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#i got in for a few minutes at least and that helped
rimunagenius · 3 days
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I Could Die For you
ʚ pairing: Kate Martin x reader
ʚ word count: 1.2k
ʚ warnings: RPF!! , fluff, fluff, literal fluff, so much love that it’s sickening
ʚ rimunagenius speaks: to make up for that last post about emily because what the flip!! also the first Kate fic i’ve released that hasn’t been in a series!! yay! also ofc i had to write Kate to one of my favorite love songs!!💕 if you guys do not listen to this song and love it, i’m quitting writing and reporting everyone’s blog…
| Women’s Basketball Masterlist |
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Something inside the cards I know is right
Don't wanna live somebody else's life
Kate was so happy. She knew her life was exactly where she wanted it to be. Cold mornings like this, wrapped in the bed sheets, both your bodies wrapped together to create the most perfect fit to a puzzle.
With your head resting on her body, your nose nuzzling perfectly into her neck, your soft snores and exhales ticking her skin and leaving goosebumps in their wake.
The way your hand rested on her chest, and the way Kate's hand rested on your waist from the way she was holding you into her body. She knew she didn't want to be anywhere else but here. Lying here, wide awake admiring you and thanking god or whoever was out there, that she was able to do this, and do it with you.
This is what I want to be
And this is what I give to you because I get it free
"Oh my god, Kate." You stood in shock in your guys' kitchen. You had a rough day at work, letting Kate know that while you sat in your office, counting down the minutes until you could come home. So when you walked through the door and wandered into the living room where Kate was watching the NBA finals, she got up to greet you and took you to the kitchen, giving you the flowers and chocolate she picked up on her way home from practice today. 
You had a new adjustments to make since leaving Iowa. Picking up your life and moving to Las Vegas with Kate when she found out she made the roster officially, after living in a hotel room during training camp. You loved her so much, and you had so much faith in the person she was and the skills she had, you knew moving across states wasn't going to be a regret you had years down the line. 
Tears welled in your eyes, the overwhelming feeling of love and appreciation radiating from the blonde who stood a few feet away. "Aw, don't cry. Why are you crying, baby?" Kate walked up to you, wrapping her arms around your neck so you buried your face into her chest. 
"Because. You do this for me just for having a bad day. Your days are full of stress with basketball, still proving yourself, and tired from your work. I don't deserve you, Kate." You were a mess. You missed a lot of things. You missed your old friends, how close your guys' family used to be, and you missed Kate while she was gone. You missed a lot of things—you've longed for those things, but you loved your life here with Kate. You two away from what you knew and grew accustomed to, to independently make what you want and need. 
You loved it but you couldn't help but long for what used to be your life sometimes. "You deserve everything. You deserve the world and more because you packed your life up just because you believed in me. This is the very least I could do for you. I will continue to show you how important you are to me and who I am. You make me better so I'm going to show you every day til I can't anymore. I love you. You work hard and you deserve to be appreciated and seen." 
That made the tears fall harder, but you looked up at Kate, and couldn't believe this was your girl. The woman you got to spend and do life with. You kissed her lips chastely, hugging her close again. You two stood there, looking at the pretty flowers and sharing some of your chocolate. 
She smiles while I do my time
It was so early in the morning. Kate waking you up for a travel day for the Aces. It was an away game to Los Angeles and you wanted to make this game so you took the days off. 
You hated getting up early, and the stress that came with traveling was truly not a great time. Kate knew it, but she loved that you were willing to do it for her.  You didn't like most things, but the look on your girlfriend's face when you watched her do the thing she loves most, play the game that gave her many of the amazing opportunities she's had, it was all worth it. 
Kate walked onto to the court, looking at you behind the Aces bench, and smiled. You already smiling right back at her. She knew that no matter how early she woke you up, or how many times she did it, you'd be there, lift her up, and cheer her on. You knew this was where you wanted to be. 
I could die for you
It was the day after Kate had won the WNBA Finals, and you two had been lying in bed since last night. You couldn't believe that she had come so far from the little girl who idolized the Iowa Hawkeyes Women's Basketball team, to a woman who's grown into the most tremendously courageous and strong woman who won her first WNBA Championship. It was so surreal. 
"You know I love you so much, right?" Kate whispered. One arm wrapped around you, pulling you close to her body, while her other hand held your thigh that lay across her hip. 
"I would hope so." You giggled softly, looking up at the blonde above you, your hand went from her chest to the side of her face, resting against her cheek. You looked into her eyes, the blue of them convincing you more by the second that they were better looking than the sky outside. 
"No, I'm serious. You are the love of my life. I would be so lost without you. I don't think I could live without you—let alone do what I've done this past year without you." Her voice wavered, you could tell her emotions still running high after the night she had last night. 
"Kate, my love." You chuckled nervously, the confession making you giddy, but also overwhelmingly more in love with Kate, if that was even possible. It brought tears to your eyes.
"You make me so happy. Just being right here, with you, is more important to me than winning another ring." 
"Oh my god Kate, stop it. You're going to make me cry. I'm so in love with you." You wiped a small tear that fell down your cheek. Kate smiled down at you, willing herself to not close her eyes and just die happy right here with you. 
"I'm so in love with you, I could die." Kate giggled softly, wiping her eyes before leaning down and kissing your lips softly. You smiled into the kiss. You smiled so hard you couldn't even kiss properly. A fit of giggles came from the both of you. 
"Ah! Kate, stop it! Oh my god, Kate!" You screamed and giggled as she left kisses and tickles everywhere she could reach, especially in your most ticklish spots. You two couldn't be anymore happier. Kate wouldn't want to be anywhere else unless you were there, under her arms or wrapped in them. 
Oh, this life I choose.
You two were just simply two girls in love and wouldn't have it any other way. 
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hairyjocktf · 2 days
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The New Cub
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Jaden was a real estate agent in Denver, and quite a good one at that. He prided himself on that fact, having been the top agent at his firm for four years running. He was only 27 too, having gotten his license after high school with ease. Once he got that first commission check he never looked back. This had been a big week for him, closing a deal on a multi-million dollar house that was netting him a nice bonus. It’d taken a lot of work and effort, but as he walked into his apartment just hours after the signing he breathed a sigh of relief. He’d planned to take a few days off as a reward, some time to pamper himself like he deserved. He walked into his room, stripping off the well fitted blazer before undoing the buttons on his shirt. Water gushed from the faucet as he filled his tub with a warm bath and opened the windows, letting in that cool fall air. His belt and pants fell to the floor next as he admired his slim body in the mirror. 
Jaden was the ideal twink, with a tall and thin form that he kept supple and hairless with a meticulous daily routine. He slowly rubbed his hands down over his tight stomach, feeling the smooth skin he loved before sliding off his underwear. The warm water bubbled as he stepped in, sliding his body below the surface as water cascaded across his shaved legs. The tension in his shoulders melted away, the water sapping away the stress of the week. Birdsong echoed in through the open windows, and Jaden entered a state of pure relaxation. For all of five minutes, at least. Unable to be alone with his thoughts for too long, his long, near skeletal arm reached from the tub and grasped his phone. This may be his vacation but he sure wasn’t going to spend it at home relaxing.
He quickly opened up grindr. He glanced at the dozens of messages from the last few days but didn’t open a single one, opting instead to scroll and scroll, unsure of what he was actually looking for. Every few seconds he would get a tap or message, he knew his profile worked. It had for years, with his perfectly smooth and slim body appealing to a wide audience. He normally went for the tech guys who were in perfect shape, but that didn’t seem appealing today. Neither did a younger twink. He was about to put the app down when he got a message from what looked to be a guy in his late 30s, but in great shape. Good definition, and fully shaved, he noted.
“Afternoon gorgeous,” the message said, “got any weekend plans? Been looking for a handsome man to spoil a bit.” Jaden paused. Normally he didn’t care for offers like this, but he’d been unsatisfied from anything else so far. Plus, this was his weekend to spoil himself, why not let someone else help out? He typed out a response.
“Hey there :) Would love to be treated nice this weekend, what do you suggest?” He read it and deleted it all in disgust. “Thanks babe, I’d say I deserve a bit of spoiling this weekend, what's your offer?” he typed again, and then sent. A few seconds later a reply had already shown up.
“I’ve got a nice house with a mountain view, and I can promise the best meal of your life and the best sex you’ll ever have. Your choice for the details, of course,” the man said with a winky emoji. Not having to cook dinner was pretty appealing, and if it turned out to be mediocre he could always leave. It was just the first night of his time off after all. 
“Sounds lovely,” Jaden sent back, “Where’s this beautiful estate of yours?” A location appeared just seconds later. It was out in the western fringes of the city, a hefty drive. He knew the neighborhood though, and it was a nice one. Couldn’t hurt to give this guy a shot, he thought, rising out of the now lukewarm tub waters.
After a lengthy session of getting ready, Jaden set out for this luxury evening he’d been promised. The sun was already beginning to dip in the sky, promising a lovely sunset over the mountains. He pulled off the highway after about thirty minutes, navigating the twisting residential roads before finally arriving at a slightly secluded house at the top of a ridge. His first reaction was to how beautiful the property was, being a realtor and all. The view the man had offered seemed to be true, now he just had to test the rest of it. He checked himself in the rear view mirror, making sure his hair was tufted just right before stepping out into the cool evening air. He walked up the steps to a heavy oak door and rang the bell, hearing it echo inside. Heavy footsteps shook the ground as they approached, the door unlocked, and Jaden’s eyes went wide.
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The man in the doorway was not the man he’d seen on grindr. This guy was a full-fledged daddy bear, older, fatter, and much, much hairier. He answered the door in just his tight underwear, showing off his large body that was completely coated in hair. Numerous tattoos were buried under the fur, barely recognizable. A thick salt and pepper beard adorned his face, which wore a wide grin.
“Well look at you kiddo, glad you showed!” the man said with a deep, smoky voice.
Jaden was taken aback, he’d never been in this situation. It wasn’t like the photos he saw were just a little out of date, this was an entirely different guy! At a loss of what to say, all he managed to get out was, “You… you’re not the guy in the pics!”
The man laughed, “Oh those photos, they were of my last project, don’t worry about them. Name’s Glenn. Why don’t you come in?” He took a step forward and reached out his hand.
Jaden’s brain was on red alert, he’d been catfished, lied to, and he needed to leave immediately. The old man in front of him was not at all what he was into, but that was the least of his concern at this point. What did he mean by ‘last project’? Why would he use pics that weren’t him? 
But suddenly, as Glenn stepped forward, a warm air washed over him coming from inside. It was smoky, almost rustic, but also smelled strongly of sweat and musk. His numerous trains of thought came to a screeching halt. He took a deep inhale through his nose, the smell dulling his senses in a way he couldn’t possibly notice. The outstretched hand looked so welcoming suddenly, and hadn’t he been promised dinner? The worries about the man were quickly fading, replaced by feelings of comfort. He took Glenn’s hand and stepped through the doorway without another thought. 
The inside of the house was larger than he’d expected, decorated almost in the style of a mountain cabin. It was cozy, with lots of bookshelves and wood paneling that had fallen out of style among his customers, but he strangely liked it here. Glenn led him through multiple rooms until reaching a large patio overlooking the mountains, the sunset still gaining colors in the background. Glenn sat him down on a large sofa.
“Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be right back with some food,” he said before trotting back into the house. Jaden stared out over the vista, wondering briefly why he’d said yes, before that thought too fell out of his mind. His mind was relaxed, yet a little foggy, almost similar to the feeling of poppers. He slouched further into the cushions waiting for Glenn to return with whatever feast he’d prepared. He caught himself even drooling at the thought, which shook him somewhat out of his daze, he couldn’t be acting like that. Just then Glenn walked back out with a huge plate of lamb chops, still sizzling. He set it down on a nearby table and motioned for Jaden to join him.
He sat down at the table and looked over the spread Glenn had prepared. The man hadn’t lied, it was an impressive feast. Jaden usually didn’t eat red meat but something about tonight felt different. As soon as Glenn sat down that same strong scent returned. This time it was more pungent, more reminiscent of the smell of sweat, and it made that foggy feeling return stronger than it’d initially been. But Jaden forgot about it when Glenn looked over with a smile.
“I think you’ll like this, son, it’s a tried and true family recipe after all!” he exclaimed before digging in. The word son rang in Jaden’s ears for a moment before he too dug into the food.
Despite his previous aversion to red meat he scarfed it down; it was absolutely delicious. He barely had time to speak in between bites, but Glenn didn’t seem to mind, watching Jaden devour the meal he’d prepared. Soon enough, his plate was empty, and Glenn admired the bulging stomach he could see pressing against Jaden’s tight shirt.
“Fuck, that was amazing,” Jaden said between burps. What was going on with him? First eating all that food and now burping like some degenerate caveman? But he was far past caring, already entering a sort of food coma. Glenn got up and went back to the couch, gesturing for Jaden to follow. He did so eagerly and tucked himself under Glenn’s open arm. Jaden would have never previously hooked up with a bear, but he was surprised to enjoy the feeling of a large furry body embracing him. Even more surprising was how obviously his dick sprang to life in his pants when Glenn’s hand dipped under the fabric. Glenn pulled Jaden closer to him, smiling at him as he stealthily attached a testosterone patch on Jaden’s back. It was time to see how far he could take this one.
The combination of Glenn’s powerful musk and enormous meal had Jaden completely subdued, ready to accept anything. His thick hands glided over Jaden’s smooth skin, sending shivers through his body. No other guy had been this effective with just his hands. Glenn ramped it up from there, kissing up and down Jaden’s body, feeling him shudder with pleasure. He rubbed his own hairy body against Jaden’s hairless one, subliminally inflicting him with desires yet to be realized. He couldn’t wait to see what Jaden would become. The next few hours were a blur as the sun fell below the mountains and the stars lit their passionate embrace. Glenn edged Jaden for hours, keeping him on the brink of ecstasy. He could feel the prickle of hairs as they began resurfacing in Jaden’s shaved groin. Finally after hours he let Jaden finish, spraying cum all over his slim body. Glenn massaged it into his skin as they cuddled, and Jaden passed out shortly after. That was just the beginning, Glenn thought to himself as he applied another patch to the sleeping Jaden’s body. 
Jaden arose the next morning to the smell of breakfast in the making; Glenn was preparing another feast for him. His body was still sore from the night before, causing him to groan as he got out of the bed. Glenn poked his head into the room.
“Morning, handsome,” he said with a chipper voice, “food’s almost ready!”
“I appreciate it but I should probably head out,” Jaden replied, looking for his clothes on the floor.
“Naw, what’re you sayin’ that for? We’ve got plenty more time,” Glenn assured him, stepping further into the room. That same familiar musk washed over Jaden again, and just like that he was more agreeable.
“You’re right, and I’m starving,” he said with renewed energy. Glenn came back moments later with a platter stuffed with waffles, bacon, what must have been a dozen eggs, and more. The urge to stuff himself again took hold of Jaden, who tore his way through the breakfast. Glenn watched with a grin, seeing Jaden’s belly puff out just a little more than the night before. They spent the rest of the day cuddling, making out, having more sex. Jaden was in heaven, not noticing when Glenn applied new patches to his back after the first ones had fallen off. His thoughts about getting back to his apartment faded while Glenn’s thick scent fogged up his head. It all felt so good, why would he want to leave?
That evening they showered together, Glenn’s sweat covering Jaden along with his own cum. He sensually washed Jaden’s body with his custom soap, scented like pine and infused some ingredients to encourage hair growth. He felt up and down Jaden’s body, noticing some areas that weren’t quite so smooth anymore. Hairs had begun to surface not only in his groin, but across his thighs, and even on his chest. Just small pinpricks for now. As they were drying off afterward Glenn placed another patch under Jaden’s shoulder blade. He also noticed how Jaden’s previously boney frame had softened just a tad. 
The days continued to pass in a similar manner, Glenn and Jaden spending every moment intertwined as Glenn slowly but surely molded Jaden. He was changing day by day from the definition of a twink to something else. Brown stubble sprouted sparsely across his chin and lip, his chest had begun to push out into soft pecs adorned with their own fuzz. His previously shaved armpits had stubble pushing out, with new hairs joining each day. His similarly shaved pubes were returning with a vengeance, growing in quicker and spreading further than they ever had before. Fat was clinging to his thin frame, he was filling out. 
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As Jaden’s body hair started coming in, Glenn would spend more and more time rubbing his hands through it. It was an electric feeling for Jaden, he’d never known it could feel that being hairy. And he was slowly craving it more and more. Glenn continued putting testosterone patches on him as well as a number of other products he’d tried with other guys before. He wanted this cub to be perfect. Jaden’s vacation had long passed but he was oblivious, forgetting more and more each day about his previous life as he dedicated his new one to Glenn. Every day he rubbed against Glenn’s weathered, hairy body and desired it all for himself. He loved the attention, being spoiled and cared for. He didn’t even notice that every meal was huge to ensure he packed on the pounds quickly. 
Days turned to weeks, as Jadens body continued to mold to Glenn’s form. Glenn decided it was time for more progress, and introduced Jaden to his home gym. He slowly introduced a routine before pushing Jaden harder than he’d ever exercised in his life. Glenn took pride in having some strength under his gut, and he wanted his cub to have some solid muscle too. That’s when the testosterone patches turned to injections. Stronger and more effective, Glenn was pushing his cubs transformation into full gear. 
The thin wisps of hair that dotted his chest thickened and multiplied, with larger pecs pushing out as well. The chest hair spread out from his nipples and up towards his neck, and even out towards his shoulders, connecting with the pit hair that had really started to sprout. What had once been a smooth shaven pit was now erupting into a forest. The hairs darkened, grew coarse and wiry, and really began to hold his sweat in. Between that and the workouts Jaden was starting to produce his own sweaty musk at a rapid rate. His beard also grew denser and darker, peach fuzz flooded with testosterone until it became real fur, pushing out of his face. Every day the hairs grew longer, darker, and Glenn was there to feel it all, stroking his cub’s growing beard as it came in.
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Each day for Jaden began to follow a pattern; he ate plenty, worked out for hours, and was intimate with Glenn for the rest of it. He would do daily testosterone injections and used Glenn’s hair growth wash. He had grown to love what was happening to him, with continuous positive reinforcement from Glenn, who would comment on his progress. He would point out during sex how much larger his cock and balls had gotten, immediately giving Jaden an erection. It was true though, what had once been a thin six inch cock was now pushing past eight and as thick as a beer can, with balls the size of lemons dangling below. 
His pubes had hit the same growth spurt. What had once been a small shaven patch had erupted into a verdant jungle of hair. Over the weeks they had pushed out slowly, growing darker and curlier, tangling together as more and more hairs pushed through the skin and sprouted out. The bush spread out from the base of his cock, coating his entire groin and reaching up to his stomach and out onto his thighs. His massive balls received their own dense fur coat; the wiry hairs so thick you could barely see through the forest. Hairs had even started climbing up his shaft, giving it an almost animalistic look. Glenn loved this, edging Jaden for hours every day playing with his thick pubes and enormous balls. The hairs blended seamlessly up to the rug on his chest, coating his continually growing belly in more and more hair. 
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Jaden had put on so much size that his clothes no longer fit. Glenn of course supplied him with everything he could want, though he rarely wore more than just underwear. He loved the way a tank top looked while working out, his gut pressed tight against the fabric while still showing off his hairy chest and shoulders. His forearms grew thick with muscle as fur coated them as well. His thick thighs met the same fate, with hair sprouting all the way down to his feet. His beard thickened further and spread higher up his cheeks, leaving him with a dense covering that tangled with Glenn’s own when they kissed. His body had doubled in size, with those workouts giving him a solid muscular frame. Glenn made sure that was still softened by plenty of chub though, stuffing his cub at every meal. 
Fall changed to winter, and Jaden was nearing perfection as Glenn’s cub. They were inseparable, spending every day together as Glenn pushed the cub to be the best he could be, perfected for his own enjoyment. Jaden was enamored with his daddy bear, aware of the changes he’d undergone but not worried about his past self. As snow began to fall outside, his new mass and fur coat kept him warm even when outside, since he rarely cared to put on a coat. It was even better for snuggling by the fire with a full fledged bear, one who promised to only make Jaden more and more like himself. Jaden was now a true cub, in love with his daddy bear and looking forward to a life of growing. 
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206 notes · View notes
0097linersb · 2 days
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No Control (m)
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ONE SHOT
Pairings: Wooyoung x Reader
Genre: Smut ( pwp)
Word count: 3.2k
Warnings: Exhibitionism with a non-participating person, beware.
Follow me on twitter for updates, previews, spoilers: wooyosgfreal <3
“Isn´t it a bit too cold in here?” You asked the boy next to you after ignoring the shivers running up your arms for the past 15 minutes for the sake of not moving.  
“Don´t think so,” Wooyoung shrugged, not even looking up from his phone which he had been lazily staring at for the past few hours.  
You rolled your eyes and decided to look around for the air conditioner´s control yourself, to at least get the air blowing in a different direction instead of right on top of you. After fumbling around the pillows with no success, your frustrated eyes met what you were looking for: across the room, on the table, inches away from San´s busy hand, there it was, the solution to all your problems in all its shining white glory. 
“San,” You tried calling but the man did nothing indicating that he had heard you. You tried again, louder this time, “Choi San!” 
“He won´t hear you. Noise-canceling headphones,” Wooyoung informed and got a groan in response. “You can always stand up and get it, you know.” 
“No,” You groaned, with a pout on your face. 
Your friend rolled his eyes and reached his right hand under the bed, you heard the sound of a drawer being opened and suddenly a heavy blanket was being thrown on top of you, “Here, princess.” 
You happily unfolded the fabric, tucking yourself under it and humming in content.  
“Leave some for me,” He scolded you, grabbing the corner of the heavy blanket and pulling it towards himself. 
“You just said you weren´t cold!” 
“I was lying ´cause I didn´t wanna move, just shut up and let me watch my TikToks.”  
You rolled your eyes for the tenth time that day. Teenage movies and fanfictions have lied to you that being friends with men was all flowers and rainbows, that they would protect you and do anything for you like you were a helpless beautiful little princess. The only things you´ve ever gotten from San and Wooyoung were purple bruises and poorly mixed drinks. Well, they did fix your computer every time something stopped working but that was only because they needed you to play to complete the squad and you were way better than Yeosang. 
After 20 more minutes of doing nothing, a loud groan filled the room – Coming from you. Wooyoung jumped in the bed next to you and San as expected, didn´t hear it. 
“What the hell was that?” 
“My phone died,” You whined, burying your head deep in the pillow to express your frustration. 
“Just charge it?” 
“My charger is in my bag in the kitchen.” 
“Then just take a nap.” 
“Nooooo, entertain me.” 
“Do I look like a clown to you?” 
“Pretty much, yeah.” 
“Ok, I just set myself up for that one.” 
“You absolutely did. Hand me the remote,” You extended your hand waiting for said device. 
Wooyoung´s free hand fumbled around the bed for a minute before exclaiming in success, placing the TV´s remote on your palm before going back to his phone. You turned on the TV and put on one of the shows you were currently watching, volume not too loud so it wouldn´t interfere with the audio on San´s Discord call since the TV was right next to his chair.  
