#tumblr cut me some slack dude let me be FUNNY

[thapunqueen]

he will learn to love the shirt dammit !!!!

[ambivalent-anarchy]

Star Wars 101 (Ch. 2) Episode IV - A New Hope

Masterlist

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Wow, I didn't realize how much I'd written until I hit the tumblr limit. Hope you like it! Comment your thoughts!

Chapter Summary: Steve just wants to do his job, the avengers are the best wingmen, Scott doesn't like porn, and [y/n] thinks all nerds are freaky

~~~

sci-fi boi: okay which cartoon rivalry was better?? Popeye the sailor man and Bluto or Tom and Jerry?

crackhead [y/n]: dude.

crackhead [y/n]: how is that even a question??? Obviously Tom and Jerry lol

sci-fi boi: explanation pls

crackhead [y/n]: popeye and bluto were always fighting over that girl olive and some other stupid crap but with my two furry buddies it was no talk pete no discussions just murder attempts ON SIGHT. Tell me they don't go harder than any other rivalry

sci-fi boi: haha truuuu

~~~

"Are we boring you, Queens?"

Peter's head snapped up quickly, discreetly turning his phone off underneath the meeting table. "Um-huh? No no no, Mr. Rogers I'm listening. Sorry."

Steve shook his head and continued to speak as he pointed to the pictures on the screen at the end of the room. All of the Avengers of Earth were there, some half asleep, while the others either joked or listened intently.

In two short days, they were going to be taking back powerful tech that Martin Li(aka: Mr. Negative)'s "demons" had stolen from Stark Industries. A simple "get in and get out".

They'd known this plan for some days now, yet Steve insisted on calling meetings to go over it again and again.

Feeling a quick vibration go off in his hand, Peter instinctively looked back down at his phone to see a snapchat text notification from you.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible🐝...

~~~

Peter shook his head slightly as he chuckled, a smile shamelessly creeping onto his face.

~~~

sci-fi boi: did you really just quote the bee movie at me???😂😂

~~~

"Hey spidey-boy, would you mind sharing to the class what's so hilarious?" Rhodey's voice rang out loud and clear from across the table.

Quick as lightning, Peter turned his phone off and buried it in between his thighs, realizing that he hadn't been as quiet as he'd thought. To his luck, everyone’s eyes were trained on him now.

“It's n-nothing!” Peter squeaked, his voice breaking embarassingly. He shoved his phone into his pocket in fear of someone snatching it from him.

Natasha rolled her eyes and smirked. "So what're you looking at down there?"

"I-i, uh, I was just um, w-watching a funny- very funny video actually-"

"C'mon guys!," Sam laughed, clapping his hands together. "Don't tease the kid. We all know what he was smiling at down there!"

At that, Peter practically choked. "WHAT?!"

Tony snickered. "Personally, I don't think two inches is something to be proud of, but alright."

Peter's eyes widen, nearly falling out of his skull by the looks of it. "I-it's not two inches a-and I wasn't looking at-!"

"Jesus christ, guys..." Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He was obviously just doing something on his phone. Leave the poor guy alone."

Peter coughed as he saw Steve glare at him with that infamous 'Im Captain America and Im judging you' glare. Phones weren't allowed in the meeting room. Well, they weren't supposed to be. No one ever really followed that rule except Peter. But he'd already been so deep in his conversation with you that he just couldn't put his phone down. "No no, um, I wasn't.. I was just zoning out, y'know, and I just happened to be looking-"

"-at your phone?," Steve cut in to ask.

"-at your dick," Rhodey stated at the same time.

"-at porn," Tony said with an all-knowing smile, causing everyone at the table to turn towards either him or Peter, whose face was beet red with embarrassment.

"Peter please tell us you weren't watching porn," Scott begged, his jaw completely dropped. "I mean, no judgment but-"

"Full judgement, actually," Clint corrected, an extremely disturbed look on his face. "Seriously, what were you doing, kid? You gotta tell us now with all these assumptions being thrown around."

"Curious," Thor stated, leaning back in his chair. "What is porn?"

"Something that I definitely WAS NOT watching!," Peter responded as he practically slammed his face into the table and slapped his hands over his eyes. "Does it even matter what I was doing anyway?," he mumbled into the table.

Natasha raised an eyebrow, blowing the smoke off of her coffee. "People usually aren't this defensive when they're telling the truth, Peter."

Peter shrunk into his seat with a loud groan. Can I die. Can I please just die. Like why am I seriously even alive right now??? Some bad guy please just burst through the door and maim me please.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. pull up Parker's phone," Tony commanded once the commotion in the room died down.

Peter quickly lifted his head. "Wait, what?!"

"Accessing Peter Parker's mobile device, sir," F.R.I.D.A.Y. responded. "Would you like for me to transfer the screen to the meeting board?"

Tony looked back with a laugh to see a frozen, slack-jawed Peter. He turned back around. "Yeah sure, F.R.I.D.A.Y., what the heck let's have fun."

"No wait- are you seriously hacking into my phone right now?!"

"Well why're you so tense, Parker?," Sam asked teasingly. "Thought you had nothing to hide?"

"I-i don't!," he stammered. "I-it's just..." he trailed off, looking for the right words to say. "..that's my private property," he said lamely while staring at the wall.

Tony stared back at him. "Well that's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard." He pointed towards the board. "Alright it's coming up."

Scott closed his eyes. "Oh God, please don't be porn.."

Peter rolled his eyes. Everyone else looked to the large board, fully expecting to see either porn or just some stupid game the boy had been playing.

But none of them expected him to be texting a girl.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: hey u still there?

~~~

"Who's crackhead [Y/N]?," Natasha asked.

Scott turned to Rhodes who was sitting on the side of him. "Is that some trashy porn star?," he whispered.

"Why're you asking me like I know?"

"It's this girl from school.." Peter answered, blushing profusely.

"And you like her," Natasha noted, watching his body language intently.

The boy's eyes widened. "N-no I don't!"

"Why crackhead though?," Rhodey asked, crinkling his nose.

Peter shrugged. "That's what she wanted her name to be," here responded. "Thought it was funny."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Just like you thought 'sci-fi boi' was funny?" Shaking his head, he changed focused. "Guys, are we gonna get back to work or not?"

"Not," Tony answered as he scrolled up all the way to the beginning of the messages from early that morning. "So, you've been texting this girl today off and on since..." He checked the time. "Five in the morning?"

Clint chuckled. "Oh yeah, huge crush."

“No!” Peter protested, his voice an octave too high. Realizing that it isn’t working, he decided to try a different technique. Clearing his throat, he tried to sound and act as nonchalant as possible. “She’s just a friend from school.”

"She's first on your best friends list, even over that computer kid you practically live with. And you and her practically snap each other nonstop."

Peter scratched his nose. "W-well that's only cuz Ned doesn't like to text much."

Bruce took his glasses off and sighed, realizing there was no way this meeting was getting back on topic. "Look Pete," he said. "Friends don't do that. I've seen it all before. If you and this girl are talking on a daily basis all throughout the day starting at five in the morning?" He titled his head in a suggestive way, though Peter stared back at him blankly.

"What?," Peter asked.

"Oh my God, kid," Bruce sighed.

Tony held his head back and laughed. "It means either she likes you and your just too dense, you like her but won't admit it and she's just concerningly nice, or you both like each other and just won't make your moves!"

Sam, who hadn't lifted his eyes from the board the entire time, spoke up. "And judging by these texts, you already got her, it's just not official yet."

Tony kept scrolling. "You two went to winter formal together?"

"Yeah... but as friends," Peter said with a shrug.

Steve cleared his throat loudly, gaining the attention of everyone in the room at once. He looked at Peter who was doing everything here could not to look him in the eye. "Look, as much as I would love to talk about Peter's sad love life, we have a mission-"

"-that will still be there tomorrow, Cap," Bucky finished for him. "C'mon we've been going over this stuff for hours. Let us have this distraction."

Everyone looked to him, Tony feigning a puppy dog expression. Crossing his arms, he left the room. "Fine, but when someone gets hurt because they didn't know where they were supposed to go, don't blame me."

"...literally no one's ever blaming you, man," Sam said.

Suddenly, the screen lit up and F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke. "Sir, Peter Parker has a new message."

Everyone looked to the board. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Scroll down, Mr. Stark. Scroll down!," Peter yelled frantically. "What's she saying?"

Natasha smirked. "And you're sure you don't like her, Peter?"

His face flushed. "Okay fine...I might have a tiny crush-"

"I'm sorry I can't hear you," Tony cut in. "Can you say that agai-"

"-I SAID YEAH I REALLY LIKE THIS GIRL!," Peter finally yelled with his eyes squeezed shut. He kept them closed for about twenty seconds afterwards, afraid of the judging faces he would see if he opened them.

He carefully opened his eyes to see all of the avengers (minus Cap) staring back at him with stupid smiles and smirks on their faces.

"Well, that's all I needed to hear," Tony said. He clapped his hands together. "Okay everybody, first order of business, checking the text. Sam, you're our reader."

"Got it."

"What?," Peter yelled, reaching for his phone. Tony dodged him and gave it to Sam. "Mr. Stark, I can text a girl on my own. I don't need help."

"Nat, you're our timer. Make sure none of the responses take longer than a minute. We don't want the girl to get bored and go on to something else."

"Check."

"Mr. Stark, c'mon-"

"Sam, you explain stuff to lightning head over here if he doesn't understand it. This could be learning moment for ole Shakespeare. Thor, you listen to Sam."

"Right."

"On it."

