#usually I get 8 hours of sleep but last night I got 7

[crabussy]

its crazy how much of a difference one hour of sleep makes. I slept one hour less than usual last night and while I'm usually yippeeing and hooraying my way through the day, today I am dragging myself miserably through the day, yawning every other minute, almost falling asleep on multiple occasions, and too tired to complete any work. huh ^_^ what ^_^

[toastsnaffler]

I have to be up for work in 3 hours and I'm gonna be real I think ive hit the point where I might not be getting any sleep at all. for fucks sake.

[silverhairsimp]

who's gonna take care of you? k. bakugou

I am sicker than sick and couldn't sleep last night so here's some bakugou fluff.

Pairing & CW: Bakugou x f!reader. Reader and Bakugou have two kids. Brief mentions of pregnancy from Mitsuki (Reader is not actually pregnant). pure, sickly sweet fluff.

Katsuki looks at the clock hanging above the kitchen sink, 7:24am. Usually you’d have been up for at least a half hour by now, maybe more. The kids have to be to school at 8:30, it’s only a 12 minute drive, but they like to get there early and play with their friends before their day of learning starts. He looks at the two of them sitting at the counter, digging into their fresh pancakes and waffles with a variety of fruits. They were similar in a lot of ways, but your daughter refuses to eat pancakes, the same goes with your son and waffles. And what kind of number one dad would The Bakugou Katsuki be if he didn’t make his brats happy?

“You two stay here and finish eating— gonna go check on your ma’,” he calls out to them before heading down the hall, only to stop with a hand on the doorframe to look back at them. “And no eatin’ spoonfuls’a syrup this time! That shi— crap’ll give you diabetes.” 

The two of them laugh at their dads empty threat, knowing they’ll at least sneak one or two spoonfuls before he gets back. 

He has an office day today, full of paperwork and unfished reports that need to be submitted by the end of the week. He’s been working overtime, which means you have too. Working overtime at your own job and taking care of the kids when he gets home too late or leaves too early for work. 

“Baby—“ he calls out when he pushes open your bedroom door. Your cheeks are flushed red, your brows are knit together, you’ve got a mound of blankets on you, yet your feet are sticking out from the bottom. “Hey, y’doing okay?” He asks as he gets closer, sitting next to your sleeping form on the bed when he reaches a hand out to cup your cheek, followed by placing the back of his hand to your forehead. “Jesus babe, you’re burnin’ up. Might be running hotter than I normally do…” 

His words are laced with concern as he heads to your shared bathroom, grabbing a washcloth and wetting it with as cold of water he can get before wringing it out. For good measure, he grabs the thermometer and to confirm his suspicions.

“Open up for me, baby.” He brushes his thumb over your cheek and your eyes finally open when you bring your hand up to touch the cold cloth on your forehead. “‘Ts cold…” you mumble and he slips the thermometer underneath your tongue. “Yeah and you’re hot—“ he waits for the thermometer to finish rereading before he adds: “101.9 to be exact.” 

You try to sit up, “I’m fine…”but the pressure in your head is too much so you flop back down into the pillows. “I don’t know what year you think I was born, but I know what fine is. And you, are not fine.” 

“But the kids— they have school, you have work— I have things to do around the house.” You try to protest in between a fit of coughs, but he plants an arm against the bed, palm down at your side caging you in. “you know the hag— my mom,” he corrects when you give him the glare, “she loves taking them to school. Eijiro too. I could call either one and they’d drop ‘em off. And with work, that’s one of the perks’a bein’ your own boss.” 

He leans down to press a kiss to your cheek, trying to hide the wince at how warm your skin is. Gods you must feel like shit. “Lemme call my mom—“ he steps out of the room and gently closes the door, calling in a favor to the woman who always saves his ass. 

‘Yeah, y/n sick, real sick. Need someone to drop off the beats at school. What? Morning sickness? No she’s not pregnant again. She’s sick sick. Got’a fever of almost 102. Yeah, they ate. Yes, lunches packed. Ugh— what kinda father do you think I— mmgh. Thanks ma. They’ll be ready for ya.’

He comes back in the room slight shake to his head as he thinks back to the conversation he just had with his mom. Your youngest is 6 and she’s been itching for another grand baby, but that’s too bad. She’s got two good ones to love on anyway. “Moms comin’ to pick em up in 15.” 

The two of you can hear the padding of feet running down the hall and your two replicas appear in the door frame. 

“Mommy what’s wrong? Did you catch a bug?” Your 8 year old son asks you as he pushes his hips to the bed. He may have his fathers eyes but he’s got your color hair and the sweetest personality to match. 

“Ew! Why would mommy catch a bug!! That’s so yucky!” Your daughter chimes. She’s got that ash blonde hair to match her fathers and definitely gets his personality. 

“Yeah, squirt, mama’s not feeling great so your Gramma Mitsuki is gonna take you to school.”

“Katsuki— you really shouldn’t have asked your mom to come all the way here.” 

“You say all the way here like she doesn’t live 8 minutes down the road.” He smirks at you, knowing damn well she wasn’t gonna miss the opportunity to be involved in your kids’ lives. 

“Daddy, why can’t we stay and take care of mommy like she takes care of us when we’re sick?” Your boy asks with those gorgeous ruby red eyes peering down at you. “You guys have to stay in school and get good grades. You wanna have your own agency and be the number one hero like your daddy don’t you?” You smile at the two of them and lift your hand off the bed to cup their cheeks one at a time. 

Your daughter flexes her little muscles and grits her teeth. “Yeah mommy! We’ll get strong so we can take good care of you some day!” 

Each of your kiddos leans in to place a kiss to your cheek, it’s no use trying to stop them either. They’re both stubborn, just like you and Katsuki. 

“Go get cleaned up before Gramma gets here— and don’t think I can’t smell the syrup on those sticky fingers, you little shits!” 

It’s no use trying to protest the language when you hear the fit of laughter and screams as they run back down the hall. 

Katsuki gets up to make sure they’re heading out to wash up and grab their school bags while he makes another call to the agency, letting Mina know he won’t be in. 

You’ve nearly fallen back asleep by the time he comes back with a hot bowl of homemade soup, a freshly squeezed cup of orange juice, a ginger shot and two pieces of toast. “They’re right ya know. You’re like super woman to them— and even she needs help sometimes.” He presses a kiss to your forehead and turns on the tv for some back ground noise before he grabs his computer and sits next to you in bed. 

“Katsuki. You’re gonna get sick if you stay here—“ you try to protest and he just smiles and puts the cold rag on your forehead. “Yeah… and when super man needs help; I know you’ll be there too..” He lands a fat one right on your lips and smiles. The two of you share everything together. Even the cooties…

[strawberrynull]

──⯎ ˙🚬 ̟ cigarettes out the window

엔하이픈 | Enhypen | Nishimura Riki

──Pairing: niki x afab!reader

──Genre: angst, some fluff

──Synopsis: Whenever you're unable to sleep due to your insomnia, you go to your balcony to smoke. Niki decides it might be a good idea to take a drive around the city to get some fresh air, hopefully to help you sleep

──Warnings: smoking, cigarettes, insomnia

──A/N: I have two requests that I'm currently working on. This is just a filler until those are done lol

masterlist

11:08 p.m. you read on the digital clock on your nightstand. It was another restless night. Your eyes stung from staring at the bright billboard right outside your bedroom window. The advertisement displayed on the billboard would change every 10 or so minutes. You had counted the ad changing at least 8 times since you had laid down to go to sleep with your boyfriend, Niki, who still rested beside you. His arm was still gently draped over your waist. Your insomnia wasn't new news. Usually, you were able to sleep on nights where Niki slept over at your apartment, though. Tonight was different.

Carefully, you lifted Niki's arm by the sleeve, slipping out of his hold and out of bed. You opened the nightstand drawer and grabbed your usual pack of cigarettes and a silver lighter. A light breeze blew through the room as you opened the glass door that led to a small balcony. You took a cigarette and placed it between your lips as you stepped outside. You flicked the lighter a few times before putting the flame up to the end of the cigarette.

Unbeknownst to you, Niki woke up at the feeling of your absence. His eyes fluttered open, squinting at the bright city lights spilling through the glass doors. Through the blinding lights, he could see you standing out on the balcony with a cigarette in between your index fingers. He watched as you leaned backward, elbows on the railing, tilting your head back and exhaling the smoke. You looked stunning in Niki's eyes. He knew you smoked when you couldn't sleep but he had never witnessed it in person.

You watched as people still roamed the city below you. Cars, buses and taxis still filled the streets and many stores were still open to the public. It was lively and bright even in the middle of the night. Your apartment was 7 stories above it all. Your friends and family had warned you about how noisy the city was at night. They had told you to get an apartment further from the noise. Considering your insomnia, moving to Gangnam was not the wisest choice. Most nights were spent lying awake while staring at the obnoxiously bright billboards. Other nights were spent at Niki's house where you could actually sleep in a dark and quiet room. Occasionally, Niki would spend the night at your place and, somehow, on those nights you were able to sleep despite the noise and the light.

After about an hour and a half, you took one last drag from your cigarette before putting it out on the railing and tossing the excess on the floor of your balcony. Trying not to make any noise, you stepped inside and made your way to the bathroom to brush your teeth. Niki watched the bathroom light flick on and then off as you exited. When you were done you slipped back into bed next to Niki, shifting back into his arms. The smell of cigarettes still lingered on your old band t-shirt.

After another 2 hours of trying to sleep, you got back up, sighing in frustration. Niki was fast asleep again so you carefully tiptoed out to the balcony. You leaned your stomach against the railing as you lit up another cigarette between your lips. Then you hear the sliding glass door open and shut, and a familiar hand finds its way around your waist.

"Can't sleep, beautiful?" You hear Niki's deep voice which is groggy from waking up so suddenly. Next to you, you see him rub his eyes before leaning on the balcony with you. "What's going on in that pretty mind of yours, hmm?" He gives you a concerned look as you exhale smoke. You shake your head as you flick some of the cigarette ashes.

"I don't know, Ki. It's never been this bad." You take another drag from your cigarette as you stare anywhere but at your boyfriend. Seeing you like this makes Niki almost want to blame himself. After all, you did move to Gangnam to live closer to him.

"You should stop doing that." He says quietly, pointing at your cigarette.

"I know," you sigh, letting smoke rise into the air. "I'm going to soon. Don't worry about me."

"But I am worried about you and I want to make you feel better no matter what." Niki explains, taking one of your hands in his. He's sincere in every word that he says. Helping you is his life's goal, at this point, and he's determined to get you back onto a normal sleep schedule. "Let's go for a drive, yeah? Maybe it will help calm you down enough to get at least some rest tonight."

"Niki, I don't think that's going to-"

"If it doesn't work, I'll stay here all day until you're able to sleep." He cupped both of your cheeks, pleading you to let him try to help. "Please.." You nodded reluctantly before putting out your cigarette and tossing it with the rest.

You hopped into the passenger seat of Niki's car; a black Ferrari Enzo. You hadn't been in his car at night many times. It was an astounding experience. Niki would always take the streets with barely any cars so he could speed down the asphalt roads. The windows would be rolled all the way down, letting the wind hit your faces. If you weren't close by to any residential areas, he would blast music as well. You were also allowed to smoke in Niki's car, which was not preferred but he allowed it.

Driving with him was so much fun that by the end of the drive you were all tired out. Enough to make you fall asleep as soon as you were home. Niki came over to your side of the car, opening your door for you. He walked you into your apartment and even tucked you into bed. His sweetness warmed your heart. Before leaving, Niki made sure to close the blinds to darken your room. He knew you hated how bright the city was at night.

"Get some sleep, beautiful. You deserve it." He said, wiping stray hairs from your face. He leaned down to place a kiss on your forehead before turning to leave. Not long after Niki left, your eyelids felt heavy. Now you could finally get some sleep.

© strawberrynull, 2024. Do not copy my work. Please DM for permission before translating or reuploading. Thank You

[fastboatsmojito]

And they were ROOMMATES - Luca x reader one-shot

|AN; basically influenced by the entire short n’ sweet album 💋

|WC;4k ish

|CW; smut BTC, roommate trope obviously, some annoyance and frustration in general and also sexually lmao, vibrator + masturbation + getting caught sorta kinda, uh ruined orgasm just for a moment + general desperation, touch-starved characters, fingering SORRY im obsessed with his hands, annoying horny mfs, brief pnv eventually but I got lazy at the end, soft dom?? Luca <3 🙂‍↕️

You groaned and shoved a pillow over your face as you were subjected to listening to the blender at 7 am. Your roommate was currently in the kitchen overworking himself once again, blissfully unaware of your annoyance.

You took the pillow off of your face as soon as it stopped, opting to stay in bed to complain instead of walking all the way into the kitchen.

“Luca! Can you please be insane a little quieter? I don’t have a class for two more hours.”

“Oh shit, my bad!” He called back, focusing on something else for just a few moments before moving back to the blender, pressing the button for the softest option this time.

You just got comfortable before the distant whirring started again. perfect.

You fell asleep eventually, holding the pillow over your ears. The muffled buzzing of your alarm barely enough to wake you up just over an hour later. You moved the pillow away from you, alarm now blaring in your ears as you quickly leaned over to turn it off.

Yawning before you looked at the time; 8:45. You had just five minutes to make it out the door before you’d be really late. Later than your usual ‘just make sure to eat before class’ late.

“Fuck.” You groaned as you rushed out of bed, grabbing whatever clothes were cleanest and closest to your bed. You hastily moved through your typical morning routine, grabbing your bag before dashing to the door.

“No breakfast?” Luca was still in the kitchen, covered in sugar and glancing at you as he was making your apartment smell mouthwateringly delicious.

“No time. Your fault by the way.” You pointed at him, shaking your head as he put a hand to his heart.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, just had to fix up a recipe I’ve been working on.” He wiped his hands off before grabbing a banana and tossing it to you.

“Just don’t let it happen again, chef.” He nodded and smiled at the name.

“I won’t.. probably.” He whispered the last part, looking down as you rolled your eyes and walked out.

————

You walked back into your apartment after your class was over and shrugged your bag off by the door, rubbing your sore neck as you walked into the kitchen for some lunch. It was quiet and cleaned up so you assumed Luca was at work.

You had homework to do but figured some food and a nap was more pressing, quietly making yourself a sandwich and grabbing a drink before moving to your room.

You put on your usual comfort show and sat in bed after throwing on some comfier clothes, enjoying the peace that came with having an apartment off campus.

That morning wasn’t the first time Luca had gotten a little too into his work and disturbed your sleep but his work schedule and cleaning habits made up for it.

He takes up space in the kitchen a lot but he always cleans up after himself, oftentimes sharing some food he brought home from work as a wordless thank you for putting up with his early morning chaos.

You weren’t perfect either, procrastinating long enough to cause plenty of late nights reading, writing; and pacing in the living room that bled into his said early mornings.

You had a few arguments about both of your faults, usually ending in both of you apologizing and trying to figure out a plan to fix it for the future. Clearly they haven’t worked very well but you were still getting used to him. Used to each other, including your weird, occasionally annoying habits.

You finished your lunch and tried to take a nap before your next class, closing your eyes and sighing into your pillows as you tried and failed to get comfortable.

Usually you had no problem falling asleep; Imagining some faceless entity in whatever romantic scenario you could think of lulling you off, but now you were getting increasingly frustrated as you couldn’t turn your brain off.

Anxious thoughts racing through your brain were making it impossible to relax; Are you doing enough? Do your friends really like you?

The repetition was making you second guess yourself and stress out too much to sleep. You felt exhausted, eyes heavy and drooped but you still couldn’t fall asleep.

You rolled around on the bed, irritated sighs falling from you as you finally accepted the defeat. You were tense, stressed out and frustrated, racking your brain for solutions.

You reached into your nightstand for a hair tie when you found just what you needed; your vibrator. Duh. It’s been a while since you used it so it hadn’t crossed your mind, getting caught up in your work and forgetting to take some time for yourself.

You took it out, placing it on the bed beside you before you put your hair up and laid back down.

Similar to how you slept you usually imagined some faceless figure moving their warm hands over you instead of your own, sometimes dreaming up the face of whatever celebrity had caught your eye recently.

As you moved under the covers, hands slowly making their way down your body to tease yourself, you closed your eyes and found yourself thinking of someone you hadn’t anticipated.

Hands rougher and bigger than your own moving over you as you imagined him lying behind you, leaving open mouthed kisses on your neck as you sighed into him.

“Luca,” You gasped, your hands paused and you opened your eyes quickly, surprising yourself by saying it out loud. Oh. You sat up for a moment to think.

Okay weird, but it didn’t mean anything, really. You were just desperate and he’s a familiar face. People have thoughts like this about people they’re just friends with all the time. It’s normal. There was no reason to punish yourself for something you couldn’t control.

You shook it off, taking a moment to relax again as you grabbed the toy next to you.

————

You were so close. Soft breaths and sighs leaving your mouth as the muffled buzzing sound filled your ears. Your body relaxing as you got closer and closer - until you heard your name followed by a knock at your bedroom door. The sudden sound surprising you and pulling you off of the edge you were about to fall over.

You moved quickly, turning your vibrator off and tossing it on the bed somewhere before fixing your pants and standing up.

You opened the door, warm face accompanied by a clear look of annoyance.

“Hey! I just uh,” He stopped himself to look at you, taking in your disheveled, tense figure.

“You just what?” Your voice was full of irritation, crossing your arms as he leaned in the doorway.

“Right. I just- I was about to go to the store for a few things if you need anything?” He asked, eyes looking into your own as he focused on not staring at the thin line of black peeking over your sweats.

“Oh I don’t need anything, thanks.”

“Of course. Did your uh, class get cancelled?”

“The one at 1? No, why?”

You leaned over, glancing at your alarm clock, you were about to be late for the second time partly because of him.

“Shit.” You mimicked your morning with a few less steps, throwing on your shoes and grabbing your bag before walking to the door when you realized you forgot your phone in your room.

Luca was already on it - walking into your room and reaching over your bed to grab it, where it had been lying right next to the vibrator you just put down a few moments before.

You walked in to him glancing at it for just a second, grabbing your phone and walking it to you with a grin he was trying to hide behind his hand.

“What?” You took your phone from his hand and rolled your eyes.

“I didn’t say anything.”

You walked back to the door as he followed you, pulling your tote up to your shoulder when you got there.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

He laughed softly as you turned to glare at him.