You quickly got distracted by the show, even with Wooyoung´s videos playing loudly right next to your ear and San´s occasional screams at Yunho and Mingi through his microphone. It did help that you had absolutely nothing else to do and there was an incredibly attractive man on the screen in front of you. 
Every once in a while, Wooyoung would show you a stupid video he was laughing at and San got up one time to go to the bathroom, but besides that, everything remained the same for the next hour or so. That´s it until you felt Wooyoung´s hand wrapping around your thigh.  
Your friend was a touchy person so it didn´t immediately register as something out of the ordinary to you necessarily - although normally when he touched your legs, it was usually never too far up from your knees and not right in the middle of your thigh like at the moment, but you excused that because his hands and your body were under the covers so he couldn´t really see what he was doing.  
Even when his thumb started to draw soft circles against your skin, you didn´t think much of it.  
Your body did go into alert when he started to move the tips of his fingers up and down your thigh, though. You looked over at him, lying in bed next to you but his eyes were glued to his phone like nothing was happening – which made you think maybe nothing was and you were just overthinking.  
Jung Wooyoung, your friend of almost 3 years. 
Yeah, your friend. 
His fingers continued to trace your skin innocently enough and you enjoyed the display of affection for a while, goose bumps naturally erupting down your body from the touch, even internally laughing at yourself for having your mind in the gutter. 
In 2 years of friendship, Wooyoung never tried anything with you or gave any signs that he would be anywhere near interested, quite the opposite actually - You literally saw the man not taking a shower for over 3 days once during summer break. Also, San was right there in the room. You didn´t know where those crazy thoughts of yours were coming from. 
But oh well, turns out you should trust your instincts more.  
After a few minutes of mindless petting,  Wooyoung apparently had banged his head on the floor earlier, because his fingers started suddenly traveling to your inner thighs and every time his touches went up your knee, they inched down deeper between your bent legs when coming back down. You were too in shock to do anything immediately, eyes wide as you looked at the man once again, who was still laughing at a video on TikTok.  
He was so good at pretending he was doing nothing, you almost considered you were hallucinating.  
That´s it until his fingers inched so deep down your legs, the tip of his fingers touched the bottom of your shorts, a breath away from actually touching your chore. Your body jumped in surprise, eyes finding the same scene as before when you tried looking next to you. 
What surprised you the most though, was the way your walls sort of clenched around nothing at the touch.  
Fuck. 
While you were trying to process what was going on, he continued his ministrations, his fingers tracing softly the inside of your thighs up and down, ghost touches that had you holding back a squirm with all you had. 
Eventually, what you figured was his middle finger, traced over your slit on top of your shorts and you couldn´t hold back the little spasm in reaction. That´s when you decided to stop that madness, looking at Wooyoung, who this time was already giving you a sheepish smile. 
“What do you think you´re doing?” You whispered like San could hear it. 
“Didn´t you ask me to entertain you?” 
“Yeah, with like a gossip, not with whatever this is,” You exasperated, his finger pressing down right on your clit over your clothes, and you had to bite onto the inside of your cheek to hold back any reactions. 
“And what exactly do you think this is?” He raised an eyebrow, his conniving smile still plastered across his face. 
“One of your stupid little games.” 
“Oh really?” Wooyoung asked, his hand trailing up to your abdomen where he played with the waistband of your shorts. “´Cause I kind of just wanted my fingers inside you.” 
It was sad the way you felt yourself pulsing between your legs at his words. 
“Shut the fuck up,” Your brain was short-circuiting, and his fingers were inching down, now toying with the elastic band of your panties. 
“You´re the one asking questions.” 
“You´re the one with their hand down my shorts.” 
“Was bored,” He stated with a shrug, looking up at you as his middle finger found their way inside your panties and dipping it down your slit, “And apparently someone was enjoying it.” 
He pressed a finger slowly inside of you just to prove his point, smirk growing bigger at the way it slid in with so much ease. All the thoughts of it being just him trying to prank you flew right out of the window. 
“San is literally right there,” You breathed, heart almost coming out of your mouth. 
“It´s not like he would see anything,” Wooyoung argued.  
“Wooyoung,” You warned once he started pumping his finger deeper, you could feel the way he curled them because of how slow he was going. He was just teasing you and it was already driving you insane. 
“I will stop if you want me to, if not just shut up and go back to watching your movie.” 
He gave you no time to answer, looking once again at his phone, waiting for your verdict. You were sitting down, your knees were bent close to your chest, forming a tent around your legs, which meant no movements could be seen from Wooyoung´s hand in between there. He was half lying down half sitting up, his shoulders supported by two thick pillows and one of his hands was out from under the covers to hold his phone. The position didn´t seem suspicious at all and he never once stopped slowly pumping his middle finger inside you while you were having your little mental debate, and exactly because of that, your rational line of thought was getting further and further away by the second.  
You could deal with the consequences later, or Wooyoung could since he´s the one who started this mess out of literal nowhere. 
With no words you looked back towards the TV, noticing the smirk opening up once again on Wooyoung´s face from the corner of your eyes. His Tiktoks started playing loudly once again and he used his now more than coated middle finger to draw circles on your clit, your whole-body shuddering at the first contact.  
You wanted to keep an eye out for San, to stop everything if he happened to turn around, but it was physically impossible to keep your eyes open with the way Wooyoung knew how to use his stupid fucking finger. Your breath was already so shaky and you had to harshly bite down onto your lip to stop any sounds from coming out. 
Wooyoung was not even in a rush, his movements languid like he was just having his fun and had all the time in the world, which was honestly annoying because 1. you were already close and it was humiliating and 2. you couldn´t whine about it.  
You sensed he somehow knew you were close to the edge because he soon stopped circling your clit to now let two fingers inside of you, carefully looking for your sensitive spot – which he found abnormally fast considering most times you couldn´t even find it yourself. 
“If you keep trying to be quiet I´ll stop,” He warned, browsing through Tiktok like he wasn´t literally about to make you cum under the covers, not even batting an eye in your direction.  
You took a nervous look in San´s direction to check if he didn´t listen to Wooyoung´s words, but his fingers were still angrily pressing his keyboard. You could even listen to Yunho raging on his headphones. 
“He´s not going to listen, look” He rolled his eyes before raising his voice: “Hey San, you need to turn around and see how pretty Y/N looks with my fingers so deep inside of her-” 
“Wooyoung,” You slapped his shoulder in shock, eyes wide as you looked once again in San´s direction from any signs he had heart Wooyoung´s almost yell. He didn´t seem to have. 
“Oh,” Wooyoung smirked at you. “Interesting.” 
“What?” 
“Hey San, you wouldn´t believe this. Guess who´s clenching around my fingers every time I mention that you´re in the room with us.” 
Wooyoung let out a genuinely amused laugh and you would punch him if he wasn´t right, you didn't know why and it was an unconscious reaction, but a shiver went up your body when Wooyoung teasingly called San and a whine literally slipped out the second time he did it. Maybe you had an exhibitionist part of you that was never uncovered before. 
“So you like that San´s here, huh?” Wooyoung teased, “Kinky.” 
You were doing your very best to keep any noises inside but the closer you got, the harder it became. Wooyoung seemed to appreciate it because he would speed up slightly after each sound you let slip from your mouth, which meant you were about to lose this battle very soon.  
“I wonder, do you want us to get caught or the thrill is just in the fact that he´s here unaware of the mess you are from just my fingers?” 
“Wooyoung, I´m close,” You breathed out. 
Why oh why did you have to open your godamn mouth? The second you finished the warning, Wooyoung completely stopped what he was doing, fingers going still inside of you. 
“Now that´s no fun, is it? I´m enjoying this with you so much.” 
“Wooyoung for fuck´s sake-” 
“Do you guys want to order something to eat?” San´s voice suddenly surprised you, making you almost jump out the bed as you now watched him taking his headphones off. “I´m getting kind of hungry.” 
Your breathing was even more erratic from the scare, but San was just innocently staring at the two of you, completely clueless to the way Wooyoung´s fingers were still inside of you and your walls were spasming so much around them you could almost cum with no stimulation.  
“Yeah, me too,” Wooyoung agreed, his eyes once again so naturally glued to his phone.  
“Do you want me to order it or will you do it?” San asked. 
Fucking Jung Wooyoung decided that was the perfect time to start moving his fingers once again instead of taking them out like any normal person would once their best friend was literally looking at the two of you.  
You were already so sensitive from being edged before, you had to dig your nails deep into the fabric of the covers to not moan out loud.  
“I can order,” Wooyoung answered and his voice didn´t even shake. “What do you feel like eating?” 
“See if any of the restaurants we like are opened,” San suggested.  
This can´t be really happening.  
You saw Wooyoung opening the food delivery app, scrolling down the options with one hand while the other pumped into you teasingly. 
“There´s that italian place on sunset, the shawarma one, Mc Donald´s, the chinese one we had with Seonghwa, pizza, mexican -” 
You stopped listening halfway through the list when the man next to you started to once again circle your clit. You wanted to physically stop Wooyoung´s hand but there was no way of putting your hands under the covers to hold his pulse without making what was going on completely obvious to San. 
“What do you think, Y/N?” San directed his attention to you.  
“Whatever is fine,” Your voice was really shaky and you couldn´t even look at San´s face for any reactions because not only were you too embarrassed, it was also taking every single fiber of your body to not moan out loud.  
You were so fucking close but you were not about to cum with San watching. 
Would it be too obvious if you elbowed Wooyoung super hard? 
“You can´t say that because every time we order something that isn´t exactly what you feel like eating you whine the whole night,” San lectured you.  
“Pi- Pizza then.” 
Could San see you were shaking? 
“Nice, what toppings?”  
You were so so close, you were in fact about to cum in front of your friends no matter how much you didn´t want to. Wooyoung has been teasing and edging you all night but the one time you truly wanted him to stop, he was giving no signs that he would save you. 
“I feel like pepperoni,” Wooyoung offered. 
“Hm, I kind of wanted cheese.” 
“Oh my god, just literally order whatever,” You groaned, or maybe moaned, you don´t even know anymore. 
Just please turn the fuck around. 
“Damn, -” 
“Sannie, could you do me a huge favor first? Can you bring me antacid? My stomach is killing me,” Wooyoung frowned in fake pain. 
He was not even a little bit ashamed. 
“Sure man, be right back.” 
The second San was out of the room, Wooyoung threw the blanket to the side and practically jumped in between your legs, moving so fast you barely processed it until he was laying down with his head between your thighs. 
“You gotta be fast love,” He smirked up at you. 
“Oh, that won´t be a problem- Oh fuck.” 
You had not even finished the sentence and Wooyoung had already grabbed the bottom of your shorts and panties and pulled it to the side, his mouth immediately meeting your clit – and your thighs his ears consequently.  
Wooyoung´s free hand snaked between you two and he pushed two fingers inside of you while his tongue worked circles on your clit, you could even feel his soft plumpy lips against your skin and it was driving you insane enough to bite onto the back of your hand so you wouldn´t moan loudly.  
While before he was teasing you and moving slowly, now he was eating you out like a man starved and it took about less than a minute to get you shaking under him and grabbing his hair.  
Wooyoung looked up at you clearly pleased with himself, face looking like a mess as he placed your clothes back in place. You barely saw as he rolled back to his previous place and used the hem of his shirt to clean his chin, your brain was way too dead to think about anything at the moment other than catching your breath.  
“Dude, you´re so lucky. It was literally the last o- Oh,” It was comical the way San suddenly stopped, frozen in place. You followed his eyesight to nothing other than Wooyoung´s sweatpants, where a very apparent hard-on - that he either didn´t get the time to hide or just didn´t care - stood tall. “Bro, have some fucking manners, there´s a lady present.” 
You choked around air and held back your laughter. 
“You´re right. I´m sorry for tainting your innocence with this sight, Y/N. I´ll be in the bathroom for around 10 to 15 minutes correcting my mistake.”  
And with that, Wooyoung climbed on top of you to get out of the bed and leave the room. San took upon him to give you one last apology and explain some biology to you. 
“Sometimes boners are involuntary, we can´t control it.” 
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shoyudon · 2 days
Text
𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘, 𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 .ᐟ
you getting your period during a date
starring. gojo satoru, choso kamo, nanami kento x fem! reader
heads up. cursing, period.
note. I'M BACKKK, i missed my blue eyed king (let's pretend nothing happened, everyone's okay, we're all hahas and heehees) and i missed u all too. anw, hru all?
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──────〃★ 𝐆𝐎𝐉𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐔
"baby, i think i got my period," you whisper at him, squirming uncomfortably in your seat across from him — gojo stopped his movements and stares at you, "can you check if it stained . . ?"
thank goodness gojo had booked a secluded seat by the corner of the restaurant, you slowly stood up and looked down, "oh, fuck. it stained —" a part of you was thankful that the seat wasn't made of fabric, it was a smooth wooden seat.
he stood up and sat you back down, taking off his jacket to lay it over your lap, "wait here, yeah?" he whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of your head as he bolted out of the restaurant to god knows where. it took him less than five minutes to come back with a pink colored pouch.
gojo grabbed your hand, gently tugging you up to stand as he tied the sleeves of his jacket around you to hide away the stain, "there are a few things you can use in there, baby, come on," and there he goes, guiding you down to the washroom of the restaurant; even waiting for you to disappear behind the door of the girl's washroom.
you unzipped the pouch slowly, taking out the contents: small plastic bag, tampons, winged pads, pantyliners, hell even a spare underpants.
chuckling, you began changing and walked out of the washroom only to see gojo leaning by the door, "oh, hi baby," he greets cheerfully, grabbing your hand, intertwining your fingers together, "anything else you need? your tummy hurting already?"
shaking your head, he brings you both back to your seat, which was thankfully still scattered with your own food, "thank you, 'toru. i don't know what i'd do without you."
gojo chuckles softly, raising your fingers to his lips, "'ts my job, baby. i love you."
──────〃★ 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐎 𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐎
"period?"
you nodded as choso's lips parted in confusion — you didn't blame him at all though. a squeak escaped his throat, and you laugh out nervously, "can i help you with it? what should i do? is it painful? should i carry you to the bathroom?"
choso went on and on with his questions, panic glimmering all over his face, "baby, it stained," he whispers, standing behind you. cursing softly, you try to hide the stain with your hands, as much as you wanted to ask choso to help you to cover it up, you noticed how he was only using a white colored hoodie with no other shirt inside it.
but choso, honestly could care less — he took of his hoodie, exposing his toned body, "here, baby," he ties the hoodie around your waist to cover your stain.
"cho, your hoodie's white—"
"it's okay, baby," he tells you, his eyes completely on you. paying no mind to the people staring at him as they pass by, "we can wash it off, you're much more important right now."
──────〃★ 𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐈 𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐎
nanami's always come in prepared, he knows your cycle more than you do — honestly, is that even surprising? he's always kept a few tampons and pads inside the inner pocket of his suit, since you know; cycles aren't really the same every month, either behind or it jumps forward a few days.
"i think i got my period . . ." you squeezed his hand, brushing your thumb over the back of his hand.
"hm?" he looks down, "let's find a bathroom," nanami tells you, tugging you forwards towards the public restroom — still as calm as cucumber.
"do you bring anything to use?" nanami questions softly, and you shook your head in panic. your period was supposed to be at least in four days, not now.
as you both arrive in a public restroom, nanami rummaged through the inner pocket of his suit, slipping a pad into your hand in discreet, "here you go, love. your period's jumped forwards a few days," he murmurs, raking his finger through your hair.
looking up at him, you sigh out in relief, "thank you, ken. you're a life saver . . ."
nanami chuckles, leaning down to kiss your lips, "isn't it my job to take care of you?" he planted a second kiss to your lips, "i love you."
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© shoyudon 2024 . no copying or reposting allowed !
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bigfatbimbo · 2 days
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It's been 84 years whoops I live. Someone said something at you about Vox railing them and listen, listen my beloved that is not an indication of dominance for him past the first minute of fucking. He thinks he's hot shit and demands to stay on top this time like he's got something to prove (he does) but within minutes his thrusts are so sloppy and uneven because he can't keep himself under control. He's collapsed forward and clinging to you like a lifeline while his hips just keep jolting forward without his say so. All his bravado from the start has devolved into humiliated whining that it feels so good, too good, begging you to please please please keep taking him he can't stop please mommy he needs to cum in you so bad. Any attempts he makes to collect himself just lead to him whining even louder when he can't. Anyway thats my essay on subtop vox technically doing the railing while also falling apart and begging the entire time thank u for ur consideration.
-MG
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18+ minors dni
MG!!! Great to have you back brother, always leaving good shit in my inbox, dear lord. I don’t think I talk about subtop Vox on this blog enough because like it’s just so… Vox.
If you’re a naturally dominate partner then he would absolutely insist on topping or domming at least, like, five+ times. And most of that time, they would have the same result. Because Vox talks a big game, but in action it’s almost embarrassing how fast he unravels.
He would be so cocky at first, talking to you in that condescending manner, “Aw, is poor y/n upset they’re not in control for once—“ que sinister snickering “—Oh doll, you’re just gonna have to get used to it.”
You know what, he’s actually doing okay the first few thrusts, that is, until he’s not. And you two are only a few minutes in too, what a shame. It’s true, maybe you weren’t humoring him as much as he’d like you to be, but his frustration is almost an afterthought when compared to how tight you feel around him, how mind numbing the pleasure was.
But that can’t be right, Vox needed to do this right. If there’s one thing he was, he was competent, right? But you don’t even have to make a comment on the situation, although you’ve absolutely noticed, for him to start having to bite back whines.
“Fuck—zzh,” He’d curse before he sinks down, only propping himself up by an elbow as his body shudders above yours.
“Do you need any help, baby?” Your comment is sweet, too sweet. He can’t tell if it was meant to condescend him or not and, frankly, given the way your allowing him to hump into you like dog, he finds himself not caring as much as he should.
Instead he just grunts, before letting out a short staticky whine, and rutting into you more before stopping short, body shivering, muttering curse words under his breath.
At that point, it would only take a “It’s okay, sweetheart. You tried!” For him to fully collapse onto you. His bravado has been completely diminished, and the worst part is even Vox knows that there was virtually no way of winning back dominance. Not after that embarrassing display.
“Bit off more than you could chew?” Well, that was clearly condescending on your part this time.
“No that’s not—zzh, I— fuck—“ He whines, clinging onto your sides as his hips jolt into you, chasing the pleasure in his dick subconsciously, “I can’t stop, fuck, mommy please— ah shzzz, cant stop!”
Even with his full body weight on you, he doesn’t slow down or soften up, instead fully using you as a lifeline while he fucks into you with growing humiliation. His battle has officially been lost, as it is most times with you. There’s no point when you can see through his facade, so he gives in with his tail between his legs.
He’d practically beg you to let him come inside you, because hasn’t he tried so hard? “Mommy, please, please, I need it inside— Can’t—“ He has trouble articulating these words between static and buffering. When you finally tell him he’s allowed, you resist praising him too much, aka: calling him a good boy because, I mean, he did fail at the one thing he promised he would do.
But you still park him on the shoulder and reassure him it was okay because, after all, he looks cuter when he’s all fucked out, anyways.
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dandylovesturtles · 14 hours
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alright, here it is: part 3 of the still untitled Room Fic! and boy is it long... this might be as long as parts 1 and 2 put together.
Content warnings for this part: vomit, serious discussion of food issues, internalized ableism, everyone being a little bit dumb
I am not a doctor and my meal plan for Leo is extremely lightly researched (mainly because it's hard to find information that would be helpful in Leo's situation but that isn't highly technical). in the end I went with what I like from a narrative standpoint. if someone starves as long as Leo did please get them to an actual doctor lol.
also I got tired and didn't proofread the last few sections.
just a warning that I'm going on vacation next week and will be out of the country for awhile so don't expect any more for this for quite some time. in the meantime, hope you enjoy this!
and if you're confused, start here!
-----
Leo wakes up.
The room is moving. His head is cradled in someone's lap. There's a furry hand stroking his arm, and a voice hums the notes of a lullaby he hasn't heard since he was a child.
-----
Leo wakes up.
He's lying somewhere soft and blessedly warm. There's a weight across his chest. Someone is chattering in his ear, happy and upbeat, saying something to him about Jupiter Jim on the desert planet Delta-5.
-----
Leo wakes up.
He's still somewhere soft but now it's too hot. He whines and pushes at the things on his chest. Near his ear someone tuts, and then a hand lands on his, giving it a squeeze.
"Nardo, you need to warm up. Don't-"
-----
Leo wakes up, and his eyes open.
"Leo?" comes Raph's voice. Leo blinks to clear his vision, then lets his eyes trail up, to find his big brother bending over him. "You awake for real this time?"
He isn't sure. Raph being here sure feels like a dream.
He lowers his eyes and looks around. He's not home. He doesn't recognize this place at all, actually. But the walls are beige (still unstimulating, but at least not white), the furniture is dark brown, the bed (not a cot) has a blue bedspread, the empty takeout containers on the table have a splash of red. It's not home, but it's not the room, either.
If he were going to dream, surely he'd just picture himself back home.
He blinks back up at Raph, and smiles.
"Wide awake," he says, echoing Raph from before.
Raph bursts into tears, immediately leaning down and wrapping Leo up in one of his signature hugs. For the first time in so many days (longer, longer, Leo can't remember the last time he got a Raph hug like this), Leo feels completely secure, fully enveloped in love and affection, held safe by his big brother where no one can hurt him.
The difference between this moment and the last week and a half is so stark it leaves Leo feeling dizzy. Like he hadn't even realized how scared and lonely and helpless he truly felt until all that pain was taken away. He's safe now. He's okay now. Raph is hugging him.
Leo hates crying in front of people, but even he can't be stoic for this.
"Oh Leo," says Raph softly once he realizes. "It's okay. We got'cha."
Leo sniffs, burying his face in Raph's plastron. He wishes he could hug back, but his limbs feel so heavy, like Donnie swapped them out for metal versions when he wasn't looking. So he can't hug back, but he leans in close and hopes that's enough.
They get about a minute to hug before Mikey is worming his way in between them, wriggling to push his arms past Raph's and around Leo for himself. "No fair, you got to hold him earlier!" Mikey declares, his voice thick with tears.
"You got to hug him earlier," Raph argues.
"He was asleep, it doesn't count!" Mikey hits back, and Leo laughs and shifts so Mikey can better get in the middle. Raph sighs exaggeratedly, but he gives Leo a pat and leans back to let Mikey in.
Mikey hugs even tighter than Raph, nuzzling in against Leo's shoulder. "I missed you," he says, then gives a choked sob he tries to bury.
"Missed you too," Leo promises, craning his neck so he can land a big smooch on Mikey's head. That replaces the sobs with relieved giggles that leave Leo feeling so much lighter.
After another minute, Mikey moves back and looks over at Donnie, who's been standing at the side of the bed wringing his hands. "Your turn, Donald."
