#they totally haven't all got weapons

[purplehaired-revenant]

Happy Wintersday from the Shadow Falcons

[deadsetobsessions]

Snart Jr.

Lovely prompt by @stealingyourbones in her long prompts list, in which Danny Phantom meets the Rogues of Central City! This will have multiple parts, I just haven't written them yet.

Disclaimer: I know very little about Captain Cold and Mirror Master despite having watched some of the Flash. The general vibe I get from Flash is that Flash just really cares about his rogues as evidenced by how he talks to them and doesn't immediately one-shot them like I'm pretty sure he could do. And that Captain Cold is a snarky asshole that just wants to steal things and follow his plans as planned? Tbh, the whole mini-arc/episode with him just felt like Snart was trying to coordinate the world's riskiest group project. He was so done by the end lmao

"Huh. That's new."

Danny hovered an inch off of the ground, having just been spat out by swirling green portal. He was going to have to get back to the Zone later to hot potato Skulker through a couple of portals in revenge. He had a math exam he had to study for, dammit.

Danny sighed. Might as well see what's happening. The portals rarely lead somewhere boring, and Danny was bored. He floated further in, form going intangible and invisible as he passed through thick but insulated marble walls. See, Jazz? He could totally plan ahead. He's also learning that he could probably rob a bank easily, but Danny would never.

"Never been spat out in a bank before," he hummed, eyes flickering on the numerous forms of cowering people in the lobby. The goons scattered about don't see him, but it would take another ghost to even detect his presence so it was to be expected. He moved further in with little hindrance and soon touched down onto polished floor behind two incredibly suspicious individuals.

"What-cha do-ing?"

The two figures, currently and obviously robbing a bank, whirled around in surprise. Their respective weapons whirred to a start before they stopped, baffled by the meta teen standing there with his white hair waving about and innocent look pasted all over his face.

Leonard Snart knew instinctively that the kid was so full of shit. He'd bet his entire plan on the fact that the kid knew exactly what kind of shit he was stirring. Still, Snart was guilty of a lot of things but direct child-endangerment wasn't ever one of them.

"How'd you get in here, kid?" Mirror Master raised his laser pistol, ready to distract and divert the kid with threats of violence- which Snart glared at him for- or with his hall of mirrors that he'd run to.

Danny shrugged. "I walked. If you guys didn't want me here, you should have guarded the place better."

"They were supposed to," Snart drawled. He cased the kid. Teen. The kid had a weird halo effect, that seemed to draw the eyes to the stylized letter on his hazmat suit. The kid was young. Meta. Non-hostile. "You trying to stop us?"

Danny shook his head. "Nah. Came from the Ghost Zone so 's really non'a my business. I was just being nosy."

Snart gave a curt nod and nudged Mirror Master back into cracking the security measures.

Mirror Master scoffed. "What the hell is a ghost zone?"

"I mean, it's pretty self explanatory, right? It's a zone where ghosts live. Hence, you know, Ghost Zone." Danny did a little jazz hands (oh, yeah, he was definitely gonna get Jazz to make that joke sooner or later) for emphasis.

Snart paused for the slightest bit before continuing with his task. Did ghosts exist?

"...Did the Flash send you here, kid?"

"I'm not a kid," Danny scowled, walking right up to them. He got enough of that from his own Rogues, thank you. "And what's a Flash?"

"The Flash, kid." Mirror Master corrected, shoving monitors and PC's and expensive looking office chairs into... a mirror dimension? Danny shrugged and rolled with it.

"Who's that? Your boss?"

"Local superhero, not our boss. You're not from here," Snart quickly deduced as a small smile wormed onto his face from successfully cracking the security without setting off an alarm. They'd have ten minutes before the system cycles the access codes again and flags the fraudulent ones. That should be enough time.

"Superhero? Are they fast? Actually, where is here?" Danny glanced around at the now bare security office like the Flash would show up.

The guy in green and yellow took everything not nailed down to the ground. Danny respected that, even if he kind of wanted to stop the robbery. But he's not really supposed to interfere. That would be uber rude, since it looked like the guy in the fur jacket seemed like he had planned everything precisely.

"You're in Central City, kid. Did you take a wrong turn trying to get to Keystone or something?" Green-yellow guy snorted.

"Gonna be real honest with you, I've got no idea where that is. What state are we in?" Danny followed as the pair rushed to the safe doors. He could offer to phase them through but no matter how flexible Danny's morals have become over the years, he was going to draw a line at actively helping a person commit crime.

"Kansas. Do you teleport? Are you a teleporting meta?" Snart asked, eyes intense as he both glared at Danny and pressed an ear to the safe door.

"Nah, I wish I could teleport. Getting to school would be so much faster. Kansas? Huh, I've never been."

"How lost are you, kid?" Mirror Master incredulously paused from robbing the packages that were delivered to the bank.

Danny shrugged. "Oh, I'm Danny. Who are you guys?"

"Captain Cold. That's Mirror Master."

Danny shifted as the safe clicks open. "So, uh, are you guys the villains here?"

Captain Cold shot him a weird look. "We're actively robbing a bank, kid. That should be obvious."

"Also, you're acting real calm for a kid speaking to two of Fawcett's best super-villains." Mirror Master chimed in, laser-ing off locks on deposit boxes and shoving cash and stuff into his mirror dimension.

Danny padded in after them. "Eh, you haven't shot at me- not even on sight- yet, which is more than I can say for law enforcement, so you're pretty chill in my book."

Captain Cold snorted, pointedly taking his freeze gun and breaking off a large manual lock. "I believe it's my job to be the chill one. Plus, we don't kill. The Flash would be up our... business if we did. It's not worth the trouble."

"You can say ass. I've heard worse."

"Not from me, kid."

Danny hadn't had that kind of consideration from anyone in a long time. Even if it's a bit... mother-hennish, the halfa couldn't find it in him to be annoyed. "Ah, okay. Well, you also haven't kidnapped me or tried to stop me from following you, so..."

Mirror Master shoved a giant painting into his dimension. "You haven't tried to stop us; it'd be weird trying to stop you."

"Makes sense."

"Heh. You're alright, kid. Though... who's kidnapping you?"

"My fruit loop of a godfather. It's a thing," Danny avoided the searching gaze like a pro.

"Hold this." Captain Cold said suddenly, giving Danny a massive dufflebag.

"Wait, what?"

Captain Cold began stuffing the bag with cash and once the money in the vicinity (not that much) went in, he said "Go look around. Having another person in here is a risk so you might as well make up for it."

Danny's calling it. Captain Cold was full of shit. The guy's a big softie. Danny smiled sheepishly and agreed. Danny circled the place, pointing out expensive looking stuff- "for fun" and not because they were nice to him- when he felt the tell-tale zaps of an anomaly in Clockwork's domain.

"Move!" He shouted at the two villains, both of whom dove out of the way. Instinctively, Danny threw out his gloved hands and iced the floors, instincts bristling at the incoming danger. His jaw dropped as a blur encountered the ice and went ass over tea kettle onto the floor, unable to stop its own momentum.

"Oh shit!" Danny uttered, eyes wide as the blur slammed into the opposite- reinforced- wall with a pained shout. The stopped person was wearing red, with a lighting bolt motif all over their uniforms. That implied speed. Speed implied "The Flash." Danny knew a hero when he saw one and he just iced him. Shit.

"What-" The Flash groaned. Mirror Master and Captain Cold gaped.

"OhmyancientsI'msosorrygottagobye!" Danny shouted.

"Hey, wait, kid-!" Captain Cold shouted. Danny ignored him, going invisible in a panic and sank into the ground, mortified. After thirty seconds of self-hatred, he zoomed out and away. Danny held his head in his hands as he flew back to where Amity was...

Only to stare down at the empty plots of land where his city was supposed to be. Danny shoved a hand into his chest and pulled out his phone.

[No results for Amity Park. Did you mean "Amity Arkham"?]

"What."

Any research he did after that only turned up a Jasmine Fellona, a budding neurobiologist in her field, and other people that were adjacent to the people Danny knew. But nothing, nothing from Amity Park.

"Oh, yeah, we're definitely not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy."

---

As the Flash stood around to keep an eye on the hand-cuffed villains, he couldn't help but ask.

"So, uh, Snart. Did you... get a kid?"

"What." Snart asked, incredibly done with this shit.

"You know. Snart junior? With the ice and everything?" Flash gestured at the un-melting ice that covered the floor leading into the safe. "I mean, I'm not thrilled you're pulling your kid into a life of crime..."

"No."

"Wait, you had a kid and didn't tell me?" Mirror Master asked, mildly offended. "That was your kid? No wonder no one shot at him!"

"He's not my kid." Snart gave Flash the stink-eye. "And don't you have a couple of baby sidekicks running around?"

"C'mon dude, you're so obviously fond of him. It's okay, you don't have to hide it." Flash avoided the topic... in a flash.

"Can someone arrest me right now so these idiots can be removed from my vicinity?" Snart snarked to the approaching officer, jerking his head to point at the beaming Flash.

"You and me both, buddy," Officer West sighed.

---

One trip to the zone and a stressful conversation with Clockwork later, Danny was found in his keep, smacking his ghost head into the ghost wall of his ghost keep. Danny would unleash a Wail if it didn't have the nasty habit of bringing everything around him.

Apparently, he got "Amity'd," a process which meant Amity spat him out like an over chewed dog bone and refused to take him back.

"That doesn't even make sense! I left there a bunch of times! And came back!"

"The city has decided that it was your time to leave, Danny." Clockwork spared a wane smile for the curled up boy-king.

"I have people to protect there! My entire life! My haunt!" Danny yelled, breaths that he didn't technically need coming shorter and shorter. The neon green of the Zone whirled in and out of his vision in a dizzying shudder of anxiety and incoming panic.

"It wasn't your haunt, I'm afraid. The city nurtured you as a young spirit- thus shared her haunt- and has decided that it was time for you to... leave the nest, so to speak."

That stopped Danny's panic in its tracks. "Are you telling me she NightVale-d me? Some kind of involuntary coming-of-age bs?"

If he weren't on the edge of hysterical laughter, Danny would take a moment and proudly say to Mr. Lancer that he had paid attention in class.

"...Yes."

"Fuck." Danny dropped his head down in despair. His head made a loud thunk. The bag of cash he'd accidently made away with sat innocently at his feet. Further proof that it wasn't some nightmare he'd wake up from anytime soon.

---

Danny slumped over the desk, exhausted. Technus had lent him a ghostly hand and hacked into government data bases to re-establish his social security number and all the other dumb bits and bobs that he needed to establish his identity because Amity was an actual ghost town. Ghost to reality, ghost to real life. Ancients, Amity even had their own data network, which he couldn't access outside of Amity itself. This meant that Danny couldn't even call anyone. Ugh.

"I gotta find a place to live," he mumbled to himself. Danny, despite knowing that he needed to do things, did not move for another ten minutes.

Then, as his phone alarm went off, buzzing on the table. Like... Clockwork... Danny sat up straight and wiped all traces of wallowing self pity off his face. The people in the library- students- gave him solemn nods of solidarity. Danny nodded back and left the library.

He wandered around Fawcett City, somewhere Clockwork had recommended he stayed. With Clockwork, recommendations tended to be life-important (plot-important?) orders. Danny liked the place, really. It gave off the weird and settled "what-the-fuck,-Box-Ghost-did-you-have-to-destroy-the-mall?" vibes Amity constantly gave off after the ghosts started coming through. He thought he even saw a talking tiger! Awesome.

"Hey, are you new here?"

Danny looked down. His reflection stared back at him.

Did he have another kid? Did someone clone him again? Ancients curse you, Vlad!

"Uh- yeah."

"Oh. Do you need help getting around? I was born and raised here all my life, so I can totally do that!"

Oh thank the Ancients, this wasn't another Dani. Just a weirdly similar looking kid.

"You know I'm a stranger, right?"

"I don't think anyone helping Nanny Mae pick up her oranges would hurt kids," the kid said archly, but with a grin so like Dani, it made Danny miss his younger sister.

"Okay, you got me there. But still."

The kid sighed. "I know how to be safe, thanks. I'm Billy!"

"Danny. Nice to meet you."

"Okay, Danny, where you off to?"

"I'm actually trying to find a place that'll be cheap to rent." He's sixteen, but Danny could totally pass as eighteen. "I'm thinking about moving to Fawcett. It's nice here, with all the ambient magic and stuff."

This got him a wide-eyed look. "Do you use magic?"

"Something like that."

"Cool."

Danny took in the considering glint in Billy's eyes and decided that it was future!Danny's problem. Present!Danny was currently occupied with trying to stay off the streets. That giant bag of cash he'd accidently absconded with would be helpful and Danny felt kind of bad... but his growling stomach had chased that away quickly.

"This way!"

Danny shrugged his wavering morality off and followed the kid, shouldering his new and stolen duffle bag. If anything happened, he could just go ghost. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing that's happened in this city, Danny made sure to check.

"Have you been by the zoo?" Billy began to rattle off his favorite details about the Fawcett city zoo as he wove around the city.

Danny didn't think he'd actually have to go ghost.

"Not yet, actually. Is it true that there's a talking tiger there?"

"Yeah! Tawky Tawny! He's my friend!"

"Awesome."

[minus-plus-zer0]

Tattoos

♡ Genre: Fluff ♡ Pairing: Bakugou x Reader ♡ Tags: Established relationships, aged up

Many Japanese establishments didn't look too kindly to those who publicly wore tattoos, so Bakugou never thought of getting one. He's always surprisingly straight-edge like that. But you often wondered to yourself what Bakugou would look like with tattoos running across his biceps and forearms, or even against his back. It wouldn't hurt. He'd look great leaning more into his 'bad boy' aesthetic.

One day, when you two were at home together, you pulled out a sharpie and snuck up on him while he sat on the couch. Naturally, he eyed you with great suspicion.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he said, immediately on guard.

"Nothing," you said, sitting down next to him and pulling off the cap.

"You're fucking doing something!" he cried. "You're definitely doing something."

Bakugou got defensive, ready for any kind of horrible assault you could unleash upon his pure, innocent self.

"Relax, Katsuki. I just wanna see your arms."

"Perv." He perked up with a smirk. "'Course you wanna see my arms. You always wanna see my arms."

You pinched his cheek and he wriggled out of your grasp. "Could it kill you to be humble for once? I'm not a pervert, I just thought it'd be super cute if you got some new tattoos!"

"Hold it!" He grabbed both of your wrists. "What the fuck are you gonna draw on me?"

"Oh honey, I didn't think that far ahead yet. But trust me, it will be very pretty and very, very you!" You nuzzled his nose.

He glowered at you, unmoving after your nose assaulted his. But he couldn't say no to you after that eskimo kiss, it was so cute it could've been illegal. You knew this and weaponized your cuteness regularly.

