#thank you cards are my personal hell in case you're wondering

[n7punk]

oh my god I hate to think you thought people weren't LOVING lmr chapter 4! seems like there really was a universal lag in people not seeing the update, myself included. maybe more of your followers like football than u thought...

i didn't know there was any football stuff going on lol. i know there Are A Lot Of Sports Fans in the world in general but my vibe of the catradora fandom is that our football-viewer percentage is lower than average, unless you're talking about women's soccer 😂 i also think it was influenced by the archive having issues that day (partially down) since i had at least two people tell me they never got an email. I also didn't really mention i posted it on here - which i don't always do for fics, but i had been doing for the previous the chapters. i usually only mention it if im posting something or answering an ask anyway and can tack it on without like, having to make a Whole Post dedicated to it (this is a theme that will return later in this post)

normally when i do fic notes, i include a "what's next" section, but i left it off this time because im not sure, actually! i was initially planning (like, back a month ago when i first started writing) to do an au next but it would be a Lot and my interest is swaying towards canon rn so i thiiiiink it will be some OotW fics since i have a few wips for that and one In Particular that i need to figure out if its a one shot, or multichapter fic, or like two or three fics in a miniseries. i have like a dozen wips rn so its really hard to say.

i actually only realized i was posting on valentines day like two hours ago when i was given someone's milk chocolate haul since they only like dark chocolate lol. honestly im a bad person to ask this because im not one for dates or gifts or any of the stuff valentines is based on. i dont like Special things i just like the little everyday stuff, so valentines seems like a chore to me and its hard to come up with stuff for it. it also depends if you're talking like, in a modern au or for the etherian equivalent of valentines day. my vague answer is just they take it as an excuse to spend an entire day together since they love being around each other, or they go on a fun little adventure they havent found the time for yet. i can see them doing stuff with glimbow "double date" style too.

the answer is both! i go days without messages sometimes (which works for me because i like talking to yall but it also takes energy) and then other times i get a bunch at once. messages naturally gather around talking points (specific posts, fic uploads) so like, ive checked my asks twice tonight and had a decent number of asks both times, but when i posted chapter three i waited a few hours to gather some asks before replying since i knew they would be trickling in for the evening as people read the update.

it's also taken me two hours just to type out the replies in this post (which might give context to my "asks take energy" thing) so during that time more messages can come in and be answered in the same post as long as i remember to check right before i go to post it.

i like putting them all in one post just because it makes my blog and the dashboard experience Neater so i do it when reasonable, but i dont usually wait more than a few hours for the purpose of collection, if i do at all. it also lets me reply to and acknowledge some messages even when i dont have anything to say to them directly (like, i didnt have a reply to that ahhhh anon on its own, but it made me laugh so i wanted to post it, and by putting it in a larger group i can do that).

oh thank you! i feel like its something im actually terrible at since i do have a tendency to ignore/delete messages when im not up to talking (in general, or just dont have anything to say on the topic/in response). i do really love my comments and message tho so thank you to everyone who leaves them! i hope the blanket thank-yous are enough because usually they're the best ive got lol

idk i feel like never figured out the social interaction of thanking people (even/especially irl), so it makes me not reply to comments much because i feel like the best i can do is a canned, one-sentence "thank you!" response (and, of course, that still takes energy as mentioned with spoons, which doesn't feel worth what it "gives back" you know).

actually, ive talked about this for so long, so let me just take a temperature and i can gather responses (or post replies, those are great too!) for a bit: 1) are comments sections usually just [thoughtful comment]["thanks!"] and im otherthinking this because i havent read other author's comment sections, 2) do you Care if an author replies to your comment or not, at least when it's not a question (like, does it influence your decision to leave one if you think they won't reply. i personally don't care at all which is probably where part of my whole thing comes from), and 3) if it does influence you, does a simple "thanks!" really add anything to your decision. im almost certainly not going to change my approach because it's what im comfortable with, but i would like to know if im expending an unwarranted amount of mental effort on this XD

i have before! it's called Let's Get Physical. frankly its just harder to write lol

(also going back to the gathering asks thing, this ask came in while i was writing this post and thus got tacked on right after i posted it)

i have more lmr asks but im waiting until morning because spoilers and i want to put the reply to one in the fic tag so i think that should be in a smaller, more focused post.

[justsoohi]

Funky Gift/ Episode 1

<After 2 weeks>

Tomoya: Thank you for your hard work~..... uhh~

Rinne: O~i, Shirousuke. Don't fall down at a place like that

But it's still hard work, isn't it? I guess it's no wonder I'm falling down too after my "Unit" lesson and the "Shuffle" lesson.

Subaru: ehh? Is that right? I can still do it though ~?

Rinne: Akehoshi-paisen your body is like a ghost....

But in anyway, both Yuzuru-chan and Snakey-chan are surprisingly tougher than I expected, they seem to be better at using their brains than their bodies.

Yuzuru: Is that so? I can't be a butler if I'm so upset about something like this.

Ibara: I've had to train dozens of times harder than I do now, and I've thrown up my whole stomach out before, so idol lessons aren't the slightest bit difficult for me.

Rinne: What the hell is going on here..... These "Unit" guys are no good.

Tomoya: Ah right. Speaking of what's going on....are things looking okay for the live since then?

Subaru: Ah, that's right. Barry~ did something's went wrong again?

Ibara: Fortunately, things have been going smoothly since then.

Even though it's called "Christmas Live," Since I order things that don't fit, everyone asks me if I'm wrong or asks me to confirm again.

Subaru: Hahaha! Well of course. 'Cause I've never seen a Christmas like that

Yuzuru: I can't deny that it's a little too much.......

Subaru: I don't think "fine" would ever be able to do something like that~

Yuzuru: I don't and I have no intention to. If you perform with "fine", it will be a classic holy live.

Rinne: classic hah.....

In that case, should I throw gifta to the audience as part of the live?

Tomoya: Eh?

Rinne: What is it? What's with that surprised look on your face?

Tomoya: No, you're absolutely right. I just thought it was unexpected that Amagi-senpai would say such a thing.

Rinne: Well, I've been thinking about what shirousuke told me since then

I never got a present for Christmas, but the cookies I got as a surprise were delicious.

Tomoya: Cookies?

Rinne: Ah well, That's good! Besides shirosuke is happy about it, aren't you, You always want a present no matter how old you are, don't you?

Besides, I'm already thinking about gift ideas to give♪

Tomoya: eh…. Is it a present that Amagi-senpai chose...?

Ibara: Is it a mahjong tile? Or is it a trump cards? Or pachinko balls? Either way, I'm rejecting it all

Rinne: Huh? No matter how much you prejudice against me isn't it terrible? I know exactly what to give to the other person so they'll be pleased about it

Yuzuru: What about you ibara? Isn't it difficult to please the other person with your lack of sensibility? You've always thought only of yourself since the very beginning

Ibara: With all due respect, Instructor-dono. I hope you don't think I'm the same person I was back then

I'm the one producing "Eden", which continues to capture the hearts of fans.

Subaru: Eh~. If that's the case, I'm more confident than everyone here~

Rinne: every last one of them....

Yo~shi, if that's the case, we'll bring presents that each of us have thought up for tomorrow's lesson, and it's going to be a battle to see who has the best taste!

Subaru: Okay! I will never lose~

Rinne: Of course, the three of you will also ride with us right? Or will you run away because you lack confidence?

Tomoya: What!? Me too!?

Ibara: its a bad choice to ride on such a cheap provocation, but okay, I'll ride too.

Yuzuru: Yes, that's right. There is no need to run away from a winnable game for me in the first place.

Tomoya: Ah-ahaha......

(I got caught up in something strange didn't I...?)

[danny-chase]

if you want, maybe you could do "severed artery" with Dick and have Roy (or one of the other Titans) take care of him? love your writing and I hope you're having a nice day!

AHH thank you so much! I hope you enjoy!

Severed Artery - read on AO3

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Titans (Comics), Nightwing (Comics) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Roy Harper & Dick Grayson Characters: Roy Harper, Dick Grayson, Garth (DCU), Donna Troy (minor) Additional Tags: Can be read as pre-slash, POV Roy Harper, POV Dick Grayson, vomitting, Blood, Guns, Hospitals, Canon-Typical Violence, dick is a little shit, Roy is a Little Shit, Homophobia, Roy Harper Needs a Hug, Roy Harper gets/gives a hug, Dick Grayson Whump, Roy Harper emotional whump, Protective Roy Harper, Hurt Dick Grayson, Garth is the best, Titans as family, Confused Dick Grayson, Medical Inaccuracies Series: Part 6 of Bad Things Happen Bingo Summary:

Dick and Roy are little shits to each other, until the night takes a turn for the worse.

Full story under cut

“Aight, Donna, you ready to go?” Roy chirped, taking a second to look himself over in the mirror, running his fingers through his (surprisingly) soft hair (he’d be stealing Dick’s shampoo more often) – getting that perfect messy, but stylish look. He fired off finger guns at his reflection – he was killing it, somehow listening to Gar of people had worked out – he gave shockingly good fashion advice.

Feeling optimistic, he sauntered into the hall, only to be met with Donna’s confused expression.

“Roy, I’m going out with the girls tonight, I told you like four times.” She leaned against the wall, gesturing to Jesse and Toni, car keys dangling from her hand. Jesse stared at him, an eyebrow cocked judgmentally, as Toni smiled, offering a little wave. He waved back, watching Jesse’s expression morph into disapproval.

“Hey, I didn’t even do anything!” He complained, glaring at Jesse. She rolled her eyes, not deigning to verbally respond. Ice queen.

Reaching out, Donna patted his shoulder, waiting until he met her eyes. “I’m sorry, hun, but we’ve got tickets to a concert, could we go out next weekend?” She fluttered her eyelids slightly, sending chills up his spine. “Why don’t you take one of the boys with you?”

“Terrible company, but babe, have fun, I’ll figure something out.” He cupped her chin in his hand, leaning forward to peck a kiss to the top of her head, ignoring the fact she squatted down to make the moment work.

“Mm, thanks.” With that, the girls were off for the night, leaving him stranded in a deserted hallway.

Well. He could do what Donna suggested and take out one of the guys – he had the reservation, and Lian was already situated with the sitter. But which guy was the question… Wally was out with the league, Garth was visiting home, Vic was with Gar, and Grant had a date. Which left Dick – no - Dick was busy working – actually yes – he likely needed a break.

Actually – was he even here?

He started towards the central control room, poking a head in Dick’s room on the way and had to do a double take.

“You’re actually in <em>your room</em>?” Dick threw a pencil at him without looking up from his desk, child’s play to dodge – Dick speak for hmm, maybe something like ‘asshole’, but he took it as an invitation to enter. But if Dick was going to call him an asshole, he had expectations to live up to.

He took a standing leap, twisting and flopping across Dick’s immaculately made bed, sending blankets and pillows careening off the side. Dick ignored him, scribbling down some notes on a pad of paper. Roy waited for a few minutes, listening to the scratch of pen on paper. Quick and noisy – Dick was likely stressed – he was pushing down harder than normal; he gave it an eighty/twenty chance something was up.

Ripping paper proved him right, as Dick frustratedly crumpled up the page of notes, throwing them behind him, hitting the recycling bin with ease. Groaning, he dropped his head into his hands, rubbing his eyes.

“Showoff.” Dick startled, jumping out of his chair, Roy’s own reflexes were the only thing that saved him from taking a pen between the eyes.

“What the fuck, Richard?!” He yelled, yanking the little missile out of the air. A faint flush tinted the top of Dick’s ears.

“I forgot you were there.” The admission was almost too quiet to hear, but combined with the minute sign of embarrassment, it rang of truth. Roy could milk this, oh he totally could.

“What was that, why did you almost kill me?” If he played his cards right, he wouldn’t be dining alone tonight.

“I didn’t think you were…” Dick trailed off, glaring at him. “You heard what I said.” He retorted, catching on. Sucks to suck, Dickie – he was obviously tired if that spooked him – he was likely running on caffeine.

“Oh, you misunderstand.” Scooching off the edge of the bed, he hopped lightly onto the balls of his feet. “Why’d the batboy forget I was there, hmm?” He pulled a half-eaten energy bar off the desk, inspecting the wrapper. Dick casually rocked back in his chair.

“See, completely decaf, I told you I’d-” Roy yanked open a drawer, Dick darting to stop him. “This is my desk!” He slammed the drawer shut a moment too late – Roy had good eyes after all.

“Hmm, so how do you explain the-”

“Get out, I have stuff to do – aren’t you supposed to be on a date with-”

“-CAFFIENE PILLS IN YOUR DRAWER!” He shouted through Dick’s response, effectively shutting him up. There’d been an intervention years ago after too many days spent on one hour or less of sleep. “You know the deal.” Dick groaned as he ruffled his hair.

“I have to-”

“Eat, shower, and sleep. And I have reservations. For two. You’re coming with me.” Ah yes, a romantic dinner date with Dick Grayson. People would kill for this. Dick crossed his arms. Roy picked up his chair, staggering towards the door. Dick was going whether he liked it or not, a real meal (not protein shakes or energy bars) would do him good.

“No one’s even done this to me in like, a year.” He noted, gracefully leaping out of the seat. “Asshole.” Grumbling he lightly punching him in the arm before heading into his walk-in closet, stripping off his shirt as he went. Automatically, Roy scanned for any new injuries, his eyes lingering over a few of the old.

“Liar, Wally caught you two months ago. Besides, the restaurant is nice, Donna likes it and you two are basically the same person, so you’ll love it.” Dick scoffed, stepping out of view.

“Is that all I am to you? Your replacement for Donna?” He sounded mildly offended.

“Nah, you’re too ugly to replace her.” Dick hmphed. “And your personality sucks.” Roy added.

“Why the hell am I going with you?”

“It’s not like your night could get any worse.” Dinner was better than casework after all.

Dick’s head poked out the doorway, looking completely unamused. “Asshole.” He chirped a second time, ducking back away.

Roy sat across from him, speaking between mouthfuls of pasta, smacking his lips together. “So anyways this kid, Johnny is like, sitting next to Lian in class, and he keeps taking her crayons and won’t give them back.” Dick thought for a moment, watching Roy drum his fingers rhythmically on the table. “And the teacher is being ridiculous, she just believes Johnny over Lian. My Lian! Can you believe it?” He slammed his fork down, articulating the point.

<em>And you’re sure Lian gave you the whole story?</em> Was what Dick wondered, but he’d prefer not to die for questioning Lian’s integrity tonight. “Why don’t you mark her crayons with a sharpie and let the teacher know?” Roy’s fingers stopped.

“Huh, hadn’t thought of that.” He leaned back in his seat, distantly looking out the window. People trickled down the street, passing by the little café, kicking up crimson leaves from half empty trees. Streetlights flickered on; fairy lights crisscrossing the avenue, as the sun lazily sunk in the sky. It was a beautiful night – Roy was right, he did love it, the food was good – catching up with Roy was refreshing – and the location was stunning; as always, Roy always picked the perfect places for dates. Dick was past the point of being annoyed at the situation but was still determined to give Roy a hard time.

“Well, maybe if you thought about that instead of harassing me.” He leaned forward, resting his head on his hand, dramatically looking out the window – Babs was going to kill him for being late with his case reports. Again. Roy smirked as he rocked forward, reaching across the table to lay a hand on his forearm. He at least had the decency to look apologetic.

“Look, you know the deal.” Brushing his thumb against his skin placatingly, he waited until Dick met his eyes. “You’re working full time, and have your nightly duties, and you’re with us.” His voice dropped, his nostrils flaring in irritation. “It’s not like you’ll leave Bruce alone any time soon either. Dick.” His eyes crinkled around the edges – concern. “You’ve got to start taking care of yourself.” Dick rolled his eyes; he was doing fine.

“You’re working with Ollie, you have a daughter, and you’re working with us, look I had one breakdown-”

“More than one-”

“-Only one that wasn’t the result of external influences.” Fuck Brother Blood for the other ones. “We made the caffeine deal after,” he grimaced reflexively “I broke up with Kory but, Roy.” He clasped Roy’s hand with his other hand reassuringly. “I promise I’m doing better now.” Tilting his head to the side, he cracked his neck. “Plus, you only brought me along because Donna was busy, that’s not what the deal was for.”

“Okay, maybe that was shitty of me, but it’s nice seeing you without the tights.” Roy flashed a winning smile. “Not that I don’t like seeing you in them, the new stuff looks great.”

“Oh, so I don’t look great now?” He teased. He’d picked out his brightest shirt for the occasion – a polo patterned after bowling alley carpet paired with the tightest red jeans he could find, and of course, a pair of heels borrowed from Donna. A single giant hoop earring dangled off his left ear. If he was going out with Roy, he wanted people taking pictures. Payback. This would be in the news tomorrow.

“Babe,” Roy lifted up his hand, pressing a kiss to his knuckles. “You look stunning.” He grinned goofily, seemingly happy to play along. Welp. If that’s how they were going to play it. He booped Roy’s nose, watching his pupils dilate. Dick recoiled in surprise – Roy wasn’t -

“Wait, you’re not actually-”

A scream cut him off, whirling around in his seat he saw a large man storming into the café brandishing a gun, his face red beet red and angry. He turned back, squeezing Roy’s hand, nodding towards the silverware.

