#thank god for my friends & tasty little treats

[starot]

trying to keep up with my classes, and my upcoming thesis 💫💫

[propertyofkirishima]

The Chainsaw Man

Haunted House Actor!Bakugou x Y/N

a/n: erm this one is kinda crazy. but anyways, happy halloween my loves! <3 i’m gonna have a toothache from all this candy lol ^_^ again, no spell check from me!

tw: knife play, chubby reader, non-con, reader calls bakugou sir and is a cry baby, thigh grinding, oral sex, etc.

it is only natural that katsuki bakugou likes halloween. after all, his favorite colors are orange and black. katsuki can be whoever he wants, dressing up in costume and disguising who he really is. but his favorite part about halloween was working at a haunted house.

yes, every friday and saturday night katsuki makes the drive to an old man’s house in the middle of nowhere. they set up a terrifyingly large horror maze. every turn was something new. an actor. a prop. a scene.

katsuki loved to make people scream. he would watch their faces morph into horror and laugh like a maniac. there was no greater satisfaction than seeing others horror at his hands.

the best part of it all was his certain character assigned to himself. leatherface from texas chainsaw massacre. but he skips out on the face, just so he can see the reactions perfectly. he wears his overalls and brings his chainsaw every night.

tonight was no different, except for the appearance of you. since sundown, you had been waiting in the long line. you and your friend clutched each other nervously as figures loomed in the darkness.

not only did the haunted characters live in the maze, but also the line outside of it. gates and long fences kept everything secret. you were in a state of paranoia and fear. you kept looking around you like a scared little girl, repeating curse words to yourself.

this clown had taken a particular interest in torturing you. it was almost like they could sense how terrified you were. they approached you, staring at you silently. you could barely see their eyes through the black and white face paint. their blonde hair glimmered in the low lighting, reminding you that they were indeed human, despite the massive polka dot clownsuit.

your big doe eyes stared back, mouth in a pout. the clown got closer, causing you and your friend to squeal. he laughed sinisterly, jumping at you to cause further horror. you screamed as he came right to your face.

“pretty little girl, so tasty. can i make you my treat?”

you nearly cried at the proximity of you and him.

“no thank you sir!!” you said anxiously

all of the sudden, a knife was to your throat. a fake one, but cold nonetheless. it all felt so real. you tried to reassure yourself that it was okay. none of it was really happening.

“no?” he sighed, withdrawing his knife. “what about your friend? she could be my treat.”

your friend only giggled. “get the hell away, you ugly ass bitch!”

her laugh cut the tension in the air. you giggled with her, holding her hand once again. the clown frowned, walking away. finally, back to reality.

“geez, man couldn’t take a joke!” you remarked

“typical.” your friend agreed

finally, the two of you were let in. everything was a blur as soon as you cut corners. new masks, fake blood, murder scenes. you screamed and screamed, clutching your best friends hand.

bakugou watched you run through. oh god. you were beautiful. his eyes started at the bottom and made their way up as he traced your figure. would it be so wrong if there was already a tent in his pants?

bakugou was supposed to wait silently to scare you. there was a queue that he would get from other actors on the scene. but he had a different plan for you.

he turned to his partner in crime. oh kiri. he was so kind. bakugou knew he would instantly give in. kiri wouldn’t allow bakugou to submit you to such torture that he was envisioning. but if bakugou could get you alone…

“hey kiri, i want this one. you take that other girl.”

kiri smiled mischeviously. “you got it bro!”

little did you know the horrors that you were about to receive.

your eyes darted around. it was dark, and your best friend was gone. you felt yourself panic even more.

your thighs jiggled and shook with every step. it made your thigh highs fall on one side, while the other clung to the middle of your thigh. he saw your little mini skirt, exposing nearly every inch of your skin. then your cute oversized cardigan which had completely fallen from your shoulder. and a tank top with a little bow that nearly had your boobs falling out.

it was eerily silent. you called out for your friend, with no response. you began to whine about where she had gone. even cursing the actors who got paid minimum wage to freak people out all night.

you felt around for something, or someone. it was too hard to see clearly. you needed something of substance so you could feel your way out. suddenly, you touched something warm.

oh god.

you let out an ear piercing scream as a chainsaw resounded through the midnight air. a flicker of light came from the chain saw through every rip. you could see his face. handsome, and eerily pleased with your reaction.

“god, has anyone told you that you look utterly delicious?”

“n-no sir!” you hiccuped, looking around for a way out. “w-where is my friend?”

“gone!” he said with delight

you began to run away from him, but he only chased after you like a mad man. you screamed and screamed until you couldn’t anymore.

just when you were sure you lost him, he had taken a shortcut you didn’t even know existed. all you heard was the knocking of his utility boots. his heavy breaths. the drag of his chainsaw. and that smell of kerosene.

“p-please stop sir! i need to find my friend!” you whined

you continued to run aimlessly in the darkness. anywhere but here. anywhere but where the chainsaw man was headed. this maze was seemingly endless, with random bursts of light. you hit the fences wall once again.

“no. no! NO!” you screamed

you beat against the wooden fence, even considering climbing it. however, it was completely flat. a spine chilling chuckle cut through the crisp air. you felt yourself begin to cry. closing your eyes, hot droplets of tears rushed down your face. you turned around to face him, yet you couldn’t open your eyes. it was far too scary.

you could feel his hot breath fan against your face. he positively towered over you. he was so tall. so big compared to you.

“pretty little girl. all alone.”

his hands reached out to caress your face. you sobbed as he caught your hot tears. the chainsaw man’s hands were freezing to the touch. he loved your tears so much that he tasted them. salty and delicious. it made him hungry.

“i almost feel sorry for you.” he chuckled. “but then again, who else would torture you as good as me?”

he ripped the chainsaw and let it run down the side of the barn next to you. you screamed and screamed, finally opening your eyes to see him. the chainsaw raked up and down, causing the sound of grinding against the metal. sparks flew from the chainsaw. this awful sound resounded continually through the air.

“you like that, pretty little girl?” he smiled

you cried as he eyed you. up and down. that smelly kerosene. the sparks. and the huge man in front of you. you were terrified for your life.

“n-no!! i’m so scared!” you replied

the chainsaw man smirked. he made you stand flat against the gates. inserting his knee between your legs, he only laughed harder.

“you should be, cry baby.”

you gasped as his knee made contact with your pussy. what was he doing? it almost made you forget his chainsaw.

“n-not a cry baby!” you exclaimed. “and what are you doing?!”

bakugou chuckled. your face was absolutely ruined, and he didn’t even fuck you yet. the tears that ran down your face caused black streaks of runny mascara.

“just trying to fucking ruin you. s’not that hard though, is it?”

you pouted. “you’re so scary! how could i not cry?”

he grabbed your chin, making you look into his eyes. strobe lights flickered as he gripped you. god, he was so handsome. his blonde hair stuck out in all directions. he wore thick eyeliner. and you could see that his muscles were nearly busting out of his flannel.

“not sure baby, but it fuckin turns me on.” he smirked

you gasped as he rocked his thigh back and forth. you moaned as he hit your sweet spot. why did you like this so much? it was so disgusting. anyone could catch you. and what about your best friend? she needed you.

“n-no! please stop sir!” you whined

bakugou shook his head. “uh uh little cry baby. need to see you scream again.”

“but i can’t!! need to find my friend…please let me go sir! i’m so scared and i need her!”

bakugou almost felt sorry for you. you were so fucking pathetic. i mean, after all he was just an actor. and there was no way his chainsaw could actually hurt you. he would never pierce your precious skin.

“poor thing. you almost convinced me. but if you really want to, i need two things from you.”

you nodded your head quickly. “yes sir! anything sir!”

“give me your number, and suck me off.”

your big doe eyes blinked into his. “you’re kidding me, right?”

bakugou smirked. “no. unless you want me to kill you? or you wanna try running away again? i’ll have my friends catch you next. then we can all take turns torturing you. would you like that?”

you shook your head. “no sir, i wouldn’t wanna do that.”

his dropped his chainsaw in favor of his hands squishing your waist. “mmm fuck. i fuckin love chubby girls. you’re so soft, my pretty little cry baby.”

the chainsaw man continued to rock his knee. your pussy was so warm. he wanted to feel how wet and sticky you were. he needed to taste your pretty cunny. he was sure that it would be so sweet. the perfect treat for him.

he unbuttoned your cardigan. you whined as the cold air reached your shoulders and tits. bakugou chuckled. fuck, you were so pretty. he loved your tits already.

“y-you like chubby girls?” you said, face red with shame

the chainsaw man removed his thigh from your pussy. you whined, gripping his arms so as to not fall. he watched your boobs shake and bounce and your feet hit the ground.

“fuck yeah!” he smirked. “i mean fuck, i wanted to eat you as soon as you walked through my part of the maze.”

you felt his cold hands palm your tits. the chainsaw man was very needy. yet you didn’t mind. you liked his threats and the way he was so hungry for you. you lifted your tank top down to expose your black lacey bra.

“just for me, little one?” he asked. “you shouldn’t have!”

“w-wasnt for you sir. this guy was s’posed to come with me…b-but he bailed. m’not his type, i guess.”

bakugou frowned. “you’re so fuckin beautiful. any man who doesn’t like you is stupid. i mean fuck, i got hard as soon as i saw those thighs.”

you giggled. “thank you, sir! i’m almost less scared of you.”

“oh baby, you should be terrified.” he replied easily

he reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. your jaw dropped as he cut into your tank top. he pulled the knife slowly down, cutting it in half. your tank top was tattered, falling away from your supple skin.

the chainsaw man used the dull side of the knife to tease you. he dragged the cold metal up and down your stomach. you gasped out of fear.

“p-please stop sir!” you whined

he chuckled as he continued to tease your tummy. you were so soft and cute. the perfect little squish to rest his head. or play with his knife. he poked your skin slightly, causing a little blood to get on the knife. you yelped in pain.

“sir! please! i don’t like it!”

you began to cry again. he was just an actor. why was he actually hurting you? albeit, it wasn’t much of cut, more like a nick.

“you don’t like it, pretty girl?” he licked your skin. “i fuckin love it!”

little tears dripped down your face. you needed to distract him before things got worse. “c-can i suck you now?”

bakugou dropped his knife. you saw his tongue lick his lips and flash his pearly white teeth at you. a deep chuckle sounded, causing shivers down your spine.

“yeah baby, get on yer fuckin knees.”

he smirked, pushing your shoulders down. you gasped as your knees buckled to the muddy ground. you knew your socks were ruined, as well as your shoes. now you’d have to take a shower and wash away all this icky dirt.

you looked up at him, tears flowing from your eyes. bakugou wiped them from your face, “pretty girl, no need to cry. you got to take care of me, don’t you?”

it was sick, but you loved it. his honey tone contrasted with his evil intentions. all he was doing was manipulating and using you. though you knew those things, you didn’t get up and run. in fact, you were almost excited.

“y-yes sir!” you agreed. “can you take your overalls off, please?”

what bakugou revealed was the body of a god. and he had asked you for your number? your friends would think you sick for agreeing, but he was just so fucking hot. and on top of that, he wanted you. you, out of all people in the maze.

he slapped your face with his cock, bringing you back to reality. “look at me, little one.”

you opened your mouth instinctively, peering up with your big eyes. bakugou twitched against your cheek. you saw the edges of his mouth curl up into a sinister smile. he began to drag his dick all over your face, making you wet with precum. you closed your eyes, sticking your tongue out for him to use. bakugou groaned as he covered you with his stickiness.

“that’s a good fuckin girl. you ready to take it?”

you nodded. he chuckled as you got closer, sticking your face near his stomach. you clutched his muscular thighs as he plunged down your throat.

you gasped as his thick cock forced its way down. you could barely breath as you tasted him. but you loved being full. you loved the feeling of him using you. you moved your head up and down, listening to the way he grunted as he hit the back of your throat.

“fuck, this isn’t your first time is it? you little whore.”

he clenched the back of your head and rammed your skull into his stomach. you choked and gasped for air as he quickly pulled out. instinctively, you spat out all the saliva and pre. you began to cough as you knelt to the ground. but bakugou wasn’t having that.

“get up, my little cry baby. you’re not done yet.”

you pouted, pre running down your lips, neck, and chin. bakugou watched it drip between your cleavage. he knew where he was cumming.

“what’s your friend gonna say?”

you giggled, a little out of sorts. “i’m fucking crazy!”

bakugou began to laugh too. “you are fuckin crazy. lettin a stranger use your throat like this.”

you began to lick up and down his cock. bakugou sucked in his breath as you swallowed his tip. you played with his silt with your tongue, licking up and down. he shivered as you hit his sweet spot repeatedly.

he tried to put his hands on your head, but you just swallowed down. he grunted out as he watched your mouth go up and down on his cock. swallowing, then retreating, and swallowing again.

“mmmf, pretty girl.”

your doe eyes looked up at him. face ruined with tears and make up stains. cum all over your neck and chest. bakugou loved it. he felt himself twitching more and more.

you went faster as you felt him twitch. bakugou bit his lip and felt his toes curl in his boots. you were so good at what you did. pre released more and more from the tip. you loved the taste.

“yeah baby, i’m fuckin close!” he grunted

you went all the way down his cock, swallowing him to the base. he was so huge. bakugou watched your lips wrap his entire cock. he reached down to touch your throat, completely full with his fat cock you felt yourself choke, and quickly went back.

bakugou suddenly pulled out. you whined from loss of contact, but watched as he jerked off. you realized he wanted to jerk off all over you. closing your eyes, you left your mouth open to swallow his cum.

bakugou moaned, shooting his seed into your mouth, down your chin, and in between your tits. he watched the milky white liquid spread and race down. you used your finger to pick it up from your chin, licking and swallowing.

he fixed himself, then leaned down to help you. he spread the cum into your skin, making sure you’d smell just like him. bakugou kissed you silly, all around your face and lips, despite his cum.

bakugou pulled your fuzzy cardigan up onto your shoulders. he carefully buttoned it up, helping you to your feet.

“i still want your number, beautiful. if you’d let me have it?”

you smiled. “okie, give me your phone!”

you typed in your number, taking a photo of yourself for his phone. bakugou was going to definitely use that later for *purposes* because you could still see some of his cum and your absolutely ruined makeup.

bakugou watched your cute little face light up as he kissed your cheek. “do you want me to help you out?”

oh god. you forgot you were even in the maze. blinking for a few moments, you registered what he said. “oh, yes! what’s your name?”

“i’m the texas chainsaw man, baby.”

THE END

[deedala]

🎇 Happy New Year Friends!! 🎇

From the Diary of Virginia Woolf: January 2, 1931: Here are my resolutions for the next 3 months; the next lap of the year. To have none. Not to be tied. To be free & kindly with myself, not goading it to parties: to sit rather privately reading in the studio. Sometimes to read, sometimes not to read. To go out yes—but stay at home in spite of being asked. As for clothes, to buy good ones.

For today's return to WTW, i thought it might be fun to celebrate the ways in which we survive and manage to find peace and happiness in our one precious life here on Earth. And so...

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

✨W e e k l y 🌟 T a g 🌟 W e d n e s d a y✨

Name: Deanna 🌱

Location: oHIo🌽

Astrological Sign: Scorpio 🦂

What's a TV show or movie you plan to re-watch this year? obvi i'm in a constant state of re-watching shameless but otherwise right now im thinking maybe some bob's burgers, some futurama, austenland...

Whats a book or fic you will probably re-read this year? ooohh you know...the usual suspects tbh: cooperative gameplay, itqd, faffy, love is a ballfield, none the wiser, the menagerie... AND...*IF* DA4 is gonna actually come out soon I'll probably re-read my fav stories from Tevinter Nights!!!

What is a song you will likely continue to play on repeat? uuhh right now its still chappell roan's whole album and hozier's unreal unearth. im sorry for cheating on my own question and basically naming like 30 songs lol

What's a tasty treat you look forward to eating more of this year? i dont think i managed to eat enough chocolate chip cookies last year, i should eat more. also i haven't had an andes mint in forever??? need some of those STAT. oh my god i totally missed out on girl scout cookies last year too!!!

What's a time sink that you will continue to sink time into this year? scrolling tumblr ofc!!!

Did you pick up any habits in 2023 that you plan to continue? not really?? maybe kind of reblogging my own posts more and trying not to feel bad about it??

What's your toxic trait? leaving petty little thoughts in my friends DMs while they're sleeping 😛

What is a coping mechanism you will continue to indulge in this year? ✨disassociation✨

Tell me something you like about how you look! my skin has been pretty nice lately, good job skin. (do you guys remember that old vine of the broken toy that would just say "sssskkiiiiinnnn" when squeezed?? i remember lolol)

Give me at least three adjectives describing things you like about yourself. loyal, generous, thoughtful

----------------------------------- Now for tagging nuggets: additionally I want to thank @mybrainismelted and @jrooc for helping me with this post!! @michellemisfit @mmmichyyy @darlingian @too-schoolforcool @juliakayyy @gardenerian @heymrspatel @heymacy @gallawitchxx @metalheadmickey @mickeysgaymom @thisdivorce @transmickey @tanktopgallavich @lingy910y @suchagallabitch @shippergirl121fic @the-rat-wins @thepupperino @energievie @callivich @lee-ow @purplemagpie @sleepyfacetoughguy @softmick @vintagelacerosette @sam-loves-seb @crossmydna @creepkinginc @suzy-queued @rereadanon @iansw0rld @milkmaidovich @sickness-health-all-that-shit @palepinkgoat @auds-and-evens @ardent-fox 💖

[ameliora-j]

sneak peek of my new DILF!hotch x nanny!reader fic ♡

Aaron comes back quickly, and Jack now has a cherry flavored lollipop in his hand and a ring of red around his mouth. “Are you in college?” Aaron asks as he crouches in front of your knee. He gently runs a wet wipe over the blood dripping down your leg to wipe it up.

“Yeah” you smile, nodding slightly. Jack sits beside you as he pets and whispers to Nugget. “I'm studying criminal justice and psychology” you continue.

“Psychology and criminal justice, huh?” He asks softly, “big brain. What do you plan to do with those?” he asks softly as he glances at your knee in concentration. He pulls out the antibacterial spray and Jack reaches his tiny hand over to you.

“I hate when Daddy doeth thith pawt,” he slurs around his tasty treat, but he never takes his eyes off Nugget. You look wearily at the small boy’s hand, slightly grossed out by how sticky it was. However, you smile softly at how sweet he is, and place your hand in his. You’re thankful for some semblance of comfort, though, because Jack was right—the spray was absolutely the worst part. You hiss quietly as Aaron sprays the cut. He places a spiderman band-aid on it and then pats your thigh gently. “Daddy you have to kiss it to make it better” Jack chimes in and you laugh softly, heat rising to your face as well as Aaron's.

“No, Jack buddy, that’s okay” you smile reassuringly. “It’s already all better” you smile, gently kicking your leg for effect. “Thank you, Mr. Hotchner.” You offer him a shy smile

“Just Aaron is okay” he says gently, and you nod as you stand from his porch step. “Let me walk you home,” he offers.

“Oh, no!” You exclaim. “It's alright. It’s not too far from here, and uh… Nugget hasn’t pottied yet, so uh… Yeah,” you swallow again, forcing back the giggle that threatened to tumble out. Two lies in less than thirty minutes… Maybe that’s why the gods hated you.

Aaron nods softly. “Well, thank you for watching Jack when the crazy little adventurer got out” he nods, smiling smally at you.

“You’re welcome. Thanks for the band-aid” you giggle softly, taking a hold of Nugget’s leash as you begin to waltz your way down the street. You check behind you inconspicuously, noting that the two boys had gone inside before you pull out your phone, quickly dialing Ari’s number.