"Fucking fine," he said, freeing your wrists from his iron grip. "But only the arms. And I'll be watching you." His eyes narrowed into slits.

"Who me?" You looked at him innocently and totally oblivious to whatever could've made him suspicious of you. "Don't worry Katsuki, I'll be gentle..."

"Sure you will."

You soon got to work, your ideas soon taking form. Bakugou adored how the artsy side of your brain worked on his body. Regardless of the quality, he enjoyed seeing you could decorate his arms with your vision. Without you pranking him or drawing anything absurd, this felt a little intimate.

Your hands moved quickly, sharpie running across the hard sculptures of his bicep and forearms. Your black designs accentuated his muscles, and your non-drawing hand loved feeling up his arms as you curled up on the couch beside your man.

Bakugou just watched you. Less like a hawk, and more lovingly. You looked so pretty with your head tilted down, focused and deep in thought. He kissed the crown of your head just to distract you. You ignored him and persevered.

"All done!"

Your design was simple yet long, curly in all the right places. It really emphasized all the right contours of his muscles. Bakugou flexed his arm and turned it around, checking it out.

"Not fucking bad," he said. "Seriously thought you were gonna prank me again."

"I couldn't pass up seeing you with some tattoos," you said. "You'd look hot with tattoos all over."

"Perv." He poked you on the nose, giving you another lopsided-grin. He cocked his head. "You just wanna draw all over me, is that it?"

"Aw come on, can you blame me? I'm a little artist."

"No, I think you got the right idea. Gimme the sharpie, I wanna draw something myself..."

(I'm in a writing rut so I haven't been posting a lot lately but I will post more fics within the upcoming days!)

[nyarumie]

hey axia ｡⁠◕⁠‿⁠◕⁠｡

enjoy the start of your semester, before uni gets crazy!! I loved your previous works, so I'll just slip into your inbox while the requests are open:3

What do you think would make Hoshina blush, or like, properly flustered?!

(be it headcanon, scenario, or whatever else you feel like, if anything:))

have a great day 🔆

Heart in Your Hands

hoshina soshiro x reader — fluff, comfort, they're both deeply in love, (god me when), short and sweet, established relationship

Author's Reply: Hi, thank you anon! I hope this work caters well to your request; finally got the time to work on something (which hopefully helps with my writer's block)

Reblogs and likes are appreciated! Please view my pinned and masterlist too (⁠◡⁠ ⁠ω⁠ ⁠◡⁠)

Trying to get Soshiro to blush is definitely rarer than a blue moon. Trust me, even his own platoon of talented rookies tried catching him off-guard — it's just near impossible!

Keyword: Near impossible. That's where you enter the picture.

As a Platoon Leader, you do your best to be a figure of inspiration to your officers, thus keeping up your facade of a strict mentor; but honestly—you’re not fooling anyone, you're totally a softie! Despite your personal ‘no-distractions-during-work’ policy, obvious signs of your feelings for the Vice Captain naturally slip out occasionally. Still, you refuse to get your relationship in the way of your work.

Behind closed doors lie the reserved intimacy and affection you held for him. He won't ever admit it, but he sometimes pushes himself too hard, hard enough to have scars and calluses all over his hands from his intense training, and you can only imagine how tight and desperate his grip is on his personalized close combat weapon.

He’s always desperate to prove his worth, desperate to keep the only thing that gives meaning to his existence, and you know that your words are not enough to quell the distress behind each swing and slash of his blades.

That's why you do what you know will calm him best—love him just as fierce as he swings those blades of his.

You caught him training again one night, exhaustion evident on his form. The adrenaline coursing through his body has yet to be quenched, and you know you have to do your magic to get him to rest.

“Soshiro. You're here again. One more night of this and you’ll really strain your body.” you softly said, concern evident in your voice.

He stopped midway his slash, breath heaving as he turned to face you. “Can't rest easy when the rookie officers are a whole ‘nother level, dear. If I don't do this, I doubt I’ll be able to get even the slightest hit on No. 9.”

Sighing, you made your way to him. “Put your weapon down for a while, please? Let me at least do something for you.”

Doing as you asked, he kept them somewhere safe and curiously stood in front of you again. He gave you an inquisitive look, patiently waiting for what you're planning to do.

You took his hands and caressed them, slowly feeling the roughness and evidence of all the nights he's spent bruising himself up just to get even stronger. You move his hands so that his palms are facing you, his eyes widening at your next move.

He felt a soft, careful kiss touch each of his palms, followed by a kiss to each of his fingertips.

He thinks his ears are on fire with how hot it's burning.

“W-what are ya doing, dear? I haven't cleaned my hands up!”

You entwined your hands with his before he could even pull them away, thinking that he didn't like what you just did. “I’m sorry, did I make you uncomf— Oh.”

Oh, indeed. The sight that greeted you when you turned your face up to see him is… remarkable. You can't believe the Third Division’s Vice Captain would be blushing over his significant other tenderly kissing his rough, tired hands.

“Ya didn't have to do that… I know you love me plenty! And please stop gripping on my hands harder, ya aren't letting me turn away!”

You snort. “Of course I won't let you. This is a rare sight. Still, I didn't know something like that could get you severely flustered.” you said, a hint of pride in your tone.

“Told ya I haven't cleaned ‘em up. I was holdin’ those nasty blades moments ago.”

“Ah, excuses. Just say you liked the kisses more than you expected. I’ll let you off this one time and say it's just out of exhaustion.” you giggled.

Your expression turned soft and serious again, now hugging him. His arms wrapped around you, a tired sigh coming from him. “You do so much for me, ya know that? I thought I was gonna explode earlier. Don't know what I did to deserve ya.”

“Mhm, ‘Shiro. You have no idea how at a loss I am sometimes to do something for you. I want to shoulder at least a piece of your burden, want you to share your pain with me without worrying about whether I can take it. Because I will, just for you. I’ll hold your hand whatever happens and stand side by side with you. All I ask is that you take care of yourself.”

He let out a soft laugh of relief. “I should be sayin’ these things to you. I hope ya know how amazing you are to me.”

You both pulled away from the hug, him taking a hand of yours in his. “Let's get some rest. Don't wanna worry my princess over here.”

Smiling in content, you nod your head at him. “Thank you, Soshiro.”

[erindrinkstea]

Please Please Please

Poly! Dark! 141 x Reader

TW: Dark Themes, Spicy Themes, Possessive Behavior, Obsessive Behavior, Violence, Blood, Death.

Description, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Main Masterlist | CoD Masterlist

Note: At the moment, I have Reader's codename as Bullet but comment if you want it changed and if you have any ideas?

"How's it looking on your side, Gaz?" Your Captain's voice questioned from the radio. There was a short second of static before the sargeant responded. "It's looking fine on my side, Captain."

Your team was dispersed in the middle of a forest in Sweden. You were looking for a hidden facility somewhere here.

Your task was to find this facility, eliminate the assailants, rescue the hostages, and secure their biological weapons.

"How's everyone's status?" Price asked again after a few moments.

"Haven't found anything yet."

"Not a facility in sight."

"I'm fucking freezing, shite."

You smiled a little, resisting a laugh from Soap's comment. Always a little humor coming from the Scot.

"Bullet?" Hearing your codename being called, you forgot to reply. "Something in the distance but still not sure. I'm closing in to get a better look." You reported.

"I'm heading to your location to have a see as well. Continue with caution, Bullet." Ghost ordered. His gruff voice brought shivers down your spine. It didn't help that you were basically ice in these weather conditions.

Once you were near enough, you could finally confirm that you've found what your team was looking for. "Confirm. I found the facility, waiting for Ghost." You radio in.

"Almost there. Start walking." Ghost commanded and you didn't hesitate as you slowly moved forwards.

The facility was not as big as you thought it would be. Then again, it wasn't so small either.

You stopped before you could walk out into the open, peeking to see a couple of men holding guns patrolling around the area.

"Hostiles, about eight of them around patrolling." You reported.

"Don't initiate. Try to find a way to sneak in without alerting them." Price ordered.

"I see the facility as well now, Captain. I think that's gonna be a little hard seeing as there are a couple cameras as well." Soap sighed.

"I'm with Bullet." You almost jumped, not even noticing that Ghost was already standing behind you.

"How many hostiles in total you think, Ghost?" Gaz asked. "Not that big of a facility. It's not the numbers I'm worried about though." Ghost glared at the building.

"It's the hostages. There were estimated 15 hostages taken." Gaz completed his thoughts.

"If I cause a distraction, think any of you could slip in?" Soap asked. "Bullet. Gaz." That's all Price needed to say as you prepared yourself to quickly sneak inside.

"Ready when you are, Soap." You could hear the grin in Gaz's voice.

"Always am." As soon as those words were said, a fire soon spread through the trees to your opposite side.

"I think you might piss of Mother Nature with all the chaos you often cause. " Ghost commented as you wait for the guards to move away towards the commotion before bolting it towards the facility.

Ghost sniped down a couple of the cameras, taking them all down just as you reached the facility.

"I'm here. I'm going in." You reported. You busted open the door with your gun, shooting down the two unsuspecting hostiles by the front.

Their dead bodies slumped to the floor quietly while you sneaked inside as silent as you could.

It seems that no one was alarmed of what was happening outside seeing as no one had greeted you with weapons yet.

"In as well. Got my eyes on the hostages." Gaz reported back.

"Alright. Hostiles outside have been dealt with. We're moving in as well." Price huffed.

"Some of the hostages are missing. There's only 10 here." Gaz cursed beneath his breath.

"I think I found your missing hostages, Gaz." You were still in your position. Earlier while you scoped around the area, you found a way downstairs and found a closed off underground lab.

The facility was small from the outside but the lab underground was huge. There were a lot of people in coats wandering about with more guards surrounding the area.

It wasn't the number of people that had you frozen in your place though. It was the 5 hostages. You could see them strapped down in operation tables, mouths gagged and wires connected to them. These people in coats would inject something in them every minute and list down whatever in their clipboards.

Those who injected stuff in the hostages wore full on protection gear before going in the room with the hostages. "I think I know where their biological weapons are as well."

These fuckers... They were experimenting on people. They had them strapped down and gagged, treating them like animals.

"Bullet, what do you mean?" Price needed a clarification. More details to the situation.

"They're experimenting on them. They have the hostages tied down, gagged and poked with wires while they shove whatever shit they made down their bloodstream." You cursed, your voice shaking with anger.

The radio went silent for a minute. "Don't do anything reckless. Wait for us." Price ordered.

"I have to do something." You whispered. "She's going to die." You looked frightened as this one hostage, this woman screamed in her place. Her body seized in pain while she cried red. Was that blood? Was she crying blood? "They're going to die if I do nothing."

"He's going to die again." You gasped, struggling to anchor yourself to reality. Suddenly, you weren't in the underground lab anymore. You were in a basement. You were strapped down to a chair. Your sargeant was strapped down to a table. He was blindfolded and gagged but you weren't.

You watched and sobbed as they-

A blur of a body moving past you quickly interrupted your spiraling thoughts. You blinked, turning your head to watch Soap go in, guns blazing as he aimed for the guards.

"Shit- Soap!" Price grumbled at the recklessness of his sargeant. He followed behind him nonetheless. Your lips twitched a small smile, what a Soap thing to do.

You followed behind your Captain as well, holding your gun up as you aimed for hostiles. You smiled as bodies came crashing down the floor with every shot.

"The Hostages." Price yelled, you nodded as you turned your focus to the hostages. You were covered anyways so you don't have to worry about protective gear- still, you grabbed a mask laying in the counter and put it on.

"Hello, sweetheart." You cooed at the woman laying on the table, removing her gag. "Hi. They've been here longer than me. You need to help them first." She hiccuped. She reminded you of your old sargeant.

She reminded you of Cori. Your brave sargeant, always thinking of others first. It's a pity he never made it out alive in that basement. But she will. This woman will and she will not end up like Cori.

You swear it. There will never be another Cori, not under your watch.

You carefully unstrapped her, unhooked the wires and took one of the protective gear hung up on the wall for extra use. "Wear this for me, sweetie?" She nodded, quickly putting them on.

"Think you can help me? I need you to help me release the others, yeah? Have them wear the gear as well." You instructed and she nodded, moving fast to get the others out.

Doing the same for the others, you cooed sweetly at them to calm their nerves and assured them that they'll be safe. That you would make sure they'll make it out here, alive.

"Gaz?" You radio. "Bullet. I haven't heard from Price and Soap. What's happening?" Ghost's voice came out. "I need Gaz to come down here and escort the remaining hostages with the others. Afterwards, once they're all under Gaz's watch, we need your help, Ghost."

You made sure that the hostages were safe behind you, gunning down any hostiles that came near. You wanted to help Price and Soap with the rest of the hostiles but your task right now was to protect the hostages.

You had to wait for Gaz.

"Sargeant. Move the hostages and switch with Ghost. Quick." You ordered and he nodded, following your commands as you ran to help your Captain.

"The guards aren't a big deal with their guns but the coats have their daggers laced. One of the guards have been accidentally stabbed and his body seized on the ground, still alive but in immense pain so keep clear of them." Price informed.

"Got it." You nodded, moving swiftly to gun down the hostiles and dodge the annoying coats. It was a little struggle to fight people who were larger in numbers than you in an enclosed space but you've been through worse.

It didn't take long for the Ghost himself to include himself in the battle. "Took you long enough, Ghostie." Soap teased, taking a moment to do so.

A single fucking second of that moment.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a glint of a blade- too close. It was too close to Soap's shoulder. You couldn't pull him back. You think of your Captain. The woman you called your best friend, your soulmate. You think of how you could have saved her.

You reached out- "Fuck. Ah, that stings." You bitterly laughed as the blade pierced your hand.

You blocked the blade from Soap with your own hand. The jolt of pain was quick- quicker than you thought as you gasped for air.

"You weren't joking, Captain." You wheezed, down on your knees grasping your hand. Sweat pooled down your forehead and you could taste blood on your tongue. The wound on your hand quickly created a pool below you

"Bullet!"

"Focus on the fight, Sargeant. It's not over yet." You swallowed the pain. You dealt with worse. You dealt with worse. You chanted repeatedly to yourself.

It didn't help with the pain. You managed to raise your gun a couple times at least to aim at some of the hostiles.

You dragged yourself to a corner so you wouldn't be too much of a burden on the battle.

At least you were better than the other guy affected by the toxin. You looked over. The guy was unmoving now. "Move away from the body!" You heard one of the hostiles scream as they scramble to get away from the dead guard's corpse while still focusing on the battle.

Your team was a good distance away from the body at least. You watch as one hostile who didn't move away in time suddenly begin to choke as he suffers the same situation you are now.

Ah. So it's infectious once the person infected is dead.

