, trained them, you loved him, so what was up with him?

geto feels miserable too. he lost you once, and now he’s lost you twice. he’s rougher with his monkeys, he feels like he’s mourning once again too. and when he looks at nanako and mimiko he cannot stop his heart from ripping apart. they look at pictures of you. every single day, there’s not one that passes when he doesn’t want to call you and tell you to come back. to be the glue, to love him and his daughters, to make them laugh and jump and smile and make him feel warm and fuzzy inside all again. for the first time in his life, he has doubts about his dream world, because when he looks at the once so cheerful duo, sad while holding your picture, and when he remembers the tears in your eyes and how you wiped them away quickly when they came to hug you goodbye, he wants to kill himself like you always did for your cause. he wants to make the devil chew him and spit him out for forgetting you are just like him too — flesh, bones, and misery.

so, for once in his new life, geto does something he never thought he would do — he compromises. exactly 364 days after he forbids you from coming by again, he tells the twins they can go out in the world and enjoy their life. maybe they’ll go looking after you, he thinks, he hopes, and he sees their faces light up and they see his do the same. “but don’t talk to monkeys when it’s not necessary!” he orders, no, he asks. he can’t order his children around.

and mimiko and nanako go out in the world, alone, for the first time, the following day. geto asks them to buy any cake they want, to celebrate for when they come back. so they head to the bakery that breached the barriers of what they knew, once every thirty days: they mostly knew the universe geto had created for them, and once a month came clashing down an asteroid, with flowers, sweets and everything the cult didn’t really have, their mother.

so, after almost getting lost thrice on the metro, when they enter the minimalist store they searched on google maps because they kept a cardboard box of sweets you once brought over, and see your tired figure, tears in your eyes as you mouth and explain the kanji of their name to the lady with the piping bag in her hand, their eyes swell and they can only weakly sob “mom..?”, unsure if it’s actually you or a mirage.

when your head snaps in the direction of the door and you see the two kids you missed so badly in a year, you stare at them blankly. you’re afraid to get close to them, thinking maybe they’re just a shadow created by the months of exhaustion, but when mimiko asks if you remember them, you break down crying, embracing them while they weep on your shoulder too. “how could i not?” you stifle between sniffles and feel them hug you even tighter. it’s almost like movie scene, and even the cashier is on the verge of tears.

when you pull away, you’re all red-eyed and stuffy-nosed, hair a mess and hearts clammy. “let me pay for the cake first, and we can go to my place, yes?” you say and they both nod like they did when you weren’t quite as closely acquainted yet.

“we also have to buy a cake..” nanako says, “could you help us?”

you don’t hesitate and pull them to the refrigerator to chose. “what was the one you always bought?” mimiko asks, heart thumping in her chest. “well, it’s the one i have over there, but they’re actually order-only.” you say, eyeing the cake, sad. the twins bite their lips and scan whatever’s left in the display window.

“excuse me,” the lady jumps in, trying to regain composure too “we have cupcakes with that same filling, if it’s any better!” she says, “and they’re 20 percent off if you buy more than 10! and 50 for more than twenty!”

“then we’d like 24 of them, please.” you say, twins’ faces dropping.

“24? isn’t that too much?” nanako chokes out, and her sister giggles a bit at her expression.

“not at all, no, no!” you reassure, patting their heads. “and don’t even dare to pay me back.” you half-heartedly threaten when the other one reaches into her pocket to take out her wallet. “put it back, miko.”

and so, you get to patch up your heart a little bit. you buy them candles, and they blow them on the cupcakes, and take pictures and laugh about whatever.

and it was like this a lot, because whenever they came over to yours they begged you to tell them about your teenage years and show them everything you did. and, because you couldn’t bring yourself to throw away the years of beauty you had documented on film and paper, you showed them everything, accompanied by cups of tea from porcelain haibara bought you from missions he went on, and cakes and biscuits and all the snacks they asked for (thank god you always kept some stashed for satoru).

pictures of you, satoru, suguru, shoko, nanami, haibara, mei and utahime. they were all there — immortal in the plastic of the polaroids and untouchable in the albums — and no one could steal away those precious moments. you showed them pictures of every kind, going on missions and late night hang-outs in your dorms, they gasped at the sight of geto smoking and laughed at the hairstyles you did on him. in the span of weeks and months of two years, you showed them the person you had fallen in love with, and the friends that welcomed you with open arms in tokyo.

of course they were especially keen on pictures of you and geto, fangirling over the “couple pictures”, the ones shoko took of you both when you weren’t watching and later on gave to you. you showed them satoru’s first hangover, and how their dad held his hair back as he was vomiting his hollow purple into the toilet, and the selfie you and shoko took, a little less hungover, leaning against the stalls.

you showed them videos of you all rehearsing your techniques and geto protecting nanami from gojo’s annoying teenage ass.

you took them to disneyland and rode with them on all the rollercoasters they wanted, and took so many photos you bought nanako a picture-only phone. each of you hung them up in your homes, and sometimes suguru stumbled upon the girls’ pictures when he went into their room, and cried over your portrait upon seeing you in a winnie the pooh headband almost identical to the one he wore when he first took you there in high school.

and although, physically, it weren’t four of you gathered around the table anymore, you still laughed together and you felt free, until 2017 came along.

it was maybe early november when you got the call from satoru, away on business in sapporo. it sounded urgent, and first and foremost, he sounded scared. not frightened, but rather desperate, like he didn’t know what to do. therefore, on your first day back in tokyo, you went to see him.

“just rip the bandaid off, satoru.” you say, gently.

“geto has declared war on us.”

you’re left dumbfounded, tea cup shaking in your hand. you can only blink, awaiting gojo to say more. to give you more information.

“he came by the day i called you. said he’d unleash a thousand curses in kyoto and shinjuku on christmas eve. wanted yuta to join him and belittled maki.”

you put down your cup, head resting in your palms. it feels like a bad dream. you knew what to expect of him, that sooner or later he’d act on his crazy dreams of a non-sorcerer free world, but hoped it would be a lot later than this.

“was he alone?” you ask, gojo’s face making a funny look.

“no, two girls that wanted to eat crepes on takeshita and a shirtless guy.” he explains, “why do you ask?”

this time, you lie to him. you can’t let him know you’ve committed treachery for almost a decade now. “then we should also expect some counter-attack from them, not just some curses running loose.” you explain, and gojo nods approvingly.

“you’re right. we should be careful then, especially with the managers.” he says, and you only bob your head a ‘yes’. “y/n” his voice softens, and round shades peel from his face, “don’t do this to yourself.” he crouches down next to you, hand caressing your shoulder. when he feels your muscles tense, he welcomes you with open arms and you cry on his shoulder for a good ten minutes. when he feels you’ve calmed down, he unlocks his phone and dials a number. it doesn’t ring for long, and he speaks, “hey, emo girl. come over. we’re having a reunion.” he laughs, “y/n’s sad, so you do the maths on how manny bottles you bring.” he says, regretting instantly. “wait, don’t you think five is too much, shoko? hello? shoko? agh, fuck you, girl.” you laugh, and so does he, stroking your back once more. “everything’s gonna be okay, babygirl.”

“dont you ever call me that again.”

the next day, you wake up with your phone blowing up, next to shoko, in gojo’s bed. “answer the fucking phone already.” she groans, and you do, but not before kicking her side.

“yes?” without even looking at the caller id you speak, head spinning from all the alcohol (two bottles and a half, each) and voice hoarse from the packs of cigarettes each one of you smoked the previous night. (three, each.) there goes shoko’s quitting.

“mom? you’re not answering the door, are you okay?” nanako speaks from the other side and you instantly jump out of bed, startling your friend.

“i’ll be there in… fifteen. please wait.” you say and hang up after hearing a positive answer.

you dart from the apartment, hugging gojo on your way out, explaining something came up.

you drive through the city with the speed of light, getting home not just in time, but seven minutes early, and the twins hug you when you see them. when they sit you down on the couch to tell you something, your heart sinks, because you can already feel what it is.

“geto-sama declared war on the college last week.” the fawn haired admits, and the other just looks down at the ground.

“i know.” is all you say, trying to hold back tears.

“we’re really sorry. and if you don’t want to see us again, it’s alright, we, we get it.“ mimiko says, words pulled out of her mouth with prongs, almost unable to finish her sentence.

“don’t you ever think something like that.” you snap, dam breaking behind your eyes. “i saw you all this time despite not agreeing with suguru’s ideology, but you’re still my kids too, you know? i have also done some parenting these last ten years.”

it’s bittersweet, and they feel it too, and they cry too, because from being rescued by suguru to seeing the stranger lady walk into their temple every month and showing them the kindness only geto ever did, you became their mother. you stuck by them, always looking over your shoulder whenever you visited them and taking extra precautions whenever they visited you. you were their asteroid, you were their world, and although geto hurt you, not once, but twice, you still loved him and them like you were there when he saved them.

and they always saw the broken youth and undreamt dreams that hid behind your eyes, so motherly, so tender and reassuring albeit living no better than a fugitive. their lives were less stressful than yours, because you sacrificed yourself to come see them. maybe out of fear of losing geto yet again, or denial, but whatever you may have feared, you always put your little beautifully broken and beloved family above all else, bravely so.

“just promise me you’ll both be careful.” is all you say before they collapse in your arms. and you stand there, reeking of alcohol and cigarettes and the blood of the wound you thought closed up.

“we will, no matter what.”

24.12.2017

you walk into jujutsu high and can’t believe your eyes. you’re tired from killing curses and giving kusakabe a pep-talk every ten minutes, but you don’t think this is all in your mind: smashed cobblestone, holes in the ground. and blood, lots of blood.

you run into the infirmary, shoko’s door flying open as she lets out a half-scream.

“what’s your problem?” she asks, partly annoyed.

“i’m sorry for worrying about my students after i babysat a grown man all day.” you reply, and she laughs, “atsuya again, huh? too bad he’s actually talented, that crybaby persona gets too much somtimes. they’re all safe, yuta used rct on them, but gojo wants to talk to you.” she says.

“is he in the common lobby?” you ask, and she nods approvingly.

when you enter the room, you feel a chill creep up your spine. satoru is still, way too still.

“y/n.”

“satoru.”

he gulps down saliva before asking you the question. “did suguru have daughters?” he says, and you answer, mindless.

“yeah, he has tw—“ then it dawns on you. “satoru?” he sees it too. in the small crack of your voice, some glass shards hitting the linoleum. “satoru, don’t tell me,” you’re on the verge of tears. your throat is dry, stomach doing flips. “oh my god.” you gasp, legs turning into sand, and he rushes to catch you.

“he told me to take care of the three of you, and i didn’t understand and i thought about the crepe girls and then you of course and.. you and.. i… i’m sorry, y/n. i didn’t want it to end like this.” he spits out word after word, boulder rolling off his shoulder, letting himself cry in your embrace.

“no one did, satoru. i’m never gonna blame you for his death, yeah?” your eyes start to water too. he’s still the boy that lost his best friend, you’re still the girl that lost her boyfriend, shoko is still the one that lost a best friend, and you’re all three still teenagers, waiting for someone to guide you through the loss.

you stand like that for a while, until you both calm down.

“thank you.” gojo satoru, the strongest, smiles through tears he’d only ever shown a handful of people.

“thank you, boywonder.” you smile through tears you’d only ever shown a handful of people.

“i have to talk to yaga.” he runs a hand through his hair, exhaling shakily before hugging you goodbye.

you sit down in your chair and watch the sun set. through the window, maki, yuta, panda and inumaki wave at you. you reciprocate, thankful they’re still alive, when all of a sudden your phone rings.

“mom?” the moment you answer, mimiko’s voice cracks on the other end. she usually isn’t one to call, so you’re guessing you know what this is about.

“i’m coming.” you say between your own small shallow breaths, waving the students goodbye through the window once again. you make another quick phone call before leaving campus.