“Ari!” You practically squeal into the microphone as your best friend and roommate picks up. “I just met the hottest dilf with the cutest kid!” You shriek.

“Well hurry your ass up into the car and tell me all about it before I get a ticket for being double parked!” She exclaims, failing miserably to hide the loud laugh that she had let out. You and Nugget rush back up the hill and through the fence and clamber up into Ari’s car—the fat corgi sat on your lap, heavily winded from the whole three minutes of exercise that you had just forced him to endure.

You’re sure of so little things… but, as you sit in the car, there are three things that you are absolutely positive about.

Jack is the absolute cutest kid that you have ever seen in your life.

Mr. Hotchner is the most gorgeous man that you’ve ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on.

Nugget is definitely getting two Milk-Bones the second that you get back to the apartment.

[sebsxphia]

hello!! I hope you enjoyed your break! you deserve it ❤️

coming in with some more husband Bob floyd things

obsessed with the idea of Bob being an absolute perv of a husband 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 he has a private album on his phone of all the naughty candid shots he has of you (the nudes you’ve sent and he’s taken while you’re in bed live in another album hehe)

this perv album consists of your ass bent over to pick something up, videos of you at the gym because Bob loves the way you look when you sweat, close ups of your tits when you’re wearing something low cut, and he absolutely takes videos and photos when you eat something phallic shaped

one night, Bob is out at the bar with the squad. You had plans with friends so you’re absent that night. He gets bored and ends up sitting at a table in the corner watching a video of you sunbathing in a bikini and eating a cherry red jumbo popsicle. Little does he know, rooster and nat noticed his absence from the group and now stood behind him watching you swirl your tongue all over that tasty treat. nat coughs, making Bob jump and turn to see the both of them smirking at him.

“who knew your wizzo was such a dog?”

“eh, if she was my wife I’d be the same way” nat says with a wink to Bobby, whose never blushed this hard before

hello my love!! thank you so much!! i hope you had a wonderful break yourself!! 💖💗

you’re always welcome to come in with these thots because omggggggg this is so accurate!!! i’m dying!! fuck me!!! bob floyd is the biggest dog. the biggest perv. and he fucks.

god what i would do for bob floyd to have a dirty photo album for me 😵‍💫

thank you so much for this my love!! 💌

[flockrest]

biggest strength as a roleplayer? / @hyruin

i’ve said this to you before, but i could genuinely shout from the rooftops about the level of thought you put into the worldbuilding & characterization of the rito as a whole, as well as your individual lil guys, until the end of the world. everything you write wrt to their society & community is fantastic, & it just feels like such a natural extension of the lore, to the point where when it’s not referenced in – game i’m like hm. something feels lacking here ! you’ve taken the foundation given to you, shored it up, & built an absolute palace of ideas on top of it, & it’s honestly fantastic.

that, & your sense of a character’s voice is absolutely unreal – when it comes to canon characters like tulin & molli, i can hear them, it’s the exact opposite of “they would not fucking say that” it’s they absolutely would say that & i’m dying to hear more !! & honestly, i think everyone who’s ever rp’d knows that sometimes it can feel like getting blood from a stone to get people to care about your muses, but you have gotten that one down to an art form my friend, i care about your little flock so much, i’m so overjoyed for tulin’s journey, i’m so excited to learn more about dineli, i’m so heartbroken for kido & all they’ve been through at all times !! & i haven’t even gotten into your actual PROSE, honestly !! you're doing an excellent job here friend, & it's such a joy & an honour to read your writing, & witness the magic !

blue. i am. i have. [spontaneously combusts] WAH?? i cannot thank you enough for this?!? oh my gosh. oh my gosh. oh my goodness. ohh my god i'm!! in genuine tears, this is just. the most thoughtful thing and it means so, so, SO much to me — these are words of such high praise, from such an amazing writer!! to know that you think of my content like this, my muses especially, TRULY YOU'VE BOLSTERED MY SPIRITS, oh my god?!

but can i just shoot this love back at you? can i just appreciate you as well?? i've also said this to you before, but the wild amount of dedication and passion you put into fleshing out your muses and building them up from canon influences still absolutely blows my mind! your dossiers are so deliciously rich with detail and lovingly personalised lore, even the ones you're still working on, and it's legitimately such a wonderful treat to see!!

YOUR WRITING TOO?? we only have one thread together ( that i thoroughly delight in! that my partner thoroughly delights in!! ) but i lurk on all your other ones and ohhh my goodness. your voices for each muse come through so clearly and you do masterfully with tone! when it hits hard, whaddaheck does it hit hard, and when you're going for that fluff, i'm like. melted into a puddle! AND THE HORRORS. THEY ARE SUCH TASTY, TASTY HORRORS EVEN AS I'M OVER HERE LIKE. NOOOOOO!! crying over your lovelies, thank you for crying over mine too!!

YOU ARE SO VERY KIND, thank you again for this! printing this out and pinning it to my wall so i can see it always, because this is seriously SUCH a massive boost of serotonin!! ♡♡♡♡ i'm so stoked to keep plotting with you, and writing with you, and interacting with you!! it's been an absolute joy and honour for me with you too!! AAAAAAAA

[authoruio]

Hello I just recently started to follow you but I love your art, it's tasty. Anyway could I possibly get your twst gang's opinions on my mc Melanie and her talking buddy Louise please and thank you!!

Hi! Thank you ^7^!

oh my god- Melanie so pretty!

Melanie and Louis with UiO and Jiyoon!

There's a light coming from Melanie and UiO thinks she is lost while Jiyoon is stupefied.

This school is full of ruffians, why is Melanie here? Oh, Louis is her guard? Good! UiO questions the hows.

UiO is full of wonder! Melanie is literally shining with brilliance, like one of those fairytale princesses! Not from what Jiyoon writes... no, put them aside.

She's on fangirl mode, a lot of praise is running through her head-

Melanie... is so ???

She's so shiny like a diamond! Not to mention, she's so pure! Who's this, Aori but with more purity???

UiO cannot comprehend the reason why she's been put to NRC, at least she was put to Pomefiore right?-- WHAT!? RAMSHACKLE!?

HELLO CROWLEY? ARE YOU FREAKING BLIND?

UiO WOULD LIKE TO HELP WITH YOUR EYES-!

she's fine when Crowley placed Miren to Ramschackle, but when a girl she just met today? wow favoritism- ahem-

She will basically drag Melanie around the school in any place she thinks she haven't seen!

She wants to have fun with Melanie without risking her of getting hurt-

UiO calls her 다이아몬드 공주님 (Diamond Gongjunim/princess or just 공주님 /princess)

Louis and UiO get along quite well! She finds him cute and interesting! Probably bows to him and Melanie.

The only talking animal she have seen are Lucius, Trein-seonsaengnim's cat and Crowley! Crowleys a talking crow to her... Of course he's interesting!

Protect gongjunim at all cost!

Jiyoon feels like she can have a deep breath with Melanie alongside her. She's like a fresh air that Jiyoon was not allowed to have!

but why are you here in NRC?

You should be at RSA... Did Crowley really hit his head with a nail?

At least you have your knight in shining armor, Louis-- Jiyoon takes Louis really serious considering Melanie seems to treat him closely.

Her kindness makes her stand out from the rest of the NRC students, Jiyoon is amazed how she can stay pure staying in this school full of annoyance.

Jiyoon would make a charm out of paper, maybe origami butterflies, she do not want anything to happen to this precious gem.

Though Melanie reminds Jiyoon of someone from a distant past, it brings her a melancholy feeling but will do her best to hide it.

She finds Melanie's presence comforting!

Jiyoon would like to offer her books for Melanie and have a little chat for what she likes about them and whatnot.

Melanie and Louis with Aori and Miren!

Ah, of course, Melanie meets the duo AoRen doing stupid shenanigans. Nonetheless, they would welcome her with open arms!

Aori is curious and happy! (he's always happy-)

A new friend! Not to mention, she reminds Aori of a purifier if she belongs to their world!

Seeing Louis would make Aori showcase his own companion! A water sprite he named Aqua!

Aori wonders if Louis' sword can pierce through the clothes, but he doesn't want to challenge him. He's a knight doing his job, why would he even bother?

Aori appreciates Melanies kindness, it was just him and Jiyoon but the more the merrier!

Now Aori wants to pull a prank on Melanie but he somewhat awfully feels bad, he doesn't know why...

So why not ask her to join him in the pranks? :D

Aori would like to offer some protection too :)

For Miren, he's pretty neutral with Melanie. though he is quite happy Melanie is quite.. normal, no who's he joking? Melanies brilliant.

Despite being afraid with someone who's like Aori, he doesn't mind her considering her kindness seems to be ever present.

She won't mind spicy kimchis right? ^_^

Miren doesn't like that Melanie doesn't get angry to the others who doesn't seem to like her.

Yeah, yeah, he gets that she's kind and all, but show some fight like Aori! >:(

And that's why Miren appreciates Louis companionship with Melanie, and he wants Melanie out of NRC to save a kind soul, god, maybe eating a crow would be fine this time.

If Melanie has any food request, Miren won't mind making them

[chaoswithinstars]

fallen from grace [Tomioka G.]

CW: blood, biting, demon!reader, dom!reader

When you were turned into a demon, Giyuu was certain you would be like the rest of them. He had no hope and was fully prepared to take your life, to end your suffering as a bloodthirsty animal but you ran, faster and stronger because of your human blood still racing through your veins. He searched for you, interrogated other demons for years until he stopped seeing the point. Giyuu tried so hard not to think of you, pushing his memories of your time together into the furthest reaches of his mind until he met the siblings, seen the girl protect her human brother. That tiny flame of hope Giyuu tucked away in his soul became a wildfire and all thoughts of you came rushing back along with heartbreaking yearning for your gentle touch.

He started searching once again, efforts tripled until he finally found you. He found you at a lakeside, sitting on a mossy rock and humming a familiar tune. You looked like a goddess, framed by idyllic forest and the fireflies dancing in the night. You didn't change much. Your hair was longer, tips crimson, your eyes were no longer that brilliant shade you loved the most as a human but you were still all soft curves and gentle smiles. You looked at him as if he was all that you've been waiting for, like he was the one who ran away.

Giyuu has always been a good man. Silent, strong and smart, talented with a sword. He was admirable but somewhat oblivious to how other people perceived him. Not to you though. With you, he couldn't hide himself, shove back his desires and darkest thoughts. With you, Giyuu let himself sink into depravity. Maybe it was your demon nature or maybe it was because he remembered you from before- bright smiles, silver tongue and strength hidden beneath a fluffy exterior. Giyuu didn't know nor did he particularly care. Especially now that he has finally found you.

"You're beautiful." Giyuu didn't know what prompted him to break the silence nor why those were the first words to come from his mouth. He was enchanted by your appearance, by your graceful movements as you beckoned him closer. You were still humming that alluring tune, voice so lovely that it resonated somewhere deep in his soul, settling down what little urge to kill you he had.

Maybe it's your presence, that enchanting voice or the alluring scents of nature (of you) that made Giyuu drop all of his walls down. After all, most of his life has been spent in search of you and now that he found you… Why couldn't he let himself enjoy this moment of happiness, a moment so rare in the life of a demon slayer? Giyuu reached out towards you and you took Giyuu's hands in yours, pulling him closer and into your embrace. His lovely blue eyes traced each part of your face, memorizing that which he was already familiar with from a lifetime before. Giyuu was warm in your arms, sinking against your body like a doll whose strings were cut off. You smiled, lips framing your sharp teeth.

"And you're looking as tasty as ever, slayer." Your words made Giyuu's thoughts swim, disconnected. He could not think of anything else but you, making you happy, giving everything he is to you. "I've watched you, little mouse, seen you fight my kind and it made me ravenous."

Giyuu shuddered at your words and yet did nothing. He let you nuzzle his neck, lick a strip up to his jaw. You nibbled on his soft skin, tempting yourself with a taste of his flesh. And yet, Giyuu wasn't afraid. He yearned for more, for a revival of heated memories when you two were the same, when you were both human and weak, equal before the gods.

"It isn't often that a snack enters my den all by himself. Usually, there's more of you wretched humans disturbing my oasis." You speak, breath warm and tickling Giyuu's ear. Your hands pull him onto your lap, making him straddle you. Giyuu looks down at you, brain foggy from all sensations you brought on. "But you, little mouse, you're different. Makes me want to keep you like a good pet."

Giyuu allows you to pull him in for a kiss. It's hunger and fire, consuming him until he feels like nothing will be left of him. He grabs onto your shoulders, nails digging into your clothes as he struggles with himself, with the instincts urging him to rut against you, to moan and beg. Your claws slice through his clothes with ease, baring his skin to the cool air, to your own wandering hands. Giyuu gasps, ripping his mouth away from yours, out of breath. Your name echoes off the trees as you lavish his neck and chest with licks and bites, leaving marks on his pale skin. You break skin with your teeth on his chest, drawing blood. He whimpers as you lick it up then suck on the tiny wound. It's odd and dangerous but still a thrill Giyuu doesn't want to miss out on.

"What a good boy you are." It's a coo, a praise wrapped in a patronizing tone Giyuu usually hated but didn't mind now because it came from you. "Such a good snack, not struggling when I indulge a little taste."

You look into his eyes as your touches become more daring, lips still smiling even as your eyes devoured all of Giyuu's reactions. Giyuu's head fell back once you grasped his dick, fingers wrapping almost too hard around his length but a little pain was good as long as you were touching him.

"Look at me." You commanded and Giyuu obeyed immediately, eyes wide at your harsh tone. He didn't want you to be mad, to stop the movements of your hand. "What kind of a slayer are you? Wanting to fuck a demon of all things. You're messed up, aren't you? Don't worry, I won't tell, it's our little secret."

Giyuu felt his eyes tear up. It's been years since he last cried but your words struck a cord even as he felt pleasure from your hand and the tone of your voice. He felt so ashamed of himself. Indeed, what kind of a slayer was he?

"Are you going to cry, little mouse?" You laughed, hand moving faster over his dick. "I wonder what your friends would say if they could see you now. They'd probably laugh at you. Or maybe some would join me in my fun and we could all have a turn with you."

Giyuu whimpered, teeth clenched over his lips. The thoughts you put in his head were tempting, far too much for him.

"You're so close, aren't you?" You ask, knowing full well that it won't take long before Giyuu broke apart. "Don't worry, you can cum whenever you want."

Giyuu fucked into your fist, enjoying the squeeze of your fingers, every teasing pass over his leaking head, your demeaning yet arousing words. It didn't take that long for him to spill all over your hand, making a mess. A mess you happily fed to him until there was nothing left.

"On your knees, slayer." You ordered, pushing him out of your lap to his knees. Giyuu watched as you stripped, showing yourself off and he wondered what he did to deserve such a treat. Your body seemed to glow with some inner light, once again reminding Giyuu of a goddess. You were terrifying in your beauty and all Giyuu could think of was worshiping every inch of your being. "Good boy."

You sat back on your rock, straightening your left leg until your foot was on Giyuu's shoulder and he placed his trembling hand on your joint. He could feel your eyes on him as he kissed your leg, slowly moving upward until your knee was hooked over his shoulder. Giyuu looked up at you, eyes seeking permission to go further and a moan broke from him as you nodded. He dived in between your legs, arms over your thighs as he kissed then licked and sucked at all the right places of your pussy. Your taste was exquisite, like ambrosia sent down from heavens. Your scent was heady and your soft sighs like music to him.

You praised him, one hand gentle in his hair, pushing him further into you. Giyuu thought that he could die right now, with no regrets, just because he made you feel like this. You were so wet, so warm and sweet… Giyuu couldn't get enough. You cried out when his fingers, rough from sword handling, entered you, moving first slowly then faster until you were grinding against Giyuu's face, panting as you came closer to the edge. Giyuu looked up at you from between your legs, eyes focused on the ecstasy on your face. He curled his fingers inside of you, pressing against that spongy spot inside of you and your thighs locked around his head, keeping him still as you rode out your orgasm.

You hunch over him, pulling his head from between your legs, cradling his face in a gentle hold. Giyuu knows that he probably looks a mess from your arousal, face wet and red, but it was worth the sweet look in your eyes and hunger on your face. He'd let you devour him whole if only that was his last memory.

You push him down, sinking to your knees and straddling his hips. Your hands caress his chest, fingers curling and your claws leave red lines on his skin. Another mark Giyuu would be happy to carry on into his next life. He's out of words and breath when you sink onto him, taking him to the deepest reaches of your body and all he can do is hold onto your hips as you ride him hard and fast. Giyuu knows that you're just using him, that he should be happy that you gave him the honour of feeling your wet heat grip his dick, clench around him.

"Thank you, thank you…" The words tumble out of his mouth, unbidden but truthful. He cums when you laugh at him, when your clawed hand wraps around his throat, squeezing ever so lightly.

You continued riding him, drawing tears from his pretty eyes from overstimulation. You ride him until you've milked him dry and got your fill of ecstasy. A growl rips from somewhere deep in your chest as you cum, grinding down on him to get those little aftershocks of pleasure. Your hand moves from Giyuu's throat, fingers chasing sweat drops on his chest. You lie down on top of him, humming that same tune from before.

Giyuu doesn't particularly care that your teeth are close to his jugular, that you're splitting open his skin to lick up his blood. All he knows and wants is to stay with you, surrounded by your warmth.

"Poor little slayer." You murmur into Giyuu's ear, voice filled with pity and something else Giyuu cannot comprehend. "So many desires unspoken, so many wishes not coming through. Do not worry, I'll take care of you."

The slayer never noticed the miasma descending around you two, just closed his eyes as you sang him to sleep. He looked like a doll as you picked him up, body limp as you carried him up into the trees. You set him up among many other humans in your den but took special care to preserve him.

"My little mouse." You purred, caressing Giyuu's face, tracing his lips. "I'll be good to you, no one will ever find you or hurt you here."

[whumperooni]

two in the morning and i’m all yours

Pairing: Dabi x Reader

Tags/Warnings: tw toxic relationship, public fingering, drinking and drug mention, degradation, possessive behavior, daddy kink, fingers in moufs, reader is kind of a bimbo, mentions of punishment/trained behavior, drool, slight puking mention (just briefly, nothing graphic and not described in any detail- it’s all in the past)

Word count: 2.1k

A/N: I, uh, have never ridden a train before. But I’ve ridden the subway! So I’m just going to slightly modify the request to subway rather than train;;;; And I skimped out on fucking, but hopefully this is tasty enough to make up for it ♡

✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤

Two in the morning and all is quiet.

It’s quiet as Dabi yanks you into the station and it’s quiet as he makes you hop the gate. His snicker when your clumsy, drunken feet stumble over one another is quiet and your whine against his chest is quiet, too.

The terminal is a ghost town as he hauls you through it- empty, dingy, washed over in a sickly green light that makes you feel so disconnected from the world above. It’s like a horror movie, almost, but you couldn’t ever be really scared of a vaguely spooky subway station- you face actual horrors in your life every day; you’ve got crooks for friends, bloodthirsty debtors haunting your every step, ravenous heroes looking to snatch you up just to get to the League, and a monster for a boyfriend.

All that is much, much scarier than any silly subway station.

And Dabi is the scariest of it all- thrilling, frightening, vicious, nasty.

A hum slips from you- dazed and faint- and you twine your fingers through Dabi’s, smile sleepily when his hand holds yours tight.

You like the way he holds your hand as if he’s terrified you’ll try to run away from him. You like how he crushes your palm and squishes your fingers together until they’re aching for a good few hours after. It feels like you’re precious somehow- though you know it’s a twisted way to be treated.

He just wants to keep you his is all. He just wants to make sure you won’t- can’t- ever leave him.

