#the other members haven't been on in a while so I won't mention them

[bloodpen-to-paper]

Should this conflict of interest actually go through, its gonna be real interesting.

Tazercraft have plans to target and potentially assassinate Baghera, who they see as a core competitor. They are still family to/allied with Forever. Forever is not only Baghera's brother, but her political ally as them + Badboyhalo have a pact to work together so long as one of them wins the election. Cellbit is also running as a front to aid Forever, and is presumably allied with Baghera, but also has butted heads with her over policies, meaning the two could see each other as potential threats. This isn't even getting into the other French members: Etoiles is very down for assassination, more so than actually being president, and is backing up Baghera, and the other French presumably as well (yet some of them are also friends of Tazercraft). Then you've got Fit being a friend of Tazercraft, and whatever strange secrets he's got up his sleeve. Felps is running by himself it seems, but I wouldn't be surprised if he allied with another Brazilian candidate at some point (or even became forced to choose between Forever/Cellbit and Mike).

Outside of this web, you've got Foolish running independently and only having an official ally in Jaiden as his ghost writer, and as such (along with his motivations for the server being very superficial) he'll most likely lose and ally himself with another candidate (either to help himself or them). BBH is allied, but he's also not fully trusting Baghera and Forever due to his own paranoia, which could cause a rift (I'm predicting now a BBH and Foolish team up behind the Ordo's backs). Quackity doesn't currently have any solid allies save for a potential and very mysterious connection to the Federation, making him a wildcard. There's a chance the Spanish speakers may favor him, though Roier doesn't want to get involved (his marriage to Cellbit could make him either support Cellbit or go against Cellbit since he doesn't want his husband involved either, which could lead him to Quackity's side), Vegetta would most likely support Foolish (which would give Foolish a very powerful ally and assassin on his side), and Maxo has pledged his support for Forever (they are also both Ordos and Maxo would most likely support the Forever/BBH/Baghera/Cellbit alliance). Gegg is a joke but Charlie is a menace and a friend of Quackity who could stir things up in his favor when it comes down to it (that or he commits to being Mike's brother and another ally goes into TC's field). And Philza is an anarchist who would kill everyone involved if given a motive...

I can see the train crashing...

[dwaekkicidal]

Idk if your asks are still open, but I have a recommendation...

Where it's like a poly with two of the members, and they're arguing over which fingers to use on you. (While actively demonstrating)

(Ex. One member is a firm believer of using Pointer/middle finger. While the other prefers middle/ring finger) idk if it makes sense lol

A possible quote "Who the hell told you how to use those fingers"

poly asks have my heart i need MOAR. thank u :3

VocalRacha x Fingering Argument

~500 words | warnings: fem!reader, fingering, (1) pvssy + thigh slap (im sorry i cant help myself), kinda meandom vocalracha, mentions of being tied up

So the first two who really came to mind were Seungmin and Jeongin. And it would SOOO start off as a random argument between them 😭 I won't write a full fic about it for this ask but I'll write a little drabble of sorts

❥ It would happen one of the times you leave them unattended at your apartment. Maybe you had to run out to grab food or wanted to run to the corner store on your own. You're gone for no more than an hour and they still managed to get on the topic of sex and fingering. (probably due to an nsfw meme one of them found/one of the boys found and sent to a group chat)

❥ Bombard you the second you walk in the door. "Jagi, which fingers do you prefer when we fuck you?" & "Puppyyyy~ Tell him I'm right. I know your pussy better than him, right?" Front door wide open and all lol

❥ They argue about it through the whole night until you inevitably get sick of it and just tell them it's all the same. Which, to your dismay, only ends in you in the bedroom with them both between your legs. If you think it's all the same then they feel the need to experiment.

❥ Minnie's most likely gonna be mean to both of you during the whole thing. Starts with a swift "Sit the fuck still or else I'll tie you down." to you and a "Who the fuck taught you that?!? Paboya." to Jeongin

❥ They'd try to do it by taking turns at first. Seungmin lets Jeongin go first and lets him try to "explain" why his way is better but gets fidgety and eventually pulls the other boy's wrist away from you. So Seungmin forces his turn like that and all goes smoothly while he tries to explain his way.

❥ All until Jeongin gets antsy and now they just go back and forth, shoving their fingers deep into your cunt while they bicker back and forth about whose way is better.

❥ They tried to get your opinion on the matter, but after 20+ minutes of them unintentionally edging you and accidentally bullying your G-spot, you're sort of zoned out. A little "fucked dumb" if you will

❥ Jeongin's fingers are still in you when they realize you aren't paying attention and he curves them meanly into your G-spot in an attempt to get your attention. When that doesn't work Seungmin will land a harsh slap to your folds and/or to your thigh

❥ When they find out that you haven't been paying attention the whole time they'll roll their eyes and tell you to focus because they "have no plans to stop until you give us an answer."

❥ At this point it's not so much about what fingers are better, they just want to be right no matter what. Which! Inevitably turns this a competition on who can make you cum faster with their fingers and/or them edging you until you tell them whose way is "better"

❥ You're having a whole lot of orgasms that night. Almost all of which are pulled from their fingers and, depending on how much you toss and turn, may or may not end with you being held down forcefully by whoever isn't knuckles deep into your cunt 🤭

Taglist:

@jiminssluttyminx @changisworld @juskz @linohumina @rylea08

@grandma143 @caught-in-the-afterglow @yaorzu-blog @jabmastersupriseee

[ddiidi]

bf!Bangchan x gn!reader (ot8 mentioned)

Masterlist

When he calls you clingy, so you distance yourself

Previous Pt. 1

Pt. 2

Next Pt. 3

!Warnings: angst, swearing, fun at the end bc reader needs fun in life (lmk if i missed anything)

Important!Side-Note!: Should I do a happy ending for them?

It has been 3 days since that incident. 3 days and still not a single message from Chan, not even an apology for yelling at you, nothing. You've been texting him every now and then, to ask if he's okay, eats and sleeps. He never replied to any of them, nor has he seen them, so you spend most of the time packing your stuff and working from home. You were glad you had a job you also could work from home for. Every now and then, you went over to the building, to check a few things, walking extra detours, to make sure, you won't bump into Chan.

A few of the other members texted you the past days, asking if everything is okay and why the haven't seen you around for a while, to which you just replied with "Busy with work and private stuff, dww:)". It made you happy they actually care that much about you, just because they haven't seen you in a few days, but also anxious and sad, since they care, but chan hasn't even shown any intress in you the past days. You weren't even able to tell him that you're moving.

More days pass, and a few days, turn into a week of no textes from Chan. At this point, you wondered if he even knew that you still exist.

So here you were, in your old apartment, stuffed with boxes, not being able to get your mind off chan and his well-being, even though, you're still deeply hurt from what he said, you couldn't just not not care about him....He pointed out two of your insecurities, just like that as if it was nothing and he doesn't even care...not about you not your feelings.

You let out a deep sigh. You should be getting ready for a day with your friends. Not think about some man, who happened to be the love of your life, who calls you his partner, but doesn't even know how to cherish you.

You let out another, heavy, sigh as you drop to the floor to put on your shoes, Let's just focus on having a great time today, you thought to yourself and left the apartment.

Well, maybe it was not the best decision to go out today...

Chan for his part, had to listen to a lectur from Felix, after you ran out, crying. "Chris..you really shouldn't have said all that to her. I understand that you were annoyed or whatever, but that was no reason to yell at her" "Really now? They were just being a fucking, clingy and annoying crybaby that couldn't take no for an answer, for whatever reason." chan sighed out, at the younger member. "That crybaby...was really uncalled for chris. They're your partner, not some random person on the street you can yell at. I wouldn't wonder if they took that "Leave me alone" to heart and actually leave you after that action." "But I-" chan starts, "I'm just saying chris. You better fix this before it's too late. After what you pulled, partners are faster gone than you could blink" with that, Felix leaves the room, leaving Chan alone, again.

Since that talk, Chan locked himself in his studio, thinking about the best way to apologize for what he said. But he couldn't find one. No matter how long he thought, days, a whole week, there was nothing but regret. He just had to apologize in person and beg for forgivness, hoping that you'd actually forgive him.

So there he was, with a giant bouquet of flowers, fresh clothes and hope.

He had the code to your apartment, so he opened the door, ready to be greeted by the warm, wide open hallway, but was greeted with the cold gray of bunch of boxes instead and the first thing he felt, was panic."Y/n? Y/n are you there?" he yelled, as he ran through your whole apartment, but as he saw that even all your date polaroid pictures where gone, he couldn't help but panic even more.

He let's the flowers fall on the floor, running to your room and nearly collapsed when he found..nothing. Where were you? Did you actually go? Did you actually leave him? All these questions consumed his head and that's when he broke, crying to the point he couldn't breath. He took out his phone and called the first number he saw in his recent calls. It peeped a few times, before someone took the call.

"Hey Chris everything alr-" "They're gone! Felix they're gone, they're not here i don't know what to do! I've never meant it I was just-" chan cried and gasped out at felix on the other line. "Woah there calm down, try to breath I don't understand a word. Relax, I'll be there okay? You know there is an explination for everything, that's what you always say, so try to relax it's okay" Felix tried to soothen the older man, while grabbing his keys and running out to his car. Chan didn't reply anything to that and continued soobing.

I have your location, I'll be there in 5." that's the last thing chan heared from felix, before he collapsed on the floor in your apartment.

And you? You were drinking coffee with your friends, while your bestie told you guys a story how she saw a horse that nearly drowned.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾✧༺🖤༻✧✧༺🖤༻✧✧༺🖤༻✧☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

@finnbbl @wolfs-howling

[feefivefoe]

I haven't really touched on the other two main batboys much. So this blurb will be Damian focused.

Again, I don't know much DC stuff, so it's gonna be a long while before anything with Barbara, Stephanie, Cassandra, or Duke is mentioned. If they ever are :(

But! For the baby Wayne, he also doesn't know reader exists for a few years after he joins the family, though it isn't his fault. How could he know about somebody who his father and siblings never mention?

It takes Jason's eventual blowup at Bruce for him to start clueing in that there's another member of the family that hasn't been around for years. He's a little curious, but if they aren't worth remembering, then what's the point of looking into it? Though he does wonder why Todd and only Todd seems to care so much.

Jason settles down quickly after the argument, not bringing up the mystery sibling again. Now Damian is suspicious. That brother isn't the type to let something go after just being so riled up over it. It's difficult to get any proper snooping done, given how all of them are trained to recognize when they're being watched. But having been raised as an assassin first gives him the slightest edge, as does his smaller stature.

His pride won't let him just come out and ask, but that's just as well. At this point, Jason sees the rest of the family as something else he needs to protect reader from, so he likely wouldn't tell Damian anything.

With weeks of subtle stalking leads Damian to an address. A run down apartment complex in the slums of Gotham, barely holding itself together. And Red Hood, slipping in through the third story window. Unlike his listed location on their communication devices, which places him across the city.

The next chance he gets, he confronts his brother, using the address as leverage. He can spill, or he gives it to their father, along with Jason's suspicious activity. Then he can explain to Batman why he was so far from where he was meant to be, putting anybody in that side of town in jeopardy of missing out on the help that Batman assumed would be coming soon, in the form of Red Hood.

As he knew, a sibling. A biological sibling. It's a bit of a surprise at first, but he disregards it. What a letdown. Bruce Wayne had another child, and this one gave up their legacy because they didn't have the attention they wanted. No wonder his father and Grayson didn't pay them any mind, they weren't worth it.

But then more thoughts start creeping in. A family member, to whom it wouldn't matter what he had done before arriving as a brother and son.

It wouldn't matter that he had been born and raised an assassin. This sibling had yet to be tainted by anything involving the League, or Batman's swarm of enemies. Who had yet to see just how diabolical Gotham could truly be, and wouldn't yet see him as part of it.

His one chance to not be an Al-Ghuul, not be Robin. Just Damian.

He isn't ashamed of his heritage by any means. And if he wanted to, he could find that type of companion in his school peers.

But a sibling? Somebody he shares half of his heritage with?

...Well, maybe Todd had an idea with some merit just this one time...

[eclecticmiasma]

Hello! Good evening!

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Mithrun and I had a small scenario pop up in my head, and it would be lovely to see your vision on how this would play out, please and thank you 💕:

AFAB!Elf!reader is a member of the canaries, very soft spoken and rather kind. The nicest, most likely. Against her better judgement she’s down bad for the captain and everyone else is like “pls no I’d rather you not”. (She can fix him/jk)

Mithrun realizes she has feelings for him and in a very subtle way treats her a little more gentle than the others. Lets her spoil him a tiny bit more. Listens to her a bit more.

Reader can only hope one day maybe…just maybe…the captain can show a little interest in her too 🥺 and is oblivious that he lets her get away with a little more than others

Just very soft feelings all over

I won't spoil it for those who haven't read the manga, but there are instances where we see Mithrun treat Kabru rather favorably and opening up in great detail about his past. In a side story, we also see that younger Mithrun cared for the other canaries quite a bit. I imagine that even without his desires, Mithrun would appreciate care shown to him in his own Mithrun-y way.

SFW

Mithrun might be adverse to you at first, because when he really looks inward you remind him of his younger self.

However, Mithrun would soon come to see that you don't have the same...pitfalls in your personality that brought him where he is today. He might even come to somewhat admire your ability to stay genuinely kind in a world like theirs.

The other canaries start to notice that you have a much easier time getting their leader to take an ounce of care in his own well-being than any of them ever have. Some of them think it's entertaining while others (Pattadol) think the favoritism is unnacceptable.

Cithis might tease him about it if you aren't around, "We don't want to worry poor [y/n] by getting all dehydrated now, do we captain?"

Even the mention of your name is enough to motivate Mithrun, though you remain completely unaware. In your mind, the captain regards you as nothing more than a subordinate.

You don't notice the way his good eye trains on you as you talk about life before the canaries. You don't realize how fast he falls asleep when you're near. The magnitude of the fact that one night he voluntarily tells you a story about when he and his brother were children slips by you completely.

Pattadol is the only one to ever bring it up to you directly, and you truly have no idea what she's talking about. None of the others help her either, preferring to sit back and watch how her face reddens with frustration.

Mithrun isn't oblivious to the situation, however. He knows that there's something about you that...calms him, at the very least. He's sharp enough to know that you feel the same way about him, perhaps even stronger.

He likes having you around. It's not something he wants when you're gone, but it's something he enjoys while you're there. Because he knows you have some type of feelings for him, he indulges you at every turn. He even lets you wash his back and massage the scarred tissue built at the tips of his ears- though you're terribly relieved he can't see the heat rising on your cheeks as you do so.

One day, long long after the dungeoneering is done, perhaps you might even be able to help Mithrun find his desires, find himself again.

*do not post elsewhere without explicit permission. please consider reblogging, as Tumblr tends to hide adult content!

[RULES] [MASTERLISTS] [AO3] [KO-FI]

[mellowwillowy]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫

Yan! Eldritch Horrors (or Monsterfuck for short) × GN! Reader

"I want you to gut me baby~"

""Say less""

Warning: NSFW, Inhumane Size, threesome, mention of wanting Reader to be a 'Mother', gruesome talk

So that's how you ended up in this mating press position, your guts rearranged by his inhumane size, your face dumbstruck by pleasure and pain at the same time.

"Ssshhh, you said you want to be gutted by us no? Take it, take it all~" his pace does not falter, it remains the same and steady, his veins hitting the spot you are dying for.

Of course, there's still another one present on the bed.

"Just wrap this cock with that pretty mouth, 'kay? Be good for us and we will reward you."

Your mouth is already sore from having his inhumane size still in you, drool pooling down on the mattress you three were on.

"So good~ so good for us aren't you, doll?"

His hand caresses the strands of hair from your face, sweats making it stick to your skin. You look down at your stomach and see something bulging out. It disappears then reappears again, pushing your guts upward, or so you think.

The other pulls out his member from your mouth and you immediately feel your sore jaw before he brings your hand to your stomach.

"Why don't you feel the thing that has been piercing you?"

"Oh-ho! Great idea! See? This is the proof of my love, gutting the fuck out of you," he increases his pace, his thrust getting deeper and harder, "feeling you in a way mortals shouldn't, oh how much I want you to be the 'Mother' of my offsprings~"

"Don't." He shoots the man above you a glare.

"What? I'm sure you want to see them bear us children too no~? Imagine seeing them round with our offspring in them."

"I'd rather not have the child eat and rip her alive."

Talking about those gruesome stuff while they are fucking you up? You love that. Truth to be said, the idea of being able to carry a child excites you, especially one that is inhumane and is capable of eating you alive to survive!

"What? Aha, are you sick? I can feel you clenching me!"

"Maybe our doll needs a bit of repair soon," he frowns as he peppers you with kisses, "I can't and won't let you ever bear any pain because of us..."

You kiss him back, tongue clashing with his. Not wanting to lose, he kisses you back, not letting you go until he figures you've run out of breath. He doesn't want you to faint just because of a kiss after all.

"Haa... khk- hey, what would you do if I wasn't joking?"

"... I'd fucking kill you"

"Wha-?"

This time the man above kisses you, unlike the passionate kiss you shared with the other one, his is more greedy and needy, teeth clashing against yours and tongue occasionally bitten.

"So close, soooo close... hey... I love ya'"

That was his warning before you felt something warm filling you up to the brim, hell the bulge is still there, all he has to do is pull out push your stomach down and his dead offspring will flow out of you like a tap water.

