#yes I was lazy on the background I didn’t want to put to much effort ijfi

[sasster]

🗣 ALIZEA+ cylion

Remember a couple of days ago when you were like reblog the meme, I’m gonna send them. And I was like lol no >:)

I GUESS you win.

[doc if you need it]

Send me a (🗣️) + two muses on my blog, and I’ll make them have a conversation whether they know each other or not!

--

Ailzea does not always remember his dreams, in fact if anyone were to ask him in the waking world he would likely insist that he doesn’t have any at all. But this dream is different, as though the dream itself or an entity within is aware that it is a dream, and so the lucidity leaked out to him in turn.

Nothing particularly interesting is happening in the dream, he sits in front of the brightly colored mural that lines a portion of his property staring at his hands. It is strange that his hands are empty, surely his subconscious would build something to put into them.

He does not like that his hands are empty, but he does not move to change that. A part of him is not sure that he could move even if he wanted to.

The world is foggy around him, the fog partially obscures the non-descript mural that he has seen one hundred times, and time and space fold around each other and run together like a thick oobleck. If thought goes into dreams, the architect of this one did not put in that much effort.

Suddenly the priest is not alone anymore, joined by a winged troll that seems to materialize out of the fog. A yellow blood, also dressed in priestly garb, one of his eyes glows a brilliant blue.

The pair stare at each other in silence for an eternity.

When it becomes clear that the yellow blood is not going to break that silence, Ailzea elects to speak.

“Do I have business with you?”

“You do not.”

“Is this a social visit, then?”

The stranger says nothing as he moves closer to the seated priest, he seems largely uninterested in the interaction that he himself initiated, letting his gaze linger on his own nails.

Ailzea finds himself drawn to the left eye, shining so vividly among a background that feels like a poorly constructed memory. He thinks that he must be the aforementioned lazy architect.

“I will take that as a yes,” he says as he shifts over to make room for the stranger to sit. “What is your name then, my child?”

He sits and the tip of one of his wings brushes against Ailzea’s hand. The tickle causes his fingers to twitch.

“My name is Cylion,” he finally answers as he crosses his legs. “Cylion Lefera.”

Both men speak in soft tones, but his words crash into Ailzea like a truck. Though his face would never betray him, anxiety takes root in his stomach.

Lefera is a name that he has not heard in quite some time. A part of him hoped he might never hear it again.

“Lefera.” He echoes.

“I want to know what you did to my father.”

Ailzea’s fingers twitch again.

“Your father.”

“I am certain that you are familiar with him.” There is frustration building in his tone as he comes face to face with the fact that he may just not have the right amount of patience for this interaction.

Ailzea nods slowly.

“So, what did you do to him?”

“Nothing worse than what he has done.”

“This is a non-answer.”

“I have killed and returned your father twice.”

Cylion’s wings twitch, he is already agitated. Ailzea thinks he looks even more like his ancestor when he wears his anger.

He says nothing.

“You’ve killed hundreds of trolls!” He raises his voice, but not by much, while exasperation flexes both sets of his wings. “That didn’t turn them into monsters that lose the functions of their body parts, that lose themselves in fits of rage!”

The fog that surrounds them begins to tinge an insidious purple color, the young priest seemingly manifesting the very same rage.

“My child, this is the first I am hearing of his deterioration. Though I am sorry that this is the case, I have nothing to do with it. I did nothing to your father,” Ailzea starts to explain as the world around them becomes consumed by the fog. He can barely see the troll a few feet in front of him. “But he was always a slave to his aggression.”

“This is not helpful.”

“I know.”

Cylion pinches the bridge of his nose and growls in frustration.

“I am sorry I could not be more helpful.”

Abruptly, Cylion stands and scoffs, much of him is now obscured by the fog.

“Perhaps we can talk about this in the waking world.”

“Not a chance.” He spits back with venom.

Ailzea nods his understanding.

“I will not be remembering this dream, will I?”

“Of course not.”

They make direct eye contact and Cylion is fully engulfed, only the blue light from his eye lingers behind.

Ailzea wakes with a start, but settles back into the bed, the weight of his children wrapped around him rooting him to it. A thick fog clings to his brain as he tries and fails to remember something important.

[autumnalwalker]

Find the Word Tag

Thank you for the tag, @writernopal.

My words were threshold, passion, empire, & serve.

Passing the tag to @talesofsorrowandofruin, @oh-no-another-idea, @ceph-the-ghost-writer, @monstrousfreedom, and, as always, an open tag for anyone else who may wish to join in.

Your words shall be spiral, selfish, wicked, & well

Threshold: Empty Names - 6 - Background Checks

He stops in the middle of the hallway in front of a blank spot on the wall between a four-armed suit of armor and a marble statue of a long-bearded wizard.  He reaches out and knocks a rhythm on the wall.  Once upon a time the passcode would change twice a year, but the teasing inside joke Carnette left it on last still causes the wall to slide open.  On the other side is a gilded spiral staircase descending down a long stone tube.  A good meter of empty space separates the edge of the stairs from the outer wall.  Room enough for the adventurous to slide the whole way down the banister or for the exceptionally durable to jump.

Sullivan puts a foot forward but hesitates on the threshold as memories rise unbidden.  Carnette showing off the false windows to other worlds spaced along the shaft to give the impression of descending from the heavens to deep beneath the sea during his first visit.  The ornate door at the bottom.  Being pushed over the edge of the banister.

Passion: The Archivist's Journal, Day 147

I told him that I think I made that story up.  Not in this life, but my old one.  I told myself I was “remembering more details” as I was preparing, when in fact I was newly adding them for the first time.  And really, I knew it even then, I just didn’t want to admit it.  Admit that I liked it because it was mine and not because it was good.  I don’t remember much of what I was before, but I know one thing I was not was a writer.  I never even wrote that story down before coming here.  It was just a fancy taking up space in my head.  A narrative extemporaneously woven and applied to a concert whose music I recall practically nothing of.  Never even mentioned to close friends (I think I had those).  Trying to tell it here was nothing more than an act of hubris.  Selfishness.  I wish to think of myself as creative, but I’m not capable of creating something good or worthwhile and that’s reflective of my own value.  And speaking the story aloud in a moment of self-delusion was flaunting the proof of that to the world.

And yes, I realize that is all nonsense.  No one is ever simply good at anything, especially creative arts.  Even discounting the fact that I’m probably (almost definitely) being harder on myself than is necessary or accurate, things take practice and work to make good.  And just because it felt like you put a whole lot of work and effort and passion into something, that doesn’t mean it was enough.  Or it was an adequate amount, but you’re still new so any early work is going to be rough.  That the apparent failure is something to learn from and grow moving forward.

But, you see, that’s the worst part.  The self-awareness.  The fact that I can recognize all those things and still not be able to recover and drag myself out of the emotional hole.  That I let it drive me to not want to even speak of it again.  That is the real proof of my weakness.  My laziness.  My cowardice.  My unworthiness.

Empire Kingdom: Empty Names side story - Once Upon A Time...

On those first few adventures the Rogue was quickly impressed by the Princess, who was even better at sneaking, running, and climbing than they were.  Almost as good at blending in too, even if he did always choose to be a boy every time.  And if the Princess was maybe a little bit more wicked than they were in the pranks he thought up to play on mean rich folks and thieves (the Rogue was not a Thief), at least it was people who deserved it and they were there to talk him back if it looked like the prank was going to go too far.

Yes, they had many fine times, the two youngsters with the run of the kingdom’s nighttime capital.  And if from time to time their adventures ran into complications that kept the Princess until morning, well, the Rogue may have been the better actor but the Princess was the better liar by far and kept the royal tutors and minders from suspecting aught was amiss.

Serve: The Archivist's Journal, Day 150

After a brief pause, Lin made a (forced?) chuckle and added that wouldn’t change the other of the two big reasons for not wanting to find a man to marry and have kids with.

I felt a twinge of a grin on one side of my mouth and said that I’m sure Maiko is thankful for that second reason.  Lin gave me a look.  I defended myself by stating that I possessed working eyes and ears.

From there we shifted to lighter topics.  Mostly dinner.  There are actually a handful of establishments in the Village that are something like restaurants.  No menus though, just whatever the cook is making that day.  Being mostly paid in food, I rarely patronize them, but this evening they served our purposes well enough.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

LMAO fwtkac platonic version FR

I love the foreshadowing details I remember when I first discovered your writing when I finished reading and put the pieces together of all the hints I fr like omfg wait a damn minute

LMAOOOO Nagi going all out against Luna to the point where lunas like yeah sorry we’re closed for the week I’ve gotta recover from that trauma HAHA clueless romantic Otoya strikes again if otullia ends up being endgame it’d be like bfb otoya kinda LOL

I’m not crying I’m not crying imnotcryi- SHSHSHS Barou haunting the entire like 200k+ (ish…?) words worth of the story I’m not gonna be ready for that

PURSUIT GOES HARDDDD another banger title but YES I saw the notion omg it’s SO CUTE the research and thought into it >>>> omg the wc though LMAOO another Mira classic lowk im kinda excited for even just the wc alone like how long will it really end up being LOL

LMFAOOOOO Otoya is the target audience for scammers fr he’s so gullible shsshshsh KARASUS RESPONSE IF FOULLLL LMAOO

“Who died” “you” AHAHAAH I CANT THATS gonna be so fun to read I can’t wait

No because this is actually a talent imagine instead of matchups like normal you do pokemon team creations instead I bet those would go hard

YEAHH the whole Raltz line feels so regal I can see the Mikages using it but I also love the goofy backstory we had earlier too LMAOO

No because it was bound to happen when igaguri subbed in like anyone on the bench would have to be like “yo wtf” I’m crying someone give yuki a moment of field time please it’s painful watching this (pause does this mean igaguri cover next omfg)

Unfortunately I think we got brainwashed because I cross referenced Barou’s and THEYRE STILL THERE SHSBSJSSB specifically that half sentence (at least it’s punctuated in the version I sent you though) that I still can’t figure out what I meant and also when I try to say that Barou’s mom is methodological it autocorrected to Methodist instead goodbye. Ok I fr didn’t remember those there either but well. I guess now we know!!!!!!! Yeah if you ever want to reference or read that again without making your brain do cartwheels just lmk….

IT WAS SO GOOD I mean any sae who isn’t fully just “soccer and soccer only” is a little ooc I still stand by your version of fanon sae though like to me that’s as in character as you’re gonna get LMAO but even as an itoshi non-fan that still slapped sooo

IM SO EXCITED FOR BAROUS you fr put me on the Barou agenda between Barou ideas that edit pokemon au and the ln….hyped for the next installment of oaeu (or wtv you put out next)!!!!

No because can I have that skill I would’ve lost it fr LMAOO it’s ok this IS aikus justice it’s his fault for being a criminal in the first place

- Karasu anon

I LOVEEE FORESHADOWING i can’t write stories if i don’t have an ending in mind because i am incapable of writing without foreshadowing!! my aim is to make characters constantly say/do things that seem innocent in the moment but looking back you’re like holy shit that was a CLUE!! hollyhock is not exempt from this btw LMAOAOAOA i’ve already spoiled the ending for it in like the first chapter or smth i’m pretty sure

PLSS they don’t call nagi the lazy genius for nothing!! bro doesn’t care 99% of the time but that 1% that he does his opponent’s basically cooked HAHA poor luna fr is just like what the hell i brought out some of my strongest pokémon and this kid didn’t even flinch meanwhile reader’s just like yeah…that’s just how nagi is…she’s used to him going crazy because he usually goes pretty all out in their rivalry battles (when they have them) so she’s more just surprised that he put in that much effort with someone else than anything!! ofc if you asked her why she thinks he was so committed she’d be like uhhh idk maybe he was just feeling himself or smth (cue reo and chigiri face palming in the background because ever since oaeu i can’t stop thinking of them as nagi x reader’s biggest shippers and i imagine this continues in the pokémon au…like imagine them just sitting around the fire or smth and nagi’s like “you know what?? y/n’s kind of cool” and reo and chigiri just side eye each other because how is nagi only just realizing he likes this girl after so long)

i feel like eitullia/otullia (i can’t decide on their ship name…either one doesn’t flow as well as tullisagi i’m afraid that’s so elite as a ship name) would be like a mix of bfb otoya’s version and fwtkac reader/karasu in that they have that sassy teasing dynamic that reader and karasu have in fwtkac but there’s also an element of clueless loserness to it all that’s specifically bfb otoya’s brand!! i honestly am very torn because they would be a vv cute couple but at the same time leaving reader and co as a platonic group kinda fits with the themes of the story…tbh i truly do think tullia’s ship might only be decided once i start writing because atm yukimiya and hiori (two options) only really show up in one arc each and while isagi does have many cameos he’s not as consistent as reader and co + manshine trio are so either i’ll give in and let eitullia be a thing OR i’ll stick with my tullisagi roots and just give them weird tension whenever he IS on screen or i’ll just have hiori/yukimiya make more appearances to build more of a relationship OR i’ll see if she’s vibing with chigiri or reo in the manshine trio + reader and co interactions (if you have any suggestions/if any of those options particularly stick out to you then lmk 😜)

okay because we know fake plastic trees is very barou + reader but just imagine…forever young as barou’s theme SDLKFJHSDLK omg he’s truly just so so integral to the plot even though he literally is never shown ONCE in the present timeline as himself which is truly so insane to think about 😭 bro’s impact cannot be overstated!! AND OMG YAY I’M GLAD YOU THINK SO I LOVE IT AS A TITLE IT JUST MAKES SM SENSE you know i’m about to go crazy designing a graphic for it too…THE NOTION AHHH I’M SO PROUD OF IT i think the screen caps are so funny and i was so glad i could get one of the red gyarados since reader’s is a shiny!! also the breloom (aka yuki’s breloom) on the side character cover is cracking me up it looks so mad LMAO truly it’s yukimiya’s pokémon it’s saying what yuki keeps to himself fr!! and the whimsicott for manshine trio’s page are so cute (although originally i had this image of arcanine there but it wasn’t as aesthetic) ALSO THE PANGOROS ON TEAM X HAD ME CACKLING DSLKFJHSD like i looked up pangoro screencaps because barou has a pangoro and i didn’t want the team x cover to be houndoom because houndoom is the icon for the entire page and i just found that one of the three of them looking like thugs and it was so so funny and so fitting that i had to use it 😩

^ that’s the image i was going to use for manshine trio’s page originally!! it’s kind of giving (from left to right) chigiri, nagi, reo, and then nagi’s arcanine in the back LMAOAOOA anyways i like the whimsicott picture much more but this one is also so funny and so manshine trio coded 🤩

okay…so…on the subject of word count…i want you to sit down for this one LMAOAO so i finished planning out every arc i want to write and there’s. uh. there’s twenty four. TWENTY FOUR (24) 😱 literally even if each arc is only two 5k word chapters that’s still 240k words and i would be very surprised if every single arc is only roughly 10k words (for sure some of them will be but like the aegislash arc alone is going to be longer, the first arc that’s assembling reader and co will be longer, and many others as well) so this is going to be a genuine behemoth no matter what…i’m actually shuddering if the PROJECTED word count is 240k words then what will the ACTUAL word count be 😰⁉️

wait also i planned out the epilogue hehe let me add in some screenshots because i think you will enjoy!! or at least i hope so…anyways…

IT’S NOT OTOYA IF HE’S NOT FALLING FOR ONE SCAM OR ANOTHER!!! pls karasu’s like “i can’t believe you thought you’d pull my sister with that mediocre mindset” HAHA he’s otoya’s biggest hater (lies they’re besties for the restless they just can’t help bullying one another because that’s their form of affection…no because at this point karasu requires reparations the amount of times that reader has been presumed dead LMAOOO i think the total count is AT LEAST three (when she and gyarados destroy the team x ship, when she and nagi are kidnapped by aegislash, and in the aftermath of her battle against barou) like this is why karasu has grey hairs at his youthful age HAHAHA

CAN YOU IMAGINE “tell me about yourself and i’ll design a pokémon team for you based on your vibes” that would be crazy (lowkey fun if pokémon had an active fandom…i feel like everyone loves pokémon but there’s not a ton of fan content for it anymore…its peak was def early 2010s some of the pokémon fics on fanfiction.net remain PEAK literature)

i think it could be like a mix of both…maybe reo makes the decision to evolve his kirlia into a gallade for serious and emotional reasons but he just can’t bring himself to do it and then the brawl event happens and he’s like HOLY SHIT I HAVE GOTTTTT TO ENTER and that’s the final push that gets him to start a genuine hunt for a dawn stone that he can use LMAOOO unfortunately he’s typically the voice of reason amongst the manshine trio so neither nagi nor chigiri say anything to deter him from his dumbassery they’re just like yeah okay whatever you want bud

NO YOU’RE SO RIGHT GET YUKIMIYA BACK IN ACTION I MISS HIM!! i finally got around to consolidating our thoughts on rough and tumble yuki/rival kunigami into one post and rereading it is just making me wish yuki had more action in the actual manga too…like i know bllk manga is far from over and there’s a real chance he’ll get to shine later on (and kunigami almost assuredly will) it’s just like. idk. interesting handling of characters going on atm ig!!