“I’m sorry I just didn’t realize I was interrupting something-“

You stopped him with a shake of your head, biting your tongue to hide your smile as you opened the door.

“Shut the fuck up.”

————

By the time you got out of your final class of the day it was almost 5, you were still tense, and stressed out. The pestering heat between your legs driving you even crazier after the man flooding your thoughts had unknowingly ruined your form of stress relief.

You stopped by a cafe on the walk home, ordering a sandwich and an iced tea. While you waited you texted a friend of yours, wanting a second opinion.

Elena; I don’t think that’s weird, is he hot?

:I mean YEAH, but that’s not the point?

Elena; Okay so he’s hot, single, and he cooks for you? I’d be dreaming about fucking him too

You giggled when their message came through, fidgeting with a straw wrapper in between texts.

;But what if it’s weird? We live together and I’d like to continue having a place to live

Not to mention the lack of sleep I’m already getting because of him.

Elena; Noise complaints aside, if he’s as nice as you say he is I really doubt he’d kick you out for that Plus if he did you could always move in with me !

;Then we’d both be losing sleep. I think I just need to talk to him about it

Elena; well I think you should just fuck and get it out of your system

You left them on read as your order was called, grabbing your food and walking back to your apartment.

————

You walked in and put your bag down, sighing when you saw Luca in the kitchen.

He looked up from whatever he was making as you glanced at him before grabbing a glass.

“Woah, what’d I do now?”

“I didn’t say anything.” You mocked his sentence from a few hours before, pouring yourself some water before walking around and pulling out a chair from the island he was working on.

He was chopping some vegetables while a pot of water on the stove was simmering. “Pasta?”

He just nodded as he continued, the smell of onion and garlic filling your nose as you decided to start working on a research paper you had due soon.

You got up to grab your laptop before sitting back down. You could never work in your room without falling asleep and the calming sounds of the kitchen were enough to keep you focused.

You stretched your arms after opening your laptop, rubbing over where your neck meets your shoulder before getting to work.

“Tense?” He was standing over the island as he started on a sauce, glancing up at you with a smirk as you worked.

“You’re such a dick.” You replied, eyes focused on the words in front of you, not looking at him until he was turned away from you.

He went to grab something from the spice cabinet, your eyes falling to the hem of his shirt as he reached up, giving you just a peek at his happy trail. Your eyes followed him as he moved back in front of you, mind stuck on the thought of your hand moving under his shirt.

It was no more than a few seconds but he caught you staring, smiling as he ‘stretched his arms’ to give you a better view. His shirt moved up just above his stomach, giving you a direct view of his abs, successfully distracting you from your work.

He moved his arms down, shaking his head when you sighed and looked back at your laptop, placing his hands on either side of it to look at you.

“What?” You leaned back in your chair, glancing at him before looking down at your hands.

“I didn’t say-“

You shut your laptop and stood up, moving your hands as you suddenly went on a tangent. You planned on just talking to him about it but the exhaustion was getting to you, your words rushing out one after the other.

“You’re so fucking frustrating, Luca. You’re distracting and you use the fucking blender at seven in the morning and you’re used to it so it doesn’t bother you but it bothers me,” He was just looking at you in surprise as you started pacing around.

“you apologize and cook me food and clean and that should all make up for it but it can’t because you’re also really hot. And I can’t even do anything about it because you’re my roommate and you’re usually here when I’m here so it’s not like I can just deal with it myself or fuck someone else.”

Your hand moved to your head as you continued, avoiding his eyes until you were done.

“You know, I’m trying to actually graduate but if I’m not sleeping and I can’t even get off around here without you interrupting me I’m going to fail my classes and get kicked out-” You took a deep breath as he walked closer to you, taking your laptop out from under your arm and placing it on the table beside you and looking into your eyes.

“What-“

He spoke before you could finish,

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was upsetting you that much, the last thing I want is to add stress to your life. I’ll go to work earlier and work on it there so I don’t wake you up. I’ll figure it out, I promise.”

He sounded the most sincere you’ve heard him since you moved in. You nodded and he grabbed your hands to pull you into a hug, your heartbeat getting faster when he put his arms around you. He smelled faintly of pasta dough, reminding you of the food that was probably burning now.

“I think your pastas fucked.” You said, pulling away from him. He looked at his watch and walked back into the kitchen.

“Nah, its still got a minute or two. Hungry?”

————

The way he was looking at you as you ate was making you nervous and desperate. You always hated when people watched you eat, but you assumed he just wanted to know if you were enjoying his food.

You gave your ‘compliments to the chef’ to no avail, he continued to look up at you between bites like he’d miss something if he didn’t.

He reached for his glass and you stared at his watch, silver sparkling on his wrist. There was an energy you couldn’t place as both of you finished, eyes on your plate as you could feel his gaze over you.

“Done?” His voice brought you out of your head, soft tone he reserved just for you echoing in your head as you nodded, handing your plate to his outstretched hand.

He brought your plates to the sink as you sat, wondering if you should get back to your paper.

“You want some cake?” There was that tone again.

“Duh.”

You got up and walked into the kitchen, sitting on the counter in front of him as he grabbed the cake he put aside before you got home, icing it in silence as you watched him. His controlled, steady movements in the kitchen were making you dizzy.

“Try this for me?” A common request, he usually let you try whatever new dessert he was working on; he liked your honesty. So you did, opening your mouth for a spoon, when you got an icing dipped finger in your mouth.

You looked at him in surprise for a moment before grabbing his wrist and obscenely licking the icing off while you looked into his eyes. You let his finger drag over your teeth as you pulled it out, licking your lips as you let go of his wrist. He was looking at you so intensely, you wanted to know what he was thinking.

“So you think I’m really hot, do you?” He grabbed one of your hands, putting it to his mouth as he kissed over your knuckles. You could feel your heartbeat speeding up once again as he moved his mouth up your arm, open mouthed kisses placed over your skin as he went, stopping when he got to your shoulder.

“Yeah I mean, I also mentioned you were really fucking frustrating, if you remember.”

He laughed softly at that, thumb stroking over your hand as you pressed your thighs together for some semblance of relief.

“I’m so sorry.” He whispered, kissing your shoulder between each word. The hand that wasn’t in his own was gripping the counter you were sat on, restraining yourself from jumping onto him like a dog.

His other hand moved to push your hair away from your face, exposing your neck to him. The back of his hand rested right over your pulse point as he leaned back to take you in.

“You really are tense, d’you want some help with that?” You didn’t trust your voice to be stable at this point, nodding under him as he moved both of his hands to your shoulders. The hand you weren’t using to steady yourself moved to his forearm as he started gently massaging your muscles.

Your eyes were closed as you leaned into him, focusing on breathing through your nose so you didn’t moan at the soft touch.

“Does that feel okay?” He was closer now, smooth, deep, voice close to your ear as his hands continued easing the tension out of you.

“Mhm.” His hands felt so warm over you, for the first time in a while you didn’t feel like you were carrying weights on your shoulders.

He moved one of his hands to your jaw, thumb moving to let out the lip you were absentmindedly holding between your teeth.

“It’s okay, darling, if it feels good I want to hear it.” He places a soft kiss to your jaw before moving his hand back, making you close your eyes again at the sweet gesture.

You leaned your head back when his hands moved to the back of your neck, letting out a soft sigh as you melted into him.

Your mouth was open then, stress and quick breaths leaving your body with every stroke of his hands.

You were adjusting your hips to gain some friction when one of his hands moved to support your head as the other moved to the outside of your thigh.

He lifted your head, resting it under your ear when you looked at him. His grip on your thigh tightened as he smirked at the desperation on your face.

“Luca, please.” You wrapped a hand over the wrist on your thigh while the other moved to the hem of his shirt, pulling him closer to you.

“Now who’s being loud in the kitchen?”

“Fuck you.” Your voice fell short of the bite you anticipated, desperately breathing over his mouth.

“I think you’d like that.” Your hand moved to his back, pushing his lips into your own. The kiss felt hungry, messy, exactly what you needed. Both of your hands moved to his face, deepening the kiss as his hand on your thigh moved to slot between your legs so he could stand between them.

You couldn’t get him as close as you wanted, wrapping your legs around his hips to sloppily grind into him as you moaned into his mouth, letting go of any promise you made to yourself to stay calm.

His hand moved up your thigh while the other moved to your waist, keeping you in place. Your whole body felt hot, trying to keep your mouths connected as his hand rested on your inner thigh right under where you could feel your pulse.

“You okay? Do you still want this?” His reassuring nature still present as you’d basically beg him to fuck you at this point.

“I still want this.” Your voice almost sounded like someone else’s, whiney and desperate as you tried to move towards his hand.

“Good.” He punctuated with a kiss to the corner of your mouth. He lifted you up, wrapping his arms around you as he carried you to your room, trying to keep his eyes open as you started to kiss his neck.

He laid you down on your bed, hands moving over the soft sheets under you.

“Soft bed.”

“Thank you.” You laughed softly before he moved his hands over your body, from your shoulders to the waistband of your pants, pausing for a second to look at you.

“Luca - please touch me already.”

“Okay, okay. I got you, I’ll make you feel better, promise.”

He pulled your pants and underwear down at the same time, goosebumps showing up on your skin as the cool air hit you.

“Have you been this wet all day? Poor thing.”

One of his fingers moved between your lips, collecting some of the wetness there and bringing it to his mouth as you gasped at the sudden action.

He cleaned off his finger as you’d done to the same one earlier, dragging the wet digit up your inner thigh and pushing it into your soaked cunt.

You moaned at the intrusion as he added a second one, slowly dragging them in and out, separating them to let you feel the stretch of his fingers.

He pressed into your clit with his palm as his fingers moved, kissing over your stomach and softly biting at the skin over your ribs. He kept moving up, nose and mouth pressing into your skin as he continued to draw moans and praises out of you.

The vibrator you were using what felt like forever ago was still on the bed next to you, he leaned over to your ear as he grabbed it,

“Think I should use this on you, love? Finish what you started earlier?” He stopped his fingers for a moment so you could answer

“Please.” You whined, moving your hips up into his hand.

“I know, I know. You want it so bad don’t you?” Your eyebrows scrunched together as you nodded, closing your eyes and letting your head hit the pillow under you as he turned the toy onto the lowest setting and placed it onto your clit.

Easing the tension out of you as he began to move his fingers again, curling them up and making you gasp at the sensations. You felt insane. He was all you could feel, see, hear, he was everywhere.

“Luca- Luca I’m so close, please-“ you were murmuring between moans, begging for permission you didn’t know you needed.

His face was right over yours, kissing along your hairline as the hand that wasn’t inside of you rested on the side of your neck, thumb stroking over your throat lightly.

He was kissing your face, your temple, your cheeks, your nose, and your lips, capturing the breaths falling from your lips. “You’re doing so good, darling. Let go for me. I got you, you can take it.”

You came soon after, his fingers mixed with the vibrations from the toy assaulting your clit sending you over the edge. Tension you didn’t know you were holding leaving your body as he worked you through it, your brain finally turning off.

Once you were shaking and grabbing his wrist he removed his fingers and turned the toy off, tossing it back in its original place on the bed.

“Feel better?” He asked, face still close to your own as he placed soft kisses all over you. You hummed, hand moving to his hair to lightly scratch his head.

“Almost.”

You wrapped your legs around his hips, pulling him into you and helping him out of his pants. You slowly moved your hand over his hard dick through his boxers, granting you the sound of him moaning into your open mouth.

You pulled him out and stroked his leaking cock over your sensitive before slowly pushing him into you, both of you groaning into each others mouths as he stretched you open.

“Now I feel better.”

————

COME RIGHT ON ME - I MEAN CAMARADERIE

I’ve been looking at this too long and I can’t tell if I love it or hate it

[shiny-crocodile]

the best person ive ever met

lucy bronze x ona batlle

Summary

lucy and ona origin story; semi-slow burn, semi-quick; multi chapters that will get a little smutty

chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7, chapter 8, chapter 9

CHAPTER 10

chapter summary: bikinis, blue and beaches

chapter notes: thank you to the anon for the private beach suggestion x

/

As this was the first time Ona had been in Lucy's flat, it was only right that they kept to tradition and christened every room, some multiple times.

Their breakfast sat uneaten in the kitchen while they recovered from morning sex in the bedroom, Ona's head resting on her lover’s stomach after she couldn't quite resist chef Lucy.

"Can I get you a coffee?" Lucy asked, playing with the younger girl's hair.

"Mmm not yet," Ona responded, wanting to live in this moment a little longer.

The Spaniard added this to the list of cute things Lucy had done to make her feel welcome in her flat.

Not a coffee drinker herself, Lucy had stocked up on coffee and even bought the same machine Ona had in her Manchester flat.

Not stopping there, the English girl had cleared drawers and wardrobe space for her, bought chocolate, pancake ingredients and even got Ona her own Barcelona branded toothbrush. A sweet nod to the fact it was almost certain they would be playing with each other next season.

They soaked up each others company until Lucy started to move slightly, met with an annoyed mumble by Ona.

"Sorry baby, l've gotta go," Lucy said, needing to be back at the Barça training ground in 30 minutes for their celebration parade.

"Nooo," Ona moaned as she clung onto Lucy like a monkey, trying her best to stop her from moving, with little success.

"I'll be back soon," Lucy said, standing up to throw some clothes on.

"Oh shit, I forgot to pack," Lucy remembered, having planned to do that before leaving but she had got a little side tracked.

She looked around the room for her suitcase, panicking as she was on a tight schedule to get to the airport after the parade finished.

"Lucy, go," Ona said, sitting up to watch her stressed girlfriend pacing, "I can pack for us."

The English girl hesitated, preferring to sort herself out but she didn't really have a choice.

"Ok," Lucy conceded, slipping her trainers on before walking over to her naked girlfriend, bending over to kiss her deeply.

"Thank you," Lucy said, "I can't wait to see you in a bikini.”

"I'm literally naked right now," Ona said, laughing as Lucy hurried out the room. "Bye!"

"Bye, see you in a few hours," Lucy called back, shutting the door behind her.

Ona started to get moving, kind of liking being in Lucy's flat alone and having a nosey around.

There were some photos of her niece and nephew, signs of Narla who Ona didn't get to meet this time, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a framed version of the photo booth photos Ona had on her fridge. Her heart soared imagining Lucy going and getting them printed and framed.

Now in an even more smitten mood, the Spaniard got to packing.

///

"Umm Ona!" Lucy called from the bedroom of their rental villa. The place was massive, so she had to raise her voice a little louder than usual to be heard.

Ona strutted in, wearing a neon pink bikini that made her tan pop.

It was Lucy's first time seeing her since waking up. They got in late last night and Lucy just flopped into bed and didn't wake up for another 10 hours, exhausted by the last days and weeks.

"Firstly, wow," Lucy said, looking her girlfriend up and down, admiring her six pack and the way the bikini barely covered her. "Secondly, where are all our things?"

She was rummaging through the wardrobe where Ona had hung up their stuff while Lucy was sleeping.

"What do you mean?" the Spaniard asked, collapsing on the bed to lay on her stomach, her bum doing its best to distract Lucy.

"There's barely any clothes in here," Lucy pointed out, signalling to the complete lack of items packed for both of them. More bikinis than actual clothes.

"Who needs clothes?" Ona asked, slowly teasing the tie of her bikini undone, causing Lucy to bite down on her lip.

"They're also all my clothes," Lucy pointed out, fully distracted now as she crawled along the bed towards her girlfriend.

"Mhmm," Ona hummed, turning on her back to let Lucy climb on top of her.

Lucy ran her hand up the younger girl's side, removing the bikini that was now barely covering her girlfriend.

"Well we don't want to get our limited collection dirty then do we," the English girl said, pulling her own top off, leaving only football shorts on.

Ona pulled the older girl in, mouths merging in a filthy kiss to kick off their make out session, hands and mouths running all over each other as they rolled around, making the most of the massive bed.

"Wait," Ona said, trying to sit up and halt things but not being able to as Lucy pinned her back down, sucking on her neck.

Temporarily thinking of giving in, Ona moaned at the sensation as Lucy gave a soft bite to her shoulder.

"No," Ona said, firmer this time as she actually managed to wriggle free, "we have to pick up the car."

Lucy groaned, laying back, hands on her head as Ona hopped off the bed and over to the wardrobe.

As the English girl finally opened her eyes and sat up, realising this make out session was only going as far as that, she saw Ona pulling on some very familiar shorts and shirt.

"Looks good on you," Lucy said, not minding after all that the Spaniard's packing meant she would exclusively be in Lucy's clothes for the holiday.

Clothes were chucked at the English girl to encourage her to get ready.

"Hey, who am I?" Ona asked, doing a Lucy-esque organising of her hair, followed by a Lucy-esque pulling her top up to show off her abs and rearranging her shorts.

"Shut up," Lucy responded to the teasing, instantly recognising those mannerisms as her own.

Still not able to resist the flash of the abs, even if it was a joke at her expense, the older girl moved forward to pull the Spaniard into one last kiss before being pushed off again to get ready.

///

"So where now?" Lucy asked as they drove off in their new convertible.

Ona had been to the area a lot as a child, so the English girl was leaving the activities very much to her for once, and the driving as well.

"Surprise," Ona said, not wanting to give anything away, "but we need some stuff from the supermarket first."

Once the girls had got some picnic supplies and drinks, they headed back into the car for Ona to drive them to the surprise location.

"Ummm," Lucy said as they pulled up in an empty car park with not much going on around them except for dirt roads. "Have you taken me here to kill me?"

Ona scoffed, "patience please."

The Spaniard held her hand out to drag Lucy out the car, then leading her down a path, things not becoming any more reassuring for the English girl as it seemed to be dirt as far as the eye could see.

She never usually let go of control when it came to holidays and activities, and she was starting to remember why.

Twenty minutes later the scenery still hadn't changed.

"Sure you know where you're going?" Lucy said, drawing an eye roll from the younger player.

"Yep," Ona said as they stepped onto the top of a hill, looking out at the most pristine white sand beach Lucy had ever seen in her life.

The English girl was speechless, which Ona took as a good sign after her constant moaning.

"I used to come here when I was younger, although I cycled so it was much harder work but so worth it," Ona said, dragging Lucy down the hill and onto the beach.

"It's amazing," Lucy finally managed to get some words out, “how is it so empty?”

"Honestly I think I'm the only person who knows about it," Ona said, laying out their towels as Lucy dumped the bags of food and drink. "Well now one of two people."

"You've never taken anyone here?" Lucy asked, knowing how many times Ona had been in the area with family, friends, exes.