Just as he pulls himself out, he is immediately shoved to the side, "What a bad habit you got right here, not giving them a proper finish..."

"Eh? No... I, I came earlier so- ahk!"

He starts to stimulate you back, his fingers working their way around you, "Nonsense, you deserve more," his fingers insert themselves into your gaping hole, hitting all the spots that make you see the cosmic. His tongue licks your jaw, nibbling it before moving to your neck, giving you a hickey.

You come shortly after that, body twitching and mind dazes off into the unknown until he places his member on top of your face.

"Remember, I still haven't had my share, doll."

Oh that thing is surely going to fucking pierce and gut you up and you love that ♡

"Yeeeeeeshhh....."

---

Afternotes: I actually have the pairings in my head but I'll just let you guys decide.

[crazyk-imagine]

Flickering Lights and Butterflies

Pairing: Paul Lahote x Enhanced!reader

Characters: Enhanced!reader, Paul Lahote, Sam Uley, Emily Young, Jacob Black, Seth Clearwater, Embry Call, Quil Atera V, Jared Cameron, Brady Fuller, Collin Littlesea, Reader's sister (briefly mentioned), Unnamed Aunt (briefly mentioned)

Warnings: Angst, fluff, Paul being a butt, pack loves reader, I'm making it canon (for myself) that Quil is the shortest one of all, the guys tease the youngest members a lot, Emily is my iconic queen, I love writing for them, the pack is a wholesome and chaotic crew, this would have been so long so I broke it into two parts, I like adding Brady and Collin because they're my fun extras, my babies are causing themselves issues, literally don't know how involved I got with this, Sam knows when to listen to his luna

Word Count: 2,040

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

You close your eyes and throw an arm over your head, covering the upper half of your face.

You can feel the energy from the person sitting beside you but don't move.

The crunching of the grass raising the hairs on your arms causing you to inadvertently shiver from the goosebumps.

"Are you ever going to come back inside?"

"Why should I?"

"First off, I don't want you to get a cold."

You sigh, "Emily-"

"I'm not pressuring you to come back inside but I don't want you to be cold. I don't want to lose another girl to hang out with because she was stubborn."

You scoff through your nose, lips twitching as you fight to keep your emotions in control. You push yourself up and stare up into the sky, blowing out a breath, seeing it disappear into the wind.

God it's cold.

"See, it's cold enough for you to see your breath which means it's time to come inside."

You smile at her concern, something you haven't heard in a while. "I'll be right behind you."

The knot in your shoulder tightens and the burning, tingling sensation is back. "I don't want to talk to him."

He huffs, "I'm not the bad guy here."

"You don't sound like the good guy either."

"Says you."

You push yourself off the ground and rush past him.

He grabs your arm, pulling you back.

You gasp in fear, grabbing at his hand; worried for his safety. "Get off me."

"Not until we talk."

"I don't want to talk. Let go of me." You avoid staring into his eyes.

"Give me five minutes. It's not going to hurt you."

"Let go of me."

"Look me in the eye and I will."

You shove him away and run inside. You lock yourself in the guest bathroom.

Emily runs in, glancing around in search of you. "Bathroom," she mutters.

The others enter, seeing their luna knocking on the door.

They turn to Paul who glares at the door with his arms crossed.

"What happened?" Embry asks.

"Little miss stains ran off into the bathroom."

They can see the play back in their minds and wonder what happened.

-

You hold your head in your hands, pleading to freak out. "No, no, no."

You raise your head, staring at the ceiling. "Please don't."

You can hear her pleading and assume the others are talking about you in a bad way.

You hyperventilate, unsure of how to calm down.

You hold your breath and rub your chest, mentally telling yourself you're okay and need to calm down.

The lights pop.

You don't want to go out.

-

"Sweetie. I need you to open the door. I need to see that you're okay."

Sam steps towards his fiancée. "What's happening?"

She places a hand on his arm. "Sam as much as I love you, I need you and the boys to stay in the kitchen."

He wants to ask more but can see by the look on her face, he won't get any. He nods and steps away.

She sits beside the door, "they're in the kitchen. I told them to go away."

"Emily," you whine, embarrassed.

"It's okay. If you come out, then we can take care of this."

You unlock the door after a few moments. "I am so sorry."

"I know," she opens her arms to hug you.

You immediately throw yourself into her grasp.

Paul catches slight movement from the corner of his eyes and smells the saltiness of your tears, furrowing his brows.

You two make your way back into the kitchen.

You glance at them from the corner of your eye, sensing the concern of Sam about his fiancé.

You lower your head.

Emily breaks away from Sam, mouthing that she's got this.

She places a gentle hand on your shoulders. "Do you want to go home?"

You raise your head and stare at her with a wobbly lip, tears trailing past your waterline.

She offers a gentle smile. "I'll stay with you tonight. I won't leave you alone."

"You promise?" Your voice cracks, breaking everyone's heart, namely Paul's.

She gives you an affirmative nod. "I promise. Have you ever known me to break a promise?"

You can't hold back the choking sob that escapes when you laugh.

She wraps an arm around you and pulls you out with her, heading into her old truck.

He follows behind.

As soon as you settle into the passenger seat, he tries to make his way to you. "Can I-"

She shakes her head. "Not now, Paul. She's- today's not good, okay?"

"What's wrong with her?"

She shakes her head, "I know that's not what you mean but I can't answer that because we need to go."

His eyes follow the truck as she backs out.

You look up and catch his gaze, his shoulders sag at the sight of your broken-down face.

-

You wake up and stare at the ceiling with the moonlight lighting the living room.

Emily lays asleep on the longer end of the couch, curled into the blanket since tonight's colder than it has been all week.

You push yourself up and think about everything that happened earlier in the day. You don't know whether you wish it didn't happen or if it happened sooner.

You wander into the kitchen and get yourself a glass of water.

After drinking as much as you can, you glance out the window and stare into the forest, always finding it peaceful since you were a kid... back when you two were friends.

You sigh, remembering how embarrassed you were, it was stupid but then your parents got into an accident and your sister was taken to live with your aunt in California while you were left in the care of Emily because she was your godmother and wanted nothing more than to keep you in Folks.

She tried all she could to keep you two together, but your mom's sister fought harder for your sister.

You know Paul probably doesn't even know why you were so upset or what happened since a proper funeral didn't take place, you don't even know if he knows.

You blink and you’re back to reality, no longer stuck in memory lane and find a wolf near your house.

It's him, you know it.

There's no other reason a wolf would be nearby at this time of night, intensely staring at your house or you.

You turn away, unsure of what to do about everything that's happened.

You step back into the living room, checking on Emily, smiling when you see she's still asleep.

You wipe the stray tear that trickles down your cheek, thinking back to when you and your sister would stay in the living room for your sister hangouts.

A shadow moving near the door alarms you, causing you to turn and investigate.

You jump, placing a hand over your heart, wanting to curse him out.

You carefully unlock the door and step outside, making sure to grab your key beforehand, in case you get locked out.

The last thing you need is Paul to try and get you back inside and/or scare the daylight out of Emily because of him.

You sigh, crossing your arms. "What do you want?"

His eyes are drawn down towards your chest at your movements before trailing back to your annoyed expression, something he finds himself falling more and more for.

"If you’re just going to oogle me like a piece of meat, I'm going back inside."

His hands grab your wrist, stopping you before you can step closer to the door. "No- I- I didn't come here for that."

"What did you come for?" You snatch your wrist back from him.

The porch light buzzes, you pray this doesn't take long.

"I wanted to talk."

"Then talk."

"Could we skip the attitude?"

"The only one here with the attitude is you."

"Says the one who keeps running when I open my mouth."

"It was a bad idea coming out here to talk to you, just go, Paul."

He sighs.

The light pops, breaking above you.

You flinch, raising your arm to cover your face and slowly dropping it so the pieces of light don't cut your skin.

He wraps an arm around your waist, pulling you away from the mess. "Hey, hey," he cups your cheeks. "Are you okay?"

You avoid making eye contact with him.

"Stop fighting me and look at me."

You turn your head and find his concerned expression to be the most breathtaking thing you've ever seen.

His eyes are drawn the red line across your cheek. "Your-"

Emily opens the door, staring at the two of you and looks to the side, finding the mess. "You two get inside so I-"

Paul shakes his head, "I'll do it. You take care of her."

-

"You need to tell him."

"I don't have to tell him."

"He's your best friend."

"Was my friend but then he started growing up and became a butthead."

"Boys who like someone are mean to them because they have the emotional capacity of a stick."

You owlishly blink, listening to the phrase she said. "Yeah, I know. He's prime example number one."

"Not all relationships are perfect."

"That's true and we're not in one."

"Maybe he can help you?"

"With what?"

"Your issue."

You shake your head, "no. He's not helping me."

"He's the only one who doesn't know."

"The other guys don't know."

"I think out of all the boys, other than Sam, Quil might know what happened, other than that they don't."

"And I don't know them."

She sighs, "is this really the attitude you're going to have towards the one the universe decided was yours?"

You pretend to think about it for a second. "Yep."

-

You step out of the hall, watching him try and remember where to put the broom. "Give it." You put it back in its place. "Thanks."

"It was no big deal. I didn't want you to get hurt."

You roll your eyes. "That."

"What?"

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"Why do you think?"

The question holds no attitude even though the phrase seems like it.

"I don't know because you won't talk about it."

"Do you- nevermind."

"No, tell me."

"I don't want to do this right now, Paul. Please, go home."

"No," he stands his ground, tired of you pushing him away. "What happened with us because one second we're friends and the next we're not."

"Did you ever think maybe you acting like a dick was reason enough?"

"You're blaming me?" His shoulders tense up.

Emily notices and eyes him from the couch.

"I didn't make fun of my friend and get the other kids to join in on the tormenting, you did that easily enough."

"I didn't mean to. I told you-"

"That was not joking around, and you blatantly made fun of me."

"I- I didn't know any better. I was a kid."

"Just because you were a kid, doesn't mean you didn't have a brain, you just had to use it. You know those kids are ruthless and mean then you joined in with them."

"I didn't think they were close to me."

"They hated me."

"Everyone hated everyone, girls were gross then."

You scoff, looking away to hide the fact that that day was the beginning of the end for you as you tear up. "I don't want to talk to you anymore," you tell him wiping your cheek.

"Why are you crying?"

"Do you even know how long that stupid nickname has stuck around, even now because you still use it?"

"It's cute."

"It's annoying. I don't like it and you still bully me."

"It's not bullying if it's endearing."

"Try the opposite."

"Okay," he sighs, "I'll stop using it."

"I'm happy the two of you are acting like your friends again but it's almost two in the morning and I'm tired."

"I'm off patrol and it's raining."

"Convenient," you mumble.

He smiles, staring at you as you plop beside Emily. "The lights are still working."

"I noticed." She places her hand on the back of your head and mindlessly pats your head.

You fight to keep your eyes open, listening to the two talking while you're becoming more and more relaxed.

-

Tag List

@kmc1989 @gilbertgirl13

-

Continue to: Part II

Paul Lahote Master List

[kangaracha]

QUEENMAKER | CHAPTER 5

---

pairing chan x reader

genre ninth member au, enemies to lovers, angst, fluff, coming of age, social media, cancel culture, anxiety, depression, forbidden love,

summary To JYPE, the solution is simple; take the sole trainee that will not debut with your brand new girl group, and use her to replace the missing vocalist in your male group that insisted on starting as nine.

Unfortunately, to the fans and the members themselves, it isn't that simple.

status ongoing

taglist OPEN

a/n apparently it has been 28 days since the last chapter, but the good news is i now have 4 chapters written in advance so january at least will have content. for those who haven't seen the random announcements on my blog, i've been sick and honestly probably will be again in january so your patience is appreciated, and i'm sorry, i'm not usually this sporadic with a project like this! to my editing team, who are feeling betrayed seeing this surprise chapter in their notifications, my chrissy new years gift to you is not asking for edits in the holiday season, roast me in the chat if anything is wrong (keeps, that last part doesn't apply to you)

previous | masterlist | next

---

Even as you knock on the door to the studio, you're nervous.

Maybe you shouldn't be; it's been nearly a month exactly now, and you're fairly sure at this point that none of the boys hate you, though calling some of them friends has been easier said than done. Maybe that's why you're nervous in the first place, because it's been so long and you're still unsure where you stand within the group, especially with the one you're supposed to meet now...

It's not your fault. Well, maybe it is a little bit - you're aware that you're struggling to relax in their company, the way you had with the girls in Midnight or other trainees. But your schedules are so different too, you only see the others in practise, or in passing in the halls. Some days you practise on your own, while they are off on one schedule or another, living the life of idols that have built up their name, other days only half of them are there. Sometimes there is no dance practise scheduled at all, their own individual lessons or other commitments taking precedence.

It won't be like this forever, you just keep telling yourself. Three weeks more, and then you debut with the rest of them, and you're part of the group for real. Three weeks of hard work, and then, maybe, it gets easier.

Maybe. You've thought that before, only for an opportunity to slip away through your fingers. You wouldn't be surprised if it happened again.

The door opens - Chan, leaning over from his chair to tug on the door handle before he returns to his desk. "Come in," he says warmly, an arm gesturing you towards the couch behind him. It's already occupied by Changbin, who makes you smile when he gives you a hello and a wave. "Sit with me," he says, in Korean and then again in broken English, patting the cushions. "I'll be quiet, I promise."

You're reminded suddenly of how loud he can be, during practises or even when everyone is just sitting around, but you hesitate to mention it, sitting quietly beside him instead. "You can tell him to leave if you want," Chan adds, his back turning to his laptop. "He's not actually here for anything important."

"I'm here for emotional support," Changbin claims, only he puts on such a voice as he says it that it makes both of you laugh. "It's an important job."

"Okay, well." Chan's hands spread, like he doesn't have any say in the situation. "If you don't need support, you can tell him to leave."

"He can stay," you answer readily, and you don't really doubt your answer at all. Out of all the members, Changbin has been one of the friendliest; he'd been so warm and accepting on your first day, and gone out of his way in days since to talk to you or pull you into a joke when you were on the outskirts watching. Even if he was only doing it because you looked pathetically out of place among them, you appreciated it. 

"Cool," Chan says, and then he shifts in his chair like he's uncomfortable, his eyes straying towards his laptop momentarily. "So. I wanted to talk to you about the comeback."

"I figured as much," you reply, aware that your hands are fidgeting nervously in your lap.

Chan's mouth opens, like he's going to say something, and then he hesitates, glancing away again. Apprehension rises in your throat, bitter like the taste of bad coffee as you swallow it back down again. It's one thing if you're nervous - but if he is unsure about what he's about to say too, then it could be-

"I've thought about it, and I've decided that you're not going to debut with us on this album."

Bad.

Your heart stops and then starts again, your chest tightening around your lungs even though you've heard this story before. It shouldn't even surprise you by now, the let-down; thinking you might have now, finally, done the work and reaped the reward, and yet every time you seem to let the hope creep into your chest just so that you can crumble twice as hard. You hadn't even realised you'd become this married to the idea of joining Stray Kids in the last three weeks, and yet the idea of getting dropped again hurts like a pain in your chest.

This was your last chance. No one else will debut you. The world isn't that kind of kind.

"Okay," you say, through a jaw that feels like it won't move enough to form the words. "It's - I understand. I'm sorry that I couldn't do it."

"Hang on," Chan says, a hand hovering between you like he's ready to catch you if you turn to leave. "Just hear me out - it's not that you're not good enough, okay? I just think it will help you if we wait a little bit longer, and the company were happy to agree."

"You've worked hard," Changbin says beside you, his face earnest. "No one thinks you can't do it."

"No," Chan agrees. "I'm just looking at the timeline, and the schedule they've drawn up for you, and I think you'd do much better if we push debut back to our next comeback in September."

September. Three more months away, rather than three weeks; three more months to push through, nose to the grindstone, that deadline looming over your head. Three more months in which someone might realise they've made a grave mistake and pull you right back out again, when you'd been so close to that finish line. Three more months feeling like an imposter in these boys' lives, waiting for life to even out into some kind of normal.

"Is that okay?" Chan asks, and you bite down the spiral of thoughts that pulls your mind down towards a big, black hole and nod, trying to pretend that it's nothing. The frown on his face doesn't look convinced, nor does the sheet of paper that he reaches behind him to fetch, shoving it into your hands.

"I want you to understand," he says as you look down at the paper, forcing your fingers to only hold it gently before you can rip it. A schedule, the next three weeks of your life laid out in a neat little chart that is detailed down to the minute and overflowing with things to do. "This is the choice they've given us; either we push you through this schedule and extra dance practise and debut in three weeks, or we wait sixteen weeks, and you do all of these things with the rest of us in a reasonable timeframe. I've been looking at it all week, and...I think it's too much. Waiting gives us a song prepared for nine members, takes the pressure off of the managers, gives you time to get to know everyone..."

You're forced to swallow the lump in your throat as you read the schedule and realise that Chan is right; the next week is full of photoshoots and content creation, with no room left for the dance practise you know you need to keep up with. It's rushed, and it's daunting, and at first look you're not really sure at all how you would handle everything. It's the life you've been training for for years now, and yet so many of the things on this list you feel like you haven't trained for at all.

"You're right," you admit, around a tongue that sits too heavy in your mouth. "I don't know why they thought this would work in the first place, when I'm so-"

"Someone high up had a great idea, and wanted it seen through as fast as possible," Chan says before you can finish. "Stray Kids haven't had a really...successful year. Maybe they were thinking of dropping us unless something changed, maybe they just really liked you. They've already agreed to push your debut back to September anyway, so it's not something we need to worry about now."