PLSSS okay maybe i’ve just been so scarred from reading the orv translation online that literally anything better than that is perfectly legible and readable to me 😭 if i’m ever too confused about something looking back i will definitely let you know!! but like i said i’m so used to really REALLY bad translations (manhwa community is a MESS don’t get me started characters will literally change names mid-chapter) that i’m chilling with whatever you provide!! so don’t stress out too much abt it hehe

OKAY YAY I’M GLAD YOU THINK SO i think part of it is that sae is just never written as a bitchless rizzless awkward loser who’s trying his best to be charming but has 0 idea how to?? so he can come across as weird or ooc but it’s really just that i’m going against how he’s typically accepted…tbh i agree i don’t think he was terribly ooc either (ofc to a certain extent yeah but if it was EGREGIOUS i wouldn’t have posted) honestly the only thing that i believed could be considered ooc is how quickly he ended up liking reader/how forward he was but those can be put down to a) the vibes of the story and b) aiku’s intervention (as is the theme of the series) so honestly it’s whatever but ig people will think what they think…maybe our psychic connection is the reason why you could enjoy it regardless SDLFJKSFLDJK anyways i’m excited for the barou version as well!! and ngl i have no idea what i’ll put out next because i do have requests that i should be doing…but also oaeu…but also pokémon au…decisions decisions HAHAHAH

[semi-daily-helob]

Day 21; Helob waiting in the rain, in hopes perhaps his favorite customer may visit soon so he can go home ]:> 

[sukirichi]

Bonten husbands messing up their child's haircut idk if you got this one cus my tumblr's acting up :(

Ran: panik. He's sURE he followed the tutorial correctly, but something must have gone wrong. After struggling to fix it he just accepts his fate and vacuums the carpet for the night. "Ran" "I know."

Rindou: Tried to impress you by doing it but it backfired. Waits for you to get home since he doesn't want to mess it up any more. Poor bby cries a lil and is so guilty, pls give him love🥺 "Care to explain?" "Not really"

Kaku: Internal screaming. There's no way this could've happened. Not to him. Tries to fix it and does a pretty decent job but he knows he can't fool you "What happened to their hair?" "Iaccidentallymessedup"

Koko: The only reason he was doing this is bc he heard the other members fvked up their kids hair and tried to one-up them. Calls every professional in the area. Just for backup he bought a wig. "Why are there hairdressers in my home?" "That's a good question"

Sanzu: Desperately tries to save it but it only gets worse. In the end he acted like it all happened on purpose. Also made your favorite meal to distract from the hair. *Unimpressed Wife Noises* "iT dOEsn'T LoOK thAt bAD"

-✎

I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS 😭💕

omg ran would definitely be very excited about it. he’s quite proud of his hairstyles from his youth up until his bonten self, so its almost hard to stop him from wanting to be the one to snip snip his kid’s hair. so daddy! ran stands there, proud and confident as youtube tutorials play in the background. but then it doesn’t turn out the way he likes, and his kid is speechless at the rather...questionable new look. as if things can’t get worse, you come home with a frown. “ran?” you gently pat his shoulder, the muscles under your touch slumping in defeat. and when he says yes, he knows it looks bad and he should’ve just went to professionals, you can’t have the heart to scold him on it ://

now see, rindou may look aloof or unbothered most times with a permanent lazy frown, but he does like the attention and praises you shower him with. he gets the idea one day to surprise you by cutting his kid’s hair so you won’t have to take him to the stylists this weekend. but his hands are shaking, his kid won’t stop fidgeting on the chair, and on top of the pressure of wanting to impress you, along with the fear of not pulling this off - it backfires. rindou doesn’t even try finishing the look his kid asked for before he’s giving them snacks to make up for the mistake. and when you get home, rindou begins to tear up. thankfully, you appreciate that its the thought that counts (though your kid didn’t have to suffer this heinous cut lmao) so you don’t push him too much to explain 🥺

kakucho refuses to believe it !! him, best daddy kakucho, messing up his kid’s haircut when he even practiced on so many wigs and watched more tutorials that it put ran’s effort to shame? him, best daddy kakucho, who was intensely focused and careful in everything he did yet it still turned out this way ?? poor bb is so shocked he can’t even form coherent sentences anymore

out of all of them, kokonoi is the most reassured he’s got this. he’s been styling his hair since he was a teen - he’s got this !! and just to prove a point that he’s the best daddy who won’t mess up his kid’s cut, he happily facetimes the other bonten members while a group of professional stylist supervise and nod in agreement at his techniques and swift cuts. don’t get him wrong though, there’s a number of wigs and professionals on standby if ever he messes up, giving him a perfect excuse that “its time for a break” before he ends the call. better safe than sorry, Koko tells himself, because alas, he ended up needing them after all 💀

sanzu - as insane and daring he may be - knows his limits and is most definitely aware how scary you can get if you see how he messed his kid’s haircut up. but ah, sanzu gives in when the other bonten members bribe mikey to order sanzu to at least try so all the bonten daddies could finally crown who is most deserving of the ‘best daddy award.’ he messes up though, which is expected, and there’s no more taking it back so he simply whisks you into the kitchen before you can hear your crying kid, your favorite meal prepared and kisses littered on your face. until your kid comes to greet you and your mouth falls agape at the mess. *cue unimpressed wife noises and defensive husband noises*

[kojinnie]

With The Exception of You

I dislike everyone in the room.

Pairing/Character: Reiner x Reader (she/her), Porco Galliard

Tags: SFW, fluff, college!au, Reiner Braun is a jock who is tired of his own friends, secret relationship

WC: 3.2K

Summary: Reiner had agreed to be in a discreet relationship with you, but after six months and with the arrival of Porco Galliard around you, he couldn’t help but to mark his territory.

Reiner couldn’t seem to fathom the butterflies wreaking havoc in his stomach. It came out of nowhere, as it often happened to be. Once in a while, he could feel his guts twisting as his chest filled with overflown emotions at odd times. Reiner hated it when it happened, because as much as he wanted to convince himself that he wasn’t self-aware of his image, those feelings could potentially strip himself off of his cool guy status.

Reiner had come to realize that such strange feeling often occurred caused by the sight of you.

It could be anything. Things so mundane, so simple. Like the way you twisted the pen in your fingers, the way you squinted your eyes at the blackboard during a lecture, and how you hastily scribbled things on your leather-bound notebook.

Or maybe it’s the way you sighed deliberately loud when someone uttered a dumb, sexist remark in class with no trace of shame, after they tried to debate your sound, well-researched opinion, and how you’d resolved it with a sarcasm that could disintegrate a man’s ego. Reiner sat on the corner of the classroom, disguising his chuckle by clearing his throat, finally coming to experience what they had called butterflies-in-your-stomach all along. 

At that point he had found himself painfully and helplessly in love with you.

He was well-aware of how different the two of you were. Reiner was the athlete, admitted to the uni through football scholarship, and you were the hard-working academician that mostly kept to yourself – hard to approach, hard to tame. Reiner hated how stereotypical he was – tall, buff, blonde, jock, with cheerleader exes and a DM full of thirst trap from his assembly of admirers. Reiner once wished he was anything but a cookie-cutter of everything you had been appalled of.

Reiner could feel every ounce of confidence he had ever had shriveled around your presence. It’s the way the two of you almost collided to each other at the campus hallway, and the way you threw an acknowledging, formal smile at him before striding away that made his heart ached. He wished you’d run to him and shriek his name with affection, but Reiner realized you were not one of his cheerleader exes, and not that he wanted you to be one. You were an anomaly he had yet to understand. A misplaced figure sticking out of his history of penchant for conformity.

“I really like you.” one day he finally said. Never had he been weak on the knees for a confession to any girl before, but this one occurrence? He did.

He didn’t know how he mustered the courage, but after hours, days and weeks he had spent trying to know you – learning your favorite song, accompanying you for book hunting, baking your favorite muffins, texting you good morning and good night – he finally got you alone, in the campus library, only five minutes before closing time.

You laughed at first, because the confession sounded ridiculous to you. The last thing you needed was a horde of girls sending you anonymous hate comments on Insta because you took the campus’ most eligible hunk off of the market. But he didn’t laugh along, and that was when realization hit you.

“So, is that why you’ve been following me around?”

Reiner furrowed his thin, almost non-existent brow, “What do you think?”

“I thought you were just bored with your jock friends,” you scoffed, “because you know, I’d be bored out of my ears too if all I ever heard all day is insecure men constantly praising themselves.” you glanced at Reiner, trying to discover even the slightest amusement on his hardened face to no avail.

“Reiner, are you serious?”

He sighed, couldn’t believe his ears. The first time ever Reiner caught you being stupid beyond recognition, “For the millionth times, yes.”

“You’ve only said it once, though.”

“For fuck’s sake,” the jock grunted, but there was a slight smile arose from his face, “I like you, really much. Times eight hundred ninety-eight thousand.”

“And?”

“So would you be my girlfriend?”

And you said yes, after three minutes of hesitation, you said yes. With a laughter. Because the absurdity of you being with someone like Reiner was lurid. Yet still, you were in no capacity to lie when his good morning text had been the most unsubstantiated text you looked forward to every day.

You wondered why? It’s just text. But maybe, you tried to convince yourself, it’s because of the effort he put, of trying to wake earlier before you every morning although he was hardly a morning person. Or it’s the way he listened to your kind of music although he was practically tone deaf, and returned to you the next week with his analysis on why your favorite band’s first album was their masterpiece and that sadly they never outdid it with any of their following albums.

And maybe, it’s the sight of the topless Reiner in the football field, after a home match. The way he was quick to run to the side of the field with his Captain instinct, lurching himself towards the start of a brawl between the two teams’ players, heated by animosity over the match result. Reiner was strong enough to break at least ten muscular jocks apart from throwing punches at each other, and with his deep, stern, authoritative voice, he commanded them to “Stop it. Fuck off.” You remembered immediately leaving the bleachers and found the nearest toilet because you needed to breathe and that you felt things simmering in your nether area. You never felt like that before to any of your exes.

Reiner knew the mutual pining between the two of you was evident, and so he was left puzzled when you said, “But please don’t tell anyone yet.” He asked why, but you only shrugged your shoulder with an answer that gave very little explanation, “I just don’t feel like having people talk about us.”

Reiner trusted you, because at first, he thought it was for modesty, you were not a fan of the limelight, evidently. Or it’s for practical reason, you don’t want to be burdened by society’s expectation on how two adults in relationship should be. Reiner could make 1,000 excuses for you that would justify your terms and conditions, so he went with what you wanted, because he was so hopelessly into you.

Nonetheless, still he enjoyed holding your hand in the dark alley of the campus – away from all the prying eyes, or the girls that’d giggle walking past the beautiful giant. Still he liked to have you sleeping naked in his embrace, making lazy circles with his calloused digits on your small back, at the emptiness of his dorm room when his roommate was home early for Christmas. Still he enjoyed teasing you at unassuming place, at the quiet library, studying together in silence for the upcoming exams, he’d be sitting next to you, leaning to his chair and slithered his right hand underneath your sweatshirt, to playfully and quickly unclasped your bra, only for you to smack his stomach in annoyance. He liked you, and he liked how you scurried to the restroom to fix your bra. He liked to be with you, no matter in silence or in noise.

However, after six months, questions started to throb incessantly inside Reiner’s mind. Even after all the time you had spent together, why must still he go alone to the football team soiree? Why would you let his team mate thought that Reiner was single, and promised him chances with girls, left and right? Why were you unfazed to see the girls sliding into his DMs? And when you put on that tight, backless black dress on New Year’s Eve, why would you put it for your friends’ party, and not for his eyes only? Why would you color your lips with the blood red Chanel lipstick Reiner gave you, and smile at other people that’s not him?

Reiner could not make sense of you. He pondered, he wondered and he became jealous. He’d look at you intently and see whether there was any trace of other man on you that he had not recognized? He’d become quiet and his friends thought he had gotten sensitive over nothing. The captain had become agitated, irritable and his head was hardly in the game – all with seemingly no reason.

Reiner began to think that he knew the reason why. He thought it’s the boy you’d met at the Academic Writing class, with stupid name and equally stupid undercut. Porco Galliard, you said his name was. In an instance his name had become a staple in your conversation. When Reiner asked you out for a dinner, it’d be like, “Ah sorry babe, I got this assignment with Porco.” A trip to the zoo? “You know, Porco have this funny experience with apes.” A night out in his dorm? By the point Reiner had a half-boner forming already seeing you in your lounge shorts, you’d be giggling and stayed busy with your phone. Reiner asked, “What’s so funny, babe?”

“What’s so funny, babe?” he asked again, because you didn’t seem to hear the first time he asked you. Distracted, you showed a stupid meme on your phone, “Porco sent me this.”

Porco here, Porco there. Reiner was sick of hearing that dumb name.

He had tried to look up for his background, and he hated to find that all that ever came up about him were amicable. His friends knew him, said he was chill, said he was smart as fuck, said he had a cool family, said he turned down a track and field scholarship for law school. Porco Galliard is a cool dude, they all said.

At certain point Reiner had grown to be furious, and the more your text messages became sparse or the more you spent your Saturday nights without him, the more he set his mind to do something about the two of you. He had become so sick of hiding and he wanted the whole world to know that you were his. Especially that guy with a name that sounded like her mother hated giving birth to him.

So came that day. You hadn’t been replying to his texts since morning, and only did so after chains of messages he left.

[you | 11.35] oh my god reiner!!! I’M SO SORRY, i left my phone uncharged all morning. i’m heading to cafeteria rn, it’s muffin tuesday 😵👅

[reiner | 06.37] good morning baby

[reiner | 07.49] you awake now?

[reiner | 08.15] sleepyhead ���💤 see you today pretty

[reiner | 10.23] i got practice today until late. see you tonight? my room?

[reiner | 10.55] are you in class rn?

[reiner | 11.36] wanna go together?

[you | 11.45] haha noo a lot of people there

[reiner | 11.45] who r u going with?

[you | 11.55] with pockooo haha we got class together after lunch

Pocko. Is that an endearing term you came up with for the jizzhead? Reiner thought, pissed off beyond compare. He paced restlessly in his room, trying to figure out what did Porco have that he didn’t have? Thinking of how his undercut made his head looked way bigger for his neck, just like sperm; and it made Reiner mad angry. “Fuck you, Jizzhead”, he hissed, kicking the pile of dirty laundry on his dorm room.

The cafeteria was bustling busy when you arrived with Porco. The two of you immediately joined the line for lunch and the muffin. The man was busy babbling about yet another stupid thing that he had done back in high school, but your mind was darted on the muffins that were sold off fast. You looked around and almost everyone you disliked were present – mostly Reiner’s jock friends and their girlfriends. The prospect of one day going public with Reiner and having to spare days in your life to socialize with these loud people made you squirm. Not that you were completely against it, you were just… enormously reluctant to do so. Also, what would they say about you? You barely existed for them, evident by how they just greeted Porco with huge affection, yet pretended like you were invisible despite the fact that you were talking and standing close to him.

Your mind was elsewhere, between eyeing the muffin and managing your detest towards the it crowd, you weren’t even listening to the small talk that Porco was having with some of the jocks, until the mention of your name spilled out of Porco’s mouth, “Hey, have you guys known ___ before?”

You blinked with surprise, and they looked at you unenthusiastically, “Ummm, no?” one of them said.