"Everyone else, you're with me. We gotta find the perfect thing to say to this girl. I've got a feeling this is probably the only chance he's gonna have to get a girl in a long time."

Rhodes, Scott, Clint, Bruce, and Wanda looked to each other and nodded.

"And Pete?"

Peter raised his head. "Yes sir?"

"You know this girl more than anybody here does, so you tell us if what we say is appropriate for her or not."

Peter rolled his eyes and nodded. After all, what's the worst that can happen?

Tony pointed to Sam. "Okay, read it."

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: u going to flash's party on saturday??

~~~

"She wants to know if the kid's going to some party Saturday."

Tony turned to the boy. "You're going," her demanded.

Flash was the most popular douchebag in school. Totally rich and totally rude and totally determined to use his every breath to spite Peter. "I wasn't even invited," Peter mumbled, shooting a glare towards Sam when he heard him laughing.

"Well get invited," Tony ordered. "A party is the perfect place to make a move. Send yes."

~~~

sci-fi boi: yes

~~~

"Mr. Stark, how am I supposed to get into this party? Flash hates me! And if I crash it and Flash sees me, he's gonna make sure everyone thinks I'm a loser!"

Tony rolled his eyes and sighed. "Peter we're trying to help you here. Figure that part out on your own."

Peter sighed, leaning forward in his chair. The last thing he wanted was another assignment, even if it wasn't actually an assignment. On the plus side, he'd get to see you, and maybe have some fun if he actually tried to enjoy himself.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: cool so i guess ill go too

~~~

Rhodey chuckled while shaking his head. "Kid, if you don't ask this chick out the second you see her again, I'm gonna bodyslam you."

Peter frowned. "What do you mean?"

Bruce smiled. "Whether or not she went to the party was depending on if you were going," he pointed out.

"This girl used to be like that with me back in college," Scott said with a shrug. "Thought she liked me. Turned out she just had social anxiety..."

"Yeah you're really not helping this, bugman," Tony said.

"Wait, you guys think [Y/N] actually likes me back?," Peter asked, getting groans and laughs in return.

"Where have you been the last few minutes?," Natasha said.

"We've literally been saying that this entire time," Sam deadpanned.

Peter stared at his feet below the table. If the team was right, and you did actually like him back, then the movie marathon he was planning was the perfect excuse to hang out with you. "I-i think I might have a plan!," he rushed out, his head flying up. He pointed to Sam. "Ask her if she's free tonight!"

"Yes!," Thor yelled, his fists pumped into the air. "The spider child has grown his man balls!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Sam nodded approvingly as he texted.

~~~

sci-fi: r u free tonight??😉

~~~

"Wait hold on," Peter said, suddenly rushing towards the phone in a frantic manner. "Why is there a winking emoji?! I didn't say anything about a winking emoji!"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were flirti-"

Peter groaned. "Delete it, man. Delete it before her bitmoji pops up!"

"Okay okay, dang kid," Sam chuckled, quickly deleting the text and replacing it with one without a winking emoji. "There. And ya girl didn't even see it."

"Hey guys," Scott said. "I know we're all freaking out and stuff. But honestly, I'm just glad he wasn't watching porn." He shrugged. "So no matter what happens with this girl, today's still an absolute win."

It went on like this for a solid thirty minutes.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: yeah wassup

sci-fi boi: wanna come over and watch movies?

crackhead [y/n]: sure what're we watching

sci-fi boi: we can decide that when u get here. how about 4??

crackhead [y/n]: alright sure

~~~

"Okay, last thing," Tony said. "We need a sly compliment. Something not that special about her, but enough to show her that you're tuned in. Gets them every time, trust me."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Wow, lady-killer."

Tony pointed towards her and shrugged. "She said it, not me."

Thor looked to Peter. "So, young spider. What have you observed about your darling love?"

Peter blushed, almost wanting to comment on the Thor's word choice but ultimately deciding not to. "Well, um, her eyes light up a lot when she gets excited and it's really dorky in a cute kind of way I guess," he mumbled, scratching his head.

"Alright I got it," Sam said, typing the words in. He lifted his shoulders into a shrug. "Who knows, kid? There be some hope for you."

