#they really made him a normal slightly sympathetic guy

[ranofthewired]

funny lamp host from the hit game show one

[luveline]

𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 | 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐨’𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚

you comfort miguel when he lashes out after a memory —a ficlet featuring begrudgingly lovesick miguel and a flirty spider-girl. pre across the spider-verse but contains spoilers. requested here. fem!reader, 1.5k

cw implied ptsd and accidental rough handling

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

Miguel can feel your heart-eyes on him. You're sitting behind him on the floor in his office, or, as you've fondly nick-named it this week, The Control Room, humming and making little origami flowers. 

So far you've made five, promising him without prompting a multi-coloured bouquet. He doesn't know why you've stopped (or why you started), but he doesn't have to turn around to confirm it. He can tell. You're shameless either way, proven when you say, "Hey, handsome?" 

He sighs with more annoyance than he feels. "What?"

"How'd you know I was talking to you?" you ask, with a laugh he loves and hates at once. Loves, because it's a really nice sound, and hates, because he knows how this goes. "I could've been talking to Margo." 

"She is handsome," Lyla chimes in. 

"Very much," you agree. 

Margo, alias Spider-Byte, looks up from her tablet screen to flash a smile. "Thanks, guys." 

"What did you want, then?" Miguel asks.

He's surrounded by girls who live to annoy him —they all laugh as though they know something he doesn't, and when he turns to glare at them they laugh more. Lyla zips out of his eyeline, disappearing from view with a sympathetic, "He's dumber than he looks." 

"Hurtful," Miguel says, turning back to his screen. "Why do I bother?" 

You stand up with your bundle of paper flowers crinkling in your hands and approach him. You're of normal height, while Miguel is of 'ridiculous' height (your word choice), and so you have trouble looking him in the eye when you stand close. You have more trouble keeping your distance, craning your neck all the way up with your rubber capped shoes to his spidersuit ones. 

"Can you lean down a bit, please?" you ask. 

Margo laughs, “Oh, here we go.”

Miguel has trouble saying no to you. And by trouble, he means he finds it impossible, and he hasn't done it in a while. He leans down very slightly, worried you're going to try and kiss him in front of the others. He's kissed you already (which he hates himself for, what a stupid thing to do) (but was a good kiss, as things go, your lips soft under his, his ardency undulating in the face of your little gasping sound when he'd bitten your lip, when he'd grasped at your side like you were slipping through his fingers), and you've kissed him. But never in front of other people.

Which isn't to say they don't know. Everyone definitely knows. They're just too scared or too kind to say. Or, like Lyla or Margo, they find it funny. 

Now in reach, you lift an origami flower to his ear and attempt to prop it there. He has a flash of a memory, a small hand by his face, the summer sun on his neck, and he can't deal with it. He grabs your wrist and pushes it away from him. 

Your eyes widen. You're not unused to his bad moods, but Miguel doesn't grab.

You look back, and he thinks it's because you're scared, and he wishes he could take it back straight away, but you're looking for Margo and Lyla. When you see they aren't there, you take his face into your empty hand and ask, "What's wrong?" 

Miguel doesn't answer. He doesn't know what to say. Sorry would be a good start, but his mouth is dry. He frowns down at you.

"I didn't mean to overstep," you say, uncharacteristically serious. 

"I didn't mean to grab you," he says. 

"I know. It wasn't so aggressive, anyways. I'm genetically enhanced, you know?" Your smile creases the delicate skin at the corners of your eyes. "I'll make you something else. A fan, for the heat, or a jumping frog." 

You turn and take a step away. Again, Miguel reaches for you, but when he takes your wrist this time it's with the kindness you deserve.

"I'm sorry, cariño," he says. 

He’s embarrassed for having pushed you away, even if he couldn’t control himself. All you were trying to do no doubt was make him happy. It's usually your main prerogative besides winding him up, and he can't find any ill will in a paper flower. 

"Cariño," you quote in a murmur. It doesn't take a second for you to return to your smiley, loving self. "That's definitely something nice." 

"It's affectionate." He doesn't explain more than that. 

You force your hand into his, twirling inward like a half-hearted dance. "I can tell," you say giddily, dropping your cheek into his chest. 

He rubs the back of your hand. Sorry, sorry, it says, each pass of his thumb against your skin. 

"Miguel," you say, in the lilting cadence of a girl with a favour to ask, "now you've ragged me around–" 

"Not what happened–" 

"–I was thinking maybe I could do something to you." You smile cheekily around your words. 

He sweeps his gaze across the office to make sure there's no one here with you both, or about to be. Complicated you may be, but Miguel knows you well. Better than he should. He spent a long time denying his feelings for you, aggrieved and guilty, and a longer amount of time resenting you for being so damned enchanting. Which wasn't your fault in reality —you're a weird creature, and you can be a little off-putting; it's Miguel's problem alone that he wants you as badly as he does. To feel your neat, teasing smirk under his lips. To have the line of your jaw against his hand as you whisper flirtation or laugh at your own awful jokes. 

To take your hip into his grasp and squeeze. 

There have been times where Miguel wanted to press you up against a wall and kiss you into silence, quieten your taunting teasing with a bite to match his bark. And there have been times where he wanted to rub the tense line between your shoulders, having caught you in a vulnerable moment, and promise that things will be better. 

He isn't making any more promises, not in this life, but he thinks that someone like you, who tries too hard to make people happy and sometimes wears two masks at once deserves to do whatever it is they want to do to people like him.

"Okay," he says quietly. His voice is rough as hewn stone. 

You have a pocket full of paper stars that crunch as you lean in. "I'm gonna kiss you, if you promise not not to freak out. Is that cool?" 

Okay, you deserve some softness, but Miguel would rather lead. Your hand falls to his chest, and his hands find your face. His fingers behind your ears, his thumbs aligned with your smile, he squeezes your cheeks in his hold gently, tilting your chin up, and up. The column of your throat is bared and begging to be scandalised. He can imagine it, the bruising his lips would leave behind like crescent moons and the pinprick crimson stars from his needling fangs if he were to only press down. 

"We'll compromise. I'll kiss you, and you'll let me apologise again." 

"I don't need you to say sorry again," you say softly. 

"Then I won't say it." 

The implication has heat rising to your cheeks. Your hand grabs uselessly at his suit as you close your eyes, and Miguel knows his cue. He leans down and kisses you, tender but a little rough, your lips soft and warm and eager as he encourages your head to one side. It feels like you try to say something but you don't move back, and so he doesn't either, kissing and kissing and kissing until he's sure he'll remember how it feel tonight, hours from now, when he's staring at a screen wishing you were haunting his office rather than in a doze in the girl's dormitory. 

"Miguel," you say, practically into his mouth. This time he pulls away, and you take a small step back so you don't have to crane your neck. "I, uh…" 

Miguel wipes the sheen from your bottom lip, not not listening but certainly not giving his full attention. He's hoping you'll let him kiss you again.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with the flower," you say. 

His eyes lifted to yours. "It's not that. It's not you. Don't waste any time thinking about it, okay?" 

He pinches your chin between his forefinger and his thumb. You hold his eyes for a moment. 

"I don't really think," you say bashfully, wrapping your arms around his waist and giving him a hug he doesn't have time to reciprocate. 

"You think," he says, blinking as you retreat from him completely, waltzing back to your origami station on the floor. Your hips don't sway, but there's a movement to them he tracks. 

"About you, handsome? All the time." 

Miguel groans and turns back to his screens. Lyla appears silently, and sticks a finger into her mouth in a mock gag. 

"That's in poor taste," he says. 

"I would like to hand in my resignation." 

"You can't resign, Lyla. You're a hologram." 

She pushes her heart-shaped sunglasses up her nose and blinks out of view, refusing to speak to Miguel for the rest of the day outside of official Society business, and even then she's cranky. You fill the void of conversation with a mixture of nonsensical and merited suggestions, and by the time you leave for the night, his desk is decorated by a rainbow menagerie of paper animals, each one made with care. 

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed! please consider reblogging if you have the time! <;3 if you have a request of this pairing or other miguel fics and want to share, im eager to see them!

my other miguel fics

[theplumsoldier]

summary: bits of love, domestic shit, sex and angst💗

warnings: vulgar language, smut, breeding kink, lil angst, fluff

a/n: i have been super busy with exams DD;

It had taken a lot getting used to, not constantly having to look over one's shoulder. Months had passed and you had found yourself quite enjoying the life you had made here.

It was safe to say you had made the adjustment quicker than Joel had. He was... Well, he was trying. At least, that's what you had convinced yourself.

Ellie screamed in rage, slamming the door to her room shut, undoubtedly right in Joel's face.

You moved in the couch so that you could watch him as he came down the stairs, his footsteps heavy on the wood.

When he noticed he had your attention, the small sympathetic smile on your lips, he threw up his hands in surrender.

You waited for him to sit down and only when he had done so, he let out a deep sigh of exasperation.

"Baby," hummed you, schooching closer to him, starting twirling som of his hair. "Don't you think you're being a little too harsh on her?"

"I don't want her running around this late," was all he responded his eyes fastened on the ceiling as he leaned into your touch.

"This is normal, right? She's a teenager."

"Nothin' 'bout this is normal."

A sigh escaped you, but instead of retreating, you moved sit straddle his lap, a sad look glistening in your eyes.

"Joel, babe, do you feel safe?"

He gave you a dumbfounded look, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"Here, I mean. In Jackson."

He shrugged, "sure." His large hands cupped your ass cheeks and he inhaled deeply, shifting slightly beneath you.

You couldn't help but chuckle at him, knowing even in stressed situations he was completely under your spell.

"Joel, baby, this is the only chance Ellie's ever had to be normal. And I know you've been through a lot, but you can let your guard down here, you know that? There's no need to keep looking over your shoulder."

All Joel did was sigh, his rough hands still on your ass.

"We could be one big family here--"

"Hon, we've talked about this..."

"I know, I know... it's just... I feel like a lot has changed now. Ellie's in school, she's got a lot of friends, with Tommy and Maria's little girl... I just--it feels right."

A defeated look grazed his features, teeth sucking on his bottom lip. You were right. It was something he had gone over many times in his head, never stumbling upon a "let's do it" himself, although never finding a definite "no" either. It made sense.

For the first time in decades he did not constantly look over his shoulder (although every now and then he got these panicky flashes of what would happen when he let his guard down) and Ellie seemed to have a good time in here Jackson. He was getting older by the day and knowing from day one you had always wanted kids, he felt in no position to deny you that. He had once let you know how he thought you could do much better, and although you had told him he needed to feel more comfortable about who he was, he was still certain guys would line up to father your babies.

Also, it was something he really did want. Joel had always been a family-oriented man and the thought of creating one with you made his heart flutter. To begin with he blamed it on his own poor health, but it was no longer something he could deny. He loved you too damn much.

"If we're doin' this we're startin' right now," he finally hummed, his large hands squeezing your ass.

Your brows bounced in surprise, not having expected him to make a decision straight away. You suddenly felt a wave of guilt, worried you had rushed his decision. Knowing where he came from the last thing you wanted was to pressure him.

As if reading your thoughts, Joel cupped your face. "I'm sure, baby. Let's do this."

Giving you no time to protest Joel captured your lips in a hot kiss as he cradled you in his arms. Wanting to make him feel good, you reached down to unbuckle his belt, but he made a movement to stand up, holding you even tighter before he slammed you back down on the couch.

"Lemme take care of you, doll."

You were surprised by how quickly his mien turned into lustful, but you could not help but indulge in this feeling of being desperately wanted.

His heavy scent enveloping you in a bubble of need, his harsh touch ensuring your safety. It was all too much for you to not lay back at his command and let him do whatever he pleased.

Joel lifted up you shirt, so that he could place soft kisses that becoming open-mouthed and more testing they further down he got. With your eyes closed, you arched your back into the old cushions, releasing a soft hum when you suddenly shut up with your eyes open.

"Ellie, Joel!"

Peeking up at you, his brows heaved questioningly as his eyes shifted between you and the stairs. He knew what you were getting at, but he was not worried. Confident Ellie would either go to sleep or at least take some time to cool down, he proceeded to pull at your shorts.

"You'll jus' 'ave to be quiet for me then, won't ya?"

The stubble on his cheeks tickled your thighs but when you squirmed in protest, his hands held you in your place.

Even if Ellie did come out from her room, the wooden home and creaky floors would give her away, leaving a minimum of 7 seconds to get decent before she could find you. Joel had already gone over it in his head, many times before this, too, always making sure to never be caught from an awkward angle.

"Can you do tha' for me, baby girl?"

And all it took was that soft inquiry to convince you he had it all under control. When he hooked a finger through your panties, pulling them down, you shuddered as the cool air grazed your pussy. It seemed you were never not wet around Joel.

Suddenly, when you had only nodded and leaned back to get comfortable, Joel placed a slap on your cheek before bringing his hand to your jaw.

"Words, baby."

Taken by surprise, your mouth was slightly agape, to which he could not resist but pull at your bottom lip with his thumb. The look in his eyes made you writhe under him, wanting him to take that animalistic hunger out on you right then and there.

"Yes, Joel," whined you, biting out for his thumb when he chuckled. He absolutely loved it when he could feel, see, smell how eager you were for him.

Joel wasted no time going down on you, his tongue skillfully locating your clit, his hands lifting your thighs over his shoulders when he got comfortable, wearing you like earmuffs.

Your favorite look. His favorite place.

. . .

You had accidentally torn your underwear on the washboard, trying to get the blood out of the material. You knew to be more careful with old pieces as they were prone to shred when handled without care, but you couldn't help but take the frustration out on them when you got your period. You were well aware it was indeed possibly to menstruate when pregnant, however a concoction of sadness and anger simply took over you when you noticed the blood in your panties, having gotten your hopes up a little too much when your period had been late a week ago.

Upon throwing them out, you returned to bed. As it was early morning, Joel was still asleep so you got under the covers and spooned him up, nuzzling your face into the crook of his neck.

The same minute he moaned and pulled your arm over his body, forcing you to hug him even tighter. It was things like this that made you absolutely melt. His bodily love language was beyond anything you had ever experienced.

"C'mere," moaned Joel as he snuggled deeper into your embrace.

Very subtly he guided your hand down to his hard cock, making you chuckle despite having just been on the verge of breaking down because you feared you were unable to get pregnant.

. . .

The Tipsy Bison was a truly magical place. Regardless of people's alcohol consumption it seemed everyone forgot their worries, their fears and the hardship they had endured to get here, and were enjoying themselves same way they used to before the apocalypse.

Ellie was sat in one end of the bar, playing a game of Battleship with Maria and the baby, and Joel were throwing darts with Tommy and some of his friends, a big grin on his face and an even bigger beer in his hand.

You adored the way his eyes would shine when he smiled, really smiled. The glimpse was like a little shooting star in his hazelnut galaxy, striking and breathtaking even from across the room. When he came to look at you, even more so. You gave him a little wave and blew him a kiss.

Then Joel looked back and decided no one would miss him, not when he noticed that love-drunk look in your eyes.

It was incredible how salient the beer smelled on him, knowing he had not been drinking that much. Perhaps it was simply because you were staying away from it all, hopes of bearing his child still laying dormant in the back of your mind. Instead you got drunk off of his lips, his tongue and his skin.

He had held out his hand for you, saying "let's go home" with a sly smirk on his lips. You chuckled and nodded towards Ellie, reminding him that they shouldn't go without her and if they did drag her back home with them, they would have to wait for her to be asleep to do whatever it was Joel's lewd eyes suggested.

Grabbing on to your waist, Joel closed the gap between you, murmuring seductively, "oh hon, I could take you right 'ere over this table if you let me."