Porco stared at them in disbelief, as if not knowing you was a big sin, “Get to know then! She’s cool, she’s really into—” but even before Porco could finish his words, they averted their attention elsewhere, pulling out their phone like it was the most important thing in the world, and talked amongst themselves. How fitting, because the first thing they talked about as an excuse for ignoring you was to talk about Reiner, “The captain’s been grumpy. Haha. That man. What’s up with him?” You cringed, because you knew there was no weight in talking about Reiner that must be done at that time, that moment. They just wanted a reason not to be roped into talking to you, obviously because you didn’t think you were cool enough or some other shit excuse only them and their bobbleheads understand. So, conveniently throwing out Reiner’s name was an effective way to basically say ‘haha look at us talking about the coolest guy in the campus so you know we’re in this cool clique unlike you’. You read them too well. You couldn’t even be amused anymore.

Porco looked embarrassed, he smiled at you awkwardly and stayed silent, until one of the girls threw their attention back to the man dirty blond undercut, “Anyway, Porco, do you know Reiner?”

“Ah, I haven’t had the chance to.”

The girl frowned rather dramatically, “Oh my god, we all should totally hang out together with Reiner, right? He’s like—super cool.” her question was obviously in exclusion of you. You rolled your eyes and turned away to see new text from Reiner appearing.

[reiner | 12.15] im going there

[you | 12.16] convenient. right in time. your cool friends are all here and you can sit with them and be cool with them or whatever I guess haha

You immediately pulled your phone to your chest; you could feel your heart thumping. Is this it? Is this it? The question became menacing in your head, because you were not sure on what Reiner was planning to do. The line to the muffin was still far away, and it would be stupid to run away.

[reiner | 12.17] idgaf about em

[reiner | 12.19] i want u

You could hear the girls were still talking about Reiner. Reiner this, Reiner that. You were nowhere to lie that you could feel your chest heat up with annoyance. The way their squeaking voice praised Reiner’s body, Reiner’s personality, Reiner’s wit. For the first time, you knew you were experiencing jealousy, vibrant and up-close.

“You know what? One time, Reiner thought that the way I did my hair was so cute that he wanted—”

Just in time, one of the boys raised his voice, “Oi Reiner!” and in unison the jocks erupted, welcoming his arrival like they were in some goddamn party.

You could see Reiner walking towards the line you were in, his face was hardened and his walk was swift. You immediately turned away to look at the opposite direction, not wanting to see him.

“Yooo Reiner! Where have you been? We’ve missed you dude,” one of them said. You cringed at how they all tried so hard to sound cool, “have you met Porco, by the way? And his friend—”

“—hey, what’s her name again?” one of the girls chimed in, asking Porco instead of asking you directly, as if you were not there. At that point, Reiner was standing not too far behind you, and you pretended like you were too busy with your phone, hoping the floor would engulf you instead.

“Is she like, deaf or something?” the girl whispered to Porco with a jeer, before getting back to Reiner, “So, Rei, I’ve got this party—”

“—yo Capt, do you know that—”

“—have you heard about the news, dude? Like—”

The way all these people tried to suck up to Reiner was so pathetic and incessant, they all chirped like hungry birds all in a matter of couple of seconds. You hated them and you hated the situation.

“—come on, Capt, that would be awesome—”

“—oh my gosh, Rei—”

“—you must try it, Rei—"

“Shut the fuck up,” Reiner said. Rather abruptly. His voice was cold and deep, like he couldn’t give a damn in this world about any of them. Surprised, they all dropped quiet in an instance. You looked over your back at him. Reiner was staring at you, and at you alone, not even at the Jizzhead he had grown to hate so much, “you all talk too fucking much.”

You snorted, suppressing a laughter to escape from your mouth. Clearly, it was too audible, that the girls were now looking at you with complete disdain.

“Babe,” Reiner said, staring at you, while you were still facing the opposite direction, “babe, what are you doing with this Jizzhead here? I can bake you muffins remember? If you want it so much.”

Your surrounding fell deep in silence. Everyone was either confused or surprised. Murmur started to sweep over the crowd, most audible was: ‘Who is Jizzhead?’

You scoffed, finally turning your back, although still closing your mouth trying to prevent the laughter and the embarrassment to display itself.

“What the hell?” one of the girls asked in dismay, obviously she was one of the girls sliding into Reiner’s DM and sending him bikini photos by the pretense of ‘Rei, you should join us for summer holiday!’ when all she wanted to do was to show her tits.

“Shut up,” Reiner said to her, baffling the girl to complete silence, “and stop sending me your beach photos. They’re ugly.”

An uproar of restraint laughter was heard throughout the cafeteria.

“Babe,” Reiner said again, this time extending his arms toward you, gesturing for you to come closer, “now you know why I need you, right? My friends are fucking whack.”

Few laughter was starting to break. Yet Reiner was unfazed.

“Reiner, what—”

“—yo dude, what the hell?

“—who is she?”

“—are they dating?”

“And listen here, you hag,” Reiner now turned his attention to the girl who called you deaf, “she’s got a name. Her name is ___, and she’s my fucking girlfriend.”

Embarrassed yet amused, you finally let out a small chuckle, “Reiner, please you’re humiliating me.”

“Whatever,” he shrugged off. Reiner now turned his attention to Porco, “and listen here you, Jizzhead. You can be nice to her but keep in your fucking mind, she’s mine.”

Without hesitation, Reiner pulled your hand and yanked you closer to him. You stared at him for a second, eyes broadened and heart thumping, “Reiner, what are you gonna do—”

“—shut up.” he said, cupping your face with his gigantic hands, and pulled your face roughly to him, before landing his dry, chapped lips to yours. He had gone sick of pretending, and doing things in secret. So there Reiner Braun was, hungrily, longingly, sloppily devouring your lips with his mouth, so deep, so thirsty of your taste. He finally showed the world who the true owner of his heart was. You.

[equizona]

Hiii!! How are you? I hope you are doing great💕✨

I wanted to request headcanons for the bros having a normal dinner at the HoL until Mc who used to have really long hair shows up with a self-cuted bob, you can tell they cutted it by themselves but it’s still cute. When the bros asked about it they responded that they were having a really bad day and they cut their hair as an alternative to self harm.

If you feel uncomfortable you can skip the self harm part! I understand! I was just having a bad day and I decided to cut my hair for the same reasons and my Mamá didn’t take it really nicely, and idk i guess I just want comfort. Thank you I love your writing and again, I hope you have a nice day💕💕✨✨

Scenario: cutting your hair as an alternative to self harm

Note: Hello there! First, I wanna say how proud I am of you, even if I don't know you. The fact you cut your hair instead of cutting is amazing and I am so proud of you. I hope you continue to stay strong, and I'm sorry this took so long! Feel free to contact me if you need someone to talk to. [P.S: I did change the request up but it's mostly the same!]

Fandom: Obey Me!

Character's: Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Belphegor.

Reader: Kinda G-N! But also has hints that you're most likely a female in this.

Warnings: self harm mentions?

He's very confused.

He does NOT remember you ever leaving the house of lamentation, and your hair was still long earlier this morning.

What happened?

He'll ignore it though.

He'll give you compliments about your hair, and he'll be surprised when you say you cut it on your own.

Tells you that you have talent.

After dinner, he'll ask for you to meet up with him in his office.

He'll immediately ask you why you cut your hair.

Was something wrong? Did you simply want a change? Are you sure you won't regret it? He could find you someone who could grow your hair back out for you if you did?

When you tell him you did that instead of self cutting he's... uncertain on how to feel.

Firstly, he is EXTREMELY proud of you for deciding to do that rather than cut yourself.

He's also a bit disappointed in himself that he didn't notice.

He'll pull you in for a hug, and tell him how proud he is of you for doing that. And how lovely your hair looks short.

He'll tell you to talk to him if you ever feel that you need to cut, and you don't have any other option.

Or if you are simply sad.

He'll get you a therapist if you don't want to speak to him or his brothers.

He'll do almost anything so that you can feel better.

Won't get you knives or things that you can hurt yourself with, but anything else is fair game.

Shocked because why???

Your hair was so nice, and silky! And he loved running his fingers through it and making different hairstyles and all that fun stuff.

He's kinda sad.

But also, you look really good with that hair style?

And you did it on your own?

....ever thought about opening a hair salon? People would pay so much if you had that much talent and skill.

Now, Mammon is most likely the one that is the best on emotions of ALL his brothers.

He can tell when you're not feeling yourself, and it's only like 100 times stronger thanks to the pact you both have.

He'll talk to you when you're both cuddled up in your room, asking you what happened.

When you tell him he'll put the mask he usually has on down and let you know how amazing you are and how proud he is.

Will offer to speak to Lucifer about getting you a therapist, if you'd like.

It won't matter if this is a common way you feel, it only happens once or twice or this only happened once.

He'll do anything you ask of him.

'Cause he loves you more than even money.

Kinda jealous because he' never be able to look good with a hairstyle like that.

And then you're just like

"Oh, I cut it myself."

And he just shirt circuts.

You can cut hair? And even more importantly, your own hair!?!?!?!??!?!

That's so cool!

Why did you never tell him?

At least he's happy that it doesn't seem like any of the others knew about it either.

Now, I honestly feel like Levi's bad thoughts about himself has led him down the path of self harm.

He's surpsingly strong willed, and almost always manages to catch himself and do something else.

And he recognizes what you did as a common thing to do instead.

Asks just to be sure.

And when you tell him that yes, that was why you did it, he's heartbroken.

You don't deserve feelings like that. Actually, you deserve everything good and only the good.

He'll be a lot nicer, doing his best to give you compliments on the new hairstyle and telling you how proud he is.

Mainly fails, but it's okay.

He's trying, and he'll try his best for you to be happy.

<3<3<3<3<3

This man feeds off of anger, so if you did it in a fit of rage or anger, no matter small, he's there in a second to ask how you're doing.

If not? He won't notice. It's only anger he can feel, much to his dismay.

He'll have troubles connecting the dots at first, and will only be handing you out compliments next to Asmo.

Then it hits him that it might be more to it, considering how you're acting.

He'll wait until after dinner and claim you have to help him with something.

Get's really angry when you tell him why you did it.

Not at you though, never at you. At himself, and lucifer, at everything.

He won't keep it up long though, calming down really quickly.

He'll ask you to sit down and read with him, or he'll read to you. Or you can do something on your D.D.D while he reads.

Whatever you want.

Hell, he might decide to let you drag him out somewhere.

Whatever it takes to make you feel even a tiny bit better.

Immediately gushing about how amazing you look with the new hairstyle.

He wants to know where you cut it in the first ten seconds he sees you.

Super shocked when he finds out you did it on your own.

Will ask you to trim his hair sometime.

To be fair, he's no stranger to doing things about his appearance in a fit of strong emotion.

Something Lucifer isn't always the happiest about.

He won't point it out though, if you want to talk, you know he's there.

He drops hints like that, just to be sure.

If you do tell him the reason, he'll immediately pull you in for a hug and shower you in compliments.

Not only on your appearance, but on how amazing you did to cut your hair instead of cutting your skin.

Self care day

He'll push away any of his brothers, doing his best to make you feel the most confident you have ever felt in your own body

Also, he'll make sure you know he's there for you and offer to get a therapist if you'd like one

When it starts to get late he'll put on a movie in the background and cuddle you💞💞💞

He thinks you look great with the new hairstyle!

You looked amazing before as well, but you also look amazing now!

Honestly, he kinda forgets about it during the dinner, a hair cut doesn't change who you are and you're still his very best friend and love of his life

He'll do his normal "get up at 12am and drag you for midnight snacks."

And if you tell him, he'll drop his food and pull you in for a hug

He doesn't say much, but offers you his food.

Whenever he's sad, food makes him feel better, so he does what he knows and hopes it'll share you up too

He'll also be willing to do anything you ask

Want him to carry you? Hug you? Cuddles? Want him to talk to lucifer for you? Want to vent? Want to cry?

He's there for you

Honestly, I doubt he even notices.

He's to busy sleeping to care.

When he DOES notice it's when he drags you down to sleep and tries nuzzling his face into your long hair-

Wait it's gone?

He'll get kinda pissy, 'cause he liked your long hair, but then he noticed it's still super soft and just goes back to sleep

He won't even bring up the possibility that you did it as an alternative to self harm

It crossed his mind but he refuses to believe it

If you tell him, he'll react kinda negatively, and won't talk to you

For like 30 minutes max

Most likely only for like 5 minutes though

He'll realize that he should be there for you

Isn't sure what to do, so he just kinda cuddles you and apologies for how he reacted

He's very lazy put he puts in an extra effort to tell you how proud he is

Because cutting your hair is way better than hurting yourself and you did super good doing the hair cutting instead

He'll let his brothers help you during the day, and have you cuddle with him at night so he can make sure you have the best dreams

I'd say he's horrible at it, but the effort is actually pretty obvious and he makes sure you're guarded in the night

He tries

His best

And it works to some degree

<3

[skullstarz]

sweet summer days

-> husband!iida tenya x gn!reader

read before continuing!!: although reader is labeled as gender neutral, the kids sharing both your features and tenya’s implies female anatomy or the ability to bear a child. this can be twisted to be gender neutral friendly though, like a relative of yours being a surrogate. you have tohru (7), toshiro (6), and tomoe (5).

ack this isnt as good as i wanted it to be ㅠㅅㅠ it just sounded so much better in my head aaaaa. i just wanted sweet n soft cuteness. i also fell in love with the children omg i want. kids. now ...

warnings: none.

word count: 1.4k words

check out my masterlist for more of my works!!

laughter and the sound of tiny feet running across the hardwood floor filled your spacious home. what was meant to be a lazy day off for your husband has turned into a chaotic day of cheeky grins, sticky fingers, and rough splashes of pool water. your husband tenya, however, couldn’t be any more happier than he is right now.

the clinking of ice cubes against glass and the mattress dipping underneath you gently woke you up. you look up to see tenya opening a new book he bought recently, quickly becoming submerged in it’s contents. groaning ever so softly, you contemplated whether you should wake up or stay in your comfortable position. unfortunately you didn’t have much of a chance to decide, as your youngest, tomoe, woke you up with a soft grunt, kicking her feet in the air as she desperately tried making her way up onto your bed.

“tomoe? what are you doing up so early?” your husband asks, reaching over you to pick up the girl with ease. tomoe was the sleepiest of your three children; she was shy, silent, and soft in nature, much different than her two older siblings. it was rare to see her this active in the mornings, much less awake, as she had a tendency to nap whenever she saw the chance to.

“tohru and toshiro are fighting again” she whines, a lazy hand reaching up to rub her eye as you sit up, patting down the stray hairs sticking up from her head. she had shoulder length blue hair, with your eyes and smile, along with tenya’s quirk. he swore up and down that he’d train her the best he could so she could continue his legacy. while he promised he had no favorites, you could tell tenya was excited to have tomoe as his successor.

“ahh,” tenya shakes his head “those two tend to bicker quite a lot. did they wake you?” your daughter only responded with a soft nod, already falling back asleep, soothed by her father’s embrace and your gentle hand stroking her head. “i guess i’ll have to scold them a bit for making a commotion, then” tomoe let out a soft ‘mhm’ in agreement, her head finally resting against tenya’s chest as he stood whilst carrying her in his arms.

ever since graduating, becoming an adult, and starting a family with you, tenya’s become a much calmer man. it was a bit hard at first, but after learning from you and tohru that his stiffness and sudden movements aren’t exactly the most relaxing, he tried to become more loose. despite this, he’s still the awkward, nerdy, and strict boy you fell in love with at heart.

“you’re so mean tohru!” your son toshiro’s voice could be heard loudly as soon as you opened the door of your room. your two other kids were in the living room, minecraft sounds playing loudly over their argument.

“i'm not being mean, i'm being fair toshiro! papa made times for us to be on the game so we wouldn’t get into fights!” you sighed, thinking to yourself ‘so much for that schedule tenya put all that effort into’. “you shouldn’t have started a game when you knew your time was almost up!” tohru continued to holler at toshiro, who looked like he was about to cry.

tohru took mostly after tenya, his strict way of being mixing with your louder, more carefree side. she was a stickler for rules but enjoyed picking on her brother and had a tendency to be loud and over-the-top. she had your hair color but tenya’s sharp eyes. she had long hair and lighter skin than the other two from staying inside and reading more than being outside.

