#straight up considered climbing a tree today just to avoid working

[valtsv]

"okay i'm not going to put off this thing i'm supposed to be doing any longer" 10 minutes later:

[shurisneakers]

shut in [4]

Summary: When your high profile mission goes terribly wrong, you’re forced to hide in a safehouse with a man you’ve never met before. With seemingly nowhere else to go, you’re forced to work together to figure out who is trying to have you assassinated before it’s too late. (Sam Wilson x Reader, Hitman AU)

Warnings: cursing, threats

Word count: 3.7k

A/N: greetings everyone!! how are we all doing? i have nothing to say here tbh so anyway stan sam wilson being a lil shit whenever possible. 

i also appreciate feedback so if you would like to, please consider dropping me an ask or comment ly guys!! also if you want to be on the taglist, it’s mentioned at the bottom of the chapter.

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part || Shut In Masterlist

“I’ll keep an eye out.”

“Alright, thank you.”

You hung up the call, trudging back to the house, discarding the battery along the way.

The air had a chill to it and there was an occasional breeze that went past, rustling leaves providing an eerily comforting background score. The temperature tended to rise as the day went on but nights were especially cold due to the abundance of trees. 

Even though the stress of the situation you were in constantly consumed all your waking thoughts, you still found the time to appreciate how beautiful your surroundings were. 

The last few days were barely memorable. Sam and you tended to stay out of each other's way unless your meal time coincided or you watched the local news together. The schedule had worked out favourably.

He wasn’t very hard to live with.

Most of the time.

His commentary and small jokes were never-ending but were not as unwelcome as you initially thought. It brought some much needed light into your otherwise dreary day. When it came to figuring out how to do laundry due to your now extended stay or whose turn it was to do it, things got a bit messy but were resolved quickly.

He used to disappear often for hours on end. You never concerned yourself with going after him to find out where he went, figuring that unless he was hatching a plot that led to your demise, he was entitled to his own privacy. He’d return a while later, calmer than when he left.

It was fine. Nothing to write home about. Neither of you were dead yet.

“What are you doing on the bed?” You were reconsidering your last thought when you walked into the bedroom to resume your self-interrupted sleep, only to find him face down on the sheets. “It’s my day today.”

“Just give me some time. I’ll be out of here soon enough.” His voice was muffled as he spoke into the sheets.

“You can take all the time you need tomorrow when it’s your turn.” You swatted at his legs, earning a grunt of chagrin from him.

“Go eat some soup and maybe you’ll calm down,” he fired back, unmoving.

“Today’s not soup day. Which you would know if you paid attention to our schedule. That we made. Together. The same schedule which says it’s my turn today.”

He groaned, shoving his face deeper into the pillow. “My back’s killing me. Just give me a few.”

“Why, what’d you do?” you asked curiously, letting go of his leg.

“Combat training. Took a few beatings, fucked up my spine.”

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“It comes and goes.” Sam finally rolled onto his back, giving you a view of his face. His bone structure was amazing, even from quite possibly the ugliest angle you could have over him. “You should’ve seen the other guy.”

You just stared at him as he linked his arms behind his neck, elevating his head to look at you. He had a small stubble that was starting to grow longer. You wondered if he would shave it. He looked good regardless.

“How’s your beloved?”

“Huh?”

“The person you keep sneaking around to talk to on the phone. I’m not your dad, y’know. You can talk to them inside the house, ‘m not gonna ground you,” he quipped, a small, teasing smile on his face.

“He’s not my lover. Just... an acquaintance.” You felt the awkwardness starting to set in after you trailed off. “Anyway since you’re awake, we need to talk.”

“‘Bout what?”

“What happened that day. We’ve been avoiding it but we need to figure out what went wrong. Or at least a clue.”

“Okay,” Sam agreed, wincing as he sat up straight. “How do you want to do it?”

“Just talk me through how you got put on this mission and what exactly happened that day, I guess.” You took a place on the bed, leaning backward on your hand for support.

He nodded, delaying for a second to collect his thoughts before beginning.

“So basically-”

The sun was particularly relentless that day.  

The ringing bell above the door of his favourite coffee shop was a welcoming sound. The barista smiled at him in greeting, asking if he wanted his usual to go.

His park bench was empty as it always was. Sam liked to think of it as a small gift from the universe; the fact that it was perpetually unoccupied.

He liked to sit there and watch people’s day go by. His iced coffee-

“I don’t really require that much detail.”

“Patience. I’m getting there.”

It was arguably one of the most peaceful days he had had in awhile, and he was hoping to keep the streak going. Nothing seemed like it would phase him, not even the phone ringing, drawing his attention away from the scene in front of him. Caller ID didn’t trace who it was.

“Hello?”

“Wilson.”

Sam gripped the cup so hard he thought it might spill over onto his jeans.

“I told you not to call me, Ransone.”

“But honey we had such a good time last night,” he faux cooed, “You know I have needs-”

“I’m not getting involved in your stupid organisation, Vincent. I told you I’m done,” Sam broke in, not wanting to waste time listening to his stupid dramatics.

“Listen here, Wilson.” The swift change in his tone was looming, threatening. “You’re done when I say you’re done-”

“Wanna bet?” Sam took a sip of his coffee. “I thought we made it clear in Detroit that we’re done. Honey.”

He added the last part out of pure spite just to get a rise out of him. Much to his glee it seemed to work as Ransone let out a deep exhale before continuing.

“That was before we found out there’s a mole in my gang. I want you to kill him.”

“This is way below my pay grade. Have one of your interns do it. Your shitty murder warehouse hasn’t seen much action in a while.”

“This is Pierce we’re talking about. If he’s working for another organisation, his ass is going to be so guarded, these kids couldn’t wouldn’t even get past the gate. Besides, you know my murder warehouse is for special guests only-”

“Man, it must suck real hard to be you right now,” Sam didn’t wait for him to complete his sentence. He finished the last bit of the drink he had left, gathering his things before standing up. “Find someone else. I’m out.”

“You might want to reconsider that. We found him.”

He stopped in his tracks.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sam said steadily, grip on the phone tightening.

“I think you do, though. Had us fooled for a while there, thinking he’s dead. A little more research, some cash into the right pockets and boom! There he is, clear as day.”

Sam felt a chill go up his spine.

“He doesn’t know we know. We’re just keeping an eye on him for now.”

“If you even fucking think of touching him-” his fists were balled up, struggling to keep his anger from rising.

“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t.” Ransone laughed. “I’ll just have one of my interns do it.”

“Don’t fuck with me, Ransone. It’s not somethi-”

“Do this hit and I’ll leave him alone,” Ransone interjected. “You’ve worked so hard to pull him from our radar, Sammy. It would be a shame if it all went to waste.”

Sam’s jaw clenched. Suddenly the day didn’t seem as bright as it was a few minutes ago.

“I’ll text you the details. You tend to leave me on read so I thought I’d make it more fun. Do you want the confetti with the message or the lasers-”

Sam just hung up the call, feet firmly rooted in his spot. He had no idea what he was going to do.

The notification of a new text alerted him. Pierce’s address along with the exact timeline of when he’d be home.

It was across the country. If he botched the mission on purpose, Ransone wouldn't be able to find him for a few days at least, much less reach him. He could go on the run-

‘Do it or he dies.’

His train of thought was interrupted by a picture that made his blood boil.

Especially when it exploded with the stupid confetti effect.

“Okay, basically he threatened you with something to go do the hit.” You didn’t ask him what exactly he was threatening him with and Sam didn’t really elaborate.

“Yeah. Didn’t leave me with much of a choice. He’s batshit fuckin’ crazy anyway, I knew he’d do whatever he felt like.”

“So you ended up going.”

Pierce didn’t seem to get many visitors. Not that anyone could be blamed, this guy was one of the biggest pieces of shit Sam had had the misfortune of meeting.

Over the two days he had staked out in front of the mansion to find out if this guy had as much security as Ransone had boasted of, Sam had come to the conclusive truth that no, he very much did not. He had a standard home security system which was lacklustre compared to the rest of the house.

Maybe he just assumed that being a senior member of the mob would garner some fear to his name. Dumbass.

He found the tall shrubbery surrounding the property to be out of the line of sight of the camera, and climbing it wasn't very hard. He landed softly on the manicured lawn, adjusting his gloves and checking his surroundings before pulling his gun that was secured in the waistband of his pants.

He removed the safety, keeping it close to him as he stalked through the front yard.

The red car parked at the side earned an eye roll from him. If he had one, there was no doubt there’d be more. He just had to find a basement or garage.

Walking around the house, he kept close to the wall, searching for any opening to the basement.

It didn’t take long before he found a set of stairs to the exterior entrance of the basement. He checked to see if anyone was around before making his way down them. The lock was unsurprisingly easy to pick.

The basement was mostly dark save for a few strategic lights placed to highlight the magnificence of his several race cars. The man was moved slower than the second coming of Jesus. The cars just seemed like an overcompensation.

The switchboard was not difficult to find. He pulled open the cover, glancing at the switches before turning all of them off, plunging the whole basement into darkness. If his security system was as outdated as Pierce was, it would have turned off along with the rest of the house.

“Oh, that’s why the cameras weren't working when I showed up.” Bits that seemed amiss were beginning to place itself together the more his story progressed. “I assume you entered the house through the window on the side?”

“Sure did.”

Your guess was right. He’s the reason why it was ajar by the time you arrived.

As soon as he entered he had his gun raised. Scanning the room as he went past, his senses were dialed up to eleven. If he was really under the protection of Serpentine, they were doing a terrible job. He had gotten in completely unscathed.

As he made his way deeper into the house, the sound of some movie playing became louder. But he had cut off the power supply to the house.

His eyebrows pulled together tightly into a frown, he made his way down the hall towards the sound. No one was in the dining or living room he canvassed.

Finally, Pierce’s silhouette became clearer. He appeared to just be sitting there idly while a smaller screen played in front of him. It wasn’t a TV, just an iPad.

If Pierce was asleep it would just make the job easier. Gun raised, Sam made his way into the room silently.

Pierce was still. Sam raised the gun, taking a step closer.

A floorboard creaked.

He immediately cringed, shoulders tensed as he came to an immediate stop. It seemed like forever as he waited for Pierce to wake up, to brandish a gun and try and defend himself.

He didn’t.

Taking a step to the side, Sam moved diagonally. Each one was slow. Ready for any sudden movements from his end.

He finally stopped in front of Pierce.

A bullet hole in his forehead. Eyes open. Chest still.

He was dead.

“Fuckin’ hell,” Sam breathed out, lowering his gun. Pierce’s glassy eyes stared blankly ahead. He didn’t look like had been dead for too long.

A soft thud in another room made his head snap up. It was in the same direction from where he came.

He silently moved backwards to the corner of the room, hoping that the darkness was enough of a disguise as he saw someone stalking down the hallway.

“And that’s when you come in. Thought you were comin’ back to make sure he was dead.”

“I had just got there. Saw that everything was off, and just assumed it was a power outage.”

“What about you? How’d you end up there?” Sam had his legs crossed, leaning forward to listen to you.

“Ransone told me that there was a spy who was sending information out for nearly two years. Needed him gone and he wasn’t sure if his other agent would show up-” you mentioned to him- “I guess that’s you. Told me I had an opening at 8pm. When I got there, the CCTV was off. Found the window open so I just used that.”

You were replaying your memory, step by step to remember what exactly you had seen. 

“Heard the movie playing, found no one when I went down the hall. I saw the car keys on the island, which came in handy later. Entered the room, pushed his head with the gun and he just slumped over like a damn rag doll. That’s when you made your grand entrance.”

“Got one chance to make an impression. Had to make sure I looked cool, emergin’ from the shadows and whatnot.”

“It doesn’t make sense though.”

“Ouch. Thought it was pretty legit, actu-”

“No, no-” you waved him off. “Not your entrance. The henchmen thing.”

He paused, mulling over what you said. “If he was working for Serpentine, he would have been more careful. Why did they show up after he’s dead?”

“I don’t think they work for Serpentine. If Pierce was giving them information, they wouldn’t kill him.” You had good reason to be confident about that. You thought you did, from previous assessments.

“Unless they were scared that he’d switch again,” Sam suggested. You looked up from your fidgeting fingers to him. “Didn’t want any of their secrets going back to Ransone. They got to him before we did.”

“Why’d they shoot at us then? If they killed him and left, why’d they wait for us to show up? Why did they try to kill us?”

“I think we’re ignoring the important thing here,” he paused. You looked at him expectantly, prodding him on. “How did they know we were coming? They should have killed him and disappeared but they expected us.”

You tilted your head. “Are you saying-”

“There might be more.”

“Pierce might not have been the only one,” you finished. “There are more spies.”

“Tipped ‘em off. Told them we were going to be there.”

“And killing us was just to poke Ransone with a stick,” you murmured, eyes downcast, fidgeting with your fingers again. “But that just seems random. It doesn’t make sense.”

“None of this makes sense, sweetheart.” Sam scoffed, leaning back again.

“We’re missing something. There’s something wrong.” You looked at him. “If it’s just a random attack, why did they release our face to the whole fuckin’ country? Why are they specifically targeting us?”

“Finishing what they started. Covering all their tracks from that day. If we’re not dead, we’re a liability.”

“What if it’s not Serpentine at all? What if it’s another gang?”

“Serpentine has the most motive.”

“We don’t know that.”

He looked at you incredulously. “I think there’s substantial evidence to suggest they fuckin’ hate us. Besides, they’d want me dead specifically.”

“Why?” you inquired, eyes narrowing.

He opened his mouth like he was going to explain but closed it a second later, leaving you guessing.

“Fine, but it doesn’t mean they’re the only ones who do.” You made a point to ask him later or at least conduct your own research into it. 

“Okay,” he said, shifting to lean on his elbows, “who else could it be? If Pierce was working for Serpentine and Ransone found out, sends someone to kill him, it’s essentially an attack on one of their own members. I’d say that's a pretty good motive.”

“I don’t know. Hydra doesn’t like us either. There’s Ten Rings too. But Serpentine just doesn’t work out.”

“How are you sure?” he asked. “You a spy for them too?”

You rolled your eyes at him as he raised his eyebrow. “It doesn’t make sense. What if we’re missing something? Did we go through everything?”

“I just went through my entire story down to the most irrelevant details. Twice. Nothing’s missing on my end.” He pushed himself off the bed, taking a long stretch before looking back at you.

“I think we should do it again. Just to make sure.” You rotated your torso to look at him. “We can figure it out-”

“You’re going to lose your mind if you keep at this any longer for today. Take a break.”

“I can’t take this lightly. Everyone’s out there looking for us and there is no one we can trust-”

“And going through our stories for the third time today is going to solve that how?” He had his hands crossed over his chest like a stern parent.

“I’m sorry but our faces are probably plastered in every damn police precinct in the country,” you snapped, “And I think that us remembering something some stupid detail might actually help rather than, I don’t know, taking naps and eating sandwiches. So no, I’m not going to drop it. Because I actually want to get out of here.”

You didn’t mean to sound so angry with him. He had told you everything twice already and patiently answered questions that you had. You didn’t think he was lying. You had no way of knowing but you hoped that some sort of allegiance was being formed between you both.

There was silence for a minute, leaving enough time for the guilt to creep in when he didn’t fire back. It’s what you expected.

“I’m not asking you to drop it. I’m saying take a break,” he said calmly. “You’re thinkin’ enough for the both of us anyway.”

You let out a small exhale, forcing the edge to retreat from your voice.

“I’ll be back in a while.” With that he turned around and left the room. A few minutes later you heard the backdoor open and shut.

Great.

You massaged your throbbing temples, eyes closed. He was right. Your mind wasn’t clear and you had been at this for hours. You wouldn’t be able to think critically.

Or at all.

You dropped back on the bed, grabbing a pillow and pressing it to your face. The coolness of the fabric felt nice.

You just let out a sigh, turning to your side to hopefully get some sleep.

_____

You woke up what seemed like hours later to a dark room.

It took your eyes a while to adjust stepping out into the hallway illuminated by the light in the kitchen.

“Hey,” Sam’s voice rang out. “Made you a sandwich.”

You rubbed your eyes groggily, looking where he was pointing. Sure enough, there was a sandwich on the table. He sat at the seat adjacent to it.

“Thank you.” You contemplated sitting next to him for dinner. It would be a first.

In the end you just grabbed your plate, giving him a half smile before making your way to the couch. You settled on sitting on the floor instead, leaning your back against the foot of the sofa.

The TV was already halfway through playing Megamind so you just let it continue, mindlessly chewing on the bread. As far as peanut butter sandwiches go, it wasn’t all that bad.

“Wilson,” you called out sheepishly, eyes not leaving the movie. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. It wasn’t right.”

“It’s okay.”

How he let go of it so easily was beyond you. The sandwich was surprising too, but you took it, not wanting to change his mind. He couldn’t have poisoned it. You had checked his stuff.

You sat in silence for the rest of the movie. Your mind kept slipping in and out of thought but it was a comfortable atmosphere you found yourself in.

After the credits started rolling, you went to leave your plate in the sink. Sam brushed past you, grabbing the blanket at the foot of the couch, launching himself onto the cushions.

“What are you doing?” you asked, puzzled as he snuggled in.

“Going to sleep?” He tilted his head to look at you.

“Use the bed.”

“It’s your turn today.”

“Your back’s fucked up. I’ll take the couch.”

He didn’t budge.

“Go on.” You mentioned to the room with a shrug of your shoulder.

“You’re not going to let me argue, are you?”

You pressed your lips into a straight line to hide a smile, shaking your head lightly.

“Well, okay.” He let out a small noise as he got up. “Guess I’m sleeping business class tonight.”

Sam walked past you, careful not to bump into you. You swapped places with him, making your way to the couch, readjusting the blanket that was haphazardly left there.  

“Y/N.” You peered at him from the corner of your eye, only to fully turn when you caught his gaze. “I appreciate it.”

You just nodded, tossing the blanket over yourself as he switched off the light.

Next part

[sirthisisa-wendys]

Homecoming Part 2: Empirical Evidence (Geto Suguru x Fem!Reader)

synopsis: you don’t really get along with Satoru (but when did you ever?) and that leads you to drawing two hypotheses. But only one with be tested tonight. 

word count: 2.1k

trigger warning: NSFW because *smut*! 

A/N: We’re back by popular demand with a part 2 of Homecoming! Thank you to @sandyscastle​ for requesting this! I hope you enjoy it :) (omg we literally just talked and I’m so sorry I forgot it was YOU WHO REQUESTED THIS! Please forgive my brain cell; she works overtime these days lol)

Inspired by “Together” by The xx

Soft lips dance along the outer edge of your earlobe, bringing you out of your dreams and into the sunlit room. “You don’t have to speak,” the man behind you whispers. “I know what you’re going to say.” A dragon-tattoo arm snakes around your waist and presses you closer to the body you’re nestled in, heat radiating off of its large figure. You groan, hoping for a few more minutes of sleep, but your personal - and very human - alarm clock won’t let you rest a second past your wake-up time. 

“Please,” you moan, rolling over into Suguru’s chest, hoping this show of affection would keep his incessant fingers roaming around your body and therefore, both of you in bed. But you were sorely mistaken. 

“Come on… we have a short day today. Then we can come back and take a long nap, just you and me.” Suguru presses a tender kiss to your forehead and sits up, his long hair shifting over his shoulder. You look up into his onyx eyes - briefly wondering why you spent so much time away from his gaze - and then lift up on your elbow, sighing. 

“Fine.” Suguru smiles and kisses your lips, pulling away before you can deepen it and get in a considerable amount of trouble. 

“That’s my girl.” 

_______________________________________________________________________

“Satoru, get me out of this tree right now.” 

The blindfolded sorcerer below you laughs childishly, hands on his stomach while you give him the evil eye, albeit, upside down. Was the evil eye even effective if you were upside down? 

“Y/n… you- your-'' You thank the heavens you wore pants and not the skirt you originally considered putting on, but it doesn't make you feel any less embarrassed. 

“Let me down right now or I’m going to scream,” you warn, but Nobara joins in on Gojo’s laughter, apparently more amused by your predicament. Either Gojo liked putting you into trees, or it just so happened that every time you went flying, a large tree was nearby to catch you. It was becoming an annoying habit that could have easily been avoided if--

“Is this part of training?” A voice grumbles over the exhalations of your peers, and you angle your head to look at Geto, who is striding closer to where you dangled precariously. Yuji and Fushiguro are behind him, trying their best not to explode into laughter themselves. But Suguru is not amused. 

“I didn’t do it!” Nobara quickly sobers up, putting her cursed tools away. “I-it was Gojo-sensei!” Gojo is rolling around in the grass and clutching his stomach, and you slide your eyes over to Suguru again. He catches your pleading gaze and shakes his head in disbelief. 

“Satoru,” he calls out over the man’s cackles, but Gojo refuses to acknowledge him at all, still wrapped up in a joke that only he understands and enjoys. “Satoru.” 

Before you can swivel your head, Suguru has Satoru with his hands behind his back, twisting his right arm painfully. 

“Okay, okay!” Satoru whines and you feel hands gently pulling you out of the branches and setting you on the ground. 

“There you go,” Yuji announces and you stand up, dusting yourself off. Wordlessly, you trudge past the trainees and back to the dorms, followed closely by Suguru and an apologizing Satoru, but you pay them no mind. It isn’t until you’re in the bathroom, picking out leaves and sticks from your hair, that Suguru speaks.

“Mind telling me what happened?” 

“Satoru always does this. He always embarrasses me when I’m trying to teach or guide, and I don’t know why.” 

“Y/n…” Geto begins but you cut him off with a withering stare. 

“You saw it - back when we were just grade twos - he’s always had it out for me, and I-- But that’s your best friend, so you’d side with h-” 

“Hey,” Suguru presses his hands against your shoulders, which are now shaking as you prepare to cry. “You can always talk to me about Satoru. He’s a prick, and I know that. We all know that.” He cups your face in his hands, and pulls you in close for a forehead kiss before swallowing you in a tight hug. “What would make you feel better right now?” 

“I don’t know…” you whisper into his chest, and he replies, 

“Can I run you a hot bath?” You nod, your forehead rubbing against his cotton tee, and he walks over to the claw-foot tub with you still in his arms. The awkward shuffle is ended when you reach the edge of the porcelain fixture, and he turns the knobs with ease, letting the water run freely. A kiss is planted on your cheek before he untangles himself from you and does what only he knows how to do - which is prepping the bathtub with epsom salts, bubbles, and tossing in a stashed-away bath bomb from your last trip to the mall. 

When it lands at the bottom of the tub with a thunk, you know it’s time for you to strip down and sink into the indigo colored water. The water is almost hot enough to be painful, but somehow, Suguru knows how to make everything just right. 

“Everything okay?” he asks, sitting on the side of the bathtub with ease, dipping a hand in to test the temperature. 

“It’s all perfect,” you whisper, leaning your head back and closing your eyes. 

_______________________________________________________________________

“Remember when they used to braid flowers into your hair?” you wonder, fingers deftly weaving a braid on the left side of his head to match the right braid already completed. You’re sitting on the couch, watching some mindless game show while Suguru sits between your legs on the floor. 