The mix of alcohol and desire gave his voice a double coating of accent, that Texan drawl spelling nothing but trouble.

"Ten minutes, no longer." You latched onto his broad arm and pulled him with you.

Hissing, his eyes watched your ass swaying while following closely, "shit, woman, no less I hope."

. . .

Joel wasted no time showering you in beer-stained kisses and declarations of love, working his way down till he moaned into your pussy, drinking himself completely gone in your juices.

Shifting between suckling on your clit and lapping at your hole like a thirsty dog, Joel brought you to a body quaking orgasm before he replaced his fingers with his cock.

Clawing at his ass, you pushed him as deep as possible, crying at the sensation of feeling so filled. It started out as a joke, slapping his ass the same way he would do to you, but you found that during sex, he emitted filthy groans whenever you would grope as his cheeks, especially when it was to feel him to the fullest.

"Gonna fill ya up so good, baby. Make you scream till I know you're full with my kids," moaned he between kisses, feeling your pussy squeeze him once before he set a steady pace, moving inside you to feel each crevice and hear each he elicited, only the pornographic sound of your cunt accompanying the heavy moans and groans in the room.

[sirianasims]

Chapter 43.4

The skies are darkening as I walk home from the food stall, carrying what is – despite the time – technically my breakfast. Hot steam is wafting up from the flimsy plastic bags in my hand, warming my cold fingers.

I’m still not used to San Myshuno’s seasons, but Samara told me that it’s unusually cold for being this late in Spring. In a way, it feels like the city has decided to match my mood, as if the dark and dreary weather is being sympathetic to how I feel.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and a robotic voice jarringly interrupts a sad love ballad to flatly announce that dad is calling. I sigh and tap my headphones, he’ll just call again later if I don’t pick up now.

“Hey, honey!”

My father’s voice is warm and comforting like a blanket, and I can hear faint birdsong and the rustling of the trees in the backyard. I briefly wish I could just move back home and be a kid again and leave all the worries to my parents.

“Hi, dad. How are you guys? House still standing?”

“We’re good, Kieran and Liam are busy worrying about prom so it’s been unusually quiet. Oh, and speaking of standing, Grayson can stand by himself now. He can even take a few steps as long as he’s holding on to something.”

He sounds so proud, almost as if he was the one learning to walk.

“Aww, he’s getting so big! Next thing you know, you’ll all be chasing him around the house every time they visit.”

“I’ll make sure to have your mother send you some pictures of him when I get back inside. She’s busy in the kitchen, Griffin and Daria are coming over for dinner. But how are you? We barely hear from you these days.”

“Oh, you know, I’m really busy with work and hanging out with people and such. I’ve just been out shopping for dinner, and then I’m seeing a friend later.”

I hear him hesitate, like he can tell that I’m lying.

“Alright. That sounds good. We’ve been a little worried about you. And especially today…”

“I know, it was really rough in the beginning, but I swear I’m doing fine, I-”

My voice breaks and I stop in the middle of the sidewalk and take a deep breath to get it under control.

“Oh, honey. Listen, sometimes relationships don’t work out, no matter how much you love each other. I can see where Paul was coming from, and your mother and I have been worried that you’d feel pressured into something you weren’t ready for. So I want you to know that we’re really impressed that you’re staying true to yourself. It can be… very hard to do the right thing when you love someone, I know that. So I’m proud of you.”

“I just miss him so much, dad.”

“I know. But maybe you don’t really miss Paul. Maybe you just miss a version of him in your head that he failed to live up to. If Paul Romeo was really so perfect, he wouldn’t have made my daughter so sad.”

My father reminds me to take care of myself and I promise to call more often before I end the call and pick up the pace slightly just as the rain starts falling.

I manage to make it home before getting too wet, but it’s still a relief to step inside the warm apartment.

My laptop sits on the dining table, and I eye it warily as if the deluge of messages could somehow escape containment and drown me.

I unpack my food and try to ignore the state of my kitchen. I don’t have the energy to deal with it right now, so I just kick off my shoes and take my food to the couch as usual.

I text Marten and eat a few bites while I wait. He replies almost instantly and within minutes, he’s online. It’s becoming my favourite part of the day.

We play for a few hours, and I almost forget to be sad. Marten never mentions Paul, he just talks about normal things like what the other guys in his fraternity are up to, his studies, new games he’d like to play. Easy topics. He’s also good at carrying the conversation when I’m quiet, like tonight.

Marten probably doesn’t even know what day it is today, and somehow that makes it easier.

Eventually, though, he has to leave. He tends to go to bed early, even on weekends, and I promise him to get some sleep too. My barely touched food has congealed into a solid cube in the box and I leave it on the table and try to decide how to spend the rest of the night. As if I don’t already know.

Finally, I give in.

I open my laptop, ignoring the notifications about the thousands of unread messages. I thought the sudden influx of hate-mail was bad when my relationship with Paul was discovered, but it has been nothing compared to after the news of the breakup.

I know I shouldn’t, know I’m just picking at the wounds, but my fingers move on their own, out of habit, and pure muscle memory is making them type Paul’s name into the search bar. All the links are already purple, of course, there is nothing new here, but I still click the first one. It takes me to his Social Bunny profile. Paul was never that active on social media, and his latest post is several weeks old.

I know it by heart.

“In response to the recent speculation, I want to clarify that Julia and I parted ways a while back. She’s an incredibly gifted and wonderful person, and I truly wish the best for her.”

The best.

“But you were the best,” I whisper.

I feel like crying, but it seems like I’ve finally run out of tears, emptied the reservoirs over the last couple of months, and now all that’s left inside of me is dust.

I go back and click the second link, then the third, cycling through the old articles and interviews as if I’m expecting to find something I haven’t seen a hundred times.

Samara and Miranda are probably having drinks at The Rooftop right now. Samara texted me an hour ago, asking me if I was sure I didn’t want to go out with them instead of stalking my ex for once. I replied with another lame excuse. I’ve been avoiding people for so long that it feels like I’ve forgotten how to function in society, like some sort of feral raccoon who only knows how to hide and eat trash.

I’ve gone through all the links. I refresh the search page. Nothing has changed, obviously, but I refresh it again and again, feeling like I’m desperately knocking on his door and trying to be let in. Then I start over at the first link.

“In response to the recent speculation, I want to clarify that Julia and I parted ways a while back. She’s an incredibly gifted and wonderful person, and I truly wish the best for her.”

Samara is right, I can’t keep doing this. It’s crazy. There’s only one thing to do. I move my cursor over the red button and take a deep breath. Then I block his profile before I can change my mind.

As his picture vanishes, the entire screen blurs. It would seem that I still have some tears left.

beginning / previous / next

[honeysuckleharringtons]

Part Five: "Seasonal Specials" ~ S. Harrington

Summary: (Then) Christmas Eve has rolled around, and unfortunately for a very pregnant Reader, she is stuck at home with a migraine. Luckily for her, her younger brother doesn't make for too bad of company. — (Now) A slow shift at Brew and Me turns out to be a good night for advice and a call from everyone's favorite nursing student.

Pairing: Nurse!Steve Harrington x Fem!Byers!Reader

Word Count: 1,900

Content Warning: teen pregnancy, discussions of homophobia, discussions of abuse and allusions to physical abuse, discussions of slut-shaming, Reader is lowkey bad at advice when it comes to these topics LMAO, explicit language, food consumption (Reader drinks hot chocolate), not really a warning but Will is gay and autistic in this series, as always lmk if i missed anything!

Extra Notes: this should've been posted way earlier, i am so sorry it wasn't. hope you guys enjoy though!

Originally Written: 12/21/2023 through 12/25/2023

honeysuckleharringtons' main masterlist can be found here!

'brew and me' series masterlist can be found here!

[ Then, December of 1987 ]

Christmas Eve. It was Christmas Eve and you were stuck at home with an excruciating headache.

You supposed it wasn't all bad. After all, staying at home was preferable over the rare occasion that you did leave the house, when everyone would stare you down like some caged animal at the zoo. Unfortunately, the same could be said for your family—no, not your immediate family, who'd helped you more than ever since you'd entered your third and final trimester—whose reactions had ranged from disgusted to sympathetic.

When you'd gone to the family's end-of-summer family reunion, you'd tried your best to hide the tiny bump you were sporting at the time. However, your aunt Judy had taken notice of your particularly round belly, and immediately figured out that it wasn't from one too many hot dogs at the cookout. Ever since then, you'd heard every comment in the book, everything from "whore throwing her life away" to "so sad she thought that was her only option."

So, instead of listening to the endless insults from your distant relatives, you'd prayed for some way out of the gathering. Unfortunately for you, God had a sense of humor, hence the excruciating headache.

The sound of the microwave beeping in the next room over set you off all over again, the noise like a hammer to the head. "Will, can't you tell that thing to shut up?" you groaned, covering your face with the compress he'd made you.

"Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to help," he joked. You couldn't tell if you wanted to laugh or kill him for his sense of humor. "Here's your hot chocolate."

You sat up ever-so-slightly, taking a small drink of the deep brown liquid. Almost instantly, the warmth of it made you feel a little better. "Thank you." You reached a hand over, ruffling his already messy hair. "By the way, you didn't have to stay home with me."

"And listen to Uncle Howie tell me how we're both going to hell? I'd rather have that headache of yours."

A snicker escaped your lips, knowing exactly what he meant. "Okay, maybe Uncle Howie is a bit too opinionated on the sex lives of sixteen and eighteen year olds, but you don't have to listen to him. I mean, you're missing out on Grandma's fruitcake, which is your favorite part of the holidays."

"After last year, listening to half our cousins tell me I'm fruitier than the cake, I don't think I'll ever eat it again." Will pulled his knees up to his chest, his face overtaken by an expression that looked a lot like longing. "Besides, it's not really worth it to me."

You set your mug aside before placing a hand on his knee. "What do you mean?"

"The way the family talks about you… I thought I was the black sheep of the family. You might as well be a purple sheep."

Your pregnancy hormones must've taken over, because instead of a normal reaction, you found yourself beginning to cry from his words. No, not because of pain from his statement, but rather comfort in knowing that he'd rather miss out on the finer things of life if it meant sticking up for you.

Will, and his lack of social cue skills, stared at you for a moment, unsure what to say. Eventually, he landed on, "Sorry if I made you more upset. I didn't-"

A small huff of amusement left your mouth as you shook your head. "No, Will," you smiled, reaching up to wipe away your excess tears, "I'm just… I'm really happy to have you."

He flashed you a closed-lip smile, one that felt so genuine and unapologetically Will. "I know you'd do the same for me."

[ Now, December of 1991 ]

"I would, kiddo. I really would."

Aster Bay was a different kind of beautiful at the holidays. Sure, the small college town was normally beautiful, but upon seeing the small-town glow overtake the place, you were sure you hadn't seen anything like it.

Apartments and beach-side condos decked out in Christmas lights, a tree as high as the clouds in the town square, students dressed in Christmas and Hanukkah sweaters, their dogs in matching attire. The town felt like your own personal snow globe, tiny flakes flooding the ground beneath your feet with every step.

The magic of the holidays of course carried over into your favorite little coffee shop, decorations of red and green covering the walls and counters while the smell of peppermint wafted through the air. Unfortunately for you and Max, the one thing your little coffee shop was lacking this Christmas Eve was customers.

Neither of you were really sure why the store was open. Nearly everyone had gone home for the holidays—students, patrons, and other baristas alike—and the store was dead quiet, aside from the soft sound of Sinead O'Conner playing on the overhead speaker. Silent Night is accurate, you thought to yourself.

"So, where's your lover boy at this Christmas Eve?" Max joked, breaking the long-winded silence.

You sighed, secretly longing for the nurse she spoke of. "Apparently they gave him a week off from the hospital so he went home to see his folks." A small wave of loneliness had come over you when Steve had told you about his departure a few days prior, when he stopped by to grab a latte for the road.

"That's nice. At least he's hopefully having a good time, not working on the holidays like some of us," she said lightheartedly. Though, you could've sworn you heard a hint of sadness in her tone.

"Hey, how come you aren't at home with your folks?" The question had been a simple one, but when Max looked up at you, you could tell her answer was about to be anything but simple.

Her arms folded tightly in front of her chest as she looked at you, a sigh falling between her plump lips. "It's… complicated."

You placed a loving hand on her shoulder. "I know we're only coworkers and we aren't really supposed to bring our personal lives to work with us, but you know you can talk to me, right? I'm your friend, plus I'm a mother so I have problem solving skills now."

She huffed in amusement at your last remark. "It's just… I can't really say a lot but my life in California, it's not as good as my life here. And as much as I love my mom, there's just… well, it's just better for me to stay here even as much as I miss her. Besides, it's not like I make enough to fly home and Neil certainly isn't going to pay for my flight."

You could tell from the clear distaste in the way she said Neil that she didn't like to say his name anymore than she had to. Unfortunately, you knew all too well what that was like, and there was a certain name that left a bad taste in your own mouth the same way Neil did for Max.

"I can't give you much advice because my dad was the one that left, but I promise, it does get better," you empathized. "You made the right decision by staying here. I'm proud of you, Max."

She began to fiddle with the sleeve of her flannel, her eyes darting away. "I hate being here though. I can't help my mom from here. There's no telling what he does to her when me and Billy are away."

You knew exactly what she meant by that too. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but that'll change too. Eventually he'll get tired of you and your mom fighting back and he'll leave. That's what my dad did anyway."

"The thing is," she paused, licking her lips, "I'm not sure my mom wants to fight back. It's like she wants to deal with Neil's bullshit. I mean, she divorced my dad over not making enough money and then she married Neil, who is still scraping at the bottom of the barrel to keep the lights on every month. Not to mention, she dated like ten guys in between and broke up with them for way less, but she'll always find a way to justify his actions."

You shrugged your shoulders. "My mom put up with it for seventeen years before she started to truly fight back." A small wave of silence came over the room before you continued, "I'm sorry I don't have much advice. I guess my situation was just a little different than most survivors'. One thing I can tell you though is that I'm proud of you for making the best decision for yourself. I know it's hard to put yourself first sometimes."

Max gave you a crooked smile, finally looking up at you again. "As much as it sucks that we've both been through a bad thing, I'm glad I have you to talk to about it."

"Of course, love. You're like a little sister to me."

Cutting your conversation short, the phone began to ring, the sound grating on your nerves. You loved your job, but it was Christmas Eve, damn it. In all honesty, you really just wanted to be at home, drinking hot chocolate with your girl in your lap and a movie playing on television.

Still, you picked up the phone, answering with the signature, "Happy holidays from Brew and Me. What can we do for you?"

"Can you tell me your seasonal specials?" said a familiar voice, his smirk audible in his tone.

"Steve! You're supposed to be on vacation," you scolded, though internally you were extremely happy to hear his voice. What is wrong with me? you pondered silently.

"I am, but I couldn't resist calling and ordering something."

Your brows furrowed at his statement. "How does that work?"

"Order anything you'd like and I'll pay you back when I get back to town. Think of it as a Christmas present, or whatever you celebrate."

"That feels like cheating, Harrington." Your eyes narrowed, despite his inability to see it.

"You don't have to tell me what it is, just how much I'll owe you," he replied. You could hear a fireplace crackling quietly in the background, and you could easily imagine him curled up in front of it, his skin covered with a thick Christmas sweater, glasses perched on his nose as he read a novel. "Same for Max or whoever else is working. Treat yourselves, courtesy of me."

"Well, thank you, Steve. We appreciate it," your lips curved upward into a smile as you spoke. "I hope you're enjoying your time off."