“No-no one else move!” The guests around them stayed frozen in place. Three older ladies on their right, a family of four on their left (he guessed it was the young girl who screamed), and a couple across from them. The staff ducked behind the counter as people outside the restaurant scrambled away.

Dick raised his hands slowly. “I said no one move!” The gun pointed directly at him. Perfect.

“Okay, I won’t move.” He said steadily, watching sweat bead on the man’s head – he was nervous, his hands twitched uneasily on the gun – possibly his first time, and he kept muttering to himself. He watched Roy’s hand carefully creep towards silverware in his peripheral. “Do you want money? My father is rich.” Watching the man jitter about, he slowly stood up. Roy’s hand closed around the fork.

“Okay? You-you can get me money?” The man mused to himself, shifting his weight back and forth. He started lowering his gun, taking a step forward, he reached out his other hand. Dick took a few steps to the right, away from his chair, shifting attention away from Roy. “Okay the-”

*BANG* The world sped up around him, he rushed forward as the man fell-

*BANG* The man hadn’t even hit the ground – he was already dead – already-

“DICK-”

*BANG* Blood and brain matter poured out of the man’s head, someone was screaming, it didn’t need to-

*BANG*

“STOP!” Someone slammed into his side, and he hurtled to the ground. “HOLD YOUR FIRE!”

Roy’s face hovered above him. “Dick! You’re going to be fine.” His hands clamped napkins to his left shoulder, one on his front the other on his back – and shit – that was a lot of blood. “Hey, look at me.” Pain radiated out for the spot as Roy doubled the weight on the wound, blood seeping out past his fingers, waves pulsating in time to his heartbeat.

Cops burst in through the door, rushing to swarm the dead body. One glanced their way. “Oh shit, you hit the fa-”

“Fucking call an ambulance you dipshits!” Roy’s voice sounded farther away. “Slow your heart, fuck, do your Jedi weirdo bat tricks.” He hissed. Too late, sometimes, things happen too fast. “They hit an artery.” The blood wasn’t stopping, the napkin was soaked through, Dick felt himself slipping into shock. “Dick, stay awake!”

“Lo-ve y-ou.” He stumbled over the words as the world exploded – a million things happening at once – his thoughts scattering as black tinged his vision, overcoming everything.

Roy scrubbed his hands, pausing over the sink, watching the pink water rush down the drain, gurgling as it went. He rubbed a hand further, tackling the blood crusted over his elbow. He made a mistake of catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror –Dick’s blood was everywhere, coating his shirt, arms, pants, even some on his face. His stomach flipped, clenching tightly as he started to gag - fuck.

Throwing himself over the toilet, dinner rising back up in his throat, he threw up the seat. Shaking, he held himself over the porcelain toilet, fingertips staining it red, as he heaved. Soap bubbles dripped from his hands over the edge of the bowl, spattering on the ground.

Each drop spurred a recollection of the night’s events.

*Plop* The man was dead before he hit the grown, brain matter spattering the wall.

*Plop* A bullet whistled through the air, missing Dick by millimeters, lodging six inches next to the little girl’s head. He ran, screaming <em>“Dick!”</em>

*Plop* Blood sprayed out, a bullet ripping through Dick’s shoulder, as he kept moving towards the man.

*Plop* <em>“Stop!”</em> Tackling Dick out of the way, he screamed for them to stop, ripping napkins off a table and desperately trying to stop Dick’s life from slipping through his fingers.

He fell to his knees, a pit growing in his stomach spreading to his chest, rooting him to the spot. He curled his knees to his chest. Fuck. Dick had been shot before. But this? It was different. They weren’t in costume, they hadn’t been ready – the man hadn’t even shot anyone, only the bastard cops had.

<em>“Love you.”</em>

What kind of final words were those! He sat on the tile floor, banging his head into the side of the wall. Dick couldn’t die. Not because he forced him on some dumb dinner date! It wasn’t fucking fair!

His vision blurred, but he couldn’t do anything to stop the tears, unless he wanted blood in his eyes. Just – fuck. “FUCK!” His shout reverberated around the room. This was all his fault – he should have stayed home with Lian, guilt pooled in the bottom of his stomach. Why couldn’t he just leave well enough alone? Why’d he always have to have the last word? What was wrong with him!? Normal people didn’t antagonize each other like that!

The door creaked open. “Roy?” Garth called, the door squealing as it slowly opened. “Donna’s here too, are you ohhhhhhhhh-kay?” His jaw dropped, though he quickly recovered. Roy looked away, in a failed attempt to hide the tear tracks on his cheeks.

Garth stared at his hands. “That’s a lot of blood.” He muttered, his eyes darting around the room. “I mean, I brought you clean clothes.” He placed pair of sweats and a ratty t-shirt he’d stolen from Dick years ago on the counter. Roy’s eyes lingered on the shirt, no doubt the choice had been intentional.

The sound of rushing water cut through the silence, seeming to grow louder with each passing moment. Garth leaned back against the counter, hopping up next to the sink. “He’ll be fine.”

“Yep.” Dick was always fine. Always fine until he wasn’t.

“It’s not your fault.” Wrong.

“Debatable.” Garth frowned at the response but held his tongue. Instead, he let his head fall back against the mirror, staring up at the ceiling.

Softly, barely above a whisper, he continued. “I left you all alone for one day and this is how it ends up.” Roy bit his lip. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” Guilt bubbled in the bottom of his stomach, and annoyance overcame him; they’d had these conversations before.

“Are you kidding me? I know what you want me to say. It’s not your fault – of course not. But then you’ll say ah but it’s not my fault either.” Angrily throwing his arms in the air, he continued, his voice growing louder. “And no – Garth – actually it is my fault!” He could feel the blood rushing to his face. “I’m the one who made him go to the restaurant. I’m the one was too late getting him out of the line of fire!” His voice resounded around the cramped room. He banged his head against the wall again. “Look, I know what you’re trying to do and thanks. But no thanks.”

Nonchalantly shrugging, Garth gestured to the water. “Wallowing here won’t make you feel less guilty. Apologizing when he wakes up will help, and I’m sure you’d prefer to be clean when the time comes.”

“Garth? Could you just…” He trailed off; anger quickly overcome by a wave of guilt. Shut up? Leave? Stop? He wasn’t sure, but he was sure he didn’t deserve whatever pity Garth was feeling. A wet paper towel smacked him in the face.

“Kick you in the rear so you’ll get off your sorry ass and clean yourself up?” Hopping off the counter, Garth strode over, lifting Roy by the elbow. “That’s not my style. But I’ll help you get cleaned up.” He let himself be dragged towards the running water, facing himself in the mirror once more, though this time he focused on Garth.

Sometimes Dick could swear he was actually a time traveler. Or maybe had latent teleportation abilities. Realistically, he’d probably just blacked out from blood loss or a concussion, but eh, that option wasn’t as fun. Blinking, he found himself in a familiar setting; a hospital room in a private wing, at – a clock ticked to his left, looking up – it was 4:19am.

He waited a minute, watching the clock turn to 4:20 - nice.

What was he doing again? How long was he out?

He struggled for a moment before remembering that he went out with Roy at 6pm last night, so he was out for… god math was hard. Six to twelve is six hours plus four, uh, ten hours and twenty minutes. Right. As long as it was the same day, he was set.

“Shit.” He promptly realized he couldn’t move his left arm. A sling. UGH. “Son of a-” he cut himself off, realizing he wasn’t alone in the room, Donna was gently snoring in a nearby chair, a little throw blanket covering her. The patterns had fish people… there was a word for that… mer-somethings-maids, mermaids. Mermaids – Garth – Garth was here, that was his blanket.

Dick scanned the room, checking for signs of life. Someone’s bag was on the floor, but he didn’t feel like expending the brain power to figure out who’s. Alright. He steeled himself. Now was the perfect time for escape.

The room spun as he sat up, turning around and round again before his eyes. Hah. Count Vertigo was way worse than this. Yep, head empty, room spinning, this was fine. Swinging his legs over the bed, an alarm blared next to his head.

“Fuck!” He jumped out of his skin, springing to his feet, in a defensive position. Well. He thought he did. The room was tilting on its side, the high-pitched noise shattering his thoughts. Instinctively, he tried to run.

“Woah there, shorty.” He found himself held by strong arms, the world turning once more. The familiar scent of Roy’s aftershave overpowered his senses. Distantly he was aware of the alarm turning off, his legs hitting the back of the bed. Roy’s face swam into view as he was guided back onto the bed, now propped up by soft pillows. So much for escape…

He closed his eyes, waiting for the rush of dizziness to pass. “Roy?” Warm arms wrapped around his torso, snaking tenderly around the sling. “What?” He mumbled - not that he was complaining, as he nestled his chin on Roy’s shoulder. He sighed contentedly, pressing his face into Roy’s stiff neck, closing his eyes and basking in the warmth.

For some reason, the wheels in his brain began turning. Roy. Dinner. Gunshots. His eyes shot open. “Fuck did you get hit, are you okay?” He pulled back, scanning Roy for injuries.

“I’m fine.” Roy facepalmed.

“What?”

“You got shot and you’re asking if <em>I’m</em> okay?” Roy shook his head, exhaustion clear in his voice. Dick looked at his sling again.

“I got shot?” It was like a piece of a puzzle clicking into place. “I got shot…” Wasn’t he supposed to be somewhere else? “How the fuck am I supposed to explain this to my boss?”

Sighing, Roy took a seat on the edge of the bed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Why are you like this?” Turning, he looked Dick in the eyes. “Don’t answer that actually. Look, I’m sorry I made you go out to dinner.”

“Why? It was nice.” The food was good. Sputtering, Roy searched for words.

“Well. Don’t say I never apologized.” A little bit of a blush crept up his neck.

His mind abruptly recalled something he’d heard Roy saying to Lian. “Apologies come with hugs.” Roy rolled his eyes but moved closer anyways.

“You don’t even know why I’m apologizing.” He mumbled, brushing Dick’s bangs to the side. Dick grinned as Roy pecked his forehead, sweeping him into a second embrace. Two hugs in one day – that was a pretty good day. Roy’s fingers stroked through his hair, as Dick leaned into his muscular side, the world spinning slightly, though he’d found a solid rock to lean on.

[amane-by-together]

Blue Hour || Amane Yugi pt. 1/5

(Amane Yugi x Fem!Reader)

genre: romance, drama, and a bit of fantasy

summary: amane was assigned to send letters to [name] from another school for a quarterly pen pal project in their class.

"You and I found in the sky in 5:53"

Amane grabbed a white pen from his black cylindrical pencil case and wrote some finishing touches for his letter on a black sheet of paper. He doodled some stars and constellations around the paper before folding it carefully then placing it inside a navy blue envelope.

He added some photographs of stars and moon stickers inside the galaxy themed parcel that he designed a day ago. Amane smiled proudly to himself after tying the twine around the parcel, he also slides in some post cards inside the twine.

“You sure are taking this pen pal project seriously, Yugi.” Yamabuki looked over to his dark haired friend with his phone on hand. “I barely even put effort on mine.”

“Look at Yashiro's though,” Amane pointed at the cream haired girl with teal tips sitting in front of him. She was putting a lot of designs for her pen pal letter so that her assigned sender would think that she's a creative person that matches their own aesthetic. “Hey, Yashiro-san, who do you think will be your pen pal?”

“I hope my pen pal is a boy,” Yashiro sighed dreamily as Amane deadpanned at her being a simp for hot and tall guys. He used to like her back then until he realized that he wasn't good enough for her. “And while we're sending letters, we'll fall in love—”

“Okay that's enough delusions, Yashiro.” Amane raised his hand up to prevent her from speaking more of her fantasies. “I've heard enough of them.”

“What did you put in your letter?” Yashiro asked.

“Pretty much about myself, I added some stickers and post cards, just incase my future pen pal would like them.” Amane explained while counting his fingers. “Hopefully they would because I made a lot of effort in it.” he said while scratching his cheek.

“I heard that our letters will be sent to another school and students from our grade will be our pen pals.” Akane explained as he went towards Yamabuki. “If Ao-chan gets a pen pal that is a guy, then I guess I have to eliminate the offender—”

“Whoah chill, Aoi.” Yamabuki glanced up to the red head whose expression quickly changed with a scary one. “What's with the bat though—?”

“Sometimes your obsession scares me.” Amane raised a perfect brow at Akane while resting his cheek to the heel of his palm.

“You're the one to talk.” Akane slightly glared at the smaller male. “At least I have a love life.”

“Fair enough.” Amane grumbled under his breath, looking away from the distasteful Akane. “Wait, you two are dating—?”

Amane was interrupted by their homeroom teacher entering the class. “Good morning class, did you have your letters ready?” Sensei asked as he scratched his chin. “To those who didn't know yet, your letters will be delievered to another school. Expect a letter from your new pen pal on the next day or two.”

The dark haired boy feels his eyes slowly drooping, it's always like this, getting sleepy in the middle of class. The cause? Stargazing.

Amane, ever since he was a little boy, he loved the moon and stars. He would open his window at night and look into his telescope to admire the star studded sky. Looks like he stayed up a little too long before dawn, you can't really blame him, who wouldn't like stargazing.

His eyes can't take it anymore, he needed to snooze off, just for a moment to rest. Amane folded his arms on top of his desk and puts his head down to take a nap.

“The other world at 5:53 is beautiful.”

In a dusk turning into dark, there stood a glowing carousel, spinning in a clockwise motion that seemed like it was twisting forever. Amane wandered around the place, wondering why he standing in front of a lonely ride.

He felt his ears ring and the ground slightly shaking. Amane closed his eyes as he felt the wind blowing against him, then everything stopped.

Amane fluttered his eyes open and saw a girl wearing a different school uniform than theirs. She was around Yashiro's height, he estimated, but nonetheless he never seen this girl before.

In a blink of an eye, she disappeared.

Amane raised his head up immediately from the sleep and panted heavily. Beads of sweat came rolling down from his forehead, his chest rises and then it lowers for a second, and he couldn't breathe properly after that. ‘What was that?’ he thought, drawing his hand near his chest to calm his breathing. ‘Who was that?’

He was sure as hell that he was confused, having a dream about a glowing carousel and a girl wearing a school uniform, whom he had never seen before, whatever that dream was about, he felt goosebumps on his skin. Amane fixed himself, he probably looked like he ran in a marathon and never got to drink water after that. 

“Amane-kun, why do you keep sleeping in class?” Yashiro asked with a stern tone like she was a mother scolding her son for doing something wrong. “You shouldn’t sleep in classes anymore, okay?” she added while handing him her notebook which contains the notes that she took during the lesson.

Yashiro, as one of Amane's friends, was concerned for the boy. She was worried about him, but that doesn't mean the cream haired girl has feelings for the choppy haired guy. Like she said, she isn’t his type. “I’ll try not to sleep in class...” Amane receives the notebook from his female friend. 

“If you sleep again, I won’t lend you my notes anymore.” 

“Okay okay, I won’t sleep next time.” Amane assures her in a sweat dropped expression. “But I make no promises though---”

Yashiro snorted. “By the way---” Amane was interrupted by the school bell beckoning them to go eat their lunch. He sighed, he always gets cut off whenever he says something interesting. The teenage boy slumped his shoulders before going to the rooftop to eat his food.

All alone by himself like he usually does.

Amane was puzzled by the dream he had while he was napping during class. A carousel and a girl he had never seen before, perhaps that it was a lost memory of his or he had actually seen this girl but he doesn't remember her.

He'll figure that out on his own.

The next day felt like any other day. Amane groaned loudly, waking up from his slumber (surprisingly he actually slept) and not wanting to get up from the comfortable bed that he was laying down. He buried his face on one of the pillows. ‘I don't want to wake up, I swear to god.’

“Amane, Amane—”

“What?!” Amane shot his head up and shouted fiercely at his younger twin, Tsukasa who was standing on the door with a towel wrapped around his hips.

“Wake up, we have classes!” Tsukasa reminded him. Amane sighed and slammed his face against the pillow, he felt himself close his eyes to sleep again, until Tsukasa grabbed his face and forcefully removed his brother's face from the pillow. “WAKE UP!”

“I'm up, I'm up!” Amane removed Tsukasa's hands from his face and glared at him. “Jeez, you don't have to scream on my face.” he added while getting off the bed towards the bathroom.

Amane looked into the mirror with half lidded eyes while brushing his teeth, his dark choppy hair was disheveled with few strands of hair slightly sticking out, and his long sleeved shirt that two buttons were unbuttoned where a bit of his chest is showing.

After taking a bath, Amane wrapped a towel around his torso while drying his hair with another towel. He grabbed his uniform that was hanging on the wall and wore it in a speed.

Amane notices that Tsukasa left early which is unusual since he usually leaves early leaving his brother behind. He smiled to himself before heading on to school.

When he arrived, he saw that his classmates are crowded over to his very own desk. Amane pushed his way towards them. “What's going on?” he asked.