“yes?”

“megumi, gojo’s had a rough day and i can’t spend time with him tonight. shoko also has to do overtime at the morgue. can you keep him company for a bit?”

he sighs. “yeah, i will.”

“thank you.”

“sensei… take care. you’re a great sorcerer…and a great person. just felt like you needed to hear that.”

“thank you, megumi. you too, kiddo.”

31.10.2018

“you know this was reckless, yeah?”

“we’re sorry for keeping you in the dark so long. it’s just — we knew you would’ve stopped us if we told you kenjaku took over geto-sama’s body, and we really want him to have a proper burial.” the brunette clutches her phone to her chest, eyes fixed on the ground.

“we didn’t mean to keep you in the dark so long, but you were already grieving geto-sama for the second time. we didn’t think you’d find out like you did.” mimiko apologizes too, and even though they stand in front of you, apologizing for the biggest mistake they have ever made, you can’t scold them. not when they thought about you, about easing your pain.

“you guys did a stupid thing, that’s all i’m gonna say.” the pause and sigh you take between sentences make them want to burry themselves into the ground, “but i’m not mad, because you did it with good intent.” your voice softens and their gazes come up, meeting your face. “i’m gonna help you, but please wait until i come back.”

their faces lighten as you stroke their hair, stopping when your phone rings.

“ijichi? itadori? alone? shibuya? what’s he doing there? he’s supposed to be in harajuku station with mei ” they read between the words, knowing exactly who this itadori is, “i can’t, i really have enough curses to fight, the meiji-jingu area by itself is packed.” you apologize with gritted teeth and exhausted breath, “i’ll enter the curtain when i’m done, and send you guys some back-up,yeah?”

you look at the twins again, wanting to instinctively crouch down to their level, but they’ve gotten too tall for that. “please, don’t go out. and if you do, be careful, and stay safe. don’t do anything rash.” you say, embracing them both. “i love you two so much.” you hold onto them a bit longer than usual, kissing their cheeks before unlocking the door.

“we love you too.” they say in unison, and smile.

“be careful, yeah? lock the door after i teleport.”

“always.” is the last thing you hear before disappearing.

9.11.2018

“come on, pick up, pick up, pick up…”

you bite your nails in frustration. it’s been a week since the culling game has started, a week since gojo got sealed, since nanami died. since maki got burned. and the biggest act of jujutsu terrorism happened in less than 24 hours under your very noses. a lethal battle royal, where everyone has to kill each other.

it’s been a full week since neither of the twins have contacted you. they don’t respond to their texts either. for mimiko it was normal, she didn’t really use her phone as much as her sister, but when nanako, whose cursed technique is all about using her phone, doesn’t have it, then that’s when you start to worry.

“sensei…” megumi walks up next to you, visibly worried, “who are you looking for? maybe we can help?”

you’ve known megumi ever since gojo found him, and met tsumiki a few times too. you helped gojo train him, something that turned out useful because of your somehow similar cursed techniques: his ten shadows and your use of void space were easy to adapt to the other. you had grown close, especially because of your shared annoyance for his guardian. yet, he never once met your daughters. you would’ve loved to introduce them to each other, mimiko would have been thrilled to have another just as quiet friend of her age and nanako would have loved to bother the two of them. still, you didn’t. you couldn’t, because that would mean explaining to gojo why you have two kids with you and (while still visiting the temple) possibly needing to convince suguru to let you take them out, and even a possible slip-up would’ve meant all hell breaking loose. though sometimes you thought maybe not, since it wasn’t non-sorcerers you were wanting to befriend them with, but it was still too risky. higher-ups had eyes everywhere, and you didn’t want to risk being labeled as foe.

“y/n-sensei, fushiguro’s right!” yuuji chimes in, making you laugh a little bit, “tell us, maybe we’ve seen the person!”

“and once we’re done speaking with master tengen, we can help you search for them.”

“you too, yuki?” you sigh, still spamming the call button.

“that’s tsukumo-senpai to you!” she jokes.

“ugh, someone, take this thing away already! it keeps buzzing way too much!” a hole opens on itadori’s hand, sukuna groaning some curse words and spitting a cell phone out, full of annoyance and disgust.

your heart drops and your mind blurs as you look at it. green, silicone, bunny ears.

“sensei?” yuuta now directs his attention to you too. “sensei, what’s wrong?” he seems worried, and so do the rest of them.

“what’s that?” choso points to the green rectangle on the ground, crouching and flipping it around. they all look at the screen, which reads “mom”.

“that’s a cellphone, choso!” yuki explains.

“that’s — that’s nanako’s cellphone.” you stammer, collapsing to your knees. “yuuji, when— how? this is bad, bad, bad, bad..” you think out loud, voice shakier with every word as you flip the phone from one side to the other. “she-she can’t use her technique without her phone, oh my god. but she’s definitely with mimiko, so maybe they can transfer points to each other, and her combat skills aren’t bad at all, maybe.. ”

“y/n-sensei, i don’t know how that got there.” itadori speaks, almost ashamed.

“i do!” another orifice opens on his hand, grinning. “i killed them.”

everybody’s in shock, you gasp, phone falling on the floor as both your hands cover your mouth.

“the dark haired’s head i blew off, the other’s i sliced.” the curse continues.

“itadori, please make that thing shut up.” maki orders harshly, expression softening when her gaze falls back on you.

“sukuna, this is not the time for jokes.” itadori intervenes.

“i’m not joking. they tried to boss me around, telling me they’ll give me another finger if i kill kenjaku. some brats, trying to command the king of curses around, pfft. i couldn’t give a damn about them wanting that body back or whatever.”

yuki and yuta help you up. megumi stares at you, and choso has partially read the air, pitiful expression plastered across his face. itadori’s head hangs low. yours does too. you don’t blame him, you could never, but you’d like to beat sukuna dead right then and there. exorcize him out of his mind, over and over again. your blood boils, and you feel the cursed energy forming in the pit of your stomach. the ground breaks beneath you, literally, and everybody watches the crack extend into the horizon. you feel like a part of you has died again. the first one died when geto committed mass murder and disappeared off of the face of earth, the second one died when he told you to stop visiting the temple. the third one died on christmas eve, with suguru, and two more parts, the fifth and sixth, died when you found out your girls were dead, a few moments ago. you didn’t even know you had that many in you, but you knew you needed an outlet.

so, you use the only one you have around, that is not fatal to anybody: you let the shards break, you let them explode, allow them to cut you — you scream. you scream, falling to the ground, hands gripping at your hair. and you scream, you scream for nanako and mimiko, for suguru, for satoru, for shoko, for nanami who could’ve escaped his destiny had he not come back, for haibara, for inumaki, for mai, for mechamaru, for nobara who’s fighting death, for the youth you had lost, for the kids that are next to you in this hellhole, for the youth they’ve been stripped of, you scream for your life and scream. and megumi sees one of the women he grew up around losing it, and yuta and itadori see their teacher in shambles, maki sees her role model falling apart; yuki sees the only other special-grade, that’s not a teenager, she has left fighting to not blow up the country, and choso sees a talented sorcerer with a good heart dying inside.

and you scream, you scream until your throat is dry and even dryer and you cough, cough dry, cough blood, cough until you just stop.

megumi kneels down in front of you, and you just stare at him. he looks back at you, eyelashes wet with tears he’d never admit of having shed, silently begging you to not leave him too. he grasps your hands softly like suguru did on the first day you showed up at his temple and pulls you in to hug you. and you see in him the boy suguru used to be, and in all your other students the group of teenagers you built a family with and your heart breaks because they built their own too.

maki kneels down too, and hugs you too, and so does yuta, and although, sheepishly, yuji does that too. choso thinks a bit but megumi nods in approval and he does join, and yuki also circles her arms around you as you cry. deep down you feel and know they’re scared of what you would do, so they hold you down.

megumi never saw you cry once. not because you weren’t a cryer, the three of swords was marked by scalding iron on your heart, but because you never really cried in front of people you didn’t know, or people you didn’t want to perceive you as weak. but he remembers the only time — once, when him and tsumiki were staying over at gojo’s for the weekend — he heard you through the walls. he was eleven, he believes, and he still remembers how you sounded. the memory is sewn into his brain, and whenever he remembers it, his stomach knots and his lymph nodes harden. since then, sometimes, when he saw you smiling, he only thought about what’s kept underneath your smile and your designer clothes and jujutsu records that you broke.

“i raised them, they were my girls too.” you whisper, “they only wanted their dad to have a proper burial, was that really so much to ask for?” your head shakes in disapproval to their fate, “curse users or not, i still carry their picture around in my wallet, i still have every inch of my home full of pictures of them.”

you stop to catch a breath. they’re all still around you, not letting go.

“if it means killing kenjaku, i’ll turn myself into a vengeful spirit if it has to come to that.”

[pastanest]

if you’re wondering why I’m having to repost this, or why you were perhaps previously following me but no longer are, please refer to this post. I was able to retrieve this thanks to the very lovely friends who have relentlessly sifted through tumblr archives to recover them, thank you all so much!! ♡

Thranduil x Short!S/O

- first of all, Thranduil is supposed to be like 6’5”, so around 99% of the world’s population is going to be short in comparison to him

- but as a dignified short person, I know that an actual short person is anything less than 5’5”, and considering Im exactly 5ft tall, Im a particularly short person, and this one goes out to all my fellow shorties

- needless to say, your height was a bit of a shock to Thranduil, even considering the fact that you arent an elf

- the fact that your personality exceeded your size so much was fascinating to him, and he quickly became utterly entranced by you

- I’d say Thranduil would dwarf you, but using the word “dwarf” as an example of anything positive in front of the Elven King is probably a bad idea

- but he adores your height!!

- he finds himself being thrown into spirals of anxiety every time he loses sight of you, because you’re so small you can easily disappear into a crowd

- he does tower over everyone though, so he’ll always find you soon enough, but he still freaks out about losing you

- Thranduil has realised that a vast majority of the time, he’ll hear you before he sees you

- whether it be singing as you skip down the halls, laughing very loudly, or just simply shouting to get people to acknowledge the fact you’re talking to them, he will hear you a good few minutes before you enter his line of sight

- to add to this, as a gift he crafted an anklet for you that is decorated with beautiful silver bells, so that even when you arent being particularly loud, he wont lose you as easily, because the bells on your ankle will alert him of your presence

- Thranduil had COUNTLESS elven robes tailored especially to your size, but whenever you wear his robes, his heart just sings

- on a more saucy note, the fact he towers over you so much is a bigbig turn on to him

- he loves picking you up and spinning you around, and even though he’s a king, he will gladly give you piggyback rides for days on end if you ask him to

- because of your size, Thranduil is far more protective of you than most people

- it’s not that he sees you as inferior, he knows you can handle yourself in battle, but people have a habit of not seeing you, so they trip over you or walk into you

- and if the King hears of anything like that happening, he will not be best pleased

- so he tries his best to prevent such instances, by always having you at his side in order for others to see you, or having you stand slightly behind him so that you are protected

- your small stature is utterly adorable to him, and whenever he sees you doing literally anything at all, he finds himself smiling because you just look so cute when you exist

- he refers to you as any combinations of petnames that he can incorporate your height into

“Good evening, ai’mela(little love)”

“Did you sleep well, aier(short one)?”

“What is it that amuses you so, ai’ arwen/ai’heru(little lady/little lord)?”