Not that you want to. Not that the thought of doing so could ever enter your giddy, empty head.

Dabi pulls you into a car and you giggle when he yanks you to sit down on his lap, curl your fingers into shirt and peer around curiously. It’s empty in here- just like the station- and your fuzzy mind can’t help but wonder if you really did happen to stumble upon a ghost town.

Ghost town? Ghost station? Ghost subway? Ghost...

Oh, whatever.

Another giggle as Dabi grips your waist and you smile up at him- eyes so heavy and cheeks flushed, your lashes fluttering as he digs his thumbs into deep circles along your hips.

“Are we goin’ back to the hideout?”

Slurred, a little whiny- Dabi huffs at the question and his grip on you tightens as he pulls you closer. You can’t help a small shiver when his hands wander lower and you pout when he huffs again, when he moves a hand away to take his cigarettes from his jacket pocket.

“Where the fuck else would we be goin’?”

You don’t know- a hotel? Another party? Some isolated little house to break into and sleep the night away?

A shrug from you and Dabi clicks his tongue, snaps his fingers and lights his cigarette with a pretty blue flame. He takes a draw and breathes smoke out into your face and he laughs when you whine, when you squirm on his lap.

"Dabi, you're so mean."

"Oh, I'm mean now? You didn't think I was so mean earlier when I was bashin' in that fucker's face for ya."

Your cheeks flare at the memory and Dabi sneers whenever you bite your lip- gloating, smug, undeniably arrogant over the way your muddy eyes get just that much more hazy at the recollection.

It was some perv- some handsy guy with too much coke up his nose, too much whiskey in his system. He had cornered you when Dabi had went to the bathroom, had grabbed onto you and laughed at your stuttered panic, had tried to run his hands up your skirt. He’d been dumb enough not to keep an eye out for Dabi and god when Dabi had come to find you, he had melted that jerk’s face with a flaming punch.

You can still smell the stink of burning skin. You can still feel the ache in your wrist when Dabi had squeezed onto it tight with a snarl.

A shiver runs through you and you squirm on Dabi’s lap, swallow and dig your teeth deeper into your lip when he runs those piercing eyes of his over you.

“You know, princess,” he drawls, “you never thanked me for that.”

You didn’t? You could have sworn you had...

“I- I’m sorry, Dabi,” you mumble- meek, genuinely apologetic and genuinely upset that you weren’t a good little girl that had thanked him like you should have. “Thank you, Dabi. Thank you for savin’ me.”

A snort, something smug in his eyes, and Dabi takes a draw of his cigarette, blows the smoke out through his nose. You’d almost giggle at it if it weren’t for the way his fingers dig deep enough into your skin that you’re left whimpering instead.

“You’re losin’ those good manners of yours, sweetheart,” he huffs. “Am I gonna have to teach you a lesson?”

A- a lesson? Oh, no no no- not a lesson.

Dabi’s lessons are so cruel. Making you kneel on concrete with a bar of soap jammed in your mouth until you’re sobbing and gagging, puking up bile. Spanking you with a flaming hand until you can’t sit down for a good month. Fucking you in the bar right in front of the League, making you cry out your sins while they watch him scorch his palm prints into your waist.

They’re so cruel.

But you never forget your lessons. You’re always so good after them- so well behaved for him.

Another whimper and you shake your head quickly, get your drunken mind spinning from the desperation. You press up against him and you curl your fingers tight into his shirt, try and fail to keep your lips from wobbling and your eyes from glistening.

“N- no, daddy, please,” you whine, plead. “I- I’m a good girl. I’m sorry- I promise!”

Dabi scoffs, cigarette bobbing in his mouth, and he runs his hand down to your thigh, pushes it up until he can poke his spindly fingers against your panties.

“Yeah? Then why the fuck are you so wet?”

Wet? You’re...are you really wet?

Your eyes widen and you’re left gasping whenever he nudges your panties to the side, when a skinny digit runs along your slit.

“Fuckin’ soaked,” he sneers. “What kinda good girl is this fuckin’ drenched on the subway?”

“D- Daddy-”

Fingers plunge into your mouth and your words get cut off in a gurgle, a garbled whine slips from you as they push down on your tongue, as his rings scrape against the roof of your mouth, as you taste yourself.

Oh- oh you really are wet.

A whimper trembles out around his digits and Dabi’s sneer grows as he plunges his fingers deeper into your mouth.

“Such a little slut,” he mocks. “A bad little girl with a sopping little cunt.”

No! No! You’re not bad! You’re not!

Tears well up in your eyes and drench your lashes faster than they usually do- how can they not when you’re drunk and ashamed? How can they not when Dabi’s fingers jam down so deep in your throat that his knuckles are past your teeth?

You gag- still trying to plead even as you do- and Dabi takes a draw from his cigarette, stabs it out on the empty seat next to him without even looking.

“Oh, baby, you’re just so fuckin’ hopeless, aren’t ya?” he taunts- so sickly fake with his sympathy, with the hollow sweetness in his voice. “You can’t help it, huh? Can’t help being wet for daddy.”

No, you can’t help it. You really, really can’t. Not with the way he’s practically trained you to need him. Not with the way he has you so tightly wrapped around his finger.

You whimper, again, as you try to shake your head and you make yourself gag even harder as you do, make yourself drip tears all down your cheeks and onto your lap.

“Da- Da- Daddy...”

It’s so garbled and pathetic, so hopelessly pitiful. Dabi’s eyes go half-shut as you try to gurgle out your drunken apologies and he clicks his tongue as drool drips down his wrist.

“Messy little skank,” he huffs- this time truly fond in his own rough way. That makes it better, a little, and you sniffle whenever he pulls his fingers from your mouth, cough and spill spit all over you as you try to catch your breath.

Dabi dips his drool drenched fingers under your skirt and you gasp, mewl as they plunge into your cunt, moan so loud it echoes through the empty car whenever he curls his digits deep inside of you.

“Daddy, please!”

A snort, a scoff- Dabi’s lips twist into a smirk right as his wrist does and you collapse against his chest, tremble with a little sob.

“Oh, angel,” he hums, “are you begging me to fuck ya right here? On the subway? Where anyone could get on and see you creaming on my cock?”

Yes? No? You don’t know.

It’s so hard to think with the liquor in your veins. It’s so hard to think with the way his fingers brush against your sweet spot with each curl, each pump he gives them.

It’s so hard to think when Dabi’s disciplined you to go absolutely dumb at just the simplest of touches.

You whimper and a hot huff of air brushes against your cheek, his free hand reaches until he can grab you by the hair, yank your head back until you’re forced to look at him through your bleary eyes.

“I asked you a question, princess,” he drawls- words sharp with a threat, eyes narrowing as you whimper once more.

“I- I- Daddy, I’m sorry...”

Slurred, stupid- at least it has his face flickering into something amused. His fingers still curl tighter in your hair, though, and you sniffle as your cunt clenches around him, as your hips try to stutter against his hand.

“Daddy, please! I want- I want it...”

Dabi snorts and you whine as his fingers slip from you, as he brings them up to his lips and gives them a lick. They’re so shiny even in the dingy light of the subway and seeing those glossy digits has your pussy throbbing, your cheeks flaring, a whimpering mewl crawling out from your throat.

“‘Course you want it,” he drawls, swiping his fingers down your shirt. “But you ain’t going to get it.”

What? But that’s not fair!

Your mouth flies open and tears drip down your cheeks as you try to protest, but Dabi grabs onto your jaw before you can speak so much as a word and he squeezes your face tight, sneers at the squeak that leaves you.

“Maybe at the hideout,” he taunts. “Maybe if you’re a good little girl and show me how thankful you are that I didn’t let that asshole fuck your dumb ass.”

He would have- he wouldn’t have...would he?

A sob from you and Dabi huffs, something softens in his expressions as you warble out a “no, please, ‘m yours” to him in a drunken, pleading whimper. A click of his tongue and his grip on your face loosens before he gives your cheek a wet little smack, before he rolls his eyes at you.

“Oh, shut up,” he grumbles. “As if I’d let anyone fuck my girl.”

His girl...his girl. That’s right- you’re his girl.

You sniffle, still tangled up in your upset, and Dabi clicks his tongue again before shaking his head.

“So pathetic,” he snorts. “Fuckin’ dumb, pretty thing.”

This time when you whimper it’s misty eyed and pleased, full of undying need and accompanied by trembling lips, a rock of your hips. Dabi scoffs, softly, and his hands grip your waist, force you to stillness.

“Be good for daddy,” he tells you- orders you. “Or you won’t get fuckin’ nothin’ but a whuppin’ when we get home.”

You don’t- you don’t want a whuppin’. You can be good.

Sniffling once more, you nod and rest yourself against his chest, nuzzle into his neck with a shuddering little mewl.

“I’ll be good, daddy,” you promise- soft, sincere, words just whiny enough to make him huff. “I promise.”

“That’s my girl.”

A snap of fingers, a deep inhale, the scent of a freshly lit cigarette. You melt into Dabi as he smokes and you close your eyes, let yourself be rocked into something content and almost peaceful by the gentle swaying of the subway car- a smile on your lips and tears drying on your cheeks, your cunt throbbing with more and more need with each passing stop.

[gangrenados]

this is extremely important: stark reader x jason todd featuring reader’s best friend! wade just being wierd around them

This is more about Jason and Wade meeting than anything, so yup

•It was less to say that your dad didn't really approve Wade as your friend.

•Although Tony knew this weird guy had the best intentions with you, he couldn't help but not ignore all the massive criminal records he hold

•...well, Wade always defended himself saying that it's not a crime if it means that the world can become a better place without all the scum and yeah, he also needed the money.

•Not that Stark needed to know about that, right?

"You know I will support you no matter what because we're family and all that stuff, but why?" Tony says, pinching the bridge of his nose when he hears Wade talking so excitedly about some old pictures of the avengers, he was talking about his own team.

"Wade is a great guy, dad. You both could get along if you didn't treat him in such mean way!" You pointed out calmly and Tony gasped shortly after that.

"I don't know where you got an especial interest on dangerous guys, but you should check that out." Tony said sternly.

"C'mon dad! You're being really unfair right now." You took a bite from your chocolate bar as you pointed a finger to Tony." Besides, I wasn't the one looking for a new bike for Jason's birthday, huh?"

Tony left out a a sight, pinching the bridge of his nose once again, an habit that unfortunately has stuck with him thanks to all of those times having to hear Peter nerdy ramblings." You know what? Go before Wade ends up blowing up something. Just go, goodbye."

•But what about Wade's relationship with Jason? Well.

•If we're talking about the superhero field then Deadpool finds quite interesting this Red Hood guy.

"Fuck man, we're like twins!!" Wade shouted excitedly as he chocked a criminal with his granade belt.

•How they got in this situation? Well, teaming up was always something exciting, even for those who tend to work alone.

• Although Jason wasn't so happy to have to work with this dude who can't keep his mouth shut, Wade was having a blast.

"We can have a team name!" Jason rolled his eyes at comment, he didn't answer, but Wade didn't needed it. So he kept going." What about DeadHood or Red Pool?"

"Ah fuck..." Jason shoot a guy on the head before turning to face Wade." Dude, can you stop? Those are some interesting names, but the thing is that I'm not interested. Shut the fuck up."

" I see, you're not that friendly." Wade shook his head" Well, that's a shame cuz I really like how DeadHood sounds! It's kinda mysterious ya know?"

"Anyway, we'll probably see again and we could talk about the name when that happens! It's usually that way with these kind of stories...see ya!"

•That Was the last thing this guy said before jumping into his motorcycle and leaving a really confused and annoyed Red Hood behind.

•Jason didn't paid much attention to his words, after all if didn't made sense and he had to attend more important business, like going to your place to meet this friend of yours.

•He wasn't too excited about it, but it was important to you so fuck it.

"Someone told me you meet Deadpool" you made your way to the living room where a patched up Jason was waiting patiently in the couch.

•You sat beside him, making sure to not move too much to not cause him any pain." So what do you think about him?"

Jason let out an annoyed sigh, he ran his fingers through his hair before speaking." He's insufferable. I would have shot him, but it would have been a waste since apparently he can regenerate himself...ugh."

•You chuckled nervously at Jason's confession, you knew he always have a hard time working with others, but you stupidly hoped their first encounter would have turned a little bit better.

"Oh..." was the only thing you could say as you did your best to not ruin the big surprise." Uh, Jay? About the friend I wanted you to meet, he's-"

•The sound of the microwave going off caught both of your attention, alongside the happily squealing that was coming from the kitchen.

"Oh my God, why pizza is so fucking tasty!" Jason frowned is eyebrows at the sight of a man dressed in an all red suit, with bullet holes and dried blood coming from the kitchen. "It's like a mini orgasm every time I took a bite! Is it too exaggerated if I said I would sell my soul for a slice of pizza? Probably yes..."

•Deadpool was in your house? This better be a dream cuz Jason wasn't happy with this. He took a sharp breath between his teeth and clenched his jaw. You knew Jason wasn't having it.

"I told you to take off that damn suit!" You glared at Wade with wide eyes, he didn't understood your sing at first but he clearly got after you 'subtlety' pointed out Jason.

"Oh shit" Wade said under his breath.

•The tension in the room could be easily cut with a knife, it was so dense and suffocating or maybe it was Jason's glare at Wade.

"So, this is my best friend...Deadpool?" You turned to him, unsure of how to address this situation." Can I say your name or we go by Deadpool?"

•Maybe you couldn't see it, but Wade's eyebrows were knitted into a frown. He couldn't take his eyes of off his pizza as his thoughts rushed into a million of ideas of how to get out of this situation.

"I don't know, this is weird." He said as he clicked his tongue. "Maybe we can do this another time, I just remember I hot a job to do and I need money, so we can meet later (y/n)'s boyfriend!"

•Wade handed you his plate before he rushed to the front door, leaving you without a clue about what to do next.

"Damn," he cursed before stepping out, poking his head back again into your apartment." Look man, I like to be a pacifist, but if you dare to hurt (y/n) I won't hesitate to fill your pretty lil head with lead. Capisci?"

•And that's how your best friend and boyfriend met. You can bet your ass that it was headache explaining to Jason why were you friend with this guy.

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[k-s-morgan]

The Evolution of Will Graham’s Darkness

This meta is mostly written for new viewers who find themselves confused by Will as a character. I’ll incorporate some bits of analysis I’ve written before into it. Let’s start with a thesis of a sort: Will is a dark character who had this darkness from the very start, even before his encounter with Hannibal: he was terrified and disgusted with it, but after meeting Hannibal, slowly, he began to embrace himself, getting bolder and bolder in his violence.

**Before the show**  

Will initially tried to get into the FBI but he didn’t pass the tests. It’s revealed in E1 of S1 when he’s ambushed by Beverly.

Beverly: Never been an F.B.I. Agent?

Will: Strict screening procedures.

Beverly: Detects instability. You’re unstable?

At the same time, Will became a police officer, working in the Homicide department. These decisions show that he's been stubbornly and rather hopelessly drawn to darkness, seeking ways to interact with it while remaining on the side of law. However, he had to leave the police, too, because he was incapable of pulling the trigger even when his life depended on it. He preferred to allow himself to get stabbed rather than to fight back and kill someone, which points to him having very serious issues with his violence. He knew that once the door in him opens, it might not close again, that if he kills or harms another person, he might be unable to stop (this is proven when he shoots Hobbs and then immediately tries to kill Stammets).

And still, Will chooses to stay close to darkness, only in safer ways. He becomes a teacher in the FBI Academy, letting himself delve into the ugliest cases from a theoretical perspective. This constant pull and struggle leave Will lonely and hostile to everyone. He avoids eye contact with people; Jack’s first impression of him was that he’s rude and arrogant (when they clashed about the name of the museum). Will is rude and haughty with his students, too – but more about it later. Alana refuses to stay alone in the room with him, thinking his instability is too fascinating and she might want to dissect it. Will has no friends; he lives in isolation with his dogs, someone who would never judge him. There are a lot of rumors about him going around, and most people don’t like him (based on Price’s and Zeller’s initial reactions as well as their later conversations on this topic). Will is lonely and pretty miserable.

S1

The first real words we hear from Will are:

Will: Everyone has thought about killing someone.

It is very demonstrative of his personality. We also get evidence right here that Will is drawn to darkness primarily, not to the idea of saving lives (although the latter helps him feel better about his urges). He delves into the minds of killers even when he isn’t involved in the investigation. He had no other reason to explore the Marlows’ murder like he did at the start of the episode, when he was simply teaching students. It’s proof that he willingly craves contact with violent and disturbed minds — it’s not like he actually tries to solve this case for real, he just imagined himself there.

Will’s first conversation with Hannibal speaks volumes about who he is — because Hannibal senses it seconds after meeting him.

Hannibal: Do you have trouble with taste?

Will: My thoughts are often not tasty.

Hannibal: Nor mine. No effective barriers.

Will: I make forts.

This exchange has Will confess that his thoughts are often dark and that he dislikes it. To hold this darkness at bay, he literally builds forts around it, not letting it spread to other parts of his mind.

Hannibal: Your values and decency are present yet shocked at your associations, appalled at your dreams. No forts in the bone arena of your skull for things you love.

Hannibal almost directly calls Will out on his struggle with his inner darkness. He’s saying that he sees it, that he knows it’s there, in Will, in his mind, and Will is very disturbed by this — because Hannibal is right. The script even explicitly backs it up:

Hannibal has just described Will Graham to a letter.

Will is immediately wary and hostile, and he ends the conversation with snappy,

Will: Please don’t psychoanalyze me. You won’t like me when I’m psychoanalyzed.

What does it mean? It’s simple: Will assumes that Hannibal is a typical psychiatrist who wants to dissect him, so he says that once it happens, Hannibal won’t like what he finds (darkness and ugliness Will carries inside).

His hostility to Hannibal lasts up until the moment when Hannibal acknowledges him as a predator and shows approval of it. This is how it happens: Hannibal tries to subtly tell him that it’s all right to be who he is, hinting that they are the same.

Hannibal: You and I are just alike. Problem free. Nothing about us to feel horrible about.

He’s obviously talking about their darkness, but Will doesn’t react, so Hannibal continues. He tells him that Jack views him as a fragile tea cup, and Will genuinely laughs, amused by this (which is also very telling). Then Hannibal says:

Hannibal: [I see you as the] mongoose I want under the house when the snakes slither by.

Will grows quiet after this, and then his interactions with Hannibal become much more relaxed. Will takes him to search the property and even bothers to explain how they reached their conclusions and what they are about to do. Him grumbling, “What are you smiling at?” shows a much higher level of familiarity they now share. Something in Hannibal’s words made Will open up a bit, and everything indicates that it’s the acknowledgement of his predatory nature that played its part in it.

Will kills Hobbs by shooting him 10 times. This is his first kill, one he’s been trying to avoid for so long, ever since his police work. It’s not surprising that Hobbs haunts him later because his death became a breaking point for Will. A door did open in him, and he was unable to close it again.

In E2, Will is distraught. But first, we get a glimpse into how rude and insensitive he generally is. Look at how he treats his students. He tersely thanks them for clapping and then snaps for them to stop. He devises a little malicious test for them.

Will: It’s [Hobbs’] resignation letter. Anybody see the clue?

A few hands go into the air. Will ignores them.

Will: There isn’t one.

He looks so long-suffering with them, as if they are idiots. The fact that he asks a question, waits for people to think and raise their hands, and only then he tells them there is actually no answer is petty at best. He also admits to Jack that he doesn’t consider lessons socialization because he doesn’t have to actually talk to students, he talks at them. Not good for a teacher or even for a person who works with other people like this.