You chuckle bitterly. So you better don't die, not now at least. It would serve more as a problem to your team than help if your corpse infected any of them.

The battle lasted for about half an hour you estimate before your team finally wiped them all out. No matter the number- quantity is nothing to the quality of the 141.

You sighed in relief, body slumping. "I think I'd like to sleep now, men." You sighed out, eyes lidded and face pale. You closed your eyes, conscious long enough to hear collective panicked voices.

One last mission.

[omvsv5]

🥀// "Finally, everything is back to normal."

Aventurine x reader

word count: around 400

an: just woke up so sorry for any mistakes<3

warnings: hurt/comfort?, and fluff, and propably ooc aventurine

It was exactly two months from when Aventurine left on his mission in Penacony. Two months in which you haven't saw him, and almost two months from when you last heard from him. You only had one message from him to hold on to, the text being the simplest:

"im sorry, love you."

He sended it at night while you were long asleep. When you read it in the morning, confused and worried by the sudden apology, it was already too late. You never got an answer to that. None or the messages you send to him weren't even coming through.

You almost lost hope, the IPC didn't provided you any information either, you were left to wonder what happend to your dear lover.

╰── ⋅ ── 🥀 ── ⋅ ──╯

That was, until last night.

Late in the night, when you were already comfortably tucked on your couch under a blanket you heard the sound of struggling with the keys right outside your door. You jumped up in your spot when the sound turned into someone unlocking the door to your apartament, followed by the sound of the door opening. After being frozen for a moment, you jumped up ready to protect yourself, totally forgetting that the only people who had the key were you and Aventurine. So, you grabbed the closest heavy thing you could reach, in this case a heavy book Aventurine got you for your birthday once, and moved as quietly as possible to the hall, already hearing the front door closing.

"Oh, you're up?" a soft, yet tired sooting voice broke reached your ears when you finally were able to see the intruder. A voice you knew all too well. A voice you missed too much. Your makeshift weapon fell right out of your hand when your eyes fell on his, one of many things you adored about him. A soft chuckle from Aventurine filled your ears when you moved closer to him without thinking, wrapping your arms around his waist and holding yourself as close to him as you could.

Last night his eyes were more tired then usually, and he came home with a few new bruises, but all that mattered was that he came back to you alive. Of course, you questioned him about his wereabouts, getting a tired sigh and "the mission just turned out take longer then i expected, sorry," but that didn't mattered. He would tell you in more details later, he always did.

So now, as you were just stirring from your sleep, feeling the warmth of another person in your arms after so much time, you couldn't feel better. You took care of the bruises on his skin already, so they looked way better already, and the calm expression he had on his face was just putting you more at ease.

Everything was alright. He was alright.

He was finally back in your arms.

╰── ⋅ ── 🥀 ── ⋅ ──╯

[vodika-vibes]

May I please get a Tech x Jedi!Reader with a glimpse before and after Order 66. Techs POV where after figuring out that the jedi are being hunted becomes worried. Im thinking White Clover and Pansy and maybe angst/fluff? :>

ps i love your work and i cant wait to read anything you make, youre amazing :3

A Promise Made

Summary: You and Tech, before Order 66 and after.

Pairing: TBB Tech x F!Reader

Word Count: 2983

Warning: Angst, Reader survived Order 66 and has totally understandable trauma regarding that

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni

A/N: I'm still not sure if I'm writing Tech well, but I haven't got any complaints.

“Is there a reason you are laying on me?” Tech asks as he looks down at the Jedi sprawled across his lap, her gaze locked on the datapad in her hand.

“I don’t get to spend nearly enough time with you, and this is the best way to keep you from accidentally ignoring me.” She replies lightly, “Why? Are you uncomfortable?”

“No. I am just concerned that you might get hurt.” Tech answers easily.

“So be careful and you won’t hurt me.” 

He rolls his eyes expressively, though because she’s not looking at him, she doesn’t notice. “What are you working on, cyare?”

“Master Windu asked me to reverse engineer a Seppie weapon, and I’m starting to think that this weapon was designed by an actual child.” She says with a sigh as she drops her datapad and presses her forehead against his thigh.

Tech smiles at the back of her head, “Would you like me to take a look?”

At that she laughs and rolls over so that her head is resting on his lap and she’s looking up at him, “I know you have better things to do, Tech.”

He sets his own project to the side, and gently brushes her hair out of her face, “I do not mind putting it aside to help you.”

She reaches up and presses her hands against his, lightly rubbing her cheek against his gloved hand. “That’s because you’re amazing.” She praises, “But it’s okay, Tech. I can figure it out. I always do.”

Tech smiles at her adoringly.

When he was a cadet on Kamino, he believed that this kind of happiness was beyond him. He did not understand why his brothers, including his batchmates, were so laser focused on finding someone to spend their time with. He thought that it was little more than a distraction.

That was until he met her.

She had been brought to Kamino at the request of General Ti, and the first time Tech saw her, he didn’t think she was a Jedi. He thought she was a natborn who had been tasked with maintenance of the various vehicles stored on Kamino.

She was clever and quick witted, and while his twin claimed that she wasn’t going to win any beauty pageants, on account of the fact that she tended to have oil on her face and staining her hands, and she didn’t seem to care about things like appearance, Tech thought that she was stunning.

They developed a quick friendship, bonding over their mutual love of technology. 

Tech honestly had no idea that she was a Jedi at all, not until he saw her dressed up in Jedi robes rather than her normal grease covered jumpsuit, and talking to General Ti like it was her right.

The conversation that happened after that isn’t one that Tech is proud of. He had been hurt that she hid such an important part of her from him, and he lashed out. She was offended that he thought that she was hiding it, claiming that she never hid anything from anyone, and that it wasn’t her fault that he didn’t know that she was a jedi.

The disagreement turned into a full blown argument, and Tech didn’t talk to her for over two months. It took Hunter and Crosshair teaming up to make him see that he was being bull-headed and stubborn, and it was the encouragement of Wrecker that forced him to go to her and apologize.

At the time, he had been worried that she was going to hold a grudge, but she didn’t. Instead she just smiled and laughed, and told him that she forgave him, and then she showed him what she was working on.

Soon after that, Tech realized that he was thinking about her all the time. When he was in training, when he was reading, even when he was about to go to sleep; her smile, the way her eyes crinkle when she laughs, the way she pushes her hand through her hair when she’s contemplating something complicated-

He found himself looking forward to spending time with her, even if they’re just working in the same room. 

It was Crosshair who pointed out the obvious, with a roll of his eyes as he flipped through a magazine. “You’re obviously in love with her, dumbass.” He drawled without looking up from the glossy pages of the blaster magazine that he got from somewhere, “It’s a perfect match, you’re both annoying little shits.”

Tech wanted to argue with him, partly because he feels the urge to argue with his twin about everything, but he found the words turning to ash on his tongue. Because, annoyingly, he was right.

Tech was in love.

He became awkward and nervous around her, babbling about random things that he learned, and through it all, she watched him with a small smile, and often asked questions about his latest hyperfixation.

And then, late one night, she kissed him.

A gentle press of her lips against his. It was innocent and chaste, and yet it sent fire through his veins. She didn’t say anything after the kiss, she just watched him and waited, seeming to understand that Tech would need a moment to process.

And then he kissed her, and suddenly he understood exactly why his brothers desire this so much.

“Tech?” He snaps back to the present at the worried call of his name, and he glances down at her face, “There you are. You were lightyears away.” She teases.

“I was thinking about you.”

“Oh? Nice things, I hope.”

He laughs, “I always think about you, cyare. You occupy my thoughts at all times.”

“Well, that sounds annoying.”

“Not at all,” Tech lightly guides her until she’s sitting up and he presses a series of light kisses to her cheek and across her jaw, “I find that it is the most enjoyable part of my day.”

“Well, you’re easy to please, aren’t you?” She teases as she leans into his affection.

“My brothers tell me that I am very hard to please, actually.”

“Well, they’re not me.” She turns her head and kisses him quickly, “So you know, you’re constantly in my thoughts too.”

Tech laughs softly and presses a series of light kisses across her face, “I am glad.”

She grins at him, and shifts to sit on his lap, her hands coming up to cup his face, “Tech, I…” She pauses, and her gaze flickers to the side, “I want you to know that I have to return to Coruscant for a couple of weeks. I would like it if you commed me?”

Tech has a feeling that that’s not what she was going to say, but he lets it go, “Of course I will. So much that you will get tired of me.”

She laughs, “I don’t think that’s possible.”

“You never know,” Tech kisses her one more time, “When do you leave?”

“Two days.”

“Well then, we had better spend that time together.”

It has been three weeks and four days since the day that the Clones turned on the Jedi. And somehow, you’re still alive. Which, in and of itself, is a damned miracle.

You press your hand over your side, a slow hiss of pain escaping your lips as you move the wrong way and the hole in your side twinges painfully.

When the clones marched on the workshop, you had been in the back, working on one of the protocol droids. You managed to escape while the older jedi tried to fend off the soldiers, but you still took a blaster bolt to the side.

Not to mention, you’re still reeling from the loss of your friends, your family. 

You push the pain into the force, and take a moment to tighten the bandages around your side, before you continue your trek. It’s not safe for you anywhere.

And as much as you want to comm Tech and beg him to come and help you…you know that you better not. Tech is a clone after all. And if he pulled a blaster on you, you’d probably just let him kill you, honestly.

No. It’s safer this way.

Though, the galaxy is a much lonelier place now.

Time passes quickly, when you’re on the run. And before you know it, 6 months have passed.

You’re…surviving as best you can, all things considered. You managed to find a medic who treated your blaster wound in exchange for some simple maintenance work, and you managed to earn employment on a cargo ship.

Though, really, you mostly just bounce from ship to ship, from planet to planet, as much as you can. You don’t stay in the same place for longer than a few weeks, fearing that the empire will find you.

You take comfort from the memory of your family, and from Tech. You cling to those memories, as they’re the only thing that keep you going. And sometimes, at night, you allow your mind to linger on Tech, on what could have been.

It’s easier now, though.

After six months, you no longer feel like the Empire is breathing down your neck, and for all you know, you’ve been reported dead. You don’t dare to look, fearing that if you look and you weren’t, then the Empire will start looking for you.

It doesn’t make any sense, you know that, but it’s an anxiety that you can’t seem to shake.

“Hey, Kid!” You jump as the ship captain, your current employer, claps your shoulder with a heavy hand, “Me an’ the boys are going to the bar. Wanna join us?”

“Ah…no thank you. Trying to stay sober,” You say with an easy smile, “You guys have fun.”

“Right, sorry kid. I forgot. You keep up that sobrarity! We’re rooting for you.”

You smile at him, feeling momentarily guilty. Your story, the one that you’ve been using since the purge, is that you’re a recovering alcoholic, and that’s why you want to work on ships, to avoid temptation.

It’s not true. But it keeps people from hounding you to go drinking with them. And, more than one of the people you’ve worked with over the past few months have bemoaned your “parents” for not helping you with your addictions.

It’s almost like having a family again.

Almost.

You step off the cramped ship into the cool evening air, wanting to stretch your legs for a bit, when you hear a familiar voice and feel a familiar presence in the force.

“Hey, that person might know!” You’d recognize Wrecker’s force presence even if you were doped up on force suppressors, and the child standing next to him has the same overall feel as all of the chones.

Your blood runs cold. Wrecker will recognize you. How could he not?

He approaches you, and your mind goes blank. Your fingers twitch towards your lightsaber, hidden in your sleeve. You don’t want to hurt Wrecker. But you will if you have to.

“Excuse me, miss?” The child stops in front of you, and you look down at her. Blonde hair, wide brown eyes…she’s a clone, no doubt about it. “Me and my brother are looking for a specific shop-”

“I…I’m sorry, I’ve never been here before.” You keep your voice low, in the hopes that Wrecker won’t hear you. But you know there’s not a chance of it, not with how close he is to you.

Surprise flashes across his face, followed by joy, “It’s you! Tech has been worried sick! We all have-” He takes a step towards you, and you scramble backwards, grabbing your saber and lighting it with the comforting snap.

“Stop! Just…just stop.” You sputter, “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.”

Wrecker stops, “Right. Okay.” He pulls Omega back, “No one’s going to hurt you.”

“Sure.”

Wrecker slowly sends a message to his brothers, and then holds his hands out, showing that he’s unarmed. 

Tech, Hunter, and Echo run up only moments later, and Hunter has to grab Tech from running over to you.

“It is just us, cyare.” Tech says, pulling himself away from Hunter, “We are not going to hurt you.”

Your lightsaber is crossed across your body defensively, and slowly you reach out to the force, looking for the, arguably, most dangerous member of the CF99 at the moment. “Where’s Crosshair?” You ask.

“He is…not here.” Tech says quietly.

“You expect me to believe that your own twin isn’t here, I’m not that dumb, Tech.”

“He…” Tech falters, “Listen, his chip activated, ours didn’t. So when we defected, he didn’t.”

“What chips? What are you talking about?” You demand, and their faces fall.

“You…don’t know.” Hunter says quietly, “Stars, you must have thought we turned on you for no reason-”

“It would be nice to know what crime my people committed to deserve to be slaughtered down to the smallest baby, yes.” You bite out.

“It wasn’t…there…” Echo trails off and he takes a deep breath, “Tech, you need to talk to her. Just, tell her the truth. All of it. She’s a jedi, she’ll know if you’re lying.”

Tech nods, and he steps in front of his brothers, his gaze locked on you, “I am going to tell you everything that I know,” He says quietly, and then he starts talking.

And slowly, as he explains, you lower your saber and then turn it off. And by the time Tech finishes his story, you’re sitting on a small crate with your face in your hands. “My people were slaughtered by your brothers because Palpatine stole their free will from them?”

“Yes.”

Both of your hands fist in your hair, “...’m sorry for drawing my saber on you.” 

Tension drains from the men standing across from you, and the next thing you know, Tech’s hands are on your shoulders, “It is okay. You had every right to be concerned.” He kneels in front of you, “Are you injured?”

“I was shot at the temple, but that was months ago.” You say quietly.

“And…you are alright?”

“No.” You whisper, “It’s a very lonely galaxy, Tech.”

Tech raises himself enough to press a kiss to your forehead, “You do not have to be alone. You can travel with us. Right, Hunter?”

“Of course.” Hunter replies immediately.

“See.”

“That’s kind of you, but I know your ship isn’t that big.”

“With the both of us, we can retrofit.” Tech offers, “We can make room for all of us.” He takes your hands in his, “Please do not leave.”

“You won’t be safe if I travel with you. I’m a Jedi.”

“We are not safe anyway.” Tech points out, “Please, cyare? I promise that we will be safer together.”