“I remember,” he murmurs, taking the finished braid and twirling the end around his fingers. “I also distinctly remember you being much too shy to actually do anything other than pick the little flowers.” You swat at his shoulder playfully, outraged that he would even mention your former shyness. 

“Okay, but can you blame me? You always looked like you were about to eat me alive before I really got to know you.” 

“Eat you alive?” Suguru turns his head and raises an eyebrow curiously. “Eat you out, more like…” he mutters, but it’s still loud enough for you to hear. 

“But you never did. And you never have,” you retort, wrapping the final tie around the left braid. “Besides, I don’t think you’re the kind of guy to even eat a girl out before you’ve--” 

“Before I’ve what?” Suguru asks, flipping over and caging you between his arms on the couch. You pause, unsure of how to reply with him hovering over you like a lion above it’s prey, but you find your voice a moment later.

“Before you… you know… get your rocks off.” 

“You’re wrong about that, y/n,” he whispers, sliding over and laying you across the length of the couch. “But I don’t know if my word would satisfy you.” 

“I’ll take empirical evidence over your word,” you answer, his hand smoothing across your face, which is illuminated by the demi-light of the television. 

“Say no more,” Suguru replies, capturing your lips in a kiss that makes your ears block out the sound of the TV. Your eyes instantly close, and all you can feel are his lips and his hands roaming across your skin - just how you like it. Hands dance around the waistband of your leggings, tugging a little before drifting underneath and rolling them down your legs. A finger probes past your underwear, and you feel it seeking, feeling, searching for something more than you had currently. Suguru removes his hand and lifts your leg up, still holding you captive under his lips, and tugs your underwear off, casting them aside without care. 

When he breaks the kiss, you moan and his hands push both of your legs up and over his shoulders. It isn’t until he’s practically facing your core that you feel something warm and wet trailing down your thigh and straight there, making your hips jerk as his tongue makes instant contact. 

“Su…” Your nickname for him had stuck with you all of these years, and now you were finally using it the way you always wanted to. He hums in response but doesn’t stop eating you out, his tongue eagerly flicking to and fro like he needed a second dinner. Your hand lands on his braided head and he groans a little, quickening his flicks and drags across your flesh like a searing-hot iron. With ease, he slides a thick finger inside of you, curling it and moving his lips to suck on your clit, pulsing his sucks with the timing of his finger-thrusts. 

“M-more...” When you look down, his eyes are already focused on your panting expression, and you’re trying hard not to cum from just the sight alone. But Suguru wordlessly encourages you to cum by rolling your clit with his tongue, and you toss our head back, moaning loudly, which accompanies his obscene slurping sounds and hums of pleasure. Your orgasm isn’t too far from reach - you can literally feel him teasing it out of you bit by bit - and all it takes is one good stroke of his finger to make you tip over the edge and into oblivion. 

Words, shapes, numbers, thoughts, they all fade into the abyss with you as you lose yourself in the sensation of being absolutely unraveled. When you find your shape again, you curl your fingers back into fists and Suguru removes his face from your core and shucks off his pants and boxers. Before he can climb onto you, he whispers, 

“Do you want to do this?” 

“Yes, yes!” You grab at his shirt and pull him in closer, lips crashing against each other sloppily as you pull him back down. He strokes his cock one, two, three times, and lines himself up with your entrance, nudging the head against you slightly. Your mouth opens as he sinks into you and sheathes himself with a loud, drawn out groan. You whimper, holding onto the arms placed at your sides as he moves slowly, face hovering centimeters over yours. 

“Breathe for me.” He pulls out a little, and you let go of a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding. He tucks a kiss between your jaw and earlobe, pushing back into with as much caution as he can muster while his arms are steady beneath him, But his strength is giving way to the absolute need he has to go faster, and you urge him on by clutching your fingers a little tighter onto his arms. 

“P-please, Su…” He responds by increasing his pace incrementally, and you let out a stifled moan, trying your best not to be too loud as he fucks you senseless. 

“I want to hear you,” Suguru huffs, now moving his hips in a timely and pleasurable pace. “You can be as loud as you want with me.” 

That’s all the permission you need. 

“Ah! Oh- my- gosh-” Each thrust is accented by the noises you utter, and you find yourself close to the brink yet again, feeling sensations you hadn’t felt in such a long time. 

“Let me hear you,” Su urges again, murmuring in your ear and holding you close to his chest. “ I missed hearing that beautiful voice of yours.” 

“Feels… so good.” You can barely catch your breath as the thrusts speed up even more, and you feel Suguru tense up a little. “Cum with me, Su,” you plead, and he grunts once, teeth grazing your earlobe. Your arousal sounds like squelches of pleasure while his hips pop against the soft flesh of your ass cheeks, drowning out the sounds of anything else in the room while he drills into you. 

“Almost there…” His voice is wavering, you notice, and it sounds like he’s closer than he wants to let on, but you wrap your arms around his neck and lean your head back. The arch in your back is supported by one of Suguru’s large hands and you choke out a moan as your legs shake violently underneath him, your orgasm right at it’s crest. “Ohhhhhh, shit…” 

In a show of perfect timing, Suguru comes with you, both of you filling the air with exhales of ecstasy. Both of your ejaculate mixes together in your core, filling it with a warm sensation as you come down from your high, holding each other while you catch your breath. 

“Are you going to change your little hypothesis, or will I have to show you more evidence?” Suguru finally asks, and you laugh gently. 

“I think I need a few more trials before I can amend my hypothesis.” He sits up a little, eyeing you mischievously through his lashes.

“Then, let’s get to it, Ms. Scientist.”

[candyopala]

Stuck in his ways, Chapter 5

Chapter Summary:  Y/N’s training begins, but not before she discovers one of Obito’s secrets.

Words: 1.7k

AO3

Please reblog or like if you enjoy, comments are always welcome <3

5:30 in the morning. It is the sixth time Y/N has woken up. This whole concussion thing has messed up her whole sleeping schedule, she tried her best to get some rest, but to no avail. She ended up sleeping for about fourteen or fifteen hours between small intervals, but she feels worse than before. 

Y/N drags herself out of bed, makes some coffee, and brushes her teeth, the whole deal. Having a constant roof above her head is nice, she has to admit that. Not having to worry about wild animals and the climate is cool, but the warmth of a bed is the best part of it. Tying her brand new bandana on her forehead, she leaves the small apartment and heads to the training grounds on the outskirts of the village.  

She makes her way through the village’s main market, trying to avoid stumbling onto the hundreds of busy people bustling around her. Watching people attend to their duties and following their routines has always been a hobby of hers, she always found interest in seeing people who can afford to do the same thing every day, have some sort of routine. Can she consider herself one of them now? No, maybe not. Ninjas are always doing different missions and whatnot; their routines are as fucked up as a merc’s. Maybe she can become a baker in another life, who knows? 

Around the corner, a hand blocking her way surprises her. At the end of it is a medium height man with his hair tucked into some sort of fabric, with bits of brown hair coming out of the sides. The man holds a toothpick between his lips, accompanied by a smug smile and an attitude that instantly annoys Y/N. 

“’Sup babygirl, how come I’ve never seen you around?”

“I’ve been busy for the last 26 years”

“Busy living in my dreams, I bet”

“Busy fucking you mom, actually”

The sleazy type is the worst in Y/N’s opinion. Nothing disgusts her more than someone who thinks they’re hot shit just because they’re attractive. She pushes him away and keeps on walking.  

“Ouch! Feisty, I like that. I’ll remember ya!” he states as he leaves the scene with a wink and a flick of his toothpick. 

This has to be a joke, what a douchebag.

Going back on her way and observing the people, she closes into a mass of messy short black hair. The man has his back turned to her, but by the jonin vest and height, she assumes it could be… no, wait… it could not be! This man is helping an old lady carry a shitload of groceries, he would never be nice enough to do that. 

Could it be him!?

From afar, she changes angle to try and catch a glimpse of his face. After much difficulty dodging busy locals, she is able to see clearly and… it’s Obito! Obito Uchiha helping a poor old lady carry her stuff, I wish I had a camera on me. She thinks of approaching him, but she decides against it in favor of watching from a distance to see where this goes. 

Turns out the frail woman lives on the other side of town. Obito sure enough has carried all that stuff through the worst climbs Y/N has ever seen on a city. But that was not all: he was being extra nice. He laughed at all her jokes and even smiled back at her. This is grade A entertainment. 

When they finally reach her destination, the old lady pulls out a lollypop and gives it to him. Y/N immediately loses her shit, almost falling from the ceiling she is in because of her fit of laughter. Before she can compose herself, she notices a presence behind her. She was discovered, but who cares? She has seen enough. Obito towers above her, trying to look intimidating, but failing to do so since he has a lollipop on his mouth. 

“First you invade my house, now you’re following me. Are you sure I’m the one who should be called a creep?”

“Well, you’re right. Maybe I’ll start calling you… Granny Simp Uchiha©, how about that?”  

“I hate you”

“Ow, I’m so hurt, oh my god, how could you? But seriously, I didn’t mean to intrude, but when I saw that… I needed to see more to believe it” She states as she breaks into another fit of laughter

“Let’s go, we’re late for training”

“Have you ever been on time a day of your life, though?”

“Never, I’ll probably be late for my own funeral”

“Fair enough. Wait, did you just make a joke that’s not on my expense?”

“Oh no, your dumbassery is influencing me!” He raises his gloved hands ironically

“Shut up”

 ~”~

 They both reach the training grounds at around 7:30, late but not a whole lot, thanks to Obito’s kamui. Obito will have to make some slight modifications on the mission report to avoid Minato’s wrath. After a quick warmup, Obito goes straight to the point: 

“How much do you even know about jutsu?”

“Well… I can do that chakra punch, maybe walk on water and trees or release genjutsu, but that’s all.”

“Not even a clone or some substitution jutsu?”

“Nope”

“So you’re basically an academy student with enough brute force to take down S rank criminals… That’s… odd”

Y/N scratches the back of her head, clearly embarrassed by her lack of training. Obito did not expect to have to teach such basic things. I mean, if he wanted to teach people stuff he would have signed up for a job at the academy. He still cannot believe Minato sensei is putting him up to this babysitting job. 

He needs to do well on this mission if he wants to get back onto the Hokage’s good side and guarantee his position as the next one. This is his second day with Y/N and things have been insane and… fun? No, he should not be thinking like that. Perhaps he should also go talk with Kushina and ask her to convince sensei to let him go from this one; he was always her favorite after all.

“Granny simp? You ok? Did I disappoint you that much?”

Obito fixes his bandana’s position over his left eye, trying to get himself out of his head. He is here now, so he had better get to work. If he can control himself enough not to put her under a nasty genjutsu for calling him that again, that is. 

“Call me that again and I’ll tell everyone that you saw me naked”

“You were not naked, dickhead. And what’s wrong with that?”

“Uhm…?”

“…?”

“Anyway… we’ll start with some cloning jutsu. Have you ever done any seals?”

“Only one or two”

“Try to copy what I’m doing”

“Hey! Stop doing it so fast!”

She honestly seems to be giving her best, but her hand signs are not quite right and the chakra distribution on her network must be all wrong, judging by her failure in producing something that seems to be remotely human. This takes Obito’s memory back to his old academy days, back when he could not do a single clone properly. He would spend whole nights awake training to achieve something passable. Rin helped him a lot back then. The only thing he has ever taught someone was that sexy jutsu to Naruto. To say Kushina was mad was an understatement. 

“Concentrate your chakra all along your body, not only on your hands”

“Hum… right, can I get a lollipop after this?”

Four hours later and Y/N has finally mastered two basic jutsu: substitution and cloning. She almost passed out several times due to exhaustion, but thanks to some food pills, she is enduring todays training much better. 

Obito has been analyzing her every movement with his sharingan. Looking closely her techniques lack grace, truly a sign of someone who learned everything they know by experience. He needs to fix that too. 

Her endurance is also remarkably low. If she were to fight right now, she could do maybe two or three jutsu before passing out, making her rely solely onto her speed and blade habilities. The girl is more of a samurai than a ninja at this point. Examining her file earlier, he noticed that her chakra reserves are not that low as she has stated before, according to the medical department she has an average quantity of it. She just lacks the ability to use it properly.  

Some very hard work is in order; it could take some months to get her into decent shape. That would be too much time and effort for Obito, there has to be another way of dealing with this mission quicker. 

He did not want to do this, but he will have to talk to Kakashi for some teaching tips. Hell, if he was able to teach anything useful to Naruto he will be able to come up with a routine to help Y/N’s training. 

I just hope he doesn’t decide to bother me about this situation…

After dropping Y/N on her house, with much protest from her part, Obito heads to the village’s café to meet with Kakashi Hatake. He knows that the ninja likes to spend his late afternoons reading his porn books accompanied by some coffee, disgusting stuff if you ask Obito. The coffee, that is. He has no formed opinion on porn books.

Approaching the store, he spots his friend’s mass of upward pointing grey hair. Something is different about him, though. Kakashi is usually… a very apathetic person. The look he gave Obito had chills running the Uchiha’s spine, he looked, well, excited. 

“Obito! I finally found you! Sit down”

Aliens killed him and this is a body double. Or this is one of Gai’s practical jokes. Obito is honestly stumped.

“Are you ok bakashi?”

“Great! So… who’s the girl?”

Great, just awesome.      

“I don’t know what you’re talking about”

“Of course you know, everyone is talking about how you were seen walking up and down with some mysterious gal. I’m so happy for you! Finally you’re going to stop being a sad grumpy bachelor! I’ll call dibs on the position of best-man” and suddenly Kakashi jumps up from his seat, coming closer to Obito’s face “Have you guys done it yet? Did she run away from you and now you need my advice? You could use some techniques from Icha I-”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Those books are rotting your brain, seriously what the hell?”

“So is it true?”

[flamingfalcon3]

Hello! I have finally finished the first chapter of my first Jori fanfic. I’m still trying to get a feel for the character interactions but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it! I’m gonna start posting to ao3 once i get that account set up (and figure out a title lol) but I might as well post the first chapter here! Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy!

Jade knew her girlfriend was hiding something. 

Tori was not a hard person to read. Hell, the girl practically wore her heart on her sleeve. It was so easy to guess what she was feeling at all times that Tori had all but given up trying to conceal her emotions. 

So, when Jade noticed that Tori was a bit more high-strung and stressed than usual, it wasn’t hard for her to conclude that there was something on her mind. 

It also helped that Tori was an awful liar. 

“What’s up with you?” Jade asked casually during lunch one afternoon.

“Nothing!” the singer squeaked suspiciously. She cleared her throat and attempted to regain composure. “Nothing is up. Everything is great!”

Jade frowned slightly, not at all convinced, but decided just to drop it for the time being as the rest of their friend group arrived at the table. 

The rest of the day was uneventful. Sikowitz made them all tapdance while performing a scene to “demonstrate how important it is to stay in character no matter what the character may be doing” or whatever and then spent the rest of the class monologuing about how a squirrel got trapped in his bathroom. 

Jade sighed a breath of relief as the final bell rang and cut Sikowitz off just as he was about to go into detail about the standoff he had with the rodent. The only one seemingly more anxious to get out of the classroom than Jade was her girlfriend, who was out the door before the bell even finished ringing. Their friends glanced at each other in confusion. 

“Maybe she really hates squirrels?” Robbie suggested. The others considered it for a moment before shrugging and forgetting about it a second later, exiting the classroom.

Jade strode over to Tori, who was frantically throwing books into her backpack from her locker. Jade leaned back against the locker next to Tori’s while folding her arms across her chest. 

“You’re in a hurry,” the goth commented while watching the girl struggle to cram a science textbook into her bag. 

“Jade!” Tori jumped slightly, seemingly startled by Jade’s presence.

“That’s me,” she responded dryly. “Did you forget about our date after school today?”

The singer’s eyes widened in realization and her hand flew to her forehead as she let out a groan

“Jade, oh my god, I am so sorry! I completely forgot!” she confessed, clearly feeling guilty she had forgotten they’d planned to have sushi after school ended.  

“It’s alright,” Jade replied coolly, quirking the corner of her mouth up slightly to convey to Tori she wasn’t upset with her. “What’s got you in such a rush anyway?”

Tori paused for a moment, staring down at her converse.

“Oh, umm… I promised my mom I would help her with… something,” she mumbled.

“Something…?” Jade probed, hoping to get a little more context on what had her girlfriend so worked up. Tori, however, would not offer her any.

“It’s not important. I swear I’ll make it up to you,” Tori slung her bag over her shoulder before stepping towards Jade and planting a short but sweet kiss to her lips. She then turned and began walking towards the exit. 

“You better! I can’t have people think I got stood up!” Jade called out after her, earning a hearty laugh from her girlfriend as she left the building. 

The goth rolled her eyes, amused by Tori’s refusal to admit what it was she was helping her mother with. It must be super embarrassing or something. 

Jade was halfway through entering her locker combination when she remembered something that gave her pause.

Tori’s parents were out of town for the week. Trina had a showcase and they needed an excuse not to show up. Why would she need to help her mom with something if-?

Jade’s phone lit up with a message from Tori directed towards the group chat, asking if anyone could lend her $100 bucks. The goth furrowed her brows. Tori rarely asked for money, and never more than $10 dollars at a time.

Tori Vega, what the hell are you up to? 

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

All Jade could think about for the rest of the day was how strange her girlfriend was acting. She wasn’t responding to her text messages and apparently none of their friends had heard from her either. It wasn’t like Tori at all, and Jade’s curiosity was slowly turning into concern. 

She knew it was silly to be worried. Tori was a big girl, after all. Still, why would she need $100 bucks on such short notice? And what was with her skittish and secretive attitude? 

Maybe she was in trouble with someone. Maybe she needed to pay them money in order to keep them at bay. 

The thought was so absurd that Jade almost burst out laughing as soon as it entered her mind. This is Tori she was talking about. Miss “I have never stayed out past curfew” Vega. Not exactly the type to get tangled up in criminal activity.

Still, Jade couldn’t help but feel uneasy about Tori’s radio silence. It wouldn’t hurt to pay her a visit, right?

15 minutes later she was climbing through her girlfriend’s bedroom window, which Tori for some reason always kept unlocked. Tori wasn’t there, but her backpack was on her bed and her phone was on her desk. Jade let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding as she sank down onto the bed. Not 10 seconds later she heard the sound of footsteps and the bedroom door creaked open. In walked Tori who jumped five feet in the air and shrieked upon seeing someone in her room.

“Jade?” Tori yelped. “What are you doing here?”

“You weren’t answering my texts,” the goth deadpanned. 

“So you broke into my house?” 

“I didn’t break in. Your window was unlocked,” 

“That’s still breaking in!”

“Is it really, though?”

“Yes!” 

Jade was about to argue further when she noticed Tori was holding a grocery bag, and its contents looked quite heavy based on how far the bottom was sagging. 

“Whatcha got there?” She asked, gesturing towards the bag. Tori glanced at it quickly before fixing her gaze back on Jade. 

“Just some stuff for a science project,” she stated, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Tori,” Jade huffed. “We are in the same science class. We’re lab partners. We don’t have a science project.”

Tori stammered helplessly, trying and failing to come up with some explanation for what was in the bag. Jade groaned in annoyance, fed up with whatever game her girlfriend was playing.

“I don’t understand why you won’t just tell me what’s going on! You know it doesn’t matter what it is since my opinion of you can’t get any low-” Jade was interrupted by a strange noise coming from somewhere in the room. She immediately turned to locate the source of the sound.  

Tori could only watch helplessly as the goth scoured every inch of her room before finally tearing open the doors to her closet. A tiny fuzzy creature emerged from the darkness. And then another. And then another. They kept emerging from the closet until there were seven tiny kittens of various colors and patterns wandering around the room. 

Jade slowly looked back up at her girlfriend, confusion written all over her face.

“How-how did those get in there?” Tori stammered, trying her very best to feign ignorance as all the kittens ran towards her meowing hungrily. 

Unfortunately her “very best” still wasn’t very good. 

“Tori, why were there cats in your closet?” Jade asked, still absolutely bewildered by the scene that was unfolding. 

The singer realized there was no way she could talk her way out of this one, and just gave her girlfriend a guilty look before opening her mouth.

“Remember last week when there was that sudden downpour in downtown Los Angeles?” Jade nodded. “Well, I was walking home from Nozu’s when I heard strange noises coming from an alleyway. I went to check to see what it was and-”

“Wait, you heard strange noises coming from an alleyway in downtown Los Angeles at night and you went to go check it out?” Jade asked incredulously. Jesus, Jade doesn’t know how her girlfriend has managed to survive for this long considering her self-preservation instincts were non-existent. Tori just rolled her eyes in response.”

“As I was saying, I went to go check out what the strange noises were and… well,” she turned to look at the kittens scampering around her bedroom. 

Jade brought her hand up to her face to pinch the bridge of her nose.

“So let me get this straight, you wandered into a back alley while it was raining and found kittens and decided the best thing to do would be to take them home?” Jade was still bewildered by her girlfriend. 

“Well when you put it that way it sounds like a stupid idea,” Tori blushed while avoiding eye contact. Jade sighed but took a step closer to her. 

“I mean, I always assumed you would be one of those lesbians who would have like ten cats but I thought that would start after you moved out of your parents’ house,” she smirked. 

“Hey!” Tori let out a mock-offended gasp while swatting Jade’s arm playfully. “I mean, I probably will have to move out once they come home and discover I’ve been hiding kittens in my room despite my father being deathly allergic to them.”  

Why was Jade attracted to such a moron? 

“Can’t you just give them to a shelter or something?” she asked gently. Tori shook her head softly.

“I thought about it but the pounds are apparently really full this time of year so there’s a significant possibility that they'll get…” Tori paused, unable to even finish the thought. “It’s just… they’ve been through so much in the short few weeks they’ve been alive and I can’t just abandon them now!”

Stupid Tori and her stupid heart of gold. The goth groaned and tilted her head back.

“Ugh, fine. I’ll help you with you’re dumb kitten problem,” Jade’s heart fluttered a little as she watched Tori’s face lit up like a christmas tree. 

“Really?” She gleamed. “How?”

“Well, I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who would be interested in adopting tiny kittens. Especially if you go into detail about their tragic backstory and stuff. People are suckers for that kind of stuff,” Jade stated. “You could like, advertise them on The Slap and try to get them adopted before your parents come back.”

Tori chewed at her bottom lip, contemplating Jade’s suggestion.

“That’s… not a bad idea. People advertise things on The Slap all the time,” she hesitated for a moment and her face fell. “Ugh, wait. Trina follows me. If she finds out I’m hiding kittens in my closet she’ll rat me out for sure.” 

Jade closed her eyes and sighed deeply. God, she can’t believe she was about to say this.

“I guess… I could… post about the kittens on my page, or whatever,” she grimaced. Tori’s grin got so wide Jade was concerned her face was about to split in half. 

“You would do that for me?” she exclaimed. “But, your reputatio-”

“My reputation died as soon as I changed my status to ‘in a relationship with Tori Vega’,” Jade snorted. “Kittens would be nowhere near as embarrassing as you.”