“tohru, sometimes, we can just choose to be nice. when you’re nice, most of the time your kindness will be returned. either way, seeing your kindness make someone happy will always be the best part of being nice. if you see that your brother is having a fun time, why don't you let him keep playing?” you take your eldest into your arms, pulling her close to you as you sat down. you weren’t afraid to talk to her about more complex/harder to grasp topics as she was extremely intelligent like her father.

“i guess you’re right…” she hung her head and sighed.

“yeah, tohru!” toshiro angrily huffed, chopping her head tenya style. tomoe continued to sleep as her siblings ran after each other around the house, chaos ensuing wherever they went.

“dad!” toshiro climbed tenya’s back and flashed you a toothy smile. toshiro was the most hyper out of the three, but also a complete cry baby. he was a proud older brother to tomoe yet relied on tohru to protect him, and was an all around happy, cute kid. he had short messy hair that was the same color as yours, with a single streak of blue. he was generally the most balanced combination of you and tenya and had much darker skin than the others, constantly playing around in the sun with todoroki’s kid.

he continued to poke his fathers cheek as he spoke “can we get in the pool today? can we? can we?” he repeated, only stopping and climbing down when your husband caved and said yes to toshi’s whining. “dad! (mom/dad/parent)! you should come in too!” was the last thing the little boy said before disappearing to quickly change and get his towel, which tohru did as well.

“what do you say? wanna go into the pool?” you asked tenya, getting up to change before toshi started whining again. tenya shook his head softly.

“i'm going to cut up some watermelon for the kids and then sit by the pool. i’d rather read for today.” he contentedly sighs as he moves toward the kitchen island, pulling out a watermelon from god knows where and starting to cut it. allowing him to enjoy his day however he’d like to, you went on ahead without him.

“how are you not burning up, ten?” you asked once he joined you all outside, just the mere sight of him in the blazing sun making you sweat. he just smiled and shrugged, continuing his book with the sounds of his children playing together in the background. you held tomoe cautiously as she half heartedly splashed the other kids. honestly, how she came out with a personality more like todoroki’s is beyond both you and tenya, though todoroki jokes that tomoe is really just his child that you guys stole from him.

the first to leave the pool was tohru, then curious toshi, and then you after tomoe whined that she wanted to go with the other two. they all went back inside, towels covering them before pouncing on the plate of watermelon like it was the last in the world. luckily tenya preplanned and saved a couple small slices for the two of you, otherwise you would’ve missed out.

laying next to your husband on the beach chair, he let out a soft groan when your cold, wet hair and hands met his warm skin. “did you not bring out a towel? you’re really cold, love.” you let out a whine which tenya knew meant ‘no and i regret not bringing one’. he adjusted himself to put his arm around you, in attempts to warm you up.

it wasn't long before the sound of children running came close, tohru chasing toshiro angrily and tomoe slowly trailing behind them. you chuckled as tomoe climbed onto you and tenya, a watermelon seed stuck to her cheek and another in her hair. as you removed the seeds, tohru and toshiro kept running after one another.

“toshiro you took the last piece of watermelon so don’t cry when you get what you deserve!” she shrieked, and you decided you probably should no longer let her go over to bakugo’s house, because as much as his youngest boy liked to read with tohru, the rest of his kids took after him, which was probably where she learned her more aggressive behaviors.

holding tomoe in your arms, your children became background noise that lulled you to sleep. the last words you heard were “papa can we go to sanrio puroland tomorrow!?” from tohru. with tenya being puddy at the hands of his children, it was safe to say the summer fun wasn’t done just yet.

[realcube]

randomly falling asleep with hq!! characters 💤

navi | masterlist | taglist 

thank you anon for this cute request!

characters: ushijima, tsukishima & yachi 

content warning: swearing, mentions of sexual assault 

thank you to anon for this cute request

wakatoshi ushijima

♡ he shows affection in his own...special way 😊

♡ by that, i mean that if you fall asleep while sitting next to him and he thinks you look cute, he’ll just stare (●__●)

♡ like deadass if he was anyone else, it’d be creepy as hell but he’s your bf so-

♡ he stares bc not only do you look precious, but he doesn’t want to touch you as he’s afraid that he might wake you up

♡ though, if you’re in public (like sitting next to him on the train) he might gently put his arm around your shoulders to make sure that onlookers know that you’re safe with him

♡ also, it only takes one time for him to catch on to your habit of disappearing and falling asleep in the most unconventional places and istg he is the BEST at guessing where you are - it’s a gift

♡ like he’ll arrive home and if you’re not there to immediately greet him with kisses, he’ll take a moment - let him boyfriend senses take over and walk him over to whatever room is giving him ✨(y/n) vibes✨, open the door and there is a 99% chance you are in that room sleeping 

♡ and he probably got it right first guess (which is a pretty big deal considering y’alls house resembles a sims fkn mansion made with motherload money)

♡ he’ll open the door to the storage cupboard to find you sleeping with the mr muscle spray and it’s such a shame bc he was going to be a clown and make a ‘why are you cheating on me?’ joke but you were in REM sleep 🙄

♡ or he’ll walk in to the conservatory and see you laying in the fetal position on the floor and that is the ONLY time he interferes with your sleep bc he doesn’t want you to fuck up your back 🥺

♡ like he has an obsession with your posture - like if you are slouched he will tell you to stand up straight or if you are sitting hunched in a chair, he’ll creep up behind you to start massaging your shoulders while fixing your posture 

♡ not to be rude though- just bc he cares

♡ also, he never questions how you end up falling asleep in the most random of places, he just goes with it 

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

ushijima sighed as he hung up his jacket, realising that this was one of those days were you won’t come scurrying to the front door to greet him with kisses and instead he had to hunt through in search of you. although, it wasn’t much of a hunt considering his gut instinct said you’d be in the study room and there you were, cuddled up by the bookshelf. 

however, your back was hunched over in way that didn’t look to comfortable so ushijima thought it was his duty to transport you to somewhere that there was a lot more appropriate and fit for sleeping.

so he gently slipped one hand behind your back and the other under your knees to slowly pick you up and carry you to your shared bedroom. is efforts may have been in vain though as he noticed one of your lids flutter open out of the corner of his eye, “good afternoon, sweetheart.” he hummed, steadily shifting his hand from your back to the back of your head to tenderly caress your cheek with his thumb as you cuddled into his chest. “are you awake?”

“No.” you groaned.

“Shame, I was going to suggest going out for walk on the beach--”

“I’m awake! Let’s go!” 

kei tsukishima 

♡ he probably calls you lazy but he’s really just jealous of how well you can sleep

♡ coz he just lays in bed till 4AM staring at the ceiling 

♡ i imagine that if you were to fall asleep next to him in a crowded, bustling place - like on a train - he’d take off his headphones and clasp them over your ears so the loud announcements don’t wake you up  

♡ he doesn’t fall asleep on transport btw (not even planes) so don’t worry about missing your stop 

♡ though he’s not usually a fan of PDA, he’ll hold your hand without a second thought to lead you out the train when you’re still recovery from the post-sleep haze because of course he doesn’t want to lose you in the crowds of people or anything

♡ and if you have a cute lil sleepy face then he might take a picture but he’d probably edit the picture with snapchat or something and draw like a moustache on you, put a sarcastic caption or something then send it to you 

♡ (but he’d save an unedited version of the pic bc you’re adorable-)

♡ like tsukki leaves you on delivered most of the time on snapchat bc he believes if you have something important to say, you’ll just message him normally but the rare occasion you do get a snap from him, don’t get your hopes up bc there is a 99% it’s just something like a picture of you with a drawn on crown and the caption ‘sleeping beauty 🙄’ 

♡ ‘so you think i’m a beauty 🥺’

♡ then he leaves you on read

♡ he will not carry you under any circumstances in public btw

♡ and at home, if you were to fall asleep on the couch next to him while y’all were watching a movie, there’s a 50/50 that’d he carry you to bed 

♡ but if he doesn’t take you to bed, he’ll set down a pillow for you on the couch and shift you around so you were laying in a more comfortable position, then drape a blanket over you 

♡ in regards to when he comes back from work, you’re usually already asleep in bed - but there is one time that you were not in the bedroom, and he still teases you for it until this day 

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

most of the time, you’re sound asleep in bed by the time gets home but tonight you weren’t - in fact, you were no where to be seen. he had searched everywhere, called your phone multiple time and he looked at your schedule, but it appeared as though you were supposed to home right now - so hours, he was sitting fretfully on the couch, contemplating calling the police.

however, all his distressed pacing really worked up an appetite so he poked his head into the pantry to grab a snack but his soul almost left his body when he noticed you laying on the floor, fast asleep, with the cat curled up in your arms. who he didn’t even noticed was missing lol

usually, he wouldn’t even think of waking you up but the rage and shock that shot through his body resulted in him barking out, “what the fuck?! what are you doing here?! i’ve been looking all over this damn house for you and--”

he was cut off by the cat springing out of your arms from the surprising sharpness of his voice and scurrying off, leaving you confused on the floor on the pantry, half asleep, wondering how you got here and why tsukishima was yelling at you? “hm? what’s wrong, sweetie?” you hummed, rubbing your eyes while tilting your head up to look at his tall, slender figure looming over you in the doorway.

as much as tsukishima wanted to stay mad at you, upon noticing how cute your bedhead was along with how soft your voice was, he quickly realised that there was no way he could continue yelling you. so instead, he scoffed and slowly kneeled down to sit next to you on the floor, looking at you with kind yet concerned eyes as he inquired, “why were you sleeping in the pantry?”

it took you a moment to try and remember but once you did, you blurted out, “oh, berry was having trouble sleeping.” yes your cat is called berry. don’t question it. her full name is strawberry tsukishima shortcake. “so i cuddled with her in her favourite sleeping spot and she slept like a baby. but i guess i did too.” yo chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of your neck. 

tsukishima mentally cursed you out as he was expecting a silly explanation but shit that’s cute. why does he lowkey want to join y’all next time?

hitoka yachi

♡ gsrbtrhryh she gets so flustered and nervous when you fall asleep with her

♡ and she always does tbh bc she has no idea what to do 

♡ like she thinks you look so precious and angelic so she really wants to take a picture and - if she thinks you’d be okay with it - she clicks a photo and probably sets it as her background or posts it on her private story

♡ she is just so head over heels for you tbh that everything you do just astounds her 

♡ she just stares at you like ◉_◉ for half an hour bc you are so beautiful then something inside her just prompts her to lean in and just *mwah* and at first she is quite satisfied bc she has expressed her affection 

♡ but then a few seconds later her soul just leaves her body and guilt just washes over her 

♡  ‘OMG I JUST ASSULTED MY OWN S/O’

♡ she feels horrible 

♡ this close 👌 to calling the police on herself

♡ when you wake up, prepare to be bombarded with her apologies 

♡ once you reassure that it’d fine bc it was just a lil peck on the cheek and she is your girlfriend after all, it brings her the slightest peace of mind

♡ so you peck her cheek while she is asleep to call it evens and that basically fixes it 

♡ but anyway, she is so careful around you when you sleep - like she will literally do the most just to ensure that she doesn’t interrupt your REM sleep

♡ however, that can lead to extremely sticky situations - like the first time you ever fell asleep around her 

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

You were on the 5th movie of your barbie movie marathon when she looked over and noticed you had fallen asleep half way through, so she immediately paused it so the noise wouldn’t wake you up. This was the first time she had ever seen you sleep and she felt somewhat flattered that you felt safe enough around her to be vulnerable - even though, yachi never really considered herself to be a rather daunting or intimidating person.

she couldn’t help but just sit and admire you for a few minutes before realising that she should probably transport you to somewhere more comfortable as you were currently sitting next to her on the pink beanbag in her room. and although  it was kinda comfy, the preferable alternative - her bed - was only a few feet away.

so she knew what she had to do.

she hopped to her feet and before she did anything too hasty, she stretched to ensure that she wouldn’t pull a muscle while doing what she was about to try. she inhaled deeply before crouching down - instead of bending over as she remembered what coach ukai had told her, ‘lift with your legs!’ - then snaking her arms under your torso and knees.

then, she sprung back up and immediately rushed over to the bed as even though you weren’t too heavy, she was afraid that if she held you for too long, you’d wake up. so once she reach the foot of her bed, she tossed you on so your neck was being supported by her soft pillow and yanked her duvet over you. 

she gazed lovingly down at your cozy figure laying on her bed and she couldn’t help but smile.

[bokunosimpfiction]

Yandere!Heisenberg x Reader Pt 3

A/N: Since y’all demanded a plot that’s what you’ll get. Will it be good? No. I’ve never written anything with a plot in my entire life. Ever. Not even when I did Nanowrimo or whatever. I just bullshitted the whole thing. Like I’ll do with this fic. Y’all are going to have to remind me to update because I have the attention span of a goat. I’ll try to update this on Saturdays??? IDK at this point. ALSO, WHY THE FUCK IS THIS SO POPULAR?????????? DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY NOTES THIS HAS ON AO3???? 69????SIXITY FUCKING NINE??? I HATE EVERYTHING MY LEGACY WILL BE READER CALLING HEISENBERG DOOFSCHMIRTZ I HATE EVRYTHING DSHFUGSADFJ

Synopsis: You have totally, %100, given up on escaping. Totally. You haven't been gathering supplies for one, final last hurray. Nope. Totally not. All you have to do is persuade Heisenberg of that so you can change your mind at the last minute. Y’all know the trigger warning for this series but if you don’t tw:kidnapping (implied)

Taglist: it’s exclusivly @localdepressedvampire​  so if you want to be on it for just this story or for all my pieces fill out the google doc in my pinned post or dm me and I’ll put you on it. :)

             You’ve made a breakthrough in your long-term plan of escapism. Even with the mini escape attempts that were really about exploring the factory and less about actually trying to get out, you hadn’t made a lot of progress: until now.

             Well, two, really… Okay, maybe 1 ½. Firstly, you found a sawed-off two-barrel shotgun. With ammo. In fact, there was a various amount of ammo around the factory, but no actual gun. Until now. The second discovery, which is nowhere near as useful, was a window. Which was probably 50 or more feet up from the ground. You didn’t get a chance to inspect it that much, considering as soon as you saw it and got a glimpse at the far-off ground, you had to run again from Lycans.

             Which gives you a basic idea of a way to escape. You knew where the ammo was, you knew where the gun was and had a route to the edge of the building, and hopefully could find stairs at the end of the hallway. Now all you had to do was find a time where you could be gone long enough to get a decent head start before, he notices you’re even gone. Even when he was in the workshop, he kept a close eye on you, keeping you in arms-length to the point where it taxed on both of your mental health.

             And even then, in that chair in the small room, you watch him work in the finer details on something the size of your head and torso. You try not to look at the phone in your lap, he doesn’t even know you have it, much less how great the reception is in the building. How did he not know about his old phone that was still working fine? Oh well, he doesn’t need to know you’re looking at memes and reading feel-good wolf-star fanfic on ao3.

             The best idea you had was to leave him while he was asleep, but there were two some issues with that: he clung to you like his life depended on it, your back to his chest and arms around you almost tight enough to keep you awake; it was dark as hell in the hallways of the factory as is, but it would be impossible to navigate safely with the lights; and the Lycans were most active outside at night, which was where you were trying to go. They’ve tried to eat you before as they show no discrimination on food.

             The only way to get a good enough head start would be to leave while he didn’t notice you were gone, and wouldn’t notice for a long, long time. And that when it hit you. The only time he ever left you by yourself was when he had to deal with the other three lords. And while he left you in that basement that you originally woke up in, you had memorized your way out and found that going up five flights of stairs took you to that faithful widow.

             Would you have enough time to explore and look for an actual exit/entrance, or should you play it safe and find a way to go out that window. You wanted to laugh to yourself, you’d never think that going down a 50ft plus drop would be considered safe, but here you were, kidnapped and held hostage by one of the people your late grandmother warned you not to associate with, or even go near. The letter you received directly quoted “the four lords and their mother, Mother Miranda, are not to be approached or associated with at any costs. You’ll know them when you see them, they smell like death and money. See them and run.”

             You can’t help but find that ironic, considering that you did try to run, heeded her warning, and still faced the consequences that were far worse than she had warned you about. You regretted coming here, to this small village, when you first arrived: no friends, and even those you tried to approach held you to her standard and expected them to be just like her. You were far from her kind and optimistic nature (at least that’s what you heard of her; you hadn’t even known of her whereabouts until she was dead).

