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bonniebelleklyde · 3 years

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Mistletoe

Word Count: 2871

Pairing: Loceit (romantic)

Warnings: Mild cursing, kissing

Summary: Janus finds himself the victim of a cruel prank involving Logan and a baffling amount of mistletoe. Janus is completely unbothered. No, really, he is.

When you’re done here, check out sequel Things Unsaid and Prequels A Storm to Weather and The Small Hours.

The first time it had happened had been an unfortunate accident. Logan had been leaning casually against the doorframe that opened the living room up into the hallway, engaged in a conversation with Roman that must have been exasperating judging by the long-suffering huff of his breath and the roll of his eyes. Upon closer inspection, however, it was clear that the exasperation was mostly feigned—the lopsided curve of the logical side’s lips betrayed his fond amusement at whatever asinine argument Roman must have been making. All of this was readily apparent to Janus at a mere glance in Logan’s direction. Janus was, after all, keenly observant and had his gaze landed on Roman instead of Logan, he would have gleaned just as much information about the prince. Obviously.

None of that, however, was what stopped Janus dead in his tracks as he made his way down the hallway. No, what ground his mind and body both to a full stop was the small sprig of green and red hanging from the top of the doorway, just to the left of Logan’s head. Later, Janus would wrack his brain for some good reason that the sight of mistletoe arrested him so thoroughly, but for now he did the only thing he seemed capable of doing—he just…stared. His eyes locked onto the tiny plant as if it were the most fascinating thing that Janus had ever seen…or maybe as if it were something horrific that he couldn’t peel his eyes from. His feet moved without direction of any kind from his mind, as if the damn mistletoe had some sort of magnetic pull on him. He took one step toward the doorway and then another, knowing full well he’d had no intention of going to into the living room when he’d started down this hallway. In fact, he’d never be able to recall where he wanted to go in the first place.

He had no idea how much time had elapsed before Roman noticed his presence or his staring, but Janus’s eyes were finally torn from the mistletoe at the sound of a low chuckle, and he looked in the creative side’s direction to see a slow grin spreading over the other’s face. Roman’s eyes flicked from Janus to the mistletoe hanging over Logan’s head—Janus didn’t dare let his gaze fall to Logan for fear of what expression he might have been sporting—and took a step closer to the doorway.

Oh god, Janus’s useless, horrified mind provided. Suddenly, the deceitful side was absolutely certain of two things: first, that he was about to watch Roman step into the offending doorway and kiss Logan under that godforsaken mistletoe, and second, that he would rather tear off a limb than bear witness to that for one second. Upon reflection after the incident had passed, Janus would become certain of a third fact—that he’d never in his life looked more ridiculous than he did then, sprinting down the hallway to avoid two idiots and a stupid plant.

The second time it happened was all Roman’s doing. In hindsight, Janus really should have known that Roman was up to something when the other had called him into his room from down the hall, asking him to assist with some vaguely mysterious “problem.” Janus was deceit for crying out loud. He should have known.

“Wait, don’t come in yet—just stand right there by the door,” Roman said in a rush, his voice all giddy excitement.

Janus stopped short, confused, and looked passed Roman to see an equally perplexed Logan sitting on the creative side’s bed. Since when were these two attached at the hip? If there was some sort of happy announcement forthcoming, Janus suspected he might literally be sick. Because Janus simply had neither time nor the patience to hear about the romantic exploits of the other sides. And for no other reason. Clearly.

“Roman, whatever this is, I really don’t—” Janus started to drawl, affecting a bored, disinterested tone, when he cut himself off in his own surprise and confusion as Logan was shoved unceremoniously to stand directly in front of him.

Janus blinked hard, attempting to discern exactly what was happening here and coming to no conclusions whatsoever because he was struck by the much more important realization that he’d never been close enough to Logan to get a good look at the logical side’s eyes behind his glasses. They were rich and dark and surprisingly soft, and Janus was vaguely aware that his own lips had parted slightly of their own accord, his mouth gone completely dry in a matter of seconds. He was…ill. There could be no other explanation for his dry mouth and his complete inability to think straight.

He was torn from his reverie by the sound of Roman clearing his throat. Janus glared daggers at the prince standing behind Logan. The prince who was now jerking his head upward in an obnoxiously exaggerated motion, his eyes moving pointedly from Janus’s face to a spot above his head. Reluctantly, Janus followed Roman’s gaze upward and cursed under his breath when the sight above him finally shed clarity on this ridiculous situation. Mistletoe. Of course.

Like a child, Janus closed his eyes to avoid reality. Logan was anything but stupid, and he must have noticed that thrice damned mistletoe by now. Janus was totally unwilling to look Logan in the (deep, liquid, lovely) eye and see any of the myriad unpleasant emotions that must be there. Discomfort. Disgust. Horror. Pity. No, Janus refused to see any of it, refused to acknowledge that this cruel joke was being played on him. For a second time, he turned tail and ran without a word. Roman was yelling something from behind him, but Janus was too busy wiping at his face to pay attention to what it was. His eyes were watering because he must have some sort of allergy to mistletoe—it was the only plausible explanation.

The third time, Patton had somehow become involved. The moral side had cajoled Janus into helping him in the kitchen, and as Janus focused on his attempt to avoid burning the contents of the pan he’d been placed in charge of, Patton waved at something—or as it turned out, someone—behind them.

“Oh hi, Logan! Lucky you’re here; we need a third man over here. Could you grab the salt for me? It’s in that cabinet next to Janus.”

“Luck was in no way involved in my presence here, Patton,” Logan replied as he approached the relevant cabinet. His tone was equal parts exasperated and confused, and Janus hadn’t the slightest clue why it made him smile to himself, why such a mundane statement from Logan seemed to cause something to constrict in his chest. “You did, after all, provide an exact time at which my help would be urgently required in the kitchen.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Patton said, his voice overly chipper even for him. “Well, now that you’re here, why don’t you just add that salt to Janus’s pan there?”

“I hardly see why you needed a third person for this,” Logan remarked, but he didn’t sound particularly bothered despite his words.

Janus watched out of the corner of his eye as Logan moved to do what he was told, reaching over Janus’s arm to sprinkle salt into the pan. And Janus was imagining things when it looked as if Logan paused for no reason when he’d finished, and imagining again when he felt the brush of an arm gently over his. He was certainly imagining things when he snuck a peek at Logan’s face and saw a slight flush in the other’s cheeks. Janus…simply had a vivid imagination.

As Logan’s arm finally moved away, Patton’s hand suddenly shot out, causing Janus to jump violently backward. And sure enough, there was that fucking mistletoe again, dangling over Logan’s head from Patton’s hand. Subtle.

At this point, the mere sight of mistletoe must have triggered Janus’s flight response, as he had sunk out before he could so much as blink. He spent the rest of the day locked in his room. Because he was tired. What did he have to avoid anyway? No, he’d just had a trying day of…sautéing vegetables.

The fourth time, Janus had woken far earlier than he normally did and decided to fix himself a proper breakfast. In the kitchen, he found Logan looking absolutely nothing like himself.

The logical side was, for lack of a better term, a mess. He was on his feet but slouched over the counter as if without its support he would sink to the floor. He dawned a royal blue pajama set that looked like silk and was certainly something Janus had never seen the other wear before. Several buttons of his top were undone, and his glasses were nowhere to be seen. He was looking down at what was likely his fourth cup of coffee, so Janus couldn’t quite see his eyes, but they must have been tired because Janus could make out the bags under Logan’s eyes that, today, rivaled even Virgil’s. When Logan finally registered that someone had entered the room and met Janus’s expression with tired and inexplicably sad eyes, Janus had to make a concerted effort to restrain himself from the sudden impulse to round the counter that stood between them and wrap this man in his arms. To stroke Logan’s bedraggled hair and hum soft melodies in his ear until the stubborn man could be coaxed back to bed.

The deceitful side cleared his throat violently to dispel that dangerous train of thought, a sound that caused Logan to wince as if Janus had shouted at him.

“Are you going to run away from me again?” Logan asked in a tone that sounded like loss, like tragic defeat.

Janus blanched. Was Logan’s current state somehow Janus’s fault?

“No,” he answered in a tentative voice, just above a whisper. “And I don’t…I haven’t been running away from you,” he added weakly.

Logan chucked at that, the sound carrying no humor in it.

“I am many things, Janus, but I think we can both agree that an idiot is not one of them,” he said, and Janus would pay any price if someone would tell him why in the world Logan sounded like he was on the verge of tears. “Roman and Patton have conspired to play a cruel trick on you, it seems. I did attempt to talk them out of it, once I realized what it was they were trying to do.”

Janus wanted very badly to lie. To pretend he didn’t know exactly what Logan was talking about. Like he was blissfully unaware of the goddamned mistletoe and just how unfair this prank was to both of them. Somehow, his normally silver tongue had turned to lead, and he struggled to find any words at all, let alone a lie.

“I’m sorry,” was all he managed to choke out, distressed as he was by the redness of Logan’s dark eyes.

“Don’t,” Logan returned, and it sounded like plea. “Apparently, it is I who should be making apologies.”

There was a bitterness to Logan’s last statement that Janus couldn’t understand.

“What do you have to apologize for?”

Logan blinked and a single tear escaped its duct to roll slowly down the logical side’s face. Janus watched it in horror. He opened his mouth to speak again, to say something, anything to fix this, but Logan cut him off.

“I don’t know,” he exclaimed. “I’ve recounted every moment of the past week in painstaking detail and I cannot come up with what it is I could have done.”

“You haven’t—” Janus rushed to interject, but Logan soldiered on.

“I understand that the nonsense with the mistletoe has distressed you. I understand that you find the act that Roman and Patton have attempted to set in motion with it is unpleasant to you. I understand that my feelings for you have always been unrequited—”

“Your feelings for—?”

“But what I cannot understand is what I have done to convince you so thoroughly that I would ever force you. That you had to physically run away from me to prevent…how exactly did you arrive at the conclusion that I would ever kiss you without your consent?”

In that moment, the slightest push would have knocked Janus to the ground. Since none came, he simply stared, frozen, mouth hanging open and he struggled to process all that Logan had just said. Logan stared right back at him with wet but determined eyes, evidently awaiting Janus’s answer. Regrettably, Janus’s bewildered mind had none to offer.

“Your feelings for me?” he tried again, a slight quiver in his voice betraying his fear.

Logan tucked his head downward at that, and Janus’s heart clenched painfully at the realization that he probably did so to conceal more tears. It was several moments before the logical side had composed himself enough to look up once more, his face confirming Janus’s suspicions.

“Must we talk about that part of it?”

Logan asked the question as if these feelings Logan apparently had were obvious, that there had been some sort of unspoken understanding between the two of them. But Janus continued to stare dumbly back at Logan. Perhaps it was cruel, to push further now. But Janus was selfish, and Janus was afraid—he was not going to subject himself to rejection. He couldn’t; it would defy the very fabric of who he was. He had to be sure.

“Yes,” came his answer on a disbelieving breath.

Logan nodded as though in defeat. He took a long, shaking breath before delivering his answer.

“Though I have been aware of the…unusual affect you have on me for quite some time now, it was only recently that Roman assisted me in coming to terms with the fact that the feelings I have for you have a name. That name being, as I am sure has been obvious to the rest of you, love.”

Love. Janus’s brain halted on the word and he was sure that Logan was still speaking, but the deceitful side’s mind had short circuited. His feet moved of their own accord, and before Janus could register what was happening, he had rounded the edge of the counter and was now standing directly in front of Logan, his hand resting on Logan’s hip.

Logan stopped speaking abruptly—may have even stopped breathing from the sound of it—and blinked heavily, eyes fixed on the spot where Janus’s hand had fallen. He opened his mouth several times and closed it again without speaking. He furrowed his brows as if recalculating a difficult equation to see where he’d gone wrong with it the first time. His brows were still furrowed when he met Janus’s eyes once more.

“Roman…told me it was obvious, that I loved you. You…you knew how I felt.” Logan’s last statement came out like a question.

Janus shook his head in slow motion, still struggling to believe the turn this conversation had taken. Logan’s eyes widened.

“You didn’t…you didn’t know…”

“It would appear,” Janus said softly, bringing a reverent hand to rest against Logan’s cheek and reveling in how easily the logical side leaned into his touch, “that you vastly overestimated my intelligence, dearheart.”

Logan’s breath hitched at the term of endearment, and the logical side moved closer to Janus as if pulled by magnetism, his shaking hand rising to rest against Janus’s chest.

“Why did you run away?” Logan asked as Janus’s thumb moved to brush a stray tear from the other’s face.

“Because I was afraid,” Janus answered, for once completely honest.

“You’re…afraid of me?”

Janus chuckled, the sound soft and fond and full of affection.

“Dearheart, you are terrifying. Now kiss me.”

Logan needed no further prompting. In an instant the logical side had closed the short distance between them, placing his free hand at the back of Janus’s head, and suddenly nothing registered in Janus’s mind apart from the feeling of Logan’s lips on his. They tasted like black coffee, and Janus had always hated coffee but all at once nothing had ever tasted so sweet. Janus moved the hand he’d placed on Logan’s hip to wrap it tightly around the logical side’s waist and pull him closer. The kiss was sweet and soft and gentle, and Janus couldn’t help but smile against Logan’s lips. There was a breathy sound of contentment that could have come from either of them—Janus hadn’t the slightest clue. Janus kissed Logan a second, third, fourth time, unwilling to come up for air as if the moment they parted, Logan would vanish.

The sound of Logan’s quiet laughter gave him pause. He pulled back just far enough to look the other in the eye, and saw that, at some point, Logan’s eyes must have turned skyward, as he was now chuckling at the ceiling. Janus followed Logan’s gaze upward and nearly doubled over in laughter at the small sprig of green and red taped to the ceiling above them.

“Goddamned mistletoe,” he muttered before leaning in for yet another kiss.

The stupid plant had its merits after all.

#fanfic #loceit #logan sanders #janus sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #holiday #mistletoe

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iamtheblondestblonde · 4 years

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Clear as Day

Part One?

AN: Here’s some friends with benefits with Vince that I came up with in between cases at work. Vince if you’re reading this I’m so sorry please stop right here but also hmu I swear I just wanna be friends. I don’t know much about being a pediatric nurse (financial law anyone?) but I did volunteer at a hospital for a while so I hope it’s not super far off. I have plans and some stuff written for a part two that could be the same length so let me know you want one but it could be complete like this. (First person narrative but again no names or descriptions for the mc)

Warnings: language, definitely (also English isn’t my first language so perhaps some mistakes) and smut, also definitely (yes you read that right I did it again)

Word Count: 13.3k

I loved my job. I really did. I found it rewarding to be able to make tiny faces light up but I was currently on my second day of 12 hour back to back shifts, with yesterday closer to 14 hours, and I just really wanted to spend the entire day in bed.

It wasn’t even 7 a.m. yet and the streets of Toronto were already bustling, everybody preparing for a busy day. The sound of the ice cubes sloshing around in my coffee had become a staple background noise for the walk from the employee parking lot to the front entrance of the hospital, it soothed me.

As soon as I stepped into the building I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face, despite being sleep-deprived and basically needing a break already. There was a new drawing pinned to the wall by the nurses’ station and if the image of my smiling face wasn’t a dead giveaway already, it was hard to miss my name written on top of it in big bold letters.

It had started out as a joke really, a half-hearted complaint about me not getting as many drawings as others because most of my patients didn’t stay long in the ICU. From that moment on Lucas, my only long-term patient right now and all-time favorite teenager, had made sure that there was always a new one waiting for me every week. He was really good at drawing as well and I had an entire stack of amazing portraits, landscapes and lots of other random things at my apartment that I cherished dearly.

“He wanted to give it to you himself but then we had to give him something and he asked me to put it up so you’d see it as soon as you got in.” I turned around to see Mariah standing behind me, her face showing the same look of fondness as mine. Most of the nurses were pretty convinced that he had a crush on me and while I had to face lots of playful jabs because of that, she never gave me shit about it. She was probably about to head out and I knew that she only stayed behind to tell me this so I made sure to thank her.

“Is he up yet?”

“Surprisingly not, although he should be soon. He’s had a rough night and he stayed up way too long to draw but I doubt that anything could ruin this day for him, two dreams coming true and all.”

As soon as her words registered with me I mentally facepalmed, I’d completely forgotten that we’d get a visitor in a couple of hours. Because of Lucas’ surgery he hadn’t talked about hockey all that much lately, so I’d kind of forgotten that today he would get to meet one of his idols. I was about to respond something when I spotted Sydney waving me over.

Sydney was in charge of all of the pediatric nurses during the day shift, meaning that I had approximately three seconds to make my way over before she’d get impatient because she was always so busy. I waved goodbye to Mariah and speed walked over to Sydney, curious to see as to what she needed of me. She never beat around the bush, always coming straight to the core of things so I didn’t expect the conversation to last long and today was no different. She probably held the world record for fastest talker.

“So you know we’re getting a visitor today which means that I need someone to run a tight ship for me. You’re young and perky and I asked around and people love you. I know you helped with some of the Leafs the last time so you should already be familiar with the protocol. This is a big hospital and I want all of the kids on the list to get a chance to talk to Mr Dunn and that won’t happen if he gets lost so I want you to stay with him at all times, got it? I’ll get one of the on-calls to take over for you during everything.”

I couldn’t even get a word in before her pager went off and she jogged off after practically thrusting a file into my hands, unable to respond anything as she said something over her shoulder about this being a gift. I stared after her with my mouth hanging wide open, not really comprehending what had just gone down yet.

Being ‘young and perky’ had apparently just managed to get me demoted from a RN to a babysitter for yet another over-confident celebrity which didn’t really feel like a gift at all.

Lucas had told me all about how great this Vince apparently was but I had seen my fair share of famous people walking around these halls with camera teams following them, it was kind of a part of working with sick kids. There were exceptions of course, some of them were really nice but those were usually the ones that didn’t visit the kids for some good PR. While I was glad that it would make Lucas happy it didn’t really impress me anymore.

Besides I hadn’t really paid attention to hockey ever before, although it was hard to escape the hype right now with me being a St. Louis native. Some of my friends had sent me pictures of the parade from about a month ago but I hadn’t really paid much attention because I’d been slammed with work, not recognizing any of the players either way.

The file Sydney had given me consisted of a schedule for the day and a list of the kids that wanted to meet Vince, which was surprisingly long for this being a hospital in Toronto and him playing for the Blues. Even with my limited, read non-existent, hockey knowledge I was pretty sure that the team wasn’t liked very much in the league but I blamed it on them winning. Sydney was right, we would have to make good time to get through everybody.

I couldn’t exactly spend forever going through the file because I had mostly new admissions assigned to me and that meant lots of charting and running tests. I did spend my break reading through everything and trying to come up with a plan while shoveling food to my mouth at record speed however. Even if I wasn’t exactly thrilled with this assignment there was absolutely no way I wouldn’t be prepared. I would leave this hospital with the best possible impression of me, all things be damned.

It was kind of hard to focus on what was written in front of me though when I had three other nurses standing close by and ranting about how hot Vince apparently was. Lucas had shown me his hockey card a few times but I didn’t really know what he looked like because I was usually busy putting in a new IV line at the time, something he’d come to hate so talking about hockey was the perfect distraction. I was tempted to google him but before I got the chance my pager went off, signaling that the incoming convoy was about to arrive.

Unable to stop myself I checked my reflection quickly in one of the mirrors on my way out of the restroom. Call me vain but I didn’t want to end up in any pictures or videos looking like a total slob, even if it was just in the background. I’d taken the time to shower this morning but I definitely would’ve added more than the layer of concealer if I’d known about this earlier. At least I’d gotten my brows done and my lash extensions refilled a couple of days ago. Deciding that it was too late to do anything else about it I walked towards the front entrance with the file in my hands, making sure one last time that I knew where to take this Vince first.

It wasn’t hard to spot him in the group that arrived, the big shiny trophy he was lugging around kind of a dead giveaway.

He was good-looking, I had to give him that. Not in the rugged handsome way however, it was more of a defined features and beautiful way. The kind of look that got you dubbed as a pretty boy during high school, the polo shirt he was spotting only reinforcing that image.

I couldn’t really imagine him playing ice hockey. He was fit of course, but he wasn’t as big and bulky as I’d thought and if I had to guess I’d peg him as a baseball or lacrosse player, perhaps soccer even. If all hockey players looked like him however, I might have to catch a game or two after all.

I walked over with my big work smile plastered on my face, hand outstretched and he set the cup down to shake it as I introduced myself first. I caught him looking me up and down quickly but I wasn’t really one to talk because I’d done the same exact thing just seconds earlier.

“Hi I’m Vince, nice to meet you. Love the scrubs by the way”, he responded with a dazzling smile, gesturing at my outfit. Compliments weren’t a bad start, especially since I was wearing one of my favorites with an adorable blue and pink dinosaurs print.

“Thanks, one of my friends paints them for me.” Not willing to dwell too long on awkward small talk I continued: “Do you want me to get like a wheelchair for the cup or are you gonna carry it the entire time?”

“I think I’d get a lot of shit for not carrying it so thanks but no thanks.”

I quickly introduced myself to the rest of the team before herding everyone towards the elevators because he had to be upstairs in a couple of minutes. The camera team was more intimidating than I’d thought and I tried my best to distract myself from it as I pointed out different things around the hospital, only hoping that I wasn’t rambling without making any sense.

I was pretty sure that Vince could tell that I was uncomfortable because he kept our conversation going the whole time, obviously trying to make me laugh. His own laugh was hard to ignore and by the time we walked into the room where a livestream would take place the smile on my face was real. At least he wasn’t just easy on the eyes but he seemed fairly entertaining so far as well.

I watched him do the stream with Owen, who I’d spent some time in post-op with after his surgery a couple of weeks ago, and then stood close by as he talked to the long line of patients and people who were able to come up here. Sometimes when he saw a special needs kid getting closer he’d turn to me to ask for advice and tips and even all that ruckus didn’t stop him from keeping up a normal conversation with me.

He’d pick up right where we left off whenever there was a small break in between people and I wasn’t only amazed at his multitasking, but also at how amazing he was with the kids. He made me show him how to hold a baby and I think I’ll never be able to forget the image of a cute little baby boy in the cup.

“I ate cereal out of there this morning”, he whispered conspiratorially to me after the mother was finally done thanking him and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Of course you did. I hope you put it in the sink afterwards at least.” He gave me a wounded look, as if me insinuating he was not a clean person was hurting his ego and I laughed even more. I couldn’t really tell if he was trying to flirt with me or if he was like this with everyone but the mixed signals he’d sent me all afternoon were starting to get confusing.

“You think so lowly of me, I thought you’d know better by now.” With anyone else the wink he sent me as he delivered his line would have probably been overkill but somehow it worked for him.

The fact was that I did know better by now, even if it had only been just under two hours. I probably hadn’t been this wrong about something since I absolutely botched a math test in tenth grade thinking I aced it and he had turned out to be nothing like I had imagined him to be. Perhaps the early morning sleep-deprived me lacked the sense of being able to assess character that I usually had.

When I told him that it was time to leave he looked at me with a puppy eyes, pleading with me to let him stay a little longer. Working in pediatrics I got this a lot but somehow it had a whole different effect on me coming from a 6 feet tall hockey player with lips that were practically made for pouting.

“But there’s still some people left that I haven’t gotten to.”

“There’s also some kids that couldn’t come up here because they are too sick waiting for you in the ICU and you won’t be able to see all of them in time if we don’t go over there now. There’s a tight schedule for a reason you know.”

“Fuck the schedule, I’ll just stay longer,” he said with a cheeky grin but not before covering the ears of the little girl in front of him with his hands so she wouldn’t hear him curse. At this point I felt like it was way too easy for him to make me laugh but at the same time I didn’t really want to do anything against it. These halls had seen worse things than people laughing after all.

“You fit right in with all of my patients, you know that? And don’t you have plans with the cup for this evening?”

I didn’t get an answer straight away because Vince took his time to talk to the last five families left in line before we made our way back to the elevators. I had kind of forgotten about the camera crew that was there to document it all until all of us were crammed back inside the tight space, my shoulder brushing against Vince’s arm so I wouldn’t bump into any of the expensive equipment.

“I promised to make an appearance at this club but they’ll wait for me. By the way, you should come as well.” At first I thought he was joking, surely he had to be as we’d only met, but his try at a winning smile told me he was anything but. Again, was this him flirting or was I losing my mind?

“Shooting your shot while you’re in my good graces because of the kids, I see. I’m gonna have to disappoint though, I’m stuck here till seven and then I have another 12 hour shift coming up tomorrow so I can have a four day weekend.” I had already kind of accepted that we would never see each other again, especially with me turning him down now, and I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t a bit sad about it.

“That sounds brutal. I’m throwing another party at my condo on Saturday if you’re free then.”

“I’m actually driving up to a lake house with some friends for the weekend, sorry.” By now I really was interested because he seemed fun and I wanted that for my last few weeks up here but his timing was truly the worst.

“Wow, you’re really making me work for it,” he let out a teasing chuckle then, running his hand up and down his neck in a very distracting move as he contemplated his next words “I’m assuming you have a busy week next week as well so perhaps next Saturday?”

“Ummm.. I already agreed to meet some friends at a bar on that Saturday,” his face fell at that so I couldn’t help but add “but you’re welcome to meet us there if you want to see how the working class parties. Bring some of your friends as well if you want.”

The smile he gave me at that was equivalent to that of a five year old patient when they get told that they could have a slice of the chocolate cake and it made me glad that there was no one monitoring my heart rate at the moment.

The next day was just another regular day at work and while I had lots of fun yesterday, I was glad to be back in my comfort zone. Working days was anything but boring and I had been so busy that my watch told me I’d already reached my step goal for the day halfway through my shift.

I finally had some time to update the charts while sitting down at the nurses’ station, desperately hoping for some down time soon so I could perhaps even grab another cup of coffee to stop me from climbing into a free bed and taking a nap right there.

I’d seen many people pray in this building and not all of them got what they wished for but somehow today must have been my lucky day because just as I’d finished that thought someone cleared their throat in front of me. I was ready to answer some questions from worried parents but what I totally didn’t expect was Vince standing there with two coffee cups.

“I thought I’d drop this off as a thank you for babysitting me yesterday and I had a feeling that you’d need it”, he said before giving me one of his dazzling smiles. He looked good in a black t shirt and some jeans, his perfectly styled hair in contrast to the messy bun currently on top of my head. That is if the rat’s nest could even still be called a bun.

“Vince Dunn you just keep on surprising me”, I responded with a breathless laugh, not really knowing what else to say at the sweet gesture. What do you say to a good-looking hockey player that not only asks you to spend time with him three times but also takes the time out of his day for this?

Well, besides thanks, obviously.

Vince handed me one of the cups and I took a sip before looking up at him in surprise.

“How do you know the way I like my coffee?”

Instead of answering, he pointed at something behind me and I turned around to see the coffee order list I’d started a while ago in case someone decided to grab some for everyone, my name on top of the sheet.

“I noticed it yesterday in passing, I swear I’m not a stalker or anything.” He blushed at this and it was so cute and unlike his otherwise smooth self that I couldn’t just let him off the hook.

“You know, that’s exactly what a stalker would say”, I responded with a sly smile and while his face turned even more red he burst out laughing. By now we had the attention of every nurse close by and I was pretty sure that all of them were eavesdropping but who could blame them, I’d do the exact same thing. People here lived for the drama, kind of a given with how much time we spent in here because it didn’t really leave much space for a life outside of these halls. Especially if said drama involved a very hot hockey player.

“I’m changing the topic now before I embarrass myself in front of you even further just so you know. I did actually come here for one more thing,” he trailed off before bending down to pick up a bag that I hadn’t noticed before, too distracted by the guy in front of me. “I brought this for Lucas so he has something to show his friends once he gets back on the ice.” He pulled out a Blues’ jersey and turned it around so I could see that it was one of his, complete with a signature and a small message.

Lucas had been an avid hockey player himself up until his kidneys basically decided that they didn’t want to work anymore a while ago. Things had gotten so bad that he had to permanently stay in intensive care with us until after months of dragging people in here to get tested they finally found a donor in a family friend last week. At least his surgery had gone well and while I’d miss having him around, I was glad that he’d finally get discharged to recover at home later today.

I took another sip of the coffee before getting up and walking next to Vince to Lucas’ room. Lucas greeted me with a smile, which only grew after he saw who was following me into the room. Despite having struggled for so long he had always been in a good mood, even when he had to celebrate his fifteenth birthday in the hospital a few weeks ago.

“Look at you, it’s your last day in here and things just keep on getting better.” Vince and Lucas did the handshake they’d come up with yesterday, something that was absolutely necessary as a hockey player or so I’d been told.

Lucas had grown up in Chicago and he’d seen Vince play for the team there but had only really started paying attention after the apparently best fight ever Vince had gotten into at one of the games. Obviously not my words. The connection between the two of them had been instant and all the hockey talk had my head spinning more than during the first few weeks of nursing school so I made a quick exit, leaving them to it.

“I bet every nurse wishes they could trade spots with you right now, me included by the way”, Rachel, my partner in crime since day one of our college classes together, said as soon as I returned to my spot at the station.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about”, I responded, acting clueless. With a raised brow she reached for my coffee cup, spinning it around to reveal a small note written on the side of it that I hadn’t even noticed before.

“You sure about that? This fine specimen of a hockey player just gave you his number and you still act like there’s nothing going on? Besides, everyone saw you two getting all chummy yesterday.”

I snatched the cup out of her hands, quickly checking if the coast was clear before pulling out my phone to add his number to my contacts while keeping my head down so I wouldn’t have to look her in the eyes.

“Oh wipe that shit-eating grin off your face. All I get is annoying parents and you get hot dads and famous athletes hitting on you out left and right. Like leave some for the rest of us girl, it’s not fair.”

Even though I’d shot Vince a quick text so he could have my number as well, I never really expected anything more than his response that he’d saved it.

To say I was surprised when he texted me the following week was definitely an understatement. It wasn’t a booty call either, no, he’d texted me in the middle of the day asking if I was working days or nights this week.

Me: days as usual but I’m actually on-call today, got luckyy

Dunner: so you’re home right now?

Okay so perhaps this was a booty call after all. Not that I particularly minded.

While his first response had been pretty fast he took a little longer to answer after I told him that I was home indeed. Laying on the couch in an oversized shirt and yoga pants rewatching some Grey’s Anatomy on to be exactly. Almost the same as working. The rainy weather set the perfect mood for a lazy day in though so I hadn’t moved from my spot ever since returning from the gym this morning.

Dunner: this Chinese place near me has a special two for one offer today and I wanted to bring you some to work

I still wasn’t sure if this was him flirting but I’d also never had somebody I’d only met a week ago offer to bring me food to the hospital so he had to be, right? I sent a screenshot of the message to Rachel but I knew that I couldn’t count on her responding to it anytime soon, seeing as she was actually at work right now. I decided to be forward, telling him that I wouldn’t complain about some good food either way.

Inviting someone who was basically a stranger over to your apartment generally wasn’t exactly the best idea, but I counted on the impression I had of him so far and the reputation he surely had to uphold as a NHL player. Besides, we had lots of medical equipment scattered around the apartment so surely I’d find a syringe or something to defend myself if needed.

Dunner: I’ll be over in 30 so try not to get called in before then

True to his word the bell didn’t ring much later. I’d debated making an effort and changing but I wasn’t about to wear jeans or a skirt to hang out so that didn’t leave many options. Brushing your hair wasn’t nothing either so that counted in my opinion.

Vince had gone through the same train of thought as well apparently because he looked super cozy in some sweatpants and a hoodie that had gotten slightly wet, presumably from his walk from his car to the building as our parking situation was really shitty. He stepped inside and reached up to run his hand through his damp hair before shaking his head, making little droplets of water fly in every direction.

“This is why they don’t allow dogs in here”, I laughed, gesturing to my shirt that now looked like an abstract splash painting.