Tori was beaming at her girlfriend despite the insult, chuckling lightly as she wrapped her arms around Jade’s neck and peppering her face with soft kisses before finally connecting their lips. The goth let out a content sigh in the back of her throat and attempted to deepen the kiss while pushing Tori backwards to the bed. However, Tori hummed and broke the kiss leaving Jade more than a little confused. 

“Sorry, I-” the singer stammered. “I would feel weird making out in front of…” 

Jade quirked her eyebrows up in amusement.

“In front of… the cats?” she asked, barely suppressing a laugh. Tori nodded, cheeks red with embarrassment. Jade just chuckled and rested her forehead against her girlfriend’s. 

“Jesus Christ, Tori.”

[spookyboywhump]

Overheating

Alright so I really wanted to write smth with This so thank you @unicornscotty <3

I know it’s the fourth but I really wanted to participate in the @summer-of-whump event but I didn’t have the time until today so technically this is also for the day one prompt “overheating” (fun fact: originally I had a piece with Wren planned for this)

CW: pet whump, dehumanization, locked outside, emeto mention, drowning mention, heat exhaustion

***

He woke up when he was suddenly grabbed by the collar and dragged off his bed, roughly pushed to the floor. He was disoriented, squinting up at Cain from where he laid. His owner looked irritated, apparently still upset over the fight Zander lost the night before. He should’ve been expecting this, seeing as Cain hadn’t punished him immediately after getting home.

“Fucking hell… good morning to you too.” He muttered sarcastically, while Cain jabbed him in the side with the tip of his shoe, Zander wincing as he dug into one of the bruises.

“Get up.” He ordered, and Zander sighed, pushing himself up and getting to his feet. He was too exhausted, too sore to fight with him. He figured he may as well just accept his punishment and get it over with. “Hands behind your back.”

“Sure thing, officer.” He snickered, doing as he was told though, only for Cain to quickly cuff his wrists together. Zander followed him from the room, mentally preparing himself for a beating, a whipping, caning, drowning, anything like that, but instead, Cain led him out back.

Now that he was outside he realized it was early in the morning, around the time Cain usually left for work. He sighed heavily, realizing that it was going to be another day locked outside, but instead of dragging him out into the yard, he was made to kneel on part of the patio- specifically, the part that wasn’t covered. Cain had clearly already prepared this punishment, a chain locked around one of the nearest posts, which was grabbed and clipped to his collar. It was just long enough that he could lean forward, but he couldn’t have moved from that spot, even trying to move into the shade was impossible for him.

“You’ll spend today out here. If I’m in a better mood, I might let you in when I get home.” He said, and Zander jerked away when he tried to ruffle his hair. Cain started to head inside after that, pausing to add, “Oh, and by the way mutt- I’m working late today.” He said, Zander glaring when he flashed a smile at him before heading inside, the doors slamming shut and locking behind him.

Zander tried to tell himself this wasn’t that bad. He’d been left outside before, sometimes for days at a time, he could handle it. He wasn’t happy, but he could handle it, in fact, he considered it better than a beating. He was bored, of course, but by now he was used to boredom. He didn’t think it would be a problem at all, but as time passed and the day went on, he quickly realized that wasn’t the case.

It was the middle of summer, and while it wasn’t so bad early in the morning, the temperature continued to climb higher and higher. He was used to being tied in the yard, on the cool grass, with a chain long enough he could move into the shade of the trees. He was trapped here though, the sun beating down on him as he knelt on hot concrete. He regretted falling asleep wearing shorts, even if it would’ve been hotter at least pants would’ve provided some protection from the burning heat that had him constantly shifting uncomfortably.

He didn’t normally hate the heat very much. He was used to it, he used to enjoy being out on a sweltering day, but back then he’d usually end up at a friend’s pool or down at the lake, anything to cool off. He would’ve killed for even a drop of cold water, done anything to be submerged in it. His hair and his clothes stuck to his skin, sweat beading on his forehead, the back of his neck, he couldn’t even really wipe it away thanks to his hands being restrained. He winced as sweat stung open scratches from the night before, squeezing his eyes shut and taking a slow, deep breath.

He could handle discomfort. He was always uncomfortable. Hours went by and discomfort had given way to sickness though, somehow nauseous despite the fact he hadn’t even gotten to eat that day. He was doubled over as much as he could, trying to ignore the stomach pain and the sick feeling, but it was difficult when there was nothing else he could focus on.

“Fucking Cain.” He muttered to himself, attempting to talk himself through this. “Fuck him, fucking idiot. Can’t fucking believe this…” He winced, his stomach in knots at this point. “It’s fine… it’s just the sun… fuck, if I get a sunburn I’m gonna be pissed… I hope his stupid ass gets a sunburn, pale fucking vampire looking-“ He was forcibly cut off, dry heaving as the nausea got worse and worse.

By late in the afternoon he felt weak, even more exhausted than he had been that morning. His legs hurt, there was no position that was comfortable as the concrete burned his feet and legs. He hated to admit how much he cried, when he finally couldn’t take it any longer, but he couldn’t even cry for long, as though he were too dehydrated to manage even that. He kept his eyes shut as much as he could, his head was pounding and the bright sunlight wasn’t helping at all.

By the time the back doors opened again, Zander was blinking in and out of consciousness. It was sometime in the evening by then, but it was still warm out, too warm for Zander after enduring the whole day like that. He didn’t actually recognize that Cain was back until he was standing directly in front of him- something held in his hands too.

“Hey, you look like shit.” He snickered, and Zander couldn’t do much more than attempt to glare at him. He didn’t even want to know how he looked right now, likely drenched in sweat, red in his already bruised face. He was taking slow, deep breaths, he’d been fighting against the urge to vomit all day. He set down something in front of him, a bright red dog bowl, which was filled with water. “Go ahead boy, I’m sure you’re thirsty.” He told him, and it took Zander a moment to realize what he was saying.

Am I really this fucking desperate?

His mouth was so dry it was difficult for him to swallow. His throat hurt, he was hardly even capable of keeping himself awake right now, so exhausted and dizzy he couldn’t even really think straight. He hadn’t had anything to drink that day, and no matter the circumstances, this was water being offered right in front of him.

Fucking whatever, dignity be damned.

He abruptly lurched forward, desperate for it after all this time, only to gag as the chain stopped him, only inches from the water but just out of reach. He whined pathetically, he pulled against the chain despite the fact he couldn’t breath and it was showing no signs in breaking, but there was nothing he could do except sit there, and listen to Cain laugh- something that very, very quickly set him off.

“Fucking Bastard- really?!” He shouted. “Fuck you! Fucking let me go!” He growled, using all his energy just to yell at cain. “Stop fucking laughing, it’s not fucking funny!”

“No, it’s hilarious!” Cain laughed. “You’re such a desperate son of a bitch, huh? Would you really drink from a bowl like the dog you fucking are?”

“I would if you weren’t such an asshole! I don’t give a shit, just give me something!” He cried, just short of begging him. Cain was still laughing, but he nudged the bowl closer to him and Zander really did disregard any desire he’d had to avoid this, doing his best to drink from the bowl without his hands. The humiliation was absolutely nothing compared to the relief he felt, he’d never tasted anything better than that water tasted now. He drank as much as he could, as fast as he could to avoid having it taken away, but eventually Cain did take the bowl from him, then he unclipped the chain from his collar.

He tried to get up but he only just now realized how weak he was, collapsing almost immediately. Cain had to actually help him back into the house, his legs were trembling violently and he swore the room was moving side to side. Cain made a face since he was close enough to smell him after a day of sweating under the summer sun, if anything Zander counted that as some sort of victory on his end. He didn’t seem to realize anything was actually wrong with him though, he was dragged to his room and shoved to the floor, where he laid as he was locked into that cell again.

It took a long time for him to move. He couldn’t walk, he had to drag himself into the bathroom and turn on the shower to cold water, his hands shaking as he peeled his clothes off, sitting on the shower floor and breathing a sigh of relief as the cold water poured over him. He took deep, shuddering breaths, and he winced as the water hit the fresh burns on his legs, worse than he thought they would be. He wasn’t even sure if he had anything in his supplies meant for burns, but he figured he could work with what he had, he’d always done so before.

He didn’t expect to pass out in the shower. One moment he was tiredly looking at the back of his hand, at his bruised knuckles, and the next he was waking up slumped against the wall, cold and shivering now that he’d been in there long enough. He didn’t know how long that had actually been, but he finally was able to turn the water off and struggle to his feet, able to keep himself upright long enough to dry off and get dressed. He wanted to go pass out in his bed but just the thought of the mattress and the blanket made him feel hot, he wasn’t entirely thinking straight when he laid down on the bathroom floor, but he found he didn’t regret it one bit, finding relief in the cool tiles against his skin.

He wasn’t thinking entirely clearly, his thoughts still clouded with confusion, but he knew one thing for certain- With how angry he had been over his little “joke”, Cain was lucky Zander had been restrained.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 279: Here Comes the Airplane

Previously on BnHA: Gigantomachia gathered up the rest of the League and headed off to go help Tomura. Also he is now 80 feet tall. The heroes were all, “whoa this guy is really big, we should probably stop him and maybe even devote an entire chapter or two just to that,” and so they sent three whole people after him, which sadly is pretty much the exact sort of strategy I’ve come to expect from them by this point. Anyway so Mt. Lady tried to hold Machia off but kept getting flung aside, and Kamui Woods tried to catch him but was set on fire by Dabi who is just having way too good of a time setting all of the flammable heroes on fire today, and Midnight tried to put him to sleep but Compress threw a bunch of debris at her and so she fell like 80 feet. The chapter ended with Midnight being all “fuck this” and calling Momo, who ordered the rest of the child soldier squad into action as Machia approached. I’m not really sure what they’re gonna do, but I honestly don’t really care, because it’s Momo, and so, YES.

Today on BnHA: U.A.’s first-year hero students, who apparently had nine hours to prepare their battleground instead of the fifteen seconds we had all assumed, launch a complex multi-staged assault which is actually really fucking impressive because these kids are actually awesome. First they pin Machia down in one of Honenuki’s mud pits, and then they take turns making impassioned attempts to take out the other League members chilling out on Machia’s back. Unfortunately none of these attempts work because of Dabi, who’s working overtime while the rest of the League sits around shooting down each other’s escape plans. Basically a lot of stuff gets set on fire, and then the chapter ends with Mt. Lady pinning Machia to the ground while MINA, YES, MINA, charges at him covered in acid like some sort of video game boss that you need some kind of specific item to defeat. DID YOU KNOW YESTERDAY WAS MINA’S BIRTHDAY YOU GUYS. Anyway so this chapter is basically pandemonium from start to finish, and it’s great. It is a RUMPUS, y'all. A STRAIGHT UP HULLABALOO.

IS IT MOMO LOVIN’ HOURS I THINK IT IS, YOU GUYS. ARE YOU EXCITED. I AM EXCITED

but first, the color page we were promised, in celebration of Six Whole Years Of This Bullshit!!

oh god oh god so much to love so little time

some of the rowdier characters are making MULTIPLE APPEARANCES IN THIS SHITSHOW, including Kaminari who appears to be in a record-setting THREE of these! who exactly was taking all of these pictures, and why are they so obsessed with him. also how many of these are going to be used as evidence in the latest Kami Traitor Theory posts and is it too early for me to get mad about it

“WE INVITED ENDEAVOR AND HAWKS TO OUR ‘BEING FANCY ON THE COLOR PAGE’ PARTY, EVEN THOUGH THEY’RE NOT U.A. STUDENTS OR FACULTY. WE JUST FELT LIKE IT.” listen that is fine, y’all don’t have to explain yourselves to me

Mirko however is not here, I assume because if she was, Horikoshi would have forgotten to draw all the rest of the characters again. she’s too powerful

Midnight is so sexy I don’t even ksdfnkl

ALL MIGHT LOOKING HAPPY GIVES ME THE STRENGTH I NEED TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE REST OF THIS WEEK. YOUR SMILE IS THE MVP

Cementoss’s face is the runner-up MVP and one of the greatest things I’ve seen in my life

half the people here seem to be attempting to flirt with whoever is taking the pictures. I am starting to suspect that the culprit is Momo. change my mind

for some reason I am really shocked to see Endeavor getting his drink on. and he’s literally the only one, too

Bakugou’s half-assed I SAID NO PAPARAZZI skills are no match for Tamaki’s legendary “I WILL LITERALLY DIE IF YOU CAPTURE ME ON FILM” abilities

I literally didn’t notice Deku until like three quarters of the page in. he sure does blend right in there

Tokoyami is approximately 97.3% done and ticking EVER CLOSER to full 100% doneness, and when that happens even I can’t tell you what is going to go down

do I even need to mention how sexy Aizawa’s hair is. apparently I do

SERIOUSLY THOUGH CEMENTOSS’S FACE

anyway, so that was nice! NOW ON TO THE MOMOLOVIN’

and we begin with FIRST YEAR CLASS B HONENUKI “MUDMAN” JUZOU just LAYIN’ SOME TRAPS IN THE WOODS, as one does

oh my freaking god Tokage

somehow her quirk didn’t freak me out quite this much the last time we saw her. she is really something. has she always had shark teeth

also WHERE IS MONOMA’S GROUP. I immediately want to know!! is he with the Shouto group? or is there yet ANOTHER student group we don’t know about? what would they even be doing

or did Horikoshi actually get three quarters of the way through writing this arc and then suddenly slap his forehead as he realized that if Monoma just casually copied Machia’s powers he would either DIE IMMEDIATELY or else become SUPER STRONG and also grow 80 feet tall and this would suddenly be a very different battle with the scales tipping decidedly in the heroes’ favor. and so he had to quickly write him out of the battle in this very half-assed way

anyway, so while I ponder that, Tokage is peeking the top of her head out over the trees and staring at Machia who is, you guessed it, still heading right their way! just like he’s been doing pretty much this entire time

and now there’s a whole page of reaction panels you guys. this is why Horikoshi tries to avoid these massive Endgame-style battles with every single hero known to man participating. hopefully we won’t have too many of these. like I mean thank you for the roll call and all but I’d like to get to the action now

Mineta of all people is stealing this entire page with that expression though. he is not fucking around. this is twice in as many chapters that he’s been a page-stealing face-making champ. dare I hope this could be the start of a new niche for him? lord knows it would be so much better than the old niche

also this page is just sweatdrops galore. these kids are so nervous. MANGA GODS PLEASE KEEP THEM SAFE, although I’m honestly not too worried about them compared to the adults. I’m sure I should be, but I just am not

all right so now Momo is explaining what those little canisters are!

okay but someone please explain to me how it is that they had time to stop and lay all of these traps?? not just Honenuki’s, but Mineta’s and what looks like some of Shiozaki’s work as well?? did Machia just STOP MOVING for like five whole minutes all of a sudden for no reason at all? while they were all sitting out here saying things like “with that speed...”? ????? ????????

also lol wtf. “we’re gonna have to make him eat it.” I still have no idea what their plan is, but it’s getting more entertaining by the minute I’ll say that much

okay so Momo says that if they can get him to swallow just one of these, then that should be enough to put him to sleep. oh my god this chapter is going to be AMAZING isn’t it

meanwhile Mineta is worrying about Midnight. I swear to god if they turn this into something where he’s only worried because she’s hot, I will take one of these canisters and shove it right up his...

okay good, Mina’s reassuring him that it’s gonna be okay, and then we’re just cutting to Machia stampeding in with Mt. Lady and Kamui still clinging to him

WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE GUYS EVEN DOING

“we’ll just stand here adjacent to him and just kind of watch as he rushes straight at the children.” someone help me, I’m having difficulty finding a synonym for “useless” that carries the full amount of emphasis I want to place on it right now. this requires a degree of language the human race is not yet capable of

OH SNAP

THEY GOT HIM YEAHHHHH

OH DANG, FOR REAL THOUGH!!

ngl, for a brief spiteful moment I was disappointed he hadn’t actually fallen on them :/

and they’re still JUST STANDING THERE, I CAN'T EVEN?? we’re getting to the point where I honestly think actual civilians might have been of more use in this situation

YESSSSS

TIME TO FIND OUT HOW MANY TENTH GRADERS GIGANTOMACHIA CAN TAKE IN A FIGHT

also, sorry to keep harping on this, but the juxtaposition of that earlier panel with all of the fully grown and experienced pros just standing in dumb awe, immediately followed by this panel of BRAVE BUT DETERMINED CHILDREN CHARGING IN AND YELLING “GO GO GO”, is just... it really is something. shit. if I was the HPSC and this was what I had to work with, I too might have seriously considered fudging a few age requirements in hopes of finding someone who could actually get the fucking job done

also what the hell is going on down there with Shishida and Satou and that third person? what are those Blackwhip-looking things?? I’m confused

ohhhhh no

Shiozaki is about to be sent flying through the air courtesy of her own hair vines omg

OH NO WAIT THE THREE TOUGH GUYS ARE STOPPING HIM. AHHH THE LAST ONE WAS KENDOU AHHHH

I still can’t figure out what the hell those are though lol. did Momo make some steel cables?? I feel like Machia would be able to break just about any kind of rope or chain they could concoct just by sheer brute strength alone

ah fuck

DON’T YOU GUYS GO RUINING THIS FOR ME!! THEY’VE GOT A GOOD THING GOING HERE, LET THEM HAVE THEIR FUN!!

although I do appreciate how they’re all “U.A.!!” in kind of this “oh shit, these guys we actually have to worry about” sort of tone lol

this look on Toga’s face is a bit concerning! well but Deku and Ochako aren’t here though, so I wonder who she’s gonna fight if it comes to that. huh

(ETA: seriously, does anyone have any idea what Toga is planning cuz I sure don’t.)

Shouji and Ojiro, who I might remind you are normal people with no enhanced physical abilities aside from extra appendages, appear to have somehow circled all the way around to Machia’s back and are now climbing up oh shit

oh and Aoyama’s there too! -- is Shouji carrying him omg

he’s using him as a human ray gun omggg. this is the most delightful thing I’ve ever witnessed

NOW SOMETHING IS BEING SHOT AT THE LEAGUE AND DABI’S STARING AT IT ALL “>:(” AND I’M PRETTY SURE THIS THING, WHATEVER IT IS, IS ABOUT TO BE SET ON FIRE, LET’S SEE

lds;afksjdl;fkj WERE THOSE JIROU’S EARJACKS??!!

okay you know what fuck you Dabi. you think it’s funny to set a little girl’s ears on fire?! don’t expect any sympathy from me when Aoyama lasers you in the face

WELL I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING BUT THEY’RE SHOOTING WHAT LOOK LIKE A BUNCH OF LITTLE TAMBOURINES AT HIM NOW

I ASSUME THEY ARE NOT ACTUALLY TAMBOURINES, BUT I REALLY DON’T KNOW, IT’S NOT LIKE THEY HANDED OUT THE RULE BOOK TO THIS THING AHEAD OF TIME

[HUGE EXAGGERATED GASPING SOUNDS]

oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my

OH MY GOD AND YANAGI THREW THEM WITH HER POLTERGEIST QUIRK!??

I DON’T KNOW WHAT THIS “ACK?!!” IS AND IT’S REALLY BUMMING ME OUT, BECAUSE THIS CAME WITHIN INCHES OF BEING THE COOLEST FUCKING COMBINATION I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!?!?

(ETA: it would have laid them all flat in seconds. Kaminari is to be feared you guys.)

NO!!!!!

it is sincerely frustrating to me watching the League carelessly toss aside all of their painstakingly accumulated goodwill from the MVA arc in the span of just a few short pages. hey Compress, you think it’s cool to hurl a bunch of rocks at my six-and-a-half-year-old son?? I hope someone rips that cool robot arm off and uses it to punch you in the dick

here comes Sero!! and how are you going to die, Sero

what in the

did he just... sneeze them all into space

okay but hear me out, what if Shouda absorbed that impact. SHOUDA YOUR TIME HAS FINALLY COME. CLASS 1-B’S ASCENT TO GLORY

(ETA: watch this space!! Shouda is here for a reason mark my words.)

meanwhile on Machia’s back, Dabi is soliloquying about Machia’s quirk while his arm is doing... something

please forgive me for not being able to drum up any sympathy for poor Dabi’s arms right about now. quit trying to set all my kids on fire

wait whaaaaat lol

so I scrolled back up to the previous page, and... that was fire?? lord help me why am I still so terrible at being able to tell when Horikoshi is drawing fire as opposed to just air randomly whooshing through trees. I have really got to memorize that foossh sound effect

so can Gigantomachia just BREATHE FIRE now?? or was ALL OF THAT Dabi??? if it was the latter then at least he had the decency to wait until all of the kids got blown out of range before setting the whole forest aflame to keep them back. I’ll admit it, that was thoughtful of him as far as villain power moves go

OHO BUT YOU CAN’T COUNT MOMO OUT JUST LIKE THAT!!

AND NOW EVERYTHING AROUND THEM IS EXPLODING AHHHHHH DID YOU GUYS SET LANDMINES, BAKUGOU WOULD BE SO PROUD

once again I have to ask myself exactly how much prep time they had here. Horikoshi would have you think it was mere seconds, but that clearly cannot be the case?? maybe they set some of these up beforehand to catch any stray villains trying to flee the area?

lmao Spinner’s all “wait why doesn’t he just dig his way out”, because apparently Machia can tunnel himself under the ground. but Compress is all “um because we would die” and Spinner is all “oh right”

though I gotta say, it’s not like they’re that much better off as things are now, either. pinned down in the woods surrounded by fire and explosives. definitely a conundrum

oh snap Compress has realized that their presence is holding Machia back. don’t tell me Machia is gonna head off on his own and leave the rest of the League to square off with the kids

YOOOOOO HOLY SHIT THE HEROES ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING

there you go, League! free cannon fodder to get you all pumped and confident again!

DKFJLSDKJ

PLEASE LET THIS BE THE ACTUAL TRANSLATION OH MY GOD. THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE LINE IN ANYTHING AHHHH

“I’m leaving it to you, U.A.’s youngsters!” yeah, you and everyone else. ah well, can’t deny they get the job done

OH MMKJKYYYY GODDDDDDJJK

MINA COATED HERSELF IN ACID AND IS RUNNING AT GIGANTOMACHIA AND IS SHE ALSO ON FIRE??!?! SHE’S JUST RUNNING AT HIM LIKE A BIG OL’ FIERY BLOB???! QUEEN MINA???!! FIRE IS NOT HER WEAKNESS???! MINA??!! IS AIRPLANE?!??!!?!? MINAAAAAAA

holy fucking shit this whole arc is just one big Arc Of Ladies Getting To Do Stuff and I am 1000% living for it. THIS ARC IS MY FAMILY. I WOULD DIE FOR IT AND LEAVE EVERYTHING TO IT IN MY WILL. ahhhhhhhhhh

[obx-adventures]

Birthday Wishes (JJ Maybank x reader)

Summary: What happens when you realize you have feelings for your best friend?

——

“Dude, what are we watching?” I hear JJ ask as I walk back to the couch. I sit down, curl my legs under me and lean into his side.

“I told you I wanted to watch 28 Days. This is 28 Days”

“Right, but where are the zombies?” I laugh out loud at JJ’s confusion. We’re 40 minutes into the Sandra Bullock movie and I am pretty impressed I was able to trick him for this long.