"I am. I'm sorry you have to work on Christmas Eve." You could almost hear the frown on his lips as he sympathized with you.

"It's not all bad. After all, I'm getting to hear from you."

"Careful, Byers, or I'll start to think you like me back," he smirked. Butterflies went off in your belly, your cheeks warm and surely rosy.

You were sure full sentences had escaped you, considering Steve had the ability to take your breath away and make you blush like no one else could. So, you stuck with what you knew you could say without stumbling over your words. "Happy holidays, Doc."

"It's a very happy holiday when I get to talk to you, Y/N."

So tumblr hates me...

I went over 24 hours thinking this chapter posted, only to find out tumblr ate it somewhere between my drafts, my queue, and my posts 🤦🏻‍♀️ this app loves to embarrass me

Anyway, I hope this was worth the extra long wait. It sucks that I'm posting it after the initial Christmas magic is over but I hope you guys liked it regardless! I will see you back here on Sunday for chapter six, which will be posted on time, fingers crossed!

-> taglist: @dungeons-are-too-cold @ducky-died-inside @awkotaco24 @liberhoe @princesseddie @corrodedseraphine @manuosorioh @esoltis280 @hazydespair @frostandflamesfanfic

[ebonyslasher]

A Touch of Comfort

Series: The Boys

Pairing: Black Noir/Reader

Summary: Oh No, was that Vought’s intimidating assassin crying? Wonder what happens after? Click Here to watch the heartwarming extra scene from Episode 3 of Season 2 of the Boys! 

Walking through the corridors of Vought Tower was always a roll of the dice. Regular employees might be lucky enough to not witness or be the victim of any supe creepiness. Might being the key word here. It's a game of "what will you witness today?" And that game depends on which Seven Supe member you would walk by. 

Maeve and Starlight were pretty normal. Most you'd see were frustrated, exasperated, or mad expressions from them. They might say hi every once in a while. So pretty nice actually. A-train was the same, often minding his own business and/or snacking. Says Hey sometimes too. Although, you've caught him checking you a few times...and he has hit on you before. Thankfully he was pretty good at flirting so it was never awkward. 

The Deep…was different. Cringey, really. He'd try to joke and act cool with random employees to get brownie points. A way to up his popularity. You've been a victim to his try hard bottom bitch behavior a few times. Especially when Homelander was around. Ugh.

Homelander.

He was the worst one to run into. Sometimes he was 'pleasant'. Other times, he would be brooding and a little maniacal. He'd either be in the mood to give you an ego stroking speech or make some vulgar and harassing comments. Every interaction was unnerving. You hated seeing his crispy ass eyes. 

As you tried to quickly make it to the lab, you wondered if you would witness something today. And which supe it would be this time. Rounding the bend towards the Seven head bust statues, you see Black Noir slumped against the wall with his phone in his hands. 

Slowing down to a tortoise-like pace , you pondered on your previous knowledge about him. He was always quiet. To himself. You never witnessed anything bad when passing by him before. The only interaction you've had was dropping something and him picking it up for you. He was intimidating but nice. 

Now looking at him, he didn't seem so intimidating. 

Was his shoulders shaking? This made you come to a complete stop. As you observe, you begin to hear the soft cries coming from him. Was he crying? He really was.

Dumbfounded and a little sympathetic, you looked on in fascination as the image of the intimidating ninja crumpled in front of you. Scanning the area, there was no one else walking through. It was just you and Noir. 

Black Noir is one of your 'favorites' of the Seven. The gossip you heard surrounding him was kind of cute. He would be known to doodle during meetings, be awkward during bougie events, and fall asleep randomly. Your friend in crime analytics even said that he just waits around for some bad guys' information and communicates via notepad. Some of his messages had little emojis drawn on them.

Him crying hits you a little more this time after thinking about it. Caving into the feeling, you did something out of the ordinary. You walked up to Black Noir and crouched down to the right of him.

"Black Noir…..", you said so softly, with a lot more feeling than intended. His body tensed, but he didn't look up.

Trying again you ask, "Black noir, are you okay?" He slightly tilted his head towards you. You, of course, couldn't see his face. But the feeling of 'do I look okay?', radiated from his being. Fair enough. It was a stupid question.

"Okay. Do you need anything?" You ask. To which he said….nothing.

Well, what could you do at that point? He didn't want to be bothered but he obviously needed comfort. You reached out to his back and started softly rubbing the area under his knives. It was what your mom did when you would cry.

He immediately tensed and jerked. Almost as if he were about to hit you. And he might have, if he didn't catch himself. You surprised the hell out of him with that move.

Earving initially wanted you to leave. Buster was giving him some comforting words and you interrupted him. How rude…

He doesn't really know why he's letting this happen. But the rubbing began to feel really nice. So nice. No one has done that for him for….years? Decades? He doesn't remember exactly.

Earving leaned more into your touch and you both sat silently. Minutes passed and he stopped sniffling. Picking his head up, he looks at you and grabs your right hand that was in your lap and squeezes it lightly. Bringing his phone back up, he types out a quick message that says

'Thank you.' 

It makes your heart jump a bit and you can't help the smile that grows on your face. You say a quick "you're welcome", as he gets up and starts walking away….until you say

"Do you want to go get ice cream?"

[evermorehoon]

❣︎ ⎯⎯ surprise! hormones!

sunghoon's age really starts catching up to him, and he makes it his life mission to let you know you were as gorgeous as ever.

wc: 1.3k

warnings: one curse word, mentions of food, he's a hormonal teenage boy, slight sexual talk, he's basically acting like a man, he's really tired but tries, y/n is 7 months pregnant

A/N: hello fellow dad hoon enjoyers!! here's chapter 3, I do hope you guys like it since I'm pretty skeptical about it. the main idea behind this series is that it's like a scrapbook full of memories instead of a full month-to-month progression, if you feel me? anyway, feedback of any kind is highly appreciated🤍🤍

Masterlist | next chapter | prev chapter

Taglist: @yenqa @svnoohe4rtsmainblog @donghoonie-3 @jayked @heeseongism @giventakenz @lynanist @aquariusskz @nyanggk (send an ask if you wanna be added♡)

"Apples," you said as you smacked your lips trying to determine exactly what you were craving.

"In peanut butter."

"You called me at one in the morning to tell me you want apples dipped in peanut butter?"

"Yes, now get me apples dipped in peanut butter."

Sunghoon's voice was as groggy as ever, seeing as he'd just woken up. You couldn't sleep well so your natural instinct was to call your boyfriend, even if it meant waking him up because of a massive craving.

"Baby, it's one in the morning," he yawned as he shifted in his bed, his house around 30 minutes away from yours.

"But I want it now~" You whined, feeling like you were about to cry. "And I'm lonely."

He sighed. There was no way he could win against the strength of pregnancy cravings nor would he want to imagine what you'd do if he just went back to sleep.

"Okay, I'm coming," he mumbled as he set his phone down to put it on speaker, letting your voice fill the room.

"I'll let you in when you get here," you sniffled, shifting around uncomfortably.

"Aren't your parents gonna wake up or say something?" He asked, putting his jacket on.

"I'm sure they'll understand me wanting the comfort of the father of my child, and apples. My mom told me about the time she made my dad buy her frozen yogurt at two in the morning when she was pregnant."

His legs were pretty sore, seeing as he was still a growing boy. And he did feel a little insecure about his voice cracking, especially when you giggled at it.

But what was weird was his back aching much more than normal, and his own mood swings were intense at times. He assumed it was just puberty, but there was still the odd thought that sat in the back of his head.

'Men going through sympathetic pregnancy.'

He of course wasn't getting all your symptoms but mixed in stupid puberty, it made the past few months hell for him.

Watching you dip apple slices into a jar of peanut butter had to be one of the strangest things he'd seen, mostly because you didn't really like apples.

But in staring at you, he took in every one of your features, admiring each one of them. It was no surprise that you weren’t overly fond of how you looked but he was under the impression that you'd never been more beautiful.

"You know," he started as he kept watching you. "You're so beautiful."

You sighed, sticking to mumbling into your apples. "You're just saying that."

"No, I'm serious." He moved to seat himself next to you on your bed, scooting as close as he could. "You look so gorgeous, I swear I could stare at you for hours and never get bored."

"You do know that complimenting me and sitting so close to me on my bed is one of the reasons we're even in this situation, right?" You asked, brushing off his complimenting as trying to make you feel better and thankful that the door was closed.

He nodded as he hovered his head over your shoulder. "And you looked beautiful while it all happened." He sighed dreamily, remembering the awkward encounter of the day the baby within you was conceived.

"God, shut up," you whined, pushing him ever so slightly but your shoulders stiffened as you did. "Hey, Hoon, can you rub my shoulders? They really hurt."

Oh dear, what a dangerous game this was.

"Okay sure," he moved himself, preparing to stand on the side of the bed to massage your shoulders, but you opted to position yourself between his legs instead. It made it easier for you to just perch your laptop on a shoe box in front of you while he was busy, so he just dealt with it.

But the very second he pressed down onto your muscles, you'd let out a rather interesting groan. "A little lower," you said.

Once his hands moved to the epicentre of the pain, he could feel the deep groans coming from within you that, to him, sounded way too pornographic for moans of pain.

Especially with "right there" and "just like that" coming out of your mouth. God he shouldn't think shit like this while comforting you. But his poor body betrayed him.

You started moving a little more backwards towards him, almost chasing his hands as he eased the pain ever so mildly. He, on the other hand, had nowhere to move, nearly sweating from nervousness.

"Love, you should really move forward, I can't do it right like this," he laughed nervously, trying to push you slightly away.

"But I want to be closer to you," you leaned further to the back.

"Then just stay like this," he moved his hands away from your shoulders, letting you lean backwards as his hands immediately went to hold onto your belly. Weirdly enough, he liked doing that as it made him feel like he was protecting you.

"Hm-mm, not close enough," you shook your head, not letting him get a single word in or even seeing the sheer panic in his eyes as you scooted into his lap.

'She has to be doing this on purpose,' he cursed mentally, hoping so badly that you wouldn't…

"Sunghoon?" notice.

"Yes?"

"What am I sitting on?"

"My lap?"

You really wanted to turn around to look at him, but didn't feel like struggling.

"Really? Now?" It wasn't the first time it happened, and you had a feeling it wouldn't be the last.

"I can't help it!" He quickly defended. "It just happens, and no one makes sounds like that when someone's rubbing their shoulders!"

"So now it's my fault you're horny?" You sounded offended.

"That's not what I said!"

"But it's what you meant!"

The back and forth lasted for a few more minutes until your mom yelled through the door for you two to shut up since your bickering woke her up.

He didn't mind cuddling you, the ultimatum being that you promised you wouldn't bring up his 'growing problem'.

"You're so gorgeous pregnant, I wanna keep you filled up with my babies."

To say you were slightly mortified would be an understatement. What made him think that was something he could say, especially while you were munching on pretzels in the most unattractive fashion.

You really didn't know what to say, but it really had you wondering.

Are men really attracted to their pregnant significant others, or is it just Sunghoon being an insanely horny teenage boy?

'I mean, it's not like he's not getting pretty hot these days,' you thought, remembering the few moments you wanted so badly to throw yourself at him. Maybe it was just you being a horny teenage girl.

But he made nearly every effort in the book to tell you how beautiful you were. He didn't know he could possibly be more attracted to you, it seems he was dead wrong. He couldn’t take his eyes off the glow you exuded, he admired your strength and willingness to go through something like this.

The oddest thing you noticed was that Sunghoon had an overwhelming urge to sniff you. Whether it be a simple hug, kiss on the forehead or cuddling, you could hear the light sniffing coming from him.

"You just smell really really good," he muttered as he snuggled his head into the crook of your neck, trying to get a great whiff of you. He did seem to have trouble keeping his hands away from you, having to put in the most effort to not touch your boobs, no matter how much better they looked.

"Please put them in my mouth."

"They hurt."

"My mouth can make them feel better."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

Sometimes you had to remind yourself that you were dating a boy that never got to really act his age, maturity could get too much for someone who lived a life like Sunghoon did so when the immature side of him came out, somehow you loved him more.

Well, he was indirectly preparing you for a child by acting like one.

[marypsue]

Third (I think? Maybe fourth?) watch of Stranger Things season one completed in one four-episode sitting tonight, and some things clicked that hadn't come together for me on previous watches, primarily character motivations.

I have struggled with the general canon portrayal of Hopper as A Guy We're Supposed To Be Sympathetic To juxtaposed against his decision to sell El out. I got close to figuring it out after the last watchthrough - in season one, it's not about El metaphorically standing in for his daughter, it's about saving Joyce from the pain of losing a child - but I really think I've cracked it this time. Between episode 3's “Please don’t be my kid", and the parallel in episode 7(? 6 and 7?) where Brenner tells Karen Wheeler that he wants to help her find her son but she has to trust him and almost the exact same words come out of Hopper's mouth in the same situation to Joyce, and the way David Harbour plays the moment Hopper cuts open Will's fake body and everything that comes after that - like cutting into what might be a child's corpse is The Line, and he knows it, and once he's crossed it, well, he's already done that, he's capable of anything - and how he initially tries to keep Joyce from coming with him to the lab and how he doesn't even seem to be trying to come up with a plan other than 'break in, wing it'?

I'm pretty sure now that he was planning to sell El out from the moment he walked out of the gym. It's all about saving Will, it's all about Will metaphorically standing in for the child he couldn't save, and do you know what he'd do for that? For a chance?

Anyway. Apparently I was wrong when I said that trying to engender sympathy for Brenner was undermining season one, since apparently 'feel bad for the guy who does abhorrent things to children because he was sad for unrelated reasons!' has been baked into the show from episode one and I was just too busy concentrating on the abused child who escaped captivity and discovered the world and found friends and a family for the first time and gave up everything to protect them, who is the real heart and soul of this show, ask literally anyone who's watched it, you fucking walnuts to see it.

I'm good. I'm good. I'm so normal about this television show you guys.

Speaking of Brenner, the other thing that struck me this go-round was just how much his primary motivation seems to be curiosity. I really struggled with this, too, especially when I was working on the road goes ever on (yes I'm going to link to it every time I mention it on here, it's still the thing I'm proudest of writing), and I don't think I'd quite nailed his character down by the time it got posted. Like I don't think what's in that fic is implausible for his character, necessarily, but I really leaned on pride and a desire for control (and a certain arrogant sense of invincibility) as motivating factors for his character in that fic. And while they're all definitely built into him, I think now that they actually come second to the curiosity.

The Gate gets opened in the first place because he immediately and without question gives up on spying on Russia (theoretically the whole point of this exercise) to go off on a wild goose chase for a scary noise that spooked his psychic spy. He 'dies' onscreen because the Demogorgon comes out of a wall and while everyone else is shooting at it (and getting murdered for their trouble), he just wanders on up, unarmed, unafraid, slightly awed, for a closer look! I'm quite sure that's why he actually lets Hopper and Joyce go after Will - he's not expecting them to come back out, but if they do, think what they could tell him about what's on the other side! He just wants to poke things and see what happens! Sometimes what happens is that whatever he's poking bites his finger off! Science is neat, but I'm afraid it's not very forgiving! Man I wish I'd figured this out before posting the monster longfic because I could have made his entire arc so much better and more convincing with this in mind!

I don't know if that's consistent with how they show him in season four, and frankly, given the degree of character drift (or outright assassination) everyone else is showing in season four, I don't particularly care.

Also, importantly, his primary power - and weapon - is trust. He wields authority to command trust, which he absolutely does not deserve, and it's notable that in the finale he asks Joyce for her trust and she refuses to give it to him. And she's the first and only person to refuse to give it to him. She's been lied to, mistreated, disbelieved, written off as crazy, and she is the only person on the entire show who can see right through him.