- Thranduil does not tolerate anyone talking badly or laughing at your height, especially if they use that as a reason to invalidate your royal status or your marriage to him

- despite usually being a pretty calm and collected King, he has had to force Elves and other creatures alike up against walls and remind them who your protector is, whenever he’s heard of them joke about/criticise your height

- since you dont take up much room, most of the time he’ll insist that you sit on his lap and share his throne, rather than sit on your own

- this is also his best excuse at getting you close to him, so that he can admire you and kiss your features

- your body fascinates him, not just in terms of being the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, but in a biological sense he is in awe of how all your vital organs and bones are compacted into such a small form, he thinks you’re a miracle

- again, Thranduil is apparently 6’5”, so majority of people are short in comparison to him, meaning all of these events can apply to mostly anyone

- but an especially small person? you become his little jewel, and he’ll never let you forget it

“You are like a star, ai’mela(little love).”

“How so?”

“You appear so small, but the closer I am to understanding you, the more your beauty exceeds the drop of starlight in the sky that I once thought you were.”

[nocturne-pisces]

Watch chain thots. I planted the seed, now it's his turn.

good morning to everyone except steph. we watched the entire first season of Peaky Blinders yesterday and now apparently I write for Thomas Shelby.

thomas shelby x barmaid!reader

w/c: who gives a dick

warnings: don’t show jesus

Sawdust collects on the skirts of your dress, the tweed of his suit vest crumpled in your hands as the head of his cock breaches your throat.

“Ah, there you are,” he says, the cigarette hanging out of his mouth dropping ash on the floor next to you. He hasn’t even touched the clear rum you brought into his little business side room here at The Garrison, just slammed it down on the table before fixing you with those intense blue eyes.

Ever since he came back from the war, the only thing that can get the picks and the shovels to stop is you and your mouth- in whatever capacity you gave it to him.

You count the links on the chain of his watch. One, two, three; letting it flow between your fingers when he shoves himself past your gag reflex. You choke, retch around him, but the cold of that chain lets you fight past it.

The chair under him squeaks, his hips rutting up and into your face over and over. You hum, his answering hiss satisfying on its own. “I should’ve stolen you sooner, Billy Kimber’s pretty little secretary. Did you choke on him like this?”

You tear yourself out of Tommy’s lap, push up and off of him and wipe your mouth with the back of your hand. Irritation flares up each side of your neck, and Tommy looks as robbed as the first time you held him at gunpoint. “Balls deep in my throat and all you can think about is Billy Kimber.” You scoff, closing the space between you and the door out of the room. “I’ll be sure to send post that you’re thinking of him.”

Just as your hand closes around the doorknob, Tommy lurches forward to pull you back. “Come now, you know I don’t mean it.” He crowds you against the door you were just trying to leave- bunches up your skirt around your waist and finds you completely bare.

His fingers coast along the cut of you, catching your breath in your throat as he sucks a bruise into the pulse on your neck. “I do believe undergarments are part of the barmaid uniform,” he growls, low and hungry in your ear, like anyone could have seen your bare cunt through your clothes if they looked hard enough.

“I saw no such thing in my contract.”

He shakes his head, presses the pads of his two middle fingers against your aching clit and sluices you up with your own arousal. “Then remind me to renegotiate your contract,” he says, pulling his hand from between your legs and spinning you, pressing your front against that same door and kicking your legs wide.

Your kilted laugh falls from your mouth, using the wood to press your ass back into him as he lines himself up. “Sure, I could use higher wages,” you volley. He bottoms out in one swift motion, nips at your ear and ruts into you again. “And if I won’t grant you higher wages?”

You reach back and grip the back of his neck, pull him further into your own as you meet his thrusts. “Well, I’ll just have to tell the most dangerous Shelby that I’m being mistreated, won’t I?”

That dangerous smile you fell in love with spreads across Tommy’s face. “And who is that? Gonna have John rough me up proper, are you?” One particularly deep thrust has your knees getting weak, and Tommy knows it, pulls out of you and sits back down in his chair so he can pull you into his lap.

“Oh, you don’t even know the horrors little Finn can cause. I’ve already bought his loyalty with big city sweets, there’s a truce you won’t be able to shake.”

He lets you capture his mouth, his thumb finding your clit and working quick circles around it while you ride him for everything he’s worth. He loses himself in the tight grip of your cunt, planting his feet to meet your hips with his own. You mewl into his mouth, let him work you over until your toes curl and he lets go with a shout into the valley of your chest.

Panting, he wraps his arms around you, rests his forehead in your sternum and takes in the blessed silence of the early morning at The Garrison. You get along too well with his family. Aunt Pol is smitten with you, has taught you how to use her hair pins to get your hair out of your face. Arthur and John haven’t let you touch a door for yourself since you started here, Finn hangs off of you, and Ada has been caught more than once trading hats with you.

All that’s left is him. In the deafening silence of the bar, the only thing he hears is your breathing, your heartbeat drowning out the phantoms of the French underground and all of his doubt that he was born without a heart.

[saturnsorbits]

Play Away: Part Three

Fandom: My Hero Academia, Warnings: Angst, Smut, Fluff, Complicated Emotions, Discussion of Cheating, Make-Up Sex, Soft Sex, Open-eneded Resolutions. Word Count: 13.9k.

A/N: ‘Resolutions’ are fucking hard.

-> Series Masterlist

Sero groans. This has got to stop happening...

Bakugo shifts his weight from right to left. His fists are curled by his sides, his shoulders tense and almost framing his ears as he refuses to look at the bruise so clearly stark against Sero's tanned skin; instead he chooses to glare straight through him. 'Is she here?

'What's it to you?

The muscle in Bakugo's jaw ticks. 'I'm not trying to start a fight, Hanta.

Something acidic burns in Sero's stomach. The events of the last few days weighs heavy on his shoulders making his whole body feel hollow and weak, he's still reeling from your decision – one he'd known you'd make, but still found himself unprepared for. He cocks an eyebrow. There's a pinkness to Bakugo's cheeks that betrays his authenticity. It's just a shame Sero doesn't think he's quite ready to talk about losing you yet. 'Another fight, you mean?

'Just – fuck – just let me in, okay? 'm not fucking doing this on your damn doorstep.'

'Do what?' Sero sniggers. 'Don't want to throw a punch where other people might see, huh?'

'I just said I'm not here to -.' Anger simmers in Bakugo's stomach. Slamming a hand against the door, he shoulders his way into the apartment without Sero's blessing, although, the other man does nothing to stop him.

'Come on in, why don't you... Can't even choose where you're gonna be assaulted any more. What's the world coming to, hey.' Sero spins on the balls of socked feet, slamming the door behind him as he's confronted with Bakugo.

'Will you just give it a fucking rest?'

Rolling his eyes into the roof of his skull, Sero pretends to think for a moment before letting his gaze freeze against Bakugo's skin. 'Nah.'

'Fuck sake -.' Bakugo's fists are white at his sides. There's a shake in his bones, one that he has to remember to release before it gets the best of him. Taking a soft, controlled breath, he forces himself to relax and wiggles out the tension in his fingers. 'I just want to talk.'

'You've said that.' Huffing through his nose, Sero unfolds his arms to saunter down the hallway and dip back into the living room.

A wave of anger threatens to overcome him, but he swallows it. 'I want to apologise.'

'Go on then.' Sero shouts from the living room, having already taken up post leaning lazily against the kitchen counter.

Letting his head rock back on his shoulder, Bakugo turns, stalking down the hall after Sero only to be stopped short as he passes a bedroom door. His teeth grind so hard, the bone of his jaw aches as the anger he'd tried so hard to hold back flares again in his chest.

Dipping into the room, he snatches at something before making his way to Sero. 'You know what?' He shouts, hand clenching around his stolen prize. 'Fuck the apology -.' Cocking back an arm, he throws the offending item straight at Sero's chest. 'You some kind of fucking pervert or something?'

The underwear hits just below Sero's collarbones and falls almost to his stomach before he has the time to catch them. He rolls the material in his palm. 'What, you jealous?'

'Am I fucking -.' Bakugo steps forward. There's an inferno in his chest, one that demands he gives Sero another blooming bruise to even out his jaw. 'You know, I know those are hers, right?'

A chuckle leaps from Sero's tongue. 'What happened to not being here to start a fight?'

'That was before...' Running a hand down his face, Bakugo hauls in a deep breath. It's a struggle to re-orient himself, to shake the flames licking at his stomach, but he manages it. If only just. Anger is the reason he's here in the first place, he reminds himself. 'I – fuck – I just came here to apologise.'

'Are we just gonna run around in circles or -.' Sero's jaw is wound tight. The underwear in his hand feels like both a blessing and a curse as he struggles not to lose himself to his own fury. Seeing Bakugo again is like a slap in the face, one which he could really do without right now. That little bastard has ruined everything and now, now he was going to take it all back. It makes him sick.

'Fucking, just let me speak, okay?'

Sero rolls his eyes.

'I was a dick for – for hitting you or whatever...' The words don't come easy. They scratch Bakugo's throat as they attempt to climb out of his mouth, coated in venom and bile. 'That was, it was out of order...'

For a moment, Sero just chews the inside of his cheek. His eyes roam over Bakugo's form as he licks at his teeth, tasting the indecision on his own tongue. He slips the underwear into his pocket and holds tight until he's sure he'll have lace indents on his palm. 'Okay.'

'I – I lost control and, fuck, it wasn't just that you fucked her, y'know...' Shaking his head, Bakugo drops his eyes to the floor. 'I knew you had your thing, or whatever, that you liked her, but – I thought that was all... I didn't think you'd just write me off like that, just – fuck – just crawl straight into bed with her like we haven't had each others backs for ten fucking years.'

There's a shimmer of something close to fondness in Sero's chest when Bakugo brings up their friendship. In all the tumult of the last few weeks, in all the time he'd spent drowning in you; it had been all too easy to forget that he and Bakugo had been friends. Good ones too. 'You started it.'

''m not saying I didn't fuck up.' Bakugo shakes his head. 'I know I fucked up, but -.'

'Do you know what all this shit has done to her...' Pushing his weight into his heels, Sero leans a little more against the counter and re-folds his arms. His fingernails dig into the flesh of his elbows and help keep him calm, even as he can feel himself slipping from control. 'All she ever was, was fucking good to you, man and then you -.'

Bakugo snaps. His eyes flick back to meet Sero's, but now they're tear-laden and burning. 'Do you think I wanted all of this to happen? Is that it? You think I wanted to fucking ruin the best thing in my shitty, fucking life?'

'You didn't have to make it worse either.'

'And what would you have done, ha? Tell me what the fuck I was supposed to do when my best fucking friend kisses me out of no-where and fucks up my head? Fuck.' Bakugo swallows, but it's wet. 'And then, I have to go tell her and I've never thought about, fucking, guys or – shit - but – but there was just... And Red, fuck. He's – I don't know what I'd -.' He can feel it, the crumbling as his body caves in on itself. His shoulders shake, his lungs constricting painfully as he gasps for air. 'So, don't make it out like I fucking wanted this. Like, I'm just off somewhere having the time of my fucking life, Hanta, because I am fucking – broken. Okay? The past few weeks have been, they've been...'

Sero relents. His eyes drop to the floor, his guard dropping for just long enough for him to unfold his arms and turn, skirting around behind the counter. He flicks on the kettle and sighs. 'Want a cuppa?'

Bakugo sniffs. 'Black.' Then, thinks for a moment before adding, in a thin voice. 'One sugar.'

Freezing as he lifts two mat-brown cups from the rack, Sero cocks an eyebrow, his mouth pressing into a line, but if he wants to comment, he doesn't. Placing down the cups, he flicks on the kettle.

Taking the offered cup, Bakugo stands awkwardly with one hand tucked into his pocket. He takes a sip of tea.

'You can sit down, y'know.' Skirting back around he counter, his own steaming cup in his hands, Sero chooses to slip himself back into his hammock. He sinks into the material, basking in the soft smell of sex that still lingers.

Bakugo chuffs, but makes his way over to the sofa. There's a hesitance in his muscles as he stoops to sit, his hand automatically patting the cushion behind him before he slides back and relaxes.

'Thanks.'

Sero shrugs.

