#when i alert you to my presence and you jump and look startled dude that is ON YOU i am RIGHT HERE

[e-the-village-cryptid]

if I had a nickel for every time someone walked within 4 feet of me sitting incredibly obviously in plain view and did not notice me there until I made them aware of my presence at which point they were hugely startled I would have almost a dollar now which is pretty fucken weird guys what is going on

[miraculousares]

Reflexes

A quick fic inspired by this gif set

Over the last three years of being Ladybug, Marinette had changed in several ways. The two most notable to those around her were both physical. One, she was buff. Like, she could beat Kim at wrestling kind of buff. When she wore bikinis to the beach with her friends, they'd all stare at her abs for a moment. Alya constantly asked her how she had gotten so ripped but never got a straight answer. It's not like Marinette could exactly say that she had gotten strong by fighting villains all day.

The other thing that had become most noticeable was her fighting skills. Few of her friends ever witnessed anything as fighting wasn't a super common civilian issue, but Alya saw her take down a mugger with one hand. Nobody really believed her when she told people about it - "Oh, sweet little Marinette couldn't hurt a fly," they often said - but she still made a note not to startle her or get on her bad side.

One of the most problematic changes that she'd made, though, was her fighting instincts. While it came in handy during fights with akumas, she often found herself judo-flipping her partner, Chat Noir, when he snuck up on her. The worst part was that he never learned to give her some warning, so it wasn't an uncommon occurrence to accidentally throw her best friend off of roofs. Of course, he was always okay. Not only did he have his staff and super-agility, but he'd learned to expect it. That only made her feel more guilty.

~ o n e  d a y ~

Ladybug leaned against the chimney of one of the several rooftops of Paris. She was looking down at her yoyo's screen, catching up on some fan emails, while she waited for her partner. Suddenly, she felt the sudden presence of someone behind her, a hand reaching toward her. Instinctively, she grabbed the wrist and slammed the attacker down on the ground in front of her. She kept the arm in her grasp and put a foot on the person's chest to hold them down. The laughter that followed registered before the face did. She immediately let go and took her foot off of the blonde and held down a hand to help him up. Once he was standing again, he worked to control his laughter.

"Stupid cat, I've told you over and over again not to sneak up on me like that! You know that I react like that to being startled," she grumbled, closing up her yoyo and attaching it to her hip.

"I know, I know. But it's kinda funny," he wiped a tear from his eye.

"It won't be so funny when you dull my reflexes and I get my miraculous stolen by a villain," she retorted, pushing him playfully but sternly on the shoulder.

"My lady, you could never be dull, not even your reflexes." His eyes shone with adoration and she rolled her eyes. She had to admit that his flirtiness had gotten a lot sweeter in the past few months as they got to know each other deeper and deeper.

"Yeah, whatever, kitty. Are you ready to go on patrol?"

"With you? Always."

The two leaped from the rooftop and began scanning the streets of Paris for any akumas or citizens in need of help. They helped an elderly woman gather the groceries that had fallen through a hole in her bag and helped prevent a traffic collision. As always, they stopped by the bench where Mr. Ramier sat with his pigeons and chatted with him, bringing him comfort. The man had gone through a lot of trauma, having been akumatized over 50 times. Finally, the sun began to set and they decided to call it a night.

~

Marinette stretched and yawned, extremely tired. As soon as they'd gotten home from patrol, they got an akuma alert and had stayed up until nearly 5 am fighting.

"I don't know how I'm gonna make it through the day on only two hours of sleep," Marinette commented as she messily pulled her hair into her signature pigtails.

"You've got this, Marinette! I know you can do it!" Her kwami pressed against her cheek in a hug and the girl felt energized just from the affection from the small creature.

"Thanks, Tikki," she smiled. Then she opened her bag for her to fly into and headed for school.

"Hey, girl!" Alya called from across the courtyard. She was standing near the stairs talking to Nino. Marinette managed to jog over there and greeted her friends.

"Oh man, you look terrible," Nino commented. Alya jabbed him in the side. "I mean, you seem tired. You okay, dude?"

Marinette nodded. "Yeah, the noise from the akuma last night kept me up," she fibbed.

"Oh that's right, it was right over by the bakery, wasn't it? Did you see that villain though? Hawkmoth is really stepping up his game!" Alya continued to talk about the night's battle, giving Marinette a chance to zone out for a moment since she didn't need a rundown of the battle she'd fought. Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her shoulder. She jumped and her instincts took over. She grabbed the wrist of the person behind her before they could even tighten their grip and threw them with a slam onto the ground a few feet in front of her. Then, she processed what had just happened and who she had just thrown. She rushed over to him and offered a hand to help him up.

"Oh my god! ARE YOU SORRY? I mean- I'm okay! I mean... uh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay, Adrien?" He stood up and stared at her in shock.

"I told you! I told you she was a damn ninja! Mylene owes me $10," Alya celebrated. But neither of the pair was paying any attention to her. Marinette was too lost trying to decipher Adrien's gaze and why he had yet to let go of her hand. The bell rang and students filtered out of the courtyard and into classrooms and eventually, the two were alone.

"I- ah, Adrien?" Marinette stammered, her face still a bright red but her thoughts more clouded by confusion than romance.

"I guess your reflexes haven't dulled yet," he whispered, his eyes never leaving hers. Marinette paused for a second, trying to figure out why the phrase sounded so familiar before it hit her.

"It won't be so funny when you dull my reflexes and I get my miraculous stolen by a villain."

"My lady, you could never be dull, not even your reflexes."

She felt her knees give out and she fell to the ground. Adrien quickly moved to kneel down beside her. She just stared at the blonde for a while, her eyes wide and brain moving at a thousand miles per minute.

"Chat... Chat Noir?" She finally pushed the words out of her lips, though they were a struggle. It felt impossible. Adrien was so different from Chat Noir. But, when she thought about it, it all made sense. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug.

"It's really you, buganette," he whispered into her hair, returning the embrace.

"My kitty."

[dp-marvel94]

Danny and His Blob Ghosts

Summary: When two blob find and affectionately latch onto Danny, the halfa immediately adopts the small ghosts. But things are not as they seem. With Danny's horrifying recurring nightmares, Vlad Master's ominous behavior, and the blob's strange human-like eyes, keen intelligence, and intense fear of the older half ghost, there might just be a greater connection between Danny and his blobs, one that will shake the boy to his core.

Word Count: 11,420

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Note: Based on this post by @ectoblood. 

You know how I said, I wanted to write a fic about the blob clones? Well...this is so late but I've been sitting on this for a while and finally finished it. So here's the story! This is an au where this story happens in place of Kindred Spirits. Instead of trying to make half ghost clones, Vlad creates fully human clones of Danny and....well...you'll see what happens to them. But anyway, enjoy and feel free to tell me what you think!

The boy looked about 10 years old, with black hair and lilac eyes. He stood in a sterile, metal room, looking so out of place. Machines whirled around him, vials glowed with something neon green, and in the center, sat a gaping metal hole in the wall.

"You want me to put this on?" The boy asked, holding up a familiar looking jumpsuit. It was white with black accents. He swallowed nervously, pointing at the ominous opening. “And go in there?”

“Yes child.” A cold voice answered, from somewhere behind the boy.

The child blinked. “Why?” He asked innocently.

There was a long suffering sigh. The boy turned at the sound, his eyes falling on a white haired man. “Must I explain this to you again?” 

The boy looked down, cheeks reddening with shame but he said nothing.

The man stepped forward. “That is an inactivated ghost portal. A machine similar to this one gave me my abilities.” To demonstrate, he summoned a flame of red energy to his hand. “And this one will give you the same abilities. I will turn it on with you inside and you will become half ghost, like me. You will be powerful. Finally the perfect heir. The perfect son.”

The child paused, taking in the words. Tentatively, he glanced at the hole, swallowing. “Will it hurt?”

The man tisked. “Don’t worry about that. Now get moving. We haven’t got all day.”

The boy didn’t move, anxiously looking between the machine and the man. 

The half ghost looked up. “Don’t you want to make your Father proud?”

The child bit his lip. “Yes..but-”

“If you do this, I will let you go upstairs.” The man offered, coldly. “There is a room for you with a bed and toys.” He wrinkled his nose like the word was distasteful. Then he looked down, hands ghosting over the control panel. “I will tell you your name as well.”

The boy’s eyes widened hopefully. “Really?”

“Yes.” The man hummed, replying passively as if the conversation was of little interest to him. Then he looked up. “Only my perfect half ghost son is allowed to know that information.”

The child nodded. The hope remained in his eyes as he put on the jumpsuit. He squared his shoulders, walking towards the tunnel.

“Very good. Now go inside.” The half ghost encouraged. 

The boy stepped forward slowly, carefully stepping over wires.

“Stop and face me.”

The child stopped and turned around. He swallowed again, eyes flitting around the tunnel nervously.

“Now, do not move.” The man instructed. His hand moved to hover over a large button. “I will press this button. Again, I emphasize. Do not move. Do not run.”

“Run?” The boy squeaked out. “Father, maybe I shouldn’t-”

The man ignored the words, slamming his hand down on the button.

"Father, I don't wanna do this anymore." The child cried, reaching forward. He tensed, eyes widening as green lights sparked around him. “Father!” With shaking knees, he started forward. 

The man frowned. “I told you not to move.” He pressed another button and a glass wall slammed down over the opening of the tunnel.

Inside, time seemed to slow. “Father! Please!” The boy ran to the front. “Let me out!” The green light grew brighter, the smell of ozone filling the air. “I don’t wanna do this!” The child shouted. 

“Please! Father!” There was a ripping sound, quack of thunder, the smell of burning flesh. A blood curdling scream cut through the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny sprang up, a shocked scream in his own throat. His chest heaved and his hands shook. The images of the...nightmare?....rang in his head. That was a nightmare, right? But...but...the smell- ozone and citrus and chard flesh- burned in his nose. And that scream…..

Beside him, something buzzed. The boy looked down. “Oh, Aster.” His expression softened, his eyes met the blob ghost’s purple ones. The fist-sized ghost blinked at him, rubbing up against his side. “Thanks, little guy.” The blob purred, the sound vibrating through Danny’s side and his own core hummed in kind. A comforting emotion pressed into his mind from the other ghost and Danny sighed in happiness.

Not for the first time, the half was grateful for the small green blob ghost. He’d shown up about a week ago and had hardly left Danny’s side since, serving as a comforting presence in the boy’s stressful life. His name, Aster, had been based on Sam's suggestion, for a flower with purple petals much like the blob’s strange eyes.

Something brushing up against his arm drew Danny out of his thoughts. He looked down at Aster; the little ghost had flown up and was nudging his arm. In response, the boy moved his other arm to pet the blob, who again purred at the contact. 

After a moment, Aster’s eyes again meet Danny’s. "Sorry I woke you up." The halfa muttered. “I had a nightmare about my accident. Except I was younger? And Vlad was there for some reason?”

Suddenly, the small ghost hissed in displeasure at the name. He puffed up, his dim aura brightening as a clear spike of his anger touched Danny’s mind.

The halfa raised a brow. “You clearly don’t like him either. Good call.” He hummed. “That man’s a fruitloop. Insane bastard.”

Aster hissed again, something like agreement projecting from him. 

“You said it.” Danny replied. Then he yawned. “I need to go back to sleep, Aster. See you in the morning?”

The little ghost’s aura dimmed and he floated down, settling back on the bed, beside Danny. He squeaked once, before closing his eyes.

Danny gave the blob one more little scratch. “Good night.” He laid down and went to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny blinked awake to sunlight streaming through his window. Even without looking, he could still feel the cool presence of the other ghost beside him. He smiled, enjoying the warm bed and the comforting presence of his companion...before he looked at the clock. 

The halfa’s eyes widened and he shot up. “Shit. School starts in 10 minutes.”

The movement shook the bed, startling Aster awake. The blob ghost squeaked in alarm.

“Sorry.” Danny muttered, jumping out of bed. “Gotta get ready.”

He scurried around, putting his clothes on while he brushed his teeth. Then he started stuffing material into his bag. “Where’s my math homework?” Rapidly, he shuffled through papers. “I know I did it!” 

Something cold nudged his arm and Danny looked down. It was Aster, with a piece of paper clutched in a mouth-like depression below his eyes. Eyes widening, the halfa grabbed the paper. 

“This is my math homework.” He muttered in surprise, looking down at the blob. “Thanks bud.” Danny gave the other ghost a pat, before Aster darted off.

The halfa shrugged, grabbing his shoes and rapidly tying them. Less than a minute later, there was a chirp in front of him. Danny looked up, again the green blob ghost floated in front of him, this time clutching a foil wrapped packet.

“Poptarts?” The boy grabbed the food. “You’re a really smart little guy, you know that?” 

The small ghost hummed happily in response. 

With his shoes on, backpack packed, and breakfast in hand, Danny stood. With hardly a thought, he summoned his transformation rings. The light passed over his body, replacing Danny Fenton with Danny Phantom. Now in ghost form, the halfa floated off the floor and towards the window. Aster followed.

Raising a brow, Danny glanced at his companion. “You’re coming with me? I’m going to school so you’ll have to stay out of sight. Don’t let any humans see you.”

The blob bristled, rolling his eyes. A very middle annoyance projected from him.

Danny held up his hands. “Alright, alright. You already know that. Come on.” He motioned for the smaller ghost to follow, both of them turning invisible as they phased out of the room and started racing towards school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day proceeded fairly normally for Danny. He went to class, ate lunch with his friends, and had to duck out of English when his ghost sense went off. The halfa darted to the restroom to transform and Aster appeared in the visible spectrum a moment later. The little blob followed him, keeping out of Danny’s way while he quickly captured the Box Ghost. 

Once Danny capped the thermos, Aster floated down and rubbed up against the half ghost’s arm, giving a congratulatory squeak. 

The ghost boy laughed. “Dude. It was just the Box Ghost.” He gave the smaller ghost an affectionate pat anyway. “I’ve gotta go back to class. See you later.”

After that, Danny didn’t see the little blob ghost again in public, though his presence was never far away. The weak ectosignature danced at the edge of the half ghost’s perception, suggesting the blob was hiding somewhere invisibly. 

Soon enough, the school day ended. Danny said goodbye to his friends and started walking home, with the invisible blob ghost trailing him. A fifteen minutes walk later, the boy was walking through his front door. After grabbing a snack, he headed up the stairs.

Danny paused in the second floor hallway. A cold feeling swirled from his core, settling in his lungs. The prerequisite of his ghost sense. Brow furrowed, the half reached out with his core, trying to feel the signature of whatever was alerting his core. It was weak and….Danny’s eyes widened; the signature felt very similar to Aster’s but not quite the same. Confused and wary, the half ghost opened the door to his room.

Danny frowned in confusion. There, floating over his bed was a strange looking blob ghost. It was sky blue with white patches, like clouds flickering over its surface. It raced around the room, squeaking anxiously. Confusion and distress rolled off of the small ghost in waves, making Danny shiver. 

Shaking his head, the half ghost closed the door and approached. The blob froze, neon green eyes falling on Danny. Its eyes widened, before it let out a happy and relieved squeal. In a flash, it flew at Danny, thumping against his chest with such force that the half ghost stumbled. For a moment, he was stunned. He would think it was an attack except…. The little ghost was trembling against him, relief pressing into Danny from the blob. It...no….he…(Danny had no idea how he suddenly knew, but the ghost, pressed right against his core, was a boy.) was purring, his emotions practically screaming Safe. Safe. Finally safe.

With a gentle hand, Danny cupped the sky-blue ghost. “Hey, hey. You’re okay.”

Beside him, Aster warbled questioningly before floating around to face Danny. The green blob wiggled up beside the other blob, maneuvering himself so Danny was holding both of the smaller ghosts. Aster hummed, pressing into the other blob and both closed their eyes. 

Danny stumbled to his bed, bewildered by the situation. He patted the new ghost with his free hand. “Whatever happened to you, it’s okay now. I would let anything happen to you.”

At the words, neon green eyes looked up at him, eyes crinkling with adoration. He purred.

The half ghost smiled. “So...do you have a name, little guy?”

The blue blob looked down, sadness projecting off of him. 

“Oh.” Danny frowned. “How about…..Skyler? ‘Cause you’re sky blue with white patches.” The new blob looked up, confusion poking Danny’s mind. The halfa shook his head. “I know it’s not that creative. I can think of something else if you want.”

The blue blob’s eyes widened and he chirped sharply, a clear no. Instead, he pressed into Danny again, humming happily. 

“So you like the name?”

Danny didn’t know how someone without an actual head managed to nod but the little blob managed it. 

“Alright then. Your name's Skyler. This is Aster.” Danny pointed. “And I’m Danny.”

Both blobs hummed, their affection communicated loudly. The half ghost smiled. “I love you guys too.” His core vibrated in his chest, purring with the other ghosts. Finally, he pulled his hand back. “I do have homework to do guys.”

Aster warbled disappointedly but backed up. Skyler hesitated, eyes flickering to the side uncertainly. The other blob nudged the newer blob encouragingly and with the prompting, the blue ghost floated away. 

With that, Danny went to his desk to work on homework, while his blob ghosts watched, snuggling with each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skyler proved to be even more clingy than Aster. That night, the little ghost insisted on sleeping on Danny’s chest. The next day, he settled in Danny’s hoodie pocket as soon as the boy put it on. 

“Come on. You can’t stay there.” Danny said, gently pushing the blob out of his pocket. 

Skyler hissed in displeasure before burrowing himself in the fabric again.

The half ghost sighed. “Alright. You’ll have to stay invisible then.”

The blob poked out of the pocket just enough to give Danny a confused look.

“So people can’t see you.”

The confused expression remained.

Danny furrowed a brow. “Do you know how to do that?”

Skyler let out a defeated sounding sigh.

“That’s a no then. Here, let me show you.” Danny placed a finger of the blob and concentrated, turning his hand and the other ghost invisible. After a moment, he pulled his finger back. “Now you try.”

The small ghost pinched his eyes closed in concentration. He disappeared, flickering invisible and visible like a dying light blub before the flickering stopped.

Danny smiled proudly. “There! You did it.” 

Skyler remained fully invisible in his pocket and that’s how he stayed for the rest of the school day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things continued like that for a while. The blobs snuggled with Danny while he was sleeping. They followed him on patrol. They hung out with him while he was doing homework. Aster and Skyler even meet Danny’s friends and sister.

“They’re so cute!” Jazz cooed, petting the two small ghosts.

In response, Skyler purred, leaning into the contact. Aster rolled his eyes and growled grumpily.

Bewildered, the redhead pulled her hand back from the green blob. “What was that?”

Danny snorted. “Aster’s mad that you called him cute.”

“Really?” His sister looked down at the green blob. “These two can actually understand what we’re saying?”

The half ghost raised a brow. “Of course they can.” 

“It's kinda weird.” Sam said, uncertainly. 

“Yeah, blobs aren’t normally that smart. Plus….” Tucker pointed. “Don’t those weird, human-like eyes give you the creeps?”

Danny turned back towards the blob ghosts, frowning at the statement. He studied the two, with tilted head. They did have round eyes, with pupils and sclera but inhumanly colored irises “I don’t think it’s that weird….I mean….blobs having eyes isn’t common but ghosts’ eyes can look really similar to humans’”

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz looked at each other questioningly before the goth shrugged. “I guess you're right. Ghost’s are pretty strange in general.”

Danny nodded and the conversation ended. The teens all got to work on homework with the blobs settling on Danny’s shoulders to watch. Then Danny’s phone rang.

He glanced down at it and groaned at seeing the caller id. Without comment, he answered the call. “What do you want Vlad?”

As soon as the word left his mouth, Aster and Skyler startled. Both darted back, hissing loudly.

“What is that noise, Daniel?” The older halfa’s voice came through the phone.

Ignoring the question, Danny looked back at the blobs, waving down with one hand. “It’s okay. Quiet down you guys.”

Across the line, Vlad scoffed. “Is that those obnoxious blob ghosts?”

“They’re not obnoxious.” Danny huffed. “Wait, how do you know about them?”

“I have my ways.” The older halfa said cryptically, before continuing casually. “Anyway, how are you, my boy?”

At the words, the blobs ghosts both hissed again. Skyler floated farther away from the phone, higher until he’s pressed against the ceiling. Aster however pressed right up to the phone, growling lowely.

Danny lowered the phone. “Aster, Sky. It’s okay. He’s not actually here.”

Over the phone, Vlad growled. “Control your pets, Daniel.”

The younger half straightened, narrowing his eyes. “They aren’t my pets, Vlad.” Despite what others would think, the two blobs were not his pets. They were….his friends, the ghost boy supposed.

“Of course not.” Vlad scoffed. “Just like that green mutt is not your dog.”

“No, that’s not…” Danny pinched his nose. “Why are you calling me, fruitloop?”

The half ghost could almost hear the eyeroll. “I was calling to inform you, I have business in Amity Park in a few days and your dear mother and oaf of a father invited me to stay with your family.”

The younger halfa groaned. “Are you serious?”

At the same time, the blobs hissed above him.

“Yes, I am serious.” The older halfa replied coldly. “And again, can you call your pets to quiet down?”

“Again, not my pets.” Danny gritted his teeth. “And no. I agree with them. Hissing’s the right reaction to you.”

“Now, don’t be difficult, little badger. Are you not looking forward to seeing your dear uncle?”

“F*ck off.” The boy hissed, earning enthusiastic buzzes of agreements from Aster and Skyler. His friends also chuckled, giving him approving looks while Jazz frowned.

“Such language, Daniel.” Vlad rebuked. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

The ghost boy narrowed his eyes. “Will you stop talking about my mom?”

“Now, your dear mother-”

“Will never love you, because you’re a creepy old man who can’t let go of your crush on a happily married woman. Goodbye.” With that, Danny hung up the phone angrily.

The halfa put his head in his hands and groaned.

“Dude. I’m so sorry.” Tucker said.

Danny just groaned again. A moment later, the two blobs who had been hovering near the ceiling flew down to the boy. Chirping soothingly, they brushed up against his arms. In response, the half ghost raised his head. He gently cupped both blobs in his hands and drew them to his chest. He looked down, addressing the smaller ghosts. “Thanks guys.”

Sam raised a brow. “They really don’t like Vlad, do they?”

“Yep.” Danny nodded.

The technogeek half-smiled. “They fit right in.”

The half ghost nodded in agreement.

After that, there was more complaining about Vlad. And finally, at Jazz’s insistence, the teens started on their homework, with the blobs watching from one of Danny’s shelves. Once they were done, the group watched a movie. After, Sam and Tucker went home and Jazz went to her room leaving Danny alone with Aster and Skyler.

The half ghost looked up, spotting the two blob snuggling together on his shelf. Sky was trembling slightly, eyes down cast. Danny frowned, reaching up to give each ghost a scratch. “Come on guys. I’m going to bed.”

The blue blob looked up, eyes brightening. He floated down the half ghost, purring as he nudged the boy’s hand.

With that, Danny settled into bed, with Skyler laying on his chest and Aster beside him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The little black-haired boy was crying, his blue eyes filling with tears.  "Daddy, please I'll be good!”

Vlad sneared, gripping the child’s arm tighter. “Stop sniveling boy.”

He trembled, weakly pulling away. “I’ll be good, Daddy. I promise!”

The man shook him. “Be quiet.”

“No! Let me go!” The child cried, pulling harder.

“You are insufferable.” Vlad gritted his teeth. Letting go of the small arm, he roughly pushed the boy.

“No!” Snot started running down the child’s face. “Daddy!”

“If this works, it will be worth it.” The man sighed.

The boy’s eyes widened as he scrambled up. “Daddy, I’m scared!”

The man ignored the pleas, instead he pressed down a large button on a control panel.

The child stumbled forward, chest heaving as his feet quickened. His heart pounded in fear. “No! I’ll be good! Please!”

A glass wall slammed down in front of him and the boy screamed, pounding on the barrier. “Let me out!”

“It will be worth it.” Vlad repeated to himself. “He’s young and impressionable. A son I can mold in my image.” He pressed down the button and there was a flash of green.

The child panicked, the tears increasing. He pounded harder. “Daddy! Let me out!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His own heart pounding, Danny woke up to the sound of a child crying. His sleepy mind ran in circles. What was...who was...that dream….

Another wail of pure emotional agony. That little boy….he must be here…. With his eyes still closed, Danny sleepy reached towards the sound. In front of him? Above him? He needed to find the kid…

Danny’s hands reach out to comfort, falling on something cold and squishy, like jello. Wait...that doesn’t…..

Something shifted, the minimal weight on his chest increasing. He was touching something else, something fuzzy...and soft? He petted the things and the sound died down into a whimper.

Mind swimming and fuzzy with sleep, Danny fell asleep again before he could think more. In the morning, he thought it was all a dream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Downstairs, the doorbell rang. It had been three days since Vlad’s phone call, three days since Danny’s half-remembered nightmare featuring the insane bastard. Below, the door opened and then closed a few seconds later. His father’s enthusiastic greeting boomed. From his seat on the bed, Danny groaned in annoyance; it sounded like the fruitloop was here.

“Danny!” Jack called. “Come say hi to your uncle Vladdie!”

The younger halfa groaned again, this time louder. Skyler, who’d been perched in the boy’s lab and purring, startled; the blob suddenly looked up, his eyes wide and fearful.

Danny’s expression softened. He patted the smaller ghost. “It’s okay, Bud.”

“Danny!” His father yelled again, this time more instantly.

The boy frowned. “I’m gonna have to go down there.” 

The blue blob gave the half ghost a wary look, nestling into the boy even as Danny tried to push him off. “Sky. Come on.” 

The small ghost whined, refusing to move even as he was trembling. Then Aster, who’d been relaxing on one of Danny’s pillows, floated up and towards the other blob. Giving the blue ghost a nudge, the green blob offered a comforting purr. Skyler chirped worriedly in response. Then Aster nudged him again, more encouragingly. With something like a sigh, both blobs floated off of Danny’s lap before setting onto his pillow.

“Danny! Come down here!” This time, it was his mom yelling with a serious tone.

“Coming!” The boy yelled back. He looked back at his blobs. “Just stay here guys, okay?”

Aster gave an agreeing if warry warble. Skyler, however, didn’t respond, still trembling slightly.

Danny sighed, his own stomach knotting with worry. Squaring his shoulders, the boy braced himself to face the other halfa.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Fenton family, plus Vlad, sat around the coffee table with cups of tea and hot chocolate. Jazz and Danny traded warry looks as Vlad proved to be as creepy and obnoxious as ever. Making vague and not-so-vague ominous jabs at his dad, while paying the insults off as jokes. Shamelessly flirting with his mom. Overall making everyone, except the oblivious Jack Fenton, uncomfortable.

Danny gritted his teeth, barely holding back a seething comment about Plasmius. Oh, he wasn’t above underhanded comments about Vlad’s status as a lonely bachelor in need of a cat. But, even begrudgingly, their secrets were off the table. So no comments about the older halfa’s hairbrained schemes to kill his Dad, marry his mom, and convince Danny to be his perfect half-ghost son. The ghost boy shivered at those last words. That uncanningly reminded him of something he heard in his-

“Here Daniel. Let me take your cup.” Vlad said, interrupting the younger halfa’s thought.

Danny wrinkled his nose, giving the man a distrustful look. “Nah. It’s fine I can take it.”

The older halfa raised a brow, holding up the other mugs in his hand. “Really, it’s no trouble.”

His parents pinned him with questioning looks and the younger half ghost conceded, handing his mug to Vlad.

The corner of Vlad’s lip turned up, into something vaguely smug as he walked into the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a dinner that was as tense and awkward as Danny expected, the boy went to his room with an excuse that he had homework to do. Really, he didn’t want to be in the same room as Vlad Masters for any longer than he had to. But his stomach still flopped. He hated the idea of that insane fruitloop being in his house, around his parents. The other’s presence gnawed at him, the barely perceptible ectosignature (not weak but suppressed by Vlad’s human form) constantly putting his core on edge.

Danny shook his head, forcing the thought away. He’d just have to trust that he’d be able to hear on the off chance that Vlad tried something. The boy did actually have homework to do. And he should check on Aster and Skyler.

With a sigh, the boy pushed open his door before closing it quickly.

“Aster. Skyler.” Danny called softly, his nose wrinkling as the two didn’t appear. “Guys, it’s just me.” The boy tried again. 

Where were his blobs? With some concentration, Danny reacted out with his ghost sense. His brow furrowed, the signatures flickering into his awareness. The two smaller ghosts were close by. But where?

Danny searched, opening his closet and drawers. His eyes flickered over his bookshelf, dresser, and desk. “Come on guys.” He whined slightly at finding nothing.

Just then, a small chirp sounded. Danny turned, his eyes flickering down. There! Lowering himself to the floor and onto his stomach, he peered under the bed.

“There you guys are.” Danny rolled his eyes playfully. “Are we playing hide and…” He trailed off, finally taking in the smaller ghosts. Both were shaking, their eyes wide and fearful. Expression softening, the boy reached under the bed. He gently cupped each ghost in his hand and pulled them out from under the furniture.