And yet, then there's that parallel drawn between Brenner asking for Karen's trust and Hopper asking for Joyce's, and she does place her trust in this man who ultimately gets her what she was looking for all along - and she never asks what the price was that was paid for it. I have to ask myself, now, does she ever wonder? Is that part of the distance between them in season two, the reason why neither of them acted on what was clearly supposed to be attraction between them? Because choosing to trust is not the same as trusting?

Season one really did have levels, and lots to chew over, and new things to find in each watch. When this show is good, man, it is good.

[bigfan-fanfic]

During the events of Injustice, Superdad was kidnapped by the Regime because Alt!Superdad was one of the people killed by the Joker. But Kal is confused at first because this Superdad is completely different from the one he knew, alt!Superdad being the childhood friend he knew for years. So he is curious about how he's different from his old friend and that the fact he and Clark are together with Connor and Jon.

But during that same time, Superdad is unsettled by the fact of everything Kal has done with the Regime and trying to escape. It's much more difficult since alt!Superdad had a different history and wasn't a super scientist, so his usual hidden labs and emergency equipment don't exist.

Ohhhhhhh I LOVE THISSSS

First off, I always love Clark with a childhood friend, so that's wonderful points already, but also you made it meta in that that's the alternate universe version and that's SO GOOD! Also you know that in the Injustice universe, Lex Luthor is good and a friend of Clark, so basically Superdad comes to this universe and is like wha???

But also it makes Kal slightly more sympathetic, because alt!Superdad was probably his strongest link to goodness, what with Injustice!Wonder Woman and others not being the greatest versions of themselves. So he's just completely in love with this sweetest normal guy and then the world takes that away from him. The one person to believe in him for all this time, the one person truly, perfectly good, is gone, and Kal snaps.

And this other version, that looks so similar but acts so different, it really gives Kal some uncanny valley vibes here. And Superdad may not have any emergency equipment or fancy hidden labs, but he's always had a flair for improvisation, and pretty soon the Injustice world will be introduced to his jelly monsters.

[laceandsilkhandkerchiefs]

My First Snzfic (N/ewsies)

I was informed that people would be interested in reading my, *ahem*, N/ewsies snzfic, so... here it is. I don’t really know where it came from, I just got possessed by the idea recently and... this is the result. It’s also the first snzfic I’ve actually worked up the courage to post here so... that’s an important milestone, right?

Please note that the characters here are aged-up slightly from canon (early 20s). This also takes place in my Modern College AU, which is honestly so far removed from the original source material that you don’t really need to know anything about N/ewsies to read this. It’s basically an original story, I just borrowed the character’s names and a bit of their personalities.

I think that’s everything so... enjoy! And feel free to let me know if you’d like to read more stories featuring these characters/in this universe, or if you have any other ideas you’d like to see me write. I’m open to inspiration.

When Katherine opened the door to her apartment, Jack was taken aback. The normally extremely put-together journalism major was clad in a sweatshirt and flannel pajama pants, her hair was piled into a messy bun on top of her head, and she wore a large pair of glasses. Perhaps most alarmingly of all, her eyes looked heavy with dark circles underneath, and unshed tears made them appear glassy and unfocused. Katherine's nose, too, looked like it had seen better days, flushed a deep red and clearly swollen.

"Woah, Ace... you okay?" Jack asked as she stepped aside so he could enter.

"Mby whole he-hhh-head itches," she replied stuffily, pressing a crumpled tissue to her nose as her nostrils twitched wildly. Jack shut the door behind him and waited a moment to see if anything came of it, but the urge to sneeze seemed to back off as Katherine lowered the tissue with an exasperated sigh. "I hate this."

Jack frowned sympathetically. "Yeah, I hear ya. Allergy season's been bad so far, Crutchie's got it even worse than you."

"Poor guy," Katherine murmured. "Although I don't see h-hehhh... uhhHHHH- UHHchiew! Hngxt-chew! Ugh, sorry. Snf. I don't see how that's possible."

"Trust me, it ain't pretty." Jack shook his head, then held up the plastic bag he was carrying. "I got the medicine ya asked for. Ask me, though, you should get somethin' stronger from ya doctor."

Katherine shook her head. "I did, years ago, but it made me so drowsy it was impossible for me to work. This doesn't fix all my symptoms, but it at least takes care of the sne- ehhhh- AHH-gnxgt! The sndeezing. Snf."

"Bless ya." Jack handed her the bag, which she took gratefully. "Well, here's hopin' it does the trick."

Katherine nodded, reaching into the bag and pulling out the small box which contained the nasal spray she swore by. Swiping at her relentlessly dripping nose, she gestured to the side table in her living room, upon which sat a box of tissues. "Sorry, cand you hand me a couple tidssues? I ndeed to blow mby ndose before I take this." Snf- snf! "Ugh."

"Sure." Jack obliged, grabbing the box and pulling out a couple tissues which Katherine accepted gratefully. Steepling her hands around her nose, she let forth a productive sounding blow, causing Jack to wince in sympathy. She must really feel miserable.

Katherine aggressively rubbed at her nose with the tissues when she was done, her breath hitching and her head tilting back as she inadvertently coaxed more sneezes forward.

"Hah- ah- ahhh- AHschngxt! Ngxt-shiew! Da-hhh- damnit... Hihhhh..."

"Don't hold 'em back, it'll just make ya have ta start all over again," Jack advised, earning a watery glare from Katherine as she geared up for another round. She did listen to him, however, as she convulsed forward into the tissues with a fit of surprisingly loud unstifled sneezes.

"Ihhhh- ISCHIEW! Aaaa- aHHHH- A'kSCHIEW! K'SCHIEW! Heh- ESCHIEW! Hahhhhh... snf... ahhhHHH- AH'gschiew! Guh..."

"Jeez, Ace, bless ya. You really weren't kiddin' on the phone, huh?"

"Obviously not, Sherlock," Katherine grumbled, pushing her glasses back up onto the bridge of her nose. She took advantage of the momentary respite and pried open the box, taking out the spray without bothering to read the instructions. She was something of an old hand at this.

Inserting the nozzle of the bottle into each of her still twitching nostrils, Katherine sighed in relief as the cooling spray calmed her inflamed nasal passages. The tickle she had been fighting all day began to dissipate, and she gave an experimental sniff before smiling at Jack.

"Thanks, Cowboy. Sorry about... all that."

Jack waved her off. "Don't worry about it, Kath. 'S what friends are for, right? Plus now I can go tell Crutchie he's gonna have ta step up his game. He's got serious competition now."

Katherine shook her head, wiping her nose with the tissues as she spoke. "You're an idiot, Jack Kelly."

[absolutelyfizzing]

unwanted feelings

james potter x reader

description - You'd had a crush on James Potter for years and when he kisses Lily Evans in front of you, you are heart broken. Later you find that he didn't actually feel as you expected and he explains himself.

warnings - some angst, unsure reader, fem pronouns, self doubt, negative self talk, not eating for a day cause reader is avoiding someone

word count - 2800

A/N - so this one isn't my best work by far but i wrote it so looks like its getting posted. i don't know why all of my reader inserts lately are so fem and sort of bubbly, i guess it's sort of what i'm aiming for for myself right now but i'm sorry if it maybe isn't coming off as relatable.

MASTERLIST

Your throat tightened in anxiety as you watched James zoom around the pitch. He was reckless when he was playing quidditch and it was one of the things that made him great at the game and an excellent captain. It was also the thing that nearly gave you a heart attack every time you watched him play. You went to every one of his games and you always wore something of his with his colors when you were in the stands. You were stood up on your seat and a slightly bored looking Remus sat to your right, reading from a book you didn't recognize. You'd thought that Sirius playing would be enough to keep him interested but sports was just not something he enjoyed watching. You were usually that way as well but whenever James was playing, suddenly you were the most intent spectator in the stands.

You were more worried than you should have been. More worried than what was appropriate for a friend to be. That's what you were, friends. That had been reinforced many times by the shaggy haired boy and you tried desperately to get it through your head before you embarrassed yourself one of these days. Sometimes though, you just couldn't help it.

Really you might have thought he reciprocated if you didn't know any better. You often got comments on what an attractive couple you guys were but each time it was quickly corrected by James. Normally along the lines of 'Oh god no, we are just friends. Purely platonic' , sometimes followed by a shudder or a gag even. It upset you every time to no end but you played along. You rarely, if ever, contributed to the shooting down of any feelings but that was never noticed by the man you had feelings for.

You'd had a crush on him since you were probably in your second year and now you were coming to the middle of your seventh. There were a million times that you almost said something but every time there was a reminder that you were not the one he had eyes for. It usually took the shape of disgust at the thought of dating you or commentary as he pined over the Evans girl who you felt you could never compete with. How could you when she was just perfect. You saw her to the left of you as she stood in the stands as well and your hands shook with insecurity before looking back toward the game. Your heart raced nearly as quickly as James did around the pitch and you prayed that the snitch would be caught soon so that you could get rid of the stress surrounding you. You felt a hand on your right shoulder and you looked over to find Remus had stood and was looking at you caringly.

"Are you alright, Y/N?" He asked softly and you tried your very best to soften your gaze and calm your stance so you appeared less concerned with someone that you shouldn't have that much interest in in the first place.

"Of course I am. When am I not?" You smiled before looking out at the pitch.

"When youre watching the guy you're in love with play a dangerous game that you don't like." He stated simply in response to the question you meant to be rhetorical and your eyes widened.

"I don't know what youre talking about." You nearly whispered and Remus smiled.

"I'm not gonna tell anyone Y/N but its not exactly subtle. It probably doesn't help that I know the look on your face because it's how I feel too watching Sirius play." He was still smirking but your anxiety was far from eased.

"Oh god, does he know?" You asked scaredly, terrified that the answer would be yes and you would have to stop spending time with him.

"Shockingly, no." You sighed out in relief but Remus continued. "You should tell him though or else he might end up moving on."

"What do you mean? There's nothing for him to move on from. Everyone knows he's in love with Evans and he has made it pretty clear that he is opposed to being anything more than a friendly relationship with me." You choked out, struggling with the words leaving your lips but knowing them to be true.

"I mean he has a minor crush on Evans but it's nothing compared to the annoyingly huge crush he has on you. He's probably just overcompensating for the fact that he's insecure and doesn't want you to reject him."

"Why are you telling me this?" You asked sincerely. You were friends with Remus as you were with the rest of the marauders but it was nothing compared to the friendship they held within their group. You knew Remus was more loyal to James than to you so you couldn't understand why, if it was true, Remus would be telling you at all.

"Because he is trying desperately to move on seeing as he is under the impression that you aren't into him and I'd hate to see him throw something away that could be really good for him." Remus smiled gently and you looked at him gratefully.

"I really appreciate you telling me and all but I just don't think I can believe you. I can't even count how many times he has made a big show of not liking me. I love him too much to ruin what we have and I know that if I confessed and it went bad that I would lose him all together. I would rather have him in my life in a way that hurts than not have him in it at all." You stated sadly and Remus sighed but nodded in understanding.

"I get it but just know that I'm being honest and pretty soon he is going to give up on it. I just want to see you both happy but if its too big of a leap, I understand. That's exactly the excuse he tells the rest of us too."

Suddenly cheers erupted from the stands, cutting your conversation with Remus off as everyone ran to rush the pitch. The snitch had been caught and gryffindor won. You were excited for James but you were also a little terrified to walk onto the pitch to see him with the now conflicted thoughts running through your head. Your thoughts were stopped by the image in front of you which was causing the whole crowd to cheer. James had pulled Lily Evans into a kiss in his excitement and your heart stopped. You felt nausea rise in your throat and Remus caught your eye with a sympathetic look. You didn't look at him for longer than a second and you ran off the pitch with tears streaming down your face. You found your way up to your dorm, pushing yourself to get there quickly before the common room filled with students celebrating their victory. James was always one to love attention so he would be getting crazy after the game which he did just about every time they won.

When you made it to your bed, you hurried under the covers, throwing the shirt you were wearing which belonged to James onto the floor. You felt your heart clench at the despair you felt. You wanted to be upset at Remus for getting your hopes up but you knew he was sincere in his want to help. Still you felt that you would probably not be able to face James in the weeks to come. Maybe, given a little time, you could be around him and not be upset at the world for taking away your chance with him. As you laid in your bed, you stared at the ceiling. You felt tears streaming down your face and you grew angry at yourself. He didn't owe you anything, he wasn't into you. That wasn't his fault and it was so unfair of you to expect anything more from him when your feelings were not his responsibility.

You weren't sure how long you laid there but you could hear the party start and end in the common room. It must have been late. Sleep wouldnt come though, you could just feel your heart continue to break and you were stuck in a loop of self pity. You made the decision that the following days would be spent away from James if you could at all help it. That was probably what he wanted anyway and it was the only way that you would get over the pain you were feeling. At some point your roomates entered your dorm and sleep overtook you for a few restless hours.

When you woke up, the sun was barely on the rise. You hurried up and got dressed and ready. You were planning on getting to breakfast early to avoid running into any of the marauders. You found your plans were not going how you wanted when you entered the great hall to find a head of red hair next to a mop of black. Your throat tightened and you quickly moved to turn and head out of the great hall. You heard a familiar voice call your name but you rushed out before you could give it too much thought. You knew that if you let him try to convince you, you would end up having a very upsetting breakfast with your best friend and his new lover. You would rather avoid breakfast.

Throughout the day, avoiding James was proving to be harder than you had thought it would be. You had many of your classes with him and you even sat next to him in a few. He was insistently trying to get you to open up about why you were suddenly so closed off to him but you remained shut off, reassuring him that nothing was wrong and you were just a little tired from the game the day before. You avoided lunch for the same reason as you had avoided breakfast and you felt yourself starting to get a bit lightheaded. Your afternoon was spent avoiding James but soon he was preoccupied with Lily anyway.

You were hid in a corner of the library when a cough alerted you of someone's presence. You looked up to find the very eyes you hadn't wanted to see.

You pushed it down with a gulp and smiled a bit at him, trying desperately to keep the tears at bay but they were growing harder to hold back after keeping everything pent up all day. It probably didn't help that you were hungry and therefor a bit more emotional. You could feel the tears sitting in your eyes, waiting for something to go wrong so they had an excuse to escape you.

"I don't know what I did wrong." He mumbled while looking at the floor in front of you and you took a deep breath.

"There's nothing wrong James, I promise. It's just been a long day." You smiled and your heart picked up speed.

"Since when did we lie to each other?" He questioned and your heart stopped. You were left unsure how to respond.

"Since the truth would cause more damage than good." You spoke honestly. At this he looked up at you and your eyes met. A tear left you and James immediately moved to comfort you but you tried to move away, standing quickly to evade him. You regretted it as spots filled your vision, the lack of food catching up to you. You know that you turned a bit green for a moment because James looked slightly scared.

"Y/N I dont know whats wrong but you look like you should be getting to the hospital wing. You don't look well."

Before you could answer you felt your vision blacken and your legs give out before your consciousness left you completely.

When you woke up, you knew you were in the hospital wing. It smelled sterile and the bed was stiff underneath you. When you started to wake madam pomfrey came to check on you.

"You can't go around with an empty stomach like that again, do you hear me?" She scolded, though her eyes were soft. You nodded solemnly. "I was alerted that you hadn't been to the great hall to eat all day, you have to know that isn't good for you. I'm gonna have a prefect watch out for you the next couple days to make sure you're eating at meal times. Understood?" She asked again and once more you nodded before leaning back and sighing. You looked at your surroundings and were surprised to see the black haired boy next to your bed fast asleep. Your heart took off again and you felt trapped by your environment. As anxiety swirled around in your chest, James had woken up a bit.