"As long as they still think it's a good idea in September," you say, and you manage to keep your tone light even though it doesn't sound much like a joke to you at all.

Changbin is the one to speak up, his hand slapping the arm of the couch. "They can't mess with us like that," he declares in the kind of voice that says he has complete confidence in what he says. "You want to be in Stray Kids, you're in Stray Kids, and you're not leaving."

"Exactly," Chan says warmly, and you manage to muster up a smile even though that tension still squeezes tight in your chest at the thought of another three months of limbo, not knowing if you'll stay or if you'll go. "Now," he says, turning back to his laptop, "I have better news; I've got a part for you in God's Menu that I want to hear, and I can play the next title track for you..."

TAGLIST

@kokinu09 @rainfallingfromthesky @lixie-phoria @mysweethannie @chlodavids @hanniemylovelyquokka @tfshouldidohere @lauraliisa @puppysmileseungmin @kalopsian-thoughts @puppy-minnie @readerofallthingss @dvbkie099 @kthstrawberryshortcake-main @acker-night @d-chagi @lynlyndoll @borahae-reads @ihrtlix @yienmarkk @minhwa @i2innie @jinnie-ret @conwunder @amesification @starssongs98

[captjprice]

What about ghost with an s/o who's just as stoic and closed off (mostly with strangers but more open than him in a relationship) as he is and always looks so done with everything, mostly quiet and only gives one word answers or no answer at all, sarcastic or gives a side eye when someone makes a stupid comment and has a dark sense of humor but they're actually very sweet and gentle once you get to know them???:)

Simon "Ghost" Riley x reader

A/n: I am finally getting to requests ugh

Mentions: fluff, sfw, Simon is scared shitless by romance, angst(?????), but not really

Intimidated wasn't really the word Simon would use in this case, because Simon Riley did not get intimidated.

Yet, he felt a bit odd seeing you. He wasn't sure what to think of you. All of the others in the taskforce were like an open book— So open and friendly, so unlike him. And then there you were, cleaning your gun with an expression on your face that told everyone to promptly fuck off.

Price had noticed you weren't.. falling in the group that smoothly, just like Simon hadn't at first. He assured everyone you were a delight to work with.

Simon wasn't so sure of that, but still, he decided to join you, cleaning his gun as he sat down next to you. Kyle was rummaging around as well, eyeing you. "You two look extra jolly today," he snorts. You don't reply, only looking up at him with a glare. He seems to understand the message, clearing his throat and giving nod. Simon raises a brow, glancing over at you.

He wasn't sure why, but Simon was so incredibly intrigued with you— you barely spoke, and when you did, it was the kind of comment only you could laugh at, and occasionally Simon too. He didn't really notice it himself, but everywhere you were he wouldn't be far behind, trying to start conversation.

It was uncanny, how badly he wanted to talk to you. He wanted to know everything about you, while ofcourse keeping himself at a safe distance.

The bar has flooded empty, leaving only you and some other taskforce members in a quiet booth. It's another late night of celebrations, and you, for once, haven't drunk yourself wasted. You gaze over the booth, watching the other men laugh, occasionally patting each others arm or back.

But Simon also seems to be sober, watching over the others with an almost tired look in his gaze. When your eyes meet, you give a soft smile. The others won't remember much of the evening, let alone you smiling at someone.

Your sudden expression makes Simon's eyes widen a little, especially because all you've been up to now was an isolated grump. He shifts, then gives a nod. When your eyes don't budge from him, he stands, awkwardly shuffling past the others to sit down next to you. "Awful lot, aren't they?" He asks gruffly. You give a nod, sipping your drink and clearing your throat. "And I thought it was bad when they were sober." You say, smiling. "Well, believe me, it can get even worse than this. This is only when they're tipsy." His words make you let out a hearty chuckle, and he smiles in amusement at it. You're not as half as bad as he thought you'd be.

"I have a feeling by the time they're completely drunk, I'll be at home nice and warm in my bed." You state, giving his arm a slight nudge. "Why's that? Not into celebrations?" Simon asks, his eyes focused on you. You shake your head. "I only drink if I want to be miserable." Now it's his turn to laugh, even though it's only a quiet chuckle.

That evening replayed in his mind, you had been so friendly, so approachable that he was wondering why he hadn't talked to you earlier.

"Hard at work, I see." You retort with a little chuckle, watching Simon gaze at the wall with unfinished reports in front of him. He clears his throat, looking at you. He'd get so lost in his head sometimes..

When he doesn't respond, you step closer. "You okay, Simon?" Your voice is so soft now, nothing compared to how you'd bark orders or remark comments sometimes. He gives a little nod, trying to ignore how his chest aches at your sweet tone. "Yeah." Simon glances at you, seeing you holding coffee. You'd made it a habit over some time now to bring him some whenever you could. "That for me?"

You nod, setting it down. "You should take a break, Si." The nickname makes him perk up. "Just not my day today. It's fine." Somehow, you don't really believe him. "Are you sure? I'm here for you. I'd like to think we're friends. Friends do that for eachother."

You're being too sweet, all of a sudden. What happened to you glaring at him, rolling your eyes? He shakes his head, waving you off. "It's fine. I have work to do."

He comes back to his barracks that evening to a little note from you, slid under the door with your number and a little heart on it.

[boothillssugarmomma]

An Oni's Careful Watch

(Itto x Fem! reader)

cw: Mentions of injury, mentions of gangs, Protective!Itto, Boyfriend!Itto

🎀 authorsnote: Hi guys! I'm back! My nails are still on but I'm working with it! I have many many fics coming up of both Genshin AND Honkai Star Rail so stay tuned it wanted!

please don't steal my work!

Taglist🎀Genshin Master List🎀Other Lists

A week ago you had a run in with a local Inazuma gang who didn't take kindly to Itto's. While you can always protect yourself, Itto doesn't think so.

You had taken your vision off that day, leaving it at home so it didn't call too much attention while you went out running errands for the day.

Which was a pretty big mistake seeing as it landed you with a black eye and a broken wrist.

Itto was FURIOUS about this when you showed up to the gang's usual meeting place. He even stopped his Onikabuto match after you told him what happened!

So now your boyfriend won't stop trailing you around and keeping an eye on you. Sure it was sweet at first...but now he's overbearing and over cautious about every little thing!

"Oh woah woah woah! Anddd what do you think you're doing?" Itto huffs, pulling you back into his arms, making sure you don't go within two feet of him. You two were running your weekly errands as normal, but this was exhausting with his constant nagging.

"Just because I got jumped by another gang doesn't mean that I can't protect myself!" You sigh, looking up at the Oni. His eyes meet yours and you can tell he isn't going to budge.

He was quick to scoff at your little attitude, his chest puffing out a bit.

"Handle yourself, huh?" He laughed down at you. Finding it humorous you were speaking like you know what you're doing, and that just riled him up. He pulled you to his body, so you were practically flush against him, making you stumble over your feet a bit.

"You really think you can take care of yourself? Like you haven't gotten yourself into trouble already, multiple times might I add..."

The air gets kind of crisp as he sees your eyes glare into his. He shivers a bit, and Itto just knows he started something.

"Woah! Woah! Let's get this straight it was two times!" You hiss softly. "And one was your fault!"

Itto's mouth fell open in shock. How dare you say he was the one at fault! He'd been protecting you, that was all. It was your own fault for getting into the mess anyway!

"Bullshit!" He argued back. His fingers dug into your waist, his hand squeezing your hips almost possessively. You weren't about to get away with putting the blame on him.

"I was trying to keep you safe, that's all! I wasn't the one who was talking back to gang members!"

Pausing in the street to raise an eyebrow at him, your eyes narrow even more if that's even possible. "And care to remember why was I talking back to them?" You fold your arms.

"Because you're too troublesome and can't keep your mouth shut!" Itto retorted, refusing to back down in the midst of the argument. A part of him wanted to roll his eyes at the ridiculousness of it all.

"When those guys were talking to you, you should've just walked away! But NOOO, you had to say something to them, and the next thing I knew, they were holding you at knifepoint!"

You let out a breathy laugh and roll your eyes. "Oh really? So I wasn't arguing with them because they hurt your feelings!?" You poke his chest with your finger.

The audacity you had. Itto felt himself grow a little irritated. You were completely ignoring the fact he was just trying to defend you! He wasn't hurt, his feelings hadn't been messed with. His feelings of annoyance on the other hand, sure...

"What the hell are you talking about? They didn't hurt my feelings. It was you they hurt!" Itto protested, his grip on your hip tightening in frustration.

You let out a small huff and pull away from him. "Sue me if I don't appreciate people talking bad about my boyfriend!"

Itto suddenly had a change of expression, eyes slightly going wide before an annoyingly smug expression appeared.

"You...You got mad cause they were talking about me?" The oni repeated to clarify. A smirk tugged at his lips as he pulled you a little closer to his body.

You don't even want to answer him, especially with his ego sky rocketing, but you know you have to. "Yes!" You whisper, looking away to avoid his stupid grin.

Itto chuckled, his chest rumbling as he let out a soft hum. Feeling your back against his front was a pleasure in itself, but seeing you look away from him in embarrassment was even better.

"Aww...Were you defending my honor, princess?" He taunted, a devious smile slowly creeping onto his face.

With that you immediately scoff and pull away, walking along to continue the errands.

Ah, that reaction was exactly what Itto was expecting. He chuckled to himself and followed after you. It didn't take him long to catch up and fall into step with you, and he quickly placed his hand on your back.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where are you going?" He asked, giving a small pout as he looked down at you. "Don't be like that, babe.. I was just teasing you."

You ignore him, sticking your nose up in the air. "And that's what you get!" You huff walking along and glazing over merchant stalls for your errands.

"Don't be so pouty!" Itto sighed dramatically, his hand moving to grab your forearm, slowing down your walking.

He gently pulled you to his side, his arm wrapping around your waist as he smiled sheepishly. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" He began, clearly not sorry at all.

"Come on... Don't give me the silent treatment, you know it's annoying," Itto whined.

"You gonna stop teasing me?" You fold your arms with a gentle hum.

Itto seemed to hesitate, thinking to himself as he weighed up the options. He definitely wasn't going to stop teasing you, but he also didn't want you to be mad at him for too long.

"Maybe?" He answered. A cocky grin appeared as he gave you a mischievous look, his eyes flickering over your pouty expression.

"If you promise not to get mad at me. Or yell at me. Or walk away like just now." He added.

You sigh loudly, shaking your head before glancing up into his eyes.

Itto's expression softened for a moment, and he took a moment to admire your face. Your eyes, your pouty lips, the redness of your cheeks, he took in every feature. You were adorable when you were upset, but he'd rather have you smiling.

"Oh, come on, babe..." He protested, his hands moving to grab your waist. He gently pulled you close to his body, his arms slowly enclosing around you.

"Please don't pout at me like that. You know I'm gonna give in.."

You flutter your eyelashes up at him with a sly smirk. "So it's working?"

Itto made an exaggerated groan, his head tilting back in frustration.

"Yes, you little- URG, it's working." He chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"You're playing with my emotions right now, you know that right?" He pointed out, his eyes flickering down to meet yours again. His grasp on your waist gently tightens, you keeping you flush against his body.

"And you most certainly never play with mine huh?" You roll your eyes playfully before laughing.

A smug smirk tugged at the corners of Itto's lips.

"Oh, you're going there, huh?" He chuckled, his eyes roaming over your expression.

"You love it when I play with your emotions. I give you a little attention and spoil you and you melt for me." He teased, squeezing your waist playfully.

"Dangerous game Oni...dangerous game..." You tease, taking his hands off your waist and continuing errands, picking out groceries and paying for them.

Itto chuckled as he followed you over to pay for the groceries. He watched with amusement as you picked out what you needed, staying right by your side.

"It's not dangerous if I know I'm going to win!" He confidently said, a smirk appearing on his face.

Leaning against the merchants counter, he watched you handle the payment. He looked you up and down shamelessly, admiring you.

--

After all your errands you begin walking home, chatting like and laughing like normal.

As usual, Itto was a constant presence by your side, walking alongside you as you continued on your walk back home.

The sun was setting, and the sky slowly darkened. The soft orange hue of the sky quickly faded to night as the streetlamps and street vendors' lights came to life.

"Man, that took forever. But I don't regret tagging along..." Itto commented, his eyes flickering to your face as he smiled.

"You better not since it was your idea to tag come with." You point out.

Itto let out a scoff and rolled his eyes, a small pout appeared on his face.

"Hey, hey, I was just trying to be a supportive boyfriend, okay!" He protested, raising his hands up in defense.

"And you were all like, 'yeah, I'm going shopping!' so I was just like 'I'll tag along to keep you safe!'." He added, mimicking your voice.

"And you're a great boyfriend for doing that." You smile before rolling your eyes.

"Damn right I am!" Itto smirked, satisfied to hear you say those words out loud.

He chuckled in response to your eye rolling, and gently nudged your shoulder. He looked over at you as he spoke.

"Although I don't trust those vendors. They were looking at you a bit too much."

"Itto..." You sigh. "Cmon babe..."

"What? They were!!" Itto protested. He wasn't making stuff up, those vendors were absolutely checking you out. Who could blame them though, you were gorgeous.

"I didn't like it. They need to keep their eyes to themselves." He added, his tone now a bit huffy.

"Just stick to being my guard...little Oni..." You kiss his cheek softly.

Itto huffed in response to the kiss, but a small smile tugged at his lips. He loved it when you called him names like that, even though he'd never admit it.

"I am being a guard..." He protested. "A guard who is also your boyfriend. I can multitask, you know?"

He stuck his tongue out playfully before he wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you closer to his body.

As you keep walking you both overhear the gang from last week snicker at you two. Mostly directed at Itto.

"Archons above it's so embarrassing for adults to act like that..." You grimace a bit with second hand embarrassment.

Itto's expression immediately darkened as he heard the sound of the gang laughing. It just HAD to be the same group you had a scuffle with last week.

His grip on your waist tightened, and he pulled you against his body even more. He gave you a warning glance before he looked over at the gang members. He met their gazes with a scowling glare.

"Itto..." You hum softly, tugging on his choker a bit as a warning.

Itto's attention snapped back to you once you called out his name, his expression softening a bit.

"Yeah, babe?" He replied, trying to hide the tension and the protective anger he was feeling.

"Don't do it." You whisper with gritted teeth.

Itto let out a huff, his shoulders tensing. He understood your warning, but he also wasn't the type to back down from a fight.

He let out a long exhale, closing his eyes in an attempt to calm himself down.

"Relax, I wasn't going to do anything..." He grumbled, even though it was a lie.

"Woww...the only and 'Oni' Arataki Itto being held on a leash?" One of the gang members snickers, mocking him.

"And what a pretty thing tugging on it..." Another member glances at you.

Itto's grip on you tightened as he heard the gang member's words. The mere suggestion of him being on a leash infuriated him. The audacity of these people.

And when he heard them say ONE thing about you...his blood ran hot.

"You wanna say that again, punk?" Itto retorted, his voice a low growl as he spoke through clenched teeth.

"Itto!" You hiss warningly as you try to get him to keep walking, tugging on his hand. "They're seriously not worth it..."

Itto was just about ready to pounce and pummel those gang members into the ground. He wanted revenge for the stunt they pulled last week.

But then he heard your voice. It snapped him back into reality and he reminded himself what was important right now.

You

With a huff and a clenched jaw, he forced himself to turn away, but only barely. He kept walking alongside you, but his glare was still fixated on the gang members.

"See cmon honey..." You take his hand and kiss it gently. "They're not worth it..." You quietly remind him.

Itto's eyes softened as soon as you grabbed his hand and kissed it. Your touch seemed to pacify him, at least for the moment.

He let out a sigh and nodded reluctantly, knowing deep down that you're right and they were not worth his time.

"Yeah, I know..." He mumbled, his eyes still flickering back to the gang, watching them cautiously. "But I just can't stand people who mess with you."

"Hey it's alright I get it love..." You smile a small smile.

Itto let out a breath, his anger slowly fading. With your hand in his and gentle words, he found himself calming down.

He glanced down at your face, meeting your smile. It made his heart flutter a bit. How could he stay angry when you were being this sweet to him?

"You're too damn good at calming me down, you know that?" He said with a chuckle, his eyes softening even more.

"It's a good thing~" You giggle. Before you two even get to keep walking a grainy annoying voice calls out.

"Hey Itto when you're done with it pass it over here!" A gang member calls out and they all laugh, slapping each other's arms and keeling over laughing.

Itto's eye twitched as he heard the gang member's comment. Did they just... did they just refer to you as an object?! His grip on your hand tightened in irritation, and he felt his blood boil once again.

"Watch your language, punk!" Itto hollered back, his voice raised. "She's not some thing to pass around!"

"Itto calm down sweetheart!" You try to hold him back but he's already gone...

Itto was already seeing red, his protective instincts took over, and he couldn't hold back any longer.

He let go of your hand and started walking toward the gang, his strides determined and his expression fierce.

"You bunch of idiots have a death wish, don't you?!" He growled as he got closer to them.

"Whatcha gonna do Oni?" One sneers at him. Trying to square him up.

Itto clenched his fists at the gang member's taunting words. He has had enough of their attitude.

He came to a stop right in front of them, standing tall and letting out an angry huff.