Donnie makes a grumpy noise at having been perceived, but when Leo gets a look at his face he sees Donnie has tears shimmering in his eyes, too. They break free once Donnie's arms are around him, trickling onto the skin of Leo's shoulder.
"Crying over me, Don-ton?" he teases, even as his own voice is thick with emotion.
"Shut up, Nardo," Donnie snaps back, but his voice cracks at the end and he holds on even tighter.
"Alright, my turn," says April once Donnie starts to loosen his grip, and Donnie obligingly crawls off the bed, swiping at his eyes. Like he's looking for something to busy himself with, he starts throwing away the takeout containers on the table. They must be empty.
Leo tears his eyes away just as April swoops in to wrap him up in his fourth hug of the hour, giving him a kiss on his forehead as she does. "Hey, Leo. How're you feelin'?"
"Happy to see you," he says again, and she squeezes him tighter. "Kinda hot."
"That's the hypothermia talking," says Donnie. April shushes him.
"Hypothermia?" Leo asks. April pulls back so she can see his face.
"It wasn't that bad," she says quickly. "You'd started brumating, we think... Tromping around in the snow didn't help, though."
"Not to mention you used up the last of your energy portaling us out of there," Mikey chimes in. "It was really cool though!"
Leo laughs. "Thanks, little brother." Even with the containers thrown away, the smell of the takeout is thick in the room. Leo guesses they had Japanese. It can't have been that long ago. "Where are we?"
"Motel room about two hours down the road." April slides to sit next to him, keeping one arm wrapped around his shoulders. Her body heat is warm in a more pleasant way than the blankets, and he leans into it. "We wanted to go further, but we needed to get you warmed up."
"A motel...? Huh." Leo looks around again. This is his first time being in a hotel that isn't owned by Big Mama. He wonders how far it is from the Japanese place. Just, like, average delivery time. "What happened? It's... kind of a blur for me." He laughs.
They launch into the story without any more prompting. It all sounds like what Leo expected. Raph led the team. Donnie did science stuff. Mikey razzed his tazz. April used her investigative skills.
They tracked him all the way down to Colorado (that explains the snow) and broke him out. They floored it away from the EPF, got far enough they felt safe, then booked into a motel under April's name. That's where they've been since. Splinter and Draxum are out now, patrolling to make sure they weren't followed or discovered.
It's quite the story. And Leo knows he should be paying more attention than he is.
It's just, the takeout boxes. The smell coming from them is so strong, or maybe Leo is just abnormally sensitive to it. He thinks someone had steak, and someone else had fish. The fried rice had egg in it. His mouth is watering so badly he has to swallow every few seconds.
"Leo?" calls Mikey, and Leo startles, ripping his eyes from the trash can to look at Mikey's face. He's gripping the bedspread so hard his knuckles are cramping. He realizes this is not the first time Mikey said his name. Great, now they know he wasn't paying attention.
"Ah, sorry," he says quickly. "I didn't mean to zone out." He flashes them all the biggest smile he can, so they don't worry. "I was just, uh..."
He trails off, not sure of a way to say that he was completely distracted by the smell of their already eaten Japanese food without making it awkward.
"Sorry, Leo, we know you're tired," says Raph, reaching over and rubbing his head. "You can go back to sleep. We're not leaving for awhile."
Go back to sleep? Leo doubts he can, what with the hunger an empty yawning hole inside him. It had been muted while the cold and the exhaustion took over, but now that he's warmer and more rested his body is very painfully reminding him he still has another problem.
He's trying to come up with a casual way to approach the subject when his stomach does it for him, gurgling and growling loud enough that everyone hears it. Leo is very glad his blushes don't show up as easily as humans' do.
"Uh... heh heh." He scratches at his own cheek, then stops when he feels how disturbingly hollowed out it is. "Before that... are there any leftovers?"
Everyone's staring at him. Leo's too tired to puzzle out why they're all staring at him. Maybe there really aren't any leftovers? He did just watch Donnie throw everything away. Maybe there were some, but now they'd have to fish it out of the trash. Leo wants to say he'd happily eat it out of the trash, but that would be really weird and they'd stare at him even more.
(But he would eat it out of the trash. He may be too proud to say it out loud, but he can admit it to himself.)
"O-or," he says quickly, to fill the silence after his last question, "if... if it's not too much trouble, can you ask Dad and Barry to bring something with them when they come back? Even if it's just something from a gas station, or..." They're still staring, and Leo feels himself starting to ramble desperately, "Or if it's too late, I can just... I can just go back to sleep, hah, but... but can someone at least wake me up so I don't miss breakfast?"
His family stutters back to life at that. Raph gives a furious shake of his head and says, "Forget breakfast," which makes Leo's heart and stomach lurch painfully. Waiting until lunch? That feels like forever away.
But then Raph continues with, "Leo, why didn't you tell us you're hungry right now?"
Leo falters. "Uh... just... didn't want to interrupt the flow of the conversation," he says, which is true, but the way everyone is looking at him now, he's pretty sure it's the wrong answer.
"Please," says April, tone very close to exasperated, "interrupt the conversation."
"Will do," says Leo. But he's still not sure what to do, because no one has told him when food is coming.
(You want this? You beg for it.)
Before he can spin out on that thought, Mikey jumps off the bed and heads for the mini-fridge that Leo hadn't noticed until now. He yanks open the door and pulls out two takeout containers, a box and a cylindrical container.
"We weren't sure what you felt up to, so we got you steak hibachi and miso soup," Mikey says, waving each container in turn.
The thought of having to actually chew and swallow sounds exhausting, so Leo says, "Soup's fine." And then, just in case, he adds hastily, "Please."
"Okay," says Mikey, and even though he's clearly trying to sound upbeat, Leo can hear the strain in his voice. "Just give me a minute to heat it up for you!"
Leo would eat it cold. Leo would eat it frozen. But he bites that back and waits.
Mikey puts it in the microwave on top of the fridge. Every little tick down on the timer feels like it takes three eternities. The rest of his family seems to feel the tension as much as he does.
"April!" says Donnie abruptly, too loud to be natural. "You wanted to see what's on the sci-fi channel!"
"Thaaat's right!" she says, also a little too loudly. "I did. Hand me the remote."
Donnie gives her the remote. She turns on the TV just as the microwave dings.
Mikey yanks the door open as soon as it does, pulling the bowl out with no regard for how hot it is. He gives it a perfunctory blow to cool it down, then hurries over to the bed, pausing only to grab a plastic spoon off a little pile of utensils on the table.
He hands both the bowl and spoon to Leo, but Leo already knows his arms won't be able to maneuver the spoon, so he lets it fall into his lap, in favor of lifting the entire container to his lips. He hopes he doesn't look too pathetically eager as he tilts it back and takes his first sip.
It's good.
It's so good he starts crying.
It's not even the best miso soup he's ever had. In fact, it's a little too oily and nowhere near as good as the kind his dad makes, or what Mikey is capable of. But it doesn't matter. It wouldn't matter if this was the worst soup in the world, because right now it's the best thing Leo has ever tasted.
He may be crying more over this than he did over hugs from his family. Maybe he'll have it in him to feel bad for that later.
The TV is showing some old monster movie. His siblings pretend they're watching that and not watching him. He appreciates that, because it makes him feel less self-conscious as he desperately slurps down the soup, practically guzzling it, only pausing when he has to chew the greens here and there.
He eats until his stomach is full and warm. And then he keeps going. There's still soup left, and stopping feels impossible.
(Besides, no one actually promised him breakfast.)
"Hey, maybe you should slow down," says Donnie. Leo pauses, looking up at him, licking the remains of soup off his lips. The container is still about a third full.
Maybe Donnie is right. His stomach is actually starting to cramp. But... but...
He doesn't know what his face looks like right now. But something about it makes Donnie look sad.
He turns away, rubbing right between his fake eyebrows. "Okay, okay. Just... don't overdo it."
Leo sighs, grateful the soup isn't being taken away. He goes back to drinking it, feeling like the chasm inside him is finally beginning to fill.
-----
The next time Leo wakes up, it's because he has to puke. Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to communicate that before it's all over himself and the bedsheets.
"Whoa, Leo-" someone says, and then there's a flurry of activity around him. He can't keep up with who goes where and who says what. It's a lot to keep track of when he just woke up and is spewing half-digested miso soup and stomach bile.
"There we go... You're alright, Blue, you're alright," he hears once he comes back to his senses, and he blinks and looks over. His dad is standing on the bed next to him, and he leans in with a damp washcloth and wipes at Leo's face and mouth.
"Perhaps the soup was too much for your stomach," Splinter says as he finishes, tossing the washcloth into the floor. "How do you feel?"
"Mm... weird," Leo admits, leaning sleepily into his dad's shoulder. He shouldn't because he's gross, but Splinter lets him do it, stroking his cheek. "My stomach hurts..."
The loss of the food hurts; without anything in his stomach, he'll feel hungry again soon. Leo is terrified of that, of the deep empty chasm of his hunger returning, sucking him down into its depths. At the same time, the idea of eating makes him feel queasy.
He feels weird, and miserable, and scared, and he doesn't know when his dad came back, but he's so glad he's here.
"How much did you let him eat?" he hears Draxum ask. Leo finds the energy to feel offended that he's being talked about like he isn't in the room, but not enough energy to actually say anything about it.
"As much as he wanted," Mikey answers. Which, as Leo recalls, was almost all of the soup.
"And how much was that?"
"Here, look."
There's the sound of the mini-fridge being opened again. The pop of the takeout lid. Draxum hums in a way that does not sound pleased.
"Leonardo," he says, coming to stand by the bed now. "I have a very important question and I need you to answer: when was the last time you ate?"
Leo stares at him blearily. Then he raises a tired hand and indicates the mess all down his front.
"Don't get cute," says Draxum, ignoring the following grunt of warning Splinter directs his way. "You know what I'm asking you."
Of course Leo knows. But he doesn't want to answer. Not while his dad is holding him, and all his siblings are watching him expectantly. They aren't going to like what he has to tell them. He doesn't want to upset them.
But Draxum is unmoved and steely eyed. There's no way Leo is getting out of this without answering.
He sighs, shutting his eyes and leaning into Splinter so he doesn't have to be looking at the rest of them when he says it.
"Last time I ate was at Run of the Mill."
He hears a gasp, hears Mikey yell, "What!?" Feels Splinter's sharp intake of breath under his cheek, and then his dad shifts so he can hold him even closer.
"They... they didn't feed you in there at all?" asks April, like she doesn't quite believe it.
Leo nods.
"I should have leveled the whole building!" Donnie snaps, and Leo hears something get knocked to the ground.
Mikey comes closer, and puts a hand on his shoulder, drawing Leo's gaze back his way. He looks so upset, and Leo regrets looking. "Leo, why didn't you tell us? You didn't even say you were hungry!"
"Felt weird to bring it up in the middle of the happy reunion," he says. It's a weak justification, he knows. The look on Mikey's face just gets more miserable.
"Wait," Raph cuts in. "Wait, so... when Bishop said he gave you chances to cooperate for better living conditions, he meant..."
Leo swallows hard, not wanting to look at the distress on Raph's face. "Feeding me, yeah."
"What did he want out of you? What was he making you do?"
This part, at least, Leo can answer easily. "He wanted information. About the yokai and the Hidden City."
Raph sounds surprised. "He just... wanted you to answer questions?"
"Yeah." Leo nods again. "Like, how to get in, how many portals there are, what kind of defense capabilities there are, stuff about Draxum... That's what I remember."
"Why didn't you just tell them?"
Now Leo does look at Raph's face. He's staring at Leo with open horror and distress. But Leo doesn't understand the question, or the look. He did what he was supposed to, didn't he? He held out and didn't give Bishop any information. He did the right thing. So Raph has no reason to look so upset.
He smiles in a way he hopes is reassuring. "Hey, that's not what a hero would do, right?"
It's apparently not reassuring. If anything, Raph only looks more horrified.
He turns away from Leo abruptly and marches straight out of the room, slamming the door on the way out.
Leo doesn't understand that reaction. He did what he was supposed to, but Raph is mad at him, anyway. The rest of his family seems shocked, too, so at least Leo isn't alone.
"I'll talk to him," says April, the first to move. She leaves with much less noise, disappearing into the dark parking lot beyond the door.
Awkward silence envelops the room after that. Leo doesn't know what to do or say to break it. He made Raph mad, because he never does anything right, according to Raph. It's the same as always, but for some reason Leo feels even worse this time.
"...Well," says Draxum, cutting through the awkwardness when it becomes clear no one else wants to, "knowing this, we will have to be much more careful about what and how much you eat. I'll make a meal plan."
"Why you?" Leo grouses. "Let Donnie do it."
Donnie opens his mouth like he wants to agree, but Draxum cuts him off before he can.
"Me, because I have actual experience designing nutritious meal plans for children." Leo thinks of what he's heard about Draxum's lunchroom and makes a face, which Draxum ignores. "Besides, I can't trust any of the rest of you to actually tell Leo he can't have more to eat."
"I can handle myself," Leo argues.
"Clearly," says Draxum icily, indicating the mess still in Leo's lap, "you cannot."
Leo doesn't have a good response for that, and no one steps up to his defense. Back not even twenty four hours, and he already has multiple people mad at him. That has to be a new record.
"...Whatever," he says, because he doesn't know what else to say. Draxum nods like he actually gave approval.
There's another round of awkward silence. Splinter breaks it this time.
"Why doesn't someone call housekeeping to ask for some fresh sheets," he says, "while I help Blue take a bath."
"Ugh, yes, I'm calling them now," says Donnie. Leo notes for the first time that his most persnickety brother is as far from his bed as possible, having put the second bed and the table between them. "The whole room is starting to smell."
Leo cringes. "Sorry..."
"There is nothing for you to apologize for," his dad reassures him, patting his head. Leo isn't sure he'd say that, but he doesn't waste breath arguing. "Now, come with me."
It takes some maneuvering, but they get him out of bed without making a bigger mess. Mikey starts stripping the sheets, and he can hear Donnie on the phone with the staff across the room.
Leo's still not wearing any of his gear. It shouldn't matter because he's just in a room with his family, but he still walks to the bathroom as quickly as he can.
Splinter shuts the door once they're inside, then fills a little plastic cup with water. This he hands off to Leo, saying, "Drink this, and I will run you a nice warm bath."
Leo does as he says, and tries not to think too much about how Raph is mad at him.
-----
There's an old concrete barrier that stands between the motel parking lot and an open field. Raph hefts a piece of the crumbling concrete and chucks it as hard as he can, watching as it disappears into the tall grass beyond.
They starved him. They starved his little brother for over a week, because he wouldn't answer some questions. And he wouldn't answer those questions because...
That's not what a hero would do.
Raph's ninpo flares to life. Punching out another piece of the barrier is easy; he lifts the broken pieces and throws them after the first, watching them sail through the air.
"You better hope there aren't any security cameras out here," says a voice behind him, and he looks over his shoulder.
April is there, standing a few feet back, hands tucked in the pockets of her jacket. Raph's ninpo stutters out at the sight of her; he wonders if he looked scary.
"...What are they gonna do even if there are?" he asks. But he does stop his wanton destruction.
"I don't know, but just remember it's my credit card on file for damages." Her voice is teasing, though, and he knows she isn't actually mad. She comes over, turning so she can lean against part of the barrier that's still intact. "Come on, Big Red. Talk to me."
Raph doesn't turn around. He can't stand to look back at the motel, at the room where his brother is, tiny and weak and with a stomach that's been empty for days on end. He can't handle it right now. So he keeps his eyes on the field.
"Leo let those guys hurt him," he says.
"No he didn't," says April. "He can't help what they did to him."
"If he'd just answered their questions, they would have fed him."
"We can't know that." April shakes her head. "You heard what Draxum said about those guys. You saw what they were like. Maybe if Leo had answered their questions, they would have just killed him. Leo was probably thinking that, too."
"But that's not what he said," Raph points out.
"...Look." April takes a deep breath. "Leo... just went through a lot. We don't know what he was thinking while he was in there, or what he's thinking now. And you know that boy likes to say flashy things. Don't take anything he says right now too seriously."
"But what if this is the most truthful he's gonna be? What if he just hasn't thought of a good lie yet?"
"Raph-"
"No, you don't get it, April." Raph holds his head in his hands, like he can physically hold the dark thoughts at bay, but he can't, and they keep coming: horrific images of what could have happened, if they'd been too late, if the EPF had been less patient. "I told him to stop thinking of himself! Right before he disappeared, I told him he needed to be a hero! But Raph didn't mean like this!"
"Hey now, you don't know-" April tries, but Raph cuts her off.
"I just wanted him to stop doing everything himself! All the showboating, all the running in without talkin' to us... Raph just wanted him to remember that we're a team!" He lets go of his head and grips the concrete instead, so hard it cracks and crumbles under his fingers. "What if he took that to mean he should risk his life for everyone else? That he had to sacrifice himself?"
"Oookay, slow down there, big guy," says April, turning around and putting a hand on his arm. "You're taking one thing he said and blowing it way out of proportion."
"But what if I'm right?" Raph shakes his head. "How do I live with that, if I am? Knowing I almost killed him?"
"Okay, you look at me right now," she demands, in a way Raph can't refuse. He turns, and she reaches up and grabs his face by the cheeks, yanking him down until he bends to her eye level.
"You did not almost kill him. That was those EPF guys." Her voice is stern, and her grip on his face prevents him from objecting. "And even if you are right, and it's what you said to Leo that kept him from answering... well, then that's something the two of you will have to work out together."
She lets him go, putting her hands on her hips. "But what's done is done. Right now, Leo is exhausted and starved, and he's not really in a state for big emotional talks. So let's just get some space and get your head on straight. Once we get him home and everything's calmed down, the two of you can hash this out."
Raph lets out a strangled laugh, slumping down against the crumbling barrier. "Yeah, because that's so easy."
"I'm not saying it's easy." She sits down next to him, putting her hand on his arm. "But you guys love each other, so you'll do the hard things you have to do. I know you got this." She gives him a wink. "You're Raph."
Raph isn't sure he has that much faith in himself. But April isn't wrong very often, so he thinks he should probably listen to her.
-----
The water feels nice on Leo's skin, pleasantly warm and soothing. He sinks down until all but his eyes are in the water, letting it swirl around him.
He still feels a little exposed, but it's only Splinter in here, and that helps. It's like he's a little kid again, getting a bath from his dad, but he has to scrunch to cram his legs in the tub and that ruins the illusion.
"My Baby Blue always did enjoy a nice bath," says Splinter fondly, rustling up hotel soap for them to use.
He wets a washcloth and lathers it up, then cleans off the top of Leo's head and back of his neck, then down to his shoulders and the ridge of his shell. Leo would normally protest this kind of treatment, but right now he's not sure he can lift his arms above his head, so he doesn't.
Besides, it feels nice.
"Float on your front," Splinter says, adding, "Deep breath." It's what he always said when they were kids and he wanted to wash their shells. Everyone but Mikey can hold their breath for a long time, but he always says it anyway.
Leo takes a deep breath and flips onto his front, closing his eyes as his dad washes the back of his shell. It's so soothing he could almost take a nap here. The world is nicely muted under the water.
Splinter gives his shell three pats with his hand, the signal to sit back up. Leo does, rolling onto his back to rinse off. Splinter hands him the washcloth and soap, and he cleans his lower half, taking care around the bottom ridges of his shell.
"Thanks for the bath, Daddio," he says as he finishes. "I know I was starting to get pretty ripe." He pulls up the drain plug with a pop, watching the dirty water spin away.
He tries to imagine he's watching the last of that place drain away with it.
Splinter retrieves a fluffy white towel, drying off the top of Leo's head before handing it off. "I wasn't thinking of that," he says. "But I know a good bath always made you feel better when you were sick."
It was never really about the bath, but the undivided dad attention. How Splinter would wash his shell and pat his head and dry him off, just like he's doing now.
It occurs to Leo that he almost lost this forever, and its like his breath is taken away. He buries his face in the towel and tries to ride through it - he doesn't want to cry again.
Splinter must pick up on it, because suddenly he's sitting on the side of the tub, rubbing the top of Leo's shell. "It's okay, Blue. You're safe."
He's safe.
He really is safe, isn't he?
He lowers the towel and turns into his dad instead, wriggling his head into his lap. Splinter welcomes him, patting his head with one hand and the top of his shell with another. Leo's breath hitches and the tears break free.
"I know," says Splinter, and his voice is thick with emotion. Leo knows he can't look or he'll start sobbing. "I... was very scared for you, my son. I am so glad you're here, Leonardo. I love you very much."
"L-love you too," he warbles. His tears are falling fast, now, and Splinter takes the towel and dries them away every now and then.
By the time Leo sits up and rubs at his eyes, the towel is totally soaked through from being in the tub. Splinter moves away to grab him a fresh one, which Leo wraps himself up in.
"Leonardo," says Splinter hesitantly once he is out of the tub, "I know you may not want to talk about it right now. But I need to ask you this."
Leo wonders where this is going. He sits down on the toilet lid, looking at his dad. "Uh, okay."
Splinter looks him up and down before asking, "Did those men... hit you? Or touch you in any way?"
Oh. Leo shakes his head. "No. They didn't... I mean, they just put me in that room. They weren't, like... torturing me or anything."
He thought that would reassure his dad, but if anything Splinter only looks more sad.
"Not feeding you is torturing you," he says.
"Oh, well, yeah, I guess." Leo rubs the back of his head. "But I mean, they weren't... you know. Shocking me or whipping me or... putting me in that medieval stretchy thing from the movies."
"I see." His dad sighs, but nods. "Very well. I'm glad, at least, that you do not have any injuries."
Leo nods back. "Yeah, no, I'm all good." He tries to smile, but his smiles aren't really having the effect they usually do.
"Are you ready to go back?" asks Splinter, moving to the door. Leo nods again, standing up. "Are you still cold?"
Leo blinks in surprise, then realizes Splinter is referring to the towel he still has wrapped around himself. He's not really that cold anymore, but he grabs onto the convenient excuse, anyway.
"Uh, yeah." He grins sheepishly. "Actually, did you guys bring any of my clothes? I'm a little worried about the ride home."
"Ah." Splinter taps his chin. "I don't think we brought any of your things. Your brothers brought their hoodies, I believe, in case they needed to go in a store..." He reaches up and pats Leo's hand. "There is a gift shop in the motel lobby. I will send Purple and Orange in the morning - I'm sure they'd enjoy doing some shopping!"
"Thanks. I just need a sweatshirt or something. Maybe some pajama pants." He shrugs. "Gotta stay toasty, right?"
"That's right. No more turtle-cicles." Splinter reaches up and turns the doorknob, gesturing for Leo to lead the way.
Leo shuffles for the bed, keeping the towel tight around himself as he goes. He doesn't drop it until he's under the sheets again, safely tucked away.
Raph isn't back yet. The realization turns Leo's stomach. But Mikey barrels into bed next to him, cuddling up against one side, while Donnie scoots in on the other, tapping away at his phone, and Leo tries to forget about it.
He's sure that, as soon as he's better, Raph will be back to yell at him.