You sigh, and very gently squeeze his hands, “Yeah, okay. The crew that I’m a part of now won’t be surprised if I decide to leave without warning.”

“Truely?”

“I have something of a reputation.” You reply dryly.

“...it has been 6 months.” You shrug, and allow Tech to tug you to your feet, before he wraps you in a tight hug. “I feared you were dead.”

“I’m sorry.”

Tech’s gaze lingers on her as she dozes in his bunk, his fingers are tangled in her hair as he silently offers her comfort.

She doesn’t look healthy.

She’s too thin, her clothes hang off of her, and the circles under her eyes are dark enough that it looks like she has bruises around her eyes. She hasn’t been eating properly, obviously, and Tech wonders if it’s because of grief or fear.

And there’s no way he’s ever going to forget the look in her eyes when she saw them again. Dread, fear, terror-

He never wanted her to look at him like that again.

Tech smooths his hand down her spine, and carefully adjusts the blanket so it’s tucked under her chin.

He knew the moment that the regs turned on General Billaba, that his cyare was in danger. The dread had been like a lead weight in his stomach. And while he would have spoken to Crosshair about it, he could tell that there was something wrong with his twin.

Not to mention, Crosshair had never been her biggest fan in the first place.

So he bit his tongue, and kept an eye on the list of deceased Jedi, and he hoped. 

It wasn’t very logical.

But the longer he didn’t see her name, the longer he had hope that she was still alive.

She shifts in his bed, rolling over to press her face against his thigh, and Tech presses his hand against the back of her head. The Marauder really isn’t big enough to add another adult, so she’s going to have to share with him for the time being.

Which isn’t half as much of a problem as he’s making it out to be, nothing would make him happier than waking up with her in his arms, but the last thing he wants is for her to forget where she is and freak out.

Luckily, the dread he felt when he heard about the jedi being hunted has faded into something much easier to handle, now he just has the sinking dread of having to help her deal with the trauma of surviving a massacre.

Easy.

Tech glances down at his datapad, and settles back against his pillow as he starts to read on how to help people process trauma.

If he can’t get his cyare to a mind healer, then he’ll just have to become one himself.

Tech glances at her one more time as her fingers curl in the soft material of his pajama bottoms, and he smiles at her sleeping face. He gently brushes some hair out of her face, “I promise,” He whispers, “I am going to take care of you.”

[yaasirambles]

FRAT BOY JAEHYUN TRYING TO ASK YOU OUT BUT YOU NEVER REALLY NOTICED HIM BECAUSE YOU’RE ACADEMIC WEAPON ERA IS SKYROCKETING. then you had a one night stand with him when you got drunk and now he can’t stop thinking of you being on your knees and he n e e d s you like NOW

FratBoy!Jaehyun you meet at a party ur friend was hosting and begging you to go to because "you need to get out of the house. Let loose. Stop studying so damn much. It won't kill you for one night 🙄"

You give in. Get all dressed up and hot. Suddenly you see a boy from one of your GE classes. Jaehyun. He comes in with some other guys. You strike up a convo talking about the class. You felt comfortable talking with him since you previously were partnered for a past project for Bio. and he asks you how you got to the party. You explain its a party your friend and her sorority girls are hosting as a collab with one of the frats. "Oh. I'm in that frat. That's why I'm here" he laughs. "No kidding. I kinda saw that coming" you tease him since he totally looks the type.

The night goes on and you two kinda stick by each other. Talking. Drinking. Not too much. But enough to get relaxed and a little more bold and touchy. You're sitting on the couch together and his arm is around your shoulder. Your body relaxed into his side. His fingers lightly scratching your arm. You turn your head to look at him. He's sooo fucking hot. And you just kiss his neck. He's surprised and then chuckles softly "you good?" He looks down at you. "Just letting myself do something I want for once" you whispers and bite his skin a little. He groans and then whispers "Let's go to a room" and you nod. You lead him to your friends room where she said you could stay for the night if anything. You pull him in and close the door. Activities ensue

You see him in class a few days later. You haven't talked about the hook up. But neither of you can stop thinking about it. He looks at you in class and his mind runs wild with the memories of you gripping onto him, nails dragging down his back and moaning his name. Every time he fucking sees you in class or on campus it all floods back and he can't take it.

He texts you one day "Hey. Can we study together? This exam has me nervous" So you let him come over to your place. Your hair clipped up in a hair clip. Some strands around your face. A tight shirt hugging your body. Casual Lil shorts. He groans to himself. He tries to study with you. But he can't take it anymore. He drops his pencil on "accident" and you squat down to pick it up. You feel his eyes on you and you look up at him. "You good?" You ask him and he doesn't answer. His palm caresses your cheek and his thumb swipes over your bottom lip. You open your mouth and he slides his thumb him. You start sucking on it. And he groans "fuck. You look so fucking pretty on your knees like that. Been thinking about it for so long" and your tongue swirls around his thumb. You look up at him innocently and settle on your knees. Your hands rubbing the tops of his thighs before you start to undo his belt and unzip his pants...

Some type of bio studying was done, maybe more of a hands on anatomy lesson? 🤭

[wizzdot]

The Patron Saint of One Way Trips

Ch8

Description: More progress. Laika is trying her best, bless her - Johnny is tasked to look after a pre-rut Ghost. Laswell is a queen, I will not be told otherwise. Anyway, enjoy more slow burn with sweet gorgeous Kyle, and a bit with Cap too. Thanks for all the comments and kudos. They are so very much appreciated. Wizzdot xx

*Laika's (Y/N's) POV*

The helicopter ride back to the base was.. nice. I'd sat with Gaz and Soap, who both had talked the entire time. I really did try and listen but found myself zoning in and out, worrying over what I had actually signed myself up for. I also couldn't shake the unwelcome vibes I'd been feeling from the Lieutenant. This was his pack. His mates. And I'd just turned up and gotten in the way. I felt like I should tell the two younger Alphas to back off, for Ghost's sake. I wasn't welcome. And I totally understand why.

We arrive at the base. I'd been told it was called Credenhill , in Herefordshire. Turns out Hereford was pretty dull during winter. Everything had died back and was totally devoid of life. I hope I wasn't headed the same way. The base seems to stretch on for miles. I watch from the windows as we lower toward the big red 'H' landing spot. Several uniform red brick barrack buildings and one larger HQ looking building - the one we were landing on top of. It looked as if there were running track and shooting ranges, along with an array of assault course type obstacles. Jesus - what had I signed myself up for by agreeing to Laswell's idea.

I am not a talented, or naturally gifted soldier. Hell, I hadn't even been properly trained by the Russians. I'd been taken and molded into an obedient weapon as a teenager - but I'd just been stupidly lucky so far. I had learnt to survive. I stood no chance up against the physicality of these trained war machines. Why did I agree to this?!

My fast track 'training' with the Russians consisted of being told to run until I collapsed, climbing things with no safety harnesses, target practice with knives and guns. If I didn't improve, I didn't get the privilege of eating or sleeping - this was the punishment for being useless. It took nine months of this - day in, day out - until they deemed me to be of a suitable standard to leave the facility. This was when they started upping the dosage of the drugs. I don't think they truly expected me to return from that first mission. I still remember how their eyes widened as I practically crawled back to the exfil point, shot twice but still standing, somehow. Objective completed. The wounds got infected because they refused to treat them properly. That was my lesson. It was simple. If I didn't get shot, I wouldn't have gotten the infection. Don't let it happen again. Stupid mutt. I licked my own wounds from there on in.

My mind is snapped back to the present as the ramp of the helicopter lowers with a creak and thud. Ghost stands and makes a beeline to where ever it was he was headed. I await instruction. I am the 141's puppet now. Hopefully they are kinder puppet masters. I didn't belong in this world. I was cruelly dropped into it and, like a bug in a bathtub, I couldn't escape. I guess I had to stop looking for an escape. I cannot run away from my life for the rest of time. It was time to stop running and face the music.

I am escorted from the helicopter. I follow Gaz closely. He leads the way to a meeting room. Laswell is already there. Her scent is calming, she smelled like honey, or the smell of a kitchen after a cake had been baked. Warm. She is Beta. There is no sharpness to her scent like there would be if she was an Alpha. She looks my way as we step into the room.

"Laika, we have been keeping an eye on the facility in Siberia since we departed. The good news is that they haven't sent search teams out for you yet. The bad news is that they know you are still alive. I managed to get some of my CIA tech specialists to override the facility's CCTV system and listen in. They know you've been taken by another group - they are not sure who is responsible, yet" - I nod along with furrowed brows, worried that she is about to deliver the final blow - "But.. they seem to believe that if you are still alive, you'll return to the facility. Why do they think this, Laika.. Is this a risk we need to be aware of..?" She asks with suspicion in her voice.

"Lass, why the fuck would you ever want to go back?" soap asks, not quite believing that this was even an option I'd consider. "Yeah, surely not.. you're here now.. you wouldn't go back, would you?" Gaz asks with big eyes and a slight pout. "I - I don't think I'd go back.." I stutter, unsure.

"What d'ya mean ya don't THINK you'd go back, Lass?!" Soaps says, totally perplexed.

"I - I don't know.. what if Dr-Dr Dimitrov gave me a command.. what if -"

"That willnae happen, you've got us now.. and he willnae find you anyway. No point in thinking that" he now turns to Kate "She willnae run away to go back to them bastarts, Kate. Not after what they've done to her.."

"Thank you, Johnny.. but I need Laika to speak for herself".

"I- I don't *want* to go back.. I *want* to stay..." - "That's good enough for me, Kate" the Captain cuts in, effectively ending the conversation. I don't know why I couldn't just say no. But at the end of the day, a caged bird is hesitant to leave when the door opens. There was a morbid safety in the facility. I always returned. Even when they thought I was dead, I'd show back up eventually, accepting my punishment for being behind schedule.

"In that case, the Captain will ensure you settle in. I have requested your quarters be in the same barracks as the 141 pack. I don't want you left unsupervised around the base. I would like you to attend the medical wing within the next couple of days and find out if we can get the drugs flushed from your system. If we can, we can then assess your designation and if you wish to medicate, that'll be your call. It'd just be far easier if we knew for certain - I understand you believe that you are Beta, but full confirmation won't do anyone any harm. I trust this is all under control, John?" - "Affirmative, Kate" he rumbles. "Good. I will check in within the week. I have more pressing matters to attend to back in the US. Something about missiles."

I take in all of the information, trying to push down the feeling of dread. I'd really rather not see another Doctor in a white coat for the rest of my life. I'd seen enough to last me a lifetime. And it wasn't pleasant. Kate turns to me and grabs my hand. "Y/N - it's been nice to meet you. I look forward to seeing you in a few weeks time - I hope you'll have settled in and found a home here by then. I understand how intimidating this can all be - as a woman and a non-Alpha. But these men - I trust them entirely. Even ghost.. Goodbye, Laika".

She squeezes my hand and strides towards the door, rushing back to the helicopter. "Bye" I whisper after her, not sure if she'd heard. I turn to meet the Captain's eyes. "Right, lets show you to our quarters,then. We all have our own spaces and individual nests for privacy, as well as our pack room. Luckily, we do have a spare room. You're more than welcome to do what you like with it. I know that Beta's don't nest much, but you can redecorate to your taste. I will take you shopping tomorrow, buy you some proper.. girl.. clothes and - cleaning products" he says with that raspy voice of his. "Just make a list of things you need and Gaz and I will drive off base with you first thing tomorrow. Does that sound ok?" he does that damn youthful smile again. Before I can answer Soap protests "Naw! Aht's not even fair.. why can't I come shopping with yous too??" - "Ghost wants you to himself for a while, Johnny. He's been touchy for the past week. Think his rut is coming but you know how stubborn he is.." I feel bad. It was my fault he had been angry. I'd been effecting his behavior within his own pack just by being needy and useless. Soap sighs and heads off to find Ghost.

"I-I can wait to go shopping if the Lieutenant needs his pack.. I understand. I don't mind just managing until he is better.. I don't want to get in the way.." - "Nonsense, Simon is a big boy, he always gets grumpy before his rut. This has nothing to do with you. Johnny usually helps him the most anyway. He was the first one to break through his walls, before we formed the pack.." Gaz explains, gently squeezing my hand. "C'mon, I'll show you your room. It's right next to mine! Cap's is right across the hall too!" He says excitedly, leading me so we are walking down the long hallways hand in hand.

I use my free hand to quickly feel for my hanky, it's still there safe in my pocket. Gaz stops at a closed door, opening it wide. I almost step inside, thinking it was my room, until I'm knocked back by the scent of Alpha. Gaz. "This is my room.. " I scan the room quickly, noting the blankets and pillows organised on his bed. That must be his den… he shuts the door and moves to the next one. "And.. this is yours! Taadaa!!" the room had clearly been sprayed with de-scenting spray. It had a totally neutral scent. I step in and look around the room. The bed has standard military sheets, there was a small walk in cupboard and an en-suite bathroom. There were a couple of bedside tables and a chest of drawers. This was going to be my room. My space. I was happy. I look up and meet Gaz's eyes. He looks so hopeful..

"I love it.. thank you.."

He squeezes my hand gently, twice. "Remember, if you need anything.. I'm just next door, and Cap is there.." he points directly across the hall. I nod.

"I'll leave you to it..remember to make a shopping list for tomorrow.." I nod again.

"Goodnight, love"

That damn word, stop it. So casually giving a name to something I can never have. He says it so easily, too. I try to smile but only manage an inverted, upside down smile.

"Goodnight, Gaz"

"Call me Kyle, yeah?" I nod again before I can stop myself. For gods sake, use your damn words, my brain shouts at me. You're allowed to now! I keep nodding with the stupid upside down smile.

"Goodnight.. Kyle"

He steps back and gently closes the door. The last thing I see of him before the door clicks closed, is that blindingly bright, genuine smile.

[wifeofwandamaximoff]

Meeting the Lover

Everyone just arrived at the base about 5 miles away from it. When all of a sudden Jarvis detected a heat signature. Wanda knew it was you so she ran out of the quinjet to find you. Everyone screamed Wanda to come back but it was too late she was too excited to see her love again after 3 weeks apart from each other and that was far too long for Wanda.

Then she saw you sitting on a tree branch smiling at her. She giggled and made grabby hands so you could bring her up to hug and kiss each other.

(You could control the elements btw). You summoned some vines to carefully bring her to you.

"Hello mon chou." you said when she finally was in reach of you. She jumped in your arms and sighed contently to be in your arms again. (Mon chou stands for my sweet bun, a pastry because Wanda is sweet :O )

"Hi detka!" squealed Wanda because she was so excited to see you.

Just then you heard the avengers screaming Wanda's name.

"Mon chou the team is looking for you lets go back down." you whispered softly to her.

"Hmm just a minute I missed you." hummed Wanda.