“Let me make it up to you with some of the best food you’ve ever had because I brought lots” was his response as he lifted the bag of take out while slipping off his shoes by the door, hair now sticking in all directions.

“Alright Dunner, show me what you got”, I said with a wink over my shoulder as I made my way into the kitchen, continuing my bold streak from earlier. I had also learned by now that nicknames were even more important than handshakes as a hockey player. I was pretty sure I’d heard him mumble something along the line of ‘Gladly’ but I was already too far ahead of him to be absolutely certain.

“You’re watching Grey’s Anatomy? Isn’t it like crazy inaccurate?”, he asked with a look at the TV in the living room as I hadn’t bothered to pause the episode.

“Yeah of course it is but I still like it somehow. It’s like the hospital equivalent of bad trash TV shows so it’s kind of my guilty pleasure.”

“Okay give me a quick summary of what I need to know for this episode so we can watch it while we eat.”

I looked at him like he was crazy but he urged me on, looking up at me expectantly from where he’d sat down on the couch. Eventually I gave in, trying to keep explanations as short as possible but even then it took me quite a while to get through, yet Vince never once looked like he was bored. He didn’t lose his interest in it after that either, only looking away from the screen to decide what he was going to eat next, all of the choices delicious just like he promised.

Stuffed like a turkey on Thanksgiving the both of us stayed unmoved on the couch watching episode after episode. Somehow my legs had ended up on his lap and his hands were resting on my knees, drawing slow circles as we made eye contact from time to time. Every few minutes his hand would inch up a little and with him biting his lip as he did it there was no way I would stop him, any doubts about his intentions long gone by now. I couldn’t stop the smile spreading on my lips as his hand finally reached the top of my thigh, softly kneading the sensitive part on the inside. If I was into hand porn, I would have orgasmed already at the sight of his hands wrapped around my thigh.

“What are you grinning about?”, Vince asked with an easy smile himself, looking at me in a way that told me that Meredith had long lost his attention.

“Just waiting for you to finally make a move.”

“I was trying to be somewhat of a gentlemen but I really can’t help myself with you wearing those pants..”

“Well you seem to be awful at it so don’t be one then”, I teased back feeling confident yet again.

In a flash he had somehow - I’ll probably keep wondering about the details for the rest of my life - managed to lift me up enough to shift me so I was straddling his lap, now turned on by his manhandling and the way he was currently looking up at me. For a second both of us stared at each other, trying to figure out if this was really going to happen. Vince lifted his hand from my hip to my face, slowly pulling me down towards him.

Our lips didn’t even get the chance to connect before my phone started ringing.

I jumped up from his lap, immediately recognizing the ringtone I had set for all work calls and almost kneeing him in the crown jewels in the process. One look at my screen told me that it was an emergency which prompted me to run into my room cursing. I quickly pulled on the pair of scrubs I’d laid out in the morning, one hand still pulling the top down while the other was trying to attach my badge properly by the time I made it back into the living room. Vince hadn’t even moved from the couch yet, eyes wide and legs still comfortably spread apart, a sight that made me want to climb back on top of him but unfortunately I couldn’t do that.

“I’m so sorry but I gotta go, you don’t need to rush though. Feel free to keep on watching if you want but please don’t rob us and make sure the door is closed if you decide to leave after all, it locks automatically. The food was delicious thank you very much and bye!”

I barely heard him saying bye as well before I was already through the door, not really looking forward to spending the next few hours in the chaos that usually came with emergency calls. Especially after how much I’d enjoyed spending time with Vince and how much I wished that we would’ve just skipped all of the testing-the-waters stuff and would’ve just went at it like madmen.

The weekend couldn’t arrive fast enough and by the time it was Saturday I was ready to abandon all of my plans so I could sleep the rest of the day. I’d gotten in late last night after working overtime and I probably would have stayed in bed till noon if it wasn’t for Rachel and Mariah bursting into my room at nine in the morning. At least they didn’t wake me at the crack of dawn and the cake they were carrying to my bed looked pretty delicious as well.

“Look at you, another year older and yet still sexy as fuck”, Rachel exclaimed as she hopped onto the bed beside me after they’d finished their horrible rendition of Happy Birthday. Mariah settled on the other side of me and I guess my friends knew me well enough because we didn’t move from that position except to grab some more food and booze until it was time to get ready for tonight. Best roommates ever.

“You need to look extra hot tonight, I want Vince to lose his shit when he sees you.”

Ever since I’d sent the screenshot to Rachel and told her about the couch situation, she had been on my back about the thing. Something about me needing to bag rich hot athletes for her sake. I didn’t even argue with her anymore, only rolling my eyes in sync with Mariah whenever she brought it up.

To my surprise Vince hadn’t been deterred by my hasty exit a few days ago, something that had definitely surprised me. It wasn’t the first time that my job had cockblocked me and it definitely won’t be the last and I’d met more than my fair share of guys who were absolutely not into that at all. The fascination with nurses died really fast once people realized how much time we spent on the job.

Vince and I had texted constantly since he spent the day with me and he had somehow managed to make casual conversation with a flirty undertone the entire time. We’d already established that neither of us was looking for anything serious right now but I had decided that I would definitely not say no to some fun with him.

Some birthday sex would be great for starters. I let Rachel curl my hair while I focused on perfecting my make up because I wanted to look good tonight, not just for Vince but also because by next weekend I’d already be packed so this was really my last big hurrah before moving back home.

The thing about spending most of my days make up free in sports bras, comfortable panties and running shoes was that if I did bother to go out, I put in a lot of effort. I was determined to turn heads tonight so I pulled on a black lace bodysuit that practically presented my boobs on a silver tray, a pair of jeans that made my ass look spectacular and some black stilettos that I hoped wouldn’t kill my feet in a few hours. I had to go braless under the bodysuit, the mesh part on the back making that very obvious and I had a feeling that Vince wouldn’t exactly mind either.

“Girl I’d totally bang you because you look so hot but that outfit shows off everything that’s wrong with you”, Rachel said as we all examined ourselves one last time in front of the full-length mirror in my room and took pictures. I shot her a confused look.

“Wait what’s wrong with me?”

“Well for one your ass looks bangin and so do your boobs and I’m pretty sure that I could tell if you had a dick wearing that and people with dicks are my type soooo..”, she trailed off and both Mariah and I turned towards her with an incredulous look before bursting out laughing, all the day drinking taking its toll already. It wasn’t exactly new for Rachel to stop making any sense once she had some alcohol in her but it was still just as entertaining every single time.

“I can’t believe you’re complaining about her not having a dick right now”, Mariah sighed and I couldn’t stop giggling at my idiotic friends.

“I’m not complaining! I’m just saying that I need a dick to-“

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence. Just – just for once in your life be at least somewhat normal please”, Mariah interrupted her exasperated and the both of them continuing to bicker still had me laughing by the time we climbed into the back of our Uber.

We were the last to arrive of course, because Rachel had insisted on us being fashionably late so by the time we made it inside the bar I could already spot my friends sitting in the back. She had also insisted on me wearing a stupid Birthday Girl sash, reminding me how many free drinks it would get me, but I drew the line at the tiara she had pulled out of her purse as well. I was too old for the full 21st birthday look after all.

After I was hugged by everyone and had received all of the birthday wishes and presents I realized that Vince wasn’t among the group, which was weird because we’d been texting all day and he had asked to confirm the time and place again just this morning.

It was as if my thought made him appear because soon I felt two hands gently grab my waist while his cologne infiltrated my senses. He spun me around and the force of the move had me reach out to rest my hands on his shoulders so I wouldn’t fall over. I knew he had done that on purpose.

We were standing so close that we would have definitely gotten in trouble if this were a middle school dance and the way he looked down at me right now made me curse everything that came to my mind because I just wanted to drag him to the nearest bathroom so he could bend me over the counter but of course that wouldn’t be acceptable in front of all my friends.

“Why didn’t you tell me that today is your birthday? Now I’m going to have to make up for the fact that I didn’t get you a present.”

I had a feeling that I wouldn’t mind whatever this making up entailed, if the way he tightened his grip while looking at me as if he was thinking about bathroom counters as well was any indicator.

“Because you don’t just tell people that it’s your birthday, that’s weird.” He pulled me even tighter then, wrapping his arms around me and wishing me a happy birthday after giving me a kiss on the cheek that gave me goosebumps. Before he had the chance to pull away however, I leaned up on my tippy toes because even with heels he was still taller than me and whispered “I can’t wait for the making up for it part though” in his ear.

He groaned in response and he dropped his hands to give my hips a squeeze before reluctantly letting go of me. Only now did I spot the two guys behind him that were all watching us with amused expressions, which had to be the friends he said he’d bring. Introductions were quick and I didn’t even bother to introduce everyone to Vince and his gang because the group was so big that the three of them wouldn’t be able to remember many names either way.

We settled into one of the booths and Rachel practically pushed me into the seat next to Vince, not that I minded of course. Conversation flowed easily, as did the drinks, and soon I found myself climbing out of the booth because I had just about consumed my body weight in liquid and desperately needed to go to the bathroom for something that unfortunately wasn’t sex. Walking over I could feel a slight buzz already but not to the extent that would make me stumble in my heels, perfect for a night out.

By the time Mariah and I returned I could tell that another one of Rachel’s plans was in action because now there was one more person sitting at our table, meaning there wasn’t enough space left for both Mariah and I. I was about to move to sit with some other friends in the booth next to ours when Vince, who was conveniently seated at the edge of our booth, told me to sit on his lap and that was an offer I would never turn down.

He grabbed my hips to pull me closer and onto his lap as he said: “Don’t worry I won’t bite.”

I couldn’t resist messing with him though, so I purposefully shifted closer to his crotch and leaned towards him so only he could hear me as I whispered: “What if I want you to though?” I could tell he was trying to suppress a groan and he gripped me even tighter, pulling me back into him.

Poor Vince, his balls were going to be the same color as a Blues jersey soon enough.

Unfortunately I couldn’t elaborate to make the situation even worse for him because I was being pulled into the conversation at the table. I could feel him growing hard underneath my ass though and the fact that I was able to rile him up so easily really did wonders for my self-confidence..

After I could tell that he had calmed down again I decided to put him out of his misery. Well, kind of. Me leaning across one of the pool tables as I took my shot gave him a perfect view of my cleavage or of me bending over after all, depending on where he stood.

“Are you always this bad?”, I asked after he missed yet another shot.

“No, usually I’m average at least but I guess I’m a little bit distracted right now.” He didn’t even try to hide him staring at my boobs as I took my turn. We’d both long dropped any pretense about where this was headed. After I made my shot I walked around the table to get a better angle for the next one, accidentally brushing up against Vince who now had a perfect view of my ass.

“I hope you’re only average at pool and not at anything else”, I teased him with a look over my shoulder after watching the ball roll into the hole the way I’d planned before straightening up again.

“Let me take you home so my neighbors can confirm me being anything but average”, he responded, his voice deep as he moved next to me, one of his big hands resting on my lower back to play with the fabric there, the heat of his hands practically burning my skin as I looked up at him.

Our intense eye contact was interrupted by one of the waitresses who walked up to the pool table sheepishly with a drink on her tray.

“Hey, that guy over there sent you this and I’m supposed to tell you to come over to him so you don’t have to, uh, keep playing with a - um - loser. His words not mine, sorry.” She pointed to a guy a few tables over who was decently good looking but radiated Asshole Energy off of him, his incredibly rude move not really helping either. Even if it wasn’t for Vince standing next to me I wouldn’t have touched him with a ten foot pole.

Vince had tensed up at the words and I watched him ball his hands into his fists, every muscle in his body tightening with anger. I had no doubt that because of his hockey experience he could hold his own in a fight but it wasn’t something I needed tonight. I thanked the waitress before setting the drink down and making a show of turning towards Vince, one hand trailing up from his biceps to the back of his head so I could interrupt the stare off he was currently having with the other guy.

“Don’t worry, I’m flattered that I seem to be able to distract you so much. To be honest I can’t really concentrate either because now I really want you to make me scream so loud that your neighbors file noise complaints.” Vince choked slightly and then reached for the drink that was sitting next to me, taking three big gulps while looking at me, his eyes dark.

He then grabbed my hand and I didn’t miss the smug look he threw at the other guy over my shoulder before pulling me towards the backdoor of the bar, the pool game abandoned without a second thought. The air outside had cooled down a bit by now but I didn’t even get the chance to acknowledge that because Vince had me pushed against the wall in a second, one hand resting next to my head while the other reached up to cup my face, dropping his head for a kiss.

All this teasing had finally led to this.

It was rough and yet sensual at the same time, his lips demanding and it didn’t take long until his tongue licked along my bottom lip, asking for entrance. He then deepened the kiss even further and I reached up to bury my hands in his stupidly perfect and soft hair, eliciting a throaty groan. When he pushed one of his legs in between mine I couldn’t help the moan that escaped me in turn at the delicious friction, followed by yet another one as he dropped his head to suck along my neck. I could feel how hard he was and it turned me on beyond imagination.

The thought that I would probably let him fuck me in this alley right now brought me back down to earth because this was not how I envisioned my night going.

“Vince, hold up”, I murmured and as soon as my words registered with him he pulled away, both of us panting.

“What’s wrong?”

I laughed at his expression, he looked at me as if he was truly worried that he’d overstepped a boundary. As if I hadn’t thrown hints left and right for the last couple of days. His swollen lips made it hard to concentrate because I just wanted to sink my teeth into them until he groaned again the way he had only seconds ago and I silently cursed his stupid perfect lips. I wondered what damage they could do.

“Nothing’s wrong, nothing at all. I just wanted to say let’s go back inside for like another hour or so and then we can take off.” The smile that quickly spread on his face made it obvious that he was going to say something not-PG-13 before he opened his mouth again to ask:

“Do you think your friends would mind if I dragged you home right this second?”

I had to laugh at that but it quickly died in my throat as he moved his hands to my hips to pull me close again before crashing his lips back onto mine. The going back to the others part would apparently be slightly delayed but with the way his lips and body moved against mine right now I would probably agree to anything if it meant getting to stay right in this position a bit longer.

This time it was less rushed and frantic and instead he took his time to explore every inch of my mouth while his hands wandered my body. Mine were roaming as well, from the neck down his muscular shoulders around to the front before finally creeping up his back below his shirt. I enjoyed the way I could feel his muscles tense under my touch but eventually we had to pull away from each other. We’d spent way too much time out here as it is.

“Let’s go back inside, the faster we get back the sooner we can leave and besides they’re probably wondering what we’re doing out here so long.”

The smug looks we received once we made our way back to the tables after I fixed my hair and make up and Vince did whatever he had to do to conceal his massive hard on made it clear that everyone had a good idea of what had gone on outside though. I’m pretty sure Rachel would have high fived me if it weren’t for the people sitting between us.

I sat on Vince’s lap again and this time it was torture for the both of us to wait until it was finally an acceptable time to make a getaway. I let Rachel take all the presents for me and she made Vince give her his address and phone number before she let him pull me into the back of an Uber.

I was pressed against him for the entire ride, his hand resting way higher on my leg than technically publicly acceptable. With every turn or bump in the road he accidentally brushed my core and at more than one point I had to hide my face in his broad chest so the driver wouldn’t hear the soft moans that couldn’t be stopped. I could tell that he was trying his best not to get too handsy as not to cause a scene but once we were alone in the elevator of his building all bets were off.

He walked me back against the doors, pushing one of his legs in between my own again and kissed me with a force that made me glad that I had tons of metal behind me as leverage to push back. He only pulled away once the little ‘ding’ could be heard and even then he only held off until he had me inside his apartment, barely waiting a second before he shrugged off his jacket, quickly moving onto mine.

Somehow we managed to make it onto the couch without breaking apart our kiss and I barely had time to admire his floor to ceiling windows before he pulled me close until I was straddling his lap. His lips were working on my neck again and I reminded him to not leave any marks there because I had to work on Monday morning, which only prompted him to move down lower, sucking at the skin right above the lace of my bodysuit.

“No one will see those then”, he murmured against my breasts and I moaned as he reached up to palm them through the material. By the time he was done I had several purple marks littering my cleavage and I really needed to see more of him so I motioned for him to take his shirt off, watching in awe as he reached back to pull it over his head in the perfect way only guys managed to.

His body could only be described as a work of art and I could tell that he worked really hard for it as I traced the outline of his abs, muscles contracting and goosebumps rising at my touch. The city lights made for the perfect lighting and the way his skin glowed in their reflection belonged in a museum if ever captured.

Vince reached for the button of my jeans and looked at me as if to ask if I was okay with that. I nodded before standing up, trying to get out of my jeans and heels in a quick but still somewhat sexy motion but I probably succeeded only halfway. He didn’t seem deterred by my struggle at all, the hungry look in his eyes never once vanishing.

As soon as I stood upright again Vince reached up to trace the lace embellishments, slowly moving his hands down lower towards where I really wanted them. Considering the fact that the bodysuit had already been pretty revealing in itself there wasn’t really much ‘new’ skin to see so far but he still looked at me with an intensity that almost made me shiver.

He reached to pull me down on him again but instead I surprised him by sinking down to my knees in front of him, his breath audibly hitching in his throat. For a second he was silent but as soon as I poked my tongue out to trace the ‘V’ on his lower stomach he let out a low moan, throwing his head back.

“Impatient much?”, I teased him, pleasantly surprised at my ability to make him almost lose his shit without even really doing anything.

“You have no idea. I’ve thought about this for days”, he admitted and I only smiled in return, moving to pull his jeans down along with his boxers without revealing that I had done the same. He got up to step out of both while I was focused on watching his dick bounce with the movement, amazed at the size of it.

As soon as he made himself comfortable again I grabbed the base with one hand while resting the other one on his thigh as I moved to lick the drops of precum that adorned the tip. When my tongue made contact he moved one of his hands into my hair, holding it back so he could get a better view.

“Fuck, you look so good like this”, he cursed when I finally wrapped my lips around him, taking the head into my mouth while swirling my tongue around him and taking him a bit further. I removed my lips and I could tell he was about to protest but any words died in his mouth when I started sucking his balls, reaching up to pump his length that was already slick from my spit with my hand.

He seemed to find his voice again once I licked up the underside of his dick but it was only a string of curses that turned into moans when I took him into my mouth as far as I could, my nose touching his pelvic bone. I relaxed my throat and swallowed around him, my name falling from his lips again and again as I reached up to massage his balls at the same time. I looked up to see him watching me with his pupils blown, hair sticking in all directions from running his hands through it so many times and his mouth slightly open. His arms were spread out beside him on the back of the couch and I wanted to take a picture to commemorate the moment, wanting to remember this forever. He had definitely never looked better and no one could convince me otherwise.

The hand in my hair helped me set a rhythm as I bobbed my head while licking around him and Vince was a moaning and cursing mess above me. It didn’t take long before he quite literally pulled me off him, running his hand across his face and taking a few calming breaths.

“You’re incredible but I don’t want to cum yet”, he finally murmured when he helped me back up and I wasn’t sure if he was only complimenting my blowjob-skills or more but the way he was looking at me right now made any thought besides wanting him inside me disappear.

“Vince I need you”, I practically begged and he quickly nodded before standing up with me still in his lap, reaching out to grab the back of my thighs to prevent me from slipping down. He somehow managed to walk up the stairs with me still wrapped around him while I trailed kisses along his collar bones and it was probably the hottest non-sexual thing I’d ever experienced with a guy.

He turned on a soft light once inside his room and while I would have loved to have a look around I was pretty distracted by the way he literally threw me on the bed before crawling on top of me, my legs falling apart to make space for him as if it was the most natural thing on earth.

Vince kissed down my breasts before suddenly stopping somewhere above my belly button.

“Okay I have to admit I’m a bit lost here, as hot as you look in it how the fuck do I get this thing off?” I probably shouldn’t laugh in such a somewhat serious situation but his helpless expression did nothing to stop the giggles that escaped my mouth. He was smiling as well and I was glad that we could laugh about the slight hiccup without it turning awkward.

I quickly reached down to snap open the buttons before sitting up and pulling the piece of lace over my head, discarding it in some corner of his room now completely naked.

“Much better”, he murmured, one of his hands reaching out to grab a hold of my boobs while the other one wrapped around my back, lowering us back onto the mattress. Eventually he trailed his kisses over the part of my skin that was marked up by him until he sucked one of my nipples into his mouth, his hand taking care of the other one.

Slowly but surely he kissed his way down my body, skipping over the part where I needed him most to suck along the inside of my thighs. The sensation rushed through me, my core already throbbing from days of built up expectations and I let out a whine. I was tempted to try and close my legs so I could at least get some kind of friction but his shoulders between them made that impossible.

“Patience baby, don’t you know that good things come to those who wait?”, he murmured and I shuddered at the feeling of his breath fanning across my heat. I didn’t even have the time to think about the fact that he had just called me baby or that I was actually a firm believer in good things happening to those who worked for them because he reached down to drag one of his fingers through my folds and all thoughts left my body.

“Shit, you’re so wet already”, he said softly but I was unable to give him any response besides a frantic nod and another desperate whine.

I’d fantasized about this for the last couple of days of course but nothing came close to the reality of one of his thick fingers dipping into my core. He teased my entrance for a bit, only pushing inside to his first knuckle but then I whined again and he pushed it in as far as he could. I was so lost in the feeling that I hadn’t even noticed him moving back up my body until he littered the valley between my breasts with heated kisses.

“So tight. I can’t wait to feel you around my cock.”

As if the words he’d moaned into my ear weren’t already enough to make any coherent thoughts disappear, he added a second finger and I arched my back into him, the change of angle just right in a way that had me gripping the sheets so tightly that my knuckles turned white. He reached dropped down to tease my nipples, sucking and licking them expertly while his hand thrust up into me.

My moans were already filling the room but then he started circling my clit with his thumb and I knew that I wouldn’t last much longer, the anticipation and desperation definitely helping to speed things along. He looked up at me to watch my reactions and the sight of him with his mouth latched onto my breast was almost enough to send me over the edge by itself.

“I’m so close Vince, please don’t stop”, I begged and this seemed to spur him on further, his movements turning even more eager as he continued to place sloppy kisses along my skin. It was the combination of everything he was doing to me that finally brought me over the edge, the release so sweet after needing it for so long.

He made sure to extend my orgasm as long as possible, only pulling his hand away after I whimpered slightly, the stimulation a bit much now. His softly kissed his way back down and along my thighs now and I could tell that he wasn’t quite done with me yet.

“How’s the birthday girl feeling right now?”, he asked with a teasing smile and normally I probably would have smacked him for this but right now I would tolerate it because I was still in my blissful post-orgasmic state.

“Amazing so far, could do better though.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Mhm, I’m pretty sure I was promised some making up for the lack of a present and I don’t think we’ve reached that point yet.”

“Well excuse me then while I go back to work.” And with that he flattened his tongue and boldly licked one long stripe across my slit.

He started out slowly and I was glad because I was still a bit sensitive from my last orgasm, lapping at my entrance and pushing his tongue inside of me, making me gasp. It didn’t take long however until he grabbed my hips to pull me closer and onto his mouth, pushing my legs up to expose me even further to him and ultimately giving him better access.

When he sucked my clit into his mouth I couldn’t help but arch my back off the mattress again, burying my hands in his hair as he reached up to hold me still. This guy’s lips weren’t just pretty, they were apparently amazingly talented as well.

He replaced his tongue with one of his thick fingers, slowly pushing in and soon his name fell off my lips in a religious chant as he added yet another one, curling them upwards for maximum pleasure. I could feel my high coming from a mile away and Vince apparently must have too by the way I was grinding myself against his face because he quite literally dove back in, determined to shatter my word.

And shatter my world he did.

I was pretty sure I would have floated away as I reached my high if it wasn’t for Vince’s hand across my stomach keeping me grounded. My legs were still shaking with the aftershocks of one of the arguably - no hands down - best orgasms I’d had while getting head in my life. By the time I was finally able to open my eyes again he was wiping his face before grinning down at me.

“You look so fucked out already and we haven’t even gotten to that part yet”, he teased and I let out a chuckle before pushing at his chest. Leave it to him to make fun of me after he was the one who put me in this situation. Not that I was complaining of course.

“Don’t worry, it’s a good look on you. One that I’d definitely like to see more often.” He leaned down to nip at my neck then, his cock prodding at my thigh.

“If you keep doing that you definitely will”, I responded with an airy laugh, still kind of breathless. All talk died down after that however when he captured my lips with his again as he crawled on top of me, settling between my legs. Kissing him was definitely addicting and the fact that I could taste myself while doing so only made it ten times more hot.

Vince rolled his hips against mine, groaning into my mouth when his cock dragged against my skin while I couldn’t stop the moan escaping my lips either. Breaking the kiss he pulled back in a way that had him in a push-up position above me, giving me a moment to enjoy the view. His hair was sticking in all kinds of directions, his pupils so blown that they almost seemed black instead of the usual beautiful green and his muscles were flexing from holding the position.

“Still want to keep going?”, he asked and in my daze it took me a second to realize that this was him asking for consent. I had no doubt that he wouldn’t do anything I didn’t want him to but this, him offering to stop when he had done so much for me already while not getting off yet in return, was sweet. Especially since I had made it more than obvious that stopping was definitely not on my mind.

I moved to flip us over then, straddling his thighs and wrapping my hand around his dick, pumping him a few times and in case that wasn’t confirmation enough for him I leaned down to whisper a “definitely” in his ear.

“Condoms?”

“Top drawer on your right.”

Only because we weren’t in the middle of his huge bed was I able to reach said drawer, grabbing one of the foil packets out of the box and ripping it open with my teeth before rolling it down on him. I scooted up enough to line his cock with my entrance and while I tried to watch Vince as I sunk down on him the way my eyes fluttered shut at the sensation was out of my control.

While there had definitely been enough foreplay to make the sliding in part easy it was still quite a stretch, one so amazing however that it had the both of us moaning at the same time.

“Shit you feel incredible”, he breathed and I nodded my head in agreement, too lost in the pleasure to form any coherent sentences. Rolling my hips against him created some amazing friction that had my head spinning as I clenched my muscles, eliciting throaty groans from him.

Vince reached for my hips, gripping them tightly as he helped guide me along, my clit catching on his pelvic bone with every backward movement. “You got one more in you babe?”, he asked and to my surprise I could tell that I did. The fact that I could already feel it bubbling inside of me spoke volumes of our chemistry in bed together. This was a friends with benefits arrangement I could definitely get behind.

He sat up then, changing the angle at which his cock dragged against my walls and also making it possible for him to take one of my nipples into his mouth, gently grazing his teeth against it while tightening his grip on my hip as he thrust up into me. At this point I was a moaning mess on top of him but I honestly didn’t care. I hadn’t had sex this good in a while and the way he looked up at me in awe made it impossible to feel anything but sexy.

I didn’t even need any extra help to reach my third orgasm of the night with his name falling off my lips, the feeling so strong that my mind was absolutely blank and I saw stars dancing across the back of my eyelids as I arched into him with my eyes shut. He made sure to let me ride it out, groaning as he felt my walls tighten around him but as soon as I slumped against him he turned us around so he was on top of me, never once pulling out.

The pace at which he was chasing his own high now was relentless and hard and I would have held on for dear life if he hadn’t raised my arms to keep them above my head. One of his hands easily encased both of my wrists while he used his other to keep at least some of his weight off of me. I knew that a fourth orgasm was off the table, I was way too exhausted for that by now but he still felt amazing inside of me. I wrapped my legs around him to allow him deeper, the smack of our skin and our moans so loud that I was glad that we didn’t have any nosy roommates right next door. Those noise complaints from the neighbors I’d mentioned earlier might still roll in though.

With this pace it didn’t take long for his thrusts to lose all rhythm and I could tell that he wouldn’t last much longer. I clenched around him to bring him even closer and he groaned into the crook of my neck where he had buried his face, my name and some colorful curses falling off his lips. He readjusted his position so he could lean up enough to look at me while still holding my wrists above my head and I watched him throw his head back in pleasure as he slammed deep inside of me one last time, face contorting in pleasure as he reached his high. I could feel him pulsing inside of me and a pleasant shudder ran through me, making me sigh at the feeling. Perhaps this was my body’s way of saying girl if I could have, I would have.

He let go of my wrists then and I wrapped my arms around him as he dropped down on top of me. We both caught our breath for a few seconds which honestly wasn’t easy with the extra weight on my chest but it was a nice feeling. He had to carefully pull out and roll off of me eventually, throwing the condom next to the bed to dispose of later. For now it was nice to lay beside each other, covered in a sheen of sweat and still panting.

After finally landing back on planet earth I looked to my right at the alarm clock waiting on the nightstand, only now realizing how late it had gotten. Vince lifted his head enough to check the time as well and let out a light groan at the sight.

“You can spend the night if you want but we should definitely shower before that. Even if it wasn’t your birthday – well technically it’s not anymore – I’m not some dick that would kick you out in the middle of the night.”

I was surprised at his offer, I’d been with guys who were those dicks but I was even more surprised when he told me to pick something to sleep in from his closet before pulling on a pair of boxers and getting up to grab waters for the both of us.

I decided to postpone this until after showering, quickly making my way to his ensuite to use the toilet. I saw enough UTIs at work, I didn’t need them following me home. I was trying to wipe my make up off as best as I could with a washcloth and the face wash from his counter when he returned to his bathroom, a new toothbrush triumphantly in his hand.

“Found this in my junk drawer in the kitchen but I’ll be honest, I have no idea how it got there. The wrapping is unopened tho”, he admitted sheepishly and I laughed.

“Doesn’t matter, I’ll take it.”

Our shower was quick, both of us too exhausted for any more funny business but if my gaze had dropped from time to time appreciatively no one would ever know. He had an amazing body and I would have to be a nun not to acknowledge that.

Especially while he was naked in the shower.

I definitely wasn’t a nun.

Looking for clothes to sleep in turned out to be more difficult than I’d originally thought because of his affinity to clothes that were at least one size too big. Most of them would reach my knees in a really unflattering way and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to sleep while drowning in fabric. I tried on three, neatly putting them back afterwards and actually contemplating sleeping in only a pair of his boxers before finally finding one that didn’t make me look like a kid.

I could tell that it was an old shirt, perhaps from a previous team, worn down over time with a slightly faded print but it was comfortable and it smelled like him, even if I doubted that he had worn it anytime recently.

Vince was already tucked into bed by the time I stepped back into his bedroom, scrolling through his phone but putting it down on the nightstand once I got closer. I could see that he’d searched for a second charger so I could plug my phone in overnight as well and it was such a little gesture but yet it made me smile.

“I prefer to sleep on the right side, I hope you don’t mind”, he said as I climbed under the cover beside him. I shook my head no before responding:

“Nah, I actually like the left side better.”

“See, we’re meant to be fuck buddies.”

“I could already tell from the three orgasms but hey, if that’s what it takes for you to realize that.”

“You have a point there.”

Any other time and I certainly would’ve stayed up for a while longer so we could talk but right now I knew I wouldn’t last long. For a second I wasn’t sure how to do this, would it be weird to cuddle?

Vince made my decision easy however when he pulled me close until my back was flush against him, wrapping his arm around my waist. After our exhausting shenanigans earlier it took neither of us long to fall asleep.

The next morning I woke super early, my inner clock not allowing me to sleep past seven despite staying up late. I’d turned around in my sleep to lay on my stomach but Vince had somehow managed to keep his arm around me and get even closer.

I was slightly worried for my safety because of the fact that I had managed to sleep through a 200 pound guy basically laying on top of me but I’d slept like a baby. I could tell that Vince was still asleep by the even breaths that fanned across my neck but one part of him definitely wasn’t, poking my side. Bless the male population for their sleepy boners.

I was trying to let him sleep as long as I could, I really did, but with him so close to me and the images of last night combined with the very interesting dream I’d just woken up from burned into my memory I couldn’t help myself. I slowly turned in his arms so we were back to the position we’d fell asleep in, on our sides and pressed together spooning.

Even through my shirt I could feel his body radiating heat and if the night had been warmer it definitely would’ve been too much but right now I just wished for all barriers between our bodies to disappear.