“Letters from the other school got recently delivered.” Yashiro answered. “Your pen pal letter is here, and I must say they're very creative.”

Amane felt intrigued all of a sudden, he went to his desk to see the pen pal letter for himself and when he did, his jaw dropped.

A navy blue parcel with constellations around the paper. It was tied by a twine and dried flowers. A smile ghosted upon Amane's lips, the pen pal knew his aesthetics and his love for stars.

He gently grabbed the parcel from his desk and examined it. To Amane's surprise, he saw a tag clipped from the twine, he reads.

[name] [surname].

The name of his new pen pal.

Amane unwrapped the parcel, there's an envelope that was sealed with wax. 'Fancy' he thought to himself as he slightly sticks out his bottom lip. Other than that, there are polaroids and moon stickers, but there is one thing that caught his eye.

A thin book.

Amane picked up the book, it was an astronomy journal that [name] made for him. 'This person must have made a lot of effort, I admire that.'

Amane opened the envelope first, inside was a neatly folded letter, he carefully unfolded it using his fingers.

Hi Amane Yugi-san,

I'm [name] [surname], your pen pal for this quarter! Well I made an astronomy journal since I saw your letter talking about yourself, hope you like it though ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ 

After reading the letter, a smile broke down from Amane’s visuals. His pen pal is revealed to be a girl who is a first year highschool student, like him, studying from Sanaol Academy, which is far from Kamome.

Time flew by like a shooting star in a dark blue sky, Amane went home feeling giddy to write his response to [name]. When he got to his room he immediately grabbed a lot of art materials to work on the letter.

Hello [name]-san,

Thanks for the journal, I love the contents inside of it. Anyways, I hope we'll meet someday and talk about the stars together! I have a playlist where you can listen while stargazing hehe~

Amane smiled to himself, resting his cheek to the heel of his palm while writing his letter to [name]. Maybe this pen pal project isn't going to be bad after all.

Meanwhile in [name]'s side, she was sitting on her swivel chair with a cheeky smile on her face while reading Amane's letter. The strands of her hair are falling to her hair, admiring his words.

“[name], dinner's ready!”

“Coming!” [name] grinned before going downstairs to eat dinner with her family.

“The door of my dreams unreal, you from my memories become real”

@closetweebsmh @closetwaffle

[6knotty6thotty6]

So a couple of months ago, I saw a YouTube video that was an audio recording of season 5, episode 6 of Bojack Horseman, “Free Churro.” In the episode, the main character, Bojack Horseman, spends 20 minutes giving a eulogy at his mother’s funeral. There’s one big problem though, his mother was an abusive bitch. His eulogy is him trying to contemplate what she meant by her drying words, “I see you,” and whether or not she loved him. As someone who has a dead parent who was abusive, this is probably my favorite episode of any show ever for how much it helped me understand my feelings. The comments section is filled with people sharing their pain with their abusive families, but one comment stood out to me above all the others by how raw and relatable it was. This comment was by a YouTuber named Moonstruck. At the bottom of this post is a link to her channel. Please support her. After reading this, she deserves a million subscribers. Also please watch Bojack Horseman. (I corrected some of the grammatical errors to make it easier to read)

Disclaimer: Child abuse, bullying, trauma, and mental health:

Moonstruck: 

This is a great monologue, but one part of it, in particular, really caught my attention was the 'grand gesture' bit.

When I was a kid, I read this book called "Chicken Soup for the Soul." There's a shitload of them. I don't remember which particular one it was. I hated the whole series because it's just someone profiting off a bunch of other people's stories rather than trying to write their own, in my opinion. 

Anyway.

This one story that I remember, the ONLY one I remembered,  was sent in by a little girl. She wrote about how her father never told her that he loved her. He never once, in her whole life, said the words "I love you." I don't remember her mom being mentioned, maybe she was dead; it doesn't matter. The point is her dad was basically an emotionless asshole. Well, one day, this girl gets sick. Really sick. Possibly on her deathbed sick. She wrote that one day she woke up to find a necklace sitting on her nightstand that had a pendant that looked like her dog. She said she held it to her heart and cried because that necklace said all the things her father never had.

I thought, "What a load of bullshit."

A cheap trinket doesn't make up for years and years of emotional neglect. Anyone can buy a thing and toss it your way. Hell, he didn't even hand it to her himself, just left it there for her to find if/when she woke up, then left her alone again to possibly die.

A lot of people say that actions speak louder than words, in cases like political protests and shit. While that's true, scenarios that this that girl are different. Gifts can never replace the words, "I love you."

When I was a kid, my father never told me he loved me. My mother didn't either, but she's a whole other kettle of fish. I would say 'my biological mother or father,' but I never got adopted ones, so who gives a shit. Anyway. My father was rarely around, and when he was, he just spent the entire time fighting with my mother and leaving again. He would do and say anything that could get him to spend less time in the house with her. With us. I can't blame him. If I could've left during those times, I would have. I tried more than once. I even earned the nickname 'runaway' from a family friend because of it. 

I was told that I was worthless as early as I could understand words. I don't know what it is about me that set my mother off, but she HATED me. I was always told how expensive I was to keep alive and how I wasn't worth it. If I dared ask for anything, she would remind me how much she spent just to keep me from starving to death and that it was too much already. On the rare occasion I was given something, it was so she could use it as a threat. She was like, "Sure, you can have that toy horse since we got your sister a real one, but you better behave or we'll give it to her and let her break it." Or "Oh, fine, we can keep this dog as a FAMILY pet (NOT YOURS), but if you do something we don't like, we'll take it away and kill it." 

Oh, yeah. I have a sister. She’s cut from the same cloth as our mother. I don't consider any of them family anymore. She was two years older than me. She was the "we should have stopped while we were ahead" kid. Anything she wanted, she got. 

"Mom, can I have an award-winning horse and expensive dressage lessons?"

"Sure!"

"Mom, can I have a car?"

"No problem!"

"Mom, can you pay for my ballet lessons?"

"Absolutely!"

She was the golden child. The one that could do no wrong and wasn't a mistake. Even after she totaled her car, got arrested for an underage DUI, and got pregnant three times in high school, she was still the good one. I never even asked to go to school dances, parties, or go out with the one friend I had. My sister liked to see me in pain. She'd tell our mom that I did things just to get me in trouble. Whether it involved blaming me for things she did or fabricating stuff, she'd say whatever it took to get my mother to beat me while she watched and laughed. Oh, yeah, our mom was BIG on physical punishment. I've been whipped with everything from a riding crop, a wooden paddle, spoons, and especially belts. Anything that was close at hand when my mother got irritated, I've been hit with it. 

At one point, my sister had three tall, beautiful show-worthy horses. I was allowed to keep a sickly old pony for all of a week before she was taken away, then I'd get called ungrateful for asking why we had to get rid of HER instead of one of the horses. Even though my mother said it cost too much to keep them all. With horses being obviously too rich for my blood, I asked for something cheaper, and for once, I got it. I was given a baby goat that one of our neighbors' goats had abandoned for being too weak, and they didn't have time to raise. I loved that goat. I bottle raised him, and named him Ben. He was my best friend for a while. When he grew up, he got so big that I was able to stand on his back to grab tree branches and pull them down so he could eat the leaves. I walked him on a leash like a dog every day. I loved him so much. My mother had me enter him in a show, and we won ninth place! I was thrilled to have something to show against my sister's collection of dressage show ribbons. I finally had proof that I could do something right! Sure, the prize money was taken away from me, but I still had Ben.

But Ben didn't come home with me after the show. It turns out he was sold to a slaughterhouse because that show was for meat goats. I didn't know until he was already gone. Of course, my mother punished me for being upset and even forced me to write a thank-you card to the people who bought his meat. 

My mother was always like that. Anything I loved was used as a threat. I eventually accepted that loving anything was a waste of time. I learned to detach myself from my feelings, and I got really good at it. I can completely turn off my emotional reaction to anything. One time I had to put down one of the egg-laying hens at work that got too sick to save, and I felt nothing while bringing down the ax. When I lost out on a job that could have changed my life, I told myself how stupid it was to hope for anything good. Any positive emotion I felt got me punished, so I learned to feel nothing at all. To this day, I still have trouble feeling things, even when I want to. I'm taking pills now, and they help, sometimes. 

I've had several suicide attempts. I keep a box of razor blades in my desk just to have them close. I got a tattoo of a heart with rainbows on my wrist. Partially for LGBT solidarity, but mostly to remind myself that there is still beauty in the world. I still struggle with wonder if I actually believe it or not. 

I've tried so hard to be a good kid. I never partied, never drank, never smoked even when the chances were there, and I would have greatly loved anything to make the pain stop or even just dull it a little bit. I was in the gifted and talented program at school and was able to graduate at fifteen. For a while, I was sent to a children's home where I was passed around to many people I didn't know, including a clown who I may or may not have actually been related to, until I eventually wound up out here where I am now. It's all pretty hazy, and the details get scrambled. 

It's been 10 years since I've had contact with my mother and sister. I can't even keep in touch with the one friend I had, even after I lived with her. She's tried to reach out to me, but I just… can't. I try, but I can't. Sometimes, I can almost pretend that my past wasn't real. It's just a hazy fog that isn't really there. I want to believe that if I don't allow something, or someone, who was part of that past, someone tangible and real, into my life again, then the fog will go away. This is why I can't do it. I know I'm a terrible friend. Ariel, if you're reading this, I'm sorry. You're better off without me in your life anyway. 

I typed all of this out because sometimes, about fifty dollars or so shows up in my PayPal from my father's email address. I don't know if it's from him or from her using his email, but it doesn't matter either way. The point is I know my mother is the one sending the money.

I know my mother likes to think she's a good person. She went to church every Sunday, and probably still does. She organized a lot of church events and participated in every church function. I had to be an altar server for several years until I aged out of it and was in the choir. She kept going to that church even after the priest got drunk, called me many horrible names in front of everyone, and was revealed to be a pedophile that raped a little boy at gunpoint. She probably still goes to that same church and organizes things. She likes being in charge. She likes having people look at her and say, "That there is a good person."

But are you, though, Mom? Are you really a good person? Were you a good person when you hit me? When you lied to me? When you laughed with my sister about how much I got hurt for things I didn't do? Were you a good person every time you told me you'd kill my cat or leave my dog at the pound? Were you a good person when you sold Ben to be eaten, knowing that I loved him? Were you a good person when you made me read "A child called It" and told me that you'd start doing the things in that book to me if I didn't behave? Were you a good person every time you told my father I was a liar whenever I tried to tell him what you were doing to me? Were you a good person when you told me I wasn't worth the cost of being alive? Were you? 

Fuck you, Mom! Keep your fucking money! A necklace on the nightstand isn't enough. A trinket can't heal years and years and years of abuse and hurt. You can't hide these scars under dollar bills. I hope you die alone. I know I probably will, but I don't even care anymore. I lost the ability to care thanks to you. You can't make up for the things you did and the things you didn't say now. Too little, too late! 

[vv3nti]

BIRD BOSS (part three)

[social media hybrid]

summary: y/n wants to rush her recovery process, putting her hero career on hold for what should have been a simple injury was devastating. she was ready to give. but the number two hero had an irresistible proposition. but he lands himself in a rocky situation as a crush develops on y/n; who quite frankly wants none of his shit. will hawks win her heart or will someone from her past steal it away?

warnings: language!!, angst, fluff, some ooc—sue me, CRACK, and LANGUAGE, pay no attention to timestaps, adult talk??? excuse the mistakes pls and ty

2.4k words

SERIES MASTERLIST

NO. NO. NO. NO. Your eyes widen as they fell upon your boss’ relaxed figure, chatting with your friends. What the hell was he doing here, and why did he look so casual among your peers? There was still time to make a run for the door; no one had even noticed you descend from the bathroom; feigning sickness didn’t sound like a bad idea right about now. This wasn’t the plan; Hawks was supposed to go home and meet you on sunday, not stay and mingle. He was ruining the atmosphere; people were gawking and staring at the pro, bringing unwanted attention to your table. Why would he think, showing up to a mediocre downtown club was a good idea? You didn’t have much time to dwell because Mina exposed your existent as she called you over. She smiled brightly, countering your set grimace. Keigo turned around slowly, a smirk decorated his lips and a glint in his eyes. He knew what he was doing; he found it quite amusing and rather eventful.

“Y/N! Look! It’s Hawks.” Mina gleamed, her drunken state failing to keep her excitement from bubbling over; she was practically bouncing off the floor. The time you told her you’d be working for the pro-hero, she went ballistic, bombarding you with a profound number of questions. Sure, the girl did have a special love for heroes but let’s not forget Hawks’ popularity due to his appearance, which granted him a few extra points in Mina’s book. It took a lot of self-restraint not to roll your eyes at your starstruck friend as you traveled to the booth.

“Yes, I see. What is he doing here?” you emphasized, turning to Hawks, the previous glare returning to your expression. If your eyes had mouths of their own, they would have told him to fuck off in a multitude of ways. You hoped he’d take the hint and leave you be, but to your luck, Keigo either didn’t notice or choose to ignore. You bet on the latter.

After a few seconds of your stare off, Keigo straightened his posture, flashing his pearly whites. “Hello, babybird.”

“Answer the damn question.” That earned you an elbow to the gut from Mina.

“Well, I know I told you to give me the bill on Sunday, but I thought it’d just be easier to take it straight from the source.” He scissored his centurion black card between his pointer and middle finger. He feigned surprise before reaching down on the table, grabbing a white iridescent clutch. “And you forgot this.” Hawks confessed, handing you the bag. You knew you didn’t take a purse to the gala, and you knew Hawks knew you didn’t take a flashy purse to the gala. So what the fuck was this expensive piece of material doing in your hands. “Consider it a thank you for showing up tonight; finding a last-minute date would have sucked.”

The explosive blond spoke up, all attention rushing his direction. “You gave her your card already; a simple verbal thanks would have done.” He snapped with a scowl. To say Bakugou had a distaste for the pro-hero would be an understatement, and he has zero hesitation voicing his dislike. It was painfully obvious Bakugou was envious of Hawks; number two hero, highly on almost all charts, and good looking, he had it all and at the mere age of twenty-three. In truth, you believe he looked up to the wing hero, but even if that were the case, her friend would never admit it.

Keigo took notice of the boy's irritated persona; he wasn’t a stranger to haters, but right now, he’d rather Bakugou not ruin the moment. Absent Mindlessly waving his hand around, Hawks remarked, “Well, maybe, I like to spoil my employees, Ground Zero.” The quick look of surprise on Bakugou’s face satisfied Hawks, as did Mina praising how sweet he was. “I’ve seen you on TV before; your quirk is just as explosive as your personality, too, huh?” He sassed, the snarky response earning a few giggles from your friends.

Bakugou rolled his eyes, grumbling incoherently as he sunk further into the plush seating. If this went on any longer, you swore you’d choke on the testosterone.

You turned towards the booth. “Hey, he’s only messing around with you, Katsuki. Just let it all out by order drinks, yeah?”

The smug expression vanished from Keigo’s face rather quickly, a confused one taking its place. You're on a first-name basis with this guy? He thought, though, he tried to mask his it as best he could when you focused your attention back on him.

“Listen, thank you for the drinks and this.” You lifted the clutch in your hand. “I appreciate it, but I-” The pink-haired girl to your left softly tugged your arm. The desperation in her eyes caused you to look away only to meet the begging stares the rest of the group bore into your figure. Guilt crept up your spine—no, you shouldn’t be feeling this way, but you didn’t want to disappoint your friends. So much for a night off.

You signed, dragging a hand down your face. “Fine, you can stay.”

The night progressed relatively smoothly; it was a surprise to you how well Hawks mixed with your friends. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves in his presence. Well, everyone except for Bakugou, who continued to sulk by himself. His sour attitude prompted you to a stand, reaching your open palm in his direction. Bakugou ignored your offer, but you were persistent and wouldn’t take no as an answer.

“Katsu, please.” A whine pulled from your throat, attracting the attention from the winged-hero talking with Momo, Kirishima, Denki, and Mina. “I want the legendary ‘Lord Explosion Murder’ mix, and you’re the only one who knows the order, c’mon.”

You squealed as Bakugou grumbled in agreeance; you clutched his wrist and started your departure to the bar. The rest of the table paused their conversation, watching you leave. Hawks didn’t remove his gaze until you were entirely out of sight; confusion racked through him again. He found himself wishing you talked about your personal life more because as he’s out with you now, he doesn’t seem to know anything about you.

“That’s the nicest Bakugou gets.” Denki laughed. “And I have to say I’m jealous. What a world, him not hating me.”

“Well, you should’ve snatched him up first,” Momo replied, giggling profoundly when the yellow-haired boy glared. Not that he would ever admit it, but when they first met, Denki had quite the crush on Bakugou. “And maybe he’d be your boyfriend, huh.”

Mina’s entire being jumped in her seat, eyes wide and lips pursed. She slapped Momo’s shoulder sharply, giving her a pointed look, one that a mother would give their child when they’re acting out in public. “Bakugou is not her boyfriend.”