~~~

sci-fi boi: btw how do you get ur eyes to sparkle so bright when u get happy about stuff? Just thinking about it lol its cute

~~~

-

Peter blew out a shaky breath as he looked back over the set-up he'd made in the living room.

He'd cleared out space to build a super huge homemade blanket fort and inside it at the end was his tv. Towards the middle were all of pillows he could find inside the house and at the other end were snacks. All around the inside were fairy lights because he knew you liked them, though personally he found them cliche.

He spent about an hour on the whole set and an additional thirty minutes stressing over and making sure everything was safe (with all three fairy lights and tv cords). The last thing he needed was for the both of you to catch on fire while watching the movie.

The two of you were going to be watching Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (or as normal 'not-nerds' like to call it, "the first one"). Of course, he hadn't told the team that. If they'd known what movie he'd planned on showing her, high chances are they wouldn't have even let him out of Avengers tower. But if Peter was gonna be forced to hang out with someone (not that he was really complaining), he would at least pick the film.

Finally checking all the boxes in his head for the night, Peter went to go check the DVD before he heard your knock at the door.

"Coming!," he yelled, quickly chucking the disc into the DVD player. He ran to the door and opened it with an awkward smile. "Uh, hey [Y/N]."

"Hey," you said back, already sort of blushing. "How's it going?"

Peter stared. Are your eyebrows done or are they just naturally that nice? He found his voice after abruptly noticing that he was staring. "Uh-well. It's been going great! How's it going for y-you also as well?" He frowned. "I-i mean, what's been going on with your life lately? No, that's dumb. I meant-"

"Peter, Peter! Calm down, dude," you giggled. "I've been fine."

"Oh," he chuckled. "That's good... d-do you wanna come in?"

"Question. What're we watching, Peter?," you asked, a smile playing on your face. Considering what you remembered from the last time you were at his house, and the fort you could get a peek of from the doorframe, you figured it was special for the nerdy boy. Plus his shirt had Yoda on it.

Freakin' Star Wars.

Immediately, a wide grin spread across his face. "Remember what you promised me we'd watch?"

You rolled your eyes, stepping past him into his living room. "Yeah yeah, whatever. Time to get nerdy I guess."

"Come on, you'll love it,"Peter said, quickly closing the door behind them and then briskly running towards the fort to hold up the side blankets for you. "So, snacks and drinks are beside us. We'll chill on these blankets here. And...um, yeah. That's about it." After stepping outside for a bit to go turn off the lights(for the full "movie theater" experience), Peter laid down on his belly, reaching for the DVD player to press play.

You watched as he fumbled with the wires, making sure the DVD player was plugged in before turning it on. Has your jawline always been that sharp?

You couldn't quite place it, but his texts from before seemed.. weird. But not a bad weird at all. A good, intriguing weird.

And that compliment was pretty nice, but odd for Peter. Sure, he complimented you often, but it just felt different this time. Usually it'd be something like, "new dress?" or "nice shoes". But never "you're eyes sparkle when you get excited." Heck, you didn't even know that about you. Was he paying attention? Did that mean he-

You remember how he acted about Liz Allen and Michelle Jones. Always staring. Never able to even say a full sentence in front of them without stuttering up a storm.

But he was so comfortable about you for the most part. You were just a friend.

"Okay got it," Peter said, laughing excitedly as the screen in front of him lit up. He scooted back to where you were sat. "Prepare to have your mind blown."

The Fort quickly became dark as the Lucasfilm logo shined on the screen.

"I seriously dou-"

"Shhh!," he cut you off. "Wait for it..."

You gave him a look but joined him in his silence to see what he was waiting for.

BUMMMMM buh buh bummmm

Practically jumping on top of him, you flinched at the loud and sudden music. "Crap dude! Turn it down!"

Peter shook his head, reaching for a soda. "You have to get the full effect, [Y/N]!," he laughed. "Just embrace it." He began to sing with the music and mime crazy gestures as if he were directing an orchestra.

Duh duh duh DUH DUHHHHHHHH

Halfway through he stopped and recited the opening crawl, his eyes glued to the screen with a sort of focus that made you sure that not only was this not foreign to him, he probably did this every other week.

"It is a period of civil war," he mumbled, throwing some popcorn into his mouth. "Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic- [Y/N] you have to watch the words, I swear it'll make the whole experience better." It went on for a little while longer until he paused the movie and looked over at you, cowering a bit. "D-do I have something on my face?"

"Huh? Nah you're good," you said, realizing he'd noticed you staring. "It's just-" you remembered his text from earlier. "-you got really excited... It-um..it was cute."

Because of the darkness(the only lighting being from the tv), you couldn't see if Peter blushed or not, but you could clearly see the stupid grin plastered on his face that he was trying to hide from you with his hand. Repeatedly licking his lips as a desperate attempt to stop smiling as he pressed play on the remote control. "A-ah, um, thanks [Y/N]."

The opening crawl was over and soon the movie actually began, showing a huge spaceship.

"That's the imperial star destroyer," Peter whispered, never taking his eyes off the screen. "They belong to the empire." He saw your blank expression, wide eyes as he realized that meant nothing to you. "Uh, the bad guys."

You squinted your eyes at the screen, silently judging the graphics of the energy blasts- space bullets?- or whatever they were supposed to be. "Pete, when was this movie made?"

"1977."

"Oh okay," you said, deciding to give it some leeway for the trash designs.

You scooted a little closer to your friend, figuring you'd get a little bit more comfortable.

Oh how he wished you hadn't done that.

Nothing like actual, physical contact with a girl that you like and you think she might like you back to actually manage to distract you from one of your favorite movies ever.

He froze, not wanting to pull away and offend you, but definitely not wanting to stay because just being this close to you was making his mind run wild.

Does she actually like me back? What if Mr. Stark and the team only said that to get me to make a fool of myself? She's too comfortable with me. She just sees me as a friend. Or maybe she likes me and she's just really chill about it? Ooh my gosh and she's leaning on me right now. What am I 'sposed to do?? I don't know I don't know I don't know!!!!!!!!!

Deciding for a quick compromise, he got up completely to reach for another soda, though his sprite was still half finished. When he sat back down, he wasn't as close. Hopefully, you'd just see it as natural human behaviour and not him wanting to be away from you.

Course you would see it that way, wouldn't you?

"Oh my gosh I recognize someone! That's R2D2, right?!" You pointed wildly, glad to not be completely clueless for once with this nerd crap.

"Yeah that's R2," Peter responded, letting out a secret sigh of relief, thankful for the distraction.

"A-and that's that gold dude!"

"Yeah, C-3PO."

"And oh crap that's Princess Leia!," you shouted. "Fucking feminist icon!"

Peter tilted his head. "Wait, how would you know that if you've never watched this?"

You laughed. "I still have access to the internet, doofus! Scroll down the nerdy feminist side of tumblr and Leia is literally everywhere."

Peter chuckled as he finally finished his sprite. "Okay. Valid."

Since that, you stopped talking for a bit. Part of you actually did figure that since you're here, you might as well actually try to enjoy the movie and maybe find out what the fans actually see in it that makes them like it so much. The other part just really didn't want to annoy Peter while he was watching his favorite movie series.

But sometimes you just have to say something.

"Hold up, wait. Isn't that his sister? Oh my God, Pete I swear somebody told me before that Leia was Luke's twin!"

Peter shrugged while nodding. "Well, that's a bit of a spoiler, but yeah. What about it?"

"Oh my gosh, Pete- what about it?! Dude, he's literally making 'fuck me' eyes at his own sister! He's all like, 'ooh you're so sexy I'm gonna bone you all over the galaxy'. That's freaky!"

You grabbed the remote and began to rewind it.

"C'mon now [Y/N]," he explained. "He didn't call her sexy. He said she was beautiful. Sexy is wayyy different from beautiful. You can think your family members are beautiful can't you?"

You paused it once you got to where you wanted.

"Okay Parker, look at that. Look at that and tell me Lukes's not totally undressing her with his eyes!" You pointed at Peter's face with a goofy smile on yours. "Oh wow, I've finally figured you people out now."

Peter's head cocked to the side. "Figured out what?"

"Star Wars nerds are a bunch of horny kids that like that step-sibling porn stuff but can't watch that in front of their parents so they have to use an alternative!"

Peter fell on his back with laughter, practically rolling around like a pig. "[Y/N], what?!"

You gave him an incredulous look. "Who else likes to see two siblings bang each other, Peter?!"

At that he pointed back at you while picking up his other soda. "To be fair, they never do that with each other. They only kiss, like twice and that's it. And one of them is only to make Han Solo mad."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about the Han Solo guy. Where is he anyway?"

Peter smiled. "Well, we're only twenty mintues in. He'll come soon."

To tell the truth, Peter really didn't even know what part you were at. His eyes were watching the screen but nothing was being comprehended. The only thing he could manage to think about was all the tiny things that were going on over on your side of the fort. Did you notice him staring? Was Tony right and you were just concerningly nice?

"I love how everybody at this bar is so chill south everything that's happening. It's like oh wow this guy just shot this green dude at table 8 and nope we totally don't care," you joked, pulling Peter out of his trance. He reminded himself that he should probably try to pay more attention. He didn't want to ruin the movie for you in case you had any questions.

But eventually, like all things do, the movie came to an end.

"So, how'd you like it?," Peter said while neither one of you made a move to leave the dark fort. You were laid out in practically a starfish-type position while he was sitting Indian-style.

You smirked. "I'll admit, it was pretty nice for a movie made in 1977. Still a bit lame though," you teased, pinching your fingers together with a giggle. Suddenly, you gasped. "Ooh, Vader was pretty lit though! Just straight force-choking people who disagree with you is such a power move."

Peter rolled his eyes and scoffed lightly. "Typical..."

"Excuse me?"

He bit back a quick smile. "Look, I'm not saying that Darth Vader isn't awesome. Because he is! Totally and completely but [Y/N], you do realize that in literally every movie we watch you like the villains?," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Because the villains are awesome!," you defended.

"Just saying. I'm sensing a bit of a pattern...," he teased.