"I'm gonna teach you a lesson you won't forget, that's what I'm gonna do..." He responded, his voice low and threatening.

--

Walking home came later than expected as you had to break up the fight, the gang members had slunk off with their injuries and Itto had a few bruises and cuts.

Itto grumbled to himself as you two finally arrived at home. He was still feeling angry and frustrated, and his body ached from the injuries he had sustained from the fight.

As soon as you stepped through the door, he let out a sigh and flopped down onto the couch, wincing a bit as the pain shot through his body. He looked haggard, his clothes disheveled, and his face sporting a few cuts and a black eye.

"Alright...that's it shhh..." You sit next to him and mess with his hair, carefully massaging his scalp a bit.

The Oni reluctantly sat quietly, a pout on his face as you began to pet his hair, gently running your fingers through his messy locks.

He leaned into your touch, his frown softening a bit as he let out a sigh. Despite the fact that he was still simmering with anger, your gentle touch and soothing voice were helping to calm him down.

"I'm fine, y'know..." He mumbled, his eyes closing half-way as he spoke.

"Oh I know..." You lie. "This is...uh...for me!"

Itto opened one eye, peering up at you for a moment before letting out a huff and a small scoff.

"Bullshit... I know you're just doing this for me..." He grumbled, though there was a hint of a smile on his face.

He closed his eye again and leaned his head back against the couch, enjoying the feeling of your fingers running through his hair. Although, he wouldn't admit it out loud, he secretly loved these moments where you pampered him like this.

"Alright...maybe it's a little bit for you..." You slide your hands out of his hair and down to his shoulders.

Itto let out a hum as your hands moved down to his shoulders, a pleased smile on his face. He was still trying to act tough, though, even though he was secretly enjoying the way you were taking care of him.

"You know I can handle myself," he said with a huff. "You don't need to baby me, babe."

"You sure you don't want me to?" You whisper in his ear, leaning your head to rest on his shoulder.

Itto's breath caught in his throat as you whispered in his ear. He tried to hold back a shiver, but he couldn't help the reaction. Your teasing, coupled with the proximity of your body against his, made his heart race a bit.

He looked down at you, his expression softening as he spoke. "I mean... it does feel nice when you pamper me like this..." He admitted, his voice a little rough.

"There's my Itto..." You laugh breathily. Letting out a sigh of relief at his change in attitude.

Itto let out a scoff, but his smile grew wider as you laughed. He couldn't help but feel a bit flustered by how easily you could get him to open up and show his soft side.

"Hey, I'm still the tough guy, okay?" He protested, though his tone was playful. "I can kick ass and still like getting some affection, thank you very much!"

"Alright tough guy...I believe ya..." You tilt his chin to face you, leaning up to kiss his lips.

The moment your lips met, Itto practically melted against you. Your touch and kiss was like a soothing balm to his bruised and battered ego.

He returned the kiss eagerly, his hand coming up to cup your cheek and pull you closer. It felt like all the tension and anger he had been feeling slowly subsided as he focused on the feeling of your lips against his.

"Damn..." He murmured in between kisses. "You really know how to make me swoon princess, ya know that?"

You pull away to look up at him. "You think?" You whisper.

Itto chuckled in response to your whisper, his breath tickling your skin. He pulled you even closer, his arms wrapping around your waist and holding you tight against him.

"Hell, yeah, I think!" He replied, a sultry tone in his voice. "You've got this magic spell over me or somethin'. I'm usually all tough and confident, but one look from you, and I'm like a damn puddle."

You tease him affectionately at that. "Then I guess the one and 'oni' Arataki Itto...can be taken down..."

Itto grunted in mock offense, his eyebrows raising at your teasing remark. He couldn't deny that you had a point, though. You were the only person who could bring out his softer side and make him feel vulnerable.

"Hey, I'm still a strong guy, okay?" He protested, a hint of a pout on his face. "I'm just...selective about who I show my emotions!"

"I love you..." You sigh "But what am I going to do with you..."

Itto's expression softened once you said those three words. No matter how many times he heard you say them, they never failed to make his heart flutter.

He let out huff in response to your question, a smirk appearing on his face. "You're gonna love me and pamper me, of course!" He replied, jokingly teasing you back.

"Hmmm true!"

Your boyfriend chuckled in response to your giggle. The sound was like music to his ears.

He hugged you even closer, his arms encircling you in a tight embrace. He nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck, his lips brushing against your skin.

"Damn right, you are..." He murmured, his voice low and warm. "I expect pampering after this whole gang incident, y'know. I took quite a beating for you."

"For me?" You scoff and slap his arm gently.

Itto playfully rolled his eyes at your scoff.

"Uh, yeah? Did you see how they were talking about you? Like they owned you or something!" He huffed, a hint of irritation in his voice just recalling the memory.

"I had to teach them a lesson. No one speaks about my babe like that." He looked down at you with a smirk, his eyes flickering over your features.

"No one..." You kiss his forehead.

Itto's smirk softened into a warm smile as he felt your lips press against his forehead. He let out a soft sigh and leaned his head against your touch.

Exactly!" He agreed, his voice quieter now. "You're mine, and I'll protect you from anyone who tries to mess with you."

Itto looked at you with a mix of affection and determination in his eyes.

"Because you're everything to me..." He said simply. "Because I love you more than anything, and I'll do whatever it takes to protect you and make you happy."

He placed a hand on your cheek, his thumb gently brushing against your skin. "You're the most important thing in my life, babe."

"Even over Onikabuto?" You hum

His smile widened at your playful remark.

"Hey, don't even get me started. Onikabuto are a close second, alright?" He replied, feigning offense.

He knew that you were just teasing him, but he couldn't help but play along. He leaned in a bit closer, his expression turning serious for a moment.

"But seriously, nothing compares to you. You're irreplaceable."

"Even over your gang?" You tease him

Itto chuckled at your question, his eyes glistening with amusement. He knew you were just trying to rile him up.

"Well, now you're just being cruel!" He joked, feigning hurt. "But yeah, even the gang. They're cool and all, but they don't even hold a candle to you."

He reached out and gently pinched your nose, a playful glint in his eyes. "You're definitely the top priority, babe."

"You're so sweet..." Your eyes soften as you lean up to kiss his cheek.

Itto's cheeks turned slightly pink at your compliment, and he let out a soft huff as you kissed his cheek. He was never one to admit it, but he secretly liked it when you praised him like this.

"Ah, shut up..." He muttered, a small smile on his face. "I just have a soft spot for you, that's all."

You gaze over his face and trace a finger over his cuts. "Alright now...let's get these cleaned up..."

Itto's expression turned a bit sheepish as he saw your gaze focused on the cuts and bruises on his face. He tried to act tough, but deep down he knew he must look pretty battered right now.

"Yeah, yeah, okay..." He mumbled, a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

He let you gently touch his face, flinching slightly as your fingers grazed his wounds. "Just be gentle, alright?"

"Always..." You promise.

🎀End🎀

[bonefall]

Thoughts on Wasp? I like the idea of cats joining that turn out that the Clans aren’t great… but also it feels… weird? Like it seems like another “lazy cat bad” on some levels. I don’t mind him not joining the Clans but these “outsider learns they’re not fit for the Clans” things always give me a pause from the Erins. Also interested in how you would handle him!

Moonkitti's video on him is really well worded, if you haven't seen it yet. I do think he's different from the way that other books tend to portray outsiders in that they are saying that he was driven away by the xenophobia of the Clans... but.

They still make him extremely disinterested in Clan life while he's in ThunderClan. I think that was a massive blunder to write, if the thing they're trying to say is "XENOPHOBIA PREVENTS OTHERWISE ENTHUSIASTIC MIGRATION"

It would have hit harder if it was Wafflepaw who tried to run to RiverClan, got assaulted, and then didn't want to be a Clan cat anymore.

Wafflepaw WANTS to be a warrior. Wasp did not. It reads more like Wasp getting hate crime'd was a "last straw" more than THE reason why he won't stay.

That's where you're getting that vibe they're saying "lazy cat bad," imo. It's a bit different from usual, but it still seems like the narrative is saying that Wasp really didn't belong here anyway.

(no, Nightheart's moment where he looks at the camera and says "he could have been fine!" doesn't change that they showed, in their text, with the actions they wrote, that Wasp was not enjoying being part of the Clans anyway. If that was their intended thesis, their writing was sloppy.)

It feels especially weird that Bee didn't go with Frostpaw. Bee was the character with a lot more setup and that strange dream. A lot of people were confusing Bee and Wasp when the book first came out and I don't blame them.

Most importantly, you can't talk about Wasp without also mentioning one of THE worst lines I think has ever been written into a Warrior Cats book. The part where tigerHeartstar says, "Those cats who just committed a hate crime were perfectly good people before the evil dictator took over. If we kill the evil dictator, I'm sure they'll CHANGE BACK"

I'm still REELING. Fuck you MEAAAN "CHANGE BACK????" CHANGE BACK? LIKE BEING A BIGOT IS UNCOMFORTABLE SHOES???

CHANGE BACK... me bringing my evil dollars up to the villain store and exchanging it for racism coins... change back...

So when I get around to it, I'm going to evaluate if Wasp is even actually necessary in the form he's in. BB is already about xenophobia and bigotry and the harm it does. Frostpaw has no shortage of examples to witness what Thistle Law is, and what it does to those excluded from Clan Culture.

When I first made my Family Tree for RiverClan, I actually ended up making Splashstar's MOM, Havenpelt, an ex-rogue. I think seeing him order a hate crime against his own mother would be a LOT more impactful here, actually.

What Frostpaw DOES need is allies and friends. I'm already starting by expanding her little "DND Party," a word I'm using to affectionately refer to some cats who will be following her home from her pilgrimage to the Park. 99% chance that Nightheart is going to become a permanent member of this party, joining RiverClan at the end of ASC. Waffle will be another. She'll probably also pick up a Tribe cat.

Wasp will be on this party, but I won't decide what happens to them until I see what that last book has in store. Who knows, he might come back (though I hope not, run as far away from these ghouls as possible Wasp!!)

[thewertsearch]

Ask Comp 01/07

Anonymous asked:i think youre the first liveblogger ive seen to actually remember that orphaner dualscar was eridan’s flarping name?

Mindfang clearly describes the Serkets, so I wonder if Dualscar says anything about the Amporas?

Eridan's greatest enemy does have a duality theme, after all - and he was certainly scarred when the guy stole his crush >:)

@captorations asked:i have terrible news regarding homestuck and the good place: https://x.com/nbcthegoodplace/status/1039908767763259392?lang=en not to mention that. well. the two share more than you've encountered yet. it's very likely not a coincidence. have fun! oh and. re: my ongoing campaign of pointing out the homestuck ancestry of tlt characters. please compare aradia's "i am very much alive and i intend to stay that way" with dulcinea's "i'm not in the river and i won't ever be again"

...oh my god.

On reflection, this makes a lot of sense. Homestuck's fandom is pretty large, and some of its members were bound to be involved in the production of mainstream media. Still, it's wild to see a Homestuck reference - or, technically, a Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff reference - on the official Twitter for a show this big.

And Aradia does have a lot in common with Dulcinea, doesn't she? For one thing, they didn't really start influencing the plot until after they died.

Anonymous asked: Not really important anymore, but looking at what Gamzee has in his Strife Deck, it doesn’t look like he has any ranged options: he’s got the bowling pins, what appear to be a discarded sickle and lance from Karkat and Tavros respectively, what I’m PRETTY SURE is a whip of some sort, and the Zillyhoo hammer. The closest to a ranged weapon in that stack is the whip, or maybe the pins if he’s willing to throw them, but neither seem like they’d work very well against Vriska. Barring some secret power or other plot twist, I think Gamzee would genuinely be the underdog in that matchup. (Which feels weird, because Gamzee’s been mutating into a slasher villain while Vriska’s still very much an antihero protagonist. Usually the power balance is the other way around with those archetypes!)

On the face of it, Gamzee didn't seem to have great odds in that fight - but it's hard to know for sure with this pesky Bard. His Strife Deck contains plenty of cards we haven't seen, and whatever he did to the Black King is still shrouded in mystery. Everything's just so uncertain with him.

@mimescantscream asked: I've really been holding back all this time, but now that we've met the Grand-highblood, it really is extra painful to see a Gamzee who was once incredibly loving of his friends (despite their constant ridicule) end up falling down the path that fate seems to have pre-ordained for him. Was he truly always meant to repeat echoes of the past? Could things ever have gone differently for him?

Yeah, I've been having similar thoughts. His PoV seemed completely sincere, so I don't think his original personality was a fabrication, or anything. I think there is a part of Gamzee that cares about his friends - and maybe even he wants it back.

@jade-harley-real asked: […] I want a rant on the bad doctor from you pls pls pls

Scratch is straight up the scariest character in Homestuck.

What's he up to now? Hard to say since we're not telling him what to do. Guardians can never be told what to do.

The aura of menace he's cultivated is incredible, especially considering he barely even moves. He's playing the entire cast like a fiddle, armed with nothing but a typewriter and his own supercharged brain - and there's no doubt in my mind that his confidence isn't a mask. He knows he's going to win in the end.

English is coming. He's basically already here.

@elkian asked: I'll probably never be a Vriska FAN, but I gotta admit, she really never had a chance, what with the only adults in her life being: a trollvorous spider 1 missed meal away from eating her, Marquise "I do what I want" Mindfang, and Doc Scratch. Some role models! @manorinthewoods asked: So, now that Mindfang has been revealed, here's a question for you: how much of Vriska's Vriskyness is because she's Vriska, how much is because of Mindfang, how much is because of her lusus, and how much is because of Alternia in general? ~LOSS (20/6/24)

This is why I don't think she'd be like this on Earth. At this point, it's obvious that none of her Incidents were the result of her personality as it naturally arose.

I mean, look how anti-Aradiacide she was! They weren't even really friends!

Anonymous asked: ‘AA: there are all sorts of friends to meet AA: ones you already know and ones you dont’ I mean…couldn’t she just be referring to various doomed selves? I don’t see why the dream bubbles would just be confined to the alpha timeline seeing as the furthest ring is weird in terms of time and space

I was assuming that only Alpha Timeline deaths would be preserved by the Bubbles, but you're right - I'm not sure that was a reasonable assumption.

The Horrorterrors seem to eschew the concept of the Alpha Timeline. and, they've coordinated with both Doomed and Alpha versions of Rose and Dave. Plus, yeah, there is no time in the Ring, so timelines are probably meaningless there. Why would it only interface with the Alpha?

If the Bubbles do preserve doomed souls, then we might also run into the John who died to Typheus, and the Jade he couldn't save. That's a pair of ghosts I'd be very interested to meet.

Anonymous asked: If every Aradia comes back from every doomed timeline, the number would double each time, so you could get over a thousand of her with only ten doomed timelines.

Fair point- although, if an already doomed Aradia went back in time again, she'd be double doomed. Is that even possible? Would she die twice as quickly?

@mhafanlol2000 asked: Your issues with quirks and speech-to-text are pretty simple to explain. If a troll were to speak into a non-modified speech-to-text program, it would output text with their quirk. Because they, quite literally, speak in their quirk. Terezi probably isnt actually saying “YOU H4V3 LOST TH3 G4M3”, each number at a time, but the vibes are definitely there. I don’t know, this is hard to describe if you don’t inherently get it.

I think, jokes aside, it is indeed about the vibes.

In the troll intro pages, you get told a little about how each troll talks, and I think that's how we're supposed to translate their quirks to an audible medium.

Anonymous asked: i think ppl in the fandom have over time kinda built up a like, generally separate understanding of quadrants from how theyre described in the "official" explanation. which is like, not representative of how these terms are used in homestuck, but probably more useful for describing Good relationships that Do Not Suck. like basically making moirails equivalent to being queer platonic partners, making blackrom more about having a healthy fun rivalry, that kinda stuff.

It's funny, actually - I don't think I've encountered a single asker who accepts the quadrants as they're originally described.

The main issue is that, with the possible exception of matespritship, we haven't seen a single troll relationship with reflects the infodump's explanation of the quadrants. I think Hussie might just have jumped the gun a little when dropping it.

Anonymous asked: Shoutout to Karkat poking his friends in the background! Terezi (crying over Dave) and now Soloux (talking to Terezi). Karkat isn’t sure what the right response is but wants to be included! Reminds me of actual cats, just putting a paw on you for no discernible reason. @manorinthewoods asked: I'd like to note that Karkat poking Terezi's tears is the same sprite (and same 'poooke'!) as Karkat poking Sollux's burnt-out eyesockets. ~LOSS (12/6/24)

My man just likes poking.

@alicesoinions asked: not much to say just wanted to say I really enjoy your liveblog!!

Glad you're enjoying!

I've actually got a few new followers recently. Maybe I'm showing up in people's recommendations?

@heliotropopause asked: Dream bubbles are pretty neat, eh? Neat enough to inspire half of HtN, I'd bet.

…wait.

Oh my god, you're right. It's literally a River Bubble. They're both located in afterlives, for crying out loud!

Anonymous asked: Wanted to thank your liveblog for reminding me of a lot that I had flat out missed in canon, due to not putting it together or just reading too quickly. Most recently and notably on my mind right now, is that Feferi is the one who set up the dreambubbles!!! I had always thought that they were just a part of the world that readers didn’t know about yet, like how we weren’t yet introduced to Alternia and it’s moons until act 5. This went right over my head and it has me absolutely REELING (fishing pun included just for fef!!)