“Maybe if he ever got around to confessing his feelings to L/N. It’s been years at this point.”

Oh, was this interesting? Hawks shouldn’t find this as intriguing as he did; this was his assistant, for fuck’s sake; he should be professional instead of indulging in this drama. But, hey, when has he ever been known to keep things traditional. Keigo deemed his attraction to you a given crush; isn’t it abound to happen to two people who work closely and spend a lot of time together? Right? Whatever the reason, he couldn’t seem to just enough. You’re a drug, and he’s addicted, obsessed, always wondering when he’ll get his next fix.

Mina rolled her widen eyes. The girl was far too biased to even indulge in the conversation, but she couldn’t help but peeve. Mina had her money on Hawks swooping into your life before Bakugou ever got over himself. “A girl can only wait so long.” She huffed, perking up as the explosive blond rounded the table. “Where’s Y/N?”

Bakugou mumbled something about you taking too long to order, causing the group to erupt loudly. He was never great showing his affection around other people, huh?

“You left her up there?”

“By herself?”

“What the hell, Bakubro?”

“What about the Lord Explosion Murder.”

“Dude!”

All noise ceased as Hawks stood up, his chair sliding back against the dark wood. “I’ll go check on her; I need a refill anyway.” The bass of the club drowned the sound of ice rattling against his glass.

You tapped your finger to the rhythm on the beat as you waited, watching the bartender move from person to person. Unfortunately, they were out of orange citrus syrup—to key ingredient to Bakugou’s said drink mix—so you had to find something else to get. You didn’t mind waiting, though. Reading the odd cocktail combinations was quite entertaining as long as you didn’t have to go back and face Hawks.

“Hey.” Keigo’s voice caused you to glance behind you. He leaned over your shoulder to place his glass on the bar, his warmth mixing with your own. Hawks was exceedingly close to your body; you were able to smell his spicy cologne as his front lightly grazed your side. You partially expected him to pull away, put some distance between your bodies but part of you knew he would test the waters. “What’re thinking?” he asked smoothly, eyes grazing the menu. “This sounds good.” Angel Wings was the name of the daiquiri, how cute.

You felt your cheeks begin to flush, this was too far, and you’re intoxicated. Keigo’s usual teasing comments and flirty gestures you could effortlessly ignore, but this was entirely different. There was no room to shuffle away from his figure, for someone occupied the space next to you. Why did he find so much pleasure messing with your head? Truthfully you aren’t surprised; this is what Hawks does; he reels girls in and leaves a trail of hearts in his wake. You’d witnessed it a handful of occasions. Angry, pained, desperate girls trying to either enter the agency building or spam your social media to reach the hero. You will not fall victim to his charms, but as you turn to the side, your eyes meeting his yellow ones, you felt your facade grasping for dear life.

A chillingly squeaky voice pulled you from your trance. “Can we please take a picture with you?” Two petite girls stood feet away, clutching phones in their shaking hands. “Sorry, we just have never had the chance to meet a pro.” You don’t think you’ve ever been so thankful for quirky drunk people.

On the opposite spectrums of things, Keigo internally cursed; he was so close. And although he had no clue what he was close too, it felt right. But thing one and thing two had to show up and spoil it. Before acknowledging the two, he turned back towards you only to see you’d moved away from his touch and started conversing with the bartender. Fuck. Despite his frustration, Hawks equipped his award-winning smile and accepted their request.

“Sorry bout’ that, babybird.” Keigo hummed sheepishly. He knew you dislike the alum of attention he attracts when performing mundane activities, and by the slight squint in your eyes, he figured the distaste settled in you once again.

“Hmm, here.” Your fingers grazed his own as you handed him a fresh drink. Of course, you knew his order. “I'm used to it, gotta take care of the fangirls.” The prior encounter was still fresh on your mind; you cursed yourself for allowing Hawks to get into your head like that. Your walls stood up pretty high, but tonight, he almost made it over the top for whatever reason.

“I'd much rather it be you be one of my fangirls.” And the teasing was back. Classic. “I could always make some exceptions for you, take a few pictures.” He suggested, lips curling into a sinister smirk.

You rolled your eyes, your head lolling to the side. A part of you wanted to play his game, ruffle his feathers a bit, but on the contrary, that would successfully add gasoline to the raging flames. You took a sip of your drink. “My friends really like you.”

Keigo couldn't say why, but the compliment made his heart flutter. He wanted acceptance from your peers. Made him feel like he was doing something right for once in his godforsaken life. Running into you was his golden ticket; Keigo never hesitated when it came to you; he’s always so sure. That’s one reason he keeps you around because as much as you invade his thoughts, you also focused his mind. “Not all of them.” Why would he bring him up? “What’s his problem, huh? Got a crush on you.” Keigo said teasingly, masking the sour taste in his voice.

A stream of air blew from the nose as you shook your head with a small smile. “Aha, no. Katsuki, he…” you trailed off, searching for the right words. The mood dampens. “He blames himself for what happened. He took it remarkably hard, so he’s kind of protective. But no, he does not have a ‘crush’ on me.”

Hawks wanted to ask more questions, he craved to fill the gaps, but he refrained. He wanted you to open up to him on your own will; although he was reasonably comfortable around you, Keigo knew you still put walls up around him. He respected it, but that didn’t mean he’d stop trying. “Either way, he has a major stick up his ass. Popularity charts are gonna be rough on him.”

“I know,” You want Bakugou to succeed as a hero; it’s all he's ever wanted. But his hostile disposition was going to hold him back. “You should teach him the rings,” You joked, partially.

“No can do, I'll be too busy teaching you, babybird.” Hawks was quite the optimist, but you figured he was just trying to make you feel better.

You looked down, stirring your drink. “Tch, whatever.”

“It's true; we’ll be an unstoppable duo!” Hawks beam, waving his hand in the air enthusiastically.

“If I take your offer.”

“Oh babybird,” Keigo paused, inhaling through his teeth. “You signed a contract. You're stuck with me for life and the afterlife.”

“Sounds like a nightmare.” With that, you left him standing at the bar. Not only did you want the last word, but you also wished to get back to your friends. This was their night, after all. “Hey, take care of your fan club before joining us.” You motioned to the group of people gawking at the winged pro.

taglist: @therealwalmartjesus @katzurras @noonewouldlisten25 @cathy8taffy

[accomplice-tendou]

Chapter One

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲

"Here's your 20 000 yen," you tell your customer before they snatch the cash out of your hand.

"Thank you for coming. Have a nice day," you try to say cheerfully to the customer who is already walking away from you.

Asshole.

"Can I help who's next?"

Putting on the best bubbly attitude, you observe as your next customer approaches you. The customer then hands you their card and a check, asking you to transfer the money on the card.

"Here you go, thank you for coming," you add with your best smile as you hand them back their card, "have a nice day."

The customer nods and walks away.

"Y/N!" you hear your boss, Ikari, call you from behind.

Turning around you see the man give you a bored stare before telling you that you're shift's up.

Thank god.

After thanking him, you shut down your computer and grab your belongings.

Once you leave the bank, you walk down the street towards where you park your car.

I hate this. I do the same thing every day. I park my car in the same freakin' spot. Repeat the same thing to customers. And then when I go home I barely have any time to myself before I fall asleep. I need a new job.

You sigh to yourself as you continue walking, knowing your words are mere fantasies of yours. If you were to quit your job, you wouldn't be able to afford rent.

Once you get back to your apartment, you make a quick microwaved dinner out of whatever you grabbed first in your freezer. As it cooks, you grab your laptop and pull up one of the crime shows you're currently invested in.

Although you enjoy solving the mysteries, you can't help but revel in the trill of some of the crimes. Those criminals were living the life they wanted to live. Doing new and dangerous things on their own time. However, you begin to worry that you may be a bad person for thinking these things.

When your dinner's done heating up, you watch your show for awhile. Upon finishing your food, you throw out the plastic container and put away your laptop.

After a long, relaxing bath you return to your bedroom for the night in hopes that tomorrow will lead to something better.

"Shit," you groan as you look around your station for your lunch the next day, "I must have left my lunch in the car."

You groan and wonder if it's even worth grabbing your lunch. However, after hearing your stomach rumble, you decide to go get it.

"Mr. Ikari," you call to your boss as you knock on his door.

"What do you want?!" he snaps.

You cautiously open the door, revealing the tall man staring at you with an annoyed look on his face.

"Well?!"

"Oh, I was just going to let you know that I'm just going to grab my lunch from my car... in case you needed me."

"Yeah whatever, you can go," he growls before paying attention to his newspaper.

Who the hell even reads newspapers anymore?

You quietly close the door so as to not disturb your boss any further.

On your way to your car, you try calming the headache you began to get from your conversation with your boss. Even though he's a total douche-bag, you've got to deal with him as delicately as possible.

Once you reach the parking garage where your car is kept, you notice a tall man with spiky, bright red hair. As he looks down at his phone, you observe an almost creepy smirk extend across your face.

Although the expression he wears sends chills down your spine, you can't help but look away. You find yourself attracted to the man who hasn't even acknowledge your existence.

Continuing to get distracted as you walk closer to him, your shoulder bumps into him by accident.

"Shit," you curse quietly as you realize what you've done.

"I-I'm sorry," you stutter out as you turn around to face him.

"Oowow that's okay, my you're really pretty!" he boldly tells you.

"Oh, uh, t-thanks," you try to reply, but the intensity in his dark red eyes makes it hard for your brain to function.

[pharissofthemall374]

“Uh, this is a supermarket-“

Bakugou Katsuki was known as one as the most hardworking fierce heroes in the Pro Hero world. His reputation started off well after graduating from UA. It payed off for him, being in the top ten ranking. Sure, he had a bit of a temper, but he got the job well done.

But, just because he was a hero, it didn't exclude him from having a bad work day like everyone else.

Indeed, today was a rough one. The shift started off excruciating slow, he was just stuck doing patrolling half the day. When he finally received a call that a giant reptilian was causing trouble at a nearby park, he instantly got right on it.

But it turns out, the "giant reptilian" was the result of a kid messing around with their Size Quirk and had used it on a gecko. The kid couldn't figure out how to get it back to its original size and the gecko began to wreck the park. So Bakugou was stuck wrangling the gecko while also screaming at the kid at the same time.

He groaned as he trudged through the aisles of the store he was in. After the gecko incident, the agency gave him the rest of the night off.

"Stupid fucking kid...wasting my time with a dumbass lizard" he muttered to himself as he grabbed a case of beers from a shelf.

He went up to the checkout line, placing the beers on the conveyor belt. He shoved his hands into his pockets, his hood covering his face. The mask to his costume did cover his face, yes, but it was usually the spikey hair that made people recognize him.

He rubbed his the tired from his eyes as he waited on the person checking out in front of him. Two ladies then lined up behind him, placing their items besides his beer and began to talk to each other.

"Did you read what happened with Dynamight today?"

"The whole lizard incident?"

"Yeah, he apparently made a kid cry"

He smirked. Correction, he made the kid bawl.

"I know, that's terrible.."

One of the woman let out a huff of breath

"Some hero he is, right?"

"If anything, he's just some overrated jerk. You remember back when he won the Sports Festival in his first year? He was practically feral"

He rolled his eyes at that. He knew that there were some people who didn't necessarily like him and he didn't really care-

"I'm glad there's heroes like Shoto and Deku that make up for him-“

And that's what made him snap.

He felt his hands heat up and his eye twitched. He was about to turn around and give them a piece of his mind, when he interrupted by the girl in front of him.

_____________________________________

You were already annoyed as it is while you were also listening to those idiots talk. You had swiped your card on the machine when you heard that last remark. You looks up to the clerk and gave a small smile.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment-" you said with a light tone. The clerk was about to say something, but you turned towards the two women.

"Uh, hi. Excuse me-" You glanced at the guy next to you. "Sorry, don't mind me. But you two, right there"

The women looked over to you, giving you a quizzical look.

"Yes, hi! I was wondering, do you mind shutting the fuck up?" You asked

Both of their jaws dropped. You heard a quiet snort from the stranger. One of the women's face scrunched up in anger

"Excuse me!?" She scowled

"Oh no, you heard me. I didn't stutter" You retorted

"Who do you think you are-"

"No, who do you fucking think you are to talk shit about someone who goes out his way to protect stuck up bitches like you?" You snapped

The women sputtered while the other one's face turned red.

"You're both ungrateful cowards. Rot in hell"

Both of them stayed silent as you turned back to the clerk, who had a wild eye look on his face.

"...Would you like your receipt?" He asked

"No, thank you. Have a good night" You said in an annoyed tone. You grabbed your belongings and left the store, unaware that you left what you came for.

Your fucking groceries

___________________________________

He watched you as you left, a surprised look on his face. He let out a low chuckle.

"You think that's funny?" scoffed the woman.

His eyes narrowed again, he threw off the hood and glared down at them.

"Didn't she tell you to shut the fuck up?" He growled

The look of fear flashed in both of their eyes, the both ducked their heads toward the ground. He turned back around, his eyes falling onto your bag of groceries. He scoffed and gave cash to the clerk.

"Keep the change"

He grabbed his beer and the bag, leaving the store without another word.

As he exited, he nearly knocked into you. You hardly noticed who he was, continuing to walk back into the store.

"Shit, sorry. I left something in there-"

"You mean this?" He answered while holding the bag up. You turned, finally acknowledging that it was the actual Dynamight. You stood there for half a second, hesitant on what to say or do.

"Ah...yeah. That's it..."

You still just stood there awkwardly. Silently glancing between the bag and him.

"Are you gonna take these or not?" He spat out

"Yes-Yes I will" You quickly took the bag from him, looking down at the ground.

"...You saw all that didn't you?" You quietly asked.

"I was literally right next to you, dumbass"

"Oh wow, okay...well then..." You glanced back up at him, giving an awkward smile "I hope I gave a good impression...?"

He scoffed.

"Besides not paying attention and leaving an entire bag of groceries like an idiot? Yeah, sure. You can say that"

You laughed at that

"Yeah...in the heat of the moment, I got distracted"

"Sure was an interesting exit" He addressed

"Thanks, I sure do try" You gave a bow...then questioned yourself on why you gave a bow.

"Well, thank you...for getting my groceries" You said as you stood back up straight, only to be greeted with a deadpanned expression from him

"Yeah, sure" he responded

There was yet again an awkward, way to fucking long, silence

"Okay...thanks-I'll leave now" You turned around and began to walk out into the night, feeling flustered. You didn't get far before you heard him call out.

"Did you walk here?"

You paused and turned around, seeing him walk up to you. As he got closer, you realized how taller he was than you, seeing that you had to physically look up at him.

"Uh, yeah...I did"

"In the dark?"

"...Yeah"

He looked out towards the dark street and then back down at you, his piercing red eyes that seemed to be staring right into your soul.

"Do you have a Quirk good enough to look out for yourself?" He asked.

"I'm...Quirkless"

You heard him let out a tired sigh

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?"

Your eyes narrowed, next thing you knew, you spoke without thinking.

"First off, my shift ran late and I had no food in my apartment so I didn't really have a choice. Second-"

You pulled out a taser from your pocket, clicking it on and off

"Yeah, sure. Little ol' quirkless me is totally going off alone in a crazy world with nothing to protect myself. So, no sir. I am not an idiot, if that answers your question" You quipped at him. You then realized who you were talking to. Your blood ran cold as you stared at his stoic face, waiting to get screamed at.

"...I'm walking you home" He growled

"Well, hold on. You don't-"

"That wasn't a request, I'm taking you home" He snapped. You looked onto the ground, nearly flinching at the tone. There was another moment of silence

"...I'm going out of my way to protect idiots like you, dumbass" He said in a quiet tone

You scoffed at that, loosening up a bit.

"Ha ha, aren't you funny"

"Start walking" He droned as he put the hood back on.

And so you did. The two of you walked in silence for a while. Finally, you blurted out.

"What does one have to say to strike up a conversation with Dynamight?"

"Who said I wanted to talk?"

"Well, it's kind of awkward just walking in silence with a Pro Hero"

He rolled his eyes.

"Skip the formalities and call me Bakugou"

You nodded, but couldn't help but smirk. This guy, seriously just gave you his name.

"Well then, aren't I special, huh?" You chuckled.

"You're weird, y'know that?"

"So I've been told, but I don't go around fighting lizards, so..."

He growled at that

"Do you have a death wish, dumbass?"

"No. I just happen to have a sense of humor, Hero"

He stayed silent for a moment, you felt his eyes on you as you continued to walk.

"You are the only fan I've met, that thinks they can talk to me that way"

"Bold of you to assume that I'm a fan" You scoffed.

"Oh really? You're not?" He stopped and pointed back towards the store. "Back there tells a different story"

"I just so happen to not like idiots who pull that type of shit, and plus, I was already pissed off as it is-"

"Bold of you to assume I was talking about what happened in the store"

You paused and turned back towards him.

"Well, I- goddammit, you're-" you stammered, trying to come up with something.

Bakugou just smirked, he then looked over your shoulder to see a group of guys walking towards you both. You turned around, immediately rolling your eyes and mumbled.