An uneasy lull blankets the room then, wrapping both of them up as they drink in a beat of silence.

'I never wanted this to fuck us up too...' Bakugo's voice is quiet, almost swallowed by the rim of his cup as he speaks into it, barely lifting his eyes.

'Just her, yeah?' The bite leaks from Sero's voice. Anger swirls in his chest still, a cold vortex of betrayal and jealousy, but even that doesn't stop the pity that rises in his throat. He's never seen Bakugo like this, with his bite gone and his shoulders slumping so much it looks as though he's struggling to hold himself together. It makes his bones fidget. Despite them having grown up, Bakugo had always been the somewhat unwilling leader of their group, someone to turn to and rely on, but now, Sero feels like a solider without orders, watching as his commanding officer slips steadily away.

'I didn't mean for that either, I -.' Tears press at Bakugo's eyes, but he hauls in a breath to stop them.

'I know.'

'I -.'

It's a choice he makes then, to soften. To let go of some of the vitriol and fall, not quite back to neutrality, but to a place where he can think of himself as Bakugo's friend again; not just as whatever he had become to you. Sero hadn't thought about it from the other side. He'd seen a kiss and made up his mind, lost himself to you and your tears and your pain. He hadn't even stopped to think about anything else. 'You don't have to -.' His shoulders stretch causing the hammock to rock. 'You don't have to keep apologising. I get it.'

'Have you iced that jaw?' Warm eyes flick up to the bruise on Sero's jaw. 'Because you should.'

Licking his lips, Sero rolls his eyes. 'S'not too bad.'

'You should still ice it.'

'Maybe later.'

'You got peas?' Bakugo's on his feet before Sero can answer, making his way towards the other man's kitchen and wrenching open the fridge. Rummaging around or a moment, he selects a small packet of mixed summer berries and swipes a small patterned tea towel from the side before wrapping the fruit with it and returning to the living room.

A familiar sense of fondness swells in Sero's chest when the make-shift ice pack is thrust to his chest. He catches it, feeling the cool burn through his t-shirt before gently tossing it over in his palm. He's lost count of the amount of times they'd been in this exact situation before. Sero's late teens had seen him wrapped up in more than his fair share of fights, but Bakugo had always been there, waiting, in the kitchen of the dorms with a bowl of hot ramen, an ice-pack and a lecture. They'd bonded, probably more than anyone else realised over those years. There's a chill in Sero's stomach. He'd almost forgotten. Things had changed though, when you had walked into their lives.

'Thanks.'

'It'll burn, keep it on for at least thirty.' Bakugo throws himself back to the couch. 'And don't refreeze the fruit, you'll ruin it.'

'Yes, Boss.' The nickname slips from his tongue before can catch it.

Bakugo's cheeks darken, a soft 'tch' dropping into the air as he retakes his cup and settles once more, the tension lessoning around his shoulders. 'You've not called me that in years.'

Sero shrugs. 'You've not patched me up in years, either.'

Bakugo's lips part, but no words leave his mouth. He takes another sip of tea. The sugar feels weird against his soft palate, but the sweetness is welcomed and washes the taste of Kirishima from his tongue. After a moment, he clears his throat. 'You and...' The back of his tongue feels dry, despite the tea he's just used to dampen it. 'You and Sparky used to – uh – used to fool around, didn't you?'

Sero cocks an eyebrow. 'Yeah.'

'Is that...' Shuffling on the couch, Bakugo swallows again. 'Is that how you figured out you where...'

'Fluid.' He offers.

Bakugo cocks his head. 'I thought that was a gender thing.'

'It is.' A crooked smile takes Sero's lip. He shifts the compress further down his jaw. 'Also a sexuality thing.'

'Oh.'

For a moment, Sero just lets Bakugo sit. He can practically hear his mind whirring, the cogs catching against each other and grinding horribly. He waits, until he's sure Bakugo isn't going to push it on his own and then, he bites his lip and offers. 'So, you think you're -.'

'I'm not gay.' It whips from Bakugo's tongue too quick and makes him recoil.

'You don't have to say it like that, dude, I'm -.'

'I didn't mean... I don't mean it like that... I just – gay doesn't – it doesn't... Fit.' Shaking his head, Bakugo hauls in a breath. 'It's never been men, at least I've never – I didn't pay attention until Red.'

Leaning forward a little Sero hums. 'You've never just looked at a guy and thought Holy fuck I want to fucking ruin him?'

Bakugo grimaces, nose scrunching. He shakes his head.

'Not even when you've been in the gym? Some guys getting all low on a squat rack, you've never just...' Sero mimes a boner with his index finger and chuckles to himself.

Bakugo shakes his head again.

A small wrinkle creases between Sero's eyebrows, before he releases the tension. 'You ever thought things like that about anyone?'

A snarl takes Bakugo's lip, a harsh curse ready and primed to spear Sero straight through, but before he has the chance to bite, Sero's speaking again.

'Like, before you started liking them...'

'Of fucking course I -.'

'Really?..'

'What's it fuckin' matter, if I -.'

Tipping out of his hammock, Sero tilts his head. 'You ever heard of something called demisexuality?'

Bakugo shakes his head.

'It's like... You only experience sexual attraction to someone when you have romantic feelings first. Could be why the whole thing with Kirishima took you out of left field...' With wide, eyes Sero watches as Bakugo digests his words.

'I -.' Swallowing, Bakugo worries the inside of his cheek. 'I don't...'

'You don't have to figure it all out now, it takes time, y'know.' For the first time in weeks, Sero feels himself smile at Bakugo and mean it. Despite the hurt, the anger that dwells deep below his breast bone the hot flurry of friendship, of a compassion cultivated over frozen peas and bruised skin and countless nights spent awake and talking about nothing and everything threatens to swallow him whole. He wants to slip from his hammock and wrap an arm around him, but he won't. Neither of them are quite ready for that yet. 'It takes time.'

Bakugo's eyes have filled with tears. They swim, making his iri's boats on the pain that swells inside of him. He feels small, lost in the face of both himself and the situation around him. 'I don't have time.'

'Of course you have time.'

'But... She, she deserves an answer: now.'

Sero can't fault him there. 'Maybe that is the answer.'

'What?'

'Time.'

Bakugo's face contorts then, his mouth twists into a snarl, his brow furrowing, but he doesn't bark. Instead, a sob leaps from his chest. 'I never thought I'd be in love until I met her, y'know. Thought – thought I'd just grow old, alone. I was – I was okay with it, it didn't bother me and then... And then, her.'

There's a lump in Sero's throat that he can't swallow. He lifts the frozen berries from his jaw for a final time and sets them down awkwardly over his half-full cup of tea.

'She's just so fucking right. Like, I just knew. Her. And it was good, it was so... And then, then – I.' Another sob, this time with tears.

Bakugo's throat is raw, his skin is already ripening now, used to the waterfall that has taken up partial residence on his face. 'I'm such a fucking piece of shit, man. I mean – who the fuck does that – who throws away -.'

'You fucked up.' Sero's voice is harsh, although the razor edge has long since faded.

'You think I don't know that -.'

'But,' Holding up a hand, Sero silences him. 'The least you can do is talk it all out with her, man. She deserves to hear...' He waves his hand in the air. '… All this. How you're feeling, what's going on in your head, y'know.'

Wiping his eyes with the back of a hand, Bakugo pinches his shirt and dries his face leaving a darkening patch on the material. 'I was going to... After -.'

Sero chuffs. 'After you came here.'

'You're – you're a – a friend.' Bakugo shrugs, trying to seem nonchalant, but his eyes flicker to Sero anxious to observe the range of emotions that pull and pluck at his face. There's a nervousness in his stomach, something that squirms when Sero meets his eye. 'You deserve an apology too... And I know, I know it's gonna take a lot more than -.'

Biting his lip, Sero can't force down the wave of fondness that takes over his chest. He meets Bakugo's eye and nods. 'Thanks.' Shifting, he lets a crooked grin take his lip. 'For what it's worth, I probably would have hit you too...'

Bakugo laughs at that. It's an ugly noise, one that claws its way up his throat and spills out from his chest. 'You had your chance.'

'And ruin that pretty face? I wouldn't commit such a travesty.'

'Wish I could say the same...' Bakugo nods. 'Think I made you look better with that right hook, though.'

'S'not what your girlfriend thinks...'

For a moment Bakugo's eyes go wide. There's a pain in his chest that makes him wince, but he shakes it off. A soft huff leaves his lips. 'Too soon...'

'I didn't -.'

'There's no saying that she'll even – After, after all – Fuck.'

Bakugo crumbles again, but this time, Sero finds it in him to move. He slinks across the living room and tosses himself to the sofa, letting his thigh press heavily against Bakugo's. When he doesn't flinch away, he lets the rest of his body relax, pushing his side and shoulder against him to. The last few weeks stretch out in front of him as right and wrong blend to grey in front of him. 'I'm not...' He sighs, readjusts his tongue. 'I'm not gonna apologise for sleeping with her. I wanted it. I still want it... But, fuck, I didn't mean to, to do this to you.'

'Did this to myself.'

'I'm saying that I should have spoken to you first.' Sero knocks against his shoulder. 'Not that you don't deserve it...'

Bakugo swallows, but nods. 'Thank you...'

'Huh?'

'For the hard truth... For – for looking after her when I failed her.' He lays a hand on Sero's knee and squeezes. 'You're a better man than I am.'

Sero snorts. 'Well, we all knew that.'

Hauling in a deep breath, Bakugo let's the weight in his stomach pull him up from the couch. He shakes out his legs and picks at his shirt where it sticks to his chest. The spinning in his head is fading now, his sense of control returning as if his body has finally started to thaw. For all the weeks he's spend floundering, drowning in his own bad choices and misery, he feels something determined zip in his veins, something that demands action. It is about time he started trying to do right again, clean up his own mess. 'I should – I need to -.'

'Yeah.' Sero slaps his thighs and rocks to stand. 'Yeah, course.'

'I know... I know we're not okay or anything, but -.'

A laugh trickles over Sero's lips as they navigate themselves out of the living room and down the corridor. He has a hand on Bakugo's shoulder, his fingers just digging slightly into the muscle there. 'We'll see.'

Bakugo nods. It's all he can do. Still, there's something lighter in his chest knowing that he's finally put the right foot forward. Turning on his heel, he waits with his hand on the doors catch as Sero flicks up his eyebrows and reaches into his pocket. The air jams in his throat when he notices the lace in Sero's hand, hanging limp from his fingers.

'You gonna take these back?'

Swallowing hard, Bakugo tears his eyes from the material and instead stares at Sero. His hardens his jaw when he speaks. No matter how much he wants to deny it, there was something between you and Sero that was none of his business and he's in no place to be meddling now. 'They ain't mine to take back... If – If she let you keep them then that's – that's her decision.'

Surprise causes Sero's face to twist. His eyebrows arc, mouth dropping ajar as he chooses his next words carefully and with a cocked head. 'And you're okay with that?'

'Doesn't matter what I'm okay with...' Bakugo shrugs, before adding a softer. 'She really fuckin' cares about you, y'know.'

That makes Sero smile. There's a sense of awkward camaraderie between them, one born from you and the intangible way both of them feel. It makes his cheeks blush and forces his eyes to the floor. 'Yeah. You too.' He shakes it off, scared that he might become desperate, beg Bakugo to stay away from you... Fuck, his fists tighten at his sides. He wants to hit him, but he won't. It's Bakugo you want after all, he reminds himself. It tastes bitter now, remembering how you'd looked, how you'd told him he'd lost a war he'd never intended to start. Swallowing it down, he forces a half-smile to his mouth. 'She deserves the world, Katsuki... If you're not going to give her it, there are other people who will.' Sero's eyes are hard. 'Remember that.'

Bakugo nods and then, he's gone.

'You best get the fuck off my doorstep, right now.'