"No, I kind of like it being my special place. I used it to escape really," Ona said, sitting on her towel and running sand through her fingers.

Lucy was completely flattered that Ona would share this with her.

"I love it, it's the most beautiful place l've ever seen," Lucy said, sitting and leaning over to peck the Spaniard's cheek, "thank you for sharing this with me."

Ona hadn't really thought about Lucy being the first person she was bringing here. It was a no-brainer to come here after a few years away and of course Lucy would be part of that.

As Ona stripped down to her bikini, she got out the suncream to start applying it to her arms.

"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" Lucy asked, making Ona more than a little confused.

"Umm, putting suncream on," she responded, looking at the bottle to make sure it actually was suncream.

"That's my job," Lucy said, yanking the bottle from Ona, much to the Spaniard's amusement, and applying a large amount to her hands.

She started off on the back and shoulders, massaging into Ona's tight muscles as she went, laying kisses over the younger girl before moving on to the next spot.

"Let's take this off," Lucy said after effortlessly turning Ona round, removing her bikini top. She knew the girl would want to sunbathe the European way anyway, so she was only keeping her safe.

After covering her hands with suncream, she started at the collar bone, working her way down to Ona's chest.

"Lucy," the Spaniard mumbled, her girlfriend giving an excessive amount of attention to her boobs.

"It's very pale here, don't want you getting burnt," the older girl said as she kissed her chest goodbye.

She made her way over Ona's abs, tucking her hands down her bikini line before turning focus to her limbs.

She took each arm and leg and put it over her shoulder as she massaged the suncream deep into her skin.

Ona was loving this, not only was she getting an insanely good free massage for her tight muscles after a long season, it was also her favourite hands doing it.

As Lucy started on her final leg, she made sure to pay extra attention to her bum, taking things as slow as possible as she rubbed extra close to Ona's bikini bottoms, which were significantly damper than they were 10 minutes ago.

After fully working up the Spaniard, Lucy placed a soft kiss on her inner calf and placed her leg down.

"Think I got everywhere," Lucy said cheekily, standing up and leaving Ona flustered on the towel. "Swim?" she asked, holding her hand out to pull Ona up.

The younger girl knew full well her suncream won't have soaked in and they would have to do that all again when they got out, but she didn't mind it one bit, letting herself be pulled up.

The girls walked out into the sea far enough that Lucy could still stand but Ona was struggling a little, a great excuse to wrap her legs around the taller girl's waist instead.

Lucy secured the younger girl by wrapping her arms round Ona's hips, while the Spaniard's arms hung around Lucy's neck.

"I'm so excited to be at the same club next season," Lucy said as they bobbed together in the water.

"So am I," Ona said, admiring the way her girlfriend's eyes shimmered, reflecting off the sea, "before the most exciting part of it was being back home, but now by far the best part is the thought of being with you all the time."

They nestled their heads into each other's necks.

Lucy sighed, so content with where they were in that moment, as they both let their minds drift off in unison to being in the same city, finally.

///

Back on the beach, Lucy downed the dregs of her second glass of wine.

"Top up?" Ona offered, holding the bottle.

"No, but you can, I'll drive on the way back," Lucy said, moving her empty glass behind them.

"It's ok, we can finish it later."

The sun was starting to set, the girls having spent the last few hours in and out of the sea, soaking up the sun, even building a few sandcastles at Lucy's insistence.

"Come here," Lucy said, Ona shuffling towards her on the towel, the older girl pushing the stray piece of hair behind her ear.

The younger girl leaned in to kiss Lucy passionately, sea salt giving her lips a perfect sting.

"I might have a little surprise for you too," Lucy said, pointing over to her bag behind Ona, who turned over to have a rummage.

"No way!" Ona gasped, pulling out first a strap and then a bright blue dildo.

"You brought that to the beach?" the younger girl laughed, looking at the cheeky smile spread over her girlfriend's face.

"Didn't know where we were going, did I? Gotta be prepared for everything," Lucy said, taking the surprise items from Ona.

The older girl could sense some hesitation as Ona laid back to face her.

"We don't have to use it here," Lucy said, not wanting her to be uncomfortable.

Ona's nervousness was due to how open and outdoors it was, but she quickly remembered that she'd never seen anyone else on this beach in all these years.

"I want to," Ona said, because she really did. This sunset, this girl, how could she not?

"Tell me if you change your mind, we'll stop yeah?" Lucy offered, shuffling towards Ona as she attached the strap to herself, placing it over her bikini bottoms and leaving a soft kiss on the end of the younger girl's nose when she was ready.

"I will," Ona confirmed, and with that Lucy's demeanour changed, taking control as she positioned herself over Ona.

Arms either side of the younger girl's head, Lucy lowered herself to kiss her, sliding in a tongue to up the messiness.

Exploring each other's mouthes as they picked up their make out session from earlier, Lucy was confident she could feel the girl get more and more relaxed. She slowly untied the Spaniard's bikini bottoms to expose the girl's wetness.

"Yours off too," Ona said, if she was going to be naked on the beach, so was Lucy.

Usually the English girl would have resisted being told what to do when she was controlling the situation, but she would allow it this time, wanting Ona as comfortable as possible so she hurried the pants off, rearranging the dildo so the base now knocked against her clit.

The English girl slipped her fingers through the Spaniard's soaked folds, earning a moan.

Everything was heightened with the excitement and fear of doing this out in the open.

Lucy started easing her fingers into Ona, one at a time as she stretched the girl out, kissing over her collarbone and chest as she went.

"Ready," Lucy asked, bringing her face up to meet Ona's, who nodded but Lucy could still sense some hesitation.

Usually their favourite position for this was the younger girl riding the older, but Lucy could tell they had to mix it up this time, letting Ona stay on her back as she moved her cock towards Ona's entrance.

"So tight," Lucy groaned, practically feeling it as she pushed herself into Ona.

"Open wider," she said, pushing the Spaniard's legs further apart, wanting more space to push herself into the girl as she bottomed out.

The younger girl held her hand out to interlock fingers with Lucy, a tender and supportive grip as she got fucked on a beach.

The sound of waves crashing in the background combined musically with the slaps from Lucy's thrusts deep into the Spaniard.

The older girl upped the pace, distracting Ona with sloppy kisses all over her face and shoulders.

Feeling vulnerable but loving the feeling of the sand beneath her and the sea air washing over her, Ona was hit with a wave of emotions.

"Luce," she said softly.

"Yeah?"

"I will only ever want you," the younger girl said, tears pricking her eyes as she approached her high, her words pushing Lucy closer to hers.

As Lucy rearranged the dildo slightly to put more pressure on her own clit, she responded, "well that's good because you've got me forever."

Both girls stared into each other's eyes, breathing into each other's mouths as Ona was the first to come, spurred on by Lucy moving a hand to rub on her clit.

As Ona crashed through her orgasm she was breathless and sensitive, but she could tell Lucy was close.

Leaning her head up she pulled at the English girl's lower lip with her teeth, sucking it and instantly sending Lucy hurtling towards her high.

"Fuck," Lucy said as she slowed down her pace, not removing her cock from Ona just yet. "You're so amazing."

"You know how much I love you, yeah?" Ona asked, really wanting reassurance herself while feeling quite vulnerable, the dildo still inside her.

The older girl stroked her girlfriend's sweat and suncream soaked face, "you know you're the love of my life, yeah?"

With that, Ona's vulnerability was out of the window, she pushed Lucy to the side, keeping the dildo inside her as she positioned herself on top of the girl, legs either side.

Lucy was taken aback but she wasn't complaining, she definitely had the energy to go again.

She grabbed Ona's thighs as the Spaniard took control, moving her hips to grind down, rolling her head back as pleasure took over.

Not satisfied with parts of their body not in contact, Lucy sat up slightly to wrap her arms around Ona, chests flushed against each other.

"Fuck, Ona!"

"Feels so good."

"No, Ona, look!!" Lucy said, Ona's head spinning round to see two middle aged kayakers passing in the sea. Only about 100 meters away, perfect distance to see just about everything.

"Shit," Ona said, quickly removing herself from Lucy who ripped off the strap, throwing it in her bag.

Both girls collapsed on their side to hide themselves, Lucy throwing a towel over Ona to cover her.

"I'm so sorry," Lucy said, feeling terrible she had encouraged this and Ona was the one most exposed.

"Don't be," said Ona before bursting out into a fit of laughter, much to the relief of Lucy.

The English girl peered over to see the middle aged couple quickly paddling away, unable to stop herself joining Ona's laughter.

"I can't believe that just happened," Ona said through laughs, "that poor couple."

"Poor couple? Baby they are gonna get home and have the best sex of their life now I promise you," Lucy said, making Ona laugh more as she nestled herself into the older girl's embrace.

Lucy placed a soft kiss on her temple as they voted in favour of saving the next activity for the villa, and the rest of the chaos for a a “time flies” instagram post of their first trip together.

/

[meowufff]

Okay!

First of all: I am very sorry it took so long to finish this! It had been a lot more data than last time, so I had some trouble to visualize and edit it this time around. I really hope I made it work somehow so enjoy this lil conclusion thingy and feel free to add or mention anything that comes to your mind~

In this survey I have asked a total of 188 people multiple questions surrounding sleep habits, their consume of caffein and its influence on them and got an answer from 104 of these.

So let’s beginning with the average hours per sleep these people had.

Well, as we saw in the last survey I did, most people I have asked didn’t had a good sleep schedule. The average hours that a rottmnt tumblr artist out of 104 get is 6,48 hours per night.

I tried my best to categorize the hours into 1-3; 4-6; 6-7; 7-9; 10+ h/night. The most common one being 4-6 h/night and 7-9 h/night which is a little surprising remembering that only 18% of people of my last survey actually have a “good”-sleep schedule in hindsight that the recommended amount of sleep is 7-9 hours/night.

These numbers could be explained that for a lot of people the amount of hours they sleep depends on factors like if they´re having a stressful time at the moment or how much they did over the day so the numbers itself varied often from 3-8 hours. Of course, no one sleeps the exact amount of hours every single time so the range a lot people mentioned had been partly very big.

Now that we know how many hours most artist sleep per night, we should take a look at how many hours they consider enough to technically get through the day which is 4,94 hours.

Because the answered had been very specific for most parts I decided to categorize them into full 1 till 9+ hours and steps in between as 1-2; 2-3; 3-4; etc. hours, the most common ones being 4 and 5 hours. Which is kind of close to the average amount they get.

So some could take the wild guess that a lot of people are surviving on their minimum hours per night as daily basis.

For my next question I could have been more specific with what I meant. My thought behind that question had been, how many hours are a lot in consideration to a not-so-great sleep schedule. For example, a person who usually gets 5-6 hours of sleep could consider getting 7 or 8 hours as a lot.

Some didn’t answer that part which is understandable as the meaning isn’t that clear. I still got a lot of interesting answers! For example, the average “a lot of hours of sleep” value is 9,59 hours.

Now let’s get to the caffein!

Surprisingly to me, considering the small average hour per night, 53,85% do not consume any caffein over the day and only 39,42% have it included into their daily routine. The small amount of 6,73% of people use it only as last resort.

On the other hand, after reading all the effects caffein has on most of the people I asked I am not as surprised they´re not consuming it regularly.

Talking about the different effects of caffein on people please look at the following two pictures where I tried my best to visualize the different answers as good as possible.

In the first one you can see the descriptions how the people are feeling before consuming any caffein. The bigger the word the more often it had been mentioned.

In the second you will see the way they feel after consuming any kind of caffein.

It is pretty prominent that a majority doesn’t feel any different afterwords which could be an explanation why the amount of people drinking caffein is that “small”. But even if the second biggest word is the usual effect caffein has the one directly after that are words like tired, sluggish, jittery which are most definitely affects no one likes to experience.

A lot of the described feelings could be lined to stuff like ADHD or insomnia or anything else where caffein can show a paradox or even negative effect on someone. I have read that a lot of people still like to consume drinks with caffein in it but not because of the effect but more for the taste.

As someone who needs to drink either very strong coffee or energy to actually feel any effect of the caffein, I found it very interesting to see that people mentioned to enjoy drinking tea as little energy boost.

For me tea, or coke or any other caffeinated soda, has such a little amount of caffein in it that I, for myself, didn’t even had it categorized as something that could be used as little caffein booster.

It hadn’t been a question, but I still noted down the kind of drinks people choose to drink as daily caffein source, which actually shows that coffee is the usual to go drink but again, surprisingly lot told me that they don’t drink tea (or anything else) as daily basis but more randomly whenever they feel like it.

In the end, what can we conclude out of all this messy information?

So, the usual hours you should sleep is put on 7-8 hours per night.

The average hours out of 104 artists in the rottmnt tumblr bubble is 6,48 hours per night with a minimum needed of 4,94 hours to get through the day. The maximum hours got in a night lay by 9,6 hours.

53,85% of these 104 go through their every day without the help of any caffein.

39,42% have caffein included into their daily routine.

6, 73% see caffein only as their last resort and try to avoid consuming any for as long as possible.

Thank you, a lot, for reading so far and thousand thanks to all the people participating in this lil survey again! I had a lot of fun doing this and I hope this little conclusion here is entertaining enough to make it worth having to answer my “few” questions!

If you want to share your own opinion or point out any mistakes I may have made, please feel free to do so~

I wish everyone a happy day and or good night!

If you are interested into my first survey, pls click here :3 Special Thanks to all of the participants!!! @heckitall @triona-tribblescore @butterfilledpockets @crownedcrowrow @pezhead @wraenata @zinovi768 @cokowiii @idiot-mushroom @less-depresso-more-espresso @mightyanxiety @sweeneydino @2aceofspades @mobiitez @onejellyfishplease @titenoute @arrora-art @indieyuugure @tblsomedoodles @theelvishfiddler @tasenwiththerobots @iredoodles @sushixstar @turrondeluxe @signanothername @adorabledrugl0rd @mr-doodles @theastroghost @djpachipikachu @hellishgayliath @frosteaart @godsfaultycreations @koolaidashley @soda-kazoo @tapakah0 @v-albion @sad-leon @angelpuns @sharkfinn @venelona-turtle-den @goatedgreen @graphitehybrid @laseralligator @peach-moths @vangh17a @debb987 @lieutenantbiscute @sunnyyyteaaa @0ransje @manga-toons

[flowershines]

Request: Open

Mike Schmidt x F. Reader

Warnings: smut, fluff, virginity, penetration, reader in pain, nicknames, protected sex

5:32am

Mike’s bed always felt so lonely without him there right next to you but that is how it has been for a couple weeks now, ever since he got his new job at Freddy’s Pizzeria.

Tossing in turning felt never ending, hours had gone by since you had last checked the clock.

Closing your eyes once again you tried to go into the scenarios you were creating in your head trying to help you fall asleep, Mike usually talked you to sleep and just the feeling of him next to you always had a special place in your heart.

Always being close to him was your favorite so this new job where he is gone at nights was hard to but at least you weren't the only one going through this adjustment.

Abby was having a hard time falling asleep, Mike would read her bedtime stories till she fell asleep.

You took over his job of reading her stories, you could tell how much she missed her brother.

She started to draw him in her drawings more and would show them to you once she was done with them asking if he would like them.

One thing that had always helped you sleep was thinking of the memories you had with Mike throughout the time you guys have been together.

So that is exactly what you did and it helped you fall asleep till he came home.

6:23am

Feeling Mike’s side of the bed being filled made you wake up right away of course he just wanted to sleep but now you can sleep peacefully knowing that he is right there with you.

Turning over to his side you were met with an exhausted Mike, he was sitting up rubbing his thumb and index finger over his eyes trying to get the sleepiness out of his eyes.

You grabbed his arm and moved closer to him, putting your head over his lap.

“Is someone still awake?”

You mumbled a small “Yeah”

He started to run his fingers through your hair then following the end of your hair down your arm and rubbing your arm lightly.

“How was work?”

“Interesting as always, missed you to much”

You smiled slowly due to you still being tired from just waking up, he laid down as you crawled up onto his chest.

His heartbeat filled your ears almost like a small lalabye, in a couple of hours you knew you were going to be woken again from him moving to go bring Abby to school.

7:46am

You were right, Mike had gotten up and picked out his outfit, closing the door so that way he could get changed.

He thought that you were still sleeping just like you were on how he had left you, little did he know that you were wide awake watching him get dressed he found out as soon as he turned around after he was done changing.

“How long have you been awake for?”

Shrugging your shoulders and smiling he got the gist that you had watched him.

“Pervert”

“It's not my fault, you were in my peripheral vision.”

“Weirdo” he says before walking towards the door leaving it open a crack just in case you wanted to follow behind him.

You were still tired and just wanted to lay in the bed all day but you couldn’t, so you were just going to lay in bed as of right now.

8:13am

The sound of Mike’s car honking making sure that it was locked made you turn in the bed towards the door.

He walked into his room seeing how you still were awake he placed a kiss on your forehead and went towards his side of the bed.

“What do you plan on doing today?”

“Honestly I don’t know”

Turning towards your boyfriend to face him you gave a kiss then pulling away, he grabbed the back of your head and leaned in closer making the kiss longer.

The kiss felt passionate and made your heart flutter as his other hand rested on your waist.

Kissing him made you think about having sex with him.

Of course you wanted to he is your boyfriend and you love him after all but neither of you brought it up.

You always wanted to bring it up to him but you always just over thought the idea of it, coming up with things he might say.

What if he doesn’t want to?

With me?

When?

Questions always flew into your head when this topic approached your mind, wondering if he had the same questions as well.

You both were familiar with each other’s body, like he has fingered you and you have done stuff with him too.

But he knew that you were a virgin because you told him the first time that he had ever touched you in that way.

“Mike” You said pulling away from the kiss

“Yeah?”

“Why haven’t we had sex yet?”

“Have you wanted to?” He says out of breath

“I mean I don’t know, I was just asking why don’t we?”

“I guess neither of us had brought it up before, how long have you wanted to do it for?”

“Every time we have kissed it has crossed my mind.”

“I have wanted to with you for a while but i just haven’t wanted to force it onto you. ”

“I want to.”

“Okay, when?”

Suddenly all the questions that were roaming in your head were slowly starting to fade away as they had been answered.

“Now?” You asked looking up at him innocently

He looked like he was a kid on Christmas day about to open the first present.

He turned toward his side dresser and opened the small drawer and grabbed a condom.

“You never know.”

You giggled as he knew you guys would be having sex any time soon.