My shifting had apparently woken Vince up successfully because he let out a throaty groan before, consciously or not, rocking against my ass and burying his face in my neck.

“Morning”, he said and I’m not gonna lie his husky morning voice did things to me that didn’t exactly help my situation.

“Morning, how’d you sleep?”, I asked, turning my head slightly so I wasn’t having this conversation with his incredibly comfortable pillow.

“Could’ve been longer but I don’t mind. Now that I’m up however..”, he trailed off, lightly biting my neck and moving his hand from my waist to grab my boob, rocking into me again, this time definitely on purpose.

This was definitely a friends with benefits situation I could get behind.

Somehow Vince managed to weasel his way into my life after that. He’d come over after I finished a shift at the hospital, spend the night and leave me incredibly satisfied the next morning when both of us went our separate ways again. Our time with each other was pretty short, only a week, but somehow I’d had more sex in that one week than in the last few months combined.

My last shift at the hospital on Saturday was, for a lack of better words, sad as fuck. So many people came up to me, telling me how much they would miss me and what a great addition I had been over the past year. When they brought a cake into the break room with a sweet message written on top of it I couldn’t help the tears that welled up. I could see Rachel subtly wipe at her eyes as well and I hugged her tightly.

“Remember our first day of classes? Oh how things have changed since then”, she muttered against me and I nodded. One thing that hadn’t changed however was our friendship. She was the reason I had come to Toronto, where she had grown up but it had been five years since I left my home to go to college and I knew that it was time to go back to my family and childhood friends.

“Don’t think you’ll be getting rid of me this soon, I’ll call you all the time and with there only being a one hour time difference between Toronto and St. Louis you have no excuse to avoid me.”

“As if I could ever avoid you, you little shit. But if your hometown insists on having you back I’ll allow it, I guess.” Her insulting me told me that she was okay again so I let go of her, the both of us still sniffling a bit as we each grabbed a piece of the cake.

When I finally made my ay back home that night Vince was already there. Mariah had probably let him in. There’s been some raised eyebrows at first but after seeing him here every day neither of my roommates was surprised when he knocked at our apartment door. Somehow he seemed to sense that I wasn’t in a talking mood right now, especially about having to say goodbye to the place that had been my home for the past year.

I was excited to see my family and friends in St. Louis again, don’t get me wrong, but goodbyes were never easy.

He greeted me with one of his comforting hugs that I’d already grown accustomed to before dropping his head to press a soft kiss on the top of my head before pulling me to the bathroom.

My shampoo and other toiletries were some of the last few things that hadn’t been stuffed in boxes and duffel bags yet and the sight made tears well up in my eyes.

“It’s okay, you know. I don’t like leaving here either”, he murmured in my ear as he wrapped his arms around me from behind, moving us so we both got hit by the stream of hot water. I wanted to forget everything but the feel of his naked body pressed against me but right now I knew I was too in my head to actually be able to enjoy it. Later maybe.

“But you get to come back every summer for a couple of months. I don’t know how long it’ll take until I can visit everyone again and even then it’ll probably only be for a few days.”

“That’s true. But your friends can also visit you. And in a few weeks I’ll be down as well and then you’ll be so annoyed by me constantly bugging you that you won’t be able to miss your friends here anymore.” My sniffle turned into a laugh at his words and I almost swallowed a big gulp of water in that moment, making both of us break into fits of laughter.

I was glad I’d have him with me again in a few weeks. Hopefully at least. We’d talked about our situation and I told Vince to hit me up again once he’d made it to St. Louis too in a few weeks and while he said he would, I knew that there was the possibility that he might not. I didn’t have the opportunity to dwell on the thought too long though because he’d managed to distract me yet again when he placed searing hot kisses along my shoulder.

If he hadn’t managed to get me out of my shell back in the hospital I never would’ve ended up with him in the shower right now. Or bent over the mattress a few minutes later.

Vince Dunn, the arrogant professional athlete, had turned out to be nothing like I’d expected and I had never been more happy to be wrong.

#Vince Dunn #nhl #nhl hockey #vince dunn imagine #nhl imagine #nhl writing #my writing #clear as day #hockey imagine

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basicjetsetter · 3 years

Text

Part II

♡ Pairing: Peter Parker x Black!FemaleReader

▹ Warnings: Language, Mentions of Death, Depression, Triggering Content, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt

▹ Words: 3k

▹ A/N: ATTENTION! This is an emotionally heavy part. Please DO NOT READ if you know you will be affected. For those struggling with depression, I see you, I care for you, and I love you. You’re not alone and you are undeniably worthy of love.

-Five Years and Twenty Nine Days Later-

You don’t want to get up.

Your phone’s alarm clock is rounding on its tenth circuit, if your counting is correct… and there’s a good chance you blanked out for fifteen minutes while watching a strip of sunlight lethargically inch down your blanket to the foot of the bed, so your number may be off by six or seven.

It’s not that you’re tired or anything, or maybe you are and that’s beside the point. It’s just that your bed is far too comfortable for your own good and you know today is Saturday, the busiest day at Hal’s Diner, and it just so happens you’re scheduled for an 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. brunch rush. If you had a choice, you’d stay in bed.

But you don’t. And you’re running twenty minutes late… for the fourth time in two weeks.

I’ve got you.

Shut the fuck up.

You wearily snarl, snatching your pillow out from under your head and slamming it against your face, uselessly stuffing it over your ears as if that would somehow miraculously block out the words.

Usually, the voice stayed quiet. After three years of the repeated promise drifting around your brain like a lost ship at sea, you had finally figured out how to anchor it to the deepest, darkest, most unchartered recess of your mind. Every now and then, though, they’d find a way to rattle the chains, just to remind you of their eternal presence, but it never lasted long. You didn’t acknowledge them anymore. They no longer fooled you.

But, twenty-nine days ago, something reinvigorated the voice, giving them a renewed sense of purpose and a reason to break free.

Twenty-nine days ago, on the exact anniversary of their disappearance, everyone came back.

Out of the blue, in the middle of the day, all of the people Earth mourned for five years reappeared to a very, very stunned world. Celebration rocked the streets of New York and all over the globe. Lovers lost returned. Mothers. Fathers. Sisters. Brothers. Babies. Friends. They all came back. And the voice in your head broke free of its chains, rampantly bouncing around your mind as if they were on pure steroids, ready to charge forward and find the one your Destined Words belonged to.

Everything reverted back to normal.

Except, besides your newly released Destined Words, nothing changed for you.

You weren’t there when… when your best friend rematerialized in your previous apartment. You moved to a smaller, modestly priced place six blocks away. It was great for what little money you had, and your landlords, a lovely couple that always leaves you a present outside your door for Christmas and birthdays, were generous enough to accommodate for your lack of funds.

You just couldn’t keep your parents’ apartment. Not when you knew they weren’t coming back.

No one ever speaks about the casualties of the ones lost that day, the ones who perished from the effects of the blip. For a long time, you just couldn’t cope with the fact that a swerving hit from a rogue truck whose driver turned to dust was all it took to take your parents away. But you had to move on.

Ever since that day five years ago, you’ve been on your own.

You’re sure your friend tried looking for you by now, continually calling up a retired cellphone number, searching through deleted social media accounts, maybe even asking your old high school for your whereabouts to no avail. Even though you’re not far from home, she’d never find you.

You don’t want to be found. You like being alone.

With a great, gusty sigh, you roll out of bed, grab some clothes and undergarments, then pad to the bathroom, ignoring the chiming circuit of your alarm clock. It can wait. You go through the motions: washing up, putting your hair in its regular bun, brushing your teeth, and staring at your unaged face in the spotted mirror.

It’s not vanity, though it’s common knowledge that your features will be impervious to aging for a long while. You literally haven’t aged a single day since the blip.

It was an intriguing phenomenon after the first two years. Everyone your age who had heard their Destined Words but had yet to meet their Soulmate just stopped aging, and when the younger generation hit the age of eighteen, they stopped aging as well. For some, like you, the effect was felt rather than seen. Ever since the string inside you snapped, you knew that cosmic time would stand still until you connected with your other soul. You’re not holding your breath for that anytime soon.

As you step out of the steam-filled bathroom, your alarm blares out its last chime before switching to the Vmm Vmm Vmm of an incoming call.

You pick up on the sixth ring. “Good morning, Hal.”

“This is the fourth—”

“The fourth time. I know, I know. I’m on my way.”

Hal grunts into the receiver, “Don’t get smart with me, little lady. Just because you’re my best server doesn’t mean I won’t fire you.”

That’s precisely what that means, and he knows you know it. You blow out a sigh, “I’m seriously almost out the door. Like two steps.”

“Uh-huh,” he says, a hint of a grin in his quizzical noise. “Well, hightail it, would’ya? The joint’s packed already and I need all hands on deck, so scoot.”

“Scooting,” you confirm, snagging your bag off of your sofa and grabbing your keys. “Who’s with me today?” Please don’t say Wendy. Please don’t say Wendy.

“Chris and Wendy.”

You groan as you shut the door behind you. “Come on, Hal. She’s dead weight in the morning. I might as well be working with a zombie in an apron.”

Hal grumps, “At least the zombie gets here on time.”

“Have you had coffee yet? You’re not you when you’re decaffeinated.” It’s true. Even with your truancy, Hal wouldn’t hold it over your head more than twice. He’s usually as chipper as a dog in a dog park at this time, bustling and joking up a storm.

He takes a loud sip, then says, “We’re slammed, is all, and I’m missing my best hand.” Two disgruntled heys ring in the background and Hal immediately issues apologies. “Just get here, will ya?”

Before you can remind him again that you are on your way, he disconnects the call.

You’re wondering if it’s too late to go back to bed.

The little, infamous family diner is only seven blocks south of your apartment building, a nice walk when the weather’s good and a pain in the ass when it’s not. You used to enjoy the quiet mornings and the stillness that came with it, but ever since things went back to normal, you can’t survive the walk without a pair of headphones jammed in your ears and your music’s volume turned all the way up. Everyone’s just so… loud.

Thankfully, today, the walk is a straight shot and you’re in the doors within fifteen minutes.

It’s like stepping into a den full of ravenous animals. Worse, it’s like stepping into a den full of ravenous animals and being stuck with the task of serving them.

“Look who’s finally decided to show up,” Wendy chides, stifling a yawn as she shuffles to a table and places down three menus. She’s twenty-two years old and likes setting your teeth on edge.

You deadpan, “Did the cat drag you in from the front door or the back?”

“Knock it off, you two,” warns Chris, walking by with two arms balancing four plates of the Sunrise Breakfast Special. He looks at you, then jerks his chin back to the kitchen. “Boss is about to blow his top.”

Nodding, you make your way to the back, giving a small wave to some regulars. Out of breath and sweat running down his reddened neck, Hal is moving like a man caught in a whirlwind, flipping eggs and pancakes and sausages and hash browns and bacon while checking orders and filling plates. As soon as he hears the kitchen door close and sees you, he visibly sags in relief.

“Don’t bother clocking in. Just put your apron on and get out there.”

You nod. Set down your things. Put on your apron. Arrange a plastic smile.

Go through the motions.

It’s all the same thing every single day. Wake up, work, school, sleep. Repeat. Unlike the other constants, school is something you’re temporarily trying out. It wasn’t your original plan, the whole four years to a bachelor’s degree, then some more years for a master’s. You gave that up long ago. Right now, you’re just taking a free weekend art class at a community college. Oddly enough, it’s something you’re beginning to look forward to on Saturdays and Sundays.

Work, while you’re great at what you do, is never a highlight.

Hal was right. The diner is slammed, and you’re swept up in the current of rude, demanding customers, snide remarks from Wendy, cheerful shrugs from Chris, and barking orders from Hal for six whole hours. You work through your two fifteen-minute breaks. No one reminds you. You slip on spilled hash browns. No one helps you. You bring back a plate three times to satisfy a customer who kept finding fault with their eggs. No one thanks you.

Everything is back to normal.

I’ve got you.

“Fuck off,” you snap, slapping a hand to your mouth when you see the elderly woman you’re serving knit her brows in revulsion. “Oh, no, ma’am. I’m-I’m sorry, I was—”

She stands and marches out of the diner before you could explain, snatching her ten-dollar tip off the table.

“… talking to myself,” you finish under your breath.

She’s the last of the brunch rush, leaving only the regular afternoon crowd and a few stragglers. The clock near the cash register reads 2:13 p.m.

You brush off the disappointment of a lost tip and head to the kitchen to grab your things and leave, Chris and Wendy following you. Hal’s two other workers, the ones here till closing, cover the floor well. Not like they had much to do.

Hal is whistling a jaunty tune when you walk in, stopping to salute you, Chris, and Wendy with an exhausted grin. “Nice work out there, you guys. See you tomorrow.”

Wendy is out the door the instant she clocks out.

Chris catches your arm as you grab your bag from your small locker. “Hey, um, I sort of heard your little outburst, and I was wondering if you were okay.”

You nod, gently shrugging his hand off. “Yeah, it’s just a tip. I made enough.”

“No, not that,” he shakes his head, clearing his throat and pushing a hand through his choppy beach-blond hair. He ineptly bends his head down a little, getting close enough for a private conversation you do not want to have. “It’s just… you’ve done that before and I just want to make sure everything’s alright with you.”

You can’t put the plastic smile back on, he’s seen it too many times to know it’s not real, so you half-heartedly grin. “I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”

“Yeah, anytime. Hey, so, me and a couple friends are hanging out tonight. There’s gonna be a music festival in Cunningham Park. Wanna hang?”

Chris tries this every week. At first, you thought it was his bashful attempt at asking you out, but he’s a happily taken man with a big heart and a lot of friends. Every customer he meets, boom, they’re friends and soon loyal customers of Hal’s. It’s a gift. You just wish he caught your not-so-subtle hints of evasion.

Tonight, though, you had the perfect excuse. “Can’t. I got class.”

He tilts his head in confusion. “On a Saturday night?”

“Yeah. It’s a free course. Get it where I can take it, you know,” you awkwardly laugh, hoping Chris wasn’t offended as you take a couple of steps back towards the exit.

His smile doesn’t falter. “Maybe next time, then.”

Not likely. “Sure, yeah. See you later.”

You duck out before he says goodbye, dashing out the front door and speed-walking home.

I’ve got you.

You stop dead in the middle of a sidewalk.

Where did that come from? It’s never said it three times in a row before. Does… does that mean something?

Your breath quickens at the thought, and you spin around, scanning the vacant street. You’re the only one occupying the sidewalk, you and a curious squirrel sniffing at the crisp air. There’s not a person in sight. When you’re certain you’re in the clear, pivoting a glance around one more time for good measure, you pick up the pace, practically running the rest of the way home.

Once you’re in your apartment and the door shuts, you desperately whisper to your mind, “Don’t say it anymore. I don’t want them, okay? I don’t want a Soulmate.”

Nothing.

“I know you hear me,” you bite out aloud, forcefully shoving back the urge to yell. “Stop saying the words.”

Still nothing.

Silence rings hollow in your mind like the voice is waiting for your temper to cool down. Like it knew it upset you and felt chastened enough to back off and take a time out in a corner.

You stand immobile in the middle of your cramped sitting area. Tense. Waiting. Waiting longer than you care to admit. The urge to fight deserts you as quick as it comes, but you’re still standing there with your fists balled up, feeling more and more defeated as the minutes drain away.

The voice isn’t going to leave you alone. You know that. It’s here to serve one purpose, and the only thing holding it up is you. You’re meant to meet whoever those words belong to… but then what? They magically fix you? They love you back to normal? Five years ago, you may have believed they can do that. But, the problem is, you’ve gone through enough life-altering events in the last five years to last you a lifetime, and this one person, this person destined to pair with your soul, won’t be your wave-of-a-wand solution.

You just want it to stop.

I’ve got you.

A lone tear slides down your cheek as you trek to your bed and climb in fully clothed.

For a long time, you simply stare up at the ceiling as the tears leak out the corners of your eyes. You make no noise, and your chest doesn’t jerk up and down with sobs. The tears gather, and then they fall. Gather and fall. Gather and fall until there are no tears left. You continue staring at the ceiling.

You think back to the days when those godforsaken words and the future they foretold brought you happiness. What a wonderful promise, pairing with someone who will always be there for you in some capacity and will instantly love you. You can’t recall any Soulmate story not working out. Maybe they just never speak about it. Why mar the fantasy?

The sun dipped below the horizon a while ago, and now the moon shines bright in the night sky. You missed your art class.

Your body is as stiff as a board when you sit up. There’s a tight pounding in your forehead, either from crying or lack of food, but you aren’t bothered enough to deal with it. Instead, you move to the only window in your room and pull back the curtains to gaze at the stars. Not many are out yet, but they glitter like gems around the moon, and the night sky nears a lovely shade of midnight blue.

The sight is so pretty; you find yourself grabbing a couple of paint bottles, brushes, and a small canvass, then heading out of your apartment, walking up six flights of stairs to reach the roof.

It’s quiet when you get up there, save for the noise of zooming cars below. The first time you came up on the roof, just out of curiosity, you loved how solitary it felt, loved the view overlooking the building-strewn skyline and the overall height of the complex. It became a nice place to visit when you wanted to be by yourself.

You walk over to the edge of the building, sitting your supplies down on the ledge, then look up at the sky for the best angle to capture the moon and the stars.

The sky is vast. So endless. So open. So free. You stop scoping out for the perfect angle and just admire the shining moon when your eyes land on it. It’s waning, only a sliver of its surface visible as it prepares to transition into a New Moon. Then you gaze at the stars as they dimly twinkle back at you… like they can see right through you.

Like they can see your sadness.

You step closer to the ledge, each step laden with the weight of smothered grief. You lost everyone. Your parents. Manda. She’d never recognize the person you’ve become.

You step onto the ledge, not looking down but up, trying to memorize the image.

You lost your Soulmate. That broken string in your chest never felt the same, even after everyone came back. Maybe you were too far gone for any connection.

You turn around. You’d thought you’d feel numb, but acceptance fills you. It’s okay to let go.

You lower your eyes, slowly lean back, and let gravity take over.

Air sails past your ears in a rush as you fall, and you can’t really focus on anything except your erratic heartbeat. You don’t struggle as your body wants. You just fall and wait.

And then, in a sudden flash of red and blue, you’re propelling sideways and swinging upwards, a strong arm pressing you against a hard chest.

“I’ve got you.”

As soon as he said the words, you knew who they belonged to, as if you knew this entire time. Even with the mask covering his face, you knew. But it still doesn’t stop you from incredulously saying, “Peter?”

His masked face snaps to yours. A small part of you tries to pin his surprise on you correctly guessing his identity, but something bigger assures you the reason for his alarm is a match to your own.

He knows you’re his Soulmate.

...

Part III

#peter parker #peter parker au #peter parker x black!reader #peter parker x reader #peter parker x #peter parker soulmate au #soulmate au #spider-man x reader #spider-man x black!reader #marvel fanfiction #peter parker fanfic #peter parker angst #slow burn #black!reader

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awesometheydontknowiamhere · 4 years

Text

Breaking and Entering

Tony Stark X Reader Fanfiction

Summary: Reader has recently started dating Tony. With a new relationship comes the initial apprehension and nervousness. This fic explores the Reader’s (almost) first time with Tony and him being extremely considerate of her boundaries. Lots of fluff and smut.

A/N: My first MCU fic! Let me know if I should do more of these.

Warning: Make-outs, kissing, no sex though.

Words: 1917 (I guess my longest fic so far)

Taglist: @scarletsoldierrr

“Hey, it’s me. Just got off from work. I am heading home, let me know if you want me to stop by.”

You sent Tony the voice message and descended the stairs to the subway.

Life was grueling, but finally it was getting good for you. You had a job at The New York times (you were practically an assistant’s assistant, but everyone starts at the bottom), you had recently moved into your first adult apartment and you had a boyfriend who was God sent.

Agreed, he was Tony Stark, but that had nothing to do with the fact that you were slowly but surely falling head over heels for him. It wasn’t about what he had or who he was, it was all about how he made you feel.

You unlocked the door to your apartment and set down your keys and bag and plopped down on your couch, a kitschy thrift store find. Your entire apartment was boho and rustic, quite resembling a Tumblr page. You often liked to think that you were the warm and quirky to Tony’s sleek and mechanical.

You realized that Tony had never been your house and you tried not to let it bother you because you were aware of his insane schedule.

You stripped down to your underwear and pulled your cashmere blanket around yourself. You reached under your couch and pull out the book you had been reading currently, eager to get lost in and leave behind the exhaustion of the day.

You woke up startled, the sound of metal scratching wood clear in the dead silence of the night. You were on high alert and the waited to see if the sound would repeat, but you couldn’t hear anything over the sound of your heart.

The front door opened and you held the book out in front of you, obviously thought that might help.

A black-haired head poked in and you promptly chucked the book at it.

“Tony! What the hell is wrong with you? Ever heard of knocking or ringing the bell?”

He chuckled and picked up the book and closed the door behind him.

“Sorry, I just wanted to see you and well it’s really late and I thought maybe you were asleep, but I wanted to come see you because I haven’t seen you in nearly a week. I thought any noise might wake you up, so I decided to try the lock.”

He walked up to you and noticed your bare shoulder and the blanket wrapped around your body and froze.

“Did I interrupt something?” he said with a laugh and you felt blood warming your face.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, I fell asleep reading and didn’t have time to put on clothes for your B&E stunt.”

“The gutter is a wonderful place for the mind, Y/N. We should take a trip down there sometime.”

“How did you even get in here?” you asked incredulously.

“Well a little bit of charm and a bit magic from these,” he said while doing jazz hands.

“Of course, you know how to pick a lock. Why am I even surprised?” you said as you motioned for him to sit on the chair.

He plopped down on the couch beside you instead.

“How was your day sweetheart?” Tony asked, slipping his hand in yours and kissing it while you answered.

“It wasn’t bad, what about you? You said and snuggled up to him.

“The usual, blew up a bunch of stuff in the lab, bickered with Banner, and got new toys for the R&D. Same old.”

You laughed and smacked his chest affectionately.

“You trouble Banner way too much.”

“Is that so?” Tony said as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder as both of you sit together in comfortable silence. He started drawing lazy circles on your bare shoulder. You sighed at his touch and mentally willed him to continue that.

The truth was that as much as you were both enjoying each other’s company, you were yet to move ahead in the bedroom department.

The extent of your physical activities went up to just heated kissing and the occasional stolen make out sessions when you hadn’t seen each other in a long time.

It bothered you tremendously that you were this nervous. You were aware of his reputation and the long list ex-flames, each more breathtaking than the last. In fact, the closest he had seen you this intimately was today.

“Hey,” you said as you looked into his eyes, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” he said as he tucked a stray lock behind your ear.

You looked at his lips and then into his eyes and placed a quick peck on his lips.

His hand cupped your cheek and he looked at your lips with burning intent. You nod and his lips touched yours. The pressure of his lips, sweet at first, grew maddening and you gave his tongue the permission it sought. With each passing second you grew more frantic, hungry for him, kissing him like you had never kissed before in your life. He slipped his hands around your waist and you ran your hand over his biceps, while the other still clutched the blanket around your bare chest. He pulled you into his lap, your knees on either side of his thighs.

You placed your hand on his chest and went back to kissing him. You pulled away from the kiss and took Tony’s bottom lip between your teeth, applying enough pressure to elicit a groan from him. You loved the rush of power, the feeling that came from drawing out moans from him.

Just as you lifted your hand, the one securing the blanket, you grabbed it back, realizing that it was slipping away. Tony ran his hand up your back and bunched it in his hand, tight and secure.

“Go on, baby, I got you,” he whispered.

You didn’t have to be told twice. With a hand now free, you were determined to put it to good use. You ran your fingers through his hair, trailing your nails on his scalp while your lips moved in unison. You looked at him and smiled, deeply touched by him still securing your modesty, allowing you to explore this on your own terms.

You pulled his head back, exposing his throat and you peppered his neck with short, wet kisses. You stopped at certain places and grazed with your teeth, careful not to mark him. You followed each bite with a salve of your tongue, a heady combination of pain and pleasure.

Tony’s free hand found your chin and pulled you back to his lips, devouring them in carnal hunger, his hands lost in your hair, keeping you anchored to him.

You both came up for air and he took the opportunity to go to your neck. He placed a kiss at the hollow of your throat, the contrast of his soft kisses and his sharp beard making you mewl.

“Tony,” you rasped out as he started a sensory assault, going from your collar bones to the back of your ears.

“Tony, please,” you squirmed on his lap, the play of his teeth and tongue getting too overwhelming.

You gripped his hair, trying to push away a shudder, and looked straight into his eyes, making sure that he could see the flame of desire clear in your eyes.

“Anthony Edward Stark, let go of the blanket,” you said with a smirk and he loosened his grip on the blanket. The fabric slipped down your body, but his eyes never strayed from your eyes.

“Y/N, “he said stroking your cheek, “You don’t have to do this.”

“I know, “you said and took matters into your own hands, flinging the blanket across the room, your body bare and glowing from the soft, yellow lights placed around the room, bare all but a pair of French cut panties.

Tony cursed under his breath and flipped you on the couch, covering your body with his. He kissed his way up from your belly, going over your sternum and stopped just above your nipples. His fingers stroked and played with your breasts, touching everything, but your sensitive peaks. He looked at your face, your trembling, waiting body and swooped down to take one aching bud into his mouth.

You let out a broken gasp, touched this way after long, touched by the man you craved the most in the world. You placed your hands on his shoulder, pulling him closer. Your arched your back every time his skilled tongue pulled a move.

Tony came up for air and you brought his face above yours.

“My turn,” you whispered and pushed him to the side.

He started speaking, but you silenced him with a finger to his lips.

“My turn to play, Stark,” you said as you straddled him, pinning him in place.

Leaning forward, you captured his lips in yours, teasing him with your tongue. Your hands caressed his shoulder, marveling over his strength and the contrasting soft heart within him.

You sat back up and ran your hands through your hair, coyly meeting his gaze.

The room was silent except the sounds of your combined breathing. Tony ran his hands over your naked thighs, his calloused palms making you wish he was touching you somewhere else entirely. You grabbed the soft material of his worn out t-shirt.

The charged silence of the room was pierced by a seemingly deafening noise coming from your severely famished stomach. A rolling wave of embarrassment drowned you and you scrammed off his lap and on to the nearest chair, covering yourself up with another aesthetically placed blanket.

Your work had been so hectic and your boss had you running all over the city with various errands. Eating had not been a priority.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe I just did that,” you exclaimed, the logic completely escaping you that grumbling stomachs are hardly audible. All you could think about was that the first time you decided to take a step ahead with Tony your stomach demonstrated the dying call of a blue whale.

He walked up to you and knelt in front of you and placed his hands on the arm rest.

“Y/N, my love, hey look at me,.”

You muffled a no into your palms as you hid your face in them. You did peak out from between your fingers and once you registered his worried face, and dropped them.

“Hey, it’s okay. You never have to run away from me. Don’t do that to me. I am not a middle-school boy. It’s just a bit of grumbling. I am more worried about why you were hungry in the first place. Did you eat dinner yet?” he said, his voice brimming with concern.

You shook your head.

“Lunch?”

You shook your head again.

“What am I going to do with you? Come on,” he said as he pulled you up to your feet.

“I am just going to buy The New York Times, if that’s what is going to get you to eat on time,” he said, but laughed when he saw you look at him incredulously.

He threw his arm around your shoulder and walked you towards your kitchen, if you could call an open area with cooking appliances and vintage equipment that, and said,” I am just kidding, baby. Let me cook you something.”

Yup, definitely falling in love with Tony Stark.

#avengers #avengers fanfiction #avengers fandom #marvel cinematic universe #mcu #mcu fanfiction #mcu fandom #iron man #tony stark #tony stark x reader #tony stark x reader smut #tony stark x reader fluff #consent is sexy #science bros #fluff #new love #falling for tony stark

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gaarasgirlfriend · 4 years

Text

helplessly in love - kaminari x reader

in which kaminari finally gathers up the courage to confess to you

god, that smile. it really brightened up his whole day. kaminari found himself sometimes barely listening to you whenever you were excitedly talking about something to just stare at the smile that was painted on your pretty face. that smile of yours always managed to provide him with some temporary amnesia for whatever tribulations he might have faced earlier.

“kaminari! there you are! i’ve been dying to tell you about the new switch game i finally got…” your voice called out to him but he was too far in a stupor to be pulled back into reality.

he looked into your e/c eyes that shone so brightly as you recounted your new game once more to the blonde-haired boy. whenever you gave a small laugh, the crinkles next to pools of e/c appeared, and kaminari felt his heart skip a beat. subconsciously reaching his hand up to his chest in a pathetic hole to calm the organ down, kaminari noticed you faltering in your words as you peered curiously at him.

“kaminari are you okay?” your soft voice asked him. you reached over to place a hand on his shoulder, your eyes slightly furrowed in concern.

“i-i’m fine! continue talking!” he insisted, noticing the way his heartbeat quickened when you placed your hand on his shoulder.

the concern still had not left your eyes, and honestly? it made kaminari happy. knowing that you cared for him. maybe, just maybe, he had a chance with you. but after taking a glance at your beautiful face that seemed to be what he saw in dreams, he decided that that wasn’t possible. a girl like you could never like a guy like him… right?

“class is about to start, you should tell present mic-sensei if you don’t feel well. i don’t want you to get sick kaminari, i care for you!” you said in a carefree manner, not realizing the effect those words had on the lovestruck boy’s heart. he was really whipped for you.

as he watched you take your seat he walked back to his seat which was only a few seats diagonal to yours— giving him a good view of you. in a daze, he sat back down and placed his chin on his palm, thinking.

thinking about what? thinking about you, of course! what else was there to think about? kaminari has been playing with the idea of finally asking you out on a date for a few weeks now. he even talked about it to kirishima, bakugou, and sero!

‘do it! you’ll never know if she returns your feelings if you never try! despite how much you err… ogle at ladies, you’re a great guy kaminari! i’m sure she’ll at least give you a chance! be manly and ask her out’ his redheaded pal had told him.

‘tch, like i care. i have no clue why y/n would say yes to a dumbass like you!’ bakugou said with an eye roll.

‘you guys have been close friends for awhile right? there’s a chance that she likes you back! based from all the movies i’ve seen at least….’ sero sheepishly said while rubbing the back of his neck.

‘could they be right? could she actually like me back?’ his mind raced as he subconsciously glanced over to you. you were soaking up all the words present mic spoke as he continued his lesson. your pencil moved furiously as you focused intently on writing your notes. kaminari gave a small pout, he couldn’t even focus in class because of you! truth be told, he probably wouldn’t retain the information anyways but still! he would like the option of being able to focus on aizawa’s words rather than paying attention to the h/c strand of hair that fell against your cheek as you tilted your head while writing.

‘not fair…’ he thought as he sighed while picking up his pencil, finally writing down notes. he had no idea what to do about you, but he would deal with you another time. he had more pressing matters to attend to. finally tuning into present mic’s babbles, his eyebrows furrowed. what the hell was an adverb?

kaminari soon gave up on the lecture, opting instead to just doodle on his paper, giving you the occasional glance. god, he really was living the life of a teenage boy in a coming-of-age movie. how lame. after adding finishing touches to the house he drew, kaminari felt someone poke his back. kaminari knew better than to turn and talk to kirishima, so he dropped his hand to the bottom of his seat, palm facing up expectantly. once he felt the folded piece of paper in his hand, he slowly unfurled it under his desk. present mic was facing the chalkboard currently, so he was safe.

‘hey bro, are you finally gonna ask y/n out?’

kaminari gave a small sigh before writing down his response and handling the paper back to the boy behind him.

‘i think i might, it’s just so nerve-wracking.’

after hearing kirishima scribble on the paper once more, he felt the familiar tap on his back before he collected the paper.