"Mon chou lets go before they send a search party and let me see my sestra." you persuaded her.

Natasha Romanoff was your older sister. You both were separated in the red room. When she escaped you had to pay for it. You were tortured and experimented on all because of her actions. You were in there for about another five years until you escaped.

Then Hydra captured you when they found out you were an assassin. That's where you met Wanda and her brother Pietro. He always supported your relationship with Wanda of course once you both became lovers. Sadly the red room found you again a took you from Hydra making the twins think that you died when you touched the soul stone. You were the only person in Hydra to touch the soul stone twice gaining controlling the elements and wings.

Your sister thought you were dead when she went back to the red room with Clint but Dreykov told your sister you died when you had really been moved to the new red room. So you haven't seen her in years. 

You've been living in France for the past five years but decided to go look for Wanda. She mourned for you but never moved on because you were her soulmate. She of course was over joyed when she saw you but was extremely mad when you didn't contact her until that moment. Yeah you got a harsh slap on the cheek twice.

"Lets go now Mon chou its been five minutes." you said

"Fine but I want cuddles when we finish the mission." she said with puppy eyes.

"Mon chou you know I can't I need to go back to France." you told her and she started to have tears well up in her eyes.

You felt really bad so you did some thinking.

"lets go mon chou, I need to meet the team anyways."

She just hummed wiping her tears away.

I then lowered us both down and landed in front of the team. The vines then let Wanda go but she still clung onto you. The team saw you and thought you were a threat but when Nat told them to lower their weapons they hesitantly did.

Nat had tears in her eyes and she dropped her gun. Her hands were shaking violently.

"Y-y/n?" whispered Nat when she was directly right in front of you. Wanda let you go letting you have a moment with your sister. after years of not seeing each other. 

"Hello Nataila..." you softly said. You then opened your arms inviting her into a hug. The boys were shocked because Nat never shown PDA. But you or Yelena were the ones who she would show PDA with.

She ran into your arms and clung onto your mission suit.

(epic mission suit :D)

After our little moment I started to introduce my self to the avengers.

"hello my name is Y/n Romanoff now lets get this mission done so I could go back home." , you spoke with blank coldness yo assert dominance to the team. (Lamo that sounds cringe)

They just nodded kinda afraid of you now.

You then made your wings spread. Totally forgetting Nat was still holding onto you.

"Y/n! Let me down!" squealed Nat.

"Oh shit my bad."

"Language!" yelled Steve

You rolled your eyes at him then dropped your sister making her scream while the others ran towards her to catch her. Right before she hit the ground you summoned some vines to soften her landing.

When Nat was recovered from shock she looked up and glared at you while your girlfriend was just rolling her eyes.

You just stuck your tongue out at her and flew off to the Hydra base. Planning on finishing the mission before the avengers get here.

(Time skip when the computer finished uploading everything to the flash drive.)

Right after you pulled the flash drive out about 15 hydra men swarmed you. They began firing special bullets that they just made for you. You quickly noticed that the bullets were special so you quickly exploded the hydra base sensing that the team was in a safe distance to explode the base.

You used your wings to fly and try to quickly find an exit or Wanda and Nat was going to have a panic attack.

"Y/n where are you!?" Wanda screeched in your ear. You forgot that you could communicate with the others. You were use to doing solo missions. (We just independent like that).

"Wanda im fine but im not going to be fine if you give me an ear infection, your harming my cochlea mon chou." you said softly but really you were panicking from not being able to find an exit. 

"Im sorry but just get out go there Tony said that apparently you exploded the hydra base on the west side. Y/n River Romanoff you better be on the east side of the building." demanded Wanda at the end.

"Wanda is right you better be on the east side I just got you back so you can't leave me and Wanda." demanded your sister in a angry yet broken voice.

I just ignored them. Focusing more on finding an exit and not leaving the two most important people in my life.

Just then I turned back when I felt heat behind me. I saw fire. I then turned back and quickly ran throughout the east side finding a building.

"Y/n! Where are you!? Your sister and your girlfriend are freaking out your gonna send them in a early grave Y/n!" exclaimed Tony.

"Even though I don't know you very well Romanoff I don't want those two to be in a world of pain where their favorite person is gone kid. I also have a feeling we're gonna be great fucking friends." Tony told me.

I was about to say something when I felt something pierce me in the stomach. I looked up and saw one hydra agent that was able to find me. Blood was spewing out of my mouth like a water fountain. I was coughing up so much blood that there was a puddle forming beneath me. I looked up and saw a hydra agent standing there with a gun in his hand.

"If in going down you're going down with me!" shouted the hydra agent.

Then I felt myself going up to flames with the hydra agent.

Wanda's pov:

The hydra base then exploded. I felt my whole world crumble and my heart shattering at the thought that I was never gonna see Y/n again, the love of my life was gone. My knees buckled and Nat held me up. I could feel her grief and her thoughts were too loud.

God damnit Y/n River Romanoff! Why did you leave me I just got you back! God damnit! Just come back to me I can't l-lose you again. Fuck its all my fault! If I helped her out with the agents she would still be here! God damnit Natalia why didn't you help her!

I then looked up at Nat and I was greeted by tears. Just then I felt a gust of wind. I looked at the direction where the wind blew and I saw her.

I blinked multiple times to make sure she wasn't a production of my imagine. But she didn't go away or fade away. I abruptly stood up and felt Nat's arms fall off my body. I slammed my body into here holding on as tight as I would afraid she would leave me. Then I felt another body slam into Y/n's and I peeked over and saw Nat was sobbing in her chest.

After a while I asked a questioned we all probably wanted to know.

"How are you alive the building exploded and no survivors were left!" I sobbed out.

"I think we all want to know that to Y/n." said Steve.

"Oh I wasn't here at all for the fight I just went to a donut shop after I dropped Nat." Y/n said smoothly. A little too smoothly.

"Y/n what are you hiding from us?" I questioned her and tilted my head to the side.

Her eyes widened when she saw my head tilt.

"Okokok um so I just found out like yesterday before I got here I could clone my self..." she rambled out.

After me and Nat scolded her for not telling us before we went to the hydra base, more like her clone but im just glad she's still here with me.

We arrived back at the compound and everyone went straight to their rooms tired from the mission. After a while Tony called all of us to the living for something.

When we all arrived there we just waited for Tony to say something.

"Ok I called you guys down here because I want to throw a part-" Nat cut off Tony before he could say anything else,.

"Stark if your about to celebrate my sister for almost dying today im going to cut your finger off."

He then just started to think for a second to make up an excuse.

"No for meeting the lover that has Wanda all smiley and giggly before she goes back to France." Tony said happily.

Me and Nat both frowned being reminded that Y/n was going back to France.

"Actually Fury came by earlier and invited me to the avengers, so I accepted!" Y/n told us happily.

I then threw my body on hers really happy from the news. Then I felt Nat push me away and plopped onto Y/n's body.

I then pouted because Nat stole my cuddle buddy.

Y/n's pov

I was so glad that im able to get a fresh start and be able to stay with my two favorite people in the world.

----

Made a long one because the others were short.

I made this like a year ago and now looking back on it im cringing quite hard...

(Not proofread!)

[tadc-harlequin-au]

If kinger and Z are too big to fit inside the manor like the others, what's their living situation like after becoming sane?

They just like to explore the mansion grounds, or do whatever. Z does build a bigger quarters for the larger residents, since believe me: those two aren't gonna be the only ones LMFAO

Initially, Kingr wasn't all too happy about his living conditions, though he's still grateful for being freed from his physical and mental prison, so he's officially allied himself with the group.

Like Pomni, he was itching for battle --although, not as insistent or hot-tempered as the Harlequin was--, and Pomni suggested he should be her new training dummy; an idea to which, he was fine with, since he still owed her gratitude.

Caine does offer an ultimatum himself: a chess board to pre-occupy the oversized chess-piece when there's no training. Though reluctant at first, he's haven't had a loss since, especially because Pomni was not the best strategist, and Ragatha just ends up losing always (chess was never her best suit anyways).

But Caine does prove himself to be a worthy opponent to the King, so it's become a recurring thing for everyone to watch the two battle on the board, as the manor's number of residents grow.

As the story goes along, Kingr slowly regains his humanity by curiously exploring bugs in the mansion's forest one day, and after remembering his past life; realizing that not everything is militaristic and about winnings, and that he should take his time simply enjoying the ways of life, because even the most mundane things can be so much more pleasant and fulfilling to experience than the concept of wars, valors and victories.

And this is what leads him to regretting a lot of the things he'd done since his time as the more sane Skirmish General. (totally not gonna be a plot point for him and Pomni to begin bonding over something that's not fighting teehee)

He becomes wiser, and more easygoing.

(There's also Quinnie.... which.... we won't talk about that for now ;3)

Z is happy to not have much rowdy roommates as everyone else (there's always something crashing or breaking inside the mansion at least once a day and Z can only assume the worst on what's happening), and they're also pretty thankful they're not physically bound to one place as before and could explore if they wanted to.

Z just wants to create something, or move something, a part of their old directive clearly still being present in them. So Pomni asked them to make weapons for her, to which, the giant Figure obliges.

Caine also suggested sculpting as a side hobby, so once every few months they'll leave for a few weeks with permission from the Puppetmaster, only to come back with either a GIANT ASS TREE, OR A MARBLE STONE --that who knows where they got it from-- and start carving shapes out of them.

Caine actually advised that instead of relying on their body's special tools to get the job done easily, that Z took their time making their ideas with more traditional methods and equipment.

As the story goes along, their sculptures actually take more and more forms as they regain their humanity and remember their past life: from brutalist and sharp shapes, to smoother, actual humanoid and still-life figures that Pomni asks about.

Z becomes more open to socializing, and accepting.

(I think I also want Z to take up landscaping, it seems like something they'd do for this AU-)

[fairuzfan]

Oh hi, sorry to bother you again but I just realised something: I sent in the ask about Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, and I only now came to think that that could be interpreted as me thinking every palestinian somehow knows what other palestinians think or something. And that is in no way what I was after. The point was something like... whether he's a known person in the palestinian diaspora or the pro-Palestine community on Turtle Island or smth? And if people have... idk, opinions about him or something , because I'd never heard of him before and the stuff he writes is just so... mindboggling. (just wanted to send in this for clarification, not expecting a reply because I know you have so much more important stuff on your mind)

Oh no worries I wasn't ignoring your last one I just didn't know how best to approach it. I totally got what you mean. But yeah I haven't heard of the guy before the past few months and the only time I see him is when he's shared by zionists. I don't see him shared by any Palestinians in Gaza, I don't see any Palestinians on turtle island share him, so I wouldn't put much stake in his words tbh. And I'm not saying this lightly, I was worried that saying something about him since he obviously has family in Gaza would be in poor taste, but all I can say is that he.... is not popular.

I posted about him before when some other Palestinians were passing his tweets around in a "get a load of this guy" kind of way (so not endorsing him). He also has worked for the US military+went to school there and I guess he's involved with weapons manufacturers in some way because he's "interested" in it, according to his linked in.

I genuinely can't tell you why he's doing all this. For some reason, he seems to think that we can protest hamas...? Even though, repeatedly, the only one that can make a ceasefire happen is Israel. He seems to want to force the "pro palestine" movement to protest hamas into giving back the hostages but like... idk if he understands how protesting works.

He calls it the "israel-palestine conflict" which, i cannot emphasize enough, no palestinian says in casual spaces. None of us say this. Literally the biggest tell that shows hes a collaborator. I've seen him publish straight up lies in his articles recently too. He's not very common or popular among Palestinians on Turtle Island, at least.

Also in a tweet he posted recently, he literally gave up the right of return and redefined it to only specific locations in Palestine, which Palestinians have been adamant that it is ALL of Palestine we are returning to.

[wolfjackle-creates]

Bring Me Home Arc 2 Part 6

It's Wednesday! (I'm ignoring the clock that says it's 2 AM. It's totally still Wednesday. I haven't gone to bed yet which means it can't be Thursday.)

So, since it's obviously still Wednesday, it's time for another WIP Wednesday. We're getting into the real meat of the plot of this arc with this update! And now you'll maybe start to see where I'm gonna take this.

Story Summary: Tim and Danny are both neglected by parents who care more about their work than their families. They deal with this by spending too much time online and find each other playing MMORPGs. They keep up their friendship as Tim becomes Robin and Danny becomes Phantom and don't bother keeping secrets from each other.

First, Previous

Word Count: 1.2k

-----

And that was when a large, swirling-green gash opened up in the night sky and dozens of ghosts started pouring through.

“Oh man!” exclaimed Sam as they watched the ghosts wreak havoc on the street. “I’ve never seen this many ghosts attack at once!”

Danny held out his thermos as he stared. “I’m gonna need a bigger thermos.”

The ghosts all appeared to be wearing uniforms and held batons as they attacked civilians and police indiscriminately.

“Uh, Danny?” asked Tim. “Should we call in back up?”

“No!” One of the ghosts got close to their group and Danny quickly sucked it into the thermos, dropping Jazz’s milkshake in the process. “Dammit. Absolutely not. It’s bad enough with three metas here. No more.”

Across the street, they saw a couple running from three of the invaders. One of the ghosts turned invisible and entered the body of the man who went stiff before sprinting to catch up to his partner and grabbing her to hold her still.

Then one of the other ghosts turned a garbage can over the both of them. The one overshadowing the man left his body, leaving the humans crying and covered in garbage as the ghosts laughed.

“I see,” said Tim. “How do we protect Bart, Cassie, and Conner?”

“You’re metas?” asked Sam.

Cassie nodded. “Yeah, nothing special, but… I don’t want to see what a ghost could do with my powers.”

“Let’s get back to my place. My parents might be crazy, but the ghost shield works. And then we can make a plan.”

Tim nodded. “I’ll lead. Kon, Bart, Cassie, you three need to stay in the middle. Sam, Tucker, you watch our sides and Danny, take up the rear. Capture any ghosts that try to approach us.”

Amity, even during a ghost invasion, was much easier to navigate than Gotham and Tim was able to lead them back to Danny’s house without getting lost. Every scream made him want to stop and help, though. He hated being useless.

Behind him, he could hear muttered curses from his teammates and knew they felt the same. But they needed weapons. Ones that could actually hit a ghost. And they needed to make sure they could fight off any overshadowing.

A TV was thrown out of a house through a window next to them sending shards of glass raining on the ground. Sam let out a string of curses.

“Sam!” called Danny. “Are you okay?”

“I think so. Just a slice to my arm.”

“We’re almost there,” said Tim. “We’ll check it out.”

He was flat out running now, could hear the others just behind them. They turned a corner and he could see the glowing FentonWorks sign. He grit his teeth and continued to run away from the mayhem, fighting every instinct he had. He wouldn’t be able to help if he stayed. He repeated it as a mantra with every step.