“You guys are really scared of Vlad.” He said, voice only slightly surprised and pained. 

In response, both blobs whimpered.

“Shush. It’s okay.” After slowly sitting up, Danny pulled both blobs to his chest. The action was as close to a hug as he could perform with the two fist sized ghosts. “Like I said before, I wouldn’t let anything happen to you guys. I definitely won’t let Vlad anywhere near you.”

Aster and Skyler both cooed, comforted by the words. They started purring, Danny’s core doing the same in response.

For a long moment, the three stayed together in their almost hug. Then finally the halfa asked. “Better?”

Both blobs blinked, before giving affirmative chirps.

“Good.” Danny smiled, letting the other ghosts go. “I do actually have homework to do. You guys can watch or….” He pulled out his phone, offering it to the blobs. “Youtube? I can put on a video for you.”

With a hum, the blobs took the seconds option. They huddled on the bed while Danny worked on homework. Several hours later, the half ghost finished and joined the other ghosts on the bed. They watched some videos before the half ghost yawned.

“Alright. I need to go to sleep.” He stood and started towards the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Standing in front of the door, Danny reached forward for the knob. It didn’t turn, locked apparently. Inside the toilet flushed. There was the sound of the sink turning on and then off thirty seconds later. Then the door swung open. 

Danny frowned. “Vlad. What are you doing?”

The man raised a brow. “Using the restroom Daniel. What else would I be doing?”

The younger half ghost scowled but said nothing, instead stepping past the man and into the bathroom. He then slammed the door in Vlad’s face.

Danny sighed, looking down for a long moment as his annoyance at the older halfa flared. But he pushed the feelings away. The guy hadn’t actually done anything bad. Maybe he wasn’t actually planning anything worse than getting on Danny’s nerves. 

After a long moment, the half ghost looked up again. Remembering why he came here, the boy reached for his toothbrush. And….his eyes widened. It wasn’t in the cup by the sink or on the counter. Danny wrinkled his nose. Taking a step back, he looked to the floor. Maybe he...or another certain halfa….knocked it over. But nothing. It wasn’t in the trashcan either or in the drawers. It wasn’t under the sink or even in the toilet or shower. 

Danny rubbed his eyes, groaning. “Where is it? Did that fruitloop do something to it?” The boy looked up, shaking his head. No, why would Vlad do that? Well...he could take it mess with him but Danny could have left it at Tucker’s house the last time he stayed over. Or his mom or sister might have thrown it away. He really did need to get a new one anyway. He bent down, opening the doors to the counter under the sink. Like he thought, there was an unopened toothbrush. He opened the package and brushed his teeth before going to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Floating underwater. The sting of water and ectoplasm in his eyes. Gasping for breath.

The beep of a heart monitor. Cold metal on his chest. The syringe full of red blood.

Images flashed through Danny’s sleeping mind, his eyes flickering rapidly under his lids.

Waiting. Watching. Raining dripping down the window. Shivering in his thin hospital gown. Loneliness.

Green slime and sleek metal. The smell of old pennies. The roar of machinery. A scream.

The young halfa’s heart started pounding in his chest, a whimper exciting his throat.

Sudden silence. Wet leaves and earth. The sound of a shovel hitting rock.

He’s...where is he? What happened? Why can’t he...why can’t he feel his hands, his feet, his body?

The boy gasped in his sleep, his heart skipping a beat. In the waking world, there was a rustling, a soft thump.

A shadow falling over him. Red eyes loaming over him. The flash of a needle.

Several things happened at once. Danny’s eyes popped open. There was an enraged hissed and a sudden thump.

“Why you little!” A man’s voice growled.

The boy shot up in bed. It took only half a second to recognize the older halfa in ghost form. “What are you doing in my room Vlad?!” The angry demand evaporated as Danny registered something else. There, squeezed in Vlad’s hands was a trembling Aster. The half ghost’s eyes narrowed, his voice rising in hysterical rage. “Get your hands off of him!”

Without thinking, Danny transformed and flew at the older half ghost, throwing him into the wall with a punch to the face. The blob ghost squeezed in alarm while Vlad grunted. “Daniel!”

Behind him, Skyler squeaked in alarm.

The boy bared his teeth. “Let him go.”

Vlad let his eyes flash. “Or you’ll what?”

His hand lighting with ectoenergy, Danny’s eyes flickered worriedly to the squirming Aster. “I’ll...I’ll…”

Vlad smirked. “Thought so.” His hand’s grip tightened slightly, causing the small ghost to let out another whimper of pain.

Danny paled slightly, eyes widening in panic. Then the sound of feet pounding up the stairs rang out with the distant sound of his parents’ voices. Skyler whimpered.

His eyes flickering to the door, he considered for a second. Danny’s expression hardened. “I’ll expose both of us.”

For a moment, Vlad looked like he wanted to scoff, like the boy was bluffing. Then his eyes widened slightly. His gaze flicked to the ghost in his hand. “For this thing? You wouldn’t.”

Danny hissed. “You wanna test me?” 

Feet continued to pound, the sound now coming from the end of the hallway. “Danny! We’ll get that ghost!”

The two halfa’s stood off for seconds but it felt much longer. With barely a thought, Danny summoned the ring of his transformation but paused it before he could change. Vlad’s gaze flickered down, considering.

The voices were right outside the door. In a second, Vlad released the other ghost and disappeared. The moment he was out of sight, Danny transformed.

His door banged open. “Where’s the ghost?!” Dad shouted.

Danny turned around, sighing in relief that neither blob was visible. “He flew off when he heard you coming.”

“He?” Mom asked.

“Pl- The Wisconsin ghost.” The half ghost said, suppressing a smile. He might as well get Vlad’s ghost form in trouble.

Dad’s eyes lit up. “The Wisconsin ghost! Madds, let’s go! Maybe we can still catch it!”

A worried look crossed the woman’s face. “Are you alright sweetie?”

Danny shrugged. “Yeah. He didn’t do anything to me.”

Mom studied him for a moment before her expression softened, seemingly satisfied. “Come on Jack.”

With that, the adults left Danny alone. As soon as the door closed, both blobs reappeared and flew at Danny. Silently trembling, they nuzzled against the halfa for protection. Deeply troubled, he sat down on his bed with the blobs settling into his lab. He petted them as they shook with fear. 

Vlad was up to something. He must have been. He’d been loaming in Danny’s room while he was sleeping. The memory, those images kept circulating in Danny’s mind but he couldn’t make sense of them or of the strange images of his dream. Were those two things connected? And...anger boiled in him. Vlad had threatened Aster. The man had put his hand on his….not- pet. His friend? That wasn’t the right word either. There was something...more familial about what he felt for these two blobs. He loved them so much. And Danny had threatened to out himself to save Aster. It scared Danny to think...he might just have done it. But he tried not to dwell on it instead wondering what Vlad was doing. But no answers came to his mind, just more worry as Aster and Skyler remained as quiet as death.

Danny didn’t sleep again that night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vlad left early the next morning without a word to Danny. He hadn’t tried to go into the boy’s room again. He hadn’t even made so much as an insult to Jack. Instead, he seemed vaguely angry, like whatever he planned failed. But Danny couldn’t make sense of that. What had Vlad wanted of him, while he’d been asleep? And….the boy swallowed. Vlad would have done whatever he wanted if Aster hadn’t attacked him.

But what had he wanted?

Eventually, Danny got out of bed. It was a lazy Saturday, just hanging out at home as he was grounded. It would have been a decent day except…

“Where’s my mug?” Danny grumbled. He really wanted his favorite mug, the one with the NASA logo, for his coffee. But it was no where, not in the cupboards, the dishwasher, the sink. It wasn’t on the counter or table or in the living room. Eventually he gave up, realizing it was the same one he used yesterday and handed over to Vlad to take to the kitchen. Danny groaned, putting his head in his hands. The man took it, didn’t he? The petty jerk.

Soon after, Danny found that his comb was gone as well, when he went to take a shower. His stomach flopped, getting an uneasy idea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day, Danny did homework and hung out with Aster and Skyler. The two remained silent, bodies tense with stress despite the halfa’s encouragement. That is, they were silent until...Sky finally cracked.

It was that night. Danny took the pair up to the roof to look at the stars. It was nice and peaceful for once, the dark sky full of sparkling stars. 

Then, a soft whine broke out. 

Danny looked to the side, spotting Skyler. Eyes softening, he picked up the little ghost. “Yeah. It’s okay. Let it out.” Skyler whimpered, the sound growing louder.

Soon after Aster joined in also whining as Danny stroked both of them. The boy let them cry, frowning in consideration.

Wheels turned in his head. How much Aster and Skyler hated Vlad before they even knew him. The way they’d hiss and tremble. And yet...Aster was willing to attack the older halfa for him.

Danny glanced down, studied the two odd looking blob ghosts. Their large human-like eyes, their odd coloration, the variety of emotion and the keen intelligence, their ability to telepathically communicate their emotions to Danny.

The boy frowned. They were strange for blobs and they were afraid of Vlad. Skyler had come to him, to him specifically. He’d been panicked and afraid. And Danny had somehow known someone had put him through something horrible, someone that the boy promised he would protect the blob from.

The question sprung up in his mind and exited his mouth before he could think. “Did Vlad….” He looked down. “Did Vlad experiment on you guys?”

Aster and Skyler’s whines cut off suddenly at the question. Both pairs of eyes looked up at him questioningly and a cacophony of emotions poured into his mind, communicated by the blobs. Fear, shock, and panic. Then rapidly, Aster’s eyes flickered between Danny and Skyler. The other blob shook, eyes watering. Huge, mounting, panicked confusion hit Danny like a train.

He gasped at the emotion. “You guys don’t remember.” His eyes widened. “You can’t remember what happened to you before you found me.”

Aster wiggled in a movement meant to be a nod. Large sadness welled in Danny at the thought. He then looked at Skyler. “Sky, what about you? Do you remember?”

The little blue ghost didn’t respond for a long moment. There was no sound, no acknowledgement until finally, the blob looked up at Danny. He trembled and a mournful sound rang out.

Danny’s heart skipped a beat. That wasn’t a whine or a whimper. It wasn’t a squeak of pain or alarm. It was a heartbroken sob. The volume rose and Danny dropped the ghost in shock. It was...it was the sound of a child crying.

The half ghost shuffled backwards, the sound ringing in his head. That...he’d heard that before. “In my dream.” He muttered. “I dreamed...I dreamed about a little boy crying in a portal, with Vlad.” The sob increased and Danny’s eyes flickered to the blob. “And you’re…. you’re crying in his voice." He stood, shaking. “After my dream, you were crying like he was but…”

Something connected in Danny’s mind, his eyes falling on Aster’s purple eyes. Purple eyes...like his first dream, the ten year old with purple eyes, the same color as his mother’s. And Skyler...with the little boy’s, the little boy who looked like Danny, his voice. And….both of those children died.

But...a horrifying idea sprouted in his mind. His favorite mug, the one he’d been drinking from yesterday going missing. His comb, his toothbrush as well. His dream (?) last night. Vlad loaming over him with a needle. What if….what if that had been real? What if the older halfa was here not to mess with Danny but to collect more...samples? DNA samples to make more, to make another….

Danny gasped, shaking as a specific word rang out in his head. No. NO. NO! His mind cursed. That could not...that was not. That couldn’t be what happened. Vlad couldn’t do that. He wouldn't do that. Yeah he was a petty jerk, a crazy fruitloop, an insane bastard. He did horrible things, like stealing and lying and manipulating. He tried to ruin his Dad's reputation. He tried to steal their portal and kidnap Mom. And he infected Sam and Tucker with ecto acne. He made Jazz and him fight each other. And unleashed the ghost king. But… he wouldn’t do this. He wouldn't clone Danny. He wouldn't kill children to make a half ghost. And yet….

Wouldn’t Vlad? Wouldn’t the bastard do anything to get what he wanted? And wasn’t what he wanted most his perfect half ghost ‘son’?

Danny remained frozen, his mind rebelling, refusing the idea. It couldn’t be...His blobs couldn’t have been-

A questioning chirp shocked the boy out of his thoughts. He blinked, finally remembering where he was. On the roof, watching the stars with…. He looked down, eyes falling on the two blobs. Aster chirped again, his eyes wide, questioning and yet compassionate. Something in the expression calmed Danny. 

After taking a breath, his gaze shifted, falling on Skyler. The boy’s brow furrowed. The blob had stopped crying, his round eyes full of guilt.

Danny’s expression softened. “Skyler.” He started.

The little ghost warbled sadly, floating into the air. Tentatively, he approached the half ghost. When Danny didn’t move to stop him, the blob gently nuzzled up again the boy’s chest in their version of a hug. Skyler hummed and an emotion….no, a word...pressed into Danny’s mind. Sorry.

The boy paused, from where he’d been gently stroking the little guy. That wasn’t a voice, not quite. But it was close, so close to being one. He could almost imagine-

Danny shook his head. “No buddy. It’s not you. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just...I think Vlad...he might have….” He swallowed. “I think you guys might be my-” The boy cut himself off, his mind rejecting the word.

He couldn’t think that, couldn’t wrap his mind around it. What that would mean for Aster and Skyler. What they were. What they are. What they lost. And...what this would mean for Danny, what these two really were to him. He couldn’t think about it all. So the boy pushed the thought out of his head. 

Instead he held Skyler closer and after a moment, Aster joined him. Danny hugged his blob ghosts until the small blue one wiggled out of his hold, complaining loudly. The half ghost chuckled at the sight but his heart hurt. It ached, torn between acknowledging and rejecting its crazy hypothesis, even as Danny was lying in bed and falling asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grainy footage played on a computer. A ten year old boy holding a hazmat suit, listening as Vlad explained how an inactive portal will grant him ghost powers. A five year old boy, crying and screaming as the man threw him into the machine.

The viewer watched with wide eyes, his hands shaking. His heart pounded in fear. “He’s going to do that to me too.” A teenager’s voice muttered.

The footage continued, both children crying for the man to stop. The teenager tensed as the portal started up, green light flashing. He covered his ears, stomach threatening to eject his dinner as the crying morphed into horrific screams of pain. But his eyes stayed glued to the screen as the light of the portal solidified into a swirling green vortex and….the screams cut off.

The teen blinked at the monitor, waiting. After a small eternity, the Vlad on the screen moved forward. Strictly, he called for a response. None came, the portal and the lab silent. Then Vlad changed, transformed. In a moment, the human was replaced by a ghost and he floated into the newly opened gateway.b 

Another long pause. The viewer twitched, his gaze flickering around the dark lab surrounding him, the same one that these videos were recorded in. His eyes moved back to the screen and finally….Vlad exited the portal.

The boy’s hand moved to cover his mouth and the cry that exited it. On the screen, Vlad was carrying a body. The charred and burnt corpse of a child. 

The teen gasped, learning over in sudden nausea. The words poured out. “He...he killed them. He’s gonna kill me. I’m going to die.”

Words exited the speaker. “Another failure.” Vlad sighed, dropping the body. “Hopefully the next one will survive and I will finally have my half ghost son.”

The boy straightened, his brow furrowing. His mind raced with thoughts and questions. But paramount- “I need to get away from him. I have to escape.”

He stood, rapidly closing the video and logging off the computer. Rapidly, his brain planned. He needed to run or find a way to contact someone. The police? Or…that boy from the older videos, the white haired one who in human form looked like him. His name was….Danny? And he lived in a place called Amity Park? The boy frowned. That wasn’t that useful but maybe-

The hydrologic hiss of the lab door turning shook the boy out of his thoughts. His heart skipped a beat and he sprinted. He was supposed to be asleep on his cot. He flopped down and pulled the blanket over himself, just as the door finally opened. The boy kept his eyes half lidded, watching the man approach him in the dark. Just feet away, he closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, faking sleep.

Vlad, the only person he’d ever known, his apparent maker, his capturer, his would-be murder, leaned over him. The boy froze, hardly breathing. He waited, hoping the man would go away. But then, there was a sudden pinch in his arm.

The boy screamed, startled, and tried to sit up but sudden dizziness overtook him. His head swam, his vision blurring before he passed out.

Sometime later, he blinked awake groggily. The boy groaned, wrinkling his nose. He was lying on something cold and metal. Something was digging into his back. He blinked again, his eyes slowly focusing on the ceiling. It was metal; he was still in the lab but….he shot up into a sitting position, his heart suddenly pounding. He was in the tunnel of the inactivated portal.

“Oh, you’re awake already.” Vlad’s voice came from outside the portal. He sounded disappointed. “It’s a pity. I’d hoped to keep you from panicking.”

The boy swallowed, standing. But he said nothing, glaring at the man even as he walked up to the glass wall.

“Do not bother to pound on that. I will not let you out.” The man said calmly. Then he rolled his eyes. “And do not snivel like a child. You are better than that.”

The teen balled his fists, anger rising. Oh, he wanted to do that. He wanted to scream and cry like the others had. The ones who died without even this man’s pity. He wanted to, because he was a kid and he didn’t deserve this. None of them had and it made him want to scream in rage. Instead, he bit back a growl.

Vlad looked up, slightly pleased. “You are being pleasantly calm, my boy.” He smiled, the pride on his face sickening. “Very good. Now just stay where you are and this will be over quickly.”

 The boy scowled but kept his mouth shut. He resisted the urge to curse the man and tell him exactly how much of a bastard he was. Instead, he focused on the man with a determined look. 

“I do hope this grants you ghostly abilities.” Vlad pressed down the button and the machine started to whirl. “You appear to have the spirit for it.”

The spirit, ha. The boy bared his teeth, the sudden chill raising the hair on his arms. It was starting. The opening portal would either kill him or..."I know what you did to the others. I saw the videos." He sneered, remembering the crying kids from the videos, the bodies left behind. The machine might do that same to him or...he remembered the other boy in the videos. Danny, with his white hair and green eyes. Images of him darting around the sky, shooting opponents with green energy. Ghost powers, like the man in front of him welds. Like he himself could...no, like he would gain. The boy straightened. "When I survive this, I will stop you.”

Across from him, Vlad’s eyes widened in shock.

The green energy was building around the teen, the smell of citrus and ozone assaulting his nose. “You'll never do this to anyone again."

The man stared at him in disbelief as the roar of the machine grew. The light burned the boy’s eyes and then...there was sudden pain. Screaming. The smell of burnt flesh. His heart pounded in fear before it twitched, the rhythm failing. His lungs spasmed, unable to take in air. His vision was overtaken with black as the pain ripped his body apart. His knees buckled, mind screaming for this to end. He never felt his body hit the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny woke up, a scream on his tongue. His mind raced, confusion overtaking him. What was that? Where...who? What…?

Above him, something hummed. Danny’s eyes flickered to the source of the sound. There, floating over his bed. It looked like...a piece of the night sky, suspended in his room. The half ghost’s brow furrowed, taking in the ovalong object. It was black as night with pinpricks of light, like stars speckling its body. Slowly, Danny reached forward, his fingers brushing something cold and squishy. 

The things hummed again and Danny blinked, his mouth falling open as eyes opened above him. Icy blue eyes blinked, intelligently taking him in. Mind still trying to catch up, the boy sat up. He held out his hands for the ghost to land. Because this was a blob ghost, another one like Aster and Skyler and…..

The blob let out a soft purr, an emotion pressing in Danny’s mind. Relief. Determination. Knowing eyes focused on the boy and he swallowed in sudden dread and anxiety. It...He was exactly like Aster and Skyler.

The blob shivered, feeling the half ghost’s nervousness. A small measure of comfort touched Danny’s core. At the same time, the other two blobs who had been laying beside him, finally stirred. Both pairs of eyes flickered up to the other ghosts. Aster gave a curious buzz before floating up. A few seconds later, Skyler followed, more tentatively.

For a long moment, the new blob watched the other two, recognition dawning in his eyes. He quickly looked between the two but there was no realization, no understanding in the green or blue blob’s gaze. The starry blob chirped encouragingly, beckoning the other two forward. After a pause, Aster moved, gently nudging the new blob in greeting. Seeing it safe, Skyler hovered forward as well, greeting the new blob in kind. The dark blob hummed, enthusiastically greeting the other two ghosts. He bumped both, letting out a purr.

All the while, Danny watched, mystified. His mind sputtered, trying and failing to put the pieces together. His horrific dream with a new….clone. And then a new blob showed up. It couldn’t...it didn’t….. His stomach churned, revolting at the idea.

Finally, the new blob looked at Danny again. He sighed, pressing two words in the boy’s mind. Follow me.

The half ghost blinked in surprise at understanding the words. But he didn’t question as the blob floated up, off his hand and towards the door. Instead, he transformed. His core hummed as he hovered forward. He followed and it scared him that he didn’t hesitate. Because he should. He shouldn’t follow a ghost who just showed up in the middle of the night. Except…. While part of his mind whirled, the ghost part whispered, that  this ghost was trustworthy and familiar, someone he knew closely.

Flickering invisible, Danny followed the ghost through the house and in the basement with Aster and Skyler following. The group continued into the ghost Zone and across the empty space. Just minutes later, they came to a familiar site. There, in a cave on an abandoned rock...was the metal frame of a man-made portal. 

Danny froze. “That’s Vlad's portal.”

The dark blob stopped, turning back. He landed on the half ghost’s hand. Safe. He’s not here.

The boy blinked, understanding despite the few words. Vlad wasn’t on the other side and he trusted this new ghosts because he knew him, that he was a-

Danny shivered. “Come on.”

The group floated through the portal and into a metal covered room. The half ghost’s breath hitched and in front of him, Aster and Skyler whimpered. Danny swallowed. This was Vlad’s lab, obviously. But he...he recognized it, from his dreams. Shaking, he surveyed the room, eyes falling tubes of ectoplasm, metal and glass chambers, and...a cot in the corner.

Danny felt like he would be sick. But the dark blob nudged him onward before he could think. The group phased up through the floor and into a rustic looking cabin. This room Danny also recognized; they were inside Vlad’s cabin in the Rockies. The new ghost continued, into the forest. They flew for ten minutes before the starry blob stopped cold.

They were floating over a small clearing, tall grass surrounded by trees. Except….Danny’s eyes wandered and his heart dropped. In the light of the full moon, there were three patches of earth, each with vegetation of various heights. On one, the glass was maybe pinkie length. On the second, shoots were just bursting out of the ground. And the third….the earth was freshly up-turned.

Danny floated down, to the base on the first. His gaze flickered between the places as his eyes started to water. He knew...he knew what these were, what these had to be.

“These are graves.” He whispered, his knees shaking. His heart ached, shattering as a sob burst on his lips. “These...my dreams...my dreams they were real….Vlad really….he did….oh god.”

The boy doubled over, his stomach forcing its way into his throat. “Oh god. Oh god that bastard he-”

In front of him came a cry. Danny looked up. Aster was floating in front of him, facing away from him. The little ghost was shaking violently. He shifted in the air, gaze flickering from the ground to the next patch. And there was Skyler. The little ghost was crying again, the noise that of a young child. And...oh god. Aster’s voice….it was the same, a boy, maybe 10 years old, crying.

Danny’s eyes widened, reaching forward. “Aster...Skyler...you guys...you’re really…” He looked down, tears falling. “These...these are yours.”

Rapidly, Aster turned. His gaze flickered to Danny, below him, and then to the other two blobs. Horrified shock wavered, turning into equally horrified realization. His eyes widened, welling with tears, actual tears. He was shaking and crying and….Skyler was doing the same, an identical look on his face. And Danny wanted to race forward and hug them except for...oh god, they were floating on top of their-

There was a flash of light in front of Danny. It was...it was the two blobs. Their aura’s flared, the light enveloping their bodies so strongly that they looked like two balls of light. The half ghost’s heart pounding. What was happening to them?! What was-

The light expanded, pressing outward and up. Stretching and morphing. Growing into a shape. A shape that looked like- There was a pop as the light disappeared….and Danny wasn’t looking at blobs anymore. 

In front of him were two humanoid ghosts. Directly in front of him, the boy (because he was a boy, oh god, this was a dead 10 year old child!), the boy had white hair, light green skin, a black and white hazmat suit. He was looking at his hands, flexing his fingers in awe.

And to the side was a gasp. This boy looked maybe five, with sky blue skin and clouds shifting over his skin and clothing. Glowing green eyes looked up at Danny, green eyes identical to his and exactly the color and shape of- 

“Skyler.” Danny whispered through his tears. At the noise, the other ghost looked up. Familiar purple eyes fell on him. “Aster.”

With no more hesitation, the small ghost flew at him. He threw his arms around Danny, clinging to him in a hug. “Danny.” Skyler, because this was him, the same ghost as his little blob, whined through his tears.

“Sky.” Danny repeated, his whole body shaking. A moment later, another pair of arms clung to the older boy. “Ash.” He cried.

Danny returned the hug, clinging to these two. His sorrow swelled, tears streaming down his face. His knees shook, the weight of emotions dragging him down. The three collapsed to the ground, in a pile of limbs, tears, and sobs.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” The half ghost repeated, like a mantra. “I should have….I should have known that...that.” He should have known who these two were, not just any blobs but his...clones...his clones. These were his clones. “Oh god, Vlad he...he cloned me...and he made you guys and….oh god he killed you!” Danny’s chest heaved. “I didn’t...I didn’t know...I didn’t stop him. I should have...I should have stopped him...I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” The guilt poured out with the grief.

All the while, the other two ghosts wept in Danny’s arms. “I...I remember now.” Aster whispered. “I remember how I...I died.”

Danny squeezed him. “I’m sorry.”

Skyler sobbed, gaping Danny’s suit like he would disappear. “Why did he...why did he hurt me?”

The half ghost had no answer, not comfort. Instead, he promised. “He won’t hurt you. He won’t touch you again. I’ll protect you.”

The little blue ghost sniffled. “I..I love you, Danny.”

“I love you too.” Danny returned. “I love you guys so much.” And he did. He did so much. These two had been in his house, in his room, by his side for weeks. And he’d loved the two even when he didn’t know who they really were. And they were really his clones. His dead clones. They were dead because...he...he hadn’t been there when they needed him. He’d let Vlad kill them. They were...they were full ghosts because he hadn’t been there and…

The boy cried and his two clones cried for what felt like ages, until there were no more tears. Slowly, the two younger ghosts pulled away. Aster whipped his eyes. “It’s not your fault.” He said quietly, looking up at Danny. “You didn’t know what Vlad was doing.”

The boy blinked, his lip trembling. “But-”

A flash of light cut off Danny’s words. He turned his head, eyes falling on another morphing ball of light. The figure stretched, snapping into shape and leaving another human-like ghost. This one looked Danny’s age, like he could be Danny’s twin if it wasn’t for his starry, dark as night skin. 

The new ghost slowly knelt down to be at eyes level with the others. He blinked, fixing glowing blue eyes on Danny. “He’s right. You didn’t know.”

Danny considered, taking in the person in front of him. His heart clenched at the words, guilt swelling. But he had questions, questions that were more important than wallowing in his guilt. “So...you’re a clone of me. Like Aster and Skyler here.”

The other boy frowned, pinning Danny with a serious look for ignoring his statement. Eventually, he stated. “Yeah. I am.”

Danny blinked, taking in the information. The confirmation of what he’d already worked out. Vlad had cloned him and those three clones were in front of him, including two who had been right under his nose and this new clone. Finally, the half ghost nodded in understanding. The next important question..."And what's your name?"

The blue-eyed boy bit his lip. "I don't have one yet. But I was thinking...Orion." He paused, letting the word linger.

“Orion.” Danny tested the word out. "I like it." He half-smiled.

"Figured you would.” The newly named Orion’s lip turned up in a slight smile. “I saw the glow in the dark stars on your ceiling and the model rockets." He looked down at his starry hands. “I guess liking space is something we have in common.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” The half ghost tilted his head, not knowing what to think of that. He decided to press on. "And… that last dream I had, earlier tonight? That was you….you showed me how you…uhh...how you..."

"Yeah.” Orion confirmed softly, understanding the unspoken end of that statement.

The half ghost shook his head, stomach flopping at the thought. “I saw...I dreamed about how it happened to Aster and Skyler too. But I thought they were just weird nightmares but...those weren’t.”

“No. Those were real.” The other teen replied. “I...after I….you know... I woke up in the Ghost Zone and… I found you...I guess...I kinda sensed where you were...and I found you but you were asleep.” He looked down at his hands. “I don’t know how I did it but...I knew that I could show you what happened...so I did.”

“And you brought me here.”

“Yeah...I just...I recognized that these two” He motioned to the other clones. “Were like me.”

“But we didn’t remember that.” Aster finally offered. “I just remember finding you, Danny, and knowing that you were safe and...you felt familiar.”

Skyler wrung his hands. “I knew you’d keep me safe.”

“Of course, I would… I will.” Danny threw an arm over the two clones. “You guys felt familiar to me too but...I had no idea why, just that… I cared about you guys.”

Slowly, the younger two clone’s (in appearance at least) lips turned up into smiles. Danny gave both a pat, before turning attention back to Orion. “So you brought all of us and these two remembered so….” He motioned to all of the former blob’s human-like bodies.