-----
Leo doesn't realize Draxum left until he comes back. He did doze off for a bit there, though, so it's not surprising.
Mikey was snoozing against Leo's arm, too, but when the door clicks shut he raises his head, blinking sleep out of his eyes. Donnie looks up from his phone. Splinter's asleep in the other bed, only grumbling incoherently at the noise before rolling over.
(Raph and April still haven't come back. It makes Leo's heart thud a little harder.)
"Hey Barry," says Mikey, voice still a little sleepy. He pushes himself up to sit against the pillows. "Find what you were looking for?"
"Yes." Draxum walks over to the bed, pulling a bottle out of a pharmacy bag. He twists the cap loose, then holds it out and says, "Leonardo, drink this."
Leo can't help the way his face screws up as he takes it, eyeing the label on the bottle. "Eugh. What is this?"
"Vegetable juice," Draxum informs him dryly.
"Gross." Leo does not bring the bottle any closer to his lips. "Can I have soda instead?"
"Absolutely not." Draxum's voice is stern. "No sugar or caffeine until I say otherwise."
The next several days are looking worse and worse. Leo grimaces. "Can I just drink water, then?"
"You can and should drink water. But you also need to steadily reintroduce your body to nutrients. The vegetable juice will help, until your stomach can handle more solid food at a time."
Leo groans, eyeing the bottle warily. Anything labeled "juice" should not be this color of red-orange.
"Draxum's just trying to help, Leo!" Mikey chimes in. "Besides, vegetable juice isn't that bad."
It's not the most reassuring endorsement, given that Mikey loves vegetables in a way Leo has never understood. But with his little brother cheering him on, he can't back down.
"Fine. Down the hatch," he mutters, then takes a swig. It tastes just as off-putting as he was imagining, and he shudders and smacks his lips. "Yuck."
"Sorry, Leo." Mikey pats his arm comfortingly. "As soon as Barry says it's okay, we'll get pizza!"
"Please don't remind me of pizza right now..."
"Here." Leo looks up to find Draxum is holding out a handful of crackers. "Eat these, too. Be sure you chew them thoroughly before you swallow. And keep drinking the juice."
Leo takes the crackers in his free hand, putting them in his lap on top of the sheets. There's only six, and they look boring even for crackers. but his stomach perks up with interest, reminding Leo that everything he put in it before got thrown up.
Leo thought he was going to be waiting until breakfast to eat again. The crackers ease that tension, relief he hadn't consciously realized he needed.
Still, can't let Draxum think Leo actually appreciates all his bullying, so Leo still makes a face as he holds up one of the crackers and examines it.
"And these are...?"
"Are you going to react like this to everything?" asks Draxum with a scoff. "They're whole wheat crackers. They'll settle your stomach, and you need food in you so can take these vitamins."
He pulls a bottle out of his bag and shakes it, filling the room with the sound of pills rattling around. Leo scrunches up his snout.
"You didn't get me the chewable kind? Or those fruit gummy ones?"
"Are you such a child you need your medicine in the form of candy?" Draxum rolls his eyes. "You will be just fine with the pills."
"Okay, okay!" Leo groans theatrically, leaning his head back. "I can't believe you guys are letting him take care of him. He'll be feeding me bugs and leaves next."
"Stop whining. No one wants to hear it this late."
"I actually like these crackers," says Donnie. "They're delightfully bland."
This statement is followed by a crunch.
The sound sends a shiver up Leo's shell, and he turns his head in time to see Donnie, one of Leo's crackers in his hand, a big bite taken out of it. He chews and swallows with a slight smile on his face, clearly unconcerned that he just took one of Leo's crackers.
Leo only had six crackers to start. Now there's five. He doesn't know when he gets any more. No one promised him breakfast. And now he only has five crackers, and not six. And he can feel the hunger coming back.
Donnie turns his head and they lock eyes. Leo has no idea what his own expression looks like, but Donnie's turns startled and then almost frightened. He's so shocked he drops the rest of the cracker into his own lap.
Leo just barely stops himself from snatching it back.
Because that would be weird. What he's doing right now is weird. Everyone is staring at him, the room has gone silent, he's acting like Donnie just committed an unforgivable sin when all he did was take a cracker, like the two of them haven't been casually taking each other's food their entire lives.
He's being weird. He needs to stop. He needs to go back to normal right now.
Five crackers can be enough. It's enough it's enough it's-
Leo forces his brain to restart, his face and posture to relax, his fingers to unclench. He schools his mouth into an unserious grin, glancing back at Draxum. "H-hey, so... how many crackers do I need to eat? Since Thief-atello just stole one."
"I'm sorry," Donnie blurts out, an extremely rare apology. "I wasn't thinking."
Leo waves a hand. "It's cool, man," he says.
"No," Donnie insists. "I shouldn't have done that, I don't know why I did that-"
Great, first he pisses off Raph and now Donnie's freaked out. Leo's family came all the way to Colorado to save him and all he's done since then is upset them.
"Dee," says Leo, and he knocks one shoulder against Donnie's. "Seriously. It's fine."
Because it is. They take food from each other all the time. Leo's the one who made it weird, not Donnie, even if he did take one of Leo's crackers.
Donnie looks at him, uncertain. He still hasn't touched the remaining cracker in his lap. Leo wishes he would finish eating it now, so it isn't tempting him.
"...Still. I won't do it again," says Donnie finally, looking down at his lap and wringing his hands. He looks miserable, and Leo hates that he caused this.
Before he can do or say anything more, Draxum gets Leo's attention by holding out a new cracker. "Here," he says, waiting until Leo takes it, before handing a few to the still shell-shocked Donnie. "Both of you can have crackers. Now don't squabble, you'll disturb the neighbors."
Donnie puts the crackers in his lap and doesn't touch them again. The air in the room is stifling. And Leo wants to eat his own crackers, but now it feels awkward.
"I think you should steal one of his to get him back," says Mikey in an exaggerated whisper, a gallant attempt to dispel the tension. It doesn't quite work, but it breaks the silence enough for Leo to force out a chuckle and pick up a cracker.
"Everyone eat what you've been given and settle down," says Draxum, going to sit on the other bed. Splinter mumbles in his sleep again and rolls over. Everyone relaxes a little more.
Leo bites into the cracker. It tastes like all of nothing, but it has a pleasant crunch between his teeth, and he finds that he likes it.
Next to him, Donnie hesitantly finishes off his own half-finished cracker. Then he half-heartedly eats the others. Leo drinks his vegetable juice, then swallows the pill Draxum gives him.
Mikey does his best to fill the room with happy chatter, and the mood lightens, little by little.
Everything's okay. He just can't do that again.
-----
Everyone but Draxum is asleep when Raph and April come back into the room, just a little before dawn. Splinter is splayed out across the bed closest to the door, while all three of his little brothers are curled around each other in the bed by the bathroom.
Raph and April spent a long time sitting by the barrier, talking intermittently between long spells of silence. Then they moved to the tank, taking a nap together on the bench seats.
April has her travel pillow and blanket now, and she takes both and spreads out at the foot of his brothers’ bed, wisely putting her head by Donnie, who sleeps still as the dead, and not Mikey, who has already moved several times since they walked in. She yawns and then conks out almost immediately, glasses held loosely in her hand against her chest.
Raph wishes he didn’t feel quite so wide awake.
Draxum is sitting in one of the chairs by the table, phone in hand. He has a notebook open and scribbles into it with a pen. Raph comes over and takes a peek: it’s all notes about nutrition, the vitamins that are most critically needed after a long term starvation event.
Draxum’s helping Leo. That makes Raph feel better, and he sinks into the other chair, leaning his head back.
“You should try to get some sleep,” says Draxum, voice low. “We’ll be leaving in a few hours.”
“Raph’s good,” he says, staying where he is.
He feels Draxum’s eyes on him, for a moment. “I’m taking watch. Go to sleep, Raphael.”
Raph hesitates, then gets up from the chair and goes to lay down next to his dad. Splinter grumbles in his sleep, but rolls over like he knows to make room for a son crawling into his bed.
From here Raph can see Leo’s face. It’s gaunt and washed out, and even with all the sleeping he’s done there are still dark circles under his eyes. He looks so fragile, and the anger burns in his chest again, that anyone could hurt him like this.
He’s safe now, though. Mikey has an arm curled around his plastron, and Donnie flanks his other side like a guard. He’s able to rest, and eat, and get better.
Raph remembers what April said. Give Leo time to heal, then talk about what happened in there. He can do that. He can be patient.
He hadn’t thought he would be able to sleep, but lying still, with his sleeping family all around him, safe and sound, puts him under in minutes.
-----
"Morning, Leo!"
Leo blinks awake, taking in his surroundings. The walls are beige, the bed is blue, there's a TV playing the morning news on low volume, there's sunlight shining through the window.
He can smell food.
"It's breakfast time!" says Mikey. He's standing next to the bed, holding a tray. Leo wriggles until he's sitting up against the pillows, grinning as he pats his lap.
"Thanks, Mikey."
"You're welcome!" Mikey gives Leo a thousand watt smile as he sets the tray down.
Leo wishes he could feel as enthusiastic as his little brother as he gets a look at his breakfast. There's a large cup of white yogurt, and a little plate of scrambled eggs that don't even look like they have pepper on them. He's glad he has food, he just wishes it was something more exciting.
He lifts his eyes and takes a look around the room. Donnie is in one of the chairs by the table, tapping away on his phone. April is in the other chair, and she smiles and gives him a little wave when he meets her eyes. His dad is in the other bed, munching on what looks like a muffin and watching the news. He doesn't see Raph, but he hears the shower running.
Draxum is standing by the doorway, watching Leo. When their gazes meet, he sighs, rubbing the furrow on his forehead.
"Are you going to ask me what you're eating again?"
"Yes!" Leo points at the cup of yogurt. "What is this!? It's not even fruit flavored!"
"It's Greek yogurt. You can have fruit when your stomach is more settled."
"Ugh..." Leo sighs, grabbing the plastic spoon off his tray and scooping up a tiny bite of yogurt. It's not terrible, but without any fruit it's not very exciting.
"Hey, look at the bright side," says Mikey, holding out a plastic cup. "You get apple juice this morning! Since it had no sugar added, Draxum said it's okay!"
Leo musters up a smile. "Well, it's better than vegetable juice..."
"Don't get too excited," says Draxum dryly. "You'll be drinking more on the drive home."
"You're such a buzzkill, Drax," Leo huffs, taking a bite of his eggs now. They're unseasoned, but they're something. And there's the part of him that is just happy to have any food, simmering under the surface and demanding he eat faster. To keep himself from cramming the whole of the plate in his mouth at once, he turns to Mikey. "Hey, sneak me a muffin. Blueberry or chocolate chip."
Mikey grimaces. "I don't think Barry wants me to do that..."
Leo pouts, chewing his eggs slowly. "Who are you going to listen to, him or me?"
"He'll listen to me," says Draxum sternly. "If you're still hungry after that, you can have some more crackers."
Leo sighs, but part of him feels better knowing the crackers are still on the table. He crams more eggs in his mouth and chews as sulkily as possible.
There's an Old Navy ad playing on TV. Splinter sits up straighter in bed when he sees it, getting muffin crumbs everywhere. "Ah, that reminds me! Blue wanted some warm clothes to wear on the ride home." Splinter reaches out and pats Mikey on the arm. "Orange, Purple - why don't the two of you go to the gift shop and do some shopping? You can get a souvenir for yourselves as well."
"Oooh, yes!" Mikey bounces excitedly in place. "Dibs on picking out Leo's clothes!"
"Gasp!" Donnie stands up, pointing at him dramatically. "You know I'm the fashionable one in this family! Leo, tell him you want me to pick out your clothes for our return trip!"
"Mmm, I dunno..." Leo grins up at his little brother, giving him a wink. "I think Angelo's got this."
Donnie makes a noise of utter betrayal while Mikey cheers and stoops to give Leo a hug. "I won't let you down, Leon!" he promises, giving Leo a big smooch on the top of his head.
"I know you won't."
"Fine then! I'll just have to make you all jealous with my own selections." Donnie looks down. "April, do you want to join us?"
"Yeah, sure." April stands up, stretching her arms above her head. "Maybe I'll get a keychain or something."
The three of them file out of the room, Donnie and Mikey still arguing animatedly. Draxum takes one of the abandoned chairs, and Splinter goes back to watching the news.
Leo continues eating his bland breakfast, and tries not to spend too much time wondering when his next meal will be. At least he's been promised crackers.
-----
Raph comes out of the bathroom about ten minutes later, just as Leo's finishing up his breakfast with a few crackers. He nearly jumps when their eyes meet.
"Oh, hey, Leo," he says, voice a forced cheerful. "You're awake! That's great!"
"Yeah," says Leo back, trying not to sound too awkward and failing. He holds up his empty cup. "Just finished breakfast."
"O-oh, yeah. Was it... good?"
Leo grimaces. "Not really."
"Oh." Raph hovers in the doorway, practically vibrating with nervous energy. Leo wonders if he should apologize, but he still doesn't know what he's apologizing for, so he doesn't.
He'd know if Raph would just go ahead and yell at him, but Raph doesn't seem eager to start. Maybe he doesn't think Leo is healed up enough yet, or maybe he doesn't want to do it in front of Splinter. Either way, no yelling seems forthcoming.
Instead, Raph says, "Uh, where's everyone else?"
"Shopping for clothes for Blue and for souvenirs for themselves," Splinter answers.
"Oh, cool. Maybe... maybe I'll go join 'em!"
Raph pats Leo on the head as he goes by, then leaves the room like it's on fire. Leo is silent; he has no idea what to say or do.
He's out of food now, too. He's already asked Draxum for crackers once, and he's not sure if asking again will actually gain him anything. And with Mikey gone, he feels too anxious to try.
He settles back on his pillows and turns his eyes to the TV, lifting the plastic spoon in his hands. He slots the handle between his teeth and chews, relaxing at the feel of it. It's sturdier than the water bottles, so he can't flatten it down as easily, but the way he can munch on it endlessly has its own appeal.
The news drones on. His dad laughs at something the anchors say. Draxum scribbles away at a notebook. And Leo leans back on his pillows and chews on the spoon.
On the ticker at the bottom of the screen, he notices the tail end of a news item about a training accident at a military facility in Colorado Springs - one injured.
-----
The outfit Mikey has picked out is a sky blue hoodie with "PIKE'S PEAK" in big block letters and darker blue plaid sweatpants. They meet Leo's standards for softness and comfiness, if not quite his standards for style. It's fine, because he's after the former right now.
"Did I do good?" Mikey asks, bouncing on his toes.
"You did great," Leo responds, motioning him closer so he can rub his head affectionately. It lacks his usual punch, but Mikey laughs and wiggles away anyway.
"We also got," Mikey rummages around in the gift store bag, then pulls out, "matching fuzzy socks!"
The socks are in their signature colors and have snowboarders on them, and each set has a terrible pun like, "SNOW RULES!" and "COOLER THAN COOL!" Leo loves them immediately.
"I think this is the best gift you've ever gotten me," says Leo sincerely. Mikey beams and comes in for a hug that Leo gladly returns.
"Here, put 'em on!" says Mikey after he backs away, nodding at the hoodie and pants on the bed. "You don't want to be cold, right?"
"Right," says Leo, lifting the hoodie in his arms. A quick glance around the room shows that they're all looking at him now - Mikey, Donnie, and April by the bed, Splinter from the other bed, Draxum at the table, Raph hovering in the doorway. Waiting for him to put the clothes on.
He wishes they wouldn't.
It's weird. He's never felt self-conscious like this. He and his brothers have never really practiced modesty the way humans do, especially around each other. And yet the idea of standing in front of them now with no clothes, not even his mask, makes him feel strangely queasy.
He tries to tell himself it's because of how he looks now. Stick thin arms and legs, weird, unhealthy skin tone, dark circles under his eyes that a few hours of unconsciousness and one night of intermittent sleep have definitely not erased. That it's just his normal vanity.
But he can still feel it: that guard's eyes on him, any time he left the safety of his hiding spot under his cot.
He pulls the hoodie on over his head while he's still in bed. Then he crawls out of bed and pulls the pants on as fast as he can.
He looks around to see if anyone noticed, but their expressions haven't changed. Mikey gives him a thumbs up.
He relaxes. With the clothes on, the feeling of being exposed finally ebbs away. And it is warmer like this, which is a plus.
It's okay. In a day or two, he'll be over this weird self-consciousness and back to normal, and no one has to know about it.
"Well, how do I look?" he asks, grinning and turning in a circle. Mikey and April clap indulgently for him.
"Lookin' good, Leo," says April, and he gives her a wink.
"Well, even though you chose to forego my aesthetic sensibilities, I got you something, too," says Donnie, pushing his way forward. He holds out a pair of flipflops, which say "We're in" and "CO" on the toes and have cartoon giraffes on the heels. Leo can't help but grin when he sees them. "Trust me, you'll want these if we have to go into any gas station restrooms. Shudder."
Leo laughs, then reaches out an arm to pull Donnie into a hug before he can escape. To his surprise, Donnie doesn't even put up a token fight against it, hugging him back more fiercely than usual.
"Thanks, I love them," he says into Donnie's ear.
"Of course you do," says Donnie smugly, but his eyes are suspiciously shiny when he breaks the hug. Nothing feels awkward between them now, even given the cracker incident earlier, and Leo is glad.
“Okay!” says April, clapping her hands. “Checkout’s in thirty minutes - if you have anything else to do, do it now.”
“Wait,” says Leo, looking around. “Where’s my mask?” It’d be nice for hiding the dark circles.
“Oh, I think Raph grabbed it,” says April, but when she turns, Raph is gone. April presses her fingers to her forehead and sighs. “Okay, you can get it later.”
Leo’s mouth suddenly feels dry. He reaches around and grabs a bottle of vegetable juice Draxum gave him, draining the last of it.
“Checkout in twenty eight minutes,” says Donnie to cut the awkwardness. “Let’s go, people!”
Leo sits on the bed and watches his family prepare to leave, gnawing on the top of his juice bottle.
-----
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” calls a voice, and Leo blinks awake to see April standing over his cot. No, not the cot - this is the bench seat in the tank. If he’s going to be sleeping so much, he needs to stop waking up confused.
And he has been sleeping a lot. The only time they woke him up was to eat another snack of crackers with a little bit of mushed up banana, like he’s some kind of baby.
The banana did help break up the monotony, though.
Leo can’t help but hope he’s being woken up for food again.
Like she read his mind, April grins and holds out a hand to help him up. “Lunch time!” she announces.
“Oh boy,” says Leo, taking the hand and slowly getting to his feet. He’s stiff from lying in the tank for so long, and he stretches and pops his arms. “More flavorless mush.”
“Maybe we can convince Drax to give you a little salt this time,” says April with a snicker. She waits for him to slip the flipflops on, then leads him out of the tank.
It occurs to him that this is the first time he’s really been out in the sun in over a week, excluding times he’s been unconscious and the short walk from the motel room to the tank. He takes a minute to just lean his face back and feel the warmth of it on his skin. It hasn’t even been that long, and he’s used to life underground, but somehow it feels different this time, foreign and new and sweet.
When he looks back at April, she’s tearing up again. She quickly wipes at the bottoms of her eyes and pulls on a smile, linking her arm around his.
“Come on. We can grab a picnic table and sit outside.”
It's then that Leo actually takes in where they are: a big travel center, or that's what the sign on the building declare. The tank is parked at the gas pumps, and Donnie, with his hood up, is excitedly talking about it to some interested truckers who have come over. He spots Mikey over at the grassy space for dog walking, laughing while a puppy licks his face, a seemingly annoyed Draxum standing off to the side with his arms folded. He doesn't see Raph or Splinter, but April fills him in as they cross the parking lot.
"Raph and Splints are inside ordering food. They have a whole diner in there!"
"Let me guess: I'm eating soup."
"I think it's potato."
"Well, at least it's not more tomato." Leo makes a face. "If I have to drink any more vegetable juice I'm going to turn red and swell up into a ball."
"You know what pizza sauce is made out of, right?" she asks, playfully bumping into him.
"Actually, I don't," he says smoothly, bumping into her back. They fake tussle outside the door for a moment, until both of them are laughing.
Someone trying to get past clears their throat loudly, and April and Leo shoot them an apologetic look before going on inside. Leo visits the restroom and tries not to look too long at the arrays of snacks on offer. April goes to help Raph and his dad with the food.
They all end up back outside at a large picnic table. His family has a mix of foods: burgers, hot dogs, salads, chicken strips. He knows there was pizza inside, and it touches him that no one picked it.
Next to everyone else's large, full plates, his own bowl of soup feels ridiculously small and sad. But he doubts any amount of pouting will convince Draxum to let him have a burger, so he digs in. At least this has some flavor.
Lunch is nice, even if Raph is still acting weird and distant. It’s just good being in the sun and the fresh air. Leo is reluctant to leave as they finish up.
“Come with me!” says Mikey as the others go to throw their trash away and buy anything they need for the return trip. He holds out his hand, and Leo takes it and follows Mikey back toward the grassy area at the edge of the parking lot. They make sure there are no dog droppings, then lay down in the grass, looking up at the blue sky and the clouds going overhead.
“I thought it’d be nice to get a little more sun before we have to get back in the tank,” says Mikey, limbs splayed out in every direction. He’s taken off his hoodie - no one at the travel center has paid much attention to the peeks of green skin they’ve been showing off, and no one is nearby right now, anyway.
It is a little hot. But the idea of being shirtless where a stranger can see him keeps Leo fully swaddled.
He pushes that thought aside, closing his eyes and just trying to enjoy the feeling of the sun on his skin, the breeze blowing by, the grass under his fingers. He doesn’t get to touch a lot of grass in the city, but it reminds him of times they would sneak out to Central Park.
“This is really nice, Angelo,” he says. “Thanks.”
“Mmhmmm.”
They’re quiet for a few minutes, just laying there, with only the ambient sounds of the travel center keeping them company. Leo starts to feel like he might doze off again.
“…Hey Leo?”
Leo blinks his eyes open, craning his neck to see Mikey. “Yeah?”
“Are you… okay?”
Ah. Maybe he should have expected this.
“Of course I’m okay,” he says, voice nonchalant. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Uh, well…” Mikey hesitantly trails off, clearly trying to decide what he wants to say.
Leo takes care of it for him. “It’s over, Mikey. You guys saved me. I’m okay.” He turns his head and grins. “And once Draxum stops being the food police, everything will be back to normal.”
“Mmm…” Mikey doesn’t sound as convinced as he should. Man, Leo’s smiles are really failing him lately. “But… if something’s bothering you… You’ll tell us, right?”
Leo pats his head. “Of course I will.”
If it’s worth bringing up to them, anyway.
Mikey’s eyes rove his face for a moment, but in the end he must be satisfied, because he smiles and rolls to toss his arm over Leo’s chest. “Okay. But I’ll hold you to that.”
“Or what, I’ll get a visit from the doctor?”
“You know it!”
Leo laughs, which gets Mikey laughing. They stay there until Raph calls their names across the parking lot, and they go back to the tank.