But Will has more serious problems. He keeps imagining Hobbs, and after his messy kill, Jack becomes worried about him. He makes Will go visit Hannibal for one-time evaluation. Will is naturally not fond of the idea, but he and Hannibal have a pretty personal talk. Hannibal ends it with an even more explicit hint at Will’s own darkness:

Hannibal: And Will… the mirrors in your mind can reflect the best of yourself, not the worst of someone else.

Hannibal is talking about Will’s personal brand of violence again. He’s trying to tell him that it’s fine to be a murderer in every way he can, that Will’s darkness might be the best part of him. He also gives him a fake official approval to work in the field, showing that Will can trust him. But their obligatory session ends and Will leaves — only to return after he tries to kill Stammets and misses (their talk about it was cut from the episode but is echoed in the conversation below).

Hannibal: [You are here to] prove that sprig of zest you feel is from saving Abigail, not killing her dad.

Will: I didn't feel a sprig of zest when I shot Eldon Stammets.

Hannibal: You didn't kill Eldon Stammets.

Will: I thought about it. I'm still not entirely sure that wasn't my intention when pulling the trigger.

This is a huge evidence of Will struggling with his violence. It proves that he had it before becoming actively involved with Hannibal — all Hannibal did was recognize it and coax it to come to the surface. Will has always been like this, and after finally killing a person, he found himself unable to stop because he liked the feeling too much.

Hannibal: It wasn't the act of killing Hobbs that got you down, was it? Did you really feel so bad because killing him felt so good?*

Will: I liked killing Hobbs.

Hannibal is pleased to receive the confirmation of what he sensed in Will. Seeing that Will is terrified about his own confession, he comforts him.

Hannibal: Killing must feel good to God, too. He does it all the time, and are we not created in his image?

Let’s be honest, every sane person would have run for the hills after hearing this. Hannibal literally justifies the fact that Will liked murder by drawing a parallel with God. That’s such a narcissistic, serial killer thing to do, and yet Will welcomes it with open arms. He’s happy to find someone who doesn’t think he’s a monster — he’s relieved to be able to finally discuss his darkest impulses freely. This is the reason why Will started coming back to see Hannibal on a constant basis, to Jack’s surprise.

The next huge proof of Will’s ever-present darkness is found in E5 (actually, every episode has some bits, but I’ll cover only the major ones). The Angel Maker, a killer-of-the-week, has a unique gift of being able to see if a person is good or evil. First, Hannibal tries to tell Will that he doesn’t have to self-destruct because of his darkness like he’s been doing.

Hannibal: Angel Maker will be destroyed by what’s happening inside his head. You don’t have to be.

When Angel Maker dies, Will suddenly sees himself through his eyes. And he sees a demon. He sees himself as evil. It proves that Will’s darkness is inherent since he hasn’t done anything really bad at this point. It also proves that he’s perfectly aware of who he is and the darkness he has. He has the following conversation with the imagined Angel Maker.

Angel Maker: I see what you are.

Will: What do you see?

Angel Maker: Inside. I can bring it out of you.

Will: Not all the way out.

So, Will acknowledges that his darkness is rooted so deeply inside him, it can’t even be extracted fully. It’s an inseparable part of him.

Will is shown admiring the Ripper’s murders, calling them elegant and referring to them as art. Meanwhile, he’s trying to half-heartedly flirt with Alana, but they don’t have a meaningful connection because Will can’t be happy with a person who doesn’t know him. He wants to be normal but he just isn’t. If you’re interested in my opinion about their relationship, it’s here.

Will’s next morally gray action happens when he agrees to cover murder for Hannibal and Abigail in E9. He agrees quickly and then he’s shown being fiercely devoted to it. He doesn’t seem to care that Abigail killed someone much — in fact, he basically threatens Freddie, another person who sees him for who he is, to make her write a book favorable toward Abigail.

In E13, Hannibal says what he wants from Will directly.

Hannibal: If you followed the urges you kept down for so long, cultivated them as the inspirations they are, you’d become someone other than yourself.

Will remembers this phrase (he later throws it back into Hannibal’s face), but for now, he’s too angry and bitter to listen.

S2

Will is healthy again and he struggles with realization that Hannibal betrayed him. He starts a dark game of his own: he pretends he’s vulnerable, moving Alana to tears in the process, and asks Hannibal for help. He’s still drawn to him, but he also wants to take him down — for himself and for Abigail.

In E1, Hannibal tells Will the purpose of all their past meetings, how they were aimed at helping Will Become.

Hannibal: Our conversations, Will, were only ever about you opening your eyes to the truth of who you are.

Alana tries to hypnotize Will to help him remember what happened.

Alana: Imagine yourself in a safe and relaxing place... safe and secure here, safe to relax completely...

What does Will imagine? He sees Hannibal’s room and them sitting at the murder table together. He’s freaked out by it, but it proves how twisted his perception is: regardless of the betrayal, a part of him understands that Hannibal is the only person who’s ready to accept him, and he feels safe with him. @bloodsmile wrote a great meta about it here.

Will coldly manipulates Beverly, refusing to help her save lives unless she helps him as well. In E5, he engages in yet another manipulation. He gets Matthew Brown to try to kill Hannibal. This is the first premeditated murder attempt Will is responsible for. That is why we see him growing horns, that is why he sees a sink full of blood — his darkness starts progressing in noticeable ways. By E7, Will has figured out that Hannibal really did everything to open his eyes to the truth of who he is and that he wants to be his friend, but as he still wants revenge, he decides to honey-trap him with Jack.

In E8, Will is dealing with his complex feelings for Hannibal and explores his darkness further. He admits that Hannibal made him feel less alone and that he doesn’t hate him, no matter what; that he has no idea what he feels for him. Then Will tries to kill Ingram in cold blood as revenge for Peter. He asks him to pick up the hammer, indicating that he plans for the murder to look like self-defense. Hannibal tries to talk him out of it, but Will still pulls the trigger. It’s by a miraculous accident that Hannibal manages to stop him. This is the second conscious murder attempt by Will.

In E9, Will has a dream about Hannibal, love, and darkness.

Dream Hannibal: Must I denounce myself as a monster while you still refuse to see the one growing inside you?

Meaning: Will is fully aware of both the presence of this monster inside him and his attempts to ignore it since this is his dream.

Dream Hannibal: No one can be fully aware of another human being unless we love them. By that love we see potential in our beloved. Through that love we allow our beloved to see their potential. Expressing that love, our beloved's potential comes true.

So, a part of Will realizes that Hannibal loves him, and that he really wants him to Become, to realize all his potential.

Will is shown as feeling bitter at Hannibal for not letting him kill Ingram.

Will: I regret what I did in the stables.

Hannibal (thinking Will means murder attempt): Then you were lucky I was there.

Will: Being lucky isn't the same as making a mistake. Mistake was allowing you to stop me.

Hannibal: So it’s not pulling the trigger that you regret. It’s not pulling it effectively.

Will: That would be more accurate.

Hannibal: I want you to close your eyes, Will, and imagine a version of events you wouldn't have regretted.

Will obeys, and he sees himself murdering Ingram. It proves that every word he says to Hannibal is true — he really does regret not killing him. But there is an even creepier dialogue ahead.

Hannibal: What did you see?

Will: A missed opportunity… to feel like I felt when I killed Garret Jacob Hobbs. To feel like I felt when I thought I killed you … a quiet sense of power.

This is disturbing. It proves once again that Will isn’t just a righteous killer, he enjoys the act of murder itself, and like many serial killers, he craves the feeling of power that comes with it.

He and Hannibal talk about the intimacy of murder, how Will was hiding behind a gun when he tried to kill Hannibal back in E5. Will takes note of it. Hannibal, remembering Will’s complaint about a missed opportunity, sends Randall to him as a gift. When Randall breaks into Will’s house, Will is shown thinking and then deliberately throwing the gun away. He doesn’t want to hide this time — he attacks Randall with his bare hands. This isn’t about self-defense or justice, this is about Will trying to experience a more intimate kind of murder. He beats Randall up until he’s incapacitated and then he snaps his neck, even though there was no reason to do it. He could easily call Jack and have Randall arrested at this point (since he was barely conscious and not fighting back). This could help him in his plan to catch Hannibal. But Will isn’t particularly concerned about it, he’s more interested in realizing his darkness.

He takes the body to Hannibal. This moment got deleted, but Will actually had to stick a note to it:

A piece of paper is pinned to his chest. On it is written: "Return to Sender."

Which excellently shows Will’s dark humor. He laughs with Hannibal a little as they talk about murder right above the corpse. Then Hannibal is treating his hands, and he says:

Hannibal: Stay with me.

Will: Where else would I go?

Nowhere — because Will understands that Hannibal is the only person who can understand his darkness and accept him for who he is.

Will: I've never felt more alive than when I was killing him.

This is, once again, huge. Will is a murderer who can get dangerously high on the act. The moment when he felt most alive is the moment when he took a life from another person — and he was vicious about it. Will is very, very dark in these scenes — and it’s going to get worse.

Will mutilates the body and places it in the museum. He keeps Randall’s suit in his house as a trophy, and he keeps his butchered parts of meat in his fridge. In the following discussion, Will confirms that he enjoyed doing all that. When Hannibal suggests that Randall’s killer felt disdain for him in front of Jack, Will disagrees.

Will: He isn't mocking him. This isn't disdain. He's commemorating him.

Hannibal: This killer has no fear for the consequences of what he's done.

Will: No guilt.

Then Will retreats into his mind to talk to Randall’s corpse.

Will: Hello again.

Randall: Come closer … Can you see you?

Will: Clearer and clearer.

This proves Will’s honesty in all his discussions with Hannibal. He really is exploring his violence, not just pretending to do it, coming to the realization of what kind of monster he is.

Will: You forced me to kill you.

Randall: I didn't force you to enjoy it.

This takes place in Will’s head, so every word is genuine.

Will: I gave you what you want. This is who you are. What you feel finally matches the reality of what I see.

Randall: This is my becoming. And yours.

Will shakes his head, this is not his becoming.

Will: This is my design.

So, what do we have here? Will calls murder, mutilation, and storage of Randall’s meat his design. It’s not his Becoming, not yet, Will isn’t ready to fully embrace himself, but this is a start. He understands his design now.

In the same E10, Will attacks Freddie when she discovered his trophies. We know he didn’t kill her, but would he have done it if she hadn’t called Jack? We can only guess. Will sure took his chance to be creepy and physically violent with her. At the end of the episode, he brought Randall’s meat to Hannibal and they cooked as well as ate it together. This was not about getting Hannibal to trust him. Hannibal already did, especially after thinking Will killed Freddie, so there was simply no need for it. Bryan Fuller confirmed Jack had no idea this happened, so Will was acting on his own, out of his genuine curiosity. This is where he willingly became a cannibal.

In E11, Will dreams of burning fake Freddie and hears himself screaming. It’s easy to interpret this dream: he feels guilty for betraying Hannibal. Alana comes by and Will is being deliberately creepy again. He gives her a gun for protection, but later, it almost becomes her undoing. Will is equally creepy during the funeral. He enjoys being dark, and he feels free to act like this because technically, he has an excuse.

In E12, Will is freshly angry at Hannibal. He fantasizes about murdering Hannibal in the most violent way possible. Then he makes three deals. The first one is with Mason: they agree to kill Hannibal together. The second one is with Hannibal: they tentatively agree to target Mason together. The third one is with Jack: they agree that when Hannibal tries to kill Mason, Will is going to arrest him. Will goes with his and Mason’s plan at first. Hannibal is kidnapped and presented in front of Will just like in his fantasy. But instead of acting on it, Will chooses Hannibal and frees him, getting all Mason’s people killed in the process. Later, he watches Hannibal mutilate Mason, approach him to kill him, and snap his neck. He does nothing: he ignores his deal with Jack completely and covers for Hannibal. Yet another proof that Will is siding with Hannibal more and more, and that his initial honey-trapping plan is almost a formality at this point. At the end of the episode, Will offers Hannibal to kill Jack.

In E13, Hannibal and Will are getting ready to kill Jack while Will and Jack are getting ready to arrest Hannibal. Will doesn’t seem to know on whose side he is until the end. At the same time, he lies to Jack about where the attack is supposed to take place. He helps Hannibal burn all evidence, even though he could have easily preserved some of it to use it later. He burns the evidence related to himself as well. Will doesn’t take Hannibal’s chance to run away before dinner, but he does hesitate and wonder about it. When the final moment comes, he calls Hannibal to warn him — he chooses him above everyone. Justice for Abigail, justice for himself, the desire to save other people — none of it matters to Will now. He made his choice, he chose his side, but he did it too late. When he goes to Hannibal’s house, Alana tells him that Jack is still inside, and Will takes out his gun. He doesn’t even try to point it at Hannibal. When Hannibal accuses him of lying, Will implies that he’s wrong.

Hannibal: I gave you a rare gift… But you didn't want it.

Will isn't so definitive.

Will: Didn't I?

Because yes, Will wanted it. He was ready to accept it. But he did so too late.

S3

Will’s thoughts are only about Hannibal and Abigail. He breaks into Hannibal’s empty house and sits there in silence. When Alana comes to find him and tries to talk to him, he coldly sends her away. He’s repairing a boat to go after Hannibal. When Jack comes to him to ask about his motivations, Will is very open — he doesn’t care about hiding any more.

Jack: Do you remember when you decided to call Hannibal?

Will: I wasn't decided when I called him. I just called him. I deliberated while the phone rang. I decided when I heard his voice.

Jack: You told him we knew.

Will: I told him to leave. Because I wanted him to run.

Jack: Why?

Will: Because he was my friend. And because I wanted to run away with him.

In Italy, Will is full of regret over his actions. He blames himself for what happened, admonishes himself for lying to Hannibal. E2 shows his state of mind perfectly – Hannibal is his everything and he admits he wants to be with him. He doesn’t care about justice at all.

Will: I do feel closer to Hannibal here. God only knows where I would be without him … He left [me] his broken heart. He misses [me]. [I] still want to go to him? Yes.

He admires the corpse twisted into a heart, touching it and then lying at the place where it was located. He intimidates Pazzi who tries to talk sense into him and indicates that he’s not here to catch Hannibal.

Will: You couldn't catch him when he was just a kid, what makes you think you're going to catch him now?

Pazzi: You.

A small, polite scoff from Will, unable to take his eyes off the small stairwell to the catacombs.

Will: What makes you think I want to catch him?

Later:

Will: You shouldn't be down here alone.

Pazzi: I’m not alone. I'm with you.

Will: You don’t know whose side I’m on.

Pazzi stares at Will, cautious.

Pazzi: What are you going to do when you find him? Your Il Mostro?

Will: I'm curious about that myself.

Pazzi: You're already dead, aren't you?

Other people realize how dark Will is, too.

Then we move toward Will’s trip to Lithuania in E3. His reverent attitude to Hannibal begins to change once he meets Chiyoh, but he admits the following:

Will: I’ve never known myself as well as I know myself when I’m with him.

Will learns that Chiyoh has been staying here for all these years because she doesn’t want to kill another person. He notes that they can’t be sure whether her prisoner really killed Mischa because Hannibal is the only person who knows the truth. Despite all this, Will sets Chiyoh up to kill or be killed, releasing her prisoner secretly. Chiyoh rightfully accuses him of it:

Chiyoh: You said Hannibal was curious if I would kill. You were curious, too.

He was, if he is honest with himself.

What Will did was cruel and violent. Hannibal just left Chiyoh be, he openly and boldly risked her life, not caring about her safety or about whether her tortured prisoner deserves this. Will stays behind to make the body into art in Hannibal’s style, in accordance with his own design from when he killed Randall. This Will is dark and confident, and very in touch with his dark side. He dreams of killing Chiyoh and keeps asking her whether she saw what a monster she was, unable to accept the idea that only he has real darkness while Chiyoh doesn’t and that murder didn’t make her feel good. He repeats to Jack that a part of him will always want to be with Hannibal. Sadly, he then sees Bedelia as his replacement, grows even bitterer, and tries to attack Hannibal with the knife.

In E7, Will bites into Cordell’s cheek and tears a piece of meat out of it. Then he looks at Hannibal to see his reaction, waiting for his pride. He shows zero reaction to the news that Jack is alive — he doesn’t care about it. He rebukes Alana and shows that he still sees himself and Hannibal as a team, referring to them as “we”.

Will: You helped Mason Verger find us.

Alana: I helped Mason find Hannibal. We followed Bâtard-Montrachet when we should have just followed you.

Will: Almost as ugly as what Mason wants to do to us is the fact that he can do it with the tacit agreement of people sworn to uphold the law.

Alana: I was trying to get to Hannibal before you. I knew you couldn't stop yourself. So I had to try.

Will: By facilitating torture and death.

Alana: I can abide the thought of Hannibal tortured, not necessarily to death. I'd say he has it coming, wouldn't you? Or maybe you wouldn't.

Alana can no longer deny Will’s twisted morals. Will tries to push Alana to a darker side, manipulating her into releasing Hannibal, by telling her almost exactly what he and Hannibal were discussing in S2.

Will: Then you have to evolve, Alana. You have to spill blood. By your own hand or someone else's.

After the escape, Hannibal says the words that define Will perfectly:

Hannibal: You delight in wickedness and then berate yourself for the delight.

This is exactly what Will does — he acts on his darkness again and again, but then he gets scared and makes two steps back. He’s not ready to fully let go of the idea of a normal life yet.

Will sends Hannibal away. When Jack arrives, Will doesn’t even bother to pretend he tried to arrest him — he just says that Hannibal is gone. Jack clearly has zero trust in him at this point since he sends people to break into Will’s house without asking his permission. Will has completely discredited himself, proving himself as someone dark and twisted.

But Hannibal gives himself up and 3 years pass. After the epic Europe failure and his new insecurities, Will tries to retreat again. He decides to try being normal one more time, despite his previous failures at suppressing his darkness and his feelings for Hannibal. So he marries Molly, and it goes as well as expected. Their relationship is shown as weak from the start. The first time we see them, they are apart: Molly and Walter have gone fishing, which is what Will loves and dreamed of sharing with Abigail, yet he stays behind. He didn't let go of the past. He subtly manipulates Jack into talking Molly into urging him to come join the investigation — he deliberately leaves them alone under a weak excuse, knowing very well what Jack is about to do. Will is bored with his normal life and he misses Hannibal, even if he isn’t ready to fully admit it yet.

His treatment of Molly deserves a separate mention: this is the woman he lies to through his teeth, the woman whose “I love you” he doesn’t bother to return and who he doesn’t want to interact with the second she raises the topic he finds personally uncomfortable, someone he leaves her at the first opportunity. He never told her the truth about himself. The way Molly tries to joke about him having a criminal mind proves that she knows nothing of Will's dark struggles, and the way Will immediately shuts down demonstrates their incompatibility and his unwillingness to be honest and open with her.

On the very first day, Will demands to see Hannibal, lying about having to restore his mindset. We know it’s a lie because we’ve just seen him reconstruct Francis’ murder perfectly. He just wanted to see him because he missed him, and both Hannibal and later Bedelia call him out on it.

E9:

Hannibal: You just came here to look at me. Came to get the old scent again. Why don't you just smell yourself?

E10:

Bedelia: Have you been to see him?

Will: Yes.

Bedelia: Haven't learned anything, have you? Or did you just miss him that much?

This is what Hannibal says about Will’s marriage — and another reference to his darkness:

Hannibal: How did you choose yours? Readymade wife and child to serve your needs. A stepson or daughter – (off his look) – a stepson absolves you of any biological blame. You know better than to breed. Can’t pass on those terrible traits you fear the most.