"You're awake." James sighed, laced with relief. You still wouldn't make eye contact with him.  You felt the bed dip as he sat on it and you looked up to watch him put his head in his hands as he leaned over. You felt guilt fill your chest more than it already had from hating that you felt any claim over the man in front of you. You knew you were in the wrong and the last thing you wanted was to cause him any pain. "Remus talked to me." He almost whispered.

At that moment, you wished you could have apparated to anywhere else in the world. You looked back down at your lap and tears were once again brought to your eyes. You felt betrayal that Remus would reveal your feelings to James.

"I'm sorry." You apologized and you fiddled with your fingers.

"Why are you the one apologizing, I'm the one whos behaved poorly." He assures and you shake your head.

"That's not fair to yourself. You're allowed to want to be with whomever you want and my feelings should have no effect on that. You've made it clear for years that you weren't interested in me and it is my fault that I couldn't take a hint. I'm so sorry." You gushed out and tears started to fall from your eyes. You felt James get up from your bed and you prepared him to leave but instead you felt arms wrap around you and a kiss came to your head.

"Y/N I have had feelings for you for years. I was just always too scared for myself to even consider that you might feel the same." He whispered out but you felt only a different kind of pain. Even though he had now admitted his feelings, he was still dating Lily. Not you. Almost as if he could hear your thoughts he spoke quietly. "I broke it off with Evans." You pulled away immediately.

"What? Why would you do that?" You asked quickly and before he had a chance to answer you feared the worst. "Oh god is it because of me? James please dont let my feelings have any bearing on who you want to date, I can't stand the thought of being the reason you broke up. Even if we do have feelings for each other, you deserve a chance with Lily if that's what you want."

"It was mutual, actually. She understood that I had feelings for you and she said she had a crush on someone else. It just seemed like I had kissed her a bit rashly on the quidditch pitch and we agreed that we shouldn't have gotten together in the first place. It was only a day anyway." He reassured as he explained himself and you calmed a bit.

"So what does this mean." You got out, almost inaudibly.

"It means that, if you'll have me, I'd like to take you out on a date." He stated as if it were the simplest thing in the world and you almost couldn't believe your ears. Before you were even thinking you were nodding quickly, causing spots to once again fill your vision and James grabbed your shoulders to stabilize you before you both laughed. He pulled you by your shoulders toward him and he caught your lips in a kiss that somehow expressed all of the years of repressed feelings. When he pulled away he smiled at you and sat back on your bed. He spent the rest of the day with you in the hospital wing talking about all of the places he was going to take you in the coming weeks.

[arcadejohn127-9]

How would the demon boys react to some random demon saying that they "went soft" while they were with MC? love your page btw x

Oh ho ho I see! This is going to be fun! And thank you, I love seeing everyone's support!

Lucifer:

Him? Soft? Impossible

The audacity that lesser demon had was almost respectable

But he wasn't going to let it slide

"Perhaps I've been too kind to beings like you, if you truly believe I've grown soft you won't mind me practising my new equipment on you-"

"Luci? What cha doing? I've been looking for you."

As soon as he saw you he didn't even realize the love sick expression on his face

The lesser demon snickered

He realized he didn't keep his mask up

They believed they were going to go free due to his embarassment

But they only made him grip the demons face tighter, his sharp nails digging into their flesh

"not right now, I'm currently putting a demon in their place-"

"oh okay! Don't take too long, you promised you'd help me go shopping, there was a really cute outfit and I don't want to miss it."

"yes, of course, now run along."

You kissed his cheek, thanking him for taking you out

He happily sighed

Quickly placing a kiss on your lips before you left

His head snapped back to the demon with a blood thirsty smirk

"where were we?"

Mammon:

Him?! Soft?! He's got a reputation to uphold!

Like his rep isn't already destroyed by being a bunch of witches servant

Whilst he is feared for his status as a demon, in general his rep is more 'famous guy who Everyone respects but will laugh at him at any given chance'

But Don't tell mammon that

So when a leaser demon says he's gone soft due to you he's insulted

He grabs the lesser demon by the collar, yanking them towards him, pulling down his shades just enough to show off his furious glare

"You're real bold for speaking up against me like that, I'm the avatar of greed! I can destroy your well being with just a slight influence-"

You came marching towards him, brows knitted

"Mammon!!!! Stop picking fights, you promised we'd go to cafe today, I even made sure we'd get matching couples items."

You shoved your phone in his face, showing off the link he sent you

He wanted to go to the cafe due to the couple's coupon and the fact you were allowed matching gifts you can buy

"You Damn human-! Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?! The great mammon needs to defend his rep!"

"you're wasting your time, the cafe is going to get packed if we don't go now."

He didn't budge, trying to counter you but you just raised a brow

You let have a few moments before Rollin your eyes

"I'm going without you."

"BABY NO!!! DON'T LEAVE ME-! I'M COMING I SWEAR!"

He immediately hugged you and was pouting, complaining you embarassed him

But he quickly forgave you when you kissed the corner of his mouth, reminding him he couldn't jump into trouble or else his grades will be effected

Lucifers orders of course

Levithan:

"I will summon Loton on you for even perceiving me!"

It was a bold move on the lesser demons part

And today the ocean demon didn't feel like being talked to by anyone so hearing this made it even worse

He raised his hand in the air, magic glowing at his finger tips

The lesser demon gulped, regretting thinking Levi would be easy to mess with

"Levi, don't summon Loton, we'll get in trouble."

He didn't even realize you were there nor did he notice you arrive

He pouted, lowering his arm and started quickly moving his arms as he spoke

"But they're saying I've grown soft! That's insulting to demons! Especially high ranking ones! It's basically saying I'm a loser!"

"As a high ranking demon, just ignore them~ you're just fine~!"

You didn't want to deal with getting levi out of trouble because he flooded one part of R.A.D so you went to save the confident lesser demon

You grabbed his shoulders, nuzzling your cheek on his

He wanted to push you away due to embarassment and the fact it was in public

But he couldn't help but do the same, squishing his face next to yours with a massive blush on his face

"You're not helping-"

"You're great, let's go back home and finish the game we were playing."

The lesser demon was spared.....for now

Satan:

Does he look like the type to go soft?

Sure he was normally a pleasant guy to be around but soft???!

Despite his charming smile and gentle peaceful presence, he was known for being the most aggressive out of his brother's

So some lesser demon saying he's soft? He wanted to just scoff and ignore it but it chewed at him

"Soft...? Hm, you won't be saying anything when I'm done with you, you'll be too busy crying and gurgling on your own-"

"There you are! I wanted to give the book you let me borrow back- am I interrupting?"

You looked between the cowering demon in Satan's grasp

His horns flickering in out and out, his expression immediately going soft when he looked at you

"yes but what did you think of the book? I thought the characterization of the main lead was the selling point of the whole thing."

"oh definitely but chapter 104 had the best arc."

Satan opened his mouth, removing one his hands off the other demons throat to point at the book but his finger curled

Deciding to not argue with you

"I'll have to debate you on that one - excuse me I need to finish it here before I can debate you on arcs, I won't be long."

You nodded, kissing Satan's cheek and gave the lesser demon a sympathetic look

The lesser demon couldn't enjoy their freedom for long as Satan turned back to them, snarling

Let's just hope he decides it isn't worth his time for that demons sake

Asmodeus:

"me? Soft? Honey, I'm never soft~ I'm always hard~!"

The lesser demon cringed

Asmo crossed his arms, deflating slightly as his joke didn't land

Sure he was offended Someone would call him soft

But it's not like really based his reputation as being some intimidating thing, he wanted to be loved and admired!

But being soft can get you disrespected

So something has to be done and asmo is known definitely by his brothers for getting physical when needed

"Don't look so disgusted, you do understand who you're talking to, right? The avatar of lust - I'm able to bring out all your desires, I know you like things rough so let me show just how violent i can get-"

"hey, are you done threatening-flirting? Whatever you're doing, I need help with some design choices."

You definitely didn't know what you walked in but the lustful demon was your best bet to go to

He was currently caging a lesser demon to a wall and harshly gripping their chin

You just wanted a second opinion on your clothing designs!

"I'll be right there! Can you hold on for a moment please?"

You nodded, sensing the angry aura coming off him

"sure, I got wipes in my bag incase you need them."

"you're wonderful, I love you~!"

He sent you a few air kisses as he smiled at you, you shook your head at his affection

You were thankful you didn't look back because as soon as you walked away you heard a scream

And you were pretty sure it wasn't a good one

Beezlebub:

The lesser demon sure had balls to approach this walking mountain

Was no one intimidated by jocks anymore?

They snarled and teased that he was going soft, expecting a reaction

But Beel just glared at them, his resting bitch face coming in handy

"don't talk to me."

It wasn't long before you found him, he was walking through the halls heading to the main door

"heyy Beel-y, What's up?"

"a demon said I've grown soft....have I?"

You blinked a few times, not expecting the question

You definitely didn't expect the Insecure look on his face

The closer you got to him he was definitely a softie, he was always gentle with you and is super kind

To you, he hasn't changed at all

"I think you have from what I've heard but I don't think that's a bad thing, you can still hold your ground and it just means you're letting yourself not be on guard."

"that makes me feel better, you always know what to say - I'm hungry, let's go eat."

You linked your arms with him, both of you smiling

"sure! I heard there's a nice dessert place opening up!"

Belphegor:

"I think you're talking to the wrong demon, I haven't grown soft."

Again, lesser demons are getting too gutsy towards these demon brother's

Belphegor has never woken up and not chose violence

Sure he was a big cuddle bug and sleeping most of the time

But he could be absolutely ruthless -In words and actions!

"Belphie, I'm heading to the study room, wanna join?"

You didn't really care he was about to go toe to toe with another demon

Knowing he was going to win anyway but you did want to give him a chance to get away

He was on thin ice and could be put on house arrest if he kept acting up and pranking people

"I'm in the middle of threatening Someone right now."

"Alright, don't go too crazy or else you'll get in trouble but I'll be waiting, I bought a pillow for you to sleep on~"

You tugged the pillow out of your bag, wiggling abit as you showed it off

You were already walking away before the sleepy demon could say anything else

He glared at the lesser demon

"I'll prove them wrong another time, too much energy wasted if I did it now."

He immediately went jogging after you, looping an arm around your waist and nuzzled his cheek on your shoulder

[worldserasingandcreatinginmymind]

Who Hurt You? | Kaz Brekker x Sister!Reader

Requested by anon: “Can you write a Kaz brekker fic where he has a younger sister who he takes care of, and one day she comes home after having a little fight and all he wants to do is take revenge on whoever layed a finger on his baby sister, but she wants him to stay by her side and take care of her?”

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x sister!reader, Jesper x Reader (platonic), Nina x reader (platonic)

Word Count: 1088

Warnings: angst, injured reader, brief description of injuries, Kaz’s fear of touching, some cute stuff

A/N: it didn't turn out exactly like the request but its close? Also I’m bad at endings but I hope you like it. As always, spelling and grammar are not my strongest skills so please be kind :) 

(Backstory for anyone who hasn't read the books: Kaz and his brother Jordie were conned by Pekka Rollins and lost all their money. While living on the streets they got sick and Jordie died.)

Masterlist

- - - - -

“HELP!” Jesper yells as he carries your badly beaten and lifeless body into the Crow club “I NEED HELP!”

Nina is the first to run over, clearing a table for Jesper to lay you down on and immediately checking you over.

“What happened?” Kaz asks, rushing over to your side.

“I found her in the alley round the corner, looks like she was beaten up and dumped there” 

“She’s alive, just about.” Nina explains “Her heart rate is very slow and she’s struggling to breathe”

“Can you help her?” Jesper asks

“I’m not a healer, but I’ll see what I can do” she says, placing her hand gently on your chest right above your heart. She closes her eyes, focusing on your heartbeat as Jesper grips your hand in his. 

Kaz stands on the side of the table, anxiously watching for a sign that you’ll be okay. Seeing his little sister, his only remaining family, lying there bruised and bleeding on the table breaks his heart. He scans your face taking in the deep slash on your cheek, the black eye, the dried blood around your nose. His eyes continue to scan down your body at the torn clothes now stained with dirt and deep red blood, until he reaches your hand which is covered in scratches and tightly encased in Jesper’s hands. He stares down at your other hand lying on the table in front of him and he inches himself closer to it, willing himself to hold it. 

He looks back at your face and after taking a deep breath he finally takes your hand in his gloved one. Jesper looks at him in shock but he ignores his friend, choosing to focus on you. His little sister who needs him right now. 

Suddenly you take a deep breath, slowly exhaling as your breathing becomes normal. Nina removes her hand and takes a step back. 

Your eyes slowly flutter open and you look around, taking in your surroundings as you realise where you are. You look at Jesper and he gives your hand an affectionate squeeze. That’s when you realise someone else is holding your other hand. You turn your head to see the black leather gloved hand in yours and look up at your brother.

“Kaz?” You say quietly. He gives you a tiny nod as he allows himself to let go of your hand. You understand how hard it will have been for him to do that, he can’t stand the feeling of touching someone. Even his own sister. 

“How do you feel?” Nina asks, rushing to your side to help you as you try to sit up.

“Like shit” is all you say watching your brother as he now slowly paces the room deep in thought, his cane tapping quietly on the floor with each step. 

“I’ll run you a bath and we’ll get you cleaned up”

You smile at Nina before she turns and heads upstairs. 

“I’m glad you're okay, you gave us a fright” Jesper says, taking a seat on the table next to you.

“sorry about that” you say, smiling back at him

“Who did this to you?” Kaz finally speaks, the smiles quickly drops off your face.

“It doesn’t matter”

“Someone thinks it’s okay to hurt my sister and leave her for dead and I can’t have that, so tell me who hurt you?”

“Please just leave it-”

“Who?”

“Just some guys-”

“Y/N!”

“Pekka Rollins” you finally admit and Kaz’s face turns to pure rage.

“I’ll kill him” Jesper says, jumping up and grabbing the guns from his pocket.

“I already tried that. Kinda why I’m in this mess” you say, letting out a small awkward laugh “I broke into his office-”

“Leave us” Kaz interrupts you, dismissing Jesper but never taking his eyes off you. 

There’s an awkward silence as you and Jesper silently exchange a look before Jesper goes to leave. He stops next to Kaz.

“Go easy on her” he says quietly and Kaz shoots him a look. 

Once Jesper is gone Kaz turns his attention back to you, anger in his eyes. You're in trouble. 

“What were you thinking?! Trying to take on Pekka Rollins on your own, he could have killed you! He almost did!”

“Jordie!” You snap, shouting back at him rendering him silent “I was thinking about Jordie, and how he would still be alive if Pekka hadn’t stolen all of our money.” 

“Y/N” Kaz sighs sympathetically. 

“It’s not fair Kaz. Our brother is dead because of him and he’s just walking around like nothing happened!”

“I know. Trust me, I hate Pekka Rollins just as much as you do-”

“Then why is he still alive? Why aren’t we doing anything?” 

“We will Y/N, we will make him pay for what he did but not yet. We can’t just go rushing in there like you did today. We need to take our time and plan this properly. But most importantly, we need each other.” 

He’s right and you know it, but you don't want to admit it so you just look away. Kaz sighs as he takes a seat next to you on the table, close but not close enough to touch.