Feferi truly is the MVP.

I wonder what happened to dead Players before the Bubbles?

They're certainly not the only type of afterlife in the multiverse. Alternia has at least two types of undead, which implies that the Players are very, very lucky to have retained their personhood postmortem. Imagine this was what Feferi looked like in Jade's dream.

Anonymous asked: Knowing sollux, he probably already had coded his tech to recognize if his speech ever changed, and gave himself a different typing quirk for it, long ago. Not because he knew or thought it would happen, but because he thought it would be a fun coding project ((I know nothing about coding))

And yet, you somehow know exactly how we think.

Anonymous asked: Something I hadn’t really thought about, until I started reading this liveblog, is how much VRISKA ((autocorrect decided to caps that and I’m leaving it in lol)) was manipul8ted into a lot of her violence. Scratch pushed her towards vengeance against Aradia, and she didn’t want to go through with it. Did VRISKA ever tell anyone how much of her live she spent resisting these forces, or even really acknowledge it? She didn’t hide Spidermom, and arguably her need to kill other trolls was to prevent herself from being killed. BUT on the other hand, VRISKA voice would make it sound like a compliment “I almost didn’t kill you why don’t you appreciate me!!!!!!!!”

The thing is, VRISKA probably felt a lot of social pressure not to tell people she was coerced into her crimes. That would reveal that she was reluctant to kill, which is the opposite of what the Empire wants.

@manorinthewoods asked: You could have written a great Homestuck if you'd been Hussie. I think your style, if translated from reacting-to-comic to making-comic, would work great with what Homestuck is, and could have made a better product. I think you'd make a cerebral Homestuck, which would have been cool to read, except I would have botched reading it like I botched reading Homestuck in our Alpha Timeline. ~LOSS (11/6/24)

Thank you! I've tried to write before, actually, but whenever I reread my stories, they come off as esoteric, stilted and a little hard to follow. It's not an insurmountable problem, of course, and I really need to take a writing workshop at some point.

I'd love to make a webcomic, too, but my art also leaves a lot to be desired. I can adapt sprites just fine, but original drawings are hard, guys. Did anyone else know about this?

Anonymous asked: i counted just now, and only like 24 out of all 54 paradox space comics have zero spoilers. some of them are certainly more substantial than others (e.g. i counted ones that include jade’s consorts that you havent seen yet as spoilers) but a lot of them have Very Big Spoilers

It would have been awfully messy. I'm probably just going to read it once I've reached the Gigapause of 2013, and no longer need to worry about spoilers.

@bladekindeyewear asked: “Nepeta wasn't trying to pacify Equius, nor did she seem to be fulfilling any rigidly defined 'role' in his life. They just came off as very good friends, and their relationship was much better for it.” Well, maybe we ought to look at it through the lens of real relationships between friends? Once a healthy dynamic and boundaries are established, perhaps Moirails stabilize as long as they’re together.

That's a good way to interpret moirallegence - although, it does raise an issue with the quadrant that I'll be discussing on its own post, once I've finished the comp. There's no point in prehashing what I'm about to say, so I'll see you there!

Anonymous asked: karkats message didn't go through because of trollians narrative awareness feature, where it'll display something different in service of one of the several "all"-seeing entities, of which the reader is one <3 watsonian and doylist explanations are kissing with tongue

Since the fourth wall is an actual, physical piece of technology in this world, this isn't even that far-fetched!

@sashonya asked: So, as the session's timers continues to count down, what do you think will happen after The Scratch?

Beyond 'the session ends', it's difficult to say for sure. I think the two most likely possibilities are that the kids start exploring other sessions, or travel to a location completely outside the current scope of the comic. I am, of course, hoping for both.

@ericvilas asked: "I still believe that out of all the trolls, Karkat’s traits were featured the most prominently in humanity" yeah, I guess even humans aren't free from the effects of carcinization

CG: THERE IS ONLY ONE STEP. CG: AND IT IS ME.

[r--kt]

Tenzo is a replacement for Obito.

From Obito's point of view.

contents | introduction · the essence · similar story: Jinx and Caitlin

[ I mention the similarity with Arcane here, but if you haven't watched it, you can just not read this part, the essence won't change much. ]

here's the thing: It's a headcanon, and it is simple in formulation, but a bit complex in explanation of the certain image. below I discuss the reasons for some of Obito's reactions during the war, and his perception in general.

if Kakashi and Obito had somehow happened to be in the same place once during the ANBU period, or if Obito had known about the members of Kakashi's team, he would be jealous of Kakashi for Tenzo.

not romantically jealous (it's up to you though), rather painfully possessive, with resentment and anger. and not in a vivid way. it's more of a gnashing feeling inside, clogged enough not to recognize it, but not weak enough that it doesn't affect anything at all. why would that even be? their kekkei-genkai, appearance and bond with Kakashi.

CH 317 on the left; CH 605 on the right.

Tenzo's mokuton is smooth, malleable, these are neat bars of wood, and Tenzo has no difficulty making large houses or complex thin figures out of them, such as keys or eyes (ANBU arc in anime) or cute figures (almost any scene where Yamato uses kekkei-genkai).

Obito's mokuton is broken and sharp, it's branches with thorns, which rather embody his frustration, instability and anguish. such wood is easy to use to injure, kill, block the way, isolate yourself from others, but not to build anything out of it. this can not protect gently (to make a shelter or a useful object), this mokuton can only attack. the detail parallels very well with the personalities of both characters and their connection with Kakashi, with how Obito perceives it.

no matter what Obito says, he's a good liar. the old bonds he had in his "past" life remain important to him. his anger at Kakashi in the war, among other practical reasons, is due to the fact that Kakashi dared to acquire new connections that are more important to him than that bond with Obito. at least that's why, among other things, Kakashi doesn't go over to his side (while Obito hoped he would, I'll make a post about it one day). and the connections Kakashi has, subconsciously or not, are perceived by Obito as annoying, as a disregard for everything they've been through together, for everything Obito went through. this is a resentment that provokes anger, the root of which is as follows: "you should not have new connections, you should suffer, because I am lonely and I suffer for you" (for others in general, but this one is the agenda).

his anger is sometimes about "I did so much for you, I gave you the most valuable things I had (life, strength, the ability to care for others), and you ruined everything, well, maybe not you, but I thought it was you at first... and now you, bastard, are trying to stop me?" but not about that today.

and that's why not only Tenzo would annoy Obito, but anyone else who's close to Kakashi. the man consistently selected the people most similar to his past experience, and here they are all around him. then Minato appears in the war. so why am I talking specifically about Tenzo, whom Obito may never have seen?

Tenzo's kekkei-genkai makes everything more confusing. This becomes something personal, which Obito perceives in the way described above. That's just an interesting parallel between these two.

And that's not to mention Tenzo's appearance. He is in some ways still looks like Obito, at least because of the silhouette, hairstyle, etc.

And what this can be compared to? Jinx and Caitlin from Arcane.

Arcane EP 7, "the boy saviour"

Of Course Jinx experiences it much vividly, it's her canon event. for her this storyline is more important than something like this for Obito, but the essence is the same. It is a feeling of betrayal from a person dear to you, who showed with all his appearance that he/she would be on your side until the very end. And it feels like you've been replaced by someone who's really more comfortable, or better at something, or more socially approved. And you're just a lonely sick weirdo.

It is not surprising that both Jinx and Obito treat Vi's/Kakashi's kind words or regrets as something annoying - subconsciously, among other things, they can see it as a mockery. They just don't really believe it.

so here it is. just the way I see all of this.

what is the role of this hc? to show the subconscious in Obito, which is constantly manifested in war through his action or inaction, through his words, through the way he manipulates, through illusions that he shows or sees himself. I like that about him. I like his big vulnerable uchiha heart.

[ I should have written some other post about Obito first, otherwise you will now decide that this is the only way I see him... ]

[aishangotome]

Ellis Twilight: Chapter 10

Chapter 9

♡———♡

Jude and Ellis, their hats pulled low and their mouths hidden behind scarves, stepped into the casino with me.

(Both of them were attracting a lot of attention because they clearly didn't look like ordinary people...)

(But they haven't been discovered yet, right?)

With two suspicious-looking men flanking me, I started to worry that they might be mistaken for kidnappers instead.

Jake: Why are you guys dressed like that?

Jude: ................

Ellis: ................

Kate: Oh, um, we were outside for a long time and got cold!

Kate: Their lips are numb and their voices are shaking, so they said they might not be able to talk for a while.

I could hear Jude cursing under his breath at my desperate excuse.

(I think I heard him say, "Ya coulda come up with a better lie...")

Jake: Oh dear, take care!

(Whew! He doesn't seem suspicious at all)

Kate: Oh, thank you. It's not that bad, so don't worry!

Jake: Are you weak? You won't be able to make it in the circus if you don't train properly!

Jake laughed cheerfully and patted Jude on the shoulder with his large hand.

Jude: ................

(Oh, he's angry... I'll pretend I didn't see that)

Ellis: ..............

Ellis winked at me as if to say, "Nice save."

Jake walked further into the casino and stopped in front of a door with two security guards. He took off his hat and bowed.

Jake: Hey there, could you tell the owner that I brought some more circus friends?

(...The mastermind behind the kidnapping might be beyond this door)

(Maybe the victims are too...)

I took a small breath and entered the room.

The eyes of several strong-looking men inside turned to us at once.

Jake: Sorry I'm late for our appointment. I had a wonderful encounter!

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: I've been waiting for you, Jake! Are these people the wonderful encounter you mentioned?

Jude and Ellis: .............

(This is the casino "owner" Jake was talking about)

If our guess is correct, he's the one who orchestrated the kidnapping.

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: You've brought some very... lively ones this time.

The man in silver-rimmed glasses stared at us rudely.

(This is the mastermind behind the kidnapping...)

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: Miss and gentlemen, judging by your clothes and the glow of your skin...

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: You don't look like you were lured to the circus by hunger for money or fame.

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: Why are you interested in the circus?

(...He's suspicious...)

The moment I instinctively read the man's expression, I heard a click.

(The door to the room is locked...!)

A prickling tension filled the room.

In the strained atmosphere, Jude and Ellis calmly approached the man called the owner.

Jude: I've always admired the performances of Jake Grace, a man who made his name in a grand spectacle.

He spoke in fluent Queen's English.

His refined manner of speaking, devoid of his usual accent, was so different that it almost felt like someone else was talking.

(Wow, he's completely different... With this way of speaking, his identity shouldn't be exposed...)

Jude: However, I still have some doubts. There's always a catch to a good deal.

Jude: You're saying that you'll guarantee our food, clothing, and shelter until the circus is established. Are you the representative?

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: Yes. I'm in charge of the investment in Mr. Jake. Although, there are people above me.

(So this guy isn't the top of the gang either...?)

(Is he like one of the factions within it?)

Jude: Does the "higher-up" know about this investment?

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: ...I don't think it's necessary for a mere member to know that.

Jude glanced at Ellis and me.

From our experience in business negotiations and crisis situations, this meant... "Get to your positions."

(In other words...)

(It's time to start the commotion...!)

The moment Ellis kicked over a vase, I instinctively hid behind the table.

As the gang's attention was drawn to the loud noise, Jude spoke.

Jude: Restrain the guy with glasses. I'll take care o' the rest.

Ellis: Roger that.

As soon as they communicated in the brief moment the gang members were drawing their guns, Ellis lightly kicked the ground.

In the next instant, he leaped onto the table and then above the gang members' heads.

(...As always, his movements are amazing)

Before the panicked gang members could aim their guns, Ellis' long fingertips touched the owner's head... and the owner's wrists snapped together as if bound by an invisible rope, unable to move.

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: Wh-What is this...?

Ellis: This one's done.

(He restrained the owner in no time. What about Jude...?)

Like a puff of smoke, Jude slipped into the midst of the opponents and touched their foreheads.

The gang members immediately collapsed to the floor one after another.

(Is that Jude's ability...?)

(The people he touched... they don't seem dead, but...)

The sight of people losing consciousness and collapsing as if their strings had been cut, without being punched or kicked, was eerie and sent chills down my spine.

Jake: Wh-What's going on? Who are you guys?

(Oh right, I completely forgot about Jake...!)

He was just being used by the gang.

If so, it would be dangerous for him to be in the middle of this brawl.

Gangster: Damn it! You brought troublesome guests!

Kate: ...!

I saw a gun being pointed at Jake in my peripheral vision.

Kate: Dodge it...!

Jake: Whoa!?

Without time to think, I threw myself at Jake with all my might.

I fell to the floor with Jake, who stumbled.

Kate: Ugh...!!?

Jake's huge body landed heavily on my leg.

A sharp pain shot through me, my breath stopped for a moment, and cold sweat broke out all over my body.

(It hurts...)

Jake: I-I'm sorry, are you alright, miss!?

Kate: I-I'm fine...

(The pain is making my vision blurry...)

But I couldn't stay down any longer, thinking that they might point a gun at me again.

Kate: ...Ha...

I desperately tried to lift my body, which screamed in pain with every breath, but I couldn't stand up. I could only lift my head while lying on my stomach.

(...! Everyone except the owner has lost consciousness)

Thanks to Jude's ability, the room was completely silent, and Ellis was holding a black-bladed knife to the owner's neck.

(Ellis...)

At that moment, our eyes met - his twilight-colored eyes looking at me with concern as I lay on the floor.

He looked like he was about to rush over to me, so I hurriedly suppressed the pain and gave him a smile.

(I'm fine!)

If we let the owner escape now, it would all be for nothing.

Ellis: ......

His twilight-colored eyes wavered with anxiety, but he didn't lower the knife.

Jude: 'Ey, you.

Jake: Huh?

Jude, who had somehow gotten close, touched Jake's forehead.

Jake's consciousness instantly vanished, and his body collapsed on the spot.

Kate: Why even Jake?

Jude: This is Crowns' job now. If he saw this, we'd hafta kill 'im too.

(Crowns' job...)

In my pain-blurred vision, I saw Jude walking away.

The restrained owner glared at Jude, who stood before him, with his small eyes behind his glasses.

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: That accent, the bodyguard with the black knife... You're the trader who sent one of our executives to prison, aren't you?

Jude: Where are the recruits?

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: ...Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you.

Even though there was no one left in the room to help him, the owner had an arrogant smile on his lips.

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: If you kill me, you won't get away with it. I suggest you back off.

Jude: Is tha' so? Then die.

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: What?

Jude: Even if ya don't talk, we can easily get the information by torturin' yer underlings.

Ellis: Wait, can we kill him?

Jude: There's no doubt this guy is the casino owna' an' the mastermind behind the kidnappin'.

Jude: From what he said earlier, the uppa' echelons of the gang aren't involved in this kidnappin'.

Jude: He's the one responsible fer the execution. If he can't give us any information, he's jus' garbage.

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: Wh-What!? If you kill me, you'll make enemies of all the gangs in London!

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: The "higher-ups" won't stay silent either!

Jude: Ha, ya have a high opinion of yer own worth.

Jude: The "higher-ups" dun care about a memba' who screwed up by meddlin' in shady business without their permission.

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: ...!

Seeing him turn pale and lose his words, Jude twisted his lips as if amused.

I remembered Ellis saying, "I love hearing the screams of people I hate."

Jude: Let me tell ya somethin' to take to yer grave.

Jude: There's no such thing as a human bein' who can kill an' get away with it.

Jude: If ya didn' even understand that an' still went around kidnappin' an' killin' people, then you'll regret it in hell.

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: H-Huh... I'll talk, I'll tell you everything...!

The owner readily opened his mouth under Jude's threat.

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: The kidnapping was a plan I started for money!

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: I happened to see Jake, who had fallen from grace and was drinking himself into oblivion, and I thought of using him...!

Ellis: Where are the people who were brought here as potential circus members?

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: --They were all handed over to a human trafficking broker.

Ellis: Where did they go after that?

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: Probably abroad. I don't know any more than that.

(So, Bill's acquaintances were all sold abroad by a shady broker...)

--If that's the case, they'll never come back.

Jude: Tch... Abroad, huh? That's outside our jurisdiction.

Ellis: Even if Victor tries his best, it'll be difficult to track them down...

Their voices deepened the sense of despair.

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: Hey! I talked, didn't I? Let me go!

Ellis gave the shouting owner a cold look.

Ellis: ...I never promised to let you go if you talked.

Man with Silver-Rimmed Glasses: Wh-What...?

Ellis: Our goal is to stop the kidnapping. And then...

Ellis: To punish the perpetrators.

Ellis: We wanted information because we want to help the victims.

Ellis: Just because you gave us information doesn't mean you're innocent, right?

Ellis: That's why I can't let you go... I'm sorry.

(Ellis...)

In my fading consciousness due to the pain, I listened to their exchange.

The scenery had been distorted for a while now, and my head was getting hazy.

But even in this state, I knew clearly that Ellis was about to get his hands dirty.

For the sake of Her Majesty who ordered the mission, for the sake of the victims, and to prevent any more victims.

Even though I knew it was necessary, I couldn't help but feel my heart ache.

Kate: Ellis...

Unable to stop him or silently watch, I called out his name, and he smiled wryly.

Ellis: ...I'm sorry.

Ellis: Kate- close your eyes.

(Ah...)

Cranberry jam-like red splattered the surroundings.

Before the smell of blood reached my nostrils, my consciousness was swallowed by darkness.

---

(...Wait...)

(What happened to me...?)

I felt like I was being cradled by something warm and swaying gently.