“Are you 100% sure, we can stop at any moment I won’t mind.”

“I’m sure.”

“Just let me know when you want to stop, okay?”

“Okay.” You kissed his cheek

He started to unravel the condom from its packaging and tossing it to the side as he gave you the condom, wanting you to put it on for him.

Stripping his clothes off till he was just in his boxers he motioned for you to continue for him.

You pulled out his dick from his boxers and slid them down his thighs and you placed the condom on his tip and slowly moved it down till it was on the base of his cock.

He mumbled a small “Fuck-” as you slid the condom down his dick.

After finishing the job for him you stripped your clothes off till you were just in your bra and underwear.

He had scooped your lower back and moved you down so that way you were laying down, pulling your underwear off in the process.

“You sure?” He asked aligning his tip at your entrance.

“Yes”

He placed some lube on the tip and then slowly started to insert his member slowly making sure to look at your face for any signs of discomfort.

Small muffled noises were heard from your mouth along with short whimpers.

“Does it hurt?”

You hummed in response as the stretch from him did hurt really bad but he didn’t need to know just how bad it hurt.

He stopped his movement and kissed your face all the way down to your neck telling you just how good you are doing.

“Okay, you can start moving again.”

Which he soon obeyed slowly moving inside inch by inch.

He pushes his whole length in you and was just waiting for you to adjust to his size before continuing.

You nodded you head as a okay for him to move again.

He slowly moved in and out of you not wanting to hurt you, desperation grew on his end.

Resulting him to ask, “Can I go faster?”

To which his question you responded with a yes.

As soon as you told him you could feel him starting to move faster by the second.

Small grunts and airy moans left his mouth trying to gain his composure.

On the other hand you were a mess moans leaving your mouth and many different emotions builded up on your face.

He started to move faster and faster as time went on till you could hear his breathing begin to start shaking.

His grunts turned into groans as for you, you were about to reach your peak he had been going for a while and when he started playing with your clit you were on the verge of cumming then and there.

“Y/n- I’m close-” he lets out a airy moan once again.

“Me two”

“Cum with me, please princess”

That sentence right there sent you over the edge as you came on his cock, he filled the condom in you.

Pulling out he had thrown the condom in the trash then laid down next to you in the bed placing his hand on your stomach.

“I’ll always love you, please never be scared to talk to me about something like that.”

[ukulelevillainwrites]

who follows the rules anyway?

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9

final part

pairing: anthony lockwood x reader

word count : 6.3k

note: so here we are, some 8 months later this series is done! having mixed feelings rn but anyway i'm so glad i got to share this with you guys and there's a lot more to come

taglist: @demigoddess-of-ghosts ; @sub-text ; @mothman21 ; @aislinrayne ; @oblivious-idiot ; @neewtmas ; @maraschinomerry ; @bella-rose29 ; @bobbys-not-that-small ; @novelizt ; @fudosl ; @archiveoftara ; @cassiopeiia24

[from Lockwood’s pov]

It was still early when he started to emerge from his dreamless sleep. The few hours of rest he managed to get weren’t enough to drown out the confusion that had taken over his thoughts ever since Barnes had showed up yesterday. The sun wasn’t up yet. Time stood still and everything was quiet. He tossed and turned trying to fall back asleep but the blinking of the ghost lamp around the corner kept lighting up his room in a soft fluorescent light.

After y/n had gone up to the attic yesterday, he had stayed with George discussing new plans. They had spent dinner going over their notes from the previous weeks, their scribbling blackening the white cloth with new ideas. The problem was that they needed to take on new cases and planning for the party had already exhausted them. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that Dufour would have to wait a few more weeks until they were ready to strike again. The plate George had prepared for her was going cold and not seeing her come down, Lockwood had tried to bring it up for her. He had been relieved to find her fast asleep and not brooding about Barnes’ news. Even though she had woken up late after the night they spent at the fundraiser, she hadn’t seemed to be doing so great. He really hoped it was the champagne and not something else.

Thinking back to the night before, it was a miracle she had talked to him at all that afternoon. He had tried from the very beginning to separate work from his personal life. Whatever was the nature of his feelings towards her, whether it be hatred or otherwise, they had to have each other’s back in the field and that was all that mattered. Somehow, she still managed to tear down his walls of defense. Saying he had lost control at that party would have been an understatement. From the moment her lips stained his cheek red, all logic flew out the window. Between his proximity, his jealousy and the few terms of endearment that had slipped his mouth during the night, he had turned their working relationship into a minefield without a doubt.

She had rolled over, interrupting his train of thoughts. He had looked at her with fondness while she stretched in her sleep before settling back on her side. He then had gone back downstairs, thinking that rest would probably do her some good. He hadn’t had the opportunity to bring her even more bad news that night. But now here he was, the following day, with this unpleasant discussion still ahead of him and it certainly wasn’t going to let him fall back asleep. He reluctantly pushed his blanket away and pulled his grey hoodie over his head.

After his usual breakfast tea, and a second mug for comfort, Lockwood paced around the library while he waited for y/n to wake up. He had to tell her she wouldn’t get her revenge any time soon, the sooner the better. But did he really have to? The last time he refused to help her they had one of their worst fights. He certainly didn’t want that to happen again. All he wanted was for them to get along. That was a lie. What he really wanted was for her to look at him with the same fondness she had the night before, even just for an instant. He wanted her to tell him what she had meant when she’d admitted she had let her feelings get the best of her. He wanted to hold her in his arms again. What a mistake this had been. The three of them would go under if they didn’t take on new cases soon. And they would all have him to blame, just because he let his feelings get in the way of his work.

When he looked back at the clock on the wall, it was already 8:30. y/n had been supposedly asleep for twelve hours now. Granted she didn’t look too well yesterday, she still should have been awake by now.

For the third time, he went back to the kitchen for another mug of tea. He ran towards the door when he finally heard footsteps coming that way. He was greeted with George’s disheveled look instead of the person he was expecting to see. His smile faltered and he went back to standing next to the counter without saying a word.

“Good morning to you too…”

He poured his friend a cup of tea as a form of apology.

“Sorry,” he said while handing it to him, “I thought you were y/n”

George stared at him with a torn expression, hesitating between a snide comment or a sarcastic joke. He took a sip of his tea and sighed.

“She’s been asleep for a while now.”

Before Lockwood could share his worry, a knock on the front door interrupted him.

“Did we have any appointments scheduled today?”

“No, the last one I scheduled is tomorrow at 10”

He frowned and went back up the few steps and answered the door. Lucy and Norrie smiled at him, brandishing a dessert box from the corner shop.

“Lucy, you shouldn’t have. We owe everything to you. I should be the one buying you doughnuts.”

“It’s not too late for that!” She winked.

“Did everything go well with DEPRAC?” Norrie asked.

“Well…” He hesitated. “Not exactly. Come in.”

He ushered them inside, explaining the talk they had with Barnes the day before.

“How did she take it?” Norrie asked about y/n.

“I’m not sure…”

Lucy placed the box of treats on the small table in the hall to take off her coat and knocked over some of the items lying there.

Apologizing, she bent down to retrieve them. She put them back and handed Lockwood a camera film.

“You shouldn’t let that lie around out of its wrapping paper, the dust could damage it.”

“What’s this?”

“I don’t know I knocked it over just then.”

He put it in his pocket, wondering where it could have come from, and looked nervously at the clock in the living room. Lucy hung her coat in the hall before taking back the box they had brought and making her way into the kitchen. It took him a second to realize that her coat was hanging in the spot where y/n’s usually was. He looked down and noticed her shoes weren’t there either. Either she had gone to bed with them, or something was wrong. And he had a hunch it was the latter. He didn’t think twice and climbed the steps two by two in a rush to the attic. As he had suspected, her bed was empty. It had been a long time since she had bailed on them, and he thought he wouldn’t have to handle this kind of situation anymore. But apparently, he had failed to see how much this issue affected her. Barnes had told her explicitly to not go look for evidence herself and she had done the exact opposite. Though it would be unfair to blame her for it, he probably would have done the same thing. He rushed back downstairs and stormed into the kitchen.

“y/n is gone.”

The serious look on his face was enough to make the room go silent.

“Where could she be?” Lucy asked, worried.

“Considering this,” he tossed the camera film from earlier to George, “I’m going to guess she went to get evidence herself last night.”

Another silence stretched as they all considered his words. George seemed to shut down. He stared at the table without a word. When his eyes came back into focus, he asked

“When do you think she left?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t hear anything. Did you?”

“I thought I heard something, but I figured it was you. “

“When was it?” Lockwood pressed.

“Around three?” He stood up and pushed his chair back. “Or four maybe?”

She had been gone for over five hours and still hadn’t come home. She could have gone anywhere, she could have met anybody… before he could spiral any further, George got up. He didn’t wait for Lockwood to answer and headed towards the hall.

“Where are you going? We need to think! Where could she have gone?”

“I don’t know but I’m going to find her.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ll figure it out.”

Lockwood had to put himself between the door and his friend to keep him from taking a step further. George looked back at him defiantly.

“George, no. I’m not losing you too because you wanted to play hero.”

“That’s rich coming from you!” He yelled back. “I’m doing this. She’s only going after Dufour because I shared my suspicions in the first place. This is all my fault and I need to fix it.” He mumbled.

“We,” he emphasized, “need to be smart about this.”

“We don’t have time! The last time she wandered by herself at night she got chased by relic men, she could be-”

“I know!” Lockwood shouted.

They stared at each other, considering the unspoken words. The air was thick with tension and panic started to clutch his chest tighter.

“Someone needs to go after her.” George insisted.

“And someone needs to get DEPRAC.” Lockwood stared at his best friend with an unspoken plea. George looked back at him with a furrowed brow, fidgeting with the zipper of his orange parka. Lockwood was used to the researcher’s passive expressions. Sometimes, they could barely be called expressions at all. But now his eyes were filled with worry, a genuine please begging to let him go.

“I… I’ll take care of DEPRAC.”

George sighed in relief and reached for the door once more.

“But you are not going there alone.” Lockwood said, resting a hand on his shoulder before he could run off.

“We’ll go!” Lucy intervened.

“Are- are you sure?” Norrie asked, surprised by her girlfriend’s sudden interest for dangerous missions.

“She’s our friend too, and she needs our help. Where do we begin?”

---

[back to reader’s pov]

The sound of a window breaking jolted her awake. Her head was hurting, an ache pressing on her temples so much her vision was blurry. She released a pained sigh, barely noticing the girl getting up from her fall through the back window who was shaking the last remnants of glass out of her wavy auburn hair. She only noticed she was there when she took her by the shoulders, shaking her awake. It took her embarrassingly long to realize that Lucy was the one coming to her rescue. Before she could open her mouth, the girl slapped her across the face, hard enough to make her lose balance and trip over the edge of the chair she was sitting on. The ties at her wrists and feet kept her in place and the sudden pain from tugging on them woke her up for good. Through heavy eyelids she turned her head to see the back window intact and the room she was in empty.

The sun was up now. She wasn’t quite sure how she had ended up here but clearly her suicidal plan, if anyone could even call it that, had backfired in the worst way. She vaguely recalled leaving the house in the middle of the night with nothing but a camera in her bag and heading towards Fittes. The rest of the night was a blur. She guessed from the ache at the back of her head that she had found who she had been looking for but they had found her too. Their identity became clear when she heard voices coming from the corridor leading to the room she was held in. She pretended to be unconscious and listened as their steps echoed closer.

“I’m not in the business of knowing what he’s up to. I sell him the sources he asks for and move on. But with that DEPRAC audit, I’m losing my biggest client.”

“What do I care?” A man’s voice asked dejectedly.

“No clients for me means no payment for you, you idiot. We need a new buyer and we need them now!” A door slammed, making her jump. She kept her eyes closed, listening to the voices becoming less muffled with each step.

“Can you find me a contact in the Society, or do I have to ask someone else?” Dufour asked, as pleasant as she had known her when she got fired.

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Yes, you will.” The two of them entered the room she was held in. “And watch her, make sure she doesn’t cause any more trouble. You know what to do if she does.”

Despite the shudder running down her spine, y/n remained still. She would not let the ominous threats break her spirit. She would not give into her fear. Time stood still when the door closed, leaving her alone with who she could assume was a relic-man armed to the teeth. She listened to his footsteps pace the room while trying to keep her breath steady. However, she could not help flinching when the footsteps stopped a few steps away from her, the sound of heavy boots resonating in the room before stopping in an even louder silence.

“You can stop acting, you’re really terrible at this.” Said a familiar voice.

She had expected a low, menacing voice but instead it was El’s sardonic tone that made her open her eyes. To her surprise, the first thing she saw was in fact a relic-man standing menacingly a few steps away from her. El was leaning against the wall on her left, playing with a pocketknife.

“So… I see you’re still terrible at making decisions.”

“You really think you’re better when you have me tied up in a basement?” The pounding in her head made it hard to think.

“This isn’t a basement and we wouldn’t have had to if you had just minded your own business.”

“Where are we then?”

“You really think you’re that clever? You’re not subtle. The only thing you can do is mess things up!”

“You mean keep you and Dufour from dealing relics you stole from your clients? I won’t let you get away with it that easily, no.”

“You ruined everything.” Their voice sounded final, decisive. A few nights ago they had threatened her without shame. Today, it was a death sentence.

“What did I do to you El? We were friends. Then, out of nowhere you trick me to get me fired and you get murderous tendencies?”

“It must be nice remaining so unaware all this time.” They sighed dreamily, however their face remained stern.

“What are you talking about?”

“Before coming to Fittes, you worked at Tendy’s, correct?”

“How did you-”

“My uncle died seven years ago. My cousin took it hard, and I’d always been close to them, so it wasn’t easy for me either. He came back, and they had to hire someone to fix it. Tendy’s agents came by, messed up the case. They couldn’t find the source so we had to watch them take every last thing that belonged to my uncle to burn it in the furnaces. Grieving wasn’t easy after that. Those stupid kids took every last memory we had of him because they were incompetent. Then, a few years later, guess who happened to be my new roommate?”

y/n stayed silent.

“Not only did I have to live with you but I had to see you succeed and get promoted above me when we both knew perfectly well how unfit you were for the job.”

“I was thirteen. I followed what my supervisor told us to do.”

“You didn’t get any better at making decisions later on! Listening to you and your amazing cases working with Kipps, saying how much you wanted to climb the corporate ladder of the Fittes organization. Not on my watch. You didn’t deserve it then and you certainly don’t deserve it now.”

“And getting me fired wasn’t enough?”

“Of course not! When I applied to get the spot I deserved all along I got denied because Kipps took your side! I had to work with Dufour because of you!”

She eyed Dufour’s arm man, wondering if El’s words were going to put them both in danger.

“Believe me if you had worked with her longer, you would know that Rasler won’t stand up for her.”

She sent them a sorry look. Despite the ties around her wrists and ankles, she couldn’t help the guilt that rose in her. She vaguely recalled the case El mentioned but not enough for her sympathy to sound genuine.

“It’s not too late. I can put in a good word for you with Kipps, you can join his team!”

“None of it matters now. All I want is to make sure you won’t cause any more trouble.”

They turned their back to her and nodded to Rasler. The man loomed over her with a menacing stare, taking out a knife to execute orders.

“El please! I swear I can make it up to you!”

They ignored her, only turning around to enjoy the view with a sly smirk.

“Please!” She begged, tears filling her eyes.

Rasler was upon her, the blade resting against the crook of her neck, the cool of the metal sending shivers down her spine. She shut her eyes, waiting for the fatal moment. Before her executioner could finish what he had started, the sound of a window breaking resonated in her ears. She didn’t know if she was hallucinating again or not, but one moment the knife was pressing down her neck and the next it was gone. She tentatively opened an eye to see if she was dreaming. Lucy was holding the man down, disarming him of his weapon. Behind him, Norrie and George were keeping El from escaping.

They tripped Norrie who cried out in pain and used the distraction to slip out. George ran after them. In the commotion, Lucy lost focus long enough to give her adversary the advantage back. He reached for the knife he had dropped. Lucy lunged to reach it before him, tackling him in the process. y/n couldn’t do anything but watch the scene unfold as she pulled on her ties to try to help her friend. She should have known that her previous hallucination meant Lucy was coming to her rescue. It had been right before. The least she could do was return the favor, but her ties wouldn’t let go. She yelled at Lucy to watch out when Rasler caught the knife that was inches away from his fingers. He swung the blade at her face making y/n flinch. When she looked back up, Lucy had gotten away. She grabbed the first thing she could find, in this case a steel chair lying around, and hit the relic-man with all her strength. The man went down instantly. She grabbed his knife and cut y/n loose. Her wrists were burning from the tight rope that had almost cut all circulation in her hands. She thanked Lucy, tears filling her eyes again, but before she could hug the girl, she shouted

“Come on! We have to catch the other one!” and left the room in a hurry. y/n followed closely to find El stuck, their back under George’s knee. He had a tight grip on their arms and was holding them down on the ground. The look they sent her way made her blood run cold. Norrie came rushing back, saying how she had lost track of Dufour. Her friends were already planning their next move, but she still hadn’t registered the fact that they were here. They were all here to save her even though she had walked into a death trap of her own volition. She was still dizzy from the blow she must have received on the head and the adrenaline wasn’t mixing well.

“Are you okay?” Lucy placed a hand on her shoulder, stabilizing her spinning head. y/n wrapped her arms around her shoulders, hugging the girl close and taking her first deep breath in almost an hour.

“Thank you for coming.” She said between tears.

Caught up in the moment, she didn’t realize the commotion and the noises getting closer to them. The doors flew open and five or six DEPRAC agents stormed in, relieving George and handcuffing El. As soon as he stood up, she hugged him tightly too without letting go, even when she spotted Dufour in DEPRAC’s custody in one of their vans. George had never been one for physical affection, but he didn’t let her go either.

“How did you find me?” She mumbled, her mouth half smashed against his shoulder.

“Don’t ask me it was all Lucy. She led us to you in record breaking time.”

“Really?” She parted from him and looked at the girl with a questioning stare.

“I don’t really know I just… had a hunch.” Lucy replied. They exchanged a complicit glance.

“You know,” George added in a lower voice, “I think she could be a great addition to the team. You two seem to complement each other quite well.”

“I agree.” y/n smiled.

“I’ll talk to Lockwood once this is all over.”

“Wait, speaking of, where is he?”

George didn’t have to answer. She spotted him outside the warehouse, right at the entrance, talking with inspector Barnes. The discussion seemed to be heated. She threw another glance towards her friends, thanking them again for saving her from her idiotic mistake.