“I need you to promise me you won’t try anything like this again” he says

“I promise” you look up at him “and I’m sorry I made you worry”

“I’m your big brother, its my job to worry about you” he flashes a small smile before his face returns to its naturally serious look. He stands up, leaning slightly on his cane. “I’ve got work to do. Do you need anything before I go?” 

“Can you send Jesper back in here?” 

“Why?”

“Because I’ve had a pretty rough day and I could really do with a hug” you say honestly. 

Kaz turns to leave, but stops. He stands still for a moment and you watch him confused as he takes a deep breath and turns back to you. Suddenly he pulls you in and hugs you tightly. After you get over the initial shock you close your eyes and sink into his arms, making the most of every moment. After a few seconds he lets go and takes a few steps back trying to calm himself down. You give him the time he needs to recover.

“Thank you” you say quietly when he finally looks at you. He just nods in response and sits down next to you again “I thought you had work to do?”

“It can wait”

[hops-hunny]

Those Bloody Girls

Pairing: Neville Longbottom x Beauxbaton!Reader

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 2.2k

Request: “I couldn't sleep soooo

Neville absolutely worshiping his beauxbaton gf but his friends think he's full of shit when he tries to tell them about how fucking gorgeous and fantastic she is. And everytime he tries to introduce her to his friends something goes wrong and his friends end up looking at him like he's crazy cuz he's introducing absolutely nothing but air. And separately she has been accidentally meeting all his friends one on one, helping Ron pick up his books in the hall, cleaning off some soot from Seamus face because he looked rather silly, encouraging harry before one of his quidditch matches/Triwizard trials etc and all the while they have no idea that's Nevilles wonderful gf and they all develop a crush on her never telling each other anything so when they finally meet her it's hilarious 😂

-🦡”

Summary: The request says it all

Warnings: None!

A/N: This was such a fun idea. I loved writing this all hail 🦡 anon.

If there was anything Beauxbaton girl's were known for, it was their beautiful looks. They were graceful and diligent, each one graced with the face of an angel, and Neville just so happened to have the prettiest one. They had met during the summer by a complete chain of accidents resulting in one of the greatest blessings he could've ever asked for. Neville was lucky and he knew it, never letting anyone forget.

"Oh bullshit! You're saying she's got a cute face, nice waist, and she can bake? Ha! I'll believe it when I see it, Nev." Ron snorted, Seamus nodding along with him.

"Yeah you expect us to just believe a girl from Beauxbaton of all places chose you? No offense Nev but Beauxbaton girl's have standards and none of us Hogwarts boys meet em." Seamus said, shrugging as he continued to throw rolled up bits of paper in Dean's hair (who still hadn't noticed.). Neville rolled his eyes in irritation, looking to Harry and Dean as well but for once, they were on the same page as the other two.

"Sorry Nev. It's just, a Beauxbaton girl? And from the way you describe it, the most beautiful one in her year if not school?" Harry said, giving him a sympathetic look. 

"Yeah mate. You've gotta understand where we're coming from." Dean chimed, turning his attention back to the assignment in his lap. Neville groaned, glaring at his friends.

"You guys act like I haven't tried to introduce you to her! Every time I try to you guys go and get yourselves into something stupid or I end up busy. Let's all agree that Friday you will meet her, no matter what." the boys all nodded in agreement, not really thinking much of it. After all, there was no girlfriend but if it'd ease his mind, they'd show up.

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

Ron swore angrily, rolling his eyes in frustration. It was just his luck that he'd drop all his quills and the massive scroll of paper rolling away with his bits of sanity. Normally he'd just collect them and go on with it, not really worrying about time but for once in his god damn life he had made an effort to study for the exam he had next hour and if he was late? All that bloody time would be wasted! However, his worries began to fade as a small manicured (s/c) hand began to gather his quills. His eyes widened as he looked at the girl, mouth gaping.

She had (h/l) (h/c) hair that was an even more vibrant (h/c) in the afternoon sun. Beautiful plush (s/c) thighs (that he'd like to see more from under that little skirt), and not to mention the most beautiful set of (e/c) eyes he had ever seen. But when she smiled? Oh when she smiled, he was hooked. The little emblem on her shirt confirmed his suspicion. Beauxbaton. However what he did miss was the words that were currently leaving her mouth.

"I'm sorry...what?" he asked, causing a giggle to erupt from the girl's mouth. She smiled, handing him the quills that he had dropped.

"I said it's a shame that this happened to you! I hope you aren't too late. I have a free period so I'll carry these to your class for you!" she offered, silence falling over them as he continued to stare at her in awe. His face flushed as she cleared her throat, looking at him expectantly.

"O-oh! Right, yes, thank you. That'd be helpful." He offered her a small smile as he began to walk. The entire time of the walk there, she helped him by quizzing him on the subject and by the time he got there, he felt like he remembered everything!

Everything but asking for her name. He felt like an idiot but for once, it wasn't because of school.

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

Seamus sat at the cauldron, focusing on the ingredients list. His partner had decided from every other time in potions, that he wasn't allowed to touch anything. They had a perfect grade and didn't want it to be ruined from the likes of him. However, he was growing restless. It couldn't be too hard...right? Wrong, so wrong.

He dropped in a few spider legs, stirring counterclockwise like the book had instructed. However, as it turned an angry red and bubbles began to form, he knew that he had screwed up big time. He tried backing away but it was too late, the potion had erupted in a large explosion, black soot coating his face and hair. Everyone in the class turned to look at him, some laughing while some were utterly annoyed. This was such a common thing that it was a miracle when he didn’t blow something up. He flashed Snape a bright smile, ignoring the way the vein on the man’s forehead twitched and juttered in annoyance.

“Class dismissed.” he seethed out. Before he could issue a punishment, Seamus ran off down the hallway ignoring the harsh yells of the potion’s master. He continued to run and run until he accidentally bumped into a group of girls sending him straight to the floor. His face turned rouge with embarrassment as they laughed at his scuffed appearance but a divine voice broke through the laughter.

“Leave him alone guys! You all go ahead, I’ll catch up with you later.” she said, pushing her friends to go ahead in the other direction. Seamus looked up, admiring how beautiful they were but especially the (h/c) haired one in the middle of them all. She was a walking sculpture, a painting straight from the louvre. She was..

“Hot.” he blattered out, not even realizing his words. His eyes widened as he stood up clearing his throat. Luckily for him she hadn’t heard him, causing him to look up to the ceiling and give a quick thank to Merlin himself. She looked back at him, frowning slightly as she observed the soot on his freckled face. Her eyes lit up as she reached into the small purse on her shoulder, pulling out a silk fabric.

“Can’t have you going around looking all silly! Come here.” she said, motioning for him to lean down. He did so instantaneously, cheeks turning even more red as she licked the small fabric before beginning to wipe at the mess on his face. It was an action his mother had done multiple times but for some reason, he found this to be far more endearing. Her face was close to his, giving him a good look at the light layer of gloss on her plump lips. He couldn’t help but wonder if anyone had ever kissed them before, if she had ever had them wrapped around a-

“All done! I can’t do much for your hair but it’s not that noticeable. I have to get going though, bye!” She said flashing him a smile before walking away. When she was out of sight, he couldn’t help but wonder if that had even happened. Did a beautiful girl really just hold his face and clean it...out of the kindness of her heart? Was it truly possible for someone to look so perfect and act so kind? He didn’t know but he surely did wanna find out. He smirked to himself, standing up straight as he walked down the hall.

“She wants me.”

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

Harry splashed some water on his face, running a shaky hand through his hair. No matter how many times he’d hop on that broom, zooming around in the sky with the intent to win, he always got painstakingly nervous before a match. He observed his appearance, grimacing at the sickly green undertone to his face. Was he going to puke again? Didn’t matter, he didn’t have time. Sighing he walked out the bathroom, sneaking to observe how many people were in the crowd. His eyes began to wander to the Beauxbaton girls, admiring how pretty they were in the stands. However, what he wasn’t prepared for was for a pretty face to walk over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Harry, right?” she asked, a gentle smile on her stunning face. His breath hitched as he felt himself be taken by a new set of nerves.

“R-right. Yeah that’s me. I’m, I’m Harry.” he internally kicked himself. How embarrassing. One of the most lovely girls he had ever seen and here he was, making himself look like a fool. His nerves were soothed some when he heard her laugh, a sound like beautiful Christmas bells.

“I think we already established that.” she said, grinning even more. She patted his shoulder as she looked at him, eyes full of sincerity. “No need to be nervous. I’ve heard you’re one of the best players on the field! Do your best out there! I’m rooting for ya.” she began walking off, flipping her Gryffindor scarf around her shoulder. Whether she meant rooting for him personally or the team didn’t matter. A determined look took his face as he began to make his way to his team. He was going to win this, for her.

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

Friday came around quicker than any of them had expected, not like it mattered to them. They all sat around looking at each other, a shared thought running through most of their heads. As if Neville could hear it, he groaned standing up angrily.

“Guys! I swear she’s real! She’s just running a bit late, she’s horrible with time management. Plus, she’s well known amongst her peers so she’s always getting asked to help with things.” he grumbled, staring at them with disdain. 

“Nev, it’s okay you don’t have to keep lying. We’ll get you a girlfriend since clearly you’re going mad thinking that you have one.” Seamus said, prompting the boy to throw his textbook at the boy which hit his head with a loud thud. They all looked up as peach colored owl flew in, dropping a note into Neville’s hand. The boys set up a bit straighter, unfamiliar with the owl. The boy’s eyes scanned the page, taking in the words before nodding.

“Alright, it seems she wants us to come to her. She’s by the fountain in the courtyard! That’s cute, she forgot she was supposed to come to me.” he chuckled fondly at the thought of his forgetful girlfriend before turning to walk. His friends still sat on the couch, stunned that this girl might actually be real. “Well don’t just sit there, let’s go!”

All of them scrambled up and began to follow their lanky friend, mumbling amongst themselves.

“No way. Do you think she’s real?”

“Well I’ve never seen that owl!”

“This is insane. Okay if she’s real, she definitely can’t be as hot as he said she is.”

“Yeah probably one of the more...unsightly Beauxbaton girls.”

Wrong. Terribly wrong. Th-that was her? It couldn’t be. However, as the girl’s big doe eyes lit up it was slowly becoming a big possibility. And as she ran to him, jumping into his arms, that possibility became reality right in front of their eyes. Neville leaned in kissing the girl, holding her up in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling into the kiss as she pulled away. Her eyes turned to the group of guys, surprise taking over her face. Neville looked back and forth between her expression and the one of his friends.

“You guys alright?” he asked confusedly, setting the girl back on the ground before pulling her into his side. She eyed them carefully before tilting her head.

“Have we met before?” 

“NO!” they all shouted in unison. They all turned to each other in confusion, stepping away from the happy couple.

“You met her too?!” Harry whisper shouted, eyeing the other two. Ron nodded frantically, unable to respond verbally due to the shock and queasiness overtaking him. The beautiful girl from Wednesday was Neville’s girl? Life was not being fair by putting that bird in his hands.

“Like hell I did! She was practically all over me.” Seamus exclaimed, all of them turning to look at the girl who had a lovesick look on her face as Neville rambled on about something. 

“Okay now that one I doubt. I can’t fucking believe this. I’ve been thinking about her all week.” Ron groaned out, crossing his arms angrily. Harry nodded in agreement, grabbing the flask that Seamus had pulled out taking a big swig of it.

“You’re telling me. I did a lot more than think about her if you know what I mean.” Seamus mumbled, eyeing the girl’s rear.

“Sadly I do and I wish I didn’t.” Harry grimaced as the gruesome image popped up in his head. “Come on, we better head back over before they think something is up.”

“My bunny says she met you all earlier in the week! How come you didn’t tell me?” he questioned, watching as the boys practically drooled over her.

“I dunno sorta...slipped my mind.” Harry trailed off, eyes dragging along her exposed midriff.

“Nah I’ll be honest. Bird was too hot and didn’t get her name. ‘S a shame really.” Seamus shrugged, earning a kick to the knee from Harry. “What?! I know you thought it too. Congrats Longbottom, you’ve got a grade A girl there.”

Neville looked down at the smaller girl, smiling some as she looked away shyly at the kind words she was receiving. 

“Yeah, I do.”

[mochegato]

Even the Losers

Chapter 12

Chapter 1     Chapter 11

The dining room was only slightly less formal than the entry way.  It was decorated in deep tones and dark wood meant to evoke grandeur and pageantry. It still spoke of old money and cold families.  There was no evidence of laughter over inside jokes, gasping at stories about someone’s day, discussions of dreams, or fatherly advice doled out over a lovingly cooked dinner that everyone worked on together.

Marinette held back as everyone made their way into the dining room, letting them claim their usual seats, prepared to take whatever seat was left.  She was hoping to cause as little upset and disturbance as possible.  Her plan was foiled when Duke jumped up from his seat and moved down one spot.  “Hey, Marinette.  Take this seat.”  

Marinette opened her mouth to object but stopped when Jason put his hand on her back to guide her to the seat.  “Lost cause.  Don’t even bother,” he muttered low enough for her to hear.  Marinette looked back at him uncertainly but nodded in understanding. She breathed a small sigh of relief when Jason took the other seat next to her.

Dick pouted at the seating, but took the seat across from her instead, grabbing the seat quickly from the right as Tim was just about to drop into it from the left.  Tim grumbled something about annoying puppies and took the next seat over, causing Damian to scowl and redirect himself to a different seat. “Damian!” Dick called out to him. He patted the seat next to him.  

Damian huffed and sent Marinette a glare as he took his not normal seat beside Dick.  He squirmed in the seat.  It wasn’t his usual seat and he could feel the difference.  It felt off.  It felt wrong.  He didn’t like it at all.  This was not his routine.  This was not what he was comfortable with and it was all her fault.  They were playing a charade for her.  They were making themselves uncomfortable for her.

Marinette watched politely as M. Pennyworth set the plates down in front of everyone.  When he was done, he exited quietly.  Marinette watched him leave the room as the rest of the family took bites of their food.  M. Wayne had called M. Pennyworth a father and Jason had called him a grandfather, but he didn’t eat with them?  And addressed them all as Master or Miss?  Did none of them know what family was supposed to be?  What it was supposed to mean?  Because that, wasn’t it.  And honestly, if that’s what they thought it was, she had serious concerns about joining their ‘family’.

She looked back to Jason and tried to send him a message with her eyes to ask him about it without having to say it out loud and draw attention to herself.  She cleared her throat quietly, hoping it was quiet enough that just Jason would hear but everyone looked at her.  She looked at their eyes before returning hers to her plate.  “Sorry,” she said quietly.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Bruce said kindly.  His eyes were filled with concern and a touch of worry.  He wanted her to eventually feel like this was her home too and if he wanted that to happen, she needed to feel comfortable here.  “Did you need anything?”

“No, no, no,” Marinette insisted, shaking her head and sending him a weak smile.  “It’s nothing.  The dinner looks amazing.”

“If there’s anything you don’t like…” Bruce started.

“No!  Of course not,” Marinette exclaimed.  “This looks really delicious.”  She was waving her hands frantically.  It was all going wrong already.  She was causing a commotion.  From the moment she’d walked into his life, she’d caused nothing but commotion.  She was really hoping to break the cycle tonight and get closer to the kids in the family.

Bruce watched her uncertainly, but nodded.  “Because if you want anything else, we have a huge kitchen and pantry,” Bruce tried to assure her.

Marinette’s eyes grew even bigger and her movements more frantic.  “Jesus, B. Lay off her.  She already said she was fine,” Jason grumbled.  “You’re going to give her a complex.”