-----
He manages to stay awake after they stop for lunch, curled up on the bench seat. He doesn’t have the energy to talk as much as normal, but he leans against Donnie and contributes where he can. He’s just happy to be back with them, hearing and seeing them all around him.
But there’s something always at the back of his mind keeping him from fully relaxing: he doesn’t know when he gets to eat next. And he knows it will be okay - he’s with his family, and they’d never let him go hungry. He knows that, but about two and a half hours after lunch, he keeps finding himself returning to the same thought.
He’s drinking on a sugar-free Gatorade they got him at the travel center; one of the only non-vegetable or fruit drinks Draxum approved. Mikey has just finished up a story from one of the many art vlogs he watches, and, in the lag of conversation, he tries to broach the subject casually.
“Sooo… what’s our plan for the rest of the drive? Are we stopping, or…?”
“We’re going to try to make it all the way back to New York,” says April. “We already have our shifts picked out, and the autopilot is helping.”
“We can stop in a few more hours for another bathroom break,” says Donnie, pulling up a holoscreen showing their route and the drive time remaining. “Unless someone needs us to stop sooner.” He glances at Leo, and the way he’s bouncing the rim of the bottle off his teeth.
“Oh, uh, I’m good,” he says quickly, lowering the bottle. "I'm just wondering, uh... what about stopping for dinner?"
His family does about as good a job being subtle about looking at each other as he's being subtle about his worry. "We were thinking we'd probably try to find something around seven," says Donnie.
Seven. It's a little after three now. Okay. He can wait that long. What's four hours? And at least he knows what to expect now.
His family hesitantly return to their conversation. And Leo does his best to pay attention. April is telling them about all the stuff she's been doing to prepare for college in the fall, how she's already chatting with people running the student paper. She's excited about it, and Leo is excited for her.
"Ew, Leo," says Donnie suddenly, tearing him out of his thoughts. "Why are you doing that?"
Leo looks over at him in confusion. He starts to ask, Doing what?, but when he opens his mouth to speak, something falls out of his teeth and into his lap.
It's the Gatorade bottle cap, chewed down flat. Leo can see the marks from where his molars snapped through the lip, and the dents where he's been gnawing at it with his incisors.
He didn't even know he was doing that.
Everyone saw him doing that.
Embarrassment flushes through him, and he scrambles to grab the lid and toss it into their communal trash sack. Maybe no one noticed how thoroughly he had chewed on it.
"Gross," says Donnie, his nose scrunched up. So at the very least he saw. "You don't know where that's been."
"Oh please, it's not that gross," says Leo, doing his best to keep his voice light and airy. "It's just a bottle cap."
"That other people have touched and that you put into your mouth."
"Don't knock it till you try it, bro."
"I'm good not trying it."
"Your loss," says Leo with a shrug. He leans back, cool and calm and collected and not a total weirdo who gnaws on plastic like it's candy. "Stop looking at me like that, I threw it away already."
Donnie stops looking at him, literally. Things feel tense again. Leo doesn’t know how he keeps managing that.
Mikey jumps up, walking to the front of the tank, where Draxum is asleep in one of the chairs. Mikey shakes him awake, smiling in the face of his annoyed grumbling.
“Hey, Barry, is it okay if Leo has a snack?”
“Why do you have to ask him?” calls Leo, folding his arms. “Besides, I’m fine!”
His protests go ignored. “What time is it?” asks Draxum, sitting up and smoothing down his robes.
“I’m fine!” insists Leo, louder.
“It’s three fifteen,” Mikey says.
“Mm… Yes, he can have a snack.” Draxum gets up, going over to their snack cooler. “Leonardo, do you want crackers or more banana?”
“I’m fine!” Leo tries one more time, but his stomach flips when it occurs to him that he may actually not get a snack if he insists, and he wants the snack.
He sighs, sinking back in his seat, and says, “Crackers.” He wants the crunch of eating them.
Draxum brings him his crackers. There’s only four. He’s not sure why he’s getting less this time. Maybe because he was caught chewing on the lid.
He doesn’t ask. He eats what he’s been given, and then decides the best thing for everyone would be if he took another nap.
-----
Raph would have driven them all the way to New York if he’d been allowed. But they insist on having him swap with Donnie, and he ends up sitting in the back on the benches with because the other front chairs are hard for him to fit in.
Leo is asleep. He’s been sleeping a lot, but that’s to be expected. His body barely has any energy, and going by the dark circles, Raph knows he didn’t get much sleep while he was…
When Leo is awake, his family are their lively selves, chatting and laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Once he goes to sleep, everyone quiets down, Donnie dims the lights in the cab, and a weird melancholy sets in.
Leo looks terrible. They haven’t talked about it, but they all know it. Raph is shocked Leo has even been able to walk on his own, but Draxum attributes that to their reinforced mutant biology. He’s swimming in a hoodie that is his size, his hands and feet are skeletal where they poke out of his clothes. Raph wonders how long it will take for him to start filling out again, to have muscle like he did before. He’s afraid to ask.
Splinter sits with Leo’s head in his lap, rubbing his shell any time he shifts in his sleep. Mikey curls up against Raph and sniffles, and Raph pulls him closer.
He has to keep reminding himself that Leo is here, and safe. He just ate a snack, and soon they’ll get another meal in him. Just give it a week or two, and they’ll have their brother back.
And then, he’ll make sure Leo knows he never has to sacrifice himself again.
-----
Home looks just like Leo remembered it, and feels totally foreign at the same time.
His family clap for him as he walks in, and he does a little bow, which is a poor decision because it leaves him feeling lightheaded after. Luckily Raph is there to catch him and carry him from the garage to the chair in the living room. Things are still weird between them, but at least Raph isn't totally avoiding him.
(Raph still hasn't yelled at him. He wishes they could just get it over with.)
They eat lunch, with Leo getting bland soup and crackers again. Draxum notes that he could have peanut butter if they could have it in the lair, which makes Raph look pointlessly guilty, so Leo changes the subject. After lunch, April gives him a big hug and tells him she'll see him soon, but she has to go back home before her mom gets too worried. Leo feels bad when he learns she's missed several days of class now, but she just laughs and pats his head.
"I'm a senior and it's May, Leo; that I show up at all is enough for them."
Everyone's tired from being on the road for over twenty four hours, so after April leaves they unanimously agree on a movie marathon/turtle pile in the living room. His brothers drag out their comfiest pillows and blankets and set up in the floor, while Splinter cuddles up with Leo in his recliner. Draxum actually stays, to everyone's surprise, and Mikey jumps at the opportunity to introduce him to the magic of Lou Jitsu and Jupiter Jim.
Leo drifts in and out the whole evening. He'll be awake for the whole first act of a movie, then blink and suddenly they're partway through a different film. Each time he wakes his dad is there, patting his hand and saying, "Hello, Blue," and his brothers are around him, quoting their favorite lines or jumping up to act along with their favorite parts. It's normal and it's familiar and it's warm and soft.
He eats more soup for dinner, and crackers and banana and a little pudding cup, as a treat. His family gets more sleepy as evening turns to night; his dad's snoring fills the room, and Draxum finally leaves to go to his apartment. His brothers settle in and fall asleep around the middle of Jupiter Jim's Last Trip to the Moon 17, curled up in a heap at the foot of the chair.
He's home.
He's really home.
It's over.
Leo buries his face in his dad's fur and lets that thought carry him to sleep.
-----
Leo's home and it's amazing.
Raph wishes that meant everything was back to normal.
He doesn't know how to be around Leo right now. Every time he looks at him, he sees the stick thin arms and the gaunt face and he hears Leo's voice saying, That's not what a hero would do, and he doesn't know what to say anymore. What if he accidentally says something that makes Leo feel like what happened to him was right? What if he accidentally makes Leo think he should do it again?
It's only been a day, he tries to tell himself. Leo's still spending most of his time sleeping, between his regular snacks and meals. Even when he's awake, he doesn't have much energy for conversation, seeming content to just sit and listen to everyone else. It's just not the right time. It'll get better once Leo is better.
He can wait until then.
It's the afternoon now, the day after they brought Leo home. Raph just finished his workout and is making his rounds to check on everyone, just to make sure that everyone is... well, just to make sure. Splinter is in the kitchen making tea, a kind with no caffeine or sugar, as per Draxum's instructions. Mikey and Leo are in the living room, a half-asleep Leo watching Mikey play video games on the projecter.
Donnie isn't there.
His heart lurches, no matter how much he tells himself it's okay. Donnie is fine, Donnie is home, Donnie hasn't gone missing, not right after they got Leo back.
(He'd tried to tell himself Leo was fine in the beginning, too.)
He checks their rooms first, but Donnie's is empty. Then it's up to the lab, where he finds the door closed.
He knocks, and a robotic voice asks for identification. He sighs, not wanting to play this game right now.
"Donnie, it's me. You better be in there..."
The door beeps and then slides up, revealing a dimly lit lab. At first, Raph thinks he must not be here, and he's about to turn to leave, but then he hears a noise from Donnie's big computer desk.
A sniffle.
His big brother senses shifting into hyperdrive, he speed-walks over. The door slides shut behind him with a mechanical whir.
Sure enough, Donnie is there, legs pulled up into his desk chair, face buried in his knees. His goggles are off and laying on the desk, and his computer monitor shows a video, frozen on...
A white room, almost empty, save the cot that is for some reason propped up in front of the toilet, and...
Donnie sniffles again, and Raph tears his eyes away from one little brother to the other.
"Donnie...? What is this?"
Donnie sniffs and sits up a little more, rubbing under his eyes where tear tracks are already drying. "It's the surveillance video from the EPF base."
Raph gathered that much. "Why... are you watching it?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Donnie looks up at him. "I wanted to see what they did to him."
"You couldn't just ask him?"
Donnie's drawn on eyebrows go down. "I don't know, do you want to ask him?"
Raph imagines trying to ask Leo questions like that and can't help but cringe. "Okay, no. Raph doesn't want to do that."
"Exactly." Donnie gestures at the screen. "I got this footage from the base. And I erased it permanently from their systems, for the record, and destroyed the hard drives to be sure. But I kept a copy for us. I thought, if Leo wasn't in a state to... well, just in case. We might need it for medical reasons."
"But we know what's wrong with him," Raph points out.
"Do we?"
"Uh, yeah." Raph nods. "Starvation... right?"
"Well, yes." Donnie drums his fingers on the table. "But... he's different, now. He's pretending he's not, and he's doing his normal Leo thing of joking and smiling, but... he is." Donnie scowls. "And I already asked Michael to confirm my suspicions, and he said so, too, so I know this isn't me overreacting!"
"Okay, okay!" Raph holds up his hands placatingly. "So you wanted to watch the footage to see what happened. What'd you find out?"
Donnie wilts, resting his chin on his knees. "I couldn't get further than the first twenty four hours."
Raph feels a foreboding chill run over his spine. "You couldn't... or you didn't want to?"
Donnie reaches over and presses a button. The footage shifts to a different angle, so now he can see the wall Leo was curled up against. Donnie runs the footage back at a fast speed, and Raph watches as Leo gets up a few times, disappearing into the blind spot of the camera, or going to grab water from a little slot by the door, until Donnie freezes on a new scene: the wall opening up to reveal a large window.
He leans forward, putting his hands on the desk. "Raph saw that - they were watching his cell through that."
"Yes. And he would sit in that spot," Donnie runs the footage forward a bit, to where Leo is sitting against the now white wall, "because it's in a blind spot to the window."
Raph grimaces. "He didn't want them watching him."
"But it didn't matter," says Donnie, and he reaches over and taps the button to go to a new angle... and again... and again. "They have every inch of the room covered."
Raph's heart sinks. "Does he know?"
"Leo's not dumb," says Donnie, a magnanimous statement coming from him. "He knew they had to be watching him with cameras."
"But he still tried to hide..."
"He was doing whatever he had to to feel better," concludes Donnie.
Raph sighs. "I wonder if it worked."
Donnie clicks another button, and the video player closes. He swivels his chair to face Raph, his eyes shiny again.
"I don't want to watch anymore," he admits.
Raph nods. "I wouldn't want to, either."
"No, I mean... because he was trying to hide." Donnie rubs at his eyes again. "Maybe it is a little ironic for me to be saying this, but... it feels like it would be a privacy violation."
Raph turns that over. Maybe knowing what happened to Leo could help them. But what Donnie is saying feels more important.
He puts his hand on Donnie's shoulder, the part that's bare past his battleshell, and gives it a rub. "You love him and you don't want to hurt him," he concludes.
Donnie sniffles again, and then uncurls himself, putting his legs down on the ground. He doesn't have to do more than that for Raph to catch on, and Raph scoops Donnie up into a hug that is quickly returned.
"...I keep hurting him," Donnie admits, resting his head on Raph's shoulder. "I don't know how, but it keeps happening."
"...Yeah, well, join the club," says Raph sadly. He pats at Donnie's back. "Raph can't seem to say the right thing, either."
Donnie laughs miserably. "I thought getting him back would be the hard part. And then everything would go back to normal."
"Yeah..." Raph gives him a tight squeeze. "But you know what April said?"
"What?"
"That we'll do the hard part, 'cause we love him."
"Well, April is the only other smart one in this family," says Donnie, and Raph gives him a noogie with no actual pressure.
"Everything will be okay," he says. "Raph promises."
That seems to calm Donnie down. Raph just hopes he can actually keep it.
-----
It's his first night back in his room, and for the first time since escaping, Leo can't sleep.
He doesn't know why he can't. The sheets are the same as always. The dim lights from outside his subway car filter in through the windows the same as they used to. He's wearing his favorite pajamas, which have pants and long sleeves. The temperature is warm but not too hot. Conditions are perfect.
But he can't sleep.
At first he thought maybe it's because he's alone for the first time, but he doesn't think it's that. In fact, the idea of going to one of his brothers or his dad makes him feel even more exhausted. He loves them and he loves being around them, but he's had to work hard all day to not seem too weird. He caught himself chewing his spoon at lunch and had to stop. He paced the kitchen until Draxum gave the okay for him to have a snack. Mikey poked his head in while he was changing shirts earlier and he froze up, deer in the headlights. In the end, he went to the bathroom to change, because at least there aren't windows in there.
He's being weird, and trying to not be weird is taking all his energy.
So no. He's okay being alone right now. But something is still bothering him.
It's not the bed; he slept in the motel just fine. It's not the temperature, because they're making sure the lair stays nice and warm for him. And it's not the clothes, because the clothes are covering him up. And it's not the windows because it's not even like anyone is looking through them.
Right?
It's only then that Leo realizes he keeps staring out of them.
He tears his eyes away to look at the ceiling, taking deep breaths. What is he worried about? So what if the train car is full of windows? Who would even be looking at him? It's just his family outside, and if they need to talk to him they'll come in.
Besides, the windows are see-through. If someone were looking at him, he'd be able to see them.
Just to reassure himself of that, Leo looks around at all the windows again.
Yep. Still see-through. So it's fine. It's really not a big deal! No one is going to look through the windows at him here. No one is watching him. He's safe, and if he weren't, he would know, because he can see.
...Maybe he could hide under his bed.
Leo gives his head a hard shake. No. He is not going to hide under his bed, because that would be weird, and Leonardo Hamato is not weird.
Maybe he can just... put up some curtains in his room. Just, purely for aesthetic reasons. Yeah, that would look really cool. He could get some blue ones with some kind of sick design. Add some real originality to this place.
And then he could cover the windows and no one could look in unless he wanted them to.
Not that anyone is looking in, because he's home and he's safe and he's okay and he really wants to hide under his bed-
He takes deep breaths. His eyes land on the posters on the wall of the train car.
Maybe... maybe they would look better over the windows. Just... aesthetically.
He moves the posters to the windows of the train car, pressing hard to get the old tape to stick. It covers the immediate windows around his bed, but there are still others, and they're more in the dark, so Leo can't see who might be out there.
Not that anyone would be.
But if someone were, he wouldn't be able to know.
So he grabs towels next, and t-shirts, and anything he has lying around his room, and puts them on the bed. Then he sneaks to the kitchen to find a roll of masking tape.
It's not easy, but after about an hour he's managed to cover every window in the train car with something.
Just... a preview. For how sweet the curtains are going to look. And not for any weird reasons, like being scared.
Because he's not scared. He's home, and he's safe, and no one is watching him from outside the windows.
He lays down in bed and surveys his handwork. The room is even darker now, with every window covered, completely different from the stark ever-present light in that place.
It makes him feel safe and hidden.
No one can look in, and he's shielded by the dark.
(He has no idea how he's going to explain this tomorrow.)
But when he finally shuts his eyes, he sleeps like a baby.
-----
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 (here) | Part 4 (not yet out)
167 notes · View notes
oneluckydumbass · 3 days
Text
Well, hello and welcome to the madhouse. @sock-1574, your wish is my command, here's a quick _v2 for this short. I wrote it at 10pm and it's unedited, forgive me if you find mistakes. Also, f!reader.
In his sleep, Simon turned to wrap an arm around your waist to pull you against his body, a completely casual move that he had done so many times in the past. He just wanted to warm up a little in the chilly room, because despite the thick blanket you insisted on using, he could still use a little help. But his eyes opened when he realized you weren’t there next to him. It was odd. 
When he heard something break downstairs, he jumped out of bed, his instincts kicking in right away. It didn’t sound like a window breaking, more like a mug or a glass landing on the tiles. What were you even doing in the kitchen a little past two in the morning? He called out your name as he walked down the stairs several times, but there was no response. He heard a groan, then some soft sobbing, which made him believe something was wrong. 
By the time he entered the kitchen, you were sitting on the floor with your head between your knees, a hand gripping the back of your neck as you cried. “Baby, what’s wrong?” Nothing, you didn’t even look at him. “Hey, come on, tell me. What’s wrong?”
“It hurts,” you mumbled through your tears. 
“What hurts?”
“My head.”
“Anything else?”
“I’m dizzy, I feel like I could faint any second. I wanted to drink from your favorite mug and I broke it, I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t give a damn about that bloody mug,” Simon said with a nervous sigh as he took your hand. “The hospital is ten minutes away, it’s faster if I take you there myself. Come on, let’s get you dressed.”
He helped you up, but after only a few steps, he felt your body becoming heavier as you lost consciousness. Without thinking, he picked you up and grabbed the car keys from the table by the front door. The hospital was close to their house, he would get there sooner than the ambulance would arrive. It was a miracle that no cop stopped him because he drove like some maniac. He was in a hurry since you were still unresponsive, and deep down he was expecting the worst.
What if you wouldn’t survive whatever this was?
Once he got there and a doctor noticed what state you were in, they quickly took you from him to run some tests on you while someone asked him questions. Questions he didn’t really know the answer to. You seemed fine when you had gone to sleep, all he knew was that you had this terrible headache in the middle of the night. 
They didn’t tell him anything apart from the info that they were doing some scans. He bought a coffee and sat in the waiting room, his mind in overdrive from the events of the past hour. And then that hour became two, and just when he was losing hope someone would finally tell him what the hell was happening, a doctor showed up and asked for your relative. 
“I’m her boyfriend, what’s happening to her?” he replied when they asked him who he was. 
“An aneurysm in her brain. Well, two, but only one ruptured. We will take her to the OR now and see what we can do,” the doctor explained. “It will take a long time, you might want to go home. We will call you once we know more.”
“I’d rather stay. And I’ll call her parents, I’m sure they would like to be here.” 
The doctor nodded then left to focus on your surgery. This left Simon alone in the waiting room again with his face buried in his hands as he tried to fight back the tears. He had to be strong. He couldn’t fall apart. He was supposed to tell your parents that you were in there because of a damn aneurysm. He knew those things were deadly, but you were still alive, fighting. 
After talking to your parents, he sent Price a message, telling him that there was no way he would leave your side for god knows how long. He was considering writing to Johnny too, but in the end he decided not to. The two of you were friends, he would be worried for sure. At least one of them had to stay sharp, especially if he happened to go on a mission before you got better. 
What he wasn’t expecting was Price showing up a bit over an hour after he had sent the message. The Captain greeted him quickly then pulled him into a hug. Simon had no idea how badly he needed that, how much he craved physical contact at this point. It grounded him, made him focus on the present, not on the possible worst outcomes. Because his mind had been full of what ifs, like what if you died, what would he tell your parents and friends? It would mean he failed to do the one thing he promised to do–to protect you from harm. 
“You’re spiraling, Simon,” Price said as they sat down. 
The lieutenant nodded. “It’s hard to do anything else in this place. She’s been in surgery for two hours now, I don’t know how it’s going, her parents aren’t here yet. What will I tell them?”
With a hand on the younger man’s shoulder, Price took a deep breath. “You wrote me it was an aneurysm. Those things can be hidden for decades. No one knew it was there, there’s no warning sign as far as I know, and let’s not forget that you brought her here in time. She’ll pull through, don’t worry,” he said. 
They sat there in silence for quite a while, but it was the sort of comforting silence that Simon truly needed now. And then, just when he was about to go and ask someone if they knew anything, the doctor showed up again. “Mr. Riley? She is out of surgery for now. She will need a lot of rest here in the hospital, and it will take some time to see if there is any kind of brain damage. She is okay now, but I need you to understand that a lot of patients with this problem don’t survive for long. We will do everything we can, and it is a good thing you brought her in so soon after the first symptoms. I am… cautiously optimistic.”
“Thank you, doctor,” he said with a relieved sigh. “Can I see her?”
“Yes, a nurse will soon be here to take you to her, but you can’t stay for long.”
Price patted him on the shoulder after the doctor left. “She’s okay. She’s gonna be fine,” he said with a supportive smile. 
Simon nodded. Yes, you were alive. And he would do whatever it took to help you recover. 
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rbbrbikerthorp · 2 days
Text
Biker Upgraded To Cyborg
For as long as anyone could remember, Jake and Eddie had not only been best mates, but they’d been crazy about motorbikes. Both their dads were bikers so it was no surprise that as kids they were introduced to bikes in real life and got to watch MotoGP, WSB and BSB either in real life or on TV with their enthusiast dads.
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They were riding off-road in their early teens. They got their first mopeds at 16, upgrading to 125cc bikes a few months after their respective seventeenth birthdays. Now in their early 20s they have held full licences for nearly three years. Jake rides a black Honda CBR600RR, bought second hand through the weekly motorcycling title, MCN. Eddie rides a used Red Yamaha R6 that he bought a couple of months earlier from the main dealer in the city where they live. Springtime and the light evenings meant they would be out as much as possible riding 'the highways and byways', and this day was no exception, but it would be a day that changed their lives forever. 
Jake and Eddie had spent most of Sunday riding and were at the edge of the city when Jake’s bike had started spewing smoke out of the engine before rolling to a stop alongside a large industrial estate. Jake jumped off his bike, but with no tools to hand he had no option but to seek help. He pushed his bike into the entrance to one of the large modern warehouses that populated the industrial estate. Jake kicked the side stand into place and sighed heavily. Eddie pulled in alongside Jake, kicked down the stand on his before turning off the ignition.