             Even the duke, who had helped smuggle you into the village, didn’t seem fond of you. It was a shame, you tried so hard to impress him. But he saw you to a point where you could easily reach her old cottage without having too many issues, turned his cart around, and left without a good-bye. It bothered you to no end that your only companion for about a year or so was an elderly outside cat and the creaking noises the walls made at night.

             And then the cat died and not even a week later you got kidnapped. You never considered yourself lucky, but damn if that wasn’t the worst streak of luck you’ve had in a long time.

             You pretend to turn a page in your book and scroll through your Instagram feed, seeing friends having fun at the beach, or studying at the library, or your old best friend taking selfies in provocative clothing to your ex-boyfriend. Did she forget he cheated on you? She wasn’t always the smartest, but she brought that heartbreak upon herself. You see a photo of your mom, she had posted a picture of a black and white photo of her with her mom, you’re guessing, you have no idea who that old woman is.

             This is the last photo I had with my mom before she died. We lost contact after I moved out. I wish we parted on better terms, Nana.

             She’s in a prairie dress, holding an ancient-looking key in one hand, and the other wrapped around her mom, a middle-aged woman with long hair in two braids and a face that had too many stress wrinkles. You guess your mom was as bad as you were in college. The background looks dreary. You would have guessed it to be the quality of the photo if you hadn’t recognized the house behind them as the house you lived in used to live in.

             The loops on the handle of the key look familiar. You spread your fingers apart to zoom in and see the blurry engravings on the side. It was the payment you gave to sneak into the village. You thought it was a worthless family heirloom at most and found it strange that he had even found interest in the key, or even valued it deeper than money in general. Maybe this photo or other photos of you and your family would help out.

             Why is that key suddenly piquing your interest? Were you that bored, as to sit there and think about a key that was at least twice your age? A key that you didn’t even have. You needed a hobby besides escapism and rejecting your captor’s sexual advances. You look up at him again, only to find him leaning against the desk, hat off and sunglass placed on his forehead, his gaze on you. It wasn’t his normal piercing one, that studied you and calculated your every move, but soft and lazy. His current gaze was dreamy; he was daydreaming about you. You found that equally undaring s it was unnerving.

             ���Karl.”

             “Yes, Sweetiepea?” Honestly, what the fuck.

             “Firstly, why are you staring at me like that? Secondly, that is the most disgusting way to use that pet name. I need to take a shower after you called me that.”

             He chuckles light-heartedly. Even his softer more genuine, happy chuckles are booming and loud. “Okay… Sugarplum!” And he busts out laughing.

             Clearly dodging the first question and focusing on the second. You can’t believe you gave him ammo for his annoying-you-gun. And you thought you’d grown immune to most of his… less-savory traits. Were you growing used to him? Next thing you know you’re going to like him and develop Stockholm syndrome!

             “You’re a shit head, hobo magneto…” You turn your head away and let your hair cover half your face so he can’t see you smile. You’ll miss him when you escape and get the duke to smuggle you back to your home in Bucharest. But only a little. Just because calling Heisenberg these names are funny.

             “Why don’t you call me by my name, I know you know it.”

             “You sure about that?” You quip back.

             “You’ve lived with me for at least two months now!”

             “Hm…. I think I know your name! It’s uh…” You are totally faking not knowing his name. “It’s… Heidi Carlson? Yeah, that sounds about right!”

             “It’s Karl Heisenberg!”

             “Quit being so silly, Heidi! Maybe it’s nap-time!” This was a little too fun.

             He looks back at his project for a moment and genuinely considers it. “I know you’re being antagonistic but you’re probably right.” And with that, he walks towards you and goes to scoop you up. You have to shut your book quickly in order for him not to notice the phone in between its pages before you let him pick you up.

             He immediately notices that. “Are… Are you sick?”

             “No! Of course not!” Because you genuinely aren’t sick, and he’s already up in your business as-is, you don’t need him dotting on you because he thinks you’re sick or something. You’ll go fucking crazy.

             “You’ve put in zero effort into anything remotely physical since your last little failed escape attempt.” He gave it a little bit of thought. “You’ve given up, haven’t you, and you’re just depressed about it aren’t you?”

             You want to say no, you really do, but if Heisenberg thinks you’ve given up on escaping, perhaps it’ll give you enough space to plan the big one. The reverse heist so to speak. “No- I… okay maybe I have but I still don’t like you.

             He leans down and presses a kiss to your forehead. “Good girl. Now let’s get us that well-deserved nap.”

             You plug your nose and turn away as a joke. “You’ve gotta take a bath first, you smell like oil and sweat.” You don’t fight it, because you have to play the part, but you still have to act a little bit like yourself.

             “Okay, fine doll, but don’t think you’ve escaped my barrage of affection, because as soon as I get out of the shower-“

             You bonk him. And he looks at you so confused before he smiles and leans down to nuzzle his nose against yours. You try to hold the bile back in your mouth and lean forward and peck his lips before leaning back. You failed at trying to not visibly gag.

             “Ew… I can’t believe I just kissed you.”

             “Well, I guess someone caught feelings… Didn’t they?”

[mochegato]

Nannyette

Chapter 9 – A View From the Top

Chapter 1     Chapter 8 

Tim studied the pictures on her wall again while he waited for Marinette to change out of her stained shirt.  Specifically, he studied the picture of Marinette that looked like it was taken from the top of the Eifel Tower.  He studied the background of the photo.  Either it was a hell of a photo shop job or it was actually taken from the Eifel Tower, and taking into account the perspective and size of the objects in the background, it was taken at the top of the Tower. But there was no way she could have gotten up there, right?  So it must be photo shop.  Unless… He thought back to the photos she identified in his townhouse.

“Sorry I made us stop here.  I’m such a klutz,” Marinette groaned apologetically.  

“You aren’t even trying to hide it, are you?” Tim asked with an amused, teasing lilt to his voice.

Marinette furrowed her brow and gave him a confused shake of her head.  She followed his eye line to look at the pictures, specifically the picture Adrien had taken of her from the top of the Eifel Tower.  Marinette paled slightly and snapped her eyes back to Tim.  “Hide what exactly?” she asked carefully.

“This picture was taken from the top of the Eifel Tower, a place they do not allow civilians.  There was no way for you to get up there legally or even illegally.” He moved closer to her with each sentence, a love-struck grin on his face. Marinette subconsciously backed away as he moved forward.  “That’s why you were so quick to identify my pictures as outing me.  You had pictures that could out you.  You were one of the heroes, weren’t you?”  

He quirked his head to the side and studied her, trying to figure out which hero she was, still advancing on her, missing the sudden color change and tension in her frame.  “That’s how you knew so much about them and how their suits worked, why you’re such a good fighter, why you are so good at patching up wounds, how you knew how worried we would be about our identities.”  He looked up and saw a picture of her and Adrien together. “That’s what you and Adrien were talking about earlier with the ‘dealing with giant babies’.  I thought you were talking about annoying people but you meant a literal giant baby, an akuma you guys had to deal with because he’s a hero too.” Tim grinned proudly for having figured it out.

Marinette only stopped backing up when her back hit a wall.  She looked away to think about her options, a plausible excuse.  She may have found out about their identities, but she wasn’t ready for him to find out hers.  She carefully controlled her breathing.  If she started hyperventilating now, it would be a dead giveaway that he was right.  Tim had advanced to the point of almost touching her.  He put his arm up on the wall to lean against it, unintentionally boxing her in and making her feel claustrophobic.  

She looked back up timidly.  “Or… I was friends with a few of them, particularly Chat Noir.  I was the target for quite a few akumas and got to know them pretty well.  My balcony was along their patrol route and I gave them pastries whenever I could. Chat had a pretty bad home life and he liked to stop at my balcony to think and talk.  Plus we gave them pastries and treats when they stopped, so it was a popular spot.”

He looked at her skeptically searching for signs of duplicity, but everything she said seemed truthful.  At the very least, she believed what she was saying.  “And the picture?” he nodded to the picture of her from the Eifel Tower.

She looked over to the picture and got a nostalgic smile on her face.  “Chat took that.  He wanted to give me a view I’d never forget.”

Tim raised his eyebrows.  “Should I be jealous?  Do you have a different favorite hero?”

She chuckled lightly, thankful for the change in focus. “I grew up with Ladybug and Chat Noir and the rest.  They mean a lot to me.  My life has been saved so many times because of that team.”  She raised up her hand to run it along his neck and rest it on his shoulder.  “But lately another hero has caught my attention.”

He smiled at her seductively and rested his hands on her hips.  “Oh yeah?”

She nodded coyly, looking up at him through her eyelashes and running her finger down his chest.  “Perhaps you’ve heard of them?”

“Maybe.  Do I get to find out their name?”

She hummed at him and pulled him down until his ear was a few centimeters away from her lips.  “Black Bat.”  

She grinned as he groaned and dropped his head onto her shoulder.  “I want to be mad but I can’t blame you for that.  She’s everyone’s favorite.”

Marinette hummed again and lifted his head to look at her.  “Maybe, but not mine.”  Her previously teasing eyes were now filled with tender affection.  “I kind of have a thing for Red Robin, but I heard he has a girlfriend.”

Tim nodded as he moved to cup her face.  “He does.  I heard he absolutely adores her.  He thinks he might be falling in love with her.”

Marinette’s eyes sparkled and she grinned brilliantly. “Yeah?” Tim nodded again, unable to look away from her eyes.  Marinette’s smile grew impossibly wider and she wrapped her arms around his waist to pull him closer.  “Good. Because I heard she’s falling in love with him too.”

Tim’s smiled excitedly.  “Really?”  This time Marinette nodded, biting her lip shyly.  Tim surged forward to kiss her passionately, but before their lips met, her head snapped to the suddenly opened door and his lips landed on her cheek.

Adrien slammed the door behind him and made his way back toward his room, so focused on what he was thinking about he didn’t see them against the far wall.  “Okay Plagg, what do you think? ‘Bug, I’ve decided I’m going to ask Luz to marry me. So… I want to let the cat out of the bag.’  No, no, that isn’t good.  She won’t appreciate the, frankly perfect, pun.”  

A high pitched voice rose up from Adrien’s jacket. “That was terrible and a lazy effort.”

“What do you know?  You don’t like any puns unless they are about cheese.  Okay, how about “Marinette, Bugaboo, Bug, LB, best friend ever, sister, I’ve decided I want to spend the rest of my life with Luz and I don’t want to keep any secrets of mine from her.  So, I want to tell her about Paris and about me, who I was.  I won’t tell her about you.  I know how important it is that nobody knows who you are.’  Good right? ‘Oh, and you need to be my Best Man. Best Maid?  Best Person?’”

Tim gaped at him and whipped his head back to Marinette whose eyes were clamped shut and her face scrunched up in frustration.  “I’m supposed to be lucky,” she groaned out quietly and lightly banged her head against the wall behind her.  She took a deep breath and gave Tim an apologetic grimace before turning to address Adrien.  “Plagg is right, that was a lazy effort, but I understand you were distracted. Wait until she says yes before you tell her and maybe not in the same night.  Give her time to celebrate the engagement before you drop a big bomb on her. She’ll love it,” she rushed to assure him, “but it’s still a lot, so not at the same time.”

Adrien jerked back, whipping his head around to see her and Tim, almost falling but catching himself at the last minute.  His face immediately paled as he mentally went through everything he had just admitted to.  “Hey Bu… uh… Marinette.”  He stuttered awkwardly shifting from foot to foot.  “I thought… so you didn’t go to his place then?”

“Nope,” she said popping the p.

“I thought you were going to his place.”

“I had to change my clothes.”

“How much…” he couldn’t even finish the question.

Marinette sighed and moved away from Tim wrapping her arms around herself as she did.  “Enough.”

Adrien let out a guilty sigh, “Sorry Bug.  I didn’t… I should have checked my surroundings.  I really… I’m sorry.”

Marinette gave him a halfhearted smile.  “It’s okay.  He had actually just asked a few minutes before you came in anyway, so I wasn’t going to be able to hide it for much longer.”

Adrien looked between the two of them surprised Tim picked up on it so quickly when none of their friends or family had been able to after years.  “Right. Okay.  Well I’ll just… um… go then.  Good to see you again, Tim.” He waved to Tim before he remembered the awkward situation he had just created and stiffly retracted his hand before quickly retreating out of the apartment.

Marinette moved to lean against the back of the couch. She didn’t think she would be able to stand on her own for this conversation.  “I’m sorry,” she spoke quietly to the floor.  “I… I didn’t lie.  None of what I said was a lie.  Chat did stop by a lot before either of us knew each other’s identity and that picture was… I had a particularly rough day.  Chat didn’t know why but it was a lot of things piling up on me both as a civilian and a hero and a… um…” she furrowed her brow as she spoke.  She wanted to finish that sentence but she couldn’t.  As much as she cared about Tim, she couldn’t risk telling him more than he already knew. “Anyway, Chat didn’t know why exactly it was such a rough day for me but he took me up to the top of the Tower to get me to smile.”

She could hear Tim approaching her slowly, but she wasn’t ready to look in his eyes yet.  She wasn’t ready for the betrayal in his eyes she was sure would be there. “We didn’t even know each other’s identity until after we had defeated Hawkmoth, the first one.”  She looked to the side, tears starting to fall down her cheeks.  “And what I said about the powers, how much danger there is, how much power is involved, that was all true.  I can’t tell someone I just met, no matter how I feel about him.  I’m sorry, I just can’t.  There is too much at stake.”  The tears were falling faster now.  She knew she was going to lose him over this.  He had shared his identity with her and she had basically lied about hers even when he directly asked.  He was going to think she didn’t trust him or she was just using him.

She startled when she felt arms wrap around her and pull her into a welcoming chest.  “Shhh. It’s okay.  I understand.  It’s okay. I’m not mad or disappointed,” he reassured her, rubbing comforting circles on her back and kissing her temple.

She pulled back to look him in the eyes to verify his words.  His eyes held nothing but honesty and concern for her.  She lamented the loss of his hands around her waist until she felt his hands on her face, wiping away her tears.  “Do you know how paranoid Batman is about identities?  He passed that onto me.  I had friends in the superhero community for years before I told them who I was.  We saved each other’s lives more times than I could count.  I trusted them absolutely, but didn’t tell them my identity.  If you hadn’t found out our identities on your own, I probably wouldn’t have told you for a long time and there was a lot less at stake for me than there is for you.”

He cupped her face again and laid a chaste kiss on her lips.  “I understand.  We just started dating.  I don’t expect you to spill all your secrets right away.  It’s okay.”  He pulled her into his chest again to wrap her in his reassuring embrace and rest his forehead on hers.  “And I meant what I said, I’m falling in love with you.  Nothing about what just happened changes that, other than to maybe make me even more impressed.  And make no mistake, tonight I’m going to scour the internet to find videos of my kickass girlfriend in action so I can feel even more unworthy.”

Marinette gave him a grateful smile.  “Thank you,” she whispered barely loudly enough to hear even in the silent apartment.

“The worst part about this is that I don’t get to gush about my superhero girlfriend and lord it over the others.  I’m just going to have to know internally you are definitely too good for me,” he sighed out in mock exasperation.  

Marinette giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I know what you mean.  I can’t gush to Adrien about the amazing job my boyfriend did taking down the cartel the other day or the jaw dropping moves he did in the fight.”  She sighed pitifully.  “I’m just going to have to stick to gushing about the qualities he shows in his civilian identity; being brilliant, kind, funny, sexy, sweet, compassionate, dedicated, loyal…”  

She would have continued listing off more of his outstanding characteristics but Tim stopped her mouth with a passionate, hungry kiss.  He pulled away breathlessly to look her in the eyes.  “I think I was wrong, I’m not falling in love with you.  I’m already there.  I love you.”

Marinette beamed at him and cupped his face, gazing at him adoringly.  “I love you too.”

“But,” he looked down in mock disappointment, “maybe some form of punishment might be in order.”  Her face fell and she looked at him confused.  He looked back up with a devilish grin.  “I’m just not certain if it is more of a snuggles level infraction or cuddles level.”

Her expression morphed to a sultry look.  She pulled his face closer to hers again. “This might be severe enough to level up.  I was thinking it might be a watching Knives Out level transgression.”  