You scoffed. "This coming from the guy who actually feels bad about some the people crashing into things when we're watching Ridiculousness," you said, reminding in how Peter was forever the relentless sap. "Well, while you're so busy judging me, whose your favorite character?"

At that, he gave a small sincere smile. "Ben. He's really cool."

"Ben Kenobi? The old guy that literally let himself die? But why?"

He shrugged, the small grin still present on his face. "Eh, sentimental reasons..."

He watched you return his sweet smile and it was then and there when Peter really felt content with the night. Though, you hadn't even known the weight his words carried, he did. Ned was the only other person who knew about it. But Peter knew right then and there that if you had asked, he'd tell you. And he knew you'd understand. Maybe you were just nice. Or maybe you did like him back. But in that moment, Peter didn't care. He just wanted to be here with you. Lost in the warm smell of popcorn and your vanilla perfume, watching a Star Wars movie with Uncle Ben surely smiling down from Heaven. And it gave Peter hope that maybe, just maybe, this was a step in the right direction.

2 hours (and five minutes) down. 22 hours (and forty seven mintues) to go...

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

Taglist: @underoosjae @spn-assemble-seven @of-your-eyes-begonia-skies @parkerpeter24 , @audreylovespidey706

[goldenchildkatsuki]

hey! I was wondering if you can do a tattoo parlour au for the kacchako prompts? I haven’t really seen this kind of au for this ship yet and it would be awesome if you were the one who wrote it, since I really love your writing :)

It took some time but it’s finally finished!

Summary: Uraraka and Bakugou are two tattoo artists in a well respected tatoo parlor that has been chosen to shoot the television series “Tattoo Fixers” in. A show where people can get their horrible tatoo’s fixed by two of the most respected artists in town. Both artists make a sketch to cover up the original tattoo and it’s up to the client to choose which sketch they’re going for, for the cover up. At the start of the season Bakugou comes up with a competition. The artist that has their designs chosen the most by the end of the season is allowed to tattoo something of their choice on the loser.

Writes note: I asked on Tumblr to send a cliché fanfiction trope in my ask box and I would make a decent Kacchako drabble out of it. This is for the fourth ask I received. I was so super excited when I received this, I thought of how I could make this interesting and I immediately thought of the show “Tattoo Fixers” that’s being aired on TLC. Then I thought of how Amy and Jake from Brooklyn 99 got together and it spawned this fic. (see the end for more notes)

Word count: 5.365

AO3 link: (x)

“Kirishima!Jot one more down for me!” Uraraka yelled as she kicked in the door of thebreakroom. Bakugou closely followed her and pointed his finger at his coworker.“I swear to God, pick up that marker and you’re dead punk.”

Kirishimaswiveled his chair from a desk to the whiteboard and shrugged. “It’s not myfault that she’s killing it.” He picked up a red marker and tallied a pointunder Uraraka’s name.

Uraraka letherself fall on the big leather couch in the center of the room, put her feeton the armrest and put her hands behind her head. “He’s right! If you wouldjust step up your game then…” Before Uraraka could finish her sentence Bakugouplaced himself on her stomach, squeezing all the air out of her. “Shut up! Theguy was totally eyeing you the second he came into the parlor, how was thatfair?”

Urarakatried to push him off but he refused to budge, she tried to wiggle out but heonly made himself more comfortable.

“You soundbutthurt.” Uraraka huffed.

“Oh comeon!”

Kirishimachuckled. “You do sound a bit butthurt dude.”

Bakugoushot up and walked over to him. “I will sit on you too if you don’t stopbacking her up.”

“Was thatmeant to be an actual threat?” Uraraka taunted him.

Bakugouglared at her from across the room and she mischievously smiled back at him. Hetried hard to contain his cold stare but he couldn’t help but break characterwhen she beamed like that. The corners of his mouth started to twitch andbefore she could notice he turned away and stuck his nose in the air.

“Instead offucking around shouldn’t you two be working or something?” Bakugou bellowed.

Kirishimaswiveled his chair back to the desk and took a pen he had tucked behind his ear.“Cut me some slack, I’m just working on some possible designs.” He thickened afew lines of a design and squinted at it. “Besides I’m not one of the stars ofthe show.”

“And one ofthe actual stars of the show actually doesn’t have to work for another tenminutes.” Uraraka framed her face and stuck her tongue out. She sat up andraised an eyebrow at Bakugou. “So what are you going to do? Maybe you shouldjoin Kirishima in practicing if you want to win.”

Kirishimathrew a pen from the desk at Bakugou. “Better get started buddy.”

Bakugoutucked the pen behind his ear and poked his tongue in his cheek, he walked tothe couch as he nodded, impressed by the nerve his two coworkers had to insulthim.

“Kirishima,what’s her score?” Bakugou asked.

“44.”Kirishima answered without having to take a look at the board.

Bakugourubbed his chin. “44. And what’s mine?”

“42.”

He heardUraraka trying to hold back a giggle.

“I’m notthat far behind Pink Cheeks, so don’t think you’re going to win.”

Urarakastood up and started walking to the door. “We’re reaching the end of the seasonthough.” She sang.

“Oh I know,and I’ve told you before, but I’m kind enough to tell you again; I’m going tofucking win!” He yelled at her as she left the room.

“Okottomo!”Uraraka sang from the other side of the door.

“Shut itTsukao.” He rolled his eyes at the door.

Bakugou hatedhow well Uraraka has had gotten to know him over the year they’ve workedtogether, it made her an expert in knowing exactly how to push his buttons.Normally Bakugou would have a lot more to fire back with when she was teasinghim like that. He had a whole arsenal of snarky comments that he would’vegladly used on Uraraka. But because she’s winning, it was easier for her toshut him up and have the last laugh.

Though hesounded so confident only seconds ago he couldn’t help but slightly doubt theodds of him actually beating her after the last episode. He didn’t doubt hisown skills and creativity. He had worked hard on developing his own style thatdifferentiated himself from other tattoo artists, focusing on creating his ownbrand, his own label, something that people got jealous over when they saw hisdesigns inked on other people’s skin. It had taken Bakugou 14 thrown awaysketch books, walking away from a prestige visual arts school and isolatinghimself almost reaching the point of breaking down to find a way of sketchingthat screamed his name. It was raw, it was rough but detailed, something no onecould recreate or perfect. Just how he liked it.

You had tohave specific taste and a good pair of balls to slam money on the table and askfor one of Bakugou’s designs, which more people had than expected but it stillmade it hard to win. After he and Uraraka would draw the cover up for theirtattoo, the customers took twice as long looking at his design than they did atUraraka’s. First they would state how much they admired his design but then putit aside by saying it’s ‘probably toomuch for them’.

Uraraka onthe other hand, didn’t have a specific style at all. Bakugou has stared at her notebookfor too long, trying to figure out what it was, and he almost ended up flippingover a table when he just couldn’t put a finger on it. When he looked at herand the tattoo’s she had, he thought he could maybe find some sort ofcorrelation. The tattoo’s she had were overall simple. Nothing to exactly say ‘ooh!’ and ‘ah!’ over. She had little words that had meaning to her. Smallsymbols on her fingers and wrist. And someone was working on inking aconstellation starting from her neck down to her shoulder blades on her.

What shedrew and inked on people was never ‘simple’. Other coworkers have called herthe ‘artist of the people’ almostbeing able to nail the preferred style of the customer right on the head. Hecalled her ‘too much of a people pleaser’,but honestly. It was impressive. Considering she had only drawn for fun sinceshe was old enough to hold a pencil, having no proper education or mentoringwhen it came to art.

It made hera perfect fit for the show and a worthy contender for the competition heinitially came up with.

“You knowshe only riles you up so she can call you that right?” Kirishima commented.

“I know.”

“It’s kindof cute though, those names you have for each other.” Bakugou could hear thesmile forming on Kirishima’s lips.

He scoffed.“Fuck off already!”

“I mean…”

Bakugouwalked towards the door and kicked it open. “I’ve had it with both of youtoday!”

The door promptlygot stopped and Uraraka popped up from behind the door. She pulled her whitemask down to her chin.

“That’s abummer, you have to spend the rest of the day with me!”

He noticedthe crew has touched her up. He noticed that her lashes were longer and darkerthan usual. That was the only thing that stood out to him. The rest of themake-up had most likely ended up on a wet wipe and in the trash.

Bakugou wasthankful that Uraraka didn’t let the whole television situation go to her head.Like him, she wasn’t too bothered about voice overs and sit downs, or wardrobeand make-up. They’ve even discussed fame and publicity and both of them couldn’tseem to implicate it to themselves. They were more happy for the parlor and theincrease in work load.

ForUraraka, art came first. It has always been about the art, the craft and the parlor.

One of thesurprisingly many interests they shared.

Uraraka pointedat the station where the client was sitting, anxious of all the camera’s andlights being set up around him.

“Wannawatch the winner at work?”

“I don’tmind having a mirror besides me when I work on my next client to be honest.”

She let outa breathy laugh and punched his shoulder. “Real funny, so are you watching orwhat?”

Bakugou grinnedand Uraraka let her mask snap back over her mouth. Her eyes nearly closed asshe smiled at him underneath her mask. She clapped her hands together and madeher way to the station as Bakugou followed her.

He stoodnext to one of the camera men and watched Uraraka talk to the client, trying totalk over a few things. It looked like she was trying to comfort him. Theclient kept nodding at her as she let her positive attitude reflect on him. Sheshowed him her design one more time, as a reminder of what he was here for.

It was goodthe client was captivated by the sketch and didn’t notice her hands shaking asthey tightly held on the paper. Bakugou turned away and shook his head. Thestar of the show was ten times more nervous than someone that has probablynever been around these many cameras before. Bakugou knows she wouldn’t admitit, but it’s obvious she’s terribly scared of fucking up. Knowing her shewouldn’t care that she fucked up on television, but she would care more aboutthe client. They came here in the first place to get their messed up tattoo’sfixed after all. And it’s also the people pleaser in Uraraka, always wanting tomake sure to deliver the best result possible.

Urarakadoubted her own talent and skill. What for? Bakugou had never seen her delivera client something that was even slightly off. And she knew it too. He’s toldher, in an attempt to pry those feelings out of her, but of course she jokedaround the compliment. Not even taking it seriously because it came from him, asarcastic little shit that was hardly ever genuine to anyone. Bakugou has neverfelt bad about that title, but it was frustrating that she wouldn’t believe himbecause of that. She deserved to get praise, more than she already received,because it’s clearly not enough for her to believe in herself.