“Why aren’t we blobs anymore?” Aster questioned.

“Yeah.” Skyler wiggled his fingers. “I look different.”

“I think it’s because you remembered who you are now.” Orion offered.

“And you?” Danny raised a brow. “Why were you…”

The starry ghost smiled teasingly. His aura flared, the light blurring his features. The light compressed and….a blob was floating in front of Danny. The small ghost chirped, flying over Danny’s head to ruffle his hair. He flew back around to his spot. There was another flash of light and Orion was back in front of him, grinning brightly.

Danny’s eyes widened. “You can transform back and forth?!”

“Yep.” He affirmed.

“Can you teach me?!” Skyler interrupted.

Orion ruffled his hair. “Sure thing. You too, Aster. We can try it in a bit. But yeah...I can do both. Can’t really talk as a blob but...it’s pretty cool. I didn’t show up like this, since I wasn’t sure you knew about Vlad cloning you and…” He motioned to himself. “Meeting your almost look-a-like might have freaked you out.”

“It probably would have.” Danny worried his lip. “But I know the truth now. I know who you guys really are and what Vlad was doing and….” He looked down. “I saw how all of you died.”

Orion’s expression fell, the stars on his face a green tint in something Danny thought might be a blush. Skyler and Aster also blushed guiltily. 

“Sorry.” Aster muted.

“No it’s….It’s okay.” Danny said. “I need to see but….” He looked at Orion. “I have a question about what you showed me.”

The other teen looked up. “Alright, what is it?”

"Why didn't you fight him?" The other boy asked. “When Vlad had you in the portal. You didn’t yell at him. You didn’t try to get out. You just...you just stood there.”

Orion sighed. “I knew there was no point. I couldn’t fight Vlad or convince him to let me go. I knew the portal...it would either kill me or I’d end up with ghost powers so I guess….I chose to hope I’d survive and end up a half ghost, like you.”

Danny frowned, considering the words. After a long serious pause, he said quietly.  "But you didn't survive."

The half ghost regretted the words not even a second later as Orion's expression fell. 

"You're right. I didn't come out of the portal a half ghost.  I did die." 

The heartbroken expression on the clone's face made Danny's heart clench. In response, he leaned forward to embrace the other boy. Orion tensed in surprise before relaxing and returning the hug. The two stayed like that for a long moment, the gesture gradually becoming less awkward and more comforting and familiar.

Finally, Orion whispered into his original’s shoulder. "But I'm still here, aren't I?"

Danny blinked, taking in the words. He pulled away. He wiped his wet eyes; he’d started tearing up again at the reminder of the other’s death. But….he slowly, tentatively smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. You’re still here.” He looked down at the other two clones and then over the field again. Those three graves, three clones that died but…. He looked back at the group of ghosts in front of him. The same three clones. Danny’s eyes widened. “All of you are. You’re all still here.” The words carried the weight of the realization as his heart swelled with hope. 

The boy looked between Aster and Skyler on either side of him again, his eyes shining with affection. “And you guys are my….” He trailed off, at a loss for words. He’d said it in his head before; Aster and Skyler were his blobs, his...friends? That was the wrong word. They were his clones. No, not just...they were his- “You’re family.” Danny finally said with conviction. He looked across from him, at Orion, deliberately. “All of you are.”

The teenage clone’s expression softened. “I’m...I’m really happy to hear that.” He looked down, before saying quietly. “It’ll be really nice to have a family.”

Meanwhile, Skyler blinked up at the halfa. “Family?” He asked hopefully.

“Yes. Of course.” Danny’s heart clenched at the tone but he still offered a smile, ruffling the smaller ghost’s hair. “I wasn’t there before you guys...you know but…”

Aster cut in him. “I already said...you didn’t know so it’s okay.”

“Yeah.” Orion agreed. “You don’t need to blame yourself. I don’t blame you. I’m sure these guys don’t blame you either.”

The ten year old nodded his head. “No. I don’t blame you.”

Skyler, who’d been eagerly following the confusion, leaned over to hug Danny. “Me neither. So don’t be sad.”

With that, the half ghost was won over. He sighed. “Alright, alright. I get it. But still…..I’m here now. We’re all here now...and we’re together so….we’ll be there for each other no matter what happens now. Right?”

“Right.” Aster and Skyler said at the same time.

A moment later, Orion smiled proudly. “Right.” He then floated off of the ground, offering Danny his hand to stand up. “So how about we end this tonight?” Danny took the hand, standing with the clone’s held. The other boy then pointed back the way they’d come, through the forest and into Vlad’s cabin. “We make sure Vlad never does anything like this again.” He turned back around towards the fresh patches of dirt.

Danny turned, his expression falling as he understood Orion’s meaning. Then he straightened, determination overtaking him. “Yes. This ends tonight. That man’s gonna pay for what he’s done. Let's start with….who wants to help me trash Vlad's lab?"

 The younger two full ghosts nodded while the teenage clone gave his original an eager smile. “Yes, please.”

The four set off, flying together through the sky. That’s how they’d stay, Danny hoped. He’d meant what he said. These three were part of his family and he’d stick with them. They’d stick together. And together, they’d make things right. 

[zackcollins]

one number away || cavan biggio

masterlist

Author's Note: Hi! I'm supposed to be writing a longer fic for a hockey player. But like. I wrote this instead as a way of giving myself something else to focus on so I didn't burn myself out on the other thing by focusing too hard on it. Ya know? Variety is good sometimes. Anyways! GIF credit to anotherhockeypage!

Warnings: There is a mention of a break-in/intruder with a gun. So, if you need to avoid that, that's okay. I have other fics for you to read. There's also mention of the reader whacking said intruder with a baseball bat if you need to avoid that too. And blood if that's something the squicks you. That should be it. Let me know if I missed something though. I'll add whatever I missed!!

Word Count: 2.0k+

Title: One Number Away by Luke Combs

Additional: The reader is gender-neutral! There isn't any appearance description (except mentioning that the intruder is the same stature and height as them. But I left it vague like that so anyone could imagine the intruder being the same build as them lol), but there is the use of the pronouns "they/them" to describe them. I hope that's alright! And I hope you all enjoy this! Let me know what you think because constructive criticism is always welcomed!

Tagging: @whimsical-daydreams

You were at home on a rather quiet night. The night almost seemed too quiet as you sat in front of your television and sipped idly on some coffee. You were watching a baseball game; the Washington Nationals were playing the Tampa Bay Rays. Though, you couldn’t focus on it because you felt anxious about something. Something felt like it was wrong but you couldn’t put your finger on what that was and it was bothering you too much to give your full attention to what was happening on your television screen.

Your cellphone ringing made you startle a little because of how on edge you were. When you saw that the caller ID belonged to your best friend, Cavan Biggio, you relaxed a little. It would be nice to hear his voice because talking to him always calmed your nerves. On top of that, you hadn’t talked for a few days. He had been away with his baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays, on a west coast road trip; you couldn’t get the time difference to match up with your schedules.

"Cavan, hi!" You said cheerfully as soon as you answered the phone. "It's been a few days. How are yuh--"

"Someone broke in and they have a gun," Cavan replied, his voice quiet. You could tell that he had been crying because of how strained his voice sounded. "Please help. I'm terrified."

You felt muscles tense all over your body. You wouldn't know what to do with yourself if Cavan was shot and injured… or worse. If you were being honest with yourself, you had slowly fallen in love with Cavan from the time you became friends after meeting by chance after a game you attended in Buffalo a few years ago. And for him to call you while he was in this life-threatening situation… yeah. You didn't have time to process that. Cavan's life was in danger. You could handle it when he was safe.

"I'll be right over, hang tight. And don't try and be a hero," you responded before hanging up the phone.

You rushed around, grabbing a jacket, your shoes, and a baseball bat out of the closet since you didn't own a gun. You didn't know how well a baseball bat would hold up against an intruder with a gun but it was better than having only your bare hands.

The ten-minute drive to Cavan’s house was a blur. The next thing you remembered was seeing the windchimes above Cavan's front door swinging back and forth in the wind through the open doorway. You took a deep breath, grabbed the bat, and stepped out of your car.

You walked into the house as cautiously and as quietly as you could. You didn't want to alert the intruder that you were there, lest anything happen to you and have Cavan be put in even more danger. As you made your way around the house, you checked carefully in every room. You were trying to see if anyone was hiding out behind or under anything. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary but you were only through the first floor of the house.

When you made it upstairs, you saw that the door to Cavan's bedroom was open. You also saw a shadowy figure standing in the doorway. You tiptoed across the floor, not wanting to alert whoever it was to your presence.

When you got to the door, you saw that the shadow belonged to someone of about your stature and height. They were pointing a gun at Cavan. Cavan was cowering on the bed with his hands up in a defensive posture. He was also chanting "please don't hurt me" while tears streamed down his cheeks.

Without warning, you swung the bat and hit the person with the gun in the side of the head. They crumpled to the floor with a pained groan as they dropped the gun and clutched their head.

They tilted their head a little to look up at you and then flitted their eyes in Cavan's direction.

"Fuck…." The person on the floor groaned as they removed their hand from their head and looked at the blood. "I can see why he married you now."

You twirled the bat in your hands. Glancing over at Cavan, you saw him shake his head vigorously and give you a pleading expression. You nodded back, giving Cavan a compassionate smile.

You took the bat and pointed it out into the hallway. "If you leave right now," you looked menacingly at the person. They were now sitting up so you took the bat and put it under their chin to make them focus on you, "we won't call the police. It's also not our problem how you explain the head wound. You broke into our house and pointed a gun at my husband. I protected him. You can come up with whatever excuse you want, coward."

“Alright, alright,” the person sighed as they got to their feet. They grabbed their gun and tucked it into their waistband before putting their shirt over the top of it. “I’ll get out of your hair.” They dabbed their head with their hand one last time, wiping the blood on their pants. "Sorry for the inconvenience."

With one last glance at you and Cavan, the intruder walked out of the room. You heard them walk down the stairs. A moment later, you heard the front door close with a resounding thud.

You rushed over to where Cavan was on the bed, draping an arm around him. You cradled his head against your chest, allowing him to cry into your shoulder. Against your better judgment, you peppered the top of Cavan’s head with soft kisses. You also mumbled soft words of encouragement and reassurance in an attempt to quash Cavan’s nerves.

It took a few minutes but Cavan eventually stopped crying. He lifted his head. You looked down at him and brushed a stray piece of hair out of his eyes. Cavan smiled, though it looked nervous and hesitant. He grabbed your wrist and directed it down to his lips. He looked up at you with hopeful eyes; you nodded as you took your other hand and brushed a different piece of hair out of his face. Cavan smiled again before he placed a gentle kiss on the inside of your wrist. He ran his thumb along the outside, right over the bone. You took your other hand and cupped Cavan’s face, leaning down and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

You sat on the bed next to Cavan and turned to face him. You grabbed his face and guided it towards you. Cavan swallowed as his eyes went wide and his cheeks slightly reddened. You smoothed your thumb along his cheekbone, humming in satisfaction as you did. Cavan blushed deeper, bringing his hand up and running it along your wrist.

“Stop me if you don’t want his, alright?” You said.

“Alri--” Cavan started to speak but you stopped him halfway by connecting your lips. Instead, he muffled the rest of the word into your mouth before he started moving his lips fluidly against yours.

As you kissed, you felt Cavan place his hand on your thighs. He ran them across the fabric there before he moved his hands up to your hips. He curved his hands along your hipbones, humming softly when he felt you wiggle against his hands. In retaliation, you brought your hands up and circled your thumbs around his chest. Cavan moaned, twitching on the bed.

"Uh… (Y/N)?" You jumped at the voice of one of Cavan’s teammates, Bo Bichette.

"Yes, Bo?" You asked, standing up off the bed and smoothing out your clothes.

"How'd you get here so fast? Cavan’s neighbour just called me when she saw some sketchy dude walk out the front door."

“I called them first,” Cavan piped up from behind you. You turned to look at him and noticed that his face was cotton candy pink and his hair was strewn all over the place. You swallowed thickly, knowing full well you had done that by kissing him.

Bo scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Leave it to you to realize that you’re in love with someone when an intruder breaks into your house with a gun.”

“Fuck off,” Cavan replied, though there was no heat behind his words. “As if you wouldn’t have called Vladdy first if the same thing happened to you.”

You huffed a bemused breath when you saw the death glare Bo gave Cavan in response. Bo looked at you sideways, though he also had no heat behind his intent. You chuckled bemusedly as you sat next to Cavan on the bed again and put your head on his shoulder. Cavan slung his arm around you, putting his hand on your upper arm and put his other hand on your knee. Bo’s face shifted from the glare of death to fondness as he looked at the pair of you.

“You both appear to be alright,” Bo said. “So I’ll go home now. Unless you want me to stay for a while?”

“No, it’s alright,” you replied, glancing up at Cavan. Cavan looked down at you and nodded before he pressed a kiss to your temple. “We’re fine here. I’m gonna spend the night to make sure he’s okay. We’ll call if we need anything, though.”

“Alright. Keep him safe. He’s known to panic and overthink almost everything.”

“I know, Bo. But thank you for reminding me.”

Bo gave a thumbs up and a soft smile before he walked out of the room. You heard him walk down the stairs, mill around in the foyer for a moment (presumably grabbing his jacket and shoes), and then open and close the front door. After waiting a moment to make sure Bo wasn't coming back, you lifted your head off of Cavan's shoulder and turned to look at him.

Cavan took that opportunity to lean in, pressing his lips softly to yours. You showed no sign of resistance so Cavan kept going. You did, however, melt into the kiss, cupping Cavan's cheek. You loved this feeling of kissing Cavan; you wished you never had to stop. You were enveloped in Cavan's cologne. It was a scent you didn't know the name of but it smelled vaguely of the ocean. It was something that had always been very soothing to you because the beach had been a happy place for you growing up; seeing the waves crashing the shore was very relaxing for you.

When you pulled back, Cavan wrapped you in a hug. He buried his head in the crook of your neck. You stayed like that for a moment, Cavan, sniffling softly into the crease of your shoulder and neck. When they pulled back, Cavan looked you in the eyes. His eyes were slightly wet and his cheeks had small tear tracks on them.

"I thought you'd never do that." Cavan smiled, his teeth slightly showing. It made him look so damn adorable to you.

You smiled back, a small blush creeping across your face. "I was just waiting for the right moment." You replied as you wiped away the tear stains on Cavan's cheeks.

Cavan smiled again, rubbing his thumb over your wrist. You blushed harder. Getting your feelings reciprocated was the best feeling in the world. I made you feel like a teenager that was just understanding what love was again. You also felt so alive, like you had finally discovered who you were and what you wanted. It was liberating.

"Hey, Cavan?" You grabbed Cavan's attention by tilting his face to look at you. Cavan looked expectantly at you, raising an eyebrow in anticipation. "How about I just never leave after I spend the night tonight? Somebody needs to protect the house while you're away. And we're dating now, so..."

Cavan smiled, wrapping you in a giant hug. He was smiling as he pulled back.

"Absolutely."

[shedontsmelltoogooddarious]

Peepers please dont take the wheel (Jeepers Creepers fanfic/drabble.)

In my personal headcannon, the Creeper is the adoptive father to both Billy from the second movie, and Peepers, a nonbinary character.

"I'm going to do it." 

"Dude, I'm telling you! Don't do it!" 

I'm still gonna do it, no matter what you say Billy!" 

"You're going to die when dad comes back to his truck destroyed!" 

Billy called after as he stormed behind his younger sibling. Peepers couldn't care less, they were going to drive the truck! The handle jerked in their grip, resisting for a moment before the door gave way. 

"Come on! You don't even know to drive." 

"Guess I'll learn." 

Peepers smirked as they climbed behind the wheel, the truck suddenly roaring to life as they jumped and banged their head against the ceiling. "Peepers you shithead." 

Billy rolled his eyes, before climbing in himself, shoving past his sister to avoid the booby traps. Peepers made the truck go forwards as it pulled onto the highway. "I'mma drive all the way to Poho County." 

Peepers said, nearly swerving off the road with Billy grabbing the wheel. "Not with the way you drive you won't! Focus on the road and keep to the right."

He instructed from the newly placed passenger seat. Peepers obliged as the truck thundered against asphalt and released its honk unprompted, causing both to bang their heads. "Dad already knows we're in here, turn back!" 

But Peepers was feeling a rush of adventure as she pumped her fist and roared. With sheer luck they made it to a gasstation diner, pulling to the side before hopping out of the truck with the doors slamming shut behind them. "We're cosplayers traveling out of town." 

Billy grumbled beneath his breath, firmly grabbing Peeper's arm to get their attention. "What is a cosplayer?" They asked, dumbfounded as Billy face palmed. "I forgot you lived under a rock." 

"Hey!" 

The two walked in, the bell ringing to alert their presence. Peepers could feel the rush of cool air against themself as their nostrils flaired at the small of grease and humans. They gained a few stares, even a scowl from an old lady. 

"Are you two heading for a costume party?" 

The waitress asked, startling Peepers causing their hood to nearly flare open. "Yeah, my little sister and I are heading for a horror con out of town." 

Billy replied, smirking. "Well then, you both look like real monsters...take a seat and I'll swing over to take your orders in a minute." 

She said before leaving them both. The two took a seat as Peepers crossed their arms. "This place smells and looks funny, is this how humans get their food?" They asked as Billy nodded. "One of the ways, its like where you sit down and they bring a meal over...I've been here before dad found me." 

Billy was taken by the Creeper as one of the few victims before his twenty three year sleep. But Billy was an experiment, a way for the Creeper to determine whether or not he could still turn a human into his own kind....and survive the ordeal. Peepers was a small child who lost nearly all of their memories. 

They picked the lemon from their water, and squeezed it. 

"I got it in my eye!" They hissed, feeling the burning sensation as the acidic smell invaded their senses. 

"You've got another eye, you're fine." Billy cackled before grabbing a napkin to wipe it from his sibling's eye.

---------------------------- 

The Creeper knew where his children were, and the little stunt they pulled behind his back. Contrary to his killing, he was one to not easily anger. But the kids, and the truck were the most important three things in his life. 

They were his. 

Leaving behind the corpse he was dismanteling, Creeper spreaded out his enormous wings and took off into the sky. Within a few minutes he narrowed in on their location, growling as he could see sheriff Taub's cruiser pull into the diner within his mind. 

At first Taub's couldn't take the caller seriousily, monsters at the local diner? But then the description caught his attention.  But just as he walked in, a large stranger shoved him to the side and made a bee line towards a booth in the back. 

A minute later, that same stranger charged out with two kids beneath his over coat, as if sheilding them from prying eyes. 

Taubs stuttered, before sighing as the waiter gave him his usual.

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

The Creeper didn't utter a word as he drove home, leaving a heavy, uncomfortable silence within the truck. Peepers tried to speak up, but their father only growled in response. 

Once they returned home, Creeper muttered for the two to get out and wait for him inside. He checked his truck, before making his way into the lair he shared with the two. 

Creeper stood before them, neither could read him, he was emotionless and frozen. That was before he grabbed his kids into a firm hug and buried them into his chest with a huge sigh of relief. He buried his nose into their hair, catching the scent to comfort himself before licking the lemon off of Peeper's face, and running his tongue through Billy's hair as an act of grooming them both. 

"Next time, just tell me and I'll teach y'all to drive."

[idnek83]

Aid - Chapter 2/13

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Soda Kazuichi/Tanaka Gundham

Tags: Alternate Universe - Island Mode, No Game Spoilers, Masturbation,  Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Semi-Public Sex, Grinding, Wet Dreams, Anal Fingering,  Friends With Benefits,  Getting Together, Internalized Homophobia, Anal Sex

Summary: Everyone is hot and half naked because of their beach vacation. Soda is horny and tries to do something about it. Gundham tries to help and does. It all gets a little out of hand.

Chapter: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Read on Ao3

This Chapter: Soda isn't really sure where he stands with Gundham right now, but he's not going to worry about it. The boys bond over hamsters.

_____________________

All in all, things had been way less awkward than Soda thought they would be.

After catching his breath and cleaning up the mess Soda had made on his stomach, Gundham simply left the beach house, stating that he needed to “construct fortifications worthy of The Four Dark Devas of Destruction,” grabbing a bucket and small plastic shovel on his way out of the storage room.

Soda had given himself a moment to think about how weird, and maybe slightly cute, Gundham was for making his hamsters a sandcastle, before leaving out the back door of the beach house.

After that he didn’t see Gundham again until dinner, where he took the seat beside Soda silently and began to eat his meal.

This caught Hajime’s attention, and when he asked about it Gundham spoke up for the first time that meal.

“Kazuichi has elected to ally his body with mine on my dark crusade through this mortal realm. Is it so unnatural that I deign to be near those who I consider my confidants?”

‘Ally his body with mine’? Did Gundham actually just admit to everyone that they had… we’ll they didn’t really fuck, but they had gotten each other off and that was still super awkward to just announce in the middle of a group dinner.

“Oh, so you two are buddies now then?” Akane offered through a mouthful of meat.

Sonia, who seemed to have the uncanny ability to perfectly understand what Gundham was saying at least 50% of the time, narrowed her beautiful eyes and raised a perfectly shaped brow, her gaze shifting between the two of them.

“Uh, yeah. Haha, you got a problem with us being bros, Hajime? Promise I’ll always make time for my soul buddy, so ya don’t gotta be jealous.” Soda forced an exaggerated laugh to try to hide how nervous he felt under Sonia’s stunning gaze. “So, uh, anyways, Hajime, who ended up winning that game of chicken?”

With the topic safely changed the rest of the dinner was pretty unremarkable, aside from Soda constantly replaying what Gundham had said in his mind, and trying to figure out just what exactly the fuck he had meant. It had to be just weird Gundham speak for ‘we’re bros now’ right? There’s no way he would just come out and tell everyone they got each other off, even in his weird cryptic way of speaking, right?

Everyone ended up just heading back to their cabins after dinner, and Soda found himself sleeping better than he had since they arrived on the island.

When they met up for breakfast the next day Gundham sat next to him again, bantering with their classmates in the same strange way he usually did, no strange maybe-confessions of hooking up to be heard. Soda relaxed and let himself join the conversation like normal.

The rest of the day passed without note, Soda spent most of it fiddling with various knickknacks he had found around the island and wishing he could have brough his bike to work on instead. When dinner rolled around Gundham once again took his seat beside Soda, and he accepted that this was just the way it was gonna be from now on.

Except that now he’s been sitting in the hotel restaurant for like 20 minutes, having finished his breakfast a while ago, and the seat beside him is still empty.

Where the hell was Gundham?

Well whatever, dude can do what he wants, it’s not like they made a promise to eat together or anything.

Soda picked up his plate and took it over to the kitchen to be washed later. When he turned around Gundham was behind him.

“Shit!” Soda jumped back before calming down a bit “D-don’t fucking do that man, you scared me.”

“Apologies, my companion. I did not mean to frighten you, it had slipped my mind just how dulled mortals’ senses are. I will be sure to alert you of my presence next time.”

Soda rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed by how startled he had been. “Whatever dude. Where were you anyways? You missed breakfast.” Right when he had just gotten used to him being there too.

“Ah, I must apologize again.” Gundham actually bowed slightly this time. “I was cleansing impurities from the lairs of my Dark Devas, and it would appear that I fell prey to some fiendish time anomaly.”

Cleaning his hamster cages and lost track of time, got it.

Gundham stood upright again. “However, now that the Devas’ lairs have been properly cleansed, it would be safe for a mortal such as yourself to lay eyes on them.”

Gundham seemed to be waiting for Soda to say something. Oh, was that his way of inviting him to check out his hamster cages? Soda didn’t really know a lot about caring for hamsters, so he wouldn’t mind going back to Gundham’s room and-

Oh.

Gundham’s room.

Shit was Gundham propositioning him? It was still pretty early, but maybe Gundham was more of a morning guy when it came to getting off. Ok, yeah, he could work with that.

Soda could feel himself blushing. “S-sure.”

Gundham simply raised an eyebrow.

Right he didn’t actually ask Soda to come ‘look at his hamster cages,’ he just heavily implied that Soda should ask him if he could ‘look at his hamster cages.’

“Right, I mean, if it’s safe and whatever do you think I could take a look at your ham- uh, Devas’ lairs?”

“If that is your wish, I will accompany you their lairs once I have found sustenance.”

Right, you shouldn’t bone on an empty stomach. That’s probably a thing people say, right?

“Cool, I’ll just, uh, be in my room then. So just come get me once your… sustained?” Look, he was trying alright?

Gundham spared him a nod before moving to find his own breakfast. Then Soda left the hotel to go sit in his room like a dumbass who definitely should have just stayed in the hotel cus what the fuck was he gonna do in his room for the like 10 minute it would take Gundham to eat?

He entered his cabin and flopped onto his bed. Should he like, put on sexy underwear or something? Did he own sexy underwear? All his boxers fit him pretty much the same, and even if they were slightly different, they were all covered in similar random splashes of neon colors, so none of them really seemed any sexier than the others.

What the fuck were you supposed to do while waiting for a hookup? He couldn’t, like, get things started on his own cus he still had to walk over to Gundham’s cabin and he wasn’t gonna risk getting caught with a hard-on again. He wasn’t sure if he had enough time to shower either… not that it’d really matter since he’d just be getting all hot and sweaty again soon anyways...

Nope, can’t think about that right now, still have to make that walk.

Soda stood and walked over to the mirror in the bathroom. He combed out his hair with his fingers, fiddled with his braid, and checked his teeth for food. Great, he had killed like 30 seconds.

Why was he so nervous damnit! They had already seen each other naked, hell he had Gundham’s dick in his mouth! He swallowed his cum! There was nothing to be nervous about!

Unless… what if Gundham wanted more this time? Soda hadn’t really thought too much about actual sex with a dude yet. Like, what exactly would Gundham expect him to do? Would he be into it if Gundham put his dick in his-

There was a knock at the door and Soda jumped.

Shit, no more time to think about it.

Soda opened the door, kinda hoping it wasn’t actually Gundham who had knocked, but there he was, in all his weird, handsome glory.

“H-hey.” It would be rude to back out now, right? Like they had that whole pact thing Gundham had mentioned so…

“I have reconstituted this mortal shell, so let us make haste. The Devas have granted you access to their lairs, Kazuichi, it would not do to make them wait.” Gundham turned and walked away.

Ok, shit, he could do this, he’d be fine. He didn’t even actually know if Gundham was gonna try to fuck him, like, they were probably just gonna mess around again, right?

Soda took a deep breath, slowly exhaled and followed Gundham to his cabin.

Once inside Soda made sure to lock the door behind himself. He needed a moment, so he pressed his head against the solid wood of the door and took another deep breath.

“Are you unwell, my companion?” Ok yeah, Gundham was gonna notice that and he was dumb for not realising it.

“I’m good, just-“

Gundham was behind him when he turned, like, right behind him. The sheer closeness of him made Soda blush, and he couldn’t manage to look Gundham in the eye. However, Gundham apparently wasn’t going to let him hide.

Soda felt Gundham place his finger below his chin, and gently lift his head so he could see his face. God, he thought they were close before, but having their faces, their mouths, so near each other made the distance feel unbelievably smaller somehow. Soda didn’t know what to do, his eyes were locked on the mismatched set currently examining his own face and he was frozen.

He felt Gundham shift, bringing his other hand up towards his face as well, and Soda couldn’t help but close his eyes, not certain what was about to happen, but anticipating it anyway.

The press of lips against his-

Gundham placed his hand on Soda’s forehead and hummed, shaking him out of whatever the hell he was imagining.

“You feel quite warm. Are you certain you are not unwell? I am positive the Devas will grant you access another time if you are not yet ready for their splendor.”

Was he ready?

“No, really I’m fine. I’m just, uh, excited I guess?” Might as well just get it over with, at least figure out what exactly Gundham wants from him before he freaks out about it. “So maybe we can just like… get right to it?”

“Such enthusiasm” Gundham’s voice was low, approving, and still so damn close that Soda could swear he felt it vibrate through his body. “Very well then.”

Gundham stepped backwards and gestured grandly to the room “Behold!”

Soda was still reeling from the tonal whiplash his own stupid thoughts were giving him, so the dumbfound look on his face, as he surveyed the colorful sprawling tubes winding their way across the floor, into a large cage and back out the top of it, was genuine.

“Impressive, is it not? The Four Dark Devas of Destruction demand not but the best in all things. This lair may be but a fragment of their true dwelling, but it is still magnificent! Do you not agree?”

Soda continued to stare at the strange structure before him, he was literally speechless.

Wait so, when Gundham asked him to come look at his hamster cages… he had actually just meant he wanted him to look at his hamster cages?

“Ha! It seems your mortal mind was not yet ready to behold such a marvel! Fear not, my dear companion, the Devas power shall not harm you while I am here! Should you still feel overwhelmed, however, you need only let me know and I will return you to your own domain swiftly.”