And finally they were there, he grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, ushering his friends in first.

Once inside, Danny flipped a few switches and metal slammed down over the windows, though no guns or lasers came out of the walls.

“Okay. No ghosts can get in now.”

“Danny!” Jazz came running down the stairs. “You’re all okay! Mom and Dad rushed out as soon as the attack started. What’s going on?”

“Jazz! Sorry, I dropped your milkshake on the way here. And not much, just, you know, a ghost invasion.” Danny’s laugh was bordering on hysterical.

“But you’re all safe?”

“Sam?” asked Danny. “How’s your arm?”

“I think it’s all right.” Sam grimaced as she held some tissues to the injury.

Jazz joined and led her to the kitchen. “Come on, let me clean that up for you. What happened?”

“A ghost threw a TV through a window. A piece of glass got me as we ran by.”

Tucker turned on the Fenton’s TV and switched to the news channel.

“I’m Shelly Makamoto and this is Ghost Watch,” an Asian woman said in a cheerful voice. “Ghosts, can you believe it, real ghosts are invading Amity Park right now. Emergency vehicles are struggling to get through the invasion, so if you are injured and in an area of high ghost concentration, help may be delayed. It is recommended you remain put and wait until first responders are able to get to your area. Currently, the ghosts are most focused on the downtown area, so the hospital is spared at this time. We can only hope this doesn’t change. Now, our weatherman Lance Thunder is out right now, so lets switch to him to get an on-the-scene report.”

They all watched in silence as a male reporter cowered behind an overturned car as he gave his report.

Sam and Jazz returned just a moment later. Sam had a large bandaid over her arm but shook her head when Danny shot her a questioning look.

“It’s fine. Clean cut.”

Tim relaxed as well. “Glad to hear it,” he said.

Jazz nodded. “Nothing to be concerned about at all. Thanks for getting the ghost shield up, Danny. I always forget which switch is the weapons and which is the shield.”

Tim’s eyes narrowed. She was lying. Why was she lying?

“Yeah, no problem. We’re gonna go to the lab. Tim and his friends have self defense training, Gotham, you know? So I want to see if we have any weapons in the vault that they’d be comfortable with.”

“Great. I’m gonna be in my room. As class president, I want to try and make sure everyone is safe so I’ll be on the phone with my door shut. Knock before you enter!” Then she was running back up the stairs and slamming the door to her room.

Tim exchanged a glance with Cassie. That was weird.

But next to him, Danny let out a breath. “Okay, so she’s out of the way. Sam, you sure you’re okay?

Sam grimaced. “It stings a bit, but it’s fine. Jazz put disinfectant and antibiotic cream on it.”

“Great. Well, not great.” Danny grimaced and Sam punched him on the arm.

Tim cleared his throat. “You said something about weapons?”

Conner nodded. “Yeah, did you say you have a weapons vault?”

Danny laughed. “You saw the home defense system. Are you really surprised?”

Cassie shook her head. “Your parents are evil scientists, aren’t they?”

Danny led them down a set of stairs. “I wouldn’t call them evil. They’re just… a bit single minded.”

And then Tim was standing in their lab for the first time. It was all silver chrome and neon green accents. But worse, it was messy. Half assembled inventions were scattered haphazardly over every surface. And was that a half eaten sandwich on the bench? Ectoplasm dripped off one of the counters onto a puddle on the floor.

Sam, Tucker, and Danny walked in without concern, but Tim and his team held back.

Danny realized they weren’t following and looked back in concern. “What’s wrong?”

“No offense,” said Bart as his eyes darted around, “But, uh, is it safe?”

“What do you mean?” asked Danny, but then he looked around and noticed the mess. “Ah. Hang on a sec. I’ll get you rubber gloves and boots you can slide on over your shoes. That’ll keep you safe enough.”

Sam helped and soon enough they were passing the protective gear over. Meanwhile, Tucker sat down at a computer and pulled up the news report so they could keep tabs on what was going on.

“Can we get eye protection as well?” asked Tim once he had everything on.

“Sure. Mom and Dad have plenty of goggles.” Danny grabbed a few of those as well.

Still not entirely comfortable, Tim finally stepped into the lab. On the far wall, behind yellow and black doors was the portal he’d heard so much about.

Danny followed his gaze and put a hand on his arm. “Come on, Tim. The weapons vault is over here.”

-----

Next

This should be enough to figure out which episode I'm using as the base for this arc! It's not quite the Ghost Fight people were hoping for in the comments of the last update, but I think this is gonna be better.

Tag List Part 1

@gremlin-bot, @bonebrokebuddy, @britcision, @lady-time-lord-, @welcometosasakiworld, @akikkobara, @phoenixdemonqueen, @dolfay, @skulld3mort-1fan, @we-ezer, @markus209, @sjrose1216, @onyxlightdragon, @dragonsrequiem, @jesus-camp-the-sequel, @spidey29phangirl, @kyrianclawraith, @evilminji, @introvert-even-on-the-internet, @emergentpanda-blog, @lexdamo, @v-inari, @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit, @longlivethefallen, @undead-essence, @xye-chan, @liandrin, @seraphinedemort, @kisatamao, @schalensitzbucket, @caelestisdreamer, @runfromthemedic, @nutcase8691, @channajen, @tonicmii, @ambiguouslyominous, @vythika96, @addie-lover-of-stories, @ironicvixen, @violetfox2, @pickleking8, @mysticalcomputerdetective, @ark12, @mygood-bitch99, @squirrel-wolf, @satisfactionbroughtmeback, @sometimesthingsfallapart, @automaticsoulharmony, @d4ydr34min9, @revnantdpxdclover, @midigeria, @raginblastocyst, @feral-bunny31, @lunaria618, @ghostreblogging, @ace-aro-as-shit

[starsstuddedsky]

Blown Up Love

reader x wonwoo

summary: gaming is all fun and... well, games, until you start crushing on the only person that takes pity on you and saves you from mobs.

genre: fluff, university au, gamer!wonwoo

warnings: swearing, death (but it's fake)

wc: 7.1k

a/n: i wrote this so long ago i forgot all my jokes - i haven't played minecraft in forever but i imagine playing with wonwoo would be so much fun - there will be a bonus eventually bc this somehow isn’t enough fluff for me

You run as fast as you can, hearing the groans behind you, a constant reminder of what followed not far behind you. You swerve to the side as another monster appears in front of you, a flash of white and the cracking of bones snapping against each other. You can’t help but scream as you hear a twang and realize that you’ve been shot. 

“Are you really leaving me like this?” You cry, praying one of your friends will take pity on you. 

“Don’t you have armor?” Jihoon asks. “Why didn’t you make a weapon?” 

“I just wanted to hide underground, I didn’t realize it was night time already!” You scream as you take another hit, trying to dodge trees and what feels like hundreds of monsters converging on you. “I'm literally outside the base, can someone please come help me?” 

“You’re so dramatic,” Seungcheol says. You don’t have to see him to know he’s rolling his eyes. 

“I’m about to die!” Your hands are shaking. You know that one more hit means death. 

You can see the light of the base, your last hope. If you can just make it a little bit farther, maybe you’ll make it. A figure moves toward you in the darkness and you instinctively turn away, though a moment later you’re sprinting toward it because you realize that it’s not a monster but one of your friends. Wonwoo. 

“Wow, you were not kidding, there’s so many,” he says. He charges in front of you, practically glowing in diamond armor. No, literally glowing. When had he enchanted his armor? 

You can hear him slaughter them behind you as you make a last ditch effort to make it inside. Just before you can open the door you hear another whizz, and something slams into. Everything turns red

Respawn or return to main menu. 

You stare at the screen. 

“I got your stuff,” Wonwoo says, voice as calm and even as ever. You sigh and click respawn. 

“Thanks for trying,” you mumble as you return to the game, your character waking up deep inside the base. 

“Sorry, I was in the middle of mining so I couldn’t really make it in time,” he says. You meet his character by the entrance to the base. You can’t help but smile at his skin, mostly covered by the glowing armor. You can still pick out the glasses he’d added to his skin, just like the ones he wore in real life, big and as round as he could make them in the pixelated game. You can almost see him in your mind, probably sitting in complete darkness in his room, wearing one of the three sweatshirts he cycled through. 

He gives you your items, tossing them in front, then vanishes into the base, probably to return to mining.You thank him again and wander around the interior of the base until you end up in the room you made for yourself. You had spent the last couple days dedicatedly designing the base, carved into the side of a mountain with rooms for all five of your friends to return to and put their stuff in. It was hours of work that was nowhere near being done, but you were enjoying every second of the rather monotonous work. 

What made you even happier was that your friends were actually using the rooms you set aside for them, each of them designing it a little to their own tastes. You might be absolutely terrible at fighting mobs, but you could at least build, and it felt nice that they weren’t totally disregarding that. Even if Wonwoo was the only one who would help you when you inevitably had to face the mobs. 

“Yn, are you still in the base?” Wonwoo asks. When you say yes, he asks you to meet him in the main entrance. 

You find him waiting, feeling inferior in your iron armor. He tosses you something. When you pick it up, you find out it’s an enchanted pickaxe, complete with unbreaking, mending, and fortune. 

“I figured it might be easier to work on this if you have, like, actually good tools.” 

“Thank you?” You can’t say you’re not surprised by Wonwoo’s generosity. You don’t know him very well. He’s Mingyu’s friend, and though you’ve hung out with all five of the guys many times this semester, he tended to be quieter and you weren’t convinced he didn’t hate you. Still, he was the only one on the server that didn’t bully you. 

“When did you get enchants,” you ask as you both go your separate ways. It’s finally daytime outside, so you deem it safe to continue working on the farm you were trying to design along the edge of the base. 

“It was pretty easy once I finished the villager farm,” he says. “Though I haven’t gotten around to reviving villagers to get cheap enchants. It’s on the list.” 

You frown as you climb the side of the mountain halfway up and continue designing what would hopefully be a sprawling pumpkin patch. “How did you have the time for that?” 

“I haven’t exactly logged off,” he says. 

“We started the server two days ago!” 

“It’s fall break,” he says. “I didn’t want to waste my time.” 

“I fear you.” 

“Hey, you guys are aware there are other people in this voice chat, right?” Mingyu says. 

“Shut up,” you say. 

“Get a room,” he says, pretending to cough. 

You can feel the blush spreading across your cheeks. It wasn’t that you had a crush on Wonwoo. He was just tall, and objectively attractive, and really nice, and smart, and he had saved your life more than once. Okay, maybe it was a small crush. 

“Can we set a time to kill the ender dragon,” Seungcheol asks. “I’m getting blaze rods right now.” 

“Okay, I think I have enough ender pearls,” Wonwoo says. “Want to try tonight?” 

“You are aware it’s already almost nine, right?” You say. 

“It’ll take like two minutes with all of us,” Jihoon says. 

“I’ll text Jeonghan and see if he wants to join,” Mingyu says. 

“I’m guessing no one cares that I’m not ready at all,” you grumble. 

“It’s not our fault you care more about picking flowers than playing the game,” Seungcheol says. 

“Hey! I have not been playing with flowers! I am an integral part of this server, if it weren’t for me you all would be living in dirt shacks!” 

“Yeah, but we’d still have diamond armor,” Jihoon says. 

“Why don’t you just ask Wonwoo for some armor.” Mingyu snickers. “I’m sure he can afford to support you.” 

You’re glad that it’s just a voice chat because otherwise you’d never hear the end of their teasing. 

“I do have an extra set of armor,” Wonwoo says. “Also, I have a ton of leftover books from enchanting that you guys should use.” 

“Maybe you have spent too much time on this,” Mingyu says. 

“What am I supposed to do?” 

“You’re an English major,” Mingyu says. “Don’t you have an essay or some books to read?” 

He laughs. “If you can find an English major that actually reads, I’ll log off.” 

“Do not log off until we’ve beaten the dragon!” Seungcheol says. 

“We could do it without him,” Mingyu says. 

“Sure you could,” Wonwoo says. “Yn, are you getting the armor or not?” 

You’ve been working on the farm outside, but as the sun starts to set, you begin to go back inside the base, not wanting a repeat of the previous night. “I’ll just die if I go with. Can’t I just stay and work on the base?” 

“Nope, you have to come,” Mingyu says. “Server rules.” 

“You can’t just make up rules on the spot,” you say. 

“ Jeonghan is coming, so no excuses.” 

You groan, knowing there’s no way out of it now. Jeonghan had joined exactly once, decided he was bored because Jihoon wouldn’t make him a “god” and hadn’t been on since. But it seemed like Mingyu was going to dictate friendship rules through Minecraft, so you were stuck. 

“Here,” Wonwoo says, appearing in the halfway-finished room that you made for yourself. He tosses you a full set of armor, and when you pick it up you find that it has full enchants. He must not have been lying about spending his entire break on this game. 

“I owe you!” You say. “Pretty much all I own is cobblestone and seeds but I will return this armor with only, like, minimal damage.” 

“Unless you fall into the void,” Seungcheol said. 

“Don’t even joke about that!” You say. 

Wonwoo laughs, his deep voice almost melodic. “You’re just scared because it’s a very real possibility.” 

“Not you bullying me, too,” you say, switching out the armor. “I thought you were on my side.” 

“I am,” he says. “And honestly if you really do fall into the void it’s fine, I can make a new set in probably ten minutes. Probably less.” 

“Can we make a rule about flirting in the main voice chat?” Seungcheol asks. 

“Fine, Wonwoo, join me in VC-2,” you say. Your heart is pounding a little as you pause the game and switch voice chats. It’s painfully quiet for two seconds as you wait but finally you hear the ding of someone joining you. 

“I’ll pay you real money to kill Seungcheol,” you say. 

Wonwoo is quiet for a moment. “Right now?” 

“Okay my bank account is a little empty, but next week I can buy you lunch?” You say. 

“Are you… hiring me as a hitman?” He asks. 

“Yes?” 

“Two lunches and it’s a deal.” 

“Done.” 

You switch back to the main voice chat, and hear the second half of Mingyu explaining that there is no way you are bold enough to actually be flirting. You hate that he’s right. 

“Back so soon?” Mingyu asks, cutting himself off mid-sentence. “Seungcheol, you owe me five dollars.” 

“I really just live in your head rent free, huh?” You say. “Making bets on me now?” 

“Actually, the bet was about the enchants that Wonwoo just gave me,” Mingyu says. “None of us believed you were actually flirting, but feel free to keep that inflated ego of yours.” 

You wonder if you’re going to be able to stop embarrassing yourself in front of Wonwoo. With Mingyu and Seungcheol around, probably not. 