Thedirector demanded silence on the set, which was Uraraka’s queue to put heranxiety aside as much as possible and start. Her shoulders that we’re nearlytouching her ears, gradually came down as she set the first lines of ink on theclients skin. Bakugou caught her eyeing at him a few times as if she looked forvalidation from him. Her gaze became more and more focused as camera’s startedto swivel around her and came in closer for close up. She took a look at herclient who had started soaking up the chair with sweat. Uraraka turned off themachine and pulled down her mask to whisper something in the guy’s ear, whichmade both of them laugh. When the laughter died down she continued her work.

Bakugoucouldn’t help but envy her. He barely took his time to check on his clients, hewouldn’t even know what to say since he was used to all those lenses and lightson him. Even when they weren’t recording and he would get an anxious client hedidn’t exactly know what to do or say. It was always Uraraka that jumped in didall the talking. She was capable of so many things that he wasn’t. It wassomething Bakugou hardly ever admitted about anyone, his ability clearly abovethe rest until she came along. The gap so clear that his pride couldn’t evendeny the thought that all round she was more capable than him. But he also knewthat she could learn plenty from him too.

That’s whatmakes them work together.

He was gladthat reaching the end of the tattoo session Uraraka seemed to have herconfidence back. The confidence she projected moments ago and made her a strongopponent. Bakugou didn’t have to get close to see that the end result wasawesome. The client was visibly excited and even a little bit in awe when hesaw the end result.

Thedirector yelled to stop rolling and immediately a couple of productionassistants flocked the chair and guided the client to another room to shootsome sit down scenes and a couple of voice overs. Poor guy barely had time toproperly thank Uraraka. Before any of the crew members could do the same thingto Uraraka, Bakugou approached her. She pulled down her mask and rubbed thesweat of her forehead, afterwards she raised her hand for a high five.

“I can’tbelieve you’re high fiving the winner, that’s like waving the white flag.”Uraraka laughed.

“Fuck offit’s not. Am I not allowed to tell a coworker they did a good job anymore?”

“Youhigh-fived me, you didn’t tell me.”

Bakugousighed. “You’re difficult you know that?”

He tried tohold back the mischievous side that she so easily knew how to get out of himand decided to make an attempt at being genuine.

“You did agood job.”

“Thankyou.”

He had afeeling this was one of the few acknowledgements that reached her. It was oneof the few times she looked into his eyes for more than a couple of seconds.Like she had much more to say but it didn’t feel right to say out loud. It wasthe first time she let him see her blush. It was the first time she didn’tlaugh the moment away. She simply smiled.

Aunexpected touch pulled Bakugou out of his thoughts and made him turn around.He met the always over-radiant facial expression of the producer. Therewouldn’t be a single time he couldn’t be caught with a toothy smile, pattingsomeone on the shoulder or yelling words of encouragement through the parlor.

“Katsuki,Ochako, my modern day Picasso’s!”

“Too muchGoda.” Bakugou tried to conceal his slight irritation in his voice.

He gave a fewsturdy pats on Bakugou’s shoulder. “Too much? Too much?! Don’t be so modestKatsuki! There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging your talent. It’s because ofyour talent I know this season is going to be a success!”

Urarakawinced as Goda continued to pulverate Bakugou’s shoulder with every word thatcame out of his mouth.

“Goda,”Uraraka interrupted the praise. “Did you want to talk to us about something?”

Immediatelythe producer stopped and pointed at Uraraka.

“Ochako, asalways, very sharp! Yes, I wanted to talk to you about the season finale. Italked it over with a few people and we thought that it would be nice and kickup the rating a notch if we would show some behind the scenes footage!”

Bakugoushot his eyes to Uraraka who stayed focused on Goda.. He didn’t exactly knowhow to feel about it. He didn’t want people to get more invested in ‘every day Bakugou’ than in ‘Bakugou the artist’. He valued that artisticimage of himself more than anything else. His whole life revolved around thatimage; his income, the people he was constantly around. He didn’t want a twominute clip outshining what he prioritized during the whole season, the art.Wouldn’t Uraraka think the same thing?

“Soundsgood to me.” Uraraka said.

Bakugouturned to her.

“Only if weget to take a look at the footage first. Don’t want a scene in there of mestuffing my lunch in my face.”

Bakugou letout a sigh of relief. Uraraka noticed, turned to him and winked at him. Sheknew what she was doing.

“If you didthar she would hesitate to sue your asses.” Bakugou said jokingly.

“Oh, Iwould definitely sue.” Uraraka complemented him.

Godastarted to panic, not realizing that the two were teasing him and hurried themto one of the offices the show has claimed during their time filming there. Itwas a dark lit room, with multiple computer screens set up, wires spread outall across the floor and a concerning amount of mugs on the desk.

In front ofone of the screens there was a girl, with her nose almost against the screen,clicking away on a mouse.

“Kimi, theMichael Kahn of television!”

“Too muchGoda.” the editor spoke with barely any emotion in her voice.

Goda wentout to hold on to both of her shoulders and pulled her a bit back from thescreen.

“Why iseveryone so humble around here?! Kimi, can you please do me a favor and show thesetwo what you had in mind for the behind the scenes clip?”

Kimi rubbedher eyes and adjusted her glasses. “Sure.”

Goda pattedher shoulders, gave her a thumbs up and walked back to the door.

“Ochako,Katsuki, meet me after you’ve been through the footage, we’ll talk over thelast episode okay? Alright? Splendid!”

Kimi loadedup the file as Goda left the room, who visibly cared less about the whole thingthan her boss. She scooted aside as the file opened. Uraraka and Bakugoucrouched in front of the screen and waited for the editor to press play.

“It’s notmuch, but enough to boost the views. Tell me what you don’t like and it goes inthe trash.” Kimi told them as she looked for a mug that wasn’t empty. Whenfinally getting hold of one she pressed play and laid back.

The footagewas raw. There wasn’t anything edited yet to make it more appealing or special.It was just them. Laughing at and with each other. Teasing each other andjoking around. Working on sketches together during their breaks, occasionallybending over the other’s to make adjustments. Uraraka running over couches andchairs as Bakugou chased her for a comment that went out of line. Sleeping onand against the chairs in the stations as they passed out from eating too muchduring lunch. Racing each other in their office chairs after hours. Watchingeach other work on clients, both interested and eyes full of admiration,wearing soft smiles as they couldn’t take their eyes of each other.  

The footagewas raw. There wasn’t anything edited yet. So that’s what they looked like.

They lookedlike two people that couldn’t get enough of each other.

They lookedlike they were in love.

When theclip ended, no one said a word. Bakugou pinned his eyes on the editing programas if there was more footage to be shown.

Kimicoughed and closed the program. “What do you think?”

Uraraka andBakugou shot up straight and started stumbling over their words, pointing atthe screen and gesturing to Kimi, hopelessly rambling about the footage.

“So, is itgood or not?”

“Y-yes! Imean, yes it’s f-fine!” Uraraka babbled. “Right?”

“I-I mean,yeah! I guess? I m-mean.” Bakugou stammered.

Kimi glaredat them at the messes they were and then turned back to one of her manyscreens. Slowly she leaned closer to the screen and continued her clicking.

“Good.”

It was anobvious hint for them to leave the editor’s office and they took it, avoidingmaking eye contact with each other as they left and searched for Goda. Knowingthat Uraraka doubtlessly saw what Bakugou saw too left him feeling curious. Hewanted to know how she felt and what she thought. She obviously felt awkwardyes, but wouldn’t anyone? He didn’t really know what to expect from her if hewere to ask that. He hardly knew how he felt about that himself.

LuckilyGoda’s enthusiasm didn’t allow him to ponder for too long. He welcomed to withopen arms to the couch in the waiting area and offered for them to sit oppositehim. Both of them cradled against an arm rest and stared straight ahead. Godapicked up all his papers and went straight to business.

“It’s ashame but all good things have to come to an end. We’re aiming to film the nextepisode in an hour from now. There’s nothing too special about it. We mightrecord some voice overs and sit downs but overall this a regular episode andyou two should treat it as one. I suggest you two take a break, as we talk tothe clients about privacy and other non-interesting matters.”

Goda lookedat them and waited for a response, he only got a nod out of them. Not sure whatto do himself the producer stood up and left them at the couch.

“Uraraka-“

“Bakugou-“

Theychuckled at the messy start of a conversation. Uraraka scooted an inch closerand hesitantly met Bakugou’s eyes. She raised her fist.

“Let’s doour best alright?”

“Mhm.”

Uraraka gotup from the couch and made way to the bathroom. Bakugou slouched down andrubbed his face. He had an exact hour to forget about the footage and focus onbeing able to bring some good sketches to the table for the season finale. Itwouldn’t help being around her like he usually was during breaks. It lookedlike she thought the same thing as he could just about see her bolt to thebreak room after exiting the toilet.

He decidedto take the pen behind his ear and piece of paper he saw on the receptionistdesk and draw. Nothing in particular, nothing but random shapes, thick and thinlines, with no meaning. There wasn’t anything with meaning he could think of todraw, his mind continued to be occupied with the confronting footage and thethought of Uraraka being scared away by it.

It was theslowest hour he ever had to endure in his life and he had never been this gladto see Goda walking up to him with his signature smile. Immediately he balledup the piece of paper and threw it in the nearest trash can.

“Are westarting?” Bakugou asked.

Goda was abit taken aback by Bakugou’s sudden eagerness.

“Yes, we’vealready done the voice over with the first client so we’re ready when youare.”  The producer pointed back at the oneof the offices that also got claimed by the crew.

Bakugou ranback into the break room to collect his lucky drawing pencil and returned tosee Uraraka already sitting opposite the costumer, already making small talk.

He went to greetthe client and sat down next to Uraraka who didn’t shy away or create anydistance between them.

“You’regiving me an advantage here by letting me already win over the client.” Urarakajoked.

He wasn’tsurprised that Uraraka seemed to be in a much better state than he was. She wasdealing with nerves all the time and when taking her time she knew how tosuppress them. Bakugou hardly ever got nervous, he had a bad case of tunnelvision when it came to work, so this was new to him. The feelings and thoughtsthat didn’t want to go away.

But sheindirectly handed him a helping hand, by mentioning their competition. If hewould just focus on winning then his mind would become less crowded, all hiscreativity would pour out through his pencil and onto his paper.  