Somehow, Marinette’s eyes got wider and her face went slack.  “No, no. It’s fine.”  She turned to Bruce with a desperate look.  “I’m fine.  Thank you for your concern.”

“Marinette,” Bruce stated with a touch of exasperation. He didn’t know what he had to do to get her relax, to get her to believe she wasn’t going to make him not want her. “Just let me know.”

Marinette nodded rapidly.  “Of course.”  She looked around the room taking note of the pasted on, polite smiles while they took silent bites.  She could feel her shoulders curling in on her as the quiet continued.

“How was your day today?” Bruce prompted Marinette after the first few bites in uncomfortable silence.

She nearly dropped her fork in surprise.  “Oh, it was pretty good,” she answered with a polite smile.  And oh God, this was the most awkward thing she had ever done.  She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a breath.  It wasn’t going to change unless she did something to change it.  “I’m glad you had a meeting this morning so we missed out on the Penguin.  I mean sorry about the meeting, but I think it worked out for the best.”

She fought the urge to openly examine the people around the table.  They had all frozen at her mention of the Penguin, but all seemed to be trying to pretend like they hadn’t.  Their smiles became forced.  She wasn’t sure if it brought back bad memories or scared them how close M. Wayne had been to getting taken by the Penguin.  If they had stuck to their original plan, he could have been able to take him.

Bruce chuckled politely, tightly.  “Definitely a better result.  I would still like to go to the art museum with you though.”

“Do you have room for someone else?” Dick asked perking up.  “I’d like to get in on that.  Cass?” He looked over to Cass to see how she felt.  When she nodded excitedly he looked over to Damian.  “Damian would love to go to, right Damian?”  Damian leaned back in his chair and focused on the food, refusing to look at Dick.  “Damian’s in,” Dick enthused.

Tim snorted but realized his mistake as soon as the sound came out.  He looked warily over at Dick who was giving him an overly wide smile.  Tim turned to Marinette with an artificial smile.  “I’d love to.”  Duke shaking his head caught his eyes and he grinned maliciously. “Duke loves the art museum.  We can’t go without him too.”

Duke froze and narrowed his eyes at Tim for a fraction of a second before smiling at Marinette.  “If you don’t mind the company.”

Marinette looked between them.  The only one who seemed to actually be happy about it was Dick. Everyone else seemed like this was the last possible thing they’d ever want to do.  She plastered on a smile, unwilling to be the cause of discord in the family.  “No. Yeah.  That sounds… fun.”

Damian narrowed his eyes at her.  “You’re being insincere,” he accused harshly.

“Damian!” Bruce scolded loudly.  “That was uncalled for.”

Dick looked at him with disappointment. “Damian.  It is not okay to treat a guest… your sister like that,” he added after Bruce finished.

Jason was tense, preparing to step in if Damian said even one more word to Marinette.  He knew she already didn’t feel welcome in Bruce’s life, let alone his home.  He sure as Hell wasn’t going to let Damian solidify that belief.

Marinette stared at Damian wide eyed.  He wasn’t wrong, but she thought everyone kind of understood the reasoning behind it.  It wasn’t ideal, but it was expected.  Not to mention she wasn’t the only one.  She looked around the room and finding varying levels of disappointment, concern for her, and annoyance with Damian.  She looked over at Damian trying to gauge his goal.  

Roy and Jason had warned her that he would try to intimidate her, likely attack her.  And she guessed she should have expected to defend herself.  But again, he wasn’t wrong.  What he was accusing her of; not being entirely honest, she wasn’t.  None of them were.  But when she looked in his eyes, it wasn’t hostility she saw, not completely.  It was confusion, uncertainty, unease, and yes, a fair amount of hostility.  And wasn’t that the issue she was having with them too?  That they didn’t seem to be sincere with her?  But while she curled in, he lashed out.

“You’re not wrong,” she admitted quietly.  The room fell silent again and Damian looked up at her with a confused scowl.  She met Damian’s gaze and gave him a small smile.  “We’re all being varying levels of insincere.  This is an awkward, uncomfortable, scary situation.  For all of us, I imagine.  Again varying levels of that.  Maybe for you and me more than the rest.  You’re the baby and I’m…”  She let it trail off leaving ‘unwanted’ unsaid, hoping they would fill in the sentence with a more palatable adjective.  One she wouldn’t have to discuss with concerned looks and sympathetic smiles.

“You guys don’t want to offend me and I’m trying desperately not to offend you, but we don’t know each other well enough to know how to do that or what we need to do to ease the tension.  We’re trying to figure each other out, so nobody gets hurt. You or me.”  She knew she was rambling but it was honest, coherent rambling at least.  Maybe not completely, but it was the truth.  And Damian was right.  They weren’t being themselves and they weren’t going to get to know each other until they were.  

“I don’t want to expose too much and scare you away or give you the ammunition to really hurt me, if that’s what you’re going to do.  And I imagine you guys are afraid of driving me away by saying the wrong thing.  And how do you know what the wrong thing is until you know someone?  So we’re all on edge.  Not ourselves.  We don’t feel safe to be ourselves yet.  And how can you be sincere when you’re not yourself?”

Cass smiled warmly at her and nodded in agreement. Jason wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.  “Except me. She’s herself around me, so suck it.” He stuck his tongue out at the rest of the family, like the mature, tough, dangerous, vigilante he was.

“Oh my God, Jason.”  Marinette shook her head and dropped it in her hands.  “That’s because I was drunk off my ass and didn’t have the ability to pretend when we met.”

“That’s French for ‘because you’re the best’,” Jason assured them with a completely straight face.

“It definitely isn’t,” Dick rolled his eyes, but his lips were turned up in a smile.  “If you want to talk about him behind his back in front of his face in French, let me know,” Dick winked at her.  “I haven’t gotten to practice my French in a while.”

“It sounds like Jason took advantage of you in a weakened state.  Terrible brother behavior,” Tim insisted.  He shook his head in mock disappointment.  “You deserve better.”

“Who?  You?” Jason squawked, affronted at the suggestion.

“I was going to say Duke, but if I’m the first one that comes to mind when you think of best brother, I mean, I’m not going to argue,” Tim shrugged with a smirk.

“You say Jason is always wrong and you’re always right, so…” Duke added with a grin.  He turned to Marinette.  “Sounds like you and me are going to form an alliance.  New Kids Club.”  He turned his head slightly when Cass made a noise.  “And Cass.”  He smiled when Marinette giggled.

“Let’s not form alliances and cliques or hog Marinette, please?” Bruce asked, the resignation clear in his voice but affection clear in his eyes.

Marinette nodded and turned serious. “Absolutely.  I will not form any kind of pact with Duke and Cass over lunch next week?”  She looked between the two of them for confirmation. Duke and Cass nodded back at her and Marinette grinned.  “Monday?”

“Hey!” Dick objected.

Jason gasped at her and dropped his arm from around her shoulder.  “This feels like a betrayal.  I’m betrayed.”  He shook his head and took a bite of food.  “You’ll fit right in.”

Duke shook his head.  “Can’t Monday.  I have a poetry thing.”

Marinette’s eyes brightened.  “Are you presenting or watching?”

Duke looked down shyly and rubbed the back of his neck.  He hadn’t even told the rest of the family about it.  It didn’t occur to him that they would be interested.  “Presenting actually.”

“Would you mind if I came too?  Or do you not like people you know being there?”

Duke shrugged.  “No, I don’t mind, but…” he cringed slightly, “it isn’t in the best part of town.  It’s kind of dangerous.”

“Don’t worry, I can protect you,” Marinette winked at him.  She ignored Damian’s scoff and Bruce’s choke.

Jason rolled his eyes.  “Don’t worry, I’ll go too.  I’ve never heard the kid read.”

“I’d like to come too,” Dick looked at them hopefully, “if you don’t mind.”

Duke made a noise that sounded like some combination of happy and resigned and nodded.  “Yeah, that sounds fun.”

“You okay with Adrien and Max coming too?” Marinette asked.

“Yeah, bring them.  It’ll be nice to meet them.”  He waved off her concern.  “Okay, that’s fun and all but we still need to decide when to not meet for the New Kids Club.  And I’m not putting that in my nonexistent calendar for,” Duke looked up questioningly, “Thursday lunch?”

Marinette looked over to Cass who nodded excitedly at her.  Marinette smiled back at her and Duke.  “Sounds good.”  She pulled out her phone and handed it to him.  “Want to put your number in so we can coordinate?”

“Absolutely!”  He took her unlocked phone and put his number in.

“Can I put my number in too?” Tim asked

“And me!” Dick exclaimed.  

“Yeah, of course,” Marinette smiled at both of them. A real smile.  Thank God Adrien was right.  She kind of liked the kids… even though most weren’t kids and most of them were actually older than her.  

“Why don’t you put all our numbers in there, Tim,” Dick suggested.

“Tt,” Damian scoffed.  “There’s no reason she would need my number.”

Bruce gave him a disappointed look, but Marinette shrugged.  “Please, don’t put it in if he isn’t comfortable with it.”

Tim pursed his lips.  “Don’t be ridiculous.  What if she finds a cute animal?  How’s she supposed to send you the picture?”  Damian scowled but didn’t say more.  Tim finished and handed the phone back to Marinette.

Marinette took it back with a thank you and scrolled through her contacts.  “Huh… he didn’t put you in,” she assured Damian.

“What?”  Tim looked at her confused then looked at her phone again.  “Oh, it’s under Demon Spawn.”

Marinette gaped at him.  “It’s under what?”

“Dem…”

“Yeah, no,” she cut him off.  She pushed a few buttons and looked back at Damian.  “Not anymore.  It’s gone.  You can give me your number when and if you’re ready.”  Damian didn’t acknowledge her, but he did nod curtly at his plate and Marinette was taking that as a win.  

She tucked her phone away and looked around the room.  “Okay, so, Duke does poetry, I heard Damian does art, and I heard Dick likes to swing, what does everyone else like to do?” Marinette asked with a bright smile.

Jason and Tim burst out laughing.  “Your reputation proceeds you, Lover Boy,” Jason managed to get out between gasps.

Marinette frowned and looked between them in confusion. “Did I say something wrong?”

Dick smiled warmly at her.  He kept his eye contact with her as he threw a roll at Jason’s head.  “Ignore them. Their minds are in the gutter.  For clarification, I like gymnastics.  I was a trapeze artist in a Haley’s Circus when I was a kid.”

“Oh that sounds fun!” Marinette almost squealed in excitement.  “You must have loved flying through the air.  That was always the best feeling.”

“It was.  I loved it.  The freedom of soaring before gravity took over was amazing,” Dick nodded in agreement. His eyes took on a distant look as he talked about it and a smile curled on his lips.  “Did you do trapeze work in Paris?”  Marinette froze momentarily.  “You mentioned you liked the feeling.  Is that how you know it?�� he prompted gently.

“Oh… um… no.”  She looked down at the napkin on her lap for a second, pretending to readjust it.  “I was friends with a few of our local heroes.  One of them, Ladybug swung around the city on a yoyo that worked kind of like a magic rope.  That feeling of swinging up and breaking gravity was always heart racing.  And the feeling of falling until the string caught.” She looked away with a smile. “Yeah, I understand what you’re talking about.”

“We have a trapeze in the manor.  Did you want to try it out sometime?” Dick asked excitedly.  

Marinette grinned.  “That sounds like fun.  I’d love to.”

“How about tomorrow?”

Marinette blinked.  The Waynes definitely moved fast.  There was no time to breathe.  Just moving from one thing directly into the next.  She needed time to think, time to process that they apparently didn’t require.  “I can’t. Sorry.”  Dick’s face fell immediately.  If she didn’t have a legitimate excuse, she’d feel guilty.  “I’ll be in New York tomorrow for business and I’m meeting with Lucius Friday.”

“Saturday then,” Dick offered.  Marinette smiled and nodded causing Dick to almost vibrate in his seat.  None of the other siblings ever wanted to go on the trapeze with him and he was beyond excited to connect with Marinette.

“Did they take you around often?” Bruce asked with forced calmness.  “The heroes,” he explained when she scrunched her face in confusion.  “You said they took you around often enough for you to know what it felt like… where Hawkmoth could see.”  Spending time with civilians in suit was dangerous, incredibly so, even more so doing it in full view of the public.  Something like that could have resulted in Marinette getting targeted.  It was irresponsible and negligent.  He should have never trusted the Parisian heroes or Diana that the heroes could handle Paris without him.

“No,” Marinette said as nonchalantly as she could manage, trying to pretend like she didn’t notice the tightness in his voice. “They rescued me a few times and once things were resolved they would sometimes take people who had gotten caught up in the attacks for short rides like that to bring up morality.  To make them feel better.  It wasn’t unusual or noteworthy, just a public service.”

Bruce relaxed minutely, but the tension in his frame was still clear.  Marinette watched him carefully, trying to gauge if she’d used the right words to calm him.  She could feel her body tensing at exponential rates the longer he was silent, the longer it took him to relax or smile.  Marinette looked down at her plate and pushed her food around with tight lips.

“I like unsolved mysteries,” Tim threw in.  Eyes around the table turned to him, most of them incredulous and tense that he would take the conversation there.  She heard a whispered “Dude,” from somewhere around the table.

Marinette let out the breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding and started laughing.  The eyes that had been on Tim turned to her, making her laugh even harder at the awkwardness of it until another voice joined hers in laughter, followed by another, until most of the table was at least chuckling.  

“My best friend gets into that too,” Marinette nodded with a grateful smile.  She narrowed her eyes playfully at him.  “Do you end up in all night benders following the trail of a mystery down incalculable rabbit holes until you get crazed and someone has to come and force you to sleep too?”

Tim looked shocked and slowly looked around the room before returning his gaze to Marinette.  “No,” he said tentatively.

“Yes,” Cass, Dick, Jason, Duke, and Bruce all chorused at the same time.

“Oooohhh, remind me some time to talk about the Impossible Murder,” Marinette offered.  Her eyes lit up with excitement.  Unsolved mysteries and conspiracy theories she could do.  This was her comfort zone.  Not that she got into it, but years with Alya had taught her the rhythm of inquiry and questions.  She took comfort in that rhythm.  It was something familiar she could lean into.

“Yes!” Tim exclaimed, an inquisitive glint in his eyes.

“No,” Cass, Dick, Jason, Duke, and Bruce all chorused at the same time.

Marinette giggled and winked at Tim.  “We’ll talk later,” she stage whispered to him.  She grinned at the groans she heard around the table.  

Tim turned to Duke and stuck his tongue out at him. “Sounds like we get our own club, just for Marinette and me.  The Investigator’s Club.”

Jason scoffed and took a bite.  “Like I’d want to be part of a club with that name.”

Cass cleared her throat lightly, drawing some attention to her.  “And Cass,” Tim amended.  Cass nodded happily.

“How about you, Cass?”

“Ballet,” Cass answered with a smile.

“Oh, I wish I could do ballet.  Are you in a class or do you do it on your own?  Or are you a professional?”  Marinette asked trying to keep her voice from getting too excited or invested.  Bruce had mentioned she didn’t talk a lot and Marinette didn’t want to pressure her to talk if she didn’t want to, but she also didn’t want to make her feel like she was ignoring her.

“Fun.”

Marinette nodded.  “I bet it’s a nice way to relax.”

“Not as good as shooting guns though,” Jason grinned. “Or blowing things up.”

Bruce sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead. “Jason…” he started, not even bothering to try to finish the sentence.

Marinette blinked a few times then nodded.  “Uh huh.  I like sewing,” she responded dryly.  Jason laughed and shook his head at her.  He took a bite of his food and looked back at her appraisingly, a happy glint in his eye.