I drifted in a vague sense of time for who knows how long... and slowly regained consciousness.

---

(This is... the bed in the basement?)

I saw a bag of ice water placed on my calf.

Roger: --There seems to be no abnormality in the bone, but judging from the swelling, there's a high possibility of a muscle strain.

Roger: She needs to avoid moving it for a few days.

Ellis: ..............

Jude: It's fine. We solved the kidnappin' case, so she can rest easy.

Familiar voices drifted into my hazy ears.

Roger: Well, that's true.

Ellis: ...Roger.

Roger: Hmm? What is it?

(Ellis...?)

Ellis's profile looked terribly uneasy, and my chest tightened.

I had seen him look worried before, but this was the first time I had seen him so downcast.

Ellis: Kate, she'll be able to walk properly, right?

(...Is he making that face because he's worried about me?)

Roger: Yeah, she'll be fine. If she rests properly, that is.

Ellis: Rest properly...

Ellis: ...Understood.

(Don't make that face. I'm fine...)

I tried to say so, but only a faint sigh escaped my lips.

Kate: Ah...

Jude and Ellis: ...!

Both Ellis and Jude looked towards the bed in surprise.

Roger: Oh, you're awake, lil' lady... Did you happen to hear our conversation just now?

Kate: Yes... I'm sorry for getting injured during the mission. And on top of that, I can't move for a few days...

My voice was hoarse at first and I couldn't speak well, but gradually I was able to move my mouth.

Ellis: ...Kate, don't worry about anything.

Interrupting my words, Ellis sat down on the bed where I was lying.

With a creak, the ceiling disappeared from my sight as Ellis filled my vision.

Ellis: It's not your fault that you got hurt or that you need to rest.

Ellis: Leave everything to me.

Kate: ...Everything?

Ellis: Yes.

Ellis: Everything.

.

.

.

.

.

Chapter 10 Premium Story

If you’d like to support my translations, feel free to buy me a coffee here! :)

[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

How does Yves react to jealousy? Wether it is him being jealous or his s/o being jealous…. Cause I mean Yves must have his share fair of admirers

tw: cheating mentions

Part 1/2

It depends on how the relationship between the two of you is defined. He knows he has no right to feel jealous if the two of you haven't officially met or you still see him as an acquaintance. Yves won't stop you from dating others, as long as you're not doing that while in a romantic relationship with him. Because that means you would be breaking the boundaries and promises established, there are close to none if you haven't consented to be his partner.

He knows you more than enough to predict if you want him as your husband or a lifelong platonic companion. There are vastly different rules for either role:

If it's the former, polygamy is a no-go. He will lay his needs on the table on the very first day and the first thing on the list is that he is strictly monogamous, asking him to open up the relationship or for a threesome in the future will hurt him badly and is akin to cheating. Obviously, excessive physical contact with anyone else is considered infidelity, though he allows you to receive hugs and kisses from friends and family members that he trusts, and his trust is not easy to earn. No emotional cheating, he does not want you to have such an intimate connection with anyone else. Yves will express his disapproval if he catches you watching porn or gawking at attractive people on the internet, but he can fix that by making it subconsciously 'boring' for you.

He has no problem with you obsessing over fictional characters, Yves knows that they're not real and he sees them as mere toys for you to play with. He has major issues if you try to turn him into one of your fictitious crushes or your obsession has gotten so severe that it affects your life.

Whereas if you wish to remain friends, or something more special but within the realm of familial, Yves would not interfere if you're involved with someone else. Well, he wouldn't 'interfere' to a certain degree; he wouldn't beg you to leave them for him, he wouldn't try to tarnish their reputation in front of you, he wouldn't even cause a scene at your wedding no matter how much he wanted to shoot your spouse dead. Yves would just watch with an unreadable expression, elegantly crossing his legs and resting his palms on his lap. He would still do something behind the scenes if he thinks you're taking him for granted.

Before even dating your current partner, Yves will ensure that he is the person who is closest to you. He will be the one you would call if things go rough and the first one to know of any major changes in your life, good or bad. You would call him for advice on anything, from something as small as changing the wipers on your car to legal advice. Yves will be your safe space and no one can replace him, ever. Not your parents, your siblings, and definitely not your romantic partner.

You're most likely roommates with him, given the economy now. Living in a jarringly rich neighborhood with him. You feel out of place sometimes, because you're probably a university student struggling to get by or a salary worker living paycheck to paycheck. Yves is kind enough to offer you to stay at his place indefinitely with rent that you can afford.

Perhaps you have your own place, or you live with your parents instead. Or frustratingly, you live at your partner's.

Regardless of your sheltering situation, Yves will more likely act like a monster in law. Arriving uninvited, side-eyeing your spouse for not taking good care of you, every compliment about them is backhanded, bringing in meaningful gifts (i.e., flowers, groceries, freshly baked bread, dinner, food that you have been craving) to outshine your partner's goodwill of the day, subtle jabs that greatly bother your significant other but you don't see a problem with.

You would find yourself defending Yves despite his actions degrading your beloved's self-esteem.

The more serious the relationship, the colder he will be towards them. He will not be aggressively antagonistic, but there is an undeniable air around him that feels like spikes down your partner's throat. He is apathetic to temporary flings and one-night stands, though. Unless he knows they can cause grievous harm to you or carry a disease, Yves will work behind the scenes to eradicate them.

Your partner is afraid of him, and rightfully so. Yves warned him once that he would ruin everything they had if you ever got hurt, either due to direct abuse or negligence on their part. The way he delivered it sent a chill down their spine that they will never forget.

Hurting you includes breaking your heart; so your partner can't leave you without Yves skinning them alive. They can't change their behavior to forcefully make you leave them. God have mercy on them if they ever decide to cheat. Yet, they're subjected to constant terror from this man whom you call your friend if they stay. They're caught between a rock and a hard place. If they're just a regular person, they would have gone clinically insane and Yves takes this chance to wean you off them.

Thankfully though, most of them would be scared off by Yves during the dating phase or your standards became so high that you won't bother losing sleep over another person.

There is an interesting outcome if you happen to be with another Yandere. Again, it depends on their personality.

If they're one of those careless fools who keep you captive, kill your loved ones, and only care about their needs, not your happiness; they're dying of "natural causes" as soon as possible.

Those who are Yves wannabes that stalk you and steal your underwear irks him. He appreciates that they share somewhat similar flavors of love for you, but they are pathetic. They think they know you, but they're not even close to scratching the surface. It's laughable as they try to threaten him behind your back, all Yves would do is stare through them. Ten times out of ten, they would back down out of fear, because they could feel the eldritch horrors writhing under his calm facade.

Pathetic, so pathetic. Yves knows a thousand guaranteed ways he could make them disappear by lunch without any lasting consequence, yet his cheap imitation doesn't even know where Yves is at any given time. They can't even tell that Yves is standing next to them at the bus stop, he just puts his hair in a different hairdo and tries a new makeup look. How are they going to protect you if they're this stupid?

He wouldn't off them immediately though, as long as they're relatively harmless and you're happy, he will let them be.

If it's a rich one with non-negligible influential powers, Yves would keep a closer eye on the both of you. They're certainly a lot more dangerous than the first two, but nowhere near as bad as him. It annoys him that your spouse took up a sizable chunk of his library, but it was necessary to find all their weak points and predict the trend of their behavior. They might have an inkling of who Yves is, but he is still an enigma, the information they have on him is either insufficient or false. They're just as blind as everyone else and Yves always have the upper hand.

They generally wouldn't back down threatening him, though. They think they have their finger wrapped around the world just because of their wealth and connections. Yves was young once, he knows how arrogance flows through the blood of the youth. And so did prideful ignorance.

He would let them think they're winning, their immense big boy/big girl powers are sending Yves running with his tail tucked between his legs. Then, when they least expect it, Yves will scare the crap out of them through various methods. Leaving clear-cut evidence that the entirety of their party is actually working for him, having career and life-ending pieces of information, or simply bypassing all his security and meeting them in their so-called surveillance room.

They would find that all their firearms were unloaded and emergency protocols non-functional. Even the ones that no one else but your spouse knows. Yves knows how to fight, he scoffs at their setup for being so primitive. He would even be offended that your spouse couldn't get your information right.

He would dish out the most ego-wrecking insults while gracefully blocking and dodging their attacks, pointing out their incompetence at gathering data.

Yves would let your spouse exhaust themselves to unconsciousness, deriding them for their terrible physique. Then, he would leave, putting everything together back to normal. He left no trace of him ever being there as if your spouse hallucinated the entire encounter. But they definitely didn't.

He successfully sent a message that he wasn't to be underestimated. They have no idea who they're up against and he will be diplomatic only if they stay in their lane, take good care of you, and make you happy.

However, meeting someone exactly like him, though;

It would be ugly at first. Both Yves and his clone will act a bit more erratic than usual, it can go unnoticed by the untrained eye, but between these two giants? It's war. It's their first time meeting each other's match and their first time losing control over the situation.

They would revert to their default answer to anything threatening their ability to puppet reality: elimination. But both of them are too strong to defeat, so they're stuck in this twisted tango.

Yves couldn't find anything on this person. Even if he did, he knew that the information was a decoy to throw him off his trail, are they even a person? Likewise for your (soon-to-be) spouse, who the hell is Yves? Why has their expertise failed them now? How can it be possible that both of them have the same magnitude of verified information on you, yet neither of them knew about each other until you introduced them?

They both can't believe that they misled each other, making your spouse waste precious data space on your close friend that was entirely fabricated, Yves filling up your spouse's section of the library with a random person whom you never even met.

It's a Mexican Standoff between the two. Upon their "first" meeting with you, all they did was glare daggers at each other while they also suspiciously eyed their drink 'prepared' by you. In the end, neither one had their drink go remotely near their lips.

Until they simultaneously had the idea to lovingly send you off somewhere, maybe asking you to help your partner check on the pie that has been baking in the oven downstairs, fetching Yves a fresh cup of tea, leaving the two intelligence-gathering behemoths alone. Yves's lower eyelid would twitch once when he witnessed them placing an appreciative kiss on your forehead.

They don't mince their words. Telling exactly what they thought of each other, they're not kind thoughts. Once that is out of the way, they acknowledge that they're each other's formidable opponents.

They discuss some more and come to the conclusion that they can't take each other down without somehow unintentionally hurting you in the process. Yves's and your partner's tense shoulders would relax a bit when they realize that their ultimate goal is your joy in living. Trying to eradicate each other is not an efficient or smart use of their resources and your happiness is mutually exclusive to the disappearance of either figure.

Hence, the most logically sound decision was made. It was to work together. Every second spent having to interact in your best interest was agony to either side. However, they cannot deny the immense respect they have for each other despite needing to take some sort of sedative prior to meeting, to prevent accidental strangulations out of fury.

You would be in the dark about what goes on out of your sights. However, you would notice how Yves and your partner are stuck to you even more now. Yves's unannounced presence would be much more prevalent and your partner seems to be clingier than before.

Other than that, life would go on. You have two very scary dogs following you around. You are the world's safest person.

[Part 2]

[mysecretlittlelibrary]

Call Me Mrs. Rogers

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Word Count: 8.7k

Warnings: not many, very brief mentions of death and some minor violence- this story is mostly just sassy arguing tbh

Genre: fluff

Summary: You have never gotten along with one Steve Rogers, at this point the rest of the team considers it a win if you two don't speak to each other for an entire day, at least then you aren't fighting. So when a briefing meeting results in you getting paired on an extended mission with him you are less than thrilled. It won't be easy but you're determined to get through it and who knows what'll happen.

***

You check your watch as you walk down the halls of the Avengers tower heading towards the meeting room. When you push open the door everyone turns to look at you.

"Y/n. So nice of you to join us." Steve snarks at you from the front of the room.

"Oh I'm sorry were you waiting for me? I would've taken longer if I knew." You say lazily as you plop into a seat next to Wanda who has to hide her snicker at your words. Steve rolls his eyes at you but doesn't bother trying to retort. Your relationship with him always been somewhat contentious. You assume it's because he's a square.

"Now that everyone's here we can get started." Steve says passing out the briefing folders. You flip yours open and scan the words quickly as he begins talking.

"Alright, here's the situation; this is our target, Dusan Müller. Hydra scientist. Our sources say he's been hiding in a small town somewhere outside of central Italy." Steve explains.

"That's very nonspecific." You scoff.

"We've narrowed it down to one of five we simply need to check them out and find him and assuming he has help we need to do it without raising suspicion."

"So, espionage? Someone's going undercover?" Nat asks.

"That's the plan." He nods.

"Who's going and what's their cover?" Bucky asks.

"Based on some research we've done the most solid undercover would probably be a newlywed couple." Tony says.

"Wait what?" Wanda frowns.

"A few of the towns are travel hotspots for 'unconventional honeymoons'. A new couple touring Europe is least likely to raise questions. At the very least it'll take a while before anyone realizes the truth." He explains.

"Sooooo who are our newlyweds?" Nat prompts again.

"That's what we're going to figure out now." Steve says.

"You haven't decided yet?" You frown.

"There are a lot of factors. A discussion makes the most sense so we can account for as many as possible." He forces out through clenched teeth.

"Well y/n and I have tons of espionage experience." Nat says.

"We could always go together." You wink at her.

"And Steve's one of the strongest fighters." Wanda says.

"He's a lanky scientist will we need brute strength really?" You ask.

"Again we don't know who is helping so if he's not isolateable we might." Tony says.

"Well if we're listing them off Bucky's a pretty strong choice for top fighters too." You point out.

"Anyone helping a Hydra scientist would for sure notice me though, plus with the metal arm I might- draw more attention, because jackets in the middle of summer on a honeymood would be weird." Bucky explains shaking his head.

"I'd go but the whole billionaire playboy thing I wouldn't wanna risk being recognized." Tony shrugs.

"Where are Bruce and Clint? Are they not available for this mission?" Wanda asks suddenly.

"They are not. Other tasks are occupying their time." Tony tells her. "If you ask me I suggest Rogers and y/n go." He adds.

"Fuck off Stark." You roll your eyes.

"Actually based on my calculations the most favorable pairing for this mission is Captain Steve Rogers and Miss Y/n Y/l/n." Vision says. It's the first thing he's said the whole meeting, you'd almost forgotten he was in the room.

"What?" You scoff.

"No." Steve says at the same time.

"Vis, you might want to recalculate that one because the only thing we are most favorable for is driving each other crazy." You cross your arms.

"Miss Romanova is the only other member of the team as skilled in this area as you y/n, however, the chances of her being recognized are higher as you fight with a mask and she does not. Similarly, as Mr. Barnes has explained, his reputation as the Winter Soldier proceeds him, and it is an unnecessary risk to send him. Mr. Stark also has quite the reputation and I am a synthezoid that would also draw attention, leaving Captain Rogers the least conspicuous partner for you."

"And Wanda or Sam?" You ask.

"It is my understanding that Sam will be indisposed during part of the proposed timeframe and Wanda lacks proficiency in the skillset needed to successfully pull this off. It would be nothing short of foolish to test her undercover capabilities with such a high-stakes mission." Vision says.

"Fine." You relent. "I'll go undercover with Rogers if you insist it is the most advantageous option." You grumble.

"I can't believe this is happening." Steve shakes his head.

"When do we leave?" You ask.

"Tomorrow at noon."

"Feels a little short noticed for an extended mission don't you think?" You frown.

"I'm sorry will that be an inconvenience to your schedule?" The question is dripping with sarcasm.

"It's got fuck all to do with my schedule and everything to do with the protocol that this doesn't follow."

"What do you know about protocol?" Steve scoffs. You stand up sharply.

"First of all I've been going on missions for longer than you've been active in the 21st century secondly I've been on this team long enough to know there are protocols we follow for these things."

"Extenuating circumstances required us  to work around protocol because we can't waste time."

"And that's all you had to say but instead you wanted to be petty and make me seem like a spoiled brat because I asked a valid question! Maybe nobody else will bother because it's not their mission but since I have to leave I sure as hell will question things as necessary."

"Or don't. You have your directives. You could try just following them."

"You would do well to remember, Captain, I am not one of your little soldiers. Around here we don't just blindly follow orders. I've watched that shit get people killed too many times."

"Alright let's all just calm-"

"I will see you on the launch pad tomorrow at noon. If you need me before then, don't." You cut off whatever Sam was going to say. You grab your briefing folder and storm out of the room angrily. It's not long after that Wanda and Natasha come into your room where you're shoving clothes into your duffle bag angrily.

"So, how do you plan to play husband and wife with someone that makes you want to commit a crime every time he speaks?"

"I'm gonna act. As if my life depends on it. Because it kinda does." You sigh. "Look I'm going to do my job and I will do it well, personal feelings aside. What do you even pack for a fake honeymoon in Europe?"

"Lingerie."

"Natasha!" You glare at her.

"Not for use, but if somebody ends up in your bags you want it to look like you're on honeymoon with a man you love, so a couple pairs of cute underwear couldn't hurt." She explains with a shrug.

"Honestly I think you should try to make a connection with him on some level. Find common ground to make this mission easier on you both. It would be good for the team in the future as well." Wanda says.

"No thank you." You shake your head.

"Wanda you're a genius I'm texting Sam." Natasha says.

"No. Why would you do that?" You frown.

"He's friends with Steve, maybe he'll have some insight on how to keep you from killing each other before you return." Natasha says.

"Dude I'm just trying to pack!" You huff.

"And we're trying to make sure any injuries sustained on this mission are not a result of infighting." She shrugs.