With thatin mind they started filming the last episode. He actually started feeling goodagain, confident even, as the first three clients went for his design. He wasable to joke around with Uraraka again in between filming, seen as they both gotvery into the competition again.

The fourth customerUraraka got in the bag, but he wasn’t worried as he could connect very wellwith the fifth customer who called himself a ‘fan of his style’. Bakugou enjoyedthe petty tone in Uraraka voice and the nervous fumbling she did with her pinkpencil. He could tell she was itching to work harder, she was scared she wasn’tgoing to win.

But it turnedout Uraraka was scared for nothing. The last two client choose her designs.

LeavingBakugou at a score 46 and Uraraka at 47.

Uraraka hadwon.

When thelast customer chose her design, she said nothing. She said nothing whenpreparing for the session, she said nothing until the customer had set a footout of the parlor.

As soon asshe heard the buzzer of the door, she jumped up on the coffee table and raisedboth of her fists in the air. She threw her head back and exclaimed: “I did it.I won!”

Othercoworkers came out from their offices and stations and applauded her.

“Kirishima,the board please.” She waved at him to come near.

Kirishima, alreadyhaving prepared for this as he had a good look on her station from the breakroomwhere he stayed during filming, came out with the white board. He handed her themarker and let her tally the last scores. He fist bumped her and shrugged atBakugou.

“Dude.”

“Not anotherword.”

The filmcrew stood confused around the celebrating tattoo artists that have beenanticipating the outcome ever since the white board was put in the breakroom.

Urarakanoticed the confusion. “And it’s also the end of the season! Good workeveryone. Give yourselves a round of applause too!” She tried to better the situation.

Slowly thecrew started clapping, Goda’s applause sounded well above the rest and hewalked over Uraraka.

“Yes, Yes!Ochako is right, give yourself some praise! Everyone has done an exceptionaljob these past few months. You’re all winners in my eyes. Bravo, bravo!”

Uraraka andKirishima tried to hold in their laughter as Goda paraded towards his crew, givingthem all a pat on the shoulder and telling them to start cleaning up. As theparlor started to get cleared they two giddy artists started to dance their wayover to Bakugou that was trying his absolute best not to roll his eyes out ofhis skull.

Urarakashimmied her shoulders towards Bakugou.

“Are youready for another tattoo Bakugou?”

“Whatever.”was the only thing he could bring himself to say in that moment.

Theyprobably expected him to yell out every curse word under the sun, they expectedhim to get embarrassed having to take back his cocky statements.

Buthonestly, she won fair and square and when he took another look at her notebook,there was no way of denying that.

Urarakafrowned at him. “Okay I’m sorry, if you don’t want to go through with it it’sfine.”

“But everyonealready voted for where the tattoo was going to go!” Kirishima moaned at her.

She elbowedhim without breaking eye contact with Bakugou. “No, they haven’t. And even if theyhad, I had my own idea in mind that I was going to go with regardless, if that’sokay with Bakugou of course.”

Who was heto take away her well-deserved win?

“Fuck it,let’s do it. We shook on it and I trust you to not fuck me up.”

Urarakatook her pencil out of her bun and pointed at him. “That’s more like it. Let’sget started then.”

They leftKirishima stammering about the votes behind and went to settle at her station. Urarakawaited until the last lights and other equipment were cleared before shuttingthemselves off with the white screens.

“We’ve beenogled at enough don’t you think? Besides, I want the others to be surprised.”She told him as she put them in place. Bakugou sat on the chair and watched her.She has never looked so calm before. There wasn’t a hint of worry in her eyes.

“Where’s itgonna go?”

“Seen asyour arms are covered already, I wanted to go for your ribs.”

Bakugou relaxedhis body more. “Interesting.”

“You shouldfeel lucky, almost everyone voted for butt cheek.”

“I thoughtyou guys didn’t vote.” Bakugou squinted his eyes at her.

Urarakaalmost dropped the packet of sterile wipes. “We didn’t! Now, if you could please…”She nodded at his shirt. Bakugou kept squinting at her as he removed his shirt.He stretched, laid down and made himself comfortable.

Uraraka swallowedand put on her mask. She sat down on her chair and prepared the tattoo. Everytime Bakugou wanted tried to peek she would turn his head to the oppositedirection. He tried to feel what she was going for, but it was hard to makeout.

Even whenthe needle touched his skin he couldn’t tell. He stopped thinking about it ashe enjoyed the feeling of getting inked. It has been a long time since he had gottenone since he had been too busy with the show to think about what he couldpossibly get.

“It wasfun, wasn’t it?”

A mufflednoise tried to reach above the buzzing noise.

“Kinda,yeah.”

“It didlook like we had a lot of fun.” Uraraka continued.

Bakugouknew exactly what she was talking about.

“You thinkso?” He mumbled.

Urarakatook the needle of him and looked up, her eyes smiled at him.

“I think soyeah. I would say I have never seen myself look happier.”

“I don’tthink I’ve ever seen myself like that either.” Bakugou fixated his stare at theceiling.

Urarakawaited for a moment before continuing her work.

“Was itweird for you, I mean, all of that?”

He couldn’tstop himself from asking, he hoped he had judged the feel of the moment rightand he didn’t make her uncomfortable.

“At firstit was,” she casually answered. “I had no idea that’s how I was acting thewhole time, I could barely recognize myself. But like I said, it’s because I’venever seen that side of myself before. Now, when I think back to it, I don’t feelweird, it was nice seeing myself like that. It has actually put things into placefor me.”

She startedto talk slower and slower, careful to choose her words.

“I know howyou feel.” Bakugou answered, he turned to her and tried to replicate thegenuine look he had given her earlier, hoping it would reassure her that he in factknew exactly how she felt.

He felt thesame way after all.

He was gladshe could put his it into words. He was glad there were no jokes involved. Itwas the most genuine they’ve ever been with each other.

She looked backat him and her eyes lit up, quickly she finished up the last details of thetattoo in silence.

Bakugou noticedhow shadows started to appear behind the screens and couldn’t help but smile.

Thosefuckers had known all along hadn’t they?

Uraraka wipedthe last bits of ink away and looked satisfied at the end result. Excited sherevealed her big grin that was hidden underneath her mask and pulled off hergloves. She stood up and put her hands on her hips.

“It mightnot look like much, but I think this is one of my best ones yet.”

She pickedup a mirror laying underneath equipment. “Ready?”

Bakugoustood up and Uraraka pointed the mirror at his ribs, angled it so he could easilysee the result.

“No way.”

In her own handwritingshe had tattooed ‘Okottomo’ rightunder his peck. It was in a something he had never seen from her before. It washer style. Even if it was just her handwriting, it was hers, not something shefabricated to make sure to satisfy him.

He lookedup at her and saw Uraraka biting her lip in excitement behind the mirror.

“I shouldhave known. It’s sick though.”

“Really,you actually like it?”

Bakugoulifted her hand so she raised the mirror again.

“Surprisinglyyes. Now I really can’t escape that name, but I don’t mind.”

Uraraka dugher nails in her palms and threw her head back as she let out a little squeal.

“But it’sonly fair if you get ‘Tsukao’ inkedon you though.”

“Well, ifyou have time…?”

Bakugouwidened his eyes.

“So rightnow?”

“Yes, I guess right now.”

He smirked.“You’re on.”

Writers note: “Okottomo” = okotte (angry) + kodomo (child). Uraraka put those two words together to create a nickname for Bakugou.“Tsukao” = tsuki (moon) + kao (face). Bakugou put those two words together to create a nickname for Uraraka.

[ryodan]

SasuNaru and the pinhole : part 3

If we do a time skip to after the akatsuki arc, Naruto comes to understand why someone wants revenge when their loved is killed and admits yeah he didn’t really get sasuke and this is where it gets :/ on Narutos behalf for me

In the land of iron sasuke is falling rapidly deeper into the curse of hatred because he is using mangekyo more and more, he is doing very unethical things like attacking the cloud and trying to live capture a man..he is a full blown S ranked criminal whos name alone was capable of triggering a war, no matter how I a sasuke fan can justify and explain his behavior people who don’t know about the COD can’t. Naruto himself was like?? Who are you dude. But obito shows up and he is told. Naruto is woke about the curse of hatred and he says ‘sasuke loved his clan a lot and that’s why he cant forgive.’ But at that time that was not the case. During his fight with danzo his mangekyo evolved the most to a point where afterwards he was losing vision, and his issue wasn’t just that he wants his clan back, his issue was was the massacre and the discrimination. Naruto was like near the point, but homeboy missed it. In fact, the one who actually point its out is Kakashi, but he says both Naruto and Sakura see it, meaning when they both saw sasukes way of talking about Konoha, they understood him better. I cut Naruto slack because he tried understanding sasuke constantly, no matter how much sasuke cut him off. But this shit does not get an easy pass, where he jumps in to clash with sasuke so they read each others thoughts,,its funny bc he says he gets it…then proceeds..not to get it

Why is he talking about himself here? I respect that Naruto always tried his best to understand him

but he knows about the fucking curse and he says one bad move and I would have been like you? Nah, sasukes fate was chosen the second he saw his parents corpses. Naruto hears him talk about the uchiha,,,,and says this. :// It’s insensitive to the fact that sasuke isn’t just a survivor of a tragedy, hes a survivor of a national genocide. But he literally doesn’t mention it.

Meaning they both know Indra and Ashuras charka are in them

Lol another misinterpreted scene is the ill shoulder all your hate scene, while im sure he did want to end sasukes miserable suffering, he was talking about protecting Konoha and ending the cycle of hatred.

‘sasuke wants to kill naruto bc he knows his love will save him!111! No, it’s because the annoying orange stands in his way..also naruto still feels disrespected 

And sasuke atm isn’t having that ‘ill stop you because you are my friend.’ Stuff, which is mistranslated as ‘I am your friend’ but this entire arc was naruto speaking in I terms. Im meh about it.

Oh lol and the bane of my existence..’sakura and kakashi are selfish and tried to give up on him..naruto wanted to save him!11!!’

Lol to which sasukes response was ‘im itching to kill you kakashi’ so futile arguments remain futile

It’s not Kakashis fault sasuke is a man who lent his hand to a terrorist organization, attacked a village, live captured an innocent man who is a jinchuriki meaning he was actively help start the war,  and as shikamaru said a war would have started out in his name and he even attacked an international peace meeting..his motives were not to change the system but pure revenge over Konoha who even though is problematic has innocent citizens in it. Itachi is a good guy for killing his loved ones to stop a war and protect his brother the second Kakashi and Sakura do it they are selfish and don’t understand him.  Kakashi acknowledged he adored him no matter how far he is fallen and that he doesn’t want to kill him but he must do whats necessary, sakura knew that the current sasuke isn’t a sasuke the real sasuke would condone and she did what kakashi tried to do with obito, aka end his misery, as well as keep naruto from the akatuski, prevent a war, keep konoha safe and shoulder kakashis burden.