“That’s 28 Days Later, JJ. This is 28 Days. Remember, it’s the movie I would watch with my mom all the time when I was younger.”

At this, JJ’s face softens. He knows that tomorrow is the 5th anniversary of my mom’s death so he shuts his mouth and puts his arm around me so we can comfortably watch. I feel my eyes start to close as I listen to the comforting sound of JJ’s heart beating. Before I can fall asleep, the porch door slams closed. John B comes in with a look of excitement.

“Guys, I finally did! I kissed Sarah!” JJ can feel me stiffen next to him and gently squeezes my shoulder. He’s the only Pogue I told about my crush on John B and he knows this is going to upset me.

“That’s great, JB” JJ says quietly. “But, Y/N and I are watching this movie. Tell me all about it on our way to the Kook’s tomorrow. What time do we need to leave again?”

I zone out while JJ and John B talk about their landscaping gig on Figure 8 ‪tomorrow morning‬ and try to control my breathing. I do not want to cry in front of JB so I focus on taking 5 deep breaths.

JJ, John B, and I have been best friends since 3rd grade. When my mom died, they were at the hospital with me. Then, after Big John disappeared, JJ and I practically moved in. JJ walked in on me crying in the kitchen one day after John B told us that he was trying to mack on Sarah Cameron. He held me as I cried into his chest and he’s spent the past couple months being my rock. I normally talk to Kie about boys but this one feels a little too personal since it’s JB. The one positive to come from this train wreck is that JJ and I have grown even closer.

“Hey, you ok?” I feel JJ whisper into my ear. I realize that John B has gone to his room. I nod and thank him for saving me from hearing the gory details.

“No problem. I got you, Y/N. I know that tomorrow is going to be rough with your mom stuff, so I plan on coming straight home after this landscaping job. We can go on the boat or watch movies, whatever you want.”

I smile up at my blonde best friend and see the honest concern that is in his eyes. He pulls me into a hug, and we settle back into a comfortable silence while we watch the rest of the movie. I drift asleep feeling grateful to have JJ in my life.

----

The next morning (if you consider ‪1pm‬ morning like I do), I wake up alone on the couch. JJ covered me with a light blanket before leaving with John B. For a moment, I think about going home to see my dad. I know today is hard for him too, but I don’t think I’m the person who can help him through it. He blames me for my mom’s death (I got out of the car accident with only a broken arm and she died 2 days after without ever waking up) and I can’t face the verbal abuse he’d likely dish out today while he drowns his pain in booze.

After going to the bathroom and making myself some coffee, I hear the boys get home. JJ sounds agitated but I can’t tell why from inside. I head out to greet them and try to figure out what’s going on.

“JB! You know today is hard for her. Why would you invite Sarah fucking Cameron over?” I stop in my tracks as I hear JJ scold John B. Before I can move, they come around the porch but don’t see me before John B responds to JJ.

“Dude, I forgot what day it was. But I can’t uninvite Sarah now. She’ll be here in an hour. I’m sure Y/N will be fine with it. It’s not like I’m ditching her.” JJ smacks John B on the chest with the back of his hand as he sees me standing there. John B follows JJ’s eye sight and looks guilty when he sees me.

“Y/N, I’m sorry. If you don’t want Sarah to come over, I’ll call her right now. I just thought that we could all go out on the Pogue and you guys could get to know her.”

Instead of responding, I turn around and go back in the house. I decide the best way to avoid this conversation is to take a shower, so I gather up some clothes from the spare bedroom, but I’m stopped by John B standing in the doorway to the bathroom.

“Please, stop,” John B moves his hands to my shoulders, but I can’t make eye contact with him yet. “I’m a dick, I know. I guess I was just so pumped about kissing her yesterday that I lost track of the days.”

I force myself to look up at him but am saved from responding by Pope and Kie walking into the house.

“Dude! Why is JJ so pissed off? We saw him punch a tree and kick a chair across the yard as we were pulling up.”

I use Pope’s distraction to slip past John B and close the bathroom door. I start to cry as I climb into the shower. But for once, my tears aren’t because of my unrequited feelings. I’m crying in anger (which pisses me off even more) and feeling so let down by John B. He forgot that today was the anniversary of my mom’s death. He fucking forgot! He knows how crippling my Survivor’s Guilt can be and he knows that the best way to help me through it is by all the Pogues being together and doing nothing. Last year we spent the whole day drinking and watching the Harry Potter movies. It just helps being with them and knowing that they are there for me.

I hear the bathroom door open and know that Kie has come in to check on me. I can hide from the boys but never from her.

“Y/N, do you need anything? I finally got John B to tell me what happened. He’s a fucking ass. JJ has calmed down and is worried about you. I told him I would check in but, if you need me to, I’ll kick all of them out and we can have some quiet time.”

“Thanks, Kie,” I respond softly. I don’t bother hiding my sniffles. Kie knows I take showers when I get emotional. “Maybe you can send them on a food run? Tell John B that it’s fine. He can go with Sarah today.”

“Yea, no. After JJ told me what happened, I kinda freaked out on John B until he called Sarah to cancel.” I giggle at the image of Kie towering over John B, most likely with her patented disappointed look and a finger in his face.

“You didn’t have to do that, Kie. If he would rather spend the day with her, it’s fine.”

“Nope. Founding principle, pogues stick together. I’ll send them to get food but I don’t think JJ will leave until he sees you’re ok.”

“Give me 5 minutes. I’ll meet him in the spare room. But only him. I can’t look at John B right now and I’ll spare Pope awkwardly trying to make me feel better.”

Five minutes later, I walk into the spare room and see JJ pacing. His jaw is still clenched and the worried look from last night is back.

“J, I’m ok,” I sit on the bed and pat for JJ to come sit next to me. “How’s your hand? Pope said you punched the tree?” I grabbed his hand and can see his knuckles are red with some broken skin.

“I’m fine, Y/N,” JJ pulls his hand from mine and lifts my chin so he can look at my face. He can see that I’ve been crying and goes to give me a hug.

“JJ, don’t look at me like that. These are angry tears. He fucking forgot!” I can see from JJ’s reaction that he thought I was crying about Sarah. “I just can’t believe him. He can be so fucking self-centered.”

“You aren’t upset that he invited Sarah over?”

“At this point, I want him to go hang out with her,” I can tell I’ve surprised JJ so I try to explain further. “The whole point of this ritual is to be with my family and know that you all are with me because you love me. I don’t want him here out of pity or guilt.”

I’m not expecting JJ’s reaction. He pulls me into a tight hug and I can’t help but wrap my arms around him too.  He whispers into my ear, “I’m here because I love you.”

For reasons I can’t explain, hearing JJ say this and feeling his breathe on my ear causes my stomach to knot up. He sounds so genuine and has packed so much emotion into the hug and statement. We’re startled apart by Kie coming into the bedroom to check on me. JJ gets up and leaves the house to meet the other boys and Kie has a weird look on her face. Once the van leaves, Kie brings me out to the couch. She’s pulled out the emergency stash of ice cream that she and I have hidden in the freezer. When I reach out for the spoon, she pulls it back and I prepare for the interrogation.

“What the hell did I just walk in on?” She quirks up her eyebrow and stares me down.

“Nothing, Kie. JJ was just worried about me.” I try to ignore the increase in my heart rate from the insinuation in her question. What is wrong with me?

“I’ve noticed you guys have been getting closer. Is something going on?” Kie is way too observant. I don’t want to bring someone else into my little drama so I try to play everything off as business as usual.

“No! You know JJ, he says he’s not much of a hugger but we both know that’s an outright lie.” And this is true, at least with the Pogues. We’ve all been through too much together and physical affection has always been part of our dynamic.

“Come on, Y/N, you two are always next to each other and I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Spill!” I’m surprised that Kie thinks JJ looks at me in a different way. But I can’t let myself focus on that too much. I finally decide to cave and bring her up to speed on everything.

“Ok, fine. I’ll tell you everything but only because it doesn’t really matter anymore. But give me the spoon first!” Kie looks smug as she hands over the spoon. After filling Kie in on my crush on John B and JJ’s support, she has a lot of follow up questions.

“Wait, so you’re telling me that you’re crushing on JB right now, not JJ?” I bristle at her statement and realize maybe I wasn’t fully understanding my own feelings.

“Well I was…” I start off tentatively but the gears in my brain are working furiously. “I think today was the smack upside the head I needed. I’ve always thought of John B and I as closer friends than me and JJ but that’s been changing over the past couple months, and not just because of my crush. I guess I was taking for granted how genuine JJ is and how much he cares about his friends. And now I’m even doubting if I was really into JB. I mean, other than you, I’ve never had to share the boys with another girl. So, I thought I had a crush when I got upset about JB and Sarah. But after his dick move this morning, I don’t feel anything like that towards him. I’ve only been into a couple of guys in my life but none have ever gone away like flipping off a light switch. Maybe I was just jealous that I would have to share him with someone other than you… Oh shit, Kie! I should have talked this through with you before!”

“Obviously,” Kie says through a laugh. “But what about JJ? You’re right, he cares a lot about all of us, but I think it’s a little more than that with you.”

Before I can answer, the boys walk into the house. It looks like they robbed a movie theater with all the candy and snacks they are carrying. JJ still doesn’t look like his normal, carefree self. I give him a genuine smile and reach out for his hand. He helps me up and tries to assess how I’m doing. Before he can finish scanning my face, I pull him into a tight hug.

“Thank you, J.” I whisper to him. “You are my absolute best friend and I love you too.” I hear JJ open his mouth to speak, but he doesn’t get a chance to say anything before John B walks over to us.

“Umm, Y/N, can I talk to you for a minute?” John B’s sheepish voice makes me lift my chin from JJ’s shoulder. He lets me go but gently places his hand on my waist to let me know that he’s there for me.

“JB, look, you did a shitty thing,” John B looks down and I can feel the guilt radiating off him. “I wish you didn’t, but I understand that you got caught up in your new relationship. Let’s just move past it, ok?”

“I really am sorry,” John B pulls me into a hug, but JJ doesn’t move his hand from my waist until I wrap my arms around John B too. “I’m here for you today, 100%”

“I know,” I pull back and decide the best option is to bring some lightness back to the group. “And your punishment for being a dick is having to pick the first movie we watch today.”

“Oh, c’mon,” We all laugh at John B’s groan. He knows that picking a movie for the group often leads to mockery and teasing. All of us have different tastes in movies so we frequently fight over what we watch. As I look at the Pogues, I feel the love I so desperately needed today.

----

It’s been two weeks since the anniversary of my mom’s death. I still haven’t been home, and my dad hasn’t even tried to find me. While I know it would be more painful to see him, it still hurts. So, I decide to throw myself into planning JJ’s birthday celebration.

At first, I thought about throwing a kegger at the Boneyard but changed my mind after JJ came back from his house a couple days ago. This time it looked like he escaped without any physical damage, but I could tell from the look in his eyes that he wasn’t unscathed. I decided he needed something smaller with just the people who love him so I’m organizing a full day of Pogues-only fun.

When I told the other Pogues my plan, they all agreed and decided to be responsible for one activity. John B is coordinating a boys fishing trip in the morning followed by a day swimming in the marsh, Kie is planning the barbeque, Pope is using Heyward’s contacts to get some fireworks, and I’m planning the campfire dance party.

“Y/N, I know that we need the colorful fireworks but I think I’m going to get JJ some M80s too so he can blow off some steam,” Pope and I are talking through the details of his portion while he walks me to my shift at the Wreck.

“That’s a great idea, Pope. But you’re the most responsible one in our group so you will need to make sure he doesn’t blow us all up.”

“I can’t promise that,” Pope tells me, getting visibly anxious at the thought. “I mean, it’s JJ and explosives. He’s going to do whatever the hell he wants anyways.”

I laugh with Pope as we walk into the Wreck. I stash my purse under the counter and tie on my apron as he sits down. While I’m not as close with Pope as I am with JJ and John B, he’s still one of my favorite people. He balances the chaos that JJ throws out and is usually able to stop JJ from following through on some of his crazier plans.

“What’s the deal with you two anyway?” I freeze at Pope’s question and wonder if Kie has been planting ideas in his head. My suspicions are confirmed when she comes from behind me with a mischievous look on her face.

“Yea, Y/N, what’s the deal with you and JJ?” She looks smug as she rests her arm on Pope’s shoulder.

“Guys, we aren’t having this conversation. JJ is my best friend. Now shut up and wipe those smirks off your faces, he’s about to walk in”

They turn to look at my blonde best friend and are not surprised when he is only looking at me. I, on the other hand, am frozen in place. I can’t describe the way he’s looking at me or why that look is making me grin like an idiot.

“Hey, Y/N, can I talk to you for a second?”

When I can finally tell my body to move, I nod. Pope and Kie walk back to the office and I don’t miss the glint in Kie’s eye or Pope’s knowing look. JJ takes Pope’s vacated seat at the counter and looks at me seriously.

“Do you want me to tell JB that Sarah can’t come to my birthday thing on Saturday?”

“Is that why you look so worried, JJ?” I place a hand on his and give him a reassuring smile. “There’s no need. John B already told Sarah it’s a Pogues-only day. But even if he did invite her, it wouldn’t upset me. I promise I’m all good.”

I have been trying to convince JJ for the last two weeks that I’m ok with John B and Sarah dating. He obviously doesn’t believe me. I’ve finally come to terms with my growing feelings for JJ but I haven’t decided if I’ll tell him yet. Either way, I need him to understand that I don’t have anything more than friendly feelings towards John B now. If only so he doesn’t keep worrying himself. I decide in the moment that I need to be blunt, at least about John B, so I sit down next to JJ to explain clearly.

“JJ, I realized when everything went down a couple weeks ago that I never actually had a thing for John B,” I pause for a moment and watch as he processes what I said. “You guys are my family and I think I just freaked out at the idea of Sarah interfering in that. John B is my friend, and only my friend. Not my crush. Ok?”

JJ gives me a skeptical look but before he can respond, Kie joins our conversation.

“JJ, she’s being honest with you,” JJ’s eyes widen when he realizes Kie knows what we’re talking about. “I know you think she’s trying to put up a good front so you don’t worry about her, but you actually don’t need to worry. We talked about this while you boys were at the store that day.”

JJ looks back to me for confirmation and looks very relieved when I nod back at him. He also has a different look in his eyes, one that I’ve never seen before. The look from a few minutes ago was more like tunnel vision, he didn’t seem to notice or care about anyone else. This look almost looks hopeful. For a minute I allow myself to think that my best friend may have feelings for me, too. But before I can think about that too much, my dad walks into the Wreck.

“Y/N, where the hell have you been?!”

I look down at my shoes and brace for the fight. I’ve been putting this off too long in the hopes that he’ll forget about me, but it seems like I was wrong. When he reaches me, I have to stop my nose from wrinkling up. He smells like he’s showered with a bottle of tequila. I still can’t bring myself to look him in the eyes so he grabs my chin harshly and pulls my face up. JJ tenses next to me but I reach out to touch his knee before he can do anything.

“You little bitch, I saw the flowers you left at her grave,” my dad growls at me. “I thought I told you never to go see her. You should be the one in that grave instead of her.”

Luckily, Pope saw my dad stumble in and got Kie’s dad from his office. They both approach us, and I can see that Mr C is trying to figure out the best way to defuse this situation.

“Y/N, can you help chop some vegetables before the dinner rush?” Mr C decides to try to avoid a scene. Unfortunately for him, my dad is too drunk to care.

“I’m not done with her yet,” my dad says loudly to Mr C. I can feel the tears brimming in my eyes, but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction. He turns back to look at me but still won’t release my chin. “Now you may like whoring it up with those boys but I’m still your father. You will not go see your mother again. It’s the least you can do after killing her.”

Pope stops JJ from jumping up while Mr C gets closer to us. He puts his hand on my dad’s forearm and I can see him applying pressure until my dad lets go of me. Mr C steers my dad out the door and I break down into tears once he’s gone. JJ’s arms find me first but it’s not long before I feel Pope and Kie wrap their arms around us too. Mr C comes back and tells me I don’t need to work today. After a few attempts at telling him I’m ok to work, I nod and let JJ guide me outside. Pope and Kie know that JJ is the best person to comfort me right now, so they hang back while we leave.

JJ gets me back to the Chateau and explains to John B and Sarah what happened. John B gives him the keys to the boat and JJ takes me out to the marsh. By the time I’m fully calmed down, the sun is setting over the ocean and I’m relaxing with JJ’s arms around me. I notice that, during all of that, JJ didn’t need to say anything to make me feel better. Just being with him was enough. We sit there for another hour and enjoy the peace together. Every once in a while, JJ leans down and gives me a kiss along my hairline. Each time he does, I relax further into him. After the last kiss before we head back to the Chateau, I realize that I need to tell him how I feel.

---

We are sitting around the fire, drinking, smoking, and listening to my JJ Birthday Jams playlist. All of us are tired from the day’s activities but it’s the wonderful exhaustion you feel after spending a great day with your people. Pope was right about JJ enjoying the M80s. He was like a kid on Christmas morning when Pope brought out the package of explosives. Kie convinced her mom to make the secret Carrera family potato salad to go with the other food so all of us are stuffed.

But it’s not a birthday without a cake so I decide to go get the one I made before we all are either too drunk/high or asleep. John B opens the door for me so I can bring out the cake and all of us serenade the birthday boy. I sit next to him on the hammock and he’s grinning ear to ear by the end of the song.

“Make a wish, JJ,” I whisper to him and he looks straight into my eyes as he blows out the candle. Kie takes the cake to cut it for us and JB and Pope help her dish it out.

“What did you wish for?” I lean in as I ask him. It’s tradition for me, JJ, and John B to tell each other our birthday wishes so I’m surprised when he shakes his head and won’t make eye contact with me. “But it’s tradition!”

“Maybe later, let’s just enjoy the rest of the day,” he tells me and I’m sensing a sadness that wasn’t there before.

“Alright, JJ,” John B brings over pieces of cake for the three of us. “Let’s hear it. Where does this birthday rank on the list?” This is another tradition we have, ranking our birthdays at the end of the party.

“Solid second place, maybe first,” JJ says as he takes a bite. “Nope, changed my mind, first place. This cake is awesome.”

I smile at the complement and we all fall into a pleasant silence while we eat. After we’re done, Kie, Pope, and John B decide to head in to bed. I put my hand on JJ’s to signal that I want him to stay with me. After they are all inside, I turn my body towards him, and he follows my lead.

“Y/N, everything ok? You just got real serious. Did something happen?”

“It’s ok, J,” I take a deep breath and try to find the courage to tell him how I feel. I open and close my mouth a few times trying to get the right words to come out. I’ve never been shy to talk to JJ so he brings my hand into his to try to settle me.

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t be shy. You know you can tell me anything.”

When I meet his eyes, it all clicks for me. This is JJ. My JJ. I could tell him that I murdered someone, and he would offer to help me hide the body. I don’t need to be nervous with him. Even if he doesn’t feel the same, I know we’ll still be best friends. This realization relaxes me and finally gives me the courage to talk.

“JJ, I need to tell you something. But before I do, I need you to know that I’m not expecting you to say anything back. I just need you to know.”

He nods to me in encouragement and gently squeezes my hands.

“You are the most important person in my life. You make me laugh and calm me down. You hold me when you know that no words will make me feel better. You make me feel strong and you support me in everything I do, even if it’s really fucking stupid. Lately, my feelings towards you have been changing. I think I’m falling in love with you.”

I don’t know how I expected him to respond but I was not prepared for silence. He looks dumbstruck and he’s not moving at all. Not even his usual fidgeting. I take a deep breath, kiss his hand that is holding mine, and stand to go inside. Maybe he just needs time to think about what I said? He isn’t normally a careful person but maybe he thinks he needs to be cautious about this. As I start to walk away, he reaches out to grab my hand. When I turn back to him, he puts his hand behind my neck and pulls me into a kiss.

People talk about fireworks when they kiss someone for the first time. But for me it’s like a fire. It starts slow (because I am in shock) and then all at once I feel engulfed in warmth and light. My hands reach up to his face and I feel him sigh into me when I start kissing him back. The kiss is rough and passionate but also emotional and beautiful. My body moves closer to him and I shudder a little when I feel his hand move from the back of my neck down to my lower back. I’m getting lightheaded so I pull away to take a breath and rest my forehead on his.

“This was my birthday wish,” JJ whispers to me.

[vanwartime]

Much has already been said of RCAF veteran Robert Clothier’s service online, but I’d like to delve a bit deeper into his WWII accomplishments. Robert was normally rather soft spoken about this part of his life, so these details may have been obscured to many of those who knew him.

Robert was a pilot, actor, and even a sculptor. His work Three Forms is displayed on UBC grounds, near the north side of the Lasserre Building.

His wikipedia entry gives a good introduction:

Like many of his contemporaries, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force at an early age. He learned to fly at #1 Elementary Flying School and #4 Service Flying Training School, and flew operationally with 408 Squadron RCAF. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on December 5, 1944, the citation reading,

"This officer has completed numerous sorties in the role of pilot, involving attacks on most of the enemy's heavily defended targets. On all occasions he has pressed home his attacks with great determination and by his personal example of courage, coolness and confidence has set an example which has inspired all with whom he has flown."

In the first photo above, you can see Robert in October 1944 on his last trip after his second tour overseas. Crew members are (front) F/O Larry Corbeil, Bomb Aimer & Sgt. Joe McCart, Flight Engineer. (Back row) F/L Bob Austen, Wireless Air Gunner; Sandy De Zorzi, Navigator; Robert Clothier, Pilot; Tom Murdoch, Gunner; Bob Fitzgerald, Rear Gunner. In this photo, 408 squadron was using Halifax B. Mk VII's.

Here’s a more detailed rundown of his service, via the RCAF Association Honours and Awards page:

CLOTHIER, F/L Robert Allan (J15680) - Distinguished Flying Cross - No.408 Squadron - Award effective 5 December 1944 as per London Gazette of that date and AFRO 293/45 dated 16 February 1945. Born 22 October 1921 in Prince Rupert (Wikipedia entry says 21 October 1921); home in Vancouver; enlisted there 19 October 1940. To Trenton, 10 November 1940. To No.1 ITS, 27 January 1941; graduated and promoted LAC, 5 March 1941 but not posted to No.1 EFTS until 16 March 1941; graduated 4 May 1941 when posted to No.4 SFTS; graduated and promoted Sergeant, 27 July 1941. To Embarkation Depot, 28 July 1941; to RAF overseas, 19 August 1941. Commissioned 9 June 1942. Promoted Flying Officer, 9 December 1942. Promoted Flight Lieutenant, 15 June 1944. Appears to have been repatriated at some point but posted overseas again in March 1944. Finally repatriated 28 October 1944. To No.5 OTU, 3 December 1944 to instruct. Survived the crash of Mitchell HD315, 23 December 1944 which killed three others; severely injured with a broken back. At the time of the accident he had some 1,204 hours flying including 260 on Hampdens, 364 on Wellingtons and 111 on Lancasters. He was paralyzed from the waist down for two years. To Release Centre, 26 October 1945. Retired 9 January 1946. Studied architecture at University of British Columbia and theatre in England. On return to Vancouver he became an actor, painter and sculptor. He got the role of “Relic” on The Beachcombers, which ran on Canadian TV from 1972 to 1990. Died 10 February 1999 in Vancouver. Award sent by registered mail 21 May 1956.