Gundham crossed his arms and hid the bottom half of his face in his scarf. It looked like he was starting to get embarrassed by Soda’s continued silence. Shit, he didn’t want him to think he thought it was dumb or something, time to tell his confused dick to shut up, and get his equally confused brain to start making words.

“Oh, sorry dude. I was just, um, super surprised! I mean, this stuff takes up like half your room. You must be really dedicated to taking care of your, uh, Devas if you’re willing to give up so much space for them. Like, damn dude.”

As Soda spoke, he watched as Gundham practically inflate with pride again. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t happy to see it.

“Well of course, a proper environment is important to all creatures, both large and small, but I do not consider the lost space a determent to my own domain, rather-“

Gundham began to monologue about the importance of varied and enriching environments, before delving deeply into different aspects of proper hamster care. Soda couldn’t really keep up, but he was enjoying watching Gundham talk so animatedly about something he was obviously passionate about. As Gundham talked, Soda crouched down and began to examine the tubes up close. They didn’t exactly look like they were hard to connect, but the thought of Gundham painstakingly placing them, ensuring they were properly connected so his hamsters didn’t escape or get hurt, made him smile and feel a warmth in his chest completely different from what he had felt earlier.

Gundham crouched down beside him, pausing his monologue, and immediately a hamster skittered through the tubes and stopped in front of them, as if summoned. Soda looked from the hamster to Gundham, and made sure to commit the soft smile that appeared on Gundham’s face to memory.

“Ah, Jum-P, you appear to be at full strength once again.” Gundham gently disconnected a section of the tube and allowed the hamster to crawl into his hand, before carefully reconnecting the tunnel.

“Full strength? Was he sick?”

“Jum-P was waging war with an unidentified demon late into the night. By this morning, the demon had been banished, but Jum-P was left weakened by the battle, I… was worried the battle may have been to fierce.” Gundham’s face was sober as he spoke, he was carefully examining the hamster in his hand at the same time, probably checking for any signs of remaining illness or injury.

Oh, so that was why Gundham had missed breakfast, he must have been up pretty late taking care of his hamster. In fact-

“Gundham, did you… did you get any sleep last night?” Now that he was looking, there were definitely dark circles under Gundham’s eyes. Gundham did not look away from the hamster.

“I could not rest while one of my Devas fought such a fierce battle. Though, I fear there was little I could do without knowing the true identity of the demon.” Gundham looked sad as he began to pet the hamster. “I apologize, Jum-P, I was unable to assist you in your time of need. I have failed as your guardian.” God, he had never seen Gundham look so miserable before.

“I’m sure that’s not true…” Gundham raised his miserable gaze to Soda “I-I mean, even if you couldn’t, um, fight the demon for him, I’m sure just having you there helped, right? Animals are supposed to be sensitive to that kinda stuff, aren’t they? I’m sure he knew you were there worrying about him and it, like, helped him fight better!” He was having a hard time sticking to Gundham’s battle metaphor, but he looked a bit less miserable, so Soda kept talking. “Sometimes all you really need is someone there to support you right? Everything’s a little less scary that way, so I’m sure you helped Jum-P more than you know! Uh, right?”

Gundham smiled softly again, this time while looking at Soda, and he was pretty sure he was going to die any second from how goddamn handsome this man was. When Gundham looked back at his hamster Soda was both relieved and disappointed.

“I have misjudged you, my dear companion, it appears you possess great wisdom, incongruous with your outward appearance. I thank you for your words, friend.”

“Hell yeah I’m wise, and don’t you forget it!” Soda was pretty sure Gundham had said he looked dumb somewhere in there, but whatever, he’d let it slide for now.

“Would you like to hold him?” Gundham extended the hand holding Jum-P towards Soda. The hamster was tiny, and had apparently just recovered from some disease, Soda was a little worried about hurting it by accident, but if Gundham trusted him…

“Can I? I mean is Jum-P cool with letting a mortal like me hold him? What if I, y’know, accidently hurt him or something?”

“You require great dexterity while attending to your constructs do you not? I trust your hands to be capable of managing Jum-P, he is the most tranquil of my Devas. However, if you are nervous, I will lend you my aid.” Soda blushed at the word, and he couldn’t be sure, but he thought Gundham did as well. “Hold your hands like so.” Gundham cupped both his hands together, creating a sort of bowl for the hamster to rest in.

Soda copied him, and Gundham placed the hand not occupied by Jum-P below Soda’s, supporting them as he gently placed the hamster into Soda’s palms, petting him lightly after he let go. Jum-P felt warm and ridiculously fragile in his hands, and Soda immediately began to panic. He was absolutely going to hurt this hamster somehow and Gundham was going to hate him.

“Relax.” There was that low voice again, so close, and this time Soda was certain he felt it reverberate through his body. He took a deep breath and focused on keeping his hands steady as the hamster sniffed his palms.

“Do I stink or something?” Soda let out a nervous laugh.

“Your scent is quite pleasant, Jum-P is simply familiarizing himself with it.” Gundham once again began to pet the hamster in Soda’s hands, still supporting them from below with his own.

Soda flicked his eyes up to Gundham’s face, and there was that stupid soft smile again. Soda suddenly became aware of their position. They were basically holding hands around the hamster, sitting with their knees touching and their heads bent together, foreheads no more than an inch apart. Had Gundham just said he smelled nice? He felt that weird warmth from earlier again, the one that had nothing to do with his dick and sat heavy in his chest. He swallowed and looked back down at the hamster.

“Oh! Is he asleep?” The hamster had curled up in his palms and looked to be breathing peacefully.

“Yes, it would appear Jum-P has deemed you worthy of his trust. You should be honored.”

“Oh, thanks little dude.” He giggled a bit “So do we have to sit here like this until he wakes up, or?”

Soda was enjoying himself, but his knees were starting to hurt, and he had no idea how long hamsters slept for…

“That will not be necessary, Jum-P is a sound sleeper, he will not be disturbed by being relocated to his lair. Would you like to do it, or shall I?”

Soda was pretty flattered that Gundham would trust him enough to carry the hamster across the room the cage, but he didn’t trust himself not to trip over one of the hamster tubes on the way.

“You should probably do it, I’m still pretty worried about dropping him.”

“Very well.” Gundham scooped the hamster from his palms, and Soda had to admit he kinda missed the feeling of its furry little body in his hands.

Almost as much as he missed the feeling of Gundham’s hand on his.

He wasn’t really ready to think about what that meant just yet.

Next Chapter 

[vannahfanfics]

Limited Edition

Category: Mild Romantic Fluff

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Characters: Hanta Sero, Mina Ashido

Sero lovin’ hours, babes! Behold the fluff!

EDIT: Photo was made by the amazing @deliathedork who showers me in love and beautimous doodles~

Category: Mild Romantic Fluff

Characters: Hanta Sero, Mina Ashido

“Denki.” Hanta called as he rounded the stair landing to the boys’ side of the third floor. He grimaced in the entryway of the hall, staring pointedly at the door to the room that belonged to one blonde-haired electric generator. When he got no answer, Hanta began walking down the hallway calling his name in increasing volume, “Denki. Deeeeennnkiiiiiiiii!” By the time he reached the door, he was practically screaming. “DENKI KAMINARI!” he shouted in such an unholy screech that Tenya opened his door to glare disapprovingly at him. Finally, Denki threw the door open to give him a wheedling whine, his gaming headset slung around his neck and muted.

“Dude, what?”

“Where’s my shirt?” Hanta asked with an innocent smile. Tenya rolled his eyes and shut the door with just the amount of volume to serve as a warning for Hanta to keep quiet. He continued to smile stupidly at Denki, only thinly veiling the mounting threat of violence building up in him as his friend began to perspire and laugh nervously.

“What shirt?” As if feigning innocence would work on Hanta. Denki gulped loudly as the taller boy leaned into the doorway, towering over him with glittering black eyes and a menacing grin.

“You know, the shirt I let you borrow two weeks ago? My limited-edition ONE OK ROCK concert tee that is my sole most valued possession?” Hanta pressed, continuing to edge into the doorway until Denki was bending at a forty-five-degree angle. Denki laughed in an anxious high pitch, his eyes shifting around and refusing to settle on Hanta’s gradually reddening face.

“Oh! That one! Hehe! Well… Thing is… I kinda… don’t know where it is,” Denki admitted in a tiny voice. A few terrifying seconds passed as Hanta processed the confession. Denki finally looked up into his eyes, which were probably soulless as Hanta contemplated just how he would like to murder the oblivious boy. “Bro? You good?”

“Good? Good? Yeah, I’m good,” Hanta shrugged as she suddenly backed off, leaving Denki reeling in confusion. His instincts must’ve tipped him off, because he screamed and ducked under Hanta’s arms as he suddenly lunged at him with a feral yowl. “Yeah, I’m good, because I’m about to kill you!” Sobbing apologies, Denki managed to wriggle past him and take off down the hallway towards the stairs. Hanta whirled on his heel, shooting his tape down the hall and only just barely missing Denki’s elbow as he practically dove down the stairs. “Get back here! Atone for your sins!” Hanta yowled as he chased him, thundering down the stairs on all fours. He could hear Denki’s manic blubbering floating up from within the stairwell. Sero had to admit the little shit was fast, because he couldn’t catch up to him.

“Baku-bro! Baku-bro, save me!” Denki screeched as he vaulted himself a good five feet across the room and clambered over the back of the couch into a very startled Katsuki’s lap.

“What the- get off me!” Katsuki huffed and shoved poor Denki to the floor. Denki looked at Hanta over the top of the couch fearfully as he stalked him, eyes blown wide with desire for homicide.

“He’s gonna kill me!”

“You probably deserve it.”

“Whoa, whoa, guys!” Izuku laughed good-naturedly and stood up, waving his hands placatingly at Hanta. “What’s the problem?”

“He lost my fucking tee-shirt!” Hanta fumed and lunged over the back of the couch to try and rip out a few of Denki’s hairs. The boy managed to crawl under the coffee table and slink over to Fumikage, who was watching with his arms crossed. “My favorite shirt! Limited edition ONE OK ROCK! Limited edition!” Hanta screamed like a deranged man as he crawled over the couch and shot his tape at Denki, who was pleading for Fumikage to save him.

“I side with him on this one. Any last words before you meet God?” Fumikage smirked. Denki wailed as Hanta shot tape at him, this time finding his mark. Denki screamed in dismay as Hanta jumped up on the table and slowly dragged him closer, eyes flashing with pure anger.

“Please! I’m sorry! Spare me!” Denki sobbed as he was lugged over the rug by the unhinged Hanta. Just as the boy had captured his prey and was preparing to strike, a sweet voice piped up from the back of the other couch.

“Um, do you mean this shirt?” Hanta and Denki both looked up to see Mina staring owlishly at them, dressed in a pair of pajama shorts and the shirt that Hanta was ready to kill Denki over. Hanta’s face instantly flushed a pretty shade of crimson and steam blew out of his ears in nostrils at the sight of the pretty girl wearing his tee shirt. It was pretty much a not-so-secret in their friend group that Hanta had a stupid crush on Mina.

“Um… Yeah, yeah, that’s the one,” Hanta quipped with an equally wide-eyed stare. He unwound his tape from Denki, who slunk away to get cradled in Eijirou’s manly bosom as he patted his head and whispered reassuring words. He hopped down from the table as Mina walked around the couch, sashaying shyly.

“Um, I found it in my laundry last week. I mistook it for one of the girls’, but they said it wasn’t theirs, and when I asked a couple of the boys, they said they had no idea whose it was or where it came from, so it kinda became my new PJ shirt,” she laughed bashfully, rubbing the back of her head. Sero’s dark eyebrows knitted together as he had the sudden suspicion a plot was afoot. She scratched at her cheek thoughtfully. “You can have it back if it’s that special to you though!”

“Um…” Hanta knew there was a specific answer to the question, but she didn’t give him the time to do so. She grabbed him by the wrist and hauled him upstairs to her room, bringing him straight inside and swinging open the closet door. As he saw the shirt fly onto the bed, discarded, Sero’s cheeks burned with the acute awareness that Mina was shirtless behind that flimsy closet door. Focus, Hanta… he told himself as he patiently waited for her to switch shirts. She walked out to pluck it up and carry it over, holding it out to him with a big smile.

“Here you go! Sorry about the misunderstanding.”

“Uh, no big deal…” he said dully as he accepted the shirt. She scampered right past him into the hallway to rejoin the group in the common area, and Hanta’s eyes followed her as he left, captivated simply by her being. He absentmindedly brought the shirt up to his face and nearly fainted when he realized it carried her scent like bubble gum and cherries. Nirvana… he thought dimly as he collapsed into the hallway wall.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hanta was mounting the stairs to head to his room later that night after a pretty rowdy session of videogames with Denki (who, after being cornered by Hanta with Eijirou’s help) had all but admitted he had purposely slipped the shirt into Mina’s laundry basket in an attempt to spark something between them. Hanta had been a little irritated with his pitiful effort to wingman for him, but, Hanta had to guess that he was a little grateful. Denki was doing it just because he wanted Hanta to be happy, after all. Hanta had agreed to let bygones be bygones (especially since his shirt was safe and sound) and settled in to play with Denki for a while. Now, he was mounting the final step with the shirt slung over his shoulder. He paused mid-step as he heard Mina’s voice floating down the hall from the direction of Momo’s room. Curious, he inched closer.

“Thanks for the tea, Momo.”

“No problem. A cup of good tea will do wonders for a saddened heart,” Momo responded. Hanta’s eyebrows shot up to his forehead. Why was Mina sad?

“I know it’s silly to be sad about it. I just really liked that shirt, you know? It was super comfy.” Hanta didn’t know why that made him happy, but it did. “Besides, it reminded me of Hanta. I knew it was his when I took it…” Hanta felt a shiver propagate from his head to his toes. He didn’t know what to do with that information. She knew? Why would she take it…? He could almost imagine her hugging herself as she sighed, “It just made me feel so warm and safe…” With flushed cheeks, Hanta looked at the tee shirt draped over his shoulder. Quietly, he pulled it off and hung it on the doorknob, being extremely careful not to alert the girls to his presence. Then, he turned on his heel and marched right off to his room.

Sure, his shirt was limited edition and precious to him- but Mina’s smile was one of a kind, and much, much dearer to his heart. He tried not to smile when he heard her delighted exclaim of surprise from within his room, nor when she texted him a picture of herself back in the tee shirt, beaming with a peace sign over her eyes and the simple tag Thanks, Hanta! <3 He stared at the picture for a while, thumb hovering over the screen as he tried to find a good way to respond.

Anything for my best girl! he decided, watching as the bubble appeared on the screen with an audible swoosh! She sent a series of hearts back in response, and he dropped his phone down onto his chest as he put his hands on his face, kicking his feet a little with an excited squeal. He jumped when he heart Tenya pound his fist into the wall next to him.

“Be quiet, or I swear to God, I’m spilling everything to Mina.”

“Does everyone know?!” he cried as he bolt upright in bed, half-amused and half-terrified.

“Of course everyone knows! You smile like an idiot anytime she’s within your line of sight. Now go to bed! Shoto and I are studying in here.” Hanta laughed as he heard the dull thump of Tenya smacking the hot-and-cold boy's pillow into the wall. Hanta flopped back down against his bed, looking at the adorable picture of Mina in his tee shirt again.

Yup. Limited edition, one of a kind.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork

[nerdydungeonhound]

Bad At Love Ch. 1

Dani gets reunited with her high school best friends Tommy and Vince. They are now in a band, and the bassist catches her eye. Will he ever give her the time of day? 1,884 words

——————————————————————————————————————

Dani hadn’t heard from them in a year. Tommy and Vince both left their senior year with only 2 months to go. She had to face graduation without her boys, the only two people in the world who ever really understood her. She missed them so much the first few months, then eventually learned to live with it, but getting out of her situation was a little harder without them.

Her mom and dad basically wanted nothing to do with her, so she had moved in with her high school boyfriend that Tommy and Vince never really liked. But it was the only move that she had. That was until he started to get drunk and make her feel like she had no worth, whatsoever. Finally getting out, she lived on the streets for a few months, then finally moving in with Tonia, who she worked with at the Whisky A-Go-Go, she had wished everyday that she had her two best friends back.

“Hey Dani! Wake up, darling, you have a table!” Tonia yelled from over the bar as she noticed Dani lost in thought. Dani immediately perked up, not even realizing she had zoned out. Dani picked up her pad and pen and looked over at the high-top table, four guys sat, talking amongst themselves. She couldn’t even believe Tommy and Vince were among them. Slowly making her way over to the table, one of them noticed her making her way and elbowed Tommy in his side and muttering something to him. He was the most attractive man she had ever seen, with long dark hair and green eyes that burned into her. As Dani reached the table, Tommy looked up with the biggest smile on his face, and getting up to engulf her in a big hug, crushing her, she noticed Vince was a little stunned.

“Dani, oh my god. How are you?” Tommy yelled, twirling her slightly. She melted into the hug, giggling.

“I’m good, Tommy. Better now! I miss you guys.” She said once Tommy had set her feet back on the ground. He looked towards the other men at the table and pointed towards an older gentleman with long black hair and sunglasses on inside at night.

“This is Mick Mars, he is a killer guitarist,” he then gestured to the man who had alerted him of Dani approaching, “and this is Nikki Sixx, our bassist. We are in a band now, dude. You should come to a show sometime!” So she now had a name to the face, Nikki.

“Of course, but before we get into all of that, what can I get you all, so my boss doesn’t have a conniption,” Dani said, eventually taking their orders and bringing it to the kitchen. Tonia approached her with confusion in her eyes.

“Who are those guys? I’ve never seen you so comfortable around people besides me before.”

“I went to high school with two of them, I just was introduced to the other two. We will see what happens.”

——————————————————————————————————————

Over the next few weeks, Dani had been spending more and more time with the band, eventually being there for almost every rehearsal. She had finally gotten what she wanted, to be with people she really trusted. But there was one person who she really wanted to get to know, but somehow always seemed to avoid her at all costs, Nikki. She will admit, she had a crush on him. But every time she tried to strike up a conversation, he would avoid her gaze and say as little as he possibly could. This morning, Dani looked into the mirror, running her hands through her shoulder-length jet black hair, she looked into her brown eyes, noticing the dark circles under them from many night shifts at the bar. The clock struck and it was noon already, soon she would need to head out the door to the guy’s apartment. Throwing on a Black Sabbath T-shirt and black shorts, combined with her combat boots, she made her way into the living room of Tonia’s house. Tonia was still in her pajamas, laying on the couch with her 1 year old son, James.

“You look nice. Going to that grimy apartment again today?” She asked looking her direction and raising her eyebrow at her. Dani plopped down next to her, smiling at James.

“You know I am, and its not that bad in there, honest.”

“I drove by the other day, I can actually see the trash overflow outside.”

“Good point. I think there is a party tonight, if you can find a babysitter for this precious guy,” Dani said looking at the baby again and making a face at him, making him giggle. Tonia looked a little skeptical.

“I’d love to, but I’m going to stay home tonight, the bar has been wearing me out lately, from the looks of it, its doing the same to you.”

“Ill be fine, Tonia. On that note, I have to go,” Dani stated, getting up and looking in the mirror one last time and adjusting her hair and eyeliner. Waving goodbye to her James, Dani headed out of the door to walk the two or so miles to Sunset and Clark, where the band’s apartment was.

She walked up to the door, examining it as she took the last few puffs of her cigarette, noticing it had been nailed shut. Her attention was drawn to the open front window, putting out her smoke, she called into it.

“Hello? Anyone home?” She saw a familiar figure approach the window, it was Nikki. He was dressed in a similar fashion to Dani, his hair unusually flat for a normal day.

“Come on in, Dani,” he said in a monotone fashion, looking down at the burned carpet, and lightly kicking an empty bottle of Jack Daniels on the floor. Dani slipped into the open window. Once she was upright, she looked at him puzzled.

“What happened to the front door?”

“We finally got sick of the cops kicking our shit in,” he said, not lifting his eyes from the floor, “So we just decided to nail it shut.” Dani laughed lowly, it sure sounded like something they would do. She turned to sit on the poor excuse for a couch in their living room, surprised he even said that many words to her at a time. It was progress, if only he could look her in the eye. Vince came into the room in a striped tank top and sweatpants, looking like he just woke up, he probably did.

“Hey there, Dani. You are looking hot as usual,” he said sitting nest to her and placing a kiss on the top of her head.

“Oh, Vince, how many times have you said that to a woman? Does it even have any meaning anymore?” She looked at him, faking bring offended. He smiled at her.

“She has a point, Vince,” Nikki stated from the other side of the room, as he leaned against the walls arms crossed. This time he looked directly into Dani’s eyes. She seemed to be lost in his gaze.

“Shut up Nikki, she knows I love her,” Vince said making his way past him, and down the hallway and into the bathroom.

“So are you planning on sticking around for the party tonight?” Nikki said still staring at her. She shifted in her seat, his stare making her lower abdomen tighten.

“Yeah, I’m considering if I should go home first and change though, I really didn’t plan that far ahead, clothing-wise.” He finally broke the eye contact, when Tommy burst out of his bedroom.

“Dani! You made it here pretty early!”

“Couldn’t stay away for very long, I will miss you guys too much,” She said holding her arms out for a hug. Tommy basically landed on her, almost knocking the wind out of her.

“By the way! Could you talk to your boss at the Whisky to see if we can play there? You would be the best best friend in the whole wide world!” Tommy asked in a whiny voice, looking at her with the widest eyes she had ever seen on him.

“I can try, Don’t get your hopes up though, He can be a bit stubborn, my ass would be on the line.” Tommy jumped up off of the couch and called down the hall.

“Dudes! She is going to ask, I knew she couldn’t resist me!” Dani raised her eyebrows at him. Mick suddenly appeared out of nowhere, he was as silent as the wind, it almost startled her. He nodded at her, as much praise as she was going to get out of him, it seemed.

“Thanks, Dan,” Nikki muttered, walking back towards his bedroom to grab his equipment for practice.

——————————————————————————————————————

That night the party was in full swing, it always is at the Mötley House. Dani decided it was a waste of effort to go home and change, considering the only one she wanted to impress didn’t even want to give her the time of day. As a matter of fact, he was in a lip lock with some nameless woman. Dani glared and sipped her glass of Jack Daniels. A man was talking in her ear, some nonsense she didn’t care about. Every so often Nikki would glance in her direction, mid-make out session and raise his eyebrow at Dani. The most he has ever acknowledged her presence. Tommy pushed the stranger out of the way to stand next to Dani.

“Hey girl, I can see the daggers in that girl’s back,” Tommy slurred at her, “We don’t have a Carrie situation do we?” Dani snapped out of her trance and looked at him.

“I have no idea what you are talking about, Tommy,” Dani said, playing stupid. Tommy wasn’t buying it.

“I have known you for years, Dan. I know when you are into someone, I’m not a total idiot,” he said.

“I hope its not that obvious to him, he barely notices I’m even here.”

“You do know why he does that, right? Why he can barely look you in the eye?” Tommy asked, leaning in slightly. Dani looked over quizzically.

“Because he hates me? Because I’m not worth his time?” She answered. Tommy shakes his head violently and smirks.

“He gets nervous around you, I’ve never seen a woman do that to him before in the year I have known him,” He slurred, “He likes you.” Dani was shocked to hear this, it couldn’t be true.

“That’s not funny, Tommy. You’re drunk,” He grabbed her by the arm and looked into her eyes.

“No, no, no, listen. I’m serious. He told me. But he would kill me if he found out I told you. Don’t tell him.” Dani was dumbfounded. Tommy looked as serious as he has ever been. Maybe he was telling the truth. She glanced back over at Nikki and noticed the girl from earlier was gone, and he was staring at her and smirking. The alcohol clearly making him more loose. Dani smiled back at him and shot a wink in his direction, going off to the kitchen to get another drink, leaving Nikki in the main room. This was going to be a long night.

[mandowh0re]

Peter Meets Harley

Prompt: Peter meeting Harley (who makes super cool gadgets) and they go off and do random things in the city and get into a bit of trouble and Tony has to save them both and Peter gets punished because he takes the blame for the incident. Maybe someone gets hurt? - @paradoxicalblueberry

I had to go over this like a thousand times to make sure it was up to my standards but I had fun writing it!

Happy reading!

The elevator dinged, alerting Peter that he had arrived on Tony’s floor of the Tower. Keeping his eyes glued to his phone, he walked out and threw his backpack on the floor, making a beeline for the kitchen.

“Dad! I’m home!”

After the reversal of the snap, Peter and Tony had been inseparable. For almost a month afterwards, Peter absolutely refused to leave Tony’s side, and vice versa, forcing May to temporarily move into the Tower.

It was during this time that Peter had taken to calling Tony ‘dad’, while Tony referred to Peter as ‘his son’.

So when the initial wave of panic had settled, and Peter was willing to do things other than follow Tony like a lost puppy, Tony and May agreed to let Peter stay at the Tower with him and Pepper on the weekends, and any time May had to work overnight.

Peter jumped onto the kitchen island, tossing his phone to the side and grabbing an apple from the bowl.

He took one bite of the fruit before he noticed that the other presence he sensed in the room wasn’t Tony, but another kid around his age.

Screaming, Peter fell back off the island, causing him to choke on the bite of apple he had been chewing on.

When he recovered, Peter backed against the counter, discreetly activating his webshooters, “Who are you?” he asked, his voice hoarse from choking.

The other kid looked at him with a raised eyebrow, like Peter was the one who intruded, “Who are you?”

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second.”

It was Peter’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

“FRIDAY? Where’s dad?”

“Mister Stark is currently in a meeting.”

The other boy startled at the voice, looking at the ceiling, “What the-”

“Then who is this?” Peter asked.

“This is Harley Keener, he is a friend of Mister Stark’s.” The AI replied.

“I’ve heard that name before.” Peter cocked his head, his eyes never leaving the boy in front of him, his finger twitching against the webshooter’s trigger.

“I helped Tony rebuild the Iron Man suit several years ago. During the Mandarin attacks.” The boy who FRIDAY had identified as Harley, offered.

Instantly Peter retracted the webshooters into his wrist bands, his mouth hanging open, “Oh my gosh, you’re Harley?? Like, the Harley??”

A smile broke across Harley’s face, “Yeah, I guess so.” He nodded towards Peter, “I didn’t know he had a kid?”

Peter blushed, fidgeting with his hands, “Oh, uh. Y-yeah, kind of. It’s uh… A little complicated.”

“It’s okay. I get the whole ‘family drama’ thing. No need to explain if you don’t want.” Harley’s body relaxed, his arms unfolding, no longer in a defensive stance.

Peter smiled at him, letting his body relax too, “Thanks.” He picked up his apple off the floor and tossed it in the trash, “Not to be rude, but like, why are you here? He didn’t tell me you were coming.”

The other boy sat back onto the couch, “He didn’t know I was coming. I wanted to surprise him, Miss Potts, or Mrs. Stark now I guess, let me up here.”

Peter walked over to the living area and sat on the chair across from Harley, “He probably won’t be back for a while. When he actually goes to meetings he’s usually gone for hours at a time.”

Harley nodded, “Maybe I should come back another time,”

Not wanting to lose out on the opportunity to actually get to know the kid that saved his dad’s life so many years ago, Peter spoke up, “No, that’s okay! You can stay here! I could show you around New York if you’d like. You’re from Tennessee, right?”

“Yeah-”

“Perfect! Let’s go!” He jumped off the couch and bounded for the elevator before turning back to Harley, “I’m Peter, by the way.”

Harley smiled and extended his hand, “Harley.”

***

An hour later, Peter and Harley were sitting in a pizzeria, telling each other about themselves and stories they had about Tony. Harley told Peter about his time at MIT and about tech he had built, along with stories from the first time he met Tony. Peter, after geeking over the fact that Harley went to his dream school, told his own stories about Tony.

When they were finished with their pizza, they began walking down the street when Peter’s spidey sense went off.

Danger

Immediately Peter’s head shot in every direction looking for where the possible danger might be.

Grabbing Harley’s arm, he pulled the two of them into a nearby alley causing Harley to yelp in surprise. Both at the sudden movement and the fact that Peter was so strong. He wasn’t expecting that because Peter was a stick.

“What’re you doing?” He asked.

Peter didn’t really know how to respond without giving away his secret, “Something’s wrong.” He answered, distractedly looking out around the corner.

“What do you mean-” Before Harley could finish his question Peter jumped on him, pushing him to the ground just as a car exploded across the street, sending tremors through the earth and the surrounding people in all different directions.

“What the hell??” Harley squeaked.

Peter got up and grabbed his arm again, pulling them to the back of the alley.

“Peter, what is going on??” He jerked his arm out of Peter’s grip.

“I don’t know,” Peter mumbled, his arms spread out to his sides in an attempt to keep the other boy safe, his brain working overtime trying to figure out how to change into the suit without exposing his identity.

Harley grabbed Peter’s shoulder, forcing him to turn around, “How did you know that was going to happen?” He looked over Peter’s shoulder, looking at the chaos on the street, “We should call Tony.”

Peter sighed, but before he could answer he felt Harley tense just as his spider sense went off again.