"I would never jeopardize a mission that way and you know that Nat." You point at her. Your door swings open again and Sam comes strolling in with Bucky in tow.

"Alright what're the girls gettin up to?" He asks.

"That took you a concerningly short amount of time to get here." You mutter.

"I brought Bucky too." Sam says.

"Why?"

"Well I figured this was gonna have to do with Steve and since he's the certified record-holding pal of our captain- couldn't hurt to have his input." Sam shrugs.

"I am just trying to pack and these two are in here chatting away. So join the party I guess." You mutter tossing more things on your bed.

"How long do you think you two will be gone?" Wanda asks.

"Hopefully no more than a week, but I'll pack enough for a couple days longer than that. Plus I know how to wash my clothes." You shrug.

"Anyway! Guys, we think y/n could benefit from finding some common ground with Steve and who better to ask than his boys!" Natasha explains to them.

"'We' being her and Wanda I have no interest in any of this actually." You clarify.

"Steve is- not a complex man." Bucky shrugs.

"No not complex just exasperating." You roll your eyes.

"Is there- a particular reason why you hate him so much?" Sam asks with a smirk.

"I don't hate him-"

"EURIKA!" He gasps and you shoot a confused look at him.

"You don't hate him?" Bucky hums.

"If I hated him nothing Vision said in that meeting room would convince me to do this mission. I don't even know if I'd be on the team with him if I felt that strongly about him." You explain. "Rogers is just such a stiff. He sees the world in a specific way and expects most things to adhere to that worldview. When they don't he gets naggy. It's aggravating."

"So, just to clarify; you do not hate him." Sam says.

"No. I don't. He's just boring and we don't get along because I don't like boring people and the way he talks to me is fucking rude. As if it's my fault that he's insipid." You scoff.

"Honestly that- feels like a start." Bucky nods.

"A start for what, exactly? I'm not the problem. We can't find common ground if he's not willing to lighten up."

"I mean if you're together for an entire week he can't be stuffy the entire time, right?" Sam shrugs.

"I don't care if he's stuffy the whole time. It's not a vacation. We don't need to have fun being a fake couple." You say.

"Honestly I think this mission will be good for your relationship with Steve. We're all on a team it's not good for you to fight with him all the time." Wanda says.

"This is feeling oddly intervention-like. Save it y'all, I just want to do my job and bring in this hydra creep." You say.

"It's not meant to be interventional, we just want to make this easier for you." She sighs.

"I don't really need it to be easier but I appreciate the attempt. Sammy, Bucky go about your business please and thank you." You sigh folding the last of your clothes and shoving them in your large travel duffle.

"Good luck this week lady." Bucky nudges you before tugging Sam out of your room.

"Are you kicking us out too?" Natasha smirks.

"At this point I should, but you don't listen anyway." You roll your eyes. You toss your travel toiletries bag into the duffle and couple of other travel essentials, a book, your mission suit, and some extra combat equipment, things of that nature and by the time you're done packing you, Wanda, and Nat have made plans for dinner later in the evening.

~*~*~

When you wake up the next morning you put on a sundress, chosen by Wanda who insisted if you were going to convince anyone you're on a honeymoon you need to look like you would on a date. After a nice breakfast, you grab your duffle from your room and stroll out to the helipad where Steve is already waiting with his arms crossed.

"You're late." Steve grunts as you approach.

"No I'm not. You said we leave at noon. It's noon now."

"We leave at noon means get here before."

"I told you I'd meet you here at noon. You can complain about the semantics of my arrival all you want but you're wasting the time you're so upset about me not adhering to." You say walking past him to get into the quinjet taking you into Europe. Steve stomps onto the jet behind you joining you at the front of the jet. You try not to laugh at the deep frown on his face as he prepares you for takeoff.

"We'll land in Italy where a truck is loaded up for us to take the rest of the way to our first town, and we'll be using the truck to get from town to town." Steve tells you.

"Yeah sure." You mutter grabbing your briefing file to read over again. You always read the information more than once to find anything valuable.

"Did you not- read the whole file yet?" He glances in your direction.

"Of course I did. I'm rereading. We've got like six hours to kill on this jet." You roll your eyes. You feel his gaze on you as you read but you ignore it and eventually he turns his attention back to the controls of the jet. It's in autopilot now but you're sure he'll spend the entire flight glaring at the instruments to make sure nothing goes wrong.

Once you land, you shove the folder into the bottom of your duffle and sling the bag over your shoulder beating Steve to the three agents meeting you at the landing site.

"Hello miss y/l/n." One of them nods to you.

"Hi y'all." You smile at her.

"This will be your transportation for the duration of your trip. There are supplies and gear tucked under the backseat and a radio to contact us if necessary in the center console and your passports are in the glove box." The same agent details to you, pointing to a silver fiat pickup truck. When Steve joins you one of the other agents tosses him the keys.

"We're good to go?" Steve asks the first agent.

"All set, like I was telling miss y/l/n there's emergency supplies and a radio stashed in the vehicle and your destinations are programmed into the GPS system." She nods.

"Is that such a good idea?" You ask with a frown.

"The truck is Stark tech it only says fiat to blend in because they're common in Italy but, nobody's gonna be able to track you with it, or even plot your route. It's biometrically activated." She explains.

"That's better." You nod. You throw your bag into the back of the truck and climb into the passenger seat. You grab your passport out of the glovebox the name on it says Alissa Rogers and Steve's says Grant.

"We'll be in touch." Steve nods one last time before loading his stuff in and settling into the driver's side. He pulls off quickly and you watch as the scenery changes the further you drive towards the small town you'll be staying in.

"Hope you brushed up on your Italian. You're less likely to find English speakers in the countryside like this." You say opening a snack you'd brought along in case you got hungry before you could get food.

"Tony assured me the place he booked was tourist friendly." Steve mumbles.

"I mean sure but what if you have to talk to the locals? Or will that be up to me?"

"As if you speak Italian." He scoffs.

"I speak several languages actually. Side effect of being trained to be an international spy." You shrug and Steve doesn't have a rebuttal for that so he focuses on driving and you munch away on your snacks. A short while later you make it to the small inn you'll be staying at. It's cozy looking, exactly what you'd expect for the town you drove into. It looks like the kind of place where most of the people know each other. With your bag tossed across your back, you follow Steve into the inn where he grabs the attention of the woman at the desk.

"Excuse me, hi we're looking to check in. We have a reservation. Should be under Rogers, first name Grant." Steve says smoothly with a charming smile.

"Oh yes you booked a honeymoon package!" The woman gushes happily as she types away at her keyboard. You have to refrain from reacting when she says that. Looks like it's showtime.

"Yeah we just got married, we're traveling through Europe for our honeymoon." You tell her with a fake dreamy look on your face. You even wrap your hands around Steve's arm affectionately.

"Oooo traveling through Europe! Sounds so exciting and romantic." The woman beams.

"It has been so far! We're still very early into our plans but, so far it's been everything I've dreamed of and more." You sigh softly. The woman lets out a barely there squeal about how cute you are and how lovely newlyweds tend to be before sliding your room keys onto the desk.

"Here are your keys cara mia! Try to rest if he allows." She winks at you and you laugh although the innuendo in her statement makes Steve stiffen beside you.

"Grazie! Oh! Do you have any food suggestions, we've been driving for a while to get here." You ask her.

"Ah most people cook around here but there's Nino's! It's the best place nearby. I'll give you the address." She quickly scribbles the address onto some spare paper she has at the desk and hands it to you.

"Thanks so much, ma'am. Have a good night." Steve finally finds his voice to bid the kind nonna farewell before leading you off with a hand at your back.

"Oh what a sweet old lady." You smile as you walk up the stairs to find your room.

"You settled into the lovestruck newlywed thing very quick." Steve observes.

"Well yeah, this isn't my first rodeo and honestly hopelessly in love is not even close to the hardest part I've had to play on a mission." You scoff.

"Clearly, you're very good at this."

"Yeah that's probably why Vision thought I'd be best for the job." You shrug unlocking your room and tossing your bag to the side.

"There's- only one bed." Steve points out with wide eyes.

"Of course there is. We're supposed to be a newlywed couple on our honeymoon, why would we have a room with two beds?"

"Well I can call down for extra blankets and set up on the floor or-"

"Don't be ridiculous. If you want to sleep in the bed it's king sized, I'm sure we can manage to share." You scoff.

"I just figured it'd be easier if we-"

"It's not a big deal to me Rogers, the main thing is if someone like came to the door and saw pillows and blankets set up on the floor it would hurt the hopelessly devoted story we're trying to sell."

"Hopelessly devoted?" He frowns.

"It's a song from Grease, an old 70s movie. Don't worry about it. Point is, it'll be odd if anyone sees you set up on the floor. Unless you prefer sleeping on straight wood." You shrug.

"I don't." He frowns.

"So don't make it a thing. Which by the way, you kept Rogers for this mission?"

"Yeah, Tony figured it was common enough that it wouldn't matter. Grant's my middle name."

"Hm, interesting. Well, I'm Alissa, apparently. Should we check out that restaurant the nonna suggested?"

"You feel like going to dinner?"

"I mean she said most folks around here cook so tomorrow I'll hit some of the street stands and you can try asking around subtly for any information on our target."

"Shouldn't you do the asking around? I mean what happens when I end up talking to someone that doesn't speak English?"

"You can introduce them to your gorgeous Italian speaking wife, or hope they have nothing important to say." You shrug. "I think you can handle it. You coming with me to get something to eat or not dude?"

"Uh yeah I guess."

The two of you have a semi awkward dinner playing the happy in love couple for anyone that walks pass while not really talking to each other. When you return to your room you take turns showering and getting ready for bed without saying a word to each other.

"Do you care what side you sleep on?" Steve eventually asks.

"Not particularly."

"Then I will take the side by the door. If that's okay?" Steve suggests. 

"If that's what you want. Sure." You shrug tossing the comforter back and getting under it on your designated side. Why he's acting so awkward about the whole thing makes no sense to you but honestly most of his actions make no sense to you. Curled up on one side of the bed you quickly fall asleep, all the travel has certainly tired you out.

Light peaking through the curtain slowly pulls you from sleep in the morning. As you gain consciousness you get more aware of a weight across your body. A weight that doesn't move even as you shift in bed. It's an arm, attached to a body, that's apparently close enough that you can feel the heat radiating from it and the realization makes you scramble out of bed so suddenly you wake Steve too.

"You don't strike me as a cuddly sleeper Rogers." You clip. You can see in his eyes that he's struggling for a response but you grab your duffle and rush into the bathroom before he can find one. You get yourself together and leave pretty quickly with a comment to Steve about making sure he does what you agreed on when he gets on with his day.

With a tote in hand, you scan the different stands in town stopping to buy various produce and things. By the time you'd settled in yesterday and doubled back out for dinner most of the town had gone quiet, it's nice to see everyone out now and survey things. When you're looking at some bracelets at one shop, you overhear a conversation between the woman behind the counter and someone sitting off to the side near her. They're speaking in Italian but you clearly catch one of them gushing about the increase in handsome foreigners in their small town. You giggle a bit, loud enough for them to notice.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to interject." You smile apologetically, speaking to them in Italian. "I just caught the last bit of your conversation and well, I take it you've met my husband is all."

"The American is your husband?" One of them gasps.

"Yes he is. Was he here?" You ask her.

"Briefly, he said he was looking for 'trinkets' for friends." The one behind the counter says to you. She says trinkets in English with a confused scrunch of her nose.

"Sounds like him. Do you see a lot of Americans here?" You ask.

"No not Americans often. There was a really handsome German here a couple of days ago." She shakes her head.

"German? Really?" You blink.

"Oh yeah, I remember him. He was tall and thin with a beard and big round glasses and his eyes were bright, almost yellow." The seated woman says.

"Yeah! He didn't talk much but he was much friendlier by the time he left and he spoke with a heavy accent." The lady behind the register adds.

"Was he here long?"

"Probably around 3 weeks." The woman at the register says.

"Did he say where he was going?"

"Well he asked me where the next town to us was, even had me point it out on a map." She tells you.

"Interesting. Must be nice to see new faces sometimes. I'll take these two bracelets." You say placing two items on the counter. With all that chatting you definitely need to buy something before leaving, plus they're so cute you're sure Wanda will love them. The woman checks you out and after a bit more looking around, you head back to your hotel. There's a kitchen on the main floor that you can use to prepare food since that's the norm, plus with this information you'll probably be on your way in the morning. When you return to your room, Steve isn't there, which is fine, you take advantage of the empty suite to take a long hot shower. Eventually you step out and put on lotion before stepping out into the room to grab your clothes.

"You take incredibly long showers." Steve's voice makes you jump as you notice him at the desk in the corner.

"Holy fucking hell." You hiss clutching your chest.

"Forgot you shared this room?"

"No, you weren't here when I got back, hence the long shower, and I didn't realize you were back." You huff, using your towel as a cover you pull on your underwear and shorts. Steve's head is focused on whatever he's reading over at the desk so you let the towel drop to put on your sleep shirt with your back to him.

"You should really pay better attention to your surroundings." Steve mutters.

"Fuck off." You scoff.

"I'm just saying you should totally have noticed I was in here before I spoke."

"Who cares man? Did you find anything interesting out today?"

"Not much, I talked to some guys about visitors but none of them had a lot to say, just that sometimes they come."

"Well I heard a German man was here for around three weeks before asking for directions to the next town over."

"Really? Where did you hear that?"

"Some women in a jewelry store."

"And you think this is legit?"

"I mean it's just street gossip so I don't have a way to verify really but it's definitely a promising lead."

"You're sure it's the right man? I mean 'a German' doesn't exactly scream Müller was here."

"Well I couldn't slap a photo in front of them and ask for clarification but they described him as tall and thin with a beard and big round glasses and bright 'almost yellow' eyes. I dunno I'd say that's a pretty close match if you ask me."

"You found information pretty quickly."

"There are very few things that transcend language, borders, gender et cetera, one of them is that people like to gossip. You find the right people and ask the right questions they will tell you any and everything."

"Then we need to move."

"In the morning."

"Why would we not move now? We have a lead we shouldn't let it go cold."

"If the women from the shop were telling the truth chances are he'll be there a couple weeks before we have to worry about him moving. I think we can afford to start fresh in the morning. Plus we don't have a plan. If we move now it's impulsive and foolish."

"We have a plan, find this guy and apprehend him."

"That's not a plan that's an objective. How do we find him Rogers? And how do we move when we do find him? Are you implying we just tackle him in the middle of town if that's where we see him? I mean even a half-baked skeleton of an idea is better than absolutely nothing." You roll your eyes.

"Do you have a plan you'd like to propose?" He glares at you.

"No, that's why I'm saying we wait til morning. So we have time to come up with one. He's probably going to be there for a couple weeks, we have 8 hours to spare."

"You don't know that."

"Obviously I don't, but he doesn't know we're looking for him he has no reason to rush out of there. If he was here for 3 weeks why would he leave there in 2 days?"

"Fine! We will leave tomorrow morning. Bright and early. 8am."

"Yes sir, drill sergeant." You say with a mock salute. "I'm going to make food downstairs, would you like some?"

"Trying to poison me?"

"If I were, you wouldn't know until it was too late." You smile.

"In that case, I'll pass."

"Suit yourself. If you wanna make yourself something, there are more groceries." You shrug grabbing a few things you need before leaving the room. You make yourself dinner and sit in the lobby to eat, chatting with the woman at the desk, it's the same nonna who checked you in so you offer her some food while you talk. Eventually, you head back up to your room where Steve is still hunched over the desk.

"Okay. So when we get there tomorrow we need to focus on finding him while keeping a low profile so we can figure out the most effective way to apprehend him." Steve says.

"Do we have an extraction plan?"

"I mean I've thought of a couple ways to go about it, if he's in a lodging situation, like this one, we should try for stealth. Moving at night would be the safest choice, to minimize the likelihood of civilian endangerment. If he's staying somewhere alone, apprehension isn't super important, if he's staying somewhere with someone I'd say again stealth is-"

"That's fine I guess but not at all what I meant. Do we have a plan for getting us and him back to the US? Because this was expected to take at least a week and at this rate, we'll be ready to move in like half that time."

"I... will contact the team when we're on the road in the morning and we'll plan our apprehending around how quickly they can mobilize." Steve says.

"Good." You say crawling into bed with a book. You put on music and read quietly while Steve does, who knows what at the desk. He eventually gets up and shuffles into the bathroom. You hear the shower running for a while before he comes out in shorts, using a towel to dry his hair. You barely glance up from your novel as he pads around the room. You don't speak with Steve for the rest of the night. You read, and he does whatever he does until you both eventually turn in at different times.

The next morning you wake to the sound of shuffling around you and when you open your eyes Steve is darting around the room.

"Good. You're awake. Get up and get ready so we can leave." Steve says curtly.

"What's the matter Stevie? Not much of a morning person?" You snark back without getting out of bed.

"I looked it up, the drive we're in for is almost four hours. The sooner we get on the road the better so we can actually get this done. Which means I need you to get up so we can get out of here."

"Sounds to me like you need a Snickers." You snort.

"Excuse me?" His head snaps to you with narrowed eyes.

"A snickers, you know, the candy bar- their slogan is 'you're not you when you're hungry' I'm making a joke about you being cranky- I cannot believe I just had to explain that to you. You really are a grumpy old man, you'd give Scrooge a run for his money sheesh." You scoff, finally pushing yourself out of bed.