‘mina told me some second year student was thinking of asking her out on a date! you better hurry bro!’

kaminari’s heart stopped while reading that. you? with another man? that was just too much for kaminari to handle. he had to confess to you before it was too late! before he lost you to some cool, probably super handsome, super funny upperclassman.

as class went on, kaminari worked on his confession, writing some stuff down for kirishima to look over. it honestly wasn’t going too well. kaminari has so much he wanted to tell you, yet he couldn’t. the poor boy’s nerves were skyrocketing so much that he could barely form a proper sentence. he groaned frustratedly as he grabbed his hair. he felt kirishima pat his back in reassurance. class was about to end, and it was almost time for the students to go home. kaminari walked you home almost everyday, not wanting anything bad happening to you.

as the last teacher finally dismissed class, the students all got up and started to pack up their stuff. kaminari was scrambling to finish his confession letter.

‘what about her hair you idiot? how it smells like coconuts? or it seems so soft? no, no, no! don’t talk about her hair, that makes you sound weird!’ he thought.

he heard you walk up to his desk as he rushed to finish his paper. if only he worked this hard on his notes in class, maybe he would actually learn.

“you ready to leave kaminari?” you asked with that pretty smile of yours.

“y-yeah, just give me a minute.” kaminari said before getting his book bag and packing up.

“you still look a bit off, do you want to go see recovery girl before we leave?”

“haha, no i’m fine!” he chuckled unconvincingly, finally slipping his book bag onto his back.

before you made it out the door, kaminari made it there before you, quickly scanning the hallway in search of this mysterious second year that also harbored feelings for you. his eyes fell on a figure that was a bit taller than him, a brunette boy who was also clad in the ua uniform. he radiated a cool vibe and was also not to mention model worthy.

“nope, not today.” kaminari muttered before taking your hand into his and pulling you out of the door, power walking your way out of the school.

“k-kaminari- slow down! why are we running away? are you okay? what’s wrong?” you asked when you finally made it outside, standing beside kaminari as the two of you caught your breaths.

kaminari didn’t answer, he just focused on his breathing as he worked up the courage to confess to you. kirishima and sero’s words echoed in the back of his mind, urging the boy to tell the girl beside him of his feelings.

“kaminari are-”

“i like you. i’ve liked you ever since we talked during lunch on our first day of school! i liked the way you almost choked on your food because you were laughing at one of my dumb jokes! i like the way that your eyes crinkle whenever you smile! i like the way you do that stupidly cute dance of yours whenever you get food! oh god- don’t even get me started on your smile. that beautiful smile of yours… i just- i’ve liked you for a long time! and i’m tired of keeping it in! i won't wait for someone else to sweep you off your feet and be upset because i did nothing about it! y/n l/n, i like you! accept my confession!”

after he finished his speech it went quiet. kaminari could literally hear his heart beat with every passing second. oh god, bakugou was right, there was no way a girl like you would like him. he’d better start looking at other schools to move to. shiketsu was pretty good, right?

“kaminari… you like me?” your voice called out to him, breaking him away from his thought. he flinched at the mention of him liking you before nodding.

“yeah…” he said, twiddling with his fingers a bit as he waited for you to reply once again.

he looked at your face to see your mouth slightly opened in shock, your glittery orbs wide in shock as well. if he weren’t so terrified of rejection right now he would’ve laughed at that adorable look on your face.

“i-i can't believe it! you like me back!”

‘huh? like you back?’

“h-huh? does that mean...?” he trailed off, hopeful.

“yes! kaminari denki, i like you too!” you said, your face breaking out in the biggest grin he’s ever seen.

kaminari froze for a bit, taking a few second to register the words that you had just said. you, the girl of his dreams, liked him back? was this some kind of prank? no, you were too nice to do anything like that to him. kaminari could almost cry, his heart was overflowing with joy and pure happiness.

“y-you mean it? you’re not messing with me?” kaminari said while smiling, holding her shoulders.

the girl laughed while shaking her head, “of course not! i’ve liked you for the longest time! ever since you offered to charge my phone because it was dead! i thought you were really cute and funny!”

oh gosh, you thought he was cute? that’s it. kaminari could die happy now.

“i’m so happy right now y/n, you have no idea. i’ve waited for this moment for so long… this feels like a dream.” kaminari said while looking into your eyes.

you smiled before linking your hands together, “trust me, i know exactly how you feel.”

kirishima grinned as he saw kaminari and you walk out of the schoolyard while holding hands.

“looks like your plan worked bakugou! that note really did push him to confess to y/n! who knew that you were rooting for him…”

“tch stupid, i only got tired of him always talking about how soft her hair looks or dumb shit like that, not because i care for him.” bakugou said while rolling his eyes.

but maybe, just maybe, he did care for his friend who was so helplessly in love with you.

#kaminari x reader #kaminari denki x reader #kaminari #kaminari imagine #kaminari denki #bnha x reader #bnha fluff #kaminari fluff #my hero academia x reader #my hero academia #bnha imagines

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tamiettitami · 3 years

Note

24 and/or 34 for the soft fic prompts! :)

rated G for GENERAL AUDIENCES; 1,084 words; TAGGED for Bad Days, we all have them, David Rose Loves Patrick Brewer, Hugs, Post-Canon, Rose Apothecary (Schitt's Creek), Pet Names, Fluff

find the original prompt list here and read on ao3 here !

While David is making his way back to the store after what was supposed to be a quick run to Café Tropical turned into a 20-minute long outing byway of Twyla's innate inclination to talk, he notices the Apothecary's sign is flipped to close. That's odd, he thinks to himself. I left it on open since Patrick is there. He threads his eyebrows together and furrows his mouth upward before realization hits:

Patrick.

Patrick must've turned it.

But why?

Before David allows himself to dwell any further, he pulls out his phone to send a quick text to his husband after quietly shaking his head back and forth a few times.

can you let me in?

He decides to leave it at that and do the interrogating in-person, not that he'd ever force Patrick into telling him something he's uncomfortable with saying aloud; however, he's worried about him.

David's phone pings moments following with a straightforward Yea. The door is cracked open for him once he's finished looking at the notification.

"Hi," David says simply in his slow, shy voice used when he's carefully approaching Patrick and trying to avoid cracking the eggshells he's ever so precariously walking atop. He closes the door lightly behind him and locks it suit after it clicks in place. "How are you?" He's sure he knows the answer, though it never hurts to ask.

Patrick simply shrugs. Without a second thought, he plops down on the stool next to the register.

"Can I help?" David inquires, making sure to keep his distance. He knows Patrick is a sensitive person, and while there's nothing wrong with that, the absolute last thing he wants to do is upset him by crossing the invisible line drawn in the sand. He's come awfully close before and let's just say he slept on the couch that evening.

"A customer yelled at me today." Patrick taps his foot on the leg of the stool. His eyes aimlessly wander around the sales floor until they land on a box of eye creams. "I was putting those away," He gestures towards the cardboard vessel with a quick jerk of his head. "And someone walked in here looking for a new moisturizer. I told them you'd be back soon to help them choose because I'm just the numbers guy. They got all upset with me for 'not doing my job' since they had somewhere to be in ten minutes and couldn't wait for you."

David frowns and shakes his head with a sigh. Patrick will raise his voice from time to time when it's absolutely necessary although he despises people who raise theirs at him. Is it hypocritical? Yeah, it is, except that won't stop Patrick from feeling worthless like he's a single speck of dirt in an antique store. Despite his efforts to make himself known, it seems as if people always find a way to cut him down.

It breaks David's heart to see Patrick like this. He isn't exactly known for standing up for himself and David doesn't blame him. With the past he has, he's more than well aware of how horrifying it can be to stick up for yourself in situations where you're marginalized. He wouldn't wish this feeling on his worst enemy, God forbid his husband.

"First off, you're so much more than just the numbers guy. Rose Apothecary wouldn't exist without you and I can confidently say that." Patrick shifts his body closer to David's like he's yearning for his touch, so David takes a few steps towards him. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you, but we don't deserve the business of someone who thinks it's okay to yell at a store owner when we're providing a service for them to begin with."

"Sometimes, I feel like I don't deserve to be apart of this store," Patrick confesses. "Like I'm a dead weight and you're forced to drag me along."

David closes his eyes and shakes his head as he continues to make his way into Patrick's personal bubble. "We're married, honey, I love having you around. Work would be miserable if you weren't behind the counter every morning to greet me with a kiss or hand me a cup of coffee."

A long stretch of silence hangs over them before its broken by Patrick speaking up. "Can I have a hug?" He looks at David through his lashes where he was busy picking at the skin around the base of his fingernails.

"What?" David is caught off guard by his request. Sure, Patrick is a take-charge kind of guy, but he's always had a difficult time voicing what he wants; it's easier for him to act instead of ask, and clearly, acting was off the table right now given his current state of vulnerability.

Patrick redirects his gaze down towards the floor. "Nothing, it's stupid."

"If it's something you want, it's not stupid, babe." David tries his best to reassure him with anything besides empty words.

Instead of verbalizing his desire again, Patrick simply holds out his arms. It takes David a moment to get the memo. As soon as he does, however, he closes the gap between them as if his life depends on it.

They stay still for what feels like an eternity, neither party wanting to let go.

There's something so comforting about feeling safe enough around a person to relish in their embrace like this.

Every so often, David will tighten his grip around Patrick's waist or Patrick will bury his head further into the crook of David's neck.

It's clichè, but David is Patrick's home.

He's the place where Patrick feels most sheltered, protected from the outside world in their own little universe filled with secretly exchanged looks and quietly whispered words.

Except right now, there's no pulling back to look into the other's eyes or repeated sentiments of I love you like there normally is when they hug; they're merely caressing in silence.

Even though Patrick is the one who needs the hug, David would be lying if he said he isn't enjoying it, too.

For the next five minutes, hugging is all they do. They hug, and hug, and hug like there's no tomorrow.

Neither of them would trade this moment for anything else.

#bathshebaaeverdeen #kacey answers #*lolwrites #prompt fill #crosspost #schitt's creek #schitts creek #david rose #patrick brewer #david x patrick #david and patrick #fanfiction #fanfic #archive of our own #ao3 #schitt's creek fanfic

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five-rivers · 4 years

Text

Triple Threat

Just realized I didn’t post this here. This is based on @dalv-co-official‘s prompt.

Three sets of screams echoed off the polished steel walls of the Fentonworks lab.

It was green, and they were filled with a horrible anxiety. Something bad had happened, or something bad might have happened, they couldn't tell which. Their mind was too stricken with pain, fear, and exhaustion to register anything but green and they were in danger.

Who? Who was in danger? They were important to them. They couldn't remember anything else. Couldn't think.

They moved and-

Contact. Relief. They could feel them, the others, and they were, well, they were hurt, but they were alive, and they were here. Together.

They relaxed. This was... not fine. Anything but fine, really. But it was manageable.

Unconsciousness draped back over them.

When they woke again, they knew themselves. Danny, Sam, Tucker. But the boundaries blurred. They were almost erased, and this was wrong, because they should be three, not one.

But it also felt right to be one. It was odd, and it made things difficult. Difficult to remember where they were, what they were, who they were.

Why they were.

Right. Why were they here? How had they gotten there? They knew, they knew that, but like this, their thoughts and feelings clashing against each other, it was beyond them. They couldn't even move effectively, always mistaking one hand for another. They had six of them, all together, and that was far too many.

They had to separate. At least for now, at least until they could get their feet under them.

They were fairly confident that this one was Danny. Yes. This one was Danny. He was Danny. Danny.

Danny sat up with a groan, feeling like he had just woken up from a dream. A dream where he'd been beaten to heck and back with a baseball bat that was on fire. His chest felt strange. Light and cold.

Why was everything green?

Then he remembered. The portal. The pain. The screaming. The screaming. The screaming.

Sam and Tucker had been with him. That thought forced him into a sitting position. Where were Sam and Tucker? What had happened to them?

Were they alive?

Danny had certainly thought that he was dying.

But, to his relief, he saw a Sam-shaped blur and a Tucker-shaped blur in the green mists, moving much like he was: gingerly. With little more than grunts, the three of them negotiated a position where they could support each other and stumble out of the portal.

That's when they saw each other, and things started to get really weird.

They sat in Danny's room and took their pulses.

"I think," said Sam, "that we can agree that we're alive."

"So, what was that?" asked Tucker. "That..." He flexed his hands and everyone understood he meant that other form, where they wore black jumpsuits and white gloves, where their hair was white and their eyes brilliant green. "Was it temporary? Just a side effect?"

"No," said Danny, putting a hand over his chest, just below his heart. The others mimicked the motion. "Don't you feel it? We're different now."

They all looked down.

"It could still be temporary?" said Tucker. "That could fade, too. I mean, we look like ourselves again."

"But you don't really believe that, do you?" asked Sam.

"No," admitted Tucker. "But it's still a possibility."

"Oh my gosh," moaned Danny, putting his head in his hands. "Mom and Dad... I can't be dead. I can't be a ghost. They're going to kill me... us," he added with more horror.

Sam and Tucker moved to either side of Danny, leaning into him.

"We'll deal with it together," said Sam. Whatever was inside them seemed to hum in agreement.

"Duck!" shouted Sam.

The words seemed to echo inside Danny's head, and he reflexively obeyed, barely missing the giant meat fist. Tucker took advantage of the opening, with a punch that did far more damage than it had any right to.

Things were... going. The poorly refrigerated meat dungeon beneath the school would probably need to be repaired, but, on the upside, the ghost wasn't hurting anyone.

Except for Danny, Sam, and Tucker.

But then, as these things happen, everything went wrong all at once. Sam and Tucker both lost hold of their ghost forms, as Danny had earlier, and they fell.

Danny decided that now was the time to be somewhere else. He grabbed them and they phased through the wall.

Then Danny... just... slowly...

"Danny! Thank goodness you're awake!" exclaimed Tucker. "You've been asleep for three days!"

"Uhuh," said Danny, glaring at his friend through sleep-crusted eyes. "You remember that we can tell when each other is lying now, right?"

"Ah, well, it was worth a shot."

"Do you sense anything?" asked Sam.

"No," said Danny, tensely. They were wandering around the school basements, looking for the ghost. It was lunchtime, so if she was going to show up at all, it would be now.

"Man, I wish I had a ghost sensing power," said Tucker. He'd been put in charge of the 'Fenton Thermos,' a device whose utility was currently questionable. Even if it had glowed some really weird colors when the three of them touched it.

"Me too," said Sam. "Then we could split up and find this vegetable-hating ghost faster."

"WHO SAID I HATE VEGETABLES!?"

Danny picked up on the second ring.

"Hi, Sam," he said.

There was a bit of a pause on the other line. "How did you know it was me? You don't have caller ID."

"Tucker's here and who else is going to call our house? Mr. Lancer? One of Jazz's 'patients?'"

"Tucker's there? Oh, good."

"Yeah," said Danny. Tucker had stopped by and immediately got roped into helping with Danny's chore of cleaning the garage. "What's up? I thought you had a thing with your parents today. They were making you go to a party or something?"

"I found out who was throwing it and decided I'd rather die again. Can you guys come over?"

"Yeah," said Danny, mentally bracing himself for another scolding from his parents. But that was future Danny's problem. "One problem. Where do you even live?" The three of them were psychically bonded, and Danny had still never seen her house.

"Right, right. Do you have a pen? My address is-"

"So, Sam lives in a castle," said Danny, staring up at the enormous 'house.'

"Wow," said Tucker. "I wonder if she has a swimming pool in there somewhere."

"Or a bowling alley," said Danny.

"What is your thing with bowling, anyway, dude?"

"I don't know. I just like it."

"Where did Sam say she was again?"

"Greenhouse. Back yard."

"Cool," said Tucker. He rubbed his hands together.

"Are you okay?" asked Danny. Tucker had been fidgeting all night.

"Yeah, just..." Tucker sighed. "Your parents' tech feels weird. I don't know. It's been bugging me all day. It's like, I kept wanting to put my hands into it," he said, briefly making the offending limbs intangible to demonstrate.

"Maybe it's part of your thing?" suggested Danny. "We'll have to look into that."

"Yeah. But, later," said Tucker. "Phase through the wall?"

"I don't want to talk to her parents."

"True," said Tucker.

Invisible and intangible, they walked into Sam's back yard. The greenhouse was easy to find. It was however, impossible to open the door, and Sam didn't answer when they knocked, so they phased in.

"Wow," said Danny. "This is..."

"Crowded," finished Tucker. "Sam? You in here? We're here!"

"Yeah!" said Sam. "I'm back by the oranges!"

They walked around tables that practically dripped with greenery, following the scent of citrus. Sam was sitting at the roots of a large tree, hugging her knees. On closer inspection, it appeared that the tree's roots had burst out of a ceramic pot before burrowing into the ground.

"Sam?" said Danny. "Did you, um, do this?" he asked.

Sam's eyes were wide and wild. "Maybe?" she said.

They stood over the smoking pile of technology that had once been Technus's battlesuit. It sparked. Faintly glowing moss grew from it.

"Okay," said Danny, twisting the lid tighter. "I think we need to go over our powers again."

"Danny can sense ghosts, is best at basic ghostly stuff, and is the fastest flier, agreed?" asked Tucker, typing on his PDA.

"Agreed," chorused the other two.

"Sam can make plants grow faster, but only if there's a bunch of ectoplasm around, and she's not good at, like, turning invisible and intangible."

"To be fair," said Danny, "none of us are very good at that."

"True," said Sam, "but you two are definitely better than I am. But I'm stronger, too," she added, flexing her arms.

"Yeah, yeah," said Tucker. "Then, there's me, and everyone knows I'm fabulous."

They groaned.

"Stop that, you're making me groan, too," complained Tucker. "Anyway, it looks like my thing is charging and draining electronics, which is pretty cool. I'll never have to plug Cynthia in again. My baby is one step closer to life."

"We're begging you," said Sam, "stop naming your PDAs."

"I will not," said Tucker.

"Fine. Then you can't use my bowling alley."

"I told you she might have a bowling alley."

"I've never wanted to kill somebody before," said Sam.

Danny shuddered, but he didn't say anything.

"But I wanted to kill him," she said. "I wanted to, so, so much, but I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything."

"But you did," said Danny, pressing against Sam's side and trying to project comforting thoughts. "You did do something. You broke free. Just like Tuck and I."

"Not soon enough," growled Sam, her eyes flashing.

"None of us broke free 'soon enough,'" said Tucker. He was playing with his glasses, turning the empty frames over in his hands again, and again, and again. "Do you really not remember, Danny?"

"No?" said Danny. "Not really. Just red, and when he made Sam jump off the train, and Jazz coming after us." He frowned. "Maybe a bit in the tent? On the high wire?"

"I guess those are the highlights," mumbled Tucker.

Danny bit his lip. "Well," he said, finally. "It doesn't sound like a loss, anyway."

"No," agreed Sam, "it isn't."

After Danny left to go home, Sam and Tucker stayed. "Freakshow is a dead man if we ever see him again," she said.

"After what he did to Danny?" Tucker scoffed. "You better believe it."

"I hate Spectra so much," said Sam. "Why is she so... so..." She waved her hands. "Why is she like this?"

"Why is it in an abandoned hospital?" moaned Tucker.

"Probably because you told her last time that hospitals were your deepest darkest fear," said Danny. "Why did you do that, anyway? We were pretty sure she was a ghost already."

"Have you seen what she looks like?"

Stars glimmered overhead. Danny laid flat on his back, watching them. Sam and Tucker were on either side of him.

"Can you believe," said Danny, "that one day we could put them out?"

"No," said Sam, immediately. "Because we're not going to."

"I didn't say, would," said Danny, his voice still soft. "I said, could. Those alternate realities... The ones where only one of us got powers... Where only I... Those were bad. Those were hard. I- I'm sorry."

"But we're together, here," said Tucker, soothingly, "and we're not going anywhere."

"I know," said Danny. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" asked the other two.

"That you had to half die so I didn't blow up the world."

"Come on, man, you didn't blow up the world," said Tucker. "Just, you know, a bunch of the stuff on the world."

Danny let out a hiccuping laugh.

"And I was just as bad," said Sam. "I mean, I like plants, but that was no good."

"You were under mind control," protested Danny.

"So were you," countered Sam, "by Plasmius. It won't happen. None of them will happen. As long as Tucker quits trying to make Skynet and doesn't get assimilated into SkulkTech or whatever the heck that was, it'll all be fine."

"We might have to break his PDAs to stop that."

"No, keep your cold hands away from my babies. I promise, no Skynet, no Skynet. I will leave the AI alone."

They fell back into silence.

"It's been a while since we've done this," said Danny. "Just hang out, I mean."

"Yeah," said Sam.

They inhaled, letting themselves feel each other. "It's nice," they said, together.

#danny phantom #phic phight #phic phight 2020

100 notes · View notes

erekiosuncreativeideas · 4 years

Text

Being Human - Chapter 04

<= Chapter 03

Summary : Snatcher has a realization. Also available on AO3 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/24826561/chapters/60847378

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Sorry for the huge delay ! I've started working and I'm deeply invested in Art Fight this month, so... I don't have much time for writing. Thankfully, I had this finished chapter waiting to be posted, so... NEW CHAPTER ! I hope you'll like it !

Happy reading !

The “Oh The Humanity” AU belongs to @doodledrawsthings !

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Chapter 4 - “I… No. No, I’m not fine.”

The subconites, despite being children at heart, had become very mature throughout the centuries. At first, life hadn’t been easy: comforting children who had just died wasn’t something Snatcher had been good at. And, in a way, that still hadn’t changed today.

The vast majority of them knew very well who he was or, more precisely, who he used to be. Of course, the spirit had tried his best to forget, to put his past behind him, refusing to be associated with the nice and so naive Prince of the Subcon kingdom again… But, obviously, some had guessed and the word had spread in the newly founded family, at the time.

Snatcher had not been happy about that. However, most of his minions had been considerate enough to ignore his past identity, trying to call him something else rather than the very annoying and painful “my Prince” he used to get. Thus, the name “Boss” came and stayed. He didn’t know if they used it when they were talking to each other when he wasn’t there, though.

That’s why, when the shade saw a huge group of subconites surrounding the tree he was in, with the kids and the other minion… He felt like his heart had stopped beating for a while, like fear and surprise had twisted his guts, suddenly and painfully. He felt like he had received a bucket of cold water on his trembling shoulders.

This couldn’t be happening.

-“Boss, is… Is that you?” questioned one of the little beings, their voice and body language showing how confused and upset they were. They were fidgeting, and all of them were looking at each other, trying to understand what could have happened while they were gone.

Snatcher remained silent, his face paling up more and more as the realization hit him hard. They knew. They could see how pathetic he was, how miserable and terrible he looked like at the moment. And soon… They would understand that he wouldn’t be able to protect them anymore.

The ghost was paralyzed in fear, having no idea what to do anymore. What could he say? How would he be able to explain any of this?! He didn’t even know where to begin! There was too much to say, too many details! He couldn’t form any word. His voice seemed stuck in his throat and he could barely move his tongue anymore. The beating coming from his chest grew louder and louder, faster and faster, scaring him even more. Fastly, he put a hand over his chest, clenching the fabric of his shirt where his heart was beating underneath. Low murmurs started to echo all around him, making his head spin.

This couldn’t be happening, this just couldn’t be happening.

His breathing rhythm quickened and the reality seemed to collapse around him for a moment. He was trembling, more and more. What was happening to him? Why did he feel so bad? Why did he feel so sick?

Why was he feeling like he was going to die again?

He barely registered the new contact on his shoulders, shaking him back and forth lightly. He could hear a voice, no, several voices, all panicked and distressed. It all seemed so blurry, so far away from him… And yet, he still felt like he was dying, like his heart was going to stop beating anytime.

He wasn’t safe, he wasn’t safe, what was happening to him, he didn’t know, he didn’t-

His mind was violently brought back to reality as the grip on his shoulders became tighter, shaking him more vigorously than before. He felt like his vision was starting to clear up, and so was his hearing. Shapes became clearer and clearer and, soon, he recognized the kids in front of him, the hat-wearing one being the person shaking him back and forth.

-“Snatcher! Snatcher, pull yourself together!” they yelled at him, trying to catch his attention, their voice ringing in his head. Too loud, it was much too loud… When his eyes met theirs, a look of relief crossed their features when they realized he was conscious again. They both sighed lengthily, letting their head fall backwards.

-“Would you stop scaring us for a pecking second?” groaned the little hatted girl, while her best friend sighed again, closing her eyes.

Snatcher’s attention was then caught by movements in the corner of his vision. All his minions had come closer, some of them standing next to him. They were all fidgeting, not knowing what to say or what to do. The spirit had no problem trying to decipher their body language and their concern was more than visible to him.

Their sudden presence at his sides made him freeze again.

-“Boss, are you alright?” asked one of the minions, deeply worried. Snatcher felt his hands shaking again and it took him a few seconds to actually be able to answer. He considered lying, telling them that everything was perfectly fine, but… Who would believe him? He looked everything but fine. Plus… The subconites deserved to know what was happening. They were part of this forest just as he was.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his fast-beating heart.

-“I… No. No, I’m not fine,” he admitted, frowning at the minion who asked him the question. Though it was more out of anger for himself rather at the said subconite: “Everything hurts.”

Most of the little beings shuddered at his answer. They were certainly the people who would understand what he was going through the most. After all, they were dead, and they knew very much how it felt or, well, how a dead person couldn’t actually feel anything. If the kids were the time and space experts in the room, they wouldn’t be able to understand what he was going through.

Another minion pushed the others to join him, clear worry in his voice:

-“But… What happened?” He couldn’t blame them for being surprised: after all, dead people rarely came back to life! Even he didn’t know that was possible and, well, he knew things about the afterlife and how it was!

He gave a nod to the children’s direction, frowning:

-“It’s their fault,” he claimed. Immediately, indignation took place on the girls’ face, gasping at his words. They instantly started to protest, cutting him short before he was even able to keep talking:

-“I’m sorry?!” screamed the hat-wearing child, absolutely outraged: “You broke the Time Piece, not us!”

Her best friend nodded vigorously, very unhappy with his claims. She put her hands over her hips, glaring at him:

-“Yeah! You just threw it away! What did you think would happen, you big doofus?”

The ghost just snarled at them, though it was much less impressive with his current form… Well, even ridiculous. His anger intensified when he saw the kids trying not to laugh at him. He grabbed the edges of his armrests, feeling his nails sinking into the fabric.

Insufferable kids…

-“Shut up!” he yelled, wincing right away, his voice ringing in his head, loudly. He brought a hand to his right temple, pressing a finger on it, hoping it would help to ease the pain. It didn’t. All around him, the minions stared at him with what he supposed to be compassion and sympathy. God, he hated those expressions…

Silence fell between them. The subconites looked at each other, visibly very uncomfortable and still very much confused. The kids, on the other hand, had apparently decided to sulk and look away from him, a very clear scowl on her face. The brats…

But, then, one of the minions raised their hand with hesitation, catching the ghost’s attention before he closed his eyes, exhausted.

-“What?” he questioned, extremely irritated by everything that was happening. His head hurt so much, just like his muscles… He wasn’t sure how long he would handle being human, seeing how painful the whole experience was.

The voice of the confused minion was almost muffled by all the murmurs echoing all around them, but Snatcher heard very well what he asked him about.

-“But… What about Her, then?”

Lukas’s heart sank in his chest and his eyes reopened instantly. The entire group of subconites became dead silent, turning their head towards the one minion who dared to ask the question they all wondered about silently. He knew they would ask him about that, he sure did… Yet, knowing something was going to happen and actually experiencing it were two very different things.

The spirit clenched his jaw. Yes, what about Her? What was he going to do to protect his kingdom from the Ice Queen? He wouldn’t be able to do anything as a human! He didn’t have any power left, he couldn’t even walk on his own! So how would he be able to protect his minions in that case? He was just utterly useless in this state.

The silent became longer and longer, making the subconites more and more uncomfortable.

The thing was that Snatcher had absolutely no idea about what he should do. He was supposed to be their leader, the one that was in charge of everyone’s safety and… He didn’t know what to do.

-“I…” His voice died in his throat as he could find what to say. This only made the situation worse, as the minions started to panic. Afraid mutters started to resonate in the crowd, while some of the little beings looked everywhere, searching for any danger awaiting them. He couldn’t blame them.

As soon as Vanessa found out, then… It would just be over.

-“What if you found someone to replace you?” the voice came from the bow-wearing kid, who was done with sulking. She was staring at him curiously, as if she was surprised that the spirit hadn’t thought of this sooner. As soon as he heard those words, Snatcher frowned. Well, it would work if he had someone to replace him, but it wasn’t like there was anyone who would fit the role-

Then, the shade froze, suddenly realizing he was wrong. There was someone who would be strong enough to protect the forest while he would deal with the situation at hand. Someone he truly disliked, someone he certainly didn’t want to ask help from, someone who made him feel terribly uncomfortable…

And yet he had no other choice left, given the state he was currently in.

He would have to ask Moonjumper for help.

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Hehehe, another cliffhanger ! :) I love doing that, sorry, ahahaha !

I hope you liked this chapter ! See you on the next one ! Take care in the meantime !

=> Chapter 05

#A Hat In Time #ahit #being human #BH #fanfiction #oh the humanity au #oth #subconite #hat kid #bow kid #snatcher

33 notes · View notes

currentfandomkick · 4 years

Text

Miraculous Team and the Batboys

Longer update, wrote the ao3 version first this time. if you want to find me there, crazyjc.

Thankfully there weren’t any akuma attacks that day or that night. Marinette was glad to get some sleep for once. Her body, confused and used to a few hours a night, got her up early.

Marinette decided to help with the morning rush—quick to handle the register and make adjustments to some people’s orders (no extra charge for the exhausted high school and college students) when she managed to find someone as dead as she was after an akuma messed up her commission schedule and sleep was skipped for a week.

“Wow, you’re getting the ‘Please Don’t Let Me Die Again Yet’ special.” Marinette turned before the zombie could speak. “Maman, watch the register, someone looks worse than midterms and commissions me.”

Once Maman took the register again, Marinette worked on her disaster drink that only a few particular customers knew of from her personal menu--mainly the dead college and high school students insane enough to pull a weeks worth of all nighters like her. And baby parents that liked her parents bakery.

Gurarana beans instead for the extra caffeine with her special blend of licorice root, peppermint and green tea poured in--double the caffeine with less effort, glucose for the brain fuel, sweet and mint for wakeup and focus, and green tea for lasting energy boost.

“Here, this should keep you up and a bit more functional than usual.”

The man raised an eyebrow.

“Oh my god, what got Finals Angel up this early?” One of the regulars almost yelled, staring at her with a look that screamed the universe was going to collapse in on itself, and they were now anticipating this outcome until they got their morning fix.

Marinette shrugged, moving to the next customer as the dead man took a seat and pulled out his laptop. She continued to help until it was getting close to class.

“Maman, the rest of that brew is under the cabinet for the laptop zombie, I’m taking my morning delivery now.”

Maman took over while Marinette made her way to school, passing out the usual deliveries as she moved about.

“Adrien, your insult to caffeinated monstrosities everywhere.”

“Thanks Marinette!” The blond held his (essentially) hot chocolate with one pump expresso, and five three shots of caramel on top of whip cream.

“Chloe, why you have me grab something this sweet this early is only further proof of your crimes against humanity.”

“You’re welcome Dupain-Cheng.” The girl nabbed her (in Marinette's opinion) low caffeine sugar water--licorice root with half a bottle of honey, and lots of ice with whip cream and honesy drizzled on top. She would never understand that order, but was too afraid to ask at this point. She might be taking the Bee thing too far.

“Alya, thank you for being a sane coffee person, Nino, we are having a talk about your scheduling.”

“Thanks gurl." Because close or not, Alya was an addict with a simple and reasonable coffee that restored Marinette's sanity while making it.

Nino groaned as he took his pastries and three cream, one expresso. “Not again, I still haven’t recovered from the last time.”

Marinette shrugged. “Your mistake, not mine.”

“Oh, did you get my cookies?” Sabrina asked.