The voice chat is mostly quiet as everyone goes to their own individual tasks. You are back to developing the farm (during the day). Jihoon and Mingyu are mining together and chatting about their spring schedule, while Seungcheol says he’s still getting blaze rods because he wants to make potions. Wonwoo is silent. 

You are starting to think he was giving up, when suddenly Seungcheol shouts. “Hey, what the hell?” 

“What’s wrong?” Wonwoo asks. 

“Something is shooting me.” He curses. 

“A blaze?” You ask, hoping your voice doesn’t sound as giddy as you feel. 

“No, what the fuck, it’s coming out of nowhere.” 

You’re struggling to stifle your laughter. 

“Oh my god, I’m gonna die,” Seungcheol says. “I’m actually gonna die what the fuck, I’m at two hearts, where is this coming from? I’m actually dying, I-”

kkakkamori was killed by VvWonwoovV. 

“What the fuck, Wonwoo?” 

“Nothing personal,” he says as you finally burst into laughter. “Just doing business.”

“You just killed me!” 

“I got your stuff,” he says. 

“Keep talking shit about me and I’ll make sure you never see a day of peace,” you say, cackling at Seungcheol’s curses. You can hear Mingyu and Jihoon laughing, too. You wonder how many lunches it would cost to take them out. 

“I won’t forget this,” Seungcheol says. “I’ll get revenge.” 

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Wonwoo says. 

“I can’t believe you killed me,” he says again. “Were you invis?” 

“Yeah, I used some arrows of harming and spectral arrows, too, just in case.” 

“Dude, you killed me in like five shots.” 

“Okay, Wonwoo is no longer allowed to be hired as a hitman,” Mingyu announces. “It’s not fair.” 

“Hey! Can’t I choose how to sell my services?” Wonwoo asks. 

“Was it worth betraying me?” Seungcheol pretends to be hurt. “How much did my life cost?” 

“Two sandwiches,” you answer. 

“I’ll never forgive you.” 

You laugh, and then smile even more when you see Wonwoo has texted you a smiley face. 

Me: Good job, partner, you send him. 

Wonwoo: Just doing good business. 

You turn back to your computer. There’s still another hour until Jeonghan could get on to beat the ender dragon, and it occurs to you that you’ve been playing for nearly four hours. You tell the guys you are going to come back later, signing off and getting out of your chair and stretching. 

You check your phone as it dings. 

Wonwoo: don’t forget to refill your water! 

You frown. You must have mentioned it to him while playing. You grab your water bottle, trying not to overthink the fact that he remembered when even you forgot. The more time you spend around Wonwoo, the harder it is to deny how lovely he is. 

.

.

You stare at the options. You wish Wonwoo hadn’t trusted you to get him something, or that you could have remembered to ask him what he likes, at least what he dislikes. 

You finally choose a BLT and a chicken sandwich and pray he isn’t vegetarian. You scout a table out and snag it, laying your backpack across the seats opposite you to save them. A few minutes later, you see Wonwoo making his way through the crowd of people filling up the dining hall. As he gets closer, you see Jeonghan and Jihoon at his sides. You tell yourself you didn’t notice them because Wonwoo is so much taller. No other reason. 

You wave them over, grabbing your backpack as they slide into the seats, Jeonghan next to you while Wonwoo sat directly across from you. You point to the sandwiches. He frowns but ends up picking the chicken sandwich. 

You slap Jeonghan’s hand away from the BLT. “That’s my lunch!” 

“Why does Wonwoo get one, then?” 

“It’s his payment,” you say, picking up your sandwich. 

“You’re telling me Seungcheol hasn’t whined about his murder to you yet?” Jihoon asks. 

“You know, I sort of tune him out when he starts talking about Minecraft,” Jeonghan says. 

“He is being a little dramatic about it,” you say. 

“You can’t say anything, you're the one that ordered a hit on him,” Jihoon said. “I’d watch your back.” 

“It’s a video game!” You say. 

“You know Seungcheol,” Jeonghan says. “He can hold a grudge when he wants to.” 

Seungcheol and Jeonghan were your first friends in college. Technically you went to high school with them, but you didn’t really become friends until last year, when the three of you somehow ended up at the same school. 

That’s how you know Jeonghan was exactly right. You glance around, suddenly worried that he was going to appear and exact his revenge in the middle of the dining hall. 

“Was it worth it?” Jeonghan asks Wonwoo, who is somehow almost finished with the sandwich. 

Wonwoo shrugs. “I’m not going to lie, the sandwich was a little subpar.” He checks his watch, then nudges you with his foot. “We’re going to be late to lab.” 

You groan. “Why did we let Mingyu convince us to take this horrible class with him?” 

He laughs as you stand up and follow him, grabbing your half eaten sandwich and waving goodbye to Jihoon and Jeonghan. As you walk beside him, you realize this is the first time you’ve been alone with him since you realized your tiny crush. Trying to match pace with his long stride is even more difficult when you are also trying very hard not to think about the way his arms hang on his sides, the way his hands are so close to yours and how easy it would be to slip your fingers in with his. Luckily he seems to notice you struggling to keep up because he starts taking smaller steps. So sweet. 

“So was the sandwich really that bad?” You ask. 

“It’s campus food,” he says. “It’s never good.” 

“That’s true.” 

He glances at you, glasses glinting in the sunlight. “I’m not sure I can really count it as payment.” 

You freeze. “This is extortion! I’ve paid you for your services, you can’t demand more!” 

“I don’t think that’s what extortion means.” He says. “And I’m not saying the sandwich doesn’t count. Just, maybe, a better second payment.” 

“You’re going to make me go broke,” you say. “Well, more broke.” 

He laughs. “Nothing expensive.” He holds the door to the science building open for you and you try not to read into it. 

“What about the café? It’s better than the dining hall,” you say, heading into the stairwell. You catch a glimpse of a grimace across his face as you turn up the stairs. “What is it?” 

“Jihoon’s ex works there and apparently being friends with him means that I’m hated too.” 

You snort. 

“What is it?” 

“I can’t believe Jihoon dated before I did.” 

“It surprises us all,” Wonwoo says. “Though I’d barely call it dating. They broke up after a week because Jihoon is Jihoon and realized his feelings were just superficial and no one really takes it well but his ex… It’s safe to say we mostly just avoid the café on principle.” 

“Noted,” you say. You’re in the hallway outside the classroom now. You really don’t want to go inside, because, seriously, why do three hour long classes exist? Chatting with Wonwoo was an added bonus to avoiding the torture. You idle outside a couple minutes longer but you really are in danger of being late and Wonwoo is starting to look antsy. 

You finally step inside, waving at Mingyu who is already sitting at the table. He’s grinning, as he always is. 

Mingyu was the reason you really had friends. Though you knew Seungcheol and Jeonghan in high school, it was only because of Mingyu that the friendship lasted past your first semester, hanging out with them throughout the spring semester, keeping in touch with them over the summer, and even taking a class with Mingyu. 

Mingyu is the reason you ever met Wonwoo, and, sitting in class and definitely paying attention to the lab introduction and not staring at the back of Wonwoo’s head, you can’t decide if that’s a good thing or not. 

.

.

You can’t remember who suggested it first, but it was Jihoon who ended up making the server, the first day of fall break. It practically belonged to Wonwoo now, since he was by far the person that played the most. You have no idea how he finds the time to play and do his work and sleep, but every time you log on, he has something shiny and new. 

It has been two weeks since the server started. You spent too much of fall break playing and generally leeching off of Wonwoo, but have only logged on a couple times since then. It’s Friday, though, and you even did one of your readings, so you feel like you can afford to spend a few hours working on the base. You aren’t surprised when you log in and Wonwoo is on. 

You’re prepared to play on your own, but Wonwoo asks if you want to join a voice chat and there’s no way you’ll say no. 

“It’s been so lonely,” Wonwoo says as soon as you join. “No one ever plays.” 

“It’s like we’re college students,” you say. You wander around the base, deciding you would keep working on designing the interior with the new types of wood that someone “anonymously” gifted you (you knew it was Wonwoo). 

“The trick is to not do anything until the last possible second,” Wonwoo says. 

“I can’t say that sounds appealing to me,” you say. “What are you doing right now, anyways?” 

“Just prepping for my next project,” Wonwoo says. 

“That sounds vaguely suspicious, should I be concerned?” 

He’s quiet for a moment. Finally, he asks in a low voice, “Can you keep a secret?” 

His voice is just serious enough that you can’t tell if he’s joking or not. “Is this real life or in game?” 

Wonwoo laughs. “This is in game, though I guess the question technically applies to both.” 

“Well, no one knows about the Incident, so at least Mingyu would say yes.” 

“He made a fool of himself, didn’t he?” 

“I’m sworn to secrecy.” 

You decide if making Wonwoo laugh was all you did for the rest of your life it would be worth it. Something about the way his deep voice echoed in your ears made your heart skip a beat. 

“Okay, come to Seungcheol’s base,” he says. 

“The secret one?” You start heading there when Wonwoo says yes. The second day, Seungcheol decided he wanted to have a secret base, which meant in two minutes everyone had figured out where it was. 

At least, where it used to exist. When you get there, Wonwoo is standing around the blown up remains of the Seungcheol’s base, a giant crater created by TNT in the middle of a flower field. 

“What happened?” 

“Jeonghan,” Wonwoo says. 

“You know what, that actually makes sense,” you say. “Didn’t he say he’d only join if Jihoon let him play in creative?” 

“Yeah, that was not happening,” he says. 

“Is Seungcheol’s stuff still there?” You wander around the crater, seeing the remains of what Seungcheol had built, a few chests that remained. 

“I can’t tell,” Wonwoo says. “I’m not really sure what he had to begin with or whether Jeonghan bothered to save his stuff, but the chests that survived seem to be pretty organized.” 

“Wait, I still don’t get how he blew up Seungcheol’s house.” You emerge from the hole, standing at its edge beside Wonwoo’s character. 

“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out,” he says. “I’ve been on this server, like, almost twenty four-seven and I haven’t even seen him on, so I really have no idea how or when he did it.” 

“Someone must have helped him,” you say. “Oh my god, there’s an entire conspiracy. We have to get to the bottom of this!” 

“Conspiracy?” 

“It’s obviously not Seungcheol,” you say. “He’s going to be so mad when he comes back on.” The sun is starting to set. “Can we sleep through the night? I really don’t want to hide for the next ten minutes.” 

“Sure,” he says. You return to the base with him, mind still racing trying to figure out who was enabling Jeonghan. 

“Obviously it’s not your or me, so that leaves Jihoon and Mingyu.” You think about your two friends. You could see Mingyu doing it, because he was bullied by Seungcheol at least once a day, but usually Jeonghan was also involved, and you know Mingyu’s too busy being a STEM major to really dedicate his time to the game. 

So Jihoon? You don’t think he has much motivation, but he has been playing a lot and maybe he had some unknown score to settle with Seungcheol. 

“We should set up a stakeout or something,” you say. “Figure out who his supplier is.” The iron door swings shut behind you as you and Wonwoo return to the base. 

“A stakeout might be kind of intense,” Wonwoo says. 

“Okay, less of a stakeout and more of ‘you keep playing all day every day and find out if anyone is suspicious’ kind of thing.” 

“This sounds like I’m going to be doing all the work.” 

“Do you not spend most of your time here anyways?” You say. You go into your room and lay in your bed. “Bed!” 

“Okay true,” Wonwoo says as the screen fades. “But I actually have an essay due tomorrow and next week so I can’t really be on as much.” 

“Wonwoo? Being responsible?” You pretend to be shocked but when he laughs and your heart pounds so loud you forget that you were teasing him. 

“So how do we find out who’s helping him?” You ask. “It seems like we don’t have many options.” With the sun back in the sky, you decide you want to work on a tree farm with the generous saplings that had been donated to you. 

“We'll investigate together,” Wonwoo says. “Maybe next time Mingyu or Jihoon will leave evidence.” 

You nod in approval, though he can’t see you. “Sounds good. I’m going to grind resources for a little while if you want to go back to whatever you were doing.” He’s quiet as you both play, the silence between you not awkward but strangely peaceful. He doesn’t complain when you ask him to sleep every night, even reminding you to get back before the sun sets. 

Though you know he’s not nearly as invested as you are, it’s also fun to be in on a conspiracy with him. Maybe it’s just the fact that you have a secret between the two of you, but it makes you feel a tiny bit closer to him. You are finding that everything you learn about him just makes you like him more. 

.

.

“Should I be worried about how much time you’re playing on this server?” You ask as soon as you join the server. 

“No time for that!” Wonwoo says. “I’ve been hit!” 

“No way!” You sprint to his section of the base, and indeed, it’s been blown up. Wonwoo had spent hours personalizing what had initially just been a hole in the wall, designing a bunch of rooms with resources from the nether and the end and creating redstone machines that you didn’t even try to comprehend. 

Most of that is gone now, a crater even larger than the remains of Seungcheol’s base. 

“Oh my god,” you say. “You’ve been nuked.” You join Wonwoo and Seungcheol at the sidelines. It’s been a week since the last attack, and Seungcheol has joined your party of justice. You’re a bit sad that it’s no longer something you had just between you and Wonwoo, but looking at the remains, you couldn’t deny you needed the help. 

You take a step forward and there’s an ominous click. 

“Yn, run!” Wonwoo shouts. You try to run but you panic, pressing the W instead of the S. You hear hissing and it only worsens your panic. 

The first explosion doesn’t kill you but it scares the crap out of you and you can’t help but scream. “Help, help, help!” 

“You’re running the wrong direction!” Seungcheol says. 

“Stop laughing at me!” You groan as you die in the third explosion. Seungcheol doesn’t stop laughing, but what pains you is you can hear Wonwoo chuckling, too. 

“I guess not all of the TNT was blown up,” Seungcheol says through his laughter. 

“Evidently,” you say. “I kind of hate this game.” You click on respawn, heading back to the remains of Wonwoo’s base. You stay as far back as possible. 

“I’m sorry,” Wonwoo says. You can tell he’s still trying not to laugh. Traitor. 

“It’s not your fault,” you say with a sigh. “Though Jeonghan better watch his back.” 

“I’m sure he’s really scared,” Seungcheol says. He wanders carefully around the interior but there doesn’t seem to be any more traps. 

“I have our high school yearbook from freshman year.” 

“Have I mentioned how much I like you? Really, you’re one of my favorite people, ever,” he says. 

“Very convincing,” you say. “Tell Jeonghan to watch his back.” 

“Are the pictures really that bad?” Wonwoo asks. 

You cackle. “I’ll send them to you.” 

“Wait, why does he get them?” Seungcheol whines. 

“We’re partners in… not crime,” you say. “Partners in solving crime? Justice?” 

“That doesn’t sound right but I want to see the pictures, so, whatever you say.” 

“Did you both forget I’m still here?” Seungcheol asks. “Third wheeling?” 