In fact, they acknowledged his victim status, but still a war in his name is a war in his name

‘sakura gave up on him!11!!’ she had a moment where she realized he would never do something like his own teammate and she noticed right away, no chakra sensing needed that he is definitely changed. She didn’t betray him when she didn’t even know any part of the truth, just like to innocent people in konoha like Kiba, he was the one doing the betrayal.

 ‘he doesn’t care and wanted to kill her’ is also funny bc he trusted her for a moment but called bullshit very fast

His face is not exactly ‘im itching to kill you sakura’ when she is all like im here for u :) fuck konoha :)

Sasuke chose not to frontally attack her. She is here to kill him and he knows it but deep down (like,,really deep down) this fuck still cares about team 7. This scene is fucked man, but it is not abusive in the context of the series at all.

Yeesh the second attack was sakura protecting kakashi, and self defense on sasukes part,,so no still not abusive..and if refutes the ‘she gave up on him’ argument because

The attack starts with her remembering all the shit he is causing right now,,he ain’t sasuke,,and poor kakashi is being burdened by this

But the second she is about to? She remembers real sasuke and isn’t able to do it, meaning no she has some hope for him. When naruto gives his speech she has a moment of sad realization that she isn’t able to stop sasuke as naruto emphasized only he can, so she decided to trust them both..trust naruto that he can bring him back and trust that sasuke isn’t as far gone as he seems.

‘he tried to kill her because he hates her’ ‘he doesn’t care at all!11!!’ ‘he wants her dead!11!!’

Lol this isn’t the most murderous face hes done so far tbh

Aint trying to say this scene is hallelujah but at least the context isn’t he wants to kill her and laughs about it in her face like he did to 3 people who really did not deserve that.

Misconceptions about the war : Sasuke only cares about naruto (seriously this trend needs to die) and he gives 0 shits about Kakashi and Sakura.  Ignoring the fact that when he first arrived she’s the one he acknowledged and answered to, the reason he had to keep saving Narutos ass is said multiple times by the s man himself..yin release and yang release

 But no,,,he doesn’t care about sakura or kakashi

‘whatever he would have let them fall in lava, even tho naruto said that isn’t true’

‘whatever, he still called her useless’ No, he asked ‘if you heard whats going on outside, what would you do?’ then he shuts kakashi up and says he is in charge to which Naruto scolds him for not being a team player. Not for verbal abuse. ‘He said that bc he thinks shes weak.’ No he really didn’t.

Clean PC : sasukekun on tumblr

Sasuke goes on to talk about his revolution

And Sakura confesses asking him not to go any further into hatred. It’s funny how people call her selfish for confessing or pretend that you’re annoying has negative connotations beyond volume 18,, when her literal confession states that she wants to do anything for him that she can and she hates that she isn’t able to talk to him about his issues, nor is she able to exchange blows with him. Its really?? That people call her selfish bc all she literally says I hate that I cant help you despite how much I love you but please don’t go further into hate, lets just stay united and get through it. The..exact..same..thing..naruto…was…communicating

And it did make his resolve falter..it literally made him shake, people pretend he was happy to show her that genjutsu (to ensure she hated him) but,,,that is not the case he doesn’t look happy at all

Oh and ofc the famous argument lmao

‘He said he has no reason to love her..so he only married her for pity’ gross, sasuke is the biggest leo bitch there is, too much pride to stick his dick in something he doesn’t really want

‘are you suggesting I enjoy a little renai?’ (romantic love) ‘I have no reason to love her and she has no reason to love’ /= I hate her and I have no feelings for her considering this was his mental view of everything…Kakashi saying only hate needs a reason isn’t guilt tripping..bc that’s..what..naruto communicated to him

Again, sasukes jaded way of thinking is a theme, he does not believe in the unity of the shinobi alliance, he believes they got together for a common reason.

‘she suffers from loving you’ ‘only hate needs a reason’ Sasuke immediately flashes to his own selfless love that never needed a reason, the love that made him suffer the most.

but no he has no feelings left for her :/ lol

‘Sasuke wanted to kill naruto bc he is his light, and the only thing holding him back from total darkness’ except, no this is a shonen

‘narutos bond can be romantic bc naruto said they aren’t indra and ashura…sasuke said one and only friend..they clearly have romantic feelings for each other’

Sage : my children will continue the cycle :/ this sucks

Naruto : no bc we aren’t indra and ashura

Also Naruto :

‘well sasuke called naruto still his closest friend and he knew no one else accepts him’

That was his mentality and it was wrong, just like when he was confused why Taka still looked for him after what he did. Naruto still remains sasukes best friend, that is true..but the one and only term sasuke uses is the exact same term Itachi used  yuuitsu to describe their relationship. So, no it’s not romantic, it is still brotherly.

 And the fight is the biggest proof of what ive been trying to say, they represent the naruto quite well . Naruto learned that power comes from unity and the sharing of pain, that the world isn’t perfect but we can endure  and change it little by little. Hagoromo confirms ss will happen lol

Read those 3 pages carefully please, specially if you are pro revolution

Sasuke goes off to state what his experience made him learn and ofc misses the point

And heres a page to focus on, if you really don’t believe this was a dictatorship

dictator

noun

1.    a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained control by force.

Synonyms:

Autocrat, monocrat, absolute ruler

How a dictatorship works : Dictatorship is a form of government  where a country or a group of countries is ruled by one person or political entity, and exercised through various mechanisms to ensure that the entity’s power remains strong

A dictatorship is a type of Authoritarianism, in which politicians regulate nearly every aspect of the public and private behavior of citizens. Dictatorship and totalitarianism societies generally employ political propaganda to decrease the influence of proponents of alternative governing systems.

Literally a dictatorship.

Naruto wants to teach him power and change come from love and comradeship, he doesn’t want his friend to do that to the world or himself, and since he is the only one who can save him, its pretty noble of him to try and understand sasuke and open him to interpreting the world differently instead of charging at him with hate, which given everything would be justified.

This goes back to Gaaras speech

When they wake up lol sasuke says the exact same thing Kakashi did except after the fight sasuke is free from the curse so he is able to think properly . this is the one aspect I really love about their relationship. Naruto knows loneliness so well, just like sasuke and he never gave up trying to teach him what he learned along the way. 2 boys, different experience, same feelings. The entire series on a small scale level. Thanks to Naruto persevering instead of hatin, sasuke found salvation. Why did Naruto persevere? Like Iruka said,, he just did. No reason needed.

Theres no fucking reason for love and friendship, you just want to share peoples pain because they matter and that’s that. 

The lesson that sasuke was taught was the message of the entire series, by the hero Ninja Jesus..thats why im not particularly anti ending in a political respect unless you count the uchiha massacre which btw you say its why youre anti ending but lol naruto agreed on this in volume 50 something…when  he met itachi under edo tensei, so its not an ending issue it’s a naruto issue…this series never addressed things as politics, it addressed them as conflicts due to hate and misunderstanding.. it’s a kids series after all. One piece takes political issues and gives them political relevance but naruto was never about that. Im anti Naruto uzumakis ending bc imo NH is crap, hinata is up there with Karin on most badly written characters and it makes no romantic sense..the guy in the hokage chair is not Naruto and I hate it. But in boruto when an issue arises, we see the 5 kages fight together..in the war (and tbh from the moment Hiashi prostrated to Neji) we see the hyuga issue is no longer a thing Kishimoto chose to be politically relevant he stuck to his comrade theme. So hating kishimoto for an ending when it’s a consistent message is useless..but in some aspects yeah ew

‘sasuke felt pain when he saw naruto in pain bc hes special’ lol no. he was always watching Naruto desperately try to make bonds and it reminded him of his own lost bonds. He saw a kid, unlike him try his best to find people and although he saw him a brat first he later thought it over and saw that it made him relieved that theres somebody out there trying to make bonds..at the same time he saw it a weakness bc bonds mean attachment and not killing Itachi..the pain thing? Stop excluding team 7 like they don’t all matter to sasuke the same

That’s why..no reading up or down..thats why

Good for him, he got the message the entire shinobi alliance learned from Naruto..a little late but hes always been a special snow flake

Lol he explained it better than I did almost. That’s it..he explained their entire relationship.

Sasukes ‘I lost’ came from the realization that Naruto got his power from his comrades, by feeling their pain and wanting to protect them and from shouldering their pain. Like I said, the whole point of the series echos in these 2s relationship. Countries used to be at war because they were no t allied bc they had no reason and war bred fear, fear bred hate and caused conflict and acts of injustice, along comes the child of prophecy changing the hearts of the people teaching them about unity and sharing burdens because of what he learned.-

He apologizes to Sakura, which I don’t think hes apologizing only for what he did to her per se, as much as its like what he said ‘everything’ …trying to say he was never wrong is :/ trying to say she guilted him is :/ he himself apologized for the emotional pain she did not ask him too

He apologized to sakura bc he wanted to take back that bond..its funny how a lot of sns hate sakura when its sasuke who initiated the apology and made the ship canon its petty and has a blind double standard imo..you cant erase sakura, nor Kakashi..theyre all his bonds

Naruto doesn’t seem so depressed about them reuniting either, so where is the romantic context? 0. Null. Nada.

Or people who try to twist sasukes words here as ‘hes ignoring her’ when he literally stated himself she had 0 to do with his crimes and he needs to understand the world before jumping full turkey into a relationship when his entire life was viewed from a skewed perspective

‘the forehead poke means distance and its negative’ mata condo da, next time maybe. Mata condo na, next time definitely. A promise for a better future after he is ready..he deserves some time after all he has been through, so? There we go.