Kirishima spooks, almost falling over as he shifts to stand from where he had been sitting, crossed legged on the pavement. 'I -.'

Anger flares in your stomach, overtaking you in a violent inferno that makes you see nothing, but red. 'I swear, if you -.'

'I just...' Kirishima shrinks. His shoulders are concave, his knees almost knock-turned as he picks at the hem of his t-shirt. He'd known this was a bad idea as soon as it had entered his head, but there was something restless inside of him that refused to let him settle. He'd tried to stay away, walked past your house four times before finally, giving in and collapsing on your door step. He just – he needed to try, to explain, to exercise this wrong inside of him that was making him sick. 'I just want to talk.'

There's a knot forming in your chest, one that threatens to choke you, but you bite down the surge of pain to snarl. Seeing him again brings it all back with a vengeance making your hands shake as you ball them to fists at your sides. 'Who the fuck says I want to talk to you?'

He flinches, eyes falling to the floor. 'No. I know, I know that -.'

'Do you?' Your voice has dropped to low growl. It bubbles in your throat. 'Do you really?'

'I -.' He's still looking down at his shoes when the tears start to fall onto the concrete below. There's so much bubbling inside of him, a horrible mix of guilt and rejection and anxiety that drowns him with every breath he tries to take. His lungs fight him, constricting horribly as he tries to spit out words. 'I don't know what to do – I – I didn't want...'

Shaking your head, you force yourself to look at him. There's something painful, seeing him like this while knowing what he's done. The usual sunshine has gone from his smile, warped and changed into something small and sad. And, If you look, if you really look, you can even see a slither of your pain reflecting back at you. It makes you flinch. 'Just – fuck – just go. If you're here looking for Katsuki he's not -.'

'I'm not – I wanted to talk to you.'

'Why?'

'I – I fucked up.'

Your tongue finds a back molar and presses, hard, until the tip of your tooth begins to hurt. 'I don't want to hear it, okay?'

'I just -.'

'Listen -.'

'I need this -.'

The tension in your stomach churns, kicking up heat. 'That's just the fucking problem though, isn't it?' Your knuckles stretch white as you clench your fists tighter. 'This has all been because – you – wanted something. You wanted Katsuki and now you want to talk. It's all you, you, you!' There's a storm in your voice, something cold and violent that threatens to swallow you whole. Had the wound been fresher you might have cried, might have reduced yourself to your knees and let the hollow inside of you force you to the floor; but on shaky legs, you manage to stay standing.

Whatever was going to spill from Kirishima next is swallowed. He worries his lip until sharp teeth almost tear the skin and then, then he lets himself cry. Tears rolls down his cheeks as he tries to stem the bleed in his chest. As soon as his lips had touched Bakugo's he'd known he was making a mistake, that he was going to destroy so much, but who was he to deny heaven when he had only just managed to get a taste? A better man would have resisted, but Kirishima had learned a long time ago that he wasn't the shining star everyone else thought he was and this... This was just the proof. 'I'm sorry.'

You toe at the concrete. 'Sorry doesn't really change anything now though, does it?'

He nods and wipes the stickiness of his nose with the back of a hand. 'I just, it hurt so fucking much...' A hiccup almost steals his breath, but when you don't interrupt, he pushes on scared that your patience with him will snap. '… And I always, fuck, I always promised myself that it was okay... Because - because he had you and he was happy and you where, you where so good for him and I, I could never compete with that.'

The anger doesn't fade as Kirishima's words wash over you, it simmers under your skin and makes your body vibrate. You fold your arms. 'What's your point? You decided to ruin my entire relationship to test out some stupid little crush?'

A chuckle slips from Kirishima's lips. He slicks a hand through his hair, tousling ruffled, un-styled red as more tears mark out rivers on his cheeks. A crush, he thinks, if only. His voice is almost a whisper when he speaks, broken and dragging itself over his teeth like a wounded solider. 'I'm in love with him...'

The air stops in your lungs. 'You're what?'

'Since high school, I think.' Scratching his nails down his hair, Kirishima chances a look at you. 'And I know, I know that doesn't mean anything and it definitely doesn't fix anything, but I – I couldn't just -.'

The ice in your veins only seems to spread when you see the watery truth in his eyes. Suddenly, your somewhat strained friendship with Kirishima makes sense. All those nights he'd left parties early, excusing himself before anyone could get too drunk and too handsy. The small downturn of his mouth when you'd kiss Bakugo before they left for the gym. His refusal to talk about his love life, the seemingly faceless, blonde men Mina would tell you he'd take to bed only to usher out in the morning without so much as an exchanging of numbers. It makes your head spin. 'Why? Why didn't you -'

He shrugs, smiles. 'He was happy. I – I just want him to be happy.'

'So what?' A broken, stuttering laugh is forced from your lungs as you speak again. Your head is still reeling, your chest tightening horribly as you watch Kirishima try to wrestle back some of the composure he'd been wearing for the last ten years. You can see it, the shredded cape of his pretending. It swings loose from his shoulders, torn at the edges – a barely there scrap you don't think he could have kept hold of much longer if he tried. 'You where just going to torture yourself forever?'

'I tired to move on.' Stumbling, he rocks on his heels before resigning himself back to the step. He folds his knees to his chest, wrapping strong arms around them to keep him upright. 'But, I just... They where never, they where never him.'

Chewing at the inside of your mouth, you force the tightness from your chest with a breath and wonder towards him. The concrete of the step is cold and hard under you as you cross your legs and perch against it's ledge, but the heaviness in your chest keeps you down and balanced. 'He's not the kind of person you're gonna find in someone else.'

Kirishima snorts. 'Yeah.'

Stretching out your legs, you move to rid yourself of the tension building in your joints. There's no point in being venomous now, not when your prey is already too weakened by his own choices and refusing to put up a good fight. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you curse the day you first laid eyes on Bakugo Katsuki. You think Kirishima might do the same. And yet, neither of you would be without him.

After a moment, Kirishima sniffles again. Being close to you burns, but the proximity also brings a strange sense of familiarity. He looks up, peering over his arm at you. You're beautiful with your chin tilted up to the sky and a storm lingering on your cheeks. He'd never wanted to hurt you, never wanted to destroy the thing he'd been trying to protect for all this time, but curiosity is a tricky emotion and one that had demanded its answer. Even if he's not sure he wants that answer anymore. 'I'll – I'll do anything. I'll stay away from him. I – fuck... I'll block his number, tell him, tell him that I can't do it any more that I -.'

'I can't make you do that, Kiri.'

It's the first time you've shortened his name in weeks. He knows it shouldn't, knows it's stupid and premature, but not even logic can stop the momentary warmth that blooms so easily in his chest. 'But -.'

'No.' You shake your head. You're tired. Too tired to fight. You think of Kirishima, think of the mess he's made of himself for you. There wasn't any fairness in this, even if there was fault. Rolling your shoulders you steal a glance at Kirishima. He's looking at you, oddly familiar crimson iris' shining as he blinks. The scar over his eye looks paler in the light.

'But what if -.'

'He's lost enough...' Your voice is small, knuckles red and sore from where you're twisting them in your lap.' I don't want him to lose you too.'

'Fuck...' Kirishima sobs. Your selflessness makes something vile bite at his own stomach as his own insecurities make their resurgence. This is why... He knows that now. You always where so much better than him. 'He chose you.'

'He shouldn't of had to choose at all.' A lick of venom slips back into your throat, but it's quickly combatted by the rough honesty of Kirishima's mumbled next words.

'I – I think he was always going to have to... In, in the end.'

His words are like a knife slipping clean between your ribs and you have to resist the urge to touch your side to feel for the non-existent wound. He's probably right, you think, although you don't grant him the honour of hearing it slip from your lips. The years Kirishima had spent cradling his own broken heart in his hands had probably saved you though, had he snapped and bared himself like this any sooner, you're not even sure if you'd have been Bakugo's first choice at all. The thought makes you shiver.

'But, I don't think I'd have stood a chance then, either.' He laughs, but it's hollow. 'He loves you.' Not me... The thought lingers at the edges of his mind, but he doesn't say it. He doesn't think he'd be able to stand it. Bakugo feels... Something, for him, but a something without a name wouldn't stand a chance of beating out the love he has for you. He knows that. He knew that. But all that does is make the proof sting a little more.

For a moment, you just sit and bask in the awkward stickiness of the emotions spilling at your feet. The angers still there, bubbling soft under the surface of your skin, but there's something else too. Something more complicated that bites at your insides and makes every thought running through your head feel fuzzy. 'He cares a lot about you too, you know.'

Kirishima's cheeks darken, but he keeps his eyes trained on his shoes. 'Sometimes – sometimes I wish he didn't.'

You chuckle. 'Don't lie.'

'I -.'

The something in your stomach squirms again, forcing you to shiver to see if you can shift it. It doesn't work.

'I really am, y'know....' Kirishima worries his lip. '… Sorry. I never, never wanted any of this to -.'

'It's done now...' A sigh breaches your lip as you turn back towards the sky. 'I just hope it doesn't ruin all of us.'

Kirishima goes without being invited in, leaving you cold and shell-shocked on your doorstep, but even with him long gone the conversation lingers deep in your chest. It's barely 6pm when you find yourself crawling into your bed and turning the volume down on your TV to a whisper. Your bed still feels too big, too cold and too empty. At some point in the weeks following Bakugo's confession, you'd bought extra pillows and piled them high behind you, creating a poor recreation to fill the space that had been left behind. On some nights, you even slip a hot water bottle between them. Still, it doesn't quite ease the ache.

A knock at your door makes you roll over. Your face is pressed to the cotton, right where his chest should be. The water bottle underneath heats your cheek, it's awkward sloshing almost reminiscent of his breath, slow and sure and steady. Only it's not quite right. Rolling again, you press your back to the pillows instead and drape your own arm across your stomach, imagining it belongs to someone else. The second knock has your eyes opening. The third your legs swinging over the side of the bed. You don't bother to push your feet into your slippers, letting the cold bite at your skin instead as you pad towards the front door and throw it open.

'Did I wake you up?'

'Yeah. I -.' Shaking your head, you try and deal with the sudden swimming sensation that fills your stomach. Your whole body responds to him on impulse, heart picking up in your chest as you watch him try to control the hammering in his own.

Bakugo's eyes hit the floor as disappointment coats his tongue. 'I can go if you -.'

Sleep cloys your thoughts, slowing down how quickly you can process the colliding of emotions inside of you. Your knees feel weak, but you manage to stay standing. Seeing him really does feel good – like the coming together of two parts of a whole: Your life a cracked vase trying to be pieced back together again. 'I called.'

Nodding, he swallows. 'I missed it. I'm sorry.'

'I thought -.' Holding yourself together feels impossible as you feel the dull swell of the last few weeks build like a wave and crash straight through your composure.

Bakugo steps forward, but pauses just before he can crowd into your space. Raised hands fall back to his sides, knuckles whitening as he struggles with the urge to reach out and hold you. Lifting his chin, he tries to stop the small ponds nestled in his eyes from leaking. 'Can I -?'

You nod and all, but fall into his embrace when he finally closes the distance between you. Wrapping his arms around your waist, he holds tight and rests his chin against your head. You press your hands to his chest and fist at his shirt, pulling the material taut over his back. For a moment, you let yourself forget, let the weight of your heartbreak wash from your shoulders as you bask in him. He smells the same, like his mother's detergent. 'I've missed you.'

'I missed you too. Fuck, I've missed you so fucking much, Princess.' For a while, Bakugo lets himself sink. Until a sob breaks from your lips and the world comes crashing back down on him. He tucks his nose into your neck and narrowly resists the urge to press his lips to soft skin. 'We should – we should talk.'

'Yeah.' Forcing yourself to step back and unfurl your limbs from around him, you swallow hard. 'Yeah... Do you, do you want to come in?'