"Jesus Christ, not these fucking losers again-"

"Yooooo...there's our sexy babe right there...what took you so long to get here?" One of them called out. It was obvious to Bakugou that they were drunk, they reeked of booze as well as seeing that one of them was slumped against another guy.

"Oh goodie, it's great to know that you creeps keep track of my schedule" you sighed. You usually ran into these drunk assholes every night you came from work. The men laughed in response.

"There you go with those jokes that you always have..." slurred the man. They then took notice of Bakugou, giving a grim look.

"Who the hell is this?"

Bakugou's eyes narrowed, he opened his mouth to say something before being interrupted yet again by you.

"That's none of your business, jackass"

"He looks like a creep..." said the fucking creep, then reached out and grabbed you by the arm. "We'll take you home, sweetheart"

"Dude, get off-" you were then interrupted by a loud popping noise. The man let go, immediately you felt a tight grip at the back of your shirt, then being tugged towards Bakugou. You felt him place his hand on the small of your back. You looked up to see him glaring at the men, he had his other hand up, another blast coming from it.

"You assholes gonna get lost or do you want your face to be blown up?" He snarled.

The men cursed, immediately scattering out into the street. The two of you just stood in the same spot, while you were still acknowledging that he still was touching you.

"Uh...okay, wow. That was...intense" You blurted out. You heard him scoff.

"That was nothing but a bunch of morons wasting my time. Keep moving, I don't have enough patience to run into anymore like them"

"Uh, yeah...That'd probably be best" You said as you kept your eyes down, feeling flustered as hell. You began to walk, noticing that he still had his hand on your back as he followed you.

The rest of the walk continued in silence until you finally made it to your apartment building. He finally took his hand back, there was short feeling of yearning of the warm presence from the sudden absence. You turned and face him.

"Well, this is it....Thank you for that whole mess back there...and for the walk home-"

"Y'know, for someone that has a mouth like yours, you sure are quiet" He spoke, looking down at you once again, that flustered feeling rising once again came at you.

"Well, I'm not exactly used to talking to people...or Pro Heroes walking me to my doorstep" You chuckled.

[ladypaulsvn]

Mine, Yours, Ours

Billie x Reader x Cordelia

Word Count: 1,529

Part 1 / ?

Prompt: On one side you have Cordelia, your supreme that continues sending mixed signals about her affections for you, on the other side you have Billie, the famous medium you just met that seems awfully interested in keeping you company.

Summary: After Cordelia pushes you away yet again, you head downtown for tea where you meet Billie Dean Howard. You end up getting her number, and have a late night chat after a rough encounter with Cordelia when you get home late.

a/n: i got this prompt from someone here on tumblr. i’m gonna try & find it so i can give proper credit!

it’s from: @lourdsbitch i hope you don’t mind 😅 i really like your interpretation of the prompt and was hella inspired by it.

read their story here:

also, this is my first proper story i’m posting here so i apologize if it’s a bit rough! i’m still learning how this whole formatting thing works

You frowned as you exited Cordelia's office. She had yet again shooed you away. For anyone else, this would be expected, she was the supreme after all, and no matter how kind she was, she had her bad days. But she was your girlfriend for god's sake! She used to never treat you this way. Why was she acting like this? She had been blowing you off and acting cold for weeks now. Only responding in harsh tones and quick snaps. You began to wonder what you did wrong.

As you slowly descended the stairs, you decided you needed to cheer yourself up. You didn't need Cordelia. You sprinted back up the stairs and into your room, grabbing your purse, keys, phone, and wallet before sprinting back down and out of the academy to your car.

As you start the engine you pause and go to text Cordelia that you would be going out and would be back later, but stop yourself. She didn't seem to care what you were doing anyway, she was obviously too busy for you. Why should you let her know where you're going when you knew she wouldn’t even respond with anything besides a dry "K". So you pull out of the driveway, and head to your favorite coffee shop, where you ironically always order tea.

The bell rings above the door as you enter the shop, your favorite barista waving you over with a smile. It was a small shop, no more than 5 people were ever there at one time, so there was no line to wait in. "Y/N! Nice to see you again. Haven’t seen you in awhile and thought maybe we'd lost our favorite customer." the barista dramatically frowned and you laughed softly "No worries, just been busy. The usual please?" you hand him your card "Of course, 5 minutes top," you smile as he hands you back your card and you twirl around to go to your usual table that sat right by the window.

As you reach your table you stop dead in your tracks. There in your seat sat Billie Dean Howard, the famous medium. You had no idea she was even in New Orleans! "A little star-struck there sweetheart?" Her honey coated voice rang in your ears, pulling you from your trance. "I- uh, my tab- I usually sit here, I just, wow you're amazing." You ramble as she chuckles at your awkwardness and gestures you to sit. "My apologies for stealing your spot, I see you're a favorite around here, huh?" You expect her to get up and leave but she stays as you clumsily take a seat in front of her.

"I um, you can say that, yeah" You say, not wanting to sound conceited. "Your Chai tea," the barista sets your steaming tea down in front of you, "She is most definitely a favorite in these parts," he winks at Billie and walks away, leaving your cheeks tinted a bright shade of pink. "You're certainly modest," she takes a sip of her drink.

"You have fine taste." she says pointing to your tea and then to her own. "Personally I enjoy a little bit of whipped cream on my Chai." she winks at you and your cheeks burn even brighter. You clear your throat, speechless, not knowing what to say.

"Cat got your tongue?" she smirks, "Call me when you find it." she hands you a slip of paper as she gets up, giving your hand a soft squeeze. You hear the bells chime above the door as she leaves and you gawk at the paper in front of you.

She had written her phone number down, and gave it to you. You had Billie Dean Howard's number. You couldn't stop yourself from squealing as you entered the digits into your phone and saved her as a contact, planning to call her later that night.

***

When you got back to the academy, it was a bit late. You had stayed out the entire day, day dreaming about Billie and going round to different shops. You even spent a few hours at the library. You had actually forgotten about Cordelia momentarily. It was dark out now, so you quietly opened the front door, shutting it as softly as you could behind you.

When you entered, you immediately noticed a chair sat next to the door with a sleeping Cordelia curled inside. You cursed under your breath before tip toeing to the stair case, freezing when you heard "Y/N." in a cold yet sleepy voice behind you.

You turned around slowly and faced Cordelia, who did not look happy. "Do you have any idea what time it is? What the hell were you thinking y/n? I didn't get a single text from you about your whereabouts!" oh yeah, she definitely was not happy. You scoffed, "I didn't get a single text from you either Cordelia. I'm fine, you shouldn't have waited up for me. I'm an adult and can do as I please." you had guts, and the time, tonight. You had been frustrated with Cordelia for weeks now and you were tired of mindlessly obeying.

She looked at you with wide eyes, not expecting the outburst or venomous tone of your voice. She was standing at this point, a good distance away from you. You could practically see the wheels turning in her head. "Get up the stairs and to your room immediately, we will discuss this tomorrow." She ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "I was going there anyway." You spat and stomped up the stairs, making sure to slam your door as hard as you could.

You secretly hoped that Cordelia would come knocking on your door, begging you to unlock it and let her inside, but you knew that wasn't going to happen. You changed into your pajamas and crawled into your bed, remembering that you were going to call Billie tonight. You looked at the time, 9:47 pm. Was it too late to call now? You chewed on your bottom lip as you pulled up her contact, opting to send a quick message first.

y/n: hi Billie! it's y/n, i was wondering if i could give you a call tonight?

You hesitated, but hit send. You stared at the screen, hoping Billie would instantly reply, but she was a busy woman. She had her own tv show for christ's sake, how could you be so selfish to expect her to drop everyth-

Your phone was ringing.

Your eyes went wide at the screen as you realized that it was indeed Billie calling you. You immediately pressed accept and pressed the phone up to your ear. "Found your tongue?" her voice was pure music to your ears. You giggled softly, "Yeah, I did. It was amazing meeting you today." You were glad she wasn't standing right in front of you, your cheeks were flushed a bright pink, yet again. "I would say the same to you, sweetheart." She was effortlessly charming and every time that nickname slipped through her lips, your heart fluttered a bit too much and your stomach filled with butterflies.

"I didn't expect you to reply, nor call me. Especially so quickly because I know you're a busy woman and I respect that. I meant to call earlier but I got busy and when I got home something hap- I just, am so happy to hear your voice." You wanted to smack yourself in the head, until your heard Billie's wonderful velvety laugh on the other side of the phone.

"You like my voice hm?" She teased. "Why wouldn't I call you back? You're a beautiful young woman whom I intend to keep calling." You chokes at her words. Did she really just call you beautiful? "I- thank you but you're far more beautiful." The words slipped out before you could stop them and she gasped. "Now that is a lie y/n." her voice was dark and lovely. "I never want to hear another self deprecating sentence come out of that pretty little mouth again." You were silent. God she really knew what you were missing, huh? Someone to show their interest. Why couldn't your girlfriend do the same?

"Yes ma'am." You were raised in the south, Louisiana of all places, so it wasn't strange to you to refer to people in that manner. "Am I really getting that old?" She chuckled and you stammered "Oh, no! No I just i'm from the south, obviously, Louisiana, and I was just raised to speak that wa-" Billie cut you off.

"I was joking, honey. I appreciate the respect." you sighed in relief. "How about you tell me about the rest of your day I missed out on, hm?" You were shocked, did she really want to know the mundane details of your life? She couldn't possibly. "Really?" It came out as a squeak. "Of course, really. Tell me all about it sweetheart." You smiled brightly as you began to tell Billie about the rest of your day, conveniently leaving out the part where you got yelled at by Cordelia.

[netflxaddict]

Vandalism

Summary: You're a cop, he's the co-owner of a local locksmith shop. A sudden rash of break-ins keeps bringing you to his store.

Word count: 1,6K

Pairing: Wolfgang Bogdanow x fem!reader

Warnings: none

Author's Note: This is my first fanfic so please be kind :') feedback is welcome!

You had arrived at the crime scene fifteen minutes after the call was made. It was early in the morning and the whole rest of the city was just slowly starting to wake up.

"You said nothing was taken," Vilmar stated as he flipped through his notebook to find an empty page. He was your overly protective middle-aged partner. Short, round and balding — the manifestation of every lazy cop of every comedy ever. He loved taking notes, even though the pad mostly consisted of random doodles he made during breaks.

The owner, a lanky 20-something named Felix Berner, nodded, "That's right, officer." He was standing behind the counter, carefully watching you both as you wandered around the shop.

"What do you think, Y/L/N?" Vilmar asked. You hadn't said a word since you had entered the building.

"Vandalism."

"Vandalism?"

"There have been a few similar cases in the neighborhood," you explained, "smashed windows, graffiti on the pavement, no signs of robbery…"

Suddenly the shattered door blew open, and a man stepped inside. He was about the same height as Felix but much sturdier. Short, dirty blonde hair, a stubble lining his strong, ridiculously well-defined jaw, and eyes of that beautifully common shade of blue.

Dressed in all-black, wearing that mysteriously grim yet compelling expression, he stirred up your interest. You watched as he walked towards the counter with firm, vigorous steps, and a smell of his musky cologne mixed with sweat and tobacco floated through your nose.

"Excuse me." Vilmar's voice yanked you out of your head and you cleared your throat, embarrassed. "Who are you?"

"This is Wolfgang," Felix introduced, "he's the co-owner of this shop but most importantly, my very best friend."

"So did they take anything?" Wolfgang asked, completely ignoring you and Vilmar, making you feel invisible.

"Nothing."

Wolfgang fell quiet for a second. He looked around, his brows slightly frowning.

"Vandals," he then said.

You twitched at the word and turned your gaze at him. "How can you tell?"

"The windows were smashed but nothing was taken? Probably just some bored kids looking to get in trouble," he said, playing with his car keys. Then he raised his head and your eyes were finally met with his downturned ones. "Seems quite obvious, don't you think, officer?"

You felt your cheeks redden. What was it about this sullen man that made you feel so shamefully desperate?

"We're sorry about your windows, but there isn't really anything we can do," Vilmar interrupted your thoughts once again.

"What about us? Is there anything we can do?"

"Surveillance camera," you and Wolfgang replied simultaneously.

You glanced at each other. He smiled.

"We'll get one," Felix said, "thank you."

Vilmar bobbed his head and stuffed his notepad to his pocket. "Let's go, Y/L/N."

You waited until he had returned to the car, and dug out your business card, something you had never done before. You handed it to Felix.

"If you see or hear anything suspicious, give me a call."

Even though you were dying to, you didn't turn to give Wolfgang one final look. He didn't need to know how crazy he had made you — especially since to him you had been just another bulle.

* * *

A week later you and Vilmar were sitting in the car parked outside your favorite coffee shop when his radio crackled. There had been another attack at Felix's shop.

"Time to see your boyfriend," Vilmar smiled as you started the car.

"Don't even," you huffed. Ever since he had found out you gave Felix your number, Vilmar hadn't shut up about it. Of course you had wanted to tell him that the number wasn't really so much for Felix as it was for Wolfgang, but what difference would it have made, really? No one had called and now you had to go back there looking like a fool.

This time, the door lock had been picked open but again, nothing was taken.

You were suspicious. It seemed unrealistic that the vandal — quite possibly a rebellious youngster as Wolfgang had suggested — would’ve gone through all that trouble just for the fun of it. Or that they would’ve even had the skills to do so. Something didn’t add up.

“I see you didn’t invest in those surveillance cameras like we suggested,” you said.

“Didn’t think they’d be stupid enough to come back.” Wolfgang shrugged.

He was sitting on the counter scrupulously examining every inch of your tensed up body, biting his lower lip. You couldn't tell if he was judging you or just admiring your figure. Whatever it was, it made you uneasy. Not uncomfortable or exposed — not in the bad sense anyway.

You swallowed hard. The things you would’ve done if this had been just another one of your wildest fantasies...

“So you think the perpetrator was the same as before?” Vilmar too sounded skeptical as he read from his notes from your previous visit. “'Some bored kids looking to get in trouble'?”

Wolfgang sighed and hopped off the desk. “That’s just my opinion. You’re the detectives here.”

“Well, without the surveillance footage we’re pretty much in the same situation than the last time,” you snorted, “but if the same person really is behind this, it’s very likely they’ll strike again.”

“Copy that, officer.”

You rolled your eyes. “Where’s your friend?”

“Damsel in distress,” he grinned. “Wanna leave him a message? He loves to hear from serious, sexy women."

The compliment caught you off guard. All this time you had thought he was making fun of you, and now he was calling you sexy? Or was that just something Felix had said? Or was it just another joke? You took a deep breath. The man really was impossible to read.

"You can tell him to give us a call if this happens again. He knows the number," you said, "and get the damn cameras. I wanna catch those brats."

* * *

When you hadn't heard from either Felix or Wolfgang for another week, you thought they'd finally been left alone. A part of you was disappointed. It wasn’t as if you'd been hoping for some miraculous happy ending, but nothing? You felt betrayed. 

Then, two and a half weeks after the first attack, a phone call came.

"Y/N," you answered.

"Is this the sexy cop?" It was Wolfgang. You felt your heart somersault in your chest.

"Was there another attack?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"Come see for yourself." Then he hung up.

You stared at your phone, abashed. If any other person had been as mysterious, you would've just simply ignored them. You didn't have time for games. And more importantly, you didn't have the energy.

As you got in the car, you cursed the day you met Wolfgang Bogdanow.

You hadn't told him it was your day-off. Partly because you didn't think it was important, but mostly because you hadn't wanted him to stop you from coming. This could've been your only opportunity to show him this side of yourself; bold and sexy with a dress shorter than it had a right to be and heels higher than a cop should've been wearing — there was no way you were going to waste it.

Once you had arrived, you noticed the smashed door window. Weird, you thought, starting to wonder if the perpetrator really had been the same each time after all.

Feeling nonplussed, you walked inside, your heels clopping softly against the floor. Wolfgang was waiting for you by the door.

"Hello, officer," he said with a smirk. "That's one hell of a uniform."

You didn't want to let him know what his words really did to you, so you just looked around. You were alone.

"Let me guess, they didn't steal anything."

"You're right. But this time we caught him on tape."

"Did you recognize him?" You were surprised, to say the least. You had been waiting for some unexpected turn of events but apparently, the case was solved.

"Oh, I've known him for years."

"Mind if I see it?"

He shook his head and led you to the backroom. He sat down on the desk chair and logged in to the computer.

You leaned in — just to get a better look, you told yourself. He didn’t seem to mind so you let yourself relax. The overwhelming smell of cologne and cigarettes took over your brain like a disease, and you had to grab a hold of the desk for support.

"Here it is."

Wolfgang had rewound the tape to last night — to precisely 10.36 p.m., according to the time stamp on the bottom left corner. He pressed play.

A man in a black leather jacket approached the shop. Just outside the door he finally stopped, glanced quickly around and threw the brick in his hand through the window. You squinted your eyes, trying to memorize as many details as possible. He was blonde, average-height, robust. At least on his late 20s—

Suddenly the man turned his gaze directly to the camera. Your eyes widened. 

"I-I don't understand."

Wolfgang was staring straight at you from the computer screen with a wide grin on his face.