“Ooohhh, that seems harsh, but if you think that’s justified…”  He closed the gap to pull her into a searing, passionate kiss, which was quickly followed by many, many more.

 The End

Tags:

@timari-month-event  @ichigorose @stainedglassm @better-toast @theymakeupfairies @trippingovermyfeet @demonicbusiness @maskedpainter @ladybug-182 @a4-machete

[captaincartervalues]

This is everything wrong with that trial bc it IRKS me to no end:

There is absolutely ZERO instances in which Lex would have gotten his trial that quickly. From the time he was arrested last episode (aka yesterday in their timeline) to arraignment would most likely take two to three days. For those who don’t know, an arraignment is where the government formally presents the charges to the defendant in court and the defendant consequently enters their plea, either guilty or not guilty. After the arraignment is the trial, which by law and procedure would never occur immediately after or within the same day. Logistically, scheduling a trial to find days where all parties (judge, defendant, and prosecutor) are available requires time and coordination. Courts’ calendars are booked weeks and months ahead of time. Per the 6th Amendment in the US Constitution, a defendant is entitled to a speedy trial. However a speedy trial never means a trial within a DAY. Though there’s often no set number of days that would automatically constitute a violation of a speedy trial, generally defendants should see their trial start date within approximately 60 days. That is because of the real world logistic constraints but it is also to ensure that BOTH the prosecution and defense have adequate time to prepare for a trial. This preparation includes gathering and disclosing evidence, witness prep, motion filing, and just generally getting your case together. However that 60 days is only if the defense doesn’t waive their right to a speedy trial which many do in order to properly prepare and mount a defense to acquit. Trials in these cases can and do get pushed several months or even upwards of years til the start date. Assuming Lex refused to waive his 6th amendment right and wanted a trial immediately he still would never get it within the same day because A. The prosecution would never agree to that nor would the judge allow it B. The court’s schedule wouldn’t have an opening like that and C. The process of pre-trial takes time. To even just select a jury aka voir dire can take several days by itself. Other pre trial steps that would occur before a trial can start include a preliminary hearing in which the judge determines if there’s enough evidence against the defendant to have a trial, discovery in which both sides have to share their evidence and witness lists with each other prior to trial, and motions filed to the court to exclude or suppress certain evidence from trial. These steps take time and several appearances before the court that would be spread out over weeks at minimum.

Undermining a witness’s credibility like how Lex did with Eve by insinuating she was a scorned and resentful woman does not mean her entire testimony would get thrown out and excluded from trial. It is literally the job of the jury to weigh and value a witness’s testimony with their credibility. The jury could absolutely conclude Eve is not credible and lying BUT they would get to come to that conclusion on their own in deliberations bc a judge would never throw out a witness’s entire testimony unless there was definitive evidence the witness is lying (which there was not). Also, a witness could be deemed less credible and still have their testimony be believed because of supplementary evidence or corroborating witnesses like Lena.

Fruit of the poisonous tree. Related to the above point, Lena says Eve’s testimony was tainted because it was “fruit of the poisonous tree” which is NOT how that works in the slightest. Fruit of the poisonous tree is a real legal doctrine in which evidence is officially excluded from trial because it was obtained illegally by law enforcement. If the source of the evidence (lets say an illegal search without a warrant) is tainted, then anything gained (“the fruit”) from the source (“the tree”) is also tainted and inadmissible in court. Basically, fruit (ie evidence) from a poisonous tree (ie illegal search) is also poisonous and thus not allowed. But Eve’s testimony does not fall into this category at all. Just because her credibility was undermined and therefore the rest of her testimony is also undermined that does not mean it is illegal or excluded from being considered in court by the jury. At most she’s a failed witness bc her testimony is useless in the eyes of the jury but it is not in any shape or form inadmissible.

Just because Lex said a bunch of legal jargon to the judge doesn’t mean it A. had any weight or meaning and B. would actually be accepted by the judge. Lex asked the judge to have Eve’s testimony stricken from the record, her plea deal be revoked, and add a charge of perjury for her lies. All three motions would have been immediately denied because Lex didn’t provide an ounce of evidence that Eve was perjuring herself. See point 2 again because all he did was possibly and not even that effectively undermine her credibility by having her admit she was in love with him and rejected. That alternative theory could potentially be enough to negate her testimony in the jury’s eyes but it is most certainly not even remotely enough to get her testimony thrown out. Just because the defense offers a competing theory (which is literally the job of the defense) does not mean that theory is automatically accepted as fact or true. Again it is the job of the jury to determine that. Not to mention that this case was described as “ironclad” by Lillian and purported to be supported by hard evidence provided by Eve in addition to her testimony according to the prosecutor. Lex’s resentful lover theory wouldn’t necessarily negate that testimony or evidence! Lots of witnesses in real life are imperfect with questionable backgrounds or motives but their testimony can still be compelling to find a defendant guilty. Like this was such a thinly veiled, lazy attempt at a defense. Lex didn’t offer ANY evidence to support his claims other than his own testimony which was not legally admitted and should have been sustained and stricken which moves me to my next point.

Lex’s questioning of the witnesses was utterly objectionable and sustainable. Lawyers are bound by specific procedure and rules when questioning a witness. During cross examination, which is when a lawyer is questioning the other side’s witness, you are afforded more latitude by which to ask your questions in attempts to undermine an opposing witness’s credibility and testimony. You can ask leading questions aka yes or no questions (ex: you framed me because I rejected you, isn’t that right?) and you can even be combative with witnesses. However, what you absolutely CANNOT do is testify yourself and not ask the witness a question. This is literally what Lex did during his cross of both Eve and Lena. The objection that should and would have been raised is “Objection: Counselor (or in this case Defendant bc Lex is representing himself and not a lawyer) is testifying” to which the judge would have immediately agreed, sustained Lex, and have his entire monologue to the jury stricken and instructed them to ignore everything he said. A lawyer and especially someone representing themselves CANNOT use a witness’s time on the stand to testify themselves. That is what opening and closing arguments are for: uninterrupted presentation of your case. If Lex wanted to testify, he would have to take the stand and be subject to cross examination. He does not get to use his cross of Eve as a chance to say whatever he wants. ALSO as a side note, if a witness was so thoroughly undermined during cross, the lawyer who called the witness would get what is called a redirect, or extra time to question a witness to reestablish why their testimony is relevant and credible. Only a terrible prosecutor would choose not to redirect after that.

Also, between the scenes in court and those with Lena and Lillian, the show somehow implies both that Eve’s testimony was thrown out and that it was just merely undermined to the jury but not excluded? They can’t have it both ways lol.

When the judge actually sustains Lex for his improper questioning of Lena, she only says it once and lets him continue on his inadmissible tirade. In reality a judge would keep saying sustained or tell the defendant if they don’t stop now they’ll be held in contempt (aka put in jail until they’re ready to comply with the rules of the court). AND she would most definitely have instructed the jury that all of what he just said was sustained and couldn’t be considered.

Lex says “the defense rests” during the prosecution’s presentation and witness?! Like that’s not how it works. Lex technically hadn’t even started his presentation because he didn’t call any witnesses or present any evidence. He doesn’t just get to decide the trial is over during the prosecution’s case. The prosecution has to rest before the defense can even start let alone also rest their case.

This one isn’t so much a legal note but a weird observation. They have Willy shout “Yes!” after Lex “rests” implying Lex did more damage to himself with his speech and the jury would agree, only to then have Lena look half smug for beating him and half like she failed on the stand. They gave weird conflicting sentiments about the direction of the verdict that I guess was supposed to make the not guilty verdict a surprise but it all just fell flat and was super disjointed. And I’m sorry but Lex going on an unhinged rant would not help his perception or case to the jury even if he said he didn’t commit the crimes. Maybe the men would sympathize or project but those women would be taking that as a big sign of guilt. At the very least the jury should have been locked and unable to render a verdict thus declaring a mistrial which would have meant even more time as a new trial is set.

In conclusion, none of this makes sense nor is it how the courts actually work. I get everything doesn’t have to be über realistic but I would appreciate even a minutia of effort to make it make sense.

AND all of it was just entirely unnecessary for the episode. What they should have done is merely say Lex was awaiting trial and move on!

[longitudinalwaveme]

Arkham Files: Pied Piper

Hugo Strange: From the patient files of Dr. Hugo Strange, director of Arkham Asylum. Patient: Hartley Rathaway, alias Henry Darrow; also known as the Pied Piper. The patient shows signs of depression and general emotional distress, but I have not yet been able to give him a full psychiatric evaluation. Session One. So, young man, your name is Hartley Rathaway? 

Pied Piper: Yes, sir. 

Hugo Strange: Any connection to Osgood and Rachel Rathaway, the billionaire publishing magnates? 

Pied Piper: They’re my parents, sir. 

Hugo Strange: (Surprised) You mean to tell me that you’re that Hartley Rathaway? The boy who was set to inherit a fortune as large as the GDP of some small countries? 

Pied Piper: I’m the only Hartley Rathaway! Ever! Nobody but my parents would stick a child with a name like that! 

Hugo Strange: So if that is who you are, young man, why in the world would you have ever decided to put on a costume, call yourself the Pied Piper, and embark on a life of crime using weaponized musical instruments? 

Pied Piper: Because someone had to even the score. 

Hugo Strange: What do you mean, even the score? You had life handed to you on a silver platter. You grew up in a palatial mansion, with servants to tend to your every need. You had the best education money could buy, you traveled all around the world, and you were set to inherit one of the largest fortunes in the country. What injustice could a pampered prince like you possibly have faced? 

Pied Piper: None, sir. I’m not evening the score for myself. I’m evening it for the poor, the downtrodden, the people who through no fault of their own are denied the opportunity to even know that they’ll have a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs. My parents and people like them live in scandalous luxury that they didn’t even earn, and they have the nerve to say that the poor are lazy and selfish! It’s unjust and unfair, and yet everyone turns a blind eye! I...I had to do something! 

Hugo Strange: (A bit taken aback) I must admit, young man, I was not expecting to hear a manifesto from someone of your background. (Pause) I take it that you don’t simply steal for kicks in the way that your file seems to suggest? 

Pied Piper: Not often. Usually, I take the money from people who won’t even notice it’s gone and give it to people who really need it. 

Hugo Strange: So you think of yourself as some sort of Robin Hood, then? Stealing from the rich to give to the poor? 

Pied Piper: I wouldn’t have thought to put in those specific terms, but...I suppose I do, yes.

Hugo Strange: Why not just give away your own money, Mr. Rathaway? Certainly you have access to more than enough of it. 

Pied Piper: (Laughs quietly) I tried that once. When my parents found out, it became part of the argument that got me disowned, disinherited, and thrown off of their estate without a dollar to my name. 

Hugo Strange: Your parents disowned you? 

Pied Piper: Yes. They even paid the FBI to give me the identity of Henry Darrow just so I could never be traced back to them. If the Flash and that brilliant young reporter hadn’t stumbled onto the connection between me and my parents somehow, Hartley Rathaway probably would have been effectively erased from existence. 

Hugo Strange: That does at least explain why your file gives you two entirely separate names and histories. I admit that that had been puzzling me, Mr. Rathaway. 

Pied Piper: Well, now you know. (Pause) How did I end up in Arkham Asylum, Doctor? Even if someone had become convinced that I was mentally ill, Breedmore Psychiatric Hospital would seem to be much more conveniently located. 

Hugo Strange: It would be. In fact, there are any number of prisons and psychiatric facilities that would be more conveniently located to the area of the Twin Cities than Arkham Asylum...but through a series of judicial and political decisions to which I was not privy, somehow all of you “Rogues” were placed under my watch. (Pause) So, Mr. Rathaway, you went from being one of the wealthiest and most privileged people in the country to being homeless and penniless. I imagine that that was not an easy transition for you. 

Pied Piper: No, it wasn’t. Although the panic didn’t kick in right away. It wasn’t until I used my sonic technology to steal forty thousand dollars from my parents’ company, and then gave the money away to people in need, that my anger subsided and it really hit me that I was impoverished. All I had left was my hypnotic flute and the silly costume I had made out of my mother’s nice shower curtains in order to disguise myself while I was stealing money from her company, and I was panicking. Which in hindsight is probably why I made the stupid decision to hypnotize a group of random crooks into becoming a sort of gang, told them that my name was the Pied Piper, and tried to become their leader. One of them probably would have ended up shooting me within a couple of days, but because my sonic abilities were quite unusual, the Flash showed up to arrest us before I got myself killed. They went to prison, but for some reason that was never adequately explained, I was released from the police station without even being booked. 

Hugo Strange: How could that have happened, Mr. Rathaway? 

Pied Piper: My parents’ money, of course. They hadn’t had the time to create a false identity for me yet, so I suspect that they simply bribed the police station into letting me go so that no one would know that the former heir to the Rathaway empire was now a common crook. 

Hugo Strange: And what happened after that?

Pied Piper: I almost starved to death. 

Hugo Strange: And what saved you? 

Pied Piper: Well, I had sat down on a park bench and was sort of waiting to die when I suddenly came face-to-face with a pair of blue pixie shoes that were floating four feet off the ground. The pixie shoes were attached to a blonde kid in a garish leotard. He asked me if I was the kid with the magic flute, and when I said yes, he told me that he was the Trickster and invited me to stay with him in his apartment for a couple days. I agreed when he told me that he also had food. During the month I stayed with him, he gave me a crash course on how to survive on the streets...although most of the other Rogues insist that I must not have learned very much from it. 

Hugo Strange: Why is that, Mr. Rathaway? 

Pied Piper: Because I still give away basically all the money that I steal. Most of it goes to the poor, and the rest of it goes to my parents, to pay them back for the money they spent on trying to mold me into someone I could never be. That way, they can stop complaining about all the money they wasted on me. (Pause) Captain Cold insists that if I had any sense, I would keep some of the money for myself, but why would I do that? I spent my early life in unimaginable luxury. It’s only fair that I go without to help the poor now. 

Hugo Strange: So you’re martyring yourself for the sins of your parents? 

Pied Piper: I’m not martyring myself. I’m just doing what needs to be done. 

Hugo Strange: Sacrificing your own financial well-being for the sake of others is not healthy, Mr. Rathaway. With a philosophy like yours, I’m surprised that you’re even still alive. (Pause) Incidentally, how have you managed to survive multiple stints in prison? A skinny, sheltered ex-aristocrat like you would seem to be an obvious target. 

Pied Piper: Which is why I don’t call attention to myself whilst incarcerated. You’d be surprised how effective keeping your head down and your mouth shut can be. (Pause) Well, that, and Captain Cold has made it pretty clear that if anyone messes with me, they’re also messing with him. And almost no one is willing to get on Captain Cold’s bad side. 

Hugo Strange: So your status as one of the Rogues protects you? 

Pied Piper: Yes, sir. (Pause) But if I really had to, I think I could survive without them. I may be a sheltered ex-aristocrat, but I’m also a master hypnotist. I didn’t take up the name Pied Piper for nothing, Dr. Strange. 

Hugo Strange: Yes, your file does go into great detail about the effectiveness of your hypnotic instruments. When you first arrived on the scene, there were even some people who thought that you might be the Pied Piper of the folktales, due not only to your powers but also the fact you seemed to appear and disappear almost at will, without ever really getting caught (Pause) Of course, from what you’ve told me, I can guess that the explanation for your remarkably infrequent imprisonments was due to your parents’ wealth, rather than to any magical powers.

Pied Piper: Those rumors were actually quite helpful. When people thought I might be magical, they put considerably less effort into tracking me, and that gave me a lot more freedom to do things like volunteering at homeless shelters and food pantries. 

Hugo Strange: But you are not magical, Mr. Rathaway. You are only a man. 

Pied Piper: I know that, Dr. Strange. If I had magical powers, I’d be a lot farther along in my goal of helping uplift the downtrodden than I am. 

Hugo Strange: Mr. Rathaway, that was not what I was trying to tell you. Wanting to help others is an admirable goal, but the methods which you are taking to pursue it are decidedly unhealthy. You are a human being with human needs, and you are discounting them all in your desperation to prove that you are worth loving. While I believe that you honestly want to help others, I also believe that there is a part of you that is still trying to earn the love which it sounds like you were denied as a child. You’re hoping that if you sacrifice enough, you will finally be accepted as worthy...but you are giving too much. 