Marinette rolled her eyes with a fond smile. She likes Sabrina when she isn't in full cling mode, and giving her boxes of pre-paid cookies put together on Marinette's whims? Very calming after dealing with Adrien and Chloe's offending orders. “Yes. You paid for a different set everyday.”

“Thanks!” Sabina examined her current mix, more obscure cookies since Marinette got them before the morning rush.

“Markov, please tell me Max got some sleep last night?” Marinette asked as she handed another of her special “Max needs a nap but is to stubborn to” order--which is essentially an energy drink blend with a few slow-release teas mixed in.

“Affirmative. He got the requested minimum of three hours. I will ensure he gets more once school is out.”

“I’ll take what I can get.” He was less prone to akumatazation with more sleep, and Hawkmoth does like using Max. Marinette likes knowing she can have her teammate in the field without wondering if he'll pass out.

Marinette took her seat by Alya. They weren’t as close anymore, but it did mean Lila was alone in the back and didn’t see the group document.

“Class, we have a new student today!”

Marinette frowned. She wasn’t informed of any newcomers. She looked over at Chloe who huffed. She didn’t know either then.

“Class, this is Damian Grayson from America. His father is here on business and will be joining us for the semester!”

Chloe and her shared a look. With Chloe as the current president and Marinette as the head of the welcome committee, this was very last minute for them not to be informed. Especially as Bustier had the time to since both were here early.

Alya shot her a look.

Marinette shook her head. She really didn’t know, and it bugged her.

Alya narrowed her eyes as the new boy came in. Black hair, stood too straight and Middle Eastern. She wondered what his first language was briefly--someone in school was bound to be fairly fluent. If it was related to Arabic, Rose would be a good translator. Her and Adrien both have Mandarin now, and her English was passable to Americans--not so much for the UK. Alya has Spanish while Nino has Portuguese covered. Chloe was good for UK English and so was Adrien, but those two weren't good for new kids... especially from the America. Mylene, Ivan, Nathaniel and Juleka were bad at talking most of the time, so they were no-gos...

And she still had to finish Ali's commission… This would be a headache if they were an old Chloe-type.

“Damian, why don’t you tell us about yourself.”

“No need to. I do not plan on making friends.”

And he was worse than an Old Chloe-type. There went her free period for commissions.

The entire class shared a look, and Marinette wanted to groan. This boy would be in for a rude awakening—there was no escaping friendship in Bustier’s class. And anyone difficult? They would sent Marinette as envoy--hopefully Alya didn't make easy.

“I presume my seat is in the back?”

“Actually,” Alya stood up with a grin, “I was going to sit back with Lila to help her catch up in our next class.”

Marinette froze as she realized what Alya was doing. Keeping the new kid from Lila was good, but she also needed to keep Alya from falling for Lila’s lies again. And she has no clue on his preferred languages and uh!

“Alya,” she hissed.

“Don’t worry, I got this.” Alya moved to the back with ease before the boy could say a word.

Marinette hit her head. Why was her friend like this?

“I guess that means you’ll sit next to Marinette. Marinette, can you show Damian around during your free period?”

Marinette knew that tone. There was no refusing without a lecture on being a good role model and another reprimand for stepping down from class representative and student government when she got more commissions and needed more time.

“Of course Miss Buster.”

Damian took his seat without saying a word.

Marinette decided it was better to stay silent with this one--he didn't want friends, and would only be here briefly. She could respect that, even if she could feel the others scheming otherwise.

“What do you mean you know—“

“Oops,” Lila grinned. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

And that was what Marinette was hoping to avoid.

Damian twitched next to her. Marinette sighed, “One sec, I need to remind someone to check her sources before getting ahead of themselves… again.”

Nino shot Marinette a sympathetic look while Marinette linked three redacted articles that starred Lila as her main source.

“And done.”

Damian raised an eye brow at her. “You aren’t going to pester me, correct?”

Marinette rolled her eyes. Honestly? “You made your stance clear. I’m here as the actual head of the welcoming committee, and during free period I’ll just need to know your interests so we can avoid the parts of the school that aren’t relevant for you, and to make sure you have an idea how to handle akuma attacks since I’m going to guess they didn’t tell you about that before you applied.”

“tt,” Damian leveled her with a scowl. “Of course I know about them.”

Marinette didn’t bother to hide her surprise. “So you know where to go for shelter, the drills, the apps and news sources that are good for tracking, which hospitals are contactable during attacks and which ones go into lock down, oh and what actions are allowable and not as civilian aides to the miraculous team?”

The boy froze before her. He didn't then.

Her face slid into a more neutral one--keeping her gloating to herself.“That’s what I thought. I have a few flow charts in the committee room to grab since its an info dump and no one processes those well, and your learning style may benefit from it for all I know.” Marinette made sure not add ‘since some people can’t be bothered to tell me.’ The new boy clearly wasn’t interested in friendship, and despite what the class thinks, she is not friendship-nip.

“I…”

“Class, turn to page 67 of your textbook. Marinette, make sure to share with Damian.”

“Yes Miss Bustier,” Marinette moved the book between the two of them, ignoring Damian besides checking where his eyes were on the page before turning as they followed along.

Once their free period began, Adrien had a Chloe guarding him against the Lila octopus, with Sabrina flanking his other arm as backup.

“I take it those three are together?” Damian asked once they left.

“No, Chloe doesn’t share her friends well,” Marinette explained as they moved through the halls. “And it keeps away his fans, so no one stops it anymore.” Not unless they wanted the Mayor’s ire at least. It was very effective against Lila.

“I see…” He was watching her. She wasn’t sure if it was an American thing or just a tic of his. Possibly both.

“That’s where the teacher’s offices are for before and after school,” Marinette gestured to one wing. “All the doors are labeled, so its easy enough to find who you’re looking for as long as you have a name. You’ll find most of the school services there as well, minus the nurse who’s room is closer to the quad.”

Marinette smiled when they got to welcoming committee room. None of the other members were there at the moment, but the file cabinet was. She grabbed one of the ready-made packets and grabbed a spare Bustier Class packet too.

“Here’s the information for being new in Paris, everything from common places to eat, the good hole-in-the-wall places itemized by what you’re looking for, everything relating to akumas is on the red papers, and the yellow is the school’s map and procedures.” Marinette handed him the blue folder, then the orange. “This one is the Bustier-class specific one approved by Miss Bustier. It lists everything from class rules, what caused various akumatazations with the victim’s consent to disclose it, so not all are listed, and it has your schedule and the class outing dates plus who’s interested in what on the pink pages for possible friends, but you said you weren’t interested so we can skip that.”

Marinette watched him look over the papers for a moment, waiting until his attention was back to her. “Now, anything you have a vague interest in that you might have some random inclination to do at Dupont during your free periods, before or after school?”

Damian raised an eyebrow at her.

“Its you let me tailor the tour for you, or you have to go all over the school and talk to me the entire time, when we both know you’re really not interested.”

“Tt.”

Marinette shrugged. “Have it your way, now, on with the tour!”

Damian gawked at the core ciruculum including what he knew was more college level than high school level. Then there was the fact these students had access to multiple state of the art facilities tailored to current students interests on campus, with little issue getting them apparently.

“How does your school get all of this?”

The pigtail girl almost laughed at his question. “I guess they just sent you here since we have the most flexible curriculum routines then.” The girl shifted how she stood. “Dupont is an experimental school, everyone is given high expectations on entry but as long as you keep up with grades the school gets whatever any student requests—a few years ago we had one kid that was allowed to do rocket science as part of his program, he went to some German facility with a translator every other day. Alix has a blanket permit to do street art and installations on public property, as long as she gets her design approved and can give them her schedule as long as she helps other student with history classes. I get full access to any designing materials as part of my deal with the school in exchange for doing any school event costumes and tailoring jobs that I get a two week notice on.”

Damian nodded along, processing this new information. Suddenly, the high amount of akumas from graduates and current students of Dupont made sense. They were specialists, extremely skilled at their crafts and more likely to be knowledgeable than the general population on a variety of topics.

Marinette was glad for their hour-long lunch. “I’d ask if you wanted someone to eat with you, but you look like you need some time to process. I’ll check in before school ends.”

She ran home, noting that the man from that morning was still there but looked much less like he would keel over sometime soon. She knew that brew would help. She grabbed a croissant and ran upstairs to finish Prince Ali’s latest commission—a variant on his usual princely attire that was more maneuverable but still formal enough that no one would notice when he wore that one instead of the traditional one.

She had a feeling he was going to use it to sneak away from his guards.

She set an alarm and got to work.

She was quick to leave once the alarm sounded—she gave herself an extra five minutes this time.

“Hey, you’re the coffee angel, right?”

Marinette turned to see the man from that morning, now much more alive.

“I guess.” Marinette knew not to give out names to customers unless her parents deemed them not-stalker-y.

“Thanks, that thing actually worked. What’s in it?”

Marinette smiled at that. “Sorry, that’s a secret not even Maman and Papa get to know.”

“Huh,” the man processed her words. “Guess I’ll have to keep coming when I’m low then.”

Marinette nodded. “Guess so, good to see you’re no longer a zombie monsieur!”

She ran off at that, not sure what to think of them yet, other than if they needed that drink regularly, they might be worse than her. And she has heroing as an excuse. He doesn’t.

Holy shit was not expecting this response.

Thank you all so much, was not expecting this much positive response and i think my brain broke a bit, in the good way.

So, we have a new fan to Marinette's secret menu, and a Damian slowly realizing why the school is targetted who is also going with the 'I don't do friends' thing, again.

leaving this one as a poll: Damian calls out Lila by the end of the day for how Marinette and him end up as friends, or he puts together Marinette is doing a lot for the class by the end of the day and wants to figure out why, especially after reading the Ladyblog during lunch, or any other ideas.

Any ideas on how Marinette meets Dick and Jason for when she meets the next round of Batboys?

@worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @littleredrobinhoodlum @northernbluetongue @kceedraws @pirats-pizzacanninibles @theatreandcomicfreak @daminett4life @catthhay @weird-pale-blonde-person @amayakans @chocolatecatstheron

#maribat #daminette idea au #miraculous team and batboys #my writing

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writingfordayz · 4 years

Text

See You There, -K

Ever since Lance almost died on a mission, Keith's been on edge and more rash in his decision making. When he doesn't know who to turn to to help sort out his feelings, he starts sending messages to a dead Shiro in hopes of finding peace; however, Lotor attempts to turn the team against him by manipulating the messages into a sign of betrayal.

“That’s it. I’ve let this go on long enough. You cannot continue making reckless, unauthorized decisions,” Allura scolded Keith as he peeled off his helmet. He was barely even listening while the team gathered around him, his mind constantly replaying the explosion he’d just nearly escaped.

“Keith?! Do you have anything to say for yourself?”She pushed as Lotor took a fortifying place by her side.

“I did what I had to do.”

“What you had to do? You broke formation to fly headfirst into their battleship! The plan was to board and secure, not destroy!” Although Allura was the only one yelling, it was evident by the team’s worn out faces that they were tired of his bullshit.

It’s hard to notice little things in the heat of battle when your heart is beating in time with the blasts and your brain is on autopilot, merely trying to finish the job alive and with little recollection of the destruction, you leave behind. Keith’s usually good at tuning everything out, but this time, the formula was off.

Keith’s heart had completely stopped and he became agonizingly aware of the fact that Lance was stuck in a tractor beam with a canon about to sign his life away. Lance never radioed for help, never informed the team of the cannon for fear that he’d ruin the whole plan, and he must have struggled in the beam’s grasp for a good two minutes before the weapon was fully charged, but it only took Keith a second register what he was about to lose and decide to plow his lion into the metal mid-blast. Screw the plan. If Lance wasn’t here, then what’s the point of anything?

Even now, Keith could read the guilty expression on Lance’s face as he tried to sink to the back of the crowd and go unnoticed. Just three weeks ago, he’d confided about his uselessness to Keith, in his ability to fuck up missions. Through tears and bloodied fists beaten desperately against the wall, he begged to be worth anything, even if it were just for a moment. Keith felt helpless then, not good with words and definitely not good with knowing how to handle someone crying, so he settled on a hug that lasted several hours and a humming that brought sleep. They hadn’t talked about that night since, but Keith vowed to never let Lance blame himself for anything again.

Looking Allura straight in the eyes, Keith confidently explained, “I thought the cannon was going to destroy the castle. I had to stop it. As for unauthorized decisions, last time I checked, I was the black paladin. I’m the leader here, so I call the shots.”

Lotor sighed loudly, feigning regret. “I really didn’t want to disrupt your family, but I think it’s best you know the so-called ‘black paladin’ has been lying to you all for months now.”

That comment struck a new fear in Keith, one he never imagined he’d have to face with his closest friends in earshot. He’s lied to all of them at some point, but always because it was better than the alternative. On top of that, he knew how easily Lotor could poison them with doubt; he chose his words carefully and only attempted it if he had evidence. It had worked on Keith before, but he felt the deception internally was worth the alliances they gained throughout the galaxy. A war can be fought with six soldiers, but it can’t be won.

Allura’s loyalty to Lotor was unwavering as she gripped his arm and picked up the accusation where he’d left off: “It’s true, he’s a danger to Voltron… a danger to the whole universe. We can’t let this go unnoticed.”

Keith was beyond irritated and beginning to panic now that Allura had verified his words, but he also knew that Shiro would tell him to be patient and focus. Taking a deep breath, he asked, “What exactly are you implying?”

“We’ve seen the messages. Every few nights you fly off to do ‘perimeter checks’, but really you’re sending encrypted updates on our progress to the Galra.”

The room was now a rainbow of statues, and Keith realized for the first time that black is unnatural in a rainbow; he sticks out in a way that diminishes the liveliness of the rest. He knew exactly what they were talking about, the alleged messages, but if they really saw all of the messages… His eyes met Lance’s for the first time tonight, but oddly enough they didn’t seem confused or upset. Those blue eyes had been stuck at high tide for weeks now, threatening to spill over, but now they were a raging storm.

“I’m not sure what it is you think you read, but Keith would never betray us,” Lance declared.

Lotor shrugged and said, “Well, fortunately, we have all of them, including the ones detailing your shortcomings.”

Lance shifted in place and crossed his arms to keep himself from looking anxious. The one thing that would completely break him would be Keith admitting what Lance had feared all along.

“As I said, Keith would never betray us,” Lance repeated.

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I read a few of these out loud,” Lotor said while pulling up a holograph of the messages:

Today we liberated some hostages and were able to provide them medical treatment. In doing so, we also gained a cargo ship full of weapons to arm the resistance. Be careful approaching the castle. Next, we’ll be heading to Arus. See you there. -K

“That’s enough,” Keith insisted.

“Why stop there when there’s so many more that detail your grim outlook of the team?” Lotor questioned.

Another political alliance was made, bringing the total number of planets supporting Voltron to 13. They are all significantly smaller than the Galra Empire, and even together they probably won’t be strong enough to win the war. Making a pit stop at Balmara to rest. See you there. -K

The team has been arguing nonstop and this makes us vulnerable. We’ve lost four battles in a row, and the yellow lion is out of commission. Stuck in the Javeeno Star System. See you there. -K

“I said that’s enough! These are personal.” Keith practically begged, activating his sword.

“If you’re as loyal as you claim, then you wouldn’t have anything to hide!” Lotor declared.

Lance was assigned a search and rescue mission, but in the process, both the hostage and his partner from the Blade died. He can’t perform basic tasks and is starting to drag the team down. Not sure if I’ll be able to find someone else to pilot red before the assassination attempt on the witch. We wouldn’t make it with him. Stopping for supplies on Pollux. See you there. -K

If Keith had known that’s what was going to be read to Lance, he would’ve stabbed Lotor the moment he landed in the castle, but he didn’t and now Lance looked like a mirror shattered in its frame, trying desperately to keep himself together. All the injuries Keith had gotten in space don’t compare to the pain he feels seeing Lance become void of all life, in fact, this moment ranks in the top three worst moments of his life including when his dad died and when Shiro died.

“Lance, I swear to you that I didn’t write that.”

For a moment it seemed like he couldn’t speak, eyes trained on the ground, until Lance quietly asked, “So you didn’t write any of those messages?”

“No- well yes. The first two, yes I did. But that last one I didn’t. I would never.”

“Whether you claim to have written them or not, you are sending messages to a hidden address. You’re explaining our weaknesses...disclosing our location!” Allura yelled.

“To Shiro!” Keith couldn’t take the accusations, the prying eyes, Lance's mindset.

“I write messages to Shiro hoping one day he’ll respond! That he’ll tell me what to do because I keep failing you, and I don’t know how to be a leader! That he’ll tell me not to worry. That he’ll tell me we’ll survive this. That he’ll show up while we’re collecting supplies and everything can just go back to normal!”

For the first time since he lost Shiro, tears poured out of Keith’s eyes as he tried desperately to hold back a sob to not look as weak as he felt, but it was that vulnerability that proved he was telling the truth. Just as quick as Keith had attempted to sacrifice himself for Lance, everyone surrounded Lotor with their bayards drawn. Even Allura, as conflicted as she was, joined them as Lance took the lead.

“Hunk, Pidge, take Lotor to the holding cell,” Lance commanded while his gun burned an invisible line through Lotor’s head. Lotor narrowed his eyes at Lance, challenging him.

“You will be the one to die before the war ends. I’ll see to it,” Lotor threatened.

Fuck patience.

“Over my dead body!” Keith yelled and threw his sword directly through the center of Lotor’s back. It clanged against the ground, dust particles dissipating and floating towards the ceiling.

“Where’d he go-”

That’s what Keith last asked. That’s all he keeps muttering as the ringing in his ears intensifies, and the smoke from the explosion clouds his vision. There’s someone yelling, but it seems distant and indecipherable. His eyes focus on a drop of blood that runs down his nose and falls to the ground, joining the small pool of red that had already formed. A lot of red is usually an indication of an injury or anticipated death, but it’s also a representation of Lance: passionate, fierce, and inspiring. Lance who stood up for him when no one else did. Lance who never questions his decisions. Lance who loves his family with every ounce of his being. Lance who can see the hope in all of the despair. Lance who has the most uplifting smile. Lance who currently doesn’t have a smile.

Keith was pulled back to reality as pain split through his head. Hands gripped him roughly in an attempt to stop the bleeding, and his eyes had shifted from the pool of blood to the red of Lance’s suit to the black behind his eyelids.

Several hours later after the fires were put out and the castle had been put on lockdown, Keith sat on his bed going through the messages he had actually sent to Shiro. Lance sat across from him quietly; he hadn’t talked since the explosion, but he wasn’t about to let Mr. I’mFineIDon’tNeedAHealingPod with a slight case of traumatic brain injury go unmonitored. Keith peered at Lance over his screen and finally spoke, “You know, you can probably put your bayard away now.”

Lance didn’t look up, tightening his grip on the gun; “I thought you were gonna die. Not gonna let that happen again.”

Keith frowned, knowing the feeling all too well. “I thought you were gonna die when boarding that ship earlier.”

“So you did crash into that cannon because of me!” Lance snapped, finally glaring at him, “And what was that ‘over my dead body’ bullshit? You can’t just die for me!”

“I can, and I will if I have to.”

“Why?! I get hostages killed. I get partners killed. I can’t perform basic tasks-” Lance was getting so worked up, his knuckles were turning white around his bayard.

“I told you I didn’t write that.”

“Then what did you write?” Keith could see how desperate Lance was to know for certain it wasn’t true, and he knew right then that whatever happens after he reads it is worth it if Lance can believe in himself. He slowly reached across the bed and slid his hand on to Lance’s. Rubbing his thumb lightly over his knuckles, he whispered, “Please put the gun down first.”

Lance stared at their hands for a moment, and considered not listening to him; it would mean this could continue, and oh boy did he want Keith to hold his hand forever. Reluctantly, he leaned the gun against the wall, but as he brought his hands back to his lap, Keith reclaimed one and held it tightly in an attempt to steady his voice before he spoke:

“Lance was assigned a search and rescue mission, but in the process, both the hostage and his partner from the Blade died. I assigned him this mission because I believed he was the only one who could successfully complete it, but after those losses, I never want to assign him a rescue mission again. I never want to assign him any mission. I’m so terrified of losing him. He’s my right-hand man, and I wouldn’t even be able to attempt to lead this team without him. He’s the only person who’s made me smile in years... I know this job is dangerous, and we all run the risk of getting hurt or killed, but I’ve already lost two of the three people I love, and I don’t think I could handle losing him too. That’s so selfish of me. I know it is, and that’s why I need your help. He’s hurting Shiro, and I don’t know how to fix it. You know I’ve never been good at this. Please help me...We’re still near Olkarion. See you there. -K”

Keith let out a nervous breath and looked back to their hands locked between them, trying to decide if he was unnaturally cold due to nerves or if Lance was always this warm.

“There’s more, a lot more, about you. I promise they’re all good, and you’re more than welcome to read them,” Keith said through a slight smile as he held the screen up for Lance to take, but as soon as it was in reach, Lance shoved it away. He leaned up to rest on his knees in front of Keith and carefully wound his arms around his neck.”I don’t want to hurt you more than have been...but I also never want to let go again,” Lance whispered.

#klance #voltron #klangst #keith and lance #keith kogane #lance mcclain #lotor #allura x lotor #klance fic #sad lance #friends to lovers #voltron fic

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therainroguefanfiction · 4 years

Text

📱 Find Me (Tooru Oikawa) #1; Friendfinder

📑 Table of Contents

Author’s Note: Okay, so people have shown interested in this and I’m quite excited to share it with everyone, but also quite nervous because it’s not a straight SMAU and has some story aspects to it, as well. I’ll try not to write too much text oppossed to the message images, but I do hope you’ll share your opinion on what you think! ^~^)/ Also, the school is listed on the wiki as “Aobajohsai” rather than “Aoba Johsai” so that’s just what I’m going to go with because I already made the screenshots *thumbs up* Special thanks to @janellion for acting as a sort of beta reader to make sure it’s presentable! <3

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You sat at your desk, leafing through the fourth volume of the current manga series you were reading. There was still about ten minutes or so before class began and you had to pass the time somehow, even though you had already read that volume several times previously – you haven’t gotten paid for your part-time time job yet, so you couldn’t afford volume five until the weekend.

You were a second-year student at Aobajohsai, a private high school in the Miyagi prefecture. You weren’t very social, though, and didn’t have any friends, but you weren’t completely unhappy about this. People tended to bring a lot of trouble and drama, so you liked to avoid that, but… you did tend to feel lonely sometimes.

“Ne, ne, did you actually download it?”

“I did! I got paired up almost instantly and we have so much in common!”

You glanced to the side where two of your female classmates were sitting, huddled over their phones as they chatted excitedly between themselves. Were you wrong for eavesdropping? You didn’t know, but you were bored and they weren’t exactly being quiet with their words.

“So it really works? You can find a friend that quickly?”

“Yes!”

Now that had your attention. An app that helps you make friends? It sounded too good to be true, in your opinion, but… there was no harm in checking it out. If only they would say the name. You were too far away to be able to see what was on their screen, and if they caught you, that would be a very awkward situation indeed.

A third girl entered the room, stifling a yawn as she approached her two friends. “What are you guys looking at?”

“Friendfinder! It’s that new app that’s sweeping across Japan. All you have to do is sign up with an email and then you get paired with a random person on the app.”

“Sounds suspicious.”

“I thought so, too, but I’ve already found someone that shares all of my interests. They’re like my twin!”

‘Friendfinder? I think I saw an ad for that on the way home,’ you closed the manga and pulled out your phone from your bag. The only notification was a spam e-mail trying to sell real estate. You brought up the app store and searched the name, finding it at the top of the list with a five-star rating and millions of downloads. You hesitated for a moment, thumb hovering over the download button before finally pressing it. A minute later, it was added to your home screen.

You pressed the button, watching as the app started up.

‘Well, it seems pretty cool. And it’s anonymous, too, but I wonder if there will be secret payments or something.’ You tapped the screen and the introduction message disappeared, showing off the login/register screen.

After entering your e-mail and choosing a ridiculous sequence of numbers, letters, and symbols to use as an acceptable password, you waited for the confirmation e-mail to come through. A minute later, you clicked on the link within the e-mail, which redirected to the app.

As you usually did, the first thing you clicked on was the settings to see what you could fiddle with and change, but there were only two options available. The first was to add a picture. You wanted to use this dope picture of an octopus that you had found just the other day, but the app only allowed you to choose from a pool of icons. The closest one to your personality was the IT clown chihuahua, though you almost chose the rain icon because it was gorgeous.

The other option was to turn the app into dark mode, which you tried, but it made your eyes burn so you returned it to its original state.

‘I’ve created an account and fiddled with the settings. Now what?’ You clicked around the few icons the app had, but only found information about the app, so you clicked back to the home screen.

‘Searching for a friend, please check back later! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧‘

‘How long does it take, I wonder?’ You set the phone down, propping up your chin in your palm as you turned to look out the window. The sky was a clear blue, not a cloud in sight to help block out the cruel rays of the sun as they beamed down on the students.

The first bell chimed throughout the school and the students scattered to take their seats as the teacher, Sasaki Ryuko, stepped into the room, tapping her shoulder with the black book she always carried around with her.

As the day wore on, you tried to forget about the app, but you caught yourself checking the app on more than just a couple of occasions, but the same message still remained on the home screen. Why was this bugging you so much?

The final bell rang and, thankfully, you weren’t on cleaning duty today. You gathered your books, shoving them into your back without much concern before picking up your phone. ‘Don’t look, don’t look, don’t – crap, my phone is dead.’

Why had you forgotten to charge it last night? Oh right, you hadn’t, but your cat decided it would be funny to unplug it halfway through the night while YouTube played in the background, leaving you with very little battery by the time you reached school.

You stepped out of the school building, nearly running right into one of the volleyball club members, but he didn’t even notice you as he rushed past into the building. This was typical, though. You were the invisible character with very little presence, but you liked to think that made you special, like Kuroko from Kuroko no Basket.

You started on your way home, admiring the way the sky turned to shades of orange and red, like a fruity sorbet. Too bad the temperature couldn’t match that sentiment.

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▸n e x t

📜 Read more by checking out my masterlist 📜

If you enjoy my writing, please considering tipping me on Kofi or Cashapp. Every little bit helps and means a lot, thank you so much ^~^)/ If you can’t afford to do so, that’s okay, too, thanks for reading!

Tag List: @the-broken-halo-writer @nekoma-hoe

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give-seconds · 4 years

Text

I Loved You

Key: Kuya is the Tagalog (what they speak in the Philippines) word for hyung, but instead of going after the name it goes before the name.

No warnings!

---Part II

When Jeno wakes up, you’re already gone. As he stares up at the ceiling, all of last nights emotions come back to him. Mostly just the guilt. He sighs and rubs his hands over his face, he misses waking up without the crushing weight. But he can’t tell you, because that means he really is gay. Because that means he’s different. Because that means you’ll leave him.

And then the urge to cry is back again, why can’t this all just stop?

“Jeno-yah?”

The voice takes a few seconds to register in Jeno’s mind before he sighs and sits up “You can come in Ten.”

Ten cracks the door open and pokes his head in “There’s English pancakes in the microwave for us from y/n, they’re chocolate chip.”

Jeno tilts his head “English pancakes?”

Ten gasps and he pushes the door fully open “You’ve never had her pancakes? My dude you’re missing out, get up.”

Jeno rolls his eyes and pushes off the blankets. He makes his way out of the room and as he passes Ten he smiles “You know for someone who has barely talked to me, you’re awfully pushy.”

Ten grins at him as they make their way to the kitchen “Must be my broken Korean.”

Jeno snorts and sits down at the table, tracking Ten as he starts the microwave “What broken Korean? You seem to understand me pretty well.”

Ten turns around and squints his eyes “Sorry, I don’t speak Korean well.”

“Jerk.”

Jeno watches Ten as he smirks and turns his attention back to the microwave. Ten had probably just woken up, much like Jeno himself, but he looked amazing. He had never actually gotten the chance to really look at Ten, everything had felt like too much every time they had had the chance to talk. But Ten was as beautiful as he was smart, and if Jeno has learned anything about Ten it is that the man is smart.

And suddenly he feels his heart rate pick up and he averts his eyes to the table. What’s wrong with him? Here he is, an engaged man falling out of love and now he’s checking out your best friend? He feels sick.

“Lee Jeno are you ready to taste one of the best comfort foods around?” Ten says interrupting his thoughts as he slides a plate in front of him.

“As ready as I'll ever be,” Jeno whispers picking up his knife and fork and cuts a piece off. Ten watches him closely, waiting for the reaction he knows is coming.

“And how is it?” Ten asks after Jeno had successfully taken a bite.

“It’s good, but why call it comfort food?”

“Her mom used to make these for her when she was little, and she made it for me when I had my own little meltdown,” Ten explains cutting into his own pancake.

Jeno nods his head, eyes never leaving his plate “Thanks for the ice cream by the way, it was definitely nice to watch a movie and snack.”

Ten glances up at him “Are you okay? I mean I know I’m just a random guy sleeping in your home but sometimes it’s easier talking to someone you don’t know. And obviously I’m not gonna make you talk to me, but it’s always an option. I should probably stop talking now.” He mumbles and stuffs another piece of pancake into his mouth.

Jeno smiles, finally looking up at Ten. Ten reminds him a lot of you “I’m just figuring some stuff out about myself, and last night was a bit much. Because I know what I have to do to feel better, but I don’t know if this kind of hurt is better than the hurt that will come as a result of me getting better. You know?”

“Is the hurt of getting better to you or someone else?”

“Both I guess, but more for the other person.”

Ten nods, brain working to offer some decent advice “I don’t know where my place is and when I’m overstepping, but if this thing is causing you so much distress you should try to fix it. Even if it causes hurt for someone else, at least you’re offering the truth. And from there, you can only move forward.”

“You’re right, I should do this. It’ll be better for everyone in the end.”

Jeno feels dead, he’s so emotionally drained that a part of him just wants to get this over with so he can feel better. He chuckles, you can always count on the human mind to be selfish huh.

Ten smiles “Then let today be a day of healing for Lee Jeno.”

You sigh as you sit down with Park Jisung, one of the kids you’re in charge of, at a cafe near his current home, “Jisung-ah what happened?”

“I can’t stay there y/n,” he mumbles looking down at his lap

“Did they hurt you? Answer honestly Jisung, I’m here to help”

He shakes his head, eyes flicking up to meet yours before dropping back to his lap “When you’re a foster kid for long enough you learn a few things, one of which is you learn pretty quickly how to tell when a family cares. They only took me in for the money y/n. And it makes you feel like an object when you live like that, it’s too much. I can’t go back, please y/n. I can’t go back to that feeling, it’s too much too-”

Your heart breaks as you hear the 16 year old boy in front of you struggle to maintain his composure. Jisung was your first case and you have been there for him since you transferred him out of his first foster home last year, and with this being his 5th home you had gotten to know him quite well. “Jisung-ah look at me.”

He takes a deep breath as he mentally prepares himself to be told that you’re going to relocate him. No matter how many times he hears it, there’s always this sinking feeling as he’s reminded he doesn’t belong anywhere.

“I applied to be a foster parent 5 months ago, and it takes about 3 mounts to become legal. Now it might be a long shot, but what if I transfer your file over to Taeil? And then he can place you in my care if that’s something you’re willing to consider.”

His eyes widen at the possibility “Are you serious?”

You nod your head, “I have no idea how long this will take, but it should be okay. I mean I am a foster parent who is getting married and has a stable income. The transfer should only take a day and as you know placing you with the family doesn’t take long at all. So the longest I think it will take is a day.”

“Y/n if you can do this I will be the best kid, I promise to be respectful of you and your fiancé and the rules of the house. I will do whatever you need me to do and I’ll try not to complain-”

“Jisung” you interrupt laughing “I know you and I know you will be a joy to have around the house. I only ask that you go back to your old foster home for the time being until I am able to get the paperwork all done okay?”