This is very accurate and Will doesn’t bother to deny it. He’s more concerned about stalking Bedelia and asking her about her relationship with Hannibal than anything else. He makes zero efforts to preserve his family, which shows how irrelevant they are to him. This makes him a very cold and cruel person. Also, the way he acts with Bedelia is very different from how he acts with others. With her, he can be himself. He’s dark, relatively confident, and dangerous — which is likely why he keeps coming back to her. With others, he still puts on a rather meek mask.

There is quite a solid idea that a part of Will knew Hannibal might target Molly and Walter and send Francis after them (it’s up to interpretation, though). Hannibal gives Will very clear hints.

Will: Tell me who [the killer] is.

Hannibal: I don’t know who he is. When you close your eyes, Will... is that your family you see?

[Will scoffs at this.]

Will: Do you know who they are?

Hannibal: Yes. 

Will: And you're willing to let them die.

Hannibal: They're not my family, Will. And I'm not letting them die. You are.

These are huge hints, and since Will is supposed to be an excellent profiler — more than that, a profiler who understands Hannibal intimately, it’s strange that he didn’t even suspect anything. Maybe a part of him subconsciously wanted proof that Hannibal is in love with him — since he goes to Bedelia with his question right after the attack. Maybe he wanted reassurance that the passion is still there. Maybe he even wanted an excuse to abandon Molly and Walter (and he does it very easily an episode later).

Ultimately, Will seems genuinely infuriated by the attack, but it’s possible that “the enemy inside him” secretly hoped for such outcome. He spends about a minute being truly angry at Hannibal — then he becomes concerned that he’s competing with Francis for Hannibal’s attention, which underlines the irrelevance of his family to him once more. When talking to Walter, Will doesn’t try to hug him or actually comfort him. They are like strangers, and Will shows resentment about having to explain some facts about himself to Walter later.

Will: He read about me in a Freddie Lounds article. I had to justify myself to an eleven year old.

Not “to my son”, but an indifferent and impersonal “11 year old”. Another reminder that Will is a cold person.

This attack made Will realize Hannibal is in love with him, and it finally started the process of his Becoming. Will is shown as full of resentment toward Jack and Alana. He callously sets up Chilton, an innocent person, for torture and death in E12. He explicitly says that he did it deliberately and doesn’t regret it.

Will: Damn if I'll feel … The divine punishment of the sinner mirrors the sin being punished. Chilton languished unrecognized until Hannibal the Cannibal. He wanted the world to know his face.

Bedelia: Now he doesn't have one.

At first, Will makes a half-hearted attempt at denial.

Will: I put my hand on his shoulder for authenticity.

Bedelia: To establish he really told you those insults about the Dragon? Or had you wanted to put Dr. Chilton at risk? Just a little?

Will: I wonder.

Bedelia: Do you really have to wonder?

Will: No.

Bedelia: You were curious what would happen, that's apparent. Is this what you expected?

Will sounds very ironic.

Will: I can't say I'm surprised.

Bedelia: Then you may as well have struck the match. That's participation. Hannibal Lecter does indeed have agency in the world. He has you.

Considering the timing, Chilton looks like Will’s courtship gift to Hannibal. This is the second time Will harms an innocent person, which makes him far darker than a righteous killer should be. And why? Just because. His darkness is really evolving.

When Will visits Chilton with Jack, he openly lies to him (Jack) and tells him Hannibal is responsible for what happened.

In E13, Will stages another deadly game. He plots with Francis to break Hannibal free — the immediacy of his plan makes it look like Will has already been thinking about it before. He lies to Jack and Alana. He hides the fact that Francis is alive from them, and when they discover it by themselves, he offers a plan: to use Hannibal as a bait and stage his escape. Jack begins to plan everything. If Will had actually followed this plan, it would have gotten Hannibal and Francis killed. But Will doesn’t care about justice — he wants Hannibal free and he doesn’t give a damn about the consequences. He shares his true intentions with Bedelia and threatens her.

Will: I don't intend Hannibal to be caught a second time.

Bedelia studies Will. Sensing where he might be going. Hoping she is wrong. A flicker of alarm plays in her eyes.

Bedelia: Can't live with him. Can't live without him. Is that what this is?

Will: I guess… this is my Becoming . I'd pack my bags if I were you, Bedelia. Meat's back on the menu … Ready or not… here he comes.

This is a crucial moment because while in S2, Will called Randall’s murder his design, now he’s finally Becoming. It’s the climax of everything. He leaks info about Hannibal’s transfer to Francis (who, if you recall, has attacked Will’s wife and her son). He gets many officers murdered by proxy; he sets up Jack and destroys him professionally again; he endangers Alana and her family as well as Molly and Walter. Without showing even an ounce of regret toward the dead officers, Will climbs out of the car. We don’t get to see it, but this is what he does according to the script:

Will takes the gun off the dead cop.

Still with no care, he watches how Hannibal throws another body out of the car and offers Will to take a seat. Will looks long-suffering and fond, even though he has just gotten about 5 people killed. He goes with Hannibal.

In the cliff house, he admits he’s not sure if he can “save” himself by killing Hannibal.

Will: I don't know if I can save myself. And maybe that's just fine. 

He intends to try, though, but when Francis attacks, Will naturally chooses Hannibal because he can’t see him killed. He reaches for his gun and the fight begins. Seeing Francis strangling Hannibal, Will pulls out the knife from his body and rushes to protect him. He and Hannibal kill Francis together, and Will plunges the knife into him with obvious relish. Then he admires the way the blood looks on his hand.

Will: It really does look black in the moonlight.

This is proof of how Will remembers everything Hannibal has ever said to him. He reaches out to embrace Hannibal, finally allowing himself this weakness, finally accepting that this is who he is and that there is no way back.

Hannibal: See? This is all I ever wanted for you, Will. For both of us.

Will: It’s beautiful.

These words have a tremendous worth. Hannibal’s dream for them, the one he has been hoping for since early S1, has just become realized, and Will found it beautiful. The script confirms it additionally:

A moment as Will considers the brutal pack hunting he shared with Hannibal Lecter. He genuinely feels it is beautiful.

Upon this realization, Will gives the fate the last chance to stop himself and Hannibal, knowing that if they live, they’ll unleash their mutual darkness on the world. He pushes them off the cliff that has been confirmed to have no rocks by Hannibal, giving them a chance to survive. And they do — and they stay together and hunt. Will threatened Bedelia with being eaten and he kept his promise. The deleted epilogue to the series shows him and Hannibal in perfect harmony with each other.

Note that this is far from the only moments and details of Will’s long Becoming. There are many more, but if I addressed them, this meta would be even longer. However, here’s a quick analysis of Will’s softer sides — because they also aren’t as simple as it might seem at first. Will seems to sympathize only with people he can relate to personally, who remind him of himself in some way, and most often, they are murderers. He’s bitter about not being able to save killer-children in E4 because like them, he struggles with understanding what family means; he feels close to Georgia because he also thinks he’s losing his mind and no one can understand him; he’s gentle with Peter because he sees him as his fragile mirror; he’s soft with Reba because like Bryan said, they are both people in love with serial killers. With everyone else, Will is indifferent or cold. These traits were less visible in S1, but after he started to Become, they began to come to the surface. His softer sides still have a degree of selfishness to them.

So, Will has always had darkness in him. He has always been a rather cold person despite his genuine struggles, confusion, and the desire to be normal. Hannibal changed his life, helping him embrace himself and find unconditional love and acceptance. Will’s journey was very long, it had many setbacks, but in the end, he made it. They both did, and now they are free to enjoy their new life together.

Tagging some old fans who might be interested! @typicalher @hannibalized @bloodsmile @victorineb @he-s-dead-jim

[ceilingfan5]

tattoo AU and bakery AU for taakitz :>

“I didn’t know the place came with a handsome neighbor,” Taako crows, peeking out the window of his new bakery-cafe at the tattoo shop next door. The Raven’s Nest is small and staffed by only a few people, one of whom is the hottest motherfucker Taako has ever laid eyes on. “Hot boy, fresh out the oven. Steaming.” 

“Maybe you could bring him something. A cupcake or a macaron, maybe?” Ren, his business partner, leans casually against the counter she’s just finished wiping down for the day. 

“You’re a genius. Box me up something that says ‘date me, like, ASAP’.” 

“What color do you want the frosting to be?” 

“Not literally, you fucking fiend! I don’t want to creep the guy!” 

“He says, staring at tall, dark, and handsome through the window, again.” 

“I take back the genius title and I am putting it in my pocket and sending it back to the factory.” 

 Ren laughs. She puts a few tasty little petit fours in a larger box and ties it with a ribbon. 

“You want to write your number on top, or are we taking it slow?”

“You’re not involved! There is no we here! But, no, no, if he wants me, which, obvs he will. It’s a known fact of the universe that I am delectably wantable. But if he wants me he can walk fifteen steps to the left of his job, and there I’ll be. Available, but not too available. It’s the perfect crime.” 

Ren just shakes her head, and she goes about setting things up for opening in the morning. 

It’s funny how nervous Taako is. He knows his shit is good, and his face is handsome, and he’s a delicious fucking catch for anybody, even such a hotboy as this one, but his heart is pounding like he’s been crab-walking a marathon in a bikini all day, and he doesn’t want to look sweaty for his first impression. He steadies his breath at the door, and then he walks in under the cheery jingle, smiling like he knows a sexy little secret. That’ll get him good. Got to. 

The hot tattoo artist looks up from the till and nearly spits his coffee. 

“Hey sailor,” Taako says, layering warmth in his voice like a fine little lasagna. “My bakery just opened up next door, and I thought I’d come round and meet the neighbors, share a few little treats.” He winks. The guy swallows his coffee hard and puts down the cup like it’ll kill him if he even thinks about getting another sip. His eyes are still a little too wide, which Taako has no objection to--they’re the most gorgeous deep brown he’s ever dreamed of sinking into. And those cheekbones, and that hair, done up in perfect braids and tied into a loose bun. God, what a hottie. “I’m Taako, by the way. You know, like on the sign.”

“Kravitz,” Kravitz says. His voice is hoarse, presumably from the coffee, but hopefully from just how handsome Taako is, and his subsequent realization of his goal in life and/or purpose in the universe. “Charmed.” 

Taako sets the cake box down on the counter and leans against it, taking a calm glance around to assure himself that he’s not in the way of any customers. 

“So tell me, stud, what’s the skinny on this place?” 

They chat long enough that Ren comes and gets Taako so that they can close up the shop, and the next day Taako peeks through the windows, trying to tell if the cake box is gone, but that pretty little pink container of goodness is still sitting in the same place. Taako frowns. 

“He didn’t eat my shit.”

“Maybe he just didn’t throw away the box?”

“He should have taken it home and hidden it from his coworkers so he could have it all to himself! What gives!!”

Taako takes another box of goodies over that night. And the night after that. He sees Kravitz’s coworkers eating the treats, but never Kravitz.

This becomes his goddamn white whale. 

“So what kind of treats do you like, hm?”

“Oh, you know,” Kravitz says, rubbing at his neck. “Yours are so good. I can’t even choose.”

Taako narrows his eyes. 

“Pick three and I’ll bring you some more.” 

“Oh, you really don’t have to, Taako! I really appreciate it, but surely your customers want to pay for those things you keep giving us for free!”

“End of the day treats that don’t sell are totally fine to give away.” Taako folds his arms. “You’re doing me a favor.” 

Kravitz looks unreasonably sweaty. 

“Wouldn’t you know it, I have to go puncture a man, sorry?” 

Taako tries again the next day, and the next. Ren tells him to cool it, but he can’t let it go. He makes Kravitz a little cake, the most perfect thing he’s baked in years, and he brings it over during the day, instead of at the end. Kravitz looks up from the till and swears under his breath. 

“Taako,” he says, with a fruit salad of mixed emotions sliding down his face. Taako hopes he was the one who threw the bowl. “Good to see you.”

“Why don’t you eat my fucking treats?” Taako says, completely out of energy for subtleties. Kravitz winces. 

“It’s, Taako, your treats look wonderful. Amazing. I wish I could eat them, honest! I’m just-- I’m allergic to eggs.” 

Taako makes a dialup noise. 

“You’re-”

“You were so excited about bringing them over, I didn’t want to tell you and ruin things. But- But Sloane and Barry have loved everything you’ve made!” 

“You dim fucking, dull ass walnut!” Taako is so frustrated he actually stamps his foot on the tile, like a child. “I could have been perfecting my vegan treats for a month now!”

“You can make vegan cake?” 

“Oh my god.” Taako rubs his face. “Oh my god. I have so much research to do. I’m going to make you something you can eat. You poor, deprived sonuvabitch.”  

“Thank you?” 

“And then when you eat it and don’t get sick, you owe me a kiss.” 

“I do? I mean, not that I’m opposed- I- Realy, do there need to be rules, about, us, you know, hypothetically kissing?”

“Absolutely. But don’t you fret, my handsome little friend. You’re going to usher in a whole new era of Taako’s patisserie with your bare hands.” 

“I’m still back on the kissing part, actually?” 

“There’ll be time for that later. I have to go bake all night. See you later!”

“Can’t we kiss now? Taako? Taako, come back, what do I do with this cake? Taako?” 

But Taako is too busy huffing the delirious thrill of fresh new beginnings. Romance, take two. Let’s go.

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Rebirth

Chapter 6: Couldn’t Call Our Ride

Summary: On the trip back to base-camp, Steve finds himself bonding more with Katie, and also grows close to a number of the prisoners they liberated.

Warnings: Bad Language words.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark Word Count: 7.8k

A/N:  Again, used a fair bit of creative license with this but, what is Fan-Fic if not exactly that? This series is my contribution of sorts to the CATF 10 Year Anniversary Challenge. 

And my girl is back! @angrybirdcr hitting the spot with some wonderful edits to accompany this chapter.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

SSR Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 5

hey reached the rest of the men a few hours later and Steve was please to find that Dernier and the British officer, Falsworth, had already started to organise things. The wounded were being treated as best as they could by the trained field medics who were amongst the soldiers that had been liberated, a little food was being handed out, and there were men patrolling the perimeter of the area of the old, abandoned camp.

However, the elation Steve felt at having found Bucky and the rest of the men soon died down when, after Katie told him to send the signal to Peggy and Howard, he found out the transponder was going to be of absolutely no use whatsoever.

Not because it didn't work, oh no. But because it had clearly been hit in the crossfire, a corner blasted off somehow. 

Which meant they were alone, with no ex-fill forthcoming.

Katie had, once again, been the voice of logic, this time supported by a few of the other soldiers and reasoned with Steve that they would be best taking a few hours to rest and treat the walking wounded before they regrouped in the morning and came up with a plan. The Captain had obliged, despite his itch to get going as soon as possible. He knew, logically, that she was right. 

After wandering the camp and making sure everyone was okay, Steve’s attention then turned to ensuring that there were enough people ready to relieve the guys on guard patrol for the evening. He wanted them swapped out regularly enough to allow them all to rest. Once he was satisfied they were organised, he walked a little further round the perimeter, his sharp eyes checking into the distance every so often.

His stomach gave a little growl and his hand dropped to the top of his jacket, absentmindedly rubbing at his belly.  He’d so far declined the offer of food, despite assurances from the men handling the supplies that they had ample for everyone. He knew that might not be the case if they were still stuck in a few days, and there were people in far more need of a meal than he was. Still, he knew he was going to have to eat something at some point.

With a groan he slumped down onto a large upturned tree trunk, letting out a frustrated breath. How could he could be so dammed stupid as to damage their ticket out of here? There was no way to call help, and now they were faced with a hundred and twenty click hike back to base through potentially occupied territory. 

As he sat there, mulling over his own stupidity and failings, he heard a footstep behind him and he turned sharply to see Katie approaching him, carrying a foil packet in her hand. Her boots crunched over the frosty layer of leaves and detritus that covered the woodland floor as she approached him.

“Hey,” she smiled, her breath fogging the cold air in front of her. “I know you haven’t eaten, and I also know you won’t unless someone makes you so, here.”

Steve gave her a little smile in return and took the packet she was offering, looking at the label before he took a rye cracker out of the packet and shoved it into his mouth. It wasn’t particularly tasty, and was rather dry, but it was food none the less. She then handed him a canteen of water which he took with another thanks and flipped off the top, taking a huge gulp.

“Everyone who’s ill or in desperate need of a meal has had some hot broth.” She continued to explain. “Bucky managed a good mug or two of it, that is before he started coughing his guts up anyway.”

“Bucky’s sick?” Steve frowned. “I thought he said he was doing okay?”

“Well that’s men for you.” Katie gave him a little smile as she perched on the log besides him. “Insisting you’re always okay when you’re not.”

“Is he in a bad way?”

“No, all things considering he’s actually in pretty good shape.”

 “All things considered?” Steve turned to her, his puzzlement reflected on his handsome face, his brows furrowing. “What do you mean?”

“Has he not told you?” Katie frowned.

“No.” Steve shook his head.

“Well, in all fairness he didn’t tell me either, it was Dum Dum.” 

“Oh.” Steve let out a breath satisfied that his friend hadn’t been holding out on him. “How do you know him, Duggan I mean?”

Katie took a deep breath. “He was part of my specialist team at first, but when we got news that the Nazis and HYDRA were marching on Azzano, well, it was all hands on deck so to speak and he was dispatched with the rest of his original unit to fight.” She paused bit her lip, folding her arms across her chest, almost as if she was hugging herself to keep warm. “From what Dum Dum tells me, that’s where he first met Bucky. Apparently, Bucky contracted walking pneumonia on the battlefield, which got progressively worse in captivity.”

“And let me guess, HYDRA were nothing short of sympathetic?” Steve snorted sarcastically and Katie gave a little chuckle as she leaned against him, shivering.

“I’m sure you can guess why they were kept in those cages instead of being shot.”

“They were being used as labour in the factory.” Steve stated and he felt Katie nod as he lifted his arm so she could snuggle in against him a little.

“Thanks.” She smiled and Steve’s hand curled over her shoulder, gently rubbing her arm. “You’re ridiculously warm.”

“Must be the serum.”

“Must be.” She mused before she lay her head against him. “That the only reason you’re making the moves on me, Rogers? To keep me warm? Because I should tell you, I’m not that kinda gal!”

Steve gave an exasperated sigh as she chuckled. “You forget, I know exactly what type of dame you are.”

At that she let out a full on laugh which warmed his chest even more and he felt her shake her head. “Yeah, I guess you do. Just don’t tell Howie, he likes to think I’m perfectly sweet and innocent.”

“Bull shit.” Steve shot back before he could stop himself and she simply shrugged before they fell silent for a moment, Steve’s hand still gently rubbing at her upper arm. As the silence continued, he worried he’d overstepped the mark a little and he glanced out again across the cold, dark forest, wondering what to say, and then Katie shifted next to him, snuggling in even further and began to speak again.

“Bucky became so weak that one day that he collapsed in front of the Colonel that was in charge.” Her voice was soft, and Steve turned to look down at her, swallowing at the thought of what his best friend had been through, a thought which became progressively worse as she continued. “He took a nasty beating as a result and was dumped back in the cage which contained Dernier, Dum Dum, and Falsworth. The three of them fast realised that if Bucky was made to do any more work he’d die so they came up with a plan which basically got rid of the Colonel for good.”

“What, you mean…”

“They killed him.” She stated, matter of factly. “Crushed him under a tonne of machinery. This left some other goon in charge, and he was slightly, well, a little more compassionate, so Dum-Dum says. When this new guy spotted Bucky was ill he was taken to the isolation ward.”

Steve shifted a little and Katie sat up as he ran his hands over his tired face, dragging his fingers down his cheeks before his elbows came to rest on his knees. He pondered her words for a moment, chewing his lip before he spoke again, his voice soft. 

“How long?” 

“How long what?” 

“How long had he been on the isolation ward?”

“A few days, apparently.”