As mentioned above, after returning home from two tours overseas, Robert suffered a serious crash at Boundary Bay, but survived.

In the Court of Inquiry, he testified that he had not fastened his seat belts, which may have contributed to his injuries...but it may have also saved his life, as he may have been thrown out of the aircraft. Also, the others may not have had their belts done up either, so they were thrashed around and perished. One crewman survived, but died in hospital, while the other two were killed in the crash or were trapped and killed in the fire.

He was a staff pilot at No. 5 OTU, and the aircraft was going up to do a "compass swing" in the air, rather than on the ground, so he had maintenance personnel on board, not trainees. The aircraft lost an engine on takeoff and crashed into a large drainage ditch near the runway.

Sadly, a few months later, Robert also lost his brother during active service overseas. Via findagrave.com:

432 Squadron’s Halifax VII (#RG-475) aircraft was  one of about 160 aircraft that participated in a major air operation over Chemnitz, Germany on 5/6 March 1945. The Halifax took off from RAF East Moor in Yorkshire with eight air crew members aboard; after its successful operation in Germany, the aircraft was on its return flight back to its base in England when it was tragically shot down by ‘friendly flak’ from British Coastal Defence anti-aircraft guns. All eight airmen perished when the Halifax crashed north of Walton-on-Naze in Essex.

Miraculously, Robert recovered from his injuries, though he always walked with a limp.

I’d like to rewind briefly and highlight a small detail noted in the clipping after his second tour overseas. From the Vancouver Sun November 2, 1944, Page 6:

Flight-Lieutenant Robert "Bob" Clothier of 1979 Waterloo Road, Vancouver the bomber pilot who once flew his big Hampden upside down, while laden with bombs, over Mannheim has completed his second full tour of operations, according to an RCAF statement released today. He is the first pilot in the Goose Squadron to have done this, flying Hampdens for the first tour, and swinging over to Lancasters and Halifaxes for the second. Flt.-Lt. Clothier, 23, son of Mr. and Mrs. R. L, Clothier, 1979 Waterloo Road, was born in Prince Rupert and attended St. George's School in Vancouver. He went overseas in August, 1941. A brother, FO. John Clothier, 24, is also overseas with the RCAF.

Did I read that correctly?! He flew his big Hampden upside down, while laden with bombs?! This is no small feat, especially considering the reputation of the Hampden! This was also quoted on the RCAF Association page, where it states: “His mates like to tell of the time Clothier tried a stall turn on a Hampden with a full bomb load aboard and the bomber did a complete upside-down flip.”

Jerry Vernon, the Vancouver Chapter President of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society writes:

You certainly would not want to deliberately fly a Hampden upside down, especially with a bomb load still on board. However, it is possible that he found himself involuntarily in this position as a result of air turbulence, violent evasive action to avoid another aircraft or a nearby flak burst! The Hampden was not a very forgiving airplane! People who flew (and survived) the Hampden were very brave, because it was a bad airplane with nasty aerodynamic problems...

The worst problem with the Handley-Page Hampden was instability, due to the “tadpole” shape of the rear fuselage and the very minimal vertical tail surfaces.  I can probably recite at least half a dozen (or more) that crashed at No. 32 OTUS at Pat Bay due to this. As a result, pilots were instructed to fly straight ahead and never turn while climbing slowly at low altitude.

The early models of the Handley-Page Halifax bomber had a similar problem, with inadequate vertical fins. The RAF complained but Handley-Page rejected the complaints…eventually the later models of the Hampden had large “barn door’ tail fins!!

The Hampden we have at the Canadian Museum of Flight was lost due to failure to respect these instructions. They were dropping a torpedo, at low level of course, and were slowly starting to climb. The pilot turned the aircraft a bit to see where the torpedo was heading, and lost control. Rudder action had no effect nor did differential throttle, and they crashed into the water off Pat Bay. The Bomb Aimer quickly realized what was happening and climbed back up to his seat behind the pilot and had the overhead hatch open before they hit the water! They were lucky and got out quickly and were picked up by a Stranraer that was just taking off nearby at the time. Minor injuries and barely got their feet wet!!

In another case the following aircraft saw the Hampden ahead of them, flying at only 500 feet, attempt to do a 180, stall, roll over onto its back and fall into the ocean. They would send out perhaps 10 or 12 Hampdens on 5 minute intervals on a Navigation & Bombing Exercise that involved flying a couple of hundred miles out into the Pacific, doing about a 90° turn towards land, which brought them back over Port Hardy, then down to the South end of Vancouver Island where there was a bombing range. They had no weather information from the West, so the instructions were to turn around and return to Pat Bay if they ran into bad weather, in which case a radio message would be sent out for all aircraft to return. Some never got the message due to bad radios or poor reception and several simply disappeared without trace.  

They had earlier done this exercise with Ansons, such as the one discovered in the trees near Port Renfrew several years ago, and later with Mitchells from Boundary Bay, such as one discovered on Brooks Peninsula in 1960. If they disappeared they were assumed to have been lost at sea, but that wasn’t always the case and the odd one has turned up on Vancouver Island over the years.

I’ll end this post with a quote from his DHH file 181.009 D.1513 (Library and Archives Canada RG.24 vol.20600) where his recommendation was raised by W/C R.A. McLernon, 26 September 1944 when he had completed 45 sorties (256 hours 40 minutes):

Flight Lieutenant Clothier has completed two tours of operations on heavy bombers in an exemplary manner. During these two tours he attacked practically every heavily defended target in Europe including Essen, Mannheim, Stuttgart and Hamburg. On all occasions he pressed home his attacks with very great determination and inspired his whole crew with great confidence. His courage and coolness were at all times of the highest order despite the intensity of the defences encountered, and never did he permit his bombs to be dropped unless he was certain that they would fall on the target. Flight Lieutenant Clothier, by his skillful leadership and operational ability, has moulded together one of the finest crews that this squadron has ever known. He is admired by those serving under him and also by his superiors. He is indeed a splendid example of what a fine operational pilot should be. Therefore I recommend that he be awarded an immediate Distinguished Flying Cross.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

hey! so, i've been a huge fan of your writing for a while now. you always offer me so much inspiration within your stories, i absolutely love your ability bring life to all the characters and settings you write about. and idk if you're still accepting requests for your otp mix n' match challenge, nor if you'd even consider doing this request haha, but- could i perhaps request 15 & 11? i am super interested in potentially seeing what your take on my personal otp would be! much love either way

Hi, this has been in my drafts for like.... forever. Since April or May, I think? Oh boy. My apologies, I completely forgot about it until I stumbled across it today. But hey, better now than never, I suppose. Also thank you for your kinds words! I truly appreciate it! :D

“Louis and Mitch pretend to date to make others jealous but you know what happens.”

Read on AO3

This is a joke. 

This is a joke and he’s the butt of it. 

How did the fuck did he end up here?

Mitch knows this has to be a joke because Louis did not go through this much effort for it to not be a joke.

The remaining fries on the plate have gone cold, mushy beneath the squirt of bright cheddar cheese. Walter’s Diner has the best fries in this hellhole of a town, and usually, they’re the first thing he chows down before finishing his burger or even touching his shake. 

Fuck. Fucking hell. 

It’s hard to concentrate on and enjoy his food with Louis’ arm behind his neck, hand casually resting over Mitch’s shoulder as he and Violet argue whether they should order a basket of donut holes or four slices of peach pie for dessert. 

“They’re stuffed,” Violet says, pointing at the menu, reading, “‘Our bite-sized delights are baked to perfection, stuffed with our delicious cream cheese filling, and tossed in a heavenly mixture of cinnamon and sugar.’ And you’re telling me that doesn’t sound good?”

 “And you’re telling me that a slice of Walter’s famous peach pie doesn’t make your mouth water?” Louis sighs. “I’m salivating just thinking about it.”

Violet wrinkles her nose. 

“Peach pie sucks.”

“You suck.” 

“You suck.”

“C’mon guys,” Aasim butts in, eyes rolling in that exasperated way he gets whenever Louis and Violet do this. “Donuts suck, pie sucks, and you both suck. Let’s order ice cream.”

With a hand pressed against his chest, Louis lets out his fakest, most dramatic gasp. Next comes the obnoxious- and probably offensive- British accent.

“Why, my dear Mitch, Violet, did you hear what this lickspittle just said to us?”

Violet’s last tater tot goes flying as a response, bouncing off Aasim’s nose. 

“Are you serious?” Aasim snatches the tater tot back up, throwing it at Louis. 

“Hey! Rude!” Louis laughs, his arm slipping out from behind Mitch to try and catch the tot. “What did I do?”

Without a thought, Mitch grabs the offending tot and tosses it back at Aasim, who catches it and lets it drop onto his plate. 

“Knock it off, guys,” he says. “It shouldn’t take this long to decide on a dessert. I vote pie.” 

That makes Louis smile.

“Ah, a man after my own heart,” he sighs, shifting closer against Mitch’s side- Jesus Christ almighty- and pressing quick kiss against his cheek. 

Fuck everything. Fuck, fuck-

This causes Mitch to suck in a breath, only to cover it up by coughing into his sleeve. God, his face is going to melt off, especially if Louis keeps looking at him like that. 

“That’s not a surprise,” Violet rolls her eyes, ignoring the kiss and Mitch’s coughing fit. “He sucks, too.” 

“Can’t we just agree that we all suck?” Louis says. 

“Can’t you ever shut your pie hole?” 

“Can’t we all just order different desserts?” Aasim pleads, finger jabbing at the menu on the table to emphasize his point. 

Louis and Violet look at one another, puzzled as if that idea never occurred to them. At this point, Mitch didn’t even care about dessert, didn’t really even want any. 

Louis shifts and there’s the warm, distracting press of his knee against his and Mitch has never been so tense in his entire life. 

He's too fucking close. Too close. Too close. And he kissed him. On the cheek, sure, but fucking hell-

Never has he felt such tension in his body, even when something obnoxiously embarrassing passes his father’s mouth, or when Willy’s fingers slip from the branches of whatever tree he’s climbing and he almost plummets to the ground. 

He doesn’t know what’s worse: the fact that Aasim won’t stop gawking at them every time they do anything, or that Louis is fucking comfortable doing the things that make Aasim gawk in the first place. 

This whole thing is nothing but a cruel joke that Mitch was stupid enough to take the bait for.

And for what? A promise of Louis buying him lunch every day for a month? Was a free meal every day worth this level of anxiety and... gross feelings? 

“Fine,” says Violet. “I’ll eat a whole basket myself, but don’t any of you dare eyeball them. You had your chance.”

“I won’t eyeball your donuts if you don’t eyeball my pie.” 

“I won’t because pie sucks.”

“You suck!” 

“Oh my god,” Aasim abruptly twists around, desperately tapping on the shoulder of a now startled waitress. “Two slices of peach pie, a basket of donuts holes, and an ice cream cone to go. Please. I want to go home.” 

The waitress stares at him, baffled, before nodding and getting away from their table as quickly as possible. 

Louis chuckles, arm slipping back behind Mitch as he says, “I think she likes you.”

“Shut up!” Aasim frowns. “I swear to god...”

Louis continues to laugh, but he steals a glance at Mitch. Something softens and it’s... Mitch doesn’t know what the fuck it is. Ever since they started this, sometimes Louis will look at him like that.

From what he can tell, Louis doesn’t even look at the girl like that, and she’s the entire reason they’re doing this. 

That girl- what the fuck’s her name? He couldn’t have possibly tuned Louis out every time he mentions her- the redhead from his art class or whatever. She’s the one who started this bullshit.

About a month ago, Louis wrote him a note detailing, “I need your help. Meet me by the school entrance during lunch? It’s important,” while they’re in the middle of a pop quiz. As if Mitch didn’t have enough to worry about with all the damn fractions scattering the quiz, but then he was left worry about what the hell Louis needed his help with. 

Also, he did this without Mr. Garcia noticing. How the fuck that’s possible is beyond him. If they were caught, both of their quizzes would’ve been ripped to shreds. Mitch didn’t need that shit right now.

Then, the entrance was barely in sight by the time Louis snuck up on him, grabbed his arm, and proceeded to drag him outside and across the parking lot so they could hop into the safety of Mitch’s hand-me-down truck despite Mitch’s protests. He hadn’t cleaned his truck of its fast-food wrappers or loose sheets of forgotten homework in weeks, and that left him worried that the air freshener didn’t work. 

Finally, Louis managed to explain this so-called plan of his to Mitch with a straight face, not cracking once. He actually sounds serious enough that Mitch might’ve believed him if this bullshit wasn’t so... so bullshit.

“I really like her,” Louis had said, “and Violet said this kind of thing could get her attention.” 

Of course, Mitch didn’t agree so easily because the plan was- nd still is- stupid.

“You think pretending to date me is gonna get her attention?” he scoffed. “I’m not fucking doing this. Ask Vi.”

“I can’t ask Vi. She doesn’t date dudes and I’m pretty sure Brody would, like, break me in half or something.”

“Fine, Aasim then.” 

“C’mon, you know Aasim would never.” 

“Well,” Mitch threw his hands up. “I would never! Find someone else because I’m not gonna be your fake boyfriend so that you can make what’s-her-nut jealous!”

Jokes on him- Mitch’s been Louis’ fake boyfriend for weeks now because he hasn’t wooed what’s-her-nut yet. Which wasn’t that the whole point? They just pretend while she’s around? Not when they’re alone or when hanging out with Violet and Aasim? 

Louis said it was to make it as real as possible, just in case what’s-her-nut found out. That doesn’t explain why Louis is the way he is when it’s just the two of them. Doesn’t explain the kiss on the cheek. 

Mitch eats a cold fry, cringing at the taste. He can feel Violet looking at him while Louis goes on about something that happened in choir. When Mitch meets her eye, she smirks, raising a knowing brow. Mitch gives her a light kick under the table. 

When the waitress finally brings them their dessert in separate bags, she doesn’t stick around long and avoids eye contact with Aasim. 

“Hey, Vi,” Louis leans over her shoulder as they’re leaving the diner, “Can I have a donut hole?”

“I will stab you, your boyfriend, and your pie.”

“Hey, not my pie!” Louis grabs Mitch’s hand, knocking his shoulder into his. “Or my Mitch!” 

Fucking hell. 

Mitch doesn’t know how much longer he can handle this. 

[ehzradoesthething]

When the Truth Gets Out~ Finikk Stryder

“No- you had hundreds of opportunities to tell me the truth after Dad died, Nik- but you just fucking lied.”

The scathing words from his younger brother still rang loudly in Finikk’s head- too loud to concentrate on reading, let alone sleep. Quill was right, he should have been told the truth a long time ago, and keeping it hidden for the better part of nine years was the furthest thing from fair. Maybe when he ten it was justifiable, but now he was nineteen, and of course it didn’t take him long to figure it out on his own.

~~~~~

Finikk still remembered a lot of the details from that night, it was hard to forget, considering how much it had changed his life. He was fifteen, a brand new recruit to the Night Watch, off on his first watch with his father to safeguard his home. It had been an ordinary night for Duskwood, though his father did make mention it was unusually quiet as they walked the path between Darkshire and Raven Hill, lighting their way with torches that offered a fraction of extra warmth if you held it the right way. That was exactly what Finikk had been focused on when the sound of heavy hoofbeats disturbed the still night. It was Lorelle- his mother, who had ridden out on Finikk’s Clydesdale, Horizon in nothing but his lead halter. Finikk could still hear the desperation in her voice.

“’He’s gone- the bloody idiot’s run off in the night into who knows what. I told you Elryn, what would happen if you left Quillan out of Nikki’s life like this-”

She was distraught, having found Quill’s bed empty and his window left open. Finikk remembered his Father throwing him onto Horizon’s back behind his mother, ordering them both to return home before he went in search of Quill himself, knowing already he’d be searching for a body.

The ride back to Darkshire was made quick thanks to his horse, and that was when Finikk did something stupid himself. A very quick scan of the bedroom he shared with Quill told him all he needed to- Quill had taken his brother’s bow and quiver, climbed out the window to avoid their mother, and followed after his Father and brother. So, without hesitation, Finikk headed back outside, ignoring the panicked pleas of his mother. His Father might have given up on finding Quill alive, but Finikk never would.

It was unlikely Quill would have got far carrying Finikk’s bow- it was way too big for an already-small-for-his-age ten-year-old. But even then, Quill was smart enough to know to stay off the paths if you wanted to avoid the Watchmen. Going outside after dark was far from recommended in Duskwood- even the daylit hours were unsafe. But Finikk knew all their hiding spots, new and old, and he knew Quill’s head. 

The early signs of Quill’s journey were something only Finikk would see- the disturbed dirt on the embankment leading straight to Brightwood Grove, right in the easiest area for a kid to climb if he wanted to avoid the watchmen patrolling the paths. It was difficult in the dark, even with the torch, and Finikk started letting his worry get the better of him. Brightwood Grove was usually infested with Venomous Spiders that averaged about half the size of a horse, but word among the watch was the knowledge of a new threat- a pack of feral Worgen known as the Nightbane had moved into the area, and proved very difficult to keep under control. Finikk wanted to think that Quill, even at ten, couldn’t be so stupid as to wander into the area on purpose, but something told Finikk his brother had more on his mind than simply following him and their father that night. 

Finikk was careful, and surprised at the lack of giant spiders he had to slay along the way as he carefully travelled through the Grove by torchlight, following the smallest traces of broken twigs and flattened grass as he went. But, when the dim glow of the torch revealed the mangled corpse of a Direwolf, Finikk started to panic, and against his better judgement, started using his voice.

“Quill?”

He waited a few seconds, to no response, returning to his slow process of tracking, listening to the sounds around him for any seconds head-start on the next spider, or worse. 

“Quillan!”

He knew he should shut up, and all he was doing was drawing attention to himself, but this time, his call went answered- and it was only a whisper- but so close he almost screamed himself. 

“I'm over here-”

Quill was sitting against the stump of an old tree, hiding, by the looks of it- not six feet from him. His torch was dimming quickly, but even in the poor light, he knew Quill was terrified of something. 

“What the fuck were you think-”

Finikk didn’t know what hit him, and he wouldn’t until it was well beyond too late. The Worgen came out of nowhere, and all Finikk remembered was his skin being torn apart, white-hot pain in his shoulder combined with the sickly feeling of his own blood escaping every wound- but, just as quickly as it had happened, the attack stopped, leaving only the agony and Finikk only just made out a familiar voice before he fainted.

“You’re fine, You’re going to be fine, we have to go-”

The biggest surprise that followed was when Finikk awoke in his bed the following evening with all his injuries wrapped in bloodstained linen- he knew just by looking it was his mother’s work. Lorelle sat nearby, right at Finikk’s bedside, patching clothes that seemed to be Quill’s. Her blonde hair was still a mess from the disastrous evening, but really, it just made the resemblance between her and her second son all the more apparent.

“... Is Quill okay?”

It was the first thing he wanted to know, and the sound of his voice clearly startled his mother- and she wasn’t very easy to scare. She recovered quickly, dropping her needlework and moving to sit at the edge of the bed instead, fussing with the bedsheets as she spoke. 

“He’s fine- He woke up earlier today too-”

“What do you mean woke-up? Is he alright?”

“He wasn’t conscious when your father found you, Nik. He’s alright though- Spider bite is all, but... easy enough to treat. He’ll be fine.”

Finikk closed his eyes, relieved.

“So... what attacked me?”

His mother shook her head, lightly fixing his hair out of his eyes.

“A Dire Wolf, by the looks of it- a big one.”

“I’ll kill him- If I ever walk again I’ll kill him.”

~~~~~

Finikk snapped back to reality, still sitting by the dying embers of the fire where Virgil had left him. Finikk knew the rest of that story- He just didn’t want to be reminded. But now- Quill knew it too. And the biggest question was weather or not Quill could forgive Finikk for slaughtering their mother when he turned within minutes of waking up.

A soft creak of the floorboards behind him alerted him to- he assumed- Virgil coming back downstairs- who knew why. But Finikk rubbed at his eyes quickly- he didn’t need the ex-paladin to think he was weak.

“I’m ok, Virgil- I wont be much longer-”

“It’s me, actually”

The sound of Quill’s voice made Finikk jump, and he automatically stood up to face him. 

“I... didn’t think you’d be back so soon...”

“Neither did I. But it is late. And... I’m not ready to be around you yet, but you deserve to at least know I don’t blame you for Mother. And... I’m sorry my actions ended up with you... getting hurt.”

It was the last thing Finikk had expected, or so he thought- Until Quillan stepped forward close enough to reach up and pull back Finikk’s hood- to see the scarring that marred Finikk’s face and neck as what it actually was for the first time. Finikk did his best to stay still, and let him look, even at his violet eyes that gave off a faint glow.

“You know you’re still my brother, Nik. And... I’m mad. At you and at Dad... But I know that wont last. You were trying to protect me and I get that. But I can handle the truth. I’m not ten anymore.”

Finikk only nodded, forcing a smile. He didn’t trust himself to use his voice, especially not when Quill was acting so serious. 

“Maybe it made sense when I was younger... But if you went through that at fifteen, I could have too. I just... I want to talk about this more, another time. I really just wanted you to know I’ll stay in the City for now, so... I don't know. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay... I am sorry, Quill. I just-”

“Tomorrow, Nik, seriously. I really cant right now. Besides- your boyfriend is probably wondering where you are.”

There was a smile then, from both brothers.

“He’s not my boyfriend, Quill.”

“Does he know that? Shit, someone better tell him before you leave it nine years too late and end up married but not really because ‘he’s not your husband’.”

Quill grinned, it was probably too soon to make jokes of the situation, but... he wouldn't be Quillan Stryder if he didn't. With a last smile, and a light touch to his brother’s unscarred shoulder, Quill left, quietly closing the door behind him to return to Stormwind.

Finikk stood where he was, processing what just happened  until the embers in the hearth died completely, Then, with a relieved sigh, he unpinned his cloak, leaving it draped over the back of the lounge with the one he had given to Virgil, and headed upstairs.

He hesitated on the landing above, debating his next move less carefully than he should have- before he just turned away from his own room and went into the one that was once his Parents’, now Virgil’s, collapsing on the free side of the bed without a word. He didn’t even bother waking him, or climbing under blankets, he just fell asleep right there, for once, thankful that his improved hearing could even pick up Virgil’s faint heartbeat- it was probably a lot easier without the hood too, but regardless, It was a comfort, and soon sent Finikk to sleep.

[melliflovs]

Weak When Ur Around - Richie Tozier

Word Count: 2,517

Warnings: foul language, angst, tw: physical abuse

Summary: Richie chases after a girl

    You can find the rest of my writing by clicking the link in my bio!

July 1989

  Lifting the cigarette she took a drag eyeing the boy in front of her skeptically. "Look here, Tozier. You-" she paused motioning her hand towards him, "-and I, just wouldn't work. It'd be a big waste of time, and we both know I don't like wasting time."