“Don’t worry about it.” Norrie said. “We all make mistakes.” She paused, noticing y/n’s insistent stare somewhere above her shoulder. She looked back and smiled.

“You should go see him, he’s been really worried.”

y/n smiled back at her before heading towards him.

“This is not what we agreed upon!” Lockwood retorted, losing his usually impenetrable composure.

“Keep complaining and I make it three.”

Lockwood sighed, looking away in anger. Whatever they were discussing, he did not seem pleased. He crossed his arms, his jaw clenched. Suddenly he froze, noticing her approaching. He did not hesitate and walked over to her in two short strides, holding her close before she could say anything. She hugged him back, his familiar scent enveloping her in a comforting embrace. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, but she could feel his was too.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“I’m so sorry, Lockwood.”

He held her closer at those words, leaving a kiss on her forehead. She closed her eyes and leaned into him. One kiss turned into a second, then a third at the corner of her eye, on her cheek, her jaw. His nose was practically touching hers. She thought she might start to levitate further and further away from the ground. He stared into her eyes, determination highlighting his sharp features. Her heart sank to her stomach and took flight at the same time. The sudden feeling surprised her yet made her feel light as a feather. She smiled so much her cheeks hurt, and she couldn’t help her eyes dropping to his lips with anticipation.

“I can’t blame you for being a little reckless now, can I?” He smiled and everything was right again, nothing else mattered now.

“Lockwood!” Barnes shouted after shutting the door to the van taking El to Scotland Yard’s headquarters. He straightened up and took a step back, startled by the inspector calling his name. “I’ll see you three on Monday. Don’t be late.”

He looked down and frowned, frustration slowly turning to resolution.

“What is that about?”

“Let’s get you home now.” He defiantly ignored her, his usual wolfish grin proudly trying to win her over.

“Lockwood…”

“I’ll make you tea!” He added to convince her.

She would let it go… for now. The only thing she wanted more than honesty was going back to Portland Row, back home, back to safety.

The five of them went home and settled around the Thinking Cloth to finally enjoy the treats the girls had brought earlier that day. The tea tasted particularly sweet now that this whole case was finally put to rest, relieving everyone’s mind. The group was cheerful, happy to share a moment of peace. After the first round of doughnuts, a comfortable silent fell over the kitchen, the only noises coming from the clinking of mugs.

“I need to thank you all again.” y/n said.

They all smiled warmly at her.

“I wouldn’t be here without you, you saved my life. Lucy you came in just at the right time.”

“And I’d do it again.” The girl answered without a trace of doubt.

“I thought you wanted to stay as far from the field as possible?” Norrie asked, surprised.

“Well, that wasn’t really a case…”

y/n sent a look to George who was already staring at her, the same thought probably crossing his mind.

“George, thank you for giving me a home.”

“I’m the one who got you in this mess… I’m the reason you got fired in the first place.”

“El would have found a way to get me fired no matter what you did. None of it is your fault.” She reached out and squeezed his hand.

“And Lockwood, thank you for letting me stay.” She concluded. She looked back at him. He simply smiled. The intimacy of the moment they had shared a few hours prior brought heat to her cheeks.

When the box of treats was finished, the girls got up and y/n hugged them again, still overwhelmed and grateful. The five of them walked back into the hall, agreeing to spend a day together soon to get their minds off work, whatever it may be. When y/n opened the front door to usher the girls out she found herself face to face with Quill Kipps.

“I just heard about Mrs. Dufour!” He said, panting. “I’m glad you’re okay! This is all behind you now.”

“Yes, it is. Thank you for checking up on me, it’s very sweet.”

“Well, actually I come with news. Dufour’s arrest means that Fittes is considering offering you your job back. As your team leader the final decision is mine to make, and I think you know what I’ve decided. The question is, would you like to?”

“Come back? To work at Fittes? With you?”

She couldn’t help but look back into the hall, where George and Lockwood stared at her expectantly, waiting for her answer. She looked back at Kipps who waited with the same anticipation.

“Um I-I…”

“I’ll give you time to think about it. We can always discuss it over coffee, you still owe me one.” He winked. “I’d love to work with you again.” He climbed down the few steps in front of the door before turning back into the street.

This offer was the last thing she had expected that day. She hadn’t even considered the possibility of Fittes wanting her back if she managed to prove the truth about Dufour. But now the dream she had pursued most of her life was rising up from its ashes and Kipps had dropped this on her like it was a regular everyday decision. Norrie and Lucy smiled as they walked passed her, patting her on the back before leaving her to it, not uttering a word as to not disturb the tumultuous contradicting thoughts flooding her mind. She shut the door and turned around to see George still staring at her. Lockwood was gone.

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t… know. I mean… It was my dream until a few months ago. But I’ve moved on. I’m happy here with you guys. But if I don’t take it am I missing out? What should I do?”

“I can’t tell you what to do, but I’ll support you no matter what you decide.” He looked up towards the landing. “I’m sure Lockwood will too.”

She looked in the same direction he did with a sad smile and slowly went up the stairs. On the first floor, she heard shuffling coming from Lockwood’s room. She got closer and saw him pacing around his bedroom. He stopped when he caught her eyes looking through the half-open door. He tried to smile at her, but Kipps’ offer definitely had an effect on him.

“I don’t know what I’ll do yet.” She tried to reassure him.

“You should take it.” He said, his tone definitive, like he had made the decision for her.

“I’m not sure.”

“Yes, you are. It’s what’s best for you. I can’t offer you what he can. Not the same wage, not the same reputation, not the same freedom…”

The last criteria made her chuckle slightly.

“I’m pretty sure I’m still more free here than at Fittes.”

“Not anymore…”

“What do you mean?”

He stayed silent.

“That conversation with Barnes…” She understood. “What did he say.”

“Lockwood & Co. is under a tutelage of sorts. We can’t work on any case that Barnes didn’t assign and without his supervision…”

The terms seemed extreme. She couldn’t understand why all of a sudden the inspector would apply such restrictive conditions to the small agency.

“Why would he do that?”

“Because otherwise he refused to help me.”

“Help you?” It took her a moment to register. “Oh… Oh! I am responsible for this?”

“No! This isn’t your fault.”

“But if I hadn’t gone through with my mediocre plan and gotten into that much trouble then none of this would have happened!”

He took a step closer and looked down at her with a stern look.

“This is not your fault. His terms could have been twice as bad and I still would have agreed to them.”

She looked at him with a matching intensity, unable to argue. No matter how much she wanted to apologize again, promise she could make it right, she couldn’t find the words.

“The next two months will be hard, but it’s worth it.”

The sentiment was sweet and the intention behind his words was enough to make her heart leap but laughter was all that managed to escape her mouth.

“Two months? You’re being that dramatic for two months of supervision?” She laughed harder, holding on to his arm. “I’m sure you’ll be alright.” She smiled at him, softened by how ridiculously attractive he looked when he took offence.

“I still think you’d be better off with Kipps.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

With a confidence she had never expressed before she closed the gap between them. Her hand was still on his arm, her grip tighter to bring him close. His lips were soft against hers but she could feel how he froze at the unexpected contact. She didn’t insist and drew back, apologizing for her sudden inappropriate behaviour. He caught her hand before she could take a step back, his intense stare still set on her with a determination she had only seen him exude in the field. It was his turn to close his hand firmly around her arm to bring her back to him. His other hand found the back of her head. The awkwardness of her apologies was quickly forgotten when he brought his lips down to hers, the need to be closer to him overpowering everything else. She brought her hands up behind his head, fingers buried in his hair while he wrapped his arm tighter around her waist. She forgot where she was, barely noticing the wall he was pressing her up against. Nothing in the world mattered anymore. The lack of sleep, the hostage situation, Kipps’ offer, everything seemed a mile away. All she wanted was to feel his breath and his lips against hers as long as possible. They didn’t want to let each other go. When he pulled away for air, she barely gave him time before kissing him again and when she pulled away, he chased her lips like it was his reason to live. Each kiss grew hungrier and more passionate than the last. She bit his bottom lip on a dare and the response she got made her want to do more. The noise that escaped his throat as he breathed into her made her knees buckle and she sighed with desire. He slid his tongue against hers, his hand holding on to her neck tighter, his strong fingers making a mess of her hair. Just like he had done earlier that day, he drifted from her lips to her jaw before kissing down her neck, leaving marks here and there.

“Please stay.” He begged. She had rarely heard him so vulnerable.

“Of course I’ll stay.” She said. “I could never leave you.” She wanted to add, but he was already kissing her again, thankfulness mixed with something more.

“Lockwood-”

He looked up into her eyes, leaving her neck for a moment.

“Please, call me Anthony.”

She was caught off guard by the request. She had never used his first name, not even once. It felt strangely intimate using it. She kissed him softly, touched by his trust.

“We should probably discuss how we’re gonna work together if we’re a thing…”

“Yes definitely.”

There was a silence, neither of them knowing where to start. He was still holding her close and her arms were still around his neck, the proximity filled with unresolved tension.

“Maybe we could… take it slow? Sleep on it and see how it goes tomorrow?” She offered hesitantly.

“Yes that’s… that’s a good idea.”

They remained a while longer, gazing into each other’s eyes. Reluctantly, she slid her hands down, stroking his shoulders and chest before letting go. He unwrapped his hand from her waist and she instantly missed his touch.

They didn’t look away from each other as they walked out towards the door to his room. They must have looked ridiculous but she didn’t care.

“George will probably call us down for dinner any time now.”

“I’ll see you then.” She said with a small smile before heading towards the attic.

None of it felt real. Once in her room she realized that she didn’t even know why she went there. Mechanically, she picked up her hairbrush to untangle the mess done by Lockwood’s hands. Anthony’s. She corrected herself. Her lips were still tingly and soft purple marks started to show on her neck. George would have a lot to say about that. George who was probably preparing something delicious downstairs and who would call her any minute now. She wasn’t hungry though and didn’t know if she could eat anything after a day like that. Guilt crept up on her when she realized she would probably skip dinner, but it was quickly replaced by an overpowering feeling from deep inside her. A different kind of hunger.

She climbed down the stairs leading to her room and opened the door to find Lockwood already standing there.

“I don’t want to take it slow.” She said and he smiled instantly. He obviously had similar ideas.

She led him up the stairs in a hurry. The few minutes they had spent apart felt like she had been stuck underwater and she was finally coming up for air now that his lips were against hers again. From the moment they first met she had loathed his confidence and how pretentious it made him. But now that he slid his hands under her shirt, their warmth spreading across the skin of her back, she had to admit that she was rather fond of it. She traced his jaw with her fingers and lowered them down his neck until she reached the collar of his shirt that was getting in the way. Slowly, she untied the knot of his tie, and she could have fainted from the noise he made. His tie hit the floor and was quickly joined by her shirt, the two of them collapsing on her bed blissfully unaware of the warm plates waiting for them three floors below.

---

She poured George his tea and prepared it the way she knew he liked it, trying desperately to make up for the night before. She was sorry they had left him eat by himself, but she wasn’t that sorry if she was honest with herself. She had not stopped smiling since she had woken up next to Lockwood and she couldn’t help it, not even with George insistently staring at her.

“So… I guess you’re staying with us then?” He tried to ask innocently but his smile betrayed him. “Where’s Lockwood?”

“He’s taking a shower.” She answered a little too fast.

“He probably needs it.” George mumbled to himself.

She threw the dish towel at him, making him laugh. She was not going to hear the end of it. But her smile hadn’t left her lips. When they sat down in their usual seats, they heard Lockwood in the hallway speaking on the phone. A few moments later he joined them, his smile matching hers. He kissed the top of her head before sitting next to her.

“So, what do we do now?” George asked.

“Well, inspector Barnes just called to assign us our first supervised case.”

“You seem oddly happy about that.”

Before he could make any other comment, he understood his friend’s good mood was not coming from work but from the girl he was gazing at.

“Is this going to be a problem? We have work to do!”

“No, you’re right.” y/n said, putting distance between her and her now boyfriend. “Please continue.”

With his usual grin, Lockwood settled back into his role as agency leader.

“George, do you know anything about Kensal Green cemetery?”

[tmntheadcanons]

Hi! 🖖🏻

Can I ask abt morning routine from tmnt 2003? It maybe fun,if Leo and Mikey are morning persons and Raph and Donny more like owls 🥲

or just Mikey is morning happy boy 😁

Thank you! 🍀

I'm so sorry this took so long! I was out of town for all of January and then I got swamped with school and work. But I love this prompt so much! In these head canons I'm assuming this is on average days where they aren't on late night patrols or anything. Just more casual days.

Leonardo:

Leo goes to bed (or at least falls asleep) late. But he is usually the first to get up in the morning.

I feel like Leo enjoys the quiet first thing in the morning. He likes to get up, make tea and just relax in the living room for like half an hour before anyone else gets up.

He might slip outside for a little bit and watch the sunrise while it's still quiet out.

Tea is his preference for a morning drink but he'll take coffee if he's really tired.

First thing in the morning Leo is usually pretty calm and relaxed. I feel like he might even be more sociable in the morning. Like if someone is up at the same time as him he'll suggest they go out and watch the sunrise together and hang out for a bit.

As a kid, the morning is when Leo got a lot of one on one time with Splinter. He and Splinter would be the first ones up, Splinter would make him tea and breakfast and they would talk. So mornings are kind of domestic and peaceful for Leo.

He wakes up around 6-7. Maybe even as early at 5 depending on how late he was up the previous night.

Raphael:

Usually wakes up to the sound of his family being loud.

If left to his own devices he would naturally wake up at around 10, but he's a light sleeper so he's up around the time Leo, Splinter and Mikey start making noise.

The first thing he does is go and eat breakfast. He just heads straight for whatever Mikey just made and if Mikey didn't make anything then it's cereal straight out of the box for Raph.

Raph isn't cranky in the morning he's actually pretty quiet. He just wanders into the kitchen, casually grunts to announce he is awake, eats his breakfast and lets his brain catch up with him.

Once he is awake enough he'll usually go and do a pre-training work out to get warmed up.

Wakes up at around 8:30-9.

Donatello:

He sets 10 different alarms and he might actually get out of bed at alarm #7.

He violently rolls over, slams his snooze button and goes right back to bed. The movement is so swift now the alarm will only go off for a second so it doesn't wake up the entire house (Not that it matters because he is probably the last on up anyway)

Doesn't even wipe the crust out of his eyes before he is checking his phone.

Donatello is actually the one who is cranky in the morning. If he is awoken before his alarm there will be bloodshed.

He won't be functional for at least 15 minutes right after he wakes up. He makes a beeline for the kitchen, gets coffee and just sits at the table and stares into his mug.

He gets up at 9:30 exactly because that's the latest splinter will let him sleep in for before he starts making comments about the importance of a balanced sleep schedule.

But the day after late night missions he will sleep until 1 pm no problem.

Michelangelo:

Mikey is naturally a morning person. Even when he is up late he rarely sleeps in past 9.

When Mikey was a kid, all the good cartoons were on first thing in the morning. Also Splinter let him watch tv before training so the earlier he was up, the more he could watch. So that trained Mikey to be up when the sun comes up

Mikey's mornings are slow and relaxing. He gets up, wanders down into the kitchen and starts making breakfast. He will throw on some coffee and he'll cook for everybody. Then when he is done he will grab a blanket, sit on the couch and watch cartoons while he eats breakfast. (He never grew out of loving a good morning cartoon)

His usual breakfasts are pancakes, scrambled eggs, waffles, french toast and bacon he likes something sweet in the morning.

Also I bet he puts a ton of cream and sugar in his coffee.

He's upbeat in the morning and he's probably pretty loud. His brothers will wake up to the sound of loud singing and dishes clanging in the kitchen.

On average he wakes up at around 7-8.

[kuruk]

I've been feeling airless again so often lately this is like the worst bout ever.. there's no blood or bones in my limbs rn it's so cold and weak in there. I slept 21/24 hours in one day earlier this month (and then went back to sleep 3 hours later after all of that for another 8.5 hours) and I could barely get up this morning even though yesterday I slept through the whole day for 12 hours, woke up around 9:30pm, and then went back to bed like 5 hours later for another 6 or 7 hours. not nearly as bad as earlier this month km looking at my planner shocked rn that I got 21 hours of sleep snd then went back to bed for over 8 hours after being awake only 3 hours help. I would be asleep rn if it weren't for the vyvanse I took earlier whuch I've only taken adderall/vyvanse 5 times this month which is like my usual average and I like don't think that's why and I still get plenty of sleep on those days lately and haven't been deprived at all soyeah.. I had a bad nightmare last night that exotic pet owners infested our house with their assortment of zoo animals and there was a bear (who turned out to be a shape shifting butler who mauled someone for this sick game he was helping trap us in...) and a lion (girl lion) who was outside in the backyard while someone let my dog out and I thiught she died but she lived and the lion didn't eat her even a little. so that was quite an intense and stressful dream but I actually haven't been having many nightmares lately when I used to get them daily like they actually went away after I moved out of my dad's house isn't that crazy so I guess I really did have dreams about hiding and running from a killer because he made me run and hide from him even though he was only the killer in like 5% of my dreams isnr it crazy how the mind works. but yeah I'm super tired and sleepy and weak these days I've been trying to walk more since it gives me energy to walk for a couple hours but a lot of days I'm too tired even for that becsuse I just don't wake up so yeah ..

[bunni-v1]

(Twenty) Nine Lives for Love

Chapter 3: Meet the Team Prev Chapter\\Next Chapter m.list

Tw: Yamamoto (/j)

Info: Kenma x Reader ; Kuroo and Reader; Kuroo is a wingman; Your cat is so fucking fat (this is so important); Nekoma team introduction (yay!!!)

Word Count: 7.5k 🍓I know I said I was gonna get Curee out, but... I wanted to write this one so sorry lol. Anyway, I am again asking you to pretend Animal Crossing came out earlier in 2012. We get to meet the team, and I know I didn't highlight all the characters, but I just wanted to highlight the ones that are generally the most important in the Nekoma game. Anyway, enjoy lovelies!

Tag List: @angel-academia @bi-bi-papillon

You stretched your arms up above your head, groaning at the satisfying pops of your spine. The sun wasn’t even up yet, though you could see it just barely peaking over the horizon through your curtains. Maki let out a disgruntled sound as you shifted to grab your phone. 6:00 AM, 20 degrees Celsius, partly cloudy. 4 messages from ‘shithead’ (Noya) and 3 from ‘baldy’ (Tanaka). You shut the screen off, setting it back down, you’ll deal with the boneheads later. (Why Tanaka was up this early was beyond you). It was way too early to see your Dad off to work. He was never up before 6:30, and he left at 7:30 on the dot every day.