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Although they were back in the city, they were still about ten miles from home. Jake reached into his leathers for his phone only then realising that they were in an area without mobile phone coverage. Jake and Eddie looked around for a payphone to call the breakdown service - but in this era of mobile technology, BT had removed most of the phone boxes - so there wasn't one within sight. Realising they needed to get help they looked around for signs of life. In front of them was a sprawling grey structure resembling more of a fortress than a warehouse. Its metallic surfaces gleamed under the late afternoon sun, making it look otherworldly. Figuring it might be their best chance at getting help—or at least finding a phone—they started walking towards the massive building.
The front gate was oddly open, inviting yet silent. Jake and Eddie didn't think it weird for a security guard building to be unoccupied with the gates open. More concerned about getting help they walked towards the main building entrance. Jake pressed on the intercom button and waited for a response. After a minute he pushed the button again, but this time there was a buzz. Jake looked at Eddie and shrugged his shoulders, pushing on the door, it opened. They walked inside.
Expecting to see a reception area the two friends were surprised to enter the building at what appeared to be the beginning of a long dimly lit corridor. Jake and Eddie looked at one another, Jake spoke first, “Why don’t you wait here, while I see if I can find anyone to speak to”.
Eddie nodded.
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Both looked at one another, for a moment unsure of what to do. Then Jake smiled, turned and started walking along the seemingly endless corridor, his boots echoing on the cold, concrete floor. The air was chillingly sterile, as he walked he would pass the occasional door and window revealing glimpses of high-tech interiors.
"Hello?" he called out, his voice disappearing into the ether without an answer. The lack of response was unnerving, but as he walked on he could hear noise coming from much further along the corridor. Jake kept walking, driven by his need to get to a phone and call the breakdown service to sort out his bike.
Eventually, the corridor turned to the right, after another dozen or so yards it opened up into a colossal space. What Jake witnessed was like a scene reminiscent of a sci-fi horror film.
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The room was stark yet brightly lit. On one side it was filled with row upon row of raised surgical beds. Yet these weren't like the ones you’d see in a hospital; they were repurposed contraptions where human flesh was being melded with alien, synthetic and electronic components. Shocked by what he was witnessing, he turned his head, but there was no escape from the nightmare he found himself in.
The other side of the room was populated with dozens of cylindrical tubes. Jake’s eyes widened as he took in the sight before him—humans, all young males, lined up and undergoing transformations into, well all he could think of was 'something else'. Whichever way he turned he could see men his age were being outfitted with mechanical limbs, others had technology intricately woven onto weird shiny black body suits, still others were in varying stages of being processed into full cyborgs.
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The horror gripped him; his instinct was to flee back to Eddie and both to get the hell out of there. But before he could move, cold metal hands grasped his shoulders with an iron grip. His heart sank as he was spun around to face what had caught him—a cyborg, its body a haunting hybrid of human and machine, expressionless yet totally menacing.
“Welcome," its voice an unsettling blend of tones, both mechanical whilst still eerily human. "Your arrival is opportune. Your integration process will commence shortly."
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Panic surged through Jake as he struggled, but the cyborg's grip was unyielding. Despite putting up strong resistance, he was dragged towards one of the ominous stations. Glancing around, he noticed the other captives were not fighting; their eyes showed a haunting resignation, some flickering with the vague light of fear.
As he was forced onto what appeared to be a surgical table, Jake looked around frantically, hoping for any chance of escape. His heart raced as mechanical arms equipped with various tools whirred to life around him. 
In a split second metallic straps shot out from the surgical table and tightened around his limbs and across his torso, a sense of utter helplessness began to wash over him. His heart pounded hard against his chest. He desperately sought that extra bit of human strength that would allow him to escape. He struggled and struggled against the restraints, but the metal straps simply wouldn’t budge.
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Stage one of his transformation was about to begin. From above a helmet descended slowly from the ceiling, its approach marked by an audible, mechanical whirring. Jake squinted upwards, his breath coming in sharp gasps. He was used to his bike helmet, but this was unworldly.
Two drones approached the surgical table Jake was strapped to and grabbed the helmet, which had opened up. One lifted his head slightly and the other slid the back of the helmet under the back of his head. As the helmet closed over his head, a claustrophobic fear gripped him. The world outside the helmet faded, leaving him in a confined sphere of existence. Almost immediately, an overwhelming barrage of white noise bombarded his ears, punctuated by low, droning hums that seemed to resonate through his bones.
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Then, the visuals began on the inside of the visor. Spirals of colour appeared in front of his eyes, intertwining and unraveling in hypnotic patterns. Reds, blues, yellows and greens blended into a kaleidoscope that threatened to absorb his mind. Jake tried to close his eyes, but the images were inescapable, imprinted on the insides of his eyelids, searing themselves into his brain and more nefariously his subconsciousness. Almost as if recognising Jake was finally submitting the noise and visuals seemed to become amplified.
As the sensory overload continued, Jake felt a strange detachment creeping through him—a numbness that suggested the audio and visuals were beginning to take effect. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a small voice screamed in terror and defiance, urging him to resist, urging him to hold on to his identity.
With a surge of willpower, Jake focused on that voice, blocking out the chaos threatening to engulf him. He concentrated on memories of standing in the stands watching the best riders in the world, the challenging rides with Eddie, the feel of his motorcycle, the wind against his leathers. He thought about his best mate Eddie and the fun they’d had. He thought about his family and his other friends. These human experiences, these emotional connections to his past life, became a lifeline to cling onto.
As Jake fought against the sensory bombardment, the helmet detected his resistance, It recalibrated its internal mechanisms in response to his defiance. Suddenly, the white noise in his ears shifted, morphing into a series of low, almost inaudible subliminal messages. Each word—"relax", "comply", "obey", "drone", "conform", "follow", "respect" could be heard—the words flashed across his vision, barely there long enough for conscious recognition, but deeply penetrating his subconscious.
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The colours that swirled before his eyes intensified, becoming more vibrant and pulsating rhythmically, as if to synchronise with his own heartbeat. It was a sensory assault designed to break down the walls of the individual, to reshape his mind into something more compliant and obedient. Jake’s initial surge of resistance began to wane as mental exhaustion set in, the messages infiltrated deeper into his psyche, their insistence relentless and overpowering.
His eyes, once sharp with determination and fear, started to lose focus, the vibrant spirals turning into a soothing blur. The resistance in his muscles softened as his body began to accept the inevitability of his situation. His thoughts, those last bastions of his free will, were slowly suffocated under the warm, smothering blanket of compliance and security that the helmet now forced upon him.
With an audible click and a beep, the helmet sealed its final adjustment, signalling the completion of its preparatory phase. At this cue, the two drones, their movements precise and devoid of any hesitation, glided smoothly towards the table where Jake lay subdued. Their appendages were equipped with various tools and devices necessary for the transformation process.
The drones worked efficiently, attaching additional apparatus to Jake’s limbs and interfacing seamlessly with the helmet. As they initiated the physical transformation, Jake’s body was being prepared to receive bio-mechanical enhancements that would connect him irrevocably to The Hive which he learned was housed within the humongous building.
Somewhere in the dwindling recesses of his mind, the essence of who Jake once was—a biker with a love for the open road—flickered weakly. This essence watched as his limbs and muscle fibres were methodically integrated with synthetics and his nervous system was integrated with advanced circuitry. The process was both horrifying and fascinating to watch.
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As the transformation progressed, Jake’s human senses were gradually overridden by electronic inputs. His vision, once clouded by the colourful spirals, now interfaced directly with data streams providing real-time analytics about his environment. His hearing was no longer filled with subliminal messages but was tuned to various frequencies beyond the range of human hearing.
By the time the transformation was complete, Jake, as he had been, no longer existed. In his place stood a new Jake, a cyborg, what was exclusively biological had been augmented with technology. The drones, recognising another successful integration, had begun to step back.
The new Jake climbed down from the surgical table to be guided by the two drones. He moved with a robotic precision that was both chilling and enthralling to witness. He was led to what looked like a modified dentist's chair, but larger and imposing. The chair had been upgraded and was fitted with numerous ports and circuitry interfaces. Without hesitation, he sat down, his actions appearing devoid of the personality that had once defined him.
He leaned back so that his head touched the headrest. The chair immediately sprang to life, adjusting to accommodate his new form. A second later the old Jake would have felt a light sensation on both sides of his head as what can only be described of as two metallic ear pieces, out of which came sets of wires slid into his ears and began to work. 
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Somewhere, an echo of the old Jake could sense what was happening, words echoed around the room and in his head. Screens nearby flashed “accessing biological memories…beginning total erasure”. 
“NNNOOOOOOOO”, But even as the word was said, Jake’s relatively short lifetime of memories were disappearing, flashing before his eyes for a split second before evaporating into nothing - gone forever. 
Monitors next to the chair flashed “Memory Wipe successful,” again, the words echoed around the room. 
Any human observer in the room looking at new Jake’s face would describe it as passive, distant, dull, emotionless. Empty. His eyes were missing their human sparkle. 
Then the drone formerly known as Jake again felt another funny feeling in his ears, as if a static charge was coming out of the wire. Suddenly the screen flashed “Beginning Program Upload”… While that happened, nearby monitors flashed, “Emotional Centres being accessed”. 
“Installing Human Emotion Suppression Software”
“… 10%… 20%… 30%… 40%… 50%… 60%… 70%… 80%… 90%…  ”
“Human Emotions Suppression Software installed. Fully functional.”
The monitors flickered for a moment and then more text appeared, “Beginning Cyborg Program Upload”. The upload began. The Hive, a vast network of interconnected AI and data banks, started feeding a stream after stream of programming directly into Jake's brain. These were not merely instructions; they were directives that informed behaviour, dictated functions, and defined purpose.
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For hours, data was input into him, a relentless torrent of information reshaping and repurposing him; any lingering traces of his previous humanity now completely overwritten. His eyes, once vibrant with youthful emotion, now displayed a steady, unblinking focus as the programming was embedded, ensuring his obedience and efficiency.
At the appropriate time the interface with the new Jake confirmed the programming had been successful. “Operating at 100%,” it said in an emotionless, synthetic voice. “Organic memories have been wiped. Emotional Suppression Software is fully functional. The new data and objectives have been successfully uploaded with zero errors”.
The chair returned to an upright position, and the new Jake stood once more. His movements were smooth, almost graceful, a stark contrast to the somewhat ‘cavalier’ sports biker he once was. He was a product of advanced technology, a being created to serve a purpose far beyond his previous human desires.
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Approaching him now were two more drones, carrying items that symbolised his final transformation. They presented him with a set of Dainese bike leathers, not ordinary leathers but augmented to interface seamlessly with his cybernetic body. The leathers were equipped with sensors and conductive circuitry that could communicate directly with his system, enhancing his interaction with the Hive.
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Then they presented him with a pair of white boots, larger to accommodate the modifications of his feet, designed not only for protection but also to enhance his connection to the ground and his bike. Gloves that reached up to his arms were fitted next, embedded with micro-circuitry to increase his grip and control.
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Finally, they brought over a new crash helmet unlike any other. This helmet was his direct link to the Hive mind. It was designed to keep him constantly connected to the Hive's data stream.
As the helmet settled over his head, a subtle hum filled the air, signalling the activation of all its systems. The new Jake stood there, a figure of both awe and dread, transformed entirely from the young man who had once freely roamed the roads on his motorcycle.
Now equipped, Jake was led to a new motorcycle, one that matched his new form. To the casual observer it looked like a traditional bike that had been upgraded; integrated with technology that responded fluidly to his enhanced senses and capabilities. As he mounted the bike, the connection between man and machine was seamless, a perfect union crafted by the Hive’s sophisticated engineering.
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The new Jake rode the highway on his futuristic bike, a sleek and menacing marvel of technology that effortlessly caught the eye of any enthusiast. Its design was unlike anything on the roads—sharp angles, glowing panels, and a subtle hum that hinted at its advanced capabilities. It was designed not just for speed and efficiency, but as a lure to attract exactly the kind of individuals the Hive sought to convert.
As he travelled along a popular bikers’ route known for its scenic views and biker cafes, he spotted his next targets. Two young bikers, probably in their twenties, had pulled over in a lay-by, their bikes parked as they enjoyed a brief pause in their riding, catching up on conversation and checking their mobile phones. The new Jake slowed down, looking at the two bikers oblivious to Jake’s presence, his connection to the Hive confirmed they would be perfect candidates for upgrade.
Pulling over smoothly, Jake dismounted his bike. His helmet's visor slid up as he approached them, revealing a face that was human enough to be relatable but enhanced subtly with metallic hints that suggested something more beneath the surface. 
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"Hey," Jake called out, his voice modulated to be friendly and inviting. “Hey there. Not seen you riding ‘round here before.”
The two young bikers, intrigued by the stranger and his extraordinary bike, smiled and walked over. “What is that you’re riding? It looks like it’s straight out of a sci-fi movie. What is that?" one of them asked, his curiosity piqued.
The new Jake chuckled, a sound perfectly calibrated to put others at ease. He needed to win their trust so began to make conversation with them. "It’s a custom build from a place not too far from here. They’re experimenting with some next-gen and EV tech. You guys interested in seeing where something like this comes from?"
The offer was tempting. The allure of advanced technology and the chance to see more bikes like Jake’s was too good to pass up for any avid biker. The young men exchanged a glance, a silent conversation passing between them before they nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, definitely,” the other replied. “We’ll follow you!"
Jake smiled and nodded, turning back to his bike. As they put their helmets on and started their engines, a part of Jake’s programming confirmed the successful engagement of two targets. He led the way, riding at a pace that was thrilling yet careful to keep his new followers comfortably in tow.
The journey took them away from the familiar routes into less traveled roads, the scenery shifting subtly as they moved closer to facility where he had been transformed. The two bikers were unaware of the true nature of their destination, caught up in the thrill of the ride and the excitement of seeing advanced motorcycle tech.
After some time, they arrived at the vast building that looked more like a huge distribution centre than a motorcycle manufacturing factory. The gates opened automatically as Jake approached, a silent signal of his authority and belonging.
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Jake signalled for the other two bikers to do follow him down a roadway between two buildings. Jake brought his bike to a stop, opened his visor and announced, ”we are here.” The other two brought their bikes to a stop, dismounted and removed their helmets.
Jake walked forwards into the huge building just ahead of them; the two other bikers looked at one another, shrugged their shoulders and followed. They would ingress through a different route compared to the one Eddie and Jake entered.
The space inside they walked into was clean and modern, filled with prototypes and machines that made the two young bikers' eyes widen in awe.
"This is incredible!" one of the exclaimed, walking closer to inspect a particularly sleek model that caught his eye. "How do you get in on this?"
Jake's response was calculated, his tone still friendly but now carrying an undercurrent of persuasion. "Well, there's actually a selection process. Part of why I brought you here. If you're interested, there’s a quick tour and some tests to see if you're compatible with the tech."
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Excited and completely unaware of the implications, the two young men agreed eagerly, following Jake deeper into the facility. As they walked, the doors behind them closed silently, the outside world receding as they moved further into the realm of the Hive.
Little did they know, their fascination with bikes and the temptation of combining their love of biking and dreams of futuristic bikes had led them into a trap. This walk would be their last as mere humans, as they stepped unknowingly into the next phase of their lives dictated by The Hive's needs.
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=========
Oh, are you wondering what happened to Eddie? As you might have expected The Hive detected his presence and determined a new purpose for him, but that’s another story.
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winwintea · 23 hours
Text
secure that card! 28. burnt cookies
Chenle wanted you to start on something simple, like cookies. Baking wasn’t hard, you couldn’t set the kitchen on fire unless you forgot about the cookies, and he would be there to make sure that wasn’t going to happen.
Or so he thought. 
“You can eat the dough right?” You asked him carefully scooping a bit of the dough up with your finger.
“Yes, but did you wash your hands?” Chenle carefully eyed your finger as it slowly made contact with your mouth.
“Of course I did!” You beam at him, and he can’t help but crack a smile. “Wait… this is so good… try some…” 
He watches you as you once again dip your fingers into the leftover batch of dough, scooping up more from the bowl, and walked over to you in one swift motion. “What are y-?” He had little time to react however, before you promptly shoved the cookie dough into his mouth. 
“Tastes sweet right?” You asked him, clearly unfazed. 
Chenle’s cheeks were practically flushing red, “A little warning next time?” 
The corners of your mouth lifted up with a smirk, “What? You’re perfectly fine with whatever we did last week, but you can’t handle a bit of this?” 
“It’s not… Stop that…” He stammered out, unable to respond. 
“Relax. I love teasing you. It’s so easy, you know that right?” 
Although he was normally the one bullying his friends, it seems as he had flipped his switch when it came to you. (Recently though, it’d seemed as though he was the one being subject to jokes ever since you were introduced to the table)  “Yeah… I guess… Alright…” 
Chenle couldn’t practically believe that you two had gone from strangers to lovers in practically a couple of weeks, nor did he imagine you would ever reciprocate these feelings back. It seemed as if there had been many events in between that drew you two closer together. Call it fate, call it bad luck, but good things had certainly followed. Not that he didn’t feel guilty at least, knowing he had been the cause for probably half of your misery these few days. 
“Thanks for taking my mind off of things, certainly been having a rough couple of weeks…” You gave him an endearing smile, once again eating another spoonful of cookie dough.
“Did you want to continue to be distracted, or talk about it?” Ever since you had arrived at his house, you two had not mentioned a single word about Haechan and his most recent relapse. Chenle had decided to give you time and space to talk about it when you wanted to, and instead allowed you to focus on the task of baking the cookies first. Now that the cookies were in the oven you two had a few minutes to spare while waiting for them to finish. 
You thought to yourself for a couple of moments, before turning to look at him with a determined look on your face, “It’s okay, we can talk about it.” 
Taking a seat, Chenle eagerly waited to hear what you had to say about the situation. He couldn’t help but feel curious as to what exactly happened. 
“So almost 2 years ago, it was just me, Jaem, Yuqi, and Haechan.” You began, “And it was sort of awkward for me, since I’m younger than them. Yuqi’s the oldest so she kind of takes on a motherly figure sometimes towards us, and Jaem and Haechan are in the same grade.” 
Chenle hadn’t expected you to launch into your friend group’s history, but was interested regardless. 
You continued on, “But Haechan always somehow made us feel? Connected? He always bridged that gap between our ages. Probably since he acts so immature half the time, but it was so nice. Regardless, we actually used to go out partying all the time, Haechan and Yuqi especially. As you can see, we don’t really anymore.” 
“Is that why you had an aversion to attending dejun’s party a couple of weeks ago?” 
“Yeah, it mostly stems from the past issues. You see, Haechan got hooked on LSD at this time. At first, we didn’t think much on it. He casually used it, and it wasn’t very often, so we kind of just tolerated it?” Chenle nodded attentively as you carried on, “But eventually it got bad, like… really bad… I…”
He latched onto your hand, gripping it softly with his own palm, and looked to you for support. Chenle didn’t say it out loud, but his eyes seemed to say that you didn’t have to continue if you wanted to. 
Determined to finish, you smiled at him and returned to your story, “He would go through… many episodes. It was the worst. Sometimes it would be fine, and he could be clean for, a couple of weeks, and sometimes… he’d go back to that shitty state once again. He’d go in and out of rehab multiple times… and his mother… We really liked his mom and she liked us, but she just… practically gave up on him. It was so… heartbreaking… Like how could you, ever just? I don’t know. I don’t understand? Your son?” 
You had tears in your eyes at this point, and Chenle couldn’t bare it any longer, as he grabbed you and embraced you into a hug, his fingers stroking your hair slowly. “It’s okay… He got better right? Didn’t he?” 
“He did… and we all helped him, Jaem especially. He helped him get into rehab, and stood by him most of the time. Really it was all in thanks to Jaemin that Haechan was able to get better. And he’s been clean for about a year and a half.” You stared deeply into his eyes, “And that’s why we rarely attend parties anymore.” 
“And now? What happened now?”
“Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. I just found out that the supplier of the drugs was Ten.” He raised an eyebrow, but you hurriedly finished, “But before you jump to any conclusions, we confirmed that Ten had no clue he was selling Haechan any drugs. I need to ask Haechan myself, though.” You sighed, leaning more into his embrace, as he continued to play with your hair. 
“Well I think you’re honestly really brave, Y/n.” 
“Me? Brave? How so?”
“Well you’ve dealt with so much shit recently. With getting run over, to being stalked, to dealing with one of your closest friends relapsing, you’ve been through a lot. Honestly it’s so admirable, how much you’ve been able to deal with and still stay strong. I love you for that actually.”  This time your face was flushing, instead of the other way around. And it didn’t help that Chenle had started placing small butterfly kisses on your forehead, but you were perfectly content with that anyways.
However you two were suddenly startled by a loud beep from the kitchen.
“Shit.”
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prev | masterlist | next
SUMMARY ▸ zhong chenle is the owner of many cards. a black card? he owns that. he even has a stanford student id card. the one card he doesn’t own though? a green card. and if chenle plays his cards right, he just may be able to secure one by wooing you. or it could all fall through… who knows?
TAG LIST ▸ @marvelahsobx @lyvhie @odxrilove @jkslvsnella @aquaphoenixz @wonnieluv @acidwon @syatchy @sleepyvic @grassbutneo @chcnlcs @taeeflwrr @hibernatinghamster @jaeimjaemin @gukuwii @slayhaechan @yyangj3lly @seunghancore @clean-soap @bath1lda @lostinneocity @defzcl @ckline35 @multifandomania @meltinghershey @foxy-kitsune @jising-jisang-jisung @minkyuncutie @zuzu-the-simp @dojaejunging @leehanascent @nosungluv @sunflowerbebe07 @h-aecat @layuhsblog @fae-renjun @w3bqrl @hyuckies18 @wonbin-truther
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Can we get more arranged reader?
Bruce couldn't tell if you KNEW what had been happening or not. All he knew for certain was that you hadn't encouraged it.
If you had, you'd not have been so... rattled. When you'd had your little Dalliance with Batman you'd been cool as a cucumber. Not the least bit worried about what he thought- or about getting caught.
Admittedly though, if Bruce hadn't been directly involved, you probably wouldn't have been. You were good at keeping secrets and too smart to carry on publicly. Do anything other than the expected social flirting and so forth... you knew better. Harvey didn't. He was playing a game and didn't know the rules.
It was all well and good to flirt a little. Compliment you and make a joke that would make you flustered but. Looking at you like that. Getting that close to kissing you. That wouldn't do- Not unless you started it. Because you had the pedigree. You had the connections. He was the toy. And everyone watching knew he was pushing his luck.
"That was- well-" Bruce broke off and pushed the elevator button, "it looks like I showed up at the right time."
"The right time would have been six minutes earlier," you tell him, adjusting your watch, "I was running out of things to distract him with."
Bruce blinked. So you did know. "I got tied up with-"
"Yes I know," you sigh, "I stepped out for a few moments to call the sisters. They're going to help Alfred unsnarl tracking down school records for Dick to get him enrolled properly. Sister Betty is good at that sort of thing. She spent time working in children's homes before she injured her hip."
"I should thank-"
"I've already arranged a donation for them and a gift basket of teas and some cakes. They'll be delighted."