Steve shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe they didn’t want to infect the rest of the workers.” She offered and Steve shook his head.

“But why take him there and not just-“ he stopped short of what he was going to say but Katie gently reached out, her hand laying on his back.

“I don’t know.” She answered.

“Did they do anything else to him?”

“Again, no idea. You’ll have to ask him. He aint gonna give you anything tonight, though. One of the guys shot him with some penicillin that was in the medical supplies we stole and then gave him something to help him sleep. He’s out for the count in one of the tents. He’ll be fine after a rest, Steve.”

Steve looked around, his eyes falling on the soldier currently walking the perimeter as he passed a few hundred yards away from them, before he took a deep breath.

“I should go, see how-“ he made to stand but Katie gently laid a hand on his arm, stopping him.

“Everything and everyone is fine, Steve.” 

“I’m their Captain.”

“Yes, and you’ve done enough. You should get some rest, we both should.”

“How can I just sit here?” Steve shook his head. His mind was whirring, his body positively thrumming with adrenaline and unease, making the mere thought of sleep seem impossible. 

“You need to. We have a long trip back to base ahead of us.”

“Which is on me.” Steve raised his eyebrows, not meeting her eyes as he focussed on a tree trunk a few feet ahead of them.

“How do you work that one out?” Katie frowned.

“I should have kept that transponder safe.”

“Oh for God’s sake!” She spluttered, her tone laced with exasperation as she shook her head as he turned to look at her.

“What?”

“Stop with this self-pity.”

“I’m not-“

“Yes, you are!” She rolled her eyes. “The transponder got broken, it wasn’t your fault. And short of inventing a time machine, there’s exactly zilch anyone can do about it. So sitting here, wallowing in your own completely misplaced sense of guilt is utterly pointless. You need to pull it together, because you’re right about one thing.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” Steve’s nostrils flared angrily at her tone as she groaned.

“You are their Captain.” She stared at him, her green eyes full of fire. “And if they see you looking despondent and moping around what the hell do you think that’s gonna do to their morale, huh?”

“You know what?” Steve fixed her with an icy glare, his temper flaring. “I’ve had it with you telling me what to do, Agent Stark. I think you’ve forgotten who’s leading this mission!”

“Without me you wouldn’t have lasted five minute in that base, Captain Rogers!” She scoffed. “You hadn’t the first idea about basic stealth or operations.”

“I’d have managed just fine.”

 “You know,” Katie gave a snort, shaking her head as she stood up, “Erskine was right about you, you really are a stubborn asshole”

“And you’re a brat.” He shot back, a little childishly as he too rose to his feet and with that she laughed.

“A brat?” She raised her eyebrows, wrinkling her nose up as she continued, sarcasm dripping off her words. “Original. Never heard that one before.”

She turned to leave and Steve felt his temper rising even more. He was sick and tired with people underestimating him. 

"All you care about is how everyone sees you, because you got somethin’ to prove.” He shot to her back. As soon as the words flew out of his mouth he knew he shouldn’t have said them, his mind whirring back to the conversation he’d had with her the night before his transformation and, as she turned to face him, he felt a sudden pang of guilt at the anger and hurt that was etched across her face as she stalked towards him, stopping less than a foot away, her finger jabbing him in his chest.

“Listen here you stupid son of a-”

Before her tirade could continue, Steve grabbed her by forearms and pulled her straight into him, his lips forcefully crashing against hers. She reciprocated for a moment or two before she made a noise of protest and put her hands on his chest, shoving him slightly.

“You are an arrogant-“

“Shut up.” He mumbled, his lips crashing to hers again and this time she made no further protests, instead she melted into his arms, her lips soft against his as her arms slid round his neck, his own large hands splaying on the back of her combat jacket as he held her close. The kiss was furious, bruising, a far cry from any of the ones they’d shared so far and when they eventually broke apart, he pressed his forehead to hers as Katie stood, her eyes closed for a moment, her chest heaving. Eventually his eyes opened to find hers already studying his face and she took a deep breath.

"Where the hell did you get the sack for that, Rogers?" She asked, her voice little more than a whisper as she continued trying to catch her breath.

“The serum?” He shrugged a little as her hands fell to his shoulders, the heat rising from his neck to his cheeks as he realised exactly what he’d just done. He bit his lip and, as she gave a snort, he cocked his head, feeling a little bolstered by his act of bravery and he grinned and quipped. “Had to shut you up somehow.”

Before she could respond, no doubt with an equally sassy remark of her own, Steve heard a twig crack somewhere to his right and he whipped round, automatically pulling Katie behind him only to find Dum Dum and Dernier stood a few feet away. Both of them wore similar expressions of amusement as Dum Dum’s head turned slowly to the left.  Dernier met his gaze and mumbled something in French before he laughed.

“Yeah, I got no idea what ya’ just said, Pal.” Dum Dum sniffed before he looked at Katie, his arms folding as he let out a smirk. “Well, well Lady Lieutenant and The Captain.”

Steve swallowed, the heat in his cheeks burning like a furnace and he felt Katie let go of his hand before she stepped out from behind him, smoothing down her jacket, her hands settling on her hips.

 “You’re only jealous Duggan because the closest you’ve been to a woman in the last God knows how long was when that nurse was pulling a bullet outta your ass after the raid on the base in Norway.”

Duggan’s mouth twitched below his moustache before he let out a below of laughter, his eyes twinkling. “You gotta smart mouth, Stark. Gonna get you into trouble one day!”

“It already has, several times. Got me out of it too.” She grinned. “Now, did you want something, Corporal?” 

Duggan shook his head, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. “No, Ma’am. We were just doing the rounds so to speak.”

“Well, don’t let us stop you.” Katie gestured with her arm, making a sweeping motion, signalling for them to keep on walking. 

Exchanging another smirk, the two men straightened up and saluted her before they continued on their way. As they passed, Dernier gave a little nod to the Captain, chuckling as he remarked. “Vous auriez pu au moins lui acheter un verre d’abord, Capitaine.”

“Oh, nous avons bien depasse cette etape.” Katie shot back and Derneir stopped dead, blinking as she smirked before he let out a loud laugh and hurried after Dum Dum.

“Okay, what did he just say?” Steve asked, drawing up behind her as they both watched the men leave.

“He said that you could have at least bought me a drink first.” She turned, smirking as Steve rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I told him we were way past that stage.”

“Jesus, Doll!” Steve groaned, his face scrunched up in embarrassment and mock frustration, all the while Katie laughed.

“What?”

“That’s gonna be all round the Camp by morning.”

“You ashamed of me?” She teased.

“No, of course not.”

“Then don’t worry about it.” She gently patted his chest. “All things considered, I think that’s the least of our concerns don’t you?”

With that she stood on her tip toes and placed a soft kiss to the side of his mouth before she stepped back. “Now, I’m gonna go back to the rest of the guys and make sure they’re all okay, and as their Captain, I suggest you do the same. Keep that morale up, like I told you to.”

She gave him a smile before she turned and headed back towards the main part of the camp.

Steve stood stock still, his mind whirring and digesting what the fuck had just happened, before he shook his head, and jogged after her, once more acquiescing to her instructions. 

***** Whilst there may not have been much deep sleeping going on, there was certainly plenty of rest and refuelling undertaken so to speak, and at first light the next morning Steve gathered Katie, Dum-Dum, Dernier, Jones, Morita and Falsworth in the back of one of the trucks to discuss their plan going forward, leaving Bucky to sleep as long as he could. He’d fast taken a liking to the five men having heard from various other men about how they’d organised the troops at the base, and his first-hand experience of how they’d been during the night around their makeshift camp. Plus Katie trusted Dum-Dum and Steve trusted her, so it was good enough for him.

Katie and Falsworth had found maps of the terrain buried in the stuff they’d taken from the factory and worked out their distance to the allied camp was approximately ninety-five miles as the crow flies. They had further estimated that,  given the state of the men and the fact that were going to have to skirt around various battles that were still raging on, they would probably average between twenty to twenty-five miles a day, meaning it would take them at least four to get back. 

They had trucks, a tank, enough supplies to keep them going for a few days, and Dum-Dum stated the obvious, that Steve could go on a head, alone, and be much faster if needs be. But that wasn’t something he wanted to do, plus as Katie rightly pointed out, he would be number one on HYDRAs radar right now. The last thing they needed was to lose him because, as blunt a point as it was, that was just the type of thing Schmidt would need to keep the heat off the fact they had just lost one of their factories.

Then there was the fact that Steve simply didn’t want to leave them behind. They were his men now, he wanted to stay with them, make sure they made it back together. Leaving them would be an absolute last resort. 

They split into groups, heading round the camp to spread the word about the plan and instruct the men to be ready to leave as soon as Steve gave the signal, and the Captain took the opportunity to head into the tent were Bucky was resting. He was pleased to see his friend looked a hell of a lot better than he had the previous night, sat on the edge of the make shift cot which had been fashioned out of a number of broad topped crates and blankets, rolling down his sleeve as one of their medics had just administered another shot of penicillin.

“How you feeling, Buck?” Steve asked, stepping into the tent and to the side to allow the other solider to leave, giving him a salute as he passed.

“Like I’ve been run over by a Panzer.” Bucky grumbled and Steve gave a small smile. Bucky sighed, shaking his head. “I’ll be fine, just got a-“

“I know.” Steve cut him off. “I got the low-down.”

“Stark?”

“Yeah.” 

“I bet that’s not all you got.” Bucky smirked and Steve rolled his eyes letting out a groan. “Don’t go gettin’ all coy on me, Stevie.”

“I’m not being coy.” Steve protested and Bucky let out a bark of a laugh.

“Course not.”  Bucky pulled on his boots and bent to lace them. “You gonna tell me yourself or do I need to go huntin’ for gossip?”

“There’s nothing to tell, lay off, Buck.”

Bucky snorted. “I don’t even have to look at you to know you’re lying, you’re that bad at it.”

“It’s, well, it’s a little complicated.” Steve attempted to placate him but Bucky finished lacings his boots and looked up at him, hands resting on his knees.

“You like her?”

“Of course I do…”

“She like you?”

Steve blushed and his hand rubbed at the back of his neck. “Well, yeah, I mean…”

“Well then, what’s complicated about it?” Bucky shrugged.

“In case you hadn’t realised we’re not exactly here under normal circumstances.” Steve arched an eyebrow. 

“All the more reason not to waste any time, Punk.” Bucky stood up, cracking his neck side to side. “Who knows how long we’ve got.”

Steve’s brow raised a little as he looked at Bucky, letting out a sigh. “You sound like her.”

“Well she clearly talks sense, you should listen.” Bucky smirked, taking a step towards him. “So, Captain, what’s the plan?”

“You asking me about Katie now or…” Steve quipped and Bucky grinned, slapping his shoulder.

“Steve, you clearly aint got a plan when it comes to that Dame, so there’s not point askin’ ya ‘bout it is there?” He drawled and Steve sighed, giving him a look. “No, I mean to get us out of this Godforsaken shit hole and back on friendly territory. You do have a plan, right? I mean I hear you always got a plan nowadays.”

Steve groaned as Bucky’s mouth curled up into a huge grain and he shook his head.

“Still a pain in my ass.” Steve grumbled and Bucky shrugged before he took a deep breath.

“But seriously, what are we going to do?”

“We’re getting ready to move out.” Steve’s hands dropped to the buckle on his belt. “We got approximately a hundred and twenty or so kilometres to cover. Gonna be hard but…” Steve popped a shoulder before he studied Bucky as he let out a huge, chest-wracking cough. “You can ride in one of the trucks.”

“I’m fine, Steve.”

“You’re clearly not.” Steve raised an eyebrow. 

“There are men far worse off than me, this is just an infection, I’ll be fine. Dare say fresh air and walking will do me good.”

At that Steve let out a snort. “Yeah, just like it used to do me good, huh?”

“That was different.”

“How so?”

“Damned it, Steve, stop being an asshole.” Bucky shot back, glaring at him. “I’m telling you I’m fine. Coped with more in that base than you could even begin to imagine, a coupla day’s hike will be easy in comparison.” 

As soon as the words were out of his friends mouth, Steve noticed him look away, clearly cursing himself for his outburst.

“What did they do to you?” Steve asked gently. Bucky swallowed and turned to Steve, shaking his head.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I was out of it for the most but they, well I can remember them sticking me with needles and then there were all these bright lights and…” He trailed off. “It hurt.”

Steve took a deep breath and stepped forward, his hand curling round his friend’s shoulder but Bucky shrugged him off. “Don’t.” He looked at him, his eyes fierce. “Just don’t.”

Steve moved back, holding his hands up in front of him, palms out in a conciliatory manner. “Okay.”

There was a moment’s silence, and then they were aware of voices and Steve turned to see Katie step into the tent.

“Everyone’s moving, St-I mean Captain.” She smiled and Steve felt his cheeks flushing as he was well aware that Bucky was watching him carefully. 

“Yes, Ma’am. Be with you in a moment.”

She nodded then her gaze flicked to Bucky who shot her a dazzling smile. “S’up Doll Face?”

“You’re looking better than you were yesterday, Barnes.” Katie smirked a little at his familiar nature and he shrugged, flashing her a wink.

“Takes a lot to keep me down, Darlin’”

“I don’t doubt it.” She grinned, before her eyes locked with Steve’s again and she turned, and left.

“Damned, Steve.” Bucky whistled through his teeth. “The first girl who actually lays her peepers on you, and she’s an absolute dish.”

“Piss off, Bucky.” Steve shot back and Bucky once more laughed, shaking his head before he gave a loud, exaggerated sniff and wiped dramatically at his eyes. 

"My boys all grown up,” he spoke in a theatrical emotional voice, before he swept from the tent leaving Steve glowering at his back. 

*****

After a near miss with a hostile unit on the first day of their journey, Steve took the informed decision to only move under the hours of low light and darkness. He was keen to keep any confrontations to a minimum given the exhausted and weak state of many of the men he was leading. After discussions with the group of seven who were fast becoming the ones he was turning to most for advice and support, they all conceded that whilst moving at night made it almost impossible they would be spotted by any air-borne allied surveillance, it was the best chance they had at keeping casualties to a minimum.

They kept to the less worn roads as much as they could, sometimes having to split up if the vehicles couldn’t make it a certain way, but thanks to the variety of skills the group had, along with Katie’s unbelievable sense of organisation, it seemed to work. By the third day they were almost three quarters of the way there by their estimations anyway.

“St-I mean, Cap?” Katie’s voice hit his ears and Steve turned to face her where she was walking a little behind with Dum-Dum, rifle in her arms. “I think we’ve got about an hour or so before daylight, we should probably be looking for somewhere to make camp.”

Steve looked up at the sky, his eyes straying to the horizon which he could just see through the valley they were set to make their way between and she, as always, was right. The first slivers of daylight were peeking through the dark, tendrils of orange and pink snaking through the sky.

He turned back to her. “Do we stop before or after the Valley?”

“If you want my advice,” Dum-Dum cut in, “I’d say before. If we get caught down there, Cap, we’re sitting ducks. Best chance is after nightfall.”

Katie nodded to show she agreed, and Steve took a deep breath. He was keen to press on as much as he could, and had been hoping to make it through the last line of hills before they stopped. But, he knew they were right and they’d covered a lot of ground over the last march. As luck would have it, the nights were longer than the days due to the season so, despite the fact it was cold and the weather wasn’t particularly kind to them, it worked to their advantage.

“Okay, let everyone know. Jones, Dernier, can you guys get up high,” he nodded to the hill face a little to his right, “see if you can spot anywhere that might be safe to set up camp.”

“Sure thing.” Jones nodded, and Dernier gave a little salute as the two men took off silently.

Steve declined the canteen of water Katie offered him and she gave him a stern look, her arm remaining outstretched. With a roll of his eyes and quirk of his eyebrow he took it, his fingers brushing hers and he frowned.

“You’re freezing.”

“Soon warm up once we’re round a fire.” She shrugged. “Now drink, enhanced or not, you need to keep hydrated.”

“Yes Ma’am.” He quipped, causing her to roll her eyes, but he didn’t miss the smirk on her lips as she turned to Dum-Dum when he asked her if she wanted him to run down the line and set the communication chain off.

“How you feeling?” Steve moved over to where Bucky had settled, perched on a flat rock jutting out from the side of the mountain face, his legs dangling over the edge.

“Peachy keen, Stevie.” Bucky looked at him and Steve snorted as Bucky leaned back. “Nah, I’m good, Pal. Feel a lot better. Turns out your Ma did know what she was talking about, fresh air can clear your lungs.”

“Yeah, shame there wasn’t much to be found in a cramped, inner Brooklyn city.” Steve smirked and Buck chuckled.

“True.” He bit the inside of his lip as he looked down at his hands. “Do my folks think I’m dead?”

The question caught Steve off guard a little and he frowned, sitting down next to his friend. “You were MIA assumed lost so I suspect they’ve been informed of that. But don’t worry about it, once we’re back you can get a telegram to them, assure them you’re okay.”

“Okay.” Bucky snorted, shaking his head. “Whatever that means.”

“I thought you just said you felt good?” Steve looked at him and Bucky shrugged.

“I do.”

Before Steve could dig further into whatever the hell Bucky meant, a crunch of feet on gravel to his left made him spring to his feet, but it was only Jones and Dernier back from the scouting mission.

“There’s a break in the rock formation, bout half a mile or so further. Reckon it’s a good place to form base. Plenty of spots in and around to hide. Bad news is the vehicles are going to have to go around once we set off again. It’ll take them off course a little but we’ll meet them again about two or three miles through the valley.”

“Thanks, Jones.” Steve nodded. “Get the news down the chain.”

It wasn’t long before they’d found the spot Jones and Dernier had been referring to, and everyone moved around quickly, like a well-oiled machine, establishing the base camp. Thanks to the natural shelter of the terrain, not as many tents this time were required, but Steve insisted, as always, that Katie got her own.

Soon some form of soup was cooking, water was being handed out along with what was left of some sweet liquor that they’d also liberated from camp and soft chatter rang out across the troops. The walking wounded were being treated once more for the night and Steve took the chance to walk around, talking to as many people as he could.

Once he was sure everyone had been fed, he took a helping for himself and settled down round one of the small fires where Bucky was sat with Katie and the other five men that had all formed a close bond. He ate, not really paying attention, until Dum-Dum loudly lamented that his facial hair was getting out of control and Katie snorted.

“You’re not going to find many barbers round here.” She shook her head. “Besides, it all adds to the well-worn rugged look.” She glanced at Steve before she smirked. “Even Cap’s sporting a good layer of stubble.”

At that Bucky laughed. “Makes a change, huh pal. You know he once didn’t shave for a week, looked just as smooth at the end of it as he had at the start.”

Steve groaned, as chuckles rang out at his expense, absentmindedly rubbing his hand over his chin. “Yeah, well, things are different now-“

“No shit”

“- and it seems to grow pretty fast.”

“Were there no razors at all in the stuff we took?” Falsworth asked and Katie pondered.

“There’s some toiletries but no many, that said I can’t say I’ve looked. Why are you bothered?”

“I like to keep up appearances.” Monty looked at her. “Plus, regulations state we should either be clean shaven or sporting a full, groomed moustache…”

“Yeah, come on Lady Lieutenant, surely you know that?” Dum-Dum looked at her, his eyes crinkling in the corners.

Katie shrugged. “Well, yeah, but who’s gonna tell?”

“Well, I like to take pride in my appearance.” Dum Dum shrugged. “Something you’ll understand”

“What, because I’m female?” 

“Are you? Hadn’t noticed.” Dum Dum’s eyes twinkled in the light of the fire as a Katie rolled her eyes.

“Steve has.” Bucky quipped causing them all to laugh as Steve gave an exasperated sigh, feeling the familiar heat of embarrassment spread up his neck and his cheeks.