"Are you just going to make silly pop culture references all day?" He rolls his eyes.

"Who knew you'd be such a Grinch so early."

"So that's a yes? The Grinch is a Christmas movie."

"So is Scrooge but they're grumpy all year round it's just worse around the holidays. Which begs the question, is the attitude just for little ol me, or does the Italian countryside always make you this prickly?" You smirk.

"Just. Get. Dressed." He says through clenched teeth. You roll your eyes at his grumbly attitude and grab your clothes to change in the bathroom.

"There's some fruit amongst the groceries by the way. I suggest you have one, might put some pep in your step." You taunt before shutting your bathroom door.

"It won't be so bad! Maybe you'll find a way to connect with him! Steve's not a complex man." You mock all your friends in the mirror as you put yourself together. "Complex?! God, I wish! He's about as complex as a cardboard box with half the personality. Honestly if only he were complex that'd be so much easier." You rant to yourself. "Thank the stars the universe practically dropped this guy's location in our lap because there is no way I'd survive a week with this guy." You grumble. You change your clothes and brush your teeth letting out one more deep breath before leaving the bathroom.

"Alright. Ready to go when you are." You say tossing your things into your bag and zipping it up.

"Good. Let's go." Steve grabs his bag and practically storms out of your hotel room without a second thought. You pick up your duffle and what's left of the produce you brought and trot down to the lobby where Steve's already checking you out.

"Hello!" You smile at the woman behind the desk.

"Hello darling! So sad to see you go so soon!" She smiles at you.

"We'd love to stay longer but there's so much to see and not nearly enough hours of our trip." You say wrapping your arm around Steve's and resting your head on his shoulder dreamily "Isn't that right Grant?" You sigh.

"Yeah! We've got so many plans! But the stay here has been lovely." Steve says smiling at you with kindness that even you almost believe is sincere. It makes you want to put ten feet between you and you have to force yourself not to react outwardly. With one last goodbye to the woman at the counter, you and Steve leave the hotel and load your things into your truck. As soon as Steve starts driving he uses the communication system to contact Tony.

"Rogers. Status report?"

"We have a lead that we're following and need to know how quickly we can be extracted from Italy if we've successfully located the target." Steve tells him.

"Have you located the target?" Tony asks.

"I spoke to a woman that says she gave our target directions to another town over so we suspect he'll be there." You interject.

"What if he's moved?" Tony asks.

"Well based on what the woman said, he was around for a few weeks before he left so I think it's safe to say he's likely still there." You say.

"We can extract you as quickly as tonight if you're able to apprehend the target."

"That would be-"

"Too soon. Can you plan for an extraction tomorrow morning?" You cut Steve off and he shoots you a glare momentarily.

"Tomorrow morning?" Tony clarifies.

"Yes. Assuming our lead is correct we'll be ready to go early in the morning." You say.

"Yeah sure. We'll get you a jet and leave it in a holding pattern. Say, 6am?" Tony asks.

"That should give us enough time. If something changes we'll let you know." You say. Tony mumbles an affirmative before disconnecting and you put your headphones on for the remainder of the drive with your head in your book. When the four hour drive ends and Steve pulls up to where you'll be staying you push open the door and hop out of the truck. Steve sorts out your room with the owner of the small hotel you're staying in and practically slams the door when you're in your room.

"Why would you tell Tony to set us up for tomorrow and not tonight? If they could be ready tonight we should take tonight!"

"I thought we were on the same mission but it appears that you are somewhere else because we don't even know where this man is. We just got here and even if we walked outside and saw him right now we can't exactly snatch him in the middle of the day. What happened to that spiel about 'stealth to minimize the likelihood of endangering civilians'? If they plan to extract us tonight that is not a reasonable timeframe and I'm sure you know that. You're just picking fights for no reason." You roll your eyes. Not to mention he waited hours to bring it back up- who stews this long over a departure time?

"Eight hours seems like a pretty reasonable timeframe for me. My fault for overestimating your capabilities."

"If you think I couldn't do this shit in eight hours you're smoking. On my own, I'd have no problem with an eight hour timeline but we are not the team that can be rushing into a mission like this when we don't know what the details are. Honestly Rogers whatever your fucking problem is table it. We have someone to find and we're pretty far from the landing pad so we need to be done and on our way in like twelve hours. I am going to start tracking down our target so we can actually arrest this guy. Skulk in here if you want." You grab your sunglasses and (mostly prop) tote bag and leave Steve in your room. You can't fathom why Steve is annoyed that you asked for a few extra hours to make sure you can actually complete this mission but that's his problem. The sun feels nice on your skin as you walk around surveying people from behind your big sunglasses. When you walk into a small cafe after some time and scan the few customers you almost miss the face you've memorized from your briefing file. He's sitting in a corner eating with a newspaper. You order something small to not raise suspicion and eat it quickly before exiting the shop. There are lots of places to give you a vantage point of the cafe's entrance so you pick one and wait out of sight for Müller to come out. Eventually, he strolls out of the cafe and turns left so carefully, using buildings as cover, you follow Müller for some time. He doesn't stop anywhere until he comes to a small house at basically the edge of town. You watch the house for a while hoping that he'll leave for you to check it out a bit closer. When it starts to pass a half hour you ruffle through your tote for one of the random prototype gadets Tony's always giving you to test out. One of the things is a little box holding a buglike device. You remember him explaining this one, it's supposed to do surveillance. You open the box and turn it on, feeling your phone vibrate in your pocket indicating it's connected. You locate an open window and release the camera bug towards Müller's house, making sure it gets inside before heading back to your hotel to make a plan.

"What have you been doing for the last two hours?" Steve asks as soon as you walk back into your room.

"Tracking Müller. Like I said I would. Did you just sit and sulk?"

"No." Steve glares. "Did you find him?"

"Yes I did. It looks like he's staying alone too." You say passing your phone to Steve for him to see the footage from the bug camera.

"Wait you planted a camera?"

"I saw him in town and followed him til he ended up at this house. Then I used one Tony's little doodads. It's a camera the size of a bug that can fly like one too."

"So you know where this is?"

"Yes I do. It's practically at the edge of town. We should have no problem getting to him later."

"Okay." He nods. "Alright so here's what we'll do. We'll track him with this camera til nightfall and then we'll go get him. It should be quick, sneak in knock him out and get him loaded into the truck."

"Yeah okay." You nod, taking your phone back from Steve. Periodically you check the camera bug that follows Müller around his temporary home over the next several hours. Just before the sun goes down, you notice something odd when you're checking the footage. Müller's moving frantically about, it looks like- he's packing.

"Müller's on the move." You say grabbing the keys to the truck and rushing out of your hotel. Steve runs out behind you.

"Y-Alissa wait!" Steve calls as you start the truck and he almost doesn't get in quick enough as you pull away. "Geez y/n where's the fire?" He asks.

"It looks very much like Müller is about to get the hell outta dodge. We need to move now." You say.

"Wait a second this is very much not what we were planning to-"

"Yeah well that's gonna have to change the man is packing his bags as we speak."

"Are you sure that's what you saw I mean-"

"Rogers argue with me later." You grumble out. Driving, the trip to Müller's is much shorter and you're there in only a few minutes. You hop out immediately even as Steve calls for you to give it a minute. No way are you letting him get away when he's right here. You burst into the small home, that's really just one room and shock the man inside so hard he almost trips. He's quick to get his barings though and lunges at you, grabbing a kitchen knife on his way towards you. You dodge him pretty easily even though he weilds the knife much better than you'd expect of a labcoat. He manages a couple scratches before disarm him and take him down with a plate to the head.

"Dammit y/n. I told you to wait." Steve grits out angrily as you drag Müller towards the truck that's still running.

"What's the big deal? We got our guy." You shrug, folding Müller into the backseat awkwardly."

"Maybe you were too busy charging like a bull to notice that we've drawn attention." He hisses.

"So let's hit the fucking road." You roll your eyes and climb into the passenger seat of the car. Steve lets out an angry huff but gets in the driver side and begins your trip back to the launch pad in central Italy. It'll take you most of the night to get there but you let Tony know to expedite the jet since you'll definitely be there before 6am. At some point, you have to sedate Müller when he starts to groan in the back seat. By the time you make it to the launch pad, agents are waiting with the jet.

"Agent y/l/n, Captain Rogers. Welcome back." One of the agents nods at you both when you exit the truth.

"Hey Jackson. Müller's in the backseat- mind grabbing him for me?" You smile as you tug your duffle out of the car.

"Of course." He nods opening the back door and hauling Müller's still unconscious body from the truck to the jet with ease.

"I could've handled that." Steve says to you.

"Who cares? I probably could've handled it too but we have bags to grab and the fewer trips the better." You roll your eyes.

"The jet's fueled and prepped for takeoff and our reports indicate clear weather so it should be smooth travels." Agent Jackson says to you, although Steve is likely going to monopolize flying.

"Thanks. Then I guess we'll be off." You say heading onto the jet. You toss your bag down and take a moment to secure Müller to the seat he's in at the back of the jet while Steve talks to the agents for a few minutes before following you into the aircraft.

"Make sure he's secure." Steve tosses at you as he passes.

"No shit Sherlock." You roll your eyes, getting into your seat up front next to him and strapping yourself in as he prepares to fly.

"If he wakes midair we don't wanna worry about him ambushing us."

"First of all what're the chances that guy would even be able to take us both? Secondly, I'm not an idiot, he's chained to that seat. Even if he wakes up he's not going anywhere." You scoff.

"To your question; better safe than sorry."

"Yeah whatever." You mutter.

"Not whatever, in fact, speaking of, you were extremely reckless last night." Steve says sternly.

"I was instinctive."

"Oh please. You rushed over there without a plan, ignored my instructions, and charged in carelessly. What if he was armed? Not to mention the fact that people noticed that something was going on. You could've gotten somebody hurt."

"First of all he was armed technically and as you can see, not a scratch on me so can it. You saw just as well as I did that he was packing his things Rogers, the man was about ready to flee and we could not lose him."

"We had a plan-"

"Plans change Rogers its not the end of the world."

"It is when you put people at risk dang it. If you had just followed-"

"If I didn't move when I did we could've missed our chance entirely. He wouldn't be here if I followed 'the plan' that didn't account for a frantic relocation of our target. I made sure the mission got done and the only person at risk was myself which would be the case regardless because that comes with the territory."

"You-"

"God are you two married or something?" Müller's voice shocks you even as you and Steve respond immediately.

"NO!" You shout together.

"You argue like a couple." Müller muses.

"You are so very wrong about that assumption." You scoff.

"Well I was only pointing out-"

"Don't. As a matter of fact if you speak again Müller you'll spend the remainder of this flight strapped to the outside of the jet like a cannoe."

"Can you even do that?"

"Do you really wanna find out?" You glare at him. That effectively shuts him up and cuts your argument with Steve short so the rest of your flight is flown in silence. When you land, it's you who unchains Müller from his seat and puts him cuffs to drag him out of the jet.

"Thank God that's over, the tension between you and the obstinate man was getting unbearable." Müller says.

"Whatever you were sensing was not tension. We barely get along." You roll your eyes.

"Does he know that?"

"Excuse me?"

"When you aren't paying attention he looks at you as if you're responsible for the stars in the sky."

"Those glasses of yours must be the wrong prescription." You scoff.

"You may think me many things but a fool should never be one. You might not agree but some things are easier to observe as an outsider."

"When it comes to people I'd take advice from a Nazi scientist is absolutely not on the list so please save it." You say.

"Y/n! We'll take him from here." An agent grabs your attention as you make it to the building. The walk from the helipad has never felt so long.

"Consider what I said." Müller says as he's dragged off.

"What he said?" Steve frowns from behind you.

"Just- mindless blathering." You grumble walking off to your room. You are not about to let some idiot you just met with no idea who you are get in your head about something he absolutely does not understand.

"Y/N! YOU'RE BACK!" Wanda bursts into your room just after you've closed he door.

"You are- always the first to find me." You chuckle as she throws her arms around you.

"I missed you so much! I almost called you like five times."

"Wanda I was only gone for like four days." You laugh.

"And the HBIC has returned." Natasha strolls in and sits on your bed.

"Hello to you too Nat." You chuckle.

"So? How was it?" Wanda asks.

"Well I didn't shove a dagger between his shoulderblades." You shrug and Natasha laughs.

"Oh come on, that can't be all you've got to say." Wanda scoffs.

"Honestly Wanda not stabbing him in the spine is a pretty raving review for a mission where I had to pretend to be his honeymooning wife."

"Did you even have to play the loving couple?" Natasha asks.

"Well when we got to the first place the woman checking us in was a lovely old Italian woman who was very interested in the fact that we were honeymooning so around her we did have to do the hand holding and dreamy sighing for her sake." You shrug.

"You made it back pretty quickly." Natasha points out.

"I'm efficient." You shrug.

"What does that mean?" Wanda asks.

"It means I tracked down Müller with the help of some gossiping women in town and good old fashion espionage then I made sure he didn't get away once we found him by apprehending him when I realized he was definitely about to vacate. Much to Steve's dismay apparently."

"His dismay?" Wanda frown.

"He lectured me twice because we had a plan and I had to make a change last minute when I saw the guy frantically packing his bags on our little surveillance bug."

"Wait so what was his problem?" Natasha frowned.

"We had a plan and I couldn't follow it. If I'd listened to him we totally would've lost Müller all together. He just hates when he's not the one calling the shots. It's like any decision I make that's not his idea is wrong. I know I said I don't hate him but man does he make it hard to believe that."

"The way you butt heads- I can't believe you made it home and in four days no less." Nat shakes her head.

"Like I said I'm efficient. And personal feelings will never stop me from completing a mission. You can say lots of things about me but you'd be lying if you said I don't do my job well." You shrug. A knock on your doorframe grabs your attention to find Steve standing in the still open doorway of your bedroom.

"Hi Nat, Wanda." He nods to them.

"Welcome back Steve!" Wanda waves.

"Hey Rogers." Natasha nods.

"Y/n, we need to talk." Steve says looking at you.

"If you're going to complain again about me not sticking to your plan save your breath. I have better things to do and if you have that much free time I suggest you follow my example and find a better way to spend it." You roll your eyes.

"It's not that."

"Then what do you want?"

"Alone, please." Steve glances at Natasha and Wanda who look at you.

"Go. I'll talk to you later girls." You tell them and they quickly slip out of your room. "Make it quick Rogers I just spent 4 days with you and I think that is plenty for us for a while."

"What Müller was saying-"

"On the jet? He's an idiot, who cares? As if anyone with sense would assume we're married the way we argue." You scoff.

"Not on the jet. After we landed. His, 'mindless blathering' as you put it."

"Are you expecting a play by play of that conversation because it was so inconsequential I've already forgotten most of it-"

"I heard him. My hearing is- better than average so, I know what he said."

"So did you just ask for funsies earlier?" You frown.

"Well no I just wondered what you'd say about it."

"He doesn't know either of us so I have nothing to say about it. The ramblings of some criminal are the last thing on my mind so if you've come here to tell me not to pay him attention I already wasn't-"

"You are so frustrating." Steve huffs out.

"Excuse me? What is your problem?!" You blink at him.

"My problem is you! You are my sole source of torment!"

"The fact that you are a boring bitch is not my fault! How am I the source of your torment you walking piece of styrofoam!?"

"Oh where do I begin with you?! Your smile makes my heart ache!"

"Yeah well you- wait, what?" Your eyes widen as you process his words, retort dying when you realize he didn't actually insult you.

"You walk into a room and it immediately lights up. Your laugh is better than symphonies. You are so effortlessly so amazing that you've enthralled me without trying. It's incredibly annoying." He rattles off.

"I- I'm really confused." You frown.

"Damn it y/n I'm in love with you!" He forces out. Plot twist. You totally did not see that coming.

"You're in love with me?"

"Somehow yes and everything you do makes it worse. It's infuriating to know my life is no longer mine and that is in in fact yours."

"This is the most paradoxical love confession I've ever gotten. Do you want, an apology or a date?" You ask.

"Wait- what?" Now it's his turn to give you a wide eyed stare.

"Well, you're in love with me but you seem to be very... inconvenienced by it so- should I be saying sorry or telling you to plan a date for Friday night?"

"Wait y-you'd go on a date with me?" His brow furrows.

"If you'd ask me on one."

"I thought you hated me?"

"You're critical of everything I do. So I intentionally get on your nerves. If I had known it was because you had a crush on me I might've been nicer to you. We aren't in kindergarten though Steve being mean to someone you like doesn't get you anywhere." You cross your arms.

"So- will you go on a date with me?"

"Yes I'll go on a date with you. Does Friday night work for you?"

"Friday's Perfect. I'll- let you know the details once I sort them out."

"Alright. I'm going to finish unpacking. I'll see you around." You smile.

"Kay." Steve's cheeks tinge slightly pink as he smiles at you in that shy 'you make me nervous way'.

"Anything else?" You ask when he doesn't move.

"Oh! N-no. I- I'm gonna go." He tells you.

"Okay. See ya." You chuckle as he scrambles out of your room. You can't believe you have a date with Steve Rogers. He may not be a complex man but he sure is a confusing one. To think all those times he was picking fights with you was because he had a crush- you almost hate the way it makes you giddy to think about it. But honestly who could stand a chance against a love confession like that? His life is yours?! You've never even heard him speak so dramatically before. When he came in here you said four days was more than enough time for you to spend to gehter and now well, let's just say you can't wait for Friday.

***