He nods his head “I can do that, I can totally do that.��

You smile and dig around in your purse for your card “Here, go buy me a hot chocolate and buy yourself something.”

He accepts the card with a determined look and nods his head. You smile at him as he walks over to the counter, pulling at the sleeves of his sweater. If you’re being honest, this isn’t the first time you’ve considered fostering the kid. He was such a sweet kid when you met him, and despite the trauma of his past he has remained sweet. He looks at you smiling triumphantly after he succeeds in making the order, so you give him a thumbs up.

“Oh right” you mumble to yourself grabbing your phone and opening your contacts. You and Taeil aren’t very close outside of work, but at work it was you two ‘outsiders’ against all the native Seoul born works. Taeil is fully Korean yes, but his family had moved to the Philippines for his dad's work when he was young and he lived there until he came back to Korea for college. You press the call button and hold the phone up to your ear.

“Hello?”

“Kuya, I have a proposition for you.”

“Oh? I don’t know if I like that coming from you, but I’ll bite. What is it?” he asks, amusement lacing his voice.

“So I was wondering if you could take Jisung’s case from me-”

“Why? What happened? He hasn’t changed too much since the last time you saw him has he? If he’s a total jerk just say the word and I will personally come down there and-”

“I don’t even want to hear the end of that sentence” you say laughing “and no, he is not a jerk now. I was thinking I could become his foster parent, I mean that is if you take his case from me and decide Jeno and I are a fit home for him. But Kuya I have to do something to make sure this kid gets a good home, you should’ve heard him when he was telling me about his current home. He sounded so broken.”

“Y/n I know you, you would make a great mother. Especially to a kid like Jisung.”

You smile and look over to the kid in question who was grabbing the drinks. He even held a paper bag that probably held something sweet inside “Thank you Kuya, thank you so much.”

“I mean we are social workers to help kids right? Send me the flies and I’ll start on it right away, I think I can even get him to come home with you today if I work fast enough.”

“Oh my god really?” You look up at Jisung with wide eyes and he mouths a ‘what’ at you as he settles back into his seat.

Taeil chuckles “Yeah, I’m willing to work while I eat and complete the process that is needed to transfer a case. And if you do the same we can finish this fast and get him home with you.”

“Kuya Taeil you are the absolute best, I cannot believe that you are willing to do this for me. I love you, you are the best co-worker a girl could ask for. Okay, I’ll go finish my half of the paperwork and send it your way.” Jisungs eyes widen as he finally realizes what you were talking about.

“I know, I’m the best no need to remind me. Text me when you’re done and I’ll get started.”

“Okay, I can do that. I owe you a thousand Oreos.”

“Damn right you do, okay I am leaving now. Goodbye.”

You laugh at his usual abrupt ending “Goodbye.”

“Was that Taeil-hyung? What did he want, did he say he’d take my case?”

“Yes he did Jisung, he even said that we might be able to get you to come home with me today! You could meet my best friend Ten, he’s an incredible dancer like you. He could teach you so so much!” you say bouncing slightly in your chair.

He grins “Thank you for even offering to take me in, you didn’t have to do that.”

You shrug “I come from an adoption family, my two brothers are adopted. And it’s a totally cliché thing to say but you remind me of my German brother. He’s such a sweet kid, but when we first got to know him he was really lonely? I don’t know if that’s the right word, but he just needed a family to love him. And I think you’ll fit in well with me and Jeno, you’re even old enough to be my brother. So if you stay with me for long enough you’ll be part of the l/n, Na, and Liu household.”

“That sounds like a mouth full. Now before we forget here is your hot chocolate, I bought us some cake to share,” he says as he passes you the drink “However, before I am going to give you any of this cake you need to finish that transfer paper work.”

You raise an eyebrow at him “You know what this is Park? This is blackmail. You and YangYang are going to get along so well if this is how you are.”

“The faster you get this done the faster we can find out,” he says as he dramatically sips at his hot chocolate.

“I paid for that cake” you grumble as you pull out your laptop.

“Can I use your phone for TV?”

“You do this every time Park, why can’t you read a book?” Your eyes grow wide as the realization sets in “Hey wait a minute, why aren’t you in school?”

He sheepishly smiles at you “Don’t worry about it, the school thinks I’m sick. Now, your phone?”

“As long as it isn’t my problem,” you say as you open your phone. You see a text from Jeno saying a ‘thank you’ and ‘I need to tell you something about last night.’ You send a text back telling him you might come home with a surprise before handing your phone over to Jisung.

“I am going to scream if I have to stay here another minute,” Jisung complains from the chair in front of your desk.

“You’re fine you big baby, I even stopped by your school and got you your missed work.”

“And I finished that, why do you think I’m so bored?”

“You know maybe I should enforce the whole noona thing, maybe then you’ll treat me with respect you brat.”

“Whatever you say Noona.”

“It’s not too late to-”

“I pray for Jeno simply because he has to live with you y/n, ” Taeil says shaking his head as he comes into your office holding a file.

“I’m telling you, he’s like a mix of YangYang and Jaemin in the worst possible way. I get zero respect,” you whine leaning back into your chair, abandoning the documents in front of you.

“Didn’t you tell him he didn’t have to call you noona?” Taeil asks leaning against the wall.

You groan and throw your head over the back of your chair “You know what? Jisung for now and forever I am your noona, respect me.”

“Thanks but no thanks.”

“This is a conspiracy, Kuya help me.”

Taeil smiles and walks over to hand you the file “Sorry kid, no can do. But I can congratulate you on the new foster kid.”

“Oh my god wait, really,” you exclaim standing up to flip through the papers, Jisung stands up so he can watch you closely.

Taeil turns to Jisung and slings his arm around the kid “Good luck, from the stories I’ve heard she and her family are quite the handful.”

“Kuya Taeil I didn’t think you’d actually get everything done today. I was just about to take him back, have you called the family?”

He nods his head and removes his arm from around Jisung to find a specific sheet “All that is left for you to sign this.”

You quickly grab a pen off your desk and sign it, eyes scanning over the document “Well Park, looks like you’re at my mercy now.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep, I told the family that you would be by tomorrow to get your things. I’ll go with you as your new worker, so maybe I can pick you up after school?”

Jisung smiles, nodding his head intensely “Thank you so much Hyung, you don’t know how much this means to me. I feel like I can breathe again,” he bows to Taeil, who is beyond happy to see the teen smile. He might have only become his case worker today, but he had seen him from the times he came to see you. He would always notice the kid walking with his head down.

“Well it’s 5:50 and I think it is safe to say that y/n and I have worked enough for today. Y/n, I say you take your new foster kid home and introduce him to your fiancé. Goodnight my peeps.”

“Good night Hyung.”

“Good night Kuya.” you both say as you bow to the elder as as a last ‘thank you.’

There's a silence between you two once Taeil leaves as you both process the information.

“So” Jisung starts “Ready to go home Noona?”

“Yeah, totally! I’m excited to introduce you to Jeno and Ten.”

“Je, Ten, we’re home!”

“We?” Jeno asks sticking his head out from the kitchen, and upon seeing another boy staring at him he moves to stand fully in the hallway.

As soon as Jeno meets Jisungs waiting eyes, Jisung hurriedly bows.

Jeno bows back, confused look adorning his face. You smile at how cute Jisung acts when he’s worried and walk down the hall towards the guest room, Jisung trailing behind you.

“I’ll introduce you two once Ten is here, that way I only have to do this once. I’m a little lazy like that.”

Once your party of people reach the room, you knock on the door “Ten get your lazy self out here and meet my kid.”

“What do you mean kid, you’re too cheap for that.”

You sigh and the other two look at you in confusion “I’m not cheap am I Jeno?”

“Yes, you very much are.” he replies. Jisung laughs and you glare at him.

“Everyone is out to get me,” you mumble as you turn around to make your way to the living room once you hear Ten’s door open.

“Okay sit,” you demand as you pull Jisung onto the couch next to you.

“Sit where? You and your friend stole the seats.” Ten complains.

Jisung stands to offer his seat but you pull him back down “Are you trying to kick this poor 16 year old off of a couch when you, a 25 year old man, are only a guest in my home?”

“Noona I really don’t mind sitting somewhere else or standing to let one of them sit.” Jisung adds quietly.

“Look what you did Ten, now he feels bad. You don’t need to feel bad Jisung, Ten just has a lot of irrational anger in his very tiny body.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know-”

“Oh shut up, you two are impossible. Just sit, you know you can’t beat her Ten,” Jeno says grabbing Ten’s wrist and pulling him down onto the ground with him.

“Much better. Now let me introduce you all,” clearing your throat you turn to Jisung “Jisung this is Ten. Ten is my friend from university, he’s also Thai so if you can’t understand him it’s because his accent is too strong and you should just ignore him.”

“From what I’ve noticed Ten-ssi has very good Korean,” Jisung comments bowing his head in greeting towards Ten.

“What even was that? You have never attacked my Korean like that before.” Ten scoffs bowing his head back.

“See, impossible to understand. Moving on,” you say dismissing Ten “This is Jeno, my lovely fiancé.”

“Pleasure to meet you Jeno-ssi, I’ve heard a lot about you from y/n” Jisung says bowing his head.

Jeno eyes you but you ignore him and continue “Anyways as you both know, I’m a social worker. And I know you know this Jeno, but Ten I am also a foster parent as of a few months ago. So I want you both to meet Park Jisung, my new foster kid!”

There is a silence among you four and Jisung nervously pulls the sleeves of his jacket over his hands as he waits to hear something

“Well kid, looks like me and you are crashing this place. We’ll make it a time they won’t forget.” Ten says raising his hand for a high five.

Your eyes drift over to Jeno who was just looking at the wall behind you “Jeno, I know I didn’t talk to you about this but it was happening so fast. And Jisung and I have known each other since I started working as a social worker, he was my first case.”

“Jeno-ssi if you’re mad at anyone be mad at me. I called her to complain about my current home and she offered to take me in, I probably should’ve opposed. I just couldn’t go back to that house, it felt so wrong. And you might not understand what it’s like to be looked at like an object that’s only good for money but it feels so wrong. I’m so so-”

“Jisung-ah,” Jeno interrupts smiling softly at the boy “of course I don’t mind you staying here.Y/n has always talked about how much she wants to help people, and this is her way of going the extra step. I know not to get in her way.”

You wrap your arm around Jisung and squeeze him gently. Jisung smiles and bows his head once again “Thank you for taking me into your home.”

“Okay great! So room rearrangement, Ten you’re on the couch. Jisung let me steal some of Je’s clothes so you can have something to change into until we get your things tomorrow.”

“Hey wait-” Ten says starting to protest.

“He who does not possess any Korean genetics shall not speak,” you say cutting him off as you stand up.

“You know I am starting to miss being away from you.”

“Silence peasant,” and with your final statement you make your way to the guest room to strip the sheets and get some clothes for Jisung to sleep in.

Jisung snorts “Is y/n noona always this mean?”

“Just you wait kid, she’ll turn on you too. She always turns,” Ten says shaking his head and getting up to sit on the couch.

“Oh I know, the closer we’ve gotten the more teasing she has gotten. But I’ve learned how to handle her” Jisung responds quietly.

Jeno takes a seat next to Jisung, leaving enough room between them so as not to make him uncomfortable “This is your home now, no need to be so polite. Loosen up, I’d like to think I’m a pretty cool hyung. Now I’ve only just met Ten, but he is a lot like y/n so you know he’ll be fun.”

“So I can call you guys hyung?” Jisung asks shyly, looking up at him with puppy eyes. Jeno smiles, he can instantly see why you couldn’t resist taking him in.

“Of course kid, in case you haven't noticed we’re not very proper here,” Ten says slinging his arm around Jisung and pulling him into his side.

Jisung smiles as he allows Ten to pull him. He has never been in a home like this in all his life, not even the one he was born into. All his other homes had either been too strict about what he could or couldn’t do or had been uncaring to the point where he could be gone until one in the morning and no one would notice.

“Thank you so much Jeno-hyung for taking me in, you could've told Noona no. And thank you Ten-hyung for giving me the room, if the couch is too uncomfortable for you I really don’t mind sleeping there until you leave. I did come after you so it would only be fair for me to take the couch.” Jisung says to make sure he isn’t overstepping any bounds by coming to live in the house so unexpectedly.

“Jisung-ah, despite my earlier display I don’t mind sleeping on the couch if it means you have a bed. First off you now live here, so it is only fair that you actually get a room as opposed to me who is a guest. An unexpected one at that. And second you are taller than I am and I hate to imagine you cramming your entire 6 foot something body onto this couch for however long I am staying here,” Ten says.

“You hear that Jisung? You’re fine here so stop worrying that you’re in the way, and if they think you are then I will not hesitate to beat them for you. I’m watching you two,” you ‘threaten’ glaring at Jeno and Ten as you come back into the room.

“Sigh, I liked it better when you were gone.”

“Did you just say sigh out loud? Ten that’s a new low, even for you,” you shake your head before focusing on Jisung “There are clean clothes on the bed and you are welcome to take a shower or whatever you desire. I’m thinking we make Ten cook something Thai, he made something amazing when we were in college. He may not look it, but the guy is actually a decent cook.”

“Since when did I agree to this?”

You shrug ''You didn’t, you were voluntold.”

“Before this devolves into something worse, I will gladly make dinner for the night. To celebrate our new family member,” Jeno offers, something in his voice making him sound far away.

You tilt your head, Jeno hates cooking. He’s decent at it and everything he makes turns out good, but he always complains that it takes too long to prepare. The only times you can remember him cooking is when he proposed to you and when Jaemin came back from England.

“I’m down for that if it means it isn’t me who has to do it,” Ten says snapping you back to the conversation.

“Uh yeah, that’ll be fun. I haven’t had your food in forever Je, thanks for offering,” shaking your head to clear your thoughts you look over at Jeno to offer him a smile only find him staring at you. As soon as you make eye contact with him, however, he averts his eyes to the ground.

You hear him sigh as he stands up, a hollow smile gracing his face “Well then I’m going to go scour the fridge and see what we have to make a decent meal with.”

“Do you want any help Hyung?” Jisung asks politely.

“I think I’ll be okay, but thank you for the offer Jisung,” his eyes flick over to you before looking back to Jisung and adding “I’m really glad you’re here.”

Your stomach drops and you get this awful feeling as you watch him walk to the kitchen. What the hell does that mean? He even said that he wants to talk to me today, maybe he’s unhappy about how fast things are moving. And I just brought Jisung home, what if that tipped him over the edge? But that was after he sent me the text, he couldn’t have known about this. Unless Kuya told him about it beforehand. He doesn’t have Jeno’s-

“Noona” Jisung says placing a hand on your shoulder. When did he stand up? “Can I go take a shower?”

“Sorry, what?” You ask, shaking your head. It’s suddenly very hard to understand Korean.

Ten glances at you before laughing “She must be having one of those ‘any language that isn’t my native language is wrong because I’m too tired’ moments, believe me I get those all the time.”

He stands up “Come on, I’ll show you where it is and you can use the stuff I’m using.”

Ten glances back at you as he leads Jisung to the bathroom. A few seconds later and he is right back at your side.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t, I don’t know,” you respond, shaking your head.

“Well then what has you thinking so hard?”

“It’s Jeno, I think I did something wrong. He seems off, has been for awhile now and what if in bringing home a teenager I sent him over the edge?” taking a deep breath you close your eyes. Why are you acting like this? It’s Jeno, and Jeno is safe. He’d tell me if there was something wrong.

Ten sighs, so it was y/n he was talking about this morning “H̄ạwcı I’m sure that whatever is wrong with him will get worked out.”

“So there is something wrong, how do you know? Did he say something to you?” you ask desperately looking to Ten for some kind of comfort.

“I don’t know anything other than the fact that it’ll work out, trust me on this. Now, shall we see what we can find on TV?”

You nod your head and sink further into the couch, raising your hand to bite the nail bed on your pinky.

It’s a habit you picked up once you met Jeno. You and Jaemin used to always bite your nails when you guys got nervous, and when Jeno saw you biting your nail while trying to make a quick decision he whacked your hand. ‘You and your brother are going to ruin your nails if you keep doing that,’ he scolded once you explained it was a habit you and Jaemin shared. And after you both were scolded, Jeno dragged you and Jaemin to get your nails painted. Jaemin offered to pay, but Jeno insisted and said that if we didn’t want to waste his money then we should bite at our fingers before the nail started.

And for awhile it worked, but once the polish started chipping you started biting again. But as you were used to biting so far down on the nail, you started biting at the nail bed instead of the edge of your nail.

But if anyone were to ask you the moment you started to like Lee Jeno, you would tell them it was that moment. You had never met someone who cared about you enough to try and fix one of your little bad habits, and the idea that there was someone like that in the world who wasn’t family was a wonder to you.

So when Jeno asked you to go to the movies with him because a friend had cancelled on him, you were willing to abandon your class work for the time being and meet up with him. And that night, that was the most fun you had had since you entered college. Seeing as you were halfway through your sophomore year at the time, that's got to be saying something. And when Jeno, the same Lee Jeno who seemed to be invading your thoughts whenever possible, handed you a single flower for your birthday and shyly asked you to be his girlfriend, you thought it safe to say you had found your new favourite birthday gift.

When Jaemin said he was going to finish school in England, you and Jeno had been together for two years. Yet part of you still expected him to leave you once Jaemin left. But after you dropped Jaemin off at the airport, he showed up at the apartment you used to share with Jaemin with snacks. You guys made a fort out of blankets before you forced him to watch your favourite crime shows. That night, just like when you had first met Jeno, you felt so cared for. You were reminded that someone cared about you and loved you for you.

“Hey Noona,” Jisung asks, his voice pulling you out of your memories “can I join?”

You smile and scoot closer to Ten in order to make room for Jisung “Absolutely, come here you limp noodle.”

“What do you mean limp noodle? I’m stronger than you will ever be,” Jisung mumbles.

“Jisung you really shouldn’t pick up on Ten’s accent, makes you impossible to understand,” you respond shaking your head as he sits next to you.

“And there it is, wouldn’t be y/n l/n without insulting me,” Ten says sighing. He glances at you once Jisung was settled. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried about you. He has no idea what Jeno is going to tell you and why it will hurt, he just knows that you’re going to be hurt and there’s nothing he can do about it.

So he does the one thing he can, he scoots closer to you. He scoots close enough to feel you on his left side, and tries to send you all the love he has for you in hopes that you’ll feel even the slightest amount of it. Because if there’s one thing he’s learned, it’s that he has a whole lot of love for you.

----

And here’s the second part! This is the first chapter I’m posting without help (although I did receive help on a paragraph from @bunny-doyounq), so I hope the writing style isn’t all over the place. Hope you enjoy, I would love to know what you guys think of it!

Masterlist | Main Masterlist

Taglist: @jnctzen

Part 1 | Part 3

Summery: Your fiancé starts acting different once your brother comes back to Korea after working for a year in England.

#nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct jaemin #nct ten #nct jeno #nct taeil #nct jisung #wayv ten #wayv yangyang #kpop #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #jeno x reader #jeno x jaemin #nct #wayv

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chaoticneutralwriter · 5 years

Text

Thirty Second Heartbreak

You think you’re doing pretty well for a human being who has to deal with two demonic entities in your life, to the point where you think you’ve become unfazed by them (maybe even prefer them over dealing with the arguably more trivial things in your life, like working customer service). But alas, you are still only human and humans grieve over the darnest things.

guardian demon! Jimin x reader

genre: fluff, comedy, slice of life, supernatural, aspects of slow burn

word count: 8.6k

Related works: see masterlist under guardian demon!jimin section

Story progression from Worlds Collide

A/N: Oh my God, the struggle to start this was fdskgh but probably because there was no way I could avoid a more ‘slower’ installment this time compared to the previous ones. BUT! All necessary! Don’t want to jump to the....exciting bits so soon. :D I hope you enjoy...while you can. (LOLL i kid idk i’m just gassing yall up).

The sound of the door unlocking, opening and then closing brings your attention away from your screen momentarily, spotting the familiar figure of Jaehee as she throws her shoes off, clearly disgruntled. You turn back to the video you’re watching just as she ambles over to your place on the living couch, collapsing onto the other end in a mess of limbs.

Taking out an earbud, you comment. “You look like you’ve been through hell.”

“Ugh don’t even get me started.” She groans back, rubbing at her temple before she spills her guts. “I’ve been trying to help Jason look for a place with his roommate since the place they’re renting now is so dingy. I don’t know how many viewings I’ve been to now but every time I think we’ve found a decent enough place, they complain about the stupidest thing!”

“Such as?”

“How it’s ‘too far’ from their school and work.” She air quotes it before squawking incredulously. “It’s literally a five minute bus ride away! How is that far?!”

You snort with a shake of your head. “Yeah, that’s like, nothing? What are they expecting, especially living in the city here?”

  “Exactly! Not only did they want to a nice, cheap place but somewhere close to one of the busiest parts of the city? Nah uh, not happening.”

“So? What are you gonna do about it?”

Jaehee lets out a heavy sigh, exasperation lacing her every word as she lets her head flop back against the couch. “They still haven’t decided on a place, and I’m making his roommate look for some himself but they got about half a month left to find one because the idiot—!” She interrupts herself by making a strangled, growling noise that expresses her restrained frustration (for her boyfriend or his roommate, you’re not too sure at this point), “Put in his notice already! Like I get you have to let the landlord know two weeks ahead of time but were they really that confident in finding a place by then?!”

You grimace at your friend’s predicament because it really does sound like a pain in the ass.

“You working any time this week?” Jaehee asks after a moment. You pause your video to think about it.

“Hmm, I only work this Tuesday and Wednesday. Why?”

“Let’s go out for lunch or something — check out some of the cafes I have saved from Instagram.”

You hum in consent; it’s been a while since you’ve been out (besides for work) anyways so you’re okay with a little outing. “Sure, how about this weekend?”

“Sounds good!”

“Have a good day!” You say cheerily, waving off the customer you just cashed out. As soon as they’ve walked away from your register, your smile immediately drops, eyes whipping to the time before immediately you’re pressing the button for the mic on your radio. “I’m going to take my break. The line’s dead.”

“Yeah go ahead, Alicia will cover you.”

“Thanks.”

You don’t hesitate to speed walk out from behind the cashier counter and beeline your way to the very back of the store where the staff lunchroom is, all the while dodging the few customers lingering in your path. You will not be stopped here if you can so help it. Punching in the code on the security pad in record timing, you fling open the door while tearing the earpiece off to place on the communal table then heading over to the fridge to grab the large iced latte you had bought before going into your shift today.

And thank god you did because you don’t think you would be able to make it through the day without it. It’s your first shift of the week and being that it fell on a weekday, the store isn’t so busy. It’s great on your part because then you don’t have to deal with talking to customers and putting up a fake smile but it makes for the shift, however short it may be, feel ten times longer than it is.

You’re only here for four and a half hours but you already feel like dying.

As you settle into a chair, you pull out your phone to scroll through your social medias as well as take the time to reply to messages in your group chat. You’re sipping on your drink when a sudden chill overtakes the room. Before you can so much as shiver, a voice nearly makes you shriek.

“So this is where you work? Man, how depressing.”

You nearly fall off your chair at how hard you flinched, managing to stifle your would-be shriek into a more controlled yelp. It’s only when you recover were you able to shoot the intruder a hard glare.

“Jungkook! What are you doing here?!” You hiss, trying to keep your voice down. The offending demon merely shrugs nonchalantly from across you, leaning back in his own seat in a very impossible way where he should’ve tipped over but he doesn’t.

“I was bored and decided to follow you — find out any of your dark secrets you might be hiding.”

“You know even Jimin doesn’t stalk me as much as you’re doing right now.”

“He’s boring; doesn’t know how to have fun anymore.” Jungkook sighs almost tragically as he gets up to stride around the room. You watch, a little thrown off by the juxtapose this demon-disguised-as-an-idol has to his surroundings. He’s got on a black hoodie that has bold white letters on the front that spell out Balenciaga, Kappa sweatpants and Puma runners; casual yet so bougie at the same time, it’s painfully obvious that Jungkook does not belong here, a lunchroom of a minimum wage job and that’s not taking into account his good looks either.

You sigh out in both annoyance at the scene and at Jungkook’s unannounced appearance.

“Look, I don’t have time to entertain you so I think it’s best if you —“

It’s quiet but you distinctly hear the trill of the lock pad being woken up and the numbers being punched in, announcing the arrival of a co-worker. You immediately clamp your mouth shut, eyes darting to see who would walk through the door. Not like it would matter because the more worrying issue here is that Jungkook has not left yet. The door clicks open and in walks Emily, a girl who usually helps out around the floor.

“Hey!” She greets you cheerily, none the wiser of the demon standing just mere feet in front of her.

“H-Hey…” You reply back, trying hard to be casual and maintain your attention on her rather than on Jungkook who’s grinning so widely, you think his cheeks would split. “Done for the day?”

“Yeah, thank god! I’ve been here since twelve.”

“Wow….but lucky you, at least you’re leaving.”

It’s currently seven in the evening, you started at five today and are scheduled until closing which was nine-thirty. You envy her for getting to leave, regardless of your otherwise short shift. Emily clocks out at the computer, taking off her work vest, walkie and headset, placing them back in the appropriate charge holders. It’s then that Jungkook decides to saunter over, silent as a ghost to peer curiously at the equipment and hover over your co-worker as she opens her locker to grab her bag and other belongings.

You try to grab his attention to get back, facial expression doing the talking for you but all he does is bunny grin at your cartoonishly angry faces.

“You’re part of the closing team today right?”

You instantly school your expression as Emily shuts her cubby locker, turning your way to head over to the wall hooks to grab her jacket.

“Y-Yeah. I hope we get out early since everyone’s been working on the go-backs as much as they can so cleaning shouldn’t be so bad…” Your voice comes out higher than normal, and though you technically have nothing to worry about (his demon visa only allows for you and supernatural beings to see him after all), it’s still hard to ignore a begrudgingly handsome 5’10” man. Actually, you think it’s even more frustrating because you’re the only one who can see him. And that doesn’t add to the fact that he’s being a total little shit right now — what is he doing with those radios? You try to subtly lean your head to get a better look but your co-worker speaks, pulling your gaze away from the mischievous demon.

“Yeah, it has been pretty slow too but you know how it gets when we’re just about to close; they all come swarming into the place out of nowhere.”

“Damn it you’re right….” You groan, the thought effectively distracts you from your demon problem momentarily. You let your head flop back, eyes looking skyward as if to pray to the retail Gods to have mercy. Emily pulls on her jacket, fixing it into place while slinging her bag over her shoulder to throw one last pitying look your way.

“Well, fingers crossed it doesn’t happen. I’ll see you—“

A piercing screech erupts in the room, causing both of you to wince and whip your head towards the rows of radios by the computer desk. Emily’s confused while you’re not impressed because she can’t see the stupid, wide eyed look Jungkook has on his face, mouth shaped into a perfect ‘O’ and looking like he just discovered the next best thing after Nutella, finger poised just inches from a walkie.

“Did someone forget to turn off their radio? That was a nasty feedback.” Emily remarks, shuffling over to take a quick peek only to walk away with a puzzled shake of her head. “Weird.”

“Y-Yeah…” You agree uneasily, shooting up from your seat and attempting to change the subject. “Weird—anyways! I should probably head back out there, get this done and over with.”

“Ha ha, yeah you’re right. I need to get going too; I’ll see tomorrow then!” Emily smiles, waving at you before she hurries out the door, finally leaving you to be able to openly glare at Jungkook.

“What did you do?!” You hiss, pulling on your own walkie and shoving your phone away into your back pocket.

“I don’t know! But it was cool!” He squeals, giddy as a kid on Christmas. It makes your head begin to pound and you just know that you’ll end up with a headache if you stay here any longer. But the conundrum here is that you don’t want to leave to finish the remainder of your shift, and not because you don’t want to work. No, you’ve found yourself a bigger problem.

“Look,” You say sternly, “I better not see you in and around the store doing…whatever the hell you just did there!”

“Hmm, can’t promise you that poppet.” Jungkook grins, wiggling his eyebrows. “I’m a free demon, tied down by no contract or mortal so you have no power over me.”

You huff, aghast at his declaration because you cannot have him running around causing a mess in the store (that’s more work for you!). Your mind races before the thought strikes you and you stick your nose in the air, challenging. “I’ll tell Jimin.”

You almost smirk in triumph at the way Jungkook’s snarky grin falters, eyes flickering as you see him consider his options and when you think you got him beat, he squares up again, mirroring your stance only it’s annoyingly more effective with his height advantage.

“Go ahead — I’ll have you know that he loves me too much to do serious harm to me.”

You don’t know if he’s bluffing or not but you really have no time for this; you already hear your manager asking if you’re back from your break yet over your headset. You answer that you’re on your way back out now before shooting Jungkook one last warning glare.

“Just. Leave. Or at least stay here!”

His only response is to continue to look like that meme of the cat with a knife pointed at it. Begrudgingly, you turn to leave, already feeling your blood pressure skyrocket.

You continue to work as the cashier for the remainder of the night, keeping up an impressive front that everything is fine and you’re not beside yourself with anxiety at the thought of whether that troublemaker of a demon had pity on you to leave you alone or not. So far, you’ve not heard a peep of any supernatural business coming from anywhere around the store. Your hope runs higher once the clock reaches nine and you only have half an hour left on shift to clean up with your co-workers before you can finally head home.

“Alright guys, how are you sections doing?” You hear your on-duty manager ask over the radio.

“Still got some stuff to put back.” Someone replies.

“Any up at the front?”

You turn your gaze from dumping the trash in the smaller bins by each register into the larger garbage bag, bringing up your mic to speak into, “There’s a couple of stuff here.”

“I’ll go grab them.”

Things were going pretty well, you manage to finish emptying the trash bins and as you’re tying the bag up, that’s when you hear it — a static noise coming through your headset but before you can make anything of it, it’s gone. Not a minute later you hear one of your co-workers, Daniel, say over the headset, “Stephanie where are you?”

“I’m in aisle 48, why?”

“Did you say you need help?”

“….No?”

A pause.

“….Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Then who said they needed help then?”

You chime in after a moment of your own puzzlement. “No one said they needed help.”

“Yeah I didn’t hear anyone say they needed help.” Your manager adds in as well too. You see her coming up to where you’re standing by the return bins behind the register, shooting you her own pinched look of confusion. You can only shrug, just as lost.

“I swear I heard someone say they needed help….Or I’m going crazy.” Daniel responds, sounding unsettled. You honestly don’t know what to make of it either…..unless……

“I think the store might be haunted.” Your manager comments as she begins to unload the assortment of items left in the return bins.

“…..What makes you say that?” You ask nervously though the thought of a possible poltergeist isn’t what got you sweating.

“The last store I worked at, we actually had some unexplained things happen — all caught on camera by the way. Like, stuff being knocked over with no one there to cause it, or hearing people when there’s no one there just like now.” She says this all in a really light-hearted tone, even adds in, giggling, “Whenever we had to close the store, everyone would be so scared to go to the back by themselves; we would all just move in a group.”

You give your own stiff laugh, glancing out onto the store floor in hopes that a certain demon didn’t hear that and get any ideas. Your manager shuffles off with the items in a cart, off to put them back in their appropriate spots which allows for you to begin dragging the garbage bag and grab the handful of damaged items to put in the back. You nearly break out into a run to get these tasks done because your mind is set on another goal: find out where the hell Jungkook had gone off to.

You pass by Daniel who, on meeting your eyes, only shakes his head in disbelief, still not over what had just happened.

“I swear I heard someone….” He begins to defend himself and though you would’ve loved to validate him that it’s most likely true, you don’t for various reasons.

“I think that’s a sign that we should all go home soon.” You teasingly say instead. He laughs as you scurry past him to fling back the ‘Employees Only’ double doors, throw the trash bag by the door that lead out to the dumpster and deposit the damaged items in the designated racks. You swear you do it in record timing, you’re left slightly panting by the time you barrel out of the flapping doors of the back room area, but before you can begin to think of where one might find a demon lurking in a department store, you hear a loud crash.