He nods, letting his hand trail down your arm as you turn to let him pass into the hallway. It's odd being in a place he used to think of as home, but feeling like a stranger. Nothing has changed, not physically at least. The couch is still slightly sunken at one end, the kitchen an easy balance between cluttered and clean and the smell of you is everywhere. It makes his head spin, causes the hairs on the back of his neck to stand to attention.

'Do you want -.' You shrug in your t-shirt, the loose material feeling somehow tight.

'I've drank enough tea to drown myself today.' A chuckle bubbles up his throat.

Slipping into your kitchenette, you try and push away the flashbacks of the last time you'd been in these close quarters with him. Your hands shake, but one glance towards him hovering in your living room has the tension evaporating from your stomach within a second. He looks nervous. Not just nervous, he looks terrified.

Turning your back on him, you flick on the kettle. 'How've you been?' Bakugo snorts. 'Honestly... Fucking terrible.' He looks at you through his fringe. 'You?'

The kettle boils. You lift it from the coil to tip into your cup. 'Somewhere in-between.'

'I – I saw Sero. He -.'

'Bakugo.' You spin, pre-empting the outburst, but whatever you think you're going to see you don't. Instead, there's a crease between his eyebrows and a sheen to his eyes and something you can't quite place resting on the bow of his lip.

He shakes his head. 'I'm glad...' The words taste odd on his tongue and kick up Hell in his chest, but he says them anyway. He says it because its true. 'I'm glad you've had him. That he's been there though... y'know, through all of this.'

You lick your lips. For some reason, Bakugo's concession makes your chest warm. Turning around, you smile down at your cup before moving back into the living room. 'You wanted to talk?'

Shifting, he takes a seat on the sofa only when you sit first. Your knee bumps his and he has to fight the urge to cry. 'I – I owe you an explanation... I mean, I owe you so fucking much, but I wanna, I don't know, tell you about, about what's being going on in my head and...'

You don't talk, just sip at your tea.

'When...' Bakugo clears his throat. Leaning forward on his elbows, he digs them into the fleshy part of his thighs using the pain to ground himself. 'When Kirishima – when he … Well, he kind of threw everything out of the window for me. I – I've never thought about... About men, or if I...' He steals a glance at you and his heart twists when his eyes meet yours. You sip your tea again and smile, urging him on softly. 'I didn't have to. I had you.'

'So you... You think you're -.' There's a crease in your brow as you try to read in-between his lines, you hadn't even considered this being larger than a Kirishima issue, but he offers you a straight answer before you have to think too hard.

'No. I - I don't know.' He shakes his head, swallows. Sitting back up, he rakes his hand through his hair. 'This whole thing, it fucked me up, but that isn't an excuse for... It's not – I'm still an asshole for, for betraying your trust like that.'

You swallow and toy with the tea in your cup, making it swirl. 'Can I ask you a question?'

He looks up, nodding while unease turns his stomach.

'Before...' Sucking in a breath, you lick at your teeth before pushing through. There's a small well of burning questions threatening to spill over in your stomach and if you don't drum up the courage to ask now, you don't know when you ever will. 'Before all of this, you didn't, you didn't think about him like that -.'

'No.' It's an easy answer. A broken smile pulls at Bakugo's mouth. 'It's only ever been you.'

There's a spark somewhere deep in your chest that wriggles when you look at him and find nothing, but pure honesty. 'And now?'

'It's still you. Whatever I feel – whatever I could feel for Kirishima it – it’s not -.' He's about to continue, about to awkwardly try and wax poetic about the way his chest feels as though it's caving in whenever he thinks about being without you, about how he wants more than anything for this to work, but before he can your stomach growling interrupts him.

'Oh.' You press a hand to your stomach. 'Sorry.'

He shakes his head, a chuckle on his lips. 'No... Do you – do you want me to leave so you can eat or?'

'Or... You could cook?' It falls out of your mouth on impulse and all too quickly, but something about just having Bakugo back in your apartment has you softening. Still, you can't help but think that this conversation will be better had while both of you are a touch distracted.

Bakugo's head snaps up to you, his eyes shining as a grin slowly takes his mouth. There's a haze in his stomach, a fuzziness to the edge of his thoughts as he watches you share in his smile. 'I'd love to.'

'I don't know what I've got in...' Still perched on the sofa, you watch as he slowly comes back into his own. There's something beautiful about it, watching some of the tension from the last few weeks slip from his shoulders.

'I'll figure something out.' He stands and tugs at the lip of his jeans before offering out a hand to you. 'Fancy being my sous chef?'

You giggle, but take his hand. His fingers are calloused, scratching at your skin. You've missed their warmth. 'If that means sitting on the counter top and critiquing the way you cut your peppers, then sure.'

Hauling you to your feet, his heart stutters in his chest when you stand into his personal space. 'Always.'

He does a horrible job of hiding his blush, but all that does is warm your stomach. With reluctance, he lets his hand slide from yours and turns, slinking off into the kitchenette. You follow on his heels, watching as he begins to open and close cupboards, plucking out herbs, spices and cans as he goes.

'Is curry okay?' Anxiety still thrums under his skin, but it diminishes with each passing second leaving him raw with the need to earn back some of you respect. He knows one curry won't solve anything, but it's a start. Yanking open the fridge, he peers into the yellow fluorescence with narrowed eyes.

Your stomach rumbles in answer. 'Curry sounds good.'

'Right.' Shutting the fridge with an arm full of vegetables, he lays them all out on the counter before peering over his shoulder. There's a wave of nostalgia that threatens to swallow him whole when he notices you already perched on the edge of the counter top. Chewing the inside of his cheek, he lets himself stare for only a fraction longer than is necessary before turning back to the cutting board. The knives are where they've always been, which shouldn't be a surprise.

In total, you've only been officially in relationship limbo for a little over three weeks and yet, it makes his chest tighten when he slips his favourite paring knife from the draw and sets it on the side.

'You want me to prep anything?' You swing your legs off the side, knocking your heels against the counter to try and rid yourself of the butterflies slowly beginning to wake up in your stomach. There's something so easy about the way Bakugo moves around your kitchen... If you don't think too hard, it's almost as if nothing happened, as if the past few weeks have just been a bad dream. Something itches at the nape of your neck, but you ignore it. You have to.

'Nah, you just sit there and look pretty -.' Bakugo bites his tongue as soon as the words slip from his mouth. Turning, he sends a sheepish glance over his shoulder; an apologetic blush coating his features.

Hope blooms in your stomach so quickly that you taste it's sweetness on your tongue. 'Fine by me.' You shrug. 'I've kinda missed having a personal chef.'

Bakugo snorts, loud and ugly. 'Gonna start charging you, if you carry on.'

'You wouldn't.'

'Yeah... You're right.' He smiles to himself, dicing a third carrot. 'I wouldn't dream of it.'

'Do you... Do you mind if I ask a few more questions?' Knotting your fingers in your lap, it makes your entire chest shake as you gently break the new, soft peace encasing your kitchen. You half expect him to tense up, deny you even, but he doesn't do anything of the sort.

Twisting at the hip, he makes sure to look you directly in the eye when he speaks. 'Ask me anything you want...' The blush colouring his cheeks darkens. If he wants this, he knows he has to force himself through the unsteadiness still sloshing around in his stomach. He nods. 'I don't want to hide, not from you -.'

Wrapping your fingers around your knees, you press at the flesh making soft dimples. 'What...' Your tongue feels heavy in your mouth. Once upon a time there hadn't been any doubt. Once upon a time, there hadn't been Sero Hanta. Sero Hanta who had started a kindling in between your ribs, who had been gentle and kind and held you together when you'd been sure you would fall apart.'What do you want, from me... from, from this.'

'I want this to work...' He stops cutting, laying the knife down. 'More than anything I want... I want you, what we used to have. If you'll even have me.'

You exhale and chew at your lip to stop a smile, the dull pain a reminder not to get ahead of yourself. 'It's not going to be easy.'

'I know.' Pulling pots from a cupboard, he sits one on the stove and roots about in the spice rack he bought you as he speaks. 'I'm not expecting you to just... Just push aside all this shit though. I know I'm going to have to earn it back... The trust, your love, everything.'

'And you still want -.'

He cuts you off as he slips the diced vegetables into the now simmering pan and sets about mixing his stock. 'When have I ever give up because something was hard, huh? I'd cut my own balls off if it'd make you happy.'

Your nose wrinkles, scrunching the skin as he turns and raises his eyebrows at you. There's a seriousness in his face, one that creates the ridge between his eyebrows and makes him look as if he's scowling. 'Nice imagery.' You chuckle.

'I mean it.' The laughter swimming in your eyes makes him confident, makes him act out to see if he can earn more of it. He's missed it – your joy. Missed it so much he's willing to do anything to keep it. Swiping a knife from the cutting board, he brandishes the thing at the crotch of his jeans. 'Just say the word...'

Shaking your head, you slip from the counter and hold up your hands in mock surrender. 'Put the knife down, now, c'mon... No need to harm the boys.' You reach out and wrap a hand around his wrist.

'Think of the children.'

That breaks him. His lips break into a smile, exposing incisors as he rolls his eyes. There's no reluctance in his grip when your hand slips over his and gingerly takes he knife and slip it back onto the side, but his entire body freezes up when you look up at him and smirk.

'I like your balls too much for you to cut 'em off.'

'You like my balls?' His eyebrows arc, but the tension in his chest leaves as you gradually drift back to your perch.

Hopping back onto the counter, you shrug. 'I think they're your best quality.'

'You know what...' He snorts. 'I'll take it.' Turning back to the hob, he finishes mixing his stock. If he doesn't keep himself busy, he's scared he'll do something stupid – like kiss you or cry… or leave, so instead, he focuses on the food.

Questions buzz through your mind as a new, slightly lighter silence descends on the kitchen. There's a million things you want to know, but there's more that can only be proven with time. Fidgeting, you clear your throat. 'Kirishima was here...' Bakugo's back tenses, you can see the muscle twitch under his shirt. 'He offered to cut you off... Sounded like he knew you where coming back here.'

Bakugo nods, but the movement feels disjointed. He swallows. Honesty: He reminds himself. 'He stayed with me... The other night, after... After everything with Sero. We -.'

You hold up a hand. 'I don’t want to know... We've both -.' The words drop from your tongue, your brain urging caution should you have to re-open a wound liable to change both of your minds.

'Yeah. I -.'

'No, Bakugo.' Painting a smile onto your lips, your voice is gentle when you speak. The thought of him and Kirishima burns, but you're sure that Bakugo bears similar scars. He'd had the misfortune of walking in on you and Sero after all. All you have is a fact, a conversation with a broken man crying on your doorstep and another that stands in your kitchen, ready to bare his soul for another chance. 'If this is gonna work, there's some stuff we're just gonna have to accept. Me and Sero – it's – it's no different.'

It takes a second for the coils of tension to slip from his shoulders, but once they finally do, he heaves in a breath. 'Yeah. I'm – fuck – it doesn't make me less sorry though.'

'I know...'

'If you don't want me to see him, I'll -.'

'I'm not gonna make you do that. It wouldn't be fair -.'

Mouth dropping open, Bakugo barely managed to wheeze a syllable before you're cutting him off.

'To either of you.' Sighing, you suck at the inside of your cheek. 'I – I appreciate what you're trying to do, but we need to be reasonable. He's been your best friend for years, Katsuki. If any of that changes, I don't want it to be because of me... And,' you pause. 'I'd expect you to extend the same curtsey to Sero.'

'I wouldn't -.' Bakugo starts as something bubbles in his stomach. 'It's not my place to demand anything like that, plus... I meant it when I said I'm glad you've had him.'

The sharp smell of spice has started to infest the kitchen, drifting lazily from the pot that slowly sizzles on the hob. It makes your stomach rumble and you slip from the side again, anxious to get another, closer, lungful of the deliciousness.