Pied Piper: Too much? 

Hugo Strange: Yes, Mr. Rathaway. Too much. (Pause) Think of it this way. If you starve to death because you have no money to pay for food, you will no longer be around to feed anyone else...and by giving away all of the money you bring in, illicitly or otherwise, that is effectively what you are risking. And it’s certainly what you’re doing to yourself on an emotional level.

Pied Piper: (Quietly) It’s what I was taught to do, Dr. Strange. What I wanted wasn’t important. What I needed wasn’t even important. The only thing that was important was upholding the family name. My parents have always made it quite clear that their love for me was conditional on whether I would sacrifice what I was to be their idea of the perfect heir, and I tried. For eighteen years, I tried, but it was never enough. Not after I’d been born deaf. 

Hugo Strange: Yes, your files mention that. Your files also mention that your deafness was cured thanks to a pair of highly advanced hearing aids, which were created by Dr. William Magnus. The operation cost millions of dollars, and it granted you far more than the normal range of hearing. 

Pied Piper: 14 hertz to 55,000 hertz. I hear more sounds than a dog. (Pause) And all the nasty things that people whisper behind my back when they think I can’t hear. 

Hugo Strange: Are you glad that you were given these hearing aids, Mr. Rathaway? 

Pied Piper: Very much so. Without them, I’d never have known what music sounded like. (Pause) But to be honest? If I had to choose between being deaf and knowing that my parents loved me, and being able to hear and knowing that it was entirely because my parents didn’t want the social embarrassment of having a disabled son, I’d choose the world of silence. And I hate silence.

Hugo Strange: Mr. Rathaway, you have spent your entire life sacrificing your own needs, either for the needs of others or for your parent’s desire for a so-called ‘perfect’ heir. That is why the request I am going to make of you will be so difficult. (Pause) Between now and our next session, I want you to write down something that you really want to do. Not something you think you should want to do; something that you actually want to do. 

Pied Piper: But-

Hugo Strange: Mr. Rathaway, you will never be able to achieve healing until you recognize that your wants and needs are just as valid as anyone else’s. You will not be able to care for others in a healthy way until you learn to care for yourself. 

[anika-ann]

Stockings (S.R.)

Type:  Modern-college-professor AU - part of Attached series or a standalone

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader   Word count: 3000

Summary: You just wanted to decorate the apartment for a bit, you swear.

It wasn’t your fault that it was impossible to stay with your mind out of the gutter for longer than five minutes whenever Steve was around.

A/N: No knowledge of Attached needed I think 😉 Feel free to read as a standalone, you’ll find it in my masterlist as both.

A/N 2: For @wonderlandmind4​ ‘s challenge. Congrats on your follower count and for coming up with this awesome challenge!

Prompt: “Those - weren’t the kind of stockings I had in mind-“ (bold in text)

Warnings: suggestive themes, implied smut with tiny bit of action so 18+, nsfw, language (always), and one (1) trope that has definitely been used before

Series masterlist

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

When the idea of decorating first flashed through your mind, it was, honest to God, completely innocent.

Due to loads of schoolwork, Halloween somehow passed by and you barely noticed, the most festive thing you had done being the indulgent orders of pumpkin spiced lattés and hogging some of the candy for your exam time stress-eating. Candy which just happened to be shaped like spiders, snakes, witches and other lovely stuff.

But that was it and with ditching the spooky holiday and the Thanksgiving which no one in your apartment was allowed to talk about, you itched to celebrate at least one of the holidays in peace and with everything that belonged with it.

Gifts, obviously.

Baking, perhaps.

Decorations, absolutely.

Last year, you and Penny had gone a bit overboard, fully affected by the holiday madness, and bought half the store (well, as much as your financial situation allowed anyway). Your dorm room looked as if Santa puked there, as Penny elaborately put it, but you both adored it.

Now, with Steve, you knew you had to be considerably more restrained.

Not that he would notice if your apartment turned into a damn Santa village, because he was too preoccupied with grading midterm papers. Non-stop, it seemed. The pile never ever appeared to be reducing.

However, you and Steve had set a rule that even if you were both crazy busy, you’d make time for at least one or two evenings together – simply to take few moments to fully appreciate each other’s company.

That night, Steve’s mind wandered despite trying to stay focused on you, you could tell. You felt for him, you truly did… but you missed him. Your time together, truly together, became so rare lately and--- you didn’t want to end up like the couple that kisses goodnight and good-morning just because they share quarters and a bed, and ignores one another for the rest of the day.

Rather than letting the gloomy thoughts consume you though, you tried a different approach; humour.

After all, that was how your relationship had started, along with loads of awkwardness.

“Penny says hi, by the way,” you said casually, practically feeling Steve’s absence despite his body engulfing you as you cuddled on the couch, movie on your laptop playing in the background which neither of you were watching.

Steve hummed, his fingers never ceasing the comforting strokes on your arm.

You adored him, you did – which really was the reason why you couldn’t but mess with him, tease him for his mental trip to the far-away lands.

“She and Bucky hooked up again.”

“Mm.”

“She still claims he was the best she ever had.”

“Oh, that’s interesting,” Steve muttered, almost as if he was actually listening to you.

“I’m meeting them tomorrow both, because they offered me a threesome.”

“That’s nice.”

The corners of your lips twitched. God, Steve was lucky to have you to take his mind off his job sometimes, otherwise he would work himself into the ground with how much of his brain space was filled with university matters. He was so detached from life sometimes…

“Bucky asked if he could film it, do you think I should say yes?”

“Whatever you think—wait WHAT?!” he cried out, sitting up straight, hence pushing you up too since you had been nestled on his chest.

Giggles erupted from your throat as you watched his perplexed and scandalized face, realization slowly dawning on him as he probably went over the last few sentences that left your mouth – and his expression gradually melted into an apologetic one, blending into exhaustion as he ran his hand down his face.

You cupped his cheeks then, leaning in to plant a kiss on his forehead – you would swear it was a fraction hotter than normal, his poor brain overheating – and stifled the aww threatening to spill when Steve closed his eyes contentedly, a hum vibrating in his chest.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he whispered, kissing your lips chastely before wrapping his arms around you to hold you close again, face nuzzling your hair. “I’m listening now.”

You curled into his warmth, much more welcoming than the comforter wrapped around you.

“It’s okay, Stevie. I know you’re tired. We’ll just call it a night.”

“But you wanted to talk about something?” he protested softly, earning a hum in affirmation.

“Just wanted to ask if you’d be okay with me decorating the apartment? Just a bit, to bring a piece of the Christmas spirit in here?”

You could feel his smile against your scalp as his thumb caressed your shoulders blades, his large form shifting for a bit.

“We both live here, sweetheart,” he reminded you and you made a tiny sound of protest. Yes, he was correct, but that didn’t mean you wouldn’t consult him on stuff before messing with the interior, even if it was with the best intentions. Duh. “But I appreciate you asking. Decorations, huh?”

You withdrew, meeting his tired eyes with a barely-there twinkle. You smiled at up at him innocently, showing him a tiny space between your thumb and index finger.

“Just a little bit. Just the basics…”

“Uh-huh. The basics. So that’s what? Christmas lights, stockings, mistletoe, a tree?” he mused, his thumb moving to your chin, to your lower lip, brushing it tenderly as you nodded minutely with a smile. His irises lit up a fraction with that image he must have painted in his mind and you felt familiar warmth around your heart at the sight. “I guess we’ll have to talk about getting a tree then. But it sounds nice, babygirl. The mistletoe in particular.”

He proceeded to capture that lips with his, lazy but indulgent kiss that sent pleasant sparkles down your spine and yet made you sleepy as it was soothing, feeling like home.

“Yeah. Sounds nice,” you echoed dreamily, meeting his lips again in a short kiss before nudging him to stand up so you could begin to move to bed.

Only later it occurred to you just how nice you could do with the stuff Steve had mentioned if you tried – and you fell asleep in his arms, a menacing grin that would make Grinch green with envy on your lips.

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Carrying the box after hanging one mistletoe branchlet in the kitchen along with very few fairy lights in the window, you were ready to move onto the bedroom, where Steve was, again, working.

Not for long, you hoped – after all, you put notable effort into your appearance.

With a small smirk on your lips, you knocked on the separating wall, peeking from behind it, trying your best not reveal too much.

Steve didn’t even bother looking up, a semi-loud hum the only sign of him acknowledging your presence.

“I’m gonna decorate this room… you mind me messing around for a bit?” you asked, attempting to sound compassionate about his workload, which you were, and perfectly innocent, which you were not.

That got him eye you briefly, an unconvincing smile passing his lips.

“Sure, go ahead,” he encouraged you softly. He turned his gaze back to the papers on his desk and started writing notes before you could even respond – hence missing your victorious smile.

“Thanks!”

You gleefully walked in, steps soundless against the floor thanks to the thin fabric covering your soles, and placed the box on your own desk.

The rustle of papers and the sudden lack of scribbling sound had you biting your cheek so you wouldn’t burst out laughing.

Steve cleared his throat loudly; when you looked at him over your shoulder however, he went back to reading his damn papers.

You swallowed your disappointment, trying not to think much of it – Steve could be very patient when he wanted to be – or very impulsive. And sometimes, he was both at the same time.

So you pressed your lips together and removed the other branchlet of mistletoe from the top of the box, following with Christmas lights, putting whatever you needed on the desk.

“Sweetheart…” Steve’s voice sounded from his seat, partly amused, partly… hoarse, affected, and you had to bite your lips so the giggles wouldn’t spill out. “What are you wearing?”

You turned to him, making a show of checking your outfit, letting your palms sprawl over your barely covered thighs and slowly moving them up, the hem of Steve’s loose ivory sweater hiking up an inch and revealing the lace of your thigh-high crimson stockings; perhaps even offering a peek of the straps holding them in place due to the garter belt.

“Your old sweater… and stockings,” you offered with a one-shoulder shrug, cool as cucumber in December – or as yourself teasing your loveable boyfriend at the end of November – on the outside, giddy on the inside as his gaze trailed all over your figure, wavering at the lace and the patch of skin on display, before focusing on your face.

“Those-- those weren’t the kind of stockings I had in mind-- when I, uhm, talked about decorating this place,” he explained.

He sounded almost patient, as if it wasn’t clear as day. His irises, however, were not clear – a cloud of desire covered them, turning them a shade darker, hungrier.

It sent a pleasant shiver up your spine, heat pooling in your belly, satisfaction at inching closer to your goal causing your chest nearly puff with pride.

“Oh, my bad!” you exclaimed, chuckling self-depreciatingly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear as you eyed Steve from under your eyelashes, picture perfect of innocence… not. “Silly me! I’m sorry, I know how much you hate me in stockings…”

“Babygirl…”

His voice resembled a growl, a low warning not to toy with him – which was exactly what you did want to do, teasing him shamelessly when having added emphasis on him not liking your attire.

Stockings and/or his clothes on you got your boyfriend going in fact, sometimes for hours even, thank you very much.

“Yes, Steve?”

“This isn’t going to work, you know. I really have to finish these,” he stated and you most definitely didn’t imagine the impatience and his dislike towards his task sneaking into his voice.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. These are just…” you bit gently on your lower lip, sliding your palms up and down your thighs, Steve’s gaze following the motion instinctively, pupils dilating with the craving to replace your hands with his own, “…comfy, just like your sweater. You never minded when I borrowed it before—you know I love stealing it. It just… it smells like you and it’s warm. It’s like you’re all over me. It’s perfect.”

His glare zeroed on your mouth, slightly accented by a natural, yet visible shade of your lipstick. Steve didn’t say a word, simply staring – and shifting slightly in his seat, much to your glee, which hopefully didn’t show too much – and grumbling an unidentifiable noise.

You felt for him, you truly did – god knew that sometimes, you were overwhelmed with schoolwork too – but that didn’t stop you from smiling at him sweetly now, adding an apologetic tone to your next words.

“Sorry. I talk too much. Don’t let me disturb you. You have work to do and so do I. I’ll be as quiet as a mouse.”

Then you spun on your heels and went back to continue your previous activity, laying out decorations on your desk.

Steve only grunted behind you, but you could hear him as he started going through the papers again, probably trying – and hopefully failing – to ignore your presence.

It wasn’t that you wanted to be mean, there was no single drop of malice in your plan; Steve needed to get his head off his work for a bit, even if he wasn’t aware of it. The way he was overworking himself was beginning to threaten to his sanity.

You simply wanted to help and this was just the way that had crossed your mind first; it was entirely on Steve and his stupidly perfect everything that you couldn’t seem to get your head out of the gutter sometimes when in his presence.

You wished nothing more than for him to turn off his brain… and to relax and enjoy himself.

Clearly, he was enjoying the view indeed.

You caught his sharp inhale when you accidentally dropped a tacky plastic Santa and proceeded to bend over to pick it up… offering Steve a perfect view of your rear and revealing the smart garter belt you wore; with nothing as much as a thong, leaving your most intimate areas bare.

You heard him shuffling in the chair and had to smirk, mentally counting down the time until his resolve broke.

He was holding up quite bravely – nearly long enough to make you doubt your ability to seduce him. Except the shuffle of papers that followed sounded as if he was trying to make a point and you knew that the breaking point was on horizon.

So when the time came to set in motion what you assumed would be the final strike – pushing the chair from your desk to the middle of the room to get ready to put your stockings on display right in his natural line of vision – you delicately took the branchlet of mistletoe with you, climbing up and carefully tying it to the lamp.

Steve’s pen hit the desk with a click and you quickly shot him a glance, meeting his stern and yet rather amused eyes. He sighed at your ridiculously unsubtle antics, but one corner of his lips rose anyway.

“Alright, that’s it. Get down here, you little minx,” he huffed.

Oh, sweet victory.

Mirroring his expression, you retorted cheekily: “Come get me.”

There was no missing the dangerous glint in is eye as he rose to his feet and stalked to your chair, a smirk playing on his lips, every movement purposeful and precise as if he was a predator chasing his prey to the corner.

Your breathing picked up as he neared, your heart pounding, chest heaving quickly – fuck, wasn’t it an erotic sight, Steve’s figure cladded in plain t-shirt and sweats, looking up at you as if he was about to eat you alive.

Maybe it was the expression on his face, somewhere between aroused, amused, cocky and predatory at the same time. Maybe it was the outline of his semi-hard dick on his sweatpants. But shit, you knew you were in trouble, you loved it, and you might have been this close to drooling. You were glad for forgoing underwear, because it would be absolutely useless and soaked through in an instant.

And Steve hadn’t even started yet.

Stopping right in front of you, craning his neck only a bit to face you (the tall bastard), his wide palms sprawled over your calves, their heat warming you from inside out.  

An appreciative hum rumbled in his chest as his touch trailed up at torturously slow pace, drinking in the sight of your ragged breaths, indulging in every inch he laid his hands on. You couldn’t withhold the shudder running through your whole body and his grin widened.

“You’re such a fucking tease….” he whispered, licking his lips as his gaze fell lower again, following the movements of his hands, clasping the back of your thighs now, inching toward their inner part, fingers brushing the hem of your stockings.

“Is it-“ You had to clear your throat against the lump that grew there, your body buzzing with anticipation, the smart remark growing heavy on your tongue. “Is it teasing when you can just take what you want?”

He chuckled, a delicious dark sound, bringing more slickness between your legs, much to his apparent satisfaction as he set eyes on his prize.

“Downright naughty…”

His mouth landed softly on the inside of your right calf, his fingers digging into the flesh of your thighs to nudge them few inches apart to make space for him.

“Does that… uhm, does that mean I won’t be getting any presents from Santa this year?”

You had genuinely no clue how you managed to form a sentence through the fog of arousal around your brain, only growing thicker when Steve’s teeth grazed the skin above your knee, his fingertips brushing an extremely sensitive spot so close to your core.

“You could come down now, be a very good girl and I might put in a good word for you,” he muttered, biting down some more, drawing a mewl from your lips, another one escaping you when he snapped one of the strings holding your stockings in place.

The sharp gentle pain was enough to make words roll off your tongue.

“You think that would work?”

“Oh sweetheart…” Steve chuckled again, a huff of breath warming your thighs, before his eyes, wide-blown and hungry, met yours. “If it doesn’t… you can be damn sure I’m gonna give you fucking everything I have.”