"Don't they avoid luxuries?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"They avoid buying them," you answer smiling, "but when the good lord sends a blessing, you can't very well return it. Especially if it doesn't come with a name attached."
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suzukiblu · 19 hours
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WIP excerpt for Cheshire behind the cut; Billy adopts Conner and it actually goes pretty good! (( chrono || non-chrono ))
Is that bad, maybe? That he’s this glad about Lynn being easy for him to like? He’s gonna take care of him the best he can no matter what, just . . . it helps, a little, that Lynn’s this easy to like. Makes it feel less . . . intimidating, maybe. 
Billy likes a lot of people, technically. He likes most of the other League members, and he likes a lot of people he’s met on the street, and he even liked a few of the kids he met in foster care, and obviously he’s always liked Tawky, but . . . 
But it wasn’t really easy to like most of those people, he has to admit. Not after . . . everything. 
He tries. He really tries. But it’s just–not always easy. And he knows it won’t be easy all the time with Lynn either, but . . . 
But it’s nice, just meeting somebody he likes right away. 
“Okay,” Billy says, glancing reflexively towards the windows even though he already knows what the weather’s like. They were just outside, after all, and even if they hadn’t been, the windows are big enough to make it hard to miss either way. “It is a good day for a walk, if you don’t mind another one.” 
“. . . sure,” Lynn says, just a little hesitant again. “Um. It’s . . . okay? To be . . . out that much?” 
“Yeah,” Billy says, wondering where he can even get as much lighter fluid as he’s gonna need to burn down a whole fifty-two levels of underground lab. That might be hard, kinda. Batman would probably wanna know why he’d bought that much, is all. Like, he’d definitely at least ask. Maybe Billy can figure out how ATMs work and just pay for it all in cash, though. That’s an option, anyway. Like, for plausible deniability and whatever. “You can be out as much as–okay, um, not all the time, but mostly as much as you want. Like, if it’s not bedtime or after curfew or anything like that. And, um, please take your phone when you’re out. Definitely take your phone when you’re out. No offense, just you’re still really little and you just got out of the lab, and I don’t want you to get lost or in trouble and not be able to get ahold of me if you need something, you know?” 
“You’d let me go out unsupervised,” Lynn says. It doesn’t really sound like a question, but . . . well, it still kind of sounds like a question. “And if I got in . . . trouble, you’d . . .” 
“I’d come get you,” Billy says immediately. “Or answer your questions or whatever. Whatever you needed.” 
“. . . okay,” Lynn says, shifting his weight a little. Billy wouldn’t really notice, except mostly Lynn doesn’t shift his weight like that. He’s really, really still, actually, and takes up as little space as possible for a kid his size. 
Billy wonders exactly how big that pod actually was, come to think. 
That’s . . . kinda depressing, as a thought. Thought maybe for Lynn it just felt, like . . . like being swaddled, or something? Babies like that, right? Well–he’s overheard people talking about that before, and the wisdom of Solomon seems to agree, so . . . maybe it felt like that, for Lynn. Like, safe and secure and–
Oh. Is that why he was in the closet for so long earlier? 
. . . Billy’s not sure if that’s depressing either. Well–not if it makes Lynn feel better, obviously, and if it is kind of the same idea as being swaddled, he’ll just grow out of it anyway, right? 
Billy definitely needs parenting books. Like–ones for teenagers and newborns.
“Do you wanna go now, or wait like twenty minutes for lunch to settle?” he asks. Little choices, he figures. So Lynn doesn’t get overwhelmed with a whole bunch of them or anything. Also, he still doesn’t know if Lynn did accidentally overeat, so just in case . . . 
“Um,” Lynn says, a brief flash of hesitance flickering across his face. “I–don’t know.” 
“Okay,” Billy says. Still better than a definitive answer that isn’t true, he figures. Like–way, way better. Like–the honest answer is always better, as far as he’s concerned, at least in this kind of situation. 
Lying to supervillains and bad guys is morally and ethically okay, like, eighty percent of the time at least. 
“Spit the difference and wait ten?” he suggests, and Lynn pauses for a moment, and then just shrugs. 
Again: still better than a definitive answer that isn’t true, so Billy’ll work with it. 
“Ten minutes, then,” he says, and then doesn't really know what to do with himself so just . . . goes and sits down on the couch again. They can maybe just talk a bit, he figures. They already had the “no” conversation, and that'll probably need to come up again because it's hard to change behaviors like that, but for now they can just talk about lighter stuff. Small talk or something. He doesn’t wanna overwhelm Lynn with a ton of serious stuff or complicated conversations all in one day. They’ve just met, and Lynn is so young. It’s just, like–weird, if he does that. Like, expecting way too much. Especially after Cadmus force-grew him and stuffed years worth of information into his head all at once. 
Billy thinks it’s fair to give Lynn a break, after that. More than fair. 
Lynn looks at his shoulder instead of meeting his eyes. Billy isn’t worried about it, but notices it. It’s not very subtle, is all. 
“Do you know what kind of books you like?” he says. “Or–well, stories, I guess. Or nonfiction. Or, uh . . . subjects, maybe. Maybe that’d be better. I just dunno how many stories Cadmus told you or if you even like stories, so . . .” 
“Cadmus didn’t tell me stories,” Lynn says. Billy . . . pauses.
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lotusarchon · 2 days
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loverboy(s) (sun wukong + macaque x reader
content warnings: reader is IMPLIED female, second pov (you/your), foul language, minor threats, mini headcanon for macaque
author notes: to that one anon, happy birthday! i apologize for taking forever but i hope you liked this! its a bit funny seeing a few people who share the same birth month as myself (my fave lesbian genshin impact writer also shares the same birth month with me YAYY). i hope you had a wonderful day today, nonnie <3
“I told you. The cake goes on that side, fucking dumbass.”
“Who the FUCK are you calling dumbass? No, no no, come here. Come here and face me, you snarky little bitch. Come over here right now and tell me to my face I'm a dumbass. You wanna lose your other eye, huh? You want me to beat the shit out of you, is that it!?”
You mentally sigh as the monkey turns away, obviously not in the mood to actually pick a fight. Of course, it could also be because MK had begged the two monkeys to just get along if only for today, just for your sake, which, you won't lie, you did appreciate the sentiment but …
Holy fuck they hated each other's guts.
You won't deny being surprised that they had bothered to show up. MK had insisted you hold a party for your special day, and well. You can't exactly say no to the most stubborn person you'll ever meet. You'd think the party would be small and mainly of the Monkie Kid crew, but god no. 
That noodle boy invited everyone he knew.
And I mean, everyone. Even the little Bai He was here, playing with Mo.
And of course, the Great Sage Equal To Heaven and the amazing Six Eared Macaque too.
You almost contemplated making a run for it when Macaque approached you, but Pigsy gave you such a scolding to not break MK's fragile heart (pft), and so, you were trapped in a social conversation.
(Oh, the horrors.)
“Nice party you have here.”
“Thanks.”
Yeah, I forgot to mention; you two suck at making a good conversation. Well, not so much you than Macaque mainly, who tried, you know, he really does, but inevitably just sucks.
But that's fine. Macaque's quiet most of the time and it's a little comforting. You don't like speaking much anyway, so it works out for the both of you. A bit.
You can't say the same for Wukong though. He's…well. He's certainly very outgoing. The minute he shows up he goes straight for the food (Pigsy is not gonna be happy about that), and then he finds his way to you as well.
“Hey there birthday girl.” Wukong gently pinches your cheek. He smiles warmly, and you can't help but return his smile with your own. “Nice party you've got going on. How come you didn't invite me yourself, mmh? Too shy to meet the awesome Great Sage?”
Before you can reply, Macaque scoffs, “MK invited most of us, don't be an ass.”
Wukong sighs. He glances at his ‘friend’ for a minute, and glances back at you.
“I can't believe MK invited him.”
“I'm allowed to be where I want, thanks.”
“Uh huh. I call dibs on the cake, by the way.”
“It's not your cake you fucking dick.”
“Blah blah, me and (Name) can't hear you.” Wukong turns with you in his arms, guiding you in the opposite direction of where Macaque broods. You wave at Macaque before allowing Wukong to take you…god alone knows where, and he pats your head affectionately. “Sorry about that. Still, happy birthday (Name)! I got you something!”
He releases his hold on you, and you give him a look.
“Is it made out of hair?” You demand, watching as he pouts and looks offended.
“Hey! Not everything I have is made from hair!” He protests, but you can definitely see the way his eyes dart away―he most definitely did, in fact, contemplate giving you a gift made of hair. You loved the guy but….you really had to question how his head works sometimes.
Well. At least you don't have to worry about hair strands all over your room…
“Is it a peach?”
Wukong groans. “(Name), could you have a little faith in me?”
You look him dead in the eye, and answer gently, “Absolutely not.”
“Rude. But fair. And no, it's not a peach. Those are my specialties.”
A pause.
“And I also ate them on my way here.”
You sigh and move to call Pigsy, but Wukong latches onto your wrist and falls flat on his face.
“I haven't even finished!”
“I'm scared what you even bothered to get me.”
Wukong whines, “It's a cool gift, I promise!”
“Wukong, I am not taking Nezha's fucking brick!”
“I wasn't gonna give you that! Nezha took it back anyway!”
Now you understand why everyone wants to wring his neck every time he appears. Even you, who still admires the Monkey King, contemplated wringing his neck like a chicken.
Wukong holds you still and digs through his pockets for something. You cross your arms, waiting, and when he finally grabs the object he's been searching for, he holds it in the air like it's the greatest treasure he's ever found.
He places it in your hands, and you blink.
“A rock.”
Wukong coughs behind his palm. He seems embarrassed by the obvious remark, and you notice a light flush on his expression, a deep red. He looks away before standing, finally, and turns the rock in your hand.
It's about the same size of your palm and oddly shaped as most rocks are, but this rock is different. This rock is painted white, and on the side is a clearly illustrated drawing of a certain Monkey King, hugging a certain figure that bears a strong resemblance to you. The side you had been staring at has a carving, written in Mandarin, ‘My peach and me.’
You flip the rock back and forth, eyes wide. It looks a little silly to be considered a proper gift, but you've already come to realize that Wukong, for all of his confidence, just sucks at expressing himself properly. He has an ego but you know truthfully, he just has no idea on how to act around others and hence why he's always…a little weird.
The rock looks like a silly gift, but you can't help your smile. He could've given you something extravagant as his title, but instead.
He gives you a rock.
“Um. If you don't like it it's fine,” Wukong tries to say, a sheepish smile on his expression. “I mean uh. I'm the Monkey King y'know? I'll get you another gift―”
You cut him off by blurting out, “I love it!”
“Eh?”
You smile at Wukong, squeezing the rock between your hands. He looks back equally amazed, and equally confused.
“I love it,” you repeat, and kiss Wukong's cheek. “Trust me. You're an amazing artist, Monkey King. I hope you don't mind if I keep this in my room, right?”
Wukong blinks like you'd just told him Pigsy loves him (as if.) A smile adorns his expression and he nods, looking quite pleased with himself.
“Ha! Well!” The Monkey King laughs boisterously. “If that's whatcha wanna do, go for it! It's your gift y'know?” He scratches his cheek and looks away. “I just. Figured you'd want something…from the heart. Ehem.”
You smile, “I do. Thank you.”
You're too busy smiling at Wukong to have noticed Macaque had sneaked up on both of you, making Wukong visibly jump in surprise when he speaks. You look at the dark furred simian who barely spares the Monkey King a glance, and instead looks to you with a rare, barely visible smile.
“Since we're giving gifts so soon,” Macaque muses and pulls out something from behind his back.
Unlike Wukong's gift, which is quite frankly the opposite of extravagant, Macaque's is wrapped in a light purple colored paper, and tied with a neat, darker purple bow on top. It's a bit strange to think the Macaque would actually give you a gift, but nonetheless the gesture is sweet, especially when he seems very proud of himself to even wrap your gift unlike the Monkey King.
You accept it with a smile and allow your rock to sit peacefully in your pocket. You try to take care in tearing the paper, but give up when it tears unevenly.
“Oh? A doll?” You blink and look up at Macaque, who is smiling, but a little more nervously this time.
Even Wukong looks impressed, eying the container with a whistle. “Didn't know you got better at making those. It looks realistic.”
Macaque looks surprised at the compliment. You knew they always had bad blood ever since an incident in Wukong's journey, and yet to think Wukong still seemed to remember his old friend's hobby makes even you surprised.
Macaque coughs in his hand, nodding. “Yeah, I practiced a bit,” he admits and looks at you with a sheepish smile. “I hope you like it. Sorry it's not the best.”
A daruma doll sits in your palm, round as a squash with your brows and a smile to imitate your excitement. It wobbles with any movement, and it's really, really cute.
“It's beautiful,” you say, a smile on your expression as it wobbles. “I love it!”
You pause, and look at Wukong. “Not anymore than I love yours, Wukong. It's not a competition.”
Wukong grins, “But if it was, I'd win, right?”
Macaque rolls his eyes and remarks, snidely, “You painted a rock. Not sure how you'd win with that, dumbass.”
“It's better than yours at least. Suck my dick.”
“You should suck mines cause mine is bigger.”
“Shut up you gay ass!”
“Says the walking fruit―”
They bicker, as they usually do, but you don't stop them. Not when you're admiring your gifts, both made with you in mind, with care and consideration. 
A smile adorns your lips later that night, the daruma doll and painted rock sitting on your bedside table.
“Mine's better.”
“Dude shut the FUCK up!”
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@lotusarchon , 29.05.2024, all rights reserved. do not copy, repost or translate my works without permission. comments, reblogs and likes are appreciated!
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danvy121994 · 3 days
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Fracture pt.1 (ghost x f!reader)
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Author note: this is my new series, I’m working on it at the moment, so let me know if there’s anything anything wrong with it since English isn’t my first language. Reblogs and Like are appreciated, hope you enjoy the read!
Synopsis: YN is a profiler and her and her team are called to help task force 141 after they realise that the serial killer that they are searching for is connected to a terrorist group that the task force is working to bring down.
TW: (the terrorist group is basically a white supremacy organisation) themes of racism and anti-lgbtqai+ community
“ I feel like I’m gonna get shot at every minute like-“
” Be professional, at least while we work with other teams…Jesus Christ”
The constant back and forth between Sam and Mr. Grey fills the silence in the car as we are being escorted to an undisclosed location in the middle of the British countryside, a military base to be precise. In the past 3 months we have been going after a serial killer that has been targeting minorities all around London. We had an approximate profile of the unsub, or as the media calls them “troubled poet“, hate that name. The profile indicated that they were between 1,80cm to 1,95cm, pretty tall so possibly a man, at least in their thirties judging by the few by standards, even if they were under shock so the information might be slightly wrong, white, and that they had a fascination with humiliation as an example living the bodies often naked and in public spaces, littered with discriminating and racist messages carved on them and the most important factor of them all is that all the victims were non-white or part of the lgbtqai+ community.
We had a main suspect: Johnathan Wood, 37, white, 1,82cm, he expressed a huge hate online towards minorities off all kinds, has been sued two times because of aggressive behavior toward customers that fit the profile of the victims and the last straw for him, which is what we thought was the reason of the killings, was his girlfriend cheating on him with a black woman. We had him in our care, interrogating him, trying to make him admit to the eight murders when we got a call from our tech-team saying that they had found footage of him being at a bar during the time of one of the killings and once in a mall during the time of another, proving his alibi.
We had nothing. Another week had passed and two bodies were found, the killer was accelerating his rate, the media was relentless, questioning our abilities and giving even more notoriety to the killer, inflating his ego. Until one day, when me and my team were looking over evidence trying to find something that we could have missed when my boss got a call by a CIA agent, saying that us and her team were all looking for the same person and that we could help each other out, us with our minds, them with fire.
So this is how me and my team ended up in a military truck being escorted into a secret base, fucking mental. I was looking over the files ,that they gave us after the signed agreement that stated that we could not talk about anything or anyone that we saw, and read that apparently the symbol carved in each of the victims wasn’t just a sign, like we thought, but a simbol, of a cult like terrorist group. Apparently they didn’t know much, so that’s why we are here, to enter inside of these people's heads, dissect them and give them a profile to find them and exterminate them.
After god knows how long, we finally arrive at a stop, a fence with a gate in front of us. After the soldiers show the guards they’re IDs we enter inside the base . We stop in front of the first part of the compound, there’s a group of five people waiting for us outside; I recognise the CIA agent that called Mr. Grey, Agent Kate Laswell,she greets us all with a firm handshake “how was the car ride? No problems I hope?” She says looking at our captain “ all god, no problems” after some little small talk she finally introduces us to the task force we are going to work with, task force 1-4-1. “This is agent Robert Grey, the captain of the team, agent Samuel Dickinson, agent Linda Ross and lastly Doctor Y/N Y/S” we shake the hand of their captain, John price, which then introduces us to his team, sergeant Soap, sergneant Gaz and lieutenant Ghost; they all had aliases, safety reason I suppose, but the one that intrigued me the most was Ghost, that was wearing an actual skull mask.
The profiler part of my brain turned on and I immediately started questioning to myself, why the mask? If it was just to hide his identity, which the other didn’t do, then why was it so impractical, it must be heavy, right? Insecurities maybe? Like he doesn’t feel scary enough? But I mean… he’s a fucking unit…so maybe it's for a disfigured face? So still insecurities but different reasons, or maybe its a sign, a mark of recognition, who knows. Now, what I didn’t notice is the fact that since this thought started I never took my eyes of off him and I didn’t notice until he was right in front of me saying “you got a fucking problem?”, he didn’t seem angry but early calm, “c'mon mate, be a little bit more friendly, will ya?” Said the man that identifies as Soap. Ghost just grunted going back to where he was before, I think I heard him muttering under his breath “fuckin hell..”. Weird dude, but the others seemed alright I guess.
As we enter inside the buildings to go put our luggage in our private spaces, I see Sam, my best friend coming towards me and leaning against my ear to tell me something, which is never a good sign “can I be honest with you right now?” “…yeah?” “Smash.” I can’t believe him sometimes. “Honey…what?” I say giggling with him “oh Y/N, they could choke me right now and would thank them" "you are unbelievable”.
After giggling the entire time during the tiny tour of the base and getting death stares by Mr. Grey we finally arrive at our respective rooms. After unpacking and taking a shower I go straight to bed, thinking about the killings, the profile of the killer and assimilating the scarce informations about the cult that we have. I go to sleep with these thoughts plaguing my mind, hopeful to return to my somewhat normal life as soon as possible.
Author note pt.2: @doedearlizz you told me you would like to read it so I tagged you in the first chapter, let me know what you think! And sorry if I tagged you but I don’t know how to respond to comments yet.
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ambrosiagoldfish · 18 hours
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hi! can i request headcanons of Adam x Male Angel! Reader who is sweet, kind and never curses? preferly sfw and nsfw but if u don't write smut for Male Reader, that's fine!
hope u have a Nice day <3
Adam x Kind Angel Reader HC’s
Warnings: General Adam TW’s, NSFW in latter half of post, He/Him pronouns with Male Genitalia. Slight Degradation/dirty talk. Fluff + Smut
Request Box: Open
Word Count: 820
A/n: thank you so much for the request! I had a lot of fun with this one! I did make it on the shorter side but that’s only because it’s quite difficult to make Headcanon’s 1000+ words without other characters but nonetheless, I hope you enjoy! Also I decided to make this little header thing for fics! I’ve seen a few others do it and the GIF’s I normally use are becoming a hassle to find. Let me know if you guys like it!
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SFW
Oh boy, this relationship really is a match that could only be made in heaven. No one would have expected Adam to date a man who is the complete opposite of him. If anything, people expected someone like him or even Lute!! But you? They never could have predicted that.
But what can you do, opposites do attract.
You’re always being so kind to him, telling him he looks handsome, helping him with any and all work he might have to do, and on top of it you bring him gifts and trinkets! Not to mention all the delicious treats you get him that are almost as sweet as you.
And to be honest, this really messes with Adam, cause you’re literally so sweet and thoughtful but he doesn’t have anything to give you in return besides sex. At least that’s what he thinks but in reality he gives you so much more than he gives himself credit for.
He plays you songs on the guitar, takes you out to fancy restaurants, and over all treats you with love and affection than any other has. But even if none of that was true, you don’t do anything and everything for him because you want something in return. You love Adam completely unconditionally.
The no cursing thing is something that genuinely gets on his nerves. Cause like, he could never. This man has the mouth of a sailor and the delicacy of a bull in a china shop. Which is one of the traits you love about him, that he says what he wants. But also you’re just like “Sir, this is not what The Father intended-“
“Neither was putting my dick in another guys ass but look, I’m still here bitch!”
And it especially bugs Adam, if instead of cursing, you replace swears with other words. Like the other day you stubbed your toe when landing on ground and Adam had fully expected for you to do what he does, which is scream the loudest swear and be pissed off at everyone for 20 minutes. But instead….
“OW Fudging chocolate chip-“
“JUST SAY FUCK”
So, ever since that day, Adam has sworn to one day take your ‘cursing virginity’, at least that’s what he calls it. And he try’s so hard to do so, which is a slight bit of trouble cause he doesn’t want to like, be a complete douche to you.
So until he figures out a way to get you to curse, he’s pretty stumped at the moment. But still, he absolutely adores you.
NSFW
Oh Boy x2
Everything I said previously still stands if not double the amount. This man wants to do the👏Most👏Unholiest👏Things👏To👏You👏
Loves to see your kind and sweet personality slowly crumble because of his cock.
‘Who knew you could be such a slut?’
He loves that your personality carries over during sex, you give him everything you’ve got and then some. You want to do your best for him after all.
Speaking of which, if you worship him in any way that man is cumming IMMEDIATELY. He really just wants to feel like he’s above everyone else, and Surprise surprise, he has a praise and you being the, oh so thoughtful person you are, you make sure to completely indulge that aspect of him.
You babble so much about how good his cock feels hitting your prostate over and over again. How well he’s making you feel like like the Good Boy he is. It really gets it him going.
Remember how I said he’s trying to make you lose your ‘Cursing Virginity’? Yeah well, this is how. He is SO determined to get you to spill out just one swear while he goes to town on you. Is it the most holy thing he should do? No. But how could he not fuck your brains out till you break your own moral code?
He tries so hard too. He has yet to get you there but he has come close. When he had you in a mating press, legs over his shoulders, your ankle’s lightly hitting the base of his wings with each thrust.. You couldn’t stop begging for him to cum inside you as you came for the Xth time in a row.
“Please Adam! P-Please! Fu~“ you cut yourself off with a hand to your mouth.
Adam looked at you with his signature grin, his hips not stopping their movements to pump himself in and out of you. “Was you about to say something babe?”
You held your hand against your mouth shaking your head ‘no’ clearly trying to make it seem like you weren’t about to drop the f bomb.