"Well, I had to do something to get your attention, didn't I?"

"So you... smashed the window to get my attention?"

"I thought you would've suspected something when the door was picked open, but when you didn't..."

You couldn't believe it. It was crazy. He was crazy. It was by far the stupidest, most ridiculous, sexy thing anyone had ever done for you.

"You know, I could arrest you for this," you finally said.

He looked up at you and, not missing a beat, replied, "Then cuff me, officer."

[mytastessuck]

Gorillaz: Humanz

SHere it is, the comeback tour! I was so excited for this album, I sucked all the singles that came out before I could download the album. This album basically reminded me of the reasons I love Gorillaz. All of them. One particular reason a little too well...

Okay, let's get the elephant out of the room. This album is a bit controversial among the community for playing a little too hard to one of Gorillaz' strengths: showcasing cool artists. There are more than a few tracks where Damon doesn't even show up. Hell, my favorite track doesn't even have it on him. Me, I honestly don't care about that as long as I get to hear good music but for the rest of you die hard Gorillaz fans? Just think of this as a compilation album like NOW That's What I Call Alternative/Indie Hip-Hop/R&B/Electronica/Pop.

See? Rolls off the tongue. Now let's get started.

1. Intro: I Switched My Robot Off

Nice. Real ominous. Gorillaz really know how to build up a presentation. Feels like you're walking through the doors of the doors to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. Anybody remember Legends of the Hidden Temple? Were there doors on that stage? Anyway, awesome.

10/10

2. Ascension

Holy hell, Vince really knocks it out of the park on this one. Different beat, nice flow, social commentary...He was not fucking around on this track. Damon's barely on the track but Vince makes up for it with his existential rhymes and chorus back-up. Man, Gorillaz has gotta take advantage of gospel more often.

9/10

3. Strobelite

That didn't take long, did it? Anyway, this is my favorite song on the album. Peven has an incredible voice, the music psychically compels you to dance and...that's it. Sometimes, well usually with me, you just need to go with Simple Yet Awesome. Have a good voice and a good beat. This song has both and I'm pretty sure that one day, a scientist will hear this song and will be inspired by it to cure diabetes.

100/10

4. Saturn Barz

Ah, the lead single from the album. Remember the 360 house, everyone? Yeah, you remember. Glad to have Gorillaz welcome back Reggae into their line-up with Popcaan manning the helms. He and Damon tag-team the eardrums with the power of dread as the instrumentation makes you feel like you're in a haunted house. Welcome back, guys.

25/10

5. Momentz

WELCOME BACK, GUYS! De La Soul returns to say some real shit about time and how you should, respect and stuff. Seriously, awesome track. Kicks so much ass and you can even dance to it as you wonder if this MOMENT will be one of the last times when you feel really happy. Nice...

9/10

6. Interlude: The Non-Conformist Oath

Hey, Steve Martin! I like to imagine a bunch of assholes listening to this and...just not getting it. Not us though. We get it. We're smart. Smarter than those guys...

10/10

7. Submission

This song had to grow on me but years after I got the album and after I learned to appreciate Danny Brown a little more like all humans should, this song became one of my favorites off the album. Don't worry Kelela, he doesn't carry the whole song. Her voice is so beautiful that it can calm a charging rhino or a coked-up Connor McGregor. These make the song a lot classier than it had any right being.

90/10

8. Charger

She's beauty, she's Grace...she's also Jones. Man, I haven't heard from this woman since Corporate Cannibal and she has clearly been keeping up practice. God, how can a woman's laughter both scare and arouse me? Damon's no slouch on this track either, singing about the monster that keeps us all tethered: the charger. I kid, I kid. Hey, did Damon really get a boner on stage when he sung this or are you guys messing with me? Message me if you know.

9/10

9. Interlude: Elevator Going Up

On a recent trip, I tried to go up the elevator but it was card-activated so a desk lady had to help me. That's it.

8/10

10. Andromeda

Damon has to do the heavy lifting here and his muscles have not completely wasted away from lack of use. He tells us to take in our heart and you know what? I did. I took this song directly in my heart...and my playlist.

50/10

11. Busted And Blue

Yeah, this song is a bummer. A good bummer. It's Broken's younger brother who joined the army to make his parents proud after he couldn't get into university like his older brother who managed to form a separate family with his squad and began to think that maybe he was good enough after all before his squad gets bombed and, as he lies legless dying painfully on the ground, a blue butterfly land directly on his outstretched busted hand...

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy

10/10

12. Interlude: Talk Radio

You ever wonder how we get voices in machines? I know you think it's a complicated process but I know a dude who picked up the radio in his electric fan once. Think about it.

8/10

13. Carnival

Again, this song had to grow on me but one day, while I was thinking about Gamzee for a godforsaken reason, I thought "Geez, he talks about the Dark Carnival and the Dark Carnival isn't even some of ICP's best days. What's a good song about a carnival?" Anyway, Anthony can spin a person's mind and mind around just by singing. He's wild.

80/10

14. Let Me Out

Hey, wouldn't it be funny if Mavis was Vince's mother? She's not but that would be funny as well as cool. Her and Pusha T bang on the walls of this track as they rant about the politics at the time of this song. Yeah, they're talking about Trump. That car horn can't protect you forever, you orange bastard.

9/10

15. Interlude: Penthouse

Dear Penthouse: Hi. Does anyone check in on you, just you? I'm here to say I think you're important and you provide a necessary outlet for men to brag about being perverts. At least before the Youtube comment section existed.

Thanks for everything,

mytastessuck

8/10

16. Sex Murder Party

Ooooo, this track puts me in a funky mood. Like, there's a part but there's sex there...and MURDER. So you know it's an awesome party. Kick-ass, right? I know it's kick-ass. Keep dancing, people.

11/10

17. She's My Collar

Pretty sexy song. Gotta love people vauging about being used in a song. That's why we love Offspring, that's why we love Damon on his knees onstage. Hey, there was a post that said Noodle wrote this song about her girlfriend. That was an excellent post. Well done.

9/10

18. Interlude: The Elephant

I SAID GET OUT OF HERE, YOU BASTARD!

8/10

19. Hallelujah Money

Ah, the technical first single. Remember when they said that they weren't going to put this song on the album? Anyway, this is exactly the song we needed after The Incident occurred. Benjamin manages to calm down an entire populace while Damon just fearfully wonders what our future will be like...and he's in the UK. This song is one long terrifying lullaby to an entire country...until the end, anyway.

75/10

20. We Got The Power

A great way to remind listeners that no matter what's happening, no matter who's in charge, we have the power change everything. An excellent message for people who were still recovering from The Incident.

10/10

21. Interlude: New World

Okay, the bonus tracks. Should be nothing special here, right? Just some B-sides and I've never shown favoritism towards B-sides, right?

8/10

22. The Apprentice

A nice song from the same Rag n' Bone Man who brought us "Human". Zebra manages to lay down some nice rhymes as Ray BLK backs them both up with the force of her voice. These guys should form a team with how well they work together. Oh, they should make a virtual band! All they need to do is find an artist...

9/10

23. Halfway To The Halfway House

A very nice song if a bit overshadowed by the others on the album. Still, Peven can't be beat when it comes to crooning and he raises a song from a solid C to a B.

8/10

24. Out of Body

This song had to grow on me also but when it did...lord, this song is weird. Hypnotic suggestions, telephone tones, the song starts then Zebra jumps in to help then who is this person?! Why are people applauding?! Who are you people?! Why are there so many crows gathering outside my house?!

60/10

25. Ticker Tape

Well well well, look who's back. Damon returns with his old friend Kali to join the accuser of the vain Carly Simon to beg us to stay on the album. Sorry Damon, but I got places to do and people to go. There's nothing you can do to convince me to stick around after how long this album already is.

9/10

26. Circle of Friendz

Huh. Seems like a riot is going on. Weird for Gorillaz to get this real. What, this guy is just going to keep saying Circle of Friendz again and again? Is this supposed to affect me? Get real. It'll take a lot more than a nice voice and implications to...

To...

...

...Maybe I should listen to the album again.

11/10

Album score: 25/10

Damn, that took a while. Shouldn't be the case next week when we cover The Now Now. See you then!

[ficklewish]

Sent by the Gods

An Osamu x Reader fic

Word count: 1.8k

Warnings: none

Genre: fluff and angst (if you squint hard enough)

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You just didn't understand. How does that work? It doesn't make sense. You were currently on route to a shrine to pray for a better brain, as dumb as that sounds, due to your brain not being able to remember a damn thing when you need it most. You'd always forget the most important facts as soon as the exam or test would start, even after pulling all nighters to study for said test or exam, which would lead to getting horrible results. You just didn't understand, studying was supposed to help, how was it not? Getting off the train, you head to the local shrine, your head full of thoughts on how it just didn't make sense. Once there, you immediately start praying for a better brain, or at least a better memory, not noticing a pair of eyes watching you from a distance. Throwing in a few coins into the donation box, you turn around, preparing to head back to your dorm, but immediately stopping in your tracks and looking down in front of you. There, was a gray fox, staring intently at you. Now you were even more confused, the shrine was in the middle of the city, how was there a fox here? Shrugging, you move around the fox and begin to head back to your dorm, deciding to walk instead of taking the train, as the distance was just a 5 minute difference. While walking back, you noticed that people were staring at you, eyes full of confusion. At first you ignored them, but the curiosity of why they were staring was eating away at you. You started touching your hair, then looking down at your outfit, when you noticed the gray fox was following you right at your side. Immediately stopping, you question whether or not you should pick it up and take it to a shelter. The fox however, had other ideas. Taking the lanyard that was dangling loosely from your pocket, the fox began to run. "Hey!" You ran after it, following the fox back to……your dorm? The thieving fox slipped through the gate, now prancing towards the stairs. After sliding your key card and opening the gate, you ran after it, wondering what you had done to possibly aggravate the fox into stealing your lanyard. After following it all the way up the stairs, you now realize that the fox has stopped in front of your dorm room, patiently waiting with your lanyard in its mouth. "Could you not do that thanks…" Taking your lanyard from its mouth, you open the door and enter your dorm, turning around to say goodbye to the fox, when it is nowhere to be found. Looking around, you find it's situated itself on your couch, not giving a single care. "Are you serious…?" Deciding to leave it be, you put your things down and check the time. "Shit, it's late." Getting your pj's and doing your business in the bathroom, you head to sleep, completely forgetting about the fox in your residence. 

┈ ✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁ ┈ 

"Fucking sun, I hate you…" Waking up by the sun somehow getting past your blinds and sniping your eye was absolutely horrible. Turning around…or at least trying to turn around it seems. Noticing there was a weight on your waist, you immediately tense. Looking down, you see arms around holding you, and start panicking. 'I don't remember bringing anyone yesterday…I don't have anyone to bring in the first place, so who the fuck-' You slowly begin to turn around again, as to not wake whoever this mystery person was. That's when you see him, an absolutely beautiful man is currently in your bed with you, his gray hair slightly covering his closed eyes. Your eyes are blown wide, staring at the sleeping stranger. Snapping back into reality, you panic and kick him off your bed, effectively waking him up. "Couldn't you have woken me up a nicer way?" 'Oh shit his voice is nice.' You shook your head, removing that thought from your mind. "Who the hell are you!? How did you end up in my room!?" The handsome stranger looks at you, his expression looking bored. It wasn't until you really looked at him that you realized…"Tell me later, for now put some clothes on!!"

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"So your name is Osamu, and you're the fox that followed me here?" Glaring at this Osamu person, he nods. "That's what I said." After finally changing into some clothes that had managed to fit him (although it was a little tight), you began to interrogate him, although you were still confused. "Why'd you follow me?" Osamu turns away from you. "I was told to, it's my job right now to be with you." His job? A fox has a job? "You have a job?" The look on his face clearly says yes, but your brain is smooth, no thoughts. He seems to have read your mind, answering before you could ask. "You've been to the same shrine a few times already, praying for the same thing every time. I was sent to basically answer your prayers, and if you need proof, it's the fact that I am that fox that followed you and took your lanyard." Osamu turns back towards you, a small smirk on his lips. "Of course, you can choose not to believe me, but that's on you." You glared even harder, hating that you had to trust a complete stranger to help you with your smooth brain. Pouting, you nod at him, feeling a bit grateful that you at least had some kind of help for your current situation. His smirk turns into a small smile, and he pats your head. "There's a good doll." You blushed, though the gratefulness turned into irritation at the pet name. Standing from your bed, you head towards the kitchen to prepare breakfast, asking Osamu what he'd like. "Doesn't matter, I'm sure it'll be good." Turning towards the stove, you blush again. 'Smooth bastard.' 

┈ ✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁ ┈

After breakfast, Osamu had decided to make a schedule for you, planning when would be the best times for study sessions. Of course, he had a few questions for you as to why you thought you couldn't remember anything correctly. "So you're telling me…you'd study for only 30 minutes?" You nodded at him, confused as to why he looked so appalled. "You think that's enough time?" His voice has lowered a few octaves, sounding angry and a bit disgusted. Once again, you nodded. "You idiot, that's not enough time. No wonder you can't remember shit." You winced, knowing his harsh words were true. "Well…I study at least twice a week though." Osamu lifts a brow, mocking you. "That doesn't make it better, it's still not enough." Once again, you winced at his words. Then again, Osamu never said it was going to be easy. “So, the answer is to just…study for a longer time and more days?”  “No you idiot, there’s a few other things you need.” And so, the many long study sessions with Osamu began. Of course, in between getting scolded and being slightly praised by him, he’d opted to tell you about himself a bit during breaks. He has a twin brother named Atsumu, he can change from fox to human or vice versa on command, he doesn’t have a favorite food, etc. You noticed once again how handsome he is, not realizing you were staring. Before you could tear your eyes away from his face, Osamu notices. “Take a picture, it lasts longer.”

┈ ✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁✃✁ ┈

One month later, you are currently waiting in your dorm room for your exam results with Osamu. As much as he helped you with studying and even becoming a good friend of yours, you didn’t want him to go, not yet, and probably not ever. You’d grown attached to the shapeshifting fox man, not wanting him to leave and go back to the shrine. Of course, you kept those thoughts to yourself. Hearing a ping from your laptop, you dash over to your desk, hoping it’s the results. Looking at the screen, you realize it’s just a discord friend. Sighing, you sit on the chair, Osamu behind you on the bed. “Listen, you did great doll, you said you remembered mostly everything.” Blushing at the pet name, you sigh once again. “I know, but I can’t help being nervous ‘Samu.” He smiles at you, though you can’t see it. “Listen, if you get a good score, how about going to get some street food?” Perking up at the sound of food, you turn towards him. “Really? But...what if I get bad results?” “I don’t see that happening, but if you do end up getting bad results, then I’ll, I don’t know, not take you out for food?” You roll your eyes, but are none the less amused. “Sounds good to me.” Hearing another ping from your laptop, you peek at it and see an email from your teacher about your exam results. Immediately reaching for it, you turn it away from Osamu, keeping the results hidden from him. After scanning the email, you close your laptop and put it on your desk. Osamu is patiently waiting for what you’re going to say. “I……PASSED!!!” As if your body moved on its own, you tackled Osamu on the bed, giggling in delight. Not sure what to do, Osamu holds you close as you slowly lose the giggling case you have. Looking up at him, you wear the brightest smile you could muster at the moment due to how happy you are. “Thanks ‘Samu, you really saved my ass.” He smiles back at you. “Of course doll, now let’s go get some food yeah?”

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As much as you wanted to enjoy this night out with Osamu, you couldn’t. The thought of him leaving soon terrifies you. You tried to hide it as much as you could from him, but it seemed like he could see through you. While walking through the park after getting lots of food, he stops, and you turn around and look at him in curiosity. “What’s up?” He looks at you and chuckles. “I should be asking you that. You seem off, everything alright?” You tense up, not ready to face the fear of him leaving. “I’m fine.” He walks up to you, now directly in front of you, so you have to look up at him. “I know you’re not, but you don’t have to talk about it if you-” “I’m scared.” Osamu immediately stops talking. “I’m scared of you leaving. I grew attached to you, and I know I shouldn’t have, but you’re the first friend I’ve had in a while, and-” “I’m not leaving.” Your head shoots up to look at him, confusion evident on your face. He smiles. “I managed to convince boss to let me stay, took a lot but it worked.” Your eyes widen, and you burst into tears, hugging him. He holds you tight and pats your head to help calm you down. 

“I’m not going anywhere doll.”

[burntchickennuggetskrrt]

Dream in a Dream (One shot)

pairing : jeno x reader

reason: because it's jeno's birthday 🥺💚

warnings: please forgive me for any errors that you might meet along the way. i did not proofread this and just wrote this because it's jeno's birthday ㅠㅠ don't get mad at me for my lack of vocabulary or my grammar mistakes ㅠㅠ

✩｡:*•.───── ❁ ❁ ─────.•*:｡✩

"Are you going to the coffeeshop again?" Your bestfriend asked whilst you were checking your reflection in her vanity mirror.

"Yeri, stop saying "again", it's not like i always go there." You reapplied your lipstick to finish your light make-up look.