Danger danger danger

“I found the boy!” A man with a thick Russian accent yelled from behind Peter.

Whipping back around, Peter saw a man with the signature Hydra tattoo on his neck at the alley’s opening, blocking their escape.

“Shit.” He breathed. Peter took a step back, his arms extending to the sides again, “Stay behind me.”

“Seriously, what are you doing??” Harley’s hands tangled in his own hair, “You’re like, half my size!”

“You are Stark’s boy, yes?” The man asked, taking a slow step forward.

Peter took another step back. He looked in every direction for an escape, or even just a way to keep Harley safe. But they were trapped.

Three more men walked into the alley, all sporting the same tattoo.

“Who is the other boy?” One of the men asked.

“Don’t know, but he could be of use as well.” The first man replied, pulling out a gun.

Danger danger danger danger danger

Fuck it.

Peter reached around his back, pushing Harley to the ground while at the same time activating his webshooters, shooting a web at the gun in the first guy’s hand. When he successfully webbed the weapon to the wall next to them, the other men pulled out guns as well.

“He’s the spider kid!” One of them yelled.

“It’s Spider-Man!” Peter retorted, quickly webbing two more guns to the wall.

But before he could disarm the last man, a gunshot rang through the air, the bullet ripping through Peter’s shoulder.

Screaming, Peter stumbled back onto the ground.

“Peter!” Harley yelled, crawling to where Peter now laid.

Peter gasped, “I’m- I’m okay.” He muttered, and pressed a button on each webshooter activating the Iron Spider suit, “Just stay back.”

He heard a faint ‘holy shit’ next to him but decided to deal with that at another time.

Peter’s super hearing picked up on the sound of the gun cocking, and another shot rang out. This time, however, it was aimed for Harley. Peter quickly webbed him, yanking him out of the way.

“That wasn’t very nice!” Peter yelled, standing up while holding his arm.

He ran towards the men in front of him, and finished disarming them.

Peter punched the first guy and kicked him into the wall, then turned and caught a fist that was coming straight for his face, twisting the arm it belonged to and kicking the man to the ground.

Two more were left, and Peter was running out of energy. His shoulder was in too much pain and he wasn’t sure how much blood he had lost.

Instead of fighting the last two, he shot a web at each one, covering their faces. The two fell backwards onto the ground while they attempting to tear off the webbing.

Taking advantage of this, Peter webbed them to the ground, making sure they were completely immobile, then did the same with the first two.

As soon as the threat was gone, the adrenaline began to wear off making the pain even worse.

He stumbled back, catching himself on the wall, gasping for air.

“Peter? Dude are you okay?” Harley ran over, his hands hovering over Peter’s body.

Peter winced, his mask melting off of him, “Yeah, I- shit.” He took a deep breath, “We need to move. Before anyone else sees us.”

Harley nodded, and Peter grabbed him around the waist with his bad arm, shooting a web to the top of one of the neighboring buildings with his good one. His mask covered his face once again, “Hold on tight.”

Harley obediently wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, holding him tightly, not wanting Peter to use his bad arm to support his weight.

They shot up to the roof, Peter crawling to the flat surface and falling on his back as soon as Harley let go.

“Peter, I have alerted Mister Stark to your condition. He is on his way.”

“Crap.” He groaned, then deactivated his suit, revealing his blood soaked shirt.

“Peter, are you okay?” Harley asked again, crawling over to him. He tore off his jacket and pressed it against the open wound on Peter’s shoulder.

Peter sighed, “Yeah,” He groaned in pain, his hand shooting up to hold onto his injured arm, “I’m about to get in so much trouble, though.”

“What?”

Suddenly, the sound of repulsors filled the air, metal boots slamming onto the roof soon after.

“Get away from him.” The metallic voice ordered.

Both boys turned to see Tony’s hand raised towards Harley, a repulsor blast charging.

“Wait! No! Dad, it’s-”

“Harley?” Tony asked, his helmet falling into the suit and his hand dropping to his side, “What are you doing here?”

“Uh, surprise?” The older boy squeaked out.

Tony looked at Harley, who was currently leaning over his kid holding a bunched up jacket to an obvious bullet wound. Then at Peter, whose clothes were stained with blood, skin pale and damp with sweat, and was laying in a pool of red. Then down at the four men who were webbed to various surfaces below them.

Sighing deeply, Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“They know my identity.” Peter said, his voice cracking.

“I’ll deal with it. Or more specifically, Nat will. But you’re bleeding out on a rooftop, so that’s not my biggest priority at the moment.” Tony knelt down on Peter’s other side, opposite of Harley. He inspected Peter’s shoulder, finding that the bullet went straight through, “Good news is, the bullet’s not still in there. Bad news, your rescuer is only plugging one of the holes.

They both looked at Harley, who was just now noticing the pooling of blood under Peter’s left side, “Oops.”

Tony rolled his eyes and slipped one of Peter’s webshooters, activating it, “Move the jacket,” He instructed Harley, who did as he was told. Tony quickly and gently webbed up the wound, “Okay, Peter, keep your arm as still as possible. Harley, grab his side and pull him over towards you.” Harley nodded, and pulled Peter so that Tony had access to the back of his shoulder.

Peter grunted and winced, a few tears falling down his face.

Tony’s heart clenched and dropped to his stomach. He hated seeing Peter hurt, “I’m sorry, buddy.” He finished webbing the second hole, slipping the bracelet back onto Peter’s wrist, “Let’s get you back to the Tower, yeah? Bruce is waiting to fix you up.” Peter nodded, an Tony gently lifted him into his arms.

Looking at Harley, Tony said, “Cap and Natasha are on their way now. I’ll have them bring you back. I’d much rather you not walk back by yourself.”

Harley nodded, “Yes sir.”

“Kiss-up.” Peter mumbled.

“You. Hush.” Tony told Peter, then took off into the air for the Tower.

***

Steve led Harley down to the med bay where Tony and Peter currently were.

As they approached a closed door, he heard arguing.

He looked at Steve, unsure of whether or not now was a good time to go in, but Steve just smiled at him and opened the door.

Giving his thanks to the larger man, Harley stepped into the room where Tony was currently reprimanding Peter.

“How many times have I told you not to go somewhere that you can’t escape?” Tony chastised.

“I didn’t have a choice!”

“Peter you always have a choice, you just have to be more aware of what those choices are.”

Tony ran a hand down his face, and Harley cleared his throat, causing the room’s other two occupants to turn to him.

“Uh, hi.” Harley blushed under their gazes, he looked a Peter, “Are you okay?”

Peter smiled, “I’m fine, dude. Don’t worry.”

Tony shot Peter a look, and Peter backtracked, “Uh, I will be fine. Don’t worry.”

Turning back to Harley, Tony walked towards him and threw an arm around the boy’s shoulders, “Hey bud. I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Harley chuckled, “Yeah, I finally got up here and wanted to surprise you, but you were in a meeting and Peter found me in the living room.”

Peter shot up from his current position of laying down on the medical bed, “He’s so cool! He goes to MIT and makes awesome tech-”

“Lay down, Underoos. You still have two holes in your shoulder.” Tony groaned, “I swear you’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.”

“He’s not in trouble, is he?” Harley asked.

Tony sighed, “Don’t worry about it-”

“But he saved my life, Tony.”

“He wouldn’t have had to if he stayed inside and did his homework like he was supposed to.” He gave Peter a pointed look, “May is actually going to kill me, you know.”

“Oh come on, he was just trying to show me around.” Harley argued.

“It’s okay, Harley. He can’t stay mad at me too long. He never is.” Peter smirked.

Ignoring Peter, Tony turned towards Harley, holding his shoulders, “Listen, we need to talk about what you saw-”

“Don’t worry, Tony. I’m not going to tell anyone your son is Spider-Man,” He smirked, “Talk about a super family.

Tony laughed, “Yeah, well, thanks.”

“Okay but can we talk about how I single handedly took down four Hydra morons??” Peter exclaimed, basically bouncing off the bed.

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose and screwed his eyes shut, “Absofuckinglutely not.”

***

Tag list: @tranquility-or-chaos

[spaceiplier]

Friend in Need

The communicator on the Barrel rang a few times before Amy picked up. “Robin?”

Jack’s friend looked anxious, and took a deep breath before saying anything. “Hey, Amy,” he said, smiling nervously. “You don’t happen to know where Jack is, do you?”

Amy shrugged. “Let me check,” she said, leaning over the main console and searching for the signature of Jack’s ship.

It wasn’t showing up at all. A fainter signal indicated where he had been last, but Jack visited Nihill often, and the signal showed him leaving the planet before completely vanishing.

“He’s not showing up on our radar,” Amy said finally.

Jack had called them only a few days ago, and he sounded fine then. Still, the signal indicated that he had left Nihill almost a week ago. She and Robin shared a worried look.

“I want to say it’s ANTI,” she began, “but he called us just a few days ago, and he’s been missing for a week now. Do you think he’s sick or something?”

Robin shook his head. “He’d let me know if he was sick, and I haven’t heard from him since he left Nihill,” he replied. “Do you think you could try and find him?”

Amy nodded. “I’ll give him a call.”

Jack’s cheerful voice responded after a few rings, “What’s up?”

Amy frowned. She had set up the call for video, but Jack wasn’t showing his face.

“Something wrong with Sam?” she asked, waving hello.

“Yeah, he got damaged on my last mission,” Jack said.

Liar, Amy thought

“That’s too bad,” she said. “Do you have all the parts to fix him?”

Jack was silent for a short moment. “Yeah, I’m working on him now.” He went quiet for another moment. “So, why’d you call? Need something?”

Amy shook her head. “Your ship isn’t showing up on our radar, and Robin said you weren’t picking up his calls.” Amy couldn’t see Jack’s face, but she could practically hear his anxiety through the call.

“Sorry about that,” he said finally. “I must have gotten caught up working on Sam. Let him know I’ll call him soon, alright?”

“Alright,” Amy said, “but what about-”

Jack ended the call before she could finish asking about his ship. Well, at least half an answer was better than none.

She sent Robin a message before examining the map again, trying to find where Jack’s ship could have gone. She wished the others were there; they had all gone to the surface of the planet they were orbiting, and the atmosphere prevented any calls going through. She had been left to take care of the Barrel and the dogs. Not even Bing could help. He’d gotten damaged doing a skateboard trick, and had to be shut down until they could get a new power core for him.

Suddenly, something caught her eye. Not too far from Nihill, two planets circled each other, causing a distortion in between. If someone had placed their ship in between the two planets, they would essentially disappear from off the radar, even if they had left their signal on.

She sent another message to Robin, letting him know where she thought Jack had gone, and made her way to Bing’s room. If she got the temporary power core working, Bing could take care of Chica and Henry while she took a pod to Jack’s ship. The makeshift core would keep Bing up and running for a few days on low energy, so he wouldn’t get himself hurt again.

Crossing her fingers, she plugged the core into Bing’s chest, fiddling with the wires a bit and plugging in a few extra ones. The light flickered briefly, then glowed a bright orange as Bing’s eyes lit up again. He looked dazed, but grateful.

“I need you to take care of Henry and Chica for a little bit, okay?” Amy asked, staring into the robot’s flickering eyes.

Bing shook his hand with his thumb and pinky out and gave her a shaky smile. “Got it, dude.”

“Hey, guys, it’s Amy. I’m going to check on Jack. Something’s wrong with him, and he’s avoiding us and Robin. I’ll see you when I get back, if I’m not back before you are. Take care.”

Amy jettisoned the pod, setting the autopilot for the twin planets, Sharot and Balrot.

A day and a half later, Jack’s ship came into view, carefully nested between the planets.

Amy connected her pod, flinching as alarms alerted anyone on board to her presence. Not that she wanted to frighten Jack, but she had been traveling in relative silence for about a day, and the loud blaring of alarms made her jump. The door into the main section of the ship opened automatically as Amy approached it, but no robot or Velm greeted her. In fact, the only thing that greeted Amy was the dull red lights of a low power ship and complete silence.

She shivered and pulled out a small flashlight. The ship was cold, too, which struck her as entirely wrong. Jack was cold-blooded, and if the temperature got too low, he became drowsy and unresponsive.

“Jack?” Amy called, her voice echoing off the walls. “Chase? JJ? Anyone?”

But nobody came.

The halls were completely empty. Amy made her way to where Jack had shown the Barrel’s crew the robot’s room. The door was locked, but a small window allowed her to peer inside. Each charging station she could see had a robot docked on it, but why was the door locked? Amy placed her cyborg arm on the keypad that kept the door shut. A dull blue light scanned her palm and beeped, but the door didn’t unlock.

“Stupid piece of junk,” she muttered to herself, trying it again. This time, the door slid open quietly. Even though she had no reason to be quiet, Amy moved silently over to Chase’s docking station. If anyone knew what was wrong with Jack and could help Amy, it was Chase.

The companion robot blinked awake, and looked at Amy with pure terror in his eyes.

“What are you doing here?” he asked quietly, looking like he was about to short-circuit. “You’re not safe!”

Amy shook her head. “I’ll be fine,” she insisted, matching Chase’s quiet tone. “Where’s Jack?”

Chase looked straight at— no, past— Amy.

She turned around and saw Jack, completely in shadow except for the glow of the red lights directly behind him. Chase short-circuited and collapsed.

“H͏e҉l͡lo̡,͝ ̨Amy̴.̷” It was Jack’s voice, but something was wrong. It sounded like Jack was talking with his teeth clenched, and then had his voice run through a voice filter. He took a step forward, the lights in front of him finally illuminating his shape.

Jack looked awful. His face was gaunt, his skin sallow, and his tail dragged behind him.

Amy made eye contact with him, and flinched backwards. His normally bright green cyborg eye was a deep, glowing red.

“̶I̵ do͏n̸’̀t̴ th̨i̶nk̡ we’̧ve h̸àd͘ ̷t͝h͠e̵ plea͏s̨urę of̛ ̧m̸eeti̕n͞g,̛”͡ Jack said, grinning in a way that made chills run down Amy’s spine. “̕M̡y͠ ͜nam͠e ̷i̕s̨ A҉N͡T̢I͜,͜ a͞n̕d ̶I’̷m̕ in͡ contr̶ol̢ ͠nòw͝.͘”͡

Amy glanced at the line of defenseless robots behind her. ANTI was who had attacked Mark several months ago. Amy had never had any personal encounters with ANTI, but judging by what he had done to Mark, she’d counted herself lucky. Now she was standing down the hall from him, with a group of shut-down robots to protect.

She needed to get Jack back.

Making what was probably the wrong choice, but a choice nonetheless, Amy bolted out of the robots’ room, slamming the keypad so the door shut behind her, and sprinted down the hallway to her left.

Didn’t Jack say he had a safe room for situations like this? Why wasn’t he in there? And why did he look half dead? She could hear Jack— no, ANTI— running behind her, but not at full speed, and not nearly fast enough to catch up to her.

Now she understood why the ship was so cold. If Jack’s body was slowed down by the cold, so was ANTI. But if ANTI only showed up when Jack was injured, how had Jack gotten the temperature down if ANTI was in control? Had Jack known ANTI was coming? Jack had never really explained how ANTI worked outside of being a malfunctioning safety AI.

Amy took a sudden turn down a hallway on her left and ducked inside an open door.

Amy almost crashed right into Jameson Jackson. The startled robot stepped out of the way just in time.

“JJ, wh-” Amy stopped halfway through her question.

JJ was clutching where his lower jaw should have been, but where only mangled wires and a few bits of metal hung now. It appeared as though his lower jaw had been torn off quickly and carelessly.

“What happened to you?” she asked softly, already knowing the answer as she gently pulled the robot’s hands away from his face. “Why weren’t you in the charging station? Are you okay? Do you need my help?”

JJ shook his head and pointed at the door behind him with one hand, gesturing with the other. Amy tried futilely to follow the robot’s quick movements, but wagered a guess anyway.

“Is that Jack’s safe room?” she asked, getting a rapid nod in response. “You were taking him here when ANTI took over, is that it?”

JJ nodded again.

“And he attacked you.”

JJ nodded slower this time and kicked something at his feet. Amy bent down and picked up what JJ had kicked. The chunk of green metal had been mangled beyond recognition, but Amy could assume.

“Your jaw,” she whispered, turning the mutilated metal in her hands. JJ carefully took the metal from Amy and held it close to his chest. “Do you think you could help me get Jack back here?” Amy asked gently, putting her hand on JJ’s shoulder. JJ hesitated, then nodded quickly, determination shining in his eyes.

“Jack!” Amy called down the again empty corridor. “I know you’re in there somewhere! You have to take back control!”

ANTI turned the corner at the end of the hall, fury burning in his robotic eye. “̵҉̛J̡͝a̡̧̡çk̕̕ ̴i͢͏s̡ ͜G̶̵O̴͢͠Ǹ̸͏E̵͘͜,̛”̶̷ ANTI roared, charging at Amy.

She had underestimated ANTI’s power, despite the freezing temperature. She barely dodged a slash from ANTI’s claws, and stumbled when the cold steel of a knife connected with her biological arm.

Amy gave a short scream as it bit into her. It hurt so bad, but she couldn’t stop moving now. She couldn’t stop to look at the wound. She had to get ANTI to chase her to the safe room. JJ was waiting by the safe room door to lock it as soon as Amy got ANTI inside… somehow.

She heard ANTI wheeze and cough behind her. The sprint had taken a lot of energy from him, especially given the state that Jack’s body was in. Amy took advantage of this, sprinting down to where the hallway split towards the safe room.

“Some protector you are,” she taunted. “Jack’s in terrible condition! Have you seen yourself?”

ANTI was apparently very easily enraged, and he only stumbled briefly as he charged at Amy again. She was ready this time, and dodged completely, letting the knife slice harmlessly at the air by her shoulder. She could see the door that led to the safe room and made a mad dash for it, ducking inside just as ANTI started running towards her again. She could hear him getting slower, and as he approached the door, she could hear his labored breathing.

As soon as he stepped into the doorway, Amy grabbed him by his shirt collar and tossed him into the open door of the safe room. He howled with fury as JJ slammed the door shut and locked it. He and Amy stepped outside into the hallway and JJ locked that door as well. Amy flinched as she heard ANTI slam against the door a few times before giving up. JJ looked terrified, but proud.

“We did it,” Amy wheezed, and then passed out from loss of blood.

Mark paced the docking station, anxiously running his hands through his hair. Amy’s message hadn’t soothed his nerves at all when he came back and she was gone. Bing was powered down again, since his temporary power core ran out of energy just after Mark, Tyler, Ethan, and Kathryn had returned to the Barrel.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Tyler said from the doorway, leaning against its frame. “Amy’s tough. She can take care of herself.”

Mark stopped to glare at his friend. “That’s not what I’m worried about,” he replied, resuming his pacing. “What if Jack’s hurt, and ANTI lashes out at her? He’s a lot stronger than any of us, and if he’s loose, and Amy goes there, and she doesn’t know that he’s there, and-”

Tyler stopped Mark, grabbing him by the shoulders. “She’ll be fine,” he said sternly. “You haven’t slept for two days, and as your friend, I’m ordering you to go lie down right now.”

Mark grumbled and looked over at where the other spare pod should have been parked. “Fine.”

Tyler nodded and flashed Mark a smile, gently leading him towards the door. Just as they were about to leave the room, the docking alarms started going off, and Mark spun back around. The spare pod docked, and Mark ran towards it, bouncing impatiently as he waited for the door to open. The pod door slid open with a woosh, but the sight that greeted Mark was not the one he expected.

Jameson Jackson stood in the doorway, his jaw missing, and holding Amy in his arms.

Amy looked peaceful inside the healing pod. The bandages wrapped around her arm were messy and bloodstained. JJ had done his best to clean the wound on their way to the Barrel, but he wasn’t a doctor and knew there wouldn’t have been time to wake up Henrik and the ship before Amy’s condition would be too far gone. The animated robot had typed up everything that had happened, from the time ANTI took over to boarding the pod and treating Amy’s arm.

ANTI’s knife had dug further into her arm than she must have noticed, and she had run on adrenaline until they got ANTI locked up. The amount of blood she had lost… Amy was lucky to be alive.

JJ was with Ethan now, trying to figure out if there was some way to fix the lump of metal that was once JJ’s lower jaw. Mark was sitting in a chair in the infirmary, trying not to fall asleep in case Amy woke up while he was napping.

JJ left the next day, gesturing a thanks to Ethan for trying to help him with his jaw, and giving both Amy and Mark hugs for apologies. He’d have Jack call them as soon as he came back. The pod would autopilot its way back to the Barrel.

The crew of the Barrel waved JJ goodbye, and the pod he had arrived in took off once more.

It was almost a week before Jack called, not looking much better than when Amy had seen him last. He explained in between coughing and checkups from both Henrik and JJ that ANTI would take over periodically even if Jack wasn’t hurt. Usually Jack would end up starving himself the few days before and lowering the temperature to a debilitating degree.

However, ANTI came early this time, and so he’d only managed to go without food for a few days and lower the temperature before ANTI took over. He’d gotten Amy’s call the day he went under, but didn’t want her to worry, so he made up the story about Sam getting damaged.

He didn’t plan on fixing JJ’s jaw, since the original would be impossible to replace, and “honestly, he’s better this way.”

Mark didn’t show up for the call. He knew it wasn’t really Jack’s fault, but part of him wanted to blame someone for the damage.

Amy had tried to convince Mark to talk it out with Jack, but Mark had refused.

Sometimes, it just helped to stew for a bit. Jack hung up after a heavy silence when he’d asked where Mark was. He didn’t call for another two weeks, but this time, it wasn’t ANTI’s fault.

[moonlightkpop-blog1]

Some Stupid Bet: Part 2

Anonymous said: Okay, so I cried with your jisung amd the bet thing (I’m terrible with words 😅) and I might still be crying. But I was maybe wondering if you could do a part two? But like fluffy? I completely understand if you don’t feel like it or would like to keep it to the one. Don’t stress out to much b, we don’t want you getting sick because of stress 💙💙

Jisung (NCT): Angst; Slight Fluff (if this can even count idk)

Word Count: 2,317

Thank you, sweetheart! 💞 I’ll make sure to not stress too much. Didn’t know I was gonna make people cry dhsdjh hopefully this is up to par with the first part!

WARNINGS: Lil’ Bit of Violence

Part 1 | Part 2

Jeno continued to run his fingers through your hair, pulling the blanket on your body higher. You were in Jeno’s bedroom, head in his lap as you tried desperately to calm down. The realization of the situation made you shut down completely. It hurt you knowing that the love you felt and the feelings you thought were reciprocated were based on a bet. Tears threatened to spill again, your breath hitching quietly. Jeno rubbed your cheek with the pad of his thumb, humming gently to calm you down.

“I can’t believe he lied to me. I wish this was a horrible nightmare I could wake up from...” You sniffed the tears away, removing Jeno’s hand to play with his fingers; the same way you did with Jisung. Smiling bitterly, you sighed and stared up at your best friend. His eyes were laced with concern and anger, his lips pulled into a reassuring smile. He whispered back, “Everything will be fine, Y/N. I promise.” The word makes your heart sting, but you smile back, wanting to believe him. 

The doorbell rings loudly, startling the both of you. Jeno’s face scrunches in confusion as you sit up from his lap. He pats your head, “I’ll be back.” He slides off his bed and goes down to answer the door. You waited, tapping your thigh anxiously. Being alone with your thoughts was something you didn't want.

"She doesn't wanna see you!" The anger ringing in Jeno's voice made you jump, crawling off the bed and peeking through the cracked bedroom door. You noticed Jeno pushing someone out of the front doorway. He tried to slam the door shut, but the figure pushed it open, "Just let me talk to her!" Your body stopped. Your chest tightened. You knew that voice.

“Jisung, I swear to-”

Jisung blocked the door from closing, knuckles white as he gripped the wood, “Get the fuck out the way, Jeno!” Jeno’s hand gripped into a fist, “If you don’t leave, I’ll beat your ass.” Jisung’s eyes bore into Jeno’s, “You won’t do shit.” 

The older boy shoved Jisung, pushing the door open to get himself through. Jisung’s hand balled into a fist before he noticed your presence. His eyes whipped to yours, “Y/N!” Jeno froze, head snapping to you with confusion evident on his face.

“Y/N, listen to me!” Jisung ducked under Jeno’s arm, eyes widened and hands reaching towards you. “Y/N-” You gasped, watching Jeno snatch the younger back by his collar and slam him into the wall by the doorway. The lungs in your chest burned. Jisung looked up, “Wha-”

Knuckles crushed Jisung’s moving lips, slightly bloody as the boy dropped to the ground in shock. Jeno loomed over him, getting ready to throw another punch. You didn’t notice anything. Your body moved suddenly. Arms wrapped around his chest, you pulled Jeno away from Jisung, “Jeno, stop!” 

Jeno immediately relaxed, arms still tense. His eyes were shaking with rage, watching Jisung stand up. Holding his bleedy mouth, Jisung stared at you, “Y/N-”

“Leave.”

Silence surrounded the room before his small whisper interrupted, “W.. What?”

“Leave, Jisung.”

“Bu-”

“Please...” The crack in your whimper went unnoticed by you, “Just go.”

Jisung’s eyes shone with blossoming tears. He rubbed the slow flowing blood from his bottom lip, glancing at you one last time before slipping through the door. Jeno slammed the door behind the boy, cursing under his breath.

“Son of a- Are you crying?” Confused, you tapped your cheeks, jolting as you felt warm tears. Shaking your head, you whimpered out, “No... No.. I’m fine, I.. I’m not crying.” Your voice wavered, tears continuing to flow no matter how fast you rubbed them away. A sob broke through you, “I’m fine.”

Arms wrapped around you, pulling you close. You sobbed into Jeno’s chest, the boy running his fingers through your hair in an attempt to calm you down. He kissed your scalp, whispering to you gently, “It’s okay, Y/N. You’ll be okay.”

Moonlight pierced through the window, somehow taunting you. Pulling the blanket closer to your chin, you silently stared at the night sky. 

Jeno’s quiet snores caused your eyes to glance at the bundle of sheets on the floor. After your interaction with Jisung, Jeno tucked you in his bed and ignored your protests. His voice still rang in your ears, the stern tone of his voice making you almost giggle, “Y/N, I don’t want you to be lonely at home. I’m sleeping on the floor and you’re sleeping in the bed.” 

You kicked the blanket off of you, crawling out of the bed. You crept by the sleeping boy. A gentle groan caused your body to stiffen and you stayed frozen, impatiently waiting. Rustles of fabric and snores released your tension as you sighed in relief. Once your fingers wrapped around the doorknob, a deafeningly ringing boomed through the room. Your eyes widened. Your head whipped towards the sound: Jeno’s phone. Arms flailing, you rushed to the phone. With the phone still ringing, your lips gaped in panic. You looked at Jeno’s moving body; he was going to wake up. Dread filled your body. In a frenzy, you pushed the phone into your shirt, pressing it against your stomach. The loud ring became muffled and tickled your skin with each ring. 

With each careful step, you backed up towards the door. The muffled ringing ends abruptly, coaxing a relieved sigh from you. You slipped through the door, opting to leave it cracked open to prevent waking up the sleeping boy. Sneaking down the stairs, you dropped the phone into your hand and removed it from your shirt. 

Gentle hues of blue and white covered the quiet living room. Memories of staying up late with Jeno, surrounded by snacks and blankets, flash in front of your eyes. You sighed and made your way to the door, stepping out onto the porch. Leaning against the old railing, you pulled your best friend’s phone out. The lockscreen of his cats, or ‘The Three Angels’, by his terms, was filled with notifications. Your eyes widened by the flood on the screen.

102 unread messages from Hyuckie

55 missed calls from Hyuckie

32 unread messages from Renren

10 unread messages from Nana

7 missed calls from Nana

“For the love of...?” You bit your lip anxiously as you unlocked the device. Clicking on the messages, you quickly read them, “Why is there so much?!”

Renren: I can’t believe they did that

Nana: Is Y/N okay??

Renren: I’ll kick their asses

Nana: Make sure she rests

One message caught your eye, however.

Hyuckie: Jeno I’m sorry JUST ANSWER THE PHONE

Your eyebrow raised, scoffing lightly to yourself. Annoyance bubbled within you. ‘I swear when I see this fool-’ Loud ringing interrupted your threatening thoughts. Donghyuck’s bright smile enveloped the screen. Anxiety welled in your chest. Your mouth quivered open and close as you pondered what to do. You wiggled your fingers, whispering to yourself, “Fine.” Your shaking fingertip pressed the button, swiftly bringing the device to your ear.

“Fucking finally! Jeno, I’m so sorry- oh shit I shouldn’t even be apologizing to you. Is Y/N okay? Her number says I’m blocked, fuck, dude I’m-”

“Donghyuck, shut up! It’s me! For the sake of everything holy and my sanity: stop blowing up Jeno’s phone.” Donghyuck’s shocked and eased sigh alerted you that the boy finally listened. “Y/N, I’m so sorry. It’s not what it seems-” You chuckled in disbelief, “When someone says that, it’s actually what it seems.” The boy whined, “Not this time! Y/N, just...” Another sigh. “Let me... let me explain.”