  Richie stared at her with a dead look in his eyes, before a smirk took over his features. "Oh come on, sugar. You-" he said motioning a hand out towards her mockingly, "-and I would be great together. You know it, I know it, and the losers know it." He smirked, pointing a finger behind him where the remaining losers sat, waiting for their foolish friend to finish his proclamation of 'like' as Richie referred to it. When he revealed his plans to the rest of the losers club they told him how bad of an idea it was but he went ahead anyway, despite the previous failed attempts at gaining her attention.

   (y/n) glanced behind Richie, spotting the makeshift gang of misfits. Making eye contact with Ben her eyes darted back to Richie's, but not before she saw the pudgy boy raise his hand in a timid wave. Fighting the urge to smile she lifted herself off the library steps and dropped the cigarette stub on the ground, crushing it under her boot. Faking a smile she looked at over at the prideful boy before her. "As usual it was an absolute pleasure talking to you today, Trashmouth." Sarcasm dripping from her lips as she turned to leave Richie at the bottom of the stairs.

   Richie called after her retreating figure. "I love it when you walk away from me, beautiful! It only makes me want you more!" Richie waited as he watched (y/n) turn the corner and head out of sight before turning back to his friends. Adjusting his glasses he sauntered over to his friends, mimicking the cowboys from the western movies he watched. "I think that went quite well. Don't you, gentlemen?"

  Richie heard Beverly clear her throat, wanting to be acknowledged. He dismissed her plea with a wave of his hand. "Not now woman! The men of the house are speaking." Stan rolled his eyes in annoyance as Beverly huffed. The entire group getting annoyed with Richie's antics.

   "Yeah Richie, that went real well. You're such a charmer." Stan said, crossing his arms. "Now you look here, Stanley. One day (y/n) will fall in love with my rugged looks, just you wait." Walking backwards Richie held out his hands, placing his middle fingers in the air. "Just you wait, gang. Just you fucking wait." With a final flick of his wrists, Richie headed home for the night.

August 1989

   (y/n) sat on her roof, overlooking the small suburban neighborhood as she exhaled, smoke spilling out of her mouth as she exhaled. The sun began to set and the houses around her began to light up, casting a dim yellow glow from their windows and mixing with the pink and orange hues of the sky. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the quiet suburbia. Dogs barked wildly in the distance as the shouting began.

   In the time that (y/n) had lived next to Richie Tozier she had become accustomed to their fights, and she supposed so had everyone else. Mrs. Tozier yelled loudly, her shouts muffled by the walls. (y/n) still heard her clearly as she yelled obscenities at her son, the noise leaking through an open window. She had only seen Mrs. Tozier a handful of times, all of which she seemed to be intoxicated. Slurring her words and stumbling even in the early hours of the morning when she got the paper.

   (y/n) felt a tinge of guilt when she heard the sharp crack of skin on skin contact, a small whine following the sound. It wasn't the first time Mrs. Tozier had struck her son, and it wouldn't be the last. Their fights occurring more often as the years stacked up. Time was not on Richie Tozier's side as his mother's abusive tendencies started to catch up with him.

   The sky grew darker with every passing second, the colors being masked with black as the stars began to appear. The yelling seemed to subside as (y/n) lifted herself from where she sat on the roof, stretching her arms over her head before throwing her cigarette over the edge.

  Climbing through her window and into her dark room she hastily tightened her boots and stomped down the stairs carelessly. She knew full well her father wouldn't come home tonight, similar to how he skipped out on her the week before. Taking a glance back at the empty house she opened the front door and stepped out into the night, the occasional street lamp flickering as she began to walk towards the junkyard like she had done so many times before.

  Walking past the Tozier household (y/n) hesitated, looking over at the upstairs window she saw a flicker of movement, a flash of black hair disappeared behind the closed curtain. A shadow moving behind it before the light turned off, covering the room in darkness. She looked away from the house and continued her trek to the junkyard.

May 1990

  "-And that's how male seahorses give birth. Rich? Richie, are you even paying attention to me?" Eddie turned to his friend noticing the obvious grimace on his face. "Aw Rich, ease up. Stop staring or else she'll think you're a creep." Eddie nudged his friend finally getting him to stop.

  "It’s just I don't understand how someone like her can hang out with someone like him. She deserves better." Richie spoke in disgust. In the past, Richie never had a difficult time ignoring who (y/n) had hung out with, but lately he had a hard time keeping his eyes off her and her newest companion. He looked back to see her holding a cigarette to her lips as the strange boy lit it for her, winking at her in the process.

  "Richie, you've gotta get over her man. It's almost been a year." Richie grunted in response to Eddie, knowing he was right. Keeping his eyes trained on the scene unfolding in front of him. Leaving the boys side (y/n) departed the school campus and headed down the block. Her backpack swaying against her shoulder as she walked.

  Richie looked at his friend, clasping his back. "Thanks for the advice, Eds. Too bad I won't be needing it." With a big grin, Richie grabbed his bag and sped off after her. "Richie! Come on don't do this again!" Eddie pleaded behind him as Richie got farther and farther away.

"See you tomorrow, Eds!"

  Continuing his chase after (y/n)'s retreating figure he called out to her. "Hey, (y/n) wait up!" She stopped abruptly, turning to look at the boy running after her. She cocked her head as he stopped in front of her, trying to catch his breath. "What do you want now, Tozier? Pill boy get tired of you?" Richie let out a breathless laugh.

  Recovering from his sprint Richie stood up straight, oozing faux confidence. "Well ya see sugar tits, I saw you and couldn't help but say you are lethal in those jeans. Gotta give a guy a warning next time." Pursing her lips to avoid a smile (y/n) looked at Richie in mock surprise "Oh? You really think so?"

  Richie grinned, adjusting his glasses as they slid down the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, maybe you could model them for me sometime." Resisting the urge to laugh she retaliated. "Nice try, trashmouth. I have better things to do." Turning around (y/n) left him behind on the sidewalk. Despite being rejected yet again, Richie chose to look at the bright side. At least he got to watch her walk away.

July 1990

  (y/n) paced around her room in long strides before grabbing her lighter and a pack of camels. Opening her window she climbed out, crawling onto the roof. Looking at her surroundings she lit her cigarette like she had done countless times before, a pass time turned addiction. Exhaling the toxic substance her mind cleared, forgetting the events that had occurred during the day and now she was left with an empty head and the cloudy night sky.

  Like clockwork, she listened as the fighting began. It continued as normal, glass breaking, curse words being thrown around, and finally the sound of skin on skin contact. But for the first time, Richie didn't scream after he was hit, or whine or cry. This time he laughed a bitter, heartless laugh before everything went silent. Waiting a moment in confusion (y/n)'s attention was focused on the creaking sound of a front door being opened and slammed. A fuming Richie Tozier rushing out. Baffled she watched as he stepped on the sidewalk, pausing as he tried to figure out where to go.

  Without thinking (y/n) yelled out towards the boy. "R-Richie? Is that you?" His head snapped up to her spot on the rooftop. "Yeah, it's me, what's it to you."

   (y/n) considered herself a very observant person so why she didn't notice the drastic change in Richie Tozier was unbeknownst to her. The boy she once knew as the trashmouth was hardly recognizable, gone were the bright Hawaiian print shirts and cocky smile. Now replaced with black clothes and a scowl. She noticed the real change when he stepped into the light, his eyes magnified by the large glasses had lost their playful sparkle. Now all she could see was spite and sadness.

  "Richie come here, climb the tree." He hesitated before walking towards the tree and climbing it recklessly, meeting you on the roof. Sitting down next to you he picked up the pack of cigarettes grabbing one and lighting it, taking a long drag effortlessly. "You uh, you smoke?" Richie scoffed beside you shaking his head incredulously. "Always have, you just never paid attention." That's not true, she thought to herself. She had paid attention to Richie Tozier, ever since he first approached her. Perplexed she looked at the boy next to her in a new light, realizing she didn't know Richie Tozier, she knew the trashmouth.

September 1990

  "What's your biggest fear?" she asked expectantly, looking over at her friend. "If you had asked a year ago, I'd say clowns. But right now I'd say losing you." (y/n) sat up after hearing his answer. "What do you mean losing me?"

  Richie mulled over his response, turning towards her. "Well you see, I have nothing else going for me in Derry, just you. Just our late night conversations." He paused before continuing "I lost the losers, I lost my mom, and one day I'll lose you too."

  Turning away from him, (y/n) laid down on the roof, staring up at the night sky. Letting out a deep breath she spoke the words he had been waiting to hear for two years. "Richie Tozier, I think I'm in love with you." To the trashmouth's ears, it would have sounded like heaven, it should have been everything he ever dreamed of. Instead, it sounded like the laughter he had once heard in the sewers, taunting and teasing him as her confession wrapped around him like a fog.

  Richie's biggest fear was coming true and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

  "I think I'm in love with you too." He didn't think, he knew. He always knew he was in love with her. Had been for a long time, he had fallen in love with the girl who always seemed to have a cigarette between her lips. She made him weak, the fear of losing her made him weak, she made him weak.

  For the first time since Richie had laid his eyes on (y/n) he saw her smile. She grinned like the Cheshire cat as she stared up at the sky with her eyes closed. "I know that scares you, Rich. It's okay, it scares me too." He looked at her seeing a sad smile on her face, continuing. "We are two little people in this big ol' world, and I don't know where we're going but as long as you're with me it'll be okay. We will be okay."

  Scooting over to (y/n) Richie draped his arm around her shoulder. Bringing her close to him as he kissed her on the top of the head. The stars seemed to shine a bit brighter than normal as they stared at them together.

If only Stan could see them now.

April 1991

  Rooftops and nicotine had become a constant for Richie and (y/n) ever since that night one July. They had mended each other, patched up each other's hearts without even realizing it. But Derry began to weigh on Richie's mind. The things that happened in the small town haunted him day and night, and the knowledge that he couldn't confide in the girl he loved stressed him out even more. She wouldn't understand, she'd call you crazy.

  He looked at the cheerful girl next to him as she subconsciously toyed with the laces to the boots she always wore. Pointing out various constellations. She brushed her hair out of her eyes as she looked at him, her smiling dimming as she noticed the expression on his face. "You okay, Rich?"

  He blinked at her, knowing she could read him like a book. "I want to get out, leave Derry. Move out to the city." He could tell (y/n) wasn't expecting that, her expression changing completely. "Richie you know we can't, not now. There's nowhere for us to go anyways, we have no money, no car. We haven't even graduated yet." He shook his head of curls, putting out his cigarette as he tried to make his point.

  "Derry just isn't enough anymore and we hardly show up to school anyways. I need to leave before it drives me out of my mind. P-please, come with me." Richie said. His voice breaking as he began to plead. "I need you to come with me, you're all I have. Please." (y/n) looked at him sadly, shaking her head no.

  Richie looked away from the girl as her eyes filled with tears. "Rich I don't understand, why are you only now mentioning this. Is Derry not good enough anymore? Am I not good enough anymore?" (y/n) began to shake as she talked, her emotions getting the best of her.

He picked at the roof tile beneath him, a welcome distraction to the reality of what was happening. "It's not good enough anymore. Y-you're just not good enough anymore." He mumbled quietly, although he knew she had heard him when she released a choked breath as tears continued to stream down her face.

  "Richie you don't mean it, you don't." Maybe she was right, maybe he didn't mean it, but in the moment he convinced himself he did.

 Richie stood up from his spot on the roof and headed for the edge, reaching for the tree as he began to climb down. "I'm sorry, (y/n). I'm sorry I have to do this. It's for the best, I need to leave." With that Richie Tozier left his everything behind as she watched him walk away, her vision of him clouded with tears.

He had lost the losers, he had lost his mom, and now he had lost her.

[chasseurdeloup-retired]

Dreams Most Fowl || Erin and Kaden

TIMING: Current LOCATION: We just don’t know PARTIES: @corpse--diem and @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: Erin and Kaden are feel a little squirrely at a funeral

Kaden had nothing but dreamless sleep ever since Regan had come home. It was deep and he woke up still tired, but at least it was fucking sleep. Alarm was going off. He slammed it off and quickly got dressed into his running gear. “Yogurt’s on the counter,” he called out to the still tiny Regan as he clipped Abel’s leash into place. “Wait,” she called out from the tissue box, climbing out of her makeshift bed. “I need to show you my latest crumb drawing,” she said. “After my run. Pr--” The word caught in his throat, either voluntarily or otherwise, he wasn’t sure. “After,” he said as he headed out the door, Abel in tow. A few quick stretches and he was off, jogging out of the neighborhood towards Gallows Grove. Try as he might to avoid it, the cemetery was some of the nicer plots of land nearby. It also may have become a bit of a habit given who he was dating. But he wasn’t drawn to death. Not like she was. As he ran, he started hearing a chirping behind him. And squeaking. Must just be the animals in the trees. But oddly it sounded… louder than normal. Whatever. He kept on running, Abel by his side. Totally normal.

Dirt thumped onto the casket hovering above an open grave as Mr. Rodriguez’s widow’s tears filled the brisk morning air. There was nothing abnormal about today. Not for Erin. This was as routine as filling out paperwork in her office. She stood towards the back as the mourning family said goodbye,  her eyes drifting to the sea of headstones surrounding them. The air felt eerily still when she locked onto ‘Nichols’. That wasn’t right. Her family’s plot wasn’t even in this cemetery. Hair on the back of her neck stood upright, like warning. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe as she watched grassy dirt shift and move in front of her father’s plot, struggling to climb it’s way out. The empty plot where her father would have been if the witches hadn’t helped her send his decaying carcass into another world. A shrill yet thundering squawk overhead tore her eyes from the sight. A shadow stretched out, darkening every corner of the cemetery and then some. It was the gust of wind that knocked her and the panicked mourners on her ass that got her to look up. Through their screams of terror, one of them voiced the question her mind was screaming but her lips were too shocked to form. “Is that… is that a bird?”

Abel was running steady beside Kaden when they came across a funeral. Merde, he usually didn’t run into funerals this early in the morning. Shit. Jogging past them felt so disrespectful. Shit. Turning around felt worse. Maybe they wouldn’t see him. Only the people dressed all in black were waving at him. Okay, then. Kaden tentatively waved back. White Crest was fucking weird. Before he could consider why the fuck they were still waving and looking past him, Abel was tugging at the leash and twisting behind him to bark. “Come on. There’s nothing th--” Kaden twisted to look back and saw it. The source of the chirps. “Bordel de putain,” he muttered to himself right as he tripped on the pavement ahead of him and went toppling to the ground. Fuck, that hurt. Right. The people weren’t waving at him, they were pointing at the giant fucking bird behind him. His eyes were fixated on the creature as its beady eyes darted and flitted around, looking for something. But what? Shit. Didn’t matter much. Kaden scrambled to get up and tried to pull Abel back, jerking the leash towards him. Only there was nothing on the other end. Just a dust drawing of his nose where he should be. “What the fuck?” he mumbled. A bellowing squawk came from the bird and he started to turn to run away when he ran into something. Again. The fuck, he wasn’t normally this clumsy. “Erin?” he asked as he realized who he’d just accidentally shoulder checked while trying to get away.

At some point, Erin had started running. She didn’t remember scrambling to her feet or ditching the fleeing family at the gravesite. But here she was, booking it through the grass, only vaguely aware that she suddenly also wasn’t wearing shoes anymore. Not relevant. Not when the gush of wind from another flap threatened to send her flying again. It wasn’t the bird that nearly bowled her over this time. “Jesus--” she groaned, narrowing her eyes as she just barely caught herself. “Kaden?” Of all the people she could have run into, this was the last person on earth she expected and her face mirrored that surprise. “Christ, were you a linebacker in another life?” She grimaced, holding and shrugging her aching shoulder. Outside of the giant fucking bird, this didn’t feel right. If she had more than a few moments to focus, maybe she would’ve noticed how time was playing fast and loose with her perception, or how the landscape and the expression in faces of the mourners kept subtly changing around them. What she did notice was the way the ground was shaking. Suddenly the cemetery was filled with people, standing in awe, watching something just beyond the trees. She couldn’t see it though. “What the actual fuck is going on?” She asked, trying to catch a glimpse at whatever horror these people were screaming about.

“Sorry,” Kaden muttered. What the hell was Erin doing here? And was she shoeless? Kaden figured that didn’t matter. What mattered was getting the hell away from that big ass bird. “Hunter strength but we don’t have time to--” The rumble of a chipr rang out along with ripples of giant talons scratching along the ground in the distance. He wasn’t sure what Erin was doing here, but he grabbed her arm and started to direct her to follow him, they had to run from the bir-- His hand dropped and he stopped in his tracks as the ground became even more unsteady. It rattled and shook and the trees across from the beant and broke until big, fuzzy grey paws broke through. Then a nose, twitching to reveal huge, square, sharp teeth. The beady eyes were looking right down at them, the small ears swiveled in their direction. The squeak and squeal roared out at them. “Putain,” Kaden said, gaze pinned on the squirrel as it came straight towards them. He turned. Yup, bird still behind them. There were sounds of applause and cheering that started nearby and Kaden looked to see the mourners clapping as they watched the scene in front of them. “What the fuck?” He knew White Crest was weird but this was next level.

Did Kaden just say hunter? Erin didn’t push it. For some reason Kaden was here, and so was a bird the size of Mothra. All that mattered right now was not getting plucked up and swallowed whole for dinner. Time crawled as the oversized squirrel revealed itself, trampling through the trees, snapping them like twigs beneath monstrous paws. This was it, huh? Of all the fucked up nonsense this town had thrown at her, giant woodland creatures were going to do them in with an ecstatic audience cheering on their impending doom. Wait. Erin stilled. A bird and a squirrel? There was something familiar about that combination eating at the edge of her consciousness. The squirrel’s chittering and squeaking pierced her ears and the word run was screaming louder than anything in her brain. The crowd of mourners were suddenly startling quiet, still as corpses themselves, the corners of their lips forced upward in unnatural, wide grins. “Oh, fuck this,” Erin murmured as she started elbowing her way through the crowd, casting a look back to see if Kaden was following her when the casket caught her eye. It was open. It shouldn’t have been open. It shouldn’t have been empty. When she turned, she realized she was running straight towards Mr. Rodriguez. Eyes still sealed shut, his skin was dripping as if he’d been in there for months instead of hours. Like her father had. Like a zombie. He smiled and waved and she veered hard into the woods away from him.

Kaden took off at a run at the same time that Erin did. There was a casket. Sure, that made sense, this was a funeral, even if it was a weird one. What didn’t make sense was the man climbing the fuck out of it. “Putain,” he said as he jumped away from the body as it waved at them. Fucking hell. Kaden swerved to follow Erin, running after her towards the forest. He weaved in and out around trees, dodging braces, the cawing and chittering bellowing behind them still. As he ran, the trees started to thin out, the path ahead got clearer. That didn’t make sense, he was sure they had run north, deeper into the woods. But all the same, the way opened up and the ground beneath him became more even until it wasn’t dirt anymore but hardwood floors. The trees that had been reaching out were gone and he was surrounded by the four walls of his apartment. His run slowed to a jog and then a walk. When Kaden turned to look behind him, the door was even there, as if he hadn’t just come there from the woods. What the fuck?

“Kaden, over here! You can see my drawing now,” a small voice called out. Regan? His brow furrowed but he walked towards the counter. “It’s missing something,” she said, furrowing her brow and tilting her tiny head, arms crossed in front or her as he approached. When he looked down, he saw a surprisingly detailed crumb rendering of a marble gravestone. The grass and flowers, all perfectly pictured with tiny remnants of crackers and bread. “Ah, that’s right,” Regan said as she went back to work rearranging more crumbs. “This is perfect.” When she backed away, the headstone had a name above the epitaph. Kaden Langley. Gone but never forgotten. Beloved by family and friends. “That-- That’s just like what we saw at the carnival. Why would you draw that?” Kaden asked, eyes wide and slowly backing away from the counter. “It’s what I do,” she said simply. Kaden backed away more and stumbled and tripped over a root, falling down onto what was once more the dirt ground. When he looked back, a squawk rang out. He screamed. The bird’s colossal beak was right above him, ready to swoop down and pick him up.

At some point in her scramble in the opposite direction of that nightmarish scene, Erin realized she’d lost Kaden. Maybe he should have been worried or turned back to check but she couldn’t stop running, even as the rocks and branches scratched up her feet. Why had he even been here? Fuck. She should go back. When she finally had the nerve to glance back, all she could see was trees, inexplicably denser and darker than when she’d run through them. No Kaden, no corpses, no fucking woodland creatures though. This was fine. This was fine--she slammed into something hard but soft, sending her bouncing backwards. Looked up to see a giant, grey paw as big as her sunk into the dirt. Where the fuck had this thing come from? Hadn’t it behind her? She frantically scurried backwards as it sat up on its hindlegs, sniffing the air, beady, black eyes locked on Erin.

Her back hit a tree and she glanced around, trying to find somewhere to run. The forest had cleared out in front of her but the woods behind her had seemingly multiplied in just a few seconds, jutting up from the ground like prison bars. She couldn’t run through it if she tried. She was trapped. This was it. This was actually the end. The squirrel was leaning down again, the looming shadow swallowing any sunlight from above. All she saw was giant, snickering teeth and mischievous paws reaching towards for her. All Erin could do was close her eyes and pray it’d at least chomp her down in one go. Tried to think of anything else to soften the incoming blow. Nic’s shy smile, pancake breakfasts with her family, Betty curled up in her lap--

A deafening POP filled the forest. Suddenly she was drenched and getting lobbed with gooey chunks of… something. It was raining. She felt that too. The squirrel was gone when she opened her eyes but a horror scene had been left in its place. Looked down at her hands, her arms. Red. Everywhere. Did it--did it explode? At least it was fucking dead and she wasn’t. She could breathe. She looked up again, the man from the casket suddenly inches from her face. Grinning, teeth sharp and menacing, eyes bright blue and hollow all at once.

Kaden tried to scramble away, but the bird had grabbed his leg and picked him up so he was flying in the air upside down, away from his apartment, tiny Regan waving as everything grew smaller and smaller. The world below became nothing but a sea of tree tops, until he caught sight of the cemetery again. And the fucking squirrel. The bird swooped down to give him a better look. No, there was no swooping, just falling. Lots of falling. Kaden screamed as the sight came closer and closer, faster and faster. Even then, he couldn’t miss the squirrel exploding, viscera flying everywhere. At the same time, so did the funeral attendees, their heads beant back and their chests exploded, heart and lungs bursting out of their chests before they collapsed in place. Kaden tried to scream again, sure that he was getting close to the ground below when he felt the world spin and jerk around. He heard rattling and cheering and screaming nearby. Was he-- He was on the roller coaster. “No hands, Langley,” Wu said, turning to him and prying his fingers off of the restraint. Every inch of him knew it was a bad idea, he tried to hold on, but he couldn’t, she wouldn’t let him. “Come on, it’s fun.” It was the last thing he heard as the car took another loop and he toppled out of his seat, falling into a black abyss below.