You yelped when his grip on the back of your thighs tightened and he tugged you forward, your hands instantly going to his shoulders to maintain balance as you found yourself with no surface under your feet all of sudden.

He grinned up at you – the show-off, but by God, wasn’t the demonstration of strength setting your body on fire, rendering you speechless – and slowly lowered you to the ground, half-lidded eyes zeroed on your lips. He made damn sure that you felt his erection against your body at all time as he always loosened his grip and tightened it a second later, until your feet touched the ground – and yet you felt your legs shaking, unsteady with the need to feel more of him.

It dawned to you how crazy he managed to drive you, your roles reversed, your plan backfiring. But was it? Backfiring? Because you couldn’t wait to see how it would unfold--

His hands slipped under the sweater you stole from him, one grasping your hip to hold you tight against his body, fingers of the other diving into the pool of slick between your legs, causing you to jerk forward into his hand.

He leaned down to nip at the skin of your neck right under your ear, forefinger circling your clit for a good measure, drawing a needy moan from you.

“And I bet you’re gonna take it…” he hummed into your ear, satisfied smile audible in his hoarse voice, “and thank me for it like the good girl you are.”

You barely forced the words out, heavy with desire but any less true.

“Yes, Professor Rogers. I think I will.”

“Damn right.”

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S.R. masterlist

Attached masterlist

The One Word (next in timeline)

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I really wanted to come up with an original title… and failed. Also, it was supposed to be a drabble, but you know that I tend to babble… and rhyme, apparently.

Thank you for reading and for any kind of feedback :-*

[zingthesnek]

Aight since I got called a pussy by @vesselofwhiteboychad and her wife @gojocaninfinitymyass imma rant

about the dreaded webtoon lmao

(don't take this too srsly I'm too lazy to put much thought and effort into this post)

Okay so LO (lor3 Olympus)

It's honestly not that good, at all. I'm not going to say it's bad, but people glamorize the living crap outta it.

Basic plot summary: Persephone is a young adult out to see the world romance with hades yadda yadda fucked up shit happens yadda yadda. That's kind it. it's romance waddya expect something deep?

Listen I have a couple issues with LO. That mainly stem from the way ppl act like it's this great feminist love story it's not. Like it handles issues better than most cheesy romance stories, but key word being "better" not the best.

LO "promotes body positivity", literally Persephone has an hour glass figure and is petite. Very Marilyn Monroe, nothing wrong with that, but to pretend that it isn't the ideal body type for women is an understatement. She has some stretch marks and a slight belly, I'll give some props for that.

LO "handles abuse and trauma well". I'm not going to disagree with this point, it handles it well but the usage of trauma is just to make other characters look better in comparison. Like hades isn't exactly a stand up guy, he's better but the author had to make other men completely shit human beings to make him look good.

LO "is shows male abuse" again the author did the same thing but reversed it in order to make Persephone look like an amazing wonderful person UwU bean. She added minthe another shitty character. Hades abuse is still barely covered, Persephone might be getting help for her issues hades went to 1 therapy session and hasn't worked out his trauma at all.

LO falls into the traditional traps of literally any other romance shitty ex girlfriend, and creepy asshole. Like if you take away the fact it's "Greek mythology" it's just another garbage romance. Listen I love garbage romances I watch vampire diaries for ducks sake, the only thing that annoys me is the whole "it's super feminist uwu", cuz it's not.

It's a pseudo woke webtoon they added 1 lesbian couple for shits and giggles and 1 overweight character (in the background)

Listen LO is a webtoon that has the author's ddlg kink written all over it. (Yes she has a ddlg kink ask anyone who subs to her Patreon). Not to kinkshame anyone, but once you no that you can clearly see it in the story

Now I can't write romance for shit, but most of Persephone and hades interactions are them lusting after eachother, him buying her things, or delivering exposition. They occasionally talk trauma and set up boundaries, (which is good) but they don't have anything that makes me think they'll actually get along besides the fact they think the other one is hot.

Now the age gap thing is one of those things I gotta tip toe on, cuz people pull the "she's an adult yada yada".

It's not so much the fact that's she's "legal" it's the fact the webtoon gives her zero agency, she doesn't buy her own clothes, study what she wants, literally she has no desires outside of wanting freedom from her mother and lusting after hades. No goals career or aspirations. Nothing, ppl also like to go "she's a strong women uwu" she falls into the "the author didn't actually know what a strong female character is so they gave her some form of super power". Strong female characters aren't always physically strong, a strong female character is a female character who can stand on their own (without other characters) and you understand their wants, personality. The can be feminine and soft take wakana from utena or anthy himemiya they are strong female characters but aren't physically strong.

Persephone going apeshit on a bunch of villagers isn't queen shit it's a scapegoat because the author couldn't give Persephone actual motivation.

Hades is a whole nother bundle, dudes just kinda there? His main goal is a happy loving life (totally fair) but outside of his romance with Persephone he isn't doing much to do that. I won't get on the whole "he's creepy for lusting after a 19 year old" topic cuz that's a bag of worms that I agree and disagree with. Point is hades isn't the healthiest dude and has a lot to work through, he can still pursue Persephone but it would be nice to see him working through his stuff as well.

Now this is a tidbit that annoys the shit outta me so imma just put a big TW for RAPE and Virginity.

Okay so TGOEM or the concept of eternal maiden hood. First of of I hate the way virginity is used in this webtoon.

Like it's fucked up to say rape "counts". Persephone was raped so she according to the author isn't a virgin.

Again this is just a me thing, but rape shouldn't fucking count. It's not a "sexual experience" it's an act of violence. Yes it's sexual violence, but it's not and shouldn't count as your first time ever. A lot of women I know who's "first time" was rape are forever scared by it. And I personally would love it if popular media would stop portraying it as such.

It's fucked up, and the concept of eternal maidenhood isn't something that needed to be in the story. And the fact no one reached out to Persephone to explain this awful.

Yeah maybe nitpicky on my part but idc

Another thing I have no issue with the age gap per say, LO isn't for kids so my issue is mainly that the platform itself markets it towards a younger demographic and had 0 ratings. It will likely also be tV 14 when it comes out, which will also annoy me at least make it NC 17 or TV MA, but only time will tell

But listen LO is summary is a trashy romance with slightly better handling of abuse and trauma. Don't expect this grand masterpiece. I read it cuz I like trashy romance.

LO fans don't even @ me I'll block you on sight

[come-on-shitty-boys]

//missing pieces. miya atsumu//

Warnings: mild swearing.  Feelings of hopelessness. infidelity

Word Count: 2.2K

Notes: imnotcryingimnotcryingimnotcrying.

{Read Part II - "Broken Pieces" HERE}

You heard them before they even entered the door.  The loud shouts and the howls of laughter.  If you sat up enough on the couch, the MSBY training jackets were visible through the front window.  Hinata’s orange hair bounced wildly as he jumped excitedly with his older Jackals.  It was the fifth time this week that the boys had come over after practice.

It was the fifth time this week that the boys had disrupted your much needed study time.  A senior in college, a list of midterms too long to comprehend, and more mental breakdowns than you cared to account for, the hours that your boyfriend was at practice and you could relax and study in the comfort of your shared home was pure bliss.  

The door swung open, giving you a full account of just how loud they were being.  Atsumu was doubled over in fits of giggles, tugging his sneakers off, Hinata and Bokuto shouting bits and pieces of the same story only a few steps behind.  

“Y/N? You here?” Atsumu calls out as he is finally able to calm himself down enough to speak normally again.

“Living room, ‘mu!”

In a matter of seconds, he’s bounding into the room, leaning over your shoulder.  “I’m home.”  You don’t even have to look at him to know that he has the widest grin on his face, just like he always does when he gets back from practice.  No matter how long or how grueling his day, Atsumu never fails to greet you with the biggest smile.

“I see that.  How was practice?”

“Good! My hands are kinda sore though,” he whines, opening and closing his hands in front of you as if to show you the pain he was enduring.  

“Well, you’re new to this pro stuff still, Atsumu.  Your body will get used to it soon.”

“Yeah, I know.”  He sighs a little, resting his chin on the top of your head.  “The guys are here.”

“Trust me, I, and the entire neighborhood, know.  Let me just finish this question real quick and I’ll let you guys have the living room.” 

“Aw, come on!  You don’t want to hang out with us?”

“I need to study or else I would love to.”

He hums in affirmation.  “You’re going to do so well.  I’ll make sure we keep it down so you can focus, okay?” There’s a soft kiss placed on your head as you pack up your laptop and notes so you can go study in the bedroom.

“Thank you, ‘mu,” you say, standing on your toes to give his lips a short peck as you pass.  

But that was then.

And this was now. 

“Are you serious?! You can’t lock me out of my room, Y/N!”

“Our room, Atsumu, and too bad.  I did!”

His fist pounds on the door, the intensity of each knock sending vibrations throughout the room.  “Y/N, this is ridiculous! Open the door!”

“I’m trying to work.  This report has to be done for tomorrow. Please, ‘mu.”

“Don’t ‘mu’ me when you’re literally locking me out the bedroom!”

You roll your eyes, leaning over to twist the lock and tug the door open.  Your boyfriend tumbles into the room as his support is swung away from him.  He doesn’t even look at you.  He just goes straight to the closet, throwing clothes onto the bed.  “Where are you going?” You ask, looking up from your laptop briefly as he throws a pair of jeans a little too far, hitting you in the leg.

“Does it matter?”  He starts peeling off the lounge clothes that he had been wearing most of the day, opting for a slightly more put together outfit for his night out.

You just shrugged.  “I guess not.” Yes.

“Then don’t worry about it.”  Atsumu tugs his jeans up and takes a look at himself in the mirror.  He ruffles his hand through his hair in a poor attempt to give it some extra volume. You watch him make a few dumb facial expressions at himself.  Satisfied, he pulls his hat over his head.  With wallet and phone in hand, he finally turns to look at you.  “Okay.  I’ll see you later,” he states plainly, walking past you and out the bedroom door.

“Do you have your keys?”  The only answer you receive is an annoyed jingle of his keyring from the other room.  

The thud of front door closing is the sole sign that he had left.  There were no final shouts of “Bye, princess! I love you!” “I love you more, ‘mu!” “I love you most!” Those days have long since past.  They had been replaced with eerie silences and quick exits from both parties.  Life in the current household was far from what it had been a year ago.  There were no soft shared kisses just because.  No gentle teases as the evening news played in the background.  No long cuddle sessions on the couch because both of you were too lazy to get up to go to bed. There was no smacking his hands out of the mixing bowl while you tried to make dinner.

Atsumu wasn’t home long enough for those things anymore.  He’d come running in from practice, quickly shower and change out of his sweaty clothes.  And as fast as he came, he would be gone, maybe shouting “I’m going out with the guys!” but usually, he would just leave, the slam of the door echoing through the house.  

You kept telling yourself that this would pass.  He was just excited to finally be achieving his dreams.  Of course he would want to hang out with his new teammates and friends.  There was a level of trust there that he needed to build with them as their setter and if crowding around Hinata’s television, playing video games was how they bonded, then so be it.  Who were you to tell his team how they should and shouldn’t spend their time?  But this had been going on for months.  

Months of no hellos and no good mornings.  Months of Atsumu coming home late, the faint smell of alcohol on his breath as he tucked into bed an arm’s length away from you.  He returned affection with the minimum amount of effort, maybe a short apology as he broke away from a kiss, explaining that the guys were waiting for him.  It felt like a wedge had been shoved between the two of you, the rest of the Black Jackals jamming you further and further away from him.  

Part of you kept hoping that you would wake up, secured in his arms, a gruff “Good morning” whispered in your ear only followed by a soft whine as you tried to get out of his grasp, causing him to just pull you tighter into his chest.  You kept hoping that whatever switch flipped in his head to cause this would flip back and the Atsumu that you fell in love with would come back to you, but it never happened.  He just kept straying away, not even bothering to look back at how far he had drifted.

You had hoped today would be different.  It wasn’t every day that the two of you accomplished four years of putting up with each other’s bullshit.  But, when his alarm sounded and he just got up like nothing was different, that slight bubble of hope that was buried in your chest popped.  Maybe- maybe he just wanted to focus before practice.  Yeah, that’s all this was.  Surely, he hadn’t forgotten, right?  Atsumu could be a jerk, but he wasn’t that much of an asshole.  He wouldn’t have forgotten your anniversary. 

“What’s this for?” he had asked as he took the neatly wrapped package from you as he sat down at the table, his bowl of cereal nearly empty.

So, he did forget.

“I’ll open it later.  I’m going to try to get a run in before practice.”  You didn’t even have the chance to wish him a happy anniversary before he got up to put his bowl in the sink, headed out of the room to slip on his sneakers for his jog.

So, now, as you sat in your shared bed, it felt like the unopened package was staring intently into your soul, mocking you for your failing relationship.  Four years of laughter, excitement, and love seemed to mean nothing to him and you couldn’t figure out what you did to make him choose volleyball.  It was his dream and you understood that.  You would never keep him from being the man he always dreamed of being.  

It tore you apart inside, this feeling of absolute failure.  It had been bugging you for a while now, but this- that stupid box sitting on his side of the bed, was your breaking point.  You didn’t understand what you did.  Why was he pushing you away?  Did you not support him enough?  Did he think that you didn’t care for him? As the questions weighed heavily on your mind, you felt that all-too-familiar sting of salty tears forming in your eyes.  

You shook your head, silently begging for the tears to just go away.  I am not going to cry. I am not going to cry.  I am not going to cry.  He wasn’t upset, so you shouldn’t be either, right?  But, you were.  You were devastated that no matter how hard you tried to put everything back together, the pieces just kept slipping out from between your fingertips and just as soon as everything felt like it was all coming back together, Atsumu would be holding the final pieces to puzzle, refusing to snap them into their place.  In his hands, he held the most important pieces.  Those gorgeous center parts that brought the entire picture into focus, showing off the breath-taking beauty of it.  But, as of now, it was just the background, the few random bits and bobs, scattered around the scene, each beautiful in their own way, but meaning nothing without the center point of the image.  

The worst part?  You didn’t know when the pieces of your relationship went scattering all over the place, leaving you to scramble, picking everything up on your own while Atsumu was at practice or hanging out with the guys.  You just know that it’s felt like ages since everything was put together in perfect harmony.

You wanted to scream.  You wanted to cry.  You wanted to pull your hair from your head so you could feel something, anything, other than this complete and utter worthlessness and despair that had been swelling within your chest, waiting to be let out.

The hot tears rushed down your face in torrents, but apart from your gentle sniffs, there was silence.  There were no sounds of pitiful weeping.  It was an art that you had learned to perfect after many nights where these feelings washed over you, not wanting to wake Atsumu, not wanting him to stare at you with blank eyes and tell you to, “Stop crying and go to bed.”

But, right now- right now, you didn’t care.  You wanted to hear his voice in your ear, shushing you, reassuring you that everything was fine, just like it used to.  The line rings, rings, rings -

“You’ve reached Miya Atsumu.  Sorry that I missed your call, but if you leave me a message, I’ll get back to you!”

The beep that signals you to leave your message is what urges you to just hang up.  You toss your phone to the side, hoping that, just maybe, he’ll notice your missed call and give you a call back or even just a text message would be good enough for you.

But, there never was.  There was no soft ting at the sound of an incoming message.  You never heard the ringtone that had been set to Atsumu’s contact, signifying that he had called you.  You waited hours, your eyes being dry for a long while at this point, leaving just the shell of a broken person in your place.  Your gaze never left that stupid box.  You were entranced, staring at the black and gold paper, watching it sheen as it would catch the light slipping in from the window.  

Not even the sound of the swinging open could pull you out of your emotionless gaze.  Miya Atsumu just stared into your face, eyes red and puffy, streaks in your make-up where the tears removed your foundation. Somewhere deep within his chest, there was a soft pang of sadness.  There was nothing that he hated more than seeing you so distraught that you completely shut down. Yet, he said nothing.  He simply pulled a pair of shorts and a t-shirt from his drawer, pulling his clothes off his body to change into something that he could sleep in.  His shirt came off and your gaze became fixated on his toned chest.

But, even your empty eyes knew the bright red lines of scratches and the harsh purple bruises of a hickey when you saw them.

“‘Mu?”