Your eyes glazed over as you stared into the moon, “Okay...”

“I bet Jisung to date you. He always looked over at you or talked on and on about you. The boy’s too much of a wimp to approach you normally!” Smiling affectionately, you giggled to yourself as Donghyuck continued. “He said he was getting closer to you for the bet, but we all knew he was lying. Jisung really does care for you. Damn, he loves you so much. Do you know how crazy his meltdown was?! He just shut down!” 

Warm tears blurred your vision. You shakily sighed, hiding your face with your free hand. Donghyuck’s concerned whisper was almost missed by you, “Are you okay?” You shook your head slightly, “I gotta go.” 

“Wait Y/N, wa-” You quickly hung up, dropping the phone onto the railing. Rubbing your cheeks harshly, you tried to calm yourself. So many emotions sparked inside you; pain, remorse, relief, anger. Nothing made sense to you. Your chest tightened as you unconsciously let the tears fall. ‘Breathe in and out. In. Out.’

After a few moments, you finally calmed down. Patting your cheeks dry, you glanced back towards the moon. Tapping against the railing, you battled with your thoughts. You shook your hand and grabbed the device, rapidly moving to Jeno’s contacts. 

Pressing the contact, you clicked on the button and shoved the phone to your ear. With each beep, anxiety built up in your heart. The beeping is interrupted by a voice that sent pain through your chest, “Jeno?” You whispered back hoarsely, “No, it’s me.” The voice gasped before continuing, “Y/N, I’m so sorry. Please don’t go. It wasn’t supposed to go like this...” 

You sighed gently, “Jisung, just shut up. Meet me in front of Jeno’s house. I promise you won’t be punched again.” The boy chuckled dryly, “Okay. I’ll be there in 15.” You nodded and swiftly exited the call, sighing in relief. 

Creaking of the front door made you whip towards the sound. Jeno yawned as he walked onto the porch. His gentle eye-smile immediately calmed your emotions. He stepped closer, stretching, “Whatcha doing?” You leaned on the railing again, cheek squeezed on your palm, “Just enjoying some fresh air.” The boy slithered his arm around your waist, smirking as he motioned at your hand, “And my phone?” 

Your cheeks became dusted in pink from embarrassment, “O... Oh. Uh, it was going off so I checked it.” He nodded, drumming on your side softly, “What was it?” You brought the device to eye-level, “Donghyuck was spamming you.” Irritation laced his eyes as he scoffed, “What did he want?” You placed the phone down, reaching your fingers into the boy’s fluffy hair, “He wanted to apologize...”

Jeno leaned against your hand, grabbing the phone while rolling his eyes, “And?” You continued to thread your fingers through his locks, smiling gently, “He went on a rant. I got kinda overwhelmed so I hung up. I need to unblock him and call him.” He nodded, unlocking his phone and going through his messages, “Seems like he really wanted to apologize!” You giggled lightly.

Jeno’s smirk of amusement quickly disappeared, eyebrow furrowing, “Did you... call Jisung?” Your mouth gaped. “Uh...” The serious stare from the boy sent anxious chills down your spine. You nodded silently. He sighed, locking the phone.

“How’d it go?” Your eyes widened, “What?” Jeno slipped the phone into his pocket, wrapping his arm tighter around you, “How’d it go?” You placed your hand onto his arm, whispering softly, “You’re not mad?” He smiled, “A little... But you have to make your own choices. I just don’t want you to get hurt again.” A smile stretched on your face. You kissed the boy’s cheek gently. 

“Thank you...” You whispered against his skin. He shrugged, failing at hiding his blush, “It’s nothing.” Running your fingers through his hair again, you glanced at the street, “He should be here soon.” You looked back at the yawning boy, “You can stay on the porch if you’d like?” He nodded, pressing a kiss onto your forehead as he wrapped his free arm around your waist. 

You poked his cheek harshly, “And no punching!” Jeno pouted and groaned dramatically. 

Crunches of leaves ruptured your relaxation. You flicked at the arms surrounding you, leaning away from the warm chest. “Jeno, wake up!” Said boy groaned, snuggling better into your neck. Rolling your eyes, you quickly swatted at his face, “I think he’s coming, fucking get off!” Jeno sighed, sitting up straight as he unwrapped his arms from your hips. 

You stood up from the porch steps, shaking your shoulders. Staring up, your eyes locked with the gaze you became so familiar with. Your body froze. You didn’t realize that your hands were shaking aggressively until they were grabbed from behind.

“Calm down, sweetheart. You can do this.” Jeno’s soft whisper in your ear snapped you out of your frozen state. You nodded and slowly took a step forward. Pushing your emotions and nerves away, you numbly walked towards the boy that deeply hurt you. 

You dug your nails into your palm as you stood in front of him, voice slipping quietly through your lips.

“Hello, Jisung.” 

“Y/N... I... I-”

You locked your arms around the boy, hiding your face in his chest, “I forgive you.” Once the whisper escaped your throat, Jisung sighed shakily. Whipping his eyes, he swiftly hugged your body close. You relaxed into his touch. It felt like hours until you released each other. Intertwining your hands with his, you smiled slightly. 

“I still love and care about you, but I want to restart. I want to be friends; I want it to be like the beginning.” Jisung nodded, smiling back. He brought your hand up, kissing your knuckles delicately, “As long as I don’t lose you...” You nodded, stepping back, each step heavily dragging you down. “I’ll see you tomorrow... Right?” He nodded, reluctantly letting go. He waved sluggishly, turning on his heel. You watched him rush away, steps large and hands in his hair. As the boy’s figure became hazy, you finally broke down. Dropping to your knees, you sobbed, arms tightening around yourself. You let the tears fall as you felt Jeno sit behind you, engulfing you in his arms.

You never knew love could hurt so much. You should’ve suspected it.

This was not supposed to be this long omg I got so carried away. It was so fun to continue on this! It seems like my angsts are better than my fluffs even though these destroy me dhsjha hope y’all love this as much as the first part 💞

[praisemyrelijin-blog]

benevolent ; j.jk ; chapter ii

↠ series | chapter two ; ↠ word count | 4,350 words ↠ pairing | spiderman!jeon jeongguk x venom!reader ↠ genre | angst ; fluff ; mature themes ; explicit language ; smut ; alternate universe ; intense action scenes ; mentions of porn ; crack ; ↠ synopsis | Jeongguk is onto you, but you have no idea about what or who’s behind the mask. ↠ notes | #repost

⇥ masterlist ⇥ benevolent nav.

The slam of the front door of the dorms alerted the boys of Jimin’s presence, ruffled hair and naturally swollen lips pouting in disappointment. Taehyung acknowledges his Hyung’s presence without turning around from the computer set-up in Jimin’s room and Jeongguk sends an upside-down nod from the roof of the room, “Hey, Hyung.” Jimin waves a ring-covered hand at Jeongguk while he stalks towards Taehyung. “I’m Guy in the chair tonight, dickface.” Taehyung whines as Jimin rolls the office chair away, eventually throwing his arms in the air and groaning in exasperation.

Jeongguk laughs at the cute expression Taehyung’s face took and pinches his cheeks, making Taehyung swat his hands away and pouts in frustration. Jimin ignores the interaction and focuses on the computer, waiting for the thing to actually turn on, until a box popped up on the screen:

“This computer has seen potential threats of a virus and has to restart in order for the files to keep the files on this computer to be sa- Taehyung!” Taehyung pout turns into a sheepish grin when Jimin turned and shot the younger a glare, “Have you been watching porn on my computer?” Taehyung’s eyes widen when he realises that he’s been caught and pushes his feet along the carpeted floor, rolling his chair towards the bedroom door. “You’ll never catch me alive!”

Jeongguk shot a web in Taehyung’s direction, missing him by inches. “Shame, Spiderdick.” Taehyung smarts, making Jeongguk smirk and notion his head towards the web-covered door handle. Taehyung releases a scowl and throws a crude gesture towards the heroine’s way, making Jeongguk snort in amusement. Jimin, however, still sat with a sour look on his and his biceps crossed across his chest.

Taehyung sighs in resignation before skirting his chair next to Jimin’s own office chair, sniffing with a snobbish flair and pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his perfectly shaped nose. Jeongguk observed his Hyungs’ bicker spitefully with the occasional shoving, smiling fondly - he really was lucky to have friends like these two assholes. Taehyung makes a sound of satisfaction after a while, clapping his hands together righteously.

“Right, since I fixed this mess I deserve to be the guy in the chair toni-” Jimin smacks him on the back of the head before he could complete the sentence, “You’re the one who caused the damn problem in the first place, little shit.” Taehyung yelps as the palm of Jimin’s tiny hand made hard contact with the back of his head, “Fuck, you pack a hard hit for a dude with the tiniest hand on the planet.” Taehyung teases, smiling through the pain.

Jimin threatens Taehyung with a raised elbow, and the boy backs off. Jeongguk stands upright from his place on the roof, feeling a little sick from the blood rushing from his head but ignoring it. He leans over Jimin’s shoulder and observes the screen with steady eyes. “There she is.” He comments after a while, slinging a web to the desk behind him to snatch the black and red coloured mask off of the birch wood.

Jeongguk slips the mask on quickly and opens the window quickly, sliding it upwards until it reaches it’s full extent. He’s about to jump out of the room before he feels a hand rest softly on his shoulder, and judging by the size and the amount of rings that he felt through his suit, he assumed it to be Jimin.

“Jeongguk-ssi.” Jeongguk’s assumption was correct, the silky but airy voice reached his ears and he immediately turned around to engulf the older into his embrace. Jeongguk relished in the worry that Jimin emitted, making him inconspicuously shoot a glare to the Hyung seated by the computer, but Taehyung didn’t see. “Be careful.” The comment was muffled, but Jeongguk heard it clearly. He always does. Jeongguk tucks his head into Jimin’s neck and replies, “Aren’t I always?”

You - well, not really - laugh loudly as you swung yourself into the air, voice distorted and mind clear. “Can I bite someone’s head off?” Your screeches of excitement were cut short at the question. You settle yourself atop of a building and scold him quietly, “Um, no.” Despite Venom’s ability to control you while in this state, he also has the ability to let you take control majority of these nights. His body covers yours, but his mentality stays within you and doesn’t dare to wander into the contents of your thoughts when you’re up this high.

“But I haven’t eaten, in like, three days.” Venom protests against your argument, making you purse your lips. “Can’t you hold it off for like, seven more?” You were still trying to adjust to the taste of human blood in your mouth, because although Venom fed using his stomach and mouth, your taste buds still get the metallic taste whenever he was munching on a preserved head from his own stomach. “And plus, didn’t you save that man’s head for Saturday?”

You took Venom’s silence as a no, and groan out in frustration, not noticing the masked boy crawling up the side of the building. “You’re so fucking frustratin-” “Me?” You could hear the pout in the hero’s voice, grimacing silently and praying that you don’t lose control and destroy this building, “I haven’t even said anything yet!”

You turn to see the familiar wide eyes of Spiderman, your arch-nemesis. “Well, let me stop you right there.” You hold a hand up to silence the masked boy, sensing that he was about to open his mouth and let his tongue loose, “Go easy on me, since Venom couldn’t handle whatever you threw him last night.” Venom grumbled quietly in your head, but didn’t protest. The boy threw you an unseen smirk before speaking, “No promises.”

Spiderman struck you first, throwing his wrist out and spitting white streams of web to your torso, but you were too quick for that predictable move and you dodge right before it could touch you. “I’m weak,” Venom pants when you attempt to stretch your arm and latch onto the roof pots. “You won’t win this fight.” You fight an eye roll and instead go for a head-on attack - which was a surprise, considering the circumstances. You saw Spiderman’s eyes widen through his mask, startled by your actions.

“Wow, colour me surprised.” He taunts, avoiding your attack by a hair. “You’re not running away for once.” You growl and stretch your arm, praying for Venom to allow you to do so. You almost cry out in pure happiness when it works and your black arm curls around the slim waist of Spiderman, tugging him towards you. Yelping as he came closer to you, he manages to pop open the casket-case hidden in his wrist and pull out a cigarette lighter. Flicking open the top, he presses the flame to your arm and you - Venom - screeches in pain when the fire touches you, causing you to retract your arm and hiss at the hero.

“What do we have here?”

Both of you whip your heads towards the direction of the distorted voice, and your eyes widen simultaneously. Venom let out a choked sound in your head, causing you to break your gaze with the monster and question him, “You know him, who is he?” And for the first time in all of your twenty-one years of life, you heard fear in his voice. “Riot.” You suffocate your will to cry and Spiderman seems to sense your hesitation when you cower away.

Spiderman searches for reassurance in your actions when you turn to face him, but finds none. You were afraid. Does that mean he should be too? Jeongguk felt his heart weigh heavily when he considered his options: escape while he could, let you fight the male replica of yourself and leave you to potentially die in the hands of this ugly being, stay and help you fight or take you with him while he escaped so you could heal.

Jeongguk felt split - his mind was telling him to go and protect himself, but his instincts were telling him that you wouldn’t make it if he did. You obviously weren’t on your A-Game today, and he could still see the burn mark on your rubbery arm. “Fuck it,” He mutters quietly, slinging a web towards your direction. The white substance latches onto your waist and pulls you towards his arms, limbs circling your injured frame and pulling you close while Riot bared his teeth.

You yelp in surprise when your torso collides with his chest. “Who the fuck is this?” Spiderman curses in your ear, making you send a scowl his way. “His name’s Riot.” Is all you say, not bothering to provide more information for your answer. Spiderman could tell you were bothered by the close proximity and let his biceps fall to his sides awkwardly, almost forgetting about the muscular symbiote standing a few metres away from you both. Almost.

His growl alerts you both and you stand in a fighting stance on instinct, Spiderman doing the same. This was practically muscle memory for you and the Arachnid; preparing yourselves for battle, except this was for something bigger than your petty fights. With his eyes trained on the bulging biceps of the inhuman monster in front of him, Spiderman was tall, confident and ready to defeat the symbiote - but Jeongguk was anything but that.

On the inside, Jeongguk was shaking with fear. Jeongguk was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to defeat this ‘Riot’, and a punch wasn’t even thrown in his direction. You weren’t much different, though. Your knees were trembling and your throat was dry, but your gaze didn’t falter when Riot’s jaw loosened to reveal the elongated muscle of his lumpy tongue, one that replicated Venom’s own one. “It’s a threat,” Venom informs when he sees the muscle hanging languidly in the air, “Like when you were younger and Mingyu from second grade poked the tongue out at you.”

You grimace at the childish reminder and strengthen your stance. “Well, do it back!” Venom snaps at you after a while of silence, “What?” You question aloud, making Spiderman look at you with a baffled gaze. “Do. It. Back.” You sigh in resignation, knowing that your tongue was definitely not as long as Riot’s. But, surprisingly, when your own tongue slithered out of your lips, it slid out with an elegance of a snake taunting it’s prey.

You could feel almost everything going on around you: Spiderman’s shocked stare, Venom’s smug expression, Riot’s threatening one, - everything. “The tongue is one of the most strongest things on a symbiote’s body; it could snap a man’s neck, crack an animal’s skull.” Venom evaluated helpfully, “And my tongue is one of the longest on my planet.” You almost choke on the unhealthy amount of saliva that gathered in the back of your throat at the crude double-meaning behind the choice of words.

Your small, bunny-like tongue was replaced by Venom’s long one, and unlike Riot’s lumpy one Venom sported a smooth one. At Riot’s growl, obviously feeling threatened by the show, your tongue snaps back like an elastic band. It seems as though you both have established what was about to happen, and seeing how tense your stance was, Jeongguk prepared for the worst. Even if he didn’t know what was going on right at that moment.

“Well,” You let out a silent groan at the cocky tone of voice he shared, “Whomst the fuck are you?” That was it. You were going to kill him. Murder, homicide, anything. He was done. You turn to him with a scowl on your face, “You mean nothing to me.” Spiderman steps back, mocking offence at the random comment. “Okay, first of all, rude.” Riot interrupts before he could continue, “I am Riot, the greatest symbiote to walk this earth.”

“That douche bag better shut the fuck up.”

As if Riot heard, his wide mouth stretched into an ear splitting grin. “I see Venom seems provoked.” The creature drawls tantalisingly, tongue slithering out of it’s mouth before drawing back in. “Although this language is still seemingly new to me, I am still aware of the meaning of the word ‘douche bag’.” “Piss-stain.” “Those words too.”

Venom lets out a frustrating sound, almost like a sob. “Please, for the love of god, let me bite his fucking head off.” You actually consider the option, stance faltering for a moment. But it was a moment too soon. Riot sprung forward towards you with his teeth bared and elongated spears sprouting from his arms, making Jeongguk act quickly.

As if it was muscle memory, his arm sprung out to shoot another web your way and bring you towards him, making Riot miss you and impale the grey concrete roof. This time, you were grateful for Spiderman’s quick reflexes. “Thanks, um, dude?” Spiderman fights a grin at your thanks and waves you off, pulling you to the side. “Go easy, babe. You’re still a little hot on the arm.”

You glance down to your arm to still see the rubber slowly repairing your exposed skin, “And whose fault is that?” Spiderman only sends you a salute and jumps into action. You move to stand, but Venom sticks you to the seat. “Move your pretty little ass and you’re dead,” He drones, “Heal up a bit and I’ll take over for now, yeah?” You made no move to argue and instead closed your eyes, letting the coldness take over your eyes.

The next time your eyes opened, you weren’t inhabiting your body, Venom was. “I’m going to beat your ass, Riot!” Venom snarls crudely at the fellow symbiote fighting the friendly neighbourhood hero, making said alien smirk and shove the spider away. “Let’s do this, Loser.” Venom cruelly spits at the enemy, making him scowl and attempt to plunge the spear into Venom’s torso.

You watched tiredly from his eyes, wounds healing more quicker when Venom took control. Although your build wasn’t that big to fight this raging symbiote that obviously had a male victim as his host, it was enough due to your many days in the gym every morning and dance classes for P.E every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening. Your stature was strong and firm and your stamina was incredible, so Venom had the perfect human.

Spiderman stood off to the side and observed, more specifically to how different your fighting style was to Venom’s and his own. Venom fought with pent up frustration and aggression, thrusting his fists to anywhere and everywhere with the occasional kick and tongue. His fighting style was so different to yours; your one was more graceful with aimed precision, careful observations to weaknesses before striking, your one was more like… dancing.

Jeongguk prided himself on having a high stamina and strong hits; on having calculated fighting strategies - but he knew that not even his fighting style could compare to the grace of yours. You act like your fighting was a natural everyday happening; like it was as easy as breathing. Venom’s one was usually blinded by anger and Jeongguk’s was calculated. His eyes contracted mechanically as he then evaluated Riot’s fighting style.

Strong. Unhesitating. Planned. Precise. Perfect.

Jeongguk shook his head, this isn’t going to work. He sprung forward with his wrists slotted forward, strings of web spraying out and attaching themselves to the foreign alien. Riot screeched in disdain when he realised that a turn of events have taken place. Spiderman ran around him with multiple webs springing onto him and clumping together, forming a small cocoon that would only last for so long. Venom continued to fight, knowing what the Spider was planning. Eventually, Riot’s arms were temporarily occupied, but the scowl on his face never ceased.

“Why are you here?” Spiderman’s voice came out strong and assertive with a tinge of authority, making Riot cackle with amusement, “This won’t hold me, arachnid.” “I’m done, get back up here.” Venom closes his eyes, and when they open you’re back, and more revived. “But it’ll do.” You saw Spiderman visibly relax at the sound of your normal voice, well, the voice that is used when you’re in control.

“You heard him, why?” Riot refused to answer, choosing to smile mockingly instead. “If you’re feeling so tight-lipped, I’m sure Venom would gladly loosen them for you.” Riot growls, “I’m completing a bucket list.” Spiderman bumps his hip with yours, “Is world domination on that bucket list?” Riot gasps melodramatically, “How did you know?”

You ignore that answer, choosing instead to stare competitively at the whites of the villain’s eyes. “Who’s your host?” Riot cackles menacingly, stained teeth on full display, “Now that, I am unable to answer.” You were tempted to slap the symbiote, and the hand on your wrist showed that it showed in your body language as well.

“Why are you in Seoul?” Spiderman spat the question out, making you wince at how much malice was soaked into his tongue. “Why are you in Korea?”

“One of the only hosts compatible with me in this world resides in Korea, hence why I speak so fluently in your native tongue.”

You, surprisingly, both got an answer from the serpent-like villain. Suddenly, as if your tongue wasn’t yours anymore, you spoke in a deep, benevolent voice. “What is your purpose on this lonesome planet?” Venom spoke from your throat, brooding voice emitting power and darkness, a voice that you were not used to hearing.

“I have already spoken of the purpose, ikazael. It seems as though your ears have deceived you, my dear brother.” Riot sends a smirk towards you and all of a sudden you felt the raging urge to de-ball him, but you knew it was just your shared emotions with the symbiote aligned with your body. “Reminder, dear brethren, that I was not the one banished off of our planet.”

He seemingly hit a nerve with those words. You fought with Venom mentally for control over the muscle in your mouth, with you winning the dominant hand. Spiderman bumps his hip against yours once more, muttering coherently into your ear. “What does ikazael mean?” “It’s a fancy word for loser in my language.” You repeat the saying quietly into the Spiderman’s ear and he fights off the urge to laugh, considering the situation that both you and him are in.

“So, you’re an evil alien from outer space that has aspirations to conquer earth because it’s on your bucket list?” Spiderman questions from beside you, making you snort. “I admit, it does sound childish,” The grin on Riot’s face never faltered as he spoke to the both of you, “But you underestimate my abilities.”

The shrill sound of ripping fabric teared through the atmosphere, making Spiderman let out a startled squeal. Riot sprung forward and pounced on your tiny figure, tackling you roughly to the ground. The wind is knocked out of you when Riot brings his arm back, clenched fist forming into a medieval flail. Spiderman felt adrenaline rush into his veins when he finally moved, shooting another string of white to the symbiote and attaching it to one of the roof pots he was standing next to.

Riot goes to sling the flail forward, but grunts when the weight of the pot prevented him from doing so. You take this chance to quickly kick up your legs, using the power of your thigh muscles and Venom’s strength to push the raging monster off of you. Riot trips while he moves, causing him to grunt in annoyance. Spiderman is at your side once more, preying on the unwelcome visitor from space with the elegance of a lion preying on a deer.

The deer sneered at you both and drove his arm through the air, this time his hand shaped into a mallet that you narrowly avoid. You spare a glance to Spiderman, who was looking at you as well. Silently you motioned towards one of the toppled-over roof pots - the result of Riot’s angry flailing, and he nods, understanding the plan instantly.

You move quickly; ducking under hits provided by the alien and hitting back with more force every time. You noted that not once has Venom spoken about the weakness he was feeling due to his hunger, was he that infuriated by Riot’s presence? You made a note in your head to question him about the story between him and his ‘brother’ later, considering you already knew of the leader Riot was like on his home planet.

Spiderman soon joined in, pushing him towards the edge of the rooftop where the roof pot now occupied. With his webs shots and your occasional black strings of symbiote shoving him dangerously close to the edge with every step they took, and Riot didn’t expect a thing. You sent a sideways glance towards your partner-at-the-moment, and by his nod, you send one last kick to Riot.

The symbiote’s glassy eyes widen with surprise and a tinge of regret, his bulging body slowly tipping over the edge. Although his body was showing the epitome of fear, his face said that he had won that game tonight. Even when you and the spider jumped down after him to warp him with multitudes of spindled webs, even when Spiderman saw the perfect concrete slab in the hotel building to quickly slap down the slim but strong webbing to hold a hanging 180-pound symbiote, Riot seemed to have a sickening satisfied face.

When you and Spiderman stood on the floor beneath the alien, he stared at you expectantly. “I guess I have to take you in, then.” He concludes, taking out a pair of hidden handcuffs from his suit. Your body reacts almost instantly when the cuffs came out and you moved, climbing onto the building to gain some leverage before jumping off and using Venom’s liquefied muscles to take you to a crowded place.

You could hear Spiderman’s hollers and yelps from behind you and you pumped your muscles to swing faster, almost crying out in relief when you see the crowded streets of Seoul. Dropping down in the middle of the crowd was a risky move, but it’s an essential one to keep you away from a jail cell.

Crouching down amongst the crowd screaming with fear, the black sludge-like substance melts off of you like dewdrops of rain on a sad day and the whiteness of your eyes diluted back into your natural colour. You moved with the crowd, adding the additional screams of fear and shoves to get out of the crowd as you saw Spiderman near your destination.

“It’s Spiderman!”

Cheers and sighs of relief flowed like a wave crashing onto the sand of a beach, because their hero was there. You managed to hold in a seething glare at the masked heroine and continued down the street to where the dorms of your university were, not noticing the stare on your back.

Jeongguk was seated in a crouching position on the glass-covered building, eyes mechanically minimising as the tried to catch a zoom in of you. He chased Venom all the way here, the villain escaped in plain sight and you were there; suspicious? Probably. After all, when he swung into the premises, he swears he never saw your pretty features amongst the busy crowd.

You push open the door of the lab room lazily, not taking note of how much strength you were actually putting in, causing you to create a loud noise against the wall where the knob met it. Jeongguk jumps at the loud sound. Eyes narrowing into slits when you walked tiredly to your station and greeted your station partner with a slur of grumbles.

Jimin notices this and taps the younger on the shoulder, sparing him a blinding eye-smile when the boy turns to face him. “What’s up?” Taehyung spun in his seat and faced the boy with a suggestive smirk and a raised eyebrow, “Is little Kook starting to develop brain cells?” Jeongguk snarls at him, making Taehyung blow a kiss mockingly.

Jeongguk stands from his seat, alerting the two elders. “Wai- what are you doing?” Jimin questions urgently when he sees that Jeongguk was heading towards you with an obvious motive, “Jeonggu-” “Hi, ____.” You raise an eyebrow at the sudden greeting, smiling unsurely. “Um, hi?” Jeongguk sends you a charming smile, bunny teeth on display.

Jeongguk lifts his hand to your arm, right about where he remembers the burn mark to be. He caresses it softly, a look of faux-concern colouring his features as he questions you with worry in his tone; “Are you okay? You look tired.” You manage a tired grin, trying and failing to hide the grimace settling on your face, “I’m fine,” You shuffle uncomfortably under Jeongguk’s firm grasp, making his eyes twinkle and the pressure on the burn increase. You gasp out in pain as the veins in his hand flex slightly under the light.

“Are you su-” The door of the classroom slams open, an all-too familiar clicking of heels against the linoleum floor and Jeongguk releases his hold on you, rushing back to his station to greet the professor. Gasps of surprise and sharp intakes of breaths are being heard all over the room as they see the bright minty hair of the professor. “Hello, class.” He rumbled quietly, bowing slightly. He turns towards the blackboard behind him and picks up the chalk, writing in neat strokes and painting the board white with beautiful characters.

“Unfortunately, Professor Kim was unable to make it to class today.” You gape at him when he turns, eyes widening at the mint of his hair. “So I will be your substitute teacher,” The professor looked at your classmates with bright eyes through square-framed glasses that sat comfortably on the bridge of his well-defined nose.

“Good morning class, I’m Professor Min Yoongi, and I will be your teacher for today.”

⇀ © 2018, @praisemyrelijin

⇀ ask my muse!

[analyzingdestiel]

DESTIEL REVIEW FOR 5x3: FREE TO BE YOU AND ME

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SCENE 1

DEAN dampens a washcloth in the motel room sink and starts to clean his jacket. CASTIEL appears behind him. DEAN sees him in the mirror and startles.

DEAN God.

DEAN thumps the sink.

DEAN Don't do that.

CASTIEL Hello, Dean.

DEAN turns around; CASTIEL is inches from him.

DEAN Cas, we've talked about this. Personal space?

CASTIEL My apologies.

CASTIEL steps back. DEAN grabs his jacket and walks toward the bed.

DEAN How'd you find me? I thought I was flying below the angel radar.

DEAN rubs his ribs to illustrate the point.

CASTIEL You are. Bobby told me where you were.

CASTIEL looks around the motel room, which has no signs of SAM's presence, not even a second bed.

CASTIEL Where's Sam?

DEAN puts on his jacket without looking at CASTIEL.

DEAN Me and Sam are taking separate vacations for a while. So.

DEAN You find God yet? More importantly, can I have my damn necklace back, please?

CASTIEL No, I haven't found him. That's why I'm here. I need your help.

DEAN With what? God hunt? Not interested.

CASTIEL It's not God. It's someone else.

DEAN Who?

CASTIEL Archangel. The one who killed me.

DEAN 'Scuse me?

CASTIEL His name is Raphael.

DEAN You were wasted by a teenage mutant ninja angel?

CASTIEL I've heard whispers that he's walking the earth. This is a rare opportunity.

DEAN For what? Revenge?

CASTIEL Information.

DEAN goes back over to the sink, picks up his knife and a washcloth, and starts to clean the knife.