 The forehead poke had both a negative and a positive connotations, but it was still an act of affection from the person he loved the most and he does not look hateful doing that.look at that smile he is so cute

k

Once again, the series goes full circle.

The most important message of the series people miss

I never said devaluate naruto and sasukes bond, I said realize sasuke is a character who bought the series together, who had many bonds of different kinds. If you look at the series with the point of perspective as a reader whos just reading instead of a fan of a particular aspect of it, you’ll see that despite it’s inconsistent parts sometimes, it’ll seem a whole lot more enjoyable.

Bye, this has been a PSA.

Oh and I think I saw on your blog you said sasukes arm isn’t cut in the flashback?

Theres literally a clear cut line of the cut

[nurseynurse]

14 or 19 for nurseydex? (from this prompt list: sleepy-skittles(.)tumblr (.)com/ post/155287327552/50-a-softer-world-prompts) or nurseydex and baking? idk whatever you want i just really love your writing!! esp the NHL future fic that was so cute and funny :)) thank you!

(I’m really really glad you like the NHL one!! It’s probably one of my favourite things I’ve ever written omg,,@ here’s Nursey and Dex baking, set sometime before Bitty and Jack come out to the team heh)

The bowl hit the ground with a deep thud, echoing off the wooden floors as berries and syrupy blue liquid oozed out and puddled around Nursey’s feet.

“Derek Malik Nurse, what was that?” Bitty exclaims, whipping around to find Nursey standing, sheepish, in the middle of the blue puddle. Bitty closes his eyes, lips tight.

“Chill, I can go buy some more berries right now, if you want.” He says, but Bitty’s face is starting to crumple; his eyes crinkle slightly and, for one horrifying moment, Nursey thinks he might cry. “Shit, shit, are you okay? Bits, I’m sorry.” Nursey urges softly, walking over to put a hand on Bitty’s shoulder. He flinches and Nursey drops his hand.

“No, it’s–” Bitty wipes his eye with the back of his hand. “It’s fine, I’m fine, I just…I’m having a tough week. I’m sorry.” Nursey raises an eyebrow.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Bitty laughs weakly.

“No, I’m gonna…I’m going to the store and then I’m gonna pack pack. I, uh, I’m gonna head down to Providence later. For the weekend.” Bitty says and Nursey nods. He thinks it’s pretty cool how close Bitty and Jack are. Not only does Nursey love the guy, he plays for the NHL and that’s, like, the coolest. Bitty looks down. “If you wouldn’t mind cleaning that, though…” Bitty says, grabbing his wallet and keys, before heading towards the door.

“Oh! Yeah, of course, man.” He says and tries to reach the rag on the counter without having to trek blue spots through the kitchen. He never actually hears the door shut, though, because, as soon as Bitty is out of the Haus, Dex takes his place.

“Yo,” Nursey greets, mopping up the sticky puddle. It seems like it’s making even more of a mess than before, a thin residue of sugar clinging to the wood.

“What are you doing?” Dex says, voice accusing, as he leans over to peer at Nursey.

“I dropped this bowl of berries and shit when I was passing it to Bitty.” Dex raises an eyebrow.

“Is that why he looks like he was gonna cry?” Dex asks; Nursey makes a face. “I almost bumped into him when I was coming into the Haus.” He explains.

“Oh, yeah, I don’t know what that’s about.” He says, scrubbing at a particularly difficult spot. He hears the sink running and sees Dex grab another washcloth to wet it. The rag splatters to the floor where Nursey is scrubbing. “Oh. Thanks.” Dex makes an affirmative noise.

“He’s been…off. Lately.” He says vaguely, going to sit at one of the bar stools.

“Yeah,” Nursey says, and sweeps the rag around to make sure the floor was completely clean. “Yeah, what’s up with that?” Dex shrugs. “He said he was having a bad week…but–”

“We should do something for him.” Dex says simply. Nursey looks up; he knows Dex and Bitty have been spending a lot of time together, Bitty teaching Dex how to cook and bake and all that, but he didn’t think Dex would be the kind of person to…do something nice for someone, like this.

“Like what?” Nursey asks, to stop his internal rambling. Dex shrugs again, noncommittal. His eyes are closed and Nursey thinks he looks a little nervous.

“What if we, like, baked him something. Or made dinner Sunday night…when he gets back to the Haus, yanno?” Nursey nods even though Dex can’t see him.

“Yeah, sure, I’m down.”

And it’s Sunday.

“This might have been a bad idea.” Dex groans, bending down to grab the box full of whisks and spatulas that Nursey dropped. Nursey pretends not to stare. The jackass was wearing a pair of tight brown corduroy slacks and Nursey has never felt so attacked in his life; he didn’t even know Dex owned pants that weren’t ill-fitting jeans or sweatpants.

“It’ll be fine,” Nursey assures, going to grab the dry ingredients out of the cupboard; he’ll leave Dex to get the eggs and milk. “What are we making again?” He asks, looking between the baking soda and baking powder.

“I was thinking a torte.” Dex says.

“You know how to make tortes?” Dex shrugs and his cheeks are dusted in pink.

“I know how to follow a recipe,” He says. “And Bitty and I made a blackberry torte a few weeks ago so I know what it’s supposed to look like.”

“Just tell me what to do,” he says, shrugging, and Dex nods brusquely, his cheeks still painted rose.

“Okay, um.” Dex counts out the chocolate, the butter. “Melt this down on the stove–actually wait, you’ll probably burn it.” Nursey wants to feel indignant but, considering he started a small fire trying to make coffee a few days ago, he knows Dex’s accusation is fair. He tries anyways.

“C'mom, dude, I can do it.” He says, grabbing at the butter. “Just…don’t distract me.” He says, hearing the click click click as he turns the heat to high on the stove. Dex lets out a harsh breath through his nose, reaching over the turn the flame down to medium. Rolling his eyes, Nursey shoves him out of the way, regaining his position I front of the stove. “I got this, man.”

“Fine. Fuck, fine.” He hunts through the box Nursey had dropped earlier, finding a wooden spoon, and hands it to Nursey as if it’s a newborn baby. “Stir the butter once it melts and I’ll pour in the chocolate.” He says as he begins roughly chopping the bars into chunks and slivers.

“You look tense.” Nursey informs, giving the unmelted hunk of butter in the pot a tentative push. It glides to the other end of the pot. Dex pushes out another breath through his nose.

“I don’t want you to burn down the Haus while Bitty is gone.” Dex says.

“You’re the one who invited me to help you bake.” Nursey points out, a little bitter now because, what the fuck? Dex didn’t have to ask Nursey to help but, now that he had, Nursey wasn’t just gonna sit there and watch as Dex baked without helping. He chanced a glance back in Dex’s direction, taking in the rigid curve of his back, the swell of his biceps, those fucking pants…on second thought…

“Here,” Dex says, coming over with the cutting board. “Stir.” Nursey does as he was told as Dex scrapes the chocolate into the pot. The skin beneath Nursey’s sweater aches where he can feel Dex, pressed up against him as if it’s the most simple thing in the world. Maybe it is. Maybe Nursey is making everything out of nothing. He stirs, a little too hard, and a few droplets of chocolate spray out of the pot, splattering on Nursey’s hand.

“Ah! Fuck.” He whispers, sucking at the chocolate, wincing at the burn.

“Are you kidding me.” Dex sighs. He sounds exasperated, a little angry, but he’s watching Nursey’s mouth with an expression Nursey can’t figure out.

“It’s fine, just stings a little.” He says, looking at the little welts on his hand. Dex turns down the heat before turning back to the island and rifling through the drawers. Brandishing a tube of Neosporin, he grabs Nursey’s hand, softly inspecting the burn. He dabs a few dots of Neosporin on it; he drops his hand with a roll of his eyes and begins stirring the mixture on the stove.

“Go measure out the dry stuff.” Dex says, gesturing to the recipe open on the countertop. “At least I can be comfortable in the knowledge you know how to read.”

“Shit,” Nursey intones, laughing as he looks for the measuring cups. He’s about to drop a fourth a cup of flour into the mixing bowl when he gets an idea. It’s probably not a good idea but–“Hey, Dex?”

“What?” He turns and, quickly, Nursey flicks a handful of flour at Dex’s face, a powdery mask of blank shock. He blinks, flour falling from his eyelashes. “Oh.” He reaches over, quicker than Nursey can recognize, and grabs an egg, smashing it over Nursey’s head.

“Oh my god!” He shrieks, slapping his hand to his now slimy hair. “Low blow, Poindexter.” He whines, wrinkling his nose before scooping the egg out of his hair and wiping it through Dex’s.

“Oh, gross, that was payback for the flour! We were even!” Nursey runs his fingers through Dex’s hair, cleaning them thoroughly.

“Well, now we’re not.” Nursey says.

“Now we are.” Dex says, hand darting out to grab the baking soda and opening it over Nursey’s head.

“Oh.” The powder falls to the floor, cascading his hair, sweater, shoes, in a fine layer of white. Dex looks triumphant.

“Truce?” Dex sticks out his hand, smirking.

“For the sake of Bitty’s baking supplies, truce.” He says, shaking Dex’s hand. He turns to look at the recipe. “You’re lucky we didn’t even need baking soda.” Dex laughs.

“God bless tortes.”

Forty minutes later, Nursey couldn’t help but agree.

“Holy fuck, I’m glad we made two of these.” He groans as Dex pulls out the second pan from the oven. It’s looks perfect and smells absolutely heavenly.

“I swear to god, if you try to eat this without letting it cool for a few minutes I’m going to punch you.” Dex says and Nursey softly puts his fork back on the counter.

“I wouldn’t even think of doing such a thing.” Dex rolls his eyes, puts the pan on the counter, and runs a hand through his hair. They showered while the tortes were cooking and the soft golden light streaming in from the window made Dex look almost as warm and soft as Nursey felt.

“Honestly, though, these looks really good. If you keep doing this well, maybe I’ll give you a promotion. Official sous chef.” Dex says, laughing. Nursey smiles as him wolfishly, moving to lean against the counter next to Dex.

“Are there any…benefits I should look forwards to?” Dex freezes, squints.

“Depends.” He says and the look on Dex’s face makes Nursey’s skin run hot. “What did you have in mind?”

“Maybe a fuckin’ bite of this torte.” Nursey laughs, shoving his shoulder against Dex’s. They’re close. “Um.”

“Anything else?” Dex’s voice is soft and Nursey can’t keep his eyes from flickering down to Dex’s lips.

“Maybe.” He says and they’re closer than ever. Nursey can feel Dex’s breath fan across his cheek, his chin, his lips. “Gotta get that promotion first.” Dex smiles; Nursey swears he can feel it against his skin. Then, he’s positive he can, as Dex leans in, fisting a hand in the material of Nursey’s sweater sleeve, and presses his lips firmly to Nursey’s. He sighs into the kiss, angling his head to allow Dex more comfortable access. They slot together perfectly and Nursey swears his vision goes splotchy, one hand closed around Dex’s waist, one tightly gripping the counter. Finally, Dex pulls back.

“Okay, you’re definitely promoted.” Dex says, as if nothing happened. Nursey can barely even comprehend Dex’s quip.

“As long as we can do that again, I don’t give a fuck.” Nursey says honestly and Dex positively cackles, hand sliding to the back of Nursey’s neck and hauling him in for another kiss.