"Yn, you basically go there every fucking day just to check out the barista for the last 2 months, who are you even kidding?" Yeri rolled his eyes at the embarrassment that is her bestfriend, yes, you.

"Geez, chill down, Susan. It's not like i have nothing else to do. I mean, it's not my fault that my body needs caffeine every single day." Of course that's just your shitty reasoning which Yeri catches without blinking.

"Bitch, don't even give me that same lame excuse. Just say you're a simp and go." Yeri is tired of you simping around this barista for the last two months without doing anything about it.

"I AM NOT SIMPING OVER HIM! I'm just admiring art." You sighed dreamily as you remember the handsome barista who takes your order and makes them with those beautiful hands.

"Yn, you're not admiring art, you're a creep! I told you to say hi and introduce yourself and not just order coffee and sit on the farthest corner oogling at the poor guy." You rolled your eyes at the stupid suggestion of your bestfriend. How could she even think of you introducing yourself to that beautiful boy? You can't even function well when he give you that beautiful smile that makes his eyes formed the shape of a crescent moon.

"Just do it. It's been two months, Yn. Two months of me listening to your simp words of how beautiful his smile is, or how his eyes would go minute when he smiles, or how he looks like that meme of a smiling dog, or how his arms looks so wonderful in his uniform as he "skillfully" make your order with those "beautiful hands"--", your bestfriend's flow of words was put on a halt as you covered her mouth as she protested.

"STOP. I know, okay? I'm pathetic. I can't help it. He's beautiful, like really beautiful. I'm pretty sure Ten only hired him because he will make his cafe famous. I mean, he's not wrong. Ever since he started working in there, Dream in a Dream got more customers, teenage customers." That's basically the reason why you were not able to find confidence in properly introducing yourself, not when there are tons of pretty girls gawking over him on a daily basis.

"Yn, you are fucking beautiful, plus your personality is fucking wonderful. If he doesn't like you by now after the countless times you sashayed your ass in there, he's dumb and he's not worth your attention." Yeri put and emphasis on the words she has spoken just so it can be etched in your mind.

"Damn, hype woman, chill. But thanks Yeri, I mean I have developed this huge ass crush and I'm scared that when I make a move the illusion will break and he's nothing like I imagined him to be." Of course that's just part of your worries, because the main one is still related to how you're not confident enough.

"Are you boo boo the fool, Yn? Of course you wouldn't know about that if you won't talk to him. You'll just end up putting more and more illusion in your head if you continue on lurking around instead of speaking to him. The worst case scenario is he will decline you because he has a girlfriend, though it will suck more if he declines your invite and yet he's single, like bitch, he just plainly doesn't like you."

"See this is why I'm not sure if you're my bestfriend! You hype me and then you bring me down!" You sat beside your bestfriend on her bed as the other just continued lying down.

"I'm just giving your the possible scenarios that would happen if you ask him out or just talk to him after his shift. Or maybe just ask him if he's single, so you can stop simping and wasting your time."

"He's worth my time." You heard Yeri fake-gagged at your response.

"Simp culture." You smacked her ass playfully before you stood up and walked towards the door to signal your departure. But before you left you looked back at your bestfriend and she's looking at you warily.

"Fine, maybe I'll say something more to him later, aside from my order."

"You better be, or I'm revoking your bestfriend benefits."

--

The walk towards Dream in a Dream was stressful since you kept on weighing Yeri's advice. Can you really dare to speak to the beautiful barista?

Even before arriving to the counter, you already saw him looking like some shining, shimmering, splendid prince who got sent by the King to work in a cafe for his humility training or something.

And like some coming age movie, he slowly looked up from the cash register and your eyes locked and he smiled at you, fucking smiled at you. Can i have that smile forever? You can only dream.

"Hi Yn, how are you?"

"Hi Jeno, I'm fine, I guess. Thanks for asking. How are you?" You felt your stomach did a some tumbling stunt as you heard your name rolled down his tongue perfectly.

"Better now that my favorite customer is here." Damn, those beautiful eye blinding smile again. You've seen it countless of times and you still can't get over it. Why are you like this?

"Liar." You smiled shyly at the boy you are obviously fucking whipped for.

"Can you two stop flirting in front of my salad?" The little moment was now gone, fucking Ten and his single ass being all bitter. He's basically just seating on his owner's table not so far away from the counter, yet he still noticed.

"Damn Boss, stop interrupting. You're making me miss my shot." Jeno just smiled at you apologetically but you on the other side is obviously on some trance. What the hell?? What does he mean by missing his shot? Jeno, shoot your shot! I'll be yours way before you could ask me out! You're obviously being delusional again, but who cares? A girl can dream.

"I don't care if you flirt all you want. Just not in front of my salad, and not when you're working. We have customers, Jeno." Ten's obviously just playing around, not that you and Jeno will notice. The owner obviously noticed your admiration for his 2 month old barista, you've been a constant customer since then, never missing a day and always visits on Jeno's shift.

"Got it boss. Sorry about that, Yn. My boss and his boyfriend had some fight, so he's being too sensitive." Jeno said to you in a fake whisper. He's too close, you thought.

"That's fine, Jeno. You don't have to excuse his annoying ass. Anyways, I'll take the same order." You smiled and gave your card to the boy to pay. But Jeno waved his hand instead.

"Don't pay. This is my treat." He again smiled sheepishly, he should really stop doing that. You've already have this huge crush on him, no need to get it bigger.

"Ten will kill you. Let me pay please."

"What he doesn't know won't kill him." He winked at you like his eyes is not already small from his smile.

"Are you sure? Because it's really fine, Jeno. You don't owe me anything."

"Believe me, I do. So just say yes, please?" Damn, Jeno, if this was him asking your hand in marriage you would say yes without stuttering. But you thought, a coffee would be a good start. And what does he mean by he believes he owes you something?

"Fine, Jeno. But just this time." You brought back your card back to your sling bag and Jeno mayhaps that said something like "yippee" or "yeheey", you really don't know, he was too cute for you to stay sane.

--

You were mindlessly sipping your drink whilst looking at the people outside outside Dream when Jeno started walking towards your seat, you did not notice him though, at least not until he spoke.

"Yn?" Your daydreaming was put to an end when you heard Jeno's voice calling your name.

"Oh, hey, Jeno." You smiled ever so shyly, just like you always do when he's the one you're talking.

"Oh, hey... so I was wondering... my shift will be over in like 30 mins. Do you mind, uh, going out with me? Like just walk around the park and maybe have some dinner?" The boy scratched his ear just like he does when he's feeling shy and/or awkward.

You look at him like he just said some foreign language you haven't had the honour to learn. What did he just say? Go out? Park? Dinner?

"Earth to Yn?" Jeno spoke softly like he's talking to something small and fragile, which obviously at this point, are the words best to describe you.

"What did you just say?" You replied in almost like a whisper; but Jeno is looking at you closely so he was still able to hear what you said and that's when Ten walked by.

"He's asking you out on a date, idiot. Isn't that what you wanted?" Ten laughed as he made his way back to his table.

You swore to the heavens, that you will be snitching Ten to his father about all his shenanigans. He's like the worst cousin in the world, i mean not really, but he sort of is, right now.

"I swear to God, he's like the worst cousin." You sighed, exasperated.

"He loves you though, he always talk good things about you behind your back."

"Oh, does he now?" You raised your eyebrow for emphasis and Jeno smiled shyly in return.

"Yes, he does. I may have indulge him because I like hearing things about you."

"Oh." That was the lamest reply you have given ever since your birth. STOP EMBARRASSING YOURSELF, YN!

"Before my confidence ran out, what do you think about my invitation?"

"Oh... Yeah, s-sure. As long as you don't bite." Maybe at least now now.

"I won't. Unless you asked me too." He winked, fucking cassanova knows what he's doing. You can feel the heat creeping up your cheeks.

"I'll see you in 30 mins then?"

"Yeah, sure, Jen." Jen? Who gave you permission to give him nicknames? Get a grip of yourself, yn!

--

30 minutes later, Jeno came back. Now with his casual clothes, still looking some dashing model from a magazine.

"Ready to go?"

"You bet."

Whilst you were both about to go out the door, Ten shouted something that made you winced.

"Jeno, you can take a day off tomorrow. Sorry for making you work on your birthday, bud." Ten smiled apologetically but Jeno just smiled like the good boy that he is.

"No worries, boss. Thanks for the day off! We'll get going now. Let's go, Yn."

"Oh, yeah. Just give me a minute. I'll catch up to you. I remember I have to say something to Ten, a message from my Mom." Jeno eyed you curiously but he let it passed and told you he'll just wait outside.

You walked back to the counter and saw your cousin with sitting casually with his feet up on his table.

"Hey, Ten. Can you give me that cupcake? And maybe some candle."

Ten gave out a laugh before standing up amd getting what you ordered.

"You're fucking whipped, Cous. Be fast though, you're not the only customer eyeing him."

"Shut up. I'm trying, okay? Yeri is already on my back. Stop yourself from hopping in."

"Well, you always need a very hard push. Don't pay me for now." Ten put the cupcake in a small box with Dream in a Dream logo. You put the box carefully in your sling bag and borrowed Ten's lighter with a promise of returning it tomorrow.

When you walked out of Dream in a Dream, you saw Jeno casually leaning on his motorcycle. He has a motorcycle? Damn, he looks hotter. What the hell, yn?

"Hey, right here." Jeno waved his hand as if you'll never catch him in a sea of people. But you always do, he has that presence, at least that's the case in your eyes.

"Are we riding that?" Jeno laughed at your expression.

"Yes we will be riding this. Don't worry yn, I'm not a reckless driver." He winked. STOP WINKING, JENO.

"I still have a lot of dreams, so that's good to hear. Let's go?" Jeno nodded and gave you a helmet before putting his. Does this mean I can hug him? You felt your cheeks grow hot again with that thought.

You indeed end up hugging him during the ride to the park; since he also advised for you to hold tight. It was not a hard instruction, and definitely not against your own judgment.

--

Jeno found an empty bench near the children's playground and you both sat in there silent for a few minutes before you heard him clear his throat.

"Thank you for coming with me, Yn. It means a lot to me. I'm almost technically a stranger, but you still came with me." You looked at him and maybe it's the light playing tricks on his handsome face but you could've sworn his cheeks is a little red.

"No worries, Jeno. You're not really that of a stranger. Ten knows you. I've known you for like 2 months. So that's hardly a stranger." You gave him a genuine smile, happy that Jeno invited you, or it would've been you embarrassing yourself to invite him.

"2 months, 3 days, 15 hrs, and 2 minutes."

"Huh?"

"That's the exact time I've gotten to know you." Jeno looked down, embarrassed at how he remembers clearly the time you first entered Dream in a Dream, like you're some fantasy brought to his reality.

"Oh... wow, that's quite precise." Your eyes where everywhere but on him.

"Yeah, you could say that. I almost messed up your order and would've been fired if Renjun wasn't there to help me out." Jeno smiled remembering his friend who now take an early shift.

You find your courage to be honest now that Jeno is being honest. What could go wrong, right?

"Don't worry, Jen. I messed up too. I ended up ordering Matcha Latte when I hate that drink with all my heart."

"You do? So that's why you never ordered that drink again. I remember extending my shift that day to practice how to make it perfectly though."

"You did? You're so silly." You laughed at Jeno not because he's being silly, but because he is looking like some cute puppy doing something silly, you still find yourself liking him even more.

"Yeah, people do crazy things when they're in love." It slipped Jeno's mouth before he could stop it. It felt like it was the most natural thing to say. But after looking at your shocked expression he almost feel his heart sinking. But then you smiled and hope trampled the fear as fast as it could even crawl further.

"I guess they do. So you love me, then?"

Jeno hummed before answering.

"I guess you could say that."

You raised your eyebrow.

"So you're not sure?"

Jeno sighed before looking at you straight in the eyes, with the most serious look you have seen on him.

"I love you, Yn. I'm not just sure if it's the first thing I should say after mustering up to talk to you the first time."

"Jeno, can you close your eyes?"

"What?"

"Can you close your eyes? Please?"

Jeno felt weird by the sudden request. The boy thought what if you'd run away after his sudden confession? He thought he can't blame you if you do that, he was being stupid for confessing on day 1.

"I won't run away." You said as if being able to read Jeno's thoughts. He sighed but proceeded on closing his eyes.

You immediately took out the box you've carefully arranged in your bag and lit the candle using your stupid (yet somehow still helpful) cousin's lighter.

"Jeno, you can open your eyes now." You felt the excitement in your voice, it was weird being able to hear it. But you didn't care, who cares if you're going too fast? You can get to know about each other after today.

Jeno saw your smile first before his eyes dropped on the red velvet cupcake you are holding with a candle on top of it. He find himself smiling, not just because of the effort you've exerted, but because of how beautiful you look.

"Happy birthday, Jeno. Before you make a wish, I have a fun fact for you... Did you know that I have been going to Dream in a Dream every single day for the past 2 months, 3 days, 15 hrs, and 20 mins now because I fell in love with the newly hired barista?"

Jeno laughed hard, like that kind of laugh a boy gives out which sound anything but soft. He has head thrown backwards due to laughing and you just stared at him, dumbfounded yet still in love.

"So to simplify that fun fact, you love me?"

"You could say that. Now make a wish before the wind blows your candle out."

Jeno moved closer and closed his eyes.

He doesn't have a wish anymore, he's got one already answered. He's got you. But he still finds himself wishing, because humans are after all selfish creatures.

Please, please, make this work. I love her, please make her love me more in the future.

Then Jeno opened his eyes and blow his candle. You smiled at each other like some giddy teenagers even if Jeno just turned 20, which means he's a young adult now.

"Do you mind saying it again?"

"Saying what, Jen?"

"I love that nickname by the way. Tell me how you feel about this barista."

"Demanding but fine, since it's your birthday. I love you, Lee Jeno."

"Damn, that feels good to hear. I might be asking you to say those 8 letters in the next coming minutes. But for now, let me tell you that I love you too, Yn."

He gave you a kiss on the forehead and a tight hug. It was perfect.

Two months ago a dream was born in Dream in a Dream. Two month later on the day Jeno was born, it became a reality. Now you'll find yourself celebrating two special events every April 23rd; Jeno's birthday and the birthday you now both share, hopefully for a long time.

- end -

✩｡:*•.───── ❁ ❁ ─────.•*:｡✩

an: that's all. it's short i guess but i really wanted to write some one shot, so thank God it's jeno's birthday and i have an excuse. hope you enjoy it! - 고양이 🐈

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEE JENO! EVEN IF YOU ARE NOW A 20 YEAR OLD ADULT, YOU ARE STILL A BABY TO ME 💚 (i'm same age with the nct pig liners 😉) love you, baby!

[waterstar2016]

I would love to see a drabble of each turtle regarding nesting. I have this theory that when they mate, their instincts strongly compel them to make a nest to attract/keep their mate. For example, maybe Mikey piles pillows and blankets on the bed or hides food everywhere. How would each turtle and S/O react? Would the turtles be embarrassed? Would the S/O be confused? Would you consider writing this? Thank you for all your writing thus far and for sharing it with us! You're fantastic!

What a neat idea! Thank you :) I wrote either attracting or keeping a mate depending on what popped up in my head for the guys. Hope you like it.

Hints at NSFW situations.

Leo:

Our leader in blue has decided that he wants you as his mate. He’s going to try to lure you into his abode, because he needs to show you what he’s made for you. If you approve, he will claim you. He will approach you formally. “Tenshi, come with me please? I would like to show you something.” Taking your hands firmly in his while keeping his eyes level with yours he will walk backwards through the lair, leading you. Leo knows you like no other, because he pays attention to you and notices the smallest detail. When you reach his room you will discover a new approach to his decor. You balance him, and he’s made sure that both yours and his personal likes are equally represented. The floor will be covered in hand woven grass mats, each painted (by him) with Japanese characters. Love, passion and tranquility are some of the representations that you will find.

If you love the colour green, there will be blue and green candles, or maybe even turquoise (representing the two of you coming together). Love the ocean? Expect sea shells spread in and amongst his Japanese collectables. If you enjoy reading there will be a comfortable chair with a reading lamp above it ready for you to curl up in. As for the bed, it is going to be a sumptuous masterpiece. Navy blue silk sheets await your naked flesh, while a beautiful comforter in your favourite colour is folded neatly at the bottom for nights that you get cold (he can keep you warm with just a sheet, but this is for when he’s on patrol). The pillows are soft and tempting, with more nearby in a basket. A mini fridge will hold bottles of water (I can’t see Leo eating in the place he sleeps, so no food) In this room, your every desire will be fulfilled (some of which you didn’t even know you had). Leo has made sure that you are going to want to spend a lot of time with him in there.

When you enter the room you raise your eyebrows in surprise. “So this is what you’ve been so secretive over?! You’d been wondering for weeks what was going on with him. “I love it!” Still holding your hands he will ask you if you accept what he’s made. All it takes is a nod. Blue eyes that were nervous are now sly.