“What was that?” Your manager asks over walkie.

“I don’t know, but something big fell over around aisle 50-56….”

You hurry on over to the scene of the crime, arriving fourth among your co-workers who had thought to do the same thing. From the end of aisles 52, you hear a very loud gasp, followed by a barrage of concerned remarks.

“Oh my God, what is this even doing here?!”

“Didn’t we sell this?”

 “Okay, I’m low-key a little spooked and it doesn’t help that this was the Halloween decoration.”

Sure enough, your eyes travel downwards to see a massive dark shape lying on the ground. Once you’ve approached the group, they’ve already propped it back up again to reveal that it was a six feet tall witch, abnormally pallid face haggard and twisted into a wicked, gnarled grin, complete with rows of sharp teeth and wispy, long white hair. You grimace, metaphorical hackles raised as you stand at a safe distance away from her outstretched, clawed hands. You’re not a big fan of anything horror to begin with, but at least before, you would’ve still been assured that this was just a mannequin-like, overgrown store centrepiece …..and not something that could possibly be possessed if given the chance.

That being said, your eyes nervously dart around but find no signs of the demon on the loose.

“Rachel, didn’t we move this to the back? What’s it doing out here still?” Daniel asks your approaching manager on duty.

“I….thought so too?” is her puzzled reply. She does a once over on the witch, trying to think of whether or not maybe the other managers have forgotten about it and had left her here in the corner to rot but it all doesn’t seem plausible; the store is very strict on moving out seasonal items once the occasion is over and Halloween was well over at this point.

After coming up short on an explanation, Rachel shrugs, “Either way, we have to move it to the back. It doesn’t belong here anymore. Anthony and Daniel can you do two do that while we do final touches?”

“Sure.” 

“Yeah.”

Your two male co-workers go to grab a side on the witch to lift her up but as soon as they touch her, she comes to life, shrieking and cackling while waving her arms around and everyone present find themselves shrieking along with her.

“OH MY GOD!!!” Stephanie wails, hand pressed over her heart. “I NEARLY FUCKING DIED!!”

You can’t voice your own agreement with her, too preoccupied trying to calm your own racing heart after nearly jumping into the shelves of clothes behind you. Amidst the loud complaints of the near death experience, you faintly hear another set of cackling that wasn’t coming from the witch. Rachel eventually reels everyone back in once everyone’s general panic has died down to hearty laughs. The boys get set back to the original task and the rest of you were given the duty to put back the remaining straggler of items from the return bins earlier.

But once again, not even a minute goes by before you hear another startled shout coming from back room.

“Guys everything okay?” You hear Rachel ask over walkie.

“Oh my God, I think this store might actually be haunted!” Daniel’s voice cuts through, pitch a tad high from whatever encounter he just had. “The lights just turned off in here, we’re leaving right. NOW.”

You distantly hear a swoosh of air from the force the back doors swing open, followed by a garble mixture of nervous laughing and rapid talking.

“Okay guys if everything’s fairly clean then we can definitely head out now and put the remainder of the stuff back early morning.”

You check your watch and see that it’s 9:15, which by your work standard is a way early wrap up time for a closing shift — but you’re not about to complain. You’ve got a demon to catch and the faster you get out here, the better. So you race back to the lunchroom where mostly everyone was already gathered, taking off their headset, vests, and clocking out on the computer before grabbing their things from their cubby lockers.

“You need to get a priest in here and bless this place or something Rachel.” Daniel half jokes but you think underneath it all, he’s actually pretty serious. Everyone else seems to agree and you can only offer a wry smile, not sure if that would actually keep Jungkook away from causing any more trouble, or if an exorcist is a better option. Either way, everyone seems more antsier to leave than usual, even if they seem like they’re not taking these supernatural activities too seriously. You all move out of the lunchroom in a group, hastily making your way to the front entrance in hopes that you don’t encounter any more spooks. Your manager reaches up to the panel by the sliding doors, punching in the alarm code with speedy fingers and once the initial beep has sounded, she pulls open the doors and everyone goes rushing out into the cool night air.

“Goodnight everyone!” You hear a chorus voices call out and you return your own before you start making your way to the bus stop, bag strap clutching tightly in your grip. You arrive to the little shelter, huddling yourself into the seat in the farthest corner, leg bouncing in a mixture of impatience and jitters. Naturally, you swivel your head to either side of you to check on your surroundings but find that no other soul to be approaching or presently with you. You swallow, breathing out deeply while rolling your shoulders a little to finally settle back in your seat. Maybe Jungkook got bored after everyone left the store, off to find some other unfortunate being to —

“Y/N!”

“GYAK—GOD!”

The brunette throws his head back to let out a boisterous laugh, leaving you practically clinging to the bus advertisement panel for dear life. After a few breaths, you shake yourself from your frozen state to shove Jungkook by the shoulder. He only continues to laugh, clutching his sides and curling up on himself.

“You—! That was you in the store wasn’t it?!” You accuse right off the bat, eyes glaring as he calms himself finally to breathy giggles. Once he’s reigned in those too, he looks at you square in the face, dead serious.

“No, it was bloody Mary, come back to take revenge because you didn’t let her use her coupon six times.”

Your mouth hangs agape, so caught off guard by his answer but when it actually registers, you wheeze. Now it’s your turn to throw your head back and laugh. Vaguely, you remember that you probably look really crazy right now because no one other than yourself can see Jungkook, sitting beside you but you don’t care; it’s late and if anyone has caught sight of it then all the more reason for them to leave you alone, just like how you want it. Eventually, you calm yourself, catching your breath and with a sniffle, you half-heartedly slap the demon’s arm.

“You’re awful.” You say weakly, failing to keep the lingering mirth out of your voice. “You didn’t have to scare my co-workers and in turn, me, half to death.”

“But it got you out early, didn’t it?”

You go to argue but find that you can’t. Jungkook sees and isn’t afraid to let you know he’s got you beat with a smug smirk and quirked eyebrow.

Well played, you think, well played.

The weekend couldn’t come any sooner and you find the joy in not having to set up an alarm all the more sweeter. It puts you in a better mood knowing that you can finally sleep in and wake up when you actually feel rejuvenated enough. Which is why you’re feeling more energized to be out and about with Jaehee as you two make your way to one of the cafes she had bookmarked. It took a bit of searching (the cafe, evidently enough, was located on the other side of the plaza you were in, facing out towards the busy roads rather than grouped together in the inner circle like the rest of the other establishments), but you were settled into a cozy cute booth of the aesthetically pleasing cafe, iced latte and an assortment of fancy pastries to try out in no time.

You and Jaehee catch up for the first couple of minutes while sampling the little cakes in between conversations. After you finish two of the four you both bought, you ask Jaehee about her impromptu real estate agent job she’s taken on for her boyfriend and his roommate. Instantly, she lets out a groan of irritation at the mere memory of it.

“God, it’s still a mess. I actually have a scheduled viewing later today; I was wondering if you’re okay to tag along. It won’t take long.”

You nod your head, sipping on your latte. “Yeah it’s fine, I don’t got anything else planned for the day.”

Jaehee nods, slouching in her seat a bit as she pulls out her phone. “Good, I might just need the moral support. Like, the roommate was also supposed to come too since Jason’s at work and because, well, he’s the one looking for a place right?! But ugh! He’s like, ‘I’m too lazy’. I’m ‘bout to drag his ass if I have to at this point.”

“Gosh, you’re honestly doing the most right now and I don’t even know what for.” You say, frowning at how this situation sounds to be more and more of headache the more she talked about it. That’s what you kind of admire about Jaehee; she’s willing to go through such lengths for the people she cares about the most but at the same time, you really wished she knew when it starts to get too ridiculous. Even if he was busy with work and school, Jason or at least his roommate should still try to make an effort in apartment hunting instead of leaving it all to Jaehee (regardless of any amount of compensation that was probably offered).

“I know, it’s because they think they can get a place so easily when it comes down to it but it’s not. Like, we were lucky enough to score the place we live in now but that was before the housing market really went to shit.” She says, firing off a text message (most likely to her boyfriend’s roommate). “I honestly would’ve left it up to them too but….” Jaehee grimaces with a shake of her head. “Some of the places his roommate sent to me to check were so sub par for the offered price, like, you can get a much better place for the same price and also if they’re willing to dish out another $75 on top of their budget.”

“Huh.” You reply, not sure what to say to that but also thinking that the whole situation speaks for itself. You’re low-key glad that it’s not you that has to deal with this all, considering the fact that you have enough on your plate. On second thought, you think crazily enough, having to deal with two demons doesn’t seem so bad compared to what Jaehee’s doing — at least they leave you alone for the most part, save for Jungkook’s random bouts of shit disturbing but overall, they’re not bad company; just enough spice to your otherwise mundane life. The notion makes a wry smile begin to tug at the corner of your lips.

“By the way, how’s it going with Julien?”

“Huh? Wh— Oh! Yeah, Julien….Um…Good? I guess?”

Things have been….interesting between you and Jimin. He still goes out nightly to do….God knows what but you’d rather remain ignorant to whatever demonic activities he gets up to but when he does come around to pester you, it’s very much ‘the usual’; a lot of bickering and pranking (mainly on his part) where often times it leaves you fuming and red-faced and him smirking triumphantly or in a fit of giggles. Despite your indignation though, you surprisingly don’t mind it….that much. It’s a weird push and pull with you two, where even though it seems like he shows up just to judge your choices, poke fun at your human first world problems, you’ll still be able to find him standing at the end of your street, waiting to walk you back home after a late night shift so that you don’t have to face the convenience store corner alone without fail. On the rarer occasions, you’ve caught him humming parts of the ‘The Truth Untold’ during late night showers where you wake to get yourself a glass of water and the first time you did, you had stood in the hallway, completely mesmerized (you told yourself it was the good acoustics, you know, to help you sleep at night).

A puff of air releases from your nose quietly, unconsciously; the beginnings of a chortle bubbling up in your chest as you muse about your aloof guardian demon who looks like your idol crush. He’s started out to be such an anomaly, a disturbance to your normalcy, but now, you’re starting to see how interwoven he’s become in your life — settling into an empty space you hadn’t quite noticed until now and making it into his own.

“Uh…Y/N? You okay?”

“Huh….?”

“You like, spaced out on me.”

“O-Oh…Sorry, was just thinking about something…”

“Julien….?” Jaehee teases with a waggles of her eyebrows.

“Oh my God, you’re annoying.”

Jaehee only laughs, scooping up another forkful of the pink decorated cake. “We should finish up here and get going, I’ve finally convinced Jason’s roommate to get his lazy ass up and go to this viewing with us so we gotta go meet up with him.”

“Yeah, sure.”

You both finish off the rest of the cakes and you your latte before leaving the cute little cafe. After a quick subway ride, you arrive in the area where Jason’s university is; a hub of students walking around either on campus or around the neighbouring streets leading to downtown. You and Jaehee head off in the direction where a small residential area is located by the school, just a block around the corner, an admittedly convenient place to live in for those attending the school but also understandably not the best of living spaces. Right off the bat, you could tell that this is a very old neighbourhood, one that has probably been around since the building of the university. Many of the small bungalows look cramped beside each other with their collective, muted grey, brown and off white colour schemes, facing out with even smaller yards with overgrown lawns and low chain linked fences, all rusted and has seen better days.

Subsequently, Jason’s place falls in with the monogamous look the neighbourhood has taken and you can’t help but grimace when you and Jaehee step up the small wooden patio of the front entrance, noticing how badly chipped the white paint is. It makes you wonder if the interior is as dismal as the exterior, and if that was the case, then you can see the reason why they would want to find a new place despite how convenient the location is.

Jaehee gives the doorbell a ring, quickly growing impatient as a minute passes and your third companion doesn’t answer the door. You shift idly in place, but then decide against it as a loud creak gives off from the old wood — best to stand still lest you wanted the entire patio to give out on you, seeing that it very well may if you so much as sneeze on it. You both wait a bit more until finally you hear shuffling from inside and the locks click, door finally swinging open to reveal what you assume to be Jason’s roommate.

Personally, you’ve never met him until this moment but you can’t help being a little bemused; the guy looked like he straight just rolled out of bed and put on the nearest clothes he could grab.

“Took you long enough Henry.” Jaehee snaps, already heading back down the steps towards the little driveway. You follow after her without so much of a word or second glance at the male to see if he would follow.  “We need to start heading to the viewing, it’s literally just down another block across the street.”

“I just got up…”

Well that solves that mystery, you think wryly. You stop by Jaehee’s side as she stands at the end of the driveway, looking back to see Henry locking the front door and closing the screen one in front of it afterwards. He shuffles on down in his sweatpants and university hoodie, ball cap on over his head to no doubt hide any unruly bed hair. It makes you glance down at your own outfit for the day through the lenses of your shades, it’s one of those days where you’re actually coordinated and looking pretty cute, if you do say so yourself (self pat on the back).

When he finally catches up to you, Jaehee takes the time to formally introduce you. “This is my bestie and roommate, Y/N.”

“Hello, nice to meet you.” Henry greets, offering a small smile. You return it with a simple hi and a small wave before Jaehee ushers the both of you to start making your way. The weather is nice and clear, sun beaming in a fairly cloudless sky but has yet to reach the point where you can feel the heat bearing down on you. A perfect temperature where it’s not too hot, not too cold and all you need is a light jacket. The air feels fresh, promised with the coming of spring soon along with the budding of leaves sprinkled on the branches of the trees you pass by. You inhale deeply, enjoying the breeze and the way the sunshine makes everything seem a little more vibrant.

You take it back when you reach the so-called apartment. Well, you had expected it to be an apartment but it’s another one of those small bungalow houses, the only difference is that this one is a lot better kept on the outside; grass trimmed with a small garden and even had an overhang on the side that separates the garage, leading to what you assume is the backyard. You spot a figure standing on the sidewalk just outside the home, in the middle of stubbing out a cigarette. It made you and Jaehee pause to look at each other, wondering if this is the owner waiting on you to arrive. It’s Jaehee that speaks up first.

“Hi there, we’re here for the viewing…?”

The man turns, lanky with a scruffy beard, dressed in a plain grey t-shirt and jeans with a baseball cap. He gives you both a wry smile.

“Funny, because so am I. It seems that the guy is showing someone else around right now.”

“Oh! Okay…”

And so you have no choice but to wait around outside until the person who had arrived first was finished with their viewing. It doesn’t leave much for you to do, and you find yourself pulling out your phone to scroll idly through your social medias. You get pulled into conversations with the other two but for the most part, Jaehee and Henry are discussing about other possible viewings they should see with Jaehee pushing Henry (and through him, Jason) to get some of the required paperwork when signing the rent for a place (i.e. credit scores).

You’re bored by the time the man in the grey t-shirt gets his turn. Sighing, you tuck your phone back into your pocket and glance around, actually seeing more people approaching the home most likely for a viewing as well. As your eyes scan over the patrons, they lock onto a figure standing right across the street from you, casually leaning against a lamp post, staring right at you through their own pair of dark shades. You had to lower your own to make sure you weren’t seeing things but nope, there he is, in all of his dark denim glory and you just know he’s smirking (honestly when is he not). Before you can even sputter, you see him reach into his back pocket, pulling out his phone and fingers making quick work on it. Not a moment later, your own phone vibrates.

It’s only then that you tear your gaze away to avoid looking suspicious (or crazy, who knows; you can never tell if you’re the only one who sees him or not), pulling out your own phone to see a text notification. You swipe your lock pattern, quickly tapping to open the message.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

You hate how you just read that in his voice, teasing lilt spot on. Your fingers fly to reply back.

“I should be asking you that, aren’t you allergic to the sun nowadays?”

Instinctively, you glance back at him to see his reaction but should’ve known to be disappointed because he only coolly inclines his head downwards to read your text off his phone before you see deft fingers work on a reply.

“I’m a demon, not a vampire. Besides, what is this haunting of a department store I keep hearing about going around?”

You suck in a breath, glancing up nervously to see if he’s caught wind (being a demon and all). You duck down when you catch sight of the those dark shades locking onto you, even when you can’t even see his piercing eyes behind the lenses. You could only hope your own shades hide the way your eyes shift briefly with unease.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about but considering the fact that I have a literal guardian demon, this shouldn’t even be that concerning?”

“Y/N! It’s our turn now!” Jaehee calls, pulling your attention away from the demon.

“Oh, yeah coming!” You scurry after the duo who had walked up the length of the driveway to meet with the agent doing the viewing. He introduces himself, shakes all of your hands and then leads you under the overhang to a door on the side of the house. Upon opening it, you realize that the space up for rent was the finished basement of the home, not the actual house itself as the door leads to a pair of stairs going downwards and straight into a small, tiled kitchen. It’s simple, open spaced with two bedrooms (one on each side of the living room area), one bathroom down the hallway leading from the kitchen and a laundry room. It’s adequate enough for two male students to live in.

Jaehee seems to think the same, nodding her head in approval as she directs Henry to ‘take a good look’ around. You hang off near the entrance seeing as how you’re just here for the shits and giggles, which allows for you to resume your conversation with Jimin. When you pull out your phone, you see a string of messages.

“You’re funny doll but you’re not dumb.

This has Jungkook’s name written all over it.

So have you been talking to that brat? I thought I told you not to.”

You roll your eyes, shooting off a reply.

“Hey man, he’s the one who follows me. Not like I willingly go out and look for him.

If it bothers you so much, then why don’t you just do some demon voodoo magic to ward him off?”

You don’t get an immediate response and it makes you smirk triumphantly for once. Yeah, you know him by now that whenever he brings up Jungkook and how you should stay away from him, his tone never gets stern enough to where he would personally go out and burn the younger demon with hell fire. In fact, you want to go as far as to say he’s using Jungkook as an extension of keeping his eye on you without actually having to constantly shadow you. You don’t mind, but you still find it funny that as loathing as he seems to be of his junior, Jimin undeniably has a soft spot for him…. or at least some semblance of trust, which is a good sign right?

Your phone vibrates and you glance down to read the new texts.

“What are you even doing there anyways? Don’t tell me you’re downgrading….

Please don’t.

No offence but this house looks ugly and I just saw you go through a side door that leads down to the basement of it.

That’s never a good sign.”

You actually snort to yourself, smile wide on your face as you go to reply but then back track a couple of times, debating on whether or not you should take this opportunity to mess with him. Unfortunately before you get the chance to decide, Jaehee, Henry and the sales agent are shuffling over to where you’re standing, looking about ready to leave.

“So I will definitely send you the paperwork that you need to fill out through the email you gave me and if you have any questions, feel free to email me as well.”

“Sounds good! Thank you so much!” Jaehee smiles, nodding to the agent before turning to you. “We’re ready to go, sorry if you got bored.”

“Nah, it’s all good.” You reassure as you follow her out with Henry. When you emerge back outside, your eyes instinctively go to the lamp post where you last saw your guardian demon, but find that he’s no longer there. Figures.

You shrug it off (you’ll probably see him later tonight anyways), turning back to Jaehee who’s talking to Henry about how they should take the place because this is the best one she’s seen so far in terms of meeting their requirements. Henry nods, seemingly agreeing with her and says he would let Jason know about it. The look of relief washes over your friend instantaneously and you just know that she’s glad that this headache will be settled once and for all.

“Make sure you tell him! You guys seriously only have less than half a month left before you get evicted!”

“Okay, okay!” Henry’s smiling good-naturedly, clearly not letting that looming fact dampen his spirits. It’s commendable because if it were you, you would be a hair away from a mental breakdown. His easy-going response makes Jaehee’s smile falter a little and you can only send a helpless sorry look to her; seems like she’s not quite out of the woods yet.

“Anyways, we’re gonna head home now since all of this has made me tired so bye.” She’s turning away in a huff, not so much as another glance at Henry. You smile awkwardly, sending a hesitant wave before following after your friend.

“I swear to God they better take that place like, I’m so over everything.” You hear Jaehee mutter under her breath as she rapidly types out a message, probably to Jason because you get the feeling that she’s lost faith in Henry to do something as simple as that.

“I think it’s a pretty good place for them too. And it’s only slightly farther from where they live right now anyways so there shouldn’t be any commuting ‘problems’.” You add in half to placate her and half in honesty.

“Exactly, and the rent is around what they pay for already.”

Your discussion carries on to Jaehee telling you about the places she has seen in the past weeks (quote, ‘it was the saddest and dinkiest place I’ve ever seen’) to how she’s also received some pretty shady emails from landlords about possible viewings. You make it back home in no time, the both of you taking off into your rooms to change into something more comfortable as well as wipe off all your make-up. No sooner had you closed your bedroom door and flopped back onto your bed, flinging your bag and sunglasses off to the end of your bed, completely worn out for the day did a familiar face pop up to hover over yours, brown eyes looking none too pleased, arms crossed. It’s then you realize he’s lost the dark denim jacket you last saw him in, revealing the simple black fitted t-shirt underneath, which showed off nicely toned biceps. His sudden appearance had made you flinch in surprise, but find that you’re too tired to care, settling back into your mattress unperturbed.

“You never answered my question.”

“Hello Jimin, I’m doing great too.”

“Not funny. I need to know so I can make sure I won’t be caught dead going into a shack of a house.”

His words make you perk up, giving him a cheeky look. “So if I said I was downgrading, you’ll move out?”

The words fly out of your mouth before you even register what you just said. For a fleeting moment, Jimin’s face takes on an unreadable expression but it was enough for a dull ache to start blooming in your chest and in its centre, regret. It was meant to be a light-hearted, teasing jab, like the ones you always engage in with Jimin but you find yourself wanting to backtrack because, even when you won’t admit it out loud, you don’t actually mean it. Besides, it’s not like you see him on a daily basis to begin with, so you’re not particularly sick of seeing his face every day…. And last you heard, demons don’t need sleep so what’s the point in getting his own place when he won’t even use it that often?

You’re about a breath away from blurting out your own poorly constructed ‘psyche!’ moment when, in a blink of an eye, the air around him shifts, a dangerous gleam in his gaze. He moves slowly, deliberately, arms uncoiling like a snake ready to strike and it makes you tense up, effectively pulling you out of your head. His hands come down on either side of your head, caging you in as he lets out a dark, breathy chuckle.

“Oh, my darling Y/N….” He leans in close, voice but a low rasp that actually sends goosebumps along your skin. “Have you forgotten that it was you who bound your soul to me?”

Oh shoot…. By technicality, he’s right; as if you can even forget about the night you first met him anyways. You have no arguments there, and his smirk widens knowingly as he watches you chew on your lower lip nervously. You hate how you get the feeling that one of his favourite hobbies is making you squirm and when he catches you in those moments, he likes to milk it as much as he can. Point proven when he doesn’t let up in iterating his point.

“Or….” He continues purring with a languid tilt of his head, “Do I need to remind you so you won’t forget…?” He trails off vaguely enough to have your imagination running wild without your permission.

Like a nail in the coffin, your face instantly flushes, indignantly or from being extremely flustered — or maybe a combination of both. Either way, you feel like you wished the bed would swallow you whole but Jimin, ever so cunning and sly, always knows when to rile you up only to have it all come crashing down on you. It’s the same old trick, but you always manage to fall for it so his next words knock you right out of the spell.

“Besides, I know you’ll miss me too much to let me leave.”

Instantly, your face morphs to one of disgust, the teasing tone that replaces his seductive one acts like the bucket of cold water you had desperately needed.

“You’re insufferable.” is the only thing you can manage to seethe out but it comes off more of a pout, cheeks still burning strongly. His face breaks into a huge grin, eyes disappearing as he throws his head back to laugh, finally easing off on you to a comfortable proximity but still keeping his hands firm on either side of your head. You choose to petulantly turn your face to the side, refusing to be subjected to this humiliation any longer.

Thankfully the chiming of your phone allows you that moment of escape, hand eagerly bringing up the phone to address the notification and when you get a glance, it nearly makes your eyes pop out. Faster than you thought possible, you whip into a sitting position and it’s only thanks to Jimin’s inhuman reflexes that saves the both of you from causing each other’s concussions.

“Woah, if that was your plan on trying to kill me, you’re gonna have to do better.”

You ignore him in favour of the news you received in your group chat in the form of a video trailer. More specifically, a trailer for BTS. Concert. TOUR. DATES.

You’re silently screaming, heart pounding so hard you think it might explode out of your chest as fingers tap furiously to open the link, all the while in your mind you are chanting;

Please let it be in my city, please let it be in my city, please let it be in my city, please let it be in my city, please —

Your eyes are laser focused, the new title track blasting through your phone’s speakers as clips of past concerts flit by in rapid succession. Bold words flash by in accompaniment with keywords being ‘BTS’, ‘WORLD TOUR’, ‘LOVE YOURSELF’. It all further adds to the buzzing live wire your body has become and it reaches the apex once you see the name of the first city and date flash across the screen. You swear you stop breathing.

Moment of truth.

Time seems to slow for you, but the names go by within seconds and then...the video ends.

It takes some time before you think you finally let out a slow, deep breath, the buzz dying out of you just as quickly as it had come like being on a roller coaster.

Your arms drop from holding the phone up so close to your face and you can’t help your heart from doing the same.

“Ah...So they’re going on a world tour....” You hear your guardian demon muse airily from beside you. “Aren’t you excited?”

Shoulders slumping, you bring your group chat to type back a response, saying the words aloud for him to hear as well.

“They’re not coming.”

313 notes · View notes

galivantingg · 4 years

Text

July 2015

This was probably the hottest summer in a long time, longer than Nim can remember. The sun beating on the back of his neck, sweat dripping down into his eyes; ah, who couldn’t love this. The unbearable heat, the unforgiving sunlight, the lack of wind. Yes, this is exactly what Nim needs. His optimistic thoughts were interrupted by someone walking up to him, saying nothing. He looks at the girl. She has pretty olive skin, long dark hair, and almond shaped eyes. She’s wearing shorts and a white tank top, in hopes that it would reflect some of the heat off of her. Nim was wearing the same.

“You utter bitch, how dare you wear the same thing as me,” the girl said, with a small smile on her face.

“What can I say? I’m your biggest fan,” Nim grinned at her. She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Sign my face Maeve! Please!”

“Shut up you asshole, let’s just go. I want ice cream,” She turned away but couldn’t hide the smile that came to her face. Nim and Maeve had met the previous school year, through one of their other friends, Michael. Since then, they had become very close, spending every afternoon when school ended together, usually at Nim’s house. They did everything together, school projects, sports, shopping. If one didn’t know any better, they’d say the two are a couple. Sometimes Nim wishes they were, but that’s a secret. He kept it buried down deep, never letting it see the light of day, paying it no mind.

They chatted while walking down the street, heading to the corner store and then on to the park nearby. Nim was very animated, talking with his hands, and the occasional glare was sent his way. Maeve didn’t like drawing attention to herself, and walking around with Nim was like walking around holding a flashing neon sign that said Look At Me!! Suffice to say, they were an odd pair. Nim was outgoing, although he only had a few close friends. He was friendly with everyone, knew all his peers names, but he didn’t really hang out with them, at least not one on one. Maeve was quieter, preferring to sit in the library with her homework or a book, just enjoying the silence. During class she always sported her earbuds, one plugged in and the other dangling from her neck.

Say what you will about the two, but they made it work. There was no closer pair.

Nim made a show of opening the door for Maeve, flourishing with his hand and doing a little bow. She rolled her eyes at his antics but proceeded through the open door nonetheless. Nim greeted the woman at the desk, he was a familiar face, and the two teenagers puttered around the aisles for a few minutes, wondering what to get. It was a hot day, ice cream was definitely in order, but what else?

The bell above the door jangled with another customer coming in. Maeve and Nim finally decided on what they wanted, and walked up to the desk ready to pay. They waited patiently in line behind the young man asking about lottery tickets, making small talk.

Then the man pulled out a gun, and threatened their lives.

“Shut up and do as I say or I’ll blow your damn heads off!” He yelled, a frantic look in his eyes. Nim and Maeve reacted instantly; dropping the goodies in their hands and putting them up in the air. The shopkeeper was frozen, but flinched hard and did as the man said when he repeated himself, this time waving the gun in the woman’s face. “Give me all the money in the register, and all the lottery tickets you have left.” The woman hesitated. “Now!” He screamed, firing once into the air. The window he was aiming at shattered, and Maeve let out a small scream. The shopkeeper shakily started gathering everything he wanted, leaving them in silence.

That damn silence.

“Sir?” Nim said hesitantly, his voice barely above a whisper. The young man whipped around, pointing the gun at Nim. He didn’t flinch.

“What do you want,” the man had an edge in his voice, and edge that told Nim that if he didn’t tread carefully, he could end up dead.

“I’m sorry but you’re really scaring me, could you let us go please?” Nim had to try. His first instinct was to protect Maeve, not because he loves her, but because she’s his friend.

There was a flash of rage in the young man’s eyes and he lunged towards Maeve, grabbing for her collar. Nim could see it all in slow motion. The man grabbing Maeve, placing the gun to her temple, and then shooting her. Something came over him, and he reached out to the man before he could get to Maeve, grabbed his arm, spun him and flipped him in the small quarters. Candy went flying everywhere, but Nim only had his eyes set on that gun. That machine of death, of hatred, or terror. Quick as he could, he twisted the arm he was holding and put pressure on it, stepping over the man and stepping on his other wrist. When the man finally let go of the gun, Nim swooped down and picked it up in his hand, stepping back towards Maeve as fast as possible, holding the deadly weapon with both hands. The man scrambled to his feet, arms up, and in the distance, Nim could hear sirens.

No more silence.

“Don’t move,” Nim warned.

“Nim,” Maeve sobbed. “Nim what are you doing put the gun down.”

At the sound of her words, Nim relaxed, shoulders dropping and arms lowering slightly. His eyes softened, and he began to realise what exactly he had just done. He is currently holding a gun, an actual loaded gun, and pointing it at a person. It doesn’t matter who this person is or what his intentions were. This is a living breathing person, that Nim is pointing a gun at. The man lunges forward again, desperation in his eyes and messing up his movements. Before Nim knew what he was doing, he pulled the trigger, shooting the man right in the head. The man crumpled forward, a pool of blood beginning to form art Nim’s feet. Nim lets out a gasp, his shoulders shuddering. The sirens got louder. So did Maeve’s crying. Almost completely empty, Nim releases the clip, letting it drop onto his feet. He tosses the now useless gun at the man’s feet, and slowly lowers himself onto his knees, his hands clasped behind his head.

“Maeve,” her sobbing got quieter. “Leave now. Go back home. I’ll tell my parents to update you. You shouldn’t be involved in this. Go, now.” Nim’s tone was quiet and even, no room for argument. He heard her feet leaving, winding through the aisles until the bell above the door jangled once more.

September 2015

The trial.

Charged with: murder in the first degree.

Defensive pleads: killing in self-defence.

Reduced to: manslaughter with a deadly weapon.

Verdict: Not guilty.

Nim goes back to school.

November, 2015

Nim: Where are you?

Maeve: Hanging out with friends today too, I’ll see you tomorrow in eng

Nim: Stay safe

Nim locked his phone and slid it into his pocket, looking around the now empty hall. He masked his face, but couldn’t help the ugly feeling that rose up inside in him. Maeve had been doing this since the second week of school, and it’s now November. Of course Maeve can find other friends, she doesn’t have to stay with Nim every free moment she has. She doesn’t owe anything to Nim, she never promised she’d hang out with him. She doesn’t have to do anything she doesn’t want to. Besides, Nim knew she was going to move on from him, find new friends and all that. He encouraged it even. And, she had been doing this almost every single day anyway, so it wasn’t like Nim wasn’t used to spending lunch alone.

So why does it still hurt so much?

Why does it chip away at Nim’s heart every time he gets that text?

Because he loves her, and he wants to spend all his time with her.