DEAN So, what, you think you can find this dude and he's just gonna spill God's address?

CASTIEL Yes, because we are gonna trap him and interrogate him.

DEAN pauses and turns back.

DEAN You're serious about this.

CASTIEL turns around to face DEAN. DEAN drops the washcloth and walks back toward CASTIEL.

DEAN So, what, I'm Thelma and you're Louise and we're just going to hold hands and sail off this cliff together?

CASTIEL stares at DEAN, confused. DEAN goes around CASTIEL and does something offscreen with the knife.

DEAN Give me one good reason why I should do this.

CASTIEL Because you're Michael's vessel and no angel will dare harm you.

DEAN looks at CASTIEL.

DEAN Oh, so I'm your bullet shield.

CASTIEL I need your help because you are the only one who'll help me. Please.

DEAN considers.

DEAN All right, fine. Where is he?

CASTIEL Maine. Let's go.

CASTIEL reaches to touch DEAN's forehead with two fingers. DEAN leans away.

DEAN Whoa.

CASTIEL removes his hand.

CASTIEL What?

DEAN Last time you zapped me someplace I didn't poop for a week. We're driving.

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DESTIEL REVIEW FOR SCENE 1

DEAN dampens a washcloth in the motel room sink and starts to clean his jacket. CASTIEL appears behind him. DEAN sees him in the mirror and startles.

DEAN God.

DEAN thumps the sink.

DEAN Don't do that.

I find it interesting that Dean has been unable to sense Castiel before he appears as of late. Because Dean has the cloaking symbols along his ribs, it now makes it harder for Castiel to hone in on Dean's frequency to find him. I wonder if because of that, Dean doesn't feel that "honing in". Perhaps this is what alerted Dean of his presence in previous episodes; he could feel Castiel honing in on him. Castiel is still able to sort of penetrate Dean's subconscious it seems, but only once they are already together/he knows where he is.

Either that or perhaps some days Dean is just not as receptive to Castiel's frequency and so doesn't pick up on it at all times.

CASTIEL Hello, Dean.

DEAN turns around; CASTIEL is inches from him.

DEAN Cas, we've talked about this. Personal space?

CASTIEL My apologies.

Dean's discomfort with Castiel's proximity is interesting though I suppose one does enjoy their personal space. I also find it interesting that Dean apparently brought up to Castiel that he stands too close, off screen "we've talked about this". Why it makes him uncomfortable could be for a number of reasons. Last episode we were given the impression that Dean is uneasy around Castiel especially when he is close to him. I feel it's because Castiel is quite penetrative whether he intends to be or not and it makes Dean feel vulnerable. One could also say that Dean is alarmed by the proximity because Castiel is in a male vessel and it is uncomfortable for him being that close to another male. The way he swallows nervously and looks from Castiel's eyes to his lips hints at a sort of sexual thinking; which is common with Dean. He is often thinking of sex. I think here he was aware that Castiel’s face was quite close to his own; basically is within kissing range.

Either way, his discomfort and nervousness is obvious. Why he was nervous could be left up to the viewers interpretation but it initially gave me the impression that Castiel was too close to his own face and that “it’s weird with another dude”. Dean may or may not have some desires that he is repressing; it’s not stated so much as it is possibly hinted at.

I've realized Castiel doesn't stand this close to others, not even other angels, which leads me to believe it's not so much a lack of understanding of boundaries. Perhaps because he is attached to Dean, he feels standing closer is acceptable. According to Castiel he's been in and around Dean's form; for him, he may consider separation at all to be quite the distance apart.

DEAN So, what, I'm Thelma and you're Louise and we're just going to hold hands and sail off this cliff together?

I find it note worthy that Dean refers to Thelma and Louise and Ernie and Bert in this episode. Both of these couples have the controversy surrounding them that they're homosexual. Basically, they are shipped, just as Dean and Castiel are. Dean even says (later) that he knows for a fact Ernie and Bert are gay. I feel this may have been deliberate on the writers' end. Character-wise it's also possible that it means something, perhaps something going on within Dean's subconscious. Or it could be a mere coincidence.

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SCENE 2

DEAN and CASTIEL get out of the Impala.

Waterville, Maine

DEAN And we're here why?

CASTIEL A deputy sheriff laid eyes on the archangel.

DEAN And he still has eyes? All right, what's the plan?

CASTIEL We'll...tell the officer that he witnessed an angel of the Lord, and the officer will tell us where the angel is.

DEAN Seriously? You're going to walk in there and tell him the truth?

CASTIEL Why not?

DEAN Because we're humans.

DEAN pulls out another fake ID and stashes it inside CASTIEL's coat, then adjusts CASTIEL's coat and tie.

DEAN And when humans want something really, really bad, we lie.

CASTIEL Why?

DEAN Because that's how you become President.

INT. SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT – DAY

DEAN Deputy Framingham?

The DEPUTY turns around. DEAN holds up an FBI ID.

DEAN Hi. Alonzo Mosely, FBI. This is my partner, Eddie Moscone.

CASTIEL does nothing.

DEAN Also FBI.

CASTIEL does nothing. DEAN stares at him. CASTIEL catches on and pulls out his FBI ID, which he displays upside-down. DEAN turns it over for him.

DEAN He's, uh, he's new. Mind if we ask you a few questions?

CASTIEL looks at the ID, curious.

FRAMINGHAM Yeah, sure. Talk here, though.

FRAMINGHAM indicates his right ear, leading DEAN and CASTIEL to his office.

FRAMINGHAM Hearing's all blown to hell in this one.

DEAN That happen recently?

FRAMINGHAM Yeah. Gas station. Why you're here, isn't it?

DEAN Yes, it is.

They all sit down.

DEAN You mind just, uh, running us through what happened?

FRAMINGHAM A call came in. Disturbance out at the Pump and Go on Route 4.

DEAN What kind of disturbance?

FRAMINGHAM Would not have believed my eyes if I hadn't seen it myself. We're talking a riot. Full scale.

DEAN How many?

FRAMINGHAM Thirty, forty, in all-out kill-or-be-killed combat?

DEAN Any idea what set them off?

CASTIEL It's angels and demons, probably.

FRAMINGHAM looks at CASTIEL. CASTIEL looks back.

CASTIEL They're skirmishing all over the globe.

FRAMINGHAM Come again?

FRAMINGHAM turns back to DEAN.

FRAMINGHAM What did he say?

DEAN and CASTIEL speak simultaneously.

DEAN Nothing. Nothing.

CASTIEL Demons. Demons.

CASTIEL shuts up.

DEAN Demons, you know, drink, adultery. We all have our demons, Walt.

FRAMINGHAM looks back and forth.

FRAMINGHAM I guess.

DEAN looks at CASTIEL.

DEAN Anyway.

DEAN returns his attention to FRAMINGHAM.

DEAN What happened next?

FRAMINGHAM Freaking explosion, that's what. They said it was one of those underground gas tanks, but, uh, I don't think so.

DEAN Why not?

FRAMINGHAM Wasn't your usual fireball. It was, um—

CASTIEL Pure white.

FRAMINGHAM Yeah. Gas station was leveled. Everyone was...it was just horrible. And I see this one guy, kneeling, real focused-like, not a damn scratch on him.

DEAN You know him?

FRAMINGHAM Donnie Finneman. Mechanic there.

DEAN Let me guess, he just, uh, vanished into thin air?

FRAMINGHAM Uh, no, Kolchak. He's down at Saint Pete's.

CASTIEL turns to DEAN.

CASTIEL Saint Pete's.

DEAN Thank you. ST. PETER'S HOSPITAL

INT. HOSPITAL – DAY

DONNIE is sitting in a wheelchair, catatonic. DEAN and CASTIEL observe him from the hallway window.

DEAN I take it that's not Raphael anymore.

CASTIEL Just an empty vessel.

DEAN So is this what I'm looking at if Michael jumps in my bones?

CASTIEL No, not at all. Michael is much more powerful. It'll be far worse for you.

DEAN looks away.

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DESTIEL REVIEW FOR SCENE 2

CASTIEL We'll...tell the officer that he witnessed an angel of the Lord, and the officer will tell us where the angel is.

DEAN Seriously? You're going to walk in there and tell him the truth?

CASTIEL Why not?

DEAN Because we're humans.

DEAN pulls out another fake ID and stashes it inside CASTIEL's coat, then adjusts CASTIEL's coat and tie.

This scene is endearing. We see, for one, that Castiel doesn't understand how to behave like a normal human being and that he will need to learn some things from Dean.

And the adjusting of Castiel's coat and tie just goes to show that Dean is becoming more comfortable around Castiel, which is important. I find it funny how Dean is unwilling to allow Castiel into his personal space, but he feels he is allowed into Castiel's. So the issue isn't so much that he wants his personal space. Perhaps this is based on Dean's need for control; and he feels out of control unless he initiates it.

Other moments during this scene were enjoyable. They make an entertaining couple. I feel many could ship them because of this; they are quite funny together.

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SCENE 3

DEAN walks through the empty cabin, paging through John's journal. He sets it down on the table and turns. CASTIEL is there, holding a ceramic jar.

DEAN Where've you been?

CASTIEL Jerusalem.

DEAN Oh, how was it?

CASTIEL Arid.

CASTIEL sets the jar on the table.

DEAN What's that?

CASTIEL It's oil. It's very special. Very rare.

CASTIEL sits down.

DEAN Okay, so we trap Raphael with a nice vinaigrette?

CASTIEL No.

DEAN So this ritual of yours, when does it got to go down?

CASTIEL Sunrise.

DEAN Tell me something. You keep saying we're gonna trap this guy. Isn't that kinda like trapping a hurricane with a butterfly net?

CASTIEL No, it's harder.

DEAN Do we have any chance of surviving this?

CASTIEL You do.

DEAN So odds are you're a dead man tomorrow.

CASTIEL Yes.

DEAN Well. Last night on earth. What are your plans?

CASTIEL I just thought I'd sit here quietly.

DEAN Come on, anything? Booze, women?

CASTIEL looks at DEAN and away, uncomfortable.

DEAN You have been with women before. Right? Or an angel, at least?

CASTIEL rubs the back of his neck.

DEAN You mean to tell me you've never been up there doing a little cloud-seeding?

CASTIEL Look, I've never had occasion, okay?

DEAN All right.

DEAN grabs his jacket.

DEAN Let me tell you something. There are two things I know for certain. One, Bert and Ernie are gay. Two, you are not gonna die a virgin. Not on my watch. Let's go.

DEAN leaves. CASTIEL stares after him, then follows.

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DESTIEL REVIEW FOR SCENE 3

DEAN Do we have any chance of surviving this?

CASTIEL You do.

DEAN So odds are you're a dead man tomorrow.

CASTIEL Yes.

So Castiel is aware that he will die tomorrow, yet he shows no fear what so ever. This is very different compared to what we saw of Castiel in season 4. He was terrified. "They will kill us, all of us!"

Which brings me back to something I said in previous reviews. Was Castiel so terrified about rebelling because it put DEAN at risk? In this situation, Dean has a chance of surviving, and Castiel is no longer terrified. Fascinating.

DEAN Well. Last night on earth. What are your plans?

CASTIEL I just thought I'd sit here quietly.

Castiel just wanted to sit there with Dean quietly for his last night on Earth.

DEAN Come on, anything? Booze, women?

CASTIEL looks at DEAN and away, uncomfortable.

DEAN You have been with women before. Right? Or an angel, at least?

CASTIEL rubs the back of his neck.

DEAN You mean to tell me you've never been up there doing a little cloud-seeding?

CASTIEL Look, I've never had occasion, okay?

Dean's misunderstanding of how it works is quite hilarious. It would be impossible for two light beings to become intimate on a physical level. They are not physical beings. There is also no such thing as male or female where Castiel is from; there is only masculine and feminine energies, and light beings hold both. One of the energies is often more dominant than the other but for the most part they are both masculine and feminine. Angels do not have a gender; that is merely how human beings perceive them. They select a specific form for the comfort of humans when they come to us in dreams or in visions. But ultimately they are energy; there are no males or females.

The closest a light being could come to sexual intercourse without a physical body would be more like a merging of energy. Which he's done with Dean many times, when he penetrates Dean's subconscious.

Dean simply doesn't understand because he is human.

I find Castiel's discomfort entertaining; he is very sheepish about this topic. "I've never had occasion, okay?" Of course there wasn't the occasion, it is an impossibility in the way that Dean imagines it. Knowing this, I question why Castiel became uncomfortable. Perhaps because he feels Dean is judging him? He may be uncomfortable with the judgement coming from Dean more than anything else.

I feel, if anything, Dean could be the closest he's ever came to that desire. Castiel gave up everything he ever knew for Dean; he gave up every being in Heaven for Dean. Castiel didn't originally have desires. He said himself that Dean was the one that made him start "feeling". There would be no desire for intimacy if there were no emotions.

Though through Jimmy's vessel, he has never mated with another, and that is for obvious reasons; he'd been quite occupied with many things that were far more important than experiencing physical pleasure. I don't feel that Castiel had even considered it. The only human he really has interacted with on any intimate level is Dean. If he had considered it, I don't feel he would have considered doing it with anyone but Dean.

I wanted to mention this. Since Castiel is an angel, that means he would be very familiar with the Bible. Some Bibles state that lying with the same sex is detestable, though others are said not to have this in them. Some of these words are considered words of God, and others are considered words of man. Even if Castiel does follow the Bible, the version that considers homosexuality detestable, this wouldn't be relevant any longer because Castiel has rebelled and has even agreed to "sin" with Dean by attending the strip club. However uncomfortable, he does not say no to Dean. Also, does Castiel even view himself as a man? Does he identify as male because of his vessel? I honestly doubt he does. That would be like dressing up as a zombie on Halloween and believing you are actually a zombie; you know you're not a zombie, that is just the costume. So even if Castiel were to become physically intimate with Dean, would it count as homosexual, considering the vessel is not actually Castiel? Would he resist for Jimmy's sake? Would he have to, if Jimmy is often not even aware, and if it were Castiel's decision to become intimate rather than Jimmy's?

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SCENE 4

DEAN drinks. CASTIEL looks terrified.

DEAN Hey. Relax.

CASTIEL This is a den of iniquity. I should not be here.

DEAN Dude, you full-on rebelled against heaven. Iniquity is one of the perks.

A HOOKER approaches. DEAN notices.

DEAN Showtime.

HOOKER Hi. What's your name?

CASTIEL tries not to look at her.

DEAN Cas.

CASTIEL startles.

DEAN His name is Cas. What's your name?

HOOKER Chastity.

DEAN Chastity.

CASTIEL drinks his beer.

DEAN Wow. Is that kismet or what, buddy? Well, he likes you, you like him, so dayenu.

CHASTITY tugs CASTIEL up.

CHASTITY Come on, baby.

DEAN catches CASTIEL on the way past.

DEAN Hey, listen. Take this.

DEAN holds out a handful of money.

DEAN If she asks for a credit card, no. Now just stick to the basics, okay? Do not order off the menu. Go get her, tiger.

CASTIEL stays still.

DEAN Don't make me push you.

CASTIEL takes the money and turns to follow CHASTITY. Another HOOKER walks past; DEAN follows her. She and DEAN clink glasses at the bar.

DEAN Well, cheers to you.

A scream offscreen. DEAN goes to investigate.

INT. BROTHEL BACK CORRIDOR – NIGHT

CHASTITY Get out of my face! Leave me alone! Bastard! Screw you, jerk!

She throws something at CASTIEL, who is a little disheveled.

CHASTITY I'll kill you!

She storms past DEAN.

CHASTITY Screw you too! God! Oh! Jerk!

DEAN approaches CASTIEL.

DEAN The hell did you do?

CASTIEL I don't know. I just looked her in the eyes and told her it wasn't her fault that her father Gene ran off. It was because he hated his job at the post office.

DEAN Oh, no, man.

CASTIEL What?

DEAN This whole industry runs on absent fathers. It's, it's the natural order.

Two BOUNCERS enter from the door CHASTITY left through.

DEAN We should go. Come on.

He and CASTIEL head for the door at the opposite end of the corridor.

EXT. ALLEY – NIGHT

DEAN is laughing as he closes the door behind himself and CASTIEL.

CASTIEL What's so funny?

DEAN Oh, nothing. Whoo. It's been a long time since I've laughed that hard. It's been more than a long time. Years.

DEAN's face falls as he realizes.

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DESTIEL REVIEW FOR SCENE 4

DEAN drinks. CASTIEL looks terrified.

DEAN Hey. Relax.

CASTIEL This is a den of iniquity. I should not be here.

DEAN Dude, you full-on rebelled against heaven. Iniquity is one of the perks.

Castiel is terrified, he considers all of this sinful for obvious reasons. Dean convinces him that he is able to sin because he rebelled against Heaven. Castiel drinks the entirety of his beer during this scene due to how fearful he is of the situation. It's clear that Castiel doesn't want to have relations. He just wanted to sit quietly with Dean for his last hours; this is quite uncomfortable and Castiel doesn't understand it. He does not seem to have any sort of sex drive which makes perfect sense considering he is not human.

DEAN If she asks for a credit card, no. Now just stick to the basics, okay? Do not order off the menu. Go get her, tiger.

CASTIEL stays still.

DEAN Don't make me push you.

The only reason Castiel did it was because Dean forced him to. It's clear from Castiel's end that this was not something he wanted or cared to do. One could look at this as Castiel giving into Dean as he has done in the past; Dean is his weakness. Despite the fact that it involves sexual pleasure with women, it is not entirely relevant because sexuality isn't the question here, it is whether or not Dean and Castiel are in love. Whether or not they are monogamous, polygamous, dating, not dating. I am not looking to find the answer to these questions, just whether or not Dean and Castiel are in love. Whether they sleep with other people doesn't matter because you can be in love with one person and still have sexual relations with another person. In fact, you can even love more than one person at a time, just in different ways. Sometimes you love someone more than another person but they're both loved none the less. This scene is only partly relevant. I didn't want to bring sexuality into it because Castiel is not actually male. Him not wanting to sleep with a woman is not in favor of "homosexuality". That doesn't matter where Castiel is concerned because he is not male, he has a male vessel and that fact is very important and must not be forgotten. Castiel's discomfort of and lack of a desire to sleep with a woman is not, for me, proof of homosexuality. For one, because there is no question of sexuality where Castiel is concerned because he is not a man. And for two, because his lack of desire to sleep with a random woman is not because he wants instead to sleep with a random man. I feel sleeping with a random man would make him extremely uncomfortable as well. He is not used to this sort of thing. 

Although, one could say that Castiel would prefer to sleep with a man; not just any man, but with Dean. Not because of Dean's gender but because Dean is Dean. Dean is the one Castiel is attached to and bound to. It's not a gender thing, it's a soul thing. If Castiel did want to have relations with Dean, I feel it would be out of curiosity and because Dean is the only human he really has a connection with. I feel if Dean had presented Castiel with two options; do you want to sleep with that woman or do you want to sleep with me, he'd choose Dean because of their connection. Things are different for light beings. Humans base things more on the physical body whereas light beings don't always have a physical body and so base things instead on the soul.

Who are we to say that Castiel even views Dean as having a physical body, considering he is a light being? He may view things entirely different than a human; he may only see Dean's energy and not his physical body. Dean's energy would be genderless as well. He may be able to perceive Dean through Jimmy's eyes, as Jimmy, a human, would see him, but ultimately he is a light being and vision is different for them than it is for us.

And Dean wanting to sleep with a woman is not proof against Destiel. Just as Dean sleeping with a random woman isn't against Anna. Dean just isn't the "one person" kind of guy. Even if he did love Castiel, I doubt he would resist being with women because of that.

At this point I don't see anything romantic between Dean and Castiel. They are being portrayed here as friends more than anything. Perhaps even brotherly, as if Castiel has taken Sam's place. If there are any sort of romantic feelings, they would be coming from Castiel, who ultimately would have a different idea of what love is compared to Dean in the first place. I imagine if it were up to Castiel, he'd just be around Dean and that would be enough for him. I don't feel Castiel is at the point where he would want to have sexual relations. He may be curious if anything but I don't feel he is "aching" for it.

DEAN The hell did you do?

CASTIEL I don't know. I just looked her in the eyes and told her it wasn't her fault that her father Gene ran off. It was because he hated his job at the post office.

Proof that Castiel does indeed read minds. So he knows what Dean thinks and feels. So that moment in Season 4 when Dean was asleep and dreaming of Hell, and Castiel asked what he was dreaming about, he already knew. Which brings me to the fact that, he only asked in case Dean wanted to talk about it.

This scene also proves that Castiel doesn't care for physical intimacy as much as he cares about a merging of energies. Castiel's penetrative stare, that is indeed what he does when he's going into the mind. I love how I picked up on these things and they're actually proving to be true. The writers are really good. Either way, Castiel, instead of having sex with the woman, stared into her eyes and "linked" with her. For Castiel, I feel this is the equivalent of sex, as I have said in previous reviews. And he's done this with Dean many, many times.

Considering Castiel is an angel, a light being, it makes this pairing interesting to analyze. It'd be easy to analyze if it were merely from Dean's end, being human. But because Castiel doesn't go by human rules, it's quite a challenge.

According to Castiel, his relationship with Dean could be what a human would consider romantic.

One thing that is the same, whether angel or human, is love. There's no confusion in that area. And Castiel definitely feels that for Dean. His actions and even his statements have made that clear. Uriel has come out and said Castiel likes Dean. Castiel has said he began feeling emotions, because of Dean. Gotten close to Dean. He sacrificed everything he ever knew for Dean. Ask yourself; if you were to sacrifice everything and everyone you ever knew, for one person, wouldn't it be clear that you had some very strong feelings for them?

DEAN Oh, nothing. Whoo. It's been a long time since I've laughed that hard. It's been more than a long time. Years.

This could be seen as Dean really enjoying spending time with Castiel. Though I feel that they were trying to portray, here, that Dean is happier without Sam around. None the less, Castiel was the reason he laughed, not Sam's absence. Sam's absence just made it easier for him to "let go". Though I don't consider this proof for or against Castiel because the attention is being brought to this because of Sam, not so much Castiel. The writers wanted to make it clear that Dean feels better when he doesn't have to worry about Sam. Either way, he is definitely bonding with Castiel and their friendship now feels more solid.

********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

SCENE 6

DEAN drives. CASTIEL rides shotgun.

DEAN You okay?

CASTIEL is silent.

DEAN Look, I'll be the first to tell you that this little crusade of yours is nuts, but I do know a little something about missing fathers.

CASTIEL What do you mean?

DEAN I mean there were times when I was looking for my dad when all logic said that he was dead, but I knew in my heart he was still alive. Who cares what some ninja turtle says, Cas, what do you believe?

CASTIEL I believe he's out there.

DEAN Good. Then go find him.

CASTIEL What about you?

DEAN What about me? I don't know. Honestly, I'm good. I can't believe I'm saying that, but I am, I'm really good.

CASTIEL Even without your brother?

DEAN Especially without my brother. I mean, I spent so much time worrying about the son of a bitch. I mean, I've had more fun with you in the past twenty-four hours than I've had with Sam in years, and you're not that much fun. It's funny, you know, I've been so chained to my family, but now that I'm alone, hell, I'm happy.

DEAN looks over; the shotgun seat is empty. His smile falters.

********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

DESTIEL REVIEW FOR SCENE 6

DEAN You okay?

CASTIEL is silent.

Dean is looking to comfort Castiel, just as Castiel has always sought to comfort Dean (as best he could given the circumstances). An important turning point.

DEAN Look, I'll be the first to tell you that this little crusade of yours is nuts, but I do know a little something about missing fathers.

CASTIEL What do you mean?

Just as I mentioned in review of 4x10, that Anna and Dean can not only relate to the father issues, but Castiel as well. Proof still of the similarities between Dean/Anna and Dean/Castiel.

DEAN Especially without my brother. I mean, I spent so much time worrying about the son of a bitch. I mean, I've had more fun with you in the past twenty-four hours than I've had with Sam in years, and you're not that much fun. It's funny, you know, I've been so chained to my family, but now that I'm alone, hell, I'm happy.

DEAN looks over; the shotgun seat is empty. His smile falters.

Dean saying he's had more fun with Castiel in 24 hours than he's had with Sam in years. Though he states here that it's not because Castiel is "fun", but rather, because he doesn't have to worry about Sam. So I can't consider this proof towards Destiel because of that.

Dean says he's happy when he's alone but once Castiel is gone, his smile disappears. This could be based more on Sam being gone than Castiel being gone, or it could be related to both. Either way, he was smiling and happy just before Castiel disappears and he realized he was alone again. Perhaps Castiel served as a good distraction.

********************************************************************************************************************************************************

DESTIEL REVIEW FOR EPISODE OVERALL

From Castiel’s point of view, I think it’s clear that he loves Dean. I don’t feel he is seeking anything from Dean on a physical level. I feel it’s quite pure and innocent, though intense and overpowering.

From Dean’s side, I feel he considers Castiel to be a good friend at this point and that he enjoys spending time with him. Nervousness with closeness and referencing gay couples may or may not mean something. At this point, from Dean’s end it is up to the viewer why he reacts in certain ways. Though according to me, he does not love Castiel, but may have imagined Castiel in certain sexual situations. Dean does this with just about everyone.

DESTIEL RATING AFTER EPISODE (based on how believable): 4.5/10

[consumingromance]

Pred and Prejudice: 4 In which a predator has a big breakfast and needs to work it off

Friday morning, Roque  pulled up in the company car, a tiny hatchback that was plastered with advertising for the company in garish colors, and angled to park on the road in front of his client’s house. Right in front of several campaign signs.

He felt his stomach drop when he saw the signs. Suddenly he was feeling very unwelcome in that house, even though he was there to work. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised. They were rich pred people, that was his demographic. It was just... they’d seemed really nice and he hoped maybe they were progressive or at least weren’t the kind of people who would vote for someone who openly supported legalizing eating prey.

Now more than ever, he knew it was probably a good thing he’d turned Alex down. He could never date anyone who supported that orange jackal. Not that Alex necessarily supported his parents’ politics, but Roque  wasn’t about to ask. He sighed heavily, and hopped out of the car to gather his supplies.

He entered in his code at the front door, and waited as the electronic lock whirred and opened the door. He was sort of dreading seeing Alex now, but it was early enough he probably wouldn’t have to worry about that for a few hours.

He found himself tiptoeing into the entryway. It was so big and empty, barren in that stark sort of way rich people liked to call minimalist. He felt exposed, the place was too open, it felt unsafe.  Why did he feel like a thief sneaking in here? It was the same house. They were good employers. But now he felt unwelcome, maybe hated behind his back or conditionally tolerated as long as he walked a clear subservient line.

Just do your job, and remember to breathe.

Roque  didn’t see Alex at all that that day-- was he even home? Roque  even checked the garage to see if there was a car in the third spot. He did so quickly since he wasn’t supposed to be in there-- and he didn't want to get caught and accused of being up to something. A third car was still there, sitting in the dark. He shut the door and got back to work.

He felt kind of guilty. He hoped Alex wasn’t hiding in his room on his account. This was Alex’s home, he shouldn’t feel uncomfortable in his own space. Roque  also didn’t like the idea that Alex didn’t want to talk to him at all anymore-- It sort of hurt, like Alex was blocking him from his life completely just because Roque  had told him ‘no.’

It reminded him of middle school when someone had outed him and after that no one would talk to him. But now it was because he didn’t want to date a guy--well didn’t want to date this guy…. More precisely, because he did want to date this guy but couldn’t because his paranoia meant he wasn’t allowed to do anything remotely uncertain or exciting. He remembered the signs in the front yard and shivered. Or potentially dangerous.

Except...thinking about Alex made him happy. The idea of them together made him feel sort of warm inside. He'd spent the week thinking about Alex and got through his days imagining scenarios where things could be different and he'd been able to say yes. Then his nights were filled with dreams about Alex...dreams that never come true because he’d never done anything like that with anyone and he certainly couldn’t think about having something like that with Alex.

Roque  knew a relationship with Alex was... problematic to say the least, and that he should be glad Alex was respecting his boundaries and leaving him alone. But did it have to be this alone? He left the house without seeing Alex once, and wondered if Alex had been thinking about him, too.

He spent the weekend trying to not think about Alex, and he’d tried not to get his hopes up when he returned to the house first thing Monday morning. He actually saw Alex, up and dressed before Roque  had gotten out of his car. He passed Roque on the way out without so much as looking at him, which further supported the feeling that Alex was avoiding him.

He didn't see him again that day.

Alex was finishing breakfast when he got there on Friday, only to head upstairs to apparently sit out Roque ' cleaning session in his room. Roque  tried not to let it get to him. But found himself calling out to him.

“Hey, Alex?” he called

Alex paused, turning back to look at him.

“You know, you don’t have to avoid me,” he said. “Really. It’s your house and I...I don’t hate you or anything. In fact you’re pretty nice and I appreciate that you’re trying to be respectful but you can still talk to me and be out here doing whatever it is you normally do.”