Raph:

You and Raph haven’t been dating very long. Even though you’ve told him that you want to be with him, a wave of insecurity washes through him and he panics. He starts scavenging like crazy. The first thing he will do is make a bigger bed, after all he’s huge. He wants to make sure that there is enough room for all of the nightly (or anytime of the day your willing to let him) activities that will (hopefully) happen. Raph loves a high thread count for his sheets. We’re talking Egyptian cotton here. There will be a comforter on the bed, but he’s knitted a duvet for it. I visualize it made with a variegated yarn in the colours of the sunset. Matching decorative pillows will line the headboard. Just toss them off (or hell, use them to hold onto, lift your ass up or bite) when you and Raph decide to bump “naughty’s”. The headboard will be hand carved by him. He may act all tough but when he sees something beautiful he can appreciate it (like you). So I see a design with your favourite flowers and vines, maybe even hearts.

Raph will have a collection of your favourite music all ready to go on an iPod that Donnie fixed for him. While out looking for things he managed to find an old lava lamp. It’s now set up in a corner, the red coloured oil casting a romantic light in the room. If you have a hobby, say drawing, he will have an easel set up for you with a good lamp near it because he wants to watch you sketch. Raph, like Leo will have a mini fridge set up. It will be filled with your favourite foods. And, in case the mood strikes, chocolate covered strawberries. He read somewhere that they are supposed to be an aphrodisiac. The floor will be covered in thick pile rugs. One, he doesn’t want you to get cold. Two, you never know when the mood could strike and he ends up taking you on the floor.

“O Raph, you did this for me? Raph had finally shown you. He was a little embarrassed about this, but he couldn’t ignore his instincts anymore. Once you convinced him to talk to you about why he did it (because he was scared of losing you), at least one (probably more than one) of those nightly activities that he’s been fantasizing about for weeks was going to happen very soon (if not that night).

Donnie:

This guy is going to want to encourage you to keep coming back to him. He’s taken tons of notes on your personal preferences and has complied a database on you. With this information he will create a space that you will love. Some nights you’re hot and some you’re cold. Prepared for either situation, he will have an electric blanket (one that he modified so that it won’t catch on fire if you fall asleep with it on) and some lighter throws ready to go. There will be a body pillow for you to cuddle for when he’s on patrol. He’s made humidifier/dehumidifier that is preprogrammed to your personal preferences. Don’t worry, in case he misjudged, there will be a remote nearby.

On your nightstand will be a charging dock for all your electronic devices. Just place it on the black surface and a “Donnie” icon will flash when charging is complete. The lights, t.v, stereo, CD player, everything is controlled by a handheld, easy to use, universal remote (that he will excitedly show you how to use). He knows that you like falling asleep to white noise so he found a machine and programmed it with the sounds you normally listen to. There will be a love seat set up beside his desk (as a reminder for him to pay attention to you), with the pillow that you like to watch movies with in the corner. Area rugs will cover the floor and he will make sure that you have a pair of slippers for you so your feet won’t get cold. In a cupboard on the far wall are all of your favourite snacks with a chilled section for drinks.

You had been confused lately. Donnie was usually distracted with some project or another but whatever he had been doing lately was all encompassing. He was still affectionate with you, but you could feel that his mind was on something else. When he’d finally approached you, head down feet shuffling and told you what he’d done, you had run to his room to see. “Dove, wait for me!” He yelled. Opening the door you checked everything out. When Donnie came into the room you threw your arms around his neck and soundly kissed him. You didn’t come out for a full day (in your nightstand was a drawer filled with toys, some he had made just for you).

Mikey:

When you walked into the lair, Mikey was nowhere to be found. This surprised you. Normally you were greeted with a huge hug. Then you saw an orange rose, a few feet away an actual orange. After grabbing that you saw an orange frisbee. Smiling, you followed the trail that he had left for you. Arms full of various orange items you opened his bedroom door. The bed was now in the center of the room. It was round and piled high with blankets made of different kinds of fabrics and pillows or every shape and size. There was a hammock (big enough for two) strung up in the far corner, surrounded by orange coloured fairy lights. Beanbag chairs covered the floor and swag carpet finished off the look.

Matching his and her robes were hung on wall hooks and a set of bunny slippers were on the floor of your side of the bed. There was a shelf that was dedicated to all your favourite movies and video games. A full sized fridge was stocked with everything imaginable. Mikey had discovered that you loved Cream Soda, so cases of it rested on top of his Orange Crush. There was vanilla ice cream in the freezer for when you wanted a float (one of your favourite treats). Along with board games and cards Mikey also had a set of “special dice” that he kept in a black silk bag tied with orange ribbon (these ones were nine sided…one dice had actions and the other, body parts).

Mikey was so excited when you finally opened the door. You quickly got over your shock. Being with Mikey was so much fun that seeing him do something like this to encourage you to spend even more time with him just made you love him more.

[rojaceartandgaming]

The Dragon Duelist : Chapter Two

Hehe oc content go brr

The next afternoon, Clay met up with the group in a random park. They all seemed as chummy as usual… how had this group POSSIBLY gotten so far in Duelist Kingdom, he wondered. But it seemed to matter little as he strapped his trusty duel disk to his arm, noting Joey did the same. He sighed, shaking off any last second nerves.

Surely this would be easy, right?

"So, you actually showed!" Joey called, that insufferable cocky grin on his face.

Clay scoffed. "I initiated the challenge, dimwit. I would never back out."

"Just sayin', you're goin' to regret this!"

"Hmph, I doubt this. Are you done prattling, or can we duel?"

"Oh hell yeah!"

Clay ignored the others cheering on Joey, put his deck in his duel disk, and drew his first seven cards. He quickly scanned over the hand, then smirked. A well balanced hand? Surely this twerp wouldn't even stand a chance! He briefly glanced up at Joey, then sighed.

"Hm, shall we begin?" He said, narrowing his eyes.

"Who do you think I am, of course let's begin!"

"In that case, I will throw two cards face down, then summon a creature you may not be too familiar with. A trusty companion, and creature to be feared - Evilswarm Zahak!"

The multiheaded dragon was summoned, and announced it's presence with a great roar and a beat of its wings. It fixed it's many eyes on Joey, roaring again.

Joey huffed. "Starting that quickly already?!"

Clay rolled his eyes. "What, already scared you can't keep up?"

"Are you kiddin'? Since you're done, I'll draw a card!" He did so, looked at the card, and smiled. "This card is one o' my favorites! The Flame Swordsman!"

Clay just scoffed. "Flame Swordsman? Are you daft? My dragon easily can eliminate your swordsman. And that is something I intend to show off now. Evilswarm Zahak, rip his swordsman to shreds!"

The dragon surged forward, and he smirked. His monster was stronger by fifty points, something that'll make this far too easy-

But wait, Joey interrupted his preemptive gloating. "You didn't let me finish, and now you gotta pay the price! I got a spell here, Stop Attack! This will force your monster into defense position. Your dragon won't even scratch my Flaming Swordsman!"

Clay growled. "... surprisingly good play… hmph… I'll just place a card face down and end my turn." He looked through his hand again, annoyed. So the twerp got a leg up on him, big deal.

It wouldn't last.

He watched Joey mumble to himself, trying to figure out something. Then he grinned. "Alright, I'm going to put a card face down, and summon another creature, Axe Raider. Axe Raider and Flame Swordsman, take out this guy's monsters!"

He rolled his eyes. "I'll let you take out my dragons, but I've got a choice for you."

"Eh? A choice?" Joey paused, seeming confused.

"I'll activate a trap card, A Hero Emerges! Now, your attacks will go through in but a moment, but you choose a card in my hand. If I can summon it, it joins the field. If it's something that can't be summoned, it'll go to the graveyard." Clay squared his shoulders, adjusting how he held his hand. "Make your choice, Joey Wheeler. And be careful. You wouldn't want to choose your own poison, would you?"

Clay smirked. He knew that that line would make any duelist nervous, and he witnessed Joey freeze up and start mumbling to himself. Probably over-rationalizing his choice, something he had seen time and time again in the past. Mind games would make any duelist more nervous, and in his experience? He would probably pick the card in the center of his hand.

"Well, uh - that one! Third from the left - my left!"

Perfect.

"Why thank you, Joey."

"H-huh? What are you thanking me for?"

"You picked the exact card I wanted you to."

"What!?"

He deftly picked the card out, holding it to the side. "I'll let you destroy my two monsters, sure. But in their place, comes something much better! My personal favorite card -" Clay slammed it down on it's spot on his Duel Disk. "Arkbrave Dragon!"

The white and gold dragon leapt to life, wingbeats loud. It roared, not seeming to care as its fellow creatures got destroyed and placed in the graveyard. And clearly, Joey Wheeler was losing a bit of his nerve as he looked between the Arkbrave Dragon and Clay himself, forgetting the temporary victory.

"Tch - you were just waitin' for me to do that!"

"And I thank you kindly for doing so. My favorite dragon on the field so early? Perhaps you should concede."

"I don't think so!"

"Then prove me wrong."

"Oh I will!"

Clay watched Joey fumble, and resort to placing a card face down. He must not have anything good, he figured, with how nervous he looked. "Is that seriously all you'll do? You bore me…"

"Don't count me out yet!"

"Did you end your turn?"

"Well, yeah-"

"Good. Arkbrave Dragon, put him in his place!"

There was nothing Joey could do as the dragon swooped in, making quick work of the Flame Swordsman. The life point counter popped up, and they both watched Joey's life points tick down from 8000 to 7400.

"First blood." Clay said with satisfaction. "Your move."

"Don't count me out just because you got first blood!"

"Oh, that's not why I'm counting you out. Come on, Joey Wheeler. Show me just how you got as far as you did."

–

The duel continued for several more turns, monsters dying and coming back, Clay seeming smug throughout it all on the outside. But as he adjusted his scarf, he started to worry. This sandy haired duelist was good. He may still have his Arkbrave Dragon, but he was down to 2050 life points, Joey down to 3450. It seemed this duelist really depended on luck - and the cheers of his friends.

How preposterous, he thought. He had gotten this far, and didn't need support from people like that…. Surely this couldn't be all to it? No, perhaps he had just been getting lucky. Much like with those bloody coin flips. Surely the luck would run out. Though he was shocked upon seeing him summon the Red-Eyes Black Dragon! How had he gotten one?

But he noticed something while dueling. In the past, a lot of duels like this seemed like a chore. But there was just something infectious about this group of five. He couldn't help but let a real smile slip at some parts during the banter, or real pride as he made a good play. How long has it been…?

"I'll admit." Clay said, folding his arms. "I am impressed that someone like you has such a formidable dragon as Red-Eyes. But this duel grows tiring, and I don't exactly feel like letting you continue on. And I have no qualms sacrificing my own monster to end yours. Arkbrave Dragon, take out Red-Eyes in a blaze of glory."

He felt some satisfaction watching his dragon charge Red-Eyes, knowing that it would leave an opening for his Luster Dragon. Smoke clouded the field, and he was ready to see the clear path. But as the smoke cleared, confusion clouded his own head.

"Gh- but how?!" He questioned, seeing his dragon wrapped in a chain, and Red-Eyes completely fine.

"Ha, you forgot about my trap card - Kunai with Chain! Not only is your dragon all tangled up, but my Red-Eyes gains 500 attack points, just enough to take out your beloved dragon!" Joey gloated, a large grin on his face. "Come on Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Use Inferno Fire Blast!"

Clay's hand balled into a fist as he watched his dragon go up in smoke, and his life points tick down to 1550. "...good move…" He growled out. "You are a surprisingly good duelist."

"Aw, thanks!"

"...I suppose I will draw my card now…" Clay did so, searching his hand. This isn't good, if I'm not careful, I'm good as dead! Hmph. I think this will buy me time.

"I put down a card face down and leave my Luster Dragon as is! Your move, Joey."

"Ha ha! You didn't even put it in defense mode? Are you admitting defeat?"

"Make your move." Come on…. Take the bait…

"I will! Red-Eyes, Inferno Fire Blast!"

Now!

"Why, you actually did what I wanted to do! I'll slip my face down card around - Enemy Controller!"

"Wha-?!"

"With it's special chest code, your monster is put in defense mode! Left, Right, A, B - a simple code to remember!" Clay made himself sound confident, before allowing himself to heave a sigh of relief.

Joey growled. "Damnit, that would've almost knocked you out!"

"I know. And so the game passes to me."

"Don't be so cocky! Next turn, Red Eyes will take you out!"

"That's where you're wrong."

"What now?"

"I've drawn a card that will bring your demise! Polymerization! With my Luster Dragon, this face down card, and three dragons in my hand combined, I bring forth your demise - COME ON OUT, FIVE HEADED DRAGON!"

It was a lucky draw, he knew that. But Clay felt a sense of pride as his end-all, just-in-case monster took the field. And, that feeling grew as he saw Joey grit his teeth, his nerves coming back.

"Oh come on, a five headed dragon? That's overkill!"

"It may be overkill, Joey, but it is also your doom! Next turn, you're doomed. So say good bye to your Red-Eyes!"

Both duelists looked over as the shorter, good natured seeming chap named Yugi called to the now panicking Joey. "Joey! Don't lose your head, you know exactly one combination that can help you!"

"Huh, Yuge, what do you mean?"

"You know what I mean! Think for a second, you've got this!"

Crap… the power of friendship again…

"Oh yeah!" Joey said, after looking a little confused at his cards. "First, I'm going to flip this card face up, Baby Dragon!"

Clay raised one eyebrow, completely unimpressed. "A Baby Dragon? Please, I love dragons as much as the next guy, but that is a weakling compared to my monster!"

"Well don't discount it yet!" Joey put down a card into his duel disk. "I've got a little friend who, if this goes right, will make things a lot better. Time Wizard!"

"Are you kidding me? You're going to take a risk that could kill you?"

"What's life without a little risk! Time Wizard, use your ability!"

Clay knew this card's ability. Either this would age all cards on the field 1,000 years, or destroy all of Joey's cards and make him take half of the total damage to his own life points. As the monster used its ability, his eyes were glued on the dial. Trying so hard to will it to the more beneficial option.

"Ha! There we go!" Joey practically crowed with success. "With that, Time Wizard ages everything forward! And after one thousand years, my baby dragon is all grown up into Thousand Year Dragon! And your five headed beast is-"

"Shriveled and decrepit…" Clay mumbled in disbelief, looking at his drastically weakened monster, 5000 attack points going down to 500.

"Ha, that's right! Thousand Dragon, end this!"

He winced preemptively, not even wanting to watch as he heard the roar of the Thousand Dragon, knowing that his life points were ticking down.

2000….1500…1000…500…

Clay kind of fell to his knees, as his life points hit zero.

[howl-wind-sing]

Hiya i just found your blog and i think it's awesome!! So i wanted to ask you a free tarot reading because lately i've been feeling so down and bad and i'm really really lost i don't know what to do anymore. So yeah i need some guidance if you can offer me some hahaha. Thank you so much, i hope you're having a wonderful day 💛✨

Hiya there! :D and thank you

While the cards are a great guideline, don’t forget to reach out and talk to others if you need support, vent, or just plain have someone to talk with, ok?

Let’s see what the cards got for you: 

I like to ask why/origin/sources in cases like this, and the 8 of Swords came up. Then I like to provide a way to work this source, to unblock the issue, wich revealed the VII Chariot and IV Emperor.

You have trapped yourself in a thorny cage, and even the messages trying to come in cause more confusion and seem to hurt as well. I feel my troath close up, so I think that it comes from stopping yourself from trusting yourself and revealing what you feel and think to those around you. There’s the imagenery of a downwards bird, I keep thinking that it all spawned for a mal intentioned, backhanded comment. I would look around you for toxic relationships, or at the very least, those that discredict your experiences and beliefs. There’s quite a lot to learn from the “path to hell is paved with well intentions” - wich usually spawns from well manered friends or family providing their own thoughts on your life… but only serve to hurt you and make you stop expressing yourself, little by little. It feels like a damned if you do, damned if you don’t, case scenario. 

In those cases, you need to choose for what’s healthy for you, and that usually involves accepting that you cannot make anyone but yourself happy. Trying to mold yourself into the person other’s want/believe you to be is going to put you into an early grave - and living for others is no way to live.

What can you do/how can you do this: Two mayor arcana - is going to take quite a bit of action. This chariot is in a very unstable position, and has allowed the horses to pull whenever they want. You have lost the will to take control of your life, allowing yourself to become a passanger of your own life. That’s where the emperor comes in. It’s telling you to put your foot down. “No, I don’t want to do that”, “I want to do this thing instead”, “I like this”, “I don’t like that”. Don’t let them steer your life, yourself. The emperor wants you to realize that you have power over your life, your body, thoughts, and actions. It’s ok to have wants and need. To be able to share those with the people around you and having them respect your opinion. That’s the only way for you to make the horses pulling your chariot fight and pull in opposites directions, and find your path.

Start with the little things. With the little decisions. Your inner self knows what you want and need. You just need to relearn to trust in yourself, and have others realize that you are your own person.

Hopes this reading is helpful to you. Don’t hesitate to come ask for clarification if any of it wasn’t clear, or if you think it was nonsense.

My best wishes to you!