“Right, B mentioned you’re a designer.  Just graduated right?” Dick prompted.

“Yes.  My final project was a few weeks ago.  Now I’m figuring out my next steps.”

“Is that related to your trip to New York?” Duke asked.

Marinette nodded and swallowed the bite she’d just taken. “I’m meeting a few friends and someone at Style Queen to talk about styling a shoot.  And Adrien has a job interview.”  She took a quick bite of her dinner before continuing.  “We’re also trying to get a feel for New York, see if that’s somewhere we would want to move.”

“Wow, Style Queen is really big!” Duke nodded. “That’s awesome!”

Marinette smiled at him.  “Getting on her good side is definitely good for your career. Luckily, I’ve been able to impress her over the years.”

“Along those lines,” Bruce cut in, “I’ve commissioned her to create clothes for us.  We were planning on her coming over to start on Tuesday, so I expect everyone to be here for it.”

Dick beamed at her but Damian grunted loud enough for everyone to hear.  He had absolutely no interest in wearing something purely because ‘his sister’ designed it.  He had a style and level of craft he required in the clothes he wore and he was not about to sit or stand around uncomfortably all day long purely out of some misplaced obligation.

He narrowed his eyes at Marinette.  It still didn’t make sense.  Why would she have come to Gotham if she was looking to break into fashion?  She had to have had an ulterior motive.  “So you just happened to consider Gotham as a place to reconsider?”

Marinette cocked her head to the side.  “No…” she scrunched her face in a bit of confusion. “I never even considered it. Gotham was a side trip.  I had no intention of staying past earlier this week. But things… changed,” she looked around sheepishly before looking back at him.  “I was considering New York or Metropolis in America.  Also Shanghai, I have family there; London, Adrien has family there; Milan, my… grandmother grew up there.”

“Is Adrien your boyfriend?” Tim asked.

“No.  My... brother,” her voice petered out as she called the word and she looked down guiltily.

“Will he be part of your business?” Bruce asked, pretending like he hadn’t registered her discomfort, hoping that if they moved past it, she would too.

“Yes. No. Maybe.” Marinette grimaced as she went through all the options.    She shrugged.  “Whatever he wants.  He wasn’t allowed to make choices growing up so now that his father,” she spit the word out with disgust, “is gone, I’m going to let him decide his next move. He wants to help, but he’s looking for a teaching job.  He’s thinking of doing both for a while.  I’m hoping I can convince him it’ll be okay for him to focus on him.  It isn’t ‘abandoning’ me if he does.

“But, that's what's taking so long.  I can work from almost anywhere.  I’d prefer to be near a big city, but really, it isn’t necessary. It’s harder to find a place he'd like to teach and we want to live.”

“If he isn't part of your business...” Dick started, trying to figure out her motivation.

“We come as a set,” she said definitively and took a bite, staring him down as if daring him to challenge her.  “He’s my emotional support grimalkin.”

“Will your future romantic partner, if you want one, be okay with that?” Damian demanded.

Marinette shrugged.  She could feel Jason tensing next to her at Damian’s tone, but she wasn’t too bothered by it.  “They will be or they won't be.”

“Those are the options, yes,” Damian deadpanned.

“Demon Spawn…” Jason hissed.

“I meant,” Marinette cut in before Jason could continue the fight he wanted to start, “they will be okay with it or they won't be my romantic partner.  Adrien and I have been through a lot.  We feel safest when the other is near, at least close enough to come running if there’s a problem.  If someone can’t understand that about me, then I don’t need them in my life.”

Bruce nodded and gave her an understanding smile. “We should invite him next time.”

Marinette nodded in agreement.  “He’d love that.  He’s dying to meet you all.”

Bruce took another bite before coming up with an idea.  “If he’s thinking of being part of your business anyway, why don’t you bring him with you when you do the commission?  We can have a family dinner afterword.”

“That’s a great idea.  I’ll check with him,” Marinette nodded.  “And apparently, as long as he doesn’t talk about pineapples with you guys,” she gave Jason a pointed look, “it should be fine.”

Tim groaned.  “No.  No! I’m not having this conversation again.” He glared at Dick.  “Pineapple is the most disgusting topping to put on a pizza.”

Dick gasped dramatically.  “You take that back!”

“It’s worse than sardines,” Tim hissed.  “It’s an abomination.  It’s an insult to pizzas.”

“How dare you!  Pineapple is amazing.  It adds a sweetness that perfectly contrasts the saltiness you get from other ingredients!” Dick defended.

Marinette blinked a few times as Dick continued to sing the praises of pineapple on pizza before she leaned over and whispered to Jason.  “You weren’t joking.”

“Nope,” he said popping the p.  “Told you it always finds a way to come up.”

“It came up because you mentioned it,” Marinette deadpanned.  “Literally you’re the reason it came up.”

He shook his head as if he didn’t hear her.  “It always finds a way.  It’s like sorcery.”

Chapter 13

Tags:

@maribat-bdbwm @jayjayspixiepop @redscarlet95 @alice-hazelwood @deathssilentapproach-blog @unoriginalmess @alyssadeliv @emotionalsupportginger @frieddonutsweets @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks @toodaloo-kangaroo @colorfulmongerpsychicranch @iloontjeboontje @wolf-for-life @maribatserver @aespades @prettylittlebutterflie @imarivers8  @ certainmuffinbagelcalzone @ritacrow-blog @unoriginalmess @demonicbusiness @kking13 @lady-bee-fechin @blur-of-colours @kittenmywaythrulife @kashlyn @loysydark

[lunar-wandering]

Delirium

@smallpwbbles happy birthday, take some delirious Wukong-

Word Count: 2k

Read on Ao3

-

MK paused in a mixture of shock, horror, and awe as he took in the sight before him.

Pigsy had his head in his hands, looking for all the world like he was totally done with the situation. Tang was standing beside him, trying to hide his increasingly obvious laughter. Mei had no such qualms, and was laughing out loud, practically on the verge of literally rolling around on the floor. Red Son stood next to her, holding up Mei's phone, which seemed to be recording, the fire demon trying desperately to look neutral to the situation, but a small smirk on the edge of his lips betrayed him, revealing his amusement. Sandy stood slightly off to the side, holding a blanket, ready to step in at any time.

And Macaque stood ramrod straight, appearing to be somewhere between 'embarrassed' and 'would somebody please strike me down already'- as Wukong leaned against him, saying a series of sloppily put together compliments.

MK took a deep breath, speed-running all five stages of grief in under an instant. (Possibly a new record for him.)

"I left. For five minutes." He said, taking note of how some places on the deck seemed to be dented, and was that smoke coming from over there? "How, exactly, did things end up like this?"

He received no answer, the others having jumped and turned to stare at him when he had spoken, having not noticed his return.

...Wait, where did Wukong-

"MK." Wukong said, and MK did his best not to jump as the delirious Monkey King appeared beside him out of nowhere and put a hand on MK's shoulder. "My, my dear su- ......succulent.....?"

"Successor." MK corrected, trying to ignore how the others were barely restraining their laughter. (Macaque, at least, looked somewhat sympathetic, but he also looked far more grateful for the fact that Wukong's attention had shifted away from him.)

"That's, yes. That's the word, yes." Wukong said, before grabbing hold of MK's cheeks, squishing them a little as he made sure MK was looking at him. "I am so proud of you."

"...Thanks?" MK said, questionably, pulling himself out of Wukong's grip. Wukong briefly glanced at his hands, seemingly confused as to where his successor had gone. "Monkey King- I'm right here. You should really be resting, until whatever this is gets out of your system-"

"Red Son!" Wukong exclaimed, the aforementioned fire demon making an audible noise of terror, slipping to hide behind Mei as Wukong spun around to face him-

Only to trip over his own two feet, slamming into the deck, denting it ever so slightly.

...For about the twenty-third time that day.

Sandy took this as his time to move forwards, gently laying the blanket down on top of Wukong, before announcing that he was going to try and make some more healing tea, (Wukong had dumped the first pot of it over the side of the ship, claiming that it was 'too bitter', 'wouldn't work anyways', and complaining that it didn't 'taste like peaches'), and the river demon left, going back down inside of the airship, leaving the others without his calming presence.

"...Okay guys, while Monkey King is....asleep..." MK wasn't even actually sure if Wukong was asleep, but he'd stopped moving and had become utterly silent since slamming into the deck, so- "I suggest we make it so that he doesn't hurt himself or us with anything on the ship." 

"What, are you suggesting we should baby-proof the entire ship?" Pigsy asked.

"...More like 'Monkey King-proof', but yes, actually, that is exactly what I am suggesting." MK said, "We're going to need to cover all of our bases-"

"Uh, kid?" Macaque interrupted, grabbing MK's attention by lightly tapping on his shoulder. "If you're going to Monkey King-proof the ship, you uh, might want to start with the railing."

He pointed to the edge of the ship, and MK followed his gaze to see-

"Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me." MK said, just catching the barest, tiniest glimpse of Wukong, wearing the blanket around his shoulders like a cape, leaping over the side of the ship. "That's the fifth time he's done that today."

-

It wasn't all that hard to find him again. All they had to do was follow the destruction a delirious, overpowered monkey leaves behind.

Or at least, that was MK, Mei, and Macaque's strategy, up until they stumbled upon a perfectly normal, entirely untouched clearing.

"...What do we do now?" Mei asked, and Macaque made to give an answer-

Only to have to jump back, barely avoiding being impaled as Wukong suddenly appeared out of the surrounding woods, carrying a rather large tree. He had twigs, leaves, and dirt all throughout his fur. The blanket was seemingly missing, but neither MK, Mei, nor Macaque really wanted to find out where it had gone. The group of three took a cautious step back as Wukong locked eyes with them.

"Wanna see how up I can lift this tree?" He said, already lifting said tree above his head. (Everyone ignored how he'd seemingly forgotten the word 'high'.) MK and Mei shared a look as Mei slowly pulled out her phone, opening up the camera.

"I mean, we really shouldn't, but..." MK said, and Wukong beamed, shifting to hold the tree with one hand, taking the chance to show off. MK and Mei 'ooh'ed and 'awe'd appropriately, but Macaque rolled his eyes and looked away.

Which cause him to miss seeing the exact moment when Wukong's strength faltered, the tree falling upon the Monkey King's back, pinning him to the ground.

Macaque certainly didn't miss Wukong's screech of terror though.

MK and Mei had froze in shock, but Macaque reacted instantly, running over to the pinned monkey. The panicked mutters of "Not again, not again, please not again-" left little doubt as to what was currently going through Wukong's mind.

Macaque practically sent the tree flying in his rush to get it off of the other, and, not knowing was else to do when that didn't immediately quell Wukong's panic, flipped him over, desperately hoping that seeing the wide open sky, with no mountain in sight, would calm the Monkey King down.

And, well, it must've done something, as Wukong quieted, blankly staring up at the sky, without blinking.

"...Are you....okay?" Macaque asked, fearing that he had made things worse as he kneeled down beside him.

"...Have I... ever told you that you have beautiful eyes?" Wukong muttered, and Macaque paused.

"Ah- no. No." Macaque said, standing up. "No, we are not doing this again- MK, come get your stupid mentor, we're going back to the ship."

-

"MK- hey- hey kid-"

"What is it now, Monkey King?" MK sighed, tired. It had been unanimous that Wukong could no longer go even seconds without being supervised, and now had to be watched at all times. MK, unfortunately, had gotten the short end of the stick and had been chosen for the first watch, (They had drawn straws, and he had not missed the sighs of relief from the others, nor had he missed how Macaque had magically changed the length of the straws. He swore he'd get that shadow monkey back somehow), which of course meant that he was the first to have to put up with the delirious Wukong's complete and utter bullshit.

"Um- Would, do you think Macaque's fur tastes bitter like his rationality?" Wukong asked, from where he was laying on his back, on the couch, yet another of Sandy's blankets set on top of him. (They'd tried to cocoon him, but after enough protesting they'd given up on it for now).

"Wh-" MK started, confused, turning the sentence over in his head to make sense of it before responding. "...First of all, no, I think it would just taste like hair, second of all, did you mean to say personality?"

"....Yes...." Wukong said, slowly, before a wicked smirk came over his face, and MK felt fear settle into his bones. "Do you wanna see me make a hair buddy-"

"No!" MK yelled, and he may have lost all his powers, including his enhanced speed, but you wouldn't have known it from the way he practically flew to stop Wukong from blowing on his hair. "You are not going to be making any clones any time soon, okay? Monkey King I need you to look at me and confirm that you will not make any hair clones while you're delirious."

"...I will not make hair buddies while I'm serious." Wukong said, and MK sighed.

"Good enough, I guess." He said, sitting back down in his chair, slumping, momentarily closing his eyes in exasperation.

When he opened them again, Wukong was gone.

"Fuck-" MK said, jumping up and spinning around-

Only to see Wukong on the other side of the room, curled up on top of the other couch. He'd somehow gotten more blankets than before too, MK was certain there had only been two in the room before, but now there appeared to be at least seven.

MK didn't want to question where and how Wukong had gotten them.

What he would like to know though, was-

"...Why did you move to the other couch?" MK dared to ask, prompting Wukong to stick his head out of the pile of blankets he had buried himself in.

"Cause this one's more soft! The other one's too....too..." He seemed to blank on the word 'stiff', and instead said; "Boney. Boney couch. Bouch."

MK took a deep breath, trying to keep himself from breaking down then and there. It was, of course, at this moment, that he noticed Red Son try to sneak pass the open the door and down the hallway.

MK didn't let him.

"Red Son!" He said, rushing over (never taking his eyes off of Wukong), and looping his arm around the demon's. Red Son squeaked, but MK ignored it as he dragged him over to stand in front of Wukong. "Perfect timing, I think it was about time for me to have a little break, y'know? Would you mind watching him for me for a moment?"

Red Son was about to say no- but the look on his face, the look of someone who was oh so close to Losing It made him reconsider.

"...Sure..." Red Son said, slowly, "So long as it's only for a bit-"

"Cool! Thanks!" MK said, immediately letting go, turning and practically sprinting out of the room. "Good luck!"

Red Son had the ever looming sense that he had just doomed himself.

(He should have never accepted their offer to join them on the ship. But dammit, MK had offered some of that spicy candy he knew Red Son liked, and the fire demon just couldn't have refused.)

For a few blissful minutes, it was silent, Red Son staring at Wukong in apprehension, while Wukong hardly seemed to have noticed that anything had changed at all, still snugly wrapped in his nest of blankets.

And then Wukong lifted his head, a questioning expression on his face.

"...Does blue exist?" He asked, and a look that was somewhere between exasperation and pure terror made it's way onto Red Son's face.

"Noodle Boy, hurry up with your break and get back in here, your mentor's going existential!" He yelled, looking in the direction MK had gone, desperately hoping that the other would come back and save him from this fate.

"You can handle it!" MK's voice called faintly.

"...If blue doesn't exist......Then red doesn't exist......so does that mean you don't exist?" Wukong asked, under his breath, looking at Red Son with fear.

"I most certainly can not handle this!" Red Son yelled, "Could somebody please get over here?"

Nobody answered his call. Red Son honestly hadn't expected them to.

After all, he would've made the exact same choice.

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, trying to figure out how to respond to the monkey that currently seemed to be having an existential crisis.

Only to jump as he heard an ear shattering scream of frustration ring through the ship.

This had the fortune of snapping Wukong out of his crisis, instead having him simply look confused. Red Son ignored the faint shouts from Macaque's room (something about 'fuck you've got a serious pair of lungs' and 'warn a guy next time') as he tried to calm himself down from the sudden scare.

Geez. MK had seriously needed that break.