“Well, if you’re all vain enough to be that bothered, go raid the supplies.” Katie leaned back, resting on her elbows, legs stretched out in front of her, crossed at the ankles. “Good luck trying to shave in the dark though, without a mirror.”

As the night went on, one by one the men peeled off to take their rest or sentry duties, leaving Steve, Katie and Bucky alone round the fire. They chatted for another hour or so before Katie told them she was going to hit the hay.

She stood up, stretching before she reached out for one of the tins in the fire, wrapping her hand in her sleeve so as not to burn herself as she took the heated water. “Oh, and don’t tell the others, but if you guys want help, so to speak, with the old,” she pointed at her face, drawing a circle in the air, “I’ll do it for you. Just give me five minutes to wash up first.”

Steve watched her go before he turned to Bucky who was eyeing him shrewdly.

“You taking her up on that?” He asked and Steve frowned.

“She was joking.”

“I don’t think she was.” Bucky smirked. “In fact I’m pretty sure that was a ploy to get you to follow her.”

Steve sighed, “if that was true, why did she invite you?”

“Jesus, Stevie, you’re so clueless. She did that so it isn’t obvious.” Bucky rolled his eyes. “If both of us go into her tent, it looks a lot let suss than if you or I go in alone. Well, that is, unless everyone thinks we’re having some form of threesome that is.”

Steve grimaced before he took a deep breath, turning to Bucky. “No offence, but you’re not my type.”

“Ouch.” Bucky smirked as Steve stood up. “Oh, are we going now? Damned, you’re keen.”

Steve shot him another look before he turned and strode after Katie, Bucky hot on his tails. 

Katie simply laughed as they entered her tent and told them both to sit on the make shift bunk she had before she disappeared and came back with a cut throat and what little else she could salvage from the supplies.

“Who’s first?” She brandished the razor and her eyes fell to Bucky.

“Trust you with a cutthroat?” He looked at her and she placed her hands on her hips.

“I do this for Howard all the time.”

“No offence, Doll Face, but I'd rather jump on a grenade.”

“Steve already did that.” Katie quipped.

Bucky turned his head slowly to face him. “What happened to not doing anything stupid till I got back?”

“It was a dummy.” Steve shook his head.

“You didn’t know that.” Katie grinned and Bucky snorted.

“A dummy?” He grinned “That’s definitely stooped, with two os.”

“Hey, in my defense it was very realistic.” Steve pouted. Katie chuckled and looked at him, and Steve felt the heat in his neck rising as the memories of that night came flooding back. And from the look on her face she was recalling them too. She stood there, simply looking at him, biting her lip a little, before she gave a yelp.

“Ow!” She raised her finger to her mouth, sucking at where she’d just nicked it on the razor.

“Yeah, now I’ll definitely pass.” Bucky’s eyes widened and he stood up. “You kids behave.”

Katie watched him sweep from the tent before she turned to Steve. “Something I said?”

Steve laughed and rubbed at his neck as she grinned and held up the razor. “What about you, Soldier? Do you trust me with a potentially fatal weapon at your throat?”

“I trust you with my life.” Steve replied immediately and the cheeky grin on her face turned to a soft smile as she stepped forward, folding the razor and slipping it into her pocket.

“Little naive that, Stevie, considering we haven’t known each other that long.”

Steve shrugged. “I’m a pretty good judge of character.”

“Sure you are.” She smiled, before she moved and dipped her hand into the tin of warm water. “Head back, Captain.”

Steve obliged and she wet his face as best she could, the pads of her fingers brushing against his stubble before she then worked the bar of soap into a lather, massaging it against his chin and cheeks. Steve’s gaze was on her face the whole time as she concentrated, his hands flexing on the edge of the thin bunk which was made out of a couple of the supply crates. 

“This isn’t going to be as close as I’d like.” She mused.

“Are we talking about the shave now or…” Steve looked at her and her eyes met his and she shook her head.

“Yes, I mean the shave.” She chuckled. “I can see Barnes is rubbing off on you already.”

Steve smiled as she dipped her hands back in the tin and wiped them on her jacket, before pulling the razor back out. 

“Ready?”

“All yours.”

“Are we talking about the shave or-“ She teased, playing his words back to him and Steve held her gaze, her eyes flashing as he took a deep breath.

“What do you want me to be talking about?”

There was a moment’s pause and she dropped her head, swallowing before she looked back up at him. “How many other girls you said that to, Rogers?”

“One or two. In each location, I met a lot on the USO tour.” He teased as she gently titled his head back with her fingers.

“That so?” She mused, swiping the razor down his cheek in a clean, sweeping arc. “Maybe I should carve my name into you.”

Steve smiled.

“Stay still.” She instructed. “Although, I feel I should warn you, if you are mine, I don’t like people touching my stuff.”

“I’d kinda figured that one out.” Steve spoke softly as she swept the blade down his cheek again, washing it in the tin before she moved to the other side. As she stepped across him, his hands fell to the side of her thighs as she continued, her tongue poking through her lips in concentration, before she stepped behind him, his head falling back so she could move down his throat.

The tent was silent, Steve simply watching as she worked, momentarily lost. No woman had ever done this for him before, bar his mother, and that had been when he’d been too sick or sore to do it himself. But this, there was something so incredibly intimate, so innocent, so pure, so ridiculously sensual that he found himself torn between wanting to close his eyes, surrendering completely to her ministrations, and watching her as she worked. As it happened, he did both, shutting his eyes for a moment as she gently moved across his jaw before his eyes opened to focus on her pretty face, as she bent a little nearer and he swallowed.

Eventually she finished and moved round to look at him, tossing the razor into the tin as she smiled.

“There. Almost as good as new. It’ll do until we get back.”

“Thanks, Sweetheart.” Steve ran his hand over his now reasonably smooth face and took a deep breath, before he reached out, his hands taking hers. “Look, maybe, if I mean we actually make it home and get leave or whatever, me and you could, you know, perhaps go out?”

“You asking me on a date?” She smiled, and his face creased into a grin.

“Guess I am, yeah.”

She smiled, “I’d like that.”

She leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, her hands tenderly cupping his strong jaw, his own gripping at her hips, fingers flexing at the roughness of her uniform. Eventually she broke away and pressed her forehead to his, taking a deep breath.

“I really do need to wash up and hit the sack.” She sighed, her voice almost an apology but Steve didn’t mind. Whilst they’d already crossed that line in a way, this was fast becoming a little more serious. Yes, Bucky was right, they had no idea how long they had, but for the time they did have, he was going to at least try and do it properly. 

And bunking up again, on a pile of hard crates in the middle of some god-forsaken mountain trail was not proper. His mother would kill him.

Nodding to show he understood, he rose to his feet, his hands cupping her face as he placed a soft kiss to her lips. 

“Night, Doll. Or Morning, whatever.” He smiled and she gave a little laugh as he stepped back, heading to the door of the tent. With a final look over his shoulder, he swept the flap at the front open and left to find somewhere to lay his own head for a rest.

*****

Dawn had broken on the fifth day by the time they approached the camp gates. As Steve led his platoon over the brow of the hill he felt an overwhelming sense of relieve as he saw the barrier and the men guarding it. His sharp eyes picked up one of them holding up a set of binoculars before he harshly slapped them into the palm of his partner, before setting off at a sprint back into the camp. 

As they walked towards the blockade, the vehicles rumbling behind them, Steve turned to Bucky, giving him a smile which was met by one from his friend before he felt a smaller hand slide into his, giving a quick squeeze to his palm. He turned to his right and glanced down at Katie who looked up at him, her tired face bearing a look of utter relief. 

The gate was raised to allow them entry into the camp, people rushing towards them, staring in awe. Soldiers began to greet their comrades, and Steve could feel the sheer outpouring of emotion as people greeted the brothers in arms they had obviously never expected to see again.

“Here he comes…” Steve heard Katie mutter and he looked up to see Colonel Phillips pushing through the group. Steve simply continued marching forwards, drawing to a halt in front of the man, offering him a crisp salute. 

"Some of these men need medical attention." Were the first words he offered the Colonel and somewhere someone shouted for a medic. Steve continued to look at Phillips with a knowing expression and took a little breath in through his nose. "I'd like to surrender myself for disciplinary action."

The Senior Officer’s lips pressed together into a thin line and Steve could see him mulling things over, no doubt trying to decide whether to rip into him or praise him. In the end, he did neither.  

"That won't be necessary." Phillips said simply, which Steve knew was going to be as close to a well done as he was going to get. 

The Captain just about managed to refrain from smiling, as the slightest hint of a smirk twitched at his lips. "Yes, sir."

With that, Colonel Phillips turned to look at Katie. “You okay, Agent Stark?”

“Peachy, Sir.” She nodded before she gave a little snort. “Although I expect I won’t be once Howard gets hold of me.”

“Well considering he thinks you’re dead, I expect this will be a rather pleasant surprise.” Phillips arched an eyebrow and Katie looked down at the floor, swallowing. “Don’t worry, I’ll make the call so you don’t have to.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Steve watched as the Colonel turned to leave the group, stopping as he noticed Agent Carter standing to the side, looking rather smug for want of a better word.

"Faith, huh?" Phillips looked from Agent Carter to Steve and Katie, before shaking his head slightly and heading off towards the tents.

Peggy took a deep breath before she moved, stopping as she drew herself up to full height in front of Steve and Katie before she arched an eyebrow, her eyes flicking between the pair of them.

“You’re late.” She quipped as she locked eyes with Katie who snorted. Steve reached into his pocket and pulled out the broken transponder.

“Couldn’t call our ride.” He smiled back and Peggy looked at him, shaking her head slightly, her lips curling up into a smile, before she turned back to Katie and then all professionalism left her and she stepped forward, wrapping her arms round the other woman.

“We’ve been so worried.” She whispered, and Steve turned away, not wanting to intrude on their moment, even though his super sensitive hearing made it impossible to tune out of their conversation.

“You’re not the only one.” Katie replied, and Steve heard her voice crack a little and before he could stop himself he’d reached out, his right hand curling over her left shoulder. In what appeared to be an automatic response, Katie had reached up, her arm crossing over her chest to allow her fingers to briefly tangle in his and give them a squeeze. 

Agent Carter merely raised her eyebrow further, that smirk on her face growing wider before Bucky’s loud voice rang out to Steve’s left. 

"Let's hear it for Captain America!”

As the cheers rang round the camp, Steve allowed himself a little moment to bask in the genuine feel good factor that seem to have flooded the place at their return. It was self-indulgent, slightly egotistical, a little arrogant even, but at that moment in time, as he glanced down at Katie who was watching him, a broad smile on her face before her top teeth bit her bottom lip as she blatantly eyed him up and down, he couldn’t have cared less.

****

Chapter 7

[obsessive-ego]

It's like a popsicle but completely different

Musical beetlejuice x fem reader

NSFT WARNING

Masterbation, voyeurism, you know the drill

Beej finally gets a hold of something very personal and freshly used

i did get alittle sidetracked and slipped in another little idea i wanted to explore

I apologize for this mess

Time and time again he was so close to getting his hands on the ultimate treasure. You always snatched it away before he could grab it. But today, today was different.

...

A normal boring weekday, you were at work and will be gone till the evening, normally the born dead demon would be digging through your stuff looking for just about anything to use whether it was blackmail, which you had nothing, or a delicate item to help remedy some personal urges. But the ghoul wasnt exactly in the mood, hell he wasnt even in the mood to mess with your neighbors, as odd as it seemed, for once in his after life he was concerned for someone other then himself.

Earlier this morning you left in a huff, beej knew you were in a sour mood when you snapped at him when he tried to make you laugh, you weren't upset at him, but the action was still surprising, he wasnt sure what was causing you so much stress, probably work, not that he'd ever convince you to take him with you.

So here he was laying on your bed staring at the ceiling and not taking his opportunity to go wild and have fun. You were his favourite breather and it sucked that your mood effected him, whatever happened to the big bad demon straight from hell? He fell in love that's what, you sucker punched him in the jaw for trying to scare you, and snuck right into his undead heart.

The demon huffs out a sigh, not that he needed to breath, and pulled out a little clock from his jacket, youd be home soon, he sighs again, time sure did moving differently when you were dead.

The undead demon debated his opinions of how to greet you, assuming youd still be in a crappy mood, scaring the piss out of you could get him banished, which was a shame, scaring you was great, the ghoul would either get a delightful scream or a solid punch from you.

Beetlejuice decides the best option was to just survey the waters and work from that, if you were in a better mood he'd jump at you, and if you weren't, he'll go bug the old couple in the next apartment over.

With the familiar clunk on your front door unlocking followed by a slam, was a good indication that you were home, and not exactly in the best mood. Beej frowns and with a snap the demon made himself invisible to you, to avoid you, the last thing the ghoul wanted was you to lash out and banish him.

You swing open your bedroom door, beej flinches at the sudden action, not that you could see him. You toss your bag onto the bed just missing your undead pal, you rub your eyes and flip down beside him, the ghoul leans in close, were you crying?

"Fucking bitch, I'm doing the best I can" you grumble

Beetlejuice flashes from his basic green to fiery red, what the fuck was going on at your job?! Who the actual fuck was stupid enough to torment HIS breather?!

You quickly jump to your feet, whipping away your tears, you weren't gonna let this get to you, you were home and you weren't gonna waste anymore brain power on your shitty coworkers.

With that thought you strip out of your work clothes, unaware of the ghost in the room, who's fiery red hue was now a bright electric pink, wide eye and drooling watching you change into more comfortable attire, commando he was sure to note.

In your emotional entrance you didnt even notice if beetlejuice was even still present in your apartment, yes he would rush you the moment you got it, see there was a good chance he was out doing his thing.

"Beetlejuice?" You call out

"Beetlejuice?" You call out again

"Sugar, be careful with the B word" beej quickly pipes up, forgetting his words would not reach you in his current state

"Bee- Oh, my bad, almost 3 in a row there" you cover your mouth and beej let's out a sigh he didnt know he was holding.

Guess the ghoul wasnt around, which was fine, you were emotionally drained, with a headache coming on, and honestly could use some alone time, nothing against your friend, sometimes you just need some peace and quiet.

You flop back onto your bed and sigh, beetlejuice floats over next to you, frowning, guess he should duck out and let you pull yourself back together, youd be in a better mood to mess with later. The ghoul floats over to your bedroom door to leave but stops, when he hears a delightful familiar thud of very specific drawer, Beetlejuice's hair quickly shifts from its dull green to electric pink, he knew that you were up to, the ghoul spins back to you to confirm his thoughts.

Here you were, upon your bed, pajama pants abandoned, lubing up your beautiful pink vibrator. Beetlejuice was buzzing with excitement, the ghoul floats back to your side to enjoy the show.

"So wound up from work you need to blow off some steam?~" he coos, not that you could hear him.

...

Oh how the born dead demon adore watching you tend to your more desperate needs, yes he'd love to rip that lucky peice of silicon straight out of you and replace it with his own cock, fingers, tongue, hell anything would be delightfully. He wanted you bad, and not just in the sexual sense, he wanted you to be all his, to cuddle, kiss, joke around with, and yes he knew you liked him back, you were terrible at keeping secrets, and maybe during one spying session he herd you moan his name, but beetlejuice could see you were a coward with your feelings and for once in his undead life, he respected that you needed sometime to come around, but that didnt mean he couldnt push his luck with you. Lean against you during movie nights, cling to you like a lost child, cuddle you while you slept, you never pushed him away or outwardly said no.

You were his perfect little breather, funny, tough, jumpy, and sexy, exactly his type, plus you basically let him do whatever he wanted, so win win.

...

Beetlejuice sat in front of you, a perfect view, as if you were presenting your vagina to him, you were leaning against the headboard of your bed, against a few pillows, since you were alone the plan was to jerk away your bad mood, summon your favorite undead bastard, and just hang out.

You gently slide the vibrator inside, beetlejuice bites his lip, slowly pulling out his Half hard cock.

With a familiar click the toy buzzes to life, you let out a soft gasp before reaching down and pumping the toy in and out of your body.

Youd never admit it but you were a horny little thing, beetlejuice sure as hell didnt help, the bastard always had his hands on you, god you wanted to know what itd feel like to have him touch you like this. You curse yourself, he's dead, isnt that gross? Who cares, you lul your head back and begin bucking you hips to meet the toy.

"F-fuck" you utter, you really needed this, with beetlejuice hanging around and being underfoot, you really hand no time to yourself.

Unbeknownst to you the ghoul you wanted so badly was sitting inches away from you jerking his cock matching your pace, gazing bouncing from your face, to your chest, to your delightful wet pussy.

"That's it sweets, you're so good, naughty little thing~" he purred.

Hearing you moan made the ghoul shudder, oh how he LOVED that sound, and wished he was the one making you do it, soon, he can get his fix like this for a tad longer.

You begin bucking harder, and you voice begins breaking, a good indication you were gonna finish soon, beetlejuice has seen this enough times to know how your body is, he begins picking up his pace, wanting to finish shortly after you.

"Ah, ah, Lawrence-" you moan out as you cum.

Beetlejuice's jaw drops, and blows his load, hearing you moan out his first name, hell he didnt even know you knew it, fuck it sounded so good coming from you, it felt like his heart was gonna start pumping again.

"Babes" he says in a whisper, watching you regain your self.

You toss the toy aside as you put yourself back together, sliding on some pajama pants, you sigh, feeling much better. You're brought back to reality when you hear you phone ring, you make a dash to the front door, where your jacket was tossed in your emotional entrance, your phone being in its pocket.

There sat beetlejuice, alone on your bed, electric pink fading to a softer pink, soft cock still in hand, cum all over his lap, the ghoul was stuck in a loving daze, you said his name, his first name, it sounded so good coming from you, god slash satan he wanted more, he also wanted to thank whoever told you his first name.

Then it clicked, you were gone, and left behind your freshly used, hot out the oven, bright pink vibrator, finally, after all the time you snatched this treasure right from under him so many times, but here it was, as if you handed it to him on a silver platter. What did he do to deserve you is beyond his knowledge, after all the horrible things his demon ass has done, he keeps winning.

Electric pink gracing his hair once again, the ghoul couldnt help but drool at the delicious treat you have left for him, but he knew he couldnt enjoy it here so the demon snatches up the toy and vanishes, reappearing in the bathtub, his go to place to hide and enjoy some personal time. Beetlejuice could hear you pacing and chatting on the phone, indicating you're gonna be preoccupied for the next little while, meaning he's got nothing to worry about.

"Alright my tasty little thing, it's just you and me now~" tongue dragging the length of the toy, beetlejuice shivers, it was still warm, he let's out a low growl.

"Fuck, no wonder I call ya sugar, you taste just so good". His free hand finds it's way back into his trousers, pulling out his now semi erect cock for another round.

Beetlejuice's tongue roamed the toy, savoring the taste of you, oh how the demon dreamed of tasting you from the source, and this was so damn close, so warm.

"So such sweet little breather, we havent even had dinner and you're already giving me dessert~" the ghoul hums, treat your vibrator as a popsicle, starting off with long licks from base to tip, before sticking the toy in his mouth, swirling his tongue around the tip.

The ghoul was a buzz with excitement, electric prink hue so bright it practically illuminated the bathroom, reflecting off the tub and shower walls. Drool leaking from his busy mouth, eyes rolled back in absolute bliss as his free hand stocked his cock, his mind running wild, replaying the show he witnessed moments earlier, but instead of you dashing off, you as the demon to help you clean off your little toy.

"Lawrence, can you please help me with this?" You would coo.

The thought of you saying his first name again was enough to get the ghoul to start bucking harder into his hand, covk already leaking pre cum.