Kaden jerked out of bed, sitting up, sweat beading on his forehead, trying to catch his breath. Bed. Blankets. Wing. Wing? He looked next to him and saw Regan fast asleep and her wings were sprawled out, one was resting on top of him. Dream. That’s all it was. He rubbed his face while the dog peeked his head up to see if it was time to go out. “Go back to sleep,” he whispered to Abel. And that was exactly what he planned to do himself. Hopefully dreamlessly this time.

Erin was still screaming when she launched herself out of bed, tangled in bedsheets. Her knees hit the floor and the deafening silence of the dark room had her reeling. It’d been a dream--a fucked up, hyperrealistic one, but a dream nonetheless. She was fine. She was sweating, struggling to catch her breath, heart lumped in her throat--but she was fine. “The hell--you alright?” A tired but worried voice broke her thoughts. Of course she’d woken Nic, suddenly awake and alert. Right. That kind of thing happened when you woke up screaming next to a hunter. Hunter. Kaden. That’d been weird too. “Sorry, sorry--I’m fine, it was just a dream,” she waved it off, a little embarrassed as she pulled herself to her feet. “Fuck, ow,” she hissed and slumped down onto the bed. Froze again when she pulled her leg up, spotting the small cuts littering the bottoms of both of her feet. She remembered she’d been running. But it was… just a dream?

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #342

“in this farewell, there’s no blood, there’s no alibi  /  ‘cuz i’ve drawn regret from the truth of a thousand lies”

What’s your all-time favourite cartoon? Does anime count? In which case I'd say Fullmetal Alchemist, or the original Pokemon. If we're not including anime, then uhhhh Avatar: The Last Airbender, even though I have much more to go in the series. Have you ever taken dance lessons? What kind? Yeah, I've done a few for many years: jazz, clogging, modern, and hip hop. When did you last run and why? I literally couldn't tell you. I don't even know if I can run with the current state of my legs. My knees would probably crumple. Does your house/flat/whatever the hell you live in need cleaning? Not necessarily cleaning, but sorting. I still have boxes outside and inside my room of my stuff I need to put up somewhere... but whenever I prepare to do it, I just get so overwhelmed and shy away from it. Then there's the spare room, that's a total mess loaded with boxes and the like. Mom and I have just avoided it like the plague. Was your last relationship with a man or a woman? Woman. What do you think your next achievement will be? HOPEFULLY getting a job... Do you like mushrooms? NOOOOOOO. What dream do you remember most vividly? I'm not talking about it. Favorite kind of bread? Pumpernickel. Rabbits or hamsters? Rabbits. I've never met a nice hamster, and I just think rabbits are cuter. A movie you’ve never seen that it seems like every one else has? Harry Potter films. Favorite dog breed? I'm biased towards beagles. When was the last time you climbed a tree? Never, actually. Where I live, there aren't really many weighty trees with low branches. Just pine trees. Most common lie you tell? That I'm "fine" when I'm not. Ever seen your parents make out? Jc no, I'll take a hard pass there. Do you put your hair up a lot or down? It's too short to put up. Most of the time do you straighten or curl your hair? Neither. What piercing do you hate? I'm not a fan of cheek dermals at all, but you do you 100%. Were you raised in a religious house? Yes; I was raised Roman Catholic. Do your parents get mad when you're on the computer for hours? Mom used to for many years until I became an adult and she just realized it was in vain. I haven't lived with Dad since I was a teenager, but when my parents were together, he usually didn't say anything. Have you ever been asked for a nude picture? No, thankfully. I'd stop talking to the person immediately. What would you do if your parent hit you? I honestly feel like I'd slap them back and get the fuck out. Or just freeze in shock and cry. What's your most common mood? Stressed but distracted. Do you like poems? Yeah, usually. Ever kissed someone half-naked? Uh yeah. Have you ever been in a parade? No. Do you still play Pokémon? I play Pokemon GO, and I've actually been tempted to get out my DS and play one of the games I have (I can't remember which). I do find Pokemon games to be VERY grind-ey, though, so I can't play them for too long without getting bored. What is your favorite Pokémon? Ninetales. I also really love Espeon, though, and Charmander will always have my heart. Is there an animal you like that most people don't? Bats! :') Is there an animal that you think is overrated in terms of how it's liked? No animal is overrated. Have you ever "quit" a site and came back to it more than once? Uhhhh I don't think so. Do you have an "odd" fascination with anything? Most would probably consider "vulture culture" to be pretty weird, being drawn to dead animals and all... What's the hardest thing you've been through, & what did you learn from it? The breakup with Jason. I learned that some people make promises they aren't afraid to break, that someone can promise "forever" and not mean it, that the most unexpected can just snap their fingers and forget about you... I learned a lot. And most things, not positive. What are three "unrealistic" things you want most? 1.) To be able to financially support myself by just freelance nature photography; 2.) sooo many different kinds of pets; and 3.) to be totally rid of my mental illnesses. Do you take any daily vitamins? No, but I would if I was the one who bought groceries and stuff. I do however take Vitamin D once a week for my legs. Who are three of your favorite fictional characters of all time? JUST THREE??????? FUCK MAN idk. Uhhh well there's of course Darkiplier and Wilford Warfstache, then uhhh probably Pyramid Head. If you had to give the world a pre-existing mythological/fictional being, what would it be? Idk, I'd really need to be more educated on their lore before I made that decision. Do you have any desire to learn (a) foreign language(s)? Which? I both do and don't want to resume learning German. I got very good at it and could have basic conversations, but lack of application has slaughtered my vocabulary. Now it's like, it'd be nice to try again, but for what purpose? I don't think I'll ever actually apply it to my life, so it just seems like it'd be a load of wasted effort. But then on the other hand, I also feel that doing something you simply want to do isn't a waste of time. Idk. What is one of your firmest beliefs? Equality for all. No race, religion, whatthefuckever makes you more or less valuable than someone else. Do you have anything that keeps you from doing something you'd truly enjoy? Oh yes. Depression and anxiety, mostly. Do you work to fix your faults? Or at least, admit to them? I definitely try, and I'll certainly admit to them. How do you hope the world will change, if at all? I just want more compassion, less violence, more understanding... What is/are your view(s) on god, religion, spirituality, or relations to? In short, I believe that something sentient created the universe, and it/they/he/she/what-have-you just... let life play out from there, I think. I like to believe there's a plane of consciousness like an afterlife that exists, but if not, I don't really care. I hope the evil get what was coming to them, and the good get back what they gave, but maybe we're all better off without life after death. We'll all find out one day. Are you arachnophobic or scared of spiders in the least? Some, yes; others, not so much. This is very situational. Do you play WoW? What do you think of it either way? Haha, you're asking an avid player. I enjoy it, but not as much as I used to. At one point I was a Heroic raider, sometimes dabbling in Mythic, but now I'm just mostly a casual mount collector that likes chatting with my guildies and just doing dailies 'n shit. I owe a lot to the game, honestly; it helped me stay occupied throughout the breakup, and still today gives me something to do. What kind of computer do you have? Windows 7/Vista/XP/Other? I have an Acer Nitro with Windows 10. Are you taking any interesting classes in school/do you not attend? I'm no longer in school. If you don't attend, are you taking any "lessons" for anything? No, but I would like to join a photography course somewhere. A book/piece that has had an exceptional impact on your life? Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo just made me hate war more than I innately did. What genres of music are your favorite? Just metal as an umbrella term. Some heavy stuff, some less, some in the middle, some leaning towards other genres... but I just like metal. Do you think that fate plays a part in people's lives? No. Wouldn't "fate" just make it all... worthless? Like we're just storybook characters with a predetermined ending? What are your opinions on the media? One word: manipulative. What's a piece of technology you'd like to own? I REALLY want a PS4, especially lately. There's just a lot of games I REALLY want to play. Are you afraid of technology developing to where we're too reliant on it? We're already *too* reliant on it, which I do believe is a bad thing. I know, absolutely hysterical for me to be talking. What's your favorite odd ice cream flavor? I don't think I've ever had a truly odd ice cream flavor. There's this local place though that makes a kind that tastes JUST like s'mores, and I can fucking murder a cup of that. What's your opinion on stereotypes/labels? They're limiting and devalue uniqueness, imo. I know very, very few people who totally fit a certain stereotype, so why even bother. Like I don't care if you use them as adjectives to some extent, just don't put too much weight on them. Just be you. Do you believe that history repeats itself? It's not necessarily doomed to, but it happens sometimes, obviously. Would you rather learn from your mistakes or just undo them? Depends on the mistake. What was the most interesting class you had in school? Probably Mythology in high school. Do you write? If so, what? Yeah, meerkat role-play. And every now and again, poetry. Do you have a favorite culture? No; I'm not educated on nearly enough to pick one. Do you believe in global warming? Have you researched it? Lol no shit I do. I don't exactly think it takes much research to see with your own two eyes that it's factual. Do you prefer piercings or tattoos? Tattoos, if I had to pick. What comedy movie is your favorite? White Chicks. Have you ever meditated? Yes. Doesn't work for me. What comes to mind when you think of a great moment in your life? Realizing it was my choice to liberate myself and my happiness from my ex. He didn't and never should've carried it, because that's my right. What do you like about springtime? Aaaaall the flowers. <3 How have you handled having to stay in? It's not really different from my average day, so... How would your friends describe you? Quiet and overthinks literally everything. Have you ever hallucinated? When I was coming off a certain med in middle school, I saw black moving shadows. What (or who) is the best thing that ever happened to you? The partial hospitalization program I attended for two months following my suicide attempt. It's where I met my psychiatrist, who set my medication straight. Medicine besides though, I learned so many coping techniques and just how to deconstruct my trauma. As well as possible, anyway. What is the worst decision you ever made? Handing over the ability to make happiness for myself to another person. What is your favorite arcade game? Don't have one. Do you feel neglected? No. What school subject(s) are/were your best? English, Arts, Science. Are you allergic to pollen? Yep. What style of wedding dress do you like best? Probably ballgown. Are you over your first love? I probably never will be in complete totality. Do you always answer your phone? No. I only ever do if I recognize the number. Who was the last person you know to have a birthday? Today is actually my sister's birthday. What song is currently stuck in your head? I have Halocene's cover of "What I've Done" on a loop right now. It has me absolutely covered in goosebumps. Do you ever use coloring books? Not really anymore. Do you personally know anyone who is an author? Not to my knowledge, no. What’s your favorite kind of salsa/dip to go with tortilla chips? Just your normal, mildly hot salsa. Do you wash your car by hand or drive through a car wash? Mom's car hasn't been washed in... well, years, given its bumper. Mom worries that in a car wash, it'll be broken off (it is literally held on with a lot of zip ties and duct tape), and we ourselves don't want to wash it, so... Do you have any uncommon kitchen appliances, such as espresso machines, waffle irons, etc? I know we have one or two, but idk what they're called. What did your parents major/minor in in college, if they went? Dad never went to college. Mom changed her major a few times, but her latest was social work, I believe. Has either of their careers influenced what career you chose or want to pursue? Not at all. What kind of natural disaster is most common where you live? Hurricanes. Why is your least favorite season your least favorite? Because it's hot as fuck and humid. Have you ever had an animal get into your attic? No. When was the last time you started a “new chapter” of your life? I don't know. Hopefully I'll start one soon when I leave PHP and pursue a job... What room in your home do you spend the least amount of time in? I'm always in my room. Do you do anything to reduce the amount of electricity you use? I feel awful admitting I do quite the opposite... Being in the dark during the day affects my depression, so I'll have my lamp (or both) on even if it's just sort of shaded inside. Are you usually open to trying a new food that you aren’t familiar with? Eh, it depends on the food. I'm not very adventurous with foods though. Do you listen to Panic! At The Disco? I do. Have you ever had a kinky dream about a celebrity? ... It wasn't "kinky," but it was a dream lmao. Has anyone ever told you that they loved you, and you couldn’t say it back? That's how I ended the whole Joel childishness. Which friend do you confide in most? My mom. Do you wear a cross? No. What is your favorite doughnut? That's so hard. :( Krispy Kreme's normal glazed though probably takes the cake. I also love chocolate frosted and just totally plain, though. Do you have a hot tub? If so, where is it located? No. Did you read the Twilight series, or jump on the bandwagon after the movie? Neither. Do you or your parents rake your yard? Dad did growing up. Now nobody does or needs to. Who did you last go to the movies with? Dad, I think? What color was the last vehicle you were in? White. Do you have any family members in the military right now? No. Is there a ceiling fan in the room you’re in? Yeah. Have you ever heard voices? No. If you’re not straight, who was the first person you came out to? Sara. Do you remember the first time your first crush ever said hi to you? No. Do you ever go places with wet hair? Yeah, idc. Who is your favorite little girl? My nieces. What do you want the most in life? To feel like I made a difference, even a tiny one. If you could have anyone’s singing voice, whose would you choose? OBVIOUSLY Amy Lee's. What’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought that turned out to be a waste of money? *shrug* What’s something you’ve bought that turned out to be way more useful than you anticipated? Hm. Have you ever been on a ship? No. Would you ever date a disabled person? (Be honest) Yes. Would you rather adopt or have your own child? IF I wanted kids, which I absolutely do not, I'd rather have my own. I know I'd feel a deeper connection. What would you class as cheating on someone? As soon as you do/say something you don't want your s/o to know about, you're cheating. As far as earrings go, would you rather wear hoops or studs? Studs. Do you recycle? Yes. If someone dislikes you, what is most likely to be the reason? People have thought I don't try hard enough before. Do you put a line through your "7"s? Yes. ^ What about your "Z"s? Yes. What are you most known for? My art "skill," at least irl. How do you feel about shameless self-promoting? Depends on when, where, and how. As someone who's trying to be a freelance photographer, I get that it's sadly necessary, but there are some places it's just uncalled for.

[elleonmybeloved]

Field Day

Title: Field Day Author: PinkPerfume Fandom: Shall We Date? Obey me! Pairing: Asmodeus/MC Rating: Teen & Up Chapter: 1/? Tags: Demon & Angel Blood AU, Demons are slightly larger than in cannon by about a foot or two each, Secret Crush, Awkward pining, Asmodeus is hoe-rny as usual, Flirting, Leading up to that explicit rating in the second chapter cause you know me Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25145122/chapters/60926767

Summary:

Once a week, the human exchange students, accompanied by the seven demon brothers as well as Lord Diavolo and a few of his subordinates make a trip to a rocky place out in the wilderness of the Devildom to conduct physical testing on the humans’ developing abilities. Mary-Catherine and her fellow once-humans aren't sure why Lord Diavolo injected them with the demon and angel blood that gave them their abilities, but participation in the testing is mandatory. But if you forget the part where they're being tested like lab rats, it feels a lot like a fun school field day! Complete with packed lunches and a friendly sense of competition.

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

“I hope you’re ready to eat my dust this time. I’ve grown two inches since last week.”

“Don’t get a big head. You got dog demon blood, not speed demon. Besides, not being able to spit acid at obstacles in your way is gonna slow you down.”

“I’d really appreciate it if you stopped doing that. Just because you look a lot more like a snake now doesn’t mean you need to act like one.”

“- Demon cobra. Not just a snake.”

“I know you’re proud of that, but honestly, I’m more jealous of the girl who got hawk demon blood. You know she has wings now, right?”

“What?! They shouldn’t let her participate in the race, it’s totally not fair.”

“It’s not actually a race, you guys.”

“Just because they’re testing us doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun with it. Lord Diavolo encouraged us to be competitive.”

Excited chattering and the rumble of the vehicle’s engine made for a charged atmosphere that Mary-Catherine was enjoying listening to, leaning her head against the glass of the window to hide her amused smile at the antics. Choosing to survey the odd shapes of plants and pigmented rock passing by outside as she listened, she angled her head so that the small tightly curled horns at her forehead weren’t scraping against the glass.

Once a week, the human exchange students, accompanied by the seven demon brothers as well as Lord Diavolo and a few of his subordinates made the trip to a rocky place out in the wilderness of the Devildom to conduct physical testing on the humans’ developing abilities.

Piled into some kind of all-terrain vehicle with such ridiculous ground clearance that Mary-Catherine had needed assistance to haul herself up into it, they were shuttled to the testing site. The vehicle was huge and had several rows of seats, so everybody just called it “The Bus.” Before them on the long straight road, the Demon lord’s sleek black limo - driven by Barbatos - led the way down the path.

Turning off on the dirt path, they pulled up to the site. As the passengers - twenty-five strong, counting the brothers - filed out of the vehicle, they cordoned off into groups like a separation of oil and water.

Mary-Catherine confidently placed herself next to the people she knew best. Donte - a young man with horned-toad demon blood who she’d never seen not dressed up in attractive punk outfits that suited his dark brown curls and yellow-green striped horns perfectly. Despite all the purple dust out here, she had yet to see any of it attach itself to his outfit.

Meanwhile, both her thick cargo pants and her usual red tank top already had a few purple smudges.

To his left, Emma, a curvy young woman in all black whose sharp feline teeth glinted against her dark lipstick, and though the pair of furry black ears at the top of head twitched invitingly, you’d have to be stupid to touch them - or any part of her - without her explicit say so. Her claws were just as sharp as her eyeliner and stung quite badly.

Mary-Catherine had never heard her give anyone that say so. Only repeated threats to anybody who would listen about just exactly the kind of dark apocalypse she would continuously rain on Diavolo and the demon brothers & co. until they returned her cat Lucy to her, or vice versa.

Standing aloof with a familiar thoughtful expression to her right, a picture of elegance and maturity that M-C only hoped she’d one day achieve, was Annika. The blonde witch had a silent strength and seemed the least phased about her residency in the devildom of all the humans Mary-Catherine knew. She even stood up to Lucifer on a regular basis.

Mary had to avoid flinching like a startled lamb every time he looked in her mere direction. In her defense, she was part sheep now, and she had no reason to believe demon sheep were any braver than those in the overworld. Though as recent months had attested, they had the same urge for salt and were about 5 times faster than a regular one running at full tilt.

Once given their instructions, and oddly-shaped “evaluators” to attach to their D.D.D.s, the four of them plus a few she was less familiar with made off for the climbing ground. As usual, the groups moved around three areas in a rotation. A rock-littered circuit of road for testing speed, agility, and endurance, a level field of purple grass and several small, dead-looking trees with painted orange Xs on them that served as a combat ground for testing offensive abilities, and a large outcropping of porous green rock to test their ability to scale rough vertical terrain.

Something of a makeshift security team, the demon brothers spread out to stand their usual guard over the three groups. Considering their powers and how each demon towered at least a foot over any regular human even in their “human” forms, on their very first outing Mary-Catherine had foolishly assumed none of the other occupants of this realm would dare try to attack the group.

Grimacing as she tied up her hair and prepared to climb, she tried to blink away the image of the explosion of goop and gore and the charred remains that had been left of the few dissenting demons who’d scarcely touched her human companions before Satan had reduced them to pulp. Though unsure of how Lucifer had torched the ones who’d gone after his group, she was pretty sure she’d never get the image of their blackened skulls out of her mind.

“What’s with the long face? You’re still the reigning champion of this rock, goat-girl.”

Looking up, she recognized the self-proclaimed “cobra” guy from earlier on the bus. Despite his competitive statement, the grin on his face was friendly. His curly black hair and olive skin tone made for a vivid contrast against his vertical pupiled green eyes. She’d seen him a few times at breakfast and wasn’t certain but she thought his name was Kevin?

“Oh nothing. I was just wondering if they were going to make me lick more rocks today. Kind of reminds me of when I used to chaperone church summer camp and all the kids would collect rocks and dare each other to hold it in their mouth for twenty seconds or eat a worm.”

Mary-Catherine paused, “-But my horns alone would’ve been even more scandalous than the time one of the adults caught someone with a Harry Potter book sooo I guess it’s not really that similar!”

“Oh trust me I doubt my mamá would be happy to see what I look like now, but that doesn’t mean I would say no to a chance to become spiderman.”

“Hey, if anybody is becoming spiderman, I think it might be me.” Donte spoke up from behind them, looking incredulously at his hand which was pressed against the wall of rock. “Check this out.”

He then demonstrated how with an odd suction noise, his hands clung to the rock of their own accord. Prying them off and then repeating the motion, he got better at the detachment process with each press.

“Maybe poisonous demon frogs can stick to things?” Mary-Catherine mused. “I watched this discovery channel episode on tree frogs once that explained how their secretion of toe pad mucous-”

“-Mucous?!?” Donte scrutinized his hands in dismay, but after finding no such secretions he breathed a sigh of relief. “The only thing getting on my hands is this rock while I climb it’s ass. See you at the top!”

Pressing the start button on her evaluator, she climbed up after him, hearing Kevin start his descent as well. She’d gotten a bit of experience with this sort of outdoors stuff at previously said church-camp, but that was nowhere near her current condition, as she easily overtook both of her human companions with no regard for the steepness of her path. Back then, she’d needed a hardness and ropes. Now, she sought out each handhold instinctively like the top of the rock was calling her.

“At least I’m not bleating.” She sighed, and from below her Kevin barked out a laugh.

“I imagine it would come out sounding more like a warbled growl.” He said. “I’ve seen the pictures you know.”

“Hey- don’t go looking at a girl’s demon pictures!” A girl lower down on the rock called up to them.

Mary-Catherine blushed and hastily pulled herself up the remaining few feet of the rock and rolled to the side as she clicked stop on her evaluator.

“Not her pictures, the pictures of whatever they injected her with!” Kevin complained, but M-C could hear the mirth in his voice.

Walking over to a smoother patch of rock, she sat down to wait for the rest of them to finish their climb. Gazing at the ground far below her, she noticed Emma and Beelzebub talking next to a couple of camp-chairs.

She had noticed before that as an act of cat-less mutiny, Emma often refused to take part in the tests, but as M-C watched her speaking amicably with the demon beside her, who was eating… something round and dripping a brightly colored liquid she could make out from here, Emma gestured towards the rock several times with a wistful expression.

Rising to get a better look, Mary-Catherine began absent mindedly stretching, catching her ankle and bending her leg with a gentle pull.

It was a bit too far for her to make out exactly what they were saying - though some of her genetically enhanced fellow humans probably could - but M-C imagined that Emma was saying something along the lines of how much she wanted to climb the ‘actual shit outta that rock’ but wouldn’t budge an inch until they gave her back her precious Lucy. Beel seemed to nod sympathetically and despite not halting in his eating process, continue the conversation.

And then he moved to grab another of whatever it was he was eating, revealing the other demon who had come to watch over the climbing group. Having used the absolute swole unit of his demon brother’s body to provide him with shade, the Avatar of Lust reclined elegantly in - well it wasn’t really a camping chair, but it looked like it could be collapsed and relocated - his seat, meticulously painting his nails.

Freezing awkwardly midstretch, both arms clasped high above her head, she was for the hundredth? thousandth? time struck by just how gorgeous of a man Asmodeus was. Not a man, she reminded herself, a demon. Good Lord in Heaven, those arms… he had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows to avoid getting nail polish on his shirt, and it exposed the beautiful lean muscle of his forearms. Burnt amber eyes focused intensely on his handiwork, his pale perfectly shaped lips pursed in concentration… he had an angular face that made him look like both like the dangerous being he was, and a sculpture of an angel at the same time.