'Coconut milk?' Stirring the pot, Bakugo finishes preparing the rice you'd idly watched him boil and pauses – waiting for your answer.

'Is it hot?'

'For me, no... For you, probably.' He dips a spoon into the simmering curry and offers it out to you, a hand hovering under it as to catch any spills. There's an odd, simple domesticity to the way he knows to wait for you to blow on it twice before pressing it soft to your lips, but his chest still flips into his throat when he watches you moan around the mouthful. 'Good?'

You hum, swallowing down your spoonful before letting your tongue loll out of your mouth. 'Definitely need coconut milk though.'

Not one noise of complaint leaves Bakugo's mouth as he searches a cupboard for a small can and empties it entirely into the pot. He doesn't even separate the meal, portioning out his own to prevent it from becoming tainted by your more sensible palate. 'You wanna set the table?'

'Sure thing.' Humming, you set about pulling bowls from shelves and cutlery from draws before drifting to set them out on the breakfast bar. You place Bakugo's plate on the side nearest the kitchen and yours opposite, before you're gently hip-checked out of the way as he begins to plate up the curry at the bench.

'How is it?' Bakugo joins you at the table after soaking the pans and refuses to take a bite of his meal before you do. Instead, he shoves pieces of carrot around his bowl with a spoon and waits, his eyes watching as you dig in and blow on a mouthful.

As soon as the curry touched your tongue, you moan again.

Smirking, Bakugo finally begins to eat. 'I'll take that as a good thing.'

'Mmm.' You sigh, take another bite and sigh again. 'It's good. So fucking good.'

Laughter bubbles in Bakugo throat as he watches your cheeks heat and a small smile take your lip. It makes his whole body feel warm, his chest swelling as he thanks any and all of the Gods for this moment.

For a while, you let yourself enjoy the moment, but the all too familiar tug of unfinished business tugs at your heart. Sipping from a glass of water, you clear your throat. 'If we're gonna do this, I – I think we should set some boundaries.'

'Boundaries?'

'If you want this to work, we need to do it properly. No forgetting anything and sweeping all of this under the rug -.' It feels formal, sitting across from your soon-to-be-boyfriend-again as you attempt to negotiate the new lines of your relationship and yet, the eagerness in his eyes brings with it a sense of new beginnings and right feet forward.

'Agreed.' Bakugo nods before setting down his spoon. 'I'd like to go back to dating you...' He can feel his cheeks heating, his heart threatening to beat out of his chest as he shares his attention between you and the remaining curry in his bowl. '… Like when we first met. Taking you out all the time and shit – fucking – courting you or whatever the hag used to call it.'

You giggle and lick your lips. 'I think I'd like that.'

'But, we have to communicate.' He flicks up his eyebrows. 'If you feel like I'm, I don't know, that I'm being pushy or moving too quick – you tell me, yeah?'

'Same goes for you.' You tack on quickly.

'Of course.'

Biting at the inside of you cheek, you roll ideas in your head before hitting on another boundary. 'And... We're allowed to be mad.'

His eyebrows scrunch at that, the deep crease of skin twitching slightly.

'For a little while anyway... I don't know about you, but I – I can't forgive everything over night and - '

'You've every right.'

'As do you.'

Bakugo huffs and leans over the table slowly. He rests his hand on the surface, palm up and flexes his fingers. 'I must have been a fucking good man in a past life...'

'You're still a good man.' You look from his hand to him and back again, but it doesn't take much to convince you to slip your hand into his. 'You just got a little lost for a minute back there.'

His fingers wrap yours instantly, turning until he can draw a smooth line across your knuckles with a thumb. 'I'm just glad that you're willing to try again. I – I don't know what I'd do... If – if you didn't...' Voice cracking, he drops his gaze and smiles at his half-finished bowl.

The touch makes your body heat, your heart hitting a soft rhythm in your chest as you let the night wash over you.

After a moment or two, Bakugo places the softest of kisses to the back of your hand and then, his warmth is gone. 'Can we count this as one of our dates?'

You hum and cock your head, ghosts of date-nights past whispering sweet nothings into your ears. 'Dinner and movie?'

'I'll even let you pick.'

Pretending to think, you suck your lip into your mouth before letting it pop. 'Okay.'

Gathering everything from the table, you slip back into the old sway of your relationship like a well-worn t-shirt. You wash the dishes, while he dries them tidying them all away into their right places like he'd never left. By the time you retire to the couch, you're thoroughly sunken, basking in what could still be as Bakugo falls asleep only twenty minutes into the first film you'd put on.

'Bakugo...' Nudging him with an elbow, you peer up from your position pressed to his chest. 'Baku – Katsuki.' You move his fringe from his face, slipping your hands through his hair. He stirs only a little at your touch, leaning into the scratches you litter at his crown. 'Kat – Baby... Baby, wake up...'

'Mmm.' Humming low in the back of his throat, he shifts, tossing a leg over you and wrapping his arms tight effectively pinning you to his chest. His nose is pressed to the curve of your neck, his breath fanning hot over your collarbone as he lapses back into his slumber.

'Baby.' Wriggling, you're already tempted to give-up on your efforts to wake him when lips press to your shoulder.

Freezing immediately, Bakugo's throat clicks when he opens his mouth to speak. 'Fuck... I'm sorry, I didn't think – I.'

Shivers slink down your spine from the place his lips had touched, tossing up possibility in your stomach as you unconsciously tilt your head.

The long expanse of your throat makes him swallow. He can remember what it was like, to touch, to taste and take. Once upon a time he'd thought he'd known the expanse of your body, all it's freckles and marks, scars and blemishes, but now, as he stares at the turn of your jaw and the small half-moon of your ear he think he might have always been blind. 'Can I – Is this... Okay?'

Stretching out your neck further, you whine until you feel the press of his lips once more. You've missed it: him. 'It's okay.'

The next kiss he lays against your skin is open mouthed. His tongue slips from behind his lips, tasting the salt on your skin as he trails upwards and gently chews at your ear lobe. 'And this?' He pecks your cheek.

'S'okay, too.' You chuckle when you feel him snicker against your skin, but you're shifting before he can even gift you a second kiss on your cheek. Reaching up, you wedge your arm between your chests and cup his face, brushing a thumb across the bone. There's something simmering under the surface of your skin, something you know Bakugo can feel too as you gaze at something that seems a lot like home reflect back at you in crimson eyes. 'Can I have a proper kiss, too?'

'Anything you want, Princess...' His eyes crease as he leans in indulging you with a gentle press of his lips on yours before he reels back just a fraction. 'I'll give you anything you want.'

You wrap your arms around his neck as he scatters more kisses across your face. Some land on your lips, while others are are gifted to your cheeks, your eyelids, the tip of your nose, as he devotes himself to covering every inch of skin.

Everything is easy with Bakugo and falling back into him is no exception.

He feels it before he hears it, the soft whine that leaks from your lips as he kisses the turn of your jaw again. There's no way to tell how long he's been kissing you, but if the wiggle of your hips and the way your nails have started to scratch at the nape of his neck is anything to go by, it's been a short while; long enough for you to want more. If this where any other night, he wouldn't even hesitate before dipping his head to lick a stripe up your chest, or latching onto a nipple, but the trepidation of your rekindling makes him careful.

'Katsuki...' You're pulling him back before he can move away. For the first time since all of this started, everything feels right again. He's back and in your arms and making those low groans that make your whole body weak.

'I don't want to go too far...' He whispers. 'Don't want to ruin – I can't... Not again.' Guilt and worry itch at his skull, making his stomach feel heavy, but before he can dive into the abyss of overthinking – you're there and pressing in until your noses touch.

'Take me to bed, Katsuki.' You can't stop it, the desperate want that raises inside of you. It coils around your organs and demands action, demands him.

'Are you sure?'

Bridging the gap, you thumb at the muscle in his back while nudging at his cheek with your nose. Your stomach bubbles, the growing wetness between your legs making you begin to think that sex is exactly what you need to bring you back together - to purge the otherness that lingers at the peripheries of your minds. 'Want you, Katsuki...'

'Shit.' Lifting his hips, he tries to stop the ache in his pants from pressing to you. 'We doing this?'

Rolling your eyes, you let a hand slip from his neck to slip between you. Your hand snakes to the lip of his jeans, fingers worming their way just under the lip as you whisper low and smoky: 'Do you want me, Baby?'

'Yes. Fuck yes.' In one solid movement, he swings you off of the sofa and has you stumbling backwards towards the bedroom. 'I don't want you to think that I'm -.' He kisses you, pressing you to the wall of the living room for barely a second before you're pushing back against him and forcing him to move again. 'That I'm just trying to – trying to -.'

'Fuck me?' You giggle against his mouth and palm at him over his jeans. His cock is hard already, pulsing and wet against his jeans leaving your palm with a vague wetness when you pull back to steady your tumbling down the hall.

'Yeah... Fuck you.'

With a great deal of difficulty, you manage to navigate the handle of your bedroom door and shove it open, only to be pinned to it moments later. Stretching out your neck, you wait for the welcomed warmth of Bakugo's lips, but when they never come, you huff.

'Princess...' Curling a large palm around your neck, he uses the tips of his fingers under your jaw to encourage your head to turn towards your bed. 'What's with all the pillows...'

'I... I missed you.' Embarrassment coils in your stomach instantly. 'The bed is too big and I missed you.'

'Baby.' He swipes a thumb across your lower lip as his attention comes to rest on you again. 'Oh, baby.' The next kiss he gifts you is slow, but deep. He pours himself into your mouth, allowing your to drink him in greedily. Pulling back, he smooths his knuckles over your cheek, keeping his other hand pinned at the base of your throat. His thumb kneads your skin, fingers hooking almost over your shoulder with their span. ''m here now... No missing me any more, yeah?'

You nod and whine, stretching slightly for another kiss.

'You want a kiss?'

'Please.'

Refusing to deny you, he kisses you only once before walking backwards towards the bed and falling against it when his knees hit mattress. He moans when you come down on top of him, plush thighs bracketing his hips and allowing your cunt to press directly to his covered cock. Rising up on his elbows, his breath catches in his throat as he watches a smirk take your mouth. Your cheeks are glowing, your eyes swimming with mischief as you lift a palm and begin to skate it up his thigh and across his stomach. His whole body feels like a live wire. He aches for you, his entire body calling out to yours, begging to be devoted once more. 'Holy shit, you're gonna be the end of me.'

You squeal when he curls himself over just enough to drag you further up his body. His hands sit on your hips, thumbs massaging at the turn of your pelvis as you continue your hands journey up his body. Gathering the material of his shirt in your palms, you pull, tugging the item to the crest of his chest. It's almost autopilot, the way you pop your thumb into your mouth before brushing it over his nipple. You know the noise that will fall from his lips before it hits your ears and yet, it still takes you by surprised how your body shudders when you hear it.

It feels like a someone else’s dream now, being away from you, lost in the world of someone else. Swallowing the swell of emotion that threatens to overtake him, he smiles incisors flashing as his palms skate up and down your sides. 'Fuck.'

There's something therapeutic about coming back together like this, discovering each other with the slow laziness of lovers who know they have forever. 'You like that?' Using finger and thumb, you pinch at his chest before lowering your head enough to lap gently at the bud. The muscle under your hands seizes, his breath coming out in awkward pants as he lets you control him with only the tip of your tongue.

'Yeah. Fuck... S'good.'

'Just good?' You smart, lifting your head to see how his cheeks have bloomed. This time when you kiss him, you press your tongue to his lips, and suck when he returns the favour and lets his explore your mouth.

Taking his chance, Bakugo grips tight at your waist and uses the leverage of the bed to buck up, dragging his cock through your folds.

'Mmm.' He hums.