"Fuck" he utters "I'd do anything for ya y/n" he growls out, hips thrusting without rhythm, he wasnt gonna last much longer.

With one last long lick from base to tip, and the thought of you thanking him for helping you 'clean up' with the use of his first name again, was more then enough to push him over the edge again, shooting his load off on his hand and lap once again. Beetlejuice leans back and sighs with contentment, electricity leaving his hair and being replaced with soft pinks and greens.

"Y/n's favourite popsicles are the pink ones, heh, I dont blame her, mine too" he muses while admiring the 'clean' vibrator.

"I guess I should tidy this up" he groans looking at his cum covered hand, with a snap of his fingers his little mess was gone, yes he may be sitting in the tub, but the demon sure as hell wasnt gonna take a bath.

Beetlejuice gives the toy another once over, coding it in a thin layer of demon spit before vanishing it away to its rightful home, knowing you, youd find it in you drawer and assume you put it away and forgot. The demon felt so smug with today's events, you seemed to be happier after you jerked off, and he got dinner and a show, just not in that order.

Beetlejuice is snapped from his musing with the bathroom door swings open, with the shower curtain pulled the demon was fully visible to you, thank god slash satan he cleaned himself up.

"What are you doing?"

Beetlejuice, fully dressed, covers his chest as if he was naked.

"Dont you knock? I'm in the tub" he jokes

You snort out a laugh followed by a fake apology

"So what's up doll? Ya need to pee? Dont mind me" beej shrugs

"No" you say plainly as you wash you hands "since you're here, wanna order pizza? I had a shitty day and want to relax" you sigh glancing at the ghoul who was now buzzing with excitement, take out ment scaring the piss out of breathers. Beetlejuice pulls you close into a tight bear hug "I dont know what I did to deserve you babes"

When released, you stumble away saying you were gonna go place that order, clearly embarrassed and confused, not 100% expecting that reaction from beetlejuice.

Even though it had a rocky start today was a good day.

Bonus

You were sitting on the couch fiddling with your phone after making yours and Beetlejuice's pizza order, not really thinking much of anything. The demon flops down beside you, you glance up at him, he's been weirdly quiet since he hugged you in the bathroom.

"So babes, did you know my first name is Lawrence?"

[darlingyanderes]

My lovely wife - Yandere!Uraraka Ochoco  x fem!reader

@thirsthourdemon​, here is my writing for day 5 of @yandere-sins​‘s Yantober prompt list! In my bisexual disaster, I decided to write a girlxgirl yandere fic! I had a lot of fun with it, and it might have turned out a bit long hehe I hope you enjoy what I wrote for prompt 5: lead astray

Warnings: reader and uraraka are married, deception, hidden past, reader was isolated in the past, threatening, knife

Word count: 1455

Looking at the grocery list in her hand and the contents of her basket, (Y/N) confirmed she had all the ingredients, except one: a fancy wine.

Tonight was her and Uraraka’s second wedding anniversary. (Y/N) couldn’t be happier having someone as bubbly and sweet as her as her wife, so she wanted to treat her sweetheart to a nice homemade meal. Uraraka was always pampering (Y/N), but today, the roles would be switched, (Y/N) decided.

Passing by a stand of face masks on the way to the wine aisle, (Y/N) froze in her tracks and examined the products. Uraraka had work today, so she would be very tired when she gets home. When they first started dating in high school, they’d get together every month, do facemasks, eat ice cream, and sob at bad movies. Maybe they could have one of those little spa sessions today?

As (Y/N)’s hand was hovering over the brightly packaged masks, she heard her name being called out from across the aisle. When she turned her head to see who it was, she realised it was Kirishima, her old best friend when she was in high school.

Emphasis on ‘old’. They were like two peas in a pod and (Y/N) was sure their friendship was one that would last a lifetime. Until one day, he wouldn’t talk to her anymore. He ignored her in every way possible, even walking away when she was still talking to him. It had taken her years to let go of the pain that this brought her. The worst part is that she still didn’t know why he decided to stop being her friend.

But, being trapped by social conventions, (Y/N) had no choice but to smile politely and wave at him. Swallowing her feelings, she exclaimed: “Wow, it’s been so long! What are you up to nowadays?”

His toothy grin was still the same as it used to be. “Oh, you know, regular hero stuff. What about you?”

“Oh, I’m just a simple housewife.”

His eyes widened. “A housewife? Who are you married to? Don’t tell me it’s Uraraka?”

(Y/N) thought he meant this in a positive surprised way, as if he was happy to see her married to her high school sweetheart. However, there was an honest concern lacing his words.

Frowning a bit, (Y/N) answered: “Yes, I am, actually.”

He looked worried. “I don’t think she’s all who she says she is, (Y/N). Remember in high school, she had the biggest crush on you. Or well, it was more like an obsession. During class she’d always write your name with her last name, and hearts about it, stuff like that.”

(Y/N) nodded, unsure where he was going with this. “There are more high school girls that do that, I think.”

“It’s not just that. She actually threatened people. She told everyone at school to stay away from you, or she’d hurt them. She told me as well, she came up to me one day with a knife and warnings that she wasn’t afraid to use it against me or my loved ones. She knew exactly what their jobs and their schedules were, so fuck man, I was scared. I had no choice but to ignore you. It must’ve hurt so much, and I’m so sorry. I was dying to tell you all about this, but I just- I couldn’t. ”

Biting the inside of her cheek, (Y/N) averted her eyes to the ground. She wasn’t looking to dig up these emotional scars today.

His apology seemed sincere. Kirishima was never one to tell lies like that, especially extravagant ones like this. So, unless he had changed for the absolute worse, everything he said was right. The more she thought about it, the more she agreed with him.

It had all started very gradually; one day, a small group of classmates would avoid her. (Y/N) thought nothing of it, but eventually her entire class, and then the entire school including her best friends refused to talk to her. After the first year high school, Uraraka was pretty much the only person she spoke to. Her telling everyone to back off would be a logical explanation.

(Y/N) shook her head. No way. Uraraka, threatening people with a knife? The same Uraraka that bawls her eyes out when a dog dies in a movie, and can’t sleep without her trusty stuffed animal? Uraraka wouldn’t hurt a fly.

With a stern look and a voice to match her face, (Y/N) said harshly: “Listen, you don’t know anything about her, or me. If you really cared, you would’ve found a way to tell me about this. I don’t need to hear your lies after the shit you pulled on me, so if you’d excuse me, I have a lovely meal to cook for my lovely wife Uraraka tonight.”

With that, (Y/N) turned on her heels and stormed towards the cash register, leaving a flustered Kirishima behind. She wouldn’t allow him to tell her stuff like that.

However, when she was carrying the groceries back home, the thought of Uraraka threatening others wouldn’t leave her mind, no matter how much she tried to shake it off. To make it worse, that stupid redhead made her forget the wine and facemasks.

--

Even though the doubts had somehow managed to settles themselves in her heart, (Y/N) did her best to make a tasty meal and serve it nicely. She grabbed a bottle of wine they’d been hiding in the back of a closet for special occasions and filled up two glasses.

Just as she was pouring the second glass, an exhausted Uraraka entered the house. (Y/N) didn’t notice her yet, so Uraraka decided to sneak up on her.

Tiptoeing closer to her, she eventually hugged (Y/N) from behind, almost making her drop the glass and the wine. With an innocent voice, she said: “Happy anniversary, sweetie.”

(Y/N) turned around to face her. “Happy anniversary.”

Uraraka gave her a kiss on the cheek. When she noticed her favourite food on the table and the tasty wine bottle that was opened, she squealed: “Oh my God, you did this for me? It looks so great! Thank you so much, this is so sweet of you?”

“I bet it tastes even better than it looks,” (Y/N) said with a wink.

As they sat down to enjoy their dinner and have a nice banter, Kirishima’s words wouldn’t leave her mind. What if it was true what he had said? He didn’t seem to lie, after all.

When a silence fell, (Y/N) laid her cutlery on her plate and asked hesitantly: “Hey, so I have a question. I ran into Kirishima today and he told me… he told me about high school, and what had happened. He said that you threatened to hurt people if they talked to me, but there’s no way that’s true, right?”

(Y/N) followed her question with a laugh that was a little bit too loud. She quickly reached for her wine glass to occupy her hands.

When she glanced over at her wife, she could see a very serious look on Uraraka’s face. She’d only rarely seen her like this. Uraraka thought about her words for a bit, before replying: “What about it?”

“What do you mean?”

Uraraka began cutting into the meat on her dish with rough movements. “He’s right. They were taking up all your attention, while you should be paying attention to me.”

As she was talking, the knife in her hand cut more aggressively, until it was scraping the plate below it. Finally, she sighed and stopped her movements. “So I did what I had to do, and it all worked out in the end, didn’t it?”

Uraraka smiled sweetly and reached for (Y/N)’s hand. “We’re married now, and I couldn’t be happier having you as my wife.”

While (Y/N) was shocked at first, she just smiled back. Squeezing her wife’s hand, she said: “Me too.”

Uraraka squeezed back and continued eating. Soon, they were talking about lighthearted topics again and were laughing about what had happened to Uraraka at work today.

In the back of her head, a little voice was telling (Y/N) that this wasn’t right and that she should’ve confronted her, told her that it wasn’t right to do that. But then again, now that she’s a housewife, Uraraka has no one to threaten anymore, so it’s fine. Confronting her about the past would only lead to frictions and she didn’t want to unnecessarily complicate things.

Her justifications couldn’t get rid of that voice, however. Deep down she knew that something was wrong.

It was as if she could sense that Uraraka was going to pay Kirishima a visit the next day.

[greensword101]

This is for @barely-nok. I’m sorry it took so long to get some Obake content out for you to consume. I hope you find it tasty lol.

Obake never drank on principle. He needed to keep a clear head and heads were meant for thinking. And thinking meant he could create what he wanted to the limit or even beyond that.

But even sober, his brain would...fizzle if Kei ever so much as blinked at him prettily. Or pouted. Or cheerily threatened to sing “I’m Henry the Eighth , I Am” if he didn’t agree to take a break and - urgh! Just acknowledging the phrase made him feel filthy - spend some “quality time” with a coworker.

Personally speaking, Obake would have preferred the term “expendable” or “replaceable” or “unpaid intern that wasn’t getting extra credit or the merits of knowledge.” Oh, but he would pay anything to get DeciBull out of his sight! And hearing range.

Then again, hearing range would be preferable. Wild cards like Kei were acceptable. DeciBull - or Wil as Kei had casually greeted him by to the former’s chargain -  was more of a Jack; weaker than Obake, but still a threat nonetheless.

If Kei hadn’t taken the car and driven off to God knew where, he would have stormed out of the bar and left that arsehole behind. Maybe steal his glasses and see if the chubby man with a guitar gimmack could find his way back home without falling off the pier.

Wil had barely touched his first bottle and was glowering at his phone for the past half hour. This suited Obake swimmingly, if not for the fact that Kei would know that they hadn’t made any attempt at all and would be tormenting him with that song again! And she would enlist Noodle Burger Boy this time, he was certain. And possibly Trina, though he was certain she would be directed towards Wil instead.

Obake collected himself and recited the longest formulas in the Periodic Table before he rigidly glanced over to Wil.

“I’m surprised you aren’t taking advantage of the karaoke here.”

Wil yelped and fumbled with his phone - mumbling apologies to the bartender as he passed - before gaping at Obake.

“Interesting...” Obake murmured.

“What?” Wil asked bemused.

“You almost looked like an intelligent being for a moment.”

Wil scowled, “Funny.” 

Then a smile crept onto his face. Obake stiffened. He knew he could take the man, he was slimmer and certainly wasn’t sluggish, but bars were always tricky to maneuver around in. Inebriation, sympathizers, or anyone looking for an excuse to be aggressive would make Obake beating Wil up...troublesome.

“Something amusing to you?” Obake took a sip from his own glass to appear ignorant and casual.

“Just thinking how whipped you must be if Kei could make you spend time with me,” Wil leaned in conspiratorially, “Tell me, does she make you sleep on the couch when you misbehave?”

Obake sputtered and and gave Wil a hard stare. Wil stared back undaunted.

“Shut your mouth and have your bloody drink, why don’t you?” Obake snarled and took another, deeper sip from his glass. He was used to dealing with the aggressive and almost territorial behavior Wil demonstrated back at the base. He did not want to be sober to process that Wil was capable of having bloody cheek.

“How can I have my ‘bloody drink’ if my mouth’s shut?” Wil asked innocently.

“Test my patience and we’ll find out soon enough,” Obake growled under his breath. He could do it.  One stab between the ribs and he could slip out in the noise and confusion. He just didn’t want to put up with Kei pestering him when he got back and possibly annoying her with a potential murder.

Wil sniggered and had another swig of his beer. He went back to his phone, but he barely seemed to be reading what was on the screen.

That was...unexpected. But it was a better alternative to dealing with a feral monkey by himself. Obake found himself enjoying the Manhattan more than he expected and finished it off. He was beginning to fish the cherry out when Wil spoke up again.

“Was it good?”

Obake groaned and glowered at Wil, who was starting at his empty glass curiously. What didn’t that fool understand about having a little peace and quiet?

“I don’t typically drink myself,” Wil mumbled into his bottle and drank. He sputtered for a few moments and continued, “I just stick to a beer once in a while.”

“Thank Heaven for small miracles, then,” Obake narrowed his eyes and waved the bartender over, “Another one, if you would be so kind.”

“Me too,” Wil smiled at the bartender and held up his empty bottle. Amazingly, the bartender smiled back and came back moments later with their second drinks. Wil called after him as he walked off, “Thanks, Jim!”

“You frequent this place often?” Obake ventured and helped himself to his second Manhattan. Screw sobriety, it had been so long since he had anything that tasted so good touch his lips.

“I used to,” Wil admitted, “Just for a bite and maybe a bottle. That’s kind of how me and Kei met, actually.”

“A little nip before beddybye?” Obake cooed mockingly at him.

“Crime and I have something in common,” Wil smirked, “We rarely sleep.”

“Tragic,” Obake chuckled and raised his glass in mock salute, “To your insomnia, I suppose.”

Wil raised his beer in kind, “And to good company if I ever get any.”

Now, they both laughed for real. Obake noticed for the first time how pleasantly red Wil’s face had become. Was it the alcohol or the first genuine spark of life he was expressing? If it was the latter, that would mean Kei was behind it somehow.

Suddenly, the good feeling popped like a soap bubble and Obake hid his displeasure by finishing off his second Manhattan. Wil gawked at him.

“You should slow down, Kei is gonna freak if she has to pick us up from the ER because you got alcohol poisoning or something.”

“Kei this, Kei that, you haunt her like a lapdog!” Obake spat out. Damn that woman and her silly, childish notions of fun and damn that boulder she decided would make good company!

Wil blinked and leaned back a little. A moment later, he was glowering back with that familiar hostility, “At least I don’t treat her like a nuisance like you do! Do you have any idea how much she cares about you?!”

“Cares?” Obake snapped his fingers at Jim for another glass and leaned closer to Wil’s face. His nostrils flared and he could feel Wil tense inches away from him. “Why would she have to care about me? If that’s what you call pity, then I’ve no need for it! She can pretend all she wants that we’re all supposed to be some family, but in the end, that’s all it’s going to be. A stupid dream! Why would she care about making me ‘socialize’ with the others or spending ‘quality time’ with her silly boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?!”

Obake jabbed a finger into Wil’s chest, “Don’t play coy! I know you think I’m a prat to her! And I know you won’t believe that she can almost make me feel human! But you don’t have to worry about me getting in the way, Prince Charming! She’s all yours, so you don’t have to worry about me -”

“I’m gay.”

“And I’m Bob, the pleasure’s all...what.” Obake had to take a moment to process Wil’s flat retort.

“Gay. I like guys. I love them. I love kissing them. And I’m already taken.”

Obake opened his mouth and closed it again. He noticed that his third Manhattan had arrived and wasted no time downing it. Wil didn’t repeat how it wasn’t safe to do this time, and he was thankful for that. 

Suddenly, he felt someone standing right behind him and stilled.

“Is he giving you problems, Wil?”

“No worries, Eugene,” Wil smiled at the person behind him, “Just clearing up a misunderstanding over here.”

Obake felt a little dizzy and pinched his nose, “Let me understand this correctly. You have never had feelings for Kei?”

“Platonically, yes. Romantically or otherwise? No.”

“And this whole time, yo - you’ve...” Why couldn’t he find the right words? “You’ve...acted harshly because...?”

“Because she’s one of my best friends and I don’t want her to get hurt,” Wil said firmly. He pointed at Obake with a fiercely protective look, “I can’t help who she wants to connect with, but I won’t stand by and let her get hurt. She’s gone through too much to deserve that.”

“Alright, I’m just going to butt in for a moment here,” Eugene moved from behind Obake and stood to Wil’s left, wrapping an arm across him protectively. He was pleasant to the eyes; tall, broad, dark brown hair and a scruffy goatee. He looked at Wil, bemused, “You weren’t here scooping for another cutie, babe?”

“Wh...why...why would he...?” Obake’s tongue felt like lead. Dear Lord, he could barely speak, he was so embarrassed.

“Because this is a gay bar?” Eugene supplemented as if it weren’t obvious. Obake blinked. Come to think of it, it was rather odd no one had come to bother them when they came in. Did...did that mean...?

Somewhere in San Fransokyo, Kei was laughing herself silly. Obake was certain of it. 

“Everything alright over here?” Another voice, deeper than Eugene’s mischievous and light tone asked.

“Hey ‘Nan! This is an acquaintance of mine,” Wil helped himself to his beer, “and apparently he thought I was stealing his girlfriend until a few moments ago. Bob, this is Kanan. My other boyfriend.”

“Other...” Obake’s head was swimming. This was too much to process...

“Yeah,” Wil said shyly, “We’re...we’re kind of a poly sort of thing.”

As if to prove his point, Eugene promptly gave Wil a deep kiss on the lips that was eagerly returned. Kanan came into view and Obake noticed how dark skinned he was and the ponytail before he decided he was too sober to handle this all right now.

He made to stand and tripped over his stool. And a moment later, his Manhattans returned and splashed all over the floor.

In hindsight, he should have checked how much alcohol was in each glass...

It was about a half hour later when Kei found all four of them outside the bar with Obake being supported by an irksome Wil and amused Eugene. Kanan looked torn between disapproval and laughter.

“Was it fun?” Kei asked hesitantly. Obake took one look at her and sighed. It was his own fault for drinking too much.

“It was something,” Wil supplemented as he helped buckle Obake into the backseat, “And educational, apparently, so that’s a plus.”

“We were there at the tail-end,” Eugene added helpfully, “It was kind of entertaining.”

“You sure you can take care of this?” Kanan asked Wil.

Wil looked at Obake and sighed, “We’ll be alright. Thanks, anyways.”

“See you at the next heist meet, babe!” Eugene blew a kiss.

“Tell Raps and Hera I said hi!” Wil called back as they drove off.

“And here I thought I’d be picking you up at the police station for a bar brawl,” Kei half joked.

“Stay with me, Bob!” Wil shook Obake gently, “Don’t go to sleep. First rule in treating alcohol poisoning.”

“Piss off...” Obake slurred.

Wil sighed and let his head sink against the headrest for a few moments. Why didn’t he just become an accountant like his parents wanted?

“Wil...” Obake said sluggishly, “In..in the...event...I survive this with my memory intact. Would you...do it again?”

Wil blinked in surprise and chuckled weakly, “Only if you watch what you drink next time, lightweight.”

“Momma’s boy.”

“Evil Brit.”

“Four Eyes.”

“Nnnnnnnnnnneeeee~rrrrrrrrrds!” Kei cackled as her passengers bickered with each other without any former hostility from before.