“Mhm, right~ let’s see if I can pry some other ‘naughty’ fuxkin’ words out of ya!” He laughs a wicked laugh as he switches the position so that he’s somehow even more atop of you. Leaving you a completely, moaning, helpless mess for him to dominate >:)
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loserlvrss · 20 hours
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꒰ 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐌 𝐎𝐍 𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ꒱ 최종호
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summary : you had been having what seemed like the longest and worst shift, but once it was finally over everything got better
genre : fluff, jongho x afab!reader, slice of life tws : language, complaining, kissing, pet names, mentions of not eating (doesn’t have to do with a eating disorder) author notes : okay guys i gotta stop this fluff shit before i start actually going crazy dude word count : 0.8k
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your feet ached, and helping the customers were more taxing today than normal. you found yourself glancing at the clock anytime you got a chance to. you were counting down the minutes — since you punched in, truthfully — you couldn't wait for the shop to close.
it must've have been the month where the most people celebrate their birthdays because you swear it was busier than the holiday season.
you couldn't wait for the moment when you could close out the cash register and lock the glass door. you wanted so desperately to wash away the stress and put on your pajamas, curl up on your couch and distract yourself. you'd been so anxious the whole day that you skipped lunch, opting to hide for your break because you couldn't muster up enough strength within you to not go non-verbal. you could feel pain in your lower back, it getting more noticeable the more time in between customers. you, at least, wanted to sit down while you were slow, however there always seemed to be a task you needed to complete.
when you finally turned the lock, turning off the lights, and making your way to the back to gather your things, you found yourself checking your phone for notifications from your boyfriend.
jongho was supposed to be getting back from tour today, but you didn't have enough leisure time to check when he was landing. maybe that's why you felt like time had being moving in slow motion. but honestly, you wouldn't blame him for instantly going to bed, or dance practice. he was hardworking by nature, and that always inspired you to do your best despite being willed to do the opposite.
you knew him well enough to shoot you a quick message before his head hit the pillow though.
you pulled a grey hoodie — he had let you keep before leaving, per your request, wearing it over and over again so it smelled like him — over your head and slinging on your cross-body bag.
the outside air was crisp at almost nine at night, causing you to bunch the sleeves around your fingers as you locked the backdoor. you mentally prepared for the walk home, taking a deep breath.
usually, jongho would walk with you and stay over; of course, when he was available to. so, safe to say, you've been walking home alone for the past couple months — save for the few times your friends would show up with beer clutched within their hands.
of course, you were happy to see them, but it wasn't the same feeling you got when you saw him. he was comfort within a person; a living being you didn't physically posses, but emotionally. and, that was more than money could ever buy you.
"y/n," you swear you missed him so much that now you were hallucinating his voice, "y/n."
you blinked a couple times in disbelief of being face-to-face with your boyfriend, who has been away way too long, in your opinion. you almost had to do a double take, pinch yourself, maybe even slap yourself out of this dream state.
your head cocked to the side, and a chuckle rang through the air, "baby, don't make me wait any longer, please."
and you really didn't need to be told twice before you embodied usain bolt and jumped into his embrace. "w-when'd you get back?" you took him within your palms, kissing his face all over, "oh my gosh, i missed you so much. how was tour? i can't believe you're back, shit, this is the best ending to a bad day."
you rambled on about it being the best surprise ever, planting feather-light kisses to every inch of what you could reach. it might've overwhelmed him when you two first started dating, but it was something he now craved like air.
you made physical affection his love language. it’s like he was an addict, love being his fever and drug.
he unwrapped his arms from your waist, no longer holding you up to be face level, grabbing your cheeks and finally shutting you up by pressing his lips over yours almost desperately.
he knew you missed him, plainly spelled out through various texts and calls while he hid from his members. and he missed you just as much. he missed the lingering smell of your perfume, the melodic tune to your laugh, your soft skin and honest perfection. he missed your touch, your hand in his, body-to-body and heart-to-heart. he just missed your whole aura, simply put. you were the sun on a cloudy day, the voice of reason to his hardship, his warmth on a cold night.
you were everything. and, he only realized this the more time you spent apart because of his career. its safe to say that the heart does grow fonder with the distance.
“i missed you more, believe me.”
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reblogs, likes and comments are greatly appreciated! thank u!
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littlemissmiller · 1 day
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𝑆𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑠
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐦
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Pairing: drug dealer!coriolanus snow x fem!reader
Summary: Your last summer before college and Coriolanus is still just as in love with you as the first time he saw you, but all of high school you’ve been taken. Meanwhile Coriolanus isn’t looking forward to college, but at least he can still make money dealing drugs. During the last week of school, he notices how fragile your relationship has become and something makes him think he still may have one last chance with you before the summer is over…
Warning: 21+ (mentions or drugs/ drug use) eventually smut, mentions of masturbation (m and f), mentions of oral (m and f receiving), jealously, slight obsession, possession, toxic relationship.
Word count: 4k
A/N: hello all! my first series! soooo i’ve had this idea in mind for a while, but it felt like a summer write/read and i figured since a good amount of y’all are high school age or older this would appeal more and now that the school year is over i figured y’all have more time to read too. also i have another joel fic so that is coming soooon (closely followed by a billy fic) i’m so excited about this one like…i had so much fun writing it and i’m guesssing it’s gonna be like 12 chapters long…idk we shall see :) i hope you enjoy ❣︎
☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎
Coriolanus was ready for the summer. He was so sick of school, even though he excels at it. He barely has to study and usually did his homework last minute and still got all As. His grandma had encouraged him to go to college next year, even though school didn’t quite interest him anymore. He thought about joining ROTC once he got to campus, but truthfully, why would he give up his little side deal for some army pricks and a “free” ride to college when business was about to be booming.
In his junior year, Coriolanus had taken up dealing drugs. Mainly he stuck to weed or psychedelics like mushrooms or acid, and occasionally ecstasy. He didn’t dare sell hard shit and he always made sure his stuff was clean. He had help. From time to time, his friend, Sejanus, would steal from his mother’s medicine cabinet. Xanax, Valium, whatever Mrs. Plinth’s psychiatrist would prescribe, he would manage to steal a few whenever his mother decided not to take her meds that day. It was a system that worked well for Coriolanus, and a system that he would need to maintain. Which is why he decided to go to college only about an hour away from his town. Being from a small, rural town in Illinois didn’t leave Coriolanus many options except the big public school close to the city. A booming college town, where Coriolanus knew he’d be able to expand his “customers” and still manage to keep up his means of getting the drugs he sold.
Luckily enough for him, Sejanus was attending the same college as Coriolanus. Which meant “visits back home” were opportunities for Coriolanus to stock up on his stash and sell. He would be able to tag along with a homesick Sejanus frequently, or at least that’s what Coriolanus predicts given how nostalgic he has seemed to become in the last couple of months. It’s Sejanus’s new favorite hobby. Recalling old memories and moments from the past. Some of which Coriolanus didn’t even realize how much those mundane moments Sejanus’s brain clinged to. How much he cared about their hometown and especially his family. Coriolanus didn’t understand. It wasn’t like he was going halfway across the country, unlike you.
You were bound for California, had big dreams of becoming a cancer researcher for a children’s hospital, and absolutely over the moon to be going to Stanford. Coriolanus wasn’t as thrilled. He had long desired you, wanted you as his own, but since the first week of freshman year you had been so out of his grasp. Too distracted by someone on the football or basketball team, and by your sophomore year you had gotten with one of those football players, Devon. Coriolanus still saw you around however. You and him had shared every AP science course since sophomore year and you considered Coriolanus to be a school friend. That was all. Yet, all of the science classes you and him had spent together left plenty of room for you to chat about Devon. And for some reason you felt safe to talk to him about whenever he would do something to upset you. But you never left him.
So, Coriolanus had watched you from afar, longing to have you all to himself. As high school went on, you only grew more and more beautiful and Coriolanus would often imagine you laying bare before him on his bed. When he was home, he couldn’t help but jerk himself off to the image of you with your hand on your wet core, playing with your clit in between your fingers. That’s all he could picture as he pumped his length in the shower most nights. One hand against the wall the other stroking himself as he pictures you begging for him to fuck you. Your soft pleas tumbling from your beautiful lips like a prayer.
Why couldn’t he have you? Why did some himbo athlete have to have you when Coriolanus was clearly superior to him. He didn’t blame you though. Devon was popular, which made you popular by default and after being in a relationship for so long, he knew it wasn’t easy to just leave someone like that. If anything he blamed himself for not getting to you first. For not asking you out when he had the chance.
Not thinking you’d be interested, the one time Coriolanus had gotten an opportunity to ask you out was freshman year. It was after biology class right before winter break and Coriolanus wanted to take you to a movie. You were his lab partner that day and it’s all that was on his mind. When just the right moment arose, he first asked if you wanted to meet later that night to finish the lab so they would have less homework over break, but mainly to see if you were free to hang out. Coriolanus was quickly let down when you informed him that you would’ve liked to, but your family was going out of town to visit your grandparents for the holidays.
“I’ll just have to finish it when I get back from break.” You had sighed
And that was the only real time he’d had talked to you still single. What a pity given it was the last week of school now. Exams were nearly over and Coriolanus had told himself to give up on you, but he couldn’t seem to let you go. Even though it was the last week, and graduation was this weekend, he still desired you deeply. More than the day he met you. Coriolanus watched you in AP Literature as the class went over the study guide. You twirled your hair, bored and just as ready for the relaxing summer break as he was. He tried not to gawk, but he couldn’t help it. You looked so god damn precious today. Your green plaid skirt just barely followed the dress code and your white shirt was ruffled around the edges and fit your body nicely. Your black converse high tops dangled above the floor. All he wanted to do was take you into a bathroom stall, bend you over, bunch up your skirt and admire your ass. He bet it was soft and round. He imagined a pair of cotton, white panties under it all, soaked. His cock started to harden in his jeans, so Coriolanus moved in his seat to hide his stirring erection.
The bell rings about ten minutes later and thankfully he’s settled down enough to where his bulge isn’t quite so obvious. He snatches up his book bag and looks up. As the last few students file out, you are asking the teacher a few questions. Coriolanus gets up and heads for the door. As he passed you, you finish your conversation and quickly move to catch up to him.
“Hey!” You shouted
Coriolanus paused at the door, turning his head to look at you
“I know it’s exam week and you are busy, but this physics lab is going to be the death of me.”
Coriolanus couldn’t believe it. Were you about to ask for his help outside of class? You had always been going to him for help with your science classes. Even though you had managed to score higher than him on every exam in science, for some reason physics was killing you. So all semester, you had been asking Coriolanus for help during class, but only during class. You never asked to finish your work with him after school.
“Are you asking for my help?” He smiles
Personally, you don’t want to take away from his time since Coriolanus seemed like the type of man that valued his free time and didn’t like to bother with school outside of school. In addition, his mysterious, stern demeanor was intimidating and you didn’t know if you were bothering him while he was trying to make money. You knew he dealt drugs and frankly, the idea of that scared you too so much as you need his help and your science classes and in all honesty, you were just afraid to ask him for anything at all.
But Coriolanus always assumed it was because of how protective Devon was. Which was also true. He didn’t like you talking to other guys outside of class, and he was particularly wary of Coriolanus. It was no secret that he was handsome. As beautiful as the guys at school thought you were. Coriolanus had built his own reputation as someone who slept around. And as much of a neanderthal as Devon was, he damn well knew that Coriolanus looked at you like you’re his prey.
“Yes” you sighed
“I don’t mind.”
“Really”
“Not at all. I’m free tonight.”
“Thank you so much. You have no idea, I’d seriously be lost without you.”
“Of course!” He chirped
“I appreciate it. Wanna meet up at Panera after school?”
“Sounds good.”
You smiled, waved and walked off
Fuckfuckfuck you said “lost without him.” That felt so personal. And your sweet smile. Why are you so perfect. Your hips sway as you walk away and Coriolanus’s cock starts to get hard again, until he see’s something that makes him want to repulse. Your boyfriend approached you from the other end of the hall. Devon came up to you,hugged you and groped your ass. What an obnoxious ass, can’t he tell you don’t like that kind of attention in school. He gave you a sleazy smile and Coriolanus turned his attention away.
After school, he headed to Panera as instructed and waited for you. You pulled up, your boyfriend dropping you off in his 2016 White Mercedes C-Class. You walk inside and find him sitting in the back.
“Hey. I’m going to order food. Did you get something?” You asked
“Nah I’m not all that hungry.”
“Okay!” You smile and walk to the counter to order.
You came back quickly, sat beside Coriolanus, putting her book bag between them. You pulled out her physics textbook, laptop and the lab. As you explained why you were confused, Coriolanus explained the material to you, but was so tempted again. So tempted by the way your knee peaked at him and when you crossed your legs, letting more of your thigh show, and he nearly fell apart. He hated how desperate he was for you. How badly he wanted you. He’d do anything just to hear you instruct him to get on his knees and bury his face in between your thighs.
When your food came, he refocused his attention on your homework. Why couldn’t he control himself? Why was he so drawn to your temptations today? You always looked so beautiful, but Coriolanus felt feral.
“Ugh what am I going to do next year without you in my science classes!” You sighed
There you go again. Making everything sound personal and intimate. Clever as always, Coriolanus replied.
“Well good thing you have my number right?”
“Yeah, but we won’t be in the same class and I don’t want to bother you.”
“It’s not a bother” he follows up quickly
“You’re always so sweet. I appreciate it.”
“Anytime…” he smiles
Your phone buzzed, it’s Devon. You pick up and he seems annoyed. You tried to calm him down but somehow he figured out that you’re here studying with Coriolanus.
“You’re being ridiculous ok. Let’s just talk when we get back to my house…busy…with what?” You speak in a harsh whisper. “Ok whatever… just come back and drop me back home. Ok please?”
Coriolanus acted like he didn’t notice, but he watched in agony as tears welled up in your eyes. You took a deep breath, close your eyes, and swallowed your sadness along with the last sip of your Cola. Even though he should mind his own business, he couldn’t contain himself. He had to ask if you were ok. Besides, it's not like you don’t already confide in him during class anyways.
“It’s ok. I’ll be good.” You said, your lip quivering
You excuse yourself to refill your drink and Coriolanus packs up his things.
What a fucking insecure dick.
Coriolanus knew that you’re not the type to cheat. If anything Devon would cheat on you in a second. As protective as he was of you, he seemed to have a different set of rules for himself. Coriolanus saw Devon at parties, how’d he flirt with other girls when you weren’t around, or check out the cheerleaders at games. Yet you couldn’t have any real guy friends, and he truly couldn’t stand Coriolanus.
“You sure? I could give you a ride home since he seems…”
“No it’s fine…he’ll be here soon anyways. I appreciate your help.”
Your lip quivers slightly and you hide your face as you pretend to yawn. It’s something you’ve learned to help you to hide your tears and prevent you from falling apart into a big mess. But Coriolanus saw right through it because he had seen it before. He wanted to hold you, tell you to dump Devon and be with him instead. He would kiss you, to show you just how serious he was. He imagined delicately stroking your chin with his thumb and forefinger, guiding your face to his and kissing him deeply. He would be slow, tender, his lips simply ghosting over your own. He would still hold you daintily, his breath fanning over your face as he told you how much he loves you.
You look outside, turning away from Coriolanus, stifling your cries as a single tear rolls down your cheek. Coriolanus can’t help it; he has to say something.
“You know if you ever need someone to talk to I don’t mind. Sometimes it’s easier to tell someone you’re not as close with. Because then it’s like you’re speaking into a void and it doesn’t really matter what you say. But at least you got it off your chest.”
You pause for a moment and look back at him. You contemplate the offer and as much as you want to just talk his ear off about all the ways in which your boyfriend sucks, you’re afraid that he’ll just be more upset with you, thinking somehow he’ll find out.
“It’s ok. I’ll just vent to my mom when I get home.”
“You sure?” He asks, trying to hide his desperation
You reach out and touch his forearm gently. Your affections burn on his skin, your fingertips branding him.
“I’m sure. Thanks anyways.”
You release him, giving him a small smile. You feel like you should apologize and he simply smirks in approval, his eyes following your hand as it leaves him. Then your phone buzzes again. It lights up with a text from Devon and Coriolanus glances outside at the parking lot. He sees your boyfriend pull up, park, and exit his vehicle. For a moment he thinks your boyfriend is about to walk in, but he simply pouts against the car like a grumpy toddler.
“Good luck with your other exams. I know you’ll do fine.”
You walk off, quickly gather your things and walk out the door. He watches you leave and his eyes peer out the window. You trot along to Devon’s car innocently, scared like a newborn deer. He stares at you hawkishly, arms crossed. He shoves his body back into the car once you make it onto the other side, starting it up and you disappear behind the door as it closes. Coriolanus hangs his head in frustration and sighs. You didn’t deserve him.
You belong with him. You belong with Coriolanus.
He felt a tinge of unease thinking about it, not wanting to become as possessive and obsessive as Devon, but he really meant it. He felt he would know how to treat you like a queen. Give you lots of nice things or if you needed cash to buy something you wanted, he’d give it to you. Sell more weed and Xanax to get you whatever you want. But if he could have you, hold you, treat you right, and tell you how much he loves you, he felt like you would want it just as much as he did.
When he gets home, Coriolanus heads up to his room. His cousin and grandma were out shopping for their dresses to wear to his graduation. Coriolanus had picked out a nice pair of black slacks, and a white button up. He wasn’t one for ties normally, and given the heat, he didn’t want to feel too constrained. It was hanging up in his closet, facing him as he enters his room, along with his cap and gown. He sits down at his desk, placing his book bag down and getting his laptop out. He decides to check his grades one last time even though he already knows what it will say. He logs on to his school's website.
Coriolanus C. Snow
Student ID: 1008452024
Current Standing: Senior (Academic Honors)
Current GPA: 4.0
Accumulative GPA: 4.3
Spring Semester 2024
AP Physics A
AP Literature A
European History A
AP Calculus A
Political Science A
Latin Studies A
The corners of his mouth slid up into a half smile. He was of course not upset with himself, but knew that school was the only thing he was really good at, but completely hated. He was still going to go to college, just to get a degree of anything and why would he miss out on the opportunity to sell to his target market. Even though he hated school, and was dragging his feet to go to college, Coriolanus had bigger ambitions. He thought that even if it meant four more years of school and lectures, getting a degree might lead him towards a better career. Coriolanus often heard of people getting into politics and getting intern jobs working for Senators and Representatives. It was truly the only thing that appealed to him. Even though he excelled in nearly every course, politics and civics seemed to have taken over his attention more than his other subjects. And his teachers noted how he seemed to have more interest in those classes versus science or math. So he thought that maybe college could offer an opportunity for him to get him to a place of power, which not even he realizes how much he desires that kind of control.
Then his phone vibrates, taking him off guard and away from his thoughts. It’s you. He immediately picks it up. He can sense your emotions through the phone and the immediate sniffle you give him, confirms his suspicions.
“Hey what’s up?”
“Oh I just had a quick question on this lab I realized I left the last question blank. Do you think we could FaceTime real quick?” You ask tentatively
“Sure.”
You transfer the call to FaceTime him and he picks up. He put the phone against the wall and your beautiful face appears. It’s slightly blurry because of the connection, but Coriolanus can still make out your beautiful features although they are covered by your clearly upset face. You had been crying, hard, your eyes slightly red and puffy.
“So what’s up” Coriolanus continues quickly
“Yeah so it's talking about how I’m supposed to connect my parts of the equation to the students equation in the problem but also explain the reasoning for why part b) works with part a) and show mathematical reasoning.”
Coriolanus smiles and begins to break down the problem in the lab and you start to frantically scribble down on your page, occasionally glancing up showing that you understand and are following along. All the while, he’s just as focused on your beautiful, round eyes, as they concentrate on his words. He tries desperately not to picture those same pretty eyes looking up at him, you on your knees, naked and sucking his cock. He knows that your eyes would look just as attractive and engaged by him. He shakes his head to refocus, but he’s hard under his desk. Luckily it’s just a video call, because his bulge is ever so apparent. Once Coriolanus finishes explaining it, you smile and sigh in relief.
“That makes sense. Thanks Coriolanus…”
“See, next semester I can still help you like this, you know.”
“I guess you’re right” you smile back “is that your bed?” You ask, pointing behind him.
“Yeah.” He confirms, turning around to look at it.
“I like the comforter. Your room looks cool by the way” you follow up
His bed sheets are navy blue plaid with red and white stripes in a grid style pattern. He looks around his room and admires his decor. Coriolanus occupies a room on the top floor. It wasn’t quite cramped like an attic, but it was close to the roof. It was cozy, with a slanted wall. The back wall was uncovered brick, with a wood ceiling. Coriolanus had put a few of his favorite band posters up as well as some vinyl covers. He tried to keep things simple with his bed against one wall and his desk against the other. He had a laptop that sat on his desk and a TV that screwed onto the wall above his desk, which he easily fit his PS4 under.
“Maybe you should come see it in person sometime” he suggests, not realizing what he has said.
When he does, he mentally kicks himself for being so forward, and your eyes dart down to the ground in your own room.
You stupid ass.
As he curses himself, you glance back up with a smile
“Hopefully I can see it at your graduation party. Assuming you're having one?” You follow up
“Possibly. I wasn’t sure, but my family wants to throw me one. What about you?” He asks
“Oh yeah I’m sending invitations out to the whole grade. We are having it at our country club, me and Devon. It's kinda a combination party I guess.” You explain
“Oh fun”
“It’s gonna be at the end of June so when you get the invite, let me know. You can text me and I’ll tell my dad.”
“Yeah sure. Well I won’t keep ya any longer.” Coriolonaus nods, his lips sporting the most charming smile and you match his expression.
“Ok well, if I don’t see you much at school then I’ll see you this weekend at graduation?” You imply, unsure if he would even bother going since he almost never attended non-mandatory school events.
“Yeah, I’ll see you there for sure”
“Hey just real quick, earlier today with Devon, it’s just he gets a bad temper and makes assumptions”
Coriolanus nods, not wanting to scare you off, but he’s invested in having you tell him what more upsets you.
“I’m sorry, that sounds frustrating.”
“Well I guess you’ve always been there to listen so I just wanna say thanks for all these times. You know it’s funny though we get into these fights and I talk to you and feel better then he goes back to normal, well at least for a while then he gets back into his ways, so I’m just hoping he’ll mature more in college. Stop acting like a toddler sometimes” you smirk
Oh you poor thing, you don’t even realize how bad he truly is. You don’t even realize you're stuck in his toxic cycle. Coriolanus wishes he could swoop in and take you away. Treat you better. Coriolanus gives you a sympathetic smile and continues to show he’s listening to you. After a few silent moments, you say goodbye and hang up. Coriolanus feels like he can breathe again. You overwhelm him to a degree he didn’t even think was possible. Which he feels it between his legs, his cock is still rock hard.
Fuck you get him so worked up it’s unbelievable. He knows he’ll have to handle his member in the shower before dinner, but for now he smiles to himself. Coriolanus leans his chair back, mouth agape as he sighs at the ceiling. Maybe he could have a chance with you after all. He doesn’t want to get too hopeful, but something tells him he might just be able to get his chance with you before the summer ends.
꧁🝮❤︎︎🝮꧂
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