“Oh,” said Alex, rubbing the back of his head and grinning sheepishly. “Um...yeah..sure.” He then turned to head upstairs.

Roque  sighed heavily. He guessed it was too late to even think about being friendly with Alex. He decided to focus on work as he hoisted the bucket of hot water and mixed his cleaning solution. The company’s motto was getting things done the old fashioned way, on hands and knees. He wondered if maybe the reason so many cleaning services were staffed by prey was they tended be smaller, better to get closer to the ground. Especially if they shifted to half-form.

He got into a rhythm of scrubbing and lost himself in the work. Soon he began to sing softly, careful not to be loud enough to wake Alex.

“Country roads, take me home, West Furginia”

“Good looking and a good singer? That is just unfair,” came a familiar voice.

Roque  jumped, startled out of his scrubbing as he turned to look at Alex in surprise.In the process he slipped on the wet floor and reflexively grabbed at the bucket pulling it over in the process.

“Whoa!” Roque  cried, just before the water splashed over him. He shifted in alarm as the bucket overturned, assuming a now-soaked fuzzy half-form.

“Whoa, are you okay?” Alex asked through barely contained laughed. He walked over and offered out a hand, grinning.

Roque  made a grumbling sound almost like a small growl and glared up at Alex. His soaked ears curled back in annoyance as Alex continued to chuckle.

“Sorry, I can’t help it,” said Alex, “you look so cute when you’re annoyed.”

Roque  brushed aside Alex’s hand and got to his feet on his own. “I’m fine,” he said.

"Sorry there, dude, didn't mean to scare you... again.”

“"I wasn't scared!" he said, unable to suppress the slight squeak in his voice. Alex's grin widened at the sound, and Roque ' ears fell even further back. He didn't even know they could go that far back, but Alex managed to rile him up with one stupid (And admittedly good-looking) smile. "I wasn't scared! You’re just...really quiet and sneaky. Why were you sneaking up on me?”

“I wasn’t? I was just walking and you weren’t paying attention to your surroundings. I thought prey were supposed to be good at that. I don’t know if you’d survive long in the wild.” Roque ’s glare darkened and Alex held his hands up. “Hey - kidding! And I’m sorry for laughing. This is just the most entertaining thing I’ve seen all day.”

He tossed a hand towel at Roque , which was big enough to use as a towel in his current form. It flopped over his head, and Roque  grabbed it, grudgingly drying off.

“Funniest thing you’ve seen all day? It’s like ten in the morning,” muttered Roque  as he scrubbed the water from the insides of his ears.

“Yeah,” said Alex, “This is literally the first funny thing I’ve seen today and it’s hilarious. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get my breakfast and then start my workout.” He turned with a grin and opened the fridge, head disappearing behind the door for a minute. “I’ll try not to sneak around too much.”

He winked again as he pulled out a container which he put on the counter. He opened it to reveal half a rotisserie chicken, then turned to grab a plate from a cupboard.

“You’re not going to eat that whole thing for breakfast, are you?” Roque  asked, halfway joking, just to have something to talk about other than his embarrassing fall. “Didn’t you already eat?”

“Only some cereal, and I’m still hungry,” Alex laughed again. “Besides, I need protein for my workout,” he replied as he pulled the chicken from the container with a fork.  He put it on his plate and sat down at the kitchen island, still watching Roque as he started to pull the meat from the carcass.

Roque  wasn't sure what to say about that, so he decided to focus on composing himself enough to return to full human form. He was still a bit damp, but the towel had helped. He hung it up, then picked up his brush to get back to work.

But Alex was still watching him, and he could feel heat returning to his cheeks. An entire leftover chicken for breakfast? Was that really normal for this house? He knew he should get back to work, but it was hard to focus now with Alex’s distracting presence right behind him, watching him.

“Is me scrubbing the floor really that interesting?” asked Roque , dryly.

“Not particularly, but there’s not much else to watch,” Alex said. He tore off a chicken leg and proceeded to lower the whole thing into his mouth. He closed his teeth around it and pulled the bone out, sucking it clean. Licking his lips, he asked, “Is watching me eat that interesting?”

“Kind of…” Roque  admitted. “Do you normally eat like that or are under the delusion that that’s attractive?”

“Mostly just wanted to see your face,” said Alex. “Since you were already staring, I figured I might as well give you something to look at.”

Roque ' ears flattened as Alex laughed again, and he deliberately turned around to break eye contact. Of course, that meant there was a pred-- a very alert, very watchful pred-- at his back, but he really, really didn't want Alex to see his blush. He cleared his throat and spent the rest of Alex's second breakfast focusing on scrubbing the floor.

Alex finished eating soon enough and disappeared upstairs, only to reappear a few minutes later in skin tight yoga pants and completely shirtless.He grabbed a water bottle from the fridge before heading into the living room, well within view of the kitchen and dining room.

Roque  starred.

He couldn't help it. Apparently Alex hadn't been joking about working out, and it was just his luck that the workout session was going to be right in front of him. He really, really did not want to get caught staring.

Alex laid down a mat in the living room,and began his stretches, warming up in slow, steady movements. The open-floor plan meant there was nothing to stop Roque ' gaze from following every shift of muscle, and every twist of Alex's hips.

He coughed, trying to cover up his embarrassment, but the noise got Alex's attention (as if he hadn't realized Roque  would be able to see him, the jerk.) "What are you doing?" he asked, glad to hear that he sounded disinterested and definitely not distracted by the way Alex bent his body into an A-frame.

“Yoga, what’s it look like?” asked Alex.

“I thought you going to work out meant….like… going out... like… I mean, don’t you have a gym membership or a country club or something?”

Alex grinned, pulling back into a pose that showed off his well-toned arms and abs. Roque  flushed as Alex watched him, head tilted in interest “Trying to kick me out of my own house, Roque ? Am I that distracting?”

“N-n-no,” he said, biting his lower lip as he glowered. He couldn’t quite bring himself to look away, though.

I don’t need to go all the way to the gym, I can do push-ups and sit-ups here," Alex replied, turning into a new stretch. "If I need some weights, then maybe I'd go work out on the machine, but I don’t want to get too into it right after eating. Need to give my body time to digest.

He held still in the pose, giving Roque  a good view of his profile and the taut line of his body. From all appearances he was totally engrossed with the form, but Roque  could see the smile on Alex's face because he knew that he had Roque ' full attention.

After you eat your body diverts blood flow to the stomach when you’re digesting, but if you’re working out, then you need blood flow to your muscles," he said. "If you’re trying to do both at the same time, you might make yourself sick. So I’m just going to warm up with some nice, gentle stretches.

He flowed down shifting into a position where he lay on his belly and lifted his chest upward on his arms, chest arched backwards and then he lifted himself up so only this thighs touched the mat.

Roque  forced himself to look away, sighing darkly under his breath. Alex had to be the single most obnoxious guy he had ever met in his life, ever. If Alex wasn’t in the room, Roque  would have made an ‘ugh’ sound to rival a middle school girl. As it was, all he could do was force himself to focus on his work. Still, he couldn’t help looking up occasionally and being a bit awed by Alex’s flexibility.

After the yoga ended, Alex moved on to crunches, which were easier to ignore. But then he started on push ups, and that wasn’t as easy to ignore. Alex’s back curved into his butt in a very distracting way. He’d also had opted to keep his knees on the mat in favor of half-push ups, rather than full length. Roque  was pretty sure Alex would be able to do normal pushups if he wanted to, but he bit his tongue to keep from saying anything that could be construed as flirting. He tasted blood when Alex started lowering himself down to the mat, adding a twist of his hips to the simple exercise that made it look slightly obscene. Roque  was definitely staring now.

Damn it - now I’m the one acting like a creep. Roque  scolded himself. He’s just going about his business. He probably does this all the time. Me being here isn’t any reason to break up his routine. Although he would need to vacuum in the living room eventually, so Alex would have to get out of the way at some point.

At the moment Roque ’s cell phone rang. He scrambled to pull it out of his pocket and checked the number. This afternoon's client, so he had to take this.

"Hello," he said, pausing his work. "Roque ! Oh, I'm so glad I caught you-- I'm sorry but we've had a family emergency and I have no idea when we'll be back in town. I've already called the agency to handle things, but I wanted to make sure you knew not to come by."

"Alright, thank you for letting me know," Roque  said, then added, "I hope everything's ok."

He slipped his phone back in his pocket. Then he realized Alex had stopped his set to look over at him.

"I'm sorry," said Roque . "it was another client. I'll get back to work." He didn’t want to look like he slacked off.

Alex chuckled at Roque ’ apology. “No worries, I’m not going to get mad at you over a phone call.” He paused, getting to his feet. “I don’t want to pry, but is something wrong?”

Roque  shook his head, smiling softly. "No...well, maybe," said Roque , "for my afternoon clients. They canceled on me, family emergency. I hope everything's all right.”

Alex’s ears perked up a bit. ”Oh yeah? That’s too bad. Um...” He scratched the back of his head, looking away for a moment. He went quiet for a second, as if thinking, and then gave Roque  a smile. “Uh, if you have nothing else to do... Maybe you could stick around for lunch? Hang out a little?”

Roque  froze. Stick around for lunch . Damn it. Had he just told a pred no one would be expecting him anywhere this afternoon? All of his worst fears he’d had in the very beginning came flooding back.

Alex winced and held up his hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that ,” he said. “Geeze, now you look really terrified.”

“I’m not- I’m sorry,” said Roque . “It’s fine. Sorry.”

“Don’t lie to me,” said Alex. “Did I really put it like that?  Of course you took ‘ stay for lunch ’ wrong. You’re prey, I’m a pred, and I should probably make a mental note ever use the words ‘you’ and ‘for lunch’ or any other meal in the same sentence.”

Roque  actually laughed, some of the tension easing away as Alex tripped over himself as he tried to backpedal on his poorly phrased offer.

"Yeah, so... lunch is us, eating together," Alex clarified, slight flush on his cheeks. "Lunch is not you and it would be nice to have some company."

"Um...I...thank you for the invite,” said Roque , cautiously, “but I couldn't. Like I said..."

“I-it’s no trouble if you want to. I, uh, was thinking of ordering a pizza, and the place I like only does full size pizzas and if I do that I’ll end up eating the whole thing myself. Better to have someone to share with, right?”

Roque  smiled nervously. He didn’t want to have to tell him no again. Not when he regretted having to turn him down the first time. He also really did like pizza.

Alex seemed to take his hesitation as no response meant no, and he deflated a little.“I sound like an idiot…” said Alex. He hung his head. “I’m sorry. I talk a lot when I’m nervous. I’d just...really love to just hang out when you’re not busy working. Nothing else.” He held up his hands in front of him as if to surrender. “I promise, I have no intention to try to eat you or any other unwanted advances.”

Roque  blushed, ears flicking back. He didn’t want to seem hysterical. Jumping at every shadow like it was about to gobble him up. He hadn’t really thought...maybe he was just a little worried but he didn’t want Alex to think that he was paranoid or that he’d never trust him because he was a pred. Even if he really didn’t fully trust most preds.  “I- I didn’t think-”

Alex chuckled. “Chill, I’m kidding, I’m kidding-- well, not about the invite. Offer still stands, if you’re interested.”

"You're really generous," said Roque , looking away for a moment before meeting Alex’s eyes again. "I mean...I guess if I'm off work I'm free to do what I want to do. Hang out with a friend?" He smiled softly. "It's just weird, hanging out somewhere I work. Like, I'm not… And you’re...You know…” He shrugged and gestured vaguely “We're kind of from different worlds."

Alex’s response was immediate-- his ears perked forward, and tail gave a hopeful wag as he realized that Roque  hadn’t said no again. Roque  felt himself returning that smile.

He couldn’t say no, not when it would make Alex’s ears and tail droop and wipe away that smile. Sharp teeth or no, Roque  wanted to see that smile. Yeah, they were from different worlds but did that have to be a bad thing? Different worlds coming together, something new, dangerous maybe...but maybe not so dangerous and definitely exciting. Could staying for lunch really hurt?

[worlds--avenged]

Professor Tom: Chapter 7

Summary: This wasn’t the first time a student had fallen for him. Hell, it wasn’t the first time this year. But something etched deep in his bones told him that she was different. Surely there could be no harm in talking to her after class… Right?

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A/N: Sorry I had to repost. I left out a part and when I went to edit it, I accidentally clicked “delete”. aaaaanyways, here’s chapter 7! Tell me what you think!

For some reason, Sebastian’s words bother him. His mind thrums at the thought of him holding true to his promise and not exposing his indiscretions and not ruining his career for the sake of… Whatever it was that had happened.

The other part of him sinks. He sits in front of his second year English Literature class as they take their quarterly test and stares as Rebecca’s empty desk, wondering what her intentions were when she initially came on to him. Panic sets in.

What if Seb was right? What if she just needed the grade boost and she thought that fucking him would be the easiest way to do it? And now that she did, did that mean he had an obligation to pass her?

The morals in him say ‘no’, but his history with that word left more than just a bitter taste in his mouth. The question remains, would it happen again?

It begins to eat away at him as the class drags on and eventually Tom stands from his desk and excuses himself, reminding the class to keep the noise level down while he’s gone. He doesn’t even bother to ring a proctor. This wouldn’t take long. He closes the door behind him and walks to Sebastian’s office.

It’s tucked away near the exit of the school, a funny little half-room that seemed almost like an architectural afterthought. At least there was a window, otherwise the space would be unbearably tiny and dim. Like a prison cell.

Dated posters of long-passed soccer tournaments hang on the wall adjacent to the door. From the outside, it looks cluttered, but inside, it’s a well-organized den of his intimidating winning streak as head coach.

He doesn’t think about knocking for a second when he enters the room. He wish he had.

“Seb, I need to talk to you,” His voice grinds to a halt the second he walks into his office. Seb has Nina Griffin pinned against his desk, her skirt hiked up to her hips, and her underwear dangling off one shoeless foot. Her cheeks are flushed and her mouth is agape in pleasure. Her expression quickly turns to horror when she realizes that the two of them aren’t alone. Sebastian tries to remove himself from the situation slowly, as if Tom was going to go for the jugular if he alerted him too quickly of his all too glaring presence between Nina’s legs. Nina smoothes her skirt over her thighs and clears her throat gently. Sebastian lets her pass with a bored look towards Tom.

“Stay there,” He orders while her pants grow softer and quieter while she becomes aware of her English professor’s anger and confusion towards the whole situation. “I’ll write you a note.”

Sebastian actually helps her off the desk so he can find some scrap paper, scribbling a bullshit note and tearing it from the stack, handing it to her. He picks up her bag off the floor, blocking Tom’s view of his students for a moment until she steps behind Coach Stan with her underwear balled up in her hand. She slowly marches towards the exit that Tom’s blocking, trying to hide the shame that frames her features.

“Thanks, Coach Stan.” The door closes behind her and Tom hears her break out into a run. He stares dumbfounded as Sebastian simply takes a seat behind his desk and clicks his pen.

“You had a question?”

He’s quaking from the shock, but he’s even more infuriated that Seb had lied to him. That he had led him to believe that he’d lost respect for Tom because he fucked a student. That he had given him so much shit while he himself was sleeping with one of his students. Just before he starts to verbally accost him mercilessly, a thought pops up in his head. Something from one of Nina’s creative writing pieces a few months ago. Something about a hotel room. It’s quickly gone.

“Uh, yeah, what the fuck?” Tom tries his best not to scream. Sebastian just tilts his head and smirks.

“Please, you’re not the only one giving out extra credit.” Sebastian crosses his legs and keeps his composure, almost as if he’s mocking Tom’s inability to maintain his. Tom slams his closed fist on the desk and Sebastian almost jumps at the noise it makes.

“She’s not even in any of your lectures!”

“Neither was I, but we’ve played that game before.” Sebastian retaliates. Tom is on the precipice of screaming at that comment. There’s a reason he and Seb never worked out in the first place. The lack of concern on his face knocks Tom for a loop and worsens his own anxiety.

“Did you honestly come into my office during one of your lectures to yell at me about Nina or did you want something else?” Tom paused for a lack of a more civil discussion.

“I was hoping I could talk to you without making this any more complicated than it already is.” Sebastian blinked.

“How is it any different now?” The rage returned.

“You just fucked a student in school!” Tom felt the blood rush to his face, incapable of separating the student who sat in his class from the quivering body sat on Sebastian’s desk not moments ago. His mind flashed to Rebecca. Damn it.

“Almost fucked, you sort of interrupted that.” Sebastian actually looks disappointed for a moment, and Tom increasingly felt like a hypocrite with each comment that he made. A thought crossed his mind.

“Wait. WHAT? Is that who you’ve been fucking this entire time?” Tom’s mind spun. Late nights smelling like someone’s perfume. The coat by the door this morning.

“Yes,” Sebastian glares with enough intent to kill. “Do you want me to set up the PA so you can announce it to the whole university?”

“Jeez, no, Seb, I’m sorry,” Tom ran a hand through his hair. Rebecca Campbell. Nina Griffin. What the fuck? “I’m- it’s… This is a huge fucking problem, dude.”

“Not necessarily,” Sebastian pontified. “They’re both legal and more than willing.” The rational side of Tom saw the explanation for what it was-- a sorry excuse to rail whoever he wanted. But the friend in him sympathized with the situation. He just wished he could understand the lackadaisical approach the Sebastian had to this whole ordeal. 

“Besides,” He reclined in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk. “It’s not like they’re teenagers. They’re adults, same as us.” But his words fell on deaf ears as Tom ran a hand through his hair and tried to erase the all-too fresh memory of his favorite student stripped down on his best friend’s desk. Sebastian must have sensed Tom’s unease.

“You have a lot to learn about this, don’t you?” Sebastian mused. Tom hung his head numbly.

“I wish I didn’t.” Sebastian leaned back in his chair.

“Then stop.” He replies as if it was that easy. As if he could forget the sight of Rebecca, shirt open and hair mussed, begging for release. As if he could forget the sweet taste of her as she came. He would have to remove the part of his brain that she occupied. He came to the same conclusion.

A knock at the door startled them both. Sebastian slicked back his hair.

“We’ll talk later.” Tom nods dumbly. The solution was stupidly simple. He just had to stop.

____________________________

“Liz has work study again.” With a swish of her hair, Nina takes a seat across from Rebecca. Rebecca does a double take when she seen Nina holding her underwear in her hand.

“I thought you were going to see Coach Stan…” Her smile fades when the realization hits her. “Jesus Nina, is Coach Stan the mystery guy?”

“Don’t give me any grief, Miss ‘I did Professor Holland in a chair’.” Nina scolds, waving her underwear in one hand. Rebecca pales when Nina drops in on that narrative. Not her proudest moment, but certainly the sweetest. There really weren’t secrets between them anymore. Nina wiggles in her seat and Rebecca knows that she’s shimmying her underwear up her legs. She feels dirty by proxy.

“You couldn’t have gotten dressed before you left?” Nina pulls a water bottle out of her bag and downs a swig.

“Couldn’t. We were interrupted.” Rebecca narrows her eyes.

“Then why are you not being marched outside with an angry mob forming behind Coach Stan?” Nina scratched her neck.

“Because then Professor Holland would have to explain exactly what he saw without spilling the beans about you two.”

“Tom walked in on you?” Rebecca stares back with wide eyes. “Did he say anything?” Nina shrugged.

“Not really. I booked it outta there as soon as he walked in. I did hear him yelling after I left,” She frowned. “Kinda hypocritical of him, though. Y’know, all things considered.” Rebecca panics.

“Do you think they’re gonna-” Nina shrugs.

“Whatever they want to, really.” Rebecca paused to look at Nina’s emotionless face.

“And you’re not jealous?” Nina laughs.

“It’s not like we’re dating,” The bell rings and Nina’s amusement is hidden momentarily. “You have a lot to learn about this, don’t you?”

The other students make a beeline for the parking lot, but the locker room calls to them for another two hours of fitness testing. Another two hours of Coach Stan knowing what he did the other night.

[oc-fics]

~On the Edge~

Fanfic for @skipperwing, featuring The Crimson Fly (Below cut for length)

In retrospect, wearing a mask and leaping out into a stranger’s presence in the worst part of town could be misinterpreted as an attempted mugging. With a wry grumble, the Crimson Fly rubbed their aching shoulder. That old lady must have had bricks in her handbag! That’d be the last time CF would offer help with someone’s groceries. Well… last time for that particular night. Unless someone else was struggling with groceries. Then maybe. Probably. Okay, they’d definitely get help.

Blasted moral compass.

Steady dripping echoed in the depths of the city’s storm drains as the costumed kid trudged along the fractured sidewalks, choosing to save energy on flashy leaps and general acrobatics for the moment an audience was present. The cat following behind didn’t count. Yet. As desperately boring as the evening was becoming, though, no crime on the radar was a good thing, right? In theory it was. Of course it was. But… quiet nights were also uncomfortable; allowing whispering doubts to creep their miasma straight into any self confidence about the sort of difference a masked vigilante might be making in the world.

“Hey, kid! Halloween was last month. What the heck are you doing in a place like this?”

CF blinked and turned toward the voice. Just a patrolling officer.

“Uh,” CF paused to pick at the neck of their costume, stalling. “You know. Fighting the good fight? Keeping watch over a sleeping city? Trying to lose the cat who’s been following me for an hour because I smell like tuna because I fell in the dumpster behind the fish market because I misjudged a jump and it’s not like I need a reminder about-“

“Breathe, kid.” the officer interrupted with a wince.

“Right. Whew…”

“Officer Edge,” the badge on his chest was indicated by way of an introduction. “I’m just glad you’re not, ya know, a goblin or somethin’. This is a spooky shift, I’ll tell ya. It’s really been rustling my jimmies if you know what I mean. The jimmies. They aaaaare rustled. Probably best for you to scoot along home.”

Was that an attempt at humor? Something to calm a wandering child? How irritating. It was only sometimes that the mighty Crimson Fly was denied entry to a PG-13 movie, and maturity had nothing to do with a number anyway! Couldn’t the cop see the tricep definition? Did he need a ticket to the gun show??? Deflating a little from the internal argument, the Crimson Fly decided to forgo making too many assumptions just yet and simply responded with a forced chuckle of recognition. Pick your battles to win your wars. Time to make an exit.

“Thanks, officer Edge. I’ll do that.”

“Sounds like a plan,” the officer smiled. “OH! But stay away from 3rd Street, yeah? That’s where we’ve seen all those goblins, and holy moley you do not want to run into one of those! They bite. Dunno why I said that. The bus stop outta here isn’t anywhere near 3rd Street. Oh, well! Have a good night, pajama dude!”

As the officer turned on his heel, pajama dude squinted up at the street sign. 2nd Street was spelled out in peeling white font, paralleling 3rd Street just through a squat row of various businesses. Well, now it had to be investigated! To keep up appearances, CF marched in a completely different direction long enough to be certain that nobody would follow… besides that cat!!! GO HOME ALREADY!!!

Maybe up and over would be the best approach. With a bracing hop in place, they sucked in a harsh breath and leaped up to scale the wall of a tall apartment building, finger pads stuck fast to the aged brick. It was working. It wouldn’t fail tonight. One hand after the other… concentrate… don’t look down. It played on repeat as a personal mantra of success. Soon enough, a perfect height presented itself to launch in a flailing arc to force a fall or flight response spasming through their body to trigger the buzzing wings into action!

“Wooo! Aha, yes!”

Adrenaline pumped hard, assuring a safe flight (prompted mostly through sheer exhilaration).

“That’d better not be you, kid!” officer Edge called up, alerted by the sudden whoop of victory.

“Don’t worry! It’s not!” CF yelled back cheekily.

“Okay good!” was not the response expected, but it was the one given.

Perhaps this particular fellow was not the brightest taco in the apple stand. Shocked and delighted by the lack of obstacles regardless, the Crimson Fly darted in a quick zig-zag to the next street and came to light on a fire escape. Sputtering street lights offered little in the way of illumination. It was barely enough to drive the heavy shade of evening into submission even in its smallest doses.

“Allllright, ‘goblins’. What are you really?” CF mumbled quietly, struggling to ignore the funk the mask was giving off from earlier dumpster diving.

Thankfully, their patience wasn’t tested too heavily. A soft creak sounded below. Action! The warehouse next door rumbled and squeaked in protest as a metal grate was shoved aside to offer exit to a hoard of at least two dozen… goblins. Goblins?! They were real??? Actually real?! Whoa. This was a little above the Crimson Fly’s pay grade, but if it wasn’t looked into… moral… compass… argh.

Once the last creature had lumbered off into the night, CF nabbed the opportunity to drop and roll through the door before it screeched shut.

Giant tubes filled with viscous red fluids were sprawled across the interior, each with its own goblin creature suspended inside. Even in the state of supposed slumber, they were a creepy sight to behold. The vigilante slowly reached out as if to touch the container when a voice interrupted the bad decision.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you!”

CF spun in place, fists balled and legs poised, only to realize that it was officer Edge. The posture relaxed fractionally. At least the fuzz was showing up to help. A little action beforehand would have been more fun, but at the end of the day the authorities were doing their job. Weren’t they? Where was the backup? You were supposed to have backup in a raid, right?

“I told you to go home. I didn’t account for your clearly crippling disability of selective hearing.” Edge droned, his voice losing all of the bumbling, friendly overtones. “Since you’re here, though, perhaps… an opinion?”

“Yeah! My opinion is that you’re a crooked cop! You’re involved in this!” the Crimson Fly asserted, pointing an accusatory finger.

“We’re well past that, try to keep up.” Edge sighed, signaling for the returning hoard to close off the exit. “This is my brainchild. Aren’t you tired of seeing the world as it is? Don’t you find it demoralizing to know that sometimes there’s just nothing you can do to upset the apple cart for the better?”

“Oh-kaaaaaay? What do goblin monsters have to do with any of that?” CF asked.

“If you release enough pigeons, people will never notice the dove in the flock.” Edge replied with a strained smile. “While my goblins raid the streets, it will cause a bump in police activity by necessity. The media will be in a frenzy, spreading fear and unrest like a disease. Panicked people make poor decisions, you know. Very poor decisions.”

“…And?”

“And I’m afraid that’s all you’re getting for now. I’m not about to monologue the entirety of my plans. That would be foolish.” Edge smirked, signaling for the ranks to close in.

From the way the beasts had lumbered about on their initial exit of the building, CF would have thought them slow and stupid. On the contrary, they gave him a run for his money in a big way with their synchronized attack formations! He dodged, leaped, kicked, and flew, only barely keeping a step ahead of them to pick off each assailant one by one.

“Whaddaya think of that?” the kid panted as the last goblin tumbled dramatically to the ground.

“I think they’ve done a splendid job of herding you like a sheep among many collies.” Edge answered brightly.

A crane above suddenly released a moderate stack of wooden pallets directly on top on the startled hero. It fell with a splintering crack, splatting CF flat to the floor. All of the air left their lungs in a great whoosh, leaving them gasping in a desperate attempt to breathe as they crawled from the debris. Unfortunately, they only made it a few feet before a heavy foot pressed down on their back, halting any progress.

CF gave a strangled cry as the cuticle attaching wing joints to skin and muscle strained and stretched under the false officer’s boot. Wheezing breaths stained the fabric of their mask with spittle and coppery blood. This was wrong. The good guy charges in and the bad guy is defeated in a blaze of fancy footwork and jabs. That’s how it works! That’s how it’s supposed to work! Panic seized their chest at the realization that nobody would be coming to break this up. A missing kid would be static noise in the news, lost in the rabble, and they would die here, crunched under someone’s shoe like a helpless bug.

Help me.

CF wriggled and bucked, only to be forced back into place by superior weight.

“You won’t get away with this…!”

“You’re probably going to die here, and that’s the best thing you can think of? Pretty tired line, don’t you think, sport?” Edge commiserated. “I’m not going to outright kill you, as an aside. But I would love to study you… this fffffun little anatomy addition you’ve got. The power of flight. What a time to be alive. Flying goblins would certainly help in the fear factor.”

For a moment, Edge seemed lost in thought, as though he’d completely forgotten the Crimson Fly was there. In his mind, he could see something beautiful in the near distance that wasn’t quite within the realm of reality. It wasn’t enough of a fantasy that he budged his boot even an inch, but is was enough that he was oblivious to the ball of flying claws and fluff that leaped down from the rafters above! With a tiny meow, er, war cry, the cat which had been following CF all night latched itself onto the villain’s back. Beads of blood peeked through the dark fabric of Edge’s uniform, prompting an angry curse and a fair bit of struggling. Just enough for an escape!

Goblins all around were staggering back to consciousness, cluttering the floor with unsteady bodies. All the afternoons trying to dart through a busy subway station were finally paying off! Closely followed by the cat, the Crimson Fly darted though the chaos and out into the street. They only had a moment at most, so they gathered up the cat and beat feet to the bus station, clambering aboard the roof of it just as it veered out of the side streets. It wasn’t until they’d moved from an off ramp onto the highway that the hammering in the little hero’s chest slowed, if only slightly.

“This guy’s gonna be harder to deal with than I thought…” they muttered, idly stroking the cat.

To be continued...?