Lazily, you slumped out of bed, ignoring your cat growling at the loss of your warmth. You drag your feet over to your closet, pulling out your uniform and tossing it on haphazardly. You would fix it later once you were more awake. You took care of your hair just as fast and checked your phone again. 6:10 AM, great. You sigh, quickly responding to Noya and Tanaka’s messages (something about ‘annoying teachers’ from Noya and ‘rowdy freshmen’ from Tanaka). While you were at it, you decided to double-check the group chat Kuroo made last night for meeting times.

‘Meet up around 8:30’ and make your way to school with ‘enough time to grab snacks before class.’ You smile a little at the messages, Kenma complaining that was too early and Kuroo scolding him as usual. He also insisted on Kenma introducing you to Yamamoto and a Fukunaga, which you were 100% certain would not be happening if Kenma had the choice. You turn the screen off and sigh. With nothing to do for at least an hour (or until your old man decided to bother you), you decided to pass the time the only way you knew how: playing video games. 

With the stealth of a practiced ninja, you crept down the stairs and set up your N64. It was your Dad’s, which he bought so he could play with you when you were old enough. It had seen a lot of love since then, covered in stickers and markers from when you and Noya were too young to know better. You slid open the small drawer holding all your games, mulling over what you should play. Finally, you settled on the classic Super Mario 64. You’d beaten and 100% the game a million times by now, but you never got tired of it – besides it was only to pass the time for a bit. You would probably only play the slide level, or throw that little penguin off the side of Cool Cool Mountain. 

You blew into the cartridge, just in case, and pressed it into the slot. Not too long after, Mario’s impressive (for its time), but horrific 3D face greeted you with ‘It’s-a me, Mario’. You took a few minutes to stretch it around, deforming him until you were satisfied, then finally loaded up the game to mess around a bit. You decidedly chose not to play either aforementioned level, and hopped into Bob-om Battlefield instead, mostly because you liked the theme so much. After a long while (or exactly 45 minutes according to your phone), you heard the soft steps of slipper-clad feet make their way down the stairs, and pause right outside the entryway to the living room.

“You’re up early,” called the soft voice of your father.

“Couldn’t get back to sleep,” you answer.

He walks further in, leaning over the back of the couch to get a better look at what you’re up to. He laughs a little when he gets a full view of you running around aimlessly, setting the little bombs off on purpose. His hands come down to ask for the controller, which you hand him, and he proceeds to do the same thing you were doing. When he is satisfied, he hands the controller back to you and presses a kiss to your temple.

“Wanna eat breakfast together, since you’re up?.” He offers.

On cue, your stomach grumbles. Both of you share a look, then laugh before heading for the kitchen. Your dad makes two eggs, sunny side up, and toast. Simple, but more than enough to fill both of you up for the day. You pour yourself some apple juice, never having been a fan of bitter orange juice with your savory breakfast. When all is settled on the table, and you’ve already begun to eat your breakfast, your Dad decides he wants to catch up.

“How was your first day at school? I meant to ask last night, but that movie had us both snoring before we could talk.”

You laugh and nod, “Yeah, what a snoozefest. I thought it was ‘the scariest movie of all time.’ What a joke.”

“Scary movies aren’t scary anymore.” Your Dad scoffs, and you adamantly nod along with him.

“Seriously! But, anyway, school was good!” You exclaim.

“Oh yeah? Anything interesting happen, sweetpea?” he wonders.

You think it over, not quite sure where to start, “I was lost, but one of my upperclassmen – his name is Kuroo – helped me out. It turns out his best friend – Kenma – was in my class, and I was able to sit next to him, so I wasn’t lonely like I thought I’d be.”

He takes a big bite of his toast, and grins at you as he swallows, “That’s good! I’m glad you’re making friends. I told you it wouldn’t be that bad.”

You nod, “Oh, yeah, they actually live just down the street from us. We’re walking together this morning.”

“That’s… really convenient! You won’t have such a lonely walk now either.”

Again, you nod, “Oh, and get this, they asked me if I wanted to help manage the volleyball team. I’m going to their practice today, so I’ll get back around the same time as you today.”

He pauses, swallowing up the rest of his eggs – while you have only eaten half of what was on your plate – and gives you a nervous look. “That’s… a lot of conveniences. Anyway, isn’t it a bit odd that he’s asking someone he hardly knows to manage his volleyball team?”

You eye him suspiciously, “...That’s what I said, but… I dunno I guess he’s desperate. The volleyball team isn’t all that popular or good from what I’ve seen, so they haven’t had a manager since he was a freshman at least. Besides, if I feel uncomfortable or anything I just won’t say yes.”

He seems to accept the answer, “Alright, just be safe. Text me if you need me to come pick you up, okay, pumpkin?”

“I will, don’t worry too much,” you assure, and he reaches over to ruffle your hair.

“Finish your eggs up, then come see me off for work.” He states, getting up to clean off his plate and heading back upstairs to finish getting ready.

Obediently, you eat your food until the plate is clean and down the last of your drink. You rinse the plate off in the sink, set it in the dishwasher, and then move to straighten out your uniform in the first-floor bathroom. At some point, Maki lazes her way downstairs to find you, settling herself on the edge of the sink to stare at you complacently in the mirror. You give her a good scratch behind her ear, then leave to meet your old man at the entrance. He holds your school bag out in one hand, his briefcase in the other, and a big smile on his face.

You sling the strap over your head, adjusting it across your body, and then all three members of your household make your way outside. Maki, however, is not allowed outside of the gate, despite her wailing to say goodbye as well. You hush her as your father climbs into the old family van.

“She’s only so co-dependent cause you baby her all the time,” your Dad teases.

“She is my baby,” you insist, “I practically birthed that cat.”

He snorts, shaking his head at you, “Alright, alright. Be safe, love you pumpkin.”

You lean into the window, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “I will. Love you too, Dad. Have a good day at work.”

You wave him off – behind the gate, to appease Maki so she doesn’t disturb the neighbors. When he is out of your line of sight, you sigh, bending down to poke at Maki as punishment for her dramatics. She falls onto her side, thinking it’s playtime, and begins to bat at your hands. You huff out your nose, shaking your head. 

“Maybe I do baby you too much, you fatass.” 

She meows curiously up at you, and you can’t help but laugh at the display, rubbing at her stomach more affectionately this time. You spend a long time playing with Maki on the pavement of your entryway, enjoying the way she reacts to your poking and prodding fingers dancing across her little tummy. You only stop when you hear feet shuffling up to your gate, looking up to find Kenma. You blink in surprise, checking your phone, 8:00 AM – he was very early, and he was alone. You look around, maybe Kuroo is hiding, but there is no sign of him.

“Morning Kenma,” You finally say, standing to your feet.

“Morning,” he replies, but you can tell his focus is elsewhere. Specifically, on Maki.

Without another word, you bend down and scoop her up, then open the gate to let him in. He hesitates, looking at you nervously, but steps in when you widen your smile. Only after you close the gate do you set Maki down – knowing she would bolt if given the chance to. Kenma immediately squats down to pet her but pauses and looks at you.

“Is she friendly?” he asks.

“Yes, but she won’t be for much longer if you keep depriving her of pets,” you joke playfully.

Kenma smiles, then finally gives Maki her well-deserved butt scratches. You bend down to sit next to him, watching him in amusement. He got this glazed over, delighted look in his eyes, like he was in heaven. It was kind of cute to see. His eyes slipped over to you, and you continued to smile softly at him. There was a careful kind of consideration that crossed his face. Something… gentle and familiar about the look that you could not quite place. Then, he spoke.

“You didn’t mention you had a cat,” he mumbled, turning his gaze back to Maki.

You do the same, “It just didn’t come up, but she’s my pride and joy.”

His fingers find their way up to her collar, thumb rubbing the imprinted hiragana, “Maki. Why’d you name her that.”

You smile fondly at the memory, “I found her on the street when I was like eight or something. She was next to one of those souvenir shops that sell stuff to tourists. The shop had a big Maneki Neko sign, so I named her after that.”

He hums, scratching behind her ears, “So you rescued her?”

“Yeah, she was nothing but skin and bones when I found her. I fattened her up real good though, don’t you think?” As you say that, you give her stomach a playful smack.

“She sure is fat,” he laughs, then he thinks over his next words carefully before speaking, “Do you like rescuing animals?”

You nod excitedly, “Oh yeah. I scored a part-time job at the animal rescue downtown. I work the weekends, and I love it.”

“Paws and claws?”

“That’s the one! You know it?”

He hums his confirmation, “Yep. I’ve thought about trying to volunteer there, but I figured I wouldn’t get the approval.”

You frown at him, adamantly shaking your head, “We could use the help, and I can put in good word for you now. Besides, it would be a good way to get to know each other better.”

He seems to mull over your words carefully, jaw shifting as he thinks. You find him handsome like this, and you have to squash the squealing of the teenage girl in your head, reminding yourself you had met him yesterday. 

“I’ll… think about it,” he answers finally, “if I have the time.”

You huff a laugh out of your nose, “Oh! Uhm, I visited your village last night, it’s so cool. I love that all your villagers are cats, and you’ve got a cute, like, yarn theme going. It’s really, what's the word? Charming?”

He smiles, wide this time, “Thanks. I think I spent over a hundred hours making it perfect… I liked yours too. The way you set it all up was nice and cohesive, it felt like I was walking through a real city.”

“I based it off of my neighborhood back in Miyagi,” you admit, “I wanted it to feel as… homely as possible.”

“Well, you did a good job at that,” he compliments, “My favorite part was how you put your house right next to Bob’s.”

“He’s my favorite villager!” You defend, “He was one of my starters, and I kinda just fell in love with his personality. Y’know, he’s kinda like you!”

“He and Tangy are my favorites,” Kenma replies, still petting Maki, “…Tangy reminds me of you. A little.”

You try to shove down how happy that makes you, though your cheeks still heat up at the thought of it. The universe was out to get you, giving you this new boy who you just couldn’t seem to feel normal about. If Yuu or Tanaka were here they’d never let you hear the end of it. In your attempt to keep composure, a nice silence falls between the two of you. Kenma is still, somehow, dutifully petting your spoiled cat and you scrolling through your phone out of boredom. A few of your friends from Karasuno had posted about their first day back, and you tried not to feel too sour about it. It wasn’t your fault you weren’t there, and it wasn’t theirs for enjoying their time without you. Still, it stung just a little. Only a little, though.

“Have you thought about practice?” Kenma asks, so quiet you almost didn’t catch it.

“Huh? Oh! Yeah,” you respond awkwardly, “Yeah I have. I said I was gonna give it a try, so I won’t go back on my word. When does it go ‘till, though? I have to let my dad know what I’m up to or else he gets nervous.”

“Mine is the same way. My mom couldn’t care less, but he worries too much,” he responds coolly, “practice goes until 5, then we usually grab something to eat from the konbini down the street. So.. 5:30, I guess. We probably won’t today, though.”

“Okay, thanks,” you nod, quickly texting the information to your father. Kenma peers over your shoulder, cat-like eyes watching your fingers dash across the keyboard rapidly. He doesn’t have a touchscreen like you do – most kids your age don’t because they’re so new and expensive – so you don’t pay his prying eyes any mind, assuming it was only curiosity at the phone.

“Who’s shithead?” He asks suddenly.

You’re a bit confused until you look at your screen again and remember you never responded to Noya’s text. ‘Shithead: Remember not to be too intense or you’ll scare him off’ shows on your recent messages. Your face heats up, hoping Kenma didn’t read the message, “Oh! He’s just a friend from back home– Not just friend, sorry. He’d kill me if I said we were just normal friends. He’s my–”

“Your boyfriend?” a much deeper voice from behind asks.

You turn to Kuroo, face hot and flustered as can be. You try to ignore how Kenma’s face falls a little at what Kuroo said, not wanting to unpack that right now. Not this early in the morning, at least, maybe alone in your room tonight.

“Definitely not! Ew!” you exclaim, shaking your head, “I think I’d rather die. He’s my best friend. We’re practically family.”

Again, you try not to acknowledge that Kenma relaxes when you say that. Kuroo shrugs, pointing an accusatory finger at Kenma. 

“You coulda told me you were meeting her here early,” he scolds, “I stood outside your house like an idiot. Mrs. Shimada had to shoo me away, do you know how dumb I looked.”

Kenma rolls his eyes, “I wish I was there to see it.”

“You never leave the house early – actually, you’re almost always still sleeping when I come to get you! Who are you?” Kuroo argues.

An eye roll, “I just felt like it okay? It’s not a big deal or anything.”

A couple of expletives leave Kuroos mouth, and you snicker at him. They were just as amusing in the morning, that's good, yesterday wasn’t a fluke. Hoping to be the keeper of peace, you scoop Maki up from the ground and walk up to Kuroo.

“No arguing, okay, just pet my cat,” you smile, offering her up to him

He sighs, looks at her for a long moment, then begins scratching the top of her head. She purrs in your arms, little paws reaching out to grab at Kuroos arm. That seems to lighten him up, a wonderstruck smile growing across his cheeks as he goes in for more scratches.

“You didn’t mention you had such a cute kitty,” he coos.

“It didn’t come up,” Kenma says, now standing next to you, very close. He reaches up to pet Maki too, and you rationalize that he has to stand close to reach her. (He does not, you know he does not, but you were not going to complain).

“We should probably head out soon if we wanna make it in time,” Kuroo says, though he doesn’t stop his affections for a second.

You let him and Kenma give Maki all the love in the world for about five more seconds, then you pull her away. All three of them are disappointed. Spoiled rotten kitties. You open your front door and shoo Maki inside, laughing at the indignant face she gives you as you close the door. 

“She’s not an outdoor cat?” Kuroo says, a bit disappointed.

“You saw how fat she was!” you laugh, “but seriously, if I leave her outdoors she’ll follow me to class, and I don’t want her getting hit by a car or something.”

The two of them hum and nod in understanding, and then you’re off on your usual route to school. Again you talk about nothing and everything, and time passes incredibly quickly. These two were simple and easy to talk to, for whatever reason. It was a little annoying that you couldn’t place why, but you would count your blessings lest you lose them.

“Hey, are you still planning on coming to practice this afternoon?” Kuroo asks you as you arrive at the vending machines just outside the gym.

You nod enthusiastically, “Yeah! I’m really looking forward to it! You talked a pretty big game, I gotta see if it’s true, right?”

Kuroo laughs while Kenma slides some money in the slot, selecting some kind of juice, “We’re pretty average, but I think we’re fun to watch, maybe.” He comments, sliding another bill into the slot, “What do you want?”

“Oh– I can pay for myself,” you worry.

“I already put the money in, just pay me back later,” He says flatly.

“Aren’t you sweet,” Kuroo teases, much to Kenmas chagrin.

“Just milk, please,” you say finally, and he presses the button.

“I told the coach about you last night, he’s excited to have you,” Kuroo comments as he gets himself something too.

“I hope I live up to the standards then,” you joke.

“We don’t have any standards…” Kenma mumbles.

Your eyes glance over Kuroos hair, and you hum in understanding. He looks offended, and you sip on your milk so you don’t burst out laughing. For what it's worth, though, it gets a smile out of Kenma – which is all you wanted in the first place. Kuroo chooses something peachy, which does not seem to fit his whole persona, and then you are off to your homeroom together. You expect it to be like yesterday, light, playful conversation and quick, but it is not. 

As you are rounding the first of your right turns, a loud, somewhat familiar voice shouts behind you. Kenma flinches and Kuroo rolls his eyes. You have a total of about three seconds to react before there is a blonde boy tackling Kenma forward.

Ah. You think. It’s Yamamoto.

“How rude are you, you didn’t come by to see me yesterday – I gave you my classroom number and everything!” He says, scolding like a parent.

You think, just for a moment, that the sight is very funny. In the kindest way possible, this guy looks like a punk, and he’s scolding Kenma. You cover your giggles with another sip of your nearly empty milk carton. Kuroo sighs, which seems to be a habit of his, and marches forward to separate the two. You smile a little at Kenma, who shies away from your gaze, but still returns to your side like a lost kitten. (You let the teenage girl in you kick her feet over this one because it is cute.)

“Don’t make a scene, Yamamoto,” Kuroo scolds, and all balances itself out.

“‘M not making a scene, dude! I just–” He pauses when he sees you, doing a double take. The best way to describe his face would be: stupid. Like how Tanaka looks when he sees Kiyoko. You sure hope this guy doesn’t think you’re his soulmate – no offense to him. He points at you, “Who’s that?”

You introduce yourself and decide not to mention that you literally introduced yourself to the whole of his class yesterday. Kuroo decides to add, though you wish he hadn’t, “She’s trying out the manager position, so be nice and presentable, alright?”

Instead of being nice or presentable, Yamamoto falls to his knees and begins… praying? You think you see tears come to his eyes, and you realize the world has sent you a new Tanaka to replace the old one. 

“God, Buddha, whoever's out there, thank you for answering my prayers,” you hear him mutter.

Kuroo gives him a kick to his side, and you decide to leave him to deal with that, turning to Kenma. He looks nothing less than exhausted, and you feel a little bad. He was not much of a social creature. Still, he looks at you and sighs.

“I told you to avoid him.”

“Is he always like this?” You ask.

“He’s always whining about how we don’t have a female manager – it’s not fair because Fukurodani has two, we deserve one too.” He recalls, like having flashbacks.

“Kinda creepy…” you mumble, “but, one of my friends from home was kinda like that. Only, he’s convinced that he’s soulmates with his manager.”

Kenma huffs a laugh from his nose, “He still believes in that soulmate stuff?”

You feel a prick of… annoyance in your chest. Not only at the insult to Tanaka but because you believed in ‘that soulmate stuff.’ It also… kinda hurts, for some reason, that he doesn’t believe. Embarrassment and disappointment burn in your stomach at the thought, and you know you shouldn’t feel as bad as you do, but you do. Kenma seems to notice this because his face falls and he bites at his index fingernail. 

“I’m sorry–” he begins, but you cut him off.

“No, no, it’s fine.” The kind, non-confrontational part of yourself wins your mental battle, you didn’t want to debate soulmates with someone you didn’t know well,  “I know most people think it's silly.”

“It’s not–” He tries again.