It was a realization that was a long time coming. It was something Nim had been putting off for years, too scared to admit it, always skirting around the fact. He didn’t like it. Didn’t want it. No thanks, come back never. Not for him. Except it was. He is in love with his best friend, and there’s nothing he can do about it. He certainly can’t tell her. That’s the downside of being in love with your best friend. That’s the one person you go to for these kinds of things, but it’s a little different when it’s them you’re in love with. So Nim kept it to himself, letting it eat away at him like a rat to a leftover burger tossed near the garbage bin in some back alley. He let it fester, and consume, and eventually, he let it rot.

On that happy note, he turned on his heel and walked down the hallway, neck bent, heading for the doors closest to his house. The hair outside was brisk, and he breathed in deeply, letting the fresh air convince him for a moment that he was whole, that he was sane, that he was. It didn’t last. It never lasts. Nothing ever lasts, which is exactly why he needs to let go of Maeve. She obviously wants to move on, so why not let her.

With that mentality, Nim moved forward. He didn’t text Maeve anymore, asking if she was going to spend lunch with him. He’d wait three minutes at their spot, and if she didn’t come, then she didn’t come. He’d make himself a sandwich, and put on a show, spending the fifty minute lunch period wrapped up in another world. Then back to school. And that’s how things went, until one day, it changed. He happened across Maeve in the hall with her new friends, and one of them had her sketchbook out open to a drawing of a wolf. He couldn’t help but compliment her on it. She invited him to spend lunch with them. Suddenly, Maeve was thrust back into Nim’s life, and he was part of this group of four others, four others who seemed to actually want to get to know Nim, who seemed to actually want to spend time with him. So he spent time with them, and discovered that hey, these were actually some pretty cool people. They had the same interests as Nim, preferring to spend lunch outdoors during the good weather.

So why did Nim still feel empty?

Why did his heart still hurt?

Why did his morale continue to erode?

Easy, Maeve was still in his life. It’s hard to fall out of love with someone when you go from never seeing them to spending every day with them. Nim saw her every single day now, and he was loving it. He loved being her best friend. Maybe it was the fact that she was broken, and needed help. Maybe it was because she understood Nim, who was also broken, and needed help. Maybe it was simply the fact that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever met, inside and out. Whatever the reason, he hated it, but cherished it at the same time. He cursed himself for doing this, for falling for someone who was off-limits. But it meant that he was capable of these feelings, he was capable of caring for someone that deeply.

So that’s how it went for the next couple of years, until one November, Meave got a boyfriend. A boyfriend who blew her off, who told her she’s pretty one day and the next tells her she’s average. He says he wants to spend all this time with her, but then says he’s too busy, and never makes any plans. He never put in the effort to treat her right, but that isn’t even the bad part. The bad part is that she just accepts it. Maeve loves it. She’s totally hung up on him. She expresses anger towards him for this attitude, but when it comes down to it, he calls, she comes.

It was killing Nim, so of course, he gets himself involved.

Their relationship doesn’t get any better.

Maeve gets worse.

January, 2017

Nim: Why can’t you see what’s happening Maeve? If he really cared, then he’d be there. He’s not.

Maeve: Why can’t you see it’s none of your fucking business. You didn’t have to get involved. It’s my problem, and I can deal with it. He’s just nervous, he doesn’t know what to do. You don’t know anything. Besides, he really cares about me. I need this.

Nim: Why can’t my support and love for you be enough? Isn’t our friendship enough to tell you that you are worth it?

Maeve: Our friendship isn’t enough to keep me alive.

Maeve switches schools.

May 2017

Nim: Hey, if you want to come to the athletic banquet just let us know and we’ll tell Harrison. He’ll sort everything out, you’ll just have to pay. Hope you’re doing alright

Two Weeks Later

Nim: If you don’t want to come, just fucking say so, instead of ignoring me.

Maeve: You of all people should know that sometimes I just can’t talk to people, that I don’t want to talk to people. I thought you would understand, but apparently you don’t.

How was Nim supposed to know? She didn’t say, I don’t want to talk right now. She didn’t turn on her read receipts, she doesn’t even show up to their badminton practices anymore. Nim didn’t even know what he was feeling, but he knew it wasn’t love. He didn’t love her anymore.

October 2017

He didn’t love her, not anymore. At least, that’s what he told himself. Hey, whatever helps him sleep at night, right?

January 2018

Time passed. Nim grew closer with Felix and Cara, spending lunches and weekends with them. They would find their little corner in the basement of the school, tucked away from the rest of the world. It was perfect, quiet, simple. Nim couldn’t ask for anything better. He had become numb inside, the shock from losing his best friend and the trial. It had been almost three years since the trial, but it was like it had happened yesterday and like something Nim would imagine at the same time. It didn’t feel real. How could it be real? He actually killed a man, Nim did. Nim killed a man. A real life living breathing alive man, and he’s not in jail. Funny, right?

It’s not funny.

He murdered someone. Granted, it was out of self defence, which apparently makes him innocent. How does that work? People in the army don’t get charged with murder and that’s like half their job. They’re expected to kill, hired to kill even. How is that allowed? Lately Nim has been disappearing into his mind, thinking about that afternoon, that fateful day as one might call it. No one would call it that. Fateful day is usually associated with good events, not murder. Felix and Cara have noticed Nim zoning out, and have tried their best to bring him back in when he slips into one of his episodes. His teachers had noticed too, but he often got called out of class to see the social worker, Irene is her name, so they don’t say a thing. They just let him go, knowing there is nothing they can do about it. It’s up to someone else.

Nim didn’t really have a coping mechanism, at least not one he had control over. Yeah he’d zone out, check out from reality, book an appointment with his unconscious, but he didn’t have an actual coping mechanism. That’s something Irene has been suggesting to him. Find something he can do to take his mind off of the events that occurred. Something productive, something healthy, something helpful. Something good. She suggested writing, but Nim found a better coping mechanism.

Alcohol.

And how, perchance, did Nim come across this coping mechanism?

Cara.

Enter January sixteenth, two thousand and eighteen. Now that’s a fateful day. Cara had her birthday party at a hotel, courtesy of her parents, and included was a bottle of tequila. It was the first time Nim had ever had alcohol, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. There were quite a few people there, so Nim only had a couple shots, not enough to get drunk, but enough to get hooked. So began the stretch of partying and drinking, which would last roughly a year. Maybe more. Now that Cara knew Nim was cool with drinking, she invited him over more and they would share a bottle, dancing around her room in their pjs and singing horribly to their favourite songs.

Felix was never invited. Nim asked after the second or third time, and Cara told him it was because Felix doesn’t like alcohol, or drugs for that matter. Like really doesn’t like them. Fair, Nim thought, but he missed hanging out with him. These mini parties brought Nim and Cara even closer, officially making them best friends.

All of the mini parties were the same, but sometimes Cara would have bigger parties. Invite more people, have more alcohol. One of these parties Nim’s childhood friend Josie was invited too. She tried to stop Nim from drinking too much, but Nim couldn’t be stopped. Tequila made him warm inside, made his mind happy and his heart light. Tequila made him feel again, well, feel happy. Not physical feeling. He always managed to get some kind of small cut on him at these parties, but he never noticed until the next day.

Nim discovered that people seemed to like him better when he was drunk. They found him funnier, he made conversation easier, and they smiled at him more. Maybe it was because they were also drunk, but it didn’t matter. He felt whole again. It was not good. Was that going to stop him? Of course not. You could pry that shot from Nim’s cold dead hands and he’d still find a way to get more alcohol in him. Josie tried to stop Nim, but he wasn’t having it.

The night passed in a blur. Nim noticed a cut on his foot, asked for a bandaid and was told that if he put a bandaid on it it would grow mouldy, because that’s how things work. Drunk people are very smart. He spent half the night taking care of another girl, Julia, and the other half hugging Maeve’s ex, claiming to forgive him for it, putting it behind him. He doesn’t know why he did that, but he did, and it’s not something he can change now. It was a night for sure, not one he’ll forget for a while.

February 2018

Time passed again. Somewhere along the way Felix started coming to the parties, drinking with them. Nim doesn’t know what changed but he could definitely say he loved spending more time with him. He still wouldn’t drink a lot, he’d nurse the occasional beer or cider, but he was there and that’s all that mattered. The colder weather brought on photoshoots, which continued on for months. It boosted Nim’s confidence by leaps and bounds, having his two best friends, who were very attractive, want to take photos of him. He didn’t feel attractive, but they kept taking photos of him. Slowly but surely, Nim became more stable. He started walking with his head lifted up, and his voice tended to waver less. He actually started to like himself, maybe even love himself.

Okay he wouldn’t go that far, but he definitely did like himself now.

His best friends became his support system, his parents not knowing what to say or do in order to help him. They threatened to take him to a hospital one night, and the only way to avoid that was if Nim showered and came down to eat dinner. He hated every second of being in that house, but his room was his sanctuary, aside from Cara’s house across the street. He’d often be out on dog walks, especially right after school. He took great comfort in the routine. Dropped his bag at home, walked outside to see Cara with the two dogs and off they’d go.

Along with this confidence boost, Nim started taking care of himself again. He still didn’t interact with his family much, preferring to stay locked up in his room on his computer. He did, however, start eating again. And showering. And doing his homework. Wild right? His grades doubled in a month because of attendance alone, and he started talking to his teachers, seeing if there was any way he could make up for all the missing work. It turns out, if you ask nicely enough and tell the truth, you do actually get what you want. So he handed in his assignments, and his marks went up again, this time settling around the mid seventies, which is pretty good for missing two whole months straight. His teachers started congratulating him, commending him on his hard work, and he started to see Irene less and less.

He relapsed. It hit him hard, and he started drinking almost every day. He didn’t know how to deal with those horrid memories, the sound of the gun, Maeve crying, the sirens in the distance. The cold hard silence of the courtroom. That damn silence. But this time he had his friends, and his teachers. This time he knew what success looked like, had tasted it, lived it, and he wanted it again. He worked his ass off, and kept his marks above sixty. He didn’t know what to do. He was functioning, but he felt numb again. Time could only tell.

March 2018

They wanted to go on a trip, the three of them. They looked at Spain and Portugal, they looked at Ireland, Greece, and when Nim’s parents told him they didn’t want him going to another continent, they looked at San Francisco. Then came the truth. Nim’s parents told him that they believe he doesn’t deserve to go on a trip with his friends. Why? Because of all the shit he pulled this school year. Because he would spend months in his room, not eating, just sleeping. Because he started failing classes and acting incredibly rude to his family. Nim doesn’t deserve to go on a graduation trip.

Nim loses it. He cries. He had been putting in the effort for a solid two months, making a comeback. He was passing all his classes, he was being nice again, he was being part of the family. He was. He was being. But not enough. Never enough for his parents. So he leaves. He texts Cara and they go on a dog walk, to the park. Nim is sobbing the whole time, uncontrollably. He doesn’t know what’s come over him, doesn’t know why this is hurting so hart, but it is. It really fucking hurts. Felix shows up at the park, with Nim’s favourite drink and chocolate, two of each in fact. He loves his friends. He really does. Somewhere along the way, they had become his support system. Somewhere along the way, he grew to care so much for them.

So that’s why it hurts so much when he finds out they booked a flight to Spain together. Together. Spain. Two weeks. Together.

Nim cries again. His friends will leave him one by one, until he is all alone.

Then something different happens. Cara books them flights to Montreal. The two of them spend a week in Quebec, not as exotic as Spain, or even San Francisco, but it was a trip. They were going on a trip together, them. Felix couldn’t come, he had spent a lot of money and needed to work, but he hadn’t been forgotten, not even when the two of them went to Spain. Cara got him a shot glass from Madrid, and the two of them got Nim a shirt, a pen and enamel pins. They were thinking of him when they were gone. They thought of him. They really did care.

September 2018

"Is that your key in your pocket or are you just excited to see me?" Felix smirked at Nim. A guy makes one joke and suddenly it's the only joke he's ever made. It's not even one of his good jokes.

"Oh Felix," Nim looked at the ground bashfully, then back up at his friend. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you. . ."

Cara walked over in time to hear that. She lifted her hands up in a placating manner and backed up slowly. "Aight I'm out, that's it. Have at 'er."

The three of them look at each other, then burst out laughing. Their friendship was a weird one. It consisted of a couple and their weirdo third wheel, who is simultaneously their mom, and Felix 2.0. Yep, makes no sense. It was Nim's way of coping with his feelings. He didn't want to be left out, so he inserted himself between them and made up a reason as to why he did. He loved his best friends, he really did, but. But. Every time something like this happened, even though Nim was laughing with them, his heart clenched just a little, and he felt fragile.

It was bugging him, he couldn't figure out what it was.

Oh well, it can't be that important then.

Maybe it was the fact that every time he touched his key he thought of something else metal makes.

Maybe it was the sudden change in thoughts he had for his best friend.

Maybe it was the depression.

Who knows. Certainly not Nim.

"Hey bitch boy," Felix called out. Nim looked up. Felix grinned, "how did I know that you would respond to that?" Nim rolled his eyes and turned his gaze back to the book in his lap. "Why don't you come out with Cara and me tonight? Have a drink, lose the book, maybe dance a little? It could be fun, you never know."

Nim sighed, then looked back at Felix. "Bub you know I don't like that scene," he waited for the reaction of that nickname. Felix looked disgusted. "That's how I feel when you call me bitch boy," Nim looked back at his book.

"Please man," Felix tried again. "For me?" He kept staring at Nim, with that stupid look on his face.

"Don't pull that shit with me, I don't want to go. Don't pressure me."

Felix sighed but left it alone. Cara walked over, and wrapped her free arm around Felix's neck, planting a soft kiss on the top of his head. Nim just looked at them, his heart getting tighter and tighter. Jealousy reared its ugly head, and it took all of Nim's energy to shove it so far down that it would never see the light of day, at least for a bit. He smiled softly at them instead, wishing it was him. He wished he was dating his best friend. But alas, he is, in fact, the bitch boy. He was never going to admit his feelings, it would ruin everything the three of them had. He couldn't do that to Cara and Felix. They had something so good, so precious. He couldn't come between them.

Even if they broke up.

Nim knew it was coming. Cara had admitted herself that she doesn't like commitment, at least romantic commitment. When she had said that, Nim's heart had stopped, and he couldn't help but think that he would eventually lose her. Lately, they've been getting into little spats or something like that. All Nim knows is that their relationship has changed. They aren't as affectionate, and it's not just the end of what people call the honeymoon phase. They were friends first, they're used to casual touching, but that has lessened.

On the one hand, Nim was worried. He didn't want to have to choose between them, to have to pick a side. He couldn't do that. On the other hand, if they broke up, that would basically fix all of Nim's problems. Well, some of them. Actually, maybe not. Who knew.

October 2018

It was happening again. Nim could see the cracks forming between Felix and Cara, the tensions rising, the walls building themselves back up. From the outside looking in, you couldn't really tell anything was wrong. The three of them were just walking to the park, bags slung over their shoulders and the wind lifting up their hair. The sun was shining down on the three friends, reflecting off of Nim's pale skin and soaking into Cara's darker skin. From the outside looking in, it was just three friends quietly enjoying each other's company.

But Nim knew better.

Felix and Cara had another argument. Nim didn't know what it was about and honestly didn't want to know what it was about. Nim just wanted them to get over it. It was selfish of Nim, but Felix and Cara are his only friends. He can't stand it when they aren't getting along but pretend just for him. Nim could tell it was a big argument, because not only was there space between them when they were walking, they also weren't talking. If the fight wasn't bad, which means neither of them was really angry, then their hands would most likely brush, or their shoulders would touch. If one of them was actually mad, they wouldn't touch, but they'd still talk. They weren't talking, they weren't even making an effort to pretend in front of Nim, which means it was really bad.

He knew how this was going to go. They were going to get to the park, he was going to make some jokes, notice they weren't landing, and shut up. Then Felix will mutter some excuse about homework or something and walk home alone. Cara will be even more annoyed and will make some comment under her breath about it, then also make an excuse as to why she needs to go home, leaving Nim all alone, like usual. It always went like this. Nim had become good at reading them since they both tended to keep things to themselves and had also become very good at ignoring the problem. If they wanted to dwell on it they can, but it's not Nim's problem. He wasn't part of the argument, he doesn't have to pretend to be anything. Besides, Nim had discovered that his routine of not asking about it and ignoring it actually helped them get over it, at least that's what it looked like.

Who knew how often Cara and Felix met without Nim.

Not that they needed to include him every time. They were a couple after all.

But it would be nice, to be wanted all the time by someone.

Nim knew exactly what someone he wanted to be wanted by, but he shook his head quickly and shoved those feelings so far down he was afraid he'd shit them out. Cara looked over questioningly, but Nim ignored her. He didn't want to talk about it. Talking about it made it real. He's got a lot of secrets he doesn't want to share, but probably should. Like the fact that he's severely depressed, any social setting makes him anxious, and he literally hates every single thing about himself. That among other things, like how his family also hates him, he once killed a man and got away with it, and he sometimes wants to be a girl, but only sometimes.

Heavy stuff.

"Bye Saint," Cara called from her porch. Nim was so lost in thought he hadn't noticed that they had reached the street they both live on. A flicker of annoyance crossed his mind at the mention of his original nickname, but he kept it from slipping out and waved bye to her. She opened the door and walked inside, leaving Nim to turn and head down the street to his house. He didn't want to go home yet, but he had things to do. He hiked his bag higher up on his shoulder and crossed the street, finally reaching his destination. It was incredibly convenient that his best friend lived across the street from him, and has dogs that's an added bonus, and he could go over to her house any time he wanted. It was his safe haven. The only thing keeping him sane.

He said nothing when he opened the door, knowing no one really cared if he was home, no matter how many times they reassured him. He dropped his bag at the foot of the steps in the corner, planning on picking it up in a minute when he goes upstairs. Nim walks into the kitchen, grabbing a glass and filling it with water.

"Hi mama," he says quietly, taking a sip and avoiding eye contact.

"Hi sweetie," Coraline says gently, all her attention focused on the papers in front of her. "Dad won't be home for another couple hours, and then we're going out for dinner with Ken. It's a fend for yourself kind of night. There's pizza in the freezer if you want."

"Okay, thank you. I've got some homework I need to do, so I'll see you tomorrow." Nim puts the glass down and turns on his heel, picks up his bag in one smooth motion and climbs the staircase quietly.

September 2019

Nim was laying in his university dorm bed, eight months later, staring blankly at the ceiling. He was trying to avoid thinking about exactly what he was thinking about, but the more you tell yourself not to think about it, the more you do. It was getting to the point that Nim could no longer ignore it. His big secret. It's been months, and he still feels the same way, so it's probably safe to say that it's real. Phooey. He couldn't take it anymore, it was like it was killing him from the inside, which is weird considering what the secret is.

It had been about six months since Cara and Felix broke up. Thankfully it didn't really affect the friend group, which is amazing because Nim doesn't have any other friends. He's glad that it didn't come between their friendship. Honestly, Nim wanted to cry. He didn't know what to do. He was crushing on Felix, hard. It was probably the biggest problem he had. You know, aside from the crippling depression and anxiety, and the fact that he hasn't gone to class in a week, and hasn't handed in any assignments yet. Oops. Love that for him. On top of all that, because of course there's something worse happening on top of all of this, Cara is mad at him. Because he told her how he feels. Not his brightest move, but he needed his best friend. So not only is he feeling all of this, he's feeling all of it alone. Yay.

See the thing is, Cara said she doesn't want to be involved. Nim told her that she is involved, no matter what she wants. She's involved on both his side and Felix's side. She said no, she doesn't want to know that Nim is feeling, doesn't want to know if he tells Felix, and certainly doesn't want to know what Felix says to it. On one hand, Nim completely understands. Nim wouldn't want to be involved, so he gets it. On the other hand, he needs his best friend, his best friend who knows both of them as well as she knows herself. He needs the only other person besides Felix who knows him and Felix.

It's not like he can text Felix and be like "hey so I have this massive crush on you, got any idea on how I can get over it?" And that's the other thing. Nim doesn't want anything to come from it. Okay, that's a lie. He most certainly would love to date Felix, but out of respect for Cara, Nim knows nothing will ever happen. He made that clear and he made it clear that he is scared of his feelings, and he doesn't want them. He doesn't want his feelings for Felix. But he has them, and saying something out loud counteracts that thing so yeah he's planning on telling Felix at some point.

Oh wait, there's more. The local superhero, yes they exist, yes it is dumb, yes they actually wear spandex, no Nim doesn't know why, has been harassing Nim to join him on his mission to take down his nemesis and his newfound sidekick. Bad guys having sidekicks before the hero does? Weird. The point is that Nim is way too busy doing absolutely nothing to help out Captain Sunshine. Yeah, that's his name. Legit. Funny enough his powers have nothing to do with sunshine or light of any kind. He's a teleporter. But enough about Captain Stupid, it's time to get to the real problem.

Nim was supposed to clean.

Oops.

Guess he's going to sleep instead.

The next morning he did not clean, but he did shower and go to class, so there's that. He's at his desk, actually working for once when someone strolls into his room.

"I'll give you three seconds to get out before I call the cops," Nim said halfheartedly. A part of him thought it was a robber or someone coming to kill him, which would be nice, but the other half knew he isn't that lucky.

"Oho, but I am the cops," the person said. Nim recognized the voice and groaned out loud. Of course, it was him. "Come on, don't be like that! We could do great things together!"

And the final thing on Nim's mind, the sudden remembering of his powers. I mean he suppressed his feelings for like ten months and suppressed two mental illnesses for however many years it was. Turns out he's basically Magneto, (copyright) so yeah, that's fun. He turned his chair around to face Captain Stupid and gave him a deadpan look.

"Yeah, the severely depressed kid is going to make a great addition to your team of one." Nim gave him a flat look but could feel his will weakening. This is what happens, every single time. If anyone wants or needs something from him, Nim is more than willing to supply to the best of his ability. He'll literally do anything to make someone else happy, even if he hates that person.

Cough cough JADYN cough cough.

"See you say that now, but you haven't even tried it." Sunshine looked at me with that stupid look on his face. "I got you there, admit it."

"Fucking fine, but you're paying me for this. A bitch needs to eat."

And that's how Nim became a paid intern superhero.

For a while, Nim was too exhausted from running around in spandex, it was black and grey, there's no way he's going to draw more attention to himself than he needs to, to actually do anything other than patrol and go to classes. Then one day he got so fed up that after patrol he sat down and did all his work for the next week, which was a brilliant idea because he had three assignments due that week that he hadn't started. Teehee.

Then he slept for sixteen hours straight. Good thing it was the weekend.

January 2020

"Man do we really have to do this? I'm tired, you're probably tired, I got shit to do and I'm really not feeling it tonight. Raincheck?" Nim tried, he really tried, but he knew it wasn't going to work. Captain Darkness's (Jesus these names are horrible, like seriously who came up with them) sidekick was never one to back down. They had gone toe to toe all of twice, and to be honest, Nim had barely made it out. He's a pretty shit sidekick.

"You know the answer to that," the kid snarled. Nim wondered briefly how old he is. He can't exactly beat up a tween now, can he? "Let's go."

"My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die."

The other guy blinked. "Are you seriously quoting The Princess Bride at me?"

Nim nodded. "Gotta show you how little I actually care right now. But let's do this, then I get to go home."

And so they fought. Very poorly. They have not been trained well. One thing Nim does know how to do, however, is take off a mask. Which is what he did to the kid. Who isn't really a kid, and is in fact, Felix. How did he not see this coming?

Fuck.

Nim noped outta there real quick.

He got home, ripped off his suit and shoved it deep into his closet, then sat on his bed, thinking. He knew something was off every time he had seen Captain Darkness and his minion. There was something about the way his body moved, the tone of his voice, the very presence he had. How did he not see this coming? He sat there for several hours, only noticing when the door opened and Felix of all people walked in. Nim didn't even lift his head.

"Doing a big ol' thinmk?"

Nim looked up, still shell shocked. "Uhh,"

"I'm going to take that as a yes. I need to talk to you," he looked at the floor. It was then that Nim realized that Felix was nervous. He was probably going to tell him that he's secretly an intern to the only villain in the city, which, like, why? Why tell Nim? Unless he knows that Nim is Sunshine's intern. Which would be so funny and not at the same time.

"Lay it on me brother," Nim spread his arms. Felix apparently took that as an invitation and clambered into Nim's embrace. Honestly, not what Nim was expecting. His heart got all fluttery and he hoped that Felix couldn't tell. Felix mumbled something into Nim's shoulder, too quiet for him to hear. "What was that?"

". . . I kinda like you."

What.

Felix leaned back and looked Nim dead in the eye. "I like you,"

The.

He kept staring at Nim, waiting for a reaction. Oh, fucking, boy.

Fuck?

"Ah," Nim let out.

"Ah?"

"Ah," Nim confirmed. "Not really sure what I'm thinking if I'm being honest. I mean, I like you too man, I have for a bit, but, but. . ."

"But Cara," Felix finished for him. He sat up fully, his leg pressing into Nim's. Jesus his heart is still fluttering.

"Even if we wanted to be together," Nim said slowly, not sure how it would be taken.

"We can't. Because of what Cara and I used to be."

"Exactly." Nim looked down at his lap, his heart filled with so much happiness and so much dread. Why. Why him? Why does this shit always happen to him?

Felix took Nim's hand. Lord take him now. He squeezed it gently.

"Yeah,"

Yeah.

Loving his best friend was like loving fire. You needed fire, you needed it to live, but at the same time, it consumes all your oxygen and eats you alive. Loving Nim's best friend was like loving the one thing you knew you couldn't have, no matter what you say or do or anything. No matter what, you can't have it. You can't touch fire, not without being burned, but Nim still wanted to grab the fire, pull it close, and never let go. He wanted to keep hold on Felix for the rest of his life, never let the other boy go, but that wasn't realistic. Nim wanted a life with Felix, wanted to marry him, buy a house with him, own pets with him, hell maybe even adopt with him. Nim was ready for that now, but not only was Felix most likely not wanting or ready for that, but things also change. Realistically, that would happen at least in ten years, but who knows how either of them will be feeling about the other in ten years?

If Nim's being honest, he wants it to be Felix for the rest of his life. He can't imagine meeting someone else that consumes his oxygen and eats him alive like Felix does. Nim is so ready for this, but knowing Nim's luck, Felix isn't. Sure Felix said that he likes Nim too, but what if he's just saying that because if he didn't he thinks he might lose Nim? Of course that's not going to happen, Nim has dug his claws in and he's never letting go, but Felix will always have his doubts. Actions speak louder than words. At the end of the day, Nim loves Felix, he really does. That's it. There's no but. Nim loves Felix. Nim wants to be with Felix. But does Felix want to be with Nim? That's what's holding Nim back. That's what's always holding Nim back.

One Week Later

Nim couldn't stand it anymore. He loves his friends, he loves how they are, but he truly likes Felix. He wants to be with Felix, but he can't. Because of Cara. No aggression towards her, it's totally fair. He just wishes it wasn't the way it is. He wishes they could be together. He wants to cry. Again.

What is he going to do?

Nothing.

He was going to do nothing, say nothing, feel nothing.

Winter break came and went. The three of them spent every day together, and it was killing Nim. He could feel his willpower crumbling, his morale breaking. It felt like shit, honestly. He felt like shit. Who wouldn't? What was he going to do? What? What could he do?

Apparently, he was going to throw himself into school and his newfound job. He spent the next few weeks ignoring his emotions, dividing all his time between school assignments and patrolling the city with Sunshine. If he noticed anything different about his intern, he kept it to himself. The weeks seemed to pass in a blur, but at the same time, Nim looked at the calendar on his desk and noticed that it wasn't even February. What the heck.

A knock came from his door. "Come in," he called, not wanting to get up. Nim is the epitome of laziness. He turned his head to see Sunshine walk in, his body language tense. Oh boy, this'll be fun.

"Captain Darkness was spotted with his intern over at the Fayron, it's time to head out." Nim nodded grimly, literally giving zero shits. He stood and pulled on his suit (gross) following Sunshine ou the door. The two of them took the transit, yes the transit, down to Fayron Bridge, getting strange looks from the other people on the transit with them. If this were a movie they'd be walking in slow motion, determined looks on their faces, wind messing up their hair. But this wasn't a movie. How did Nim know? He was extremely tired, and could not hide a yawn. Superheroes don't yawn.

Someone get Nim out of here.

One Week Later

Nim: Can I talk to you? I need to get something off my chest

Cara: :0 what's up?

Nim: Look, I really like Felix. I really truly do, but I'm scared. I don't want to like him. It feels like I'm being disrespectful to you, and you know that's the last thing I want to do. I couldn't keep lying to you about it, it's not fair to you, and I guess I just needed to tell someone. I hope you're not mad at me

Cara: . . .

Cara: Honestly, I don't really know what to say. If you really feel that way about him, then you need to tell him. Just don't involve me. Don't tell me how telling him goes, don't talk to me about this, I don't want to be involved.

Nim: But you are involved

Cara: No, Nim, I'm saying don't involve me any further. Don't ever mention this to me.

Nim: I'm sorry, you know I didn't mean to make you upset, or make you think about things you didn't want to think about. That's not my intention. I guess I just wanted my best friend. You need to be honest with yourself and with him

Cara: No offense, but don't tell me what to do. I am an open fucking book. I don't know if you're asking me for permission or for my blessing, but leave me out of it. I want no part in this. If you keep bringing this up, I believe it will affect our relationship.

Nim: That isn't what I was trying to get across at all. All I wanted to know if I would lose my best friend for something I can't help. I want to stay friends with you, I don't want to lose you too.

Cara: No guilt-tripping, let's just move past this, okay?

February 2020

Sunshine and Darkness had ended up on the far side of the building, leaving their little sidekicks to duke it out in a dimly lit room. Why were these kinds of fights always in dark creepy buildings. Whatever happened to actual proper rooms to fight in, like at a dojo or something?

Anywho.

"Man come on, do we really have to do this? This whole thing is bullshit, it's not even our fight, it's theirs. Let's just leave it at that," Nim tried pleading with Felix, who didn't know that Nim knew that it was, in fact, Felix under that hideous mask. Felix snarled. "Are you serious bro are you a fucking animal like what?" Nim could feel the exhaustion settling into his bones, into his very soul. It was dragging him down, tearing him apart, burying him alive. All these bottled up emotions, all this stress, it was finally getting to him. He just wanted to sleep forever. He didn't even care about getting what he really wants anymore, it doesn't matter, it won't last. He will never truly be happy.

Felix lunged at him, and Nim let him. Nim let himself be tackled to the ground, the wind getting knocked out of his lungs as he landed. Nim let Felix sit on his torso, landing punch after punch onto his face. Tears of pain and exhaustion dripping down his face. He felt his jaw groaning in protest, felt his nose break and his lip split, blood pouring out and mixing with the tears. He felt his temple bruising, cuts opening on his forehead, and he felt his life slowly leave his body. Felix stopped, breathing heavily, just sitting on Nim. Through puffy eyes, he watched as Felix's right hand, the same hand that belonged to the arm that bore his best friend bracelet with him and Cara, reach up and slowly pull the mask over Nim's broken face.

He didn't even flinch.

But Felix did.

He flinched so hard that he staggered backward off of Nim, hands coming up to cover his mouth in shock. Nim couldn't even find the energy to waggle his fingers at him, or smile. He had no energy anymore.

"Saint?" Felix whispered. "It can't be, no." He moved closer, wiping the blood and tears gently from Nim's face. As his face became clearer, horror dawned on Felix's face. "No," he gasped out, tears soaking the cheeks of his mask. He ripped it off, revealing his face for the second time to his supposed enemy. "Nim, what are you doing here?"

Nim let out a weak, shaky laugh. "I needed money and Sunshine was willing to pay."

"You knew, going into this fight you knew it was me and you didn't say anything. Why? Why would you let me hurt you like this, why didn't you tell me? I never wanted to hurt you!" Felix was sobbing at this point. Nim reached up and cupped his face, smiling gently despite the pain.

"Because I love you," he said.

#writing #original #new wip #not really a wip #it's finished #thanks for coming to my ted talk #originalwriting #love #friends #murder #trial #trio #friendship

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