'Off.' You tug at the collar of his t-shirt, desperate for more skin. The slow grind of his hips against yours kicks up a fire in your stomach. It licks at your insides and rises hot through your body, until you're all, but whining and rocking back against him. 'Off.'

Lifting slightly, Bakugo drags his t-shirt over his head with one hand before his fingers find the hem of yours and begin to lift. 'Can I see you, Princess?'

You nod and hold your arms above your head, allowing him to strip you and bare you to him. The t-shirt is tossed, abandoned in favour of him taking hold of your chest. A giggle bubbles in your throat when his nose squishes almost flat against your sternum, his hands cupping either side of your chest to squash your tits to his cheeks.

'Oh, fuck, I've missed these.' Breathing deep, he lets his tongue slip from his mouth to lick a thick stripe between up the line of your chest and curls his tongue as neck meets shoulder. His teeth dig in above your collarbone, lips and tongue following quickly after as his hands massage your breasts and tug at your nipples until you're writhing in his lap.

Propping your elbows onto his shoulders, you tug at his hair as he lavishes attention on your neck and sucks in warm bruises to your skin. You're sure you're dripping onto his lap at this point, positive that when you stand there'll be an obvious wetness on his crotch caused by more than just his own pre-cum, but that doesn't stop you from circling your hips anxious for a little friction on your clit as tension tightens in your stomach. 'Need more....'

'More?' He speaks against your skin.

Wiggling back in his lap, you fiddle with the buttons on his jeans. 'Want this...' Popping open the buttons, you push lightly at the curve of his cock that threatens to leap from his jeans making him moan. 'Give it to me...'

Crimson iris' explode, leaving only inky black pupils as he growls and wraps his arms around your waist. With little ceremony, he flips you, tossing you back to the mattress and snickers as your tits bounce. At the foot of the bed, he sheds his jeans and underwear in a singular fluid motion and quickly snatches at your ankle to drag you to the edge of the bed.

A shocked giggle is thrown from your lungs as you're only stopped from hitting the floor by Bakugo's thighs, but before you have time to complain his knees are giving way and his nose is buried in your cunt.

He doesn't even bother to slip your underwear from your legs before he's inhaling deep through the cotton and moaning loudly against your soaked cunt. His tongue follows, licking over your clothed clit.

'Katsuki...' Impatience grates at your nerves.

'Okay, okay...' Scrunching his nose, he kisses your clit once more before peeling off your underwear and discarding it behind him. Your cunt is sticky sweet, coated in your own essence as he bites his tongue to stop himself from diving in. Looking over you, he cocks an eyebrow as his thumb collects your slick and makes your thighs shake with how he avoids the places you're desperate or him to touch. 'You gonna let me prep you?'

You thrash at the idea of more wasted time without him inside of you. Lifting your hips, you pout and shake your head. 'I want to feel you... Want to feel all of you.'

'Shit.' Bakugo's head hits your thigh as he breathes to calm himself down. Everything you do has him in a choke hold and one second from embarrassment, but as soon as he manages to gather himself he's licking his lips and signing his own death warrant. 'It'll hurt, baby.'

'Maybe...' Your stomach bubbles, the emptiness inside you starting to burn as you think about just how good it'll feel to have him again. 'Maybe I want it to hurt.'

The muscle in his jaw ticks, his knees almost giving in as he stands and lets you scramble back on the bed. 'You're too fucking hot to be saying shit like that, Princess. Do you even know what you fuckin' do to me?'

Snickering, you spread your legs wider and tilt your hips allowing him to get an eyeful of your sticky cunt as you reach down and spread it for him – a promise of the pleasure that is to come. 'What about what you do to me?'

Coming down on a knee, Bakugo holds the base of his cock in a tight fist and slips it soft through your folds. The head nudges at your clit making both of you tense, but he doesn't give in, not just yet. He can feel it, the heat of you just begging to be stretched and opened up, it makes the nerves in his groin twitch, but before he gets ahead of himself, he pulls back and blinks at you. 'Have you got... Do you; do you want to use a condom?'

Shaking your head, you whine and buck up calling his eyes back to your cunt. 'Just want it... All of it. Please.'

He bites his lip. The idea of sinking into your head has his mind reeling, desperate to feel you dripping and needy. 'Ready for me, Princess?'

'Ready – 'm ready... Give it to me.' Laid bare before him, your head is tosses back when he finally sinks home giving you inch after inch of his cock as you body welcomes him in. A gasp leaps from your throat, back arching when he eventually bottoms out and begins to thumb softly at your clit to ease the sting.

Squeezing shut his eyes, he has to focus to stop himself from losing it on the spot. Your body has always felt like heaven, but right now, he swears he sees stars on the backs of his eyelids from just this sanctuary alone. His stomach fizzes violently, forcing him to haul in a breath and still scared that even the slightest shift of his hips will lead to his end.

'Come here...' Reaching forward, you curl just enough to be able to wrap a hand around his elbow. The distance between you has been too great over the past few weeks and now is no different. You want to feel him, his weight as he leans over you, his cock as he stretches pushing somehow deeper, his breath, his gaze... You want it all.

The feel of your hand wrapping around his arm is enough to make him open his eyes. He nods, taking another shaky breath before following your lead. Your thighs drag up his sides, squeezing at his hips as they hook over him and cinch behind his back forcing him to stay flush with your body. When he finally stills again, he's nose to nose with you, his arms bracketing your head. He can feel each breath you take both as it fans across his cheeks and as your chest rises, pushing against his.

'Hi...' You mumble, pecking at his lips.

His tongue feels heavy, forced to the floor of his mouth by the sheer beauty of you. 'Hi.'

'This is better, huh?'

'Yeah.' Nodding dumbly, he fights for his cognition as he looses himself to you. Your body is warm, nestling his cock with dull pulses that make his balls pull up and his hips quiver, but it's the way you blink up at him so open and eager and honest that really makes him feel as though he's the luckiest man in the world.

The first roll of his hips has your nails digging into his back, the second your mouth dropping open on a moan.

He takes advantage of your pleasure, thrusting into you slow and deep as he connects your lips again and feeds like a starved man on your moans. There's something electrical in the air that blocks out anything that isn't the two of you, forcing you to bask, to drink from each other as he angles his hips and hits the sponginess inside of you.

A gasp disconnects the kiss, but Bakugo's lips don't go far. He peppers your cheeks, muttering obscenities into your skin as your cunt weeps on his cock, clenching and squeezing him. There's sweat beading your shoulders, both yours and his as he forces you to feel all of him again and again and again. 'Katsuki... Ah, Kat -.'

'Shh...' Lowering himself until his nose presses to your cheek and your foreheads knock together, he locks eyes with you. 'I've got you... I've got you, baby. I've got you.'

Each thrust brings with it another brilliant shock of pleasure that fills your stomach, but it's all over when the thick nest of pubic hair crowning his cock begins to drag slow against your clit. You jolt, crying out and wriggle underneath him only to have his weight pin you down and hold your steady. You're close, so close it's almost painful, but even as your eyes roll, Bakugo's there fucking you slow and steady and well enough to force all thoughts from your head.

With one arm still cradling your head, he moves the other back to the base of your throat. His hand splays there, wrapping gently around you neck where he squeezes, just so. He swallows the gasp you make, smirking against your lips when you moan, babbling soft 'yes'' into his mouth. 'Are you going to cum for me? Gonna cum on my cock, Princess?'

You try to nod, but his hand has moved, cupping your jaw to stop you from dropping your gaze from him.

He snickers. 'Wanna see it... Wanna watch, okay? Wanna see how good this cock makes you feel...'

Maybe it's his voice, low and smokey and desperate snaking into your ears, or the press of his body and the protective hand at your throat. Whatever it is, as soon as his cock hits home inside of you and presses up, combining with the shock of his pubes on your clit: you're cumming. Your whole body shakes, thighs struggling to keep purchase around his waist as you vision clouds with blinding pleasure.

'That's it... Good girl. Good fuckin' girl... Look at you, holy shit.' He's huffing. Struggling to breathe as he watches what has to be the best thing he's ever seen. You look ethereal, your body craning and twisting as he keeps fucking you slow and soft through your pleasure.

'Please...' It's the first thing that drips from your mouth when you come back to your senses. 'Want it, Katsuki... Want you -.'

So lost in you, Bakugo had almost forgotten about his own pleasure coiling low and strong in his gut, but now, with you still pulsing around him – it seems hard to forget. Swallowing, he thumbs at your cheek and kisses you. 'Can you hold on, baby... Just a little longer for me... Can you?'

You nod violently as his pace picks up, his hips snapping against yours as he chases his own release using your body. Reaching up, you cup his cheek and kiss the tip of his nose. 'Let me see.'

With a stuttering breath, he doesn't even attempt to fight the moans that trickle from his mouth as his balls draw up and tight, before pulsing and marking his end. He had to bite his tongue hard to stop him from uttering idiotic words into the air, but he makes sure to keep his eyes locked on yours.

Your hand doesn't leave his cheek, even as you feel him pulse inside of you and coat your insides with thick, sticky white. 'Baby.' You mumble when you see him come back to himself and kiss him slow and deep when he asks for it with a pouted lower lip.

'Good?' Bakugo chuffs when he finally regains the ability to speak. 'Was I good?'

Something blooms in your chest when you see the eagerness swim in his eyes. You nod, rubbing your nose to his. 'So good... You where so good for me.'

His cock twitches weakly inside of you and Bakugo hides his face in the curve of your neck to stop you from seeing the blush rise on his cheeks when you giggle. Still, he doesn't move. Instead, you stay there, linked together in a tangle of limbs as his cum leaks slowly out of you from around his softening cock.

Kissing his cheek, you wrap your arms around him as you slowly readjust to a more comfortable position. He slips from you, only to collapse between your thighs, one arm looping your waist as his head falls on your chest. With nails scratching at his skin, you begin to draw odd shapes into his skin until, eventually, the shapes begin to make sense.

Bakugo's eyebrows knit, his chin digging into your sternum as he huffs out a quiet: 'Are you writing on me?'

'Maybe...' You continue to draw moving your fingers down and left only to lift it and draw a small circle.

Pausing, his eyes drift skyward as he tries to focus on the movements skating across his shoulders. His tongue pokes out from behind his lips, caught between his teeth until you finish the word.

Eyes going wide, he lifts his head and swallows. 'Still?'

'Yeah.'

'Can you...' His voice cracks. 'Can you say it?'

Licking your lips, you bend a finger under his chin and smooth a thumb across his jaw. You mean it, you think. 'I love you.'

Sitting up, Bakugo presses on the most earnest of kisses to you lips. 'I love you.' He whispers, tasting both truth and something else on his tongue. 'I love you so fucking much.'

'I know.' Slicking sweat coated hair from his face, you peck his forehead. 'We should probably clean up...'

'Shower?' He offers.

You amend. 'Together.'

He goes down on you in the shower, just before you wash each others hair and almost run all of the hot water out; he even makes the bed while you tidy the clothes, ditching them into the washing hamper in the bathroom. When you reappear at your bedroom door, he's kneeling on the bed with a pillow pinched between his fingers.

'D'ya still need these or will I do?'

You shake your head, but there's no stopping the swell of something rich and homely that threatens to overcome you when you think of him staying the night, you poor imitation of him no longer needed.

You scrunch your nose. 'Guess you'll do.'

He bites his lip and rolls his eyes before tossing all of the pillows unceremoniously from the bed and collapsing back against it. 'Come 'ere.'

Drifting back to him, you slip perfectly into the concave crescent of his side as he curls around you. There's something bone deep and natural about the way he rubs his shoulder with a thumb and lets you toss a leg over his hips.

You settle into each other like you've never been away and yet, as you bask in the bliss of coming back together you can't help, but feel the void of another person squirm in the space between you... Falling asleep in each others arms, the smell of sex still in the air and the marks of teeth on your neck, you both slip into dreams of black eyes and red hair.

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