As if aware he was being ogled, he paused his preening and turned his head, looking up her way at the top of the rock. Panicking, she hastily looked elsewhere, pretending to continue her stretches as if she hadn’t been meaning to glance in his direction…

Nothing to see here!

Soon the others joined her at the top of the rock, and with the protection of anonymity, Mary-Catherine risked another gaze his way.

Oh good, he’s back to working on his nails.

Getting caught looking at people was so awkward, hopefully he hadn’t thought anything of what he saw of her brief gaze. She was pretty sure she was safe, it was unlikely he was that interested in any measly humans anyways.

“So what was your score?”

Mary-Catherine spooked so hard she jumped, turning to give Kevin a wounded look.

“You’re a jumpy one, huh? Must be those prey instincts. Well, what was it?”

“A minute and forty three seconds.” Mary-Catherine said, wondering what kind of predator hunted sheep demons. Probably had lots of teeth.

“Guess I just need to be a minute and fifteen seconds faster next time.”

“I’m sure you can do it.” She said, giving him an encouraging smile. “If they ever decide to hand out a prize, you’ve got it in the bag.”

“Now there’s an idea.” Donte piped up, moving into step beside them as the group began to descend the smooth sloped side of the rock. “I already know what I want as a prize.”

“What do you want?” She couldn’t really think of anything a demon would have to give as a good present. She’d seen their food. And the mall. They had weird taste.

“Not telling.” Donte said in a cheeky tone that even she could read as being… salacious in nature. Annika gave him one of her disapproving mother looks and it just made him sprout a mischievous little grin.

“I’ve had my eye on a spellbook in Satan’s library I would very much like to have.” Annika said, as if trying to steer the conversation off the downhill path it was otherwise going. It was a good thing Emma wasn’t here or that’d be a moot effort.

“Uhhh, boring!” Kevin crossed his arms. “Come on guys, we’re practically in hell. I want a weapon or something with strong dark magic powers.”

One of the other girls agreed with him, and began a very enthusiastic conversation about swords and axes and other sharp pointy things. Mary-Catherine considered the question herself for a few moments, but the only thing she could think of was for Lucifer to give her her Bible back. He’d taken it away a couple weeks ago after she’d done something he hadn’t approved of and used it as an excuse to confiscate the book. She wasn’t even sure how he’d known she had it, but maybe he’d been under the false impression that she was religious?

Normally she wouldn’t have been upset about such a thing, but even though she was no longer the good devout Catholic girl her parents had raised her to be, her grandmother had given her that Bible. They’d been quite close before she passed away five years ago to lung cancer. She was much too terrified of the fallen angel to even try to get it back though. Regardless, as far as prizes go that was a bit more personal than she was comfortable with sharing.

“I think a week off school would be nice!” She said instead, and was met with a resounding murmur of agreement from the crowd.

“How about a whole month?”

---

Under the protection of Belphegor and Leviathan this time, Mary-Catherine and her group took turns sprinting on the track. Unsurprisingly, Kevin’s dog demon-blooded friend blew all competition out the water. Once that guy got started he was like Usain Bolt on steroids. Though she put in the effort expected of her to avoid getting chided, M-C didn’t bother to run full tilt. She didn’t really like this part anyways. It was the most like a test, grueling and repetitive instead of fun, and reminded her of how she was here against her will.

She was grateful when they broke for lunch, gathering around a few hastily erected plastic tables. Taking the brown bag and two water bottles, she found a somewhat shady spot to sit under a scary looking tree and redid her sagging ponytail, lamenting the state of her side braid. She downed a whole bottle of water before getting into her food.

It was kind of funny, it was the same typical sandwich chips and apple combo she was used to on outdoor events like these, but the meat was purple and the lettuce that poked out at the sides was bright red. The fruit looked like an apple, but tasted like an orange and was the color of a banana.

She’d learned to just trust Lord Diavolo to know what humans could eat, and didn’t ask what everything was anymore. One of the transfer students had been curious at breakfast and as a result she had become aware of the fact that on several occasions she had ingested eggs from a reptilian demon species called an angiphore which looked like a cross between a platypus and one of those monstrous looking fish that lived really deep in the ocean.

The thought made her choke on her mouthful of water and most of it escaped out her lips down her throat to soak into the fabric of her top above her breast.

“Oh, gosh darn it.” Of course she had nothing to dab at it with. Well, at least the cool water felt kind of nice dripping down her neck, as hot as she was after such rigorous exercise.

“Oh my, looks like someone overestimated how much they could swallow~”

Mary-Catherine scarcely had time to process that someone had managed to approach her so silently before, bending elegantly at the waist, Asmodeus himself was already pressing a handkerchief against her neck with a chiding tut.

At her stiff reaction, he smiled, looking very much like the cat that ate the canary. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of sweetie, you’re not the first one to do such a thing.”

Mary-Catherine flushed and searched for a sufficiently indignant reply, realizing he was making fun of her. But before she could come up with something, he moved in closer, dragging the cloth against her bottom lip. It was such a shamelessly demanding motion, silencing her with ease.

“You must’ve been thirsty, poor thing.” He crooned, and M-C decided to swallow her pride and just enjoy the opportunity to get such a close up look at his gorgeous face. At this angle, she could see how long his strawberry-blonde eyelashes were as they brushed the smooth, immaculate skin of his cheeks.

“It’s… pretty hot.” The words were already on her mind, so unfortunately that’s what came out of her mouth instead of denying such an obvious trap.

It was worth it for the delighted, full-teeth grin he made. “I agree.”

His fingers skirted the hem of her tank top, and with a gentle pluck, he lifted the fabric to dab a few times at the wet top of her breast. But instead of lingering, with a simple wink, he retracted the handkerchief and stood up before she could even begin freaking out about it.

“Thanks.” She said when her brain caught up, as he started to leave.

“Any time, honey.~” He replied without turning back, and was soon out of sight.

Mary-Catherine gave a dry swallow and reached for her water bottle.

~~~

The rest of the afternoon proved uneventful. Oviumalum, or the certain species of demon sheep blood she’d been injected with, apparently had the ability to rapidly elongate and thrust out their 4 sets of horns in front of them like some kind of projectile impaler. Their horns were also a key ingredient in a certain type of hallucinogenic drug, when ground to a powder.

The meager set of horns on Mary-Catherine’s forehead was sharp, and made of the same components, but so far showed no signs of developing any projectile abilities. As such, she simply had to hold still while they took a sample of her horns, ears, and tail and then was free to sit on the sidelines for most of the hour.

Lucifer had handed her a textbook about the properties of various demonic plants and encouraged her to study during the downtime.

“Like many here, you would do well to improve your academics. Here.” He’d said in that aloof tone, like she was some filthy human bug under his boot.

“Oh…” She’d said. “Well, actually, that’s-”

“You’re welcome.” He’d cut off her attempt to decline with a glare. “I hope I see an improvement in your grade reports soon.”

Mary-Catherine couldn’t help but shut up after that and bitterly open the book in obedience. His crimson stare, like the blood she was sure he was not hesitant to shed, was just too frightening. But, more interested in watching the increasingly bizarre developing abilities of her fellow humans, she’d just skimmed the pages and pretended to read.

Beside Lord Diavolo’s delight at Donte’s newfound ability, nothing else of note happened. It was amusing to watch Emma claw several inch deep scores into a variety of materials she’d never assume could even be scratched, so that’s what she’d done until they’d blown their whistle to announce that it was time to return to the House of Lamentation.

Now, she was trailing after the gaggle of tired, test-tried students, thinking about whether she was going to bathe, sleep, or eat first when they got home.

“Heeyyy, M-C!”

Looking up from where she’d been zoning out staring at her D.D.D, she glanced around. Had somebody called her name?

“Mary-Catheriiiine!!” A girl was jogging towards her, waving a hand to get her attention. It took her a moment, since it wasn’t someone she was very familiar with, but she connected the face to a name before the girl reached her.

“Yes? - Um, Hoya, right?”

“Yeah.” The girl said, smiling with a - ah. Shark demon blood. - large set of teeth. “Can I ask you a favor?”

“Of course! What is it?”

“I lost my ring up on the rocks.” Hoya said, pointing to the climbing wall. “I can see where it is but I can’t reach it myself. Can you get it for me?”

“Sure!” May-Catherine chirped, but then bit her lip. “Uh, did you tell Lucifer? It’s time to go and I’ll be fast but we’re going to make them wait…”

“Don’t worry, I told him. He said it’s fine as long as I hurry.”

“Oh. Okay!” M-C said, but couldn’t help squinting a little skeptically.

“...He said they’re leaving in ten minutes with or without us.” Hoya admitted. “But it won’t take us that long!”

Mary-Catherine was already moving. “Oh gosh, well I hope you didn’t mention my name…”

Hoya jogged next to her, long smooth grey tail wagging oddly like a dog. “Uh, I did. Sorry!"

Mary-Catherine groaned and high-tailed it to the rock.

[wedreamerz]

The Island of Maravu - Chapter 2

The Island of Maravu

Chapter 2 - The Bunker

Pairing: Starker AU (Peter is 22)

Rated: Overall: E / Chapter: T

Status: WIP

Summary: The Avengers are in shambles and Tony Stark just needs to get out from under the fallout. So, he does what every genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist does - he buys an island. Maravu is just the escape Tony is looking for until one morning a beautiful young man arrives with secrets and a smile that makes Tony’s broken heart beat again.

Some Tags: AU, A little angst, Smut and Fluff is the goal here people but I can’t just do that apparently without backstory and plot. No real trigger warnings that I can think of unless water or storms are an issue for you. If you run into something I didn’t think of, let me know.

Chapter 1

~~~~~~~~~~

The birds hated him. They were in cahoots. Thirty-three days on Maravu and the birds woke him up before the sun every freaking morning. Tony stirred, rolled over and scowled at the open window. They were at it again.

He groaned and put a pillow over his head.

"Friday, play something loud."

"Playing your Something Loud playlist," Friday said. Tony rolled his eyes, noting the amusement in her voice before the opening guitar riff of Def Leppard's Photograph blasted through the speakers.

The cabin, a simple, but cozy one-room affair with a fireplace, sofa, kitchenette and dining room table, suited him perfectly. One of the two luxury items he'd insisted upon, besides Friday and the technical upgrades he'd made, was the queen-sized bed that dominated the bedroom area of the cabin. He'd have flown in a king if it would have fit. But even the queen was pushing it.

The cabin came equipped with an attached bathroom and shower. But Tony had grown accustomed to showering in the original, outdoor shower that ran using accumulated rainwater. Something about showering outside in the sun brought out the hedonist in him.

During his first week on Maravu, Tony installed a self-sustained arc reactor to solve the electricity problem and ensured they’d had fast reliable wi-fi. The plantation resumed operation the following week with Mr. Umbari as manager. Tony liked the huge mountain of a man. They worked well together and at the end of a long day, he often sought out his calming presence at the community fire that burned in the village's center courtyard most evenings.

They would talk about the day and share a drink before retiring. Tony liked to watch him talk, his expressive, deeply lined face and white, wiry hair and beard that stood up as though it had a mind of its own. Mr. Umbari had learned to speak English by watching episodes of old American shows like MASH and Happy Days and Tony found himself smiling when now and then he recognized a familiar phrase. When the reactor went live, Mr. Umbari had celebrated by giving Tony the double Fonzie thumbs before dragging him into a chest busting hug.

For the most part, the islanders didn't intrude on Tony’s solitude. Mr. Umbari was a fair and able leader, so Tony didn't get involved in the day to day operations unless they needed him. But periodically he'd be working in the lab he’d set up near his cabin and hear someone call out "Turaga Ni Kaukamea!" Tony would look outside to see someone emerge from the trees and request his assistance at the plantation.

Mr. Umbari addressed him as Mr. Stark even after Tony had invited him to call him by his first name. But the rest of the islanders called him Turaga Ni Kaukamea or sometimes just Kaukamea. Friday had translated it as basically Man of Iron.

So, they were aware of who he was. But no one ever asked to see the suit or wondered why he'd chosen to live on the island when it was clear his own house was in such disarray. They didn't bring it up at all. They expressed their gratitude in humble ways and treated him like anyone else on the island, which was perfect with Tony.

He peeked out from under his pillow to find that the sky has lightened into a midnight blue with the faint orange glow of dawn creeping up behind the windowsill.

"Okay, okay. Stop the music and start the coffee," he said, giving in. "And play me something tropical.”

"You do realize that the current temperature is 76 degrees with a humidity of 94%?" Friday asked as the sound of steel drums and ukulele began.

"My body still thinks it's December in New York, don't judge me," Tony snarked back, smiling when the coffee pot came to life. The rich aroma of the local blend infused his little cabin as the sun crested the horizon.

Tony threw back the sheet and stretched. He drew a deep breath and padded naked across the wood floor to the little kitchenette that consisted of the smallest stove he'd ever seen, a microwave, and a refrigerator that was straight out of the '70s in avocado green. The fanciest thing in the kitchen was his second luxury item – his beloved Concordia espresso machine.

He poured a cup into one of the chipped mugs that had come with the place and took it outside to the fire pit he'd built in the dooryard. His cabin was far enough away from the beach to be safe from the tide but close enough that his view from the fire was the perfect place to watch the sun come up. Tony lit the fire and settled into his camp chair with his coffee to do just that.

Although he tried to focus on his plans for the day, his mind wandered down paths he preferred to avoid. He tried not to spend his time worrying about the wayward Avengers, Rhodey, and the countless ways he had and continued to fail Pepper. But in those quiet moments when it was just him and the traitorous birds, Tony let it in.

He rubbed his chest. Like a phantom limb, it ached as it had for months after his last meeting with Steve.

And Barnes.

Tony sighed. Pepper had insisted he see a shrink after everything went down. He'd gone - a couple of times. But he still couldn't talk about it. Hell, he couldn't even think about it without igniting the flame of resentment and hatred. Logically he understood that Barnes had been brainwashed by Hydra. He was no more responsible for his actions than Clint had been for what he'd done when under the power of Loki's scepter.

Nevertheless, here Tony was. If Barnes were to materialize before him, Tony would probably try to bash his head in with a coconut.

Probably. Maybe.

Barnes may have the benefit of Tony’s doubt, the mind-controlled pass. But Steve...Cap…he’d made his choices all on his own. Tony oscillated between hope and fear that the big, stubborn man would get caught. He had no idea what he would say to the man if he ever saw him again. But he had the little burner phone Steve had mailed to Tony Stank tucked into his sock drawer nonetheless.

The temperature had risen just a little. On the horizon, Tony spied a rain cloud, one of those slow-moving clouds you could watch approach with its sheets of rain that blanketed the island at least once a day.

He frowned.

"Friday, what's the weather supposed to be like today?"

"Fair in the morning with severe thunderstorms rolling in at approximately 1:34 P.M."

"I suppose I should get started then," he said, gulping down the rest of his coffee. He put the mug in the sink and fished a fresh pair of shorts and a t-shirt from his dresser. It was time to check on the arc reactor.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Boss, the Fiji Meteorological Society has issued a tropical storm warning with potential for rotation in this area and is expected it hit earlier than expected," Friday warned.

Tony crawled out from under the arc reactor's electronics panel and adjusted his glasses.

"How bad?" he asked, wiping his hands on a towel. He peered up at the doughnut-shaped reactor housing. The walls of the cave in which he'd built it flickered blue and purple as it purred softly.

There was a certain amount of poetic justice in this, he thought. He'd started this in a cave. And now here he was again, minus the car battery and armed guards. And this arc reactor was designed only to help.

Tony climbed a small set of metal stairs, freshly painted safety yellow, which led to the ground floor. He opened a set of doors and entered the circular antechamber where islanders could look through the reinforced glass at the arc reactor below. They'd installed bunker doors at the mouth of the cave for emergencies. But they were usually left open to the public. The reactor itself was locked and protected by Friday. No one entered without Tony's knowledge.

Outside, the palm trees swayed and here and there little puffs of dirt from the path twisted into the air with leaves and rocks. Tony had been in the reactor bunker for a few hours and the wind had picked up considerably.

"Radar indicates wind speed of approximately 22 miles per hour. No active rotation," Friday said.

Tony chewed his lip and considered the news. When he'd moved in, Mr. Umbari had gone over their storm preparedness plan. The island had a storm bunker for its inhabitants. As though he'd summoned the man, Mr. Umbari and his orange menace of a golf cart sped around the corner. He slid in next to Tony's red cart, barely missing the tail end as he turned the sharp corner. Tony chuckled and shook his head as Mr. Umbari unfolded his long legs and climbed out from under the orange and white striped canopy.  He hurried toward the bunker as the first drops of rain plip-plopped against his yellow rain slicker. As soon as he saw Tony Mr. Umbari grinned and waved. Tony ushered him inside and hit the button to close the bunker doors.

"Mr. Stark. The boys said you were here," Mr. Umbari said, entering through the single door.

"Yeah, I was just checking on the reactor, giving her a tune-up. Friday says we've got a storm on the way?"

Mr. Umbari had been introduced to the AI and he seemed completely charmed by her.

He smiled at the ceiling. "Hello, Ms. Friday. Thank you for keeping Mr. Stark so informed."

"It's my pleasure, Sir," she answered in her pleasant Irish lilt earning a grin from Mr. Umbari.

"Unfortunately, Ms. Friday is correct, Sir. Since this is your first storm on the island, I wanted to make sure that you were safe."

"Thanks for your concern. I'll finish up here and go down to the cabin, batten down the hatches and be in the bunker in time for dinner, Dad." Tony smiled at the large man as he put away his tools."

Mr. Umbari laughed, deep and genuine. "Good, good. I'm glad to hear it. I hear that Skillet has already begun a pot of lamb stew for the occasion."

Tony's stomach growled at the thought of food and he realized he hadn't eaten yet today.

"Skillet's cooking?" Tony asked and Mr. Umbari grinned.

"If Skillet's in the kitchen I'm not gonna miss it," Tony said.

Kitchen wizard and culinary school dropout, Skillet worked the plantation to help pay off his student loans. But one meal at Skillet's table told Tony that the young Fijian was wasting his talents.

Tall, whip-thin, with long black curls he kept up in a messy bun most days, the kid could cook rings around the overpriced chefs at any of the five-star Manhattan restaurants. Tony had offered to pay his debt and set him up in a spot of his own, wherever he wanted. But Skillet turned him down every time.

Tony, being Tony, had been trying to come up with a loophole that kid would accept to no avail. But he had one final trick up his sleeve he planned to save until the right moment. As Tony's chef, Skillet would both pay down his debt and have his talents recognized by the top critics around the world at the events Tony threw. It was a win-win for both of them.

Mr. Umbari nodded, evidently pleased with Tony's response.

"Good. Good. I should go to make sure the animals are safe. I will see you there, my friend! Goodbye, Ms. Friday," he said.

Tony smiled, amused at the way the islanders treated everything with a relaxed acceptance. Even in the face of a potentially damaging storm, they prepared for a gathering of families.

"See you there."

~~~~~~~~~~

Tony stepped into the storm bunker and was immediately enveloped in the delicious aroma of stew and fresh bread. He breathed in deeply and looked around the room, impressed by the setup. The bunker looked like a basement with concrete walls and floors. A bar and small kitchen stood on the right side of the room where Skillet was working his magic. The left side was lined with padded seats. They'd made the cold, grey room into a warm and comfortable place to gather with tapestries on the walls, and woven rugs and pillows on the floors.

"Turaga ni kaukamea!" several children called and swarmed, reaching up to be held and tugging him toward the group of adults who sat at the tables lined up end to end in the center of the room.

"Oh hey!" he exclaimed when a little girl who couldn't be more than four climbed him like a palm tree. The adults laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He sat down in one of the folding chairs and held her on his lap.

"Kaukamea, what are you building in your lab? Filipe says you have a ghost and you talk to it. Does it help you build things?" she asked.

"Who told you that?"

The little girl pointed to a boy with bronze skin and wide, curious eyes. He looked up at Tony in fascination from the safety of his mother's arms.

"Filipe?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow. The boy nodded dramatically.

"And what's your name?" Tony asked the girl.

"Sara," she said.

"Nice to meet you, Sara and Filipe. It just so happens that I am currently working on some upgrades to the arc reactor technology that runs the island. Have you seen the new bunker?"

All the children nodded in unison.

"So, if...and Filipe, I'm looking at you here… IF someone were sneaking around my lab, they may have heard me talking to Friday, who is not a ghost. She's more like a really, really smart computer who can talk."

"Is she smarter than you?" Sara asked, wide-eyed.

"Well...technically, yes. I built her. But I taught her to learn. She has access to all the information on the internet. So, she knows like...everything."

"Woooow," the children chorused.

"Right? She’s crazy smart.”

"Kaukamea, can we meet Friday?” Sara asked. "I have a computer at home. But it's never spoken to me before. Do you think if I brought it over, Friday could teach it how to talk?"

The children murmured their agreement, each of them wanting Friday to teach their computers to talk too. Tony noticed that the adults had stopped what they were doing to listen to the conversation.

Tong chuckled. "Unfortunately, your home computers aren't quite as smart as Friday. But if it's okay with your parents, you can come by the lab to meet Friday. But listen, it's super important that if you come to visit me that you don't go into the lab by yourself. You never know what I'm working on. And it could be dangerous. Do you all understand?"

The children agreed and ran off to play. The adults chuckled and resumed their conversations. Sara wiggled down from his lap and grabbed Filipe's hand.

"I told you there wasn't a ghost," she said.

"Well, it sounded like a ghost," he said.

"Sorry about that," one of the women said, taking a seat next to Tony. "The children are so curious about you. I'm Delana, Sara's mother." She held out her hand and Tony shook it with a smile. Delana was a little younger than Tony with caramel skin and sleek black hair she wore swept up in a ponytail.

"It's okay. I'm used to it. I just wanted to make sure they don't get hurt."

"Thank you for looking out for them. And for everything you've done for the island. When Mr. Umbari was forced to sell, we thought that everyone here would be forced off the island. But you swooped in and allowed us to keep our homes, brought reliable electricity and Wi-Fi, and helped us keep our jobs. You have truly been a blessing."

Tony nodded, swallowing a lump in his throat. "I'm glad I could do some good," he said.

Delana tilted her head; she studied him a moment before smiling and patting his hand. "Let me get you some stew," she said finally before getting up and heading to the kitchen where people had begun to get in line.

Tony tuned in to the conversations around him. The people spoke in a mix of English and Fijian. Friday helped by providing translation on the lenses of his glasses and he followed the conversations. Delana returned with a big bowl of stew and a plate piled with roti, a flatbread the islanders seemed to have at almost every meal.

The storm hit late in the evening with everyone gathered around a large pot-bellied stove as Mr. Umbari told stories to the nervous children. They invited Tony into one of the wooden rocking chairs by the fire. He'd refused several times because although he owned the island and everyone had been more than welcoming, Tony couldn't shake the sense that he was still an outsider, merely a means to an end for these people. But eventually, he accepted and as the wind howled outside and Friday fed him updates about the storm, Tony drifted off to sleep in the warmth of the fire.

~~~~~~~~~~

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