“You don’t have to defend yourself. I get it.” You assure, smiling warmly at him.

He has this look like he wants to say more. Wide-eyed, eyebrows raised, and lip between his teeth. You hope he doesn’t, because you’re already embarrassed and hurting, and you don’t want to hear him justify why soulmates don’t exist. Why they can’t. You hear it enough from your dad.

The ten-minute bell is your saving grace, alleviating the tension in your shoulders and drawing Kuroo and Yamamoto back to the group. Kuroo splits off early because the nearest flight of stairs is closer back than it is forward, and you are left alone with Kenma – who does not seem to want to talk – and Yamamoto who is already mentally building a statue in your honor in his head. Thanks, Kuroo.

“Are you seriously considering managing for us?” Yamamoto asks, too excitedly, too close.

For some reason, Kenma finds it in himself to squeeze between the two of you, giving you the breathing room you need. Yamamoto grumbles about it, and you briefly see gears turning in his head as he considers the action, but you don’t give him too much time to think.

“I am, yeah,” you respond, “I wanna meet your coach and your team first before it’s set in stone, but… I like volleyball and there’s not much else for me club-wise here, so I’m pretty sure I’ll take the position if I’m wanted.”

“You will be!” He says too quickly, “I-I mean. I think everyone would be more than happy to have a cute girl helping us out every day too.”

You feel your face heat up at the compliment. The straightforwardness was refreshing, just like Noya, but if he flirted with you. Ew.

“We’d be happy with the help anyway,” Kenma jumps in, “we have to do it all ourselves, and it’s tiring after practicing for hours.”

“But it’s extra nice from a pretty girl~” Yamamoto purrs.

“Her gender doesn’t matter, so long as she’s helpful,” Kenma groans.

“Are you even into girls man?”

“Oh look!” You interrupt before things escalate, “This is our stop! It was nice to meet you, Yamamoto. I’ll see you in fifth period!”

You leave him in his bewilderment, ushering Kenma and yourself into the classroom and to your desks. He practically deflates as he sits down, all the tension gone as soon as his butt hits the seat. You chuckle at the look on his face, and he smiles a little, though you’re not quite sure why.

“Thank you,” he says finally.

“I’m used to his kind,” you joke, “If you ever need help, call on me and I’ll be your hero.”

He snorts as you flex your arms playfully in the air. You’re delighted that everything seems to be back to normal, though there is still a nagging thought in the back of your head. The disappointment that he does not believe in soulmates. You don’t know why it’s so disappointing – or, at least, you don’t want to acknowledge why it is.

.·:*˚¨¨ ≈★≈ ¨¨˚*:·.

The bell signaling your last class rings, and you are suddenly hit with nerves unlike any other you’ve experienced. Maybe it’s because you know you’re about to meet a lot of new people all at once, or maybe it’s because you feel the need to be more than you are to impress them, but your stomach is in knots by the time you and Kenma descend the second flight of stairs. You fiddle with your fingers, not sure what else to do with all this nervous energy. God, maybe this wasn’t a good idea. You felt like throwing up. Was it hot, or are you sweating a lot? Ugh, ew, why were you sweating?

“Are you nervous?” Kenma asks, startling you out of your head.

“Oh, uhm, hah… yeah. I guess I am,” you laugh at yourself, “I didn’t think it would be so bad, but now that we’re going…”

He considers you for a moment, before awkwardly patting you on the head. If you weren’t nervous your stomach would be doing backflips for a whole other reason now. “You’ll be fine. I promise everyone else is better than Yamamoto.”

You think – no you know that you look stupid, with your mouth in an open smile and eyes wide. If you think too hard about it, though, you might actually throw up, so you just nod. It’s enough to appease Kenma, and he gestures for you to follow him. Luckily, you do not bump into Yamamoto on the way, so he can’t pester you anymore in his excitement. (He did that plenty once he realized you were in his class. Though, you found it more endearing than annoying. You just couldn’t handle more than what you had right now).

He leads you to the entrance of the field house, where Kuroo and two other guys stand. One is short – like really short – with sandy hair. The other is more average height with tanned skin, and buzzed black hair. They’re both incredibly cool-looking, and you feel your nerves return in full when Kuroo points at you from a distance. It takes everything in you not to stop and turn around, but you manage to approach the three of them.

“Oh? Is this our little manager?” The short one coos, a wide smile on his face, “She’s a cutie!~”

“Don’t be a creep.” Kuroo scowls.

“I’m not being creepy, I’m pointing out a fact.” He snaps back.

“Yeah, like a creepy old man!” Kuroo presses further, and the two of them start bickering.

The normal-looking one sighs, smiles at you, and offers his hand over the bickering of his fellow seniors (you think the short one is a senior, because you can’t imagine a junior being so comfortable arguing with their senpai like that.) “I’m Nobuyuki Kai, don’t pay them any mind.”

You smile weakly, “Hi…” Your voice is small and squeaky, but you manage to introduce yourself. You think Nobuyuki must have the patience of a saint, to put up with his friends and your floundering all at once.

“The short guy is Morisuke Yaku, but don’t call him the short guy, okay?” he winks, and you feel a little better, “Everyone else is already getting changed or warming up. You can talk to the coach inside once you feel up for it.”

Your nerves return in a wave, “Are we late?”

“Kenma’s just slow,” Kuroo finally returns to the conversation, “he’s always the last one here. Normally I’m with him but… I figured I could leave him in your care.”

A knowing smirk grows on Kuroo’s face, and you see Kenma glare at him. Odd… but, whatever. You were just glad that you weren’t late or anything, especially not on the first day.

Morisuke holds his hand out to you, “Morisuke Yaku! Excited to work with you!”

“I already introduced you,” Nobuyuki corrects, causing Morisuke’s smile to drop.

Quickly, you take his hand and introduce yourself, and you swear you see stars in his eyes as the smile returns to his face, “You’re gonna fit in great.” He says enthusiastically. You realize then that your nerves are eased a lot. Is this the power of reliable senpai? 

Kenma tugs at your skirt a little, and you look at him, “I’ll take you to the coach so you can talk to him.”

“Oh,” you almost forgot all about that, “yeah, thanks Kenma.”

The five of you walk in, and then split off from each other. Yamamoto and two excited boys wave at you as you pass. You wonder why you were so worried in the first place. Kenma points out the coach, who is standing off to the side of the court discussing with the Assistant Coach about something. When he spots you (at least, you think he does, since his eyes remain closed) he waves you over with a welcoming smile. You bid Kenma farewell, and quickly close the distance between yourself and the coach.

“You’re the new manager girl?” He asks before you can say anything, and you nod, pulling a hearty chuckle from him, “Welcome to the team!”

The other man clears his throat, “Sir, she’s just trialing today.”

“Don’t be so negative about it Naoi, you’ll scare her off!” The old man scolds. They seem to do a lot of scolding on this team.

“I-It’s no big deal Sir– I’m pretty sure I’ll accept the position, I just wanted to be sure I clicked.” You try and smooth things over, and the old man chuckles at you again.

“Coach Nekomata,” He introduces, “and this is Assistant Coach Naoi. We’re happy to have you.”

You grin, “Thank you! I really hope I stick, so to speak.”

He gestures for you to follow him, so you do, and he leads you over to a set of seats. Coach Naoi does not follow you, instead going over to check up on the boys. He pats the empty one next to him, and you take a seat.

“Tell me about yourself, where you’re from, and your interests.” He says, leaning in intently.

You’re taken aback but recover quickly. Describing your love for animal care, where you came from, and how you got into volleyball. He perks up when you mention coming from Karasuno, and asks a couple of questions about the team. You do your best to reiterate what Tanaka had told you, but you’re not much help since you’re so removed from it now. You do feel a little sad at the loss, but try to remind yourself that your friends haven’t suddenly forgotten about you due to distance. Sugawara’s constant texts asking about Tokyo and Diachi’s reminders to take care of yourself are proof enough of that.

“Our boys are rowdy, but they’re good-hearted. I think you’ll come to love working with them if you give it the time, I know I have.” He says with an air of finality, “Coach Naoi will show you the ropes today, I do hope you decide to stay.”

You give him a shy smile, “Thank you, Sir. I think I’d like to give it a try.”

Another hearty laugh pushes its way out of him, and then he claps his hands together and stands from his seat. Only then do you realize the whole team is changed and ready to begin practice. He waves you over to his side, and you follow him over to Coach Naoi’s side, the boys standing in a half circle around the three of you. Coach Nekomata begins some kind of speech to welcome back the team and get them excited for the coming year, and you take the time to observe the new faces that you’ve yet to see.

First, and most obviously, was a ginormous foreign-looking guy. He had to be at least three heads taller than the other members of the team, and his silver-grey hair and green eyes made him stick out like a sore thumb. Next to him was a kind of cute guy with spiky brown hair and a big smile passively resting on his face. He was one of the boys who waved at you when you passed Yamamoto, which led you to the other kid. He had a black bowl cut and was also awfully smiley, though you’d describe him as more thoughtful-looking than the brown-haired boy. And finally was a boy you recognize passing in the hall once or twice. You’d seen Yamamoto talking with him between classes yesterday, a permanent cat-like look on his face like he was up to no good. There were a couple of others, but they didn’t strike you as interesting – not to be mean. The four of them mixed in with the others you’d met piqued your interest. What kind of players were they? How did they play as a team? Would you be able to fit in with them?

“This young lady here is thinking about being our manager,” Coach Naoi’s voice pulls you out of your thoughts as all eyes fall on you, “do your best to impress her today, and she might just stay.”

Your face heats up, and to hide your embarrassment, you bow and introduce yourself just a little too loud. Luckily, no one comments on it, and they all excitedly bow and welcome you with an eagerness that only teenage boys can have. It reminds you a lot of Karasuno, and your chest warms up at the kindness these boys have afforded you already. You've never managed a team before, and you doubt you’d be any good to start, but you feel the need more than ever to give it your all – if only to make sure their kindness doesn’t go to waste.

Coach Nekomata barks out a few commands for warm-up, and Coach Naoi pulls you to the side to give you a rundown on your responsibilities. Fill water bottles, hand out towels, take notes on the athletes, clean up the balls, and help come up with strategies. Simple things you’d already sort of done before just by proximity to Nishinoya and his love for the sport. Coach Naoi shows you where things are, how best to fill up and transfer multiple water bottles at once, and of course, gives you some reminders of the basics of the game. By the time practice is wrapping up, you can hardly remember why you were so nervous to start. Everything comes so naturally to you, and you mentally make a note to text Kiyoko your thanks for conditioning you later tonight.

You’re so busy learning from Coach Naoi, that you don’t get the chance to talk to any of the team members outside of handing them their towels and water. Kuroo does take the chance to shoot you a thumbs up every chance he gets, which is reassuring. Kenma even smiles at you when you pass him. Every time you pass him actually, without fail. You do your best not to overthink it.

It’s not until you’re picking up balls that you get a chance to talk to some of the other members of the team. Fukunaga – the cat-faced guy – and Inuoka – the spiky-haired cutie – offer their help to you while everyone else cleans up in other places. Inuoka is a first year, and is just as friendly and excitable as you expected, asking all about your interests and happily sharing his when you ask. He’s kind of like a dog amongst cats, which makes him all the more likable in your opinion. Fukunaga the second year on the other hand is more of the quiet observant type, you expect him to be a stone wall, but he is not. He’s actually – pardon your language – fucking hilarious. He has you bursting out laughing with nearly every quip that leaves his mouth. Unfortunately, you don’t get a chance to talk to the others you don’t know, but you learn that the super tall guy is Lev Haiba, who is Russian, though he’s ‘Not cool enough to know the language’ according to Fukunaga. He also was totally brand new to the sport which made sense since he seemed to be way out of his depth. The other was Yuki Shibayama, who Inuoka described as just ‘Nice’ from their interactions at the camp before the semester starting. ‘Nice,’ might’ve been the most vague descriptor possible, but you weren’t gonna give him too hard of a time about it. (Fukunaga did that for you with another jab that had you snickering behind your hand.)

Kenma approached the three of you just as you finished tossing the last of the balls in the basket. You gave him a smile, positioning yourself to face him better.

“Hey Kozume-Senpai,” Inuoka says cheerfully, which makes you feel bad when Kenma’s face doesn’t even shift a little. Jeeze, he was heartless.

“Kuroo wanted me to grab you, you’re on sweeping duty tonight,” he states flatly.

Inuoka groans but obediently jogs over to the broom closet. Only when he’s out of earshot does Fukunaga’s lips twitch up into an almost smile, leaning in to whisper to you, “We don’t assign broom duty.” Then, before you can respond, he walks off casually leaving you and Kenma alone.

“He’s strange,” you comment, still watching him wander away, “but, nice!”

“You don’t have to be so positive about everything,” Kenma responds.

“But I mean it,” you retort, “everyone is so nice. I feel welcomed.”

You begin to put the cart toward the storeroom, and Kenma follows side by side with you. “Everyone is so… cheery. It’s exhausting sometimes.”

“I’m cheery,” you pout, “do I exhaust you?”

The question takes him off guard, his eyebrows lifting in surprise, and then he looks to the floor like he’s considering the question. Again, you do think he’s cute while he’s thinking. His face doesn’t change too much, but there's a subtle furrow in his eyebrows and scrunch of the lips. It’s… charming.

“You’re cheery,” he finally manages, “but… you know when it’s too much. It’s a good thing from you.”

You ignore the nagging part of your brain that wants to ask what that means, and simply smile, “Thanks. And, for the record, your pessimism is kind of a nice thing to have around too.”

His lips quirk at the corners and your heart thrums with pride at the sight. It is quickly interrupted by a throat clearing, and Kuroo is standing behind you already back in his school uniform. He looks more disheveled than usual, and you actually laugh at him this time. He prickles like a pissed-off cat, and you swear you see his hair stand up.

“If you two are done flirting in here, Kenma needs to get changed so we can head out,” He says, annoyed, but somehow still playful about it.

It’s then that you realize you haven’t texted your Dad since practice started. You curse and pull your phone out, pulling up the messages with a frown.

Dad: Let me know when practice is out.

That's all he said, which is significantly worse than a long paragraph about how upset he was. He was angry, but he was also hurt. You groan. The lecture you would get upon returning home was bound to be legendary.

“That looks bad,” Kenma states factually.

You nod, “He’s going to make me feel like shit when I get back.”

“Then let's not waste any more time,” Kuroo announces with two claps, “Go get changed so we can get her home.”

Kenma rolls his eyes but doesn’t do anything else to protest as he moves out of the store room. When he’s gone, Kuroo gives you a weary look, “You all good?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you sigh, “just… frustrating. I’ll be good though.”

He hums, “Did you at least enjoy practice?”

You think back over everything, and you realize… you never ever miss out on texting your dad. The only time you do is when you’re having too much fun with Noya. The comprehension of this draws a little chortle out of you, “Yeah. I had a lot of fun. Who knew menial work like this could be enjoyable?”

“See! I knew you’d be a perfect fit!” He proclaims, “You were all nervous for no reason.”

You scoff, following him as he leads you outside the field house, “You couldn’t have known that I would’ve worked out. I’m practically a stranger.”

Despite your words being a little harsh, he shrugs them off like nothing, “It just… felt right? Like, you know how sometimes you meet someone and you just know you’re gonna be friends. That’s what it felt like with you, especially after seeing how well Kenma took to you.”

You try not to think about Kenma liking you, and consider his words. They echo how you’ve been feeling this whole time, and it feels good to have that reciprocated. “I’ve been thinking the same thing, y’know. I normally don’t… connect well with other people on my own, but for some reason, everything felt natural. Like it was fate.”

“Exactly!” He confirms, “Weird isn’t it?”

“Suuuper weird,” you laugh, “but, it’s nice!”

“You two sound like crazy people,” Kenma says, stepping out of the gym.

“Don’t be rude!” Kuroo defends.

“It is true though, right? Don’t tell me you don’t feel it too,” you insist as the three of you start your walk home.

Kenma gnaws on the thought for a second before responding, “I dunno if I can believe it’s fate or anything like that… but I do like that you were able to fall into place as you have.”

You cannot stop your heart from singing songs at the shy smile on his face. You also cannot decide if this is the universe being cruel or kind to you, but you think you could get used to the giddy feeling in your stomach.

[preciadosbass]

28/7/14 [draft from yesterday]

woke up at 11:47 to my parents in my doorway. mum started putting stuff on my bed but i though it was just stuff of mine that id left around the house but it turned out she’d bought me some stuff which is really nice. she got me socks [because i only have one non-fluffy pair], slippers [because our dogs hair is everywhere and my pyjamas end up getting the hair all over the house, even after the place has been hoovered], and purple trainers [because beforehand i only had my converse + knee high converse, and they were both getting muddy and causing me blisters when i go on walks.] i feel extra bad about the argument we had last night now.

i was super tired and my eyes still felt like they were glued shut but i decided not to go back to sleep. i got a little anxious when i saw my ex bestfriend was sad so i sent him a message telling him that i’m here for him and stuff. i still care about him so much, even if we don’t talk anymore. i watched a mikey way complication and listened to a podcast with the way brothers on up until 1:20 when i had a nap [im lazy, i know]

i should mention, i had the weirdest dream. so excuse how bad this explanation is going to be. me and kellin [quinn] were both teens and we were at a restaurant. he had tacky plastic skates on and started doing backflips in them? and running on the spot and joking about being chased? it was such a strange dream to have, especially because i haven’t had one in ages. also, my dad was there for some reason lmaoo

i woke up at around 2 and stayed with boris until 3:20 before i had something to eat and started researching a few crime cases. id been thinking about reading a bit of my sylvia plath book but i got in another argument with my parents [not really with my dad] and practically went into sensory overload so i went in my room and scrolled through ed related things on reddit. although i just wanted to have a conversation with them.

my dad lets things go easier, but mum tends to start saying ‘maybe you’d be happy if i’m not here’ and stuff like that, which i have never and would never imply to her. it just makes me feel like shit, she acts like i’m not allowed to be mad. and i feel absolutely terrible writing this, especially because of the whole gift thing from earlier, and i know shes probably just stressed, and i love her, but nobody acknowledges that i am too. they never do, whatever i do seems to anger my mum. anyway, i spiralled writing this and i don’t wanna turn it into a complete vent post, so let’s carry on.

i carried on scrolling through reddit until like 8 where i went on a walk with all of my family [which we haven’t done in at least a year]. didn’t get off to a good start because the second i walked outside my sister dropped her phone on our rock driveway and smashed her phone to pieces.

she was arguing about paying for the damage up until we got to the park when she went back home with my dad. me and my mum carried on walking while we did would you rather because anything else was starting an argument. we ended up doing so right before we got home but at least i walked for an hour today, i wish it’d been more though. also at one point she asked me if i was questioning my gender like WHAT?? why didn’t i take the opportunity to tell her ffs.. when i got home i obviously said hi to boris and then scrolled on twitter for a bit.

one of my acquaintance’s [i call anyone my age that i know that, because i know people, but they’re not nice to me whatsoever, we don’t hang out, they bully me, i don’t consider them a friend etc] was being their usual self again. i try everything i can to politely escape them/avoid them but i just don’t know how. id feel bad cutting contact with no explanation but if i told them all the disgusting things they do they’d deny it. but i know i have to at some point, they’re such a bad person and i’m tired of putting up with them.

anyway, i feel like i seem like a bitch for not liking them, and the problem in every scenario i’ve written about today so let me know if anyone actually reads this and wants to know what makes her such a bad person. after seeing that i listened to some evanescence and i was just about to put on my fight club dvd i got from a bootsale a while ago when my dad said he was ready for me to ask questions about boris soon so i went up to their room.

we actually didn’t argue tonight because i was able to get on with it quite quickly so i did my teeth and said goodnight to boris around 3. he again started purring before id even started stroking him, he’s so precious. also went over my cals by like 60 today so that sucks

have a good day/night -_<

[onthepyre]

Steve's life is going to fall apart, he thinks.