“You’re not a third wheel, you’re a part of the team, too!” You say. “Partnership plus Seungcheol.” 

“That’s literally a third wheel.” 

Wonwoo bursts into laughter. 

“Why am I even here?” Seungcheol sighs. He logs out of the game. “I’m going to do actual homework.” He leaves the voice chat. 

“Did we just annoy him into doing actual homework?” You ask. You are still standing in the wreckage of Wonwoo’s base as he tries to fix it. 

“I guess so,” Wonwoo says. “I don’t think we were actually excluding him or anything, were we?” 

“I didn’t think so,” you say. The problem was, when you talked to Wonwoo, you didn’t exactly pay attention to what you were saying to anyone else. Maybe you should work on that. 

“So, Mingyu or Jihoon?” You ask because it’s been quiet for too long. 

“What?” 

“Which one do you think did it? Or, helped Jeonghan, same difference.” 

“Oh, right,” Wonwoo says. “I’m still not sure, I didn’t notice anything suspicious about either of them.” 

“You aren’t the best at investigating, huh?” 

Wonwoo laughs. “No, I’m really not.” 

“I guess we could just interrogate them.” You wonder if you’re taking this too seriously, and maybe that’s why Wonwoo isn’t answering. “Or, I mean, it is your base that’s been blown up, so we don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to.” 

Wonwoo is quiet a second too long. 

“Sorry, I guess it’s really not that big of a deal,” you say. 

“It’s not that-”

“It’s okay, I just thought it was funny, I didn’t mean to take it so seriously.” 

“Yn-”

“I actually probably should go do some homework too.” You leave the voice chat as quickly as possible, logging out of the game immediately after. It was silly of you to think that Wonwoo wasn’t just entertaining you the entire time, but it still hurt to realize. 

You sigh and turn away from your computer, despite the fact that the homework was not just an excuse and you really did have a lot of it. You just didn’t feel very motivated, instead thinking of how you had to somehow face Wonwoo tomorrow and pretend like you didn’t just get heartbroken over a video game. 

.

.

There’s a gentle poke to your cheek. “You can’t sleep here.” 

“Comfy,” you mumble, burying your face deeper into your arms. 

“Come on, wouldn’t you rather sleep in your own bed?” 

“Sleepy.” 

“Come on.” The hand on your shoulder is gentle, but relentless, shaking you until you finally blink awake, sitting up. You instantly feel sore, stretching the arm that had been your pillow. 

“How long was I out for?” You ask with a yawn. 

“I’m not really sure.” 

You freeze. You are 100% that when you fell asleep studying earlier you had been with Mingyu but that was definitely Wonwoo’s voice. You turn your head slowly, finding Wonwoo standing a couple steps behind you. Your heart does its usual gymnastic routine, though it’s worse because you’ve been awake for all of two seconds and Wonwoo looks picture perfect in his sweatshirt and perfectly combed hair. 

“What are you doing here?” You try to smooth your hair, praying there’s no red marks on your face. 

“Mingyu called because he had… actually he didn’t say what he had, he just said he had to go and that he didn’t want to wake you up, and he just told me to come here and study but the library closes in ten minutes, so we should probably go.” He folds his arm over his chest. 

“Right,” you say. You stand up and stretch a little more, still blinking sleep away. You hate finals week. You stuff your computer into your backpack and try to organize the papers around you. Wonwoo steps beside you, trying to help. 

“Is there an order to this?” He asks, trying to read your scribbled notes. 

“There was once, it doesn’t really matter now,” you say. “The exam is tomorrow and I think I’ve stared at those as much as I can.” He doesn’t say anything else as he helps you gather them and shove them into a folder, sticking it all into your backpack. You turn to leave but he stops you, pointing to the outlet. 

“Is that yours?” 

“Yes, oh my god.” You grab the charger from the wall, tossing it into your backpack. “Thank you, I would have cried if I lost that.” You do a final sweep of the room, not seeing anything else that’s yours. 

“Ready to go?” Wonwoo asks. You make the mistake of glancing at him, leaning against the doorframe with his backpack on his shoulders. He’s been so patient with you it doesn’t feel fair. 

You nod, following him out of the room and falling into step beside him. The sleep is finally starting to wear off, and you are beginning to feel awake. The library is beginning to clear out, though you’re surprised at how many people there still are. 

“How many tests do you have tomorrow?” Wonwoo asks. 

“Just the one.” You sigh as you walk down the steps. “It’s a major requirement but it’s so dumb, it’s not helpful at all.” 

“I’m just happy the science class is over,” he says. “No offense,” he adds quickly. “It was really fun to see you twice a week but I’m never letting Mingyu convince me to take a class with him again, that class was horrible.” 

You shudder, remembering the final. You can only pray that you passed the test. Your memory is so bad you almost miss Wonwoo’s half compliment. “We should celebrate being free!” You stop in your tracks, just before the exit. “Oh my god, I forgot!” 

“Did you leave something in the room?” He asks, turning to face you. 

“No!” You grab his sleeve. “I forgot to pay you!” 

He frowns. “For Seungcheol?” 

You nod. 

“That was just a joke,” he says with a laugh. He tugs your hand off of his arm, pulling you to the library doors. “I felt bad even taking the sandwich.” 

“I can’t believe I forgot!” You say, ignoring his dismissal. The December air is chilly as you step outside and you pull your jacket tighter around your shoulders. 

“You don’t actually owe me anything,” Wonwoo says. “Seriously, it was a joke.” 

“No, but I feel bad, I promised you I would do something for you and I completely forgot about it!” You stop him under a streetlight, laying a hand on his wrist.  Your breath makes little clouds in the air between you, dissipating quickly in the frigid air. Whatever you were going to say, you forget because Wonwoo is staring at you and he’s practically glowing in the bright light, and you are suddenly reminded of the day he tried to save your life. Knight in shining armor is the phrase that comes to your mind. 

Your heart is pounding as you stare at him, unable to look away. His dark eyes, magnified just a little by his thick glasses lenses, stare back at you. Though he’s only a couple of feet away from you, the distance feels like miles. 

His lips look a little chapped in the cold air, and you wonder what it would be like to step a little closer and press yours against his, whether they’d be rough or soft, whether he’d kiss you back. 

You clear your throat. “I’m sorry anyway.” You’re not sure why you say it, but you finally tear your eyes from his, dropping your hand from his arm when you remember it’s there. You wish you could hold his hand. You stumble back for a couple steps before finally convincing your feet to work. You’re vaguely aware of Wonwoo mumbling, “Don’t worry about it,” and falling into step next to you. 

He walks you to your car, neither of you daring to say anything after the strange moment. You’re struggling to think straight, especially with him still at your side. More than anything, you need your bed. 

“I’ll see you later,” he says when you open the door. You force yourself to smile and wave goodnight to him before getting into your car. You lay your head against the wheel, wondering why you can’t just pretend like these feelings don’t exist. 

There was no way Wonwoo didn’t think that was awkward, and you were now going to spend the rest of the night wondering just why you couldn’t stop staring at him when you should be studying for finals. 

Maybe you should just drop out. 

.

.

“It’s not what it looks like!” Wonwoo says. You join the voice chat before your game loads, but before you can say anything, he’s stammering. “I swear, it wasn’t supposed to happen like this!” 

“What are you talking about?” You say, but a second later your game loads and you have no words. When you left a couple days ago, you had been in the middle of your base, logging off after spending a couple hours perfecting the hallway design (the trick was to mix and match the different types of stone). 

It’s all gone now. You spawn in a crater of what you hand spent all your time on, barely recognizable amidst the remains. You see Wonwoo character appear and realize that the explosion had just happened, blocks littered around you. 

“Wonwoo,” you say slowly, trying to understand what was happening around you. Everything you had worked on, gone. 

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he says again. 

You start to understand, though it doesn’t make sense. “It’s been you? All this time?” 

He says nothing, character in front of you as frozen as you feel inside. 

“I can explain,” he finally says. 

“No, I get it,” you say. “Actually it makes way more sense, you’re the only one who spends enough time to really supply him.” You try not to let the hurt show in your voice. It made perfect sense, really. What you didn’t understand is why he lied, why he played along with you when it was him all along. How many times had you talked to him about thinking it was Jihoon today, or Mingyu the next? You feel embarrassed, now, knowing how stupid you sounded. 

“Jeonghan wasn’t supposed to destroy everything,” he says softly. 

“Is that why you think I’m upset?” You’re not being fair, but you don’t particularly care right now. It shouldn't hurt, but it does. “Because my shit got blown up?” You log out of the game, staring at the discord chat. You and Wonwoo are the only ones online, which is good because you really don’t want anyone walking in on this conversation. 

“You spent the entire time on the server working on it,” he mumbles. 

You laugh. “I spent my entire time on the server hanging out with you,” you say. It’s good you're behind a screen because otherwise you would never have the confidence to do this, even if that made you a coward. “I really don’t care about Minecraft, Wonwoo. I like you.” 

It’s so quiet you can hear your heart pounding over your headphones. You’re frozen, unable to click out of the voice chat though you know the silence is your answer, and every second that he doesn’t say anything means is him trying to figure out how to say that your feelings are unrequited and you just ruined the friendship. 

Okay, completely ruined might be an exaggeration but it won’t ever be the same and it made you sick to your stomach that you had just blurted it out because you were butthurt about a dumb game. 

“Did you really just confess to me over discord?” Wonwoo says. It's always been impossible to decipher how he feels from his voice but you’re going crazy trying to figure out if he really doesn’t sound mad or it's just your wishful thinking. 

 “Um. I guess so?” 

He laughs, that stupid laugh that makes your heart flip in spite of the fact that you’re terrified. “I’m sorry, this is just the worst way to do this, you seriously couldn’t wait one more week?” 

“You really don’t have to make me feel any more stupid than I already do,” you say. 

“Oh my god, no, that’s not what I mean!” He says quickly. “Yn, I like you, too.” 

“Oh.” Oh. 

“I just didn’t think it was the best idea to tell you over discord,” he says. 

“Yeah, that would be really dumb,” you say, trying to get your brain to comprehend anything other than I like you, too. 

“If you waited literally one week, I would have told you in person,” he says. “I had a plan and everything. Actually, I had a plan to do it after finals but I sort of chickened out and then we both went back home and I had to reschedule, but I swear I was actually going to do it.” 

“Right,” you say. “Wait, what? I really have no idea what’s going on, I can’t believe you actually like me back.” 

“You’re an idiot,” he says. “How could I not?” 

You have no answer to that, realizing that any insecurity you tell him would be shot down. 

“I can’t believe this is how I told you,” Wonwoo says. 

“I can pretend I didn’t hear you?” 

You smile at his laugh, his voice sending a shock straight to your heart. “Or we could just meet up the second you’re back?”

“Like a date?”

“If that’s what you want,” he says. “It’s what I want, if I’m not being clear,” he adds quickly. 

You wonder if you’ll ever stop smiling. “Yeah, I definitely want.” Eventually your vocabulary will return. Hopefully. 

“So it’s a date?” Wonwoo asks. 

You open your mouth to answer but there’s a ding and someone else joins the voice chat. 

“Hey, perfect!” Jeonghan says. “Yn, I’m supposed to apologize for blowing up your base, that wasn’t supposed to happen. Actually, that’s what Wonwoo told me to say but honestly I’m really tired of listening to the both of you flirt without actually doing anything and I blew it up on purpose so that I can now say this: yn, Wonwoo likes you. Wonwoo, yn likes you. Have fun!” There’s another ding and he’s gone. 

“I don’t know if I’m more mad that he planned that or that it sort of worked,” Wonwoo says. 

“Yeah, he actually makes no sense,” you say. 

“And yet it worked,” Wonwoo says. You wish you could see the face he’s making now, wondering if he’s smiling like you are. 

“So, it’s a date?” He asks again.

Yes,” you say. “It’s a date.”

[imsobadatnicknames2]

Okay this is the last D&D-critical post imma make in a while bc I don't wanna focus so much on negativity so I just wanna get it out of my system real quick.

The thing is. I would like to be all live-and-let-live with 5e-only people. Because the thing is like. If you want to never play anything other than 5e and just homebrew it for your Star Trek campaign or whatever else, that's your right as a player, or a GM. While on a wider cultural level I think that the fact that "why play anything else just homebrew everything into D&D" is becoming the default for people coming into the hobby plays into the way WotC is choking out the TTRPG market; but on an individual level it's like. If you wanna homebrew guns and cyberarms and play cyberpunk on 5e with your friends I'm nobody to tell you not to do it, and I hope you have fun doing it.

But the reason I'm so cynical about 5e is because of the way this attitide surrounding D&D has encroached on online TTRPG spaces.

In my personal experience with online TTRPG communities (and of course this might differ for y'all, you might have been a lot luckier than me) things have gotten to the point where, unless you're SPECIFICALLY in a no-D&D-allowed space, posting anything along the lines of "I wanna run a game of [not d&d] but I can't find any players, do you know anyone interested?" or "anyone got any recs for a game about x that does y and z?" is likely to get you a 5e fan trying to kindly enlighten you about the fact that you don't HAVE to use a Whole Other System to do X! and about how D&D is so versatile and you can totally use it to do X if you just reskin the classes and weapons and homebrew Y and Z! And how if you think about it and squint really hard this class is basically just a Barbarian and this other class is just a mix between Rogue and Wizard! And the stat block of a Beholder can be easily reskinned to fit this creature! As if the only reason to ever consider playing anything other than 5e is that you're a poor oblivious fool whose eyes haven't been opened to the wonders of putting superficial elements of the TTRPG you actually want to play into D&D and by telling you that homebrew exists they're freeing you from the shackles of "having" to play games not owned by WotC.

[petricorah]

i saw this post about probending zuko and got swept up in the euphoria of planning a zukka probending au before remembering sokka doesn't bend.

so anyway. pro bending sokka where he gets high on cactus juice and gets in an argument with katara and registers himself as a jerkbender, saying "i (hic) totally (hic) bet you i can beat all of you in pro bending tournament" and signs up high off his ass

he wakes up in the morning with Regret. But is too stubborn and arrogant to back down. so he goes. after all, he fights benders all the time, right? (he realizes one mistake when he's not allowed to bring weapons into the ring and is plopped into the arena completely defenseless)

he manages to beat the first few in a combination of smarts and dump luck. And yeah he gets bruised a lot but there's no way he's going to let katara say "i told you so" This is now for non benders Everywhere, okay?

and so he gets better about using the arena and the benders' strengths against them and his plans and he gets into further and further along. And maybe he spars and practices with Zuko because they're on opposite ends of the bracket and haven't fought each other yet. And Sokka always beats Zuko in swords but now the tables are turned, and how the hell is he going to beat Zuko at probending when he can't even take his eyes off his crush to spar?