Dustin's away at summer camp, Nancy's left for college two weeks early. He has a late shift at six, a house to return to that's emptier than usual, and a funeral to attend at eleven sharp tomorrow morning. His mother is writing a eulogy and his father is cold and pale in a box in some back room of the funeral home. He can't get the image out of his head.

At half past five, he shakes himself out of the stupor he's been sitting in. It's been at least twenty minutes since he's last moved, but really, who knows — all he's aware of is his aching back and the sharp pain in his neck from the hunched position he'd assumed at the kitchen table. Steve's car keys have left an imprint on his hand. He'd forgotten he was holding them. The Family Video vest is in his car, tossed haphazardly over the dash, and he shrugs it on over his gray polo before he pulls out of the driveway. Robin's house isn't far, something he's glad for. Less time he has to spend alone. Maybe she won't notice how tired he looks in the quickly dimming light.

She does. It's Robin, after all. Steve can't hide much from her.

"Hey, Stevie," she says as she slides into the passenger seat. Her voice is gentle, the way she might speak to an injured cat. "How are you doing?"

"It’s pretty bad," he tells her, and it feels like he's confessing to a crime. "I didn't get out of bed until, like, two hours ago and I still want to go back to sleep."

"Yeah?" she asks. He can tell she isn't sure what else to say.

"Yeah."

"I'm really sorry. I know that's pretty much the least helpful, most generic thing I could say, but I mean it. I can’t imagine how… how hard it must be."

There's a long pause. Steve starts thinking they're just going to drive in silence for the rest of the time, which is weird, especially for Robin. It makes him want to cry, sort of — that she, of all people, can't find anything to say to him. Inadvertently, he grips the wheel tighter.

"We'll close early," she says finally, timid in a way she usually isn't. "Keith can suck my dick, I don't care. He'll get over it. And we'll go get ice cream, if you want, and then I'll come stay over. If that's alright."

"Yeah," Steve answers, and God, there are tears in his eyes. "That would be great." He's careful not to let his voice catch.

"I'm thinking 8:00 — we'll start shutting down at 7:30 and be out by a quarter past. Then we've got almost an hour until Dairy Queen closes, unless you want to go somewhere else?" Out of the corner of his eye, Steve can see Robin twisting one of the rings on her left hand. Like a gut-punch, he knows it's the shitty tin band, the one he'd gotten out of a quarter machine at the arcade and fake-proposed to her with. She hadn't taken it off since that day.

Steve pulls into the parking lot, and turns to her once he's parked the car. She's still fiddling with the ring, so he reaches over to take her hand.

"Rob, listen," he says. "I'm not gonna fall apart. I'll be okay." He can tell that they both know it isn't true.

"You don't have to be," she tells him, and through slightly blurry vision, Steve can tell she's tearing up, too. "You can fall apart, it's all right. We'll put you back together. I'll be here the whole time."

Steve isn't sure why it's a problem, but he needs to make sure Robin doesn't see him cry. He gets out of the car and turns away. He can hear her, four feet away, doing the same.

———

The shift, short as it is, passes slowly and in relative quiet. Robin feels too far away, but the little bit of stability they've found since getting out of the car is fragile, winding between them like a spiderweb. If Steve reaches out, he'll break it.

They follow her schedule exactly, locking the door behind them at 8:15 — two hours before they're supposed to. Steve isn't one to get worked up about things like this, but he's even less worried than he usually would be. Nobody ever comes in on Thursday nights. The only people that will know are him and Robin.

"So, Dairy Queen?" she asks as she opens the door. "Or do you want to go somewhere else?"

"Dairy Queen is fine," he tells her. Nothing will really make him feel better, he thinks, but ice cream can't hurt.

The drive isn't long, but it feels like it. Steve can hardly stand whatever version of Robin this is, the one that's treating him like he's about to crumble at any second. She's right, but that's part of the reason it's getting to him so much. If the silence was unfounded, it wouldn't hurt so bad.

She insists on paying, and Steve almost can't stomach the sweetness of the Oreos. Robin gets M&Ms so he can pick at hers, too.

"So, how's band been going?" Steve asks, just to break the quiet.

Robin tilts her head a little. There's pity in her eyes.

"Pretty good," she says slowly. "The directors always get super uptight around concert season, so that's starting to kick in. We just got our last piece. It's this stupid hard classical thing — Stravinsky, I think — fuckin' Russians. It would be awesome, though, if we could play it right."

This is the Robin he knows. Fuckin' Russians, he thinks. It makes him smile.

"That's great. What's it about?"

"Oh, I have no idea," Robin says with a grin. "It’s from the Firebird, and it has something to do with hell, and it's impossible to play."

"I'll have to come to the concert." Steve holds her eye for a second, but when it goes on too long and her smile shifts to an expression of sympathy, he turns his gaze down into his blizzard.

"Steve…" she starts, but she leaves it there, reaching across the table.

"Can we go?" He squeezes her hand and she does the same.

"Yeah, of course. Come on, we can go straight to sleep if you want."

They do — or they try to. As soon as they're home and settled, Robin in a pair of shorts she'd left there and one of Steve's old shirts, Steve much the same, they spread out blankets on the floor of his room and try to sleep. Robin's presence is a comfort, but not enough for Steve to get the coffin out of his head.

"Can you talk?" Steve asks, rolling over in his bed to face her in the dark. "About anything you want, I don't care. Just say something. Ramble."

She reaches up to put a hand on the bed, and he places his on top.

"I love you," Robin begins. "The other day, I learned that a quarter of the world's population has tuberculosis. Well, not has, like they're sick with it, but they have the bacteria in them. That's insane. Tuberculosis is up there with rabies for me, you know? There's a new outbreak of it that's resistant to the treatments, and I know it's not likely we'd get it here in Hawkins, but man, it would suck so much. Especially if it was one of those drug resistant strains. We'd end up sad little waifs like in the Victorian era and we'd die a slow death and there would be nothing they could do."

"I love you," Steve responds. "Can you come up here, Rob?"

"Yeah, for sure."

Robin stands up and climbs into bed next to him. He can make out the shape of her, squinting at him. Neither moves for a moment.

"How are you holding up?" she asks.

Only then, in the darkness, does Steve let himself fall apart.

It comes on slowly, but he knows it's coming as soon as she asks. He can't speak around the lump in his throat, so he just sits there fighting tears until she reaches out and pulls him into her chest. He breaks then. He sobs in Robin's arms for a while as she rubs his back and whispers reassurances to him. He feels like a little kid.

"Sorry," he gets out as it starts to die down.

"Shh." She buries her face in his hair. "Don't. It's alright. I'm not going anywhere, Stevie. This is what I'm here for."

Steve is hit with another wave of tears, this time a mixture of grief and gratitude. Robin, true to her word, stays. She holds him tighter still as he clutches her like she's the only thing keeping him tethered.

"I love you," she says under her breath. "I love you. It's alright. I'm here. I love you. I've got you. I love you."

She keeps going like that endlessly, quietly, into the top of Steve's head. Only when the sobs have slowed to sniffles does Robin stop, and even then, she keeps running her hands across his back, occasionally punctuated by a kiss pressed to his hair. There, cradled like a toddler against her chest, Steve starts to put himself back together. They fall asleep like that, intertwined, at home.

[goldribboncottage]

Hazel Callahan Fanfiction Part 3!

Parts 1 and 2 are on my page. Again disclaimer that I don’t really use tumblr or understand it so my formatting is probably not great. Hazel’s POV of the bar!!

I woke up exhausted. Y/N kept me up all night. She was still sleeping, so I got up from the chair in her room and went to mine through the jack and hill style bathroom. 

It was still weird to me to have this room be occupied, and have Y/N’s stuff all over the bathroom. A lot of it I didn’t recognize. Serums, hair care, and crystal tools that looked like torture devices. I knew from Isabel that one was a gua sha, but I didn’t know what the other one was. I had to be basically forced out of using suave kids 2-in-1 by her and Brittany after we made friends in high school. 

I lay on my bed and stared at the stars on the ceiling. Y/N was all I could think about. She was just so different from what I expected. When I was growing up my nanny was older than my grandma. I assumed when my mom hired a nanny it would be a Nanny McPhee type old lady. Last night proved she was anything but. 

��

We met at the door at 8, I was a little early because it didn’t take me long to get ready, but I could hear Y/N through the bathroom door fussing with her hair or makeup or something. I just threw on my favorite sweater and some vintage pants I thrifted. Whatever she was doing in the bathroom was worth it. She practically floated down the staircase like a glowy femme dream. 

“Ready ready?” She smiles.

“Yeah, let’s go,” I opened the door and gestured her through “It’s so weird driving again. On campus I just walk everywhere.”

“Oh! I can drive! I have a car as part of my contract. It’s the same kind your mom has.” She turns around to grab her keys but I grabbed her hand to stop her. 

“I said I’d drive. Cmon” I opened the door to my car for her. It seemed like the nice thing to do. 

“Thank you” 

I didn’t know what to do, whether she wanted to talk or not. So I put a random playlist on shuffle and started driving. She really did look amazing. I tried to be a gentleman, but when she sat down her skirt rode up and revealed more of her thigh. She also had some sort of sparkle on her eyes that made them shimmer with the streetlights. 

We pulled up to Bottoms and Y/N nearly jumped out of the car. 

“I’m so excited! Your little sisters really can scream. I can handle a lot but they were not exactly angels this week.” 

“Sorry to hear that. I’m sure you’re doing a great job though. They seem happy, I guess. Maybe they were just gassy” I felt myself tripping over my words. I don’t know how to talk about babies, especially babies I couldn’t bear the existence of. 

“It’s okay! I’m really glad we’re all hanging out tonight. I’ll buy you a shirley temple to make up for yelling at you in your own home” Y/N winks and enters, immediately finding the group at our usual table. Everyone looks happy to see us. I gravitate more towards PJ and Josie and Y/N immediately went to the bar with Brittany and Isabel.

“So any stories about your hot nanny? Catch her in the shower yet?” PJ eggs me on.

“No. We haven’t really talked much yet. I don’t know what her deal is.” 

I had been dancing with everyone for what felt like hours when Y/N left to get another drink. I felt her absence but wanted to keep dancing. 

I saw her and PJ talking, getting really close to each other. I looked away quickly, not wanting to spy on them. 

Y/N rejoins the dance floor and is magnetic. Her face lights up green blue and sparkly. Her smile takes up her whole face. Before I knew it she grabbed my hand and I was in shock. She dropped it, which broke my heart a little. I reattached to her and showed her how to do the moves I was doing. We had a great time dancing, getting closer and closer the more time went on. 

I could feel her body heat. The texture of her shirt in my hands. I pressed closer and felt the curve of her waist. I wanted to be closer, but I knew she had at least 7 drinks tonight. I was completely sober. I heard the first notes of a popular song mixed with Y/N screaming.

“Oh my GOD this is MY SONG!” She twirled away from me and I reluctantly let go of her hand. 

The next thing I knew she was standing on the bar top, microphone in hand, belting out the lyrics to “her song” with Brittany. I had never seen someone so confident. It was intimidating. She was so sure of herself and comfortable in her own skin. Her and Brittany broke out into a choreographed dance at the chorus, hanging onto each other and shaking their hips. It was moments like these I felt no better than a man. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. 

After their karaoke session ended, Brittany and Y/N tried to get safely off the bar. I ran over to help them like the little lesbian I am. Brittany was taller than Y/N so it was easy for her to jump off. Y/N seemed perplexed at how she was supposed to get down. 

“Here, take my hand and you can slide off. I’ve got you.”

Our eyes meet and she looks confused. She leans in, and I’m starstuck. I wait for something to happen. She’s so close to me. She pulls my face in closer. Her lips meet my ears in a whisper “I’m scared of heights” she looks back at me with sad puppy eyes, then starts giggling. 

“Y/N. Your feet are a foot off the ground. I will be right in front of you the-“ I’m knocked over by Y/N throwing herself at me. 

We lay in a heap on the sticky bar floor, Y/N laughing as Josie and Isabel try to help her up. I grab onto PJ who pulls me up. 

“Hazel, take her home.” She says to me. 

“Yeah, got it” I go to Y/N who wraps me in a hug and whispers to me again. 

“You saved me! Like Rapunzel! No. Like the guy. The handsome little knight.”

“Yeah, like a knight. We’re gonna go home now okay?” I tell her, guiding her outside as we say our goodbyes. 

I get her into the passenger seat and try to make my way to the drivers side. Y/N grabs my hand once again. “Hazel you’re like a knight! Like a knight saving me! That’s so cute. I’m the princess, obviously.” 

We get home and I end up carrying Y/N’s heels inside for her. 

“Hazel, shush! My babies are SLEEPING!” She whips around to me as I close the door. 

“I know Y/N. Babies sleeping. Now let’s get you sleeping. I’m going to get you some water. Can you go to your room? I’ll be right there.” I lead her to the staircase and she starts walking up. 

When I got to her room, her clothes from the club were strewn all over the floor and she was tucked into bed wearing a matching pajama set. 

“Hazel?” her voice searches for me.

“Yeah, I’m right here” I give her water and crouch down by her bedside. “Do you need anything?” 

“Hazel I am drunk I think. Are you taking care of me?” She giggles and sips her water. Messy makeup looks good on her. 

“Yes, I’m taking care of you. I drove you home and now you are going to go to sleep. I’m going to go back to my room, okay?” I pat her head and get up to leave. 

“No.” I barely hear her plead. “Stay with me. Stay here” 

“Okay Y/N. I’ll stay right here. I’m just gonna get ready for bed and I’ll come back. I’ll leave both doors open so you can see. Okay? Right back” 

I tucked into her armchair and fell asleep, wondering what to make of this girl. 

[autism-autobot]

Flower of a Poisonous Seed Part 11

Part 10:

Nezha didn't want another incident like the last one to happen again. He hadn't realized just how attached Sun Wukong had gotten to be with him until he learned of the cause of his recent attack of pica cravings.

After ensuring that Wukong was asleep with little to no chance of waking up soon, he got to work.

Nezha had bought a lotus-themed blanket that matched the color scheme of his armor. Remembering Wukong's description of his own scent, he soaked the blanket in a mixture of river water and crushed up lotus plants for several hours while he got to work crafting a doll in his image. While he wasn't the best at crochet, he gave it his all for the sake of his friend.

~~~

SWK: What are you doing?

Nezha: Oh! I hadn't expected you to be up this late!

SWK: At 7 am? Dude, did you even go to bed last night?

Nezha: *checks clock to confirm*

*it is, in fact, 7:13 am*

Nezha: I seem to have lost track of time.

SWK: Obviously.

Nezha: Are you feeling well, my friend? Normally you sleep until I wake you... unless something has happened?

SWK: The thing that happened is that you weren't in bed with me and I got worried.

Nezha: Well, as a matter of fact, I was working on some projects that hopefully will dispell any anxiety about my absence.

SWK: Wait, are you planning on going somewhere?

Nezha: No, no, no, it's for when I attend meetings and such. I hate that you get so worried in my absence, so I made a few things to try to help you when I cannot be in your company.

SWK: I don't try to be anxious. Sorry...

Nezha: You need not apologize for anything. I simply wish to help you through this difficult time.

SWK: What's that you're making?

Nezha: Oh! One of my aforementioned projects! I made a doll for you to hold while I am away. And I have a blanket for you to wrap yourself in currently in progress too.

SWK: Thank you! You didn't have to do all this! I could've managed.

Nezha: I doubt that.

SWK: What?

Nezha: Nothing.

Nezha: Would you like to see the blanket I prepared?

Nezha brought Wukong to the bin in which the blanket was still soaking in. The access water made the blanket much heavier and the colors less vibrant. Wukong loved it all the same. The blanket was set to dry in a rack about a bathtub. Nezha didn't like going to the river to wash clothes, and his washing machine had recently broke. This was his solution for that.

While Nezha and Wukong picked the bits of lotus plants off of the blanket (Nezha with a brush and Wukong by hand) they talked about how each of them did their respective laundry routines.

Sun Wukong lived on a mountain with very few sources of filtered running water, so washing machines were a no-go. He still got the water he used from a faucet about three miles from his house to clean his clothes. Wukong was the only person besides Macaque to be a clothes-wearing resident to Flower Fruit Mountain, so it wasn't a serious issue that needed to be addressed. Hand washing was always a fun task in Wukong's opinion anyway.

Nezha had had an incident down at the river he used to do laundry in as a child so he tried not to wash any laundry publicly. He agreed that hand washing could be fun, but it was often more effort than Nezha wanted to put into chores, so washing machines were a welcome choice.

In seemingly no time flat they had finished with the blanket. It still needed to dry, but there were no longer any plant bits on it.

Sun Wukong transferred back over to a wheelchair and headed over to get an *actual* snack in the kitchen. Nezha followed.

Breakfast was as usual; taking turns being the one to rant about whatever subject while the other shoveled food into their mouth and switching every so often.

It was these moments that they really were happy to be close friends.

Part 12: